Ricochet arrived ten minutes before his comrades and babysitters, almost instantaneously slumping down to sit on a bench. The boy took measured bites out of a loaf of bread and washed down the rough texture with swigs of coffee. He repeated the process of gritting his teeth and tearing away part after part, a way of sating his hunger. Chances are, his teammates were in the midst of waking up and preparing for the mission ahead, meanwhile he had done everything of the sort an hour before hand. He couldnât let any of them see his sorry excuse of a sleeping face. The student aimlessly watched as the sun progressively crested the horizon. But the color of the sky brought along with the light wasnât the usual vibrant hue, but a somber grey, as if even the heavens were foreboding the fate of the team. Of course, Rico didnât buy that superstitious nonsense, and merely listed off the emotionally draining scene as an overabundance of mist. But it definitely put a damper on the motivation he was trying to build up while chowing on the academyâs excuse for food. He was half-tempted to sprint back to the kitchen and throw the remainder of the loaf at the head chef, with the force of a million disappointed bread enthusiasts.
A pair of footsteps stopped Rico from his internal rant, glancing behind him to see whoever was approaching. His eyes ran across the cobblestone and finally rested on what he presumed to be the accompanying huntresses. One seemed extremely energetic even though most people would be zombies at his hour, and could even pass for being Ricoâs little sister, considering how similar they looked. The other strutted with so much pompousness that it was almost mind-numbing, it strangled the boy just by looking at her. She was definitely aware that her looks werenât the only thing that were pretentious. No, chances are, she had some wealthy background placing her in the highest echelon in society from birth. But, since she was still alive, she had probably abandoned the idea that her companyâs minions would assist her, and faded into the common mindset of all hunters. Ricochet gave them a cursory wave while inhaling the remainder of his breakfast, then got to his own two feet, as his teammates werenât far behind.
âJeeze~. Making Alacrity wait isnât very nice. I swear, this rifle has a mind of itâs own.â The student smirked as he paced his way over to his friends and gave them their own morning greetings; a light tap on Jerichoâs shoulder, a cordial pat on his leaderâs head, and since he valued his own life, high fived Natalie so she wouldnât cast him off the academy. It wasnât long before they segued into the debriefing of their mission. It turns out that Ricochetâs reticle was dead on its target, as the aforementioned rich chick introduced herself as an empress within the dust industry, meanwhile the Rubyâs name obviously referenced her hair and style of apparel.
âPersonally, Iâd see it more feasible that we shouldâve taken a train from Valeâs station and ridden it to Atlas, but eh, not our money thatâs being burned here. Besides, thatâs the Atlasian way. Got a problem? Throw money at it. Jeeze, I already miss the homeland.â Being birthed in Atlas, Rico was already aware of the technological strives made within the country. Although its creations made positive changes on Remnant, sometimes the experiments concocted in their were borderline herecy. And on top of that, they were transporting it via train, and a private one at that. They were trying to keep civilian casualties to a minimum, but knowing their luck, a few accidents on the railway were destined to happen. Rico just hoped they would dispense a decent amount of guards to protect the weapon itself, so his comrades could actually deal with their foes without worry.
â...Well, I would ask for a train schedule, but I hope Atlas is smart enough to close off all stations today. Not that people will simply list off the abrupt denial of all] routes as an enigma, but public awareness is the least of our worries. So the only question I have to ask is⊠Shall we get a move on?â Yet again, the eager grin made a resurgence, along with a coat hanging loosely from his shoulders.