“Tekori. You’ve been in orbit for eighteen months, and now it is time to head down to the surface for your final test.” The SI turned back to the students.
Standish had a datapad on her lap, like the rest of the trainees, while her left leg bounced up and down quietly.
“The first phase will be escaping from a ship in distress.” The SI changed the screen. “You will be on one of our training ships in a simulated environment where the ship is without power and dead in space. You will start in the engine room and are required to make your way to escape pods located somewhere on the ship. Some of the ships AI systems may function, some may not. Some may require an external power source to be made operational,” he shook his head. “You’ll have to find out for yourselves.”
The slide changed.
“During your egress, you may come across wounded crewmembers. These will be medical droids in a role-playing function. Treat them as you would any victim.”
Another slide.
“Once you’ve made it to the escape pod, you will jettison down to Tekori for a water landing off the coast here.” He pointed to a point on the map. “Clear your pod quickly, you won’t know if it has hull integrity or not. It might float, it might not.”
The pod would sink, that was obvious to Standish.
“Once you’ve cleared the pod, make your way to the beach.” The SI pulled the view of the map out. “Once on land, you will be fed a distress call from a downed pilot who will be at the top of KatlaStor. You will move to extract this individual and then call in a remote drone to extraction. Once you have located the pilot, you will be given control of the drone and fly it in, then use it to exfiltrate to the local training facility.”
The Senior Instructor turned the image to show the central RT training facility on the surface of Tekori, which was not far from the Katla volcano that dominated the local landscape.
“You will have time from the end of this briefing until the exercise starts to pick any and all special equipment that you’d like to take with you. Everyone will wear their standard U5 or U6 suits that you’ve been using since your arrival, and you can be assured that there will be instructors at every stage of this problem to evaluate your competencies.” He paused and clicked the slide over to the Rescue Tech banner.
“Everything that you are going to be asked to accomplish should be easy for you. This is not a difficult test. It is merely an accumulation of all the training and skills that you have been taught while on this course. Pass, as you all should, and you will be assigned to a ship or station somewhere in the vastness of the Empire.”
He looked over at the course commandant, Marlon Genova, who had slipped into the room unobserved and gave a gentle nod.
“I look forward to observing your final performances and speaking with all of you at graduation. When you are on this exercise today, remember the motto of the Rescue Tech branch, to serve, to save, to sacrifice.” Without saying another word, Genova swiftly left the room.
Standish closed down her datapad and looked down at her hands. They were dry. She rubbed them together, just above her lap and started to think about what kind of kit she would request as extra gear for the final test. Something that would really improve her chances of scoring well with a fast time. Looking over at Num, she could tell he was thinking the same thing, but before she could pick his brain, the Senior Instructor distracted her.
“Listen up.”
Standish looked up and watched the other instructors leave the room, including Dat Roser.
“You’ve all got time now to go to the armoury and draw your suits. There will be droids, mechanics, and the instructors on-site to assist. After you’re good to go, you will report to the weapons locker to draw your basic weapon and then finally you will go to the kit room to draw any extra gear you may want.” He paused and walked almost all the way up to the front row of trainees and looked at those sitting to the rear. “Be careful what you chose, and remember this task is about speed and precision.” He turned and started to walk out of the room, then stopped. “You’ll be going in reverse running order, lowest-ranked students first.”
Looking over at Num, Standish caught his eye. “So, which one of us is going last?” She asked with a smile on her face. The most recent course rankings hadn’t been released yet, but she was reasonably sure that she was at the top of the list.
Num tilted his head to the side and started to stand up. “Yeah.” It was an acknowledgement of her question, not an answer.
Rising to her feet, Standish knew that this was the chance to do something that would cement her position at the top of the class. She didn’t know how many points she had on Num or the other top trainees, but she knew that in a test like this, everyone would be competing on an even playing field. Several trainees could outrun her, and she wasn’t the fastest swimmer on the course either. It was going to take a go-for-broke attitude, skill, and guile to pull a good result out of this challenge.
Geared up, helmet under her right arm, Standish joined the line for the kit master who was distributing weapons and supplies for the exercise. There were wild beasts in the region between the beach and the top of the volcano, and while none could penetrate the armour that they all wore, they would be a nuisance, and some students were getting energy rifles to enable them to dispense with any bothersome indigenous life forms if necessary.
Zara Five was standing in front of her when Standish finally reached the queue.“Zara.”
The blonde female from Ruylor 3 turned around and looked at Standish with eyes that suddenly shifted from cold blue to orange in colour. Standish had never met someone from Ruylor 3 before Zara Five and quickly learned what the shifting eye colours meant. Orange was friendship, while all the shades of blues indicated contemplative thought.
“Yes?” Zara replied, her face barely moved when she spoke, keeping her near perfectly symmetric face with brown and green spots unmoved.
“What are you going to draw for kit?”
Standish was still tossing around some ideas inside her head and wasn’t too concerned with what Zara would say, she was one of the weaker trainees on the course, and not a challenge for the top trainee, but she still wanted to pick her brain.
“Satellite map feeder.” She replied and cocked her head to one side. “Maybe micro drag system to get me to shore faster.”
Standish nodded. The Sat map feeder was probably to help give a better lay of the land, and if used correctly, it would provide Zara with the best-charted course to the top of Katla.
When she finally got to the counter, the half Floxian, half robotic senior equipment tech looked at her with a smile.
“Trainee Standish. Kit?”
Standish returned the smile. “Mini automatic steerable parachute.”
“Front-mounted or rear?” He asked, raising his head and gazing down his nose at her.
“Which one is more compact?”
“Front.” He replied.
“Front then.”
He disappeared for a few seconds and returned with a small box. “This will fit under your armour across your chest. Make sure you read the instructions.”
Standish picked up the small brown box and flipped it over and scanned the instructions.
“And?”
“A by-pass system.” She said in an almost hushed voice.
“A by-pass system?” He replied, this time turning his head to one side, almost like he was giving serious consideration to what she had just requested.
“Please.” She said.
“Okay.” He disappeared again and returned with a slim, long grey metal box. “Do you know how to use these?” He asked, his hand still on the box that he had set down on the counter.
Standish nodded gently. “We received instruction on these systems.”
He released his hand from the box. “Well, don’t do anything foolish.” He said with a smile, then locked eyes with the trainee behind Standish. “What do you want?” He demanded.
Standish moved off, slipping the grey box into a utility pouch on her belt. The trainees that had already obtained their items were milling about in a large holding area just off the main air-lock that was used to access the other training ships in orbit over Tekori. Spotting Num, she walked over to her big friend.
“Can you help me take off my top?” She asked.
The U5 armour was usually put on and taken off with assistance but could be released by the wearer in an emergency, but then the suit had to be reassembled through a painstaking process. Luckily, Num was strong enough to help her out of the top with ease.
He said nothing as she pulled the mini parachute from the container, read the instructions, and slipped it on. She re-read the guidelines for use, then folded up the paper box and stuck it in a utility pouch.
Slipping back into the top, she locked eyes with Num.
“Don’t worry.” She said with a smile. “I’m not going to get myself killed.”
He secured the final clamps on the side of the armour. “Not worried.” Num shook his head. “Not worried in the slightest, and hey!” He looked down at Standish. “You wouldn’t listen to me anyway.”
“Listen up!”
The call got the attention of all the trainees that were standing about. “I’m posting the running order. Once everyone is prepped, we’ll board the training vessel and start the exercise. Make sure you are in the proper order when you board the ship. First on the ship will be last in running order.” He tossed a hovering ball into the air which projected a holographic display of all the names of the ninety remaining students left on the course on the list.
Standish looked at Num. “Curious?”
He looked down at her and gave her a bit of a shrug.
The pair started walking over to where the hovering ball was, but before they could check the list, one of the other trainees that also wanted to go to Dynamic Operations, Asa Mika, walked towards Standish and gently punched the front of her armour.
“Nicely done.” She said before walking off.
When they finally got close enough to see the list, they confirmed what she had just heard, she was atop of the list, with a score next to her name only fractionally higher than Num’s.
“Close.” She said, turning, and looking up at her friend.
He looked down at Standish. “Close.” He concurred.
21
The Past
Tekori
Everyone on the course had gotten so used to boarding the various training ships that were in use above Tekori that the process went seamlessly when Standish stepped onto the training vessel Veull, followed by Num then the other eighty-eight trainees. They had used the Veull several times in the months they had been on the course, and Standish felt like she knew the old ship well.
Standish followed one of the instructors to the rear of the ship to the large holding cell where the trainees had spent hours waiting for various training and exercises that were conducted in the front portion of the bulky and ungainly looking vessel.
Sitting down on the long metal bench that ran along the back of the compartment, Standish took a deep breath and took in the featureless chamber for the last time. Num sat down next to her, followed by the rest of the trainees in their orange armour. Standish couldn’t help but notice how empty the chamber felt since their first use of the Veull as a training platform. Most had failed tests. Some injured. Others killed. When operating in space, there was no room for error.
After everyone had settled down, all the instructors but one left the compartment, and a brief announcement came over the ships PA system.
“We are leaving dock. Will be on station for the exercise in 20.” The line went dead, and all eyes in the room dropped down to the instructor that was standing next to the door that led to the training sections of the ship.
“Right then.” The instructor started, reading from a data-pad. “Here is the mission: pilot rescue. You are aboard the Imperial Ship Veull, a pilot has crashed on the surface of the planet we are in orbit of. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Veull has suffered multiple systems failures, and you have been ordered to attempt the rescue of the pilot on the surface regardless of the damage done to the ship.” He looked up from the data-pad. Role-play was always integral in the training process in attempts to simulate real-world events. “You will move through this door here,” he indicated to the hatch that was always used. “And make your way to the drop-pods. Once there, get down to the planet’s surface and make contact with the pilot. Once you have secured the pilot, give any medical aid required, and then call in a retrieval drone for extraction. Due to local conditions, the drone only functions under your control.” Another made up part of the test. “Once you and your package are secured, make your way to the local Imperial camp, located on your nav kits.”
He put the datapad down. “This event is not only timed, but instructors are judging your competencies and skills in all phases of the test. You can only fail this exam by not reaching the final rendezvous point at the training camp on the surface, or by committing a serious safety violation that puts this ship, its crew, or your instructors in jeopardy.” He walked over to a lone chair and put his hand on the back of it. “Focus.” His final piece of advice.
“Ready one.” Came an announcement over the PA eighteen minutes later.
The instructor nodded and slipped the data-pad into a trouser pocket. “You’re up.” He pointed at the trainee sat closest to the door. “Helmet on and give me a clear when you’ve got a good seal and airflow.”
Everyone else in the room let out a collective sigh and tried to relax as best they could. They hadn’t been told what the spread was for start times, but Standish assumed that it would be considerable. Standish was dreading a long wait, sitting in the suits for more than an hour got uncomfortable, especially in an environment with gravity.
When the first trainee finally stepped up to the hatch, the instructor gave a shout of encouragement that would have only been audible if the student had the suits external microphone switched on, something they had been told to do at all times during training.
The hatch whipped open, and everyone in the room leaned to a position where they might be able to see what to expect, but they didn’t have to look far, as a giant burst of flame punched into the chamber two metres, engulfing the trainee who instinctively dropped to one knee and brought up their left arm to protect their face. The flame receded briefly, and just as quickly as they could, the trainee sprung to their feet and charged towards the danger, and out of sight. The door slammed shut, and the roar that had been briefly audible died down.
The instructor looked at the seated trainees and smiled. “I guess you know what to expect now.” He moved over to another hatch and disappeared through it.
Standish looked at Num, he was already asleep. His mohawk still in place. She knew he hated having it ruined by the helmet every time they suited up, but it was the nature of the job. She was actually surprised the directing staff had let him keep it after their first-day indoctrination. He said he had told them it was a cultural thing, somehow that had convinced them. Standish was pretty sure he had blagged his way to keeping his do.
Looking back to the front of the room, she scanned the backs of the armour of those that were sat to her front. Everyone had their name stencilled on the shoulder blades. Standish had kept a close counsel since she had arrived in orbit over Tekori. She wanted to be the best, so she tried to spend her time with the best. And of those that she considered her peers, some had an interest in going into D-O after their mandatory year of service in the fleet. Zara Five was the lone exception, sat a row in front of Standish. She had only joined the fleet to get the chance to run for public office on her home-world, and she might not have been a warrior in the making like Standish, but she was cool.
Trying to relax, Standish rolled her head from side to side. She was starting to question her wisdom in the course of action she was readying herself to take, but she was committed
. She knew that Dat Roser wasn’t required to take a single graduate from the Rescue Tech course for the next available Dynamic Operations course. There were hundreds of D-O evaluators scouring the Empire looking for the next wave of applicants. She was well aware that while Rescue Techs had a much higher than average pass rate from D-O school, that the bulk of Dynamic was made up of those that had served previously in the ground combat elements of the Empire. This final test was her chance to put her stamp on her performance at the Rescue Tech school and make it impossible to refuse her a slot at D-O school. A final added incentive was that the top candidate got to pick any open duty assignment after graduation. Everyone else was not going to be so lucky, they’d get assigned where the Empire needed them.
Standish wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it had been hours since the first trainee started the test. But the time had finally come. Num Blaz had disappeared through the hatchway some time ago, leaving her alone in the chamber with her thoughts.
The instructor that had been left with the trainees since the beginning of the test popped back into the room like he did before every other trainee's departure, but this time he had a bit of a spring in his step.
“Val Standish.” He didn’t need to look at his data-pad. All the instructors knew who she was. “Ready for the final test?” There was a smile on his face.
Standish slowly rose to her feet. She had been walking around the room every so often in an attempt to keep her muscles loose. She and Num had even done some stretching programs together, the armour was flexible enough to allow her to get a range of motion that was sufficient to keep herself primed for the challenge.
Bending back down, she picked up her helmet and checked the visor as she walked to the hatch. Eighty-nine trainees had passed through the training hatch since they had entered the room and the conditions that they were instantly met with varied randomly. Some were met with fire. Some freeze. Some were met with a torrent of water or a vacuum, both contained by temporary forcefields that materialised seconds before the hatch opened.
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