Conscripts

- Squad 914: Beyond - Rebooted

=====►-------------------------------------

---

The Vietnamese man nodded, from time to time biting his lips in sympathy to what Katrina said. It really is a tough world meant to wear people down out there. Thanh was probably one of them, although his life wouldn't be too significant. It'll just be ploughing the field, day by day, growing crops and selling it for the profit. Rinse repeat for the rest of his life. And perhaps getting a wife, a child or two and pass down that tradition. As boring as it seemed, that was what he was willing to settle for. It was beautifully simple and pure. But he knew that his life was far from being that uneventful. In fact, it was the polar opposite, much of whom weren't happy stuff.

"I do actually. A few in fact. To my mother that me and my father would both return home alive and well, in which has already been half broken. And to my village, and my country, that I would liberate them from the impudent Japanese. But as we both know, we are still nowhere near that goal." He replied, returning her with a smile, a disguised one, to turn his not so happy background into something to shrug shoulders of, or even laugh at. That was how he always handle things around. Thanh wasn't afraid to share his background, because if he could inject some, even a little bit, of feeling of sympathy and compassion in his comrades, he himself was already happy enough. "I really do wish to see those promises coming true, just like you did. Imagine our countries independent and freed, while you reunite with people you love. It must have be the best feeling in the world."

He didn't know that much about the Philippines in general, and Katrina specifically, but after hearing a bit of her background, he just felt like he knew her somehow, although this was probably the feeling of almost everybody here, desperately but valiantly trying to liberate their homelands from the fascists. And Katrina was especially typical of most Vietnamese soldiers would embody for themselves: gentleness, simplicity but courageous. He didn't know about the last one, but he guessed she had been through some of the bloods and bullets to get here, so.

"Looks like they're calling us now." Thanh briefly heard the Soviet Officers calling everybody to retreat back to their cabin as the resupplies seemed to have finished. "We all have promises. How about we promise each other too. To keep on fighting to see our promises becoming a reality. Promise?" He had his hand held out for a shake. Katrina seems like a nice girl, innocent and determined, so the last thing he would ever want to see were those images shattered away by the horrors of wars, or deaths itself...things that he had too commonly seen, but could not familiarize himself to.

---

As the train kept transporting him and his comrades deep into the heart of India, Thanh was busy looking up at the sky. The night was unusually bright, with stars, perhaps representing the hopes and dreams of this young man with a pair of rubber sandals, shining bright in the sky. Will the stars in the sky actually fades away, in the all too brutal fashion of war, by a quick bullet to the brain, or by blood and guts slowly and painfully?

Looking around in his wagon, everybody was well asleep. He vowed not to though. He had made yet another promise, and he had no intention of breaking it...

All of a sudden, the train was brought to a halt in a similar fashion to the last time it did, waking everybody up rudely. As everybody was trying to comprehend what was going on, the door slide open as an officer urged everybody to get out of the train, this time for good. He was not given any time though, as he was hushed into a temporary tent for resting, just like everyone. Thanh did not rest immediately though, as he stayed up for an hour, until one officer urged him to sleep. Judging by the attitude of the guy, tomorrow, and perhaps the days after that, would be something to anticipate.

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

THOMAS LANCASTER

Club Aether -> Home

---

Thomas didn't even have to call the police. Someone apparently already did. Officers soon flooded the club and arrested everybody who they thought were the one participating in the fight. Thomas, of course, was far from the fight scene, and the fact that he could not stand was enough to convince the police he was just an average clubgoer. So he was luckily spared. The one who was present in the fight but did not throw any punches, and pretty much Thomas's feet was taken in, in handcuffs, regardless of what she was actually doing. Thomas knew the police would simply be trying to end the fight, so taking in everybody would simply be a procedural thing to do.

But it turned out to be a lot worse than that...

The Solaris PhD candidate left the club soon after, and drove his way down to the police station, an hour after her arrest. To his surprise, and frustration, Jeanie was not at all out and freed. Guess what? The SCPD didn't give a damn about what she did. They just completely ignored everything Thomas tried to say, sloppily and incompetently stated they would spend the night contemplating for what they did. So Jeanie was taken into jail to reflect on the action that were obviously righteous and should be done at that moment. How appropriate. The irony in this is that what kind of person tells people to use their brain more than fists, but then proceeds to not put any thoughts at all into their job as a police officer, proceeds to arrest innocent people and refuses to listen to them.

After the debate that just ended up with the police not listening to either parties, Thomas simply swallowed this ridiculousness and returned home, accepting that he would be spending the night by himself. Great. It wasn't because he would be lonely for the night, but because he was in peril for not having anyone to help him. His legs are dead. How could he bring himself into the bed now? Lucky for him, he didn't have classes or anything for the next two days, so he didn't have to worry about sleep deprivation. What he needed to worry right now, however, is to sleep.

He arrived back home late into the night, tired and frustrated. After his best, but failed, attempt trying to throw himself onto the bed, he decided to sleep on his working desk instead. Grabbing a pillow, he placed it onto the desk as he laid his cheek onto it. As surprising as it may sound, he had never once slept in this position. Simply because his time management was usually second-to-none, so as a result, things like all-nighters or cramming was never in his dictionary. But as great as it sounded, now he is struggling to bring himself to sleep. He did though. Eventually, after 1 hour. But a few hours after falling into unconsciousness, he was woken up. By the back pain he had for such a sleeping posture.

"Now that's just great."

Maybe he should change his posture somehow. Hopefully it'll help him through this night...

Estaria(takes heavy inspiration from Log Horizon)

I'd like to be placed in the interest list. Though should you write a new interest check? So that it looks new and more appealing to other players?

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

THOMAS LANCASTER

Theme Song - No Good Choice - Piotr Musical

Club Aether

---

The man in the wheelchair at first didn't notice the drink placed on his side. He was still in a little contemplation after the call. Did he ever inhibits those symptoms before? Not to his memories now, and he could only hope he never had them. It was when Alex returned when he noticed what had been going on around him.

"You want to go outside for a while? Hmm, yeah. That's not a bad idea." He wasn't too sure what to say, but he did take the drink next to him. It was far from the last drink he ordered. Looks like a pretty heavy drink there to him. But still, to the lady who bought him that out of kindness, he'd gladly take it. May his alcohol tolerance be high enough for it.

"Thank you for the compliment, miss." He raised the drink to the brunette. "I hope you enjoy the party."

The moment he said that, chaos erupted from the other corner of the bar. Jinx

"What the hell was that?" Thomas looked over to the bar to see over a dozen young women gathering around two ladies. He couldn't figure out the identity due to the chaos, but it looked like Victoria was one of the ladies in the latter group. And from his peripheral vision he could see Jeanie, who was curious at whatever was happening. More people began joining. And then...

SMASH!

A bottle to the head. Ouch, that must have hurt. A lot.

At that moment, it seemed like the instinct within his dark-haired nurse began to be triggered as she immediately rushed for the scene...

---

"Hmm..."

What a great masterpiece of drink...A shame she couldn't get anymore. If she was to drink more, she wouldn't be able to be driving her client, or to her perspective her friend, home. Not only she would put his and her own safety in danger, but she would also risk driving her career as a nurse down the ruin if she got caught.

One could be admired of this woman's self-control and self-restrained ability. But it was all part of the job as the nurse. Especially when dealing with her patients, when she couldn't allow any of her emotions or personal bias to interfere with her treatment of people. Especially when it comes to Thomas, who was probably incredibly difficult to find the comfort zone for him. She could totally understand how other nurses got into conflicts with him. He is a nice and decent guy, smart too, but he had a little bit of thin skin once he got out of his comfort zone. And that is when you intentionally ignore him or overstep the relationship boundary, something nurses tend to. But for her, she is pretty happy in her place right now. A permanent, at least until he wants otherwise, caretaker to him. And she could probably say the same for her employer and client...

"Hmm..."

What the hell is going on over there?

Seemed like some sort of dispute going on. Pretty large one if you judge it by the sheer amount of people involved. But still the typical bar fight that she could always expect from a bunch of bitches who thought the sun rises and sets on their asses. It was totally not worth her time.

SMASH!

Until she heard a bottle smashing on something. Or rather someone's head.

"Oh god..." Her instinct immediately ticked once she saw this woman got hit in the head. The next thing she knew, she was already pushing her way through the crowds of people swarming the fight, trying to reach the large woman. Seeing as how some people were so hostile to the approach, she repeatedly said.

"This lady needs medical support! If you have any consideration for your fellow human being, thank you!"

The effectiveness was questionable, but at least she reached the girl, passing carefully through the bottle fragments, who stood like half a head taller than she is. Blood were dangerously dripping down her right cheek, along with the alcohol in the bottle. She had to clean that as soon as possible, before the wounds gets infected. She took out her portable first aid kit, which was lying in her purse all along, in case she or those with her were injured, and retrieved the cotton ball. She ripped out a small piece and gently asked the woman, as she looked up to her.

"If you would, miss? It would be dangerous not to tend it."

---

All the while, Thomas was observing the fight from afar. Seeing his nurse in action, he could only give her this remark

"Be easy on them please." He said before taking out his mobile phone. "If things do not resolve themselves, I'll inform 911."

@Silver Fox@Alex_The_Great@Rodiak

星空 不朽 | Hoshizora Everlasting

---

Toukotan Park - The Asterisk
Spring, SY 3233/UC 233/AY 117

---

'An interesting turning point...'

Sitting in the comfort of his chair, his meals ordered and delivered, safely inside a perfectly barricaded and visible building, the man in the formal Asterisk uniform was in deep observation mode. Whilst the fight that took place earlier before wasn't anything too particularly interesting, the sudden intervention of a certain figure caught his attention. Not really because of how she completely send these goons back to their mommies - the fact that she did also intrigued An, but because of her identity. An could not hear directly from the secluded spot inside the sushi shop, but he could still know what is going on, thanks to some unauthorized streaming of the incident, going from a particular user who was standing somewhere among the group to the West of the park. The sound was a little clogged up with each other, but An still knew the identity of this lustrously pretty silver-haired girl, thanks to her loud boasts and trademark laugh.

Princess Lukarya Ahn-Rysslind fon Zahria Amarant.

'Hmm...'

He had heard that name.

Amarant. He had heard of the name Caius Anh-Sahaak fon Euna Amarant I. A former warlord with an established protectorate over the Amarant Cluster of the Neutral Rim. Considered a 'hero king' amongst the people, he was someone to be noticed and treated with care. The Amarant Cluster is too near Jotunheim for comfort, so a bit of actions from this former warlord could have consequences. He was quite surprised to see the assumed daughter of this warlord here, though it is natural that he would send her children to a place like this. Hopefully, for someone raised in the noble environment, the Princess would turn out to be a decently knowledgeable and approachable from a formal perspective...

Well, she already showed herself to be quite a person of 'justice'. Just not the justice An was looking for. Also quite a gloat. But he still held hope somehow (in vain). He was also putting up with these goons breaching the peacefulness of the park after all...

It had been ten minutes since he called the security. If they really were decent people, they should be here in...

Whee-whoo whee-whoo

There we go. Right on time.

The disabled man looked with a bit of amusement as the officers and security workers leapt into the battlefield and apprehend all the students involved. It wouldn't take a genius to know that one of the student's nightmares is apprehension by police officials. It would reflect badly on their reputation and a permanent record that would stain for an eternity, quite a long time you would say.

Anyway, An was also among the witnesses. And he was confident he could provide an unbiased recall of the event. He could simply doesn't give a thing about this and do his own stuff, but there were things that called for his attention. And he need not worry about being called to the brig. He was standing on the right side of the law after all...

Quickly finishing his sushi order, he quietly returned the dish back to the waiter, made his payment before gradually rolling down the ramp out of the sushi restaurant, with the view of the battlefield directly visible to his bare eyes this time. Noticing this officer who were calling a few of the students in for questioning, An commanded his wheelchair to roll over to him.

"Do you need witnesses, officer?" He asked rhetorically. "I've happened to be observing the fight from start to finish. Pretty clearly if you would like to ask."

This young officer seemed a little puzzled, and a little reluctant. But eventually, the man agreed to take him as witness, along with the dudes who just had the hope of escaping the interrogation, only to be utterly crushed as they drag their body to the police cruiser. The day turned out to be more interesting than he imagined.

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

THOMAS LANCASTER

Theme Song - Cambridge 1963 - Johann Johannsson

Club Aether

---

The interaction with Alex was short, as he seemed distracted by something, or someone. Thomas could see it in his eyes. They weren't looking at him, but somewhere else. He didn't look like someone who couldn't maintain eye contact while talking, due to prior interaction with him at the zoo the other day. It wasn't really a happy thing, but at least he was friendly. Hopefully it wasn't just simply politeness.

"No, you can enjoy your drinks. I've had mine." He returned Alex the response that he probably didn't need to receive. And there, he was left alone. He tried to make some conversations, but everybody seemed to be busy with their own, and Thomas didn't want to just barge into theirs. So for a while, he sat there, by himself, thinking of something else to occupy his mind, and to see if there was anyone to talk to, or if somebody would come to him. He could simply think about his thesis now, but the music and talking made his concentration more difficult.

Moments passed, nobody seemed to pay attention to Thomas. It's a little disheartening, for someone to come to a club to socialize and nobody wished to have a conversation with him. Why so though? Was it because he was too weird for the club's theme? He didn't have any of the modern style clothing, so he changed for something close to it. Or was it because he had something that people just don't like in general? What the hell could that be?

The train of thoughts were finally broken. A little depressingly, broken not by someone at the club, but by his phone.

Thomas reached his hand for the phone in his pant. The number and the associated identity that he had given those strings of numbers appeared on the screen:

Elizabeth Lancaster

'Sister?'

What could it be that his sister called? She just called last Monday.

"Good evening sister." Thomas clicked the respond button before placing it on his right ear.

"Good evening Thomas." A woman's voice came from the other side, clear and elegant. "Are you at a party or something?"

"Yes. To Jeanie's request, and that I don't want to hole up inside my room for long." He replied.

"That's good. Some fresh air for a change." Elizabeth remarked. "Anyway, how's your thesis going? I haven't had the opportunity to ask."

"I am writing my thesis right now, though I may have to come back to the research process for the last chapter, because of lacking convincing evidence. But it should be done soon. If nothing happens, I should finish this soon enough."

"Great." She said, before letting out a long sigh.

"What's wrong?" Thomas asked.

"Listen. There is actually a reason for this call."

"What is it?" His eyebrows were raised. It looked like something serious

"Do you remember when grandfather had that pain in his chest years ago?"

"...Yeah." His eyes drooped a little. "What about it?"

"Well, I just discovered early this Wednesday a few things about it." The voice got a little tense.

"The cause?" He asked.

"No. I still don't know how he got it, but the scary thing is: it is hereditary." She said. "That meant it is capable of passing down to us as well."

So both him, his sisters and parents are also capable of having this. But why? His grandpa did not show any symptoms until he already had all the three sisters. Could it be that...

"And yeah, I know what you're thinking right now. It is in fact something he contracted when he was young, but did not manifest until his later years." She said. "As a result, we are likely to also have it from birth, and can manifest too given the right condition."

My God...

"Though I am confident it will likely not turn up to hit any of us, it's better to be careful. Report to me if you have chest pain. I'll also try to find any other symptoms out there that it may have."

It took Thomas a bit before replying.

"Ok, I will."

"Alright, take care." She said before hanging up, leaving the young man in silence. It really had potential to become really bad. But Elizabeth did say it is likely to not manifest. His second sister is one of the most respected doctors of her field, so every words that come from her are likely to be taken with almost certainty, or with very careful debate. So it was something to mitigate. However, her statement is, in the end, inductive. It could end up wrong...

- Squad 914: Beyond - Rebooted

=====►-------------------------------------

---

"Yeah, I am Vietnamese. It really is good weather. At least for us." Thanh smiled as he was recognized pretty easily. Probably due to him speaking his mother tongue before he spoke normally with her. Usually, someone with no prior interaction with people like him would mistaken him for being Chinese. Sometimes, even people who had interacted would still mistaken. A thousand years under their rules and occupation, the gene pools were somewhat a little messed up. Still, they were now their allies, and that was what matters at the moment.

Katrina introduced himself as he noticed her dirty little hand, followed by a rather pretty intriguing explanation. Interesting. An artist? She may look a little hesitant on the shake. But for someone who had worked on a farm so commonly like Thanh, a bit of charcoal is a lot better than mud. "Don't worry about it. I'm too used to the dirt already." He met her hand with a firm shake, strong, for someone who farmed a lot, but not crushing. "I'm Thanh. Pham Van Thanh. You can pronounce it however you want. I don't mind." For a non-Vietnamese, it is really easy to fuck up the pronunciation. Teaching them how to pronounce correctly would be a full-time job, so he'd accept whatever they called him. As long as they were genuine and respectful, he was ok with it.

"You mentioned that you draw earlier? Are you an artist?" Thanh pushed his pith helmet up a little as he asked. "You do remind me of a lady in my village back then. She also likes drawing and sometimes would sketch the sceneries. A nice girl." He nodded in reminisces. "Anyway, where do you come from, Katrina?"

@Liotrent

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

Aurelia Nakamiji

Acion Nakamiji

---

The Nakamiji siblings were caught off-guard when Takeshi lunged at Roy with the shadow knife he constructed. Not even they could expect an attack at a hospital, not to mention by their friends who had just been incapacitated a few hours ago. Their instinct kicked in almost instantly. Aurelia immediately unsheathed her sword while her younger brother was in defensive position, his hand almost reaching out for his feather knife. But then the one-armed man stopped, much to their reliefs. His survival instincts must have been rushing at that moment.

They both breathed sighs of reliefs when he was beginning to black out. Before either of them could react to Takeshi, a small silhouette moved around them and caught him before the fall. She managed to push him back into his bed, but was struggling to maintain herself. Almost without a reminder, the two siblings stepped forward. Aurelia sheathed her blade before placing one of her hands on the small girl's shoulder, trying to direct her to an empty bed nearby, while Acion took over her place, took a step forward and tried to help him lie down.

"Jesus. You're all hurt you know. You make people like me feel awkward." The Sky Knight leader said before turning over to Takeshi. She noticed the missing left arm he had. The urge to ask him whether he was ok disappeared. He just lost an arm there. Asking it so wouldn't bring her any informative answer, but even marking herself as a rude and insensitive person.

Still, she approached his bed, motioning her brother to took a step aside, sitting down on a chair nearby.

"You calm down now? No one's gonna attack you here." She reassured him. She then looked away slightly, her irises eyeing elsewhere for a moment, trying to collect whatever she was trying to say. With a slightest hint of movements, she gazed back at him again. Straight.

"Thank you for before. I owe you this one." She said, giving him a light smile of appreciation.

@Aerandir@pkken@Riegal

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

THOMAS LANCASTER

Theme Song - Cambridge 1963 - Johann Johannsson

Club Aether

---

"Enjoy the day." Thomas politely said his goodbyes to Victoria before finishing his drink. He handed the plate and the cup back to the counter, not forgetting to send his remarks over to the bartender. "A lovely drink. Thank you."

Once said, his hand reached for the joystick on the armrest. Tilting it ever so slightly, the wheelchair began to move on its own. Its wheels rolled, turning him away from the counter, rotating him around before throttling him forward.

"Thomas, where are you going?" Jeanie, who was still enjoying herself at the counter, shot him the question as he rolled away by himself.

"Enjoying the music a little." He said, without looking back.

"Alright, enjoy." She said before having another sip of her wine. For someone who loved alcohol like her, she was surprisingly delicate when it comes to table manners. For someone raised with a classical conservative tradition on daily interaction, or basically someone who practiced his art of manners, he couldn't help but respect her for it. Although his family were liberalistic in their political, scientific and some social views, they were somewhat conservative on some matters, some of which includes manners and personal tastes. And despite the somewhat eccentric and a little radical behavior sometimes, he nevertheless remained controlled in his manners. One could say this wheelchair-bound student was born in the wrong decade. Still, he managed to enjoy some of the arts or manners of the modern era. Less and less things nowadays actually perfected his personal taste, but his open-mindedness usually got him through.

Though from time to time, he still came across some things that he could not help but harbor some disdain toward.

One example would be the song this young man was singing. Unbeknownst to Thomas, who was unfamiliar, it was Gone with the Wind. But the lyrics were not at all impressive. Perhaps he was wrong at first glance, but the words were like drills in his ears. I'm always gone with the winds. I lost all my faith. Hope is a prison. That's just a song about hopelessness. It's a negative song for someone with a positive outlook like him. But again, that may have been the warning the writer was trying to convey, aiming at everybody else in the world, that it wasn't really hopelessness he was trying to convey. But nevertheless, the strong metal behind the song meant that this man was in no way a fan of it.

He was glad the song was over, as it switched to something else less metallic, and arguably not so fitting of the vibe of the club. He was fine with it though. However...

"Is that guy..."

That was the guy at the zoo. Not the guy who collapsed, but the guy who saved Thomas from that dreaded hole he somehow ran into. Alex he remembered. And he was on stage? Wow, he was actually quite good at it. The song was not memorable, but he actually delivered the song pretty nicely. Credits should be given where its due.

Once the guy is done, the guy left the stage and sat down somewhere nearby. Pushing his joystick forward, Thomas rolled towards the young man, who was collecting himself after the performance.

"A pleasure to see you again here, Alex. You made yourself quite a figure up there."

- Squad 914: Beyond - Rebooted

=====►-------------------------------------

---

SHACK!

The wind blew into the forehead of this young South-East Asian born soldier. Fresh, warm and lively wind blowing into the train wagon, cleansing the cabin he was in of the sweats of his comrades. Thanh knew some of these comrades had never tread anywhere beyond the snowy whites of Russia or Northern Europe before in their lives. He didn't carry too much commodity with him, so to pass time, he poured it on trying to formulate some sort of bonds with the fellows on his wagon. And thanks to these moments he dispensed, he knew a little bit of the comrades that he would be fighting with. Most of these guys were still young, innocent, having never faced bullets whizzing through the inch of their teeth every single day. And he totally get it. The Russians were getting desperate with their manpower these days. While it proved somewhat hilariously 'beneficial', as he had earned a vacation ticket to China, Russia, Siberia and now India, with some nice chows served at his boots, for free. It may remain to be history's strange story, but what could be better than that?

"Whew." Thanh wiped off the sweat from his forehead before scrambling his hand through his shirt pocket, pulling out a small wrap of paper. Speeding a few decades to come, it looked a little like a wrap for the portrait picture of someone, but it was a little too soon for that. The paper wrap, dulled and browned from age and dirt, was simply an amulet. Simple but treasurable. As crazy as it may sound, it may have been keeping him alive for the entire time, after so many times he almost threw his life away in an infantry charge. The choice to be a little superstitious and believe it or not was up to each individuals. The one certain thing is that Thanh believed in it, and it was all that matters.

He wiped off the dirt webbing on his paper wrap as the one sitting next to him took a glance at the object.

"What is it, Thanh?" He spoke in a Russian accent.

"A lucky charm, from my mother, sent before I depart for Hanoi. I can't believe it has already been 3 years since that day."

"She must have been a lovely mother. How is she?" The guy asked, perhaps out of naivety. Thanh wasn't anticipating to answer that, nor did he liked it, but he wasn't antagonizing the guy over it.

"I don't know. Three years and no words from her ever since."

The man stayed silent after the response. Before Thanh could continue the conversation, the train came to a screeching halt before stopping. The train door slid open as the order was given for everybody to come out. All of them. The hush the commanding officer of his wagon caught Thanh in a bit of a hurry, as he was hastily grabbing his equipment, consisting of a TT-32 pistol, the so widely known PSSH-41, a customary camouflaged pith helmet that he carried ever since the battle of Hanoi, and a pair of rubber sandals, handmade from rubber tires. So hasty he gathered that he was hurling them all together at his chest the moment he got out, barefooted and onto the Indian dirt.

As soon as he descended onto the solid ground, as he put on his sandals, helmet and strapping his weapons, he could marvel at the brave new world he had arrived on. The heat was probably the thing he appreciated the most. He had a number of difficulties trying to adjust to the Russian Winters several years ago, but they weren't too bad. He too weren't a fan for the service boots either, because he considered it too bulky to move around. Sure, it gave me more protection against shrapnel and spikes underground, but he found sandals a lot easier to manage, carry and use. Even his uniform and helmet were his owns from the day of recruitment. Maybe he had gotten too complacent with it that he couldn't handle changing to something else. He did not know. But boy was this weather perfect for his ancient gears. Not that he wanted to see combat, but sooner or later, he would.

Strange that he was not called to work unlike some of his comrades in the wagon. Perhaps the officer knew a man of his physicality wouldn't help much against that monstrous number of loads, so he let Thanh had his moments for now. It was a rare moment of free time. And he was going to enjoy it. He had spent a bit of time trying to get to know some in his wagon, but what about other wagons? He'd want to know who his allies would be. Many of whom were already forming groups, so he didn't intend to interfere with their conversations. But then suddenly, he noticed this young dark-haired lady, seemingly of South East Asian descent too. She was also admiring the scenic around her. It was quite extraordinary for a stranger like him and her. And it was rather a surprise to see so many young ladies in the battlefield like this. It was quite strange to be honest.

"Xin chao (Hello)" He approached her, greeting her with his mother tongue. "Beautiful day isn't it?" He then proceeded to speak normally. "Do you speak Russian?"