Dragon Chronicles:Gods of War, and Times of Peace OPEN

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Longshot grinned, sliding an arm behind Delia, and helping her stand. "Good. Now, along with basic and advanced sniping, I asked SAIC to give you basic CQB. Close Quarters Battle. In other words, the basic skills need to use weapons in an urban environment, like we're going into." He nodded at Jack, who stood and walked away.
"We've still got a while to go, get some rest Delia. You'll need it." And with that, Jack was gone."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

Delia couldn't help but smile. "So, I can fight now, too? Along with shooting sniper rifles?" She leaned on Longshot's arm to stand up, finding it harder than she had anticipated. Her legs felt like gelatin. "Resting doesn't seem like such a bad idea right now."

((I've got to go, school tomorrow, I can't stay on late. Bye!))  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Longshot smiled, sweeping Delia up in his arms. "Don't worry girl, I got ya." He started walking, simply holding Delia close. "You must be exhausted, with all that's happened today, you completely deserve to rest." He kept walking, his feet echoing the empty hallways.
Very few people walked this part of the ship, even though it was the residential quarters. Everyone on the ship was either working, or sleep, they didn't have much time to randomly walk about.  

[Stelle Cadenti]

((Why do we always end up like this? I'm very curious.))

"Oh." Delia said, startled when Longshot picked her up. She found that she didn't have it in her to be embarrased though, it felt good to be off of her feet. She looked around at the empty hallway, she thought it a bit strange when there were so many people there. Though, they probably didn't have time for meandering around the ship. Delia felt a sudden surge of excitement, she would soon get to be a part of it all, to work for the Shadow Corp. That was, if she got through the final test all right, and alive. She turned away from those thoughts quickly.

"Say, did you have to go though all of these tests to get in? I can't imagine the Dragon Police would be very happy being used by the Shadow Corp for so many tests if everyone's done this."  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

(( Like what? neutral No, seriously, like what? ))


Longshot's smiled faded. "N... no, I didn't have to go through any test." He glanced away. "I... uh... my brother, my step brother to be exact recommended me for entry. I proved myself in battle, almost killing Valentine." His smile returned. "I managed to hit him in the shoulder with my rifle. At point blank range. His entire left arm is now fake, it's mechanical. It felt good, but.... I didn't get justice."
He took a deep breath, trying to stem the flow of emotion. "Valentine... killed David. Cut him down. Cut my brother down..."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

((Really? You can't figure that out? Maybe it's just so ingrained in your male ego that you don't notice it...))

"Oh." Delia said again, lamely. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." She let her voice trail off, not wanting to sabotage her career chances and relationship with Longshot by uttering any heartless, sarcastic comments she was so prone to. She looked away from him, at the empty hallway in front of her. It was then she noticed a recognizeable place, her room was only a few steps away. Delia wriggled free of Longshot's arms to stand on her own, her legs only wobbled the slightest bit as she put a hand on the wall to steady herself.

"I'll just, well, get some rest..." She looked at her feet and nodded towards the door to her room.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

(( Oh. That. sweatdrop Sorry, just seems 'gentlemanly', if that's the right word, and I'm a... erm, well, gentleman. rolleyes ))

Longshot shook his head. "It's fine. I'm.... used to it now. It was near the beginning of the Shadow Corp, Paladin as he was know was the first Shadow Corp member. He was a Vescor, heavy weapons and demolitions specialist." He sighed, turning away. "He's buried with Zenos, the Grand Dragon. Zenos died against the Puppeteer, he sacrificed himself in an attempt to kill the b*****d, but ended up just killing himself." He shrugged. "Drake knows what it's like, he and Zenos were best friends. In fact, that was the day he found out about his bloodline... of Draven, of the Hybrids, and of the Ancient Dragons."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

Delia smiled ruefully, still looking at her feet.

"I guess I'll have to learn all of this history won't I? Well, that is, if I get in I'll have to." She honestly didn't know how she was going to manage the mission she had. Take down a target in the middle of one of the most fortified places in the universe. On her first time ever using a rifle, she might add. The thought made her head swim uncomfortably, the headache was still present. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, leting out a low sigh. She had already done the other test, with flying colours she thought, so she should definitely be able to do this next one.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Longshot smiled. "Learning the history is good, even if you don't get in..." He turned around, glancing up and down the corrider. "I'll let you in on a secret..." He whispered, moving a bit closer. "Jack... he's not actually human." He stepped back, grinning. "He never was, neither was Richard."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

She looked up a Longshot, feeling like a conspirator.

"Then, why- His card said human on it, when he, well, jumped onto my ship." She looked away from Longshot for a moment, and then back at him. "That's at least part of the reason why his mana is so strange isn't it? I knew there had to be more to it... I've never seen anything like it." She thought of the glowing mana that practically filled him, she had seen her fair share of mana back on Earth, but that had been something completely new.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Longshot grinned. "The mana is probably because he's dead. Not because of the race he is." He rubbed his nose. "The 'human' thing is just a disguise. No-one is really allowed to know what he is, really. Buuuut... I suppose I can tell you." He paused for a second, looking around. "Jack... is a Vigmor. Also known as a Dark Lord. The Puppeteer was a Dark Lord as well. But don't get the two mixed up. A Vigmor and a Dark Lord aren't exactly the same, to be precise, a Vigmor is actually a Dark Ancient. They're not... evil like the Dark Lords, but they do have the choice. They can be good or evil."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

An unwanted thought crept up in Delia's head. Jack had a choice between good and evil, Longshot said, but he didn't say if Jack had already made his. "I'll make an assumption here and hope it's correct. If Jack had this choice between good and evil, he did choose good, didn't he? I mean, someone who's done what he's done, they can't be evil."  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Longshot didn't answer for a few minutes, thinking his answer over. "... Jack isn't evil. Not like the Puppeteer. But...." He gritted his teeth, still wondering how exactly to word the next sentance. He sighed, turning to face Delia. "Ok, I'll just come out with it. Richard, as an Ancient, can't commit any form of evil. No matter how small. Jack can. And... he has." Longshot rubbed his eyes, groaning. "He... he does what needs to be done. That's what the Shadow Corp is for, we do what's needed, not what the people want. If... if that means we have to kill someone, then we will. If that means we need to wreck a city, we will."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

"But, that'a alright. If it has to be done, it has to be done. There needs to be some force in the universe willing to do the dirty work." Delia vehemnetly denied the idea that anything about the Shadow Corp could be evil. It was the only place willng to take her, as a neo-human, in. There was not way that it was anything less than good. But she wasn't surprised, frankly. Her next test was an assasination after all.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

"Yeah.... don't get me wrong, we don't go out and waste random civilians. And the city... it was only Shadow Corp in it. About 30 men. The commander on the ground... well, he demanded that Reaper nuke the city, there was a Dragon lab there, that held technology that the Puppeteer couldn't get his hands on. We'd evacuated the city... and then... Well, let's just say there were a lot of calls for Reaper's head on a spike." He shook his head. "I lost a good friend in that, and Jack lost a lot of good friends, and soldiers." He swallowed hard.
"He lost Alpha Squad. His Squad."