The Tale of the Ascendants

CHAPTER 5: The untold truth

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" I commanded the cadets, and they immediately got down, crawling on the ground. "Move!" I shouted. The Commander assigned me to monitor the training since I couldn't be involved with some mission until I fully recovered from the injuries I had gotten from my last operation.

Kahit gustuhin ko mang sa ibang gawain mai-assign, hindi na ako nakareklamo dahil ang Commander na mismo ang nagsabi sa akin. Hindi na ako makapaghintay na gumaling agad. Mas may pakinabang ako sa field.

I monitored the trainees as they kept on crawling the ground with caution. Every move must be accurate and precise if they didn't want to get stuck by some booby trap that we had set.

Hindi alintana ang init, ipinagpatuloy nila ang training. Simula pa lamang ito. Ni wala pa ito sa kalahati ng totoong buhay ng sasabakan nilang trabaho. Walang lugar ang pagkakamali at kahinaan. Sa huli, buhay nila at ng iba ang nakataya. Habang maaga pa, dapat alam na nila ang bigat na dadalhin nila paglabas dito sa kampo.

"Garcia!" tawag ko sa isang cadet na biglang tumigil sa paggapang. "You want to give me 200?" Hamon ko. Agad naman itong umiling at nagpatuloy sa paggapang. Ang ibang cadet naman ay kanya-kanya ng pakitang-gilas upang maiwasan ang napipintong parusa.

"Everdale," sabi ng isang boses mula sa likuran ko. Agad akong napasaludo nang mapagsino ito.

"Captain!"

"Masyado mo yatang tinatakot itong mga cadet natin. They all look exhausted."

"Hindi 'yan, Captain. They aren't here to play. This is how they should be trained." Agad kong depensa. Alam kong hindi gusto ng mga cadet na ito na ako ang na-assign sa class nila. I even heard them praying na sana hindi ako ang ma-assign sa kanila. Too bad, ako mismo ang gumawa ng paraan. Mabuti na lamang at pumayag ang mismong instructor nila na makipagpalit ng assignment sa akin.

"Mukhang nag-eenjoy ka na dito." Seryosong sabi nito. Napailing ako bilang sagot.

"Do you want me to stay here, Captain?" That earned me a laugh from him.

"Alam kong hindi ka tatagal dito. You are not cut for this. Recover fast. The operation isn't exciting anymore without you." 'Yon lang at tinapik niya ang aking balikat bago ako iwan sa pagmomonitor.

Our days went on like this: laps every morning, physical training at noon, strategic planning every afternoon and deployment in the evening. My cadets seemed tired and almost on the verge of giving up but not me. I remembered when I was in their position. Mas mahirap pa ang pinagdaanan ko rito. Isama pa ang expectations ng pamilya ko.

"ATTENTION!"

All of us paid attention at the Commander entering the camp site. We gave him our salutes.

"At ease," he said, and we stood our ground, our hands resting at our back. "Alpha Team, follow me." My fellows followed the Commander's lead as he went straight to the briefing room.

I felt that something was wrong. It was weird for the Commander to pay such sudden visit at this hour. I believed this weird feeling was asking for my presence there. I was about to follow their tracks when our Captain stopped me.

"You can go back to the barracks, Everdale."

I wanted to protest, but he gave me a disapproving look. I stepped back knowing that I couldn't win over him. We were trained to follow orders. Defeated, I nodded. The last thing I would need right now was another scolding from him.