AECAST Comic Chapter 2

This is the second chapter of the AECAST comic.

Chapter 2 Cover.

## Official Description

> *Humanity is dying. Demons overrun the world, killing those who venture beyond the city walls. Two girls join a new mage squad formed under secretive conditions. Can their efforts turn the tide before it is too late?*
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## Full Summary

A mysterious room is shown, with a large globe hologram in the center suspended over a lotus statute base. A notification pops up. An obscure figure sees the note and issues a silent command with his fingers. Magical runes display mid-air, and then vanish. The room falls silent and dark once more.

Hannah, Aytan, and Anuchar approach the casern in which they will finally meet the other members of the 22nd Magus Expedition Unit. Inside, they counter Paige, Itzel, Mina, and Naomi. Itzel is not impressed with Aytan and Hannah, and disparages their abilities. Aytan retaliates, but Itzel shouts her down by denigrating their lack of combat experience. Naomi asks Itzel to give them a chance, as they were all trained by Anuchar. While Aytan silently cries, Itzel looks around angrily and finally decides to acquiesce. Anuchar states he is disappointed in the lack of team cohesion and that he will discuss the matter with Itzel later.

Anuchar then starts the mission briefing by activating a large hologram. Their mission is to meet up with the 42nd Magus Expedition Unit at a citadel located at the very edge of human-controlled territory. There, the 22nd and 42nd squads are to conduct reconnaissance of the building. Should they encounter any issues, they are to disengage and retreat immediately.

Upon taking a glissade jump into the citadel, it is clear the place is dark and rundown. Naomi is overcome with glissade sickness, forcing Paige and Mina to stay behind to watch over her. Aytan, Hannah, and Itzel go on ahead and meet 42nd squad as well as their spokesman, Valens. The 42nd squad is shocked to learn that female mages are allowed outside the megacities, but Itzel assures them that they are ready to assist. Hannah is instructed to check in with the rest of their squad on her Vakta, but is unable to do so due to unknown interference. Valens states that this is unfortunately not unusual here.

In the meantime, while Valens was showing them where they would be operating later on, he is silently ambushed and killed by an humanoid abomination. During the confrontation, Hannah is forced to kill the creature. Overcome with disgust at what she had done, she vomits. Aytan tries to comfort her.

Itzel looks at the dead body of Valens and is given a horrifying vision in which reenacts events that suggest she had abandoned someone in the past. She breaks out of this vision only when Hannah receivs a broken message on her Vakta from Mina. This message is abruptly cut off when Mina gets attacked by a similar creature.

Mina is saved at the last second when Paige kills the creature. However, the scuffle broke her Vakta, cutting them off from further contact. Naomi alerts them that her Saadahk shows more creatures in the surrounding environs preparing to attack soon. Mina and Paige begin to disagree on how best to proceed, only to be cut short by Naomi who states that all escape routes had been cut off. As second-in-command, Naomi orders the group to dig in and wait for reinforcements.

## Major Events

* Hannah and Aytan meet Paige, Itzel, Mina, and Naomi.
* They are assigned and embark on their first mission.
* 42nd Squad and Valens are introduced.
* Valens is killed by an abomination, and Hannah kills for the first time.
* Itzel is shown to have a dark past.
* Paige saves Mina from another abomination.
* Naomi is shown using her Saadahk for the first time.