THE KING OF BAST*RDS PART 1

(Cargo plane, South Africa, January 2133)

Sean sat in the cabin of the cargo plane, waking up after getting some sleep. He is now wearing a jungle camouflage, body armour with ballistic plates and a full cut ballistic helmet. A number plate is sticked onto his vest and helmet by Velcro, which Sean recognised as the way their instructors will use to address him and his fellow cadets to wipe off all signs of personality in order to mould them, though he could not help to find it ironic that his number is "9" out of everything, as if this number is chosen on purpose for him.

"Good morning," said a voice opposite him. Louis enthusiastically handed Sean another lobster roll from his lunchbox. "Your name is Sean, right?"

Sean looked at the Lita numbered 42 in front of him. "Louis Fletcher?! Damn, what a small world!" he exclaimed.

"Thanks, Sean said, taking it. He then noticed that Louis still has some rolls left.

"Is this your breakfast?" asked Sean.

Louis nodded. "I suggest that you don't eat so much," said Sean.

"Why?" asked Louis.

"Because you will puke," replied Sean plainly. Having experienced the training for Tier 1 before, he already knew exactly what they are going to experience.

"Huh?!" asked a shocked Louis.

"And if you puke, you are kicked out," finished Sean with a forced smile.

"WHAT?" exclaimed Louis.

Sean stifled his laugh, knowing that he is trolling with Louis.

Just as Louis is going to ask further, the cargo plane landed, and soon the cadets are ushered out of the cabin, finding themselves at the space elevator of South Africa.

"Fall in!" yelled a German Inari instructor. He has feline features, including cat ears and clawed hands. Sean recognised him to be the leader of the UN reinforcement back at Hokkaido. The cadets immediately gathered in formation.

"Hurry up! Did you all not eat?" yelled a South African Angel instructor, evident by his ghostly appearance.

They quickened their pace, and Sean found himself at the first row. A red-haired girl with numbered 31 a few people to his left caught his attention. She is a Draco like Aya, with pink-red horns.

A few boys in the formation wolf-whistled at her. "Hey hottie, did you mean to go to the model team?" one of them jeered, only for an instructor to yell at them, prompting them to stay silent.

"Sir, all 184 cadets at the South Africa camp present!" reported the South African instructor, saluting the other instructors.

The cadets entered a cabin of the space elevator, Louis turned to Sean, puzzled. "It's just a space elevator to the Moon, nothing scary about it, I have travelled to space on them before."

Sean chuckled, pointing to an anti-G suit on the seat. "Do you know what is this?"

Louis shook his head. "It's an anti-G suit, to keep you safe from gravity force. See, Tier 1 operators are also required to pilot UNSSD's Mechas as elite strike teams, hence this means that like our comrades in aviation, we need to deploy out in over 9Gs of gravity force," explained Sean

"This is a specially built space elevator, unlike commercial ones, this one doesn't have inertia dampeners," he finished.

"Yikes…" Louis muttered, understanding what Sean means now. Sean sat down on the seat and wore the anti-G suit, finding it still as uncomfortable to wear as he remembered.

Louis followed the pictures on the suit and wore it, sitting down on Sean's left.

The red-haired girl from before sat down on Sean's right side. "Hi!" she smiled in a sweet voice. "I am Ariel Wagner."

Sean turned to her, surprised. "That childhood friend of Phineas is called Ariel…" he recounted.

"I am Louis Fletcher," greeted Louis, shaking hands with Ariel. Sean did the same and introduced himself.

"Are you familiar with a Phineas Wang by any chance? He is from the Hong Kong Police." asked Sean.

Ariel nodded. "He is my…" she said, turning away for a brief moment, embarrassed. "…childhood friend."

"You must be that factory worker friend of his in Hokkaido then, thanks for saving his life," said Ariel, grabbing Sean's hands.

"No big deal," smiled Sean. He recounted Phineas' reaction when he mentioned Ariel and compared it to her reaction when she mentioned Phineas.

""Childhood friend" indeed," he bemused internally. "You 2 should just get married."

A human instructor ranked Lieutenant walked up in front of the cadets while other instructors checked their anti-G suits. Sean's eye darted to his name tag.

"Xu Qing…" read Sean.

"A quick word, if you vomit, get out," said Lieutenant Xu Qing. "And if you do, try not to choke on your vomit," he sneered. "I will not be performing CPR on anyone."

"As the space elevator goes up you clowns will be subjected to over 9Gs of gravity force. Earth won't go easy on you just because you think you are good enough to be one of us. Check your suits, otherwise you are going home in a little box," finished Xu Qing, sitting down at the control station.

"Preparing to launch," said a robotic voice as safety bars flipped down and locked the cadets in their seats.

"5…4…"

Sean breathed, recounting the breathing techniques to ensure he does not pass out.

"3…2…1…"

Louis grabbed the safety bar nervously while Ariel confidently cracked her knuckles.

"Launch."

The cabin charged into space; Ariel gritted her teeth at the sheer force driving them up. Equipment in the cabin shuddered and rattled.

Sean breathed, peeking at the monitor showing the level of Gs they are subjected to.

Very quickly the gravity force exceeded 9Gs.

"Breathe! Breathe!" instructed Xu Qing. "Watch your frequency!"

Louis started screaming from the force. Soon more cadets started screaming.

"Scream your lungs out kids!" yelled Xu Qing. "You will pass out in 10 seconds!"

True enough, all of the cadets passed out except for Sean. The smell of vomit came into Sean's nostrils. He chuckled.

The cabin entered space, and soon everyone in the cabin is floating in the weightless environment. Xu Qing floated out of his seat, checking out the cadets sleeping soundly.

"Rest, kids, rest," he said. "You won't get many chances of sleeping from here on." He signalled to the other instructors to attend to those who vomited and to make sure they do not choke.

He floated over to Sean's row, startled to find Sean still awake and waving at him. Xu Qing gave Sean an interested glance, silently noting down his number.

The cabin descended back to Earth, and they are rudely awakened by the sound of machine gun fire, quickly pushed out into the opening again.

"Hurry up you good for nothings!" roared the South African Angel instructor. The lights have been cut, at the cadets find themselves in the pitch-black darkness of the night.

"Herbert, what do you think?" asked the German Inari instructor.

Major Herbert Nkosi threw a condescending glance at the cadets. "Well Franz, I would say so-so."

Colonel Franz Schulz turned to the cadets condescendingly.

"My name is Franz Schulz! Your head instructor, but I don't care what your names are! Because to me, all you are is a number!"

"This turf is my territory! I own the air you breathe and the land you step on! You will definitely regret coming to this place, because I will make sure you'd wish you're dead!" roared Franz.

"If you don't regret bringing your fat a** here, then it's my mistake! But! I never make mistakes! Nanami!"

A Lita with the rank of Lieutenant who is an identical copy of Frederica stepped down from a jeep. Unlike others, Sean can easily tell Frederica and her identical twin Artemis 3 "Nanami" apart.

Nanami's walk was slow, deliberate, and full of swagger, her eyes scanning the cadets like a predator eyeing its prey.

"She is your direct superior! Nanami, check their bags! Confiscate their personal devices and throw away everything else unrelated to the military!"

Nanami complied, gesturing other instructors over and they begin sweeping the cadets' bags. Soon a huge pile of belongings appeared on the clearing. Nanami's eyes gleamed with amusement at the pile of confiscated item, but she was not just looking for contraband. She was on the prowl for something—anything—that would spark her curiosity.

Nanami then took Ariel's bag, finding to her surprise a framed picture of Phineas and Ariel together. Recognising Phineas, she turned to the cadets with an interested glance, finding Ariel looking worriedly at her. The 2 locked eyes. Nanami looked around to ensure no one is watching and discreetly stuffed the framed picture back into her bag. She then winked playfully at Ariel. Ariel heaved a sigh of relief.

"WHOSE IS THIS?" roared an instructor, holding up a piece of erotic literature. Everyone froze, knowing that it is a banned item in the military.

A cadet shakily stepped forward. Nanami took the magazine and walked to him, flipping through.

She smiled at the cadet. "My, my. This is definitely a step up from the usual fare we get around here." She tossed the magazine in the air and burnt it like a piece of trash. "But I'm more curious about you," she continued, stepping even closer, making the cadet visibly squirm in fear.

She leaned in, her breath warm against his skin, close enough that he could smell her shampoo, making his heart race. "So, cadet," she whispered, voice dripping with mock sweetness, "what do you think about me?"

The cadet flushed, looking like he might explode from the pressure. Nanami's grin widened as she gently grabbed his chin. "Maybe if you beg a little, I'll make your punishment a bit more enjoyable," she teased, her voice sultry but laced with an edge of authority.

Her eyes followed that of the cadet's, realising that he is staring at the wrong places. She let the tension hang in the air for a moment longer before she tackled the cadet on to the ground.

"Disrespecting your superior, 500 push ups~" she smiled, stepping on him. Sean silently prayed for this cadet, given that he and his "siblings" weigh 150 kg on average thanks to their titanium alloy skeletons.

Franz kicked the pile of personal items. "Look at how pathetic you are! You clowns might as well bring diapers and pacifiers!"

"I have a nickname given by the older cadets, if you want, feel free to use it," sneered Franz.

"The King of Bast*rds!"

Sean stifled a laugh.

"WHAT'RE YOU LAUGHING AT, PUNK?" roared Franz, charging over to Sean and glaring at him in the eye. "We have a comedian here!"

"You got some balls kid, what's your name?" asked Franz.

Sean rolled his eyes internally. "Sean," he replied curtly.

Franz sneered. "No surname, what are you? A bast*rd?"

Sean laughed. "Sir, I thought you are the bast*rd?"

All the cadets and instructors turned to Sean, stunned. The entire area turned silent.

Franz nodded his head with an amused smile. "Thanks to his wit, all of you are running 20km instead of 10km!" he announced.