Terra glanced to Hikari, gauging her reaction.
Hikari stared at Tacitus while keeping her face taciturn. “I hope your honor burns.”
Tacitus glared at Hikari.
Hikari remained stoic. “Honor is an empty word. Brutes with noble titles proclaim honor to ease their guilt while they slaughter peasants and sack their homes. I don't need you and I don't need your honor.”
The other team leader groaned as though his plan now lay in the ashes of Hikari's insult.
“I will remember those words,” Tacitus said in a dark tone before turning to leave.
Zaid stepped forward. “I can take Hikari.”
The man stared at the ground. “Just take her.”
Zaid nodded before touching a holoface over his shieldwatch.
The man glanced to his shieldwatch in surprise. “You still gave me a point?”
Zaid motioned for Hikari to follow him. “I will not steal.”
Hikari crossed her arms. “Why should I follow you?”
Zaid stopped and grinned. “Tiro Hikari, you will follow me because I can show you how to repair that aeon edge.”
Hikari narrowed her gaze, but remained silent.
Zaid turned to go.
Terra followed now, curious. She looked back to see Hikari following and a bit uncomfortable with the ugly glare Hikari leveled at her. Had she angered Hikari somehow?
After a moment Zaid spoke again. “Have either of you had success with a shieldwatch yet?”
Terra shook her head. “No. I can't get it to work.”
Hikari remained silent.
Zaid glanced at Hikari over his shoulder. “That is not unexpected. It takes a little while for it to work, usually at least a few weeks of practice for a connection with time to form. I think I have a good idea of where to start.”
“Start what?” Terra asked.
“Both of your team training schedules,” Zaid said as they stepped into a salient. Terra saw three others there as well.
On the far left stood a lean young man dressed in a jaguar pelt. At his side he carried a wooden club edged with obsidian and he held a round shield in his hand. Terra recognized the man as an Aztec warrior.
Next to the Aztec stood a taller dark skinned man with a sizable gut. He wore metal armor over one arm and shoulder. An enclosed metal helmet was over his head and he carried two swords sheathed at his belt. Terra recognized the man as a gladiator.
A short haired dark skinned girl stood next to the gladiator. She wore a white tunic over her training uniform. She carried a small shield in one hand and several small throwing spears in the other. Terra did not recognize what army she was from, but assumed her to be from the classical or ancient eras. “Newtimers?” the woman asked.
Zaid nodded. “The best and the worst actually, at least according to points.”
Zaid gestured for Terra and Hikari to follow again. He led them to the center of the salient. A ring transformed part of the salient into a tall wall with a flat floor made of stone bricks. Above them hung a stone ceiling while a large circular pyre burned near the wall. Zaid pointed to the wall. “I have a task for both of you.”
Hikari turned her side to Zaid. “I will do nothing you say. I am not a soldier for you to order around.”
“Pity,” Zaid said. “I was going to help you connect with your shieldwatch. You should consider mastering it soon. At week three, tirones are allowed to use a shieldwatch for sparring. If you do not master it, they will become stronger than you.”
“How?” Terra asked.
Zaid walked to the wall and then walked on the wall until he reached the ceiling. He then hung upside down though his clothing continued to point towards the ceiling as though gravity had reversed.
“This is important,” Zaid said while crouching on the ceiling. “I use this trick often. Other strike team leaders often fail to use this simple ability. I need you both to master this skill if you are to use my tactics.”
“How did you do that?” Terra asked as Zaid fell to the ground, landing feet first.
“I do not know the technical terms,” Zaid said, dusting himself off. “I know that a shieldwatch connects to time and allows one to manipulate it. This connection with time takes from a few days up to weeks to form. Once it does, then it is a simple matter of willpower, like moving a muscle.” He then pointed to the pyre. “Heat rises as does the smoke. You both need to be like heat and smoke to make it up this wall,” he said as he drew two knives. One he handed to Terra and the other to Hikari. “Use this to mark your progress up the wall. Make it to the top and this exercise will be done.”
Terra looked at the hard stone floor. “I only have one Restore a day, Zaid.”
Zaid aimed his shieldwatch arm to the floor, creating a stasis field there. He then dropped his helmet which slowed in the field. “This should stop injuries from falls.”
Hikari grabbed the hilt of her aeon edge. “My aeon edge first.”
Zaid nodded and held out his hand.
Hikari hesitated.
Zaid sighed. “I must hold it in order to repair it.”
Terra watched as Hikari hesitantly handed her aeon edge to Zaid, her gaze never leaving the blade.
Zaid inspected the aeon edge before opening up the bottom part of the blade and peering inside. A set of rails slid out and Terra could see a lot of mechanical parts inside the sword. After a moment, he handed the blade back to Hikari who relaxed.
“It needs a stasis cell clip and a few other parts,” Zaid said, wiping his hands. “Two points at most.”
Hikari inspected her aeon edge. “Why did they give me a broken blade?”
“They always do that,” Zaid said, shrugging. “A lot of equipment they give you is broken. The centurions expect you to fix it. An aeon edge is especially difficult to keep in good condition since it cannot be restored with a shieldwatch like other objects. I will go get the parts you need. You should practice while I am gone.”
When Zaid left, Hikari sat on the floor.
“Not going to do as he says?” Terra asked.
Hikari said nothing and instead inspected her aeon edge again. She opened the area near the bottom of the blade above the hilt and peered inside.
Terra sighed and wondered why others seemed drawn to Hikari. She had heard more than one team leader talk about how pretty and strong Hikari was. They all wanted her, at least until they had her and she started insulting them. Then they tried to get rid of her as fast as possible. Hikari was like a beautiful glowing ember, pretty to look at, but burned if touched.
Terra pushed those thoughts out of her mind and instead focused on the wall. She wanted to walk on walls. It was far better than what her shieldwatch could do now, which was nothing. Wondering, Terra dropped a loose stone on the ground and watched it slow in the stasis field Zaid had made. After a moment, Terra put her hand in the stasis field and felt no different. She then waded into the field.
Terra walked to the wall and put a foot on it. She then pushed herself up and promptly fell backwards. As she expected, the stasis field caught her and Terra stood. This time she ran up the wall only to slip and fall again. When she ran up a third time, she remembered the knife Zaid had given her and she made a mark on the wall before falling again.
“Fool,” Hikari said, sitting behind Terra, the firelight illuminating her slender frame.
Terra put her hands on her hips. “You know, people accuse me of being blunt all the time, but at least I don't insult everyone I meet intentionally.”
Hikari looked away. “Why am I even speaking to this stupid girl?” she said, more to herself than Terra, before falling silent.
Terra grimaced. Her face prickled with sweat as she glared at Hikari. The running combined with the fire made her hot, or was her temper rising? Clearing her mind again, Terra faced the wall. She ran up and for a single instant sensed something different. It was a strange sensation, like the feeling a current gave when swimming upstream. The new sense faded when Ter
ra slipped down again before putting another mark on the wall. This mark was higher than the last by half a pace.
Terra stared wide eyed at the wall. Had she just used her shieldwatch? Gripping the knife in her hand, Terra charged. Again she sensed something different for a mere second. It was as though she could feel not only the force of gravity pulling her down, but the force of time that pulled gravity forward. This time she pushed on that feeling and Slowed it. When she did, she felt herself grow lighter. Her next mark was another half pace higher than the last.
“Yes!” Terra said. “I think I finally got it working!”
Hikari perked and frowned when she saw the wall. She inspected the marks and then turned to Terra as though to ask a question, but hesitated. Instead Hikari clinched her jaw and walked to the wall. Then she ran up it and to Terra's surprise, fell, leaving a mark well below Terra's last.
Terra almost laughed at thought of the mighty Hikari lagging behind her. She turned back to the wall and continued to run, gaining another pace of distance. Her progress slowed after that. Then the strange new sense faded. Now each mark was lower than the last.
“Good!” Hikari said.
Terra turned and grimaced. Hikari now crouched on the ceiling like Zaid had.
After a moment Hikari jumped down, landing with grace next to the pyre. She glanced over her shoulder at Terra. “I assume if you can do this, then surely I am able as well.”
Terra face grew warm again and not just from the heat of the fire. She didn't return Hikari's insult. Instead she faced the wall and ran up it again losing another span of progress.
Hikari scoffed and turned to leave as Zaid returned.
Zaid handed Hikari a series of set glowing blue cylinders held together by a clip. “This is one part you will need. Anno has the other. Talk to her.”
Hikari's eyes narrowed. “In exchange for what?”
“Trust,” Zaid said, his expression unreadable.
“You think a small light will buy that?” Hikari said while inspecting the device.
“Small beginnings,” Zaid said as he turned and looked at the wall. “Ah. I see you practiced as I asked.”
“I completed your training. It was a simple thing,” Hikari said before leaving the room.
Zaid turned to Terra. “I see you have also made progress.”
Terra sighed and dropped the knife. It sank into the stasis field and stopped. “I was. Now I'm practically back where I started.”
He nodded as though finding this unsurprising. “I see. You must be one of them.”
“Them?”
“For some, the shieldwatch just works. For a few though, it takes a while. The Sybil had a name for them. What was it? Regardless, you are likely one of those who have a weak connection with time.”
Terra felt a stab of panic. “You mean I can't use a shieldwatch at all?”
“No. You will be able to eventually. It will take longer than most. The longest I have seen is four weeks. Since it has already worked a little, then I suspect your connection will form later this week.”
Terra sighed. “Why didn't the instructors tell me this?”
“You should grow used to that. They seem to wish for most to discover these things on their own.”
“Okay. What is your deal?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Deal?”
“Yes. Your deal. What do you want? Why do you bother to tell me any of this? Every other team leader has sold me off the first chance they got. Yesterday they even had me sit out the team mission so I wouldn't get in the way. Why do you care?”
“I told you the truth. I prefer newtimers because they are easier to train. They do not have as many assumptions that get in their way. Are you that mistrustful?”
“Why are you really here? Are you just here for immortality?”
Zaid shook his head. “No. I am here for something else.”
“What then?”
“A second chance,” he said as he motioned for Terra to follow. They walked outside to where the other team members practiced. “Listen. I know you do not trust me. Trust is hard to build when the centurions play us against one another, but it must begin somewhere. So what is your problem with trust?”
“I don't like teams.”
“Ah,” Zaid said as though he now understood the problem. “Yes. I remember now. Americans tend to be very individualistic. Well allow me to warn you. Few make it through the Survival Test alone. None make it through the Labyrinth alone.”
Terra followed Zaid to the armory.
“Why are we here?” Terra asked.
Zaid gestured to Terra's uniform. “This will not do. Allah help you if the instructors catch you with a baggy uniform.”
Terra recoiled from Zaid. “You're a Muslim?”
“Yes. So?”
“I am not wearing a burqa,” Terra said, pointedly.
Zaid stared at Terra with a blank expression. “I have no idea what that is.”
Terra's brow furrowed. “You know. An outfit that covers a woman from head to toe? It protects her modesty?”
“Oh. You mean a veil? I will not make you wear that. That would be stupid. We are soldiers now, not members of the court who can afford such trivial things as modesty. Now go get your uniform fitted, I don't want to lose points for my team looking sloppy. The centurions never take points for lack of modesty, but they will if your uniform is not perfect.”
Terra found the back rooms and rummaged through the uniforms until finding one that fit. After inspecting herself in a mirror, she discovered her uniform was indeed loose fitting and baggy. She changed into the new uniform before sighing upon inspecting her reflection. She looked better, she thought, but the tight fitting uniform still made her look overweight. However, she stood a little taller now without her hunched posture. She made a few final adjustments before saving her state in her shieldwatch. She then walked out to meet Zaid.
Zaid inspected weapons in the armory before turning to Terra and smiling. “Much better.”
Terra sighed.
“Is there still a problem?”
Terra looked around at the other tirones in the armory. “I don't know. It's just that time travel isn't what I expected. The Japanese girl I met is really rude and hates honor, the knight doesn't even know what chivalry is, you are a Muslim who respects women, and the most polite time traveler I have met so far is a Nazi.”
“Ah. I see the problem now. It is a simple one.”
“What?”
“You let assumptions rule your actions. I once met a tiro who tried to judge a person's merit purely on skin color. I told him he was foolish to do so. He failed the training for he refused to work with any who did not share his skin. I met another who tried to convert his strike team to his faith. He too failed when his team resisted him. I have found that all individuals must be judged separate from their culture, faith, skin, or whatever other category because they can easily prove your assumptions wrong. I will not make that mistake. If I did, then I would not have bothered with you at all.”
Terra averted her gaze.
Zaid sighed. “Listen, Terra. You seem honest and I believe that you can contribute to my team, but I must ask you to put aside your assumptions. Whatever you think you know about history or culture, toss it aside. Others wish for you to think that history is simple. It is not. Use your eyes and your mind. Come to your own conclusions, or rely on your assumptions and fail. It is your choice.”
Chapter XIV
Kairos's Garden
I would advise against letting a newly accepted tiro even touch an aeon edge. I have seen far too many a squire mutilate themselves by accident. Thankfully, the safety lock feature reduced training casualties, but I still recommend caution when introducing an aeon edge to a tiro. Too many become enamored with the aeon edge when it is the shieldwatch that often provides the decisive tactical edge needed in combat. A soldier with an aeon edge alone is not as dangerous as a soldier with a shieldwatch alone.
-Excer
pt from Chapter Seven of the Aeon Legion's Squire Recruitment Manual by Praetor Lycus Cerberus
An air of excitement lingered amongst the tirones as they stood in the armory. Many had been looking forward to this, as did Terra. Today, they would get to hold an aeon edge.
A surprising variety of aeon edge swords lay on a series of weapon racks. A few blades reached only one or two paces long while others stood as tall as Terra. Curved designs existed, but most were straight with a spear point. All regarded the blades with wide eyes.
Terra still didn't have enough points for an aeon edge. It took twenty five points. She had four. Even though it was late in the second week, Terra still hesitated to spend her points. Not that she could buy much with them. A gun from her time costs five points. Even if she had an extra point, Terra would be hesitant to spend it on a gun. She had seen a team battle yesterday where a small team skilled with a shieldwatch defeated a larger one equipped with assault rifles.
Isra entered the room and stood between the tirones and the aeon edges. “You will not be issued an aeon edge. None of you even deserve to hold a true aeon edge. Instead we will use rejected blades. These are not true aeon edges, but rather scrapped models that we have salvaged for training. They are weighted with lead to train strength during sparring, but today we will only practice maintenance to get you accustomed to the inner workings of an aeon edge.”
A collective groan rose from the group.
Isra lifted her chin. “No complaining. You are lucky that we even allow you to touch the rejects for maintenance practice. Earn enough points and then you can be issued one to wave around all you wish. Until then, you will have to be content with taking it apart and putting it back together. I will return in a moment to inspect your progress. I expect each person here to present me with a clean blade upon my return. Failure to do so will result in the loss of a point.”
Aeon Legion: Labyrinth Page 18
