HQ

[luraia]

Riza walked into HQ at exactly 0645 hours, her brisk no non-sense stride taking her swiftly through the long corridors. It didn't surprised her to see no one else moving through the halls at this time of the morning. She'd worked here for years and had never seen anyone come in to work before she did. It got her a bit frusterated sometimes with her associates, but she tried not to let it show.

She made her way into the small office she shared with the other team members, the one adjacent to the Colonel's office. She noted the time on the clock between the two windows was 0655. Huh, a bit slower than usual, Riza. Yes, she talked to herself sometimes, but she was certain that no one else knew that small detail about her.

Riza sat herself in her small chair, taking note of the mound of paper work already piled on her desk. With a sigh, she got out a pen and began to read the first page.

[Chip]

Black Hayate sat at Riza's feet, wagging his tail peacefully. He yawned and looked around, keeping an eye on Riza for any signs of entertainment. When he discovered nothing of interest was going to happen, he stretched out and began to snooze against Riza's leg.

[luraia]

It hit around 1000 hours when Riza realized that no one was going to show up to the office today. She wondered what everyone had that was so much more important than work. Instead of being angry however, she gave an order to Black Hayate to follow her. It was time for some K9 training.

[Chip]

Black Hayate jumped up at the sound of Riza's voice. He followed her out of the room, not knowing what the future had in store for him.

[luraia]

Riza found it even more amazing that she still couldn't find a single one of her teammates anywhere in the building. This has got to be Roy's doing.

She took Black Hayate outside into the newly built K9 fascility. He'd been here a couple of times before but she was taking him to a brand new area. K9 Combat Training was written accross the front of the shiny new door. Hayate's going to have to learn how to be in the field with me sooner or later, Riza thought.

"Ready, Hayate? Time for a new kind of training."

[Chip]

Black Hayate looked at the writing across the door, but being unable to read stopped him from receiving the warning. He looked around the new building, trying to discover it's purpose. But at hearing Riza's words, he turned to her and barked happily. His tail wagged as he stood up straight and awaited a command.

[luraia]

Riza smirked at her companions happiness. He's not going to be too happy with me after this, she thought.

"Okay, Hayate, be on alert at all times!" The lights abruptly shut off. Riza was momentarily blinded and reached for her weapon instinctively. Ok, Hayate, let's see what you can do during a field combat simulation.

The lights suddenly came back on, showing images of pure chaos. Simulated gun shots and grenades flew past and Riza ducked behind a small "car".

[Chip]

Hayate jumped as the lights went off and barked at Riza to turn them back on. When they came back on and the grenades began to go off, the dog yelped and ran towards the "car". He dove under it and began to shake. She's finally gone insane. Another grenade recording went off near the car, forcing Hayate out form under the car and into the open. He whimpered and started to search for Riza in the madness.

[luraia]

All Riza did was move away from the "car" and made her way forward, guns leading. She shot at the ready made targets perfectly as always.

"HAYATE! Move it! I need you to find something for me. In all this mess there's a little girl trapped. Find her and you'll be rewarded!" Riza yelled to her dog. "I'll cover you as best I can. Now MOVE!"

[Chip]

Hayate could barely hear Riza over the gun shots, but he soon processed what she had said. He looked around but couldn't see anything because of the fake dust flying in the air from the explosions. He whimpered, but began to move forward. His ears perked at a small sound. Just as he started for the direction in came from, another explosion sent him running towards Riza, and he hid behind her legs.

[luraia]

Damnit Hayate! Riza screamed in her head. "Hayate! If you don't move and find that girl, you get no table scraps for weeks and you won't be coming to the office to get scraps from Roy, either! Here," Riza through a small sock to Hayate, "that's from the girl, use your nose to find her. TRACK, HAYATE! Or we're both going to die here!"

Riza hoped that would get him a bit more motivated. Not being able to see Roy for a while (considering how much the dog loved her superior) and the threat of nothing but regular dog food should work. If it didn't, Riza knew that Hayate wouldn't work as a combat animal. And if that were the case, she'd be very disappointed. She gave her animal one more scathing look before returning to the targets.

[Chip]

Black Hayate cringed back at the sight of Riza's anger. Seeing his master so unhappy with him made the dog feel ashamed. He turned his attention to the sock laying a few inches away from him. He sniffed it and jumped back at the smell. He looked at Riza one last time, then began to sniff the air for signs of the girl. A familiar scent floated to his nose, and he started off after it.
He crawled on his belly across the "battle field", jumping each time a gun shot went off. A grenade went off to his left, sending him running. He considered returning to Riza's side, but one look at her face changed his mind. He caught the scent again. Along with it came the small squeak of a girl amid the madness. The dog went towards a cardboard box where the scent was coming from. Inside he discovered a "girl" huddled in the corner, whimpering.
Hayate turned towards Riza and began to bark. I found the girl! he thought. Now get us out of here before we all die!

[luraia]

Riza heard Hayate barking and hoped beyond hope he found the "girl". She ran towards the sound, ducking for cover whenever possible. She located Hayate half hidden in an "alley way".

"Good job, Hayate! Let's get out of here, okay? There's just one more thing I need to do," she ran off, guns blazing.

Riza swiftly finished off all of her "opponents" and the lights immediately turned back on, showing nothing but an empty room with a few projector walls and some paper targets. Riza went to take down all of her perfectly scored targets, grabbed the doll playing the part of the girl, and motioned Hayate to follow her out of the room.

[Chip]

Hayate looked around the room, stunned that everything that had just happened could disappear with the flick of a light switch. He came near fainting, but snapped out of it when Riza signaled him. He ran after her, already starting to forget what she had just put him through. I guess animal loyalties run deeper than any old battle simulation. he joked with himself.

[luraia]

Riza walked briskly back to the office, hoping that one of her teammates had shown up by now. It's was close to 1300 hours and she still hadn't seen a soul.

The Colonel better have a good explaination for why he's so late, not to mention the others! Needless to say Riza was a bit pissed that her superior was so blase about his work. If he wants to get to the top quicker he needs to work quicker!

Riza sighed when she entered the still un-used office and noticed yet another stack of papers waiting for her on her desk.

"What does that bookish girl do all day, find ways just to keep us busy?" she said to herself. She immediately sat down and pulled out her ever present pen.

[Chip]

Hayate trotted behind Riza and collapsed to the floor. He then repositioned himself so that he was more comfortable and lifted his head, hoping to see Roy. When he didn't see another human besides Riza, he sighed, and began to nap.

[sweetdaddymustang]

"Might I help you with that?"
Mustang standing in the doorway.
"It seems you have a lot of work to do."
Mustang pullling up s chair and begining a conversation.
"So whats all this work for anyway.?"

[luraia]

Riza was startled out of her work by Roy's voice. "Sir!" She immediately stood and saluted. "You're very late, sir," she added with a slightly scolding tone. "But yes, you can help with the work,...your own desk is already piled high with paperwork."

Why's he just sitting there, staring? she thought uncomfortably.

[Chip]

Hayate looked up and saw Roy had appeared. The young dog instantly jumped up and began to bark cheerfully at Roy's heels, hoping for some form of recognition. He sat down between Riza and Roy and began to pant happily, his tail dusting the floor behind him. His eyes dashed back and forth between the two adult humans.

[luraia]

"Hayate's certainly glad you're finally at the office, sir," Riza said keeping her face completely blank. She didn't feel it necessary to show the fact that she wanted to act over-joyed at his appearance just the way Hayate was. So, she acted professional,...just as always.