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[sub][color=Silver][i]Train to Amone, August 26th - [b]Gratitude for Michael[/b][/i][/color][/sub]
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[color=Silver]	Jean looked towards Kalisa with a somewhat pained look. Hearing her story made him feel like weeping himself, but instead he found himself simply staring with an almost straightened face. Something about what she said began to anger him, something that he never really felt before. There was an agonising temptation to avenge those within her story, ones that made him feel tense in his arm muscles. Jean leaned forward, and with a singular thumb he also wiped off a tear she'd missed from her cheek. Having seen her, for the first time, go red in the face was almost heart-warming once more. He retracted his hand before sliding past Diana and taking to his feet. Underneath his arms he held the steel helmet that was issued to them by their government. Jean felt a strong disconnect from his previous emotions as he held a somewhat weak smile on his face. The train had only just began to move, and yet he wasn't sure if the rest of the troops within his platoon were just asleep or talking to the others they'd become close with. However, as he raised himself to his feet, the other Lance Corporal he'd come to know, Isaac, was there listening, and began to respond to such trivial revelations of Jean's familial tragedy.

	With intrigue and perched interest, Jean looked towards him and took the advice to mind. Newfound power? Delegate responsibility? It was true that now Jean was expected more from those above and below. No longer was it just a case of having a single chevron and little to no respect, the Corporal position was often seen as the backbone of the entire non-commissioned officer lineup. This might not have been true in most cases, but hierarchies were always dependent on the lower classes to get the jobs done. Corporals were often seen as the frontline leaders who led squads and fireteams in battle when the Sergeants were not around. That thought itself made Jean somewhat timid, but he suppressed that feeling quickly with a sense of desperation.

	His face looked as if he were being strangled tightly with an emotional strap yet he still kept a somewhat deadpan expression once more. Jean was still attempting to satisfy the masses now that he had a new role to fulfil, but Isaac's word gave him a sense of inspiration for the second.[/color]

[color=Aqua][b]"I see...Thank you very much, Isaac. Your offers are all too kind, same goes for both Diana and Kalisa too. Despite my difficulties, I do feel that this is the regiment and platoon I deserve to be a part of. I know my performance has been...unsatisfactory, to say the least, but I will compromise from here onwards, and will attempt to make amends to my wrong-doings as an NCO. Just as I will count on you all, you will finally have me to put your trust in too."[/b][/color] [color=Silver]He gently patted Isaac's back before turning back to Kalisa and Diana. From there, he kept his helmet underneath his right arm and lifted his left to wave to them in an almost strangely friendly manner, beaming a newly found smile across his face. Underneath, despite the hidden emotions of sadness and grief still striking his body, he knew that it was something no one needed in that moment. Not even he needed it.[/color] [color=Aqua][b]"I'm going to take a wander up the cabin, you two. I hope you don't mind me leaving you two here alone, though I don't suspect you'd have anything to spit at one another over anyway. Besides, you two seem to be the lights of the train anyhow. Try not to get all embarrassed either, though it suits you both."[/b][/color]

[color=Silver]	Despite referring to their beauty collectively, Jean looked and smiled more at Kalisa with a grin, only just holding the urge to wink at her for fears of his own self-consciousness. After having complimented the two, though Kalisa more than Diana it seemed, he turned and left the cabin, turning the opposite direction as to where Isaac went with a light chuckle. For once he seemed to be oddly spirited considering his latest mood the previous night and morning so far.

	Continuing down the cabins, opening the doors and shutting them accordingly to get through each carriage one by one, he simply watched the men and women from the Regiment as he wandered through. Some of them smiled at him with a nice silent nod, others gave the somewhat warming verbal greeting, others however were still glum from the battle before. Jean couldn't blame anyone who was, as he still was himself, and that the battle was fully beyond the level of human kindness. More and more distance was yet to be covered, however he soon found himself stopping dead in his tracks when before him came out Lucia, closely followed by a oddly-friendly looking Captain Middleton, who held a pipe in his mouth as he exited. Lucia suddenly had a somewhat difficult expression upon her face, one that read of strange rekindling within her. There were several marks onto her gun and a few bloodshot glistens in her eyes. Whether she'd been crying or simply broken from past memories was out of Jean's knowledge, but she nodded towards him with a smile. Lucia looked as if she were about to hug Jean, but hesitation and the watchful eye of Middleton forced her to withdraw the gesture and instead simply meant she would wander further up the cabin, followed keenly by her superior.

	Jean tilted his head and sighed heavily, before turning around. Lucia was problematic. It wasn't an insult towards her, per se, and rather a jab at the conditions she was being put through. Jean's mind was at equals to those who'd so far come into contact with her: sympathetic and almost heartbroken at the sights and sounds she'd been forced to mingle amongst. She was only 16, only just most likely, and was quivering visually at the thought of another battle coming up. Jean had heard the information in more lengthened detail about the upcoming show at Amone. It sounded somewhat difficult to understand what specifically they were being asked to do. Apparently a strike force specialised in breakthrough tactics were to go before the 15th Atlantic Rifles before they would be inserted into the city's warzone. Word had it from other soldiers back in Garnia who'd known a guy, or two, who'd been in Amone that it wasn't as chaotic as the regular frontiers of the Europan War, however it was plagued by tension, a different kind of danger and an immense worry of turning the wrong corner. It had also been told by some of the Sergeants nearby, talking away to one another, that the new batches of troops were to be picked up by the 29th of the same month they were in. Three days away, it seemed, the replacements for the fallen at Hill 58 were to start arriving. It, however, was the specifications some of the talkative NCOs gave that surprised him.

	Alongside the regular Federation soldiers, both men and women who were to simply fill the seemingly nameless blank spaces that needed to be filled, there was a new breed of soldier being called into the regiment. Jean had barely heard much about them as such, minus a few tales from within his training camp days, but it seemed that natives of the Dominion of Oceania were too joining the frontier. It gave hope to some soldiers knowing that, as the Sergeants boasted a strange sense of pride in their talent. A lot seemed to be in agreement that the Oceania homelands were home to some of the best shocktroopers the Federation had to offer in that day-in-age. Despite the good news, part of Jean still couldn't get behind the fact that many of them were likely to be killed in the upcoming months of the war to yet be explored.

	Jean made his way back to the original carriage he started in, waltzing through that familiar cabin once more. As he passed the cabin he resided in before, where Diana and Kalisa were, Jean took off his Darcsen scarf completely and, whilst she wasn't paying attention, bowled it straight into Kalisa's face. It's soft texture couldn't have caused any pain whatsoever, he presumed, and as she was targeted for the rest of his Darcsen scarf, the one she had a piece from, he simply grinned and continued wandering off before she could think to throw it back at him, if she wanted to of course. Instead, Jean continued to walk with a moderate smile on his face, suddenly arriving at Isaac and Michael's cabin. Jean peered his head in, knocking before walking inside with a polite smile. He offered his hand out to Michael and Isaac once more, but stared more at Michael than his already acquainted companion.[/color]

[color=Aqua][b]"I hope you chaps don't mind me joining. Mainly came in to just say I'm grateful for what you two did last night. I just saw Lucia come out of hiding with Middleton, which she seems to be in a bad shape for, but it reminded me of how you two were instinctive to rush to her aid, even on my order, when I failed to provide that comfort beyond what I had. If I had a drink, I'd raise the glass to you two."[/b][/color] [color=Silver]He jokingly raised his empty flask from his hip and held it only centimetres above his chest before sitting down on a seat, making sure not to block the two from their position.[/color] [color=Aqua][b]"Sorry for the whole change in mood. Today's just been a rollercoaster of emotions, hasn't it? Anywho, if you guys want I can put a reference of appreciation and valour towards a commanding officer, obviously not that blasted devil of a Captain we have, for your efforts: both you, Isaac, for your machine gunner suppression with Britta and you, Michael, for the ability to cater for your allies...Even if you might come across as a romantic whilst doing so."[/b][/color]

[color=Silver]	He jokingly laughed at the mentioning of how affectionate Michael could seem towards Lucia, not knowing whether or not the man was actually caring for her as a comrade, as a potential lover, or simply as someone who'd want to leach questionable photographs of the angel Lucia later in life. Either way, it was always fun to direct the more [i]hopeless romantic[/i] trait and humorous prod at someone who wasn't him and Diana, who even Jean knew by now was still trying to flirt and claim the Corporal with furious intent. For once, Jean felt like he was talking to friend and allies, forgetting that, even if it was just for a split second, there was a war going on in the first place.[/color]

[centre][@Conscripts][@FalloutJack][@Landaus Five-One][@SMS][/centre]