Chapter 2: Hello army, Goodbye freedom
Ten years earlier (3 years after the Shivan's defeat)
The Elysium transport entered the hangar of the GTI RoseBud slowly, technicians and pilots getting out of the way as it set down gently on the smooth hangar floor, behind it the hangar doors closed shut, sealing out the void as the hangar bay shields deactivated. A ramp then opened and lowered, clanking as it hit the floor, making one of the engineers working on a Loki jump and drop his tools.
After a short pause there was a series of clanks as the passengers walked off the ship, they were new recruits fresh from the training grounds and ready to be put to good use. Among them was Morgan Freeground, a fairly skilled pilot who wasn't very talkative at times and mainly kept to himself, occasionally preferring the company of others. He wore baggy jeans that had seen more than their fair share of wear and tear, a black t-shirt with the old symbol for the suicide kings on it and a thick, leather flight jacket with the barracudas symbol on it.
The station looked bigger on the inside than it did on the outside…maybe it was just because I was used to living in the small training installation. We all seemed to get dirty looks off of the crewmembers, but I didn't expect any better…we were the new people, it was our job to do the menial and worthless jobs. It was also our job to be cannon fodder so the more skilled pilots don't get killed. I could already tell some of the other new recruits were becoming nervous, they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. They were fooled by the false claims on the advertisements saying "Join the army, see some ACTION!" or "Excitement is the GTVA". Although I doubt they would be so eager to join if the adverts said "Join the bloody massacre today!" or maybe even "Sign away your freedom to the GTVA".
As Morgan slowed down to escape being cramped within the crowd of pilots, one of the less skilled recruits (nicknamed rookie by the other recruits), ran up to him and started walking with him looking very pale. "I never thought I would actually get to be here…I mean…I'm finally going to be a bomber pilot! Man those Boanerges look so cool! Don'tcha think so?" He looked at Morgan, who just looked straight ahead, not seeming to respond at all before finally replying with
"I don't really care…they're just one more 'rock' for the GTVA to throw at the enemy…" His reply was cold and heartless, but it didn't even mildly crush the 'rookie'.
"Hey, you haven't seen me at my full potential yet…I'm a real bad ass when I'm in the pilot seat of a bomber." He seemed overly enthusiastic as the colour returned to his face. Morgan just smirked and laughed.
"Yeah you're bad alright…I think our last flight exam proved that much…I'm surprised you even got here." He perked up a little, remembering the mockery of an exam that the 'rookie' did. If he flew like that in a real mission he wouldn't last five minutes.
"…Oh, my name's Ben, nice to meet you! Ugh…what's your name?" Ben was now stood in front of him and walking backwards as they went to the briefing room to receive their official welcome and be assigned to their squadrons.
"Morgan…but don't get too comfortable around me kid. Since I doubt you'll end up in the same squadron as me…you'll most probably end up in some rookie squadron designed purely to do the menial missions like guarding an asteroid." Ben frowned suddenly and ran back to the crowd, but not before giving Morgan the finger. Morgan just shook his head, not at all impressed.
I honestly didn't know what squadron he would end up in…but I desperately hoped he wouldn't be in mine. As we got closer to the briefing room the corridors darkened in shade, not because of the lack of lights, but merely because that is the way they were painted, most probably so people knew how deep into the station they were. The briefing room wasn't very big, and barely fit us all in…plus we had to wait there for about one hour before the welcoming committee showed up. He was heavily bearded and looked like he needed some sleep desperately, plus he had the gruff voice of a heavy smoker.
"Welcome cadets. As you know, you are here because we have looked through your results and see that you all possess great potential. Today you will be assigned to your squadrons, then tomorrow they will send a representative to pick you up, which will most likely be the squadron leader. After that you are in their capable hands and will be trained under their strict guidance. Your training will be in real combat situations so this won't be another chance to play around…that means you Johnson." There are a few laughs from the pilots before the General coughs hard to shut them up. "Let's get on with this please, I know how much you want to get out of here quickly. Ok…Johnson, Kornite and Doodlebug…you're assigned to the 178th Falcons. Biggins, Fornight and James…the 93rd Squid Launchers. Bassfold, Torque, Nightshard, Hersight, Bloggs, Harveys and the Pegasi twins…you'll all be in the 67th Overlords, congratulations." Morgan cursed under his breath, the Overlords were famous as the best squadron in the GTVA; They only hired the very best recruits that scored the highest. He could almost feel Ben sneering at him. "Everyone else, apart from Duclos, Freeground and Porter, are in the 21st Gators squadron. Duclos, Freeground and Porter, you'll be in the 132nd Jaguars."
It hit me like a bullet from a gun, the complete horror of being stranded in the same squadron as Ben, and also being in a squadron that wasn't even known among recruits. How could I ever be proud of being in an obscure squadron. By now I could plainly see Ben grinning smugly…I was going to be in for the talking of a lifetime when I left the room…just my luck.
Ten years earlier (3 years after the Shivan's defeat)
The Elysium transport entered the hangar of the GTI RoseBud slowly, technicians and pilots getting out of the way as it set down gently on the smooth hangar floor, behind it the hangar doors closed shut, sealing out the void as the hangar bay shields deactivated. A ramp then opened and lowered, clanking as it hit the floor, making one of the engineers working on a Loki jump and drop his tools.
After a short pause there was a series of clanks as the passengers walked off the ship, they were new recruits fresh from the training grounds and ready to be put to good use. Among them was Morgan Freeground, a fairly skilled pilot who wasn't very talkative at times and mainly kept to himself, occasionally preferring the company of others. He wore baggy jeans that had seen more than their fair share of wear and tear, a black t-shirt with the old symbol for the suicide kings on it and a thick, leather flight jacket with the barracudas symbol on it.
The station looked bigger on the inside than it did on the outside…maybe it was just because I was used to living in the small training installation. We all seemed to get dirty looks off of the crewmembers, but I didn't expect any better…we were the new people, it was our job to do the menial and worthless jobs. It was also our job to be cannon fodder so the more skilled pilots don't get killed. I could already tell some of the other new recruits were becoming nervous, they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. They were fooled by the false claims on the advertisements saying "Join the army, see some ACTION!" or "Excitement is the GTVA". Although I doubt they would be so eager to join if the adverts said "Join the bloody massacre today!" or maybe even "Sign away your freedom to the GTVA".
As Morgan slowed down to escape being cramped within the crowd of pilots, one of the less skilled recruits (nicknamed rookie by the other recruits), ran up to him and started walking with him looking very pale. "I never thought I would actually get to be here…I mean…I'm finally going to be a bomber pilot! Man those Boanerges look so cool! Don'tcha think so?" He looked at Morgan, who just looked straight ahead, not seeming to respond at all before finally replying with
"I don't really care…they're just one more 'rock' for the GTVA to throw at the enemy…" His reply was cold and heartless, but it didn't even mildly crush the 'rookie'.
"Hey, you haven't seen me at my full potential yet…I'm a real bad ass when I'm in the pilot seat of a bomber." He seemed overly enthusiastic as the colour returned to his face. Morgan just smirked and laughed.
"Yeah you're bad alright…I think our last flight exam proved that much…I'm surprised you even got here." He perked up a little, remembering the mockery of an exam that the 'rookie' did. If he flew like that in a real mission he wouldn't last five minutes.
"…Oh, my name's Ben, nice to meet you! Ugh…what's your name?" Ben was now stood in front of him and walking backwards as they went to the briefing room to receive their official welcome and be assigned to their squadrons.
"Morgan…but don't get too comfortable around me kid. Since I doubt you'll end up in the same squadron as me…you'll most probably end up in some rookie squadron designed purely to do the menial missions like guarding an asteroid." Ben frowned suddenly and ran back to the crowd, but not before giving Morgan the finger. Morgan just shook his head, not at all impressed.
I honestly didn't know what squadron he would end up in…but I desperately hoped he wouldn't be in mine. As we got closer to the briefing room the corridors darkened in shade, not because of the lack of lights, but merely because that is the way they were painted, most probably so people knew how deep into the station they were. The briefing room wasn't very big, and barely fit us all in…plus we had to wait there for about one hour before the welcoming committee showed up. He was heavily bearded and looked like he needed some sleep desperately, plus he had the gruff voice of a heavy smoker.
"Welcome cadets. As you know, you are here because we have looked through your results and see that you all possess great potential. Today you will be assigned to your squadrons, then tomorrow they will send a representative to pick you up, which will most likely be the squadron leader. After that you are in their capable hands and will be trained under their strict guidance. Your training will be in real combat situations so this won't be another chance to play around…that means you Johnson." There are a few laughs from the pilots before the General coughs hard to shut them up. "Let's get on with this please, I know how much you want to get out of here quickly. Ok…Johnson, Kornite and Doodlebug…you're assigned to the 178th Falcons. Biggins, Fornight and James…the 93rd Squid Launchers. Bassfold, Torque, Nightshard, Hersight, Bloggs, Harveys and the Pegasi twins…you'll all be in the 67th Overlords, congratulations." Morgan cursed under his breath, the Overlords were famous as the best squadron in the GTVA; They only hired the very best recruits that scored the highest. He could almost feel Ben sneering at him. "Everyone else, apart from Duclos, Freeground and Porter, are in the 21st Gators squadron. Duclos, Freeground and Porter, you'll be in the 132nd Jaguars."
It hit me like a bullet from a gun, the complete horror of being stranded in the same squadron as Ben, and also being in a squadron that wasn't even known among recruits. How could I ever be proud of being in an obscure squadron. By now I could plainly see Ben grinning smugly…I was going to be in for the talking of a lifetime when I left the room…just my luck.