»»---Echo---««

Chapter 12 - D-Squad

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The wind on my face made my nose feel cold. The simulation put us on a rooftop in the middle of town with the B-Squad cadets. I tried to keep my panic down at the lack of walls around us, why did they have to pick the most exposed spot for training?

"Remember," Sky stepped forward to grab our attention, "You never know when your enemy is going to strike. Gruumm and his goons never give advance notice."

Z stepped to his left side, "Sky's right, you have to be alert at all times."

One of the D-Squad cadets, I think his name was Toby, smirked, "Well if any Krybots mess with me, I'll be ready!"

I glanced over at Sophie. She flashed me an amused smile which made me hide a grin in return. I was glad she was here, it was nice having a familiar face training alongside me.

Something in the air shifted, and I balled my fists watching as Sophie seemed to do the same. From the north side something jumped up from the landing below the roof, knocking Toby down.

Sky and the B-Squad stood watching our reactions. I saw Bridge click a stopwatch and I knew it was go time.

My feet pushed me into a run before I even realized, instinct had me dodging between Krybots and attacking when I could. From my peripheral I could see Sophie kicking and punching Krybots as they attacked.

Cadets were being knocked down left and right. The cold air was making my hands numb but that only made me punch harder.

I saw Sophie fling herself into a backflip to narrowly dodge an attack, and before she could recover I sent a kick to her left side knocking down another Krybot.

"Thanks," she laughed.

I only smiled.

We jumped back into action, taking down as many as we could.

"Boost!" I heard her call, the final Krybot didn't stand a chance as Sophie pushed off my cupped hand to send a blow to its chest knocking it off the roof.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall," she said. She clapped me on the shoulder with a smile that I couldn't help but return.

Jack clicked a button on his control ending the simulation. The bright white room appeared around us and Sophie and I glanced at the other cadets laying on the ground at our feet.

"Okay, D-squad. Next time you might wanna be a little more prepared. Let's regroup after lunch."

I followed Sophie's lead as she saluted with the rest of the squad. The others filed out of the room with a groan as Sophie turned to me with a bright smile, "We did awesome!"

"Yeah," I said softly.

"Great job Echo," Syd said as she walked up to us, still writing on her notepad, "And great reflexes cadet."

Sophie smiled shyly, "Thanks. I guess I got some lucky hits in."

Bridge followed suit, "Keep it up, and you'll make C-Squad in no time."

Sophie and I shared a smile.

"Of course, Krybots are only mindless piles of nuts and bolts. Some of the aliens we encounter are a lot tougher." Jack nodded to me, making me glue my eyes to the floor.

Sophie shrugged, "I'm sure, but I bet some cyborgs can still be pretty tough."

"That's why all cyborgs belong in the scrap heap," Sky said, "Where they can't cause any trouble."