The Story Of Soldiers

Chapter 30

Be prepared for some lore/character backstory drops in this segment :)

Warning(s): mentioned murder, minor mention of vomit, implied past abuse

It's...an odd day, to say the least. It's been a while since the fight, and the team is back to their normal selves.
Diaz is glad about that. He still needs to give the trainees a lesson about team trust though.

If they were to fight like that on the battlefield, considering it took nearly a week for them to return to their regular state, they probably wouldn't come back at all.
Trust is important, Diaz knows that, but relying on someone is an entirely different matter.
If they rely too heavily on one person, if something bad were to happen to said one person, then they'd fall.

Diaz doesn't want that. He doesn't want that for any of the teams, but why does the thought of anything bad happening to Fire Team Red Alpha make him panic especially? Why does his heart speed up and a cold sheen of sweat covers him at the thought?

Recently Diaz has become too aware that this was the same panic he felt when he found out that Akira was missing.
Stop it. Stop it, stop it, stop it. It was over a decade ago. Just move on...just forget. Why can't he forget?

No, he doesn't have time to think about that.
Diaz has other things to do. Things to help the trainees forward in their training and taking down Dajjal.

The children gazed out the windows, eyes shining as they looked on longingly at the empty void of space.
"Space is fascinating," Aayan said, "Imagine how much more of this is being made as we speak?"

"That's kinda scary," Colleen mumbled, "I mean, I'm not scared or anything but- it's weird, no?"
"Agreed," Jay muttered, a shiver rolling through his body.
"It's interesting," Kahsbi put in. Kamlyn nodded with agreement.

Kira stared off literally into space, black eyes blank as they searched for something, yet found nothing.
"Stars are pretty," they said mindlessly, "I kinda wanna touch them."

Aayan smiled, "You know you couldn't actually do that right? They're really just balls of gas, and they're super hot."
Kira nodded. "I know."
"Hey, do you guys remember that game mom used to play with us?" Kaze asked.

"Which one?" Came Kamlyn's reply.
"The one when she'd show us a constellation and whoever spotted it first one?" Kira suggested.
"You did that too?" Came Jay's voice.

"Yeah." The three said at the same time, all of them looking upon the stars.
"Is that the Ursa Major?" Kahsbi questioned, pointing to one of the collections of stars.

"Yeah I think so," Aayan said, looking around the sky, "Look, it's the Virgo constellation. It's always been my favorite."
"Mines the Aquarius," Jay said, "What're your favorites?"

"Oh, mine is Leo," Kaze said softly.
"Mines Gemini," Kira spoke up next.
Kamlyn nodded. "Yeah, mine too."
Kai cleared his throat briefly.
"Mine is the Taurus."

"What about you, Colleen?" Jay asked the red-head beside him.
"Oh, uh," Colleen hadn't thought about this before, so she quickly faked it, "A-Aquarius."

"Me too!" Jay exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her.
Colleen stumbled for words, unsure of what to do before he let her go.
"No physical contact between trainees," Diaz scolds briefly as he makes his way to the front of the ship to stand beside Embress and another girl who looked similar to Embress.

"Alright everyone," the commander snaps loudly, "Listen up. We are approaching our destination. You are not to leave the group for any reason. Consequences will be severe if you are found breaking this rule."