Chapter 5: Basic Training

It wasn't long before Magmar developed a substantial dislike for the bugle. At 4:30 every morning, the instrument blared its abominable tune to all corners of the facility. Dawn at basic training turned out to be a mad scramble to get uniforms on and beds made while making sure every station was in order. Each recruit was given a specific duty designed to keep the quarters tidy and secure. Magmar had drawn laundry crew upon arrival, and was allowed approximately five minutes in the morning to get dressed and haul 20 kilos of linen downstairs. Fortunately for him, he was usually spared the 'motivational speeches' the rest of the flight had to endure 20 minutes after getting blasted out of bed by the brass siren.

Magmar smirked to himself as he loaded the machines with towels in the safe haven of the laundry room. He could hear 3rd Sergeant Riven's voice ripping into one of his comrades over an incorrectly placed tube of toothpaste. Like Mira, Riven was a Junior Instructor, appointed to assist their flight's main supervisor. Being second in command didn't soften Riven's attitude, however. He was generally a bigger dick than their main leader, 2nd Sergeant Dawlot.

Sergeant Dawlot was tall, dark-skinned, muscular, and highly observant. As he approached the compound with his inspection tablet in hand, Magmar was very thankful he wasn't part of the commotion upstairs. He sat down on top of a bag of laundry and began filling out a few OOPs (Observation of Performance) forms.

New recruits were required to carry a few OOPs forms in case any official on base witnessed them involved in either inappropriate or exemplary behavior. Magmar had only given up a couple of forms so far, and both were for positive observations. Sergeant Dawlot had witnessed him shining another recruit's boots while he was at an appointment, and Mira had written a him a nice one for knowing his entire chain of command. Magmar considered himself pretty lucky thus far. Most of his comrades had given up a form or two for bad behavior already. Whoever had misplaced that toothpaste was likely down one OOPs for the day.

“I'll take one of those.” Said a very deep voice.

Magmar sprang to his feet. Turned out Sergeant Dawlot hadn't gone upstairs. The supervisor gave Magmar a scrutinizing look as he slowly took the form. “There ain't no chairs in this room for a reason, trainee. If you ain't washing, you're drying. If you ain't drying, you're folding. If you ain't folding, you're sorting. Now you better keep your ass off that sack of work to be done, or it'll be another OOPs form.”

Magmar wanted to call 'bullshit', but wisely held his tongue, giving Sergeant Dawlot a “Yes, sir” instead before turning to sort the rest of the laundry. Sergeant Dawlot had no further comment and left to check on his crew upstairs. Magmar scowled as he fished out a wadded up pair of shorts and fired them into a machine. It may have only been his first violation, but surrendering too many negative OOPs forms meant being washed back another week in training. And if the crimes were bad enough, a discharge was in your future. Both ideas were highly unappealing.

“Hey there, Magmar... I've come to help you out.” Vandosu had entered the laundry room, looking slightly disheveled. “Our PT has been moved to 06:00 so we have an hour to get this done.”

“Shit. Seriously? I swear it's just Dawlot trying to punish me for sitting down on the job.” Magmar huffed.

“Yeah, I don't know...” Vandosu mumbled as he transferred the towels into the dryer. “Oh, and make sure the cap on your toothpaste is facing the middle of the drawer, because he will be checking....”

Magmar raised an eyebrow. “Man, Riven's such a tool. So how many forms have you given up? Dawlot took one from me a few minutes ago.”

Vandosu sighed. “Just two Oopsies. Both for really lame reasons. I don't see how improper placement of my toothpaste is going to affect our evolution, but whatever.”

Magmar laughed as he flung another pair of shorts into the machine. “Well, I think improper placement of a Spirit Sword would render a larger punishment than an Oops, but you get the idea.”

“Touché, Magmar.” Vandosu grinned as he aimed the last of the shorts into the washing machine. They hit the lid to close it with a satisfactory bang. “Extra point!”

Laundry duty went much faster between the two of them, even with a few breaks to tally their score. Vandosu won Laundry Ball by the smallest of margins. Magmar insisted he only lost after grabbing a sweatshirt belonging to the biggest guy in their flight (“There's no way that thing would have fit all the way in!”), but still admitted defeat.

The two of them gathered up the linen and headed upstairs, with just enough time to distribute it and get their PT gear on before 06:00. “Please don't be a cardio day, please don't be a cardio day...” Magmar crossed his fingers as they slipped into formation outside. Vandosu stood next to him, crossing his fingers and hoping for the opposite.

“Attention!” The soldiers immediately assumed their appropriate positions as Riven's voice rang out over the flight. “This morning we will be running a full 3k!” Magmar did his best to hide his disappointment, staring blankly at the flagpole behind Sergeant Riven. Vandosu held back a smile.

“I want to make this clear. WE will be RUNNING a FULL 3k. That means all of you!” Riven's eyes surveyed his flight, coming to rest briefly on some of the heavier guys, including Magmar. “We're combining with our brother and sister flights for this one, and I expect we will not be slowing them down! Anyone who chooses to walk it gets an automatic OOPs form! B-Flight, riighhht face!”

As the formation turned and proceeded down to the track, Magmar cursed to himself. True, he'd already lost a some weight, but asking him to run the full 3k only three weeks into training seemed rather unreasonable. And losing two OOPs forms in one day was likely to draw some unwanted attention. Trying not to panic, he reminded himself that Riven only said they had to run it, he didn't say they had to meet a certain time. He might be able to argue the technicality. Shaking his head at his own pathetic theory, Magmar couldn't convince himself that he'd make it through the morning without losing another OOPs.

Soon, all three flights were assembled near the starting line. “Fall out!” shouted Riven. “10 minute warm up! Get loose, we don't want to see any injuries! And hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!”

Magmar rolled his eyes, halfheartedly swinging his arms as he and Vandosu meandered over to the female flight. They didn't get to see much of Kataka, and here was a perfectly good opportunity to catch up while the supervisors calibrated their stop watches.

“I think I'm in hell.” Kataka moaned.

“Oh come now, you're a pretty good runner!” Vandosu encouraged her, while performing a quadriceps stretch.

“No, no, no... I know that. It's everything else! I gave up an OOPs for not saluting an officer, gave up an OOPs for questioning an order, gave up one for talking in formation... I don't know if I can do this! And did you see who I have for a junior instructor? Some frickin' immigrant!” Kataka whined, pointing at Mira.

Magmar wanted to laugh, but sensing Kataka's distress, he merely shrugged. “She doesn't seem THAT bad.”

“She's awful!” Kataka exclaimed. “Yesterday, she caught me throwing some documents into the garbage can instead of the recycling bin. Well, she chews me out in front of the whole flight for wasting paper and makes me walk around the barracks, hugging all the trees and apologizing for being inconsiderate to their brethren!”

Vandosu doubled over laughing. Magmar tried to keep a straight face. “She probably wouldn't be so hard on you if you'd show some respect. Seems like all your OOPs forms are tied to that.”

Kataka opened her mouth to retort, but stopped. Silently, she fumed while stretching her legs. Magmar smirked, waiting for the eventual reply.

“Does Riven take forms for stupid stuff?” Kataka asked, sidestepping the subject of respect.

Magmar and Vandosu nodded their heads vigorously.

“Can't wait to hear what he has to say after I fail this run. Some bullshit speech about lack of discipline or not giving it 110%” Magmar pondered.

“Yeah, none of us are model soldiers, Kataka. You just gotta learn to shut your face once in awhile.” Vandosu said rather bluntly.

“Well, at least until we're out of training.” Magmar attempted to soften to blow. “The idea here is to obey orders. So unless you've been given an order to give orders, I wouldn't question them...”

Kataka begrudgingly nodded in agreement. “Four more weeks of this crap, the last one being combat week. I wonder how that's gonna go.”

“Sleeping in tents, chemical warfare drills, handling weapons, that kinda stuff. I wonder if we get our swords...” Vandosu commented thoughtfully. But the three of them didn't have much time to speculate further. Their leaders were now moving into position.

“Trainees of squadron 104, listen up!” called the platinum-haired junior instructor for A-Flight. Magmar noticed the name on his uniform read 'Kunji'. “If you think you're a fast runner, make your way to the starting line now! If you're middle of the pack, get in the middle! The fat kids and the nerd herd can make their way to the rear!” Magmar immediately moved to the rear.

“Time will start when the last trainee crosses the line!” Kunji continued while the soldiers jockeyed for positions. “Now, I'll be the first to admit, I used to be a fat ass! Now, I'm just a regular ass.” Magmar laughed to himself, wishing he could trade Riven for Kunji.

“I'll be running at the very back of the pack. If you stay on pace or ahead of me, you will succeed! But anyone who sees the ass of this ass--” Kunji pointed his thumbs at himself. “Will fail!”

“Runners, take your marks!” cried Riven. Magmar could feel his heartbeat already rising.

“Get set!” Riven surveyed the squadron one last time. “GO!”

Magmar slowly jogged forward as the trainees began to space themselves out. He could see Vandosu and Kataka near the front, setting a very brisk pace. He took a quick glance over his shoulder and noticed about a dozen or so trainees in between him and Kunji. Figuring it would be a good idea to keep a buffer, he attempted to stay in position right where he was at.

As he rounded the first curve, Magmar could see that Sergeant Dawlot had stayed behind with his stopwatch, but the other flight supervisors and junior instructors were running right alongside the squadron. Although it was probably just so they could monitor the run, Magmar had to give them some respect. Nothing was more irritating than taking orders from bosses who weren't willing to do the work themselves.

By the second curve, Magmar was already feeling the burn. His backward glances were coming in shorter and shorter intervals. Still twelve people behind him. Ok, maybe eleven. Or ten. Magmar tried to speed up a bit, but started to feel a stitch in his side.

“Lookin' good, Magmar!” Mira gave him a thumbs up as she effortlessly passed him, joining stride with the tiny female soldier in front of him. “Keep it up, Kafu!”

Curve three. Magmar kept going, passing a few soldiers who couldn't handle the pace anymore. He longed to throw in the towel and join them. Each breath was becoming more and more difficult, but the realization that he was over halfway there kept him from slowing down. For now. He risked another glance back. Kunji was dangerously close, with about 15 failures already behind him. In fact, he was close enough for Magmar to make out an evil grin on his face. Maybe Riven wasn't so bad after all.

Curve four. Magmar wasn't sure his body had ever been so angry with him. He could see Sergeant Dawlot in the distance, Mira and Kafu several lengths ahead of him, and Kunji right by his side. He was too close to fail now. He ran for it, but Kunji sprinted right alongside him, laughing all the way. “You've got to be kidding me!!” Magmar thought, flailing towards the finish line.

“And, TIME!!” boomed Sergeant Dawlot right as Magmar and Kunji crossed the line together.

“Congratulations, fatty.” Kunji grinned, giving Magmar a pat on the back. Magmar responded by falling to knees in exhaustion. He was vaguely aware that Riven was now behind him, yelling at everyone who failed and taking their OOPs forms. He could make out the words “lack of discipline” for sure.

“I'll take one from you, too.” grunted Sergeant Dawlot, extending a hand to Magmar.

“I...” started Magmar, still heaving, while digging in his pocket for an OOPs form. “I... thought... I'd... passed...” he sputtered.

“You sure did, trainee. And that kinda effort deserves credit. There's trainees in better shape than you that gave up.” Sergeant Dawlot commented as he wrote his words down on Magmar's form. “I'd wager you surprised yourself today.” he added, and turned to join Riven with the group of failures.

“Oh. My. God!” said a familiar voice. Magmar looked up and saw Kataka in front of him, arms crossed, but smiling. Vandosu was next to her, also grinning. “Awww, you got an E for Effort!” he declared happily.

“Shut up, Vandosu.” Magmar grumbled, but couldn't hold back a smile. “In case you didn't notice, I did actually pass.”

“Seriously?” Kataka looked shocked, her hazel eyes wide open. Magmar thought he caught a glimpse of tears forming, but she quickly turned her head. “I'm so happy for you!” she choked.

“Yeah, we were kinda worried you might get recycled.” Vandosu admitted. “Way to go, Magmar! I guess one of us IS a model soldier!”

Magmar gave them a half-smile, not knowing quite how to respond to their enthusiasm. Sergeant Dawlot was right, he had surprised himself. Magmar wasn't sure he wanted to be a model soldier, but the militia did have a way of bringing out the best in every recruit. And he could instantly see how that concept would transfer to his chosen career. Slowly, he stood up.


“I think I'm with Kataka.” Magmar stated, his breathing becoming a little less intense “Four more weeks of this crap, right?”
~~~



No comments:

Post a Comment