UCAC Ch. 06

The remainder of us stood before the giant wind tunnel. It was about three hundred feet long and filled with plush obstacles. The drill sergeant stood before us.

"You are to navigate the entire length of this course," The sergeant said, "...without Wingsuits." Everyone looked on in complete horror wondering how this was even possible. Not even gonna lie, I was wondering how the hell this could be pulled off too.

The sergeant walked over to me.

"You're up boy..." He said, wishing my failure. My heart pounded so hard in my chest I could feel it in my throat. If I wanted to I could dance to the bass rich pound of my heart like it was a Soca rhythm, the beat was so loud. Nonetheless, I stepped forward, now or never. The sergeant opened the wind chamber door with this smile that was upsetting to my stomach. As he closed the door, the fans turned on eventually suspending me in the air.

Remembering what I learned during the free falling course, and the general dynamics of flight, I positioned myself so that I could catch as much air as possible. The little tick movements one made were really responsible for forward, backwards, sideways, roll, pitch and yaw. I tilted ever so slightly forward causing the air to blanket over my back to send me forward.

The amount of speed I gained frightened me. I eased out of it, not wanting to overcorrect. The next time, I made an even slighter tilt. This time, the speed was much more controllable and navigating the obstacle course was no different than riding an updraft in a Wingsuit and making slight variations in the wing and tail shape to allow for fine control adjustments.

I reached the end of the course, still panicked. A grunt was there to open the door for me. Upon touching down with my feet, he smiled, patting me on the shoulder.

"You nailed it on your first try..." He grinned. I looked back at the course seeing the next trainee in the cage going into an uncontrollable spin. The fans turned off, sending him crashing to the floor. I cringed, hoping he'd get the hang of it.

"Go line up on the wall." The grunt who opened the door for me said. I did so, standing at parade rest. I watched as the young man inside the windtunnel tumble and crashed, eventually making it to the end. He received a pat on the back, told to line up as well. He was very, very angry.

The remainder of the guys performed a mixed bag of success as well. We all lined up, having to run the course again, and again, and again. It was exhausting. Some learned from their mistakes while, other's not so much. One guy, close to the rear was really down on himself.

"...The hell can I do..." He said to himself.

"Try tiny tick movements. Think, riding an updraft." I said. The guy behind me just scowled, the one who struggled so much in the wind tunnel.

"You think you know everything, don't you?" He said.

"I don't pride myself on it, but sure." I said back, hoping to strike a nerve.

"Denver, you're up!" The drill sergeant said. I navigated the course, it becoming easier with every trial. I lined up in the rear, getting another pat on the back. The trainee before me turned, perplexed.

"How do you not lose control?" He asked.

"Try to move very slightly. If you tilt forward, you move forward. Tilt backwards, you move backwards. It's all fluid dynamics. Roll, yaw and pitch are a bit different than your Wingsuit. To go up, spread your surface area, to go down pull your arms and legs in closer. Roll is pretty much the same. Yaw is the trickiest....can't really describe it. I'd say your hands control it best, I don't know." I said, thinking hard.

"Really?" A dude listening further up the line asked.

"Yeah." I responded.

"Oooou, he's up again. I hope he gets it this time!" The guy in front of me said. We watched as the dude failed the course once again, having to grab onto the obstacles to navigate it.

"You'll do best to learn from what he's doing wrong." I said.

"What's he doing wrong in particular?" The dude asked.

"Thinking he's too good for advice and wanting to look like a fool." I sighed, shaking my head.

The dude came out of the wind tunnel, still very frustrated. Eventually everyone got it right...all except for him. It was clear that we'd stop when the rate of success was one hundred percent. As long as he failed, we'd all have to do the course over. I was growing more and more upset with this dude, the same with everyone else. I had to do something.

"Ya know, if you keep your body firm, you'll be more...." I tried to say, trying to at least help.

"I don't need your help..." The dude refuted, quick to shoot me down.

It was my turn to run the gauntlet again. My frustration was beginning to reach the point of no return. After receiving probably the twelfth pat on the shoulder, I had reached my fill. I went to the end of the line, waiting for this prideful fool to fail once again. He did so, having to start the line all the way over. Not a single soul was pleased, all except the drill sergeant who got off on this shit.

As this frustration inducing fool received his pat on the shoulder, I eyed him scaldingly as he made his way over.

"Look..." I began, "I'm not running this course again because you want to be an idiot and flail and kick your way through it. You're gonna get this shit right..."

"You think you're better than everyone else here don't you," He said, getting face to face with me, "You're a fucking douche bag..."

"I'm a douche?" I asked, "But am I the one keeping everyone else here because I'm too stupid to take advice?"

"You have one more thing to say to me before I... " He began to say through the grit of my teeth. I gave him no time, drawing my hand back ready to test and see if he had a glass jaw. However, a firm hand grabbed my arm right as I was about to strike this fool. Startled, I turned to see it was Malcolm. The drill sergeant made his way down the hall, obviously pleased that there was an altercation but not willing to admit it.

"There seems to be a problem?" He asked.

"This idiot is the only one who hasn't gotten the form right yet! It's like he hasn't realized that he's messing us all up!" I snarled.

"Who'd want to take advice from such a douchebag knowitall? I sure as hell don't want to!" The boy retaliated.

"Well this douchebag knows when he needs help and isn't afraid to get it! The real douchebag is the idiot sitting here acting like he doesn't need any!" I fired back.

"You know what," The boy said angered, rushing me, "I'll knock all the teeth out your head! Keep talking to me like that..."

"Nah, boy I'm done talking!" I said, struggling to get free of Malcolm's powerful grip. I could do nothing with this giant. He picked me up, turning me away from the aggressive idiot as he came within striking distance.

"Chill, Denver..." Malcolm advised. Those warm pools of honey he had for eyes know they could soothe me. I said nothing but still seriously wanted the beat that guy into a shitty pulp. I sighed, slowly beginning to come to terms with how immature I was being.

The drill sergeant walked back to the entrance of the wind tunnel. He stood at the door, looking at both me and the idiot standing at the end of the line.

"Denver, Chase...get here NOW!" He demanded. Malcolm and I looked at each other knowing this was going to get interesting...

I walked towards the drill sergeant, Chase, the stubborn idiot followed. We stood before the drill sergeant waiting for the tortures he'd have in store for us.

"Both of you," He began, "Are horrible little shitty cunts who think that they are the best thing to grace this God forsaken world. You, Denver, need to understand that just because you master stuff quicker than most, notice stuff quicker than most and are an overall better performer than most of the excuses here, can't rub it in! The berrates and belittles the men you have to work with!"

"I didn't rub it in!" I said in my defense.

"Say another god damn mother FUCKING WORD and I'll take this shock 'n drop out this holster and taze your ass until you finally look like a black person. You did rub it in and there's no denying it!" The drill sergeant said to me, "Now for you Chase... I know you don't like any of these excuses here, don't want to interact socially with any of the excuses here and cringe in disgust at the excuses here, but you can NOT let it be to your detriment! You two have had the highest rate of success here... Why let this little task be the reason you fail?"

"But I didn't fail it!" I said, growing agitated. The drill sergeant looked at me with those cold beady eyes.

"You really want me to taze you, don't you?" He asked.

"No sir..." I said, frustrated.

"Since both of you are two stubborn boulder-for-brain idiots, I feel that the only way you'll learn the important lesson is by a spontaneous team exercise! You two will navigate this course... TOGETHER!!!" He said.

My heart sank hearing the news.

"Get ya'll asses in there!" He said, opening the door. Chase and I reluctantly entered the wind tunnel. The fans started, lifting both of us off the ground. As soon as Chase's feet left the ground, he lost control. He slammed into me as he grasped for anything with leverage.

"DUDE!" I screamed. I was thrown all off whack, it taking every ounce of skill to regain balance. He clambered for any and every thing, tumbling wildly as though he was in free fall.

"Shit..." Malcolm said, watching tensely as he hoped Chase and I could make it out of the tunnel. It was nerveracking.

I didn't want to proceed without Chase but he wasn't listening. He continued to tumble, over correcting trying to gain balance in the high windspeed. Suddenly a foot careened into my face. Everything became silent as the compressed frustration rekindled into rage. I lost every ounce of restraint I had left in my body. It was time to fuck this dude up! I ascended, grabbing the boy in my hands. Using every ounce of skill, I sent us both careening into the glass, the impact producing a massive thud.

I whipped him away, both of us spiralling to the other side of the windtunnel. I slammed him into the hard metal grating ducts with a my might, producing a cringe inducing clank. We then tumbled into a plush coated pylon. I drew my fist back, ready to strike the disoriented boy. As I did, jolts of electricity ran through us both. It forced us to separate, ending the altercation.

"Work together!" The drill sergeant said into the intercom. I swallowed my pride, not wanting to spend another minute in this wind tunnel. Making my way over to Chase, I held his chest and back steady, stabilizing him. I positioned his arms and legs in the proper free fall position so the poor idiot wouldn't tumble anymore.

"LISTEN TO ME!" I screamed, the roar of the fans beneath the floor combined with the buffeting winds wrapping us being nearly deafening, "IT'S THE LITTLE MOVEMENTS THAT COUNT! THINK UPDRAFT IN YOUR WINGSUIT BUT WITH MUCH, MUCH SMALLER WINGS!!!!"

"OK!!!!" Chase said back, finally giving into the the advice I'd been trying to give him all along. I felt a sigh of relief. We navigated the course effectively enough, touching down on the other side of the wind tunnel in due time. The same officer who opened the door for us the previous dozen times, did it again. He pat us both on the back.

"Good job fellas!" He said.

Chase and I looked at each other. He gave me the most enraged gaze he could. He then turned his nose up, continuing forth towards the end of the line. I shook my head, sighing. We were met with applause but it felt so ill placed. Malcolm stood there laughing until he looked at me closer.

"Shit, you got a shiner..." He said. He rushed over to me to inspect my bruises. He looked at my eye then grabbed my lower lip which stung a lot. I seized in pain, consequently baring my teeth.

"Oooou, you mouth is bleeding..." He said shocked. My gaze fell upon Chase, rage filling my body. Feeling I was about to do something stupid, Malcolm grabbed me. But it was too late. I had already closed the distance between Chase and I, landing one lucky fist on his jaw. The boy fell from the rattling blow.

"Glass jawed ass mother...."

"DENVER!!!!!!!!" The drill sergeant shouted as he rushed over. Malcolm already knew what was going to happen to me, wasting no time in letting me go. He didn't want to be ahold of me with what the drill sergeant was about to do. The drill sergeant took out his shock n' drop, not hesitating to send debilitating jolts of electricity up my spine. I fell to the floor, jittered by the shock.

"Now that this little course is over, let's talk about it's purpose," The drill sergeant said, prowling around as he usually did, "When you get on the battlefield, sometimes your men will freeze, panic, not be of much use. Still though, you'll have to work beside him in the heat of the most intense moments. You, as our leaders, can not leave him behind. This was a test to show you that you leaders, innately want to help those you see struggle... help in your own poor excuse of a way, but help nonetheless. I am proud to see you all succeed this trial... despite complications," He looked directly at me, "Now for your next trial... I like seeing you all work together so I'm going to think of something very special."

Indeed the drill sergeant did think of something special. The fifteen of us stood in a big white training dome, terrified. We wanted to know what this wicked man had in store for us. The drill sergeant prowled amongst us, his gait methodical and as predatory as ever. It struck fear in us all.

"Surprise..." He said, "I was told not to do this because of how dangerous it is. But fuck it! I'm afraid I have no choice with you bunch. How are you going to be the leaders of this organization if you can't play nicely amongst yourselves? This is the zero gravity augmented reality room...." Everyone looked around, wondering how could such a drab white training dome make them break down into a poor, battered soul, wishing they never came here. I knew I was beyond terrified, "Today will be a trust exercise... Ten of you will be wearing gravity gauntlets while five of you will be wearing gravitational field generators. These five will be tossed back and forth between the ten, 'juggled'... Sounds easy right? We'll I'm picking the five trainees to get juggled. Denver, step forward; Malcolm, step forward; Hillshire, step forward; Jonathan, step forward; Chase, step forward..."

Technicians came, strapping us in to the gravity vests. My heart pounded, this being probably the most terrifying trail we ever faced. The technicians handed out the ten pairs of gravity gauntlets, quickly fleeing the training space. The drill sergeant too left, fleeing to the control room overhead. This must was gonna be bad...

Suddenly the floor began to quake, opening, the terrain turning into a cliff-like setting. I suddenly felt very heavy, it becoming increasingly hard to stand.

"The exercise has begun." The drill sergeant said, as late as ever. Everyone looked panicked, unsure what to do. The environment continued to shift, more hills and gullies forming from the malleable composite floor.

"Hey you..." I said, pointing at a trainee with gravity gauntlets. He stood there as the land rose around him. He turned, looking at me in terror, "Get to the top of that bluff! Dallas, get over here!" Dallas, the closest person I knew, ran over to me. He tripped over himself, the gravitational field around him losing density.

"Yeah?" He said.

"Get me off the ground!" I said. He looked at me, lost, "The gauntlets!"

"Oh" He said, aiming them at me. Suddenly, I was flung across the lab, tumbling to a halt.

"Shit!" Dallas said, running over to me, "So sorry!"

"It's fine," I said, trying to get to my hands and knees, "Those gauntlets are cybernetic. You have precise control over them like you do your Wingsuit! Think..."

He extended out his hands, aiming his palms at me again. I cringed, thinking I was going to get flung around the training room again. No, instead I lifted off the ground slowly. Dallas took several laboured steps back, clenching his teeth.

"Shit!" He groaned, this obviously being very strenuous on him.

"OK, walk me back to the bluff." I said. Dallas did so, straining the entire way.

"This is heavy!" Dallas said through the grit of his teeth.

We neared the base of the bluff. Dallas was exhausting fast, the gauntlets taking all of his strength. I looked at the dude standing lost at the top of the bluff.

"Hey," I said, "I have a plan! I'm going to need you to listen and listen closely! We are dealing with forces against and with gravity. Do not fight against the pull. Use inertia and momentum to aid you! Do you understand?"

The boy stood there, absorbing what I said.

"I think I do..." He responded.

"OK," I said, looking at Dallas, "Stand stationary and swing me around. Toss me up to the guy up there!" Dallas stood there, thinking about it.

"Wow..." He said, seeing how the plan could work.

He planted his feet firmly on the ground as I hovered under the power of the gravity gauntlets. Like a tribal dancer, he began to wave his hands around his body in a circular motion as he squatted. I began to move around his ridiculous form, following the path of his hands. Not long after, I was traveling at quite a pace.

"Hey!" I said to the dude at the top of the bluff, "You see what Dallas is doing? He's going to toss me up there with you and you're going to catch me with your polarity! Keep me spinning to maintain the forward energy then toss me back to him!"

"Alright!" The young man said.

"I'm going to toss you.... are you ready?" Dallas asked.

"Sure..." I said, utterly terrified.

"Here...we..." Dallas said, spinning as fast as he could, "GO!"

He released me, sending me hurtling inches above the cliff face. I screamed, thinking I would face plant into the hard synthetic limestone of the fake cliffs. But no, I was caught. The young man on the bluff top pulled through with his gauntlets, sending me around and around.

"You ok?" He asked.

"...Yeah..." I said, finally realizing I was in good hands.

"Alright, um..." The dude said with the faintest amount of strain in his voice, "Just toss you back down?"

"Yeah." I responded, growing nervous again.

"Ok, here we go..." The young man said, whipping me around. I was flung back to Dallas who had braced for the strong polarity this suit produced. With the added momentum from coming from an elevated perch, it took all of Dallas's strength to keep me from hitting the floor. I squealed, closing my eyes thinking I was about to crash.

Upon opening them, I was whipping around in circles, as though Dallas had an invisible rope around me. Now that I was getting more comfortable, I could say this was one of the coolest things I've done.

The two boys tossed me back and forth between each other like a giant game of tennis. Neither of them tired as they tumbled across the grounds to make sure I wouldn't crash. A crash at these speeds would certainly end my life. I truly was dependent on these two.

"Hey, how are you doing that?" A trainee asked Dallas as he anticipated me being slung back down to him.

"Just stand and watch... I can't speak!" Dallas said as he leapt to make sure his polarity field caught mine. He began whipping me around to build centripetal force before slinging me back to the top of the bluff.

The guy watching, backed away, learning fast. He turned to Jonathan who was struggling to get above his hands and knees.

"Pullock, stand over there!" The young man said, pointing to a ridge on the hill. The dude presumed to be Pullock did as was told, "Ok, JonJon, brace yourself..."

"Alright, Tyson." Jonathan said back, full of strain.