Chapter 7

"Where are you going all of a sudden? You didn't even finish your food"

Kim had caught up to me and was matching my pace.

"I'm heading to the infirmary, I wasn't hungry anyways, you can have my food."

"Fine. Are you still going to be there or will we just catch up at the meeting"

"Not sure. If i'm not at the infirmary, then you know where i'll be"

I wave at Kim as he heads back towards the cafeteria.

"Outta the way! Move! I said move it!"

A couple of nurses and doctors were running beside a man on a gurney. The man seemed to be in a pretty bad state. It seemed he was patched up quickly before being rushed into the medical room.

People in the hallways whispered and wondered if the man would be okay. The new recruits seemed to show empathy while those higher up, or have been in the army long enough showed zero concern. I guess having seen the same situation so often,it no longer phased them.

I couldn't say I was any better than them though. Personally, I've seen more death and gore than any normal person should ever have to see in their life that I've just grown used to it. At some point you had to turn off part of your brain, otherwise you would go insane with the type of things you had to experience in the army.

Making my way into the infirmary a couple nurses were taking care of some patients. The space was fairly big and could house at least a couple hundred people with a bed. Most of the time the most injured soldiers would be near the entrance so that they were easier to be taken care of, prepped for surgery, or to be transported out if they died.

A couple had lost either arms or limbs, but most seemed to be resting with bandages on. I continued to walk through the aisle and looked in both directions. Some patients glanced back up at me and others looked surprised. I neared the corner of the room and at the middle back I noticed a hair colour that stood out from the majority of black and brown heads in the room.

Making my way towards Eli, I noticed she was talking with someone. The girl wore a dark blue infantry uniform and had her hands clasped over Eli's hands. She was talking frantically and small drops of tears in her eyes formed. It seemed like Eli was trying to console her.

"I'm sho thoorry"

The girl started bawling and Eli pulled her into a hug.

"Don't know if this is a good time, I just wanted to check up after hearing the news."

Eli looked up at me and then turned towards her friend who buried their head onto her chest.

"I told you Samantha, it's not your fault, I'm not mad"

The girl looked at Eli's face and she stopped crying.

"Really? You promise?"

"I promise."

The girl wiped the tears from her eyes and then did a triple take as she flipped her head back and forth between me and Eli.

"I, I have somewhere I need to be" Samantha said as looked around the room avoiding my eyes.

She scurried out the room fairly quickly.

"I don't know if I should tell you this but she passed out during the incident so she feels guilty for not helping me."

I turned around to face her.

"Someone like her really shouldn't be in the army. Poor girl"

"So why is she then?" I asked.

"Her family isn't in a good position."

"I see… well I assume the Echo was much easier" a small smile formed on my lips.

"You're a prick, you know that!"

She threw one of the pillows on her back at me and I just received it and held it in front of me pretending to act all innocent.

"But you're alive aren't you?" I then blinked multiple times trying to give my best puppy dog eyes.

"Fucking asshole"

"Where do you get that mouth of yours to be so vulgar! I was your Commanding Leader you know!"

"Exactly! WAS- didn't you say yourself you didn't like those formalities besides weren't you stripped of your title and beaten with a stick and then next came the-"

"Alright I get it! But i'm still higher in the ranks so address me as-"

"Nope! Don't wanna! Nnggh!"

She stuck her tongue out and was acting like a little kid.

I placed the pillow onto her bed and stared at her. Despite her glaring eyes and her arms crossed over in between each other, I could tell from the tone of her voice and demeanor that she wasn't really mad.

"Really though. Killing a Guardian Echo is a serious challenge. The fact that most Senior Soldiers have never even dealt with something like this, but you lived encountering one and not only that but killed it. That's an outstanding achievement"

"Yeah… It brings me one step closer towards my goal."

Eli lowered her voice as she neared talking. She suddenly seemed distracted as she looked at the window on the other side.

"What is your goal?" I quireed

"It's nothing, you'll find in stupid anyways"

"Well I'll tell you now, but for the longest time I never had any goals or a purpose. You could say I just simply...Existed. So try me."

Eli looked at me intensely and without emotion for a short while before she spoke.

"My goal is to reach the highest ranks in the army, that way I could play a part in helping end the war for humanity and do something that would help others in their lives. I just want to do something good with my life and I don't really know how long it will take, I just know I'll make it to the top eventually. Pretty dumb right? Hearing someone from the lowest rank say they'll make it to the top.

Although she had said her words differently, I felt that she was similar to me. Before I had known my abilities, I was devoid of any goal and decided that if I were to die at least I'd contribute for the good of humanity instead of spending my days just trying to survive day by day.

"Bold words coming from someone who has just been in the army for around a month or two. Either way, I can't help but believe you'll actually make it come true. Anyways I gotta head out, I've got a meeting that's going to start fairly soon. Take it easy"

"See you"

12:55 p.m.

I opened the doors of a large door that was decorated with shiny orbs attached to the door. The door itself reminded me of a mini castle entrance that entered into a huge ballroom. The only that was missing was medieval guards in armour holding spears on each side.

"Ah the last one is finally here"

The voice slightly echoed in the room and I looked at a woman with long white hair who sat behind a fairly small desk that overlooked the windows. I've never been inside the Admiral's room, but I was surprised how fairly cozy it seemed.

On my right, a row of shelves filled with books with the center of the wall having space for a small seating area next to a fireplace with a big painting above.

On my left, was a small living room set that projected a large tv and comfy, but expensive looking furniture.

In the center of the room was a long glass table with many seats most likely used for important meetings. The seats were occupied by other people in the room who stared at my face. Scanning them, I noticed Kim in one of the seats at the end.

The woman stepped away from her desk and walked toward the middle seat at the end of the table, her heels clicking on the marble floor.

I also started walking and seated myself beside Kim.

"You're late, you think the world revolves around you?"

I looked at the person speaking. It was a woman who had small afro hair. She wore a black v neck t-shirt and tight black leggings with white shoes.

"Relax. The message said 1:00 if anything, I'm early. Not my fault you decided to come much sooner"

She frowned and clicked her tongue in response.

*Tap Tap

Everyone turned towards the end of the table. The woman in the middle held a stack of papers in both her hands. The Admiral wore a commander hat and wore a unique General suit that did not hold any badges. Usually a Commander would take pride in wearing as many badges to show off their achievements, but she displayed none.

"Now that everyone is present, I will now start the meeting. I'm sure most of you know, but I will just say it to make things clear. My name is Laura Phan. The Admiral that oversees all regulations and preparations from all five main branches in the world and I will be your new Advising Commander."

She paused for a second and looked at every single one of us at the table. When she looked at me, I couldn't read her face at all.

"As you all know everyone here was to be reassigned from their current status and posts. Most of you have even been flown from your main branches so that you could remain here and receive direct orders from me. The reason being is because now is the time we will strike"

Her voice was smooth and calm, but for some reason it also held a sense that it demanded complete attention. No wonder she was able to make such good speeches.

She picked up a remote on the table and pressed a button. A wide panel emerged from the ceiling and slowly came down to a stop so that she could give us a slideshow as she talked.

"During the first year of the war there was a strange creature that was dead, almost half eaten and decayed across the edge of a forest in Sweden. Despite many encounters with Echos, Mole Echos, and Guardian Echos, This particular creature's bloodstream and DNA was vastly different from every other Echo that scientists studied throughout the world."

She showed an old photo that was slightly drained of colour on the screen. The projector displayed the body and claws of the creature and images of its limbs torn off and extracted. For some reason the images of the dead creature reminded me of something, I just couldn't figure it out and it annoyed me because it was like an itch you couldn't scratch.

"Through a top secret government project, scientists continued to study it and in fact near the end of their study had even found a breakthrough in what they were looking for. The ability for a human to receive super strength, agility, reflexes, and a number of enhancements that every other human could replicate, but increased ten fold. The only problem was we had run out of blood samples to use to produce proper drug enhancements. That is-."

Distracted, I stared at the screen and found it hard to believe that these "experiments" were ethical at all. Patients strapped on gurneys and some pictures of patients looking as if they downed a box full of steroids. Laura called my name which brought me back to her attention.

"-Ren, Kim I'm sure you are familiar, but for the others, what happened was two years ago a strange creature appeared during a nest raid on an infantry group. These two managed to kill the creature and it turns out it had the same DNA as the previous creature mentioned. Scientists have then started to produce the drugs and after two years have made enough for a total of eight people to receive the drugs."

She finished her slideshow and clicked a button on the remote in her hand. Kim was the first to say something.

"If you don't mind me asking, if the best soldiers in the world are supposed to receive this drug, why is that I'm here? Not to say I wouldn't be qualified, but wouldn't Commander Taylor be more suited for the position?"

Kim had a point. As much as I disliked her, she was among the top in the branch if not at the very top and some of the other Commanders could take the position as well.

"I have personally assessed, hand picked, and chosen the best soldiers from each branch to participate in these missions and it does not just mean straight combat. As a uniformed team I have sought for a compromise of people's different abilities which would help in the result of forming different types of strategies. As for why I had picked you instead of Commander Taylor it is because I can see that both you and Ren combined produce great teamwork and results that cannot simply be replicated and as much as I'd like to include Commander Taylor as the eight member, there are other positions that cannot just be replaced. Her job as a Commander is something she is best suited towards."

"Are you sure the drugs will have no negative side effects?"

The older man who looked to be in his mid forties in front of me asked. He wore camo pants, brown boots and a dark blue t-shirt with a jacket tied on his waist. He had a slight southern accent as he talked and a tiny bit of spit had landed on his unkempt beard.

"We cannot guarantee that in the future there will be no negative side effects, but for the most part it is considered safe and has been proven to work and enhance all parts of the human mind and body."

"So what happens next if we decide to take the drugs?"

A young woman who looked to be just above eighteen or nineteen spoke in a high pitched voice that didn't sound annoying or fake. She wore a small yellow ribbon above her head and a white dress with yellow polka dots.

"If you decide to join the team and take the drugs, you will be given the most difficult task. To fight the aliens that guard the meteorites and destroy the rocks using a device that will be given later on. Of course this has never been successful as all previous attempts to get close to the Meteorites have failed. That is why a group of super soldiers will partake in this mission.This team will be the first and possibly last chance for humanity to win the war and end the alien species.

Laura then took out a couple of documents and handed everyone on the table one.

"What's this for?"

The woman who pestered me about being the last one to come in asked the question.

"As you know everyone here is given the right to choose if they would like to participate or not and the reason for that is because you would all be tasked with the most difficult mission mankind has to offer. It is understandable if you do not wish to participate and return to your current positions, however this documentation is a form that is personal to each of you and it states for you to either consent along with the benefits from doing so as well as remaining quiet about classified information that was brought out during this meeting"

"And what if we don't wanna sign or decide to tell the world about this so-called 'project'?"

The woman crossed her arms and laid back on her chair.

"As I've stated there is no consequence to not agreeing to be on the team and taking the drugs, however I will say that if you decide not to sign that you have indeed heard of classified information and will not discuss it outside or decide to talk about said classified information then let's just say you should flip to page six on the document and decide if you and the people on the pages would prefer to have never had any evidence of ever existing"

I flipped to page six on my document, but the page was completely empty. I looked over at Kim who had started shaking. Although my page was blank, his page consisted of a man, woman, and several other pictures of different people.

"Why do they have pictures of my mom and dad and some of my closest family?"

His mouth was slightly shaking. I looked back towards the woman at the end of the table. She held a cold, almost devilish smile and had her eyes almost closed.

My god and to think I could get away from Daphne, only to be handed over to Daphne 2.0

There was something that was on my mind when Laura was talking after the presentation. This time it was my turn to ask a question.

"Admiral Laura, you said you didn't want to have Commander Taylor as the eight member on the team. Does that mean you'll be joining us during the expeditions?"

"No, I will not be participating in the missions. Given my position it will be incredibly difficult to find someone suitable enough to replace me as an overseer who manages all problems and insights of the five branches as well as headquarters if I were to die. I will continue to manage the military and its tactics along with debriefing all of you about the missions if you choose to partake"

"So that means you have not decided on the last member if everyone agrees right?"

"For the most part that is right Ren Vincent"

"If you don't mind, I have someone who I'd like to consider joining the team"

"Who the hell do you think you are acting like you can call the shots!?"

It was the woman beside the bearded man who yelled at me.

"Admiral Laura, I have a proposal" I turned my head back towards the front of the desk.

"Let's hear it"

"You said it yourself that you wouldn't be participating in the missions, and although you will be our Leader when it comes to what we can and can't do during the missions, right now there isn't anyone who has the position of Captain within the team correct?"

"That is correct"

"I propose that we fight in a sparring match before taking the drugs to decide who the Captain will be for the group. Whatever they say goes and the team will follow their orders which will only be second to the command which is you, Admiral Laura"

"Interesting. I agree, but only if everyone in the team agrees regardless of whoever wins. If even a single person disagrees we will not do it because a team that doesn't follow its leader is as good as dead"

"I agree"

"I agree"

"Sure whatever"

"Yes"

"Doesn't really matter, but sure"

"I agree"

"I agree"

The Admiral clasped her hands together.

"Great. We will head over to the training room to immediately decide who will become the captain. Afterwards when the captain is decided, you may still decide if you wish to be apart of the team or not"