Maxim slowly ate some of the food that was placed in front of him by an automated server robot, not having an appetite whatsoever after what had occurred last night. He still hadn’t called Rina to tell her what had happened, and that was a call he wasn’t in any rush to make. Not only had he been found out so soon, but he had allowed her to tail him without his noticing, something he had thought was nearly impossible to do after all the years of training to hone his senses. The only bright spot was that Kerilyn knew the consequences if his identity, or the purpose of his class, were to be leaked to the public.
“Quite an unpleasant look to have so early in the morning.”
Looking up, he spotted Aidan and Brandon sitting down across from him, having just placed their breakfast orders and were now waiting for them to be served. Maxim chuckled and nodded. “Sorry, I just had a hard time falling asleep for some reason last night. Guess I’m still not used to this planet’s gravity yet.”
“Eh, its gravity seems at least reasonably close to earth’s, or Xitis’s for that matter. I didn’t have any trouble falling asleep at any rate.”
Brandon glared daggers at Aidan. “Lucky you…you weren’t the one having to listen to a chainsaw all night.”
Aidan laughed. “Hey, I did warn you that I’m a heavy snorer!”
“No amount of warning could have prepared me for THAT! I’m surprised the whole building didn’t shake! I only got at most two hours of sleep.”
“That’s rough buddy.” Maxim quipped, holding back a chuckle. “I was bunked with Melek and thankfully he doesn’t snore at all. Was wondering if he had died in his sleep because he was so quiet.”
“I can assure you that I’m still very much alive.” Melek had just sat down next to Maxim, also waiting for his food. “I was just blessed with a body that doesn’t make a sound when I’m asleep.”
“Does that have anything to do with being from Sivov?” Aidan asked. “I’ve heard that the humans there were cut off from the rest of humanity for at least a few hundred years. Is that a survival adaptation or something?”
Melek shook his head. “No, not that I’m aware of. The only adaptation I’ve noticed is that people from Sivov, thanks to being much closer to its star, is that we’re able to tolerate UV rays better than most humans from other worlds. Even so, Sivov is still mainly just forests that are so dense, light can’t reach the bottom despite more light reaching our planet than most others.”
“Seems like it’s a completely different place than most human-inhabited planets. Only a matter of time before it’s more steel and concrete than nature.” Aidan stated.
Melek nodded. “Unfortunately…I hope my planet can avoid such a fate after we’ve joined the Republic. Trying to understand how the rest of the galaxy functions and behaves is one of the reasons why I joined the academy, despite getting an offer from my planet’s most prestigious university.”
“What’re the other reasons?” Brandon asked as a server bot put down his breakfast in front of him.
Melek hesitated, thinking about his response before cautiously answering, “To keep a tradition in my family alive. It’s the best way I can put it. I’m sorry if I sound like I’m trying to dodge the question, but…”
Maxim nodded. “That’s alright. You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.”
Brandon nodded. “Yeah, we all have our reasons for joining. I wanted to expand my knowledge of military weapons. That’s the reason why I requested to use the next gen energy weapons.”
Aidan looked at Brandon. “Didn’t you tell me and Maxim that you were in the process of building your own supercomputer?”
Brandon grinned. “You are correct! Unfortunately since I’ve been at the academy, my progress has been…slowed, but that’s something I wish to have done before I graduate. I plan on using that supercomputer to assist me with my weapons research.”
Maxim slowly nodded his head. “I…see. Any reason why you’re so passionate about military tech?”
“Yeah, that’s because of all the stories I’ve read and heard about the invaders. Our fleets and weapons were no match for their high-powered beam weapons. They were able to slice through our ships with ease, and their light infantry weapons were able to put our heavy weapons to shame. I want to help make sure that our tech isn’t so obsolete if there’s any remnants of them that remain, or if another species decides to repeat history and invade.”
Aidan nodded. “That’s an admirable goal, and one that could save countless lives if history does indeed repeat itself. My reason for joining isn’t unique. I just didn’t want to disappoint my parents. They made a lot of sacrifices with being both in the military full time and trying to raise me. Joining this academy…well it made them as proud of me as I can ever remember. Plus it doesn’t help that I’ve already been trained to fight with a saber and a blaster.”
Brandon chuckled. “That definitely helps.” Brandon looked at Maxim. “What about you?”
“Well…I joined because…well let’s just say that I had just gone through something personal. I didn’t want to stay where I was, and with my parents always wanting me to join the academy some day, I figured now was a good time to make the move so to speak.”
Aidan gave Maxim an approving nod. “Sounds reasonable enough. Looks like we all have our own reasons why we’re here. I firmly believe though that we’re all placed in this class for a reason. I just hope we’re able to live up to the expectations of those who set this class up.”
Melek chuckled. “Well, I’m sure helping prevent a terrorist attack at a political event would be a good first impression. Though I wouldn’t be complaining if this was all just a false alarm, and we can go back to the academy in one piece.”
Brandon nodded. “One can only hope.”
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