Chapter 8 Chapter VII
On the distant plain of β Compass III, the local sun β Compass has just climbed into the eastern sky, and the components in the atmosphere have dyed the sky a light green color, which is darker than the sky on the earth, but it can still be regarded as It is blue sky.On rolling plains, purple and orange grass swayed in the morning breeze; bird-like creatures with two pairs of wings frolicked in the air, testing air currents and cyclones with frantic swoops and dives.This is the first morning of our arrival in the new world, and this is also the new world that my fellow shipmates and I set foot on for the first time.It's beautiful here.It would be perfect without a tall, angry sergeant major snarling in his ears.
Alas, it is a pity that he exists.
"Did God make a mistake!" Major Sergeant Antonio Ruiz glared at the sixty men in his recruit platoon, then exclaimed.We stood at attention (hopefully our posture was good enough) on the tarmac of the transport boat airport at Delta Base. "We just lost a bloody battle in the universe! Looking at you guys, the word 'damn' pops into my head. If you're the best people the planet has to offer, Then we're going to bend over and have the tentacles stick straight up our anuses."
A few soldiers couldn't help giggling.Sergeant Major Antonio Ruiz probably came from the Central Training Center, and he was exactly what he imagined his training instructors to be—tall, angry, and full of all kinds of obscenities.No doubt, in the next few seconds, he would walk up to one of the laughing recruits, insult him in the face, and punish him with a hundred push-ups.After watching war dramas for seventy-five years, this is the harvest.
"Ha, ha, ha," Sergeant Major Antonio Reiz said, turning his back on us, "don't think I don't know what you're thinking, you dumbass. I know, you're enjoying my show right now. It's so much fun! I'm exactly like the training instructor you saw in the movie! Isn't that the damn monster I am?!"
The laughter stopped.There is no such scene in the movie.
"You don't understand," said Sergeant Major Antonio Ruiz. "You think I'm talking like that because training instructors are supposed to; will impress me more or less; and by the end of the training, you will have the respect I begrudgingly bestow on you. You think I will think of you in a good way, because you are going to fight for humanity Keep the universe safe; and, you think you'll be safe in battle because I've trained you to be good fighters. You think! Ladies and gentlemen, your thinking is complete bullshit."
Sergeant Major Antonio Ruiz stepped forward and paced the line, "Your opinions are all bullshit, and here's why: Unlike you, I've actually been in space. I've seen what we need to overcome. I Seen someone I know turned into a hot piece of meat and still screaming. On my first mission, my commanding officer was a goddamn alien's meal. I watched those The damn thing grabbed him, pinned him to the ground, ripped out his entrails and shared them among the crowd, and devoured them - and then, before we could do anything, they'd slipped back into the ground and gone."
There was an uncontrollable chuckle behind me.Sergeant Major Antonio Rizzi paused, head held up, "Oh, one of you thinks I'm joking. Some of you dumbass tend to think so. That's why I keep this. Play it. "He said.Suddenly, a video screen appeared in front of everyone; I froze for a second before realizing that Ryze had somehow remotely activated my BrainPal to start playing a video.The footage appears to have been captured with a small camera on the helmet.All we saw were a few soldiers sitting cross-legged in a foxhole, discussing plans for the next day's march.Then, a soldier paused, and slapped the ground heavily with one hand.He raised his head abruptly and called out "Come" in horror.In a blink of an eye, the ground beneath him erupted.
What happened next happened extremely quickly.The owner of the camera was terrified and fled instinctively.But still not fast enough, the camera still caught a few shots.Saw a very uncomfortable scene.In the real world, someone starts throwing up, just like the owner of the camera.Thankfully, this video is closed here.
"I'm not that funny anymore, am I?" Sergeant Major Antonio Reiz sarcastically said, "I'm not the funny, typical drill instructor anymore, am I? You're not watching a military comedy anymore, are you? Welcome to the goddamn universe! The universe is a goddamn place, my friends. And I'm not following some funny drill instructor rule when I talk to you like this. The man who got ripped and shredded was the cutest man I've ever had the pleasure of knowing One of the best fighters. None of you are a match for him. But you all saw what happened to him. Think about what could happen to you. I speak to you this way because I truly believe , believe it with all your heart, if you're the best that humanity has to offer, then we're fucking dead. Do you believe me?"
One of us muttered a "Yes, sir," or something like that.The rest were still replaying the evisceration scene over and over in their minds without the assistance of BrainPals.
"Sir? Sir?! I'm a fucking sergeant, you stupid bastards. I make money at this job! When you need to say yes, you say 'yes, sergeant', and when you say no, you say 'no, sergeant' '. Got it all?"
"Yes, Master Chief," we replied.
"You can do better! Say it again!"
"Yes, Master Chief!" we screamed.Some people almost held back tears when they yelled to the last.
"For the next twelve weeks, it's my job to train you as soldiers as I can. For God's sake, I'll do it; and even though I've seen none of you bloody bastards up to the challenge, I Will still do it. I hope you all think about what I said. This is not the military of Earth in the past, where the drill instructors had to make the fat fit, the skinny grow strong, and the dumb get educated - each of you With the experience of a lifetime and a new body in its prime, you must have thought it would make my job easier. It-it-was-not.
"Each of you has seventy-five years of bad habits of taking certain rights for granted - I've got to get that all out in three damn months. And you've all taken your own The new body is a shiny new toy. Yes, I know what you guys have been doing for the past week, fucking like crazy monkeys. Guess what's next? Fun time is over. In the next In twelve weeks, you'll be lucky if you find time to masturbate in the shower. Your shiny new toy will be put to work, my beautiful characters. Because I'm going to train you to be soldiers. And that will It’s a 24/7 job.”
Ryze continued pacing in front of the recruits, "I want to make one thing clear. I don't like, and never will like, any of you. Why? Because I know that even though I and my men have done a great job , but you still inevitably embarrass us all. It breaks my heart. I can't sleep at night thinking that no matter how much I teach you, you will inevitably disappoint your comrades. All I can do The thing is, make sure you don't take the damn platoon with you in distress. That's it - if you sacrifice only yourself, I'll take that as a win!
"Well, you may think that this is a general hatred, directed at all of you. I assure you, it is not. Each of you will fail, but you will fail in your own unique way. Therefore, my thanks to you My dislike is also on an individual basis. Well, even now, each of you has something to piss me off about. Do you believe it?"
"Yes, Sergeant Major!"
"Nonsense! There are still people who still think I don't hate him, only others." Ryze jerked an arm out, pointing at the plains and the rising sun, "focus your lovely new eyes on the launch there Tower, you can only dimly see it. Ladies and gentlemen, it's twenty kilometers from here. I'm going to find something in each of you that makes me angry, and then you're going to charge the damn tower .If one person doesn't come back within an hour, the whole platoon will run again the next morning. Got it all?"
"Yes, Sergeant Major!" I could see someone doing the math in their head.He's telling us to run a five-minute mile there and back.I feel strongly that we will run again tomorrow morning.
"Who among you ever served as a soldier on Earth? Stand up, now," Ryze asked.Six recruits stepped out of the queue.
"Fuck," Ryze said, "there's nothing in the whole damn universe I hate more than a recruit who's been a soldier. We've got to spend a lot more time and energy on you bastards and make the You forgot every goddamn thing you ever learned on Earth. All you sons of a bitch used to do was fight humans! Even at that job, you were terrible at it too! Oh yeah, we Watched your whole subcontinental war. Shit. It took six damn years to defeat an almost defenseless enemy, and it was won by all shady means. Only pustules used nuclear weapons. Pustules. If the colonial army Fighting like the U.S. military, do you know where humanity would be today? On an asteroid, eating algae scraped off the walls of damn underground tunnels. Which of you idiots are marines?"
The two recruits took a step forward. "You idiots are the worst," Ryze said into their faces, "You bastards killed more Colonial soldiers than any alien race, because you did it the way the hell the Marines did Fighting wars, not the way it should be. You probably had tattoos of '' on some part of your old body, right? Right?"
"Yes, Master Chief!" they replied.
"You're so fucking lucky to ditch your old body. If it wasn't for that, I swear, I'd have pinned you to the ground and cut the tattoos off with my own hands. Oh, thought I wouldn't actually do that? Huh, here Unlike your goddamn baby Marines, and unlike any military on earth, the trainer is god here. I can turn your goddamn guts into sausage patties, and the consequences are , the boss will let me send another recruit to clean up the garbage left behind." Ruiz glared at all the recruits who had been soldiers, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the real army. You are not in the army, navy, In the Air Force or the Fleet. You're one of us. Every time you forget that, I'll show up and stomp your damn head off. Now, run!"
They run wild.
"Who's gay?" Ryze said.Four recruits stepped forward, including Alan who was standing beside me.I saw him raise his eyebrows as he stepped forward.
"Some of the best soldiers in history were gay," Ruiz said. "Alexander the Great...had a special platoon of soldiers who were gay couples, and the idea was that if it was to protect a lover and not another Ordinary soldier, you'll work harder in the war. Some of the best soldiers I've ever known have never been gayer than a three dollar bill. They've all been top-notch soldiers.
"But I'll tell you what makes me angry: You always choose the wrong time to express your feelings. Three times I've fought with gays in bad situations, and each time, they chose That moment told me how much they loved me all the time. Damn, it was so inappropriate. The aliens were trying to suck the damn brains out of me, and my comrades wanted to talk about our relationship! It was like As if I'm not busy enough. Fuck, do your comrades a favor. You've got a fire in your heart, so wait until you're on vacation, not when aliens want to take your heart out. Now, run!" They ran away.
"Who is a minority?" Ten recruits stepped forward. "Bastards. Look around, you stupid bastards. Everyone's green here, no minorities. You want to be the goddamn minorities, don't you? Okay. There's 20 billion humans in the universe, And there are four trillion other intelligent species, and they all want to turn you into fast lunch. And that's just the number we know! If any of you are the first to say you're a minority, I'll Kick that nasty ass off with my green Latina feet. RUN!" They ran up the plain.
continue.Ryze hurls at Christians, Jews, atheists, government servants, doctors, lawyers, teachers, blue-collar workers, pet owners, gun owners, martial arts practitioners, wrestling fans, and, strangest of all, There were clog dancers (it was weird enough that such a profession should make Ryze angry, but there were actually people in the platoon who did it).The recruits were stripped out in groups, pairs, and one by one, and forced to run away.
Finally, I found Ryze looking straight at me.I maintained a straight posture.
"Damn me," Ryze said, "there's a stupid thing left!"
"Yes, Master Chief!" I yelled as loud as I could.
"I find it hard to believe that you don't fall into any of the categories I condemn!" Ryze said. "I suspect you're trying to escape a nice early morning jog!"
"No, Master Chief!" I yelled.
"I refuse to admit that there's nothing I hate about you," Ryze said. "Where are you from?"
"Ohio, Sergeant Major!"
Ryze looked pained.There's no way around that.The state of Ohio, which does not recruit anyone and does not mess with anyone, has finally brought me a benefit. "What do you do for a living, recruit?"
"I'm on my own, I'm not hired, Sergeant Major!"
"What are you doing?"
"I'm a writer, Master Chief!"
Ryze's ferocious smile returned to his face. It was obvious that he hated people who deal with words. "Please tell me, you're writing novels, recruit." He said, "I have a problem with novelists."
"No, Sergeant Major!"
"My God, my God! So what are you writing about?"
"I write commercials, Master Chief!"
"Ads! Why are you stupid writing ads?"
"One of my most famous commercials is Willy's Tires, Master Chief!" exclaims the mascot for the Niavana Tire Company, a manufacturer of tires for specialty vehicles.I conceived the basic concept and slogan for them, and the company's image designers created the mascot based on that.The birth of Willy Willy coincided with the renaissance of motorcycles. This trend continued for several years, and Willy also created a small fortune for Niavana: one as a mascot, and two as a license Earnings from making plush toys, t-shirts, wine glasses, and more.They originally planned to use it to arrange a children's entertainment drama, but it ended without a problem.It's really stupid stuff, but on the other hand, Willie's success means I'll never be short of clients again.This thing has served me well, at least so far.
Ryze jumped at me and yelled, "Are you the mastermind behind Willy Willy, recruit?"
"Yes, Sergeant Major!" There is an unnatural pleasure in yelling at someone who is mere millimeters from your face.
Ryze flickered in front of my eyes for a few seconds, his eyes darting over me, making me flinch.He actually yelled at me twice.Then he stepped back and began to unbutton his shirt.I was still at attention, but suddenly I was very, very scared.He quickly took off his shirt, stepped forward again, and turned his right shoulder to me, "Tell me, recruit, what do you see on my shoulder?"
I glanced down and thought, this is fucking impossible. "It's Willie Willie's tattoo, Master Chief!"
"You're fucking right!" Ryze said angrily, "I'll tell you a story, recruit. Back on Earth, I married a fierce, evil woman, a woman with a real heart like a snake. Married to her life is like slowly cutting someone to death with a piece of paper. But her control over me is so deep that when she filed for divorce, I still had the urge to commit suicide. When I was most depressed , I was standing on the bus platform trying to run head-on to the next car that was coming. That's when I looked up and saw an ad for Willy Willy. You know what it says? "
"'Sometimes all you have to do is go on a journey and you'll find the road is beautiful.' Sergeant Major!" The slogan took me fifteen seconds to write.The world is truly amazing.
"Exactly," he said. "I stared at this ad and, as some people say, had an epiphany. I knew that what I had to do was actually very simple. I just had to go down the damn road. That wretch got divorced, sang a song of thanksgiving, packed her carry-on bag in a bag and walked away. Since that lucky day, Willie Willie has been my idol, representing my personal The desire for freedom and individuality. He saved my life, recruit, and for that I'm forever grateful."
"You're welcome, Master Chief!" I yelled.
"Recruit, I'm honored to have had the opportunity to meet you, and you're the first recruit in my tenure who can't find anything hideous right off the bat. I can't tell you how unpleasant it is. But I basically I'm sure that very soon - maybe within the next few hours - you'll be pissing me off. In fact, to make sure you do, I've made you a platoon leader. It's a thankless job , because you have to work twice as hard as I do to train these miserable recruits. You are responsible for the countless mistakes they have committed. They will hate you, loathe you, and try to get you out of power; And when they succeed in overthrowing you, I'll add insult to injury. What do you think, recruit? Say what you want!"
"Sounds like goddamned bad luck to me, Master Chief!" I yelled.
"That's right, recruit," Ruiz said, "but you're doomed as soon as you come to my platoon. Now, let's run. The platoon leader has to run with everyone. Move!"
"I don't know whether to congratulate you or worry about you." Alan said to me when we went to the restaurant for breakfast together.
"You can congratulate me and worry about me at the same time," I said, "although it may be more reasonable to worry. I am worried. Ah, they are there." I pointed to the five recruits, three men and two women, in front of the restaurant .
Earlier, as I was running all the way to the tower, my BrainPal suddenly flashed a message in front of my eyes, causing me to almost crash into a tree.I turned the corner in time, only bumped a shoulder, and told the bastard to switch to my voice before I killed myself.The jerk took my word for it and started reading the message:
"Fantastic," I said, jumping over a small ditch.
I needed to, and did.The bastard quickly gave me the personal files of each recruit while I was running.By the time I ran to the launch tower, I had narrowed down the candidate list to twenty people; by the time I ran back to the base, I had divided the entire platoon into different squad leaders, and sent emails to the five new squad leaders, asking them to Meet me at the restaurant.BrainPal is clearly getting better and better.
I also noticed that the run back to base took me fifty-five minutes and I didn't pass any of the recruits on the way back.I asked my BrainPal, and found that the slowest of the recruits recorded a time of 58 minutes and 13 seconds.Somewhat ironically, he turned out to be a guy who had been in the Marine Corps.We don't have to run to the launch tower tomorrow, and even if we run again, at least it won't be because we ran too slowly today.But I have no doubt that Sergeant Major Antonio Ruiz is capable of finding another excuse.I just wish I wasn't the one to give him that excuse.
When the five recruits saw Alan and I approaching, they snapped to attention, but their posture was not standard.Three saluted at once, and the other two timidly did the same.I saluted back and smiled, "Don't worry," I said to the two people who moved half a beat later, "This is new to me too. Come on, let's line up first, and then say while eating."
"Do you need me to avoid it?" Alan asked me while queuing. "You may have a lot to say to these guys."
"No," I said, "I want you to stay, and I want to hear what you think of these guys. Also, I have news for you. You're number two in our class. I need Take care of the whole platoon, so, the person who will actually be in charge of this squad will be you, I hope you don't mind."
"I can handle it." Alan said with a smile, "Thank you for putting me in your class."
"Hey," I said, "while there's no sense in this type of inquisition, if you can't inquire, why are you still in charge? And, if I step down, you'll have to back me up."
"The airbag of your military career," Alan said. "Yeah, that's me."
The restaurant was packed, but the seven of us managed to occupy a table. "Introduce yourself first," I said. "Let's get to know each other's names first. My name is John Perry, at least for the time being the platoon leader. This is my deputy squad leader, Alan Rosenthal."
"Angela Merchant," said the woman sitting directly across from me, "from Trenton, New Jersey."
"Terry Duncan," said the guy next to her, "from Missoula, Montana."
"Mark Jackson, St. Louis."
"Sarah O'Connor, Boston."
"Martin Garnerbedian. Sunshine City, Fresno, California."
"Oh, we're pretty spread out, aren't we?" I said.There was a chuckle at that statement, which was good. "I'll finish as soon as I can. If I drag on for too long, it means I don't know what I'm doing. I picked you five mainly because your past experience shows that you are capable of serving as squad leader. I chose Angela because she was an executive; I think it’s an advantage.”
"I'm glad to hear that," Mark said.
"Martin was a member of the Fresno City Council; and Sarah, who taught kindergarten for thirty years, is clearly the most qualified of us to be an officer." Another laugh.My God, victory follows victory.
"From now on, I will treat everyone honestly." I said, "I don't intend to trouble you. Sergeant Major Ruiz has already taken this job. Even if I learn from him, I can only imitate it poorly. Besides, that's not my style. I don't know what your leadership style looks like, but I hope you will do everything you can to keep your squad leader and help your recruits through the next three months. I don't know the position of platoon leader. Don't care, but I'd love to make sure every recruit in this platoon gets the skills and training necessary to survive the outside world. That little home video of Ryze got my attention and hopefully yours too focus on."
"Jesus, never seen anything like it," said Terry, "they ripped the poor guy up like beef." "
"I wish they'd shown us this video before signing up for the military," Angela said. "Maybe I'd choose to grow old."
"It's war," Mark said, "and it's only natural for that to happen."
"Let's just try to keep our men alive when that happens," I said. "Okay, I've divided the platoon into six squads of ten. I'm Class A; Angela , you lead Class B; Terry, Class C; Mark, Class D; Sarah, Class E; Squad leader, send me the information. Together with your deputy squad leader, you are responsible for maintaining discipline and making the training run smoothly. From my point of view, there is only one reason why I choose you: In this way, I don't have to do anything gone."
"Except for managing your own class," Martin said.
"It's my business," Alan said.
"We meet every day at lunch," I said. "The other two meals are shared with our respective classes. If there is anything I need to do, feel free to contact me of course. But I really want you guys to try to figure things out on your own. I said However, I don't intend to make trouble for you, but anyway, the platoon leader is me, so what I say must be strictly followed. If I think anyone is not up to the task, I will remind him first; if it doesn't work, I will Will replace him. I'm not targeting anyone, I just want to make sure we all receive the necessary training to survive in the outer universe. Everyone agrees?" Everyone nodded.
"Very good." I raised my glass, "Then let's drink to the 63 training and wish us a smooth pass." We clinked glasses and chatted while eating.Not bad, I thought.
It didn't take long for that perception to change.
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