Commander Bertelli and Lieutenant Commander Ribeiro jarred him out of his daze.
“I was very impressed with your performance,” Lieutenant Commander Ribeiro complimented him.
“Keep up the good work,” Commander Bertelli added.
Xavier thanked them. His confidence was soaring through the roof, and he believed he could take on anything. Captain Walsh stepped to the head of the table.
“I regret to inform you that five of the fifty recruits have quit.”
The room exploded with clamor. Captain Walsh yelled over them.
“At ease!” Everyone quieted down. “This is unfortunate, but it happens often. The Crimson Force is a compilation of the best of the best, and many people get overwhelmed. This is why we start with a survival test because it deciphers between the best and the rest. The good news is that due to these circumstances, only five people will be sent home tonight. Standings will be posted on the big screen at 1900 hours. Enjoy your meal.”
After he had devoured four courses, a giant gong rang three times as the rankings flashed across the screen. David elbowed Xavier to draw his attention to the board. The ranking board pulled up numbers one through forty-five, and tension filled the room like a flood. The only thing stronger was the silence that penetrated it. Systematically those ranked between forty and six popped up in a countdown. Fina, Goma, Lena, Carla, and Abaigeal all ranked between ten and twenty, with Goma getting the lowest of the five women. There were ten spots left. The five highest ranks and the five lowest ranks were all that remained. Emily, David, Oscar, Charlie and Xavier’s names had not come up yet.
As if they were teasing the remaining recruits, there was a sustained pause lingering in the air. They all held their breath. When they could hold their breath no longer, it was as if it was right on cue the ranking for forty-one popped up, which was one of the recruits that camped out on the island the entire time. Then five popped up to reveal Emily’s last name. Then forty-two, followed by four which was David; then forty-three, then Charlie’s name popped up in the number three slot, followed by forty-four. At number two, Oscar’s name showed up. The entire group was awestruck, thinking for sure Oscar would end up in the number one spot in every category.
Xavier closed his eyes and looked away. He was either going to be first or last. This would determine whether his journey into the Crimson Force would be based on skill and ability or likability. Xavier heard the forty-fifth spot reveal a name but refused to look. David erupted in excitement as the number one spot popped on, and then he heard all the women in his group applaud, followed by everyone else. He opened his eyes to see his last name in the number one spot. He felt great relief as a highlight reel of him climbing the trees and the mountainside and jumping around on limbs and ledges showed on the big screen.
He was receiving a standing ovation from everybody except Oscar, who remained sitting and glaring at him. Charlie saw Oscar remain sitting and sat back down next to him. Xavier was shocked. He thought for sure they were going to send him home as soon as possible. He had truly found a place that would test him and push him. Xavier made eye contact with Captain Stanley and mouthed a sorry to him. Captain Stanley waved it off like it didn’t matter. As Xavier continued to scan the crowd, he made eye contact with Oscar, shooting him and Charlie a mocking smirk.
As the dinner drew to a close, Captain Stanley stepped up to the head of the table.
“Allow me to first applaud our top forty recruits who will be advancing to the next level. And for those of you who did not advance…a plane will be ready to take you home at 0400 hours tomorrow. Do not miss it. To the recruits who have advanced, I urge you to get a good night’s rest. Tomorrow we will begin our master course in hand-to-hand combat. You will be learning various fighting styles for seven weeks, and then after you have combined styles and developed your own discipline, you will compete in a tournament in the eighth week. You will receive further details tomorrow morning at 0400 hours in the Training Hall. Do not be late. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Chapter 14
August 9th 2062 4:00 a.m. (Day Fifteen) Crimson Manor, Berlin, Germany
The recruits stood at attention awaiting the arrival of the Captains. Not even a minute later they stomped in with focused and fierce looks on their faces. This was going to be all business. Captain Stanley took a step forward.
“Once again, I offer congratulations on getting this far. But now, the real work begins. For the next seven weeks you will be put through a rigorous martial arts training regimen. You will be taught every form of hand-to-hand combat. As you grow in these disciplines, you will learn how to mix them up. I assure you, in order to do well in the tournament, you will want to learn how to do that. Training will last sixteen hours a day. You will be provided with three, thirty-minute meal breaks every day at 0600, 1200, and 1800 hours. If you miss these meals, you do not eat. You will have a curfew of 2000 hours every single night. As I said yesterday, you will be competing in a tournament during week eight. Your position in this tournament will be based on your first tests rankings. Allow me to introduce you to your teacher. She has been a member of the Beta Assault team for over ten years and was deadly by time she was eighteen. I present to you, Commander Violet Fernandez.”
Xavier’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t believe of all the people that would be teaching, she was the one that would be leading all demonstrations and lessons. Her green eyes glistened with ferocity and focus, not looking anything like the smiley woman who was at the dinners. Everything about her was intimidating, yet beautiful. She saluted the officers who took a couple steps back as she turned her attention to the group.
She began to address them, but Charlie interrupted her with a cat call whistle. Xavier shook his head in disbelief. Without missing a beat, she continued as if she hadn’t heard a thing.
“We will start with the original martial art, kalaripayattu.” Her voice was steady and focused with a heavy Spanish accent. “This is a defensive method. I need a volunteer.”
Without giving anyone an opportunity to respond, she called out Charlie. He strutted to the front with a smug look on his face. They stood face to face.
“Strike me,” Commander Fernandez ordered.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to—”
She spun around him and grabbed his chin. She flipped and he landed on his face. She twisted into position for a follow up attack. Xavier burst out in a laugh, drawing her eye. They made brief eye contact and she tried to hide a silent snicker. Everyone was in awe by her speed.
“Your next,” she shouted to Xavier.
With some hesitation, he made his way to the front. Charlie rolled out of the way as he breathed out a large groan. Xavier struck a Krav Maga stance.
“Strike me,” she ordered.
Xavier shot a quick palm strike. She dodged it, grabbed his waist, and flipped, but he landed on his feet. He countered. She reversed. Xavier dropped. Oscar chuckled and insulted him. Commander Fernandez’s eyes widened, pleasantly surprised with his performance. She helped him up and sent him back to his spot. Oscar sneered at Xavier as he passed him.
“Dolt.”
Commander Fernandez snapped. “Recruit Thompson! You are up next.”
Oscar made his way to the front of the class. He mirrored Commander Fernandez’s stance. Xavier thought he either knew this discipline or was a quick study. No matter which one it was, Oscar was going to be the greatest challenge to him earning the top spot. Oscar attacked instantly. It was a bit of a dirty move, but Fernandez reversed it. He countered and she reversed again. Oscar reversed her reversal, and she did a double move that caught him off guard. Before he could react Oscar was locked in a reverse arm bar.
The fight was over and Oscar lasted twice as long as Xavier, which filled him with anger. It was a huge shot to his pride. As Oscar made his way through the crowd, he and Xavier engaged in another stare down. Both of the recruits realized that the other one was going to be their greatest obstacle. For the firs
t time since they met, they were not going to underestimate each other. Their distaste for one another only added another layer to the rivalry.
Commander Fernandez took center stage, not even looking slightly winded. She was a machine. “Kalaripayattu is a combination of steps and postures. Many martial arts techniques have been formed from this style. It is heavily defensive and finds its foundation in reversals.”
The lesson began with her demonstrating the various stances and motions. After several minutes of demonstration, she led the group in the stretches and conditioning necessary for performing the discipline for the hours leading to breakfast. All the recruits were experienced combatants from the Special Forces, and adapting to the new methods and movements seemed to come significantly easier to them.
The recruits were only permitted thirty minutes for their breakfast. David and Xavier quickly ate and found themselves hurrying back to training. They were both very excited for what they were going to learn. This might be exactly what I need for a rematch with Captain Stanley, Xavier thought to himself. As they stepped back into the training room, Oscar was already there talking to the Captains and Commanders. He saw Xavier come in and excused himself.
Xavier was attempting to get focused when Oscar interrupted him. “That placement last night was nothing but dumb luck. You only received that ranking because so many expected so little of you, American!”
“I guess I could always suck up to get ahead like you, your highness,” Xavier snapped back.
Oscar got within two inches of Xavier’s face, his hot breath bouncing off of Xavier’s chin. They were locked in a heated stare down once again. “You sniveling little rat. Every breath you take is an insult to the history and legacy of this organization. I will bury you. And all of your friends will see you get humiliated by me.”
Commander Fernandez stepped back to the front of the class, trying to refocus everybody’s attention from Xavier and Oscar. David approached, ready to fall back in his place. Commander Fernandez ordered everyone to stand at attention in their place. Xavier and Oscar were still staring fiery daggers into each other.
“I believe your place is over there, your highness,” Xavier stated, pointing Oscar to the place he was standing in at the beginning of training.
Oscar took a step back and began shuffling over to his spot, and David checked on Xavier. “Are you okay?”
“I’m grand.”
Xavier gritted his teeth. Commander Fernandez dismissed everything that happened and went straight into teaching techniques and postures. The recruits rehearsed and practiced postures, techniques, and maneuvers as they were being taught and demonstrated until lunch. David and Xavier stayed together.
Oscar’s words echoed through Xavier’s mind. He realized at lunch that he didn’t know the history of the Crimson Force. He didn’t really know anything about the Crimson Force, actually. Until two and a half weeks ago, he hadn’t even known it existed. There was no way Xavier was going to let Oscar be right about anything. He had to find a way to learn more about the organization.
Their muscles began to ache and grow tight as they made their way back to training. The second half of the day was going to be long. The training shifted into partner work. Their bodies had been learning new moves and stances for the last eight hours, and now they had to spend the next eight hours fighting each other. David and Xavier partnered together. Xavier excelled quickly, being a natural athlete who was used to beating his body to make it better, but David struggled. Xavier noticed many of David’s sloppy motions and tried to coach him through them.
After dinner they continued partner work, and Commander Fernandez walked around, critiquing and analyzing the partners using the methods she had just taught them. Once the clock struck eight, Commander Fernandez dismissed the group. After sixteen hours of kalaripayattu training, they were all exhausted and ready to collapse.
Once they got back to the room, David ran to the bathroom and threw up. His body had been stretched far beyond what it was used to, and he was not in shape for this level of training. Xavier wondered about his background. He didn’t seem to be a Special Forces soldier or an elite Police Officer like all the other recruits. Xavier had grown to trust Captain Stanley’s judgment though, so if Captain Stanley felt he was worthy of recruiting, then there must be something about him. After a few minutes of vomiting, David emerged from the bathroom.
“I do not think humans were designed for this,” he whined as he dropped onto his bed.
“Don’t give up. We’ll get through this. It’s just the first day. In two weeks, we’ll be used to this.”
It was Xavier’s first instinct to encourage him, which wasn’t really like Xavier, but David seemed to be having a positive influence on him. David barely cocked his head up to look at Xavier.
“I did not do very well today, did I?”
“You did struggle a bit.”
“You were amazing, though. Have you ever studied kalaripayattu? It seemed to come natural to you.”
Xavier laughed. “No. I’d never even heard of it until this morning.”
“You are going to win the tournament.”
“I don’t know. Oscar is really good.”
“But you have heart. I do not know if I will even make it past the first round.”
There was a silence that infiltrated the room. Xavier felt really bad. David had been such a good friend to him since he had arrived, and he just wanted to say something, anything, that could encourage him. Just then an idea popped in his head.
“David! What if we woke up earlier than everyone else? We’ll head straight up to the training room, I’ll focus on developing you, and then we’ll get more practice in. Would you be interested?”
“That would be great!”
“If I help develop you, do you think you could teach me about the history of the Crimson Force?”
“Absolutely! I can even teach you their mission, vision, and defining values!”
“It’s a deal. You teach me about the Crimson Force, and I will help you refine your technique.”
They shook hands to confirm the deal.
“That’s it then. Tomorrow we’re up at two in the morning and we’ll hit it right away,” Xavier shouted.
They took quick showers and passed out immediately.
***
At two in the morning the next day, they rushed over to the training hall. The empty halls were eerie and uncomfortable. Once they arrived they began stretching right away, their muscles still incredibly sore. David noted it as Xavier encouraged him.
“The only way you can become more flexible is to stretch constantly and when your muscles are still warm. We have to do a better job about doing that every time we finish an exercise.”
For an hour they went through the various postures, stances, and maneuvers slowly, and Xavier offered constructive criticism whenever necessary. David accepted it and applied it freely. After an hour of stances and postures they went into partner work. Xavier noticed David’s progress by the end of it. During their partner work, Commander Fernandez walked in. Class was going to start in thirty minutes. She was impressed with their dedication and work ethic. Xavier kept checking her out throughout their partner work. She did some unique and complicated stretches.
Commander Fernandez wanted to offer pointers and help David and Xavier, but she was barred from showing preferential treatment and didn’t want it to look like she was offering a private training session. That would not go well for anyone involved. After a few more minutes the recruits began to filter in. Oscar took special interest in David and Xavier. He could tell they had been there for a while, and Xavier noticed his questioning looks.
They started once again with postures, stances, and maneuvers and worked on them until breakfast. At breakfast David went over a meal plan with Xavier in order to maximize their performance and mental functionality. He also planned what foods would increase their quality of sleep. The routine was repeated. By the time they finished the
ir critiqued partner work, David had shown improvement. When they ended their day, David and Xavier drug themselves to their room. They were drained. They did what David suggested at breakfast and went through a sleep maximizing routine. When they woke up the next day at two in the morning, they felt more refreshed than the day before.
They went through stretches, maneuvers, and transitions. Once again, Xavier offered developmental feedback and David applied it immediately. Commander Fernandez showed up earlier than she did the day before. Though she was not allowed to help them, she did offer encouragements as they went through their practice routine. Xavier noticed what Commander Fernandez was doing and instructed David to follow her lead from time to time. As they were watching her, Xavier seemed to know what she was thinking and when she was thinking it.
Dawn of a New Era Page 10
