Chapter 57: Training
After finishing their shopping, Mia and Jessica went ho.
They prepared dinner as they waited for Eric.
Life back in Garrison was a monotonous drill of paperwork and radio calls. they still didn’t have enough signal to rely on cell phones yet, so radios were the doctrine for the ti being. Paperwork and docunts piled on Eric’s desk, reports that had stacked on tope of each other during his ti out in Esponia and the strip. One radio call made him pause. He stood silent as he held the mic. After a mont to gather his thoughts, he responded:
"I’ll be right there."
Eric made the hour long drive to Hoover Dam with Milano. The commander stood next to him as they stared blankly at the frayed ends of power lines.
For the past few weeks, The engineers had been trying to establish power relays to Freedom Township. Today, the reason beca known as next to the frayed lines was the corpse of a rodent. There was just one issue, however:
The rodent was the size of a horse.
"I think Delta and Echo have a few guys they can spare, sir." Eric said as he crouched to the ground. He observed claw marks, noticing the tracks. "We can put concertina wire along the route the engineers will be burying wire, and have the Squads rotate guard shifts. One shift for night, one shift for day."
Milano nodded.
"Do we have any drones not currently on mission?"
Eric read through his notes. "Yes sir. We have one."
"Good. I want it on-site scanning the route when engineers aren’t present."
"Yes sir. I’ll get it done."
Eric and Milano drove back to Hood Hill after ensuring the right orders were relayed. Eric dropped off Milano before making the drive back to Town Freedom. On the way, he got stuck behind yet another convoy.
"The universe hates ." He grumbled, sitting back as he looked at the speedoter:
Fifteen miles per hour.
At ho, Eric arrived to the sll of a delicious dinner and the promise of a relaxing night. The table was set as Jessica and Mia were finishing up the final touches of dinner. Eric began to sit down before Mia smacked his hand lightly with a spatula. "Uh uh Mister. Go take your ass to the shower right now. You sll like dirt and desert. You are NOT wearing that uniform again tomorrow."
Eric caught a whiff of himself.
"Yikes. You’re right."
He then turned to Jessica.
"Are you acclimating alright?"
She smiled and nodded. "Yes sir. I was able to get jeans today!"
Eric shook his head and grumbled. "Fucking Jonny." He said as he walked to the shower.
Jessica tilted her head in confusion. "Did I say sothing wrong?"
Mia shook her head. "Lets just say that Eric and Jonny have a bad history."
Jessica nodded while they took their seats.
After dinner, Eric sat down with Jessica.
"So check it out, tomorrow you are coming to work with . Right now, you are using your power as a crutch. What happens when the empire shuts that down?" He let the question silence her. "Innocent people die." He grumbled. He released a small ball of mana, the purple fla flickering in his hand. "It should never be your only tool."
"From here on out, you will be trained and treated like a soldier. We will integrate you into our forces slowly. Mia has taken a liking to you, and I believe her when she reads people. If she says you’re a good person, I will give the benefit of the doubt."
Jessica nodded while looking out the window. She released her own fla, the red mana flickering in her hand before she clenched her fist, resolving herself. "Yes sir. I understand."
Eric nodded while folding his arms across his chest. "Another thing. When we are here at ho, it is fine to call
’sir, or Eric’, but out at the battalion, I am Master Sergeant or Sergeant. So guys say Sarn’t, you can say either or, just not sir. Now go get so rest. It will be a long day for you."
"Yes sir."
In bed, Mia plopped her head on his chest while he played with her hair. "She’s a good kid." Mia whispered gently, snuggling up to him. He smiled as he held her. "I can tell. I guess part of my ’gift’ the goddess gave
is that I can read people easier now. I hadn’t realized it until now."
Mia fake pouted. "No fair. You’re a one man wrecking crew and have a gift. Save so for the rest of us."
"Isn’t that how you got pregnant?" He teased.
"And who’s fault is that?"
In the morning, Eric laid Mia gently to the side while kissing her forehead and the baby bump. He got out of bed to find Jessica already dressed and ready to go. He noticed a problem though. The girl was wearing yoga pants and a sports bra. He sighed and rubbed his face. "Change." He growled. "Yoga pants are okay, but put sothing on over the bra."
Jessica did as he told her to, coming back with a shirt over her bra. "Good. Let’s go."
Arriving at Hood Hill, Eric took Jessica to a field used for PT. The field was marked off like a football field, with every ten lines having the corresponding marker next to it. He walked beside her and stopped on one endzone. "Alright. We are going to run ten laps back and forth. We will go to the fifty yard mark and back. No mana, and no powers."
Jessica looked at Eric in horror. She had never been a fitness guru in either Brishan or on Earth. "I don’t know if I-" He waved his hand, silencing her.
"Just do it." As if to emphasize his point, he started running. He sprinted the first four laps, while Jessica tried to keep up. She tripped and fell twice, but got up and kept going. When Eric lapped her, he called out to her, running backwards. "I am ten years older, can’t keep up?" He teased, egging her on.
At the eigth lap, she fell. Her body gave in as she gasped for breath. Eric jogged in place while looking down at her. "Co on Kid. Get up."
"I can’t do it." She whispered between breaths, not having the strength to look up. "I’m not like you."
"You can. I promise." He said as he stopped jogging. He crouched down to look her in the eyes. "Now get up. You are almost there. Don’t let your mind weaken your body."
Jessica got up grudgingly and began to jog. "Almost there, keep it up." Eric said as he matched her pace. On the last turnaround Eric yelled. "Now sprint! Run like your life depends on it."
Jessica stood at the endzone after her last lap. She looked up at the sky, hands above her head as she caught her breath. Eric smirked as he watched her. "Good job. I told you you can do it. Never doubt yourself."
After PT, Eric had Jessica integrate with the HUMINT Section. "Teach her how to pull guard and walk her through basic intel collection."
The squad leader looked at him questioningly, but Eric waved his hand. "Just do it. If you need
or have any questions, call over the net. For now, just the basics."
"Roger Sarn’t." The man responded. He was still curious, but decided not to pry as he turned to the newest addition for the squad. "Kane, and Liam. You too are on day shift, right?"
The privates nodded, standing at parade rest.
"Good. Take the lady out with you, and teach her how to pull guard. Show her what you are looking for, and guide her on line of sight."
Liam looked up in confusion. "Sarn’t?"
"Get it done."
"Roger."
Jessica followed the two n out to their vehicle as the began explaining what they did on guard. She nodded with every explanation, contrasting it to what she had learned from the Empire. The soldiers were more grounded in instinct and understanding of vectors, while the empire relied on mana. In retrospect, both sides did the sa thing, just in different ways.
After a few hours, the shift got boring. "How do ya’ll pass the ti?" She asked while keeping her eyes peeled towards the forest.
Liam scratched the back of his neck, not making eye contact with Jessica. "Oh. Well, ya know. We talk about back ho a lot." He finally responded. "Shifts get boring, but it is necessary to stay on constant guard. Every little thing can be a threat, so it is important to scan and detect. Once you detect, you follow through and determine if it is a threat or not."
Jessica nodded. That was much in line with what she already knew. She sighed as she leaned back against the hood of the Humvee.
Liam pointed it out.
"When you’re on guard, you always want to be ready for engagents. No relaxation." He said quietly. She nodded and corrected her posture.
She looked out, and noticed sothing moving rapidly through the forest. "What’s that?"
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