[Erick sanders]

The announcement of the next trial left me with a wide grin and a feeling of ease.

We lay around for two hours in the bunk room, Jacks foul mood perpetuated when he disappeared to the mess hall, returning to complain that while we had been damn near close to last, a group from china had finished before us. “If they get twenty of those fifty spots, we have fuck all chance of getting the Grey Scarred company to help with expelling the CCP!” His tirade was not missed by the other sections around the bunk room. Gaining looks of annoyance and a few of understanding.

“This isn’t just our problem” Mia added, “most of the countries on the pacific are trying to force the Chinese out. I may have an idea,” she said, pulling Samantha off her bunk and slipping across the room to a group from south America.

Shortly after, Alaria pushed through the mess hall doors, barking at us to get up. I followed behind Jack, as he marched straight backed out of the bunk room and into the cafeteria. It looked like a bad American high school scene. Groups of fighters sat huddled around their own tables, muttering amongst themselves and casting aggressive looks around the room. I couldn’t help but notice that the group from china was limited to only six people and were seated at a separate table from those from south Korea or Japan.

In fact, they were isolated from everyone. Alone at the edge of the room, my eyes went wide when I a glint of metal at the table grabbed my attention. Seated in the middle of his group was the Chinese officer who had caved in my chest during our escape from Auckland. His white tipped hair fell over his face as he spooned a dark stew into his mouth with his metal augmented arm.

I reached up to grab the hilt of my sword, but the movement was not missed by Alaria who stared daggers at me, wordlessly warning, that I would deeply regret causing a scene. I scowled at the man’s head and release the sword handle, sliding into a seat and grabbed a slice of meat from a plate in the centre of the table. We only had to wait a moment before the last finishers tricked through the doors. Five of them were from our own section, having died during the ambush, the others already seated down the table from me.

Alaria cleared her throat, but when the room didn’t fall silent in the same instant, the man with the augmented arms screamed out across the hall, “Quiet!”

People fell silent mid-sentence, all faces turning toward the front.

“Good. I expect to not have to wait.” Alaria glared. “You’re all here, good work. You have the ability to walk in a straight line. As you will have seen, we are currently in the centre of a large volcanic crater.” Alaria tapped her taper and a holographic three-dimensional map formed on the floor before her. “As you can see there are five strongholds throughout the landscape” The map highlighted five circles on the map, on in the centre of a dense forest, two on the north and south eastern ends of the map in large open grass lands, another on an island in the centre of a small lake and the last resting in a stone cliff at the north western edge.

“You will notice that each site has distinct defensible qualities, as well as weaknesses. You will work to capture and hold one of the five strongholds, those sections in possession of a stronghold at the end of a two day time period will be selected from to continue, those not in possession will be removed and returned to earth.” She looked over the tables of calm faces before continuing, “there are exceptions. Impress myself or the other judges and we will consider your progression, even if your section is not able to possession a stronghold. Likewise, displaying profound ineptitude will result in your removal regardless of your sections status.” Neighbors looked at one another.

“The trial will begin after you have had time to rest, in three days, be sure to be here.” Alaria said. Was she talking about our time awake in the real world? I thought to myself. There had been a number of times where these supposed NPCs were far too accommodating to us Dreamers, who had to wake at some point. Here it was again, with their plans timed perfectly. I scratched my head, They had to know we were all ‘travelers’, and just not talking about it. I reasoned.

The map disappeared as Alaria continued. “You will be released from here in the order that you arrived, those with significant head starts will be able to get to and begin establishing defenses for the strong holds, while those who arrived later will be forced to assault” Jack swore quietly, his fork warping in his grip as he clenched his fist. His irritation was completely understandable, since we would now be at a major disadvantage. With the late start as well as being separated from the rest of our section. I would have hung my head in my hands if not for what Alaria said next.

“We will be disabling the comms blockers. You will be able to create local networks for section communication as well as hacking other sections networks. But in case you were thinking we would make this easy for you.” She paused for a moment

“You will not be permitted to leave this compound with any firearms. We have evaluated each of your combat records as well as recommendations from earths military factions. But for a few exceptions, each of you is highly trained in the use of medium to long range weapons” I could have sworn she looked directly at me, before continuing.

“We understand that Earth is in a new system, still in its adolescence, though working with the Grey Scarred Company will mean more intimate combat situations. As such, only hand to hand weapons and augments will be allowed for the upcoming trial. If you do not have a sufficient weapon, there is a selection in the armoury on level two. I suggest you use your remaining time here to become familiar with them.”

She waved us away and sat back down. The room was quiet. Table after table were stricken to silence as the contemplated what this mean. Only five people sat with smiles twitching at their lips, and it didn’t go unnoticed.

My grin stretched further as I looked across at Jack, “I suppose I could be persuaded to try and teach you some stuff” I said, grabbing another slice of meat from the platter.

An hour later I was standing in the compound’s armoury, having been asked by Jack to grab him and Keg a weapon, with Olivia and Mia. I looked over the array of weapons. “So, you’ve never used a sword before? What about a spear? Or an axe?” I asked pulling weapons from the rows on the walls and dropping them on the table.

“Short of playing with some sticks as a kid. No” Olivia said. Mia stalked along the wall looking over the weapons. “A little” she said, running her finger over the hilt of a thin fencing sword.

“Here, Try that?” I handed Olivia a short straight sword. She gripped it firmly before swinging it through the air in a mock attack. “Didn’t think I would ever need to learn how to use a sword” She muttered, dropping it onto the table and grabbing a tomahawk. Mia ignored us as she moved on to a rack of spears and pulled one from the wall. The she spun in in her hand as we watched before the tip of the spear pierced the air in a perfectly straight attack.

Olivia let out a long slow whistle, “I want one of those” She dropped the tomahawk and pulled an identical spear from the wall. “Why don’t you always carry one?” I asked Mia, nodding to the spear as she pulled a second down, likely for Samantha.

“It’s not like I’m an expert.” She said, “Mum is half Japanese, and her dad made her do Bōjutsu. AS kids we had to beg her to teach us. That was well before we joined the army. Once you have a gun in your hand, a spear feels a little pointless” She shrugged.

“Do I have to beg you to teach me?” Olivia asked, feeling the spear in her hands.

“You don’t have to beg. The more useful you are, the better for us” Mia nodded.

I grabbed two classic hand and a half swords as well as some thick alloy shields before squeezing through the door and down the stairs.

Jack, Keg and Samantha were seated at a table in the mess hall, surrounded by members of each of the Pacific sections. I noted the Chinese officer with the white tipped hair watching the group with a deep frown of concern. He looked up when he noticed the movement and…smiled. I watched him as he looked at me like a happy child. Then he did something completely ridiculous. He waved at me, motioning for me to come and sit beside him. I stared at him, What the fuck kind of game was he playing? Did he want to create suspicion that we were friendly? That I was in league with them? My mind itched with confusion. I just shook my head at him before strolling past.

He didn’t stop watching me as I walked through the room and out to a walled courtyard. Feeling the suns warmth on my face and the wind whipping through my hair, I dropped the swords and shields onto a bench before sitting to watch as Mia showed Olivia some basic stances and movements with the spear.

A few minutes later Jack and Keg and Samantha came out through the double doors, Jack pulling a sword from the bench and drawing it from the sheath. “Thanks, though you still have to show us how to use them.” He said, lifting the shield and feeling the weight. “Just swing it about, I’m sure you’ll be fine” I said sarcastically before asking about his little meeting with the other sections. “So? What did they say?” I asked him.

“One of the guys from Vietnam is recon trained and got here second. So, we might have a shot” I nodded and watched Olivia as she stabbed at the air. “It will be risky but worth it” I said. Pulling myself to my feet I drew one of Havars swords. “Okay, this is going to be tricky, I only know some basic stuff so try to follow along” I said as I moved into a patch of open space and began showing them the stances and positions that Havar had shown me. The memories creating a sick taste in my mouth.

“What augments do you have?” I asked Jack when we took a moments break. I had pushed him hard. Using the flat of the sword to correct Jacks form where I saw mistakes, though he lacked the bruises that Havar had given me. “Only the one, it creates a link between my scanner and my mind so I can control the comms and units without using the scanner. I thought it was a great idea a first but all its really good for is making hands free calls, I need more advanced armour before it will be any real use.” Disappointment dripped from his voice. “I don’t even use it too often, because I already had the habit of manually using my scanner I kind of forget that it’s there” He took a gulp of water, before forcing the cap back onto the canteen.

“Keg? How about you?” I asked the taller, dark skinned man.

“Just the eye. Good for long range shooting but isn’t going to help too much with what we have to do. Samantha’s might be the most useful.” He looked over at where the three girls were practicing. “Oi! Sam, come show Erick your Augment?” He called. She stopped mid strike and strolled over, extending her palm out towards me. As I watched, small hooks pushed through her skin along her palm. “Real spider-man shit” Keg added, watching with interest.

“That’s how you climb the trees so fucking fast” I said, now understanding why it looked like she had been crawling directly up the side of the tree trunks.

“Yeah, They’re nice, but really expensive. I had to spend my own savings to get synthetic skin grown over the hand.” The spikes retracted “Helps to not drop things too” She said before returning to Olivia and Mia. She would be useful if we had to scale the walls of a stronghold, I thought, trying to think of other ways we could use the rest of our augments.

I swatted Jacks hand away as he tried to slap me over the head. “Fucking eyes in the back of your head” he muttered. Pulled Havars sword from my back and followed him back into the clear space. “Okay, Now attack me, just nice and slow. Over head swing, and I’ll block, then ill attack you, and you block” He didn’t respond, just swept his sword through the air at me.

We practiced for three more hours, Jack not allowing himself or Keg to take any more breaks. As is often the case, teaching others help to reinforce the actions for myself, and I realised two things. The first was that I have a tendency to step too far with my right foot when moving into attack. The second, was what actual talent looked like. Although kegs movements were far from fast, he moved the sword with a fluid grace that I did not think I would ever match. Some thing about the motion of the arm and the way the blade would twist and adjust direction spoke to a level of talent that I wished I had possessed when my life had depended on it. It felt as though, during my time learning the sword with Havar, I had been sloshing through thick muddy water while Keg now skimmed along the top. I shook my head and rid myself of any jealousy. The better Keg and Jack were, the more likely we would be to come out of the next trial ahead, I reminded myself.

Eventually Jack lowered his sword and rolled his shoulder, “Okay, It’s almost five A.M real world. I’m going to head out, Erick I need you to do the same” He said to me, before turning to Keg, “Still all good to hang around for a while? I’ll sneak into your room and turn off your alarm” Jack said, sliding his sword into its sheath. Keg nodded, “Wake me up in a few hours. You can have a nap to keep an eye out.” He said, not putting his weapon away. Jack locked back at me.

“Are you still sleeping with your phone next to you?” He asked me.

“Of course,” I said.

“Good, I’m going to call you when I wake up, we need to be back here a bit earlier than you normally sleep so best to get up now,” I just nodded, “When you get up, go to the gym, go for a run, you need to tire yourself out. Hell go to the gym twice, but do not miss the deadline. Take some sleeping pills if you have to.” He had the same tone that our dad did when he told us to go to bed. I nodded again, not looking forward to the wake-up call, but knowing it was necessary for the trials.