Earthborn: Lost Amongst the Stars

Chapter 4: Moving Forward

I wriggle in my chair slightly as I sat in the advanced Specialized Unit class I had been assigned to yesterday when I was chosen for Team 34. I excelled at the testing part of the assessment, I didn't know about this however. I've been told it is extremely different from the one before.

"We've got a new one, she just got accepted to Patrol Team 34, could you stand please." Spoke the teacher as he looked in my direction.

I stood up hesitantly. "Hello, my name is Sara Holly, I hope you will accept me as your classmate." I said awkwardly. I sat back down and the teacher began her lesson.

I was surprised when I could understand what she was explaining. She was talking about the other Specialized Units available. The S.A.U. or Specialized Assault Unit worked mainly in the area of attack and are practically the infantry. The S.D.U. or Specialized Defense Unit is the main source of protection for the forces. And the S.C.U. or Specialized Command Unit which guided the others in battle. These, with the S.P.U are the four basic forces that are manufactured and used.

A man walked in a whispered in the teachers ear mid lesson.

"It seems we have a surprise guest." Said the teacher as he motioned to the door.

The boy I had rescued from the dead ship, Lucas, walked in.

"Hello, I am Lucas Freerite." Said Lucas as he stood droopy eyed.

"There's a free chair up front with Miss Holly, please take a seat." Said the teacher.

I turned to look at him as he stared blankly at the board that the teacher was writing on. He looked down and pulled out a paper and pen from the bag he was carrying with him and, with great speed, started to write down equations.

"Three!" Exclaimed Lucas.

"What was that?" Said the teacher as he turned around searching for the voice.

"Three, the answer to that thing on the board." He spoke pointing to the scramble of letters and numbers in the corner of the board.

"Do you have work to show me?" Asked the teacher in a accusing manner.

Lucas handed the teacher his paper and the teacher sat in his chair reviewing the paper.

"Incredible, how did you figure that out. This is written in a language known only to a select few, myself included, and was introduced a short time ago." Asked the teacher.

"Trapped in a hole for several years with nothing but everything from grades three through the end of college. I think I'd be able to learn basic Latin and algebra." Said Lucas.

The teacher turned his head in confusion to this response.

"Okay, now lets get back to the lesson." Said the teacher.

I walked out of the classroom, my head full of information to sift through. I bumped into the wall and almost fell over but someone caught me by the wrist. I rubbed my head and turned to see Lucas. He was staring into my face.

I shook my head and cleared the clutter in my head. He saluted me and ran down the hall.

I turned and went the other way towards the cafeteria.

I grabbed my tray and sat down at a table in the corner.

I put my head down self-consciously as I am currently being glared at by several people who had not passed the tests.

I silently ate my lunch bit by bit until I was licking the plate.

"Excuse me, Miss." Spoke a voice behind me.

I lifted my head and turned around to see an assistant supervisor.

"I am sorry to intrude, but I was asked to inform you." Said the A.S.

"Yes?" I asked.

"You will be moving to different living quarters." Spoke the A.S.

"Why?" I asked.

"I don't have that answer, you should go ask the Overseer." Stated the A.S.

I stood up and popped my back as the A.S. handed me a note and walked away.

I stuffed the note in my pocket and exited the cafeteria with the feeling of lasers boring holes into my back.

Nothing to do, nothing to do. Why don't I go beat someone up in the training hall, that would be fun.

I turned and went in the direction of the training hall. I passed sir douchebag esquire on the way.

"Hey there, I heard you got picked. Congratulations." Said Max.

"What's up, why are you being all nice all of a sudden?" I asked.

He smiled forcefully and I spotted a surveillance band on his wrist.

I woooould make his life stink as bad as the guys who work in waste disposal, but I'm in a good mood right now, so I'll let it pass for now.

"Thanks Max, I'll see you later." I said as I passed him.

I came to the entrance to the training hall and went to one of the changing rooms to get into my battle suit. I didn't really need the changing room since I wore the battle suit under my clothes at all times, but I was just being self conscious.

I stepped out and sat on one of the benches on the longer sides of the room. There were four small mats and one large one, the large one was mainly used for tournament usage but is available for common use.

The rules for it are simple, the first one to either get knocked out or pushed off the mat loses.

Two guys were going at it on the large mat and all eyes were on them. My eyes, however, were on Lucas who was crouched in the corner.

Excited yelling echoed through the room and I saw that someone had one.

"Who wants to challenge the champion next!" Said the victor.

Lucas stood up and walked over with his hand raised. "I'd like to." He stated.

"Sure dude, good luck." Said the victor.

They took their positions on the mat.

A bell rung and the victor dashed forward and swung his arm at Lucas. Lucas ducked under it and elbowed the victor in the back, throwing him off the mat.

"We have a new champion!" Yelled one of guys near me.

The recently dethroned champion stormed away in anger.

Lucas swept his eyes over the crowd and stopped at me and winked. I felt very offended by this.

I stood up and walked up to the mat and glared at him.

"Looks like we have a challenger!" Yelled the same guy as before.

We took our positions at both sides of the mat.

The bell rung and Lucas threw a punch at me. I ducked down and went to jab him in the armpit but he spun around and shoved me towards the center of the mat.

I regained my posture and went for him. It was a dance of missed punches, jabs and kicks and always ended up with me getting pushed away.

He went to do it again but this time I stepped sideways and went to punch his chest but was thrown on my back. I stood back up and threw all my weight into him. He caught me and we rolled around on the ground until he was sitting on top of me.

His eyes trailed up and down my form and stopped at my face. I wanted to punch him so hard, but he was holding my wrists so I couldn't do anything. He smirked slightly, then collapsed on top of me.

I rolled out from underneath him and poked him with my foot.

"Is he dead!" Yelled one of the guys in the crowd.

You see that little star button, yeah that one. Every time it gets pressed one pixel gets put into Half-Life 3.