"Straighten those spines, pissheads!" The fear inducing voice boomed over the scorching summer heat. "The hundred and fourth cadet boot camp starts now!" A bald, aging man with narrowed eyes and a goatee stepped up onto a rise above the rest of the people. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Chief Instructor Keith Shadis, and you will grow to hate me!" The boy next to Desmond shifted awkwardly, starting to breath heavily.
"Just relax," Desmond mumbled. "He's all bark and no bite."
"Even barks can be scary…" Mason mumbled.
"Training is gonna be a white-knuckled ride through hell! If I've done my job right, you'll be waking up in a cold sweat from memories of this place, every night for the rest of your miserable lives!"
"Sounds more like a sweet dream to me." James smirked, on the other side of his older brother. Both James and Mason were two years younger than Desmond, but they lied about their age so that they could enrol.
"Right now you're nothing," Keith continued. "Livestock! But over the next three soul crushing years, you'll learn to take down your own Goliath! Remember this moment when you come face to face with him. Cuz here's where you ask yourself: Am I a fighter, or am I feed? Am I gonna be ground up to pulpy, human gristle between incisors, or am I gonna be the one to bite!?" Desmond's eyes were drilling into the instructor's own eyes as he talked. "Inspection time!" Instructor Shadis walked among the recruits, occasionally stopping and yelling at someone, trying to scare them into submission. When he came around to the row that the Pixis brothers were in, Mason visibly gulped in nervousness.
"Just stay calm, I'll handle this," Desmond mumbled, straightening his back and puffing out his chest.
"Now, what have we here?" Shadis glowered, bending down to look Mason in the eyes. "Looks like we got us a tiny newt! And his ugly brother over here too!" He pushed James, but he took it in stride. "You two maggots aren't even gonna make it past the first day!"
"I-i-I'm sorry!" Mason cried, immediately bowing apologetically.
"Oh, I'm gonna enjoy ripping a new hole into your backside!"
"Hey," Desmond snapped. "That's enough." Shadis looked almost surprised at the fact that a cadet was talking back to him, he stood on Desmond's toes and pushed his face into his, his breath reeking of ale.
"You must be their babysitter! What sorry excuse of a man did you three came from!?"
"Commander Dot Pixis," A smirk grew on Desmond's face as the Instructor, took a step back, looking as surprised as the other students. "Would you like me to tell him you said that, Keith?" Shadis glowered, obviously beaten by the initial shock.
"Don't act so high and mighty, or you'll end up on your ass! Name and place of origin!"
"Desmond Pixis. Shiganshia District."
"And why did you join the Cadets? Following in Daddy's footsteps?"
"That, and so I could finally fight titans, instead of making things to fight them." Instructor Shadis raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but grew tired of their chatter, and turned on James on Mason…
After their training on the first day, Desmond and James had gone to the armoury, and investigated if it was a suitable base of operations. The Engineers Guild was still expecting them to make things and invent, despite their training.
"So, you think that they'll let you fight, evne though you're inventing for them?"
"What I mean is what I said." Desmond grunted, moving some boxes of metal ingots away from a cold forge. "Father's expecting big things from me, and with our inventions, we're going to make something that'll make the MP's look like newbies!"
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD IS GOING ON HERE!?" A voice boomed from the door, making both brothers jump, though Desmond not so much as he dropped the box of metal bars of his foot. They both turned around to see Instructor Shadis standing there, putting Mason by the ear. "I found this whelk snooping around the buildings, and I find you two pisspots in here, without an instructor's supervision! Are you trying to get yourselves thrown out of the program?" Desmond smiled calmly at the veteran soldier, knowing that in his eyes, they were in deep shit. He reached onto his jacket pocket and pulled out two unopened letters, one bearing the seal of the Engineer's Guild, and the other the Garrison Regiment.
"Instructor Shadis, I was ordered to give you these letters. They are orders for me, James, and Mason to find a suitable workshop at the training camp, and for us to keep inventing things." The letters were snatched from his hands and read quickly, followed by several grunts from their recipient. He let go of Mason, who stumbled to James' side
"So you three are inventors, eh? What're some of the things that you've done?"
"Do you want the things that are used for titan fighting, or for civilians first?" James asked smugly, with a cocky grin on his face.
"Just the titan fighting, thank you." Shadis was unimpressed with James' attitude, but he let it slide, for now.
"The adaptation to the leg bindings on the ODM gear," Desmond started. "And then there's the metal plate on the back. Um… and we've recently been working on ways to help lessen the impacts of when the Colossal Titan break down the gates." Shadis grunted, not showing that he was actually very impressed with them.
"James, Mason. Out. I need to talk to Desmond." The twins nodded and left without a ward. When they were out of distance, Shadis leant up against a workbench, closing his eyes in thought.
"Is there anything I can do for-?"
"I know those two are underage," Shadis grumbled, opening his eyes and staring into Desmond's very soul. "Did you think you could really sneak in two runts that were two years younger than the limit?" Desmond's Adam's Apple rolled in his throat. He knew about this fact, but was afraid of what the correct response was.
"I know," he started nervously. "It was Commander Pixis' decision. I wanted them to wait a couple more years, but he wouldn't have it! I don't want them to die sir, please! There must be something you can do!" Instructor Shadis grunted in thought, closing his eyes again.
"I can only kick them out if they quit, or they fail the first cable test," he grumbled. "We're handing out the belts tonight. Do with theirs what you will."
