Trial and Temporal Error

As they closed in on the chrono device, Talia’s focus was razor-sharp, her Chrono Bow raised as she aimed carefully at the guards. Every move she made was precise, deliberate, designed to minimize risk.

“Two on the left,” she whispered. “I’ll take them out, you handle the ones on the right.”

Suddenly, Mira’s voice cut through the comms.

“Guys wait. Let me scan your surroundings. We don’t want you tripping any—“

Beep.

“Alarms.”

“Oops.”

Unaware of what his squadmate was saying, Jessie stepped forward, a faint, ominous beep echoing around him. Talia froze, glancing down to see a small tripwire laser Jessie had triggered, now pulsing with a faint red light.

“Damn it, Valis! fall back,” She hissed, her voice tight with urgency. “We need cover—”

But Jessie’s instincts flared to life. Instead of retreating, he surged forward, his Chrono Blade crackling with energy as he charged straight at the guards. “Cover? We don’t have time for cover! They know we’re here now!”

“Intruders!” 

He spotted a guard raising a sleek, energy-blasting gun, its glowing barrel aimed right at him. Without hesitation Jessie closed the distance in a blur, slicing downward with his Chrono Blade and knocking the weapon from the guard’s grip before following up with a quick jab of his elbow to the guard’s chest.

“Gah! When did you—“

The guard staggered backward, clutching his chest, and Jessie found the timing to knock the wind out of him, firing an electricity infused round with his revolver.

“Valis!” Talia hissed once again, firing an arrow to the guard closest to Jessie, “Why are you not listening?!”

“Let me guess, you don’t have time for my antics?” Jessie chuckled without breaking his stride, his gaze locking onto the second guard, who was already lunging at him with a long, dark alloy spear. Jessie raised his sword, deflecting the attack with a sharp clang.

The guard pressed forward, attacking. Jessie dodged, sidestepping a sweeping strike before countering with his blade, the two weapons clashing in a rapid, intense exchange.

“Damn you, time cops!”

Jessie smirked, “Time cops—I’ll add that to the mission report!”

Even back at the academy, Jessie’s trademark ability was his enhanced speed. And he wasn’t gonna be outdone on that front by anyone.

Dodging around his opponent’s attacks with the grace of a seasoned dancer, Jessie caught the spearman off-balance, twisting his blade to disarm him in one smooth motion. He then spun, bringing his Chrono Blade down with a final, precise strike, sending a wave of energy that incapacitated the guard.

“You reckless idiot, you can’t go charging in like that!” Talia cursed, retreating from an oncoming blast and taking down a nearby guard.

The young Knight, still confidently weaving through the skirmish, smiled back at her, sweat beginning to bead on his brow. “Reckless? I prefer the term ‘critically danger-ignorant!’”

But as the last word left his lips, Talia’s carefully aimed shot missed its mark, thrown off by his sudden and erratic movements. The guard she had been targeting turned, firing a blast in her direction.

“Damn it!” Talia cursed, pulling back to take cover behind a cement pillar.

Her frustration boiled over—this was exactly why she took meticulous care in her methods, and Jessie’s reckless actions had just derailed everything.

“You damn idiot! I knew you’d be a hazard to the team the moment I laid eyes on you!”

The anger surged through her, and before she could stop herself, the words came tumbling out.

“Now I can see why the Valis accident happened! Maybe recklessness runs in the family!”

The moment the words left her mouth, regret washed over her. Jessie froze, his expression shifting as if he’d been slapped. For a second, the tension between them crackled heavier than the chrono-energy around them.

Talia’s heart sank. She saw the hurt flash in Jessie’s eyes, but before she could say anything, a smuggler took advantage of the brief distraction, aiming his rifle directly at her.

“Talia heads up!” Jessie shouted, moving faster than his thoughts could catch up.

Without hesitation, he activated his blade channeling excess chrono energy through it. For a split second, time slowed to a near-halt, and Jessie rushed in front of Talia, raising his sword just in time to deflect an oncoming energy blast. This time it wasn’t a mere bullet he could swat away. The energy blast sizzled as it collided with the Chrono Blade, as Jessie gritted his teeth against the force.

Talia stumbled back, eyes wide. She hadn’t even noticed the incoming attack, and yet her squad mate had moved faster than the eye could see.

Finally the young knight deflected the blast, as he stumbled back.

The last remaining guard, having witnessed his opponent seemingly teleport before him gulped audibly, seeing the young man’s barrel aimed straight at him.

“Sorry, pal,” Jessie said, the confidence back in his voice as he fired the shot. “You’re just too slow.”

And the last of the guards was finally down.

Catching his breath, Jessie glanced over his shoulder, a half-smirk on his face. “See? Told you I had it.”

Talia’s anger evaporated as quickly as it had flared. As the silence settled over the scene, she bit her lip, the weight of her words hanging between them.

“Valis… I… I apologise. I didn’t mean to say that. It was—”

Jessie waved it off with a light chuckle, though the hint of hurt remained in his eyes. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve heard worse.”

Talia shook her head, guilt twisting in her chest. “No, I’m serious. That was out of line. I… shouldn’t have said it.”

Jessie shrugged, “Hey, you were mad. I get it. I can be a lot to deal with.”

Talia studied him, genuinely surprised by how easily he brushed it off. “You saved me. I didn’t even see that blast coming.”

“Yeah, well… I’m just that good.” Jessie sheathed his blade and shot her a playful grin. Talia shook her head, still amazed by how he could so easily brush off even the most intense moments. 

The two knights moved quickly through the now-cleared room, the device at the centre of the disturbance looming ahead. The machine pulsed with unstable energy, its glowing tendrils of chrono-tech snaking across the floor, connected to various parts of the factory.

Talia’s eyes narrowed as she studied the device. “Mira, we’re at the source. How do we shut it down?”

Mira’s voice crackled over the comms, her fingers flying across her control panel. “Alright, listen closely. The device is using a temporal energy feed to accelerate the localized chrono flow. You’ll need to access the primary relay node, bypass the auxiliary energy core, and then—”

Jessie stepped forward, cutting her off. “Hold up. You’re saying we just need to break it, right?”

Mira paused. “No, Jessie, I’m not saying—”

But Jessie had already drawn his Chrono Blade, a grin spreading across his face. “Break it is.”

Talia opened her mouth to protest, but before she could get a word in, Jessie slammed his blade down into the main control panel. Sparks flew, and the machine let out a sharp, metallic whine before powering down.

“There. Problem solved,” Jessie said, sheathing his blade and turning to Talia with a smirk. “See? All this tech stuff is easy.”

Talia stared at him, half-exasperated, half-impressed. “You’re impossible.”

On the other end of the comms, Mira sighed dramatically. “I mean, technically you did shut it down, and you did it faster… but you do realize there’s a less destructive way, right?”“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?”

“You’re lucky we can still look into it even in that state.”

Talia rolled her eyes as they both made their way back toward the upper floors where Rhea and Dax were waiting.

“Say, Valis…” As they walked, Talia glanced at her squad mate walking next to her, her gaze betraying a hint of intrigue. “You were technically a blur back there… How did you even pull that off?”

Jessie flashed a grin, “What can I say? I’ve got a gift.”

Before he could launch into another joke, Mira’s voice crackled over the comms, “Did you not pay attention in the academy, Talia? It’s basic chrono-weapon theory. When a Knight channels energy through their anchor, it’s conducted into the weapon’s core, since they’re both made of tempusite. That enables them to manipulate time in short bursts. That speed Jessie pulled off? Just the chrono-energy moving through him and his Chrono Blade.”

“But that’s… that’s not a technique a rookie can pull off!”

“Heh, like I said… gifted!”

“Well it seems this menace isn’t all just talk after all.” Mira chuckled.

“Awww Mira!”

“That doesn’t mean you can rush in whenever you feel like it, though.”