The Next Day

— Sundia, Aldredath 10, 8054 —

(Monday, December 5, AD 2129)

“Ugh… back in class, again…”

“Ever the lazyass, are we?” Phoenix drawled as she passed Conrad a glance, who was slouched over and resting his chin on the desk in front of him.

“You complained about the trip, and now you’re complaining about being back in class,” Pierce remarked, his arms crossed as he looked down at Conrad from his standing position in front of the desk. “You’ll complain about anything, won’t you?”

“Man, don’t you lecture me about complaining…” Conrad muttered, turning his head to rest the side of it on his desk as he looked at Pierce through the corner of his eye. He then glanced around the rest of the small classroom; Kestrel sat to his side, opposite from Phoenix, while Austin, Spike, Sky, and Twy were seated not too far away. Aside from the eight of them, the room was empty. “…In the morning, too,” Conrad eventually added, his tone deadpan. “Why do classes have to be so early…”

“It’s 10,” Kestrel stated.

“Did I stutter?”

“You really do get tired a lot, huh?” Sky interjected, turning to face the group before passing Austin an amused glance. “Really reminds me of a certain someone I know!”

“Oh, shut up…” Austin grumbled.

“Well, at least there’s a break comin’ up, right?” Spike questioned, glancing between Austin and Conrad as he did. “Y’all should be able to get plenty of sleep, then.”

“Yeah, but that’s next week, and this is now,” Conrad complained.

“Hold on, what?” Austin stared at Spike in confusion. “A break? What? When?”

“Heh. You really don’t pay attention to your surroundings, huh, dweeb?” Pierce remarked snidely.

“That’s—!” Austin started, only for his face to scrounge up in frustration as he tore his gaze away from Pierce. The latter made to respond, only for a troubled look to cross his face — followed by him mirroring Austin and looking off to the side in frustration.

“…Right. Well then,” Phoenix spoke up, dispersing the awkward silence. “I’ve heard about this break, as well. The Spring Break, right?”

“That’s right!” Sky exclaimed cheerfully. “Two whole weeks off from schooling! And at the beginning of the second week is Nimalia’s Hunger’s Bane holiday! I can’t wait to see what that’s like!”

“Hunger’s Bane?” Conrad echoed, finally picking his head up from his desk to turn and face Sky directly. “Sounds like a feast.”

“Figures that food is what would wake you up,” Pierce remarked with a smirk.

“Ah, shut up…”

“From what I’ve heard, Hunger’s Bane is similar in concept to Thanksgiving,” Phoenix commented. “A fall-time harvest feast, essentially.”

“Wait, but isn’t it in the middle of Spring Break?” Austin questioned.

Phoenix shrugged. “It’s Spring here, so it must be Fall in the other hemisphere. Maybe Hunger’s Bane originated from there.”

“Either way, I’m excited!” Sky declared as she pounded her right fist into her left palm. “I can’t wait for this week to be over and the break to start!”

“Be careful with that enthusiasm…” Twy spoke up, finally tearing her attention from a small book in front of her to join the conversation. “The regular students have study days and finals this week. I doubt they’d want to hear that kind of enthusiasm from us, who don’t have any tests to worry about.”

“I’ll thank whatever god might exist for that,” Conrad remarked.

“That does raise a question, though… why don’t we have finals?” Phoenix questioned. “We’re in classes, just like the other students. Albeit all on our own…”

“Ah, probably just because we came here in the middle of the semester,” Pierce replied airily. “I bet once next term starts after the break, we’ll start having tests and shit just like everyone else.”

“Awww….” Austin groaned.

“Guess we can’t escape studyin’, even here…” Spike lamented.

“That said, there is one way to escape normal classes next term,” Pierce remarked, adopting a challenging smirk as he eyed everyone else in the room. “After all, something else starts next week, too. Any of you losers know what?”

Phoenix passed him a doubtful look. “…You aren’t talking about the Qualifiers for that Annual Chaotic Tournament, are you?”

“That’s exactly it,” Pierce declared. “The ACT is going to be in Riverana this year. That means if we manage to qualify and win matches, we’ll get to stay there instead of this dusty shithole.”

“…You actually expect to win in the ACT?” Conrad responded, “with as little experience as you have?”

“Of course I do. Tournaments are a cinch.”

“Right. Should’ve expected you’d say that. Well, I’ll just watch from the sidelines as you, uh… prove your skill, then.”

“Ha!” Pierce loudly scoffed. “As if I’d let you. The ACT works in teams of up to four, after all.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to try and drag us into this…” Conrad muttered.

Pierce shook his head. “I didn’t try. I did. I signed us up as soon as sign-ups opened this morning. Me, you, Phoenix, and Kestrel. We’ll take the ACT by storm!”

“What?!” Conrad and Phoenix exclaimed in unison, both of them turning toward Pierce in surprise.

“…Irresponsible,” Kestrel commented.

“I’ll say!” Phoenix added with an indignant scowl. “What the hell, Pierce! You didn’t even ask us!”

“Oh come on, like you’d want to miss out on a fucking tournament,” Pierce shot back. “Don’t tell me you were seriously going to sit it out.”

“Whether or not I would’ve has no bearing on you signing us up without our permission!”

“I was really looking forward to that break, too…” Conrad muttered as he placed his head back on his desk.

“…To be expected of Pierce, I suppose,” Twy commented, though kept her voice just low enough so that only Austin, Spike, and Sky could hear her. “How irresponsible.”

“Uh… y-yeah, definitely…” Austin responded uneasily.

Spike and Twy both immediately passed Austin wary glances.

“…Austin…?” Spike muttered warningly. “You didn’t…!”

“Ah ha ha…!” Austin laughed uneasily, his eyes cast conspicuously to the side. “I mean… c’mon, it’s a tournament, and everything! We can’t miss that!”

“You signed us up? Really?!” Twy’s brow furrowed as she turned her whole body to face Austin directly. “Why?!”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with your spat with Pierce, does it?” Sky questioned.

“It doesn’t… not,” Austin replied.

“Oh, Austin…” Twy sighed as she held her hand to her face. “This is… would it have been so hard to ask?”

“Sorry…”

“Well, I gotta admit, I was a little interested, anyways,” Spike commented, “but still, man. Should’ve asked.”

“’Little’?” Sky echoed incredulously, “I saw how much you were researching the ACT last night, you know!”

“Hey, that ain’t the point.”

“Yeah, I get it… sorry, guys,” Austin apologized again. “I guess that was pretty short-sighted of me…”

“Among other things,” Twy muttered, and then cast a glance toward the door as it opened. “…But we’ll have to save this conversation for another time.”

The conversations in the room quickly subsided as Kaoné finally entered the classroom, followed by a certain silver-haired man. “…I see everyone’s here,” Kaoné remarked, her gaze sweeping across the eight Earthians as she stood at the front of the room.

“Who’s the new guy?” Pierce questioned, nodding toward the man next to Kaoné. “New teacher, or something?”

“In a sense,” the Dean replied, and then gestured up at the man. “Everyone, this is Gavon Savénos, a guest instructor here at WCU.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintances,” Gavon remarked with a casual wave.

“He’ll be in charge of today’s lesson,” Kaoné went on to explain, and then gestured for everyone to follow as she and Gavon stepped out of the classroom. “Now, if you could all follow us to the practice fields…”

“Aw man, more outdoor lessons?” Conrad complained as he slowly extricated himself from his desk.

“I haven’t seen this new guy around much,” Phoenix commented, glancing warily between everyone else in the room. “…Who is he? And why are we learning from him?”

“Gavon… I think I remember hearin’ that name from Luke,” Austin replied, only to jump in surprise as Gavon peeked his head back into the room.

“Maybe if you all actually followed instead of standing around here, you’d have some answers,” he declared.

“Right… sorry,” Twy apologized as the group quickly joined Gavon and Kaoné in the hallway. As soon as they did, the two instructors resumed walking down the hallway with the group in tow.

“Anyways… it stands to reason you all don’t know me,” Gavon said. “I’ve only been here for two weeks, and you all were gone last week. Not to mention that I’m just a guest instructor in charge of a couple of specific lessons.”

“Which is what he’ll be in charge of, today,” Kaoné explained. “Today’s lesson subject is something I don’t have much experience with, personally, but Gavon should be more than capable of showing you the basics.”

“Who even are you?” Pierce pressed, his attention on Gavon as the group continued down the halls of the school building. “We have your name, but we don’t know anything about your rep or credentials.”

Austin looked Gavon over head-to-toe, taking in his black, blue, and silver clothing as well as his rough goatee and short ponytail. “You’ve met my uncle, right?” Austin questioned.

“Luke Travis? Yep, I have,” Gavon responded with a nod and a smirk. “Well, if you know that much, and if you’re so eager for answers, I guess I’ll just be straight with you.”

“Are you sure, Gavon…?” Kaoné responded uneasily.

“Hiding things won’t do. It’s one of the worst ways to establish trust,” Gavon declared, and then stopped just in front of the doors to outside. He turned to face the Earthian students, at which point he offered a casual salute. “My full title is Master Captain, Sector 1, Black Suns. Nice to meet you all.”

“Black Suns…? Aren’t they a PMC?” Phoenix asked.

“That we are,” Gavon replied, turning back toward the doors to push out into the outside world. As everyone followed him into the intense late morning light, he continued, “I’m sure you have plenty of questions and misconceptions about the Suns, but you’ll have to hold off on those for now. Today’s lesson is about something else.”

“And that something else is…?” Pierce prompted impatiently.

“Marksmanship.”

“…I don’t follow,” Phoenix deadpanned. “Marksmanship? As in guns?”

Gavon responded with an affirmative nod. “Yep. Guns.” He then passed the group an amused smile. “It’s kind of funny how most fledgling Chaotics have that reaction.”

“Gavon, don’t tease them…” Kaoné admonished with a sigh before turning to address the Keys. “As much as I personally dislike guns, both Davídrius and SERRCom want you to become familiar with them — and this is exactly what Gavon was brought here to teach. For the rest of today, Gavon has the floor. I’m just an observer.”

“Thanks, Dean,” Gavon replied.

“Guns, though…?” Twy muttered, “I… don’t know how I feel about using guns…”

“More importantly, we don’t need them,” Pierce declared. “I mean, c’mon! We’re Chaotics! What’s even the point of using guns?”

“Why, what a wonderful segue into the beginning of today’s lesson!” Gavon remarked, bringing the group to a stop at the end of one of WCU’s practice fields while Kaoné moved off to the side. At Gavon’s feet lay four small black cases, each of them covered with a fine layer of sand; the Instructor used his foot to wipe some of the sand off of the nearest box before turning to face the group once more. “Most Chaotics tend to believe that their abilities are stronger or more useful than small arms fire. And, to be honest, in many cases they’re right. But not all. However, before I give away all of the answers…” He slowly swept his gaze across the eight novice Chaotics standing in front of him. “Anyone have any idea about what situations I could be talking about?”

“A situation where a gun would be more useful than our abilities…” Austin muttered in contemplation.

“I just don’t see it,” Pierce countered. “I can run faster than a bullet and hit way harder than one. What’s the point?”

“Well, you’re a Velocitechnic. Of course you can,” Gavon commented. “Introtechnics like you tend to have different relationships with guns than most Chaotics, but don’t forget that most Chaotics can’t move as fast you can, and they aren’t as durable as you are. There’s still one situation where a gun would do you well, anyways.”

“…Are you talking about CENT Fields?” Phoenix questioned.

Gavon nodded. “Yep, that’s exactly it. Dead Space, too. As I’m sure you all know by now, Chaotics can only use their powers when they have access to Chaos Energy. But in a CENT Field or Dead Space, you don’t have any Chaos Energy. Now, imagine that you didn’t have a sidearm with you, you’re on a battlefield, and someone pops a CENT Field right on top of you. What do you do?”

“You run,” Pierce declared.

“Great. You start running. CENT Fields are only a few meters in radius, so it only takes a couple seconds to escape one. But in that time, you’re riddled with bullets and die. Mission failure.”

Pierce immediately scowled. “Hey, c’mon, that’s not—“

“That’s exactly what would happen,” Gavon interrupted, his previous casual demeanor transforming into something much more serious. “Now, granted, a realistic situation would be much more complicated. If you’re on an active battlefield, then you’d likely have powered armor, so a few bullets wouldn’t injure you. But it is nonetheless significantly easier to capture or otherwise incapacitate a Chaotic once they’re in a CENT Field, so every Chaotic needs to have a counter for that situation. That’s one reason to have a sidearm at all times. CENT Fields are strong against Chaotics, but the generators that make them are weak to bullets.”

“You don’t say,” Conrad deadpanned.

“I guess I see where you’re comin’ from, though…” Spike said. “Gotta be prepared for any possibility, huh?”

Gavon nodded. “Exactly. This isn’t the only situation in which a gun would be useful, either. Tell me — over what distance can you all use your powers? And I’m not asking you, Velocitechnic,” he quickly added as he glanced toward Pierce, who had already opened his mouth to speak.

“…I haven’t really tested, actually,” Phoenix mused. “My projectile attacks would be effective over… I don’t know, a few hundred meters?”

“You’re a Directed-type Chaostechnic, right? That means you can use Chaos Cannon, a supersonic projectile attack. That’s actually one of the few Chaotic abilities that can keep up with guns in the way that I’m talking about.”

“Oh, I see…” Twy nodded in understanding. “Guns have much longer range than Chaotics.”

Gavon nodded again. “Yep. Most Chaotics would have a hard time hitting anything more than a hundred meters away from them, or so. Guns, on the other hand, can easily out range that.” The Instructor then reached into a pouch attached to his belt and pulled out a small black and silver pistol. “Even a sidearm like this can have an effective range longer than most Chaotics.”

“You’re makin’ Chaotic abilities sound kinda useless…” Austin commented warily.

“Ha! Hardly,” Gavon scoffed. “No one disputes that a Chaotic will win a short-range engagement against a gun. And with the prevalence of powered armor, it isn’t hard for a Chaotic to close the distance on their enemy without getting personally injured. But sometimes, that just isn’t possible or wise.”

“Those still sound like pretty niche situations, though,” Pierce countered. “I still don’t see the point of all this.”

“I just want you all to understand the potency of small arms,” Gavon explained as he re-holstered his gun. “Some Chaotic abilities actually mesh rather well with using a gun, too. For example, I know a couple of Velocitechnics that will use their speed as a Chaotic to give the bullets they fire even greater velocity than they already have.”

“…Well, I guess the physics of that makes sense…”

“But, above all else…” Gavon turned to address the whole group again. “Even if you all never use a gun yourself, you need to understand that they can still be a threat to you, despite your powers. Chaotics will often get stuck in the mindset of fighting another Chaotic, where incoming threats will only originate from a few dozen meters away — but, as I mentioned earlier, guns can easily out range that. If you aren’t aware of your surroundings, it can be trivially easy for a non-Chaotic marksman to pick you off from range.” He then held up his hand to begin counting on his fingers. “Using guns as a sidearm when you don’t have Chaos Energy, using guns for long range combats, and being aware of their danger in general — those three things are what I hope you all can learn from today’s lesson.”

“You talk about all this like it’s obvious,” Sky remarked. “But none of the Chaotics I’ve seen have used a gun in a fight!”

“From what I know, none of the Chaotic fights you’ve seen involved actual military combatants,” Gavon countered. “The Bleeders don’t have the resources to hand out guns to all of their members. But in more professional settings, well… I’m not Earthian, so I don’t know too much about SERRCom, but putting Chaotics through gun training and giving them all a sidearm — at minimum — is standard doctrine throughout the galaxy. The Black Suns do it. As does the NSD, the CSA, the Syraus, hell, even the Riaxen. Not to mention all of the other PMCs out there, like the Chaos Knights or the Light Keepers. They all recognize the benefit of Chaotics using small arms.”

“I’m surprised you’d even bother mentioning your employer’s competitors,” Phoenix retorted.

“Ha, well, the Knights and the Keepers aren’t really direct competitors with the Black Suns,” Gavon remarked. “We all have different overall objectives. Not to say that I like them, but it is what it is.”

“Why are PMCs such a big thing, actually?” Twy questioned. “It seems, uh, well…”

An amused smirk found its way onto Gavon’s face. “Shady? Suspicious? Immoral, perhaps?”

“So you recognize that yourself, then?” Phoenix pressed.

Gavon shook his head. “I know it’s what some people say about us. And I can hardly blame them, given the history of PMCs in the galaxy. ‘Private’ and ‘military’ are two words that many people seem to agree shouldn’t go together. That said… well, I’ll leave the history of PMCs as a lesson for another day, but the major ones only exist to pursue certain goals and objectives that the governments can’t, or don’t. And the classification as a PMC is the only thing that lets Chaotics join.” His smirk collapsed into a bitter smile. “I’m sure you all have heard plenty by now about all of the laws in the galaxy that force a Chaotic to be in a military.”

“So all these organizations only call themselves PMCs so they can hire Chaotics?” Conrad questioned.

“That’s certainly one of the big reasons, yep,” Gavon answered, and then passed Phoenix a knowing look. “That said, I won’t lie to you — some of the shadiness you’re wary of definitely exists out there. You won’t find it in Sector 1 of the Black Suns, though. I only hope that our time together here might show you that.”

“Words are cheap,” Phoenix countered.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Gavon remarked, at which point each of the four cases on the ground opened on their own, revealing pistols just like the one in the Instructor’s hand. The unaccompanied pistols began to levitate in the air as Gavon continued, “which is why the lecture part of today’s lesson is over. Now, we’re moving on to the actual shooting! If any of you have prior experience with small arms, then step forward, please…”