Chapter 11 The Freshmen Challenge

Within the week, Major Payne has the entire class on a strict schedule, shouts echoing through the hallway signifying their change of tasks every time an alarm goes off. Class, meals, Workouts, breaks. Everything is structured now.

But Nico and Max aren't with the group for most of the morning anymore, instead they've been assigned two separate morning Instructors. Sargeant Zamm to teach them more about Mecha Piloting, and Sargeant Farhan to teach them advanced mathematics and history.

They can read well enough for the Sergeants, so literacy skills have been pushed aside for the semester, while the Academy tests the limits of their abilities.

With Nico's help Max has managed to organize the class into evening study groups to help the kids that are falling way behind in their reading comprehension. Most either couldn't read Kepler Standard, or couldn't read the language well when they arrived, but that is quicky changing, with their entire morning being dedicated to it and the assistance of the improved cognitive abilities inherent to higher rank System Users.

His goal is to make sure they're not a class of disorganized individuals, but a single unit working towards a goal as well as proving he is a capable leader, worthy of notice and promotion. This environment is like heaven to Max, no drunks, nobody dissappearing to get high, no dangerous criminals hiding between buildings, just order and camaraderie.

"At this rate the first class competition will be a massacre." One of the military observers who is watching over everything through cameras mounted all over the campus notes, while reviewing the materials being taught to the two advanced students.

"Those two are natural leaders. The other class looks exactly like we would expect a class of children to look. Class 1 barely needs teachers with Cadet Nico Max around." Major Payne laughs, using their odd attachment to label them as one singular person.

"There's something off about Cadet Max though." Another observer notes.

"His Innate Talent is a form of mind reading that he uses for memory duplication. I suspect that repeatedly using it on Cadet Nico and the Instructors to cheat on the assigned school work has subtly changed his personality, but there's no solid proof that he has been doing it so we can't reprimand him." Major Payne's assessment makes everyone laugh. Such an amazing skill for a shirking student.

"Do we know the limitations of Cadet Nico's Technology based skill?" Colonel Black asks the room but nobody answers.

"Really, no ideas? A twelve year old is keeping secrets from you, the finest educators and interrogators on the planet?" He laughs.

"It's hacking related." Major Payne begins, "She regularly penetrates school digital security to get an advantage on upcoming assignments and gather other data. But we don't know what exactly the skill can do."

The observers have gathered with the senior staff because today marks the freshmen challenge. Each Class has been ordered to do something that will shock their instructors and prove their worth. Class 2 is going to break into the teachers lounge and go for the answer keys. A daring task for sure.

But class 1 has not spoken openly, following Max's suggestions and using hidden notes on edible paper saved from their meals to plan their stunt. That alone shows the Observers that they know they're monitored and can adjust their tactics to compensate.

"Are these really twelve year old kids?" a teacher asks. "Even though they're all elites with two Alpha Rank leaders, this level of organization is remarkable."

The results they've achieved so far are mostly from applying the military skills Nico retained upon reincarnation, but this entire first year class is outstanding well beyond their rank, they just don't have anything to compare themselves to. A deliberate action by the academy to prevent them from being influenced by outside factors.

What they have planned is a two pronged strategy. First up, the class is going to meet up in front of the class 2 dorms. The fifth through seventh years are out on a wilderness training mission right now, so Nico is going to loop the cameras and Max is going to lead the class to stage an underwear raid in the Class 2 dorms, using his own hacking skills to pop open the biometric locks.

While that is attracting the instructors attention, Nico will escape out to the senior Fairgrounds where advanced Line Mecha handling is being taught, with the plan being for her to commandeer a Mecha and steal the school flag from the post on the roof. With their smaller bodies and her ability to Command electronic systems remotely, she's the only one in the class who could possibly do it.

That fact annoys Max to no end, but there's nothing her can do about it at the moment. Soon he will be able to prove his worth.

That's the plan she managed to convince Max to agree to anyhow, with the wholehearted agreement of the others. Max is in charge of the raid and he's planning to make it look like they are going full in for the seventh years, but actually loot the first years lockers while they are out on their own mission and hang their underwear on the power lines outside.

Because picking on the seniors might actually get them beat up, but they're not afraid of the first years.

Max nods the go ahead and Nico loops the cameras before getting out of bed and escaping while Max is rousing the others who are eagerly waiting in their beds, pretending to be asleep. As Nico heads to the Fairgrounds, she sees the other class is right on time. Class 2 has already entered the school building, so only 3 years are present in the dorms for Max and the rest to sneak past.

There's a guard patrol out here looking over the parked Mecha that Nico couldn't do anything about, they're not online connected for her to hack, and she's not close enough yet to do anything to their sensors.

So she waits until the patrol is on the far side of his loop to rush towards the parked Academy issue Line Mecha, using her talent to override the locks and open the hatch to the drivers compartment. Step 1 complete. Next is the tricky part, she needs to power the Mecha up as silently as possible, with no lights on, and make her escape while the guard is distracted by one of the classes.

Primary power is up, secondary is up, the radio crackles to life and Nico turns it down to a whisper, dimming the dash lights to nothing at the same time.

Alright, the Line Mecha is ready to go at any moment. She can't reach the controls, but using her Innate Talent for control works well enough for basic movement. Nico then straps herself in as securely as possible, the shoulder straps not designed for such a diminutive pilot.

The second class has just failed their mission, they're jumping out windows from the main floor of the school building, trying to escape with the answer keys. They were so obvious that even class 1 knew what they were up to from whispers in the hallways, it's no surprise that the academy was on to them as well.

It's go time. She leaps into action as the patrol Mecha is distracted, blending in with all the other sudden movement as guards respond to Class 2. Only she heads to the roof of the school, not the main floor.

The flag pole stands 20 meters high above the roof, nothing but a Mecha would get a student up there. The grab is good and the flag pops free, Nico landing as gently as possible in the far side of the school and ditching the Mecha to return to the Class 1 dorm with her stolen loot.

5 minutes later the rest of the Class comes in laughing, the First Year class 2's favorite underwear are out on the power lines. The administration was so into watching class 2 and their epic failure that they didn't think to check the cameras for tampering during those fifteen minutes.

The hacking knowledge Max acquired from Dave worked flawlessly, letting them into every room's lockers at the same time, where the students grabbed a single pair of underwear from each locker before writing the room number on them and locking the door behind them.

The gigantic school flag is proudly hung in the first year common area, tacked up on the roof, as the wall wasn't high enough to prevent it dragging on the floor, which would be a punishable disrespect to the flag.

"Nobody mention it." Max instructs. "See how long it takes them to notice."

Nico laughs and with a thought she returns the cameras to normal, but they all forgot one vital fact. A gigantic flag is now blocking all the cameras in the common room.