The group of four returned to the base, where they caught a plane to return home. Due to the speed of the plane the trip only took an hour and a half. The plane, which instead of having rows had 4 columns of seats side by side with an opening down the center for cargo.
The plane was full of people who were rotating off the front, and the center was lined with the coffins of those who would be making their final journey home. Unfortunately, their plane was not the only one like that.
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They landed, and found their friends waiting. Lance's arm and Justin's leg we in casts, and Victor leaned slightly to the left, like straightening would reopen his wound.
"Hey! You all made it!" Justin said beaming.
"Yeah, and since you all had to leave early, each of you is buying us a round." Travis said.
"Some of us can't see the future to avoid almost dying like you can." Victor protested.
"Well I can, and in my future I see you three buying me a drink."
"Fine." Both muttered, cause ing Lance to laugh. Then he walked over and hugged Rebecca, then gave her a once over to ensure she wasn't hurt. Seeing that she wasn't, he smiled.
"Welcome home love. I'm glad you're ok."
"Me too, you missed out on a lot of fun though, Travis came up with a plan to end the battle that was so exciting!"
"I can't wait to hear about it. But that can wait. For now, I'm sure you'd all appreciate a shower and some fresh clothes."
"Yeah we can all catch up later!" Justin said. "What about five o'clock this evening at the bar by the barracks?"
"We can do that, but first we have a debriefing in 30 minutes. So if you plan to conduct hygiene do it quickly, or save it for afterwards. It shouldn't take too long." Taylor interjected.
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As it turned out, the debriefing took quite a while. They gave their acconts of what happened, especially their encounter with the other demigods. Then they had to hand over their helmets so that command could get their sensor data and recordings from the encounter. All in all it took about 2.5 hours to complete.
Afterwards, it was about 2 in the afternoon, so they said goodbye for the time being and headed towards their rooms to unwind for a bit before meeting up that evening.
Travis entered his room, and first unpacked his gear and put it away. Then he jumped in the shower, taking his time to wash off all of the dirt and grime from his body. When we was done and feeling refreshed, he grabbed the clothes he had taken with him, and went to the laundry room at the end of the hall. He set it to wash, and set a timer on his phone before heading back to his room.
He flopped onto his bed, happy to just lay down on something other than the floor of a jungle for once, and closed his eyes.
When the timer went off, he thoufht he had only been laying down for a couple minutes. He got back up, switched his laundry over, then looked at the time. It was already 4:30, so he decided to get ready.
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When he got to the barracks, he found the others already waiting for him. Justin waved him over, and when he got to the table, he saw there were already four drinks waiting for him. They were a brilliant blue on the bottom half and pale yellow on the top.
He took a sip of one, and found it was deliciously tangy with a sweet undertone.
"I should show up last more often." He joked. "Having my drinks ready the moment I walk in is baller as hell."
"Yeah well, don't forget you've got my tab tonight. Again." Kiara said, elbowing him playfully as he sat down.
"Dude, how are you letters her 2 and 0 you? Thats kinda pathetic." Victor said, joining the teasing.
"Listen, if you saw her on the battlefield you wouldn't think that." Travis retorted.
"Yeah shes totally bad ass! And she has more kills than you do Gonzales. At least Travis is close behind her." Rebecca said to Victor.
"Awwww thanks babe! You were pretty amazing out there too!" Kiara said, making Rebecca blush, happy to be praised.
"Lance you'd better watch out, Kiara is gonna steal your wife dude!" Travis teased.
"I'm not worried, even if she did she'd be begging me to take her back in a week." Lance said, smiling jokingly at Rebecca.
"Oh, are you saying that I'm a handful?" Rebecca asked, her face suddenly seriously.
"You are the love of my life, but you're much more than just a handful. I almost died twice the week your father hired me."
She stared at him for a moment, completely silent. Then she smiled. "Yeah, that's fair. Your life would be so boring without me though."
"Touche."
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They continued talking and joking until the bartender kicked them out, saying they were being cut off. Finally they all headed to their rooms to turn in for the night.
The next morning, the entire company was called to the drill floor. When he fell in with first platoon, he looked around and saw that as Taylor had said, they had gotten devastated by the sudden appearance of the Kingdom's demigods.
Most platoons were missing at least one full squad. Third platoon was down to a single squad. It was harrowing sight.
Then, their Company Commander walked in, and addressed the waiting soldiers.
"I'm sure all of you have looked around and seen how many we are missing. We got hit hard, and there are many openings we need to fill before the second generation troops arrive next month. Therefore, we will be holding a tournament to determine the strongest among us.
Participation is mandatory, and I expect you all to try your best. Those of you who stand out among your peers, will be placed in leadership roles. Once all our leadership roles are refilled, you will be allowed to choose who serves under you. Your performance will decide the order in which you will choose.
This tournament will start in two days time. I expect you all to train diligently in the meantime, and to continue to do so even if you are eliminated in the first round. The style of the first challenge will be revealed tomorrow night, so stay on the lookout for that. Any questions? No? Good, you all are dismissed. Good luck to each and every one of you."