The bus doors open.
Aiden stepped out into a sea of mud, shouting, and chaos.
The emergency training base outside Fort Carson wasn't a base so much as a military colony tents stretching to the horizon, floodlights cutting through smoke-filled sky, transport trucks unloading at every corner.
People poured out of buses in waves..hundreds, thousands...stumbling, wide-eyed, numb.
"MOVE IT, MOVE IT, MOVE IT!"
A voice detonated across the field.
Drill sergeants swarmed like hyenas in campaign hats and dusty combat gear.
They weren't the calm, ceremonial kind you saw on TV. (In some shows)
These looked like they'd been fighting for three days straight and they were done being polite.
"DON'T LOOK AROUND! DON'T ASK QUESTIONS! IF YOU CAN WALK, YOU CAN LINE UP!"
"YOU THINK THE ALIENS WILL WAIT FOR YOU TO FIGURE OUT WHICH FOOT TO USE? MOVE!"
"GET YOUR ASSES IN FORMATION BEFORE I DRAG YOU THERE!"
Aiden felt hands shove him forward as recruits rushed into chaotic lines.
A sergeant with arms like steel cables stalked past him, roaring in a voice that cracked the air.
"CONGRATULATIONS, YOU MISERABLE MAGGOTS! YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO DIE SLOWER THAN THE REST OF HUMANITY!"
A nervous recruit next to Aiden whispered, "Is… is he serious?"
"SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH, PRIVATE NOBODY!"
The sergeant wasn't even close enough to hear yet he somehow did.
The recruit nearly swallowed his tongue.
Aiden fought the urge to laugh.
Terror bubbled in his stomach.
Another sergeant pointed at a group of shaking teenagers.
"You kiddos wanted to be heroes? News flash heroes get vaporized first. Survivors do what they're told!"
Thunder rolled overhead not from weather, but distant combat.
Even the instructors flinched at the sound.
This was not a normal boot camp.
This was war made into a factory.
They were herded toward a long tent where barbers worked like machines.
"NAME!"
"Holt, Aiden!"
"Sit!"
Clippers buzzed.
His hair hit the floor in seconds.
Next chair.
Next head.
Next identity stripped away.
It wasn't about style.
It was about speed.
People left the tent looking almost identical—buzzed, shocked, pale.
Aiden caught his reflection in a metal panel.
He barely recognized himself.
Another tent. Another line.
"ID BADGE!"
"Boot size?"
"Grab a pack! KEEP MOVING!"
Uniforms were thrown at them like they were groceries being checked out.
Boots slammed into their arms.
A rifle empty, safety cable threaded through was shoved into each recruit's hands.
"THIS IS YOUR WIFE NOW!" a sergeant screamed. "YOU WILL CLEAN HER, FEED HER, LOVE HER, SLEEP WITH HER, AND IF YOU DROP HER, I WILL MAKE YOU EAT DIRT UNTIL YOU CRY FOR MOMMY!"
Then the recruits were forced out onto a massive open yard surrounded by tents, barracks, obstacle courses, and firing ranges.
"GET IN BLOODY FORMATION!"
"SPREAD OUT, NOT TOO CLOSE ALIEN DRONES LOVE TIGHT GROUPS!"
"EYES FRONT! CHINS DOWN!"
The sergeants moved through the ranks like sharks hunting weakness.
A young woman two rows over trembled so hard she dropped her rifle.
Three drill sergeants descended instantly.
"PICK. IT. UP."
"I—I'm sorry—"
"DID YOU JUST APOLOGIZE TO A WEAPON?!"
"No sir!"
"I'M NOT A SIR! DO I LOOK LIKE I RUN THIS PLANET?!"
"No—!"
"THEN CALL ME DRILL SERGEANT! AND PICK UP THE DAMN RIFLE BEFORE THE ALIENS PICK UP YOUR REMAINS!"
She scrambled to obey.
Aiden swallowed.
Hard.
A giant screen flickered to life at the front of the field.
A major in battle-worn armor stepped forward.
Her helmet dangled at her hip.
A bandage crossed her cheek.
She had the look of someone who'd lost people today.
Too many.
"I'm not here to inspire you," she began.
"I'm here to tell you the truth."
Silence dropped across the field.
"The force that attacked us this morning…"
She paused, jaw tightening.
"…wasn't their army."
A ripple of fear moved through the recruits.
"That was a scouting detachment. When the main fleet arrives, we expect casualties in the millions."
Someone whimpered behind Aiden.
The major continued.
"You are not here to become elite soldiers. You are here to become survivors. The goal is simple stay alive long enough to kill the bastards trying to take our planet."
Her voice cracked just once.
"You'll train harder than any generation before you. Not because we want to break you but because the moment you hit the field, the aliens will do far worse."
She stepped back.
The drill sergeants stepped forward.
And hell began.
Day One — Hour Zero
"DROP YOUR BAGS! DROP EVERYTHING! ON YOUR FACES! NOW!"
Hundreds of recruits hit the mud.
"PUSH-UPS! IF YOU STOP, YOU DIE!"
Aiden's arms shook instantly pain shot through his ribs where the drone had hit him earlier.
The System stirred.
[Physical stress detected.]
Not now, he growled in his mind.
"KEEP PUSHING, YOU USELESS LUMPS OF MEAT!"
"FASTER!"
"UP-DOWN-UP-DOWN-UP!"
"THE ALIENS AREN'T GONNA WAIT FOR YOU TO GROW MUSCLES!"
Recruits sobbed, gagged, collapsed, got stepped on.
Aiden's vision blurred.
[User approaching limit.]
[Recommend pacing.]
"If I stop," Aiden whispered under his breath, mud in his teeth, "I get screamed at by demons in hats."
[Acknowledged.]
"ON YOUR FEET! FORM LINES! SPRINT TO THE FLAGS! MOVE!"
Aiden ran legs like fire, breath ripping through his lungs.
A recruit beside him vomited mid-run.
Another fainted and was dragged to the medical tent.
The sergeant screamed at Aiden, "YOU CALL THAT RUNNING? MY GRANDMA MOVES FASTER AND SHE'S DEAD!"
Aiden pushed harder.
The System responded.
[Micro-tears in muscle detected.]
[Adaptive growth potential increasing.]
He didn't understand the science, but he felt something.
not strength,
not power,
but resistance.
His body was breaking…
…but not as fast as before.
After hours of punishment, they were finally ordered to stand at attention.
Mud covered their faces.
Sweat drenched their uniforms.
Half of them shook so hard they could barely hold their rifles.
A drill sergeant walked slowly down the line, voice low for the first time.
"Some of you think this is too much."
He paused.
"It's not."
He pointed toward the distant mountains where explosions flashed like lightning.
"The aliens out there? They don't care about your feelings. They don't care if you're tired. They don't care if you're scared."
His voice grew harder.
"They will kill you.
They will kill your friends.
They will kill your families.
And they will keep killing until nothing human remains."
He faced them fully.
"So we break you here, so they don't break you out there."
He stepped back.
"Training resumes at 0500. Anyone late will be treated as dead. Dismissed."
The sun bled out behind the mountains.
Floodlights snapped on.
Recruits staggered to their tents.
Aiden slumped onto his cot, exhausted beyond words.
Every part of him burned.
His muscles twitched uncontrollably.
His bunkmate groaned, "I can't do this…"
Another whispered, "We're all gonna die…"
Aiden stared at the tent ceiling, barely breathing.
Then...
[User physical evaluation complete.]
[Performance: Above average.]
[Phase Two unlocked.]
Aiden's heart thumped.
"What… what does Phase Two do?"
[Enhances neural adaptation speed.]
[Muscle growth response increased.]
[Reaction time optimization unlocked.]
Aiden swallowed hard.
"So I'll… get stronger?"
[If you keep training.]
[If you keep suffering.]
[If you don't quit.]