"How'd we do?" asked Wit.
Calinga shrugged. "After we'd shot them all, we told them it seemed silly for anyone to lie stiff as a board in the grass until it was over. So we stripped our suits first, so they wouldn't think we were mocking them, and then we broke out the ration coolers with the vitamin drinks. I think the PCs were hoping for booze, but they seemed grateful enough."
"Did we lose any men?"
"Toward the end of the last assault I shot Toejack and Kimble when no one was looking. It seemed like we should have at least a few wounded. If we were all still standing in the end, it would have felt like gloating."
"Well done," said Wit. He stepped out of his dampening suit and shot it with his weapon. The suit stiffened and turned red. "Drop your suits and shoot them," he told the others.
The new recruits obeyed immediately.
"Now we put them on the pile with the others," said Wit. "Be exhausted. Don't act, just let your ex
haustion be seen."
Wit led the others to the pile. He had a stitch in his side, but instead of suppressing the pain like he normally would, he let it aggravate him and winced at the discomfort of it. He tossed his suit onto the pile. The soldiers around the bonfire saw him, and everyone quieted. The new recruits dropped their suits onto the pile. They looked wet and tired and beaten, when a moment ago they hadn't even seemed winded.
Wit spoke loudly. "Those of you in my unit know that I do not like to fail."
The camp was silent.
"I had assumed that we could easily win this exercise, but tonight I've learned that you PCs are tougher men than I anticipated. All of us took a beating. If we work this hard over the next few weeks, we'll learn from each other and become better soldiers and men because of it."
Headlights cut through the darkness, and a small convoy of vehicles pulled in. Wit fell silent, watching the cars approach. Major Ketkar stepped down from one of the vehicles, now wearing his fatigues and looking none too pleased.
"Attention!" Wit yelled.
Everyone at the campfire snapped to attention, including Wit, who saluted the major, even though technically it wasn't necessary.
Major Ketkar mostly hid his surprise. He looked at the men and the coolers and the sausages and the pile of dampening suits, taking it all in. Then he spoke loudly for everyone to hear. "Captain Wit O'Toole has assured me that the next seven weeks of training will be the most grueling, most painful, and most challenging of your lives. After tonight's exercise I believe him. In the morning, I intend to forget that I saw a hundred men in their underwear, standing around a fire like a pack of cavemen." He paused here and looked pointedly at a few of his own men. "But since this is your last night before our hellish training begins, I will turn a blind eye." He smiled now. "You will forgive me if I keep my uniform on."
The men laughed.
"As you were," said Ketkar.
They went back to their drinks and mingling.
Ketkar turned to Wit. "You owe me two new cars, Captain."
"You'll be reimbursed, sir. Forgive me if we took the game too far."
"And damage to one of my trucks, which proved to be a lousy roadblock."
"We'll cover the damage to that as well, sir."
"You will do no such thing," said Ketkar, waving a hand. "Nor will you pay for the cars. I don't want to have to explain to our vehicle quartermaster how the MOPs made us look like bumbling idiots. I'll file an accident report instead."
"We didn't win, sir," said Wit. He reached down to his red suit, removed the flag from the back pouch, and handed it to Ketkar. "Our suits were hit. We were disqualified."
Ketkar studied him, suspicious. "And if I were to interview all of my men and ask them which one of them took down the famous Wit O'Toole, someone would step forward?"
"Many men shot at us, sir. It was chaotic there at the end."
Ketkar smiled. "Yes. And somehow with inflated suits you managed to get all the way back to camp. Most impressive."
Wit motioned to the flagpole, where a red sheet posing as a flag flapped in the wind. "You have men in your vehicles who are still in the game, sir. If you'd like to take our flag, you won't meet any resistance. All of us are out of the fight."
Ketkar smiled. "I think it best if we call this a draw and leave it at that."