V is for Victory.

Chapter 1

                        “She’s good.” A woman by the name of Tessa Brecan noted openly. “Better than a lot of yours.”

            “Is that a compliment to her or an insult to me?” A man, Colonel Dick Bicce, begged. Brecan only shrugged and continued to watch the girl on the screen.

            “How old is she again?” She asked, stunned at the skill she presented in combat and leadership.

            “Seventeen, and she’ll be eighteen in seven months. She’ll have been the leader of Juggernaut for four years in six, the longest anybody has been in command.” Bicce disclosed.

            “Command at fourteen? I’m impressed. How’d she get there?” Brecan asked as she stepped closer to the screen she watched.

            “Nobody is really certain except for her old leader, but he died out on Atlas.”

            “Accident?” Brecan turned her head a little back toward Bicce and raised a pierced eyebrow.

            “We have him down as a deserter. File says he was against UFT systems and went to join the Recalcitrants. Mostly true, just not the deserting part.” Bicce said. “As far as we can tell, she got to command by killing somebody else. We aren’t even certain if it was real or simulation, but she beat him and took Prito’s place. Person she fought against was seventeen himself, probably better she took him out then and there.”

            “She has fire. What’s her ratio?”

            “Kills and deaths or wins and losses?”

            “Both?”

            “Well, lately she hasn’t had many kills and deaths because of her command status but before that she was in a mix between Rifles and infantry. She’s just a naturally good shot. She had a low death rate until she had to lead, then she kept getting to the front of the ranks and taking bullets. She has a narcissistic kind of pride about her, which makes her more entertaining to watch, I think.” Bicce described. “Her wins and losses after she became commander were a little discerning because as I said she kept getting to the front of the line, but when she figured out that was a bad idea she actually pulled through. Last year she lost only seven matches.”

            “How many did she win?” Brecan asked.

            “Four hundred and two.” Bicce stated.

            “Very funny, but how many really?”

            “Four hundred and two, ma’am. She beat every team we had, and even a few on installations three and four.”

            “How am I just hearing about her?”

            “You aren’t, she’s been talked about quite a bit but they are mostly legends and nobody believes them.”

            “How many matches has she lost this year, then? Just this one I’m guessing?”

            “No, she’s lost eight others. And she has only won three.”

            “Why’s that?” Brecan had deep concern in her voice. She was incredibly worried that this rising star had just erupted.

            “Bad intel on one match that depended on a Jotun. The enemy took out her shield and nobody even noticed until it was in the dust. Whole place was ruined, and she had to go into another match just five minutes after waking up so she couldn’t fix anything and she lost a second time. It set a bad streak for her, but we think she’ll come out of it next match.”

            “Well,” Brecan said. “Keep me posted. I think we could use her. How many months before she has four years?”

            “Six months. Why?”

            “I’ll take her then.” Tessa said, and then walked out of the room to go back to her own job.