Wild and Out of Control

|chapter twenty six|

"The Squad Battles are more important than the wingleaders will let on. They like to joke that it's a game, that it's just bragging rights for the squad leaders and the winning squad, but it's not. They're all watching. The commandant, the professors, the commanding officers - they're watching to see who will rise up to the top. They're salivating to see who will fall."

- Page ninety nine, the book of Antony

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|danica|

The room is quiet before all hell breaks loose and the Squad talks over each other as they voice their thoughts.

     I lose my patience with this nonsense. "Enough!" I yell, only to get their attention. They all fall quiet. "I know what I suggest is crazy, but—"

     "More like idiotic," Nadine quips.

      I glare at her but continue. "There's a map of where all the battle stations and army supplies are located on her office walls, and if we can retrieve it, we'll be sure to win."

     "How do you know that?" Violet asks as she stands beside me now. "Even I don't know that. And she's my mother."

     "Well, I had a recent visit with someone who required her office, and I saw that map." I won't offer who it was, but from the way Imogen, Heaton, and Emory's features tighten, they already know who.

     "How can we trust you?" Nadine asks from her place near the back. "What if this is some loyalty test or something?"

    "Why the hell would I do that?" Now she is really getting on my nerves. "But no, it's not. It's the best chance we have at winning this thing. Anyone would agree that a map that shows all of our military operations would give our enemies the biggest advantage over us."

     Imogen smirks from her side beside me. "She's right. It would be the most advantageous item. Okay, so here is how—"

     "What's everyone's signet?" I ask before she can finish. "I already know some, but what's your guys'?" I nod toward Heaton, Quinn, and Emery.

     "I can breathe underwater," Heaton answers.

     "That's cool, but my useful for this." I pause. "How did you find that out?"

     "It's a long story—" he begins.

      "That we don't have time for," Emery interrupts. "I can control wind. A lot of wind."

     Alright, that could be useful. "Quinn?"

     "I can astral project. Keep my body in one place and then walk around somewhere else."

     My mouth hangs open, matching about half the squad.

     "I know, it's pretty awesome." She winks, pulling her curls up into a bun.

     Yes. That we can use. My head bobs as I think through the easiest way to do this. There is no easy way, but there is one way this can work. And Quinn's signet will become most important to pulling this off - and maybe even Rhi's object retrieving.