Chapter 28:
Convocation
Ophelia fussed with his collar, striving to get it just right as he stood patiently before her. He was wearing his uniform, freshly cleaned and pressed in preparation for today.
“You look so very handsome dearheart.”
“Huh? Looks the same to me.” Nina shrugged.
“Yeah: handsome.” Milly said with a quick nod of her chin.
Volka stepped beside Ophelia and gave her a kiss on the ear.
“We’re going to be late if you keep fussing love.”
The Flutterby pulled back from him with a sniffle, dabbing her hanky against her cheek.
The bittersweet moment was ruined though when they heard an odd snapping sound from one side.
Four sets of eyes turned to see Erica sitting on the bed, impatiently rolling her fingers in a wave over her thigh one after another.
Like Nameless, she was dressed for the occasion in her full body catsuit, and the skin-tight leather made a hard crackle each time the pads of her fingers struck it.
She paused with all of the eyes on her.
“What? I like the sound! Are we leaving or what?”
“Erica, are you-” Nameless paused as he tried to find the right words regarding her outfit, but balked as he felt a twinge of anxiety from her heartstone; “Are you… sure you have enough knives?”
It was a really stupid question.
With Kar’s warm brown leather sheath standing in contrast to the otherwise black garment, she had a total of seventeen knives strapped to her body.
And if she ran out of those, she always had her claws.
“I think she looks great.” Milly declared.
The Minotaur shifted over to loom over the Katje and give her a big kiss.
“None of that you two.” Nina said drily.
Erica made a disappointed yowling noise deep in her chest, but regained her composure quickly enough.
“Uh, yeah, I guess you’re right. This is a big deal right? Field training I mean?”
She hopped to her feet and kissed Milly on the nose before offering a mischievous wink.
After taking a second to languish in the familiar love the two shared, and to get over his own hang-ups regarding his Katje’s clothes, Nameless stepped towards the dresser to take up his bracer and Erica’s claw.
“Yeah, it’s kind of important. We’ll be getting our mentor assignments today, unless I’ve missed something.”
One arm around the cow’s waist, Erica made a face.
“Blech, boring.” But then she tilted her head to one side and thought about it for more than a second; “Actually, not boring, I wonder who their going to dump us on. I mean, even I’ll admit that we’re a handful!”
Once Nameless found a home for the purple blade alongside the numerous lost-tech canisters on his belt, they made their way out of the dormitories and through the academy towards the convocation hall.
There they joined the rest of the cadets who had completed the first phase of their training as they filtered into the crowded hall.
At the front of the room was a raised dais with a podium, behind which were a number of uniformed men and women, all standing at attention in a neat line against the back wall.
A posture the cadets mimicked when Margaret Bloom stalked up to the lectern, her cane sharply rapping against the wooden floor with every other step.
“Alright people, listen up.”
An unnecessary request given the sudden silence that filled the room as she scanned the faces of the nervous cadets.
She paused only briefly to meet Baron’s eyes before she continued.
It was a little-known fact that he Aegis had been stretched thin for years, so the academy had been fast-tracking their best recruits for some time to make up the shortfall. And as such more than a few looked ready to throw up, but Margaret Bloom’s grandson wasn’t one of them.
With their undivided attention on her scarred visage, the headmistress’s voice reverberated throughout the hall.
“Each of you swore an oath, one that makes you part of something far greater than yourselves. And today you join the ranks of the thousands before you that put on the same uniform and made the same sacred covenant, far too many of whom gave their lives to see it upheld. Everything you do, every decision you make, every mistake... all of it reflects on those honoured elders that came before you. Together we are their legacy. Never forget that.”
She paused in the silence of the hall, once more scanning the faces of the cadets and their bond-mates, as if to ensure they did not miss her point.
None of them had.
“From this day on, you will comport yourselves as Aegis operatives. When you leave this hall each of you will begin your field-training. This, as you are well-aware, means a six month internship with a senior operative, followed by an internal review, then a year and a half probationary work on your own. In a moment, Instructor Kavanaugh will read out your names and the names of the Aegis operatives you will be paired with for your field assignments. The men and women standing behind me each have at least ten years with the Aegis, and know exactly what they are doing. Trust them. Learn from them! But also know that they have the authority to end your careers before they begin should you prove yourselves unworthy of this uniform.”
Without another word she stepped back from the podium and paced from the hall, her cane once more echoing around the chamber.
Kavanaugh almost immediately took her place and filled the room with his booming voice, clipboard in hand.
“I will call your name, then the name of your training officer. As soon as you have your assignment, exit the hall. They will meet you there.”
He proceeded to do just that, reading one name after another from his list in his booming voice.
The list on Kavanaugh’s clipboard was alphabetical so Nameless didn’t have to wait long.
“Armstrong, Nameless! You’re assigned to Grant Semper! Assad, Bianca! You’re assigned-”
Nameless didn’t catch the name of her instructor though as he left the hall as instructed.
Within a minute of stepping into the crowded antechamber outside the convocation hall with his girls, a voice called out his name from behind.
“Cadet Armstrong?” The young man turned to find an athletic man with dull brown hair looking at him expectantly.
Nameless shook the extended hand and his senior smiled as he gestured to his two bond-mates with a nod of his head, a Grizzly and a Gnome respectively.
“I’m Grant Semper, this is Bruti and Linda.”
“Um, hi, and it’s Nameless sir.”
For once somebody didn’t make a fuss over his lack of name.
“Alright, Nameless it is then.”
At that moment the massive bear girl let out a gruff growl and opened her mouth wide. Nameless’s eyes boggled at the thick incisors revealed while she yawned.
Grant didn’t miss his trepidation and chuckled slightly.
“Don’t mind Bruti, she just came out of hibernation, so she’ll be a bit grumpy for a while.”
The Grizzly was slightly taller than Milly, maybe six foot eight, with furry rounded ears sticking out of her dark brown hair. Her forearms and forelegs were covered in a thick coat of fur that matched her hair and ended in large paws with enormous black claws.
Her clothing was rugged and functional, with her little stubby brown tail poking through a hole in the back of her thick shorts.
She rubbed at one of her rich brown eyes, still bleary from her long sleep.
“Fuck off.” She said with another growl.
Meanwhile the Gnome caught his attention when she deliberately nodded her head, and now Nameless had to work hard not to stare at the earth spirit.
Though she was as attractive as any monster girl he’d met, her curvy figure looked to be made of clay.
She just seemed so... solid.
“Hello… I’m… Linda.” She spoke slowly and deliberately.
Both girls considered the smaller man while their master continued his introduction.
“Anyways, I’ll be your training officer for the next six months. So we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other. Also, stop standing at attention. Once you complete this training and your probationary stint, you and I will be the same rank.”
Nameless hadn’t even realized that he was standing with his back straight and shoulders squared, the last few months of training had made it a habit.
“Right, sorry sir.”
“Grant, or if you have to, Aegis Semper. Not sir. Same rank, remember?”
“Yes si-” Nameless cleared his throat; “Grant. Yes Grant.”
Grant considered the young man in front of him for a moment. He was small to be sure, but he could see the fierce determination behind his eyes.
“Don’t worry, every cadet I’ve ever had takes about a week to relax, after all the stuff being drilled into you at the academy, it’s natural. But school’s over, time for the real world. You ready for it?”
This time Nameless didn’t hesitate.
“I am. What’s next?”
Grant pursed his lips; normally his trainees were shitting themselves with nerves at this point so he had to admit the kid had moxie.
He glanced to the assortment of girls behind Nameless and nodded slightly.
“First thing, why don’t we get out of this crowd and you can introduce me to your bond-mates?”
The room was rapidly filling up and the girls were being forced to bunch around him in the press of people.
Nameless nodded, looking around he spotted Nina, or rather Nina’s hammer, making her way to the door, the Gigas already having lost patience with the crowd.
He took the opportunity for an aside with Grant.
“Sounds like a plan. I should warn you though, one of my bond-mates can be… a handful.”
Volka was standing close enough to hear him over the din and smirked at his words.
Grant gestured to the exit and Nameless’s girls led the way while they talked.
“The giant? Yeah I’ve heard the horror stories. Is it true she put Danielle through a wall her first week here?”
The younger man shrugged.
“Yeah, but in her defense- well, actually there is no real defense. I guess her hand brushed up against her during the physical.”
The incident in question happened on their second day at the academy, and had instantly cemented Nina’s reputation as one not to trifle with.
Grant gave a low whistle.
“Not too shabby. Probably why I was assigned to you, my Bruti here has also had a few dust-ups like that.”
“Did not. Fuck off.”
The bear girl’s eyes were still bleary as she reached out with one powerful paw and cuffed Grant’s shoulder, nearly knocking him sprawling into another Aegis instructor.
“Did… too… funny.” Linda said with a deliberate shake of her head.
It was odd, though she spoke slowly and her head moved just as slowly, the earth spirit had no problem keeping up with them as they moved towards the exit, although more than once he saw her feet sort of shift through the stone of the floor as they walked.
A few minutes later they were outside where it was less chaotic, and they were able to make their introductions properly.
Grant took out a folder and considered the five girls with his cadet.
“This is quite the force you have here, practically two tac-teams all by yourselves huh? Major overkill for our first assignment but that’s alright. Too much is better than not enough.”
“So where are we going and who are we after?” Erica asked while trying to hide her excitement.
Grant’s gaze flicked up to her and the knives bristling from her skin-tight leather suit.
The corner of his mouth twitched briefly before he looked back to the page in front of him.
“We’re headed east. Wool-poachers. Five farms have been hit in the last week so it’s past time we shut them down.”
Ophelia’s wings fluttered in agitation at the news.
“Oh dear. Are the Lambda alright?”
“Pretty shaken up, but so far no major injuries, doesn’t look like there is a sexual component to this.”
She shook her head.
“That’s not how those poor girls would see it. Lambda are very selective about who shears their wool. It’s very intimate for them.”
Grant gave a slight nod of acknowledgement.
“All too true. At first, the people doing this hit them at night. But now they’re being more brazen about it. The last report has them jumping a girl in broad daylight.”
“Fuckers.” Bruti and Nina said at the same time.
The two shared a glance at that, matching frowns on their faces.
“We’ll be leaving right away, you lot geared up? Stupid question, you look geared up.”
As he considered the group he had to admit he was somewhat impressed.
Nameless had the same uniform as Grant did, albeit cadet-white instead of grey. He also had the same sturdy belt around his waist, with a number of canisters already attached and easily accessible in front of his hips, not around behind his back like a lot of rookies wore them.
The knife in its sheath was hardly standard issue, but Grant could plainly see Erica’s heartstone glinting in the pommel and didn’t give it a second thought as he looked to the monster girls at his side.
Milly wore her brown leather hat, as well as jean overalls and a sturdy pack which likely held most of their supplies, and unlike any cow girl Grant had ever encountered, she was armed: Kar’s black spear resting easily against her shoulder.
He didn’t look twice at the Valkyrie or the Flutterby, as both appeared capable; Volka wore her armour and carried her shield with a quiet confidence that he would be hard-pressed to match. Meanwhile, filling the role of the team’s medic, Ophelia was dressed in simple traveling clothes, a satchel of medical supplies over her shoulder.
He pursed his lips though when he took in the Gigas and the Katje.
Nina carried nothing but her hammer and was wearing a simple black tank top and cargo shorts, with no shoes to speak of; while Erica looked like a leather porcupine with all of the knives sticking out of her skin-tight suit.
“You look like you’re off to bed.” He pointed first at Nina, and then shifted his finger to Erica; “And you look like you’re off to murder someone in a sex dungeon.”
“I have my hammer. I’m good.”
“I fight better in this!”
Nina buffed her nails indifferently and Erica shifted her weight onto one leg with her hand on her hip.
Grant raised an eyebrow at Nameless who shrugged.
“Nina crossed the Sansee dressed like that, twice. Weather doesn’t bother her. And Erica looks sexy no matter what she wears.”
“Sexy.” Linda echoed.
The Gnome’s eyes were hooded as she slowly looked the Katje up and down.
Grant sighed.
“All the same kids, this is the Aegis, a certain degree of professionalism please. I’m not going to insist on shoes for the giant but no sexy death-suit for the Katje.”
Erica hissed at him and Bruti growled in response, the bear girl bristling more than slightly.
Despite Bruti’s warning growl, the Katje was still ready to argue, but she backed off in surprise when Nina put a hand on her arm to still her.
When she looked to the Gigas she saw that she was watching the Grizzly carefully, her grip on her hammer tight.
Erica shook off the distraction with a roll of her eyes.
“Fine! But if you get killed because I run out of knives I don’t want to hear any complaints!”
She began to strip right there in front of everybody, a few other Aegis personnel walking by with their own assignments made catcalling noises and whistled while Nameless planted his face in his palms and Grant’s eyes boggled.
“Sexy…” The Gnome repeated, a little breathless this time.
Standing naked save for a pair of lacy black panties, Erica held her hand out to the Minotaur.
“Milly, give me something appropriate for mister stodgy-pants over there.”
She ended up throwing on her usual long shirt, loose over one shoulder, with Kar’s brace of knives on her upper thigh.
When Grant saw her again his jaw worked in consternation.
“Who’s my sexy kitty?” Nina smirked.
“Don’t you have any pants?” The training officer protested.
Erica held up the tight leather suit, still bristling with most of her knives.
“I did, you made me take them off!”
Before Grant could say anything else Volka stepped between them.
“Aegis Semper, if I may. The longer you two spend bickering over her wardrobe, the more Lambdas will be victimized. Besides, our husband is correct, this is about as unsexy as Erica can pull off without throwing herself in a sack.”
He met the angel’s amused stare and sighed.
“My own damn fault for trying to tell a monster girl how to dress.”
“Does that mean I can wear this?” Erica held up the suit again.
“No!” Several voices responded.
With the dispute over the Katje’s wardrobe resolved they left the bustling convocation building behind and made their way out of the Academy with Nameless, Volka and Milly in the front beside Grant and his monster girls.
Meanwhile Nina lagged behind, snagging the hem of the sulking Katje’s shirt.
“Erica, you need to be careful of that bear.”
She received a sullen look as the cat’s pout intensified.
“What? Cuz of the hibernation thing?”
The giant shook her head slowly, unusually earnest as she explained.
“The closest I ever came to killing someone in the ring was fighting against a Grizzly.” The tiny red girl pulled up her shirt to show off a faint trio of scars on her side; “Doesn’t look like much, but when you’re as durable as I am it’s not nothing. They are pretty placid most of the time, but if you rile them up they won’t stop coming at you until one of you is dead.”
Flying lazily just beside them, Ophelia swallowed at the implications.
“Goodness, Nina-”
The Gigas interjected before she could finish.
“Took a few good whacks with my hammer to finally knock her out. But like I said, it was close.” She pointed one finger at the Katje as she turned to her; “No more hissing at her, especially now. I don’t know much about their hibernation, but the one I met went into the ring like I did: willingly.”
Erica crossed her arms, her lip jutted out in a pout.
“He started it! Telling us what to wear like that!”
“I don’t care what he said, don’t poke the bear. I don’t want to have to kill her just because you can’t control your temper.”
The irony of the statement was truly staggering given the number of times they had to keep Nina in check after someone pissed her off.
Indeed it was the irony of the situation that got through to the irritated cat.
“You’re serious aren’t you? Are Grizzlies really that bad?”
The Gigas nodded and Erica crossed her arms, her pout returning as quickly as it left.
“How come nobody worries about pissing off a Katje?”
“Because a Katje won’t pull your arms out their sockets just for hissing at her, Grizzlies are known to do that.”
Erica and Ophelia both had worried looks on their face, and therefore missed the tiny smirk on Nina’s.
Meanwhile Nameless, Grant and the others were having a different, though equally serious conversation.
“The village of Fairbright is about thirty miles southwest of Algrade, so we’ll need to move it. It’ll take us a couple days just to reach the scene of the crime.”
“There is no one closer?” Volka frowned.
“I’m afraid not. Algrade has its hands full as the epicenter of lost-tech crime and the whole area around Fairbright is nothing but farmland, so a major Aegis presence has never really been necessary. There is a small compound maybe five or ten miles north of the village. That’s where the incidents were first reported by the local lawkeeper. But the senior operative in residence is semi-retired and in no shape to chase this down. We’ll be reporting in to him once we’ve wrapped everything up.”
“How come he is retired?” Milly asked.
“I’ve never learned the details, some kind of accident on the job, lost an arm. His bond-mate Julia was badly hurt in the same accident.”
“Oh no! But they are alright now?”
Grant smiled at the Minotaur’s concern.
“Oh they’re fine, living the good life actually! I’ve met them a couple times. The pair of them run that compound by themselves, serving mostly to resupply teams passing through on their way someplace else. Not much happens in Fairbright so when Kyle isn’t checking to make sure the locals’ taming licenses are in order he’s either fishing or telling war stories to the kids in the village.”
Seeing the serious look on Milly and Nameless’s faces as they absorbed all of the information, the training officer couldn’t help but chuckle.
“This should be a good assignment for you to cut your teeth on. No indication of lost-tech in the report, and once the bad guys see my Bruti they tend to fold before they get in over their heads.”
“Fuck off.” Volka said at the same time as the grumpy Grizzly.
The big bear girl rumbled a deep growl at the smirking angel, but Volka simply drifted over to stand in front of her.
Before Bruti could react, the Valkyrie stood on the tips of her toes and leaned in to give her a peck on the end of her nose, her golden aura washing over her.
Though they barely knew her, the bashful smile that lit up the bear’s face from the Valkyrie’s presence seemed wrong somehow.
“You are not the first Grizzly I have met, dear Bruti. I befriended a few of your ancestors, long ago, I’m sure you and I will likewise be friends. Won’t we?”
The enormous monster never stood a chance against the angel’s sincerity, the smitten girl nodding slowly, but earnestly.
Though she had to take two or even three strides to keep pace, Nina and the others had caught up to them by that point, the giant giving a little wiggle of her hammer as she voiced her opinion.
“Even if the bear somehow isn’t enough for this shit, I’m here.”
Grant’s pursed his lips in thought as he considered the powerhouse.
“Nina, I don’t doubt that you can handle just about anything we might come up against. But this job is about keeping the peace, not disturbing it. So I’m going to give you a standing order to adhere to whenever you’re in the field with me and my team.”
Her eyes narrowed dangerously and she pointed at Nameless.
“I only take orders from-”
He interrupted her with an agitated wave of one hand.
“Fine, don’t call it an order. But you have to realize that if you screw up, your master gets blamed for it. Right?”
She didn’t say anything, just stared at him with her eyes wide enough for the whole of her red irises to be visible.
The same look she gave anyone she was planning on hurting.
Her glare was deeply unsettling so he didn’t push his luck waiting on a response; though technically his subordinate during Nameless’s field training, she was still a Gigas.
“A-anyways.” He continued with a nervous hitch in his voice; “Going forwards I want you to follow Bruti’s lead. Unless you spot some sort of imminent danger, you are to hang back and just observe.”
She crossed her arms over her breasts, her glare intensifying as her eyes narrowed again.
“Nobody puts baby in a corner.”
He shook his head in bemusement.
“I don’t know what that means.”
The tiny Gigas didn’t bother to clarify, the standoff lasting for another ten seconds or so before Ophelia stepped in, ever the diplomat.
“Dearheart I think what Aegis Semper is getting at, in his own clumsy way, is that you’re our backup for when things get serious. There’s no need for you to deal with every little thing that comes our way, after all.”
At her bond-sister’s words Nina relaxed almost immediately.
“Oh, why didn’t he just say that?”
The senior operative blinked as the weight of the mountain’s glare eased off of him and his eyes went to Nameless for a moment.
“I… thought I did?”
Nameless let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding as the tense situation was resolved and without a word he reached out and gave Ophelia’s shoulder an appreciative squeeze, grateful that she interceded before he had to.
With the standoff over they continued on their way, passing through the city of Garland, only stopping once at the Bastion for some last minute provisions before leaving the city behind.