37 - Inter-Squad Training

"So, how do you want to do this training?" Gus asked, directing the question to Lianna. "I know you said you were going to test the two of them against each other, but after that?"

"Why don't we just wait and see how these two turn out?" she responded, gesturing to her two companions.

Joel helped Connor up, before the two of them swapped positions with Timber and Duncan, who they hadn't noticed during the fight.

"Uh, Gus?" Connor asked. "What's going on here? Why are they here?"

"They saw us here, and asked to join. There's no harm in it, or at least I can't see any," Gus responded.

"Sure, but, aren't they supposed to be our rivals or something?" Connor asked.

"The opposite, actually. Jet told me on our first day here that, eventually, the squads in a platoon will unite as one group, and then they will compete against other platoons. When that will happen, I don't know. But he made it seem like it would happen fairly soon."

"Jet? Since when are you on first name terms with him?" Joel asked.

"Since I met him, back on Earth. I don't know how it happened, but it did."

Within minutes, the fight between Timber and Duncan was over. Truthfully, Gus wasn't really paying attention to their fight, instead thinking back at Joel and Connor's fight. Once the fight was over, he took Joel and Connor to the side to give them feedback about their performance.

Joel needed to learn how to fight in a different way, instead of focusing on his single advantage, the strength. As they would advance through their career, and faced more and more opponents, relying on that alone would quickly become a weakness.

As for Connor, he needed to work on a number of things. While most of his skills were fine for now, he would also need to improve as they advanced through the academy. As Gus had learned from that last fight, the priority for him would be to work on his discipline. Gus understood that beating an opponent that was similar to the one he lost to last time was a big step, but that should never get in the way of actually winning the fight.

As he finished telling them, Lianna approached him.

"Okay, I've got a few things that I want them to improve, and I know what I want to practice myself. You guys ready?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're good. Should we just rotate people in for a while?"

"Sounds good to me."

*Opponent Eliminated.*

In total, they stayed there for long enough that Gus fought the rest of them once. Perhaps it was him, or perhaps it was the opponents, but he managed to win four times out of five, only losing to what he thought was a pretty lucky swing from Joel. As the last pairing, Connor and Timber, finished their fight, the two groups said their goodbyes and parted ways.

*For training with [2] members of your squad, you have earned a reward.*

*Reward: [10] Leadership points.*

"Did that help get you back into the feel of things, at least?" Joel asked Gus as they headed home.

"Yeah, it did. Thanks."

"How'd your thing come along?" Connor asked

"Another 100 EXP today, plus ten leadership points," Gus answered.

"Leadership points?"

"What're they?"

Gus proceeded to explain what the points in the system were, and how he got the leadership points to the best of his knowledge.

"You get rewarded for training with us?" Joel asked.

"And you haven't been forcing us to do excruciating training multiple times a day?" Conner added. "You're a better man that I am, that's for sure."

"So, you can get these generic point for each level. Anything else you earn for hitting one?" Joel asked, ignoring Connor's comment.

"Now you mention it, I do. I get a thing called a level up box," Gus told him. "But every time I've levelled up, there's been one thing or another that's thrown the thought right out of my mind. First it was the news about the Vanil system, then the whole mental thing I went through after the misson. They just keep slipping my mind, I guess."

"Boxes? What kind of boxes?" Joel asked.

"Tell you what, I'll show you both when we get back."

"Speaking of forgotten things," Connor said, "what's our motto? And our insignia?"

"We've, or at least I've, had bigger things to take care of than that. There's always something bigger."

"Really? Seems a bit long to have as a motto, doesn't really roll off the tongue too well," Connor joked.

"Although, it does have potential," Joel said. "I get that you're joking, but the second sentence has the makings of something. Maybe 'there's always something stronger?' Use it as a way to intimidate our opponents, or something."

Gus thought for a moment. "You know what, I like it. Let's go with that. As for the insignia, I'll see if someone wants to have a go at designing one later on."

As they entered the building, Gus sent a message for everyone to be in the kitchen. Reaching the top floor and entering their squad's corridor, he sent the two he was with ahead to his room while he went through the door to his right.

"Anyone got any skill with design?" he asked. "We need an insignia, and ideally we would have done it about a week ago."

"Surprisingly, I've been told I've got a decent eye for art," Anten said. "Although, I'm not too sure why that would be surprising."

"I might be able to help a little, too," Krista said enthusiastically. Just by looking at her, Gus could tell she was still feeling a little guilty about her explicit inaction in the library, and so wanted to help in any way she could.

"Alright, Anten and Krista can work on it. Feel free to ask anyone for help, by the way. Don't feel forced to do it alone."

"Wasn't there a motto as well?" Teala asked. "What's that going to be?"

"How does 'there's always something stronger,' sound?"

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