Ana returned the next day, clad in her full battle gear. She was an odd sight to behold, with the strange mix of metal and leather that passed as armor covering her whole body in a way that it would have been impossible to note if she was male or female. The helm she wore was an even odder thing, of a make that was hard to come by in this day and age, or any other day or age, for that matter. No weapon could be seen on her, but the unmistakable form of a sharper hung from her hip, right next to her right hand, where she could grab it and throw it if the need came. Or if she felt that someone was getting too close. Though, considering her getup, not many people were all that willing to come near her. She might as well have had some kind of plague.
As the 9th Squad was called off, Ana watched each one that went up there. They all looked like the typical mercenaries, nothing really of note to someone who wasn't paying all that much attention. Which, she wasn't until she could have sworn her name was called. When no one else stepped forward, she eventually did, casually making her way up there, meeting up with the rest of the squad just before the one she heard was called "Acele" arrived. Not a word was spoken from her, simply she crossed her arms and awaited an order to be given. When it was, she suppressed a groan. If she knew mercenaries, and she did, whatever tavern they were headed to probably served stale piss instead of beer, and smelled about as bad as the swill tasted.
And, just as she had thought, the place they arrived at had just the smell which she had anticipated. Old, partially rundown, and with a smell that made one think that someone had died upstairs, which they probably had. The mugs set around the table were only testaments towards the place's horrible condition. If it had been up to her, she'd have picked a place more reputable. But, then again, most of the people here probably didn't have money to piss away like she did, so no complaints came from her. At least, not yet.
While the sergeant and the other three introduced themselves, Ana pulled off her helmet and sat it down on the table. From one of the folds in the leather of her armor, she produced a match, a pipe, and a small case of tobacco. She shoved some of the tobacco into it, scraped the match against a rough piece of leather on her armor to light it, and then placed the smoking pipe up to her lips and took a long drag of it. Just as she puffed out some smoke, Iver Magsin had finished speaking, and so she took this as an opportunity to introduce herself.
So, she stood, holding the pipe in one hand, allowing the aroma of burning tobacco to fill the air, and looked over the others with a not-so-friendly gaze. "Name's Ana Valerius, raised by merchants and trained by one of the best explosives experts to ever come out of Tysus. I know my way around every sort of bomb you can get, so I don't want to hear a damn word out of anyone if they think I don't know what I'm doing, because I'll plant a burner straight up the first person to say something's ass. And I don't want to hear complaints about the smoke either. Keeps me calm enough to work, so unless you want me to be one of those jittery, insane types that likes to handle the explosives, best to just let me have my smoke in peace."
And with that, she plopped back down in her seat, and shoved the mug away with her free hand. "Oh, and if anyone wants that, take it. I don't drink piss."
Vash
