We rounded the last corner of the dirt road and a collective cheer went up as buildings finally came into sight. We had done it. Today was the last day of the Warrior Weeks and we had made it back to base camp.

There had been no sign of Wilks or his squad since we left them on the third day. It was late afternoon so they still had plenty of time. We were the first back and we definitely have the point lead.

As we entered the clearing of the basecamp we discovered that the place was empty. I was expecting a few drill instructors to be here, but there was no one. Just before I ordered my men to relax and eat some food we heard something.

I looked up and a shuttle was dropping into the open clearing. My guys moved out of the way and gave it space to land. Many came over to stand near me. We waited as the engines wined down. After a few moments a hatch on my side opened and Ssgt Lyons and anoth Drill Instructor strode down the ramp, stopping at the bottom and flanking it. "Ahtt-en hut". One said and everyone snapped to rigid attention. "So-lute arms". He said next and we all snapped our right hand to the brim of our foreheads, including the drill instructors.

A tall man with a thick dark mustache and striking silver-grey eyes ducked under the hatch and strode down the center of the ramp. He unrolled a hat and placed it on his head as he walked. When he reached the bottom of the ramp he stopped and looked over my men, returned the salute and said "at ease". We all fell into a parade rest position, feet parted slightly and hands clasped behind our backs.

"I am Captain Mcgillicuddy. I am in charge of the academy." He said. I stand here before you because something very unusual has happened.``I have been monitoring your efforts and I need to congratulate all of you. While you didn't snag the best time in Forze Adarna's history, you were very fast. And while you don't have the highest score either, you have a significantly higher score than any previous team that made it through with anywhere near the time you did. That deserves recognition."

He paused and looked around at everyone. "Well, give yourselves a round of applause." He smiled as everyone began to clap and smile. But when he began to speak again everyone resumed their previous stoic positions."Squad Leader, step forward." I took a step forward and stopped. He motioned for me to come to him and I approached, stopping a few feet away.

"Cadet Kaine." He said, looking down at me. "Your first day was challenging for you to say the least. But you followed the rules of the game and trusted in your subordinates. You realized where you made mistakes and corrected that. As a result you were able to overtake your opponent and win the grand prize." He stepped around me and addressed my men. "Be there any of you who hold doubts on Cadet Kain's ability to lead?" None of my men so much as twitched.

"Do all of you hold loyalty to Cadet Kaine? Raise a hand if you would willingly follow Cadet Kaine into battle." For a moment no one moved. I held my breath, but then Basher raised a hand. Michael and Christian weren't far behind. Then slowly one-by-one the rest of my men raised a hand until everyone had their hand up. I was stunned and blown away at the show of support. My eyes burned with pride as I looked on.

The Captain addressed Basher and said, "You were the first to step forward, what about Cadet Kaine brings out that kind of loyalty in you?"

Basher took a moment to collect his thoughts and took a deep breath before speaking. "I met Jon on our first day here, Sir. I have always thought of myself as an excellent judge of character; and I must say, I knew right from the start that he was a man of honor. In the days since I have watched him and everything I've seen only leads me to believe it all the more."

He continued, "at the beginning of the week he made a mistake. When he did, he immediately took responsibility for it. He didn't try to run from it or pass the blame. Then, he turned around and fixed it. Yes we all did our best to contribute and we followed him, and others" Basher nodded to Michael here, "but Jon was clear on his instructions and led us with purpose. He learned from his mistake and made sure he didn't repeat it."

"One last thing. We set up three teams and rotated between them. One of the teams got to ride in the sled, while one team pulled it. Whenever Jon's team was in pull position, he was always with them, right alongside his men, working hard. But he rode less than half of the time his team rotated out. He would give up his position if someone was particularly tired or would just run with the guard group or other pull teams. He'd take the time to talk to everyone and see to it we were ALL taken care of and he always put our needs before his."

My eyes were nearly red with the praise. The Captain had an unreadable expression on his face when he glanced at me. "Everything you just said marks him as an excellent leader. But there was another thing he did as well. I'm sure it comes as no surprise to all of you that every moment of the past week was closely watched and monitored. One of the duties of an officer is to recognize leadership capabilities in others, and to delegate responsibility to use the strengths of his people to their fullest. Cadet Kaine. You most certainly did that this week. Is there anyone present who refutes anything that has been said?"

The Captain looked around at everyone for a moment but nobody said anything. "Then Cadet Jonathan Kaine I am going to award you with a Commendation for Excellence." I stared at him in shock as he pinned a small silver button to the color of my uniform. "You are without doubt one of the greatest Officer Candidates I have seen come through this academy. You exemplify the qualities we need in our officer core. Now" he said, stepping back, "get your men loaded on the transport and strapped in."

"Yes Sir" I said as I gave him a salute. He went over to stand next to Ssgt Lyons. I turned to the group and said "give me two single file lines right here." I held out both hands in front of me. I had no idea what the inside of the shuttle looked like but I figured I could break them up more if necessary. I led them up the ramp and found there were actually three rows of seats so I filled the back rows first and anyone left over sat in the front row. I sat down last and there were a couple empty seats.

The Captain strode up the ramp followed by the Drill Instructors. "Cadet Kaine, please follow me." He said as he entered the forward cockpit. I unbuckled my safety belt and followed him. "Close the door." He said after I was in the cockpit. I turned to do as he said and saw Ssgt Lyons closing the hatch. When I turned back to the Captain he handed me a headset and motioned for me to take the co-pilot's seat.

I put the headset on and strapped myself into the seat. I'd never been in a cockpit before. "You did very well this week, but don’t let any of that impromptu ceremony go to your head. It’s important you stay who you are, and that includes your humility.”

“Yes sir” is said, taking his words to heart.

“I read your record. Needless to say I was very impressed. You signed up to be a pilot of a starship, tell me, have you ever flown anything before?" He asked as he strapped himself into the pilot's seat.

"Nothing outside of VR games." I said

"Well today will be your first lesson." He then proceeded to show me how to go through the preparations checklist to make sure the shuttle was ready to go. He explained the controls in detail and asked me questions to make sure I understood what I was doing. "Ok Jonathan, take us up."

I directed power to arial stability and started the main engines. They whined as they powered up. I left them at minimal and increased power to the vertical thrusters. My heart hammered in my chest as I could feel the small shuttle lifting into the air. A huge grin broke out on my face as I watched the ground fall away

"That's it, nice and easy. Give it just a little more power." The Captain said

I did as he instructed. The thruster gage went from zero to fifteen and I currently had it on seven, so I pushed it forward two more notches to nine. We rose into the air even faster. When the altimider read three hundred feet I pulled the thruster gage back to a five which would level us off and then checked the map. The academy was south east of us and we were currently facing south west. I twisted the control staff and the ship spun in the air. Once we were facing the right direction I countered the spin, halting us in the air.

"Keep it under two hundred." He said and I grabbed the main throttle, slowly I pushed it forward in stages and the shuttle accelerated away from the camp.

"What about Wilks and his group?" I asked

"Most of them are already back at the training Academy." He said as he watched me fly the shuttle.

"So they beat us? They won?" I asked.

"No, they didn't. They, didn't fish the run at all infact." He didn't add anything more and I was torn between wanting to know more and enjoying the ride. Eventually I settled on quiet and just took in the experience.

******

It turns out that Wilks had screwed up real bad. He had been so incensed that we had overtaken him that he wanted to jump ahead and ambush us. To that end he went against direct orders and took his unit off the track we were instructed to stay on. He tried to lead them up across the mountain.

Unfortunately, there had been a particularly bad rainy season in the past month and the mountain was soggy, the rivers that ran down it were overflowing and the land up top was very soft. At one point during their attempt to cross the mountain they triggered a landslide. Several of his men were hurt by falling debris and a few were even washed down river.

Rescue teams were dispatched immediately but eight members of his squad were now in the hospital to recover. One of the guys was crushed between two tumbling trees and sustained many broken ribs and spinal damage. One of his ribs had pierced his lungs and it was questionable if he would live. Even if he did it was unlikely he'd ever walk again.

As for Wilks, he was forcefully ejected from the Starforce with a dishonorable discharge. It didn't happen immediately though. When we got back to the barracks I, and all of my men, were really pissed off at Wilks for what he had done. Upon entering the barracks Wilks confronted me.

"It's all your fault." He shouted while thrusting hand at me viciously. "Don't you have any idea who I am, who my father is? I am supposed to win."

"All that matters is the decisions we make. And you" I pointed back at him " made horrible decisions that put your men in the hospital. If you gave a damn about someone other than yourself you might have had a chance to win. But your reckless greed drove you to ignore the direct orders we were given and now not only did you lose, but you're getting a dishonorable discharge."

He lunged at me. One fist shot for my head and I ducked, leaning to the opposite side when his other fist caught me in the stomach. I doubled over and a right hook caught me across the jaw. I went down hard and he lept in top of me. His hands went around my throat and began to squeeze. I was still trying to come to grips with the fact that he attacked me when hands grabbed him and pulled him off of me.

Wilks struggled but Tyler and McCormick held him fast by the arms. Basher helped me stand and I thanked him gratefully. "Let me go." Wilks screeched

"You really want to fight?" I asked him. He stopped struggling, stared at me and nodded. "Alright, but lets do it right." I had the men move two bunk beds further apart giving us space. We both stripped down to shirts and pants with bare feet. "You ready?"I asked him as we both settled into our stances. He nodded and it was on.

Immediately he came for me with huge wild swings. Now that I was prepared I was able to dodge or block all of his attacks. However, he was so fast and relentless I never had an opportunity to counter attack.

I had honestly never been in a real fight like this but the Starforce had trained us well. Unfortunately, it seemed that Wilks had experience and or martial arts training that went beyond what the Starforce had taught. Couple that with Wilks slightly taller frame and the fact he had thirty to forty pounds on me, meant that he definitely had the upper hand. I was staying ahead of him with dodges and blocks, but he wasn't tiring out as I had hoped. And, the attacks I did block were starting to hurt a lot. The men of both squads were gathered around us screaming support as Wilks and I circled each other.

Finally, Wilks made a mistake. He spun, raising a foot as he did and telegraphing a roundhouse kick. I dropped low, under the kick and put all my strength into slamming my fist into his inner thigh, right above his knee. His leg buckled and he collapsed to the ground with a cry of pain and surprise. Then before he could rise I stood and brought my fist crashing down on his solar plexus. The wind exploded out of him and he curled up in a fetal position to protect his core as he wheezed, trying to regain his breath.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Ssgt Lyons yelled as he tore through the crowd. I was still standing over a curled up Wilks as he burst through. He took in everything. The crowd, the moved bunks, Wilks and me. Then the Sargent grabbed my chin and turned my head to the side so he could stare at the point where Wilks had sucker punched me. He released my jaw and I turned back to look at him.

I don't know why but some part of me wanted to defy him. I showed no remorse on my face for what I had done. To my surprise, the sergeant was the one to break eye contact. He looked down at Wilks. "You okay boy?" Lyons asked as he dragged Wilks to his feet by an arm.

"I'll live." Wilks mumbled sarcastically

"Good, '' Sargent Lyons said, and then promptly released the man's arm. Wilks was unprepared, and promptly fell on his ass. Now get these bunks back in order and no more fighting. You all just lost Chow for the night. Lights out in ten minutes.