15 M1 - Term: 1, Round: 1 (2/2)

It was lunchtime, and Daedo joined the other cadets in his squad in the main cafeteria for M1. His squadmates thought it was a good place to eat during the day because they could check out the other cadets and it was getting claustrophobic in their quarters.

Daedo didn't care he could spend three years cooped up in a room playing CyberMech and their quarters were fairly spacious as far as he was concerned.

Myrmidon: I have been reading all the military history documents and watching vids as you asked. I have noticed one named Sun Tzu from ancient China. You should study his treatise, it isn't very long and while I can see the importance some of the concepts are beyond my understanding.

Daedo: I think I have heard of this philosopher before. It's strange he isn't part of the philosophy curriculum.

Myrmidon: he is in both. Although there is conjecture whether this is one person who a collection of wisdom from many generals.

Daedo: if its good advice then it doesn't matter the source or sources.

During lunch, Daedo read the art of war while his squadmates chatted and probed rival cadets. He was an island amongst the waves. At first they did not notice, but eventually, Vannier and Axelzero exchanged glances.

”What are you studying Daedo?” Axelzero asked tapping him on the shoulder gently, so he knew she was talking to him.

”Art of War by Sun Tzu,” he answered.

”Any good?” Vannier asked.

”It has given me a few ideas already. It is definitely worth a read,” he answered. ”All warfare is based on deception. Doesn't that make you think?”

”So all warfare isn't about overpowering the enemy?” Barran asked.

”Perhaps, but if you deceive the enemy, your losses will be lower,” Daedo answered.

Barran patted him on the back, ”you work it out and just point me in the right direction,” he then got up and wandered over to chat with someone he knew from Amun-Ra.

Mace: can't believe they have never heard of the Art of War.

Daedo: I hadn't before today.

Mace: haha, true. But you did cyber school.

It was one of the few times any of his squadmates texted him directly, and it was interesting it was Mace since she was the quiet one in the group.

Daedo: and is tutoring better?

Mace: we are usually pushed harder, perhaps not in Barran's case. My tutor drove me to ridiculously lengths so I would qualify highly. It is hard to do well here if you are not in a good squad. So normally private tutor is much better than cyber school, but you are rank 1, not me.

Daedo: I hope we get the mech bay in Nanterre.

Mace: me too, my parents already agreed to pay my 10% or 15% if needed. They said it would come out of my trust fund.

Daedo: I don't even know what that is.

Mace: it's like cred savings that I can't access without their permission. Nothing special.

Lunch passed and Daedo sort of had to agree it was nice for a change of scenery to take it in the main M1 cafeteria. Although most people ignored him, he could observe others, and that did help his and Myrmidons social skills to a small degree.

After lunch, Daedo flew through his scheduled sessions of Philosophy, Behavioural and Mathematics. The advised number of hours per week of Maths was eight, but he was squeezing it into three as he could breeze through it.

Philosophy and Behavioural were quite different for him, and he was sticking to the advised hours set out by the respective Chiefs. Even if he worked at a faster pace, with Myrmidon assistance, it would allow him to reach a deeper understanding. The delivery of Behavioural and Philosophy was a mixture of vids with data, text or multimedia slides, but mostly it was an interactive VR tute with a specialised AI.

The AI of the robot was nurtured by their respective Chiefs they were very specific and excelled in their chosen subject. They also probably learnt from students over the years, gain insights and creating or adjusting teaching methods. The best part about them is they would speed up or slow down to a cadet's specific needs.

At 1545 he went back to the gym for his second round of punishment for the day. He was feeling tired before the workout but he felt invigorated after. He would have to adjust his schedule from now on to have the nap before the workout, not after, he had no chance of falling asleep.

The prescribed amount of Physical Training per week was nine hours. Daedo knowing this was his greatest weakness had planned sixteen including five hours on the weekend. He was completing the workout assigned by Picard, his Chief would assess it and give feedback when he had time. Picard would adjust his workout regularly as he improved or she saw a need to focus on a specific weakness.

After his aborted nap and meal, it was time for the Gauntlet. The Gauntlet was at 1800 followed by a strategy and analysis meeting then two slots of exo Arena combat. The first practice match versus Shu squad zero and the second versus Thoth squad two.

The Gauntlet was round one and much different to the obstacle course. There were five identical gauntlets for M1, one for each House. The Gauntlet session was forty-five minutes allocated per squad. Squad zero were fortunate to have a booking at 1800, if they had been slower they may have been stuck with 0300 as it would run twenty-four hours a day.

There were thirty-two 45 minute sessions in a day. There were thirty-one squads in a House when you included squad zero. There were no lights out or rule that you had to sleep from 2300 to 0600 other than the set of interactive classes with a Chief present you could run any schedule you desired.

There would be cadets who attended the Arena, Gauntlet and obstacle course in the middle of the night. The facilities were probably expensive because the Academy was designed to get the most use out of them as possible. The only detail which was contrary to this was the facilities were closed on the weekend. But that was probably due to needing repairs and the fact that every second weekend there was a reset for a new design.

Each round there would be a new design for the Arena, Gauntlet and the obstacle course. And in the ten-week term, there were five two week rounds. This meant a cadet had ten attempts to set a time in the obstacle course or a score in the Gauntlet before it was reset.

Myrmidon was ready to book the next term and as soon as booking opened. Squad zero would take the most opportune time slots as Daedo was sure no one would beat Myrmidon's booking speed. That's assuming that the top squad did not get preferential treatment, quite possible given how these people operated.

The first round design for the Gauntlet consisted of a constructed urban landscape. Within this landscape were points that needed to be captured. The cadet could use any method they wanted to capture the points, stealth, speed or force. Any path across the grid, direct and confrontational, indirect with less opposition or a mixture.

The flags were marked on the cadet's minimap, but they did not know where all the enemies were located or their travel paths. There were traps as well. The Gauntlet would stay in place for two weeks before changing. Daedo decided not to worry about time for his first run and just gather intel in order to strategize a run. He was not sure if the enemy location was random, but they most likely utilised AI augmented reality robots, which roamed and operated to a specific set of instructions to keep an even playing field for all cadets.

Barran was the yardstick, as usual, completing the run and scoring just over two hundred points. He was ranked ninth on the overall M1 leaderboard and quite unhappy with that position. Given that he had a heavy exo, he took the most direct route and pounded his way through as fast as he could run.

Daedo took the entire forty-five minute allotment to study the Gauntlet in detail. He never got in anyone's way as they all shared the same forty-five minute period, but all the AR enemies, traps and flags were individual. The Gauntlet did not have to be a straightforward as Barran had completed it. There was plenty of scope for individuality and advanced tactics.

At the end of the forty-five minutes, Daedo received an incomplete and was kicked from the scenario. He was ranked last, or equal last with a handful of other incompletes, on all leaderboards. People who had not yet attempted were not shown.