[ArcherLangley]

[[SHORT CHAPTER] Thanks Sonny for the message. I sent one in. I like you enthusiasm for the lore of Planetside 2.]

CHAPTER 3


ESAMIR EDGE OF VANU TERRITORY FEBRUARY 4TH 2849

“Nathan Vargas” the name echoed through her head. Elanora scanned the desolate wastelands of Esamir. High atop her mountain perch she could see anything coming in for kilometres. For the past week she had dispatched countless NC infiltrators hoping to find him and settle the score. She had a feeling he was going to show eventually.

    “Any activity down there?” a female called out breaking her train of thought.
    “Nothing to report Aaliyah.” she replied.

Aaliyah came beside Elanora and sat down in the snow. “So what's up?” she asked.
    “What do you mean?” Elanora replied not looking up from her scope.
    “What I mean is that you've been pushing yourself a little too hard recently. You've taken out more soldiers this past week than some have this whole month.”
    “Sounds like they need to go back to basic training.”
    “But-”Aaliyah said incessantly “you're never satisfied afterwards, like you missed something.”

Aaliyah was one of the best heavy assault soldiers in the army. She had once held a capture point against 12 enemy soldiers long enough for reinforcements to arrive during a critical operation and earned a promotion to Ascendant. But more importantly she was Elanora's best friend, a person she trusted above all others.

Elanora sighed and lowered her rifle “You really want to know?” she said.
    “Yes.” Aaliyah replied frankly.
    “This doesn't leave the mountain.” she said sternly.
    “No one will know.”

Drawing a breath before she began “So there's this guy.” she started “An enemy soldier.” Aaliyah looked at her gravely “We got into a fire-fight last week and we both ran out of ammo by the end of it. He still had a knife and I was completely unarmed, yet he began laughing, not because he had the upper hand, he just thought it was funny. He didn't even consider finishing the battle, to him it was already over, that we could just go our separate ways. I even began to laugh at his own naivety.”

She took a deep sigh looking back “And then I got shot by a Terran sniper. But instead of running directly for cover he comes and pulls me along with him, he saved me. I asked him why he did and he made some crack about us being friends, I told him that wasn't the case. The sniper still had us pinned and he then came up with a plan in which both of us could get out of there.”

Elanora laid down her weapon and began sitting “Giving me one of his medical kits telling me it was his last, he decided to act as a decoy and draw fire while I made my way behind the sniper to attack him. He put himself in harms way and trusted me to carry out my end of the deal.”

    “And did you?” Aaliyah asked.

She nodded “How could I not? He didn't capitalise on an advantage he had, he pulled me away from enemy fire, healed me and then put his life in my hands. My honour wouldn't allow it. We ended up taking out the sniper, he had taken a few hits and when I mused about his chances against me if I was to attack he pulled out another medical kit I didn't know about. We then went our separate ways promising to kill the other the next chance we had.”

Elanora lifted up her rifle again “When I came back, I waited for an hour but he never came. I went to every battle worth fighting in against he NC but he wasn't there.” She gripped the rifle tighter “It's more than just killing him. He acted like this war didn't matter, he trivialised the battle we have against the NC and me with it.”

Aaliyah could tell she was getting tense ”In the end he put himself in danger even though he believed that I would betray him the second I had the chance. He thought nothing of Vanu honour believing himself a better person than me and he went out of his way to prove it. But what gets me the most is that he didn't take anything seriously, as if everything we were doing was pointless. Looking back I don't know if we reached a stalemate because we were evenly matched or if he didn't take me seriously enough to try.”

Aaliyah's stern look relaxed as she remained silent taking it all in “So you're looking for him to prove your better.”
    “That's all I want.”
Aaliyah signed and stretched her legs “ I have to say, I was a little worried for a second there. But if you ever need back up with keeping things fair between you two you give me a call ok?”
    “I will.”
    “So what's his name?”
She paused for a second “I don't know.”