It’s past 10, and the grandfather clock echoed throughout the castle in an equilibrium. It was also the time for the shift of the new guards and end of watch duty for the old ones. The castle was guarded by elite soldiers but they were not knight’s. Most of the knights were sent to missions although it was a peaceful time, the hostility of Stezar towards Abros never sought to run out of fumes. The knights were ratting out the Stezar spies despite Abros had sent their own. The game of cat and mice would never end until one of them perishes. The pact of Trost had kept their hands chained but it could not restrain the enmity.

Although, it was the night the Rublor city glittered like the stars. It was way bright because the city was always busy, and loads of travelers and soldiers flood in and out, at all hours.

The Campbell town seemed little dull compared to the city, but the energetic and yearning for some fun had soldiers the same enthusiast as the city folks. The streets were filled with soldiers, most were drunk and were helped to be carried to the dorms. Whereas, some of them threw up in the back alley as they had little too much than what they could handle.

The castle was subtle compared to the city and the town, a little too quiet.

Although, it looked quite sophisticated castle, underneath there was a rising tension.

The meeting hall was present on the ground floor of the castle. It was pretty crowded by the group of soldiers which were assembled by the order of the commander, Cecelia.

The groups were divided in two.

The one squad belonged to Captain Lynn and the other to Captain Arnold. Their squad consisted of five including the captains, each.

There were also 2 more young soldiers who stood out of the line. They did not belong to any particular squad team, present. One was a young girl with a pink bob cut curly hair, who stared at other soldiers while she sucked on her candy lollipop. It was clear she was a spoilt brat and belonged to some rich family.

The other soldier was a young guy who had groomed properly and his ironed uniform personified his character as a very disciplined and down-to-earth person. He would be the last guy to ever break a rule even when the world comes to an end. That type of vibes came from him.

The two soldier’s personality was flip-side of each other.

There was also a creepy looking man in a lab coat who stared at the artworks on the wall and grinned as he stroke his chin. He looked in his 50’s and his hair had turned grey perhaps because of old age. His hair was dry and spiny like the aloe vera plant as if he had electrocuted himself to achieve such hairstyle.

The squad crew was engulfed in chat as they waited for the commander. The people in squads were prolonged friends who had been through a hell lot of missions. Their bonds were stronger like the family ties or even stronger.

The pink haired brat became restless as she watched the other squad engulfed in talks. She quickly chewed up her lollipop and threw the stick on the floor as she was tired waiting.

She approached the Captain Lynn’s squad, or to be precise to the captain. Her vibes suddenly changed and she became a lot girly than before. She had an innocent expression and her eyes were wide open along with a bright smile.

It was clear she was seeking attention from Captain Lynn, whose a very handsome guy with quite a gentleman like personality. Many girls are trying to woo him, but none has succeeded in capturing his heart, yet.

“Hello, Captain Lynn! I am so glad that I could meet you! I have heard lots of your deeds. It’s a pleasure meeting you.”, greeted the pink haired brat as she grabbed Captain Lynn’s hand and shook his hand, a bit forcefully.

“Oh! Hello there, young lady. The pleasure is all mine.”, greeted Captain Lynn back.

Two female soldiers present in Lynn’s squad looked pretty pissed when this girl started to get friendly. But they controlled their temper because it would make a bad impression in front of Captain Lynn.

“Man! I heard lots of your tales about your heroic deeds as well as your beauty! You are beyond good looking and handsome than what I imagined, you to be!”, praised the pink haired girl as she tried to get on his good side.

The other two girls eyebrows started to twitch, which was clearly visible. Although they maintained their composure, the aura of hatred emitted was pure malice. Their aura clearly meant to back off from captain Lynn. Even the other people present around clearly understood these girl's intention. However, the pink haired brat ignored the heavy atmosphere and continued her advance.

“You are just flattering me! I am nothing so great! Captain Arnold here is much cooler! Let me introduce you to him!”, said, Lynn, as he grabs Captain Arnold by putting his arm around his shoulder.

Captain Arnold was an average looking guy but when it comes to a girl, he was pretty shy.

“Hey! Cut it out! Don’t forget, why we are called here, in the first place!”, shrugged Arnold away Lynn’s friendly approach.

“You should really work on your communication skill with girls! Otherwise, you shall stay single.”, replied Captain Lynn as he let out a sigh of disappointment.

“What about you, Captain Lynn? Are you single? What type of girls do you like?”, interrupted the pink haired brat as her eyes shone with curiosity.

“Hold your horses, you little runt!”, joined in the annoyed girl from Lynn’s squad as she intervened between the captain and the pink haired girl. The brat was getting a little too much close to the captain while talking.

“He can’t just hand out every single detail to little newcomer girl, just because you look a bit cute. Go back and stand in the corner, approach when called to.”, joins in the other pissed girl from Lynn ’s squad as her facial expression clearly stated her displeasure.

“Now ladies, you are being a little too rude. You should try to get along with your juniors!”, said, Lynn, as he tried to calm down her female members.

The expression of an innocent girl from the pink haired brat changed suddenly,

“You girls are already pretty old for romance, so why don’t thumb up your ass like the single bitches, you are!”, replied back the pink haired brat with a savage look with an irked facial expression.

Everyone was shocked by her reply. She really got a lot of guts to abuse her seniors on her first meet. Everybody was shocked except the man as he chuckled for just a second before controlling his laughter. He was also a squad member of Lynn’s team.

Lynn had run out of words to say. In that situation, no words could soothe the situation at all.

The two senior girls just froze after what they just heard for a second, until they unsheathe their swords.

“THAT’s IT! In behalf insulting your senior, I shall pronounce you to death! BITCH!”, scowls the first girl,

“DIE”, howls the second girl as they hurl with their swords and swing it in full strength.

The pink haired grabs out two twin battle knives from her waist pocket,

“Bring it on!” as she challenges the girls with a wide evil grin and charges to head on.

But in just nick of time, Sasha Heller jumps in and stops the pink haired brat’s knife charge with her sword. The sword properly defended both her knife’s onslaught with a single sword. It was too quick to see when did even Sasha entered the room, let alone stop the attack.

Whereas Captain Lynn, stopped the other two girls swords, one with his metal scabbard and the other with his sword which was drawn out of his scabbard.

The girls had an irritating expression, they seemed annoyed.

There stood Cecelia on the doorsteps while her arms folded as she watched the drama.

“What is going on? You started the party without me!”, asked the commander cheerily although her fluttering eye made it clear she was really, really upset!

Suddenly, the mad scientist jumped in-front of Cecelia and grabbed her hand and started shaking.

“Thanks a lot! For approving my request to test out my babies! I am really glad, that you let me test my babies myself!”, thanked the creepy scientist who had no clue about ‘reading the atmosphere’.

“Back off, weirdo! It’s better you test your experiments yourself! I can’t let my men die in the process of testing your scientific shit!”, the commander turns to the others, “Could someone explain me, what's going on? So that I could join in the fun!”, she glares with fury as she cracked her knuckles as if she was ready to join in the brawl.

“This is all my fault!”, pleads Captain Lynn as he bows down in front of the commander.

“I beg forgiveness for my junior's and crew member's misdeeds! I am a failure as a leader. For I, could not stop their fights, so you could punish me, instead.”

The girls started to calm down. Except for the spoilt brat, the other two girls from the Captain Lynn’s squad felt guilty. Their eyes roll down the floor as they felt remorseful towards their actions.

Cecelia had calmed down,

“Alright! You make me look the bad guy here! Anyway, gather around soldiers.”

The pink brat was really a wussy she was still pissed because she was stopped by Sasha as she gawked her fiercely. Although, Sasha knew her glares but ignored her and gathered up with the rest of the crew.

Even the two newbies, as well as the scientist, joined up.

Cecelia cleared her voice before starting,

“Guess, the captains have already read the report I gave. But I would like to brief all of you, once again.”

The commander stood at ease posture with her hands back and her legs a little stretched from one foot to another, in a V shape.

“The Ironcliff district located in the north-east district has been completely unresponsive for past month. The last report was seeking reinforcements as a recent increase in murders of the citizen. Even the guards and the patrolling soldiers were brutally massacred. We had sent a team of elite soldiers along with a knight to check it out. But there was no news, yet.”

Cecelia than signaled her finger and from nowhere entered Reeves along with a flimsy file and handed the commander. She then again returned back to the corner.

From the file, she took a thin muddy looking frail paper.

“This letter which was a message regarding for more reinforcements. Sadly, the messenger was intercepted by the enemy and slaughtered along with the horse in between the route. Thankfully a fellow traveler discovered the corpse and informed the accident. When they examined, this was the letter they found out.”, the commander than hands out the letter to Captain Arnold.

The captain took a minute to read but was quite baffled. He then hands it to captain Lynn who had the exact expression. The other people were quite confused and also curious about the content of the letter.

The captain Arnold hands back the letter to the commander,

“Madam. It’s better if you keep the new recruits as well as the weapon technician out of this mission. It’s too dangerous for their first field mission.”,replied Arnold with a worried look,

“Please reconsider.”

Cecelia got an irked expression,

“Well, I know that! That new girl Caroline Dewitt, her noble house is forcing my hand to send her on a mission as soon as possible. Whereas that new boy Horatio Watson, he’s constantly bugging and protesting outside my castle, just to go on a field mission. And that freak in the lab coat, he just wants to test out his new weapons and I can’t allow him to test it here.”

“But madam…”

“Don’t worry! I have sketched out the duties. As soon as you are about to reach the Ironcliff district, the new two recruits along with that freak would be separated from the assault squad. The newbie squad would choose a secluded place and guard the creepy freak as he carries out to test his weapon prototypes, in secret. Whereas, the other two assault squad would investigate the district. My daughter Sasha would be joining in as well just to increase the odds on to succeed the mission.”

There was silence in the room and the atmosphere filled with confusion.

The creepy scientist raised his hands, suddenly.

Cecelia let out a gasp of depression. Although, Cecelia did not permit him to ask a question he still began,

“First thing, If I test out my babies, the place won’t be a secret anymore. Second thing, I am not a freak but a genius scientist.”, said the self-claimed scientist as he started to rub his chin, again proudly.

Cecelia became a little cranky,

“Shut your yapping! You guys are leaving before the dusk of the morning. The enemy spies might notice you, so it’s best you leave in the dark. Any queries?”

They had a lot of questions to ask but they didn’t know where, to begin with.

"Well, then good luck! Class dismissed", concluded Cecelia who took their silence as a no.