Bowin didn't know what to say, he just stared open mouthed. "I…. What!?" "I want you to do this, your quick enough on your feet, the others follow you." Howl said, his hand slid of Bowin's shoulder.
"Bowin!" It was a restrained yell coming from Stanley, "This is his first battle, how can you trust him with this!?" Stanley's face seemed calm, but his voice betrayed him.
"I think Howls right." Rollo said, his hands folded as he leaned against the wall, "He is a wussy but he is smart."
"I don't care who the leader is let's just get this over with." Brock said, he spoke softly but it was like the voice of death.
Retter folded his hands, having the same confident position, "The kid can do it, either way we must be on our way."
Stanley's eyes weren't visible for a moment, but then he held his head high, "Fine."
Howl tapped the shoulder of Bowin twice, "You're it now."
It was like the time when Bowin's father first made him the manager of a small part in his business. It was unannounced, he was just out of college and didn't know what to expect.
"If you guys trust me with this I can do it." He said. And they were on their way again
Bowin, from his previous leadership experience knew that the people around him were the most important piece of the puzzle. It was something he failed at. In his previous life he would just focus on the practical things like finances and product design.
Communication and leadership would be delegated to others even though he was the ceo.
Jace came to walk next to Bowin, "Congratulations sir!" "Thanks," Bowin said, "I don't really know what to do." He looked at Jace for some kind of advice but Jace just shrugged. "Don't come to me with such questions, I don't know the first thing."
The both of them were behind the rest of the squad, so Bowin felt safe airing his thoughts, "How don't you know, just earlier you were the perfect soldier."
Jace looked at his weapon, he held it up with one hand, hard metal. Jace seemed indifferent, "I don't know man… It was all just a blur earlier, kinda like I blacked out." His brows tightened, "I just got so angry. I couldn't be a leader, it's just been one day and I'm already fucked up."
It was silent between them for a moment. The other side of his gun fell back in his other hand.
A pained expression came on Jace's face, Bowin wasn't entirely sure but he could tears were there. This had to do with his squad that was wiped out.
Bowin felt uncomfortable, what did he have to say, how did he have to say it. He wasn't in situations like this often, were people were so vulnerable. He remembered once, in his previous life when he and his wife lost their third child, both of them were saddened, but Bowin knew that he had to be strong for them both as a man.
He tried to give her words of encouragement but everything he said seemed wrong. Now he was here in a similar situation, he wasn't the person you burden with these things. What do you want me to say?
"I heard what happened with your squad, I'm sorry." Bowin said eventually. "I didn't even know them that well you know, it just happened so fast." Jace said, "When I saw the Luksano earlier, my blood began to boil. I don't think that will change."
More sensitive topics, more talking, Bowin wanted to run.
"It's okay to be angry." Bowin said, he didn't know where that sentence came from but he said it.
"Well then I'm going to stay angry for now."
A fight could be heard up ahead, the battle had started and the bridge was only a kilometer away. So they did what they were ordered to do, going on the other side of the bridge and shooting the Luksano from behind.
They enemy was definitely surprised by the fire from behind. Five of them were shot right from the beginning, and there were only 15 of them left.
It didn't look good on their side either. Sench was keeping a crumbling line alive with only 18 guys half of them being injured.
But the Luksano couldn't find cover. Most of them ended up jumping of the bridge, the rest of them got shot and died. The battle was over quickly. Really quickly.
At the end of it they all regrouped, Sench notified his superiors and ships came down to take them. Howl got put in medical bay and all of them were on to new battles