Who wants to be leaders?

"Quickly Kenneth, take the oath!"
"I can't! It would be a lie!"
"But it will save your life!" screamed Clive above the din of the engines. Ken held on to the railing with all the strength remaining in his straining fingers, legs flailing.

Kenneth squeezed his eyes shut and pushed harder against the wind, hoping madly for some other way. There was no recourse, no escape from this horrific fate. It was do or die.

Quietly, Kenneth begged for forgiveness.

"I swear" he shouted,
"to uphold the code" gasping for breath, the punishing wind carrying his voice away with it,
"Of the thirty-second regiment." He had their full attention.
"I will not waver, I will not question orders. I will not reveal facts about my regiment when captured.
I will uphold the principles of the regiment. I will strive to represent them in my best capacity."
Some of the regiment stepped forward, about to switch off the engines, but their sergeant held them back with a raised hand, his piercing eyes glaring straight into Kenneth's desperate gaze.
Kenneth continued "I am a member of the thirty-second regiment, and nothing will stop me being so, so help me God."
"Switch em off!" yelled the sergeant, and with that the engines wound down, eliminating suddenly the gusts, and letting Kenneth's weary frame collapse to the floor of the cave. He was careful to use his last flicker of strength to roll to one side, out of harm's way should the engines strike up again for any reason, before collapsing fully into a breathless slump.

"OK lads" barked the sergeant "thirty seconds is up. Who wants to be leaders?"

Richie Spice - Earth A Run Red (from Spice In Your Life)