Obey and die.

[Xing]

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Part 1: "Obey"



Mother was furious toward me of course. Bad luck combined: dad had to leave the day she came back, unleashing her fury in a torrent of indistinct words I didn't exactly cared to listen to. But when she fell to the point of insulting my father, I felt my face colours rising up.
"You have no right to say that!"
"And why not! Both of you are stupid warmongers - do you know why your friends died?! Because of people like you, who thinks war is the only way to fix a conflict!"
I couldn't believe my ears - she was using the casualities of my friend, of people I knew closely, against me and dad! Didn't she had a heart? Was this woman really her mother? A woman that gave her birth?
Unable to control my emotions, feeling I would breack, I ran to my room where, once I closed my door, I slamemd my fist on the nearest object that fell in my hand, effectively smashing it.
Later, I would learn it was a small pencil case I've had when I was 2 years old. To draw.
The only gift my mother ever gave me.

How could she!
Don't lie to yourself 'sis, you expected that.
Yes, she did expected it. Her mother wouldn't have taken the new gladly. She hated the military, always blamed them for causing the violence.
Her own daughter entering the military was probably making her whole vision go worse. Now the army stole her.
I frowned, angered. "Stole"? But mother never even loved me at all to "possess" me in some way!

I wasnt going to let this annoying outsider stop my plans. My friends were going to get their revenge even if it meant at the cost of my suffering. Not to do so was an insult to them and herself.

--

Dad took a special day of leave just to come at my departure for L-15 military base. We embraced each other, and of course, I was slightly emotional. I guess I did left a few tears of excitation on his spotless admiral uniform.
"You'll do fine, Isa. Make your dad proud of you one more time. You can do it."
"I know, father. I will, I promise!"
We smiled to each other one last time, as I boarded the shuttle that would lead me to the upper base of L-15, the most northern base of California Minor.
Aboard, I met up with my future comrades at arm; all of them were older than I, ranging from 18 to 24, they were new recruits as well, still clad like myself in our civilian clothes. Soon, we shall done these for the proper military uniform.
I smiled for myself, as I thought it was something I longed for. How would I look in that thing?

The shuttle slowly filled up as everyone were being called in. A young woman, probably 18, sat next to me and smiled plesantly,
"Aurelia King" she presented herself, extending a hand, which I shook returning the smile.
Im Isabelle Kaitlynn. Pleased to meet you. I said, in a slightly shy voice, and I felt my interlocutor was feeling the same. We were after all, abandoning their previous life, and this was the point of no return. We all shared this embarrassment of knowing nothing at whats coming up next. At my relief, Aurelia continued conversing with me, and we were able to release some of the stress we were feeling.
So, how come you ended up in this shuttle for hell? she said jokingly
I merely shook my head slowly, looking through the viewport before replying,
Just serving for those who needs it... I nodded outside, Ive lost friends out there. I felt I have a duty toward them. Realising my words were kind of harsh to begin socialising, I softened a bit my features, and smiled to her gently. The woman looked sympathetically at me.
I understand. She continued, with a bit less seriousness, Im afraid Im in there without that much an honourable reason credits, and the fun of it I guess!
I nodded, trying to be pleasant. At least she was honest, not like some of the military boys she sometime met in the bars, bragging about how they wanted to save the world.
Save the world, with their blood full of alcohol, yeah. I smirked at that thought.
I can accept that. I said, smiling to her. Somehow, I believed we were going to see a lot of each other during our training. Better starting right out as friends.

The shuttle was finally filled, everyone sitting less or more nervously at their place. A sergeant, dressed in his combat uniform entered, and clasped his hands behind his back, looking definitively like the stereotypical unemotional machine-soldier from the movies. Probably was he just trying to impress us in which case, he certainly did succeed, because his iron hard eyes seemed to pierce you to the very core of yourself, searching for a weakness. I tried to hold his stare, which passed from one passenger to another, but the man was simply made of indestructible steel. All I could do was lower my eyes into submission: I understood at that moment you couldnt do anything against your superiors will, well before the training even begun

Finally, after having duly checked every head with his inhuman eyes, he began to talk, his voice a deep severe baritone one.
Greetings. I am the sergeant Elvin, and am going to be supervising each of you for the whole duration of your training.
This shuttle will depart for the L-15 military outpost, where you will begin your training. Hopefully, you would have finished the first parts during the summer period while the lands are snow-free. During winter season, you people shall be directed to your specialised division, depending on what offer you chose when you entered the army.
The whine of the engines could be heard as they heated up, ready for take off.
Basic training will take your whole summer, in which you will learn every military customs, from military march to the use of the L12 blaster rifle. I will be honest, it will be hard, but if you do survive it, it would mean you are fit for a military life. The man smiled to us for the first time, relaxing his face, finally looking more human, probably at the relief of all. I felt myself smile a bit, as well.
Yes, thats all about surviving the first weeks of boot camp
Of course, my little project of joining the military didnt just popped up two months ago after the tragedy. Ive always thought about doing so, but the events merely accelerated my decision. As such, Ive been training, sculpting my body toward perfection since well, two years or so. And I was already one of the most sportive girls in class, which should all be factors that would turn to my advantage.
Any questions? the sergeant asked, and seeing no one rising a hand, alright, then lets go.
I felt our ship lift up and accelerate toward the northern pole of the planet. Aurelia, by my side, looked at me with a little smile.
Sounds like its the beginning of a big adventure, huh? she said, as kilometres were eaten away by the powerful engines of the shuttle.

--

L-15 was probably built in the most desolated land of the planet, I thought. Situated on a mountain, it was exposed to the violent winds. For the moment, a slight northern vegetation could be seen extending around, but I could only bet and shiver in anticipation at what it could be in winter.
At least, we were greeted by the strong, hot Californian sun, making the temperature outside quite comfortable. A good mountain feel.
I looked around, and decided we were probably going to have a lot of fun climbing these rocks

Sergeant Elvin made us come out and quickly lined us up. As exciting all this was, our lame first few attempts at marching synchronised together pathetically failed. It finished in small laughter as everyone tried to understand what the hell was going on, no one being able to synchronise with that many people at a same time. The sergeant didnt thought of it that funny, and yelled at us for the first time (and here we begin our first taste at military harshness I bet), ordering us to stand quiet. Hopefully, I thought, we had no smartass kid in our ranks, and everyone shut his mouth, remained standing still.
Good. Now, try marching following my rhythm.

--

By the end of the day, we received our military ID, along with the serial number (mine was N82-928-KAII) which would it seems, follow us for the rest of our military career. It made me quite proud, as I watched the little piece of metal on which the code was engraved.
We also received our military uniform, which I contemplated in the mirror for quite a long time. It was a rather tight, dark green cammo uniform, with my name written over my heart, along with the Liberty flag on my shoulders.
How dad would be proud to see her girl dressed like that!

By some unexplained destiny, I shared my dormitory with Aurelia King, who just came out from the refresher, her hairs still wet from her shower.
That was something I wasnt used to. The communal shower was something I wasnt comfortable with, to see all the other girls with me naked washing ourselves was rather scary, especially for someone like myself who always enjoyed a perfect privacy on my life, having mostly lived my life completely alone or so.
Hey Aurelia. I smiled to her, and rotated my body around playfully, parading in my new uniform. Like it, huh?
The woman laughed with good humour, as she sat down on her bed Yep, it must really be the fashion around, because 2 thousand women around wear the same thing including myself!
You tell. So, how you thought of day one? I asked, curious at hearing her feedback. It felt strange to talk to an adult with so much familiarity despite her being two years older than I, I felt she could have been of my age so easy it was to converse together.
Oh, terrible. I didnt thought wed be that bad for the military march! I think El I mean, sergeant Elvin wasnt very happy with our performance she finished, looking not-at-all sorry.
Yeah, poor guy. He definitively looked evil toward the end! I added, laughing at my turn. We chatted for quite half an hour, lying on our bed (way too hard to be comfortable), and then discussed of what was going to happen next day.
Say, what have you applied for? I asked her, slightly curious
Oh! Infantry trooper. Didnt wanted anything complicated, but still, I wanted action, so sounded like the ideal deal, wasnt it. How about you?
Same thing. I nodded with seriousness, I know they did ask this already in the interview, but now it is obvious we are really entering the action head first its not just the speech and paper thing anymore tomorrow, we will be learning how to use a blaster. I hesitated, choosing my word. I wasnt asking this question as much to know about Aurelia than to search an answer for myself,
Can you kill?
After all, they were the infantry. They would be fighting on a first line if something ever happened. They were destined to kill at some point, yet statistically, barely 1% of the human population were ready to kill with no problem, no remorse, no feeling whatsoever. Which probably was a good thing, because if things were the other way around, I thought, what kind of world we would be in
Aurelias response came back surprisingly fast, yet full of sincerity,
Yes, I can. Isabelle, when you join the armed forces, you need to consider this before the other question most ask to themselves.
I looked at her in disbelief. In the morning, with her joking style of speech, Id have thought it was merely someone taking everything without any kind of seriousness, who was merely trying things around for the fun of it.
Sounds like I am wrong. She had thought of it probably much longer than I, and this knowledge that comes only with long reflection made me jealous of her. I should have done just like her!
Dad wouldnt have accepted such a mistake.

We continued to talk until we realised it was 2300 hour, and considering the sergeant warned us he was going to storm in the room of everyone at 0400 hour to wake us up, we wished each other good night before trying to fall asleep, a rather difficult task with all the excitement of the first day in our heads.

Yet, before falling asleep, one thought remained above all others.
The goal of my presence here; avenging the life of my innocent friends

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