Kratos

05

3 months later...

"Unit 1, please respond! Unit 1, do you copy?!?"

The sounds of static were the only response to Unit 3's transmission. Val sat on the ground with four other boys, sighing as a small boy with ginger hair kept repeating his statement.

"Clover, they aren't going to respond", a large boy with flushed cheeks said.

The ginger looked at him, face red and sweat dripping down the side of his face.

"Then what do you expect happened to them, Muffin? We're still in the stimulation and their player stats are on the leader board. They didn't just disappear, so they must still be around."

"What Muffin meant was, they aren't going to respond to us", a dark boy with strange eyes said. "They probably turned off their radio and are going to attack us soon. Isn't it obvious?"

"Gonna have to agree with Jackal on this one", the last boy with sharp eyes and dark hair said. It was obvious they were out to get us when we made the agreement for a battle practice pact. Right Terminator?"

Val looked at them blankly, nodding.

"So quiet, right Trix", Jackal whispered to the boy with sharp eyes. "Is there something wrong with him, like you know, in the head?"

"Dunno", Trix whispered back. "Heard his family's dead as dirt. Died in the attack on Earth a few months back. Hasn't spoken a word since."

"One hell of a soldier, though", Muffin said, joining them. "Wonder why he's even in our squadron if he received full marks on the last simulation."

"Hm...", the three said in unison. 

"Can you three shut up", Clover said, agitated. "We finally got a good teammate and you're questioning why he's even here? The higher ups had a reason, probably saw our potential, so quit your yapping."

"'Our potential?' Please, what a joke", Trix said smirking. "You think we have any potential? We have a fatso, a freak, a mute, and a freckle-faced weakling as our leader. I'm not even high on the stats myself, so why the hell did the higher-ups give that guy to us?"

Clover turned red, grabbing his gun defensively.

Val tapped on Jackal's shoulder.

"What?", he said turning around to see another squadron coming their way.

"Hey, guys", Jackal began before being shut out by the yells of the two boys.

"At least my mother didn't sell me for a cow", Clover said defensively.

Trix narrowed his eyes, grabbing his pocket knife.

"And why are you here then, Clover, or should I rather say 'Duke Clovis the 3rd'. Why the hell is a noble here. Aren't all of you supposed to be paid off of this war? Or didn't your father sell you out to the military? I heard he gave you away like cheap scraps. It really says something about your self-worth."

Clover stood up, eyes welling with tears, and then he lunged at Trix in full outrage. Suddenly a gun fired in the boys' direction and all eyes turned to the group of five standing there, guns ready to fire.

The one that shot blew the smoke off of his plasma gun. Boogie was the leader of unit 1. His hair was shaven on the sides with two bald scar marks on the right of his head. He looked at the group with catlike eyes, smirking in amusement.

"Found you", he said as he patted the youngest of the bunch. "Nice work, Fortuna."

Fortuna was around 12 years old and used to work for a fishing company before he joined the military. In appearance, you wouldn't expect much from him. He had brown hair and pale skin, quite like Val, and he was pretty short, however, it was his eyes that set him aside from everyone. Eyes the color of poison green, like a venomous snake. It was almost alien.

Fortuna had an ability that the Galactic Military cherished, and was why unit 3 was backed into a corner. He could find the location of people within a mile radius, no need for trackers.

"So", Boogie began, "Surrender or die?"