Posts by Corynthos

    The silent hum of the spacecraft's engine was soothing. Anyone could easily fall asleep to it, but there was no time for it. I was on my way to Planet Blood to sift out the best people out of the militaries and law enforcement agencies throughout the Sirius systems, to see who'd be worthy to join the BloodGuard Academy on Neutro Station. They all came to Blood months ago to prepare for one the hardest physical and mental tests in their lives, most of them only to be sent back home to try some other time.


    I was just recently promoted to the rank of Captain and my first order of business was to oversee the selection process. My first promotion in 2 years and this is what command assigns me to... I could have thought of better ways to use my time. I was frustrated, but I also understood the importance of this assignment. Our organization was desperately in need of soldiers and we needed them fast, if we wanted to be able to keep the peace in Sirius. And a recent conflict with a quite powerful mercenary organization didn't make it any easier. Still... I wanted to go out there and show that the BloodGuard were still flying strong... That thought was disrupted by the rapid deceleration as I exited the tradelane. The aptly named red planed was right in front of my ship. I locked on to the docking ring and engaged landing procedures.


    The local time was a little before 4 in the morning. I still had a good hour to grab another coffee and go over the personnel files, so I went down to the mess. There I met someone unexpected:


    - Admiral Wavey, Sir. Didn't expect to see you here.
    - At ease, Captain. Sit down... Coffee?
    - Yes, please...


    The admiral turned to the mess sergeant:


    - Sergeant! Two blacks, no sugar.


    I was just about to ask him what he was doing here, but I quickly forgot about it, as I still had to look over the files. I buried my eyes in the datapad I had in my hand. Then the Admiral spoke to me:


    - I can tell you right now, Captain, that none of them are going to make it. They're nothing but a bunch of trigger-happy frat-kids.
    - I used to be a trigger-happy frat-kid, Sir.
    - And you still are one. Yet you have proven your worth more times than I can count.
    - Thank you, Sir. But what makes you sure these aren't going to make it?


    Our coffees arrived and I immediately took a large sip, almost burning myself... The Admiral chuckled:


    - Easy, mate, no one's taking it away from you. And to answer your question – It’s true they have become much better since they arrived here, but all of them think they can do anything after getting through the prepping program. That makes them reckless. And not only that – they don’t work well as a team. Every single one of them wants to be accepted and they view the others as unwanted competition. All of that will get them killed at some point.
    - Part of our job is to get shot at, Sir. Getting killed is a real possibility every time we enter the battlefield... Even outside it.
    - Which is why the only thing we can do is minimize that chance. These guys – it’s all run-and-gun for them. We need soldiers, not cannon fodder.
    - With due respect, Admiral, but what the hell am I doing here, then? Why not drop them out outright?
    - I’m afraid we have to keep up appearances. We need to show that we take this stuff seriously. And well… There’s always the element of someone actually passing.


    Most of our conversation passed with the Admiral ranting on how he observed these guys on field training and during lectures. The clock reached 4:50. We both got up from the table and before each going our way the Admiral said:


    - I will be joining you after lunch to observe the rest of the selection process. But first I need to catch some shut-eye. Good luck, Captain.
    - Wish I could do the same, Sir. And thanks.


    And so I was on my way to the barracks. This was going to be the longest day of the recruits’ lives… For me it was just about to become another long day.

    You could start with a more detailed report of what you do up until the moment you get kicked. Which version of the FLMM are you using, can you actuallyu join the server... Can you launch from Manhattan... The more information you can give us, the better the chance of finding a solution.