The everyday life of a marine, or not

[mb4h]

It’s been a month already since Shinji arrived in Jreum Island. He was transferred to this place right after he got his promotion to become Seaman First Class. He didn’t know why he was transferred to Jreum Island. But it was a normal occurrence for him, since every time he raised a rank ever since he started his carrier in the marine as chore boy. That’s why it wasn’t a problem to him either he got transferred or not. Even though once in the past he ever questioned this matter, since he knows that most marines didn’t get transferred for having a promotion. Maybe some got themself transferred a lot, but not always because of promotion. But that was just popped out once in his mind, as what important for him is not where he is working but for him working the best he can so he got the promotion to achieve his dream.

Living in Jreum Island, his everyday duty was to patrol the surrounding area. The past month was quite bland for him as there was nothing happened in his patrol except for him seeing some people bickering. It wasn’t that he liked to see bad things happening in Jreum, but with none at all happened, he won’t get any achievement to help promote his carrier as a marine. Even though it’s an island with B1 marine base, but it’s not that heavy guarded as the base itself. So, he still hoped that some outlaws popped out and do something that helps him to gain some achievement.

“Lets hope something is happening today”

Shinji started his patrol duty quite early in the morning. And as usual, he did it himself as no other seaman wanted to patrol with him. Knowing his past, the other marines tried their best to stay away from him. Especially when they knew about he got himself transferred every time Shinji got a promotion. Some marines deduced that the people above tried their best to hinder Shinji’s from achieving a higher ranking. That’s why they didn’t want to have too much interaction with Shinji because they were afraid of the people above. Unfortunately, Shinji didn’t know about that speculation. If he knew about it, he will just ignore it. He already used to be mostly alone and he already prepared himself for the worse when he learned about the marine making his father a traitor.

He started his patrol from the Residential District. Unfortunately for him, there was nothing for him to do there except just circling around the surrounding area as part of his patrol. The people living there were abiding the law either by their own choice or because they’re afraid of the marines. With nothing noteworthy happening in the residential area, he left the area after a full hour patrolling that part of the island. The next place he would go next is the Business District.

[Suriko]

(just want to point out that like most major marine bases, Jreum is pretty much part of B-!)

The ensign let out a soft yawn, the soft touch of the sea breeze doing little to walk him up. It had been a couple of weeks since he had been transferred to the Fortress Island, due to the incident in Lyneel. That Agent definitely felt like making his life hell from going to a relatively good and peaceful position, to an absolute boring one. No small-time crew in their right mind would be dumb enough to attack a Manmade marine base. At least not in his experience. But here he was, heading out after his morning practice to assist with patrols and assist the infantry soldiers with patrols. It was the most glamorous part of his job, but it was either this or to continue working on that technique the Captain in charge of Lyneel had been teaching him. As he made his way from the base to the residential block. It seemed to be another sunny day, with little to darken the skies or the lives of the citizens of the man-made town.

The marine officer would give a slight nod to whoever was willing to show him the courtesy as well, as he never was one to abide by the rule through fear method. But he still did give an air of a trained fighter with each movement and even the way he held himself. His left rest at his side, but just enough that he'd be able to angle his hilt correctly for the perfect draw he needed for a swift, instant strike. At his hips was also a wooden sword, one that'd typically be used for practicing. After his fight with that feral fighter, Eric, the samurai realized he had very few means of using his skills non-lethally. He wasn't sure how well the bokuto would hold up, but it was worth a try nonetheless. Though the marine didn't expect much to happen, nor was he really hoping for it.

Towards the end of his rather brisk walk through the residential district, he was finally reaching his intended destination, the business block. While it wasn't quite on the level of pirates, the business district still had its issues of arguments becoming heated over someone feeling like they had been cheated or tricked somehow. This rarely ever became more than angry glaring and the possible threat of violence, but it still did go beyond that from time to time. As he was walking the bridge that connected the two blocks, he spotted a soldier making his way over there. the young samurai increased his pace until he was right up next to the soldier, smirking as he simply spoke out to him from the time being. "Fairly nice day, isn't it?"

[mb4h]

(Sorry that I missed the part that B1 is in Jreum. I edited my first post about that part, but the content itself did not change).

Walking through the residential district, with how safe the neighbourhood was, Shinji started to lose a bit of focus as he recalled his past life as a marine. He always became like that when there's nothing that needs his attention. It's just his subconscious way of trying to motivate himself. While recalling the hard life he had as a marine, he walked himself automatically to the direction of Business District. He already did the patrol quite some times already, so it was not a hard thing to do even with his mind occupied by something else.

While he was reminiscing, he suddenly heard someone talking right beside him. That made Shinji taken aback and stopped his walk. He looked at the direction to the one that was talking to him and found another marine. Looking closely, he figured out from the uniform of that tan-skinned marine that he was higher in rank than him. Knowing that he suddenly stood properly and gave a salutation first and then said.

"Yes sir, it's a sunny day"

With his past experience of having lots of higher rank marine created a problem for him even for a small mistake. He did not want to have another one today. That was why he tried to give the best response to the higher-ranked marine.

"What can I help you with sir?"

[Suriko]

The ensign nodded and smirked as the soldier as he immediately stood at attention, something that amused the marine samurai ever since he became an ensign and was given a command position. He wasn't want to shirk away from such duties and honors, but it just felt sort of funny to have others respond to him in such a way on their first meeting. As he looked to the soldier, he knew that he had noticed the person in passing. He seemed tense around the officer like he was choosing his words very carefully, not that he really had to worry about it with Suriko. "At ease." He let Shinji relax his salute before he continued speaking, his smirk softening into a relaxed smile to try and alleviate some of the tension."Nothing in particular. Just grew tired of being around the base all day long. At least, on patrol, I can interact with the townspeople." The ensign would seem to have a very carefree air around him, not really showing the signs of someone who managed to reach the ranks of an officer normally. "Plus it was very rare to enjoy these more peaceful days back at my last assignment."

The marine officer began to walk more towards the business block as he continued to speak, just breaking the ice mostly. Any stricter office would probably stand on some sort of pomp. The samurai found that to be far too stifling for himself. "so what is your name soldier?" The marine had not been there long and had yet to recognize all the faces in such a large military installment. He continued into the business district itself as he continued talking, hoping that Shinji would be willing to keep up the conversation. "Are you from the North originally, or have you been transferred over here?'

---

Unbeknownst to the two marines, a lone ship seemed to pull into the dock not long before they had started patrolling. As it was tied up and secured by the local dockhands, a gangplank was lowered from the ship, revealing 4 cloaked figures. One seemed large than most men, standing close to 10 feet tall. He cast a rather lumbering shadow as he was the first to step off, holding a very large crate on his shoulder. Following behind him was 3 noticeably smaller people, hard to tell their figures with how uniform the cloaks were. As the dock official approached them with all the needed paperwork, they simply paid him some extra beli, to have him look aside as they continued into the heart of the business district

[mb4h]

 He is the lax kind of guy I guess

Shinji thought to himself as he heard how the other marine responded to him. Looking more closely to the guy, he saw a katana with the marine officer. And from the look of how that man walked and also his body structure, Shinji figured that he is quite a martial artist. Well, he is a martial artist himself so he can easily know other martial artists by looking.

"My name is Shinji Kosei, sir".

While following the officer walking towards the Business District, Shinji answered that man question. There's no nervousness at all that could be detected in his voice. But you can still trace in the voice that he was quite guarded with the other marine. Well, it was kinda expected as he had a bad experience against few superiors in the past.

"I'm from Shell Town in East Blue, sir. I just got transferred here last month".

While conversing, they finally reached the Bussiness District. Looking at where they were, they would arrive at the centre of this district soon. On their way, Shinji saw a group of people wearing full-body robes, one of the people was holding a huge crate. Normally, he would think of them as quite suspicious and would secretly follow them. But in his current condition, he was distracted by the presence of the marine officer.

While I'm fine doing the patrol with this officer, but I won't be able to get the credit if something happens. I am also unable to act as usual, as I need to follow the command of him.

As he was thinking about that useless stuff in his mind, he heard a commotion nearby. Someone shouting quite loud and looked like that person was in the middle of quarrelling with other people. Looking at those people, Shinji guessed that it was a quarrel between a merchant and his customer. He normally would directly try to stop the quarrel or mediate the two opposing people. But since he was in the presence of a superior-ranked marine, he did nothing but look at them.

[Suriko]

"Another recent transfer, eh? but from so far away. Must feel like quite a bit different out in the North Blue. Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Seaman Kosei." The marine officer held no sense of rank or superiority in his words, nor was he one to really do so unless the situation called for it. He looked over to the marine, noticing that he had similar telltale signs of a fighter and martial artist, especially given the spear he had with him. As the samurai continued to speak, his gaze was casual scanning the square for any disturbance, never wanting to not be aware of his surroundings. The business district seems its usual brand of busy, with the merchant and travellers alike bustling through the crowded streets. There were vendors out offering their wares, tradesman providing services, all manner of business taking place as they would continue their conversation. "Ensign Suriko Miyami, Though focus too much on rank. at least I haven't to this point. I also got transferred here rather recently.

The ensign refrained from telling the spearman that it was due to getting on the wrong side of a world government agent, as that almost seemed like he was some sort of oddity. That aside, As they passed the nearby group of cloaked figures, the marine samurai also took note of them but let them pass for the time being. But they gave off a pretty ominous vibe, like nothing directly threatening to the surrounding, but the worry was still there. Suriko was brought forth from this line of thought when he heard the bickering and fighting between a merchant and his patron. Not even noticing Shinji's hesitation to act, Suriko stepped forward in a rather relaxed demeanour. His stance was not confrontational, nor were his movement aggressive.

"What appears to be the issue here, gentlemen?" Both men turned to the new voice addressing them. The merchant spoke up first. "This man's trying to steal from me." . Before the ensign could even respond, the other man chimed in, sounding equally irate. "it's not stealing, I just ain't paying for something that doesn't even work right." The dispute seemed to be over a tool that had broken not long after it was purchased. The marine only sighed as he tried to calm down their bickering, which seemed to only get louder.

---

As the group passed by the pair of marines, they only smirked, knowing what was to come once they made the signal. They were tired of the world government and their marine lapdogs, of them using their numbers and power to lord over everyone. And attacking this island was going to show just how weak they really were. As the Suriko and Shinji would be listening to the ongoing conversation in the main square, The found would make their way tot eh connecting bridges that allow easy movement between the blocks of Jreum Island. Once they reach one, the large mn placed down the crate, ripping off the top to show several bombs inside. The covert group began placing them to properly sever those lifelines, effectively isolating the business block. Once they were in place and the foot traffic slowed down, they set off the explosives, causing some pretty serious shockwaves to reverberate throughout the business block. The deafening sounds were followed by screams and panic as no one was sure what exactly was happening. The four would cast off their robes. They all wore identical outfits, consisting of dark grey bodysuits with the image of a fox skull with crossbones emboldened on the back.

---

As the conversation continued on, The explosions went off, the shockwave knocking most that were close by down to the ground. The samurai managed to stand his ground before speaking more authoritatively to Shinji as he basically yelled. "check for wounded!! Make sure everyone is okay." He began moving to do the same.

[mb4h]

Following the ensign to where the commotion was, Shinji found out from the conversation between the ensign and the troublemakers that everything happened because of money. And from his experience after living on this Island, this kind of problem was normal in the business district. Looking at how the ensign tried to calm those two people which in fact made the bickering louder and out of control, he couldn't help but think that it's not a proper way to handle this kind of problem.

We need to show some force to make these people understand who is in charge, then we can talk to them.

As he couldn't help to wait for the ensign to clear this messy situation. He took a step forward while taking out his black spear and then knocked his spear a bit hard onto the table. But when the spear connected to the table, the sound it produced was not heard as a loud sound of an explosion booming loudly at the same time. That made all of the people shocked and stopped everything that they currently did. Most of the people fell on the ground because of the shockwave, including Shinji. And soon after that a lot of screams signaling the chaos that was happening in the entire business district.

"What the heck is happening here?"

Shinji couldn't help but curse while trying to standing back on his feet. He then heard the ensign giving a command to check the condition of the civilian around there, especially helping if there were any wounded people. He started helping the people on the ground to stand and after seeing that only a few people there having a minor injury, he walked his way to the source of the explosion as the possibility of more injured civilians were there. He also started shouting to the people there and ordering the uninjured civilian to save the other people and start leaving the area.

"Please help the other if you can and move away from this place".

[Suriko]

The marine samurai began to do the same, quickly taking in stock of the current situation as those around him. most seemed fairly uninjured aside from some stray debris from the sheer force of the blast. He also helped those who had fallen get back to their feet, urging them to move away from the blast. "Try your best to head towards the docks, and pass that message along." He managed to speak out to those civilians before he watched as Shinji began making his way to the incident site, trying to help any more along the way. Seeing most of the bystanders begin to rush out of the area, the ensign's concerned look turned sour. Someone was willing to cause such chaos and destruction in such a populated area, and that was not something he could abide. The marine squared his stance as he took in a long breath, gathering strength into his legs. Then as the tension built, he kicked off the ground rapidly, seeming to disappear as he tried using the new technique he had been taught.

Soru.

The speed he attained from such an act was surprising to him at first, the scenery sort of washing away as they rather sudden and fast movement would tunnel his vision. As his fellow marine was walking, all he'd manage to catch was a blur of the dark marine uniform as the Ensign was headed straight for the source. Within seconds, he found himself at the connection points for the blocks, appearing before the group of four with his hand on the hilt of his blade. The sudden appearance caused them to jump a bit before grinning as they saw only one marine before them. "Only one? Seriously?!" The first to speak was a short, squirrely man, with spiked green hair. He seemed to have some small object in his hand. The one next to him was another man, bald and wearing an oni mask. His bodysuit seemed different in that it had several white stripes along the limbs. "it's fairly sad when you consider the amount of faith the people have in the Marines." the next to speak was a woman, standing with what looked like clawed gloves as she lowered to a stance on all fours. And there was the rather lumbering figure. A large 10-foot man with long black hair that seemed to curtain his face as well. He was sporting a large pair of studded tonfa, ready to fight as well.

Suriko thought to speak but he held it back as he moved into a lower stance once more, ready to use the superhuman speed of Soru. But before he could, the short individual seemed to flick his thumb, launching whatever he was holding at the samurai. Just as the cylindrical dart was about to reach the marine officer, he knocked it aside with his sword. Before he could even react, the woman seemed to just glide along the ground, her "claws at the ready as she swiped up at him. The ensign tried to backstep as best he could, kicking down at the striking hand to try and block the strike. She shifted the attack into a feint, as her second hand swiped as his chest. He hissed as the sharp metal ends of her claw weapon dug past his clothing into his chest, leaving light cuts across his upper chest. He was about to counter-attack until the large man would smack at him with the Tonfa, a loud crack could be heard from the marine as he was sure a few ribs were not where they needed to be now. The force of the strike sent him flying up onto of the awning of a nearby shop. Well they seem pretty well trained. He stood back up, grunt a bit as he assessed his injury.

[mb4h]

Getting himself closer to where the source of the blast was, Shinji saw that the damage in the surrounding area became worse and worse. The business district which supposed to be full of the lively voices of people doing business transactions or people chattering when they are sightseeing the surrounding stalls was now full of people screaming. The area which supposed to be with lots of neatly arranged buildings full of merchandise was now full of dust clouds and debris. Experiencing all of this made Shinji couldn't help but feel anger rising in his mind.

I know that I was hoping for something happening, but not like this

As he walked closer to the ground zero while helping the civilian to get away from that area, he suddenly saw a shadow just passed through. He felt a sudden burst of wind from something moving quite fast as he couldn't see it properly, just a shadow of a person moving in a certain direction. And when he saw to the direction where the shadow went to, he saw the marine officer was there. Quite curious about that situation, Shinji looked behind him and saw none of the marine officer's presence.

How come he's in that place? Is he not supposed to be quite a bit behind me?

Seeing that, he assumed that was one of that marine's ability. With that man gain quite a higher rank than him, it was probably normal for him to be able to do that kind of stuff. Assuming that with higher your rank in the marine, more right you have to gain more information. And with more information, it also possible for you to have more capabilities. This was also the main reason for Shinji wanting to get higher rank as soon as possible. With more right to get more important information, he will be able to know the detail of why his father claimed to be a traitor. He will also gain information regarding stuff that can make him stronger.

With the marine officer quite far in front of him, he quickly ran to that man's location while dodging all the civilians that ran in the opposite direction. Arriving at the ground zero, he saw how the marine officer got himself thrown away by the biggest person there, one of the four people with a similar outfit which possibly the perpetrators of all the mess in that place. Knowing that the situation was quite bad as there were four opponents and only two marines to handle the situation with one of them probably injured after getting thrown like that. But there's no option to run away from that situation for Shinji, as he needed to carry out his duty and also that kind of situation is one of a rare chance for him gaining a huge achievement. He was quickly positioning himself beside the other marine with his spear on hand and said,

"I will help you sir"