The Wraith

[Sarah Tintagyl]

A strange routine began to set in over the students of the Imperial Special Forces Academy as the days turned to weeks. Every morning began the same way, a loud crash of the metal garbage can rolling down the stone floor of the barracks. It had come as a surprise at first, but over time Sarah and the others had grown to treat it as an alarm clock, even her dreams began to reflect the harsh sounds of the metal, hearkening it to a sound of a gong going off somewhere far away. At the sound, the enlistees were quick to jump out of their beds, but no matter how fast they were and how fast they readied themselves, one unlucky recruit who was just not fast enough was pummeled by the clubs of the Lieutenant and his Sergeants, Sarah had been in that spot only once when her dream had been so kind and welcoming and her bed, even a mattress on a cot was so warm and cozy that she could barely formulate the energy to roll out of bed. She regretted it instantly. Her hair was ripped back as her body was thrown from the bed, there she was beaten if only for a moment before the blood began to run from her cut face and mouth, the black eye that had formed had only just gone away.

Every morning was a physical training and as the days progressed it only became more intense. What started off as a run that traversed some ten kilometers finished in a few weeks as a journey taking over five hours to complete, running pretty much the whole time. At the beginning her body shook from the sheer lack of energy that her body was trying to produce, she nearly threw up every morning a good distance in on the run, when the Summer heat of an August in South America bore down on her. Sarah hated herself, she smelt something awful, she was nearly always covered in sweat, grime, dirt, and blood, and yet she had to push on. No longer because she wanted to see what was at the end of the path, but because she feared what lay behind her. Quitting was not an option either, not her first true decision. She was here for various reasons and one of them was to show the world that she didn't need them, that she could go down her own path and not only survive, but master it. When Sarah came to grips with that, the vomiting stopped.

After morning physical training, which did not just include running from point 'A' to point 'B' but a long process of gymnastics, aerobics, muscle building, and strength training, the enlistees made the long journey back towards the bunker to begin the second phase of a days training, weapons care, weapon usage, and tactics. In honesty, Sarah found herself enjoying the physical training much more than tactics, though weapons usage was intriguing, even if they hadn't been given the actual arms that were inscribed to Imperial Operatives. Most flew threw the beginning of weapons training and tactics for that matter as many of the recruits had served in the Imperial Army before hand. This was the main reason Sarah hated tactics, she was horrible at them and as a result of that spent long hours after the day had pretty much ended studying her notes for the next day.

Under the covers in her bed with a flashlight that she had nearly broken her neck to get from the Lieutenant, which had been an entirely different story with more consequences that she could imagine, she flipped through her booklet. She sighed looking down at the hasty drawings scribbled out on the paper, blue lines over red, communications, signals, everything to make an operation run smoothly, but for the love of her she couldn't wrap her head around it. "Goddammit." Sarah pounded the notebook with her hands. "One day and they expect us to know all this? They're insan--" The covers shifted and her heart dropped as she turned off the flashlight and undid the covers. Sarah looked up to see one of the other two girls that were in training along side her staring down at her with a smile flashed across her face.

"You're Sarah right?"

"Uh, yeah." She held out her hand. "And you are?"

"Dorothy." She sat down on the bed. "I know its not my business, but when we're in tactical instruction, you always seem so lost and now you're studying when you should be sleeping."

"Yeah." Sarah sighed. "I was never really in the military before this, so military tactics aren't my specialty."

"Well I'd be happy to help you out, I mean I'm not saying that I'm a great tactician, but any help is something right?"

For the first time in a long time, Sarah smiled back. "Yeah, yeah Dorothy, that would be great thanks."

"My pleasure." She never asked about Sarah's past or story and only when to turn on the flashlight as just like the slumber parties of her childhood, Sarah and Dorothy spent the night studying and analyzing everything that made the movements of the Imperial Forces successful.

---

As the weeks passed the training even though insanely difficult became easier in its own way. Sarah had ceased throwing up during the runs and had even begun to take a liking to tactics. She had begun to change herself as well, her once frail arms began to grow and bulge with toned bronzed muscle, her legs defined from the aerobics, and her strength increased nearly two fold from drilling after the morning run. In addition to physical change, war was becoming second nature to her, or at least the conduct of war. Sarah could fix a broken assault rifle while in the field, clean and upkeep weapons given to her and as graduating as an officer in the program would be able to effectively lead troops if push came to shove.

One morning, the garbage can was thrown to the floor with the same intensity as the days and weeks prior, but this time as the recruits hastened to get to attention before the beats arrived, the Lieutenant only stared down the isle and smiled. "You can all relax for a moment, today will be a bit different from what you are used to. In fact, from this day forward everything in training will be a bit different." He began to walk down towards the end of the barracks. "I want to congratulate you all, because in essence you survived the first phase of your training. Basic. Today you will be given your Imperial uniforms and the standard issue for all Imperial Special Operations Divisions. Today, !@#$ will begin to get real."

He walked the recruits out of the barracks towards the shooting range on the opposite end of the bunker. A large table was set up with various sub-machine guns, grenades, automatic pistols, silencers, and explosives, the standard weaponry of the elites of the Imperial Army. Walking up to the table he picked up the pistol and screwed on a silencer. "This is the Fabrique Imperiale 9mm sidearm. It is your primary handgun, equipped with a silencer and should be your backup weapon in the field. Fortunately enough, your sub-machine gun." The Lieutenant picked up another large weapon and held it up. "The MP5, made by the same, will be your primary weapon in the field. The ammunition cartridges are interchangeable and therefore ammo should only be a problem if you if you run out of ammunition. If that is the case, then you have this." He placed the machine gun back on the table and held up a knife. "And if worse comes to absolute worse, you will have this. However I would only use the knife in the most dire of situations. Fighting with any blade can get ugly and your aim is to be silent, so only as a last measure." The Lieutenant continued to run through their basic equipment, they would be equipped with the pistol, the sub-machine gun, the knife, three flash grenades and a small amount of C4 explosives for demolition and booby traps. "This will all be equipped to this." He said as the sergeants brought out a line of body suits, the Imperial Uniforms that they would be wearing. The undersides were form fitting with kevlar protection along the chest and legs, a holster for the pistol on the right leg and a strap for the SMG over the back.

"Welcome to the Imperial Special Forces, training day one." Sarah heard him say as they began to change out of their clothes and into the bodysuit and then strapped their weapons onto their bodies. She couldn't help but smile as she looked over herself. Sarah moved her fingers and touched the hilt of the pistol, she felt powerful again, strong, disciplined and exactly what she had come here to be transformed into. "I'm sure you all like what you see, well then." The Lieutenant chuckled. "You might as well get used to wearing it in the field. Remember those checkpoints?" The faces of the recruits dropped. "Fifteen minutes! Now!" And the race was on. Sarah hit the outside air, the sun hitting her face and she squinted her eyes. The weight of the weapons, the ammunition, pushing her down, but she kept moving, the path to the soldier becoming ever more clear.

[Centurius]

OOC: Really sorry Sarah but I've been very busy.

IC:

The Camp Commander had been watching the training and especially Sarah not having much trust in someone who just came from a palace the training would only get more difficult for her. Under orders the Lieutenant and a special unit from the Academy Staff entered his office the Lieutenant already fearing what would follow with the other Officer there saluted to the Commander with the rank of Colonel.

"Lieutenant I have been keeping track of your Recruits and feel we have enough justification to commence Trojan on miss Tintagyl, as you probably know this is Captain Vasquez her own team will inflict the injuries I want you to place her in the program"the Colonel said putting his signature under the paper.

"If I may Colonel, why? Recruit Tintagyl has shown the will to proceed while she lacks Tactical knowledge there are many Officers who have less results"

"Those are heroes of the state having served at least several years on the front however I am getting sick of the Empress sending her friends here where true heroes of the Union are formed. She will have to fail. You have your orders, dismissed"

While the Colonel reluctant both saluted once more and left the Office now the true training would begin.

---

As the day ended and the Recruits would return they would notice a new guest heavily beaten up and by the looks barely alive.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

The line of twenty recruits walked into the stone bunker, just as the light was fading from the orange sky. Their faces were tired and worn, though training today had been slightly less vigorous than normal. For most of the day, it had been the sergeants that had taken command of the drills and while they still had the respect and response from the recruits, they could only inspire fear from the brutality of their clubs and their fists, but not from the intimidation that the Lieutenant could create just with his eyes and his sneer. It was strange, he had been in and out of their routine all day, coming by for a few moments to check up on the recruits and dispel any idea of serenity to the training, but even when he was around, there was a sad and disappointed look on his face, he even talked to some of the recruits with pleasantries, as if they had regained their humanity, if only for a moment. Sarah eyed him especially curious, because he seemed to be focusing on her the majority of the time, that same sad look over his features. It destroyed her inside, every horrible thought of failure drove through her that day, that she wasn't doing as much or enough like the other recruits around her. She worked double that day, harder than she had worked before, she finished first in the run and made sure to absolutely destroy her muscles and her sinews during exercise so that she could barely move when they went on a run in their uniforms, but even at that point, a fanatical resolve to impress the Lieutenant continued, up until it was time for the day to end.

Sarah walked next to Dorothy near the middle of the line as they walked into the barracks, the Lieutenant near them, and Sarah still breathing heavily from her finishing run, which at the end of the day she had finished last and was in a sour mood. However all her thoughts of failure and defeat suddenly vanished at the sound of frenzy erupted from the front of the line.

"Someone has to go and get first aid! Someone has to go get help! There's a girl here! She's bleeding! She's barely breathing." The line separated as the sergeants ran forwards, throwing recruits to the side as they knelt over the girl. The Lieutenant was much slower in nearing her and the group seemed to part as he came closer.

"Vasquez." He sighed. "I told you it was too dangerous to try." His response cryptic and animated. The injured girl only winced in pain as the sergeants lifted her off the ground and onto one of the cots. "Did people go to get first aid?"

"Yes sir."

"Then I want all of you out, they'll be back with the medicine and get her on her feet. This is Recruit Vasquez, she is a new recruit to our program and after she recovers will be subject to the same as all of you, so don't think this is any sign of weakness." The enlistees nodded and began to exit the room along with the sergeants, but as Sarah passed the Lieutentant, his hand caught her arm and dragged her back. "Not you Tintagyl. You're going to stay with her, you did enough today, and I don't want her here alone if she takes a turn for the worse.

"But Lieuten--"

He slapped her across the face. "Don't second guess me, you have an order! Follow it!"

Sarah snapped back and saluted. "Sir, yes sir!" Then watched him disappear onto the darkening fields outside the bunker, leaving her alone with the injured recruit.

Frowning she walked over and pulled her own cot next to the girl and stared down at her broken body. Gently she stroked her hair and smiled. "It'll be okay, they went to get some morphine and bandages so you'll be feeling better in no time at all. Just hang in their okay." The injured girl muttered something nonsensical and closed her eyes. "Don't talk, just rest. My name is Sarah, if you ever need something, anything, anything at all, just ask me, okay. We'll get through it together."

She spent much of the rest of the night watching over her body, as innocent and as unknowing as a dove watching over her young.

[Centurius]

While not close to completely recovered training was to go on the next day this time even earlier than normal rather than the normal protocol however more conventional means were used and a siren alerted them of the fact they had to get up. The first part of the plan was to commence today in essence starting to earn the trust of Sarah, however for this to work they had to do more than the little act the day before. Adriana would not be fast enough and the Sergeants today having a bad mood would punish her for it. When they came in without the Lieutenant they pulled Sarah away from Adriana.

"Recruit Vasquez, you are not standing in uniform as supposed to yet"the worst of all said, the others keeping an eye on the other Recruits and taking them outside of the room marching to the outside. Where in the hallway a loud scream could be heard not much later the recent addition to the training was standing in the Imperial uniform too outside of the complex.

“Today you all have bad luck, the Lieutenant has gone to Buenos Aires and the commander has left me in charge of you maggots for today. Checkpoints 10 minutes. GO!”

With that Order all moved out thinking about the fact the already impossible run would become even harder the sun of the time of year making it even harder especially for those coming from the colder areas.

-

In Buenos Aires only censored reports about Sarah came in most cases the top levels of both the government as Armed Forces didn’t know what happened in the ‘Village of Hell’ while they could visit any time they simply did not want to it hadn’t gotten his name for nothing.

[king of cochin]

OOC: Sarah, if you want some more brutal training regimen, check out this.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Never before had things gotten quite as bad for the now twenty-one recruits that had been pushed into the scorching South American heat, their black and gray uniforms soaking up an insane amount of heat from the countryside on an near impossible run for all of them. None of them even expected to make it anywhere close to the checkpoint in ten minutes, even after weeks of training that would be a hard possibility to do without the weight of their equipment slowing them down, but add some thirty pounds of weight, plus the sudden wake up call by the siren as well as the sergeants taking control of them in all their brutality. No one had any real motivation to do anything, the only thing pushing them forward was the bloody end of the sergeants' batons.

For Sarah it was even harder after the scream pierced her ears. She didn't know Adriana that well, but she did feel a certain connection to the girl after spending so much time standing over her cot and making sure she had survived the night. No one, she believed, should be put under that amount of pressure so soon, but this was the Elite Division of the Imperial Army and the commanders could do what they wanted. Humanity was for those lucky enough to serve in the regular military, Sarah and her comrades were no better than dirt. They took off as fast as they possibly could, heading into the vegetation on the north side of the ridge bordering the village. Sarah and Dorothy, and a kid named Juan who had been the first recruit to have been gifted with the sergeants' brutality on the first day neared the back of the column of recruits, keeping their eyes open for Adriana.

"Sarah, she's not coming and we're wasting time. We really need to get moving here or were going to be later than everyone else." Said Juan looking down at the two girls, a little higher up on the hill.

"I know but..."

"He's right." Dorothy grabbed Sarah's hand and pulled her. "We have to get going." She smiled. "She'll be okay, they're brutal, but they aren't monsters."

Sarah nodded and ran her hands through her hair as they continued up the path and out onto the open fields nearing the checkpoint where the column had gathered. The trio arrived with barely anytime left, just as the sergeants arrived in their jeep and jumped out onto the grass. The recruits stood at attention and closed their eyes as Adriana began to round the hill to join the group. Sarah couldn't help but sigh when she saw her coming down and knowing what was going to happen next. Adriana's weak body barely seemed to want to push through the thick blades of grass to where the metal post stood as the checkpoint. Before Adriana could even reach the group, one of the sergeants took the steel end of his baton and bashed her in the face, dropping her to the ground. A slight gasp came from the column, nearly all of them had been bashed for showing up late to the checkpoint, but most of them had gotten right back up, Adriana on the other hand laid face down, shivering in the hot sun.

"Get up and get in line!" The sergeant scowled, but she only laid there, barely breathing. "I said get up and get in line!" He reached down for the back of her uniform to drag her across the ground and throw her into the line...

"Stop it! Can't you see that she's hurt!"

A wave of silence dropped over the line as Sarah's feet slowly slid forward and almost instantly she regretted ever opening her mouth.

"You said something Recruit Tintagyl?" The sergeant dropped his attention on Adriana and focused everything onto the petite blonde who he had learned to despise and pushed to break since the beginning of training. He was going to thoroughly enjoy this.

"I just said that--" She never finished her sentence before the baton was bashed hard across her face sending her to all fours on the dirt.

"Can you tell me what is wrong with that sentence Recruit?" She only groaned in pain and wiped the thick blood off of her lips and mouth, but her silence quickly earned her another lashing across her backside, sending her instantly to the ground. "I said can you tell me what is wrong with that sentence Recruit?"

"I."

"Very good." He kicked her in the side, pushing her over, Sarah's head parallel with the dirt as he brought his boot to rest on her temple with increasing pressure. "There is no, 'I' here. There is no 'me', there is no 'you', maggots such as Recruit Tintagyl here, Recruit Vasquez and all of you have no rights, you are not human, and you may not speak to a superior officer in any such way. Due to this, Recruit Tintagyl has earned you all a day of exercise in this wonderful heat." He turned to the other officer. "Go make sure they follow through with the next eight hours."

"Of course." The officer said with a grin as he took his baton and waved it in the air. "You heard the man! Move it!" And the column left the field in a cloud of dust and resentful looks back at the bleeding girl on the ground.

The sergeant turned back and applied more pressure against Sarah's head. "As for you Tintagyl. I'm going to enjoy watching you do exercise right here under the sun. Be happy to know that you got Vasquez out of work today, as she will sit with me and watch you for the next eight hours and we will watch you train." He took his foot off of her head. "Starting with push-ups. Do not ask me how many, I will tell you when you're done."

For the next eight hours Sarah lay burning in the sun, her anger and rage no match for the will of the sergeant and the fiery orb that seemed to be focused on her white skin. The sweat rolled down her body, tiring her, pushing her to the point of breaking until the sun finally sank below the trees, Sarah collapsed to the ground, dropping the free-weights that the sergeant had brought up for one of the various phases of the day. She sat alone in the empty field and shut her eyes. A cool breeze blew through the air and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world, but even that couldn't bring back the humanity that she had lost that day. Her face covered in dried blood and sweat, the last of the Angel's innocence whispering away into the sky.

Edited September 9, 2009 by Sarah Tintagyl

[Centurius]

While her orders were clear after the events Adriana decided to rise up and asked if she could speak to the Sergeant alone while she wouldn’t blow her cover she would pull rank once they were far away enough from Sarah

“Sergeant, this is enough. I order you to let her off and have the others too in addition you will arrange a good meal and enough water for all tonight, understood?”she asked feeling the rage in the Sergeant who reluctantly agreed.

“Yes ma’am”

As they walked back the show would begin again from Captain Vasquez she would go back to Recruit.

“Recruit Tintagyl you have been punished enough for now, you are ordered to return back to the barracks. As the both would go back injured Adriana stopped Sarah.

“I have to tell you something, I am not who you think I am. The truth is I am actually Captain Vasquez and have been through this training at my 25th around 6 years ago. The Colonel has ordered me to earn your trust and then betray you. I can not and will not do this. This information will probably cost me my rank but it has to come out they want you to fail”

-

In Buenos Aires the Lieutenant arrived with a large file to be delivered to the Empress on the progress of course heavily censored by the Colonel. As he entered her office he saluted once.

“I have come from the Special Operations Training Center Alpha with a report, your highness”he said with protocols he had learned ages ago, normally Nadine could care less about the reports but this one interested her as it was the first one after Sarah enlisted. To her amazement it lacked much information.

“Lieutenant if I recall correctly I requested specific information on miss Tintagyl but I only see some general statistics”

“The Colonel has entered the information he considered important, your highness” was the only reply he could make and was allowed to make while the truth was very grim especially the one where the Colonel violated Imperial Orders to treat her as anyone else and not specifically punish her or help her.

“I see, well you are her direct superior right? So could you tell me?”Nadine answered the tone suggesting it wasn’t a request.

“Considering everything she is doing fine however she lacks support from the outside with her isolation. A familiar face might help”. He made these recommendations on purpose he was not allowed to talk however should the Empress visit the complex herself during a normal day she would certainly find out what they were doing.

“Very well prepare a visit in 2 days”

[Sarah Tintagyl]

“I have to tell you something, I am not who you think I am. The truth is I am actually Captain Vasquez and have been through this training at my 25th around 6 years ago. The Colonel has ordered me to earn your trust and then betray you. I can not and will not do this. This information will probably cost me my rank but it has to come out they want you to fail”

The words leaving Adriana's mouth as they shuffled down the dirt path back towards the barracks nearly broke Sarah's heart as she looked down at the ground and stopped her walk. She was fatigued, she was beaten, worn, and felt like she was at the brink of death, but for all that she had always tried to push on further, she had always tried to think on the brighter sides of things and that perhaps the training would end soon and that she would be inducted into the Operations Corps, that maybe finally she could start her new life. Now it didn't seem like it was worth it anymore. Moving to the side of the road, Sarah took a seat on a small rock jutting up from the earth and placed her head in her hands. Years ago, this was a sure sign that the little girl was going to begin to ball her eyes out, to begin the storm of tears and sadness in waves, even in the back of Sarah's mind she figured that it would come to crying. But as she sat, the tears never came and the sadness never formulated.

"I should have figured something like this would have happened." She looked up at Adriana. "You know who I am and you know who I was. Look, I don't want to be like that anymore. I don't want to be some God-forsaken Angel or some Valkyrie, or one of the various other words that they throw on to me. I just want to be like you, or like the Lieutenant, or like Juan or Dorothy. I don't want my past, a past that I never wanted in the first place defining who I am still to this day. That's why I'm here, I want a different life and I'm willing to bleed and struggle and hurt for every second of it. I've been through a lot of different Hells Adriana, this is just another one that I've discovered."

She got up from the rock and walked over to the captain and took her hand. "I appreciate everything you've done for me Adriana, I really do. But I can tell you that I'm not just about to walk away because some commander doesn't consider my actions to be truthful. I never wanted to be the Lady Protector and I for hell am sure that that is not going to set me apart from joining up with the Operative Corps." Sarah peeled off a strip of dry blood from her face and shook her head. "They're dead wrong if they think a little bit of blood is going to stop me. Dead wrong." Looking down at the barracks the first lights of the village were beginning to flicker on as the girls met each others' looks. "C'mon, we've been through enough today. I'm sick of being outside and covered in dirt. The first thing I'm doing when I get down there is taking a shower."

Taking each others' arms, Sarah and Adriana helped themselves down the path back into the barracks, the first shred of optimism in the bleakest of places.

[Subtleknifewielder]

OOC: I must say, I was biting my nails again. keep this up and I REALLY won;t have any left.

I look forward to the next update...

OOC: Back in Canada, the BNops had way harder training, though I never detailed it as much as Sarah did here.

<3, Sarah.

OOC: I remember that. I helped--didn't I kill off one of the trainees, BTW?

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Sarah didn't want to close her eyes, she knew that if she did there was a good chance she might fall asleep right on the top of the hill. Her body swayed in all directions as she tried to look through the binoculars at the rolling fields in front of her and she came to the very quick conclusion that if after graduation she was constantly assigned to advanced scout for field work she was going to have a serious bone to pick with the squad commander, who in her mind believed it really that it should be her, but Sarah's ego-centric attitude had also disappeared in the past few weeks since training had started. Placing the goggles back over her hair, she sighed, not only did she hate being advanced scout, but she also hated to have to go back to her teams headquarters and explain why she hadn't found the positions of the enemy team. "No, they have to be down there somewhere. Haag isn't that smart, they can't possibly be that well hidden." Of course the fact that it was night, complicated things a bit, but as Sarah packed up her small area of tools back onto her person she began to silently drift down the hill into the valleys ahead.

As she shuffled down the hill towards the bottom of the valley, the ping in her ears made her roll her eyes in disgust. As the final days of training were ahead, and the 'final test' approached, which none of the recruits had any real knowledge about. The Lieutenant had come back from Buenos Aires the day before and immediately had dismissed his sergeants for the remainder of training and then had taken the recruits out to the countryside where they were divided into two teams, given shock ammunition that was used to control rioters and protests and told that for the next three days they would be in total war with the other team. He said that it was their gift before the conclusion of training, though Sarah would much had rather had a day off to sleep or recover from the various cuts and bruises that covered her body. But those thoughts were always a pipe dream, she knew they weren't going to happen, she just wished they would.

The ping in her ears was from the radio headset that was attached to every Imperial Special Forces uniform, it was away for Command to stay in contact while in the field along with the rest of the squad. "Tintagyl! Where the $%&@ are you!?" Said her 'commander' Wilhelm Dermitz.

"On your bloody scouting mission to the middle of nowhere. I've been looking for any enemy position for about two hours now and I can't find !@#$."

"That's because we've already engaged them! Get your $@! over here! Now!"

"The entire team?! What the hell? I thought we were supposed to be spread out?"

"Apparently not! Now get over here! I'm sending you the coordinates now." The pinging stopped as the beeping sound came up on the compass that was built in to the uniform.

"$%&@ you Wilhelm, $%&@ you." She said loudly at the dot that appeared on the screen, it was a good two miles from her current position, which meant that would take her around ten minutes to run. Sarah was quick, she could run a five minute mile which had improved drastically since the beginning of training. Jumping up to her feet and letting adrenaline take control of her body, Sarah dashed off towards where the dot was blinking on the map, until finally the sounds of a firefight peaked her ears. "Wilhelm! Wilhelm!" She pinged the radio, but after waiting a few seconds there was no answer. "Dorothy! Juan! Blue team, anyone come in." It was silent for a moment and then a wave of chaotic din, the screaming and noise of nine people talking and screaming at once nearly shook the ear piece from her head.

"Sarah!" Dorothy Catalonia's familiar voice graced her earbud. "Where are you, we're under heavy fire."

"I just got here. I was like two miles away from all of you, I'm by a split tree on the other side of the field if that helps any."

"Yes! Yeah it does, you should behind their lines. Just move slowly, me and Juan will try to come across and meet you in the middle. We'll flank 'em."

Sarah smiled and nodded her head to the air around her as she went down to her knees and slowly crawled in front of her towards the sound of gunfire, just a few yards or so ahead. Then everything stopped. The gunshots, the near distant screaming of orders, everything. She waited for another few moments and still nothing penetrated the eerie silence across the ground. "Wilhelm...Dorothy...Juan?" Sarah called out, away from the headset, her voice only echoing across the air. "Anyone."

"Sarah." Dorothy called out from the left, she turned her head before hearing her friend scream. "Look out!" Before a suppressive rain of shock bullets pounded into Sarah's body from all directions as she dropped to the ground, a perfect ambush set by both commanders of the recruits.

Sarah winced in pain for a few minutes as Dorothy and Juan both ran over to her side, lifting her up to her feet, before Sarah struggled away as Dernitz and Haag walked out of the trees. "What the hell was that!" Sarah shouted over at them, the sun just beginning to penetrate through the dawning sky. "How the hell do you get involved in a firefight and we're all bunched up like that. Are you stupid or something? This isn't just point and go, there's some strategy to this, even I know that."

"Then you missed the point Tintagyl. As you often do." Said Haag snidely. "You aren't supposed to be here. You aren't a soldier, you just try and pretend to be and you do a piss poor job at it."

"I sent you away, because I don't want you on my team. No one does. You think you can just come in here and run things? Sorry that ain't going to happen."

"When the hell did I ever try to run things? I barely talk except to Dorothy and Juan over here and you're going to tell me that I'm being bossy? If you want me to be a !@#$%*, I would have complained when you made me a scout every goddamn time and sent me away from the action. I joined at the same time as you, so $%&@ this logic."

"You aren't an Imperial. You're not a native and you don't belong here. We're just trying to tell you that and get it through that thick head of yours and for Gongol and Catalonia to even befriend you, they're just as bad as you are."

"I just don't think you can get over the fact Haag, that we preform better than you and your little !@#$@#$ clique. So how about you get off your high horse for once, take the plank that's shoved up your $@!, pull it out and smell it cause guess what your !@#$ does stink."

A gunshot rang off near where the two teams were gathered as everyone jumped a bit into the air as the Lieutenant walked through the trees with a scowl on his face. "You all are supposed to be the elite of the Imperial Army and yet here we are arguing like a bunch of girls. All of you better shape up right now, or we can do the next two months all over again and its fine by me if all of you just quit cause right now its very disappointing to watch this !@#$%^&* happen." He looked around and nodded. "Tomorrow, the Dark Room begins, the final stretch of your training. A great deal of you have already quit from the beginning of training and tomorrow will finish this off. Those of you that survive Dark Room will have graduated into the Imperial Special Forces, the others, well if you last even remotely long, I'm sure the damage will already be done to you mind, so we'll see what happens. For now, I want you all to report back to barracks and go to sleep and the next person that speaks will be expelled from the academy, I don't do this to put up with !@#$%^&*. Is that understood!"

"Sir! Yes sir!"

"Then get back to the bunker. Now!"

The recruits set off again, running through the forest back towards their bunker. Dorothy and Juan staying close by Sarah to give her any boost to her mood at all. But her mind was made up, no matter what the 'Dark Room' held, she would get through it. She had made worse and she had been told worse. To give up now...well...it was as close as an option to death...neither which she made sure were going to happen.

[Lynneth]

OOC: Hoorah for Xenophobia.

Wouldn't have happened in the BNops, because Price is just that epic.

Otherwise, nicely written, Sarah. I do like this.

Edited September 11, 2009 by Lynneth

[Centurius]

The Recruits had done well and they had done so for a long time already. While the training was nearing its end they would soon be divided the teamwork aimed at during training would disappear and every single Imperial would be on his own. However that moment would take another day or 2 no one knew exactly when the final test would happen but the Commander himself. Vasquez in the mean time had been put on non active for disobeying a direct order. Meanwhile all would await a surprise when the recruits came back they would already notice it was busy and filled with people in the Phoenix Guard uniform a very beautifully decorated one and both a sidearm and sword though the sword would not be used very fast. This showed someone special was coming to the base and so it was.

--

(Imperial Palace, Buenos Aires)

The car was there and Nadine had pulled the navy dress uniform out of her closet. Another advantage of being Empress you were automatically General or Admiral in all of the divisions within the Imperial Armed Forces. Seeing the Imperial Special Forces Unit was administered and officially part of the Navy she considered the navy uniform the best. She sighed looking in the mirror she really didn’t belong in uniform probably why she wouldn’t hope to ever need to use it during heavier circumstances. After the last preparations she left the palace and stepped into the car which departed for the village and bunker where she would stay for the upcoming 3 weeks.

--

(Hell Village)

The intercom signaled what was happening only 10 minutes before. “Imperial Order 1 is hereby active, all forces prepare for Imperial visit. Security has been transferred to the Phoenix Guard”

Not much later the escort entered the complex and the Empress left it seeing a large part of the base staff including all recruits.

“It is an honor to be here with all of you, you are the pride of the Union, you are the defenders of peace and keepers of order. I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you over the next few days.

Meanwhile Sarah was ordered to go to the office of the Lieutenant to her knowledge for a review on her progress if she just knew. After waiting 10 minutes there the door opened instead of the Lieutenant walking in Nadine did.

“Hello Sarah, good to see you again”

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Her fingers shook as she sat on the chair outside of the office, especially after the problems of the night before, officer review had always worried her because she knew full well of what might be the end. The Lieutenant had expelled people from the program before and expulsion was something that you couldn't fight through, it just ended. But when the door opened and her stomach sank to the bottom of her body, her eyes widened when she saw just who had walked in. Nadine stood there, the godchild facing the godparent, the Empress facing the Lady Protector and their roles had definitely been switched. Sarah remembered only years ago, that it had been Nadine to look up to her in awe, now she found herself on the other side of the spectrum. Nadine's appearance itself conveyed every ounce of Imperial dignity, the grace and compassion of her mother Relena spoke volumes the the girl who had stood up in salute.

But for the maturation that the Empress had gone through into a splendid ruler, Sarah had gone through her own metamorphosis. Her soft features replaced by a hardened stare and piercing eyes, her frame developed, and the scars of training flustered over her body. Yes, their roles had most notably switched. The calm and compassion that Nadine had inherited from Sarah herself, while Sarah had transformed through the fires of this Hell into a hardened weapon for Nadine to use against her enemies.

The Valkyrie bowed and smiled up at the Empress. "Yes, it is Nadine, it's a pleasure to see you again. But why are you here?"

[Centurius]

While she might have looked strong it was mostly the uniform and the face one got from facing politicians every day deep within she was still a girl a very smart but normal girl while she didn’t show it Sarah was still her idol and seeing her with the scars hurt her.

“I came here to offer a familiar face in this new world and…”she paused. “I missed you” after that she took the chair next to Sarah looking into her eyes seeing the changes. “You have grown stronger”

[Sarah Tintagyl]

She chuckled and sat down next to Nadine. "Yeah. This world, it takes some time to get used to. Trust me, I must have been a bit mad to even try something like this." Sighing, Sarah looked down at herself and looked at the changes, her skin that had just ever so lightly bronzed, her muscles in her arms, legs, and thighs which had grown in the past month, and at her hands that had begun to show the first signs of coarseness, leaving a life that the worst thing she had picked up was perhaps a pen and paper.

"Stronger? Yeah, I've gotten a lot stronger. Physically, mentally...emotionally. I've been through more than I ever thought possible so its really amazing Nadine, it really is." Sarah looked over at her and smiled. "But I feel at ease for once, its weird I know that these situations could calm me down, but its the truth. The physical training, the classes, everything, its help take my mind off the past and I needed that more than anything." She let out a small gasp and hugged the Empress tightly. "I missed you too and I appreciate everything you done for me, everything that you've helped me become. You made me proud in the past Nadine, so proud, and I want to do the same for you. Serve you loyally until I am unable to do so and serve this country that has given me a home. Nothing in my mind seems more right."

[Centurius]

Nadine smiled when she saw how well Sarah was actually doing and returned the hug. “I can not wait until graduation and you already made me proud Sarah the first day I saw you. Now more on the training itself. Are the natives giving you a hard time? Imperials are known for their racism” she asked looking around the office it showed the order of the Special Forces contrary to the well decorated naval bases divided over the nation this was simply plain but efficient.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

She chuckled and shook her head. "No, not at all. Everyone gets on each others nerves eventually, especially after a month of this kind of training. But everything is just fine, I've made new friends and your people are some of the most wonderful on the planet." Sarah shook her head. "Listen to me ramble on though, it sounds like I'm in Elementary School again or something. But yeah, I'm excited for graduation and to take an actual turn on what I've learned here." She took a deep breath. "I know our final test is supposed to start sometime today, so I'm trying to prepare myself as best as possible for that. But I'm so close, giving up..." She smiled. "Is not an option."

[Centurius]

Now the pride was obvious from the eyes of Nadine. “I will be there the whole way Sarah Buenos Aires isn’t expecting me back for another 3 weeks I will be there when you finish the test then you can introduce me to your new friends” Nadine said realizing a lot of them would not be sane anymore when they left it. That was the one part Buenos Aires knew about the 2 week test it was so heavy people left it dead or insane. “And when you come out there will be something special in addition to graduation”

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"Looking forward to it, I figure the 'Dark Room' really can't be too bad, so we'l--" There was another knock on the door as one of the replacement sergeants walked into the room. Bowing to the Empress first and then turning to Sarah as she stood up on her feet.

"Its time to go recruit, we're taking people to the 'Dark Room', Your Highness, the Lieutenant asked for you to come along and say a few final words to the recruits before they entered. So we would all be honored if you could as well. Anyways, I know you to are friends, so I'll give you five minutes, just remember Tintagyl, you're still a damn recruit."

"Sir! Yes sir!" Sarah saluted as she clicked her boots as the sergeant left the room. She sighed and turned to Nadine. "I guess its time to go, time to finally finish everything I've been doing here." Taking Nadine's hand she held it tightly in her own. "Thank you, for everything." She said and then exited through the door, following the sergeant down towards the basement of the bunker. At the bottom of the staircase that ran the length of the entire compound was a square concrete room with steel doors running along the walls. About twenty of them in all and gave the feeling of a medieval dungeon that may have been used during the Spanish Inquisition or something that was used in horror films. Just being in the room made Sarah feel uncomfortable.

The recruits were ordered to strip to their bed clothes, a white tank top and shorts. So they stood there, shivering in fear as the Lieutenant walked down with the Empress and smiled. "Congratulations recruits, you have made it through two phases of your training and you are to be congratulated for this. You have demonstrated an ability that members of the regular Imperial army do not have and cannot to ever hope to possess. However, to understand your full potential and to reach your full potential, your mind must become as strong as your body has become. For that purpose, to dissolve all fear from your body, we have created the Dark Room. Here you will be locked up with rations for two weeks and you will have yourself and the dark to comfort you. If you are able to survive then you may count yourself as one of the lucky few that survived and became immortal in the halls of the Imperial Special Division."

The Lieutenant pressed a button on the wall as the doors opened. "You may enter."

Sarah walked towards her room and looked back at Nadine with worried eyes, ready to disappear out of mind for the next two weeks.

Edited September 11, 2009 by Sarah Tintagyl

[Centurius]

Nadine sighed as she heard the words of the Lieutenant just before they entered she moved forward.

"Recruits, whatever happens in this room you have proven yourself to me and the Union, I look forward to seeing you again in 2 weeks. The people will be with you all the time never forget that. Good luck" After that they all entered their own rooms Sarah being in 101, once in the doors would close and put on lock for 2 weeks to prevent immediate trouble there would only be silence in the beginning however after 5 hours the independent computer systems using pre-set data on fears, experiences and life signs of the recruits should make their life hard. It showed the exact reason why people did not know what happened in the rooms no one did it was decided on individual basis. Nadine together with the Lieutenant walked to the control room perhaps her feelings would be even more tense than any of those within. What if she didn’t make it? There was no escape.

The look from Sarah had only increased her feelings she could sense a fear or was it herself being afraid? Taking a cup of coffee from the Lieutenant in the room she seated herself in a chair and looked at the displays after a few minutes she knew she could not wait that way she walked out of the base to rest on the grass, these were the moments one wanted to be in nature.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

The door shut with a loud crash as the locks were put in place and Sarah's prison for two weeks became a very real reality. It was a plan room, where a concrete floor met four concrete walls that met one concrete roof. A single ray of a pale gray light leaked in from one of the corners giving her just enough illumination for Sarah to see her hand if she held it directly in front of her face. The rations that they had been given consisted mainly of freeze-dried food, some snacks and just about anything you didn't need water, a microwave, or a stove to cook, though she did have a few bottles of water, she definitely could not waste them on preparing food. "Two weeks eh?" She said quietly, not that it would really how loud she talked, God only knew how thick these walls were, that was the point after all, her biggest enemy was silence. But at the same time, silence was also her best friend.

Walking over to the corner under the ray of light, Sarah sat down and tilted her head against the ground and thought happy thoughts. It wouldn't be so bad. Right? She after all was sleep deprived, so this would be the perfect time as any to catch up on the various hours of sleep that she had missed during the last month of training. The room was a steady temperature of probably about seventy-five degree Fahrenheit, so it was pleasant in what Sarah was dressed in. She yawned and closed her eyes and the gray ray of light vanished from her sight as she descended into comfortable dreams.

Darkness...

When Sarah opened her eyes, she couldn't tell if she opened her eyes because everything was dark. She very well could still be dreaming or possibly still have her eyes closed. However, after blinking a few times, she found that that was was impossible and was either awake and the gray light had vanished or she was still dreaming. Sarah closed her eyes for a moment and then realized something, if she knew she was closing her eyes as in she was trying to fall asleep again, it meant that she was awake, very much awake, and very much alone and in total darkness. Crawling out from the corner, her bare arms and legs slid against the concrete and towards where the ray had once been. Nothing, only dark, and the fear of truly being along began to set into her mind. Sliding back over to the corner, Sarah felt around for the food and the water that was piled against the wall. There was something that felt like crackers, maybe something like cookies, she felt a water bottle and untwisted the cap and let the water pour into her mouth. Finally, something to calm her nerves a bit, if she could just keep drinking water, then...but there was only a limited supply and she had to make it last for two weeks. Of course how long had it been already?

Four hours...?

Twelve hours...?

Twenty-Four hours...?

Two weeks...?

She couldn't tell, she just had to wait until the Lieutenant came around to release her from the room. But what if he never came? What if this had all been a ploy from the Lieutenant and those that had beaten her to get rid of her permanently, she would be trapped in this room, trapped in the dark forever.

"Sarah." She clenched her fists. "Get a hold of yourself Sarah. Goddamn, you're going to worry yourself to death. This is what they want to do to you. They want you to worry. Just calm down, everything will be fine, just calm down." Crawling back to her corner, Sarah stiffened up against the wall and closed her eyes. It had to have been longer than an hour right? "Sarah stop thinking!" She screamed aloud at the thought and her voice echoed around the concrete room before returning back to her ears.

"Sarah stop thinking! Sarah stop thinking! Sarah stop thinking!" The voice repeated over and over in the air, but it barely sounded like her own voice anymore and she looked up in the dark with a worried look on her face as her mind wandered to the places where she wished it wouldn't. Her body shivered as she held her head tightly, trying to get rid of the fears, trying to get rid of feeling anything at all. She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head violently. "No. Leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to hear you. Just leave me alone!"

There was a soft maniacal laughter that pierced through the silence as a pair of red eyes pierced through the darkness, nothing more, just a pair of red eyes. "Michel?"

"No." The voice said. "By the time I'm through with you, you will wish that I was Martens, or Visari, or Hiley. Or your father. Oh Sarah I'm so much worse than any of them. So much more vile, so much more...evil." It sounded familiar, the voice itself sounded familiar, but so much more heavy, so much more dense as if it had been weighed down by something. Raspy, raspy was the word for it.

"Then who are you?" Sarah's voice was quiet, timid and afraid. Even with her new strength, her new power, her new will, there was an intimidation coming from across the room.

A bright flash filled the room as Sarah shielded her eyes behind her hands as she looked at the figure seated in front of her and her heart froze. "No." She stared back at a disfigured, mutated Sarah Tintagyl, her doppelganger, stared back at her with piercing red eyes and rotting skin.

"Don't you see what you've done to me! Don't you see what you've done to all of use! Sarah you betrayed me, everything, you kept me away from glory, you kept me away from advancement, you kept me away from everything. Don't you understand, we could have dominated the world together. People bowed down to me, they worshiped me like a god, and you reduced me to what? A disgusting toad that works for other governments. You talk about freeing yourself, about having your own destiny. Tell me Sarah what destiny are you following right now? The destiny of Nadine Peacecraft or the destiny of Sarah Tintagyl."

"I never wanted to be a politician, I never wanted to be a leader! Why can't you understand that!"

"Then why were you a leader for so long? Why didn't you just give up in Helsinki when the bomb dropped? Or even before, why didn't you just give the government to Hok, you could have been free, no one would have second guessed you. But for some reason you persevered. Why? Because you wanted it, because you wanted what leadership offered you. That's the only reason and don't try to tell me otherwise. To hell with your ideals, you wanted power, cold hard power, and we could have had it, we could have been so powerful that we could have ended the world and the world would have cheered for you."

"No. That never would have happened. You're just like all the other leaders in this world and if anything it was you who I wanted to escape more than anyone else. More than Maelstrom, even if he's dead now, more than Martens, or Harlem, or Uberstein, or Hiley, or any of them. You were the worst."

"And yet it was not I that killed Mykep." The doppelganger laughed. "It was your passion Sarah, it was your desire, your drive. You could have killed me any time you wanted, but you need me." Slowly the doppelganger began to change, the rot disappearing to bronze flesh, her eyes sapphire, her hair a beautiful blonde. "If it wasn't for me, do you think you could have changed into what you are now. Look at yourself Sarah, look at the strength I gave you, look at the wisdom, and the power. Look at what I changed you into and I can take all that away from you any time I want. I can make you weak, I can make you shrivel, I can make you die. Do you want to die Sarah?"

"You can't do any of those things. You're right you did make me strong, you did make me wiser, but you can't kill me. I won't let you."

Instantly the doppelganger grinned manically and screamed at the top of her voice as the entire room felt like it wash shaking, like if the world was literally coming apart at the seams. Sarah stood there and watched as the flames began to surround her and the sounds of explosions began to ring in her ears. Louder and louder they became and she expected to return to ground zero of Helsinki where the first nuclear explosions had gone off, but instead she could only feel the temperature rising as sweat began to pour from her body. "No!" She screamed, falling to her knees. "What's happening to me!? What's happening!? Let me out of here! Please God let me out of here! Let me--"

"Sarah..."

And everything faded to black again.

She panted on all fours of the concrete cell, her body wet from sweat, everything still dark as she began to cry. Small tears began to fall from her eyes onto the concrete ground. "I'm just so afraid."

"C'mon Sis. You of all people? Afraid? Afraid of what?" Said another voice, but this one was kind, compassionate, it was the first voice that was happy.

"Samuel?"

"What's up Brat?" He said, she couldn't see his face, but she could imagine it perfectly. It felt like ages since she had been called 'Brat'. "You seem to always find yourself in these kinds of situations don't you. Like the time you came home drunk at what? Sixteen and dad told you that he was contemplating kicking you out of the house or sending you to Nordland for military training."

She chuckled. "Yeah, you know its funny when you think about that now. With what's happened recently."

"Sarah. Listen to me. I've been watching you, I've been watching you for a long time and honestly. I'm envious of you."

"Envious? How? Because I was given what was supposed to be yours?"

"No, because you left it without looking back. Or at least trying not to look back. You finally freed yourself from the chains that Dad and Hok encircled us in."

"But I know deep down, Dad meant well." She said looked sadly at the ground.

"Oh so do I Sarah. So do I, honestly. But he was just never good at showing it and you put up with it so well. I just can't believe sometimes that you're still able to wake up in the morning sometimes. If I had been in your shoes, I would have killed myself after Hok's attack, honestly. You don't give yourself enough credit Brat. You want to talk about heroes, dammit Sarah, you're one of the greatest heroes who have ever lived."

"Then why do I feel so dead?"

"Because you're changing Sarah. People change, you change, you broke free from the past, but the past is still trying to haunt you. You need to overcome it and you can. You're so close, you just need to make it through this room. After those doors open, everything, everything in your life is going to change. People are going to try and stop you, but I know that you're stronger than them. Sarah you have something inside of you that only happens once every few generations, you have something that makes you unique, something that inspires everyone around you. You inspired the world, you inspired me, and you are going to continue to inspire people and I'm proud to call you my sister. Its time that you create the destiny that you've always dreamed of. Its time we break this chains." Samuel Tintagyl's face appeared through the dark. "What do you think sis, are you ready?"

Sarah smiled and stood up from the ground. "Yeah, lets do this."

Samuel winked as his figure became the same recognizable gas that Sarah knew from her ghosts as he zoomed forward and entered her open mouth. Her eyes narrowed and for the first time, she could see clearly, the chains of the past slowly began to fall and she finally realized who she was and the power and strength that she possessed. Taking a deep breath, the shell of the Lady Protector fell off of her body, replaced by, not the goddess, not the Valkyrie, but the human, the warrior, the wraith.

Soon the door opened and the first of the lights peered back into the room after two weeks as the Lieutenant and his sergeants walked into to find Sarah standing in the center of the room. Her fists clenched, her hair hung and stuck to her wet back, her eyes glowing neon blue as she looked up at them.

"Yes?"

"Recruit Tintagyl?" He smiled and took her hand. "Come out into the light. Welcome to the Special Forces of the Imperial Union."

[Centurius]

The weeks had been long and much had happened the base Commander was removed from duty due to conduct unbecoming an officer and faced formal charges for his actions, after the first day the first casualties already became obvious 3 rooms had shut off themselves which only happened in case of death of the subject over the time more and more followed until only 3 rooms were still active. The mental test it had always been the worst of all a local legend even suggested once a request had lived their fear so strongly he actually showed injuries of how it would have been in reality. When the last 3 came out 2 of them had to be brought to the infirmary for immediate treatment but they had survived, a fact both the Lieutenant and Empress were proud of the fact that Sarah came out without any sign of trouble and had actually managed into defeating the computer programmed to destroy her. 3 days later the ceremony would follow for this high officers from all sections were brought in with even politicians joining in for the ceremony.

Nadine had prepared a long time for this moment normally the Chief of the Navy would grant the recruits their ranks but in this case it was different, Nadine had made arrangements she would do it. Again in military uniform she entered the room where the ceremony was held. The 3 survivors were standing on a stage, Sarah Tintagyl, Dorothy Catalonia and Juan Gongol they had lowered the average percentage of casualties already. The room was decorated with Imperial symbols and the Phoenix the weapon of the Union rising above all a symbol fitting this situation. A bird burning itself with a new one coming from its ashes. The time had come and Nadine walked to the stage facing the guests.

“Today we come here to honor these brave men and women who have given everything to serve their country. I am proud to stand here with them” Nadine paused taking 3 small boxes each had a special insignia given to all special forces.

“Dorothy Catalonia come forward…”After taking the oath Juan followed who did the same. “Sarah Tintagyl come forward”

“Raise your right hand and repeat me. I do solemnly swear I will defend the Imperial Union and its ways against all enemies foreign or domestic. I will protect and guide those I am ordered to lead and will follow the rules of the Imperial Military Code. So help me god.”

When those formalities were done she took the insignia out.

“Welcome to the Imperial Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Tintagyl” Nadine came closer and whispered something. “Tomorrow Imperial Palace Buenos Aires take your friends with you I think this requires a party”

---

30 minutes later when Sarah left the room for a quick walk she would see a shadow becoming clearer as it came closer.

“Congratulations Sarah” Relena said.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

There were few times in her life where she had been as proud, but as she stood on the stage looking down at the elite of the Imperial Army to be inducted into her new home, Sarah could barely hold back the tears of joy that were forming in her eyes. She had been taken out of the 'Dark Room' cleaned up and finally given the chance to rest and it was only the greatest sleeps she had ever had, with dreams of absolute joy and optimism running through her head. The next day was the award ceremony and Sarah stood, pristine in a white dress uniform as Nadine walked up the stage and the ceremony began.

As she called Sarah forward to recite the oath to the Imperial Union and formal induction into the the Imperial Navy which the Special Divisions were apart of. But what had surprised her more than anything was when Nadine took out the insignia for Lieutenant Colonel. "An officer?" Her mouth stood agape as Nadine smiled and pinned it on her shoulder.

"Tomorrow Imperial Palace Buenos Aires take your friends with you I think this requires a party."

Sarah smiled. "Of course. Honestly Nadine I owe this to you. All of this. I swear, I'll make you proud." She looked over the Empress' shoulder and out into the ground and the first tear shed from her eyes. Her new home, her new nation, her new destiny. Sarah's mind was swept away from the applause for the ground as she and her new team of operatives were more than prepared to make the world safe for the Imperial Union and her allies.

After the ceremony, before Sarah, Dorothy and Juan were going to celebrate the only way they knew how, she needed to clear her mind for a moment and as she walked through the village, Relena's shadow approached, a beaming smile across her face. “Congratulations Sarah.”

"Relena!" Sarah ran forward to one of her best friend and hugged her tightly. "Oh I've missed you for so long. How have you been?"

[Centurius]

"Oh I've missed you for so long. How have you been?"

Relena smiled and returned the hug “Long story, very long story lets just say it includes a shoreline apartment in Buenos Aires, we’ll talk about it later in a very nice bar in Buenos Aires though Colonel” she said with a pride in her voice.

“But how was the training?”she asked interested taking a seat on a bench in the room.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Sarah laughed as she walked over to the bench and sat down. "Training? Good lord, it was...intense would be a good word for it I think. Definitely made me rethink where I'm going with my life. But you know everything turned out pretty well at the end of the day." She sighed. "I came here to forget my past Relena, everything, the Hansa, the wars, the politics, but I ended up doing one better, I ended up conquering it and nothing feels better than that. You know what makes me laugh the most though, how all our roles haves switched, the woman that looked over the Queen's daughter years ago, is now a Colonel in her army. Fate twists in odd ways, don't you agree?"