Cold as Ice, Strong as Steel

The beginning of the ascension was already underway, it had been from the very first time that Nikolai Zheronkina had set foot upon military soil and become one with the units. His sheer skill in alchemy, physical power and quick whit had been enough to promote him beyond what any normal person would have attained upon enlisting. But that was not all, no, he also followed orders to the 'T' and never disobeyed or questioned them, he was the perfect soldier, or at least, that was what it seemed. See, the only reason that he had been so perfect was because so far, all of his Commanding Officers had been women, and due to something deep within his mind, Nikolai was naturally submissive to the opposite gender. It wasn't just that he was submissive either, he deferred to them and allowed the females to make the decisions, something that earned him bonus points with many of the women.

And that was why he was here today, he had succeeded in attaining the rank of First Lieutenant within a year of enlisting and due to his power and skill as well as ethnic background, had become an essential part of the way things had been working within the Northern Headquarters. He had become such a great part of the workings that as it stood now, he was in the mindset he might acquire a promotion quite soon, at least, if he continued to be as useful as he was and would continue to be due to the prospect of gaining another promotion.

What was he doing though? Well he was walking towards Fort Briggs, snow crunching under his heavy boots, sun shining down on him from above, and the cold permeating everything around him, including the heavy lined coat that he wore. The numbing temperature made almost no difference to him though, his body being accustomed to the lower temperatures and so even though other would balk at wandering around outside in this climate he did so routinely.

Why was he walking to Fort Briggs? He did not know. He had been summoned forth from his previous station within west Amestria, to return to his homeland of the north, a far greater choice for him than the west which was quite rugged country yet was nothing compared to this frigid land he called home. The question was, would he last? It had been many months since he had departed to the west, and although months was a minor denominate of time and was much less than years, it could be fatal if he had grown to accustomed to the warmer temperatures. Yet it did not seem that he would require time to acquire the necessary resistance for as he had noticed long ago, the body knew its roots.

And so he made his way up the side of the mountain, swiftly even though the snow that covered the ground was quite deep and would have slowed many. The reason for this? The simple fact that had never forgotten how to move and keep pace without being hindered.

Was he here to be permanently stationed? He did not know. If he was he would welcome the return and change in position expeditiously and happily, ready for changes as they came and hoping for the best. What he really wanted was, that if he were to be permanently stationed, he would acquire a superior officer, namely the Ice Queen herself (Rather than some pansy and petty male who thought himself better due to rank) who would, a) be of the female persuasions, and b) be stronger and greater than he himself was so that his deference to a woman, whether she be of superior rank or not, simply so that others would keep themselves in line and not hinder the movement forwards that Nikolai had been taking, simply by being uncooperative.

Finally he saw it, just over the horizon, the great doors of Briggs, an entrance of which he would, well, enter and so forwards would he march, his value as an alchemist becoming greater as he did so, his value as a soldier increasing exponentially compared to his alchemic value, and his value as a person increasing even further. He would become what he needed to become, in order to rise to the top and fight for what he believed in.

Life...well, it was happening...albeit slowly. After the chaos of bringing down Father and assisting the retreat in South City...Reila had to hear the news of Ilona's death on top of it. Her second in command died in child birth and both were lost to endless sleep. The funeral was held last week and...Reila had missed it. The mere thought brought tears to her eyes now, but she had to blink them away in order to move on and face reality, which would not wait for her misery to abate. Ilona had been strong, much stronger than Reila; Ilona would probably call her a cry baby if she saw her now. And Reila...well, she would just accept it. After all, she spent the entire day yesterday locked in her room.

Long strawberry blond hair waved behind her as she walked briskly down the hallway, red-rimmed eyes focused ahead on her destination. Preparations had been made for her third second in command, but, for once, she was not looking forward to meeting him. Aerugese superstition would say that that the position was cursed... and this idea made her on edge. Would he be like Xan, or would he be like Ilona...? A chill ran down her spine, and she stopped in the middle of the walkway. No, she couldn't think like that. Things didn't always happen that way... She began walking again with determination. She could prevent it...she had to; it was her job, dammit!

Reila clenched her fist and kicked open the door to her office with vigor. It was time! A new beginning--new tactics--new everything! She sat down, importantly at her desk with a fiery glow emitting from her golden eyes. He would be there shortly.

A cold gust blew through the corridor as Daigoro Ito threw open the main doors of Briggs. Reila had told him yesterday - they were to expect a new arrival, someone else to take the second-in-command position that seemed so cursed right now. He stared out into the distance, expressly looking for a figure in the cold. His long red hair flowed in the wind - he hadn't bothered to tie it up. He could already feel his right arm icing up, so a press of a button later, and he'd warmed the arm enough so that the ice was melting right off the steel. He smirked, and stepped into the wind, now seeing the figure approaching Briggs.

Big guy. Menacing. Maybe even intimidating to some. But not to Dai. He'd seen worse - he'd killed worse. It was really Survival of the Fittest here at Briggs, and it seemed that Dai was fit enough. As the man approached the building, he really saw how this guy stood up to the snow that covered the ground. So, that was Nikolai? Typical Drachman name - but he seemed trustworthy enough. he sighed, and walked towards the man, standing right in front of him once he'd made the door.

"You Zheronkina? Welcome to Briggs. Come on in!" He beckoned for the man to follow, and broke through the wind and into the main corridor of Briggs, closing the door behind him and Nikolai. He sighed, and looked around, making sure that they were relatively alone.

"So, you're the new guy, huh? I hope you're competent - Our last two second-rankers didn't make the cut..." His eyes went down as he remembered Ilona and Xan, before looking back up at the man.

"I'll assume you speak more than just Amestrian. Reila speaks Aerugese and Drachman, so if you feel the need to communicate with her privately - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I, on the other hand, speak Aerugese and Ishvallan. So yeah." As the pair walked along the corridors of Briggs, Dai decided to give the personal tour, seeing as the General's office was towards the top of the building. A couple of flights of stairs later, and they passed the dorms.

"We have state-of-the-art dormitory rooms here, you'll be placed into one of the eventually." They continued on, and passed by several more facilities of Briggs, Dai explaining everything about them, until they reached the oh-so-familiar door to Reila's office. He nodded twice, and knocked, making sure that he knocked formally... NOT how he knocked in private. He grinned, and opened the door for him.

"New guy's here. Play nice." He then looked back up at the man and smiled.

"Oh, I'm Daigoro Ito, or Dai. Head of Military Operations, and part-time weapons developer of Briggs. In there is... well, you'll see." With a nod, he followed the man in, closing the door behind them. He needed to see this at some point - so it might as well be now.

"YOU!" Reila flew from her chair and to her feet, the previous fiery glow exploding into her overbearing spirit. She pointed at him and then grinned girlishly. "I like your hair. It really suits Briggs~" Her grin turned into a vicious smirk and golden eyes gleamed dangerously at him from across the room. "Now, fight me." This time...this time for sure! She was going to make it last; nothing like Xan--nothing like Ilona. She leaped over the desk.

Reila pulled her tachi from seemingly nowhere and held the sheath in place with her fingers. Now, to see if he would manage to dodge her attack. In this state, if he didn't manage at least that...there was no way he would survive. Laughing evilly in order to scare him, she changed her attack half way through it and spun around, aiming at his back, and barely missing Dai. A ponytail of ankle-long hair spiraled around her fiercely, her military uniform skirt blowing out in the force of her attack that cut through the air without even a blade.

She knew she was acting strange--beyond belief. Even using tactics such as these weren't exactly her style. More than anything, she really wanted to see the shocked expression on Dai's face, but she couldn't take her eyes off of her 2nd in command for a moment, for she had no idea what he was going to do in response. With her body in such horrible shape, she knew there was no way she could take a hit and stay conscious. So she had to avoid that at all costs. Her doctor would kill her if he even knew she was out of bed. She was too crafty to stay under his suffocating watch!

Maybe it was the painkillers doing this... Ah, who cared?!

Nikolai arrived at the doors, having seen them opening suddenly a few minutes ago and stopped as the man stopped right in front of him. The exchange of looks happened easily, as both men sized the other up, impressions kept to themselves or revealed according to how they felt. Nikolai kept his impressions himself, really he felt the man far too pretty, and his hair too long, how was he supposed to fight if Briggs came under attack if his hair was like that? He was nowhere near ready for fighting, he was wearing cargo pants and a T-Shirt, not even something to ward against the cold which was so obvious this far north, and almost any normal man would eventually succumb to it even if they didn't mind such a thing.

A few moments of sizing each other up and the man spoke to him, a voice that was soft and airy, sure to win over the girls and definitely fitting of the pretty boy appearance emanating from his mouth.

"You Zheronkina? Welcome to Briggs. Come on in!"

Was his only comment before gesturing and heading back into the base.

Nikolai followed, the man closing the door behind them before turning to the larger man after checking the area. His next words were a little odd, especially since they were coming from someone of such an appearance as well as the fact he looked down at the ground after stating them before returning his gaze to Nikolai.

"So, you're the new guy, huh? I hope you're competent - Our last two second-rankers didn't make the cut..."

And then he spoke yet again, more odd words yet informative.

"I'll assume you speak more than just Amestrian. Reila speaks Aerugese and Drachman, so if you feel the need to communicate with her privately - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I, on the other hand, speak Aerugese and Ishvallan. So yeah."

It was odd the man was being so helpful when Nikolai had just arrived, but maybe he had reason to help out, for the cogs in a machine, if they did not work together, would cause said machine to break down.

It amused Nikolai to think that the man could be so helpful and maybe even intelligent, yet dress so oddly for his station, which, in all actuality, Nikolai had yet to learn what his rank and position within the base was.

And so, Nikolai followed the man, gaining a tour and wondering what other information he could gather, for that was what he liked, information without the expectation to reveal it to others.

"We have state-of-the-art dormitory rooms here, you'll be placed into one of the eventually."

Was the first of the next pieces of information the man provided as he toured Nikolai around the base, heading in a distinct direction the entire time, even when they walked up stairs.

And so more information was provided as they made their way, a way that ended at a door, painted a bright color of neon pink, a design of what appeared to be flowers in an arrangement that suggested antiquity (The design itself, not the door), a bright silver doorknob that he could see his reflection in and a few dents, suggesting the door was older. The door itself gave off an odd sent of pine, but that made little difference for it was not long before the man leading him opened it, a slight squeak that could be either carelessness, or genius, depending on whether the person was not taking care of it, or had done that so they could know when someone entered. It really made Nikolai begin to think as to what kind of person the Ice Queen of Briggs was.

As soon as he entered (After the pretty boy had knocked a series of knocks -- which Nikolai committed to memory -- and had opened the door for him, speaking something in what sounded like Auregese, Nikolai smelled perfume, and also knew that something add was going to happen, he just didn't know what until the man who had escorted spoke at the same time he saw the woman sitting in a chair (Didn't take him long, but he had been too busy realizing everything else it took him a fraction of a second longer than it should have.

"Oh, I'm Daigoro Ito, or Dai. Head of Military Operations, and part-time weapons developer of Briggs. In there is... well, you'll see."

As he closed the door the woman threw herself from the chair, a seeming effort by the look of the bandages on her, and suddenly spoke, leaving no room for him to do anything.

"YOU!"

She said pointing at him, and speaking in a childish manner, her voice like a sonata to his ears as she continued to speak.

"I like your hair. It really suits Briggs~"

And then she was challenging him to a fight, suddenly pulling a long curved sword from where he did not know, for he had been too distracted by her as she spun around, her skirts flying out as he realized it was too late for him to act, and instead, braced himself for the impact as it hit him directly in mid back, flinching not even a tiny bit as his jacket took the blow and he wondered if she had been at full health, would it have hurt him more? Maybe even broken his back? He didn't know but, he did suppose that she probably shouldn't be out and about hitting subordinates with a sheathed sword.

And so he turned as soon as the blow was stopped and tilted his head at her inquisitively before speaking.

"Um, are you sure you should be up and about hitting people with sheathed swords? That does look like it could have been quite nasty"

He said, his voice a deep baritone as he blinked, looking only a little worried that she might have hurt herself and not at all showing that he had registered anything from the blow.

Dai was shocked by Reila's action... for about a second. And then the redhead just grinned, and reached behind his back. One of the good things about a loose shirt - man, were they fucking easy to conceal things in. His hands met the pair of steel rods, and Dai slipped the tonfa out of his pants, and gripped them by the handles. He wanted to see how Briggs worked? Here it was.

After flicking the tonfa around a few times with a rougish grin, he stopped to think. Maybe... he should wait for Reila to stop. And then there was the issue of... The redhead looked down at the pair of tonfa.

To blade, or not to blade? Ah, blade sounds better for this... He flicked his wrists suddenly, and the ends of the tonfa flicked off, revealing long blades instead of staves. As Reila was slightly knocked backwards and Nikolai moved forwards, Dai nodded to the girl behind Nikolai's back, and rushed forward as silently as he could, putting an arm around the man, and holding the blade on his right hand up to the larger man's throat.

"Welcome to Briggs. We have a little... mantra here." The next four words to leave the man's lips were tinged with ice, colder than the Briggs range.

"Survival of the fittest." As he spoke those words, he released his grip and brought the tonfa blade away from his throat with a grin.

"That said, we're a team. We need to be able to count on each other when it matters, and back each other up when they're injured. Death isn't something that we'd like any member of Briggs to experience. And, hell, I'm still getting used to this arm." He held up his prosthetic right with a smirk.

"Hope I didn't... injure any pride there, Reila." He smiled briefly at her, and then continued to gaze at Nikolai, waiting to see that man's reaction.

"Enough, Dai," Reila said with a flash of gold. She brought her tachi back to her left hand and slid it neatly into her military uniform against her soft skin. That was interesting. Smiling slightly, she cracked her wrist and straightened out her skirt. "Welcome to Briggs." Her voice came as a stream of cold water, running from her glossed lips. Then her smile changed to a devious smirk. This was going to be fun. If there was a guy alive that could take a hit from her tachi--weakened or not--without so much as falling, then he was more than qualified to be the second in command at Briggs. "You see why we say 'survival of the fittest'?" Reila laughed and patted the taller man on the shoulder. "Now-now no need to be stiff, let's get on with the introductions. As you know, I am Reila Tsukino. You can call me anything--I don't really care, but...call me m'am and I may just kill you."

In a huff, she sat back down in her chair and ran fingers lightly through her silken hair. "Pride means nothing to me. I appreciate the notion though, just don't interfere unless I really am dying."

Nikolai had waited not but a few seconds before suddenly there was something wrapped around his waist. It seemed the pretty boy, head of Military Operations, was feeling like defending his Commanding Officer, for not only was his arm wrapped around Niks waist, but there was a bladed...tonfa?... near his throat. Nik didn't think the man was seriously intending to kill him, especially since he hadn't actually done anything, not even touched the woman even though she had attacked him, but, you never knew, some of the sanest people could do the craziest things, all that really made a difference was how far they were willing to go against the sanity that they had.

And so Nik stiffened, and then relaxed only a slight amount as the man spoke with words so cold that he could have acquired frost bite if words could cause physical harm.

"Welcome to Briggs. We have a little... mantra here." a slight pause and then he continued before releasing Nikolai from his grip and removing the blade from his throat, speaking once he had stepped away a little bit. "Survival of the fittest." "That said, we're a team. We need to be able to count on each other when it matters, and back each other up when they're injured. Death isn't something that we'd like any member of Briggs to experience. And, hell, I'm still getting used to this arm."

The final words punctuated by the lifting of the automail arm, which Nikolai now realized came from something quite recent. All in all, that was beside the point as the Lieutenant General began to speak.

"Enough, Dai," were the words that she intoned through a musical form that was entirely natural, seemingly without realization or effort. It was after these words that she placed her tachi up under her shirt behind her. He realized that maybe she had it strapped there somehow, he just didn't know the purpose it posed other than the fact it was hidden. Why would she hide it though? There wasn't anyone who she would need to sneak up on, and the only way she might need a hidden weapon was if someone somehow snuck into the base and attempted to take her hostage, which odds were wouldn't happen. So why? It was highly unprecedented and there was no need for it, there was also a disadvantage if she happened to be sitting and needed to fight as well as the fact that the weapon could get caught in her uniform? So why would she put herself at such a disadvantage for no apparent reason? He didn't know, but he wanted to, and so he would need to ask her at a later date.

As it was she had more to say, as she welcomed him to Briggs then asked him if he understood why they had survival of the fittest at Briggs whilst patting him on the shoulder. Her next words, were words of introduction and informing that he could call her anything he wished as long as it wasn't Ma'am, at which point she sat down in her chair and began speaking in Auregese, obviously directed to the Head of Military Operations.

It was at this point that Nikolai blinked and shrugged, turning so that he had both of the others in his line of site before speaking in that same baritone he had spoken before.

"I am Military Alechemist, Lieutenant 1st Class, Nikolai Zheronkina."

His words may have seemed slightly out of place the way he said them, but he stated them in order of importance, his status,then his rank, and then his name. His name was the least important for he was a soldier, and a soldier with Alchemical powers was one of the more important types. Soldiers did not need names, but they did need to know whose orders to follow as well as who they could give orders to, so it only made sense that the fact that he was a soldier (Although it was most obvious) came before rank, which came before name, at least, to him it did.

"Enough, Dai." The redhead had already let go of Nikolai, but he felt that a nod was necessary here, just to let Reila know that he had understood her command. He sighed, and knelt down to where the ends of the tonfa had been cast off to, and picked them up, sliding one onto his left blade, and then switching and sliding the other one onto the right. He yawned slightly, and then Reila spoke again, this itme in Aerugese.

"Pride means nothing to me. I appreciate the notion though, just don't interfere unless I really am dying." He grinned rougishly at her.

"Not a problem. Just trying to show this newcomer what life could be like here - no harm done. Ma'am." He poked his tongue out coyly, showing that he was just teasing the poor girl with his words. But now, it wasn't the time for him to speak. He was simply here as an observer, and possibly Reila's guard in case this... Nikolai Zheronkina was not who he said he was. So he didn't speak, didn't reply, just took a seat at the back of the room, watching the goings-on intently.

In his opinon, this guy seemed pretty straight-laced. He had this air of rigidity about him, and was probably a rule-follower. Not that Dai didn't break the rules, he just... Well, he wasn't as much of a follower as the rest of the world. Kept him sane.

"Hola Nikolai~" Reila chimed with a wide smile. She spun in her chair happily, but then when her head started spinning, she thought better of it. Painkillers were a pain in the ass, but...unfortunately she couldn't do without just yet. Absentmindedly, she pulled her tachi out from the straps behind her and set it back on its stand on top of her desk. The lacquered wood looked extremely expensive and had golden chrysanthemums imprinted in that matched her eyes. Now that it wasn't jabbing her in the back, Reila relaxed on her chair, leaning backwards.

"I'm going to kill you, geezer, just wait your turn," Reila hissed through her teeth, her eyes on Nikolai though she was speaking--or rather growling--at Dai. She slammed her feet up on her desk, the florescent pink of her converse matching the door. "さーでと..."

"Shall we show you around Briggs and do something fun? I feel like we should get to know who we will be working with. I'm sure you understand the situation with Amestris currently and where Briggs stands in this. We never were ones to join sides with others. Instead, we make our own, following justice. Killing is wrong, but it is also necessary to uphold peace. Still, we cannot create a world war in hopes for peace, no...that's just creating more bloodshed and chaos. We cannot conquer or sit idle; we will fight for our country and secure our borders." Reila opened her eyes and raised her head from where it had rested on her folded hands. "With that... let us go."

[EXIT THREAD]