"He's breaking the chains! He's breaking the goddamn chains!"
"Lock down that room! Those blast doors are three feet of solid Lash Armour, even he can't get through that!"
[A pause is heard; after a few seconds, there is a shriek of tortured metal, and several blood-curdling screams.]
"He's breaking through! Lock down the entire ba-AAAGHHGGGHH!!"
[Silence.]
"HeeheHEheheheEHEHEheeehe...NOTHING!! YOU HEAR ME? NOTHING ON THIS EARTH CAN HOLD ME!!"
[Crash of metal on metal; feed is cut.]
-Intercepted communications from Sturm's citadel, three days before the end of the Macro Land War.
-A-N-A-N-A-N-A-N-
The sounds of heavy construction machinery clanged, rumbled, growled and screeched their way over the dry, dusty hills of Roistrona, the naturally desertified southeastern island of Omega Land. The Allied Nations, having landed on the white, sandy beaches the previous day, had embarked upon a massive construction project to build their main base of operations for this area. The region they had chosen was perfect for a large-scale headquarters like this; it was an old, weathered impact crater called the Maxwell Scar, worn down by time into a shallow bowl ten kilometres across. Various buildings in different stages of completion were dotted around it, most clustered in the centre, where a noticeable pattern was arising. Yellow construction vehicles swarmed over the whole site, chugging back and forth, while large dump trucks came over the southern rim of the crater, bringing in materials from the fleet, which was temporarily stationed in a large natural bay to the south while a dedicated port was being finished.
Right in the centre of the crater, ringed with the grey concrete shells of the half-built buildings, was a large cluster of tents. Most were military green tents, but some were coloured orange, blue, yellow and emerald green; it was easy to see that they belonged to the four member countries of the Allied Nations. They were arranged in a circle around a larger, central tent that served as a temporary discussion area and campaign planning room while a dedicated building was being built. It wasn't the most glamorous of arrangements, nor the most comfortable - the more vain commanders (such as Eagle, even though he denied it) accompanying the native Omega Land COs on this campaign had expressed their dissatisfaction with having to stay in tents - but it was better than delaying their mission even longer while waiting for the base to be built.
The sky was a rich evening red, streaked with thin white cirrus clouds; the sun was just peeking above the horizon, the small sliver of glowing orange feebly fighting the darkness of the coming night. The half-finished Maxwell Scar base was hidden in shadow, the last of the sun's rays coming in too low to illuminate the interior of the relatively shallow bowl. To counteract this, the Allied Nations had erected floodlights around the rim of the crater, casting their bright, cold light on the base below them and casting multiple shadows all around the base. The rumbling of the construction vehicles was petering out, as the various crews stopped their work for the night and let the various staff already present on the base rest. Various soldiers milled about, some patrolling, some going to their own tents to sleep until their shift came. In the midst of one group of soldiers however, was a small figure, dressed in an immaculate blue uniform and cap.
"Oh, err, ahem…ex-excuse me!" Colin said, looking around helplessly at the soldiers moving past him. "Hello? I, erm, I'm in need of some assistance, please…" Alas, the soldiers ignored him, or simply didn't hear his quiet, refined voice. Colin sighed, and closed his eyes. He'd have to use those techniques Commander Grimm had taught him now, but he didn't like them that much. He took a deep breath, steadied his nerves, and opened his mouth.
"AHEM!"
Suddenly, the soldiers took notice, turning to look at the young Blue Moonian CO. "Oh, hi Commander Colin!" said one; his drawling accent marked him out as a southern Orange Star soldier. "Thought ah heard ya voice." He waved his comrades on. "Ah'll catch up with you guys later!" Turning back to Colin, he scratched his head. "So…what's the matter, Sir?"
Colin bit his lip. "Well, I, err, I…I'm having a bit of trouble in locating Commander Sasha," he admitted, blushing. "To be truthful, I-I'm still not used to the layout of this new base." He lifted his cap off his head with one hand, and scratched the short brown hair underneath with the other. "It's terribly confusing."
The soldier gazed off to the side, thinking for a few seconds, before his eyes snapped back to look at Colin. "She should be in one of the blue tents in the centre of the base, along that way," he said, pointing down a narrow, alley-like path to Colin's left. "Given that the CO's shifts are over now, of course…"
Colin nodded at the soldier. "T-Thank you. I'll go see her now. Thank you for your assistance." The soldier smiled and waved the young CO off as Colin turned and headed down the alley, fixing his cap firmly on his head again. It didn't take that long to find Sasha's personal tent; Colin almost facepalmed when he saw that it was right next to his own.
"I have really got to acquire a map of this base…" Shaking his head forlornly, he stood in front of the tent's entrance, and called after his sister.
"Sasha! Are-are you in there? It's Colin! I've been looking all over for you, Sister…" he said, leaning slightly towards the door. "…Hello?" he called again, looking slightly worried at the lack of response, until a voice from behind him made Colin jump out of his skin.
"I've been looking all over for you, too."
"GAH!" Colin cried, jumping and whirling around, his light brown eyes meeting the darker brown of his sister's, who was busy smirking at her panicked sibling. "S-Sasha! You almost gave me a heart attack!" He frowned. "Now isn't really the time for levity and…and…horseplay."
Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Horseplay? Colin, I think you need to learn some better adjectives…making you jump is hardly horseplay. Anyway," she said, placing a hand on her hip, "Why isn't it the time for levity right now? We're on our way to finish off the last remnants of Black Hole, or the Bolt Guard, or whichever it is right now, and after all we've been through recently, we're still here…levity is exactly what we need."
Colin nodded. "Yes, I know, but…it just feels like this is just a pause, like…like…the calm before a storm. Something bad is going to happen, I can just feel it." He shuddered. "It's like a chill…and considering we're in a desert with evening temperatures of twenty degrees Celsius, it's slightly troubling."
Sasha bit her lip. She knew that feeling, and she knew it usually didn't bode well for them both. She shook her head, and brushed her concerns aside. "Just…put it out of your mind for now," she advised Colin. "I do believe it's curfew for the younger CO's, anyway. You'd better get back to your tent. Early bed, early rise, and all that."
Colin opened his mouth, ready to protest, but a stern look from his older sister sent him scurrying away, his small form disappearing into the blue folds of his own tent. Sasha sighed. Colin was a bit too meek sometimes, too subservient, too easily pleased with just being ordered around and leaving all the plans to his superiors. The Argenti family was known for being wilful, headstrong and passionate - collectively known as the Argenti Fire, traits Sasha exhibited very well - but Colin was growing up to be the very opposite of this paradigm. Sasha had decided long ago that she would have to 'fan the flames of the Argenti fire' in him, so to speak, but it had proven to be a spectacularly hard task. She turned, and headed for her own tent, before a gloved hand on her shoulder brought her to a stop.
"Yo, Sasha. You okay?"
Sasha smiled and turned, coming face to face with a concerned-looking Jake. The ginger-haired, headphone-wearing CO was peering at her, his brow creased in a frown.
"I'm fine, Jake, really…" she said, taking his hand and moving it off his shoulder. "I'm just…tired, I guess. I wouldn't say I've been overworked, but this desert heat…I'm not really used to it, and-"
"Woah, Sasha," Jake said, grinning. "I think the heat's making you, like, babble, too." Before Sasha could come back with a retort, he continued. "Don't sweat it, I'm kidding. It's hotter than my mix tape out here, so…yeah. I can relate." He folded his arms, and looked off to the side. "Just hope we haven't rolled out here for nothing. I'm all ready to drop those Black Hole fools again."
Sasha nodded, looking in the same direction as Jake, watching the quickly darkening sky. "With luck, any fighting will be quick, and easily resolved… there cannot be many Black Hole troops out here to defeat, as a large force would have been spotted quite easily. After that, we can return to the easier task of reconstruction again."
"Word," Jake said, looking back at Sasha and smiling. "We won't be out here for long."
-R-M-R-M-R-M-R-M-
"They'll be stuck here for months, Cougar," Shade droned, looking out over the desert, his shaded eyes focused on the setting sun. "That is not a good thing." He turned his back on the brilliant orange sky and dark shadowy dunes and leant against the railings of the balcony he and Cougar were on; they had come out of their headquarters to discuss the recent decision concerning the Allied Nations by the command staff, and in Cougar's case, have a smoke.
"I hear that," Cougar growled, taking a long drag on his cigarette. "Fine men are going to die unless, by some miracle, we can solve things diplomatically." He walked over and stood in front of Shade. "Remember, the command staff said that we have ta wait and watch until those Allied Nations guys make a move; if it's hostile, we retaliate. If it's simply an attempt to communicate, well…we might have to finally reveal ourselves. This 'hiding from the world' business ain't gonna last forever."
Shade sighed, and nodded, running a hand through his shoulder-length hair. "Indeed. It's lasted this far, but the recent Omega Land War was a death knell for our secrecy. I'm still not happy about it, though. Those are my men who will take any initial attack. We're asking them to put their lives on the line by acting as a buffer, so to speak." Cougar opened his mouth to speak, but Shade raised a hand. "I know, that's a risk that we're going to have to take, but I can't help but feel like a bad commander for ordering them to do it."
Cougar nodded, sympathy written on his face. "It's hard to feel good about ordering your forces at any time, Boss," he said sadly. "Ya always know that some of 'em won't come back alive. But they believe in us - in you. They joined up knowing that they might die, but they did it anyway. They wanna fight for our country, for Red Mesa. They risk their lives so our citizens can live to see another day."
Taking another drag and blowing smoke off to the side, Cougar continued. "They made a choice, Boss. They stare Death in the face, they go off on missions fully knowin' that they might be the next casualty, the next sack o' meat lyin' there on the battlefield. But they still do it, they still sign up, they keep goin' on missions, they don't pack it in. They do it because they love their country, and never wanna see it conquered. They wanna defend what we have, to hold it an' hold it an' never let go. Instead of being saddened by the fact that your orders might kill 'em, you should be proud that they'll risk their lives for you…for all o' us."
A long silence followed; Shade had looked down at the floor halfway through Cougar's pep talk, his eyes distant and unseeing. After a minute of silence, he looked up at his fellow CO, and smiled.
"You're right, absolutely right. Thanks, Miavia. I needed a pep talk."
Cougar raised an eyebrow and laughed. "We're on first name terms now? Well, ah guess ah can call ya Matthew then, eh?"
Shade nodded. "Of course. I won't let things like discipline and rank get in the way of camaraderie and friendship." He folded his arms and mock-frowned. "Don't use it in front of the soldiers, though."
"Sure thing, Matty," Cougar said with a grin. He paused, looked off to the side, then looked back at Shade. "Y'know, Swift's been worryin' about you lately."
Shade raised his eyebrows. "Swift worries about everyone, Miavia. I'm fine," he said, waving a hand. "I've been okay for quite a while now."
Cougar shrugged, and turned towards the doors that led into the HQ, calling over his shoulder as he left. "She seemed pretty concerned…but I'll take your word for it, Boss."
'He's not telling the truth, o' course,' Cougar thought. 'Shade's never been tha most…stable of people…'
As Cougar left, Shade sighed, shaking his head and turning back towards the dying embers of the sky, his pale skin blazing the same orange as the rapidly setting sun, his lips moving as he murmured an old nursery rhyme that had suddenly sprung to mind.
"Tick, tock, goes the clock…master of me, you, and all, holding the truth, in its thrall…"
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