[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zkf8G-QvP_A]Meanwhile in Eric's earpiece...[/url]

[i][color=bc8dbf]To think that we've come so far in such a short amount of time. It astounds me. And yet, we now spend our vast resources on what? Waging war against an enemy that's on the surface. I can understand that it's threatening our brethren on the world below, but to spend this much? It's insane.[/color][/i]

I walked slowly down the dormitory hallway. I knew I had a meeting with Selene and the rest of our squad, and time was of the essence, but that did not stop me from, well, stopping to admire the scenery from the window. The passing sun's rays streamed through the multitude of glass windows that adorned the metal walls, as much of a nuisance as they were of letting all that heat in, but the view was simply magnificent. Below, wreathed by clouds, Libra hung in space, spinning slowly in its own rotation as it slowly orbited around their sun, the light glistening off water bodies wherever they were underneath the clouds. His spectacles, with their light-sensitive lenses, blocked most of the glare, but it still forced a hand up to cover his eyes as he gazed upon their mission. Obviously not visible was the city of Astral, on the continent called Cetra. According to what I'd read, Cetra was apparently the center of activity on all of Libra, though that had waned steadily ever since my home, Elysium, had been built. Other than that, the books told me that the continent itself is, or rather was, a commercial and educational hub, as well as the center for all things book-ish and political. That too had lost its luster after Elysium, and now Cetra was nothing more than a holdout for refugees from the other outlying continents being ravaged by the Modrem, all while the U.D.F. did their merry thing and made the place safer.

Today I was dressed rather casually for such a deployment, though casual for me was dress smarts for everyone else; a simple waistcoat over a stark white cuffed dress shirt (of which I have more than several), a navy blue tie and slacks and shoes. Over that I had a combat vest, specially tailored for my own use; the harness and vest went straight over my torso, with rigging on the left side that held several magazines, custom made for Fayth of course, and the other side held more webbing and rigging that was more for comfort than anything else. Fayth herself was clasped tightly in my right hand, dangerously beautiful in the way the sunlight glanced and reflected off her stark, white edges and gloss black metal tubes and rings that made up her deadly assembly. For now, though, she was merely a cane, and with a tap tap tap I set off again. Now I really was in a bit of a hurry, seeing as how I'd wasted a good few moments gazing down at nature's beauty, but work was work. I made my way down the dormitory corridors and headed out towards the hangar, where I knew everyone else was waiting, or at least I hoped. For all I knew they could be dropping down into Libra's atmosphere without me, but then again, I knew that'd never happen. This whole place was so confusing anyway, I had no idea how these proper military types did their thing aboard one of these vessels. The corridors were cramp, it was hot when the ship came around sun side, the air smelled of stale conditioning and a faint burning from the massive engines that propelled these things through the void of space. Then there were the hot, stuffy uniforms that the soldiers had to wear, and regimentation and discipline and ugh, it made me shudder slightly thinking about it. But, yet again, I [b]was[/b] from a military academy, and they'd drilled some sense (and regimentation and discipline can't forget that) into me, so although I was no stranger to the plight of the soldier, I sure as hell didn't want to be in that position again.
[hr]
Apparently I missed the memo about the deployment cause the closer I got to the hangar, the more people I bumped into and shoved through. Alarms were blaring, lights were flashing and general mayhem reigned. At first I thought he'd blundered into the wrong area of the ship, but then the cramp ceiling space gave way to a huge expanse, bordered only by windows and huge blast doors that, no doubt, had force fields containing the artificial atmosphere on the outside of them. True enough, as one of the sets of doors opened, I spied the faint blue glow of the field in place as it admitted a dropship through but kept the inside of the massive vessel safe. The army was in full swing now, with troops loading up onto their dropships, pilots getting into their mechs, everything going eveywhere and general controlled mayhem. Within the chaos, I finally managed to spot Selene and Aurelia, and as I approached them, Wren showed up as well, clad in her signature set of light blue armour. Aurey was apparently in the midst of complaining about the living conditions, appalling as they were. I honestly didn't mind the simple bunks, but she did, and I caught the last bits of her usual whining as I drew closer. It made me smile, it did. We wouldn't be a team if not for things like this.

[color=6ecff6]"...informed our quarters would be so pitiful? Is this a prank? Initiation, some kind of stupid attempt at hazing? Are they going to show us our actual rooms later? I can’t even fit all my stuff, for gods’ sakes! There’s - there isn’t any room! I thought it was supposed to be - it's not - this is just - ugh! It's an outrage, it's what it is!"[/color]

[color=007236]"Well, well – looks like the princess has already arrived at her fated kingdom!"[/color]

And there was Wren with her signature retort. The squad would never be the same without either of them bickering constantly. I sighed, shook my head, tapped my wireless earpiece to stop my music and then waded into the thick of things.

[color=bc8dbf]"Please, please, ladies! Wrong place, wrong time for these sorta things. We can sort out who's the princess later, for now, I think we're missing a few people. The three of you ladies, have you heard anything from Cass, Ito or Sage?"[/color]