[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/oDzWQxE.jpg[/img][/center][center][sub]Act 1: In which strange occurrences are begot.
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1D3a5eDJIs]Muzak[/url][/sub][/center]

A battered military truck pulling a small trailer, haphazardly painted a dull gray-blue, its paint chipping off in sections, shuddered along the patchy stretch of highway around the ass-end of Rassvet. The truck bumped and bobbed while maintaining its bearings as a wheel fell into each pothole. Sparse civilization gave way to rougher terrain, tweedy tan grass and short, shrubby trees that bowed lazily in the breeze, punctuated by the occasional outcropping of chalky stone. Here, there was no sign of the war, just as there was no sign of civilization- other than the occasional road stop with its typical fixings. Just some kids piled into an old truck with a roaring diesel engine, held together by little more than a few loose bolts and hope, hanging on by straps tied to the rollbars and sitting on their field packs and cases of beer as they headed out for one last howl at the moon together- A road trip around Rassvet, to visit all the places they hadn’t had the chance to before. 

Then, after that, they shipped off to the dangerous and very adult business of war. After a decade together, it was going to be strange to part, since they knew they were going to be broken up from Barghest Squad into replacements for depleted WARDEN outfits on the front.

[h3][sub]Brr[/sub]caa[sup]chh[/sup][sub]nnk[/sub]k[/h3]

The truck lifted several inches off the ground and the radio scratched, throwing booze and bodies into the air for a brief moment as the truck collided with a pothole at approximately 70 miles per hour. There was another collective round of light-hearted groans as the truck bounced again for what must have been the fifth time in the last 20 minutes.

[color=khaki]“For fucks sake, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you were [i]trying[/i] to hit every damn hole on the High Road.”[/color] Galahad grumbled. Galahad was sitting back in his seat, his feet kicked up on the dashboard, showing off a pair of nice leather shoes and immaculately fitted jeans, his blonde hair whipping around his face as he casually read a small leatherbound book. His other hand loosely held a half full bottle of whiskey, and balanced atop of a simple, minimalist shirt and longcoat was a tablet suspended in midair by its corners, containing a road map of Rassvet. Glancing at the map, they were probably less than a half hour away from the nearest rest stop- a small town called Sappl Springs.

“[color=Tomato]At least you’re sitting in a fuckin’ chair! My ass is going to be black and blue with all these bumps, Lance ya’ need to avoid the holes man![/color]” Asa shrieked out from the bed of the truck, black hair blowing all over the place and a single hand holding for dear life on one of the rails. The sights of the countryside were beautiful to behold though, even for a city girl like her, she marveled at the forests and valleys. Some passing Wyverns were viewable in the seen distance, a flock of twelve dark-green ones flying out west away from the more occupied lands of Rassvet.

“[color=Tomato]Hey book for brains! What kinda Wyvern are they?[/color]” Asa spat out again, leaning off the side of the truck and looking through the open windows directly to Gal.

[color=khaki]“I don't know- not from this distance, nor do I particularly care. I'm a genius not a bestiary. They're not Vangar Wyvern Knights and that's all I care about.”[/color] Galahad called back offhandedly, handing the half drunk bottle of whiskey out the window and throwing it back telekinetically into Asa’s waiting hand. 

The bottle of amber liquid swiftly trajected itself directly into Asa’s hand and she clapped her small fingers around the concoction gripping it amid the rough driving. Slinking back down into her makeshift seat of on-hand luggage and other odds and ends. Her back pressed into the rear window and she brought the whiskey to her lips, the amber liquid sinking down her gullet absentmindedly before she offered it to Ray. 

“[color=tomato]Heorot Whisky tastes like paint thinner, but it’ll get ya’ drunk![/color]” Asa quipped to her large-bodied compatriot who probably had a difficult time getting drunk. Meanwhile, light rock and radio talk show phased in and out throughout the truck amidst crackling static, as the shaking shifted the already wobbly dials on the vehicle.

[i]"-nd welcome back listeners to RPR and our continued coverage of the Vangar Conflict! There was hard fighting around the border town of Calty today between Vangar and Rassvet forces in the current push to secure Fort Kelgrav. After several hours of fighting our brave soldiers had to make a tactical retreat. On the Coastal Front: A supply carrier was sunk today a few miles off from Costa Del Sol by a Vangar Submarine. And in more hopeful news, Imperial Princess Colette Van Skymning, the youngest daughter of Emperor Siegfried Van Skymning of Vangar arrives in Orestia later today as part of a peace delegation. More on those talks within the hou-"[/i]

Hearing the radio propaganda coming from inside the truck instantly agitated Asa, her cheeks reddened as blood rushed to her head. She gripped the side of the truck once again before roaring to one of the two in the front seat, whoever listened, they’d probably listen.

[color=tomato]”Turn that shit off! We’re on vacation, for crying out loud!”[/color] Her long planned tangent would be cut short by another bounce of the truck bed, her grip of the railing nearly slipping and falling out of the vehicle as a tire found another pothole.

[color=khaki]”Don’t have to tell me twice.”[/color] Galahad grumbled aloud, more to himself than anyone in particular, his hands already reaching for the radio dials. There was a sharp crack as he slapped the radio like one would a misbehaving child and the tune eventually shifted back to the light rock station. Galahad and Asa’s sentiments weren’t new or uncommon- many, especially within the WARDENs, were rather skeptical about the idea of these peace talks having any particular effect, especially when up against a nation such as Vangar. As one of their own had so eloquently put it: Peace was a hard thing to work out when one country wanted complete and utter dominion over the other.