Chapter 446:Squads

Chapter 446: 446:Squads

The laughter stopped as another reality settled in.

Peter continued.

"If you want additional ammunition, something else stays behind. If you want more medical supplies, something else stays behind. If your squad contains someone capable of carrying greater weight without compromising mobility, perhaps that influences your decision."

Ravenna looked at Silver who looked back.

She smiled.

Silver whispered, "Pack mule."

Her smile vanished.

He looked forward immediately.

Peter continued.

"Primary and secondary weapons remain your responsibility. Academy ammunition and mission-specific equipment will be provided."

Shirley raised her hand.

"Are our abilities unrestricted?"

"Within academy safety regulations."

"Environmental damage?"

"Allowed."

That interested Ravenna.

Peter added, "And scored."

Ravenna’s interest immediately decreased.

"If you destroy a building because it was tactically necessary, we’ll evaluate the decision." Peter paused. "If you destroy a building because you wanted to see whether you could, we’ll also evaluate the decision."

Ravenna sighed.

Silver leaned toward her.

"Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"It sounded directed at you."

"It was probably directed at Caleb."

From the front Caleb turned.

"I heard that," he mouthed at them.

Ravenna smiled.

Peter stared at all three until they became quiet.

"Another important point."

The map disappeared.

[CASUALTIES]

Peter’s expression became serious.

"Your squad can continue after losing members," he solemnly said. "Depending on the simulated injury, a casualty may become unable to fight, unable to walk, unconscious or officially deceased."

The room became considerably less amused.

"You will decide how to respond."

Silver remembered the stretcher exercise.

Peter continued.

"The academy will not tell you whether carrying an injured teammate is always the correct decision."

Some students frowned.

"It isn’t," peter added.

That silenced them.

"Your responsibility is to make the decision appropriate to the situation and accept how it affects the mission."

Helena raised her hand.

"Will casualties know their injury status?"

"Yes."

"Will the rest of the squad?"

"Only what can reasonably be diagnosed."

Helena nodded.

Peter continued.

"You’ve spent three weeks learning first-response procedures for a reason."

Silver looked at the scoring categories again. Medical response suddenly mattered, beast Biology might matter, weapons maintenance, field Analysis and navigation. Everything they’d been doing was beginning to connect.

Peter wasn’t giving them separate subjects. The academy was giving them pieces of one job.

Silver liked that considerably less than he liked shooting moving targets, because it meant he couldn’t simply become good at the fun parts.

Peter displayed another page.

[PREPARATION PERIOD: 4 DAYS]

[SQUAD ASSIGNMENTS: TOMORROW - 07:00]

[DETAILED EQUIPMENT RESTRICTIONS: TOMORROW]

[DEPLOYMENT ORDER: CLASSIFIED]

"Today you’ll continue normal lessons."

Groans filled the class but Peter ignored them.

"Tomorrow morning you’ll receive squad assignments."

Silver glanced toward Ravenna again. She was already thinking, he could see it.

Peter continued.

"The following three days will include designated squad preparation periods alongside normal instruction."

A student raised his hand.

"Can squads train together outside those periods?"

"Yes."

That immediately changed the atmosphere.

Peter added, "Within academy regulations."

Several students began looking around the room for potential teammates, potential leaders and potential problems.

Shirley looked toward Ravenna briefly. Helena looked toward Silver. Mina whispered something to Elias. Caleb looked far too excited to even care about anyone else.

Peter let them think as he shut off the display.

"Physical conditioning in twenty minutes."

The room erupted in protests.

"Sir!"

Peter picked up his tablet.

"The assessment is in four days. You didn’t think we’d stop training until then did you?"

Nobody had an argument.

---

The assessment dominated conversation for the rest of the day.

Silver heard people discussing it during conditioning, during lunch,between lessons, in the shooting range and in the corridors.

Rumors had already started despite the fact that Peter had given them almost no useful details.

Urban Sector Seven had underground tunnels.

Urban Sector Seven had automated Tier Three beasts.

Urban Sector Seven could flood.

Urban Sector Seven had traps.

Urban Sector Seven had hidden academy instructors pretending to be civilians.

Urban Sector Seven had once caught fire during a third-year assessment.

Silver believed approximately none of it and Ravenna also believed even less. They sat together during lunch with Helena.

Antony and Rebecca had joined them because Class Two had apparently received a similar announcement.

Antony stabbed a piece of food with unnecessary aggression.

"They won’t tell us squad assignments until tomorrow."

Silver nodded.

"Same."

Rebecca drank from her bottle.

"They’re doing it deliberately. If they gave us four days with our squads, we’d spend four days trying to turn ourselves into permanent teams."

Helena nodded.

"They want to see adaptation."

Antony looked toward Silver.

"Do you know who you’re getting?"

"No."

"Leadership rank one and no corruption? What is the use of your hatdwork then."

Silver smiled.

"More suffering I think."

Antony looked toward Ravenna.

"What about you?"

"No."

Helena added, "Nobody does."

Antony sighed.

"I hope she’s isn’t in my squad," he said and briefly pointed to Rebecca who immediately stopped eating.

She looked at him, more like glared at him.

"Why?"

"Because you’ll bully me."

"You need it for character development."

"See?"

Silver laughed.

Ravenna continued eating completely ignoring him.

Antony looked toward her.

"What about you? Want Silver?"

Ravenna looked up.

Silver waited for her to respond.

She swallowed then asked," for the squad?"

Antony flatly stared.

"What else would I mean?"

Silver almost choked on his drink. Helena covered her mouth. Rebecca looked away, shoulders shaking.

Ravenna realized what she’d said and her face reddened.

Antony stared between them.

"I didn’t even make the joke."

Silver started laughing but was kicked beneath the table by Ravenna.

He stopped, or tried to.

She looked at Antony.

"I’d be happy if we’re assigned together, but I don’t need to be."

Silver nodded.

Antony looked between them again.

"You two are becoming disturbingly mature."

Ravenna frowned.

"Was that an insult?"

"I haven’t decided yet."

Rebecca hit Antony’s shoulder.

"Eat."

He did.

---

That evening, Silver returned to hid dorm room earlier than usual. Dillian wasn’t there, Jude was in the library and Antony had disappeared somewhere with several Class Two students to discuss their assessment.

For once, Silver had the room to himself.

He sat on his bed, then opened the Happiness System.

[Happiness System]

The familiar interface unfolded.

Silver skipped affection first.

He already knew the number had changed slightly, still, the resource page appeared.

[CURRENT RESOURCES]

[Affection Points: 16,214]

Silver smiled.

He had spent 4,800 on Ravenna’s Titan-Horn Mountain Bison core, but her gradual affection growth and smaller happiness gains had already started replenishing the total.

Sixteen thousand was still enormous compared with what he’d once possessed.

But now, the problem was deciding what to do with it.