Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
It was a nice saying. Especially coming from a stranger she barely knew. But the more Teilani thought about it, the more she couldn’t help thinking he was making fun of her. Did he just think of her as a little rich girl who didn’t have the willpower to follow her dreams because she was too reliant on her family’s money?
The thought made Teilani angry. And it made her determined.
If her grandfather and father were going to block every route available to her…then she’d just have to go to one that they couldn’t dispute.
“Little Tei!” Her great Aunt grinned from the other side of the video call, “To what do I owe the pleasure? It’s been so long since we last spoke”.
“Hello, Aunt Ella,” Tei smiled sadly, “I hope I’m not disturbing you”.
The woman waved a hand dismissively, “Please, as if anyone would dare move against my border at this point, I sense something troubles you, what is it?”
“Well…my Grandfather and father have blocked all my attempts to enter a Military Academy,” said Tei.
Her Great Aunt rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh, “Well, I don’t approve, but I can’t say I’m surprised. You grandfather always did have some derogatory comment aimed my way. Right up until that spar where I kicked his, and forty other Generals asses, then got appointed the third quadrant. He’s been remarkably silent ever since, I consider it a blessing”.
Tei smiled, “Well, I have an idea you see, that could get me into a Military Academy without them knowing, but I need your help”.
Her Great Aunt gave a slow grin, “Oh? Wanting to use my name, are you? Over power them?”
“Not exactly, any General who hasn’t used their Scholarship yet will do,” said Tei, “And I’ll need a false identity made”.
Her Great Aunt frowned, “I suppose I could do that, what Identity?”
“Tai Wayland,” said Tei, “Male”.
Her Great Aunt raised an eyebrow, “That’ll be risky, Tei, you have mandatory medicals at least once every six months”.
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take to keep those old dogs off my back for at least six months. By that time I’ll be well-established in the Academy and it’ll be a huge scandal if they just pull me out,” said Tei.
“It’ll be a huge Scandal regardless, Tei. Doesn’t one of your brothers still attend?”
“He attends the Eighth Military Academy, as a Scholarship, I’ll be in the First,” said Tei.
Her great aunt thought for a long moment, “There might be a solution to your medical examinations if you’re willing to call a student your attending doctor”.
“A student?” asked Tei.
“There are two that owe me a favour, this could be how I cash it in,” said her great aunt, “I’ll get back to you at the end of the day”.
Tei barely had the time to say goodbye before her great aunt hung up. But there was no stopping that woman, she’d get Tei exactly what she wanted, and with no ‘Kross’ association with her name, she’d have to prove herself just the same as everyone else. No little rich girl. She’d wouldn’t be a girl to them at all. Not until it didn’t matter if she was a girl or not.
Dayton’s routine, now including a stranger from another world and a daily visit to Yasra, continued over the next several weeks. Even with the Ki being extracted from him, Dayton felt his control ability over it, particularly in the real world, expand. Ever since he’d learned that he could use it to enhance his mental ability and reaction times in the virtual world, he’d started applying it when he was training with Kilu and his Platoon and when he was meditating as well. It meant he was a whole lot more exhausted at the end of the day, but it also meant that his capacity improved with every day.
He continued his win streak in the Mecha Competitions as well. He’d spar with Lady Cross at least once a week, but while she had more training and was in more control of her movements at first, Dayton quickly surpassed her, and she seemed to take this as a personal challenge, entering the Mecha Competitions more seriously than her original goal to stay in the lowest rank and win as much cash as she could from the others by exploiting the system.
Before he even realised it, Dayton gained a following of his own, and through it began to earn star dollars. After two weeks he could have afforded a new Mecha skin, but instead elected to continue to use the training skin, even as the battles grew more difficult thanks to being against more advanced Mecha.
His dedication to this role seemed to inspire more followers to see just how far he could go with the tutorial Mecha.
The answer was the gold rank, the Mechas there were simply too much for his Mecha to handle. With the knowledge and experiences he had gained, rather than buy a new Mecha, Dayton instead elected to say goodbye to the Mecha competitions and focus on his real-world training.
Kilu, who had watched Night’s rise, had been completely unaware that Dayton was Night until Dayton announced he wouldn’t be using the virtual pods anymore, and that afternoon, Night had simply disappeared. The next morning, Kilu asked about it, and Dayton readily admitted to Kilu, who had helped him so much in the last few weeks, that he was Night.
Kilu has just grinned, “I think you’ll do okay at the Academy”.
That was praise enough for Dayton.
Just a few days after, Dayton received his last injections of Genetic Enhancers, and spent a day in recovery before the General called him to the Bridge.
Danin escorted him up, and Dayton watched as they arrived at a massive space station orbiting between Hedelian 4 and 5. Most, if not all of the ships were Military grade, seeing as Hedelian was the Military heart of the Lusvellan Empire.
“You’ll go with Danin to Hedelian 5 and she’ll get you a few basic supplies before she drops you off at the military academy, Yasra will meet you there,” said the General.
Dayton nodded, “Thank you for the opportunities you’ve given me over the past two months”.
The General waved a dismissive hand, “Please, you have gone beyond my expectations so far, continue to do that for me, will you?”
Dayton smiled back, “Yes, General”.
Dayton and Danin took a transport vessel from the space station to Hedelian 5 rather than the diplomatic ship of the Generals. Considering how busy both planets were, the shipping docks on land were heavily restricted, and filtered through the Hedelian Space Port.
“Hedelian 5 is the base of the Military Academy, and a few Corps from the First army, but the majority of the First Army is based on Hedelian 4 when not dispatched,” Danin explained, “Hedelian 4 is also the traditional meeting place of the Grand Generals”.
Dayton wouldn’t be surprised if no earthling had ever set foot where he was. There were way too many elites of the Empire here.
The ‘basic supplies’ the General had told him he was getting with Danin, turned out to be a few sets of more casual clothes.
“Your earthling clothes will stand out,” Danin explained briefly, clearly trying to be polite.
Finally, Danin dropped him off at the front gates of the First Military Academy of the empire, which, for all intents and purposes, was its own functioning city.
“Good luck,” Danin said, then offered him a cylinder with an official seal on it, “Show this to them when you enter, they’ll know you’re the General’s Scholarship selection, Yasra should be there to give you your medical”.
Dayton nodded, “Thanks for everything, Danin”.
Danin just gave him a small smile before Dayton took his new bag filled with his new clothes and a few of his earth belongings before he headed for the gates.
The Guard there stopped him, “State your name and business”.
“Dayton Wayfinder, I’m here to register as a new student,” he showed the cylinder with the seal to the guard who looked back and forth between him and seal before showing him to a waiting room just inside the gate house.
He waited for several moments before another man stepped out, Yasra behind him.
“Dayton Wayfinder, Yasra has informed me of your…condition,” stated the man, “I am Cadet Major Dy Luro. I’ll be handling your registration processors and Doctor Yasra here will handle your medical. If you hand me the scholarship, I’ll start getting things ready while you do the medical”.
Dayton nodded, handing him the cylinder and following Yasra as the Cadet Major went the other way.
He and Yasra mimed some of the tests and completed others, Yasra filling in blanks from predicted information of his original tests back on Earth. It didn’t take long, and Yasra pointed him in the direction of where Dy was likely situated.
“All done?” asked Dy as he spotted Dayton appearing in what seemed to be an office.
“Yes, sir”.
Dayton replied.
Dy nodded, “All the information I require was already in the scholarship key, which makes things much easier. Your Link Key should now have access to the Academy City, and all the areas that you have clearance for. It also possesses a map to your quarters and a timetable of where you are expected to be and when. Classes do not officially start for another ten days, but new Cadets do have an event in eight days that it is mandatory to attend. Understood?”
Dayton nodded, “Yes, sir”.
“Any questions?”
“Given where I come from, plenty, but I’m sure with eight days to myself I can figure out some of the answers,” Dayton replied, “The only burning question I have may come off as rude but, ‘cadet’ major?”
Dy gave a wry grin, “Yes, I’m still a student. If you make merits as a student, and are a part of one of the student Divisions, you achieve ranks”.
Dayton nodded, “Are there many neutral students?”
Dy tilted his head in surprise at the question, “You mean students that are not a part of a Division?”
Dayton nodded, “Yes”.
“No,” said Dy, “First years often spend their year either trying to make it into a Division, or carefully selecting which one they will enter based on their talents. Staying Neutral is not favourable to you”.
Dayton nodded again, “Thank you for your advice, Cadet Major”.
He nodded, “Off with you then, your link key will show you the way to your assigned quarters, that’ll have a welcome packet and your uniform. You are to wear the uniform for all classes and events unless otherwise advised”.
Dayton was ushered from the room with his bag following that, and stepped onto the street just inside the gate.
The walls of the city were enormous, and Dayton could see the rippling of a force field extending like a dome overhead. The streets were straight and uniform before him. There was activity in the streets, some in uniform, but most in what Dayton supposed was casual wear. He stepped to the side and brought up his link key, finding a new map option for the city, and a saved location for both his room, and what Dayton supposed were the mandatory classrooms and meeting areas.
Discovering that his room was at least twenty kilometres away, Dayton hailed a taxi and gave the address. The Taxi Driver, a logistics officer, knew right away that he was new.
“Want to take the scenic route for the sights?”
Dayton nodded, “Sure”.
The Taxi services were free in the city anyway for Cadets.
“So, what planet do you hail from?” asked the driver, “You look Lushti from a distance, but your features are too dark and your ears are rounded”.
“I doubt you would have heard of it,” Dayton replied, “Earth is my homeworld”.
“Earth?” the Taxi driver said it a couple of times as if it would help him recall, “No, I can’t say I have heard of it, must be way out in the far reaches. Travelled a long way, have you?”
“You can say that”.
The Taxi Driver nodded, “Well good on you for making it”.
So far, he’d been travelling alongside the wall, but here, in the hovercar, he made a right turn to head further into the city, “This here is Marksman Street, separates the Business District on the right from the Engineering District on the left. There are 18 established Territories, but there are several Neutral positions in the city as well. Districts 1-9 are around the outer circle of the city, along with the Neutral District, Jericho. Districts 10-18 are in the inner circle of the city along with the Neutral District Fallon. Neutral Districts Gibli and Palamore surround the Central District in the centre which is considered Neutral as well, but is simply called the Central District”.
Dayton nodded, and the taxi driver, whose name was Private Den-Be, proceeded to drive Dayton around on the highway that separated the inner circle of the city from the outer circle before finally dropping him off in the outer-neutral territory of Jericho, which the taxi driver informed him was usually reserved for first year quarters. Districts 15-18, named Blue, Red, Green and White respectively, were where most of the upper-level students stayed as part of one of the four ‘student armies’ that occupied the city. Dayton was fairly sure that each colour correlated to one of the 4 armies, he just wasn’t sure which was which yet.
The buildings all looked high-end by Dayton’s standards from the outside, and when he stepped into the tower that was supposed to house the General Scholarship Students, he felt that the luxury was reflected on the inside as well.
Hovering his link-key over the screen in the elevator took him to the 11th floor, and he walked down to apartment 19.
Hovering his link-key over the screen beside the door, it lit up and greeted him. He entered to find a rather uniform and standard looking room.
The entrance possessed a storage cupboard to the side, and opened up to a three tiered room with kitchen, then a small dining table, then a lounge. A door stood on either side of the lounge, and the one on the left held his name on a plaque beside it. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that given the change in funeral traditions on earth, but decided to let it pass as he opened his bedroom door to first find a quiet sitting area and desk with a computer and a welcome pack awaiting him, then through a hall with a bathroom on one side and a wardrobe on the other, to a simple bedroom.
In all, the room had everything he needed already laid out, and after looking through the uniform that he had four sets of plus what he assumed was a formal set, Dayton set to hanging up his new clothing and storing his bag away. He put his photos in his bedroom beside his bed, then decided to have a look at the kitchen.
Most of the appliances and indeed the food looked foreign to him. He smelt some, but without knowledge of what the food was, he wasn’t sure if it was safe to eat raw or not.
With a sigh, he hoped that his roommate would know, would tolerate his questions, and would arrive soon.
With that thought, he went to shower and change with the thought of looking through the welcome pack afterwards.