-X- Introduction –X-
- Desolate Gail: Dual Enmity
- Started on: 5-17-2004 / Posted on: 9-19-2004 / Checked on: 5-1-2005
- By: Zeronova
- Chapter 19: Bordeaux's Bar

- Text: Third person, Narration
- Text: First person, Thoughts
- Text : Interjection, the Narrator

-X- End Introduction –X-

The loud bangs of the opening double doors shot all of the soldiers awake, even the sergeant and his two lieutenants, as well as two privates into fluttering open astuteness. Gestahl stood firm over the two drivers, watching the trip the entire time, shaken slightly by the abrupt stop and the opening of the doors. Ky looked around, unaware of why he was awoken suddenly, then saw the doors slowly opening from the outside, the light flooding in from a setting sun. He stood up, stretching slightly, wincing back in pain from his sliced shoulder blades. He looked back, hearing Jaygus stand, who gave him a friendly nod, then Ky walked to the back of the truck about twenty feet ahead of him. As he got out, a soldier tried to help him down, a green private, wanting to be as courteous and good to the commander as he could, Ky neglecting him and just jumping off on his own accord. Jaygus wasn't offered any help, considering he wasn't Ky Kiske, but got down fine by himself, despite being a sergeant and superior to the private anyway, but he was too laid back to care.

"Welcome to Bordeaux Seikishidan base, sir. I am Sergeant Rivarez, commanding officer of this base, under U.N. jurisdiction of an officer residing on premises." a sergeant said, walking up to Kiske, not looking him in the eyes, but not extending his hand either. He was adherent to Ky's stature, though not overly abundant in the brown nosing, as he had received by the Parisian salvage team.

"Thank you...I'm leaving shortly, probably tomorrow morning. I need to know where I can get what I need, and relatively quick, sergeant." Ky said, cutting the crap and getting straight to business.

"We do not have any extra suits on base for your...rank, sir." Rivarez said hesitantly, considering why would they need to carry extra commander blue uniforms? There was only one commander, and they shouldn't have to carry extras, his three extra suits were residing in his locker back in Paris, custom tailored and pressed every other day.

"Well, get me a presentable suit for tomorrow, I'm going to Geneva." Ky responded, not being too forthcoming, but neither being completely void of niceties either. He had a few hours rest, which helped his attitude a lot, considering his neglect and take-no-shit attitude to the soldiers in Paris.

"Yes sir, that we can do." He turned to a private, a mass of soldiers lined up around the back of the truck to see Ky Kiske, the rumors he was coming here proving true. He relayed the orders with a yelling strictness, the soldiers saluting, and sprinting off to a supply depot on base.

"Now, I need to find a place to shower and then, a medic. Also, see to it that Jaygus here gets the same attention, he leaves with me tomorrow." The sergeant nodded, taking Jaygus aside to a few soldiers who would tend to what he needed. The sergeant came back to Kiske, wanting to serve him only, helping his stature and being able to say what he did for the great commander Ky Kiske.

"Right this way, sir." The Spanish Sergeant said, leading Kiske through the crowd of onlookers to where he needed to go. The militia truck parked itself backward into the base, its back end barely inside of its weak walls. The base was quite the opposite of the Parisian Seikishidan base, considering it was not a head quarters, quite small compared to the huge feat of construction and engineering that used to be Paris' Seikishidan H.Q. The base was basically a circle, one entrance in the front, made of two large double gates. The circular compound had walls about nine feet high of cement, everything contained on the inside. It wasn't terrifically big, but nor was it small. It's total capacity was about thirteen-hundred, compared to the headquarters' seven-thousand estimate it was miniscule, but at Bordeaux, they weren't as prone to attack. They were more of an outpost, aiding in little sieges and strives with Gears. Very often was it called upon Bordeaux to launch an attack, but they were called upon to help aid in conflicts by helping give manpower. It was built around the same time that the Parisian head quarters was, in the early 2120's when the Seikishidan liberated the Spanish peninsula, making it safe to put soldiers in France, not fearing for attack over the Spanish border, but the mountains being a natural barrier anyway.

It had everything a standard Seikishidan base should have. Training grounds, cafeteria, bunkers, security posts, jobs for all, a working community for everyone to be doing things and helping out in the base, and a strict-but-not-to-the-point-of-lunacy sergeant, who required "sir"s and saluting, but wasn't completely out of the window with perfection of the soldiers and the drill and ceremony procedures. And, for the soldiers, there was a part of the cafeteria converted into a bar. The sergeant let it fly, since even he preferred a drink every now and then, though Ky frowned on it, now that he knew it existed.

After a brief shower, and a suit that had been picked out for him, Kiske stepped out into the fading night of a French November. It was cool, but not too cold, and there was a bit of humidity in the air, though not enough to warrant rain or excess humidity, like there would be in Spain, or other more southern countries, Italy also. The sergeant waited for Kiske to finish his shower and dress, waiting outside of the public showering stalls, making sure no soldiers went in, giving the commander full privacy. While a good gesture, Ky also didn't want to be excessively pampered because he was a leader, a bit of his boyish attitude veering to prove he was an adult.

He dismissed the sergeant, Ky vaguely remembering the name Rivarez, who walked off, content with himself on what he had done for the commander Ky Kiske, probably running off to write a letter to loved ones on the events of the day. Scanning the base, he saw a few soldiers bustling back and forth, finishing off their daily duties, most going into the small bar addition to the cafeteria to hang out for the remaining hours in the day before they all hit the sack. The security officers, who sat in eight distinct posts about fifteen feet off the ground, one at each of the eight compass directions, looking out, had twelve hour shifts, their counterparts in the bunkers sleeping for their shift. As for the rest of the soldiers, Ky saw no reason not to go join them. He still had the Fuuraiken with him, clasping it around the belt loop of the white uniform, an equally white sheath for it. The suit fit snugly and well, the slightly heavy material clinging to him, but also feeling fancy, a bit of silk on the inside. They got the best they could for me...not bad, but still, I can only imagine where this came from.

Walking to the bar, he had to cross the camp, which had the central officer's lounge in the direct center of the circle, everything else sitting on the edges of the circle, except for in front of the gate, but around the edge everywhere else buildings lie in wait. A guard posting security turned to look at Ky, emitting a "Hello, sir.", Ky nodding back in affirmation. He stood in front of the bar, the swivel door emitting light from each small slat around its edges, hearing the laughter and voices of soldiers inside, the setting sun letting them all know it was night and time to enjoy yourself a little. He took a deep breath, feeling somehow disenchanted, apart from the rest, since he was going to be doing something very normal, but odd because of whom he was. If he just wanted to sit down, have a drink, chat, he could have been any other of the one-point-six billion people in the world, but he had to be Ky Kiske, and that wasn't very good for his situation. He pushed on the door, and walked in slowly. He took one step, the conversation and livelihood still surging, and by his third step, the entire room silent. The cafeteria held about five hundred, the soldiers taking thirty-minute shifts during the allotted hour-and-a-half meal times, but at night, like now, it was packed with over a thousand, hardly able to walk anywhere.

The counter line where a soldier would take a tray, walk through, grab the food, and go sit had been temporarily converted to a bar top, chairs positioned in front of it, lining the entire length of it, the chairs collapsible and set out every night. The room was silent, every soldier intently watching Ky Kiske. All of the seats were taken at the bar, and the tables behind him stuffed with soldiers everywhere. He walked straight forward, a soldier standing up and letting Ky sit down, whispering a thank you to the lieutenant, but the entire expanse hearing him.

"Anything you want, sir." the bartender said, a lieutenant, directing himself only to Kiske, no one else daring to breath heavy enough to make a noise. He looked around, at the other soldiers around him, what they had, what he should have, not to lose face among his soldiers. He had never really drank before in his life, an occasional glass of wine was tasteful, but true drinking...he never had, especially considering his age, the average age in the chiseled veterans there of about twenty-six, which was waning on the "old" spectrum of the average life expectancy. A soldier sitting next to him looked at him intently, his eyes scurrying above his head if Kiske turned to look at him, adhering to the Seikishidan code of "never look a commanding officer in the eyes".

"What he's got, thank you." Ky said, nodding to the private on his left. The bartender got it together, and handed him the small glass, a clean and cut glass one, shined and perfect. Glancing around him, all of the other soldiers had lackluster cups, made of a type of paper or wood, some soldiers even having specialized utensils of their own that they always used. It was a hard liquor shot, an amber liquid. Ky picked it up, stirring his finger in it for a second, looking out of the sides of his eyes as the entire room watched. Jeez, this was a bad idea. Don't let me fail, come on, just down it, do it... Ky raised the glass, and then shot the liquor as he had seen other soldiers doing. He smashed the glass down back on the counter top, a loud tink echoing through the silent dining hall. His throat instantly burned, feeling on fire, coughing a little bit. A murmur spread through the crowd, his inability to drink, as well as how young he was. He was losing a little face with the soldiers, considering here is where he would need to prove anything to all of the soldiers, at least proving he was one of them, but he failed right in front of them.

"Ha, always the boy who can't take no shit, eh Ky?" a gruff voice boomed through the cafeteria turned saloon. Murmurs circulated fervently. Who said it? They're screwed. Well, he is telling the truth. Then, they all hushed as the soldier stood up, his position slightly hidden, since a good deal of soldiers were standing in the room not meant for the number of soldiers in it, but he made himself known, and Ky knew exactly who it was anyway.

"What are you doing here?" Ky said more so than asked, condescendingly, the abuser pushing through the crowd of soldiers, slowly approaching Ky.

"I can be where ever the fuck I want to be, in case you didn't notice." He dragged the tip of his sword along the ground, holding it upside down, a trail of fire in the wake of the sparks emitting from the square-tip of the blade.

"Sol, leave here. You left the Seikishidan, now you stay here?"

"Hey, I'm here for a drink, got a problem?" he said, reaching Ky and standing three or four inches above him, his muscular persona towering and imposing.

"Yes."

"You still pissed about that? Shit son, let it go. And, before you try and be a big boy, at least know how to and learn how to drink." he said, smirking defiantly. He turned to the bartender, leaning on the counter, asking for another beer. He got it, but it was thrown at him, the gruff man catching it expertly, muttering a stifled curse. He raised it, taking a long gulp, keeping on the chug. Everybody was silent, watching this guy who didn't fit in before, but they never cared, since if they messed with him, they knew what happened. Three weeks prior, when he first arrived, a soldier had a big deal with his attitude. Next day, he was in the medic's office with three broken ribs and a broken knee, not to mention more than a fair share of bruises, cuts, and burns.

"I will not forgive you for abandoning the Seikishidan after you stole one of our artifacts, then completely disregard all things in this world and the next for your personal amusement."

"Is that so?" he said sarcastically, throwing down the empty beer bottle on the floor, it shattering across the ground, shards jumping up the boots of Ky, falling back to the ground, light ballerinas of glass around his feet. Ky couldn't stand it any further, the stand off between them being too much. He balled his right fist, and lunged at Sol, claiming a clean punch across his jaw. Sol's body stood still as his face bent with the blow, Ky veering back, standing straight, fingers tingling to grab for his sword.

Sol chuckled a little, his hand readjusting his jaw, looking back at Ky. A slight whisper and fervor surged through the crowd watching the spectacle, the majority wanting Kiske, but a few of the soldiers, mostly the older ones who preferred Kliff, wanting him to be put in his place because of being a child. Suddenly, Sol returned the punch in Ky's chest, straight from his side, not much space between them, but the punch sending Ky back five feet, where a few soldiers caught him, pushing him back standing. He tried standing straight up and menacing, but he coughed slightly, trying not to, his eyes watering under the pain in his chest.

"Yeah, you're still a damn boy. Don't start shit with me unless you can finish it, boy." Sol said, walking past the coughing commander, and out of the door, stares of soldiers, marking him for death only exciting him. As soon as the swinging door stopped moving, all of the soldiers jumped to life, trying to help Ky or murmuring amongst themselves that he got what he deserved, the entire room resuming its normal flow.

"Thank you" he said to a few soldiers who tried to help him. "I'm going to go get some fresh air before I go to Geneva. Send my regards to the bartender for the...", searching for an answer.

"Whiskey." a soldier said in place of his stupor.

"Yes, send my thanks for the whiskey." They nodded, and Ky followed Sol out of the bar slowly, the pain in his chest subsiding, but he knew he'd have a print of Sol's fist embedded on his sternum for the next few days. He stepped out into the night, hearing his name circulated between the rowdy soldiers, the noise emitting from the thousand plus there nearly deafening compared to the silence before.

"Need to learn when to stop your crap, boy." Ky heard the voice again. Looking to his side, he saw Sol sitting on top of the outside wall of the Seikishidan base about twenty feet behind the dining hall, which was built at a two-hundred-and-seventy degree angle, following azimuth coordinates, not far from the outer wall, like most buildings were, a centralized circle of open space from the center building and all of the rest. Sol was smoking a cigarette, taking deep drags off of them, no concern for anything but the smoke that seeped from his nostrils.

"You're disgusting, go die, pig." Ky said, spitting after he said the words, like their intended listener left a foul taste in his mouth.

"The whiskey coming back up?" he said with a bit of laughter at the spitting, which had nothing to do with the drink.

"Shut up." He said simply.

"I hear you almost got killed in that whole head quarters attack." Sol said to Ky, Kiske only turning and walking off. "I also heard that you let some guy die in front of you." Ky stopped his walk, suddenly turning. How does he know about Darton! Quickly walking over to Sol, who was about ten feet off the ground, sitting on the nine-foot cement circular border.

"How do you know about that?" he said furiously.

"I got my methods." he responded, smirking. He flicked the smoked butt of his cigarette towards Ky, the sputtering orange glow being stamped out by the dirt around Kiske's feet. He pulled another out from his pocket on his tight blue jeans, the knees ripped out from years of use, and the blue faded to a dull white over the abuse. He brought the tip of the cigarette to the tip of his blunt, square sword that was hanging from his right hand. The tip burst into flame, smoke spewing from it before he brought it to his mouth, and took a drag that burned down through the tobacco halfway, a gigantic drag.

His sword was of a Seikishidan lineage, the long grip of the same width and length as the Fuuraiken and every standard issue one, except the end, instead of the triangular bottom-grip, was a rubbery black knob. Further changes would be the hilt, which was not the large egg-shaped obtrusion, but rather a blunt rectangular prism jutting out in every direction very unsubtly, no sense of smoothing or sleekness to it, but a hard definition. From this large jutting out block came the blade, a rather wide blade, and bluntly flat in the end, almost like a long rectangle of steel. On each side, in the middle of the flat sides was a red metal shard extending up to about an inch before the edge on both sides, lined with small holes for venting purposes and bolts lining it, completely disregarding style or fluidity, but opting the jagged style. It suited Sol, his rough attitude and the blunt, rectangular sword design also apt in his muscular frame.

He had two belts wrapped around his upper right leg, for which reason unknown. They weren't big enough to be real belts, but they both wrapped parallel, around his leg, not tight, but there for style. He wore a red leather vest that seemed almost too small for his massive muscular figure, the vest not going out enough to his shoulders and cutting short on his body, where a black under shirt took over. His shoulders were exposed, as were his arms al the way down to below his elbow, where he had a Seikishidan issue gauntlet, a red level sergeant from his previous years. To further his past-Seikishidan life, he had his red, sergeant level mid-stripe that hung between his legs, latched into his belt, kind of like a stiff reminder that he was in the Seikishidan and a sergeant, so "piss off". Two similar belts on his leg covered his massive left bicep, not tight, but there for style. In plus, if he ever needed to cut the blood flow off to a wound, he could take a belt, tighten it above the wound, and the circulation would be stopped.

He had very chiseled and pronounced facial features, a jutting chin, high cheek bones, and lowered eyes that seemed to jut inward, covered by his mess of hair. His brunette hair seemed to have been growing for all of his life, reaching down to his thighs. Bits of hair fell in front of his face, but most of it grew backwards, spiking out in every direction before it fell flat backward. Above his eyes, and covering his right too, was a metallic semi-circle, the words ROCK ON inscribed across it, attached by two belts that ran through it. Ky had never seen Sol without that metallic bracelet on his forehead, a few strands of hair trapped underneath it.

Something you don't know, and I have hinted at in the past, is why Ky hates Sol so much, so let me digress from the story, and his eccentric dressing, despite his raw power and arrogance. Sol...is an interesting guy. His full name, Sol Badguy, completely reeks of cliché and stupidity, obviously not his real name, but his imposing figure and attitude make sure anyone who would be willing to dispute it got what they deserved. Also, as you noticed, his sword isn't normal either. It is quite the opposite. As you heard, he stole it from the Seikishidan. About four months prior, when Sol had "joined" the Seikishidan, he left about a month later, taking with him the Fuurenken, the Fire Seal, another Frederick sword. He seemed intent on taking it ever since the beginning, talking and asking about it. But, when it came down to it, he took it in the middle of the night, one soldier on duty trying to stop him, but was found the next morning hanging from Floor D, the only thing keeping him from falling was his trench coat, still around his arms, the bottoms tied to the railings and gagged, with a set of bruises about his head. He had made sure his arms stayed in the coat, and was there all night, until they found him, half awake and battered from Sol.

Anyway, Sol is very strong, almost inhumanly so. He joined the Seikishidan on the word of Kliff. When Kliff handed the reigns to Ky Kiske, he had two things he made Ky promise to do. End the war, and to recruit a "Sol Badguy". He seemed intent to hire Sol Badguy, and it was tough tracking him down, but he was working as a bounty hunter, so they eventually found him and he did as Kliff asked, no questions, which Ky found odd even to this day, considering Sol's hatred of authority or being told what to do. Ky had hated Sol ever since he stole the sword, and because of his attitude which seemed to be that of Quint's, but magnified ten fold, a total and utter lack of caring for everyone and everything, simply because he could. In the few missions that Sol had taken while in the service of the Seikishidan, he had inflicted heavy damage, breaks, deep gashes, you name it, but miraculously, he never visited an A.A., and was good as new a day or two later. A true super soldier, which is probably why Kliff wanted him. Some things about Sol that also make him stand out is that he smokes, drinks, and does everything he wants, not to mention being a constant throw back to something he calls the "eighties". I guess that's why he has all the belts over his body, as well as the severely faded blue jeans, which seem a dull white, and not a haircut in sight. I'm falling off course a bit though, sorry.

It seems I have taken up my space for this chapter, so we'll continue our next on the next day. Let's just say that Ky couldn't get answers out of Sol, and he didn't want to result to getting in a fight with Sol, since he had quite a few with him during and after he was in the service of the Holy Order, and that he was still beaten up from the Parisian incident. But, it was close, real close to him just going all out on him. Every time they fought though, Ky lost, Sol seeming no worse for the wear, and every time, Sol could have killed him, yet he didn't. Maybe he just wants to prove he is the best, and that's it. So, on the next day, we have Ky going to the U.N. head quarters in Geneva, accompanied by Jaygus and Gestahl. The drama. Speaking of drama, I know you as my reader are probably questioning my sanity, as to be introducing a character such as Bianca. Trust me, reader, there is plenty of cause to everyone in this story, not just rampant extras and others, and also keep an eye out for every character, I could be any one of them. Also, while the focus is now on Ky, I will switch over to Darton, who is apparently not dead. Did I give any of you readers a shock for a chapter or two while he was in absence? I hope I did, considering that he was in all honesty supposed to be dead, those events I depicted being very true to reality. No body knows how or why he lived, despite that its possible the Gear was a cushion for his landing, but that was still six stories he dropped, and not to mention all of his injuries...oh well, I'm not one to argue with who God decides should die or not, that's His beef. Sorry to cut it short, reader, but I just gave a bit too much more than I needed this chapter, the next we'll get more. But, what do you have to wait? Just flip the friggin' page and quit reading my rambling.

-X- Author's Notes –X-
- Zeronova's Notes:
- Heh, like I said, the narrator is a character, and this is a book in 2175, not a fan fiction wink. For those actually waiting now, you can't flip the page, you just gotta wait a week. Anyway, what I had the narrator say isn't too far from true, I wanted to do more with this chapter, but just kind of fell short. Oh well, I got plenty planned in the next few. And, more Bianca and Darton too. For the record books, this was written July 28th, 2004, and released September 20th (talk about ahead of schedule...jeez...).
-X- End Author's Notes –X-