Location: Terra Colony Andromeda
North Sector - Draco Outpost - Arena Facility
Date: February 1, 2050
Sinder sighed, leaning back in her chair as the events played out. From her spot amongst the crowd of explorers in attendance, she saw the sparks of a commotion erupting at the opposite edge of the arena. A young upstart student had jumped down from the viewing seats, demanding that he’d be taken seriously.
Judging by the young man’s decadent robes and the luxurious azure, blue colors of his attire, she assumed he was a foreign noble. And probably a narcissist by the way he’s grinning. Even when he’s angry, he seems like a total douche.
She wondered what had gotten under his skin. A few ideas came to mind, specifically the results they’d just been given. She knew how people would react to harsh criticism. The regular evaluations done by the academy were a measure of qualification, so they were a big deal. She, along with hundreds of other explorers and qualified examiners, had given their input on the performance of the students in their recent training exercise.
Sinder pulled up her datapad from her pocket to bring up the young man’s profile. Shidou Koichi, she read, knitting her brows at the lines of comments and critiques of his lackluster performance.
From instances of disobedience in the chain of command, to a lack of adaptability to his environment or the people around him, and even the disregard for the safety of others in the midst of the training, this student was nothing but trouble, and Sinder didn’t even need to smell it coming from a mile away.
“You dare raise a weapon to me!” Shidou haughtily proclaimed, lowering his polearm to jut it towards the fanned-out soldiers who wielded their combat knives at the ready. “And what do you expect to achieve with those letter openers?” He scoffed. “Worthless grunts, know your place and kneel! You stand in the presence of a Chosen warrior of Chinsui.”
Colonel William, the speaker of today’s gathering, left Aithnea’s side to approach him and began to have an exchange of words.
Sinder suppressed her sense of hearing so that she did not intrude, but going by the upstart's stubborn attitude, she could guess that the Colonel was making little headway in reining in the foreign noble. Sinder didn’t like him one bit and had to restrain herself from grinding her teeth. Hearing this upstart flaunt his self-importance was as painfully grating as chalk was against a board. With a breath, she kept calm and stayed where she was, as did her friends and fellow explorers. They’d been told by Colonel William to not react if anything were to occur during the proceedings.
And I get why. Sinder thought, eyeing her datapad once more. He’s a big shot from a foreign nation, and a pretty high up noble too. This could get problematic.
Colonel William raised a hand for the fanned out soldiers to see. As one, the dozen or so grunts lowered their weapons. They still held their posture, ready to act if the time came.
With a cough, the Colonel went on. “Again, what is the issue?”
Shidou scowled, jutting his polearm at the Colonel. “The issue is this entire place. The curriculum you’ve set is nothing but a sham, a lie, a biased measurement of our abilities.”
“And you have proof?”
“Of course!” Shidou proclaimed. “Of the scores you’ve given out, my teammates and my associates have all been graded poorly. This must be in error. We had reached the objective first out of everyone here! We completed the task you gave us and reached the rendezvous, so why! Why grade us so falsely after putting us through all that hell?”
His argument stirred the spectating students. From the arena’s viewing area, dozens of students stood up to shout their agreement. Following Shidou’s example, a braver handful from the thousands in attendance jumped down into the arena’s field. The soldiers on guard behind Aithnea reacted and spread out to contain the rising number of protestors.
An all-out conflict was brewing. All it needed now was a spark.
“You see! I am not the only one who is dissatisfied. I demand this issue be addressed!” Shouted Shidou, drawing a line in the ground before stabbing his polearm into the arena’s floor. A host of his entourage were behind him, their weapons out. “We will not be dishonored by this inaccurate evaluation of our skills due to a failure on your part to recognize talent!”
Colonel Willam arched one of his weathered and wrinkled brows. He was a veteran with decades of experience, and his military bearing didn’t break. “And if I refuse?”
“Then you will hear from the Koichi Family, and from the Dynasty of Chinsui itself. I will then bring this matter up with the United Nations and bring your gross incompetence to light.”
Sinder heard a feverious uproar of approval grow amongst the students. Shidou’s words were swaying those in favor of his position, and those who likely felt they deserved better. Sinder could sympathize with them, her first academy results hadn’t been all that great either.
In the face of this possibly growing disaster, the Colonel stood strong, and Sinder thought she saw him hold back a cynical laugh.
“There is no need for that.” Said Aithnea, joining the Colonel William’s side. Her voice was kind, and soothing enough to quell the tension in the entire arena. All eyes went to her, enraptured by both her fame and the air of power hanging around her. “Lord Shidou Koichi.” She addressed him with gentle care. “I understand your misgiving, but to escalate this issue to an international level is extreme. Might I suggest you move on from this? It is only an evaluation, one of thousands you will get during your time here at the academy.”
What she said was logical, though not for Shidou. The upstart regarded her with a cold indifference that was familiar to Sinder.
“Do not presume to understand me.” He replied, rudely flicking his hand at her as if dismissing her like a superior would. “Leave, this is none of your business.”
Multiple soft growls ran through the people around Sinder, and she found that she herself was also one of the many sources of a leaking and common animosity. Aithnea was beloved as a hero the world over, more so by the beast humans. When the mistreatment of beast humans began, she had led a movement for equal rights and established safe havens for those discriminated against.
Shidou seemed to be making clear his stance on people like them.
“This is my business.” Aithnea said, shaking her head, and even that had an elegance to it. “If you have issues with the curriculum then, please, bring them up.” She stepped towards Shidou, offering her hand out as an olive branch. “There is no need to get upset at a single misstep. We can discuss this peacefully and resolve your misgivings.”
Shidou pressed a hard glare onto Aithnea, who gently made another step towards him.
“My lord! Get back!” One of the students from Shidou’s entourage rapidly dashed in front of him and rushed at Aithnea with a bladed implement. “Vixen, nothing but a vixen. You lie! Don’t you dare try to touch him!”
Sinder’s eyes went wide with shock. What the hell are you thinking! She was just about ready to rush out of her seat. If she concentrated and pushed herself, she’d be able to get in front of Aithnea in time. But Colonel William’s previous warning caused her a second of indecision.
There was a flash of light as the attacking student’s weapon fired a bolt of conjured energy. Sinder cursed inwardly and had to cover her eyes. She picked up a loud whoosh of air from all the ensuing noises and chaotic shouts.
When everything came back into focus, the attacking student was on his knees. His weapon fell to the ground, laid next to a smoking, fist sized crater gouged in the arena’s hard floor.
Sinder caught a strong scent of iron. It was blood.
“ArGh! My arm!” The student howled, staring in horror at his now stumped hands. They had been cut at the wrists, a clean separation at the joint. “It hurts! Damn it all! Damn it Damn it!” He glared up at the perpetrator. “Damn you! You fucking bitch!”
“Now that’s not a nice thing to say to a lady.” Shis said candidly, sheathing and stowing her katana to the side of her hip.” She smiled, “You should get some rest. Here, let me help” before kicking the disarmed student across the face with the heel of her shoe. He went out cold in an instant, eyes rolling into the back of his skull.
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Shidou trembled with anger, his grip firming on his weapon. He was both outraged by Shis’s disrespect and captured by her beauty. That changed when he spied the military emblem on her purple bodysuit. “You dare strike one of my men?” He pulled his polearm out from the ground. “Insolent girl, you have no idea who you are messing with.” He licked his lips, eyeing the sensual curves of Shis’s body. “But if you kneel and apologize, I will reconsider. I may even reward you with a position as my concubine and I’ll..”
“Enough!” Colonel William roared. He ordered a pair of soldiers to tend to the wounded student before confronting Shidou. His height allowed him to tower over him. “Your farce of an argument ends here and now. You will fall in line.” He said with steel in his voice. “Or I will make you.”
Shidou grinned up at him. “So be it.”
The Colonel reached for Shidou’s collar, planning to wrench him off his feet. The moment before he could, Shidou kicked and sent the Colonel sliding back. Fights ensued as protesting students across the arena’s boundary charged the thin lines of guarding soldiers.
“Show them!” Shidou proclaimed, spreading his arm in a grandiose gesture. “Show them your strength and prove their lies to be false!” His entourage was spurred on, rushing past Shidou to come head on with the Colonel and Aithnea. “We are the chosen! WE are the true defenders of humanity!” He went on, raising his voice for everyone to hear. “Follow me, and I will..”
A wailing scream cut him off. One from his entourage was knocked to the ground by one of the soldiers. Shidou blinked in surprise. He had likely thought that the soldier didn’t have the strength to match them or, at the most, were just grunt type explorers. In either case, he assumed he would have the upper hand.
Sinder rolled her eyes from her seat. What an idiot.
A second later, three more of Shidou’s supporters howled in pain as they were taken down. The soldiers’ power armor came alive, the arena filling with activity as core energy levels spiked in the air. A pair of soldiers charged an attacking student who fired bolts of energy in an attempt to defend himself.
One soldier stepped in and weaved past the shots, landed an empowered punch to the student’s chin, and stabbed through the student’s dominant hand with a combat knife, its edge humming with energy humming. A following tackle from the second soldier toppled the student before they had him pinned and cuffed.
“Don’t kill them!” The Colonel ordered. He joined the ensuing scuffle, slamming a powerful punch into one of Shidou’s supporters and then laying him out with a hammer strike to the back. “Apprehend them at any means, but do not fire your weapons!”
“Yes Sir!” The soldiers obliged, uncaring of how much violence they needed to use.
Shidou was about to join the fight, readying a blast of energy with his polearm. That was until he felt the cold edge of a knife pressing under his chin. Long locks of black hair ran down his left shoulder and a sweet voice whispered in his ear.
“I suggest that you not move.” It was a woman’s voice, and she subdued one of Shidou’s arms behind him. “If you struggle, I will have no remorse for what happens next.”
The sound of Shidou’s weapon clanging to the ground got the attention of his entourage. They stopped in the midst of their battling, glaring daggers at the person holding their leader hostage.
The maid, Izuna, had come out of nowhere. How they missed her moving amongst the events mystified them, it even mystified the spectating students and seated explorers.
Sinder hadn’t even sensed her presence. And only a few people I know could pull that off.
“Let him go!” Demanded one of Shidou’s supporters, being careful to not be caught from behind by the soldiers. “Let him go, you welp, or I swear I will cut you down.”
Izuna’s expression did not change from her usual sharp bearing. In response to the provocation, she twisted Shidou’s restrained arm harder and got a pathetic wince out of him.
His supporters raged, a deep red coming over to their faces.
“What do you think you are doing!” Protested Shidou.
“My job.” Izuna answered tursely. “Now shut your mouth before I seal it shut, better yet, I’ll cut your throat if you speak any further.” She squeezed her hand, feeling the crunch of Shidou’s bones on her palm. “Do I make myself clear?”
Shidou bit back a retort, his body unable to cope with the immense pain he was in. He flailed, putting strength into his legs to shake off the small maid. But he failed, and Izuna did not appreciate his efforts. Twirling the knife around between her free hand’s fingers, she pulled the knife at his neck away and into the back of Shidou’s left thigh. Blood gushed, staining his regal blue robes.
“Down.” Izuna commanded, pushing him from behind and making him land face first to the hard floor. “Good, now stay silent.” She drew a hidden knife from under her skirt and this time nicked Shidou’s neck right in front of all his supporters. “If any of you move, I will kill him.”
The threat was effective. Shidou’s supporters fell silent, they had heard her loud and clear.
Colonel William nodded approvingly to the maid. “Thank you for your assistance.” He waved the soldiers forward. “Get cuffs on the rest of them. In 24 hours, I want all of them sent back to the city prison, then processed, and then expelled from the colony. All of you are no longer allowed to step foot here ever again, and that goes double for the other terra colonies.”
“What! You can’t do that” Said one of the restrained students. The soldiers had to wrestle him into his cuffs. “No, stop! Get off of me! I came all this way to train, to become an explorer, and now you’re kicking me out!”
Colonel William sighed before digging his eyes into all of them. “I sometimes can’t believe it, but there truly are people as dumb as rocks. If you hadn’t noticed, your actions so far only prove the accuracy of our evaluation. And even if they were inaccurate, your actions today are proof enough that none of you can be trusted. You don’t even understand what you’ve done.”
Shidou growled through his pain. “And what would you know!” Blood trickled from his broken nose. “I am the chosen one of my family, the most powerful, a destined hero of this world. My powers could bring you all to your knees.”
“Yet you are the one with your face in the dirt.” Retorted the Colonel. “Having power is one thing, but using it is another. You flaunt your abilities like it’s some trophy, unaware of the weight you have to bear.” He set his gaze on the other students. “All of you are blessed, in a way, but that doesn’t mean you are special, it means you have a responsibility to uphold. And it seems none of you understand that.”
That shut most of the students up. Sinder understood what the Colonel meant. Explorers were to be shining examples, the best of humanity personified and given life. In times of great strife and danger, they were there to protect the people, just like they had done in the starfall war.
Shidou, on the other hand, was clueless and defiant to the end. “What is there to understand?” He asked. “The strong will rule and the weak will serve, as it should be.”
Colonel William let out a tired breath at his backwards idiocy. By Shidou’s own words, he should’ve been the one pinning the maid. Instead, he was the one brought low by such a tiny opponent.
Tapping his wrist band, the Colonel pulled up holo displays at the center of the arena. “So, you consider yourself strong, eh?” He said, matter of fact. “Then what do you make of this?”
Several large screens appeared in the air, holographic displays projected by the arena’s overhead projection camera. They drew everyone’s attention as sound and picture came into focus. At first the feed was grainy but quickly resolved to a better resolution. Shidou’s face fell as he realized what was being shown.
“Get out of my way!” A recording of his voice echoed from the arena’s speakers as the holo screens displayed him shoving aside his fellow students in the middle of combat. Each screen then showed off its own individual making a fool of themselves.
“Know your place, commoner!”
“Shut up and just listen you fools!”
“I don’t care, just go!”
“Wait! What are you doing?”
“Winning, now don’t bother me!” Shidou blasted a girl with a bolt of energy, then threw her to the approaching enemies. “Let’s move, the fodder will buy us time.”
On and on, the holo vids revealed the true face of Shidou and his supporters.
“Move it!” Said Shidou. “We can make it to the rendezvous before everyone else if we cut past all the fighting. Let’s leave the heavy lifting to those idiots, we have better things to do. We’ll grasp victory with they’re sacrifice.”
The Colonel stood over Shidou and ground his boot into face, making him kiss the floor with his teeth. “Disgusting!” He snarled. “Disgusting, Disgusting, Disgusting! Did you really think we wouldn’t notice? That we would let any of your actions go unpunished or ungraded? You have the gall to denounce us, yet you do this! Disgusting!”
Aithnea put a calming hand on his shoulder.
Without needing to hear it, the colonel reigned in his anger. He could kill Shidou right then and there. He didn't, and that spoke volumes of his deeper character. He then addressed the students with a ridged attitude. “As you can see, our evaluations are accurate. You are all scrutinized at all times during your curriculum, and that is because the training you all will be part of will not only test your strength, but your character. Having powers comes with a responsibility to use them, and it’s our role at the academy to weed out those who would use them for selfish and reckless reasons.” He straightened his collar and wiped the blood off his boots against Shidou’s cheek. “I apologize that you had to see such an amount of violence. As a soldier, these worthless bastards disregard the safety of their comrades pulled on a certain nerve. Rest assured, we do not intend to penalize those who fail or are outraged by our evaluations, but we will defend ourselves when attacked.”
“Let this be an example.” Aithnea added. “Self control is a virtue all explorers exemplify. If you cannot abide, then I suggest you learn how, if you are to succeed in this career. It is a lifetime commitment”
Murmuring broke out amongst the spectators as both the Colonel and Aithnea returned to the center of the arena. At the same time, Shidou and his supporters were dragged away from the armored soldiers.
Picking him up from the floor, Izuna handed him off to a pair of soldiers that slapped cuffs on him.
“This isn’t over!” Shidou screamed, he was determined to have the last word. “I swear on my name that justice for this slander against me will be brought down. It will be brought down upon all of you!” He sent a hateful look to all the seated students. “All of you will pay! I will have my..”
Izuna grabbed his hair and yanked it up hard, making Shidou look at her on the same eye level.
“Let the fuck go!” Shidou spat a wad of blood, dirtying her cheek. “I will come for you! I will have my pound of flesh, and I will..”
Izuna shoved her hand into his mouth, dug her nails into his tongue, and pulled. The spectating students groaned and shuddered uncomfortably at the sound Shidou made before he was silenced forever. Izuna threw the lump of flesh in her palm aside, wiping her hands with a cloth she produced from under her skirt as she rejoined the lines of soldiers standing on guard behind Aithnea and the Colonel.
Sinder paled, unsettled that such a brute was behind that adorable maid outfit. It’s a good thing she’s on our side.