The first day back was hell for most of the cadets. Knight Captain Feren and Sergeant Labradore pushed them hard, showing no remorse for any of them. They rotated Kiera back into the blade combat training, having her wield two at once and face multiple opponents with the restriction that she could only use one sword against each one. Their instructors put more homework on them, each class requiring a report due by the next class period. During the math lesson Hailey pointed out a different method of working out the equations which did put a smile on Nevis’ face, but he also made her come to the front of the room and teach it, then instructed the class to find members of the other class and teach them the new method on top of their regular homework with their student’s grade affecting theirs.
Only Peregrine’s class remained at the same intensity as they began working on the new mecha, the fox. It was a four legged mech that was barely larger than a large hover pickup and resembled a fox. It was a surveillance mech whose controls were slightly different than the bipedal Jaeger and more difficult to use. It was armed with a pulse rifle that could be extended from its back and radar interference that was housed in its tail. The ears were designed to detect enemy radar and increase its communication range.
After the class ended, the major ordered them to assemble in the observation building, “You will all report onto the assembly grounds at nineteen hundred wearing your physical training uniform. Dinner will be from seventeen hundred to eighteen hundred. I suggest eating light. Dismissed.”
As they started to file out of the observation room, Kiera heard the major’s voice call her name. She turned to find him, “Sir?”
“Standby,” he replied. Once the other cadets had left the room she was alone with the major and knight-captain, “How are you feeling cadet? Both physically and mentally.”
“Fine, sir,” Kiera replied, “The welts from the paintballs have already faded and I’m still processing what happened. Dr. Farosh and Nurse Dinran have taken excellent care of me.”
“Glad to hear it. Captain Feren is an excellent listener and does have some counseling training if you would rather not speak to Dr. Ingles. If anything else comes up let me know.”
Kiera fought to keep a smile off her face, she failed. “I will, Sir. Thank you.”
-[]-
The drills were conducted by Sergeants Labradore and Ransing and were much different than they did during the first half of physical training. These ones relied on trust and teamwork and when one cadet failed they all had to restart them. The worst one in Kiera’s opinion was when they had to hold a blank position and then another cadet would jump over them, then they had to push up to a bridge to allow the cadet after them to go under them. When they went over or under the last cadet they fell into position, and when there were no cadets on their left it was their turn to run. They did this drill, like all the drills in five rows of ten cadets. Any cadet that dropped or moved too slow forced them all to start again. The goal was to get each cadet to complete five runs. The Sergeants pushed them past the point of collapsing. It required them to communicate and trust their teammates.
One of the cadets made the stupid decision to complain loudly when the whistle blew for them to start over. The entire squad was then ordered to do devil presses until Sergeant Ransing got tired, which wasn’t until the sun started setting. They were all exhausted when the squad was finally dismissed. Before anyone could start to walk back, Sergeant Green ordered them to assemble in two rows and made them run back.They still had homework to do, some of which was due the following day, despite not having their core classes.
The time they did have free on Seventh was now reserved for catching up on their homework after physical training, simulator time, and the teamwork and discipline drills Labradore and Ransing put them through. Laundry time was now regulated and connected to their ID bands. Scanning was required to open both the washer and the dyer and the machines could not be stopped except by the person whose clothes were in the machine. They also only had a fifteen minute window to start their laundry or the next room in line would receive a message on their PUC moving their time slot. They could also schedule one on one time with their instructors if they were falling behind on any assignment or needed additional help.
Kiera, Hailey, and Corbin formed a study group that was quickly joined by Koda, Jin Reed, a tall light brown haired, gray eyed, eladrin who had taken a keen interest in both Kiera and in sword fighting, particularly the dual wielding style that she had been demonstrating. Sam Collins, a dark haired andoran, and sixth ranked pilot, his roommate Sheldon Blake a beanpole of a human with mousy brown hair, and Peter Royce an auburn haired human. Andorans had leopard spots on their foreheads, down their jaws, neck, arms, sides on legs but otherwise had the same build and appearance as humans. A few others, like Dean Anderson, tried to join them but they were more interested in trying to flirt with Hailey or Kiera and wanting to “burn off some stress” rather than studying and were kicked from the group.
Some of their class projects required them to use the Imperial Network, for ImpNet. It was the precursor to the IVN and could be accessed from most consoles, datapads, and commpads within the Empire. It could be accessed with the expanded options of their ID bands as well, after they graduated. Peregrine allowed them to go to the library for their study groups and access the ImpNet for research. Besides meals it was the only time they could socialize.
“Think the major will let up after midterms?” Peter asked as they finished up their math review.
“Doubt it,” Corbin replied, “What’s your read on his mood, Sunny?”
“He keeps his emotions locked in an impenetrable safe,” Kiera replied, “I can’t ever get a read on him. Rhone’s perpetually angry.”
“Not surprising with the look on his face,” Sheldon added, “Heard he got one hell of a dressing down because of what happened.”
“Ours is worse,” Jin said, shaking his head, “It’s a bit harsh that we’re still being punished after those responsible were expelled.”
“All of them were in Dandelion’s Weed Patch,” Kiera said, “Javiar Ramirez joined them. I don’t understand it.”
“You guys smell that?” Koda asked, looking up from his datapad. He sniffed a few times standing up from his seat.
“I swear if this is some joke because you let one loose,” Corbin said. The others paused and smelled the air, but none of them smelled anything out of the ordinary.
Koda’s nose flared again, he had a keener sense of smell than any of them. At another table Anduin Khalud, an andopalaxian turned his head, his antennae twitching. Like the rest of his species he had black striped pink skin, gills on his necks, antennae over their eyebrows that gave them an excellent sense of smell. He didn’t have a nose, just a small bump between his eyes and mouth.
“Hey, Andy,” Koda called, “You smell that, right?”
“Yeah,” Anduin said, “I can’t place it though and I think it’s coming from the vents.” He stood up, his antenna stretching towards the ceiling, the tips glowing white, “It’s spicy like chilies or peppercorn. Could just be the mess hall making something.”
“We should leave,” Kiera said, “If it’s something from the mess hall, then we wouldn’t be smelling through the vents.” She began to gather her datapads.
The others did the same, their activity was noticed by others in the library, causing a disturbance. The librarian appeared from behind the stacks, the Danelar Naval Officer’s Academy still kept physical copies of books, mostly for the aesthetic. He was a stern civilian that wielded his little authority like he was a Colonel.
“Quiet down, people are—” plumes of white smoke poured from the vents. The cadets began to cough immediately, tears fell from their eyes, their skin started to itch and burn. They stumbled towards the doorway, each one hitting the distress button on their PUCs. Hailey stumbled and vanished in the growing smoke. Kiera stopped and searched for her, helping her up and supporting her as they headed towards the exit.
“This way!” Andy called out, he seemed to be less affected than the others, his glowing antennae were barely discernible. The library doors opened, venting the gas and somehow making it worse. Lights cut through the fog and shouting for the cadets to run out and directing them to the exits. As they left there were security guards to stop them from stumbling down the stairs. Major Farosh and Lieutenant Dinran were quickly approaching with an ambulance from the city.
Kiera looked around, everyone had tears and snot rolling down their faces, puffy eyes and rapidly reddening skin. She saw Sam, Sheldon, Peter, and Corbin coming down the stairs. She didn’t see Koda or Jin. Every instinct told Kiera to run back in and look for them. She saw Captain Feren running up to the scene, a calm look on her face.
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“C-captain!” Kiera called, coughing, “Oso and Jin are—” she coughed again, bending over with the pain.
Feren ran up the stairs and vanished into the smoke. Security and EMTs herded the students to the ambulances to start breathing treatments. Most of the students had been in the library studying for midterms. The only people that Kiera didn’t see was Dandelion and his four closest cronies. They couldn’t be behind this, could they? No, it shouldn’t have been possible. Major Peregrine and Captain Feren emerged from the smoke, the former had Koda over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry, and the latter had Jin in the same position. They were in the same condition as the students as they ran down the steps bringing their charges to Farosh and Dinran.
The breathing treatments helped. Kiera’s skin felt like it was on fire. “Howa re you doing, Hailey?” Kiera asked once they had both finished their treatments and were able to breathe again.
“I’m okay now, what was that stuff?”
“Tear gas,” one of the EMTs said, “head back to your dorms and wash off.”
Instead of heading back, like most of the cadets, Kiera and Hailey made their way to Dr. Farosh. Jin and Koda had regained consciousness and both looked completely miserable. Both the major and captain were receiving breathing treatments and irritation poured from Dr. Farosh whenever he looked at them.
“Glad to see that you’re both okay,” Kiera said, glancing at dr. Farosh. He gave her a slight nod.
“Andy said it smelled like pepper or chilies and that should have been the tip off,” Koda growled, “Tear gas. Pepper spray is a lot worse. Glad whoever decided we needed to vacate the library didn’t use that.”
“What on earth could you have done to get pepper sprayed?” Hailey asked, “You’re a teddy bear!” Kiera grinned, for as gruff and competitive that Koda could be, she wasn’t wrong.
“Went hiking,” Koda said, “Some idiots thought I was a bear because I was shaking off my shirt and I’m a hairy guy. The whole moderate moreau thing goes both ways. My sister, Kida, is covert. Just has the ears, sharp fingernails and a tail.”
“Do you have a tail?” Kiera asked.
“Yeah,” Koda said, “Guess I could show it to you sometime.”
They waited until Koda and Jin were ready and walked back to the dorms together. The benefit of being the only girls in their division was they had the showers to themselves. A few of the guys, like Koda, would use their bathrooms; since neither she nor Hailey just stood around naked neither of them cared. Corbin freaked out more than they did. Koda walked in as Kiera was getting out of the shower, a towel wrapped around her.
“Oh, hey,” Koda said, nonplussed as usual, he turned around and dropped his towel showing off his tail and his backside.
“Is it okay if I say it’s adorable?” Kiera asked.
Koda just shook his head and wrapped the towel back around him before turning around, “It’s a—” he paused. Kiera had taken off her own towel and had her back to him.
“You showed me a little more than your tail, figured I’d repay the favor,” she said, putting the towel back and giving him a cheeky grin.
“Going to show me your chest, too, since you can see mine?” Koda smirked.
“Not until the third date,” Kiera winked and left the bathroom.
She entered her room to find Hailey naked going through the drawers, “What’s up Halo?” Kiera asked.
“We did laundry today, right? I can’t find anything, yours or mine. No bras, panties or anything. Even our socks are missing,” Hailey said, “Even if it was in the wash it’s not like we don’t have extras.”
Kiera double checked the drawers, not because she didn’t believe Hailey but because it was such a strange thing. She didn’t find any of it, either. “We did laundry before study group, so it’s not like someone stole it out of the washer. First that attack in the library and now this. Something’s going on. Let’s go ask Sergeant Rhone.”
They threw on shorts and t-shirts and went to the sergeant. They weren’t the only ones. Dye Job and Crooked Nose were also headed to Rhone’s office. It was located just off the northwest study hall and had doors on both their side and the west side’s side. Matt Fletcher and Peter were in the study hall standing in front of the door as well.
“Hey Royce, weird question,” Kiera called, “Did someone pull a panty raid on you guys?”
“No, my toiletries kit is gone and so is Matt’s speaker,” Peter replied, “Someone stole your underwear?”
More cadets appeared, each one of them missing something from their rooms. Nothing was large, mostly toiletry kits, small speakers, alarms, and razors from the kits. Corbin’s gravity well had been taken; it was a two foot by two foot cube that he kept on his desk so it wouldn’t bleed into the hallway. He had it by his bed until Eikire Robhan was slammed to the floor with enough force to break both of his arms heading to the bathroom. Eikire was an alteran and good natured, so the incident didn’t cause any issues, especially since it was an accident and Corbin made sure he got to Dr. Farosh’s.
Rhone couldn’t find anything on the cameras or in the access logs. He called down a member of the Academy’s IT department to review everything to determine if there was any evidence of tampering. After several hours of research he didn’t find anything. Koda and Jin’s laundry time hadn’t happened yet and Koda let the girls throw what underwear they did have in with his. Both Kiera and Hailey were nursing crushes on Koda; it was hard not to with how sweet and considerate he was.
The oddities continued the next morning. Their practice sword settings had been changed; Captain Feren had a habit of checking them before handing them out and making the cadets double check them. She caught the change before anyone could get injured.
“When do you think intelligence is getting here?” Hailey asked, sitting down.
“They’re probably already here,” Kiera said, “I have no doubts Colonel Lazlo called them as soon as things started going sideways. I wonder if this is an isolated incident on our campus or if this is Academy wide. I’d love to be able to call my Niece and ask her; she’s here at Navy.”
“Wonder if she knows Kida,” Koda mused, “She’s Navy, too. Bridge officer. I thought Dandy might have been behind it, but there is no way that he or his guys are computer savvy enough to cover their trail like that.”
“They got robbed, too,” Corbin grumbled, “As much as I’d like to punch him in the face he’s probably not behind this.”
“Best way to seem innocent is to be a victim, too,” Sam commented, “I heard Wallace and Brantley arguing. Brantley said he and the rest of Snowy’s crowd were at the range with Sarge Ransing.”
“Hey Koda,” Sheldon said, “How come you never put honey in your oatmeal?”
“I don’t like honey,” Koda said, a slight growl to his words, “Most bears don’t. My sister loves it. Before you ask, no I don’t eat grubs, and yes, I do like fish.”
Kiera couldn’t help but smile, across from her Jin made a showing of putting honey honey in his tea and stating how delicious it was, getting an eye roll from his roommate.. The tension from yesterday lessened a little. Koda was easy to tease and while he grumbled it never really bothered him.
Trouble continued halfway through their math exam. Kiera felt her stomach start to churn and suddenly felt very hot. She raised her hand and before Captain Nevis acknowledged her she was out of her seat, heading to the door and clutching her stomach. Jin was right behind her. The other classroom door was open and students were streaming out, heading for the nearest restroom. The sound and smell of cadets vomiting made everything worse. Classes were canceled and they were all sent to medical where Dr. Farosh determined they were all suffering from acute food poisoning. Anyone who ate at the cadet’s mess hall also suffered from food poisoning.
Physical Training was suspended for the week to give the cadets a chance to get some more rest. The cafeteria remained closed the rest of the week and survival bars were issued. A survival bar resembled a candy bar with seven two inch long, one inch thick pieces that were easily broken off. Each piece had enough calories to last an entire day while meeting all their nutritional needs. They came in a variety of flavors and were actually really good. There was a temptation to eat more than one of the squares due to their size, and at least two cadets did and had to report to medical after spending some time on the toilet. Both of them were in Dandelion’s Weed Patch.
After dinner on Sixth day, the cadets were told to report outside of the dorms, no uniforms necessary. They were met by their instructors and quickly formed ranks and came to attention. Most of the cadets were still in their uniforms just missing their ties and hats.
“This quarter has been particularly difficult for you. Despite that difficulty most of you performed admirably on your midterms. Colonel Lazlo has authorized me to give you a town pass into Capellan. There will be a shuttle departing at nine hundred hours for town and departing at twenty-one thirty back to the academy. You will wear your civilian clothing but keep in mind that you still represent this academy so conduct yourselves appropriately. Captains Feren, Nevis, and Redding will be your chaperones. While in town you will not go anywhere without letting your chaperones know nor will you go anywhere alone. The rec center will also be open both tonight and tomorrow for those who do not wish to go into town.
“We have apprehended the culprits behind the attacks on the library, the dormitory, the gymnasium, and cafeteria. They were members of an anti-military gang that targeted all three campuses of this academy. Ladies, you may retrieve your belongings from Captain Feren, the rest of you will rendezvous with Sergeant Rhone. Those who will not be allowed to go to town will report to myself and Sergeant Labradore at six hundred hours. Dismissed.”
When Captain Feren had learned what was taken from Kiera and Hailey she took them into town and bought them replacements. She had permission from Major Peregrine to charge the purchases to the academy and took them out for ice cream afterward on the condition their dessert excursion remain a secret. She charged that to the academy and pointed out the various dance halls Capellan had and her recommendations.
They put the recommendations to good use when the dance halls opened at eighteen hundred hours. Hailey and Kiera met up with Liandra and Robyn, and they finally met Koda’s sister, Kida. She was just like Koda had described, just bear ears and more pointed and stronger fingernails. She had the same rich brown hair, and the girls quickly separated from the guys to spend the day together, promising to meet the guys for dinner. The ASF didn’t have the same fortune as the other two branches.
After dinner the boys joined them for dancing and to all of their delight, Captain Feren came with them. She didn’t join their group to dance, but Kiera saw her dancing. The Dance Hall they attended was three stories with a zero gravity well in the center allowing dancers to float in the air. Lifts took them between various floors where food and drinks were served. It was the perfect end to a stressful quarter.