The following morning, Hicks was ripped from his sleep as the lights came up, assaulting his eyes, and a whistle sounded. He was used to such treatment as a result of his military training; it was a common enough form of hazing. He snapped to his feet and made his way to the door of his cubicle, standing to attention. Dul'Ilah, Kur and Celari were also standing to attention. The others seemed to move a little more slowly though. Trinity, as he expected looked a little lost and frightened. Eventually Switch managed to come out of his cubicle, yawning loudly.

"Cadets, welcome to the first day of training." Cruger announced. "Stand up straight Trinity! You're SPD! That uniform means something, so act like it!"

Trinity stood up straight and looked straight ahead, holding her chin up like the others. He came over to Switch, letting out a little laugh.

"I'm sorry, did we wake you?" Cruger asked him. "Would you like a little longer in your bed?"

"N...n...no sir." He stammered out, standing to attention, and struggling to hold in another yawn. Cruger looked around him into his cubicle and let out a growl. He hadn't yet unpacked, having spent all his time last night getting acquainted with his team.

"Your kit is a disgrace cadet!" He snapped. "How are you meant to find anything in that mess?"

"Sorry sir, I..."

"Get me a mark V blaster power cell." Cruger ordered him. Switch went into his cubicle and started to tear open his bags, throwing clothes and supplies around in a frantic search. Cruger watched this for a second before whistling. "That's enough. Hicks!"

Hicks hated the fact Cruger had chosen him. He could easily have chosen Kur, Dul'Ilah, or any of the other cadets to make this point. He knew it was a lesson that Switch needed to learn, but it was unfortunate that Doggie was using him to make this point. Hicks just opened his locker and reached in, hardly even looking and grabbed a power cell. He had already unpacked and organised all his supplies. He handed the cell to Doggie, while giving Switch a slightly apologetic look.

"Organisation is the most basic precaution against our enemies." He told Switch. "You all have one hour to clean and tidy this dormitory from top to bottom, shower and assemble at the mess hall for breakfast. If you are one minute late, or I find anything out of place in this dormitory following inspection, you will all be reporting to Simian for disciplinary exercises. Believe me; compared to him, I'm a pussy cat. At ease!"

With that, he turned and left the room. As soon as he left, someone launched a pair of boxer shorts at Switch, hitting him in the face with them. Dul'Ilah just went into her cubicle muttering about being held back already, having basically been reprimanded because of the monkey. Kur came over, grabbing him by the shirt and lifting him clean off the floor, slamming him against the wall.

"I always knew you monkeys were inferior." He snarled at him. "If your failures ever reflect on me again..."

"Back it up!" Hicks told him, coming to his side and grabbing his arm, ripping it from him and allowing Switch to fall to his knees on the floor, fighting for breath. Trinity rushed to his side. Kur just turned his attention to Hicks and let out a low, rumbling growl, before turning and leaving to begin the clean up. Hicks knelt down with Trinity and Switch.

"Are you alright?" He asked. Switch just nodded.

"That guy could have killed me!" He gasped as he regained his breath.

"We need to talk to Cruger." Trinity told him. "We can't let him get away with treating people like that."

"Unfortunately I doubt there's much he can do." Hicks told them. "I've seen this all the time at military academies. Bullying is a sad fact of life. The instructors aren't going to chase everyone who's mean to you."

"Besides, I deserved it right?" Switch asked. "Because of me everyone's being punished."

"Well, you didn't pack your stuff away." Hicks reminded him. "I'm not saying what Kur did was right, but you can understand why he's pissed."

"So we're meant to just meant to let him get away with it?" Trinity asked him. "You heard Cruger, we're meant to..."

"If you tattle on him, you'll look weak, not just to him but to the other students and to the officers as well." Hicks reminded her. "Trust me, they'll step in if anything gets out of hand, but you can't just run to teacher because the big kid's being mean to you. This isn't grade school."

"Yeah, well I think I just got picked as the runt of the litter." Switch replied sadly. "Well I guess we better get to cleaning."

"That would be an idea." Hicks replied. "Switch, if you want my advice, take this as a lesson and learn from it. You can't take back what happened. All you can do is try not to let it happen again."

Switch just nodded in understanding as Hicks helped him to his feet.

Later in the day, the cadets were out in the main training yard, where Simian was waiting for them. He walked back and forth before them, inspecting them all critically. There were a couple of other training officers sitting a little way off. Hicks recognised one of them, it was Mike. He had met him when the Terra Venture 2 had come to Earth to help with the reformation. The other, he had no idea about. He was wearing a helmet with a blacked out visor, concealing his face.

"Before you can become SPD officers, first of all, we must assess whether or not you are suited to be SPD agents." Simian began. "For this reason, we will be compacting SPD basic training, which normally takes three months in itself into one week! If you fail that, you will have proven yourself incapable of being an officer. There will be an assessment at the end of this week, if you do not pass, you will be expelled!"

He then made his way to a podium and picked up a set of handcuffs.

"We shall start from the beginning. You will be expected to arrest and detain prisoners. The most basic method of which has always been the use of handcuffs. In this exercise, you will be expected to restrain a hostile suspect. Cadet Hicks, you're up!"

Hicks stepped forward, and Simian brought up another cadet. Hicks was handed a pair of handcuffs as he confronted his opponent.

"You are expected to resist to the best of your ability." Simian reminded the other cadet. "Begin!"

The other cadet lunged for Hicks with a hard kick, a rookie mistake. Hicks managed to catch his foot and toss the student to the ground. He rushed over, turning him onto his stomach, snatching his arm behind his back.

"SPD, you're under arrest! You have the right to remain silent!" Hicks snapped at him as he pulled his other hand behind his back and cuffed it in place. "You are not obliged to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

"Excellent Cadet Hicks, that was a textbook arrest!" Cruger complimented him as he joined the panel. "You even remembered to identify yourself and read his rights."

"Thank you sir." Hicks replied as he went back to the ranks. The other cadet was released from his cuffs.

"Alright, Kur, show us what you have." Simian commanded him. He stepped out from the pack, taking the handcuffs as he went. Simian was about to point in Trinity's direction, but seeing how terrified she was of him, Switch stepped in the way.

"I'll go." He called out. "Let me go."

"Very well, step on up!" Simian told him. Switch made his way nervously forward, standing before Kur. "Begin!"

Kur just growled, at which Switch immediately held his hands up.

"Stop!" Simian called out. He approached Switch. "What the hell are you doing boy? You're meant to be trying to resist!"

He slapped him hard. Hicks could see that Cruger and the instructors thought nothing of this action. Simian slapped him again, and then again. Hicks could see the look on Switch's face and could tell that he was angry. "Now try it again and this time resist!"

Switch stood before Kur, and summoned every ounce of his anger against him. As the exercise began, he threw a wild punch into Kur's jaw as hard as he cold, but it barely even phased him. Kur clamped a hand either side of his head, picking him high up off the ground, before slamming him face-first into the ground. Hicks felt a shudder as he saw the impact. Switch bounced off the floor, and landed finally on his back. Hicks could see from here that he was unconscious, and his nose was broken. Kur just casually snapped on the cuffs.

"That is one method I suppose." Kruger said wryly as he wrote on his clip board. "Although I must comment that it makes it difficult to interrogate a prisoner if they are in a coma. Medic!"

Trinity broke ranks and rushed over to Switch.

"Get back in line cadet, the exercise is not finished!" Simian warned her.

"But he..."

"The medics will deal with it!" He cut her off. "Get back in line!"

"But..."

Simian punched her hard in the stomach, leaving her doubled over on the floor.

"I suppose you volunteered to be the next one to try this exercise." Simian told her. "Dul'Ilah, why don't you step forward? You can be the one to resist arrest at her hands. Let's see what the daughter of Trey of Triforia can do."

Dul'Ilah came forward with an arrogant grin on her face. She confronted Trinity as the poor girl got to her feet. Simian handed her the handcuffs.

"Well, let's see how daddy's little girl fares." Dul'Ilah taunted her. Trinity reached out for her arm.

"SPD, You hav..."

Her words were cut off as Dul'Ilah, struck her several times in the gut and face, before throwing her to the ground. She held her ribs as she hit the ground.

"You still have two minutes and thirty seconds." Simian told her coldly. Hicks wanted to intervene, but he knew if Trinity was to get by here, she had to learn to handle such things by herself. She got up, swinging a huge punch, but Dul'Ilah leapt into the air, landing with her knees on Trinity's shoulders, before flipping her backwards, landing face first on the floor.

"You're really impressing me girly." Dul'Ilah taunted her, pacing around. "I'm not even breaking a sweat here."

"One minute twenty." Simian told her. Trinity looked up as Dul'Ilah picked something up off the ground. Her hand went to her neck as she realised that Dul'Ilah was holding her necklace.

"Give that back!" Trinity warned her.

"Try and take it." Dul'Ilah responded. Hicks saw a noticeable shift in her mood as her anger overtook her. As she rushed forward this time, he saw Dul'Ilah sprawled across the ground. It was only then that he saw that Trinity had split into her separate forms. Two of them pinned Dul'Ilah to the floor, twisting her arms behind her back, while the third snapped on the cuffs. She snatched the necklace from her hand.

"SPD, You are under arrest!" She spat angrily. "You are not obliged to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence." She leaned in close to Dul'Ilah and hissed at her. "And that's mine bitch!"

"Release me at once!" Dul'Ilah demanded. "I want her reprimanded for this, she cheated!"

"You believe the exercise was unfair?" Cruger asked her.

"She attacked me three on one!" Dul'Ilah protested.

"Kur used his strength." Cruger reminded her. "You used your agility and combat training. Trinity merely used the advantages she has."

"It was not fair!" Dul'Ilah reiterated. "She..."

"If you want fair, then I suggest you find another career." Cruger interrupted her. "Well done Trinity, you may return to the line."

"This is an outrage!" Dul'Ilah snapped as she approached the panel. "Everyone saw that one on one she was no match for me! That monkey..."

Hicks sucked his teeth as he heard this, and she paused. She had realised her mistake almost instantly. She turned slowly in time to see Simian approaching her.

"What's so bad about monkeys?" He asked her, walking around her. Dul'Ilah couldn't bring herself to look at him and tried to stammer out an excuse. "Well, speak up cadet!"

Dul'Ilah didn't have a satisfactory explanation for her outburst. She had been so incensed that Trinity had bested her, it had clouded her good judgement, and so she had spoken without thinking about the consequences.

"Tonight you will be assisting the catering staff in preparing dinner for the entire academy." He informed her. "And if I EVER hear that slur from your lips again, I will personally put you in the infirmary for the next month! Do I make myself clear cadet?"

Dul'Ilah just nodded and sheepishly left the training area. Hicks knew that she had been taught a valuable lesson in respect, though with a prejudice and disdain so deeply ingrained he was sure that it was unlikely that she had truly changed. It was more likely she had learned to mind her tongue in front of the officers. However, at least it had silenced her for now. Looking over to Trinity, he couldn't help feeling a little proud of his new friend. Given how jumpy she was, he had no idea she had it in her to muster such aggression.

After a hard days training, where instructors took the cadets around the firing range, the gym and the vehicle simulators, they were finally dismissed for dinner. They filed into the mess hall, from which Dul'Ilah was noticeably absent. Celari and Trinity took a seat with Hicks.

"Have either of you heard anything about Switch?" Hicks asked them as they sat down. Trinity shook her head sadly.

"We haven't had a chance to go to the infirmary." She told him. "I really hope he's OK. Kur hit him really hard."

"Well I guess they aren't teaching us to be art teachers." Celari remarked. "The medics got to him pretty quickly, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Well it'd probably still be a good idea to go and check on him." Hicks said as he shovelled some food into his mouth. "Kur did ring his bell pretty good."

"Still, at least it got him out the rest of the training exercise." Celari commented. "I know I for one am not looking forward to doing that again. My guy was crazy!"

"You didn't have to deal with Dul'Ilah." Trinity muttered. "She was kicking my butt."

"You made it though." Hicks reminded her. "Hell, I was impressed; I didn't know you had it in you. Where did all that fire come from?"

"One of my personalities is a little...anti-social." She admitted nervously. "I don't really let it come to the fore very often."

"I don't know why. As soon as you got mad, you creamed her!" Celari reminded her. "I have to admit; watching her get dumped on her butt was priceless!"

"It's not a side of myself I like very much." Trinity reiterated. Hicks leaned in closer.

"So what did she do to piss you off so much?" He asked her. Trinity pulled out her necklace. It was a simple diamond pendant on a gold chain.

"Dad gave me this when I got accepted into the academy." She told them. "She took it from me. When she wouldn't give it back, I just lost it."

"Anyway, what do you say we pay Switch a little visit?" Hicks asked them. "I'm sure he could do with cheering up right about now."

"I'm sure he'd like that." Trinity responded. "I really wish he hadn't gotten hurt like that."

"Well would you have preferred to fight Kur?" Celari asked him. Trinity just shrink into herself and shook her head wordlessly. She was still terrified of the former Skulltaker. One of the reasons she felt so badly about Switch getting hurt was because he had volunteered to face him when it became apparent that they were going to choose her. He had taken a beating that was meant for her.

"Let's just finish up here." She muttered. "I'd like to see him."

It was a little after dark by the time they got to the infirmary. By that time, Switch was sitting up in his bed, eating some jello dessert. His face was taped up as a result of the broken nose, and both his eyes were now blackened, but otherwise he seemed to be relatively cheerful.

"Hey guys, it's great to see you!" He called out as he saw them. "Does anyone want jello? They give me plenty of it in here."

"How are you feeling?" Trinity asked him. Switch just shrugged.

"I've been worse." He replied. "I have a pretty hard head."

"The nurse said you ended up with a hairline fracture and a concussion." Hicks told him.

"Yeah, they gave me radiation treatment to knit the bone." He told them. "They have me on meds for the concussion; they're pretty cool to be honest."

"In other words you're high." Celari stated.

"As a kite!" He announced happily. "Once I come down though, I'm sure it's going to really hurt."

"I...We were all really worried about you." Trinity told him.

"Well I guess we know one thing." He commented. "We know Hicks was wrong. Kur isn't all talk."

"We'll see about that." Hicks told him. "You just rest up. They're letting you out in a couple of days."

"I can't wait." Switch replied sarcastically.