Chapter 3 Selection

"Never give in - never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense."-Winston Churchill

the stage was prepared for the annual selection, the annual selection is commenced every first week of September and it's the first time to shelve the annual selection. three Generals from three units are selecting each soldier that is liable enough in their unit if they aren't picked according to their expectations, the remaining soldiers are placed in other units. each of them is nervous because the Generals are picking the best units of the Novergrad Military.

by each soldier is picked in the Mockingjays, Stormtroopers, and Phantoms which is the coolest thing ever but the unworthy ones are placed on other units besides the three. there's a rumor that 30% of the soldiers of the Phantoms Regiment were either ousted or transferred to other battalions due to their sexual orientation, it happened in 2024, and the late General of the Phantoms, Edward Clarkson ousted the openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender soldiers in service and he called them "the hellspawn of the Regiment" because General Edward has a Christian belief that queer people should be persecuted because they're not worthy in the eyes of the Lord but they're not, the most unworthy people in the eyes of the Lord are the people who use the word of God as an excuse of their resentment of gay people.

the fellow Generals and the Prime Minister aren't happy about General Clarkson's actions and they wanted him to be resigned as General of the Phantoms due to his homophobic actions and eventually, he did because he's not here to command a unit filled with "sissies" and that made the fellow soldiers and citizens of Novergrad pissed off to hear what he said to his elite unit that he command. it's difficult to remove hate in the world if you're going to make a difference out of them.

"Rachel Miles, 76th Mockingjay Battalion," the announcer said in a monotone

"Chester Cormac, 57th Delta Stormtrooper Battalion

"Adrian Kenway, 170th Phantoms Regiment"

"Giorgia Auditore da Firenze, 76th Mockingjay Battalion"

"Victor Dorian, 76th Mockingjay Battalion"

"Lucille Cardona, 76th Mockingjay Battalion"

"Sandeep Singh, 57th Delta Stormtrooper Battalion"

"Abdul Haleem Ibn-La'Ahad, 57th Delta Stormtrooper Battalion"

"Cadance Park, 57th Delta Stormtrooper Battalion"

"Zane McBride, 170th Phantoms Regiment"

"Jessica Watts, 170th Phantoms Regiment"

"Marvin Lambert, 170th Phantoms Regiment"

"Nathan Walker, 170th Phantoms Regiment"

the names were mentioned are going to their respective units including the five recruits that are joined in the same battalion. it's an honor to fight alongside the best units of the Novergrad Armed Forces while the others didn't make it but they're still in the Armed Forces. The deployment will be commenced three days after the annual selection. under the order of Four-Star General Maximilian Adams

he's preparing his equipment despite early deployment, he's making sure that the gun he uses doesn't jam during combat. the F2000 is the perfect candidate for the mission including the SPAS-12. he's going to reveal his assassin side with the stealth uniform that the 15th Foxtrot Sniper Division used to provide sniper cover for the friendly troops farther away from them or collect enemy intelligence.

he's allowed to train inside the training area with combat bots with the permission of Lieutenant Deacon, surprisingly he's on the same battalion as him. his assassination skills are ready to dominate the battleground. Deacon has something to say before they were deployed into combat

"Private, I have some questions for you, are you single by now?" Lieutenant asked,

"Yeah, I haven't planned on dating girls after graduation and work, why?" Zane replied

"you remember the day where our troops died? one of them is special for me" Deacon added with a sad tone

"I still remembered it, I felt bad for them. who is special for you?" Zane questioned Deacon

"one of them is Master Sergeant Marcus Dawson, he's my boyfriend actually," Deacon said without hesitation

"I see that you're gay Lieutenant, I'm sorry for your loss"

"Yes, how did you know this?"

"I have gay friends during high school and college, they've hit hard times because they become pariahs from their families and friends, it's pissing me off because they used some lame-ass excuses like they're going to hell from that or God doesn't like gays. those excuses are making me sick of hearing them"

"so do I, heaven or hell is not about sexual orientation, going to heaven and hell is about what you've done on earth, I hid my sexuality before Clarkson was overthrown and nobody found out until then"

"good thing Clarkson was overthrown, I can't forgive him for what he did on that day, at least he deserved it"

"he sure did, let's wrap up and leave before somebody found us"

the Private and the Lieutenant cleaned up the mess in the training area and left the building to get some rest because tomorrow is D-Day. they're sleepy facial expressions hinting that the two are training after hours, but it's worth it. the 170th Phantoms Regiment is ready to be deployed along with the 76th Mockingjay Battalion and 57th Delta Stormtrooper Regiment, what's their mission? liberate Basswood City. it's been months since the city was invaded and little improvement was made during the first basis of invasion, three months later, NATO and UN Peacekeepers entered the scene to assist with the local military, only a few were dead and some are wounded. new numbers of troops are coming to Basswood to recover the casualty rate.

while en-route to the capital city, the Old Town Road Remix is played on the APV's radio and everybody sang to it except for Private McBride and Lieutenant Deacon, who fell asleep during the trip got awake as the other soldiers sang loudly that woken up the two sleeping soldiers. he rubbed his eye until his shotgun was dropped by accident

"Are we there yet?" Zane asked sleepily

"almost there buddy, feeling good?" Adrian replied

"yeah... I didn't get any sleep last night, you know training with Lieutenant"

"damn you're a lucky guy, and one question"

"what is it?"

"where did you get this?"

"it's a hand-me-down, belonged to my dad"

"damn, even that Katana of yours?"

"yeah, that's a hand-me-down too"

then a radio chat warned the driver of Hercules 2-5 to turn left because there's an RPG nest in the street that they are going in, they were deployed on that street to clear out the enemy lines near the Capitol Building along with the Peacekeepers, two of them is Captain Nicholas Okonkwo. a UN peacekeeper from Nigeria and Master Sergeant Lewis Ndebele from Tanzania. they were sent two days ago while the NATO Peacekeepers, Sergeants Kendrick Williamson of the UK and Caitriona Opoulos from Greece

"Welcome back to Basswood City recruits, I'm Captain Nicholas Okonkwo, UN Peacekeeper from Nigeria" Nicholas greeted Jacob

"Good to see you, Nicholas, how's the mission is going?" Jacob asked the Nigerian

"a little improvement was going on, but our troops can't advance to the Capitol due to heavy gunfire, two Anti-Aircraft guns are taking down our jets to yours, and who is that recruit in a hoodie?" Nicholas asked Deacon

"he's a recruit with the name Zane McBride, his father used to be in the Keepers after he retired"

"Oh really? I have a little mission with you, you're going to the Capitol to destroy the AA Guns and clear the path with us. here, use the explosives when you reached the Capitol. Ndebele, Williamson, Opoulos, and I are going in there. can you do it, Private McBride?" The Nigerian asked the recruit

"why would I say no to that? I'm in" the Assassin replied

"good, Lieutenant Deacon is going with you doing the break-in, I hope the mission will succeed"

the Peacekeepers and KNAF are planning their attack on the Capitol, which is planned already by the Private and the Lieutenant. they are taking C. Lee Street in Central Avenue while the Peacekeepers are going west of J. Laurens Street since Zane knows the streets of Basswood City. they packed some explosives along the way including something to eat, they haven't eaten before leaving the base. only a can of Spam and some bread can't hurt the Assassin but are worthy enough to kick ass, the AA Guns that the Ghost Army used are the AA Guns from the Novergrad Armed Forces. it came from the Emerald Bay Incident, numerous soldiers died while the Ghost Army invaded Fort Benson. even their armament is the same as them, the Assassin climbed up to the ruined apartment building to get a view of the Capitol while the Peacekeepers are confused, how did he climb up so easily for him? the answer wasn't sure about them

then a cloaked figure is observing him on the tower, it can't be sure if it's friendly or foe. it's been monitoring Zane after joining the Army. a little smile on the face and came down after a Ghost sniper found the cloaked figure

"a fellow Keeper? I'll tell Headmaster about it" the cloaked figure said