Chapter 28: Instructors
"Tsk. Damn it! I got stuck with newbie duty again. That's so unfair! I've had it three times in a row now!" a female red Mornan in her early twenties with messy, long dark hair cascading down her shoulders lamented in exasperation.
Her ocean-blue eyes shifted from side to side as she cast envious glances at her colleagues. "You guys are cheating! I'm sure of it! You're using your Heart senses, aren't you!" the Mornan, Solis, argued indignantly.
"You're still such a sore loser, Solis," came one of her colleagues, a tall, burly, male blue Mornan with long dark hair and a bushy moustache. He was sprawled on a couch, chuckling at her expression.
Solis glared at the chief of security with irritation.
"Take that back right now, Ty! How else am I supposed to feel when I keep getting stuck with the worst tasks?" She crossed her arms. "Those little brats never respect me at first either! I'm tired of having to make an example out of one of them every time."
She snorted as she remembered when a blue Mornan from a previous batch had openly mocked her upon their arrival. A slight smile crossed her lips as she recalled beating him up until he quit the organisation, and then making sure his entire batch suffered because they laughed at his jokes.
Laughter from the other instructors filled the room as they all strode back to their seats with long straws in their grasps.
"Better luck next time, Sol." Kate, another blue Mornan, said with a smile as her towering frame dropped down on a couch. She was a beautiful Mornan with long, almond-shade hair and violet eyes. She was also the person in charge of the entire Renegade facility they were currently in.
"Boss! Tell them this isn't fair!" Solis cried as she ran to embrace Kate, only to be stopped by a palm on her face holding her in place as she struggled against it.
Besides the three of them, there were a few others in the lounge room at the moment.
Dutch, a blue Mornan with short brown hair and dark glasses that Solis always teased him relentlessly for having. He was Kate's assistant and the vice head of the facility.
Harves, a tall, slender male Ramarta who always had an infuriating grin on his face at all times. He was the only Ramarta stationed at the facility.
And finally, Hui. A slender blue Mornan with messy dark hair. His face was hidden behind a thick scarf and black goggles.
An introverted instructor who almost never left a lasting impression on his students.
"Sorry, Sol. I suppose it's a matter of luck. You've never been a lucky Mornan, have you?" Harves said with a sly grin. "Thank goodness, too. I didn't want to deal with any of that hassle today."
Solis straightened as she glared at him. "Don't rub it in, you lazy pi—"
"Thank you, Sol." Kate said suddenly with a smile on her face. "Your terrible luck really helped me clear up my bad mood. I feel much better now."
"...I'm glad my suffering amuses you, Boss." Solis grumbled begrudgingly.
"I can help you if you want, Solis," Dutch said, adjusting his glasses as he turned to her.
Solis let out a long sigh. "No thanks, four-eyes. I don't need your charity. If I lose, I'll handle it myself. Gotta respect the draw or whatever."
"You should head down then," Hui suggested. "The train should be arriving in a few minutes."
"I know already! Shut up, Hui!" Solis growled as she stomped towards the door. "I just hope there's a few interesting trainees this month."
Dutch grunted as she left the room. "What's her problem? I just wanted to help," he mumbled.
"You sure that's all it is, Dutch, my friend?" Harves teased.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dutch asked with furrowed brows.
"He means you've fallen for her. I mean, it's pretty obvious to everyone here," the chief of security said as he sat up to pick up his drink. Zone, a substitute for normal booze, since those usually had no effect on Heart-shard users.
Dutch scoffed. "As if anyone could fall for that loud-mouthed, spoiled brat! You guys are taking things too far now. Don't spout such nonsense in front of Kate."
"Denying till the end, huh, Dutch?" Kate added with a laugh.
"Not you too, Boss!"
Hui watched his colleagues banter amongst themselves for a few moments before turning to Kate. "By the way, Boss, I was wondering why you were in such a bad mood earlier. You weren't even up for drawing straws at first until Solis convinced you."
Kate's laughter suddenly subsided as an annoyed expression slowly found its way onto her face. "Colt sent me news of something earlier today that made my blood boil."
"What was it about?" Harves asked as her words piqued his attention.
"The list of trainees arriving today apparently included one he hadn't expected until yesterday."
"...A half-human."
The entire room suddenly fell silent as they all looked towards Kate with surprise. Moments later, memories of a few weeks ago flashed through their minds. They recalled two of their colleagues who'd travelled off the planet after getting news of the Terytl-B attack.
They were among the unlucky ones who lost their family members in the tragedy.
"A half-human? Training here?" Dutch said, his tone getting darker with each word. "Why would the Renegades allow that!? Especially after what just happened?"
Everyone else remained quiet as they processed the implications differently.
Dutch's eyes widened as a thought suddenly struck him. "Boss... You didn't tell Solis about the half-human! And she just went down there to receive them!"
Kate's eyes widened in alarm.
***
"Welcome to the Arctic training facility. The most dangerous training facility for knight trainees in this entire star sys—"
Solis's brain froze suddenly as she stared blankly in front of her. She'd reached the ground floor of the facility moments earlier and opened the large iron doors for the trainees to file in.
She'd seen the train zooming away in the distance behind them, and a few puppies obscured by the blizzard chasing after it fruitlessly.
Over twenty-eight new knights in training, hailing from various parts of the star system and beyond, had entered the facility, their eyes scanning the room and the glass roof overhead curiously.
Solis had gone over most of them with surprise and a little excitement when she spotted a member of the Dune family and a prince of a Mornan star system.
They had also joined the others in bowing respectfully upon seeing her, which meant that she wouldn't have to force the batch to understand their place this time. She knew the prince's bow was as fake as they came, but didn't care much about that.
What had drawn her attention and made her brain short-circuit a few moments ago, was what her eyes landed as she began her speech. A human. An actual Human was right in front of her, standing casually with the others.
Without warning, Solis hurriedly went through the badge attached to her wrist and activated the facility's lockdown protocol.