Chapter 445:Assessments

Chapter 445: 445:Assessments

The room became completely silent. Silver leaned back as he fully concentrated on their instructor. He knew this was going to be very important.

Peter looked around.

"Congratulations."

Nobody relaxed despite how calm he sounded, it felt like a prelude to something worse.

Peter noticed and smiled.

"That wasn’t sarcasm."

Caleb raised a hand.

Peter stared blankly at him until Caleb lowered it again. A few students laughed at that.

He continued after the class went quiet.

"You’ve survived three weeks."

Mina frowned.

"That sounds like sarcasm," she loudly said.

"It wasn’t." Peter paused before adding. "Mostly."

More laughter followed.

Then his expression became serious.

"The baseline evaluations you completed during your first days were exactly what the name implied. Baselines. They told us where you started."

The display changed and more things now started to appear: physical performance, ability control, weapon proficiency, tactical judgment, reaction and command potential.

"Since then, your instructors have been recording development."

Silver glanced toward Ravenna who was watching Peter closely.

"Your conditioning results have changed. Your weapons performance has changed. Some of you have altered your fighting styles. Some have integrated additional beast characteristics."

His eyes passed briefly over Ravenna but she didn’t react.

"Some of you have learned to stop treating every hostile as something that needs to be defeated."

His gaze moved toward Silver.

Silver smiled faintly.

Peter continued.

"Now we’re going to see whether any of that remains useful when the academy stops telling you exactly what to do."

The screen changed again.

A three-dimensional city appeared. It was clearly a simulated district. It had several blocks, apartment buildings,commercial structures, parking facilities, alleys, a small clinic, a transit station, collapsed sections and multiple roads.

Silver immediately leaned forward as Peter enlarged the image.

"This is Urban Training Sector Seven."

A few students reacted as whispered spread, apparently some had heard of it.

Silver hadn’t.

Peter continued.

"Approximately four square kilometers of configurable urban terrain. Structures are reinforced for ability use. Streets, interiors, environmental hazards, civilian simulators and hostile units can all be modified according to assessment requirements."

Ravenna quietly murmured, "That sounds expensive."

Silver whispered back, "We’ve payed tuition."

"Not enough for four square kilometers."

Helena heard them and turned towards them.

"Stop calculating how much the buildings cost."

Silver looked toward her.

"I wasn’t."

"You were about to," Helena whispered.

Peter’s gaze shifted toward them.

All three immediately looked forward.

He continued as though he hadn’t noticed.

"Your first major graded assessment begins in four days."

That caused immediate murmuring.

Four days was enough time to prepare but not enough time to completely reinvent themselves.

Peter let the noise settle.

"Class Four will be divided into squads."

The atmosphere changed.

Silver felt Ravenna glance toward him. He looked back at her but neither said anything. Peter noticed several similar reactions throughout the room.

"Squad assignments will be determined by the academy."

A student raised her hand.

Peter nodded.

"Can we request teammates?"

"No."

"What about compatible abilities?"

"We know your abilities."

The student lowered her hand.

Peter continued.

"The academy isn’t interested in discovering whether you perform well only when surrounded by people you personally selected."

Shirley leaned back slightly.

Ravenna’s expression remained neutral.

Three weeks ago, Silver suspected she would’ve been annoyed if they were separated.

Now?

He wasn’t sure.

He leaned toward her.

"Want to be together?"

Ravenna considered.

"Yes."

Silver smiled.

Then she continued.

"But I don’t mind if we’re not."

That answer pleased him.

"Same."

Ravenna looked toward him.

"Although if you’re on another squad, I want to beat you."

Silver smirked.

"That’s romantic."

"I’m serious."

"So am I."

Ravenna smiled.

Peter’s voice interrupted.

"Ruddington. Arkland."

Both looked forward.

Peter stared at them.

"Would you like to share your conversation with everyone?"

Silver shook his head.

"No, sir."

Ravenna answered at the same time.

"No, sir."

Peter looked between them.

"Good, now shut up."

A few students laughed.

Peter continued.

"Leadership assignments will also be determined by the academy."

That produced more interest.

Silver was preliminary leadership rank one, Ravenna three and Helena ten; so several students automatically looked toward them.

Peter noticed.

"If you’re looking at Ruddington because he’s number one, stop."

The students looked forward again each trying to act as though they were not.

"Preliminary leadership rankings do not guarantee command."

Silver expected that.

Peter continued.

"Someone ranked twenty-five may command a squad containing someone ranked five."

That changed the room.

"Why?" Caleb asked.

Peter looked at him.

"Because I want to know whether number five can follow orders."

Caleb nodded slowly.

Peter’s expression remained serious.

"Leadership is not the only thing we’re evaluating. A Contractor incapable of functioning under someone else’s command is a liability."

Silver thought about that and completely agreed. He couldn’t imagine working in a life and death situation with someone who hated the thought of him leading or was egotistical.

Peter changed the display.

A mission briefing appeared.

[OPERATION TYPE: SEARCH AND EXTRACTION]

[ENVIRONMENT: URBAN]

[MISSION WINDOW: CLASSIFIED UNTIL DEPLOYMENT]

[PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: 3]

The first appeared.

[1. LOCATE MISSING PERSONNEL.]

"A military logistics team entered the district and failed to report," Peter said, his voice firm.

Several markers appeared on the map.

"Exact location unknown."

Second objective.

[2. RECOVER SECURED MILITARY CASE.]

A rectangular image appeared. The case seemed to be reinforced and heavy enough to require either one strong person or two ordinary people.

Peter continued.

"The missing team was transporting a secured case containing sensitive materials."

Caleb raised his hand.

"What’s inside?"

"Classified."

"Even in the simulation?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because the people retrieving sensitive military cargo are not always told what they’re retrieving."

Caleb lowered his hand.

Silver smiled, he knew that feeling of doing something without knowing what you’re doing especially when he had been in this situation in his last line. Atleast the case retrieval at that time had bedn pretty easy. He had once suspected it was probably a new weapon blue print but he couldn’t be too sure.

The third objective came onto the screen.

[3. REACH EXTRACTION WITHIN THE TIME LIMIT.]

Peter turned.

"All surviving squad members, recovered personnel and the military case must reach the designated extraction zone before the mission window closes."

Mina raised her hand.

"What happens if we only complete two objectives?"

"You receive credit for two."

"So not automatic failure?"

"No."

Peter’s answer surprised several people.

He continued, adding more hope to the students.

"This is graded assessment, not entrance elimination. Failure to complete the mission does not remove you from the academy." Then his expression hardened. "But it will be recorded."

That somehow sounded worse.

Peter brought up the scoring categories.

[MISSION COMPLETION]

[TEAMWORK]

[CASUALTY MANAGEMENT]

[TACTICAL DECISION-MAKING]

[RESOURCE MANAGEMENT]

[ABILITY CONTROL]

[COMBAT PERFORMANCE]

[ADAPTABILITY]

[COMMAND PERFORMANCE]

Silver read them carefully to find that combat performance was only one category which was both good and bad.

Peter pointed toward it.

"I know exactly what some of you are thinking."

Caleb looked innocent.

Peter looked directly at him.

"Killing forty hostiles does not automatically produce a high score."

Caleb loudly sighed.

The class laughed.

Peter continued.

"If you eliminate forty hostiles while the personnel you’re supposed to rescue die, you have performed poorly."

He pointed toward mission completion.

"If you recover the personnel but lose the case because nobody secured it properly, you lose points."

Resource management.

"If you spend all your ammunition within twenty minutes and require another squad member to cover you for the rest of the mission, that matters."

Ability control.

"If you exhaust yourself because you wanted to demonstrate how powerful your ability is, that matters."

His gaze briefly moved toward Ravenna. Ravenna crossed her arms, almost defensively. Silver resisted smiling.

Peter’s eyes shifted toward him.

"And if you repeatedly use an expensive ability when walking three meters would’ve produced the same result, that matters."

Silver stopped smiling, that had been a clear target on his back.

Ravenna’s mouth twitched.

Peter continued.

"If a leader gives good orders but fails to communicate them clearly, that matters."

Command performance.

"If a squad member disagrees with a decision and decides to ignore command rather than communicate, that matters."

Teamwork.

"If you encounter something unexpected and freeze because it wasn’t included in your preparation material..."

Peter tapped the final category.

Adaptability.

"That matters."

The room had become much quieter as everyone absorbed it, especially when it tapped on everyones weakness.

Silver liked the assessment already. It wasn’t that easy since there were too many ways to lose points but there were also too many things to manage simultaneously. Which meant raw strength alone couldn’t carry anyone.

Peter continued.

"Each squad will receive a limited equipment allocation."

A list of ammunition, medical supplies, communication equipment, food and water, utility tools, and protective equipment appeared.

"Before deployment, your squad will decide what to carry within the permitted weight allowance."

Silver immediately understood; Resource management began before the mission.

Someone behind him whispered, "Damn."

Peter heard.

"Correct."

The class laughed.

"You will not have enough allocation to bring everything."