Shana Striker double-checked her rifle. She twice tapped the blue mana core embedded to its side and felt the roll of the energy swing into the thing. She nodded, deactivated it, and equipped it alongside her pulse pistol; the longer strapped to her back, and the shorter strapped to her thigh, alongside a slab of metal.

Under the midnight sky lit only by a silver moon, her attire was a unique spandex of black that covered her chest to the middle of her thighs. Of course, it was still military grade, so simple blades and pulses wouldn't be passing through. Mobility, comfort, and safety, a standard of Alos's army scout regiment.

She turned her attention to the mail in front of her. A figure dressed similarly to herself, he was quite a bit burly with chestnut hair and amber eyes that reminded her of her own. In another life, he could have easily been a father to her.

"How was the recon, John?" She asked.

"The camp's asleep save for a few guards," The male said with his usual shoddy grin, "They've got a perimeter around the portal but my scans showed nothing in hiding."

"And your spirit?" She asked.

"Nothing as well," He affirmed.

She nodded and looked into the distance. Her sight passed over a rocky desert and she spied a green dot in the close horizon. A newly birthed dungeon. A valuable thing that held all manners of ores, materials, and, most importantly, mana beasts whose cores could be harvested to make orbs and spirits. For any city, it was something worth taking and Felmit had actually trespassed onto Alos's region to snuff it out from under their nose. . .an unacceptable thing to them.

She heard the sound of munching and immediately swerved her head right.

"Goddangit Banri, how are you eating again?! You don't even need to eat!"

A figure, seated on the floor of a military van, legs dangling out, stopped his hand midway from reaching into a plastic bag of potato chips. A good smudge around his lips already had crumbs, dirtying his rather childish face.

He blinked his azure eyes. "B-but, Captain. . .these are so delicious. . ."

A vein popped upon her head. She crossed her arms.

"What will I eat then if you wolf down all of my snacks?"

Yes, the snacks were hers. And unlike them, she actually needed them.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

He paused as his eyes widened at a new realization.

He looked around, red hair swerving, then quickly spoke.

"Ah-I'm sorry Captain. . ." He said as he unwillingly trodded the plastic bag towards her person, ". . .you can have the rest. . ."

He spoke such clear words yet his eyes looked unwilling to pass the thing.

She sighed.

"Just eat it. I'm not hungry."

"Hooray! Captain, you're the best!"

She rolled her eyes.

"Banri sure knows how to get on the captain's good side." A thin, lanky, male with black hair that covered the left half of his face spoke.

"Right right," Another nodded twice, silver hair bumping up and down, "She definitely has a soft spot for him. I mean, she made me chase after a sandworm just yesterday when she caught me slacking!"

She glared at the two males who sat within the armored vehicle.

"Hmm? What was that? Faust? Belmont?" Her lips twitched, "You two wouldn't happen to be speaking terribly about your captain now, would you?"

Their bodies shuddered.

"No, ma'am, no!" They both said in unison.

She smiled. "Good-"

"Ban, I've got candy!"

"Yay!"

She stared speechlessly as her burly companion took a piece of chocolate out of the satchel at his waist and handed it to the always ravenous Banri.

". . .really, John?"

The man turned his head awkwardly towards her.

"Captain," He furrowed his brows, "Do you want one too?"

She stared at him blankly as the laughter of the other two resounded.

Banri suddenly perked up from his eating, looking a bit furious. "You guys stop bullying the captain! What will you do if she kicks us off into another platoon?!"

Shana Striker mildly rolled her eyes.

"I won't do that. You might all be annoying, but I wouldn't replace you."

"Aww. . .captain. . ." They said. Then laughed. "You might be annoying too."

She bitterly smiled.

All of them were Sol. Series homunculi. Artificial creations designed for war, a group of which was led by an officer much like herself in a total of a 5 man team called a platoon. Most didn't consider them human because, quite frankly, they really weren't. That much she could agree with. Yet, she was never one for suppressing the emotions of her underlings as the others did. Because, in the end, she considered them living beings with wills of their own.

And, as an aside, to her, it would be far more lonely and far less interesting if they could only behave like machines. As much as they sometimes annoyed her, which was often, they felt like family to her. Once, she had trained under an officer who thought much differently, someone who sent his men to be reconfigured at a simple mistake but now, she was here with her own group. She had joined the military at the age of 16 and, now, at 19, she had made her way up.

She coughed.

"I'll start the debriefing now," She said.

They all silenced and immediately turned their attention to her. Even Banri stopped eating for a moment. After all, as much as they were playful, they were also soldiers who had braved through blood with her before.

"Our recon is complete, however, I was given orders to carry out the recovery of the area if I saw it a good option," She continued, "Seeing as Felmit's camp is asleep, we will be doing a night raid. Any questions?"

They all shook their heads. "None."

It wouldn't be the first time they were doing a night raid. They were each familiar with the thing.

She nodded. "Affirmative. Equip your sensory visors, activate them, double-check your weapons and com-links, and prepare to travel by foot."

"Aye aye, ma'am!"