The routine for the academy wasn’t much different than the routine Kiera was used to while training with Jac. She was up and at PT at five in the morning where they ran, lifted weights and did other physical training for two hours, including hand to hand and close weapon combat. Then they returned to their dorms to shower and change and reported to the cafeteria for breakfast. Classes were broken up into two hour blocks with a thirty minute break for lunch after their second class. After their last class they reported to the simulator where Major Peregrine and Knight-Captain Feren broke them into two squads of twenty-five and then further into five man teams where they went over the controls of the mecha, how to pilot and the various information displays. Each day they were broken into different groups and each week they were scheduled to pilot a new class of mecha. Dinner was scheduled for after simulator training and then they were granted free time to use the academy’s recreation center until lights out at ten.

Classes rotated; every other day they had their core classes, and had classes on strategy, interbranch operations and leadership. They also had classes on mecha repair and maintenance classes which were hands-on. The cadets were split into two groups of twenty-five; Kiera was glad that Hailey and Corbin were in her group and Dandelion was not. The classes were challenging and each one assigned homework that took up the majority of the evening. They were pushed in PT which changed up the exercises daily, even the distance they ran for warm up. Kiera was the only cadet that had any experience wielding a sword so when the rest of the class was getting instruction from Sergeant Green, Kiera would spar with Knight-Captain Feren, despite Dandelion's complaint of favoritism. Having Kiera go through the basics of sword training would be a waste of her time, and Dandelion’s comment earned them all twenty laps around the building. With the exception of the first day, any cadet that ‘earned’ discipline was shared with all of them. Captain Feren told them they were learning various melee weapons because they could be applied to their mecha combat and a melee weapon would be a better choice for combat than a rifle.

The cadets were informed that there would be random room inspections and they would do their laundry on Seventh Days, when they only had PT and Simulator training. The rest of the day was theirs but they were told under no uncertain terms that they were not allowed to leave the campus without the express permission of Major Peregrine. The other two academies were included in that restriction, despite them sharing many of the facilities. On the one hand it made sense to Kiera; the Naval and ASF academies likey ran on a different schedule, on the other hand she was disappointed she couldn’t go visit Gargax.

The first week went by quickly and having the simulator right after breakfast and for twice as long was the only thing that threw Kiera off. Kiera sat down at her usual table, planning on eating quickly and then getting to the washer on her side of the floor as soon as she could.

“Did you understand the math assignment yesterday?” Corbin asked sitting down, “Captain Nevis explained it twice when I went to him earlier today, but I’m still not getting it.

“Ask Hailey when she gets here. I was having trouble with it, too, but she’s a math whiz. It was never my strong suit,” Kiera replied, “There’s a study lounge on the north side of the floor, since there’s that rule about no opposite genders in the same room.”

Hailey sat down at that moment, “Talking about the math assignment?” she asked, sitting down, “There’s an extra step that the captain omitted that makes them a lot easier. I’ll show you after I get my laundry in.”

“The washers look big enough that we could probably do our laundry together,” Kiera said, “It would cut down on the loads of laundry that needed to be done.”

“That’s a clever idea!” Hailey said, “How’s your roommate, Corbin?”

“Don’t have one,” Corbin said, “I’m the only guy here that’s from a high gravity world. They have a gravity well inducer in my room so I don’t lose muscle density. My clothes are weighted, too. That high gravity is why most Grandlearans aren’t taller than five feet. Believe it or not, I’m tall for my homeworld.

“That’s great! No roommate is better than a guy in the Dandelion fan club.” Kiera said, nodding her head to Dandelion and a group sitting with him. “My roommate’s the best.”

Nine guys had attached themselves to Snowden. They stayed grouped together during PT, were in the same classes as he was and ate with him during meals. Major Peregrine always switched up the teams in the simulator, likey seeing who would work well together and whose strengths complimented each other or countered any weaknesses. Either Kiera or Hailey, sometimes both, were always in Snowden’s group so far and he was always assigned to be trained by Knight-Captain Feren, which Kiera had heard him complain about when they left the simulator.

“That’s such a great nickname, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard when I heard you cut him down on the shuttle!” Corbin laughed.

“I’m going to go start our laundry,” Kiera said standing up from the table, “I’ll see you guys back at the dorm. We have our datapads from class, maybe we can set up a board game or something while it’s washing and hang out?”

“After the math lesson,” Corbin said, “That is, if you don’t mind helping me, Hailey.”

“Of course not! The equations will make a lot more sense once you see the extra step and once you see how it all works then you can omit it, which is what I think the Captain forgot,” Hailey said.

Hailey and Corbin finished and joined her. The other benefit of Seventh Days was once they returned to the dorm they could change into their dress downs, shorts or slacks, and a branch t-shirt. She gathered the laundry, separated it and then carried it to the laundry room, finding both machines empty. She put the separate loads into the machines, put the marker on the board stating which room was using them and then started back down the hall. She passed another cadet who shouted at her a minute later.

“Really, Sol! You’re taking up both of the machines!”

“They’ll wash for an hour and then you can have them. I’m not just doing my laundry but Selune’s as well. It would be the same thing as doing our laundry separately, but will take half as long,” Kiera said, ignoring the anger and flashing a smile.

“I guess that makes sense, but why would you do your roommate’s laundry?”

“I just told you that! We’ll get it done twice as fast and they’re just clothes,” Kiera resumed her journey and reached her room. She had just put the laundry baskets back when a knock came at her door. A blonde haired cadet with brown eyes was outside the door, “Hey, what’s up?”

“This is going to sound sexist, but could you help me with the laundry. I haven’t done it before and there’s these options about cycles and soap levels…” he trailed off, “I’m Dean, by the way, we’re not in the same class.”

“Kiera. It’s super easy. Unless it’s delicate then just wash it all on normal,” Kiera explained, “Separate your colors into lights and darks, that might not be as much of an issue for you than it is for Hailey and I, though. Wash it all on cold and you’ll be good.”

“Oh, that’s awesome, hey when I get it started you want to go make out in the study room?”

“No, thank you,” Kiera said, closing the door. She picked up her datapad and sat on the bed scrolling through the games she had access to. Their ID bands had been reverted while at the academy and the entertainment they had access to on their datapads was restricted during the week except for their rec time. They had been told this during orientation. One of the guys had asked about dating in the academy and while Captain Nevis said it was allowed, he also said they would probably be too busy to date if they wanted to excel and graduate. Sex was strictly forbidden.

Marking a few games she left her room and went down to the study area, which really was a lounge with a few tables and a viewscreen and found Corbin and Hailey already working. After showing Corbin and explaining the extra step he began to understand. They worked through a few more problems before he went off to his room to finish the assignment.

“Hey, if you got laundry, I’m going to head down to the rec center. I’ll make sure to be back in an hour or so so I can help with the ironing,” Hailey said.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I have it this week, you can get it next week. I’ll head back to the room. I already had one guy hit on me today and I’m not really in the mood for more.

“You mean you don’t want to hatefuck Dandelion, or at least angrily make out with him?” Hailey teased.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Not even if he was the last guy in the empire,” Kiera said, shuddering.

She returned to the laundry room when her timer went off to find the washing machines were still running with forty-five minutes left, but her room tags were back on the board. Tags for one hundred and six and one fifteen were on the machines. With an annoyed groan she went over to one hundred and six and knocked on the door. It opened to a cadet aluminum on the tips of his hair and the strong smell of bleach coming from the room. “What?”

“You interrupted Selune and I’s laundry. Where is it?” Kiera asked.

The cadet smirked, “Maybe you shouldn’t have left it unattended.”

“Can we be adults, please?” Kiera asked, “Yours is unattended, also.”

“Not mine, it’s Stone’s. He’s off at the rec center,”

The door closed. so she went down to one fifteen. No one answered at the door and her knocking had prompted the boy in one fourteen to open the door, “You looking for Roy or Brett?”

“Whichever one took my laundry out of the machine,” Kiera said, not bothering to hide her irritation.

“They interrupted your laundry to throw theirs in, that’s really rude. I’m Paul, we’re not in the same class group. I can help you look for them if you’d like?”

“The guy in one eighteen said his roommate, Stone, was at the rec center and he took my other load. Thanks.” Kiera headed out the door and towards the rec center.

It was a large building that had a swimming pool, some table games, a paintball field, gravity ball court and a gymnasium. A lot of the cadets were taking advantage of their leisure time to be hanging out in the center. Kiera saw a bar that was staffed so she headed over to it.

“Hey cadet, what can I get for you?” he greeted, “We’ve got both food and drinks available.”

“Can you make an announcement?” Kiera asked, “I’m looking for the cadets from rooms one fifteen and one oh six, one of them is Stone.”

“Not a problem,” the bartender tapped his ID band, “Would the cadets in dorm rooms one hundred fifteen and one hundred and six, please report to the bar. Cadets from dorm rooms one oh six and one fifteen report to the bar. Looking for Cadet Stone.”

“Thank you,” Kiera said, smiling.

Several minutes passed before three cadets approached the bar. Each one was wearing plastic breastplates, knee and elbow pads, and gloves. Paint splattered their clothing. One had brown hair with dyed white tips, another was blond with a crooked nose, and the third had a split lip and the bushiest eyebrows that Kiera had ever seen. When they saw Kiera, Dye Job gave her an annoyed look, Crooked Nose immediately began staring at her chest, and Bushy Brow ignored her, addressing the bartender, “I’m Cadet Stone, this is Barton and Troy. What do you need?”

“What did you do with Hailey and my clothes?” Kiera asked, “You guys interrupted us.”

“No idea what you’re talking about,” Stone said, “The machines were empty when I put mine in.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have left them unattended?” Dye Job sneered, “Maybe you should have just stayed in the laundry room and did the laundry of the men.”

“Are you guys really going to play these kinds of games?” Kiera said, closing her hand into a fist. She looked from one to the other. None of the three responded. “Immature assholes, all of you. Where are our clothes?”

“How would we know?” Dye Job cadet said, “Your laundry isn’t our problem.”

“Let’s go back to the field. The others are waiting for us.” Bushy Brow said, turning and walking away. Crooked Nose followed after her quickly glancing back several times.

“How such an air headed and irresponsible girl made this Academy I’ll never know. Or maybe I do. Who’s better in bed, the Major or the pretend knight?” Dye Job said. Kiera was ready to hit him.

“Brett! Leave the Pet alone and c’mon! Arun’s waiting!” Bushy Brow called back.

With another frustrated groan she stormed out of the rec center. As she approached the dorm she saw a bra hanging from the branch of a tree, then underwear, shirts, slacks. Both her and Hailey’s laundry had been thrown into the trees outside of the dorm. She was torn between marching back to the rec center and turning the full force of her aura on those three like she had done at her birthday celebration or reporting them.

“Hey, Kiera! I saw you at the rec center, but you were leaving and looking pretty mad! What’s…” Hailey trailed off as she caught up to Kiera and saw the trees, “Who the hell…”

“Dyejob, Crooked Nose and Bushy Brows,” Kiera growled.

“Who?” Hailey asked.

“Troy, Barton, and Stone,” Kiera corrected.

“Let’s go find Sergeant Rhone.”

-[]-

Kiera, Hailey, Barton, Troy, and Stone stood in Captain Nevis’ office. Sergeant Rhone, who was in charge of the dorms, stood next to the desk. The three boys were still dressed in paintball gear and were the subjects of Nevis’ glare. He hadn’t said anything for the last five minutes since Rhone brought them into his office. Tension was slowly building in the room.

“What do you three have to say for yourselves?” Nevis barked, breaking the silence.

“It was just a prank!” Dye Job said, rolling his eyes.

“A prank, Cadet Troy! Explain to me how interrupting someone’s laundry, stealing it, spreading it on a tree and then denying that you did anything is a prank!?”

“Sir, I had nothing to do with it,” Crooked Nose said, trying to steal glances at the girls.

“Allowing it to happen makes you just as guilty, Cadet Barton,” Nevis barked.

Bushy Brows didn’t say anything. He just stared forward at the captain.

“This is what will happen,” Captain Nevis said, “The three of you will retrieve Cadel Sol and Cadel Selune’s laundry. You will clear it of any debris and then you will wash it, dry it, and iron it. Then you will wash, dry, and iron the laundry of every cadet in the dormitory. When you are finished you will scrub the interior of the washing machines, the driers and then clean every bathroom in the dormitory. You will immediately apologize to these two cadets and after dinner for the rest of the week you will report to the kitchen and hand clean every dish. Are there any questions?”

The three cadets shook their heads.

“Return that gear and get started,” Nevis said. The three cadets turned to leave.

“What part of ‘apologize immediately’ skipped your attention?” Nevis snarled.

“Sorry,” the three boys muttered, only Barton pretended to sound sincere. .

“Sorry for involving you, sir,” Hailey apologized.

The captain shook his head, “Don’t be, you did the right thing. The major will be furious that this happened at all. Unless there is anything else that you need, you are dismissed.”

The girls left Nevis’s office and went back to their room, escorted by Rhone. Kiera sat on the bed, closing her eyes and starting to meditate in order to calm herself down. Kiera had never experienced anything like the Academy. All her previous education was with Emily, administered by the Governess, her mother or on the IVN. Thinking about her friend made Kiera miss her even more. She felt violated that those boys would steal her things and then throw them around for their own entertainment. She thought there would be fewer people like Tracksuit, not more.

When she finally opened her eyes she saw Hailey staring at her, “Would you like a hug?” Hailey asked.

“Always,” Kiera replied, prompting the Dalimarian girl to cross the short distance between them and hug Kiera, “I didn’t realize how naive I am,” Kiera said when they parted, “The classes are fine and I have no issue with an of the officers, but these guys is something I just don’t understand. Is their masculinity so fragile that the thought of a woman excelling in the same position is a threat? Or just here to ‘entertain’ them? The constant being asked to go make out or arms put around me is something else. I know I was sheltered, the only guys I’ve really been around were my nephew and my brothers, but the guys I trained with on Albion, who taught me how to fly and do maintenance never were like this! My competitors never did anything like this! The guys at the track pulled some pranks, but they were harmless, not this. Even after my birthday they all just said that I was stunning and if anyone gave me any trouble to let them know. Okay, one guy did say he’d be thinking about me that night and I didn’t understand why the other guys hit him for it until Kinsley explained it, but still!”

“My brother said that those who make it to the academies are the best of the best, but they’re still sixteen year olds vulnerable to peer pressure and doing stupid things. Some of that is to impress their friends or some girl as they try to find their peer group. It doesn’t excuse their actions but it gives some context,” Hailey said, “He also said they usually get over it by midterms. But I know how you feel, I walked into the rec center, looked at the pool and then at the guys just staring and changed my mind.”

“I’m glad that the officers aren’t just excusing their behavior. I was inspired when the Major said that he was holding us to a high standard,” Kiera said “And I hoped that meant that we’d have less Dandelions, not a fanclub.”

“Yeah, they really need to do some gardening to get rid of those weeds.”

A knock sounded at their door an hour later. “That can’t be the laundry, can it?” Kiera asked, walking to the door.

Hailey shook her head, “It might be Corbin, he’s probably done with his math assignment and wants to hang out.”

Kiera looked through the spyhole but didn’t see anyone. She pressed the button to open the door and stepped into the hallway. The moment she was out of her room she was stung and then again, and again as a barrage of paintballs struck her from both sides and from down the hall in front of her, painting her skin and clothing a mixture of red, blue, yellow, and purple.

The noise drew the attention of the neighbors, one of whom stepped out of his room with a look of shock on his face, “What in the Void do you assholes think you’re doing!?” He shouted, tapping twice on his PUC. Her assailants ran down the hall, Kiera was too stunned and in pain to do anything in that moment, the floor and walls had also taken hits as had the assailants from the crossfire. “Hey are you okay?”

“Kir…” Hailey said coming up behind her.

Kiera didn’t reply to either of them doing her best to try to maintain her composure. Welts were already starting to rise on her skin. Everywhere she was hit hurt. Hailey caught her before she fell. Kiera had worked for two years to be able to attend this academy, to excel in it and increase her piloting proficiency so she could serve the empire. Not so she could be attacked and pranked. She felt her arm put around someone’s shoulders and felt herself picked up.