Andrei woke up to his alarm and also to someone standing in his room he was not expecting. Julia had a suitcase in her arm and was wearing a thrift store version of combat fatigues.
"Rise and shine sleepy head! Today is the day we become soldiers!" Julia stood confidently looking at her brother expecting him to say something.
"Can I get changed first?" Andrei questioned his sister as if to say hey leave my room I'm naked under the sheets without saying that outloud.
"Oh right, see you in a few minutes, monorail leaves in one hour and we have a 20 minute walk or 2 minute taxi but I wont pay for the taxi" as she stepped out of her brother's room.
Andrei had not realized that Julia was going to the MA as well but it made sense once he thought about it as she had powers in Element Fire. He had meant to spar with his sisters to get their abilities and just forgot about having that thought nonetheless asked them to participate. Maybe after they all graduate and meet up again he can challenge them to see what Skill Sap will give him from them.
The monorail was a multi-car train that would travel at high speeds on a designated rail at either an elevated or underground railway. The journey was actually quite short since they did not live far from Hathin's Military Academy and they were the last pickup before entering the base.
Entering the packed monorail a sudden silence occurred in the car that they had entered. Andrei was used to people stopping and staring as he was a large man but it was more so that they could not believe he entered with someone who looked like Julia.
The triplets were what most men would call perfect. Their faces were shaped with softest plump natural lips every woman would envy. The shape of their nose was so cute the baby's would say "Aww" upon meeting them. Their bodies had filled out into some extreme curves that most would not think was possible.
They had always worked out and stayed in top condition as it was just an Ierdna thing to do. They always pushed each other to be at the best possible condition pushing each other to run further, push harder, and never satisfied losing to the other two.
To put it lightly, they made quite the odd couple. No one knew that they were siblings since Julia had spotless tanned skin and Andrei was covered in freckles. Only their hair color would be similar to each other but that was more coincidence.
The chatter started to build back up again as everyone got their looks in and realized it was quite silent for a moment. The two of them found an empty 2 seats and sat down together taking the 30 minute ride to the Academy.
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"LINE UP IN SINGLE FILE ALONG THE YELLOW LINES. FILL IN ALONG ANY OF THE YELLOW LINES. HOP TO IT!" a drill sergeant yelled at the top of his lungs as the doors of the monorail car opened and a yellow line extended out a few hundred yards. At the end was a drill sergeant with a drone above his head that was amplifying his voice.
Quickly people were exiting the monorail cars and hurrying down the yellow lines at a brisk walk. The excitement was palpable and as people made it to the drill sergeant chatter started to build as there were several hundred new recruits.
"SILENCE! THIS POINT ON YOU ARE A SOLDIER OF GALACTIC FEDERATION DO YOU GET ME?"
"We get you sir!" some knew the assignment but not enough nonetheless all needed to know.
"I SAID DO YOU GET ME?" the drill sergeant chimed again.
"WE GET YOU SIR!" Most chimed in this time and the drill sergeant's expression never changed.
"FROM THIS POINT FORWARD YOU ARE TO RESPOND TO ANY AND ALL COMMANDS GIVE TO YOU BY AN OFFICER WITH A SIR YES SIR! DO YOU GET ME?"
"SIR YES SIR" everyone now in unison.
"NOW FOLLOW THE YELLOW LINES IN FRONT OF YOU AND YOU WILL BE REGISTERED. UPON REGISTERING WE WILL THEN START WITH THE TESTING. 5 TESTS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE YOUR COMBAT PROFICIENCY"
"YOU WILL BE GIVEN A MID, OR MILITARY IDENTIFICATION, THAT WILL BE ENCODED TO YOUR DNA AND ALSO WILL DISPLAY YOUR TEST RESULTS. THE MID IS TO BE ON YOUR CHEST IN FULL DISPLAY AT ALL TIMES WHILE IN THE ACADEMY"
"THERE IS NO TAMPERING WITH THE MID FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER PUNISHABLE BY MEANS YOU DON'T WANT TO EXPERIENCE" Finishing up what he stated he turned around and with one last command "MOVE OUT!"
"SIR YES SIR!" and the 5 lines moved forward towards the building that was in front of them. Chatter started buzzing through the crowd as they continued to walk to their new homes for the next three weeks.
"Place your thumb in the back of the MID" the officer handing out the MIDs was already getting sick of repeating herself. Once the thumb was placed a small needle poked the thumb and took a small drop of blood to match the DNA with the encrypted code assigned to the MID.
Once through the registration window where they received their MIDs each tag currently showed their name with a 0 next to it. The now Cadets of the Academy as they were referred to by the registration personnel after receiving their MID. Upon making it through the first check point they were told to strip and enter the next room.
In the next room their bodies were scanned and washed of all possible foreign entities and then along the wall a drawer popped out with the exact size needed for the individual to wear as a uniform.
Along the back of the shirt in large yellow writing was the word CADET to signify that the individual was in their first three weeks of training. This was standard procedure for all cadets to wear at all times. In reality it meant when mingling with the rest of the base they were guaranteed to be looked down upon and heckled.
After getting changed the cadet would move on to the next room which was to start their test. The first test was Strength, which was a simple test of a drum set on a stand that you could angle to your own preference. Seeing this Andrei moved the drum so that his Snap Dragon Kick would be hit in the sweet spot. Unleashing the kick he heard a voice from above state "Test Complete, proceed to next room" and a door opened opposite where he had entered.
Test two was for Agility and this one a series of obstacle course runs that was virtual created. Andrei did his best and thought he had had a good time but wasn't sure as he finished the course another door opened after the same message that was stated in the previous room sounded.
Test three was a maze that if the user understood room theory they would figure it out in the fastest time while those not understanding it would take longer if not fail. Andrei could hear a lecture that Sam gave one night while Sam was playing a game online telling those who would listen about the theory. The way that idea and the way he was remembering it seemed like it was just a few moments ago that it was spoken, but Andrei knew Sam gave this speech over a cycle ago.
Test four had the cadet walk into a room that was set up as a shooting range. There were 5 weapons on the wall labeled 1-5 and there were 5 lanes labeled 1-5 and 5 targets that were all at different distances. Andrei could only figure out that it meant to use the appropriate weapon per lane to hit the target.
Andrei walked up to the weapons and noticed that he might be mistaken. Lane 1 had the shortest distance but weapon 1 was an anti vehicle sniper rifle. Looking at his options he decided he was going to take a chance and grabbed the handgun as it seemed like it would have the least distance of accuracy. He ran his "Identify" on each of the weapons and all were Standard tiered weapons as guns only came in standard tier.
Lane 1 he used the handgun and he took one shot and the target lit up green. He tried to pull the trigger again but there was not a bullet in the chamber which made sense to Andrei but still wanted to make sure.
Lane 2 he went with the bow and arrow, this time he hit the outer edge having never shot one before he did not realize the arch needed.
Lane 3 he went with the crossbow, thinking it might have some arch he actually guessed quite close and hit just outside the bullseye.
Lane 4 he went with the rocket launcher that he had to put on his shoulder then look down at the target. He figured this was a straight shot so he braced himself by bending his knees and putting his left foot in front of his right foot while keeping a wide base. The recoil was shockingly strong but Andrei was determined to hold it as stiff as possible. The target lit up green after the explosion left a less than fantastic explosion compared to what he just fired.
Lane 5 he pulled down the sniper rifle and held it for a few minutes. He wasn't sure if he had a timer or not but he wanted to just enjoy the thought of maybe one day holding this again in battle. Getting into a similar stance and trying his best to hold the massive rifle he looked through the scope and intuitively the scope zoomed in on what he wanted to see. The bottom of the scope read "Acquiring target" with a bar growing larger below it. Then "Target Locked" and Andrei pulled the trigger. Green lights lit up and a door opened next to Lane 5 similar to previously there was an announcement.
Andrei didn't notice it but whatever Sam had injected him had interacted with the Scope of the sniper rifle, that was not a normal thing for the scope to do for any one.
The last test Andrei walked into a room that seemed like the Dojo he had visited. This room had an individual standing in the middle wearing a white robe with a black belt. The individual had no face, as if it was a mannequin. Then the hand lifted and the four fingers did a motion as if to step forward and attack it.
Andrei proceeded to move closer and then the mannequin moved quickly forward and attacked Andrei with a punch, followed by a kick with each foot, without stopping throwing two more punches with each hand. Andrei just dodged each attack as he felt they were slow.
The mannequin had stopped for a moment so Andrei decided to attack with "Golem Fist" and pieces of the room flew up from the ground surrounding his hand as brought his hand up and smashed it down on top of the mannequin. The mannequin fell to the ground and looked completely broken. "Test Complete, proceed to the next room."
He entered the next door and was surprised to see a bunch of the people who were in front of him in line now all mingling together. He then heard a "Congratulations you have passed all 5 tests and scored a 22 out of 25". People all stopped as they couldn't believe it. Another announcement was heard from another line but it was an eight.
People started staring at the large individual in front of them as so far no one had seen anything higher than a 15. Andrei never liked the spotlight and right now was no different. He wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear as every set of eye balls was on him.
"Congratulations you have passed all 5 tests and scored a 19 out of 25" "Woohoo!" exclaimed Julia as she just finished her run after her brother. Andrei turned around knowing the voice and now the two of them had everyone's attention.
An hour passed and more and more 12-15's kept getting announced and it seemed like that was the norm until what everyone guessed was the unthinkable. "25 out of 25" and silence filled the assembly hall. The individual who just walked about was a Tantan with neon red and yellow hair with green right eye and a blue left eye named Edwin.
Edwin had grown up on Hathin despite being a Tantan who typically grew up in their own system until reaching full maturity so that their connection with the Elements would be greater, or so they believed as a culture. He also was used to being the center of attention as he would be the only Tantan child around. A single mother who was human, she had to explain way too many times to people that Edwin was her son.
Because of the bullying Edwin received due to his differences he had dedicated his free time to learning and becoming the best he could be once his attunement with the elements arrived when he turned 8 cycles. He would do daily meditations to the Elemental spirits within thus when his attunement came his body accepted four elements.
Two 18's were then announced in back to back succession and was later found it was twin brothers who had parents that are current officers in the GFM so they had an inclination of what to do. Loco and Poco had complimentary Element Water and Element Fire abilities that when together you would not want to face the hot/cold combo they would unleash.
They even developed a combo attack that only the two of them can do. Flaming Ice Weapons, somehow they would burn and freeze when attacking. The combined attacks would create a blue flame on the ice weapons. They were also both extremely short, at 5'3" despite being just about full grown, most of the girls were taller than them.
Throughout the announcements of those completed there would be the random "Ooooo" as someone would be announced with a single digit. Seeing this Andrei would walk up to them and try to cheer them up. People started to take note of the fact that the second strongest so far was being nice to the single digit. Snide comments were being made but Andrei was used to it and none of it registered.
A group of the single digits took note of it and they all started talking about how if they need some help to go find the big red head. Soon it seemed like no one could or wanted to read his MID but soon he was Big Red and his sister was Hot Red.
Not long after the drill sergeant was seen standing on a balcony overlooking the waiting room and with the same drone announced to everyone. "LISTEN UP! NOW THAT EVERYONE HAS BEEN TESTED YOU WILL NOW PROCEEDING TO YOUR LIVING QUARTERS FOR THE NEXT THREE WEEKS."
"WILL THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS REMAIN BEHIND AND PROCEED UP TO BELOW ME. JULIA IERDNA, ANDREI IERDNA, LOCO SANCHEZ, POCO SANCHEZ, AND EDWIN JARVIS"
The five of them made their way below the drill sergeant as the rest of the cadets started staring at them as they departed the room. The drill sergeant saw all five had gathered but waited patiently till all the other cadets had left.
"The five of you tested the best today thus the five of you are now considered the leaders of this group of cadets, is that understood?"
"SIR YES SIR!" the five of them in unison responded with, as a smile crept over the face of the drill sergeant. "Good at least the five of you get it."
"Now the five of you will each get a squad, the group will be split into five separate squads and you will be the five captains. Tomorrow morning you will be assigned an equal number of individuals to what will be your squad. You will name your squad and you will command your squad to how you see fit."
"This will be for the next three weeks, when you cadets graduate you will then be judged based on your squads performance as a whole. If you score high enough you will be considered for a special assignment. This is the highest honor for all in the military."
Andrei pondered if he should ask a question but decided to keep his mouth shut as he had no idea what the protocols were currently. Giving a couple seconds of silence the drill sergeant realized they all wanted to ask questions but were too afraid to speak up.
"Permission to ask questions" the drill sergeant ordered to the five of them.
Andrei just blurted out "Can you be more specific on the objective Sir?"
"Perfect first question Cadet Andrei. This is a valid question, your objective is to make sure all of your squad survives, that any objective given is completed to the best of its ability, and whether those under you listen and respect your command. How you give those commands and how you earn that respect is completely up to you." the drill sergeant confided in the group.
Edwin then spoke up and caught them off guard as he had an extremely low voice. "Does the Military prefer a method of coercion or all methods treated equally?"
"An excellent second question Cadet Edwin.You will find that as you move around the Military everyone has their own command style and they are usually proficient at that style, it is why the Military does not state which they want, as each are needed for various positions." responded the drill sergeant who looked pleased with the questions being asked thus far.
Loco then raised his hand and asked "What if we don't want to be leaders?"
The drill sergeant frowned but knew this would probably come as it was the most common question asked by every group. "You will then just struggle to lead and not be asked for a special assignment." The drill sergeants demeanor changed and the group felt like it was time to move on from that topic.
They were then dismissed and proceeded into the same doorway that the others had gone through. This led to a long hallway which had glass walls so that you could see the rest of the Academy. This was the first time one could really see most of the campus so it took Andrei a moment to take it all in. The scope of the complex is huge and the amount of military personnel seen was immense.
Traversing the length of the hallway they had entered mid level into the residential tower. Everyone was given an equal sized room for their own personal space. The Cadets would get their own floor for the next three weeks then would be moved to their appropriate floors based on which group they graduated into.