A few minutes and a change of clothes later they arrived on the field where their training unit, twenty-four sweat-drenched young men, were doing push-ups. Manny was surprised to see that these Martyrs, at least, weren’t all white: there was one Black man right in the middle of the group. It took Manny a second to recognize the instructor drilling them was Ditmar, the man they’d met on their way into the base. He broke into a broad smile when he saw them.

“God’s will is truly magnificent, is it not?” And then he nodded down to the ground. “Fall in and join us, lads. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Manny and Roland dropped down and joined the unit in another set of push-ups. If Roland had any trouble at all with the work-out regimen he didn’t show it. The chromed man barely sweated. And Manny had a feeling that his sweat was more for show than the result of an actual biological process. Even with the show it was obvious to everyone that Roland wasn’t having any trouble with the exercises.

“God’s blessed us with a new Samson,” Ditmar said, a hundred or so push-ups in. The rest of the men, Manny included, had collapsed from the exertion. But Roland just kept going. For a while they all sat there, huffing and exhausted and watching him go. Ditmar smiled and shook his head, a little awed at the sight. Finally he waved for Roland to stop.

“You’ve made your point, son. And we’re all blessed to have you here with us. Now, get up—all of you, and sit around me.”

Manny stood, shook the soreness from his arms and moved to take a seat in the semi-circle of young Martyrs. Once they were all properly positioned, Ditmar squatted down and cast his eyes around the group, settling on each of them in turn.

“I don’t know how you all got here,” he said in a quiet, somber voice, “but I know what brought each of you here: the spirit of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” He cleared his throat. “Now,” he said, “very soon, you’ll all be going into battle. Sooner than I’d prefer. We don’t have time for the kind of training you boys deserve. You’ll be fighting against men with more experience, better weaponry. It’s a scary thought. But I’ll tell you all right now, if you go into that battle with the same blind faith that brought you here, you’ll do just fine. God won’t let any other end come to pass.”