Chương 148: CDM 3, Chapter 24: Off-Site Training

We landed on a dirt airstrip in the middle of rolling grasslands that extended to the horizon in every direction. Trees were as rare as elevation changes, and if you squinted, you could see mountains in the far, far distance. Megan said it looked like an African savannah was reskinned for Pennsylvania. As weird as that sounded at first, I agreed. The Pampas Plains covered approximately 750, 000 square miles of South America.

Most of the plains were in what was once Argentina, one of the two nations that occupied the continent's sharp, southernmost tip prior to the gates opening. The base we flew into sat in the center of the expansive grasslands, roughly 150 miles southwest of what used to be Buenos Aires. The Army used this base to level soldiers, so it was outfitted with multiple barracks, a mess hall, a rec hall, an armory, a school, a plane hangar, a machine shop, and a command center.

Men and women in camo fatigues bustled between them. Most of them were here for the same reason we were: to level. February was summer in this region. The humid air was 78 degrees Fahrenheit, a stark contrast to the freezing rain we left behind in Pittsburgh. Right off the plane, we were met by two women in camo fatigues. One was older with hard eyes and a weathered face. The other was maybe in her early thirties and had the same compact but powerful frame as Megan.

She had a shaved head and two long scars that ran from her temple to the back of her neck. A clipboard and a manila folder were tucked under her arm.

"I'm Lieutenant Colonel Fallon," the older woman said.

"Welcome to Fort Poolaw. This is Master Sergeant Cook, and she will lead your training. We've been informed that none of you have military backgrounds, so no one expects you to act like military personnel. The only thing that matters is that you follow orders. Do not argue. Do not hesitate. If Master Sergeant Cook gives you a command, you carry it out. Understood?" All four of us nodded.

"Good. Master Sergeant Cook will take it from here. Good hunting, everyone." Lieutenant Colonel Fallon peeled off to a different building while Cook waved for us to follow her. She led us directly from the plane to a briefing room, and I immediately missed the hospitality and service we received back when we first arrived at the Bluewater facilities in Taiwan. Half a dozen people had appeared to take and carry our luggage, but here in Fort Poolaw, we were on our own.

It was up to us to drag our full crawl kits and luggage across the base. If you think that sounds like the complaints of a spoiled brat, you are correct. I needed a moment to recalibrate my expectations. This was a military training base, not a retreat for billionaires. No room service. No 24-hour chefs. No swimming pools. What we experienced with Bluewater was usually reserved for a fraction of a percent of the world's richest people. Fort Poolaw was not built for the rich and famous.

The linoleum floor of the briefing room was scuffed to a dark gray. The desks looked as if they were salvaged from a high school, and the space was lit only by fluorescent lights. Though it had plenty of exterior walls for windows, the briefing room had none. Two men were already there when we arrived. One was long and stringy. The wad of chew under his lip was almost completely obscured by his bushy, unkempt beard.

It grew outward like it had never been in the same room when words like "shave" or "trim" were uttered. He stood to shake our hands and introduced himself as Dale Hornby. I wasn't traveled enough to immediately identify his accent, but it was decidedly southern. I later learned he was from Kentucky originally. The other man was a little shorter than me but strapped with muscles like an action figure. He had a neatly shaved mustache and long black hair pulled into a ponytail. He said his name was Horatio Giago.

He was from Michigan. Hornby and Giago had arrived the day before, so our bags were the only ones piled haphazardly at the door.

"We can get to know each other later," Cook said.

"Everyone, please sit so the briefing can begin." When we settled, she continued.

"I am Master Sergeant Cook, and my team will lead your leveling missions for the duration of your time with us at Fort Poolaw. I am a black magic spellbow, and when we leave tomorrow, we will be joined by a white magic spellblade and a defender." She unrolled one of several maps mounted at the front of the room. It depicted the Pampas Plains, with an indicator for Fort Poolaw marking the center. Based on the map key, it looked like this map covered an area about the size of Pennsylvania.

Pausing to reference her clipboard, she continued, "Meehan and de Saint Gillies, you will remain on base for your ops training. You will meet with Master Sergeant Vadici at 0600 hours tomorrow. Everyone else, we will meet outside this room at 0500 with a support team and depart immediately in three Humvees. Expect to be in the field for a minimum of 5 days and a maximum of 8.

"Our goal is to run two C gates per day so that you are all level 13 by the time you leave. That's not always possible due to gate distribution, and we might run a B if we have no better options. In that case, my people and I will actively participate in clearing the dungeon. In all other cases, we will only step in if someone's life is in danger. Otherwise, the four of you are expected to learn how to work together as a party since that's what you'll be doing in the field when your training is complete.

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"Osheski is a brawler-cleric and will be the squad leader. Carmino is an archer. Hornby is a fighter with sword and bow proficiencies. He will multiclass into a white mage spellblade. Giago is a fighter with a sword proficiency, and he will multiclass into a black mage spellblade. Everyone is level 10 with the exception of Carmino. He is level 11.

"Hornby, Giago–you are aware that your party roles will evolve once you have access to more spell options. For these crawls, clearing the gate efficiently and safely is the priority, so lean on what you do best. You will have training time in the future to fully adjust to being spellblades.

"We have an armory and quartermasters on base. Review your kit today so you can have any equipment issues remedied prior to the mission tomorrow. We are not responsible for maintaining your gear. You are. Any questions about tomorrow?" No one raised their hands or said anything.

"Good. As for your time on base, you are all civilians, which includes you two." She indicated she met Hornby and Giago.

"I know you don't feel like civilians, but your service has concluded, so you must follow civilian rules. As civilians, you all have access to your barracks, the mess hall, and the rec center. You are permitted to visit the armory if you have an equipment issue or concern. You are not permitted inside any other structures without an escort, and please stay out of the way no matter where you are. We have two to three platoons training here at any given time, so the base will be busy.

Hornby and Giago, show them to their bunks?"

"Yes, ma'am," they replied in unison.

"Dismissed," Cook announced and made her exit.

"Welcome to the Pain Plains," Hornby said with a grin.

"Giago and I leveled here before. Separate companies, but we know the drill for how all this works. We're coming out of the wet season, so moving between gates shouldn't be too awful." Giago laughed.

"Man, come on. It's really not that bad." Giago leaned forward.

"There's nowhere for the water to go around here, so if we get a good rain, suddenly the whole place is a sandy swamp, or a lake pops up overnight, right between you and where you intended to go in the morning. The mud is awful. I never had a run where we didn't have to dig a vehicle out at least once." Hornby frowned.

"Yeah, okay. He's right about that."

"Other than Osheski, any of you military before CDM?" Giago asked.

"I wasn't military," Megan corrected. Hornby and Giago both tilted their heads. Giago continued guessing.

"Police? FBI?"

"No. I went from university into the CDM."

"No offense," Hornby began, "but why'd they make you squad leader? Where did you get your experience? Did you captain CDM crawls or something?" Megan blanched and shook her head.

"The four of us have done some wild hunting together, and Nathan–I mean, Meehan–is a civilian contractor. He isn't CDM." Hornby scratched his chin.

"None of that makes a lick of sense. You haven't led a squad before, and they multiclassed you into cleric. That's weirder than all hell."

"The CDM didn't multiclass me," Megan clarified.

"That was separate, and my choice to add cleric was my own."

"Someone in a high place must like you," Giago grumbled.

"Try not to get us all killed, all right?"

"Hey," de Saint interrupted.

"We're supposed to be a team. How much wild hunting have you two done?" They both shrugged, which I took to mean little to none. De Saint continued.

"Osheski cleared two wild goblin nests with champions. She's killed wild trolls, wild werewolves, and she's even killed a wild helminth horror. She might not have done pushups at basic training like you two, but she knows her shit."

"We busted our asses to get to Sergeant E-5," Giago said.

"I don't care what kind of stories she can tell. She isn't qualified to be squad leader, not when you have two people with actual tactical training."

"Good thing it isn't your call then," de Saint retorted. Megan put a calming hand on her shoulder.

"I do have a lot to learn," Megan admitted.

"That's why I'm here: to learn. I didn't ask to be squad leader, and I don't feel ashamed that I was picked for the job. When we actually get to work in the field, we're all going to spend a lot of time together in cramped, tense situations. We should start practicing being a team right here and now, or all our lives will be miserable." When Hornby and Giago didn't reply, I asked, "Can we go to the barracks, please?" Hornby popped up and led us out the door. Out of habit, I drifted toward the back of the group.

Giago did the same. As we crossed the base, the two of us ended up a few steps behind everyone else.

"Cook said you're level 11?" Giago asked.

"Yes."

"I get that you all know each other, but you're not bothered by a greenhorn taking point?"

"Nope." Giago huffed. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"All four of us have done wild hunts together," I added.

"You're right that we don't have military training, but she's a legit crawler, and we've seen her in action. I trust her with my life. If you give her a chance, you will too."

"Man, they sold me on this job being something special, like it was a privilege or some shit to get the offer."

"I feel pretty privileged to be here," I said. Giago shook his head.

"You say that now, but in the Army, we saw real shit, stuff way worse than E and D gates. Someone like her who gets the diversity promotion? They fold when they hit their first real fight."

"That's enough of that."

"What? Tell me this isn't some political bullshit where a woman gets picked over men who are far more qualified."

"You can disagree with the choice all you want, but you don't get to insult her or disrespect her."

"Gotta love a white knight." I stepped in front of Giago to stop him in his tracks. Judging by the look on his face, my dex was a few points higher than his.

"We all worked hard to be here," I said.

"We're a six-person team, and three people on that team feel perfectly comfortable with Osheski taking point. You're the odd man out right now, so get over yourself or fucking quit."

"I won't be the odd man out for long. Cook and her team will be there to see you desk jockeys choke when it matters, and then this whole stupid project will get scrapped and rebuilt with proper soldiers."

"If you're that confident that we'll all wash out, shut your fucking mouth and let it happen." Two older Army men on their way to the mess hall paused when they noticed Giago and me looking heated.

"You boys good?" one called.

"We're good," I replied before turning to catch up with everyone else. What a wonderful fucking start.