The entire time [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3417910]Harold[/url] had been lead around within the labyrinthine complex of the military base, he was taken aback by how unrelentingly bizarre his life had been since that fateful day at Bastion Alexandria. He had been wounded, awarded a medal, and promoted, but the golden bar of a Lieutenant, Junior Grade saw a life of only two weeks on his uniform before it was taken away. For some reason, he'd been demoted back to Cadet, although the red-and-black ribbon of the Knight's Cross was still proudly displayed on his chest. Was being demoted part of the contract? Maybe he should have actually read the papers before signing them. He didn't mind overmuch, though, as this was his chance to fight again.

Finally, Harold's column stopped. Out came a female officer and a scientist. Supposedly, the two were there to welcome them, but the old man appeared to care little for proper postures and rigid salutes and joked around a little. It made Harold smile - it was good to serve under such men. They raised morale. But then he and the officer mentioned a mock battle, and the smile on his face faded away. Apparently, the purpose of the whole affair was to decide an officer among the group.

His mates then started to introduce themselves. Then a terror rocked throughout his body. He thought that the [i]kids[/i] were family of base personnel and it was Take Your Daughter to Work Day or some such, but never did he realize till then that they were going to be his [i]squadmates[/i]. These were the people with whom he was going to take Cruxi fire with and the men and women who were supposed to watch his back - but one of the men was a boy and most of the women were [i]girls[/i].

"Hold up," his voice was uncharacteristically loud. "Hold up for just a minute. Excuse me, miss," he turned to [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3416049]Serah[/url], "how old are you?" Then to [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3415244]Elora[/url], whose sorry state he hadn't noticed. "And you?" And then to [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3418441]Sigma[/url]. "And what about you? Thirteen? Fourteen? What are you girls doing here..." his voice trailed off.

He stood rigidly straight, shoulders broad and trim to perfect level. He was in his Navy Blues, and though the uniform had only one medal pinned to its chest, it was a significant one. Scar tissue, mostly hidden by a sleeve, trailed to the fingers of his left hand. Harold was a veteran, and his blue eyes were lit up with monumental confusion, brow furrowed deeply.

"No offense, right? No offense intended. But you don't mean to tell me," a lump welled up in his throat, "that you're supposed to fight?"