"You see the look on that recruit’s face. She isn't willing to give up. She's getting angry, and she's getting mean. By the look in her eye, I'd say she hates us right about now, and is only continuing to prove us wrong!"
The black-haired woman tried for one more pull up again and was gaining height at a snail's pace but still trying.
"It's okay. You can stop now," Taylor said.
She finally let go and dropped down to her feet.
"What's your name?"
"Mia Moore, Sir."
"Sounds like the kind of name you'd front a band with, Moore."
"Yes, Sir."
"Moore, you're staying and continuing the training, the rest of you; on your feet. You're finished here."
None of them moved. They clearly didn't think he was being serious.
"Get the fuck out of here!"
There were groans all around, as they began to get up and shamble away.
"Move!" Parker screeched.
They sped up a little, and they were just left with Moore now.
"You fancy yourself a bit of a badass, do you?" Taylor asked her.
"I do, Sir."
"And this bad girl attitude you got going. Is it real of just an act?"
"I've been fighting my whole life, Sir, just not had a cause to back me up."
"Well, you sure got one now."
He turned to Parker.
"What do you think?"
"She's got about as much discipline as a fighting dog, and just as much balls."
Taylor nodded in agreement.
"Okay, Mia Moore. You'll still have to go through a shit tonne of training to be as good as we need you to be. But what do you say, you wanna be in the Regiment?"
"I do, Sir."
"Then welcome aboard."
Taylor signalled for Parker to follow him across the room to where they could not be heard.
"That's a little premature, don't you think? We haven't tested anything but her willpower and attitude."
"That's enough. She's capable enough. She will handle the training just fine. We don't have time to go through six months of recruitment. We need a couple of hundred capable men and women preparing to join the ranks right now. That means you are gonna have to start getting ruthless with your selection. You know you can tell enough about a person in an hour. That is all you should need to give a yes or no. So what, if a few stragglers get through. They'll be weeded out at a later date."
* * *
"You think this'll work?"
"Trust me, Berlin," replied Kelly. They were storming along a country road in his truck.
"I sure would have been happier if we'd kept the AA gun on the back."
"Yeah, well that would defy the object, wouldn't it?"
She shook her head.
"Not long now," he added.
The line of trees was coming to an end up ahead, and they could see the bright opening that would put them out on an open plain for all to see.
"Don't worry. It'll work."
"I'm sure the first part will, and we’ll surely get some attention. I'm just not so sure about the second part, surviving the experience."
"Too late now."
They burst out into the morning sunshine. Under the shelter of the forest canopy, they had not seen such bright light since leaving their homes, and it was almost blinding. Kelly kept up the speed, both as to try and get noticed, and not get hit. He felt the back end of his truck begin to slide and merely put more power down and pulled it back into line.
"That's if you don't kill us first," Berlin added.
They got a hundred metres across the open plain when a pulse impacted on the ground just in front of them. The truck dropped into the crater, ramped up the other side, and continued on.
"Damn that was fast!" Kelly yelled.
They looked ahead to see it was another hundred metres to the tree line.
"This is gonna be close!" Berlin shouted.
She knew there was nothing to do now but hold on and hope. Another two pulses landed around them, and Kelly swerved the vehicle to avoid the enemy being able to lead them.
"You see, moving target, they can't hit us!"
As he said it, another pulse skimmed the roof of the truck and burnt off a corner of the cab.
"That was too close!" Berlin hissed under her breath.
A second later, they raced into the narrow clearing of the forest, and Kelly slowed the pace to a half.
"Have we got them?"
Berlin looked back for confirmation.
"Can't see anything...wait... there they are! Put your foot on it!"
He accelerated away as another two pulses raced their way. One of them struck a tree up ahead, and it began to fall across the road.
"No, no, no!" Berlin screamed.
"We can make it!" Kelly cried.
He put his foot to the floor as they raced towards the falling tree that they knew would easily crush the truck. They reached it just in time, and Berlin looked back to see it crash to the ground only a metre behind the vehicle.
"Way too close," she said.
"We're still alive, aren't we?"
"For now, Sir."
She looked up out of the windscreen and could just make out the shape of the craft flying overhead and following the route to the next opening. It was twice the size of the fighter they had shot down the day before.
"They're heading to cut us off exactly as you wanted."
"Good. Time for the welcome party."
Kelly carried on with a smile on his face, although Berlin didn't see the funny side of their situation. A few minutes later, they could see the light ahead where the forest opened up once again, and the path came to an end in a rocky canyon. They almost reached the opening when they saw the alien craft descend into the opening and land in front of them. Kelly brought his truck to a standstill, and they watched six Mechs stride out of the ship to confront them.
They raised their pulse cannons to take aim at the truck, but as they did, a rocket trail zoomed towards the ship behind them. It exploded, sending shrapnel almost as far as Kelly's vehicle. Before the Mechs could respond, each of them was struck by dozens of shots from Reitech rifles and riddled until they dropped where they stood. Kelly and Berlin simply sat back and watched the show as the aliens were executed before them. Finally, as the dust settled, Kelly got out and strolled forward to the see the results of their work.
As they approached, a number of troops stepped out from their concealed positions, including Becker. He paced up to the bodies and wreckage, looking through it for any sign of life. The Mechs on the ground were dead, without a doubt, so he carried on up to the wreckage of their ship. Part of the hull was still intact but was twisted and burnt. A huge hole had been ripped in the side from the impact. He looked inside and saw a single Mech. It looked dead, but he fired three shots into its head to be certain. Finally, he turned back to Kelly and Berlin who stood over the bodies of the Mechs.
"Not bad at all, Kelly. Seven dead and a ship knocked out. No casualties or losses of equipment on our side."
He looked past them to the state of the truck and the roof that had been opened like a can of beans by the impact.
"Looks like you came a little too close there."
"Far too close," Berlin said, "We survived that more out of luck than skill."
"Yeah, well, I guess that's part of our lives now," replied Becker, "Luck. We do everything we can, as we always have, but we're gonna need a tonne of luck to keep this up."
Smoke arose from the craft high into the sky.
"This is going to attract attention."
"Good," said Kelly, "take up your positions. Let's get a little bonus out of this."
Kelly went back to his truck and pulled it off the road into nearby foliage, and then took up position in a well-concealed dugout beside Becker.