Iggy had dozed off on the couch to the sound of the holonet, it had been a long day for him and even the short hour he had to wait was too long for him to keep his eyes open. When he woke up, all the lights had been turned off and the holonet was also off, he checked the clock on the wall and fell off the couch, it was midnight. On the first day with his squad he had slept through rec time and no one had bothered to wake him. He frantically gathered himself off the floor and tried to figure out what to do, it was senseless to wake everyone up with a ruckus. He stood up and began to walk toward one of the bedrooms when all the lights suddenly turned on, blinding him temporarily. A group of men rushed the room dressed in all black carrying what seemed like weapons. Iggy began swinging his fists wildly, his eyes had not adjusted yet but he wasn't about to get shot. Something knocked him down and then he heard laughing.
"This was way too easy, you can tell he was under someone's boot his whole career."
When his eyes adjusted he saw seven men, all older than he was but not by much. He suddenly had anger flared up and he jumped up and threw a punch at the closest one who had made the comment earlier. Without flinching the man stopped his punch and in one swift movement his legs were swept out from under him again and he was on the ground again. A hand reached down and helped him up, he rubbed his back, and this was the second time today that it had been abused.
"Don't worry kid, each and everyone one of us has had a trick pulled on us back in the day."
"Who are you guys?" Iggy asked, looking around.
"We're Phalanx Squad, and this is your welcoming party." The leader said with a big smile.
Iggy had to smile, he knew he would love this squad even though he wasn't used to being the youngest. Over the next few days he went through intensive training to become part of the team, he knew that he had to gain a solid trust with each and every member of the squad in order to work as a team during any mission. They worked together in pairs, with the exception of master sergeant Briggs. Zeshaun was partnered with the most experienced of the squad, Sergeant Craig Mitchell. The two of them became nearly best friends before the week was up and by the time they were strapping up and stepping into the shuttle, they were nearly brothers.
*+One week after joining the squad+*
"Craig!" Iggy shouted across the courtyard. "Hurry up, we're gonna miss the shuttle!"
"That's Sergeant Mitchell to you!" He shouted back waving Iggy off.
Iggy laughed and then walked into the hangar, the shuttle was not even warming up yet but the crew was still there setting up. Iggy was so eager to go on his first mission with his new squad, the change of scene was much better than he ever expected and he was almost glad that he had been so persistent with his old squad leader. But he always kept that little reminder in the back of his mind, he wasn't the center of the world and everyone didn't want to be his friend.
Twenty minutes later the rest of the squad came in one at a time, but all within minute of each other. The last one in was master sergeant Briggs and he boarded the shuttle after everyone was already strapped into the shuttle and ready to go.
"What took you so long serge?" One of the troopers asked.
"None of your business." Briggs said with a coy smile.
Iggy laughed as the shuttle door began to close. The shuttle shook and it took off, the soft hum of the engine made it easy to fall asleep to pass time as the shuttle took its long journey to their target. They had been briefed only shortly before departure, the mission was supposed to be kept low key, with as little collateral damage as possible and with as little civilian death as possible. But the parameters set by the administrations made it much harder than it had to be. Iggy didn't doubt that their squad could successfully complete the mission but he wasn't sure at what cost.