[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/jCF98DT.jpg[/img][/center]
[color=black]———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color][indent][b][color=dimgray]SOLDIER Base; Deployment Dock Four[/color][/b][/indent][color=black]———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color]

John had gone unflinchingly as the Commander had turned around to look at him with an ice cold glare. One of the ways you could tell an experienced SOLDIER from an inexperienced SOLDIER was their glare. Inexperienced SOLDIERS’ glares were still icy and cruel, but they showed emotion. Be it anger, hate, or annoyance, it showed up on them like a giant, bleeding wound. Experienced SOLDIERS glares were emotionless, and at the point where it was as if their eyes were slowly turning a pure, crystalline white, like a shard of ice. And then there were the Elite’s glares. When an Elite glared at you, and you looked into their eyes, it was a harsh, unforgiving tundra, and you could feel the world around you turn freezing cold. For some, it was also as if time stopped, and you could feel the goosebumps form on your skin.

However, John was used to all of these glares. The tundra was normal for him, as he’d stared into it too many times before. All he did was stare back, with his dead, dim, eyes, hearing the gears grind and tick in the Sentinel Commander’s head. The Commander had every right to feel something off, definitely - those who kept up with what happened in these walls knew of John the moment he became Rayne’s dog. But, John could also sense a slight bit of doubt, albeit faint.

[color=b7b7b7]“No. I’m not ‘all right’ with it,”[/color] the Commander said, after a long segment of the two simply glaing at each other, [color=b7b7b7]“but it doesn’t matter how I feel about it, does it? You’re going anyways.”[/color]

The man’s tone of voice made another Elite - if John recalled zher name correctly, Kimberly Faye - to look at him for a brief moment, before looking quizzically at John. Then, a silence was cast upon the group. One that gave a chance for John to look around at all the faces that were staring at him. It was mainly just the Elites, with their spark of protectiveness, a certain longing for understanding of everyone in the room. That was a wish he gladly wouldn’t fulfill. He ended up just flicking between the faces for a while, memorizing them, and the emotions (if any) they were showing, until there came a voice, out of the blue.

[color=b7b7b7]“Hey, YOU, funny guy! Tell me a good joke?”[/color]

The voice broke the silence, but instead brought down a plethora of awkwardness. Surprisingly, it was the Commander that put an end to that.

[color=b7b7b7]“Don’t you get it?”[/color] he placed a hand on the acclaimed funny guy’s back, [color=b7b7b7]“He IS the joke.”[/color]

John ignored the rest of their ramblings, but took note of two pet names - the Commander’s being “Ghost”, and funny guy’s being “Al”. Al stuffed Ghost’s mouth with the dessert they were presumably squabbling about before, before the Elite walked off and purposefully bumped into John. However, with the SOLDIER being in his armour, it didn’t affect him. He just stared as Ghost walked off into the corridors, before realising he was heading the way that John had come. Just as he was about to sneak after him, Kimberly stopped him in his tracks, apologising for Ghost’s attitude. Apparently he was zher brother.

[color=b7b7b7]”Thank you.”[/color] John said, though the absence of emotion in his voice showed he didn’t really give a damn. Zhe either didn’t notice this or didn’t care zherself, but, regardless, zhe hurried off after zher brother. Funny guy took it upon himself to start blabbering again. John decided to take in what he was saying, though he’d never understand why.

[color=b7b7b7]“Huh… Well then, we haven’t introduced ourselves have we?”[/color] He smiled, [color=b7b7b7]“As Funshine ingeniously deduced, my true name is ‘You Funny Guy,’ but people usually don’t believe me when I say that, so go ahead and remember me as Henri.”[/color]

Henri then turned to John, and began to look at the man, as though he were searching for something inside of him. The SOLDIER immediately put up a mental block, so that there’d be nothing for the ‘funny guy’ to see. His head tilted back and forth in thought, until he eventually gave up.

[color=b7b7b7]“Uh, you’ll have to forgive me, Mr. Olsen. I need more time to come up with a nickname for you.”[/color] Henri said. John took note of the fact he already knew his name, concluding that he merely knew of Rayne’s dog.

[color=b7b7b7]”Yeah, good luck with that.”[/color] Olsen muttered, walking off back to his corner. He watched the entrance as a mountain of a man walked in, rolling his eyes. Having big muscles wasn’t enough, the guy actually needed to know how to use them. And, as he had his squabble with Henri, he figured that wasn’t the only thing he needed to know how to use. The squabble didn’t take that long, with both of them saying equally idiotic things to the other, but it ended with the mountain walking away, defeated, and now called “Honeybun”. John did have to give Henri some credit - that was clever, even for an idiot. A chirpy, young, blonde girl piped in with her own praises, too. All the SOLDIER could do was look her up and down and wonder how on Earth she got onto the mission. She was then interrupted by Ghost, who was joined by another Elite - Commander Magdalena Abendroth-Faye. He was actually surprised that Ghost was possibly the only Commander whose name he didn’t know. But, it seemed like Magdalena had more information on the mission, so John stood straight and at full attention, listening to what she had to say.

[color=b7b7b7]“It appears we have a new face joining us,”[/color] she gestured to the face in question - John. This caused the young blonde to look at him briefly, before turning her attention back. His gaze remained upon the Commander speaking, so he could only catch the blonde’s actions if they were in his peripheral vision. [color=b7b7b7]“By Rayne’s orders he is to join you on this particular mission, just like any other SOLDIER, but his experience with previous missions caught the President’s attention, thus you’ll have some idea of what SeeR is like through SOLDIER Olsen’s.. knowledge.”[/color] The Commander showed obvious discomfort, looking at John with her crystalline-blue eyes. Her stare interpreted into a warning, one that was riddled with doubt, confusion, and weariness. Regardless, she broke eye contact and continued. [color=b7b7b7]“Now each of you have been assigned a holographic visor that has been equipped also with a communication device to communicate with each other and to also keep in touch with the base. The further you branch out, the more difficult signals are to gain, however we have towers set up through Galbadia to ensure minimal interference. There are a series of channels for you to relay information on and your Saboteurs will give these to you once each of the channels have been gleaned and secured so to avoid SeeR hackers from listening in.”[/color]

John glanced at the visor he had in his hand, which was a deep shade of vermillion, before putting it on. While he waited for his eyes to adjust, he placed full attention back onto Magdalena, of whom was demonstrating how to use it. She pointed to the main keys required. [color=b7b7b7]“Through the visor you have a direct link to the Libra Scan system that provides information on each of the beasts and creatures we are aware of. Unknown enemies can be scanned but limited information can be taken from them, however, as your battles carry on the system updates automatically, even on the unknown species.”[/color]

There then came loud grates and clanks of metal, and John looked towards the deployment gate, which was now creaking open. It allowed a bright light to flood in, which caused him to shield his eyes with his hand and squint, before the ground trembled. Unlike the young, bubbly girl, John remained still, creating the illusion of being glued to the ground. He watched the Behemoth roll in, like he had countless times before, slowly walking forward in soldier-like marches. [color=b7b7b7]“Make us proud, SOLDIERS.”[/color] The Commanders said in unison, before John marched up the ramp, just behind the energetic blonde.
[hr]
[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/jCF98DT.jpg[/img][/center]
[color=black]———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color][indent][b][color=dimgray]Aboard the Behemoth; Near the Border[/color][/b][/indent][color=black]———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————[/color]

John was sitting quietly on the end, away from everyone else, quite satisfied with the rumbling of the Behemoth’s wheels, and the humming of the engine, when the blonde from before chirped up. He could barely hear the driver announcing they were nearing the border. He was glad of that - he wouldn’t be able to stand talking to anyone for more than a few minutes.

[color=b7b7b7]“Sooo. I don’t think we all know one another. I mean, I know all of you - your numbers you know - but I like to be given names. Introductions are in order I’d say! I’m Evangeline Dashelle, one of your lovely Saboteurs.”[/color] Evangeline announced, exhibiting an annoying amount of chirpiness. They were going to kill SeeR, not get a fucking pedicure. Much to John’s pleasure, someone else snagged the opportunity to introduce themselves before him.

[color=b7b7b7]“My name is Cidolphus Escovane. The second saboteur.”[/color] The man said. John looked in his direction. He’d never actually noticed Cidolphus before - unlike the rest of them, he seemed rather collected, and not the kind of one to draw attention to himself. John liked that.

Since nobody else seemed like they were going to speak anytime soon (probably due to John’s presence), he took it upon himself to introduce himself. Maybe it’d squeeze some information out of them.

[color=b7b7b7]”I don’t care what you’ve heard about me, or if you already know my name,”[/color] he looked specifically at Henri when he said this, [color=b7b7b7]”but you’ll know me as Olsen, and only Olsen. Feel free to give me whatever code name, or nickname, you like, if it helps your little brains to fathom the seemingly impossible task of following a single instruction.”[/color]

Satisfied, he sat back, placing his hands behind his head casually. [color=b7b7b7]”Now don’t bother me until we get there. It gives you more time to decide whether or not I’ll care about any questions you have.”[/color] He slid his eyes along the roster one last time, remembering their faces, and putting the two names he knew to their own faces, before zoning out to the sound of the vehicle bumping around on the terrain underneath them.