The dinner was a blast. Travis spent his time talking to the other squad members and getting to know them better.
"So how did you two meet?" Travis asked Rebecca and Lance.
Rebecca smiled, clearly reminiscing on when she met her husband. "My dad hired him as my body guard. Because of that we spent a lot of time together and he saved me from quite a few sticky situations. Eventually I fell for him because no matter what happened he was always by my side."
"From what I remember you were absolutely against me being your body guard. You tried to escape from me at least a dozen times." Lance responded, also smiling.
"It was only like 4 or 5 times, not a dozen. And of course I did, I thought my dad was trying to take away my agency."
Kiara walked up and sat with them, followed by Justin and Victor. "That's sounds straight out of a rom-com. That's so sweet."
"Yeah man, most people would kill for a relationship as devoted as yours." Justin said.
"Ok but are you part of the mafia or something? Why did you have so many "sticky situations"?"
"My dad is a very wealthy man. They wanted to use me to get to him. But Lance handled it all quite well."
Travis Turned to Lance. "How did you handle all of that? And can you teach us?"
"Thats why they brought me into this program. Although for now we will be working on teamwork and fighting with our abilities. Speaking of which, what are all of yours?"
"I can see the future and have enhanced senses, plus the standard augmentations." Travis said
"Telekenisis and lock down." Justin said.
Kiara went next "Heightened strength and earth manipulation"
Finally Victor. "Increased speed and duplication. What about you two?"
Rebecca smiled proudly. "Gravity Manipulation and teleportation."
"And I have Telepathy and light manipulation." Lance said, finishing off their team. "Tomorrow we will be starting with team training. Learning how we move and think so we can do it under fire."
Tay walked over and joined the conversation. "Well whatever you do, do it quickly. Our first mission is in 5 days, so you'd better be ready."
"5 days? Thats not nearly enough time!" Lance shouted.
"I know. But thats the time line. They want us to break the front. And they want it done as soon as possible."
"And they think that sending untrained rookies will get the job done?"
"ENOUGH CORPORAL! Those are our orders. And there's not a damn thing you or I can do about it. High command wants us on the front, so thats where we'll be. Do I make myself clear?"
Lance steeled his face. "Yes sergeant."
"Good. Remember you were chosen for this program for a reason." She looked around at the squad. "All of you were. So please have some god damn dignity. We are the strongest soldiers this world has ever seen. Start acting like it."
Everyone sounded off, "Yes sergeant!" Then went back to enjoying what would likely be their last peaceful night for a long time.
○○○
The training was hell on earth. In the mornings of course they did their daily work outs, but being super soldiers the intensity was increased several times compared to what they did in basic training. Even the lightest weights were well over 200 pounds. The heaviest were almost 2000 pound weights specially designed for them.
After 3 hours of brutal workouts with almost no breaks. They'd go into combat training. Within alpha team, Lance had assigned each of them a partner who would fight alongside them from that point on. Rebecca was paired with Lance, being married for 5 years the chemistry they had with each other was unmatched. Victor and Travis were paired together because of Justin's lock down ability. He said: "It allows me to completely immobilize anyone or anything. It won't kill them but they won't be able to move. Buildings will shut all doors and windows without allowing them to be open. Cars will stop and lock up, no steering, no acceleration, no leaving. But I need to concentrate, living things can resist if they have a strong enough will, and the bigger an object is the harder it is. It requires immense concentration."
Which meant someone had to guard him to ensure he kept his concentration, and Victor, being a speed demon, was the perfect choice. Which left Travis and Kiara as the odd ones out.
They trained in pairs, as a team, and as a squad, although the squad training was pretty uncommon. They did that all day with a break for lunch and a water break every 2 hours.
In the night, they learned to better use their equipment. They had shields built into their bodies, projections of energy that would protect them from smaller weapons. And their armor had a larger one that covered an area of 10 square meters and could withstand a nuke at point blank range.
Or so they were told. No one really wanted to test that theory though. Just in case. They also practiced changing their weapons from metal sticks to deadly blades(or hammers). And just like that, the 5 days flew by before they even realized it.
"Alright everyone, its time to go. Remember we are going in hot, so be ready to fight as soon as we arrive." Tay told them
"Yes, but where are we going?" Travis asked.
"And how are we getting there?" Victor added.
"You'll be taking the cannons. And we are going to the Amazon Rainforest. High command expects us to take it quickly. I'll be coordinating us on the ground, so keep an ear out for my orders. Go into your equipment lockers and step inside, then state your name and say ready for deployment. Oh and make sure you hold on. Dismissed." She said
Travis went to his room and did as he was asked, and a glass partition slid down separating him from his now empty shelves and the door slid shut. His half of the tube started to move, leaving the other half behind.