NOTES: I heavily edited most of the first part of Oblique Chronicles. I even changed the title. I didn't like a lot about the original draft so I made heavy changes that I hope translate to a more cohesive story. Hope ya'll like this one! Thank you for clicking and deciding to give it a read! Many thanks again!
A blizzard howled and battered the barren valley. A solitary station stood alone in the landscape. Though the biting frost of the blizzard could not be felt inside, the effects of cold isolation was evident in its men. Sullen soldiers were littered across the halls and the smell of alcohol was ripe on almost every person. Being posted here was not exactly a privilege.
"Sigh. Here I am." The man's sharp canine ears twitched ever so slightly as he spoke. A checkered scarf was draped around his neck as he wore a loose trench coat that seemed just a little too loose for his frame. His voice echoed slightly in the wide hangar.
Several soldiers and men hauling cargo were pouring from the ship. Descending from it, the man slowly walked towards a woman in a maroon beret on top of light blue hair and red goggles seated on a proud face with a wry smile. Beyond that there was little else that decorated her Atlesian uniform.
"Welcome, old man." She said with a playful chuckle
"I'm 23, man. And we're the same age" He said as he shrugged.
The woman rolls her eyes. "So you've been stationed here too, eh?"
"Uhuh, and you're in charge of the garrison here?"
"I've been in charge for the past two uneventful weeks and three days."
"Bored?"
"We've got cadets here for practical training and soldiers who can't hold their liquor and, well, nothing else. A familiar face is always nice though."
"My face is quite the sight." The man forms an L-shape with his thumb and finger and puts it below his chin.
"Yes, a sight only a mother could love." The woman raises an eyebrow.
"You haven't changed at all, Zuria."
"Neither have you, Hektor. Oh, I mean 'Specialist' Osiris."
They look at each other with mutual smiles on their faces. One can see the fondness and history between them from a mile away.
"Uuuuuuugh..." grunted the lissome Amazonian sized woman grunted. Her height only emphasized by the slender, oddly well-groomed, horn on top of her head that flowed with her slicked back red hair. Her grey, fibrous suit glided along her frame with dark gauntlets and greaves marking her extremities. Most noticeably, a single cape was draped across her left shoulder.
"Aaaaargh," she said with a very guttural "g" as she leaned back on her chair in a loose motion. Her arms hung loosely behind her.
"Three weeks and four days since we started the mission, Qrane," said her companion with short silvery-blonde hair. Her light kimono jacket gently flowing in the breeze revealing the white segmented cuirass beneath. She sat with a straight back and her legs crossed primly and properly.
"Wonderful. We've already scoured almost all of Vacuo and now we're in the freezing countryside of Atlas." She lets out a puff of exasperated air from her dark cheeks.
"Vacuo was...an interesting place. Plus, we'll be reaching our destination soon. That big, black, hulking thing over yonder," said the one optimistic girl while her fluffed, rounded ears flopped and swayed with the ups and downs of the moving vehicle. Her deep, amber hair folds into locks that lovingly framed her bright blue eyes. She's standing and leaning forward with her hands on the top of the chair of the woman in white. She endearingly rests her chin on top of the woman's head.
"Hlin, do we have our way to the main ship?" asked the lady in white.
"I already left a bread trail! Should be a piece of cake finding our way back!" Briefly, a line of light flashes behind her heels and extends to the outside of the vehicle. A light flows into the air from behind the ship.
"Lovely," said Qrane. "Think it'll be easy leaving Atlas considering..."
"We retain the permits from Atlas and show our documents indicating our graduation from Haven and our residency in Mistral. If the border authorities want to interrogate us further then we let them; regardless, we have all the proof we need," The woman in white spoke firmly
"Any idea how we'll get paid though?" Qrane's words blur the line between curiosity and worry.
"We'll find a way. We won't be leaving Atlas without our bounty anyway."
"Good call."
"Vote of confidence for Lucia too!" Hlin never hesitated when it came to optimism.
The pervasive smell of fear and anger had driven the Grimm to greater cities of Atlas and Mantle. Only the massive cubes broke the monotony of the blue canopy. The black structures themselves bore enough lights to stand out in the howling storm, though alone they stood in they're vastness.
Four Atlesian airships formed a small checkpoint. The small airship of the three women approached the checkpoint. "We're here," said Lucia.