CHAPTER 12
Leaving and Language
1
FOUR YEARS AGO
The 17 recruits waited impatiently for the results in the barracks classroom. It was the last day of the Collective phase for their Special Forces training. Ryan and Davis talked about their chances of passing. Before anyone knew it, one of the Sergeant Majors entered in the classroom with a sheet in his hands. He was about to pin it up on the cork board when then recruits gathered around him like teenagers seeing if they made a sports team.
"Hey, hey, hey," the Sergeant called back on them. "Wait until I put it up first."
The Sergeant Major waited for no reply. He pinned the paper on the cork board and squeezed his way out of the crowd. The Sergeant stood at the door frame waiting.
One by the, the recruits gathered around the sheet of paper, waiting to see their results. Ryan was one of the first one's in line to swarm the Sergeant. He first looked at the sheet and saw the name 'SSgt. Davis, Robert L.' Then he looked down to the near bottom of the list where his name would be. Sure enough, Ryan saw his name, 'Cpl. Perreault, Ryan M.' printed near the bottom of the alphabetical list.
Ryan zigzagged out of the crowd and walked right up to Davis. Davis himself was waiting in line but got his answer when Ryan told him.
"Robert, you passed," Ryan told him in cheers. Davis stopped and threw his fists in the air.
"Awesome! What about you?" Davis asked. Ryan nodded. "Great job, man." Ryan and Davis did a high-five. They are now going off for the four weeks of the Language phase. They both requested to take Arabic and got their requests. The entire room was full of cheering since mostly all of them made it.
"How come I didn't make it?" Roselyn asked the Sergeant. Ryan and Davis looked over and saw Roselyn, Brick, and Carpenter next to the Sergeant at the door.
"Sorry, Roselyn, but I saw your performance in the team exercises, you weren't a team player," the Sergeant told him. That was true, Ryan noticed Recruit Roselyn doing things his own way. It was like that episode on the television series S.W.A.T. when a rookie joined Hondo's SWAT team but did things his own way, jeopardizing the operations.
"What about me? I was a team player," Lieutenant Carpenter told the Sergeant.
"You're an officer, you're supposed to be a team leader, you lead by example which is what you didn't do," the Sergeant told him. Then the Sergeant turned to Warrant Officer Brick and said, "And you, you didn't communicate. One part of being a team leader or player is the use of communications. One wrong slip and it's game over. You three are getting rolled. Follow me."
The three disappointed recruits followed the Sergeant out of the barracks. They were never seen by this class regiment again. The class regiment was now down to 14 recruits. Just as the four left, Colonel Moss entered the room.
"No need to call attention," the Colonel quickly said. When a high-ranking officer enters a room full of low-ranking personnel, one of them shouts out 'Room Attention!' and they all stand at attention. In response, the officer would then tell them to go back as they were. Moss stood up in front of the podium and looked at the recruits. "No need to take a seat either. Now, first off, I'm proud of all of you who have made it this far. Hoo-ah!"
"Hoo-ah!" the recruits shouted back in glee.
"Now, for the next four weeks, we will be going into the Language Phase of your Special Forces training," Moss explained to them. "You have all requested different languages, but we have the final say. Majority rules that you guys will be learning Arabic."
Most of the recruits shouted happily on that. Only a few were not so pleased.
"Now, not only will we be teaching you how to speak Arabic, but we will teach you how to blend in with their society," Moss told them. "You will look, live, think, eat, and act foreign as well as speak it. Understood?"
"Hoo-ah!" the recruits replied.
"Outstanding, now everyone take a seat and let's begin," Moss ordered them. The recruits took a seat in their chairs behind the tables. The lecture began with a slide-show.
2
PRESENT DAY
It was not until near-dusk when Cyrus checked his messages on his laptop. He was unable to check them last night due to the concert and was unable to check them during the day due to caring for the children of Sanctuary. As soon as dusk was slowly starting to descend, Cyrus flipped open his laptop, which immediately turned it on. His desktop screenshot was displayed showing the same photograph of himself and the triplet hedgehogs.
The first thing he noticed was his messenger program icon blinking, meaning he has got new messages. Cyrus double-clicked on the icon which then displayed a dialogue box asking for his user name and password. His username, by default, was already entered in the dialogue box but he still had to type in his password. Due to his computer storing so much sensitive data, he does not wish to save his password every time he opens it. Cyrus typed it in and his inbox opened with an animation of a mailbox opening and a letter flying out to cover the screen.
There was only one message in the inbox with an attachment. Cyrus double-clicked on it, which displayed Queen Aleena's message, telling him that the DMD will be activated in 24 hours. Quickly, Cyrus checked what time the message was sent: 1:38 A.M., Today. The time currently was 6:42 P.M.
"Oh no, 17 hours have passed," Cyrus harshly whispered to himself. Only six hours remain. Quickly, Cyrus hit the Control and P keys together, telling the computer to print the message. Next to him, his portal printer released a piece of paper with Aleena's message. Cyrus just grabbed it and started to run outside to find Ryan.
3
Ryan sat on a lawn chair all alone as the sun was just over the horizon, almost ready to turn the clouds pink. Resting on his head is his green beret which he went through hell to earn, and just to return to hell for the meaning behind it. It did not matter what Ryan went through during his tours of duty, because he really loved his job. All of a sudden, Cyrus sped up to Ryan and skidded to a halt, kicking dirt in the air.
"Hey, Ryan, bad news," Cyrus called out.
"What is it, Cy?" Ryan asked.
"Big trouble!" Cyrus said worriedly.
"What is it?" Ryan asked impatiently. Cyrus quickly forced the piece of paper in Ryan's hands. Ryan started to look at it.
"Robotnik lied about the Dimensional Matter Displacer. He's starting the charging process to open it, but he will use a human shield on it to prevent you from going through it."
"What?"
"The process will be done in almost 6 hours! You got to leave Sanctuary and get that portal open and go home or—" Cyrus did not need to continue his statement. Ryan knew exactly what he meant.
"Or I'll be stuck on Mobius for the rest of my life?" Ryan asked in fear.
Cyrus nodded his head.
"I knew there is a catch to everything! I can't do it alone, ya know."
"I know. We'll all go with you," Cyrus told him. Suddenly, Ryan remembered someone else who was important and was a good fighter.
"What about Aleena?"
"She's already there."
"I need to talk to her!"
Without waiting a for a reply, Ryan got up and started running to the hut where Cyrus ran out of. Cyrus, closely behind, followed him. Cyrus decided not to talk Ryan out of this one.
4
Ryan was the first to enter Cyrus' hut. He immediately spotted the laptop on the desk. Ryan ran for it and sat in a chair at running speed.
"You got an instant messenger program on this?" Ryan asked nervously.
"Yeah, let me activate it for you," Cyrus told him.
Ryan leaned back while Cyrus stood over the laptop and took a hold on the computer mouse. He minimized the messenger program and double-clicked on an icon that looked like the letters IM. Cyrus activated it and popping up was a strange messenger program Ryan never saw before, but it did have all the functions and similarities as the messenger programs back home. The only difference was the layout. Cyrus quickly typed in his password and used his pinky to hit the 'Enter' key. Then, a buddy list window showed up. One of them was a user name saying 'Queenwannabe' which was obviously Aleena's. Not even the triplet hedgehogs know about this, it seems as if Cyrus has had contact with Aleena before.
"Okay, there she is," Cyrus said pointing to her user name.
Back in Robotropolis, Aleena, still in the abandoned building in disguise, saw Cyrus' user name 'Lionnerd' appear on her laptops. It was a good thing she was looking at her laptops at the time because she set them all on mute to prevent anyone from hearing her.
Ryan double-clicked on Queenwannabe started typing in his message. He always used his pinky to hit 'Enter.' In response, Aleena typed her replying messages the same way.
Lionnerd: Aleena, this is Ryan
Queenwannabe: Ryan? What's going on?
Lionnerd: Cyrus gave me yer message, where are ya?
Queenwannabe: I cant say
Lionnerd: understood, what room is the dmd located?
Queenwannabe: top, north west, just below the flight desk, identified by sounds of incoming jets
Lionnerd: # of swatbots?
Queenwannabe: estimated between 50-60
Lionnerd: too much, I need yer help
Queenwannabe: will my children be with you?
Lionnerd: unfortunately yes
Queenwannabe: then I cant but I can provide recon
Lionnerd: perfect, you got a weapon?
Queenwannabe: no
Lionnerd: I'll leave ya a sniper rifle, just tell me where to drop it off
Queenwannabe: how about the corner of main and robot street?
Lionnerd: good, that's far enough away, ya got a radio?
Queenwannabe: yes, freq is 102.1 MHz
Lionnerd: is there a safe passage inside?
Queenwannabe: yes, same place you escaped from last time
Lionnerd: you saw me?
Queenwannabe: yeah
Lionnerd: you got a map of the building complex?
Queenwannabe: yeah, I can quarterback you
Lionnerd: outstanding, can ya talk me through to destroy this human shield program?
Queenwannabe: that's easy, ya can shoot it
Lionnerd: ok, well be on our way
Queenwannabe: WAIT!
Lionnerd: what?
Queenwannabe: one more thing, tell my children I love them
Lionnerd: will do, good luck
Queenwannabe: youre the one who'll need luck
Lionnerd: I'm wishing in on ya anyway
Queenwannabe: Okay, see ya soon
Lionnerd: See ya
Ryan immediately got out of the chair, almost knocking Cyrus over, and ran to Cyrus' closet.
"Whoa, what are you doing?" Cyrus asked quickly.
"I got to get my weapons from your closet," Ryan replied opening it up. Just as Ryan suspected, his black gear and Kevlar hung on its coat hanger like a dead man. Ryan took it off and headed in the bathroom to slip it on.
In the bathroom, Ryan kept on his black T-shirt and camouflage pants with tan boots as he slipped on his gear. It was surprising to him that, in the weeks Ryan has been on Mobius, his cloths never seemed to stink or show any signs of sweat. He looked up in the cartoon mirror. He saw his perfect reflection in the mirror, but it looks like a Photoshop picture of him pasted on a cartoon background. Actually, it looks like an Adobe After Effects video of him on a cartoon background, as if he was in the movie Space Jam or something. The shocking thing Ryan saw was that he has not shaved in weeks, yet his facial hair remained gone. He remembered he shaved his facial shadow a few days prior to arriving on Mobius. For his time in Iraq, he had to grow out a beard in his unit to prevent him from standing out, which really bothered him. Beards itch his face a lot. When he got his vacation, Ryan was excited to shave it all off, leaving a nice clean and smooth face. It has been three weeks since he was on Mobius and his beard never grew back.
Ryan snapped out of it. He slipped on his Kevlar vest with his ammunition pockets. He looked in the mirror seeing the cartoon vest and noticed it looked like his head and arms have been pasted in a Photoshop of him and a cartoon background with a vest. The only thing that pleased him about his image in the mirror was his green beret, with the black 5th Special Forces Group emblem on the front, still resting on his head.
5
In the cafeteria, Sonic, Sonia, and Manic are sitting at a table all alone. Sonic is eating chili dogs by the dozens. Although Ryan taught him how to be a Green Beret, he sure is still the same Sonic everyone knew him as. Sonia and Manic sat across from Sonic annoyed at his behavior. Sonia and Manic certainly have not changed much since their training; Sonia still prefers royalty and Manic is still a kleptomaniac.
All of a sudden, Ryan burst into the cafeteria. He rushed toward the triplet hedgehogs wearing his Kevlar vest, which was the only cartoon attire on him. In his arms is his cartoon M8 Carbine rifle. Swung over Ryan's shoulder is his olive-drab bag he used to pack all of his stuff with him before being taken to Mobius. Clipped to his belt on the right side is his standard Heckler and Koch USP sidearm and clipped to his belt behind his back is his Heckler and Koch 50 Tactical Fixed Blade. Still resting on his head is his green beret.
"Hey, Ryan, what's up, dude?" Manic asked, pleased to see Ryan. Sonic was too busy beating his chili dogs to notice, but Sonia noticed the look of fear on Ryan's face and body.
"I only have six hours left to get back home," Ryan quickly said as he stopped and leaned his palms on the cafeteria table, looking down on the hedgehogs.
"What?" Sonia asked in shock.
"I talked to your mother, Queen Aleena, and she said that Robotnik is activating the Dimensional Matter Displacer with a human shield blocker. Once they're done, I can't leave Mobius. I have six hours to get them, open the portal, destroy the blocker, destroy the DMD program, take the disc, and get out," Ryan explained.
"Six hours? I thought it was going to be days," Sonia said confused.
"Robotnik liked to Sleet," Ryan said shaking his head, waving the back of his hair around while the rest was tucked in his beret. "He was afraid Sleet would get captured and confess, which it happened. Sleet gave me false information to unprepared me."
"But how were you able to find out about all this right now?" Sonic asked just after he swallowed in his chili.
"Aleena's on sight," Ryan confessed to them. "She's going to provide me with recon and intelligence when we go in."
"We?" Sonic asked in a look of shock, the same look when the Oracle of Delpius told him he had a brother and a sister from the first episode.
"Yeah," Ryan told them. "As members of our elite unit, the next several hour will be some of the most challenging of our career. We have to, not only get me home, but prevent Robotnik from ever crossing over worlds again, many innocent Earth lives will be in trouble. Our fundamental mission, for the next six hours, will be to use our vast training and knowledge to destroy the enemy's chances of this ever occurring. Let's get out there and do the job I trained you to do. Gear up and head out."
The hedgehogs knew Ryan was right. Sonic gave up the rest of his chili dogs to get prepared to head back to Robotropolis. Sonia and Manic followed suit.
6
Manic sped the Sonic Underground van to a halt right at the bridge leading out of Sanctuary. Manic was wearing the black gear used when Ryan taught him tactics for a few weeks. Soon after Manic stopped the van, the soldiers ran out of the huts toward the vehicle. Sonic, Sonia, Cyrus, and Trevor all wore their black gear and MP5 submachine guns made for them. The furries piled into the van via the large back entrance.
"Everyone ready?" Manic asked calling back?
"Wait, where's Ryan?" Sonia asked looking around.
The second Sonia asked that, Ryan came running out of the hut wearing the clothes he wore when coming to Mobius, his black T-shirt tucked into his ACU Digital camouflaged pants, his pants tucked into his Khaki tan boots. Ryan's pistol remained clipped on his right side and his knife clipped to his back horizontally. Swung over his shoulder was his olive-drab bag. His green beret seems to have been put back in his bag since Ryan is not wearing it. The only cartoon-made items on him is his black Kevlar vest with pockets of magazines, a radio earpiece in his ear, and his cartoon-made M8 Carbine in the rifleman version. Slung over his other shoulder, next to his bag, is another M8 Carbine rifle, but this one had a longer grip, longer heavier barrel, and a high-powered scope mounted in place of the rifleman's red-dot aim point.
"Whoa, Ryan, you're looking good," Sonic said giving Ryan a thumb's up.
"Thanks," Ryan replied grinning. Ryan hunched over and sat down next to Sonic in the van. Once he was in, Manic hit a switch causing the back door to close. In seconds, Manic sped down the bridge leaving Sanctuary.
"You sure it's a good idea to let Manic drive?" Ryan asked them.
"No," was the unison response from Sonic, Sonia, Cyrus, and Trevor. Ryan shrugged and could not help but chuckle at the unison response.
Ryan laid back and looked out the circular window at the sight of leaving Sanctuary. He felt the same feeling when he looked out the taxi cab when leaving home for Fort Benning four years ago. Sadness took over Ryan knowing he will never see that place again. Then he realized, if he succeeds in opening the Dimensional Matter Displacer portal, he will never come back to the Sonic Underground world. However, he was still on Mobius, but he won't be if all goes well within six hours. It felt like he was waiting for a shot; nervousness and fear swarm over him, along with the feeling of sadness.
As the sun set down, creating twilight, Ryan was out of view of Sanctuary and on his way back to Robotropolis. The mission will soon begin.
7
FOUR YEARS AGO
Ryan stood at the large satellite phone used for communication from military bases to the outside. He is wearing a desert camouflaged battle dress uniform with a turban and holding onto an AK-74U training rifle. The rifle hung off of his shoulder as he held the satellite phone in his right hand and used his thumb to dial in a phone number.
Ryan was calling home, but it was not until after he heard ringing when he realized that his parents do not answer the phone if it says the caller is unknown. He was already deep into the Language Phase to give up a chance to call his parents. The phone stopped ringing.
"Hi, you've reached the Perreault's, we're not home, please leave a name a number and we'll get back to you as soon as we can," his father's voice sounded over the speaker. The machine beeped.
"Hi, it's Ryan, is anyone there?" Ryan asked in the phone. Almost immediately, he heard the phone come off the receiver on the other end.
"Ryan?" a shocked and startled female voice shouted on the other end. Ryan was unaffected by the shocking voice, knowing it was his mom. "Ryan, is that really you?"
"Yeah, mom, it's me," Ryan said back with a slight chuckle.
"Are you coming home?"
"No, sorry mom, I just wanted to know how you've been doing since I was gone," Ryan told her. It was no surprise Ryan's mom was thinking of Ryan to fail or quit this Special Forces training since he signed up for it.
"It's lonely without you."
"Lonely? You got dad and Jackie."
"I know, but I miss you badly."
"I miss you, too. It's been one year on this day since I got in that taxi cab and left home."
"Yeah, it hurt seeing you leave. So, you're on the Language Phase?"
"That's right," Ryan said. He was pleased that his mother was checking the calendar he left for her.
"What's going on in that phase?"
"Well, they're teaching me to speak Arabic and adapt into an Arabic society."
"What do you mean by adapt?"
"Blend in, look like them, avoid raising suspicion. If we were engaged in a fire fight, the enemy wouldn't know who to shoot at."
"That's not really comforting," his mother replied back.
"Relax, mom, I just finished the warfare stages of my training. We are very damn close to being perfect and flawless. You really got to understand our capabilities to know that our military is one of the strongest in the world and I'm proud to be serving along side these guys."
"Ryan, I'm still not sure you will be safe."
"I understand," Ryan replied back with a sad sigh. "But, hey, I'm still the same silly loveable and hilarious wise-cracking smart-ass Ryan you've always known. I just have more skills."
"You sure you're the same?" his mother asked suspiciously.
"Mom, it's like going to medical school. You are trained in all different types of biology and anatomy and you can handle blood and organs with no signs of being sick yourself. The only thing different about that person is his vast knowledge and his ability to handle large amounts of blood, but he is still the same personality."
"Oh, I think I understand you now," his mother finally admitted. "But did you have to choose a career that involves killing?"
"Oh, relax mom, the killing part is small compared to most of the job description," Ryan told her. "Yes, I will end up killing someone, but it's just part of the job."
"Uh, can we change the subject?"
"Sure. How well did you do in your fantasy football last year?"
"Awesome, I won!"
"I'm not surprised," Ryan said with a chuckle. "And yes, we saw the Super Bowl over here."
"Yeah, amazing, huh?"
"Very. I bet your brother didn't like loosing to you again."
"Not in the leased." All of a sudden, a buzzer went off on the base. "What was that?"
"That means class is about to begin for me," Ryan told her over the phone.
"Oh, well good luck," his mom said. For the first time ever, his mother wished him the best in his training, although it did not occur to him until later on that day.
"Thanks mom, I love you," Ryan told her.
"I love you, too. Good bye," his mom said. Ryan was the first to hang up by pressing his thumb on the 'End' button on the phone. He hooked the receiver back on the large box and proceeded to head back to the classroom barracks.
8
PRESENT DAY
The sun is fully down as the van stopped a street away from the Sonic Underground home base. Manic starred down the street at their home through binoculars. No one thought Robotnik would want to invade their base. Robotnik sent his SWAT bots over at Cyrus' lab, knowing Ryan would not be at the Underground base. Robotnik knew Ryan went off to Sanctuary, but was unaware Ryan knew about the time change in the portal nor the fact that Ryan was back. It would be useless to place SWAT bots at the Underground base if Ryan was hiding off at Sanctuary.
"Okay, area seems clear," Manic said back to them. The five furries and Ryan climbed out of the van on the corner of Main and Robot Street, and slowly walked their way to the base much to Sonic's dismay. Ryan saw Sonic not having a good time walking slowly.
"Sonic, if you want, you can take point," Ryan said to him. "Zip to your house and clear any SWAT Bots inside."
Sonic did not reply. He just sped at high speed toward the base and disappeared inside. As soon as Sonic was in, Ryan unholstered the M8 sniper rifle and placed it in a dark shadow. He then reached in his bag and pulled out a magazine belt with seven 20-round magazines in them, more than needed for a sniper.
"Okay, it's clear," Sonic called back as he stepped out waving at them. In response, the furries and human ran to meet Sonic at the base entrance. "Why are we stopping here?"
"We need to make our plan," Ryan said. The four ran into the house.
In the center of the room was a holographic table like seen in science fiction movies like Star Wars and X-Men. The furries followed suit with Ryan as Sonia turned on the machine. The holographic screen shown the city of Robotropolis.
"Can I see a cross-section of the main building?" Ryan asked. Sonia replied by typing a few things on the keypad. Soon, the holographic map zoomed in on the main building and displayed all the rooms, hallways, elevators, and stairs in the complex.
"Where did you get this?" Ryan asked.
"Some things a hedgehog cannot reveal about herself," Sonia said. "The main computer room is at the top where the program is charging. There's an exterior generator, which can be taken out easily, disabling all alarms. We'll all provide cover for you."
"I'll need Manic and Cyrus with me to take out the alarms," Ryan told them. "Cyrus and Trevor, remain outside and provide exterior cover and over watch. Sonic, Sonia, and Manic, you guys are on me. We'll have to work our way up the stairs, avoid the elevators. Easy in, easy out."
"Sounds simple enough," Sonia replied.
"Then let's do it to it!" Ryan said in a Sonic impersonation. Sonia and Manic chuckled and giggled under their breaths.
"Anyway, let's go!" Sonic said. The six loaded their weapons as Sonia deactivated the hologram. Ryan, with a radio clipped to his back connected to an earpiece, switched the frequency to 102.1 MHz. "Everyone, one oh two point one megahertz."
The furries turned their radios and were able to hear each other's breathing on the other ends. They were ready, but just when they were about to leave, someone stopped them at the front door.
"Bartlby?" Sonia said surprisingly.
Behind Bartlby are the same aristocrats at the party and in the street that Ryan encountered. The badger has a bigger bandage on his nose.
"Oh great, the ass squad," Ryan said sarcastically. "Sonic, Sonia, Manic, remember this, when someone is pushing you around, just spit on their shoes," Ryan spat on Bartlby's shoes, "and say, 'Fuck you.'"
"Sonia, I can't believe you're still with this human, I thought he left," Bartlby said.
"Bartlby, step aside, we got some important work to do," Sonia said. Ryan was getting impatient. He looked up at the clock and saw the time was 10:02 P.M., meaning he has only got about three hours left. Impatiently, Ryan grabbed Bartlby's neck collar and threw him to the wall on the door frame.
"Hey, this human has just saved her life," Ryan snarled angrily in his face.
"I'm going for it, now!" the wolf aristocrat yelled. He began to claw Ryan, but Ryan caught his claw and threw him over and on the holographic table. Since it was made of metal, it did not even dent, but it did hurt the wolf's back.
The mink pulled out a chain and began slashing it everywhere at Ryan. Ryan grabbed the chain, whipped it so it wrapped around the mink's foot and he flipped the mink over.
The dog tried to grab Ryan, but Ryan blocked the attack, whipped the chain around the dog's foot and flipped him over his shoulder. The cat tried to grab Ryan, but Ryan grabbed the cats arm and crunched it, then he whipped the chain around the cat's tail and threw him to the dog and landed hard on the dog.
The fox tried a spin-kick on Ryan, but Ryan dodged it and he whipped the chain on the fox's foot and whipped him upward and into a drawer of a filing cabinet. Ryan simply closed the file cabinet drawer sealing the fox inside.
Then Ryan stood face-to-face with the badger aristocrat. The badger still has a broken nose. Soon, Ryan whipped the chain causing it to form around his palm. He then clenched it in a fist, giving him a makeshift brass knuckles. Ryan took one step and slid his trailing foot behind him toward the badger. The badger quickly reached down to his boot and pulled out a knife. Ryan was not expecting this, but he was prepared for anything. In a second, the badger ran toward Ryan with his knife, but Ryan grabbed the badger's wrist with his left hand and punched his fist with the chain on it right into the badger's nose. The badger dropped again, holding his nose in pain.
"So much for futile resistance," Ryan whispered to himself.
The furries and Ryan walked out of the place like nothing happened, passing the hurting aristocrats and scared Bartlby.
"Oh... oh... my... nose..." the badger barely spoke in whispering pain while rolling on the floor.
9
FOUR YEARS AGO
The Language Phase went by quickly, especially for Ryan. Although Ryan was unilingual upon entering the Army, he was a quick learner when it comes to languages. Back home, his neighbor was Portuguese, so she taught Ryan a few Portuguese phrases which he learned quickly. In addition, Ryan was good at accents, which was important in learning a new language.
Four weeks into the Language Phase, Ryan, along with all of the other recruits, mastered the Arabic language. In four weeks, they never learned all he vocabulary words, but they did learn the needed necessary phrases. Their Language training will never end, but this phase was just to teach the recruits if they are capable of learning another foreign language.
They were all given the written test as their final exam. All the recruits taking the test were wearing turbans, had AK's hanging over their shoulders, and wore desert camouflage uniforms. The test was simple, multiple choice questions and important phrases written in the Arabic letters. Only a few small mishaps were confusing to understand, but a majority of the questions were easy. By the end of the test, and the phase, all 17 recruits were almost-masters in the Arabic language. Of course, they would still have their experienced Intelligence and Operations Sergeants to help with the foreign language talking, due to them taking non-stop Language courses.
The phase was over for the recruits. Only three weeks left in Ryan's Special Forces training, but the remaining three weeks will be the hardest in training. Ryan was never prepared for what was about to come up next.
TO BE CONTINUED...