The stranger seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, regardless of lending his aid to another Legion’s Legatus and his men. Now and then, amidst the clatter and spray, one might have heard him laugh. It was a low sound bordering on an inhuman growl, but the more of the Empuse they disposed of, either by driving off the edge or dismembering, the more pleased he seemed.
In the end, when Regula came to him again, the armored Elezen paid no heed to the fact that he was strewn with what was effectively the lifeblood of Allag’s leftover pets. This was nothing new. No… this was second nature.
“I’m afraid I don’t have much of a name to offer, my Lord,” his voice rasped as he took a respectful knee. “The long version is, I’m 0178FB, Survivalist Unit of the IIIrd Legion’s Colossus Project. More succinctly, I’m known as Frost. It’s an honor and privilege to assist you, sir.”
The thought causes Regula to still, but only for a second – while he knows full well the tension between Nerva and Varis, Regula would not do anything to make the situation worse. The Third Legion was not in contact with the Sixth, and perhaps learning more would do well for him, he could certainly let his Emperor know of it, if he got to understand it better. The Legions had become so fragmented with the death of Solus…
“Frost, is it?” Regula made a mental note to try and remember the numbers, and that he was a part of the Colossus Project. A survivalist unit… Regula felt like he was missing something, but he did not want to pry too deeply. “That was good work you did, Soldier.” Regula remarked, and indeed he thought this to be true.
“It would be a disgrace for me to ask for assistance and not pay you recompense. However we are not currently equipped with much. Is there anything you are in need of? Supplies? Medicine? … Is it just you out here?” He did not wish to pry, at the risk of sounding suspicious, but the situation did make him wonder.
Frost rose back to his full height once introductions were concluded and dipped his chin toward his chest gratefully for the compliment. He was no soldier, by the Empire’s reckoning, but he knew better than to correct someone of Regula’s position… especially if there was the potential for an advantage to be had. Loyal “pet” though he was, Frost understood opportunities just as well.
“Thank you, sir. And, please, you owe me nothing in return. We’re obligated to assist when orders are given by someone of significant rank, such as yourself. The Legion makes no difference since we’re not technically militum.”
He turned his head to look back in the direction he’d previously been facing. “Some of my siblings are nearby,” he explained, “As we are subjects of one of the Empire’s myriad projects, they are… occupied with further testing at present. I’m not permitted access, but I can at least sense them and know they yet live. That, for the moment, is good enough for me. Would that I could do more for them, but it’s our Tribunus in charge, thus my hands are tied.”
Neither the Empuse, nor the presence of the VIth, were high among Frost’s list of concerns. He paid both little mind at first, preferring not to interfere in another Legion’s business unless orders came for him to do otherwise. Come they did, and the augmented Elezen immediately snapped his attention to the man in sinister-looking armor with a salute.
There was no mistaking the identity of a Legatus where each one’s armor was unique to the individual who wore it. No introductions were needed, and if a Legatus told someone to jump they did it without question or risk being cut down where they stood.
It was only a minor sore spot in his mind that he was being called away from listening to the chimerical cores of his siblings singing not far away, and what soreness there was was salved by the honor of being called upon by Regula to lend his aid. As Purebloods went, he was a man whose reputation well preceded him, and he was one of the few unto whose leadership he would gladly transfer if the opportunity ever arose, that being if or when his siblings were free of their predicament. Failing that, a good word from someone in his position often went a long way to improving one’s circumstances.
Into the fray he leapt, albeit without a weapon visibly carried on his person, but some of the Empuse in his path were quickly reduced to scattered limbs and parts, and spatterings of sickly green, sticky ichor which soon coated much of his light armor and the blades now protruding from his arms. Where had he been hiding those?
From there, he sought to work his way toward the cliffs as ordered, where he could lay down a layer of ice to make it easier to push the mutated vilekin over the edge.
Not a word from the strange external soldier – but he is helping, and the more the merrier, Regula supposes. He moves for his strategy, working to help others cut the Empuse down, although he’s a bit surprised to see a sudden slash of green before him, and watches the stranger in front of him cutting them down.
Indeed, this was no Legion that Regula was familiar with, and he wonders then perhaps if he is meddling with things he should not have – but he puts away the concern. He is the Legatus who serves under Varis, and he will serve his Emperor, regardless of the other Legion’s loyalty.
Seeing them get to work at their magics, Regula makes no hesitation to join them, and helps assisting in the work of fighting the creatures off the edge of the floating islands, and glancing over, seeing the ice causing them to slip so they cannot climb back up from the underside, and slip into the abyss below. Once the large majority of the creatures were either cut down or sent over the edge, Regula moves swiftly to find other small skirmishes, until he is sure they are all destroyed.
It is not the hardest fight he has done, but still the fight leaves him to shallow breaths, and makes him a bit surprised to see this ancient city still have so much life in it. “Grateful am I to have you.” Regula told the stranger, once the incident was mostly over. “May I ask for your name?” He would be sure to put in a good word for the soldier if he could. “… If you cannot say, then I understand, and I will let you go if you must go elsewhere.”
Regula hardly expects the fighting to be over, but he will not lean too hard on the kindness of strangers, he will do what he can to press on, and seek more information about the Allag technologies.
The stranger seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, regardless of lending his aid to another Legion’s Legatus and his men. Now and then, amidst the clatter and spray, one might have heard him laugh. It was a low sound bordering on an inhuman growl, but the more of the Empuse they disposed of, either by driving off the edge or dismembering, the more pleased he seemed.
In the end, when Regula came to him again, the armored Elezen paid no heed to the fact that he was strewn with what was effectively the lifeblood of Allag’s leftover pets. This was nothing new. No… this was second nature.
“I’m afraid I don’t have much of a name to offer, my Lord,” his voice rasped as he took a respectful knee. “The long version is, I’m 0178FB, Survivalist Unit of the IIIrd Legion’s Colossus Project. More succinctly, I’m known as Frost. It’s an honor and privilege to assist you, sir.”
