War in Peace

Jericho got into a device that looked like an escape pod, but it was attached to his floor. The black lettering on the side of the machine said [VR Station], a system that Jericho himself had helped to create, it made him proud that more and more people were gaining access to it... all because they could play their favorite games as if they were the main character, no controllers needed.

The main hatch of the system closed and Jericho said, "Hello ADA..."

The machine made a soothing whirring sound before coming into what looked like a gigantic room where the walls shimmered practically every color of the rainbow. A sweet female, yet mechanical, voice replied to his own.

"Welcome back Jericho... do you have a game in mind, or would you like to do something else?"

Jericho pondered the question for a second before saying, "Actually, I want to see if Vincent and Literon are on." as he finished his reply a screen came up in front of him as if it had inflated like a baloon, something he always found amusing, and two usernames were highlighted, Vincent_Strife21 and LiteronNaogon. Jericho gave a smirk as he saw that both had the Online notation next to their names.

"ADA... send and invite to both of them for Battlefield 3." Another musical whir sounded as ADA sent the message. With a few quick and practiced movements of his hands he brought up the play option for Battlefield 3. Just as he had finished making his Balamb character look the way he wanted him to, he recieved notifications that his brothers had joined his squad, his older brother spoke first.

"So... what's tonights playlist?" he said in an interested tone, Jericho began to think to himself, "Good, the latest update fixed the party audio-chat..." he paused for a second as he browsed his favorite servers, when he came across two he switched back to the party chat.

"Well, tonight's playlist is either TDM on PCMs, or Conquest on the default playlist." he informed them. "Which do you guys want?" he asked out of curiosity, he had an idea which they would pick, but decided to wait for them.

His younger brother, only by a few months, spoke up next.

"It depends on what PCMs we're playing on..." even though he didn't say he wanted to, Jericho could tell by the sound in his voice that he wanted to try something new, and so Jericho indulged his brother's curiosity.

"it's maps that were made to balance the potential of all the classes, so that snipers would be on the same playing field as the other characters." Literon had made a sound that sounded like he was interested and Jericho had them all jump into the lobby, fortunately there were fewer characters on the Balamb side, most likely from either a bad connection or the other team had won and the losers were pissed. Jericho watched the countdown draw to zero and prepared to drop into the game.

Jericho entered the map and wasted no time in picking his Recon class, his loadout was an M98B fitted with a flash suppressor, straight-pull bolt, and ballistic sight. he took a quick look around the field, trying to find the best possible sniping area. He appeared to have spawned in a giant airfield, which was only rienforced with the parked passenger-liners and the comm-towers. As he looked at one of the towers he saw the perfect spot for sniping, a high vantage-point that overlooked the entire airfield, he noticed one on the other side and made a mental note to watch for sniper fire.

he looked at the squadboard and saw that a random player had joined his squad for the game, and as he saw that the man was a support class character he was a little relieved as the player has spawned near him. "this guy hopefully knows my methods... if my hunch is right." he thought, hating the feeling of running out of ammo. Once the start meter hit zero Jericho took off to the tower, and as he looked back, he noticed that the support soldier was right behind him. Jericho smiled as he made his way up the tower.

After five hours of playing it was Literon who first said goodbye for the night.

"Hey guys... I'm gonna turn in... I have a garrisson of soldiers to lead tomorrow, I need to be rested because I'm gonna be going to the plane of water... not a single damn piece of land, the entire base is an underwater structure..." both Jericho and Vincent said their good nights as Literon logged off, and after another match of TDM back on the airfield from the beginning of the game, Vincent also said his own parting words.

"Jericho... I'm putting you in charge of the New Guys tomorrow." he said with a laugh and logged off without letting Jericho respond, and Jericho quickly jumped out of the lobby. His jaw hung open in a ridiculous fashion as only a single thought went through his head.

"I'm gonna tear him limb from limb the next time I see him... I hate being in charge of the new guys! almost as much as I hate meetings." He muttered, seething with anger. He could feel his rage being used as fuel for the demon within him, he could hear the demon's hissing voice that was similar to his own whisper in his ear.

"Well..." Zephyrus, the demon who shared Jericho's soul began, "...I think that this could possibly be the most fun I could have in a long time, let me scare those guys into the infirmary, you won't have to worry about them there..."

As much as Jericho wanted to do that he knew it wasn't something he was supposed to do, and thus countered the demon's thoughts with his own.

"No... my job is to train them... and besides... I would still have to worry about them, they're my soldiers." After several more minutes of arguing Jericho finally got out of his VR Station and Zephyrus had given up his argument. He quickly went to bed so that he could be up to find out where he was being stationed with his soldiers.

"it couldn't possibly be that bad right...? they are just recruits after all..." he thought before drifting off to sleep. his dream had him wandering through a beautiful, pastel-colored hill, the color was so vibrant and breathtaking that he didn't want to be anywhere else... he felt like he was truly at peace, he didn't want to move... until his gaze drifted down the hillside to a rustic-looking town, he thought about how peaceful it looked, neslted at the base of the hill and next to a huge forest, and began walking toward it. Just as he was about to enter the town though... he jerked awake at the sound of his radio, instead of an alarm, he had it set to play his favorite radio station. He grumbled a little, but got out of bed. Once he made sure that he had everything around he quickly made his way to Balamb garden, not being able to even think of the events to come... perhaps it was better that way... much more entertaining...