Lord Dragoon

The Path

Mandy just gave him the flattest look she could at his calling himself 'handsome and brave', which was actually quite impressively flat expression considering how she was having a panic attack just a moment ago. "I wasn't going to ask that," she told him, voice just as flat. 'Oh would you look at that, I'm reaching the shock stage,' she snarked in her head. And then he dropped the bomb of her being seen as an accomplice, which promptly pushed her past shock and right back into panic. If that happens, her spot in the academy might be revoked, all that time and effort to pay for schooling rendered pointless, she would have to go home in shame. and that's not even taking into account things like that robot earlier. She could hear her blood pounding in her ears as she tried to force herself to calm down, with only minor success.

At this point, some people would be desiring a glass of alcohol of some description. Mandy on the other hand, had a similar but different thought. 'Fuck it, I am having some coffee.' With that thought, she reached into her bag to pull out a second can, popped open the top, and then promptly downed it. She completely paid no mind to the looks she was getting for her reaction, nor did she care right now that this cannot be healthy for her heart when she was just having a second panic attack. Because right now, she just was not caffeinated enough for this shit. So, after having a couple seconds to drink the chilled coffee and calm herself down further, she chose that point to favor the man with a particularly irate glare. "What, the hell, did you do?" She growled.

Before he could even open his mouth, she raised a finger and narrowed her eyes further. "And don't be a smartass and repeat what you just said. What, exactly, did you do to have them sic Satan's metal-clad cop on you?"
"I'm a terrorist," the man replied without hesitation.
It was at this point that Mandy slowly turned her head to look at the skewered and quite on-fire train car that got left behind, before she turned back to him with a dry look of 'no shit, Sherlock.'

The Path

"Y-Yeah," Mandy stammered, panting as she started to ride down the adrenaline high she was suffering from. Glancing over at this 'Unit-V', she couldn't help but notice a couple details. The first is how pale he was, making him look very much the image of a shaken man. The other detail? That he looked so incredibly tired, as if he hadn't had any proper rest in days. Glancing at her bag, she made a quick decision. Reaching in, she pulled out something, and tossed it to the man.

When he reflexively caught it, he noticed that she had tossed a canned espresso. A chilled canned espresso, as if fresh out of a fridge instead of a bag. "Take it," the black-haired woman told him. "My heart's still beating too fast for caffeine right now, I'm not nearly as physically active as you seem to be, and you look like you need it more anyway." Staring at the pocket she pulled the can out of for a second, she fought down the urge to pull out a can of her own and closed her bag up. "Now, I have a question." Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm down just a little more before she continued. And failed.

"What did you do?!" She shouted, arms flailing in panic. "Why was that machine chasing you? Why was it so reckless with so many people around?" The questions just came out rapid-fire, not unlike a machine gun really. And she had every reason to panic right now, since what she saw of that fight? It was like the machine was the cop from hell or something.

The Path

'A machine sword?' The part of Mandy's brain that was still somehow calmly analyzing the scene playing out before her noted this detail, and then proceeded to try deciphering the magic circle that appeared for the attack. While she couldn't understand the array, she actually could pick out some of the runes, and even recognize them. Even if she knew those runes however, she still couldn't piece together what they were doing to the sword, since they were spaced too far away from each other for her to piece together the entire thing. Of course, she didn't have to figure out the end result, as the entire sword rocketed towards the machine.

As she was a bit busy trying to figure out the array at the time, she hadn't heard the man when he told her to get ready. As a result, she (and she would vehemently deny it later) squeaked slightly in surprise when she was lifted and pulled out of the car. 'What is even going on? How did all this happen, and why so quickly?' She asked in her head, starting to come out of her shock. Enough so that when he handed her a dagger and told her to get to safety, she was able to nod. "A-Alright," the student replied, mentally cursing herself for stammering. Of course, it was while she started trying to pry the exit hatch open that she realized she still had a death grip on her bag. 'Well... At least I'm not down to just the clothes on my back, she thought sardonically, noting her dress had gotten a bit torn from all the glass flying around, a little blood coming from tiny cuts she got in that mess.

The Path

"Thank you," Mandy replied to his words. "You have a nice life as well." It was only seconds afterwards in which the man had greeted the machine, a surprised blink her initial response to him crushing a vial to make a sword. Worry started to seep into her thoughts as they both seemed to be squaring off, their words not helping matters. A startled yelp escaped her throat as they clashed, curling up slightly in an effort to protect her face and most of her vital organs from the flying glass. Straightening up once she couldn't hear any more glass moving about, she unconsciously swallowed her nerves as she took in what was going on. 'What on earth?'

Her thoughts were swiftly derailed from whatever tracks they were going to follow, as a mechanical fist with enough strength to shatter most metals nearly nailing you in the face tends to be distracting. Eyes wide in shock, she sat there in stunned silence as the fight continued on, her brain idly processing what she was seeing. As it did so, she started to catalog details. Namely, that the machine was showing considerably less concern then one would expect from law-enforcement, in that it was putting significantly less effort into not nearly punching bystanders' heads then it was in trying to beat up the man she just bandaged up. Sure, it wasn't being completely reckless, but it wasn't being careful either. As if to prove her point, it was right then that it slammed the man into the side of the train, and she felt herself cringing back slightly in surprise.

The Path

"Some people need to be a little more careful," Mandy commented as to how he got his bruise. Of course, she doesn't know whether he meant it was intentional or not, but at the moment she's assuming it wasn't. A slight twitch of the lip was the most visible indication of her approval of the compliment, not vocally responding to instead opt to finish tying the bandage in place. As she checked the knot to ensure it was tight enough without restricting his arm, she answered his question. "That's correct, I have been saving up for years now. Finally saved up enough for my entry and a couple semesters, which should be enough time for me to save up to continue funding my classes." Laying back in the seat, she decided she may as well continue.

"I might not have been able to make enough to get into the most prestigious academy in Sanctirum, but it is at least enough for me to get my foot in the door and complete my studies," the young woman stated. Just a second before she continued, the train started to slow to a stop. The doors nearby slid open, a figure standing in the now open doorway. "It will be difficult, I'm aware. However, I refuse to back down now that I've come this far."

The Path

"Nothing major?" Mandy questioned, her eyes narrowing slightly at her judgement as to the size of the bruise proving to be correct. "I'm honestly surprised you're still moving it, this is not one that can easily be shrugged off. If anything, it should be making it difficult to move," she theorized. Knowing she'll more then likely need a better position, she sat down next to the man. 'Judging by the muscles in the arm, he'll likely be moving it around a lot in the near future. I should compensate for that then,' the woman thought to herself as she reached into her bag. Nodding to herself while pulling out a piece of fabric, she took a breath.

"Begin manifestation," she mumbled, the fabric breaking apart. 'Stone, fire, earth. The form will be a strip of slightly warm matter,' she listed off to herself. The first wavelength of Verses answered, a white mass starting to form as the broken up material came together, a Noun. "Command set." 'The nerves there need to be numbed. Not so much his movements are dulled, just enough to match a weak painkiller.' As the Noun was completed, the second wavelength began its work, etching symbols both on the physical and metaphysical nature of the Noun, the symbols glowing for a moment. "Finalizing Verse," she announced, as the third and final wavelength came into play, coating the bandage Verse in a nearly invisible field as she pumped her mental image of what she wants from the Verse and power into the wavelength. With the Ad applied, she let the bandages descend into her hands. "Hmm, looks like it came out right," she thought out loud, examining the Verse critically.

Verse creation is an exact science, which is why few people actively use them these days. Every step needs to be processed carefully, otherwise it will fail or explode in the caster's face. As a result, they are generally time-consuming and it takes significant practice and studies to gain the knowledge and experience necessary to create even a simple Verse like the one she's holding in a swift enough manner for them to be practical. As a result, it was only common sense to be absolutely certain there is nothing wrong before putting them to use on a person. Satisfied, she started wrapping it around the man's bruise carefully. 'A heated fabric Noun, with a Verb to slightly numb, and an Ad specifically limiting it to where it is wrapped around, this should do it,' the black-haired woman thought. "May I ask what this accident entailed?" She asked the man, the Verse slowly coming into effect. It's hardly the complete effect, but it at least prevents it from being jarring when the numbing effect is fully in play.

The Path

'Fourty-one... Fourty-two... Fourty-three...' A young woman stared out the train's window, counting in her head how many crystals she saw pass by. These weren't normal crystals however, no these were huge ones sticking out of the ground, each crackling with magical energy. Society had built itself around these crystals, Verses, and technology designed to extract the most out of both. She sighed, looking almost indifferent and bored, when the truth of the matter is she isn't. In fact, she is really trying to distract herself from the fact she's bursting with equal parts nervousness and excitement. How can she not be, considering she's finally on her way to the country's capital, Sanctirum? Where she'll finally go to one of the nation's top academies, and earn the right to call herself a master of Verse?

Her shoulders slumped, remembering the years of work and effort it took for her to get this far. The woman, an Amanda Gloria or Mandy for short, allowed her eyes to trail over to the bag filled with everything she deemed necessary for her studies. In all honesty, it didn't seem like much, all packed up into the Verse-imbued bag, considering it wasn't much bigger then your average duffel bag, even if she knew it was a bit bigger then it looks. However, even if she knew intellectually how much was really in it, the sight made it a bit difficult for the 24-year-old from imagining the visible size to be the summation of her years of preparation, and it was slightly depressing. Tearing her gaze away from the bag and looking forwards, her teal eyes took note of the others in the car. It wasn't difficult to give them a quick look-over, nor was it really time consuming as there was only a grand total of five occupants.

A mother with her child, herself, a man in a suit who keeps looking at his phone, and an injured man. She stopped short at the last one, a thin eyebrow quirked as she took in his appearance, but primarily focused on the rather large and noticeable bruise on his arm. 'Well, that does not look pleasant,' Mandy idly commented in her head. After taking a glance out the window to note that she should have just enough time to treat it and have a brief conversation before their arrival, she combed back a lock of her mid-back length waves of black hair as she got up. Taking the time to at least grab her bag in order to be able to leave immediately upon arrival, she smoothed her skirt and walked over to him. As far as she was aware, she was a moderately attractive individual at the very least, somewhat on the slender side. As for her current outfit, it was a fairly simple combination of a white sundress with a couple light blue flowers printed on the left side of her waist, and a pair of 1 inch brown heels. "Excuse me, sir?" She spoke up, clearing her throat. "Would you mind if I took a look at that for you?" As she questioned him, she pointed a finger at his bruised arm.

Knights of Dawn

While she did not hear the bullets, she certainly heard the sound of the tree's base breaking apart and the tree falling towards her. Glancing swiftly to judge the size of it, she rolled to the side while swearing under her breath. After all, she could tell that the tree was too wide for her to get out of the way entirely. So, the best she can do is to roll as far as she can, and then try to push it to the side. So, stopping on her hands with her body curled up, she brought her feet together. Uncurling like a spring, she kicked out both legs at the side of the tree, at a slight angle so that she isn't making it just spin. Luckily, she was able to put enough force behind it to keep herself from being squashed. However, she saw that tree earlier, so she knew it was nowhere near suddenly falling over like that. It took less then a second for her to put two and two together and get 'fuck there's someone taking potshots at me'. Swinging her legs back under her, she swiftly got into the brush. Swearing in her head, she quieted her breathing.

---

"What's the candidate's status?" The main in charge questioned.
"Her heartrate has gone up, however it shows no sign of panic. She's also masking her breathing, so it's a little more difficult to track it. It's as if she's used to being shot at... Sir, where did you find her?" The operator asked. The man didn't answer, merely watching the screen.

---

'Alright, I have no idea how many enemies there are, or what kind of weapons they're using. They're either a sniper, or they're close and are using a silencer,' she thought to herself, eyes narrowed. Most people probably would have already tried that trick with the hat or the jacket on a branch, or something. However, she doesn't know if they were able to see her enter her hiding place, so she doesn't want to risk blowing her cover. Glancing about, she took stock of where she could go. 'If I could climb the branches, I might be able to spot them. Problem is, most of the branches are too exposed. I could duck behind trees, but considering that tree was ripped apart so easily, I doubt they'd provide much cover. Those large rocks over there could probably stop a bullet or two, but I'll be too vulnerable on the way over. The brush is probably my best cover, but even that doesn't do much... I need a distraction.' Taking one of the larger rocks she grabbed, she glanced over to a nearby bush. With as much care as she could to keep herself from being exposed, she threw the rock over there to make some noise in the other bush.

Knights of Dawn

Aribelle stopped where she was, kneeling down to grab a twig. Using said twig, she drew a mark in the ground in case she finds herself going in circle. After all, it would suck if she were to wind up lost or something. Satisfied with the mark, she casually threw the twig over her shoulder and kept going with her hands in her pockets. Glancing around, she noticed a stunning lack of any wildlife. Then again, she hasn't been here very long, and there is the possibility that the guys in charge of the base had all the animals removed so that no bunnies wander into the machinery or something. Before she could think more about it, she had some branches in her way to grumble about. After shoving past them for a bit, she could have sworn she heard some- Spinning around, she lifted a forearm to block a branch that happened to be flexible enough that it swung back at her after she pushed it out of the way. "Heh, guess I'm smarter then like 50% of travelers in movies and shows," she joked before she kept going.
If she had paid attention, she would have noticed that the branch that tried to smack her in the back of the head wasn't real. She would have noticed that the limb as attached to a fake tree that was placed there specifically to swing its branches at the unaware traveler, in order to stun someone incapable of defending themselves from such a simple blow with blunt force. As Aribelle left, the branch reset itself, so that it would look like it was a completely normal branch.

---

"... I feel like I'm being watched," the blonde muttered, glancing about in suspicion. She was smart enough to know that if she actually turned to look, whoever is watching would know she was on to them. And who knows what would happen if that were the case. So, like earlier, she knelt down to look for a twig. However, in reality she was using the brush to sneak a look around. Noticing a camera, she smirked. So, they're watching her huh? Grabbing a handful of rocks, she stood up and kept going. If they're keeping an eye on her, they must be up to something. And while the handful of rocks isn't much of a weapon, it's still something she can use to defend herself if something were to happen.

Knights of Dawn

Devastation, that is how one can describe Earth. Years ago, large meteors struck the planet, destroying much of the world before. Irreparable damage was caused, lives were lost, countries ended, alliances reformed. From the ashes, humanity began to rebuild their cities, and discovered that the meteors were in reality technology from another world. With this technology, they were able to develop machines unlike any before. Machines like giant robots.
However, this story has nothing to do with Earth. Instead, let's focus on another world, galaxies away. A world similar to Earth, inhabited by a race similar to humans. A world on the brink of a disaster of its own.

---

"Man, that was a nice nap," a woman in her late 20s mumbled, yawning. Blinking her sharp golden eyes, she looked around and noticed something. "... Son of a bitch, the place is in the middle of fucking nowhere." Upon realizing that, she ran her fingers through her short blonde hair in irritation. Sighing, she played with the single braid in her hair, on the left side of her face. With her above average height, only slightly curvy body, and lean muscles, she wasn't exactly the picture of femininity. Wearing a pair of jeans, a yellow shirt, and a brown aviator's jacket, she kind of stuck out in the green forest she was looking at. Now, you might ask, what is she doing here in the middle of nowhere? Well, this woman, Aribelle Miros, was someone who needed some cash, and just happened to have the credentials necessary to be hired for some project in some kind of base out here. The credentials? Let's see... No family? Check. Single? Check. Capable of putting up a fight? Check. Desperate enough to risk life and limb? Check.
Basically, she was hired because, as far as she knew, no one would miss her, she can punch someone's face in if she needs to, and because it's really her only good option. So, with a sigh, she started trudging through the woods, mentally patting herself on the back for wearing her brown steel-toe boots. Unknown to her, she was being watched by a camera nearby.

---

"Sir, the new test pilot has arrived," a man in his 40s reported. He was a bit out-of-shape, but was a little on the tall side so her could probably overpower someone unprepared. With his somewhat graying black hair and brown eyes, he looked more like a man who should be working in an office, instead of an armed base for a company making weapons.
"Hm," the man in charge, a guy in his early fifties who's violet hair wasn't showing even a sign of gray. His eyes were a bit hard to see, considering he was wearing a pair of circular shades that were hiding them. Tall and somewhat muscular, he was an imposing figure, given the neutral look on his face he had at all times. As for what he was wearing, it was a gray business suit, under an open black trench coat. Looking at the screen, he gave an order. "Have the other pilot test her before she finds the base. I want to be certain she is capable enough. He's authorized to use deadly force, if he judges this Aribelle to be lacking."
"A-Are you- y-yessir," he stopped himself from questioning his boss' orders when the man aimed his hidden gaze at him. "Impulse 1, come in Impulse 1. You have orders from the professor. You are to head into the woods and locate the new candidate. Your orders are to test their abilities, and silence them if they are insufficient."