Capítulo 14: SEA WORLD? SEA HELL!
"Stand up! World of the hungry and the slaves! Those who are branded by a curse!" sang Clara in Korean, coughing out the horrid tasting sea water while toiling away with her sit ups.
"Louder!" roared Herbert with a loudspeaker.
"Justice, like embers in the crater's hearth, now with power pushes to the breakthrough!" continued Ariel in German.
"Let speciesist ignorance be ended. For respect makes the empires fall!" sang Sean loudly, grunting as he did sit ups at the coast of Indonesia, tides and rain mercilessly hitting his face as he did them, singing the anthem of UNSSD loudly, ensuring he is in tune.
The new task after HALO jumping is for all the cadets to sing the anthem of UNSSD, a variation of "The Internationale", chosen as it is the most universally translated song in their mother tongues, while doing sit ups when showered by rain and waves. As long as one cadet sang out of tune or misaligned the lyrics they will be forced to redo, and now is the 3rd attempt.
"Don't say we have nothing; we shall be the masters of the world!" sang Eddie in Chinese.
"This is the final struggle, let us group together and tomorrow," continued Erika in French, grimacing as she rose up.
"Number 4, aren't you Swiss German? Why are you singing in French?!" roared Herbert.
"Sir! As a Swiss citizen, all of its official languages are my mother tongue!" replied Erika.
Herbert nodded. "DID I TELL YOU TO STOP?" he roared at the remaining cadets.
"With the Internationale, the world will rise up!" continued Vera immediately in Russian, painfully doing her sit-ups.
"So, comrades, come rally, for this is the time and place!" sang Louis.
"The Internationale, shall certainly be realised!" sang Albert in Chinese, grunting.
"No higher power will save us. No God, no Kaiser, no tribune!" sang Karl in German.
The instructors joined in. The cadets heaved a sigh of relief, meaning that they are finally successful.
"The red flag overcame our comrade's corpse, so it protects our way," sang Nanami in Japanese.
"Get rid of old customs and thoughts, we people are aware," sang Reza in Bahasa Indonesia.
"We now stand united and uniform, our community makes us strong," continued Herbert in Afrikaans.
"In this fight all as one, no one shall be left out," continued Maia in Greek. "Together!" she yelled.
"The Internationale…" sang all of the cadets in unison, languages from all over the world mixing together in a chaotic yet beautiful melody.
Finishing the song, all of the cadets collapsed, muscles in pain and throats parched.
The instructors are not planning to give them a second of rest time. A quick whistle later all of the cadets fell in.
"Ready your helmets, body armour, assault backpack and all of your equipment!" ordered Herbert. "Next stage: swim from here to the island opposite with all of your gear! Passing time is 20 minutes! Litas 15 minutes! You have 10 minutes to get ready!"
The cadets immediately rushed over to their equipment, staring at the 20-40kg worth of gear based on their specialisations.
Sean emptied his assault backpack, unfolding the inner waterproof bag and stuffed it inside, then putting in the living needs first, which will be the least likely to be used in full gear armed swimming, putting in his mess tin, MREs, personal toiletries, cleaning equipment.
Then in increasing order of necessity: spare ropes, spare ammunition, spare batteries, binoculars, laser rangefinder/guider, night vision, medical pouch.
Sean then fastened his folding combat pickaxe and water flask on the outside. He then inflated a floating ring, using it to cushion the assault bag above water later.
Sean then put on his body armour, stuffed with ballistic ceramic plates in the front and back. He slotted in his 3 rifle magazines and 2 pistol magazines, covering them up with the waterproof magazine covers. He put on his high-cut ballistic helmet and wore the waterproof tactical headset, connected wirelessly to the waterproof communications module on his body armour. He wore his waterproof smart watch, seeing the target coordinates propping up, the built in compass also turning on.
He then loaded his rifle, covering up the muzzle with a small rubber stopper that resembles a balloon, then slinging it across his back. He did the same with his pistol and placed it in a chest holster as opposed to a thigh holster. He rolled up his shirt and pants sleeves, zipping up the pockets. Finally, he sprayed his uniform with a specialised spray that forms a thin layer that separates the clothes from the water, forming a temporary dry suit to keep him dry, as being wet will have severe repercussions, most notably hypothermia and increased weight.
Upon ready, Sean gathered at the coast line with the rest of the cadets. The instructors blew the whistle, and all of them jumped in. All of them sank down momentarily from their weight, quickly pushing themselves up. Though for the Litas they have no such concern.
Louis hooked his assault backpack behind him, then swimming forward, dragging it along on the surface, closing his mouth and nostrils. He felt the nostalgic sensation of salty seawater rushing into and out of the gills on his neck, sending oxygen to each part of his body. While not exactly the same as the water around his semi-submerged home along the coasts of Boston, it's close enough.
He swam forward ferociously. The time is not the main concern though, but rather because Lita gills work the same way as shark gills, they have to move for the gills to work.
While the Litas lead the cadets, Sean is not too far behind, swimming in frog stroke, pushing forward. The water is cold, eating away at his limbs, thankfully the spray is working as intended, keeping the majority of his body dry and warm.
He looked in awe at the coral, fishes and other aquatic life bustling beneath him deeper underwater in a myriad of shapes and sizes and forming unique combinations of colours. Southeast Asia's marine ecosystem is really among the top in the world.
"No wonder Frederica loved going for dips on her own," he mused. "It's like Sea World! But you get to feel it."
He lifted his head up to breathe, then dived down again, holding his breath. He looked at his progress shown on the smart watch, grinning, knowing that as long as he can maintain his pace, he can pass.
Soon, Ariel, Albert and Vera caught up to him, swimming alongside. Being Litas, Louis and Eddie are slightly ahead of them.
Just as Sean is enjoying the view, a whale shark approached them from the side, evidently curious at what these land dwellers are up to.
Though it may never know that its seemingly harmless gesture is about to give the cadets perhaps one of their most dangerous encounters throughout the course.
Sean immediately swerved, dodging the 12m long behemoth. Vera and Albert are not so lucky, colliding with its tail, injuring them and opening wounds.
"You 2 alright?" asked Ariel.
"Yeah," replied Vera, grimacing slightly at the salt water touching her wounds. "Got a bit of blood, nothing serious."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" said Eddie, alarmed.
"She said: some wounds, some blood," replied Albert. 'What's the matter? I got cut too, no big deal."
"NO BIG DEAL?" roared Eddie incredulously. Louis turned to him with a perplexed stare, though Eddie's next words drained the blood from his face.
"THERE ARE BULL SHARKS IN THIS AREA!"
The 6 of them froze, realising to their horror what is going to happen. Sure enough, a school of bull sharks appeared, attracted by the blood.
"Get away!" screamed Vera, freezing the water around her hand into an ice dagger and stabbed a bull shark in the eye, releasing more blood.
That made things worse, and soon more sharks were attracted over, attacking them. The 6 of them used their magic to dodge their attacks, barely avoiding their jaws, and using any blunt objects at their disposal to sway the sharks away while swimming forward at full speed to break away. However, their actions are of little use as the sharks keep coming over in schools. Thanks to strict environment laws post WW3, sharks are no longer an endangered species. The 6 of them never in their life expected that one day they will be harmed due to protecting the environment.
Sean was bitten. He grimaced, grabbing the shark by its fins, flipping it upside down, remembering marine knowledge he learned when trying to start conversations with Frederica in the past, immobilising it in a state of tonic immobility. He then freed his hand, fortunately the bite was not deep. But more sharks soon enveloped him.
'It's a sea hell now!" he cursed.
"There is too many of them!" yelled Ariel.
Suddenly, Louis let out a loud, primordial screech, and the cadets turned to their shock to see Louis transforming, growing in size and losing his human-like features.
"He is turning into his "true form"!" exclaimed Albert.
Status de energia semanal
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