Two men occupied the dark room, with a silence between the two almost think enough to touch. One of them, a muscular man with a thin beard and blackish-red hair, sat on a chair with his legs on the table, reading a book resting on his knees. The other man, not quite as muscular, though with broader shoulders, stood facing the wall, staring into nothing. He appeared to be musing over something.
The long silence dragged on. Finally, the man reading the book sighed heavily and dropped his feet to the ground, setting the book aside. He couldn't read now. "Where is Crystal?"
"Have patience, Teron," the other man, or more accurately, Esper, said in a deep voice. He turned around to face Teron, the dim light gleaming off of his shaved head. He wore a grey coat and what at first appeared to be a somewhat shiny black cloak. Closer inspection would tell anybody that they were wings, bat-like wings folded up. "She always comes back late. Doubtless she is visiting the memorial and mourning over her family." He paused for a minute. "Skan and Kitra."
Teron sighed. Skyler Yokotani was great friends with Kitra and Skan. Especially Skan. The two had many similarities. At least, they used to. It was amazing how much Skyler had changed. Anybody who knew the war hardened veteren of today never would have guessed that Skyler was once a fun loving man who always had a joke on his lips and something to drink in hand. Just like Skan. But when friend after friend died, especially an Esper named Ragnorok, and Skan, Skyler grew a harder man, distancing himself from everyone else. Teron had once been decent friends with Skyler, but all they had in common now was their background and the war with Seth.
Teron shook his head. He had been friends with the two, also. But he couldn't worry about them. They were dead. He knew it was cold, seeing them only as soldiers who could no longer fight, but he would have to be cold in order to beat Seth. "Do you have anything to report?" He asked Skyler for the third time today.
Skyler made an exasperated sound, a mocking smile on his face that almost made him looked like the old Skyler. Almost. That smile didn't touch his eyes at all. It was like seeing a rock smile. "Nothing's changed in the past two hours, Teron. There's a new SWORD unit out, we call them Fenrir, but you've heard that already, haven't you?"
Teron's brows lowered angrily, and he was about to berate Skyler for his tone when the door opened up. Thom Seladon walked in, a man dressed in all black slowly trailing after him.
The years had hit Thom terribly. He was only in his mid forties, just a few years older than Teron and Skyler. But anybody who would see his graying hair and the slight limp to his walk would think him well into his fifties. Maybe his sixties.
"We've a new recruit," Thom said. "This name, Kenjii Ikaku."
Skyler narrowed his eyes at the weapon Kenjii held, familiarity crossing his face. The gythka was a weapon native to the Tohr-Kreen. Teron wondered if he had a chatchka or a pelota, as well.
Kenjii met Skyler's hard look, but was the first to turn away. He looked at Teron, a scowl ready to touch his face. "That's right. This geezer here didn't pay me jack-shit for what I gave him, so he led me here. What do you pay?"
Teron glared at Thom for a moment. Thom looked abashed and let himself out of the room. Were they reduced to lying to get new recruits? True, few people dared fight Seth, but this man would doubtless be angry at the truth. The way Skyler eased his hand into his coat - where his weapons were stored - Teron knew that the Esper was having similar thoughts.
Teron stood up, extending a hand. Kenjii ignored it, not taking his gaze off of Teron. "Welcome, Kenjii. To be here, I assume that you share a similar hatred to Seth?"
"Yeah, whatever. Back to the money?"
Teron was hesitated only a moment. "I'm afraid you won't get paid. All money we do get, from people like Thom, goes into supplies and weapons. If you join, you can be assured a place to sleep and food to eat every day. But you won't get paid."
He got the outrage he expected. Teron made sure to punish Thom for this. "What the hell do you mean, no money!?" Kenjii practically roared. "Money makes the world go round, damnit, you should know if you want something done, you better damn well be able to pay for it!"
Skyler stepped in, anger painting his own face. "For what!?" Kenjii blinked, obviously not expecting the Esper to really move. Truth be told, neither had Teron. "Look around you, boy. There is nothing! What can you spend money on? Other than taversn and bars, the only stores open to the public are weapons stores! And like Teron just said, WE supply the weapons. Why do you need money? That's right, you don't! WE need soldiers, and Seth needs to fall. There are two kinds of people, Kenjii, enemies and allies. If you are not our ally, if you take money from us, you are an enemy, and your are HELPING Seth."
Kenjii opened his mouth to say something, then closed it with an audible click of teeth. He glared at Skyler for a few seconds before sighing and looking over at Teron.
"What do I do first?"
Teron opened his mouth to answer, but was interupted when the door slammed open. But instead of Thom coming in, it was Crystal, that odd iguion creature on her heels. Krinn, she called it. Crystal's face was red, and she was panting, as if she'd run a long distance. "What happened? Why are you late?"
Crystal held up a hand, motioning for Teron to wait a moment as she caught her breath. Kenjii put his hand on his chin, rubbing unshaved stubble, smiling appreciatively at Crystal. Skyler's scorching glare wiped off Kenjii's smirk instantly.
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Crystal spoke. "I visited your memorial. To.. visit mother." Her voice cracked a tiny bit on the word "mother". "And, I was attacked! By a bunch of SWORDs; Krinn says they're new models."
"Did they have beam swords? And wheels with excellent balance?" Skyler asked suddenly. Crystal nodded. "Right. Those are new; they're Unit Fenrir."
"Well, whatever they are," Crystal said, "they are STRONG! And fast. It was all I could do just to hit one of them, and even with a lightning strike, they moved on as if it barely fazed them! Anyway, I put all my strength into making a shield, to block their attacks, and I was saved by Slayer!" Crystal's voice, surprisingly, did not hold contempt for having to be saved, like it usually did.
"Slayer?" Skyler asked harshly. "Are you sure?"
Crystal nodded again. "Yeah. He had the long red hair, the black clothes, and the claws." She held up her own fists as if they, too, bore claws. "He took out all the Fenrir by himself. Fifteen! I couldn't even beat one, and he didn't break a sweat. When I touched him, he attacked me!" Krinn looked up at her, and Crystal scowled down at her familiar. "Shut up!" she growled aloud to it.
For the first time, she noticed Kenjii in the room. Staring at her rear end and making no secret of it. Her face flushed with anger. "Who are you!?" she snapped.
"Uh, I'm Kenjii," he mumbled, not moving his eyes.
"Stop staring at my butt!" She glared at Krinn, but if she said anything to him, it was telepathically.
Kenjii smirked and looked up, finally meeting her face. "Hey, I can't help it you've got a nice ass." He looked her up and down. "Come to think of it-"
"That's enough," Teron broke in. Crystal looked ready to fry Kenjii on the spot right now, and half of him didn't mind if she did. "Crystal, you've placed yourself under considerable danger. Again. If you want to look at the memorial, always come back first, and an escort will accompany you there." Teron's eyes flickered to Krinn. "And I don't mean your iguion. Kenjii, you're new here. You'll need somebody to show you the ropes."
Crystal's eyes widened, and a grin spread on Kenjii's face as they both realized what Teron was planning. "No... no!" Crystal said. "I will not work with this... this beast!" Kenjii only chuckled, which infuriated Crystal even more.
"You will," Teron said firmly. "And both of you will cooperate. Either one of your fighting will be unacceptable. Do you hear me?"
Crystal looked like she was only going to argue further, but she just nodded her head sullenly. Kenjii's grin grew. "You betcha," he said.
"OK, you can go," Teron said, sitting down slowly in his chair. "Oh, and Kenjii?" The mercenary turned around to face Teron, two steps closer to the door. "You do ANYTHING, you touch her, you leer at her, in anyway she doesn't want, and I'll nail your tongue to the wall. You got it?"
Kenjii's only answer was laughted and a thumbs up as he left. It would have to do.