[attr="class","juliaw"]
Julia was surprised to see
Shalin Nariya here; as far as she knew, the girl was an adventurer, not an Officer or even a Ranger. But when she said "conscripted," Julia understood. It left a bad taste sitting heavy on her tongue, but she didn't have the time to dwell on that now, not when the battle had already begun.
[break][break]
"Choice," Julia said, unusually serious and succinct.
"When I heard about the planned attack, I knew I had to help. Good luck to you, too. Call me if you need any help." Shalin was strong and capable, but she was still a civilian. She shouldn't have to bear any of the burdens of war.
[break][break](Neither should Julia, honestly. Nobody should. But those were more thoughts that would have to be shut away until later.)
[break][break]
John Sullivan's response was not at all what Julia had expected.
"Eh?" She tilted her body to get a better look at the man's face. His eyes did not reflect Littleroot. Instead, it reflected something in a past unknown to Julia. To her, it was an empty pool. To him, it must have been an entirely different world. She knew that look. She'd worn it plenty of times in the early days of her recovery. She didn't know what this man had been through—heck, she didn't even know his name—but if he was calling this horrific scene "nostalgic," it must have been terrible.
[break][break]Unfortunately, letting yourself get stuck in the past didn't do one any favors, especially in a dire situation like this.
"Sir?" she asked, trying to get his attention. She wasn't sure if it was that or something else that finally snapped him out of it, but she was glad for it, nonetheless.
[break][break]Suddenly, there was a mighty roar that instinctively made Julia flinch. The light of an artificial sun burned down on the battlefield, illuminating a massive red Pokémon that Julia had only heard legends of before: Groudon.
MATIAS SILPH spoke over the comms then. Was he the one commanding the very Pokémon said to have created the ground they now stood on? Whoa.
[break][break]But this was no time to gawk, not with a Rocket (
Alexandra Briarwood) charging toward the Primal Point on an eerie spectral mount. Others (
jayden cross,
Elisabeth Fiorelli, and
Felix Gallagher) appeared soon after, one of them setting a nearby house ablaze with a Molotov. Julia gasped in disgusted horror. She should have expected Rocket to try to hurt civilians like this, but she hadn't been prepared to see it firsthand. It was okay, though, right? The citizens had evacuated, so the house was empty, right?
[break][break]Before she could check, a piercing shriek cut through her ears, and everything stopped.
[break][break]What... What was this? Julia couldn't move. Just a moment ago, her heart had been racing. Now, it felt like it had gone still. Everything had gone still. It was an unnervingly familiar feeling of powerlessness and helplessness, only amplified up to levels Julia could have never imagined.
[break][break]And then, in that same fleeting moment, there was a bang. With a yelp, Julia was knocked onto her back, almost like she'd been shoved. Above, the dome that had been trapping them for all these months flickered. Julia finally remembered to breathe.
[break][break]What the hell had that been?!
[break][break]Spot was swiftly at her side, helping her to her feet.
"I'm okay," she said automatically.
[break][break]
"
Do not falter! Deal with what's in front of you first! Close the encirclement! Entrap the Rockets!"
[break][break]Captain Sullivan's commanding voice boomed over the comms.
"On it!" she shouted, glad for something concrete to do. She ran up the east side of the encirclement and ended up behind Groudon, where she skidded to a stop at the sight of
Cade Atreides and his Dragapault about to attack the Land Titan.
[break][break]
"Hey!" Julia shouted.
"Spot, get 'em!"[break][break]Maybe Groudon could have handled itself. But given that it was going to be a huge target—literally and metaphorically—Julia figured having some of the pressure taken off of it would help.
[attr="class","juliatag"]@seenotes
[attr="class","julianotes"]
notes.
