-C.
Chapter 10: The TrainingJune 12th 3234, 1200 hours
Castle Acorn
Knothole Kingdom
12 o'clock. Right on time. The royals were standing on the stairway that led into the main castle. Two stone-faced royal guards flanked them. The courtyard was cleared that particular morning. King Max and Queen Alicia looked at their daughter with sad eyes. They always supported her when it came to protecting her people and her friends, but now she was learning to fight like a real warrior. It was sad to see her go, knowing that something bad could happen to her. Sally didn't see this though. She was just glancing at the sky with anticipation. There was a light cover but it wasn't too bad. She had her friends gathered up too. Among them, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles the Echidna, and even the spoiled Amy Rose.
Suddenly, a whining noise filled the air. It was very cinematic. A Pelican dropship burst out of the cloud cover. Some civilians looked up to see the human craft. "Wow." The hedgehog simply said. The Pelican tilted the nacelles so that her descent slowed, spinning nearly ninety degrees. "They're milking it." Hecks said. "They never come down that smooth. Normally it's hit the ground, get your ass in, get out of there." Vennettilli nodded in agreement.
The pilot activated the landing gear. The tires absorbed the impact the dropship set down and the pilot cut the engine. "Hey, that reminds me," Tails then said. "Why do you use tires? Why not pads or skids?" Chris answered, "Do you know how much it would cost to replace a pad or a skid? They don't roll so well I think."
A black man with a buzz cut stepped out of the Pelican. He had a military cap on his head and a neatly trimmed goatee. "My name is Staff Sergeant Jackson Jones! I will be your drill instructor for the next few weeks. Under my protection, I will nurture you all from the weak husks of flesh you are into mean, green fighting machines!" Chris thought he heard the Queen whisper, "Oh my, he's strict."
"Since you are all my property, I don not care who you are. Your highness, as of this moment, you are officially a UNSC Marine Corps operative." He turned to the fox. "Short stuff! The age limit is 18!" To their surprise, Miles said in a loud and strong voice, "Sir, I am willing to try all the same sir! I am a Freedom Fighter and I would like to learn to fight, sir!" Jackson raised an eyebrow and cleaned his ear. "I'm sorry, I thought I heard a little maggot squeak!"
"Hey, tall, dark and brainless! You listening to me, son?" Sonic had no vision of respect towards the NCO. "I don't answer to humans." "Oh, tough guy, huh? Alright, ten laps around the compound, now!" Sonic smiled. There was a blue flash, a rush of wind, and he was in the exact same spot. "Want me to do it again?" "Wise ass, huh? We can fix that."
"Care to make a joke about me, Sergeant?" the echidna asked brandishing his spiked gloves. Jones gulped. "Not necessary." Jones worked his way down the group berating and humiliating every single anthro that was to be coming with them. He curiously seemed to let up with those bigger than he was. When he was finished, he made his way front and center. "Since you all have wasted my precious, precious time, you will triple time it to that pelican! Hustle ladies, hustle!"
The UNSC recruits dashed towards the waiting dropship. It seemed that it was full to the gills with anthros. Jones took off his cap and wiped his temple. "I have no idea what I have gotten myself into." He looked at Chris. "I don't know, Lieutenant. I've trained men before, even aliens, but this is gonna be something else." Chris gave a playful shove on Jones' shoulder. "Keep it together Sarge. You can do it. I'll even be on-site to watch the work."
"Um…excuse me, Mr. Jones?" a voice said. The Sergeant turned and saw the royals right in front of him. "Anything I can do for you, your highnesses?" he preformed a bow that was so elegant it had to have been rehearsed many, many times. "Sergeant, may we make the request to make sure that our daughter…um…comes back home in one piece?" King Max asked. "Your majesties, I can watch your daughter. I will make her something you will be proud of. I will make her the best she can possibly be." Alicia sighed sadly. "I do hope so…this was not the life I thought she would have…" "Your majesty, we're about to go into war. We need your help, and this guy we're fighting will stop at nothing to beat us, even if it means nuking you all into atoms.
Max nodded. He understood what was at stake here. "Very well, Sergeant. Look after her." "Will do, your majesty!" The engines started up. The dropship's nacelles tilted ground ward. Jets of fire shot from the nozzles and the military transport rose into the air. The Pelican gained a safe height and then sped away into the horizon, burdened by its new heavy load.
The Lieutenant watched the craft fly away. "They won't be far, will they?" He asked. "No, the training ground was located right in the forest. Will only be a thirty-minute flight." Geri said. "Why?" "They might feel better if they're closer to home." "Dunno. Think it may cause attachments." Hank said back. "Hmm…you may be right. When is our transport due?" Kersiac checked his watch. "Eh, ten more minutes, give or take thirty seconds or so." "Ten minutes…I can wait."
Chris and his men sat on the steps of the palace. They absorbed the sunlight with satisfied looks on their face. A couple of birds flew in the air singing their song. "Excuse me, Lieutenant?" Chris said, "Yeah?" with his eyes closed, blissfully ignorant. "Can I ask you a question?" He cracked open his eyes to see the King standing above him. He nearly jumped. "Oh Jesus, oh, I mean, your highness!" "Spare the formalities, son. This is just a friendly chat. No badges, no ranks. Just man to man talk." "Uh, sure. What would you like to know?"
Max sat down on the steps sighing in delight. "My goodness I haven't done that in a while, just sit down and enjoy the view. Now, the place you come from, Earth?" "Yeah, that's it. Speaking technically, your highness, this is Earth." "Right, but your Earth. The Earth we came from. Is it, a wreck as they say it is?" "What? No, why?" "Well, there have been whispers among the population ever since you first arrived. Some say that you have resorted to violence, killing yourselves off as you 'always have'." "Uh, no we haven't. For the past 600 years, we've had peace. More or less. Sure there are still some rag-tag rebels that think themselves too big for the galaxy." "And Earth?" "I can't describe it. Most humans live in arcologies kilometers high. Most of the surface is covered in cities although some places like the Amazon, Sahara, the Serengeti Plains, and numerous other areas were kept the way they were. We also stopped climate change in 2117 but you likely know about that."
Max nodded. "It's good to hear that. Will we get to see it?" "Maybe. Depends whether we get back alive or not." Chris said with a nervous smile. Max nodded. "Yes, of course, we'll try to keep it that way."
The Pelican was crowded. Somebody occupied almost every square inch of the dropship. She and her friends were sitting closest to the cockpit. A guard was standing in the doorway with a rifle in his hands. "Can you put that down?" Sally asked. "I don't want that to go off if we hit turbulence." "Relax. Safety's on. There's gonna have to be some mighty big turbulence to knock that off." "Attention, this is your pilot speaking. We are approaching Fort Acorn and are on final approach. Please don't stand up until we touch down. Thank you." "Well that seemed unusually cheerful." Sonic said. Tails piped up, "Sonic, the military always throws these things around, seems nice, but underneath, it's just laden with insults."
Sally glanced out the porthole. The camp was roughly prefabricated. She had insisted that it be built in one of the forest's natural clearings. She couldn't find it in her heart to tear down the trees. The buildings were either inflated or made out of carbon or plastics. Normally you found those on asteroids or in mines. The Pelican touched down and the pilot turned off the engine. Some soldiers started tittering in low voices. "Listen up, boys and girls!" Jones said standing up. "When I open this hatch, you will jog the track and report to your bunks. Calisthenics will begin and then you all get haircuts!"
Sally suddenly found herself clutching her red locks. Haircuts? She couldn't part company with her hair. It was her friend! The shoulder length curls were always kept that way. She sighed in defeat. She was beginning to regret her choice already.
Jones opened the back hatch. The Mobians saw their first taste of human military action: squads ran in packs chanting old Marine Corps hymns. There was a silent drill practice out near a building; humans were flipping ancient M1 Garand rifles as if they were toys, totally fearless of the bayonets that were on the weapons. "Get off my Pelican!" Jones ordered.
Sally stepped off and took in her surroundings. Despite the ocean of discipline and testosterone that was swilling around her, she spotted signs of life. A squad of marines was playing basketball. A big one was dominating. With a gigantic leap, he nailed the ball in the hole. His competitors groaned in disbelief.
The ball rolled to the princess. She picked it up and looked at the men. "Hey, furry!" A marine said jogging up to her. "Mind giving us back the ball sweetheart?" He was tall, had close cropped blond hair, and blue eyes. "Huh? You listening, furry?" He laughed and turned to his friends. "Hey, she doesn't speak my language, boys! Ain't that a fucking sh-" BAM.
Sally passed the ball back alright, right into his skull. The marine teetered and fell to the ground with a muffled whump, the earthy ground breaking his fall. Sonic chuckled. "Whoa! You totally wrecked that guy!" She knelt down to his level. "You crazy bitch! What the fuck was that for?" "Let's get one thing straight here, jarhead." "Holy fuck, you can talk!" "You call me 'furry', to my face again; I'll take your fucking head off with this thing." She said bouncing the ball. "And it's 'your Highness'." She stood up and tossed the ball. It arced in the air and swished in the basket. "Three points." She said.
They found their beds. The barracks were just a long line of beds on both sides, bunk style. Jones was in the center. "Choose a bed, any bed. These will be your personal quarters for the next few weeks to a couple months. Sally sighed. She chose a reasonably comfortable one close to the entrance. She tested it out by sitting on it. Well, it wasn't home, but hey, she asked for it. Literally.
"Alright! Recruits, follow me! Time for a workout!" The anthro marines stood up and marched out. They had quite a long day ahead of them.
After a grueling run, they were given, 'the sheers' as the marines called it. Mobians were sat in a barber's chair while their hair and fur was cut to a reasonable length. Unfortunately, the current barber was a human who was not familiar with cutting Mobian hair. A fit was caused when he accidently cut off a little more of a bear's hair than he would have liked. Now, that particular recruit had a bald spot and the barber was now in ICU. A new Mobian professional took his place.
Tails felt the sheers brush his head. Thankfully the only things he lost were the small locks he had on the front of his head. Breathing a sigh of relief, he stepped down and walked out. Sonic had less luck, and worse: this barber knew him.
"So Sonic! How are we doing today? Do you know what you'll be having?" the joke flew over the hedgehog's head with a slight swishing noise. "Well actually, I was thinking…" then he heard some of his quills being sheared off. "HEY!" click. Small braces around the armrests snapped closed. "Well, never thought we'd have to use that." Jones said. It was almost painful to see the rest. Sonic's quills were reduced to small nubs. "WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY DO TO MY HAIR?!"
Sally sat in the chair. "Oh, good afternoon, Your Highness. Just relax. This won't hurt a bit. She felt the buzzer cut her hair. After a few minutes, she had a shorter version of her original haircut. She could see much more clearly now although she missed the softness of her longer hair. She got up and let the next person get in the chair.
At the gate, a warthog pulled up. The MP guard looked at the occupants. "Identification?" "Lieutenant Vennettilli. We're the Protectors for her Highness." He held up an ID tag. The MP nodded. "Everything checks out. I'll open the gate." He tapped a button and the door slid open. The warthog rumbled in and. "Amazing they could build this in just one day." Kersiac said amazed. "I was told they just slapped prefab buildings under pelicans and albatrosses and then brought them down." Vennettilli said pulling into a parking space. He disengaged the engine and removed his sunglasses. He wore a UNSC utility uniform with his cap placed firmly forward. He had to make a good impression on the new recruits, like a good commanding officer should. At 21 years old though, they might not take him seriously. He was one of the handful of Advanced Placement officers that survived Talahan V. That might count for something.
The Mobians were running the obstacle course. Jones was at the finish line shouting insults and ordering other DIs to give punishment for people who stumbled and fell. Chris saw some Mobains trying to swing across a mid pond. Some slipped and made impressive splashes. In the long run, they simply blew their human competition away.
The rabbits led the pack, as expected. They ducked, dove and just bypassed almost anything that was thrown at them. One of the had the balls to simply dive right through the duck walk section of the course, balling up to avoid injury. He was the first to cross the line. "Hot damn!" Jones said clicking the timer. This was a special clock that was designed to rank runners. Every time one crossed the line, he clicked and the person was cataloged and his time was displayed. Others came through. Chris spotted the princess. She wore a uniform identical to his, but with rolled up sleeves and it was muddier. She crossed the line with a respectable time. Tails ran through using his twin tails for extra propulsion, which was impossible. At least Chris thought that.
Sonic and his friend Knuckles followed suit. Arguably, the thing that made Sonic run faster was Amy, who was chasing him closely. When they all crossed the finish, Jones clapped his hands. "Congratulations, you maggots! You have successfully completed the obstacle course. I have to say, I am surprised. SURPRISED THAT YOU COULDN'T HOLD A FUCKING CANDLE TO MY BOYS! What the fuck was that?! That was terrible! How are you expected to survive when you can't even satisfy my basic needs, which is to see you run your little asses past this line?! Dismissed, and get out of my sight!"
He turned around to see the Lieutenant. "That was the most amazing thing I have seen in my life, sir." Jones reported. "I can't believe the times I logged! Those rabbits, sheesh! I've never seen anybody so fast." Chris shrugged and folded his arms. "You may have been a little hard on them. They aren't warriors like us." "Yeah, maybe you're right. I am having trouble with that one right there." He pointed to Sonic, who was talking to the princess. "Spends half his time talking to the girl strutting like a peacock. Makes me sick." "I'll handle him. What's up for tomorrow?" "Uh…arms training. Then the day after, hand to hand combat in the boxing ring." The Lieutenant nodded. "Sounds like a good forecast. Let them have a little breather and then we'll get back to work." "Yes sir." Jackson said saluting. Vennettilli returned the salute and walked on his way.
Sally wiped her forehead with her hand. It was slick with sweat. She fanned herself with the cap she got. "Some first day, huh?" the Lieutenant said walking up to her, smiling slightly. "Could be better." "Why?" "It's so…rigorous. Believe me, I like a workout but I don't know if I can do this." "Well you're going to have to." She wheeled around. "What?" "You're going to have to put up with this. I was pissed too during my stretch which was only two years back but we have a saying here in the Marines: 'Deal with it.'"
He let the words sink in. "How…how dare you! I want out!" "I can't let you do that. You are under contract and you have to stay here." "By my authority, I am ordering you to let me go!" "You have no authority here! Only your parents can override them!" "Fine! Then I'm calling my parents and I'll have your reported!" "What? No, no, no, no! You can't do that!" But she already started on a brisk run.
Throughout the compound, they made way as the two were in a mad dash for the COM station. "Hey, slow down!" Chris said. Sally wouldn't let up. If anything, he suspected that she was enjoying this. She must have read my record. I wasn't exactly a boy scout in my early days.
Somehow, he managed to catch up with her. "Wait! Slow down! I didn't mean it but I have no control to let you go! Listen, let me try to-" then, he fell to the ground. He sucked his hand where some skin peeled away. "She tripped me! She fucking tripped me!" a Marine helped him get to his feet. He didn't thank the young man and sped after her. Kersiac, Geri and Hecks followed him in.
Sally managed to reach the COM center. She dialed the castle and a holographic representation of the screen appeared. Her protectors froze as she looked at them with a mischievous smile. "LT, what's going on?" Chris gritted his teeth. "We are screwed is what's going on." They couldn't do anything. If they were seen trying to drag a protesting princess out of the COM center, it would be worse than a reporting. He could be dishonorably discharged for technically 'Assaulting Royalty'. Man up. You've been in worse spots than this."
The screen turned on and it was her father that answered. "Ah, hello Sally. It's only been a single day. Is everything alright?" "Well, dad. Things have been…pretty interesting so far." She glanced at the Marines who flinched. "Well, what's happened?" the King said. "Well dad, it all started…is everything OK?" Her father was looking through some papers. He did not seem fine. "I…Sally, things have not been going well." "What?" "Sweetheart, we've been hit. Quite badly for that matter. I think its Julian."
"What happened, Dad?" "The Land of a Million Lights. It was attacked by an orbital bombardment." Sally gasped "How many casualties?" "Still coming in. We're at over ten thousand, but still coming in." Sally placed her hands on the COM board. "Oh my God…ten thousand…" "Erm…was there something you wanted to tell me?" Sally cleared her eyes. "No…nothing…I have to go. I'm sorry to hear that." "It's alright. I love you. Goodbye." "Bye." She closed the link.
"Your Highness?" Geri asked. "What is it, marine?" "Are you OK?" She sniffed. "No…no I'm not…10,000 people just died because Robotnik wants you DEAD! YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND ME? DEAD!" She then cried. She took a second to relax and then she said, "I need to do this. We need to do this." "Yeah…this son of a bitch has a lot coming to him." Chris said cracking his knuckles.
"COMMENCE FIRING!" Jones roared. At once, every single recruit fired off their MA5K assault rifles. The report from the guns hung in the air, each one being replaced by a new one. Unfortunately, Tails wasn't issued a rifle. The quartermaster explained that he was far too young to be carrying a weapon. Instead, he was issued an OmntTech X38 Stun Gun. The non-lethal weapon was great for incapacitating people on recon and stealth missions. The gun had a 1-10 setting. One being the lowest barely shocking them while 10 had enough energy to cause a fatal electric shock. Safeties prevented this from happening unless they were turned off.
Miles practiced on fiberglass targets further down the range. Firing the stungun was similar to firing a gun, except that there was no recoil. He pulled the trigger and sent an arc of lightning towards the target. After a few seconds of sustained fire, the target caught fire. The instructor told Tails to reload. Tails thumbed the release. The battery dropped out of the weapon and he steadily put a new one into his gun. "BAM!" a voice said behind him. Tails jumped and turned to face the DI. "Congratulations, son! You've been shot!" "But…but…" "The enemy is not going to care if you take your sweet time reloading that weapon, boy! They will shoot you until you are a red, meaty, bloody PULP!"
Tails' ears drooped and his eyes went wide. He suddenly had a vision of his bleeding body with holes in it. With a few fearful tears in his eyes, he yelped and quickly reloaded with much more efficiency. The DI smiled and folded his arms. "Christ, I love my job."
The others nailed away at the targets. Sonic had the lowest average with some shots missing the targets completely. Knuckles wasn't very strong but he got the job done. Amy was even doing well, working her way to fifth place average. Sally led the pack though. She pegged the targets when they popped up. Her hearing was reduced to a buzz and she could barely see with the flash of shell casings shooting out of her weapon, but she failed to disappoint. When her mag went dry, she thumbed the release and inserted a new one. The princess cocked the firing pin and relished the metallic clack.
"Oh yeah, now we're talking!" she clicked full auto on and pulled the trigger. A continuous tongue of hot gas barked sending lead rounds spinning into the targets. Amazingly she managed to hit most of them.
The Lieutenant was watching from the sidelines. He heard every single tink as the brass casings hit the gravel and he heard every single bark of the assault weapons. "This is turning out better than we expected. These Mobians are fighting machines!" Jones nodded. "Yes, sir. Colonel Farley has great things in store for these men." "Hmm…you're right. He does. Excuse me; I have to see the colonel now."
"OK, ladies! Pack it up! We're done for the day!" Firing stopped abruptly as the Mobians stowed their weapons. "Good work people! Rest up! Tomorrow we get to the nitty gritty! Fight training starts at 0900 sharp!"
Sonic shook his hands. "Man, my hands are numb. I can't feel them!" "What?!" Knuckles said. "I haven't been able to hear anything for the last half hour!" Amy rotated her right shoulder. "I don't know guys. My shoulder has been pounded by that gun. I think I need to see a doctor." Sally shrugged. "Yeah, my fingers and hands are numb, but I have to say…that was awesome!" "Hmm…sounds like you were cut out for this." Amy said with an inquisitive tone. "I think so."
The next day came soon enough. The same old same old exercises took place during the day. In the midday though, they made their way towards the boxing ring. The ring was slightly elevated. Jones jogged ahead. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen! This here is a boxing ring! I will select one of you to engage in the ancient art of hand to hand combat." The evil smile told the rest who he had already chosen. "Your Highness, mind coming up here?" Sally stepped forward. "You wanted to see me, Sarge?"
"Yes. Private Acorn, please follow me to the ring. The rest of you retards will practice down here. Sergeants Bill and Westly will be instructing you on basic military hand to hand combat techniques. GET TO IT!" The Marine recruits moved into pairs as the other sergeants ordered.
"OK. In this ring, we are not friends." "We never were friends, Sarge." "Good point. You're wearing shorts and a tee?" "Yeah." "Then you'll want to strip out of that. You need to move more freely." She nodded and unbuttoned her uniform. She wore a white T-shirt which was soaked with perspiration under her arms and around her neck. She unbuckled her belt and slid the pants off. She wore a silk pair of short. Jones likewise and both were ready to fight.
"Gloves?" Jones said. "Yeah. That's preferable." A red pair of boxing gloves was tossed to her and she slipped them on. "You holler if I'm acting too hard!" She saw that he would not let up in the slightest. "Bring it on, human. Bring it on." "And…fight!"
Jones and Acorn danced in a few circles. "Come on, bitch! Come on, bitch! Hit me!" Sally took a swipe. It cut the air but she couldn't hit him. Jones sideswiped and knocked Sally on the side of the head. She grunted and wobbled. Jones took two quick punches to her chest and knocked her back Sally steadied herself. She sent two punches his way but they were deflected. Jones countered with a heavy uppercut. The marine's fist brought her off the ground and the princess hit the mat with a bouncing thud.
She gasped. Her chest heaved. The adrenaline was still fresh in her bloodstream which prevented her from feeling pain right that instant. Surprising herself, she preformed a successful no hands kip-up. Sally had done kip-ups before, but this was something much more difficult. Jones saw no amazing thing and nailed her in the abdomen. Sally gripped her gut in pain.
"Come on, bitch! Come on, bitch! You can do it!" He whacked Sally on the side of her head. Sally's mouthguard popped out of her mouth and bounced on the mat. "I can't do it Sarge! You've been pummeling me all week! How the hell can I beat you in the ring?" Everything from my head to my ass is bruised!" Jones offered words of encouragement. Well…as much words of encouragement from a DI you could get.
"Come on furry! You can do it! I know you can!" The words got Sally fired up. She launched a punch but reversed it mid action. However, Jones seemed to sense this as well. He blocked the punch and countered by sending another fist into her side. Some Marines gathered around the ring. Many of them started to make bets with each other on who would win the fight. Right now, the odds seemed to be in Jones' favor.
Just when it seemed at its worse, Sally had an idea. It was a risky idea, but it may serve her well. She loosened her hold on her body and let Jones hit her again. She stressed her muscles to their breaking point when Jones punched her right between her breasts. It hurt, but she proceeded with her plan.
Sally doubled over. She hyperventilated, making straining sounds as she faked her own choking. She was apparently selling it too. Many marines started to look worried and a few considered jumping into the ring themselves to make sure she was OK Jones took a step towards her. "Princess…?"
That was close enough.
Sally jumped up and slammed Jones right beneath his chin. She felt his jaw creak and forced the man a full inch off the ground. He landed and while stunned, she initiated lightning jabs at his body. His face and ribs took the most of the pummeling. She only kept on punching, her adrenaline pushing her on. She could have sworn she just had a dose of testosterone injected though.
Jones brought his gloves up. "I GIVE! I GIVE! GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" Sally stopped the pounding. She breathed as she caught her breath. Her chest heaved in and out, her arms twitching, begging for more action. Jones brought himself back up.
It wasn't pretty. To say the least, Jones' face looked like a rare steak with patches of red showing up here and there. He had a black eye and a trickle of blood came from his nose. He took a deep breath. "Good job, furry. Good job. You done good."
Acorn felt like the queen of the universe after that fight. Jones never stood a chance. Although she let herself know that before that brilliant, brilliant plan, she was just as defenseless. "Holy shit, did you see Jones' face after that?" Sonic said laughing. "Looked like it blew up from the inside!" another marine said. "Fuck, look at that blood!"
Sally saw with a small pang of regret that Jones was standing outside the infirmary with a bandage getting wrapped around his nose. The medic dripped some iodine onto his wounds and Jones engaged in a roar of expletives towards the young doctor. A Mobian called out, "Hey Sarge! Nice look!" He may have been far away, but Jones screamed loud enough, "FUCK YOU!" They all laughed and went back to the barracks. Sally lay on her bunk, too tired to undress. She hit the pillow feeling a sense of self-accomplishment. She felt…nice…
In the setting sunlight, Colonel Farley's cigar stood out in the shadows and his glasses sparkled in the light. "So, that's your plan? A mixed squad?" "Sir, if I may. Let me point out I was assigned with four other men to guard this woman. She seems to work well when coordinated with her other friends. I feel that this could be…beneficial to the squad." Farley sat back. "Technically this is not my jurisdiction. Only the Admiral has the ability to commission squads like this. It's been a military tradition for a few hundred years." "And sir, since this these people were apart of a special forces group which operated outside the normal military, I was wondering…" He gritted his teeth. It was unlikely that Farley would even consider it. "…that this squad be granted the same power?"
Farley paused. He actually put his hand to his chin and took a deep breath. "Lieutenant, I have read your dossier. You have a fine pair of balls on you, back on Talahan, you proved yourself a soldier many, many times over. I also understand that many things I have heard involving you and the 182nd as myths tried and true. Let me say this much. I'll consider your offer. As for your mixed squad, I say that this could be a great social experiment, as well as a necessity. Congratulations, Lieutenant. Do you have a name for your squad?" "Actually I do." He smiled. "What do you think of Omega Squad?"
Farely shrugged, "Sounds a bit cliché but, I like it. I'll put the word in to Andsworth and we'll figure out the details. You are dismissed, Lieutenant." Vennettilli saluted. "Thank you, sir!" "Don't mention it, son. Just don't get a fat head over it."