Chapter 403:Interview II

Chapter 403: 403:Interview II

"Because he had wilderness experience and nobody else had better leadership experience."

"Not because he had Soul Capacity fifteen?"

"No."

"If he had Soul Capacity nine?"

Antony shrugged.

"If he still had the most relevant experience, I’d have agreed."

The woman tapped the screen. The footage moved to the first Tier Three beast that Gareth wanted to fight but Antony found the drainage channel.

"Why challenge his decision?"

"Because it was unnecessary."

"He calculated that the marked detour would cost approximately twenty minutes," the woman calmly said.

"Yes."

"And engaging the beast could have been faster."

"Could have," he agreed.

The woman looked at him.

"But you disagreed."

"I found another route."

"One not marked on your official map."

"The official map also told us to cross a bridge that wasn’t there."

The man on the right smiled.

The woman didn’t.

"You trusted your judgment over academy-issued information."

Antony became more careful.

"No. I trusted what was physically in front of me over information we’d already confirmed was outdated."

That caused a brief pause.

The older officer nodded.

"Difference noted."

The screen changed to the injured soldier. Antony watched himself crouching beside him.

The older officer asked, "Why didn’t you take him to the emergency collection point?"

"It would’ve pulled the whole squad away from the objective."

"You left an injured soldier alone."

"After Leon treated him, after we moved him somewhere safer and after we transmitted his location."

"Your first transmission failed."

"We tried again from higher ground."

"And if the second had failed?"

Antony paused.

"I would’ve wanted confirmation before we got too far."

"Wanted?"

Antony sighed.

"You’re going to punish me every time I use uncertain wording, aren’t you?"

The woman stared flatly at.

Antony immediately continued.

"I would have attempted another transmission from the next elevated position. If we still couldn’t reach anyone, we’d have needed to reconsider whether leaving him was acceptable."

The older officer nodded.

"Better."

More footage.

The request from Squad Forty-Two. Their decision not to divert after confirming the squad was no longer pinned to all the things that had happened, and the cancelled extraction route.

The officers moved quickly through those decisions until the screen reached the second Tier Three beast.

Antony recognized the rocky pass.

It showed Gareth drawing his sword and Antony telling him they weren’t fighting.

The recording stopped.

The time appeared.

12:37

The older officer looked directly at Antony.

"At twelve thirty-seven hours, you directly challenged Candidate Holler’s decision."

"Yes, sir."

"He was functioning as squad leader."

"Yes."

"Why did you ignore his order?"

Antony shook his head.

"I didn’t exactly ignore it."

The woman spoke.

"You told him, and I quote, ’We’re not fighting that.’"

Antony thought about it.

"That does sound like ignoring him."

The man on the right covered a smile with his hand.

The older officer remained expressionless.

"Answer the question."

Antony became serious.

"Because his decision would’ve put us into the beast’s attack radius when there was another viable route."

"He believed combat was faster."

"He was right if everything went perfectly."

"And you believed it wouldn’t?"

"I believed we didn’t need to gamble."

The officer leaned forward.

"Explain."

Antony looked toward the paused footage.

"We had the data unit, that was the mission. We weren’t being sent to eliminate the beast. We still had enough time to reach extraction, and the channel gave us a route around it. Fighting meant risking injuries, spending core energy and possibly using medicine or ammunition for something that didn’t improve our chances of completing the objective."

The officer nodded.

"But Holler was your squad leader."

Antony paused.

"He was acting as squad leader."

The older man’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"There’s a difference?"

"Nobody appointed him."

The room became noticeably quieter.

The woman leaned back.

"You agreed to follow him."

"Yes."

"So when you agree with an order, he’s your leader. When you disagree, he’s merely acting as one?"

Antony immediately realized how bad that sounded.

"No."

"Then clarify."

Antony thought.

This wasn’t Gareth anymore, this was exactly what the academy wanted.

"If the academy had appointed Gareth as squad commander, then he would’ve had authority over us. We chose him because he had the most experience. That meant we trusted him to coordinate us, not that the other four of us stopped thinking."

The woman didn’t interrupt.

Antony continued.

"When I saw another route, I told him. Leon agreed. Rebecca agreed. Mira confirmed the terrain. Gareth reconsidered and changed his decision."

The older officer asked, "What if he hadn’t?"

Antony paused, that was harder.

"If he insisted on fighting?" He asked.

"Yes."

He leaned back slightly.

"I don’t know."

"Wrong answer."

He frowned.

The officer continued.

"You were there. Decide."

Antony thought.

"If he was still only acting as a leader we’d selected ourselves, and four of us believed the decision created an unnecessary danger to the squad and mission, I wouldn’t follow him into the fight."

"So you would disobey."

"Yes."

The officer nodded.

"Now suppose Candidate Holler wasn’t Candidate Holler."

Antony waited.

"Suppose he was Lieutenant Holler."

Antony’s expression changed.

"Commissioned officer. Assigned squad commander. Same situation. Same beast. Same alternative route. He orders you to engage."

Antony didn’t answer immediately.

The woman watched him closely.

"Would you refuse?"

He looked down for a moment, then back up.

"No."

The older officer raised an eyebrow.

"Why not?"

"Because that changes the command structure."

"So rank makes a bad decision good?"

"No."

"Then why obey it?"

Antony took a second.

"If there was time, I’d tell him about the alternative route. I’d explain why I thought fighting was unnecessary. If he had information I didn’t, he could still order the engagement."

"And then?"

"I’d obey."

"Regardless of risk?"

Antony hesitated.

"Unless the order clearly violated standing regulations, was unlawful, or I had information showing it would unnecessarily destroy the mission and there was no time to clarify."

The woman immediately challenged him.

"Who determines unnecessary?"

Antony almost smiled.

"You people really don’t allow easy answers."

"No."

Antony nodded.

"Then I suppose that’s the problem. I can’t just decide every order I dislike is unnecessary. If someone is actually commanding me, I have to assume they might know things I don’t. But if I see something they haven’t seen, I should tell them."