To Make an Impression

Eve practically skid to a halt in front of the double doors leading out into the training field. Stealing a glance at a terminal screen along the wall displaying the time—9:17am—she adjusted her uniform and rolled her shoulders before pushing through the doors and walking out into the sunlight.

"Pick it up Faire, Albhed! You've both still got your round of push-ups to do!" A voice reached her ears as Eve surveyed the area. The majority of the group of recruits were clumped near the center of the field either stretching or in the midst of a set of push-ups. Two were still finish what Eve assumed were laps. A rather small male with dark hair and a light-haired girl who almost looked as if she were skipping rather than running.

As she grew closer to the main group, she caught sight of a pink-haired woman whom she deduced was the training officer—meaning her superior officer. Information given to her regarding said officer had been little to none, but Eve had been acquainted to enough higher-ranked personnel to have a general idea of what to expect. All the superiors were more or less the same. For example, the fact she was late meant she had to be prepared for an earful. She walked to stand near the woman who was still barking orders to a few of the trainees. Straightening out, she raised her hand into a salute and opened her mouth to state her arrival.

"Hey! It's you!" A voice called, interrupting her, effectively taking her off-guard. She almost nearly jumped. Turning toward the recruits she saw the two young men from the day before grinning at her. Her shoulders slumped ever so slightly. The darker-skinned recruit gave a small nod, accompanied by a friendly smile.

"Yo, DeFluo!"

"What are you two doing?" The instructor snapped, "I don't recall you finishing your sets." The two recruit averted their eyes and continue with their training. Eve tensed up again as the officer turned to face her.

"Lance-Corporal DeFluo, reporting for duty as training assistant."

"Lance Corporal-?"

"Training assistant-?"

Eve felt the small urge to glare at both the recruits who had once again interrupted. However, she froze once she finally found herself face to face with her superior officer. 'Soft' was the only word Eve could use, in that moment, to describe the other woman's face. Though there was no doubt in her mind that the woman was a good few years older, her face could beg to differ. But her voice had portrayed firm control and authority; the eye patch that covered one of her cerulean eyes revealed experience. Keeping eye contact, Eve noted that part of what made the blue orb so bright was its contrast to the rest of her face. It was cold and hard—sharp and alert. At least for the first few moments.

Slowly, Eve registered something else cross not only the instructor's eyes, but the rest of her face. It wasn't the anger or irritation as she expected. Shock?

"Ma'am?" She questioned after another moment of increasingly-awkward silence. Eve couldn't deny her piqued interest at the strange reaction she incited from the other officer. Had she been mistaken? She thought herself quite adequate at reading people but the initial impression she got from the woman had been quite different to what she was seeing presently.

"Training assistant?" The officer fumbled with a datapad in her hand, seemingly unwilling to break eye contact. Eve observed her as she skimmed information on it for a few seconds. She watched the woman mouth a few of the words, her full name included, "I wasn't informed there would be a training assistant for this group of recruits." The instructor said aloud, finally looking back up.

"It was a last minute transfer ma'am, I wasn't aware of it myself until two days ago." Eve explained herself, "I wasn't even given information on my superior officer." Eve hinted subtlely.

"Acting training officer, Sergent-Major Farron." The pinkette stated quickly. Eve didn't recognize the name; though that didn't say much. Most of the various officers and staff at CRYSIS were more or less faceless to her. She got an unusual feeling that she probably wouldn't have forgotten this woman's face. No... Not exactly; more like... it seemed familiar-?

Poorly-restrained cheering from the recruits caused both officers to turn back to the group. The last two had finally finished both their laps and push-up sets. The Sergeant-Major cleared her throat before ordering them to settle down. Eve witnessed a significant shift in character with interest.

"All of you have been training at CRYSIS since the beginning of the year." The pinkette waved the datapad in her hand, "All of you were suddenly transferred into this particular training group; because all of you displayed significantly promising potential." The recruits hesitantly began looking between each other, "Or so I've been told." Eve raised an eyebrow as the Sergant-Major began walking towards a small clearing in the field, "So let me tell you this..."

The group watched as a small control station raised out of the clearing along with a few holo-screens that flickered above it as the officer reached it, "And listen carefully because I am only going to say this once." She tapped a few keys on one of the panels before continuing, "Everything you've learned so far, whatever it was you excelled at to get you here," The pinkette tapped began punching in a few keys on the control panel, "Forget it. It won't help you here."

Eve would have been lying if she said she wasn't just as confused as the recruits. What kind of training instructor tells you to forget your training?

"All of you line up on along the east side of the field." The Sergeant-Major ordered, not looking up from the console she was working with. The recruits barely hesitated before jogging to take a position on the edge of the training area. Eve noticed 4 small crystal pillars appear out of the ground at the corners of the field, and watched as each one began emitting at least 3 lines of light. Before she could speculate their purpose, a wide variety of what looked like laser beams and forcefields appeared across the training area—each and every one of them, moving.

"All of you are to make it across the training field and back without tripping any of the sensors." The Sergeant-Major relayed the objective, "You hit a sensor, you begin the course again." Eve looked between the field, the recruits, and the training officer. She'd never seen of such a training course, nor heard or read about it during her own time at CRYSIS. She suddenly let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding.

"DeFluo." The Sergeant-Major's voice forced her eyes from the field in front of her, "What are you doing? Line up and get ready to run the course." Eve blinked a couple of times, hearing the order but not quite processing.

"Ma'am?"

"I know the less about you than I do any of the recruits in this training group." Eve studied the pinkette who was now looking directly at her with a look of challenge on her face, "If I'm going to have you assist me with anything, I need to know what you're capable of." Eve disliked any form of confrontation above anything else. To her it was troublesome and was one of the very many things she instinctively avoided as much as possible; but she felt an indomitable need to face and accept this one.

Eve gave a small nod before jogging over to join the other recruits. As she neared the group she felt her hands curl into fists, her jaw tighten and a small smirk cross her lips.

'Interesting.'

A/N:

[insert witty comment here]