Chapter Two: Enlistment

Terron Enlists in the Blayders Cor. What questions will he be asked? what fears will he discover, and what knowledge will he gain?

Chapter Two: Enlistment

The drive was long and quiet. Terron looked out the window as the trees and buildings flew by. Minsk was beautiful this time of year, the snow covered buildings and trees gave the city a glow unlike any other. Though unlike Central Prague there were not many buildings to see as much as small apartments and suburban living quarters. Most of the people who lived here where military personal that needed to live close to Military command in Central Prague. It was only a two and a half hour drive through the country side to Central Prague from Minsk. The countryside was bursting at the seams with snow and tundra during this time of year, the only green that could be seen was the occasional evergreen among the naked trees that filled the forest.              But now as they entered Central Prague, trees where rare in number. Tall buildings hundreds of year’s old, cobble stone streets and a car on almost every corner. At the entrance to the city was the bustling train station that lead to every corner of Minoa, Terron could see hundreds of people boarding the trains, while he had never been on one, he imagined it was far more relaxing than driving or walking. As the vehicle began to make subtle vibrations from the Cobblestone street Terron looked over at his teacher; Major Frost was focused on the road, Pedestrians rarely minded speeding vehicles regardless of who was driving, and the Major did not want to run over anyone today.

                “Major, what’s it like? Crafting a blade?” Terron asked reluctantly, he didn’t want his teacher to know he was nervous, for fear that it would offend the Major. The Major chuckled at his students question and stopped at the yellow stop sign.

                “Have you ever had a chance to do something great, missed that chance and then longed for that chance to rise again?” He asked in response, Terron thought for a moment.

                “I guess.” He replied having no idea where the Major was going with this. The Major began to drive again after several horns where blasted behind him. He inhaled greatly and said,

                “Depending on how you decide to craft your blade, weather you do this via caster mold, or by hammer and fire, you will have a surge of adrenaline and fear with each pour of the liquid metal, or each strike of the hammer. Just remember to put yourself into each and every strike.” Somehow his words only made Terron more nervous.

 As they continued to drive the vehicle was filled with stagnant silence, but soon was replaced by entrancement as they neared Military Command, the building was massive, the largest Terron had ever seen. Down the center of the face of the building was the red and black flag of Minoa, the flag was red with the symbol of Minoa in Black, the Lion and the Wolf almost seemed alive. On each side of the flag was a smaller flag on the right it held the calligraphy letter B that was on the Blayders uniforms, and on the left side the flag held the over lapping letter M for “Minoan Military” the building was solid granite imported from Harappan hundreds of years ago, the same as the stone used for many of the historical buildings in Minoa. Back then Minoa and Harappan had peace and traded with each other frequently.

                Terron peeled his eyes away from the Military Command building and looked over to the Major; he had a smug smile on his face, the opposite of Terrons nervous excitement.

                “You are going to be fine, you are my student after all, and I was trained the exact same way by an even greater man. Don’t think about it, just do it.”The Major instructed, this reassured Terron. Terron Nodded and stepped out of the car, he turned to the window and saluted the Major The Major stepped out of the car and saluted in return, he then muttered under his breath without Terron hearing ‘God Speed Boy. We need you’ He then drove away as Terron Began to walk up the steps.

Terron proceeded up the steps of military command. The cold winter wind cut Terrons face and lifted his raven black hair, his Black coat drifted behind him like a cape till he stood away from the wind under the large pillars in front of the Command center entrance, as he entered through the large glass doors a brush of warm air spilled out into the cold air outside.

Terron entered the massive building into a lounge like room, similar to that of a study, bookshelves and chairs where lined up against one wall, while receptionist desks and doorways covered the adjacent wall. Though, they where all empty, every chair, and every desk was empty except for one on the very end. A young woman with jet black hair cut to her neck sat typing away at the typewriter in front of her hands. She wore the green uniform of the Minoan Military, one class below the Blayders regime.  Terron could see that on her collar one silver bar was placed, the black center helped identify her as a Warrant officer.  Being raised by the fuehrer he had detailed knowledge of military ranks and their duties. Terron cleared his throat to gain her attention; she looked up revealing serious beady eyes, hazel and filled with readiness for orders. 

“Terron Robespierre I presume?” She asked standing up and walking around the desk, she extended her neatly groomed hand out to shake Terron’s chaliced rough hand, as they shook Terron asked,                 “I am warrant officer Rebecca Stoltz,  I have been expecting you.” Her voice was stern, but calm. With the accent of a citizen of Belgrade. Terron had never met a woman in the military before, he always expected them to be brutish and non-feminine, but the Warrant Officer was just as sweet and lovely as any woman he had met on the outside.

                “Did I come at a bad time; it’s like a ghost town in here.” Terron replied as the hand shake ended and she walked back to her desk, he followed. Unlike Male military personal, she did not wear the green pants issued to each soldier, instead she wore a green skirt that stopped at her knees, it was bordered in black, her military jacket was also different from the male version, in that it was more petite to show her figure and had thicker shoulder pads. Terron assumed this was to give female soldiers more personality than the male soldiers.

                “Not at all, there are so many soldiers sent away on assignment with Blayders that we don’t get very many visitors in the civilian entrance. Had you entered through the south wing instead you would have had to fight a sea of immature illiterates to get to any of the front desks.” She said with a smile, her lips where shrouded in candy apple red lipstick and her eyes had faint traces of shadowing underneath them.  Terron found himself seeing her as more of a woman than a soldier. She cleared her throat then said,

“You will enter Elevator B, here you will surrender all rights as a citizen of the Minoan government and be given all the rights of a Minoan Military officer. After I swear you into the military you will press button L button L will take you to the Lighting room, here you will be asked a series of questions regarding you desire to be in the Minoan Military. How are you doing so far? Understand?”  She almost seemed to be reading it from memory, Terron could tell this was not the first time she had done this.

“Yes Ma’am I understand, when can I begin crafting my blade?” he replied so nervously that he almost blurted the question out. She then smiled at his question. She then looked behind herself at a mirror still smiling.

“All good things to those who wait Terron.” she replied. She then instructed Terron to follow her; they walked down a magnificent black marble hallway to a single elevator. Before they boarded the elevator the Warrant officer turned to Terron and raised her right hand, after instructing Terron to do the same she said.

“Do you, Terron James Robespierre surrender all rights as a Minoan Civilian including you health benefits, ability to seek political asylum, and the ability to a fair quick trial in court for any crimes you may or may not commit?” she was no longer smiling and now had a very serious expression upon her face. Terron thought for a moment or two, not about backing out, but about what it was to give up rights that could be taken away at any moment.  In his head he said ‘what is it to be free really?’ but then spoke aloud saying,

“Yes Ma’am I do.” His heart and mind filled with pride as he spoke these words. The Warrant Officer then smiled again and placed her right hand on Terrons shoulder saying,

“Then I, Warrant Officer Rebecca Stoltz do here by conduct you, Terron James Robespierre into the Minoan Military under the rank of Private, I bestow upon you the rights, freedoms, and restrictions of a Military officer. Please continue onwards to base level two.”  Terrons heart was racing, just like that he had became a Military officer, though not yet a Blayder. He saluted his now superior officer and said,

“Thank you Warrant officer Stoltz Sir!” Terron knew much about military conduct, being raised in the home of the head of state all he ever heard was ‘General sir’ this or ‘Captain Sir’ that. Though when he was young he saw it as an annoyance, today he could feel the pride and significance of being called by your own rank, and speaking to a higher rank with proper conduct. She saluted back and pressed the down button on the elevator door, as they opened; she turned and walked back to her desk without a word. Terron gulped and entered the Elevator, as the doors closed he sighed and began to breathe slowly. No matter what he thought, there was no turning back from here.

The Elevator moved quickly, for a slight moment Terron’s stomach felt strange, almost like he was falling. He could hear the brakes of the elevator send it down to a grinding halt, as it did so, the doors opened and Terron was presented with a room filled with Minoan Military soldiers. The lobby was filled with Soldiers conversing about the war and complaining about their work. Terron squeezed through the sea of green uniformed men and women till he made it to a another Receptionist desk, this time there was an older brunette woman sitting with a pile of paper work and an annoyed scowl on her face. She looked up at Terron, then immediately looked back down at her paperwork. Terron could see on her shirt collar was a single gold bar, identifying her as a second Lieutenant.

                “Private Terron James Robespierre reporting for registration sir!” Terron said standing stiff as a board. The Lieutenant laughed slightly then said,

                “Relax kid you are only sworn in, Lieutenant Colonel Pember will be in here shortly to go over your registration forms.” She then pointed over to a row of empty black chairs, Terron nodded and walked over to them sitting down and listening to the soldiers in the room converse about their missions.

                “I heard an entire battalion went missing in the east desert. Something big is about to go down you mark my words” one soldier said to another,        

“I don’t know, for all we know they were just idiots who got themselves lost. It wouldn’t be the first time the Desert Blayders lost track of time and got wasted out in the desert.” Another replied.                    “yeah, right, these guys had been out there for over seven years, there is no way they ‘got lost’ I think those damn snake eating Desert Rangers from Angkor Watt are behind the whole thing!” another soldier chimed in. Terron had never been familiar with racial slurs other than the ones he had been called by military personal against the fuehrer adopting him. ‘Snake Eater’ was a popular racial slur used by the Minoan Military personal for the Angkor Watt Natives. ‘Slant eye’, ‘Yellow man’ and ‘Slope Head’ where just a few of the racial names applied to the Gonuran natives.  In Minoa it was frowned upon, but not taboo to use such racial slurs. Terron found it appallingly distasteful.

 As he eavesdropped more on the conversations between several soldiers he could see the jealousy the Minoan Military had against the Blayders. It was understandable though, the Blayders had far more freedoms and leniency in rules. Being specialist units the Blayders where on the military payroll being paid the same amount as a Colonel in the Minoan Military. While Minoan Military soldiers had to start from Private and work their way up, Blayders started their career as a Captain unless they where a Minoan Military officer of a higher rank converting to the Blayders regime.  Terron knew he would have to impress the higher ups in the Blayders command to gain entrance into to Blayders regime.

“Terron Robespierre?” asked a blond woman who walked out from a door at the end of the row of chairs. She wore the red uniform of the Blayders. Terron was very surprised to see a woman Blayder. On the collar of her jacket was a silver leaf; the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  Terron stood at attention and said,

“Yes ma’am.” As he replied she raised one of her neatly groomed eyebrows and looked at a clipboard saying,

“Don’t call me ma’am; you will refer to me as Lieutenant. I am Lieutenant Colonel Phoebe Pember and I will be conducting your evaluation and then I will escort you to the crafting room if I say you may continue. Understood?” she had a cold look on her face, though she was strikingly beautiful. Terron had heard her name before; she was in the same battalion as his teacher back during the Four Corners War.

“Yes ma’am… I mean sir… I mean Lieutenant.” Terron replied, stumbling over his words in embarrassment.  Phoebe grew an expression of irritation upon her face. She then waved for Terron to follow her as she walked into the next room.  They entered the brightly lit office. A desk, a bookshelf and a chair in front of the desk where all there was in the room. After instructing Terron to sit down Phoebe said.             “You want to sign on for the Blayders regime right?” she then sat at the large wooden desk that now separated her from Terron. Terron Nodded, she then said        “I don’t know sign language Private, I will ask you to answer that question again and you will use your voice not your body.” Her voice demanded respect and obedience.

“Yes Lieutenant.”  Terron replied hoping he did not just ruin his chances. Phoebe then flipped through a few papers on the desk and rested her cheek upon her hand in a tired fashion saying,

“Why do you feel you are beyond the average soldier capabilities? In other words, why do you believe you deserve to be a Blayder?” Terron could tell this was a question written down prior to his arrival. He thought for a moment and replied,

“I have always been skilled with a blade. And since I was a young boy I have dreamed of becoming a powerful blayder so that I can one day protect my father the Fuehrer, and eventually my brother when he takes the throne.” He gulped hoping his answer was good enough.

“Like I didn’t see that answer coming.” Phoebe replied writing down Terron’s answer word for word. For more than an hour Terron answered Phoebe’s questions, they covered everything from how much he works out, what diet he is on, even his preference in books. Soon it seemed like Phoebe was bored, but Terron was still nervous and full of energy. Phoebe then stood and stretched her arms up into the air, she had taken her military jacket off and was now wearing a black cotton A-shirt, as she stretched Terron couldn’t help but notice her incredible muscular structure, yet she still retained her femininity. Once her uniform jacket was off, Terron could see her weapons, two katana blade swords they were held on her right hip. One was double the length of the other. There was a long moment of silence as Phoebe looked through the several pages of questions and answers that had been written in the past hour.

                “Well, Private Robespierre, if you will follow me I will escort you to the crafting room. There you will meet Colonel Butterworth, don’t let his name fool you he is to be respected above all else during these next few hours of your military career Private.” She then stood and instructed Terron to follow as they left the room out of the same door they had entered through.

 

                The lobby was now completely empty aside from the middle aged receptionist that had spoken to Terron earlier. She was filing her nails ignoring Terron and Phoebe as they walked to the elevator. In the elevator Terron felt slightly afraid of what was to come, he didn’t know if Butterworth would be a friend or foe. He still didn’t even know if Phoebe was a friend or not. She definitely was not the fragile woman that Major Winters had made her out to be in his war stories.

                “Lieutenant.” Terron said with a touch of curiosity.  She turned to him and nodded in response, Terron then said,

“My teacher was Richard Winters; he told me many stories about your days back in the Four Corners War. I was wondering if you could give me any advice on how to construct my blade.”  Terron looked at what could be seen of her blades under her jacket. She smirked as the elevator doors opened.

“Private, your teacher is an old friend of mine but he is a hopeless moron outside of the field of battle. When you construct your blade be sure to construct it knowing you will one day be a civilian again.” Terron had never thought about it that way before. But it made perfect sense.

“Thank you Lieutenant.” Terron replied.  Phoebe did not reply Terron stepped out of the elevator into a long hallway; it was brightly lit with white tile flooring. Terron turned and looked at Phoebe as she too stepped out of the elevator. She pulled her long blond hair back into a bun and continued walking. Terron followed her, his heart filling with anticipation and a subtle but real hint of fear.

Author's Note

OK i know i have been taking forever to upload chapters, sue me. but i hope no one has forgotten Blayders just yet lol. i really hope the wait was worth it, i hope you all enjoy Blayders TRLB!

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good chapter. I like the set-up and the meeting of the new people. always hard to find a place in a new organization. A very entertaining chapter.
Coyote

[ShaneBerry]

By the way, does anyone have any idea why my font keeps doing that? it is all written in the same font in word, but then when i paste it the paragraphs seem to change font, like one will be bolder than the next or vise versa. it is distracting no?