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[sub][color=758186]EMILIA "GARUDA" LANGE[/color]   [color=cecece]—[/color]   [color=758186]FARHAVEN [Train Station][/color]   [color=cecece]—[/color]   [color=758186]07:15AM[/color]   [color=cecece]—[/color] [@DeadDrop] [@Salsa Verde][/sub][hr][color=8d8e8f]Emilia became distracted by her musings, yet again. The world around her became slightly blurred out, as if the wellness of her eyes had begun to fail already. The only way forward was to ignore his stupid message. For a brief moment, Emilia regretted tossing her phone away—it was no longer possible to wallow in pity and taste her own tears late at night. It sounded poetic in her head, but the reality of it was utmost pathetic. The regret quickly turned into anger, and then apathy. He, that old flame, was the only one who could put her off balance like this. Surely, it was a product of youth that had caught mold after all these years, yet refused to go away when she scraped at it. Emilia audibly scuffed at it all, almost chuckled at how dumb she felt. 

A change of heart came when familiarity approached. Never in a million years would Emilia have expected to meet the Navigation Division's poster boy in this humble place. Nav-Command were certainly in love with this guy, and for good reason. Being a Jet Fighter was as heavy duty and 'cool' as one could get in the UDF. Aeons barely measured up to these men and women in the sky that rained death from above. And then, there was this guy, Robert Hernandez, who had managed to be part of both things that resulted in fame—a jet fighter Aeon. It was quite insane when one thought about it, even Emilia could not help herself but to feel like a fan. The nature of it all was that some Aeon were simply more 'famous' than others, even if all of them were somewhat known. Emilia herself had dedicated plenty of time to Warfare Division PR campaigns and, well, 'commercials', which she was not entirely proud of, but it certainly paid well.

[color=6598c4]"No fucking way,"[/color] Emilia smiled, stood up from her seat and gave the man a hug. She was a bit taken back by the surprise. Everything he did, lighting that cigarette with that jacket around his shoulders, was vividly cinematic. She had met Robert a couple of times before. It was not a super intricate friendship, but well beyond the typical acquaintance you would meet once a year at someone's house party. And, of course, they knew each other by being in some manner of limelight all the time—sometimes it was almost impossible to [i]not[/i] know someone. [color=6598c4]"Yeah, sure, absolutely—I'm guessing you're on for the Group? I saw your name on the list earlier. Half didn't expect you to show up, though,"[/color] Emilia said while the arriving train was being announced in the train station speakers. She grabbed her backpack and rifle that were resting on the bench were she had taken a moment. The two began to walk towards the train platforms, but not in an awful hurry, as the train would remain at the station for about fifteen minutes.

[color=6598c4]"You know, I think I saw you at the [i]Watford[/i] base a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't get a chance to say hello. They were shipping us out to the Eastern Front so fast that everything sort of happened in a hurry."[/color] The two conversed while stepping onto the train that had just cleared out of the passengers that were due Farhaven. The train would continue on for a few stops, the UDF eastern command included, and finally arrive at Embergate as its final stop. More people boarded the train alongside Emilia and Robert. They were most likely commuters that worked a stop or two outside of Farhaven, perhaps even in the big city—quite a distance for commuting. That is how things were, though. One had to break a sweat and go outside the comfort zone to earn a living in this world, even if it meant sacrificing several hours a day to traveling to and from work. This was the case for Emilia and most Aeon, as well. She figured that she spent more time on traveling than actually fighting the 'stiggies', as she called them—the monsters that resulted from [i]Stigma[/i] infection. What a sad life it was, yet necessary.

The train car that they boarded was one of them with fancy booths. A narrow corridor led them towards the regular cars with two or three seats per row. They did not get far before someone's phone came tumbling across the hardened floor between their feet. [color=6598c4]"Oh,"[/color] Emilia exhaled and was caught by the attention of that moment. She did not hesitate to pick the device up and turn around to look for whomever had dropped it—and there the girl was. She looked like someone from one of the western neighbors to Emilia's home country. It was not entirely uncommon to see people from [i]Goryeo[/i] farming or selling things in [i]Votara[/i], enough to warrant Emilia knowing some of their words. [color=6598c4]"Is this yours?"[/color] Emilia said with a smirk while taking a few hesitant steps towards the somewhat-stranger. That was the issue, [i]somewhat[/i]. It felt as if Emilia had met this person before or maybe seen her somewhere, but when and where was completely elusive. The girl had a wonderful, yet subtle expression of excitement, elation, or perhaps even expectation. There was a brief silence, as they kept staring at each other. Emilia's smile grew as she waited for an answer—[color=6598c4]"Have we met?"[/color] She asked.

The train ruffled and rumbled as it slowly began to take off. The doors hissed shut and a loud whistle could be heard from outside the train. The morning drizzled had moved on to proper rain. Things began to move forward, just as whatever this whole adventure would be. Emilia felt a bit anxious or maybe timorous about taking on the [i]Group[/i]. An ominous divination kept making itself known in her head, and it had something to do with that last message from [i]him[/i].

[color=7f5e99][b]Quest Steps[/b][/color][hr][color=9482a2]Interaction between Emilia, Robert, and Eun-Ji on the train bound for UDF: Cetra East Command—this is where [i]Chapter 1[/i] will begin when everyone is ready. Those who want to participate in this [i]Prelude[/i] can be anywhere they want on the local map, even at the UDF command center, where Isolde already is present.[/color]
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