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_Day 01, August 10th of the 104th Year of the Empire

Dear Mother,_

I have arrived safely at the academy! It was a really long train ride, but I made it here ok. The academy is huge like you said it was, but I think I'll be fine in finding my way around. Everything looks clean and they have signs everywhere telling you where everything is. I didn't believe you when you told me how amazing it was here. You were right! I've never seen anything like this place and I'm excited. I'm nervous, too, but the stories you've told me have me full of excitement and hope, too! I know you don't want me to waste all my time writing you. I'm going to work really hard for you and dad. I want to make you proud. I will do my best!

Love, Keith

Day 02, August 11th of the 104th Year of the Empire

The view outside the window was amazing. Keith could see everything from the south courtyard below him all the way out to the far fields of the training grounds. It was still early so the groundskeepers were busy moving about the grass fields tending to them with fertilizer and tools. It looked a lot like the photos of universities he'd seen before, but this was so much more impressive than the photographs.

Academia Martialis was the largest military academy in the nation and the finest school you could be sent to if you wanted to serve in the Imperial Army as an officer. Anyone could enlist, and proudly so, but to be an officer you absolutely had to go through Academia Martialis. His mother had passed through here when she was still in her teens, at the age of 16. His father had been an enlisted soldier and she an officer. They'd met each other by way of the war and then went on to one day have a son, him. His father was no longer with them, but Keith knew he would just as proud to know his son had been accepted into the Academy as his mother was.

"What are you doing?" a young voice called out to him from behind. Keith turned and saw it was one of his roommates. His room on the fifth floor of the dormitories was shared with three others. He didn't know their ages yet or even their names. He'd arrived on the train late the previous day and all he had the time and energy to do was write a quick letter to his mother and then go to bed. He was too excited for his first day to waste time on anything that wasn't rest. He felt confident that he'd need it.

"Looking. I got here too late yesterday to look at the Academy grounds." Keith replied. The speaker was a short blonde furred feline. A boy like him. The cat approached and looked out the window with him and squinted.

"It doesn't look like a place where people are suppose to fight. More like a ball field." he said. Keith looked back out and saw the fences and lines of boundaries scattered in various patterns all across the grounds. There was a rhyme and reason to the layout of all the facilities even if they were all a mystery to Keith in the here and now.

"I'm sure we'll found out what it's all for soon. My name is Keith Hensgard." Keith replied and extended a hand. The cat looked down at his hand and after a moment extended his own. Their handshake was brief and awkward.

"I'm Wes Tinsley." He gave his name. Wes turned and looked back at over at the wall where their bunks sat all in a neat row. At the foot of each was a chest for personal effects. On the opposite wall were small desks for each of them with storage drawers and ample wall space with cork boards for things Keith wasn't sure of yet. "I don't know who they are, besides that they sleep in like plebs."

Like plebs. Keith wondered where Wes came from if he was so natural in calling someone a plebeian. There two roommates were mysteries. One he had seen and only barely greeted the day before, a fellow canine who seemed to be very reserved. The other must have gotten in after he'd gone to bed. She was a girl, another feline by the looks of her white face and ears.

"The girl must have been here late. Can't blame her if she got less sleep." Keith said.

"If she's here then there is no excuse." Wes shot back and turned away from the window. "And by the way, Introductions are at 700, Keith Hensgard."

The clock on the wall had just ticked to 612. That was enough time to shower up and dress, Keith thought. He remembered that Introduction required everyone's attendance. After that there was the first year Orientation where they would be shown the grounds and then given further instruction on what was to be expected of them all. His mother had warned him to be at his best attention the entire time and make a good impression as it'd be important.

Wes had left already with a towel and toiletry bag. Keith planned to do the same. He wondered if he should try to warn the others, but then again they were on their own now just like he was. And Wes was right, in a way, if they were here in this place then they don't have an excuse for sleeping in. Not at Academia Martialis.

Keith rummaged through his chest and found his own toiletries. The chest had been pre-stocked with a few essential items new students likely wouldn't have brought with them. Spare sheets, towels, a few other basic items. He took out a towel and a toiletry bag of his own and left to find the showers. As he was leaving he noticed that neither of his roommates stirred. He shrugged as he shut the door behind him. His mother told him to never expect to get any help from his fellow students, as in the Academy your classmates are also your rivals.

The showers were busy. It looked like most of the new students were all of the same mind that they needed to be up and preparing for their first day. He'd seen a few girls, but he didn't see any signage on the shower doors. He just went where all the other boys had gone. The shower room was a long room with a counter lining the full length of wall to the right of the doorway, and then to the left was where the shower heads and toilets were set. Set close to the door were toilet stalls all in a neat row and passed that were the open showers with shower heads sticking both out of the wall and from metal posts set in the middle of the room.

He guessed this room along could service forty people at once with enough room to move around comfortably. Mounted to the last wall that marked the end of the toilets were cubby holes. He found an empty slot and put his towel and bag there. He pushed aside the knowledge that he was surrounded by other boys, most of them naked, and undressed himself. It took a nervous minute to fold his clothing, just a night shirt and pajama pants, and tuck them into his cubby hole.

Keith just needed to shower quickly and leave. He'd feel a lot better after a bath and being back in some clothing again. None of the faces he'd seen so far were ones he could recognise. Just random boys who were fresh and new to the Academy, just like him. He did spot Wes showering, but he didn't pay him much attention. He felt awkward being around so many other naked people. That wasn't something he grew up around.

His parents, after the war, settled down where his paternal grandparents owned a lot of farmland. His early days were spent going to a small school and he just never had that claustrophobic busy life that people in the cities were accustomed to. His school was small and private and they never showered at gym or recess. His entire world was slowly being turned upside down with new experiences, both present and forthcoming.

The boys that were ahead of him were finishing their quick showers just as he was beginning his own, and he saw from the corner of his eye that Wes was finishing as well. Keith knew he had time enough to shower, dress in proper attire, and then be on his way for Introductions. He found a shower head and soaked himself with a bar of soap as his tool. The hot water felt good and it relaxed muscles he hadn't realized were tight.

By the time he'd finished scrubbing all the places that mattered the showers were thinning out. He was only one of a handful of boys. There were clocks set along the wall where the counters and sinks were located. It was almost 630. He had time, but he'd need to make sure he had enough to spare to get to Introductions, which were suppose to be in the auditorium across campus.

If he jogged he could get there fast. He'd seen a paper map of the Academy and had a reasonably good idea of what it would take to get there. The auditorium was also meant for visitors, since graduation ceremonies were also held there. It was purposely made to be easy to get to.

He had barely even managed to make it back to his cubby hole when he heard the door slam from around the corner of the toilets. A girl's voice was huffing with panic. Keith's ears perked up with worry and before he could even round the corner, a towel now wrapped tightly about his waist, to investigate a white furred feline slipped on the wet tiled floor and almost plowed right into him.

"No, no, no!" the girl sputtered as her feet slipped out from under her several times. Despite her slapstick tile skating she never succeeding in falling, but her legs were shaking with arms outstretched at her sides for balance. She saw Keith then and looked to be in a panic. "Where are the girls showers!?"

"I, uh, I don't know." He said. The girl righted herself and was able to stand normally, but the anxiety she was presenting was thick enough cut. Another boy, a straggler like himself, inched past the two of them at the edge of the room eying the girl with a look of suspicion. "The Academy is co-ed. I didn't see any men or women signs on any of the doors."

The girl clapped her hands over her face and tugged at her fur in dismay. "Are you serious? Dad didn't tell me any of this!"

Keith shrugged, and now found himself unable to finish drying himself or even change back into his pajamas. He knew he could probably step into a toilet stall...

"Well, I need to dry myself off so..." Keith grabbed his folded items and bag from his cubby hole while the girl continued to panic. They were now the only two left in the room. "I'm going to finish in one of the stalls. I guess you can do your thing, there's no one else here."

"Oh this is awful!" She cried. Keith tried to ignore her politely and stepped around her to find a stall. "You can't just leave!"

Keith stopped, surprised. "I can't?"

"We don't know if this is really a co-ed bathroom! I could get molested!" She spouted out in a fluster. Keith seriously doubt that would happen when everyone on this floor of the dorms was trying to make it to Introductions by 700.

"I don't think," he started to tell her as much.

"Stand guard for me!" She demanded, but it sounded more like a pleading appeal to decency. He shifted awkwardly under her distressed gaze.

"I have to finish and get ready for Introductions!" He told her back, but her expression of anguish seemed to grow more pitiful until he couldn't stand to look at it anymore. "Ok, Ill dry off and change right over by the counters, ok? If someone comes in I'll tell them to wait because there's a girl showering. Ok?"

A look of relief washed over her features. "Thank you! I'll be very fast, ok! Thank you, and please, I forgot to say please, thank you!"

"Ok, yeah, you're welcome." He told her and looked away and found a spot by the counters near to the doorway. He could hear her feet slapping quickly against the wet tile as she no doubt tried to disrobe and shower as quickly as possible. He had to be thankful that the mirrors lining the wall over the counters were all foggy. It was difficult enough to be playing reluctant watchdog for a girl without also having to risk being accused of being a peeping Tom by that same girl.

Keith had himself dried off and dressed in his pajamas by the time he could hear the girl stepping up to join him. "Thank you so much!" She repeated when he turned to face her. Much of the girl's anxiety now seemed to have evaporated.

"Yeah, you're welcome." He replied. It was now 643. He could still make it, but he had to get back to his dorm room quickly and dress. "Well, I need to get back to my room, ok?"

"Yeah, me too! I didn't bring my formal clothes with me." She said and they both left the showers and started off down the hallway with each of them going in the same direction. He noticed she looked a little more wet than he did. She might have rushed herself through the shower and skipped on some of the drying.

She was walking to his right side and when they came to his door she actually reached and opened it herself and waved goodbye at him. The truth dawned on him then as he remembered the white faced feline he'd seen under the covers earlier in the hour. he stood there and pointed into the room. "This is my room, too."

She looked at him, then into the dorm room curiously, then and back at him again. "Really?"

Many hurried minutes later, at 659, the two of them were seated almost at the very back of the auditorium for Introductions. They were really far away from the stage, but the speakers were using microphones to project their voices out to everyone in attendance. It was the start of the year and all students at the Academy were present. It wasn't just the first years. Keith had read that the Academy usually has somewhere around four to five thousand students during any given year.

He looked around the auditorium and saw that it could have easily held quadruple the number of people in it now, but for Introductions they had everyone seated directly in front of the main stage with older students in front and the younger ones in back. Keith and his new companion had in so late that all the seats were taken except those at the far back.

"My name is Meri. Meri Summers." The girl, Meri, whispered to him from his right side. She stuck out a hand and he took it. She had a soft feminine grip. The speakers were moving in rotation. He didn't know any of them, but they were all important. No one served on staff without being a veteran first. The superintendent, Lt. General Michaels, was present along with the dean, Brigadier General Wallis, and commandant, Brigadier General Walters. Keith didn't know the Lt. General, but he had a basic knowledge that he had fought in the same war his mother and father had. His mother hadn't made any special mention of anyone in the Academy, but that was likely because no one she'd have known was there anymore. His mother was in her 40s now so a lot of the staff she'd have known might have retired or passed on.

"Keith Hensgard." He replied. When they were at their shared dorm they hadn't exchanged names. Time was instead wasted on trying to change into their formal student dress for Introductions, then a hasty departure said Introductions.

"You don't look foreign." She whispered. His nose twitched. The Dean, Brigadier General Wallis was speaking. They were all just taking turns telling everyone who they were and what was expected of the student body, and what hopes they had for that year. Lots of flowery speech.

"My mother is native." He replied. His father, by virtue of his name, gave away the fact that his paternal side were a family of immigrants to the Empire. His mother was a pureblood citizen with a family tree that sank its roots all the back to the Founding War. There were always people that questioned who Keith was when they found out his name didn't sound Emperian.

"Ah, that's explains it then." she whispered back.

"Good morning." the Brigadier General Walters had stepped to the podium. "As Commandant of the Student Body here it will be my direct duty to ensure that each of you receives the highest quality training possible, and that only the finest of you make it to graduation. The great majority of you are already familiar with me. To those who aren't you will discover me soon enough."

Keith listened to the short speeches with attention. The Commandant was an important person. Brigadier General Walters, as Commandant of Students, would be in charge of all military training classes and exercises. The Dean, Brigadier General Wallis who had spoken before him was in charge of all their academic classes. The Superintendent Lt. General Michales oversaw everything in the entire Academy as the highest ranking officer.

It was boring, to be honest, but he hadn't been expecting much else. Introductions, at least according to the schedule every student had been given, was even described as just a relatively short series of speeches by the key staff. Out of the several hundred staff members only the highest ranked spoke. Likely to keep it from becoming overly long. The entire thing was overly, sharply, at 800. Timed to exactly one hour with military precision.

The schedule marked Orientation as starting at 900. They were being given an hour to change dress and to eat a late breakfast. When classes and training began in earnest the following day the entire schedule would be different. Breakfast at 530 followed by classes until lunch at 1200, then training until nightfall, which was around 900. That gave them 7 to 8 hours or sleep depending on how wisely you used your time.

"Do you know what to expect?" Meri asked him. Introductions had let out and she was following him. "Of all this, I mean."

"Only as much as I was told. My parents both served." He replied. The mess hall was located in a different building, which was presently the destination for pretty much the entire auditorium audience. Fortunately it seemed that all students regardless of year ate at the same time so the mess was appropriately sized and stocked with ample seating and cooking staff. There was still a terrible line to wait in, but it did move along surprisingly quick once you got in line.

"Oh! Then you do know what to expect." She added. He shrugged. He wouldn't really know until he experienced it. His mother had told him not to make assumptions on anything and be prepared every day. He was told not to wake up thinking things would always be the same as every other day. The Academy produced the best officers in the world, and there were many good reasons for that, she'd told him more than once.

"My mother went to the Academy, but my dad didn't. He enlisted as a volunteer." He told Meri as they left the line. She followed closely behind with her own plate. The revelation that they were being fed ham and cheese sandwiches with a cup of water was disappointing. He had hoped for... better. At least they had the kindness to include a cube of some kind of cake, later to be revealed as carrot cake.

"She graduated?" Meri asked him as they found a place to sit.

"Yeah. She told me there is a long wall somewhere here where they hang photos of graduating classes. It used to be in the old auditorium, but she said they moved all the photos when they tore it down to build the building we were just in. Now she doesn't know where they keep them." Keith told her as they began to eat quickly. After they finished eating they still had to return to their dorm and change into their field dress, which was a basic pair of white pants and shirt with a belt.

"My dad was here, too. I'd like to find his photo. When did your mom graduate?" Meri asked him while they finished eating and gathered up their plates.

"80th Year, I think." He replied. She'd entered the Academy at the same age as him, 16. It was the 104th year... minus his own age and the year it took his parents to have him... Take away the 3 years he knew she served in the war... Another 4 years for her to graduate. Should have been the Class of 80.

"My dad is younger. He didn't get to serve in the war. Class of 84." She said. As they left there were a great many others leaving with them. They made it back to their dorm and found that Wes and their other roommate were already changing into their white student's dress.

"So we have all arrived!" The unnamed student proclaimed when he saw the two of them enter. Wes ignored the outburst and continued getting ready.

Keith lifted a hand in greeting and made his way to his bunk while Meri did the same with her own. Wes was making his way to leave while the still unnamed roommate waited. "My name is Adam, Adam Fennis."

"Keith Hensgard." He replied. Keith looked over to Meri's bunk. "That's Meri Summers."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, now would you both be so kind as to avert your gaze or leave?" Meri said, and the two boys turned away. Adam stepped to the window to distract himself while Keith fished out his outfit from his trunk and ignored the quiet activity behind him. He wondered if she was going to be this way for the next four years. Do they keep you with the same group the entire time? He didn't know. He might have to ask his mother in a letter if he could remember to.

"We'll have plenty of time to get to Orientation. It's almost 842." Adam spoke up to break the silence. Keith was dressed and joined Adam at the window and offered a hand. The two exchange a firm shake and were then joined by Meri who slid herself in between the two of them and offered a polite hand to Adam who took it in turn.

"Shall we go?" Meri offered. Together the three of them proceed down to the training grounds where first year Orientation was to be held. It was one of the many grassy fields he'd been eying earlier in the morning. Now that they were walking across the grass to the meeting area, which was already being populated by hundreds of new students, Keith could tell that the field was extremely fresh. It looked like someone had laid down fresh sod. You could still see some of the linework from the square sections laid down and there was a green stain to the grass that looked like fertilizer. Many areas seemed as if they'd been recently mended. He wondered about that.

There were no seats or bleachers for the students to use. Instead they were encouraged to spread out in a crescent formation so they could all watch the demonstration. In total Keith estimated that there were maybe seven hundred or so students, maybe even over a thousand, all about 16 like he was. There was a collection of older looking students standing as the locus of the gathered crowd's focus.

A pair of adults came and walked out to join them. Keith couldn't seem to recognise either of them, but they must have been at the orientation and just didn't recall their faces. Both were men in their middle or later years judging by their features. One was firm and placid while the other was stern and dour.

"Alright, boys and girls! Today's your first day. We won't go hard on you for now, but starting tomorrow you will be expected to perform at your best. We weed out the weak here!" The placid figure spoke up with a shout, seeming more animated now as he lectured the congregation of youth before him. "We won't be making men and women out of you here, but officers! Those of you who don't wash out or run home will make it into our nation's ranks as our finest! The pride of our nation, the creme of our crop. But. To get there not one soul here will treat you kindly."

The man turned to his counterpart next to him, the dour one.

"Listen up, don't close your ears just because some of you are from noble families. It's our responsibility, Sergeant Mercer, myself, whom you will henceforth know as Staff Sergeant Williams, and all other staff here at the Academy, to do everything within our power to grind you all into dust and ash. We will try to break you and in time some of you will be broken. You are not in grade school anymore!" the Staff Sergeant shouted. He paced back and forth as the Sergeant, now behind him, stood at patient attention. "Sergeant Mercer."

"Staff. Alright kids, we've prepared for your entertainment a horror movie. We believe in showing you what you're up against before we pound you into mashed potatoes, got it?" Sergeant Mercer paced around to take center stage away from the Staff Sergeant. "And what better way to do that than to have some of our seniors here show off their skill! Watch closely! Rico, Sanders step up!"

Sergeant Mercer bellowed and two of the gathered seniors stepped up to the Sergeant and Staff Sergeant. He didn't know who was who, but they were a male and female pair. Average height, both. They were both very tense, but not showing any fear. They were at the ready with serious expressions. The other seniors backed off at the first gesture given by Staff Sergeant Williams. The seniors split into two groups of equal numbers and formed into lines opposing each other.

"Take your position, 15 meters apart. Take your stances!" Sergeant Mercer shouted again and the two, Rico and Sanders moved between the lineup of seniors and stood roughly 15 meters apart from one another. Keith could see that they were armed with only a sword as a weapon. Their weapons were sheathed, but the sheath itself was of thick white plastic. A training sword.

"Are you boys and girls watching?" Sergeant Mercer turned back to the gathering of fresh young faces. Over half of the gathered crowd, himself and Meri included, called out 'yes, sir'. "Are You All Watching!"

They all repeated themselves, and this time with more voices added to the mix. "I couldn't hear you all, children, do I need to repeat myself again!"

"I think they might be mute, Sergeant. Or worse, they're stupid, because even the mute know how to make noise! Are you all watching boys and girls?" Staff Sergeant Williams shouted.

"YES, SIR!" Everyone standing in the crowd shouted. If there were any silent voices then they weren't noticed. The two turned back to the seniors facing each other.

"Sergeant." Staff Sergeant Williams said.

"Staff." Replied Sergeant Mercer. "Rico, Sanders, begin when ready."

Everyone stood and watched as the two seniors got more tense and eased into combat stances. The male on the left and the female on the right. Both seniors drifted their hands to the hilts of their swords. The girl's fingers touched her hilt first, then Keith's eyes went wide as she unsheathed a polish piece of steel from the plastic scabbard and bolted at full speed to her opponent. He'd never seen anyone move that fast in person!

By the time he and the others gathered there in the crescent could turn their heads to catch up with the girl's movements she was already touching steel with the guy's own drawn sword. Their blades held firm to one another with their sharpened edges grinded audibly until the guy kicked out with his foot and knocked the girl back with a blow to her stomach. She stopped herself with a dug in heel to the grass. Steel collided again many more times with such speed and precision it was difficult to make sense of both combatants movements. They were moving almost like the wings of a bumble bee. So quick, almost like a blur. No one looked surprised except for the many gathered students who were experiencing their first day of the Academy.

Dear Mother,

I'm happy to say I made it through Introductions and Orientation today. They didn't ask much of us yet. I also hope you're reading my letters in the order they are dated! I found out this evening they keep everyone's mail in the post office until the first of the week, and then they mail everything out on the same day. I'll try not to write you too much to keep the mailbox from bursting full!

I'm not sure what to expect anymore from the Academy, mom. I know you tried to prepare me, but seeing everything now has... opened my eyes a lot more. I didn't take everything you said as seriously as I should have and I understand why you sometimes looked disappointed when you tried to warn me about what was ahead. I'm still going to work very hard to make you and dad proud of me! I'll do my best and it doesn't matter what the challenges are I'm going to try with all my might, mother! It's going to be hard, but that's what you had been trying to tell me all along, right?

Our syllabus says that first exams are in a month's time. There is a lot to do, but I'm confident I can handle it! I'll take whatever bumps and bruises I have to! Thank you mother for believing in me and pushing me this far. With all my love,

Your son, Keith