8 weeks later
"Retreat! I'll send you the nav point where all teams gather!", Norah called over the radio.
Ellen checked her omni-tool. A dot blinked about 100 yards from her on the map. Since she was the only one left of her troop, she ran alone and kept as close as possible to the walls of the houses in order to offer little surface for an attack. Shortly before her goal she passed an alley and if her intuition hadn't told her to dive, she would have been hit by several bullets, which slammed against the walls instead. She fired back a few times without really aiming at anyone, eventually reaching the nav point where three other recruits were already waiting for her, including Norah and Alex.
"Is there nobody else left?" Ellen asked in dismay. At the start of the exercise, they were ten teams of three people each.
"No," Norah said, looking contritely at Ellen through her helmet visor. "Our opponents did a great job."
Their opponents were the recruits from Camp Paloma. According to Chief Grayson, it was a tradition that their base, Camp Cody, and Paloma regularly competed to see where the best recruits were trained. They were divided into teams and brought to an abandoned one-square-kilometer area with buildings and a few wrecked vehicles for a mock battle.
"We're losing because we've got a lot more women in our platoon," growled Carl Jenkins, a brawny recruit whom most people didn't like because he was so rough and ruthless about everything. His unsympathetic charisma did the rest.
Alex slammed the butt of her rifle into his helmet. "Shut it! Your team was led by Norah and you are still here."
"Any idea how many of Paloma are left?" Ellen asked.
"I'm guessing 12, but it could be 15."
Ellen let out an appreciative whistle. "About half then. They really tore us apart."
"Nothing is lost yet. I have an idea. Look at your maps," Norah said.
Ellen opened the map of the area on her omnitool and noticed three marked spots.
"Divide and conquer. That means we'll split up, then we'll be more inconspicuous. El, you go left, Jenkins takes the middle one and I go right."
"And what about me?" Alex wanted to know.
"You are by far the best shot. While they focus on us, you catch them from behind."
Ellen had to grin. The plan was their last ace up their sleeves, but it could work.
"And how am I supposed to cover you all at once?"
Norah pointed upwards. "You move over the roofs. Be quiet and they won't notice you."
Alex saluted with a mischievous grin. "Yes sir, ma'am."
Ellen helped her onto the nearest rooftop, then set about making her way to her position herself, her Avenger assault rifle at the ready. The adrenaline in her body made her senses extremely heightened, but also made her very restless, so she tightened her grip on her weapon.
"See anyone?" Norah asked after about three minutes.
Ellen was about to answer when she spotted someone from Camp Paloma down the alley, but the person turned their back on her and appeared to be examining the cement house in front of them. Ellen caught him with a shot from behind. Startled, he turned to shoot, but since he'd already been hit and eliminated, the assault rifle didn't fire. He lowered it, nodded to her, and made his way to the assembly point for those who had already been eliminated.
"I have one, so only 14 left," Ellen announced over the radio, relieved.
"Nice work," Norah replied matter-of-factly.
Suddenly Ellen heard gunshots about twenty yards away.
"Zhao, I need you here!" Jenkins growled.
"I'm on my way!"
More gunshots rang out, then Jenkins called out, "Are you blind or what? How can you miss that shot? That's-" but he was cut off abruptly. That had to mean he'd been hit, because the 'dead' were completely cut off from radio traffic so they couldn't give their comrades any more clues.
"Unfortunately, Jenkins didn't make it. But three of them are finished. About 11 remain," Alex said.
"You'll have to explain to me later who got him," Norah replied, laughing.
"You don't want to know. El, I see at least two near you. Be careful, I'll come to you."
Ellen, who had walked on cautiously, was now in a larger square with several small walls behind which she could take cover. When two of her opponents appeared on the other side, she threw herself behind a wall, and not a second too late - several shots missed her by a hair and exploded in a wall next to her.
"Alex, are you there soon?" Ellen asked stressed and hastily reloaded her assault rifle.
"I'm there."
Ellen heard someone fire off two short bursts diagonally above her.
"Got them. The next three are not far away. If I say now, throw yourself to the left and fire at the alley on the other side."
"Roger that."
They waited for a moment. Ellen's pulse was racing with excitement and she took a deep breath to calm herself or she wouldn't be able to aim. All around her was still, then -
"NOW," Alex shouted.
Ellen threw herself to the left and shot the three recruits until her new magazine was empty. She got them all.
"Thanks, Alex!"
There was no reaction.
"Hey, are you still there?"
Ellen got up and looked at the roof, where Alex shrugged and ran her finger across her neck. So it was only Norah and her against maybe six.
"Damn, where are you guys? They're chasing me and I'm out of ammo!" Norah yelled.
Ellen checked her omni tool to pinpoint Norah's position. She ran south, not far from her.
"Run left at the next opportunity, I'll meet you there," Ellen replied, sprinting while she pushed her last magazine into the assault rifle as she ran.
On her way, she caught another who had apparently hoped to cut Norah off. After knocking them out of practice with a short burst of fire, she kept running.
"El, are you still there?!"
Ellen checked the map again. "Don't worry. Next right, then left, then let yourself fall." Ellen stood at the next corner of the house and listened. A moment later she heard the pounding of several armored boots. She waited, the assault rifle ready to fire. When Norah finally came into view, Ellen yelled "Down!" and Norah threw herself on the ground just in time. Four recruits from Paloma rumbled around the corner and gave Ellen a clear shot, which she gratefully used and neutralized all of them with the last shots from her magazine.
The four from Camp Paloma looked at each other baffled. They had just lost.
Norah stood up, took off her helmet, shook her head and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Not bad, Ellen," she said with a grin and put an arm around her shoulders.
"Not bad?" Ellen replied skeptically, also taking off her helmet. "That's probably the greatest compliment I've ever heard coming from you. Also, you're welcome." She laughed and Norah joined in.
"We let some girls beat us up? Seriously? The chief will kill us!" said one of the recruits from Camp Paloma grumpily, kicking a stone away.
Alex dropped next to Norah and off the roof. Apparently she had watched the grand finale up close instead of going back to the rally point.
"Yes, and we'd get back at you anytime -" Alex called out loud, but Norah gave her a light nudge with her elbow in the side to interrupt her.
"What she actually wanted to say is that it was a very good match from both camps."
Grimly, Alex crossed his arms. "Yeah, you guys weren't that bad."
Their omni tools blinked. Ellen called up the message. "The drill is over. Meet at the rally point."
Together they strolled through the alleys until they came to the landing pad for the shuttles. There, everyone had already lined up in neat rows, separated by camps. Ellen, Norah, and Alex hurried and fell in back, still grinning at the victory they'd clinched for their base.
"Recruits, I'm almost a little proud of you," Grayson began. "You were able to make up for last year's embarrassing defeat, even though it was very close. And apart from one miss that knocked out Jenkins" - he glanced at Alex - "it was acceptable. You get the rest of the day off."
The recruits cheered. They hadn't really had much free time in the past weeks, but Ellen had the impression that the program had become more relaxed since half the group had already dropped out or gone home voluntarily. Even Grayson didn't seem quite so strict anymore and allowed himself a joke with them here and there.
Beside them, the chief from Paloma spoke up. "Embarrassing. I can not say more about that. You are a sad mess. Get in the shuttles quickly before I make you walk all the way back!"
Grumbling, his troops began to move. Ellen watched them go as she made her way to her shuttles.
"You guys seem to have done a great job," Lauren said as she emerged with Olivia next to her. "We watched it through your helmet cams."
Ellen nodded. "It was quite good for a mock battle, I think."
"But nothing compared to what awaits us out there soon," Olivia said thoughtfully, glancing up at the sky where a few stars started to show.
They boarded the next shuttle and flew the short way back to their camp.
After a long shower, Ellen didn't know what to do with the free time and decided to text her mother.
Hey mom
Is everything okay at home?
The basic training wasn't as bad as it was at the beginning in the last two weeks. I think we'll all make it -
She didn't get to write any more because Alex wrapped an arm around her neck from behind. "You can finish that tomorrow, El, we're going to party now!"
Ellen looked up at her in surprise. "So you've finally managed to find a bar around here?"
"Naturally. I was visiting someone at the boys' floor when one of them mentioned a little shed a few miles from here."
"You were visiting someone?" Ellen asked, raising an eyebrow. Alex grinned sheepishly.
"Later."
A little tired in her bones, Ellen got up. "Okay, a few drinks can't hurt."
About an hour later they were sitting in a large pub that seemed to have passed the last 150 years, but Ellen liked it that way. It was busy and the waitresses were busily scampering back and forth between the tables.
Sitting at the table with Ellen were Ida, Norah, and Alex. Further back, Karen and Holly, the two women Ellen had argued with the first day, were playing a game of pool. There had been several small arguments between them after that, but since Ellen beat them at a few exercises, they left each other alone.
Five broad-shouldered men in Alliance uniforms sat in a row at the bar, Jenkins among them. The others were William Smith, John O'Malley, Shaun Gunner and Keith Milow. They were a well-rehearsed team and made their whole group laugh with a few jokes when the exercises were incredibly strenuous. Well, all of them did besides Jenkins, who just tagged along.
One of them got up and sauntered towards her. It was Shaun, a tall, dark-haired man with brown eyes and a three-day beard. His jaw was wide and square and his nose was a bit crooked, probably because it had been broken, but Ellen thought it suited him well. He walked up to Alex and planted a kiss on her mouth.
"Oh no, Alex has a new crush," teased Ellen, taking a light kick against her shin from Norah.
"Yes, she has," Shaun replied, laughing. "May I take her for a moment? There's a jukebox in the back and Alex looks like she wants to dance."
Alex giggled in embarrassment and let him gently pull her there. Ellen watched them go in amusement and sipped her beer.
"Our little rebel looks happy," Norah commented. "How did she manage to hide it from us?"
"I caught her making out once," Ida replied.
Outraged, Ellen put her bottle on the table and looked at her, aghast. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"
"I didn't think it was important and thought you knew."
Ellen shook her head. "It's hard to keep track of each other, even if we train together all day. We hardly have any free time in which we get to talk in peace."
Another recruit ventured into their table, this time it was Keith Milow. He was a bit slimmer than the other male recruits, more of a gentleman due to his British heritage with his accent and neat side parting. He stepped in front of Ida and bowed slightly to her with a crooked grin.
"May I ask the prettiest recruit of all for a dance?" he whispered. Ida just stammered something and was embarrassed, but let him escort her onto the dance floor.
When the jukebox played the first notes of an old rock song from the last century, some recruits and civilians startet to move. Norah seemed to be amused by the activity as she leaned forward and rested her head on the back of her hands, one foot tapping to the beat of the music.
Ellen eyed her out of the corner of her eye. Saw the almost golden blond hair that she had tied into a tight bun, as so often during her training, from which a few small strands had nevertheless escaped. Noticed the bar lights dancing in her eyes and making them glow. Finally, Ellen's gaze lingered on her full lips, which she had been wanting to kiss for some time. A pleasant warmth spread in her, but also fear. She had never shared her feelings with anyone, especially Norah, out of concern that it might cause problems in their service to the Alliance. Or, even worse, because Norah might turn her down.
Norah smiled and turned to her, apparently to tell her something. But her gaze changed when she noticed that Ellen had watched her. She seemed surprised at first, but then -
Suddenly someone stepped up to Ellen and held out a hand. When she looked up, she recognized John O'Malley. He was a cheerful fellow with brown hair that almost fell in his eyes and a rounder face.
"Would you like to dance, Webber?"
Relieved at being stopped from doing something stupid, she grabbed his hand. "But only if you buy me a tequila afterwards, O'Malley."
He laughed and pulled her with him.
As they moved to a faster song on the small dance floor, he leaned forward and said, "That was really good of you today."
"Thanks," Ellen replied, grinning in embarrassment. "But we were damn lucky."
"Jenkins did not like that. He's still angry because Zhao shot him."
"He should learn not to treat a lady like that," Alex exclaimed as she danced past them with Shaun.
"Remind me to always be a perfect gentleman with Alex," John said to Ellen.
They danced and laughed for two more songs, then they went to the bar. Ellen tried to look back at the table where she had been sitting with Norah, but there were too many people on the dance floor. When she finally received and drank the promised tequila, she returned to the table, but it was empty.