Jackson picked up his uniform and soldier ID tag. He was still confused. He left the dispatch room and walked over to Trelia to ask her about the situation. He turned and gave Li Feng an encouraging gesture.
Li Feng walked in confidently. The door closed behind him. Jackson silently wished him good luck. If Li Feng and Trelia did well in the army, they might help him later.
"Are you a warship pilot?" Trelia asked eagerly. She still hoped to be assigned to the same training camp as Jackson, maybe even fly the same warship.
Jackson gave a bitter smile. He handed her his soldier ID tag.
Trelia looked at it. It read: Name: Justin, Branch: Interstellar Paratrooper, Unit: 11th Regiment, ID: YC9527. Her face darkened. "Why did you join the Interstellar Paratroopers? That’s the lowest and most dangerous branch in the Empire," she said with frustration.
Jackson explained what had happened in the dispatch room. Trelia was confused. She couldn’t understand why he had been assigned directly to the paratroopers without a chance to choose.
"Well, congratulations on becoming a warship pilot. When you’re a captain, don’t forget about me," Jackson said, half-joking.
Trelia smiled. "Sure. I’ll make you my security officer when I’m a captain," she said happily. She was proud to become a warship pilot. It was her dream.
A moment later, she became more serious. "Be careful. The Interstellar Paratroopers often take on dangerous missions. Don’t try to be a hero and rush in front," she warned.
Jackson felt warmth in his chest. It felt good to have someone care for him. Even though he knew it was because Trelia still had feelings for the original Justin, he couldn’t help but feel it. Now that he occupied Justin’s body and the system confirmed he was the original, maybe he and Justin had merged. Who could tell if he was Jackson or Justin? Jackson wanted to keep a friendly, yet distant, relationship with Trelia. It felt a bit dishonest, but he had no choice. In this unfamiliar world, Jackson had to use everything he had to stand firm and find a way back to Earth.
Trelia was assigned to the 13th New Recruit Training Camp, 22nd Defense Fleet, 56th Destroyer Division.
"Li Feng, why do you look so down? Didn’t you become the warship pilot you wanted?" Trelia asked as she met up with him.
Jackson could tell something was wrong. Li Feng’s silence and expression made it clear that things hadn’t gone well. Li Feng was holding a uniform just like Jackson’s, with blue edges.
"Damn it! I don’t know what happened. The AI didn’t even give me a chance to choose. It just assigned me. I stayed in the dispatch room and demanded an explanation, but two military police dragged me out. Now I have a Level 3 violation in my file," Li Feng complained, upset.
Jackson looked at his soldier ID tag: Name: Li Feng, Branch: Interstellar Paratrooper, Unit: 11th Regiment, ID: LF9923.
Li Feng and Jackson were assigned to the same unit. This confused Jackson. The Empire usually mixed up recruits from the same places for easier management. Why had he and Li Feng been assigned to the same unit by chance?
"Hey, you three are together. What a coincidence!" A handsome young man greeted them.
He was Xiao Yi, also from Rift Valley 7583 High School. He was a Panhua, like Jackson. They were from different classes but knew each other.
After chatting for a while, Jackson learned that Xiao Yi was also in the 11th Regiment, ID: XY9985.
Xiao Yi sighed and quietly said, "I’ve noticed, all the Panhua recruits have been assigned to the Interstellar Paratroopers."
His words confirmed Jackson’s suspicion. The Panhua weren’t favored by the Empire.
This made Jackson even more determined to train hard in the army. If he couldn’t change things now, he had to adapt. Improving himself was the only way forward.
The Kamon Trade Group’s headquarters was in the capital, Star Chuan Tuo. President Hunter Martin received a message from Major General Wang Feng of the Empire’s Logistics Department. He was told to change 5% of the new recruits' food supplies to synthetic food.
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Hunter Martin was thrilled. His company had been assigned to provide 10% of the natural food. Now, they could swap 5% of that for synthetic food, which would increase their profits by trillions.
Greedy Hunter Martin thought of another way to save costs. He pressed a button on his wrist communicator.
The device beeped. The three small holes on it projected a hologram of a man in an Imperial uniform. It was the Empire’s Defense Minister, Madison.
"Hunter, why did you contact me? I’ve told you not to disturb me during working hours," Madison said.
"Heh, Father, I received the notice from the logistics department..." Hunter Martin explained his idea.
"You mean, reduce the number of training camps and concentrate supplies to a few camps to save on transport costs?" Madison asked.
"Yes, exactly. The synthetic food is mainly for minority recruits. If we send it to just half the training camps, we can save 50 billion in shipping costs," Hunter Martin explained.
Madison thought for a moment and then made a decision. He had planned to provide synthetic food mainly to the Panhua recruits. So, he would concentrate them in a few camps. The ships carrying the synthetic food would only need to reach those camps to complete the task.
Each of the Empire’s training camps focused on a specific type of recruit. Soon, the entire Empire followed Rift Valley City’s new recruit assignment system. Madison ordered that all Panhua recruits this year be assigned to the Interstellar Paratroopers—the Empire’s lowest and most dangerous branch.
The Panhua, as a minority group, had always been oppressed. With growing dissatisfaction in the Empire, no one in the higher ranks objected to Madison’s order.
In the hall, the noise was deafening. The place was crowded with new recruits, full of excitement. Imperial soldiers maintained order around the room.
"When you have free time, contact me!" Trelia called out to Jackson.
Jackson gave her an "OK" gesture. He, Li Feng, and Xiao Yi walked toward the boarding tunnel, ready to take the ship to the training camp.
After walking for over ten minutes, they arrived at Tunnel 996.
Jackson was puzzled. Why were there no other people? The 11th Regiment should have at least a thousand recruits.
As they got closer, Jackson realized he had been overthinking. The tunnel was an automated transport system. The metal floor moved continuously, and the other recruits had already stepped onto it and moved ahead.
The three stood on the metal floor, which quickly moved them forward. Jackson saw the tunnel entrance shrinking behind them.
They emerged from the tunnel into a huge military airfield. Ships and warships were docked everywhere.
Jackson placed his soldier ID tag near the scanner. A green light swept over it, and a small screen appeared, showing: "Please board T996-11 commuter ship."
The ship was a diamond-shaped metal vessel that could carry over 1,000 people. Once Jackson and his friends boarded, it soon filled up.
A clear female voice echoed in the cabin: "The ship is ready for takeoff. Please fasten your seatbelts, warriors of the Empire."
Jackson sat by the window, buckling his seatbelt. He looked out at a warship slowly rising from the ground. It was amazing.
Li Feng, sitting beside him, snorted. "What’s so special? That’s just a destroyer using anti-gravity engines to take off."
"Impressive," Jackson couldn’t help but praise. The destroyer outside was about 2 kilometers long.
"Pfft, who cares? It costs a fortune," Li Feng muttered, still bitter about not becoming a warship pilot.
"Well, you Panhua are so rich. It’s not a surprise," a nearby Kabas youth chimed in.
"Yeah, the Panhua should donate to the Empire, so we can build more warships to defeat the shameful Fuluo Federation."
“The Panhua are traitors to the Empire. They’ve stolen from the common people. If I were the Emperor, I would exile all the Panhua,” a burly new recruit shouted.
“Shut up, you’re dreaming,” Li Feng snapped back.
“Look at you, you want to be Emperor?” another recruit added.
This was all part of Madison’s plan. All the Panhua were assigned to the Interstellar Paratroopers, so now half the recruits on the ship were Panhua. They were young and eager, unwilling to let the Kabas slander their people.
Jackson was about to speak when Xiao Yi pulled him aside. "Don’t argue. We’re a minority. We need to endure and find our chance. Arguing won’t change anything."
"Shut up, all of you. Save your energy for the training field," a large man in a lieutenant colonel's uniform suddenly entered the cabin and stopped the arguing.
A rumbling sound filled the cabin as Jackson felt a strong force push him back into his seat. This was a traditional takeoff method, not anti-gravity.
Luckily, the pressure soon eased, and Jackson felt weightless. He knew this was the so-called zero-gravity feeling in space. Looking out the window, he saw the stars shining in the dark space. In the distance, a planet appeared. It was Bibo, the home planet of Jackson’s new world.
Jackson waved goodbye to it.
Bibo was the main planet of the Mu Hua Star System, the only life-bearing planet. The other planets in the system were uninhabitable, and the Empire had abandoned efforts to terraform them.
Looking at Bibo, Jackson couldn’t help but think of Earth. He wondered if he would ever return.
“Artificial gravity will start in 10 seconds,” the mechanical female voice announced. "3, 2, 1, complete."
Jackson immediately felt his body become heavy again, just like on Bibo.
“Faster-than-light engines will engage in one minute. Please wear your goggles to protect your eyes,” the voice continued. Moments later, purple goggles dropped down above each seat.
Jackson quickly put them on.
As the ship entered hyperspace, Jackson felt a wave of nausea. Everything around him became eerily silent. There was no sound, as though he had gone deaf. He looked outside and saw light stretching into long trails, leaving ghostly afterimages.
Time felt long, yet short. When the silence ended, the faster-than-light journey had finished.