The two Cadets expand their data collection the next day, after another Status gain drought, adding the piloting program for the Kepler Line Mecha to their headsets.

Though they’re far from as glorious as the Crusader Class Mecha, they’re of more immediate concern to the two, as they’re the first Mecha that ever students will train on.

The other new program they got was a Martial Arts program directly from Sargeant Zamm, to help build their hand to hand combat skills. Many Cadets view that as unnecessary in an age of high powered weapons, but in urban settings, close quarters engagement is the norm and not the exception.

Line Mecha in the standard pattern are only 3 meters tall, with the pilot sitting reclined in the torso, so they often get in close to their targets in such scenarios, and not every enemy they face will be human, or even humanoid.

The actual armament of a Line Mecha varies, but it’s typically simple and either slow firing or self guided, like rocket pods. That makes them perfect for hand to hand combat training once Max has memorized some of the dozens of styles Nico knew in her past life.

Compared to them, what they teach academy students is laughable, but according to Dave, that’s the basic close combat style for the entire Empire, only special forces are taught anything better. Unlike some other Empires, the Command Structure of the Kepler Kingdom views ranged firepower as the great equalizer, and relies upon it for almost every situation.

Line Mecha combat is included in the program that Sargeant Zamm sent them, it was just locked by their First Year class designation, a problem they quicky solved so that they could train both martial arts and Mecha handling at the same time._.

The difference between in person and in Mecha is huge, as the Line Mecha are fully manual controls, two sticks plus dozens of buttons, switches and levers to control everything. For the most part you can keep your hands on the sticks, but more complex maneuvers are often done with one hand, while calibrating systems and sensors with the other.

Far different than simply moving your own body to fight.

“Third time’s a charm.” Nico laughs the next day as they leave lunch, heading for the training grounds. They will both need at least two categories to update today in order to hit the goal, but they’ve got the feeling that it’s coming soon.

Today they pick the tennis simulator, and Nico cranks the machine back up to maximum Stat Gains, as she always does, making Max laugh. It’s obvious the staff has noticed, and because they can’t blame the students, they’re blaming each other.

Max would do the adjustments himself, but since he needs to actually touch the control panel and enter the changes, he would be caught in seconds. Nico can do it from inside the VR simulation, so even if they enter under standard settings it doesn’t matter.

Max is up 6 points to 5 when his Strength finally increases.

[Strength Gain]

[STR] +35%

The change will take a while to apply, and they’ve got time, so Max goes for the win, trying to finish the match before their next hourly break.

[Dexterity Gain]

[DEX] +8%

[Speed Gain]

[SPD] +8%

[System Functionality Unlocked: Base Stats]

[STR] 2 +35%

[DEX] 2 +8%

[SPD] 2 +8%

He’s so happy to see the notifications that he doesn’t even try to block the tennis ball that smacks him in the forehead, making Nico laugh.

“Go, take your break, I’ll finish up the timer against an AI opponent.” She tells him, then he is forcefully kicked out of the simulation.

As much as Max loves being able to read minds, that ability of hers is entirely unfair. At least when they’re using VR tech it is.

Nico leaves the Resistance trainer only a few minutes later, so the instructors think nothing of the two taking an extended break and waiting on their Stats to update.

They’ve been so reliable with their training regimen that Max even notices that others are taking a longer than usual break, assuming that their time is up when he goes back to training.

“Let’s try something different for a bit. Get some real sunlight through the eyes instead of projecting the images straight into the brain.” Max suggests.

“Water Rugby?” Nico asks, and the students around them cheer.

Water Rugby is a team sport, you need multiple players per side or it’s just boring. There isn’t a real pool here, but the water obstacle under the log run does the job very well. They can stand in it, with water to their chest, and the logs are just another obstacle to play around.

It’s also harder than it sounds, pushing through the water, especially with another cadet hanging off your back, trying to pull you under and steal the ball.

Sargeant Farhan has a new twist for them today, ankle and wrist weights as well as a weighted belt. The extra two kilos per limb isn’t terrible, at least not at first, but the level of energy spent with the extra weight and the wet coveralls is much higher than simply playing on dry land.

They call the game twenty minutes before the end of training, giving them some time to dry off, since the staff won’t let you in the cafeteria covered in mud or dripping wet, and none of them want to change before they eat.

To Sargeant Zamm, that means it’s time for the Cadets to take a jog. The base layers dry out in seconds if they’re not exposed to water, and the coveralls will dry rapidly in the wind.

“Hop to it, gogogo, let’s get you all pretty and dry for the cafeteria.” Zamm shouts, but doesn’t push them hard enough they’ll really start sweating.

He’s on cafeteria duty today after all, and the fewer sweaty bodies there are in the room, the happier he is. Too many of the First Years barely understand hygiene, or the necessity of washing clothes that aren’t stained.

Max’s new base stats implement while he’s eating, and Max can feel his uniform getting tighter. That’s a known side effect of the process, it often pushes students through an accelerated early puberty, as the nanobots optimize them for adult life.

He excuses himself to his dorm room, deciding that he can ask an Instructor for new clothes in the morning, or if the change is not too drastic, simply go downstairs in his stretchy base layer and grab them from the Commissary.historical