TYOFT - Lifetimes 2.

35658 Years Ago.

Imeperium. The Capital Planet. Legion Command Training Facility. New Officer Intake. Dawn. 431.23789.
Standing to attention with the other officers and NCO's.
Subaltern Osaen Krom never thought he'd find himself here on the capital planet, and in officer school.
Joining the legion was a surpise enough. He never actually thought he'd get in.
Then being made a commissioned officer during war. In the middle of a battle on Hamdel 6 was even a bigger surpise. As it was only his third deployment.
Now he's here of all places. In officer school on Imperium. Alongside other young officers and NCO's.
The twenty of them in this latest intake. Are in two rows of ten. Infront of one of the barracks.
Facing them is a drill sergeant. The master sergeant looks like he'd be more at home at a Legion basic training facility. Not at officer school on Imperium.
Standing off to one side is a senior officer, a major. Who is observing the latest intake.

As a pair of VTOL drop ships fly by to the airstrip on the west side of the base.
The master sergeant says "You are here for a reason" followed by "And that's to determine if you're ready for command".
The drill instructor, who is outranked by all of the inductees. Doesn't shout, yell or rant. As that's not the Legion way.
You'll find that in many of the militaries found throughout the systems that the Imperial Magistra has within it's domain. But not in the Legions.
"Some of you have had a brief introduction to command if you got a commission in battle" says the master sergeant who continues with "And a lot of you NCO's have been basically doing it for some time".
He briefly pauses, before continuing with "But here at The Facility". Which is the nickname of the officer training school.
"You'll be formally trained" adds the drill sergeant, who follows that with "Which is a lot different than what you'll expect".
The master sergeant briefly pauses again, before saying "True, you'll be given physical training, which will be just as intense, or even tougher than what you did during basic training".
The inductees were expecting that, so that's no great surpise.
"But what's the really difficult thing about this phase of your career in the Legions, is the work you'll do in the classroom" says the master sergeant, who continues with "It'll be way more difficult than you could ever imagine".
The drill sergeant tries to refrain from grinning, but he's unable to. As he knows the inductees have no idea what's about to happen to them.

The master sergeant steps back and to the side, and nods to the major standing nearby, and says "Sir, if you would".
Stepping around to stand infront of the twenty young officers and NCO's, the senior officer says "You young men and women have some of the best bodies and minds that money can buy".
He briefly pauses, before saying "Untold credits have been spent on you to get you where you are".
The major looks at them all, and with a faint smile upon his face, he tells the inductees "But here at The Facility you won't have such advantages".
As the inductees are trying to figure out that the major means, he says "Deactivate your implants, both hard and soft".
Osaen Krom though shocked to get such an order, he like his fellow inductees, turns off all his implants.
Something he's never done unless it's during maintenance by a tech doctor.,
And if he and the other inductees were shocked at that. They're all totally stunned and what the senior officer has to say next.
"Now switch off your neural nets" says the legion major as he looks at the young officers and NCO's, he then adds "Stet". Implying it's an order that must be obeyed.
Subaltern Krom briefly hesitates, then he switches off his neural net. Something he's never done before, ever since he got his first neural net at the age of four like all citizens of the Imperium.

Osaen Krom notices it immediately. There's no background noise in his mind, no info readouts, no multiple layered images, no connecting with the other inductees.
Nor connection with the Legion net, both the public one, and any secure ones.
He can't even feel the Public net, which everyone over the age of four, on thousands and thousands of planets.
In just as many systems that make up the Imperial Magistra is connected to.
"This is what will make you fit to command" says the major as he looks at those who are the latest induction at The Legion Command Training Facility, here on the capital planet, Imperium.
"You're ability to complete the courses, either physical or in the classroom" says the senior officer, who continues with "Without the benefit of all your implants, and your neural net".
The inductees like all legionnaires, have the best implants ever created by the science bureau of the Imperium.
Not even the richest and most politically powerful have the quality of implants that those in the Legions have.
As for their neural nets. No one with the exception of the crews of an ISS. Have any better.
Though there's no comparison there. As those who pilot and crew Interstellar Ships for the Imperial Magistra military are like gods compared to the rest of humanity when it comes to their neural nets.
The most powerful of who are the ISS captains. Who number fifty or so, out of a population of thousands of billions, found throughout the space that makes up Imperial Magistra.
Osaen, like the other inductees, nod and say "Stet". In reply to the major, who tells them "Let us begin then".

Subaltern Krom has never felt so physically shattered as he does now.
It's day four of their training, and this morning he's already done a twenty kilometer run, followed by an obstacle course, then some live firing practice.
As he stands outside on the parade ground between the various buildings on either side of it.
He kind of wishes he was doing it again. As he like the other inductees in his group.
Isn't looking forward to what they're about to do. As they're about to enter one of the classrooms.
And today's lesson, which is applied mathematics, as well the philosophical theorems, as applied to warfare.
Two totally different subjects. And two totally asinine subjects in the opinion of the young officer, who is originally from the planet Magnian.
He feels like an ancient human from the time before neural nets, when ever he has to try to solve one of the problems put before him in class.
Walking next to Osaen is Aitra Madau. Who at just eighteen years of age, is the youngest of the recent inductees by at least three years.
The young man who was given a commission on Balenel, where the local government called on the Imperial Magistra, to send in the Legions to quell an insurrection.
Has something of a reputation from that war, which was just a couple of standard months ago.
And junior subaltern Madau's first deployment, after finishing the nine month basic training course that all legionnaires must take.
Subaltern Krom has heard that some of the legionnaires of the Sixth Legion that took part in that campaign on Balenel.
Started calling young Aitra, The Deathdealer. As apparently he had the highest kill rate by some margin in the Sixth Legion.
And he wasn't assigned a mech, or craft of any kind. He just had his powersuit, and the regular weapons given to all enlisted legionnaires.

"Not looking forward to today's class" quietly says Osaen Krom, who still isn't used to communicating by voice for everything than do.
"Especially the philosophical theorems" dryly adds the older of the two inductees.
"Same" says subaltern Aitra Madau, who Osaen has learnt is a mathematical genius even without the use of a neural net.
But the young junior subaltern, like the others. Is struggling with the more abstract subjects they're studying in class.
The two of them are just about to enter the classroom building that their group has been assigned.
When suddenly out of the other buildings on base, legionnaires come rushing out to stand to attention infront of each of their barracks.
The next moment, over the loud speakers, the command  of "Parade attention, stet". Can be heard for the benefit of the inductees who aren't able to use their neural nets.
Osaen and Aitra hurry back to their barrack, which they and the rest of the group of inductees are using.
They're the fourth such group on base, and the latest of the four.
And though the base is the Legion Command Training Facility. It's still an operational base.
With far more personal than the actual inductees, who number at this time, just eighty, out of the four hundred or so personnel on base.
The inductees are easy to spot. As they're always the last to answer any base orders like the one just given.
As he stands next to Aitra, and another junior subaltern by the name of Predeos Thaxel.
Who subaltern Krom isn't convinced deserves his rank, or to be here at The Facility.
Osaen spots the base commander and another senior officer hurrying down the parade ground, to the airstrip on the west side of the base.
And though all of the legionnaires, inductees or otherwise. Are facing straight ahead, their eyes are following the base commander and the other senior officer, who is an adjunctant.
Then they hear a small transporter approaching base. Looking out of the corner of his eye.
Subaltern Krom looks over the short figure of junior subaltern Thaxel. And sees the transporter, that looks like a corvette more than anything else.
Come into view, partly circle the base, before landing at the close edge of the airstrip.
The side door slides up on the transporter, and a lone figure walks down the steps to where the base commander and his adjunctant are waiting. Both of whom salute, as does every single legionnaire on base.

Subaltern Krom snaps a salute, and stays looking straight ahead, still holding the salute.
Just like all the other legionnaires on either side of the parade ground, here in The Facility.
Without his neural net, he doesn't get to see the base commander, the adjunctant, and the new arrival walking in this direction.
Until they appear out of the corner of his eye, away to his left as they walk down the parade ground in this direction.
Osaen Krom keeps his eyes forward, trying not to think of a single thing as the three of them get closer to the barracks that he and the latest group of inductees are standing infront of.
They walk by, and the figure walking between the base commander, and the adjunctant.
Is in a dark navy blue uniform, and not the dark olive green uniform, or fatigues that all of the legionnaires are in.
Subaltern Krom sees that it's a young woman, probably the same age as Aitra Madau.
She may only be a teenager, and in another arm of the Imperial Magistra military.
But she far outranks any legionnaire in the Legions. As she is a ISS pilot. But not any pilot, she's a captain in training.
As she walks by, she looks Osaen's way, and nods in response to his and the other inductees salute.
He and all the other legionnaires, remain at attention, holding their salute, until the base commander, the adjunctant and the ISS captain in training are in the command center at the other end of the base from the airstrip.

"Hell, an ISS captain" says subaltern Predeos Thaxel, who then adds "I never thought one of them would be so young".
"She's a captain in training" says subaltern Krom, who continues with "There is a difference".
He briefly pauses, then adds in a slightly dry tone of voice "Though she could still kill us all, and destroy the entire base with a single thought".
Thaxel's eyebrows shoot up at that. And subaltern Madau quietly says "Osaen's right".
The one they call The Deathdealer continues with "The reason the Sixth was successful on Balenel was because an ISS captain showed up in orbit and had the half of the planet the insurrection has taken over go dark".
Both Osaen Krom and Predeos Thaxel wince at the thought of a half of a world go completely dark, no neural nets, no power, nothing.
"No wonder we won there" murmurs subaltern Krom, Aitra Madau nods in agreement to that.
Then they and the rest of their group of inductees. Turn and head to the classroom next to the barracks.
When a senior officer, who is their instructor for the rest of the day, steps out of the classroom, and says to them in a slightly dry tone of voice "Your lessons aren't going anywhere" followed by "So get in here".
As subaltern Osaen Krom and the rest of the group enters the classroom. He wonders why the ISS trainee captain is here at the Legion Command Training Facility . . . . . .