-Authors note-
Greetings fellow lurkers ^_^
Translation:
Kyra: miss
Kyr: sir
OO
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"Hey! Hey Garrus!"
Garrus turned around at the sound of Tarquin Victus voice. The space port was overflowing with new recruits, all of which would be placed in a temporary unit when they arrived at the academy. It was difficult to see anything past the sea of people.
" Garrus! Over her!"
Garrus tried once again to locate the boy in question. He felt a hand on his shoulder only to turn his head and be face to face with Tarquin Victus.
"Hey Tarquin. I thought you were supposed to enlist in the academy a couple of months from now"
"Yeah I was. But my father wanted me to know someone personally in my unit, so he made some calls and here I am!" Tarquin spread his arms to emphasize his point.
"So you and I are going to be in the same unit?"
"Spirits I hope so! They would be idiots to break up a A-teame" Tarquin replied with a grin.
Garrus spread his mandibles in a smile "So here we are, the academy at long last"
The two friends walked side by side towards the long line of recruits. At the end of the line was several older turians with datapands, they pointed and directed the recruits to their correct transport vehicles that would take them to the correct location. The academy was huge, it consisted of several different buildings, shooting ranges, recruit quarters for boys and girls, personnel quarters, gyms. And around the academy were several miles of wilderness for hiking and survival training. Units of recruits graduate from the academy every month so there is always room for new ones.
Garrus couldn't wait to start his military training "I'm telling you Tarquin, this is going to be so great! Father told me that several people in my clan have in previous years gotten special positions because of their exemplary accomplishments in the academy. And this year I'm going to surpass them" Garrus declared as he puffed up his chest.
"Oh? I can't wait to see this shot you've been telling me so much about, over and over. I really do hope you're as good as you say you are. I could really use some competition Vakarian." Tarquin quipped with a grin.
Garrus chuckled and looked around at his fellow recruits; all of them would go through military training, but only a chosen few would be noticed by the higher ups.
"I guess we'll have to find out, I look forward to it Victus." Garrus grumbled good-naturedly.
"As do I, but for now, we need to find our vehicles and get ready for first formation."
Garrus nodded and motioned in front of them as he led the way towards the gathering point.
OooOooO
"Name, colony of birth and clan" the turian in front of him said while he absentmindedly scrolled over some information or another on his datapad.
"Garrus, Palaven, Clan Vakarian"
That got the turians attention "Vakarian? Are you the son of Nomos Vakarian the C-Sec top investigator?" the turian asked with mandibles spread in awe.
"The same one" Garrus did his best to stretch to his full height.
" Well I'll be. It's been a couple of years since we've had a Vakarian in the academy, Solana Vakarian I believe was the last one, yes?"
" Yes, she is currently in command of the sixth platoon" Garrus answered with no small amount of pride in his voice. His sister had quickly advanced up the ranks in the military, making the rest of the clan proud.
The turian nodded, "Okay, I got your information here let me see. Garrus Vakarian report to the transport vehicle in space nine, it will take you to the academy where you will receive a detailed briefing. Have a good day Kyr"
Garrus tried to spot Tarquin among the other recruits, after a couple of minutes looking he made his way over to his transport vehicle, they would meet up eventually in the academy. It made no sense to try to locate one person in a sea of hundreds.
All in all there where twenty different vehicles and all of them could take at least fifty people or more, Garrus suspected they had to be big in order to transport all the recruits in time for the official briefing. The departure times was displayed on a big screen above the gathering point. His was scheduled to leave in twenty minutes. There weren't many recruits around space nine. That probably meant that most of his future unit was already onboard. He decided to just as well find his seat.
OooOooO
Nim finally managed to push herself to the front of the line. She needed to get to her transport vehicle now, the duffle bag was crushing her under its massive weight.
Nim waited for the turian woman with green clan markings to acknowledge her, but she was far more interested in her own talons than the information on her datapad, information that Nim needed. She tried to clear her throat to get the woman's attention. After about three agonizing slow minutes Nim decided to take matters into her own talons. She simply passed the woman and started scrolling down on her datapad.
The woman quickly looked up from inspecting her talons "Excuse me Kyra, you don't work here"
"Yes, well apparently neither does anyone else"
"Kyra please go back to the line without any fuss" the woman bit out between clenched teeth.
"Said the salarians to the rachni" Nim muttered under her breath.
The woman gave her a glare and cleared her throat "Name, colony of birth and clan" she drones in a monotone voice, it was clear that she was just as bored as some of the young recruits.
"Name, colony of birth and clan Kyra" she droned on.
"Oh ok, my name is Nim Nictus, I'm from the outer colony Roacam, and I don't have a clan"
The woman with the green markings scrolled down on her datapad "Nim Nictus from Roacam, clanless" she spat the last word out like it had a bad taste in her mouth.
She looked at Nim like she had suddenly grown two heads "Let me cheek with my superiors, I'm sure we have your documents somewhere in our system" she said with a fake smile, it looked like the simple act of spreading her mandibles was physically painful.
After what seemed like an eternity the woman finally had all her records in order. Nim gave her a long hard stare.
"Has my documents finally been processed?"
"Yes."
"Where they approved"
"Yes."
"Did you clear up the whole no clan situation?"
"Yes."
"Can I use my special grade omni-tool in class?"
"No."
"Did you ask?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Well, then what took you so long?!" Nim let out a rebellious humph.
OooOooO
The trip to the academy was long indeed. After what seemed like hours Nim had finally been pointed to her transport vehicle in spot nine. All the seats where occupied by eager recruits, she could just feel the excitement in the air. Everyone was talking and waving their arms around amicably.
Nim figured she too could be part of the light hearted conversations. She turned to the turian next to her. He had greenish plates and orange clan markings that was a big contrast to his plates. Nim had never seed markings like his before; she figured he must be from one of the primary colonies. A turian from primary colonies never travels much, and especially not to outer colonies like Roacam.
Nim took a deep breath; and turned around to face her fellow recruit and seat mate. She would small talk with him no matter what, she would not be the one to drop the conversation ball!
"Hello my name is Nim, nice to meet you!"
"Hi, I'm Axus"
Nim took a moment to formulate a response to Axus annoyingly clever answer.
"So what is everybody talking about?"
"Well" Axus looked around them "I think some of them are asking each other tactical questions"
"Tactical questions?" Nim tilted her head slightly in puzzlement.
"Yes, they each take turns to ask each other different questions, for example "you're surrounded by enemies, what do you do?" and the other one is supposed to come up with a solution as quickly as possible, get it?"
"Yes I think so. Ok I'm ready ask me a question!"
Axus leaned slightly forward for dramatic effect "The entrance to the mercenary base is a big metallic hanger door. You manage to unlock it with your omni-tool, only to find yourself face-to-face with a hideous, foul-smelling, growling varren. What do you do?"
"I say, "hey dad, what's for dinner?"
Nim couldn't take it, she burst out laughing. Sometimes she was just too funny for her own good.
Axus looked absolutely horrified "You would speak that way about your own father?"
"I eh just, it was a joke"
Nim sat there fiddling with her talons during the uncomfortable silence that followed. No! She would not drop the conversation ball.
Nim filled the silence with the only topic that came to mind "Do you want to hear an interesting thing about stairs?"
"Not really." Axus snapped.
"If the height of a step is off by as little as two millimeters, most people will trip."
Axus continued to ignore her.
"It's true! I did a series of experiments with the steps up to our house when I was nine. My father broke his arm. He confiscated my omni-tool after that. We drifted apart, until he gave it back to me two days later. Then everything was okay again"
Nim continued to glance expectantly at Axus, waiting for him to answer. Well at least she wasn't the one who dropped the conversation ball. Some people had no social skills at all.
OooOooO
The long trip to the academy was finally over. Dozens of recruits were pouring out of the transport vehicles. A turian in black armor strode confidently towards them. Garrus guessed he was in his late forties or early fifties. The man had several scars on his face and neck, and he was missing an eye. Obviously the man before them was a seasoned veteran. There were also several other older turians walking behind him.
"Greetings and welcome to the academy, I'm sergeant Varsenix and I will only give you this briefing once so pay attention! The people you see behind me including myself will be your instructors. You have all been divided in units of twenty" Sergeant Varsenix took a moment to study the sea of recruits. "Each unit gets its own instructor. Step forward when you hear your name being called"
" Axus Verates, Haron Invitus, Elyiona Famitus" the list went on. Garrus wonders how long this would take.
"Xeria Fedorian" a hush came over the crown, everybody knew who clan Fedorian was. Primarch Fedorian had been in power for the last five years. Xeria was his only daughter, and the most sought after mate in the hierarchy. A match between her and another turian from a high standing clan would be the ideal political match. Garrus remembered his father saying that "A turians duty is to make a good match in the eyes of the clan" He wondered if they would be in the same unit.
Xeria strutted over to where sergeant Varsenix stood. Her dark gray plates was glimmering in the sunlight. "Xeria Ferdorian, you're in my unit." Xeria looked pleased and was about to walk away when sergeant Varsenix called another name. "Nim Nictus" Xeria's emerald eyes immediately scanned the crowd for the turian in question.
Garrus looked around and saw a tiny form emerge from the crowd. His eyes landed on the most beautiful turian girl he had ever seen, her dark plates had a blue shine to them. Her ice blue clan markings made an elegant curve from her face down to the end of her mandibles; she also had a narrow waist and thin spures. Nim Nictus was simply breathtaking.
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In this chapter I focused most on introducing Garrus and establishing a little bit of Nims personality.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ^_^
I should go.