Chapter 19: - The Squad Name

Gus found his squad waiting outside the room for him. As for Lianna's squad, they were nowhere to be seen.

She hurriedly looked around for a moment in hope that she could find them, but her eyes found nothing. Turning to Gus's squad, she asked them if they had seen her squad. They told her that they had returned to the house. Dejectedly, she thanked them and began to head back to the house.

"Gus, we were just thinking of taking a trip over to the shopping area," Claire told him. "You in?"

"Uhm, sure," he responded. "But, do you mind if we stop by the house quickly? I want to just check on something."

The others in his squad agreed to it, and they all went back to the house. Truthfully, Gus was a little worried about Lianna. He had no reason to be, given that they had only just met that day. However, she had seemed rather worried when she could not see the rest of her squad outside of the classroom, and he could not just abandon someone who might need help of some kind.

Once they were back, Gus went to check on the assigned missions given by the academy. Since he did not know what was going to happen later on, he figured it was best to have a squad name prepared on the chance that they would need one.

'That's something that we can do as we go.'

"While we go, lets try and come up with some names for the squad," he said.

There were a handful of suggestions thrown around, but none that stuck. Some, like the Hand of Humanity, were clearly just desperate efforts to get something to stick. Others tried to relate to the backgrounds of members of the squad, such as the Architects of Evolution, a name that Gus rejected outright.

"Tell you what," Emmy said after another failed round of suggestions. "Tell us what you want from us, from the squad. Maybe we can work something out that way."

"At first," Gus began, "when I decided to join, I wanted to prove something to myself. Now..."

'Now I have the beginning of power, power that will allow me to stop those who would hurt humanity.'

"Now I want to be the best, and crush those who work to the detriment of humanity."

"When you say crush," Faye asked. "What do you mean? How far will you take it?"

"As far as I need to, I'd like to think."

She thought about the two things for a short moment, before thinking of something.

"How about... Apex Reapers? Apex for being the best, and reapers to show no mercy to our opponents?" Faye suggested.

"That could work... I like it."

After the issue of the name was finished, Gus informed them of their summons later that day. This revelation changed the minds of some of the people in the squad. Where they were planning to take their time at the shopping area, they now decided to only go to an essential store where they could buy necessary things, such as food. At least, they would have, if they had any money.

It was Joel who pointed it out once they were almost there. The academy had not supplied them with any money so far, and no one had been allowed to bring money from outside the academy.

At ten to eight, Gus and the others assembled outside of their house. A few minutes after, they were joined by Lianna and all 9 other members of her squad, including Timber. At eight sharp, Dorrian and the other officers at the academy arrived at the house in two vehicle-like hovercraft. With a gesture, they signalled to the two squads to get into the hovercraft, which were similar to small buses, complete with a closed top.

Almost certainly not by coincidence, Gus's squad ended up in the same hovercraft as Jet.

"Have you decided on the name of your squad yet?" he asked Gus.

"We have. Haven't got around to sorting the insignia and the motto yet," Gus responded. "Apex Reapers is the name."

"Apex Reapers? Okay! Great!" Jet enthusiastically replied. "I'll make a note of it."

"So, what is this thing?" Gus asked.

"You remember how I mentioned to you before that the individual squads of a platoon would compete in different things? Well, it's one of those things. I can't tell you any more just yet, but at least you have an idea what you're in for."

While inside the hovercraft, Gus and the other members of his Apex Reapers could not make out where they were being taken. Left to his imagination on the nature of the place, Gus's mind immediately went to a dark place, expecting something bad to be on the other end of the journey.

After what felt to Gus like an eternity, the hovercraft came to a stop. Sliding back, the door revealed an entryway into what looked to be a building. As they exited the hovercraft, Gus and the others found no sign of the other hovercraft that took Lianna's squad.

As Jet led them down the dimly lit corridor into the building, Gus could hear the distant sound of an amplified voice, as if someone was speaking into a microphone, although he could not make out what was being said.

The corridor came to an end with a large door, like the door to a garage. Mount Repeater rifles were stowed away in small stations on either side of the door.

"Well, congratulations are in order, Reapers. You have been chosen to participate in the opening match of the squad championships we run at the Earthen Military Academy. The match is being streamed live across the systems, but don't worry about it. Just do your best, and get a feel for the way it works.

The mission is a simple one, since it's the first week of competition. I should also say that the rifles have been modified for these games, and shocks the opponent rather than outright hurting them. The mission is three rounds of team deathmatch. Once hit, you are eliminated for that round. Win more rounds than them to win the game. Oh, and cybernetics are allowed for defence and disruption, not for outright offence. Good luck Reapers."

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