Maxim and the others were all sitting in their chairs in their homeroom, waiting for Sydney to begin homeroom. Amanda loudly sighed. "It's been fifteen minutes. You'd think she'd have been here by now."
Kolten shook his head. "Not only that, but she was very clear yesterday that we should be here on time, but somehow she forgot her own warnings about being la–"
"If you would like to make the final preparations for your curriculum and deal with the bureaucracy associated with it, then be my guest."
Sydney walked into the room carrying a folder, her hair slightly frazzled and bags under her eyes. "Unfortunately there were a few last second snags that had to be worked out so your dear instructor had to pull an all-nighter to smooth things over."
Aidan raised his hand. "Do you mean you're going to announce today what this new part of our curriculum will be?"
Sydney nodded. "I am. Granted I was only told about this a couple weeks ago by the head instructor, so preparations were a bit hectic to say the least."
Sydney opened her folder. "This new curriculum actually has its roots back to when the heroes attended this academy. Before pressed into service, the academy desperately tried to get recruits actual combat and field experience by sending them all over the Republic trying to quell unrest caused by the invasions. In the spirit of what happened in the past, the academy has decided to send you all out into the field, dealing with actual problems."
Everyone was silent, trying to process the information. Melek raised his hand. "Where are we going?"
"Initially, you were going to be split into two groups and sent to two different locations. However, as I said earlier, there's been some last second snags. Because of that, plans have changed. You're all going to the same location: the planet Hathea."
Aidan put his hand to his chin. "Isn't Hathea one of the founding planets of the Republic? Why is one of the central planets needing help from a military academy?"
"They aren't needing help from the military academy specifically. In fact, officially, they don't need help at all. However, I'm not at liberty to say what exactly is going on at the moment. You'll be briefed by one of the Republic's intelligence agents once you arrive."
Kolten's eyes widened. "You mean this is some top-secret mission or something?"
"Top secret is a bit of a stretch, but I know the Republic is wanting to keep what's happening under wraps. Don't worry, I've been told that you'll be receiving plenty of support during your assignments there, assignments that are on par with you being fresh recruits. If anything, sending you there is just overkill. Might even just be there to observe what's going on."
Freya chuckled. "I doubt that, considering the trouble the academy and the Republic are going through to send mere students into a classified mission."
Kolten glared at Freya. "Let me guess, you'd rather be here, sleeping the day away?"
"Doesn't sound like a bad idea to me."
"Unbelievable..." Kolten turned away from Freya, unable to keep his anger towards her subdued.
Sydney cleared her throat. "Regardless of what you're assigned, you are required to keep a log of what you do during your field study. Failure to do so will be met with an automatic failure and reconsideration of you being a student at the academy."
Amanda shook her head. "Isn't that a little harsh for missing one assignment?"
"Not at all. This field study is a MAJOR part of your curriculum. Failure to pass these field studies, or rather lack of completing them, will be met with appropriate corrective action, up to and including expulsion. Do I make myself clear?"
Amanda scoffed. "Crystal clear...Instructor."
Sydney glared at Amanda for a few seconds before looking over the class as a whole. "You'll be leaving in two days, so there's not much time to prepare. As such, after homeroom today, you're excused from the rest of your classes. However, there's one last little tidbit I'd like to tell all of you. However, this is all...'unofficial' so to speak."
Everyone looked at Sydney as she smirked. "The academy is using this field study as a...contest...of sorts. You're not the only class being sent on a field study. Class Two has also been selected to attend a field study of their own. Now they won't be going to the same location, but the academy will base the results of these field studies and future ones to determine which class will be selected for a future event. That's all I'm allowed to say...in fact I may have even said too much. So use the spirit of friendly competition to spur you onwards...okay?"
Sydney glanced at her holowatch. "That's all for today. I HIGHLY recommend you use this time to prepare for your upcoming field study. You'll be leaving at seven in the morning two days from now, so be sure to have all your preparations done the night before. I also would recommend using any free time you have to train. Every second helps in honing your skills and could save your life. Remember, these are real problems you'll be experiencing, with real consequences. The last thing I want to hear is that one or all of you died. That's all. You're dismissed."
The class was silent as Sydney exited the classroom. Maxim sighed as he remembered the conversation he had with a member from class two the week before. That's just going to add more fuel to the fire in a rather undesired rivalry...
Kolten cleared his throat. "Well, from what it sounds like, we're going to need to be at our best the next several days. We don't want to lose to Class Two."
Aidan nodded. "Yeah...though don't you think it's...odd that they're intentionally trying to cause conflict between classes? It's quite obvious that the loser of this so-called 'competition' would be looked on as inferior to the winners by the academy itself."
Maxim shook his head. "Unfortunately, that's the way things go here. There's an unofficial ranking system, remember? Usually the best of the best go to Class Two while the worst are ironically placed in Class One. Everyone else is spread amongst the other classes."
"That doesn't seem right to me." Lexi said, looking less than pleased about what was announced.
Amanda chuckled. "It may not seem right but as Maxim said, that's the way it is. Personally, I don't mind some friendly competition. What does concern me though is what the instructor sneakily added at the very end. If she's to be believed, there's a real, albeit small, chance we could meet our maker during this trip."
Lexi took a deep breath and nodded. "She did say that the tasks we'll be given will reflect our status as just students. She probably said that in case there's any accidents or unforeseen circumstances. I don't think that they'd send us anywhere too dangerous, especially so early in our first year here."
"Well whatever it is, I'm ready for it." Kolten said, a look of determination plastered on his face. "We'll show the academy and our instructor that we're the best here."
Freya sighed as she gathered her belongings. "What a pain..." She whispered to herself within earshot of Kolten as she left the room. Kolten's face turned red with frustration, but instead took a deep breath to calm himself. "Is it just me, or is Freya not exactly happy to be here?" He asked, looking at the only door in the room.
Maxim shrugged. "She may just be having a hard time adjusting. Give her some time. She was chosen to be in this class for a reason. The academy obviously thinks highly of her."
"Then whoever made the decision to even accept her in the academy, much less put her in our class, needs to be demoted and fast."
Lexi shook her head. "I agree with Maxim. Let's just let her be for now."
Kolten grunted his displeasure before gathering his belongings as well and silently leaving the room. Maxim chuckled to himself. They definitely made an interesting decision putting these two in the same class. Don't see them ever getting along if this keeps up.
232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3FoAZoZcs
