First Rule (Invite)

Silas stood in a large room in the Auror Division of the Ministry. It was a long room, much like a muggle firing range. The difference was that there were ten machines set up at the end furthest from the door. Between them and the door were several pieces of cover, including a real hedgerow and a broken wall, complete with smashed window.

He was stood beside the machines, the entire length of the very long room between him and the door. He was waiting for the students he'd selected to arrive. Hopefully there would be enough of them to make a functioning unit when they grew into adulthood.

Pyxis had been in shock when she'd received an invitation to join this training group. She'd sat silently, staring at the invitation for several minutes before a huge grin split her face and she accepted the offer eagerly. She was delighted to learn, to train, to be able to learn to fight for her country. She didn't want Germany to win this war, and though she was young she knew she would be able to be a fit fighter when she was older. The future was filled with exciting new possibilites, and the war suddenly seemed far more important than it already was to her.

She was ready as she arrived at the ministry, no nerves in her body as she entered the room and saw Silas Gray himself. He was definitely a warrior-like looking man, and she felt her eyes light up with excitement, before she forced her expression into one of indifference as she inclined her head politely. "Hello, Mr. Gray," she greeted him.

Humphrey Williams wasn't sure what to think as he walked into the British Ministry For Magic. How in the world had they decided he was worthy of being brought here for special training. All he had done was study hard. Yes, he had been in a fight before, but had not done much to help. Walking into the room, he noticed the cover set up in the room. Looking up a bit, he saw ten machines lined up.Were they going to fire on them?, was all he could think.

Humphrey saw Pyxis, immediately a look of determination crossed his face. That particular Slytherin, he knew, would probably tell everybody that he looked like a scared little kid if he did. For some reason, their personalities had just clashed. Not quite as badly as his and Tabi's, but still not friendly toward each other by any means.

"Sir, Humphrey Williams reporting for duty." Standing tall, with his shoulders straight, he saluted the man he would be learning from. Hopefully, the wizarding world did salutes as well, but Humphrey didn't know if they did or not. It was a chance that he had decided to take though, maybe he would appreciate the gesture even if it wasn't the common thing to do.

Charlotte, upon recieving the invite had asked her Papa about the man who was running it, he told her that he was a good man and that made her a little more happy about coming here on her own, she hoped that there would be other people there that she knew and thought it would be so funny if Silas chose all the members of the Shadow Society to gather up.

It would almost be like it was telepathy!

Tugging on her denim dungarees, to which she had sown many different patches too, her favourite was the little suade strawberry that she stroked with her thumb when she got nervous. Opening the door to the room she looked around and saw Pyxis and Humphrey there, sending them a smile she stood in line, looking curiously at both the instructor Silas, and the equipment around them.

Haley had been beyond surprised when she got an invitation, not to mention flattered, to be trained to fight. She had tied her hair in a tight pony-tail, taken on a training tights and singlet, very ready to fight. She was so prepared to take things in her own hands. She would be able to do that. She could do that.

She walked into the building and up where she had been ordered to meet. She walked in and wasn't surprised when she saw Humphrey, Charlotte and Pyxis. She looked at the man and gave a small smile. "Hello sir," she said with confidence, and then walked over to the others, eyeing the machines around the room.

Airen stared in shock at the invite at his feet. He had dropped it when he first read the whole thing. After overcoming his shock, he rushed to his cabinet and opened it to reveal his diamond sword in it's obsidian sheath. He gently took it down and stroked the smooth obsidian. He nodded his head at his voice in his head that told him to do this in remembrance of his fallen comrades.

As he arrived, he looked around and saw many of his friends there. He heard Humphrey greet the man in his normal way. Airen didn't much care for it. He wore a woolen tunic over an elastic pullover that showed his muscles. The shiny black sheath of his sword hung from his belt. Leather boots reached up to the bottom of his knee. With the whole of his outfit colored black and a hood covering his head, he looked like a walking shadow.

His ice blue eyes landed on Charlotte. He smiled at the thought that he would be working with her. He gave friendly nods to Pxyis and Haley. He finally looked at the man up by the machines. Airen's face was graced with a firm military bearing that he had been taught at the Swordmage Academy.

"Salute, Messere, (Hello, Sir)" he said in a strong Italian as he stood next to Charlotte. He took in the machines and various pieces of cover. He thought he knew what they'd be doing.

Silas waited in silence as more of those he'd invited filtered onto the range. He'd researched them all. In depth research no less, none of that half assed research here. No he knew practically everything there was to know about this group of kids here. And that's how he knew that they were good candidates.

He walked across the length of the room, as long as it was, to stand just a few feet in front of the assembled children. Looking them over, he nodded his head,

"Glad to see that you could make it." he greeted them before smiling ever so slightly, "You're here today because I am trying to prove to the Ministry of Magic that a squad of soldiers does not have to spend months gelling together. It takes years."

He grinned mirthlessly,

"Welcome to Delta! That is your new squad name, the five of you are the squads only members." he told them simply, "From now until you graduate Hogwarts I ask only two weeks out of your summer holidays and at random intervals agreed on by the school and I. With this time I will fashion you into a squad of soldiers worthy of legend. Soldiers I will be proud to lead into battle."

He disapparated to the other side of the room from them, the very long room, and reappeared on top of the machine in the middle of the row. The machines all began to power up,

"The first rule of combat is..." he grinned and paused. Only a second later the machine began launching clay pidgeons, hard clay disks, at the unsuspecting students. But the fun thing with these arms was that they were enchanted so that magic didn't work on them. And they were going at the same speed a bullets, "Grab some cover! In simple terms... GET YOUR HEADS DOWN BEHIND THOSE BARRIERS!"

Airen listened to Silas as he briefed them as to why they were here. He smirked to himself at the name Delta. He liked the way it sounded like a black ops squadron. He kept an eye trained on the machines. When Silas began to speak, he shifted his attention to him until he heard the whirring of the machines. his feet shifted, his body turned so it was facing a corner, and his mind began to focus itself.

As soon as he heard the first clay disc fire, he bolted. He slid on his lower legs with his back bent to where it almost touched the ground to avoid a shot. He felt the breeze as it passed mere millimeters from his face. He slid behind a brick wall that also had wooden crates. He knew those wouldn't last long. He shifted to a crouch and waited for his friends.

Charlotte found Silas more than a little unnerving and she squeaked when the machine started to shoot out little clay pigeons at them, she did not expect it at all and almost got hit by one or two as she darted for cover from them behind one of the various stages that were out in the room.

Opening her mouth in awe as Airen was so flexible to swoop under one as it came towards her, Charlotte almost wanted to pout, he was so cool the way he could do that, maybe he could teach her sometime, she thought with a small smile on her lips.

Unsure of how she felt about being partnered with these guys for the next few years, Charlotte merely shrugged the thought off, she was sure they'd all become great friends through being a part of team Delta.

When Silas informed him about the reason for the meeting, he was stunned. How could he, a muggleborn, who missed a full year and a half of school, get chosen for this? Humphrey had absolutely no idea, but he was honored to be a part of Delta squad. All he wanted to do was keep his friends safe, and this man named Silas looked to be prepared to give him those skills. It would be dangerous, he knew, but since when had he minded danger. Besides, with his werewolf abilities, he knew he would be tougher to bring down than most people.

As soon as the clay pigeons were launched, he dove under the nearest barrier. It was just a head-long dive, not graceful like Airen was. However, it accomplished the same task, he was under the hedgerow that he'd noted earlier. Man, those clay pigeons were really flying, they looked like they were going as fast as bullets. When he saw them make contact with some of the cover, he realized that they probably were. What a training exercise!

Haley listened closely to what Silas was telling them about the team. Delta. She liked the name. She was very attentive to everything he said, and she was very prepared to fight for her country. She would do absolutely everything for her friends, and considering that the entire team consisted of people she considered friends, she was sure she'd do everything in her power to match their skill, even try to outconquer them just to be sure she'd be able to help them if needed.

Then, clay. She was anything but prepared, though her guard was always up. But the thing was, her guard wasn't a conscious act. Her guard was always up because her unconsciousness kept it that way. So when one of the clays came shooting at her, she didn't know what was going on, but she bent down and a lighting bolt struck the clay, dividing it into pieces, giving her time to become aware of what was happening, and managed to dodge the clays, diving behind the barriers.

She breathed harshly; she had never shown her control over lightning to anyone, and not because she wanted to keep it a secret, but because she still couldn't control it without flaw. Like now, her shoelace was slightly burned.

Silas watched as the members of the newly formed 'Delta' squad did their best to avoid being hit by the clay pidgeons. He watched with interest as Airen avoided the projectiles with an acrobatic move, Humphrey dodged in a movement of substance over appearence. The girls both avoided the projectiles admirably, with Charlotte moving straight to cover as ordered and Haley using a strange power to block long enough to get behind cover.

Having seen enough for now, Silas turned off the machines and the air became suddenly very still and very quiet. He walked through the wreckage of hundreds of clay pidgeons on the ground,

"Well done everyone, you managed to save your own skin." he told them with a small smile, "That's good. But this is not a group of individuals, this is a team. You need to start acting like one. It's not your fault that you weren't already in the mindset of a team, I realise I'm just springing it on you. I'm just telling you now, before you get hurt, that you need to work as a team. Now..."

He sat down on top of one of the walls,

"One of the ways you can work together well is if you pidgeon hole each other. Assign roles that each member of the team stick to during all missions. That way you can always be sure that if you need a healer, the team's designated healer is working." he told them before grinning, "Now I already know what roles you'd be best suited for but I'm not going to tell you just yet. I want to hear what roles you believe your teamates would be suited for. Not yourself, one of your teamates. Charlotte, you tell me what role you think Haley is suited for. Haley you do the same for Airen. Airen you do it for Humphrey and Humphrey you do it for Charlotte."

"Well sir, since you are asking, I would say Charlotte would make an excellent scout. Every team needs a good reconaissnace agent, and her dad is one of the best. From what I've seen in Infiltration class, she is pretty good as well. Plus, with her animagus skills, it would be hard to notice her. Charlotte could blend in to her surroundings with less effort than the rest of us. Also, I know for a fact that she is the best artist here, so if she needed to sketch the place we wanted information about she could. Which is useful for whoever ends up planning the attack." Humphrey told Silas, explaining why he thought she would be good at it. To be honest though, Humphrey knew Charlotte would do well with whatever role Silas assigned her.

After he spoke, he just sat back and waited. To put it lightly, he was very curious to see what role Airen thought he would be best at. They had never gotten along very well, their personalities were opposites. He was loud, Airen was quiet. Not to mention all the tension that had come up from first year because they both really cared about Charlotte. Humphrey and Airen were still trying to figure out how to be friendly. But, at least they were both putting a little effort at it, not just content to remain enemies. Gryffindors should always be friendly with each other.

Haley thought about Airen for a second. She knew the obvious part. She knew what position he should hold. She listened to what Humphrey was saying, and he had very many good points about Charlotte. She was definitely a much better scout than Haley herself would be. She then looked at Airen.

"I think Airen has the quality of a leader. He is insanely calm, if you look away from the irony of that sentence, and he has a lot of experience when it comes to battle. He also seems like a really responsible type, giving him a very protective figure over the team and it seems to me that he'd do just about anything to keep those under his responsibility safe. I would also say that, looking away from the leader-position, he should be the one to plan attacks, because I have a feeling he'd listen to injections from the other teammates and take them into account, and then find the best strategy that gave the team the best chance of survival," Haley said truthfully.

She wondered what Charlotte would say about her, and decided that she'd just have to wait and see. She was getting pretty curious, though.

Airen rose from his cover and faced their instructor. He listened as he told them that he wished for them to act as a team in the near future. Airen could see it happening, but first, he'd need to break down some of the barriers he put up between himself and Humphrey. That was the first thing to go before a team mindset could be issued.

Airen thought about what strengths Humphrey had. He was a good talker, that much was obvious, but he also had a studious mind. he often said that he studied over the summers, but whether that was true or not was still up for debate. For now, he had the benefit of the doubt. As for fighting capabilities, Humphrey was definitely one of those people who preferred loud and proud to silent and humble.

"I believe that Humphrey could be fitted for a role like that of a heavy ballistics person. When we need heavy support, he'll be there, and then, in times when stealth is a must, an overwatch or communications role. He gives everything in detail as they happen, so the rest aren't blind to their surroundings," he said simply. He looked to Humphrey with a kind smile.

Airen mentally froze when Haley said that he was fitted to be a leader. He thought that that role was better for some one who was friends with everybody like Charlotte, but him? What did he have besides a knowledge and almost mastery of a rare form of magic? Sure he was calm, but responsible? He lost his home because they had slipped past his groups watch through a hole in the defense that he had planned. No, he couldn't deal with losing another life under his command.

Pyxis listened to Silas as he spoke about their team, Delta. An interesting choice of name, it had a nice ring to it. She could feel a small smile forming on her lip as he said that they were going to be soldiers, to fight for their country. She didn't even care that Humphrey was in the team, even if she did think him in-capable of such tasks, she was too honoured that she had been chosen. She listened with rapt attention as he spoke, though she jumped in surprise when he suddenly apparated to the machines.

She now turned to face those and let out a gasp as the first clay pigeons came speeding at them. She ducked out of the way and then jumped up, shooting off to hide behind a wall. She was further away from the wall then the others, and she knew she would have to be quick. She'd been practising a lot, and found that in desperate need it was easier to summon the inner coldness that swept through her body in a quick movement. She then flung her hands up and formed a shield of wind around herself, the clay pigeon behind flung back at the machines as she pushed her wind towards it. She didn't want it flinging towards the others, after all. She released her wind and ran as fast as she could to cover, ducking down and gasping for breath.

Pyxis hesitantly emerged from behind the wall and watched as everyone was told to assess each other. She remained quiet as her name hadn't been mentioned, but nodded her head in agreement with Haley.

Charlotte knew that all eyes were on her now and what she thought would be the best position for Haley to take. She wasn't entirely sure, Haley was someone she really hadn't had a lot of interaction with a school but from what she'd seen today she didn't seem to be the type to just attack head on.

Deciding to go with her gut instinct, Charlotte looked at Haley for a few minutes before turning to Silas. The man was scary even when he was just standing around but she ignored that thought,

"I think Haley would be best as a type of combat medic or something. Some kind of specialist like that." she shrugged a little bit, "Maybe some kind of long distance fighter? I don't know for sure but I don't think she's one of those people who charges in first..."

Silas listened to the children and their assessment of their peers. Nodding a little bit, he had to admit that they had some interesting points and were not sugarcoating their words either. That was good. A team had to be able to trust each other with total honesty and flattery was just another kind of lie, which would get them killed in the battelfield. He smiled,

"Good assessments everyone." he smiled at Pyxis, "And don't worry, I didn't forget about you. I just have a position in mind of you that the other probably would never have known about."

He looked at the assembled teenagers calmly,

"I have taken your assessments in mind and altered my original list slightly. You also seem to have agreed with me in some places."

He pointed to Airen, "Squad leader. When I, or another commanding officer, am not around then you will be in command. The squad will listen to your orders without question. This is not a reward Airen, and you know this. That's why you are the best choice. Great men do not seek greatness, it is thrust upon them. Rise to the challenge."

He moved on to Humphrey, "You are the heavy hitter. Frontal assaults are not how you win most battles. They are, however, a key part of any battle. Be it as covering fire, distracted or a death blow, you are the hammer of this team."

He pointed to Haley, "I agree with Charlotte. If Humprey is the hammer then you are the scalpel. You will be both the long-range, precision, hitter but you will also act as the team's medic. I will being giving you training in some healing methods."

He moved to Charlotte, "You are the spy, the recon and the assassin of this team Charlotte. Humprey is the hammer, Haley the scalpel, Airen the brain and you... the knife in the back. With your talents you are ideal for sneak attacks and recon. You won't even be seen."

Silas grinned as he pointed to Pyxis, "You, Pyxis, are going to be doing for this team what I did for mine. You are the shield of this team Pyxis, you will block attacks when your team-mates are sacrificing cover for a good shot. You will provide them with cover. If needs be you will make more cover.

He looked over the team,

"Any questions?"

Haley was surprised at what Charlotte said about her. Being a healer was something she had no idea of what even was. She suddenly wished Parker was a part of this team. She then shook her head. If it was a job thrust on her, she would not fail.

Silas then started giving out the positions of the team. Haley was suddenly feeling very proud of being the scalpel. She was good at long range combat, and she had a very good aim. The only thing was that it seemed she wouldn't be able to use her skills in martial arts. Oh well, this was magic anyways.

She was relieved when Silas gave the position of shielding to Pyxis; she had been a bit worried that he'd forgotten about her. Now she was really happy that he hadn't, and the task was a demanding one, but something told her that Pyxis would do perfect.

When he asked if there was any questions, Haley didn't say anyhing. It seemed obvious that they were officially the team they were supposed to be.