The worst pain in the world goes beyond the physical. Even further beyond any other emotional pain one can feel. It is the betrayal of a friend-Zac Brewer
Ruby was shaken awake by a firm hand and moaned "Five more minutes Yang" rolling over only to find herself on the hard metal floor with a thud. Opening her eyes she found herself back in the APC with Phill sitting opposite her, he stood up and looked out of the open top and leaned to Ruby
"We've arrived at the Hangar, this is where we get off" he gestured for her to stand up.
Ruby stood up with some assistance from Phill and looked over the Half-Track's metal side, in front of them stood a well camouflaged door almost 20m in length, it's rough metal surface slowly hiding within the cliffs above. As the door opened the bright light of many lamps and the such pushed back the night and after a moment of blindness Ruby saw into the Massive hangar.
"Impressive isn't it?" asked Phill "It took us nearly 13 years to complete the base, it was certainly worth it even if it was unnecessarily large. Anyway now that we've arrived let's head down to the hospital and get you looked at eh?" he said gesturing towards a large door in the back. The two walked through a maze of APCs and their Crews plus the few tanks that were scattered around the Hangar, Visibly abandoned.
The pair walked out of the hangar and through a set of similarly steel doors "Are all the doors in this place steel?" asked Ruby wondering about how much steel it would have taken in that case.
"Well the doors are actually some kind of alloy our engineers were able to produce, it's the same as that used in our swords actually. But no, the doors are mostly just your average wood from here on- it's just the risky areas that have such precautions in them. The two walked to what looked like an elevator and stood in it, the chamber's status as an elevator was confirmed when the room zipped down into the depths of the facility.
Ruby stepped out and into a small crowd of people, all of whom were scurrying around like rats at a wheel of cheese. Fortunately Phill grabbed her hand and guided her down the corridor until they reached a much nicer looking wooden door with a red cross on it; a universal symbol of medicine. As the door opened Ruby was hit with the foul stench of hospital air and the ridiculous amount of chemicals within it.
"And who might you be" said a voice from behind one of the green curtains
"Friends Dr Emirs, I've got someone that needs treatment here"
"Oh, Phillipson? What have they got?"
"Major blood loss and wound on the abdomen; Grimm caused" said Phill at a nearby curtain
"Is the patient with you now?"
"Yep, right here"
"Well assuming the patient can stand and is not in audible pain, do they really need me while I'm preforming a procedure. I will be done in five minutes, please wait in the corner like the rest of us mortals"
"Whelp Ruby, looks like we'll have to wait, don't worry you've already lasted a day, you can last another five minutes"
"Hold up, Ruby… You've been wounded for a whole day without proper medical treatment?"
"Well…" Ruby tried to reply before a figure in white few through the green forest of curtains and landed in front of them.
The man was tall with a white lab coat and grey coloured pants and instantly glared at Phill "Why didn't you tell me earlier!" before looking over Ruby "Hold up… She seems fine" Ruby sheepishly lifted up the remains of her Blouse and Emirs saw a truly horrifying sight for anyone in his profession; the bandages around her waist were no longer crimson, they were a dirty, rust-covered mess. "Get in there quick, undress and I'll see you in a moment, I need to talk to Philipson for a moment. Phill also nodded
Ruby reluctantly walked over to the curtain and shut it, within there was a bed, table and chair with a few hooks within the grey wall. As she undressed she heard the doctor shouting something at Phill but the thick curtain curbed most of it to mindless mumble.
Dr Emirs was pissed, Philipson was not a doctor by any means so he shouldn't have yelled at him but after seeing the Ruby girl's wounds he feared the worst; a fully blown infection and thus couldn't afford to take any chances with such things. Walking into the cubicle he was surprised at the girls age, she couldn't have been much older than 16, yet she possessed scars of all sorts both here and there, more than even some veterans within the order(although what he counted as veterans was rather loose in the first place). He went up to his cabinet and grabbed the necessary tools and a bit more before returning to the cubicle and addressing Ruby "Ok Ruby, I need you to sit up and tell me if this hurts" before pushing a few areas around the wound "Ok, no pain do it may have healed already" Looking back at Ruby he asked "Would you be able to remove the bandages yourself so I can be ready with a pad to catch the blood?", Ruby nodded and took the scissors indicating that she was ready to cut. Emirs watched with caution as the formerly white fabric fell away to reveal… a standard issue tampon soaked in blood within the wound. It was an odd measure to be sure as tampons were generally reserved for bullet wounds and as such special types were issued with antibacterial agents within them. Yet this interesting method that Phill used certainly worked… there was no infection to be seen and the wound was beginning to heal with the aid on the chemicals within the tampon.
"Will I live?" asked Ruby, obviously worried at the doctor's silence
"Yes, you'll be fine, it's just that Philipson back there used a rather odd method of treatment with the standard issue tampons we provide in our first aid kits…" I may introduce this into the training program he thought as he observed the lack of infection and the all-around good state of the wound. "Ruby you'll be fine but I would like to keep you overnight… actually nah, you've had a night's rest on the APC right?" Ruby nodded "then you may leave, but your clothes are in tatters so would you mind me giving you some?
"No, please do doctor" answered Ruby, relieved at her improving health
"Alright let me get you something, you're not one of ours so I can't give you a uniform but I suppose you can have a tracksuit…"
Minutes later Ruby emerged, dressed in a grey Tracksuit but with her old boots, she was quite relieved at her state of health but she understood that these people brought her here for a reason…perhaps they wanted to recruit her, or worse. Philips came up to her and asked "So, will you be alright?"
"Yes, but I was wondering. Why bring me here? Why treat me? All that stuff"
"Well I will admit I was considering that possibility I won't force you to join… although considering your current situation I would say it's not the worst idea"
"I suppose you're right… ill join, but can you tell me just what I'll be joining before I commit to anything"
"Alright I suppose, come with me, I'll take you to the High Overseer and he will explain everything, I'll give you a basic rundown right now if you want though"
"Ok, lead the way"
Ruby Followed Phill out of the infirmary, the Doctor waving her goodbye as she disappeared into the lose stream of people running down the wide corridors. Phill led her to what looked like a canteen and they sat down at one of the square stone tables, Phill asked if she wanted anything and Ruby (Having missed Breakfast) was certainly hungry.
Phill got her a Baguette and a bottle of water and some other thing for himself, getting into a business pose asked "So… What do you want to know?"
Ruby had some time to ponder the question on her way here and thus asked "Everything, history of the place, who do you fight for? Everything"
"Well I suppose I'll start with history then, alright?" she nodded and he continued "The Overseer Order is actually a former subordinate of 'The Abbey' I don't know much on them but they were a church of sorts, Anyway there was a revolution on their home continent of 'The Isles', The Isles is nowhere near our continent of Remnant though… Anyway the overseers needed to escape to avoid being annihilated by the countless mob so they tried to do so on boats, but they were shot down before they could leave. When all hope was abandoned a whaling ship pulled up beside their pier and the captain introduced himself as the previous High Overseer; he had been excommunicated for one reason or another and was sent to the slums to live out his days. Apparently though he gathered a group of followers from amongst the lot in the flooded district, Hijacked the Whaling ship and Saved the remaining Overseers from Certain death." Phill breathed in heavily and asked "Any questions so far?"
"Why was there a revolution?" asked Ruby, Curious to what could motivate such actions
"Well as far as I know the government was unpopular and corrupt, that's the gist of it. Once the government was gone they went after their supporters, namely the Overseers. Anything else?"
"No, please keep going"
"Anyway the people on that ship were all inducted into the order and High Overseer Campbell became it's leader. He still is to this day"
"He must be pretty old then"
"Yeah, he is like 70 now but still works as his job requires, I heard he's still decent with a sword as well. Anyway, back to the story. They entered a storm on their way to some other continent but were greeted by some entity that transported them here, The High Overseer referred to it as the Outsider. Yet before their leave The outsider was the entity that they were trying to fight against… so in return for the outsider's help the order allowed all outsider worship and now we take part in a ceremony dedicated to him every year… Any questions?"
"No not really, but does that mean there is indeed a god?"
"We don't know what he is, but we know to keep him happy… Anyway that is it I believe, shall we see the High Overseer now?" Said Phill while looking at something on his phone
"Yes, I suppose it is time…"
Please tell me if you like the rewrite In a review or PM!
