Second Chance War - 50 The New Outfi

After the successful obstacle course training, Thomas was then escorted to another room, it was a wide auditorium. He was then asked to sit in front with the Major General and the rest of the doctors. Slowly many people began to file into the auditorium, after about five minutes the auditorium was full. There was no one standing, there were just the right amount of seats for everyone as if this had all been carefully planned out. Some of the people were even recognizable, there was Smith, McLaney, and the infamous McSnickers, all of them seem to have put on more muscle and tone than before. McSnickers even sported a scar over his right eye, it was very visible and made him look ferocious, especially when combined with the scowl he now seemed to permanently wear on his face.

McLaney was just as tall before, but he had also put on more muscle, the resulting look made him imposing to stand in front of, almost like a giant. Smith was still as short as ever, if a bit more stocky and bulky in his arms. You could say he almost looked like a dwarf from those fantasy comics they were making nowadays. In short, almost everyone that filed into the auditorium today would make up the world’s greatest company. In the future, joining the company would be the highest honor an individual could accomplish, bringing great fortune and prestige to their families.

Major General Hughes straightened his tie and walked confidently up to the stage in the auditorium from his seat in the front, a podium had been prepared as well as a microphone. On his shoulder was another newly adorned star, making his two star Major General rank upgrade to Lieutenant General, just one rank below General. It was a major upgrade, the fact that he was now Lieutenant General means he has rendered some sort of service befitting of the new rank. Indeed he has, looking out across the auditorium, he smiled. Seeing the Lieutenant General smile brought absolute shock to everyone’s faces. No one had seen him smile since they met him, with exception of Thomas who had seen him smile once he had activated his powers.

“Alright boys, let’s get down to business. Official starting today, we will be joining the war effort!” Hughes led with this opening remark as he knew some of the company was already bored to tears of training. It brought a few unrestrained hoots and applause, Hughes let it pass. ”

“Now, we have a lot of ground to cover today, some things we will be going over. The company name, our Area of Operations, our Rules of Engagement, who you will report to. In short, everything you need to know. We will also be going over our first operation as a company, which I am sure you will all be excited to be a part of. Now, down to the brass tacks boys. Make no mistake, the eyes of the world are upon us, we are the first unit to be put together for the express purpose of what I am going to explain to you here in a few minutes. Now as for the name of our outfit, we will be known ironically as Reaper Company. Your Captain came up with explanation that we will be reaping lives to save ours. He’s not exactly wrong, it’s almost exactly what you will be doing. Which brings me to our next topic of discussion. Our Area of Operations. It’s the entire theater of war! All of it! The Pacific, The Eastern Front, The European Front! Everything the Germans and Japanese are touching, that is our Area of Operations.” Hughes paused to look at all of them, he was filled with immense pride. They had all gotten this far with their own determination and willpower. Not a single chosen soldier had ever once quit, they were all going to fight for something greater now.

“This is perhaps what will please you guys the most, as you know standard Rules of Engagement which were enacted after The Great War, don’t shoot medical soldiers, easily identifiable by the red crosses on their helmets, take prisoners when the enemy offers their own surrender. Never target civilians and civilian structures and hospitals. Throw all of that out of the window, you are given the green light! You will be operating behind enemy lines at all times on missions of the utmost secrecy, anyone or thing that could expose or be detrimental to you mission are to be eliminated. Watch out especially for children, now this might sound horrid and immoral to all of you, but children often make the greatest spies. So to combat this, any child who sees you while performing a mission or is actively spying on you, are to be removed from the scene and kept as captives until such a time as the war is over. This is the much better and more moral alternative to killing the children.”

There was a fair amount of grumbling in the auditorium, but everyone came to the conclusion that capturing the children was a much better option than just killing them outright. Children are the future after all, and if everyone starts targeting the children, who will be left to lead the future?

“Now, without further ado, let me introduce to you, your commanding officer, Captain Thomas Conlin.” Hughes left his spot at the podium and returned to his seat whilst Thomas got up from his, slightly nervous, and headed to the podium. From the podium he looked out among the members in the auditorium and he saw Smith, McLaney, and McSnickers, he was impressed with how much they’ve appeared to have grown. It was time to start his address, there would be time for greetings later.

“I am Captain Thomas Conlin, and although only a few of you have had the pleasure of my company, I have had the pleasure of yours.” Thomas began, he wasn’t as nervous now, he was in his element, he knew what he was doing. This was a small step towards his future plans. “Every single one of you are here today because I hand-picked you. For your skills and your various attitudes. It doesn’t matter where you’ve come from or where you were born, because as of oh-six-hundred today, if you weren’t before, then you are all now American citizens. Furthermore you are all apart of my unit company of Reapers.” Thomas stopped to pause and gathered himself. Someone in the auditorium stood up.

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“Sir, other than your rank, which is higher than any of ours, what makes you uniquely qualified to lead us all? Why not some other high-ranking officer like a Major or a Colonel which would be usual?” The man standing had a valid question. Thomas answered in kind. Quickly he gathered his power and flashed over to the man, quickly grabbing him and then ramming him against the wall, not hard enough to break anything, but he’ll definitely have a bruise in the morning. He looked at the man closely, it was the commando specialist from the dossiers, he really didn’t stand out, he was plain looking and had short cropped hair.

“Do you think me unqualified to lead you now?” Thomas looked the man dead in the eye, causing him to involuntarily shiver, much like when a tiger locks eyes with its prey.

“No, sir.” The commando replied.

“What’s your name?” Thomas demanded.

“Richard Haggins, sir.”

“Return to your seat, Corporal Haggins.” Thomas immediately reprimanded and demoted the commando. He then flashed back to his spot at the podium.

“You will report to me, in the field, after missions, if I want a status update you give me one. As you have seen, my authority granted to me by our very own Lieutenant General Hughes, is not to be challenged. You do your job well, you’ll get rewarded, you do poorly, you piss me off, you’ll end up like poor Richard over there.” Thomas paused to let his words sink in. “Now, let’s get to the mission, I’m sure you’re all eager to find out what it is we will be doing.”