Thundering footsteps clanged against the grated floors, causing the injured soldiers to stir from their state of half-consciousness as they eyed the ceiling warily. "What do you think that is?" One of the soldiers murmured, nursing an injured leg gingerly as the sound started to travel further and further away. "Sounds like someone's royally pissed."
"Reckon it's probably Lieutenant Fiore...", one of the others piped up with a shudder. "You should have seen his face when we got on board. We're really in deep shit now..."
"Yeah, well. We deserve it." The soldier known as Branon spoke plainly, taking the others by surprise. This was the soldier who ached for the thrill of battle, whose arrogance was parallelled to none. And here he was, sounding so...defeated. "We were a mess up there. The Lieutenant was really trying hard to protect us...and we let him down." His hands trembled into tight fists. "I thought I understood what it meant to fight in a real battle. I really thought I was ready. But when I saw that SeeD girl summoning that thing..." His voice shook slightly in disgust. "I was a coward. It felt like the battle was bigger than I was, and I held back. Because...I wanted to survive."
A stony silence reigned over Ace's battered squad, looks of sympathy and understanding shared between the small group. "But hey, who knew Fett had it in him, eh?" The soldier with the bad leg let out a hearty laugh. "I always thought that he'd get knocked over by a chicobo, but there he was, taking on that SeeD like a pro. What a guy."
"Yeah." They all agreed in warm unison, the memory of their comrade close to their hearts as they shared a bittersweet moment of silence.
The moment didn't last.
A loud muffled bang interrupted their remembrance, Branon springing to his feet quickly in alarm before clutching his side with a wince. "Oww...that damn bear's claws were sharp. What the hell was that?"
She didn't know why she did it. Actually, thinking about it after the fact, as sharp searing jolts of pain raced up her arm, Asa thought it was pretty damn stupid.
Gritting her teeth, she withdrew her arm from the dented wall, blood seeping through her glove from where the ridges of her knuckles were. Slowly, she flexed her fingers, biting hard on her lip to keep herself from groaning as pain burned through her hand. Carefully, she slid off the bloodied glove, studying her bruised knuckles carefully for any signs of a fracture. She wasn't exactly a medical expert, but she couldn't see any bones jutting out of place, so that was something.
She allowed her back to rest against the wall before sinking slowly to her knees, the calm of the storm finally settling in as her anger ebbed away into a feeling of complete emptiness. She had bottled up so much pain, so much anger and defeat, that she had to let something out. And the wall had been the perfect candidate for that.
"I should have a Cure spell stocked...", she murmured quietly to herself as she pressed her free hand on her paramagic drive, drawing out the healing spell that she needed for a quick fix. Ace was hardly an adept healer by any means, so whilst the spell got the job done in the way of closing up wounds and ceasing any more bleeding, it did little in the way of analgesia. "Tch..." She shook her head slightly before sliding the glove back on. It would have to do.
Slowly, her thoughts wandered back to what her commanding officer had said. Raze Dollet to the ground.
That wasn't the plan. That had never been the plan. The orders were to infiltrate and restore Dollet's communications tower, and to occupy the city if they were met with resistance. But destroying an entire duchy on a whim? Just because they lost?
Asa's stomach churned as she thought of the families and businesses that would perish to the Galbadian missiles. These people had done nothing wrong. They were innocents caught up in the political storm between Galbadia and their pursuit for ultimate domination in the West. They would die....and she would be a part of it.
Wait. What was she thinking? Ace shook her head quickly as if to shake the troubling thoughts out of their head before they lead to something more dangerous. This was the reality of war. Dollet was an empire that had been doomed for decades anyway. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened.
She was a soldier, and that was all she needed to be.
"Sir?" Branon's tentative voice crept through the crack of the door, alerting Ace to the sound as she immediately hid her bloodied hand. "I heard a banging noise. Is...is everything alright sir?"
Ace let out a reluctant sigh. "...Yes. Everything's fine. We should be back in Deling City by nightfall, right?" At Branon's agreeable nod, Ace continued. "Dollet will be razed by the Galbadian Army. Make sure the others know."
"What?" Branon sounded genuinely startled, but Ace was no longer in the mood for questions as she headed to her bunker.
"This is what war is really like, Branon. Get used to it."