Haze & Chaos - Special 2
The Hunt | Introduction | Uncertainty
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“You think you’re good to go, Boyo?” Sam asked as she made sure his uniform was nice and tidy. They were standing outside Conference Room 1A at M.A.I.G. headquarters.
Will adjusted his coat and dusted himself off. “Yeah, I should be good to go… still loaded with anxiety though…”
“Not for the big squad meeting I trust?” she inquired with a chuckle.
“Specialist Ford, glad to see you again,” Marcus announced as he walked up. “Are you feeling better?”
“Colonel Trelawney, sir–Yeah, I’m doing better. Head’s clear, for the most part.”
“Colonel, sir,” Sam said with a salute. “Boyo’s been having more weird dreams as of late…”
Marcus was not an expert on dreams, but he had a strange feeling given some of the topics and realms his organization was interested in. “Is it something we at GRENADIER could look into?”
Will paused and exhaled. “I don’t know, sir…” He then started to head in, slightly avoiding eye contact. “It’s that weird, zombie robot again…”
Antares was talking to the group about a recent mission he was on when he heard the door open and turned his chair. “Will, there you are! You doing alright? Also hey, Marc.”
“Yeah, I’m feeling better, for the most part.” Will glanced around and saw Adrien, Satsuki, Jackson, Jun, Ryota, Olivia, and Kyu at first. And there was one he did not recognize, presumably one of the new recruits. After a round of greetings, Haze flew over to Will and formed back into his bodysuit under his uniform. “Oh, hey, Haze.”
“GOODNESS, you’ve got a lot on your mind, Will,” Haze remarked as he shuddered a little. “Don’t worry, me and Ryota got our messing-around out of our systems.”
“Don’t worry too much about it, Haze,” Will said as he sat down. “Where’s Vlad and Liam?”
“We tried to get them, but they’re a bit busy at the moment,” Adrien answered. “Especially Vlad. Jude’s here though–”
“Long time no see, Will,” Jude said as he adjusted his glasses, the pearlescent silver lens and frame shifting colors in the light. He was sitting next to Kyu, and had been going over some interesting reports he had written about The Sons of Muspel.
“Hey, Jude, what are you doing here?”
“Figured I’d pop in given how Susanno was here last week, and to brief the newbies on what PSAA is. Also I’m sensing some strange things going on with you at the moment…”
Will sighed. “Yeah… So what about Zack?”
“He’s flying the newbies in as we speak,” Antares replied. “They’re running a little late, but we do have one of them here–Jablonsky?”
Standing up a couple seats down from Will was a man with brown hair (that was growing back) and blue eyes. He was young, obviously a late teen, and did not quite seem like someone who was meant for the military. Truthfully he gave Will the feeling he was supposed to be an internet personality, perhaps a critic or a commentator. “I’m Private Isaiah Millard Jablonsky, Specialist, sir,” he said with a salute. “Just call me ‘Izzy’ though. I’ve been told things are a bit more casual in the Brigade…”
“For the most part,” Will replied with a satisfying feeling of seniority. “Maintain respect for your commanding officers and only challenge orders if you legitimately have a better idea. And this here is my fiancee, Samantha Devilfay.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Private,” she said as she leaned in to look at him.
Marcus cleared his throat to speak up. “You’ll no doubt become familiar with the mysterious realm known as The Unlight, Jablonsky, and I highly recommend directing any questions you may have towards William, Samantha, and Ryota–they have had the most exposure to it out of everyone here.”
Izzy nodded, glanced at Will and Sam sensing something different, and sat back down. “Yes sir, Colonel Trelawney. Everybody’s told me things are going to get weird–scifi movie levels of weird…”
“Weirder, Private,” Will answered with glee, holding up his hand with Haze’s mouth. “This guy? He’s a shadow construct formed from the blood of a hermetic god.”
“And Kyu?” Haze continued. “He’s from The Lost Era–a time before reality without time, life, or death.”
Kyu smiled when Izzy gave him a weird look. “So is Jude. I wish my older brother, Barry, was here, but he’s talking to The Sepulcher God about what happened recently.”
“Really now?” Sam inquired, naturally curious.
“Yeah–you know, for all the slack he’s gotten, Sepulcher isn’t that bad of a god, all things considered.”
“There’s infinitely worse out there,” Marcus added.
“Another ‘hermetic god,’ I take it?” Izzy questioned.
“Yup,” Jude answered. “You’ve just entered a world the likes of which you’ve never seen before. Not to sound all theatrical, but the stuff we’ve been through is on another level entirely. I was there when Raziel went to The Void Era and Prometheus showed up to help deal with the The Lost Darkness God…”
Marcus felt a tinge of adrenaline when he said that and stopped him. “Wait, are you saying The Lost Era still exists?”
“Of course it does–you think an era without time is just going to stop existing?”
That sent a chill up Marcus’ spine as he took a moment to process that, then reached for a peppermint candy from a bowl in the center of the long table. “Izzy, all of our organizations have some of the best mental health experts around if you ever feel overwhelmed…”
“Um, yes sir, Colonel, sir…” Izzy replied, but was unsure what to make of that statement.
“Aw don’t worry about it, you two,” Jude said with a slight hauntiness in his voice, clearly having dealt with similar reactions before. “If you want someone to talk to from our era, give Animus Sicarius a call–he was always been a bit of crazy person, constantly going on about how there would be this era with time, life, and death… and it turns out him and Enndell-Enndell were right. Point is he’s on call whenever you need him. He’s also Will’s Lost Era counterpart.”
“Don’t ask me how that one works out, Izzy, as I’m a fragment of The Tyrant God…” Will put in, sensing the private’s slight confusion. Despite how esoteric the conversation was, Izzy seemed to be following along just fine regardless.
“I still don’t get how that works either,” Haze cut in. “I was certain Will wasn’t from The Lost Era–and he isn’t… but why does Animus exist then?” Will shrugged, and Haze accepted this as per usual.
“Don’t overthink it, Haze,” Ryota cautioned. “The last time we thought about something that hard we were knee-deep in shadow constructs…”
Haze sighed, recalling that little escapade where they had nearly battled Nobu out in the open in Shinjuku. “Good point, Ryota…”
Jun lightly cleared his throat and held up his hand. “Hey, are we ready to start this meeting?”
“Hai,” Satsuki agreed. “I’m eager to get our new recruits up to speed.”
“Almost,” Jackson answered. “We’re just waiting on Bradshaw, aside from the other newbies–he was talking to Trumna…”
“My apologies, everyone,” Bradshaw said as he entered the room with perfect timing. “We found out why the new recruits are running late–Milan held everything up, as he wanted to travel with them to get to know them.”
Will laughed. “That’s my old professor for you!”
Marcus groaned a little. “Well, I suppose it’s fair given what they will all be learning. We’ll save the full introductions and mission statement for when they get here.”
Antares then stretched with a loud groan of satisfaction, feeling his sternum pop. “Might as well tell the others the story of how we recruited the newbies…”
“Me saca de quicio–that shindig…” Adrien said with a remorseful chuckle.
Olivia shook her head. “Will, Sam–Antares was up to his usual.” This made the two snicker.
Jackson also laughed and turned to Izzy. “Bit of a warning–Antares and Will are distant cousins, so if you see them getting into trouble under similar circumstances, there you go…”
“Hey, I wanted to tell him that!” Antares interjected, causing another round of laughter. “Anyways, things have been pretty chaotic ever since Hector Fang was taken out, but I don’t need to tell you guys that.”
Bradshaw tapped his papers on the table and cleared his throat. “We’ve actually had massive problems all throughout recruiting camps across the whole military during Red River and while you were gone, Will–recruiting itself has gone downhill and we actually had recruits dying left and right.”
Will groaned loudly into a “OH BOY… don’t tell me Ultinn had something to do with it…”
“That rat bastard, Karnage, up to his old tricks again?” Sam questioned with a recognizable venom in her voice.
“Don’t ask her about Gore Bloodblade,” Jackson quickly whispered to Izzy. “Talk to Blood-Wraith or Dr. Livesey about it…”
“...not directly–no,” Bradshaw answered to the couple. “It was an already flawed system straining under the weight of a stupid tyrant. Given that Hector was a grifting authoritarian, he let in anyone under the sun who stroked his ego, meaning the institutions tasked with bringing in new soldiers started to rot quickly.”
“Well of course–why fight for a government that hates you?” Will put forth. “That, or you were just in it for the money. Both are pretty bad if you ask me.”
Antares noticed Marcus sighing and nodded. “Reason number 576 of why I wanted to keep Will out of the meat grinder… My mission to the middle east back in 2016 is also a big reason, but we don’t talk about that one…”
“I–I understand what you’ve been getting at, Antares,” Marcus replied with regret in his voice. “I was given the privilege to observe a boot camp program in October and… Well let’s just say I lost my shit when I saw that ‘sugar cookie’ nonsense”
“What the fuck?!” Sam and Will interjected in unison, with Izzy facepalming like he was mortified.
Marcus growled in a way that was uncharacteristic for him–he was not mad at anyone in the room, rather the system that he had put faith in, which embarrassed him to no end. “I didn’t want to believe Antares when he said it had gotten bad since our time in training respectively, but this new brand of officers and sergeants were utterly cartoonish! That punishment I just mentioned? Imagine being drenched in sunscreen and forced to roll in sand, and then not being allowed to clean yourself off! Pardon my language, but what the hell is that even teaching recruits!? That you’re a disposable tool that’ll be left for dead on the battlefield once you're all used up?!”
Jackson shook his head. “My dad would probably mention something about how those buttercups wouldn’t last two seconds in the Epoch…” He then began to do an impression of Reynard. “...back then nothing was certain and you survived on wit, tact, and friendship–and don’t even get me started on all of The Lost Era nonsense that was spilling through.” This served to lighten the mood and made some of the others chuckle.
“It’s utterly offensive how far military discipline has plummeted,” Bradshaw asserted. “Commanding officers act like cartoon characters and do nothing but scream at the recruits. I’d say they treat them like animals, but let’s be real–an animal wouldn’t deliberately antagonize you by throwing your stuff all over the place like a primate, order you to clean it up because somehow it’s your fault, and then scream at you all night while you’re trying to sleep–”
“Complete dumbasses, all of them,” Antares resumed. “Mind you what Marc’s describing is the marine’s recruit bootcamps–”
“Incentive training to be specific,” Izzy clarified. “It’s not as bad as those idiots at the depot think it is, but that doesn’t mean it’s pleasant…”
“You think the thugs and goons we deal with are going to wait for you to reorganize your stuff once they throw it all over the place, or for you to throw a Private’s belongings around? No, they’ll just shoot you! It’s kill or be killed out there, not ‘let’s act like complete schizo’s trying to turn the recruits into machines.’”
Will felt his anger boiling over, and Haze rippled in response, but he maintained his cool. “Yeah–if I was an enemy soldier, I’d wait for those braindead instructors to start distracting them with their antics and light ’em up.” Izzy was a little surprised by Will’s brashness as he leaned back a little.
“The idea is not to train capable soldiers, but to create mindless automata that will do what they’re told and die when ordered,” Bradshaw pointed out. “Except that doesn’t create respect or character–it breeds contempt and spite…”
“Uh-huh–so the government can get rid of them at a later date” Will groaned. “I’m not dumb–I know why they treat them and veterans like dirt; they don’t want soldiers fighting back when the tyrants decide to take over.”
Marcus was surprised by that deduction, especially coming from Will. “You came to that conclusion all by yourself, Will?”
“Of course he did,” said Antares. “Why do you think Jun went rogue? He thinks like Will. Those two may not be in the same boat, but they’re cut from the same cloth–they’re warriors who know when they’re being played like a fiddle.”
Jun gave a little chuckle, thinking back to his stint as Dethblade the Hunter. “Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands–don’t get carried away, though.”
There was a sigh of sympathy from Marcus, and it was clear who it was directed at. “Well either way, I have been speaking to Senator Ripper, and we’ve been further speaking to President Donovan about this–recruiting has gotten out of hand and too many potential soldiers are getting mangled or neglected, so Abel has signed an executive order to start awareness campaigns and PSAs with the hopes that we can get the American people talking about this and pressuring their elected officials to start passing laws to make sure that we are actually creating strong, all-American soldiers, not broken men that will betray us the first chance they get.”
Antares then laughed maniacally and turned to Will. “So, want to know why I got in trouble recently, Will?”
Will laughed with similar enthusiasm and said “Do tell…”
“Oh boy, here we go…” Marcus said as Bradshaw patted his shoulder.
Antares got himself comfortable and cleared his throat, ready to tell his story. “So Marcus naturally vented to me about that little incident where he lost his shit–fair enough, as I’m all ears for this stuff. I told him me and Adrien would tag along on the next jaunt, because Marcus was on tour given his accolades with GRENADIER. We get to some no-name base in Texas and it’s the same old shit–you got a bunch of ‘right-wingers’ shouting leftie nonsense behind people’s backs and being general dicks to the recruits–and you know what kind of righties I’m talking about; they claim hate communism and big government, but say we need to go on UBI once ‘AI’ takes over…”
“HA, WHAT AI?” Will belted out. “Pretty sure AIN-NULL pissed on that parade! Oh, I’m sorry, I meant ‘super intelligence!’” His voice was full of mockery and it gave Izzy a pretty good idea of where he stood on that issue.
“I know, right?!” Antares replied with similar vindicated happiness in his voice. “Anyways; So we get in and observe a typical day for a platoon of some fresh recruits–heading into the marines eventually. It’s just a damn circus there–nothing but screaming and the commanding officers bullying the recruits. I get that you need to treat them tough and harden them up for combat, but this was just cartoonish. After the usual nonsense of them throwing their clothes all around like a bunch of animals–because enemy insurgents and soldiers totally do that–I had had enough of this one instructor named Birks. He was annoying, his face pissed me off, and his voice was hoarse in a way that was like nails on a chalkboard. He was so annoying that I’m pretty sure R. Lee Ermey himself would have risen from the grave to dress him down…”
“I’d kill to have a drill sergeant like him, ha,” Izzy slipped in in a joking manner, causing Bradshaw to laugh at that and Antares’ initial assertion.
Antares shook his head with a smile on his face and continued. “I get into it with Birks, calling him a joke of an officer who would make great cannon fodder, and we get into a bit of a screaming match, him hurling expletives at me while I just kept using them to make fun of him–I’ll admit, I was being a bit of a bully, ha…” Marcus scoffed in a lighthearted manner, an obvious call-out towards his antics. “And I could tell some of the recruits were about to start laughing. Birks saw that too and then decked me in the gut…” He paused to let the others take that fact in, as shocked looks spread across their faces. “Naturally I took exception to that.”
“And then the two got into a fist a fight…” Marcus said as he slouched in his chair a little.
“Hey, I didn’t get shot in the shoulder back in 2016 for nothing!” Antares proudly declared, despite that mission haunting him to that day. “So the whole bunker turned into a bit of a brawl, with me having to deal with multiple people trying to grab me. Jokes were on them, because I’ve dealt with crowds before and taken lessons from Satsuki–too many cooks in the kitchen are their own worst enemy. Of course Adrien had to back me up, hehe…”
“What, you think I was just going to sit around for a good fight, amigo?” Adrien pointed out with his own pride. “And then the whole platoon got involved, so we really had to jive. Given that me and Satsuki survived Sebastian’s ambush, I wasn’t going to let them win.” Despite having been present for the incident, Izzy could not help but smile.
“And I had to get involved too, as I wasn’t going to let them get away with arresting or charging us…” Marcus added with a sigh.
“Birks started it,” Antares stated with aggression in his voice. “If he didn’t want his entire platoon knocked on their asses he shouldn’t have sucker punched me. Anyways, some of the recruits were smart and got out of there, of which afterwards we tracked them down and had them transferred to The Liger Brigade…”
“Ah, I see, haha!” Will put in. “We’ve got an eye for talent, Izzy–and don’t let anyone fault you for a tactical retreat.”
“Oh, trust me, Will, we weren’t catching heat for that fight,” replied Izzy.
“As for the rest of the officers?” Antares continued. “I went toe-to-toe with Sebastian–you really think I am going to let a bunch of sleep-deprived, snot-nosed kids get one up on us? I even busted out my magic sledgehammers and Adrien went full Oni on them all, leaving them groaning and bruised on the floor. We told them that in the real world the enemy won’t respect you, disrespect you, or tear you down–they’ll just shoot you… and then Marcus did the coolest thing ever…”
Marcus had the biggest, smug smile on his face as he sat up, and it gave the room a warmth like no other. “Using my authority as a Colonel and influence with GRENADIER, I declared the brawl a training exercise, narrowly avoiding criminal charges…” There was a round of applause, with the whole squad giving cheers towards the victory. “And thankfully General Lundberg backed me up on that one.”
“Now that’s something else,” Will said as he leaned back to stretch, then got up to pace. “No joke, Izzy, the conflicts you’re about to see are way different than what you would have expected in the marines. There’s a bit more honor and cunning with the threats we deal with–hell, even Ultinn-Lacksus will fight you one on one, but that doesn’t mean you can let your guard down. Enemy soldiers and insurgents are out to shoot you, but the eldritch monstrosities we deal with are out to usurp God himself. Think you’re ready for that?”
Izzy needed a moment to think about that and also got up to stretch. “Well, it’s better than going through bootcamp, so yeah, I’m all in.”
Will then walked over to him and shook his hand, with Haze pulling some of himself back for the shake. “Welcome to The Liger Brigade, Private.”
“Thank you, Specialist, sir… Hey, can I get a suit like that?”
“Sorry, Izzy, but I’m one of a kind,” Haze said as he raised Will’s hand. “But The ULTRAMagic Guild can get you a polymateria bodysuit, which is great for casting magic.”
“Speaking of which,” Marcus cut in. “Will, can you use your void magic to find out what the magic aptitudes of the recruits are?”
Will put his hands on his hips with a chuckle. “Alright…”
“Boyo’s pretty good at it, despite claiming he’s not,” Sam added.
“So, Izzy, how’s your fellow recruits?” Will inquired.
Izzy wandered back over to the table and leaned on it with his hand. “We weren’t really friends during bootcamp, but once we got out of that shitshow we became pretty good friends–Waldemar, Lockie, and Price are pretty cool when you get to know them, and I think they’ll definitely like all of you.”
“You like anime and video games, Izzy?” Will suddenly asked.
“Hell yeah, dude.”
“Alright, you’re hanging out with me, Satsuki, Ryota, and Liam when you get the chance.” Seeing Will back to his old self made everyone else chuckle. “Oh, yeah–I’m going to go visit my parents, guys… ULTRAMagic Devil, Ernust, and Valentin got on my case about it…”
“Do you want me to come along, Will?” Antares inquired.
Will hesitated. “I think things will be fine… I was getting triple fours today though…”
“Not a good sign, Will,” Kyu pointed out.
“Aw, I don’t know, Kyu–it’s just my parents, and I doubt anything weird has gone their way… I feel like something’s going to go wrong, but that’s all the more reason to make sure they’re okay…”
Izzy then patted Will’s shoulder. “I know how you feel, as my parents didn’t fully get along either.”
Will gave him a big smile for that. “Thanks, kid.”
“Can I ask another quick question?”
“Sure, shoot.”
Izzy cleared his throat, wanting to make sure he worded his question right. “Why are Colonel Trelawney and Lt. Colonel Briggs so… casual towards each other?”
Antares chuckled. “You found out about the ‘dork-meister’ thing, didn’t you? Back before Marc joined GRENADIER, he was my commanding officer, and we were pretty close as friends–believe it or not he’s not some grumpy old adult.”
Marcus laughed and shook his head. “I never cottoned to my parents telling me that I had to throw my toys out when I ‘grew up.’ Will knows how I feel on this matter, but growing up doesn’t mean abandoning your inner child, it means making the right decisions when the time comes…” Before anything else could be said, Marcus looked down at his communicator, which had a message pop up. “Zack’s almost here with the rest of the recruits, everyone…”
Next:
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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“You think you’re good to go, Boyo?” Sam asked as she made sure his uniform was nice and tidy. They were standing outside Conference Room 1A at M.A.I.G. headquarters.
Will adjusted his coat and dusted himself off. “Yeah, I should be good to go… still loaded with anxiety though…”
“Not for the big squad meeting I trust?” she inquired with a chuckle.
“Specialist Ford, glad to see you again,” Marcus announced as he walked up. “Are you feeling better?”
“Colonel Trelawney, sir–Yeah, I’m doing better. Head’s clear, for the most part.”
“Colonel, sir,” Sam said with a salute. “Boyo’s been having more weird dreams as of late…”
Marcus was not an expert on dreams, but he had a strange feeling given some of the topics and realms his organization was interested in. “Is it something we at GRENADIER could look into?”
Will paused and exhaled. “I don’t know, sir…” He then started to head in, slightly avoiding eye contact. “It’s that weird, zombie robot again…”
Antares was talking to the group about a recent mission he was on when he heard the door open and turned his chair. “Will, there you are! You doing alright? Also hey, Marc.”
“Yeah, I’m feeling better, for the most part.” Will glanced around and saw Adrien, Satsuki, Jackson, Jun, Ryota, Olivia, and Kyu at first. And there was one he did not recognize, presumably one of the new recruits. After a round of greetings, Haze flew over to Will and formed back into his bodysuit under his uniform. “Oh, hey, Haze.”
“GOODNESS, you’ve got a lot on your mind, Will,” Haze remarked as he shuddered a little. “Don’t worry, me and Ryota got our messing-around out of our systems.”
“Don’t worry too much about it, Haze,” Will said as he sat down. “Where’s Vlad and Liam?”
“We tried to get them, but they’re a bit busy at the moment,” Adrien answered. “Especially Vlad. Jude’s here though–”
“Long time no see, Will,” Jude said as he adjusted his glasses, the pearlescent silver lens and frame shifting colors in the light. He was sitting next to Kyu, and had been going over some interesting reports he had written about The Sons of Muspel.
“Hey, Jude, what are you doing here?”
“Figured I’d pop in given how Susanno was here last week, and to brief the newbies on what PSAA is. Also I’m sensing some strange things going on with you at the moment…”
Will sighed. “Yeah… So what about Zack?”
“He’s flying the newbies in as we speak,” Antares replied. “They’re running a little late, but we do have one of them here–Jablonsky?”
Standing up a couple seats down from Will was a man with brown hair (that was growing back) and blue eyes. He was young, obviously a late teen, and did not quite seem like someone who was meant for the military. Truthfully he gave Will the feeling he was supposed to be an internet personality, perhaps a critic or a commentator. “I’m Private Isaiah Millard Jablonsky, Specialist, sir,” he said with a salute. “Just call me ‘Izzy’ though. I’ve been told things are a bit more casual in the Brigade…”
“For the most part,” Will replied with a satisfying feeling of seniority. “Maintain respect for your commanding officers and only challenge orders if you legitimately have a better idea. And this here is my fiancee, Samantha Devilfay.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Private,” she said as she leaned in to look at him.
Marcus cleared his throat to speak up. “You’ll no doubt become familiar with the mysterious realm known as The Unlight, Jablonsky, and I highly recommend directing any questions you may have towards William, Samantha, and Ryota–they have had the most exposure to it out of everyone here.”
Izzy nodded, glanced at Will and Sam sensing something different, and sat back down. “Yes sir, Colonel Trelawney. Everybody’s told me things are going to get weird–scifi movie levels of weird…”
“Weirder, Private,” Will answered with glee, holding up his hand with Haze’s mouth. “This guy? He’s a shadow construct formed from the blood of a hermetic god.”
“And Kyu?” Haze continued. “He’s from The Lost Era–a time before reality without time, life, or death.”
Kyu smiled when Izzy gave him a weird look. “So is Jude. I wish my older brother, Barry, was here, but he’s talking to The Sepulcher God about what happened recently.”
“Really now?” Sam inquired, naturally curious.
“Yeah–you know, for all the slack he’s gotten, Sepulcher isn’t that bad of a god, all things considered.”
“There’s infinitely worse out there,” Marcus added.
“Another ‘hermetic god,’ I take it?” Izzy questioned.
“Yup,” Jude answered. “You’ve just entered a world the likes of which you’ve never seen before. Not to sound all theatrical, but the stuff we’ve been through is on another level entirely. I was there when Raziel went to The Void Era and Prometheus showed up to help deal with the The Lost Darkness God…”
Marcus felt a tinge of adrenaline when he said that and stopped him. “Wait, are you saying The Lost Era still exists?”
“Of course it does–you think an era without time is just going to stop existing?”
That sent a chill up Marcus’ spine as he took a moment to process that, then reached for a peppermint candy from a bowl in the center of the long table. “Izzy, all of our organizations have some of the best mental health experts around if you ever feel overwhelmed…”
“Um, yes sir, Colonel, sir…” Izzy replied, but was unsure what to make of that statement.
“Aw don’t worry about it, you two,” Jude said with a slight hauntiness in his voice, clearly having dealt with similar reactions before. “If you want someone to talk to from our era, give Animus Sicarius a call–he was always been a bit of crazy person, constantly going on about how there would be this era with time, life, and death… and it turns out him and Enndell-Enndell were right. Point is he’s on call whenever you need him. He’s also Will’s Lost Era counterpart.”
“Don’t ask me how that one works out, Izzy, as I’m a fragment of The Tyrant God…” Will put in, sensing the private’s slight confusion. Despite how esoteric the conversation was, Izzy seemed to be following along just fine regardless.
“I still don’t get how that works either,” Haze cut in. “I was certain Will wasn’t from The Lost Era–and he isn’t… but why does Animus exist then?” Will shrugged, and Haze accepted this as per usual.
“Don’t overthink it, Haze,” Ryota cautioned. “The last time we thought about something that hard we were knee-deep in shadow constructs…”
Haze sighed, recalling that little escapade where they had nearly battled Nobu out in the open in Shinjuku. “Good point, Ryota…”
Jun lightly cleared his throat and held up his hand. “Hey, are we ready to start this meeting?”
“Hai,” Satsuki agreed. “I’m eager to get our new recruits up to speed.”
“Almost,” Jackson answered. “We’re just waiting on Bradshaw, aside from the other newbies–he was talking to Trumna…”
“My apologies, everyone,” Bradshaw said as he entered the room with perfect timing. “We found out why the new recruits are running late–Milan held everything up, as he wanted to travel with them to get to know them.”
Will laughed. “That’s my old professor for you!”
Marcus groaned a little. “Well, I suppose it’s fair given what they will all be learning. We’ll save the full introductions and mission statement for when they get here.”
Antares then stretched with a loud groan of satisfaction, feeling his sternum pop. “Might as well tell the others the story of how we recruited the newbies…”
“Me saca de quicio–that shindig…” Adrien said with a remorseful chuckle.
Olivia shook her head. “Will, Sam–Antares was up to his usual.” This made the two snicker.
Jackson also laughed and turned to Izzy. “Bit of a warning–Antares and Will are distant cousins, so if you see them getting into trouble under similar circumstances, there you go…”
“Hey, I wanted to tell him that!” Antares interjected, causing another round of laughter. “Anyways, things have been pretty chaotic ever since Hector Fang was taken out, but I don’t need to tell you guys that.”
Bradshaw tapped his papers on the table and cleared his throat. “We’ve actually had massive problems all throughout recruiting camps across the whole military during Red River and while you were gone, Will–recruiting itself has gone downhill and we actually had recruits dying left and right.”
Will groaned loudly into a “OH BOY… don’t tell me Ultinn had something to do with it…”
“That rat bastard, Karnage, up to his old tricks again?” Sam questioned with a recognizable venom in her voice.
“Don’t ask her about Gore Bloodblade,” Jackson quickly whispered to Izzy. “Talk to Blood-Wraith or Dr. Livesey about it…”
“...not directly–no,” Bradshaw answered to the couple. “It was an already flawed system straining under the weight of a stupid tyrant. Given that Hector was a grifting authoritarian, he let in anyone under the sun who stroked his ego, meaning the institutions tasked with bringing in new soldiers started to rot quickly.”
“Well of course–why fight for a government that hates you?” Will put forth. “That, or you were just in it for the money. Both are pretty bad if you ask me.”
Antares noticed Marcus sighing and nodded. “Reason number 576 of why I wanted to keep Will out of the meat grinder… My mission to the middle east back in 2016 is also a big reason, but we don’t talk about that one…”
“I–I understand what you’ve been getting at, Antares,” Marcus replied with regret in his voice. “I was given the privilege to observe a boot camp program in October and… Well let’s just say I lost my shit when I saw that ‘sugar cookie’ nonsense”
“What the fuck?!” Sam and Will interjected in unison, with Izzy facepalming like he was mortified.
Marcus growled in a way that was uncharacteristic for him–he was not mad at anyone in the room, rather the system that he had put faith in, which embarrassed him to no end. “I didn’t want to believe Antares when he said it had gotten bad since our time in training respectively, but this new brand of officers and sergeants were utterly cartoonish! That punishment I just mentioned? Imagine being drenched in sunscreen and forced to roll in sand, and then not being allowed to clean yourself off! Pardon my language, but what the hell is that even teaching recruits!? That you’re a disposable tool that’ll be left for dead on the battlefield once you're all used up?!”
Jackson shook his head. “My dad would probably mention something about how those buttercups wouldn’t last two seconds in the Epoch…” He then began to do an impression of Reynard. “...back then nothing was certain and you survived on wit, tact, and friendship–and don’t even get me started on all of The Lost Era nonsense that was spilling through.” This served to lighten the mood and made some of the others chuckle.
“It’s utterly offensive how far military discipline has plummeted,” Bradshaw asserted. “Commanding officers act like cartoon characters and do nothing but scream at the recruits. I’d say they treat them like animals, but let’s be real–an animal wouldn’t deliberately antagonize you by throwing your stuff all over the place like a primate, order you to clean it up because somehow it’s your fault, and then scream at you all night while you’re trying to sleep–”
“Complete dumbasses, all of them,” Antares resumed. “Mind you what Marc’s describing is the marine’s recruit bootcamps–”
“Incentive training to be specific,” Izzy clarified. “It’s not as bad as those idiots at the depot think it is, but that doesn’t mean it’s pleasant…”
“You think the thugs and goons we deal with are going to wait for you to reorganize your stuff once they throw it all over the place, or for you to throw a Private’s belongings around? No, they’ll just shoot you! It’s kill or be killed out there, not ‘let’s act like complete schizo’s trying to turn the recruits into machines.’”
Will felt his anger boiling over, and Haze rippled in response, but he maintained his cool. “Yeah–if I was an enemy soldier, I’d wait for those braindead instructors to start distracting them with their antics and light ’em up.” Izzy was a little surprised by Will’s brashness as he leaned back a little.
“The idea is not to train capable soldiers, but to create mindless automata that will do what they’re told and die when ordered,” Bradshaw pointed out. “Except that doesn’t create respect or character–it breeds contempt and spite…”
“Uh-huh–so the government can get rid of them at a later date” Will groaned. “I’m not dumb–I know why they treat them and veterans like dirt; they don’t want soldiers fighting back when the tyrants decide to take over.”
Marcus was surprised by that deduction, especially coming from Will. “You came to that conclusion all by yourself, Will?”
“Of course he did,” said Antares. “Why do you think Jun went rogue? He thinks like Will. Those two may not be in the same boat, but they’re cut from the same cloth–they’re warriors who know when they’re being played like a fiddle.”
Jun gave a little chuckle, thinking back to his stint as Dethblade the Hunter. “Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands–don’t get carried away, though.”
There was a sigh of sympathy from Marcus, and it was clear who it was directed at. “Well either way, I have been speaking to Senator Ripper, and we’ve been further speaking to President Donovan about this–recruiting has gotten out of hand and too many potential soldiers are getting mangled or neglected, so Abel has signed an executive order to start awareness campaigns and PSAs with the hopes that we can get the American people talking about this and pressuring their elected officials to start passing laws to make sure that we are actually creating strong, all-American soldiers, not broken men that will betray us the first chance they get.”
Antares then laughed maniacally and turned to Will. “So, want to know why I got in trouble recently, Will?”
Will laughed with similar enthusiasm and said “Do tell…”
“Oh boy, here we go…” Marcus said as Bradshaw patted his shoulder.
Antares got himself comfortable and cleared his throat, ready to tell his story. “So Marcus naturally vented to me about that little incident where he lost his shit–fair enough, as I’m all ears for this stuff. I told him me and Adrien would tag along on the next jaunt, because Marcus was on tour given his accolades with GRENADIER. We get to some no-name base in Texas and it’s the same old shit–you got a bunch of ‘right-wingers’ shouting leftie nonsense behind people’s backs and being general dicks to the recruits–and you know what kind of righties I’m talking about; they claim hate communism and big government, but say we need to go on UBI once ‘AI’ takes over…”
“HA, WHAT AI?” Will belted out. “Pretty sure AIN-NULL pissed on that parade! Oh, I’m sorry, I meant ‘super intelligence!’” His voice was full of mockery and it gave Izzy a pretty good idea of where he stood on that issue.
“I know, right?!” Antares replied with similar vindicated happiness in his voice. “Anyways; So we get in and observe a typical day for a platoon of some fresh recruits–heading into the marines eventually. It’s just a damn circus there–nothing but screaming and the commanding officers bullying the recruits. I get that you need to treat them tough and harden them up for combat, but this was just cartoonish. After the usual nonsense of them throwing their clothes all around like a bunch of animals–because enemy insurgents and soldiers totally do that–I had had enough of this one instructor named Birks. He was annoying, his face pissed me off, and his voice was hoarse in a way that was like nails on a chalkboard. He was so annoying that I’m pretty sure R. Lee Ermey himself would have risen from the grave to dress him down…”
“I’d kill to have a drill sergeant like him, ha,” Izzy slipped in in a joking manner, causing Bradshaw to laugh at that and Antares’ initial assertion.
Antares shook his head with a smile on his face and continued. “I get into it with Birks, calling him a joke of an officer who would make great cannon fodder, and we get into a bit of a screaming match, him hurling expletives at me while I just kept using them to make fun of him–I’ll admit, I was being a bit of a bully, ha…” Marcus scoffed in a lighthearted manner, an obvious call-out towards his antics. “And I could tell some of the recruits were about to start laughing. Birks saw that too and then decked me in the gut…” He paused to let the others take that fact in, as shocked looks spread across their faces. “Naturally I took exception to that.”
“And then the two got into a fist a fight…” Marcus said as he slouched in his chair a little.
“Hey, I didn’t get shot in the shoulder back in 2016 for nothing!” Antares proudly declared, despite that mission haunting him to that day. “So the whole bunker turned into a bit of a brawl, with me having to deal with multiple people trying to grab me. Jokes were on them, because I’ve dealt with crowds before and taken lessons from Satsuki–too many cooks in the kitchen are their own worst enemy. Of course Adrien had to back me up, hehe…”
“What, you think I was just going to sit around for a good fight, amigo?” Adrien pointed out with his own pride. “And then the whole platoon got involved, so we really had to jive. Given that me and Satsuki survived Sebastian’s ambush, I wasn’t going to let them win.” Despite having been present for the incident, Izzy could not help but smile.
“And I had to get involved too, as I wasn’t going to let them get away with arresting or charging us…” Marcus added with a sigh.
“Birks started it,” Antares stated with aggression in his voice. “If he didn’t want his entire platoon knocked on their asses he shouldn’t have sucker punched me. Anyways, some of the recruits were smart and got out of there, of which afterwards we tracked them down and had them transferred to The Liger Brigade…”
“Ah, I see, haha!” Will put in. “We’ve got an eye for talent, Izzy–and don’t let anyone fault you for a tactical retreat.”
“Oh, trust me, Will, we weren’t catching heat for that fight,” replied Izzy.
“As for the rest of the officers?” Antares continued. “I went toe-to-toe with Sebastian–you really think I am going to let a bunch of sleep-deprived, snot-nosed kids get one up on us? I even busted out my magic sledgehammers and Adrien went full Oni on them all, leaving them groaning and bruised on the floor. We told them that in the real world the enemy won’t respect you, disrespect you, or tear you down–they’ll just shoot you… and then Marcus did the coolest thing ever…”
Marcus had the biggest, smug smile on his face as he sat up, and it gave the room a warmth like no other. “Using my authority as a Colonel and influence with GRENADIER, I declared the brawl a training exercise, narrowly avoiding criminal charges…” There was a round of applause, with the whole squad giving cheers towards the victory. “And thankfully General Lundberg backed me up on that one.”
“Now that’s something else,” Will said as he leaned back to stretch, then got up to pace. “No joke, Izzy, the conflicts you’re about to see are way different than what you would have expected in the marines. There’s a bit more honor and cunning with the threats we deal with–hell, even Ultinn-Lacksus will fight you one on one, but that doesn’t mean you can let your guard down. Enemy soldiers and insurgents are out to shoot you, but the eldritch monstrosities we deal with are out to usurp God himself. Think you’re ready for that?”
Izzy needed a moment to think about that and also got up to stretch. “Well, it’s better than going through bootcamp, so yeah, I’m all in.”
Will then walked over to him and shook his hand, with Haze pulling some of himself back for the shake. “Welcome to The Liger Brigade, Private.”
“Thank you, Specialist, sir… Hey, can I get a suit like that?”
“Sorry, Izzy, but I’m one of a kind,” Haze said as he raised Will’s hand. “But The ULTRAMagic Guild can get you a polymateria bodysuit, which is great for casting magic.”
“Speaking of which,” Marcus cut in. “Will, can you use your void magic to find out what the magic aptitudes of the recruits are?”
Will put his hands on his hips with a chuckle. “Alright…”
“Boyo’s pretty good at it, despite claiming he’s not,” Sam added.
“So, Izzy, how’s your fellow recruits?” Will inquired.
Izzy wandered back over to the table and leaned on it with his hand. “We weren’t really friends during bootcamp, but once we got out of that shitshow we became pretty good friends–Waldemar, Lockie, and Price are pretty cool when you get to know them, and I think they’ll definitely like all of you.”
“You like anime and video games, Izzy?” Will suddenly asked.
“Hell yeah, dude.”
“Alright, you’re hanging out with me, Satsuki, Ryota, and Liam when you get the chance.” Seeing Will back to his old self made everyone else chuckle. “Oh, yeah–I’m going to go visit my parents, guys… ULTRAMagic Devil, Ernust, and Valentin got on my case about it…”
“Do you want me to come along, Will?” Antares inquired.
Will hesitated. “I think things will be fine… I was getting triple fours today though…”
“Not a good sign, Will,” Kyu pointed out.
“Aw, I don’t know, Kyu–it’s just my parents, and I doubt anything weird has gone their way… I feel like something’s going to go wrong, but that’s all the more reason to make sure they’re okay…”
Izzy then patted Will’s shoulder. “I know how you feel, as my parents didn’t fully get along either.”
Will gave him a big smile for that. “Thanks, kid.”
“Can I ask another quick question?”
“Sure, shoot.”
Izzy cleared his throat, wanting to make sure he worded his question right. “Why are Colonel Trelawney and Lt. Colonel Briggs so… casual towards each other?”
Antares chuckled. “You found out about the ‘dork-meister’ thing, didn’t you? Back before Marc joined GRENADIER, he was my commanding officer, and we were pretty close as friends–believe it or not he’s not some grumpy old adult.”
Marcus laughed and shook his head. “I never cottoned to my parents telling me that I had to throw my toys out when I ‘grew up.’ Will knows how I feel on this matter, but growing up doesn’t mean abandoning your inner child, it means making the right decisions when the time comes…” Before anything else could be said, Marcus looked down at his communicator, which had a message pop up. “Zack’s almost here with the rest of the recruits, everyone…”
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ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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