Two months earlier the day after first signing up for the Lux army Thomas was pulled aside and told to go to a storage unit. Inside he saw a familiar face from his days in the Luxen military. "Sargent- I mean Private Williams" the rugged man with olive skin and deep brown eyes said looking at Thomas with a smirk.
"Yeah hi Kurt" Thomas said and was immediately slapped in the face. "That's Captain Sampson to you, BOY!" the man shouted into Thomas's ear. Clenching his fists Thomas stared a hole through him but was able to compose himself. "Yes captain" he said through gritted teeth.
"Oh so a decade later and you finally start learning huh" Kurt said smuggly. "Yes sir" Thomas said unwillingly standing at attention. "Listen Thomas, your a lucky man most people pull what you pulled they'd be shot and put down. You're lucky you have me in your corner to keep you a live a couple days longer. Going AWOL like that aught to get you killed but I pulled some strings for you" Kurt said within in an inch away from Thomas's face. "Thank you sir" Thomas said through gritted teeth once more.
"So here's the deal, you and your little Jaran buddies are going to the south end of Jara. There you are going to go up through the coast and seize their south end camp. Yes it's the strongest one and this is a suicide mission. Best case scenario you go there weaken them a little bit then we come in and take over once the dust settles. Tell your friends, don't tell them it's not my problem it's yours" Kurt said as he tapped Thomas on the shoulder and left him there clenching his fists until his nails began to dig into his palm.
Within a month once basic training was completed then Jaran recruits were segregated to their own training and tactics area. One hundred men and women in total they were all well aware of why this had happened.
Training like machines by day and gorging themselves on free food wherever they pleased for them and their declared families by night they lived what remained of their lives up to the fullest.
Two months later as they sailed down to the Jaran coast Thomas went over the strategy once more. "Alright everyone let's go over this one more time" he said as everyone present groaned. "Yeah yeah so we're going to-" "sail until a kilometer short of the drop off point" Hori said interrupting him as she began smirking.
"Right" Thomas said as he rolled his eyes at her before continuing "once we're a kilometer out we-" "leave the ship behind on autopilot to dock itself and proceed on the motorboats" Eric said rolling his eyes as Thomas scowled.
"Okay sorry sorry Tom keep going" Eric said as he mimed the gesture to zip his lips. "Alright once the ship is docked that should buy us a day to-" "Get the motorboats in the jungle and proceed on foot" Lucas said smirking as Thomas glared at him. "What he said he wouldn't, I never said anything" he said pointing to Eric.
"Okay okay all jokes aside I think it's safe to say we all have the plan memorized front to back. Captain Williams, we got this" Belal said confidently. "I'm not a captain anymore" Thomas said as his face dropped. "About that" Willow said as she looked over at Kosi who got up to his feet.
"Alright, I think I speak for everyone when I say...fuck the Luxen military" he said to a chorus of "Yeah" from everyone. "I think we cal all agree when I say fuck Kurt, he smells like cigarettes and ass" Kosi said to a second even louder chorus of "Yeah" from everyone. "And I think I speak for everyone even more so when I say fuck what they think you sir are a captain. You sir are our captain, you sir are Captain Thomas Williams" Kosi said as he pulled out a pair of red military lapels and a red badge signifying the rank of captain in the Luxen military.
Looking down at them in shock Thomas looked at Kosi. "Do I want to know where you got these?" he asked. "Sir no sir" Kosi said as he handed them to Thomas and saluted. One by one everyone present rose to their feet and saluted Thomas. Smiling warmly he looked down at the red buttons and put them on. Now once again their captain he saluted.
"Private Blue! Stealing military dress is a punishable offense you fucking idiot! Thank you for putting your neck on the line for me. All of you" Thomas said as he signaled for them to stand at ease.