Introspection

Chapter 3 - Squad Green

"That means I'd get to have my mom's cooking again!" Gunner whispered to the two other members of Squad Green. The smile across Amy's face was incompressible as she nodded towards Gunner enthusiastically.

"I'd get to see Cream! And go shopping with her." Amy muttered out with a playful upturn in her voice as both of them turned their focus to the owl besides them.

"We have to win, no matter what." Xavier's voice carried an unusual intensity as he spoke, his golden eyes flicking between Amy and Gunner.

"Whoa, Xavier. Didn't know you were feeling that homesick," Gunner chuckled, expecting one of Xavier's usual witty remarks, but the owl remained silent; his focus shifted back to Dimitri as the Sergeant began barking again.

"In the meantime, you all get to move onto the next stages of your training." He gestured behind himself with an upturned palm as he continued. "Behind me, at the base of the pits, you will find 21 targets each located at increments of 50 meters. The denoted line carved in the sand is your Fire Line. That's right pups. After you all get lunch, Marksmanship training." That all too familiar, malicious smile pulled across his muzzle as he tapped his boot against the edge of the tarmac. "You'll report back here at 1500. If you're late, you'll be on janitorial duty, do I make myself clear?"

"Sir, Yes Sir!" The cadets echoed his mandate before being curtly dismissed by the Sergeant. Turning North-West as they proceeded towards Choa Hall.

——

Choa Hall, dubbed colloquially by G.U.N personnel, was a large cafeteria located on the bottom floor of Central Command. The facility included the main dining hall at the center of the room and the kitchen facilities on the north-eastern wall. Sitting on the southern and western walls were the washrooms and first-aid facilities respectively. The cadets weren't intentionally segregated from the formal agents, who shared the space with them, but some unspoken dynamic had designated the far west tables as "the newbie corner". A small half wall lined with power outlets only further segmented them off from the rest.

Amy'd kept her head down as she got her food. Only greeting Nori, the black cat Head Cook of the Cantina, when she had to request what she wanted on her plate. To Amy and Gunner, who were both accustomed to home cooked meals, the food was stretching the definition of edible. Today, however, she'd overslept and consequently missed breakfast. She'd have to remind herself to thank Gunner for waking her up, or else she'd have missed the warm-up. The run, in combination with the intensive full-body workout, left little room to be picky about the menu.

Her metal tray clanked against the plastic tabletop, soon echoed by her squadmates and then a few others from various squads. Each table was large enough to fit roughly 6 people and just like the prior week, the other squads continued to keep to themselves. Gunner watched as Amy and Xavier alternated between glaring at each other, then their meals, then back at each other. When one of them looked down to take a bite, the other would immediately glance up to shoot daggers across the table. His meal starting to grow cold, Gunner sat in silent observation for a few outstretched minutes as his squadmates repeated this cycle.

He knew that they weren't on speaking terms after their fiasco from the end of last week. The past weekend was nothing short of awkward; anytime they shared a space, their conversations were sparse and curt. He was able to convince them to play a card game on Sunday, once they had finished their chores at least. Looking back on it, Gunner'd realized that there was a sense of naivety to it. At that moment, he'd thought that the simplicity of cards would help them get over their spat.

Though if he was being honest, the cards had been more for his own sanity than theirs. After the intensity of the first week exhausted him, all he wanted to do over the weekend was zone out, play some mobile games and scroll. Saturday night, he was on his typical news forums. Per usual, they focused on the Kingdom of Acorn, and that's when an old article about the Freedom Fighters popped up on his feed. It was a retelling of another one of Doctor Robotnik's attempts to uproot the Kingdom and bring it under the Eggman Empire. Of course, it was thwarted by Sonic and his team, and the picture attached showed a proudly standing group of Freedom Fighters with the blue hero winking at the camera.