Wolf Heart

Chapter 49

Planet: Kestra, Elite Training Grounds

First Insurgency War

MAIA

Training kicked her ass, but the results were worth it. With a handle on her abilities, acid no longer stuck to her throat and burned through her skin. It came with the strength to face every day one step at a time. One more batch of sectional training with Black Wolf, where General Falae urged them to skip breakfast.

Maia went outside facility grounds where troops practised marching formations along the court and into the Elite training grounds, where a few eagle-eyed Elites huddled up in sniping towers. One took shots at moving targets, but none showed the proficiency of Black Wolf to take a shot and never miss his target. Black Wolf knelt close to the ground, aimed down the scope, his notepad right beside him with numbers and painstaking measurements.

"James," she said as he relaxed and adjusted his scope, where a distant target swayed and made a predictable patrol. "We've got to get moving."

He took the shot, and it hit the distant target right in the head. It exploded into pixels, and he tugged back his edevic rifle with a huff and glared at her without a response. Maia held up the datapad with their scheduled training session. "Facility B, Black Wolf. Ranking test." Her stomach rumbled with her annoyance at his lack of reaction. He got off his lane and headed back to the small armory to hand the rifle back to the overseer. One salute to them, he returned to her with a shake of his head.

He's still a pain in the ass. Maia considered his back. I just hope he can get past that thick skull and work with me.

"Black Wolf—" Maia hesitated when he eyed her. "I mean, James." He continued to walk, and she kept his stride. "Look, we got off on the wrong foot and—"

He came to a hard stop and glared at her. She pursed her lips when they headed into a branching facility next to the crags. One half an indoor course, which stretched farther into the fields. Bay doors opened to let them into the simulation grounds. General Falae stood with another pair of Elites, one of them Iana, where a holotable sat between them. Massive marked doors separated into two.

"Good, you're here," General Falae said. "I'll explain how this is going to work." Her slender fingers tapped the panel, where multiple environments grew from pixel stems. Forest growth to ruined buildings took up the boundary of the simulation, separated by sections and checkpoints.

"Is it some sort of race, Ma'am?" Maia asked.

"No, Urtanes," General Falae said with a laugh. "You have five minutes to collect a multitude of flags."

"Capture the flag?" Iana muttered. "Isn't that a little too easy, Ma'am?"

General Falae clicked her tongue. "As a concept, yes, but if you take a look at the map, you'll notice marked areas of interest. I want you to consider this exercise as search and rescue practice," she said with a tap on the map, where one environment expanded with information like temperature and hazards. "I've dotted flags in 'hazardous' situations. I want you to work together to go through each section, grabbing each flag to pass the checkpoint." Her grin turned devious. "There's a couple of caveats. You have multiple options — I want to see your assessment skills through this training simulation, and as long as you have the area's flag, you can proceed. Be warned though, a rash decision can lead to disaster... so on that topic." She withdrew edevic handcuffs. "You're on a time limit. You won't always have the time. You can try to take out the person in your way to stop the training simulation, but I must urge you to focus your efforts on hazard flag capture. Do not go this route unless you're pressed for time." General Falae hooked in on her belt, then tossed the other pair to a waiting Elite. "Any questions?"