Mulan Part 3

General Huā Part 3

A groggy Xiao Huā was woken up early in the morning the next day by her trusty AI Xiao Mu. The other men in the room were already bustling about as they got ready for training, and Xiao Huā’s groggy status was negated by the shock she received from seeing things she shouldn’t see. Xiao Huā hurriedly ran out to find somewhere to get changed under the confused gazes of her roommates. Not long after, Xiao Huā headed off to the bustling training ground where her life as a cadet truly begins.

After a quick breakfast of rations passed out by the soldiers on duty, the recruits lined up once more at the training area. Before long, General Sheng showed up with his upper body bare, showing off his well defined muscles. Xiao Huā couldn’t help but stare a couple bit more times as her gaze shifted all over as she tried her best to stare forward.

“Today, your training shall begin. Before you can drive any mechas, you must train your bodies to be able to withstand the stress brought from the mecha connecting to your nervous system and brain. Otherwise, you will die without even knowing why. Your instructions are simple. Simply follow me and do whatever I do. I will lead the way on this training and be with you the entire way. Did I make myself clear?” General Sheng greeted everyone with his cold voice.

“Yes Sir!”

Xiao Huā was glad she did not fall behind in reaction this time so there was no fault to pick. General Sheng then nodded before stating, “Let’s begin.”

Then, General Sheng began jogging off towards the gate of the fortress with the group of recruits running behind him. A couple of mechas were hovering around in the air as they kept up with the group in order to make sure no accidents happen. Xiao Huā easily followed the group as she breathed in the refreshing morning air. Jogging besides her were the dwarf and Xiao Po. Xiao Huā felt the training was easy as even Xiao Po had the leisure to start a friendly chat, “Greetings again my friends. Once again, my name is Po and it is a pleasure to meet you two. I did not have the pleasure of learning your names yesterday, so now should be a good time for introductions would it not?”

By this time, Xiao Huā had already thought up of a good name for herself rather than her girl’s name that she was born with. So, Xiao Huā made a fist salute as she stated in a manly voice, “This one is Xiao Han. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

The dwarf that were jogging besides them harrumphed before stating, “I don’t want to make friends with a weak pretty boy like you, but it’s best you know my glorious name for future reference. I go by the name Xiao Yao, the Yao in demon slaying. I won’t speak further as I will need to save my breathe.”

The dwarf then went silent as Xiao Huā stared queerly at him while wondering what does he need to save his breathe for. Xiao Huā then looked over at Xiao Po who nodded in agreement before going silent as well. Although Xiao Huā was confused at this moment, she realized what they meant a couple of hours later.

The sun has risen into the sky as blaring heat began to seep onto the planet. Fortunately, there was the forest to shade the recruits for now, but the air was still humid, causing it to be difficult to sweat and cool down. It has been hours yet the recruits were still running. General Sheng was still jogging as calmly as before at the front while the recruits behind him were already sweating buckets and panting in agony. Xiao Huā, Xiao Po, and Xiao Yao had it worst as they had completely fell back to the end of the line while panting in agony. One was a noble lady who had never exercised rigorously before, another was overweight, and the last one had extremely short legs. It was not surprising to see them at the end.

The group had been running through the forest with no breaks and no drinks every since this morning. It was surprising that no one has passed out yet, but it seemed that Xiao Huā could not hold on much longer as she truly had never had any training of this sort before. As the heat got to her, she began to feel dizzy and before she realized it, she was laying on the ground.

It felt like an eternity of rest or it might have just been a moment, but Xiao Huā was jolted out of her rest as cold water was splashed onto her head. Groggily opening her eyes, Xiao Huā saw General Sheng standing in front of her with a bucket while glaring at her coldly.

“Oh, he’s awake!”

Xiao Huā could hear Xiao Po exclaim by her side. It was then she noticed that Xiao Po and Xiao Yao were supporting her from both sides. The fog in Xiao Huā’s head slowly cleared as she realized she might be in trouble. She glanced back at General Sheng who was handing the bucket over to a mecha who then flew off. It was then that Xiao Huā noticed that they were already at a small pond in the forest where many cadets were already getting a drink.

“Awake? Good. It’s time to continue. You still have a long way to go and you don’t want to know the consequences of stopping again,” General Sheng stated coldly before he began to jogging off once more.

Some of the cadets snickered at Xiao Huā’s misfortune before jogging off as well. Others could only smile wryly not knowing whether to thank Xiao Huā for the short rest they got or save their breathe for the arduous jog coming up. Eventually, they all jogged off after the general, leaving Xiao Huā with Xiao Po and Xiao Yao.

“Can you keep going?” Xiao Po asked gently, “If you can’t, I can try to carry you.”

“Save your breathe Po, even a guy like me can do fine. How weak do you have to be to end up in that state? Po can’t carry you every day,. If you can’t make it, you and your family will not have a good ending. No one can help you but yourself,” Xiao Yao stated in a gruff voice before jogging off.

Xiao Huā understood that if she really wanted to be a true pilot, she can’t give up at this moment already. No matter how worst it gets, it can’t be worst then her whole family getting executed. Xiao Huā then nodded weakly at Xiao Po who was staring at her worriedly before going over to the pond to take her fill of water. Although it was a refreshing drink, Xiao Huā did not chug too much as she knew it won’t be good to chug too much water at once. After Xiao Huā took a drink, she slowly began jogging off. Xiao Po can only sigh and follow along as they continued their journey.

The run continued on and by the time the recruits made it back to camp, it was already dark. Surprisingly, Xiao Huā managed to survive. It was unknown if it was due to Xiao Po’s support from behind, Xiao Yao taunting her in front, or Xiao Mu constantly encouraging her from her pockets, but Xiao Huā was too tired to mind. After grabbing some rations, she headed to her room. Halfway through eating her rations, she already fell asleep.

A groggy Xiao Huā was woken up the next morning by Xiao Mu. The recruits in her room were also slowly being roused by Xiao Mu as they complained about the annoyance, but when they realized it was about time to report to the training area, they could only hold their complaints in. Finishing her previous night’s rations before grabbing a new set of rations, Xiao Huā made it to the training grounds where it was fairly silent due to the groggy recruits.

General Sheng showed up right on time once more as calm and lively as ever. He coldly glanced at the recruits before stating, “Same routine. Let’s go.”

Then he jogged off. The recruits were exasperated but could only follow along. There were no dissents as the patrolling mechas were not for show. They were actually armed with weapons for a reason. Hence, the days continued as the routine continued every day. Xiao Huā persisted on with all her efforts as she did not want her family to come to harm. Although she didn’t pass out again, she still was at the back the the group, along with a fair amount of new people who couldn’t keep up. After half a month, Xiao Huā felt she was finally used to the routine as she even had spare energy to at least enjoy a meal and quick shower before heading to bed.

Waking up like usual, Xiao Huā headed to the training ground where she greeted Xiao Po and Xiao Yao as they prepared for another day of running. General Sheng appeared like usual, but what he said next shocked the recruits, “I believe you all should be ready now. So, we are changing up our routine a bit.”

General Sheng then jogged off towards a different direction as the recruits followed him. Not long after, their jog led them to pass through a large warehouse. With a glance, Xiao Huā felt excitement run through her veins just like many of the other recruits as everyone began to perk up in attention. Lining both sides of the warehouse were an assortment of mechas in all shapes and sizes. There were normal human-based ones, beast-based ones, small ones, large ones, and even ones made for combinations. Xiao Huā was ecstatic as she realized where they were heading. Is it finally time for mecha training?