Chapter 31

31 Hell Week, Pt When they arrived back at the encampment, the wounded were immediately taken into the field hospital. It was a small heavily reinforced building next to the encampment, where experienced medical staffers from the training yard had posted up.

A team of doctors, nurses, and orderlies quickly got into action as they took in nearly a couple dozen wounded. Many of whom had suffered concussions and contusions, while some were struck with broken bones and fractured skulls.

All of them were traumatized, and the psychologists did their best to ease their minds.

They couldn’t shake the fear the armored mecha had caused when they tore them apart. They felt helpless against a strength of that magnitude, and their confidence crumbled under such a heavy weight.

Most eventually recovered, but some never did.

The dead were also sent to the hospital. They were to be cleaned and prepped to be transported back to the yard for their proper funeral rites.

The coroners worked silently as they fixed up the bodies and stitched them up as best they could. Much of their nano technologies had made restoring their bodies much easier than in the past.

Still, some of the deceased were in such terrible shape that the only option was to turn them to ash.

~

.....

All of the squad leaders had convened in the command bunker. They stood in a circle around the holo-table, though it wasn’t displaying anything currently.

Everyone’s faces were grim and stony.

Directly across from Eva was Grizz. To his sides were the two surviving squad leaders that followed him into battle. The three of them held their heads low in shame.

Chengli had a datapad in his hand, and he read off its contents perfunctorily. Outside, he seemed calm and collected. Inside, he was furious.

“First squadron,” he said. “Twenty-four casualties: thirteen wounded and eleven dead. Second squadron. Nineteen casualties: ten wounded and nine dead.”

His hands shook out of anger, so he placed the datapad on the table before he dropped it by accident. He then looked over at Grizz, and curled his hand into a fist. The man deserved to be beaten to death, resuscitated, and then beaten to death again.

Eva put a hand on his shoulder, which calmed his anger down a little. She understood a little of what he was feeling. He was very upset about the number of people Grizz had inadvertently hurt and killed.

Though she didn’t quite feel as strongly as he did, she was of the opinion that their deaths were a total waste. What angered her most was that Grizz sacrificed these people while in pursuit of feeding his own ego.

Their lives were worth more than that.

Chengli continued his report. “That leaves the first squadron with only thirteen battle-ready cadets, and the second squadron with twenty-two.”

The room sat in silence for a while as the information sunk in.

The two squadrons’ numbers were pitifully low. Less than half strength since the beginning of their time at the academy. The number of dropouts and casualties they had suffered rendered them nearly useless.

What could a thirteen-pilot squadron even accomplish?

Eva’s cold voice cut through their thoughts like a knife.

“Do you have anything to say for yourselves?”

The two squad leaders by Grizz’ side shook where they stood. Their fists balled up as their hearts tightened. They never wanted to be a part of that attack force, not in a million years! But Grizz had bullied them to his side.

He had forced them to be his lackeys, and in turn ordered their cadets to fight for him. They had seen how physically abusive he had been prior, and didn’t want to be on his bad side.

One of them quickly pointed a shaky finger at Grizz.

“He coerced us!” cried one. “Practically forced us to go on the field with him!”

The other one nodded, and quickly followed up after his squadmate.

“When we first got here,” he said, “I resisted his leadership, but he literally throttled me until I coughed up blood. What else could I do but follow?!”

As the two of them spoke, Grizz’ face got darker and darker.

“Is that any excuse?!” retorted Chengli. His anger was as sharp as a knife.

“You all led your cadets – your friends – to their deaths! So what if he was gonna hit you? Take it! Take it so your cadets don’t have to!”

The two squad leaders’ mouths gaped at Chengli’s bitter words. He was a hundred percent right. If they had felt any responsibility towards their charges, they would have resisted him. Opposed him, like they should have.

After all, that was what they promised during their swearing-in ceremony – to protect the Federation against all enemies, foreign or domestic.

Just because Grizz wore the same uniform didn’t mean he was excluded from that list.

It became clear that they should have done more to protect their own people; the cadets that they had learned with, grown with, become friends with. Instead they gave them up for their own self-preservation.

They hung their heads down in shame once more. The failure was theirs to bear.

Eva looked at the two squad leaders and thought deeply about their situations. She cut the silence again.

“In my opinion, we oughta re-org the first and second squadrons and merge them. These two can keep their ranks and continue serving. Yeah, it’s true that they could’ve shielded their cadets better, but I think they’ll more than make up for that mistake from now on. Agreed?”

The other squad leaders murmured in debate amongst each other, but they ultimately nodded and agreed with Eva. It was such a pity that those two had to learn that lesson the hard way.

All their gazes then turned towards Grizz, the person singularly responsible for the chaos and the casualties.

He had said nothing, and stood silently while all of this had happened around him. His ego had long since been completely crushed, and the realization of what he had done sunk down into his bones.

All the bravado and bluster and boasting was gone. It was as though his clothing had been torn off, and was completely bare for all to see. His every flaw could be scrutinized by all.

The shame of it swept through him, and he shivered from the cold.

He was always a bit doubtful about himself and his own abilities, so it all started out innocently enough. He pumped himself up until he felt confident enough to tackle his problems. They were simple enough at first: make this grade, learn this sport, and so on.

People slathered him with praises for whatever small achievements he had made, and that swelled his ego plenty. The more he puffed himself up, the more he was praised. The formula seemed simple.

And of course, he loved it.

Over the years this pattern grew and grew, but the fact was that he never actually accomplished anything significant. And he had feared that everyone would have eventually figured out that he was just a fraud with a loud bark, but no bite.

So he covered it all up with the image of power and wisdom. He faked being brilliant and competent to such a degree that he even believed it himself. Hell, he forced himself to believe it. That was the best way to convince others of his own capabilities.

He went into Bellum Aeterna as “the best”, and even put together a guild that celebrated that ‘fact.’ Although he did reasonably well, he was far from the best. Luck, along with some honest-to-goodness intelligence allowed him to excel every once in a while.

But even those simple victories were overblown. That and his boisterous and loud nature convinced many of the more gullible players that he truly was the best. They believed him so resolutely, and refused to acknowledge anyone else as his better.

Not even when they were presented with evidence to the contrary!

“Completely fabricated,” they typically said in his defense.

Of course, Grizz loved the attention, and loved being defended by people. Even if they were witless idiots. It inflated his ego to insane proportions, and only grew to become worse.

He bullied his way through life just to get the things he wanted. He began to actually believe that he was the absolute best, and started to see everyone else as completely inferior. His narcissism went completely unchecked and went haywire, for years and years and years.

But a lie of that magnitude was always fragile. And not too long ago, it had shattered.

“I take full responsibility,” said Grizz.

Everyone’s jaws collectively hit the floor. What he had said was so astounding that no-one could say anything in response for some time. Eva and Chengli were especially affected.

In their old lives, men like Grizz were a dime a dozen. Many power-hungry narcissists ruled the world. Their egos moved entire countries and devastated entire peoples. When they went to war, it was simply to line their own pocketbooks and satiate their conceit.

They almost never took any responsibility, even when they were persecuted by their own.

So when Grizz fell on his sword, Eva and Chengli’s minds blew.

They looked at each other in wonderment, as though they had just seen a miracle. They were more likely to believe that he had walked on water, than taken responsibility for his actions.

That fight had traumatized him into sanity!

Still, he couldn’t just get away with it by being sorry. He had to truly atone for causing those deaths. Eva was never into corporal punishment, and she never believed that it worked anyway. Using pain to change another’s behavior was a method used by primitive people.

Regardless, if Grizz was sincere about it, then he needed to truly understand what it meant to serve. He needed to understand the weight he carried.

“Cadet Grizz,” Eva said. “You’re hereby stripped of your rank. Considering the first squadron no longer exists, you’re instead temporarily reassigned to Gryphon squadron, under squad leader Sunflower’s direct command.”

“Yes, unit leader.” Grizz replied.

“Don’t waste this chance,” said Chengli. “In fact, be thankful you even got one.”

Grizz simply nodded in response. He had fucked up plenty, and he had received a mere slap on the wrist. They should have pushed him out and failed him. Or maybe even shot him.

But for whatever reason, Eva gave him another chance. He couldn’t understand it.

Neither could Chengli.

Little did anyone know, she had choked up at seeing him change. It was a redemption she had wanted for someone else she had known, another irredeemable narcissist in her life. Her old one, anyway.

And she couldn’t help but soften.

Suddenly an alert rang out, and base commander Riddell appeared on the holo table. He stood tall and proud in his clean naval uniform. But his tough face was etched with concern.

The cadets immediately stood to attention.

“At ease,” Riddell said. “And apologies for interrupting your training, cadets. You have all done great so far, but I must end the examinations.”

The squad leaders were immediately alarmed. Why? They had hit a snag, but were doing incredibly well! They were only three cycles in, and had already dealt a major blow to the enemy base.

Grizz felt guilty, as he thought that his actions had caused the commander to end their exam.

“Why?” asked Eva.

Her voice was a little strained when she spoke. They all had gone through quite a great deal these past few cycles, and felt they had made significant strides despite that. She didn’t want to end things here, so suddenly.

.....

Riddell turned grim as he answered. Although his words and posture were strong, there was a slight hint of defeat underneath.

“Because the training yard is under attack,” he said.

He had mentioned it so plainly that it left everyone shocked and speechless.

“Reinforcements are on the way, yes,” he continued. “But it’ll be a full cycle until they arrive... Many will die before then. You’re the closest and largest force we have. Although you’re all just cadets, you’ve already seen your share of battle.”

The commander suddenly flinched and looked to one side in surprise, as though something had erupted nearby. He quickly composed himself and re-addressed the squad leaders.

“You’re hereby ordered to return in force, to help retake the training yard. Riddell out.”