Chương 28: Arc 1 - Chapter 7 - Alpha Squad

When all the members of Alpha Squad had finally assembled next to each other on the podium, Major Quinn continued her explanation.

"Each and every member of Alpha Squad was chosen for two simple reasons:"They were granted a silver rarity active Ability by the Allbright System itself. I won't go in-depth on Ability rarities here, but rest assured that they are quite rare, as evidenced by the fact that there are only six of them up here with me. Generally, newly recruited Alpha Squads have only three or four Abilities of silver rarity, but we got lucky on this drive and got a full squad's worth of Alpha material.

"Don't misunderstand this designation, though; they are not inherently better than anyone else in this room. They were simply marked by the System as having an extraordinary amount of potential. How they use that potential, and how each and every one of you uses your own and builds upon it, will have a far greater impact than whatever starting Ability the System has decided to grant.

"Furthermore, silver rarity Abilities aren't inherently better than copper or iron ones either. In fact, they're often more niche and specific than the ones that most of you will have gained, making the latter more effective in average situations than Alpha Squad's." Major Quinn paused for a moment, allowing the Recruits to digest the new information. This was a clear habit she had developed as part of her presentations, which everyone had picked up on by now.

Thea appreciated these breaks quite a lot, as they gave her overactive imagination time to rein itself in before the next bombshell of information was dropped by the Major. Being on the podium in front of nearly a thousand of her peers was an utterly horrifying experience for Thea. She was grateful that the golden spotlights illuminating the Major, the rest of Alpha Squad, and herself made it nearly impossible to see any of the seated Recruits.

If she had seen all those faces staring up at her, she likely would have fled from the pressure. Thea had briefly observed the other members of Alpha Squad getting up and walking onto the podium, noting that they had all been seated in pairs. This arrangement was likely pre-planned by the UHF to ensure that the members could easily access their seats. However, Thea was extremely grateful for it for a completely separate reason, as it had allowed her to catch a lucky break with Karania.

Without her, Thea would have likely struggled a lot more with getting up on the podium and potentially caused a scene that would haunt her early career for a long time. She made a mental note to properly thank Karania at a later date, to ensure that the debt she felt she owed was paid in full. As her thoughts returned to her seating arrangement, Thea couldn't help but wonder how the Recruits, who had requested a seat different from the one to her left, felt now, seeing her on stage.

They were probably even more upset than they had initially been, having to share their ceremony with someone like her – a cyan. This thought sent a mix of anxiety and amusement through her body, as she worried about their reactions in the future but also felt vindicated for being recognized by both the System and the UHF, despite the prejudice she faced for merely existing.

As had become commonplace for Thea's wandering thoughts, they were once again interrupted by Major Quinn's serious and informative voice as she continued her explanation.

"You are all, no doubt, aware by now that this recruitment drive was vastly different from previous ones since the UHF decided to widen the net and allow mid-worlders to take the challenge assessment trials as well. This decision was made for reasons that neither you nor I are privy to, so don't bother asking me about it.

"However, I can tell you that it seems to have been worth the effort. Two of the six members of Alpha Squad are mid-worlders, as are around 90 others of you in the crowd. This is a phenomenal outcome for something initially deemed a complete waste of time by many.

"The UHF is under no illusions that there won't be some social conflicts arising internally as a result of this significant change in our recruitment policy. That said, I am here to remind you that, while social conflict can be healthy when it creates friendly rivalries and pushes each other further, it has absolutely no place on the battlefield.

"We frankly do not care if your feelings are hurt because someone insulted you or made an inappropriate comment. We do not care if there is personal conflict within your squad, because your boyfriend fucked the squad's heavy. Handle your issues outside of the missions, as long as you do not run afoul of the overall UHF Marine Corps rules.

"We expect you to be on your absolute best behaviour whenever you are deployed, whether it be digitally or in the real world, however. If your cheating boyfriend ends up taking a round and you're the medic, you better work your absolute ass off to get him fixed up as good as you can, because if we figure out that you hesitated even a fraction of a second, during the after-action analysis, a court martial will be the least of your worries.

"The same goes for any prejudices you all might have for mid, inner, or core worlders, or any other possible social construct you might favour. Outside of the battlefield, handle your issues yourself as long as you don't take it too far. On the battlefield, you better give it your all, or you can say goodbye to your Marine designation and hello to the brig faster than you can imagine." Major Quinn briefly paused once again and moved slightly closer to Thea before continuing.

"One of our Alpha Squad members is not just from a mid-world, but even from an undercity. For all of you inner and core-worlders that don't know, undercities are bottom-tier slums that exist mostly outside the law of the governing body of the given planet they exist on. It's not a good place to grow up in, trust me.

"Yet, despite those odds, she managed to not only pass the challenge assessment but also be recognized by the System itself. To add another tidbit on top of all that, she's also a cyan. Her name's Thea McKay, and she will be one of the members of Alpha Squad you'll have to look out for the most if you want to take the number one spot on any of the leaderboards." Thea's face burned bright with embarrassment once again, her eyes wide at the Major's words.

Her mind reeling with despair, Thea could do nothing but steel herself to the best of her ability, ' Why is she painting such a huge target on my back?! I was already struggling, was this really necessary…?! What did I do to Major Quinn to deserve this?!'

"Now, you might be wondering why I am even telling you all this, but the answer is quite nuanced, yet also very simple.

"The previous remarks about social standings and not letting them influence you too much were mostly a reminder for all of you. However, when it comes to Alpha Squad, such reminders won't really be necessary. Both Recruit Thea McKay and Recruit Isabella Itoku, our two Alpha Squad mid-worlders, are more than capable of handling themselves. Don't come crying to the UHF leadership just because—" Before Thea knew what was happening, she felt her body falling backward.

In a state of panic, she quickly activated her active Ability to buy more time to figure out what was going on." Sensory Overdrive." As time started to slow down for a fraction of a second, Thea was able to quickly analyse the situation she found herself in. Shocked, she saw that the Major had pulled out a gun seemingly from nowhere and fired it right at Thea's head, from a mere two metres away.

Thea had instinctively and immediately thrown herself backward into a free-fall to evade the incoming projectile before she had even realised what was happening. Thanks to her vastly heightened senses in her current state, she felt the familiar after-effects of her instincts pound deep inside her chest before they vanished entirely. It seemed they had, once again, saved her life without her even knowing.

In the brief moment that Sensory Overdrive was still active, Thea managed to quickly scan the rest of Alpha Squad and realised that none of them had been able to react to the happenings in front of them quite yet, as the Major's actions had been too fast to follow. As her final action, Thea prepared her entire body to land in a way that allowed for a quick escape, should the need arise, while also moving her hand to the holster at her side.

Thankful for the extra time Sensory Overdrive had given her to digest the situation, she also recognized that there was absolutely no ill intent on the Major's face. In fact, Major Quinn hadn't even moved to look at Thea before pulling out her gun or shooting, as if she merely flicked at an annoying fly. When the Sensory Overdrive finally ran out, all hell broke loose on the stage.

Thea, mid-free fall, suddenly turned in nearly impossible angles to land on her feet in a crouched position, eyes fixed onto the Major, hand at the ready near her holster. Karania, who had been closest to Thea when the shot had happened, had yelped in surprise, while equally lowering her profile into a near-crouch and grabbing for the holster at her side.

The rest of Alpha Squad had similarly gone into a state of high alert, with all of them lowering their profiles, hands at the ready near their holsters, eyes affixed to the Major's every move. It was only now that the rest of the Recruits seemed to have realised what had happened, as gasps of shock and a few rare yelps of surprise could be heard from the rows of chairs below.

Before anyone could interject, Major Quinn put away the gun into the hidden holster inside of her overcoat, which she had drawn it from in the first place.

"As you can see, Alpha Squad does not need these protections. They are more than capable of handling themselves. So, act with caution and keep your stupid social quarrels to yourselves, nobody cares about them around here. We're all UHF Marines, nothing more, nothing less.

"If any of you Recruits think you can handle the same kind of surprise attack that Recruit Thea McKay just did, feel free to come up to the stage and stand right next to me for the remainder of my presentation." Major Quinn gestured to her right side, clearly inviting anyone to take her up on the offer, while staring with a challenging glare into the assembled mass of Recruits before the podium.' So… that's why she did that…? I guess it gets the point across, but…'

were the only coherent thoughts Thea managed to muster, still shaken from the sudden attack and the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She realised that Major Quinn was attempting to nip the issue of social conflict in the bud before it could escalate, by clearly showcasing Thea's abilities and merits, as the poster-child for all things 'wrong' in the eyes of the traditionalists. Though she hated to admit it, she had been the perfect target for the Major's intentions.

Not only did she have one of the least imposing appearances in Alpha Squad, but she was also a mid-worlder, an undercity citizen, and a cyan. Coupled with her incredible instincts, high perception, and above-average reflexes, Thea was the ideal example for a striking demonstration, as Major Quinn had vividly shown. While Thea was still considering the implications of the Major's action, Major Quinn already continued to move onwards with her prepared topics.

"This also brings me to the second reason they were chosen for Alpha Squad as a whole:"They performed exceptionally well during the last two years of training, as well as during their assessment challenge over two years ago when you were all initially scouted for this recruitment drive.

"Combined, all six of them have a higher score total than a third of the rest of you combined. So don't assume that displacing any of them from Alpha Squad will be a trivial task that you can accomplish with mere wishful thinking. Strive hard, sweat, and bleed with everything you've got. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"If you do all that, you might have a glimmer of a chance to overcome the bar set before you right now.

"However, the same goes for you, Alpha Squad. Don't think you're untouchable just because you're at the top from the start. If you don't maintain the rapid progress you've shown since the assessment two years ago, you'll be overtaken by the hungry competitors in the assembly hall and find yourself losing Alpha Squad status before you know it." Major Quinn finished while staring intently at the recruits on the podium.

When her eyes met Thea's, Thea could've sworn she saw the Major give her a minuscule nod, but if that was true, it had been so subtle that even Thea's enhanced senses couldn't fully confirm it.

"Now, enough of this boring stuff. Let me give you a quick rundown on how we'll proceed from here.

"First, we will all get ourselves digitised. The DDS of the Sovereign will be your new home for the next year, except for the single month of ship duty that the Captain mentioned earlier.

"Second, you will all receive your assigned living quarters and squads. You'll live together with your squad to build a better rapport and instinctual understanding of each other. Always remember my previous talk about social issues. Handle your problems internally and keep that shit outside of missions.

"Third, you will gain access to your schedules, which will also be shared with your squad. By now, you should realise that you'll be spending a lot of time with them. This is a theme you'll see throughout all of your advanced training. The UHF Marine Corps is fundamentally squad-based, so we need you to get used to working as one as soon as possible.

"Lastly, after the first week of rudimentary education on advanced topics, such as System 101, Warfare 101, and Galaxy-Politics 101, you'll participate in your first quarterly assessment with the rest of your squad.

"This will be your first official chance to prove yourselves since the challenge assessment over two years ago. It will serve as both a comparison of how you've evolved throughout the two years of basic training and a starting point for future comparisons once you integrate more fully with the Allbright System as a whole.

"It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that this will be one of the most important assessments you'll ever take, so don't slack off.

"Now, let's get ourselves digitised in the Sovereign's DDS, so we can all get on with our lives. Follow me to the digitisation rooms in an orderly manner; I don't want to see any of my new Marines misbehave on the way there." Major Quinn immediately began moving with brisk steps towards the right-hand stairs to leave the podium, while the rest of Alpha Squad continued to warily watch her every move.

Thea, now able to focus on her surroundings rather than being entirely fixated on the dangerously fast Major next to her, briefly noted that the other members of Alpha Squad were even more formidable than she had initially assumed. Without ever having worked together or even knowing each other's roles, they had all instinctively assumed a defensive setup.

This arrangement positioned the members with less Strength and Vitality at the back, except for Thea herself, as she had been too close to the Major to be included in their formation. Thea recognized that the two giants, Isabella and the muscular guy whose name she didn't yet know, had interposed themselves between the Major's original position right after she fired the shot and the rest of the squad.

They placed Karania and the two less imposing-looking men behind their broad backs, with enough spacing to allow them to fire from behind if necessary. Before anyone else could say or do anything, the noble-looking Recruit spoke up in a friendly yet firm voice.

"Let's follow the Major, Alpha Squad. We can't be seen lagging behind now, or the rabid Recruits down there will eat us alive. Great reactions to the sudden attack, by the way. I'm looking forward to working with all of you." He spoke with a tone of experienced authority and firmness that barred all arguments, clearly positioning himself as a leader within Alpha Squad.

A tense moment followed, in which all members of Alpha Squad carefully evaluated one another, trying to judge each other's thoughts on their current situation and the noble-looking Recruit's implicit bid for command. The moment was broken by Isabella fairly quickly, however, as she simply grunted an affirmation, shrugged her broad shoulders in a nonchalant 'I don't really care' manner, and gracefully turned to follow Major Quinn down the podium.

The rest of the squad was similarly broken out of their stalemate of suspicion and caution by the giant woman's behaviour, and they seemed to agree to follow the noble-looking Recruit's advice for now. They quickly caught up with Isabella and Major Quinn as they made their way down from the podium. Karania had swiftly fallen in line with Thea, as they walked down the stairs towards the rest of the waiting Recruits.

"Are you okay? You didn't get hit, did you?" She asked quietly while leaning close to Thea, with concern evident in her voice. Dumbfounded by the concern shown to her by a complete stranger, Thea reeled to find a proper retort on the quick, "Ahhh… I… She missed? Ehhh… I mean, no I'm fine. Thank you." With a sigh of relief, Karania's face relaxed from her concerned frown into a more natural expression, before she excitedly whispered, "I'm glad to hear that. That was extremely unexpected and so scary!

I can't believe you managed not to get hit, that was incredible! The way you managed to land on your feet too, that was crazy!" Before Thea could come up with a proper answer to the excited girl's outpouring of praise, a deeper voice entered their quiet conversation in an equally whisper-like tone.

"Talking about that - How did you manage to get the Major to join in on that stunt? That was quite the show you two put on there. Dodging a bullet at point-blank range, fired by an insanely fast-moving Major… that's a great trick to make sure the other Recruits respect us! I appreciate you putting that on for us." As Thea looked to see who had joined Karania and their conversation, she was surprised to see the giant man walk next to them.

Despite his massive stature and imposing physique, he was moving with surprising elegance and poise. Judging simply by the sound of his footsteps, Thea had expected to see either the noble-looking Recruit or the other, less imposing looking man of Alpha Squad, but her expectations had completely been subverted by his surprisingly graceful movements.

She also noted that Karania was looking at her with equal anticipation, clearly awaiting Thea to reveal her secrets on how she had managed to get the Major roped into such a party-trick. Unfortunately for Thea, however, there had been no such agreements whatsoever. Major Quinn had seriously and sincerely fired a shot at her out of nowhere, with no prior warning or indication thereof. Without Thea's exceptional instincts and reflexes, she would have died right then and there - again.

The Major had given her the slightest of nods afterwards, if her perception hadn't played tricks on her, as if to indicate that Thea had performed according to Major Quinn's expectations, but what exactly those expectations were or where they came from, Thea had no idea.

Stuck with the dilemma of either having to come up with a story that satisfies both of her squad members or having to tell the truth and likely be branded as a liar, since they both seemed fairly convinced it had all been some sort of ploy, concocted by Thea, she struggled with finding a proper answer. As the seconds dragged on, her anxiety spiked to new levels as both of her squad members continued to look expectantly at her. To Thea, their gazes felt like drills boring into her heart.

Wanting to simply leave the situation as fast as possible, she quickly muttered the first thing that came to her mind, "There was no trick. She really did try to shoot me. I've got really good instincts and reflexes… simply got lucky, really." Bracing herself for the tirade and accusations to come, Thea steeled her heart and mind.

"Huh? Really now? That seems quite unbelievable… but it does kind of make more sense than that stern Major joining in on a party trick… I'm not saying I believe it… but I also won't pry into your secrets any further. Still appreciate what you did for us, regardless of how it came to be. Looking forward to working with you," came the deeper voice of the giant man. Surprised by the amicable tone in his voice and the words he spoke, Thea spun her head to meet his gaze head-on for the first time.

She was looking straight into his brown eyes, which seemed devoid of any hostility, simply tinged with a hint of curiosity. She also now saw that the man was holding out his hand in a friendly manner, as if to shake on their future cooperation. Realising that she was simply staring at the man while they continued to walk behind the Major and the rest of Alpha Squad, she quickly grabbed his hand and shook it, albeit fairly awkwardly due to her attempt at making up for lost time.

"Ahhh… Thank you! My name's Thea, as you probably heard. Looking forward to working with you." He gave her a friendly grin and a nod, while gently shaking her hand. To Thea, his hands seemed like a giant vise, ready to squish her meek hand at any given moment, but the gentle way in which the man shook her hand left her feeling surprisingly at ease.

"Likewise, Thea. Name's Lucas, in case I didn't mention it earlier. Lucas Callahan. I'll be watching over you during our missions together, so just stay behind my back and do your thing. I got you covered!" He added with a thumbs up and a bit of a goofy grin. Thea couldn't help but giggle at Lucas's antics, ' That was… unexpected. I really thought he'd call me more of a liar and just walk away, like everyone always does. He seems nice enough! Hopefully the rest of the squad will be as easy to deal with…'

Looking over at Karania, Thea noted how her expression had turned into more of a mixture of genuine surprise and excitement. The second Thea and Lucas stopped shaking hands and the conversation seemed to be finished, Karania immediately started talking in an excited, yet whisper-like voice.

"You actually dodged the bullet?! And it wasn't even part of some plan?! That is utterly insane, Thea! That is so unbelievably cool! How in the Void did you do that?! Are you actually unkillable then, if you can dodge bullets like that…?!" With each sentence, she moved closer and closer to Thea, her eyes taking on a feverish glare that Thea had only seen in Karania's eyes once before.

"Calm down, Karania! Please! Too many questions, too close!" With those words, Thea reeled away from the rapidly approaching Karania and accidentally bumped into the imposing figure of Isabella behind her.

"Watch it! Keep your stupid squabbles to yourselves, children," came the annoyed reprimand of the giant woman, before she looked back towards the Major and continued her silent march.' Well… there goes my attempt at starting off on a good foot with Isabella… Hopefully I can fix this up later…' Karania looked apologetically towards Thea and mouthed a quiet "Sorry", while hiding parts of her face behind her hands, as if to dodge the ire of Isabella they had incurred.

With a sigh, Thea stepped back closer towards Karania, before answering in a lowered voice, "You really have to rein yourself in some, Karania… Now Isabella hates me! I was really hoping I could build some good rapport with the other members of Alpha Squad…"

"I'm sorry, Thea… I was just too excited…" Karania admitted with a genuinely sad expression on her face. Feeling like she had caused the sadness, Thea immediately backpedalled, unable to bear the guilt of making one of the only people that talked to her on their own accord sad.

"Ahhh, don't worry! I'm sure I'll figure something out… To answer your questions from earlier: Yes, I actually dodged the bullet. As I mentioned before, I got lucky. I have some extremely good instincts and although my reflexes are good, they can't really keep up, most of the time." Karania listened attentively, eyes wide with interest. It was evident to Thea that Karania was reining in her desire to approach Thea again, keeping a healthy distance instead.

Thankful for the afforded private space, she continued answering the questions posed by Karania earlier.

"No, there was no plan. I've only encountered the Major once before, and it wasn't a proper 'meeting'. She was the one that explained the challenge to us back on my homeplanet of Lumiosia when we opened the Cube… actually, did you have Cubes too? Like a giant cuboid piece of new-tech with a bunch of Sim-Pods inside?

"Am I actually unkillable? No. I've died before, during the epilogue of the challenge I was in. I got overrun by a bunch of Stellar Republic soldiers in a trench, not much I could do to evade attacks there, even if I know they're coming.

"I honestly also simply do not know what this instinct even is, to be honest. Prior to the challenge, I never really felt my instinct this… distinctly. I'm still trying to figure things out myself, so I can't provide more details than that. Sorry about that…" Karania's eyes kept widening the longer Thea elaborated, curiosity and amazement evident in the depths of her green eyes.

Although Thea felt a bit anxious from talking for such a long period of time, not wanting to seem overbearing to Karania, she also could not help but feel overjoyed that someone, outside of Thomas or James, was genuinely interested in the things she had to say.

"Yes! We did have Cubes on Aerion too! Although you could also go to the UHF recruitment centres, most people that I know of went to one of the Cube locations instead." Karania's expression turned into a questioning, uncertain one, before she continued, "Say… you mentioned you died during the epilogue before… Does… Does that mean you didn't die during your trial at all? Like, in the actual challenge itself? That was your only death? No respawns?"

Slightly surprised by the question, Thea raised one of her eyebrows, before responding, "Ehhh, yeah. That's what the debriefing Officer said. I… I kinda missed the mission timer at the end… I didn't know when it was ending… But I died right at the end, as I mentioned earlier. No deaths until then, though! I did come close a few times, however…" Thea felt a pang of anxiety and embarrassment creep up at the admission of her faux-pas.

Missing the primary mission timer had been by far her biggest mistake during the trial, if she had to take a guess. While she still wasn't sure whether she could fully trust Karania, she absolutely wanted to try her best to build a good rapport with the kind and energetic girl. She hoped that revealing an embarrassing secret like that would help her get a step closer to her goal!

Her hopes were immediately dashed, however, when she saw Karania's expression change into that of a deep frown - confusion and uncertainty evident on her face. Thea's mind immediately began to race, ' Fuck. I messed up again, didn't I?! I shouldn't have shared this stupid mistake after all! Why are you so dumb, Thea?! Of course she would think you're an idiot! Who the fuck misses the primary mission timer?!' Unsure of what to do, Thea simply walked next to the brooding Karania in silence.

Worried that she had messed up the only connection she had managed to make, Thea continued to steal glances at Karania over the course of their march towards whatever location the Major intended to bring them to. Determined not to give up on the chance for friendship however, Thea made a promise to herself: to try and fix whatever she had managed to break in her connection with Karania, even though she had no idea where to start…