The Time from Before

Simmer

Harper sat against the perimeter wall on the outskirts of the military base where she was currently stationed. Her gaze wandered beyond the perimeter, but a gust of wind flipping the pages of the booklet in her hands drew her attention back to the blank pages.

She sighed, and with a determined yet trembling hand, she began to write.

'Hey there.

It's been a rough couple of years.

Since my father... Since he left us, the weight of the Rosewood legacy has pressed down harder with each passing day. The current head of the family is doing a great job, but without Dad, it just isn't the same. Nothing is the same anymore.'

Pausing to collect her thoughts, Harper closed her eyes briefly before continuing.

'I've been doing a lot of thinking lately.

Ever since I've heard of the story of that one girl, my mind has been a blur.

And speaking of story, I'll write it here.

According to a few of my siblings, there was another one of us that happened to get out of the Dominion without a dishonorable discharge. Completely legally, free as one could be.

Her name is almost taboo, so I've never learned it.

As it turns out, that girl was one of the most skilled and prosperous members of the entire family. And ever since Dad died, she just up and vanished. I don't know how I don't know of her at all, but I digress.

So, Dad's gone, and she disappears. Countless battles, leading troops to victory, facing off against the Nixus unscathed, fighting with S_Units side by side, and she abandons it all.

But the story doesn't end there.

Turns out, she was Dad's flesh and blood, his one and only true daughter.

Why didn't she step up? What drove her to leave everything behind? No one knows, and perhaps we never will.

Even still, it's an inspiring story. To me. She just gets up and goes, leaving the Dominion, and leaving our family behind.

Can't I do that?

Well, no.

I'm still a Private. I can't leave on my own yet by Arctos Dominion regulation. But when I actually rank up, maybe. Just maybe, I can find myself as a civilian.

And I can see where my life goes from there.

Or that doesn't happen.'

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Allen's gaze drifted through the skeletal remains of what was once a vibrant, cozy living room. The air held a faint, musty scent of burnt wires and scorched fabric, while the remnants of a white, dusty film settled over every surface. The lights up above on the surface dangled loosely, with one sparking every so often.

He stood with his arms crossed, a defensive posture against the gravity of the moment. This apartment, once a haven lovingly crafted by Callie and Marie, was now a tapestry of ruin. The window, once the lens to the outside world, lay strewn across the floor in a web of glass shards.

The place where Sasha was kidnapped...

Allen's eyes landed on a more haunting sight: an ACU pinned to the far wall, its metal chest skewered by a twisted length of rebar. Its head had vanished, leaving behind only a hollow neck socket. He almost shuddered at the thought of what might have transpired to take it away.