The Kitinol Offensive. It was often described as the line between civilization and the insanity that is the Kitin Hive Worlds. With the Kitin Hive covering over thirty known systems they have become one of the five known threats to galactic safety. The other four being more mysterious and unknown than a hive of non-sentient bugs that eat biomass, as far as the public were concerned.
The Kitinol Offensive was the name of the agreement of non-aggressive between the six galactic nations that border the Kitin Hive. As well as support if a region fell to the Hive.
One of the galactic nations, the smallest of the six that existed on the edge of known space, was known for its colonization efforts into the unknown. The only reason the nation still stood was due to two facets of its military. Their warships used better shielding technology and armor plating than any other, even the infamous and ancient mecha had weaker plating. The second was their access to the system that a collection of nanotechnology constructs had created. Not much was known about it, only how to activate it. Which was an injection at age 13 followed by strenuous training.
The Vexical Empire was not the only nation that has access to this technology, it was once part of the Grand Hexarrian Empire which first unearthed the technology and spread it to the rest of the nation before it fell and split into seven nations, two of which border the Kitinol Offensive with Vexical.
Within the Vexical Empire it was a requirement to undergo military training at the academy from 13 to 16. Then there was a five year military service requirement. Followed by a decision to either go back to civilian life or make it a career. The only way to stay out of the military service would have been to further study at the Imperial Academy and serve the Imperial family and nobility for life.
But in order to even enroll in the academy you need two things. Being smart enough to pass the necessary exams, check he had that covered. As well as being well connected enough that loyalty to the throne is ensured, he most certainly did not have that.
Jace was many things but well connected was not one of them. Growing up in the orphanage made sure of that. He looked up from his info pad to see the bus screech to a stop just outside of a bunch of fenced in houses. Gathered outside were a bunch of families who gave tearful goodbyes as their children climbed aboard. Must be the wealthy neighborhood.
He grew up in the slums of this city. Where crime was rampant and there was very little in the way of public services. So seeing genuine tears was a rare occurrence because the majority were crocodile tears when someone cried in the slums. From street pickpockets kids to the elderly men, they were all twisted in some way.
He was no different.
He was jostled out of his thoughts as a girl sat next to him. She looked at him for only a moment before she turned back to her friends as the bus began moving again. He turned back to his info pad to study, it was one of the few things he had in the slums that he would actually bring.
He still remembers old man Jenkins and how strange he stood out in the slums. But everyone there respected him. Because he went out of his way to genuinely help, whether it was brokering peace between rival gangs or just handing out food in the winter. When he died all the gangs that were kept at bay lost it. Old Man Jenkins' murderer, a thief who thought his generosity made him a perfect target, was hanged from a pedestrian bridge in less than a day.
Moving on from that, he was looking at the list of things he would learn during his time at the military academy. Piloting, navigating, tactics, ranged weapons, close combat, survival training, and a number of other things. It meant that he would have a full docket of things to learn.
He glanced out the window as the academy came into view. A smile gracing his face at the prospect of learning many new things.
A few minutes later the bus came to a stop as the Warrant Officer that was seated at the front stood up.
"Listen up! You are all now trainees of the Military! So you follow your superior officers orders! Understood!?!" The bald man yelled as he eyed up the new students with a look he had seen several times before, lust and desire mixed with a sense of superiority.
Jace stood up and saluted in response, "Yes Sir!"
"Only one of you!?!" The warrant officer asked.
The rest of the bus stood up and saluted as well, ""Yes Sir!""
The man nodded, "good. You will exit the bus in an orderly fashion and Officer Jones will inform you of where to stand at attention."
"Yes Sir!" There was a delay between Jace's and the rest of the bus's response. The bald man frowned but just climbed off the bus, clearly they did something differently than what usually happened.
Jace was in the very back of the bus so he was the last one off. With a duffel bag in one hand with his info pad tucked inside and his other hand empty.
"Salem Wintry, you are assigned to Warrant Officer Coble. That line over there." The female officer pointed towards where the bald man was standing with eight other students, most of which Jace realized weren't from the bus they were on.
The girl in front of him flinched before there was a sigh that caught even the officer's attention. "Yes Sir!"
Jace stepped forward and held out his wrist as the officer pulled out a new injector from a case after tossing the one used on Salem. She injected Jace in the wrist and then pressed the tip of the injector against an attachment that was on her info pad.
"Jace Steel…ah you must be from the Steel Orphanage in the slums. Keep in mind that is your last name from now on. Any questions?" The officer asked with a chuckle.
"No Sir."
"Good, you are assigned to Warrant Officer Coble as well."
"Yes Sir!" He then walked over and joined the line where Salem was directed before. He stood at attention ignoring a few of the others attempts at starting up conversations.
After five minutes, Coble spoke up. "It appears the majority of you don't know how to stand at attention!" He looked at the disorderly line in front of him. "All of you aside from Trainees Max, Harlow, Wintry, and Steel will run ten laps around the main building." He waited a minute as none of them moved, "Now! The rest of you follow Officer Jones to the dorms. In one hour we will meet out by the obstacle course." Coble's group was not the only one to receive this treatment. The majority of the students were running.
"The rest of you form up on me, I will lead the way to the first year dorms. While you are here we will put you through hell with our training in order to make certain you survive your first combat mission. As well as the five grueling years that would follow." Jones explained as she led the way into the first floor of a three story building.
The building seemed to be shaped like a capital T but they were entering from the top of the T shape.
"Okay, Arrowhead and Barnum Squads is down that way. Forse and Balcor Squads are down the hall behind me. Finally Coble and Trevor Squads are down that way. On the plaque by the door are your names for the room, it will be two to a room. I will be walking the halls for the next 45 minutes in case you have any questions."
Steel walked down the hallway and arrived at the door almost immediately, it was near the entrance. Standing by the door was Salem Wintry with a slight frown who sighed when she saw him stop by the same door.
"I suppose this means we are roommates, you don't happen to know how to unlock the door?" Salem asked sarcastically.
Steel waved his hand at the card reader which went from red to green. "The dorm and other security areas in the military can be unlocked with both the existence of nanotechnology in our blood and a DNA reader. We should set up quickly and then get changed into whatever uniform we need for later."
"Huh? Well then we can ask Officer Jones." Salem waved at the aforementioned officer as she was walking over.
"Officer Jones, what are we wearing for later?"
"Ho? What a surprise, the students will be wearing workout gear. But you should polish your boots beforehand, since we provide them unpolished. Since you two are so on top of it as well I will give you a piece of advice, grab extra socks and undergarments from the student store. We only provide a hundred credits but the better comfort will be worth it." She then turned away to walk to another area.
"I suppose she likes us. Come on." They entered the room. But Jace felt more like they were being pitied than anything else.
Nonetheless he quickly got his items tucked away in the locker and polished his new boots. He also understood the officer's advice, the underwear and socks were both itchy. Which led to them leaving to find the student store as the rest of the new students were arriving at the dorm. After they grabbed extra socks and undergarments which were still in the packaging they went to look around. Only to discover that the food options at the various cafeteria were different and changed each day.
Very discreetly while Salem was focused on scrutinizing the menu and the cameras were turned away. He used one of the ordering pads to hack into the school servers and discovered the menu for the next two weeks was already prepared. He sent himself a message with the contents of the calendar and stepped away just as the camera was turning around.
"Wintry, we should get to the obstacle course. There are only ten minutes before the designated time." Jace pointed out.
"Agreed."