Battle Born Vagabond Prequel

Chapter 7: Introduction to Basic Training: Dorian: March 20, 4995

A month after that incident, going through the treatments of being cut open to have muscle physically injected in me, and then a salve inserted. Then I'm told to go exercise at the gym. Different people are teaching me how to do it. My muscles are getting huge. Doing little things are very strange, using my hands to put food in my mouth, cleaning lamp shades; I've become so bulky everything is different. And Flynn has been nice enough to teach me, all the things I should know, by the time I'm an adult. Meanwhile, I've turned into a 22-year-old child with super-human strength. I'm told on today, at 1400, to be at a certain area, to go get my retraining. But it's far enough away, where I need to take a glider to go there; it's on the 3rd floor on the other side of this fortress.

I found one guy in a blue and black uniform, tall and intimidating. I shyly asked him for where to go. He demanded my "orders" a piece of paper that said I was going to. He guides me as I get my bag from under the glider. I'm put on a pad with a bunch of other guys, we were promptly shuffled onto a large bus, and we had a bus ride ahead of us. We arrived at 3600 and we played card games and chess to pass the time. 4300 was bed time.

Wake up was at 0500 and no one really knew what to do, but of course a drill sergeant came in and told us what to do, and how to do it. We were to be here until we did all medical tests, have all clothing assigned to us, and how fast we move onto our basic training, will depend on how fast we, as a group, finish the tests.

I made no friends there, but I did make a rival there. And we almost fought a few times in these days. We just didn't get along. After all, tests were taken, they lined us up and gave us all the numbers; one, two or three. The drill sergeant caught us about to fight; he made sure to put us in the same group together. We both ended up being in group two.

All three groups separated and I met about 80 new guys. And we waited in our bunks as told, not told when we would be called. Not even knowing what we were waiting for. We went to bed at 3100 as instructed. And after breakfast the next day, we were lead back to our bunks for more waiting in awkward silence.

At noon we went to what we thought was lunch. We got in mock squads. And I was all the way in the front, I was not happy with that, I wanted to blend in, not be the center. And this man comes out and it seems like one at a time, and yet all at once, we realized what was going on as well, he yelled: "At Ease!"

"That was weak, let's try that again, I mean what are you, mice or men?"

he went back in and promptly came back out and we yelled: "AT EASE!"

"That's better; I am one of your new Drill Serpents, Drill Sergeant Hamilton"

We stood there, given no instruction, as he came by and pinned a number on us after telling squad four to become part of one two and three, realizing that we are not even 100 men (Very Small amount for a basic training). After that was done, he walked in and back out and we yelled "AT EASE" again.

"Ahhh" he smiled with relief "I love having power over civilians like this" I guess a few of the guys gave her the evil eye or something because his misdemeanor changes "That's right, I called you all fucking civilians, you haven't completed basic training, and you aren't warriors."

I accepted that, better than a lot of the guys there, I could feel the resentment of our new Drill Sergeant. As he yells, "Get all your shit and get back out here"

We run inside and open our locks and get our military assigned duffle bags. And we run back out and we all set them down beside ourselves. And she waits for everyone to do the same thing before saying "What the hell, did I tell you to put them next to you? Hold them and bury your fucking faces in them!"

We pick them up and we suddenly have reverse tunnel vision, only being able to see from our peripheral vision. We're still in confusion as she yells "Get on the bus." We start trying to head for the bus and it was a mass of confusion, as people were struggling to stay upright, in addition to, the mob mentality of no one knowing where the bus was, many people tackled the bus and I was one of the lucky ones to not tackle it and to get close to the door. I sat on the aisle seat, next to a guy named Chmura, I was lucky to sit down at all. Soon after me, I realized that people were standing crunched in as tight as they could go.