The Curs.
Pain lanced through Kira.
She didn't listen as Graydon and Jace exchanged stilted pleasantries. She was caught up in memories of others wearing that same patch, people she had once known as well as she knew herself. Men and women she would have gladly died for, but who had gone before her.
Kira barely noticed as Graydon took his leave, leaving Kira and Jace standing alone.
"Why would you bring them?" Jin asked into the silence. His voice throbbed with the same pain strangling Kira.
At the sound of it, she drew herself up, taking her emotions and stuffing them deep.
She'd forgotten Jin would have the same reaction. She hadn't been the only one to suffer loss. The thought stabilized her.
Jace's body went stiff and alert, his intelligent gaze picking up some of their emotional turbulence.
"I'm sorry. I forgot you wouldn't have known we reinstated the unit," he said. "Will you be okay?"
Kira was silent for a long moment. "Yes, it's just strange seeing others wearing that patch."
Her patch.
He opened his mouth as a loud exclamation came from the rest.
"Kira, girl, we thought you dead," Tank said as he lumbered over.
Tank hadn't been in her squad, but he'd been a wave runner like her. His unit had supported hers a lot and they'd gotten to know each other as acquaintances. His call sign was oddly fitting. Nearly as tall as the Tuann, Tank had legs the size of tree trunks, with arms to match.
He shouldn't have been as good a hoverboard pilot as he was. She'd seen him fly, and he lived up to his name, plowing through enemies like he was a tank.
The woman beside him let out a low gasp, her jaw dropping in surprise. "Is that Phoenix and Tin Man?"
"You know it, Blue," Jin called, sailing over to the woman and circling her once.
Blue put one hand up and let Jin nudge it, a soft, nostalgic smile on her face.
Small and wiry, she'd grown up since Kira had last seen her. Back then, she'd been a scrappy kid who went by her given name of Yuki and had more bravery than sense. Now, it seemed she'd earned a place among the Curs.
Kira was happy for her. She knew being a Cur had been Blue’s dream.
Her dark black hair was pulled away from her face, the tips dyed a sapphire blue. Her eyes snapped and crackled with vitality as she looked around with her ever-present curiosity.
The other two faces were entirely new to Kira. They looked at her with wide, impressed eyes.
She glanced away, uncomfortable with the attention.
The last man glared at her with a hatred that seared. He was Blue's opposite, moving with a sleek caution where the other woman bounced through life convinced it would conform to her expectations. He had an athlete's build, long and lean, as he stalked past, not pausing to greet her.
A barely visible scar along his chin from where a Tsavitee had gotten too close taunted her with the past.
Of those present, Raider was the only other from the original Curs. And he wanted nothing to do with her.
"And I thought this couldn't get any worse," Jin muttered, seeing him go.
"It's fine, Jin."
The last woman present stepped up to Jace.
He gave her an awkward smile. "Thank you for accompanying us, Grace. I'll let you return to your duties now."
