The blonde swordswoman collapsed onto her bed, exhausted. Words came back to her that hadn't made sense at the time. Power-intensive. Future
adjustments. Short combat life. The scientists had cloaked it in technical jargon, but the meaning was that she was flawed. If a fight lasted over an
hour, she would be utterly exhausted and unable to do anything with the demands of her armor on her own internal reserves. Obviously, they'd intended to
repair the flaw eventually, but there hadn't been time before she had led that disastrous escape attempt.
All of which meant that after one night on patrol, Sovereign felt herself lucky to have remembered the button that sent her armor to the armory racks in Riot
Base before she fell into bed. A broken piece of furniture would've completed her poor day. But even as she dozed off, there was only one hope in the young
looking woman's mind.
Please....please don't let me dream.
***
"So this is what they said you're supposed to use?" Rider asked, looking along the length of the hard, cold blade from behind her glasses,
throwing a tail of long violet hair over her shoulder absently. "It certainly seems to suit you."
"I'm glad this one does," Sovereign noted, turning it this way and that, feeling the weight resting comfortably in her hand. "The first
sword they gave me was some sort of large scimitar. It just didn't feel right at all, and they ran me through a few dozen other types before trying this
one."
The sky blue haired woman by the wall chuckled, getting confused looks from the two. "That could have been hilarious," Breaker noted. "Imagine
the codename if you'd actually been best suited to a saber or something. Saber Scimitar?" she sniggered. "You might get hit by friendly fire if
we ever shortened it because then we'd all be calling you Saber."
"Callin' who huwuzzah?" a dark haired figure noted, sitting up in bed behind Breaker, as Ruby blinked blearily at them all.
"Huh....s'Sove....Sove...name's t'long. Shoulda called you saybah or somethin', usin' swords. S'easier," she noted, before
rolling over and hiding her head under the covers, away from the awful burning light that was intruding on her attempts to sleep because of incosiderate
friends who should realize any sane person shouldn't be awake before ten or maybe even twelve on days they didn't have morning training.
"Say bah?" Sovereign blinked, getting a shrug from Rider and another amused snicker from Breaker.
"She has a point. Sovereign is so many extra syllables....Saber won't do, though. Something we can claim is just a random
name...Saber....Saybar....Saybiir....Seibiir....Seiber....Seiba...." she mused, before stopping as another purple haired girl, this one a bit shorter than
Rider and with less mature of a figure, entered the room before giving her a puzzled look.
"What're you doing, Breaker?" she wondered, getting a grin from the older woman.
"Trying to think up something less wordy than Sovereign's old name."
"...well, that last one actually sounded like a name," Violet considered thoughtfully.
"Seiba?" Rider said, pursing her lips in thought.
"Yeah. I like it. It's cute," Violet smiled.
"I have a name," Sovereign frowned. "I don't need to sound 'cute'."
"Oh, but you're already cute. Everyone knows it," Breaker grinned, getting an absent nod from Rider as Sovereign felt color rising to her cheeks.
"She is right," the tall woman noted. "At least, if I understand the definition correctly from how some of the personnel on base use
it. By that definition, she's not quite as cute as Archer, but close. Probably at least as much as Violet," she said finally with an unconscious nod
as she reasoned through to the conclusion, missing Violet's own slight blush.
"I still do not need to sound 'cute'," Sovereign protested.
***
"So now they won't stop calling me it when we're away from the guards," Sovereign grumbled.
Duo simply shrugged as she shucked the helmet off her heavy armor, while Ruby gave her a smile that Sovereign had learned meant trouble as she took off her
own.
"I don't know, they have a point. You certainly are cute. Maybe not adorable, like Archer, but cute," she grinned.
"I'm supposed to be the leader. I need to be authoritative. Inspiring. Intimidating, even. Not 'cute'," she said with another scowl.
Ruby grinned, playing with the strand of hair that almost always seemed to come loose of Sovereign's braid after she tied it back before suiting up.
"Well, besides that, it's a good name. It's one we gave you, not something like the numbers they call us....I like it," she said, leaning
against her.
Sovereign blinked, about to make another rebuttal before the last three words stopped her. "....I suppose you're right....if it just stays between our
group."
"Of course," Ruby smiled as she put her arm around Sovereign's shoulder and they stepped into the elevator behind Duo. "After all,
nobody's going to tattle."
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
adjustments. Short combat life. The scientists had cloaked it in technical jargon, but the meaning was that she was flawed. If a fight lasted over an
hour, she would be utterly exhausted and unable to do anything with the demands of her armor on her own internal reserves. Obviously, they'd intended to
repair the flaw eventually, but there hadn't been time before she had led that disastrous escape attempt.
All of which meant that after one night on patrol, Sovereign felt herself lucky to have remembered the button that sent her armor to the armory racks in Riot
Base before she fell into bed. A broken piece of furniture would've completed her poor day. But even as she dozed off, there was only one hope in the young
looking woman's mind.
Please....please don't let me dream.
***
"So this is what they said you're supposed to use?" Rider asked, looking along the length of the hard, cold blade from behind her glasses,
throwing a tail of long violet hair over her shoulder absently. "It certainly seems to suit you."
"I'm glad this one does," Sovereign noted, turning it this way and that, feeling the weight resting comfortably in her hand. "The first
sword they gave me was some sort of large scimitar. It just didn't feel right at all, and they ran me through a few dozen other types before trying this
one."
The sky blue haired woman by the wall chuckled, getting confused looks from the two. "That could have been hilarious," Breaker noted. "Imagine
the codename if you'd actually been best suited to a saber or something. Saber Scimitar?" she sniggered. "You might get hit by friendly fire if
we ever shortened it because then we'd all be calling you Saber."
"Callin' who huwuzzah?" a dark haired figure noted, sitting up in bed behind Breaker, as Ruby blinked blearily at them all.
"Huh....s'Sove....Sove...name's t'long. Shoulda called you saybah or somethin', usin' swords. S'easier," she noted, before
rolling over and hiding her head under the covers, away from the awful burning light that was intruding on her attempts to sleep because of incosiderate
friends who should realize any sane person shouldn't be awake before ten or maybe even twelve on days they didn't have morning training.
"Say bah?" Sovereign blinked, getting a shrug from Rider and another amused snicker from Breaker.
"She has a point. Sovereign is so many extra syllables....Saber won't do, though. Something we can claim is just a random
name...Saber....Saybar....Saybiir....Seibiir....Seiber....Seiba...." she mused, before stopping as another purple haired girl, this one a bit shorter than
Rider and with less mature of a figure, entered the room before giving her a puzzled look.
"What're you doing, Breaker?" she wondered, getting a grin from the older woman.
"Trying to think up something less wordy than Sovereign's old name."
"...well, that last one actually sounded like a name," Violet considered thoughtfully.
"Seiba?" Rider said, pursing her lips in thought.
"Yeah. I like it. It's cute," Violet smiled.
"I have a name," Sovereign frowned. "I don't need to sound 'cute'."
"Oh, but you're already cute. Everyone knows it," Breaker grinned, getting an absent nod from Rider as Sovereign felt color rising to her cheeks.
"She is right," the tall woman noted. "At least, if I understand the definition correctly from how some of the personnel on base use
it. By that definition, she's not quite as cute as Archer, but close. Probably at least as much as Violet," she said finally with an unconscious nod
as she reasoned through to the conclusion, missing Violet's own slight blush.
"I still do not need to sound 'cute'," Sovereign protested.
***
"So now they won't stop calling me it when we're away from the guards," Sovereign grumbled.
Duo simply shrugged as she shucked the helmet off her heavy armor, while Ruby gave her a smile that Sovereign had learned meant trouble as she took off her
own.
"I don't know, they have a point. You certainly are cute. Maybe not adorable, like Archer, but cute," she grinned.
"I'm supposed to be the leader. I need to be authoritative. Inspiring. Intimidating, even. Not 'cute'," she said with another scowl.
Ruby grinned, playing with the strand of hair that almost always seemed to come loose of Sovereign's braid after she tied it back before suiting up.
"Well, besides that, it's a good name. It's one we gave you, not something like the numbers they call us....I like it," she said, leaning
against her.
Sovereign blinked, about to make another rebuttal before the last three words stopped her. "....I suppose you're right....if it just stays between our
group."
"Of course," Ruby smiled as she put her arm around Sovereign's shoulder and they stepped into the elevator behind Duo. "After all,
nobody's going to tattle."
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."