The Academy
- August 26th, 2008
- By The Other Guy
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The First Day : Promises
The Commonwealth Marines.
by Jonathon Ringo Esq :
The commonwealth marines are the main expedtionary force of the Commonwealth of Planets. Their headquarters at Prescott’s World makes that world the most heavily defended and fortified world outside of Earth and Solaris Proximus. The marines however have bases of various strength on every settled planet in the commonwealth. Mainly these bases serve as recruiting stations and as way stops for commonwealth marine and navy units. The recruiting stations also act as up to regimental training barracks for cadets. The average age of a recruit to commonwealth marines is 17.
There have been many famous marines…
Captain Mariam Jones strode out into the sun, coming to a stop before the assembled cadets. A disdainful look crossing her ebony features as she turned her short but powerful frame around to address the Colour Sargent before her.
“Colour Sargent, have you been picking up strays in town again?” Her clear soprano enquired.
The Colour Sargent shook his head lightly, and answered in a surprising soft voice for a man of his height and build “No Mam.”
Miriam blinked once at the Sargent and smiled at him briefly for his benefit before changing that same smile in a grimace as she turned to face the cadets. “Then surely colour, the government has sent us some dollies to complete the new parade ground wall?”
A few murmurs of discontent rumbled through the ragged lined before her as the cadets expressed their discontent at being labelled a part of the criminal work force. Instantly the hard faced corporals standing to the sides of the cadets lines began storming their ragged ranks liberally striking and pushing the cadets into silence amongst cries of “Shut the hell up!”, “Eyes Front!” , and “Back into line”
“No mam” The colour Sargent answered impassively ignoring the controlled chaos of the drill corporals beating the cadets back into line.
“No Colour Sargent?” Miriam cocked her head in askance, a true grimace crossed her face as the corporals finaly beat the mob back into something resembling ranks.
“No mam!” the Sargent returned somewhat more loudly, smiling with a lazy ease reminiscent of a lion, as he surveyed the lines before him. “No mam, these…. people are our cadets.”
“Cadets? Colour Sargent.” Her face was serious now she moved foreword to the nearest cadet in a flash, her enhanced musculature and frame moving faster than a normal man could move. She put her face inches from the cadet staring straight into his eyes. As the cadet averted his gaze from her face she smiled coldly. “No Colour Sargent, I believe that these young…. people could not be cadets, cadets become marines, and marines are the chosen elite, I am a marine, Colour Sargent and I will not have these… people, sully my uniform with their smell!” Shaking her head she stalked from the cadets into the nearby prefab office, slamming the door shut as she entered.
The assembled cadets shot resentful looks amongst their ranks, this was not the welcome they had expected, they were to become Commonwealth Marines, the premier fighting force in the known worlds. Marines were welcome everywhere, that’s why they had joined to get off this rock and away from the core worlds out to where there was space. Not to be yelled at by a half point scraggly woman. Their rage was almost palatable. Colour Sargent Ramon O’Hara smiled the smile of wise, he had been a marine for 30 years had spent plenty of time off world, on world, and everywhere in between and still he remembered the words his training CO had said to him, remembered the rage that had burnt within him, and remembered the pain that came after. And now he resolved to do the same to the cadets standing before him.
Nodding to the training cadre corporals he prepared himself for his next speech. Watching as the corporals moved down the ragged lines of cadets handing each cadets a set off overalls and watching the cadets frown trying to process what was going on, he could almost hear their thoughts “What are these? Overalls? Marines don’t wear these. What’s up now?” As the corporals were handing out the last of the overalls he raised his voice lowering his pitch and delivering his words in cold crisp cadre of training staff that was centuries old.
“You civilians have chosen to join the Commonwealth Marine Forces. The Marines are older than the Commonwealth our history dates back to the Duke of York in Old England on Terra, The marines have changed over the years, but what has not changed is our promise to you. I promise you pain, misery and blood. I promise that you will regret your choice, sooner than you may think, and i promise that you will soon very soon indeed regret that you mother ever met your father” He saw the smiles of disbelief and almost laughter amongst the assembled cadets and slowly shook his head. “You are no longer civilians until you graduate from my academy you are property of the Commonwealth Marines, and as property you have only the rights that I choose to give you. You no longer have any names. The clothing in front of you has a number that number is yours you will answer to it at all times, anyone caught using their name at any time will punished, you have no identity until I issue you one.”
He nodded to the training corporals who began moving amongst the ranks issuing orders to the cadets to strip. Where the cadet did not move quickly enough, they would tear the clothes from their bodies regardless of gender.
“You no longer have a sex or a history you have come here to be Marines and I will make you a Marine” Hardening his voice to make the next words count “Some of you will forget that you are brothers and sisters some of you will be tempted to act on urges that your pathetic bodies force upon you, some of you will try to remember who you were before now, bring old hates and likes with you, some of you think even now that you will be treated differently because of who you are. You are wrong. I will destroy anyone who breaks my rules and then I will kick them from this camp, but only after I have broken them so utterly that they will never be useful for anything other than nightmare stories told to scare young children around the campfire. This I promise you!”
