Remnant
"So...Did you ever think when we moved in together life would be more interesting?"
Zephon shrugged, tacked up a poster. "Not really. I'm fine with dull..." for now. "Ow!" He glanced at his bleeding thumb. "These things are sharp!"
"Aw, poor you...injured in the line of duty...I think I'll nominate you for a Crimson Moon."
"Aw, come on, if I didn't get one when my head was broken open, I doubt I'll get one now."
"What exactly happened?"
"Fight over a card game one evening after the battle."
Pause. "You twat."
"...Yeah, I know. Not my best moment."
The LCR garrison's brief was to deal with monster outbreaks within the city limits. Aside from the sewer breakout, there had never been any serious outbreaks within DC in the last thirty years or so, leaving twenty thousand well equipped soldiers with nothing much to do. Zephon had been drafted in as a temporary observer –he didn't get to wear the elite uniform, just a badge denoting his status. In accordance with military tradition, one of the people who'd trained with him had tagged along.
Nathan had trained with Zephon almost from the beginning, a decent swordfighter who liked his food and had the pale skin and long limbs of someone with Esthari blood. He was so sensitive about it that even the drill sergeants, expressly employed to exploit psychological weaknesses, had practiced discretion. Being the grunts, they were putting up posters to front the "A T-Rexaur is for centuries, not just for VDC-Day" campaign, before reporting to the LCR garrison to get acquainted with their new posting.
Most of what the LCRs did do involved smuggling, the black market in T-Rexaur hatchlings their only major headache. There was no denying that when the hatchlings were the size of cats, they were simply adorable, and they were more loyal than even dogs, but they weren't quite so cute when they were ten feet tall and taking lumps out of furniture and houseguests. It was far from a laughing matter for the LCRs, as a rogue teenage T-Rex on the rampage could cause quite a few deaths before the garrison brought it down.
While poster duty was not onerous, the fact that it was pouring rain on this particular day made it thankless work for the least important people. Thus, what better use for temporary observers? They moved on to the next poster booth, rain sheeting off their armour, mostly repelled by the raingear that came with their uniforms. After a time , Nathan looked back.
"So, Zephon...What happened to Trev?"
"...He's dead."
"You sure?"
"SeeD never take prisoners, and if he escaped he'd have resurfaced by now."
"So that makes five..."
"Five?"
"Sophie was in the staging point in Dollet when SeeD hit it, Sandy got sniped on the roofs, and Galind was really unlucky, he was on patrol in Timber when he walked into more SeeDs outside a bar."
"What the hell was he doing in Timber?" Patrolling Timber's streets was one of the most demanding things a Galbadian soldier could be asked to do in peacetime. It was never asked of soldiers fresh from training.
"Mix up with the books. Looks like we're an unlucky group of people, huh?"
"That's four."
"Early... I mean, Mandar... Um... Well, it looks like he hated that nickname more than we thought."
Mandar 'Early' Wykes had been a phenomenally nice guy, but he'd made one mistake early in training. Asked at a training exercise if he was ready, he'd replied 'I was born ready.' The sergeants had pounced on that, and he'd become 'Early', spending the rest of basic being mocked for having peaked too soon, by both the officers and his fellow trainees. He'd always appeared to take it remarkably well, and there was nothing unusual in that kind of banter, but...
"Fuck."
"Yeah. Just you, me, and Michelle left. I suppose the trainees always take the worst hits."
Poster route completed, they returned to their station, any conversation killed.
Zephon punched in his passcode at the main gates, as the intercom crackled into life. The LCR stations were the most secure buildings in the city. It was mostly an idle posting, but if the alarms sounded, the garrison had to be on the streets ready to seal the city in thirty eight seconds.
"Who is it?"
"Zephon Schwert and Nathan Taish, returning from postering."
"Password?"
"Sorceress saved by surprise scissors."
"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"
The soldiers stood very still. Several heartbeats passed. Then:
"Aw, I'm just messing with you." The electronic lock clicked open. "Welcome home."
Their new CO was there to greet them as they entered the barracks, clicking open the cages and gates as they advanced through the various security webs. This garrison was expected to hold against a Lunar Cry, and was probably even more fortified than the Presidential Rez.
"Anything eventful on patrol, folks?"
"Not really."
"Yeah? Glad to hear it. Always remember, glowing eyes don't make a monster. If you kill someone's pet cat, people tend to get more upset than if you beat up a homeless guy. So the lesson is, vent your frustrations on the homeless!"
Neither soldier smiled.
"So, you got here. But can you fight?"
The two looked at each other, shrugged. The officer stood back, took a stance. "Hit me."
Neither obliged.
"I'm serious. Give me your best skullrattlers."
Silence, Zephon internally thanking one of Marcus' less-reluctantly-given-than-he-pretended pieces of advice.
"No? You're refusing a direct order? That's a courtmartial offence!"
Nathan glanced up. "Striking an officer is a worse one."
Silence. Then she smiled. "Good."
"Out of curiousity, how many people fall for that?"
"About three in five. So, now I know you can think. But I still need to know what you're capable of in battle."
That was when they were struck in the back of the head. Zephon rolled up into a crouch with his palms ignited, to find the two LCR soldiers behind them stepping back.
"Good. Stand down. Boys, no one should be able to sneak up on you in the rain. Water on metal sounds completely different from water on cloth, you should have heard them coming."
"And what was the point of that?" Nate asked, straightening.
"Well, your friend here's first instinct was magic, casting with his hands instead of his sword, by which I can conclude he was mentored by an Esthar War Vet, while you're using the battle training taught in state orphanages. And, you're both capable of taking at least one hit and getting up. Acceptable. Come on in."
The two trainees advanced, looked around. The average city garrison was fairly functional in its facilities, dorms, sparring rooms, possibly a card table or two.
Not so for the idle LCRs. Just from what they could see, the place had a fully equipped gym, library, and casino, including little holograms at the TT tables that attacked each other. If there was a Cry, citizens would try to seek refuge inside. In the meantime, the garrison were free to use what they liked.
The officer snapped her fingers. The index finger of her right hand was missing.
"I know, different from what you were expecting. Don't let the decadence fool you, if you're going to stay here, you will need to train. I'm your immediate superior, Captain Ceres Meaks. Everyone calls me 'Dainty', though. This is a less formal garrison than you may be used to."
The temporary LCRs looked at her. Dainty was easily 6'5'', with wrestler shoulders, and moved lightly even in the bulky officer armour.
"Do you have a relative in the DCP garrison, Ma'am?" Zephon.
"Cousin. Know him?"
"We met once."
"Anyway, make the most of your opportunities, while you're here. We've got some of the best soldiers in the entire army, so talk to them if you have any questions. It's a good opportunity to pick up new skills."
She paused.
"But, you're the junior members of this garrison, which means you will be doing the true grunt work, the most horrible duty this garrison has to offer...and, lucky me, I get dragged along. This isn't going to be fun."
000000
"So, children, whatever you ask from your parents, do not mention T-Rexaur eggs, or the army will come and lock you all up. You'll get your neighbours killed!"
Nathan leaned across. "First thing they're going to do is go home and ask for those eggs."
Zephon nodded, but stayed at attention, for fear of the damage indiscipline might cause to fragile young minds. The two twitched as their immediate superior signalled disapproval of their chatter. When the children filed out, one of them looked up at the two soldiers flanking the entrance to the auditorium.
"Ever killed anyone?"
Zephon glanced down at the speaker.
"...No."
"You can't be much of a soldier, then."
"...I'm not."
Nathan took a step. "Soldier and killer aren't the same thing. You want to learn how to kill people, join SeeD."
"Hey, no bullying my soldiers!" Ceres. Giggles from the teachers.
"Yeah, if you piss this guy off, he can really make a mess of your TT deck."
On cue, Zephon did his flourish-card draw, snapping his arm out. The kids, of course, took at as a challenge. He advanced toward the card tables, in his mind balancing the likelihood of Dainty breaking his jaw if she thought he was grifting nine year olds between the chance of gaining some good cards from inexperienced victims.
Fortunately, that was when the windows blew out.
"Down! Don't dive, crouch, or you'll just get cut!" Dainty roared over the melee as two swords rasped from their sheaths. The Timber Resistance had been stirring more than usual lately, but even they would hesitate before bombing a school...
A couple of kids were down from flying glass, and the five other LCRs flanking the gate were fairly quick to arrive. Resheathing his sword as they were tended to, Zephon joined Ceres at the gates. She was watching a plume of smoke on the horizon.
"What..."
"From that direction...It's the missile base."
"I thought the city was far enough not to take damage from launches..."
"Launches, yes. But not the self destruct... DC's expanded a bit since the end of the war.
"SeeD..."
Matt...
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