Getting things back to normal was easier said than done. No one could stop talking about the invasion of Boros for good reason. It had been centuries since the Empire had been attacked and a planet had actually been invaded. The cadets were worried it would happen to them, but luckily, Tera IV was quite a bit a ways from the fighting with several systems as a buffer.
Arthur was doing his best to keep the class actively engaged but was coming up short. Mackenzie and Strong had suggested an early start to weapons training so Arthur had called for weapons racks with everything currently in service in the Imperial Military.
When the cadets walked in after the racks had appeared, they were ecstatic. The idea had worked and everyone seemed to come back to the "here and now".
Arthur walked up to the rack to take a look at everything displayed. There were short swords, long swords, maces, staves, halberds, scimitars, flails, every medieval weapon in Arthurs past life was on display. The great thing about these weapons and what set them apart from his old world was the obvious technology. Most of the weapons could be retracted and shrunk down to fit on your person easily. In this advanced technological empire, carrying around a huge halberd would be pointless as most enemies would shoor you down with plasma or laser rifles. But, there was always a chance that you could get into close combat and the cadets wanted to be prepared. You could easily activate your weapon and it would expand to full size in the blink of an eye.
Each cadet would choose their weapon here, but if they did something other than mecha pilot, they would be relegated to the weapon their company used, which would most likely be a short sword.
As Arthur walked the weapon racks, a particular gauntlet caught his eye. He only looked at the left hand gauntlet as he had an idea. He took the left hand gauntlet and affixed a small energy buckler to it. He didn't want a large shield, but he liked the extra attack damage and defense he could get from the gauntlet/energy buckler combo. He then looked over and picked out a sword. His eyes landed on one that was similar to the Kopis, which the spartans of his past life had been famous for using. It had a heavy forward curving blade usually used on the back of a horse as it was a great hacking weapon. Arthur figured it would be a good secondary weapon in a mecha with the extra strength behind the swings.
several different combat forms flashed though his mind as he held the two items in his hand. He was making good use of his passive that granted him basic knowledge of any kind of weapon he could use for attack or defense. He had a pretty good idea of how to use these weapons combined when his eyes flicked up at everyone else waiting to use the racks as well.
"Go ahead guys, pick your weapons!" Shouted Arthur as he moved back to watch everyone browse the racks.
Strong gravitated towards a large circular energy shield and then went and picked out a double sided hammer. One side was a hammer head and the other side was a pick. The handle was collapsible making it easy to carry around, and with the shields here all being energy shields, it could be powered off and stored easily. Arthur thought it it was a good combination for Strong who had plenty of strength to swing the hammer with one arm.
Mackenzie picked out a simple but elegant Naginata. Arthur wasn't sure what they were called in this life, but the naginata was a famous weapon for women warriors in feudal japan. It was basically a sword on a stick, but could be easily handled and swung around. Light enough for someone with inferior strength. This particular naginata could also double as a curved short sword since the pole was retractable for ease of carrying around.
Lastly it was Asura's turn. Arthur had a suspicion he knew what she would choose and sure enough, she went and picked both items up without fail. for her first main hand weapon, she picked a roman style Gladius. The gladius was a short straight doubled edged store wade for stabbing but could also be used to slash if the user was strong enough. In her off hand she grabbed a short dagger. The dagger was plain, with a single edge and a straight blade.
Arthur watched the rest of the students pick out weapons before he called everyone to formation again.
"Listen up cadets, I've got a skill that allows me to understand basic combat attack and defense with any melee weapon I pick up. If you have never used the weapon or weapons in your hands please come forward and hand them to me so I can get you started with basic drills. We will practice footwork and attack for the rest of the week before we talk about defense.
"That sounds like a broken skill" whispered a few cadets before walking up. Arthur could see the jealousy in some of their eyes. He decided he would show these guys how effectively use their weapons last.
Once he had finished setting everyone up with drills he looked down at his two weapons and wondered what he should do first. The Kopis was a slashing weapon so he figured he would try out a few different slashing drills before he focused on adding his gauntlet and buckler to the mix. He stepped forward with an overhead diagonal slash and continued by spinning and coming in for an diagonal slash going low to high.. He loved the feel and the balance of the sword was perfect. After a few slashes up and down, Arthur threw in some punches from his gauntlet which was a perfect way to catch enemies off guard