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"Hey Harper, wake up."

"Huh, what?"

I blinked the fog out of my eyes to see Trestan standing over me.

"The hell?"

"We're supposed to go to the conference room. There's going to be a debriefing or something."

I got up awkwardly and stretched my stiff muscles. I followed Trestan down the hall in silence. We came to an open door and I could hear the voices of the other three squad members. I walked into the room. Tank greeted me.

"Does anyone know what we're doing here?"

"No. Some cute nurse woke us up and said that we had been requested to meet here."

"How can you have found here attractive? She was a bimbo."

I listened as Teague and Jessica argued about the merits of girls. Tank laughed quietly and turned to me.

"Sleep well?"

"No."

"Me neither. Can you believe it, first squad in seven years? Only the second freshmen."

I was about to respond when the door opened. I looked around to see who the newcomer was. I saw red fir and then my eyes fell on a gold star. I immediately sprung from my seat.

"Room, Ten Hut!"

"At ease cadets."

We sat back down and watched the General circle the room. He was in the shadow along the walls so I couldn't make out much of his features. He looked to be a fox, of some other canine relative. He took his seat at the head of the table and moved into the light. I had been right, he was a fox. I took in his appearance quickly and spotted a strange white scar, barely visible on his forehead.

"Gentlemen, Lady, I would like to begin by saying congratulations. Your performance, despite its seaming simplicity, showed real brilliance. You, like the short list of squads to win in the past, demonstrated excellent team work, and expertly implemented your strengths, and took precautions for your limitations."

"Thank you sir."

"Now, I know you've been told that there's a reward for completing this challenge, and it's not just getting to meet me."

We laughed tentatively along with the General.

"To clarify, it's not a reward in the normal sense. You won't be receiving any special rank or ribbon or trophy. It's an opportunity, one which you will never get again. An opportunity for a life of excitement, risk, challenge, and success."

I listened intently. What was he talking about?

"We are looking to put together a small task force of coordinated individuals who can work together flawlessly. We think you would be perfect."

"We being who sir?"

"That doesn't matter. What I'm asking you to do is consider joining this. You will go through intensive training and will come out the best the military has to offer."

I sat pondering it for a while, and then leaned forward.

"What's the catch?"

"Ah... you must be Harper? The catch? You leave your old life behind. Friends, family, classmates, no one will know you are alive. Those of our enemy who find out, will have an extremely short amount of time to regret it."

"Not to be rude sir, but five people don't just disappear without a trace."

"That's why you don't. You disappear publicly so no one will question it."

"How."

"Trust me, if as many people died in training accidents as we report, I'd have and inquiry on my hands."

"So you stage out deaths?"

"Report them, hold a funeral, twenty one gun salute, the whole shebang"

"And we can never see our family or friends again?"

"I didn't say it would be easy. This assignment isn't for those who can't handle it. I'll give you guys some time to think about it."

He rose from his seat. We snapped to attention.

"At ease. Cadet Harper, walk with me, I'd like to have a word."

I turned back to the squad. They all had looks of bewilderment on their face. I got up and followed the General out the door. As courtesy demanded, I walked half a pace behind him, and to the side.

"I can't talk to you when you're behind me."

I lengthened my stride until I was level with him. Why was he treating me as an equal?

"That was excellent leadership you demonstrated out there."

"Thank you sir."

"I'd hate to lose such a good officer, but we need this team. If your squad decides to accept, would you feel able to lead them?"

"I don't know sir."

"You don't strike me as the indecisive type Harper."

"It's not that sir, it just, I was sort of leading them on the last mission and Jessica got shot. If we were in a real situation, she would have been killed."

The fox stopped and turned towards me. I turned and looked at him, suddenly stricken with how short I was.

"Son, you will lose men. You will always lose men. You're going to have to grit your teeth and accept that. That's the curse of command. This is war, people under your command will die, have always died. It is your responsibility as their leader to make sure they do not die without reason. If you have learned from this challenge, truly learned, I trust that you will never waste a life again."

I stood in silence, pondering his words.

"Your squad trusts you Harper. They need you to lead them, now more than ever. Can you take the challenge, or will you back down?"

"No Sir! I will never back down on my squad."

"That's exactly what I wanted to here. You have a lot of potential cadet, I'll be watching to see where it takes you."

I walked back to the conference room to find the squad sitting in silence. I sat in one of the leather desk chairs that surrounded the table and leaned back. Trestan tapped a pen against the wood. Tank turned to me.

"What do you think Harper?"

"Whatever we decide, it needs to be unanimous. Either we all go, or none of us go."

"I agree," this from Jessica, "we all bring something unique to the squad."

We sat in silence. Slowly, one by one, every one left the conference room alone. I was the last to leave. I wandered my way outside. It was a sunny day. The light hit my fur warming me but only to a point. I stared at the mountain range to the west. All past ties lost. My parents, my friends from high school, Traci. I know what I should do, what I had to do. It would be hard, but I wanted it. I wanted the challenge and chance to become the best. No one had said doing what was right was easy. I picked my way back to the structure, pondering my unspoken decision.

I took my seat around the large oval table and waited for the rest of the squad. They all came back soon after. Tank was the last to return. He still had a pained look on his face. I had never learned much about him, so had no idea what he was giving up. Somehow we knew that we had all come to the same decision. It had to be said though.

"So, do we face our deaths and begin a new life, or do we go back to school and continue our old one?"

Teague cleared his throat, "let's go get killed."

"Jessica, you in?"

"Yes."

"Trestan?"

"Yup."

"Tank?"

He paused "I'm in."

The general came back into the room. He waved us down before we could even react. Somehow he knew a decision had been made.

"So, what's it going to be?"

"We'll do it."

"You all understand the consequences?"

I nodded and so did the rest of the squad around me.

"Alright, we'd better get started."