10-01-2017, 09:11 AM
The squad bar Trevor and Davion was spread out across the medical bay, with the five injured in beds as they were left to recover from their various treatments. One of the most critically injured had died, and the other would remain incapacitated for around a week, according to the barracks' resident robotic doctor (a 'medical droid', the stormtroopers called it). Other than that, though, the remaining members of the squad would all be combat-ready by tomorrow. Such was the level of technology available in Coruscant.
Hijiri had been leaning up against one wall and conversing in low tones with the man who had saved him earlier, who apparently was called 'Kroll vor Iechtelstier'... it had taken him several tries to get the pronunciation right on that surname. One of the others sat slumped in a chair by the bed of the woman who'd been hit in the shoulder, whilst the last member paced back and forth with clenched fists. He stopped moving and they all turned when the doors opened and in strode their sergeant, followed by Trevor, who managed to look utterly miserable even with the helmet concealing his expression. He'd been assigned latrine duty for the next month, as a result of his actions... though that had been entirely Davion's own decision; he had chosen not to report the 'trooper's cowardice to Imperial Command.
Hijiri didn't much approve of keeping things from their superiors... but Trevor would almost certainly have been court martialed for what he had done, Kroll had said... and Imperial justice could be... strict, at times. He may not have been liked – barely even tolerated, actually – but no one here hated him that much.
“Orders have come in,” Davion stated without preamble, “Command wants to give the gang responsible for this smuggling operation as little time to react as possible. As such, we won't be waiting on reinforcements; everyone fit for combat will head out tomorrow morning, hopefully before they have the opportunity to move their stock or prepare any surprises.”
Four of the captives had survived their wounds. Of those, three had been impressively resistant to 'questioning'. One, however, was barely into his teens. It hadn't taken much to convince him to give up what he knew. It wasn't much, but they'd learned the drop-off location for the guns, and also now knew who they were dealing with; a gang which called itself the 'Northside Wolfpack'. Apparently, the name came from a rumour that they were actually werewolves.
“We'll be going in alone. No other squads can be spared to assist with this, despite the chance that we could end up massively out-gunned. Most of you likely expected this. Takanomiya, Dodson, you two probably did not. You should be able to understand, though; this isn't Tier One, we don't have vast troop reserves down here. We just have to make do with whoever we do have at any given time, and right now, that means only those people present here in this room. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.” Hijiri answered immediately. Having already been told by Kroll what their orders would likely be, he was prepared for this. He knew they'd be counting on him, as a Prime, to do a large portion of the fighting by himself. Judging by the stories he'd heard – both from the squad and via the Dataverse – it seemed that Primes typically wielded all manner of strange and awe-inspiring abilities. True, Secondaries could technically do the same, but it was far rarer for them. Primes, being hand-picked by Omni, tended to be a lot more impressive.
Though he was easily able to act calm and assured, privately Hijiri worried that he might not be up to the task at hand in his current state. He still had nowhere near the reserves of Omnilium he'd need in order to access his true form... and without that, he wasn't worth much more in a fight than just a couple of stormtroopers. He had only defeated three of those thugs the other day... if the odds had been even slightly worse, he could easily have wound up dead.
“... Yes, sir...” groaned Trevor pathetically. Davion sighed, but didn't otherwise react to the idiot's unprofessional attitude. It was a far cry from how enthusiastic that fool had been when Hijiri first met him, only yesterday. Apparently, coming face-to-face with the reality of the situation on the lower tiers had really intimidated him. Perhaps he hadn't realised how pitiful and cowardly he was until now... it wasn't like Tier One had a lot of crime, after all, whilst they did have many, many stormtroopers. It was entirely possible that he'd never actually been placed in a real life-or-death situation until now.
Hell, maybe he'd even considered himself pretty brave before this; his position as one of those guarding the Nexus Gate – where any random Prime could come along and brutally murder you without having to worry about Judge Dredd or the Space Marines showing up to stomp them into the ground – must be a riskier assignment than strolling through the safe and cheery shopping districts and public parks of Tier One. Finding out the truth about his nature must have really been a blow to his ego. If not for the fact that one or two of their fallen squadmates might still be alive right now had Trevor performed competently in that battle, Hijiri might even have felt sorry for him.
“Alright, and the rest of you? I assume you're all prepared for this?”
“Yes, sir!” the rest of the squad chorused in perfect synchronisation. Even the 'trooper who had almost died – and was still on life support at the moment, actually – took part, though it was glaringly obvious that he wouldn't be fit for anything. Hijiri was impressed. Back home, all of his allies had been just as brave... but they had also been far more powerful. Casualties had been a rarity even in the lower ranks of their Earth Defence Force, whereas these people had watched four of their comrades gunned down mere hours ago, and still didn't hesitate for even a moment. It was a lot to live up to.
Davion nodded. “Good. Now, Nash, I'd like to speak to you for a moment. The rest of you who're uninjured had best return to your rooms; you'll be needing your rest for what comes tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir.” they said again, before heading out. Trevor, being closest to the door, left first, then Hijiri, Kroll and that pacing guy headed after him. Davion and the man who had been sitting glumly brought up the rear, closing the infirmary door behind them and hanging back. Briefly glancing over a shoulder as he walked, Hijiri noticed the sergeant give 'Nash' a pat on the shoulder, whilst speaking quietly enough to keep their conversation private. The man nodded a couple times and stood straighter. Though slightly curious, the ex-Battle Rabbit knew it was none of his business, so decided to simply forget about it.
After reaching the residential section of the 'racks, they all split up and each headed for their separate rooms.
Once there, it didn't take Hijiri long at all to get to sleep. That had been quite the... eventful day.
Hijiri had been leaning up against one wall and conversing in low tones with the man who had saved him earlier, who apparently was called 'Kroll vor Iechtelstier'... it had taken him several tries to get the pronunciation right on that surname. One of the others sat slumped in a chair by the bed of the woman who'd been hit in the shoulder, whilst the last member paced back and forth with clenched fists. He stopped moving and they all turned when the doors opened and in strode their sergeant, followed by Trevor, who managed to look utterly miserable even with the helmet concealing his expression. He'd been assigned latrine duty for the next month, as a result of his actions... though that had been entirely Davion's own decision; he had chosen not to report the 'trooper's cowardice to Imperial Command.
Hijiri didn't much approve of keeping things from their superiors... but Trevor would almost certainly have been court martialed for what he had done, Kroll had said... and Imperial justice could be... strict, at times. He may not have been liked – barely even tolerated, actually – but no one here hated him that much.
“Orders have come in,” Davion stated without preamble, “Command wants to give the gang responsible for this smuggling operation as little time to react as possible. As such, we won't be waiting on reinforcements; everyone fit for combat will head out tomorrow morning, hopefully before they have the opportunity to move their stock or prepare any surprises.”
Four of the captives had survived their wounds. Of those, three had been impressively resistant to 'questioning'. One, however, was barely into his teens. It hadn't taken much to convince him to give up what he knew. It wasn't much, but they'd learned the drop-off location for the guns, and also now knew who they were dealing with; a gang which called itself the 'Northside Wolfpack'. Apparently, the name came from a rumour that they were actually werewolves.
“We'll be going in alone. No other squads can be spared to assist with this, despite the chance that we could end up massively out-gunned. Most of you likely expected this. Takanomiya, Dodson, you two probably did not. You should be able to understand, though; this isn't Tier One, we don't have vast troop reserves down here. We just have to make do with whoever we do have at any given time, and right now, that means only those people present here in this room. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.” Hijiri answered immediately. Having already been told by Kroll what their orders would likely be, he was prepared for this. He knew they'd be counting on him, as a Prime, to do a large portion of the fighting by himself. Judging by the stories he'd heard – both from the squad and via the Dataverse – it seemed that Primes typically wielded all manner of strange and awe-inspiring abilities. True, Secondaries could technically do the same, but it was far rarer for them. Primes, being hand-picked by Omni, tended to be a lot more impressive.
Though he was easily able to act calm and assured, privately Hijiri worried that he might not be up to the task at hand in his current state. He still had nowhere near the reserves of Omnilium he'd need in order to access his true form... and without that, he wasn't worth much more in a fight than just a couple of stormtroopers. He had only defeated three of those thugs the other day... if the odds had been even slightly worse, he could easily have wound up dead.
“... Yes, sir...” groaned Trevor pathetically. Davion sighed, but didn't otherwise react to the idiot's unprofessional attitude. It was a far cry from how enthusiastic that fool had been when Hijiri first met him, only yesterday. Apparently, coming face-to-face with the reality of the situation on the lower tiers had really intimidated him. Perhaps he hadn't realised how pitiful and cowardly he was until now... it wasn't like Tier One had a lot of crime, after all, whilst they did have many, many stormtroopers. It was entirely possible that he'd never actually been placed in a real life-or-death situation until now.
Hell, maybe he'd even considered himself pretty brave before this; his position as one of those guarding the Nexus Gate – where any random Prime could come along and brutally murder you without having to worry about Judge Dredd or the Space Marines showing up to stomp them into the ground – must be a riskier assignment than strolling through the safe and cheery shopping districts and public parks of Tier One. Finding out the truth about his nature must have really been a blow to his ego. If not for the fact that one or two of their fallen squadmates might still be alive right now had Trevor performed competently in that battle, Hijiri might even have felt sorry for him.
“Alright, and the rest of you? I assume you're all prepared for this?”
“Yes, sir!” the rest of the squad chorused in perfect synchronisation. Even the 'trooper who had almost died – and was still on life support at the moment, actually – took part, though it was glaringly obvious that he wouldn't be fit for anything. Hijiri was impressed. Back home, all of his allies had been just as brave... but they had also been far more powerful. Casualties had been a rarity even in the lower ranks of their Earth Defence Force, whereas these people had watched four of their comrades gunned down mere hours ago, and still didn't hesitate for even a moment. It was a lot to live up to.
Davion nodded. “Good. Now, Nash, I'd like to speak to you for a moment. The rest of you who're uninjured had best return to your rooms; you'll be needing your rest for what comes tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir.” they said again, before heading out. Trevor, being closest to the door, left first, then Hijiri, Kroll and that pacing guy headed after him. Davion and the man who had been sitting glumly brought up the rear, closing the infirmary door behind them and hanging back. Briefly glancing over a shoulder as he walked, Hijiri noticed the sergeant give 'Nash' a pat on the shoulder, whilst speaking quietly enough to keep their conversation private. The man nodded a couple times and stood straighter. Though slightly curious, the ex-Battle Rabbit knew it was none of his business, so decided to simply forget about it.
After reaching the residential section of the 'racks, they all split up and each headed for their separate rooms.
Once there, it didn't take Hijiri long at all to get to sleep. That had been quite the... eventful day.
Quote:Word Count: 1222, according to OpenOffice's word counter.
Total Word Count: 6882/5000-10000.
![[Image: Hijiri_Name_Sig.png]](https://image.ibb.co/k1H7Hd/Hijiri_Name_Sig.png)