[center][url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9_QQIWNovc]A Soldier’s Rhapsody[/url][/center]

Few words were exchanged between the coworkers as they made their way through the dense forest.  The grogginess which clouded the guard’s head had now evaporated.  In the apathetic sloth of a morning person’s place was a youthful adult.  Eyes peeled, finger on the trigger, and fully alert.  They silently progressed towards the village, checking their rear and sides every few meters.  They acted like an autonomously coherent unit.  Although Varren had only been an employee of the Free Winds for roughly a year, he departed ship more often than his fellow cargo guards.  Given the fact there is virtually nothing unique about him, in addition with his choice of attire, he’s a perfect candidate for stealth transactions with such a low profile.  Words were a medium Maximus and himself had long abandoned.  If any verbal communication was to ever arise, it was quickened and succinct.  After all, in the shipping business, time was money.  Neither of which could be squandered.  The boy kept his eyes trained down the fluorescent iron sights as they trudged through the rugged terrain.  He flinched a little with every twig snap, as the sounds were possible indications of their positions.  Such a dangerous job had the tendency to bring with it its slew of mishaps and groups out to gouge their hearts out.  Of course the personnel of the Free Wind were generally neutral and were never the ones to fire the first shot.  Competing shipment companies which refuse to bump their fees on par with Summer’s had those which vehemently sought revenge.  

From what he had seen back on the freighter, the town itself was extremely isolated.  The kind of lifestyle where every day was recurring and failed to differentiate with the preceding one.  The townsfolk were probably caught off guard by their abrupt landing.  But hey, it was something to go down in their history, right?  Varren’s innate ears picked up the crumpling of rotting leaves nearby, the boy instinctively fixated his firearm in the sound’s general direction.  The two were face to face with the unknown, an individual who they knew nothing about, a complete need-to-know basis surrounded the three.  She was obviously a local, her attire led Varren to believe that her profession was that of a pilot.  With blonde hair and a charasmatic demeanor, one which happily inquired the Free Wind’s untimely and haphazard arrival.  Varren himself up until now had no idea why they landed on this island.  After all, he was abruptly woken up and beckoned for in the blink of an eye.  The boy lowered his firearm and let out a sigh, he quickly replaced his serious persona with a warm nod of greeting.  

[color=#d60000]”Good afternoon, miss…”[/color] Was all he could muster, as Weston took the reigns of the conversation by passively asking if the girl knew of any mechanics.  Since the first mate was the one who controlled the flow of cash, he continued to let him talk on their behalf.  Yet the decorated veteran was cut off midsentence when a gunshot echoed from the town, the boy instinctively flinched slightly.  With a moment’s grace he reasserted his guard, given the fact that a life could have just departed from this plane of existence.  [color=#d60000]”...Maybe somebody’s out hunting?”[/color] Surely locals hunted wildlife, Varren hadn’t spotted a landing dock upon their hastened landing.  It seemed like a sound explanation.  [color=#d60000]”Sir, I’ll move on ahead and try to find a mechanic.  I’ll move through the forest faster and draw less attention to myself.  We can also cover more ground if we’re split up.”[/color] Weston took a few seconds to dabble internally before giving the readied guard a nod of affirmation.  The boy took in a deep breath of clean air before speeding off, his SMG flowing fluently in conjunction with his arms.  Varren slowed down when forest discontinued and transitioned into cobblestone.  He hinged the tecpatl to the shoulder-strap hidden beneath his hoodie before proceeding into the town.

The first factor he noticed was the disconcerting lack of activity.  No kids were playing in the streets, windows and shop displays were shrouded by curtains, there was even the lack of street corner pro- [color=#d60000][i]”Wait, not every town had those.  Only the major cities.  I guess I can be kinda glad the latter is absent.  Those women are too straight-forward, it’s just blatantly frightening.”[/i][/color] Aside from women who would provide indecent services, all in all, it was a ghost town.  Varren didn’t have the slightest idea where the gunshot originated from, nor did he exactly want to scout about for the source.  The boy had his own way of finding himself in trouble’s clutches, there was no need to search for such a harmful force of a maiden.  He progressed through the town at a brisk pace, quickly checking every corner and picking his crossroads wisely.  It was truly a down-beat village, perhaps all of the residents were nocturnal and developed night vision capable eyesight?  Anything was possible in unknown territory.  But the commotion near the town center drew the guard’s attention.  Of course being an outsider, he couldn’t simply storm right in and catch an eyefull for himself.  Instead, he though of a more… passive solution to gain intel.  The boy peered around for any tall structures in the general vicinity and set his sights upon a chapel a block over, with metallic plates covering its roof.  Varren grinned as he quickly sprinted over to the complex, vaulted over the gate and soon spanned the distance to the highest point of the building’s tower.  His boots were firmly attracted to the metal casing of the roof, granting him the ability to hang his body completely off its side.  

[color=#d60000]”Let’s see what we got here…”[/color] From a distance his figure would appear as a small-framed silouhette, with the shrouding and difraction of light as his assistants, he scanned the town until he finally focused on the town square.  It was quite the sight, to say the least.  Varren’s mouth was left agape as his mind processed the presence of white and red cladded uniforms.  The governing force which had been hunting them down for years was present on this rock, of all places.  Judging from what he could see, the town was in the beginning stages of annexation.  First came the disarmament of its residents, then what followed was overall domination, then re-education.  His heart sank faster than the rate he sped his way down the building.  It was time to move, and a fast rate at that.  His will to complete his primary objective guided him away from the formation of Crucible soldiers.  The only appearance of free life caught his eye, two teenagers running down the street on the outer portion of town.  They fled their way in a generally normal looking house.  Varren wasn’t sure whether he should enter himself, but instead relented to calling out to whoever was inside.  [color=#d60000]”Um, hello?!  Anybody in there?  Or possibly know a mechanic?”[/color] The boy was aware that he had a few minutes to spare before the landing party would begin to dispatch patrol parties.  Time was of the essence.