The Azophi Academy Complete Series Boxed Set: Unique Military Education

by TR Cameron

  He gestured around the room. “This is our simulation space. There is a control booth upstairs with a technician in it. There is a possibility you will face armed resistance during this task, so it’s imperative you practice working together before you depart. Each of you has individual experience, of course, but it takes more than that to function as a team. The tech has a number of scenarios that will pit you against holographic enemies, and we have military-grade training gear for your use.” He smiled at each of them. “I have every confidence you’ll make yourselves and the Academy proud. Now, you’d better get to it.”

  He walked through the door Jax had entered by and vanished around the corner before anyone’s brain caught up to what they’d just heard. Any questions were cut off by the closing of the doors. Jax turned to Cia and asked, “Do you have any additional info on this?”

  She shrugged. “Only that the Grace is being prepped for flight, and the mission might very well involve juggling, given yesterday’s class.”

  The joke cracked the tense mood, and one by one, they laughed. Cia said, “We all met yesterday, but it might be useful to get a refresher and a little background. I’ll go first. Alicia Rearden, pilot, most attractive, smartest, and the overall best child of a successful family trading business.”

  Jax shook his head with a grin. “I’m Jackson Reese. UCCA military, active duty. Not as smart as Cia, but taller, which I think makes me the winner.”

  A dark-skinned woman with a smile spoke next. She was average height, with an oval face and striking dark eyes. Brown hair braided and gathered in a ponytail hung down her back. She had taken off her sweat jacket, and the sleeveless black tunic beneath showed off arms that loved the weight room. Her voice was deeper than her appearance would suggest. “Maria Verrand. I handle logistics for Teranta.” Interesting. A representative of the biggest name in artificial intelligence.

  “I’m Anton Sirenno,” said a tall man with the coloring of the Mediterranean. He was six feet and change, and his face was covered with dark freckles. A nose that seemed out of proportion to the rest was complemented by ears that protruded a little too far. His square jaw was the only classically handsome thing about him, which made Jackson think he was used to relying on a forceful personality to get through life. Nothing wrong with that. He nodded at the man, who continued, “I’m in research and development for Sondfora.” Okay, so now we have a robotics person in addition to an AI person. Can’t be a coincidence.

  The last person seemed reluctant to speak but overcame his reticence with a visible act of will. “I’m Ethan, Ethan Kimmel. I’m, uh, good with computer networks and stuff. And at video games.” He looked younger than anyone except Cia, with the rest in their late twenties at minimum. Almost translucent pale skin made his light blond hair look darker than it was. He’d clipped it close on the sides and back, but a shock of it covered the left side of his face. His right eyebrow was pierced with a tiny barbell, and each of his ears had two stud earrings with a hoop below them. His piercing blue eyes were a shout in the lightness of the rest of him.

  Cia replied, “Excellent. We’ll have time for games on our way to wherever we’re going. I’m not very good, so we can totally play for money if you want.” She grinned, and Ethan smiled at her.

  Sirenno clapped his hands a few times. “Okay, people, now that the introductions are done, what’s the plan?”

  Verrand replied, “Since the point of the exercise is to practice taking on armed enemies, I think we should defer to the lone active military person among us.”

  Jax shrugged. “Works for me. Let’s see what we’ve got for equipment.” He led the way over to a set of closed lockers on the far side of the room, the same units he’d seen at every base during his training. The team naturally spread out to open them all at once, and then they took a step back to examine what they’d found. Good, already thinking like a group, and no one’s unwilling to work. I’m sure the Professor selected the team members for that personality type intentionally. He snorted inwardly. Pretty soon, he’ll have me convinced he can see the future.

  The weapons were in the leftmost locker: rifles, pistols, and explosive grenades that all closely resembled the real thing. The next one over held the training suits. He was more familiar with the ones that strapped on over a uniform like armor than with the one-piece coveralls, but they would certainly get the job done. Finally, a third one held helmets and wristcomms, and he was overjoyed to see they looked very similar to his military version. He called, “Hey up there. In there. Whatever. Did the Professor leave a preferred simulation choice for us?”

  A male voice with hints of amusement in the tone drawled, “Why yes, in fact, he did. Two of them, one exterior and one interior.”

  Jax grinned. “All right, all right, all right.” He clapped once. “First thing to know is that if you get hit in those suits, it’s going to hurt. You won’t be damaged, but you’ll feel it. Second is that the helmets should give us a serious advantage if they’re what I expect they are. Third, let’s get geared up. Everyone take at least one of everything, and we’ll divide any extra grenades evenly.” When they didn’t jump into motion like his squad would have, he called, “Hey, tech man. Set the clock for five minutes.”

  This time he heard a smothered laugh in the response. “Acknowledged. Five until the pain starts.” That got his team moving.

  Chapter Thirty

  With one minute to go before the exterior simulation, the floor had opened, and panels had risen to create barricades for the defenders to hide behind and a wall with a door on it to act as their goal. At thirty seconds, the holographic enemies had materialized, and Jax had been awestruck by their quality. Aside from a flicker now and again, they appeared to be real people, dressed in real Confederacy uniforms, pointing real rifles at his team.

  The sight of the enemy had sent them all scurrying into cover, and the ensuing battle had taught him a lot about the capabilities and current limitations of his team. They successfully reached their objective, with only three-fifths of them rendered immobile by their suits to simulate death. He hadn’t warned them about that feature, and the cursing over the comm when Sirenno took a headshot and went crashing to the floor was amusing. Afterward, they’d spent an hour discussing strategy and tactics until each was better prepared to support the rest. At least, that’s what he hoped.

  Now they waited in the safe zone demarcated by the yellow panel on the floor and watched the room reset itself to the way it had been when they’d first entered. Then the floor panels opened again, and walls rose into place as ceilings descended from above to meet them. When the exterior portion was mostly finished, the interior features began to climb, eliminating their chance to get a preview of what lay ahead.

  Probably best not to take that for granted. The countdown to the start of the exercise crossed forty-five seconds in his display, and he asked, “Kimmel, anything?” They’d assigned him the primary tasks of running enhanced sensors and sharing essential information with the group. The combat helmets the SF used had AI components that sorted out the stuff they didn’t need to see automatically, but these systems would require a human to do the differentiating.

  Ethan Kimmel had done well in the first exercise, effectively moving from cover to cover and firing with reasonably good aim at their holographic enemies, but he’d gotten overconfident and decided to rush forward at an inopportune moment. More worrying was Cia following him, something he’d have to chat with her about if he saw her do it again. It’s easy to see where their similar ages would make them gravitate toward one another, which is fine right up until it influences their combat behavior. Their newly-minted sensor specialist replied, “Shielded. They don’t want us getting a look inside, apparently.”

  “As expected.” The counter hit fifteen and he warned, “Don’t assume what we see is what we get just because the Professor called it an internal scenario. They could still flood out and kill us on the approach.” He doubted it, but anything was possible, bot
h in training and in the field. The timer reached zero, and he took the lead on the advance toward the house, with Anton Sirenno on his far left, Cia on his far right, and the other pair trailing him at a safe distance. He didn’t expect virtual land mines, but it was good practice. He made it to the door without issue and put his back against the wall next to it, waiting for his team to do the same, three on the other side and Maria Verrand with him.

  The comms in their helmets were undetectable as long as they remained in line of sight, and one-on-one conversation was even possible with the participants out of sight if a string of direct connections could be made. They would also eliminate any sound emanations. It was one of the features of the SF systems that he liked best, and he was beyond pleased to find it in the Academy’s equipment. Still have to improve those sensors, though. “Okay. Rearden pulls the door and takes rear guard. I’m first, then Verrand, Sirenno, and Kimmel. We’ll work in pairs to clear rooms, with Rearden keeping an eye on the hallway. We’re going to do this as a silent infiltration, so no grenades until we really need them, but if you feel like it’s essential, don’t hesitate to go loud. No one dies because we’re trying to be quiet, get it?” They selected projectiles first because the suppressors on the rifles rendered them quieter than energy blasts. These also had the stun option, but that wasn’t what they were practicing at the moment.

  “Get the door in three, two, one, go.” They tensed as he counted down. Kimmel and Sirenno stepped away from the wall so they could go around Cia once she yanked the portal open. Jax flowed into the structure as soon as the gap widened enough to permit it. It was set up like an office, with a lobby including a reception desk in the front and two hallways leading into the rear of the structure behind it. Probably four offices on each side, plus restrooms and dining space in the back. One of the things he and his SF team did in their downtime was to look at floor plans for common building types in case they needed to infiltrate one. It had served him well once or twice and was a relaxing way to put otherwise empty hours to use.

  A pair of security guards stood on either side of the large room near the halls, and another behind the reception desk. They all wore a full uniform with body armor plates, which was incongruous in the scenario but valuable for training purposes. He shuttled forward and pulled the trigger at the one in the middle, marching on a line toward him. “Verrand right, Sirenno left.” The other guards dropped shortly after his did. His team froze in place, waiting to see if there would be any further response, but none came. Again, incongruous but appropriate.

  “Verrand with me. Kimmel and Sirenno, take the right hallway. Rearden, stay here, but be ready to respond if someone gets taken out. Switching comm to wireless.” He crouch-walked to the corridor on the left and looked down it to find the four doors he expected, two on each side. Given their numbers, it was going to be a challenge. He connected to Maria Verrand and said, “We’ll go left-right-left-right. You lead into the left rooms, I’ll do the same on the other side.” He moved to the door, put his back against the wall, and grabbed the handle. His partner took a deep breath, then said, “Now.”

  He twisted the knob and pushed the door hard, and she dashed past him. The soft sound of bullets spitting from her weapon followed, and he moved inside. Two enemies occupied the office. The first was on its way down, but the second had put a round into Verrand, leaving her momentarily stunned as her suit replicated the experience of being shot. He removed that one before it could fire again. After a moment, Verrand straightened with a nod.

  They repeated the process in reverse on the right-hand side, with him first into the room. He took out the pair in there with headshots, the familiar adrenaline rush seeming as always to make him act faster than his foes. Sirenno growled, “Kimmel’s down,” and Cia replied, “Acknowledged.” It was about what he’d expected.

  They were forced to go loud when they reached the dining area, where apparently several enemies had fallen back and constructed hasty barricades with chairs and tables that included slots to fire through. His team’s quick action impressed him as the three remaining members hurled grenades into the center of the room like they’d been dying for the chance to do so. He grinned in satisfaction, right up until the moment one of the holograms who wasn’t quite dead managed to nail him with a headshot and shut his suit down.

  The degree to which his team felt comfortable mocking him for that during the drive to the Grace was a good sign. They’d finished the session and broken up to shower and change after the technician had informed them they had less than an hour to get ready.

  He’d spent part of that hour with the Professor getting the details of the operation, and it seemed to be Academy-operations-as-normal: he had only the broadest information, and more would be supplied once they were en route. They’d be traveling for more than a day because they needed to make multiple jumps to get there. Even the magic of instantaneous travel had limits, and in this case, the distance they had to go exceeded them. Jax saw this as a benefit rather than a problem because it would give them additional time to get to know each other while they planned out the details.

  They arrived just in time to watch an autonomous forklift carry a pallet full of boxes up the cargo ramp. A truck idled nearby, and standing next to it was none other than Coach. Jax wandered over and shook his hand, greeting him with the observation, “You really do take on all the jobs, don’t you?

  The man laughed and nodded. “Big or small, important or not, when the Academy needs something, it’s usually me they call. Keeps me busy, which I like.”

  “Do you know what you delivered?”

  “Nope. Above my pay grade. They said, ‘Hey, move these boxes,’ so I moved the boxes. Nice ship, though. Alicia a good pilot?”

  Jax pretended to consider the question, then chuckled. “Yeah, she’s fantastic. One of the best I’ve worked with, but I’d have to see her in a real combat situation to be sure. Don’t tell her I said so. Her head’s already too big to fit in her helmet.”

  His earpiece buzzed with her voice like Cia knew they’d been discussing her. “Less talking, more working, Reese. Let’s get a move on.” He exchanged farewells with the other man and jogged toward the ramp, passing the departing forklift on the way. When he got inside, he nodded in satisfaction at the sight of his team securing the cargo to the floor with more straps than would likely be needed. That’s the sort of enthusiasm I like to see. “Good work, people. Cia, should I close her up?”

  “Affirmative. Everyone should strap in until we’re out of the atmosphere. There are belts and latches in the galley and the cabins. We’ll have an opportunity for a tour and stuff as we get ready for the first jump. The flight plan calls for a pretty long transit before the second one, so that’ll be prime time for planning and eating and sleeping and such. Total travel time looks to be about twenty-two hours.”

  “Did we receive the additional data packet from the Academy?”

  She sounded annoyed. “We did, and it’s coded to you personally. What the hell is up with that, Reese? I don’t appreciate secrets on my ship.”

  He treated her complaint as the serious matter it was. As captain, Cia was the law on her starship. “Wasn’t my doing. I’m sure the Professor has a reason, right?”

  She growled, “It better be a good one,” and killed the comm channel that connected them. Her voice came over the ship’s intercom. “Light movement in thirty seconds. Crush-you-into-paste-against-the-walls movement two minutes after. Get yourselves secured if you would like to keep on living unsplattered.”

  He carefully didn’t laugh at the alarmed looks on his team’s faces. “Let’s go, folks, I’ll show you where you can strap in.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The autopilot handled the details of bringing the Grace to her next jump point while the team relaxed in the galley. The crates had contained both equipment and a meal, and Cia played the role of host, setting up dishes and placing the self-warming trays of food in the middle of the table. She
also liberated a bottle of whisky and poured each of them a small closed-top tumbler to go with whatever other beverage they’d chosen. All the plates, utensils, and other implements were metal. She’d explained that if the ship was to maneuver suddenly, the dining surface would magnetize to keep the serving items from flying around.

  The others were adapting well to their time on the ship. None of them had the look of someone on their first journey in space. In truth, given the positions they held, it would have been very strange if they hadn’t left the planet once or twice, either on business or the sort of vacation they could afford with those occupations. Chatter during the meal was comfortable but also somehow superficial as if they were all equally concerned about keeping the details of their lives outside the Academy secret. No doubt we all have reasons we think are valid, and I’m sure the Professor did his due diligence, so we don’t have to worry about a traitor in our midst. Beyond that, he wasn’t worried about their backgrounds, only what they were able and willing to do to achieve the objective they’d been assigned.

  He pushed his dish aside, having eaten military-fast and finished before the rest. “Okay, here’s what we know. The planet we’re heading to, Agni, is in one of the Confederacy systems. The world is pretty much a tourist destination, at least the part of it we’ll be visiting. I’m not sure about you fancy people, but it’s someplace I couldn’t afford.”

  The others nodded as if to say that they wouldn’t be able to either, except for Cia. Well, wealthy family. Maybe that sort of thing is in her range. “Anyway, we’re apparently after another data cache, but we have no knowledge about what it looks like or why it’s being moved physically.”

  Maria Verrand snorted. “The Professor likes to keep information scarce, doesn’t he?” The question generated sounds of assent.