"You know, trying to hide under another name usually entails changing one's whole name. I suppose all these years have dulled your sharp wit?"

The cold voice of the doll-like warrant officer broke Nikola's wandering train of thoughts. He had been retracing where he had gone wrong, but ultimately could not come up with an answer. The carriage rattled as it drove over the cobbled streets leading into town, heading towards the garrison. The carriage moved at walking speed, to keep pace with the moving squads of soldiers.

"Well, I daresay that between the 2 of us, you have fallen further, from a member of oh so great royalty to a common warrant officer."

"That's first warrant officer to you, recruit"

Trading insults, it filled Nikola with a sense of nostalgia, as he sat in front of Her Imperial Highness Olivia Vindicta Aurlux, now First Warrant Officer Vindicta.

"From today onwards, you are under command of First Officer Vindicta, and you hold the rank of Private First class, above a few other men."

"What happened?"

"My brothers decided that in order to reduce their oppositions, it would be best for me to die honorably in battle."

Olivia gave a dry laugh as she drank from a flask. 

"We can catch up in my office later, I tasked one of my men to guide you to your room later. You'll be bunking with the juniors."

She kept quiet for the rest of the ride, and even Nikola knew better than to speak out of turn, both in terms of their history and his sudden conscription into the military. They halted for a brief moment in front of Alrukk City. It would be closer to calling it a fort with a small town within it. Golden fields ripe with wheat spread out as far as the eyes could see, surrounding the city. High walls encircled the city, with four gatehouse in each direction. A river, which was used to water the fields, had been split into two to give a moat for the city. Battlements ran the circumference of the city, where men could be spotted on watch. It was made out of rock quarried from the Melburne Mountains at the back of the fort, which Nikola would see directly ahead if he peeked out. The heavy gate swung open, and the Platoon of men marched over the stone bridge into the city.

Immediately entering the city, the platoon took a left and entered the garrison. The sound of men and women running and sparring with one another overlapped with the citizens of the city-fort bartering with those off-duty soldiers, those relieved of their watch, the smoking blacksmith where the ring of hammers hitting metal could be heard, as well as the occasional grunt of pain. The platoon went further in, into the Keep, where Olivia dismounted first, followed by Nikola.

As Olivia stated, a soldier went up to Nikola and saluted, while Olivia was dismissing her men.

"Private Nikola, your presence has been expected. I am your roommate, and I will guide you to your room, and then to Warrant Officer Vindicta's Office."

Nikola gave a sloppy salute, and adjusting his satchel, followed the teenager in front of him. The soldier was young, but seemed to be able to handle himself. Private Bastione was 17 years old, 1 older than Nikola was, and was a noble. Sporting dark red hair with well chiseled features and a sharp nose, his muscular stature was evidence of the Military's strict training. When asked why was his rank so low, he replied that he wanted to start off with nothing so he could truely prove himself. 

So an idealistic man then, Nikola thought to himself.

It was a simple room, identical on either side. It had a bed against the far corner of the room, with a chest at the foot of it, and a closet at the door. All of this was the same as the other side, with the exception that the left was clearly Bastione's, as evidenced by the messy clothes pile near his drawer. There was one writing table situated at the window, of which a half-empty ink pot and several quills could be seen on top of loose sheets of papers. Nikola tossed his satchel on his bed, and turned about facing Bastione.

"There is a bucket and a rag you can use to wipe yourself down with. After that, you'll find the Warrant Officer has bought a few uniforms in your closet. If they don't fit well, you can ask the tailor to adjust. All right, have a good day!"

Bastione gave a beaming smile and a salute, before grabbing a wooden sword and a gambeson by the door and walking off, presumably for more training. So chirpy... Nikola thought as he opened the closet. Within it was several outfits. First was a simple cotton shirt and pants that covered his knees. Next was what looked like old leather shirt mixed slightly rusty chain mail, a gambeson, and lastly a officer outfit like what Bastione and Olivia was wearing. It seemed that Nikola was indeed higher ranked than Bastione, as his outfit had the markings of a Private First Class; A single downward facing arrow, while Bastione had no insignia. He took off his chain mail and leather, which he was still wearing, putting it away into his closet, undressed himself and wiped off the dirt and sweat. 

Feeling many times better, he put on the officer outfit, and notice crude stitching over where his heart would be. Realizing that the previous owner was probably stabbed to death through the heart, he calmed himself, before pulling up the slightly long pants and wearing the issued socks and boots. The boots fitted nicely, and he tucked the excess length of the pants into it. After checking out his appearance in the pail of water, he was ready to go see Warrant Officer Olivia. He then realized that Bastione, who should have brought him, had left. 

"Right then, off to a great start."

He sighed, before opening the door. He was in the housing block of the military. Here and there, he could spot low ranked recruits doing the laundry of their superiors, or cleaning the rooms. There were a few clearly sneaking off, but a armored women came to chase them off soon enough. Wandering around, he knew that he was behind the Keep, and that he needed to go there to see her. But he soon found himself lost, and stumbled into what seemed like a garden.