Wolves in an Office

Reila stalked into her office, shaking off melted snow from her white puffy coat. She tossed it into the corner and straightened out her navy blue military uniform skirt. The pleats wilted from the water that still seeped into the material. She frowned and began to adjust the top, pulling the cold buttons off her warming skin. She slipped behind her desk and pull out a brush from the top drawer, running it through her long, strawberry blond hair that, when wet, reached past her ankles to the floor. Reila would have gladly spent time in the heavily-heated dressing room, but she was unfortunately expecting someone. Apparently Central Head Quarters had sent a lapdog in to ask her questions about Briggs. She was thrilled. ...Really. This morning she had just managed to get the air circulation system running again and could already feel the difference; the air felt so much fresher. Then, she had spent the rest of the day practicing her alchemy alone outside in the freezing cold. Of course, it was easy to lose track of time in the middle of a blizzard... Reila ruffled her wet bangs and tried wringing her damp hair out again to no avail. There was no way it was going to dry before he got there--or she. Reila really had no idea who it was; she had simply received an e-mail with the date and time. She quickly threw her brush back into the door and flopped onto her chair, crossing her legs to at least pretend she was waiting.

Lucas walked through the Halls of Fort Briggs, the snow falling off of his hood and armor leaving a wet trail for the janitor to clean up. He had to bend as he entered every single door a few times his sword hit one of the edges of the door frame. He had been sent here to find out the loyalty of one Brig. Gen. Reila Tsukino. He had heard good things about her but he had his orders and that was to be as unbiased as possible, for now. Lucas knew that they would have sent a normal military member but they had sent him, a horseman, as punishment for him and as a warning and threat for her.
He had just reached her office. He ignored the secretary and with one resounding knock, entered the office of Brig. Gen. Reila Tsukino. “Afternoon Ma'am. War reports as ordered. I trust you got the e-mail about my arrival?"

"Ah, yeah," Reila chimed, rising from her seat and darting over to where he towered over her. He made the ceiling look cramped... She stared at him momentarily, taking in his large image and should-be threatening appearance, feeling nothing of the sort. She beamed happily at him and held out her hand. "It's nice to meetcha mister War, sir." She bowed slightly as she spoke in a silky voice, the sound rolling kindly off her glossed lips. "Just one thing... War is a codename right?" She frowned a little, placing her free hand on her hip in thought. "What is your real name then? Even though the name...quite readily fits your appearance, I think it's a bit mean to call you something so cruel." She nodded, completely sure of herself, and her voice now taking on a cooler edge; her nervousness had all but been eradicated. Whatever he was here for, she was prepared. "The e-mail didn't exactly clarify as to what were are discussing?"

War looked down at Reila. While he found her hot, but he was not about to say that to her right now. His policy was 'business before pleasure unless business is a pleasure.' “Ma'am, War is a codename and a can't tell you my full name while on duty and what devision work for unless the Fuhrer authorizes it. you may call me Kreig. Well let's get to work. Ma'am, I am here to make sure that there are no traitors to Amestris or the Fuhrer. I have decided to start at the top and work my way down. So to start off my questions, can we take a set? This might take a while.” He moved over towards the desk and gestured towards the seats one of them she had just vacated. He noticed the well cared for sword behind her desk. “After our talk would you care to have a friendly duel to test each other's skills? I haven't had a good duel since before I had a solo mission into Xing and seperated from my squad 6 months ago. So tell me a little bit about yourself: some of your history, how you came to be the head of fort Briggs, What you think of the fuhrer, what you like to do, and why you chose to join the Military for starters.”

"Nice to meet you, Krieg," Reila said with a smile lingering in her voice. She motioned to a chair kindly. "Please make yourself comfortable..." She hated speaking in pleasantries, but she had to. Plus, he seemed like a nice guy to her. She sat back down in her chair and folded her hands on her well-organized desk. Her golden eyes looked directly at him intensely; she appeared ready for anything. She eyes moved from him when she noticed him looking at her sword, she turned her head to look at her tachi and then back at him. Excitement traced her voice, "Of course, I would love to. And I promise not to use alchemy." She stretched her arms above her head and sighed, preparing herself to answer his questions. "About myself...let's see. I was abandoned by my parents before I could understand what was happening. All I remember was that my father was the emperor of Aurego. ...Unfortunately I'm from the royal line, but I'm supposed to be dead. Great history, huh? It's still hard to talk about it," She laughed nervously and twirled pieces of her hair. "I was asked by the state to take up the position. And I joined because I needed to accomplish something. I want to protect people with my skills instead of sitting around and doing nothing. The fuhrer... I never met him, so I wouldn't know..." She let the pieces fall from her hands with a sad smile.

Lucas placed his sword off to the side and then as he took the seat in in front of him, he pulled a manila folder out and started checking what she had said versus what was in her personal portfolio. “Hmm... OK that seems to match up.” He flipped the page and pulled out a pen. “Now are you happy? In the military? Here at Fort Briggs? At you current rank? What do you desire? Let me pose a question to you: if your boss was a average person and his boss told you that if you kill him you would get their job, would you do it? Could you do it? Would you support those above you or would you kill him off?” Lucas watched her intently as he posed the question. Her answers in next couple of minutes would affect effect how his conversation would evolve and the tone for the rest of his time here.

Happy...? Was she? Reila paused, her lips forming a straight line as her mind wandered far beyond the room they were sitting in. When she realized she didn't have an answer, she just stared at him dumbfoundedly until his next question assailed her. "I am enjoying myself at Briggs and I want to stay here. I joined the military for a reason." She looked nervously down at the ground, still stuck on his first question. Happiness...what exactly was that anyway? She thought back to Spencer, Tsuna, and Enrya, wondering if friends were what decided happiness. She was uncertain...but she hoped she could get closer to her subordinates. "I don't care about rank. That's why I refused to take the State Alchemist examination." When Krieg posed his next question, Reila looked back up and directly into his eyes with her serious golden stare. She cut him off barely before he finished his string of follow up questions. "Of course not! How could I kill someone for my own gain? Especially when they didn't do anything to me. There's no point. I'd rather fight my way up using my own skill and power. If it was an order from above though... I would have no choice but to carry it out."

“hmmm....” He finished everything that he had to ask, started writing down a quick summary, closed the folder and turned to her and asked “I think that's enough for now. I think I have enough for a report to the Fuhrer about you. I have one last question, would everyone here at fort Briggs follow your every orders or would there be some which would disobey or go AWOL on some of the more ethically questionable orders from the higher ups? I need to know if there are any traitors here at Fort Briggs. Any one comes to mind?” Lucas had pulled out a notepad and held it in front of him to take down any names that she said. What he had heard of the soldiers at Fort Briggs suggested that they would follow her to the ends of the earth but one could never be sure. The rumors about Briggs could be covered up by the those loyal to Brig. Gen. Tsukino and her staff.

Reila smirked, her golden eyes flashing dangerously at the large man facing her. She watched the folder close and registered every spoken word and her smirk only increased. "If they didn't obey, they wouldn't be here." She laughed somewhat evilly as the female ran a hand through her drying hair. Interesting question... This man seemed to have a lot of them that made her think. "Traitors? I sure as hell hope there aren't any here, but if there were... I'd kill them myself." She clenched her fist in her lap, eyes still flickering at him directly. "Xan, though I trust him, seems to disappear frequently without reporting back. He either has a girl friend or is undertaking something off of duty without my permission or awareness." Reila crossed her legs and sighed, closing her eyes. "It's a shame really, I wish humans could be trustworthy." She opened her eyes and stared at him darkly, the intense gold enough to make anyone shudder.

Lucas finished jotting down everything in a note book, closed it up and stashed it away. "I believe that covers everything. You might be called upon later by someone else to answer some more questions, if the higher ups decide they need something clarified, explained better or have some more about items that came up in this interview. Xan might get a visit from someone to double check his loyalties, we can't have a traitorous State Alchemist in such a high position" He stood up grabbed his sword and sheathed it on his back."Care to lead the way to a place to have a duel? I have little knowledge of this fort." He walked over to the door and held it open for her to walk through. “It is my personal belief that your puny little sword will never manage to cut me, in fact I doubt that you will even leave a mark on me.”

"Yep, that's fine," She nodded, her eyes never leaving him for a second. "And I agree. I just found it odd. It didn't seem like him and he's extremely trust-worthy..." Reila stood up at the same time as he and grabbed her tachi with a swift motion and no wasted movement. She pranced through the door, watching him with lidded eyes that appeared focused on the floor. She stopped walking when the door clicked behind them, staring back up at him now, a smirk gracing her polished lips. "Doesn't sound very mature coming from someone of your position. Follow me." She turned on her heel with a fragrance of perfume trailing behind from the edges of her clothing and flowed down the hallway toward their destination. Eventually they came to the training room that she had specially built. It was a large expanse that stretched across the back end of the Fort and underground. Below the main level was a scientifically-fashioned training room that had simulations, enforced walls, and much more. But the main level was a Japanese-styled dojo with rice paper shoji doors that slid open to reveal stacks of bokken, shinai, and other wooden weapons for sparring. The flooring that was slightly raised from the stone ground at the foot of the door way was all tatami. This reached until another door that opened to the actual training room. In here, the elaborate Japanese-old-style continued, and the flooring was a padded tatami mat made to avoid injury. "We can spar here. I don't usually do this, but your comment pissed me off." He hadn't offended her personally, but her sword was called 'puny.' In no way was a Japanese sword puny. He would soon learn of its superiority...the hard way.

War followed her through the corridors of fort Briggs and followed her into the training room. He looked around taking in the Xingese decorations. “Reminds me of Xing, My apologies, it's not a puny sword, it's a toothpick, a metal stick. This is a sword.” He said drawing his massive two handed (own you and the horse you rode in on) broadsword and rested it's tip on the floor. “I'll even let you take the first shot. Remember no permanent injury, it would put us out of commission and in my line of work that could kill me because my higher-up don't allow for much down time.” he rapped in his chest as he said this indicating where he thought she should try to hit because he honestly felt that a sword that small couldn't even scratch him. It was even laughable that a woman who hadn't even seen true fighting in a good ling while could beat him.

Reila laughed, her eyes shining viciously in the dim lighting. Men were so stupid when they were caught up in their selfish, egotistical pride. "That's a sword?" She retorted back, amusement threading through her words, "Looks more like a frying pan." Sometimes playing back with them didn't hurt though, in fact, it was rather entertaining. Flipping her strawberry blond hair behind her, she whipped out a small rope and tied her hair up high from the ground, moving her feet fluidly into a three-point stance where she readied herself. She unsheathed her tachi, the long blade easily sliding from darkness to point at the man's neck. Always underestimated--that was their downfall. How interesting. "I'll try, but I can't guarantee," Reila said darkly, slipping the sheath into the belt around her hips.