"Good afternoon, Deccus. I knew I could trust you in coming here."

Deccus stood up. He has been sitting for awhile, so his legs were slightly stiff and he wobbled a little, but maintained his composure. He was addressing the General, after all.

"Yes, sir. I always keep my word. I agreed to be here, and here I am."

"Good. Then I have an assignment for you. I need you to command a small force and take over an enemy outpost on the outskirts of their territory. It's far enough from their headquarters that they probably won't retake it."

"How large is my force, sir?"

"It consists of five soldiers, including you."

"What? That's a nothing troop!"

"I assure you, they are very well trained in what they do. They're waiting for you at the Academy, ready to leave when you need. They're all in dorm room five. Go meet them, get to know them, and finish your assignment. One of the soldiers knows how to get to the target. Return here after you're done."

"But..."

"GO!"

Deccus left without another word of objection. When the General tells you to go, you go, no questions asked.

Deccus stepped out of the head building and blinked from the sudden change of light. It's always so dark in there. The General never showed his full face, for reasons nobody really knew why. The fresh coat of snow seemed very bright in the noon sun. Regardless of the weather, he headed for the Academy.

Deccus walked through the city of Vahal, a town surrounded by a thick, high wall. There were food stores, weapon shops, suburbs, almost everything you'd expect in a city.

If it weren't completely populated by children.

This didn't surprise Deccus in any way, for he was only a child of twelve years himself. There was no one over fourteen in the town. The wall around the city was composed of only densely packed snow around a wood foundation, since the engineers here didn't know how to mix concrete. It stood over 10 feet high, and a meter thick. Soldiers walked on top of the wall, armed with Snowthrowers. They were basic infantry, only ten years of age. Since Deccus was older, he was a bit more advanced than the standard unit. For one, Deccus had thicker armor. He also had a shield, which clearly marked him as a 'Shield Joe' unit. He wasn't an average Shield Joe, however. He had a much more advanced gun. Instead of holding a small hand-held Snowthrower, he had an S-buster, which enveloped his entire hand and had a com unit built right in. Usually com units were separate walkie-talkies, but not Deccus'. He didn’t use his gun speaker anymore, not since he upgraded his helmet to have a microphone and speaker unit in it. He made the gun himself, as with his entire outfit. No one had a second glance at Deccus. They were all busy, or they didn't care. Most soldiers made their own outfits, so no one criticized any one else's. Except for the Bunny Boy. Rumor was he was annoyed to the brink of insanity, and ran away from Vahal before he graduated from the Academy. Ah, the memories Deccus had at that place...

He arrived at his destination before he realized it. He entered and paused, looking around.

It was exactly as he remembered. From the fountain in the middle of the entry hall, from the four huge stairways leading to different destinations in the massive building.

Deccus took the stairwell that led to the dormitories. The amount of times he took these stairs...

He chuckled. He was only a child, yet he thought like an adult, thinking of past memories in such a way. He felt rather old, as well. Like a senior in a child’s body. A child shouldn't have to feel this way.

He found dorm room five rather quickly, since it used to be his friend Holly's room. Despite the two of them being sort-of rivals, they were good friends regardless the intense competition. Deccus opened the door and entered, the first steps to the beginning of change for him and everyone else.