The Fall (Chapter 15, 12/22/2011)

[McLaughlin]

Well, I've been wanting to write something for a while, and finally had enough time to put the first chapter together. This is as much practice for me as it is a story for you all, so bear with me through my poor writing skills. The updates will likely be bi-monthly at best as I have a lot of schoolwork on my plate as well as a job, but I'll do my best to stick with it and complete this.

I think that's all I wanted to say at this point. Comments and criticism are welcome and appreciated. I'm a little strapped for time at the moment but I'll try to utilize the tab tags in future updates to make it a little easier on the eyes. I guess it's on with the show?

Chapter 1: Out of the Frying Pan


“I can't believe they're making us train a recruit. This is ridiculous!”

“Complaining at this point is futile Eliza. Finish your preparations so we can depart. Being late will reflect poorly on both of us.” The voice responding to the protest is soft, with a feminine pitch, but the tone is synthetic, if only just.

“Yeah well, assigning both of us to one person is a waste of resources if you ask me. He better be a hottie. Hey, how does this jacket look?” the woman referred to as Eliza asks, while doing a quick pirouette in front of her mirror.

“Aesthetically acceptable, but it holds no defensive value whatsoever.”

“So perfect then.” Eliza flashes a grin at her companion as she pulls on the ends of her pale yellow flaxo jacket to smooth out the ruffles.

“Between that jacket and those pants I wonder why you bother to dress at all,” the caseal observes, referring to the flaxo pants Eliza is also wearing, and whose leg slits on the outside of each thigh leave little to the imagination. “You have more skin showing than cloth.”

“I've told you before, this stuff gives me more room to move around. I'm pretty useless if I'm rooted in place. Besides, that stupid shield over your shoulder is enough defense for the both of us. I'm ready, but are you sure you want to go out like that? You're gonna spook the kid Remi.”

“As opposed to looking like an escort?” she says flatly. “I think I will take my chances.”

“That chest piece hardly screams 'professional',” Eliza fires back, taking full stock of what Remi plans to spend the day in. Batrelle arms with that shield floating over the left shoulder, the Bacalone torso that, in her opinion, was just as suggestive as her own flaxo jacket, what with her current paint scheme having the fake flesh bits a cold gray color and the black metal sections cupping her breasts. She had never understood why those bits were black when the rest of her bulkier metal pieces were a rusty shade of red. She'd always thought it looked downright scandalous. It didn't help that she had a humanoid head with cream-colored skin, and blonde hair just like her own. Men like to think it's a naked woman underneath all the metal and circuits, and the lifelike head just furthers the fantasy. Her choice of leg parts were cause for a moment of consideration. They looked like standard Digiel legs, but the red and gray parts were inverted and the metal skirt was missing.

“Hey, where's the skirt? You always make fun of me for caring what I look like!”

“Its defensive value does not adequately mitigate its restrictive range of motion,” Remi states matter-of-factly.

If glares could kill, we'd have a death pretty early in the story, as Eliza fires daggers from her eyes.

“Additionally,” Remi continues, allowing the smallest of grins to creep onto her face, “it makes sitting quite difficult.”

And with that, they set off out the door. They board an elevator and ride it to the fourth floor of the Colony where they make the trek across the floor towards Parum's PPT gate.

==========

At the same time, across the sector a young man goes through his own morning rituals, though his involve significantly less banter. Having slept poorly the night before, he's already been awake a few hours. Nerves, he'd guessed. Currently he's cleaning the dishes he used to prepare and eat his breakfast. Once he's done that he walks across his modest apartment to the bathroom to splash some water on his face to make sure he's fully awake. Once's he done that, he takes a quick shower and brushes his teeth, checking his breath afterward and deciding mouth wash is a good idea.

Moving out of the bathroom and in to the bedroom, he considers carefully for several moments before settling on his clothing for the day. Pulling his white braves ST pants on one leg at a time, he hops on his left leg while struggling to get his right foot all the way through the leg as his toes catch the yellow rings at the bottom near the cuff. Once that ordeal is over, he buckles up the matching yellow belt. He grabs two things from his closet, leaving the hangers they were on to swing back and forth as their job for the day is done. His first attempt at putting on the long sleeved yellow shirt ends with his head trying to poke through one of the arm holes, but after a little repositioning he pops through the proper place and slides his arms through the sleeves before pulling the shirt down and straightening it out. Next he picks the nobles coat up off his bed slips himself in to it without incident. The yellow stripes on it match well with his pants and the rest of the fabric is a deep green, his favorite color. After giving it a firm tug to align it properly he walks back in to the bathroom where he takes a few minutes to get his hair under control.

It doesn't take him long. He kept it short for exactly that reason. All he has to do is get his sandy blonde bangs out of his eyes, which he does with a pomade by just flipping them upwards a bit, sweeping mostly to the right, but having a bit on the end pushed back towards the left so that the two sections come to meet cleanly near the right side of his head.

Once he's satisfied nothing is sticking up at a weird angle, he makes for his door. Grabbing his wallet card off the island in his kitchen, he sticks it in his back pocket. Once he reaches the door he retrieves his keys from the hook on the wall, slides his feet in to his solid yellow braves sneakers, and taps the console next to the door, signaling it to open. At this point he realizes he's forgotten something and walks purposefully back to his bedroom. Making his way around the side of his bed, he reaches for a small digital picture frame on his nightstand. He stares at it intently for nearly a minute before unzipping his coat and putting the frame in a pocket in the lining of the coat. Checking the clock on the opposite nightstand, he realizes he's going to be late. He does his coat back up as he walks quickly back towards his door, where he taps a few keys before leaving. He steps out, waits for the familiar hissing sound the door makes as it slides shut, confirms the light above it has changed from green to red signifying it's locked, and sets off at a brisk pace towards the space port.

==========

“So where is this kid?” Eliza asks as her eyes scan the crowd of people walking through East Holtes. “I thought you said we were going to be late.”

“You could use this time to familiarize your self with his scouting report. He has probably been held up at customs. You know how long the civilian processing lines are.” Remi has her gaze focused on the data sheet in front of her.

“Why should I bother? You've already read it and I can just get you to tell me the interesting bits. How old is he?”

“Nineteen,” Remi answers.

“Just a pup then!” Eliza shouts rather excitedly.

“He is human, Eliza. He may be a 'pup' in beast years but he is a nearly fully matured adult by human standards. Do not patronize him.”

Eliza sighs and returns to watching the passersby, sweeping her blonde bangs back behind her ear. Her hair is nearly as long as Remi's, reaching down almost to the small of her back, but where Remi ties her golden locks in a low ponytail with a red and white polka dot ribbon, she's perfectly happy to let her hair do as it pleases as long as it's out of her eyes. Sitting on the bench outside the Guardian's Branch as they are, if you only looked at them from the neck up they could pass for twins; same hair color and skin complexion, same yellow eyes, but the ears give them away. Eliza's puppy ears are well hidden beneath her hair, but there's no hiding the large black triangular antennas that stretch back from where Remi's ears would be. The short black prong sticking up from her forehead is a pretty good indicator as well.

“Well that's disappointing. I don't date humans,” Eliza says dejectedly.

“How fortunate for him them,” Remi responds slyly.

“Very funny. When did you develop a sense of humor?” Eliza mumbles, unable to think of anything witty to strike back with. “What else is in that report?”

“This is an intelligence report, not some matchmaking survey,” Remi says, launching a sideways glance at Eliza. “There are, however, some interesting details-”

“Like?” Eliza interrupts.

“...He scored well on the entrance exam, has 'excellent observation skills',” Remi reads off the data sheet, pausing for a moment to skip irrelevant information, “scored poorly on the strength tests but above average in the endurance challenge,” she finishes. Reading further down the page, something catches he attention, prompting her to continue, “He beat Benjamin's record on the agility course.”

That catches Eliza's attention. “What!?”

“By nearly fifteen seconds,” Remi adds. “That's... intriguing.”

“Ha!” Eliza laughs, “I like this kid already! I can't wait to shove him in Ben's face.”

“I believe that would be unwise. You know how competitive he is.”

“We just have to teach him a few things first then. Not like Ben can catch him anyway!” Eliza squeals.

Their conversation is interrupted by the young human cautiously approaching them. They both stand and walk to meet him.

“Hello, would you happen to be,” he says softly as he extends his hand, “Remi and-”

“Eli. Yep, that's us,” Eliza finishes for him. Remi turns to aim another glare her way. “What? I can't keep you from using my whole name but I can sure teach him the right way to address me,” she explains, adding, “if he likes where all his teeth are anyway.”

He nods quickly, “yes ma'-”

“Eli,” she corrects, squeezing his hand a little tighter.

“Eli,” he confirms nervously.

“Please forgive my partner, her mouth is often faster than her brain,” Remi says, shaking his hand as well, sans the death grip Eli had, which seems to relax him a bit. “You must be Roderick.”

“That's me,” he replies, casting a cursory look at Eli to see if she's preparing to dismantle her friend, “I'm sorry I'm so late. I got held up at the customs office and got a little turned around on my way here.”

“It's fine,” Eli assures him. She gives him the once over before looking back up to his piercing green eyes, and I do mean up, because Eli and Remi are both pushing 5'10 and Roderick towers at least three inches above either of them,“you're fine...”

It takes her a moment to figure out that Remi is staring yet more daggers at her and Roderick is blushing furiously because she spoke that last bit aloud. She just shrugs it off and adds “That name's a bit cumbersome though. I'll have to think of something.”

Remi offers him a warm smile and changes the subject, “I have read your file. I believe we are the perfect people to assist in your growth.”

“Well I wouldn't call him perfect...” Eli's voice trails off as she's thinking out loud again.

Remi redirects again, “Our mission today is to observe the forests in and around Rafflon Meadows, and report any SEED contamination to the AMF for purification.”

“Sounds good,” Roderick says, a little relieved he survived their first encounter.

“Then we should be off,” Remi says, gesturing towards the archway atop the slope they're standing at the base of, “the mission counter is this way.”

======

Well, a bit shorter than I had anticipated, but I think the bulk will come more easily as I get further into the narrative. Thoughts and opinions?

[Freeze]

I like it. You're off to a good start. You're length is a pretty good size for reading on a screen. I wouldn't make future chapters too much longer as they become a wall of text and can be difficult to get through. You have enough description to give the reader a proper mental image of the surroundings and your characters personalities come out as soon as we meet them. There are few minor spelling errors that can easily be corrected but overall good job. I will be keeping an eye on this story to see how you do.

[Broken_L_button]

Like Freeze said, it's long enough without being a strain on the eyes, and the descriptions...Ah, I'm a sucker for detailed descriptions. Being able to easily picture your characters and see how they act and think in my mind is a huge plus in favour of your story, in my opinion. Keep it up!

[McLaughlin]

Character descriptions are something I've always struggled with. I have difficulty being descriptive enough to create the proper image without feeling like I'm pausing the narrative to describe somebody new in one giant paragraph. I tried to detail them in a way that would "flow" a bit better instead of dropping a wall of text out of nowhere.

I'm glad you both enjoyed the first chapter. I've had more time off this week than I anticipated, so hopefully I can get another chapter finished for the weekend.

[McLaughlin]

Had a couple lectures cancelled yesterday because the prof was sick so I had time to finish this chapter. Hope everyone likes it.


Chapter 2: Into the Fire


“So what made you join the Guardians?”

“I just wanted to help,” Roderick responds as he steps carefully over an exposed tree root. Our intrepid trio is currently hoofing it through a thick part of the forest, and forward progress is slow.

“This isn't a test, you've already made it. Everyone has a personal reason for joining.” Eli presses.

“Some less noble than others,” Remi adds.

Roderick's gaze falls to the ground as he says, “I saw first hand what happened during the initial SEED outbreak and I couldn't do anything about it. I never wanted to feel that useless again.”

“Fair enough,” Eli says, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

They continue on in silence, with Remi leading and Eliza bringing up the rear, leaving Roderick sandwiched in between them. They travel on for several minutes before Remi stops abruptly.

“Roderick, does anything here strike you as odd?”

Surveying what's in front of him, nothing immediately jumps out as conspicuous. Upon closer scrutiny though, Roderick sees what he thinks Remi is getting at. “There's a patch just ahead that looks a lot less dense than what we've been walking through.”

“Good,” Remi compliments before posing another question, “why might that be?”

“Uh...” Roderick stalls as he tries to think, “The AMF might have already purified this area, there could be toxicity in the top soil preventing growth, it might just receive a lot of through traffic-”

“What would foot traffic indicate?” Remi interrupts.

“Well, given the general layout I'd say this would be a good place to ambush prey.”

“Good work, pup!” Eli says. Then she has an epiphany, “that's what I'll call you! Pup!”

Remi levels a stare at Eli, who responds with, “Relax would ya? When he proves he's a real Guardian I'll come up with something else.”

“It's fine, really,” the pup adds. “It's kind of like a progress report, right? When I stop hearing it I'll know I've done you both proud.”

“Exactly! See, he's fine with it,” Eli says while nodding enthusiastically. She then gets back on topic, “but you know, pup, you could have figured that out by looking at all the tracks left in the middle of the clearing.”

“You mean like the ones you're standing on?” Roderick asks, pointing to Eli's feet. As she looks down to see what he's talking about, Roderick shouts “Eli, watch out!” before grabbing her by the arm and pulling her towards him. Not a moment too soon either, as a giant claw shoots out from behind the brush and right through the space Eli had been occupying before embedding itself in the trunk of a tree.

“Nice save, pup,” Eli says, turning away from Roderick to hide the rose color her cheeks are turning.

The Varha attached to the claw interrupts with a loud cry as it struggles to free itself from the tree. As Eli spins to face it an orange projectile sails past her and straight through the Varha's skull. It immediately falls limp, but is held partially upright by the claw still jammed in the tree.

“I imagine it was used to trapping Koltova,” Remi says as she lowers her Rikauteri.

“Oh come on, why do you always have to ruin my fun?” Eli complains.

“Your 'fun' nearly ruined you.”

“Give me a break. Something that weak wouldn't have even registered on my line shield,” Eli boasts. She turns to Roderick to thank him anyway when she has another revelation, “hey, where the heck is your line shield?”

“Uh... I don't know how to equip it..” he says. Well, more like whispers.

“Get it out and I will show you,” Remi says softly, “it is the most important piece of equipment you will ever own.”

Roderick slides his left sleeve up to tap a small circular button on his wristband. Immediately, a tiny chip melts into his palm, which he then hands off to Remi. She takes his hand in hers and inserts the chip into the the side of the circle. Roderick turns to hide his blushing.

“It is that simple,” Remi says.

A few moments pass before she says, “odd. Perhaps it is defective.”

“Wouldn't be the first time the armory has handed out a dud,” Eli chimes in.

“Perhaps it would be wise to inspect the rest of your equipment while we have the time,” Remi says.

One by one, Roderick calls pieces of his gear out to test them, and one by one they fail to arm. Two sabers, a pistol, a spear and a sword all lay on the forest floor, all refusing to power on even for a second.

“Wow. That's some kind of luck you got there pup,” Eli says, surveying the damage.

“No kidding. That's got to be some kind of record, right?” Roderick taps the button on his wristband once more, which causes all the dead weapons to melt back into nothing.

“Well, this is as good a place as any,” Remi says, walking to the middle of the clearing, “you cannot borrow any of our equipment because you lack the proper permissions, so we must test your combat abilities immediately to assess the risks associated with continuing this mission.”

“All right, but how?” Roderick asks, following Remi out into the open. “I had this problem at my examination too, but they just brushed it off as faulty equipment and skipped my weapons proficiencies.”

“What weapon are you most comfortable wielding?” Remi asks, looking around for something specific.

“To be honest, I've always been really clumsy with everything. I'd like to just stick to knuckles if I can help it.”

“Awesome! I knew I'd like you,” Eli says.

“That is indeed convenient,” Remi agrees, giving up her search, “Eliza is one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the Guardians. Sparring with her should be very helpful in determining your combat strengths and weaknesses.”

“Hang on,” Roderick panics, “you want me to fight Eli?”

“Precisely. The first one to land a clean blow will be declared the victor. At your ready, Eliza.”

“Don't worry pup. It's your first time, so I'll be gentle,” Eli says slyly, adding a wink for good measure.

Roderick is afforded no time to blush though, as Eli closes the distance between them quickly and launches herself into a flying roundhouse kick. Roderick manages to pull both his arms up to keep himself from being decapitated, but Eli quickly drops down and attempts a leg sweep. Not knowing what else to do, he leans backwards and jumps over Eli's leg, only to find her already moving for a rising roundhouse. He pulls his legs in tight and manages to just avoid the kick before stretching back out to slow his spin. He's able to land on both feet, but stumbles a backwards a few steps. Roderick panics as he tries to figure out where the next attack will come from, but it never does. Eli is standing a few feet away with a smirk on her face.

“Not bad pup! But I'm just warming up.”

This continues on for nearly three minutes, with Roderick mostly scrambling to avoid each attack Eli throws at him. After he blocks her scissor kick, Eli steps forward to throw a hard right. Roderick attempts to avoid it by performing a backwards hand spring, but as he lands he slips and stumbles backwards into a tree. He shuts his eyes in preparation for the knockout blow, but after a few seconds pass and he's still upright he cautiously opens one eye just in time to see Eli flick him in the forehead. He lets out a deep sigh and slides down the trunk of the tree. Eli also drops down to take a seat, and Remi walks over from where she was spectating to complete the scene.

“You're not half bad pup,” Eli says, trying hard stop her rapid breathing. “Not too many counterattacks though. We'll have to work on that.”

“Yeah well it's not like I had many opportunities,” Roderick responds with a smile between haggard breaths.

“It would seem there were no exaggerations in your scouting report,” Remi says, taking a seat between Eli and Roderick, forming a small triangle between the three of them, “you performed admirably.”

“Pfft, and you were worried about me rubbing him in Ben's face. I'd put my meseta on the pup if they were to go at it.”

“Thanks,” Roderick says sheepishly, bowing his head to stare at the floor again.

“You have exceeded our expectations Roderick. There is no need for you to be embarrassed.”

“Yeah, you've done good today pup. You won't win any ladies starin' at the floor,” Eli teases.

“Heh,” Roderick offers up another weak smile, “I guess that's something else I have to work on before you come up with a new nickname for me.”

“Damn straight,” Eli says as she pushes herself off the ground. “Now let's get out of here.”

“I agree,” Remi says as she too stands up, “I do not think we will find any signs of SEED contamination in this area.” She extends her hand and helps Roderick to his feet, which causes more blushing.

“Won't here any compl-” Roderick is interrupted by a deafening roar, which causes everyone to look skyward.

“De Ragan. Quickly, retreat to the brush,” Remi orders.

Moments after they take cover behind a rather large bush, the De Ragan touches down in the center of the clearing and begins meandering around. Thick red scales, white underbelly, long armored tail; it's your standard giant dragon.

“What do you recommend we do, Roderick?” Remi asks, keeping her eyes on the De Ragan.

“I don't think it knows we're here. There's not much point to fighting it if we don't have to... can we just ignore it?” Roderick asks. “I'm curious as to why it's this far out from the mountains but I doubt we'll find that out by asking it nicely.”

“Excellent suggestion, and excellent question, though we cannot answer it at present. We should leave while we are able,” Remi agrees.

==========

Back on the Colony, our heroes exit from Parum's PPT gate.

“Meet us at Headquarters on the fifth floor tomorrow at seven sharp,” Remi instructs Roderick.

“Understood. Sleep well guys,” Roderick waves as he turns to set off for his apartment. Remi and Eli leave in a different direction, heading down the grand staircase leading towards the Guardians residential complex.

“You appeared to be winded after your sparring match with Roderick. I think your conditioning has been lax,” Remi teases Eli, letting that slight grin creep back on to her face.

“The pup's good,” Eli shrugs, “I wasn't pulling any punches. A little flashy, sure, but if he hadn't lost his footing I dunno how long we woulda been there.”

“Yes, well, there are many interesting things about that young man,” Remi muses.

“Yeah, like his rotten luck with weapons? I don't think I've ever seen so many dead hilts at once before,” Eli says.

“I have difficulty attributing that purely to luck,” Remi responds as the door to their room hisses and slides open, “the odds of it happening are impossibly slim.”

As Eli's clothes return to her nanotransformer, she slips in to a yellow nightie before continuing, “Either way, we can't drag him around without a line shield like that again. Maybe we should buy him one? You know, as sort of a 'welcome to the team' kinda thing?”

“Perhaps,” Remi concedes. Her metal shell has melted away and been replaced by synthetic skin matching the complexion of her face, allowing her to put on a pale red set of pajama bottoms and a top of her own, “hopefully the solution is that simple. We must keep a close eye on him at all times.”

“Oh, so you fancy him do you?” Eli says, doing some teasing of her own.

“No, I simply meant for his own safety we should be wary-” Remi says quickly.

“Relax, I was kidding. Good night, Remi,” Eli says quietly, pulling her comforter up over her shoulders.

“Good night, Eliza,” Remi replies. Her bed time ritual involves one more step, as she pulls a slim cable from beneath her own bed. Plugging one end in to a jack in the wall, she inserts the smaller end of the cable in to a tiny docking bay on the bottom of her foot before laying down and pulling her covers up.

==========

On the other side of the sector, Roderick enters his apartment. He hangs his keys back on the hook next to the door and walks straight through to the bedroom, pausing only to set his wallet card back on the kitchen island. By the time he actually reaches the bedroom he's already taken the picture frame from his nobles jacket and sets back on the nightstand. Once he's sent all his clothes, save his boxers, to storage in his nanotransformer he grabs the pair of green and black plaid pajama pants hanging from the foot board of his bed and puts them on. After he ties up the draw string he slides in to his bed.

Before closing his eyes, he looks longingly at the photograph and whispers softly, “good night.”

[McLaughlin]

I understand that in general it's poor writing practice to gloss over descriptions, but I figure most everyone reading this knows what the common NPCs look like so I just gave a brief refresher on them to try and keep the length a little more manageable. If people prefer I can give more vivid descriptions in the future. Let me know.

Hopefully everyone reading likes it so far. Next chapter there's some combat, so bear with me. Anyway, here's chapter 3. Hope you all like it.

Edit: There has to be a better way to edit in the tab tags...

Chapter 3: Forging Bonds

“Will you look in to this for me, Maya?”

“You know how busy I am, Remi. I can't just drop my research to check every faulty piece of equipment the armory hands out,” the newman woman says. Tall, voluptuous, long blonde hair, short skirt; typical Maya.

Not one to take no for an answer, Remi insists, “you know how they function as well as I do. A line shield simply projects the wearer's photons outward to form a protective barrier. Even a defective unit should have some sort of output.”

“Fine,” Maya surrenders. She holds her hand out to take the small chip Remi offers up, “but I have some things I need to do before I get to this. I'll contact you when I have a chance. Is that him over there with Mina?”

“Thank you, Maya,” Remi says as she curtseys, “and yes, that would be him.”

“Well isn't he the little looker. Eli make any moves yet?”

“She does not date humans.”

“Oh,” Maya says, a little surprised, “well, do you have any plans for him or is he on the market?”

“What?” Remi says quickly, “Do not be ridiculous, Maya. That would be-”

“I'm just teasing!” Maya giggles. “You don't need to take everything so seriously you know.”

“Forgive me, we must get to our mission,” Remi says with a hint of embarrassment.

“I need to get back to work too. I'll call you when I find something.”

Maya walks off towards an elevator at the back end of the room, while Remi heads back to the reception desk.

“What was that about?” Eli asks.

“Nothing important. Maya sends her greetings, and welcomes you to the fold, Roderick. Are you both ready to depart?”

“Sort of. I took the pup down to the second floor to buy him a line shield, but all the ones they had were busted.”

“It's no big deal, really,” Roderick says, “I'll be super careful to stay out of trouble.”

“It is not that simple, Roderick. Without a line shield you are completely defenseless.”

“Not completely,” Eli disagrees, “and if he wants to continue, knowing the risks, who are we to stop him?”

Remi stays silent for for a few moments as she considers her options, so Eli steps up and says, “we need a tie-break. Mina, should we take the pup with us?”

The girl behind the circular counter looks confused as she confirms, “me?”

“Yeah, you. His fate's in your hands,” Eli nods towards Roderick.

“Uh... w-well...” Mina stammers, “I think... I think it's pretty brave for him to want to go even though he's unprotected. I... I say you should let him.” Roderick's face lights up, and he smiles as thanks to Mina, who quickly searches for something to do on her computer terminal.

“There we have it!” Eli grabs Roderick by the wrist and starts off towards the stairway. Remi sighs and follows.

“May the Holy Light guide you!” Mina shouts after them.

==========

As they reach the PPT gate junction, Eli pauses. “...where are we going again?”

Remi stares blankly for a moment before responding, “our mission today is in Tarcus.”

“Ugh. What are we doing in the capital city of Parum?” Eli asks the three of them begin walking towards the shuttle headed for Parum.

“This is a reconnaissance mission. President Dallgun believes G.R.M is somehow involved with a terrorist organization known as the Illuminus. He has asked us to infiltrate one of G.R.M's research facilities and conduct a search for evidence,” Remi turns to Roderick, “this is all classified information. Normally we would not be bringing a trainee on an assignment like this, but we are shorthanded, and the probability of combat is low. The president trusts you will not speak of this to anyone other than the two of us.”

“My lips are sealed,” Roderick nods.

“I hate Tarcus,” Eli says angrily as the group boards the shuttle.

“Why's that?” Roderick asks.

“The population of Tarus is nearly 100% Cast,” Remi answers. “As such, the Cast Supremacy movement is quite strong there.”

“The Casts in Tarcus are nothing like the ones on the Colony, pup,” Eli adds, “they look down on every other race. You'll see when we get there.”

==========

As they step off the shuttle, Roderick has a look at his surroundings. The city of Tarcus is the capital of Parum, and its Cast heritage shows in the architecture. Every structure looks as though it has a purpose. Giant skyscrapers reach up into the clouds, entire walls are made out of glass, smaller buildings are built side by side with no space between them, and the city looks almost monochromatic, nearly everything some shade of gray; there's barely any color, and no street lights anywhere. What Roderick finds most interesting though is the distinct metal smell the air has.

They set off in the direction of one of the larger visible buildings, with Remi leading, Eli in the middle and Roderick bringing up the rear. They walk for several minutes in silence, with Roderick, and especially Eli subject to hateful stares from empty eyes. It doesn't seem to bother Roderick, but he can see Eli's head slowly tilting towards the floor. Roderick quickens his pace to catch up to her.

“Hey, Eli?”

“Huh? What's up, pup?” Eli asks, picking her gaze up off the floor to look at him.

“I was, uh, just wondering if you'd maybe feel like helping me set up a training regiment for myself?” Roderick asks.

His plan seems to work. Eli's face instantly brightens as she says, “sure. We can set something up as soon as we're done here.”

“Awesome,” Roderick says, “I really appreciate the help.”

“No problem pup,” Eli says, now beaming, “I'll have you in tip-top shape before you know it. You'll have girls swar- oof!”

Eli is interrupted as she collides with a Cast, who stares her down with a look of contempt as he growls, “watch where you're going, mutt.”

Eli steps forward to say something but Roderick holds out his arm in front of her, moving towards the Cast himself, “I apologize. It my was my fault she ran in to you.”

The Cast takes a step forward as well, putting him only about a foot away from Roderick, so he can say, “ha, one sub species sticking up for another. How amusing.”

Now that they're within grabbing distance of each other, Roderick realizes he may have made a mistake in standing up to the Cast, who's easily a foot taller and looks more like a bipedal tank than anything else. Not wanting to back down though, he swallows the lump in his throat to say, “there's no need to make something out of nothing. I apologized, there was no damage done, let's just leave it at that.”

The Cast takes another step forward, leaving only inches between them and forcing Roderick to crane his neck to maintain eye contact. After a few tense moments of silence, the Cast scoffs and walks away.

“You didn't have to do that you know,” Eli says.

“I know,” Roderick replies, keeping his eyes fixed on the Cast for a few moments longer before turning to face Eli.

“...Thanks, pup,” Eli says, giving Roderick a hard pat on the back.

“What is keeping you both?”

Eli and Roderick quickly spin around to face Remi, and they both blurt out, “nothing!” in unison, as they walk over to meet her.

Remi stares at them skeptically, “I understand this is not a pleasant place for either of you. The sooner we complete out mission, the sooner we can leave.”

They all turn to set off again, but before they begin to move Roderick's hand shoots out from his side, prompting both ladies to look over their shoulders and Eli to yell out, “pup!?”

Roderick has an old looking Cast with a long gray beard and funky goggles for eyes by the wrist, whose hand is only an inch or so away from Eli's rear end. The Cast chuckles to himself before saying, “very good, Mr. O'Laughlin!”

At the sound of the Cast's voice, both Remi and Eli turn quickly as they shout, “Headmaster!”

“It's been a while since anyone's caught me. I see you're taking good care of your trainee,” he says as he pulls his hand away and tucks it behind his back, where it latches on to the other one.

“Roderick,” Remi says, “this is Headmaster Nav.”

“I... what?” Roderick says, shocked. “What's the headmaster doing running around trying to grope people?”

“He can gauge your fitness level with just a touch,” Eli whispers.

“What are you doing here, Headmaster?” Remi asks, changing the subject.

“Oh, nothing to worry yourselves about. I'm on my way back to the Colony already, actually. I haven't seen the two of you in ages, so I had to take this opportunity to say hello!” Nav says. “Now that I've done that, I really must get going,” he says as he begins to walk away. He looks over his shoulder to say “I'll be keeping my eye on you Mr. O'Laughlin. Make those two proud!”

As they start off again towards their destination, Eli gives Roderick another hard pat on the back, “I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually catch the headmaster before. Good thing you did too,” Eli says, “I've been pretty lazy lately. He never would have let me hear the end of it.”

“I still can't believe the headmaster is really an old closet pervert,” Roderick says.

“Do not let his appearance fool you,” Remi warns, “his skills are legendary.”

==========

“We are here.”

The trio is in an alley next to the huge building they'd been walking to. It's an alley by definition only though, as it's nearly as spotless as the streets out front.

“According to the schematic, this door should grant us access to the basement levels of the building,” Remi says, approaching the door she's apparently talking about.

“Looks like it's locked,” Eli says, pointing to the red light highlighting the door's control panel.

“I'm pretty handy with locks, if we need to get in,” Roderick says, moving to take a closer look at the door itself.

“That will not be necessary,” Remi says while tapping keys on the holographic interface. It only takes her a few seconds to get the light to switch from red to green. As the door slides open she boasts, “the encryption was weak.”

“Let's just get this over with,” Eli says, stepping into the elevator the door was concealing, “I hate going underground.”

[Broken_L_button]

Noooo...The descriptions are much shorter now... *cries*

...Joking. I like it. As with the other chapters, the characters show lots of personality, making each chapter an entertaining read. I'll confess, I would have wanted juicier descriptions, but seeing as those who are most likely to read this pretty much know what all the characters look like, I guess not making the chapter any longer with descriptions was a smart choice on your part.

The only real gripe I have with this chapter is the fact that it seemed a little long for a screen thanks to the dialog, but that's probably just me. I eagerly await more from you.

[McLaughlin]

I kind of wish I could do this as sort of a comic/manga style thing, because I think the visual aids would really be a boon me when my descriptions fall short, but my drawing abilities are comparable to blindfolding someone and asking them to finger paint.

I'll do my best to add a little more substance to the descriptions. I wasn't entirely happy with the way I did them in this chapter anyway, but the chapter was already looking a little lengthy so for the sake of brevity I left them the way they were.

Glad you're liking it, I really appreciate the comments.

[Freeze]

I have to say I liked it. Due to the reader base here it wasn't really necessary for long descriptions on characters most people know so don't get down on that. Save your talent for description when you introduce unknown characters or areas as this is where it will be needed. Keep up the good work. I'm looking forward to the next chapter.

[McLaughlin]

Hopefully this chapter has a bit more pace to it than the previous ones did. I forgot to write the tab tags into the word document and I wrote this chapter on my laptop from a hospital bed, so I'll have to remember to edit in the tabs when I get home, because doing it with a touch pad just ain't gonna happen.

Hope everyone enjoys it. Opinions welcome and appreciated as always.


Chapter 4: Surprise, Surprise


The area the elevator deposits the trio in looks much like you'd expect a secret underground laboratory would. They find themselves in a large, dimly lit room. Dozens of strange pieces of equipment line the walls, with work stations littering the room. A large surgical table sits in the middle of the room, underneath the brightest light, which is causing the green liquid on the floor below it to glisten.

“Well, there's our proof. Let's skedaddle,” Eli says. Before she can board the elevator, Remi grabs her arm.

“You know we need more than this, Eliza.”

As they converse, Roderick begins to walk around the room, taking a closer look at some of the devices in areas with poor lighting. In the far corner he comes across an odd looking apparatus. A large glass cylinder standing on its end with tubes hanging down from the ceiling.

“Like this?” he calls out, pointing at what he's found.

“Interesting,” Remi says, “it appears to be some sort of holding tank.”

“Then what was it holding, and where is it now?” Eli asks. It only takes a moment to figure out she set herself up, “we have to find out now don't we.”

“G.R.M. is a weapons manufacturer. The fact that they require a holding tank at all raises several questions and calls for further investigation,” Remi confirms.

Eli sighs, “I was afraid you were gonna say that.”

They walk back across the room to the only exit they see. It takes Remi a few seconds to crack the lock on the door, which lets out into a wide hallway with even less light. More tanks line the walls, all empty. They continue on for what feels like forever to Eli, room after similar room, finding equipment that has no business being there.

Finally, the group reaches something that gives them reason to pause. This room has a similar layout to the others, but glass covers the floor, blood is smeared all over the walls at odd angles, and the door to their left is jammed, creating an eerie sound as it periodically attempts to force itself shut.

“What the hell...” Eli's voice trails off as they enter. Walking over to one of the blood smears, she drags a finger across it and is visibly startled when it easily transfers onto her. “This happened recently.”

“The tanks in here are all busted up pretty bad,” Roderick notes.

“Be alert,” Remi says. She walks over to the damaged door and quickly finds the reason it can't shut, “this door has been forced open. Several large dents and gouges are preventing it from seating itself properly in the frame. The damage is inconsistent with any known G.R.M. weapon model.”

“What are you saying?” Eli asks, still trying to wipe the blood off her hand.

“It appears that G.R.M. has been experimenting on native creatures.”

“Doesn't look like it went too well, either,” Roderick adds.

“We must be more cautious from this point onward. Stay behind us, Roderick,” Remi says. She then rips the wiring out of the control panel next to the damaged door, cutting the power. After forcing it open, she waves the others ahead.

What they find beyond the next hallway is in stark contrast to their surroundings thus far. Instead of a poorly lit lab room, they find themselves in a large multi-tiered room with exits on every side. It stretches out much farther than any area they've been in previously, looking more like two individual rooms with a large chasm separating them. They're connected by a narrow bridge that spans the gap. A balcony wraps its way around most of the perimeter, providing more entrances to the area. Most of the floor is transparent, revealing the cabling running underneath, and the whole place has a much better lighting situation, illuminating the entire room. About the only thing this room has in common with the others is the dark gray color of the walls.

Remi and Eli proceed slowly with Roderick behind them. Once Roderick is clear of the door though, it shuts and locks itself. They all look at each other silently for a moment before turning their eyes to the multitude of entrances and exits, most of which remain are also locked.

“Roderick, stay close to us, and keep your eyes on the upper level,” Remi says quietly. Her Rikauteri melts into her hand silently, and she immediately draws the photon bowstring taut. The jagged photon cage running the length of the limbs glows pure white, looking almost like the end of an angel's wing.

“He'll be fine, Remi,” Eli whispers. She chooses to withdraw a Huge Cutter. Looking like a giant box cutter, the blade is barely half a centimeter thick, and perfectly flat. The cage shines a rich orange color, and the whole thing gives off a very low pitch humming sound as she moves it slowly into a ready position at her side, as if it were literally cutting the air.

Cautiously, they make their way across the room, all three sets of eyes darting around constantly. As they approach the bridge, they line up with Eli at the point, Roderick in the middle, and Remi at the rear. The bridge is a good fifty meters long, and as they reach the middle, Eli pauses.

“Keep moving Eliza, they are climbing up from behind us as well,” Remi says calmly.

She's referring to the dozens of small black blobs sliding their way up either side of the chasm. As they reach the top, they group together to create a strange creature. Standing on two legs, a large yellow-ish sphere held in place by what looks like little more than black tethers serves as the torso, with a tiny nub for a head, and strange neon blue blades encasing both arms.

“Delsabans,” Eli states, quickening her pace as more of the monsters form.

“What are SEED forms doing here?” Roderick asks.

“Excellent question,” Remi says, “whatever the reason, G.R.M. has a hand in it. We must report this to the president.”

Once they reach the other side of the bridge they quickly move to the center of the room. Remi takes aim back down the bridge and begins firing arrows at the delsabans. Eli moves up to the edge of the chasm and takes a low stance. As a group of monsters take shape she puts all her weight into swinging her sword, and uses the momentum it creates to lean back and spin on her heel, creating a whirlwind of photons and blowing dozens of delsabans off the the ledge and back into the pit, as well as sweeping away a good chunk of the bridge. The force of the wind is strong enough to make Roderick squint as it blows in his face.

After Eli stops spinning she gives her head a shake, “Tornado Break always makes me dizzy.”

“You always put far too much rotation in,” Remi says. She pulls her arm back to nock another arrow, but when she lets it fly it ends up being several times larger than normal, and it cleans out the entire length of the bridge.

At this point there's only one delsaban left, and Roderick, feeling pretty useless, moves to engage it. It takes a wide swing at him, which he ducks below. As it flies overhead, he stands and sweeps its right leg backwards with his foot, knocking it off balance and sending it falling forwards. He then grabs his right wrist with his left hand to put more power into the elbow he delivers to its back. The delsaban hits the ground hard and explodes back into the tiny black orbs that originally formed it, which then slowly fade away. They all take a look around, and once they're satisfied they're alone, they breathe a collective sigh of relief.

“See? The pup's got moves!” Eli says.

“Indeed. However, I wish you would cede combat to us unless absolutely necessary.”

“I understand,” Roderick says, “I just didn't want to be a burden.”

“I assure you, you are not.”

Remi takes another look around before turning her attention to the door closest to her, “we cannot leave the way we came. I will open the lock on this door, but it will take some time. I must interface with it, which will render me immobile. You both should rest.”

“Sounds good to me,” Eli says, taking a seat, “c'mere pup, we'll start planning your training regimen.”

They sit for several minutes while Remi works on the door. When they hear it slide open they turn around ready to leave. Seeing Remi still slaving away and apparently unaware of of the noise they heard, both immediately begin looking for the source. Roderick spots an unlocked door on the balcony above them and shouts “Eli, up there!”

Through the door walks a very large creature. Bipedal, it stands easily ten feet tall, with plated feet and rough, brown scaly skin everywhere else. Large forearms, a long neck with a jagged fin running all the way to the top of its fishy head, and two beady eyes round out the creature's features.

The jarba jumps down from the balcony and lands with a heavy thud as the floor beneath it struggles not to give way. It roars and then begins to walk slowly towards Roderick, who looks to Eli for orders. Remi is the first to speak though, “what is happening?”

“Just a jarba. Keep working on the door, we'll take care of it,” Eli says.

While it walks towards Roderick, Eli runs up behind it and jumps high into an aerial somersault with her Huge Cutter drawn, cutting a wide gash in the jarba's back as she comes down. This pulls its attention away from Roderick, and it turns just in time to see Eli take a huge vertical swing, cutting deep into a section of torso just under its arm. It cries out in what is generally assumed to be pain, and as Eli attempts to dislodge her weapon, Roderick hears another door slide open. He looks over his shoulder but finds that once again it's not Remi's door that he heard.

Looking back towards the balcony, he sees another jarba come through the same door the first one appeared from. It wastes no time jumping down to their level, and before Roderick can finish shouting, “behind you, Eli!” it takes a heavy swing, cutting her deep from her shoulder all the way down her back and off the opposite side of her waist. Eli tries to muffle her scream, but fails. Remi asks again, “what is happening?” but Roderick shouts at her, “just get the door open! There are probably more of these things on the way!”

The first jarba sees its opportunity for revenge and pulls back to start making strange movements with its hands. Roderick takes off running and dives to push Eli out of the way. He's fast enough to get her clear, but not fast enough to completely avoid the eruption of several ice stalagmites from the floor where Eli had been standing. One of them makes contact with his foot, and the ice begins to form around it. By the time he and Eli hit the ground everything below his knee is encased in a block of ice.

“Just a few more moments,” Remi says quickly.

Roderick looks up, confused that her voice sounded so close. His dive has taken them across most of the room. He then looks down at Eli, whose face is twisted up as she fights the urge to cry out in pain. She tries to stand, but Roderick forces her back down before turning his attention back to the jarbas.

“D-don't b-b-be stupid, p-pup. You c-can't beat those t-t-things without a w-weapon,” she stammers.

“I don't need to kill them,” Roderick says, keeping his eyes on the enemies, “I just have to stall them until Remi gets the door open.”

He moves to take a step forward, but loses his balance immediately as he's reminded why one of his legs is so cold. When trying to smash it off against the wall doesn't work, Roderick looks down at his leg, and then back up at the two jarbas. He then plants his frozen foot on the floor and pushes off with his good leg. Balancing on one of the edges of the ice block like a skate, he covers the distance to the jarbas in a flash, where he launches himself into the air with his good leg. He forces himself into a spinning kick, and his frozen leg connects with the previously injured jarba's head, sending it stumbling face first into the wall behind it. The force of the kick is also enough to shatter the ice on his leg, which allows him to hop backwards as he lands to avoid being cut in half by the remaining enemy. Hearing another door swoosh open, Roderick looks back to see that third time's the charm, and Remi has finally gotten the door unlocked. Wasting no time, he sprints back across the room, scoops Eli up in his arms, and books it through the door. Remi follows immediately, locking the door behind them.

They run through a dozen rooms until they reach a small intersection where Roderick pauses for instruction.

“We must tend to Eliza before we do anything else,” Remi says, “the room to the left appears to be a dead end. If it is vacant, it should be safe.”

They walk up the ramp and enter the room, which is indeed a dead end. It's a small rectangular room with no ways out besides the one they came in through. Aside from a few crates in the far corner, it's completely empty. Roderick drops to his knees to set Eli down on the floor as gently as he can. Remi pulls a wand out that looks very similar to a small hatchet. As she waves her Tesbra across the cut on Eli's back, a warm green light fills in the gash. It remains for a few seconds as the wound slowly tries to close itself, but the light fades from Eli's back before any real progress is made.

“I can only repair line shields. I lack the technical skill to close a wound like this,” Remi says as her Tesbra fades back into distorted space.

“What do we do then?” Roderick asks, doing his best to keep the panic out of his voice.

“I will administer a light anesthetic and stitch it by hand. It will have to suffice until we return to the Colony.”

“Uh, alright,” Roderick says, “what can I do to help?”

“I need you to stand watch outside this room,” Remi says while giving Eli a small shot of something in her thigh, “alert me if anything or anyone approaches.”

“Oh... that's no fun... Remi,” Eli says weakly, “you just don't... want him to see... me topless.”

Roderick turns eight shades of red and quickly makes for the hallway, but holds his hand in front of his eyes as he turns to walk back to the ladies. Shutting his eyes, he pulls off his nobles coat and sets it on the floor beside Eli.

“Your jacket is pretty much destroyed,” he explains. He then heads towards the hall again.

“Roderick,” Remi calls after him. Grinning ever so slightly, she says “no peeking.”

Roderick silently raises his hand in confirmation as he disappears back into the hallway.

==========

Roderick passes the time leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, thinking about nothing in particular. What he feels like an hour passes in silence as he keeps watch dutifully, until he hears footsteps. Looking around for the source, he sees two silhouettes approaching from the hallway opposite him. Roderick pushes himself off the wall and begins thinking up an excuse for why he's there. As the two figures come into view though, all thought processes freeze and his jaw drops in apparent shock.

“You... why are you here!?”

“Hello, Roderick. It's been a while.”