The two people arrived at the door and the captain gestured for Shan to stay outside first. The man quickly entered and saluted the figure sitting on the table in front of him working on her holo-comp. The man raised his hand and said, “Captain Rafa, team ninety-two reporting, Sir.”
The lady did not raise her head and directly asked in a cold voice, “What is it?”
Rafa walked forward and extended the tablet toward her as he said, “An anomaly appeared in the recruitment test. He broke all the previous records established and also by a huge margin. My lieutenant thought this matter should be reported.”
The lady raised her head and took the tablet as she read the data. Her gaze fluctuated with a surprise for a moment but her face did not change. She nodded and pressed a section of the table with her finger as she said, “Bring me the footage of the recruitment test of Candidate Shi Lang, application number, eight-nine-three-alpha.”
Then she asked, “Did you witness the test on your own?”
Rafa shook his head and said, “My Lieutenant was the one who asked these people to walk through the test room.”
Commander Harley nodded and said, “Call him over.”
Just as she said this, her holo-comp, received a notification while Rafa walked over to the door to call Shan inside. The lady played the footage on her holo-comp while Shan and Rafa stood at the side in silence.
After the footage was finished, Commander Harley was about to say something when the door of her room opened and the Adjutant walked in. She glared at the two people and asked, “Why are you both still here?”
Rafa and Shan wanted to say something when Harley asked, “What is it, Shina?”
Shina calmed down and said, “Commander, Team nine’s Captain Stix is here to see you.”
Harley frowned and said coldly, “Do you think I will suspend you for coming here with this issue? Did you not understand your directives last time?”
Shina shivered and said, “Commander that, you…”
Bang, Harley slapped the table so hard that it was bent from one side, as she said, “Do you think you are worthy of teaching me how to handle my personal affairs?”
Shina froze and calmed down then she shook her head and said, “I do not, Commander, it’s just that Captain Stix is here to report his mission details.”
Harley said, “Take the tablet and ask him to leave.”
Shina nodded and hurriedly left the place. Harley took a deep breath and said, “Tell me what did you notice about this person?”
Shan nodded and said, “Commander, this person was extremely calm and he was absolutely confident. Not only him but the entire batch in the top twenty was the same. These people had something about them that I cannot pinpoint. They are all Terrans.”
Harley nodded and said, “Very well, Lieutenant Shan, now you will report directly to me when this batch of people comes tomorrow for the mech test.”
Lieutenant Shan nodded and saluted the lady before they were dismissed. Commander Harley did not forget to praise the two people.
On the way out, they found Adjutant Shina standing at the door with slightly red eyes. She only went in when the two of them came out. When they reached back to Captain Rafa’s office, Shan said, “To think that Stix will still harass the commander.”
Rafa nodded, “Indeed, he is exploiting his relations, and the commander is pushed back. However, if he dared to act excessively, he will not know how he died. Best in the Strike Force? My ass, wait till this Shi Lang comes in and dethrones that arrogant bastard.”
Shan nodded and Rafa said, forget about this, just go and prepare for tomorrow.”
Shan saluted the man and rushed off to the mech arena.
…
The next morning, Shi Lang and the team arrived at the gathering room again, only the candidates who passed yesterday were present. The number was not big. Shan stood at the podium with a stern face and did not look like he was paying attention to the people.
He said, “Welcome, I hope you are all well rested, now, you will all be going to the mech arena behind this building and piloting the mechs to fight against each other. You do not have to disable the other person or kill them in combat, but you need to pull off a tag stuck to the chest of the mechs. Since we have some candidates with different anatomy, they had been assigned the mechs they are the most familiar with.
Before you all think it is unfair, well so is the battlefield. Get going now. Remember only twenty of you who manage to stand in the end will be qualified.”
Shi Lang and the rest followed the crowd through a set of doors and corridors. They did not carry any weapons on them today. Soon they arrived at the mech arena and found the place to be quite big. The setting of this test was a battle royale, and there were about forty people. This place could accommodate forty mechs here with ease.
The batch of Terrans became an instant target and the people all rushed to gear up in their mechs to deal with them Shi Lang said, “You all can fight together or solo it is your choice, but act fast, as I will not be sparing anyone.”
Jill said through the communicator, “Boss, you are not allowed to kill anyone.”
The rest of the people took command of the mechs and they all heard Shan’s voice, “Begin.”
Shi Lang was fasted to react, he initiated the neural link from the start and rushed forward. None of the participants expected him to take the initiative. The red mech was fast and before the first target could comprehend, Shi Lang had used his sword to peel off the tag stuck to the chest.
The scene continued and the people were in a disarray, the ace division seemed to be competing amongst themselves trying to get the tags off the enemies. Shan could not comprehend and under a rush of excitement, he directly looked up the contact of Adjutant Shina and contacted her.
Shina was pissed off yesterday and yelled, “What is it?”
Shan did not care and said, “Sir, patch me to Commander, she needs to see this. I request this is an S-level urgency.”
Shina replied, “S-level urgency if you are not correct then prepare to be court-martialed.”
Shan still did not care and said, “Can you please hurry.”
Shina connected to Commander Harley, who saw Shi Lang taking on three mechs at a time. These people were not told to stop and thus they were venting at Shi Lang for taking their tags. The rest were simply suppressed by the Ace division.
Harley saw Shi Lang moving around like a swordsman fighting with his opponent and the movements were graceful and so smooth as if the big sword was a paintbrush and Shi Lang was an artist. She said, “Marvelous.”
Shan said, “The first target was taken down in ten seconds, the rest in less than a minute.”
Harley nodded and said, “Good thing you contacted me, prepone the test in the simulator, and have this batch go there right away. If they pass, then I have an assignment prepared for them.
Shan nodded and said, “As you command, Sir.”
Harley saw the three mechs being pushed back and said, “It’s hopeless, tell them to stop.”
Shan nodded and said to the communicator, “Stop, the test has come to an end.”
The people stopped and Shi Lang and his team returned to their original position. They got down from the mechs and they came back to the gathering room. Shan appeared before them once again and said, “You all have good skills. Very exciting to watch. Hahaha. Well, I would like to ask if you all still have the energy left?”
Shi Lang cast a gaze at the rest of the people and nodded. Shan said, “Our commander is happy to see a talented batch like yours among the ranks and she wishes for you to take the third test right away.”
The people were surprised and Shi Lang said, “Very well. Please lead the way. “
Shan led the way and the people, moved forward. Jill asked, “Boss, why did you not object?”
Shi Lang sighed, “This is a test of the soldier. A soldier will follow the commands of the superior every time. Once we deny her wish, which should be our command, we also deny her loyalty and obedience along with the chance to join the Strike Force.”
The people understood and Shi Lang said, “I am curious to see what kind of woman can lead the best force in the galaxy. Aren’t you guys?”
Sonic said, “Boss, you be careful I tell Big sis Amelia.”
Shi Lang chuckled in his heart and said, “Curiosity does not mean I am making babies with her. This is why you are single Sonic.”
The entire conversation was done telepathically, and with that done, they arrived in the simulation room. Where the final test was waiting for them.