Epitomy of Solidarity, Chapter 2
Title: Epitomy of Solidarity
Chapter Title: Chapter 2--Guards and Specialists
Author: kazi_kun
Beta: Um....Yeah, Still Don't Have One.
Rating: SFW (for Now)
Word Count: 1,974
Pairings: TBA
Genre: Still "General"
Warnings: Sephiroth Awesomeness, Multiple Animes, Character Alterations, Minor OOC, Minor (I hope) Spoilerage, Random Created-by-Kazi-kun Plot....
Disclaimer: Still Looking for Work, so Still Not Mine.
Summary: There is a city up in the far north, at the base of the Northern Mountains, a city where the renewed outbreak of Geostigma has not struck its residents...a city filled with other-worldly beauties clad in the very absence of color that gives their city its name...a city that bows to Sephiroth as their king...
-------------
"Epitomy of Solidarity"
Chapter 2
-
“Again!”
The line of identically black-clad, silver-haired young men and women loaded the Velvet Nightmares in their hands, aimed at the targets at the end of their lanes and fired in unison. A tall man in black with a black cuff bearing a dark blue design on his left bicep, walking back and forth as he inspected each recruit with a well practiced and trained eye.
“Again, faster!” The man barked, the recruits obeying without a word or a complaint.
“You want to be a Guard? You earn it! You want to be a Specialist? You earn it! You want to be a Premiere? You earn it!” A second man in black, more burly than the man walking the lines, barked from the patch of dark earth he stood on. The man walking the lines barking at the recruits to repeat the actions and to spead it up. “We do not hand you anything! You earn it with your sweat and your blood! We are all the same with our own range of talents! Show the city where yours lie and take your place among your earned fellows!”
The crunch of dirt and gravel was so soft that it would have been overlooked by the shouting if weren’t for the practiced eye of the second man. He turned towards the flicker of movement at the corner of his eye and saw a man and woman stride towards him, both bearing metal cuffs around their left biceps. His eyes windened a hair before he came to his senses and faced his underling and the recruits.
“About face!” The second man barked. “Leads on deck!”
The first man turned and saluted, drawing himself up straight, like his superior. The recruits holstered their Velvet Nightmares and then turned away from their targets, drawing themselves up straight and saluting as well. The third man on scene and the woman drew up to the training grounds and the woman gave the 2nd man a nod, the man dropping his salute. The 1st man and the recruits dropped their salutes but didn't didn't relax.
The woman wore a long black tunic skirt that went to her knees over a pair of black shorts, two Velvet Nightmares on her hips, the belts criss-crossing from waist to hip. Her boots went up to her knees and had steel armor strapped to her shins and calves, curved plate to cover and fit her knees. Her elbow length black gloves were missing their thumb and index fingers but bore armor on the backs of her other fingers, backs of her hands and on her forearms, a curved plate to shield and fit her elbows. Her top was black cloth with long sleeves and a boat neck collar, armor panels on her torso and chest with curved panels to fit around her breasts and show off the black chest of her shirt. She wore a leather collar around her neck and a long leather vest that would hide her guns when she wore it closed but the slits on the sides were long enough that they fit around the holsters to free her guns for use.
Her long silver hair was pulled back in a semi ponytail by a silver “Z” looking barrette, her barely existant bangs threatening to fall into her blue eyes with their signature green ring around the pupil. Her lips were a shade of red that was both understated but well suited for her, like the silver studs she wore. She appeared about 19 or 20 and held herself like an experienced warrior, which was true. The black symbol on the back of her vest was that of the Premieres but the silver design on her bicep was that of the Guards and the diamond-shaped sapphire that decorated the cuff proclaimed her the lead Guard.
The third man was just a bit shorter than the woman at 16, 17 years old in appearance but built like a martial artist who could handle the long sword on his back no problem. His long black coat was leather and had no sleeves with slits up to his lower hips, zipped all the way to his collar but leaving the high collar itself open. His knee high boots had four buckles up the outer sides, matching the black leather bracers strapped to his forearms and the belts that crossed his chest and wrapped around his waist, keeping his sword firmly to his back. He wore black goggle sided sunglasses over his eyes and black leather elbow length fingerless gloves under his bracers to protect his palms, forearms and knuckles.
His silver-white hair was in spikes that were long enough to droop back a little from the way his hair grew and from the years of running his hand through it when he was thinking or frustrated. A single lock of hair fell into his face with a slight curve so it fell more between his eyes than actually in them. He had two silver hoops in each earlobe and two studs in his upper ears. His biceps were bare save for the silver design bearing the diamond-shaped ruby on his left bicep, which marked him the Lead Specialist but it was the darker black Premiere symbol on his back that declared his true strength, even if it was half hidden by his sword.
The Lead Guard approached the 2nd man without hesitating, the Lead Specialist striding over to the targets to inspect them. "Progress report, Captain."
“Yes, ma’am!” The captain began his report without a pause, his voice drifting to the back of the Lead Specialist’s attention as the young man touched the bullet holes in the paper targets with a well practiced eye.
The shots on the first target to the right were a bit sloppy, the aim a bit rushed…no, not rushed, just off. The first recruit would need to see the med sect before he could be properly assigned but judging from the shots, this recruit was trying to correct his aim each time, getting closer to the target, meaning he had good adaptive and analysis abilities.
The second target held more shots towards the center, about average with a few hitting the center ring. More training would be needed but it was good progress. The third and fourth targets showed similar results as the second. The fifth target had almost center shots every round, some of the shots clustering together. A bit more training and Number 5 would make an excellent Guard, even a Specialist if they were any good with a sniper rifle.
The sixth, seventh and eighth recruits were definite Guards. The ninth and tenth would also have to see the med sect. The eleventh, twelvth and thirteenth were definitely Specialists, hitting practically dead center every time, their shots clustering. The fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth were promising Guards. Seventeenth was definitely the worst shot, making the young man wonder how bad his eyes had been before the treatments. Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentith all showed promise, like some of those before them and proper training for them was almost a given…though, Twentith may need med sect to give him a once over, just to make sure.
Hell, all of them would get an once-over but those certain ones demanded a closer look.
An all too familiar zing ran through his spine, making the Lead Specialist look towards the direction he and the Lead Guard had come from. Their fellow Premiere came towards the shooting range, the male recruits paying far more attention to her than they should have been but they were new to the signal of someone so close to completion and she was beautiful. It was only natural that she would have attracted attention but unlike her fellow two Premieres, she appeared unarmed and to assume that meant she was defenseless was a grave mistake.
The Lead Specialist turned bodily from the targets and started towards her. His hidden eyes saw the gleam of metal on her left bicep and half wondered which group she had been given Lead of. She was a terrific strategist and when it came to an operation, she had yet to fail, even with unknown variables, but whatever group got her as a Lead would be better off.
It didn’t take long to reach her and she stopped just off to the side, keeping out of the way of the Lead Guard’s report gathering. She had sunglasses similar to his own covering her eyes. She had to have been in a darker place before coming out into the bright outdoors. True, it was overcast but it was still bright when you’ve spent all day inside a building or in the darkness, going over night/darkness related exercises.
“Coming to tell us of your new rank?” The Lead Specialist inquired as he drew up to her.
“Sephiroth insisted that I take this position, whether I wanted to or not.” She sighed, rubbing her bare bicep with her gloved hand. “You’ve still got that damned cold aura, even after Geostigma and the treatments.”
The Lead Specialist shrugged with a wry quirk of his lips. “I’m a cold bastard. We’ve always known that. So, which group are you the Lead of or are you going to make me guess?”
“You’re looking at the Lead Premiere.” She answered with another sigh. “Just be glad it wasn’t Kadaj. He’s still muttering about how he should have been given Lead of the Echelon, just because he completed the Reunion and became the new Sephiroth for a time.”
“The day he gets control of our version of Deepground, is the day I’ll lead the gestalt against him, personally.” The Lead Specialist snorted at the idea. He looked at the Lead Guard, who was still busy getting all of the information from the captain. She was currently being taken to look at the targets by the man personally. “Have you told him yet?”
The Lead Premiere looked away, getting the Lead Specialist to look at her. “You came here before going to tell him? Are you crazy? Do you want him to think you’re favoring others over him?”
“No, I don’t . It’s just…” She sighed, her shoulders slumping a little. “I was…I was going to see him next. Sephiroth told me to tell the two of you and since you’re closer…”
“Closer? Where is he?” The Lead Specialist asked.
“The cavern training grounds, doing a subterranian exercise.” The Lead Premiere muttered. “I’m stalling because I still don’t like going underground willingly. It still makes me uneasy.”
“And that’s why he usually volunteers to go deep down for you.” The Lead Specialist earned a look that wasn’t entirely happy. If she wasn’t wearing sunglasses, he might have cowed but with the coverings, some of the effect was lost. “Hey, I’m stating facts. And we all know that he’s the only one that comes close to seeing in the dark like you can.”
“I know. I know.” She muttered softly.
The Lead Specialist looked back at the recruits, their instructor barking orders to reload and shoot as a demonstration for the Lead Guard. “The draw to you must drive him crazy, since you’re both the most Complete out of us all. It’s a wonder how he stays sane.”
The Lead Premiere blushed faintly at his words. “…probably the same way Sephiroth can, I suppose…”
“Go see him.” The Lead Guard replied. “I’ll tell Madam Distracted the good news for you. Go see him, tell him the good news and show him that you’re not trying to play favorites.”
“That’s easier said than done.” She muttered as she turned and walked away. The Lead Specialist watched her walk away, taking in every step, every sway of her hips and let out a heavy sigh.
“That bastard has no idea just how lucky he is.”
-----------
Okay, chapter 2 for ya!
I'm having a rather shitastic day, aside from no sleep but I did make a new friend yesterday. She's an artist and she's awesome. She's also a Sailor Moon fan! We Moonies are everywhere! ^^
Anyway, I have more pics to add to photobucket, so once McAfee stops being an ass, I'll post the links in an update.
Chapter Title: Chapter 2--Guards and Specialists
Author: kazi_kun
Beta: Um....Yeah, Still Don't Have One.
Rating: SFW (for Now)
Word Count: 1,974
Pairings: TBA
Genre: Still "General"
Warnings: Sephiroth Awesomeness, Multiple Animes, Character Alterations, Minor OOC, Minor (I hope) Spoilerage, Random Created-by-Kazi-kun Plot....
Disclaimer: Still Looking for Work, so Still Not Mine.
Summary: There is a city up in the far north, at the base of the Northern Mountains, a city where the renewed outbreak of Geostigma has not struck its residents...a city filled with other-worldly beauties clad in the very absence of color that gives their city its name...a city that bows to Sephiroth as their king...
-------------
"Epitomy of Solidarity"
Chapter 2
-
“Again!”
The line of identically black-clad, silver-haired young men and women loaded the Velvet Nightmares in their hands, aimed at the targets at the end of their lanes and fired in unison. A tall man in black with a black cuff bearing a dark blue design on his left bicep, walking back and forth as he inspected each recruit with a well practiced and trained eye.
“Again, faster!” The man barked, the recruits obeying without a word or a complaint.
“You want to be a Guard? You earn it! You want to be a Specialist? You earn it! You want to be a Premiere? You earn it!” A second man in black, more burly than the man walking the lines, barked from the patch of dark earth he stood on. The man walking the lines barking at the recruits to repeat the actions and to spead it up. “We do not hand you anything! You earn it with your sweat and your blood! We are all the same with our own range of talents! Show the city where yours lie and take your place among your earned fellows!”
The crunch of dirt and gravel was so soft that it would have been overlooked by the shouting if weren’t for the practiced eye of the second man. He turned towards the flicker of movement at the corner of his eye and saw a man and woman stride towards him, both bearing metal cuffs around their left biceps. His eyes windened a hair before he came to his senses and faced his underling and the recruits.
“About face!” The second man barked. “Leads on deck!”
The first man turned and saluted, drawing himself up straight, like his superior. The recruits holstered their Velvet Nightmares and then turned away from their targets, drawing themselves up straight and saluting as well. The third man on scene and the woman drew up to the training grounds and the woman gave the 2nd man a nod, the man dropping his salute. The 1st man and the recruits dropped their salutes but didn't didn't relax.
The woman wore a long black tunic skirt that went to her knees over a pair of black shorts, two Velvet Nightmares on her hips, the belts criss-crossing from waist to hip. Her boots went up to her knees and had steel armor strapped to her shins and calves, curved plate to cover and fit her knees. Her elbow length black gloves were missing their thumb and index fingers but bore armor on the backs of her other fingers, backs of her hands and on her forearms, a curved plate to shield and fit her elbows. Her top was black cloth with long sleeves and a boat neck collar, armor panels on her torso and chest with curved panels to fit around her breasts and show off the black chest of her shirt. She wore a leather collar around her neck and a long leather vest that would hide her guns when she wore it closed but the slits on the sides were long enough that they fit around the holsters to free her guns for use.
Her long silver hair was pulled back in a semi ponytail by a silver “Z” looking barrette, her barely existant bangs threatening to fall into her blue eyes with their signature green ring around the pupil. Her lips were a shade of red that was both understated but well suited for her, like the silver studs she wore. She appeared about 19 or 20 and held herself like an experienced warrior, which was true. The black symbol on the back of her vest was that of the Premieres but the silver design on her bicep was that of the Guards and the diamond-shaped sapphire that decorated the cuff proclaimed her the lead Guard.
The third man was just a bit shorter than the woman at 16, 17 years old in appearance but built like a martial artist who could handle the long sword on his back no problem. His long black coat was leather and had no sleeves with slits up to his lower hips, zipped all the way to his collar but leaving the high collar itself open. His knee high boots had four buckles up the outer sides, matching the black leather bracers strapped to his forearms and the belts that crossed his chest and wrapped around his waist, keeping his sword firmly to his back. He wore black goggle sided sunglasses over his eyes and black leather elbow length fingerless gloves under his bracers to protect his palms, forearms and knuckles.
His silver-white hair was in spikes that were long enough to droop back a little from the way his hair grew and from the years of running his hand through it when he was thinking or frustrated. A single lock of hair fell into his face with a slight curve so it fell more between his eyes than actually in them. He had two silver hoops in each earlobe and two studs in his upper ears. His biceps were bare save for the silver design bearing the diamond-shaped ruby on his left bicep, which marked him the Lead Specialist but it was the darker black Premiere symbol on his back that declared his true strength, even if it was half hidden by his sword.
The Lead Guard approached the 2nd man without hesitating, the Lead Specialist striding over to the targets to inspect them. "Progress report, Captain."
“Yes, ma’am!” The captain began his report without a pause, his voice drifting to the back of the Lead Specialist’s attention as the young man touched the bullet holes in the paper targets with a well practiced eye.
The shots on the first target to the right were a bit sloppy, the aim a bit rushed…no, not rushed, just off. The first recruit would need to see the med sect before he could be properly assigned but judging from the shots, this recruit was trying to correct his aim each time, getting closer to the target, meaning he had good adaptive and analysis abilities.
The second target held more shots towards the center, about average with a few hitting the center ring. More training would be needed but it was good progress. The third and fourth targets showed similar results as the second. The fifth target had almost center shots every round, some of the shots clustering together. A bit more training and Number 5 would make an excellent Guard, even a Specialist if they were any good with a sniper rifle.
The sixth, seventh and eighth recruits were definite Guards. The ninth and tenth would also have to see the med sect. The eleventh, twelvth and thirteenth were definitely Specialists, hitting practically dead center every time, their shots clustering. The fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth were promising Guards. Seventeenth was definitely the worst shot, making the young man wonder how bad his eyes had been before the treatments. Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentith all showed promise, like some of those before them and proper training for them was almost a given…though, Twentith may need med sect to give him a once over, just to make sure.
Hell, all of them would get an once-over but those certain ones demanded a closer look.
An all too familiar zing ran through his spine, making the Lead Specialist look towards the direction he and the Lead Guard had come from. Their fellow Premiere came towards the shooting range, the male recruits paying far more attention to her than they should have been but they were new to the signal of someone so close to completion and she was beautiful. It was only natural that she would have attracted attention but unlike her fellow two Premieres, she appeared unarmed and to assume that meant she was defenseless was a grave mistake.
The Lead Specialist turned bodily from the targets and started towards her. His hidden eyes saw the gleam of metal on her left bicep and half wondered which group she had been given Lead of. She was a terrific strategist and when it came to an operation, she had yet to fail, even with unknown variables, but whatever group got her as a Lead would be better off.
It didn’t take long to reach her and she stopped just off to the side, keeping out of the way of the Lead Guard’s report gathering. She had sunglasses similar to his own covering her eyes. She had to have been in a darker place before coming out into the bright outdoors. True, it was overcast but it was still bright when you’ve spent all day inside a building or in the darkness, going over night/darkness related exercises.
“Coming to tell us of your new rank?” The Lead Specialist inquired as he drew up to her.
“Sephiroth insisted that I take this position, whether I wanted to or not.” She sighed, rubbing her bare bicep with her gloved hand. “You’ve still got that damned cold aura, even after Geostigma and the treatments.”
The Lead Specialist shrugged with a wry quirk of his lips. “I’m a cold bastard. We’ve always known that. So, which group are you the Lead of or are you going to make me guess?”
“You’re looking at the Lead Premiere.” She answered with another sigh. “Just be glad it wasn’t Kadaj. He’s still muttering about how he should have been given Lead of the Echelon, just because he completed the Reunion and became the new Sephiroth for a time.”
“The day he gets control of our version of Deepground, is the day I’ll lead the gestalt against him, personally.” The Lead Specialist snorted at the idea. He looked at the Lead Guard, who was still busy getting all of the information from the captain. She was currently being taken to look at the targets by the man personally. “Have you told him yet?”
The Lead Premiere looked away, getting the Lead Specialist to look at her. “You came here before going to tell him? Are you crazy? Do you want him to think you’re favoring others over him?”
“No, I don’t . It’s just…” She sighed, her shoulders slumping a little. “I was…I was going to see him next. Sephiroth told me to tell the two of you and since you’re closer…”
“Closer? Where is he?” The Lead Specialist asked.
“The cavern training grounds, doing a subterranian exercise.” The Lead Premiere muttered. “I’m stalling because I still don’t like going underground willingly. It still makes me uneasy.”
“And that’s why he usually volunteers to go deep down for you.” The Lead Specialist earned a look that wasn’t entirely happy. If she wasn’t wearing sunglasses, he might have cowed but with the coverings, some of the effect was lost. “Hey, I’m stating facts. And we all know that he’s the only one that comes close to seeing in the dark like you can.”
“I know. I know.” She muttered softly.
The Lead Specialist looked back at the recruits, their instructor barking orders to reload and shoot as a demonstration for the Lead Guard. “The draw to you must drive him crazy, since you’re both the most Complete out of us all. It’s a wonder how he stays sane.”
The Lead Premiere blushed faintly at his words. “…probably the same way Sephiroth can, I suppose…”
“Go see him.” The Lead Guard replied. “I’ll tell Madam Distracted the good news for you. Go see him, tell him the good news and show him that you’re not trying to play favorites.”
“That’s easier said than done.” She muttered as she turned and walked away. The Lead Specialist watched her walk away, taking in every step, every sway of her hips and let out a heavy sigh.
“That bastard has no idea just how lucky he is.”
-----------
Okay, chapter 2 for ya!
I'm having a rather shitastic day, aside from no sleep but I did make a new friend yesterday. She's an artist and she's awesome. She's also a Sailor Moon fan! We Moonies are everywhere! ^^
Anyway, I have more pics to add to photobucket, so once McAfee stops being an ass, I'll post the links in an update.