Short and Sweet.

Chapter 10: Battalion

Each person in the circle stared at the money that lay in the center of them on the smooth concrete floor. Their eyes darted from one another, seeing if anyone was about to make a move. It was almost maddening just to watch, the two dozen guardsmen all poised in attack position as they slowly made their way closer to the money, one millimeter at a time. Some of them carried blunt objects, others just had their hands balled into fists in anticipation for the savage beating that was to befall one of them. Every now and then, one of them would jolt forward a step before retreating back to their original position, faking out their comrades.

Claire watched from some distance away with her arms crossed, not understanding what was happening as the tension grew within the circle. Had she blinked, she would have missed the insane act of both stupidity and bravery that suddenly followed. One of the men in the large circle, dived into the center and ontop of the few hundred Gil, covering the money with his body before the entire circle pounced on him. No quarter was given in that oval of undiscriminated hate, each person seeking to get as many blows in as possible before the mass dispersed. Claire frowned deeply as she watched one of her comrades being beaten on every inch of his body by at least two dozen people. The man lay curled up in a ball on the floor, unable to do anything to defend himself other then wait for the beating to end, as it was also written in the rules. Claire had never seen anything as juvenile or animalistic in her life. All she was able to see was a blur of legs and arms as they struck a trembling form that lay in agony on the ground. After nearly 30 seconds of straight beatings, the group began to break up and walk away from their broken and bruised victim, out-of-breath chuckling and joking following them as they dissipated.

"How much did you get!" Someone shouted excitedly. Claire watched as the man who had just been severely beaten, sat up very slowly and held above his head, a wad of bills.

"..80 Gil!" He forced out to much jubilant cheering from his assaulters. The man sat on the ground holding himself, waiting for the pain to ease.

Claire shook her head and continued frowning as the group dispersed amongst The Choke, still unsure of what she had just witnessed. "What um, what the hell was that?" She asked turning to one of the corporals who was sitting on a chair next to her reading.

He looked up and put his bookmark in the the novel before clearing his throat, "That's the circle game...you get a bunch of guys together, they start throwing money in the middle of them, and someone has to try and grab it. Everyone beats up the person who goes for the money though...it's a pretty savage game." He explained to a deepening frown on Claire's face.

"Why on earth would they do that?" She asked in disbelief.

"Passes the time." He shrugged, "Welcome to weapons platoon."

Claire huffed and turned to one of the people that just came from Junon with her, "Did you see that?" She asked, hoping she wasn't the only one to bear witness to the immense amount of stupidity. It having only been her second day in Midgar since arriving from Junon, any expectation of how life at the battalion was, was quickly smashed. When they arrived by bus the other day, the entire course was split up among C company, and she found herself in the weapons Platoon with Pete and three others. Several people had been put in the Headquarters and Claire had counted her blessings that she hadn't been sent there. Being put in Headquarters and posted to Midgar would just be adding insult to injury. She was still very depressed about having her posting to Junon snatched from right out underneath her a few days before it was about to happen. There was nothing she could do about it, over half of the 1st battalion of the MidGuard was gone on deployment to Wutai, so they were severely undermanned and needed every person they could get, even if it was infanteers fresh off of battleschool.

"What happened to that guy?" Pete asked as he joined the small group of new guys and pointed at the man who was still sitting on the ground.

"You missed probably the most insanely idiotic thing in the world..." Claire said turning to him, "Let's just say that he got beat up solely for money."

"Cool." Pete nodded sarcastically, not too interested. "Are you guys all cleared in yet?"

"We finished this morning," Claire told him, "The company sergeant major gave us a little speech when we finished."

"Yeah, I just came from talking to him...I have to say, it wasn't a very encouraging speech." Pete admitted to Claire's nods of agreement. The sergeant major painted a less-than motivational picture for them when he had his talk with them that morning. He was their last stop for in-clearance to the battalion, having spent the past day and a half being shown around the massive building and where everything was. The large rectangular building housed the entire battalion and all of their support units. There was the main hall where the main entrances were-a done up showcase of all the battalion's exploits, then there were the 5 company areas. A, B, C, K, and Headquarters companies had their own sectioned off areas of the building that housed all of their equipment and vehicles. Each area had a parade square for formations and drill, and then there were the large garages that were appropriately nicknamed 'The Choke' because of all of the vehicle fumes. The Choke was where the companies lower ranks congregated, mostly to keep out of sight of the higher ups.

During the speech with the sergeant major, he pulled Claire and two other new people into his office, seeming more friendly then she would have ever imagined.

"I know you've probably been told this everywhere you've gone since you've gotten here but...welcome to the battalion." The crusty old sergeant major began as he sat behind his desk, "Our sister company, K company, is on their way to Wutai to fight the good fight, so until they return, higher has decided to swell our ranks until we have enough guardsmen and leadership to stand up a new company. That won't be for at least a year so you should be in my company for a little while. You three are in our weapons platoon am I correct?"

"Yes sergeant major.." Claire answered when the other two did not.

The old guardsmen huffed with slight grin, "Those guys in weapons are a bit of a wild bunch. Hazing...it's a bit of a brutal tradition in that platoon. Just a little heads up...those guys are going to treat you like shit. And you..." The CSM squinted as he looked at Claire's nametag.

"Private Farron, sergeant major." She said quickly.

"Farron...I think you're the only woman in weapons." He cleared his throat before continuing, "If they give you any trouble for being a female...come straight to me..I'll sort them out." He assured her.

"Thank you sir."

"Good. Anyway, for the next little while you guys will be fired through a variety of courses. First you'll probably go on your advanced machine gunners course. Followed by recce patrolmen and probably several vehicle courses." The CSM said thinking hard, "Oh and, weapons does just as many security taskings around the city as every other platoon so don't be surprised if you're guarding a Shinra held event sometime in the near future. Because you're new, the older guys in your platoon will be pawning off the shit jobs on you too, but it happens to everybody when they first arrive here." He smiled, but that did little to reassure the three new people standing at attention in front of him.

The older guardsmen had yet to even talk to the group of new people, let alone harass them for being new, Claire thought as she recalled the sergeant major's speech. It probably wouldn't be long until they did though. The battalion was intimidating for someone who had never been there before and Claire was always worried about doing something wrong. She had yet to find out what sort of punishments they dish out there.

…

Not being a very social person to begin with, Cloud felt very out of place in the OC cell office. There were about eight of them in the office, sitting around on the rolling chairs, laughing and joking. Cloud was the only new guy in the OC cell and no one had even asked him who he was when he entered the office and took a seat. He wished he was in one of the platoons that hung out in The Choke, that way he could at least be with a few people he knew. But here, he just sat in the corner feeling very uncomfortable as the rest of the office went on as if he wasn't even there.

After almost an hour of being that awkward guy who doesn't talk to anyone, a sergeant entered the office, donned in his signature red uniform and scanned the room until his eyes fell upon Cloud. "You Strife?" The young sergeant asked as the room quieted down.

"Uh, yes sergeant." Cloud answered as he stood up.

"Jesus...how old are you?" He huffed with a frown, looking over the very young private.

"15, sergeant." Cloud answered with embarrassment, hating when people asked about his age.

"Hmph...anyway, I got some papers for you to sign." He told him as he motioned for Cloud to come over to the table he was standing against. "I'm sergeant Hutz by the way, if you need anything, I'm the guy you come and see." He told Cloud who nodded. "Here, I just need you to sign these papers." He said putting a folder down on the table. "It's a course load document. You're going on your communications course next week. Lucky for you, you're going to be the OC's new signaller."

"Is that a radioman?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah, the current signaller for the OC is in Wutai right now." Hutz chuckled as he scratched his orange hair. "You use a radio much during battleschool?"

"A little.."

"Well, whenever we go to the field, it's going to be your full time job." The sergeant grinned as he closed the folder after Cloud was finished signing the document. "Thanks..." He said over his shoulder as he left the room. Cloud turned around to face the rest of the office to find many of the men muffling their laughs as they looked at him. Cloud frowned and ignored them while he went to return to his seat.

"Shit man, sucks to be you.." The corporal sitting next to Cloud said with a shake of his head as he sat down.

"How come?"

A few of the other men exchanged smirks before the man answered, "Well for starters, the OC- Major Wells, is a fucking asshole. And secondly, being the OC's radioman is one of the worst jobs you can have." Cloud swallowed hard, not sure if these men were telling the truth or just trying to scare him, "Aside from spending each waking minute with a headset strapped to your goddamn head, you have to monitor two radio nets at the same time. Both battalion net and company net, while at the same time letting the OC know what's coming down and writing down every single thing that's being said, there's literally no down time for the OC's radioman." Cloud frowned, that did sound like it sucked, "And to top it all off, you have to do this shit while you're dismounted, carrying the radio and extra batteries, ammo, food and water for both you and the OC, everything."

Cloud looked around at the faces of the other men to see that they were all nodding with serious faces, "Re-really?" He asked quietly. The man raised both eyebrows and nodded slowly. Cloud let out a depressed sigh, instantly dreading his new job. "But, I'm brand new. How come I have to do this job?" He tried arguing.

"Cause it fucking sucks and you're new!" The corporal laughed, "We've all done it at one point or another. We're all signallers too, just for the platoon commanders though."

Cloud rubbed his eyes and sighed again. He wished he was just a regular riflemen with zero responsibility, like during battleschool. Granted, he hadn't sigged for the OC yet but from the way the older guys described it, he wasn't going to enjoy it. How was he supposed to make it into SOLDIER if he was going to be talking on a radio the entire time?

…

"Five minutes Farron. No rush."

"Okay..." Claire answered the master corporal as the man exited the break area. Aside from the two privates working the canteen, Claire was the only person left in the break area. She sat at one of the dozen circular tables that surrounded a large TV, drinking a vitamin water and enjoying her short break from course. It had only been five weeks since she arrived at the battalion but she was already becoming comfortable with working there. She was still considered brand new in terms of 'time in' but she had made her face known throughout C company and wasn't quite a stranger to everyone anymore. Not to mention she was on her advanced machine gunners course and was actually having a pretty good time.

"Just a bottle of water..." Claire turned away from the TV to see Cloud at the counter of the canteen, ordering a drink. He received his beverage and noticed Claire sitting by herself, giving her a small wave for a greeting.

"Hey." She greeted back unenthusiastically. He cracked open the water while he sat down next to her and looked at the TV, which was on the news channel. "How's it going?" She asked.

"Okay I guess, you?"

"Good, I'm on the AMG course right now. It's good, we do a lot of shooting." She told him.

"Wish I was doing that..." He mumbled, "I'm on a stupid comms course." He griped as Claire frowned with a smirk.

"Really? You're going to be a radioman?"

"Yeah...for the OC, major Wells." Cloud sighed, Claire laughing at him but feeling sympathetic at the same time.

"That's really too bad. You probably would have liked weapons platoon, Pete fits right in with those idiots." Claire huffed.

"That will be you someday. I heard stories about the games you guys play back there..." Cloud chuckled as Claire shook her head defensively.

"Umm no."

Cloud smiled before turning to the TV, watching it for a few minutes while he finished his water. "Have you talked to your family since you got here?"

"I sent them a letter explaining what happened but I've yet to get a response." She said as her eyes narrowed.

"Yeah...I felt so sorry for you when they told us we were all getting posted here." He told her, "It wasn't fair, with only one more day before you got to go home."

"You don't need to tell me. I know I got screwed. At this point I wouldn't mind if they sent us over to Wutai, I need an outlet." She said staring off into the TV.

"I bet if you write enough memos to get posted to Junon, they'll eventually send you there." Cloud suggested.

"No, no I already asked about that. It won't work. But I gotta go..." Claire said looking at her watch and standing up. "There's machine guns for me to service and whatnot. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay..." Cloud said a little disappointed, hoping she could have stayed a little longer so he could have someone he knew to talk to.

"Hey, are you guys in the OC cell ever aloud out of your office?" Claire stopped to asked.

"Yeah." Cloud huffed with a smirk.

"You should come down to The Choke some time then. Even though it's my job, I hate associating with the guys from weapons." She chuckled, "It just gets boring sitting by myself all day."

"I feel the same way in the OC cell." Cloud nodded, "Yeah, I'll probably drop by once in awhile."

Claire smiled and turned to leave the break area, "I'll keep my eye open for you." She told him with a little wave.

Cloud went back to watching the flickering TV, wondering if maybe he should get back to the comms course. He remembered visiting The Choke one time when he first arrived at battalion. It was a large garage with about 8 bays that had their own doors, big enough for armoured vehicles to fit through. Each bay was separated by rows of white lockers that the guardsmen locked their personal equipment in. Weapons, 2nd , and 3rd platoon hung out in The Choke, most of them just sitting on chairs in a circle in one of the open bays or on a vehicle. Cloud noted that it was very hazy in there, mainly because everybody smoked back there and also because of running vehicles when people were doing maintenance on them. Needless to say, he didn't think too highly of the place, not to mention the idiotic behavior of the weapons platoon. He didn't necessarily want to spend any more time back there then he needed to, but Claire was his friend and he knew she didn't want to be back there anymore then he did. So if he could make the experience a little bit better for her just by being back and giving her someone to talk to then he would do it. They rarely saw each other anymore, random passings throughout the battalion or at the gym were the only times, and he did enjoy her company. It also got him out of the office where the men he worked with weren't the friendliest to him.

"Strife!"

Cloud's heart skipped a beat as someone shouted his name from behind him. "Yes?" He spun around to identify the person, finding it to be one of the fat siggs who was his instructor for the comms course.

"The hell are you doing up here?" The fat man with a pencil-thin mustache demanded, angry that one of his students was up in the canteen instead of down at the company lines with the rest of the course.

"Oh um...was just getting some water." He stammered as he pointed at his empty water bottle, "I had a headache. I think its from the equipment we're working with...radiowaves and such..you know?"

The sig looked at him like he was insane, "Get the hell back downstairs!" He bellowed across the canteen.

Not much but trust me, storm clouds are brewing...figurative storm clouds that is. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you don't understand some of the acronyms or lingo, send me a PM and i'll fill you in. I know this chapter is boring but keep with it, the next string of chapters are going to get exciting! Drop me a review if you want, I know there isnt much to say about this chapter but anything will do.