Disclaimer: All names, locations, characters, etc... belong to their respective owners. Please don't sue, I beg of you.
In the underground, gangs are a common sight. Different kinds of people band together to achieve different kinds of goals. Some gangs steal supplies to sell to others. Some gangs fight to carve out territory of their own. Some gangs steal for themselves. Most gangs in the underground tend to be small, numbering from around 5 to 30 people. Occasionally, however, there will be larger gangs that establish themselves down there. These usually come about when one gang absorbs one or more rival gangs, or when gangs join together to achieve a common purpose. Sometimes, a small gang will be able to recruit large numbers of unaffiliated people, growing to a larger than average size. Two such rival gangs were the Shadowblade gang, and the Crimson Star gang. Both were active at around the same time, from early 847 to mid 848. The Shadowblade gang was pretty close to your standard gang. They carved out a section of the underground as their turf, and stole supplies and money to benefit themselves. The Crimson Star, however, was a bit different. In a nutshell, the Crimson Star gang was the result of a group of Sina businessmen attempting to control the underground themselves, for whatever reason. While they funneled cash to the gang's leadership, they sent down small convoys of supplies, informing the gang leaders of when and where they could find the convoy. The businessmen then bribed the MPs to allow the Crimson Star to make off with the supplies whenever they raided the convoys. The raided supplies were then distributed amongst the people of the underground, with the intent of convincing them to join the gang. In return for the supplies and funding, the Crimson Star would do the bidding of their surface level benefactors, whether that be assassinations, theft, or really anything else. Once the Shadowblades caught wind of the Crimson Star making off with whole convoys without so much as a scratch, naturally they attempted to get in on the action, too. The result was a turf war between the two gangs, with street fights between gang members a common occurrence. During the summer of 848, a Shadowblade raid managed to decapitate Crimson Star's leadership. This meant that the businessmen on the surface had no way of effectively communicating with their affiliates down under. The following then happened in short order: A group of disgruntled Crimson Star members snuck into the Shadowblade's den, and assassinated their leadership. Shortly afterwards, with no flow of cash and supplies, the Crimson Star quickly fractured into dozens of smaller gangs fighting over the scraps of what remained. The Shadowblade gang followed only a day or two after, splintering into a dozen small factions clawing out each other's throats for territory and supplies.
Our Friend's assessment of Underground District gangs.
July 847
Skip crouched motionlessly behind the remains of an unfinished building, straining his hearing in an attempt to locate his pursuers. After a few tense moments of relative silence, his ears picked up the distant sound of heavy footfalls, the kind that's made by a group of running people. After listening carefully for a moment, the young courier determined that there could be anywhere from five to about ten people in the group. Deciding that hiding was a more appealing alternative to fighting, Skip slightly shifted his body to make his position a little more comfortable. His left hand was resting on the rubble in front of him, keeping him steady. The other hand was in his jacket, keeping a firm grip on his firearm.
'I've got six shots in my gun,' Skip mused, 'that should be enough to take out just over half of them at the very least.' He paused his thoughts for a moment to continue listening to the approaching sounds of footsteps, before resuming his line of thinking. 'If I get the drop on them, I can probably take out another two with my knives before any others can get their bearings.' Skip continued to let the fight play itself out in his head. If things went well, he'd be able to take out around seven or eight of his pursuers before they could rally to counter him, assuming the worst case scenario in terms of numbers came to pass. 'I suppose I'll just have to trust my reflexes to see me through taking out any remaining survivors.'
More or less satisfied with his plan, Skip reached his left hand down to his belt, and then to his boots, verifying that his knives were, in fact, still there. The footfalls were now only a few dozen meters away, and Skip could hear the panting and heavy breathing of the people pursuing him. He tensed, waiting for the hostile party to come within his line of sight. His patience was rewarded, as a group of Shadowblade gang members came into view. The group leader signaled for them to stop, apparently deciding to check out the area before moving on. Skip's eyes flicked from grunt to grunt, assessing each of them. When he was done, he let out a sigh of frustration, taking care to muffle it though, lest he give away his own position. 'Eleven of them, all armed. Luckily only three of them have firearms.' With this new information, Skip began to flesh out his rough plan, 'I'll take the ones with guns out first, as well as the ones next to them. That should buy me some time. Take out the closest ones with one of my knives, and take out the others with throwing knives. Alternatively, I could make a break for their muskets.' He halted his thoughts for a moment, 'Of course, the viability of that option hinges on whether they actually have loaded muskets. Considering these are gang grunts it's a fifty- fifty chance that they actually have bullets in those barrels,' Skip let out a quiet snort at that last thought. 'Not to mention the fact that these muskets are poorly maintained. It's a small miracle that they actually work half the time. Odds are, I'm better off using my throwing knives.' With that conclusion, the courier pondered the viability of his plan. 'Yeah, that should work… probably,' he concluded.
As he continued quietly observing the gang grunts searching the area, he began idly wondering whether his partner was faring any better than him. She hadn't been a courier for very long, but she had good instincts, and could hold her own in a fight. Her knife skills were solid, likely owing to her time being a wandering refugee. She was arguably better than he was in hand to hand combat, but her marksmanship left much to be desired. Hopefully she wasn't being followed like he was. If she was though, he hoped that she at least had the sense to take out the ones with guns first. If she could neutralize any ranged threats, she would have no trouble taking out any other grunts in close quarters.
Just then, Skip's train of thought was interrupted when he observed a grunt approaching his hiding spot. He tensed further, pulling his firearm from his jacket and flicking the safety off. 'I'd rather not have to take lives to get through this, but I suppose my hands are already dirty, aren't they?' Skip let out another quiet sigh at that thought, though it was less a sigh of frustration as it was of resignation. He never liked having to take lives, it made him sick to his stomach sometimes. Even so, he knew that in this line of work, it was more often than not 'kill or be killed'. He couldn't afford to hesitate, lest he or someone he cared about pay the price. Skip had long ago come to terms with what this meant for him, but that didn't mean he liked it. Carefully eyeing the grunt, he willed his target to stop, and walk the other way. The grunt continued to approach. Skip let out one final sigh. As the grunt reached his hiding place, Skip steeled himself for the fight that was about to occur.
He leapt from his hiding place, leveled the weapon at his startled target, and squeezed the trigger.
5 Kilometers Outside of Mitras
The Previous Day…
Skip awoke before the sun had even started to rise, after a night of fitful sleep. He sat awake against the tree trunk for a few minutes, hoping he would just fall back asleep. Skip listened to the sounds of the woods around him, attempting to use them to lull himself back to sleep, but to no avail. After begrudgingly accepting that he was now permanently awake for the day, he pushed himself up further, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He took stock of his surroundings, eyes surveying the area from his perch a few meters above the ground. Everything seemed to be the way he had left it the previous night. He reached for the letter in the pocket of the courier's duster he was wearing- it was Jaren's, but Skip had grown into it over the last year- and felt the message that he had been entrusted to deliver. He visibly scowled when he started thinking about the delivery again. When Skip had been assigned the delivery, he had been told to deliver a letter to some businessman in the interior. Easy enough, right? Wrong. Of all places to be within Wall Sina, the man just had to be in the Underground District. Skip shuddered, recalling when Jaren told him about the one delivery he had made in the underground. "It's depressing and dangerous down there," he had said. "The MPs are next to worthless down there, so crime is rampant. Gangs and cartels run wild in the Underground, and nobody is really in a position to stop them. Not a place you want to be making potentially important deliveries."
Skip sighed, and massaged his temple. 'This is not gonna be a fun job,' he thought to himself. His gaze swept over the makeshift campsite yet again, eventually settling on a sleeping form. He chuckled softly to himself. 'Sleep while you can. You're gonna need it.'
When Tali Wissendieb's eyes fluttered open, it was already well past sunrise. She furrowed her eyebrows. 'Shouldn't Skip have woken me up by now?' She blinked the rest of the sleep from her eyes, and sat up. Her eyes scanned the campsite for any sign of her senior partner, only to find no sign of him. It was then that she recalled his curious habit of sleeping in trees. Tali elevated her gaze to the tree branches above, certain that she would find her partner. Sure enough, there he was, sitting quietly and writing in that journal of his. Tali wondered why Skip hadn't awoken her yet, considering he always woke her up at sunrise when they had deliveries to make. 'He probably has a reason, or maybe he just decided that a delivery to the interior isn't too important,' she mused as she stood up, yawned, and stretched. This seemed to catch Skip's attention.
"Oh, you're finally awake," he remarked from his perch in the tree branches. Tali could practically hear the smirk in his voice.
"Mhm. What's with the extra sleep? You normally wake me up at sunrise," Tali inquired, deciding to ignore his attitude for the moment.
"Well, we're delivering to the interior, so I figured they could wait another hour or so for their delivery," He replied, running his hand through his hair absentmindedly, his mouth still curved into a smirk.
'Lies,' Tali snorted to herself, observing her partner for a moment, before saying, "Bullshit."
Skip paused, and looked at her innocently, "Huh?"
"You're doing the thing again Chief, where you run your hand through your hair when you lie."
Skip maintained his innocent face, though Tali noted that his eyes told a different story, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Tali sighed, rolling her eyes, "Skip, even Lia's told me about it. You've already been caught, now spill whatever it is you're not telling me."
Skip held her gaze for a moment, before breaking off eye contact. He hopped down from his perch in the trees, his face taking on a more grave expression.
"I've told you that we're delivering to a businessman in the interior, yes?"
Tali nodded.
"Well, that wasn't the whole story. This businessman is in the interior, but he's in just about the worst place you can be in the interior."
Tali raised an eyebrow, piecing together the information she knew. Deciding that he didn't want to beat around the bush any further, Skip decided to drop the truth on her, "We're delivering to a guy in the Underground District."
The two couriers rode in silence on the paved road to Mitras. Tali had been quiet for most of the day, absorbing what her senior partner had told her that morning. Oh yeah. He had only told her about it the morning of their run in. She spared a glance over at Skip. His eyes were glued to the road ahead, yet somewhat vacant. She shifted her own eyes back to the road. Why had he waited so long to tell her the truth about where they were going? Why would he keep something like that from her? Tali knew the Chief had his secrets, but in Tali's mind this fell into the 'something I should probably know' category. She idly wondered if he even actually trusted her with important things. Sure, she hadn't been a courier for as long as he had, but she had proven herself to be reliable and trustworthy, right? Skip spoke up, interrupting her thoughts, almost as if he was reading her mind.
"There's a reason I didn't tell you until this morning."
Tali turned to face him once again, noting the tired look in his sky blue eyes. "Go on," she prompted.
He sighed, massaging his temples before speaking again, "Being told you're going to the Underground is not something you take lightly. You think about it. The longer you think about it, the more you think about the many ways this could all go horribly wrong."
"But you have more time to plan for those situations," Tali countered.
Skip shook his head, "Maybe, but what's more likely is that you're going to psych yourself out just thinking about it. Lose your nerve."
Tali turned her gaze back to the road ahead. She knew Skip was right. She had been thinking about it all morning. Thinking about all of the ways this little trip could go to hell in a handbasket.
Skip continued, "You need to be in the right state of mind when you go down there. If you aren't, the chances of you getting jumped increase significantly."
Tali knew that realistically, this statement applied to really everything they did. But it applied doubly so for this particular job. The Underground was a very dangerous place, and if you aren't paying attention, you can find yourself in a lethal situation very quickly. With this in mind, Tali decided that although she wasn't entirely pleased with Skip's judgment call, she could understand why he made that particular call. He was trying to keep her in the right state of mind for as long as possible, to give her as little time as possible to psych herself out.
The stubborn part of her wanted to snort indignantly and claim that she wasn't going to let this distract her, but the more rational side knew that this wasn't the case. Ever since Skip had told her where they were going, she had been worrying about all of the stories and rumors of what went on down there. Worrying about all of the possibilities for their mission to go horribly south (figuratively, of course). The rational side of her would also admit that it was, in fact, distracting her significantly. Even so, there was a little part of her that was actually a little fascinated, and somewhat excited for this.
Tali had always been the adventurous child, getting into all sorts of trouble before Wall Maria fell. She would wander away from home to go explore the wide open fields behind Wall Maria, investigate the forests with gargantuan trees, and venture into the many nearby towns. Her parents would always be upset with her for leaving by herself, without telling anyone, but they always knew she would find her way home. That all changed when Wall Maria fell. She, along with her parents, had been confined to the Calaneth District, trying to find any way to sustain themselves. When the adults had been sent out to "reclaim" Wall Maria, Tali had been left on her own. She left Calaneth, and drifted from town to town, looking for anyone willing to take her in. It wasn't until she arrived in Trost District, did she find someone. A young courier, only a little older than her.
Tali trudged alone along one of the streets of the Trost District refugee area. The situation in this city wasn't much better than the situation in Calaneth, but things seemed to be improving slightly. Granted, these improvements were built atop the corpses of the 250,000 refugees from Wall Maria who had been supposedly sent to retake the wall. Two of whom were her parents. Tali sighed, and gazed up at the evening sky, painted in bright oranges and brilliant reds. She missed her parents. She had cried for days when they first left, and again for days when she realized that they were never coming back.
Eventually though, her self- preservation instincts kicked in, and she began to move on, figuratively and literally. She wandered from town to town, doing whatever was necessary for an orphaned refugee child from Wall Maria to survive. She could never find work though, partially because of her status as a refugee. Another reason was because of her eyes. Her irises were colored a vibrant scarlet hue. They disconcerted many people, some of whom thought she was a demon, or a spawn of the devil, as some Wall Cultists seemed to refer to her as. Only her parents had seemed to accept her eyes as natural. Her mother had called them beautiful. But her mother was long gone, and she was alone in the world. By now, Tali had grown used to the odd looks and nervous glances people tended to throw her way on a daily basis. That didn't mean they hurt her any less, though. She was wrenched from her thoughts by a sharp voice.
"OI! What do you think you're doing here? This is our turf!"
Tali shifted her gaze to the source of the voice, noting the presence of a boy, only a little older than her, but nearly twice her size. Three other kids stood behind him, bearing the same hostile, belligerent expression.
"Shit…" she muttered to herself. She had known that gangs existed among the remaining refugees of Trost, and she'd taken great care to steer clear of them. Or at least, she thought she had. She sized each of her opponents up. She could take them.
The apparent leader spoke up again, "Your eyes… What the hell is wrong with them!? Are you some kind of demon, or something!?"
Tali frowned, her mind now made up. Her course of action was decided. As suddenly as a flash of lightning, she darted forwards to the leader, and delivered a painful knee to the groin, before sweeping his right leg out from under him, knocking him off- balance and sending him sprawling onto the ground. She took down a second gang member in a similar fashion before wheeling around to face a third. She nimbly dodged his punch, and slammed her fist right into the bridge of his nose, knocking him out cold. The last member turned and fled, whimpering something about a 'demon girl'. It was at this point that she became aware of another person standing a few paces behind her. When she turned to face this new person, she locked eyes with them. Scarlet red met sky blue.
Upon eye contact, the stranger's eyes widened slightly, but appeared unfazed. Tali held her breath, waiting to see whether the stranger was going to go get the authorities. Then, the corners of his mouth turned up in an amused smile.
"Not bad," he remarked. Tali blinked once in surprise, not expecting the stranger's reaction. She looked him over more closely this time, noting the worn- looking duster, plain trousers, muddy boots, and the faded blue bandanna tied around his neck. She also noted the patch on the right shoulder of his jacket. A vertical scroll in front of a pair of wings not unlike the Wings of Freedom..
'A courier, huh? Isn't he a little young?' she wondered idly to herself. The courier spoke up again.
'Come on, let's get out of here before someone finds us and tries to report us. I'd rather not have the MPs out to get me today,' he jerked his head, motioning her to follow him. Deciding that she was probably better off with him than on her own, she followed him, falling in step once she caught up with the courier as they made their way further into Trost.
The two conversed as they wandered seemingly aimlessly through Trost. Over the course of their conversation, she had learned a few things about her new acquaintance. Things like his name, where he was from, what he was doing in Trost, and such. She had also told the courier (apparently they called him Skip) various things about herself. She told him that she was from Eastern Wall Maria, and that she had lived in Calaneth for a while after the wall fell, but had eventually left and wandered to Trost.
"So you lost your parents to the 'reclamation', huh? I'm sorry to hear that," he had said when he learned of the fate of her parents. He continued, "I lost mine when Shiganshina fell. Crushed by a piece of debris." His eyes were distant, but for a moment a spark of a long dormant emotion briefly flared in his eyes. It left as quickly as it came, though, and his eyes returned to their previous relaxed, yet alert look. "So I take it you still haven't found work yet?"
Tali shook her head, "No. Nobody seems to want a refugee kid from Wall Maria. Not one with the eyes of a demon, at least."
"I know the feeling. Well, I guess, part of the feeling in your case."
Tali shot him a deadpan look.
"There are so many people like you now, and me back then. Alone, unwanted, struggling to scrape by. Granted, there are a lot fewer now, but there are still so many. I got lucky. I found someone who offered me work, and didn't treat me like I was a dead weight to humanity. So few of us get that opportunity…" He trailed off as they came to a halt by the river, looking into its waters, mirroring the colors staining the sky above.
Tali watched him as he stayed silent, wondering where this was going. After a few moments of quiet, he turned to look at her.
"Do you want a job?"
Talo took a deep breath, attempting to temper her slightly frayed nerves. She stood next to Skip in front of the staircase that served as the entrance to the Underground district. After what felt like an hour, Skip finally spoke.
"Let's go," he said. The two then began the descent down the long flight of stairs that led to the most dangerous area within the walls. She mentally recited what Skip had told her about the delivery.
'We're delivering to a Crimson Star higher- up. We aren't sure what's in the letter, but it's probably important. Consequently, a Shadowblade ambush isn't out of the realm of possibility, so stay sharp.'
She sighed quietly. 'Great, more fighting. Just what I wanted to do today,' she thought sarcastically. As they approached the bottom of what seemed like an endless staircase, she spied a pair of Military Police.
'They're generally corrupt, useless bastards,' Skip had said when Tali asked if the MPs would be of any help. 'Chances are they're taking bribes or extorting money down there. Well, more than the surface MPs do, anyways,' he had also said.
Skip exchanged a few brief words with one of the MPs, which was followed by a stare- off that seemed to go on and on. Eventually though, the MPs let them pass, with the MP Skip had previously glared at looking more than a little unnerved.
Tali smirked to herself, 'Spineless cowards,' she thought. After passing the MPs, she took stock of her surroundings. Many gray stone buildings took up her field of view. Some finished, others only partially built. There was very little sunlight, which only added to the depressing mood set by the monotone buildings. What perturbed Tali the most, though, were the inhabitants. Many of them were deathly pale, and as thin as twigs. Many of them were wearing dirty, worn out clothes. These weren't just adults though. No, many of them were children, years younger than herself. Their faces were grim. The faces of people who had long given up hope for a better future. It was at this moment that Tali realized that she didn't have it as bad as these people. Sure, her food was scarce, and nobody was willing to help her, but at least she still had the freedom to roam within Wall Rose. These people had none of that.
Tali glanced over at Skip, and she could see clearly her own thoughts reflected in his eyes. Despite this, they moved on, not wanting to spend any longer in the underworld than they had to. Tali fell in step with Skip, adopting his brisk pace as they made their way down one of the main streets to where Skip had been instructed upon being assigned the delivery. Both couriers swept their eyes across the rooftops, and discreetly glanced over their shoulders every so often, scanning for any signs of a Shadowblade ambush. Tali could tell Skip was on edge, as was she. Underground gangs were a completely different beast from surface gangs. Up above, it was pretty easy to tell who was associated with a gang. Down here, though, everyone looked like they could be a part of a gang. The couriers continued in this manner, until Skip leaned in and quietly spoke to Tali, "Behind us. Several people have been following us for some time. Probably Shadowblades. Once we reach that intersection up there, I want you to go right. As soon as you turn that corner, you run like hell and find a way back to the surface. Got it?"
Tali nodded hesitantly, but also voiced her concern, "What about you? What are you going to do? You'll probably need help to finish the delivery."
"Don't worry about me. I'll make a run straight for the delivery point, and then get the hell out of Dodge."
Tali still had some serious concerns, but she had no time to voice them. They were already at the intersection.
She heard Skip whisper urgently to her, "Go!"
Tali broke out into a dead sprint, momentarily looking over her shoulder to see Skip tear off down the road she had been on just a moment ago, before turning back forward to find her way back to the surface. She risked another look over her shoulder, noticing a group of 4 people running after her. Skip had been right, they were being tailed. She faced forward once more, and turned another corner. Her eyes quickly scanned ahead to see if there was anywhere she might be able to shake off her pursuers, or potentially ambush them. She spied what she thought was another side street that could cut back to the main road, but when she rounded the corner, all she found was a dead end.
'Damn…,' she muttered to herself. She knew she didn't have time to turn around and resume her flight, so she prepared for her only other option: ambush. She crouched behind an abandoned cart, and waited for her pursuers to approach her position. Predictably, her soon to be victims haphazardly rounded the corner, and stopped when they found no sign of her in the alley.
"She's back here somewhere. Find her," one of the gang members instructed his compatriots. Tali observed the gang members silently, until one approached her hiding spot. Once he moved in close enough, she sprung from her hiding place, punching him square in the face. He fell to the floor, unconscious. She moved quickly to strike her next opponent, who was attempting to aim his musket at her. She grabbed his weapon, hit him right in the jaw with the butt of the rifle, and swept his legs out from under him, sending him sprawling as well. She used the butt of the musket to knock a third gang member out, before using the weapon as a club to put the final gang member out of commission. After about 10 seconds of action, the alleyway was still again, with Tali standing victoriously over her assailants.
She took a moment to steady her breathing, mentally going over her available options. Making a break for the surface was certainly an option. The stairway wasn't far now, and she could probably force her way past the MPs if she really needed to. That being said, she would be abandoning the Chief to complete the delivery on his own. On the other hand, if she chose to go rendezvous with Skip, she would have to do quite a bit of searching to locate him. If she did find him, however, they would have strength in numbers. She pondered her potential choices for a moment, before finally deciding. Once her decision was made, she bolted from the alley and back onto the street.
A sharp crack split the air. A body fell to the ground. Five more cracks followed. Five more bodies. After dispatching six of the eleven grunts in a matter of seconds, Skip re- holstered his firearm. Taking a split second to identify his next targets, Skip pulled out his two throwing knives, and flung them into the two grunts closest to the muskets, which were now strewn across the ground. Another two bodies hit the ground. One of the grunts rushed at Skip with a club- like object. The courier pulled out a knife from his jacket, dodged a swing of the club, and slashed across the assailant's exposed upper chest. A ninth body collapsed to the ground. Skip wheeled on the nearest remaining gang member, only to find a musket barrel pointed straight at his chest. His breath hitched, his mind freezing up as he realized that whether he lived or died was left entirely to chance now.
Click
An empty barrel. Skip let out an audible sigh, before he rushed forward and slashed at the now panicking gang grunt. A tenth body collapsed to the floor. Skip's muscles began to relax, as he surveyed the aftermath of the whirlwind skirmish. Wait. Ten bodies? 'Oh hell,' Skip thought to himself, as he heard the telltale click of a musket hammer being drawn back behind him. The young courier spun around, his mind freezing for the second time that day as he saw yet another musket barrel pointed at his chest. Before he could react, however, a brown blur entered his field of vision, colliding with his would- be executioner. Apparently the grunt's finger had been on the trigger, as the musket discharged on impact, firing wide to Skip's right. His mind refocused. His assailant was lying on the ground, clearly unconscious. His gaze shifted to his savior. Faded brown duster, slightly longer than shoulder- length brown hair, striking scarlet eyes.
'Tali? What's she doing here? I'm pretty sure I told her to get out of here,' Skip wondered as he identified the person standing in front of him. He couldn't really fault her though, she did just save his life, after all.
"You alive there, Chief?"
"... Yeah."
"That was close, a second later and you would've been shot."
As the reality of the situation continued to sink in, Skip shuddered at how close he had been to biting the dust just now. Twice, no less. He began to idly wonder, 'Is this really all worth it? Is this message really worth risking our safety like this?' Skip began to search the corpses of the original musket bearers, looking for a black powder cartridge.
Tali watched him curiously, "Uh Chief, what are you doing? Don't we need to be delivering the letter?"
Skip didn't answer her, instead continuing his search for gunpowder. When he found a cartridge, he pulled out the letter and placed it on the ground. He then ripped open the powder cartridge, and poured the powder onto the letter. Pulling out a match, he simply said, "Stand back." He then struck the match, and tossed it onto the gunpowder- covered letter. Tali simply stared at him in shock. After watching the letter burn to ashes, he motioned for her to follow him, turning back in the direction of the stairs.
Echo's Note: Hoooo boy, that took me a while. While this is the longest chapter of the story so far, it's not really all that long. In short, I basically didn't know how I wanted to write this chapter, and spent a month trying to figure it out. Anyways, this chapter introduced Tali (sorry, there's still more OCs to come), who does have a role in future events. This chapter also depicted what Skip was like in his final days as a courier, as just a month or so later, he joins the military. Fun stuff.
I have a few announcements of things I've got planned for the future:
- Skip's Tales from Training has now been expanded into Skip's Side Stories, which will tell different side stories involving various characters at different points of the story with various levels of seriousness. Some silly, some kinda deep. Stay tuned.
- A second set of side stories has been planned, dubbed Untold Legends. More on this project as I get closer to releasing it.
- At the end of every chapter, I intend to put a fun trivia fact about the writing of the chapter, or a fun in- universe lore fact.
Fun Trivia Fact: Most of the chapter's latter half was written by hand on a small notebook during Echo's downtime at work.
As I've stated in the previous several author's notes this chapter marks the end of the Couriers arc. Next chapter we will return to the main story of AoT.
You see memories of the future flash before your eyes:
- A mailman, and angry bald guy, and a potato girl.
- A mailman learns how to fly.
