Rise of a Valkyrie

Part 52

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Later that day, they joined the platoon of thirty-three women in the ready room for the daily briefing. A pit opened up in Kayla's stomach, but the Rangers ignored the newcomers and chatted amongst themselves, until Lieutenant Minako Akane entered and stood at the front.

"Second platoon," she said, with pride in her voice, "that was a tough exercise we conducted, and I want to thank each and every one of you for putting out one hundred and ten percent effort. I just came here after meeting with Captain Aguilar, and the Company Sergeant Major, and they both said that we were on fire out there."

The Rangers nodded solemnly, and a few exchanged winks and nods.

"The first movement to contact was great," Akane continued. "Not sure how we can improve on it, but this is Mountain Rangers, so we'll find a way. On the other hand, the medevac of the simulated casualty was slower than I'm happy with. Third squad, your radio calls and directions to the landing zone were slow and confused. You need to work on being clear and snappy."

"Already working on that LT," called a corporal.

Akane nodded. "I'm not having any one of my Rangers bleed out in a dropship because we lost a couple of minutes messing around on protocols."

"It won't happen again," replied the corporal with sincerity.

"Outstanding. Listen, apart from a few hiccups, it was a great EX, and you should all feel proud of yourselves. We have been awarded a weekend off-world, already confirmed by the Battalion X-O."

The platoon cheered and clapped.

Akane grinned. "Enjoy your free time," she said when they'd quietened, "party and have fun. Don't break too many hearts."

The Rangers laughed.

Lieutenant Akane cleared her throat. "Let's not forget that overconfidence is our greatest enemy. The day we think we're good enough is the day we lose a Ranger. How copy?"

This was met with a more subdued assent.

The Lieutenant moved on to address the day-to-day concerns of the platoon. Kayla waited with growing anxiety as the Rangers talked at length about personnel issues, upcoming training schedules and duty assignments.

"Last but not least," said Akane eventually, "we have a couple of new faces here with us today. Privates Kayla Barnes and Thandi Khawula, please make yourselves known."

Kayla stood up from her chair, almost shaking with nervousness as the glares of thirty-three completely unimpressed women turned on her and Thandi. They were studied closely, as if all their flaws were being noted for later reference.

"Welcome to Second Platoon," Akane said. "Bravo company are known as the Venomous Vipers, and this platoon provides the Venom."

Someone hissed, prompting sniggers.

"This is a high-performance outfit," continued the Lieutenant, "and we expect everyone to keep up. If you have a problem with that, First Sergeant Reyes over here will set you up with a transfer somewhere else. Nothing personal, but I don't carry dead weight."

Kayla caught the smirk and raised eyebrow of her former boot camp instructor, and repressed the instinct to smile back. There was silence, and Kayla realized Akane was waiting for her to speak. She wracked her brain for something impressive to say, but came up short. Honesty was probably the best option.

"Yes ma'am," she said. "We will keep up."

That drew a few unimpressed smirks from the other Rangers, and their eyes turned to Thandi.