"Next," came the call from the soldier at the military checkpoint.

Will stepped forward and handed his ID. The soldier ran his card through the scanner, and it beeped in confirmation.

"Hold out your arm, please."

Will followed the instruction, and the soldier placed an injector gun on his inner forearm. There was a hiss as the micro-injector pierced his skin.

"Next!" yelled the soldier and handed back his ID.

Will scratched his smarting arm and stepped off the raised dais, waiting for Remy and Becca to finish their security check.

The brunet stepped up to get his ID scanned, and Will's eyes wandered.

There were several checkpoints, each with its own lines. Off to the side, he spotted Patricia Wagner in a shockingly pink midi dress. She had three pink suitcases with her and was arguing with a security personnel about her luggage. The officer clearly had objections to the amount of luggage and seemed to brook no nonsense. With a final word, he left, and Patricia looked livid.

She tapped a much bigger boy ahead of her in the line, and Rowan Kade turned around. Will scowled in annoyance; he hadn't forgotten about his run-in with Kade before the OATs. Patricia thrust one of her cases to Kade, and the bigger boy reluctantly accepted it.

"What are you looking at?" asked Remy, who had just finished his security check. He followed Will's gaze and found Rowan Kade, who had just stepped up to his security checkpoint.

"Kade," Remy spat. The bigger boy turned in their direction as though he had heard him, and Remy grinned with glee. He flipped Kade the bird, and the bigger boy's nostrils flared. Remy then picked his nose with the finger, all the while flipping Kade off.

A vein throbbed on Kade's forehead as he glared daggers at Remy. Will chuckled. "Don't let him catch you alone."

"What is he going to do?" Remy scoffed. "This ain't the tower. He is in our world now."

"Eww!" Becca interrupted their conversation. She slapped Remy's hand away from his nose, and the brunet grinned. "That's disgusting, Remy! What were the two of you looking at?"

"It doesn't matter," said Will. "Come on, let's go."

They headed away from the checkpoint towards a bunch of awaiting military trucks. A soldier waved them through, and soon they were clambering up the back of a Humvee.

"Make way. Coming through," said Remy as they squeezed into the two long bench seats attached to the interior walls of the truck. A silver-haired boy was ahead of them, and he got pushed to the furthest corner. Will came next, and Remy followed soon after. Unfortunately, Becca ended up on the other seat facing them.

"This is a tight squeeze," grunted Will, and the silver-haired boy beside him spoke up. "Stuff your bags under the seat; that will free up space."

Will followed his example, and seeing his actions, others did the same. The boy grinned when they had a bit more room to stretch. "You're William, right? And you must be Remy Soto."

Remy pointed at the silver-haired youth and snapped his fingers. "Victor Maxwell from 3C."

Will recognized the boy now; he went to Stanton High as well but in a different class. Victor had a round, happy face and a dimpled smile. The boy had an earnestness that made him immediately likable.

"You were in the alternate CAD sensors project," said Will. "That was some solid work."

"Thanks," grinned Victor.

"I never considered you to be a mech guy," said Will. "Thought you were more interested in the theory side of the field."

"Hey, if you want to know how to fix 'em, you have to at least pilot them."

"Here, here," Remy agreed.

There were three taps to the side of the vehicle, and the back door slammed shut. The truck started, and it slowly rolled to a start, but before it could pick up speed, the back doors flew open, and a white blur dashed into the truck. The intruder quickly closed the door behind them and made their way further in, knocking knees as they passed.

Victor groaned as the figure stopped in front of him, and their hood fell off their head. A silver-haired girl stood before Victor with her hand out.

"Cough it up, Vicky."

"What are you talking about, Val? I don't have it."

The girl bent forward and went through Victor's pockets, pulling out a leather box. "Aha! I knew you had it."

The silver-haired girl grinned, and her dimples matched Victor's.

"Great, now you are stuck in a moving vehicle with no seat," said Victor sullenly. "Good work, Valerie."

"Oh! Right!" Valerie turned to Will. "You, scoot over."

Will glanced at Victor. "You didn't tell us you had a sister. I can see the resemblance."

Valerie pointed at Will's nose. "I resemble this dweeb? What an insult!"

Will shrugged. "Sorry, Val, there is no space here. You might have to sit on someone's lap."

"Why? You offering?" she grinned.

Remy snickered, and Becca sighed from the other side. "Forget about those idiots, Valerie. You can sit here with me."

Valerie turned around. "Rebecca? It's so good to see you!"

Becca scooted to the side, and Valerie took her seat. The two immediately started chatting amicably together.

"I guess they know each other," said Remy.

"Valerie is from Shieldhorn. She met Rebecca in one of the interschool competitions," said Victor.

"Victor and Valerie, I guess your parents really like their V names, huh?" said Will.

Victor shrugged. "Dad named us after the Victus 2A7 panzer tank and Valorous AH-21D. Mom only found out why two months after the fact."

Remy and Will laughed.

"So military kids," said Remy. "Bet you traveled around a lot."

"Oh, there isn't a military base that we haven't been in," said Victor. "We pretty much bounced around till we joined Stanton."

"Novgrun?" asked Remy.

"Yup," said Victor. "Been around all the passes too."

Will looked impressed. "I feel almost stupid to ask, Thornfield?"

"Been there half my life," said Victor.

"Damn, you've been around," said Remy.

"Yup, if you can name it, I've been there," Victor smiled.

"So, got any advice for us raw recruits?" asked Will. "How do we survive boot camp?"

Victor thought for a moment. "Eat and sleep while you can, as fast as you can."

"Wait... that's it?" asked Remy.

"You'll know once you get there," said Victor. "Also, there seems to be a misunderstanding here. It is not the military that is training us."

"What?" asked Remy. "They are not?"

"No. They subcontract the work," said Victor. "So, if you are looking for the full military experience, think again."

"Does that mean the trainers are going to be more lax?" asked Will.

Victor shrugged. "I doubt it. They've got to teach us how to fully pilot a mech in mere months. Highly likely that they would run us ragged."

"Oof," said Remy.

"It's not all doom and gloom though. We can move outside the fort if we get the right permissions. There are a few interesting shops around the base."

Will shifted in his seat, thinking about the airstrip outside the fort. "Maybe you could give us a tour of the place when we get the chance."

"Sounds great," Victor laughed.

Will grinned. "So, got any more advice you can share?"

Victor chuckled. "I got a few. This next bit is about senior officers. Whatever you do, never ever...."

The silver-haired boy continued to give a hilarious account of the troubles he had gotten into with senior staff. Remy and Will laughed uproariously with each tale, and time passed quickly.

It was when the air started to get chilly that Victor glanced at his slate. "We are almost there."

Remy's stomach grumbled. "I hope there's some chow. I'm already hungry."

Will's slate buzzed again, and he glanced at the incoming text messages.

"Ryder," he muttered under his breath as he scrolled through the messages from his cousin.

Remy gave a low whistle. "Someone is angry."

Victor looked interested. "Who is it?"

"Just family," said Will, and he deleted most of the messages.

"Well, you'd better say your goodbyes quick. The communications outside are on a different network. You'll find it harder to connect later on."

"Ain't that a shame," Remy grinned.

Will let out a small smile and tucked the slate back into his pocket. The truck rolled to a slow stop, and half a minute later, the back doors swung open.

There was a lot of jostling and muttered curses as they made their way out of the Humvee. A military personnel directed them, and they walked across a large tarmac. Hundreds of heavy vehicles rolled past them, and ahead of them was a massive hangar door. Snow blasted from outside, and Will had to shade his eyes against a sudden draft of wind.

"Atten-hut!" came a yell from the side, and everyone froze. Four white exo-suit individuals walked up to the group of cadets. "Get in formation and line up!"

They rushed to follow the order, and soon there was a ten by five grid of students with more joining the group as the trucks rolled in. Will stood at attention as the four inspected each one of them. The woman leading them stood in front of the group, inspecting the proceedings.

The tall woman had high cheekbones and a sharp nose. A lizard head necklace hung around her neck. Her long-braided hair reached down to her waist, and her bright amber eyes scanned the formation.

"Ensure your shoulders are aligned with the person next to you!" more instructions were given.

Will's slate buzzed, and he snuck a peek at it. It was Ryder.

'Answer the damn phone.'

"He is persistent," Remy whispered from behind Will. "When is he going to get the hint?"

"I'll just ignore him," said Will. "I'll be stuck in this base for months. Let him jerk around."

"He could talk to your mom," Remy whispered.

"And what?" said Will through the corner of his lips. "Admit that he had been selling contraband. Fat chance."

Remy chuckled from behind him. The exo-clad personnel finished their inspection and walked to the front of the group. They stood in front of the cadets with the lady with high cheekbones at the center.

"Welcome, cadets," she said, "I'm Tara Lawson, your head instructor for the Mech Operations and Tactics program, and it is my honor to shepherd you, the future defenders of our nation."

"In the next few weeks, you'll be thrust headfirst into the realm of hardcore mech piloting. This will be the most demanding challenge you've ever faced. You will be pushed...."

Will's slate buzzed, and he snuck a peek at the notification. There were more messages from Ryder.

'Last chance, idiot. You have 10 sec. Come clean or suffer.'

'10, 9, 8...'

Will frowned at the messages. How was Ryder getting through the communication gap? They were at the outskirts of the tower, and the network was supposed to be weak here.

'3, 2, 1...'

Heart beating fast, Will turned his attention back to the head instructor as she reached the end of her speech. ".... that said, allow me to introduce your assistant instructor, Damian Ryder."

Will's jaw dropped as Ryder swaggered his way towards the group of instructors. A predatory smirk lingered on his lips. His gaze met Will's, and his smirk transformed into a smile that was all teeth.

Will swallowed hard. "Oh, crap!"