After three hours, they finally arrived at the new Tiger Shark Brigade of S Army. They all stepped off the trucks, with curious expressions. Maggie had previously been to such legendary places as the Eagle, so she was less overwhelmed than before. She found that the structure was almost identical to the Eagle's, but the buildings and the battle playground were new.
"All, fall in!" Sam's loud and powerful voice sounded. All the soldiers stood in files.
Maggie stood next to Sam. From the corner of her eye, she saw that five people were approaching them. Her expression became serious and she looked at the other student soldiers as they waited for the newcomers to arrive.
After the officers arrived, Sam turned back and quickly ran toward the senior military officer. He saluted them and reported, "Sir! Forty-seven should be here and there are forty-seven now. Over!"
"At ease!"
"Yes, sir!" Sam answered and ran back. "At ease!"
Maggie thought that everything would be different now that she had been assigned to a different unit than the Eagle. She thought that she would not see Edgar. But to her surprise, Edgar appeared in front of her all of a sudden!
Edgar turned to Daniel and said simply, "After assigning them, you should make plans for the enrolment of new soldiers next month."
"Yes, sir!" Daniel answered and saluted. When Edgar had walked away, Daniel began to allocate everyone and told them what they should pay attention to and their individual tasks.
Maggie was still thinking of Edgar, so she couldn't help but smile secretly. It seemed then that Edgar had been transferred from the Eagle to the Tiger Shark. He had become the senior military officer of the Tiger Shark! He had been promoted by two grades and they could be together, too. Maggie could not believe her happy fortunes to get exactly what she had wanted.
The Tiger Shark was a newly established brigade, so everything had to start from scratch. Moreover, in line with the latest concepts, both officers and soldiers in this brigade were new, except for Edgar and some members from the Falcon Commando.
Sam and Maggie were assigned roles as the commander and the instructor, respectively, because their scores were the highest two. They not only participated in the routine training like the others, but also trained the new recruits while making plans for the newly enrolled soldiers.
The trivial things didn't matter much or cost them time. The intensive training, both day and night, was the only matter they had to deal with. They received instructions from every senior officer, including Edgar and Daniel.
The wind in summer was always a hot, blistering breeze. But the temperature range between the morning and the night was large. When night fell, it cooled down substantially.
On the training ground, Maggie sat on an obstacle and watched Sam and some junior officers doing push-ups while a few female officers stood by cheering them on. The routine training was hard, but those who could muster it, had excellent military abilities. They were the best of the best. However, the main reason for facing down all of their daily challenges was immense ambitions. So rare moments of carefree laughter were welcomed in the Tiger Shark Brigade.
Someone came over and sat down next to Maggie and she turned sideways reflectively. It was Edgar. Out of instinct, she was about to jump up and salute, but was pulled down by him.
"Are you tired?" Edgar asked in a gentle voice, concern in his dark eyes.
Maggie's instinctive smile at his presence grew bigger and bigger, and she was moved by his concern. Biting her lip, she then shook her head before replying, "No. But that's a lie, and you know it."
Edgar burst into laughter and moving his hands dramatically made a can of cola appear as if in a magic trick. He grinned and handed it over to Maggie.
Maggie looked at Edgar in confusion. "Isn't it against the rules?"
"I permit it!" Edgar said in a mischievous tone.
Maggie at once glanced around then, hoping that no one saw them. She licked her lips and wanted the sweet gift, but in the end, she shook her head. "No. I don't know if it is a trap." Edgar looked at her in surprise, but she turned and rolled her eyes. Everything could be a trap in the special brigade. You should always be able to restrain yourself and fight against the lure of potential traps.
"Well, good job!" Edgar nodded and his smile grew bigger. Then Maggie saw him open the cola and drink. He said, "You should be cautious about all things, and all people, including the one whom you love the most."
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