Earth's Academy for Gifted Space Soldiers

Chapter 1: Jason

Jason inhaled deeply as the shuttle pulled slowly into the docking station. "All passengers please remain seated until the ship has securely landed." The robotic voice kept repeating that phrase over the intercom. Jason took a moment to gaze up at the gigantic, cylinder-like tower from outside his window just before the ship crept into the landing pad tucked underneath the structure. I made it, he thought to himself as the spacecraft settled itself securely on the ground and the opening to the enclosed landing pad began to shut. After many years of studying, training, and money-saving, he finally managed to earn a spot at the esteemed Earth's Academy for Gifted Space Soldiers(or EAGSS for short).

"Attention all passengers," the robotic voice interrupted his thoughts, "the ship is secure, please make your way to the exit and thank you for flying with S.C.A.M. (Space Carriage of American Migrants) Space Travel." Jason got up eagerly and left the vessel with the rest of the passengers. He took a moment to look around the dimly lit hangar; the walls were lined with huge space shuttles similar to the one he rode here. The room was circular, and he could make out two enormous hangar doors on opposite ends of the space.

     Suddenly an elderly man came through a set of double doors that looked like they led to some stairs. He possessed a neatly-groomed gray beard, and wore a fancy suit. "Greetings, students, and welcome to the academy," he said, "my name is professor Phillips, and I am the headmaster of this establishment." He smiled at the group, "today I will be giving you a partial tour of the campus, this way please." And with that, he went back through the door from which he came with the eager rookies in tow.

     The building was impossibly large and had multiple floors. Each one was designed the same: A long hallway that stretched around the outer rim of the circular story; the inner wall of the corridor consisted of the the multiple rooms of that floor. Sometimes there were several rooms stacked on top of each other for dorms, and sometimes there was just open space filled with furniture for recreation. The outer walls were all windows. As they walked, Jason couldn't help but admire the high-ceiling corridors with huge windows that gave extraordinary views of the galaxies around them.

    "Here at EAGSS, you will be trained in the ways of alien extermination." Explained the headmaster, "this includes lessons in hand-to-hand combat, unique weapon training, and basic study of extra-terrestrial beings." He continued, "Since we do not have school years or a grade level system, the academy uses a system of rankings: Beginner, Junior, Intermediate, Advanced, and Elite." Jason looked up at this; he had heard about the Elites before.

The Elite ranking consisted of thirteen members who are said to be extremely talented alien-fighters; so much so that they worked directly with the Earthen governments to deal with highly-dangerous threats. Jason would do anything to become one of them, but he regarded it more as a hopeless dream rather than an achievable goal.

"Since you are new to EAGSS, you will all start out as Beginner students. In this ranking you will focus mainly on hand-to-hand combat and alien study, and you will not be permitted to take on actual extermination missions." Announced the headmaster. Suddenly a hand shot out from the crowd, "Excuse me, sir," said the owner of the hand, they sounded tired, "but are there any elevators in this building?" They wheezed. It was then that Jason realized that he was too distracted to notice that they had been climbing several flights of stairs throughout this tour; everyone was exhausted, including himself. "Of course there are elevators," the headmaster said cheerfully as the entire group sighed in relief, "faculty elevators for teachers, all students must use the stairs." He continued as their sighs turned immediately into groans. "Well, I believe that concludes the tour, you may now make your way to the dorms to get settled in." He announced as another hand shot up, "pardon me sir, but what floor are the dorms on again?"

"Floor three." The man replied.

"And what floor are we on?"

"Floor 57."

Everyone groaned even louder as the headmaster snuck away to the faculty elevator.