Chapter 4: War College

“They’re on our right, they’re on our left, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us; they can’t get away from us this time.”

– Chesty Puller

The gym was huge and was one of two hundred on campus. It comfortably accommodated ten thousand students. Along the back-wall, AIs attended to registrations. Each group was allocated two instructors. They introduced themselves as Uzliumbax AI instructors and said they developed the exercise routines and led martial arts training.

Jason was bumped from behind by a large Ordreg who knocked him off his feet. Another knocked Ooryphyon off her feet. She fell almost hitting her head on the floor. She stumbled back onto her feet. The Ordreg and his friends laughed. Jason saw his friends bristle.

One of the AIs put up his hands his palms facing them. “Pay attention all of you! Both sets of groups have now defined who will fight each other. You will exercise together, then you will attend a martial arts class and spar together. You are observed everywhere; your aptitude and attitude determine what you are taught and what further experiences we plan for you,” the AI said clearly and loudly before lowering his voice and speaking calmly and slowly.

“The first years are called Pema. Pema means commencement and opportunity. The symbol for Pema has two sides and a second set of meanings. The second side of Pema means destruction, implosion and termination. How you work and behave in this college will determine your destiny. Most of you have done several years of War College, but only in the last few months has access to unique ancient knowledge become available. All of your civilizations and species have agreed to the rules in this War College. If you do well, you will be given every opportunity that can be provided by the allies and your society. If your performance is mediocre you will not enjoy the respect of your society or the allies and are likely to have an indifferent future life. We all have dangerous enemies baying at our heels. Our societies value those who can learn and work together and make a contribution to the greater good,” continued the AI.

“You have to accept some races are inherently superior to others and within a society some of us are from a loftier background. In my own case my father is part of our royal family,” said the Ordreg who had knocked over Jason, “and that makes some of us a part of a rare stratum of participants who deserve respect. We the Ordreg are strong and are elite fighters. Our groups are the best of the best and we have an innate capacity to lead and rule. We have completed two years of our own college. This is a waste of our time.”

“So why did you come here if you do not wish to be here?” The AI asked.

“Our families arbitrarily decided we must learn how to work with others. My father hopes I will learn some humility” - he turned and made a sign to his male hangers-on - “What a waste of time. “‘If you are good show it,’” - he laughed loudly and looked again at his group for approval. Several of the young men nodded, the Ordreg women looked towards the ceiling.

“My name is Zansu and I am your trainer. We will take you to your gym equipment and start your assessments. What is your name, oh illustrious prospective Ordreg chief?”

“My name is Neg Fruskub.”

Eight AIs led them to the equipment. Jason was surprised at how pleasant the AI was. He was much more like a corporate trainer than a sergeant major.

Jason’s exercise machine was comfortable. He fell asleep. When he awoke, he ached in every muscle. He could barely climb out of the machine. He saw everyone else was in a similar state. Ten minutes had passed.

“Go and stand near the red wall, rejuvenate yourselves and then follow us to the combat rooms,” said Zansu smiling.

Jason walked to the wall and stood near it. He felt his muscles relax and his energy returned. He was surprised at how much better he felt.

“Today we will assess your skills within your groups and then we will observe both groups fighting each other. We plan further training depending on your performance in class. Tomorrow this class will begin your new martial arts which you will learn overnight,” said Zansu once they reached the combat room. We expect maximum effort in every bout. No powers are allowed in this section of your course. You may make light contact but no deathblows are permitted. If you are injured, you will receive medical care. For minor injuries use the red wall over there” - he pointed – “one minute is ample.”

Jason fought Sergei and then Julia before the instructor called a halt.

“I can see you are accustomed to fighting each other and you havereasonable skills. Now let us see how you shape up against the Ordreg.”

Jason discovered he would face off against the biggest Ordreg, a young woman. He looked towards her, she smiled. He recalled Chloe telling him the women were stronger than the men. She stood six inches taller than him. She had four arms that looked like tree trunks. She ambled over to him and stood next to him as they prepared to watch the first bout.

“My cousin, Neg, is an arrogant fool. We all hope he learns something here, but I doubt he can learn anything. He always believes he is right. Neg is insufferable. He is a bully. I believe he will damage the egghead.”

Jason saw the tiny Ooryphyon with her skinny legs and childlike body supporting a huge head facing Neg. She held up her tiny fists and danced from side to side like a boxer. Jason dreaded the encounter. Neg launched a punch at her head.

Jason saw her duck under his punch, and dart behind him. She grew to a larger size. Her head now looked normal sized as it did not grow along with her body. She looked more in proportion. She hit Neg in his side first with her left then her right fist. Jason could hear the heavy impact of the punches and saw her stilettos extended between her fingers. As Neg turned she retracted the knives and hit his jaw, and as he stood stunned, she grabbed his lower right arm and threw him over her shoulder and onto his back.

Neg rolled smoothly and bounced back onto his feet. He was bleeding from his chest and was breathless. He launched a punch towards Ooryphyon’s side with his upper right arm, but she turned grabbed his lower left arm, and twisted it behind his back and dislocated it. She then swept him off his feet banging his head on the mat. He screamed in pain and clutched his dislocated arm.

Neg was transported to the medical facility.

“Some of you may question if her size change is an abuse of powers. It is not. It uses no trans-dim powers and is a common transformation in many species who have fighting forms. We can detect the use of all trans-dim powers,” clarified Zansu.

Jason faced his opponent.

“My name is Patata Belagub. I hope you are not going to grow bigger than me and pound me to a pulp!”

“Hi Patata, I am Jason. I can grow bigger, but I won’t,” said Jason.

“Start!” said Zansu.

Patata punched her lower right fist scraping his left side. Jason leapt behind her. She turned and threw him onto his back. He rolled away as she dived to grapple with him. He bounced to his feet and changed his appearance to fight as the Azayal. He showed his Azayal War face and out came his claws stilettos and elbow spikes.

He raked her abdomen, but she punched his left arm hard enough to bend it despite his metal enhanced bones and then hit him full in his solar plexus with her upper left.

Jason was lifted into the air and knocked a yard backward. He was winded but dodged her for a until he recovered. She tried to kick him, but he blocked and as she moved in he moved outside her next punch and struck at her with his fist rapiers in the abdomen, then as she kicked him he knocked her leg aside and just stopped his bone rapier that emerged from between his fist bones at her neck.

She disappeared to medical.

Jason watched several further bouts. Ooryphyon winked at him and showed him her rapiers, claws and elbow spikes.

“Not as helpless as you thought?“ Ooryphyon communicated telepathically. “The Uzliumbax gave me the ability to change size and gave me the fighting claws, rapier and spikes. The bugs gave me some more stuff as well. You will see more of the new me as we go along this year. We girls like to keep our secrets!

“At the Uzliumbax War College I used my larger form for physical activities. The bigger form is too cumbersome for day to day studies. I will use my human form except when I fight” – Ooryphyon changed to become a beautiful, delicate young woman- “but this is how I will make love to you.” She had black straight short hair and purple red lips. Her eyes were bright blue. She looked refined and attractive as she stood naked her Teokraeus clothing falling from her in shreds.

“I am delighted you think so Jason”- she turned so he could see her front and back. He saw her giggling as she ran to the dresser.

“Zansu, my arm is bent uncomfortably, could you send me to medical to get it repaired?” Jason asked.

He smiled at Jason and blinked.

Jason found himself standing outside a medical pod next to Patata who was grinning at him.

“This medical stuff is amazing. It fixed me in no time at all. What kind of an arm do you have Jason, it doesn’t look cybernetic?”

“I have metallic bones.”

“Where did you get the claws and those bone knives in your elbow and fists.”

“They came with the genetic package I was born with.”

“My stupid cousin is going to learn a thing or two about fighting. He is talented at strategy games and competes at a mid-range level already. I hope you guys have one or two talented people who can take him down.”

“I certainly hope we can offer him some competition,” said Jason, “my grandchildren are pretty talented and could offer him a serious challenge.”

Patata laughed.

Jason looked at her carefully. She had a strikingly pretty face. Ordreg had ears that were narrow and wide noses. Patata looked feminine in her clothes even though powerfully built. Her hair was a deep red orange color and tied in a pony tail. It was cut short on the sides of her head. She would not look unusual in a crowd on Laomedeia, the capital city of the Empire of his uncle Cassius.

“We had better head back, we are going on a twenty-mile jog with a pack,” said Jason.

“I hope we get some food to take with us. Luckily for me, I love running. Hey you are fooling with me!” Patata said and laughed loudly.

“Come, little one I will help you walk to the gym” – She took Jason’s arm firmly and walked to the portal. Jason noted he had been away from the gym for seven minutes.

The remaining fights had been intense and hard fought. The Ordreg learned quickly and showed themselves to be cunning strategic fighters. Almost everyone landed up in medical; battered, cut, broken and bruised.

“Please make your way to breakfast after you clean up. The refreshers and dressers are next to the red wall. The two of you who avoided medical please walk past the red wall before you go. The refresher will do the rest.

“We will then expect you back here in an hour. You will go for a twenty-mile run.”

“Pema Belagub what is so amusing?”

“I hoped that was what we were going to do. I love running.”

“I believe you Pema, thousands wouldn’t. Now move it, time is passing, and we only have this week to assess you.”

The food at breakfast was excellent and it was served buffet style. Jason selected a bowl of porridge, a plate with six eggs, bacon, tomato and beans. Patata sat next to him with a plate filled with a mountain of food.

“A growing girl needs to keep her energy up,” she said. She looked at Ooryphyon sitting on the other side of Jason. “I don’t think I saw you in the class?”

“I must have also missed you, my name is Ooryphyon.” She giggled.

“You were the egghead, I recognize your laugh! My name is Patata. You wanted to look all weak and vulnerable, but you turned out to be full of surprises. There is no predicting what you will turn into next,” said Patata grinning.

They were given small trans-dim packs at the gym with several drinks; hot and cold and seven linked food containers.

Zansu set the pace. The AIs closely observed their running techniques. They ran in four groups. The countryside had gentle rolling hills. The vegetation was familiar yet unlike the flora of the Collective planets. The colors were pleasant greens and browns.

They passed through farmland with familiar crops and animals. Patata looked at the animals with some interest. “I have never seen such strange animals, this must be a very unique planet.”

“These come from the primitive planet where Jason was born. The food from that planet is dreadful, but he tends to force his food on us all. Quite frankly I prefer eating insects,” said Razza grinning.

“I agree with you, we Ordreg love insects. We grow many varieties for us to eat,” said Patata. “My favorite is a scorpion with a poisonous sting. You have to be quick to grab the stinger, pull it off and then eat the body in one mouthful before the claws get your tongue. I remember when I was a child I was too slow and my tongue was black and blue for a week!”

They ran for another two miles. Suddenly they heard several explosions, one ahead of them and one behind.

“Take cover!” Razza shouted. They all dived to the ground. Beam weapons narrowly missed them. Razza began directing their powers in the directions of the assault. Jason decided it was a good opportunity to try variants of some of the techniques he saw Chloe use. He began creating fireballs ahead and behind them and released them in the air to float towards the ground. He then launched sheets of fire which descended all around them before making more sheets further outwards followed by bigger and bigger fireballs which pounded the area around them.

“All right stop already! You guys are a pretty scary and dangerous lot. You have neutralized your opposition in under a minute. I have never seen anything like it in all my days. You don’t need weapons or artillery!” Zansu said laughing as he stood up. “By the light of the nebula of Yakubu you destroyed two tanks!” Zansu said as he looked around.

Jason saw all the Ordreg looking at his groups incredulously.

“Pema Neg, are you still quite so confident of the superiority of the Ordreg?” Patata asked her cousin. He stood looking at Razza with his mouth open.

“Pema Neg I would strongly suggest you close your mouth or you will catch a vror,” said Pema Patata.

Neg shut his mouth. He looked at her sullenly.

“Lucky for you there are no vror on this planet,” said Ooryphyon laughing, “but there is something even worse.”

Patata laughed. “He probably deserves that to infest him; he is like an anal opening of a Kronolul. For those of you who don’t know what a Kronolul is I don’t recommend you find out, they stink something horrible!”

“Come on people we need to get going. The objective of this exercise was to show you, that an attack can come from anywhere at any time. We were going to say this is the last time you will go on a run without your assault rifle. In this particular case you could have only done less with your assault rifle unless you had the grenade options. Even so, from now on wherever you go outside the facility you will take your assault rifle. Ahead of us you can see a ridge. We will run up the path to the top and we will further assess your powers,” said Zansu.

The ridge was 50 yards high. In front of it was a firing range with targets. Behind the targets were a collection of derelict tanks and gunships, hundreds of them, extending as far as the eye could see.

“Pema Patata please direct your group one at a time to demonstrate their skills.”

Jason’s group watched with interest as the Ordreg directed their powers towards the targets. The powers they demonstrated were not terribly different from the range that Jason saw demonstrated on the battleship on his way to the Empire. None of their attacks could penetrate the armor of the targets.

“Pema Razza please direct your group to demonstrate their powers.”

Razza began with the individuals with the least powers. Jason was impressed to see how much all of them had improved. They could all produce explosive fireballs the size of tennis balls and produce beams that could penetrate the armor. The new Uzliumbax crystals were making a difference.

Julia moved to take her turn. She produced fireballs the size of a car that could blow up a tank or a gunship. Soon the grass was burning fiercely around the derelict tanks. Her ice spike was the size of a train carriage.

Razza demonstrated a similar level of powers.

Razza looked at Jason.

He began as the others did, sending beams through the targets and hit them with small fireballs. He then created a series of fireballs each the size of a bus above the tanks and let them drop. The concussions were so powerful the groups crouched and held their ears. He dropped a sheet of flame on to the tanks.