Far beyond the borders of the Resistance and the unoccupied territory that was No Man's Land stands the Headquarters to the Order. Mind, their territory is in better condition than that of the Resistance, though not ultimately so. They are no exception to the consequences of time and battle ravaging the landscape, but it should be noted that combat sees their territory less frequently.

Compared to the dilapidated hotel that the rebels kip out in, they have an assortment of buildings at their disposal. They have the technology and resources to maintain a decent upkeep of their laboratory, a slowly collapsing office building, and a few makeshift barracks, which were mostly old shops with added beds. A few years prior they had several smaller buildings used for miscellaneous purposes, but given their gradually depleting resources, they'd had to cut back. As it is, the buildings that are currently being maintained are barely passing the appearance and functionality of practical.

All of the buildings in the Order's possession are almost never unoccupied. There are many more soldiers under their command. All are given a job of gathering, spying on the pesky rebels, or keeping the place stable. The higher ups occupy either the laboratory or the office building for most of the day.

Within the towering office building that formerly served as the Headquarters to the founders of Pangaea now belongs to one Ludwig Beilschmidt, remaining heir to the company, serving a similar purpose to that of the hotel and the rats that lay claim to it. The video conference room now stood empty, as the trio had wandered off to their own devices. Ludwig had retreated to the topmost floor –the literal top floor had long collapsed- while Kiku had disappeared to another floor. No one was ever really quite sure where he took refuge at when he wasn't in the laboratory, or what he did while he was away. Ivan, on the other hand, could be heard a few halls down from his office. Mind, the door leading in was cracked ajar only a bit, and he was normally possessed a very gentle tone, but his voice carried regardless. Perhaps it was the depth of which it emerged from his throat that caused his soft, yet threatening words to carry as far as they were able.

"Let me get this straight. You three spotted the target, yet you all ran away from a harmless topsider?" Ivan sat behind a chipped, stained desk as he examined the boys before him.

"Y-yes, sir. We're very sorry, sir. We thought he was one of the rebels," the tallest pleaded, unable to lift his blue-green eyes to meet the ferocious purple eyes glaring holes into the top of his head. The young man trembled practically in unison with the two younger members at his side.

"Yes, Mr Braginski, we thought he was perhaps a spy," the glasses clad male stuttered. He too could not meet the eyes of their boss. "We didn't study his appearance enough. It is most certainly our fault!"

"You should have seen his eyebrows. They were terrifying! I thought maybe they would eat his face, or ours, had we stayed any longer! And then they would have come for you, I'm sure!" the youngest, smallest added, much to the terror of the other two. They nudged him together, making him whimper and glare at the two of them.

"Shut up! Shut up!" the tall brunette pleaded. "Raivis was just scared! He doesn't know what he's talking about!"

"How silly of you. You're such a tiny thing, yet you possess so much humor. I'm laughing on the inside, can you tell?" the fearsome Russian asked them humorlessly.

"To be honest, sir, I can never tell when you're laughing on the outside. You're so scary no matter what! Truly a person to beware!"
"Why can't you ever shut up?" the middle of the three pleaded louder, taking Raivis by the shoulders and shaking him angrily.

"No matter. You three are terrible spies and should be smart enough to make a grab for anyone you didn't know. Even if was not our target, you could have grabbed a possible rat that we could have kept in our possession."

"A-actually, sir, we also came straight away to inform you that he had gotten away from the Gatherer."

"Ah, my dear Toris, I do not doubt you thought that would be best option. Too bad for you that it was not. Also too bad for you that you were unable to inform me before I was informed otherwise."

"We'll do better next time. We're sorry!" the three cried, heads bowed to avoid any possible contact.

Ivan was just thinking of how best he could exact a punishment to the three of them when a soft knock came to the door and a young Asian man stepped through. Ivan immediately lit up at the sight of his Chinese subordinate.

"Greetings, Yao-Yao," he called, standing up from behind his desk and striding past the trembling trio. He made to grab at the young man, but Yao stepped away before the large hands could paw at him.

"It's Yao," he shot back, looking between the Russian and the pathetic lot he called his errand boys. "I've got the report on the Gatherers we lost today. I'll just leave it here."

"Nyet, nyet. Read to me." He smiled in a very childlike fashion to imply his curiosity. He waved a gloved hand to gesture for Yao to begin. The ponytailed Asian looked unsure but cleared his throat all the same. He did his best to keep his accent out of his reading, as Ivan found it an excuse to make him say it all over again. Behind him, the trio snuck out of the room.

"Okay. We lost four of our Gatherers. The other one came back, but not good. It will need repairs. We make more soon." He stopped skimming the reports and tried to repeat the sentence.

"Oh, how cute. I love to hear you say things wrong," Ivan teased, even though his English wasn't that must better. It really didn't help that all of their English was learned from those who also barely spoke English. It was really only those who had come at a young age that were able to speak without accent.

Yao did nothing but stare at him, his brow furrowing in annoyance. Every time with this guy. Every time. If Ivan wasn't so dangerous, Yao would definitely take him on.

"Well, go on? I'm wanting to hear more."

"Right. We also not have enough parts right now to make many more." He faltered when he realized that sentence didn't sound quite right either. Being in the presence of Ivan, as well as trying to read crappy English scrawl and speaking as properly as he could made his accent and English break down. When he was not interrupted he continued. "We can get more parts if we scrap a few other projects down in labor- laboratory. What are you doing?" He looked up from the papers to see Ivan leaning in close, his large nose threatening to tap the papers Yao held close to his face.

"Just checking you are reading the right words. You are sounding so silly I just want to check you are reading right." As the case with Yao's English breaking down, Ivan's tended to come apart when he was either mad, or teasing someone with poor English.

Yao flushed and turned his head, biting the inside of his cheek to hold back a sharp retort in Chinese. Ivan found it even funnier when he fell back into Chinese. Then he knew he had gotten to Yao. Instead he held his breath and worked out the sentence in his head. Once he knew it sounded right, he spoke.

"You can read this yourself if you only want to make fun of me." He tossed the papers onto the desk's surface where they scattered to cover most of the mysterious stain on the desk. "Good day. I have to talk to someone else." He turned to leave, only to be jerked back violently by his ponytail. He cried out as Ivan spun him around and pinned him against the wall, eyes flashing with a malicious joy.

"No, you stay here and tell me the rest. Don't make me freeze you to my wall. I would love a Chinese ice statue in my office, you know." He leaned his weight forward to keep the struggling man held down before him.

"Let go! I don't like when you do this!" It was not that often Ivan shoved him around, but when he did, he played rough.

The Russian man laughed gleefully, looking thoughtfully at his prey.

"Then I guess sooner you start, sooner you finish."

"But I need the report. Let me go!"

"No. Should have memorize it.

"I can't memorize it! I am barely able to read it!"

"I'm waiting."

"I – I. . . Ugh! H-have th-three? Three more in reserve, but Ludwig said not to use for now. Also, Ludwig says maybe we use the Lithuanian for bargain." A mischievous look crossed his face. "Or maybe we use him as new Gatherer. That sound like even better idea."

Ivan froze at the last sentence, and although he made no conscious effort to continue pinning Yao to the wall, the Chinese man found himself unable to struggle much. It was best not to anger the Russian any more than he suspected him to be at the news of losing his prize.

"I will talk to Ludwig. He can have someone else to bargain with. Not my Toris. And he won't use him for stupid experiment." With that, Ivan began to mutter something in Russian, shoving Yao away from him violently. Yao grimaced as he knocked into the door, his back stinging from where the knob dug into his spine. He scoffed but made no further attempt at conversation, taking his leave quickly. He refrained from slamming the door, though he would have liked to. The last thing he wanted was the angry Russian to storm out of the office and freeze him to the wall as he so often threatened.

Yao took a deep breath as he was faced with the empty corridor, listening to the sounds of Ivan tossing things carelessly around the room in one of his childish fits. He could hear the murmured Russian, even with the door closed shut. He cursed under his breath in Chinese, tilting his head back as he leaned against the wall beside the door frame. His head made a hollow sound as he made contact with the wall, making him freeze in hopes that Ivan had not heard the sound from within his office.

When no slamming open of the door occurred, or no pounding on the walls and threats made through the door were to be heard, Yao released his held breath. Being around the Russian made him nervous beyond belief; the man was easily comparable to the game of Russian roulette.

Just as his pulse was settling down, Yao heard quiet footsteps approaching. He looked over to where the corridor contained a left turn hallway and waiting for the figure to approach. Lo and behold, Kiku turned the corner, apathetic expression analyzing the surroundings before he caught Yao staring at him. The Japanese man's expression didn't change much, but upon making eye contact with his co-worker, his eyes took a more awake look.

"Sorry, I was thinking. Are you okay?" he asked quietly, coming to a halt beside Yao's leaning frame.

"Yes. Ivan-"

"Ivan-san is giving you a hard time?" he interrupted, eyes flicking towards the closed door. The young man cocked his head to the side as he listened to the curses coming from the room.

"Nothing I can't handle," Yao said dismissively. "He is more on-edge today, I think."

"Yes. We just finished a video call with the Resistance group. The end results were not good. Also, seeing Alfred-san is not good for him, either."

"What do we do if the Resistance does not cooperate with us? If they keep not giving up their targets?"

The Japanese man paused and pursed his lips slightly. His narrow eyes narrowed further in thought.

"We are planning an attack now. Ludwig-san does not expect them to cooperate. He says they will certainly not want to. The leader is surely stubborn."

"I know. Do you know when the attack will be? Where?"

Kiku shook his head. "Don't know yet. Still planning phase. I need you to go out and gather materials from the area. Maybe you can spy too, if you have time. Also if you are careful. Don't get caught by them, okay? They will have maybe too much leverage against us if you are captured."

"Yes, I understand." Yao let the information sink in. He really didn't care for when they were all sent out to fight. He especially didn't care for the fighting. He was here for a few reasons, but fighting the 'rats' was not one of them. "You want me to leave now?"

"Please. If you can leave now. I have to talk to Vash about the weapons. Maybe need upgrade on them if we want to take advantage of the Resistance."

With that, Kiku continued on his way, striding past Yao and down the hall. Yao watched him take the second right turn as he progressed, disappearing from sight. Yao took his own leave once the sounds of Kiku's steps had faded in the distance. He took the opposite direction and made to leave the building. He had to make a quick trip to his living space to gather a few possessions before setting off to collect the materials Kiku had requested.

His makeshift home was separate from the barracks the mindless soldiers shared. He was more to the edge of their territory, though not so far as to have Ludwig chewing him out and making him move closer. Yao insisted he liked his privacy, though really, he liked to be away from the unpredictable Ivan and the coldhearted Kiku. Being around them made him nervous. He didn't mind Ludwig when he wasn't shouting and barking orders. He didn't mind many of the other important members, but in turn, they didn't mind him.

He thought about the other members as he crossed the distance from the office building and passed the randomized buildings used as homes. He could remember when this area was much like a city, with workers exiting the office building, or laboratory, or the nearby shops to grab some lunch, or to use their breaks and take a stroll. Now he was climbing out of literal man-made holes in the old street, and tripping over rubble from the damaged buildings.

His home was his old Chinese shop he had run. The lucky items inside had been stolen from back when chaos was running high. His shop was in decent condition on the outside, and he had done what he could to fix up the inside after people had run through and knocked things over in their hurry to steal anything valuable. When he walked in, the bells at the top of the door chimed happily, making his heart jump once again as he remembered serving customers who had made the door chime years ago.

Within the old shop, Chinese posters curled sadly in on themselves at the corners that no longer stuck to the wall. He had cleaned up the shattered glass and china plates long ago, and so his shelves were bare against the cracked wall. The counter had been ransacked, and the cash register had been smashed to pieces. All he really had left was his sleeping mattress on the floor behind the counter, his old Shinatty doll from home, and a pile of clothes that he'd have to mend due to rips and stains from crawling around the destroyed city.

As Yao looked around his shop once more, settling within the flood of memories that overtook his senses each time he was feeling particularly nostalgic, he only wished for a resolution to the war.

He cleared his head after another moment of recollection and walked behind the counter. He crouched down beside his mattress and tattered blanket to grab his makeshift pillow, which in fact, was his messenger bag balled up and contents removed. He turned his head to look at his ragged cat doll fondly. If only he could lie around, eating dumplings made from his mother's recipe, and cuddle with the doll. But those were days long gone, and he was not a child. He had a job to do now, and survival was the key idea.

Maybe if he had never come here all those years ago, he could still be home with his siblings, his parents, and the family-owned shop back in China. But he, like many others all around the world, had been lured in by the invitation's promise of a society made for those above the petty squabbles of the weak. He had been promised a great opportunity to make a great fortune. Look where he was now. He laughed to himself –more like laughed at himself- because what good did regretting the past do now? Nothing, that's what. Yao pushed away a stray strand of hair from his forehead and stood up, unfolding the messenger bag and shaking it out. Even after he slung it over his shoulder it still held its crumpled form. It would unfold as it gained possessions to carry.

The Chinese man shook himself mentally and literally, forcibly removing himself from his reverie. Only after he removed his hair from its usual ponytail and replaced it with a fresh hold did he set out, exiting the territory to explore the No Man's Land, and the Resistance's territory. If this is what it took to end the war, then he didn't care what he was used for.