[M] Sniped Through the Heart (Iwazuma x Hannelorian)

[Iwazuma]

Regina, if nothing else, was cool in the face of danger. She would take on any mission, no matter how absurd, with quiet confidence and poise behind her soulless stare. She was the one whose stoic nature kept the rest of the squadron calm, even charging headfirst into seemingly inferior odds. She was the strong one. She was the one whose perfection made her a role model-the role model of Osnen. The one to follow, whose example one should follow. Proof that perfection was attainable, if not on the runway or socially, then on the battlefield. Regina had accepted that role with silent strength as always, knowing full well that the responsibility of the army's success often rested on her shoulders. She didn't have to fight adversity, as she never knew it. Every mission was completed without aplomb or accolade, merely another job to complete as an office worker might look at another form to fill out.

This wasn't normal. She wasn't supposed to fail.

Yet there she was, barely standing as she watched the very much not dead rebellion surround them both. One such 'freedom' fighter nudged her arm, a harsh glare in his eye. "Oi. He said drop it, tin can." Another, harder push, one that nearly sent Regina caroming to the ground. Her teeth ground harder, her eyes squeezed shut as she continued to fight the intrusive thoughts. The endless deluge of reminders that she had failed. One of the most important jobs of her five-year career. And she'd missed. Twice. And compromised their safety. And now Anke was...Regina bit her lip hard, the pain sending a jolt through her as she tasted blood. It wasn't right. It had to be some horrible, dark dream. Just like all the others. Except this time she was going to lose everything. Not just her family, but Osnen. Her arm and leg. Anke. And she could barely even move her body, let alone make a play to stop it.

By the time she opened her eyes again, the scene had changed entirely. Four bodies laid on the ground, lines of blood leaking from their foreheads. Anke herself pinning the leader of the group to the ground, pistol to his head. Anke's lips were moving, speaking towards Regina...but she heard nothing. Just the dull roar of the battlefield in her mind and a high-pitched ringing she couldn't place. The enemy was compromised. She had to recover herself. Recover the position. For Osnen. For Osnen. "For Osnen...." Regina spoke quietly, her voice still high-pitched and airy from panicked breaths. "Must...for Osnen...." Her subconscious slowly brought itself to the forefront, replacing the internal panic that had threatened to remove her from the equation entirely. She dragged her leg forward, then took a frenzied leap, landing square on the man's shoulders and provoking a pained grunt from the man.

She didn't care. All threats to Osnen must be eliminated.

Regina's right hand flew to the pistol in Anke's hand, ripping it right out of her grasp as she dragged herself to a better vantage point. She propped herself onto her metal arm as well as she could, driving the butt of the pistol straight into the back of the man's skull. Again. Again. And again. Her gaze was steel-cold, but began to waver as she heard the pained cries of the rebel. "Die." Whack. "Die." Whack. "Die, die, DIE!" Again and again until blood began to spatter onto her face. At some point, the pistol slipped out of her grip; yet her fist continued to strike again and again, until the painful aches finally forced her to stop. Her fingers had worn themselves raw; a bit of her own blood mixed with the blood and sinew of the now motionless man beneath her. Tears mixed themselves in with the gore that streaked across her face, but she couldn't remember ever beginning to cry. She slowly sank down once again, her forehead buried into the man's back. She could feel Anke nearby. Still she did not speak. She had done what she could for Osnen. That...was what mattered...right? "...I need to go back to the carrier..." Try as she might, she still felt nothing in her left side. She just wanted to go back. Be safe....and away from whatever just happened. Away from those dangerous thoughts and feelings.

[Hannelorian]

"Regina." Anke called as the woman had roared back into life and savagely beat the man to his death, though she would offer no complaint about that action. Regina was a mess of tears and gore and petrified of her own inaction and her own failure. Anke understood this would be a crushing blow and one that Regina if not handled correctly might never recover from. "Regina you need to regain your composure this instant." Anke took a stern tone as she approached Regina, stepping through the remains of the rebellion man who had taken charge of their ambush.

"It's going to be alright. Everything is going to be alright." Anke was using her most reassuring of voices as she quickly moved to embrace Regina and hold her tight, to squeeze her so close for just a moment. "But I need to finish the mission. We have to complete our objective. We can't go back if we don't." Anke strengthened her resolve and now that calm had set down around them, she moved quickly back to her rifle, laying on the ground and peering through the scope. What she saw was nothing short of a blood bath.

Osnen troops had been surprised, ambushed. Just as Regina and Anke had. And if it was one thing Osnen was not equipped to handle it was surprises from an allegedly dead rebellion. But there she could just make out the figure she was looking for. Their leader, the tatters of his outfit now stained in blood, he had clearly been confident in the notion that the snipers had been removed from the equation and could act rather wrecklessly but that would be a mistake too. Anke did not hesitate she took the shot.

"Target has been eliminated. Sniper team preparing for extraction." Anke said the words even though no one could hear them, she knew her communicator was fried but it was all part of the routine. The leader had been gifted with the same mark as the others, a single, clean hole through the center of the head. She watched for just a moment as he collapsed to the ground, he never had a chance to understand what had just happened to him. It was too late. Death came for everyone in the end. Even if he felt he had the better hand there would always be a better, smarter, more competent soldier waiting in the shadows. Anke was indeed a Phantom. She had earned her reputation, her nickname.

Anke neatly packed her own rifle, and then packed Regina's with the same care and tenderness. Slinging the two containers onto her back she moved to Regina and supporting her would push the pair of them back toward the carrier. All they had to do was hope there weren't more surprises waiting for them. So many of their comrades in arms had died this day, and it all seemed so futile.

[Iwazuma]

Regina hardly even registered Anke's words, her gentle touch as she laid on top of what was once a man. Yes, she knew she had to pull herself together. A difficult prospect, given half of her body refused to respond to her command. Somewhere, in the back of her head, she knew she was embarrassing herself. The same part of her that had forced her forward, forced her to complete the mission in the only way she really knew how. She knew she had to report back to the carrier...and stop being so pathetic. Even Anke knew she had to compose herself. Regina laid there for as long as she felt her breathing slowly return to normal, her heartrate slowly dropping. The danger was gone. All she had to deal with now were the repercussions for her failure. By the time she'd forced herself up, managed to get her uncooperative body to its feet once again, Anke was packing up both of their rifles. Her grip must have been wrenched free when she dove at the rebel. Regina looked down at the ground. She'd failed. And someone else had had to finish the job for her. What happened to her?

Regina tried as best as she could to walk with Anke, but with her neurolink still offline, she could only do so much. Her left side was nearly a hundred pounds of dead weight, and while she had trained specifically for such instances and worked her right side to be stronger as a result, lugging around awkward excess weight was still a grueling endeavor even in the best of times. This was not one of those times. "I'm sorry." Regina whispered into the void, two words she would never speak to anyone else. She'd failed Anke. She'd failed Osnen. She'd failed herself. It was highly unusual for the perfect weapon to look so downright defeated. Though her expression remained as unreadable as ever, the way her head tilted down to the ground was more than telling enough to indicate just what was roiling through her head.

Even so, Regina was ever the warrior, and even with her mind a blank screen of denial and attempts to pretend the last hour didn't happen, her senses were always on high alert. As they slowly proceeded down the path back towards the carrier, her head perked up as she heard the slightest shift of wind to her right, the sound of something sailing through the air. "Stop." Regina spoke monotonously, pulling back on Anke to keep her from walking forward. A moment later, an arrow zipped in front of the both of them, embedding itself in the rockwall to their left. Regina blinked. An arrow...bows and arrows were incredibly uncommon when far better technological marvels existed and hunting had more or less become a thing of the past. She stared at the oddity a moment before noting a piece of paper was tied to the shaft. Frowning, Regina reached out, snagging the paper and struggling a moment to unfurl it with one hand. She stared at the words written for a moment before shaking her head. "I can't make heads or tails of this. Is this some kind of scare tactic?" She handed the paper off to Anke, wondering if she might make more sense of the cryptic message.

Written in rather plain, yet somewhat refined handwriting were a few simple sentences on a slightly burnt yet still readable piece of paper.

'Never change. Keep running on the hamster wheel, lying to yourself that you control it, that you are the master of your destiny. When you finally recognize the truth, the Resistance and I await.

We shall meet again.

- Henrik'

Regina furrowed her brow again. "I am not sure who this is addressed to. I can only imagine us, but posthumously. You said you...eliminated the target." Regina hesitated when she spoke of her own failed assignment, biting her lip and shivering slightly. "...I..." Regina shook her head, fighting off the intrusive thoughts for a moment and forcing herself back to Anke. "Let's just get back to the carrier..."

[Hannelorian]

"I did. Eliminate. The. Target." Anke did not like the notion of being questioned, not after there had been so many failures that morning already. "I visually confirmed identity, I pulled the trigger, I watched as the bullet penetrated his skull and he fell to the ground in death. There can be no possibility of survival. That would be... unheard of." However Anke could not deny the signature on the note. It seemed to be that of Henrik, and it promised that they would meet again. Either this note was written before the man died, or she had shot the wrong man. That irked her Anke beyond belief. How or why? Did he have some sort of body double? Would he be so willing to sacrifice one of his own to play some quaint little game of cat and mouse?

Anke took the note into her head and re-read it several times. It did not surprise her that Regina couldn't make heads or tails of it. Regina would never agree to the message's intent... the true meaning behind it, her mind, especially in this fragile state would never allow her to accept what it had said. Then there was the question of whether or not this Henrik had assumed his men had succeeded in which case... it was further complicated.

The rebel was only interested in Regina. Anke was to be spared. He clearly wanted the both of them to survive, at least for an unknown duration of time. The whole thing seemed to get more and more confusing, the layers were intense, and if any of it was some kind of true Henrik was a far more formidable foe than anyone had given him credit for, and while the Resistance might not exactly have what one could call a massive force, they had enough to be dangerous and taken seriously.

"Regina. This note... this is an invitation." Anke's words were sincere and dripping with concern. "To join the resistance once we recognize the futility of our actions working at the hands of Osnen." Anke sighed and stuffed the note into a pocket, to be dealt with at a later date. The two women approached the carrier and quickly climbed on board. The debrief for these two women in particular would be brutal. Anke now feared for Regina's safety. Failure was something that could come at too high a cost, something that cannot be paid... Anke would not lose Regina. Not now.

[Iwazuma]

An invitation. To desert Osnen. Regina wanted to scoff at the idea, but instead merely turned her head away. "Utter nonsense. That sounds like a desperate plea to their strongest foes." Regina spoke strongly, but her voice remained unchanged. The idea that the leader of the Resistance was attempting to recruit the legendary snipers was something of an anomaly. It didn't make sense. What did he expect to get out of it? Regina shook her head in disappointment, then returned to Anke's side, using her for support to make her way back to the carrier. The voices in her head were relentless, but Regina had the strength to shut them out. For now. At least until the mission was complete.

By the time they managed to hobble back to the carrier, what few Osnen soldiers who had survived were already on the carrier, and its engines were fired up. Commander Herzberg stood outside, his expression wide-eyed as he stared at the two women attempting to walk as one. "What in the world happened out there, Lieutenants?" He barked at them, his expression quickly realigning to his usual stony sternness.

Regina shook her head before Anke could open hers. "Target eliminated. Encountered trouble on the way. The entire operation was a sting. Rebellion attempted to acquire myself alive for reasons unknown. All were dispatched." Regina took command, debriefing the commander on their mission. She noted the way his gaze stayed to her left side slung over Anke. "Rebels deployed a short-range portable EMP detonator. I was disconnected from my neurolink and require a reboot." For all the panic and fear that Regina had let slip up on the rocky ridge, she was nothing but business in front of her superior. She had to be. Even she had been given the go to let emotions out, it grappled endlessly with her need to be professional, concise, and focused. It was a neverending battle that seemed to lose no matter which side came out on top.

Regina clambered into the carrier with Anke, which quickly shut and began to take off. Regina slumped against the wall, where a technician immediately rushed over to the fallen soldier. He flipped open a tiny panel on her leg, where a single red button was housed, nearly invisible amidst the other mechanical bits that made up her calf. The button was pressed, and Regina closed her eyes, feeling the electric sparks that tingled within her scalp. She would never get used to that. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd rebooted while she was still conscious...usually that was a task reserved for Bertoldt after completing maintenance. While she could do it herself, it was difficult to reach with her arm and leg being uncooperative. Eventually, the tingles died down, and Regina experimentally flexed her metal fingers one by one. She nodded at the technician, who quickly retreated back into the cockpit to focus on the carrier's functionality. With him gone, Regina laid her head back against the wall. "I...no longer want that celebration."

----------------------------------
July 27th, 20XX. Osnen Research Facility, outside Urlachen. 17:23.

"Well, well. Quite the surprise." One Osnen elite mused at a researcher who was looking through one of the cameras situated in the helicarrier. He turned to a similarly-dressed man, with a pin on his lapel that noted him as being one of Osnen's lead scientists. "You've trained quite the impressive force...for a man with supposedly no combat experience. A sound victory for the 'rebels' was not what I had on my ledger this afternoon." He mused with a wry smile on his face. "Still, it's quite good information. Our unit was sloppy when bottlenecked. There will be plenty of training in that regard in the near future. And quite excellent work neutralizing the X factors. Whenever did you replace Lieutenant Carlisle's ammo with blanks?"

The response was one of pride as the lead scientist pushed his glasses up. "A cupcake was not the only present she received on her birthday. She only got two, though. When she checks her rifle tonight, naught will be amiss." A soft chuckle. "Just as planned. Though the resounding 'rebel' victory was not a shock to myself. If anything, both sides ought to redouble their training. We will never attain perfection if we do not instill the hardships needed to get there. Though I do wonder how Lieutenant Carlisle will handle this adversity..." He glanced over to the third figure in the room, a man with russet brown hair that nearly reached his back, curious to hear about his opinion.

The man merely shrugged his shoulders. "It causes me great pain to hurt my darling prototype so...but it must be done if we are to truly extract what goes on with her mental state. We need to find a way to draw out that final bit...make her truly Osnen's perfect warrior. Though her newfound friend is equally as intriguing a prospect. A backup plan?...Perhaps we ought to have focused on both of them from the start." He clapped his hands once, emphasizing their shortsightedness. "The greatest plans of mice and men, as they say. All we can is do what Osnen does best...and adapt." He sighed, looking out at the monitors as the helicarrier touched down at Osnen headquarters once more.

"For unity...for Osnen."

With a glance back to the lead scientist, he cocked his head, the same smile remaining on his face. "By the way, Draisaitl...that was a very curious yet interesting move with the note on the arrow. What is the end goal with that?"

The scientist furrowed one eyebrow in response. "...what...arrow, sir?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the carrier opened once more, Regina, once again in full control of her range of motion, stepped off with a quiet, determined air. Her muscles ached, and her mind was still an endless hurricane of dark thoughts. However, it seemed she existed at the eye for the moment, a bastion of calm even amidst the tongue-lashing she knew she'd be getting at debriefing...whenever it occurred. Llewelyn was not particularly kind to failure, and she had no doubt they knew of her errors...what had happened? She could have sworn she had the trajectory perfect. Did her rifle malfunction? Did something interfere? Was it truly just...her fault?

She sighed once. Her muscles ached...but that had never stopped her before. "I'm going to the range. I need more training." They would be summoned when the general was informed of all the happenings, she was sure. Until then, she needed to redouble her chase of perfection...no matter the cost. It was as though all the emotion progress she had made the last several days, at least for now, had been completely wiped away.

[Hannelorian]

"Regina." Anke called as the carrier doors had opened and they were returned home. "Just... don't do anything stupid." Anke sighed and walked slowly after her. Of course she was going to train, of course she was going to the range. "You might want this." Anke provided Regina's rifle back to her and let out a long slow exhale. "I have something to attend to. So... tonight. You, you in a dress. Me. Fun." Anke made something akin to finger guns and did her best to smile. "And no excuses, I don't want to hear it. You will do this for me and you will at least pretend to like it."

Anke turned on her heels and moved down the halls with determination. There was exactly one place she needed to go, one place she wanted to go. One man in all of Osnen that she wanted to see and that was her dear friend the General. Something was wrong here. Something was fishy, out of sorts. Things like this don't simply just happen. Intel is rarely that incorrect and god only knew what had been done to Regina, but she wanted to find out. She planned to find something out.

The Administrative Offices were typically the last place Anke would be seen. It was more relaxed and than the high security research labs which were constantly under guard and required a high level of security access. Though Anke did not have access to go where she was, she cared little for the for ramifications of her actions. "Lieutenant." A voice called from behind her as she rested her hand upon the door handle. She turned around, it was a superior. "Where do you think you're going? I wasn't aware you had been summoned?" The voice came from a young woman, not much older than Anke but certainly more decorated. A leadership track soldier.

"I don't have an invitation." Anke was smiling she folded her hands behind her back.

"Then you cannot come in." The soldier replied taking a step to place herself in Anke's path to try and push her from the door.

"I wouldn't sound so certain of that... it seems like you might have your facts wrong. I'm here to see Llewelyn and... somehow I just can't imagine you stopping me." Anke's tone was sing-songy, it was challenging. It also said she didn't give a single shit about speaking her own mind. "I wonder... do you like your fingers?"

Anke sighed and taking the woman's hand quickly into her own she squeezed, applying a horrific amount of pressure, so hard you could hear the bones in the soldier's hand snap, breaking, even more as Anke twisted and tormented. The woman cried out in pain folding to her knees as Anke refused to let go of her hand. "What was that about an invitation?" Anke parroted and using the tip of her boot she pushed the woman aside and proceeded to go through the door.

Moving down the corridors she scanned the names on the panels outside that read the name of the occupant, their rank and proper position. Entering Llewelyn's office Anke cast her eyes upon the General and another officer both of whom seemed surprised to see her. Perhaps more so the officer than Llewelyn who had only just read the mission reports. "Well hello. I do hope I'm not interrupting, but you will be leaving and rather quickly." Anke shot out at the nameless officer who looked to Llewelyn for approval, he could only nod and then quickly made his exit from the office.

"Can I help you Lieutenant de Heer?" The man leaned back in his chair, folding one leg over the other he prepared himself for the most sure onslaught he was about to receive from Anke. "Let me guess. You're unsatisfied with your performance during the mission today and would like another chance to prove yourself?" Llewelyn was lying through his teeth and both parties knew that to be the case.

Anke stepped closer to the desk and rested her palms flat upon it. She leaned over and stared at the man who was toying with her, and she was impatient. "You're getting careless. Or maybe it isn't you, maybe it's Herzberg." Anke sighed and leaned back moving then to take a seat in a chair on the opposite side of the desk, she stared across it. "What did you do to her?" Anke cocked her head to the side like a curious animal.

"You are making serious and dangerous accusations Anke." Llewelyn responded as the look on his face grew slightly more grave than it had been just a moment ago. "I do quite like you. But you are not immune from prosecution simply because you're pretty and charming." Llewelyn smiled, or perhaps smirked softly.

"Cut the shit. Regina doesn't miss. I've watched her fire hundreds upon hundreds of shots and she does not miss. And let me tell you that was an easy shot. There was barely any wind, no visible obstacles, a clear target. One... maybe. It's a possibility, but a very, very slight one. But two? Now how the hell did you pull it off? Did you tamper with her rifle? Did you swap her clip for blanks? What exactly... do you know that I don't." It was clear from Anke's tone and her accusations that she was serious and that she was angry.

"And how did the rebels have the information they did on our operations? How? Or how did we have shockingly poor intel on what should have been an easy mission? They knew exactly where to find our lookout. They knew exactly what kind of weaponry to use to disarm Regina. I can't even do that." Anke leaned back in the chair. "What the fuck happened Llewelyn?"

The General's smile remained. "You are a clever girl." He rose from his seat and walked around the desk to seat himself upon it, lording over Anke as only he could. "Have you ever thought of the opportunities that failure presents?" He asked of her. Of course he admitted to nothing, at least not directly. "Failure is good for the character. It builds important skills that work in the service of perfection. How can we achieve perfection if we don't harness the power of our failures?" Reaching a hand forward he rested it on Anke's cheek, stroking it as though she were a beloved daughter, or perhaps even a pet.

"I see." Anke said softly, she had been reduced to a small child in a cage. "So that is Herzberg's game. For now..." Anke had not considered the entirety of the truth and nor would Llewelyn reveal anything further. "You're an excellent backup Anke. But remember that unlike your previous life you will never rise to the same heights, not without... modification." The implication was plain enough. "But you are the only thing that will save her. And if you genuinely care as you seem to suggest... is there anything you wouldn't do for her?" Llewelyn cupped Anke's face and finally let it go.

"You can go now. Herzberg will debrief Regina. I will... talk with him about what we've discussed. But if I were you, I would forget the whole thing ever happened. You hit the target Anke, that makes you the hero. Don't waste your success." Llewelyn stood and with the flick of his wrist he had motioned to dismiss Anke who stood and left the office, the young woman whose hand she had crushed was waiting to enter behind her.

[Iwazuma]

Regina always went to the range to destress. Whenever the tribulations of work got to her, Regina could be found at the sniper range shortly after, shooting out her frustrations on the unsuspecting targets until she felt she could think clearly again. While today normally would be the case, today her shooting was the cause of the frustration. Regina frowned as she walked after accepting her rifle from Anke, closing her eyes and trying to make sense of it all. How? How had she missed not once, but twice in a row? It defied logic and understanding. She shouldn't have missed that shot. Shouldn't have made things so much worse. And then she'd been disabled quickly and effectively, and effectively rendered useless. She would have been captured if it weren't for Anke. If it weren't for her metal half...Regina clutched her left shoulder as she arrived at the range, gritting her teeth. What was she going to do if the problems persisted? Why had they cropped up in the first place?

As Regina sat down on a bench at the range's edge, she took her rifle out of its casing, inspecting each and every piece with intense scrutiny. Had something malfunctioned? Everything seemed to be in working order...her ammo seemed fine. She couldn't find an imperfection on the rifle anywhere. So it malfunctioning was likely off the table...had it been her after all? And if so, what could she do to work out the imperfection? "I have to..." Regina murmured to herself, thinking about her need to chase perfection, to be naught but flawless. So wound up in her own thoughts, her own self-made narrative, that she didn't hear the bootfalls of someone approaching.

"Lieutenant." The voice caused Regina to snap up, hastily saluting as she quickly recognized the body in front of her to be Commander Herzberg. Nobody else was in the range, even though she was certain it had been fairly populated just a few minutes ago. Perhaps others saw Herzberg approaching and decided they didn't feel a need to be around him any longer. "At ease, soldier." Herzberg spoke calmly, causing Regina to drop her rigid salute and eye him with a cautious, anticipatory glance.

"Commander?" Regina asked nervously, evidently aware that what he was about to say was very unlikely to end well for her. Her stance did not slacken, holding her firm position as the commander gave her a once over.

"Good to see you in one piece, Carlisle." He spoke calmly for a moment, then folded his arms. "However, the mission was nearly forfeited entirely. System analysis indicates you discharged your rifle twice, yet the target did not fall. Can you explain what happened?" Herzberg spoke authoritatively, causing Regina to recoil for a moment, as though she'd been slapped across the face. Regina looked down to the ground, evidently not wishing to speak the truth. But he knew she had to...

"Er..." A pause. "I fired my weapon twice. I had the shot line up perfectly. Yet both times my shot failed to hit my target. I do not know what caused this problem. Perhaps there was an unknown obstacle, perhaps there was some issue with my rifle-" Regina tried to explain away the issue, hoping it might alleviate Herzberg's concerns, but his piercing gaze removed any such hope.

"I don't care what caused the issue, Carlisle. The problem was that there was an issue. And when there is a problem, it falls back on the sniper to take responsibility." Regina gulped. She hadn't faced such criticism from the upper brass in a very long time. "Lieutenant...we've come to expect great things from you, but today you have let us down." Herzberg seemed disappointed above all else, which caused Regina to bite her lip. "While our allowance to explore your emotions and their effect on you will stand...on your next mission, you will not be lead sniper. We will be presenting that honor to Lieutenant de Heer instead for her handling of the broken situation."

Regina blinked, then looked away. Though somewhere in the back of her head she knew she ought to be happy for Anke to have a chance at the lead role, it had been her job for nearly the last half a decade. How far she'd fallen in a single day. From the pinnacle of the Osnen forces to...backup. Regina grit her teeth, fighting off a wave of conflicting, confusing emotion. This wasn't right. She couldn't have made a mistake. To have to play second fiddle to anyone, even Anke...her hands balled into fists, but her voice remained steady. "....I understand, Commander." Regina said nothing more. She could have apologized, begged, promised it'd never happen again...she wasn't used to punishment like this. None of it felt right. But her training won out, leaving her standing rigidly as Herzberg nodded.

"We expect you to bounce back, Lieutenant. Do not disappoint us and you will likely see your roles restored. Should you continue, we will speak to Bertoldt about...improving your combat capabilities. At ease." Herzberg saluted and departed, leaving Regina shivering. More modifications...Regina looked to her left side, her metallic arm and leg unmoving despite the shaking of her right. She shook her head, staring at her rifle, then groaned. She didn't feel like shooting anymore. It'd just be a reminder of her failure. She packed her rifle back up in its case, occasionally stopping to shake her head. She had to improve...had to. Or else she'd be forced to throw away even more of her humanity. There was so little left already...

Regina found herself walking back to her room, entering it wordlessly and setting her rifle case by her bed before she collapsed onto it, facedown into her pillow. She couldn't remember a time when she felt so...lethargic. Sure, her muscles still ached, but she'd fought through fatigue before. But now...she just didn't want to. She just wanted to lay there...alone with her thoughts. Anke had said something about a dress, hadn't she...?

[Hannelorian]

Anke made her way down the inane corridors back toward her barracks. She was admittedly growing tired of this. She essentially lived with Regina yet she was always having to run back and forth for her clothes or her rifle. Though her rifle would remain in Regina's room until further notice. Still it was growing irritating or perhaps it was simply that Anke was in a bad mood, and when she was in a bad mood most other sensible people would know to stay away, leave her alone. But in her experience, people were not so smart. People often opted against their own self interest in favor of absolute stupidity and today was no different

"Congratulats LT!" A man called out as she entered the barracks. Anke smiled and nodded. "Heard the Terminator had a malfunction." Anke stopped moving when she heard that comment her hands balled up into fists, squeezing ever harder into the palms of her hand. "Froze right up, missed her shots." There was a small chuckle of laughter from the man and those surrounding him. Anke had already caused enough damage for one day. "We all have bad days." Anke shrugged her shoulders and tried to offer a fake smile.

"Not that bad."

Anke bit her lower lip. "I'd like you to imagine something." She began as she continued toward her bunk to flutter around her belongings. "If she has a bad day, what do yours feel like? Because you aren't capable like she is. You would already be dead. Overrun by rebels. And you'd be begging for someone like me to come and save you... and you'd wonder if I'd make it in time... and so do I."

The men understanding her point dispersed. Anke digging through her clothing looking for something she could wear. A few moments later she had withdrawn a crimson silk dress. Strapless and floor length, a large large slit running down from her thigh to the bottom allowing her legs to stride forward. The gown fit her like a glove, and it was indeed something she had once performed in. Her hair could be tied back into a tight and neat bun, two elbow length silk evening gloves would appear and be slid on.

A matching pair of heels and with the lightest of make up Anke made her way down toward Regina's quarters. She wondered what kind of state Regina was in. Anke knew it likely wouldn't be a good one. Would she tell her what she knew? She had to. Regina needed to know she wasn't the problem... at the great cost of potentially opening other uncomfortable questions. She raised her hand up to knock.

[Iwazuma]

Regina wasn't sure how much time she'd spent staring up at her incredibly bland ceiling, but her indication was that it was sometime in the later evening. Anke had likely gone to prepare for...coming back here, if she wasn't mistaken. She probably needed to at least make herself presentable. Still ignoring the thoughts that threatened to strike in her mind, Regina rose from her bed like a zombie, dragging herself over to a drawer. She had insisted on a dress. Regina had exactly two...and both were gifts from Anke within the last several days. Regina had stashed one of them in her drawer...she dug for a moment, finding the green piece that Anke had bought specifically from her just a short time ago. She held it up in front of her, heaving a sigh. She didn't get it. She didn't look good in dresses. Not like Anke. She wore them confidently, knowing full well that all eyes in the room were on her, and with good reason. Regina...it was like she was wearing something entirely foreign. She didn't know how to 'wear it right'. Not like reliable combat gear. That was at least form-fitting and functional.

But she said she'd do it. For Anke.

Regina fumbled a bit with the dress, having a bit of trouble getting into it the same way she had back at the department store. Her mind wasn't entirely focused, she supposed. She kept thinking about what Anke was going to have them do. Why she had to get dressed up for it. How irritating it was to zip up the back on her own without accidentally tearing the dress in two. Regina sighed to herself, looking at herself in the mirror once she finally got everything settled. The lacy veil hid her mechanical arm surprisingly well, she had to admit...it almost looked like she was staring a normal person in the mirror. Almost. Regina shook her head, muttering to herself. That was an impossibility. She could never have that back...could hardly even remember that she'd even had it. She served Osnen...whatever life as a normal human being was gone now, replaced by the need to serve...the need to improve. The need to...the need to...

Regina's unfinished thought was scattered by the sound of knuckles on her door. Regina jumped, but quickly righted herself and walked over to the door, letting it open for who she could only assume was Anke. She was correct, of course, but seeing Anke in her bright red dress, looking for all intents and purposes like she was going out to take all the attention at some grand ball...Regina couldn't help herself from staring just a little bit. She'd gained a few extra inches with her heels, and Regina could hardly find a criticism about her appearance. "You look great." Regina spoke softly, her eyes unable to meet Anke's gaze. Regina had cleaned the dirt from her face from the previous mission, but she didn't so much as even own the slightest bit of foundation, finding its function practically meaningless to her. On top of that, while the dress fit itself quite well to Regina's curves, beneath the slit Regina's combat boot was quite visible on her right foot. Not that she had any intent on switching out; her metallic foot would fail to fit all but the most unusually-proportioned heels, and considering the severe detriment to dexterity they caused, Regina wasn't sure she'd want to wear any anyways.

They sure did suit Anke, though. Regina found herself just the slightest bit envious that Anke could wear whatever she wanted and look so good doing it. Regina looked the same no matter what she wore in her eyes: A soldier through and through.

"So..." Regina mused, her mind evidently elsewhere from the way she seemed unable to look Anke in the eye. "...was there anywhere in particular you wanted to go?" This was initially supposed to be a celebration for a mission completed. Now she felt like it was almost a prison, saved by the fact that the person who had taken her starring role, her proof of her perfection, was going to be there with her. Someone Regina just couldn't understand, and yet a quietly burning feeling in the back of her head didn't care enough to fight her own jealousy....

[Hannelorian]

As the door opened Anke smiled she seemed rather pleased. "It looks better on you." Anke's eyes cast a long glance over Regina's body having never seen her in something like this before. Naturally the dress had originally been tailored specifically to Anke's body, it would need slight modifications to fit Regina as perfectly. Never the less Regina looked beautiful though it was painfully obvious that she was unable to make eye contact with Anke. "Ah... so that's where we are." Anke couldn't help but sigh as she stepped into the hall and aside letting Regina exit from the room. This was something of a bitter disappointment but she couldn't blame Regina, not really.

Anke had been forced to step in and save the mission, it was unlikely she could forgive herself and surely Herzberg had nothing particularly pleasant to say on the matter. "Yeah... let's go." Anke swallowed hit and bit her lower lip as though she were distracting herself from something and perhaps she was. She couldn't wrap her head around what the mission commanders had done, she could see why but that didn't make it any less painful or any more acceptable.

The woman was silent, her gaze drifting to Regina to inspect her form, she looked beautiful. Though know Regina she would be unable to see that or appreciate it for herself. That was sort of the deal, the thing Anke had to accept and slowly attempt to change but tonight was not the night for it. "If you'd rather come out... I would understand." Anke knew that today had to be deeply painful, painful beyond words or all sense of description. Regina did not fail, she did not take that sort of thing lightly.

The pair approached a smaller restaurant it was bistro of sorts, there were only a few people inside, equally dressed up for such an occasion. They were most likely celebrating, it would have been nice to be one of them for a few moments. The maitre'd would seat them quickly enough with no real passing remarks, he was paid to be quiet and accommodate those around him.