Chapter 27
I was also proud to see that my unit was keeping up with Elio’s, considering I’d been assigned largely a group of the lowest ranking, least capable men I’d ever seen.
Though I wasn’t sure now if that was punishment from the headmaster, or dictated by my father, himself.
I’d always been more of a solo fighter, and relying on others for anything wasn’t in my blood, but looking at my men as they entered sharp shooting practice and consistently hit their targets, I was starting to feel that I wasn’t the worst as a commander.
We’d make soldiers out of these men yet.
Most of them, at least. I couldn’t help but notice that one particular soldier in my unit was performing far below his usual level, even if that usual level was already barely above the dirt.
Vann had only debatably managed any sit-ups at all in the morning warm up, and his push-ups were little better.
I couldn’t say if he was being obstinate, or if it was some sort of strategy.
Maybe he was hoping to get mandatory one-on-one training so he could advance his own training faster? I would believe that before I would believe he was being insubordinate. He’d shown nothing but foolhardy perseverance since he’d arrived, regardless of my opinion on his physical progress.
“Change your grip.” I heard Elio say as he approached Vann, who was lining up a long distance rifle.
I stayed back, curious to see how he’d respond to someone else’s tutelage.
“On a human body, your stomach and your neck are your most vulnerable points, because they’re the only parts of the body that aren’t as heavily reinforced with bone.
Most armor doesn’t fully account for that weak-point either.
Head and chest shots aren’t the only kill shots,” he explained with unusual patience, going so far as to stand closely behind Vann and cover his hands.to reposition them.
The amount of physical contact was… hmmm.
I knew they were roommates, but to assume they’d formed some sort of friendship as such was exceedingly unlikely.
I’d joined at the same time as Elio, and over our first two years, I’d come to thoroughly know his mannerisms and his traumas.
I was fairly certain I was the only friend he had who he hadn’t swapped broken bones with, and only because I put him in his place on the mat early in our time together.
But now that I thought about it, he’d singled Vann out repeatedly throughout the morning exercises.
His attention was noticeable and targeted.
Which meant they were either bonding or it was an all-out war between them.
There was no in between with Saturn-Born men. At least not with that Saturn-Born man.
I continued to observe, as Elio whispered something in Vann’s ear, before he gave him a hard pat on the lower right side of his back. Vann stifled a yelp and froze for several moments…
Oh.
I drew in a breath, closed my eyes, then released it in a huff through my nostrils.
Broken ribs. Has to be broken ribs.
By the stars, Elio.
I still wasn’t sure if that was in war or fondness though. The amount of attention he was giving him felt like the latter. I’d known Elio long enough to know what his hate looked like, and it wasn’t… that.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Particularly because now I was considering that he may have proposed this joint training purely as a means to get to Vann.
Breaker approached, interrupting my train of thought.
“I think his ribs are broken.” He stood beside me, his training objective long met.
“I deduced as much,” I stated plainly. It had only become increasingly concerning to me that Vann was the only ‘he’ out of the nearly one-hundred men that we were always referencing.
“He didn’t break them during sparring yesterday.
I don’t know what he got into in his off-time, but I’ll have to intervene if he continues to be so careless with government property. ”
Breaker snorted, and I shot him a glare in response.
“Oh, you meant that seriously.” He laughed, always so nonplussed.
I was genuinely envious of the ease with which he approached life.
To hold such nonchalance in a place like this was a skill I didn’t possess.
Though he never spoke much about his past, so I couldn’t say what his struggles had looked like growing up, but all of us were children of war.
To assume that anyone here had it easy would be ignorant at best. “I think you’re blaming the wrong person for ‘damaging government property’ though. ”
“Care to catch me up?”
He knew something I didn’t, but then he always seemed to know everything that was going on with everyone.
Aside from being generally over-friendly, Breaker’s rank made him much less intimidating to most soldiers, I’d noticed.
He was unthreatening, he didn’t discriminate by rank when choosing what company to entertain, and even I had to admit that he was easy to talk to.
There was something to be said for that.
It was a skill just as valuable as anything Elio or I brought to the table.
He glanced about the field, assuring no recruits were in listening distance, before he spoke quietly. “I heard a little snow fairy smashed a firefly during the evaluation yesterday.”
“What?” I reeled in my physical reaction before it could be observed. “How?”
“I hear that little bird has almost made rank as a result.” His smirk was almost catlike.
He no longer needed to explain how Vann broke his ribs.
But I might have to address Elio’s willingness to injure soldiers from my unit after hours.
He could do what he wanted with his own trainees, but that was a violation I couldn’t stand for when I was already under enough scrutiny.
“And since it was in the simulation, it’s possible that the entire thing was recorded and placed in the archive.
” Breaker tipped his chin toward the VR compound with careful subtlety.
“Sunday.” I said, and he nodded. We only had one free day a week, but I had a feeling we’d need more than the usual hour we had after dinner.
I let my attention drift back to my comrade and the snow fairy. With Elio’s tutelage, Vann managed a clean shot through the target’s windpipe, one after the other. A rather diabolical shot, to be certain.
If their relationship started as a war, it definitely wasn’t now.