Daniel woke up to the sound of crashing rusty dustbins.'[1]Wake up, lazy bufoons! We got work to do,'[2] blared the speakers who had previously voiced the dustbin's noise[3]. It was the crack of dawn when the military woke up. Dan was part of the Iron Predators corp[4], a branch responsible for hunting Autonyms.
Autonyms were remnants of humans controlled by mechanical devices turned into cyborgs who served as mindless slaves for their controller, Synthor. Synthor successfully manipulated the device users[5] made by Neftal, who, in short, were all[6]. The people's hope gave them will, which helped them resist the takeover. The resistance factor separated these autonyms from humans. The device was inseparable[7] from their host and was forcefully embedded in all humans by the government, much to the people's happiness[8], but who knew that they would succumb to this fate?
Dan Lazily rolled over and glanced at his friend Arnold, who was stretching lazily in bed. 'Remember Dan, exam today,' he yawned[9]. They got out of bed and dressed up. Like their usual routine, they gathered on the parade ground for today's announcement. 'Look, here comes the general.' Dan said to Arnold, pointing to a bald, surly-faced man with heavily tanned skin. The general walked up, surveying the trainees. Working for a long time in the corp[10], he had a great vision. There were many trainees showing fear, excitement, and more. But one unnerved him, a trainee named Arnold who strangely looked as if he was a general standing on the ground, the aura, and the look in his eyes[11] were way different than those years [12]of seeing other trainees.
He tried to look calm and cleared his throat ' So another year of new soldiers, who shall join the corp for wealth, fame, glory.....' A sly smile spread across his face 'Revenge' He studied all of the trainees' bewildered faces with immense pleasure. 'Now, for you to get into the military, it is important for you to clear your test. As usual, these are set at four cardinal points to stop the autonyms from clearing our young saplings, which want to turn into strong trees.'
He paused again, surveying all, he took a sip of water and continued,' You must safely cross these treacherous paths and reach your respective centers. Before the conclusion, let me announce the top candidate, the one who shall get better, even luxurious treatment.'He waved his hand[13], and a servant came up giving him a small piece of paper.
The general's eye scrunched up. The name read 'Arnold Weskwwwwwwwwwwwer'. He looked at the crowd and announced the same. Dan looked at an excited Arnold. 'Knew it would be you,' Dan said, 'Finishing the course in seven minutes, that was awesome. ' Arnold smiled back, 'Thank you!'. 'You must accompany me after I have given others instructions,' The general said carefully, tailoring his words not to spoil the surprise.' Y[14]ou are expected to give a much easier trial.'
'Yes, sir,' Arnold responded. 'Now for the trials, we have a large lot of you guys. You shall be disbanded in a few groups of 32 people, The groups will range from strongest to weakest, fittest will go first!' He closed his eyes & continued. You may see your grouping now. Everyone promptly pulled out their military-provided mobiles & checked their groups. Dan, being fourth in all of the trainees, [15]easily cleared for the first group.
'I request you to stand as per your groups,' the general commanded.
With some noise & hustle, they had organized themselves. 'Now you shall be divided yet again into groups of eight.'
'These will go to cardinals assigned to them. Each of these divisions will have two snipers, two shotgunners, one spy, one grenadier[16], and finally two speed-gunners[17].' Dan, being a sniper, looked at his partner, who nodded back. 'Just a word of concern, as I am required to inform you that trials or exams, as you say, are always tainted with blood, often spilled by autonyms, make sure you reach the end in one piece. There can be traps a lot and I mean a lot, maybe one at every step,' the general smiled sardonically.
'Now I shall take your leave, Arnold, come with me, my time is over, now hope no one useless survives,' he put on a cherry smile which horribly contradicted his features, giving him a look of a blood hungry animal,' Goodbye.' With the final anecdote, he stepped down from the stage and walked inside the building. 'I need to follow him,' Arnold hastily told Dan,' See ya.' Arnold followed after the general. 'About time we had some fun,' Dan thought. Dan's partner, a sniper named Will, walked over. ' Yo, Long time no see,' They shook hands. 'Maybe we need to wait for instructions or something,' Will said, looking at the empty stage.
'No, I don't think so,' Dan said, gesturing towards the open doors which each had a cardinal assigned on top. Will nodded, gripping his gun,' If we need to do it, let's do it quic,k I am not a fan of mysteries.' Dan chuckled,' Couldn't have said better.'
'Look,' Will pointed as another trainee was climbing onto the stage. The man had a surly face, piercing hawk eyes. He was a copy of the general with hair and fewer scars. 'Hello,' He said with the same oily voice which instantly commanded attention like the general.'I[18] am Ivan, to complicate and with my great hatred....,' he smiled, ' The general's grandson.'
The reveal was greeted by shock and horror from all.
'As you may have heard from him, the dangers we are about to face are fatal. So we need to have proper communication. The northern division will be called Peaks, the Southern will be Oceans, the Western will be Summer, and the Eastern will be Rain. Understood?' He asked. All of them stood in silence till one of them said, 'Yes, sir'.
'We will establish communication with all divisions through the division leader. For the first group, I will lead the Peaks division, Billium will take Oceans, Jackeline will take Summer, and Rin will take Rain. ' It went on till all groups were given a leader. ' Now we must depart, stay strong and fight hard.' With this last motivation, the first group took up their places at the doors. Dan was standing behind Ivan, waiting for his command, though every niche of his body was ready to charge. "Discipline often comes hard to you, doesn't it?" he remembered his father saying. This was rather shameful for a military trainee to accept his but, who was this guy to order him around?
'Now,' Ivan commanded as all rushed through the gates. The strategy was impressive. New nooks and new things were known for a few kilometers, information about the ecology was nicely shared amongst all. There were a few traps they easily evaded. ' Burningham Buzzrod,' Ivan announced over the communicator as a rod pierced through his foot. 'Make sure to stay away from leaf litter, we can't afford injured lags.' He winced as the rod vibrated hard in his foot he slowly pulled it out. A few kilometers went by again without any injuries. Dave hoisted Ivan as he wobbled along.
Dan checked his map 'Not too long away, a few kilometers at least,' he said to a tired-looking trainee. The trainee considered it for a while and turned to Ivan, 'Please, can we rest?' he asked. 'All in favour,' Ivan asked. Five hands went up. 'We will rest near the rock then,' he said, stopping beside it. Nearby was a stream where everyone freshened up.'I[19]t seems too easy,' the trainee said happily, filling his canteen with water. Dan, cleaning his sniper, thought otherwise. He heard a rustling sound near him. Dan slowly advanced towards it. Whatever was hiding was just behind Ivan was cleaning and bandaging his injured foot.
'Ivan,' Dan scream whispered. 'Something's behind you.' Ivan's eyes became alert, just like the general's. He clutched his dagger as his shotgun was far away. At that moment, the autonym jumped from the bush. Ivan managed to drive his dagger through its abdomen. Making it stagger as he skidded back holding his dagger tight, gritting his teeth. 'Don't overexert yourself,' Dan said, emptying a bullet into its head. 'Thanks,' Ivan said, accepting Dan's hand, standing up. Will, who had been guarding the back, came to see the commotion. He was about to speak, but seeing the autonym, and gulped back his words. 'So they are coming?' He asked. 'Yeah, and there will be more,' Dan said, relieved to see Will. 'We must leave then,' Will said, looking at Ivan, who nodded, 'We must, 'he solemnly said. Dan's military mobile ringed with a notification. Dan connected it to his earpiece and played the message.
{Congratulations, you have managed to earn an achievement, "First Blood" as you have taken the first kill. You now deal twice the damage and have earned 50 points. Good luck}
Dan looked at Ivan with a bewildered look, about to tell him what he heard, but Ivan beat him to it, 'The rain division just lost a man,' He said. Dan looked at him, confused with the apparent loss for words. 'Well then, my dear survivalist,' Will whispered clearly through the quiet woods, he was crouching over the autonym corpse, examining it closely. 'It is time we march to victory.' Will pried out both of its eyes and pocketed them with obvious suspicion.
Miles away where the information was relayed, the viewer cursed as he lost the footage 'Damn, that smart fool,' the man fumed with anger ' How did he know?'. 'You trained them, sir,' Arnold said with disgust at the general's plan, ' You said my trial was going to be easy, I am not going to do what you want.' 'You just wait,' the general mused with excitement,' I am just getting started'
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[1] need a space
[2] comma after the quotation mark
[3] does not make sense
[4] you can add quotation marks or add 'the' before Iron Predetors
[5] make 'it users of the device'
[6] all is not describing something present in the sentence
it should be 'was almost Everybody'
[7] from who 'their host'
add it, it makes it more clear
[8] 'much to' i don't think is correct. it feels wrong. Maybe add 'the'
[9] Arnold yawned make it clear since it is the first time arnold is doing something
[10] Army corps. you have mentioned that they worked in the military
[11] the look? 'the look in his eyes.' I think that's what you meant
[12] of other trainees he had seen over the years
[13] you missed the end apostrophe
[14] space needed
[15] trainees
[16] grenadier
spelling mistake
[17] add '-' between the words speed and gunners
[18] space
[19] space