Epilogue
''Warrant Officer Scarlet Grimizan''
A woman with hair of a brilliantly deep crimson shade flowing down past her shoulders - the ends of which still showed faded traces of a cheap black dye - stepped, head held high, out of the doorway to a large grey detention centre building.
She glanced around herself, not bothering to shade her lone uncovered eye from the sparse rays of sunlight that graced Bannerman City.
Some little in front of her, she spotted her 'target' of attention. Standing by the gateway of the institution she had been staying in 'rent-free' for the last six months was a well-put-together woman. Her age was somewhere in the twenties, her hair an ill-defined brown in a neat ponytail.
She stood proudly, with the posture of a model soldier, wearing what passed for a formal IAFS uniform. The other woman spotted her, too, and saluted promptly. The red-haired woman sighed, half-heartedly saluted back, and made her way over to the gateway.
"What are you for then? Here to make sure I don't run off? Sheesh, you'd think six months would be long enough for people to stop staring over your shoulder constantly," the older woman muttered boorishly.
The younger, in the well-kempt uniform, seemed to take this in her stride as though used to grumpy old veterans, "I'm not exactly an escort, no, I'm Ensign Hoki Bachika--" she said in a fittingly officerial tone of voice before offering out her hand, "--and what should I refer to you as Warrant Officer Bela Grimizan? or--"
The supposed 'Warrant Officer Grimizan' scoffed at the use of that name, "I believe I already made it clear that ain't my name. Bela died with the rest of the Mithral’s crew; I’m a suspicious pilot your people found at the site of the battle and arrested on what can only be called shaky legal ground.
Did you say Bachika? Oh I get it, you're that 'Houkai' woman, right?"
The Ensign sighed a little, "Quite a few have taken to calling me that, yes, but it's really more my father's title--" Before she could finish, she was interrupted;
"Ha! Now, what could the daughter of that man possibly want with a little old convict like me?" 'Not-Bela', blurted, grinning almost menacingly at Miss Bachika.
'Ensign Hokuai' sighed a second time before regathering her composure. She removed the hand she had outstretched and wordlessly began to trot leisurely out the gate and onto the sidewalk; much to her satisfaction, her new comrade begrudgingly followed in her wake.
"I'm here to ascertain a few details is all. Firstly, will you continue to refuse to give us your actual name? Further, giving cause to those who've suggested you’re a TSU-s infiltrator who deliberately sabotaged the Mitral, the very thing that led to this incarceration?
Secondly, do you intend to stay with IAFS now that said Court-Marshalling has been served?" she delivered both questions so matter-of-a-fact that it seemed the woman had already guessed the answers.
The so-called 'convict', still walking a pace behind, stared up at the red mid-day sky for a few moments after the questions as though making a final decision on her answers. Hoki copped this and stopped her stride to turn back and face the stoic warrior before her.
"Listen girly, I've still got some scores to settle, and anyway, soldiering is all I know how to do; none of the other factions will have me, so here I am - I ain't going anywhere. That said, I've had a lot of time ta' think, and I've no further interest in being a Commander to anyone anymore, that ok Ma'am?"
Hoki nodded her agreement. "Of course, Warrant Officer, that at least won't be a problem."
Seemingly satisfied with this part of her declaration, the red-haired woman folded her arms diffidently and stared the 'Hokuai' dead in the eyes, "As for the other thing, it might not be my birth name, but I think it'll disprove any doubts of me bein' a 'TSU spy' or whatever.
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From here on out, you can all refer to me by my title, whether you like it or not. I'm the Scarlet Scourge, the one and only or at least the woman who does the talking when The Scourge isn’t in battle. If you or anyone else has a problem with that, shove it!"
Had the line been delivered by anyone else she was unsure she would have bought it - but coming from this woman, covered in scars, still wearing her prison attire with a pair of briefs just short enough to show the woman's prosthetic leg beneath, with that dark, swelling red hair, flowing behind her and the face of an experienced warrior further extenuated by the almost proud eyepatch over her right eye - at that moment Hoki felt like she could finally understand what it meant to meet 'an ace amongst aces'.
Coming from the family she did, Hoki was well aware of what a title like that meant. Most ace pilots had garnered these, usually unofficial, nicknames during The First War and usually from amongst their subordinates as a mark of respect.
Few had gained such names in peacetime for obvious reasons, but in the years leading up to and during the Remembrance Incident, one ace had risen. She had stood tall and proud, being one of the most feared enemy pilots during those years as both a pirate and Casnel-Killing commander of the terrorist group Remembrance.
Hoki knew all this well. Furthermore, she was well aware that the woman formerly known by the pseudonym 'Bela Grimizan' was, in all likelihood, not bluffing when she claimed the Scourge’s title.
----
"Yo, the hell you’ gawking at now, kid?!" the complaint came from 'Scarlet'.
Hoki coughed into her hand, before taking a file she had held under one arm and handing it to Scarlet.
Scarlet turned it on and began to scan through the available information.
"So this is the new gig, huh?" she asked without looking up from the files.
Hoki nodded, "Indeed, a new team is being put together in order to take the strain off the Tradech, as well as to test certain new tactics. And for the purposes of 'Operation Deadlight.'"
"Deadlight Huh? Sounds interesting, anything worth all of this effort?" Scarlet responded, grinning in anticipation.
"If the rumours are to be believed, maybe. How does an invisible Troy-class ship, accompanied by an experimental high-performance Casnel, sound to you?" Hoki said, offering her own grin in return.
Scarlet glanced up, clearly surprised at the mention of such a lofty target; "So what, me’ and a group of other top pilots in the newest machines go to hunt down this thing? Sounds fun!"
"Ah, well, not exactly. As part of the operation, we will be making use of the new V-MBT-Neo-C; however, if you move to that page--"
Hoki leaned in and moved the page on the tablet display forward, "-- you'll see that we're going to be doing the trial run for how well Neo's can be effectively customised to their pilot’s needs. Hopefully, with a goal for this to be rolled out across the whole of the organisation and in doing so reduce the somewhat high causality rates of pilots as of late."
Scarlet's early enthusiasm seemed to wain a little at the sight of the Neo's rather mundane specifications, but before saying anything, a particular file picture caught her interest, "This is?" she muttered to herself.
"Hmmm? Oh, that. I was passing near Glas-Noa on a particular errand and found a Gen 1 heavy-type mech in strange colours floating around a former battlefield. I didn't have the room to take it back with me, but it's weapons and some of the armour - the shoulder plates with all those names on in particular - looked like they might still be useful."
Hoki said nonchalantly, trying to avert her eyes away.
Scarlet pinched the screen to look closer at the picture. Hoki didn't bother waiting for any more questions; the interview was clearly over;
"You can use Scarlet as a first name, but you will have to go with 'Grimizan' for the surname on documents. That alright, Warrant Officer?" she held out an old-fashioned paper contract.
Scarlet offered her hand to the ensign, "Understood, I'm in."
The End
