It was a good thing that Daniel's hair was so short, because otherwise he'd be pulling it out in frustration. Tomorrow morning he would be on the parade ground with his squad. He would give them orders, and run them through basic team maneuvers.
The trouble was that the standard course simply wasn't going to work for what he needed to accomplish. First they were too good. Basics would in no way challenge them. He doubted third year training would be good enough, especially Ana who had more academy experience than the rest.
Second they were going to be dysfunctional. Ana, Yukiko, and Simon all had problems that would guarantee that. The first was too meddling, the second was too self obsessed, and the last wouldn't trust his own mother, assuming he knew who that was.
Individually all were among the best fighters in the school, no matter the grade. In a one on one fight with him he suspected all could win. The only one he might have a chance against wasn't a warrior at all. And that was only a chance. It was a good thing that fighting ability wasn't what determined the best leader.
As for skill sets they were all different, complementing where the others lacked, and likewise excellent at their specialties. The only skill set missing was something long ranged like a combat mage or a sniper, but this squad would most certainly dominate in any kind of close combat.
There was no doubt they belonged in Diamond Squad.
Traditionally Diamond squad's contracts upon graduation all went to the same employer. Because of that their teamwork was the most important part of their training. This time it wasn't. The headmistress had told him that Private Sato was not going to be part of the team after graduation. He could guess why. It was almost a certainty that her father would buy out her contract upon graduation.
This only made organizing them as a team more difficult. It was possible to get the camaraderie that a team must have. He wasn't entirely sure how in this case but he would make it happen. Field maneuvers on the other hand... If he didn't include the private in the actual organization it could cause more friction between them. The others would undoubtedly feel she was getting special privilege because of her money. Unfortunately that was exactly the case.
The other option was to include her and ignore that she would be going in a different direction when she left DMA. During their time here it wouldn't be a problem, except to convince the headmistress that it was a good idea.
After they left the remaining four would be off balanced as they try to adjust to the change in their dynamic. It would be a bigger change than if any other member of the squad left. She was the support mage, a vital role.
Given time they would adjust. Likely it would only take a short time, provided they survive long enough. There was no telling what kind of environment they would find themselves in. They could be assigned to a merchant, traveling between cities as protection, or as bodyguards to business executives. They could be hired to patrol the exterior of a city to be sure none of the predators were starting to encroach, and to take care of them if they did.
Worse case scenario was to be hired by a warring city. If that was the case they weren't likely to survive a month. Davis-Monthan had earned it's good reputation. Any of their soldiers in that situation was likely to find themselves in the front lines as the most effective option, and as outsiders their probable deaths were more palatable than those of their citizens.
In the end he had to find a balance between the two. He could not accept sending his subordinates out into the world unprepared. He would not have that blood on his hands. He was already going to have too much of it after he graduated.
He looked down at his plans again. The obstacle course was a given, but that wouldn't improve their teamwork. There was no such thing as standard drills. Each officer was expected to come up with their own. That was part of his training. He did have a mentor he could go to, and he was tempted to do so.
An hour later he gave in to temptation and headed towards professor Helm's office.
When he had first gotten to Davis-Monthan the early hours were the worst. It would take him until noon to fully wake up. If he was honest he still didn't like them, but he was wide awake. That was why he was sympathetic towards Alisha, who looked like she needed a cane to stay upright. That isn't to say he wasn't amused by the sight.
If it wasn't for the strong family resemblance he wouldn't suspect Carole to be her sister with the level of energy she was displaying. She almost couldn't remain in parade rest she was so jittery. How much coffee had she consumed?
Coffee was an expensive commodity, having to travel a great distance from the south to reach them. The headmistress insisted that it was necessary for life however. Enjoying the brew himself he couldn't complain, but given the price it was strictly rationed. It couldn't be that. Obviously she was a natural morning person of an epic scale.
He had been up two hours earlier that morning to prepare the obstacle course. They were going to run it in pairs, cycling to a new partner each time until all possible combinations had been made.
This was not going to be a race. He had modified each obstacle so they could only be completed as a team. Some had multiple solutions, others were not obvious. He was going to observe all of them. Not only was this forcing them to work together, it was giving him an idea of who could get past their animosity while in the field, and who was going to be a true problem.
It would be interesting to see the results. He had decided to start with the worst case scenario first, pairing Yukiko with Ana. They didn't disappoint. Five minutes, and he suspected quite a few bruises, later they reached the end.
Ana had been as helpful as possible during the run, though the smirk on her face was intentionally designed to irritate Yukiko. She was keeping up with her end of their bargain by the letter, if not in spirit. Honestly it was more than he had expected.
When they finished Yukiko attempted to stand apart from her obstacle course partner. Ana was having none of it however, again being as friendly as possible.
"Fall in" Daniel ordered before an open brawl began. All five answered the command filing in front of him in proper order. He'd given thought on this too. He decided to put them in places that minimized the possibility of conflict. That meant the two were on opposite sides of the line.
"Privates Sato and Mutet, that was an abysmal display of teamwork. You will be running it together repeatedly after this exercise is completed until you learn to cooperate. Am I clear?"
"Yes sir," they both replied in unison.
"If you are unable to do it to my satisfaction before your first class you will continue and receive the bad marks missing class will cause." That last sounded harsher than it was. He knew both had two hours before their next class. They would get it by then, he hoped.
He looked at the next pair. He couldn't, in fairness, run either of the first pair again without at least some rest. Of the other three it was a simple decision. "Privates Simon and, O'Neal," he looked directly at Carole to indicate which sister he was referring to. "You're up next."
The two ran the course slightly better than their predecessors until they reached the wall. It was set so one had to lift the other to reach the top, then the one at the top reaching down to lift the first up. The difficulty was not in their teamwork, but in Simon's weight. Iron scales were not light, and in neither possible combination could she lift him. After the third attempt he called them to a halt. He had already learned what he needed. They were on pace for a three minute time. They weren't the perfect team but they could work together. With that knowledge there was no need to risk Carole injuring herself.
The cycle continued until he reached the pairing he believed would exemplify teamwork, the O'Neal sisters. They put on a show, meeting each challenge fluidly. Finishing with the best time, fifty-eight seconds, he didn't need to compare it to the other's inept attempts. The run spoke for itself. The two couldn't get too full of themselves however. Both had made their own poor showings with other combinations.
"Fall in," Daniel commanded for the last time that morning. Once they had all gotten in position and waited in parade rest, he spoke what they must already know. "You five are the best in this school individually. Being in this squad makes this beyond question. Your skills as a team, however, are woefully lacking. This could be a failure in your training before reaching this academy." He paused for a second, letting them hope he was going to give them that out. "We know that's not the case. I will not accept your personal feelings to hamper this squad's ability."
Four of the five had the good grace to look embarrassed. As would be expected Ana was not among them. "For today's performance you have earned twenty laps around the parade grounds. If I do not see some hustle that run will be doubled. Privates Sato and Mutet, report to me afterwards. Dismissed."
He wants some hustle, huh? Carole thought. I can do that!
Much like she had done on the combat assessment she took the course as fast as she could. The difference this time was there were no trees or ground cover to slow her. She pumped her magic up, casting the enhancements that would increase her speed and stamina. She judged each lap was about a half mile, meaning a ten mile run. She calculated that to be about a fifteen minute run for her. She had never run that far, but with the endurance boost she didn't think it was going to be a problem.
Smiling to herself she enjoyed a slight feeling of superiority as she passed first Simon, then Yukiko on her second lap. Neither of them were using boosts, so they were limited to human limitations. It didn't stop her from a feeling of superiority over her oriental teammate.
On the eighth lap she passed her sister and Ana, (and Yukiko four more times) who were pacing each other. She got the impression their was some form of silent competition between the two, and given what Alisha had told her earlier she could guess why. At least on her sister's side. She would have to talk to Ana to see what was going on with her. The slower pace than hers was to make sure neither gassed out before the finish line.
That confused her slightly. Carole was better when it came to endurance boosts, but Alisha should be able to last longer than her pace indicated. On her twelfth lap she noticed that her sister had slowed down more, allowing Ana to take the lead. It didn't take long to be in a position to pass her again when that happened.
As Carole passed her Alisha picked up the pace. She was saying something. Between the distance she had already gained and their speed it was hard to understand. It had to be important though, so she slowed down to match pace. "Slow down," Alisha repeated.
Laughing, Carole stuck out her tongue and returned to full speed. Slow down! That's a good one. She could feel her sister behind, trying to catch up. It wasn't going to happen. Sure, it would have been nice to have her sister's company, but she also had a point to make to the Lieutenant. She figured Alisha was just tired of being around Ana.
Four more laps (and passing Yukiko two more times), the exhilaration of a runner's high was pumping through her veins. Under the influence of the endorphin rush she wanted to push herself even harder, but she knew her limits.
Best punishment ever! she thought to herself.
Fifteen paces later she found herself on the ground, unable to move. Unable to even breath. She felt her eyes close, the energy to open them lost. It felt as if her spirit was stuck inside the corpse of her body as it started to grow cold. It was without question the scariest moment of her life. She was screaming in heart, mind, and soul, but not a sound could be heard.
Hearing the only sense she had left. Her thoughts were starting to come slower, but she could recognize footsteps. They were moving quickly. Help. It had to be help. She didn't believe in God, but at that moment she prayed as shamelessly as a sinner on his deathbed.
Time began to slow as her thoughts became more sluggish. It was decreasing at an accelerated pace as seconds became minutes, minutes became months.
After the first year passed, her ability to think had all but stopped. This.. Carole lost her train of thought before it had even formed. Slowly she found the next word. can't... Finding the words was becoming harder. Without really giving it any kind of thought she stopped trying.
Unable to know how long it had been since she had last felt the sensation, a warmth began to grow inside her. It started in her chest. Her heart... She hadn't even realized it had stopped, but she felt it start beating again.
The warmth spread upwards. She felt her thoughts begin to speed up. Time began to return to a normal pace, and her thought, so hard to find before, rushed to the forefront. This can't be happening!
All of her senses were still gone. All that existed was her mind, and the weird warmth. Then her hearing returned, and with it the outside world.
"I'm going to beat the crap out of her!" her sister was yelling. She sounded borderline hysterical.
Another voice intruded. "Quiet. I am not done. If you break my concentration I may lose her." Yukiko? Yes. She was in the support magic track. That meant she could work healing magics. It meant she was going to be okay.
Her thinking was almost to normal speed when the focus of the warmth changed to her lungs.
What had gone wrong? She had felt great one second, dead the next. Involuntarily she took her first breath, her throat burning from the air's magnificent passage.
"She is stable now, but I need to work more to restore the full function of her body."
The hysterics left Alisha's voice. Anger replaced it. It was trying desperately to hide the fear underneath but Carole knew her sister too well. "She can hear me?"
A pauses, then a tired sigh. "Yes, she has been able to hear us for several minutes now." Several minutes? It only felt like a few moments to her.
Confirmation of her condition was all it took. She felt (yet a new sensation) Alisha come near her ear, her voice harsh. "If you ever scare me like that again I will make you regret it for years."
She knew her sister was sincere in the threat. What she had done to earn it was still beyond her. Her eyes opened for the first time, then instantly closed as the light blinded her. If she could breath, maybe she could talk? "How?" she croaked.
"You pushed yourself too hard for too long. Damn it, you should know better! I tried to warn you and you laughed it off. If I had know you were this far gone... I- I- I would have sucker punched you into next week! I never guessed you were stupid enough to burn yourself that low."
Pushed to hard? She hadn't felt anything. She was still fresh when she collapsed.
Every inch of skin on her body suddenly got the feeling of pins and needles, as if it had been asleep. It probably had been.
"I felt fine," she defended.
Alisha let out a growl of frustration. "You felt fine? You didn't feel how drained you were?"
Blinking with surprise (the light still hurt, but the reaction was involuntary), and asked "drained?"
"Drained! Devoid of magic. Incapable of casting spells. The lack of the life force of the human body." The slight hysterical edge was starting to work its way back into her voice.
She hadn't. Magic was like any other form of energy levels in the human body. When you had enough you weren't conscious of it, but when it was getting low you felt it. You grew tired, or sleepy, or drained. Had she become so entranced with the run, with the feeling of freedom it always brought to her, that she didn't notice the drop?
'I may lose her,' Yukiko had said. She had nearly died. Not that she needed to hear that. She could attest for herself how close she had been. How long had she been beyond her limit to come that close?
The muscles on her arms and legs began to twitch involuntarily. She knew those would be back soon as well.
She didn't think she had ever heard in any of her history classes of a time someone had died from depletion. Normally you passed out first. The closest she could come was when magic was isolated from a body part, like an arm. If that happened long enough the arm would die and couldn't be revived by any spell.
Her eyes looked over at Yukiko who was on her knees, her eyes closed. Her hands were held over Carole, not quite touching and she could see her brows bunched in concentration. Her skin had gone pail, and Carole knew she was using everything she had to bring her back.
When at last she regained control of her extremities she found herself reaching up and pulling Yukiko into a hug born of pure relief. At that moment her teammate was the most wonderful person she had ever met.
"Would you let go?" Yukiko asked evenly.
She wasn't squeezing nearly as hard as she wanted to, but it was apparently enough to annoy her savior "Uh, yeah. sorry."
Carole watched closely as Yukiko looked up at their C.O. "Sir, I am afraid I will not be able to finish my laps."
Slowly Yukiko stood up, then nearly collapsed until Hawkinson caught her. "You are relieved of that responsibility. Return to your room and get some rest. You've earned it soldier. I will inform your classes that you will not be able to attend today."
It was Ana who came to support Yukiko as she made her way back to the dorms. An odd sight given the way Yukiko seemed to despise her. "Yuki, you shouldn't push yourself that hard."
There was silence for a moment as they walked away. "Quiet. I do not have the energy to put up with you." She sounded as tired as her statement implied.
It didn't surprise Carole. The amount of energy she had to have spent must have nearly run her dry. She not only had to give Carole enough of her energy to function, she had to repair the damage being drained had caused. She was going to be running on fumes for the rest of the day.
"How long?" Short sentences was all she could manage at that point. Her energy was not fully restored either. There is only so much one person can do.
"She worked on you for an hour, or there abouts," Alisha said, still sounding angry. "If she hadn't gotten to you so quickly it would have taken longer."
Given that amount of time the toll on Yukiko was worse than she had thought. Her body had completely shut down. Even her heart had stopped. The only way she was still alive is if Yukiko had been sustaining her. By all rights she should have been has nearly dead as Carole had been already. She had a new respect for the princess.
"Bring your sister to the infirmary, then you are relieved."
"Yes sir." Carole slowly drifted off to a true sleep as she felt Alisha lift her up. Quietly they left the spot where she could have easily died.
It had gone mostly to plan. That the team would earn laps today was a given. That Carole would try running it the entire time at full speed had also been a given. Suppressing someone's ability to feel when their magic reserves were low was a tricky thing, especially from a distance. She was good at being tricky.
Where the plan had deviated she would learn from and maybe use it for the next encounter. She would keep trying until she succeeded.
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