Second Year

The next day the rest of the first year students left to go on break. The only students that stayed were a few of the second year students along with several teachers and the Colonel.

[Trainee Jace Steel, report to the training area.] He got the message shortly after breakfast when he was still wondering what he should do first. But instead of going to the data library like he planned to, he redirected to the training area.

Walking in he saw the Colonel was in training clothes as well. He was doing some stretches when he walked in.

"Trainee Steel, get over here." The colonel called him over. "We are going to spar. I have seen you spar with others but I want a good grasp on your techniques."

Steel nodded and got ready. An hour passed and Steel was on the ground heavily breathing from exhaustion. While the colonel had barely broken a sweat and was nodding while making notes on an info pad.

"Okay, next thing is the simulation pods. Before lunch we are going to run a simulation for the Hawks, a Fighter-Class spaceship." The colonel then walked into the building and Steel pulled himself up and caught up to Colonel Dakota.

"Colonel Sir, why am I doing this?" Steel asked as he walked a step behind the colonel.

"Because you have nothing better to do for the break and I feel like torturing you." The colonel answered and looked back to see a not too impressed expression on the trainees face. "Because you are apparently a prodigy when it comes to putting in the effort. So I want to train you in all fields so you will easily adapt if need be, it will also be beneficial for possible career paths."

"So the next time I have free time I can come to you for extra training?" Steel asked with confusion. Apparently the colonel shared his confusion because he gave Steel a look for a moment before he seemed to realize something.

"Yes, actually your Warrant Officer was supposed to tell you that. Apparently Coble was shitter than we realized." The colonel answered before he started making more notes on his pad.

The remainder of the break passed by quickly with him being trained on all sorts of aircraft. Once he had the hang of it he started learning to drive various types of vehicles. Slowly realizing they were all similar and that he was recognizing that there were only minor differences between the various machines.

A week before break ended he moved into the second year dorms. He was placed in the same hall as Trevor Squad again. But his own Squad's Warrant Officer had yet to show up. But the next day the second year and third years started arriving, he was rooming with Wintry again. A day before classes started all of the students had arrived and they officially started their second year.

The classes were just as hard but this time when he was finished after the first day of exercises and new content he was sitting at the table taking his first bite of food when Trainee Hielo sat down across from him.

"So are you ready to help me with my project?" The Ice Queen's question surprised Wintry who was sitting next to him.

Wintry gave him a quizzical look, "project?"

Don't get jealous she approached me because she needs help. Aren't you the mind reader? "Yes I read up on the subjects. I assume you want to start it today after lunch?"

"Yes, I was thinking about the common room but-" Hielo was stopped mid sentence as Steel shook his head.

"I am going to stop you right there. Second and Third years get dedicated project rooms where only their school year and administrators can enter. It is there for the more creatively thinking trainees. The WOs are set to make the announcement tomorrow but I have been using the room for the past week, the Colonel gave me access." Steel quickly interjected and explained. Surprising both of them.

[Huh, I missed a lot of stuff.] Wintry thoughts jumping into his mind causing him to slightly jump. Which was clearly the point because of his mentally aimed remark regarding jealousy earlier.

"Okay, I guess that will work. I don't think there are many in our year who will want to build or create anything. But we should set some security measures up." Hielo stated as she started to dig into her meal. Obviously in a rush to get started on this grand idea she had.

[Oh yeah, it is definitely an inspired idea. You will love it.] Wintry interjected.

"There are fenced off areas where we can set up security measures." Steel finally got back to completely eating his food. A few minutes later he was being dragged out of the cafeteria by the arm. "I get you want to get started, but do you even know where you are going?"

Hielo stopped dead in her tracks and looked at him blushing in embarrassment. "Ah, right. Sorry I was just excited. Lead the way." Now she was fidgeting.

Steel shook his head and led the way to one of the upper floors. When he arrived at the door he swiped his hand and the door opened. Inside was a full on lab area with computers and digital parts on one half and on the other was two fabricators one on the smaller side and one larger one. As well as machining tools, that were ancient and barely used but these ones looked like they had maintenance done on them recently.

"Nice they even have old machining equipment, here I was worried I won't be able to do that stuff by hand." Hielo then looked around and saw Steel walk over to a fence gate and open it. 

Inside were two sections. One was completely untouched and still had dust on it. The other side had several computers, computer boards, and info pads. The only odd item was a metal container that was set on the center table.

"Ah, perfect it arrived." Steel picked up the metal container and set it off to the side. "That's for later. I haven't bothered with security since I am the only student that can enter the room. So I will get that set up while you explain this genius idea you have."

"Ah yes…" Hielo looked around for a moment before she seemed to remember something, "I left my blueprints in my room."

"Ha… Go. I will let you in when you get back." Steel responded, noticing the smirk on Wintry's face as Hielo raced out.

"So what is in the box?" She asked after the door closed.

"A lightweight and flexible metal. I figured if we are making an android of some kind we would need that for some of the parts and it is difficult to obtain. So I ordered some ahead of time." Steel explained as he took some crude metals out of a locker and walked over to the small fabricator and had it make a sign as well as two security cameras and a lock for the fence.

"I am surprised. You are unusually silent." Steel pointed out as he glanced over at Wintry who had a thoughtful look on her face.

"I am contemplating things. Turns out having this ability of mine isn't all that. Found out both my parents are cheating on each other and while my mother does love and care for me. My father just wants myself and my other younger siblings to die during duty so he can get the benefits." Wintry truthfully answered with a hint of sadness to her voice.

"I would console you, but that happens with families and people who aren't completely satisfied with what they have. But if you disclose that part about your father to the Colonel I am sure he can help. Despite his rugged personality he is pretty nice… most of the time." Steel explained.

"MMhhmm…" She walked forward and hugged him from behind, "give me a second to siphon off of your confidence. I really might not go back next break."

"That will be fun, I had to do all sorts of training by myself. This time you will get to enjoy the torture as well." Steel chuckled out while unsure of how to interact with her.

She let go of him and walked over to the fabricator. "I suppose this means I should figure out something fun to do with you as well."

"Fun?" Steel chuckled, "I suppose we could do something. Do you have any ideas?"

"Yes… since you are so good at programming I assume you have played with virtual reality gaming." Wintry got her response almost immediately from his thoughts, "What! How is that possible? I figured with all of this programming and hacking knowledge you would be a hardcore gamer."

"Nope, I have never touched a virt-" There was a knock at the door and Steel looked over to see Hielo basically vibrating wanting to be let in.

Wintry walked over and opened the door while Steel picked up the lock, cameras, and sign. He walked over to their area and put the sign on the fence. He then hung the lock on the closing mechanism making sure to program it with a simple code. He then placed one of the cameras facing the gate. While he hid the other camera in a more hidden area overlooking the center table and private work areas.

"So my idea is this." She rolled out a fancy blueprint pad and tapped it making it into a hologram. She stood back with stars in her eyes looking at the design, incredibly proud of it.

"Umm… is this a robotic dog?" Steel asked. The hologram showed a robotic dog, there were a lot of non-practical elements to it. But they could work on it. "I like the idea. But for the prototype we should work on only the skeleton of the creation but keeping in mind that it will have layered metal on the final creation."

She nodded and swiped at the blueprint pad causing it to remove the outer shell. Showcasing what could be best described as its skeleton and muscles. Or rather its frame and well he did not know what to describe them as. Maybe high tensile springs?

"Okay, explain from the top what I will need to program for this… dog." Steel asked as he started looking up details on what he did not understand.

It was three hours by the time Wintry and Steel dragged themselves back to their dorm.

[I will show you the pleasures of gaming tomorrow. I am too drained from trying to understand mechanical musculature.] Wintry's injected mental thought caused him to chuckle as he collapsed on his bed and fell asleep.

The next day started with an early morning exercise but in the second year training area instead. With an introduction to their squad's new WO in the afternoon as well as a few declarations and announcements from the colonel beforehand.

After the Colonel finished talking he had all except their squad leave. When their squad was the only one left, a thinner woman in an inquisitor's uniform stepped up, she had a nasty looking scar that went through one of her eyes.

"Good Evening, I am the replacement for your Squad Warrant Officer. I am Elsa Von Meyer. Making you Meyer Squad. Forgive me for my accent, it is tough to remove." When she stepped forward Steel saw Wintry flinch out of the corner of his eye. "Now since we are starting up we should get you trained up to my standard by the end of this year."

The next year was spent quite a bit differently than the first year. Despite them now having more down time they still spent a few hours training throughout the day. Turns out Warrant Officer Meyer, according to Wintry, was sent here to keep an eye on the rising stars of the empire.

Steel got to experience virtual gaming, he and Wintry would play games on the weekends. While most weekdays were filled with him and Hielo working on the robotic dog. Fridays were taken up by WO Meyer who decided to have them participate in team building exercises, which varied from week to week. She was a lot nicer than the initial impression she gave.

As the next break neared the students got tense as they were nearing the end of their second year at the school. While Steel got more time to work with the Colonel to work on the special training he was giving him. Mostly since Steel's stats were far ahead of any of his fellow students. Even Wintry, Ulin, Hermes, Tako, Hielo, and a few other second years were behind him in terms of point totals. In fact Wintry only broke the 100 point ceiling only recently.

"So did you make a decision on what you are going to do about your parents?" Steel asked Wintry as they were getting ready for sleep.

She froze for a moment before she nodded. "Yeah, since the Inquisitorial branch wants me, I will see if Colonel Dakota and WO Meyer are interested in looking into my father and removing him from being a beneficiary. But I will have to go back for this break for the chaos I cause."

Steel gave her a weak smile, "then I suppose I will see you afterwards. Just a few more days."

The end of the year and exams passed quickly. With the Meyer Squad having the highest recorded stat points on record for second years. The written exam somehow felt easier. The practical was unfortunately a squad exam this time around. But it was thankfully completed quickly.