- Oliver -
"Welco to Base 45. What are your nas?" asked the soldier, his firm voice resonating through the helt of the Artificial Ranger.
"Oliver Naless, Katherine York, and Isabela de Luca," replied Isabela, stepping forward and introducing the group.
The soldier consulted his holographic device, his fingers swiftly sliding through the luminous projections. "Alright. I've found your records," he confird, looking up. "Survivors of GL581. Congrats, especially after being missing for so long."
The soldier smiled at the group. Internally, he was grateful to have been stationed on New Earth rather than sent to one of the more distant planets. Seeing the records of these three, he couldn't help but think that, in their place, he might not have survived.
"Thank you," Isabela replied, returning the smile.
"You won't be able to enter with the vehicle," the soldier explained, pointing to the gate ahead. "Once you pass through there, you'll be in the main area of the base. It's composed entirely of a large ring. You'll find service areas on the first floor, accommodations on the second, and training zones on the third."
The three nodded, absorbing the information.
"Today, there will be a mont when the exam rules will be announced. All of you will be called to the exam center via your gauntlets. Under no circumstances should you go to the exam center without being summoned; anyone who tries to enter without an invitation will be automatically expelled. Understood?" The soldier concluded his explanation, awaiting the group's confirmation.
"Yes," they responded in unison.
"Alright. You're dismissed." The soldier said farewell before moving to the next vehicle waiting in line.
The group quickly exited the enormous SUV. As soon as they disembarked, the autonomous vehicle emitted a farewell ssage: "Thank you for choosing MiliCorp." It then skillfully maneuvered in the spacious courtyard, joining the constant flow of cars returning to the city.
[50 credits debited]
The amount was finally deducted from each of the passengers.
"What?! That's almost more expensive than a trip to another colony. What a rip-off," Oliver exclaid, astonished at the amount charged. At the sa ti, he was still impressed by the self-driving car, but he couldn't stop dwelling and feeling outraged at how much he had paid for the short trip.
"There's nothing we can do. MiliCorp is quite abusive with prices, and to make matters worse, we're in or near Las Vegas. The prices are disgustingly high," Katherine explained.
Oliver was still lanting his lost credits as the group entered the central passage.
The boy looked around, impressed by the magnitude of the base. The tallic structure of the ring shone under the intense sun, and thousands of recruits moved like ants, each heading toward their designated destinations. Surveillance drones flew silently overhead, monitoring each sector.
After passing through several enormous steel doors and additional lines of defense, the group found themselves in the central area of Base 45.
The military base's interior resembled a vast stadium, but its function went beyond entertainnt. tal and concrete walls curved over the arena, allowing views of the upper floors.
"It's even bigger than I imagined," comnted Katherine, looking around.
"Definitely," agreed Oliver. "And to think we're going to compete with hundreds of thousands of recruits here."
Isabela consulted her gauntlet, checking recent notifications. "According to the map, our accommodations are on the second floor in Sector C. We'd better go soon to secure good spots."
This initial area consisted of a vast plaza with hundreds of shops and services spread along the circle. Tens of thousands of people walked back and forth with their colleagues, looking at each storefront and the available offers.
The group could see shops for weapons and armor, so selling Mini chas and other weapons used by officers.
"It's like a small city," observed Oliver, amazed.
"And entirely self-sufficient," added Katherine. "I've heard they can house and sustain up to a million people here if necessary."
"Hopefully, we won't be that crowded," joked Isabela.
As they walked, they could hear conversations from several excited recruits pointing at the storefronts.
"Isn't that a TitanTech?"
"One of those is worth millions of credits. You could take a direct punch from a Red Ork and stay intact."
Oliver noticed that the boys were practically drooling in front of the store. But that wasn't the worst; they started heading toward the stairs to the second floor when the ground began to shake.
A Hexapod, a robot with six legs, passed close by on its patrol. However, this only drew even more attention from the students. "Do not stop; keep moving," the robot's AI kept instructing the recruits who stopped before the enormous machine.
"How can an Ork destroy sothing like that?" Oliver muttered to himself.
"Even you can destroy sothing like that. Well, maybe not all the students," Katherine began to explain. "Unfortunately, the most common tal alloys we have today aren't resistant to the application of Energy. As soon as a more trained Ork lands a punch on this robot, the entire hull starts to explode."
"But then, how can a cha fight against Orks? Dozens of them," Oliver asked his colleague.
"They use a specific alloy that consus Z Crystal in its formation. That's why they're so difficult to produce," Katherine explained.
Isabela had never thought about that, but now that she heard the comnt, her curiosity was piqued. Although not particularly keen on cha technology, Katherine knew a lot since many parts were produced on Mars.
Finally, after climbing the stairs, they found the accommodation area. Each section of the enormous circle was divided into different sectors.
"There!" Oliver pointed to the sign marking Sector C. The trio continued walking until they passed through the sector's gate. As soon as they set foot inside the area, they were enveloped by a scanning system. A beam of blue light scanned their bodies while an artificial voice announced, "Identification confird. Access granted."
"They really are concerned about security," Isabela comnted.
"There are 600,000 teenagers under the sa roof, each specialized in a different type of combat. All battling for a minimal number of spots. I think these precautions are the bare minimum," Oliver remarked. He had already seen how far a recruit might go to secure a spot.
As they advanced toward their rooms, they could feel the tension in the air. Groups of recruits from different colonies and academies were spread throughout the spacious area, conversing in low tones or observing competitors with evaluative gazes.
Reaching the designated sector, they found several dormitories filled with rows of aligned bunk beds. Though simple, the environnt was clean and organized. Monitors on the walls displayed welco ssages and instructions for the coming days.
"Choose a bed, everyone," suggested Isabela. "It looks like we'll be staying here for a while."
Oliver threw himself onto one of the beds and assessed the comfort they'd have in the coming days.
After settling in, the group sat down to review the available information. Anticipation for the announcent of the exam rules was high, and curiosity about the format of the tests only grew. However, it took a few more hours before the first notification was sent.
| Announcent will begin in one hour.
Everyone felt more nervous as soon as the notification arrived on their gauntlets. The anxiety was visible on each recruit's face, not just the trio.
Oliver began pacing around the room, looking at the symbol of each recruit entering the dormitory. It was his way of trying to calm down.
"Mars. Venus. New Earth. Callisto," he counted each one in his head.
Isabela watched videos on her gauntlet while Katherine seed to be writing sothing on one of the holograms.
Finally, the beep sounded on all the gauntlets simultaneously, drawing the attention of every recruit.
The screens and holograms scattered throughout the facility were quickly turned on. For a few seconds, there was static, but it was promptly replaced by the image of one of the officers.
Oliver couldn't recognize who it was, but others more involved in the Rangers' world were impressed.
"Hello, everyone!" A very charismatic man appeared on the screen, wearing yellow armor with the number 33 on the front. "For those who don't know , my na is Sebastián, and today I will explain how the public evaluation will work."
Oliver couldn't identify him, but he noticed the officer's title in the corner of the transmission screen.
| General — Yellow Division
"So he's one of the Generals, along with Quinn?" he thought, recalling the mission on Marea Alpha.
"For those watching from ho, yes, this transmission is live. You can access the official NEA channel and find hundreds of caras spread throughout the evaluation facilities. From this mont on, future evaluations will all be conducted openly," the general explained.
Oliver was nervous but could see the sa apprehension on Isabela's and Katherine's faces.
"So let's talk about how your evaluations will proceed."
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