Only a few hours past when Samuel heard knocking at his door. He fell asleep on his bed in his service uniform for the past few hours. The Marine Corps Service uniform consists of black trousers, a polished black plastic belt with gold buckle, long sleeve light blue buttoned up collared shirt with two chest pockets, a tie with gold tie clasp, and a black semi form fitting uniform coat. Samuel's coat hung neatly on its hanger on the open closet door in his room. He sat up on his bed and proceeded to make himself presentable. Adjusting his tie and clearing away any wrinkles to make sure his uniform shirt was nice and tight. He opens the door to find a woman standing in front of him, he had a serious and emotionless expression across his face. She looks at him with a courteous smile, "Gunnery Sergeant Samuel Walker, I am Staff Sergeant Seryna Forenza. I am your assigned senior non-commissioned officer." She then holds out a clipboard, "I have a note from Commandant Crownguard, 'Your squad is in the chow hall awaiting orders.' If you would, Gunnery Sergeant, introduce yourself as the squad leader." Samuel nodded and followed Seryna out towards the chow hall.
The chow hall assigned for the Gallian Marines was an old tank garage with a slapped on kitchen one side. To Samuel he knew that Damon was behind this, give the Marines poor facilities and make their life in the new branch hell. Damon believed that the Marines were a thorn at his side, and only believed the Gallian Army should take the glory in battle and war. He looked at the Marines in the same light as the militia. A worthless ineffective fighting force. Samuel entered the chow hall and saw his squad standing at attention in two rows in their original militia or Army uniforms. The squad stood in front of the four columns of tables with benches. Each bench had a number engraved on the bench. Seryna turns and states, "This is for your use, Gunnery Sergeant. In case we need to be briefed or have matters to attend to, the numbers are used then."
Samuel turned to face the squad. He cleared throat and said, "As of now, you are all Marine recruits. A Gallian Marine, we are a new branch of armed forces in the Gallian military service." He spoke loud and confidently as he paced up and down in front of the squad. He turned his head to his squad, "General Damon of the butt ugly national Army does not see the Marine Corps as an effective fighting force. He hates us and does not respect us. But I don't give a flying pigs ass about him and neither should you." He stopped in the center of the squad and faced them, "We will be the Gallians most effective and most lethal fighting force anyone has ever seen. We will be the best!" He paced again, "But to be the best, you must train to be the best." He listed his expectations, "Our daily lives will include rigorous training to meet the Commandant's requirements to be a Marine. Be prepared to endure the struggles you will face. We're not here for a party, we're not here to get laid, we're here to kill. If killing is not your profession, better beat feet and leave. We will begin on the training field at 0500 everyday. Questions." The squad looked nervous and a tad bit shaken and his speech. Seryna and Alex were the least nervous solely because they knew a speech like that was coming. They knew that the Marines had to prove their worth, and the only way to do that is by winning battles. Walker nodded when no one asked questions, "if you're so fortunate to make it to the end of this training cycle, then you will have the right to try and get to know me. You're dismissed." Samuel walked away leaving the squad to carry on.
Returning to his room, he meets Commandant Alison. He stands in attention, "Commandant Crownguard," he says letting her pass. Alison nods.
She turned towards Samuel, "Oh, Gunnery Sergeant, I wanted to say. I heard about what happened during the First Europan War, the 2nd Company Massacre. It's very tragic tale, but you shouldn't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault. You were just following orders." This prompted a series of flashbacks in Samuel. The screams of pain and the roar of explosions rush through him, but he kept a stoic expression. "If there's anything wrong, let me know so I can do my best to help." She walks away leaving Samuel alone. He turned and returned to his room and opens a cabinet that holds a small silver flask. He took it out and opened it. The air trapped inside the flask rushes out the moment it was open giving off a whiskey scent. He takes a big swig from the flask, as he took a seat on his chair. He leaned back on his chair and took another swig from his flask drinking his memories away.
Meanwhile back at the chow hall, Nathan was sitting at a small table alone and noticed a very beautiful woman sitting alone at another table across from him. He clapped his hands together and walked towards Seryna confidently. He approached Seryna, "Hey. Name is Sergeant Nathan Hale." He said casually and stuck his hand out for a friendly handshake.
Seryna spoke in a slight accent, "Hey. Staff Sergeant Seryna Forenza." She smiled and shook his hand.
Nathan smiled and looked at the seat opposite of her, "May I?"
Seryna nodded, "Go right ahead." Nathan took a seat and briefly admired Seryna's beauty as she was looking around the chow hall. He admired her dark brown hair that was tied up in a tight bun at the back of her head, her slightly tan skin, her medium thick lips, and her beautiful facial structure. Even in her Militia uniform, she looked absolutely beautiful. He couldn't help but admire her. The chow hall was not serving food at the moment but the hall was relatively packed with Marine recruits enjoying their last amounts of down time before the Marine Corps training phase.
Nathan smiled, "You look very beautiful, even in uniform." He complimented her, keeping it a subtle flirt. He chuckled, "Not many people stand out in uniform but you do. That's a great thing."
Seryna didn't blush like Nathan thought. She gave a friendly simply smiled, "Thank you." Nathan raised a brow in curiosity expecting something more. Seryna shrugged, "The fact that you opened up the conversation with 'you look very beautiful in uniform' tells me you are used to flirting with girls." Nathan slumped his shoulders. He did admit that she isn't wrong, but he sure as hell won't admit she is right.
On the other side, the twins Private Charles and Private Jane Ryan stuck together enjoying personal talk. "Hey brother, what do you think of our leader?" Jane asked hugging him from behind. Charles closed his book and shrugged.
"It is Gunnery Sergeant Samuel Walker. He was the only survivor in the 2nd Company Massacre. Possibly it had affected him emotionally. Other than that we will have to see how he leads us. But so far, he's seems cold and unforgiving, but a driven individual." Charles smiled at his sister, "We have training soon, I'm going to check if we received our combat uniforms."
"I'll go with you, brother!" Jane happily said. Jane has always followed her brother everywhere. Whenever she got lost, she'd blamed herself for not sticking with her brother. As the twins were leaving, there was an arm wrestling battle between, Private Oscar Hawkins and Lance Corporal Jack Conklin.
"I ain't givin' up just yet!" Oscar said as he tries to use his strength to take down the muscular Lance Corporal. Jack just stares at him grinning. Jack placed more strength into his arm and forcing Oscar's arm to nearly fall. The last bit of struggle comes from Oscar before giving out and falling completely. Lance Corporal Jack got up and cheered for himself. Oscar smacks the table cursing.
"Jack is strong! OORAH!" He laughs to himself.
"That was quite a spectacle," Staff Sergeant Alex Taylor said with a laugh. Alex was much older than the others. He served in the First Europan War. Corporal Tyler Herrick sat at another table just watching from a distance. As the boys were roughhousing, the girls went to have coffee. Corporal Eve Straus, Lance Corporal Samantha Henderson, and Private Ashleigh Wyatt discussed their roles and where they were before being assigned to the Gallian Marines.
"How did you enjoy Lanseal, Samantha?" Eve asked taking a sip of coffee.
"It was mostly just learning about Lancer Anti-Tank Launchers, for me at least. I actually brought the idea of firing rounds at an arc to increase the effective range of them," the Lance Corporal said. She pushed her hair back and looked at Private Ashleigh Wyatt. "So, Ashleigh I heard you were competing in the boys tournaments."
Ashleigh was surprised by the knowledge of her background. She smiled about it, "Well I did, yes. It was requested that I participate with the boys." Samantha giggled. "Wh-what is it, Samantha?"
"Oh I'm just wondering if you had a lot of fangirls," Samantha looked at her with mischievous eyes. Ashleigh laughed.
"Of course. They viewed me as a role model. Though, there was quite of bit of girls that told me they wished I was a boy. I wouldn't know why though." This prompted Samantha and Eve to laugh. "Wh-what did I say?"
"It's nothing! Don't worry about it." The squad quickly got themselves well acquainted. They wouldn't know what the Gallian Marine Corp had planned for the training cycle. Based off what Samuel said, things might get rough.
Soon it became nightfall and Staff Sergeant Alex was returning to his squad barracks when he met his Gunnery Sergeant. "Good evening, Gunnery Sergeant," Alex said nodding at him. Samuel nodded back and noticed his uniform.
"Staff Sergeant." Samuel said in a serious tone, "You served in the Army in the first Europan War?" Alex nodded.
"Indeed. I served in 1st Company. I heard about the stories of 2nd Company, I send my condolences. Rumors had it that Damon gave the order to stay. However, I can't say much without getting roasted." Samuel's flashbacks rushed through past his eyes again.
Samuel looked coldly at Alex, "For the whole day everyone has mentioned my past experience in the battle I don't want to name nor do I want to remember." He spoke even colder, "Do yourself and the squad a favor, and never mention the massacre ever again. Do you hear me recruit?" Alex nodded nervously. Samuel cleared his throat, "You best be on your way back to the barracks. We have a lot of training to do tomorrow." He turned around and left.
"Understood." Alex said to Samuel's back.
As Alex approached the squad male barracks he sighed to himself. Since the squad is co-gender the Marines made separate barracks' for men and women, so men and women won't stay with each other. But the squad female barracks was right across the path from the male barracks. Alex arrived at the squad barracks, to find everyone was staring at him. He knew why. Alex was the only one that was from the Gallian Army, and the rest were from Militia. There were stories that the Militia got hit with the front end of the decisions made by the Army. He calmly said, "Calm down. Before you jump to conclusions, you should know that not all those whom served in the Army are assholes."
"The Army gave us these outdated barracks. We're upset with them, and even Gunnery Sarnt said, 'The Marines are a thorn in their side.'" Oscar said in a thick country accent.
Corporal Tyler Herrick sat down on his rack (bed) and sighed, "Gunnery Sergeant is right. The Army is a bunch of pricks…" that was the most Tyler said the whole day. Some of the squad forgot who he was even in the squad.
"I completely understand. Let me tell you a story of my life in the Army back in the First Europan War." Alex took a breath, "I was a fresh Private recruit when joining the Army, assigned to 1st Company."
A young Alex Taylor stood in front of a gate leading into one of many Gallian Army forward bases. Tanks were continuously rolling in to prepare for a full scale assault, there was a call for 2nd Company to mobilize to arrive at Naggiar to meet the Imperials. It was said that General Damon himself would command at Naggiar and be present during all combat operations. When Alex's watch was over, he reported to his 1st Company commander. The Company Commander spoke in a confident military manner, "You're to report to Supply and make sure we are fully equipped."
"Yes sir!" Alex walked towards the Supply building when he walked by the General's tent to overhear his conversation.
"Look, I want both 1st and 2nd Company to be at Naggiar Plains," said a voice that belonged to General Damon.
"General, I want to say that we do have the Militia to use as bullet sponges. We can even grab the so called Belgen Gunther to 'bring' us to victory," one of his advisors said.
"Is that so? Then maybe we can just bring 2nd Company then. Though I think they'll be wiped out and we will have to save them...or we could leave them to die. Whatever the case, we will deploy 2nd Company south of Naggiar. We'll send them where we heard of a detachment being sent to flank when the main battle happens. We'll match them with Militia and watch their reactions when 2nd Company arrives at their flank." Damon groaned, "I have high doubts the Militia would be of any help. They just need to hold the line until 2nd Company arrives. I'll personally come with 2nd Company." Alex couldn't believe what he was hearing. They were going to send the entire Militia to just hold off the main Imperial force.
"What kind of discrimination is this?" Alex thought to himself. He wanted to do something but there was nothing he could do. He was just a Private. He decided not to do anything and went directly to report to Supply.
Alex returned to his Company Commander and handed him a clipboard that the Supply Officer gave him. Before he left Alex asked, "Sir, what do you think of the Militia? If you don't mind me asking"
"Hmm? They're just Militia. I don't see them as anything else. I don't view them as much." The Company Commander waved his hand, "If that's all, you're dismissed. I have to assist General Damon with the battle plans tonight."
The following day, the detachment the Imperials had sent was a trap to lure in a large contingent of the Gallian Army. They swapped positions leading to have the main force of the Empire face the lonely and out gunned 2nd Company.
"And that's will be forever known as the 2nd Company Massacre," finished his story and stood up to stretch. There was a long silence in the barracks. "I don't expect you to forgive what my former branch did. However, I learned from that experience that the Militia was never taken seriously. We, as Marines, will only get treated the same way. What we can do is prove we are just as strong, if not stronger, than the Gallian Army. We just need to work hard." Alex smiled then looked at the rack, "Anyway, it's best we call it a night, we got a lot of training to do tomorrow." Alex laid down on his rack, waiting for everyone else to turn in, and shut off the lights.
