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Futuristic EDENSEED - The Genesian War IC



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-ANNOUNCEMENTS-


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Guin
Mission Briefing
Received: 05:25am, December 27.

Attn: CkSmalling CkSmalling KhazTheGiraffe KhazTheGiraffe Alecto Alecto Soulmuse Soulmuse Petroshka Petroshka Soviet Panda Soviet Panda Darth Oats Darth Oats FabulousTrash FabulousTrash

Hey guys,

Don't forget mission briefing's tmrw! 28th Dec, 0800 hours sharp.

Enjoy your last day of freedom!

-Guinevere

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Guin
Operation Genesis Strike
Received: 07:31am, January 3.

Attn: CkSmalling CkSmalling KhazTheGiraffe KhazTheGiraffe Alecto Alecto Soulmuse Soulmuse Petroshka Petroshka Soviet Panda Soviet Panda Darth Oats Darth Oats FabulousTrash FabulousTrash

Blue Team Leader: Fenrir
Members: Aniketos. Jotun. Athena. Lancelot.


Red Team Leader: Andarta
Members: Guinevere. Hercules. Mordred.



For your reference

-Guinevere

 
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PROLOGUE ~ Last Day of Freedom!



~*~
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"Command to all units in Sector 2, fallback! I repeat, all units in Sector 2 fallback!" The brunette was at a command desk, trying her best not to shout. All around her was a bustle of activity, as officers, attendants and generals rush to and fro, belaying orders and commands. Lower ranking command officers like herself were at their desks, a visual layout of the besieged city on their screens. Most showed red warning markings, many seemed to be shouting into their mouthpieces, as if those on the other end could barely hear them. A multitude of holographic screens filled the room, illuminating those within with their eerie glow; uncaring for the chaos that was happening within. Eurica took a brief moment to glance to the back of the Command Center. Ardennais High Command, with her handful of commanding generals were huddled around a command table, they seemed to be speaking hurriedly, frowns creasing foreheads as one would occasionaly point at an advancing mass of red.

"Lookout!" A shrill cry, followed by a roar of startled people then silence. Eurica followed the gaze of the command officer behind to look out the broad front viewport of the High Command tower; eyes widening as she, and no doubt the others in the room saw the crimson death trails of enemy salvos. Fiery streaks scoured the sky, arching upwards then dipping down. Immediately warning sirens sounded as metal shutters began roving to cover up the glass windows. Just before the portals closed, she saw the countermeasure lasers deploy, then a blast of green light. A moment later, there was a muffled BOOOM and the command center rocked violently. The lights and the holographic screens flickered, but held. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, as if expecting the walls to come crashing down. But it didn't happen and the chaos resumed. Confederation forces were getting closer, they had to buy more time. Those on the ground needed them.

A burst of static brought Eurica out of her temporary stupor.

"Command-zzt.. co-zzzt command! Fizzzt Team Seven herzzzt Do you read me?" Eurica jerked forwards to stare at her console, eyes immediately zeroing in on a blinking dot of green on her map. Fire Team 7, they were in Sector 2! Eurica could only imagine the devastation they were in. Sector 2, was an urban residence area, and from the indicators of her map, quickly being overrun. They had deployed troops there to delay the Confederation's advance as there was a bottleneck.

"This is Command, I read you Fire Team Seven. Get out of there! Order is to retreat-" There was a long pause, interspersed by low static. Worried their line had been broken, Eurica's eyes automatically went to the green dot on her map. Her heart sank.

"Abouzzzt that Command... I don't thinzzzt -gonna happen... pause... static.... distant explosions... Eurica glanced at her holo-map again, surrounded... surrounded and alone.. Unbidden, tears began forming at the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them away. They were not the first, and certainly wouldn't be the last.

"Comman-?zzt"

"I'm here Fire Team Seven." Why am I crying? I shouldn't be crying...

"Has zzt-ryone else crosszzt the bridge?

"They have, Fire Team Seven. They have..." pause... static... static...

"zzztood... very good.. zztnd the civilians?"

"On schedule Fire Team Seven, thanks to you guys..." She'd never lied before, why now? "Tell me your name soldier.." static

"Corporal Miles ma`amzzzt"

"Corporal Miles... tell Fire Team Seven they did a great job..."

"You jus-zzt did ma`am." what?

"I don't get you Corporal Miles-"

"It's juszzzt me ma`am. I'm all that's lefzzt" She was broken, she could no longer hold it in. Corporal Miles was still speaking, but between the static and the numbing freeze of her mind, she could not hear him, until finally. "-ut I'll be sure zzt to let the boys know. zzte seeing them soon. They'll appreciazzt it!"

I'm sorry... so so sorry...

"Fire Teazzt Seven over and out."

I'm sorry... Eurica let out a choked gasp, she nearly bawled there and then. But through sheer will, held it together. There was still a light static in her earpiece, Corporal Miles apparently hadn't fully cut the transmission. The static grew louder, then she thought she heard the roar of an explosion, then the line went dead. A moment later, the glass windows of the command center rattled in their panes as an aftershock of a distant explosion hit it.

"zzzt!-oly SHIT! Command did you see that?!" Eurica looked at her HUD to see the source of the transmission. Delta 5, Kasaian Forward Scouts. "HOLY SHIT! The whole island of Sector 2 just BLEW UP!"

I see it Delta 5... I see it...

We lost...

~ * ~

A burst of ember sparks cascaded down from the bulkhead as the brown haired girl raced through the tangle of broken circuitry and rubble strewn walkway that led to the structure's inner core. The orange glow from the sparks briefly highlighting the slender figure, decked out in her officer's uniform, now stained by dust and blackened soot. The desperate pounding of her footsteps on the metal flooring seemed to be matched by the intermittent rumble of explosions and screaming metal that shook the very fabric of her being. Her usually fair skin was now covered with a clear sheen of perspiration and patches of grime, she raised her arms instinctively to shield herself from the burning particles but a sudden muffled explosion not far from where she was, rocked the very foundations of the building around her. The force of the explosion threw her lithe frame to the side, and she crashed jarringly against a steel pillar. The girl cried out as the pain flared up her arm but the adrenaline coursing through her veins muffled her senses and kept her moving. Quickly the girl scrambled to her feet and struggled on, eyes wide and staring as if afraid of what she might find down the corridor...

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of dodging exposed sputtering wires and falling debris, she burst into a larger hallway with a set of large reinforced glass doors at the other end. The room was bathed in an almost ethereal emerald glow which emanated from the other side of the glass doors. Just beyond it, she could barely make out the Hive Columns; the heart and lifeblood of their once proud city, Ardennais. Thousands of palm sized emerald crystals set in an elaborate lattice of circuitry and fiber connections that ran from the ground up till the ceiling forming a neat column. There were scores of columns and amidst them all, she saw two figures their bodies draped by lab coats that only this morning were bleached clean white. They were hurriedly moving from each column to the next. Pausing several moments at each control station to fiddle with the keyboard. Her heart sank.

The girl sprinted across the hallway, oblivious just as another set of reinforced glass doors off to one side hissed open emitting a rush of dark figures. Brown tresses flying wildly, she crashed against the reactor doors and slammed her palms on the key-lock scanner to the side.

"Open up!" She nearly screeched.

"Access denied." Came a cool artificially feminine voice. It's tone annoyingly emotionless as if purposefully unaware of the current situation at hand.

Mouth wide in disbelief and shock, she stared first at the key-lock then at the busy figures on the other side of the glass doorway before slamming her palms once again on the keylock.

"OPEN UP DAMMIT!!"

"Access denied."

"NO!" The girl let out an anguished wail, her vision already starting to blur as tears once again welled up in her ember eyes. Almost desperately, she clawed at the edges and pressed a little white button close to the key-lock and spoke into the intercom. Try as she might, she could not keep her voice in full control.

"D-Dad! DAD! Why is this locked?! Let me in!!!" Glancing through the hardened glass, her heart skipped a beat when she saw both of the figures stop to glance at her. Then, the taller of the two - a man just past what might've been his prime but still as fit as ever, though with greying hair - hurried over to the other side of the door. But instead of going for the key-lock, he pressed the intercom and spoke.

"Sweetheart... you shouldn't be here. I told them to tell you to leave. I will.. catch up once Dr. Pierch and I are done here." His voice was soft but firm. Eurica could see the pained look on her father's face and knew he was lying.

"THAT'S A LIE AND YOU KNOW IT!" Dr. Ivanov Sterne flinched upon hearing his daughter's words, but kept his resolve.

Eurica regretted screaming at him even as the words left her ruby lips but she could not help herself. There was no way she was leaving, not without her dad. The dams had broken and by now, clear streams began pouring down over her cheeks as the girl sobbed. Her shoulders quivered as she fought to keep her composure. She reached out with her other hand and placed it against the glass doors as if by that action alone she could prevent what was most precious to her from slipping away.

"P-Please..."You're all I have... "D-Dad.. I-I can help! I know what you're planning to do! DR. PIERCH tell my dad! I-I can help r-right!? PLEASE!" The other figure, Dr. Pierch, had finally come over standing a few yards behind her father but he only shook his head sadly. Just then, both men suddenly shifted their gaze as if to look at something behind Eurica's shoulder. Trying desperately to stop the tears from flowing, Eurica turned and followed their gaze. Before her were another three people, dark crimson body armor with sleek black trimmings covered them from the tips of their toes all the way up to the dark visors of their helmets. Ardennais' elite troopers. While the other two kept watch one of them approached Eurica and removed her helmet revealing a woman with raven-black hair, and a scattering of emerald emanating from parts of her veins. In the past, the two of them had been mistaken for sisters on a regular basis, but that time seemed like a life-time away. Eurica's eyes widened in recognition as she saw the woman.

"Nyala! Please! Get them to open it up! It's your dad in there too!"

Behind her, Dr. Ivanov pressed the intercom to address the dark-haired girl standing behind his daughter. "Nyala... you know what you have to do.." At his words, Eurica's eyes widened as she looked up at her friend. "NO! If you're not letting me in I'm STAYING HERE! N-Nyala, no! D-Don't do this!" She was desperate, she'd do all she could to keep from leaving. But as she looked at her dear friend's dark orbs, she knew it was futile. But she'd try anyway. She kicked and screamed, she even threw up a barier, but she could not keep it up. Before she knew it, there was a sharp thump at the back of her head and everything went black.

"I love you Yuri, my sweetheart... always..."

December 27, AD 2205 The Present. Local Time 0506 hours
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Eurica awoke with a start, flying up from her sleeping position to come to sit amidst the tangled sheets of her bed. Her heart was pounding as if she had been running for hours and perspiration had soaked through the back of the white tank top she was sleeping in. A shaft of pale silvery light filtering in through the oval plexiglass window caught a brief shimmer of blue and orange locks, casting a soft glow on her face. Eurica reached both hands upwards to hold them at the side of her forehead, dragging her hair back. It was that dream again. The only dream she'd been having lately, ever since she'd accepted to be a part of that program, to continue her parent's legacy. A dream about the day she lost the people most dear to her.

The young woman glanced at the clock and sighed. A full two hours before she was supposed to wake but she doubted she could get another wink again anytime soon. Dragging the messy sheets aside, she extricated her long slim legs and got to her feet by the bed to stretch, dressed only in her white tank top and boyshorts. The past few months had been hectic, and she was starting to feel the effects of insufficient rest; what with all the new recruits coming in. She doubted things would get any better from that point onward though. She was thankful that at least she had a place to call her own, courtesy of her father's inheritance.

She thought back to the time the offer came, and how she had taken it without hesitation. It surprised her at first, but looking back, it was inevitable. At that time, the military council had wanted her to rejoin the ranks of office, even offering to promote her for being the sole surviving officer from Ardennais' High Command; something which Eurica at times felt was more a curse than a blessing. It was only much later that she realized the Command Tower had been obliterated, moments after her CO had given her leave to seek out her dad. She had declined the military, instead seeking an audience with General Odenheim. It was then that Project EdenKnight was reignited.

Heaving another sigh, she drifted over to
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look out the window of her apartment. She was several thousand feet above the ground, on one of the highest levels of the megastructure that was the main block of the city, Point Sentinel. The megastructure stood by the edge of a cliff with 200 foot waterfalls on either side of her. A small peninsular to one side and several other island blocks made up the other segments of the city. Built over a piece of the Asteroid that carried the Edenseeds, Point Sentinel rose thousands of feet into the air. An engineering marvel, a symbol of their technological advancement. Yet for all that the Asteroids had done, Eurica wondered if humanity would have been better off without them. Eurica caught herself at the thought, a smirk forming on her lips. Oh how morbid... She wondered what those who 'knew' her would think when they saw their cheery-faced always-positive Eurica this way. Anyway, might as well have an early start.. last day of freedom.


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By the time she had showered, and performed her routine of meditational poses, the dawn had already begun cresting the horizon. As she entered her room once again, Eurica spoke into the air, seemingly to no-one in particular, "rise and shine!" There was a low mechanical whir and suddenly the walls of her room began to shift to the side, sliding out of view to display a broad glassy vista that looked out over the city.

"Good morning Ms Eurica." A disembodied feminine voice greeted her. "You have twenty pending mails... One is flagged from General Odenheim." The voice continued, "Would you like me to-".

"Nevermind that, I'll get it later. Tell me, where's the best place in the Diamond Expanse to get breakfast pancakes?"
 
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December 27, AD 2205 The Present. Local Time 0312 hours

OPAL QUARTER: Firing Range

Crack! She didn’t even blink as the rifle jerked into her shoulder, followed shortly by the center of the target illuminated bright red, signaling yet another hit. Flipping a lock of hair back into place, Aquilla leaned back, letting the rifle be for a moment. She hadn’t bothered bringing her headgear, hoping that the lack of computer assist would make the practice range for snipers somewhat more challenging, or at least take her mind off her latest nightmares. As if shooting a stationary target on a controlled range is ever going to compare to the precision sniping against tanks and armored walking death. Hefting her weapon, she rose to her feet, stalking back towards the where she had left the rifle’s case; if her mind was still drifting to that, another hour at the shooting range wasn’t going to change it.

Settling on one of the benches at the back of the range, Aquilla set to work, stripping the rifle down in quick sure motions. Half her focus remained on cleaning and reassembling the weapon, the other half drifting to the situation at hand.

Coming to Sentinel was perhaps the only part of agreeing to rejoin EdenKnight that Aquilla had been unsure about. Even as insular as her life was, absorbed in the day to day duties of command, as well as the occasional field operation, she knew of the resentment towards Kasai felt in Sentinel. In a way, Aquilla didn’t blame them, she had her own issues with Kasai High Command’s desire to hole up inside their defenses, and let the enemy break upon them. If the Capital had shown them anything, it was that such a stratagem would ultimately fail, and in spectacular fashion. Heavy artillery was a wonderful battlefield asset, but the need for people like her to effectively use it meant that there was always a need for more conventional troops, not just light scouts.

Pulling the bolt back and letting it slot back into place with a heavy click, Aquilla return set the weapon down, running a hand through her hair. She was technically a Captain any longer. The rank might still have existed on her files, but none of that mattered for EdenKnight, yet here she was, still thinking like one. What a mess. Returning her rifle to iitscase, and slinging that over her shoulder as best she could, Aquilla shifted a bit, the fabric of shirt chafing under the strap. With any luck, she could avoid anyone ever calling her ‘Captain’ or ‘Ma’am’ again, at least, anyone new. If her old squad mates still called her Captain, Aquilla would tolerate it, although even then, it was mere tolerance. Giving the carry strap one final tug, she started back to Eurica’s apartment.

Another surprise, although a good one, Aquilla had never expected to run into the other woman after they parted ways upon arrival in Sentinel after Ardennais, Aquilla returning to the fight and counterattack, and Eurica apparently leaving the military altogether. The appearance of a friendly face was more than welcome, even more so the offer to avoid becoming mired in the suspicion and distrust, or worse, the wonderful rumor mill the military seemed capable of. If Kasian soldiers could get up to rumor-mongering about her, Aquilla didn’t want to know what Sentinel might have decided. It wasn’t as if she was the only Kasian soldier to stand their ground, but those low grade awed whispers had always circulated. Her soldiers, it was hard to not think of them as such, even if she was no longer their commander, had admitted to terrifying the occasional new recruit with the idea that the Captain Vaughn was something far more than a pretty face and a skintight bodyglove, but that only accounted for some of it. She shook her head. There was no use getting tied up in what ifs.

Glancing at a nearby clock, Aquilla stifled a groan. 0312. Day wouldn’t break for hours yet, and she had been awake for two hours already.

Point Sentinel: Eurica’s Apartment || Local Time: 0400


Although the apartment was hardly familiar, Aquilla had little difficulty slipping into the room that functioned as ‘hers’ without making too much noise. Dropping her rifle onto the bed, she palmed her headset from the desk slipping the device over her ears with practiced ease. With a chip in her right ear, the AI awoke.

Messages?” Strictly speaking, she didn’t need to speak, the eyepiece was designed to register eye movement. However, if she was alone, Aquilla preferred to speak aloud, as it provided a sharp distinction between those times when she was fighting for her life, and when she could breathe.

Thirteen unread messages.” She had to appreciate whoever programed the voice, the dry mechanical tone sounded just human enough to not unnerve the listener, but was just wrong enough that no one would mistake the AI for anything but what it was.

“Anything relevant?” She doubted it. Most of her mail was routine things, ones that, with her transfer into EdenKnight, didn’t matter. Not that Kasian Command’s weekly demands that soldiers only carry side arms on base, and not into the city weren’t amusing, but now that she wasn’t in Kasai, they didn’t matter. That, and no one obeyed that request. Most officers who had seen combat paid it lip service, while carrying weapons off duty anyways.

A moment.” Another human touch, although Aquilla didn’t know why it was there. The system had categorized everything before she put the headset on, as she understood things. “You have one message from Corporal Tarris’s sister, from less than one hour ago. All other mail is filed as Low Priority.

Aquilla’s heart skipped a beat. Corporal Adam Tarris. She’s spoken to his family very briefly years ago, shortly before her ‘promotion’ to Captain. Tarris had been one of the first casualties of the Battle of Ardennais, killed by shrapnel in the initial shelling of the city. Only slightly older than Aquilla herself, he had had two siblings, as well as his parents, none of whom had taken the news of his death well, not that Aquilla had taken it well herself. As his erstwhile CO, they had blamed Aquilla for their son’s death, something she had already done herself. “Go ahead.” Taking a deep breath, Aquilla forced herself to relax.

Something scratched in her right ear, before audio began to play, a young, if subdued female voice, accompanied by a small degree of echo beginning to play. “Captain…err..Aquilla. I…you probably don’t remember me. Sharol Tarris.” Aquilla did in fact, remember the girl, eighteen at the time they had ‘met’, she had been the most subdued in her reactions to the news of her brother’s death. “I…well, I wanted to apologize. For all of us. You didn’t deserve how we acted. I think you probably took Adam’s death even harder than we did, thinking back on it. I was just…. I lost my brother. And then there was this stupid girl who was telling us about all this, and we didn’t even…we didn’t’ even get to….” A strangled sob could be heard. Fist clenching, Aquilla dropped onto the bed, forcing her breathing to regulate itself. “We didn’t get to say goodbye to him or anything like that. I just…I wanted to say I was sorry. And that I don’t think it’s your fault.” A few sniffles. “You probably aren’t even going to listen this, huh?” More sniffles, and a croaking laugh. “I…well…I’m sorry.” And, with a click, the message ended.

For several minutes Aquilla was silent, sitting in silence, her chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. Her lips were dry, cold sweat making her shirt cling. With a long sigh, she collapsed back into the bed.

Would you like to review your remaining messages Captain?” Logically, she knew the AI was only trying to be helpful. That didn’t mean Aquilla didn’t want to throw it, as much as one could throw some computer code.

I’ll deal with them later.” Or, more accurately, she would delete them, like she did every other day. “Is there anything else I need to be aware of?”

You have a mission briefing tomorrow morning a 0800. You are not sleeping enough.” There were days Aquilla wondered if her Mother had gotten ahold of her FREYA headset because the device harped on her about sleeping far more than should have been healthy. Worse, for a mechanical voice, ti managed to sound chastising every time.

Understood.” Cutting the AI off, Aquilla unclipped the headset, rising to return it to its place on the desk. A glance at the clock told a further dismal tale of 0418. Not nearly time enough to try and nap, especially not after that message; she had no desire to relieve Tarris’s death in gory details. “Make a note that I need to call her back at some point. Or at least send a message.” There was more to why the girl had called, along with the more obvious question of how on earth she had gotten ahold of Aquilla’s contact information in the first place, but those things could be handled later.

Leaving that thought behind, Aquilla paused only a second to glance outside at the city. If history was anything to guess by, Eurica would be waking up within the next hour and a half, she guessed. Sentinel’s cycle of waking was still unfamiliar, but Aquilla was fairly certain she had figured out the general pulse of the city. Setting the fact that she needed to at least become somewhat more familiar with Sentinel aside as something to be done later given the massive amount of free time she had, Aquilla headed for the shower.

By the time dawn started to break, and Aquilla could hear Eurica moving about, she had already field stripped her rifle, cleaned the entire thing once again, and given her handgun a thorough once over. Leaving both weapons laying on the desk, Aquilla stood, stretching a bit to work some of the stiffness from her legs before discarding the loose fitting t-shirt she had been wearing, and pulling on her usual body glove. Snapping the final clasps into place, started down the hall where she could hear speaking, while clipping her headset into place, the telltale chirp of the AI waking up sounding.

“-Diamond Expanse to get breakfast pancakes?” Eurica was in the process of asking as Aquilla stepped into the doorway of the room.

Leaning against the doorframe Aquilla crossed her arms, fighting with a smile. “You mind if I tag along?” It would probably be best to not subject any kitchen to what passed for her cooking, and it wasn’t as if her method of finding breakfast would have been much different.
 
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The already questionable lights in the dimly lit washroom flickered pathetically while Dom studied himself in the mirror. He inspected the fresh new scratches and bruises he had acquired in the past few hours. Nothing major expect for the already very large purple baseball forming just under his ribs. It was the only lucky shot someone had landed all night, and in fairness, he only didn't block it because he was winking at a gorgeous blond near the entrance of the run down bar. He groaned softly. Being a stomach sleeper, the bruise was certainly going to be a nuisance at night; however, night time was not a pressing issue at the moment as it was already 6:03 AM.
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Dom shuffled through the bag he brought with him until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out the various pieces of his very crumpled and very expensive suit. At the time it seemed like a good idea to throw everything into his bag all at once, but had come to regret the decision after spending several minutes trying to remove the creases from each article of clothing, unsuccessfully I might add. Abandoning his futile task, he threw on his dress shirt and buttoned it up before donning the rest of the black suit. Dominic slicked black his sweat-ridden hair and threw it up into a bun. Taking one last glance in the mirror he adjusted his tie and left the dark hole they had the audacity to call "Elegance".

It was not as if there weren't other much higher quality establishments in Sentinel, there were many, however Elegance was one of only three bars in the city that had in-house fighting. "The Dusk House" and "Tamar and Sons" were the other two. Every week he fought in one of the three bars, slaughtered each contender, and collected the prize money. It had become a routine of his since he had moved to the city only a few weeks earlier.

The rays of the early morning burned his eyes. Being in a low-lit environment for four hours and not getting enough sleep will do that to a person... Also getting punched in the head doesn't help. He strolled down the almost empty sidewalks and passed an alleyway where a young women slept on the cold pavement. Dom approached her and gently shook her awake. The women jolted awake, clearly alarmed. Perhaps she thought it was a security officer telling her to move. Upon realizes who was crouched in front of her she relaxed.

"Hey, Javi. I think it's about 600 this time." He pulled out the stack of bills he had won only an hour before and gave it to the woman known as Javi.

"Again? You know that this is too much." She gasped but accepted it graciously, she knew better than to argue with Dom. The first time she tried to refuse the money, he pestered relentlessly all day until finally she accepted.

"Don't worry about it. Just put it to good use, will ya?" He smiled and waved goodbye to her as he continued on his way. The young man had no problem giving away that money, he didn't need it and as far as he was concerned it wasn't his money any way. He won the fights far too easily for him to say that he worked hard for that cash. Besides, he had met Javi on one of his first few nights in the city while he was exploring. She had been the one who directed him to Elegance when he inquired about places to fist fight. She had also mentioned that she was saving up her money in order buy a place of her own. Since then, Dom had been giving her all of his winnings.

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Sentinel was very different than Kasai. Dominic had never faced such resentment in his life than when he moved to Sentinel. The people there clearly harboured some negative feelings towards the people of Kasai. He had noticed it in every aspect of his life since his arrival and had even made attempts to reach out to others and to form friendships only to be met with rejection. Nonetheless, this did not dampen his spirits, and he was determined to eliminate any preconceptions that the people of Sentinel held over the people of Kasai. What Dom found most different about the two cities, though, was the landscape. While Sentinel had very large bodies of water, none of it compared to the sea that neighboured Kasai. Each day, he found himself being reminded of the salty spray of the tide crashing against the rocks and the sound of the waves lulling him to sleep at night. But this was his life now. He knew he would be away from home. He knew what the future entailed... sort of. This was an experimental program, after all.

His first mission was tomorrow, he felt only nerves and excitement. Dom imagined the possibilities in his head, all of which resulted positively, of course. He had met only one person of the team so far, Eurica Sterne. She had been the one who first welcomed him upon his arrival to Sector 11. He had vaguely remembered her from the academy. She was a few years his senior and he doubted that she knew who he was prior to reviewing his application. Despite barely knowing her, he knew of her parents very well. Her mother, the founder of the very academy he trained, and her father a hero in the fall of Ardennais. He would be lying if he said he wasn't excited to get to know her better. Of course, he was rather excited to get to know everyone.

Dom wandered the city until finally her arrived at the base of his apartment building. He rode the elevator up and entered his apartment, exhausted from his long night. Knowing that he still had to be productive for the rest of the day he decided to shower seeings as he looked and smelled like a disheveled homeless man.
 
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The sound of large caliber rounds slamming on metal was all she could hear when she was retreating with her heavily damaged gen-2 NARC from the front lines, she saw the Atac's rushing their first line then the second, and soon enough they were scramblign at the walls. No one could've expected they would plow through the defenses so quickly, her NARC was barely running when was escorted to a relatively safe location with her squad and became nonoperational as soon as Nyala stopped the thing from moving. She had to quickly get out with her commanding officer Killian O'brian commanding her to retreat and help with evac operations since her NARC was useless at this point. She wanted to fight still but she obeyed her orders and saluted to him, that was the last time she saw him.

Please Skip to 5:42


Before that she hadn't seen to what extent the confederation had done to her home city, as she ran behind the city walls she was met with an almost apocalyptic scene with buildings in ruin and fire everywhere, but her focus was to one location. "Dad" She picked up her SMG and ran straight toward the Edenseed Facility her parents had worked at for what seemed like the entirety of Nyala's life hoping that they would be okay. The streets were almost empty with a few remaining civilians with their valuables running to the evacuation vehicles that were on the otherside of the city. The air was caked in smoke and the sounds of explosions and rapid firing of bullets deafened her ears until she made it to the facility. It was heavily damaged but she knew it could still take more, and that her father would be in there with Dr. Ivanov, they couldnt let the wicked Confederates have the research they had dedicated most of their lives to. Running into the building she quickly made her way to the main laboratory where Eurica had beaten her to.

Seeing her in this state was hard for Nyala to bare, seeing that she was locked out of the lab with their fathers staring back at them was harder. She fought back her tears realizing what she needed to do, "Duty first," She uttered with regret as she knocked Eurica out with the butt of her gun. Looking up at their fathers who all seemed regretful that this had to be her father said one last thing to her. "Never lose sight of whats in front of you, Nyala." With that she simply nodded and picked up Eurica and out of the building, with a large explosion behind her she didnt dare look back as tears were already forming around her eyes. Getting on one of the emergency evac helicopters she looked back seeing the city on fire and collapsing with a slight glance at a Atac roaming around in one of the neighborhoods letting off its hail of bullets to unseen targets.


December 27, AD 2205 The Present. Local Time 0557 Hours

Point Sentinel: EVE Bays



The ceiling was a dull gray sliverish color, yet Nyala couldn't keep her eyes off of it as music blasted into her ears. She was laying down on a pile of equipment and various electronics smoking and daydreaming about what could've been, until her 'friend' came walking into the hangers. "Jesus Nyala, do you ever sleep?" She could barely hear him but she took off her earbuds and turned around to Johannes who was one of the more talented NARC mechanics on Point Sentinel, her tired eyes clear for him to see. "Can't sleep." she took a puff out of her cigarette and got up from her little makeshift resting place and walked over to the hold man. "you should probably get that checked" He worryingly looked at her then shifted his attention to the Mordred she was helping him with, "well.. seems like you've gone and done most of the menial work, you sure you don't wanna be one of us? You seem to be experienced" Nyala waved him off, "No thanks, i'm a fighter first, you know this." Smiling she walked over to he certain area of his office/workshop and grabbed her civilian jacket to quickly put it on over her fatigues. She was tired but couldn't really think of what to do, she definitely couldn't sleep. When the rest of the mechanics who helped Johannes work on her Mordred arrived she gave them welcomes before leaving the place.

Nyala strolled the hallways listening to music with a thousand yard stare unfocused and pondering what to do, she avoided the random people who were just walking by getting ready for their day until she realized that she had actually been sent an email from earlier. Holding up her wrist to see what it is it was from, her. Nyala quickly read what the message had to stay and turned the communicator off. She hadn't seen her childhood friend since that last time during the fall of Ardrennais, Eurica had seemingly avoided her. Sighing she decided to go outside to get some fresh air.

The Ivory Stretch: Local Time 0641 Hours
Nyala walked out trailing the river than ran through The Ivory Stretch during this time of day there were only a few morning joggers as everyone got up to get ready for their work. The cold morning sun rising in the horizon gave the entire place a surreal feel of an abandoned ghost city but also a warmth of a high tech one. It almost reminded her Ardennais, it brought a smile on her face but also conflicting feelings as leaned on the railing that separated the side walk from the river. "god im tired" She couldnt remember the last time she went to her apartment, whats the use of staying there if she couldn't sleep? At least in the hanger bays she could make use of her time when she couldn't although she'd probably have to take some drugs to sleep for tomorrow. looking up she closed her eyes, imagining and wondering how Eurica would react to her, the last time she saw her she had to drag her away.
 
Level 678, Apartment 22, Diamond Tower, Diamond Expanse, Sentinel
December 27th AD2205


"Daddy!!!! Daddy!!!! Daddy!!! Daddy!!!" Cried young Josh as he zoomed past the living room to the kitchen where Robert was taking his daily cup of masala tea. He looked up and saw his first born son, still in his pajamas for some reason running towards him. Josh jumped onto his lap and made him spill his tea. They both fell to the tiled floor but Robert used his body as a cushion with a very loud thud. Carol rushed in but instead of her helping, she whipped out her cellphone and yelled, "Say CHEEESE!!!!!" Josh made a very wide grin whilst i made a frown. Click and a flash. Well that will be framed, that's for sure.

"Thank you my dear wife for being with me in this troubled times." Robert said as he tried to get up but his son would not let him. Defeated he laid on the cold floor his soon staring at him.

"Dad, why is the sky blue?"

He did not believe his ears. All this commotion just to be told why the sky is blue. he thought he had seen a spider or a ghost or a bad angry 45ft octopus or some thing but for that? Clearly no DNA test required. "Alright, let's make a deal then. Get off my chest and i will tell you why the sky is blue. Deal?"

"Deal!!!!" Josh got up and stood at attention as he looked at his mother,teeth all out then to his dad ready to pounce again.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADY!!!!!!!!" That must be Trisha, the second born, the princess of the house. Carol immediately whipped the phone again to record it laughing her ass off. She jumped onto Robert's chest making him fall again with a thud."

Robert woke up dazed yet again. He opened his eyes and looked at the bright gypsum roof, decorated with flowers and modern designed. Clearly, he had bad taste when it comes to decorations and he was not happy about it.He closed his eyes for a brief moment and visioned a perfect life and family. Something he knows is too taxing thanks to this bloody war. He opened his eyes and rays of sunight peeped though his window. 'Well damn". He sat up straight and the light slowly lit up his bedroom.

"Good-morning Sir. The time is 0745hrs. The date today is 27th December AD2205. There weather will be bright sunlight though out the day. No rains are to be expected today. You have 12 emails. Three are urgent, 6 are non urgent and 3 are spam. Spam emails have been automatically deleted to your orders." Jarvis said as he opened the window blinds.

"Read the urgent emails as per the dates they were sent"

"Very well Sir. "
"First Email, sent on 26th December AD2205, from The Early Cafe. The annual pancake sale is due tomorrow Robert. better get you ass here at 9.00 am sharp. Regards, Carol.
Second Email, Sent on 26th December AD2205, From Margaret Smith. Robert. It has been a while since you have been to my shop. I have new pastries that require your attention. Please come today and get a box.
last Email, Sent on 27th December AD2205, From Guin. Don't forget mission briefing's tomorrow! 28th Dec, 0800 hours sharp. Enjoy your last day of freedom! Guinevere."


He had almost forgotten about the pancake sale. At least now he had something to do before reporting in tomorrow. He stood up and walked through the window. That view could never get old. The Diamond Tower. He had no reason why he selected this building. He just said,"Cool, sign me up" Ever since he appreciates the building even more. He zoned out for a while before the disturbing thought of Carol slapping the stupidity out of him woke him up. He lazily walked to the bathroom and opened the jets in the cubicle. Still made him feel funny...and aroused for some reason.

After a long pulsating massage, he got out and stood in front of his wardrobe. Jeans, jeans, jeans for days. He needed help. Feminine help. They are good at this fashion..thingy. He wore a black muscle shirt and some faded black jeans and some white sneakers just to break the color.

'Sir, about the other emails, what do i do?"
"Leave them as they are, Jarvis. I will see them shortly."
"Very well sir. Have a nice day."
"Keep the house safe Jarvis. I believe in you"
"Very well sir"

He closes the door and he hears it lock from the inside. A wide grin forms as we walks to the express elevator. After 2 minutes, he reaches the ground floor and the doors open. He walks to Pete, the doorman.

"Hey Pete, what's up?"
"Robert my man!!! Hey thanks for the tip about Cathy. She is now stuck on me. Thanks...i guess. waaaaaait..."
He did not want to hear about what happened. "Tomorrow night, we have a small farewell party. Bring Cathy with you."
'Will do." They fist bump and he walks out the front door.

He steps out and he is immediately hit by a running pedestrian. "Well that was new." he said mentally. It was Monday. Bloody rush hour. In the morning. Yea i know. He straightens himself up and goes to the pastry shop. The warm scent of freshly baked bread and cake hit him straight to the olfactory system. He closes his eyes to enjoy the scents all around him. Yep he looked like a total dork. He opens his eyes where he feels the glare of judgement from every corner of the shop. Well except the counter.

"Robert. Glad you came. This box is especially for you. I will not tell you the type but just be prepared to be blown away."
DuckDonuts-DozenDonuts.jpg
"Margaret, when have i ever been not surprised by your cooking skills? By the way, tomorrow's cake is ready i presume?"
"Did you just insult me?"
Slowly, he backed away from the counter. He held the box like his life depended on it. He reached the door and hit is with his back, he slowly without breaking contact this Margaret,reached for the knob and opened the door very very veeeery slowly and walked out.

"Well then. That is one done. He walks very slowly towards The Early Bird. He enjoys the sights and sounds of the city. They change day by day. Our favorite man at the corner changed his message to, "I am hungry. Feed me before the world ends". Our bookstore was closed. No way. He crossed the busy street only to see a sign, "Closed for Renovations." They finally decided to update it. Congratulations on them.

And the lobster place was still open. Dinner there. Tonight. He placed his box on a parked car and saved the memo on his phone. After a few minutes, he reached his all time favorite cafe. He opened the door, bell chiming to his entrance.

"Your late!!!!!" Carol said storming towards his direction. "You better have a damn good excuse mister."
Before she reached him, Robert opened the box to his direction and she stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes wide opened, mouth partially opened and she clinched her stomach.
"Acceptable excuse. i will be there shortly."
Robert closes the box and sits at his usual booth. He placed the box at the side and stares at the busy street.
 
REIZENSTEIN

27.12.2205 - 0515 - Training Room, 8th &1 Barracks, Opal Quarter

The sound of heavy breathing filled one of the private training rooms in the E6-designated barracks. In the middle of the dimmed room, was the sprawled form of one Gabrielle Reizenstein on the floor with one arm thrown over her eyes. Bruises were beginning to bloom on her shins; knuckles were sore and red despite her hand wraps.

One of the few things she hated with being taken off the active roster was the fact that she didn't have a routine to follow anymore. She didn't have to wake up at ass o'clock because command wanted formation at 0600, meaning she had to make sure her squad was ready at 0445 and had to report clear and ready to the platoon sergeant at 0515 who would then pass it up to the chain of command until the word reaches their battalion commander at 0600. There was no early morning PT, doing paperwork because some boot messed up, or having to cover for her favorite butterbars because they're still learning the ropes. It didn't help that she was told there was a high chance of her being transferred out of the barracks to a more suitable housing for her new contract on top of all that.

Picking herself up from the ground after her breathing and heart rate calmed down, Gabrielle grumbled about sore muscles and self-control. Shouldn't have gone all out on the heavy bag so early in the morning. She dusted herself off and immediately began to clean up and return the equipment she used.

As she was rolling her hand wraps while sat on the floor with her back to the door, she heard her comms beep twice. Reaching over to the bench, she quickly took the headset and slipped it on. She hoped it wasn't another debrief request or another meeting with the captain. Having already given her final report and recommendations on who command could replace - or promote to, in some cases - her positions as squad leader and assistant platoon sergeant, she was starting to think her company commander was trying to prolong her presence as much as possible.

The system took a moment to start up, "Hello, Gabrielle. Would you like to go through your messages?" Huh, she figured it would be just one at this time of the day - she had gone through her messages before taking it off two hours ago after all.

"Only those from priority contacts, thank you."

"You received one encrypted message from Sector 11 less than three minutes ago and two from your brother an hour ago as well. Would you like for me to begin decrypting process?"

"Yes, please." Gabrielle finished rolling the wraps completely and slipped them into her bag, zipping it up afterwards. She slung the bag over her shoulders and picked up her datapad, giving the room a once-over to make sure she had returned every equipment and that she didn't forget anything important.

Walking out of the still dim training room, the brunette's focus was on her datapad as she waited for the decryption to finish. The message took a moment to load, her systems checking if the data was indeed correct. Ah, yes. The mission briefing was indeed tomorrow. Good reminder. She had already set up an alarm prior to the reminder, but she couldn't help but check if she actually had before moving on to her brother's message. While she was certain that the base Jonathan had been deployed to was no more dangerous than HQ and that he was more than capable to hold his fort down, she still couldn't help but feel extremely worried so upon reading the first message, a sigh of relief escaped from Gabrielle's lips. The second message dissipated whatever worry was left as she knew immediately that some of the soldiers under Jonathan's command must have either asked, said or done something stupid.

FOB. Debrief and integration in next 72hrs. Don't know when your ops start, but saying gl now in case occupied. Message asap when clear. 0424

If I get convicted for murder, get a good attorney for me, thanks. 0428

Briefing tomorrow. Have fun playing mom. Gl. 0531​

As soon as she replied, she tucked her datapad underneath her arm and focused getting to her apartment. People were already beginning to wake up - the rustling and grumblings from the other side of the doors were very much a good indication - and she didn't want to get caught in the sea of people making their way to the mess hall.

27.12.2205 - 0603 - Mess Hall, 8th &1 Barracks >> Transport Hub, Opal Quarter

Upon reaching the mess hall, Gabrielle just about turn-faced when she saw how packed it was already. Upon seeing new faces accompanied by very familiar drill instructors, realisation dawned on her. The recruits are done processing now, and the latest batch of graduates hadn't shipped out yet. Surveying the area, she frowned. There were very few people that she knew - or rather, people she'd sit, eat and talk with for breakfast. She could always help some of the drill instructors terrorize the recruits too, does she really want to spend her last free morning before a mission with an indefinite time frame around boots and frog voices? A shiver ran down her spine as she was reminded of her own drill instructors. No, thank you. She didn't need boot camp and infantry school flashbacks.

With that decision, the brunette turned around and made her way out of the mess hall, only to be stopped by a pair of new graduates saluting her while they were still inside the entrance hall. "No-cover area, soldiers." The look of horror as they realised their mistake was astounding but she gave them a tilt of her head before continuing her merry way out of the mess hall. Now question is, where is she getting food? She could always try the mess hall at the other end of the base, but considering the new shipment of recruits, it was highly likely that it was full too. Off base it is then.

"Reizenstein, you off somewhere?" came a voice from behind her as she made her way back, making Gabrielle turn back with raised questions.

"Breakfast, Gunny. Mess is full and I don't want to have to deal with hearing the DIs screaming because the recruits don't know how to eat properly." That got a snort from the older man, shaking his head.

"Well, thanks for the warning, I was about to go there myself. Where you getting breakfast at?"

"I might try that place Lancaster was raving about, or that small diner Squad Four was swearing their weapons on. Not sure yet."

"Right, well, I'm supposed to be on base all day so I can't go with. You have fun, and good luck with your new occupation." There was something in the man's tone, the way he almost spat the word new, made Gabrielle uncomfortable. She knew GySgt. Jenssen had been looking to retire and had been recommending her for his position as the assistant adviser to the battalion commander, but oh well. Sector 11 was an offer she couldn't refuse, the lieutenant colonel knew that.

"Thanks, Gunny. See you 'round. Good luck on the next deployment." With that, they parted ways. Gabrielle had a sinking feeling that won't be the only uneasy conversation she'll be having toda- the thought was interrupted as she spied a few figures sprinting towards the building where she knew the shuttle to the main transport hub was. Oh, shit was it leaving soon?

"SYSTEM, check transport hub shuttle departure time." A quick check didn't hurt. Those people might running because they're being smoked for all she knew.

"It's leaving in three minutes. If you sprint, you'll make it in time. The next shuttle arrives in thirteen minutes, if you're not rushing." No need to then, she'll take her time getting there.
 
Collab post with Soulmuse Soulmuse

~*~
Having just showered, she was still standing with a towel wrapped around her lithe frame when Aquilla stepped into the doorway of her room. Eurica languidly turned around at the sound of her question. She did not mind the interruption one bit, seeing as she did let the girl know to ask her if she needed anything, anytime. Truth be told, she was happy Aquilla took up her offer as she herself could do with the company. She returned Aquilla's smile with a broad grin of her own.

"Speak of the devil! I was just about to check on you. Apparently there's a pancake sale going on at a little cafe called The Early Bird, at the Diamond Expanse. 4.7 stars for reviews! So yes, you're welcome to tag along." Eurica finished, before walking over to clutch her door frame. "Now if you'll just give me a moment to get chang-" The woman paused and stared at the bodyglove Aquilla had donned, as if seeing it for the first time. Oh my... She pursed her lips.

"Dear, you need to put on something... less serious. I have a closet full of spare clothes - don't ask me why its full - go on and see if you can pick something out from it while I get ready." Eurica gave the younger woman a wink before hustling her out and closing the door. She took a while, blow drying her hair and adding a smidgen of makeup. Picking out a black front-wrapped ruffled romper, she paired it with a pair of comfortable black pumps. She opened her door and headed out, wondering if Aquilla had heeded her advice. Whatever the case, it didn't matter.

"I'm done, you ready?"

For a brief second, Aquilla stared at the door, rolling Eurica’s words about in her head. Grimacing, she gave a brief second of consideration to simply disregarding the statement outright, although she had to admit the other woman maybe had a point, or at least, knew somewhat better that Aquilla herself. And a coat probably isn’t a bad idea, walking back from the range was colder than expected.

Stopping in her room, Aquilla retrieved her jacket from where she’d left it upon arriving. A gift from her parents upon her ‘promotion’, the black leather was both familiar and practical. In the end, Aquilla settled for justt weaering her jacket, instead of something she'd be less than comfortable in by the time Eurica reappeared.

"I am." Mostly. "Lead the way."

"Sweet!"

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They exited the apartment and Eurica led the way over to the skyelevator, it spanned across the divide and connected Point Sentinel to one of the main pedestrian hubs at the Diamond Expanse. They stepped into the elevator car when it arrived. It was spacious, and since they had taken it from one of the highest floors of Point Sentinel, mostly empty except for a few other people. Thick glass panneling surrounded the car, providing them with a 360 degree view of the city.

"Have you been here before?" Eurica asked casually, as she leaned against one of the raillings. "To Sentinel I mean."

Aquilla pursed her lips. "On occasion, although rarely for very long. Certainlly never for non-military mattters." She went quiet for a moment, eyes tracking acros the city below. "I might have visited with my parents, when I was younger, but they wouldn't have taken me sightseeing." With a shrug, she added, "One of my squadmates always swore she was going to drag me here some day. Guess you beat her to that one."

Eurica let out a little chuckle at the petite girl's comment. "There's certainly quite a bit to do here. Levels and levels of the largest shopping experience-" She glanced sidelong at Aquilla before grinning. "I'm kidding!" She highly doubted Aquilla would find buying a shit ton of fashionable clothing appealing.

"Most of the real fun is on the outskirts. More outdoorsy stuff, white water rafting, cave spelunking. Even the highest Leap-of-Faith you could imagine! Always wanted to try that. It's in the Sapphire Alcove, and goes right over the Sentinel Falls. Nothing to secure you except an elastic rope around your ankles." Eurica's eyes had taken on an excited gleam as she spoke.

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Rolling her eyes at the mention of shopping, Aquilla swept her gaze back over the city, easily picking out the falls, mind racing to make a guess as to thier height. "Never would have guessed you were an andrenaline junkie." Pausing for a second to think the idea over, a bit of a smirk formed on her face. "Although, I admit the idea does sound appealing." If nothing else, it might give her something to do with time normally consumed with military duties.

"I don't seem like it, don't I?" Eurica let out a little tinkle of laughter after her rhetoric. She didn't blame Aquilla for her assumption. Most people thought she spent every waking hour in the lab. Not many had seen the other side of her.

"Perhaps we could check that out one of these days! You're in then?"

Aquilla could just imagine the reaction the reply on the tip of her tongue might have gotten back in Kasai. Shouting, screaming, and diving for cover, at the very least, and probably one of her Lieutenants asking a thousand questions to ensure she was, infact, herself. "Certainly." Her smirk gave way to a smile at the thought.

Eurica gigled in delight at Aquilla's acceptance. Not many had thought the idea of jumping (to your possible death) just for the fun of it particularly alluring until now. "I'll hold you to that promise." She gave the other woman a wink.

They had reached the end of the trip by now, as announced by a little chime just before the elevator car docked at a towering building in the Diamond Expanse. The doors slid open and immediately they were surrounded by a rush of people doing people things on a work day.

"Hold up a minute." Eurica paused in the middle of the crowd for a second to check her phone, causing a young executive to nearly bowl her over. The man scowled in her direction but she paid no mind. "Ah! Found it!" She had been searching out the address of the cafe as she still wasn't too familiar with the city. Sentinel was actually the smallest of the three cities, in terms of ground area. But it certainly made up for that with floors and floors of superstructures, ensuring that one would have to spend plenty amount of time learning the routes. Now that she had set her automated directions, the duo set off.

Before too long, they had arrived at the quaint little establishment. From the outside, it looked to be getting busy. The bell chimed as Eurica pushed the door open, her eyes taking a moment to adjust from the sunny outdoors to the more subdued interior. It was then she spotted a familiar face. From the look of his face, he might've seen them before they opened the door. A broad grin brightening her face, Eurica made her way over to where the man was sitted.

"Fancy seeing you here, Robert!"

CkSmalling CkSmalling
 
Connor was fast asleep when almost everyone else in the Edenknight project was up. He had learned to value sleep, and to get some as often as he could. Meanwhile, a small kitten was quietly creeping around a much larger, and also sleeping, dog. It would pause every now and again and sniff something of interest, but was slowly making it's way towards the bed of the sleeping Connor. How it managed to get onto the bed, Connor would never know. But he would certainly feel the small ball furry of warmth lay down across his neck. It was like wearing a scarf, if that scarf also had four legs, a tail, and was very much alive. Slowly he heated up until his subconscious demanded he wake up and figure out why he was so hot.

Slowly, Connor pried his eyes open, and wondered why he had a blanket wrapped around him in this weather. When he went to look down, his chin prodded soft fur, so he only managed to see the back of a kitten's head. "Maxwell," Connor rumbled, getting the small kitten's attention, which quickly turned it's head to look at him, as if he had been doing something wrong. "Why did I bother with you," he continued as he brought an arm up to scratch the back of the kitten's neck. Twisting around so the hand would scratch where he wanted it to, Maxwell quietly mewed, showing off his little teeth in the process. "Alright, get off me." The human gently wrapped a hand around the small body of the kitten and moved him off to one side so he could sit up and wipe the remaining sleep from his eyes.

"Sash, why didn't you stop Max?" Connor accused his australian shepherd mix, who only thumped her tail against the floor as she to woke up and stretched. Standing up, he slowly makes his way to the small kitchen that his apartment provided him. When he moved in to Sentinel, he didn't want anything big. He was quite happy with an apartment that was, in all honesty, a bed, bathroom, and kitchen. And so that was what he chose, it was working out so far.

"Breakfast." Connor called out as he shook the dog food, the noise getting Sash to quickly, for an aging dog, get to her feet and trot out to the kitchen and expectantly wait for her morning meal. Pouring the dog food into her bowl, Connor put's it on the ground and immediately gives a command. "Wait." he said, and Sash froze, staring at the bowl of food. Connor then poured Max his food, a smaller portion in a smaller bowl, and put that on the floor as well. And when Maxwell came sauntering up to his bowl, Connor gave the command. "Okay." Immediately the dog went to her food and began eating.

That done, Connor began making his own breakfast. Lovely, lovely oatmeal with brown sugar. It stuck around in his stomach and was sweet enough for him to eat, but not to sweet to make him feel bad about eating it. As he stood at his counter, TV turned on to whatever he had it to the night before, he wondered what he'd do today. He knew it was his last day before a mission, he had written that down a week ago and set five alarms so he wouldn't be late. But that was tomorrow, which still left today. So what was he going to do today? Well, he had to take Sash for her walk, so that was 30 minutes down. So he got out her leash, went outside, locked the door, and began his walk with Sash.
 
After a while of gazing at the sights and sitting on a bench Nyala took a deep breath, she shouldn't spend all of her time brooding about what happened, she should really focus what what is. Getting off she stretched her limbs and upon hearing some of her bones pop she jumped a little getting the legs loose, then started jogging back to point sentinel. She still couldn't really think of what to do and hoped that the small exercise would help her think, she could tell some people were glancing at her, but whether or not it was cause of her little interesting condition or she was simply a fair lookin' jogging woman was left unanswered and to Nyala's own imagination, however she didn't like either one.

The little exercise was helping the sleepy and tired Nyala's head clear up and she randomly stopped at a certain point of her journey, looking around she found that she was in the Opal quarter. Taking deep breathes she noticed her stomach growling a little and wondered if the mess hall was full or not. She started walking toward that general direction until she realized that during this time of day it would probably have been packed to the brim with all kinds boots and officers, imagining all the noise and possible glances she'd get she stopped half a step toward the mess and decided it was best to simply hitch a ride to the Sapphire Alcove.

She walked over to the shuttle transports but this time fidgeting with her wrist communicator, texting her mother, looking at a few unread emails, just keeping her busy until she reached the shuttles. It was to her dismay that she was only a few seconds late for the shuttle. "Damnit" Looking around at the terminals it showed that the next shuttle would be arriving in 13 minutes, with a sigh she walked over to lean on a pillar, making sure her hoodie was hiding her face. "maybe something simple"
 
Hey guys, |

Don't forget mission briefing's tmrw! 28th Dec, 0800 hours sharp.
|

Enjoy your last day of freedom!
|

-Guinevere
|
_______________________________________________________


81ba55e8094a0ea9b92d15e52c88f8e7.jpg
Janson's face remained stoic and unblinking as he peered at the screen of his communicator. The message from Eurica was simply text on a screen, yet it still managed to carry her cheerful and positive energy. Janson scoffed. 'Who does she think she is? Acting like they are great friends. Like nothing even happened...' The thought ran through his mind before he finally decided to get out of bed and start his day.

Light was beginning to beam through his shades. Happy with the dim light, Janson left them as they were and made his way to the bathroom to get ready. After showering and completing such activities that one normally does to prepare for the day, Janson returned to his main room and got dressed. Going with dark blue pants and a black shirt, a white cadet jacket worn over top. Sliding his feet into his boots, Janson decided he would leave them unlaced for now.

Nearly 10 minutes had passed and Janson hadn't moved from the side of his bed. 'My last day of freedom...' Janson's mind was drawing a blank on what he actually should plan to do today.

Slowly, his eyes drifted to a lock-box resting beside his nightstand. 'Heh. I guess that wouldn't be the worst idea.' Crouching down, Janson entered the password for the safe and retrieved the object from within. The N95-20 'Zeus'. A handgun he decided to buy for himself recently. Janson didn't really have friends to celebrate his birthday, not that he needed them, but since it passed he decided he would treat himself. He hasn't fired it yet, so he decided today would be the best day of any to take it for a test drive.

Janson plugged the info chip that came with the pistol into his communicator and began reading:

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Model:

N95-20 'Zeus'
9.5x20MM Pistol

Type:
Kinetic


Size:
Medium


Composition:
Titanium Slide,
High-impact high-heat polymer grips,
Chromed durasteel barrel.


Range:
Optimum - 55 Meters


Ammunition Capacity:
15 Rounds in magazine


Description:
The Zeus was not designed for military use. Rather, it was created as an accurate, lightweight, doggedly reliable sidearm for law enforcement and civilians all a cross the NEU. It fits its intended role quite nicely.

Its basic construction is reasonably simple and easy to maintain - especially when compared to any energy based weapon! The pistol is of conventional blow-back design with an internal hammer. A firing pin indicator at the back of the slide shows the operator whether or not the weapon has been cocked. Controls are conventional, with ambidextrous safety and decocking levers as well as an ambidextrous magazine release. Its slide is made of machined titanium, while the firing pin, recoil spring, barrel, and other major components are made of high-quality durasteel.

A grip safety prevents the weapon from discharging if it is not held securely, while an inertia-type firing pin and transfer bar eliminate the possibility of a misfire in the event the weapon is dropped or struck. The trigger is conventional in design, but with various safety mechanisms to prevent an accidental discharge when the weapon is being drawn from a holster or when dropped.

The round chosen for the Zeus is the tried-and-true 9.5x20MM Jundland. Common, inexpensive, and reasonably hard-hitting without excessive recoil, the cartridge is ideal for both new and experienced shooters. A proven man-stopper, the round enables the Zeus to drop human sized targets without too much fuss. Quality ammunition from a reputable manufacturer has a nigh-nonexistent rate of failure, and so the round can be relied upon to fire reliably when called upon. However, it is not highly effective against armor. While light armor-defeating rounds are available, and are capable of punching through pistol-resistant body armor, the round was designed for use against soft targets and only excels in that role.

Zeus pistols are capable of being genetically locked to its owner, ensuring that it cannot be fired by anyone else who might happen to pick it up. Its internal safety system enforces this, and will not disengage the weapon's various safeties until it is picked up by its owner. In the event that genetic encoding is impractical or impossible, the microscale genetic scanner built into the grip may be replaced with a simple reader that picks up on RFID tags embedded in an item the shooter carries - a ring, bracelet, or gloves may be used, or the tags may be implanted under the skin.

A holographic HUD is built into the aiming module in front of the trigger guard. The HUD monitors the ammunition left in the weapon's magazine and uses the aiming module's laser sight to project a very basic holographic 'reticule' which the shooter can use to refine his aim. The system is not more accurate than using iron sights, but it is faster and easier to use while mobile. The HUD can also be displayed in a set of compatible shooting glasses or a helmet, to prevent the 'light signature' the hologram presents. In addition to the holographic HUD and targeting laser, the aiming module possesses a bright tactical light.

For law enforcement, the HUD and aiming module can be swapped out with an upgraded module, which converts the N95 to a 'Police Special' version. This upgraded module is slightly more expensive, but combines audio-visual holorecording and basic comms functions, allowing the officer to instantly communicate with his department or squadmates without ever taking his hands off his weapon The Police aiming module is slightly bulkier, which allows it to accommodate a stun prod - useful for any officer looking to put some distance between himself and an aggressive being.

All in all, the Zeus is a simple, rugged, reliable sidearm. Its advanced features make it appealing to law enforcement, while the weapon's many safeties and low cost make it ideal for private shooters looking to protect their home or family.​
Nodding more to himself that anything else, Janson remembered setting up the DNA reader at the store when he bought it. Picking up the weapon, Janson became familiar with the weight of it. It was extremely balanced. The weight was noticeable, but nothing that felt like it was a hindrance to his movements. He held the pistol in his hand, fanning his room with the barrel. He lazily practiced aiming at various things around his apartment. Pausing at his mirror. His own reflection threatening to shoot him down with the flick of a finger. Janson's grip tightened for a moment before relaxing and letting the pistol fall to his side. He then moved to his holster that held the weapon in the small of his back and strapped it on securely, subsequently sliding the gun into it's resting position.

Scanning his room, he felt his stomach rumble. 'Of course...' He thought, begrudgingly. Janson walked to his fridge and opened it, it was empty for the most part. Aside from a couple cans of beer and the unopened box that contained a small birthday cake. A label stuck on its side read " From: Eurica :^ ) ". A sneer crossed his face and he turned the box so the label was no longer visible. He stood back up, fully, and shut the fridge door. Realizing now, that he needed to eat first.

Janson headed out of the apartment complex, very quickly being met with the bustling main street where people were rushing to and from work. Janson was at least grateful he wasn't cursed to work a job like that until he died. Though some days he felt it might be easier.

Settling on grabbing something quick, Janson grabbed a pre-made breakfast kit and a smoothie from the nearest convenience shop he came across. He consumed everything on his way to the shooting range. Riding public transport wasn't too terrible during the day. The closer and closer you got to curfew, though, is when you have a high chance of coming across the crazy folk in the city. So, Janson preferred to walk if he ended up out that late.

It was about an hour long trip to Opal Quarter, several transport hops later, before he finally arrived. Taking out his communicator, he used the reference map to find his way around and finally make it to the shooting range.

As he was crossing the entryway, he received a notification. Taking it out and reading the sender, Janson's brow furrowed. It was the hospital. They had so promptly reminded him of his therapy session that had been scheduled today. 'I think I'm about to handle therapy myself just fine.' He thought. Janson fully intended to skip the session and stay at the range for an extended period. Once he began firing, he fully realized how much pent up emotion he had been holding back. A small grin grew across his face as he then continued to release that tension on the targets down range.....
 
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Collaboration with Lekiel Lekiel and Soulmuse Soulmuse

Robert stared through the window. The busy street always mesmerized him in a way. Like a symphony. A song with no title yet the message was clear as crystal. Ha. Crystal. He returned to the real world as he thought of Margaret's cat. For some reason. As he was about to place his order, he saw a very farmiliar face. He squinted his eyes to get a good look.

Hmmmmmm. He placed his hands under his chin as in deep thought. Is that Eurica or am I seeing my own things. He saw that she had company. Someone he has never seen before. A wide smile formed on his smug face. At least he was going to get a hug from his superior. Well unless she shoots him. Which she wont.

The door chimed as they entered. he leaned back and watched them come to his direction. he stood up and opened his hands wide.

"Well well well. If it isn's Eurica. It is always a pleasure to grace us with your beauty. And that ass. Come over here." He wrapped his hands around her tightly.

Eurica returned the embrace with an equally enthusiastic one of her own, before pulling away. "Crude as always Robert! Thank you for the compliments, you haven't changed one bit you full grown ape." She grinned. Turning back to Aquilla she introduced her to the man.

"Aquilla, Assman... Assman, Aquilla!"

Aquilla's only reaction was a slightly raised eyebrow. "Assman?" Shrugging, she smirked. "If the shoe fits, I suppose?" Pausing for a quick once over, and to adjust to the fact that he towered over her, she offered a hand. "Aquilla Vaughn.

"Nice to meet you Aquilla. My name is Robert King. Please don't call me Assman in front of people. Don't want them thinking differently..." he leans in closer to Aquilla "...if you know what i mean." He stands back and ushers them to the booth.

"Basically this is where i spend all my mornings. They have the best breakfast in the whole of Sentinel. And believe me when i say this, I have sampled every diner in the city. This stands above all the rest."

"You want to tell me you have been to other diner places before this?" Carol said as she clutched her dress in surprise. "Is this how cheating feels like?" She takes a few steps back as she looks at Robert with disgust.

'Wait wait i can explain..." Robert started to plead.

Eurica arches an eyebrow as she watches the unfolding drama curiously.

"Explain what? That you are a cheating lying bastard who on a totally unrelated fact that loves ass? How can i face you after this eye opening moment?" Carol moved a few feet back, still keeping eye contact with Robert.

"You gotta undertand..." suddenly it hit him. "You bitch!!!! Come here you!!!!!" Robert embraced her hard.

"Okay Romeo, loose the grip..." she said as she tries to get free. "...or you lose your breakfast."

Aquilla opened her mouth to ask what had just happened, before deciding against it. Probably better not to ask. Or at least, better not to make a fool of herself in front of more than one person she'd met less than twenty seconds before.

Robert instantly let go and took his seat. He crossed his legs and just stared at her waiting for a treat..or a tit. He had no preference. For some reason. "Oohh where are my manners." He stood up and began with the introductions.

"Carol, these are Aquilla and Eurica. My squadmates and best friend respectively. We just met with Aquilla so the status is temporary. Guys this is Carol. Founder and Co owner of the diner. Okay i think that's enough intros. If you wish to know more, please exchange phone numbers."

"A pleasure!" Eurica beamed at the lady.

Aquilal dipped her head. "Good to meet you."

"For once Robert you have friends more civilized than you. It's a pleasure to meet you ladies." Carol said with a wide grin across her face.

Robert took a seat and looked at the menu.

"I know your order Robert. Ladies, what would you like to eat for breakfast today? We have a wide variety of specials today so take your pick."

Eurica scans the menu quickly before making up her mind. "I'll take the blueberry pancakes with- wait" She thinks for a moment longer, whispering to herself in hushed tones. The others might have caught whispers of bacon... but that's too fattening. Savoury seems like a better choice right now.. hmm... those strawberries look good though.. urgh.. I can't decide!

"Chocolate chip, please." Aquilla paused, running a finger down the menu to double check. "A side of bacon as well." For a moment, she considered ordering a coffee, before settling on not, given that there wasn't a pile of paperwork waiting to be done.

Eurica snaps her head over, upon hearing that Aquilla had finished her order. She huffs and burries her face into the menu once again.

A few moments later...

"I'll have the banana- no, Strawberry pancakes please!" Eurica finishes, closing the menu.

"With maple syrup drizzled on top thanks.. but that's too much sugar!. Gah! Cancel the syru- screw it. Nevermind that, I'll have the syrup please. Thanks Carol!"

"Add to my special,a side of bacon and some fries. After this i am hitting the bed hard..." He looks at the ladies. "..unless you have something to do after this that i may join. As long as it's not shoe shopping. Or shopping in general."

"Hmmm..." Eurica glances at Robert before turning to look at Aquilla, a thoughtful gleam in her eye.

"You still a good shot Robert? You owe me ten credits from our last bet years ago remember?"

Yep i remember. And FYI, i was getting used to my eye so you are going to see me in my best form. Let's sweeten the pot. There is a fancy restaurant here we can go all of us tonight. Loser pays for drinks and meals. You in? Also Aquilla, you can join us if you wish"

"Of course." Aquilla shrugged. "I always prefer to know how good the people I'm spotting for are. I'll take that bet, while we're at it."

"Challenge accepted, Assman. Lets see what excuse you'll come up with this time."

"No excuses. Just a good old fashion ass whooping. Welcome to the misfits Aquilla. You will love it." He looks at Carol. :I will pick you up at 8."

"I was waiting for you to forget about me. Sounds like a good deal you guys have. Ladies, please kick his annoying ass so that we can drown him in debt."

"Gladly Carol." Eurica chipped in.

"Hahahaha you wish."

"I'll get your orders ready. Please be patient." Carol said as she walked back gracefully towards the counter, placing the pill on the chef's table and walking to the other customers.
 
MCKINLEY | PIERCH | REIZENSTEIN

27.12.2205 - 0615 - Transport Hub, Opal Quarter


On her way to the hub, Gabrielle took her time, particularly enjoying the view of soldiers being smoked so early in the morning. She had to wonder what they did to be subjected to that this early in the day. Though she hadn't really fared any better than them, remembering times when her instructors would wake her and her fellow trainees up before the sun rose, scream-whispering in their ears because technically they weren't allowed to be smoked before reveille. And most of the time, it was for no reason at all. She was glad she was done with that, and in fact would rather give an arm and a leg if it meant she didn't have to go through anything like that ever again.

As the brunette entered the hub, she looked up at the screen just above the entryway of one of the terminals, checking the real-time arrivals and departures of the shuttles. Well, she still had a few minutes until the next shuttle down to Sapphire arrives. It was nice that she didn't have to wait too long, not that another ten minutes would have been bad, but she'd rather not spend more time than necessary waiting for transportation especially since it's the last day before she's formally considered under Sector 11.

Deciding to approach the docking station, Gabrielle took her datapad out and began to browse through the other messages she had received through the night. As she began to sort through some of the messages, she spied a familiar form out of the corner of her eye, making the brunette pause in her tracks and her perusal of the datapad. Was that...

Yep. The green eyes and veins that were faintly glowing was pretty hard to miss. "Pierch? Nyala Pierch?" Gabrielle called out to the lone figure, tilting her head, as she tucked her datapad into her pocket. "I'm surprised to see you here this early. You're not assigned on here, right?"

Nyala looked up at the mention of her name, her eyes winded when she saw who was calling out to her. Switching her neutral face into a smile she turned off her wrist communicator and got off the pillar she was leaning on. "hey," She waved at the tall woman and walked over to her. "Uh, yeah i went for a little jog and i ended up here" She looked around gesturing to her sorroundings which was just a hub for transport shuttles and few people walking about.

Gabrielle shifted her weight from one foot to another, leaning more heavily on her right, giving Nyala a small, polite smile while she glanced at the other people out of the corner of her eye. Two Lance Corporals were mucking about near the docking area, while a new graduate in civilian attire tried - and failed - to inconspicuously stand in the corner. Then the brunette turned her attention back to Nyala, tone inquisitive, "Ah, of course. Where are you off to now? Sapphire?"

"I'm headed down to Sapphire myself, maybe get some breakfast there - but I heard from a squadmate that there's this awesome breakfast place at Diamond, so I might take a look there too if I don't find any appealing place in Sapphire." Gabrielle gave the shorter woman a warmer smile. It didn't hurt to catch up a bit.

"I was actually headed there myself, Sapphire i mean. Although i am willing to try something new out whats this breakfast place like?" it sounded rather expensive, although Nyala herself isnt short on cash she was naturally stinggy with money

"We can take the shuttle together then - it's never fun to be alone in transit. You never know who can sit or stand beside you." Gabrielle repressed a shudder that threatened to run down her spine, recalling the one time when she was still in primer course and got on transit with one of her instructors standing beside her. It was terrifying as she kept expecting him to snap at her, not an experience she'd like to have again, thank you very much. "I'm not too sure how nice it is, exactly. Heard the servers are hospitable and nice, though that might be because Lancaster, my squadmate, can be charming."

Nyala was about to ask about Gabrielle's squadmate but she was interupted by the sight of a shuttle coming. They waited a bit for the people to get off of the shuttle "lets talk inside" she gestured for Gab to go in the shuttle first and followed her in. Nyala was probably most comfortable in cramped places and the shuttle wasnt exactly cramped but it was certainly better than the open space of outside. plus it was warm and had comfortable seats so she couldnt really complain about it.

"Your squad mate? who is that?" It was the first thing that came to her mind when she sat down however it wasnt the last thing. "Ah, How are you? its been a long time since i've seen you in Ardrennais." Nyala remembered when she was still running at full speed toward the evacuation convoy, they were about to leave but the last truck spoted her carrying Eurica, it just so happened Gab was in it.

Gabrielle settled in comfortably in the seats they found near the door. The brunette took a deep breath and steeled herself. Mentions of the siege still got to her more than she'd like to admit. "Yeah, it's been a really long while. I transferred to active duty after Ardennais, so majority of my time had been devoted to training and running operations. How about you? I kept meaning to catch up while all the... department transfer was being processed, but I kept getting pulled aside."

She paused, trying to recall if the driver of the truck that picked Nyala and Eurica was Lancaster, "And I think you might have met Lancaster very briefly." Gabrielle's gaze flicked to the side before meeting Nyala's again, "In Ardennais." She cleared her throat, "He's a bit of a charmer, he likes to flirt with anything that moves. Gets me free, good coffee though so I'm not complaining."

Nyala laughed at the ending statement and actually snorted into an arrupt stop, realizing her little thing made her a little embrassed. "i think i remember him, he kept glancing back over to me and Eurica even though he was driving..." She actually didnt remember him at all, although it was quite fun to make light of something that wasn't exactly the best of times. Yawning she looked forward, "I'm pretty sure Eurica is okay now," a slight chuckle came out of her, of course she is.

Gabrielle paid no mind to the little snort, especially since the shorter woman stopped laughing afterwards. "He's... a good guy." She leaned towards Nyala, "Just don't tell him I ever said that or he'll never let me live it down." Leaning back in her seat again, she glanced to the side, crossing her legs as well. "I saw Eurica a few times and she seemed fine. What about you, though?" The brunette raised her eyebrows, not letting the fact that crimson guard pointedly didn't answer go.

A couple of minutes prior...

Connor rushed to get on the transport. He felt like taking his dog somewhere different for a change, have her look at different buildings instead of the same ones she's been looking at for the past few weeks. Once on, he shortens the leash and firms up his grip, knowing how excitable his dog could get. "Sitzen." he said to his dog, commanding her to sit in German. He figured it was a good idea to train her in another language, one other people don't often use so as to avoid confusing the poor dog.

He stood there with his dog, one hand holding on to something to keep his balance and the other making sure Sash wouldn't go anywhere.

At one stop, however, he noticed a couple familiar faces. "Hacke." Standing up, he and Sash make his way over to the two familiar faces. "I thought you two looked familiar." he said as he got closer.

"I'm not sure if you remember me. You guys picked me up in Ardennais. I was the one unconcious on the side of the road, probably dry heaving. I don't think I ever told you my name, I'm Connor. And this is Sash. Sash, sitzen." He looked up from his dog, making sure she did as he told her to do, and nervously smiled at the two. They were a lot taller than he thought they had looked from across the transport. He was fairly certain that he could've looked one in the eyes if she was standing.

Meanwhile, the shuttle began to move, with a mechanical voice announcing that they'll be making their way to the Sapphire Alcove.

Nyala looked up to the stranger but first noticing his dog which made her instinctually tense up. "uh, hi there you might've got us mixed up with someone else." She smiled at him, but she looked over to Gabrielle who seem to know him. It could be possible that she'd seen him from somewhere but she'd seen enough dead bodies and unconcious people to over look him. "Actually you do look somewhat familar."

Gabrielle couldn't help the surprise she felt as it turned out to be another familiar face, but upon glancing at Nyala, she found that she wasn't suprised that the older woman couldn't remember him. "McKinley, right? I remember you from training back then, and of course, Ardennais." The brunette's tone became grave towards the end.

While she couldn't exactly remember how they found Connor - Gabrielle had been torn between placating the people they saved, helping administer medical supplies and leading the convoy, she couldn't forget the way one of her soldier broke down in relief when he had found a pulse and managed to stabilise Connor's condition long enough for their assigned medical professional to take over. Prior to Connor, there had been too many cases of finding people caught in the rubble, only for them to slip into the darkness before their medic could arrive at the scene, so the change had very much been welcome.

Gabrielle stood up, grasping the handrail above her head with one hand while holding out her other, "Gabrielle Reizenstein, if you don't remember, and you have a lovely dog." She'd have given the dog a pet, but she wasn't sure if Sash was a service dog or not. With a gesture towards the shorter woman, "This is Nyala Pierch, she's a few years our senior from the academy."

"Thank you. Nice to meet you" Connor said as he shook Gabrielle's hand, speaking first on her compliment to Sash and then to Nyala. Sash, either realizing the compliment she had been given or noticed the attention, wagged her tail and inch a little closer to the two. "Sash, bleibe. Sorry, she likes people." Connor said as he reigned Sash in.

He then absent mindedly looked out the window as he wondered what to say next. "Um. So where are you guys headed to?" He asked. Though he was taking Sash for a walk, he wouldn't mind going somewhere along the way. If they didn't mind him tagging along with his dog, that is.

"we're, headed to the Sapphire Alcove," Nyala stared at the dog for a few seconds before finishing her sentence. "For some breakfast, i haven't eatten yet and Gabrielle knows a place" Smiling she looked over to her unsure of what to really say. Nyala wasnt really good around dogs for some reason, something about them made her somewhat uncomfortable but she wasnt going to tell Conner that, it would be rude plus she just met him for the second time ever.

She wondered what happened to him for him to be the side of the road like that, if she was reading into their conversation correctly. "What happened to you by the way, for you to be on the side of the road for us to pick you up?" Honestly, Nyala probably should've known but she was too focused on the death of her father and Dr. Ivanovs at the time to really care about her sorroundings, and Eurica.

Gabrielle shifted her weight on one foot as the shuttle pulled to a stop in the first station the Sapphire Alcove, and instead focused on the conversation at hand, just a bit surprised that Nyala would ask so outright. "Partied too hard, perhaps? I was surprised to find so many hidden stashes of alcohol while patrolling. Can't say I didn't nick a few bottles myself." The brunette tried to make light of the conversation as she knelt down to rub Sasha behind the ear.

"You and Sash are welcome to join us for breakfast." Hoping it was fine with the older woman, Gabrielle gave her a glance, one eyebrow raised. She had noted a bit of uneasiness coming from her, and wasn't quite sure what to make of that.

Connor tensed up and froze as he was asked what had happened. He was brought back by his dog barking as she got some attention from Gabrielle. "Ganz." Connor flexed his free hand as if he were squeezing something, but continued. "We were ambushed. Well, 'ambushed.' ATAC's just walked through a couple buildings and we were unlucky enough to be in their way. They must have left me for dead. If I didn't have the 7th Sense I have, I probably would be." Connor stared once more off into space as he recalled what happened that day, the sudden appearance of the ATAC's, the brief fire fight, the agonizing pain, and then nothing.

"Sorry, drifted off a bit there." Sash was near oblivious to her owner's brief internal strife. She did look at him to make sure everything was alright, but quickly went back to the two in front of her and took another small waddle forwards, this time ignored by Connor.

"I'd love to join you for breakfast." Connor said, glad for the subject change. He didn't mention that he had already had something for breakfast, they didn't have to know. "Only if it's okay with you two, that is." he quickly added in.

Nyala looked out the window as the shuttle stopped but finally noticed the pain in both of her comrades whenever Ardrennais was mentioned."I dont mind, but im not paying" She joked in a light tone trying to cheer them up. "Must've been a terrible experience, hopefully it will be the last for you" Getting up Nyala walked toward the exit but she looked back again observing the two, slightly guilty that she made them uneasy. "i think i'd like some coffee, i haven't slept in a long time" She smiled at them and waited for them to follow her.

Gabrielle stood up and dusted her pants off, "I'm sorry, McKinley. Glad you're alright now though." She'd rather just drop the topic at hand because while her evac op had been successful, the horror of seeing Ardennais and its citizens in that manner...

Following after Nyala, the brunette took a deep breath before stepping off the shuttle, "Man, you're going to love that place down the corner a street over from here. They have some really good coffee. I swear I was awake for two days after having a cup there." She glanced back at Connor, "And they allow pets in the establishment too!"

Connor was fine with the topic being dropped in exchange for a more light hearted one. "As long as...." he began before Gabrielle answered his question. He didn't want to have to tie up Sash outside, after all. Who knew what this energetic dog that like people would do without him keeping an eye on her? Probably go running down the street with whatever she was tied to, unless it was firmly bolted into the ground. "I'll pay for it, thanks for letting me and Sash come along."

As he finished speaking, the shuttle slowly came to a halt in front of another station. "Is this the right station? Or is there one closer? You know where we're going, not me." Connor still got Sash up, just so they weren't waiting for her to get up. A few seconds was all it took for the doors to close and he would be stuck at a different station.

27.12.2205 - 0641 -

TAG WHOEVER IS RELEVANT​
 
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CHAPTER 1 ~ This War is Ours!


December 28, AD 2205 Local Time 0556 hours
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The tap of her dress boots resounded against the ceramic floor of the deserted hovertrain station as she strode purposefully to the exit. Dressed immaculately in a form fitted light grey blazer and matching skirt, she dragged a sleek luggage bag along behind her; within it were some notes and other essentials. The lithe woman suddenly snickered to herself as if remembering something that tickled her funny bone. She remembered laughing uncontrollably when Robert's final shot went out wide the previous night, during their little competition. To be fair, she had her own ass handed back to her by the Kasaian girl, who did admirably, even during the moving obstructed target stage. Dinner had been courtesy of Robert, followed by a reasonable round of drinks or two. It had been a long while before she had let herself lose and she was glad of the moments she had just spent. Nevertheless, sleep wouldn't come to her and so she had decided to have an early start. Perhaps she could go through one last round of proofreading her prepared notes and data logs, even if it was for the upteenth time.

Finally reaching her destination, one of the separate military wings within Point Sentinel accessible only to authorized personel. Punching the button to open the elevator doors before her, she stepped in and allowed the doors to slide shut behind her. Instead of reaching for the button panel, she stared straight ahead and spoke.

"Adjutant, Sector Eleven please."

There was a brief pause, before a feminine voice answered her call.

"Please proceed with voice identification."

"Subject 001 Guinevere."

"Please standby." There was a barely perceptible whine of machinery before the metallic walls of the elevator hissed open leaving nothing but a black glassy surface. There was a low hum as sudddenly the elevator was covered by a roving blue laser, which scanned the lone occupant from head to toe.

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"Scanning... Welcome Guinevere." The back of the elevator room suddenly slid open, revealing a long darkened corridor. As Eurica stepped out, cool downlights flickered to life, lighting the long hallway.

"Adjutant, bring up all available files and references for Operation codename, Genesis Strike. I want to go through every detail one more time."

"All files uploaded to Holotable 1 in the briefing room as requested."

"Thank you." Then, almost as if an afterthought. "And a mug of coffee please."

"As requested."

Project EdenKnight Headquarters, Sector 11. Nearing Briefing Time.
Reinforced metal doors hissed open emitting a tall broad shouldered man, complete with grey moustache and a uniform indentifying him as none other than the highest commanding officer in all of Sentinel. Despite what some might expect, the man carried himself with a stature that bellied his age and seemed to still be very much in his prime. The room was fairly large with a huge rectangular holographic planning table set right in the center. There were a few military ornaments tidily placed around the room but the walls were otherwise bare. But anyone akin to such rooms will know that a host of charts, graphs and maps can be projected up in but a moment's notice. The walls were solid except on one side which seemed to look out over a hangar bay of sorts. A brief glimpse would afford anyone looking a view of the Ee Vee Ee's. There were ten bays but only eight were filled at the moment.

The brunette had been frowning into a datapad, but snapped to her feet the moment the man had walked in. Though her hair had been tied back in a neat ponytail, she still reached up to smooth it back out of habit.

"General Odenheim!" Eurica saluted the man and stood at attention.

"Ah, Guinevere! At ease. Please, don't let me keep you while we wait for the others."] The Commander gestured at her datapad to indicate that she should continue whatever it was that she was doing. General Odenheim strode over to the overlooking hangar windows, a thoughtful look on his weathered face.

"Thank you, but I'm all finished."

"Couldn't sleep?" Eurica detected a hint of concern in the General's voice, something one might not expect from someone of his position. But she was grateful for it.

"Just a little ner-.. excited." To be honest, she wasn't sure herself. The Commander nodded understandingly as Eurica moved to join him from his vantage point overlooking the EVE bay.

"It all begins today..."
 
December 28, AD 2205. Local Time 0600 Hours

Point Sentinel: Cerulean Heights
"Beep Beep Beep!" The Alarm went off in Nyala's apartment before it was shut off by a rather violent fist, followed by a loud yawn as Nyala got up from her bed rubbing her eyes off. Looking at the clock she rolled out of bed to start getting ready for the mission briefing, yesterday had been an odd one for Nyala as she normally didn't go to very many places and stuck around the eve hanger bays for most of the day. She ran into a familiar face and had some talks with her and even met with another guy whom the both of them knew, what a coincidence? Taking a shower and brushing her teeth she wondered what the mission briefing had in store for her, getting dressed up in her military fatigues again as she didnt know what else to put on to go to a mission briefing she walked out of the door ready to go until she let out another large yawn.

"Those pills really did their work" Nyala Stretched her arms and rubbed her eyes before walking to the elevator ready to get to Edenknight headquarters early as she had a phobia of getting to places late but as she was about to press the appropriate floor her mind lingered about how tired she was. "A coffee in the morning wouldnt hurt" So she decided to go to a nearby coffee shop to get something to help with the yawning fits.

Getting there she ordered a small cup of black coffee which was brought back to her surprisingly quickly thanking the cashier she started her long-short journey to the Edenknight headquarters which was unusually more interesting than usual. Normally she would be sleepy almost throughout the entire day but this day she had adequate sleep and a boost in the form of coffee letting her appreciate the bright and vibrant colors of the hallways of point sentinel more. Needless to say it was weird for Nyala.

Finally at a unassuming door near the military wing of point sentinel she pressed the necessary buttons that she had memorized to open the elevator door she walked in and waited for the doors to close as per protocol.

"Adjutant Sector Eleven"

Her voice was unassuming, and as cold as the adjutants themselves, Nyala never really liked the idea of machines being able to think and have emotions like herself, it felt, wrong. She had requested a communicator without an AI and even her EVE she wanted left out a sophisticated AI. However she knew they were essential for many of the Unions successes and everyday life so she put the fact behind her.

"Please proceed with voice identification."

"Subject 002, Mordred."

"Please stand by" Sighing Nyala looked down at her feet, she hated her given name, Mordred. The Traitor, and the one who killed king Arthur. She knew the codenames weren't exactly supposed to mean anything but she had a sneaking suspicion that she was destined to do something, that might jeopardize everyone.

Just as her thoughts ended the door opened revealing a long dark hallway leading to another door, breathing in she walked towards it making sure she looked professional.

Lekiel Lekiel
 
Connor was nearly flying around his small apartment as he prepared to leave. He had everything set out for the pet sitter, a list of commands for Sash, gave them the keys the day before after he said farewell to Nyala and Gabrielle, and plenty of treats. He had even called them the night before to make sure they knew some of the more basic commands such as sit and stay, which they did and politely told him to stop worrying.

"Sash, look after Maxwell and make sure he behaves. You to. Bye you two, see you when I get home." he said to his pets, seeming just a little crazy. Walking out the door, he sticks his head back through to give the room a final once over, and satisfied with how things were closed and locked it.

He hurried to the train depot, straightening his uniform needlessly and pointlessly worrying about wrinkles and invisible lint. He made quite the figure in it, and if it weren't for his mohawk and the tattoo beneath, he'd look quite handsome. But since he did have a mohawk and a tattoo, he looked kind of ridiculous. If his mother was around, she probably would have rather seen him shaved bald, at least then there'd only be the tattoo to worry about. And knowing her, she'd have a way to hide that as well. Meanwhile his father, grandpa, brothers, and quite a few of his sisters would be guffawing at him from across the room. But his mother wasn't here, so he didn't have to worry about it.

Making his way to the nondescript door, Connor punches in the appropriate code and walked in as the door slowly slid open.

"Adjutant Sector Eleven." he said like everyone else that has been and was going to go through this door.

"Please proceed with..."

"Subject 005, Jotun." he interrupted the recording, trying to speed the process along. However, it seemed to take an even longer time than usual, as if it was offended by the way this man just interrupted it.

"Please stand by." it finally said. A short while after, it opened the other doors and allowed him to go through. As he hurried down the hall, he had to go around a lady that was also walking down the same hallway.

"Excuse me." he said as he slipped past. "Oh, hi Nyala. Morning." he said as he realized the person he had lipped past. Opening the door to the briefing room, he finds a seat, sits down, and then sees who else was there. It looked like it was just him, Nyala, Eurica, and General Odenheim. Wow, he was early for a change. Usually he's the last one to one of these things.
 
December 28, AD 2205 Local Time 0700 hours

Point Sentinel: Sector 11


“Subject 092 Fenrir.”
It was a conscious effort for Aquilla to remember to use her new identification, as opposed to her older Kasian one. That habit, she decided, would take time to break, although the results would be welcome.

Please stand by.” Tuning the AI out with the ease of long practice, she instead focused on adjusting one of her gloves. “Welcome, Fenrir.” The welcome was subsequently ignored as well, Aquilla starting purposefully down the hall. There was still plenty of time before the briefing, but restlessness had finally gotten the better of her. Having spent the previous night on a range, as well as the little competition with Robert, going shooting sounded unappealing, so Aquilla had settled for punching something instead.

Travelling all the way out to Opal, however, wasn’t something she had time for, given the hour. “Adjutant, directions to a training room?” Presumably, somewhere in Sector 11, there would be at least a punching bag. Ordinarily, she would have known herself, but Kasai High Command had made her transfer drag out at long as possible, leaving Aquilla far less familiar with the layout of the facility than she wanted to be.

Directions to Training Room 1 have been forwards to your Headset.” A chime in her ear indicated information transfer succeeded. Blinking twice, Aquilla pulled instructions up.

Appreciated.” She set off in the indicated direction, steps quick and sure. There was only an hour, and she had plenty of nervous energy to work off. Even considering she slept more than normal, there had been plenty of time to go over all the possible problems they might encounter, and Aquilla admitted, falling back into old habits. No need for her to play officer any longer after all.

--


Punching something was not half as cathartic as she hoped. Taking a step back, Aquilla huffed, shoulders rolling a few times as her heart rate dropped back to something reasonable. Without a human opponent, her mind had been left to wander, which was never a good thing. However, the time to dwell on that was passed, she had a briefing to attend, and presumably, people to meet.

Spinning on her heel, Aquilla started off, keeping her pace brisk, without appearing hurried. By her normal standards, she considered herself late, although everyone else would have said she was more than early. None the less, the presence of two others in the briefing room when she arrived, besides Eurica and the General was surprising. Pleasant, but surprising. Working with people who preferred to be early was always appreciated.

Sir.” Neither of the two others were people she knew at a glance, so she ignored them for the time being. There would be time to learn names and faces later. Giving the General a quick salute, Aquilla took her own seat, schooling her features into careful blankness.
 
The plastic bag groaned as Dominic pulled out his freshly dry-cleaned uniform from his closet. He felt well rested after spending his final day exploring new parts of the city and spoiling himself with a day of luxury. He had a massage, went to the movies, and even purchased a brand new suit that he planned to wear as soon as he possibly could. He even contemplated putting it on simply to watch tv in it later on. While the suit was rather flashy, his uniform on the other hand was barren. Outside of the academy, he had no formal military experience, he never served in the war, and had never been in a live combat situation. Despite not knowing who they were, Dom was quite sure the other members of the program would have extensive military backgrounds and achieved several accommodations for their efforts. He was nervous of the first impression he was going to make as an unvetted, rich kid living off his parents fortune. He managed to push these thoughts out of his mind; they would not have selected him to be a part of their program had they not trusted his skills.
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Expertly weaving his hair into a tight, no-nonsense bun, he regarded himself in the mirror. Satisfied with his appearance he headed out the door of his apartment and down to the lobby. Dominic opened the door of his private car, hopped and and relayed the address to the driver. It was still relatively early in the morning, and he would no doubt be early to arriving at the Edenknights headquarters. He didn't mind, in fact, he could hear the words of his father echoing in his head as he sat in the car: "If you are on time to something, then you are already very late".

A small frown trickled his way on to his face at the thought of his father, but alas, he was right. It was best to be early especially for an event of this magnitude. Once again, a sense of nervousness crept up on him at the immense pressure he had on him to represent his family and make them proud. He shook his head; he was doing this for himself, for the protection of Kasai and Sentinel, and for the memory of the fallen people of Ardennais. Not for
them. It was time he made his mark on the world, and did something more than build things he was never going to use himself.

Pulling up to the large building, he exited the vehicle and made his way to the entrance.

"Adjutant Sector 11," He responded to the computer after he entered the lift, "Subject 043, Aniketos". The son of Hercules and god of athletics and defence. Even at birth they could tell he was going to grow into a strong, powerful being. He walked down the long, empty hall with one hand in his pocket. Stepping through the doorway he realized that he was third to arrive aside from the general and Eurica. It appeared he was not the only one with the idea to arrive early.

"Good, morning everyone." He greeted the room with a warm smile despite not knowing anyone else, although he certainly recognized some of them as upper years from the academy.
 
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REIZENSTEIN | TERRANO

28.12.2205 - 0500 - Opal Quarter

A deep yawn reverberated through Janson's body. He flexed and stretched after sitting up in his bed, his body shaking as the muscles contracted. His alarm continued to incessantly repeat itself. As if Janson would have been able to forget what today was. Today was the day everything began.

He had prepared himself to get up out of bed sooner than he normally would. Janson decided that going for a workout beforehand would help him get rid of built up stress and make this day go by at least a little bit smoother for him. Turning off his alarm, he then opened his personal trainer program to see what exercises it suggested he do. Scanning the short list, the one that most popped out to him was to go for a kickboxing session. After locking in his choice, a regretful sigh immediately escaped his lips. His only option for a boxing gym was in the Opal Quarter. Janson really didn't feel motivated to go that far out of his way, but it was too late now. The program had already called his transport, so Janson quickly hopped up and packed a duffel bag to take with him.

Checking his communicator, he noted he still had plenty of time before he needed to head to the meeting, so he jumped in the transport confidently. Halfway there, he was reminded by a grumble in his stomach that he had neglected eating anything before he left.

Upon arriving to the Opal Quarter, Janson immediately began scanning the buildings in his nearest vicinity for anything that resembled a dining facility. After several minutes of wandering, he was able to find one. He was surprised to learn that the place was almost full. Even at an early hour like this. Thinking back, Janson started remembering his time in the military here. His perspective changed from his initial one, recalling the many times he was only able to get as little as an hour of sleep before he was ordered to get moving again.

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, Janson finally made it through the line and decided he would pass on the military gruel for a simple protein shake and a banana instead. Something light and unlikely to come up as vomit later. Even as he caught a scent of it in passing, he thought he would spit something up right there and then.

Janson was able to finish his morning meal without issue as he made his way to the gym. Once entering he noticed it was considerably less busy than the dining hall, he was thankful for this and headed into the locker room. He set his duffel bag down on a bench and removed his Academy dress uniform from it, hanging it all up in the locker he chose. He then quickly changed into a pair of red gym shorts and a black tank top. Following getting dressed, he walked over to the tape wrapping machine --A circular hole in the wall that once sensing a hand, will proceed to properly wrap your hand and wrist in tape so that you don't need another person to do it for you-- and placed his hand inside. He decided to just use the lowest cost option, coming out with the basic white color.

Leaving the locker room, he then found a heavy sandbag and began running through the exercises the program on his communicator had planned for him.

~~~​

Meanwhile...

Sprawled on top of her bed, Gabrielle found herself staring up at the ceiling an hour before her intended alarm. The only noise in her room was her own breathing, accompanied by the ticking of the analog clock that adorned the wall above her desk. She had already checked if everything she needed was set, left a couple of messages to her brother, even set her attire out already so she could spare herself the time. But of course, her nerves were getting the best to her hence her sprawled form across her sheets. It really wasn't doing anything for her, lying about, wallowing in her nervous energy. Didn't really make any sense she was nervous. It was just a mission briefing; she had gone through worse so why did it seem like her heart was trying to pound its way out of her chest.

Irritated because of her own nerves, she pushed herself up into a sitting position and glanced at the clock once more. There should be available training rooms, right? Majority of the people in Opal should be either doing morning PT with their units or getting food. Yeah, that seems like a grand idea. It would be better for her to remove her nerves by letting them out on some heavy bag - or maybe that new weird contraption they installed - than to appear before her new unit jumpy and cagey as all hell; better for her and for them really.

Quickly, the brunette changed into a comfortable pair of shorts and a thin jacket over a fitted shirt before making her way out to the gym hall with her bag haphazardly slung over her shoulder. Only to return back into her room after a few steps, remembering to bring her communicator. She didn't want to lose track of time and get to the briefing late; she would never be able to live with herself if that ever happened again. Once her comm was secured in her bag, she just about sprinted to the hall.

As she entered the gym, Gabrielle caught sight of a familiar form by one of the heavy bags, surprise and curiosity filled her immediately. Surprise because she had already met two very familiar faces yesterday, and uncertainty because this time she wasn't exactly quite sure who it was as they had their back to her. Maybe she'll walk past them later and sate her curiosity. Worst case scenario, she just mistook them for another person, but considering she met Pierch and McKinley yesterday? What was that saying? Third time's the charm? But as much as she wanted to sate her curiosity now, she needed to let her nerves out before they ate her alive.

Gabrielle made a beeline to the hall that lead to the private training rooms and squinted at the row of red lights that glared at her. Of course, the one day she'd want to lock herself inside one of the rooms and just let loose, she couldn't. Stifling the urge to throw her hands up into the air in defeat, she turned on her heel and made for the locker room.

A minute later, the brunette was walking across the floor, intent on the heavy bags by one of the rings, slipping her gloves on and securing them tightly all the while.

~~~​

Wet patches of sweat began to form on the chest and underarm of his tank top. The already black material becoming seemingly darker. Janson found himself zoning out most of his surroundings as he focused as much of his attention as he could on landing combinations. The program on his communicator would read off a maneuver in his ear and he would then follow out the command on the bag. It was almost like a video game. Janson still had to remind himself to breathe out on every punch or kick, he had the tendency to forget as he focused more on his target.

The training room that was originally empty before he walked in, was now gaining more occupants. None were recognizable, which he didn't really expect to see anyone he knew. He wouldn't say he was the best at making friends, so his squads were usually pretty small. The chances of him running into someone familiar were very slim.

This changed however, the moment a particular woman joined the room. Janson was taking a break to drink water as she happened to walk past. Green eyes and soft brown hair that was tied up into a high ponytail. Some of the scars on her arms and legs were visible. Her build was noticeably a little more muscular than most women. All of these things came together to form a better picture in his head as he then remembered they didn't leave off on the best of terms. He was sure that she was the highest ranking NCO in one of the last squads he was assigned to as a pilot. Disagreeing with the decision making process taking place, Janson split off on his own leaving the foot soldiers without a NARC. Though the mission ended in success, there were casualties. Casualties that were then attributed to being his fault. This woman ended up being a catalyst towards him receiving administration action and furthermore a demotion.

Of all the people to come across, he never expected it to be her. Janson felt tense now. As if he had something under his chest fighting to get out. A pressure that would only be released by him letting off some steam. On her.

"Hey!" He called out to her back. "You remember me...don't you?"

Gabrielle halted in her tracks almost immediately; nerves shooting through the roof, the hair on her neck standing on end, as the words sank in. She rolled her shoulders and then turned slowly, deliberately, checking first if it was someone else that was called out to and not her. You could never be sure, after all. The moment her gaze landed on the familiar form she had noted - now that Janson's features were actually visible to her, the light bulb moment came on and she was left with no doubt that it was her he called out to. Terrano, if she remembered correctly. She was pretty sure he been in a few of her classes back at the Academy, but that wasn't why he was familiar.

Oh, no, Gabrielle thought to herself.

That honor went to the fact that the man had caused a few... mishaps while he had been assigned to her unit. Ultimately, the objective had been cleared and that was she cared for, but it couldn't be denied that it was due to a... momentary lapse in judgement that the mission didn't go as smoothly as it could have which, of course, lead to repercussions. To say the least, they didn't exactly part ways in the most pleasant manner... Well, she didn't stay long enough to actually see the aftermath of the decision, no, but she could imagine the man wouldn't see her in a good light afterwards whatsoever.

"Well, it's certainly a surprise seeing another familiar face." Her grin, however small, just about dripped with a confidence that she didn't exactly have at the moment. The next words out of her mouth came out a little more genuine, holding a certain amount of shakiness that wasn't even scratching the surface of her nerves. "I didn't expect to see you here, Terrano."

The that grin came across her face next made him boil inside. Janson didn't like the sense he was picking up from her. He felt like she was almost goading him on. "Yeah, Terrano. I ended up a 1st Lieutenant and my opportunity to re-enlist was barred." His eyes widened as he approached Gabrielle. "I guess someone had to take responsibility for that mission...considering most of the success of that mission was riding on my back, it makes sense for me to take the blame for everything that went wrong too, right?" Janson tone was challenging. He was now standing in front of her, since she had turned to face him. He crossed his arms and shifted his weight to his right leg, almost leaning into the heavy bag she was hitting moments ago. "Hey, I have an idea...." His voice shifted to one that appeared excited and seemingly more happy. "How do you feel about taking out that pent up stress on an old squad mate instead of that dusty old bag." Janson glanced between the bag and back to to Gabrielle. "Besides, the bag's boring right? It won't fight back..."

Gabrielle wiped her brow as Janson approached and leaned onto the heavy bag that her nerves were being laid out on, shifting her body slightly to the side. "What happened after that mission was out of my hands. I gave an objective report, and I assume my men did too. I guess they didn't think the end justified the means." She shrugged slightly, rhythmically clenching and unclenching her fists as she glanced around them.

The change in the cadence of his words wasn't lost on her, prompting Gabrielle to raise an eyebrow at him before giving the empty ring a few paces away from them a significant appraisal. While it was no match for the grin she had earlier, the slight upturn of the corner of her lips was just a tad more genuine in its display of her amusement, "Well, enlighten me with your idea then, because you do make a good point. The lack of response from the bag is rather disappointing, now if I had a more reactive... opponent." The last word rolled off her tongue slowly, as if she was unsure of the word to use. And never mind the fact that she was absolutely thrilled that the bag was unresponsive, needing the feel of having absolute control over something so small before everything was no longer in her hands nor was it set in stone.

Janson's eyes followed Gabrielle's as she gazed at the sparring ring. Janson's face couldn't help but mirror the woman's half-hearted smile. "Considering the fact that you want an opponent, do you think a rebel such as myself could be worthy to be such opponent?" The white haired man's fists tightened as he slowly turned towards the equipment rack, of course already assuming she would fight him. On his way he called out to Gabrielle. "Here I'll even take thicker gloves, so my impact is handicapped." He paused at the rack, still not turning to face her before continuing. "You want.....some headgear too?"

"A rebel? I'd say you're just a bit more opinionated than the next person," Gabrielle shrugged - not that he could see, as he was already at the equipment racks. Could she risk not having headgear? Maybe if it wasn't the first mission briefing, she'd be fine appearing with a black eye, but since it'll be pretty much a first impression... It was probably a better idea to use as much protection as she can. "I’ll go witha headgear. I'd like to avoid getting cut in the face." She made a beeline towards the rack as well, "It's one thing to show up to a brief visibly exhausted, it's another to show up with fresh bruises and cuts."

Moments later, Janson found himself standing in the sparring ring, opposite Gabrielle. He decided to go ahead and wear thicker gloves, like he suggested, and opted out of wearing headgear. More to make a statement than for any practical purpose. He supposed his vision may be a bit more opened up though.

His stance was compact and solid. Pulling his fists close to his face, Janson slowly made his way across the floor towards his opponent. A slight rocking left to right was the main movement in his fighting posture, otherwise his body seemed stiff and rigid.

Shoulders tense, Gabrielle fought the urge to roll them as she took her stance. Feet slightly angled to the side, apart by just a hair width wider than her hips; weight evenly distributed over the length of her lead foot and the ball of her rear foot; right arm held in front of her, chin angled down. Green eyes watched carefully as Janson approached from the other side, holding her ground, tension pooling in her abdomen as each second passed by.

They stood, staring, for what seemed like an eternity. Janson simply decided it would probably be in his best interest to control the pace of the fight, so he made the first move.

28.12.2205 - 0730 - Sector 11, Point Sentinel

As people hurried to get out of the transport hub, trying to make their way to their destination in time, Gabrielle found herself in the middle of the crowd, careful not to jostle anyone in their haste as she herself hastened to get to the headquarters building. She didn't need anyone adding to the soreness - bruises, really - that she was beginning to feel settling deep within her body. The aching and the nerves weren't a good combination, but she couldn't exactly skip the first mission brief, could she?

It sure helped a lot she decided to wear her utilities; that combined with the intent concentration on her face made a lot of people give her a wider berth than they normally would for another civilian.

That said, she almost ran over a person kneeling on the ground. The man was picking up what seemed like confidential files - she had no doubt they were confidential what with all the red stamps and black strips over huge areas where there should be text. She offered her assistance but was quickly shot down as the man struggled to collect himself and the papers, finding not a single cell in her envying the man's current situation.

The brunette finally reached the headquarters, letting out a relieved sigh - although to be honest it seemed more like an entire experience as opposed to a single action. Her shoulders nearly sagged in relief as she about expelled every centimeter of air she could from her lungs, head tilting up ever so slightly. Gabrielle took a moment to collect herself before she pushed onward, now intent on getting to the designated military wing.

A frown marred Gabrielle's face as she neared what should have been a relatively empty hallway that held the entrance to Sector 11, and instead she was faced with a couple of guards by the entrance. Well, what now then?

~~~​

Janson winced as he dressed himself in his Academy Uniform. He hadn't been given anything official to wear by Sector 11, so he figured wearing his military officer’s dress uniform was be official enough. Tilting his head upwards while facing the mirror in the locker room, Janson got an eye on the source of discomfort. A newly formed bruise had become a dark spot underneath his jawline. "Damn, looks like she got me good with that uppercut." Grimacing at the thought that Gabrielle was able to land a solid hit on him, he huff out a bit of air and decided to let it go. After all, he did decide not to wear headgear.

Making his way to the EdenKnight headquarters garnered no difficulty in itself. However, once arriving, the real problems had just begun. Janson stepped inside the elevator and spoke aloud to the A.I. implemented to prevent anyone from getting in that shouldn't be. "Sector Eleven." He hadn't made any prior effort to come to Sector 11 without escort. The last time he came was with…Eurica. A grimace crossed his face shortly with the thought. Even then, he only came to accept the invitation. Being here alone now, he did his best to recall the protocol to enter.

"Please proceed with voice identification." A soft, feminine voice called back to him. It was cold and robotic, but it still carried a familiar tone, something that makes you feel welcome.
Janson hesitated. He was scouring his mind, trying to remember his codename. "Subject Zero Three Two. Lancelot."

Subsequently, Janson stood in place as the elevator began a scanning process. The light was a cool blue to start, but once fully passing over his body twice the light turned red. A sound of rejection echoed throughout the chamber. Panic in Janson immediately ensued. "Please stand by." The voice came over the speaker again, the tone was the same. However, in this setting it created even more nervous energy. The voice repeated itself, "Please stand by. Remain calm."

Before he knew it, both sides of the elevator opened and he found himself surrounded and restrained by guards.

~~~​

Gabrielle would have gladly waited for the situation to dissipate, but a quick glance on the wall told her that the brief will be starting soon. The little devil - or was it just a manifestation of her former drill instructor, she wasn't entirely sure how to differentiate them - on her shoulder was telling her she'd be considered late if she didn't get there fifteen minutes before the actual brief. So she decided to peer closer at the elevator, to see if she could in anyway help, but was instead met with a wall of guards restraining Janson.

It took a her a moment to process the fact that the man had to be a part of Sector 11's little project. She didn't see the full roster, but considering the man's skill, she wasn't at all surprised he was considered as a candidate whatsoever, so she stepped in, "What seems to be the problem here, gentlemen?"

A rough looking individual, standing maybe a head and a half taller than Gab happened to be the nearest security guard. His eyebrow raised towards the woman as he inspected her. Her confident demeanor and military background that was made clear purely from the presence she carried caused the guard to safely assume she was supposed to be here. Considering a meeting was scheduled soon, he could only imagine she was a part of the project. "The....problem..." He paused, gesturing towards a struggling Janson, "Is that we seem to have an intruder on our hands. Someone who found themselves in the wrong part of town. We'll be taking him to holding where he will be, uh, questioned about his motives for being here. No need for you to worry, ma'am."

Gabrielle met the man's gaze blankly before glancing at Janson then back up to the taller man, "Well, I think I should worry, considering your men are manhandling someone who isn't an intruder. I'm certain you'll find Terrano in the list of personnel authorised to access Sector 11." Her voice didn't waver for a second, as she raised her eyebrows at the guard. She actually wasn't 100% certain, seeing as the roster had never been fully disclosed to her, but they didn't need to know that. Her patience was running thin as she could practically hear the clock ticking down in seconds so she stepped closer to them, "We're running a bit late to a meeting so if you let me confirm our clearance, we can all move along." She was, however, fairly certain they'd rather save themselves the headache of having to process the mistake they made once they clear Terrano in addition to dealing with the security mistake.

The guard's mouth stood slightly agape as he contemplated this information. Weighing the repercussions for if they were wrong in this situation, he figured this woman was probably right. She was extremely confident with herself. He spat out, "Right then. We'll hold him until your certification is accepted, then I guess we'll send him with you as an escort."

"Thank you." There was a moment of hesitation on her end as she carefully had to remove every bit of sarcasm from her words of gratitude. She gave the guard a wide smile, almost bearing her teeth before stepping into the elevator properly - everyone seemingly stopping in their shuffling and rustling. "Adjutant Sector 11."

The reply was prompt, "Please confirm with voice identification."

"Subject 036. Andarta." The nom de guerre still felt extremely foreign on her tongue, but there was a pride in her voice as she considered the given designation a complement.

"Please stand by." Blue light filled the room as the system scanned her. "Welcome, Andarta."

Gabrielle's resulting grin at the guard positively dripped with smugness. "All clear then, gentlemen?"

Sighing, Yevin --the guard-- , nodded with a gesture to the three additional men holding Janson from resisting. They seemed reluctant as they removed the handcuffs from Janson's wrists. Almost like they were excited to finally have some action, only for it to be taken away from them in a fleeting moment. "Sorry about the misunderstanding." Yevin then glances to Janson, "You might want to check in and have your security clearance updated once you get inside. I'm sure you don't want to have another run in with us..." He gave a quick salute and the group of guards departed, heading back to their original posts.

Janson huffed aloud and began brushing off his uniform. He was already able to pick up more wrinkling than should have been present. He did his best to replace his hair before finally collecting himself and following Gabrielle through the entrance. After walking through, he followed slightly behind the former NCO and pulled out his glasses, glancing at the lens before placing them on his face. "Thanks." He muttered. "I suspect this is where you say I owe you one now?"

In all her nerves and irritation at the complication, Gabrielle let out yet another relieved sigh, shoulders dropping. Some of the tension leaving her body as the guards walked away from the situation. "I'm not really interested in IOUs, but if I ever fail to get through clearance..." She trailed off, shrugging. She had yet to have any trouble getting through clearance, but now that she thought about it, she probably just jinxed herself.

Heels clicked on the floor as they walked through the hall. Gabrielle resisted the urge to fidget with her uniform and hair. She had checked several times over the past hour that they were laid properly; a small complication at the entrance with minimal contact or movement didn't mean a button came loose or that stubborn lock of hair slipped out of her ponytail, but of course, her nerves were telling her otherwise. "Don't suppose I can ask about your transfer to Sector 11, can I? Mine took forever to deal with, and the amount of paperwork involved was a nightmare." The attempt at small talk was just to stall time a bit, nothing else.

Janson's thoughts began to fog over as they walked. He wasn't too excited to meet many more people. Let alone, knowing for a fact that he was seeing Eurica again. Gabrielle spoke to him, asking for more background information on him. Of course the motivation for the question was innocent and genuine. After all, learning more about someone is the main foundation for making relationships. Making friends. Janson, however, wasn't here to make any friends. He responded with a tone that was undoubtedly a matter of fact, "No."

The door was closer now and he decided it was time to escape the realm of awkward small talk. Janson stepped a bit faster to enter the room ahead of Gabrielle. Once inside, he was surprised by the sheer number of people present. All of these people were part of the project? Janson stifled an eye roll before making eye contact with General Odenheim. He shot a quick salute at the older man. "Sir." Odenheim reciprocated the salute before making a comment about the visible bruise on under his jawline. A sense of humor readable in his voice. "Rough morning, Terrano?" Janson simply grunted before taking a seat. He continued to purposely avoid eye contact with Eurica, obviously not recognizing anyone else in the room.

Gabrielle shrugged as the man brushed off her feeble attempt at small talk; it didn't really matter now since they were at the door. She straightened herself, allowing Janson to step inside first then followed two paces after. Her eyes shot to each occupant of the room, taking in the faces of her... new unit, really. Of course, Sterne was there, and so was Pierch. McKinley and Vaughn, she was pleasantly surprised to see. Terrano, of course. And Tsujinbo? She wasn't as familiar with the younger man, what with being older than him - although, she did know of his mother.

And of course, the man himself. General Odenheim. The brunette rendered a quick salute and greeted the man, "Good morning, sir." Then her gaze moved back to the other occupants of the room, greeting them as well, "Ladies, gentlemen." Wasting no time, she found herself a seat and stood right behind it, slightly leaning on the back of it, opting to wait for the brief to start before she sat down.


 
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Level 678, Apartment 22, Diamond Tower, Diamond Expanse, Sentinel
December 28th AD2205


Robert woke up with a buzz in his head. he looked around and saw he was in unfamiliar territory, his living room. There was only one reason why he would sleep on his couch. He had a guest in his bedroom. His level of hospitality was beyond the stars. He slowly and wobbly got up and walked to the kitchen. He took out his trusted pan and placed it on his cooker. He opened his fridge, took out a few eggs and cracked them onto the hot pan. He added some salt, pepper and spring onions and after a few seconds, voila!!!! Sunny Side eggs. No one hates those eggs, it was pretty much a guarantee. So now he had a problem to solve since his hunger was sorted out. Who was the mysterious guest in his house?

He sat down on the couch to contemplate. He looked around and saw nothing which could give him an idea. He looked at the door. A pair of red stilettos. A sigh of relief. A woman. Or a cross-dresser. Well shit. Think Robert think. His memory was fuzzy but he remembered he was out at that lobster restaurant with...of course!!!!! It was him, Carol, Aquilla and Eurica. How he got there was still fuzzy but he will clear it out eventually. So there were three possibilities. He looked at the time, 0629hrs. He had to scratch Aquilla and Eurica off the list due to the briefing. So it must be Carol, or another random stranger in his bed. He had to find out who.

With the confidence of a cub, he stood up and walked towards the bedroom door. He placed his hand on the handle and slid it open. He was met with a stare. Not just any stare, a death stare. Darth Vader had that stare but since he had a helmet, we never knew.

"Do not tell me you were about to peep." Carol snapped her hands akimbo.

"Well i had to find out who was in my room. IT IS my house." Robert started to defend himself. But deep inside, he was relieved.

He took a moment to stare at the beautiful goddess standing in front of him. He scarlet hair dancing freely with the soft breeze from the open window. Her deep blue eyes. So seductive, yet so calm. The perfectly shaped lips. Oh how he wished he could place his lips on hers. Her...

"Move over lover boy. I am starving and i smell eggs." Carol pushed Robert aside making him stumble and fall hard. Well there goes his morning. He got up and went to the shower laughing at himself. He stood in he cubicle and the pulsating jets did their thing. After a few minutes, he was standing in-front of his closet,still dripping from the shower. He still had no idea what to wear, so the usual, v-necked t shirt and a black pair of faded jeans. He looked at the mirror one ore time before stepping out into the living room.

"If you could make me another sunny side egg, that would be fantastic." Carol said as she crossed her legs on the bar stool. His eyes went immediately to her legs before he was rudely awakened.

"Oh Yes.Two more coming right up." and with that he went to the kitchen and made four more, two for him and two for her. He also fried some bacon and sausages and served them on the dining table.

"Here you go M'lady."

"Why thank you."

"So what really happened last night?" Robert broke the awkwardness.

'Well one thing is for sure, you lost the bet last night so you bought drinks for everyone. And i mean EVERYONE!" Carol said enthusiastically.

'Shit. Well..shit." He had no words. He looked at the time, 0710hrs. "Looks like you will have to tell me everything tonight. I have to go for the briefing."

"No problem. just pick me up later after work. And don't worry, i will clean up afterwards." carol said with a huge beautiful breathtaking smile.

"Thanks." And with that he zoomed to the elevator.


Robert climbed the tram to Point Sentinel. The tram was a good means of transport. If only they changed the elevator music. So annoying, repetitive and to make it more annoying, very catchy. Soon he was humming to the beats of the song. Oh how he hated himself cause of that. After a few minutes, he reached his destination. He looked at the tower where Sector 11 was. He stepped into the building and into the lobby. The interior was superb. He walked to the elevator and he took out his phone. "Now where wads the place..."

'Adjutant, Sector 11."

"Please confirm with voice identification."

"Subject 025, Code name, Hercules"

"Please stand by." The elevator doors closed. "Voice identification confirmed. Welcome Subject 025."

He put his phone away and waited till the elevator reached the destination. The doors opened to a very quiet hallway. He swore he could here himself breath. He stepped out of the elevator and into the silent hallways. Fortunately for him, the briefing room was not far away. The silence was eerie. He stepped in and realized he was among the last to arrive. Maybe he was the last to arrive. He scanned the room and saw an empty seat next to Aquilla. He slowly moved there and sat down with a heavy sigh.

'Hey. How was last night's lobster?"
 
Point Sentinel, Opal Quarter, Zone 3, Building 43, Floor 9, Apartment 57 - Local Time --> 0600, December 28
images

Inside the single person apartment, all the lights turned on simultaneously as a feminine voice could be heard throughout the room

"Calista, it is time to wake up"

The lump on the bed groaned as the girl underneath the blankets threw the warmth sheets of fabric back, sitting up. A mop of pink hair sat on top of the girl's head, some strands falling down in front of her face. Calista drew in a breath, huffing out as she attempted to blow the strands of hair out of her face, but with no avail. She reached up with her hand, brushing the strands to the side and tucked them behind her ear before stretching and getting out of the bed.

"Today is the 28th of December. You have your briefing today at 0800 hours"
"I know, thank you Ida"

It had been a few years since Calista had moved out from her parent's home. After her incident at her father's workplace, she had never seen her house again since she was taken to the Academy straight from the hospital and her parents were only informed of the sudden change in their life. It wasn't until Calista was at the age of 17 when she was permitted to visit her parents for a weekend, then return back to the Academy to complete her training.

Calista crossed the room to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. In the mirror, she looked at herself for a moment, but dismissed any thoughts she had about herself and began to take her night clothes off as well as her undergarments, leaving her bare. She stepped into the shower, turning the water on and stood in place for a few minutes, letting the warm water run down her body before she began to clean herself.


For a woman, Calista took short showers. 10 minutes at max, maybe a little longer if certain circumstances were in play. Either way, Calista was out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body as she walked over to her dresser. She didnt own many fancy or formal clothing, wearing what was comfortable for her. Calista quickly settled on a pair of black jeans, a red t-shirt and black boots.

As Calista crossed over to the kitchen area, she reached down to the table in the middle of the room where there was a computer screen. She pressed a button on it and the TV came to life, preset to the news channel. She listed along, heading over to the refrigerator, opening it up and looking at its contents. There were a ton of pre-packaged meals, since Calista rarely cooked. She took out a burrito wrap, closing the fridge and walked back to the center of the room, sitting down on the couch. Calista opened up the package, taking a bite out of the burrito wrap, looking at the label to see what she was eating. Chicken BLT.

Calista placed the empty plastic container on the table as she continued to watch the TV, eating at a rather moderate pace. There was news about some small crime going around Sentinel, news from other locations and some other topics Calista had no care for. Glancing at the time, it was 0653 hours. She had to get going soon.

She took the empty plastic food container, tossing it into trash before going back to her bed where her messenger bag was resting on the ground beside the piece of furniture.

She always carried a laptop and holographic projector with her, as well as anything else she thought she would need for the day. Grabbing her phone from the nightstand, she slipped that into her pants pocket then slung the messenger bag over her shoulder and across her chest. She went back to the table, shutting the TV off and then headed for the door that led out to the hallway of her apartment floor. Before she left, the feminine voice known as Ida spoke up once more

"Anything of note today?"

Calista stood just at the door, thinking for a moment as she slowly opened it. Before stepping out, Calista spoke up, responding to the question

"Lock the door and turn everything off. I may not be home for a while"

With that, Calista exited her apartment, walking down the stairs to the ground floor.


There wernt many people outside, probably because they were all still sleeping. Calista did see a few strangers walking about. It wasnt long until the girl was approaching her local train station. Calista entered the building, going through security first. Automated stations whirred to life as they checked bag after bag, person after person. She placed her messenger bag on the conveyor belt and walked through a gateway. No alarm when off, and her bag soon appeared on the other side. She grabbed, heading over to the platform.

There werent a ton of people around, probably because it was still a bit early in the morning. Finding her own private space, Calista waited for the next train.


Point Sentinel. Calista's destination.

The hovertrain came to a halt as Calista got out. Looking around, she saw that she was the only one getting off here. Moments later, the hovertrain sped off, leaving Calista alone. She made her way to the exit.

It was only a short walk to the wing of Point Sentinel Calista need to go to. It didnt take her long to find one of the elevators in the military wing. She heard the doors close behind her, breathing out and then spoke out.

"Adjutant, Sector Eleven"
"Please proceed with voice identification"
"Subject 075, Athena"

Calista watched as a blue light shined out of a projector, scanning her body before the computer system responded

"Welcome, Athena"

The elevator doors opened up, revealing the single hallway. Calista stepped out, walking. Her boots made a low pitched clomping sound with each step against the tiled floor. A turn here, and double check there, and Calista eventually found her way into the main briefing room. And she was the last one to arrive.

Calista held her tongue as she took a glance around the room. She immediately recognized Eurica. The woman was well known in Sector 11 in general, let alone within the members of the EdenKnight program. Calista's gaze drifted over to the table in the middle where mostly everyone was seated at, looking for an open spot.

She recognized all the faces around the table, and could name them off if she had to. But as far as a relationship between all of them, they were just acquaintances to Calista.

Calista nodded in acknowledgement to everyone in the room, walking to the back of the table and took a seat next to the man named Robert, who was talking to another female by the name of Aquilla regarding lobster, or something like that.

Looking at the time, Calista was just minutes early before 0800 hours. Breathing out, she relaxed a little in her chair, remaining silent and waited
 
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Eurica offered a friendly close-lipped smile as each individual entered the room. She felt her pulse quicken each time one of the EdenKnights entered. Not long after Dominic entered, a light ping in her ear notified the woman of a paging request. She raised a slim digit to her ear piece and glanced at the holoprojection of her sights. It was from "Security". She blinked to accept the call.

"Uhm- Guinevere?" She recognized the voice. It was Roland, and he sounded a little perturbed

"Here." She began, wondering what the matter was.

"It's the scanner again ma`am. Our boys were notified when Lancelot tried to access the elevator. We got a negative identification and they mistook him for an intruder... we kinda... roughed him up a little-"

"Don't worry about it, I'll have him over after the briefing to update the security codex." Her already nervous heart skipped a bit at the mention of the Edenknight's name. Her mind had been too preoccupied to realize the brevity of seeing Janson again. Sure enough, the doors hissed open to admit the culprit of her thoughts along with Andarta. Eurica was silently thankful for the unintentional head's up from Roland, along her time to compose herself. She looked up as Lancelot and Andarta made their way to their seats, carefully keeping her face impassive. When they sat, she bit her lower lip. I need to focus... Eurica mentally chastised herself. The last two to arrive had been Robert and the youngest of their group, Calista. Eurica nodded at both, offering Robert a brief knowing grin, before clearing her throat and turning to look at General Odenheim.

"That's the last of them General."

. . | . .​

It was time. The greying man took one last look at the EVE bays. The last and final machine was just being towed into its bay after undergoing the last fine-tuning checks. THI9771 Aniketos. It was one of the General's personal favorites. Mostly because of its deadly whip-swords. The weapon hrrdly looked cumbersome, despite its connocatations. For such a towering machine, he had to give credit where credit was due. The Engineers and Technicians had outdid themselves. He glanced at the young woman prepping up the room in front of him, and could not help himself from feeling a little sense of pride. She may not have been his daughter, but the relationship they had developed the past few years came fairly close to that.

Squaring his broad shoulders, he turned to face them. Seeing the General make his move, the majority of pilots immediately afforded him their full attention, and the room was filled with silence. He motioned for Eurica to join his side. Nodding, she picked up her file and made her way forwards to stand beside him at the helm of the conference room.

General Odenheim cleared his throat, and began. "EdenKnights. Firstly, let me begin with this. Whatever is discussed here, amongst us, stays amongst us. From the moment you stepped through that door..." Odenheim pointed at the door to the back of the room for emphasis, "regardless of where you came from, who you were, the responsibilities you had, all that is gone. You no longer answer to anyone, but me. Not to the army, not to the Council, but me. And in my absence, Guinevere will be your leader. No doubt, some of you might have attained ranks while serving, and you deserved that." Odenheim's eyes shifted first to Fenrir, then briefly hovered over Andarta. "While some of you, only tasted military life briefly at the Academy. Whatever the situation is, understand this: unless I say so, there will be no ranks amongst you. Take a good look at your fellow Knights... These will be the people you trust your lives with. The only people you can count on, because out there..." Odenheim gestured out the doors with his accusing finger, "I can't tell a damn difference between a Confederate and a Union." Odenheim paused for a moment before he nodded to Eurica. Stepping up to the holotable, she tapped at the displayed UI and the room, including the viewing glass was abruptly shrouded in darkness. There was a brief delay, and then the room was suddenly bathed in a blue-green glow as various charts, maps and details was projected into existence.

"There will be time for you to acquaint or reacquaint yourselves with one another. But remember, we do have an enemy who doesn't take time off for happy reunions. The plan was to have at least two weeks simulation combat practice in your Eee Vee Eee's as a team, however, something else came up that I thought might be an excellent opportunity to test out the new tools. A good time as any to prove to Governor Dervilia back in Kasai that we aren't in fact, an expensive toy manufacturer." Odenheim muttered under his breath darkly as he said this.

As he spoke, Odenheim was shifting around what looked like projected holographic images of folders. Touching them with his finger-points he cast them out at the gathered pilots. Eurica accepted the digital folder as it drifted towards her mid-air. The front of it read, "Operation Genesis Strike". Eurica tapped the folder and its projection changed into several pages of intelligence and snapshots of what looked like an industrial factory. Odenheim cleared his throat before continuing, he motioned in the general direction of Eurica. "Guinevere will be Head of Operations, she will be contacting you whenever you have an incoming mission... Remember, while we do have powerful sponsors we are largely funded by the government.. Governor Dervilia has made it clear he believes what we do here is a huge waste of assets and pushing Chancellor Woodstrom in favor of consolidating all our forces to fortify Kasai, the fool that he is. I need to make sure we continue to have the funds to keep things going. I have my full trust in her capabilities to lead these missions... I hope you will afford her the same respect as I do... You may proceed, Guinevere." All the while the General was speaking, Eurica kept her face impassive. Having played a part in the battle of Ardennais, she was no stranger to her new designation, nevertheless she could not help but feel somewhat nervous and undeserving of her post. Some of these men and women had seen war, first hand... and she did feel a little inadequate at leading them. Despite that, she took a surreptitious breath and stepped forward. Not to mention the fact that while many had praised the Ardennais Command and Troops for handling the lopsided battle as best they could, she still felt that she had failed to protect the city and its people. Nevertheless, she pushed her thoughts away and stepped forward.

"The folders infront of you outlines whatever intel we have on our next mission. I will provide you guys with a quick rundown of our task. Ardenguard, a small city in what was formerly NEU territory. At is center is a factory that used to be a NARC systems manufacturer. It is not the only one, but ever since the fall of Ardennais, we have had to consolidate our supply chains in a hurry. But our forces's hit-and-run tactics have been making significant progress with the Coonfederations thinning lines. We have intel that suggests that the time is ripe for us to take back Ardenguard. Union forces will be moving in a week from now." Eurica paused for a moment to enlarge several enclosed pictures. The grainy texture of the shot indicated that it had been taken from long range under the cover of darkness, but there was no mistaking the large gleaming stones that several Confederate transports seem to be shipping. She took a moment to glance over at the gathered Knights before delving on.

"These photos were taken by our forwards Scouts. There is no mistaking what they are. Large Edenseeds. As you all are well aware, our EVEs are nothing more than glorified buttwarmers without these. The Scouts confirmed sightings of at least two Seeds, there may be more we do not know of. At this point, it is safe to say that the Confederates will either try to take them back to Crespasulyx or destroy them. Suffice to say, we need to retrieve them before that happens. When Union forces strike, it may be already too late to retrieve them. Thus, we will be going in a day before..." Eurica paused again, allowing whatever she had laid out to sink in.

"This brings me to our Secondary objective. There is a Research Center located within that factory compound. While the research data within has already been written off as expendable when we lost Ardenguard, if we could still retrieve it, it will definitely make life much easier. The same goes for the Edenseeds. This is why the General thought it would be a good opportunity for us to prove ourselves." Eurica took a breath. So far it was going well, she hadn't missed anything thanks to her earlier rehearsal.

"For Operation Genesis Strike, we will be splitting into two teams. Blue team will be led by Fenrir, who will also be the short-caller when both our teams eventually meet." Eurica glanced at Aquilla as she made the announcement, then shifted her eyes onto each successive knight as she called them out. "Members of Blue Team are, Aniketos... Jotun... Athena and... Lancelot... Blue team will drop in from the North Entrance of the facility. Your objective will be to secure all discovered Edenseeds and prep them for retrieval. Be as covert as possible, but expect heavy resistance from the Confederates. Fenrir, we will sync our Exosuit systems together so that your FREYA can help MORGANA build a better layout of the facility."

"Red Team is comprise of Guinevere, Andarta, Hercules and Mordred. Andarta, you will be the Second in Command and in charge of Red Team. I dont have the luxury of my EVE's swarm echolocation, so most of my concentration will have to go towards extending my Aurasense. Red Team's objective will be the retrieval of all necessary data fromt the Facility's computers, we will enter by the West Entrace. once all necessary data has been retrieved, head to the South Gate and secure an LZ for our Pelicans Dropships to land. Both Red and Blue Team will be dropping in on the outskirts of Ardenguard and make our way to the Facility on foot." She was done. Finally being able to get the first mission underway did much to release quite a bit of tension from her chest. Eurica took a steadying breath and encompassed all who gathered with her amber eyes.

"Make no mistake, the retaking of Ardenguard will mark the beginning of the end for the Confederation."

"Can I get any questions regarding the mission before I proceed with our preparations for the week?"
 
Out of the corner of her eye, Calista noticed movement. Looking up, she saw that the general, Odenheim if she remembered the name correctly, had turned to face the group of pilots, with Eurica standing beside him. Logic told Calista that the briefing was about to begin. Sitting up in her hair, Calista raised her head so that she could look at the general easier, giving him her full attention.

Throughout Odenheim's speech, Calista listened attentively. Sitting still and just...listening. She could admit that she was getting bored, but what saved her was when Odenheim casted out the holographic folders to all the Knights sitting around the table. Calista accepted the one that came to her, opening it and looking at its contents, continuing to listen to whomever was talking in the background. A feminine voice could be heard and Calista glanced up. Odenheim had given Guinevere the floor as she began telling the other Knights of the upcoming operation.

Calista took her time, sifting through all the intelligence that was provided. She studied every image she came across for at least 3 minutes, looking at the detail. Ardenguard's entrances were well defended from the images given, and no entrance seemed weaker than the other. She didnt want to think that this was easy however, knowing that with such a high value target in their complex, the Confederates defending Ardenguard would put up a hard defense.

When her subject name was mentioned, Calista stopped looking at the intel, returning all her attention to Guinevere. She continued to listen as her task was described promptly. Along with the other Knights mentioned, they would focus on securing the Edenseeds and getting them prepared for a quick air lift. It was evident that a lot of planning had gone into this operation, and Calista had to give credit where it was due.

After what felt like hours, the floor was finally opened to questions. Calista didnt have any nagging questions in her head, so she remained silent, allowing her colleagues to ask any questions they may or may not have.
 
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"If we had to choose, which should we prioritize? Data retrieval, or Eden Seed recovery?" Connor asked as he sat off to one side, arms crossed and everything laid out in front of him. He also wasn't sure how important being covert was. But since he was on the team, in by far the largest EVE, it didn't matter to much. Let's be real here, a 60 something feet tall, giant mech, plus it's large gun, weren't exactly meant to sneak around. Well, perhaps he should say something about that. "Blue team could also draw a lot of attention with Rook and Castle Wall, giving Red Team more time, or an easier time, getting that data." And they'd also be able to support Blue Team sooner, but that was besides the point.

His questions asked, and idea stated, Connor leans back into his chair and crosses his arms, waiting for the answer.
((Crappy short post, sorry))
 

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