Resurrection (Red vs Blue)

3: The Very Beginning

3: The Very Beginning

Many Years Ago: U.N.S.C. Training Station 146-A; 31 B.B.G. (Before Blood Gulch)

Allison stood on the sidelines, watching a live fire training exercise in the works. It wasn't often these kind of things happened around base. This far out into space, there was too much at stake with doing live fire training. If someone didn't defuse a bomb fast enough, half of the base could blow. Putting a bunch of trainees into a high pressure situation wasn't a very smart move. She hated watching how they squirmed. It took everything she had to not run in half the time and just do it for them.

"What's the matter, Allison?" Delaney asked, sounding awfully smug. The two of them were already in their third year of training, and he'd been a dick the whole time. "You look rather frustrated."

"Shut the fuck up, limp dick," Allison half growled, not bothering to look at him. "I'll punch that smug look off your face if you don't remove it yourself. And how many times do I have to fucking tell you? Don't call me Allison. It's Beth to you."

Delaney just looked at her, the dumb smirk never fading. "What's got your panties in a wad? Mad because you can't train right now? There is more to life than just training and fighting, you know. I could show you a few more possibilities to broaden your horizons, if ya know what I mean. How about it, sweet stuff? Feel like letting me show you the ropes?"

She moved quickly, grabbing a fistful of Delaney's shirt before he could react and glared at him. "I'm getting sick and tired of you just constantly fucking hitting on me. I'd highly suggest you either drop the topic or I'll gladly drop you with a swift kick between the legs. Is that clear?"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it," he grumbled, pulling his shirt out of her grip. He looked back toward the trainees who were scrambling around frantically. "Think any of them got what it takes?"

"No," Allison replied curtly, returning her attention to the training grounds. "Each batch just keeps getting worse and worse. The U.N.S.C. is fucked."

The sad part was that it wasn't a lie. It seemed like each new group of trainees the U.N.S.C. recruited were weaker than the last. But Allison guessed that's what happened when the demand for bodies exceeded the actual amount of viable candidates. Everywhere you went, more and more people were being drafted to fight. The majority of them were pulled in by force; they didn't want to be there.

"Watching the rookies, are we?" Camryn asked, coming to stand between Delaney and Allison. "Seems awfully boring."

Allison looked at her. "Boring as it may be, you know we're gonna have to help them at some point."

Her shoulders slumped. "Yeah, I know. Don't remind me. I'm not looking at how they fight right now, anyway. I'm looking to see who looks cute. And I think I'm seeing a couple good options." Her words seemed well placed, but Allison caught her sneak a sideways glance at Delaney. Was she trying to make him jealous? "There are a few really cute ones out there. Nice and strong looking. I like, I like."

She couldn't help but roll her eyes at her commrad's comment. The only thing Camryn Taylor did when they'd watch new recruits was look to see if she could find someone to screw. Sadly, she wasn't the only one who did so. But she was the only one that actually followed through on sleeping with the person (or people) that she picked. Everyone could at least admit to looking. Hell, even Allison looked from time to time; just out of curiosity.

As her eyes scanned the groups of trainees, Allison noticed one in particular stood out to her. The guy was tall, but wasn't exactly the most muscular. He was thin; kind of wiry looking like Delaney was. His hair was jet black, and his glasses sat atop his head while he squinted at the small print of the standard issue field manual. His face was drawn into a rather frustrated look as he tried to instruct some other people in his training squad on how to defuse an explosive device. If she was being honest, the guy wasn't really her type. Instead of the rough and tough persona of most soldiers, his seemed more . . . geeky. Not the kind of guy Allison went for. But for some reason, she couldn't help but watch him.