The latest chapter in the ongoing story, I am really enjoying this and I hope you are all as well, I have more chapters ready.

Lying and mate-ship

'Our holy father, the Emperor and protector has called upon our planet again to come to his aid. Some of you have answered the call before, and gave more than just lives. These men and woman are still remembered to this day in the legend of the first AIF. We now pray to those, rushing to the defence of the throne, a second time. For the emperor.'

It was a great relief to leave the church. It was uncomfortable in the clothes we had to wear, with sweat and the heat. The sun burnt your legs through the tinted windows making your dick on fire. When my parents were guardsmen they said they saw a church as big as this city, how do you make something so big? This church was a big building on it's own. Way larger than anything around it, but not the tallest I've seen. That honours goes to the Saint Theodore cathedral in the middle of Mooro.

"Hey honey I'm just going out with the mates. I will be back in a bit…you boys be good to your mother." My dad then walked out the door, probably to see Eli and the others, or go and sit down at the cemetery or war memorial. My mum would sometimes go with him.

"Don't you get too pissed all right?" I remember when mum told a story of joining with the other girls, her mum said to her 'the guard isn't the place for a daft girl like you!'. I guess I take some of her side of the family.

The recruitment slip said to go the old barracks at 2:00pm. I probably had enough time to get ready, I started packing my old suitcase. The slip said to bring a change of clothes, you could bring some family stuff if you wished. I then wrote a quick note to my family.

'Dear Family

Hopefully by the time you read this, I would be off already but when you do find this, do not worry about me. I love you all. Mum you keep dad and Darryl out of trouble. Dad, look after the family while I'm gone, make sure that everyone is fed. Darryl, you shut up and grow a pair, but I think you are the best brother I could have. I will see you all soon, ok.

Love you all, Bruce'

I left the note under the family portrait on the mantelpiece in the dining room. The mantle piece had a display case for the medals my mum and dad earned. A picture of the whole family, and an individual picture of each of us. I then turned to leave. Suddenly Darryl stepped in front of me. I went to the left of him, he blocked me, I went right of him, he blocked me. Usually when this happens he has a cheeky smile across his face and I just jab him in the belly. Right now he had a stern look on his face. I then stopped.

"What do you want?" He then stopped and handed me the suit case. He then shook his head, he must of seen me with the note.

"Bruce, this isn't like boy scouts. I saw you yesterday, I could have told mum and dad. But I didn't…your secret is safe for now. Good luck" I walked past him and to the front door, I stopped. Placing the brief case on the ground I then said.

"Pass this over to mum and dad alright?" I hugged him tightly. He hugged back, it was a sad moment, but a good one. I then did the good old two pats on the back and went to the door.

"And one more thing…if you go into my room then be prepared for a bashing when I get back alright?" We both had a short laugh, then it was off down the road to the bus station. Checking the time tables I should get to the barracks bang on time.

I met up with the mates outside the barracks. We were told to walk inside and wait in the courtyard for further instructions. My mates had also packed some basic belongings. Lance brought a pocket watch, a family heirloom. Bolin and Zhixen carried some good luck charms their parents made just for them. Ross brought a footy, which I think was the best. Adriano brought a picture of his family, which I thought was very good. Jackson didn't bring anything special, but he didn't really have much to bring except his girlfriend. She had also signed up. I think the daftest one was Liam, who brought his FUCKING SAXOPHONE! He must have forgotten we where going to be guardsmen not fucking marching band players. I can't wait for the drill instructors to shout at him. I was still sad about Sebastian not being able to come.

As we entered we were put through tents. We were inspected, with a doctor checking us with a torch. We had to strip down to our undies, step on scales, our ears, our eyes, our armpits, and even our toes. We then were given a uniform in our size. Then ordered to put it on. Black boots, khaki tunic and pants, long socks, and the most recognisable part being the slouch hat our hats had a hook for them to be pinned up. We got given back our bags. We got thrown out the other side of the tents and into the crowd of people.

"We ready for this adventure mates?" Ross was pumped, he was bouncing on the spot, I looked around. Most people here were young. Most of them men, some chicks were included, some of them being girlfriends and wives.

"Keep calm billy blink, you'll get there soon." Ross kept on trying to keep his excitement, I had butterflies in my stomach as well, I don't know how you couldn't.

"EVERYONE LISTEN" We all quickly turned to the shouting. It came from a man wearing a black trench coat, and very big hat. I'm talking a hat that was bigger than his head, I'm not joking, he looked like he was compensating for his other head. He was then replaced by another man, in a guardsman uniform with an officer hat that did fit his head.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. It makes me proud to see so many of you signup on the first day of the Emperors call. I see the strength of the 1st AIF in your blood, the sons of campaign and the guardsmen of courage. Soon you will be going to basic training, the first steps into your ranks as the Emperor's finest. It will be a grand adventure across the stars. Full of excitement, exploration and mate-ship. Follow the officers to the train station." They herded us like cattle out of the barracks, down the road and into the train station. I was very sorry for anyone who was just on the footpath and got swept away and now in the AIF. People waved and cheered at us. Was this what it was like for my mum and dad? They met each other during their service, they never really told me how or when in detail.

"They haven't told us where the training is." Lance was correct, but I have heard is there are old camps on the outskirts of Mooro, they may have started them up again.

"What about in the pictures, that scene in…'the digger' where they go on a train to the space port and went to another planet?" Those words came from Liam. That was a good film, the events where based on the first AIF with a group of friends going off into the guard.

"I don't think they will be throwing us off the planet soon." Bolin said, the whistling of a train arriving then interrupted him. When I was boarding I then noticed a couple of the diggers were waving in a single direction. Some newsmen stood with filming gear and a pictographer. We decided to 'entertain them'. I did a normal sticking out my tongue. A few of us waved, Bolin and Zhixen did some over the top marching. Ross did bunny ears on Liam, while I did bunny ears on Ross. Jackson said goodbye to his miss's as she went off into the other train carriages. She had brought her mates as well. I managed to get to the window before anyone else, so I got a good view of inside a train station. The conductors yelled their final calls, some stragglers go on and then the doors closed and it started moving. Finally the view got better and we saw more people cheering at us, some even waved the planetary flag. We all waved back, I have just joined and I already felt like a hero. Eventually the city stopped, and we where in bushland. Redgums, jarrah and eucalyptus, I was no stranger to the bush, we all had been in scouts. My uniform was a bit stuffy, and I think I had the wrong size as it went up a bit. We talked about stuff like how pissed off some of our parents would be when they find out.

"Hey guys. In our first battle we hide Adriano. We get his mum and say that he has been captured by the enemy. Then we just sit back and watch, done we can go home." That was a good joke, I could imagine that happening, 'attack of the wog mum'.

"Team her up with Bruce's mum and watch them take out anything in a matter of seconds." We continued laughing. Many other jokes where made along the trip. One involved getting Jacksons girlfriend to flash her tits at the enemy while we kill them. Or guessing how the food would be on a scale of 10 to Liam's home made cooking.

"Do you think we will see an emperor's angel?" We all laughed at Ross's statement, apparently it was a one in a million chance to see an emperors angel.

"I wonder what it is like to have the ability to kill with a glare?" I remember Darryl was reading a book about a man who saw an angel in action. Their spit could melt the enemy faces and they shouted so loud the enemies head exploded, I would not like to see what their farts could do. The train stopped.

"And I thought it would be a tip." We stopped outside a fenced off selection of wooden buildings with the words 'Woman imperial guard training facility'.

"I thought it would be a bit bigger." The camp looked relatively new, and not very big.

"That's what she said." We then got an officer, a woman this time shouting with a megaphone and standing on a set of wooden boxes.

"Woman please disembark the train, men…if you feel like joining them you may speak to the commissar next to me." Next to her was another person in a black trench coat and stupidly big hat. A closer look showed her bionic eye with burns around it.

"Lance why aren't you getting off?" We all had a laugh, but I'm a bit pissed that the woman are in a different camp. I couldn't practice stealth.

I kind of felt that this was like toilets, the woman's one is always closer, and the woman's one is always better. The camp we had was way bigger than the woman one, but it didn't look at nearly as neat or nice. Another officer stood on several shitty wooden boxes and just like the chick started barking.

"Everyone get off the train and get to the gate NOW." We'll see what happens then.

Hope you enjoyed, see you all soon.