Chapter 25: Final Exam
"Alexander! Alexander!"
"Hmm... Arbus, what's up?" Alexander mumbled slowly as he got up, blinking away the remnants of his dream.
"Wake up already. Did you forget our final exam is today? We're supposed to assemble in the base's hangar in an hour," Arbus said as he pulled on his boots.
With a tired sigh, Alexander swung his legs off the bed and gazed around the mostly empty room. About a month ago, Instructor Kate had instructed Arbus to move out of the boys shared bedroom, due to the constant complaints she received from the other trainees. This was something she had already suspected would happen eventually given his circumstances.
Arbus had simply agreed. He wasn't all that surprised by this given the fact that he had similar arrangements back on Terytl-b, despite commander Mitz's best efforts to make his fellow Sentries get over it.
He was relocated to one of the spare rooms in the resting area. To almost everyone's surprise, Alexander had volunteered to go with him. Arbus wasn't exactly sure how to feel about that. It was the first time in years he felt like he'd made a genuine friend.
His suspicion towards Alexander had slowly decreased over the last few weeks, although it wasn't entirely gone. He still found it rather strange that Alexander decided to make friends with him of all people, despite the reasons he gave.
A few possibilities had naturally crossed his mind. One of them was that this was a long game by Alexander and Jet. It was entirely possible that Alexander was just pretending to be his friend, and that he would reveal that during this final training mission. If so, that would sting, sure, but it wouldn't change much for Arbus. After today, they wouldn't be seeing each other again anyways.
Another theory he had come up with, was that Alexander was sent by Bastain. Arbus wasn't sure what to make of that. Was this Bastain's way of keeping tabs on him? If it was, then he didn't think it was that bad. He was the one who asked Bastain to watch him in the first place, so there was a high chance of this theory being correct.
'The second theory being true would definitely hurt more,' Arbus thought, stealing a glance at Alexander before turning away.
If the second was true it would mean that Alexander's job was most likely to watch him and then alert Bastain if he supposedly "went off the right track", like they discussed. This meant that Alexander would be able to end his journey, and his quest for vengeance, at any point he desired.
Thinking back now, Arbus couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if his fight with Rin at the cafeteria had gone further than it did. Would Alexander have told Bastain about it?, he wasn't sure. he wasn't even sure if the theory was right to begin with, so he decided to shove these thoughts to the back of his mind.
Three months had passed since they'd arrived at the training facility. So far, their batch had done pretty well compared to previous years. Especially trainees like Jet, Rin, Alexander, and even Arbus himself. By now, they'd completed nearly every training exercise in the base. Only a handful of Blue Mornans had been disqualified after failing too many simulations in the mental training room. Arbus had never really gotten much better at ranged combat, but his talent with close-combat weapons had more than made up for it.
Once Alexander was ready, they left the room and headed toward the Tomber base's hangar, where they had first arrived months ago, and where the other trainees were currently gathered.
They joined the long row that had already formed as they waited for the instructors to arrive.
Arbus surveyed the room curiously. Most of the trainees looked nervous. Arbus thought that was only natural, considering how important this final mission would most likely be. What did catch his attention, though, was the way a few of them kept sneaking glances at him. After his fight with Kate, most had gone out of their way to avoid him, with the exception of Jet's inner circle. In recent months though, even that had stopped. they'd simply rush past him in hallways or pretend he didn't exist when they were in the same room as him. Honestly Arbus had preferred that quite a lot to how it was before.
Which was why their sudden attention now felt a bit unsettling. Even Jet and Rin, who had seemingly forgotten his existence, were stealing glances in his direction.
He decided to ignore it for now, hoping it didn't mean anything.
Eventually, Head Instructor Kate entered the hangar, with Head Instructors Ty and Dutch following close behind. The room fell silent instantly.
"Welcome, trainees, to your final exam, that will determine if you will become a knight or not. Congratulations on making it this far," Kate began, her voice cutting through the silence. "The past three months have tested each of you in different ways. You've been pushed to your physical and mental limits. Some have exceeded expectations, while others have shown remarkable improvement."
"Today will be the day that puts everything you've learnt so far to the test." Kate said as she stepped back, letting Head Instructor Ty take over.
"Your final exercise, will be a 100-mile trek through the mountains surrounding Tomber Base. You will navigate the terrain, return to this base from the opposite side, and do so without dying.... hopefully."
Murmurs rippled through some of the assembled trainees.
"A walk?" one of the Blue Mornans whispered skeptically. "That's it?"
Ty sighed, his expression darkening. "This is not 'just a walk.' This is a life-or-death mission that over half the trainees who reach this point don't survive. If you've done your research on this planet, you should know that Tomber is one of many planets in this system infested with the monsters left behind by Solaris."
Several students tensed at the mention of the name, while some frowned in confusion.
"Solaris was a Reincarnator who passed through this star system over a hundred years ago, during his battle with a Sentinel. The same Sentinel who now serves as the king of our galaxy."
"These monsters, or puppies as he used to call them, are why this planet has so few inhabitants."
"They are monsters of varying sizes that are strong enough to kill you in a single bite. They roam the land, hidden by the endless snowstorm of the planet. They have also been found beneath the ice, and even in bodies of water."
A few students visibly paled as they finally realised how dangerous this mission was.
A Blue Mornan trainee raised her hand tentatively.
"What is it?" Ty simply asked impatiently.
"Instructor, I was just wondering what the point is of sending us on this mission if it's so dangerous. After how far we've come, isn't it unfair for the deciding factor of our training to be such a deadly test?" she asked, her voice hesitant.
Ty stared at her coldly. "It seems you still don't understand your position. You are knights. Your job is to run headfirst into danger when your Vanguard commands it. Your purpose is to shield innocent lives from harm by being the first to face it. You are no longer simple sentries. Fairness does not exist for Renegades!"
His voice rose as his gaze swept across every trainee. "Renegades are warriors who fight the battles no one else wants to. We are the only thing keeping this universe from falling apart. If what you're looking for is fairness, quit now."