Ichor

Commander (Part X)

Year 20 - Commander
Planet Earth

° ° ° °

"That was very unnecessary, Jason. Especially since Ichor put me on armor duty," Travis told him as they walked towards the pocket dimension for the barracks.

"I felt bad and it wasn't your fault. You shouldn't be punished for it. We didn't know the Commander would go this far."

Travis laughed, "No, Jason, what I mean is that he didn't really punish me for this."

"I'm sorry but there are like a thousand people in your division and you have to clean all of their armor. I don't see how that's not a punishment."

They reached the tent and Jason followed in after Travis with permission. What he saw was most people's armor already put away in pristine condition and others actively cleaning it.

"Wait, What?"

"Most people are super picky about how their armor is cared for," Travis explained. "They won't let anyone else touch it, let alone clean it and put it away. I estimate we have to clean about ten only because they've got other jobs to do tonight."

"Oh," was all Jason managed to comment before his ears turned pink. He couldn't hide the embarrassment he felt from his overreaction earlier.

"But thank you for standing up for me anyway. It was good of you." Travis didn't want Jason to feel stupid. He didn't know the punishment wasn't serious, which meant Jason stood up for him out of altruism. Not many would do such a thing. Even fewer had done such a thing.

As predicted, only a dozen sets of armor needed to be cleaned. They handled it in no time and since the dye in Travis's armor had already washed out some, it wasn't hard to get rid of the rest.

The camper's curfew wasn't for another twenty-five minutes, so Jason and Travis just hung out in the latter's room. He got a private room because he was a major, thus in charge of classified documents.

"What's it like?" Jason wondered. "What do you do all day?" The question clearly referring to the Chaos Army.

"We train, go on missions, hang out," Travis answered. "It sounds boring, but it's really not. You meet a lot of good people and get to travel the universe. It's dangerous, of course, but we have each other's backs."

"Sounds nice," Jason thought wistfully.

"You thinking about joining up?"

"I don't know. I went to school for the first time in my life with Piper. But then we broke up and I had to figure it out on my own. In New Rome, I was just taught with the other kids there in a more relaxed setting. Or I was given private tutors. I joined the legion at a young age, so it just seems that it's all I'm good at."

"I'm sure that's not all you're good at, but if you did want to join, I can see what I can do for you."

Jason offered a grateful smile. "Maybe. I'll think about it some more. Thanks."

"Sure. But you might not even need my help. We're starting to train the campers soon and if the generals see you fighting, they'll definitely be interested in recruiting you."