"Earthlings" and "Venuxians" were among the most frequently used words in camp over the past four days.
When the word Venuxians is uttered, it invokes discipline, fear, and an aura of no-nonsense behavior. The Earthling recruits usually whispered it among themselves, sometimes with admiration and at other times with fear.
All Venuxians wore dark military colors, rarely smiled when among themselves, but would give chilling stares to any who approached them for chit-chat; however, not all were like this, as their personalities varied.
The most approachable were a trio called Buzz, Patch, and Biscuits. Buzz and Patch seemed the youngest of the Venuxians; Buzz was a chatterbox, while Patch was a kindred soul who helped, smiled, and spoke little. As for Biscuits, she was responsible for the food and health of the entire camp, so her job made her approachable, aside from her pleasant personality.
Then there were Jazz, Dusty, and Corporal Stone. These three fell somewhere in the middle. Jazz was a non-stop, no-nonsense guy whom the Earthlings avoided, not wanting to look bad when working near him or, worse, slow him down. On the other hand, Dusty was a smiling grandpa with an incredible athletic ability that in no way matched his appearance, but after taking over the drills yesterday, he was categorized by the Earthlings as unfriendly. Finally, on the mid list was Corporal Stone, a mountain of a man who was responsible for drill punishment and served as assistant drill instructor even when Dusty was in charge. He was okay, but his punishments were scary.
Then there were the super non-friendly: Sergeant Elena, Corporal Sharp, and Hammerhead. Hammerhead was a lowly private without a specialization, but his appearance was horrific when he removed his helmet, which always happened whenever someone approached him and he didn't want them near. Sergeant Elena was simply the main drill instructor and the Alpha Bitch of the camp; the fact that she could handle all those Venuxian lunatics, strip them topless whether male or female, and whip them mercilessly, was enough tells not to fuck with her. Lastly, there was Corporal Sharp, who had one task in the camp: to watch the recruits.
Sergeant Elena made it clear from the first day. If there were any deserters, Sharp would gun them down, starting with the lowest-numbered deserter. In a way, Sharp was the knife to all their throats, the ghost they saw whenever they turned, and the man who would haunt them if they were to stray from the camp just to take a leak or do any business.
But neither Sharp nor Elena nor Hammerhead took the title of the Unapproachable. That, of course, was reserved for the Giant.
Rumors, hypotheses, and all sorts of fantasies circulated about that Giant. Sometimes, the Earthlings even called him the Commander, but no confirmation came from the Venuxians. Whenever asked about him, even the most approachable ones like Biscuits and Buzz would just stare down the questioner until they were unnerved.
What type of creature was the Giant? If one were to answer "A Human," even the Earthlings wouldn't believe it. There was a line beyond which an entity could be Human, and that Giant crossed that line by leagues and miles.
What was even scarier was the fact that he was always in the Command Center, rarely emerged, but when he did, he simply picked up equipment and went back. If any of the Venuxians were to meet him, they would drop to their knees and address him with reverence and worship.
As for the general information about the Venuxians, little was known. Toby, Qasim, and Daniel confirmed that the term "Venuxians" had come from the game Wartopia, as it seemed that Adam Clay, the most senior Earthling by rank, was the one who called them that.
As for the world they came from, it was already established to be a different world beyond the Rift. The only one who provided an answer was Megan, who said that Adam told her that these Venuxians came from a militant world.
The similarities between that world and Wartopia were clear to the aforementioned three recruits, who were also familiar with the fantasy world of Wartopia, but thankfully, their exhausting training and the strict ban on information prevented them from asking questions.
As far as they were concerned, this was a military life, a situation far better than simply waiting for death in the overpopulated factory shelter.
As for the Earthlings in general, they were weak and unfit by Venuxian standards, but they were surprisingly adapting to the new life by their fourth day. However, even with their busy schedule and little to no sleep, there was some drama and internal conflicts within their ranks.
In the eyes of some, there were cases of clear favoritism from the Venuxians toward some Earthlings, and at the top of that list were both Adam and Kave.
At first, it was understandable since these two had been with the Venuxians from the start; in fact, they were the reason the Venuxians cooperated with Hendrick's shelter in the first place. However, Adam was being treated as some sort of leader by the Venuxians, so much so that he was bossing Elena around.
The fact that Adam literally grounded Elena, after she punished two Venuxians who harbored an Earthling child, was wild by all standards. The hierarchy in the recruits' minds was toppled in an instant, and Adam became someone whom they couldn't address without using the title "Mister."
He was unanimously understood as the disciplinary officer of the camp, appointed by the mysterious commander to oversee even the Venuxians, a position that meant true power.
How did he gain such trust among aliens, enough to command them with a mere gesture? The only conceivable explanation was that he possessed a power they respected. While many emotions, including jealousy, were directed at Adam by his fellow Earthlings, no one dared to act on that jealousy, at least not yet.
But Kave was a rather different case. The Venuxians treated him far better than they did the rest of the Earthlings, even though he received the roughest treatment from Elena. She would actively step on his back when he was doing push-ups, shout at him, threaten him, and occasionally choke him against a wall.
Kave never complained about that, though, and as if he were possessed, his performance would hit its peak after such rough treatment from her.
At night, he was seen following her to some abandoned house with faint lights inside, which revealed the kind of S&M relationship that was going on, not that anyone had anything to say about it.
But that was just Adam and Kave; then there was Megan, who stated that she had been Adam's girlfriend before. If her boyfriend possessed such power in the camp, it would usually have seemed unfair for her to receive special treatment, but starting on the second day, she outperformed Officer Reeves and took the #10 tag from him, and no one even dared to complain.
Then came those who were doing well and those who were not. Officer Reeves, who was training to be a sort of policeman by the Venuxians and was slated to oversee security in their future plans, was doing better than most. He was always silent, brooding, and occasionally chatted with the others. However, he was interested in the Venuxians more than most, watching their every move for the first couple of days before becoming accustomed to them faster than the rest.
There were also Toby and Qasim, the two BIT students who were part of the militia of the factory shelter. While Toby was one of the first to be punished, he fixed his attitude quickly but still remained a loudmouth, fancying himself the comedian of the recruits.
Aside from him, Qasim seemed to have gotten along with the Venuxians in an entirely different way, as he offered to teach them how to read the English language since they were already able to speak it (through their so-called translator implants).
There was also Tommy Dorsett, Megan's brother, who started displaying discipline far better than most and increased his training level to train with the adults. Since most of the Dorsetts were fair-bodied, Tommy was energetic and fast, earning himself quite the admiration from Wartopians who saw great talent in him as a soldier. He didn't even require any special treatment because of his sister.
Then there were the last four: Old Man Steve, Good Boy Daniel, Gym Guy Luke, and British Girl Yvonne. (A/n: cringe, I know. Will give them proper soldier names soon.)
Old Man Steve and Gym Guy Luke were actively improving and correcting their old habits, the old man adjusting well to the routine despite his aching joints. Daniel and Yvonne, on the other hand, had it the worst as they were not improving at all, remaining the two lowest-performing recruits for four days straight.
After that day's drilling, all the recruits were now becoming accustomed to being called by different names by the Venuxians.
Megan's original nickname and gamer tag, Magpie, started to stick, thanks to her many accessories, which she refused to give up, and her tendency to pick up shiny things.
Her brother Tommy became known as Bolt since he was the fastest runner in the camp.
Toby became Yapper, Qasim became Brains, Old Steve became Crunch for his cracking bones, Luke became Brawns, Daniel became Mop since he was mostly doing cleaning duty, and Yvonne became Fish because of the smell from her toilet duty.
For the time being, these names seemed likely to stick as the recruits were called to line up opposite the Venuxian Men-at-Arms. It was announced that the training for this day would be inside the Command Center, and Captain Elena walked out with dark rings around her eyes.
"Alright, here's a status update on the state of our base." She said, clearing her throat, "It is official as of early this morning, the Command Center building is fully online with all its primary functions."
This news didn't mean much to the Earthling recruits, who had never known what was going on inside that modified and fortified house, but for the Venuxians, it seemed like news worthy of breaking their composure and making them turn to each other with wide eyes and smiling faces.
"ATTENTION, YOU DOGS!" Elena shouted at the top of her lungs, causing everyone to snap to attention, "Since our Earthling juniors aren't aware, let us explain it fully to them. As of now, you will be eligible to take the test to become Men-at-Arms. Lucky for you, Mr. Clay has worked to ease things for you, so thank him properly when you see him inside."
The Earthlings now understood the meaning of the Command Center's completion. They could now be registered officially as soldiers, eligible to take the test for which they had previously been told they would need weeks of preparation.
A sense of worry began to set in, but Elena, strangely, was the bearer of good news.
"Mr. Clay has also managed to lower the test standards so that it would be less… lethal." She said, looking at the Earthlings, savoring their expressions of fear and fright on their faces, "Moreover, he extended your trial period so that you can continue taking the tests if you fail them… if you have the guts for it, that is."
Somehow, her comforting words made them feel even more scared, but she didn't care one bit.
"Venuxians, you too will take the test, as none of us are officially registered in the Command Log yet." Elena turned to her own troops and spoke:
""YES, SIR!""
They responded with glee in their eyes, excited about the base being officially functional.
"Oh, one last thing." Elena turned to the Earthlings, "Since we now have a Grub Processor, food production will commence, and you all will start learning to eat food bars, bland and shitty as they taste. If you want better food, real living quarters, or actual decent shit, YOU TAKE THE DAMN TEST. Otherwise, I'll send you back where we found you… DISMISSED!"
The completion of both the Iron Maiden and Grub Processor marked a new phase of order in the base.
Plans were being made for buildings and production lines, materials were being organized to produce weapons, uniforms, and vehicles for the troops and recruits, and finally, a new plan of expansion, both of the base and its influence, was being hatched.
And as soon as all these logistics were finalized, Adam was planning on expanding his summons. He finally directed his attention to the miniature parts he got from Malwart and the runic loot he acquired a few days ago.
Much needed to be sorted, but he needed a few hours of sleep before starting this new course of action.
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[Chapter meme here!]
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