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>>1046240
Old Soldiers, New Battles - Chapter 1

Crawling out of your bed, you stretch your limbs within the confines of the quarters in preparation for the coming day.

Your name is… Well, most people just call you “Nemo”.

Last night, you had a dream of your first battle during the Scintillan War, and now your find yourself aboard an airship full of initiates, heading back to the same island just two years ago after the war ended.

You quickly finish off getting dressed before walking over to a small bedside table with Gwyn’s gift for you, Hexenbessen; a machine pistol paired with its own wooden holster/stock. Lightly brushing the black and gold finishing along the side of the gun, you inspect every detail of the weapon ranging from the modified magazine feed to the ivory grip before carefully putting it back into its walnut holster.

Securing the holster to your person, you pick up the letter of your invitation to the Order of Scintillan Knights. How many times have you looked this over? Ten, twenty times? The fine, gold font glimmers in the sunlight before you toss it into a drawer. No matter, you were an old soldier about to get into a new battle.

Fastening your entrenching tool to your side, you were fully prepared for the day’s events.

Now, all that’s left is how to spend it:

>Go out to the observation deck
>Get some breakfast
>Other

>>1046258
>Go out to the observation deck

>>1046258
>>Go out to the observation deck

Seems like a slow start, huh?

>>1046258
>>Go out to the observation deck

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>>1046258
Weaving your way through the inner passages of the airship, you eventually find your way to the observation deck at the top of the ship.

Encased in a cage of steel and glass, the spacious observation deck looks more like an indoor garden with trees, flowers, and plants in the middle of the room while seats face outwards towards the bright morning skies.

As you walk around the deck, you notice that there aren’t many people around. Probably either having breakfast or fast asleep, but you do however notice a few people.

Sitting alone with the flowers, is a young woman in what appears to be black/green armour reading from what appears to be a history book.

By the windows, a Fox Faunus is gazing out towards the Duchy’s Capital below.

Brooding in the corner of the room, a young man with a sword appears to be lost in deep thought.

>Talk to the Flower Girl
>Talk to Fox Faunus
>Talk to Young Man
>Sit alone
>Other

>>1046442
>>Talk to the Flower Girl

>>1046442
>Talk to the Flower Girl

>>1046495
Don't like it? Don't read it.

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>>1046442
You walk over to the girl sitting by the flowers, and take a seat on the bench beside her.

Looking out the corner of your eye, you notice that the book she’s reading is titled, “A Comprehensive History of the Island of Scintilla Vol 1.”

She’s certainly well read, you think to yourself.

But what really catches your attention was the amount of detailing in her armour. Clad in a full suit of steel plate, floral engravings flowing along the edges of every piece of metal from pauldron to sabaton.

Was she the child of some knight, or some sort of rich girl?

Flipping through the pages, the girl pays you no mind as she’s absorbed in her reading during the peaceful morning.

You certainly won’t find out more if you kept quiet.

>“Nice weather we’re having.”
>“A fan of history, I see.”
>“That armour looks very well made.”
>Other

>>1046580
>“A fan of history, I see.”

>>1046580
>>“A fan of history, I see.”

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>>1046580
“I see you’re a fan of history.” You address the girl.

The girl looks up at you before making a quick dog-ear on the top corner of the page she’s reading, “I find the history of this island rather interesting, Mr…?”

“Nemo.” You reply, “Just Nemo.”

“Mr. Nemo,” she trails on a bit with a hint of confusion on her face. You wouldn’t really blame her confusion when a good majority of this generation was born with a name that’s a colour, or meaning a colour.

Snapping out of her minor confusion, she brings up the question, “So what brings you here to Scintilla? Why’d you join with the knights?”

>“I’m here to keep a promise.”
>“I’m looking for purpose.”
>“I honestly don’t know.”
>“I’d rather not say.”
>Other

>>1046731
>>“I honestly don’t know.”

>>1046731
>>“I’m here to keep a promise.”

>>1046731
>“I’m here to keep a promise.”

>>1046731
>>“I’m here to keep a promise.”

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>>1046731
The question resonates within your mind as you reminisce the final day of the war.

Kneeling in front of a broken statue by a chapel, you promised to be a better man. Your blood covered hands clasped together tightly in prayer to something, or someone out there in this godforsaken land of Remnant.

“I promised to be a better man.” Conviction filling your voice.

“Ah, I see…Nobody’s ever perfect, myself included,” the girl says, extending her hand. “The name’s Miralda, Miralda Fae.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Miralda.” Taking her hand, “So what brings you to the island?”

Looking wistfully into the blue morning skies, Miralda replies, “Well, I used to be a dancer, but that was a long time ago. My Uncle convinced me that my talents were wasted, and wanted me to get into one of those new Hunter Schools. Unfortunately, the four academies weren’t really accepting new applicants at the time, so I got sent here.”

>“You used to be a dancer?”
>“Thanks for the time.” (Get breakfast)
>Talk to someone else
>Other

>>1046899
>>“You used to be a dancer?”

>>1046899
>>“You used to be a dancer?”

>>1046899
>“You used to be a dancer?”

>>1046899
>“You used to be a dancer?”

>>1046899
“You were a dancer?”

In all honesty, you weren’t really expecting Miralda to be a dancer considering the sheer amount of metal covering her form.

A small morose smile forms on Mira’s face, “Yes, I danced many dances from all the corners of the world before I-”

She catches herself, and stops her story, staring at her very still feet.

Realizing that you may have hit a touchy topic, “I apologize if I-,” but Mira raises a finger interrupting you.

“Well, as I said, it was a very long time ago, and I’d rather much focus on the present if you don’t mind,” Miralda methodically reopens her book to her dog-eared page, “It’s been a nice talk, Mr. Nemo. But think you should get some food before it’s all gone. Good day.”

And Miralda returns to studying her book.

>Get breakfast
>Explore the ship a bit.
>Other.

>>1047042
>Explore the ship a bit.

>>1047042
>>Get breakfast

>>1047042
>>Get breakfast
>>Explore the ship a bit.

>>1047042
>Get breakfast
Priorities lads

>>1047103
My logic is that as we head to the mess, we'll be looking around the ship.

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>>1047042
Navigating through the labyrinthine halls of the airship, you eventually find your way to the mess hall after making a few ‘accidental’ detours to the sparring room, crew quarters, and engineering deck with only a few close calls before meandering into the mess. The smell of fresh bacon and eggs permeates through the air as a pair of initiates run past you in their hopes of a getting a hot meal.

As you enter the dining area, you fetch yourself a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast before heading over to the packed seating area. The cacophony of voices drown your ears as the mayhem of breakfast shenanigans fills your sights like a jug of water to a small cup before a wave of nostalgia washes over you.

This was just like back then with everyone else in Aegis Shroud!

Taking a seat, you quickly dig into your long awaited meal before washing it all down with barely decent coffee, ducking and weaving to avoid the occasional food scrap thrown your way.

By the window, you see a small table with a grey-haired girl attracting a rather sizable audience for some reason or another.

In the centre of the hall, a rather stern young man methodically takeing cuts into his omelette as he tries to ignore the chaos of the breakfast battlefield. You don’t blame him for wanting a peace and quiet during meals.

>See what the Grey Girl is doing.
>Sit with the Young Man
>Head back to your quarters.
>Other

>>1047208

>See what the Grey Girl is doing.

>>1047208
>>Sit with the Young Man

>>1047208
>>See what the Grey Girl is doing.

>>1047208

>See what the Grey Girl is doing.

>>1047208

See what the Grey Girl is doing

>>1047208
While it may be true that curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction was what brought it back.

Striding over a spilled drinks, and sidestepping away from people monkeying across a table, you finally get to the assembled crowd. Deep in the mass of humanity, you can barely make out the girl.

“If you think that was good, you should check this out!” the grey girl yells.

The crowd quickly goes silent as the girl does her trick.

If only you can see what she’s doing…

>Roll 1d20

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>1047322

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>1047322
>>1047334
kek

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>1047322

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>>1047322
Weaving your way through the narrow spaces between the crowd, you make your way to the front row, and see the grey girl brandishing two large revolvers.

With the flick of her wrist, she begins quickly twirling them on her fingers, tossing one into the air before tossing her other gun to her free hand, and catching the still spinning gun.

“Hold on a second, because I got something better!” she addresses the crowd as she holsters one of her guns beneath her armpit.

Taking a round from her belt, she swings the cylinder to the side, and loads it into the chamber. She couldn’t be doing something so dangerous you think.

Producing a coin from her freehand, she cocks the hammer of her revolver with a satisfying click, a smile of joy forming on her face.

>“Are you insane!?!” (Seize gun)
>“That’s enough for today.”
>Watch her trick
>Other

>>1047415
>>“That’s enough for today.”

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>>1047415
>>Watch her trick
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG

>>1047415
>“Are you insane!?!” (Seize gun)

>>1047415

Watch her trick

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>1047415
While incredibly dangerous, there was an odd feeling of morbid curiosity overcoming you. While you do freely admit that this girl is very reckless, and most likely a danger to herself and others around her, she certainly is well skilled in handling those revolvers of hers. You decide to watch her do her trick.

The girl chuckles, “Just try and see what happens because when I’m done, you’ll know the name Argenta James!”

And then she flips the coin into the air.

>Roll 1d20

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>1047504
Let's go

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>1047504

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>1047504

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>1047504

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>>1047504
A shot rings out through the mess hall as Argenta quickly shoots the coin with her gun with a resounding PING, sending it flying across the room and into the stern man’s drink. The crowd erupts in cheer, and applause as she curtsies.

“Thank you, thank you, but I’m not done yet!” she swings out the cylinder of her revolver, and extracts the cartridge.

Completely intact, and ready to fire.

People cheer and beat their hands against the tables like an impromptu drum as Argenta takes her bows.

‘How could she have done that?’ you wonder aloud. Everyone saw that she only put that round into the cylinder, and it certainly sounded like a gunshot. And that’s when it hit you.

As Argenta bowed to the side, you notice something on her lower back, a third holster with a black revolver hidden underneath her bolero. She couldn’t have swapped it out unless she had an ability to enhance her speed. You’ve heard stories of some people having that ability, but you or anyone else would have noticed something so obvious.

Soon enough, the crowd disperses as Argenta finishes a cup of tea.

>“Where’d you learn to shoot like that?”
>“You know that was dangerous, right?”
>“Those are some nice guns.”
>Other

>>1047598
>“Where’d you learn to shoot like that?”
Time to appeal to ego.

>>1047598
>>“Where’d you learn to shoot like that?”

>>1047598
>>“Where’d you learn to shoot like that?”

>>1047598
>“Where’d you learn to shoot like that?”

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>>1047598
“Argenta, was it?” You call out to her, “I’m Nemo, I wanted to ask where you learned to shoot like that.”

Finishing her cup of tea, Argenta places the cup delicately onto the saucer before answering, “Oh, that little thing? Just something my mother taught me.”

Pulling her revolvers into plain view, you can see that almost the entirety of her silver-plated paired revolvers are covered in engravings save for the deep walnut handle with a small Asterisk Arms Manufacturing seal emblazoned in the wood.

“These are the best guns my family ever made in their Revolver line,” puffing her chest proudly.

>“Wait, you’re related to Asterisk?”
>“I noticed your little trick.”
>Show her your gun.
>Other

>>1047696
>>“Wait, you’re related to Asterisk?”

>>1047696

Show her your gun
My gun is biger then yours

>>1047696
>>“Wait, you’re related to Asterisk?”
>Show her your gun.
This better not be a lewd option.

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>>1047696
Oh god dammit, wrong pic.

>>1047696
>“Wait, you’re related to Asterisk?”
>Show her your gun.

>>1047696
>>Show her your gun.

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>>1047696
“Wait you’re related to Asterisk?” You ask.

Argenta nods with the widest smile on her face imaginable. From what you remembered about Asterisk was that while they certainly weren’t the best known for their military manufacturing contracts, they were pretty damn popular in the collectors and civilian market.

“So what do you think of my guns?” She asks, absolutely beaming with pride.

You pull out your Hexenbessen from its wooden holster, “They look pretty nice, but I think I like this one better.”

The moment Argenta makes eye contact with your gun, she instantly closes in to get a better look at all the details. Once finished, she falls back to her seat before giving her judgement.

“Yeah, it’s okay I guess.” Crossing her arms. A small smirk etches onto the side of your mouth from hearing that, but you think that Gwyn would've loved to hear that her gift was well chosen.

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>>1047808
The ship’s intercom system pings to make an announcement, “Good afternoon, everyone, we have now arrived at Fortress Alsatia. Please check that you have your luggage before departing from the airship, and have a wonderful day.”

You all walk over to the closest viewport as the airship slowly breaks through the clouds. Everyone stares in wordless wonder as the mighty mountain fortress that stood for over countless years come into view. An architectural marvel of stone, and water, the fortress watched over the entire Scintillan Island in its eternal vigil. The sunlight shines off the pale white stone, causing you to squint your eyes to avoid its glare.

As the airship drifts closer to the docking area, you notice that a good portion of the fortress was still under post-war reconstruction. About half a dozen memories resurface as you look at the damaged, and repaired sections of the bulwarks, towers, and walls.

The walls where you and the Lumeneth Royal Rifles had to hold ground before being ordered to fall back, the tower that you blew up with an RPG, and the chapel where-

Argenta’s hand slapping your back breaks you out of your state of reminiscence.

“Well, Nemo, nothing ventured, nothing gained!”

“Yeah…”

Did the battlefield always look so different from this high up? Were you always all so small?


>And that's it for this thread! Thank you for those that participated. We'll be continuing at 6pm PST on Saturday, again.

>>1047813
Thanks for the run!