ATHANATOS

Training

Ryan sat alone in his bunker sulking about the new training program he had to go through. Since he hasn't graduated yet and only gone through half of the tenth grade, he has to finish the rest of his education using neural implants which is a four hour session everyday plus a small chip had to be surgically implanted onto the side of his head. This was there for everyone. The program would last for the next few months and each session felt like his head was inside a constantly ringing alarm. That wasn't the end of it. Since the gear they were using so far was made from random parts, it wasn't good for the long run. So the Outer rim military provided them with a complete version of the original gear found on Hades. Ryan was excited at first but then he found out that it weighed a million kilos and he had to train with it five days a week.

"At least it looks awesome." was his reaction on testing it but then he remembered that he was a small fifteen year old that the engineers behind the suit had made something for him so he politely thanked them and left. As for the comment on the suit, it looked awesome to Ryan as it was meant to be intimidating. It was matt black and had the white symbol of the outer rim embossed onto it - three concentric circles with a line through it. It had a built-in helmet complete with communication equipment and two hours worth of oxygen stored in it. It also had a utility belt in which a pair of blades could be kept. It was supposed to give the onlookers a sense that the user was someone not to be trifled with and it worked reasonably well.

Today was when they assembled for the first time to begin their military training. In the Outer Rim, it lasted three years after which they graduated. Zack had already done a year so one year was deducted from the training he had to do. Eighty three more refugees arrived from Ares and people who were lucky enough to be far away from Zeus' destruction to survive. Everyone over the age of fifteen and below the age of eighteen were all put into Ryan's batch.

The room looked like a regular classroom except there were no decorations. The door was a dark grey sliding door and the room was lit up by sunlamps - electric bulbs that give the same feeling of being under the warm light of the sun. A large man walked into the room. He had short hair, dark skin and wore a black leather jacket. He spoke in a gruff voice as he slammed a large stack of papers onto the desk.

"Let me introduce myself. I am your commanding officer Griff. All of you have been assigned to this training group and I intend to make you the best. Today you are off duty, so get used to your posts." He opened a little booklet.

"R.Alester, S.Ruth, A.Mahesh, N.Pinto! Top floor - engineering."

Sam, Ryan and two other boys stood up, quickly said yes and sat back down.

"Z.Alester, A.Girth! Border patrol. Take your gear before you leave."

"Who are the other two?" whispered Ryan to Sam.

"No ide-"

"Ruth, Alester!" yelled Griff. "May I know what y'all talking about?" 

"Oh crap" muttered Ryan.

"Last warning. Shut up." said Griff. "Lynn! Where is your brother?"

Lynn? thought Ryan. He looked back and he saw a someone who looked familiar. He was tall, well built and had short black hair.

"Sir, my brother Manuel Lynn was killed on Terra." he spoke with a bit of hatred in his voice.

Oh shit. mouthed Sam and Ryan at the same time.

"Sorry to hear that, Ben. Your post is on the ground floor."

Before sitting down, he made eye contact with Ryan. He didn't have to speak but it was clear - he knew that Ryan was involved in Manuel's death.