Mulan Part 2

General Huā Part 2

The space ship sped off before a countdown ensued. A warp gate was then opened near the front of the ship which the ship steadily sped into. After passing through a tunnel of colorful, brilliant light for a day, the ship exited the warp gate and arrived at its destination planet, a planet where one side was lush green while the other half was barren desert. Xiao Huā stared at the holographic screen that displayed the view outside as she sighed knowing that she can’t turn back now.

The space ship gradually descended upon a open clearing in the midst of a tropical forest. The new recruits were then allowed to file out as a squad of soldiers stood outside waiting for their arrival.

“Another batch eh? How many does this make? Eh … not like it matters as we will always have space with one batch leaving to the front lines one after another,” one of the soldiers remarked, “Alright newbies, follow me to the cadet training camp. Yall have a lot to work on before you can hop to the battlefield.”

The squad of soldiers then led the group of newbies including Xiao Huā through the forest. After a what seemed to be a long trudge through the humid forest without any water or food, the group finally arrived at a wide open clearing where an enormous, metallic fortress was situation. Although the soldiers were fine, Xiao Huā was already panting hard with sweat running down her face, just like some of the other recruits.

“Tsk~ another lousy batch, but it won’t matter when you’re on the battlefield I guess,” one of the soldiers huffed before strolling into the fortress through it’s wide open gates where a couple of soldiers were standing guard.

“Alright, pull out your identity tokens and have them scanned. Then, follow the path and head over to the training grounds straight up ahead where you will be briefed,” the soldier leading them said before strolling off with the squad of soldiers.

The recruits then glanced at each other before heading through the gate. The soldiers at the gate motioned with their head to walk through the gate. One recruit after another walked through the gate while a beep would occur before a robotic male voice would welcome the new recruit. As Xiao Huā walked through the gate, the voice resounded, “Welcome recruit from the Lán family.”

The guard soldiers then glanced over at Xiao Huā before a mocking tone resounded, “To think the Lán family general as fallen so low to hire a pretty boy outsider to take his place.”

Xiao Huā stopped in place due to the mocking tone before glaring back, “I’m not an outsider! I am the Lán family’s dau- *ahem* distance cousin!”

The soldiers glanced at each other before shrugging and waving for Xiao Huā to move on. Xiao Huā then noticed that other recruits outside were glaring at her as she has stopped in the middle of the gate, blocking them from entering. Xiao Huā was embarrassed, and she quickly scurried off on the straight path as she headed off to the training ground.

The training grounds was bustling with activity as there was a crowd of new cadets. Soldiers were patrolling off to the sides of the training ground while directing the new cadets to line up. Xiao Huā found her spot in the formation, which happens to be at the first row, and stood there as she began to observe her surroundings. There were plenty of men all around her and it was the first time Xiao Huā has been near all these men, making her a bit uncomfortable. Xiao Mu was constantly scanning the cadets around her for info, in hopes of helping Xiao Huā even a bit. However, a gruff voice interrupted Xiao Huā’s observations, “Who the heck do you think you are scanning?”

The voice came from Xiao Huā’s right so Xiao Huā looked over to see no one. Xiao Huā was confused until Xiao Mu whispered to Xiao Huā to look down. As Xiao Huā looked down, she saw a short muscular man with a beard glaring back at her. Although the dwarf-like human race was fairly common in this intergalactic era, this is the first time Xiao Huā has seen one.

“Ahhh? What do you think you are staring at you pretty boy?! Think you are all that just because of your pretty face and only a bit taller than me? Let me tell you that you won’t last moments on the battlefield!” the dwarf growled as he glared at Xiao Huā.

Before Xiao Huā could retort, a friendly voice resounded from her left side, “Now, now, let us all be friends here. We will have to fight together on the battlefield soon so one more friend is better than a foe.”

Xiao Huā glanced over to her left this time to be shocked. A fat, bald man was bumbling up to the spot right next to her. Although being bald was not a big deal, but with how fat he was, Xiao Huā was wondering how he will even fit into a mecha! However, with the friendly smile that the man was giving her, Xiao Huā thought it won’t be polite to burst his bubble.

“My name is Xiao Po, it is a pleasure to meet you,” the fat, bald man stated as he attempted to do a fist salute, but failed.

“I’m Xiao H-” Xiao Huā was about to introduce herself but was interrupted by a loud holler by the soldiers.

“Atten-Hut!”

The soldiers were already standing at attention as the recruits began to quiet down. Not long after, silence descended upon the training grounds as everyone rolled their eyes around trying to get a glimpse at what is going on. Xiao Huā was also curious as she saw no new faces popping up and she was wondering what she was supposed to do. Xiao Huā simply copied everyone else and stood at attention in silence, but not long after, Xiao Huā began to hear a faint buzzing noise.

Although Xiao Huā had never seen one in real life before, Xiao Huā had done plenty of research on them and was familiar with most aspects on them. Xiao Huā excitedly looked up and saw small dots closing in fast to the training ground. Before long, most of the recruits also noticed the commotion and they also glanced upwards. By this time, the small dots were already clearly visible as they were a squadron of mechas!

Most of the squadron of mechas simply flew by in the distance as they continued on their way; however, the mecha in the lead stopped in place before it began to free fall. Like an eagle diving towards its prey, the mecha swooped down upon the training ground head-first. Right before it hit the ground, the mecha did a flip in mid-air to flip its body upright after which the decelerators on the mecha’s foot activated. Strong winds kicked up a cloud of dust and blasted outwards, crashing into Xiao Huā who couldn’t help but fall on her butt as it was the first time she was in such a situation.

“Weak,” the dwarf sneered at Xiao Huā as he stood in place with his arms behind his back.

Xiao Po offered his chubby hands to help Xiao Huā get up which Xiao Huā gratefully accepted. In the midst of getting up, a whirling sound resounded as the cloud of dust in the air was swept away by some force, revealing a tall, handsome man standing at the front with his hands crossed. He was wearing a white uniform that was somehow still clean after being in contact with the dust and a golden badge was sewed into his uniform denoting his rank as a general. His sharp eyes were glancing calmly at the cadets until it landed on Xiao Huā who was in the midst of getting up with Xiao Po’s help. His brows furrowed a bit as he continued to stare, causing lots of cadets to look over at Xiao Huā.

Xiao Huā could feel the stares on her as she quickly stood at attention, staring forward and doing her best to ignore those stares. She could hear the dwarf next to her trying to hold in his snicker, but she could only sigh exasperatedly.

The general finally looked away as he began his speech, “I am General Sheng. I don’t care where some of you are from or how you look, but after this training camp, it won’t matter anyways. Know that your lives are more worthless than the mechas you drive on the battlefield. So you won’t be getting on any real mechas until I deem you fit to do so. I want you all to report to the training grounds first thing tomorrow morning at 6 AM. Did I make myself clear?”

“Yes sir!” a chorus resounded.

Xiao Huā didn’t react as quickly and was slower by a beat as her voice squeaked out towards the end. She could hear the dwarf snickering once more, but once she glanced over, she noticed the dwarf has stiffen up and stood at attention. She thought it was queer, but when she glanced back forward, she saw the general standing right in front of her while glaring at her.

“I want to ask again, did I make myself clear?”

Xiao Huā stiffened up and gulped with fear before she hollered in her best manly voice, “Y-Yes sir!”

General Sheng then strolled towards his mecha as he continued, “No worries, after this rigorous training program that I have prepared for you-“

With a light tap on the ground, General Sheng leapt into the cockpit of the mecha before the cockpit was quickly shifted into the heart position of the mecha. Then mecha’s eyes then lit up in red as General Sheng’s cold voice reverberated through the mecha’s speakers, “Whether you like it or not, I will make a pilot out of you.”

Then, the mecha blasted off upwards before performing a sharp 90 degrees angle change and zooming off towards another part of the fortress.