Comments,
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence.
To know the story of Sasha Zura, you have to know at least a little about where she came from, how she got where she is now. For starters, she's Cornerian –yes, Cornerian– but also an officer in Macbeth's Special Forces. It's a bit of a long story, one that starts with her father, Kell Zura, when he was still an officer in the Cornerian military. Like father like daughter I guess, but, not really...
\
Shadows of the Past
/
The smoke of many burning buildings filled the air, turning the sky a sickly black. The screams of the dying and wounded alike echoed through the afternoon. And to one man, it was music to his ears.
Colonel Kellam "Kell" Zura stared out over the tortured, scorched ground that was once the remote jungle village of Azarta, on the planet Fortuna. Most of the town was either burning or destroyed, and most of the town's inhabitants were either dead or dying. Those sparse few citizens that were still alive were being sternly interviewed by a number of his troops.
The officer stepped out from the battle-battered dropship he had just landed in, his green camouflage hat waving in the wind. He was clad in similarly colored clothing, with paint-scratched body armor top of it. He normally didn't wear his armor in a situation like this, but he wanted to be careful when dealing with these militants. And sure enough, a few shots rang out as he stepped down, and turned his gaze in the direction they came from.
"Go get that cleaned up, Lieutenant," he ordered gruffly to a subordinate behind him, who'd just stepped out of the same dropship. "I don't know what all that's about, but this should be over by now."
"Yes sir! Right away sir!" and the junior officer was away.
Kell turned his head back to his objective as he made his way past mangled bodies and deep holes. These holes where the result of the first aerodynes strike that had torn up the earth with their weapons. All around him was the hustle and bustle of men, his hand-picked soldiers of 1st Company, doing as they were ordered: cleaning up the mess.
As he proceeded forward, his path was interrupted by one of the surviving civilians breaking forward from her captors and racing for the colonel with a desperate sob. One of the soldiers yelled for the young cat to stop but she paid no heed to his order. Several soldiers raised their weapons but held their fire; she was too close to their commander. Kell was not bothered by this action at all only turning in the black furred cat's direction and pulling his sidearm then pointing it in her face. The young girl stopped and got on her knees.
"Please….my mouth is so dry. The smoke…I can hardly breathe!" She ragged out in a raspy voice.
Kell realized that the young cat girl's fur wasn't black, but white as the back half was her normal white color but the smoke and fire had turned her front half black. The girl's parents screamed and cried in the distance, and begged for their daughter to return. But their fears appeared unfounded as the husky holstered his sidearm and pulled out his canteen.
"For the love of– you couldn't spare a fucking sip of water?" The young cat took the metal canteen and greedily drank from it, some of the water pouring out of her mouth as she did so.
Kell laughed at the girl's thirst. "Easy there, drink slowly. You may have soot in your throat, and that may make you sick." He smiled disarmingly and was about to offer a paw to her before a voice called out from his headset tucked in his ear.
"Colonel Zura, the objective targets have been dealt with. Awaiting your confirmation."
Kell looked up and turned in the direction the objective. Before he departed, he went to a nearby soldier and shoved the canteen in his hand, "Take care of her, will ya?" he said, indicating the soot-blackened girl.
The commander set off towards what he had come here for. All around him bodies were being gathered up for disposal and fires put out, what resistance there was had crumbled quickly under the assault. He soon came to a group of soldiers standing over a line of bodies, who quickly came to attention when Kell neared. He gave a quick nod and salute then reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a PDA.
"Let's see here..."
The husky looked down at the row of bodies; they lay next to each other almost identically, having been shot in the back of the head execution style. He knelt down to each body, opening their eyes and scanning their retinas with his PDA, not at all bothered with this grisly task. After scanning the final set of eyes, he looked over his device one final time and gave a nod to his men.
"Yup, that's the lot of them. Good work guys, that's the group we were after. Bunch of fucking drug-smugglers and arms dealers this lot. Most of them Fortunan, some Zonessian. Either way, doesn't matter. That's how you get the job done boys."
He reached over and patted one of the soldiers on the shoulder, who smiled at his commander. "The drinks are on me tonight guys. Good work, you've made this planet a hell of a lot safer as well as keeping this shit off the streets back home. Let's pack it up and get out here."
"Yes sir!" They said as one and did as they were told, reporting to their CO's with a sense of accomplishment.
Colonel Kell Zura had a reputation as a hard-ass, but his men loved him for his dedication and tenacity, and he returned that dedication to them. The commander gazed around him with hands on his hips as the last of the blaster fire died out. It wasn't quite silent, but there was an almost zen-like feeling to the battleground at that moment. Kell stood at the top of a hill and looked at the burned remains of the town. At the edge of his vision the last of the survivors were being rounded up, their hands on their heads. All around the husk of what had once been a poor but lively neighborhood was his virtual fleet of aerodynes and armored vehicles that had reduced the town to ash. He had over 50 small Wasp class attack aerodynes along with the 3 larger Basilisk class heavy armored attack craft that were present. Along with the bevy of transports and dropships to carry his ground troops, and he had come with quite a formidable force.
The drug lords and black market cartels in this area had evaded, and in many cases fought with, the local authorities. In response, the local authorities asked for backup. Their backup came in the form of Colonel Kell Zura and a healthy contingent of 1st Company, doing what they do best, sending a message.
"I don't see how I can be clearer than this: Don't fuck with us." He muttered under his breath.
"Sorry sir?" One of the guards that watched over the commander spoke up.
"Nothing soldier."
Kell looked up at the smoked filled sky and breathed in. The ash of the smoking town filled his lungs and he coughed violently. His two guards looked at each other questioningly. But they had no need to say anything, as the coughing subsided and their commander gave a deep sigh.
"Let's get out of here."
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As soon as men decide that all means are permitted to fight an evil, then their good becomes indistinguishable from the evil that they set out to destroy.
/
6 weeks later
"Today on Lylat Exposed! Massacre on Fortuna revealed! Local CDF Commander goes psyc–"
"Our thoughts and prayers to the people of Fortuna tonight–"
"How can Corneria let this stand? Apparently our own commanders are out butchering people in the streets–"
Sasha Zura sighed as she turned the vid-screen off. Even non news channels were buzzing with stories about her father. The young husky sat in the kitchen of her family modest home in Corneria City. She placed her head in her paws and ran them through her braided hair, her long high-top pony tail sticking out in the air. She stared at the ground, deep in thought. Surely the stories weren't true?
She knew something was wrong when her father was called home early, he wasn't supposed to be on leave for another month.
She raised her head out of her paws and looked over at the kitchen counter where a group of photos stood. There was one in particular that caught her eye. It was the image of Sasha with her father and mother out shooting in the Cornerian countryside. There was a time when she knew what her father was about, then he was promoted and given a command, everything changed after that. He was harder to get a hold of, and he was often off planet so often, for so long. She loved her father, but she wasn't as close to him as she had once been.
The young husky was shaken from her thoughts when the front door opened and her mother stepped through. Tess Zura walked slowly through the living room and into the kitchen, not even looking at her daughter as she took her coat off and dropped in on a chair. With a blank, glazed look in her eyes, she opened the refrigerator and took out an alcoholic tropical drink, and sat down opposite Sasha. After a long moment's silence she finally looked at her daughter, and spoke in a quivering voice.
"Are you okay, Sasha?"
"No. What's going on?" Sasha raised her paws in confusion and frustration, "I was pulled out of class today and told to go home. And I come home to... that!" She pointed at the vid screen in the corner of the kitchen.
Tess swallowed hard, and took a small sip of her drink before responding. "Baby... your father is about to lose his job. And I may too."
"But why?!"
Sasha's mother played with her paws for a moment as she sought the right words to say it, but found only poor words, "Your father made a mistake. People are very angry that he did."
"Yeah no kidding! People were giving me weird looks all day."
"Listen Sasha, your father will be home very soon. I spoke with him on the way home and he said to pack your things. We are moving tomorrow."
"You're not serious, are you." Sasha asked, worry growing even more-so in her now.
"I'm dead serious." Tess replied, "This is not a time for jokes."
Sasha simply stared at her mother for a few moments, before placing her head in her paws again. She couldn't believe it! All her friends she'd made, and good grades she had gotten in school were about to be worthless! She had lost it all!
Tess stood up and pulled her daughter close, cupping her head in her arms, "I'm sorry baby. It will be okay. I promise."
The front door opened again, and this time Sasha didn't look up. Tess did and nodded at the approaching individual. Heavy boots hit the floor as the figure got closer, and sat down at the kitchen table. After a few moments of silence, Sasha pushed her mother away and looked up. Her father sat in his dress uniform, looking very stressed, and tired. He looked over at his daughter who only returned his glance with a look of anger and confusion. Kell looked to his wife and motioned for her to leave. Tess placed a kiss to Sasha's forehead and did as he ordered, the step of her heels on the tile fading away.
For a little while, not a word was said, father and daughter simply stared at each other, silently. Finally Kell cleared his throat and looked his daughter in the eye.
"I love you little Sasha. You know that?" he said, his voice weary, and rough.
"... I know." the young husky replied, looking away.
Kell leaned forward and clasped his paws together, "Sasha listen to me. Regardless of what people have told you or what you have heard, I only did what was right for Corneria. I did what I had to do to accomplish what I had been ordered, nothing more."
Kell looked up at the ceiling for a moment, holding back a sigh, before returning his gaze to his daughter, "It seems that my commanding officers don't see it that way, or the government."
Sasha stared back at her father with a blank expression, tears welling up. She looked as if she might cry. Seeing this, Kell stood up and went to hug his daughter close, "I love you darling. It's going to be okay–"
"Where... where are we moving?" Sasha managed to choke out.
"I'm hoping to get us to Macbeth, but I need to do some things first. Take some time to say goodbye to your friends, and then pack your things. We're leaving in the morning."
They held their embrace for several more moments until Sasha removed herself from her father's grasp and left the kitchen, heading upstairs to call her friends, not looking back. Kell stood where he was as his wife came back into the kitchen and hugged him. He leaned down and kissed her in response.
"By Lyla Kell, what have you done?" Tess asked, her voice wavering.
They held their embrace for a few quiet moments, interrupted only when Kell's PDA rang. The older husky broke from his wife's touch and looked his device over, his face lighting up with surprise, "I need to take this."
"Who is it?"
Kell gave a hopeful glance back at his wife before answering, "Someone who I think can help us."
Upstairs, Sasha was busy packing her things into a set of cases and boxes, tears in her eyes as she went about her task. It took her several minutes to finish, but once she was, she sat down on her bed with a defiant huff. She wiped the tears from her eyes and gathered herself, not wanting to appear shaken to her parents. She then stood up and started walking back down the stairs that lead to her room. As she neared the bottom, she slowed her step as she heard her father's voice speaking in an excited tone. In fact, he almost sounded... happy? Curious, she quietly leaned her head around the corner of the staircase to listen in.
"... I understand. Yes, we can make the move within the next few days. I appreciate the opportunity for this sir. I really do."
Sasha got a look at his face: the weariness seemed to wash off a little, and he had almost a smile. He seemed quite relieved as he continued with his call, "Yes, I can do that. I've never had much experience with this kind of work, but I'm sure I can get the many of my men and NCO's to come around... Okay. Thank you. Goodbye."
Kell looked back at his wife, and forced on a grin, "I think I can get us out of this hole."
"Oh?"
"Well, you might not like it much but I can bring in more than enough money to keep –maybe even improve– our lifestyle."
Tess rubbed her chin in thought. "Well, we need the money to keep this family afloat, so I guess I can't be too picky. But why wouldn't I like it?"
"Because the job is on Venom, for the big new terraforming project they're working on out there."
"You're not serious..."
"I am. That was Mr. Andross himself calling."
Tess seemed to be taken aback and spoke in a whisper, "Andross? What does he want with you?"
From her hiding spot, Sasha heard everything. She pondered over her parents words, why were they so excited over this Andross person? From the sound of it he seemed to be an important person but Sasha had not paid much attention to those things lately, though the name did seem familiar somehow. Wasn't he some scientist guy?
\
/
Comments,
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence.
Sasha's father was discharged from Cornerian military service for his controversial actions on Fortuna, then he and his family relocated to Macbeth shortly thereafter. That's when Kell began to work for Andross as a major contractor, with several other soldiers that had been under his command when he was apart of the Cornerian military. Kell Zura was simply one of many military men Andross had quietly scooped up in the years prior to the great schism before the war.
The government of Macbeth even granted the Zura family full citizenship. Sasha was able to enroll in the Macbeth education system with no problems, at least on the official end. There were other... social complications for her after the move, some of which may have influenced her decision to go into military service.
After their move to Macbeth, the Zura family lived in the capitol city of Wayland, in one of the nicer condominium complexes. Kell lived his family life much the same as it was on Corneria: long deployments away, with some leave time at home.
Sasha Zura became somewhat socially isolated after the the move to Macbeth. She kept in contact with only a tiny few back on Corneria, and even then it was infrequent. Sasha did her best to integrate into the school, but it was difficult, since she easily stood out. For starters, the canid species, while present, were not nearly as common on Macbeth as they were on Corneria where canids were practically ubiquitous. What was far more telling though was language: everyone on Macbeth still spoke Lylatin, but it was... different. Macbeth Lylatin and Cornerian Lylatin used different terms for some words, with vastly different inflections and accents on shared words. It was tricky enough to figure out the nuances and differences just on Corneria alone, but Macbeth had even more, and it was incredibly obvious to everyone that Sasha was not one of them.
For these reasons, at least partly, the people she went to school with in Wayland weren't exactly outgoing to make a friend of Sasha Zura. At best, she was little more than an intriguing curiosity to her Macbeth native peers: the interesting new Cornerian. At worst, she was untrusted, made fun of, and subject to bigotry: the ignorant Cornerian bitch.
For the most-part though, she was simply left alone by her school peers, and she kept to herself. That all changed with Maya.
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/
It was another lab day for the Applied Physics class at the Dawson Secondary School. The class had been covering electricity and circuits for a while, so it made sense that the lab would cover another electrical subject. The tables in the classroom were set up with a number of basic electric circuit components, and the students divided into pairs. The instructor, a portly but cheerful brown bear, stood behind the central table and began his demonstration...
"Alright then, we've got a power supply, giving us an alternating electric current, and we've got something for that current to work on: a simple filament light bulb in this case." the bear held up a very small flashlight bulb, placed into a socket with terminals, "It should be easy enough to get the bulb to light up, right? All we have to do is take the positive and negative leads of the power supply, connect them up with the terminals for the bulb..."
He took the two wires coming from the power supply, and touched the exposed ends to the terminals. The little bulb lit up very bright for an instant, then winked out.
"Hmm, well that didn't work quite right..." the instructor said, scratching his head in mock-confusion, "What do you think happened?" he asked to the class.
"It burned out." one of the students drawled out in a dull tone.
"Yes, but why did it burn out?"
"Too much power." another student blurted.
"Could you be more specific please?"
"The electric current was too strong, too high a voltage."
"And you're absolutely right." the bear said with a nod, then continued, "As you know, the metal filament of an incandescent light bulb produces light when it heats up with a current passing through it, the heat being a result of the material's resistance to the electric current. However, this tiny filament can only handle so strong of a current passing through it before it melts, or in this case, vaporizes entirely. How we solve this problem will be the subject of today's lab..."
He stepped behind his table, pointing out apparatuses as he named them.
"In front of you, you all have similar filament light bulbs, wiring materials, and power supplies that are set to produce a 100 Volt alternating current, far above what the bulbs are rated for. For today's lab, using a combination of transformers and resistors, you will all be constructing circuits with your filament bulbs and 100 Volt sources that will produce light, and also won't destroy the bulb in the process..."
"Now, everybody off to work." the instructor announced, "If anyone has questions, I'll be happy to answer them."
The class came to life with the hubbub of activity. Students gathered supplies, made observations about the assignment, rummaged for textbooks, cracked jokes with each other, made other conversation.
Sasha Zura had been paired up with a feline girl she'd seen, but hadn't spoken with before. She had a velvety black fur tone with small white highlights. The wore a subdued but tasteful pink t-shirt, formfitting that accentuated her appealing physique...
"You're the new girl from Corneria, right?" the feline girl stated, but more like a question, "Sasha's the name?"
"Yup, that's me." Sasha replied flatly.
"I'm Maya, Maya Kaido. I'm from right here on Macbeth, local girl, though my folks were originally from Zoness if you wanted to get picky."
"I don't think I need to get picky, but thanks."
The two gathered the supplies for their lab assignment and started working, all the while Sasha made quiet internal note of Maya. She didn't yet know if Maya's upbeat demeanor was entirely natural to her, or if she was just putting on a happy facade to be polite. Whatever the case, the air of delight seemed to just bubble from Maya Kaido without any effort whatsoever.
"So Sasha, what brought you to Macbeth?" Maya asked as they worked. She seemed sincere enough, or at least sociable.
"My dad's work." Sasha answered, really not wanting to go into details. All of Corneria might know the infamous name 'Kell Zura', but Macbeth was thankfully absent of his name, "He's doing some stuff for the Venom project, so we all moved here with him."
"Ohhh, sounds exciting." Maya replied, continuing her small talk, "How do you like it here so far?"
"It's okay, I guess." Sasha said with a shrug.
"Aw, only okay?" Maya asked, with a tone of friendly concern.
"The move was kinda tough on me, and I haven't really been able to connect with anyone yet." The teenage husky explained.
"Well, we're just going to have to go ahead and fix that, aren't we Sasha?" the feline said with a smile, "We can start with this lab: what kind of wattage is our little bulb rated at?"
Sasha picked up the small incandescent bulb, barely the size of her finger, and checked for the little numbers for its rating, "Not much, just three..."
The lab progressed fairly smoothly between them. Sometimes a few of the more specific numbers eluded them, but they helped each other out when those moments came. The lab wasn't especially challenging, but a few wrong numbers, or an inverted transformer, and the bulb might even shatter under the electricity.
Sasha found herself glancing up from time to time, looking at Maya, thinking thoughts about her. She seemed like such a nice, caring person; the way she acted, was concerned for Sasha's loneliness. It was such a refreshing change from the disinterest, or outright distrust she'd come to expect from others on Macbeth. These thoughts sparked a hopeful little flame in Sasha, and somehow warmed her up a little inside. It felt... good.
The dark furred cat carried herself with a kind of grace that Sasha couldn't help but admire; a natural fluidity in her movements. The ease with which she shifted weight from one hip to the other, and her supple white-tipped tail would glide behind her. It made her seem so... alive.
But there was also a kind of anxiousness about Maya, a sort of tantalized, longing look. She'd frequently look up from what she was working on, and gaze across the classroom with those wanting, golden eyes of hers. Sometimes there'd be a little sigh, and her shapely chest would lift up with her breath–
Maya glanced to her side, and noticed how Sasha was staring back at her, "Hmm? You were... looking at me?"
A wave of goosebumps quickly washed over the husky. Had she really been having those thoughts? About her?
"Yes, I mean, I just noticed how you were kinda..." what to say, what to say, what to say, "well... staring across the room with the dreamy-eyes." please... please please please be good enough.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Maya said with a little start, fumbling in her flustered state, "I should really be helping you out with the lab..."
Sasha and Maya went back work, wiring the electrical components together, having determined what orientation the circuit should hold. Each of them worked to ignore the longing stares they had made, Sasha at Maya, and Maya at... Actually, it wasn't all that clear who the feline was gazing at, if anyone.
"Who exactly were you looking at, anyway?" Sasha asked. She looked up from the work, and found Maya looking embarrassed again. "Oh come on, I'm curious. You can tell me, I won't judge." Sasha insisted.
A few awkward silent moments passed, and the feline finally let out a little sigh and quietly confessed, "Daren... Daren Vasko" the name rolled gently off her tongue, made her swoon as she said it.
Sasha looked across the classroom, and saw the guy. He was the rugged looking feline, with smoldering reddish fur. He looked like he was focused completely on the lab, staring down at one of the transformers with determined eyes, under a furrowed brow.
"It's..." Maya began, but then focused down back to the not-quite-finished collection of components on their table, "We should get back to work–"
"Do you like him?" Sasha pressed, moving closer alongside the feline while they put the circuit together.
Maya was still a little flustered, but talking about Daren seemed to get her excited. She also seemed lively and lovely again, and beautiful...
"Well, he's cute, and he seems like a really neat guy, and..." the feline let out a little giggle, and dropped her voice down to whisper, "Who wouldn't want to have a closer look at that nice ass of his?"
"If you've got all those feelings, why not go and talk to him?" Sasha suggested.
"Oh, no! I couldn't do that!" Maya protested, becoming even more flustered and embarrassed, "It might weird him out if I just go right up to him that way. I wouldn't want to seem like I'm desperate, or obsessed, like I'm some kind of creepy stalker or something."
Sasha could see her point. If Maya got as flustered as this about a crush, she might well turn into a blubbering pile of awkward if she went right up to the object of her affection. That, and it was kind of the guy's unspoken prerogative to take the initiative here. This Daren fellow however seemed completely oblivious to Maya's distant hungry gazes...
An idea occurred to Sasha, and she shared it with Maya, "What if I talked to him for you first?"
The dark furred feline seemed to light right up, almost bursting with a sudden happiness, "You'd do that? For me?!"
"Sure." Sasha said, giving a little smile.
"Omygod! Thank you!" Maya squealed quietly in absolute delight. In the excitement of the moment, she grabbed Sasha's arm and held her very close, so happy at the prospect of meeting her crush.
At the sudden contact, Sasha felt only a huge avalanche of emotions cascade over her. For one, there was a sudden happiness that mirrored Maya's own. On a little more subdued note, there was also a twinge of disappointment that Maya's affections were focused on this Daren figure.
But then there was a confusion, and maybe even a fear. Should she be having these kind of feelings for Maya at all? These longing, wishful, even lustful thoughts that crept into her mind seemed very much like the feelings Maya was having for Daren, but Maya was a girl... Did this mean Sasha was into girls?
She couldn't think about that, couldn't risk bringing it out in the open, not now anyway. Maya was the very first person since the move that could maybe be a friend to her, a friend Sasha could really use right now. Maybe this was just a one-off thing, from having been alone for a while. No one had to know about these feelings for now.
These thoughts preoccupied Sasha Zura as she and Maya finished the lab together. Sasha was so very relieved that her new feline friend was distracted at the moment by Daren, or she might've noticed how the husky was clearly discomforted by the flurry of emotions in her mind...
At the end of the lab, as everyone in the classroom packed up their things and headed out, was when Sasha made the move for Daren. It was simple enough to pick her way through the busy flow of bodies, all working to exit the classroom. And fortunately enough the reddish feline wasn't attached to a group of friends at the moment: just alone...
"Daren?" the husky called out, as the crowd began to thin.
"Hm?" He stopped, and turned to see who called his name, "You're uh... Sasha, right?"
"Yep: the Cornerian." Sasha said with a nod, "Anyway, I know someone who's been absolutely dying to meet you. She's so shy though, and she doesn't want to make a big awkward scene in front of you."
"She's not you, is she?" Daren asked, half joking.
"Heh, no. It's Maya, my lab partner." Sasha said with a little laugh, "She's been making the googly-eyes at you all period, and longer too I think."
"Really? Maya?" the reddish feline repeated, looking and sounding astonished, "I could've sworn she was with someone else."
"I don't know the story behind that, but she's made it pretty clear that she likes you, a lot..." maybe that was a little blunt. Realizing that, Sasha added, "She's such a sweetheart, and I think you'd like her too."
"Huh..." Daren took a few moments, furrowing that thinking brow of his again, as he considered the prospect until finally, "Well, who am I to disappoint a pretty thing like her? Thanks for the heads up."
And the reddish feline made his way past the young husky to where Maya was waiting...
"You're welcome..." Sasha replied, weakly. She wasn't even sure if Daren heard her or not, not that she cared much either way.
Slowly, she turned around to see her handiwork. In the distance, she saw Maya's face light up as the reddish feline that was her crush approached, and she had a wonderful look of excitement. Daren at least seemed curious, and their conversation began. Any terror or fear that was in Maya before was quickly fading away, and Daren's curiosity just as quickly became genuine interest.
On the one hand, Sasha was thrilled: she had all but secured a good friend, after a long period of loneliness. She was glad that those times were over now, hopefully. On the other hand, Sasha was quietly terrified: she didn't know what to do with those lustful thoughts and longing feelings, for a girl. In time, maybe she could figure something out, but not now, not while she was still so perilously close to being alone.
She couldn't risk being made an outcast all over again.
\
/
"Dear Ms. Zura. Thank you for your application, for demonstrating the courage, dedication, and willingness to serve your world. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that we inform you of your acceptance into Easthold Military Academy. Congratulations, and make yourself ready for the challenges ahead."
The rest of the message was dry and straightforward from there, providing information and instructions for finishing the enrollment process. For the moment though, Sasha was still processing what it all meant: she was going to be a solider.
In her time growing up, Sasha hadn't really given much thought to what she wanted to do later in life, and the hectic transition from Corneria to Macbeth didn't help matters either. Through it all though, through all of the horrible and awkward times, as well as before and after, Sasha had always looked up to her father. Kell Zura, demonstrating such courage, steadiness, and absolute resolve amidst the scandal, ousting and relocation was inspiring. He was the anchor that held this family together, that helped young Sasha and her mother Tess endure through it all. As she grew up, seeing such an example of strength at the head of her family, Sasha frequently wondered if she too had such strength and resolve within herself. And if she did have it, she'd like to see it put to good use, and what better way than to follow the example set before her?
She'd only just gotten the message now, but didn't want to tell her parents right away. She'd rather wait for her dad to come home, so she could tell him in person...
That's when her comm went off, alerting Sasha to an incoming transmission. It was from Maya. With her heartbeat picking up with her anticipation, she answered the call.
"Oh my gosh Sasha! I have great news!" the cat's voice squealed over the channel. "I go into Argault University! I just got the acceptance message now!"
"That's great!" Sasha called back, matching her friend's enthusiasm. "I knew you'd get in!"
"It's more than just that, I'm business and management fast-track. I'll get my degree in only half the time, and I'll be able to start an apprenticeship almost immediately! I'm gonna meet so many new people doing this Sasha, and they'll actually be interesting people for a change!..."
Through it all, Sasha Zura simply listened, and enjoyed her freind's company. Maya's joy, her excitement and upbeat happiness was utterly intoxicating, in a good way. For hours at a time, Sasha could simply listen while Maya talked, letting her friend's excitement and happiness wash over her. Even when it was over a comm line like this, it was more then enough to make Sasha content.
"What about you, Sasha?" Maya asked suddenly. "You've got plans after you're done with school, right?"
It was a simple question with a simple answer, but it knocked Sasha back into the reality of things. With the both of them heading in different directions once regular schooling was done, they weren't going to see each other regularly, if ever again. Part of Sasha wondered if she ought to let Maya know of her feelings, if now would be a good time. But would it really be fair to drop that bomb now, when she was so happy and content with her lot?
"Sasha, you still there?" Maya asked, "Is the connection okay?"
"Maya, I..." Sasha sputtered, getting herself sorted out. "I'm entering the Easthold Military Academy. I just got my acceptance message too."
"Military academy, you mean like a soldier? I never knew you had it in you, to go all army-girl." The hesitant, confused response gave Sasha a moment of pause, until Maya continued, "but you know, that's actually pretty badass! Go get 'em girl!"
"Thanks."
"Hey, we should go celebrate!" Maya proposed with excitement, "Brennan is throwing a party tonight, and I'd hate to go alone."
"You know I'm there!"
\
/
Author Notes:
Well hey! that was a pretty quick turnaround, wasn't it?
Also, this is the very first time I've written any kind of homosexual romance/attraction type thing, ever. Hopefully it played out well, and you liked how it worked here. If you didn't, I'd actually really appreciate it, a lot, if you went ahead and told me so. This is new and uncharted territory for my writing, and any feedback you can give is very much welcome.
As of 1/08/2018, this chapter has been updated with an extra scene at the end.
Catch you all later!
