Location: Terra Colony Andromeda
North Sector - Training Field Septa
BattleGroup Blade 1 - Vanguard Position
Time: 0948
January 31, 2050
[Firing for Effect! Get Clear!]
The comms barked the voice of a young officer. He sounded no older than a teenager, the slight crack in his mock solid tone of an adult was the indicator of his continuing cross into puberty.
Just as the voice faded, shells whistled through the air above, striking a couple hundred yards away from Amanda’s position.
[Move it!] Chisuke called out and Amanda was taken away from her thoughts on the young officer she couldn’t see. [Follow the nav beacon and don’t trip. Let’s move Blade 1. We’ve got incoming and we can’t let them pin us down!]
[R-Roger!] Amanda's affirmation came out more as a tepid reply. Other voices affirmed with higher confidence. Some were even able to make banter through all the chaos as droves of puppet constructs strode to clash with them and fire bolts that filled the air.
[Wow!] Osamu jeered playfully at Chisuke, bumping shoulders as they ran. Swinging his eastern style straight sword, he took down a group of enemies in a flash and then got to cover as artillery rained in a direction wholly out of his reach.
The shock and blast drowned out anything he said but his earpiece reliably transmitted everything from his lips. [Didn’t think the lug would tell us to go away from combat.] He said. [Why do you want us to head there? That navi beacons pretty far from the action.]
[Stuff Osamu, move.. Now!] Chisuke glared and then stood to move to a nearby ridge line.
Osamu gave a dismissive yeah yeah, and looked over his shoulder as he doubled timed it. Behind was Amanda and she trudged along, making all effort to keep up.
So he’s looking out for weak ones, in his own way I guess. Osamu smiled ruefully. He’s learning teamwork. Or.. is at least trying to. He was such a pain all those years ago, why couldn’t he have figured this out sooner.
He kept his bemoaning to himself and waved Amanda over. In his opinion, the beautiful, young first year girl was out of her element. Even with her manifest armor and the sword in her hands that gave her a knightly appearance, she didn’t look like the courageous warrior she seemed to be.
Amanda was only a girl, who had powers like the rest of them. Make believe heroes in-training so to say. The in-training part being emphasized.
She nodded to Osamu, sending him a green acknowledge signal through her communication earpiece to tell him that she was fine. Putting strength into her arms, she swung her ever burdening sword.
Her fatigue was rising, she could tell when she withdrew her blade slower from a puppet’s chest than before. It should’ve been easy.
It didn’t come out in one pull and each strain she made sent almost a needle like pain in her shoulders. Pushing it down, she moved on. Stella and Ikki were beside her, doing much the same and ran to catch up with Chisuke, who was already widening the distance ahead of them.
“Ma’am! Can you move?” A trainee called to her, lending a hand. The gesture was welcomed, but she didn’t take it. How could she? The trainee looked younger than her, the kid should’ve been at his wits ends like herself. He wasn’t though.
The kid was calm, even in this war-like environment.
“I’m good.” Amanda said as she took a breath. “Watch my back alright? I’m counting on you.”
“Yes Ma’am, I’ll.. ” Suddenly, something caught the trainee’s attention. “Huh? Ha!” He suddenly spun on his heels and took a knelt stance, gun raised. Amanda gazed over to where he was aiming and readied herself as a group of puppet constructs moved to intercept them. They popped out of nowhere, her vision was tunneling.
Amanda poured a shower of conjured ice arrows as the trainee fired into the small horde of rushing enemies. Other teammates piled on. In seconds, the ambushing enemy was eliminated and Amanda let out a breath of relief. She then hurriedly paced herself to the nav beacon with the trainee hot on her tail and keeping an eye out.
According to the map, the direction they were heading was away from the recently intended artillery strikes. The number of enemies lessened as they got closer to the rendezvous. Amanda was at this point dragging herself forward.
I’m still getting used to this. It had only been a half hour since she left the rear outpost, and only a month since she had been a simple girl. Now she was in a warlike training exercise. Who’da thought it.
The battlegroup she was a part of, Blade 1, better known as B1, had advanced give or take a mile and a half into the enemy territory per the Commanding Leadership’s Orders.
Alongside them, the entirety of Division 8 moved in as well, but not as one force of a thousand souls. No, they broke their thousand into 50 independent battlegroups who were spread out across several square miles of the frontline’s center.
Distant sounds of fighting kept everyone informed of the others in the division, as well as a dense stream of comms chatter whenever they flipped over to other lines of communication to coordinate assaults and trade intel.
The military jargon Amanda heard spun her head through a loop, she was getting bits and pieces of the overall strategy.
The reason Division 8 had to move in separate groups and were spread out was due to a hunch made by Division 1’s head honcho. Constructs were supposedly hidden in the advancing territory ahead of the forward outpost. Division 8 was sent to spot and eliminate said constructs while reporting on enemy movement.
Division 8’s own leadership quickly concluded that the scope of the intended search area would take too long if done in a singular group. Dividing themselves was the chosen plan, and while it weakened them as a whole and left isolated groups vulnerable, it was necessary to ensure the rapid elimination of potential ambushes as Division 1 advanced with their artillery and tanks from behind.
Amanda just hoped this would end soon.
Cresting a hill, she and the others found a blasted land ahead. This was the fruits of their labor. Whole slopes were smoothed into cratered plains by artillery fire and the remains of enemy constructs laid about, broken and battered to fragments of wood and rock.
If not for Division 8’s reconnaissance and Division 1’s artillery support, Battlegroup B1 would’ve had to fight through however many constructs had been here. By the number of wrecks, there were likely thousands, it was a thought Amanda tried not to think about.
Descending the slope, Chisuke took point with his nodachi at the ready as he stepped lightly going forward. This was a confusing action to the first years.
Stella glanced around, the area was clear. There were no nearby enemy readings in the vicinity on the mini map and with only a little over a mile left to advance, this seemed like the end of their mission. Which meant they were about to win.
“Can’t you move faster?” She asked somewhat petulantly. “What’s wrong? I don’t sense anything nearby. Let’s hurry and get going!”
[No, and button up first year.] Chisuke spoke plainly and corrected her brash conduct. [Don’t speak aloud, use your comms. Follow procedure, like you were taught in class.] He spat.
“But..”
[I said! Use your comms!] Chisuke’s firm voice came out as a threat. Stella found herself wanting to yell back, she didn’t like to be shouted at especially because no one dared to do so from where she was from. Stella was noble, a princess of the Nation of Crimsonia, a European Bloc power.
Chisuke should’ve been treating her as such. Defying her usual conduct, she bit her lips in self control. Fine. She thought angrily and reasoned. Yeah, this isn’t my homeland, I can’t expect to be treated differently. It’s better this way.. But.. Stella sighed, resigned that she had to follow his instructions.
[So? Why are we advancing so slowly?] She finally asked as her nerves cooled, this time following procedure. Chisuke had an issue with her tone, and it was out of line for her to ask. He was the designated leader of the battlegroup, so being questioned by Stella, who had no role except as the minor cog in the team, was out of line.
He didn’t answer her and instead stopped in his tracks to scan his surroundings. Gen moved to stand beside him, his hand resting at the side, always at the ready on the handle of a sheathed katana. If he saw anything, he would draw the blade in a flash. That, or Chisuke would obliterate whatever showed itself in seconds.
[Hey, Give me a read on this.] Chisuke said as he nudged Gen. [I’ve got a bad feeling about this, so work your magic.]
[You know that’s not how my power works.] Gen replied. [It’s random, so I’m not some fortune teller or soothsayer.]
[Then tell me what you do think. I’ll base our next actions off what you say, now get on with it.]
Gen sighed. [As you wish.] He took a step forward as he pushed up his glasses. Albeit, he was reluctant. He halted before his second step could let his heel touch the black blasted ground. Taking a knee, he grabbed a handful of dirt and let it fall to the ground from his palm.
He intently watched each piece and speck of ashen dirt spread in the wind.
All the first years were perplexed by his sudden strange actions. It was like he was a detective of some sort. But why on a battlefield? This wasn’t some murder mystery, so what was Gen doing?
Mana noticed the drawn attention Gen was getting and keyed in to remind them.
[Everyone, keep a lookout. Don’t be distracted by what they’re doing, let Gen do his work.]
[Uh? Sure?] Amanda didn’t know what to say. Should she bring up a question about this? Make an effort to know why? Or shut up to let Gen do his apparent thing?
Mana picked up on her inquisitive look. [Guess telling you would be easier. Let’s see. From what I know, Gen’s ability is based on Luck, or that’s what he says. For now, what you really need to know is that he’s trying to get a feel of the lay of the land. Chisuke thinks something is up, so he’s using Gen’s ability to get a read of how dangerous the area ahead is.]
[So he’s fortune telling?] Richard hazarded an educated guess. [I haven’t heard of a power like that..] He said and looked around, his head on a swivel. Every now and again he’d find Gen making odd gestures through the air with his hands. It seemed like a dance or a kind of weird voodooist ritual.
[You’re right.] Replied Mana. [You probably haven't. His ability is pretty unique, not many are this odd or strange. But, like all our powers, it’s based on our intent, or a number of different factors, though in Gen’s case, his powers let him bend and read that said intent. There’s room for error. Right now he’s kind of like sifting through sand to find diamonds.]
[Quite an odd power.] Shisuki said. [I’ve heard of him though. Back in the Eastern Bloc, there was a rumor of a luck based swordsman, but who was also an unlucky one.]
[I remember that.] Ikki said. [If memory serves me right, Gen is a part of the Skukumai Clan. They’re known for having the power of foresight. But.. that’s odd, he’s different from what I was expecting.]
[What is?] Stella asked. [What makes Gen different?]
Ikki took a pause, then finally spoke as he recalled a few untasteful details of Gen’s clan. [Stella, you have to remember that the Eastern Bloc is strict and sticks to tradition.]
[Yeah, I get that, what of it?]
[Well, Gen doesn’t seem to have any real control over his powers, right Mana?]
[Correct Ikki. I’ve only ever seen it happen a few times and I thought they were coincidences.] Mana chuckled as she remembered a time when Gen had slipped on a banana yet had not hit his head on the ground, instead, Gen scored a date with a girl somehow from that debacle.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The story boggled Mana to this day. [Heh, whenever he tried to use his powers, he ended up failing or succeeding in whatever he wants and doesn’t want. This is all because of his lack of control. His clan dislikes how he has such a roundabout way of telling the future or influencing it.]
[I don’t get it. What are you talking about? And what does this have to do with his family?] Amanda asked. Mana was reluctant to elaborate, but she decided to divulge for the sake of team cohesion.
[Gen doesn’t see the future, he feels it, which is a completely different kind of foresight. It’s more like he’s bending fate, while others from his clan can only read fate. In a way, his power is a heresy to the norm, like he’s playing god, yet it's both funnily and tragically unintentional.]
[I see, so he’s.. He’s like..] Stella didn’t want to end what she was about to say, but Ikki finished it for her.
[He’s like me, a failure, though not entirely the same story. I know Gen wasn’t disowned, but his rumors as the Jinxed Swordsman was controversial when I was younger. He’s probably faced discrimination by the rest of his clan, like me.]
[Pfft!] Mana had to keep herself from laughing aloud. The ridiculous nickname Gen had before she knew him struck a funny bone in her. [Now that’s a name to remember, we call him the Fortunate Jinx now though.] She said. [A step up, but he’s still a Jinx. Also, if we’re on the topic of Gen’s past, then let me tell you a bit about Chisuke and Osamu.]
No one had any issue with that, not even the people in question, who were definitely listening over the shared comms, but were too engrossed in what they were doing to care. Chisuke did send a glare back at them for a moment. Seconds later, he turned his eyes forward to refocus on the task at hand.
Mana emphasized again to everyone to keep an eye out. The trainees took up overwatch, standing beside each of the students as they scanned the area with their rifles. After checking that the coast was clear herself, Mana began to tell the tale of the trio of swordsmen in their midst.
[So, where to start? I wasn’t here when it happened, but Gen, Osamu, and Chisuke all knew each other before they first met here in the academy. They’re distant relatives of your’s, right Ikki?]
Ikki nodded. [All the swordsmen from the Eastern Bloc are related by a blood pact during the War.]
[Indeed.] Shisuki said unbelievingly. [Though it's odd to think that my loveable younger brother has ties with that brute. Ikki is a much better man than him.]
[Umm.. Thanks.] Ikki didn’t know how he should react, he hoped Chisuke didn’t take what his sister said to heart.
Mana laughed. [Yeah, your brother and Chisuke are different, but they do share a warrior mentality. Anyway, Chisuke was the first to arrive in Andromeda. In his early days he was a troublemaker. Constant fights, unauthorized use of his manifested weapon, and a string of hospitalization on his own part along with his victims.]
She grimaced a smile, as if she was sharing a moment of solidarity with those victims. She coughed to clear the knot in her throat.
[Ahem! Well, after those incidents got out of control, the old dorm Supervisor got him under his thumb. For context, I mean Itsuki.]
[What did he do?] Ikki asked.
[The usual.] Mana shrugged. [He shot rubber bullets at Chisuke whenever he got out of line. That, or broke his arm so he couldn’t train or hurt anyone. But I heard that one time, Chisuke tried to wield his sword with his teeth, so Itsuki broke his face too for good measure for a time.]
[Yesh! That’s extreme.] Amanda couldn’t get the image out of her head. The bloodied face of that one disruptive guy from this morning’s gathering came to mind. The way Itsuki bashed the guy’s face onto the pavement stuck to her. [Itsuki sure takes his job seriously.] She said. [A bit too much if you ask me.]
[No kidding.] Mana understood where Amanda was coming from, a sentiment she knew everyone in the dorms shared.
[He did the same for Osamu and Gen.] She continued. [Not long after they came, those two got up to all kinds of shenanigans with their powers. Itsuki’s lighter on his treatment of Gen though since he can’t control how his powers work.]
[So how did they all meet?] Richard asked. [What brought them together, they seem like brothers now.]
[No! We aren’t!] A sudden trio of voices boomed directly into Richard’s ears. It was from Chisuke, Osamu, and Gen, and the apparent apprehension in their tone made it easy to guess that they didn’t want to be seen in that way.
Point noted. In the meantime, Richard tried to get his ears to stop ringing.
Mana chuckled at his expense. Even Dahlia gave a small smile as she stuck close to Mana.
[Anyway.] Mana said. [To answer your question Richard. Those three met during the practical class, they’ve gone through alot together and had the balls to make it through over 4 continuous years of the practical class.]
[Wait, what?] The latter part of Mana’s explanation confused Amanda. [Don’t you only need to do this for one year?]
[Yeah, you’re right Amanda, but they haven’t passed. Your criteria to passing this class isn’t by grade or attendance, it’s by evaluation. This year is Chisuke’s 2nd repeated attempt, and for Gen and Osamu, they have 2 more years until they become repeats as well.]
[So we can be stuck as students if we keep failing this class? How dreadful.] Shisuki found the curriculum harsh, yet necessary. Explorers bet their lives in the field, what else could you do to prepare them, other than harsh training? [I wonder what they’ll throw at us next.] She said.
Amanda didn’t like the sound of that. Please, for the love of god, I hope this gets easier. Her whole goal of becoming an explorer was starting to feel like a pain. Just as she thought that, the sound of a roar echoing in the air caught her attention. Tensing, everyone readied themselves for an aerial attack.
The eerie sound reminded everyone of the aquatic robots that flew and shot lasers at them. Checking the holo map in his HUD, Chisuke glanced up and found human-shaped visages flying to the clouds above. He wasn’t sure though if they were friend or foe. He pressed a finger to his ear piece.
[S1, come in. Come in S1, I need a situation report. How’s the battle in the air going? I’ve spotted a group of bogies above us, and I can’t confirm if they are enemy contacts. Come in.]
A response came a second later.
[This is S1, no need to worry, I’m looking into it. For now, continue advancing and hold at this position.]
Appearing in everyone’s HUD, the next sector ahead was lit with an indicator. It was a half mile away. Chisuke eyed the triangular symbol and patted Gen’s back for his opinion. Gen nodded and pulled his intent in that direction due east. From where they were, the patch of land seemed untouched.
Gen stirred his core energy inside of himself and sent it out like an unseen rolling mist. The sensation he got back was like trying to focus a blurry image. His eyes adjusted, though not to the extent that a clear picture formed, only an echo or an abstract series of noises and hazes of figures passed into the reality he could feel and see.
In the past, Gen had thought he was seeing ghosts, but had come to realize they were waves of possible possibilities created by his manifested power. His theory of this was unconfirmed as he was the only one that could see the waves. Getting a grasp on what he could, he pointed in the direction of the navi indicator.
[The direction seems right, but we should adjust the position 100 meters due north.]
[Why ten meters?] Chisuke asked, it seemed like an unnoteworthy change to location.
[No clue, I just know it seems like the best move.]
[I see.] Chisuke remarked and keyed the comm again. [Roger S1, but we’ll be advancing slowly.]
[Copy B1, you’ll have air support as you move in. The aerial battle is going in our favor for now. Report if you encounter an enemy explorer.]
Without even giving his acknowledgement, Chisuke cut his comm. He knew the abrupt end to the conversation wouldn’t phase S1, who was probably juggling a mountain of orders. The guy had enough to deal with already.
S1 had probably divided all 8 divisions amongst his few experiences in training officers in division 1. Stretched thin was an understatement in Chisuke’s opinion of S1’s position.
[Ready to move?] Osamu asked. [Doesn’t seem like there is any danger ahead.]
[That’s a jinx, you know that right?] Said Chisuke, he smacked Osamu in the head. [And with Gen here, it’s proven that something will go wrong. I blame both you idiots if we get into trouble.]
[Hey! I’m not a jinx.. Or.. I’m kind of not a jinx.] Gen said. He got a look from Chisuke and Osamu, as if they were telling him, Yeah right, to his face.
Sighing, Chisuke faced the music. He motioned the group forward and measured his steps.
[What’s the possibility of danger?] He asked Gen.
[No clue, I keep rolling the odds in my head but I keep coming out with a mix of results. On average, it’s fifty fifty.]
[Hmmm.] Chisuke hummed in discomfort. [Not good odds, and not bad as well.]
[Yeah.] Gen grunted. [It’s a coin toss.]
They closed in on the navi indicator, it was only a half mile out and with their enhanced speed and strength, running that distance wasn’t a sweat for anyone.
With the offset set by Gen’s assumption, the group found themselves in a barren plain. The sight of overgrown craters of green, the piles of toppled trees, and half broken boulders strewn about, told of recent use of the area for sparring or training exercise in the past.
Just as Chisuke discarded the nav indicator, a proximity alarm blared in his ear. The trainees in the rear snapped too.
[Contact! Incoming puppet constructs from our left and right flank! Request to intercept?]
[Request granted! Cover us!] Chisuke said. [To everyone else, get into position.]
Following his command, students who were corebinders took to the front as mystic stood at the rear. Meanwhile, expanding in a wedged formation, two groups of 5 consisting of the trainees covered the flanks.
The formation put Ikki, Richard, Chisuke, Gen, Osamu, Mana, and Shisuki at the front while Stella, Amanda, and Dahlia stood behind them. In doing so, the group's high number of close range hitters could be fully utilized while amply utilizing the Mystics ranged options of attack.
As the incoming constructs came into view, the trainees began sniping off what they could from a distance. The crack crack crack of the rifle bursts hurt Dahlia’s deerlike ears. Thanks to proximity alert’s 1 mile range, they had enough room to whittle the enemy numbers down.
The puppets couldn’t fight back from their position. Their crossbow bolts couldn’t outmatch the trainees’ rifles in overall range. The trainees pushed the advantage as much as possible. Stella and Amanda launched their attacks as well.
They flurry of fire and ice descending like storming hail and fire. Those that got through were slashed through by the battlegroups frontliners. But that was only the first wave. The draining fights since the last half hour had done their work and the first years were tiring.
25% of the group was slowing, so the rest had to pick the slack. First years watched in awe as Chisuke rampaged. He turned and stepped into a half swing that shuddered the ground for meters ahead of him.
Osamu darted like lightning, leaving a trail of purple sparking slashes wherever he went. Gen was impressive as well, the puppet’s crossbow bolts bent around him, missing completely, he didn’t need to even dodge. Luck was beyond the word to describe it.
Mana took to the sky and delivered slamming aerial strikes from above, dive bombing and kicking in the earth. Cleaning through a boulder, she flapped her wings out and toppled scores of constructs. She was just getting started as her hands came out to pummel.
[Incoming!] Shouted a trainee, as he hefted a rocket launcher slung on his back. [We got Big Boys on the Horizon! Chisuke! Your orders.] He slapped a rocket into the launcher’s rear port and Chisuke grinned at him.
[Granted! Fire at will!]
[You heard him! FIRE!] In a line, 5 trainees shouldered, aimed, and volleyed a cascade of rockets ahead. The incoming golems staggered as explosive fin stabilized rounds bore through them like tissue paper.
Switching to their rifles, they kept up the barrage with rotating rounds of fire, letting no space of time be silent. The pace of fight increased twofold and Amanda grimaced.
She pulled herself to her feet and conjured another volley. Trying to concentrate was starting to become a trial, she hadn’t fought for this long before. As she let loose her bolts of ice, a reading on her HUD caught her attention.
[You gotta be kidding me.] Amanda glared ahead of her. The HUD’s map showed an ever increasing number of contacts closing in on them. By the count’s increasing pace, the number would climb into the hundreds of thousands, it was the main force. [Chisuke, we have to move. We can’t keep this up forever and we can’t fight that many, you see it too! Don’t you?]
[I know, but we have our orders to hold!] Chisuke shouted, his sword coming down in a boom. [Hold the LINE! We have to Hold this position!]
He was reluctant to order this of everyone. Chisuke had the same idea as Amanda, this position wasn’t tenable. The flat terrain made it easier for them to be surrounded and while going on a rampage would do nothing but make Chisuke happier, his orders begrudgingly came first.
It galled him that he wasn’t doing as he wanted. Before, Chisuke would‘ve disregarded everyone and let his instincts tell him what to do. But that was him years ago, it was a version of him that couldn't even beat that one grunt, and still couldn’t beat that one grunt to this day.
Shit Shit Shit! His thoughts told him to disobey the orders, but experience told him otherwise. In a moment of respite, he glanced to the sky which began to crack with thunder and flashes of lightning.
It got his attention, though not because of the changing weather. He sensed a presence, one above and another ahead.
[Chisuke!] Gen called out to him, there was panic in his voice. [Do you feel that!?]
[I Do, I know! Let’s move and..] Chisuke was cut off as the ground rumbled. [Shit! Brace!] He shouted at the top of his lungs, hoping that everyone could make it through this.
Enormous hands bursted out of the ground around them. The frontliners jumped back and the trainees covered their partial retreat. The enormous hands emerging from the ground slammed their palm flat and began tugging. It was as if they were pulling themselves from the very earth.
A second passed and the enormous figures of golems surfaced. A heavy presence fell on everyone. The towering presence of the surrounding golem was already suffocating but now it was as though they couldn’t breath. A breeze of leafy floral scent flew around in the air faintly.
“Oh?~ It seems a few guests have woken my friends up. Time to play, I guess.”
Everyone heard a languid voice emerge from the kicked up clouds of earth. Dahlia trembled, her hooved legs quivered and on the verge of falling to her knees. She recognized the scent, it was from her homeland.
As beast humans, she and Mana had a 6th sense when it came to sensing their surroundings. That sixth sense of theirs was yelling at them to run. The overwhelming might behind that languid voice was not to be trifled with, even though it didn't sound threatening at all.
Flowing green hair emerged from the dust and it was as if a strange presence of a forest sprouted from out of nowhere. Wisps of green lights crawled across the ground like roots. The golems stomped in step, their every quake pulsed green trails in the wake.
The air came alive.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/655MBDjQ/spold.png]
[Concept Art - CAU and CDU Trainee]
Description: Recruited at a young age, Andromeda Trainees range from as young as 10 years old. Training is harsh and is done so as to increase the survivability of grunts after the Starfall Calamity War. All trainees either have a lack of core affinity to qualify for Mystic or Corebinder classification. As such, their options for core energy techniques are limited and takes more time to develop. Firearms and Weapons training are the preferred style of combat for trainees.