Warhammer: Empire Reboot

In the past, when conscripting men, people would hide behind water tanks, in ventilation pipes, or under body bags.

Now, young people are queuing up themselves.

On the other side of the street, Luo's handprint flag hangs at the entrance of the conscription station.

Inside the door stood the Cornerstone Sequence Medical Examiner and the PDF New Officer.

The column moved very slowly.

The slower it goes, the more anxious people become.

Leon was in the middle of the line, his palms sweating. He wiped his hands on his trouser leg twice, and just as he was about to wipe them a third time, a hand suddenly reached out from the side and slapped him on the shoulder.

"You're here too?"

Leon turned his head and saw Roche.

Roche, who lived next door, was a year older than him. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and always had a smile on his face. His father ran a small metal recycling shop, and the family was a little better off than Leon's.

Leon looked at his unevenly shaved hair.

"Who gnawed on you?"

Roche scratched his head.

"My mom cut it. She said it looks like a soldier's haircut."

"Like being bitten by a servo skull."

Roche grinned: "As long as it passes."

Leon glanced ahead.

"I heard that half of them were eliminated in the first round."

Roche's laughter subsided slightly.

"It's not just hearsay. Someone from South Alley returned yesterday."

"Because of your health?"

“Physical skills are just the first hurdle,” Roche said in a low voice. “There are also literacy tests, arithmetic tests, reaction tests, and psychological interviews.”

Leon was stunned, somewhat puzzled: "Does a PDF need to be counted?"

Roche shrugged: "New rule. Instructor Cornerstone said that anyone who can't read tactical markings will kill the entire squad on the battlefield."

Someone interrupted from behind.

"My cousin got rejected yesterday."

Leon turned around and saw a tall, thin young man speaking, looking embarrassed as if he himself had been cheated.

Roche asked, "Which one did you fail?"

"psychology."

What did he do?

The tall, thin young man scratched his neck.

"The question asks: If the political commissar of the Cornerstone orders him to abandon his brother who is surrounded by orcs and instead guard the ammunition depot, what would he choose?"

"what did he say?"

He said he would save his brothers first.

The line fell silent for a moment.

A girl whispered, "Does this even need to be swiped?"

The tall, thin young man gave a wry smile.

"The cornerstone examiner said that the brotherhood was admirable, but the battlefield discipline was lacking."

No one spoke anymore.

When it was Leon's turn, he was led into the first medical examination room.

The cornerstone physician sat behind a metal table.

"Take off your shirt and stand inside the scanning frame."

Leon did as instructed.

A cold beam of light swept from head to toe.

"Name."

"Leon Castle".

"age."

"nineteen."

"Profession."

"Repair apprentice".

"Past medical history".

Leon hesitated for a moment.

The keystone physician finally looked up.

"Concealing medical history will result in permanent disqualification from registration."

Leon gritted his teeth.

"I had a lung infection from mining dust when I was eleven years old."

The medical officer tapped on the screen.

The scan data appeared quickly.

"Residual alveolar fibrosis. The risk is higher in high-intensity toxic fog, low oxygen, and long-term trekking environments."

Leon's heart tightened.

“I can run. I ran twelve laps yesterday.”

The medical officer pushed an identification tag towards him.

"Testing continues."

He was taken to running, weightlifting, shooting simulations, and reaction tests.

While running, he heard a slight hissing sound in his lungs.

When carrying heavy loads, he could last longer than two people stronger than himself.

In the shooting simulation, his score was above average.

I barely passed the cultural test.

He almost got the answer wrong on a problem about ammunition allocation. He finally managed to figure it out by pinching four marks on his palm with his fingernails.

Finally, he sat in a small, cramped room.

The interviewer asked, "Why did you apply?"

Leon remained silent for a moment.

"For military pay."

Interviewer's notes.

"besides?"

"So that my sister could attend a technical class."

"besides?"

Leon looked up.

"So that I won't be afraid of being shot anymore."

The interviewer paused for a moment, then continued writing.

"If you find yourself assigned to a garrison post instead of frontline combat after enlisting, would you obey?"

"obey."

"If you were to be discharged from the military in five years and assigned to a water purification plant as a pipeline supervisor instead of becoming an officer, would you accept that?"

Leon was taken aback.

He hadn't thought about that.

He considered wearing a military uniform.

I've thought about guns.

Roche looked at him with envy.

Having thought about her father getting a new leg, Tiffany moved into the mid-level technical class.

But he never imagined that he would be standing next to the water purification pipe with his tools.

"Answer," the interviewer said.

Leon's throat moved.

"accept."

"If your neighborhood is attacked on the battlefield, and your squad is ordered to hold another energy node, how would you act?"

Leon's fingers froze instantly.

This question was crueler than he had imagined.

He remembered his father's mechanical leg, his mother's old glasses, and how Tiffany didn't dare to cry even when she pricked herself with a needle while repairing shoes.

After a long pause, he said, "Guard the energy nodes."

The interviewer asked, "Why?"

"Losing the energy node could mean even more deaths."