When Talia and the others decided to go to Drift Haven to participate in the resources war at the border after collecting their rewards for the mission of killing Parasite and ending the Zr gang, Brad decided to stay behind in Canyon Hub to continue his research.
"Long ti no see Brad!" Leon called as he walked closer and imdiately grabbed the NetRunner before giving him a side hug.
And just as expected, Brad cowered cautiously the mont he was hugged.
Leon chuckled. "You’re still as timid as the last ti that I saw you".
"I’m not timid," Brad retorted softly. "I’m just very self-aware and cautious".
"Really?" Leon laughed. "If you really believe that, then cool," Leon didn’t argue as he smiled. "How’s your research been going?"
Brad took his ti to greet the other mbers of the crew after months since their last eting, and as they entered the cetery he finally answered Leon. "I’m still at the beginning phase".
"Honestly, I’ve not made as much progress as I want but it’s just been a few months. I believe that I’ll succeed eventually".
Leon still rembered Brad’s ambitious research of creating ch suits that can be mass-produced to be used by F Rank Ascended of any Class.
Then, Leon didn’t have a lot of ideas about what a ch suit entailed but now, he was an expert at it. And it was this knowledge that made him realize just how ridiculous and ambitious Brad’s research focus was.
Creating the ch suits was not the problem, but it was creating it in a way to protect them from NetRunner assault while at the sa ti making the neural teletry low enough for an F Rank Ascended to handle without having their brain fried by the tons of data was the problem.
Heck, Leon was sure that making a powerful and effective ch Suit for D Rank Ascended outside the chanist, NetRunner, and Quantum Shaper Class was impossible.
These were the only 3 Classes with enough INT stat to handle the tons of teletry data that a ch suit like the Bulwark MK.II Titan Fra handled and communicated with the ch pilot every second.
Even a D Rank Gene Augur or Cyber Gladiator may have their brain fried if he/she recklessly interfaced with the Bulwark MK.II Titan.
All of this ant that theoretically, Bran’s research was dood from the beginning unless he had the help of a high-ranking chanist.
And not just any high-ranking chanist, theoretically, a combination of a Warmachine Specialist and a chanist Technician was the only way such a research could be realized.
’Maybe I can participate in this research in the future,’ Leon thought. ’After I beco a C Rank chanist’.
’This is a much better idea and initiative to empower the world against a potential Neon Beast cataclysm rather than suppressing Ascended growth’.
None of the soldiers and police officers of the convoy followed them inside.
Alongside Gwen, they stayed outside the cetery, giving the crew the privacy that they needed as alone, they entered the cetery. Brad followed them.
The mont Leon stepped past the gate inside, the atmosphere changed, becoming somber and quiet. Despite this, the first thing he realized was that Canyon Hub’s military cetery was nothing like Iron Reef’s cetery.
The military cetery was a vast sweeping expanse of an artificial green lawn that was ticulously maintained, stretching flat into the horizon.
Inside the cetery were thousands of long, perfectly aligned rows of identical headstones, creating a powerful sense of unity and military discipline even in death for the soldiers.
Each grave was marked with a simple, uniform headstone made of granite and concrete.
Each headstone included the na of the fallen soldier, the rank and unit of the soldier, including the dates of birth and death.
There was no special headstone, each one was the sa. This was a deliberate design as the uniformity removed any distinction of wealth or status, emphasizing the equality in sacrifice of every soldier laid to rest here.
Seeing this, Leon could not help but smile slightly. ’I didn’t know Rex for long... but I think this is what he would have wanted in death...’
Rex’s grave and headstone was deeper inside the cetery, aning they had to trek to get there.
But none of them complained. In the silence of the cetery, they relished the experience as they walked quietly along the paths, sotis hearing only the sound of the wind and the sound of distant birds.
Combined with the visual rhythm that ca about due to the repetition of graves, they all felt like they were journeying through the underworld to et the mory of their old friend.
The atmosphere was solemn and slightly overwhelming.
After about 5 minutes of walking without stop, they finally stood before Rex’s grave and his headstone.
On the headstone was written...
[Na: Rex Mallow]
[Ascended Rank: F Rank chanist]
[Military Rank: Sergeant]
[DOB: January 4th, Year 693 A.G]
[DOD: June 22nd, Year 714 A.G]
As soon as they arrived in front of the grave, though each of them held flowers, they all stood behind as only Leon went closer to the grave.
He was the only one who was yet to pay his last respect to their friend.
Leon went closer to the headstone, then he focused on the epitaphs that were written on the concrete slate.
["A reliable teammate, a protector."]
["A friend."]
["A chanist who thinks outside the box."]
He keenly noticed that there were only 3 epitaphs, and no one pointed to a family mber, just friends.
He already learned about Rex’s past through Daren.
He squatted in front of the headstone and dropped the flowers that he brought with him, then he crossed his hands over his legs in silence and just stayed there.
As he stayed there, Leon’s mind went on a pilgrimage as he relived all the mories that he built with Rex within just a week of knowing him.
He rembered when they just t inside the cargo trailer. He rembered how despite Talia introducing him, the rest of the crew were hostile then except Rex who welcod him imdiately with enthusiasm.
He rembered how enthusiastic Rex was about learning from him and trying to understand him, he rembered the unceasing questions.
He rembered Rex’s genuine love for asking questions and learning.
He rembered telling him different random quotes that he ca up with to sound wise, he rembered telling him to think outside the box, he rembered working together with him in his workshop back in Community G to construct basic pistols.
He rembered when Rex created his very first and only chanist blueprint. He rembered his ecstasy, joy, and gratitude towards him for directing him and teaching him to think outside the box.
He also rembered Rex’s final monts, he rembered his sacrifice.
Leon simply stayed squatted in silence for a long ti as he relived these mories, then he removed his backpack and brought out a package from inside.
It was a pair of chains, the ADE Nullification Shackles.
Looking at the chains, he smiled slightly, then he gently wrapped them around the headstone.
He leaned back and admired the sight for a few seconds, then he finally pulled the plasma pen out of his pocket and wrote his own epitaph.
Leon didn’t overthink it, he wrote it straight out of his mind.
["A friend who was more than a friend. My family. A chanist whose legacy will live on forever through ."]
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