Chapter 48: award presentations

“Get ready folks because the last and most memorable event of this ceremony is about to begin,” the mc of the ceremony said with a grin. “Please I want you to give a wave of applause as I invite his excellency, General Maks Vincent, the leader of Southern Sparta as he comes on stage to present the gifts to the exceptional soldiers of this batch”.

The applause was deafening as everybody rose up including Clark to welcome their leader. The General smiled and waved at the audience as he stood up walking straight to the podium.

“Good afternoon my fellow Spartans,” the General greeted. From his deep voice alone, you will know that he is a man of power.

“It’s been a long day and I am excited as much as you are as I carry out the last event of the day. I am very excited and proud to present the gifts to the exceptional soldiers of this generation, they’ve made us and the nation as a whole proud as there are some soldiers among them who broke our existing records”.

“Thank God,” Clark thought as the General didn’t waste time on baseless talks like the master of ceremony, he directly began the gifts presentation.

Following the normal format, the General awarded the soldiers from the least to the best. A medal was provided to every soldier as his/her reward for successfully graduating to become a soldier. Don’t underestimate the value of the medals even though they can’t be sold, soldiers are already significantly better treated than other people of different occupations. Having a medal is akin to having a scepter of authority and nobility as normal citizens always respect and adore soldiers.

The awards presentation continued for about 10 minutes before Clark’s cadet training base was finally called out. After presenting gifts to the training bases which took 2nd and 3rd positions respectively, they were finally called to the podium.

“Captain Spoky, lead your soldiers to the podium so that we’ll present to them their gifts”. The General announced as Captain Spoky quickly acknowledged the command. He led all his cadets as they walked to the stage while the General smiled at them.

“This is the 1st time in 15 years that this military training base produce better soldiers than our best training base, I’m really impressed”. The General praised as the group of soldiers quickly reached the podium.

“For becoming the best group of soldiers in this ceremony I’ll first provide you all with 100,000 Spartan credits each and 200,000 credits to your captain who trained you to become what you are today. The government also provided 100,000 credits to the sergeants who acted as mentors to you. All these monetary gains are sub-standard compared to the greatest gift of all, the medal of excellence. All of you will be presented with the medal of excellence which is a great honor to you as soldiers”.

“I am still astonished by the fact that this training base broke the overall record of the Southern Sparta army. The last record was created by the best training base in south Sparta here at 207 survivors but this group of soldiers defied all odds as they directly broke the record by 5 extra survivors equaling 212 survivors, it’s simply outstanding. They are only 3 survivors behind breaking the national record”. The audience exploded with a wild wave of applause as all the cadets on stage felt fulfilled, “our hard work paid off”.

“Congratulations Captain Spoky, due to the achievements of the soldiers under you, you are no longer a Captain as you are directly receiving a promotion, you are now a lieutenant of the Spartan army”.

Captain Spoky now Lieutenant went wild with joy as he smiled at the crowd while repeatedly thanking the General. It was a huge cause of celebration as only high-grade soldiers with their 4th breakthrough are eligible to become lieutenants. The audience continued clapping relentlessly after every announcement.

“As for this group of exceptional soldiers who broke our record, you’ll all be given an additional 200,000 Spartan credits and will be given the Sparta medal. The Sparta medal signifies the hard work you all put in for the last 3 years, you will be recognized anywhere in Sparta as the best of the best soldiers with this medal”. After the presentations the General called them to come closer as they were captured in a picture with him.

Clark at this moment felt on top of the world. “Me entering a picture with the leader of the whole of Southern Sparta, not only that he is a General, a soldier with the 4th breakthrough under his belt. Man, this is a privilege of the highest grade,” excitement alone was undermining Clark’s current emotion. He was ecstatic.

“Citizens of Sparta, be relaxed and enjoy yourself as we’ll quickly enter the individual awards. I am very proud to call out 4 exceptional soldiers who broke our existing individual record. Sergeant Clark, Sergeant Anderson, Sergeant Andy, Sergeant Leo,” the audience clapped with vigor as the 4 soldiers climbed up into the podium again.

“This batch of soldiers are really exceptional,” the General said with a wide smile on his face. These 4 soldiers directly bulldozed and broke our existing individual record.

“Congratulations the 4 of you, you really made me proud. The 4 of you will each receive 300,000 Spartan credits and the medal of bravery and courage. Anderson scored a total of 310 points, Leo scored a total of 330 points, Andy scored a total of 320 points, Clark is the best of them all but I’ll keep his points announcement for later”. The General ordered the other 3 cadets now Sergeants to go leaving Clark behind.

The General smiled at him, “Sergeant Clark, well what can I say, through ought my whole career as a soldier you are by far the greatest graduating soldier I’ve ever met. My fellow citizens of Sparta, as I said Clark is the best soldier of this batch of graduates”.

“Clark you will be presented with another 300,000 Spartan credits as well as the medal of perfection, this is a new medal that was made by the military to reward you as your achievement is a first of its kind”. The audience clapped wildly as Clark smiled while waving at them.

Hahaha, the General faced the audience as he suddenly laughed, “do you think only these achievements will make him the greatest graduating soldier I’ve ever met?”

The General asked this question in a joking tone, he grinned at the audience as he slowly said. “Sergeant Clark achieved the unachievable, he did the undoable in this graduation training”.

[Thank you for reading this chapter I really appreciate. Please if there is any problem with the translation quality or there is any wrong spelling or sentence, indicate I'll try to fix it immediately.]