**8th of June 2055, Dover, Southern Shore of UCN Stronghold 11**
Casper peeled his eyes open. They stung with tiredness, and his mouth was dry. He didn't like waking up this early, but Johan had insisted he set an alarm. His body felt heavy, pinned by the comfort of his quilt. There was a rap on the door. Johan entered, already in uniform, without waiting for a response.
"Cass? Come on." He coaxed.
Casper groaned and propped up on his elbows, a gentle aching through his arms and shoulders reminded him of what lay ahead.
"We need to get in early. I made tea," continued Johan.
"I don't like tea."
"I reckon you could use the caffeine"
"Mmph... fine, I'll be down in a second," he drawled.
"Be quick, I'm gonna check your uniform before we leave"
Casper puffed and made a lazy gesture, waving Johan away. Once Johan had left, Casper threw off his cover and felt immediate regret from a chill encasing his weary body. The cold was at least offering a little more motivation to put on that constricting uniform.
Casper tugged at the stiff collar of his uniform, its rough material rubbing uncomfortably against his neck. The designers prioritized function over comfort with the fabric, which was patterned in shades of grey and muted blue and featured a geometric camouflage designed to blend into urban or twilight environments. The jacket's pockets and Velcro panels were practical but felt bulky, and the reinforced trousers restricted his movements just enough to be irritating. No matter how he shifted, the uniform refused to soften, its unforgiving texture a constant reminder of how much he hated wearing it.
Worse still, he had to wear an idiotic beret that made his scalp itch and polished black boots whose leather sliced his feet as he descended the stairs into the kitchen.
Johan took one look at his brother's slouched posture and uneven uniform before speaking
"No."
"What's wrong with it?"
"Beret is at the wrong angle, laces are uneven, and you need to tuck everything into the trousers."
"It's so comfortable already," whined Casper
"Well, you don't need to put up with it for long. OS'll be the first week of August. You can collect your certificate and move on."
"It's such a stupid name."
"Officer Selection?"
"Yeah, it's just a graduation ceremony. Hardly anyone even gets picked to be a junior officer out of the academy." protested Casper
"What do you care? You don't want to work in the Navy."
"Seems dishonest to tell people they're gonna be officers when most of them won't."
"It's not like that! Besides, if you don't get selected out of the academy, there're loads of opportunities once you enlist!" Johan enthused.
"So they keep telling you."
"Don't be bitter. Just survive the next eight weeks with your head down and do as I say. Then you're free to work in the private sector. Now fix your uniform!"
Casper shoved the loose ends of his jacket under his belt with a sour face. His brother's chipper attitude did not help his mood. Johan handed him a cup of strong tea. Casper dropped into a chair and his stomach rumbled.
"Any breakfast?" he asked
"I'm not your bloody maid!" replied Johan
"Can you make some toast?" moped Casper
"Do it yourself!"
The pair squabbled until it was time to leave.
-----
Harrison booted up his computer to check his email when. He answered some student queries and responded to messages from Admin, but his mind drifted back to yesterday's email. Had he done the right thing? He reopened the schedule Banning had sent him and inspected it.
At an initial glance, it seemed fairly standard. The first day was strength and fitness, followed by drills and team activities on day two. Day three was weapon servicing and range time; he knew Casper would pass that without issue. The last day, however, was odd. Cadet sparring matches were not unordinary, but Harrison saw that there was to be a squad-wide medical examination for all years. Stranger still, the exam was to be performed by outside Navy personnel.
Someone knocked on the door.
"Come in"
Seargent Smith strode inside.
"Alec!" he cheered, his tone more familiar than Harrison would like
"Yes, Seargent?" he responded with a polite smile.
"I was hoping you would help with something"
"And that is..."
"Well, you know that exam Banning emailed out?"
"Yes."
"Have you seen how they're doing the scoring?"
"No, I hadn't gotten round to it yet."
"Well, they've changed it to a pass-fail system and there's no standard accreditation for scores anymore. I spoke to Banning, and he said it's left to the discretion of the Seargent responsible for each year-group."
"Right..."
"So the others and I were wondering if you could make a program or something to calculate credits for the students? We're going to be quite busy this week leading the physicals, and I know you're techy."
Harrison felt outraged. First, the Navy mandated participation in this exam and now didn't even bother to allot the students any credits for their trouble. It sickened him that the brass would rather have children fistfight for the opportunity to take lessons and then not provide the means to access that education. He didn't want any part in it.
"Smith. It's your responsibility, not mine," he seethed.
Smith, though taken aback, kept pushing. "Please, it would save everyone so much time and you could do the awards at your discretion."
Harrison readied himself to ream his subordinate, but held his tongue at the last moment.
"My discretion?"
"As long as it's ready for the weekend, allocate the credits however you see fit."
"Fine. I'll take care of it."
"Oh, cheers Alec." Smith thanked, he turned and left.
Harrison continued reading the itinerary and noted a prominent lack of any defined scoring beyond the baselines set to pass or fail. Harrison found the baselines themselves to be rather lenient.
'he might actually pass!' thought Harrison.
But as he read the matchups for the final day, his heart sank.
Another knock befell his office
"What is it?" He sighed, expecting another one of his colleagues.
"Good morning, Major Harrison Sir!" said Johan. He marched into the centre of the office and stood at attention.
"Morning Greenwood?" said the confused Major. "Can I help you?"
"No, Sir!"
Johan stopped talking and stood still, further bemusing Harrison. Johan then exaggeratedly cleared his throat.
Casper, an awkward imitation of his brother, marched in to the office
"G-Good Morning Major H-Harrison, Sir!" He stammered.
Harrison cringed at the sight of his student imitating the status quo.
"Ca- ahem - Cadet Greenwood."
Casper couldn't make eye contact. He stood stiffly, staring up and forward just like Johan told him. His face twitched with anxiety.
"Cadet Greenwood would like to apologise for his behaviour yesterday, sir!" announced Johan.
Casper gulped, and his throat stuck. All the moisture in his mouth was gone.
Harrison sighed. He could see straight through Casper's facade and it hurt him to see the boy in distress.
"At ease, boys"
Johan widened his legs and folded his arms behind his back. Casper couldn't move.
"I'm sorry for upsetting you, sir!" trembled Casper.
Harrison ignored the remark.
"Cadet Seargent, would you please close the door?"
Johan followed Harrison's order. Casper braced himself to be berated.
"I'm not upset with you, Casper," stated Harrison.
Casper's wince softened, replaced by a look of hurt confusion.
"What? But why then did you tell Johan..."
"I am not upset with you, but I do believe you would benefit from participating regularly in the Navy Training Corps from now on. I will no longer approve any of your absences, and you will be held to the same standard as the other cadets."
"You called me a mental case," said Casper
"I... Umm..."
"Why didn't you say anything about this yesterday? Do you want rid of me, too?"
"No Casper, I just... this is for your own good"
Harrison saw the boy tearing up.
"I think you two should leave. Morning briefings will be starting soon," he said.
"But-"
"Come on Cass. Let's go," interrupted Johan.
As the pair walked out, Harrison leaned back in his chair and buried his hands in his face. It pained him to have to say those things. He desperately wanted to be honest and make Casper feel better, but expulsion from a military academy was a black mark the young man's career could never recover from.
-----
Casper sat next to his brother in the briefing room at the front of a class of nearly 90 cadets. He heard everything they were whispering. Some gossiped about Harrison's outburst. Others spread rumours. And some malicious whisperers were hoping to see him fail. The cascade of noise suffocated him. He was sure he would scream, but then silence fell as Smith strode in front of the auditorium holding a large stack of papers.
"Good Morning Cadets," he shouted
Casper jumped as the class responded a cacophonous, "Good morning Seargent Smith, sir!"
"Only one order of business today. Ther-" He locked eyes with Casper.
"Well, hello Cadet Greenwood. Finally decided we are good enough to be in your presence, I see," He chided.
Casper stayed silent and tried to cover his head from the near 200 eyeballs leering at him.
"Well Cadet? I asked you a question!" yelled Smith.
Casper flinched when Smith raised his voice. After a moment, he managed to squeak a reply.
"Yes, Sir..."
"Very good. Now, as I was saying. There is only one order of business today. For the rest of the week, you will be undertaking a special physical exam. We are suspending all other duties and classes.
He glared at Casper once more.
"Failure in any portion of this exam with result in expulsion. Any absences without my direct approval will result in failure."
Johan's eyes widened in realisation. The blood ran from Casper's face, much to the delight of the Seargent.
"For the team and combat portions, you will be sorted in register order into groups of six for cooperative section and pairs for the end of week bout."
'Fuck' thought Johan.
"Barring extreme injury or undue absence, these groupings cannot be changed, so don't bother asking. The full details of the exam have been printed out here for your ease of access."
Smith placed the stack of paper on his desk.
"We will review each section as it comes up over the coming week, but I expect you all to familiarise yourself with the requirements and your partners ahead of time. Get to it Cadets!"
Johan, along with tens of other people, walked up and yanked a schedule from the desk. It was just as he had feared.
Exam Bout Opponents:
....
....
....
Greenwood vs Greenwood.