((Er, I don't have time to post at the moment, since I gotta leave soon, but Jane, I thought it was just a campus? Is there a whole planet, or is it just a school floating in space? I'm confused.))

((Ad Astra is a space station. The regular city is situated on top but the miliatary base, school, and offices are located on the lower levels. I thought I told you... huh... *blink* Oh well! Now you know!

As for you, Eba: Your post is fine. No need to change. And it's okay that you didn't know we'd already started.))

~Abby~

Abby sat at the breakfast nook, her burnt pancakes hardly touched. Laid in front of her was the opened envelope and in her hand was the letter. She heard Fleur come in, but didn't acknowledge her. She was too deeply in shock to care. Setting the note down, Abby rested her chin on her interlaced fingers and simply stared at the wall in thought.

"Have you had a chance to read what's in the envelope? I've never gotten one of these before. It must be pretty important," Fleur said as she unloaded her groceries.

Abby deeply inhaled and finally said, "Yeah... I read it." In fact she'd read it many times over in case she'd misunderstood. Running her fingers through her hair, Abby picked up the letter once more. Clearing her throat, she found the right passage from the text and read aloud, "Due to outstanding work in the academy, the Meria hearby decreed your abilities in the service."

She looked up at Fleur and said, "We've been recruited."

She got up abruptly and began pacing back and forth between the kitchen and the living room. "We're going to be on our own. No one to tell us how to think, how to feel, how to act... except for our orders... but we'll be out there--" she pointed her finger at the large window that was the fourth wall of the living room "-- doing whatever we can to win."

She walked over to the window and stared down at the people below. This is what I've been dreaming about ever since I got here... to help people like them, she thought. No one will ever have the same fate as my parents ever again... not if I can help it.

She tore her eyes away from the window again and turned to Fleur, "It also says that we're to meet with our commanding officer at 7 tomorrow morning."

A sudden emotion swept over Abby's stomach, and she began to smile. A real, sparkle in the eye smile. It would've been the first time Abby had ever really done this since she'd been roommates with Fleur, "We've made it to the top..." she paused a moment and said, "Well that's at least what mine says. What about yours?"

((Er, graduated? Like, no more classes? Oh, that's no fun at all. My folks are just getting assigned a mission. They HAVE to go back to school! C'mon! And I'm just assigning my kids a mission in about a week, so y'all better come. Not sure what it is yet. Oh, and welcome, Ninahata!))

Haru

I stared skeptically at the letter as Glitch handed it to me. "Er, what's this?" I asked. He shrugged.

I stuck my finger under the edge and ripped it open, pulling out the paper inside.

- - - - -
Haru Anderson,

Due to your outstanding performance at Ad Astra Academy, you have been assigned to new mission. Please report to your commanding officer at 07:00 tomorrow for a debriefing and quick introduction to your teammates.

Ad Astra Administration
- - - - -

"Hey dude, what does yours say? Mine says I've got a mission," I told Glitch.

~Glitch~

He curiously watched his friend read his letter before Haru said, "Hey dude, what does yours say? Mine says I've got a mission."

Glitch's heart skipped a beat and he furiously ripped his letter open. He unfolded it, his stomach doing acrobatics all the while.

He read over the letter twice in shock. Sitting down on a nearby chair, Glitch stared at the floor and whispered, "I knew it... I knew it."

He brought his gaze back up to Haru, who was watching him cautiously, and said, "It says... It says..." he gulped, "that you're a skimpy skirt chaser." With a moments pause of seriousness, Glitch's lip began to twitch. He gave Haru a devious grin and added, holding the paper to face his friend, "Oh and it also says I'm on a mission."

Getting up, he began laughing heartily and gave Haru a strong high five. "This is great! Our first mission...." he walked to the bathroom door and set his letter down on a small coffee table. Beginning to take off his gnarly shirt, he added, "After my shower, we're going to celebrate with pizza. My treat." He pulled his shirt over and off his head and finished, "I wonder who else is on our squad..."

((Oh, BTW, Tsukiko doesn't have a roommate. She might have at one point, but she must've got scared and moved out. ))

Haru

"I knew it... I knew it," Glitch whispered. I gave him a funny look. "It says... It says..." he gulped, "that you're a skimpy skirt chaser." I rolled my eyes as he grinned deviously at me. "Oh and it also says I'm on a mission. This is great! Our first mission! After my shower, we're going to celebrate with pizza. My treat."

"That's more like it!" I cheered.

"I wonder who else is on our squad..." He wondered as he walked into the bathroom. I shook my head, turning on the TV. The guy worried too much. Besides, I was getting pizza!

-----------------------------------
Tsukiko

I had been in the middle of eating my cafeteria-bought dinner on my bed when a boy knocked on my door and delivered me a letter. I frowned as I read the paper.

- - - - -
Tsukiko,

Due to your outstanding performance at Ad Astra Academy, you have been assigned to new mission. Please report to your commanding officer at 07:00 tomorrow for a debriefing and quick introduction to your teammates.

Ad Astra Administration
- - - - -

I sighed. Just what I needed, a new mission. I'd had one a few months ago, and considering how it went, I was surprised to get another. The mission had been a terrible failure, due to the fact that no one on the team could cooperate with each other.

But maybe this one would be better, I told myself. Maybe these people won't know you, or won't mind you. It can be better.

Then again, maybe they'd just see me and freak out. But as I like to tell myself, que sera sera. What will be, will be. And that was that.

((Ashton and I collaborated our ideas for this one. This is both of our posts.))

~Abby~

Abby tucked her hands into her jean pockets as she walked along the dark sidewalk street. It had been a few hours since she'd attempted to make pancakes and she was hungry again, the charcoal rich diet wasn't suiting her lifestyle by far.

The streets were crowded with more people than usual. A couple here, and a group there... yet Abby felt as lonely as ever. The band on the center stage of the plaza had just ended their song and the crowd erupted in cheers. The blinking pizza sign hovered over the sidewalk, it's purple and green lights beckoned visitors inside, which just so happened to be Abby's destination.

She entered the pizzeria and successfully ducked into the crowd of other teenagers waiting in line. It was a busy night for business because of the band outside.

The lead singer, a girl roughly about 20 years of age, moved up close to the microphone. Abby could hear her as she addressed the crowd, "Alright, guys... The music's starting to get a little slow. Why don't we pick it up a little." People clapped and she glanced back at her band, "How about a little Blue Man Group?"

The crowd applauded excitedly and the band started up. Abby tapped her heel to the music as she mentally sang along with "I Feel Love". She loved the oldies.

Meanwhile, oblivious to the company behind her, Glitch and Haru walked in through the pizzeria doors, laughing heartily.

~Haru~

"...so then Angie says, 'Hey, that's my bra!' And the rest of us were just like, 'Dude. Didn't need to know that!'" Haru recalled to Glitch animatedly, moving his hands along with the story. "So I guess it's kinda over with Angie, after that." He sighed. "Man, am I hungry. And that has got to be the longest line I've ever seen. Are the lines longer when I'm hungry, or is it just me?"

"It's just you," Glitch told him. "But the lines really are long tonight. It must be because of that band." He gestured towards the girl singing on the stage outside. "They're pretty good, eh?"

"I guess," Haru agreed, not really paying attention. "Hey, who's that?"

"Who?"

"Her!" Haru dropped his voice and pointed towards the girl with reddish-blonde hair that was up in a ponytail right in front of them. "I hear redheads are pretty wild, y'know?" He grinned. "Watch and learn, my friend."

Clearing his throat, Haru put on his best 'good-guy' smile and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Miss--YOU!"

The girl, Abby, turned around to see Haru's face twisted into a hideous expression of shock and horror. "Actually, it's Miss Robbins, thanks," she said. She raised her eyebrows and gave a fleeting look between the two boys before asking, "Are you two a gay couple or something? I never see one without the other..."

Glitch and Haru glanced at each other, and Haru immediately jumped into Glitch's outstretched arms. "How could I ever have lived without you before?!" He cried. "Take me, Glitch! Take me hard!"

Abby just blinked, and Glitch dropped his idiot friend to the floor. Haru groaned as he slowly got to his feet and Glitch smiled awkwardly, basically apologetically, to Abby.

~Abby~

She folded her arms and tempermentally asked, "So what the hell do you want?"

Haru replied, grabbing onto Glitch's shoulder for support, "You don't gotta be so rude!" He straightened up and cracked his back.

Abby snapped in reply, "Rude? Rude. You freaked out once you saw my face. How's that for being rude?" She looked Haru up and down and said, with a sneer, "And if I didn't have any sense of politeness, I wouldn't blame anyone for freaking out upon seeing you either."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Haru asked, stepping forward.

"Oh, you know exactly what I mean," she jeered, stepping up to him as well.

Glitch said quietly, "Hey, guys. Cut it out."

"What're you gonna do, huh? Hit me?" Haru taunted.

"I just might," Abby said, raising her fist but Glitch grabbed onto her wrist. He held firmly but not enough to hurt her.

"I said stop," he said, glaring at the both of them. By this time, a majority of the people standing in line stepped backward and watched as the scene unfolded. "You're acting stupid. This is no place to start a fight," Glitch said, lowering Abby's wrist. The sound from the band outside eerily echoed through the room, due to the fact that the majority of the people there dared to breath.

Abby's eyes narrowed at Haru and he returned the gesture of loathing. Glitch continued, looking between the two, "Now stop it."

Without being told again, Abby pushed through Haru and Glitch and stomped off to the door. She left in a huff, leaving the observers slightly disappointed they didn't get to see any action. Some muttered to others, "A lover's quarrel? Gay couple? Who was that?"

Once outside, Abby shoved past bystanders trying to watch the show and emerged into the clearing of the street. She ran down the lane and ducked into an alleyway. Smacking her back against the cold bricks, Abby panted and glanced into the street to make sure she wasn't followed. Certain of it, she slid down the wall and slumped to the ground. Once there, she felt that foolish pain well up inside of her again. No, stop. Don't cry. You're not allowed to cry, she told her self, clutching her hands over her face.

But the emotion was too powerful, even for the stubborn Abigail Robbins. It started as shuddering gasps and then turned into a river of salty tears streaming down her face. I hate him, she thought. Both of them. She tucked her legs into her chest and buried her face into her knees.

The once indestructible Abby was now no more than a small, little girl being teased on the playground.

((Damn! I love long posts! Great job, Ashton! Bonus points for teamwork! ))

((Why McDonalds? Because people will always love greasy, nasty food. Long Live Micky D's.))

Haru

"Dammit, Glitch, what did you go and do that for?" I huffed as Abby Robbins stomped off towards the exit. "I'm outta here."

"But the pizza--"

"Lost my appetite!" I called angrily from the doorway.

Which was, of course, a lie. I was starving. Which meant it was time to hit the nearest fast-food restaurant and inhale some grub.

Five minutes later, I found myself sitting alone in a McDonalds booth, scarfing down a hamburger and a plethora of greasy fries. Not the healthiest choice, to be sure, but the tastiest. Eating alone, as I was finding out, wasn't all it's cracked up to be.

"Haru!"

Ah. Not alone, then.

"Like, omigod!" Kelly squealed loudly. I winced. "What are you doing here?"

I nodded towards the food, throwing another handful of fries into my mouth.

"What a coincidence, that we met twice in one night!"

You could call it coincidence, or you could call it desperation, I thought to myself. I'd heard stories about this girl. She was fun for awhile, but she was needy and clingy. Two bad things for any guy. Plus, she wasn't exactly the brightest chick around. Her last boyfriend, Todd Ruskus, was a friend of mine, and had told me all about her. She probably can't even get dates after she broke up with Todd. Bad move on her part, if you ask me.

Out loud I said, "Did you get your book?"

She looked confused. "What? What book?"

"The one you went into Binders for," I reminded her.

She blinked a few times, then realization dawned on her face. "Oh yeah! That book! No, I couldn't find it. But I did run into that girl that was talking to you, the weird one. And you were right. Boy, is she a nutjob!" Kelly laughed, but it was more out of malice than amusement.

I frowned. Ran into her? Oh, I doubt that, I thought. You probably didn't even need a book, you just wanted to scout out every girl I've ever talked to. She's probably a stalker.

"What did you guys talk about?" I asked between bites of hamburger.

She froze, but recovered quickly. "Oh, you know, this and that!" She swashed her hands in the air, as if waving the topic away. "But enough about that! I thought you had an essay to write?"

"I do," I answered truthfully. "But I didn't feel like writing it." I shoved the last bite of burger in my mouth and licked my fingers.

"Oh? Then do you wanna go see that movie with me now? I promise it'll be fun," she said in a sultry voice. "Movie theaters are nice and dark, and nobody can see you..." She trailed off, grinning seductively. But I wasn't buying any of it.

"You know what? It's getting late, and I have to be somewhere tomorrow morning," I told Kelly, walking past her as I got up to throw my wrappers away. She frowned.

"A date?" She asked suspiciously.

"Yep," I lied easily. Her eyes went wide, and her frown became a pouty scowl.

"With who?" She insisted.

I turned my head around around, gave her a serious look, and said, "Cavan Kilgour-Kavanaugh." Then I walked away, grinning to myself. I wondered how long it would take her to figure out it was Glitch. I could hear her behind me, whipping out her cell phone to call her friends and find out everything she could about this mysterious person.

Definitely a stalker, I told myself. Definitely.

Fleur sighed and sat on the bed. "Ignored...again," she thought. She stared at her open letter and flopped down onto her back, letting out another loud sigh. She could try calling someone, but who? Abby was her roommate. How weird would that be?

\\Enter Dream Sequence\\

The phone rang and then a moment later a familiar voice answer, "Hello.

"Hey Abby. It's me Fleur. You want to do something?"

"Why are you calling me?"

"Well, I, um... you know. I'm bored. I figured that since--"

"We're roommates. We see each other all the time."

"--we're roommates, we could go do something together and get to know each other."

Silence.

"Abby, you there?"

"Stop wasting my time." Click. And then silence once again.

//End Dream Sequence//

She sighed and rolled over in bed, staring at a picture of her family: mother, brother, and sister.

"I made it," she whispered to it. "I'm on my first mission. I know you guys would be proud." And then, the picture of her real parents, before her mom has passed away. She didn't cry about it anymore, not really. She'd been told that sometimes she did in her sleep, but she didn't recall. Bored out of her mind with no place to go, she pushed off of the bed and went to make herself some dinner, hoping that Abby would be back soon, so that they could talk.

((Sorry it kinda sucked. I can't really think. I'm very sleep depraved right now. Thanks for the welcome, blonde_warning!))

~Abby~

Abby shuffled down the street once more, occasionally wiping her cheeks clean from any remnant of crying. She hung her head low, staring at the sidewalk in front of her. The lights from store signs or street lamps illuminated her path, almost like a virutal walk of shame. She'd nearly lost her head in the pizzeria, and she was thoroughly embarrassed about it. That jerk Glitch told her off for doing it too, which didn't help the situation either.

Before she knew it, Abby was climbing the stairs, a long way up to the seventh floor. She didn't mind the walk, instead it let her clear her head. She skipped out on her run today on account of being too excited to concentrate. Her heart skipped again and she suddenly felt a little better, That reminds me... I've got a mission tomorrow. At least I might be able to get along with the other recruits.

Abby stepped up the last set of stairs and pushed the door open and walked down the hall to the corner apartment. She slid her key into the slot and entered the room. She found Fleur in the kitchen, busily working away at a dinner that Abby wouldn't want to eat. Closing the door behind her and stepped inside, moving past the kitchen entryway she said gloomily, "I'm going to bed."

At that, she changed into her pajamas and tucked herself into bed. She faced the wall, wide eyed, pretending to sleep but the excitement was just too overwhelming. Her stomach twisted and churned inside her body, making her feel sick; but Abby just knew that it was nerves. Her mind raced with predicitions about the mission, adventures they'd have, and finally acceptance into a group.

She also realized, to her dismay, that Fleur was to be on a mission as well. Abby hoped that she wasn't on the same squad, for some reason Abby felt that Fleur seemed stuck up. It could have just been because Abby's not too kind to her as well.

She closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep, impatiently awaiting the next morning.

~Glitch~

Stretching out on the couch, Glitch gripped onto the video game controller and watched the opening animation to the beginning song. A half-eaten pizza laid in the opened box next to him, slowly cooling off. Haru still wasn't home yet, but Glitch really didn't mind. Having the place to himself once in a while was nice, quiet.

Almost as if thinking too soon, there was a sharp knock on the door. Glitch grunted and got up off the couch. "What, Haru, forget your key, too?" he asked, opening the door.

But it wasn't Haru staring back at him. It was a group--no, a mob--of three girls, all looking like they wanted to kill him.

"Uhh... hi?" Glitch said, smiling awkwardly.

"Is it true?" one of the girls said, pouting.

"Come again?" Glitch asked, rightfully confused.

"Is it true that Haru is bi?" a second demanded.

Glitch's eye twitched, massaging the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on, he asked again, "What was that?"

"Is it true that Haru has a boyfriend?" the third piped in.

"I heard his name was Cavan..."

He blinked and began, "Who ever said that--?" Suddenly, Glitch sagged and grabbed onto the door in support, "I'm going to kill him... I'll kill him..." The girls stared at each other wildly then back at Glitch. Regaining his composure, Glitch asked, barely audibly, "Who told you to come here?"

"Kelly. She said Haru told her," one said, watching Glitch carefully.

He took a deep breath and remembered that this must have been the clingy girl from before. With an idea, Glitch voiced, "What was that name, again?"

"Cavan Kilgour-Kavanaugh," the first said, nodding.

"Cavan... Cavan..." Glitch said, tapping his hands on his chin thoughtfully. "Wait, isn't it that one guy who was exiled from the throne on his home planet after some terrorists invaded the palace? It was all over the papers when it happened. I thought he was dead."

"He's dead? Then what was--"

"Sorry! Can't help you there! I don't know any other Cavan. Bye!" he quickly shut the door in their faces and pressed his back against it, almost expecting them to barge through demanding more answers.

He heard the girls leave, talking about him. "He was cute." "Cute?! That's Haru's room mate, Glitch. You should see him out on the Koasati field. He's amazing." "Really?" "Yeah! You should see him sometime..."

Glitch rested the back of his head on the door and took an angry deep breath. Judging from the look in Glitch's face, Haru was bound to find a horse's head in his bed that night, for sure.

Other than that, Glitch was grateful that the girls didn't know that it was actually his life story they were talking about. If they had delved into the school records and found the boarding list, they would know most definitely he had fooled them.

He pushed off the door and walked back over to his game. Suddenly too distracted to play anymore, he flicked the power off and walked into his dark bedroom. He pulled off his shirt and pants, and stepped into bed with his boxers. He tucked his hands in behind his head and stared at the ceiling.

His thoughts went through the excitement of the mission, to his fury with Haru, and finally rested upon the mystery that was Abby. There was something about her that Glitch found interesting, although her brashness seemed to be getting in the way. He couldn't explain his feelings. Did he like her? He shook the thought out of his mind and concluded that Abby was too independent and stubborn for being even remotely approachable.

He drifted off into sleep, patiently awaiting the next morning's events.

((Ugh, finally done with my fic chapter. Finally. I am SO glad that's done.))

Haru

I snuck back into the room as quietly as I could, thankful that I'd remembered my key for once. I didn't want to wake Glitch up, especially after our fight. I didn't think he would hold a grudge or still be mad at me or anything, and I knew it had been my fault, but there was no way in hell I was gonna go apologize to him.

Silent as a squeaky door, I brushed my teeth and climbed into my bed, letting sleep take me.

((Those last two words made me laugh. Sleep took him? If sleep were a person that'd be dirty. Ahahaha. Oh, and it's short, but what could I do? My brain is dead from action-y scenes. That and watching Zuko's Agni Kai sequence in episode 3 of Avatar. *drool* Somebody wanna post for the next morning's meeting? Cuz that'd be great.))

~Abby~

Abby's eyes snapped open at the sound of her alarm clock radio. She threw the covers off of herself and tapped the radio off as she hurried across the room to get to the closet. There, she pulled out a clean uniform and began to get dressed.

She jumped into the blue pleated miniskirt and pulled on the jacket with the school crest on her arm to match, buttoning it up, she walked over to the door and brought out her black shoes. Moving back into the bedroom, she pulled on her thigh-high white socks lined with two strips of blue running length wise. Quickly fiddling with her tie, she made her way into the bathroom and did her daily business.

Emerging with her hair in the usual ponytail, she walked over to Fleur's bed and tapped her shoulder. "Fleur... Fleur. You have to get up now," she glanced at the clock and saw that they had roughly forty-five minutes to go. Plenty of time left for her to get ready. "Come on, Fleur. Get up or else you'll be late."

~Glitch~

Glitch's morning however was even less exciting. He sat on the couch, eating cereal and watching the television. He barely got any sleep the night previous, due to his racing mind.

"Hey, Haru," he called over the news man's voice, "Get up." No reply. Getting up, Glitch set down his bowl on the cluttered coffee table and moved into the doorway and said, "Get up now."

Haru groaned and rolled over, smothering his face into the pillow.

"You're going to be late for the meeting!"

"Nnnugh. Five more minutes."

Crossing his arms, Glitch said loudly, "Kelly Green is out here waiting for you to explain yourself about last night." Haru's head snapped up, rolled out of bed onto the floor. Glitch laughed and said, "That was easy."

He walked back into the living room and continued eating his cereal. He was already fully dressed in his uniform. Blue pants lined with double stripes running the length of the legs, a high collared blue uniform with the school crest on his left upper arm.

"So," Glitch said, spooning another mouthful of cereal into his mouth, "I had some visitors last night... Apparently they were some of Kelly's friend..." Glitch let himself trail off, hinting the fact that he knew what Haru had said. After a night's rest on it, Glitch actually found the whole ordeal to be quite amusing.

((Another collaboration with Ashton. ))

//Fleur//

Fleur sat up quickly, speaking in her energetic voice. "I'm UP! Now please let me have five more minutes of sleep!" And with that she fell back down and rolled over. She'd only been half awake. However, Abby would not let her rest. Continuing to shake her, Fleur eventually half rolled, half stumbled out of bed and staggered to the bathroom. Her long red hair swayed as she did so, touching itself to the top of her bottom cheeks.

When she got in the bathroom, she glanced at the mirror and jumped. There were tears on her cheeks. Had she been crying? She tried to remember what she'd dreamt about the other night. Her parents. Her real ones before everything went wrong. She shook her head to clear her mind and then got into the shower. Twenty minutes later, she finished tucking the last bit of hair up into her bun and walked out of the bathroom, dressed in the school uniform.

"Thanks for waking me Abby. You want some juice?" she asked leaning into the refrigerator and pouring some orange juice into a glass she'd just retrieved from cabinet. Downing it in a couple gulps, she put the dish in the sink, and pulled on her socks and shoes before heading for the door. She stopped to wait for Abby. "We better get going. Fifteen till." Fleur was looking forward to this mission. It was her chance to get Abby to open up. Perhaps we can become friends after all.

//David//

David set at the breakfast table looking over his notes one more time. Already dressed in the school uniform, he was sitting down to breakfast. He sighed. "0700 hours. He glanced at the clock. 15 minutes. He placed his cereal bowl in the sink and headed for the door. He hadn't been able to eat much because he was nervous, which definitely wasn't good. Breakfast was the most important meal of the day, after all.

He turned back around and grabbed two granola bars that he shoved in his pocket and then headed back out the door. Locking his room behind him, David headed to the elevator and stepped in, pushing the down button.

~Abby~

"No thanks," she said when Fleur offered her a glass of juice. Instead she picked out an apple and a banana from the counter and tucked them into her jacket pockets. Slipping on her shoes, she waited for Fleur to finish before she opened the door and grabbed the keys on her way out.

Following Fleur out the door, she heard the click as it locked and the two made their way down the hallway. It was still pretty early for anyone to really start getting up yet, so the halls were quiet. At the end of the hallway was the elevator, Abby jammed her thumb into the button and didn't say a word as the whirring of the air combustion shafts shifted into motion.

She moved up against the wall and rested her flat foot against the wallpaper, picking at her nails. The excitement was now beginning to wear away, sleepiness taking it's place. She kept waking up throughout the night, worried that she had overslept.

Suddenly the elevator binged and the doors slid open. Pushing off the wall, she and Fleur walked into the elevator and pushed the lobby button. The doors slid shut and they began to descend.

Abby watched the numbers decrease until suddenly it stopped on the sixth floor. The doors slid open to reveal...

~Glitch~

"Haru, I'm not waiting any longer," Glitch said, halfway out the door, sticking his foot through the crevice to keep it open. He did up the gold buttons to add the last finishing touch to his uniform. The apartment door next to his suddenly opened and emerged from within was David.

Glitch nodded to him in acknowledgement and watched as he walked down the hallway to the elevator. "Haru! Now!" Glitch said, uging him on so they didn't miss the trip down.

The elevator doors closed and David disappeared. Groaning, Glitch reached inside the door and grabbed Haru by the collar and practically dragged him down the hallway. He pressed the button and waited patiently, patting down his stunning green hair, he tried to make it somewhat presentable.

The elevator rang and the doors slid open to reveal Abby and her room mate whom Glitch was not yet familiar with yet. He amiably nodded to them both and filed inside. Abby, however, didn't seem all that happy. She inched away from Glitch who stood next to her and tried to stand in the back of the small box.

Glitch's face fell a little and thought, She must be embarrassed about last night... Regaining his usual personality, he said cheerfully, "Hi. I'm Glitch. I don't think we've met before." He held out his hand to Fleur, his green eyes sparkling, almost enchantingly at her. It was accidental, but it was one of his charms with girls. Apparently it didn't work on Abby.

//Fleur//

Fleur glanced at Abby, eyeing her strange response and then offered a hesistant smile. "Hello. I'm Fleur. It's a pleasure to meet you." She glanced him over. Fairly attractive. She took his hand firmly and shook it. "And you are?" she asked, extending a hand to Haru as well.

She stared at them both and then glanced at Abby out of the corner of her eye. As she waited for Haru to respond, she watch the numbers decrease as the went down, the elevators finally dinging open as they reached the first floor. There, a blond boy stood in the middle of the lobby looking confused.

//David//

David looked as his watch and then returned to watching the numbers descend until they reached floor one. He stepped out of the giant metal cage. "Plenty of time to make it...to wherever I'm going." He stopped. All the letter has said was that he was to meet his commanding officer. He couldn't recall where it told him to go though. He looked around confused. Where woulda a commanding officer be?

He heard the elevator ding behind him and he turned to see Glitch, Haru, and two girls he didn't recognize, though one reminded him suspiciously of the girl who had pranced into Tactician class one day dressed in the most eye opening costume he'd ever seen. He stepped forward.

"Er, excuse me... would any of you happen to know where the Commanding Officer's office is?"

Haru

"Officer's office..." I snickered. "That sounds funny." Glitch elbowed me in the side. "Oh! I almost forgot!" I turned to Fleur, grabbing her hand and shaking it firmly and giving her a flirtatious smile. "I'm Haru Anderson, and believe me, the pleasure is all mine."

Resuming seriousness, I thought hard about where the commanding officer would be. "I think he'll be at the school, won't he?" I suggested. "Isn't that where all those government big-wigs are at? I bet he'll be there." I glanced at my watch. "Yeah, we'll have plenty of time to get there. No problems," I said, taking off towards the door.

((Short, yes, but I need breakfast. Pronto.))

~Glitch~

"Wait, hold on," he said, looking at the paper in his hands. "It says here that the office is down 4 main levels to the military base in section 7B. From there we take 2 lefts and a right and it's at the end of the hall."

Glitch looked up smiling only to have Haru staring at him. "What?" he asked, his face faultering.

"How do you know that?" he asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Map," Glitch said, holding it up to reveal that it was on the back of the letter that they had all recieved.

Abby rolled her eyes and walked away towards the exit. "What?!" Glitch said, half-laughing as he followed her out the door. The only way to get down to the lower levels was a high-speed elevator. Although this elevator could go at extremely high speeds, it wasn't burdened by the usual up and down movements of any regular shaft. It could to sideways, diagonal or around in circles; wherever the destination, it could take you there.

There were two versions of the elevator, one for a maximum of two people or one for at most 12. The group filed into the larger one and their journey down to the lower levels began. The navigation panel was just a simple key pad with a series of numbers and letters. Glitch tapped in the right level and section and they were wizzed off to the meeting. The elevator was different on the interior as well. It was a circular pod with a row of seats lining the curved wall. In the center was a table for any sort of object to be placed upon it. The walls were made mostly of glass, allowing the passengers inside to watch as the lights zoomed passed and other tunnels branched off from theirs.

Before anyone could have guessed, the pod slowed and the door hissed open to reveal a white lobby with a lone secretary sitting at the circular desk at the back of the room. Approaching the desk, Glitch said, "Uh... hi. We're here to see Lt. Nuual."

The skinny woman looked up over her glasses and glanced Glitch up and down. She went back to filling out some sort of paperwork and said, "To the right all the way down the hall, make two lefts and the office is right at the end of the corridor. You can't miss it."

Glitch navigated the route through the air with his finger and said, "Thank you," as he walked to the right of the desk and proceeded down the hall. Following the woman's directions, the group found themselves standing before a door.

Glitch rapped lightly on the glass and it opened automatically. Entering cautiously, Glitch stuck his head inside and called out, "Hello?"

From the corner of the room out sprouted a woman with a firecracker and exploded it in Glitch's face. The colorful paper erupted into the air and fell back down to the floor. "Congratulations!" the woman said, opening her arms wide.

Glitch rubbed his face and blinked, surprised, "Wh-what?"

"You've been promoted!" she said, grinning widely. She was a tall woman, slender, but fit. Her skin color was dark, but her eyes were a shining purple. Her hair flowed down over her shoulders and covered some of her many badges that flourished her white jacket. She wore a long white skirt with black high heels. She was very attractive, and not to mention young.

"I'm so glad to finally meet all of you in person!" she said, clapping her hands together. She glanced over every one of them before finally saying, "Oh my you've all grown to be a bunch of attractive lookin' kids." She pointed her finger at Haru and added, "Let me tell you, you were one goofy looking kid when you arrived here, Haru Anderson."

Glitch gave Haru a side glance and his lip curled into a teasing smile. "And your hair!" the woman said, coming over to Glitch and attempting to pat it down.

"Umm... can I ask for you name, please?" Glitch said, bowing his head down to try and escape her hands.

"Sure you can," she said, smiling. She tucked her hands behind her back and continued to grin down at the lot of them.

Glitch watched her patiently before realizing she wasn't going to answer him that way. "I'm sorry, what is your name," he said.

"I'm Lt. Rebecca Nuual, your commanding officer," she said cheerfully.

Tsukiko

Dammit, I'm late! Of all the days to forget to set my alarm clock...

I glanced at my watch. Yep, definitely late. I ran down the hall, knocking into at least two military men on way and coming to an abrupt stop just before the doorway. My hair was disheveled, my skirt was crooked, and I looked a mess.

"...Rebecca Nuual, your commanding officer," I could hear from inside the room.

I took a deep breath, fixed my skirt and patted down my hair, and stepped into the office looking cool as a cucumber.

"Tsukiko!" Exclaimed a tall woman with dark skin, walking towards me. For a horrifying moment, I thought she was going to hug me. "You were such a timid little thing when you first came here! But from what I've heard, you can stand your ground just fine now, eh?" She grinned at me.

Clearly, someone got their coffee this morning, I thought to myself as I stared impassively at this overly-cheerful person. Who the hell is that cheery at 7:00 in the morning?

"Y-You!"

I groaned.

--------------------------------------
Haru

"Y-You!" I cried, pointing an accusing finger.

"Actually, Haru, her name is Tsukiko," Lt. Nuual corrected me politely. "I take it you two have met?"

"Er, yeah," I muttered, dropping my arm limply to my side, blushing and averting my eyes in embarassment at my outburst.

"That's great!" Lt. Nuual said excitedly, clapping her hands together like a child. "Now, let's all introduce ourselves, and then I'll give you your mission overview, okay? Okay! I've already told you who I am, so let's start with... Haru!"

I had to remind myself not to swear in front of my commanding officer. "Uh, Haru Anderson," I said lamely. But hey, you can't be charming all the time.

"Wonderful!" Nuual said. "Next?" She pointed to Tsukiko, who looked none too happy to be there.

"Tsukiko," she responded tonelessly.

"Fantastic! Next?" She pointed at Glitch.

~Glitch~

He jumped a little as Nuual moved to him and paused before saying, "Sorry for breaking the routine or anything but... we kind of already know each other already. No need for introductions. And since you apparently know us," Glitch faultered and tried to find the right words, "isn't it kind of... frivilous when there is something more important that you obviously needed to tell us about?"

Nuual looked at Glitch for a moment before smiling, "I like you already, Mr. Kilgour-Kavanaugh."

Glitch averted his eyes and thought, Great. She knows my real name... meaning she must know about home.

Nuual walked around the desk and pulled out a small disk about the size of a nickel. She then proceeded to the pure white wall and placed the disk into a small holding unit. The lights suddenly dimmed and Nuual turned back to the wall and, believe it or not, walked straight through it.

Glitch stared in disbelief at what had just happened and stared wildly at his squad mates. Nuual poked her head back in through the wall and said, "Well come on! Time is of... well, it's just important." She ducked back through the wall and Glitch cautiously approached. He slowly extended his hand and stuck his fingers through the apparently solid matter. It felt cool, almost like water, but when he pulled his fingers back out they were still perfectly dry.

An arm shot out from the wall and grabbed onto his own, ripping him inside. An involuntary noise escaped him as he straightened and saw that he was now inside a different room-- or at least what he could guess was a room. It looked like--

"A galaxy," Glitch said in amazement. As everyone else appeared behind him, Glitch stepped forward and circled the 3-D illusion. From what he could tell, it was a hollographic image projected into the center of the room.

"Precisely. The galaxy Andromeda," Nuual said, following him. "Right now, we are here," she tapped onto a center section of the galaxy and the billions of stars exploded outward to zoom them closer into the picture. Nuual continued to do this until the entire space station they were standing on was right in front of them in a tiny hollographic image.

Glitch saw Abby walking through the stars, careful not to touch any one of them incase she ruined the picture. But she backed up, amazed at the scene displayed in front of her, and passed through a large blue planet. The planet distorted and wharped until it renewed it's original shape. She smiled slightly at what she had done and saw that Glitch was watching her. Her face immediately fell and she turned away.

Glitch only tore his eyes away from her when he noticed Nuual began speaking again, "Ad Astra is a sanctuary for those unfortunate enough to share the same fates that so many like them have. Like myself, you have all found this place to be a safe haven. It's our only home now.

"We help those who are lucky enough to escape our fate and fight to make sure it doesn't happen again," Nuual continued, her voice strangely calm from how it was a few minutes previous. "You six, plus another two who will meet with you later, have been chosen to complete a mission on the planet Goidelia."

Glitch's stomach flipped and he turned away, walking to the far sides of the room. He put his hand on the wall and stared at the ground with wide eyes. His breathing became short and ragged. He turned and said, almost a hint of fear in his voice, "Why are we going there?"

Nuual's eyes fell and she said, "I know it may be hard, Mr. Kilgour-Kavan--"

"It's Glitch," he snapped, interrupting her. Glitch almost never snapped at anyone, but this time he had a personal reason.

"Right. Glitch," Lt. Nuual corrected herself, soothingly smiling. Her eyes displayed compassion and understanding, which oddly enough seemed to calm him. "Goidelia is a planet on the brink of a deadly civil war between the current dictator and various rebellion groups," she continued, addressing the rest of the squad. "Although this has been raging for years, this is the time when we are truly needed most."

At this piece of information, Glitch blinked a few times and stared at the floor once more. Nuual saw him and paused for a second before continuing, "Goidelia--" she tapped on the illusion of Ad Astra once more and the picture zoomed back to the original galaxy. Grabbing onto the edge of the galaxy, Nuual pulled the image closer and zoomed in on the large green and blue planet with two large moons orbiting it. Also, two rings encircled the planet, crisscrossing at the polar points, "--is located on the outer region of the galaxy. It is one of the most powerful planets in the galaxy and is heavily depended upon for trading and resources. You will be deported on a small Setali aircraft that will take you directly to the planet.

"From there you must find The Bitheadh, ask for shelter, and in return help them achieve the goal they've been dreaming of for years."

Abby spoke for the first time since they had arrived, "But why should we help them revolt? How do we know that it'll be best for them?"

Nuual said after a moment's thought, "You will see in due time, no doubt." Abby's brow furrowed and she glanced at Glitch before quickly looking away and watching the two moons of Goidelia orbit.

"Your transport is leaving tonight in approximately twelve hours from now. They will expect your expertise and help while on board so I hope that you give them no reason to throw you overboard." From her front pocket, Nuual distributed small holographic chips to each person and said, "This is your homework for today. It's a list of everything you may need for the trip. It also has a culture background to help give you some idea about how to blend in. Any questions?"

Haru

"No, ma'am," I said, grabbing Glitch by the arm and darting out of the room. I dragged him down the hall until I was sure no one was around to listen. "Dude, what's your problem? I've never seen you snap at anyone like that. And at the commanding officer? I know something's up, now tell me what it is!"

((Shortness! w00t!))

~Glitch~

He observed his concerned friend with sadness in his eyes and he took a deep breath. Running his fingers through his hair, he drew his gaze up to the ceiling and admitted quietly after a moment, "That's my home."

He massaged the back of his neck before letting his hand fall to the side, "I promised myself I'd never go back there. Not after..." Glitch trailed off and something glistened in the corner of his eyes, he turned away quickly and wiped them away. He continued to face the wall, and put his hands on his hips, trying to keep it together, "When you see what I have... something like that never leaves you. You have no idea..."

At that, Glitch walked away leaving his friend stunned behind him. Right then, Glitch wanted to be alone for a while. He stepped back into an individual pod and was rocketed back to the surface, back towards the apartment.

~Abby~

Abby turned around the corner and saw Glitch walking away, back to the main lobby. She paused for a second and considered turning right back around again, but thought that being nosey was more interesting. "What's his deal?" she asked, approaching Haru from behind. With a devious little grin she added, "Did you break up with him?"