Chapter 3

The pods opened and squad 16 emerged. From high above the commander looked on from the ops room. He put his hand on the console in front of him and his voice came over the loudspeakers. �Squad 16, Get changed and report at the debriefing room at 0930 hours. Lieutenant Lawson, get changed and report to ops room immediately.�

�Great,� Jason thought.

�Sir.� The voice belonged to Private Anderson who was the one who spotted the new wave of attackers. �I sorry I...�

�Can it Private!� Jason said sharply, cutting off the private in mid sentence and stormed off.

He was just about to say something else when a female voice quietly next to him said, �Just leave it.� It belonged to Sergeant Rose Madison, a tallish young woman with long black hair and cold, steel blue eyes.

She knew Jason very well. He had been in the same class as her at military academy. He was different to the other males in the class. Most of the males would criticize her for being a woman. Even after 200 years, men still think they�re better.

But he didn�t see people for physical appearances, but rather on their skill and demeanor. Having met his brother, she understood why. His brother had brought him up well. During a training exercise where they were picking teams and he was a team leader. He picked the more capable people rather than his friends. But even he knew that power without the right direction was useless. He was a good strategist, and he devised a plan which involved everyone giving it their all. He had given her the most difficult task, saying, �You�re the only one that can do this.� She looked at him and noticed the sincerity in his eyes.

The exercise had rarely been completed.

They had completed the exercise in record time, and with no casualties, which was a first for the academy. After the skilled performances he did in managing a squad, he was promoted to sergeant of squad 16, and when he was promoted to lieutenant, Rose knew it was because of his ability to strategies in the field under the constant pressures of warfare.

After he became Lieutenant, he got Rose as his sergeant. There was no favouritism involved, the fact of the matter was she was a damn good pilot, and although not such a good strategist as Jason, any plans she came up with Jason would take into consideration, and sometimes used them.

She knew him very well and she had a good idea why he got so angry. And although her face seldom showed emotion, she frowned.

Jason went into the changing rooms and went over to the sink. He splashed cold water on his face and leaned over the sink. He collected his thoughts and towelled himself off. He got changed and left for the ops room.

Just after Jason left the remainder of squad 16 entered the changing room.

�I just don�t understand,� Private Anderson was saying. �I�ve never seen the Lt. like that.�

�I wouldn�t mention this to him,� Rose said. �But you know his brother died on a mission?�

�Yeah.�

�Do you know how he died?�

�No�

�On the mission they engaged a large enemy force. Everything was going OK until a MAW with a nuclear reactor appeared. A bullet ruptured the reactor, destroying the coolant system. ...The reactor went critical, destroying both the enemy base and his brother�s squad. He never really came to terms with the death, and he tries his best to suppress the anger that came with it. But today when you shot the nuclear MAW, it brought back the memories of that mission. It isn�t anything personal, but try to avoid those subjects around him, OK?�

�Yes sir.�

�Good, that also goes for the rest of you, now get changed and report to the debriefing room in 25 minutes.�

�Sir!� squad 16 chorused.

In the ops room, Jason entered.

�You wished to see me sir?� he said.

�Yes Lieutenant,� the commander said. He pressed a button and the video playback of the cockpits came up on different screens. He pressed another button and Jason�s picture filled up all the screens to make one massive screen. It showed the point where he had hit the console.

�It�s a good thing those are tough,� the commander continued. �Any problems? I can make you an appointment with the counselor if you need it.�

�I don�t need no shrink,� Jason was thinking, and he was annoyed at the commander for even mentioning it. He was coping just fine.

�I guess I�m just a little tired from all the training and being on alert. Just give me 5 hours rest and I�ll be fine sir.� Jason replied.

The commander looked at him. He knew that Jason was hiding his true feelings, but he knew better than to make an enemy out of his men.

�OK lieutenant, I�ll consider it,� The commander said. �I�ll see you in the debriefing room soon. Dismissed.�

Jason Saluted and left the room.

The commander sighed and sat down. He had seen the annoyance in Jason�s eyes when he had mentioned the counselor. Jason was a good soldier, to good to get into bad terms with. He condition didn�t really need help � yet, but it could do. The commander pondered on this thought, he wouldn�t let it go that far, but he wouldn�t order it yet, it might just make it worst. He Went over to the giant screen and returned to looking at the training results.