Dying Embers
Chapter 48: Chapter 46 - Basic training
Previous Chapter Next Chapter"Come on! Pick up the fucking pace!" Shouting out to the group I run alongside them all as they make the final push through town to return to the barracks. Everyone has been having issues with the second run as we moved across the route, many of the group were still feeling the strain from the heavier packs yesterday so they weren't exactly eager to take part in another run whilst they were yet again forced to carry packs. Although they had less time to complete this second run they did have lighter packs which should help increase their speed, a part of army life is being prepared to bug out at a moments notice meaning you'd have to cover a large distance with all your kit.
The Griffins were generally able to outperform the ponies on this endurance run, a majority of the Griffins were at the front of the group where as my unit were primarily at the rear of the pack. I often had to get up close and shout at a couple of my unit as they started to fall too far back, nobody likes having an instructor breathing down your neck but sometimes it's the best way to keep them moving. After this I had more exercises lined up, from the most basic of skills to field craft and combat drills.
Passing through the gates of MoD Fulwood I take the lead of the tab as everyone picks up the pace to try and complete the exercise as soon as possible. Everyone is clearly exhausted, as we make the last corner I can hear their laboured breaths as I stop on the corner and watch as they all pass by. I remain stationary as I wait for the last one to pass, at the very end of the group is Sunny who's failing to keep up with the rest as she fights for every breath.
I follow behind her until she reaches the rest in front of our barracks, just like the previous night they all immediately drop to the floor in exhaustion as they attempt to cool themselves against the cold snow. Stepping up to them I take out my phone and look at the timer, "Four minutes left. You all passed, but barely. I expect to see an improvement in all of you by the time we're ready to leave, I suppose you've done better than some of those why try this test back home. Ranger's you can all rest up, I want you all in our barrack at 14:00 for your next part of training."
Stepping up to Gabrielle I look down at her as she slowly climbs up from the ground to stand on shaky legs, "Do with your unit as you see fit, meet me back out her tonight at 19:00 for our first lesson in the field," Nodding to me she makes her way with her unit back into the barrack. As my team start to make their way into our barrack I stop Sunny by resting a hand on the back of her neck, "You were falling behind at the end there. What gives?"
Still struggling for breath her eyes flick up to me, "I'm not exactly used to... running that distance without using magic to carry my kit. We have magic for a reason, why couldn't we use it?"
"I wanted to see how strong everyone was at running, adding the weight adds more challenge and lets me know that in an emergency you can carry your kit or potentially another person. Obviously when we're really in the field use your magic as you see fit, but everyone must be able to carry the same weight as each other."
Running a hoof over her sweat matted mane she throws her pack off of her flanks as she turns back to me, "We haven't got to do any more running, have we?"
"Not today, every few days we'll do a run or march to keep everyone in shape. Go and get cleaned up, we're continuing in a few hours," Sunny's about to open her mouth but I press my hand against her muzzle to silence her, "Before you ask it isn't physical exercise, we've got one tonight but it's gonna be very minor compared to this."
As we stroll through the doorway Sunny carries her equipment alongside her with her magic, "Can you give me a heads up to what it is?"
Matching her pace I wait until we stop at the foot of her bed before I consider telling her, "Hide and seek."
She just stares at me in bewilderment as she rests her kit against the bed frame, "What does a foal's game have to do with anything?"
"That's the only hint you're getting. I'm sure you can figure it out," Ruffling her mane I leave her to ponder over the hint as I return to my room to gather my shower kit in order to get cleaned up for the next session.
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The afternoon went over one of the most basic skills in the army, organising your kit. It may seem like a waste to everyone but once you sign on the dotted line and enter basic training your kit must always be stored away in a specific manor, this would often be the bane of most recruits life. It seems like a simple thing but I've seen people fuck up on it so many times, from leaving their locker unlocked so the instructors steal your kit to failing to correctly iron their uniform or polish their boots.
They did not seem amused that I was literally teaching them how to iron their uniform, presentation is key within the military for parade purposes so it's important that everyone's uniform is presented in the same manner. This is where most recruits would fail their inspections, either from having a crease out of position, fluff on their uniforms or sometimes not enough of a crease on the trousers.
All the kit within your locker must also be identical, a strict guideline was set out for us in basic, if you had something out of line the instructors would proceed to throw everything out of the locker and give you a bollocking. To those outside the army this would seem completely pointless, what does it matter if my locker isn't organised? There's a reason for everything, it allowed you to easily locate your kit in an emergency and the kit in someone else's locker if required. For us it was particularly important in order to locate our respirators for gas attacks which often came in the form of kicking in another dorms door and throwing pierced deodorant cans into the room as a midnight prank.
By 19:00 hours my unit along with the Griffins were all outside on the outskirts of a thin piece of woodland within the bases perimeter, Reaching into my pocket I take out a white woolly beanie and pull it over my head to keep my ears warm. It's already dark outside as we all gather together however the cloud cover has now broken up allowing the glow of the moon to illuminate the surrounding area.
Clapping my hands together I step up to the group, "Sunny, were you able to figure out what the lesson is?"
Her eyes slowly shift over the floor before she looks to me, "Something to do with hiding?" When she notices my glare her posture straightens out, "Sir."
I may not like them referring to me as 'sir' in normal circumstances but whilst I'm conducting training exercises I have to remain a figure of authority. Rolling my eyes I slowly pace in front of the group, "Camouflage and concealment, the ability to blend in with your surroundings to remain out of sight and to most importantly stop yourself from getting shot. You've been used to engaging the enemy at close range where you wouldn't have to worry about camouflage. With rifles that can engage an enemy a few hundred meters away it is important that you remain hidden to avoid detection and to ensure you're not a target."
Stopping in front of Silver I click my fingers at him before pointing to the floor. Taking my hint he steps out of line and joins alongside me, "Silver Spark shall be my assistant for the exercise, if I find one of you he shall use his magic to illuminate your position eliminating you from the exercise. Your task is simple, one by one you must move from the starting position one-hundred meters behind this treeline and move to your current position without being detected by me. I'm giving you an advantage by allowing you to do this at night, if you do well we will be done quicker. Gabrielle if you could hover overhead in a position where you can see me and the starting position? I will signal you when I want the first one to begin, after that just send the next one once they've been eliminated."
Nodding she takes to the air and moves to the starting position I set out prior to everyone arriving. Picking up my field pack I turn around and move to a small elevated piece of land approximately fifty meters behind the finish line, as I move Silver walks alongside me.
Glancing back to the finish line he steps slightly ahead of me, "Why do you need me to illuminate them once you've detected them?"
"How else are they going to know that they've failed? I could shoot at the ground near them but that's too risky. I've already plotted out the area on a small map, I'll identify their location and show you it on the map for you to use your magic to illuminate them. Do you think you can manage that?"
Smirking he shakes his head, "An illumination spell is one of the most basic spells there is, of course I can do it."
Stepping up the small embankment I kneel down once I reach the top and rest my field pack alongside me. As Silver joins me he moves to a prone position alongside me as I root through my bag for two small pots of wax which I was able to scrounge together, one pot is a pale white where as the other is a dark green. Getting a small hand full of the white wax I start to apply it to my face to act as a base layer, I'm used to applying cam-cream for woodland environments so doing one for an arctic environment is a new experience for me.
As I finish applying the base layer I notice Silver as he looks to me with an amused expression, "You're painting yourself?"
Applying the last of the wax to the rear of my hands I collect a small amount of the dark green and add it to my base layer in order to break up the shape to act as a basic camouflage, "It's part of camouflage. Since you can see how I'm applying it you're getting an advantage over the rest, so make sure you pay attention. You'll all be doing this later on, I'll explain it fully once everyone is together."
After finishing applying the last of the wax I take out a small piece of black charcoal and start to add small grey splotches and stripes to my white uniform in order to further assist in breaking up the shape of my body. Colour of the camo isn't enough, you must apply it correctly in order to make it effective, if you get it wrong then you may as well be wearing none at all.
Once I'm satisfied with my efforts I lie down alongside Silver and take out a small map from my pack. Resting it between us I also retrieve my binoculars and keep them alongside me as I point to the map, "I've plotted the area out on this map, I'll identify their location and give you the grid reference. I want you then to simply illuminate the reference, the map has some key features plotted on it to allow you to easily identify the coordinates on the field."
As Silver studies the map I look to Gabrielle as she watches me and waits for the signal. Cupping my hand over my mouth I shout to her on the top of my lungs, "FIRST!" With a wave of her talon she looks down bellow as the first candidate begins the exercise. I begin to observe the training area by moving my eyes in a figure of eight from side to side, this allows you to cover the entire area by focusing on the location without primarily focusing on one spot. As part of a natural reflex your eyes will identify any movement within your field of vision, by having the entire location in my view it will allow my eyes to easily pick up any movement.
After looking over the area for roughly one minute I notice my first movement as a small bush line is disturbed. Grasping my binoculars I raise them and look down range towards the movement, on the far left I'm able to pick up more movement allowing me to turn my head to find my target. Peaking her head through the bushes is Crimson as she seems to me mentally plotting out her route, her crimson red coat against the snow white background makes her stand out a mile away. Lowering my gaze to the map I look for the coordinates, "Eighteen-five, forty-four three."
As Silver looks to the map he raises his head and is able to identify the location using a small ditch I used as a landmark on the adjacent grid. I watch as his horn ignites propelling a small ball of energy to hover above the coordinates, sure enough resting directly below it is Crimson as she tilts her head up to look at it. Cupping my hand over my mouth I shout out to her, "YOU'RE DEAD! MOVE TO THE FINISH AND WAIT THERE! GABRIELLE, SEND THE NEXT ONE!" As Crimson starts to move to the finish I tap Silver's hoof signalling for him to drop the illumination causing the surrounding area to be shrouded in darkness.
As Crimson moves to the finish line to wait I look out for the next individual to try and sneak past. This one is fairly easy, in the snow I can see the quick movement of Chaser as he seems to be attempting to move with speed in the hope that he'll pass by before I see him. Silver snorts as his horn begins to glow, "Too easy," Casting the spell Chaser is immediately illuminated causing his ears to droop as he realises he's been caught.
"TOO FAST! YOU'RE JUST MAKING YOURSELF A TARGET!" I call out to him as he moves to the finish line. As we wait for the next person to appear I begin to sing to myself as I scan the area, "Another one bites the dust. And another one gone and another one gone, another one bites the dust-"
"-You're singing again?" Silver asks interrupting me.
Cocking a brow I turn my head momentarily to him, "What do you mean again?"
"When we first came to the Griffin Empire you sang to yourself in the trench as we waited for the attack, now you're singing to yourself."
Shrugging I take out my phone and look for the song I was singing, "Hey, Queen is perhaps one of the greatest bands of all time. I'm gonna enjoy their music," With a quick glance over the field I notice some movement as one of the Griffins attempts to crawl across the snow, his red uniform and black feathers making him stand out against the white background. Leaning to the map I figure out the coordinates, "Eighteen-seven, forty-four eight."
As Silver reveals the Griffins position I find the song I'm after and play 'Another One Bites The Dust' as I rest the phone on the map.
We continue the exercise as one by one everyone is discovered as they attempt to reach the finish point, they keep failing due to the same errors such as moving too fast or from moving to a location which makes them easily detectable. Looking over the line of soldiers I count them all up only to keep coming short, one is missing. Turning my head to Silver I look to him as his eyes lock onto mine, "We're missing one. Who are we missing?"
Averting his gaze he looks over the assembled soldiers before returning his focus to the training area, "Slicer Jen. She's still out there, must be the last one."
Oh, I'm gonna get this sneaky little bitch. Clasping my binoculars I keep them ready as I look to the open area between the trees opening and the finish line, "As soon as you see her light her up. She's not getting past us."
"She hardly makes a sound as she walks around. Not to mention she's a Thestral, we nearly missed Shadow and Spectre entirely before they got close to the end."
"And just like them her fur is black, she'll stand out in the snow. She'll slip up and we'll find her. Slicer may not make much noise as she moves, but I doubt she'll be as effective in the snow," My eyes dart back and forth as we survey our surroundings. We spend a couple of minutes observing the area until some movement catches my eyes, lifting my binoculars I look to a small ditch with a thin bush line on either side as some movement shakes the snow from the top.
Trying to get a closer look Silver taps my arm causing me to lower my binoculars, when he raises his hoof to point thirty meters to the left I see more movement amongst a different line of bushes. Scratching his chin Silver glances between the two positions, "Is she really that quick?"
Shaking my head I chuckle softly to myself, "Clever bitch, She's just distracting us."
"Distracting us? What do you mean?" As is on queue we notice some movement further back as I witness a small snow ball impacting some tree branches disturbing the birds within.
Following the direction the snow ball came from I raise my binoculars, "She's using bait to draw our attention elsewhere."
As I switch my focus on multiple locations I'm only just able to locate a black form move in front of the lens. Following it's direction I find a dark figure as it slowly slinks forwards across the snow, only fifteen meters from the finish line. Glancing quickly to the map I also point towards her so Silver can follow my hand, "Eighteen-two, forty-four one."
Silver quickly finds my target and uses his magic to illuminate the target, sure enough we find Slicer as she attempts to creep forward only to realise she has finally been spotted. Picking up all of my kit I pack it back into my field bag as I look to Silver, "Time to teach you all the key principles of camouflage and concealment," I'll have to teach them the seven S's, Shape, Shine, Shadow, Silhouette, Sound, Speed and Surroundings. Even though they had enchantments in their armour to change their appearance to either a white or grey coat, this lesson was still important for them to learn that in different situations they will need to apply camouflage where their uniform or colour of their fur would give them away.
These principles will allow them to effectively hide within their surroundings and to re-position while avoiding detection. I went on to explain to them all about the use of face paint along with the camouflaged uniform to break up the shape of my body within the environment. I also showed them the importance of applying the correct amount of face paint, too little will have no effect where as too much will create a shine effect giving your position away fairly easy. With that covered I demonstrated correct movement within the area and what to avoid, such as trying to simply hide directly within a bush as the movement will draw the observers attention.
Once everyone had their camouflage applied and practised on their movements I allowed them to try the exercise again to much different results. Everyone at least lasted a lot longer before being detected by myself, they were able to close the distance too me before I was easily able to identify them. A number of them even managed to reach the end without being detected. We continued the exercise for a few hours until we packed in for the night, on the walk back to our barracks I decided to inform my unit that they'd have their first inspection in the morning so everything had better be pristine.
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As everyone stands at attention alongside their beds I begin to carry out their first inspection, after showing them how everything is supposed to be arranged I'm expecting all of their kit to be up to scratch and everything to be squared away correctly. However expectations and reality are two entirely different things, from going through a number of their lockers I have already found a number of errors. I'm going to have to treat them like every NCO treated myself and every other recruit who went through inspections during training. Various pieces of kit which were stored incorrectly have already be thrown across the room as I pick out every little flaw.
Looking through Chaser's locker he stands alongside me at attention as he watches me go through his locker. Pointing to his canteen resting on the top shelf I turn to face him, "Is that where your canteen is supposed to go?"
"No, sir."
With a flick of my wrist I throw the bottle out of the locker and across the floor. Raising my eyes I look to the shirts to find them squashed against one another instead of being evenly spaced apart, "Are those spaced out?"
"No, sir," He replies with an irritated tone.
"No, it's fucking not," He tries to remain stoic but I can see the annoyance in his expression as he watches me lift the hangers and drop them to the floor. Looking over the rest of the locker I step back over his shirts as I move over to Shadow. Stepping in front of her I inspect her uniform and immediately find some loose fabric on her beret, lifting the beret from her head I peel the fabric off it in front of her eyes before tossing the beret back against her chest causing it to fall to the ground in front of her hooves.
Examining her locker I also find an error with her shirts as they're hung up facing the wrong direction, "Look at this, Shadow. How about you get them in the right way? It might help a little bit," As she turns her gaze to look at the shirts I lift the hanger and correct them for her, "Isn't that better?"
"Yes, sir," She responds as she continues to watch me.
"Fucking magic, isn't it?" Lifting the shirts again I throw them over my shoulder tossing them to the ground. Other then those two errors everything else in her kit is in order, stepping back I move over to Spectre at the next bed and look at her uniform. The zip on her shirt isn't fully up causing me to roll my eyes as I grab hold of it, "The zip should be all the way to the top for parade. Do you need help dressing? How old are you?"
Spectre's eyes lock onto mine, "Twenty-three, sir."
"Twenty-three? And you still need help dressing every morning, do you want me to put your clothes on for you every day?" She remains silent as she keeps her eyes locked forward. Stepping up to her locker I pick up her field pack and open it up, looking inside at the contents I push my hand in and immediately feel the damp material against my skin, "Oh, you've got to be shitting me!" Stepping back in front of her I hold it open to her, "Put your hoof in there," I watch as she takes the pack and runs her hoof inside it, "What's that?"
"It's damp, sir."
"It's fucking damp and wet! Put your fucking kit on the floor!" Leaning to the side she rest the pack alongside her, "It's a fucking good start, Isn't it?" Looking back into her locker I run my finger along the shelf and inspect the dust I've accumulated on my fingertip. Holding my finger in front of her eyes I glare at her, "What's that on my finger?"
"It's dust, sir," Her eyes flick from my finger to my eyes as I brush it off on her fur.
"It's fucking dust! Didn't I say you dust and clean all of your kit and storage units? Is that acceptable?"
"No, sir."
"No it isn't! It's fucking abysmal!" Closing her locker up I move up to the last person on parade, Sure Strike. Scrutinising his uniform I examine the trousers and fail to find a central crease along the legs, "There's no crease on the front of your trousers. Where's the crease?" -lifting my hand I take hold of his trouser leg and pull it slightly to the side to look at it in the light- "There's no fucking crease. You didn't iron your bloody trousers."
Moving to his open locker I look over the entire layout and I'm finally relieved to find someone who has gotten everything right, everything is packed away neatly and in its correct position. Well he would have passed his inspection, if his uniform was also correct. Stepping back into the central walkway I pace back and forth as I look to all the kit I've thrown about.
"This is a fucking joke, not one of you passed! There was an error for everyone on either their uniform or locker! You're already supposed to be in the military yet you make basic mistakes that I'd expect to see from a sixteen year old which has just turned up at Harrogate for the first time! It may seem petty but we do this all for a reason! If you can't take care of your kit in an controlled environment then how can I expect you to maintain your equipment when you're out in the field!? You're all supposed to be professionals, I suggest you get your shit together!" With one last look to them all I wave my hand as I step back into my room, "Clean this shit up!"
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Over the next couple of days I carried out a number of training exercises with my team. I've updated some of their skills to accommodate the new style of combat which they will engage in, they've learned the importance of camouflage and concealment, they've learnt how to establish harbour drills and to maintain watch as the rest of the unit sleeps when they're out in the field, they've improved their endurance by carrying out multiple long distance marches with their full kit and I've even made them take part in a live firing exercise where they've advanced on a target location and have had to provide covering fire for one another as they advanced.
Now that I've developed their skills it's time for them to develop mine. It's currently mid afternoon and my team are making regular runs of the obstacle course as Chaser trains me how to handle a sword in combat. At first I thought it would be easy, just point the sharp end towards your target like a bayonet and thrust, however it didn't seem to come naturally to me. In the past I may have taught them how to engage an enemy with a bayonet, however that's completely different from going toe to toe with another swordsman.
As Chaser thrusts his sword towards me I step back and twist my body slightly, connecting my blade with his I'm able to brush mine against his as I push it back to counter his strike. Immediately he brings his blade straight in a chopping motion aimed for my shoulder, on instinct I roll to the left dodging his strike before pushing myself back to my feet. From my flanking position I unleash a succession of quick strikes against him, each one is easily blocked as he back peddles and deflects each attack.
Bringing my blade over my head I prepare to drop the blade directly on his head, however he easily sees this and takes the opportunity to lodge his blade into my sternum. Being knocked back by the strike I lower my gaze to my chest to see the red spot from the duelling spell Sunny cast on our swords. Chuckling at my defeat Chaser runs a hoof over his head, "You're getting better, but you're still not quite prime fighting material."
Shaking my head I look down at my sword, "I'm not doing too bad. Give me a rifle and I'll beat anyone I come up against."
"That kind of defeats the purpose of your sword then."
"It's for emergencies, I'm still gonna use my rifle or pistol over a sword in most situations."
Adopting a combat stance Chaser raises his blade as he watches me, "Emergency or not you'll still need to know how to use it. You taught us how to use a rifle so I'm gonna make sure you can use a sword."
Matching his stance we slowly begin to step around one another, "It wasn't that long ago when I was teaching you how to engage in combat."
"You failed to mention at that point that you never had combat training with a sword," Chaser delivers two quick blows directed towards my chest which I easily parry.
With a strong lunge I almost make contact with his neck, his last minute movement allows him to force the blade away with his own, "I mainly taught you how to use a bayonet."
"Not exactly useful" -With a low swing he aims for my legs but I'm easily able to jump over the attack- "When we didn't have bayonets."
Shrugging I kick a clump of snow at Chaser's face temporarily stunning him, seizing my opportunity I drag the swords against the front of his throat leaving him with a red mark, "Now you do."
Wiping away the mark Chaser snorts, "You're really going to resort to kicking dirt and snow in your enemies eyes?"
Smirking I take a step back as I sheath my sword, "Did it work, or did it work?"
"It worked, it's just not exactly very sporting."
"Sporting?" I let out a single laugh as I run a hand over my beard, "War isn't sporting, it's kill or be killed. If I can only survive by kicking a man in the bollocks or by hitting him when his guards down then I'm gonna take it."
Moving alongside me Chaser turns his head to watch the others as they advance along the obstacle course, "In a proper fight I can understand doing it. In a sparring match it's just low."
"I fight to win, not to be a proper gentleman," Chaser rolls his eyes as he continues watching as everyone begins to climb the low wall along the track. Stepping alongside him I follow his gaze to catch him looking at Sunny, "So... did you two have fun on New Year's?"
Arching a brow he turns his gaze to me, "Fun? What fun?"
"You know... bumped uglies," Chaser stares at me with a blank expression. "A bit of 'how's your father..?' Surely you know what I'm getting at here?"
Chaser smirks as he looks back to Sunny, "I may have an idea as to what you're getting at."
Resting my hands in my pockets I look over to the others, "Attacking the pink fortress. Filling the cream donut. Getting up in them guts. Parking the beef bus in tuna town. Spray painting her pu-"
"-I get it!" Chaser blurts out as his eyes narrow to me, "Sweet Celestia, your world has some weird euphemisms for bucking."
"Oh, you ain't heard nothing yet. We're renowned for having tonnes of naughty expressions. So, did you bang her?"
Chaser shakes his head, "No, we haven't done anything like that. Why are you so curious?"
Shrugging I tilt my head to look at him, "I was just wondering if you did anything after snogging for most of the night. This is what guys do, we have manly talks."
Chaser chuckles as he steps over to his kit which is resting on the floor, "If we're going to have 'manly talks' then why don't we discuss what you've been up to?"
Raising a brow I join him as we stand around his equipment, "Meaning?"
"You and that Unicorn, Moon Glow. You seriously expect me to believe that nothing happened between you two?"
"I don't expect you to believe anything, all I'm going to say is that we definitely didn't fuck."
Chaser starts to put his armour back on as he looks to me, "So you haven't been with another mare since the war?" I shake my head. I have, but I'm not going to tell him I fucked the Captain of the Wonderbolts. Pushing a hoof against my chest he raises his head to look to me, "You need to get out there! I'm sure an exotic creature like you could get so much tail without even trying."
Smirking I slowly push his hoof off of my chest, "I don't need to go out and get laid with random girls. I'm fine, unlike you." Chaser looks to me with a confused expression. Reaching into my field pack I take out a magazine and throw it at his face causing it to drop against the snow. The cover shows two Pegasus mares engaged in a particular activity with one another, "I told you to keep your locker secured. You wouldn't want to be deprived of your wank bank, would you?"
Chaser's face quickly drops as the brightest shade of crimson I've ever seen plasters his cheeks. Quickly scooping up the magazine he hides it in his field pack, "I only read it for the articles."
Laughing I pat him on his head, "Of course you do. Whatever floats your boat, just don't leave your porn on show for others to find."
"Ahem..." Myself and Chaser quickly turn to find Gabrielle looking at us with an amused expression, "Have you two finished discussing pornography?"
Chaser sinks where he stands as I simply nod my head, "For the time being. May I help you with something?"
"There is a briefing being held, we've learnt of a meeting which we can infiltrate in order to obtain more information."
As we begin to step off I look over the others as I walk. With the training I have seen some small improvements over the week, they still have far to go but we will get there soon. For now we need to focus on the task at hand, this meeting may be our chance to learn more of the Children of the Motherland's plans. I can't wait to get back at that bastard Silverwing for making me lose Valkyrie.
Valkyrie's daughter will have a few choice words for him.
Next Chapter: Chapter 47 - Setting up in Threlkeld Estimated time remaining: 31 Hours, 34 MinutesAuthor's Notes:
I could go on forever about various training exercises which occurs within the army but I don't think it would make a particularly interesting read.
Some training may be brushed upon briefly in future chapters but this is the main bulk that I'm going to go over at the moment.
Thanks for reading