Rashen was in a carriage staring at his deployment form,he was to serve at the Imperial Headquarters in Bludvalley,Grittshore and he wasn't at all excited about it. Grittshore was one of the main regions of Ephyre and it had a nasty reputation for being the most underdeveloped, corrupt, dangerous and the most crime ridden region in the country. Many of the cadets back at the academy weren't all too keen on serving here and neither was he.
"This is as far as I can go, the main Headquarters ain't too far from here so you can probably just walk" said the driver lazily,
"Thanks" replied Rashen dully as he paid the man and took out his luggage. He began his journey to the Headquarters.
If Rashen were to describe Grittshore in one word it would be 'rusty'. From what he could see there was an imbalance between the haves and the have nots. There were slums and builds that looked on the verge of collapsing,there were a lot of industries producing a lot of toxic fumes but no one seemed to mind. There were also a lot of shops and kiosks that sold substandard and probe illegal products not safe at all for human consumption. The people in general looked rugged, like they were always ready to stab someone which Rashen thought made sense seeing as Grittshore has the highest cases of stabbings every year.
It seemed like violence was the order of the day as he had witnessed five street fights that involved a lot of biting,hair pulling and bottle breaking.
On his way he witnessed an a scene where some vendors were inflicting acts classified as 'Jungle Justice' on a man who tried to steal from one of their shops. Rashen decided to step in but as he got closer to try and calm them down he noticed a few of them looking past him. Just then he remembered he wasn't with his bag,he kept it aside before heading over to them and he soon realized that was a big mistake as he saw a group of dirty children in rags going through the contents of his luggage.
"HEY!!! STOP THAT!!!" He screamed as he ran towards them but they quickly escaped with handfuls of his clothes and he didn't even have enough of them in the first place. He tried looking around to find the culprits but they were already lost in the crowd that didn't seem to care, stealing was a normal thing in Grittshore and if you're not smart enough they'd steal the clothes of your back without you even noticing.
He finally arrived at the main Imperial Headquarters in Bludvalley. It was small,smaller than the Nottenam Academy, but then again the academy was bigger than the Force would've liked to anticipate. The building looked worn out and there were signs that it was constantly being vandalized. Rashen's stomach sank, this was where he would be serving for the foreseeable future.
He stepped inside the building without even bothering to question why the doors were unlocked. Inside the building exactly how he imagined it would, dusty and gloomy. It was also deserted. There was a desk where the receptionist would attend to him but there was none. He let out a sigh and took out his deployment form. He was supposed to meet the Ranking Commander stationed there to confirm his deployment but it looked like there wasn't a soul in the building.
CRASH
He heard coming from upstairs along with a voice that let out a curse. His assumption on not a single soul being present in the building was quickly debunked. He followed the the faint sounds till it got louder and louder. It led him to an office with a tag on the door that read 'Ranking Commander'. Finally he had arrived at the office of the Ranking Commander of the region. Before walking in he paused a moment, straightened himself up and took a deep breath. He opened the door and was quick enough to dodge a large file holder that came swinging at him in full force.
The room was a mess,there were files scattered around and stationery in places they ought not to be. The person in the room was a short plump black woman with a low cut hair. She was dressed in a slightly oversized jump suit and was speaking loudly into a small hand held device close to her ear. She seemed to be the one responsible for the place being such a mess as she was actively tearing the place up looking for something while still talking on the device,
"Yes- Yes- I know- WELL I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!!!- Why? Are you serious?- BECAUSE WE HAVE AN APPOINTMENT THE FRESH MEAT TODAY- Well I don't care of you forgot JUST BE THERE!!!" She yelled into the device before flinging it into the corner. She didn't stop going through the scattered files.
"Erm- Hell-",
"Who are you and what do you want?" She asked without looking at him, "You have ten seconds to tell me who you are" she added.
"Well- er- My name is Rashen and I'm the new-"
"Time up. Get out of here and never return or I'll throw you out myself AS SOON AS I FIND THOSE DAMN PAPERS" She screamed in frustration still going through the scattered files.
"But I'm here to-"
"You're still here" she said without looking at him again,
"Well my ten seconds weren't up when you-,"
"That's because I realized talking to you would be a waste of time. NOW LEAVE!!!" She ordered startling Rashen,
"But-",
"GO!!!"
"But I-"
"LEAVE!!!"
"I'm here to see-",but before he could finish his sentence she threw a pen at him. It would've hit him square in the eyes had he not caught it at the very last second,he had had enough of this fiasco.
"I'm not leaving until I see the Ranking Commander" he said indignantly. She stopped going through the files,rose up and looked at Rashen,
"You're here to see the Ranking Commander? You're the new recruit?" She asked slowly,
"Yes I am" he replied immediately. She went behind the desk in the small room,
"Show me your deployment form" she ordered but Rashen was reluctant to show her a very important document,
"NOW!!!"
Rashen quickly took out deployment form and gave it to her,it only took a split second for her to go through it(although Rashen didn't think she had), she stamped it,signed it and gave it back to him.
"Congratulations you're now a cadet under the Grittshore division" she said drily before going back to her files.
Rashen looked bewildered,he stood there looking at his form that had now been stamped and signed,
"You're- You're the Ranking Commander?" He asked,
"Don't ask stupid questions, people who ask stupid questions are pains in the asses" she said and gestured for Rashen to leave.
"Happy mingling" she said drily as she slammed the door in his face. Rashen was still confused about what exactly was going on.
Rashen headed to the lodges where cadets serving under the headquarters would stay, similar to how he stayed in the academy. As he walked to find where he would stay he was the common room door slightly opened and noise coming from it. Or not really noise but music. He opened the doors fully and stepped in to see two people present. One was a pale guy in a sleeveless shirt that revealed his beefy arms. He wore jeans with hair dyed green and styled into a mohawk,he had piercings on his ears and sat down legs spread across the center table revealing his combat boots. He was tuning his guitar. The other was a girl who had what snow white hair with blue streaks at the side. She had freckles on her tanned face and big blue eyes that were fixed on a newspaper she was reading. They both looked about his age.
The guy stood up and walked right up to Rashen's face,
"Hello" said Rashen not even taking a single step backwards,
"What's your name?" The guy asked. He had an accent unlike any Rashen had heard before,
"Imperial Cadet Rashen" he replied. There was a moment of silence,he stared intently at Rashen and opened his mouth....he burst out into laughter.
"Ra- Ra- Rashen," he said laughing, "what a stupid name." He laughed so hard tears were already dropping from his eyes. Rashen was a bit taken aback, he'd never seen that reaction before after telling someone his name.
The girl rushed over to meet up with them,
"Don't laugh at other people's names Gale,that is the peak of immaturity" she said in a voice Rashen couldn't tell was either stern or pleading.
He held his laughter in until it was completely gone,he once again put up a serious look on his face.
"Why don't we start with introductions," suggested the girl, "My name is Cadet Macy Stones of the Woodchurch Imperial Academy,Vansheris" she said stretching out her hand to shake Rashen's.
"I believe in justice,true justice. I love justice and will do anything to uphold. It doesn't matter what I have to do,I will do it as long as I am uphold justice." To Rashen, the most impressive thing about her speech was the she could say all that with a smile on her face.
"The name's Gayle Paloid,Cadet of course,reppin' the Marybrooks Imperial Academy, Owellis. You may or may not have heard of me. I'm a musician always on the lookout for inspiration. Joined the Imperial Academy in the hopes that I find the ultimate inspiration for a killah song." Gayle said winking at Macy with a confident smile,she glared back.
"Er- Rash- Cadet Rashen of the Nottenam Imperial Academy, Owelli." Rashen said after snapping out of his speechlessness.
There was a short period of silence after the introductions. They just stared at each other,
"Pfffft- Ras- Rashen hahahahaha!!!!" Gayle burst out into a laugh once more at Rashen's name.
"DON'T LAUGH AT OTHER PEOPLE'S NAMES THAT IS THE ULTIMATE INJUSTICE!!!" She screamed slapping Gayle.
Rashen couldn't even comprehend what was going on,he watched as Macy gave Gayle a full Nelson,his mind was completely blank. These were the people he would have to be working with.