COME AT ME AND YOU'LL SEE I'M MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE --- YOU THINK THAT YOU'LL BREAK ME, YOU'RE GONNA FIND IN TIME --- |
Saffron practically skid out of her room, hopping on one foot a couple times as she finished pulling her other boot on and nearly colliding into one of her comrades in the process. The barracks of the Bosco Defense Force weren’t in a complete state of disarray -- after all, very few of Bosco’s soldiers were ever deployed outside the country’s borders. However, a select few elite soldiers had been called in for an immediate emergency, and it had left the halls of the compound buzzing with whispers and activity. The military members scurried about the place at a brisk walk as they either gossiped or hurried to their work stations. Save, of course, for those who had been called for deployment. Those soldiers, such as Saffron and the man she’d almost stumbled into, were dashing at a full run toward the hanger with the rest of their squads.
“What’s going on?” she asked as she quickly set herself in line with Roy’s pace, mindlessly fiddling with the mechanical bracers around her wrists to make sure they were snug and secure.
“You haven’t heard?”
“Oh yeah, I definitely heard. I just wanted to make sure you knew.” Saffron rolled her eyes as they sprinted side by side, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Roy either missed her tone completely or simply was too focused on the matter at hand to care about commenting on it. “Things finally came to a head between Pergrande and Bellum. Skirmishes are breaking out all along their border as we speak.”
She blinked at him, violet eyes ripe with earnest surprise. “Well shit, that’s not good.” It had always only ever been a matter of time before the cold war between the two enemy nations and the fragile excuse for peace between them would come crumbling down, but that didn’t make it any less of a surprise that it had happened so soon. “Do we know what sparked it? Who started it?”
“Not that I know of, but I’m sure we’ll get briefed very quickly.”
As they got closer to their destination, several other members of the defense force caught up with them from different directions, and soon they were slowing down as they piled into the hanger bay where a small crowd of soldiers had gathered to await further instruction. She and Roy hurried over to where the rest of their squad had collected, but before she could meld into the group and try to get up to speed, her lieutenant stopped her. “Remington!”
“Yes, sir?” the blonde asked, not bothering to snap to attention as everything was clearly far too chaotic for them to care about the formalities.
“You’re on a special assignment for this one. Report to Major Kesslaw.”
“Got it.” She didn’t waste any time waving goodbye to Roy or the rest of her usual comrades, turning on her heels to hurry her way over to where the major was gathered with a few members of the Magia division. Saffron didn’t have to ask why she was being separated from her squadmates. The Magia officers had been eyeing her for a little while as a possible recruit, and had brought her along on a few smaller missions to test her abilities. Though Saffron had not shown any signs of obvious magical talent, there were a few oddities about her that no one had been able to explain, things that others suspected were of magical origin even if they hadn’t been able to prove or identify it yet.
As she trotted up to the small group of mage soldiers, they turned toward her and broke out in various levels of grins. “Boy, they just let anyone into Magia these days, don’t they?” one of them teased.
Saffron grinned back. “It’s not like their standards were that high to begin with with you people around. What’s up, losers?” The group chuckled lightly, much more at ease and relaxed than the rest of the militia in the hanger. Considering the Magia squad was the most highly trained division of the army, the elite of the elite, its members weren’t as excitable as the general defense populace. In fact, a lot of the Magia were a bit cocky, their rare status as powerful mages giving them an extra level of confidence that had resulted in what was almost a sense of boredom at the situation around them. Not all of the Magia were like that, of course, but many were and Saffron had fit in with that atmosphere ever since her first trial with them.
“What do you think, rook? You gonna give us a little bit of a light show today, or you gonna keep holding out on us?”
“Listen, I can’t just put all of my talents on display for you guys. That would just make me look desperate.”
“How is that any different from how you made yourself look back in Minstrel?”
Saffron punched that soldier in the shoulder, causing another laugh to ripple among everyone, herself included. “Shut up! You’re such a jerk!”
“Alright, everyone on the ship! Let’s go!” The light hearted moment was cut off by the major calling attention to himself and ushering everyone onto the drop ship that had been allocated to them. “There’s no time to waste. You’ll be briefed on the way.” The group moved at once onto the ship with Saffron in tow, piling into the belly of the vessel and either taking one of the many seats along the walls or standing in the space between and holding onto one of the many bars or leather straps fixed to the ceiling to help them keep their balance. Once everyone was on board, the door shut and the aircraft lifted up into the air, taking off toward their destination, which Saffron could only assume was somewhere in the midst of the ongoing battles. She still didn’t fully understand why they were getting involved in skirmishes that had nothing to do with Bosco…
...but she was sure she’d have that answer soon enough.
“What’s going on?” she asked as she quickly set herself in line with Roy’s pace, mindlessly fiddling with the mechanical bracers around her wrists to make sure they were snug and secure.
“You haven’t heard?”
“Oh yeah, I definitely heard. I just wanted to make sure you knew.” Saffron rolled her eyes as they sprinted side by side, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Roy either missed her tone completely or simply was too focused on the matter at hand to care about commenting on it. “Things finally came to a head between Pergrande and Bellum. Skirmishes are breaking out all along their border as we speak.”
She blinked at him, violet eyes ripe with earnest surprise. “Well shit, that’s not good.” It had always only ever been a matter of time before the cold war between the two enemy nations and the fragile excuse for peace between them would come crumbling down, but that didn’t make it any less of a surprise that it had happened so soon. “Do we know what sparked it? Who started it?”
“Not that I know of, but I’m sure we’ll get briefed very quickly.”
As they got closer to their destination, several other members of the defense force caught up with them from different directions, and soon they were slowing down as they piled into the hanger bay where a small crowd of soldiers had gathered to await further instruction. She and Roy hurried over to where the rest of their squad had collected, but before she could meld into the group and try to get up to speed, her lieutenant stopped her. “Remington!”
“Yes, sir?” the blonde asked, not bothering to snap to attention as everything was clearly far too chaotic for them to care about the formalities.
“You’re on a special assignment for this one. Report to Major Kesslaw.”
“Got it.” She didn’t waste any time waving goodbye to Roy or the rest of her usual comrades, turning on her heels to hurry her way over to where the major was gathered with a few members of the Magia division. Saffron didn’t have to ask why she was being separated from her squadmates. The Magia officers had been eyeing her for a little while as a possible recruit, and had brought her along on a few smaller missions to test her abilities. Though Saffron had not shown any signs of obvious magical talent, there were a few oddities about her that no one had been able to explain, things that others suspected were of magical origin even if they hadn’t been able to prove or identify it yet.
As she trotted up to the small group of mage soldiers, they turned toward her and broke out in various levels of grins. “Boy, they just let anyone into Magia these days, don’t they?” one of them teased.
Saffron grinned back. “It’s not like their standards were that high to begin with with you people around. What’s up, losers?” The group chuckled lightly, much more at ease and relaxed than the rest of the militia in the hanger. Considering the Magia squad was the most highly trained division of the army, the elite of the elite, its members weren’t as excitable as the general defense populace. In fact, a lot of the Magia were a bit cocky, their rare status as powerful mages giving them an extra level of confidence that had resulted in what was almost a sense of boredom at the situation around them. Not all of the Magia were like that, of course, but many were and Saffron had fit in with that atmosphere ever since her first trial with them.
“What do you think, rook? You gonna give us a little bit of a light show today, or you gonna keep holding out on us?”
“Listen, I can’t just put all of my talents on display for you guys. That would just make me look desperate.”
“How is that any different from how you made yourself look back in Minstrel?”
Saffron punched that soldier in the shoulder, causing another laugh to ripple among everyone, herself included. “Shut up! You’re such a jerk!”
“Alright, everyone on the ship! Let’s go!” The light hearted moment was cut off by the major calling attention to himself and ushering everyone onto the drop ship that had been allocated to them. “There’s no time to waste. You’ll be briefed on the way.” The group moved at once onto the ship with Saffron in tow, piling into the belly of the vessel and either taking one of the many seats along the walls or standing in the space between and holding onto one of the many bars or leather straps fixed to the ceiling to help them keep their balance. Once everyone was on board, the door shut and the aircraft lifted up into the air, taking off toward their destination, which Saffron could only assume was somewhere in the midst of the ongoing battles. She still didn’t fully understand why they were getting involved in skirmishes that had nothing to do with Bosco…
...but she was sure she’d have that answer soon enough.
deltra of gangnam style
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Last edited by Saffron Remington on 27th February 2021, 10:28 pm; edited 2 times in total