Cold. That was the only word that could possibly describe how he was feeling at that moment. The snow was pretty, even if when melted by body heat seemed to seep into the cracks between the armor he had on and his skin. The nighttime sky was even more so although the clouds covered more than their fair share of the nightscape above. Even the weather was slightly warmer than it normally would have been considering summer was still strong in its efforts to fight off the inevitable return of autumn. But the one thing that made him feel as if the whole word was freezing as if to halt its own spin was that damnably freezing wind. Oh, it wasn't that strong or even necessarily that annoying but if it didn't just creep down your shirt and onto your skin just to caress it enough to send shivers down the spine and bumps on the flesh.
The man watched from the perch he had on top of the beast of metal beneath him out onto the frozen landscape and pondered - yet again - why in the name of Minerva herself anyone would want to live in the icy plains that lay in from of him. The land was dead to his eye with almost nothing remarkable or even of recognition besides the occasional rock peeking through the snow beneath or the tree that of course had no leaves to call its own. He had seen a wild Lobo earlier that morning when they left camp at daybreak. It had looked so gaunt and lean he doubted that it had eaten anything for days. The weather was so cold and dreary even the animal life seemed to be just staving off extinction itself.
The shuffling gait of the two-legged creature he sat on would have caused him to fall from where he sat had he not shifted his weight consciously to remain seated. He didn't need falling off and being laughed at by his one speaking companion to be added to his growing list of grievances for this particularly horrid mission. He could still hear in his mind's ear the echoing laughter from when after nearly three years in the Imperial Magitek Academy they had finally started Magitek Armour training and he was quite unprepared for the seemingly unnatural way the mechanical creature moved. It had looked much like a very large wingless Chocobo made of metal and wire and had promptly decided that treating it as such was the best way to ride the fell beast. That was a mistake he was still very painfully reminded of more often than would ever be appreciated.
The two legs upon which it carried itself were far too large at what should have been considered the area of the feet and became astonishingly thin further up until the section that was the alleged knee area. Its legs bent backwards like those of a Chocobo yet had no toes or other extremities to speak of at the bottom of the leg. In fact it looked more like a hoof of a horse than it did a foul's foot. Which was odd in its own right as there were only two legs not four beneath the beast, he thought. Even more odd was the fact that it seemed as if the feet were simply sliding along the ground without ever being lifted up enough to not skim the earth beneath. He had overheard one of the so-called Magitek Technicians discussing with another about how the designs were created to use the least amount of energy possible so in order to reduce the required energy the legs only ever lifted high enough to reduce the pressure sufficiently to move the leg forward to be used again. That was partially why its gait was more characterized as a shuffle and slide than actual walking. They thought they were so intelligent. Hah! In doing what they had it only made it far more difficult to ride the accursed things for those actually out doing the real work of expanding the great Empire.
The body portion of the metal beast was very wide and when looked at one could tell was very heavy indeed. The main body was easily three men long and just over a man wide. It made for an impressive sight and would have given the rider a sense of awe and wonder at how far knowledge of things lost was being combined with the knowledge of the new had he not seen it on a daily basis through training and missions. The saddle was set into the beast so he was not so much riding atop as he was riding almost inside of it. Also a very disturbing thought. With no arms to speak of it was a fearsome sight by size and a terrible sight with how abnormal it looked. That was probably another reason they created it like this. Fear was a powerful motivator and when the enemy fears what they see they are all the more cautious and afraid of the power that they wield. Fear leads to control which was the way of the conquerer. He smiled inside. Whenever he thought of serving in the Empire it never failed to bring a feeling of contentment to him.
He looked to his left and saw his companion and friend looking just as cold and miserable in the weather as him. He was taller than he was though not by much. He himself was just less than six feet and almost didn't make the cutoff for the Magitek Elite. Although being shorter than most of his compatriots did have its advantages sometimes. Not a lot of women like too tall men and he gladly got to know quite well said women because of his more appealing height. Biggs Duelitre harbored no great beliefs that he was more attractive than all of the other men, although he knew that he was more attractive than most of them. He just had a more than adequate helping of personality and that also went a long ways with the barmaids back in civilization.
If I ever get back there, he thought with sarcasm as he looked around yet again to see if there was anything to see on his annoying way. Having had enough of silence on this damn trip because of the very apparent lack of wildlife he decided to start a conversation, if for no other reason than to hear the sound of something other than that infernal wind.
"So how much farther do you think it is?" Not even daring to hope that it was any closer than since he had asked that question just over an hour ago. It was hard to tell time in the twilight, what with being in the middle of the canyon where the high reaching walls blocked out more of the sky than they allowed the travelers to see. Even during the daytime it was hard to tell. Being so far north made it so that the sun more often than not barely peeked over the horizon to shine light. With the addition of the middle of winter just having started and the sun rising lower above the bare tree line because of it didn't add to the light at all either.
"How should I know? I've never been to this place before. We were told to come here and get that, that thing before anyone else discovers what it really is," replied Wedge Antliones, the disdain and clean hatred not only being heard but almost felt when he talked of the object of their mission. Wedge had always had a greater sense of hatred for the beasts than he had. His brother still bore the burn scars on his face and shoulder from the last attempted escape incident in the Vector Research Facility. His friend still refused to talk about it to anyone, not even to his brother that it happened to.
Shaking his head of the reverie he looked up to gain at least some semblance of bearing from what little of the starscape as he could. He knew they couldn't really be more than a few hours out at the most. Though slow the metal beast were, the snow did little to impede their progress and were making good time. If only there was actually something to do to alleviate the ever-present boredom caused by hours of endless riding. Sleep was out of the question, not only because if he tried he really would fall off his steel perch, but because he wasn't tired. His sense of normal was all messed up with the weird orders they were given. Camping in small caves out of sight and sleeping during the daylight hours while traveling only at night to evade the eyes of anyone who might be watching their precession was smart, although now he didn't know if he would ever be able to have a normal sleeping schedule again.
He could tell that with the topic being on the target of their mission that Wedge would probably remain in the bad mood that he was in, Biggs turned to look at the only other companion that was travelling with them. Though she's not really much a companion if you ask me. She never says a word, never shivers even in this damn cold. If I didn't know better I'd believe that she wasn't alive on her Beast either. All she ever does is stare straight ahead with that almost unblinking stare that never really goes away. The woman was thin; deceptively even more so when she was seen astride the monstrosity that was her mount. Her face was young, too young to be a seasoned warrior like they were. Yet here they were guarding her as if she was the superior and not Wedge. Not even deigning to talk to them as if she was better than them. It was all a deception though.
Looking above her youthful face his eyes glanced at the tiara that wound round her head and kept her unusual light green hair in its place. Biggs recoiled slightly with abject disgust when his eyes beheld that thing. The Slave Crown, as it was so suitably named was just that. It was a tool of slavery. When placed upon the head of anyone their normal thoughts would be drowned out by it and its almost constant though quiet hum. No thoughts, no feelings, no heart. As much as he loved the Empire and wished for its continued growth and eventual world ruling, it disgusted him to think that they had to use such things. In this civilized age of Magitek weaponry and where even the smallest and most remote towns and villages were slowly growing accustomed to technology, where coal and wood burning was being superseded by steam-powered engines they shouldn't have to rely on such demeaning ways to further expand the glorious Empire should they?
In a perfect world, he thought. Which was exactly why he was here. Not to attack a town of innocents, but to retrieve an object that would help the peaceful strengthening of the civilized Empire and to bring its blessings and technology to the world. Some things were dangerous if handled incorrectly, so that was why it was so important to take a hold of those things before hapless and careless individuals happened upon them and injured themselves or even worse other innocent people. Yes it required force at times, yes he didn't always enjoy his job or the manner it had to be carried out, but it had to be done. For the good of the people as a whole, for eventual worldwide peace under Emperor Gastra's leadership and guidance he would be willing to do almost anything for hi Emperor.
Glancing at the young woman he was again struck by how absolutely young she was. If he wasn't mistaken he would have sworn she wasn't a day over eighteen. That was the youngest anyone could join the Imperial Army and she was at the same rank as he was. A Magitek Rider; a title that drew fear from those who had never felt it before and drained hope from those who had. It took years to even be entered into the Magitek Rider Academy let alone graduate from it. She really was a bundle of questions to which he had no answers and no hope of ever answering. What truly bothered him were her eyes. They were empty, like all emotion and feeling had never existed in the woman to his side. At times he could have sworn that he saw something flicker across those hazel depths but it was always gone so quickly it left him wondering if he ever really saw it in the first place.
He turned away swiftly with a small blush hoping that Wedge hadn't noticed that he was once again staring at their companion. It was bad enough that he would always claim it was because he was ogling her body or thinking about ordering her to show him more of herself, to which Wedge would always continued by saying that the Slave Crown would make her don anything he wanted. What made it worse was that he would make these comments right in front of her and didn't seem to care. Oh sure, she didn't respond and never so much as glanced his way but it still was nerve-rackingly embarrassing.
Looking out over the snow covered ground he realized that he had been so preoccupied with his own thoughts that they had neared the city quite a bit sooner than he was expecting. It was still too far off to see anything of it other than the coal lanterns that were ever present in a mining town like this one. Turning to his superior with a questioning glance, he didn't even have to say anything for Wedge to know that he had seen it.
Not more than an hour away at the pace they were making, it was only a few more hours until daybreak. Wedge turned to his inferior and stated, "The common entrance to the town is in the South, so we will be attacking from the less expected route, the East. Dawn is not that far off. If we keep our pace, we can curve around and reach the eastern edges a half hour before daybreak. The least prepared guard is always the most efficiently defeated. It will be shortly before the guard change and they will be least expecting us. That is when we will attack. You have yours orders, understood?" His tone was calm and stern with an air of boastfulness that was never appreciated by Biggs. But he was right and as he was the superior his word was law.
"Yes sir." He responded not quite enthusiastically though with just enough effort in his voice that his unhappiness was easily hidden. He was hoping that the sun would rise before they reached the city so they could get some rest. He wasn't looking forward to going into battle unrested after an eight hour march, even if he was only riding a saddle.
"Yes sir." Came the quiet voice of the girl to his side. Biggs looked at her again not quite believing that she had responded before he realized they had been given a direct order and that of course she would respond to it. He contemplated getting her to try and talk again but after having failed over a half dozen times already, he had little hope for it. Plus with the assault pending not more than a few short hours away, it would probably be best if he focused on the more important task of preparing for the extraction of the object. He hoped that the people would just willingly give it up but he knew that they probably wouldn't. The Empire wasn't very well respected out here and even if they ordered the town to give it to them, they would most likely refuse because they really didn't have any jurisdiction out here.
Oh well, he could always hope.