Daniel looked over the reports one more time, hoping for any form of logic or sense to come from them. Running his hand over his military cut hair he said shakily, "Headmistress... With all due respect, are you serious with these assignments?"
Sitting behind her oak desk, varnished an deep burgundy, Headmistress Gallows smiled in amusement. "Completely."
As a fifth year student, he'd been at the academy long enough to know that despite her easy going mannerisms she hadn't given the students in his new squad out of any form of mirth. That didn't mean it made any more sense to him. "You overestimate my abilities then."
"I do not." His grades had earned him the ability to move on to officer training, so he knew he was competent, but he hadn't earned the esteem of his peers to a degree that would put him in charge of Diamond squad, or so he had thought. His confidence in himself had him doubting, no matter what the headmistress said.
He shook his head one more time to clear it and tried to analyze the problems these students represented. "This is not going to be easy. Have you told them yet?"
The amusement never flickered off her face. She was enjoying herself immensely, but he also knew she hadn't said a single thing she didn't believe. "I believe as their C.O. that would fall on your shoulders."
Sigh. "Of course, Ma’am."
Yukiko waited impatiently. She'd been summoned to the first floor of the Craycroft building, classroom 132. Well, they said it was a class room. She'd call it a small conference room. The table in the center filled the room with ten chairs around it. Nothing was what she would consider expensive, but then again her idea of expensive was drastically different than everyone else here.
It was the morning after their assessments, so she expected that she was going to get her results now. She knew her father would often bring in a business partner into a conference room meant to impress rather than a small room to do so. Again she was underwhelmed if that had been their attention, but the other students might be more awed.
She hated being late to anything, so had gotten to the room a half hour early. Five minutes before the appointed time, eleven-thirty, another student arrived. She had been expecting David Hawkinson, the teacher who had been on her summons. This wasn't him. This wasn't going to be a one on one meeting, and felt a bit affronted that it wasn't.
That offense was nothing compared to the anger she felt at seeing the student. No identification was needed from her ring. As she had thought the last time they had met, she would never forget Ana's honeyed face.
She had started to rise to give a respectful bow to the new entrant. Upon seeing who that was she sat down before finishing the motion. Though she gave the coldest look in her arsenal Ana Mutet smiled back as if they were oldest of friends. "Were you here to meet Daniel Hawkinson as well?" she asked with good cheer in her voice.
It was a really irritating voice in her current mood. If it was possible she lowered the temperature of the room five degrees with her glare alone. A tense nod was all the response she could give and remain the least bit civilized.
"Great! I'm glad I found the room so easily."
Yukiko could see it. Ana was enjoying needling her like this. That only served to anger her more. She could be the bigger person, but honestly she simply didn't want to. "No knives today?"
"Not today," Ana replied with another smile. "Today's a day for making friends, not defeating more opponents." Making friends, hmm? That wasn't likely to happen and they both knew it. "But knives can always be made available, if needed." One second her hand had been empty, the next a knife was in it held with deft fingers. "Of course they aren't though." And it was gone again.
Being baited was not a good tactic. She itched to wrap her hand around her katana and challenge her at that exact second. It wasn't that she didn't have her weapons with her. They were at her side as they always were. It wasn't that she didn't think she could win. She never doubted she would in a fair fight.
The trouble was she didn't want to show Ana that she was getting the better of her. Especially since she was.
The tension mounted between the two as Yukiko continued to glare and Ana continued to smile. "Oh Yuki, don't be like that!"
She had already made the consesion of being informally addressed. Having her name shortened as if they were close friends had her hand on her Katana without conscious thought. The next two people to enter the room possibly saved bloodshed from occurring. It was a close thing.
Simon sat outside the door waiting. He heard the two inside and had the good sense to know that entering would be a bad idea. He had allied himself with Ana during the field exercise. Yukiko was obviously taking their tactics personally. Just as obvious Ana knew it and was getting a good amount of enjoyment out of it.
If he went in his Ana would use him to annoy her further. He didn't want that. Daniel was not inside yet, so there was no need for him to go in himself. He would wait.
"Am I at the wrong room?" He looked behind him. He recognized the tall muscular woman behind him without the need for his HUD. Alisha was a hard one to forget, even if he hadn't watched her in one of the most impressive fights of his life.
She looked over her shoulder at the room number. "Nope, right room, so what's the..?"
Inside the room a particularly lovely laugh was heard, followed by "Oh Yuki, don't be like that!"
"Oh, never mind. We might want to go in before the room needs a fresh coat of paint," Alisha said, not knowing how close that statement was to reality. She winked in a way that was probably flirtatious, which he didn't fully understand, but definitely in good humor as she opened the door.
Both of the occupants looked up and their entrance. As expected Ana looked very much like she was innocent, and Yukiko looked about five degrees cooler than an iceberg. It didn't escape his notice that the petite Yukiko had her hand on her sword, her knuckles white.
He had to give Alisha high marks. She ignored Ana completely and walked up to Yukiko to defuse the ticking bomb. "Mind if I shake your hand? That was a great fight. Haven't had that kind of workout in years, and I was only half trained then."
The temperature of the room seemed to warm up slightly as Yukiko stood and gave a small bow to both Alisha and to himself, ignoring Ana completely. It wasn't a subtle message.
"Thank you, your fighting talent is equally impressive. I had not thought to find such a warrior here." Formal and stiff. He decided he would probably never be comfortable around her. Alisha on the other hand was very natural and easy to read. It made him relax slightly even as he tried to remain distrustful of those around him.
Ana didn't look satisfied with her fun being ruined, but shrugged it off. "How have you been Simon?" She asked casually.
Tuning out the other conversation, he looked over Ana one more time. She was different from before. During the testing she looked like the assassin she proved herself to be.
Now she looked like a lady from an antique painting dressed in a formal red dress with gold embroidery. She had taken the time to apply makeup and her sent was of lilacs. He preferred the other mode of dress on her. It was more honest.
Ana smiled with demure eyes. Where with Alisha the flirtation was purely playful, this was decidedly intent on capturing his attention. She was going to have to deal with disappointment if he was her target.
"You were inspiring when I saw you return with the flag. That final battle was perfectly played. I believe you could have beaten him at any time you wished." She was laying it on thick, wasn't she?
He feigned indifference with a simple shrug. "It wasn't that big of a deal." It wasn't indifference he was feeling. It was annoyance.
She gave him another winning smile. "Oh but it was brilliantly done. I would not sell myself short like that." He was wondering if this would happen: the desire to make him into one part trophy, one part plaything, and one part bodyguard. Her act earlier of treating him as an equal was wearing very thin.
She must have read something in his expression, which was impressive. His inhuman features made reading him difficult. "Am I offending you? I'm sorry; I was just trying to lighten the mood. I didn't mean anything by it."
"Of course," he acknowledged, not believing her. “I hate to tell you this, but you don't have a chance. My old masters thought a sex drive would only get in the way, so they got rid of it. Your mating habits only confuse me."
There was a sudden glint in her eye at that statement. "They made you from human stock, that's obvious. You can't simply get rid of some aspects of human nature. Underneath those beautiful scales there's still a human heart."
Did she just take that as a challenge? This girl is unbelievable!
"I'm so sorry I'm late!" Carole yelled as she ran through the door, then paused in dumbfounded silence. The other four occupants were looking back at her with similar expressions. "Um... I'm late, aren't I?"
Alisha was the first to react, laughing. "Yes, as usual. But so's the guy who called us all here, so it's all good."
Looking around she took in where everyone was at and the tension suffusing the room. She already knew Yukiko and Alisha of course. The other two were new and she got the heads up identifications. "Ana and Simon, huh? Well, nice to meet you!" She paused, then asked "uh, Simon... this ring seems to be on the blink or something. What's your lasts name?" she asked with growing excitement at what she was seeing.
The Chimera sighed. "Are all of you humans going to ask that? I don't have one, okay."
"Oh. That's cool." Carole responded. It was the only response she could think of. Well, no point on dwelling on it. Her excitement was only growing and she had to know. Had to investsigate what was in front of her. It was impossible. If she could work out how it was done it would open up so many possibilities.
"Your scales... They're transmuted. I'm guessing they're leather without the glyphs under them. I haven't seen that before, but I think I could do that as well, but why aren't they draining you dry. I'm sure that you have to be grounded pretty much all the time. Even if you aren't grounded somehow maintaining those scales twenty-four seven would still be taxing and since those glyphs look to be burned into your actual skin it's not like they can be removed to turn them off. How did they burn them in anyways? I know they were working on tattoos that acted as..."
"Would you just Shut UP! I'm not a damn science experiment. I'm not your research subject. Just leave me alone!
"Uh, wow. Okay." Put off by the outburst. She could see she had angered him, but she was unsure how she had caused it. She quickly moved on to the new person she hadn't managed to anger yet. "So Ana, that's a beautiful dress. I don't think I've seen anything like it before."
The woman smiled back. It truly was a wonderful sight to behold. "It's a fashion popular where I come from originally. The region is called The Kingdom of the West."
Now that was interesting. Not as good as the mystery of Simon's scales, but she would definitely enjoy hearing more. "A kingdom? That's kinda like countries, isn't it?" Carole asked, remembering from her history lessons that large governments used to exist that controlled entire continents.
"You could say that. They say it predates the Cataclysm, though I'm not sure how true that is."
Alisha snorted. "I'm calling bullshit. One third of the continent was called the United States during the second age. The nearest kingdom would require going across an ocean."
"That's true. Like I said, it's only what I've been told. It never made sense to me either." Ana shrugged artfully. "Anyways, it isn't a kingdom as you're thinking of it. It's more of a confederacy of city states who are working together under one banner."
"So in this room we have two locals, someone from the west coast, and someone from Japan, and..." Alisha paused, looking for the right words.
"A monster from the desert?" Simon asked with a hint of an edge.
"And, as much as I would prefer it, I am not from Japan, only my ancestry," Yukiko added.
The tension, which had started to ease up, suddenly ratcheted back up to new heights as Alisha's eyes went from friendly to frighteningly angry as she looked at Simon.
"Attent-hut!"
Daniel felt a tension headache start as he watched the infighting begin before the five even knew they would be on the same squad. Of them all the least mature of the bunch was going to be the easiest one to deal with he decided.
From the safety of the neighboring room he watched the room remotely in comfort. He had purposely set it up so he could see how they would interact with each other when left to their natural devices. What he saw confirmed his worst guesses.
This year was going to try every last nerve for structural integrity.
So this is Diamond Squad, huh? he thought to himself. I might have to reconsider my good fortune to be chosen for the honor of leading them. This is much worse than I had already expected.
Before any irreparable damage could be done he got up and prepared himself mentally for addressing his squad. He worked on presenting the confidence he remembered his own first year Squad Commander had by the time he reached the classroom door.
Reaching it he commanded "Attent-hut!" without any form of preamble.
Four bodies reacted with military precision. They dropped all conversation without a second thought and saluted him.
The fifth was Simon, who looked around for a second before realizing that had been an order, sketchily stood and put his hand to his forehead. That was to be expected from someone who had no military training until three months ago, but it would need to be worked on.
Though they had responded to his command perfectly, the feeling of tension had not eased in the least. Alisha was obviously trying hard not to, but she was glaring at Simon while her sister was looking at him like a cat would at a piece of tuna. Yukiko was giving Ana a look that mirrored Alisha's, and Simon wasn't looking at anyone, as if he was trying to be separate from the rest of the room.
Ana was the one that worried him the most. She wasn't adding to the tension, she was looking at each calculatingly. She would be trouble if he didn't take care of that problem quickly.
"At ease." Again four bodies went to parade rest, the last dropped his hand in confusion. He took his seat and the others followed suit. "I'm First Lieutenant Daniel Hawkinson, your new commanding officer. Welcome to Diamond Squad."
For once it wasn't Simon who acted against military protocol. "You can't be serious!" Yukiko yelled.
Internally Daniel reflected that his reaction and hers were remarkably similar. The only difference is he had the military discipline not to yell it. "I am completely serious, private Sato."
Ranks were important things in the military. It told everyone who was in charge at any point in time. At the academy level this was true as well, and necessary to adjust students to that mentality. To that end freshmen at Davis-Monthan were privates, second years were corporals, followed by sergeants, and then master sergeants. At the fifth year you reached the officer levels. Second lieutenants would be graduating that year.
If you were among the lucky few who made the grade you could stay on for additional years to become the elite among the elite. He was one of them and as such he earned the silver bar of a first lieutenant. His duties would now include training his squad. A small duty compared to what he would be doing after he graduated and became a leader of men.
This small duty was not going to equal an easy one.
"But..."
"Private, you have proven yourself capable of performing at a level surpassing all other students," Daniel said levelly. "You have earned your right to be on the premier squad at this academy. You will comport yourself as such."
"Premier?"
The Lieutenant smiled. "They don't call it diamond squad for nothing." He paused for a second. "And it's Sir."
"Uh, yes Sir."
Daniel was amused, though he wasn't showing it. The psych workups on each of his subordinates had been very accurate, and he knew he had both stroked her pride and challenged it with those three sentences.
He looked over the rest of the squad. "Any other questions?" he asked with a tone saying that their answer should be "no sir," if any answer was to be given at all. No one answered, so he nodded.
"Very good. Starting today we will be meeting in this room every Tuesday and Thursday at oh-seven-hundred for squad meetings. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday you will report to the parade grounds for drill exercises.
"Your classes begin next Monday. Privates, O'Neal, O'Neal, Sato and Simon," he said, looking at each in turn, "you have been assigned the Soldier track. Report to Professor Kimmel after this meeting for your class assignments. Private Sato you have also been assigned to the Support Magic Track. After speaking with Professor Kimmel, report to Master Richardson for his assignments."
"Sir, do you know why I was assigned to Support magic?"
Best to answer that question with one of his own. "Have you not received training in support magic?"
The question surprised her, leaving the normally over confident woman flat footed. "I have sir, but..."
"Then there is no mistake. You have many talents; we are going to facilitate the perfection of all of them." The matter taken care of, he moved on to the final student. "Private Mutet, you are going to be in the Spy, scouting, and Assassin tracks. Speak with Professor Avery after this meeting."
Alisha, Carole, and Yukiko looked at her with suddenly renewed suspicion. Simon had already guessed where she was going to be placed. His unease wasn't as obvious because of that. That suspicions was the normal reaction to someone being placed on either the assassin or spy tracks. Because she was on both undoubtedly doubled those suspicions. They would need to work past that distrust however if they were to function as a team. Learning to work past that distrust was part of the point of her being here.
A small point given what their file said.
"Finally there is the matter of room assignments..."
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