Post by wookiee on Aug 23, 2013 1:04:14 GMT -5
Well, after a bit of a hiatus, I finally got the next chapter done! As always, constructive criticism is more than welcome.
Chapter 2: Raven Squad
The sudden drop he felt in his stomach woke up Daniel as he rubs the sleep from his eyes. He looks out the porthole to see the castle city of Celeste come into view, the ship lowering itself into one of the docking ports. Daniel fumbles through the envelope and pulls out his notice of transfer and stretches as he walks towards the gangplank, eventually reaching the harbor. He takes a glance around, having been told that an operative would meet him there and he nearly jumps at the voice appearing behind him.
“Daniel Simmons?” the voice asks as he turns around to face a man in his early 30's.
“Y-yes, that's me.” he replies.
“I'm operative Fade, I was sent to take you to the Espionage Division.” he responds gruffly, his voice very blunt.
“Odd,” Daniel thinks to himself, “No formality at all, no salute, no designation of rank? What have I gotten into?”
Fade takes the transfer notice and heads off out of the harbor, leaving Daniel to jog quickly to keep up.
Daniel looks around, taking quick glances around the town that would be his base of operations from now on. Looking up he sees the large building with the words: “Espionage Division” etched in large letters on the building's face.
Eventually, after much weaving and meandering through the streets and side streets, the reach the front of the building, and he notices that there were multiple insignias of the different squads: a Wolf, a Raven, and an Eagle. Each had a single door next to the insignias and Fade quickly entered the one next to the Raven and stepped inside, leaving Daniel to scramble in after him. On the wall along the wide hallway was written the words: “Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken! - Edgar Allen Poe, 1845”
“You coming, rookie?” Fade asks, making Daniel realize that he was staring at the wall..
“Y-yeah, sorry.” he says, heading to the door that the older operative held open and stepping through into the squad's command center.
The command center was little more than a small room with six desks and a map on the wall. He looks around the room before realizing all the eyes in the room were on him, as if sizing him up. After what seemed like an eternity to Daniel, a booming voice shatters the silence.
“Ah, you must be our new member.” the source of the voice stands up, a taller, heavyset man who looked like his field days have long come and go. “I'm Dusk, the squad commander.” he says, shaking Daniel's hand roughly.
“Lt. Daniel Simmons reporting for duty sir!” he replies, giving a small salute.
Dusk laughs heavily. “Ha, there's none of that here son.” he says, “We are a family here, we try to act that way.” he says walking Daniel to his assigned desk before standing in front of the Map of the territories.
“Alright Ravens, this is our new Field Operative,” the tone of the officer's voice changed from the cheery demeanor from a moment ago and quickly turned into one that Daniel was all too familiar with, one that reminded him of the instructors back at the academy. “Daniel, you will no longer go by your name or rank, you are now Field Operative number 2, and your call sign will be Shadow. Understand Operative?”
“Yes Sir.” he replies quickly.
“Keep in mind that Daniel Simmons no longer exists, your record is gone, your service history, gone, your medical history, gone.” he says. “You are only Shadow.”
This hit Daniel hard, the thought of never having existed blew him away. Who knew that his was how serious the Espionage division took their work?
Dusk heads to a closet and pulls out a uniform, similar to the one he had on, only this one was all black and had a bright red braided cord going through the epaulette on his shoulder. Each sleeve bore the purple patch that held the insignia of Raven Squad. The hat was similar to the officer's cap back at headquarters except that it had a red trim that matched his chord.
“You are to wear that uniform within the town and at headquarters at all times unless you are off duty. You will wear it on assignments unless told otherwise.” Dusk says as he goes to his desk and pulls out a pair of dog tags and a leather bound wallet. “These are your identifications and badge.” he places them on Daniel's desk. “You will use these to identify yourself as a member of Raven squad and a member of the Republic Espionage Division. “
“Yes sir.” he replies, still taking it all in, as this was a bit of a shock to him.
“Alright son, you are dismissed until tomorrow at 0800 hours.” Dusk says, his voice regaining it's usual cheeriness. “Welcome to the squad.” he adds as Daniel leaves.
Chapter 2: Raven Squad
The sudden drop he felt in his stomach woke up Daniel as he rubs the sleep from his eyes. He looks out the porthole to see the castle city of Celeste come into view, the ship lowering itself into one of the docking ports. Daniel fumbles through the envelope and pulls out his notice of transfer and stretches as he walks towards the gangplank, eventually reaching the harbor. He takes a glance around, having been told that an operative would meet him there and he nearly jumps at the voice appearing behind him.
“Daniel Simmons?” the voice asks as he turns around to face a man in his early 30's.
“Y-yes, that's me.” he replies.
“I'm operative Fade, I was sent to take you to the Espionage Division.” he responds gruffly, his voice very blunt.
“Odd,” Daniel thinks to himself, “No formality at all, no salute, no designation of rank? What have I gotten into?”
Fade takes the transfer notice and heads off out of the harbor, leaving Daniel to jog quickly to keep up.
Daniel looks around, taking quick glances around the town that would be his base of operations from now on. Looking up he sees the large building with the words: “Espionage Division” etched in large letters on the building's face.
Eventually, after much weaving and meandering through the streets and side streets, the reach the front of the building, and he notices that there were multiple insignias of the different squads: a Wolf, a Raven, and an Eagle. Each had a single door next to the insignias and Fade quickly entered the one next to the Raven and stepped inside, leaving Daniel to scramble in after him. On the wall along the wide hallway was written the words: “Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken! - Edgar Allen Poe, 1845”
“You coming, rookie?” Fade asks, making Daniel realize that he was staring at the wall..
“Y-yeah, sorry.” he says, heading to the door that the older operative held open and stepping through into the squad's command center.
The command center was little more than a small room with six desks and a map on the wall. He looks around the room before realizing all the eyes in the room were on him, as if sizing him up. After what seemed like an eternity to Daniel, a booming voice shatters the silence.
“Ah, you must be our new member.” the source of the voice stands up, a taller, heavyset man who looked like his field days have long come and go. “I'm Dusk, the squad commander.” he says, shaking Daniel's hand roughly.
“Lt. Daniel Simmons reporting for duty sir!” he replies, giving a small salute.
Dusk laughs heavily. “Ha, there's none of that here son.” he says, “We are a family here, we try to act that way.” he says walking Daniel to his assigned desk before standing in front of the Map of the territories.
“Alright Ravens, this is our new Field Operative,” the tone of the officer's voice changed from the cheery demeanor from a moment ago and quickly turned into one that Daniel was all too familiar with, one that reminded him of the instructors back at the academy. “Daniel, you will no longer go by your name or rank, you are now Field Operative number 2, and your call sign will be Shadow. Understand Operative?”
“Yes Sir.” he replies quickly.
“Keep in mind that Daniel Simmons no longer exists, your record is gone, your service history, gone, your medical history, gone.” he says. “You are only Shadow.”
This hit Daniel hard, the thought of never having existed blew him away. Who knew that his was how serious the Espionage division took their work?
Dusk heads to a closet and pulls out a uniform, similar to the one he had on, only this one was all black and had a bright red braided cord going through the epaulette on his shoulder. Each sleeve bore the purple patch that held the insignia of Raven Squad. The hat was similar to the officer's cap back at headquarters except that it had a red trim that matched his chord.
“You are to wear that uniform within the town and at headquarters at all times unless you are off duty. You will wear it on assignments unless told otherwise.” Dusk says as he goes to his desk and pulls out a pair of dog tags and a leather bound wallet. “These are your identifications and badge.” he places them on Daniel's desk. “You will use these to identify yourself as a member of Raven squad and a member of the Republic Espionage Division. “
“Yes sir.” he replies, still taking it all in, as this was a bit of a shock to him.
“Alright son, you are dismissed until tomorrow at 0800 hours.” Dusk says, his voice regaining it's usual cheeriness. “Welcome to the squad.” he adds as Daniel leaves.
