The Academie is the grand institution that harbors the most talented students in the planet, it has a long history and was known to produce countless great soldiers for the imperium of mankind. At the end of every three years, the school and its students will select a representative to be deemed the most talented and influential of its generation. Today, it's the day when the ceremony happens. The grand hall's wall is full of pictures that belong to students from different generations, most of them are known in this star sector due to their achievements in their respective areas.
After about half of an hour, most of the audience were seated and the place gradually became more silent until the point when everyone could hear a needle drop on the floor. The curtain opens and it is the headmaster delivering a heartfelt speech about the school's history and its achievements. It's the same every time they hear it but for some reason it is still as entertaining as it is. Then came the talent show which was organized by different school clubs. There was psychic power juggling, sword fights demonstration and some of them gave a rather good choir performance.
Finally, then comes the student of the generation. When the person finally stepped on the stage, everyone couldn't help but let out a gasp: "Another Terra?" "What is this? I bet this is rigged." "I bet their family paid a fortune to send that girl on the stage." "What is her name again? I've seen her before, she single handedly beat the entire club of students i heard." "I think her name was… Mina? Mika ? Oh wait I got it, Minka…..Minka Terra."
Minka slightly adjusts the microphone, so it makes an irritating noise to control the scene. When the crowd finally settled down, she cleared her throat: "Ahem. Good evening, before i start I'd like to thank you all for attending this event, this was the first student console organized ceremony so i'd like to give a shout out to them for their hard work." Minka then slightly adjusted her bangs: " The Academie has always raised the best students for the Astra militarum, and because of this we could vanquish the evil that almost broke our planet decades ago, it is my honor to be able to study in here and finally achieve the highest possible achievement in this school. For that, I am thankful to my teachers, my classmates and of course… my parents… who are… at the front row waving at me…" The crowd chucked a bit and Minka's face turned a bit red but it was not noticeable from below the stage: "When I heard that I was selected as the student of the generation, I felt nervous at the start. But when I gaze into the eyes of the classmates around me, I feel like maybe it is for mine to take because i present the whole generation of students. Thank you…. I will not fail you and I will continue to serve the emperor and his million worlds. The emperor protects."
"The emperor protects." The crowd echos.
When the ceremony is finished, Minka sits backstage and looks into the mirror and adjusts her long wavy hair. But then she heard a small crack noise from the door: "Come in, you don't have to be sneaky about it…" Minka thought is another one of those people coming over to either harass her or trying to connect with her. She stops what she was doing... And stares towards the door... Ready to either throw a punch or to welcome them with an open arm... Depending on who was behind the door.
The door opens and a girl wearing a primary school uniform nervously comes in: "Hi...sis."
"Emilia? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be staying with mom and dad?" Minka frowns and fakes an angry face.
"I am sorry, but you were just too cool! I want to be like you in the future!" Emilia's face is peach red, either she's too excited or she's nervous that her sister is going to punish her.
Minka leans forward and pats Emilia's head: "Emi, you will, I believe in you. Also, why are you holding a pen and a... notebook which doesn't belong to you?"
Emilia is wordless, but soon she gathered her courage: "My...my friend Jim wanted a signature from you… so…" She puts both of her hands on the back and turns her face away.
Minka grins and takes a deep breath, she then gives Emilia the student console badge that belongs to her: "Since I will have no need for this, why don't you give this to your friend?"
Emilia's eyes are glittering: " Thanks sis!" She then tries to run out, but Minka grabs her by the arm.
"Emilia, go straight back to mom and dad alright? I will be out in a few minutes. Don't look around aimlessly." The last few words were emphasized by Minka then winking at her little sister, Then Emilia running out like she's just learned how to walk.
Minka changed into a more casual set of clothes and headed outside of the school. Minka sees her parents and Emilia is discussing and giggling, maybe Minka is nice to her little sister, but she has a completely different attitude towards to her parents, she sees her dad is some kind of shady weirdo that brings money without even going out working for a single day and her mom is a hug freak.
They wave violently across the street and Minka just slightly facepalms and shakes her head: "You can't choose your parents, Minka… just get along with them..." she told herself: "Hi guys…" She doesn't sound very enthusiastic.
"Minka, that was amazing!" Her dad hugs Minka tightly, and her mom hugs them from the back as well. Soon little Emilia joined in as well.
"Alright… stop it.. I am exhausted, let's just go home." Minka shakes them off and opens the backseat car door.
In the car Minka is rather silent and her sister is leaning on her shoulder sleeping, she's already used to the talks her parents usually have "Oh Traz my dear, why don't we visit the newly opened cheese store across the town? I heard they have a fantastic selection of cheese." "Definitely, Monika my love. I also wanted to visit that area since the antique store is getting more collections from the phyrexian war period."
Minka to be honest is a bit mad, when she asked her parents about the phyrexian war, they told her that they were just common people who lived in the city so if they have to be perfectly honest, they just let the war pass and didn't do anything about it. Her aunt Nova, however, was a military legend, even though they have a good relationship, but she is still an aunt instead of her parents. She's a bit jealous of that Leanna kid who has a legend as her mother.
"Minka my dear, did something happen?" Trazyn asks while driving the car: "You don't seem happy about what you've achieved."
"No... it's not about that… just... Never mind." Minka is in no mood yelling at her parents.
"Don't worry about being excited, Minka." Monika reassures: "Me and daddy got some really nice tea, it will surely calm your nerves."
Minka can never get mad at her mom, she's just too nice, because of this Minka swore that she will not become a person like that, because she hates it. But when talking to Monika, Minka is rather nice: "Thanks mom, let's have it together after I finish my bath."
"Sure, sweety. By the way, what do you want to do after you graduated from Academie?" Monika asks. Her tone is still as nice as ever.
"Probably joining the army. I want to be like aunt Nova." Minka replied.
"That sounds… wonderful sweetie." Monika sounds like something chocked her throat.
Minka however didn't notice the little change of expression of Monika from the driving mirror of the car.
Minka then jumped into the shower when they arrived. After taking a shower, When Minka was about to leave the bathroom, she could hear a faint noise of arguing from downstairs. "We can't let it happen again…" "We can't just control her and tell her what to do." This is strange, because for Minka, her mom and dad are always lovely dovely with each other, she had never heard them arguing about anything. Minka then lays on the ground and sticks her ear to the floor.
"Honey… we should respect her choice… she's the best of the best!"
"It doesn't matter! It's just that she has so many other choices. I don't want her to join the army." Monika sounded really serious.
"Monika, honey. Remember our goal is to make sure our children live a life that they will not regret, our job is to provide a safety net in case anything bad falls upon them."
"Minka is going to join the army and it's tragic all over again, I will not let this happen. Ever."
"Honey..." Trazyn let out a sigh: "Fine... let's go talk to her."
When they arrived at Minka's room, they found out that she had already gone to sleep. But in reality Minka is just hiding under the blanket and is really mad at these two for seemingly hiding something extremely important from her. After waiting for those two to go to bed, Minka got up and started looking for clues about what happened to the past. She was always suspicious of her parents for the story of the past that they told her. Even though everything they said is all true but there's always something disconnected between each story in the chain of logic. Also, it doesn't help that she saw that her mom could lift a car sideways with her bare hand while fixing something with Trazyn. Minka also learned that Trazyn this name is used by a necron overlord, but she thought this is always more of a coincidence than anything else.
"Sis?" Emilia saw Minka standing in the living room while pausing to think: "What are you doing?"
"What are you doing? Don't you have school tomorrow?" Minka just realized she is also under dressed as well.
"Yea... but i want to go to the toilet...i am scared to go alone..."
Minka let out a grin on her face and takes Emilia's hand and waits outside until she's finished. While waiting Minka is lost in her thoughts again. But until she escorts her sister back to her room, Minka is still not able to make sense about what had happened in the past. She thought about talking to Leanna, but Minka could already imagine the taunting look on her face. She will probably say something like: 'My my, aren't you a curious one? How about this, i will tell you everything, if you lick my feet.' Just the idea of thinking about this brought a shiver in Minka's spine.
Minka lay on the bed and fell asleep eventually. In her dream, Minka saw a new planet approaching them, but when she wanted to know more about it. Monika woke her up because it was time for them to go out and have a little run outside.
Minka clearly looked really tired, but she still washed herself and put on her sports gear. She never understood how her mom could always be so enthusiastic to exercise with her instead of dragging her lazy husband from the bed. While stretching Monika asks Minka how she feels to continue studying and become an inquisitor in the future or a researcher.
"No thanks mom, i want to join the army like you and Aunt Nova." Minka replied with a blank tone while avoiding her mother's gaze.
"Minka..." Monika clearly wanted to say something but before she could, Minka had already started running on the track. Monika paced herself easily to reach her but clearly both of them had a uneasy expression on her face. "Oh dear..."As Monika then goes closer towards Minka: "Minka... I will always... Support you... In whatever path you chose...But." with a subtle sigh: "But... Are you sure you... Don't want to study and tries to be a researcher?"
"I don't want to be a researcher mom." Minka clearly sounded a bit impatient.
"But...Are you aware... How dangerous is joining the army...? A-Are you sure you don't want to choose another career path?" Monika says this in a worried tone.
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
Minka frowns: "Mom! Stop saying these kinds of things! You are in there and you're fine. Why should i face any dangerous situation?!"
"But... You never know what might happen in the war front...It can get... Pretty deadly sometimes...I... I've had friends who... Did not come back...A-Are you sure about this?... You're willing to risk your life...?"As Monika says this... A few tears drop from her eyes.
"Mom..." Minka's heart dropped because she sees her mom start dropping tears in her eyes: "Please stop crying..."Minka looks away, but she is still firm about what she believes in.
"I... I am sorry...I just... Don't want you to come back home... Covered in all these cuts... B-Bruises... S-Scars... And i don't want you to come home in an... Ambulance... Or... In a coffin... I don't want you to come home in a box..."Tears start flowing down even more... As Monika's words can only come out in a shaky and sadden tone.
Minka came over and hugged Monika: "Mom... i am so sorry... i.." Minka gulps: "Let's continue running more laps..."
After a few more laps, Minka is panting hard while Monika barely got any sweat on her forehead. But both of them seemed to be more open to each other's opinion: "Look... Minky, in the army people are really mean... and especially for a girl like you, you will have a really hard time."
"Girl like me ?! What is that supposed to mean?" Minka sounded really annoyed.
"You have a strong personality and attitude... I don't want you to get bullied or something."
"They dare? I will fuck them up!"
"Minka!" Monika raised her voice: "This is exactly why i don't want you to be there, before you can control your temper i am not allowing you!"
"Or is because you and dad have something to hide from me!" Minka finally had enough: "Why do you and dad refuse to tell me what happened before i was born? You two are always trying to hide something from me."
"We... we are not hiding anything." Monika replied while sounding really lack of confidence.
After hearing this, Minka took a long deep breath while frowning, it is clear that something is not showing but she doesn't want to hurt her mom's feeling: "If you say so mom..."
"Minka... if you really don't want to..."
"I'm fine mom..." Just like her mother, Minka is also very bad at hiding her real feelings from her appearance.
When they got home, Trazyn was already out sending Emilia to school. Minka sits in front of her desk and pulls out a chart she had been working on. It is a logic relation graph of everything that she knows about the phyrexian war. If an expert sees the details of it, they would be amazed by the accuracy and how organized it is. Maybe Minka does have a talent of being a researcher or work in the field of academic.
"So... the phyrexian event appeared roughly...two decades ago and stopped advancing five years after the appearance..." She mumbles to herself: "But based on the documents i could find that it is a corrupting entity that should never be able to fully eradicated... but it did stop...Many reports of distortion event in people, objects or a place as if frozen in time have been discovered after the eradication... hmm... maybe those anomalies aren't related as well..."Minka pulls her hair. With the lack of field information, Minka cannot make sense of any of that information. Suddenly Monika knocks on the door.
"Hey Minky!"While knocking down on Minka's room door: "May i come in?"
Minka quickly hides away her stuff and cleared her throat: "Sure, come in."
"So... What do you have there Minky? "As Monika says this... She is actually curious about what Minka was doing in her room... Monika's curiosity builds up due to the slight redness on Minka's face.
"Nothing much really... I was just reading some books, that's all." Minka avoids Monika's kind gaze: "But... Can you tell me about the time when you were in the army? I want to know more about them."
"Oh really? I am actually really glad you were asking such a question! I would actually love to tell you about my time in the army. After Monika says this... She sits on Minka's bed: "So Minka. Tell me... What do you want to hear about my time in the army?"
"How about your first mission?" Minka asks.
"My first mission? Well... That one is a pretty interesting one... Our platoon was assigned on a mission to investigate a strange and unknown structure on the planet... And this structure looks to be some sort of alien origin. So, the platoon decided to investigate the inside of the structure to see what kind of alien we were dealing with...So we explored some parts of the structure... But when we went to the lower parts of the structure, we have encountered a strange but lethal xeno force...We have fought them off... But two of my members... Got killed...One died in front of my eyes...His chest was bleeding so much...I-I-I... I... I watched him die... As he tried to resist death...Before he finally died in my arms...what a terrible sight that was..." Monika let out a sigh.
"Mom... sorry that i brough up some bad memories..." Minka apologized.
Monika kindly pats Minka's head: "It's fine Minky, it happened a while ago... Seeing you wanting to do more for the world is honestly inspiring. If you really want to join the army... mom and dad will support you!"
"Really?! You really meant it?!" Minka's eyes are sparking with excitement.
"Yes! Since when has mom ever lied to you?"
Minka couldn't be happier and hugged Monika tightly and almost having tears out.
On the second day, Minka left home with some documents, she was ready to head out to the recruitment center.
"Hi... My name is Minka Terra... I am applying to the miltarium bootcamp program." While staring at the personnel officer who has a stern look on his face: "Are there any vacancies available for a student like me..."
"Ahhh yes... Yes Miss Terra." The man takes a deep breath: "Let me check my list... Oh! Your application has been approved by our admiral himself... I'm sure that they have high expectations from you...And... impressive, you're the student of the generation? Well can't say that is something we see every day."
Minka felt happy hearing those words from the staff: "So... can we start the process?" She asks eagerly as her eyes glistening.
"Of course, miss. There are several tests ahead of us but don't worry; once you finish all these tests then your admission to the militarum will be granted straight away." He then gives a small list to Minka: "Please read the items carefully before signing your signature."
"No need." Minka puts down her signature right away: "Let's begin the test."
The admission office took a deep breath: "Alright, i like your spirit. Please head to the line next to the tent." He points at the nearby structures.
Minka heads into the building, while the lines is filled with other people, she just stands in front without knowing what kind of test it is. As she continued standing in the waiting room, suddenly a girl stood next to her: "Huh, isn't this wonderful. I thought this place would have lesser people."
At first Minka ignored her because she thought this person was talking to someone else, but soon a sentence made her turn around: "You know, as a Terra you're awfully less disciplined."
Minka turned and she stares at this girl who is exactly the same height as her and has a green messy ponytail hair and a pair of piercing purple eyes. She scans this person up and down who dresses so... rebellious if she has to say it that way: "How do you know my name?"
"I saw your name on the application sweetie." The girl had a smirk on her face: "Now come on, it's almost your turn to enter."
Minka gives this girl a dirty look then is headed into the test area. A man came out from an open door and called Minka to enter, the first round is written test about basic Xeno information and various common sense. As expected Minka finished it flawlessly. She went out to the second area waiting for the second test.
That girl appeared again and walking straight towards to Minka while smirking: "well well well, i guess you're not all brawn no brain like the rest of the Terras."
"Alright." Minka stood up: "What is your problem? Who the hell are you?" Minka's gaze is cold and deadly, but the opponent seems to be unaffected by it.
The girl laughed loudly: "Why don't we introduce ourselves first...My name is Viola Laureate. You can call me Viola. I am like you, i was also a student."
Minka nodded. "Minka Terra." She crosses her arms: "Now, why do you keep harassing me?"
"Well because there are a lot of people here with big dreams, lots of them really want to join the army! But some of them will fail because they're lacking in certain skills...You have what it takes!" Viola has a devilish grin on her face.
"You did not answer the question." Minka's tone is getting colder.
Viola looks at her, her eyes gleaming: "I just think you could use some more friends, since you seem to be lacking that kind."
"What do you mean?"
Viola chuckles: "I mean who comes to the recruitment center alone? They are all accompanied by their friends and family. Well, we are the same in this part. So... can we be friends?" Her hand reaches out to shake with Minka as if nothing had happened between them.
Minka frowned and didn't take Viola's hand. She sits down and closes her eyes, trying to calm her nerves and hopes that Viola will just leave because clearly Minka is ignoring her.
But Viola did not feel like this was the case. She sits next to Minka and starts a one direction conversation with Minka. "Oh well! It must be nice having such supportive parents. You know my dad once said that i should go to military school instead of going to university..." Viola starts talking about her life. Suddenly, the bell that tells them to go to the next test rang. In Minka's ears it is like the bell of the savior.
Minka stepped in, the area was rather empty, and a blond girl stepped in: "Alright... I am lieut-" She suddenly paused and looked up again: "Wait, Minka?"
"Aunt Noel?!" Minka is also very surprised.
"Oh My god! I thought i was mistaken but it was really you!" Noel hugs Minka happily: "Well, we are supposed to give a test of your strength or physical condition... I guess we can just spar to see the how good you've got."
Minka drops her bag and warms up: "Well... say no more."
Noel quickly pulled out two swords and tossed them at Minka while holding another sword herself. Both girls stood opposite each other and waited for their opponent to make their move. As soon as the sound of the ringing startles both girls; they begin their battle. They immediately closed in on one another with their blades held high. Their eyes were filled with determination, their muscles tense as their bodies leaned forward towards one another with lightning speed, trying to touch their opponent's bodies with the sword. They charge full force into one another, then after a momentary pause they change direction mid-way through by a split second. The sudden change made Noel lose her balance, making her drop her sword down.
"How..." Noel gulps and looks at Minka: "You're really like Moni aren't you?..."
Minka took that as a compliment and gives back the sword to Noel: "Well thanks~ Now what is the next test?"
"Shooting range but i think you'll be fine." Noel clearly doesn't take lightly of the defeat, but it's your best friend's daughter here. Decide to let it go.
The shooting range was pretty much just a long line of bunkers set in a row. A man dressed in black came walking over to them. He was carrying an auto gun. His hair was shaved in the sides while his hair was combed straight up in front. Minka honestly wanted to say something about the hair style, but she realized that Viola scooched next to her by cutting the line: "Hey there, it seems like you passed the test as well."
"That obvious." Minka mocks her.
Viola smiled and pulled out her sidearm: "Well this is for target practice; we have these guns because we can only get live targets at our academy, so we use replicas when we are not training with real weapons."
"Can you not show your sidearm while we are not in the practice range?" Minka is really paranoid when people are showing their weapons in places they shouldn't be showing.
Viola holds up her gun with a smile on her face before putting it away. Then she started looking through the weapon racks: "Oh! I love the sniper rifle... Can i try one of those?"
"Candidates! Attention!" The man shouts towards these two.
Both girls immediately stand at attention as instructed and listen carefully to what the man had to say.
"We will begin our tests now and we would like all candidates to pick which weapon they want to test." He pointed to the rack.
Minka stepped forward: "I'll take the sniper rifle please."
The man smiles: "Alright. You seem to be very interested in the sniper rifle. How about you, miss...?" He looks down at Viola.
Viola chuckles: "I'll rely on my pistol but there's nothing wrong with wanting a nice sniper rifle though~ After all we all have to compensate for something." She turns back to look at Minka's choice: "A bolt action sniper rifle sounds fun but why settle for just one? Maybe a different type of weapon or even better if it were some kind of grenade launcher."
Minka ignored Viola completely while she looked through the various types of weapons until she found herself attracted to an old fashioned semi-automatic designated marksman rifle. She checked the chamber and then held the gun against her cheek, sighing in on her target as she heard the other girl sigh quietly next to her. It felt strange holding the gun in her hands; it's been too long since her last time handling a gun like this. She remembers her father giving her lessons in how to hold guns properly.
Minka gone to the range and loaded in a magazine with rounds. She squeezes the trigger and fires. The bullet shot from the rifle in a straight line. As the projectile fired, Minka quickly shifted her sights and aimed at another target further away with ease. Before she could finish her thought, someone hit a button and made the targets start moving.
Minka frantically fired off rounds as fast as she could but still only managed to get four shots out before it was all over.
"Well..." The man smiled at her: "Seems like you have a lot to work on."
Minka unloads the clip and puts the items back to where it belongs: "So did i pass?"
"You did but barely." The man replied and gave Minka a certificate: "Bring it to the sign-up place and we will inform you for your schedule."
Minka left, she looks around and is glad that she doesn't have to see that green haired girl ever again. Minka arrived home looking really exhausted. She didn't realize the test took the whole afternoon. She lays on the sofa and closes her eyes. Suddenly she felt someone curled up next to her, she touched it and felt the soft silky hair. It is Emilia. She gently pats her head while relaxing her eyes.
"Sis, I heard you are joining the army..." Emilia sounded a bit hesitant while asking.
"Yeah... I'm pretty excited about this whole thing actually." Minka clearly is relieved that she finally gets to do the thing she always wanted to do.
"Oh ! That's great~!" Emilia suddenly claps with happiness.
"Emi? What happened? Are you hiding something from me?" Minka opens her eyes and looks at her little sister.
"No...not at all. It's just I want to join too, I'll go find some books so we can study together, okay?" Emilia squeezes her arms tight around her big sis, and smiles at her lovingly: "I love you Sis."
"Well... you're too young to join but it's good that you have the spirit!" Minka lays her head on top of Emilia's: "I love you too."