They woke up before five o'clock. They had a minute or so to get up and dressed, though most of them had just slept in their uniform. Once they were done, they were led out into the parade ground. There were a few stragglers.
"Thomas. Wake up."
Thomas responded with a series of vocalizations that could almost be called words.
"You must wake up. They're going to get mad if you don't!" Nico urged further, shaking his shoulder to emphasize the point. "They're going to make you… clean the toilets! With your own hair!"
"Hehe, well, can't say I've ever heard of that punishment before." Said Jimmy, walking over to the other side of Thomas' bed. "Nico's right, though, Thomas. They're not going to make this any easier if you dawdle."
Again, Thomas' response wasn't exactly made of words.
"Thomas, please!"
"Aw, don't sweat it, kid. I know a good way to deal with a slugabed like this." And with that Jimmy picked up the still sleeping Thomas and put him over his shoulder. Nico let out a startled gasp. "Nothing like the army to build up your strength, huh? Morning air's always a good way to get up."
He carried Thomas out with the others. Nico followed him, wondering if 'slugabed' was a real word.
Once the members of Squad E had assembled, they were given a brief instruction in physical exercises before being put through stretches, calisthenics, and a long run. Breakfast was a gelatinous substance that had once been eggs and bacon with roughly the taste and texture of tree bark. After that, they split up for individualized training based on combat roles.
"Welcome to the Engineer training course, privates. Engineers are not the flashiest or most spectacular of soldiers. You won't be stopping any tanks or shooting an enemy commander from a half-mile away. If you are doing your job properly, you will likely not be involved in any spectacular heroics. You are strongly advised to hang back any let your allies advance first. However, any combat unit will need Engineers. If a vehicle is damaged, or an ally has stepped onto a landmine, your comrades will rely on you. Your mechanical acumen will decide if your comrades live or die. Consequently, much of your training will focus on honing those skills, and developing your ability to use them under fire. And remember: That is not a figure of speech.
"We will begin by determining exactly what you know. In front of each of you is a collection of engine components. You are to assemble them in the proper manner with the tools provided. You have five minutes. Go."
The dark-skinned man sitting at the bench on the right, Aulard, took off right away. The woman on the left, Rita, took a few moments to think through it before she began her assembly. Nico, sitting in the middle, looked at everything as though it were from another planet. Her most technical experience was changing the tire on a bike. She had not idea what most of the things in front of her were, much less that they were supposed to be part of some whole.
"Four minutes left."
Still, she had to do something. Everything was supposed to fit together. Maybe she should think of it like a puzzle? So if this part had a portion shaped like the hole on this one, then-
"Time's up. Let's see what you've got."
Aulard and Rita presented him with identical assemblies. The instructor simply nodded at each. And then he looked at Nico's.
"Well, private Emery, you seem to have made quite a mess." Nico flinched. He was hardly wrong. Hers didn't look anything like the other twos'. "This washer is bent at a ninety-degree angle, that screw was forced into a hole a quarter inch too small, and why is your screwdriver sticking out of this mess?"
"I couldn't pull it out, sir."
The instructor decided to remove it himself. Or at least, he tried. After several minutes of straining, groaning, and sweating, he gave up on it.
"It appears we have… uneven readiness among the class."
They had a brief free time each evening, and Nico found herself playing cards most nights.
"And… oh! I win."
"Hmmm. Getting better. You're a quick learner, Nico."
"Oh, no. It's not that. We used to play Bridge a lot, and this is kind of similar."
"Isn't Bridge usually a game for older women?"
"I don't know. I never really thought about it." Few young nuns had ever come to their convent, and they'd never stayed long.
"What's bridge?" Thomas asked.
"It's a card game. I hear it's popular in Vinland." Lily chimed in.
"I'd offer to show you how to play, but I don't know how to play with three players." Nico said sadly.
"Um…" Thomas wanted to help, but this wasn't exactly his strong suite. "Hey, do you guys know Hearts?"
"No, I don't." said Lily.
"First, take out the two of…" They always played with Lily's deck, what she called the 'minor arcana'. It had four suites of thirteen cards, so it was familiar to play with, but he had to stop and think of how to translate from one set to the other. "…uh, coins? I guess that's good… Then, deal out the cards…"
"Defusing land mines will be one of your most important tasks. Today, you will be practicing on one of these." The instructor said, holding up a short, metal cylinder. "This is a replica of the model of mine used most often by the Empire. Since this is purely for training purposes, these do not contain any actual explosives. However, there is a mechanism to let you know if you've made a mistake. Watch carefully and pay attention; when dealing with a real mine, you only get one chance." And with that, he launched into a demonstration of how to disarm it.
In order to properly simulate the conditions of a real battlefield, they would be disarming the simulation mines while one of their comrades stood on them. Nico was surprised to recognize the one she would be working with.
"Thomas?"
"Hey, Nico." He sighed.
"What happened?"
"I found out what happens when you fall asleep before breakfast."
"You did that again?"
Nico crouched down and carefully removed a section of the mine's plating.
"Can I ask you something?" Thomas asked.
"Oh, certainly. What do you want to know?"
"How do you get up early like that? What's your secret?"
Nico shrugged. "There was always something we had to do early at the convent. I guess it's just a habit." She blinked. That was the right part she'd just disconnected from the pressure plate, right? She hadn't let herself get distracted that badly, right?"
"So, how's Engineer training going?"
"G-good! Good! It's all going good." She said, disconnected a component that may or may not have been irrelevant to actually disarming it. "Okay, that should be good. You can take your-"
For a moment the world turned blue. What happened? Did he give them live mines by mistake? Was the instructor mad that she'd ruined more screwdrivers? It wasn't her powers acting up, was it? Thinking about "her powers" still sounded weird, even in her head. She still didn't have much idea of how they worked, and she hadn't exactly practiced much.
"Ewww." Thomas' voice snapped her back to reality. He was still standing in front of her, most of his lower body colored blue and dripping wet. Nico looked down at herself. Her clothing, and the exposed part of her skin, were also blue, and she had the particular chill of someone who was wet on a warm day. The ground around them for several feet in every direction was also dripping blue.
"What is this?" Nico asked.
"It looks like paint." Thomas responded.
"It's actually a dye." The instructor chimed in. "It means you failed. If that had been a real mine, then we would be sending your next-of-kin the sponge we used to sop up your remains. I must say, Private Emery, that this is exactly what I expected from you."
Aulard and Rita were already done, and decidedly un-blue. Both of them were watching what was unfolding. Aulard looked troubled. Rita looked angry.
"Tell me, Private Emery, why do you want to be an Engineer? It's clearly not for your mechanical skills."
"Engineers are the ones who are supposed to heal people, right? If they're hurt and the medic might not get there in time?"
"They are." The instructor responded. "But they have many other roles as well. If you can't carry out all of those roles, then you are not fit to be a Engineer."
"I-I'll do better. I promise." Nico didn't sound very convincing. The fact she was saying it while hanging her head didn't help.
The instructor nodded, a perfunctory gesture that only indicated he had heard her. "It's time for marksmanship. The dye washes out in water. You two can take care of that after training."
As she started to go, she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. "You'll… get better." Thomas was never good with words, but it was strange that her shoulder felt lighter with his hand on it.
Put butt to shoulder. Lean in. Sight quickly. Squeeze trigger. Two. Three. Four. Five. Stop. Gun down. Remove magazine. Empty chamber. Replace clip. Re-insert magazine. Repeat. The drill was always the same. Firearms had to become second nature, something they could do without thinking. Nico had found herself going through it in her dreams lately.
"Cease Fire."
The shooting stopped. They went out on the range to collect the paper that served as their targets. She, Rita, and Aulard gathered in a circle to compare their results.
"Wow. Good job, Nico!" Rita offered, unprompted. Rita's and Aulard's targets had holes scattered throughout. For Nico's, there was one hole in the center large enough to fit her finger through. "Guess we know what you're good at, huh?" She punctuated it with a pat on the back. Nico nodded. She knew Rita was trying to cheer her up, but somehow she didn't feel very reassured.
Sunday was their day off. Church service wasn't much to write home about; they met in the cafeteria, they had to share bibles because they didn't have enough for everyone, and the chaplain was obviously inexperienced. Despite that, Nico found she didn't mind too much. Everything else about her life- her home, her friends, her daily routine, her goals, her very view of herself- had been upended or changed completely. To hold that familiar book, to hear the stories she'd heard countless times once more, to take Communion again, gave her continuity and reminded her that the girl at the convent wasn't just a dream she had once.
She was on her way out after the service when she noticed the chaplain talking with Rosetta.
"I r-really never expected to see you again in a place like this." He was saying to her. He still looked nervous.
"Oh, you know him?" she asked.
"Sort of."
"W-we weren't close, exactly, but Rosetta was the one who inspired me to follow my current calling."
What Rosetta had said the other day clicked into place. "Wait, Rosetta, are you-"
"I was… part of the church."
"Why did you leave?"
"I'm wondering that myself." The chaplain said. "You seemed quite happy there before."
Rosetta shook her head. "Something happened, and staying became painful. I'd rather not talk about it too much. It's good to see you again, Bruno." She said to the chaplain before leaving.
"The goal of the game is to avoid getting any of the coin cards, right? I just got all of them." Lily announced. "This is the most spectacular defeat I've ever had." She sounded delighted, or at least as delighted as Lily got.
"Do you have the Queen of Swords as well?" Thomas asked.
"Ah, yes, the other penalty card. I have her, as well."
"You win." Thomas announced glumly.
"Huh?" Nico asked.
"You're going to have to explain." Lily said, also sounding confused.
"Getting all of the penalty cards means you win the game. It's called 'Shooting the Moon'."
"That seems like an odd rule." Lily noted. She still wasn't complaining, though.
"It's a strategy that can work with a hand that wouldn't be useful otherwise. Sometimes it's the only thing you can do."
"See, Lily? You did have good luck. You won without even realizing it."
"You could look at it that way. But when people are working against each other, one person's good luck is someone else's bad luck."
"That's pretty complicated."
"Yeah. It's one of the things I love about luck."
"So, you were looking for Claude? I'm afraid he's busy right now." Kai Schulen was a trusted member of their squad's leadership. His dark, sunken eyes gave him a suspicious appearance, but Nico had never seen him be anything but friendly. "So, just tell me what's wrong, and I'll pass it on to him. Sound good?"
"Well, sir, I need to put in a request…"
"Welcome to the Scout program, private Emery." At the very least, there were some familiar faces here: Thomas, Rosetta, and Godwin were among the numerous Scout trainees. "You may have noticed that there are far more Scouts that Engineers. There's a reason for that. As a scout-" There was a wave of annoyance throughout the other trainees. Nico got the sense that this wasn't the first time he gave this spiel. "Your most important job is to collect information as the battle is unfolding. That means you'll usually be the first person going into any area, and with the least idea as to what's waiting for you. Scouts traditionally have the highest mortality rate among infantry. I hope you're a quick learner, because you're joining late and we aren't going to wait up for you."
One of the main exercises for Scouts was running a course through some old buildings, or the local forest, or wherever else it could be set up, and try to spot each of the dummies that had been set up and radio them in. She could handle the running well; training for the Engineers had included running while weighed down with a full set of tools.
"You successfully spotted 24 out of 25 of the dummies. And if you think that sounds good, it isn't. Anything but a perfect score here is a failure. In a real battle, an enemy you failed to spot could be the end of you." He turned to one of the other Scouts. "Private Leach, you're up next."
Nico went to watch her with the other trainees. "Don't be too troubled by the result, Nico." Rosetta whispered to her. "He's right about needing to see everything, but you did well for your first try."
Nico nodded, a silent Thank you.
Author's note: I originally intended for this chapter to be more lighthearted, but plans change.
Addendum: Fixed the formatting. Sorry that was hard to read.