Combat Zone Chapter Three

"Shoulders straight! Don't let your opponent push you back! If you lose ground, you lose the fight!" shouted the Commander as she stalked down the line of cadets. Kel walked up to one of the older cadets, and surprised him by hooking a foot around his knee and pulling his leg out from under him. The cadet shouted in surprise as he fell flat on his back. He looked up at his commander with shocked blue eyes and gulped upon seeing her face. Kel looked around at the other cadets and pointed to the Irken on the floor.

"THIS...is what happens when you let your guard down! You let yourself get lazy on the battle field, and you're dead. What's the first thing I told you?!" she asked as she looked from one cadet to the next. One of the smaller cadets raised his hand.

"Cadet Varin?!"

"Sir! 'A slow Irken is a dead Irken!', Commander Kel, sir!"

Kel nodded. "That's what I want to see from each of you! I want you all to treat these training sessions as if they were a real battle. Like your lives depended on you doing well!" Kel took one last look at her group before turning around.

"That's all for today. Get some rest, and we'll pick it up same time tomorrow." she said, waving her hand over her head as she walked away. Kel spotted the blue eyed cadet gathering his things.

"Cadet Met! Come see me, now!" she shouted at him.

Met jumped and hurried to follow his Commander. Kel walked over to a section of wall at the back of the room and entered a code onto a key pad. From the floor rose a desk and chair, and computer screens appeared on the wall. Kel sat down with a sigh, shuffling through paperwork.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?" Met asked.

"You're being transfered to the Gigantic effective tomorrow." said Kel, hardly looked up form her work.

Met looked at her in shock. "You're joking....."

The commander scowled up at him. "I never joke." she said flatly.

"But....why?"

"Your profile was extremely lacking when you arrived on the Massive, and you haven't improved in the six months you've been on board."

"Can't you ask them to give me another chance?" asked Met desperately.

"No."

"Why not?!" the cadet demanded as he slammed his hand on the desk top.

"BECAUSE!" bellowed Kel as she stood up. "The Massive is the flag ship of the Irken Armada, the pride and joy of our fleet. That said, the Tallest themselves ultimately dictate our actions on this ship. If there's an Irken that isn't doing a proper job, then the Tallest reassign them to another ship. End of story."

"You...you mean the Tallest ordered my transfer?"

"Not them directly, but one of their advisers. The Tallest have other things to worry about then an Irken who can't do his job right. Here.” She handed him a folder. “This is what you'll need to know for when you get to the Gigantic. Now if you'll be so kind as to get out, I have things to do." The cadet sighed as he took it and went to leave.

"One moment, Cadet."

"Sir?"

"You forgot your bag." Kel said, pointedly staring at the lump on the ground.

After the dropout left, the commander punched in her code, sending the desk back into storage. Just as she was closing the door to the training room, her communicator alerted her with a loud beep.

"Yes?" Kel asked with slight irritation.

"I hope you remembered about today." replied a soothing voice.

Kel sighed. "Yes, Vima. I was just leaving the training room. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Alright. Just make sure you don't get sidetracked like last time."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." said the Commander as she turned off the feed. Kel walked down the hall, headed for the medic bay, when someone suddenly flicked her antennae.

"Don't you have someone else you can annoy, Rouga?" Kell asked.

"Not right now." said Rouga with a cheeky grin.

Kel sighed and kept walking. "Shouldn't you be guarding the prisoners? Isn't that supposed to be your job?" she inquired tiredly.

"I am doing my job."

"And how is bothering me doing your job?"

Rouga laughed. "I'm on my way to pick up a new prisoner. Everyone else was busy, so they sent me." he said.

"Of course they did. Look, I've got somewhere to go. I'll talk to you later, Rouga."

"Okay, see ya." said Rouga as he went to pat her on the back. Kel stiffened at the contact, spinning around, and grabbed Rouga's hand, twisting it behind his back. Rouga yelped in pain as Kel realized what she was doing. She quickly let the shorter Irken go and backed up.

"Sorry." she said softly.

"What was that about?! You almost ripped my arm off there!" asked Rouga as he rubbed his shoulder.

"I don't like people touching my back. Its sensitive. Look, I have to go."

Rouga watched Kel as she disappeared. 'Wonder what's up with her' he pondered as he continued down the hall.

Kel walked down to the end of the corridor and turned into the medic bay. heading to the first door, she knocked gently. Blue eyes looked up from a computer screen.

"Come in Kel. Lets see how you're doing."