As the saying goes, "A county official is not as powerful as the one in charge." Although Ryan, a mere squad leader, was far from being an official, he was in charge of the mess crew, and that meant they had to stay on his good side.
And how does a bunch of corrupt cooks who sneak extra food win over a squad leader who used to be just another grunt?The answer was simple—drag him into the game. If everyone in the mess crew, from the squad leader down to the lowest cook, was stealing food, then everything would be perfectly "harmonious."
Ryan, for his part, never considered himself a saint. In fact, he believed that saints had gone extinct thousands of years ago. So, the moment the aroma of beef filled the air, the angry look on his face instantly melted into a grin.
After a year of surviving on compressed biscuits and nutrient packs, Ryan had almost forgotten what real beef tasted like. The smell alone was enough to make his mouth water. And so, in no time, he abandoned his so-called righteous stance and joined the cooks in their feast.
Once he partook in the stolen meal, Ryan quickly became one with the mess crew. Through their conversations, he learned some information about the 106th Division.
As it turned out, the 106th had originally been a garrison force stationed on a colonial planet—not even a second-line unit, barely stronger than a police force. However, due to the war's urgency, these pampered troops were hastily mobilized, thrown together with fresh recruits, and sent as reinforcements to the Alpha Star gravity well.
"No wonder it's all rookies and old-timers," Ryan muttered, shaking his head. Unfortunately, he knew what awaited them. On Alpha Star, this ragtag third-rate division would be reshuffled by reality—more than 80% of them were doomed to be wiped out by the Titan Bugs.
But at least for now, Ryan was enjoying himself. The generous serving of beef felt like a taste of heaven after a year of bland rations. His long-neglected taste buds came back to life.
In the following days, Ryan continued indulging in stolen delicacies with the mess crew. His appetite turned out to be astounding. The first time he had eaten nearly five servings of beef, the cooks assumed it was just because he had been starved for real food for too long.
But after a few more days of observation, they came to a realization."Now we know why he's the squad leader and we're just the grunts," one cook joked."Even pigs wouldn't be able to keep up with his appetite!"
However, all that high-energy food intake came with a side effect—his severed shoulder started to itch like crazy. It felt as if a thousand ants were gnawing at it, driving him nearly insane. If he wasn't afraid of not being able to reattach his mechanical arm, he would've ripped it off just to scratch the itch.
But Ryan's good days were numbered. The ship's broadcast echoed through the barracks, summoning the entire 106th Division. It was time to be deployed to the battlefield.
"Gear up! Emergency assembly!" Ryan shouted to his mess crew. He quickly strapped on his heavy-duty powered exoskeleton and hoisted a massive load of compressed rations—after all, the mess crew was responsible for carrying a week's worth of supplies for the entire company.
"Yes, sir!" The cooks responded in unison. As they packed the rations, they also smuggled extra treats for themselves—jerky and other compact goodies were popular choices. Even Ryan wasn't above pocketing a few extras.
Once everything was packed, Ryan led the mess crew to rendezvous with the rest of Second Company before boarding the dropship.
"Don't be nervous. We'll be on the ground soon," Ryan reassured the recruits as they anxiously took their seats.
"You've been through a drop before?" a corporal asked. Despite being a fresh recruit himself, his rank was still higher than Ryan's.
"Yeah. There'll be some shaking, but it'll be over quickly," Ryan said with a calm smile. Inside, though, he was praying. Their enemies might just be a bunch of bugs, but those creatures had no shortage of anti-air capabilities. The plasma cannons of the Titan Bugs could tear a dropship apart in an instant. Casualties during planetary drops were always high.
With a soft "hiss... click," the dropship disengaged from the warship and began its descent toward Alpha Star.
"Strap in tight, or you're in for a rough ride," Ryan advised, securing himself to the docking clamps designed for powered exoskeletons.
The fifty or so recruits were all nervous wrecks. Seeing Ryan's composed demeanor, they instinctively followed his lead, securing themselves as well.
"Boom!" The dropship jolted violently.
"What was that?! Did we get hit?!" Panic erupted among the recruits.
"Relax. We just entered the atmosphere," Ryan said, his voice steady.
From what he could tell, their dropship wasn't the first wave to launch. That meant the initial plasma fire would be aimed at the ships ahead. Their odds of landing safely were relatively high.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!" The deafening sounds of explosions filled the cabin. The warship's bombers were already targeting the Titan Bugs' plasma cannons, suppressing enemy fire to increase the dropships' survival rate.
With a final "THUD," their dropship hit the ground.
"All Marine units, disembark immediately!" the ship's PA blared. The dropship had to take off again to ferry the next wave of troops—it couldn't afford to linger on the battlefield.
"Move! Move! Move!" Ryan unlatched himself and was the first to charge out. As a veteran, he knew that staying inside a dropship was a death sentence. The massive target was irresistible to enemy fire—it was practically a flying coffin.
The rest of the soldiers scrambled after him. Just as the dropship reignited its thrusters for takeoff, a plasma bolt streaked through the air.
"BOOM!" The dropship erupted into a fiery explosion, crashing back to the ground in a heap of twisted metal.
"Dodge! Get clear!" Ryan yelled as he sprinted away, motioning for the rookies to follow.
"O-okay!" The recruits were too terrified to question him now. It was their first time witnessing such carnage, and instinctively, they clung to the most experienced soldier in their midst.
And right now, that was Ryan.