Monday, September 20, 2004
Blue Skies
Chapter 1: Celebration ends in rain
"The sky was dark. On the day meant for celebration. A parade ending in a rain of blood. How nice."
-1st Lieutenant Gilphur Windsor on his commisioning parade.
The Royal Command Academy was where the officers of the Ashgarn Army where trained, and a building of such prestige would no doubt be lavishsly constructed. The whole academy itself was built to serve as a fortress, but it's designers had also spent much effort into making it a visual spectacle. A glance from outside would not indicate the nature of this buidling, except for the presence of the sentry post in between the 2 intricately sculpted wrought-iron gates marking the entrance. The walls that connect to the iron gates glimmered in the sun, white marble adorned them, and underneath that marble skin laid solid granite, reinforced with a steel superstructure. Beneath the beauty laid a strong foundation, just like the rest of the school. Aside from the countless gardens and fountains, the school was fortified with the most advanced of weapons available in the army. The only building better equipped than the Royal Command Academy was the Ashgarn Military Command building.
Today marked it's 150th annivesary and also, the graduation day of a hundred and eighty new officers. As warranted by the sheer granduer of the occassion, the President of Ashgarn was expected to be in attendance, where he would personally inspect and eventually commission the 180 officers.
Speaking of which, the young men had been waiting all morning for the festivities to commence. Gilphur stood in the front row, one of the handful who would receive the sword of honor. A prestige reserved only for the most promising of the cohort.
He spotted his parents in the grandstand, and he smiled. "You proud of me?" He quietly muttered. Inside of him, he knew he did not deserve all this. Slowly, that sense of inadequacy crept into his mind. All he wanted was for the parade to begin. At least it would help keep himself from thinking too much.
He wished it would begin also because it was uncomfortable standing in the middle of the parade square. Secondly, his ceremonial uniform was uncomfortable, being made with a thick and heavy fabric which did little to dissipate heat from the body. Lastly, it looked as though rain was imminent. If it rained now, Gilphur knew that he was going to be both hot and wet.
Then a low rumbling was heard. Gilphur could almost hear the moans and groans from his fellow cadets. It sounded like thunder.
Rain?
Or so it did to most. Gilphur didn't concur.
That was not thunder, very similar, but not identical. It sounded like something else, but what exactly it was Gilphur could not exactly grasp. Then it was heard again. This time, it was accompanied by a slight temor. A very faint movement in the ground, but to the well trained soldiers, they felt it. Faces began looking at each other in bewilderment, asking the next person "what was that?"
What it was, Gilphur suddenly understood. It was an explosion.
What occurred next could simply be described as chaos.
Gavin
pondered @ 13:24
