“We are so proud of you, Holl.” Holly's Father said, patting her on her head as she stepped off of the shuttle. Holly glanced around the spaceport, several civilians and military members were rushing to get to where they needed to be. Holly took a deep breath, before turning to meet her parents' gazes. Holly's father chuckled for a moment, before stepping off the shuttle, he glanced over at Holly's mother, who quickly embraced Holly, after several minutes, Holly released her grasp on her mother, glancing at her father who was tapping his foot, glancing at his pocket watch. Holly's mother sighed for a moment, giving a parental grin, her eyes scanning Holly up and down.

“What?”

“I know you'll make us proud. The Shield Division! I can't believe our little girl even considered the military.” Holly's mother wiped a tear off her face, nodding to Holly's father. Who nodded back. “Sadly I have to stay with the ship… make sure to write us once you get settled in. You're gonna be the best student this academy has had since General Wolvez."

“I'll try to call you at the end of the week once you return home.” Holly replied, her mother giving her a kiss on the forehead before Holly and her father started towards a hover-bus. The two sat down in the front seats. Holly watched the city buzz by them as the bus moved towards the academy. The bus lurched to a stop, the academy beside it. The two got off the bus, a guide walking over to them to greet them.

“Hello! How are you two doing? I'm gonna just get you signed in. What's your name?”

“Holly… Holly Velenia.”

“Ah, there you are, Ms Velenia. We are so glad to have you coming to this academy. There will be a seminar in thirty minutes. This droid here will take your things to your room.”

“Thank you.” Holly watched the guide nod, turn and walk to another student who was arriving. Holly turned to her father, who was watching the droid pack her things onto a cart. It then started towards a hatch, where it went into. “You're not staying for the seminar and induction ceremony, are you?”

“No, I'm sorry Holl.” Her father uttered silently, he looked down at his daughter for a moment, one of his eyes glistening with water. “Your mother's business needs her to be back as soon as possible. Y… You don't really need us to go with you though, you're a big girl now. In the big leagues.”

“I understand.” Holly replied silently. She looked down for several moments, before jumping up and hugging her father. “I don't think I've been more scared while being at peak excitement.”

“If you wish to stop this path, this is the last moment you have before it costs more than disappointment from you and the staff here.”

“No… I've come this far. I've tried this hard. I've earned this.”

“That's my girl.” Her father replied. The guide walking back over. “Looks like it's your time to go.”

“Goodbye.”

“See you soon.”

“Are you ready, Ms Velenia?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, I will lead you and these other students to the seminar.”

“Good luck. Holly.” Holly heard over her shoulder. She glanced back to see her father watching her with a smile. She started up the stairs to the campus doors. She held the door open, glancing back to her father, who waved, then got onto a bus, and started back to the space port. Holly sighed, before stepping in after the final student walked in. The group moved to a seminar. As the door opened, Holly looked around, there were at least one hundred students sitting in the seats. Holly glanced desperately around, trying to find someone who looked kind. She then noticed beside her a girl, who was eying her, the girl smiled and waved, patting the seat next to her. Holly smiled, sitting down next to the girl. The two stared at each other, the girl's maple brown eyes barely glistening from the lights up on the centerstage. 

“Hey, I'm Song, Brave.”

“Holly Velenia.”

“I'm a Strategic Trajectory Assault Team Trainee.”

“Shield Division. It's nice to meet you. I hear STAT is a good career.”

“Shield division is quite new, I'm sure there are plenty of career opportunities there.”

“I'm not sure how far I want to go. I just want to see how much I like this.”

“Yeah, I'm sure we're all like that. Quite intimidating, coming in to almost a hundred students entering. And only two thousand special operations personnel and officers are put in this building during the semester.”

“So, what happens now?”

“I hear we get placed into battalions and squadrons.” A girl, leaning into view, she started to mess with her hair, tying it behind her head for a moment. “I'm Zoey. I'm also going into STAT.”

“Hey, I'm Holly.”

“It'd be great to have a shield division member on a squad with me, I hope we get placed together.”

“Yeah, that sounds great.”

“Sadly we don't get much choice, they have an algorithm apparently. I don't know how it works but apparently it somehow measures your aptitude from everything you submitted in the entrance exams and previous records, and knows how to assign you with people you'll excel with.”

“Sounds scary.”

“Yeah, does it make mistakes? What if you got placed with a bunch of asshats?”

“There are rumors it makes some miscalculations… but for the most part students have always liked their four squad mates, even if the rest of the battalion aren't for them.”

“Hello students. I am Randy Vortex… Arch General of the Sterkte Empire and the recently appointed headmaster of the academy. I will be the primary administrative figure that will be running things in what will seem like the background for many of you. This must be an exciting moment for many of you.. not to mention a step into what may seem like a dangerous imposition to join the military during this war. I can assure you that while you are here, your safety and security will be one of the most important things on my mind, second to only your education, of course. At the doors you entered from behind you all, there will be automation drones ready to scan your ID and tell you your assigned rooms, which include your assigned squadmates and battalion. These squadmates will be permanently assigned until you either quit the academy or walk across this stage at graduation. Now before you get moving, I know you are antsy to meet your squadmates and know what battalion you're in, but the general of the armed forces, Noceri DeVici, is here to be your official inductor into this academy. A round of applause for General DeVici, please.”

“Thank you, Arch General. I am excited for each of you, I remember crossing this stage myself almost a decade ago. The best advice I can give you is to stick with it, face any hurdle head on and with your squadmates, and respect your squadmates and trust them with your life… they don't have to be your friends… but they are the only thing that will keep you from failing at this academy, mentally, academically, or psychologically. I thank you, new cadets, for taking this step and becoming the next generation of officers, pilots, or special operators. Thank you, best of luck in the years ahead, and I'd like to wish you all a good day. Thank you.”

“Alright, cadets, move to the entrances, scan your ID and find your Battalion commanders in the lobby, they will lead you all to your rooms and help you get settled in and answer any further questions you may have. Best of luck, and remember, Semper Sterk."

“Here we go.” Holly muttered to herself. Standing up, Song smiled at her with a nod. The three girls quickly walked to the droids, Holly scanning her tag.

“Identified. Welcome, Holly Velenia. Battalion: Zulu. Squadron: Upsilon. Number: Four. Next.”

“Identified. Welcome, Song Brave. Battalion: Zulu. Squadron: Zeta. Number: Four.”

“Identified. Welcome, Zoey Zing. Battalion: Zulu. Squadron: Zeta. Number: Three.”

“Shit. I'm sorry Holly.” Song uttered, she put her hand on Holly's shoulder who sighed, shrugging. “I'm sure you're squad will be great. We're in the same battalion, so you don't have to worry about being alone.”

“Song! We got into the same squad!” Zoey exclaimed, before quieting down looking at Holly. “Apologies. You'll certainly get some good people, I can tell you're a great person, and the algorithm will certainly not spoil such potential to any… problem cadets… hm?”

“I'm not too worried about it, thanks for the confidence boost… There's the Zulu battalion commander, we'd best get over there.”

“And here you are, Holly.” Hannah said, she glanced down the hall at Zulu Alpha's room. “If you need any other help, I'm just down the hall.”

“Thank you, Hannah.” Holly replied, opening the door. She stepped in. The room had an extra hallway, three rooms in that hallway. Holly stepped forwards, checking on the left side, nobody in there. She looked back to the right side. A single girl, already unpacking her bags. She then noticed her bag on a bed near the girl. The number 4 on the bed with her bag, and the number 3 on the girl's bed. “H…Hello?”

“Oh my god you almost gave me a heart attack. Uh… Hello?” The girl jumped, she quickly whipped around, scanning Holly for several seconds. “So you're Zulu Upsilon 3?”

“You can just call me Holly… it's less of a mouthful than our squad designations. Do you have a name? Or are you just Zulu Upsilon 4?"

“The name is Steffanie, but you can call be Steffi, as long as you're a friend and not a stranger that is.”

“Well now we're not strangers.” Holly replied, walking over to her bed and opening her bag. She set her books beside her bag, before moving her bag to her closet, setting it inside and then moving back and setting her books on the dresser next to her. “So, I'm in the shield division… how about you?”

“I'm going to be a combat pilot.”

“Wow, you must be extremely smart and do really good in class to be a pilot.”

“No, actually, I really don't have much of an education to speak of. Just really good at piloting. I got an appointment from Grand Admiral Howard.”

“Won't it be hard for you to keep up without an education?”

“I'm strong willed and determined. I'll be fine.”

“Hey, if you need any help, I've gotten here because of my transcript and partially because of my skills.”

“I'll take you up on that if I need to.” Steffi replied, laying back into her bed. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths, when the suite door closed. Instantly Steffi jumped, looking towards the doorway. “I think that's one of our squadmates… they're a little less graceful on entry than you.”

“Hello?” Holly called, peering into the hallway, finding a man entering the other room. 

“What are you doing he could be annoying or rude or something” Steffi hissed.

“Oh… uh… Hi.” The man said, turning around quickly, he looked around his room. “I see Zulu Upsilon 2 hasn't arrived?”

“No. I'm Holly. ZU3 is called Steffi."

“Kuch. You can call me Kuch.” Kuch glanced towards the doorway as the final squadmate entered. The man who entered glanced between the two. “Hello, Zulu Upsilon 2."

“Ah, greetings squadmates.” ZU2 called out, quickly stepping up and holding his hand out in greeting. Kuch shook his hand, “The name is Montgomery Thorn. Most of my friends just call me Thorn.”

“So you're fine with us calling you Thorn?” Holly spoke, partially hidden behind the door frame. Thorn glanced over at her, grunting with affirmation and nodding. “In that case I'm Holly. ZU3 is Steffi.”

“I'm Kuch.”

“I'll uh… leave you two to setting up your room.” Holly replied, instantly vanishing into her room. She jumped onto her bed, laying down and staring up at the ceiling. “I think they seem pretty cool.”

“Thank goodness, I thought I was gonna be put with a bunch of bullies or something.”

“So I can see you're a STAT Trainee?" Thorn asked, hanging clothes inside his closet.

“Yeah, I see you're a Daedalus operator.” Kuch looked up from the academy new cadet guide. Staring at Thorn as he finished hanging up his clothes. “So, what kind of Daed Op are you?”

“The one that will be completing real objectives while you STAT kids do your fawx objectives."

“Huh, I didn't realize you lot did anything but gather intelligence for us to act upon.”

“Don't worry I just gave you some new intelligence.”

“I suppose this is why the algorithm placed you as number 2 and not number 1.”

“So, what's the room at the end of the hall?” Holly asked, looking up from her bed. Steffi sat up, eyeballing it and shrugged. “Wanna check it out?”

“We really don't have anything better to do, so… sure.”

“Alright, hopefully it's not just a balcony.” Holly stood up, walking towards the door, Steffi flanking her quietly. She wrapped her hand against the latch and pulled the door open. A small dorm kitchen, a couch with a holoprojector, windows, and balcony access. “Well, I wasn't expecting to get this much.”

“I agree with you on that.” Steffi replied, placing her hand on the couch, she sighed, brushing her hand against the soft fabric and making a sound that could only be described as purring. She stopped, looking back at Holly, who was investigating the mini fridge and microwave.

“They didn't give us any food.” Holly uttered quietly. She sighed sitting down on the couch. Steffi instantly sat near her, sprawling out across half of the couch. “You want to watch anything?”

“I don't really know what I'd want to watch. I don't normally watch anything at home.”

“Huh.” Holly pulled open her academy guide, flipping through the pages quickly, then placing it on the table in front of them. “For a first day, this is kinda boring.”

“I'm having a pleasant time.”

“I can see why they call him Thorn.” Kuch shook his head, rubbing his eyes and walking towards the window. “We got quite the view of the city. A direct view of the plaza.”

“It looks great from here."

“I mean you can't see the beauty of Sterkte Street from there though.”

“I saw it on the way here from the space port.”

“Alright… Alright. Just pointing it out.”

“Holly. Wake up." Steffi whispered as she shook Holly awake, Holly glanced at the clock. “We can grab our schedules now.”

“It's kinda early.”

“Sorry, I've just always been an early riser and I don't really want to go down alone… I'll probably get lost…"

“Yeah, sure I'll go down with you.” Holly muttered, rubbing her eyes and standing up. She quickly pulled on a shirt and put on slacks. The two exited the suite, Holly stopping to take a glance at her map for a second, before crumpling it up and throwing it away. “Alright, let's go.”

“Won't we need that?”

“Nope, I got it memorized.”

“Oh… uh. Okay.” Steffi replied, walking down the hall. Holly stopped as soon as she saw Song and Zoe talking to each other in the hallway.

“Hey girls!” Holly called out. She saw Zoe jump, while Song glanced up at her with a smile. Song instantly ran over and hugged her, while Zoe slowly shuffled over. “Woah, I wasn't expecting that reaction.”

“How are your four squadmates? We got One man and another girl, I don't know how to feel about them, but I got Zoe here and she seems pretty cool and all of that.”

“Uh, yeah. We got two guys. They seem alright. This is Steffi, she's on my squad… we were just heading down to get our schedules.”

“We were about to but we decided to alert our squadmates before, so we were just heading back for a second."

“We could wait for you.”

“Alright, I'll be right back.”

“Oh, Zoe, I just noticed your necklace. I didn't realize you were apart of the Zing family. Your people are extremely renowned doctors.”

“Thanks, I decided to start wearing it again. It's just a reminder of home I guess. They might not be as happy I decided to join STAT, but I thought I could just be a medic there over being a doctor and only helping the wealthy or civilians who don't really need my help.”

“Yeah, Dylan Zing saved my older brother from Paloitic Disease.”

“Ah, you know my great uncle?”

“Well, I haven't met him, but he's definitely a good person in my books.”

“Alright, I'm back. They said they'd head down on their own.” Song announced, the door banging behind her. She started walking down the hall, the other three quickly moving to keep pace. “I can't wait to start classes tomorrow… the rest of our lives starts at eight tomorrow!”

“I hope we do more than just sit in a class all day. Hopefully we'll actually be flying or something.”

“You're a pilot?”

“Yeah. I'm pretty much set flying-wise, but no point in not working on my prowess.”

“I just hope we have some classes together. It will be so nice to have some familiar faces in the core classes. I think I'll go crazy if we aren't together."

“Well, it's time to find out.” Zoe stepped up to the counter, holding out her ID badge, the droid scanned it, before giving her a datapad. She looked at it for several moments, stepping away from the counter as the rest got their pads.

“Hey, Steffi, we got three core classes together!”

“Yeah, I got those same core classes too.”

“I got two of the four with you guys." Zoe muttered silently, she sighed, before powering off the datapad. “So nice of them to give us datapads to do our work on.”

“So, what do we do until tomorrow? Scour the city? Check out what kind of attractions this city has?"

“Ooh, that sounds like fun, we should go do that.” Steffi jumped up and down as she spoke, she stopped for a moment. “Sorry, got excited, never really seen the city before.”

“I'm sure I can be a sort of tour guide, I lived here for a few years, before we had to move closer to the war for my parents to do their job."

“Well, let's get going then.”

“So, it would seem we have all of our classes together but combat. Seems like fate. We won't get to see who is the better fighter.” Thorn muttered, staring at his datapad. he closed it, attaching it to his belt. He attached it to his belt, looking up at Kuch, who was already walking back to the room. “We could of course spar today, I'm sure the dueling pads are open.”

“I see no need to fight you.” Kuch replied with a smirk. He stopped in the hallway, turning to look at Thorn. “Do you always run your mouth about fighting?”

“When I'm not worrying about my education? Yes."

“Then there is no point to fighting you.” Kuch replied, committing to an about face and walking down the hallway towards the stairs. He slowly ascended, Thorn storming behind him.

“Why don't you take the elevator?"

“I enjoy the peace and quiet that is the staircase.” Kuch replied with a sigh, he stopped at the Zulu floor entrance. “Something that you clearly don't appreciate as much as I do.”

“The quiet can't be soothing, there is always something to do, someone to be saved, an enemy who needs to be stopped.”

“Yes, which is why the quiet is soothing. It is a… commodity… something that is a few and far between in appearances. I understand that not everyone appreciates it as much as I do.”

“Peace and Quiet can only be obtained by destroying our enemy.”

“There are alternatives to that, though.” Kuch opened the door, holding it for Thorn. “If you will.”

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks.”

“So, this is the location in all of Vermogen? Umk Park?”

“Yeah, it's named after Executioner Kit himself. Though it's certainly seen a few downgrades. They've removed a lot of the trees.”

“Well this is quite interesting, history-wise, but what about things to do?” Steffi asked, looking around the park blankly. “I thought the city would have a lot more…”

“Pazazz?”

“You could put it that way.”

“Not anymore. The war has turned things sour.”

“Yeah, it has a knack for doing that.” Song replied with a sigh. She shrugged, looking towards the park gates. “We've lost too many people to the war. And nobody knows when it will be close to ending.”

“Well, well. It would seem we have a few cadets visiting the park.” A voice rang out. The four quickly flipped around to find Arch General Vortex behind them. He glanced between the four before smirking. “Do you like this park?”

“Not particularly. It's kinda… ruined… by the skyscrapers.”

“Yeah, it's definitely different from a decade ago.”

“This park has seen the most changes, sadly." Vortex replied stonely. He sighed, stepping past the girls. “I remember when there was a cherry blossom tree over in that section of the park… and a great sequoia slowly growing over there. But sadly changes in power, time and tourism has changed this entire city. For better or for worse.”

“So why do you come here?”

“Nostalgia mostly.” Vortex placed his hand against an older looking ash tree, sifting the decaying splinters from his fingers, before turning. “I'd recommend, once this war is over, visiting the park of the templar on Xiomara. You'll find it to be… less influenced by man, and more under the control of nature. The only civilization you'll find within it is the old temple of the Grand Templar, Cardoul.”

“We'll be sure to check it out, sir.”

“I wish you four best of luck and a good day.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I've seen the Park of the Templar, it is truly as good as he's said.” Zoe replied, watching the headmaster waddle towards a side exit. She sighed, glancing over at Song. “Sadly, Xiomara is on the front lines now, I'm not sure if it'll stay under the control of nature for too long.”

“It's alright, nature is boring anyway.” Steffi replied, whistling as she walked towards the main exit. “I meant to find a rollercoaster or something cool.”

“Nature is extremely exciting.” Zoe retorted, she raised her fist to contest, then stopped. “I'm sure you'll find something one day that'll prove that to you.”

“Nope.”