2208 - Role Reversal

engineerfromeden:

A former Shepard ally. Great. Drew searched his memory for mention of the specific Mandalorians that had served with Shepard. Their colony was no secret, nor had their contributions to the war effort gone forgotten. He couldn’t remember specific names, but yes, they had done their part and done that part well.

And then came the smile. Drew kept his expression schooled. Eyes front. No scowls. The instructors were allowed to say and do what they wanted. He’d already been asked why he was here, training with those who might be fighting with guns and fists, when he should be over at the flight school. He’d already been asked twice if he had his father’s legendary reflexes. He had to narrowly stop himself from making some sort of smart remark that would have drawn the ire of that particular instructor.

No one had the courage or inclination to speak up. But something in the smile cast by Boss in Drew’s direction caused a small, imperceptible reaction in the young man. His shoulders tightened. His thumb slid over the curled fingers of his right hand, and cracked the knuckles.

The nerves coming from the other candidates was perhaps palatable still, though Boss’s easy manner seemed to have put some of the young soldiers at greater ease.

Boss chuckled softly at the silence from the group. He had reacted much the same way: shut up and listen to orders. That’s how it always went on the first day.

“Alright, listen up. Your first training activity will be a warmup. Can’t have you getting hurt before the fun even gets started.” With a snap of his fingers, a path of lights illuminated on the ground in the shape of an elliptical track. This had been a special request of his when he was notified. There were preset paths that he could activate at any given moment for whatever the scenario.

Standing in front of the group, he began to address them. “First off, we will do a mile run. Note that I said run. After that, there will be your standard warmup exercises of fifty push-ups, fifty crunches and then the good ol’ jumping jacks.” He smirked at how childish it seemed. “And I’ll be leading you in thirty pounds of armor. Anybody who can beat me, you’ll be first up in the next trial.”

Slowly, he turned on his heels and barked the command to start running, taking off at three-fourths speed as soon after he said as much.