Surge Squadron: Defective

Chapter Twenty-one: Bred to Compete

"Vis? Why don't Kaminoans ever smile?" Sights asked as he walked beside Vision.

"I suppose it is because they are dignified and we are their inferiors." Vision replied, "Sometimes professionalism requires a straight face."

Sights smiled, "But smiles would be nice every now and then, like how Adrenaline is almost always smiling."

Vision laughed, "True, but truthfully speaking, Ad will never be professional." He smiled, "But I find that a good quality about him. He's our bundle of energy to cheer us on and keep us striving toward perfection."

Adrenaline, as they spoke, was skipping and smiling at everyone around him.

Vis looked back at him, "Emphasis on the energy." He added back to Sights.

Sights chuckled, "There's truly no one like Ad!"

Upon reaching the mess hall, Adrenaline blew past the rest of his squad to get near the front of the line to eat.

The rest of the squad walked over, chuckling.

When Adrenaline saw what was being served, he wrinkled his nose, "Ew... Salad... At least we have meat substitute."

"SALAD?!" Vision gasped with a smile, "Non-toxic, earth-grown, freshly imported salad?"

"Oh, wow, guys- the one food that won't 'poison' Vision." Patches snickered.

Adrenaline chuckled at Patches' joke, then nodded, "Yep. Salad... There's meat substitute and rice as well."

Vis smiled, "Let's make a deal, Ad. You give me your salad and you get my... chemical-replication of what is supposed to be meat."

Adrenaline filled his food tray, "Deal! Thank you!" He smiled.

"I'm glad you two could work out a bargain." Sights chuckled, "You seem really happy, Vis."

"That's because I am." Vision grinned widely.

When everyone had their food, the cadets went to a table to sit down. By this time, Vision and Adrenaline were already making the exchange.

Sights sat down and began to eat his rice. He remembered his question in class and asked it again, "Vis? Now that we are at lunch, could you tell me what Talon meant by 'climbing the ranks?'"

Vision's smile faded once he heard this. He finished the "transaction" with Adrenaline before sitting down slowly and answering, "Well- We didn't want to break this to you so soon... You see, the way our training is set up encourages competition between different squads, divisions, companies, and so on. These competitions can drive cadets mad, since scores are very vital to success. Low-scoring cadets basically doom themselves to never seeing battle. Higher-scoring cadets are more prone to being promoted or put into advanced programs to become elite units. Talon and his brothers are a very competitive bunch... They want top slots in the point rankings to become elite troopers someday."

Sights listened, "Oh- I get it... Why didn't you tell me this sooner, guys?"

"Because," Subtle began, "You just began in the program with a passion for learning and we didn't want to extinguish that with burdens of competition." He explained, "But now you know, just do what you've always done. Strive to do your best."

Sights nodded slowly, reflecting on all this new knowledge as he ate his salad.

Circuit chimed in after he finished his meat substitute, "Sub's right. Don't worry about Talon. He's always fought with our standing, trying to top us. It's not new news around here." He began to eat his rice.

"Okay, if you say so." Sights nodded, "I love trying my best anyway, so this will be easy peasy!"

Circuit was pleased with Sights' confidence as he continued to eat with his brothers.