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"So you an to tell that a cadet, who hasn't even been here for an entire day, not only manages to hack the security lock, forcing the building to launch the lockdown asures and deploy the barrier, he also manages to stand his ground against the void creatures at his first encounter without panicking or having a ntal breakdown?"
The one speaking was a tall man with features resembling those of a stone. If you look closely, you might be able to see patches of moss growing from his body as well as tribal runes on the surface of his skin. His veins resembled spatial fissures, and his eyes were like cosmic swirls as he gazed at the people within the sa room as him.
"...and he's not from 'The Six', too. How the hell did Site Delta manage to hide him from us?"
"Is that really important right now?" A female officer, the sa one that rescued the cadets yesterday, spoke up in response.
"You're right. It's not important, my bad," the ancient titan replied, his voice softening. "So, what happens then? If you ask , I'd say to pass him already. If he's competent enough to perform under all that pressure, then the initial training is but a waste of ti to him. Have him join the regulars already. Heavem knows we need more of them."
His suggestions caused people to murmur within the room, expressing their opinions softly to themselves.
"Would that be alright? I an, wouldn't this appear like preferrential treatnt? What if this leaks? Would it cause damage to our PR?" One of the people in the sa room asked.
"Hey, if they can send us more people like this guy, any and all preferrential treatnt can be written off. Like I said, we are desperate for more people. As for our PR, hell, even bad PR is a good PR. I don't think we need to worry that much." The ancient titan replied.
Whether they like it or not, stories and gossip within the camp can sotis leak to the public. Because of their duties, a lot of people are paying attention to the Border Patrol Guardians, so any small movent they do can cause a lot of opinions to appear.
Since the guardians are lacking in staff, it's understandable that they'd have so promotional-related duties to attract more people, like an advertisent to entice people to join their ranks so they can have more people to use and guard the realm.
Learning of the existence of this one cadet that performs excellently under pressure on his hellish first day at work might look just as impressive as it was horrible. After all, no first day at work should look like that. But like that ancient titan said, even a bad PR is a good one.
The Scarlet Dust Alliance doesn't lack audaciously arrogant people who think that they could do better should this ever leak out. And if those people co here, even if they fail their initial training, it would still alleviate so of the pressure on their shoulders.
"Okay, I think that settles it then." The ancient titan clapped his hands. "Now, let's move on to more important matters. Co on, make this daddy happy, and tell that the holes have gone away."
"..."
A wry smile appeared on the ancient titan's face as he was t with silence. Sighing helplessly, his shoulders drooped, saying:
"Alright, tough crowd. Damn it."
There's really no need to say much. The hole that allowed the outsiders to pass through, the sa one that overlapped with the location of this camp, was still there.
"At least tell that we have so people guarding that place." The ancient titan almost sounds as if he's begging.
"We do." Sobody responded.
"How many?"
"..."
"..."
"...like, about a hundred, I suppose. Of course, under the impression that all of them are still alive. I have yet to receive any news of deaths as of now, so, yeah, about a hundred."
"I—..."
The ancient titan was about to complain, but rembering how severely understaffed they were, he could only weakly sit down on his chair.
At their current state, this was already the best they could do.
However, one must know that only sending a hundred people to keep watch of that fissure was incredibly risky, if not dangerous. At minimum, there should be at least a squad of a thousand strong-ard and well-equipped n in there to respond at the first signs of threat. Seeing as there's only a hundred people they can send shows how truly lacking they were in terms of manpower.
"Should we send another request for reinforcents? Cause, honestly? This is horrible."
"We already did." The ancient titan weakly chuckled. "Like tens or hundreds of tis. But what can they do? It's not like we're the only ones understaffed; the other camps are too. They can send more our way since they need them as much as we do."
"And before you ask, yes, we already filed a request to the alliance to bring us more people. But who knows how long that's going to take? You already know how rarely people actually choose to join the Border Patrol. Unless it's a form of punishnt, you won't see them here."
This caused more gloom to descend upon the eting room. Truly, this situation was horrible.
"Let's just make more of those androids to handle the logistics. That way we can free up more hands for more important things."
"That's the next best option we have, so yes, I suppose we can do that." The ancient titan sighed. "Anyways, eting adjourned. Scram, all of you. I need a strong drink."
He was t with the disdainful or pitiful gazes of his fellow guardians, but he didn't care. He directly took out a barrel of booze from his inventory and began drinking to his heart's desire.
Drinking while on duty was illegal. But faced with the stress and pressure, nobody can really tell him what he can and cannot do unless they're willing to take his burdens away.
Besides, it's not like this would lessen his performance rating. At most, it'd help him take a nap, and in this kind of situation, that's already the best he could ask for.
** Experience tales with empire
"All Cadets, attention! Gather up outside the dorm in five minutes!"
The unmistakably deep and gritty voice of Officer Zod echoed on the ears of the cadets, shaking them awake from whatever they were doing.
People like Cedric, who's experienced in performing under stressful situations and had military experience, readily hopped out of their bunker spaces and began making their way out of the dorm. Of course, the others were doing their best to catch up as well. After all, it's almost certain that they will be punished if they can't arrive within the ti limit.
Seconds and minutes ticked down; most of the cadets were already standing in line and attentive in front of Officer Zod. A few of the cadets, like Grunt, for example, were a beat slow at every move, causing them to be late.
And it seems that these people still haven't found their place and realized where they were; they dared to visibly express their irritation and annoyance at being hurried by sobody.
Seeing this, the other cadets started feeling nervous, especially after seeing the dangerous glint flashing through Officer Zod's eyes. Stoic, the Dragon Turtle, and that guy from the Spirit Race who mocked Grunt yesterday inwardly relished at this and waited for the good show.
...and they weren't disappointed.
Boom!!
"GAAHCK!!"
Grunt and the others, who were late at their arrival and visibly expressed their displeasure at Officer Zod, were t with a horrible punishnt. Nobody saw what exactly Zod did, but the results were obvious. Grunt and the others were sent flying, and as they landed, they curled into a ball clutching their stomachs in severe pain.
With a glare from Zod, the cadets watched as their punished fellows were raised from the ground by a mysterious and invisible force. They struggled in panic and fear, but they couldn't break their invisible restraints.
A whip then appeared on Zod's hands. He leisurely walked towards them while saying,
"I never liked brats."
"I stay away from them because my patience is thin, and I've always been afraid that I will accidentally kill them once my patience runs out."
"Well, that only applies within the alliance. Here, I don't have to hold back that much, because even if I accidentally kill so brats here, I believe I have every right to do so."
Pah! Pah! Pah!
Wails of tredous pain echoed around, causing the other cadets to feel their souls chill.
"Next ti I tell you to gather within a specific ti period, you will haul your ass and strive to be at the place I tell you to within the ti limit I allowed you to. Is that understood, Cadets?"
"Sir, yes, sir!" The unpunished cadets replied loudly.
Zod glared at the punished cadets, and they also responded positively through their imnse pain. Seeing that, Zod placed them down and told them to join their fellow cadets.
The officer's eyes then landed on Cedric, then he said:
"Dawnbringer, is it? Step forward."
Cedric did what was asked of him and he saluted. Zod handed him a letter and told him:
"Go to the blue building over there; you won't miss it." He pointed towards the west. "Show this letter to the person at the reception, and they'd tell you what to do. Go."
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