Taejin Mission 22: Mountain Fortress [Part 2]
Commander’s POV:
The aged man knew the demographics of the army, but it wasn’t until the soldiers were all in front of him that the gravity of it all hit him.
Kids. All of them.
They were aboard an airship. They were about forty-five strong; of course, the youngest nine of them all had to be at the front. Naturally, they were not only the youngest, but the brightest and the most enthusiastic. The only thing veterans had over them was battle experience.
“Listen up!” the Commander said, directing all soldiers’ attention to him. He then began to summarize the details of the mission: They would be defending a village in the mountains from a Pulse Automata attack.Â
The Commander then explained the battle plan. It would be three tiered: First, they were to evacuate the villagers and protecting their village; second, they were to engage in combat with these Pulse Automata and bar them from entering the proximity of the village; and third, they were to investigate the origin of these Automata and cut the source of the attack.
The Commander then singled out the three female soldiers who would lead each tier. After, he divided the soldiers into two groups, with only two soldiers assigned to the third tier.
“That’s all. Hang tight until we arrive.” He allowed the soldiers to interact, but in particular he gathered the nine soldiers in the first row, three of whom being the leading women. He introduced each in turn, and then spoke to all of them: “You nine have the most potential of all our men and women. I suggest getting to know each other better. I fear there might come a time in the future when you’ll all have to fight together again.”
He left them for the remainder of the flight, though not long now. It wasn’t long before they touched back to the ground; the sounds of panicking villagers could already be heard from outside the ship.
“Soldiers, you know your duties,” called the Commander. “Move out!”
Being singled out and told that she was in charge of a part of a tier was daunting to say the least. She didn’t mind taking charge it was just strange. She was still pretty green in combat and especially when it came to missions. She’d been on a total of one mission before this and though she’d been training and healing up during the time, she could tell that most of the other soldiers were well experienced.
During the introductions, Tifa could hear the leather of her gloves creak as she balled her fists. She was a bit nervous but she had a job to do and she would do it.  Glancing at the other two soldiers who would be working with her in this group, Tifa smiled at both of them. One girl and one guy. Medic, huh. She was reminded of Aerith, the girl, Vanille, even seemed just as delicate and beautiful. But Tifa knew better than to judge just based on a quick look. She knew that she herself didn’t look like much of a warrior compared to say…. the other person on their team, Noctis. They both seemed to be younger than her, though.
Once they landed and were sent forth, Tifa made sure to move out quickly. Once on the ground, she direct the her troops to move on. She was making sure everyone got out quickly. Once they were all down and moving, Tifa made her way to the front once more. They were all soon outside of the village and could already the see the Tyrants coming down.Â
“Alright everyone! Here we go! Make sure to ask for help if you need it and don’t hesitate to have our medic help you if you’re hurt.” She turned to the girl and smiled at her, giving a reassuring smile. “Let’s do this!”
Noctis was sitting against the aircraft, his usual sleepy, bored demeanor unchanged, even though this was now a mass scale mission. More importantly, he was, to say the least, bothered he had not been chosen as team leader. He couldn't care less he had only been in a few missions so far, he was still by far one of the strongest fighters, not to mention highly intelligent. Instead they had chosen a slightly older woman, and although Noctis could tell she was tall, strong and used to fighting, he still didn't like it one bit. This wasn't because his leader was a woman, this was because he had a leader. Noctis hated leadership that wasn't his own. In his own missions he would always take charge without second thinking, and if someone disagreed he would usually end the mission alone.
This, however, was a different mission. Much more difficult, Noctis knew there was no way he could do this alone. He was in team 2, which meant his job was defeating the attacking automata and securing the village gates so no more automatas could break in. The monsters were all high-level. Of course Noctis was also a high level fighter. Not to mention he had his special telekinetic powers that allowed him to fight using the weapons only with the power of his mind. But then again he never showed his true power to anyone, because if he did his eyes would turn bright red and they would know he is the last survivor of House Caelum, Prince Lucis Caelum.
So, instead, he chose to fight as a normal person would, and even as such he was still insanely strong. All this made him have a big ego, which explained why he was having trouble accepting anyone else's leadership.
When they left the plane, the girl, Tifa, issued orders. He had not even looked at the group's medic properly, but he just silently nodded. "Understood." He then walked past Tifa, going straight to the village they were supposed to protect, although he wasn't running, just walking in fast pace. "You girls can gossip later, let's go." He hurried them. He hated talking or getting to know his team mates. For him, it was all about, arriving, getting the mission done, and leaving.
It was easier this way. Better. Because Noctis was a loner. A lone wolf, nobody could understand or get to know closely. Not before he would bite.
