When you change, don't announce it; just bloom
Leon strapped the exosuit shell to his back and let it envelop his body as usual. This particular one had a minimalistic design, but incredibly sturdy as he's come to learn over the past few months. He accepted the variety of tools and weapons Percy handed him and strapped them to himself as well. Everything felt like an extension of his own body for how often he used them, and that's just what he wanted. Thanks to their routine training, Leon had quickly become equipped with the skills to defend himself without dealing fatal damage to his opponents, so he was quick to delude himself into believing he could get through this without taking a life. Knocking people out and rendering them immobile was surprisingly easy and taken for granted, oftentimes.
With everything ready to go, Leon nodded and almost stepped away over to their yelling General until he noticed that Percy hadn't moved, despite him being the first one to finish getting ready. Puzzled, Leon looked at him curiously. He wasn't the type to linger, so what was he doing? After a few seconds of pondering, the dark-haired Hoffman suddenly perked up as realization struck him. He wanted some attention, didn't he? Honestly, he wished he confessed to him sooner if he had known he'd be this shy. Or... well, maybe Leon was just too comfortable with taking initiative?
"(That's cute)," Leon smirked ruggedly, looming over Percy as he took his chin into his finger and tilted his face up into one of his powerful kisses. He wasn't sure if he could understand his comment in Bellia, but he didn't mind if he did either. There was something heartwarming about speaking to the one he loved in his native tongue.
When he pulled away from the kiss, he tapped something on the front of his neck, and suddenly the remaining part of the exosuit crept up his neck and enveloped his head in a helmet. After that kiss, he felt a lot better about charging into combat. Maybe that's what he needed to get the butterflies in his stomach in formation.
. . . . . . . . .
He said he wouldn't kill anyone, but as he blew through more and more Pergrandian soldiers, it was becoming more of a difficult task. They were in the heat of the battle now, where the infantry had to face each other in a battle of close-quartered combat or nasty firefights. Bellian cannon fire carefully avoided their own troops as they sliced and diced through Pergrandian men and women, and every blast made Leon's ears ring.
Imperial Army officers came charging at Leon in pairs, but they severely underestimated his strength, and Leon did as well. Through the gadgets installed into the suit, he was able to withstand a lot of the gunfire, and when they took the alternative option of close-quartered combat, they were easily outmatched and disarmed. But it was getting harder and harder to preserve that balance. Their armor was so thick and sturdy that simple kicks and jabs weren't enough to down them, and he didn't have the luxury of time to think of more sustainable ways of defeating them—he needed to use more force.
When the constant firefights between him and one soldier didn't seem to go anywhere, Leon tucked his gun away and decided to close the distance in order to do what he did best. His exosuit seemed to enhance everything about him; his speed, his leap, his punches—everything seemed
better, and so getting from point A to point B on this mountainous battleground wasn't so bad. The soldier, realizing that she was being chased, abandoned her rocky cover and made a break for the higher ground, but she wasn't quick enough. Before she had the chance of securing the advantage, Leon was right behind her, fists glowing with a technological glow as he swung one heavy jab at her waist.
Thwush! He landed the hit right where he wanted it, but he had only made a dent in her armor. Seriously?! Even the magical beasts in Fiore had a hard time withstanding blows like that, but Pergradian armor only dented in the face of such damage? He had seen soldiers like her all over the battlefield... so this is what all of these Bellian mages were up against? With his damage lackluster, Leon was vulnerable. Before he could reel his fist back to defend himself, or evade without putting himself even more at risk, the Imperial Officer already had her hands on a combat knife, ready to push it into his gut now that he was wide open. Leon's heart sank when he realized what was happening. It was the sort of doom that came over someone who was about to seriously get hurt, and that's when he knew he had to make a choice.
In reality, it all happened so fast, but all of the war cries and explosions in the background became like white noise all of a sudden. With her hands on her knife, Leon instinctively reached for his unsheathed sword. Before he knew it, he could feel his arm swing in front of him as the blade followed, slicing against the woman's torso before her own knife could reach him. With an agonized grunt, she crashed to the ground with a bloody cut across her chest, squirming in the dirt and snow.
For a moment, Leon was stunned. It only happened a second ago, but he could feel the moment where instead of being met with the toughness of metal, it was the softness and fragility of flesh. He could feel the moment where his blade had sliced through her armor and into her skin, and although the wound wasn't fatal... look at her.
"Haa... ha... okay... alright. Agh!—" Leon suddenly knelt to the ground, holding the back of his head as almost concussive lightheadedness came over him. When he glanced over his shoulder, he could see one Imperial soldier aiming at him. He shot him in the head, hadn't he? Thanks to his exosuit, nothing had pierced his head, but damn did it hurt! Not only that, from where he was now, he had the advantage.
"(Shit.)"With the Imperial solider squirming next to him, Leon almost seemed too shocked to act, but as the other solider continue to fire at him, he had no choice but to step over her wailing body in order to get out of his line of sight. For a moment, he wobbled around, still recovering from the sudden blow to his head. At the rate they were slowly but surely pushing the enemy back, climbed up the mountain more and more.
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Word Count: 1120 ||
Thread WC: 4,570 ||
WC Needed 8,000 ||
Job Approval ||
Notes: ???
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@Percy