The Krystal Chronicles: Earth

One

I had a feeling that my decision would make both parents put their foot down. It was one thing to enlist, but for a Miles, it was another to not go into engineering. It just didn't call to me. I tried: in prime school, there were assessment tests given and I wanted to pass the design portion. But when it was laid out in front of me and I looked over the questions... it didn't appeal to me. I scraped by while everywhere else I excelled. My dad joked and said that he had failed his assessment altogether but still became an engineer: it was simply in the Miles bloodline.

They never expected that I would choose the medical field, and I honestly knew of no relative who had at least done anything other than engineering in the military. Not every Miles joined, that was true. I knew for sure that they would disown me, but after an hour of awkward silence, my parents were all smiles and I prepared to leave.

We had only been on Outpost T for a few years with my dad retiring early from the service. The domed settlement was deemed Paradise, and many families with enough money made their home there. It boasted of elite schools and an overall great environment for us to be raised around. Most of the enlisted who made it through the ranks quickly came from Outpost T or a few sections of Earth. We definitely weren't the first Miles to live there.

Still, I would miss the outpost, I knew this as I made my way on the elite cruiser that would send us to Earth. The majority on the ship was bound for enlistment, so we all had that glassy-eye stare about us. But it didn't last long as they put us in stasis for the trip. By the time we climbed out of our chamber tubes, we were looking at the all too familiar sight of the blue rock we called Earth.

I actually loved Earth; nature was authentic there. I was born on Earth but by the time I was ten, we moved to Outpost T. But everything was so real on Earth, particularly the weather. I looked on in slight excitement as we made our descent through the grayish clouds, no longer anxious about what was to come for my training.

According to our history pamphlets, the way basic training ran hadn't changed much. The enlistees were already assigned a uniform, but it was more or less to show where we came from. We were rudely ushered off the vessel by a crew of instructors yelling orders, mainly telling us to hurry and get into formation accordingly.

Our solar system had become integrated after mankind could travel past the moon and Mars, which meant we found out we weren't alone in the universe. It made me giggle to think humans actually believed at one point they were the only ones in this solar system. It made no sense, even to a then five-year-old me: the place was just too big!

Either way, humans weren't the only ones becoming enlisted into the Intergalactic Marines, and while I was used to seeing different species, it was another thing to train alongside them. I tried to stay still, to stay in the position of attention while the Colonel of the base welcomed us to "the beginning of the end of your life". But it was hard for me to do so, I wanted to look at the different uniforms and try to pinpoint where people came from.

"Snap to attention, wandering eyes!" an instructor barked at me. I did so and felt my cheeks ache as I heard the others around me try to keep their snickers in. The instructor put her attention on those and I could finally breathe normally.

After all the turmoil, they rushed us inside the building and were put in platoons according to our job class. I knew that there would be a mistake when:

"Miles, engineer platoon." the instructor didn't even look, just assumed. I swallowed hard and went up to him.

"Sir? Sorry, sir but-"

"Are you deaf, enlistee?" he quirked a brow at me and I wanted to run away. I couldn't of course.

"I'm not supposed to be in the engineering class, sir." I stood my ground. I knew that regardless of whose fault it was, it was a huge no-no to switch job classes.