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Post by Roderick on Jul 14, 2021 15:53:48 GMT -8
He felt a shot of joy fill him when she said he was right. A smile forming under his ski mask as it rang in his head for a moment. He did enjoy being right. He knew that too much of thinking you’re right was bad by the feeling when you were felt amazing. However, he couldn’t let it last, as he quickly tried to be apathetic about it again. Good thing too as he then tilted his head up from the snow to look at her when he heard her mention Saiyans.
He kept on listening, stopping his shoveling as he listened to her explaining why Saiyans didn’t tend to stay long with her group. He opened his mouth to say something before closing it back up. That did make a lot of sense. Why join and be limited to weapons when you can just fight and use your own body. He felt a bit of rage fill his body as he thought about this. How they could do it so easily. It took people years to accomplish it if you were especially gifted, yet, he heard some Saiyans can do it while just kids! That was such crap! Took them so long to master something when they could do it in no time! Weapons and technology wouldn’t matter. Wouldn’t matter one bit if you could just shoot blasts out your hands! Can’t outsmart them, can’t outfight them. Can’t-….
His rage came to a stop once he heard her speak again. He came out of his thoughts and looked back into the lady’s eyes. He was a bit weirded out, but that was part of the reason he focused again. He listened and get a ping of anger when he heard she’s killed humans, but calmed down when she listed other races. What surprised him the most was Saiyans. She’s killed Saiyans? How would you even do that? They just somehow got stronger during a fight. The more pressure, the stronger they became. How did she kill one? He took this in. He looked down at the ground again. He didn’t want to kill anyone but…
Before he could finish thinking and ask his most awaited question, he heard her speak and ask her own question. He looked back up to the lady. “Oh! Um… you know. Just to shovel. I was bored and ain’t have nothing back… back…” crap, what does he say? “Back… back where I started from! I heard they needed help, so I decided to put my hand in and help! If I can do something about it, why shouldn’t I try?” He gave a smile even if she wouldn’t be able to see it under the mask. That was too vague. He hoped she didn’t call him out like last time. If she even knew what he was going for.
(“476 words. 5,010 words in total.”)
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Post by Emargine "Azure" Cerola on Jul 15, 2021 1:03:21 GMT -8
Cerola resumed shoveling, but kept her eyes on Roderick as he answered this crucial question. After all, when you catch a kid stealing cookies from the cookie jar, you are to expect them to keep hitting you with the question "why", until they were satisfied. Beyond the who, what, when, where, and how, "why" tended to lay the foundation for one's actions. Why shouldn't you take cookies from the jar without permission? Why is having too much sugar bad? Why do people eat sugar then if too much is bad? That sort of train of thought. "Why" gets down to the fundamentals. And Roderick's answer to why was nowhere near as precise as that of a parent who could handle the kid who just wanted a cookie from the jar. He was bored. There was nothing back home. What kind of nothing though? Nothing interesting to do? Nothing worth doing? Nothing to live for? Still, he then added another justification, that if he could somehow help these people out, then why not try? On its surface, a noble, selfless idea. To help just because he could. But to go all the way out here to do it? Were there not people back home who might need the help? More snow flew over her shoulder as the end-of-lunch trumpet sounded. Shouts echoed across the camp below as NCOs pushed their Baby Blues up the slope to get back to shovel snow. In a matter of minutes, the number of people at work more than doubled. "I see." Cerola nodded. "So that's why you're up here. To help out however you can. That's admirable. Not a lot of young people travel so far from home to help other people. Usually they're content to do that for their families, or communities." She looked around at these Baby Blues as they got back to work before focusing on Roderick again. "I was just wondering about one more thing. But if you have any questions so far, don't let me stop you from asking."[341/4990] Roderick
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Post by Roderick on Jul 16, 2021 12:40:35 GMT -8
He waited in anticipation, hoping she wouldn’t question further about why he had come all the way here. He felt his heart jump once she began to speak before letting out a massive internal sigh of relief. He barely had noticed the baby blues come out of their break to keep shoveling, or the trumpet that signaled it. He was just so focused on listening to what she was saying, so he knew how to respond. He had to give just enough information, so she was satisfied. Not too little so she would keep asking or too much that she would have something to start a conversation with. Funny how that went. He didn’t want to have a conversation now. All because she might ask why he came all the way here.
“Ah, well, there wasn’t much need of help back where I came from. I heard they were people here that needed help. Since nobody back where I came from needing help, I decided to come up here and help.” He was going to go back to shoveling when he felt her focus back on him. He turned to look at her once again. Oh gosh, was she going to keep asking? Did she figure out what he was going for?
He was slightly relieved that it was just a question, but it worried him too. What kind of question was she going to ask? “Um… I don’t really have any questions for you, Mam….” Crud, he said Mam. “A-Actually! What’s your name? I can’t exactly remember it. I ain’t too good at remembering names. Forgive me on that.” Maybe that would buy him just a bit more time to think of what to say if she asked more about why he came up here. He could add that it was too hot? Maybe even just that he wanted to start new? He could also just keep asking questions until she was bored with the conversation.
He then went back to shoveling after his question, feeling nervous and worried about what her question would entail.
(“346 words. 5,356 words in total.”)
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Post by Emargine "Azure" Cerola on Jul 16, 2021 17:14:31 GMT -8
How easy it would have been, to take a peek into his head and just find out his reasoning for herself. But Cerola never did like being intrusive, especially on someone who wasn't even an enemy. And certainly not when she was out here in public. Only the Tuffle core and sympathisers within the Dragoons were allowed to know about her psionics. Which put heavy restrictions on its use, yes. But she always did have a strong sense of discipline imbued by her upbringing. Those rare times she was operating in an unrestrained capacity, she would consider as excellent opportunities to cut loose and unleash her full abilities. Like a soda bottle erupting after you shook it so much before opening. Enjoyable times. This wasn't one of them though. And she did have a different sort of social enjoyment, just naturally learning about someone through a simple conversation. Things were usually best with consent from both parties, after all. If Roderick wasn't willing to explain why he was here to its fullest extent, then far be from her to pry it out of his brain with her psionic interrogation skills. That simply wasn't ethical. Still, that explanation was fair, even if it didn't cut to the heart of the matter. Roderick seemed like a good kid with good intentions. The reasons behind those intentions could wait, and reveal themselves in their own time. "Well, it's good that your home is doing fine. Not a lot of places get that kind of peace. With the Great Demon King's armies frequently attacking the north, centre, and west, and the many ruthless little demon kingdoms in the south, we've had plenty of practise killing demons and other beings with the power to threaten peaceful civilisations."The influx of Baby Blues was all they needed, apparently. This area was cleared of snow in short order once they arrived. Cerola slung her shovel over her shoulder and took another bite from her chocolate bar. She gave Roderick a tap on the shoulder, gesturing for him to look up at a certain ridge a short distance to the west, also an area of the village. "I think we're done at this spot. Let's try that one next." She then spoke into her radio. <<Let's get moving, everyone! Next snow zone is just over that ridge!>> Like clockwork, her troops packed up and followed her as she went up the ridge. Roderick asked again for her name, as he'd forgotten. She nodded at this admission, before shrugging it off. "It's fine. Some people are just forgetful, true. But try relaxing a bit more often. Stress impairs the memory. See if that helps. As for my name, it is Azure. These troops are my Dragoons. And that is why we are called 'Azure's Dragoons.'"How long had it been? Well over a decade now, really... ever since she came of age and was given this new identity. Sent to the Southern Lands to infiltrate a Red Ribbon remnants organisation, the Golden Gate Army. During that time, General Cerola became Colonel Azure. And it wasn't all that different, really. She'd grown rather comfortable with the name. She wore it proudly on her shoulders. Finding herself at the top of the ridge, she started shoveling again. Yes, the snow should easily be gone before dinner time. "Our services include anything security related for whoever can afford them. But we have most of our experience protecting villages from demon raiders and other miscreants, in exchange for supplies. They might be tough and look scary as HFIL, but once you know they can bleed, you know you can kill them."And if someone asked her about it, personally, she would've admitted that she was starting to enjoy that. Not the killing itself per se... but the game of figuring out how to kill a being that in older times, would be unstoppable even when faced with a veritable army of spearmen, archers, and cavalry. The challenge of figuring out how to do so was almost like a puzzle game to her. Intellectually satisfying to one who trained to be a strategist. Like pulling off a masterstroke in a game of chess. [701/5691] Roderick
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Post by Roderick on Jul 16, 2021 22:19:28 GMT -8
If he knew about her ability to read mind, and he knew that she willingly decided not to use it, regardless of the reason, he would’ve been very happy about it. He didn't want anyone reading his mind. He didn’t want anyone in his mind. Not only that, but he didn’t want anyone trying to control his mind. Anything having to do with outside forces messing with his mind was something he absolutely loathed. Sure, maybe if it was just talking between minds and maybe even sending emotions but reading minds? No! He hated that! Mostly on his mind! Was it selfish? Maybe…. He just didn’t want anyone reading his mind. He wanted to keep to himself on that.
He managed to maintain focus, somehow easier than last time. “Thank you, Mam. I know I’m very lucky to have, where I came from, be relatively safe from harm. Also, it’s surprising to me how open and honest you are with people you’ve killed. Most people like to be quiet or closed about that stuff, y’know?” He genuinely was surprised she didn’t have any qualms talking about that. To his knowledge, of course. However, it did seem she didn’t. If what she was saying was true, then she seemed open about having killed a wide variety of people, so it couldn’t just be hatred towards one race.
He was continuing to shovel when he felt the tap. He instinctively felt like punching the person who tapped his shoulder, but managed to compose himself as he looked over to the lady. His gaze moved over to where she was gesturing. He saw the ridge and pondered for a moment if he should go. He decided to go in the end. What was he going to do? Stay here and not shovel snow? He hoisted the shovel over his shoulder before looking up and walking with the lady to the ridge. He still didn’t know her name- oh wait, she was telling him right now.
He was interested in how she knew about stress causing memory loss. Was that true? He couldn’t even check since his phone died! That was his main source of memory checking. Also, information checking. In addition, with his procrastination. Also, his lack of sleep habits… okay so maybe it was good the phone was dead. Wait, he was bored! Never mind, phone needs to be charged. Wait, here comes her name! Azure? That… was a bit underwhelming. He expected a little more… something. Maybe he was just expecting a different name. It was missing something. He wasn’t sure. Well, it was her name. He couldn’t even try to be kind like she was by bringing up a fact about it. He didn’t know what Azure meant! First thing that pops into his mind when he thinks of Azure is alluring. Maybe it meant alluring? He wasn’t sure, “Relax? Um, I think I’m pretty relaxed, Miss- I mean Alure- I MEAN Azure.” He felt his heart rate go up, “Besides, I’m shoveling and stepping in snow. I find that relaxing. Not sure how much more relaxed I can get. Finally, I’ll try not to forget your name again. Like I’ve said before, I just ain’t too good with names.” Damn was he a talker. Probably a bad one but still a talker. “Wait, ‘Azures Dragoon’s?’ What does that mean? Are you the leader of the PMC? What does Dragoon mean? Why do you call yourself that?” God does he need to shut up. He was annoying himself. Kinda made him want to slap himself.
Finally, he listened to her answer to his last question. Last, as in the last question he managed to squeeze in before he ran out of breath to talk. Wait, did he ask her a question about what her PMC did? If he had, he couldn’t remember. No matter if he did or not, He was nowhere near done with questions. He stopped at the top of the ridge with her and began to shovel with her, trying to be in sync with her, so he could hear what she was saying without the sound of snow being shoveled drowning out what she was saying. “Oh! It’s like that saying ‘If it can bleed, it can die.’? Do you accept any type of payment then? It doesn’t have to be strictly monetary gain? It can be supplies like guns or food? Maybe even just clothing?” He was very interested in this. He always thought about the money part, but really didn’t focus on the parts that the PMC needed. Him just thinking it was straight up money or no deal. Heh! Maybe that’s how they got that many chocolate bars. Maybe they were hired by a chocolate factory man one day and in return, they were given chocolate bars. That sounded like a ‘sweet’ deal! Ha! Puns. But in all seriousness, he was hungry for chocolate now. How quick could he search her pockets for chocolate before she would notice…. Wait, what the heck was a HFIL?
(“842 words in total. 6.198 words in total.”)
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Post by Emargine "Azure" Cerola on Jul 17, 2021 4:11:11 GMT -8
Work on the snowy ridge started fast. It wasn't surprising, given the fresh blood of all the Baby Blues now focused on getting the job done. Cerola continued to shovel, noticing that yes, Roderick was timing his work to match her pace almost exactly. Was it that he wanted to show that he could keep up? Maybe. All of the nearby Baby Blues seemed to be doing it, or even trying to outpace her. Their loss. That would lead to fatigue later on. Could there have been another reason? Well, they were talking, and shoveling snow was noisy. That could have been another reason. Either way, she could hear him perfectly when he responded to what she had to say, smiling and nodding at his acknowledgement that his home was safe. As well as his pointing out how surprisingly honest she was about her history of killing. Cerola nodded. "Yes, I've nothing to hide when it comes to that. That's what it means to take up arms. Whether in service of your nation, or for your own reasons. If you're going to get into a profession involving weapons, you have to be prepared to kill. Whether it's an invader, or terrorists, or raiders attacking villages... anything that has the capacity to lethally threaten your mission, must be met with force, up to and including lethal force. It would be nice if you could always shoot to disable rather than kill. But in combat, it's never as predictable as the video games. No NPC is going to teach you where to aim, or give you a useful stun gadget. There are always risks. And when it comes down to the wire, when I have to choose between keeping the enemy alive, or protecting my men, I always choose my men."And sometimes, even that commitment isn't enough. It certainly wasn't during the war against the Saiyans. No matter how hard she tried, when you were up against a fully mobilised multi-tribal horde of superhuman warriors, someone was going to die. And often times, that death was out of her hands. She continued to shovel as he asked about relaxation. It was a good question. And it was a telling commentary. What some of these Baby Blues would no doubt consider back breaking labour, Roderick considered relaxation. If you combined that with his audacity to come all the way up here just to help somebody, that said a lot about his endurance. She smiled. "That's great. This kind of work really should be relaxing. It has none of the stress of battle. I'm glad you're enjoying it."Real points for effort with trying to get her name right, too. He was determined to do so. And as he heard the name of the outfit, it seemed he put two and two together. "You're exactly right. Azure's Dragoons. My Dragoons. I am the commanding officer - the leader - of this PMC." Now, it was good that he was asking more questions. Indeed, it sounded like he wanted to know more. And she would answer them as best she could. So that if ever he decided to try out - still not quite certain, and not necessarily the objective - he would know what he was getting into. "Dragoon is an old word. It goes back to the years before cars. When soldiers would fight on foot, or horseback. Infantry fought on foot. Cavalry fought while riding horses. Dragoons were something in between... they moved around quickly on horses, but would get off to fight. Today, my Dragoons ride to battle on those vehicles." She pointed back at the camp further down the slope. "Armoured transports, dropships... And when we arrive, we get down and fight. We're fast, and we hit hard."There was nothing quite like the thrill of roping down a cable from a dropship a hundred or more feet in the air. Or occasionally, just jumping out and landing on the ground with a mighty stomp. But before anything else, there were other questions to answer, as they continued to shovel in sync, snow quickly diminishing. "Yes, they're probably variants of the same saying. A simple enough principle, I think. As for what payment we take, it really depends on the clients we taken on. Before any negotiations are made, we assess their capability to pay us for our services. Cash would be nice, since everybody respects a good zeni. But where value can be found in other goods we can use, and zeni is either something they lack or something we need less, we'll take the other goods. It really depends on our needs. We don't have a government to pay for and take care of us. I would say we had a lucky start. So we're in no rush to buy guns or clothes per se. But food, gas, maintenance supplies? Yes, we'll take them."Cerola took another bite from her chocolate bar and, noticing an opportunity for an example, she held it up. "We bought these with money, because they provide a specific need. They last for quite a while in storage, and they're rich in calories. Perfect for emergency food on the go."[863/6554] Roderick
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Post by Roderick on Jul 18, 2021 22:20:20 GMT -8
There was some truth to what she was thinking. While he was doing this to make sure they could hear the other properly, a part of him was doing this to prove he could keep up. Something in him wanted to at least keep up with the leader of a PMC. If he could do that, then maybe he could try bigger things. One step at a time, right?
From what he knew, people didn’t tend to like talking about people they’ve killed. It was just a running trend he expected to keep going. He wasn’t too dumb, though. He knew there had to be someone who wouldn’t mind talking about it. He just didn’t expect to meet them. Which was why he was so surprised by how she talked about it, and even more so by her logic behind it. It made sense to him, but he didn’t think he would meet someone with that kind of logic. However, reaching the part about lethal force did get him to think even more than he had been before. If he was honest to himself, he had entertained the idea of joining the military. Being on the front lines. However, he hoped he would be subduing rather than killing. He knew that was a fantasy before hearing it from her. A leader of a PMC… it got him to really start accepting the fact that maybe you can’t always subdue someone. You might have no stun gadget or NPC to teach you… but that was just in military life. He wasn’t going to join the military anytime soon… maybe… he wasn’t sure yet. If he was, maybe he should just be a chef… protect your men first rather than the enemy… that logic did make sense. It was morally right too…. Right? He thought about this until she spoke again, this time about relaxation?
“O-Oh! Thank you. It’s just the sound of the snow and the tossing of the shovel with the snow crumpling on other snow is relaxing to me. The snow, the white powder, and the chill air really helps me relax but stay focused. I don’t know. Just having something to do that’s a little easy but still challenging is easy. I’m probably making no sense, but it’s just relaxing.” He was just spewing whatever came out of his head.
Names were a part of spewing things from his head too. He just couldn’t get names right. He would come up with words close to somebody’s name, and even that was rare. Usually, he just came up blank when trying to remember someone’s name. Oh wait, she was saying he was right about something. Release the dopamine! “Wow, so you’re the leader of your own private military! How did you done do that?” Bad language, but he did have a slight lisp, and he just slipped on his words occasionally. “Was it hard? How do you even start something like that? Are you rich?” Okay, maybe that was too many questions. Maybe he should leave the nice old lady alone. She wasn’t old… Wait… how old was she? He forgot already. Crap. Did she even tell him? If she did, he didn’t remember. Least he can try to remember the rest of what she says?
Meaning of words could be something he can remember. He got a good sense of what a word meant if it was explained to him. He glanced over to the camp when she pointed his attention over to them. He could see a blur of a truck down there, but he was pretty sure it was there. “So… dragoon’s originally meant a person who could fight on horseback and on foot. Sort of like a marine can fight on land and sea. Interesting. Now you use the words for someone you can operate vehicles like trucks and airships but also fight on land too?” He hoped ‘airships’ was the correct term. If it wasn’t, oh well. He hoped she knew what he meant if that was the case.
Movies would call jumping from a high place and landing down with a stomp a ‘superhero landing’. He didn’t watch too many movies, but he did know that trope. Enough with that though. He was so focused on talking with her that he barely noticed how quickly them and the blues were getting through with clearing through the snow. He had focused too much on the conversation and not a lot to the actually shoveling. Only paying minimal attention to keep up with the lady. He focused on listening and heard about how good, gas, and maintenance supplies were a legitimate payment for them. Along with that, they actually just bought those chocolate bars with money. A bit of a boring explanation, but not everything could be exciting. He did find it amusing she didn’t directly call them chocolate bars and just rich in calories. She even called them emergency food. It took a chuckle out of him. “Hehe, do you always buy those ‘rich in calories’ bars, Mam? Why not buy something like… like…” oh god, his mind was going blank again. He couldn’t remember the word. “Like… like… I’m sorry. I can’t remember the word. My minds blank… protein bars! Why don’t you buy protein bars, or is that something you already have? It’s just that chocolate bars are tastier?”
(“897 words. 7,095 words in total.”)
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Post by Emargine "Azure" Cerola on Jul 21, 2021 7:49:23 GMT -8
"I think I get what you're trying to say," Cerola set the chocolate bar aside and resumed shoveling. Around them, the Baby Blues continued to get that snow out of the way. Soon, they might be able to move on to the next area. "Relaxation doesn't always mean doing absolutely nothing. Rather, it's doing something that doesn't stress you out. An activity that allows you to focus on the present, like your senses, while remaining worthwhile. That's a well balanced idea, I think. You're relaxed, but your time isn't wasted."Yes, she had done her share of meditation and low-intensity training, the former especially to help centre her psionics. Just focusing on her breathing, entertaining individual thoughts without assimilating into them... Basic meditation not too different from some schools of martial arts with their breathing exercises. But this greatly reduced stress, and more importantly, increased her capacity to utilise her psionics more effectively. Roderick went on to ask the inevitable questions of how she got started. Well, that was simple enough. The mercenary smiled wistfully as she reminisced on artificial memories that had been implanted into her brain prior to leaving Command Centre ISLET her mission. While she knew they were fake, they felt real enough that she could truly express such feelings of nostalgia, as if she truly had lived this fake life. It wasn't hard, though. Because it felt a lot like her time fighting against the Saiyans in the War for Planet Plant. It was probably tailored to fit her true history in that sense... "Most of us veterans in the Dragoons come from the Southern Lands. It's a dangerous place, full of demons and monsters. A village doesn't survive if it doesn't know how to defend itself, or serve powerful enough masters. My village was the former. We grew up learning to survive. To run when we couldn't win. To hide when we couldn't fight. And to fight as smart as possible. We were doing fine."The breeze picked up for a moment, some Baby Blues stopping to shiver. But not the Boss. "When I turned 18, I left to see what the world was like outside the village and surrounding areas. An adventure, you might say." She stopped to pull an old bruised silver medallion from her pocket. On it was embossed the shape of a ribbon with two R's on the surface. "You might have heard of the Red Ribbon Army. It was a powerful mercenary force before that legendary hero Kakarot broke it to pieces. Well, the pieces tried to pick themselves up. Some did better than others. I ended up joining one of them, the Golden Gate Army. They were doing alright. And I figured since they were fighting demons, I might as well pitch in."And that was where the lie ended. This was real now. Cerola went on to explain how her background in survival helped her succeed, how she rose through the ranks and became a leader within the Golden Gate. How she and her men distinguished themselves by their superior performance in air assault. Zipping down from helicopters and dropships on cables in the middle of intense battles, then quickly scoring victories against whatever demons and monsters they were fighting at the time. Azure's Dragoons earned the favour of General Gold, the Golden Gate's leader. In recognition of their achievements, he gave them access to the army's best equipment. And then he was assassinated. Cerola's eyes narrowed as she explained the Golden Gate Army breaking up as various leaders took their own men and did their own thing. How she spent this time investigating the murder and finally caught the culprit. General Gold had built something good, and given people in their region a purpose. To fight back against the monsters that stepped on ordinary people like them. And yet Brigadier Bronze, for whatever reason, decided to ruin it. And so, for what he had done, she executed the traitor on a livestream connected to all the remaining Golden Gate commanders. She looted Brigadier Bronze's bunker, taking all of his assets: weapons, supplies, vehicles, money, secrets, and anyone who cared to join her. Azure's Dragoons declared they were leaving the region, and going to fight without the restraints of politics. They would go out into the world, where they could continue to grow strong, and make an honest living by doing what they knew best: fighting. Cerola chuckled to herself at the end of that. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for the story to get so long. But yes, it was hard. I had to prove myself to the leadership. And more importantly, prove myself to my men. We're not a government military. Any of these boys could drop out whenever they feel like I'm doing a bad job... like wasting a good contract. And while I've proven myself, I have to make sure I don't fail the trust they continue to give me. As for rich? Well... I guess if we sold all our weapons, vehicles, and the like... we'd probably be swimming in pools of cash. But then we'd have sold off our identities as warriors too. Right now, we have some zeni to spare. Just enough to get by... but we have something worth much more: our warrior's dignity."Funny how that sounded. And yet, it was true. It wasn't quite the same as say, a Sayaian, who would never retreat. They knew when to retreat, after all. But it was something equally strong. Roderick then commented on the chocolate bar. Ah, of course. A chocolate bar was a good thing to talk about. And what about protein bars, then? "It's really simple. Protein bars are a grow food. But a soldier's life needs go food. Yes, there's a time and place for protein. But when you're on the go like this, nothing gives you the rapid energy you need like carbs. Depending on who you ask, a high protein diet might actually end up causing your body to cannibalise your muscles."She wasn't big on the science behind that. But chocolate bars worked good, and protein bars were great for when they were stationary. Like at a base. That last question addressed, the general pretending to be a mercenary colonel tipped her hat and went back to shoveling. Yeah, this ridge should be done soon... [1061/7615] Roderick
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Post by Roderick on Jul 23, 2021 23:36:03 GMT -8
He felt… well… he wanted to feel happy at her understanding. It wasn’t strong. It actually was faint, but he did feel happy that she understood him. With all his ramblings and confusing manner of speaking. He needed to work on that if he wanted to be a nice person to talk to. At least hang around. He wanted to have people to talk to. First thing to do is actually listen. Now listen before you mishear something! He got snip it’s of what she said, and he looked down, away from her gaze. “Uh, yeah. Doing something and not wasting your time. It doesn’t have to be hard. As long as you’re not wasting your time and still doing something you like.” He hoped he responded like he actually knew what she was talking about. He didn’t hear everything she said, but he hoped it was enough.
He hoped for a lot of things nowadays. Whether that was good or bad was unclear to him. On one hand, it was good to hope for things. Good to hope that something good will happen to today or tomorrow. Good to hope that you’ll be better. On the other hand, you could hope for the wrong thing and what you hoped for could be worse than how you were before. Also, it could make him ambitious, but his laziness could kick in and stop him from completing what he was hoping to do. The disappointment kicking in and… his demotivation… coming back again… running… he shook his head suddenly. While she may not know it, he did this just to try and forget the thought or just not to think about it anymore.
He was grateful when she began to talk about how she started her group. Something to keep his mind off his thoughts. He listened about how her village was self-sufficient. Could stand on its own two legs. They had to. The demon and monsters wouldn’t just leave them alone. Not without ‘incentive’ from another force. But like she had said, they didn’t have such a force. Either they didn’t want said force, or they just couldn’t get one. It still was surprising to hear, though she came from the southern lands. That was quite a distance away from the northern lands…. He thinks so, anyway. He wasn’t too keen on geography. Not only that, but he wasn’t sure how far something was in comparison to something else. He needed time to travel a distance to realize how far something is. Learning addresses was hard enough. Let alone learning how far away land masses were from each other… wait… did he repeat his own thought process? Was that normal? He couldn’t dwell on it, she was speaking again on her past. What he thought was her past any who. He wouldn’t stop to consider if she was telling the truth until long after this conversation was over.
18? That’s how old they were when they left. Huh, he felt a bit of pride in knowing that he went on his own little adventure younger than she did. Did this count as an adventure? It probably didn’t… red ribbon army…? He lifted his head up from shoveling snow when he heard this and glanced up at the lady, noticing the silver medallion with the symbol of the Red Ribbon Army on it. He heard her tell her explanation. Something about it being a powerful force and some hero breaking it apart. Kakarot… that sounded a bit Saiyan. He didn’t think about it too long as he focused more about how she discovered one of the remnants. Golden Gate Army. From how she was describing it, it seemed like she hadn’t founded it. Well… she did ‘find’ it but didn’t found it. Different definitions, people. She joined the organization to help against the demons. Wasn’t such a bad goal. He ever wondered if there were any good demons.
Once, the story began to really take off, he… he kinda zoned out. Sure, he did some in occasionally to listen, but he only got snip-its of what she said. He kinda forgot or just didn’t listen to most of what she said. However! He did understand that her and her men were excellent at coming down helicopters and trucks. Were fantastic at strategy and getting a lot of victories, Which then propelled them through the ranks to the position of overseeing their best equipment? Or was it access to their best equipment? Who gave them access? General Gold? Heh! They named the army after themselves! Kinda funny. He assumed they were the founder of that remnant. Now, onto the assassination. He wished he was more focused and more attentive when she told him the story, but… he just wasn’t that type of person. He, again, zoned out when her explanation got serious. Most of it was background noise to his intruding thoughts. All he managed to get from her story was that General Gold was assassinated by Brigadier Bronze- Wait, that was funny. That made him focus in again before quickly losing focus as she kept talking. It was sad because General Gold was a good person. She investigated and found out that Bronze did it, executed them on a livestream before taking all of their crap! He finally gained focus at that last part as his eyes widened in shock. It was one thing to admit killing an undisclosed amount of people. It was different to him, though, when you admit to killing a person with a name like that! In such a manner, too! On a livestream no less! He wasn’t sure how to view her now, if this was even true, but he knew he had to view her in some different way. Right? She didn’t even sound regretful about it, too! He managed to listen fully about how her group of dragoon’s left and became their own thing and just fight for a living… what a story. After all that… he was glad he had been looking away, so she couldn’t tell that he had zoned out for most of her story.
His mind was rattled to say the least after having to listen to that long story. He was glad she acknowledged it was long, too. He tortured his attention span even more by having to listen about how she had to prove herself to her men, they weren’t a government's pet, not wanting to be lazy and have money, Warriors pride. Yada Yada. Oh god, his brain felt like mush after all that. Her preaching was killing him. He hoped she was done talking. He just nodded along whatever she said, hoping she would think he was listening intently. If he talked, he was afraid she would notice his tone.
He regretted commenting on the chocolate bars once she began to speak again. He felt like banging his head against the wooden pole of the shovel. He forced his mind to endure another grueling minute of her talking. In the end, he was glad he did. He gained some, hopefully, valuable information. Carbs weren’t all bad! If you were working strenuously, carbs could help quickly replenish that energy you exerted. Protein did help but eating it all the time could hurt you in the long run. Interesting thing to note. He glanced over to her just at the right moment to see her tipping her hat. So, tipping hats wasn’t just from one group. It was universal. Hurray…
Once the sweet silence came in, he internally sighed relief. He could rest his mind. He was mentally exhausted now… Wait… he couldn’t rest his mind… he was still shoveling!! Ahhhh!!! This relaxing time spent shoveling was now turning into a mental weight on his mind! He would have to actually force himself to keep shoveling! AHHHH! Why?!?! He should just keep his mouth shut, so he wouldn’t have to listen to her yapping! She could ramble… wait… he thought about how he had been feeling just now and just how he had been thinking about her and… oh crap, he was a jerk. She was just telling her story to him because he asked, and here he was, being annoyed and complaining inside his head about her talking too much! She was trying to be kind! It ain’t her fault that he’s such a jerk! He felt guilt creeping on his back as he let out a silent gulp. Him swallowing his annoyance to return being calm. He was way too harsh on her. Should he apologize? She didn’t know. He thinks so, anyway. If she brings up anything about him being annoyed, he’ll apologize and say he had been for a moment. He had to be honest about it at the very least.
He looked up, around at the baby blues and the snow. They were almost down here too. The snow was clearing up thanks to their shoveling.
It did… feel nice…. It felt calming…
(“1,500 words. 8,595 words in total.”)
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Post by Emargine "Azure" Cerola on Jul 31, 2021 7:47:31 GMT -8
The combined effort of thousands of shovels made quick work of the snow on this ridge. Cerola surveyed their work of having cleared out the way, and seeing a lot of dirt and road, deemed it satisfactory. She mounted her Scouter onto her left eye and broadcast to the whole of the working force. "Job well done, everyone! On to the next target, down that slope."It wasn't like perfect clockwork yet, but they were getting there. Carnation sent her some data and as it turned out, a few dozen had thrown in the towel and submitted their resignation forms to the Recruitment Officer. Apparently they weren't interested in shoveling so much. Well, that was how this process went. Many of the activities were intended to push recruits to their mental and physical limits. If they were fit, but couldn't handle the pressure of a drill chief shouting them down all the time, then it was no good. If they could shovel all day, but can't stand the abject boredom of doing so, then it was no good. Boredom was a constant enemy of someone out on a deployment. They would have to learn how to cope, or else they wouldn't make it. The general led the way down the ridge and toward the slope, where they would resume shoveling. If there was something Cerola could thank the stars for, it was that this was nothing new to someone like her, who grew up in the cold north of Planet Plant. It was actually kind of homey. Hopefully, these quiet few minutes of moving to the next target would help give poor Roderick some rest. He didn't say anything, but she could tell that he was having trouble listening. Well... it wasn't surprising. When your life story was as colourful as hers, then it would indeed take quite a while to finish it. Most people would probably just ask her to stop, and yet he actually managed to put up with it. Was it because he was pushing himself to focus, or because he was too afraid to ask her to stop? Was he just trying to sleep in the bed he made, since he asked all those questions in the first place? Well, why he did it was an interesting question, yes, but he was still a kid. It would be a good question to consider when he was feeling better. After all, he wasn't a Baby Blue. He wasn't trying to get into her unit. She was under no obligation to treat him like the rest of her men. "It's alright," Cerola gave a reassuring smile as she resumed shoveling the snow. "I know that was a lot to take in. Boring old war stories probably aren't your cup of tea anyway, and sometimes, it's just good to have silence out in the field. Of course if you have anything you might want to talk about, I'm all ears. Or hell, you can get some revenge and tell me your life story!"A chuckle, to soften the blow. Keep him grounded in the fact that this was all in jest. Sure, she was interested in his life story, since she barely knew anything about him. But she wouldn't hold it against Roderick, if he wanted to keep that part of him private. After all, she was just a strange old lady running a mercenary group! [567/8182] Roderick
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Post by Roderick on Jul 31, 2021 20:34:12 GMT -8
He would wipe the sweat of his brow if he could. If he could even touch his mask, if the mask hadn’t already absorbed the sweat, if he wasn’t already cold, and if he wasn’t even sweating… he would’ve wiped the sweat off his brow. He glanced over to the lady as she put on the scouter. He had seen scouters in movies. However, seeing it in person was so different. He felt like he was standing right next to an important person. Well, she was important! She was the leader of a PMC, for god’s sake! He listened to what she had to say and watched everyone begin to head over on towards the slope. There was still more?? Jeez, he knew the town wasn’t too small, but are they kidding him? He didn’t mind working, but having to work more than he thought did upset him, but not too much. He did enjoy shoveling snow. His mouth opened to speak before realizing he was being a jerk/brat earlier for being annoyed about her answering his question. He closed his mouth right up after that and looked down. He should just stay quiet.
His attention went over to the soldier turning in their resignation forms after just that. He didn’t really think anyone would call quits. They had come this far, why quit? Maybe their body’s just couldn’t keep going? Or was it just boredom? He wasn’t entirely sure. He would one day have to learn to focus and not daydream too much, as his focus came back, Cerola was already going down the hill. He began to panic and followed her down the ridge. “H-Hey! Don’t leave me behind!” He quickly ran behind her without falling or slipping on his butt. He broke the silence not even a minute in. “Sorry, I don’t know we were already going.” He panted just a bit, walking by her side normally.
He could tell by her smile, she was trying to calm him down. A warm feeling filled him in response to the smile, but he tried to keep that to himself. He didn’t want to… he didn’t want to…. He wasn’t sure. Maybe he just didn't want to feel reassured for some reason. He continued to listen, picking up on how she was talking all comfortable around him. He wasn’t sure on how to feel on this. Should he try talking back like he was comfortable with her? Was he comfortable with her? She was still some random lady to him. An acquaintance at best. An enemy at worst. He just chuckled back and shook his head. “Hehe, I don’t know. I don’t feel like talking too much anymore.” He was quiet after that, finally shutting up… until he didn’t. “My tongue is tired from making words… I… I’m not sure what else to talk about.” He could talk about his past, but he really didn’t want to. But she told him her past. That could all be made up, you know? Maybe not all of it. How did he know? … “What's yer fav’O’rite color, miss?” He emphasized the O in the word for some reason. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe his accent just decided to do that. Gosh, he would never be a smooth talker at this rate. This probably wouldn’t be good for convincing people. Why did he even want to be good at convincing people anyway? Was it just for self-improvement? Or did he have something else in mind? He didn’t want to admit it to himself. Maybe later he could figure out the reason why.
(“600 words. 9,195 words in total.”)
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Post by Emargine "Azure" Cerola on Aug 10, 2021 9:55:47 GMT -8
"It's fine," Cerola brushed off the apology in a lighthearted fashion as she continued to shovel. Soon, this would be over. And then they could all have a nice dinner around sundown, before moving on toward the next checkpoint. But well, there were other things to deal with while they were here, like this kid Roderick. "You're not one of my Baby Blues. Right now, the only person you have to keep up with is yourself."She didn't know why he really did come up here. To shovel snow? To do some good to some people who needed it? That was cute. But that was such a shallow reason. It could work for a Saiyan. It was easy for a Saiyan with all that power, to do good for the shallowest of reasons. It was easy for them, after all. And perhaps, some people who were altruistic enough, would certainly go and shovel snow for this village if that was their nature. Roderick might have been something like that. But was he really? Cerola wouldn't rule it out, at least, not until she could verify whether or not he was that sort. It was odd, how he answered her suggestion. Yes, he said he was tired of talking. Interesting. But was he ready to fight the boredom of silent snow? In the distance, she could hear the voices. Other groups were talking too. They weren't robots, after all. They were people. And people fought boredom one way or another. Those who'd left couldn't cope. And talking was one way of coping. Still, despite saying this, he eventually started talking again. It was small talk. There was some unusual variation in his accent, but that was no issue, really. Cerola looked at him, then she looked up at the clear blue sky. Last night was snowy. But today, it was beautiful. "Azure. It's another old word. It means 'sky blue'." That was why she chose that name when she joined the Golden Gate Army. It reminded her of the sky. The rising tension of flying about in an aircraft. The thrill of zipping down to the ground with nothing but a rope - or often times, just dropping down when armoured up. Those power armour suits could certainly take the pounding of gravity easy. "What about you? What's your favourite colour?"Depending on the kind of person you were, small talk was either nice, or a shallow annoyance. A smokescreen to keep you from talking about the truly meaningful things. But if Roderick wanted to try small talk, then she would certainly oblige him. Might as well see if he was into small talk, or the deeper things... [446/8628] Roderick
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Post by Roderick on Aug 10, 2021 11:30:43 GMT -8
Roderick would feel just a little better at Azure telling him it was fine. A small smile on his face as they walked towards… he forgot. Oh, well. He heard what she said and wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Was that supposed to be rude? Or just a simple fact, she didn’t mean to come off as rude? Maybe that was a good thing she was trying to tell him? He didn’t answer any of what she said yet, mostly because he didn’t know how to.
He began replaying events in his head, from how he met her in the forest to their time shoveling on the hill. His time with her wasn’t actually that long now that he thought about it. They had just known each other for around 15 minutes. Maybe more, but it couldn’t be more than an hour. So could he really trust her?… he was repeating the same thoughts in his head, wasn’t he?
The sound of her talking interrupted his repetitive thought process, and he looked up at her. Azure meant sky blue? Azure was her name, right? Maybe it was. God, he couldn’t remember a name to save his life. “Sky blue? Who gave you that name? Is Azure actually your name, or is it actually just a name you gave yourself?” Maybe he had stumbled upon an actual good question?
His energy briefly showed when she asked what his favorite color was, “Blue! Definitely blue! It’s actually kinda funny that your ‘name’ means sky blue. It fits. Maybe we should be friends, or am I getting way too ahead of myself?” He felt giddy and happy all of a sudden. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt like he shouldn’t be. A feeling of confusion washed over him before he shook his head to try and stop the feeling of joy. He probably looked crazy to her.
(“317 words. 9,512 words in total.”)
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Post by Emargine "Azure" Cerola on Aug 13, 2021 8:23:19 GMT -8
"I chose it myself," No reason to be coy about such a question. When you talked about the remnants of the Red Ribbon Army, they kept up this fine tradition of picking code names for themselves. Well, that was the tradition, at any rate. It was unclear if there were people who were literally named after colours. Who names their kid Red, right? The sort of guy who would go out to be the very best, like no one ever was? "It's an old tradition in the various groups descended from the Red Ribbon Army. Once you get high enough among their ranks, you pick a colour as your new name."Cerola continued to shovel, keeping an eye on the numbers in her scouter. It seemed like more Baby Blues were starting to hit their limits. Yes, the mission up north would include lots more digging. So it was a good thing they were bailing out now, rather than later. She would have to remember to treat those who made it past this hurdle tonight. Double rations was viable given their current supply. It was important messaging to let them know that this particular activity was important. And even though the Engineering Platoon was busy further up north establishing their base, including the Capsulefood™ system that would provide them with all the fresh food they would ever need, they hadn't reached that location yet. They were still running on rations. They knew that situation, though. And so this reward would have that extra meaning to them, for sure. "Some cultures are like that, letting you choose a name for yourself. In that way, your identity becomes something you truly own. My old name is what my parents gave me. My name now is what I chose for myself. In this colour, Azure, I am free as the open sky."That probably would have made certain people laugh. It was overly romanticised. But you didn't have to be utilitarian all the time. Roderick then shared his own favourite colour. Blue, huh? He was right when he pointed it out as a rather appropriate coincidence. They both enjoyed shades of blue. Now whether he was being honest, or if he was just trying to get on her good side was another matter. At the very least, she saw no rational reason for why he would attempt to fabricate common ground. Why would he want that, exactly? Conversation was supposed to be more of learning about each other, rather than to impress, after all. The mercenary leader smiled. "There's no question, a lot of friendships start out on common ground. Though for it to endure, you should learn to adapt to the things you don't have in common. You don't have to change your own likes to match mine, for example. You don't even have to agree with me on the things you see as most important. But so long as you can get along with someone despite your differences, it should work out."Should they be friends, though? "I live a dangerous life. If that's not a problem with you, then I don't see why we can't be friends. But that's my end, and friendship goes two ways. The real question, is whether you really want us to be friends."[548/9176] Roderick
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Post by Roderick on Aug 19, 2021 20:26:45 GMT -8
He really wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Maybe something more… dramatic? Life wasn’t dramatic, y’know? “Oh, you chose it yourself? Heh, I guess ‘Azure’ was a real big round about saying Blue General? Did somebody else already have the name Blue?” He asked with a chuckle. He was curious though if somebody actually did pick a name like that already. Would he have to choose a name that meant blue too? That was his favorite color, after all. Speaking of which-
He noticed in the corner of his eye that more baby blues were leaving. They hadn’t even got to the north yet, and some were already quitting? He would’ve at least tried to reach the next destination before quitting. That was if he was aware that they were going up north. He looked up at her. “So… mam, OH! Urrh…. Azure? What’s that weird monocle you have? I see it has numbers on it and I can faintly hear the sounds coming from it. What does that do? Is it a radio?” He had a feeling he knew what it was, but he had to make sure before jumping to conclusions.
Free as the sky? He didn’t know, the sky felt pretty limiting to him. He had an innate curiosity of what her old name was, but wasn’t going to ask any time soon. If he asked now, they might ruin any chances of them being friends. “Huh, I guess that does make sense. It does seem cool that even your name is yours.” He couldn’t really focus anymore. Once he was in the groove of shoveling, his mind just went to static, so he wouldn’t be bored in case he ever decided shoveling was too much. Even with that relaxing feeling of shoveling, too much of it bored him. Wait, was he supposed to be listening to someone?
He lifted his head to listen to what she was saying about friendship and how he didn’t have to pretend to have something in common. This causing him to tilt his head in confusion as he listened to her speak. What she was saying about getting even if they didn’t agree on important things strangely comforted him, causing a tense feeling he didn’t even know was there to partly leave his chest. He didn’t even have a chance to respond, however, before she began to speak about if they should even be friends. He thought she was going to bring up age between them, but no, just something about dangerous stuff and two-way friendship. “Um… yeah… I want to be friends… that’s… why I was asking Mam- I mean Azure. I… just want someone to talk to. You don’t seem half bad. I don’t see why not.” He wasn’t sure if friendships were supposed to be made on sturdier ground that he was giving out, but he hoped that would be enough. He just kinda hoped she would just agree to be friends. Not go into this whole thing about if they should be or not. It’s not like he was asking for her car keys or something… wait, did she have a car? Like those cool ones she had pointed him over to? Well, more like showed him, but whatever. He just hoped they could be friends. She had been the first decent person he liked, face to face, in months. Possibly years. He couldn’t exactly remember anyone he liked in particular at the top of his head.
(“580 words. 10,092 words in total.”)
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