The simulator was a single roomed building with one story underground. It held dozens of simulator capsules. The second floor held the control booth, the observation ring and the medical facilities. Two staircases led from the second floor to the first and down into the basement. It was extraordinary. In the observation room were screens that would display what the pilots saw as well as several views of the battle field. Nevis had led them into the observation ring where a pair of eladrin were waiting for them, both dressed in the black and purple.

Kiera felt her heart leap into her throat when she saw them, and for a moment wondered if that’s how people reacted when they saw her. Both were lithe with toned muscles that gave them a sensation of graceful strength, like a rapier or energy sword. Both had sun kissed tan skin, but that’s where their similarities ended. The woman had dark green hair and bright blue eyes with several piercings on her long pointed ears. The man had piercing green eyes like a hawk and hair that was the color of wheat. Their rank insignias showed that he was a major, and she was a Knight-Captain, a rank that showed she had done something extraordinary or heroic for the empire.

Her eyes scanned over the cadets, her eyes lingered on Kiera for a moment and then onto Hailey. The slightest smile crossed her face before it returned to impassiveness. The man was more obvious in his surveying, making sure the cadets knew when he was looking at each of them. His face didn’t betray any opinions or thoughts. Captain Nevis stopped up next to them and turned to address the cadets.

“Cadets, this is Major Holt Peregrine and Knight-Captain Leiella Feren. Major Peregrine will be overseeing all your mech training including simulations and in mecha. Knight-Captain Feren will be assisting him, overseeing your weapons training, and will administer her morning PT, along with Sergeant Labradore. Your classroom instructors include myself, Sergeant Ransing, Captain Redding, Major Solanthas, and Lieutenant Dinran.”

“I was informed that there is a cadet that does not think that women have any place in this corps,” Major Peregrine said, his voice was calm and sounded slightly aloof, “Which cadet needs to be educated otherwise?”

Dandelion pushed his way to the front of the cadets, “Any woman who has gained any rank in the military received it because they were granted it for “visibility” and “to prove equality,” or any other kind of PR nonsense.”

The Major turned his gaze, “Cadet Arun Snowden. Dalton Snowden’s younger brother.”

“Dalton's infinitely more talented and skilled brother,” Dandelion stated. Kiera could tell who's arrogance was worse this boy’s or Tracksuit’s. She forced herself to take a breath and just watch the outcome. No doubt he wouldn’t admit his faults any more than Tracksuit did.

“Your practical exam scores say otherwise,” the Major said.

“Standing guard over a mining colony and waiting for an attack is a waste of my talents. Leaving the minors to hunt down the potential threat was still the right call,” Dandelion countered.

Kiera scoffed, this guy was more annoying than Tracksuit. These guys with overinflated egos were getting old. Arun looked over his shoulder, “What would a girl know about strategy and proper engagement.”

Kiera looked past him to the major, “Permission to speak freely, sir?”

“Granted.”

“Enough to know that dereliction of duty is an offense that is punishable by court-martial. The empire doesn’t condone the type of glory hunting that you have described. While you were trying to get accolades the enemy could have easily drawn you away and attacked the colony. No alarm would have been raised, the miners lives would likely have been lost and the minerals they extracted stolen. But worse than that, the perpetrator has learned that our security is lax and may take advantage of that and expose a weakness that would otherwise not have been presented if you had followed orders, no matter how boring you thought the assignment was. Or even give that information to a known enemy in order to strengthen or create an alliance. ”

Dandelion scoffed, “You must like the sound of your own voice. ‘None’ would have more than sufficed.”

Kiera’s eyes locked with the major’s as she took in a long breath to keep her composure, he opened his mouth to speak when he was cut off by the Knight-Captain.

“Snowden, on the ground. Blatant disrespect for your superiors and your peers will not be tolerated at this academy. Neither will your misogynistic remarks,” her voice was soft but carried an undeniable tone of authority. Dandelion balked and opened his mouth to protest, but before he could the major spoke.

“You were given an order, cadet. We’re not on Polaris where you might have believed you were important. You’re in the Astrian military where you’re just a cadet. Double the number Knight-Captain Feren gave you.”

“Sir…!” he started before putting himself in a pushup position and beginning his punishment.

“Let me make one thing transparently clear. I do not care who you were before you came to this academy. I do not care who your parents, siblings, grandparents or unrelated mentors are. I don’t care what or how other instructors taught. In this academy you are our cadets and the standards that you are held to are higher than anyone else. You have joined this corps to pilot a weapon, a highly mobile, highly destructive weapon. To pilot a mecha you must be dependable, reliable, trustworthy, adaptable, and disciplined. Those who lack those traits will be dismissed. Your instructors know my expectations and they have my full trust. When they make a recommendation, unless there is undeniable evidence to the contrary, I take it. This includes expulsion. I will not hesitate to terminate you from this academy and this military branch.

“Captain Nevis brought you here for an object lesson and a wake up call. Cadet Snowden, when you are finished you will report to simulator one twenty-four. Cadel Sol, you are dismissed to simulator one twenty-five. The rest of you will observe the outcome of the simulation. Any objections or questions?” He didn’t just speak, he attacked with his words. They were quiet, slightly detached but when paired with the stern look on his face and those piercing green eyes they punctured through any veil. His expectations were clear and he wasn’t one to screw around. He was a man of conviction and Kiera thought that made him even more attractive.

“Where is simulator one twenty-five, Sir? I’m unfamiliar with the layout,” Kiera said.

“Apologies. The layout of this facility is quite simple. There are two levels of fifty simulators each. The lower level is level one. The simulators are numbered one through fifty,” Major Peregrin explained, “The stairwells take you to the midpoint of the simulators, the lower numbers are on the right and the upper numbers are on the left.”

“Thank you, sir,” Kiera said, she went to the stairway and traveled down to the lowest level. The numbers were written on the side of each simulator pod and once she stepped inside and sat down instructions to scan her ID band appeared on the screen. She complied and the doors to the pod closed, she felt the seat adjust and the panels light up. A drawer opened under her seat with a helmet inside. It was just like the simulators that the racing track used. Kiera put the helmet on after strapping herself into the harness, the familiar gauges appeared on her HUD. She was going to pilot a Jaeger equipped with a beam saber and a light infantry automatic rifle.

<<”Control to Cadet Sol, come in. Over,”>> came the Knight-Captain’s velvet voice.

”Read you loud and clear, control. Over,> Kiera replied.

<<”Stand by.”>>

The controls were familiar, the layouts of the weapons system and the radar in the same place as the other simulations she had done and the real racing mecha that she had piloted. She didn’t know anything about Dandelion other than he talked big and had an ego the size of the planet. The screen of her mecha engaged revealing an asteroid field and a starting light.

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<<”Pilots. Your objective is to get through this combat course. You will be judged on speed, enemies defeated and damage taken. While you are permitted to engage each other in combat, it is not encouraged and any damage sustained by your opponent will still count against you, while the defeat of your opponent will not grant you any points. The course begins when the light turns red, the path will be shown on your view screen. Good Luck.”>> The Major’s voice sounded the epitome of calm and collected.

The starting light turned from blue to white and then red. Kiera shot forward with a racer’s timing. The Jaeger was a highly maneuverable mecha, and when in space the thrusters enabled it to pass through obstacles that star fighters would have difficulty with. It was slower than the Valiant she piloted during her last racing season and the Mercury that all rookie racing pilots start out with.

The trail was easy and rather than using the thrusters to maneuver around the first meteor Kiera ran along the surface before leaping and engaging her thrusters, avoiding the first asteroid and the two that were behind it. As she passed the two asteroids her radar picked up an enemy ship. The ship's attack missed and Kiera raised her weapon and returned fire, clipping the wing of the ship. She followed the path, avoiding the floating asteroids, going so far as to drop into a crater of one and launching herself out the other side, surprising an enemy mecha that was lying in wait. She ignited her beam saber and sliced through its body, disabling it before the pilot even knew she was there.

The appearance of another star fighter caused her to leap backwards, avoiding the ship’s fire, but the action put her at a bad angle to fire back at it. She reversed and flew forward, keeping an eye on the ship in her radar while also trying to pay attention to the obstacle course in front of her. Turret fire raced across the asteroid clipping her in the shoulder, rather than try to flee and avoid the fire, Kiera charged and used her beam saber to disable it. A rapid fire blast pounded the turret sending some shrapnel into Kiera’s mecha but didn’t cause any damage.

A flare of light caught her attention and she swung her saber in time to block the attack from another Jaeger that pinged as friendly on her radar. Kiera piloted away from him, glancing at her radar to ensure there were no enemies around them and making sure to keep him in sight. He raised his rifle and fired a short burst at an asteroid near her, breaking it apart and causing a chain reaction that would hinder her completion of the course. The program found an alternative route and Kiera increased her speed to compensate for the longer time.

She was able to get around the detour and saw Dandelion in front of her, luring the enemies back towards her in an effort to slow her down further. Kiera raised her weapon and fired, suspending her active forward moment to line up her shots. It caused her to be hit, but she also sent one of the enemy mecha tumbling back towards Dandelion. He spun around and shot it point blank, causing an explosion that scored his mech. He shot at her again, this time aiming at her. Despite her dodging and deflecting, two of the attacks got through, but hit her mecha’s chest instead of her head where they were aimed.

Kiera didn’t let it get to her, she increased her speed and flew by the disabled mecha that she had shot and passed the two that Dandelion hadn’t dealt with. One of his leg thrusters was sparking from a hit. A fast moving object appeared racing towards her on the radar as an attack ship zipped through the asteroid field, firing both of its weapons. Kiera fired on it, slowing her momentum so the ensuing explosion didn’t damage her. She kicked her mech into high gear and soared after Dandelion and his damaged mech. Another starfighter threaded through the asteroids launching missiles at both mecha. Kiera fired her rifle, detonating the missile and passed through the explosion. Dandelion took a hit, his mecha’s engine failed sending him bouncing along the track. He fired his weapon at Kiera, forcing her to dive to the side to avoid taking damage and flared his remaining rockets to make it over the finish line. Kiera crossed it less than ten seconds later.

<<“Cadets, report to the observation ring for scoring and commentary,”>> Peregrine’s voice sounded over the commlink.

Kiera replaced the helmet, unbuckled the harness and exited, seeing that Dandelion was giving her a smug look, “You lose,” he said, “You should quit now.” She ignored him and went to the observation deck. He pushed past her on the stairs to reach it first.

“Thoughts, Cadet Snowden?” Peregrin asked.

“I won,” he said, ‘What else needs to be said?”

“Cadet Sol, your thoughts?”

“Cadet Snowden is a better shot than I am, and from what I encountered he only used his saber once and even from behind the turret he telegraphed it enough for me to block. He was definitely playing dirty, and took unnecessary damage to win. It’s the same tactics that arrogant and overconfident racers use. In a combat situation like that it could have killed him. I also need to work on my ranged mecha weapons.”

The major nodded and pressed a button on a PUC on his wrist. An analysis of the event took place, showing that Kiera was the winner due to her taking far less damage, and inflicting more damage upon the enemy. The time score didn’t factor into the final calculation because of minimal time separating their finishes. His ranged weapon accuracy was higher but he also engaged less opponents making Kiera the victor.

“That’s absurd, I won,” Snowden said.

“I told you there were three components to this exercise: the race, the enemies defeated, and the amount of damage sustained. Your mech was nearly disabled because you ignored enemies to attempt to complete the race first. Your sabotage attempts were also noted, Cadet. I would re-evaluate what your goals are for this academy. I will not tolerate grandstanding.”

Snowden scowled but wisely didn’t reply.

“Let me make our expectations transparently clear. I expect you to obey without question the orders of your instructors and all staff at this academy. I expect you to give me one hundred percent every single day with every single activity. I expect you to respect your instructors and your fellow cadets. I expect you to aid each other, I expect you to ask questions for clarification, to seek help when you need it from whomever you need it from. This is not a place for egos, racism, or misogyny. I will reiterate one very important fact. In this academy you are cadets, nothing else.” Major Peregrine looked at each of the cadets as he spoke, his gaze lingering on each of them for several seconds. “All of your instructors have an open door policy, we are here to make you into exceptional leaders and pilots. Are there any questions or confusions on the expectations we have for you?”

The question was met with scattered “no sir”s and shaking heads.

“The rest of the afternoon is yours. After today you will be on a strict schedule. The rec center is open. The cafeteria will be serving food until twenty hundred hours. Welcome to the Mecha program. Dismissed.”

The cadets filed out of the building and walked back towards the main campus the roughest part of intersystem travel, or inter planet travel was the time dilation. In Albion it was early evening, but on Danelar it was late afternoon, likely the reason that the cafeteria was open and they didn’t have to adhere to the meal schedule.

“Are you hungry, Hailey?” Kiera asked as they walked.

“Famished. It’s mid morning on Dalimar, I slept through most of the trip getting here and it's not like we stopped for meals,” Hailey replied.

Most of the cadets entered the cafeteria which was set up with a serving line that had warmers with various burgers and sandwiches, a salad bar, a cooler with drinks, cold sandwiches and a soft serve ice cream machine. Kiera grabbed a hot sandwich, a juice and made a small salad before finding a table. Hailey and Corbin sat down with her. A few of the other cadets looked like they wanted to sit down, but didn’t approach.

“Too bad your win didn’t take that prick’s ego down a peg,” Corbin commented, “Guy plays dirty.” He sat down with them without any hesitation, “Corbin Malut” he said offering a hand to Hailey. She took it, introducing herself.

“Most guys like that won’t change their mind. It was a slim victory. I probably had a slight edge since a lot of my pilot training was on a racing mech,” Kiera replied, “He’s too cocky.”

“You’ve actually flown?” Hailey asked, “All I’ve done is sims.”

“I’ve used a power loader,” Corbin said, “So you both have one up on me.”

They made light conversation as they ate, mostly about their experience in the exams and where they were from. Hailey had been at the same exam that Kiera had, but they were in different groups and never met. Corbin was from Grandelar, a planet that circled two suns and had five times the gravity that most other inhabited planets had, making him inhumanly strong offworld. His practical was an aptitude test since he knew he wanted to be a career soldier, but was torn between branches. He had the most fun piloting the mecha which was why he chose the branch.

“Why didn’t you beat the tar out of that guy if you’ve raced professionally?” Corbin asked, “You could have made him look like an absolute tool. I mean, more than he is.”

“Wasn’t the goal,” Kiera said, “Like the Major said, there were three parts to it. Crossing the finish line first wasn’t a priority. Avoiding and inflicting damage was. I haven’t flown a Jaeger before, it handles a lot differently than a mongoose or a vaillant does. Or the GlassDarner, that’s my favorite so fast and agile. They were prohibited from being used in the minors. My brother also made me take two years of ballet before he let me fly one.”

Dandelion walked by the table as they were finishing up, glaring daggers at Kiera, “Enjoy your hollow victory. It will be the last time that you have any kind of victory over me. I’m the most talented person here and I’ll enjoy watching you little girls wash out.”

“You should be careful about declaring war on someone you don’t know anything about, Dandelion,” Kiera replied, holding his gaze. He sneered and turned away first, stalking off.

“That guy needs to see a proctologist,” Corbin commented, shaking his head.

“There always seems to be at least one person who thinks they’re better than everyone else,” Kiera said, “They’re just another obstacle to overcome.