Welcome to Gaia! ::

"It's a good day where we are not!" An idealistic youth was yelling from atop a pile of soapboxes. He was wearing plain clothing, though obviously of a higher quality than the rest of the crowd. It was becoming a common sight, a well off youth descends to a slum and preaches freedom to a the working class.

"But this could change my brothers! No longer will you be under the feet of the empire, together we can build a strong nation. And the foundations will no longer be the backs of the workers!" He thrust his fist in the air and a few planted crowd members gave a cheer.

"The old regime is in shambles," The cheering picked up a bit, "And our Durem brothers take territory after territory."

That was a lie, the war was a stalemate.

"Do not let the empire walk over you! Stand up and..." The speech broke off into coughing and gasping for air. Chest wounds do that. There was a loud gunshot too, and the screams of the crowd.

"Coats!" One youth said to the other. He was pointing to the Imperial solders, nicknamed that for their long brown-oranage coats. Course, the five of them were completely anonymous behind the thick goggles and gas masks. They were able to make arrests and kill without risking their humanity.

The manual bolt on one of the coat's rifle slid a new bullet in the chamber. A few would be arrested, but most would get away. And, if they all behaved, no more would die.

The crowd didn't last long at all. The workers knew better than to make some sort of unarmed stand against the proverbial Man. No, most of them were concerned about getting to their families, or jobs, or bars. Anyplace but where they were, nobody wanted to become an arbitrary arrest. And there were quite a few of said arrests. Most would only be detained briefly so the government could feign mercy, and the rest, rebellious or not, would be imprisoned and tortured for son the Empire could maintain fear.

"Take them to the vehicle." Came a voice speaking Holdine opposed to the common Gaian the youth spoke, "Then return to patrol. The Empire will reward whatever groups disrupt these messes."

The commanding officer, you could tell because of his red coat, was obviously a pretty boy. Ignoring his officers cap, and wearing his gas mask around his neck, the only remaining part of the uniform was the tinted goggles. He ran a hand through his medium length dark hair. Mostly to keep it out of his eyes, but also to make sure he looked good in that uniform.

"Yes commander. We will make haste." The patrol leader saluted before leading his unit off.

"Harosho." The red uniformed commander muttered as he surveyed the scene. Eyes quickly settling on a nearby balcony.

The woman on the balcony wouldn't be able to see the look in his eyes through the tinted goggles, but she could have seen the smile.

"Commander Chestayavoda." Another low-level approached the red coat, "Prisoners have been gathered, shall we continue the patrol up to the square?"

"Go. I will question the witnesses." The now revealed Chestayavoda told the solider without even turning to look at him.

"Understood." The last few gas masked men cleared the once riotous scene.

With that the commander deliberately began to saunter towards the house attached to that balcony. The woman may have say something. Yes, that was good enough an excuse. Maybe he would see something, and that would be even better. This is why he took the promotion, this very reason.

"Ochin Harosho." He said a bit more audibly this time.

And Chestayavoda did knock, heartily. Dispite not having long between the knock and the door opening, he still found a way to make sure he looked his best.

"Good evening," He broke into common when the serving woman answered. His accent was thick and anyone who knew the region could tell he came from the most northern regions of the empire, "Is, ah how is it, master of the house home?"

"We have routine questions to ask," He gave an over the shoulder motion with his head, "To deal with riot, you know how things can be. Riots one day, uprisings next. Empire must stay ontop of such things."

"No more time than necessary. In, out. That is all."

A charmer, even moreso thanks to the perfectly groomed accent.

"Someone who can speak, finally." He looked even more relaxed now, "Common Gaian is such a strange language, so many arbitrary rules. My brother, he grasps it much better than myself, but it's like trying to digest a cat for me."

"But business. There was a gathering just broken up, fools trying to stir up the commons." He seemed to put one foot in the door, not even waiting for permission, "As too routine I have to ask a few questions. Make sure you did not see anything, and search to make sure you are not hiding one of the perpetrators. I'm sure we arrested them all, but routines are as they are."

"I'm sure you have nothing to fear though."

"I would enjoy it. But there is no rest for the empire, especialy in days like these." He entered the house and began to examine it for any recent signs of disturbance, "We will begin with the basics."

He removed the tinted goggles so he could see better indoors. The woman was still quite a sight even close up.

"What is your name, position in the empire, and place of birth." He struck a rather relaxed looking military pose holding his hands behind his back, "Secondly, what did you see while looking from your balcony."

What did you see. A clevetly phrased way of saying how far will you go to protect the empire.

"The Empire's curiosity is never satiated so easily my dear," He was making no effort to hide his sly grin as she brushed his shoulder, "Nor is mine."

"But I have no manners," Technically in his position he didn't need to, "I am Gustav Pavlovich Chestayavoda. Along with my brother, Illya Pavlovich, I am a red level officer in the Empire's forces. As you saw, most of the fighting is done from the streets while the front lines stand still."

"Perhaps you could show me around, then maybe we could sit." the officer was in the process of undoing the top two buttons of the high collared coat. It was warmer in here than the streets, honestly, the heat could kill in uniform sometimes.

"But I must ask. Is there much work for a tutor in this part of town? It does not seem like a place with clambering students."

"Officials put certain people at ill ease. Especially when they speak strange languages. He gave a short half chuckle to himself.

"Also for privacy, that is understandable. Unfortunately, private teachings are something the empire look on with suspicion." Once her hand reached his shoulder, his gloved hand would find itself right on top of it. Perhaps as a gesture of affection, perhaps as a show of dominance. His signals were mixed.

"The empire would like to know the kind of things you teach, and perhaps if you have wandering minds amongst your private clientele. The revolutionary aspect often finds itself at home with the educated youth of the wealthy," his hand tightened over hers slightly, pressing leather against skin against fabric, "You would think they are the most content, no?"