Vacuo Hunting School for the Especially Gifted, Outdoor Track: 10 Years Ago
"It's a good day" Regina Nottap thought to herself. It was early morning, the sun was up, and the day was warm. Perfect day to just sit back and relax.
To bad she had work.
"Come on you ladies," she screamed at the passing hoard of 7 year olds, "Get moving, last one finished has to clean the dining hall tonight" From the back of her jeep, Nottap could see the kids begin to speed up, and chuckled as she felt her driver easily keep pace with the center of the crowd. Just another day of training at the School for the Gifted, or as she liked to call it "Mole City". Driving through the mass of building material that made up the "construction site" of the hunting school, Nottaps job was to oversee the physical training of the schools "students". Right now, she was making sure no one was slacking off on the morning run. Unlike some of the more scholarly teachers here, Nottap pulled no punches when training these kids. They would thank her in the future
The daily regime consisted of a morning run, an hour at the gym, breakfast, classes and lunch, combat and dust training against both simulated Grimm and other students, an evening run, dinner, then an hour to study before lights out (students were not assigned homework, but there really wasn't anything else to do in the rooms). The running course was a 4 mile stretch through the cover-up construction site for the school. If at anytime during training the students slacked off, they were subjected to 15 lashes in front of the student body, and did not receive either breakfast or dinner.
Nottap was lying in the back of the jeep when she noticed a dust cycle rolling up from behind her. The driver was most likely from the jeep watching the children at the back of the group, come to report a student who had collapsed or slacked off.
Sure enough, she was right. Lifting the visor off his helmet, the driver reported a student had collapsed at the very back of the pack and asked for orders.
"You know the drill, sergeant," Nottap said, "Leave him there. When he gets back, it's 15 lashes. If he doesn't return, send some guards to look for him.
"Yes ma'am," the cyclist said, returning to his jeep. Patton went back to laying her reclined position, listening to her driver scold a child who had begun to slow down.
"Yes sir-ee, it is a very good day,"
Vacuo Hunting School for the Especially Gifted, Pain Resistance Training Room: 9 Year Ago
Ranger 124 was alone, and he was nervous. The young, red-haired boy was alone in the forest, without a weapon. Walking as he was, he was the perfect target for creatures of Grimm to just swoop down and finish him off. He knew how this part went, and he hated every minute of it. He had been doing this for three years now, and he knew the drill. That still didn't make what was about to happen any easier.
A rustling in the bushes drew his attention.
"Hello," he called out, readying himself for battle. The only response was further rustling.
124 continued, putting on a brave face "I'm warning you, come on out or I'll drag you out," The rustling continued. It was at this point that 124 realized that it was getting louder and louder as it drew near. A howl made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He knew what was coming.
Beowulves.
The young Ranger-in-training attempted to bring up his aura to protect himself from the approaching foes, but it wouldn't go up. Desperately, he tried again and again, each time meeting no success. He couldn't even summon up a trickle to protect himself. He could hear the rustling getting louder and louder.
With the desperation of a drowning man, 124 tried once more to bring up his aura. Still no dice. He tried to run, but found the foliage to thick for him. He was completely trapped. This is where he had to make his stand.
As the rustling reached the bushes right outside 124's position, he surged forward, ready to destroy the first beowulf he saw. Thing was, none emerged. Instead, all that appeared was a small white rabbit.
124 took a deep breath as he let his nerves settle. This was weird, he should have just seen a bunch of Beowulves, what gave? No sooner did he ask than he felt a sharp pain envelope him as a Beowulf grabbed him in its jaw. The young trainee cried out as he felt the pressure on his torso growing stronger. The world was starting to go black.
Wait... that last part wasn't normal. He had been through pain training before, he never died. This was just to prepare the students for injuries they would receive during actual combat. So they didn't feel them. He was going to wake up in a room full of machines that contained his fellow Rangers, throw up into a trash can, and go about the rest of his day. However, as the world began to get darker, he realized something was wrong. Why wasn't he waking up? Why was the pain fading? What was going on? The last thing he heard before blacking out was a single voice.
"We lost 124"
Vacuo Hunting School for the Especially Gifted, Hallways: 7 years ago
Today was a big day.
General Forrester was walking down the hallway of the school towards the faculty entrance. Nurse Whit flanked him. It was strange, but for some reason it was requested that the two of them go to greet their guest personally. The two walked in an awkward silence, it was a well-known fact that Nurse Whit didn't approve of the pain training procedures Forrester endorsed, and the two had a bit of a falling out over it.
As the two colleagues approached the door, they were met by a crowd of large men in black suits, all of whom quickly scanned for any sort of weapon either of the two might carry. Confident that they were clean, the men opened the door to admit a rather rotund man in a fancy black and white striped suit. Engraved on the man's left breast pocket was his family's crest. The crest of Vacuo.
"King Glass," Forrester said, saluting his king as Nurse Whit gave a slight bow.
"Pleasure to meet you General," King Glass said, taking hold of the generals free hand in a rather tight handshake before doing the same the Nurse Whit, "As well of you, Madame Whit,"
"Thank you, sir," Nurse Whit said.
"I assure you both are well," Glass said the faculty members, both of whom nodded, "Good, now, shall we be off?"
"Of course sir, the auditorium is this way," Forrester said leading his King, Nurse Whit, and the large crowd of royal bodyguards down the halls.
As the walked down the hallways, Glass spoke up, "As I am sure you know, I plan to start allowing admissions for aspiring Ranger's as young as 10,"
"Of course sir," Forrester said, "We received your message. And even had we not, the completion of the above ground school tipped us off that something was going on,"
King Glass gave a hearty laugh, "Yes, I suppose it would," he replied, "However, there is another matter I wish to discuss with you,"
Forrester nodded, "Of course sir,"
Glass continued, "I discussed it with my advisors, and we believe that the pain resistance training you give your students, while affective, would be a bit dangerous if preformed on students who have not had the same preparation as you current ones."
Forrester shifted awkwardly, "And w-what would you have us do about this, your liege," he asked, slightly nervous.
"We would prefer if you discontinued the pain resistance training on both you current and incoming students," Glass finished. Forrester noticed that Nurse Whit seemed to become considerably happier when she heard this.
Forrester, for one, was livid with his king. He wanted to turn around and slap Glass, the yell at him for telling him what to do with his program. He wanted to tell him that meddling in affairs one knows nothing about is a gross mistake, but he didn't. Partly because Glass was at least trying to be polite, and partly because angering one's king tended to end horribly. "Absolutely.. s-sir." Forrester said, trying to keep himself calm.
"Good," Glass said with a smile as they arrived at the auditorium. Glass gestured for Whit and Forrester to follow as he began through the doors to the auditorium. The plan was simple, they would enter through the back doors that led behind the auditorium stage. Forrester would announce the King's arrival, and Glass would enter and make his announcement of new students to the current student body. However, before Glass ascended the steps to the stairs, he turned around.
"Nurse Whit, remind me. Didn't you graduate medical school earlier this year," Nurse Whit froze, and nodded. She had indeed used her time off over the years to become a certified physician, though she had yet to receive a medical license, or the right to be called a "doctor".
"Good," Glass continued, "You are the new head of the medical department, Doctor," Before either Forrester or Whit could question their King, he strode up the stairs, and they had no choice but to follow. Following the plan, Forrester stepped onto the stage and looked out towards his students, all of whom stared back, silent and grim-faced.
Taking a few breaths to calm himself, Forrester continued, "Attention students, today, our school is honored the host the man that you have all been trained to fight for. A man who's courage, compassion, and i-intelligence," Forrester prayed no one heard him stutter, "make up everything Vacuo is. Please welcome his Royal Highness, King Tidus Glass of Vacuo," Glass stepped onto the stage, and every student bowed towards their king.
Taking the podium from Forrester with a nod and a smile, Glass spoke, "Stand," he commanded, and the students stood at attention, "Thank you. It is my great honor today to come to this amazing school under the ground. You are the chosen ones, the boys and girls hand-picked to fight Vacuo's menaces, both near and far." Glass stopped as, on command, the students saluted their king, "Thank you. However, it has come to our attention that you will need help to fight the growing threat of Grimm. As a result, the kingdom of Vacuo has opted to admit a whole new breed of Rangers, who will forever on be known as Betas. You will be called Alphas, and will be expected to act as class leaders for the new students, who will be of your age." The Alpha Rangers, as they were now called, nodded, much to Glass' surprise. Forrester smirked as he realized Glass was expecting an uproar, not silent agreement. But that's not how Ranger's were trained to act. Glass, however continued unfazed, "However, we also find it necessary to prove your loyalty to the crown above all else," Where was he going with this? "As a result, we have issued a final exam of sorts. Your orders, young Rangers, are to kill each faculty member in the school, except for the one's standing behind me."
As if on cue, Forrester noticed Nurse Whit run out from back stage and take cover behind him. Forrester on the other hand was just frozen I abject terror. This psychopath did not just order his students to kill his faculty, did he? Forrester was just glad he had sent off his two assistants for the day.
"Your exam starts now," Glass said, smiling, "now go," With a wave of his hand, the students were off.
The carnage was horrible each and every one of the faculty members were killed, while many knew how to defend themselves, they stood no chance against the school's overwhelming number of well-train and disciplined super-soldiers. The entire staff was killed at the cost of 30 students. New faculty were ready to arrive almost instantly, of course, but the process of cleaning up the school would take weeks to preform. Walking through the hallways of the school, their steely gray walls painted crimson with the blood of the men and women he commanded, Forrester fell to his knees.
"This had to be done," he assured himself, trying his damnedest to hold back the contents of his lunch, "This had to be done for-" Once again he found himself saying what he had always told his faculty when they complained about the student's harsh treatment. Only he wasn't really sure if he believed it this time...
"For the glory of Vacuo,"
Vacuo Hunting School for the Especially Gifted, Infirmary: 2 years ago
Doctor Waltina Whit settled into her chair, just another day at Vacuo. Peaceful, quiet, the perfect place to stop and think. An Beta might show up later, complaining that one of the Alphas had just kicked their ass, or and Alpha got hurt on a mission or fiddling with their weapons. Maybe someone is feeling sick. Nothing too major all in all. Just a calm little day.
Boy did she wish.
Another nurse ran into her room, "Three more Alphas just came in and we're losing 23," she shouted.
Waltina put her hands into her hands, this whole thing had started last year, when someone in the upper echelons of the administration got the idea to inject the Alphas with the same cocktail they were fed as babies in order to accelerate their muscle growth. The plan had worked, too well. The Alphas had shown incredible muscle growth in within a year of the injections, but now things were going terribly, terribly wrong. Earlier in the year, an Alpha was rushed in suffering from several muscle hernias and internal hemorrhaging. The workout routines of the Rangers combined with the muscle accelerator had caused the muscles to start poking through the other tissue or damage blood vessels. The nursing staff had tried to save them, but by the time it was caught, it was already to late, as the Alphas did not complain about pain due to the pain resistance training. Now, the usual stoic demeanor of the Alphas was shattered as the remainder lay on hospital beds, writhing in pain.
Standing up, Waltina turned to the nurse who had reported the news, "Alpha 23 is a goner, just try to make her comfortable, get the other Alphas to beds now and begin assessment on them immediately," she ordered.
The nurse nodded, "Yes ma'am," they ran back out towards the infirmary floor. At that very moment, Waltina felt a light vibration in her right pocket. Removing her scroll, she noticed that it was a messaged from Headmaster Forrester, no doubt wanting to discuss the recent situation with the Alphas. One look at the contents was all it took for her to figure out her guess was correct. Putting her scroll away, Waltina ran off towards the Headmaster's office, informing the other nurses and doctors where she was going.
Within minutes, she had arrived at the Headmaster's office. Opening the door, she noticed that the office was fuller than usual. Forester sat at his usual space, his two assistants flanking him. The new head of physical development and head of education sat across the room from him.
"Good, you arrived," Forrester said. The general had seen better days. Ever since the faculty change, the general had seemed much older, his skin had become quite wrinkled, and his once auburn hair hand turned completely gray, "What news do you have of the Alphas,"
Waltina shook her head, "It doesn't look good," she said, fighting to keep her voice steady, "We've lost 20 just today, and there aren't many left," The room grew even more somber than it already was.
"What do we do, sir?" the education director, a young man in a suit and tie, asked.
Forrester put his head in his hands, "We do the only thing we can do," he stated, sounding on the verge of tears, "We try to save as many as we can, the survivors can be combined with the Betas if need be,"
Waltina did not like to see her boss this way. They might disagree at times, but she hated seeing the normally proud general looking so weak and helpless. It was at that moment that she remembered something, "There is one," she said. The room went so silent you could hear a pin drop.
"What did you say?" Forrester asked, head rising from his hands.
Waltina continued, "One of the Alphas, 627, I believe, came in a few weeks ago for a damaged wrist, when we were bandaging it, we noticed a hernia beginning to form on his arm, and began treatment. His condition is starting to improve, but in order to fully heal, he would need major surgery,"
Forrester slammed his hand to his desk, "Shift all available nursing staff to Alpha 627 immediately," he ordered, voice returning to its normal commanding tone, "We need to keep that child alive,"
"Yes, sir," Waltina responded, leaving the room quickly. She needed to get word to her nurses quickly. As hopeful as she was that she could save the remaining Alphas, she was realistic enough to realize that the chances of any of them surviving were slim to none. Deep down, she knew this boy would be the last of his kind.
The last Alpha.
A/N: And there's the intro folks, hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter will be posted up sometime this week, and should be a but shorter than these last two. Until then, tell me what you think of the story, and have a happy New Year.
