David glanced over his shoulder and saw Jean looking at him. She quickly broke the eye contact, staring straight ahead of her. David looked forward again, and reached the T in the hallway. He continued straight, on to the conference hall. As he approached the entrance, the computer-controlled doors detected his presence. They eased open, and David got a glance at the conference hall.
The room was huge. The ceiling rose over a hundred feet, and row after row of chairs encircled a round podium in the middle. The podium was about ten meters across, and all of the spotlight fixtures faced it. Almost every seat in the room was taken, and David made a quick estimate; there were just over two million soldiers in the room. David felt surprised that so many had successfully evaded the capture of Earth, the end of the world as it were. Had the military concentrated on saving its own before the lives of the civilians? David didn�t want to think about that. His eye implant outlined a set of chairs near the podium, and made them flash in yellow. He walked down to the end of the row, passed a few soldiers as they awaited the Admiral�s speech, and sat in his assigned seat.
The chairs were too comfortable, and David�s armor kept him sitting rigid. He would have preferred to stand. They sat there for several minutes, and the room was polluted by the chatter of the AGF�s around them. David�s men remained silent, though they were a little restless. William shifted in his chair, and coughed. The wait seemed like it would last an eternity, when suddenly-
The lights dimmed. The spotlights on the center podium brightened, further highlighting the empty grounds. The room slowly fell silent. Soon, the only sounds audible in the room was the low hum of the furnaces as they heated the room. A section of the podium slid away, and a platform was raised into place by the Actigrav. On it stood a man, roughly six feet tall, with dull gray hair and a clean-shaven face. The man occupying the platform was none other than Admiral McInton.
No clapping was heard in the room, however. Instead, the combined whoosh of over two million men standing and saluting filled the air. Every soldier, David and his team included, stood at attention facing the Admiral. The Admiral looked around him, and a slight smile slid across his face. The lights should have made it damn near impossible for him to see beyond his podium, yet his gaze floated through the crowd, drifting from soldier to soldier. He tucked his hands behind his back, and began to speak.
�At ease�, the speakers boomed. Every soldier sunk back into their chairs in unison, all listening very closely for what the Admiral had to say. He looked down at the ground for a second, then brought his gaze back parallel to the floor. �My fellow soldiers, this morning I stand among the Alliance�s bravest and best. We must not look back at what strongholds we have lost nor the men left behind. Instead, we must honor their sacrifices, and push on to fight another day. The enemy does not currently know of our little installation�s existence, but you know as well as I do that that can not last forever.�
The Admiral�s gaze dropped again, and he started pacing along the floor. He made eye contact with a few soldiers, and he began speaking in a voice with more emphasis behind it.
�First, I shall give you what good news I can. Clan Sapphire Wolf did not get off easy from their attack on Earth. Our Intel indicates that their fleet is severely crippled, and ready to fall. Why? Because of you. The enemy took Earth, but our Ground Forces and our Naval crews gave those god-damned clanners hell before they did!� The room filled with an uproar of excitement, soldiers cheering the Admiral on. It was true; they had lost Earth, but the enemy hadn�t exactly gotten off unpunished either.
�Well over ninety percent of the enemy�s ground forces have been sent straight to hell, and more than � of their Armada has been destroyed. I believe that credit should be given where credit is due. So, here is your fellow soldiers responsible for the Armada�s crippling: the 113th AGF division.� David felt an adrenaline rush of surprise flow through him, and began to stand. The Actigrav plucked him and his team off of the floor, and transported them almost instantaneously to the Admiral�s side. David stood there in the blinding spotlights, and was bombarded by the applause of his fellow soldiers in the room. He could just barely make out the hundreds of thousands of faces beyond the podium, and made sure not to squint. He had already snapped to attention, as had the rest of his team.
The noise quickly settled and died again, and McInton spoke.
�The 113th division obliterated over a hundred enemy ships, leaving the �mighty� Clan Navy devastated. They are your fellow soldiers, fighting so that we may all live to fight another day. Today, a few among you will be joining this legendary squad.�
David winced. The Admiral was increasing their ranks? David knew how helpful the extra men would be, but the reason that his team worked together wasn�t because of their skills� it was something else, something that these newcomers wouldn�t have. None the less, David showed no objection. The Admiral didn�t understand this, and David wasn�t about to try to explain his �problem� to him in the middle of his speech.
�The elite of the elite among you will be joining the 113th division, to protect both Mars and to reclaim old territories. Old territories like Earth.�
The crowd was dead silent at this point; most among them were still shaken by the loss of Earth to the Clanners. The Admiral�s right hand moved across his left behind his back, accessing his wrist implant. The names of the thirty new editions to the 113th division flashed up on his eye implant, and he began to read them off.
With each name he read, a steady stream of applause came from the rest of the soldiers. One by one, as they were called, the recruits were picked up by the Actigrav and placed onto the podium. They marched up to David, saluted him, and stood in ranks behind him. Eventually, a rectangle of soldiers five men wide by six men long stood behind him, all standing at perfect attention. N�tn�see, Jean, and William were given ten soldiers each to command, but were still under their squad leader. Admiral McInton strolled to stand before them, and turned to face them.
�113th division, you are hereby dismissed from this briefing. Your orders shall be sent to your accounts within the hour.� As the Admiral finished his last word, the 34 soldier�s heels clicked together, and their hands snapped up into a salute. As he saluted them back, the Actigrav pulled them up to a platform in the ceiling. David could hear the Admiral continue his speech to the rest of the Alliance military as they were dropped into more tubes at the top that acted like a slide, and they plummeted for dozens of meters before finally being spat out into their new barracks.
Thirty-four beds lay inside the chamber, each with a crate of the new equipment at the foot. Even David and his original three teammates� crates had been delivered. David still felt a little shaken from the spontaneousness of what had just happened, but didn�t let that get to him.
The AGF�s lined up in the room, and stood at attention facing David and his old team. David turned to speak to them, with Jean, William and N�tn�see at his sides.
�Men, I wish to get a few things straight before you settle in here; as of right now, only four people in this very room belong to the 113th division.� The soldiers looked at him with slightly surprised faces, but kept quiet.
�I do not consider any of you as a member of my team. Yet. Over the next ten days under our command, you will be properly assimilated into the 113th division. If at any time you are not comfortable with this, or if you do not wish to be under my command, you are more than welcome to quit at any time. Is any of this unclear in any manner whatsoever?�
�SIR, NO SIR!� The soldiers shouted back in unison. They understood the mission; they were going to be tested. David wouldn�t so readily embrace them as one of his own; they�d have to earn their spot in the 113th division. Their past records of accomplishments and battles had utterly no importance at this point; they were the best of the AGF�s, and now they�d have to prove it to keep that status.
They would have to convince David they had what it took to be in the 113th division.
