‘Demonstrate’
…
..
.
I shoot another one in the gut, as I dodge under the knife the one near me tried to stab me with. Then I shoot him under the jaw and through the top.
Bullets pepper the ground around me. I take aim right above the muzzle flash and kill the shooter.
‘All hostiles neutralized.’
I stand upright and wait for my next order.
“As you can see, military unit 2, built from sample 42, is able to handle itself in both close and long range without any fear of its own life. We are very pleased with the design here at-”
“-I know what it can do, I have seen the footage. What I want to know is when are you going to be able to make me more?”
“...Regrettably ever since sample 41 suffered a mental collapse after being rebuilt into military unit 1… All the other following models have followed the same results… We have not been able to isolate the reason for these results… For the time being, sample 42 remains the only successful military unit to date.”
“...*Sigh* I know you want more funding, but I simply cannot authorize it unless you can solve this issue.”
*sounds of walking away*
…
..
.
“...F*CKS SAKE! THAT PIECE OF MOTHERF**KING CONDESCENDING C*NTSHAKE!”
...I was kicked…
“CANT HE FUCKING SEE HOW IMPORTANT THIS RESEARCH IS?!”
*Kick*
“THAT FUCKING ASS!”
*Kick Kick*
…
“....*Deep Sigh* Get up. We are heading back to the lab.”
We head back to the main lab through the holding area.
“...” I stopped in front of one of the cells.
...The child inside stared back at me, just stared. ….That stare, it is familiar.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“Oi Shitbag! What’s the holdup`?”
...I know those eyes.
“This one will succeed.”
Eyes that have lost themselves.
“Hah? What the fuck would you know you piece of trash?”
...Ah, I was kicked again…
….
…
..
.
Hm, I wonder if I can just get an IV drip of sleep drugs that slowly injects it inside the blood-brain barrier? No... no. the risk of infection is scary...
After breakfast, I took Alicia to the meeting hall assigned for my group.
The group of people inside numbered 13, a rather large number for a single group, but they are currently trying to employ all the local Weapons after all. So it is not that weird.
Walking into the room I can hear the chatter die down and feel their eyes gather on to me.
‘...Heh, what a nostalgic feeling. How long has it been since I last lead a squad? Nearly a century?’
I know that it is not time to reminisce of the past, they are already beginning to mutter to each other…
“Look, it’s that monster”
“Eh? The beast leads us? Really??”
...Time to get to work. Lets use the same speech I was given all of those years ago.
“I don't need to Introduce myself. My name does not matter. Call me sir or boss if you have to address me.”
I level a hard glare on them and let it sweep across the room.
“Under my command, there exists only 2 demands.”
I Let the silence echo in the room for a few seconds.
“Listen, obey my command."
"Hear me, or die by my hand.”
To this day I claim that the person who gave me this speech clearly liked ‘Sabaton: Poltava’ too much, but for some reason whenever I demand the second half from people they become much easier to handle.
I walk through the group of people towards the holo screen in the middle.
Well, I was going to, but there was a fool that interrupted us. So I removed him, for the good of the rest.
We cannot have low discipline. A weapon HAS TO obey when the trigger is pulled. A willful weapon is nothing more than a broken one.
“It is that simple gentlemen, follow these two, even unto death and in exchange, I promise you.”
“That we won't leave a single foe standing on the field of war in our wake.”
And so, we begin talking logistics.
*Pov: Benjamin Tolstoj*
‘Oh god, I shouldn’t have taken this job.’
That is the first thing I thought when I saw who was in charge of our group.
The oh-so legendary “Monster” of the Commission Hub. A madman who is nearly an Old Beast himself, a beast that has survived with a single shot rifle and a sword for years, alone.
Maybe it would not be so bad if not for the stories of him viciously sacrificing allies for a victory or even rumors of going mad in the battlefield and hunting enemies and allies indiscriminately.
There are even rumors surfacing that he soloed a fucking Heavy and won a few days ago.
Then, he opened his mouth. And what he said, made my back tingle.
What he said was not a self introduction, or a plea or even order for us.
It was a decree. One punishable by death if broken.
After speaking, he walked right through our group, causing everyone to make way for him, all but one. Harrison stayed where he stood.
Harrison has always been a good pilot, but bad with authority. I have worked with him in the past. They say he belongs to the top 3 snipers in the entire Arcology despite his low merits.
“Eh, I don't think you will kill anyone, you are within Arcology lands, maybe if we were already outside on a mission, but beast or not, no fool would mur-GUHA!”
The beast slammed its hand at the side of his neck with an open hand swipe. We could all see the neck bend out of shape, Harrison collapsed on the floor.
...Jesus fucking christ. He killed Harrison. By his hand. Just like he said…
...The literal way he carried out the punishment would’ve been slightly funny. If not for the dead friend on the floor…
After casually ending the life of a comrade, the beast walked to the center of the room. Activated the central holo-projector, and began going through the logistics of our group. Many of us wanted to turn the job down at this point. But something about what he promised in return kept most of us from leaving.
We have family in Aurora. A life, and now a horde of monsters is threatening that life. If it takes obeying a monster to fell a horde of them, we would gladly do so.
That is how our squad and its discipline was forged. From the death of a comrade. And our equal fear for our foe, and our leader.