Two red, dull eyes gazed back at Phyllis from the mirror, slowly moving their focus across the reflection of her face. Her brown hair was a mess, dirt and blood tangling the short hair together and creating a contrast to her pale skin. Across her face dirt had gathered around the moist areas of her mouth and eyes, while blood was smeared across her left cheek. She bend over, the water from the tap soothing her mind as the physical remnants of the night vanished. As she rose to once again confront the mirror, dizziness struck as she became absentminded, the previous night’s episodes haunting her mind.
Blood flowed from the cut as her blades moved through the body of the humanoid spawn, her body feeling the vibrations as the blade cut through the spine. Phyllis shook her head a bit as to make the images and feelings disappear. Yesterday had been the last day of normal guard duty, her education finished and her service as a grunt in the Aequitas Defense Guard being fulfilled. Tonight was to be the final night duty before transferring into the newly formed league teams. Tonight was supposed to have been a formal farewell to the soldiers she had fought side by side with for what seemed like an eternity. A quick glance across the reinforced plates of the reflection’s armor made Phyllis’ mind return to the start of her shift: The normal calmness of the forsaken wasteland that the M3 dome was traversing had been replaced with a sudden spawn attack, forcing her and the other guards to move outside the dome to defend the citizens. The small guard army had faced several hundred monsters, most of the spawn resembling humanoid beings, most likely apes. Phyllis’ facial expression twisted in horror as she thought of the monsters: They could have been humans mutated by the nuclear wasteland.
The war cry of her fellow soldiers as the charged into the spawn brought her back to the field of battle. Her commanding officer Swaeson had been leading the charge that Phyllis participated in. As their charge came to a halt, Swaeson and several other offense based guards had tried to flank the spawn, encircling the monsters and trapping them between the blades of the warriors and the rifles of the soldiers. The eyes of the reflection began to tear up as Phyllis remembered the sudden cry of surprise from Swaeson as he was overpowered by a spawn, his body being crushed beneath the spawn as they fell to the ground. With the spawn finally on the run, Phyllis had rushed to him but too late: Swaeson had passed away, a spawn bite having penetrated his thigh armor. The radioactive level of the spawn saliva was like poison in the human veins. Albeit with great casualties, the spawn had once again taken a good soldier from the Aequitas Defense Guard. Phyllis closed her eyes, her brain trying to cope with her situation as the minutes passed by.
But this was not the time to mourn. Her presence was needed at the briefing room. Grapping a towel and wiping her face dry of water, Phyllis turned around and walked into the hallways of the guard dormitory that had become her home over the last couple of years. A quick peak into the small room that had until recently been hers confirmed her transfer to the newly created league dormitory: Her personal belongings would already be at her new accommodation. The bare, white walls of her old room seemed so sterile. Phyllis began to think back of her first time in military school, her eyes moving along the hallway. The metallic sound of her armor hitting the frame of the door brought her back to reality. “Better hurry”, she thought to herself as she checked for her swords on her back and began to walk through the hallway.
The Aequitas Barracks, the formal name of this cluster of buildings outside the city, consisted of a main building, the ‘Headquarters’, where all the military leaders, coordinators and strategists as well as some jurisdictional and legislative staff worked and lived, as well as a guard dormitory for the Defense Guard and a newly created league team dormitory housing those were supposed ‘to bring glory and riches to the city of Aequitas’. As fancy as it sounded, the league dormitory was no different from the guard dormitory: Small rooms for one or two inhabitants, with shared mess and bathroom facilities amongst all soldiers. The three buildings of the barracks had been places in what could best be described as an angular U, the futuristic style of Aequitas dictating this rather science fictional placement.
As Phyllis reached the entrance to the dormitory and walked out into the drill square in the middle of the “U”-shape, her attention was caught by the mail building: Two large flags, showing off the logos of the two league teams, were placed on the sides of the main entrance to the white HQ building. Phyllis could not help but think of the relic paintings she had been shown since her childhood: Noble warriors and knights in front of Renaissance European fencing schools. Surely the leaders of Aequitas had had these old paintings and traditions in mind when designing the Aequitas Barracks.
Phyllis walked straight through the drill square, her armored boots creating soft metallic sounds as they hit the stones. The black plates of her armor shone in the sun, although they were hardly clean: Blood and sand was smeared across her arms and chest, and although she had tried to wash it away shortly after the battle, the last dirt and blood would remain until her armor was cleaned properly and disassembled. “Might as well do that in the new dormitory”, she had told herself earlier. Besides, the dirty armor would send a signal to the guards as well as the members of the league teams, hopefully manifesting her position as an executive officer. Rumors were that a lot of fresh meat had been recruited specifically for these league teams, and Phyllis would need to keep her authority if she were to assume the role of an XO.
The heavy, wooden doors of the main entrance creaked as Phyllis pushed them open, her movements through the entrance showing determination. The emotions that had previously shown on her face were now gone and only determination could be seen in her eyes. The civil staff members of the jurisdictional and legislative areas were staring at her as she strode by in her armor, the red markings around her chest piece glowing softly in the dimmed light. “Guess they rarely see battle clad warriors around here”, she thought to herself. The door to the briefing room came closer and closer, and Phyllis prepared herself mentally for the confrontation with General Jonathan Verturum, the leader of the Aequitas Defense Guard and League Teams. “I am here to see the General”, Phyllis proclaimed as the two guards’ inquiring eyes hit her, her right hand raised to her head in a salute. “The General is currently preoccupied with the events of the night”, one of the soldiers explained. “You will have to wait here until the league teams have been gathered”. Phyllis recalled the soldier as belonging to one of the city’s defense forces, although she had never served with him directly. She nodded quickly as an affirmation of his words, then looked around and located the nearest bench. Walking over to it, she could hear the murmurs coming from the civil staff as the sound of her armor plates echoed through the halls. “I guess this would be the time to get some rest”, she almost whispered to herself as she sat down on the bench, the events of the night having left her with no sleep until now. She placed her helmet in her lap together with the armored gloves of her armor, the metallic clang from her swords hitting the wall assuring her that she could lean back. Her eyes closed softly as the sounds of the people slowly faded away.
Blood flowed from the cut as her blades moved through the body of the humanoid spawn, her body feeling the vibrations as the blade cut through the spine. Phyllis shook her head a bit as to make the images and feelings disappear. Yesterday had been the last day of normal guard duty, her education finished and her service as a grunt in the Aequitas Defense Guard being fulfilled. Tonight was to be the final night duty before transferring into the newly formed league teams. Tonight was supposed to have been a formal farewell to the soldiers she had fought side by side with for what seemed like an eternity. A quick glance across the reinforced plates of the reflection’s armor made Phyllis’ mind return to the start of her shift: The normal calmness of the forsaken wasteland that the M3 dome was traversing had been replaced with a sudden spawn attack, forcing her and the other guards to move outside the dome to defend the citizens. The small guard army had faced several hundred monsters, most of the spawn resembling humanoid beings, most likely apes. Phyllis’ facial expression twisted in horror as she thought of the monsters: They could have been humans mutated by the nuclear wasteland.
The war cry of her fellow soldiers as the charged into the spawn brought her back to the field of battle. Her commanding officer Swaeson had been leading the charge that Phyllis participated in. As their charge came to a halt, Swaeson and several other offense based guards had tried to flank the spawn, encircling the monsters and trapping them between the blades of the warriors and the rifles of the soldiers. The eyes of the reflection began to tear up as Phyllis remembered the sudden cry of surprise from Swaeson as he was overpowered by a spawn, his body being crushed beneath the spawn as they fell to the ground. With the spawn finally on the run, Phyllis had rushed to him but too late: Swaeson had passed away, a spawn bite having penetrated his thigh armor. The radioactive level of the spawn saliva was like poison in the human veins. Albeit with great casualties, the spawn had once again taken a good soldier from the Aequitas Defense Guard. Phyllis closed her eyes, her brain trying to cope with her situation as the minutes passed by.
But this was not the time to mourn. Her presence was needed at the briefing room. Grapping a towel and wiping her face dry of water, Phyllis turned around and walked into the hallways of the guard dormitory that had become her home over the last couple of years. A quick peak into the small room that had until recently been hers confirmed her transfer to the newly created league dormitory: Her personal belongings would already be at her new accommodation. The bare, white walls of her old room seemed so sterile. Phyllis began to think back of her first time in military school, her eyes moving along the hallway. The metallic sound of her armor hitting the frame of the door brought her back to reality. “Better hurry”, she thought to herself as she checked for her swords on her back and began to walk through the hallway.
The Aequitas Barracks, the formal name of this cluster of buildings outside the city, consisted of a main building, the ‘Headquarters’, where all the military leaders, coordinators and strategists as well as some jurisdictional and legislative staff worked and lived, as well as a guard dormitory for the Defense Guard and a newly created league team dormitory housing those were supposed ‘to bring glory and riches to the city of Aequitas’. As fancy as it sounded, the league dormitory was no different from the guard dormitory: Small rooms for one or two inhabitants, with shared mess and bathroom facilities amongst all soldiers. The three buildings of the barracks had been places in what could best be described as an angular U, the futuristic style of Aequitas dictating this rather science fictional placement.
As Phyllis reached the entrance to the dormitory and walked out into the drill square in the middle of the “U”-shape, her attention was caught by the mail building: Two large flags, showing off the logos of the two league teams, were placed on the sides of the main entrance to the white HQ building. Phyllis could not help but think of the relic paintings she had been shown since her childhood: Noble warriors and knights in front of Renaissance European fencing schools. Surely the leaders of Aequitas had had these old paintings and traditions in mind when designing the Aequitas Barracks.
Phyllis walked straight through the drill square, her armored boots creating soft metallic sounds as they hit the stones. The black plates of her armor shone in the sun, although they were hardly clean: Blood and sand was smeared across her arms and chest, and although she had tried to wash it away shortly after the battle, the last dirt and blood would remain until her armor was cleaned properly and disassembled. “Might as well do that in the new dormitory”, she had told herself earlier. Besides, the dirty armor would send a signal to the guards as well as the members of the league teams, hopefully manifesting her position as an executive officer. Rumors were that a lot of fresh meat had been recruited specifically for these league teams, and Phyllis would need to keep her authority if she were to assume the role of an XO.
The heavy, wooden doors of the main entrance creaked as Phyllis pushed them open, her movements through the entrance showing determination. The emotions that had previously shown on her face were now gone and only determination could be seen in her eyes. The civil staff members of the jurisdictional and legislative areas were staring at her as she strode by in her armor, the red markings around her chest piece glowing softly in the dimmed light. “Guess they rarely see battle clad warriors around here”, she thought to herself. The door to the briefing room came closer and closer, and Phyllis prepared herself mentally for the confrontation with General Jonathan Verturum, the leader of the Aequitas Defense Guard and League Teams. “I am here to see the General”, Phyllis proclaimed as the two guards’ inquiring eyes hit her, her right hand raised to her head in a salute. “The General is currently preoccupied with the events of the night”, one of the soldiers explained. “You will have to wait here until the league teams have been gathered”. Phyllis recalled the soldier as belonging to one of the city’s defense forces, although she had never served with him directly. She nodded quickly as an affirmation of his words, then looked around and located the nearest bench. Walking over to it, she could hear the murmurs coming from the civil staff as the sound of her armor plates echoed through the halls. “I guess this would be the time to get some rest”, she almost whispered to herself as she sat down on the bench, the events of the night having left her with no sleep until now. She placed her helmet in her lap together with the armored gloves of her armor, the metallic clang from her swords hitting the wall assuring her that she could lean back. Her eyes closed softly as the sounds of the people slowly faded away.