Member
Rhage
Fetzen
Ezekiel
Stargazer6225
IAmAugustReign
Bartimaeus
EchoWolff
Marlowe
Punished GN
headinthecloudsRiley Cavill
Riley Cavill walked with purpose as she headed through the barracks level of the military complex. Most of the non Officer soldiers lived in groupings of individual rooms with a shared common area, nicknamed Bunkers. Each unit had a Bunker of their own to promote camaraderie. On her first day, Riley had been surprised that she would not be sharing a Bunker with her unit but instead sharing one with other Unit leaders of similar rank. However, she spent a good portion of her time with her unit anyway.
The first year had been a bit awkward and stiff within her unit. Three of the six members of her unit are Martian and they had not been too keen on having a Fed being their Unit leader. Nor were the two Feds in the Unit keen on working with Martians. Then there was the odd man out from the Nagasaki Conglomerate. Again, it was all that Nationalist bullshit that was making things difficult. Things mellowed out however, as they went on away missions and were forced to see each other every day. Sure there were still some tensions but that was to be expected. Riley had also made it clear that she wanted nothing but the best for her unit no matter their nationality.
Riley did not nor ever wanted to be more than what she was. She sometimes found officers to be a bit stiff and back on Earth too many of them refused to get their hands dirty. That was less so from the Martian officers that she had seen over the last five years. However, that had not changed her mind. She was perfectly content where she was, even though both her brothers were Officers.
Finally Riley entered the Bunker and saw that her team was already up. A group was playing a dice game at the common table and another one was chatting while they cleaned some of their equipment. They stopped what they were doing the moment she entered the room and got to their feet. They gathered in the center of the Bunker in single file line and saluted her once before placing their arms at their backs.
“Good Morning Ladies!” Riley said with a stern face even though she found the quip to be humorous. It was just by coincidence that everyone in this unit was male. Then just as she noticed that one of the team was missing, he walked out of his room. The “oh shit” look on his face was priceless as he took his place in line.
“How nice of you to join us, Knight. I trust you got enough beauty sleep?” Riley said walking over to him in line and got in his face.
“YES, SIR” Knight’s voice cracked ever so slightly as he answered. He knew he was going to get punished with all the crappy jobs that day.
“Alright, you have three minutes to put on your big girl panties. GO!”
********
Even though Riley and her team had been the first to arrive at the training deck, she did not have them jump right into the simulators. She had her team warm up with several actual exercises, including the obstacle course, hand to hand practice, and even target practice in one of the firing ranges.
Riley believed that although Simulators were a fantastic tool, they were no comparison to actually being on the ground. There was just something in the back of the mind that told you it wasn’t real. She wanted her unit to actually feel exhaustion and push themselves farther than any simulation could. The Simulators were simply there to run scenarios so they would be prepared for any outcome. However, on multiple occasions she had told the programmers to make whatever scenario they were in that day to be unbeatable. At first it had brought down Moral, but eventually those failures only pushed her team to be better. No one likes losing, but it was reality they all had to face.
It was when her unit was next in line to enter the simulators when Captain Lopez appeared on the training deck.
"ATTENTION! CAPTAIN ON DECK!" yelled Lieutenant Harrison who had been watching the training up until that moment. Riley got into formation with her unit not far from the Captain and the Lieutenant.
"At ease people," Captain Lopez said allowing them all to relax.
Then the Captain and his Lieutenant began to speak to one another. Riley could not help but over hear them speak her name. She cracked a small grin, but it disappeared as Captain Lopez looked her way.
"Master Sergeant Cavill. Do you believe in your team's ability to perform in potentially hazardous or hostile environment at the best of their abilities?" Captain Lopez asked her directly.
“Yes, Sir” She answered sternly and confidently.
