3.04.2572.
Time:1423
A fresh-faced teen was being geared up by commoners—prisoners serving their time, laborers working to provide for their families. Their reasons for working under him were irrelevant to Tony. They served him, and that was their purpose. Even in his youth, he understood this. It was their duty. His duty was to be a pilot—no, a MechWarrior. A knight in armor, born and bred. He had trained, fought through trials and tribulations, and endured to reach this point in his life.
The final exam was in four hours. Soon, he would be in a BattleMech, treading the plains of New Hebrides—a cluster of islands near the equator of New Avalon. In just a few hours, he would touch down in Carlisle, a stretch of open fields within New Hebrides, clad in his newly donned battle armor.
Finally arriving at Albion Military Academy as an aspiring MechWarrior was almost a local event for the base staff and troops. As the aircraft settled, he dismissed the servants, allowing himself a moment of solitude. The side door of the craft hissed open, and as the steps fully extended, sunlight flooded in, momentarily blinding him.
On the landing strip, seasoned military troops and C-class contractors stood at full attention in parade uniforms. Tony smirked. Good. I would expect no less than absolute respect from these dropouts, Tony thought. To him, they were failures—men and women not tough enough, not good enough, to be part of the Federated Suns military.
Looking past these men and women welcoming him onto their military base, he saw them—all the models of battlemechs of varied heights, tonnage, equipment load, weapons, and classes. He spotted the one he wanted to pilot, the GLD-4R, aka "Gladiator." 55 tonnes of pure firepower remarkably fast for its size and equipment load. Seeing it made Tony much more determined, so close to his goal. Tony zipped his cooling vest and put his helmet on. "I will not fail today," Tony declared to himself, loud enough to be heard by himself and only himself as he walked to the gathering of mechwarriors and instructors.
Sixteen cadets—that is how many of them there were—standing in full attention in front of the two instructors. The first instructor was a tall man; he had clearly seen enough combat. The burn scars on the left side of his face showed his history, and the wrinkles told enough to determine his age. A man of his relative age didn't stop him from bulking; however, he was a broad man who took himself and his job very seriously. The second instructor was less impressive—a short woman with her bronze hair tucked in a bun behind her cap. The cap itself was a plain maroon cap. She stood no taller than five foot seven inches, shorter than the average woman here on New Avalon. At first glance, she wouldn't seem fit for the job, but when she spoke, it was obvious she was the senior instructor.
"Welcome to your final exam, cadets! I have no hope for any of you!" she spat the words at the group.
"I am here to finalize what the quacks think is good enough. For your sake, I hope those pukes chose correctly!" she continued. "I personally think the bot flies here have more potential of becoming mechwarriors than this pampered lot!" She looked at the other instructor. "Slater, what do you think of these wastes of flesh?"
"Sir, I think maybe we only have three potential pilots here, sir, and even that is a stretch, sir," drill instructor Slater said with no banter in his voice.
"Here is what is going to happen, maggots!" the senior drill instructor yelled, facing the cadets. "All of you will march eight miles, followed by a two-mile sprint to the designated rendezvous. If you stop for any reason, you fail. Following that, you will run an obstacle course meant to wear you down and break you before you can even board your mech. Do you understand me, maggots?" she yelled at the line of cadets.
"SIR, YES SIR!" The line of cadets all responded in unison. Tony was thrilled; he was standing in the presence of two legends in his family: Colonel James Slater and Lieutenant Colonel Ximena Cooper. Both of them are like royalty to his family; they both fought during the Towne conflict and saved his family from certain servitude to the Terran Hegemony. Tony respected them both immensely, and having the opportunity to just stand in their presence is something he only dreamed of. "I refuse to fail them here," Tony thought to himself privately, shaking from the excitement of the coming hour of intense training.
The next hour and a half was intense. The team of cadets started with an eight-mile march followed by a two-mile sprint through the military base and in full gear: a backpack with seventy-five pounds of gear, an energy-based rifle which weighed nine pounds, not-so-comfortable boots, and their cooling vests, which were unzipped and unpowered, giving them an additional six pounds of carry weight. That was a total weight of three hundred fifteen pounds for Tony's height and weight. The last two miles they had to sprint; if they stopped, they immediately failed and were forced to try again in two years.
Three cadets dropped out: Flores, O'Neil, and Henderson all failed. Justice O'Neil collapsed during the final sprint. The heat must have pushed her over the edge because she was hyperventilating and was sent to the medbay for medical attention. Zoe Henderson; she was forced to quit after she was tripped by one of the other cadets. She hit her head on a stone and was escorted to the med bay after being sent into concussive shock. The instructors do not believe she'll ever be fit for duty again. Ashton Flores willingly quit after they got past the two-and-a-half-mile mark; he claimed the heat was going to send him into shock if he kept going.
"Pathetic," Tony thought. Thinking Tony had kept that thought to himself, he glanced at his surroundings to discover he wasn't the only one thinking this. The young man who had kept pace with him this far was looking back at him, grinning; it was clear they'd both thought the same thing. Tony nodded to the young man; he was of a similar build to Tony. Approximately closer to seven feet in height, slightly heavier in muscle mass than that of Tony, some beard hair but nothing noteworthy with a standard issue low cut, dirty brown hair. Already this young man had Tony's acknowledgement.
"That should be enough for now," Tony thought. If more was to be given, he'd need to earn it. After the full ten-mile march lasting one hour and a half was over, the team of thirteen cadets gathered around a trash bin. The contents of the bin were not much, but what was in there was spilled on the ground by Lt. Col. Cooper. "Eat up, maggots! You have until I finish this canteen of fluids to eat!"
The lieutenant was cut off by twelve cadets storming forward in a clamor to get to the spilled contents of the bin. Tony didn't budge; he knew the tactics. Dropping his backpack on the ground and opening it to reveal rations, kneeling on the ground, breathlessly watching the chaos. A full five seconds, and Lt. Col. Cooper was barely opening her canteen; meanwhile, the rest of the cadets were clamoring to get rations and battles of water.
Tony knew those rations and water on the ground were a test. He went through this same thing during basic training. They were meant to make you rush forward, to needlessly waste energy out of panic. The backpacks and canteens they carried were not there for simple weight and decor. Feasting on the ration bar he had packed, he watched the instructor begin to drink. By the time he was halfway done with his bar, all the while, the twelve cadets finally got their rations and water sorted.
"Idiots, the lot of them. It's basic common sense. The lot of you savages fighting over scraps when the supplies you need are in the packs you so conveniently abandoned when we got to this spot," Tony said loud enough to catch the Lt. Col.'s ear.
Lt. Col. Cooper was halfway through her canteen, and these maggots were barely getting their first bite of the rations. Too bad those won't sit in their stomachs for long. They've been sitting out in the sun for almost four hours, making matters worse; Slater laced them with laxatives. The lesson here is to never trust unknown sources of food. "Seems pretty obvious," she thought, but then again, she made the same mistakes when she went through basic. Three-fourths of the way through her canteen now, that's when she noticed the young man kneeling in the outlier. The young man was saying something that made her internally chuckle. The boy was average height, sunkissed skin, gray eyes, no facial hair, and black slicked-back hair. She also noticed by the time she finished her drink, he was stowing his pack and canteen but remained kneeling.
Tony stayed kneeling after she finished her drink. He watched her stow it as Lt. Col. Cooper continued watching the rest of the cadets as most of them had just finished their rations. She had barely begun her briefing when one of the cadets went green. Slater stepped in.
"Maggots!" he yelled, and the crowd fell silent immediately. "We are not here to play games! You think you can just give up here? You're weak!" He pointed his finger at the cadet that was about to heave. "You think I give a damn about how you feel? I have seen men and women pass out without ever losing control. You cannot show weakness! You have to shove it down! Bury it! If you can't do that, you will never be a mechwarrior!"
The words echoed in Tony's mind. For him, this was a small echo of life lessons taught by his father and how he expected Tony to behave at this moment. He remembered those lessons in the past. He was a young man, seventeen years old at this time, and here he is kneeling.
Tony stayed kneeling after she finished her drink, he watched her stow it as Lt. Col. Cooper continued watching the rest of the cadets as most of them had just finished their rations without drinking any water. Tony smiled as he knew what came next. The obstacle course; most of these cadets would most likely drop like flies. that's going to count against them based on how far they get.
"Shit" Tony realized . He has never fully survived the obstacle course without suffering some penalty to his score. That has always been a sore spot between his father and him.
The hardest part of the obstacle course for him was always the body bag drag, not because of the weight or the distance. but because he just could not imagine himself having to drag another person out of a bad situation, especially if they were hurt and were of no use to him at that moment. He always ended up abandoning the body bag twenty-six meters into the forty meter drag. The forty meter body bag drag included over a simulated sand pit, hill, window and through the last twenty meters the cadets had to hoist the body bag over their back and carry it over a rock path, that is where he would abandon the body bag.
"Alright maggots listen up!" Colonel Slater called out to the breathless cadets.
"I hope you enjoyed your meal going down , because it is going to suck making its way out, one way or another!" Colonel Slater continued.
"Here is where you will make it or break it, the obstacle course is a nine hundred meter course, the actual course is seven hundred thirty-eight in a square feet, you ladies and gentlemen will run around the course twice and then make your way into the course on your way to the first course you will dawn your gasmask and continue forward, after you finish your round of the course you will run around it twice more." Colonel Slater finished
"As most of you may have already realized we will not be driving you to the course , you will be making a three mile march to it due east-southeast bearing a hundred twenty degrees, good luck cadets!" Lt. Col. Cooper shouted.
"This was not part of basic, normally a troop VTOL would come and pick us up, steadying us for the next training exercise rapid insertion to a battlezone" Tony protested where others were too breathless to speak or understand what was being said to them.
"Finally the boy speaks, normally yes that is true but this isn't some c-class infantry training this is mechwarrior training." Lt. Col. Cooper was not happy , her facial expression changed to a twisted face with ill intentions of not letting just anyone become a mechwarrior.
"You will not be airlifted out of here with any special treatment because when your battle armor falls in the field of combat the enemy will not let you be airlifted out just because they bested you, no you will have to eject or fall with your battle armor!" Lt. Col. Cooper shouted with large lasers for eyes directly at Tony.
"One last thing cadet , you will begin and end every single sentence when addressing Colonel Slater and myself with sir , do you get me maggot!" She finished her speech to Tony.
"Sir, yes, sir," Tony said back to her.
"How dare she ridicule him , here in front of all of these pathetic worms, but that woman is who I strive to be." Tony thought , the idea of being able to silence and demand respect of an entire courtyard of cadets. He felt the pleasure of that must have been intoxicating.
Standing up finally he began to jog in the direction the Lieutenant Colonel indicated. The pack was incredibly heavy and the rifle slung across his chest wasn't helping his fatigue, even during basic training they were allowed a five-minute reprieve. This was not the case here as soon as they were finished with their ration and drinks they were ushered to begin again. Tony's legs were burning if he didn't know any better he would guess they'd be on the verge of cramping.
"Good thing I didn't get too comfortable, if I had I'd definitely be cramping right about now" Tony thought with grim determination.
Glancing over his own shoulder he saw that he and two more were the only ones truly in the lead. Cadet Jill Warren, and the young man who had caught his eyes earlier Cader William Brixton. They were the few who were maintaining a decent pace to be able to make it to the obstacle course in enough time to get at least 3 minutes of rest. The way he saw it, if these cadets beside and behind him were smart like he was then neither of them would mind picking up the pace for the last mile.
The first three miles , nineteen minutes in this gear was hell; the heat had begun to rise off the black top and concrete. Looking up revealed that there were no clouds in the sky. Sweating out of every pore he was caked in sweat there wasn't a spot on his body that was not soaked in liquid salt this also didn't help with the heat.
"Don't stop , don't you dare stop" Tony told himself. Chest pounding, his legs felt like someone was holding a branding iron directly into each individual sinew of muscle, sweat running down his brown and into his eyes causing them to sting.
"Don't worry Gutter we ain't gonna stop, we ain't got the time to stop especially not this far ahead of the curve." Cadet Brixton said breathlessly. "Eyes up Gutter were almost there remember in through the nostrils out the mouth, let's pick up the pace" Cadet Brixton steadied his rifle, sucked in a breath and began pumping his legs hard. Cadet Brixton in a display of sheer determination and will , rocketed past tony. Tony watched the cadet intently measuring the distance between them and the obstacle course.
"Two miles and closing, if I begin to sprint now I'll burn my energy before getting there" Tony thought. "Not yet, close another half mile then begin to jog." Tony determined that would be the only viable option here. Besides, if he stays at this pace he will be second place for the moment. "That's fine as lo-" Tony's train of thought was cut off by the sight of Cadet Warren sprinting past him at an incredible speed. Tony slowed down only for a moment before narrowing his eyes , tightening his core, steadying his rifle and began to pump his legs in a fast jog.
Legs pounding and core cramping he caught up to a breathless Cadet Warren. "One and a half miles to go Warren, pick up the pace you're lagging" Tony said dismissively. Tony determined with that comment he couldn't stop now, quite the opposite he had to begin sprinting, no way would he lose his lead to a commoner. Kicking his legs harder he felt his ankles , knees, hips , chest and arms begin to give. Tony was sore in places he hadn't felt sore since basic training.
"Almost there" Tony thought to himself. Tony's lungs burned, like someone lit a smokestack inside of him, nostrils were numb now ,shins feel like a sledgehammer has been pounding against them for decades. Rocketing past both Warren and Brixton, Tony turned over his shoulder to see that the other ten cadets were at least five to ten minutes behind them.
"Good , let the crushed stay back there; ten less problems for me to deal with." Tony thought. Tony figured those in the very back would likely be forced to quit. So far from what tony could tell at this distance three of them were set for departure.
Finally after eight minutes of intermittent sprinting and fast jogging he arrived at the facility designated for the obstacle course. Taking this moment to kneel and hydrate Tony scanned his surroundings. This area isn't anything noteworthy to the left of him were hangers and parked air vehicles for the airmen and engineers, on the road spanning the runway were vehicles carrying parts, people, fuel, and munitions. To his left were more of the fuel silos , munitions depots and a numerous amount of armored vehicles he hadn't been able to notice because of the speed at which his pace was. Behind him Brixton was not far away , Warren was further but the rest of the cadets were still a distance away with the cadet in last being almost a spec to him. Directly ahead of him was a lance of pilots.
"Impressive kid, we watched all of that, you got some fire in you" the man who was wearing overalls a white tee and sitting on the hood of a vehicle said to Tony. The man was not too old nor was he young, his facial hair consisted of a tight trimmed beard, his hair wasn't very impressive as he didn't have any.
"Nah, I think he just didn't wanna lose to a woman." said the woman laying on top of the vehicle. She was wearing a cooling vest. The pattern color pattern was a clashing of colors purple and bright green in the direct sunlight it was annoying to tony.
"Hey kid, you shoulda eased up on the gas there towards the end sport." The man sitting on the ground leaning against the tire prodded tony. He was wearing a cooling vest as well but his colors were different , red and gray with a touch of blue on the shoulder in the shape of chevrons. He sported no facial hair but wore cropped french fade. Tony found that interesting , protocol states that pilots and infantry are not to have hair that could affect their person in battle.
After a very long swig from his water canteen Tony finally stood up. Stowing his rifle and his canteen he spoke to them directly.
"What time is it?" Tony asked them.
This drew a curious look from the woman, the baldy stifled a laugh while the man sitting on the ground audibly chuckled.
"What's wrong cadet all work no play?" said the man with the french fade. "You got a watch kid use it." said the man dismissively.
"I asked you a question, pilot I expect an answer." Tony said deliberately. Still trying to catch his breath, he stood straight sucking in long deep breaths.
"The balls on this kid" said the bald man cheerfully. Hopping off his perch he approached the cadet. "What is your name cadet?"
"Sir , Cadet Tony Guiterrez , Sir" answered Tony without pause or attitude.
"See Reuben , respect , something you could learn a little of" said the bald man while slightly tilting his head towards the man leaning against the vehicle. Tony had begun to look past the bald man and towards the woman who was beginning to sit.
Tony was admiring the womans beauty. Her skin caught the sunlight just right and she glowed, she had brown hair that flowed with the breeze, the cooling vest she wore hid some of her feminine aspects. It was just after Tony had begun to imagine what was underneath when he felt a jolt of pain, blinking away the spots Tony realized he was on the ground looking up towards the sky. There was a warmth running down his upper lip, going to feel what that warmth was. He pulled away a gloved hand, there on the tips of his fingers, burgundy red blood. Then there was pressure on his chest, a boot?
"Next time keep your eyes on the person who is speaking to you cadet, you haven't yet earned the right to speak to us , let alone in such a manner" the bald man was standing over tony with his boot pressing into tony's chest. "The time is sixteen-thirty in case you were still wondering" the man lifted his boot off of tony's chest and began walking away.
Tony laid there anger welling up in his chest. Even he knew, in this state he could never best a mechwarrior. Tony just breathed letting the anger dissipate, taking this time on the ground to rest and recoup. The sun was beginning to swing around the other side of the planet. It felt like he laid there for hours before Tony sat back up wiping the blood from his nose. The lance was gone and it seems they didn't stick around long enough to see this new batch finish training.
Checking his watch he saw that he'd laid there for two minutes and forty-two seconds. Sixteen-thirty-two that is the time. Taking a moment to observe his surroundings he saw that Cadet Brixton and Cadet Warren had both arrived, both of them were sitting down and hydrating slowly the remaining ten cadets arrived. First two, then five, then three again. Standing up he looked around and these cadets were exhausted, the final three that arrived will be departing from here soon.
It was three minutes of down time when a military personnel vehicle arrived and a soldier dressed in federated suns fatigues stepped out of it. The uniform he was wearing was a drab dark brown color, on the shoulders of the uniform he wore two green chevrons with a sword running down the middle. The man was a mature man. He was clean shaven but his hairstyle was a cropped top while the color of it was graying. Tony had only caught a glimpse before putting his cap on.
"Now would you look at that, what a damn mess!" the man yelled. "I am Sergeant Major DeClan, and you lot of pups are mine to take care of!" DeClan stood at a resting attention looking amongst the many of them. "I see that only one of you is actually standing, what's your name son?" DeClan said to Tony, hardening his features towards.
"Sir, Cadet Tony Guiterrez, Sir" responded Tony curtly.
"Well shit, I can't say your last name, we're just gonna call you Cadet Caramel" said DeClan without any jest in his voice,
Irritated, this old fart is going to humiliate him like this. He knew he could not argue with the Sergeant Major. Might as well agree with him. "Sir , Cadet Caramel seems to fit me perfectly , Sir" responded Tony.
"Out-fuckin-standing, Cadet Caramel get the rest of these apes up their feet." DeClan ordered the cadet.
Without skipping a beat Tony began going to the collection of cadets. He hated this , going around picking up these pathetic wastes of flesh. These massive wastes of effort. Grabbing one of the cadets he dragged him up to his feet. The cadet had trouble staying on his feet, moving to the next he approached a cadet who was laying down. She looked like she couldn't even think straight, Tony grabbed her by the scruff of her collar and dragged her to her feet, that's when he noticed her eyes didn't seem to be tracking him. Looking at her, Tony felt her cheek , she was cold.
"MEDIC!" Tony shouted to the Sergeant Major.
Before Tony could turn back around the female cadet collapsed. She hit her head hard on the ground and began to shake. Without a second's hesitation fueled by anger at this cadets failure he went to draw his pistol. However he was stopped by the realization that the Sergeant Major was here watching. abandoning the train of thought with his pistol he hoisted the cadet up on his shoulders and began walking towards the Sergeant Major. It was fortunate that the Sergeant Major came with medical detail, perhaps the Sergeant Major foresaw this.
Sergeant Major DeClan was impressed by the young man's tenacity and care for his own team. He was watching as the young man dropped off the cadet with the medical detail. They began working on her, injecting her with fluids, using cooling pads to lower her body's temperature, and taking her vitals. The transport they had used to arrive at the training facility was temperature controlled, the cadet should have no problem recovering.
Tony watched the medical team work but only for a moment. When he heard the diagnosis he began walking away from the team and back towards the cadets. Passing up the sergeant major he returned to the rest of the troup. And began getting them all on their feet.
"You there farmboy"the Sergeant Major called out to cadet brixton who was speaking to cadet warren.
"Sir , Yes, Sir" cadet Brixton appeared right in front of the sergeant after being called.
"What's your name cadet?" demanded the sergeant.
"Cadet Brixton sir" responded the cadet.
"Cadet Brick go choose two cadets who were slowest of the lot, they will be sent back home along with the cadet who is getting a medical check up" ordered DeClan.
"Sir, Yes , Sir" cadet Brixton saluted and made his way to the troupe of cadets. He already knew which two he was gonna choose; Cadet Gol Vinero and Cadet Renea Peva. Cadet Brixton was saddened by these two choices, they seemed like they could potentially make good upstanding mechwarriors, however they were both too slow, hell cadet Vinero even seemed like he was gonna collapse from the heat alone.
"What the hell is that smell?" cadet Brixton said moments before reaching cadet Vinero who was sitting on his butt. Cadet Vinero looked up at Brixton with guilty eyes, the kid was no older than maybe seventeen, Brixton felt bad about what came next.
"Hey brixton, I uh, I think I crapped myself somewhere back there" started cadet vinero "I don't know what happened I was just running trying to catch up to everyone when I star-"
"Oh man that is nasty man , I mean , accidents happen man I'm sure the medical staff can help you out. After you get cleaned up and checked out, go sit in the personnel carrier." brixton told the cadet.
"Alright man , what's going on ? When are we heading in for the obstacle course? Is that carrier taking us there?" cadet vinero asked brixton with guilt in his eyes still.
"Yeah, about that , the obstacle course is in that building there." Cadet Brixton answered the boys' question and continued. "And nah bro the uhm, carriers gonna be taking you home. You're done here" finished brixton with a heavy heart.
"I'm out? What do you mean I'm out ? I- I made it here, I made it here with the rest of you this is bullshit!" Cadet vinero was shouting now at brixton.
"Look man you made it here last , the group still had to wait two minutes for you to arrive, this is my decision." said brixton to cadet Vinero "the reason if you need one is because I can't put my team in jeopardy for you, I'm sorry." brixton finished and began walking towards the next unlucky cadet.
Tony had finished finally , he had picked up the other nine cadets. All of them suffered from similar problems: dizziness , dehydration and heavy breathing. It was the last cadet he was helping up she had thrown up on her chest and cooling vest. The smell of stomach bile was rancid in his nose from her bile
"Get up cadet you're not done yet" Tony said to her without remorse. Tony's lack of remorse stemmed from the knowledge that he knew she was not going to make it through the rest of the trial.
"Sorry for the smell but I knew if I stopped I was going to be kicked from the program." The cadet guiltily said to Tony while sucking in breaths of air.
"Are you injured ? are you fully operational" Tony asked the cadet with little remorse in his voice.
"N-no" the cadet stammered "sir, no, sir I am fully operational and ready to rock sir." The cadet finished after composing herself.
"Good then , report to the master sergeant cadet." Tony said to the cadet.
"Sir yes sir" the cadet saluted and began making her way.
The cadet was stopped by another cadet, one of the three cadets who made it to the finish line ahead of the pack.
"What's your name cadet?" asked Cadet Brixton.
"Sir, Cadet Angela Flaux. Sir." the cadet answered the man asking the question. "Did I do something wrong sir?"
"No cadet angela, you did not do anything wrong, but I do have some grave news darlin." cadet brixton answered the cadet sadly. He didn't feel good about having to deliver this news. Scanning her up and down , it felt even worse in his chest. She had bile on the front of her cooling vest, her undershirt was soaked with a thick layer of sweat and chunks from the ration bars she'd scoffed down.
Looking past her , he saw that Cadet Guiterrez was now standing behind her. Seeing him; the way he just stood there , his face betrayed no compassion, he kept himself distant from her. Whatever that man was thinking, it threw Brixton off balance.
"Cadet Flaux , I am sorry to have to be the one to tell you this darlin', don't make it any better by tellin' you this is my decision." Brixton said to the cadet, sucking in a breath he continued "I'm sorry darlin' but yer off the program, please report to the carrier they got medics in there that are gonna check ya out and get ya goin' home." cadet brixton finished informing.
Cadet Angela Flaux didn't say anything. All she could do was stand there, she wasn't surprised. Instead of being angry she did quite the opposite. She smiled, she took a very deep breath and looked over at the cadet behind her. "Well I tried my best" she said to Cadet Guiterrez.
"Your best wasn't good enough" Cadet Gutierrez replied to the cadet tersely.
"Hey c'mon man , you ain't gotta be like that cadet caramel, cut 'er some slack she tried." Cadet Brixton scrutinized the other man.
"It is not only the truth, it is a fact." replied Gutierrez "her feelings do not matter here she had two choices, work hard enough to become a pilot today or fail that's and today she failed, she can try again in two years but today she is a failure. It is for the better. The last thing we need is her to be putting her life at risk for a final exam" Guiterrez finished.
"That's cold man, that's real cold." Brixton replied. It was at that moment he saw that cadet Flaux was on the verge of tears. "The hell's wrong with ya man, didn't ya momma ever teach never to break a girls' heart?"
"No" Tony answered brixtons question with zero remorse or hesitation. "If she cannot handle the truth of her failure then how can you expect the cadet to survive the stresses of live combat" shoving past Cadet Flaux he stopped two feet from brixton "I need every single one of my subordinates to be fully operational under the stresses of combat, I will not put my life on the line with someone who can barely keep their emotions in check at the feeling of failure." Turning on his heel to Cadet Flaux , Tony addressed her directly "check in with medical, control your emotions , train and try again next year." Tony told Cadet Flaux in a calm and professional manner. "you have failed this year, I wish you the best of luck next time, if you have the dedication to try again that is." finishing his statement to her, he turned on his heel towards the obstacle course and began working that way.
"I would personally like to apologize for him, I don't know him but I'd imagine he aint that bad once you get to know him." brixton said to Cadet Flaux.
"No , he's right." Cadet Flaux replied. "I didn't give up, but I wasn't good enough to be fast or tough enough."
"Don't say that you did alright, Not many even make it to the pilot program, maybe you could try becoming an aerospace fighter pilot" Brixton tried to reassure her.
"Maybe" she finally conceded.
..................................
Time:1645
The obstacle course building was intense. The building was ninety-five thousand square feet. Ground floor to ceiling was forty feet tall, thirty feet above the floor there is a catwalk that went to two opposite walls. One of the walls held an office area. To the other side of the catwalk there was a briefing room. In the very center of the catwalk there was a four hundred square foot glass room made for observing and watching over the obstacle course. The glass room was twenty-five feet long and sixteen feet wide.
The obstacle course took up space on the ground floor directly in the center. With it being almost seven thousand five hundred square feet it had to consume a portion of the building. From start to finish the obstacle course consisted of; hurdles, ramps, sand pit, monkey bars, one rope bridges, one hundred twenty five pound body bag drag, rope climb, jacob's ladder,, traverse walls, over under walls, swing , stop , jumps. between start and finish. Completing the course meant running one final lap around the whole course after running it.
All ten of the cadets were lined up at the starting line. They were lined up by who arrived first to those who arrived last. Cadets Gutierrez, Brixton , and Warren were lined up in the front. The remaining seven cadets are lined up behind them. Tony felt pride being in front, showing that he was better than the rest. To his left and right were Brixton and Warren, this was his team so far. Them and himself were the strongest so far. Those who were behind, if they could make it they'd be good enough. He doubted even three of them would be able to pass this final stretch.
The Sergeant Major was looking over at all these fresh faced cadets. They were exhausted, most of these cadets were already close to their breaking points. The three that arrived first were in front of the rest. So far he only has hope for these three. Cadet Caramel , he looks too proud to be exhausted, far too relentless to give up so easily. Cadet Brick; too stupid to realize he is tired, too exhausted to realize that he may break here. Cadet Warren; an interesting case that one, she hasn't spoken a word so far, her breathing is ragged, but her eyes show sheer determination. The seven cadets behind them are showing extreme signs of fatigue; ragged breathing, lack of coordination,
"Listen up maggots!" Sergeant Major DeClan shouted to the cadets. "Soon you will be facing a challenge very few make it through, those of you who made it here first will also be first in, followed by the rest." looking at the cadets he saw that Cadet Brick was becoming discouraged. "Each of you will be timed differently by the logistics pukes up in the observation room above us. If you do not complete the course in three minutes or you don't complete the course then you fail the program!" Sergeant Major Declan stated matter of factly.
"Cadet Caramel you are up first on the chopping block , you were the first to arrive, you suffer first!" DeClan shouted at Tony.
Tony began his way to the obstacle course. Seeing the size of it made his heart sink, it wasn't large but the obstacles that made it the gauntlet that it was daunting to Tony. putting aside his own doubts he focused on the one thing he knew about this course. Pacing was the key here, he had to save his reserves for the end of it, the final sprint around the course was the camel that broke most of the cadets in both basic and in the program.
At the starting line he glanced to his left and began to shake, it wasn't fear, anxiety, or any other negative notion no. Tony deep down in his core, within the deepest reaches of himself, even his body knew. This feeling, the shakes , he was excited. That's when the whistle blew; Tony made a massive mistake, he took off like a bullet. Every step pounded on the ground , every pump of his legs he felt it up to his hips, he was already sore from the miles of marching. The pain was intoxicating, it felt like progress to him. This moment is what he has worked for all these years since he decided he is going to be a mechwarrior. Tony hadn't even realized it but he'd already finished the first lap around the course, but at a price his lungs were burning fiercely.
"Don't even think about stopping" Tony thought to himself as he rounded the corner into the course.
Here comes the hurdles. There were eight of them in a row, each one was two and a half feet above the ground. Leaping over them was the easy part , it was trying not to knock them over which was the tricky part. Putting all the force into the back foot and using his arms to thrust himself upwards he was able to clear the hurdles with little issues. But now his ribs and sides were burning along with the calf and thigh muscles of his left leg. The cone indicating his time to turn the corner and proceed to the next obstacle was quickly approaching.
Rounding the cone he saw the next challenge. The ramps were at a 30 foot 50 degree incline and 40 foot 45 degree decline on the opposite side. Dropping to a low stance when he arrived at the edge of the incline he used all of his limbs to give him the leverage he needed to make this incline at a good pace. Watching his hands pass underneath him as he pushed his way up, he felt like an ape. He hated every second of this feeling exposed. He reached the top in good time. Seeing the decline was steep enough that he did not need to crawl down. Hopping over the summit he landed on his right hip and slid the remaining forty feet. This would cost him later he knew, but as long as he reached the finish line that is all that mattered.
Seeing the cone ahead signifying the next turn he was going to have to make he readied himself to make that turn. Much too weighty the turn on his heel was , he rolled his ankle. The pain shot up his leg and body causing him to buckle and fall, using the momentum to roll back onto his feet. "Fucking idiot , shit this hurts, can't stop have to keep moving" tony scorned himself using this interim to suck in lung fulls of oxygen and trying to keep a pace with a mild limp which melted away with each step towards the sand pit.
Tony's eyes rested on the rapidly approaching sand pit; it was a 25 foot stretch of sand, 3 feet above the sand stretch was barbed wire. He was gonna have to crawl as fast as he could, this will give him a second to rest his ankle. "Good, I can catch my breath here" , Tony considered. Three feet away from the sand pit, Tony quickly dropped on his abdomen and began to crawl, kicking up his knees up to his waist and using his arms and raised legs to propel his way forward.keeping his head low to avoid catching the wire over head. Trying to keep his breath steady so that he doesn't swallow any sand. Clearing the sand pit he leapt back onto his feet and continued forward at a steady tempo.
Ankle pulsating ,waist sore , legs burning , lungs surging, arms cramping, and abdomen rippling. Tony saw the next cone ahead though this one did not indicate a turn, it kept going forward for ten feet leading up to the monkey bars. Glancing at it Tony judged it was fifteen feet in length and eight feet above the ground over a filthy mud-pit. Erupting forward, Tony hopped up to meet the bars hand over hand. The bars must have had metal spikes on it. Tony's hands felt like they were gripping onto branding irons, this will not stop him as he kept his head up towards the bars and swung himself forwards hand-over-hand , bar after bar till there was none left. Tony back felt more then stretched it felt as if he had just been extended by a torture device.
Seeing the cone ahead of him he rounded the next cone. The pain of his ankle swelled up his body, ignoring it he continued forward. Ahead was the one rope bridge, two meters of rope between two posts he is to drag himself across. "Easy" thought Tony as he grabbed the rope and threw a leg over it using the momentum to pull himself across it while trying to keep his core from buckling. Hand-over-painful-hand he pulled himself across the six feet and dropped down lunging forward. Up next the body bag, no matter how much he hated the idea of dragging another person he needed to here or else he'd fail, and he knew it. Grappling with the body bag he hoisted the lifeless human shaped punching bag over his shoulders. The weight of this bag felt like he was carrying mount olympus on his back. One foot in front of the other the weight became crushing when he realized he'd carried it the full thirty five feet. Lowering the body bag gently he continued forward seeing the next cone.
Rounding the corner his next challenger was showing its face to him; a twenty foot rope tied to a post at the very top. He had to scale it, touch the top and lower himself back down. Approaching the challenger head on he sprang up to meet the stringy rope. Wrapping a portion of the rope on his dominant leg he used it to push himself up and gave himself the purchase he needed. Before he knew it he'd touched the top and began lowering himself down. Hitting the ground Tony's ankle shot up his leg with an extreme pain that nearly took him out of the race. He jolted forward, seeing the next issue, the jacobs ladder. "Fuck I'm tired." Tony shoved the thought from his mind. He didn't have the time to spare right now; he needed to keep going.
The jacobs ladder was directly ahead an eight runged , sixty-five foot high ladder. This is one of the obstacles that will take up the most time, "remember hand over hand and don't look down." Tony reminded himself. Grabbing onto the first rung he pulled himself up, with every bundle of muscle working against him had to be fast about getting up, crawling over and climbing down. There was not a second to waste, hand over hand leg over leg he found himself at the top. Fortunately he had no fear of heights, he scorned those who did. "Imagine that a mechwarrior with a fear of heights, what a stupid decision on those candidates and shame on the logistics, acrophobia should be grounds for automatic disqualification." Tony chased off the thought as he began the climb down. Turning on his heel ten feet away was the traverse wall. A ten foot high slanted wall with a rope to help climb over it.
Sprinting towards it he kept his breathing steady, he grabbed onto the rope and used his feet to shove himself up the traverse wall, it was not that much of a challenge compared to the jacobs ladder, however it still pained his arms. Pulling himself up was not that much of an issue, controlling the cramps was however an issue. The muscles in his back were refusing to cooperate. Nevertheless he made it over the wall , in time to see that cadet brick was on the third rung down on the jacobs ladder.
Keeping up the pace he saw the cone leading to the next problem. The over under logs were fairly self explanatory; the first of the logs was five feet above the ground , the next was eight feet off the ground, after that it was five feet and then eight again. Lurching forward , Tony mantled the first one, used his momentum to vault forward and clear the second although the pain in his ankle was beginning to resurface, rolling to a crouch under the third and vaulting over the fourth. His thighs were beginning to sting. "Almost there , just one more headache and the sprint, this is nothing to me" tony declared while sucking in hot lungfuls of air, sweat dripping from his forehead and down his neck.
The last obstacle was a simple rope swing and then jump off onto the ground by the finishing line. He met this obstacle with the confidence of a god , a simple rope would not stop him now. Rushing forward he grabbed the rope and lunged forward shifting his center of balance forward for maximum velocity he jumped off of it and found his feet but the landing didn't seem to like him very much as his ankle began to throb violently. Taking a moment to stifle a groan of pain by the finish line of the obstacle course he carried on ankle still throbbing uncontrollably. It's time for the final stretch of the last lap.
Seeing the ground move under his feet, Tony looked up, seeing the first cone seventy-five feet away. Keeping up a steady pace he kept moving his feet, but by this point his body felt loose; arms were not moving at his side cohesively, feet were dragging under him, breathing was ragged, he could feel his posture was not confident. Correcting his posture he made a note to scorn himself later for letting his posture slip. "A mechwarriors biggest enemy is his own weakness , don't slip now you're almost at the finish." Tony told himself as he began to pick up the pace. Rounding the second corner of the course he saw the third cone was a hundred feet away and closing. His breath was ragged, inconsistent with the walls in his vision closing in. Tony saw that his vision was blurring, in response he shook his head clearing away the fuzz and kept up the pace.clearing the hundred feet he rounded the third corner and saw the third cone being seventy-five feet away. The edges of his vision were blackening, dark and incohesive. Finally the last corner, the last final hundred foot stretch. Ahead he could see Sergeant Major DeClan, he stood there unwavering him in his confidence.
Sergeant Major DeClan watched as Cadet Guiterezz was close to the finish line now. He watched as the boy rocketed out of the gate, clearing all the obstacles in less than a minute. Now the boy was having trouble keeping his head up. That's when he saw about fifty feet away; the boy's back straightened , head shot up straight, arms stiffened and legs started pumping faster. Seeing the determination in this boy's posture made DeClan fold his arms over his chest. Finally arriving the boy collapsed on one knee and was breathing raggedly. But Cadet Gutierrez looked at the sergeant and declared.
"You can't beat me with sand and mud".