Stuck In The Baracks During An Invasion

Clay's eyes were unfocused as he tried to bring himself back to his feet. Fortunately someone came forward to grab him. He somewhat slowly realised it was Doncaster who had been waiting in the vehicle.

Mumbling thanks, Clay could only lean on Doncaster as he got up with a sharp pain his stomach eating away at him.

Glancing at the three recruits who had managed to follow him through the rough terrain, Sergeant Coniver seemed to almost smile as he quietly spoke to himself. "not bad".

Breaking for a short respite, liquid was passed to the three who had managed to keep with his pace. From the corner of his eyes Clay could see that Sigu remained in perfect form and only slightly out of breath. Kayden though was not in much better form than him but somehow his stubborn pride had forced him to shun any help that came his way as he casually looked at Clay while gulping down the liquid in the bottle.

"Everyone's here, good. For the first training exercise some of you have passed but others need to spend more time on their fitness, even though you have all awakened, being a psionic is not infallible. There will be times when your ability will fail you and all you can depend on is your physical bodies' strength or your will to pull you through. You have been sent here to fulfil the terms of your contract as well as train, keep this in mind. I'm not here to replace your mother or care for you like the organisations behind you."

Sergeant's Coniver's voice was mild but clear, a hint of contempt seemed to be laced in his words as he enunciated the word 'organisations'. At the back of his mind Clay carefully filed this piece of information away even as he gathered his breath.

"The real training will start now, grab a backpack from the vehicle and say goodbye because the only way you will go back now is if you make it through this training and walk there."

Hearing his words, the atmosphere soon became gloomy as everyone shouldered a small pack from the vehicle. The backpack was small, almost the size of a small container that was made of some strange material, however the weight seemed to belie its small size, putting it on Clay could instantly feel the weight dragging him from behind. The clear difference between entering a life in a technological advanced world and Earth was that some things had changed but fundamentally it was still the same. The advantage of the small backpack was that it did not restrict their movements, but the same could not be said of the weight that hung across their shoulders and back. If he didn't know better Clay would have said the sight of the group reminded him of friends enjoying a brief hike.

"Be on guard, you may encounter strange creatures in these areas and it is not my responsibility to take care of you, as you can see there is only one of me and eight of you. Your real training will start now. If you have time please familiarise yourself with the info doc supplied on your comm link that you have been given earlier as we continue to walk. We will stop and make camp in approximately two hours from now."

Cl.i.c.k.i.n.g the strange device that he had been given Clay closely touched the interface on his comm link unit that was placed on his wrist like watch. An holographic info doc materialised as the comm link began to list the possible dangers for this trip. Though he was not the only one to do so, Clay could see some of the others remained relaxed and simply continued to walk.

Surprisingly Kayden was one of the few who took part in following Sergeant Coniver's reminder. Time passed leisurely as the group continued on their journey into the rocky terrain. Occasionally the sound of strange creatures could be heard in the distance as if warning them to keep away.

The most carefree was Reo who began to strike a conversation with Miranda who seemed to be enjoying his attention. Glancing at the solitary figure ahead, Clay could see that Sergeant Coniver did not pay attention to the group but their surroundings as the slowly advanced through the area. Neither did he make any attempt for them to follow discipline or remain silent.

'Strange, this shouldn't be the way a military should run,' the thought travelled in Clay's head as he wondered why the ranked officer had suddenly become so more lax.

Fortunately it didn't take long for the reason to come to the light, he soon realised that Sergeant Coniver hadn't been making a joke when he had said that he wouldn't be taking care of them.