Chapter 4 : The Gathering of the Angels

The two entered the room, seeing several people that was new to Hakuen but to Sai it was just like seeing people you didn't think you'd see again.

He kept a straight face as he looked over at the people sitting in the room with tables in front of them.

There were over 11 other people in the room not counting the machine at the front of the room that was essentially a hovering television that had the ability to project holographic emoticons to demonstrate its feelings which of course had been briefing them as to why they were here.

The seats and tables were in rows of 3 for a total of five rows, having 15 in total which left a seat empty if they all took a seat.

The person sitting closest to the door had been a white haired male with sparkling blue eyes named Nokori, he was shorter than Sai by a few inches but he wasn't someone that Sai would've messed with.

The male wore black pants, a white hoodie which was covered over by a jean jacket

'' Nokori, the vice captain. You've always been straight to the point with Hakuen whenever a mission was going sideways and you were always hiding something close to your chest but I guess that can be said for just about most of the people here. You were always quite strong with your ice abilities and I always felt sorry for those in your path. '' Sai thought to himself.

He looked on at the person sitting next to Nokori, spotting an elven woman with bright white hair and a bluish hue to her skin while wearing a purple coat and pants with silver boots.

'' Lilaenna Moonshadow, an elven woman who didn't take any nonsense and was pretty good with ranged weaponry. She was very good at her job as Field Logistics and she normally kept those on the Field Team in line when the Field Captain wasn't around or wasn't in the best of mindsets. '' Sai continued to recall the team as he looked at them.

Hakuen nudged Sai to follow him to the back of the room where to empty chairs assigned to tables had been, where they'd both sit as they prepared for the start of the assembly.

During this time Sai continued to think about the other squadron members, looking on at the person on the other end of Lilaenna.

A younger looking male sat nearby with dark purple hair and eyes that had strange automated scanners embedded within his eyeballs, this had been an android who was a part of the group.

He wore an academic outfit similar to Hakuen, clearly having gone to the same institution as his but not for the same reason as Hakuen as it was to build his social abilities.

'' Skolas, all in one piece. His tools as an android were invaluable as the Field Scout, being able to do what was needed to assess uncharted territory as well as check out potentially dangerous locations before the rest of us engaged. His body is a dangerous weapon of war but luckily his constantly evolving personality matrix has shown him that fighting should be done only when all else fails to get the job done. '' Sai shifted his glance to the second row where the next set of squadron members had laid.

A short dwarven male sat in the seat, wearing a brown furry coat strapped with belts that contained small pockets for him to hoard things while also wearing thick brown pants and equally furry boots which essentially raised the question how did they contact this person and persuade him to come here.

'' Vorand the dwarf, he was always a bit rugged and slightly rough around the edges but he knew what he was doing when it came down to it and it wasn't a surprise when we found out that he became the Field Captain to lead the expeditions. He's pretty strong with the hammer but we all knew there's been something troubling his mind for a long time but we couldn't break the shell that kept his secrets out of arm's reach. '' Sai didn't want to think too hard on a single person as the thought of their demise would eventually cross his mind so he turned his head to the person next to him.

A gray haired male with faint red eyes, wearing a leather jacket with a white fur lining on the top with black pants and boots to match.

This person's name was Michael, his sitting posture was very relaxed which showed he hadn't a care in the world and Sai had known this to be the case.

'' Michael, a human male with increasingly potent reserves of physical strength with no restraint known to him unless someone pushes him to stop. His power placed him as one of the Ace Fighters of the Field Team since he wasn't responsible enough to handle much else. In his own way he was reliable when things were tough, not to say everyone else was weak but Michael's endurance and vitality was something we had no doubt in. He was a part of an experiment that granted him his strength but beyond that there are no other details I have regarding him. '' Sai tried not to think about Michael too much since he knew there were many other questions that may form if he thought about it too much.

The person next to Michael was even more lax, although it seemed he was more focused on something else aside from merely sitting there.

A blue haired male whose hair was held up by a pair of goggles who was noticeably shorter than the one next to him but not as short as the dwarf on the other side of Michael was tinkering with a cube with small utensils.

The male wore a red hoodie and a weathered black sleeveless vest, a pair of blue shorts and red sneakers with fingerless gloves covering his hands.

This person was the engineer, primarily responsible with keeping the ship in order and also in charge of the technology of anything else brought on board granted it needed to be taken care of.

'' Nate, the half merman-half dwarf who is in charge of all maintenance and upkeep of all things needed to be tinkered with. It's a hard job to juggle all these things without breaking a sweat but Nate has always been able to get it done even though he's a bit eccentric… Yeah that's how I'd describe him. I just wouldn't leave anything valuable around him though. I heard he had quite the criminal record before joining the squadron. '' Sai reminisced about the dynamic Nate had with the rest of the group.

He remembered how difficult it was to get along with him, several others were in the same boat regarding him but after time spent with him things got better.

The third row displayed a set of three females, a tall black haired woman, an average height redhead and a short blonde from left to right respectively.

The black haired woman was wearing a black bodysuit with a gray jacket over the top of it, her eyes had been a faint red and she was leaning her hand up against her own cheek, her elbow pressed against the table in front of her.

'' Adelaide otherwise referred to as Addie, the Squadron ship pilot. No one is as good behind the wheel as she is and I wouldn't dare think of a replacement for her. Just like Nate she has a bit of a record but we aren't privy to that knowledge, as far as we know she's good at talking to people and getting what she wants out of men who can't think straight. She's pretty good with a whip too. '' Sai recalled all that he could about her in his thoughts.

He then shifted his thoughts to the red haired woman sitting next to Adelaide, this particular person wore a white cardigan that covered her pink shirt and white pants.

'' Ethne, the Scientist in charge of all things regarding the peculiar aboard the ship and anything we may find out in the wild. If there is something we don't normally know, Ethne will quickly make sure to rectify it. She usually has headaches when she's in social settings too much so not many of us have pushed to be around her too often. '' Sai always wondered if she got herself checked up, seeing as how it might be dangerous to be dealing with headaches of that caliber but he was never close enough to her to recommend such a thing.

After his thoughts concluded regarding her, he had moved on to the blonde girl who was busy twirling her own locks while looking on ahead.

She wore an academic schoolgirl outfit similar to the others with the only difference being that she had a skirt instead of pants and that she was clearly the shortest girl in the group.

'' Lucia, the zoologist in the squadron's field team. She and any sorta wildlife usually gets along and she usually relays her information to Ethne. Most people would assume she can't take care of herself but she has a pretty good grip on her own inner energies and the world around her, she's one of our only mages in the squadron but that wasn't enough to stop what happened to us.. '' Sai's thoughts quickly went sour.

He knew how young she had been, and it was unfair that their lives were unfairly ripped away from them.

This was the cost of being a member of the Stellar Forces but Sai knew he couldn't tell someone not to be a part of the greater organization since it wasn't within his rights.

As for the next row, there had been only two other people left.

A brown haired female with short locks and a white cardigan that was complimented with blue pants and brown shoes while she was busy reading a small book while waiting for the meeting to begin.

'' Amalia, the person that would become the assigned doctor to the squadron. She had powers that resonated with Nature itself and was able to handle practically every injury we all sustained and her kindness spread to every single one of us. If there was a problem back in the day she was one of the few that was able to make things agreeable to everyone. She was so good at her job that our daunting foe knew to take her down first. '' Sai's thoughts once more returned to the very topic he wanted to avoid but it was hard to disassociate.

Last but not least, next to Amalia had been a male wearing a green long hooded jacket with faded blue jeans and strapped boots that was noticeably thin with gray hair and green highlights with faded green eyes to match.

'' Klein, one of the only other mages in the group who has a good financial sense and functions as the Accountant of the Squadron while also doubling as another hand when it comes to going out on expeditions to aid the group if need be. He had always seemed empty headed whenever he was alone, whatever was on his mind was something he didn't tell many of us. Whatever it was, it never really felt like he was one of us. '' These thoughts plagued him, he didn't know anything about his team that really helped him bond with them.

As he rounded out his thoughts about them in total he realized he didn't truly connect with them too much aside from the passive moments he spent with them up until the moment they were felled by the foe that led him unto the path that he was on now.

'' I thought I truly knew them but despite all that time I've only known observational surface level things about the majority of them. I can't truly consider myself their friend but at least I can also use this time to truly connect with them. '' Sai wanted to get to know them for who they were.

This time around he'd try to get to know them better than he did the first time around, in an odd way he was grateful that things went down the way they did otherwise he wouldn't have had this epiphany.

The hovering machine prepared itself to be turned on, at this point Sai and Hakuen had been situated with the rest of the others who had arrived earlier.

The meeting was set to begin.