Chapter 7 – Training Day

Alexis bolted up in bed, shocked by the sudden cold, like being instantly submerged in icy water. As she looked around the room, she noticed the absence of her team. She was alone. The windows wide open, the curtains blowing in the wind. She could hear the loud screech of nearby birds. The sun was shining bright in the sky, yet the room and outside both remained dark. Alexis slowly got out of bed, and moved to the door.

She slowly made her way down the corridor, unable to see the walls as they were shrouded in darkness. Only the floor before her, which seemed to stretch on forever, was dimly lit with a menacing warm glow, although she couldn't see where the light was coming from. The lack of people was slightly unnerving, "Where is everyone?"

Alexis came across the cafeteria; it too was shrouded in darkness. Only a single table in the centre of the room was dimly lit, by the same glow that led her there. The rest of her team and team CHRL, were sat hunched round the dimly lit table. Alexis glad to finally see the presence of people, moved towards the table.

As she approached the table, she could hear them talking in hushed whispers, but was unable to understand what they were saying. "Hey" she called out. The group stopped talking, and without moving their bodies, they all slowly rotated their heads to look at her, stopping for a moment to stare, before slowly turning back and continuing to speak in whispers.

"Guys?" Alexis confused by their actions. The group stopped again, but remained hunched forward in their seats. Except Cole, who slowly rose from his chair, and circled around to the other side of the table. Stopping in front of Alexis he slowly bent forward so that the two were face to face, before speaking, "Nobody wants you here." As the group behind him all burst into laughter, all with an insane smile you'd expect to see on a clown in a horror movie, but no emotion in their eyes, or body movements typical of someone laughing, Cole continued, "Alexis! Alexis. Alexis…"

"Alexis, Alexis. Alexis!" Alexis woke up, surprised to find herself back in bed. With her sister sat beside her, with her hand on her shoulder, calling her name. "Finally, you're awake. I've been trying to wake you to get ready; we're going to go get some breakfast." A look of concern befell her sister's face as she continued, "Are you alright? You were mumbling in your sleep."

A still tired and groggy Alexis responded, "I'm fine. I'll get up. Just give me a minute, to get ready." Netes got up off of the bed and walked back over to her own before continuing, "Well Uluka's still in the shower, so you'll have to wait for the bathroom. I just wanted to give you enough time to get yourself ready and not have to rush."

"Thanks" Alexis responded, as she crashed her head back onto her pillow.


"Captains log, skydate 2263.9 the USS Charcoal has been ordered to P3X-248 in the Vale System. Where team XANU have been stranded, due to a Skygate malfunction. With recent enemy sightings in the area, we're going in under tactical alert."

"Drop us out of Hyperspace, ensign" Ordered the first officer, Commander Rian Gray. "Aye Sir" responded the helmsman, Ensign Lia Blunt.

"Captain Carter to CIC" Rian said as he tapped his combadge. The Captain, quick to arrive from his ready room, took his seat "Report, number one!"

"We've entered orbit around P3X-248." Cmdr. Rian informed his Captain. "Good, open a channel to team XANU."

"Channel open, Sir" Came from Lieutenant Hexi Moorit, the ships tactical officer. "This is the United Remnant Alliance Ship Charcoal, we are responding to the distress call received by Beacon Command from team XANU."

After a few seconds Xeeks voice replied, "It's good to hear from you Charcoal" The sound of gun fire came over the comms, "we've been pinned down for the better part of an hour now. We're running low on ammo. The damn bots all but wiped out the locals, those that are left are here with us, we cou-" the transmission was cut.

"Can you get a lock, transbeam them out?" The captain asked.

"SIR! Three Atlesian Battlestars just jumped into the system!" Lt. Hexi informed.

"Shields up!" Ordered Cmdr. Rian, "Deploy slip fighters, open all weapons ports!"

"Hail the Atlesian ships" Cole ordered. "This is the United Remnant Alliance Ship Charcoal to the Atlesian Battlestars, we do not wish to engage you, we simply wish to retrieve our people from the planet surface and we'll be on our way."

The menacing glowing red eye of an Atlesian Knight appeared on the viewscreen, "We are the Atlesian. Prepare to be boarded. Your technology will adapt to service us."

"Close the channel. Forward railguns open fire. Have the slip fighter's work with the point defence; I don't want to be hit by a Nova Bomb. Lia, keep them port side, don't let them flank us." Cole issued the orders to his crew.

As consoles across CIC exploded, the ship rocked with each impact, "We've lost Dust Drive!" Lia shouted over the chaos.


Cole took a bite from his Bacon Bagel. "Well?! What happened next? You can't end there!" Rian demanded to know. "I don't know. That's when I woke up, to Hexi shouting at Lia." Rian turned to Hexi, "This is all your fault, now we'll never know."

"Hey, don't blame me; Lia's the one who kept hitting me with a pillow!" Hexi glared at Rian. "Besides, who cares? It was just a dream."

"I can't help it, if his dreams are better than the crap on TV." Rian explained.

"His dreams are just all the dorky shows mashed into one!" Hexi replied. "She's not wrong." Cole agreed, with a mouthful of bagel.

"Hey guys" Uluka said as he planted a kiss on Rian's cheek. "What're you talking about?"

"Dreams" Rian answered, "Cole was just telling us about one he had last night, but it kinda ended mid narrative." Uluka taking the seat next to Rian as he responded, "Oh don't you just hate that." Hexi letting out a Scoff as Rian gave her a look.

As the rest of team XANU approached the table, Netes handed over a plate of toast to Uluka. Alexis stopped, holding her tray with cereal and a cup of tea; she stood a few feet away from the group, staring down at the table, the table from her dream. "Hey, come on."Netes gestured for her sister to sit next to her. "What is it with you this morning?"

"Um nothing, just a little tired." Alexis replied, hoping the little white lie would stop her sister pushing. "So what about you guys, any interesting dreams?" Rian asked. "No cliff hangers though. I hate those."

"You know, just the usual. Sun, Sand, Sea, beautiful women in coconut bikinis." Xeek said as he looked off into the distance, remembering the dream fondly. "You're disgusting." Hexi stated. Xeek realising perhaps the comment was a little inappropriate, went back to his sandwich. "Anyone else?" Rian asked.

"Alexis? I'm fairly sure, you were dreaming, when I woke you this morning." Alexis looked up from her cereal, "It didn't really have a story, just a mess of stuff. I don't really remember it." Alexis lied. She couldn't stop playing over the imagery in her mind, making her feel cold, isolated.

"When do you want to get going?" Hexi asked Cole. "Right, yeah we should get going. Come on team."

"Where are you guys off to?" Netes asked. "Training room" Hexi replied. "We figured it would be a good idea to check out what was on offer." Cole added.

"Great idea, we'll tag along." Xeek wanting to find a target range, to see if there was any damage to his weapon, after having to block so many powerful hits from the King Taijitu.

"We only just got here." Netes protested. "Well bring your food with you." Xeek suggested. "And what about Alexis, she can hardly bring her cereal with her."

"It's fine. I'm not that hungry anyway." Alexis said, as she pushed her bowl away, and stood up to leave. Netes knew when she was defeated, "Fine let's go."


The teams entered the large brightly lit room, where the holographic woman, behind the front desk, welcomed them and explained the facilities, before pointing them towards the lockers. The group placed their bags and jackets inside the lockers, aside from Cole who kept his coat on. Alexis headed toward the ammo counter, "I'm going to grab some more ammo, and then I want to use the target range first."

"Good idea, I wouldn't mind testing Aurora's accuracy, after all the damage she took in the forest." Xeek called after Alexis, as he followed her to the ammo counter. "Aurora?" Alexis replied. "What my shield's called." The young Faunus explained.

"So, where do you want to start?" Rian asked Cole, "I'm not too worried about target practise; accuracy isn't really a thing with these." He continued as he raised his arms, with his weapons in their Gatling gun mode. "We could spar?" Cole suggested, Rian agreed and as the two moved toward the sparring area, Rian asked "Aren't you going to take your coat off?"

"Na, it's made for combat." Cole said as he adjusted his coat.

"Isn't it a little restricting though?"

"A little but not really, it is stab and bullet proof though, so that makes up for any reduced mobility, not that there is any." Cole explained.

"Then why wear that chest plate as well?" Rian asked as he pointed at the black combat armour, Cole was wearing over his dark blue shirt. "Its bullet proof, but still fabric so while it stops the bullets passing through, a lot of their force still hits hard. So I wear the armour as well… also it looks cooler with the coat undone." Coles remark making Rian laugh.

"What do you call those?" Rian asked as Cole drew his weapons. "Dual Diligence" Cole responded, as transformed his pistols into blades, "What about yours?" Rian struck a pose, raising his hands, whipped his head back and responded in a voice, which resembled that of an action movie hero, "Whistling Fury".

"You're proud of that name huh?" Cole smirked. "What? I like naming things. I even named Uluka's weapon."

"Not true!" Uluka called over from his sparring match with Netes. "Is so!" Rian called back. "I let you help, which was a mistake." Uluka continued as he deflected blows from Netes' axe. "What do you mean? Echo Blitz is a great name."

"I liked Echo" Uluka replied. "Echo doesn't make any sense." Rian reasoned. "Oh and Blitz does?" Uluka said as he turned to glare at his boyfriend. "More than Echo, I mean it does blitz things when you fire your shotgun at things."

Before Uluka could respond, he felt the cold metal of Netes' blade pressed against his neck. Realising his mistake he bowed his head, closed his eyes and let out a Sigh before speaking under his breath, "I'm going to kill him."

"What about yours?" Rian asked Netes. "Does it matter?" She responded. "Well, sort of. What you name your weapon can say a lot about you, and your weapon. Also it can be useful to have weapon names in combat." Netes took a second to think over Rians reasoning, "I suppose. It's called DawnGuard. Although I doubt it says a lot about me, since I stole the name from a book."

"Says that you liked that book" Cole said as he took a step back from Rian.

"Again?" Netes asked Uluka. "Of course, I want to win." Uluka responded. "Well, you can try." Netes jested.

"On three" Cole called out, Rian giving a quick nod. "Three… Two… One… Go" In a flash of light Rian was before Cole with his blade placed at his throat, with a grin across his face he said, "One nil." Cole looked him in the eye, before looking down, gesturing for Rian to do the same. Rian looked down, to see one of Coles blades pressed against his ribs. "One all" Rian corrected himself, as Cole grinned and raised his eyebrows. "How did you?"

"Your speed gives you an advantage, so I knew you'd use it. I just had to be ready, to place my blade wherever you stopped." Cole explained. "Smart. You're going to be more challenging than I first expected." Rian said as he moved back.

"Alexis? Alexis?" Xeek said, waving his hands in front of the girls face. "Huh? What?" Alexis responded, startled. "Were you day dreaming?" Xeek asked as he placed a toolbox down on the bench, behind the range the pair were using for target practise. "Sorry, mind was just wandering." In truth, Alexis was thinking about her dream from last night again, "Find the tools alright?" she asked her partner. "Yeah, there's a whole workshop over there, but I want to keep testing as I make adjustments, so it made sense to bring some tools over here."

Xeek held up his shield, aiming one of the barrels at the rim, at the closest target, he fired. "You missed."

"I can see that, thank you. I can also see you didn't" Xeek replied as he pointed at the far target, which had several large holes through the centre. "It's much easier when they don't move." Alexis joked.

The pair sat on the bench, as Xeek opened up his shield to take a look at its inner workings. After working on it for a few minutes, tightening screws and making sure all the pieces were firmly in their place, he took another shot, this time hitting the target, but only barely. "Dammit" He cried out as he retook his seat on the bench. His partner unresponsive, he looked up to see her staring off into the distance behind him. He turned around to see what she was looking at, Cole and Rian sparring. "Enjoying the view?" He asked. Not catching the tone of his voice, Alexis responded, "It's a great view."

As Xeek's heart sank, he continued to work on Aurora. Alexis was mesmerised by the dual, the clashing of blades, and the way Rian danced around Cole, in a blur of light. Alexis was impressed, that Cole managed to block and deflect as many blows as he did, even more when he managed to land a hit to his partner.

As Cole gave Rian a hand up, they heard a large explosion and Hexi shouting, "LIA!"

"Wonder what she's done now?" Rian said as the pair ran over towards the commotion. "What happened?" Cole asked as they came upon the other half of their team. "After she hit a punching bag so hard it flew across the room, I thought we should try some target practise, but this moron didn't think to mention that her choice of weapon WAS A FUCKING CANNON!" Hexi shouted angrily.

"Woah, Bad Ass." Rian complimented Lia's weapon. "Badass? I don't think the professor will think its badass when they see that! Do you?" Hexi said as she pointed to where the target had once stood, but was now a small crater. "Probably not" Rian admitted.

"Don't worry. I'm sure this sort of thing is to be expected. After all we're all in here using some very powerful weapons, there's going to be damage." Cole reassured the team. "I'm not taking any blame for this." Hexi stated. "And you won't have to."

"What do you call that thing anyway?" Rian asked Lia, who replied, "I dunno". Rian scratched the back of his head, as he continued, "You haven't named it then?"

"I did. I just don't remember what." Lia responded as she transformed the cannon into two large great swords. "Well what does that say? The engraving" Cole asked. Lia lifted up the blades so they could read the engraving.

"EDALB LAUD, what sort of a name is that?" Rian asked as he read the engraving. "That doesn't sound right" Lia said with a confused look on her face. "Edalb Laud… Edalb Laud… wait a minute, that's Dual Blade spelt backwards." Cole pointed out. "That's it!" Lia said excitedly. "Hexi pinching the bridge of her nose, as she spoke, "Let me get this straight, you named your weapon Dual Blade, possibly the worst name for anything, ever. But you also managed to get the engraving backwards, you are, by far, the most stupid person, I have ever met."

Rian and Cole stood waiting, hoping that Lia wasn't too upset by Hexi's comment. "Mystery solved. What's your weapons called partner?" Lia asked, with a big smile across her face. Cole and Rian, despite slowly becoming accustomed to Lia's constant happy attitude, were surprised at how unaffected she seemed, wondering if it was because she didn't understand, or didn't care.

"Naming weapons is stupid." Hexi declared, "Naming them anything more than what they are, is unnecessary. They are chains. That's all."

Rian Sighed as he spoke, "This again? Look, those 'chains' are more than you give them credit for. Not only do they do that cool glowy thing, they, like all our weapons, are conduits for aura. They channel the projection of your very soul; they're as much a part of you as your arm or your leg."

"Fine, they're more than just chains. I'm still not naming them. You don't see me naming my arm or any other body part, because that would be stupid." Rians eyes lit up, as his mind quickly placed together a joke, over naming body parts. Cole noticing the glint in his partner's eye, and quickly becoming accustomed to the way he thinks, was quick to step in, "Say it, and I'll kick you there."

"But…" Rian took a second to weigh the consequences, before reaching the conclusion that the joke wasn't worth it. "…it was SO good." Hexi still fuming over the recent events, headed for the door, calling back, "I'm leaving. I think that's enough 'training', if you can call it that, for today. And Lia, don't follow me!"

The three stood in an awkward silence for a moment, before Rian spoke up, "If she won't name her weapons, I will."

"I'm going to go make sure she doesn't kill someone, you guys feel free to carry on." Cole quickly followed after Hexi. "I don't want to break more things. I'm going to leave too." Lia said to Rian before making her way for the door.

"Yeah, no, sure, I get it. I'll just uh, go watch Uluka spar…" Rian trailed off, as he gave half-hearted jabs into the air.


As Rian watched as Uluka and Netes continued to spar, Xeek and Alexis approached, "Whose winning?" Xeek asked as he slumped down next to Rian. "It's weird, it's like they're not trying." Rian replied as Netes slammed DawnGuard down into Uluka, who quickly deflected the blow. "Riiight, sure looks that way."

"I've seen him fight a thousand times, I'm telling you he's not trying, it's like he's toying with her." Rian continued. Alexis tilted her head to the side, studying the pair before her. "Maybe they're just tired?" Xeek suggested. "They don't look that tired… a little sweaty maybe" Rian pointed out.

"They're testing each other, seeing how each responds to the others movements." Alexis reasoned. "Which makes for a boring spectacle." Rian added.

The trio remained seated in the stands, the sparring no longer holding their interest; they each had their scrolls out, thumbing the devices looking for something to pass the time.

"Hey check this out" Xeek held his scroll up for the other two to see, "The arena has some old Atlesian Knights, that can be used for battle simulations." The three looked around the training room, unable to see where the Knights were. "I don't see them, but it says here I can activate them via my scroll. Time for some team building exercises, Alexis." Xeek jumped up, gesturing for his partner to follow.

Alexis and Xeek approached Netes and Uluka, "If you two are done toying with each other, I was hoping we could test our team work, against some Atlesian Knights?" Xeek suggested as the two stopped, and turned to glare at him, "We weren't 'toying' we were training, you know, the reason we came here." Uluka snapped back.

"Alright, alright, fair enough. Want to try our luck in a battle sim though?"

"Sounds like fun." Netes replied. "Great" with that Xeek pulled out his scroll, "Ok, I've set it to recognise the four of us as the targets, they should probably change that to competitors or something, anyway, the battle will start five seconds after I press the control on my scroll, everyone ready?"

"One moment" Netes said as she walked over to the stands, taking a quick swig of water from her bottle, before walking back. "Ready".

With that Xeek hit the command on his scroll, "Four against four, seems like a good place to start." Four glass cylinders rose up from the floor, the team was surprised at where they came from, there was nothing to give away that the floor was anything less than a solid piece. Each cylinder contained an Atlesian Knight, the glass rotated freeing the Knights, their glowing red eyes powering on as they raised their heads, before stepping out onto the arena floor.

In their cold robotic voice the Knights spoke in unison "Training mode engaged. Targets acquired." The Knights began walking forward, scanning their environment, drawing their combat rifles.

Stood side by side, Xeek, Alexis, Netes and Uluka each raised their weapons and fired a single shot at the Knight before them, all firing at the torso, except for Netes, whose bolt pierced the Knights eye. All four Knights were sent falling back.

"Well that was easier than I expected" Xeek commented, with that the Knights' eyes flickered back on, as they rose to their feet. "I don't think it's over yet." Alexis said as she took another shot at the Knight, which quickly leant back to avoid the shot.

The Knights were fast and coordinated, moving around the team, managing to avoid the student's shots as they closed the gap. Team XANU was beginning to panic, the Knights successfully separating them, as they weaved in and around the team. One of the Knights took a shot at Xeek, the blast hitting and dissipating against his shield, the Knights were armed with training rifles, designed to stun and incapacitate the target, with an electrical discharge.

After what felt like a lifetime of dancing around each other taking pot shots, the Knights all fired at Xeek at once, from multiple directions, unable to block all of the shots, they hit causing him to tense up, and spasm slightly before falling to the floor. The Knights, in quick succession, performed the same tactic against the other members of team XANU, quickly incapacitating them all.

The Knights again spoke in unison, "Objective complete. End Simulation." Before returning to their cylinders and powering down. Xeek picked himself up off the floor, still sluggish from the effects of the stun rifle, "Ugh that could have gone better. I think we should probably call it for today."

"I second that, also first dibs on the shower." Netes responded before getting up. Rian came over from the stand, giving Uluka a hand up, "If you guys are just heading back to your room, mind if I tag along? It's just I don't really want to run into Hexi right now."

"That's fine, right guys?" Uluka responded, before turning to his team for approval. Netes giving a nod, as Xeek vocalised his consent, "Sure".

"Actually, I'm going to swing by the cafeteria and pick up something to eat first, I'm feeling a little drained and could use something sweet. I'll catch up." Alexis was feeling the worst of the team, from the effects of the stun, only having a couple mouthfuls of cereal for breakfast. "Um ok partner, see you back in the room." Xeek replied, before using his scroll to descend the Atlesian Knights back into the floor, before the group made their way to the door and left the training room.

As Alexis stumbled towards the cafeteria, she could see Cole sat at a table by himself. The imagery of her dream still playing in her mind, she was hesitant to approach him, but after grabbing a muffin from the counter, she joined Cole at his table, hoping to prove that her fears were unjustified. "Hey"

"Hey"

"Sorry did you want to be alone?" Alexis asked. Cole pulled his cup away from his mouth and placed it on the table, its distinctive smell giving the cups contents away, before he replied "No it's fine. Actually maybe you can help me? After Hexi made it clear she wanted to be alone, I decided I need to find a way to bring my team closer together, as we are now, I don't see us making it. And classes haven't even started yet; I do not want to see us under that added pressure."

Alexis still groggy from the stun took her time to finish her mouthful of muffin, using the time to think of a way to help the young leader before her. "Well team XANU just got our butts kicked by some robots in the training room."

"Sorry to hear that, you all ok?"

"Yeah we're fine; they were only using training weapons. But the point is, we didn't exactly work well together either, getting to a point where the team, both yours and mine, runs smoothly will take time." Alexis pointed out, before taking another bite of her chocolaty treat.

"I know, but at least your team isn't at each other's throats or constantly bickering" Cole sighed. "Well, while I wouldn't recommend trying it, getting our butts handed to us by those Atlesian Knights did at least put us all on equal footing, and showed what we have to work on. You want to try something, some activity to bring you closer, but maybe you just need to spend time together, talk about something that isn't about school, or being Huntsmen, just get to know one another."

"Maybe you're right, remove the pressure to bond and just let it happen naturally. Thanks Alexis, you're a good friend." Cole lips curled, as his mind began working on finding a way to put his plan into motion. Alexis returned the smile, being referred to as a friend, enough to sway any doubts in her mind that she wasn't wanted.


Hexi thought about going back to the room, after telling Cole to leave her alone, but didn't want to risk running into Lia or Rian. Instead she decided to just go for a walk, the afternoon sun pleasantly warm as she walked about the campus.

"I know what I said about making this work, and working as a team and all, but… I want this to work, I do. I just have no idea how to work with that girl. She's a walking disaster, I just know being her partner is going to cause me so many problems. I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with, and maybe I shouldn't have lost my temper like I did. Humph, and I wanted to be leader, I can't even get one person under control. She does at least seem to listen when I tell her what to do, I can work with that I suppose, I just have to tell her what to do, all of the time. That's going to get old fast, and I'm not her babysitter, we're supposed to be partners, but so far as I can see, she brings nothing to the table. Alright enough of this, this is achieving nothing, I'm going to head back to the room, apologise for losing my temper and find a way to make this work."

Hexi entered the dorm building, making her way towards the team's room, but before even making it off the ground floor, she spotted her target. Lia was stood in the corridor talking with two blonde girls, both much shorter than her; they had slender frames and wore heavy makeup. Hexi approached the group, picking up on the conversation once she got close enough, "So you like to swim?"

"Yeah I like swimming"

"Well I hear Beacon has a pool, maybe you could sneak in some time. Like how you snuck into the Gene pool." With that the two blondes started giggling. Lia not understanding the comment, laughed along, "Oh I'm only joking." The girl continued.

"HEY!" Hexi yelled, as she slammed her fist into the door of one of the lockers, lining the wall. "Get lost, NOW! Or the next thing I hit will be your face!"

The two small girls panicked at the sight of the crazed Faunus before them, "There's no need to over react." One of the girls replied as they moved away, hastily. Hexi not breaking her glare, until the girls passed around a corner.

"Why did you scare off my new friends?" Lia innocently asked. Hexi let out a Sigh and placed her hand on Lia's shoulder, "Lia, those girls weren't your friends. I've known girls like them; they're passive aggressive, pretty, little, bitches, who care for nothing but themselves. If they talk to you again, I want you to tell me, ok?"

"Does this mean you're not mad at me anymore?"

"I, I could have dealt with what happened better. I'm… sorry. We've got a lot of work ahead of us if we're going to make this work, but I think I know where to start. Come on let's head back to the room." Hexi offered.

"I'm sorry too" Lia said as she embraced her partner in a tight hug, crushing the air from her lungs. "Lia" Hexi barely got out.

"Oh right, sorry." Lia giggled as she released her partner from the grip.


"You're kidding?!" Alexis blurted out. "I'm serious; he stood up and yelled across the café for all to hear, "That's not what that word means" Rian laughed as he imitated his boyfriend. "Well I was right" Uluka defended himself, "That's not what ignorant means. Also if someone's misinformed I feel it's a responsibility to correct them. How else can people learn?"

"True, but I can't believe you did that on your first date." Netes laughed. "Well in hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have." Uluka questioned his actions.

"Well I'm glad you did, because it was then that I knew" Rian said as he leant towards Uluka, the two embracing in a kiss. "Eww" Alexis cried, as she threw her pillow at the couple, before the kiss became too passionate, the group all having a good laugh.

"Well, I should probably go." Rian got up off of the bed, his hand trailing behind as it held onto Uluka's, until the two separated and Uluka's hand fell to the mattress. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright, see you tomorrow." Uluka responded.

As Rian closed the door, to team XANU's room, behind him he turned to walk towards his room, when he spotted Hexi and Lia approaching from the other side. As he made his way towards the door he called out to the girls, "Hey, you two seem cheerier."

"Let's try and keep it-" Hexi stopping herself, remembering to try and get along with the young boy. "Yeah, we're doing better, thanks. Do you know where Cole is, I may owe him an apology." She continued.

"Alexis said he was inside" Rian answered as he pulled out his scroll to open the door. As the trio entered the room, Cole jumped up off his bed, "Oh good you're all here. I have an idea, come on we're burning daylight." Cole Grabbed his coat off the end of the bed, before dragging the team out of the room.


"Why are we back here?" Hexi asked, as the team entered the training room. "We're here because Alexis gave me an idea. I think it's safe to say we've yet to… click, as a team, and Alexis was telling me earlier how team XANU faced some Atlesian Knights and even though they lost, she felt that it brought them closer together as a team. Now I don't expect getting beat by a bunch of bots will help us very much, but I don't expect us to lose."

"You-You're joking right? You didn't see those things in action earlier, this is a mistake." Rian voiced his concern. "Maybe he's right. I was thinking maybe we just need to get to know each other as people more, rather than partners or team mates. We could just go back to the dorm?" Hexi said, not wanting a combat situation that could go horribly wrong.

"I was thinking the same thing too, until I realised we got along ok in the Emerald Forest, under battle conditions, so we should be able to bond more against these bots." Cole reasoned. "Also come on, you're going to tell me you don't want to see how tough these things really are?"

"Fine, I suppose I was wanting to have a go earlier." Rian agreed.

Hexi let out a Sigh Before responding, "Never let it be said, I backed down from a fight."

"We'll show them partner" Lia cheerfully said giving a tap to Hexi's arm, before drawing her swords. Cole took out his scroll and summoned the Knights, "Four versus four, now these things may have hand to hand combat ability but they don't have melee weapons, only those rifles. If we close in fast we'll have a better chance. Ready?"

The team stood side by side, weapons drawn, prepared for battle…

"Ready"

"Ready"

"Ready"


As a sore and battered team CHRL left the training room, Cole spoke up, "Ok, as far as everyone else is concerned, we just hung out in our room and talked for the rest of the day."

In unison the team replied, "Agreed."