Chapter 8 – Ben Fitzpatrick
"Tranquility"
The next day their orders came in, Captain Sebastian announced to the crew early that morning; "Attention Reprisal crew members, and pilots. We will now be making course for PLANT, we should arrive in 13 hours, further instructions will be given before we land, you are all to go about your daily duties as per usual.. that is all." Moving out of his bedding, Azrael slowly moved to the bathroom, cleaning himself appropriately, and taking a quick morning shower, he then changed into his red ZAFT uniform. There was another item he took out from the room before leaving; a long bamboo training sword, It would've simply been a stick had it not been for the hand protector on the hilt of the weapon. Holding the sword at mid length, he left the room, moving through the corridors towards the upper deck of the ship. He soon found himself in a large open room, it resembled a gymnasium, basketball hoops on either end of the grey metallic walls, and a simple floor pattern, of a rectangle with a circle in the middle. Along the walls, there were windows on either side, you could not look into them from the outside though, the were obviously linked to some form of changing rooms. Azrael inspected the room some more, even though there was no one there, he could sense activity close by, he assumed however that it wasn't hostile, so he shrugged it off, and began his training. Moving to the center of the room, he closed his eyes, and took up a basic combat stance. His platinum strands gently swayed from side to side, as he held the wooden sword directly infront of him. Opening his eyes suddenly, he gripped hard onto the hilt of the weapon and made his attack, bringing his arms back, he then thrusted them forward, the weapon moving with skill and precision, he then stepped back swiftly, then forward again, slashing downwards, he repeated his motion for some time, each attack made a swooping noise that resonated around the hall. His concentration shifted for a moment, he took note of three others who had entered the hall, it seemed to him that they had been standing there for some time now. Azrael turned around for a moment to face them, two females and a male stood there, He was able to recognise the women quite easily, the two that he encountered the other evening. One was dressed in a red military uniform like his own, she had short, messy black hair, and green eyes. The other had brown hair and hazel eyes, and wore a bright green technician uniform, the male had tanned skin, and short, shaven blonde hair, he wore the military greens, They all stood around the same height, the same with Azrael. Azrael paused for a moment and kept his eyes on the group of people, an awkward silence took place for a moment, before Azrael began to speak; "Would you like me to move somewhere else..?" Instantly the black haired woman replied, a shade of pink setting into her cheeks; "No, don't worry, don't mind us, we'll leave you to it." "You don't have to, really, don't mind me." Azrael replied. Pausing for a moment in thought, the woman spoke up; "Well.. we were just about to get breakfast anyway.. you, uhh.. want to join us?" "... Sure.", lowering his stance, he grabbed the weapon but it's center again, and approached the group, smiling cheerfully, he spoke; "My name is--" the woman interrupted, as if it was almost a reflex; "Azrael Celest... we all know about you, you graduated on a score of 96, and were instantly assigned your reds... oops! I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to interrupt you." apologizing she took a step back, and looked towards the ground next her. The man next to the two women introduced himself; "I'm Nero Xander." gesturing to the woman furthest from him, the tech crew female, he said "This is Analise Rhyhawk." the woman nodded shyly, her face a crimson fluster. Then gesturing over to the woman next to him, Nero spoke; "And this is Raven Imani." she spoke; "It's an honor to meet you." Azrael bowed down graciously; "The honor is all mine." Nero then interrupted; "Well, that's the introductions done, lets get something to eat." and turning towards the door, he let himself out of the room first, followed by Analise and Raven, then by Azrael, his mind set on Vega for a brief moment; "I wonder if he's had the chance to fit in too..?" he thought, before exiting the room, and moving to the mess hall with his companions.
The day went on as normal, Azrael spent time with Raven, Analise and Nero, they talked in one of the recreation rooms, Vega on the other hand had found his way out of the medical room, and sat in one of the designated smoking chambers, finishing off a packet, the documents for his new mobile suit resting in his lap.
To Be Continued...