Days of Fall: Call to Arms

[Tysyacha]

Tally winked back. She liked Krishna, with his hard-headed sensibility and a sense of humor that was as dry as good white wine! Compared to him, Sergeant Cul was nothing more than a brute and a bully, which is what he should have been exposed as years ago, in her own opinion. However, at the Academy, hard-liners like Cul had their place and were not easily deposed from their thrones.

 

There he is, she thought glumly, patrolling this hall like he owns it. Sure, it's his job and his duty, but the Academy belongs to all of us. Also, normally I wouldn't mind a little psychological intimidation at test time, but I prefer the way Khrishna's doing it to the method of our other colleague. Honestly. He deceives everyone, pronouncing his last name just like the word "cool", but he assumes that none of us idiots knows French. "Cul" is pronounced like the letter Q in that particular language, and it means something VERY impolite: a person's "posterior"!

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ((look it up if you don't believe me! ))

[JediMaster12]

((I'll take your word for it Tsy. Hey did you want to create a cadet that would try to cheat?))

 

Aruko when through the first portion of the exam with a fine tooth comb at a pace he developed during his high school years. It allowed him to work in a timely pace to answer every question and finish before time was up. It was the vocabulary and reading comprehension portion. Personally he thought that it was kind of silly to have this section but his mother pointed out that if you couldn't understand the basic tenets of being a soldier, how in the Frontier Colonies were you going to be able to understand the finer aspects. After that he conceded that she was correct.

 

He did admit that the reading selections were good ones. He was secretly pleased that he got a portion of the Iliad as it was one of his favorites. The last selection he suspected was something that Krishna would have had put in the exam. It was from Shakespeare's Henry V, the part that had "We few, we happy few. We band of brothers." He glanced up at Krishna who was tapping his stylus and was looking at him with an amused grin. It only heightened Aruko's suspicion that Krishna put that selection in on purpose.

 

That portion finished, Aruko initialed the last page and hit the send button. He waited until he received the confirmation that it had been received before starting on the next section: Mathematics. He nearly thumped his head when sifted through the pages and found that there were some basic quantum equations in there. True that was an option in schools but most students didn't take it due to the fact that they were specifically for FedCON forces. He took the course but he didn't expect the problems to be like that. He decided to save them for last and more time to work on them. He risked looking at his new friends to get an idea of how they were doing.

 

**********

 

Irene went through the basics in the maths easily. It had been her best subject in school and she knew that for any consideration in Fleet you had to have better than decent scores. The quantum basics took some time and she took to tapping her stylus as she thought. She only hoped that Damien was having better luck on the equations.

 

*********

 

Devon was sitting back in his chair easily answering the questions put forth on the exam. Being Anatolian, he had the advantage of knowing more about about the higher maths and in classical works and critical thinking. He smirked as he watched the losers try to answer the questions to their exams.

[Tysyacha]

((I was kind of hoping Devon would try! *LOL*))

[Alkonium]

Damien easily got through the mathematics portion, it being one of his strong suits, along with Physics. Finishing that easily, he moved on to critical thought. It was a bit of a challenge, but nothing he couldn't handle. Is this it? He thought.

[Writer]

Akeirra almost wanted to cry at the first segment of the test. FedCON knew her English wasn't good; why did they bombard her with the language itself at the beginning of her entrance exam? She bit the inside of her lower lip and plunged on, determined. The reading comprehension questions were only a little better, and then only when she realized most of them had something to do with being a soldier. Her expression changed visibly to one of relief when the vocabulary and reading comprehension was over.

 

She actually looked happy when the test moved her on to dealing with numbers. Though they looked drastically different in her native script, put up three fingers and it was still three units, no matter where you were. She'd mastered English numbers quickly and she dove into the next few sections with a massive grin on her face. She knew this stuff.

 

Rani on the other hand was locked in a tense mood the entire test. She knew more equations than passages of literature, but her knowledge was fairly widespread and she flat-out hated written tests. In her mind, they were only good for telling who was paying attention in class. While that was a decent enough goal and it helped you keep the complete morons out of the vital fleet positions, they always slipped in trick questions here and there. Rani hated tricks and she always distrusted exams for that reason.

[JediMaster12]

((Lol. Devon would more likely try to show up his lessers))

 

Aruko initially sensed the distress Akierra went through and concluded that it was the language barrier. He would have liked to say a couple of words of encouragement but with the way Cul was marching with other proctors, he decided against it. The best he could do was silently wish her and all his friends good luck.

 

At 01300, Aruko finally reached the critical essay portion. He had two hours to write on one of two prompter issues. He tapped the send to send the military history portion off to whoever and set down reading the instructions. There were two questions and he only had to pick one.

 

Consider the Calaurus Prime rebellion of 2197. Do you agree that the Minister of Science acted accordingly in regards to negotiating trade relations with the Calaurians? Why or why not? Use evidence to support.

 

Aruko frowned. He disliked ever learning about that in school. He thought it was complete mismangement from the start and done out of greed since the jeneraux crystals were used in powering the quantum drives on certain classes of FedCON ships. He considered it not one of FedCON's greater moments. His eyes skipped to the second one,

 

It is claimed that the Anatolian Consortium influence was necessary to achieve the technology required to travel greater regions of space...

 

"Might as well write about Calaurus," Aruko muttered to himself. He had an equally low opinion of the assumed superiority of Anatolians, at least those like the jerk sitting near the back. Might as well write about something that he disagreed with and was passionate about. He immediately began forming a web chart of ideas and evidence for the Calaurus question.

 

**********

 

Devon supressed a yawn when he got to the critical essay portion. He eyed his questions before selecting the one that he wished to do. He glanced up and say the half-breed scowling at his questions. Hmpf. Looks like one who thinks he knows more. He then continued to write.

 

**********

 

Irene was finishing the last of the military history questions. She felt for sure that she failed that section. It would be embarrasing to be placed at the beginner level but she was prepared to accept it. The anxious feeling stayed while she read her critical essay questions. She glanced upward trying to think about what to do. She read the questions again. Made her choice and began to write.

 

((Note: Critical essay questions are randomly assigned. If you want to write a particular question, go ahead."

[Tysyacha]

((OK, I've given up on the idea of one cadet trying to cheat. I've got a better idea in mind anyway...))

 

Test answers were coming in fast and furious, and Tally Voltaic smiled. I was always one of the kids who wanted to finish first, she mused, just to show how smart I was, and how much faster on my feet than the others. However, sometimes that backfired on me. I often thought of my best ideas after I was done with the test, and wished I hadn't been so hasty in the first place. She sighed and began to grade. So far, so good, guys, but...

 

The first couple of submissions weren't so bad--a few errors here and there, but nothing which deserved a failing grade. However, as she progressed, Tally began to wonder if the cadets who had turned in their sections early had just been incredibly lucky or if a larger plan had been at work. For one thing, many of their answers contained remarkable similarities, and the more of the exams she graded, the fewer and fewer errors she found. Either this group of first-years was full of utter geniuses who should immediately be promoted, or...

 

"Krishna," she whispered as quietly as she dared. "Please? I need help." She turned her head toward her own console, while Sergeant Cul looked up from his patrolling rounds. What's going on? Hah! It's just like her to be confused by the electronic grading system instead of the pencil-and-paper way.

[JediMaster12]

Krishna had just finished grading a cadet's paper when he heard Tally asking for help. He stifled a sigh. Tally was one of his favorites and she was a brilliant soldier except she was more inclined to using archaic methods and often would confuse certain functions on consoles. It was one of the reasons she didn't quite have the scores for Fleet but he'd take her as an ape any day.

 

It would be impossible for him to talk to her since it would distrupt the greenies. He gave the customary signal of using his stylus pencil to point at his console to indicate that he would be sending her a message. With ease he typed and sent, What is the problem Tally?

[Tysyacha]

Tally finally found the console interface that would allow her to communicate with Krishna without disturbing the test-takers. Take a look at this, she typed. I'm sending you a link that will allow you direct access to my screen. Sometimes Tally amazed her fellows, being a sort of "idiot savant" with technology. The simplest tasks in the FedCON system would often confound her, and yet oftentimes, she would find rare pathways through the labyrinth that even the most keen computer whizzes could not! However, those moments were few and far between. This one allowed Krishna to see what was going on with Tally's console--and her students. What Khrishna saw confused and amazed him: Could there actually be so many perfect, or near-perfect, scores here?!

 

See what I mean? Tally typed. I don't think this is a console glitch...

[JediMaster12]

Krishna looked at the data streams that Tally sent him. The group that she was grading did seem to have an unusual amount of right answers. Heck he expected near perfect from Blackfern and he hadn't disappointed so far. This though was unusual. He typed back, I agree that this is unusual. Give me the IDs of the test takers. I'll compare with their school records.

 

That was the first step. He could scan the cadets for any discrepancies and then he'll have Cul summon them to the Commandant's. Of course leaving them with Cul would give the would be cheaters a different look at the world.

 

I would expect good scores coming from the group you inspected this morning Tally but I want to make sure on this batch. If there are any more, book mark them.

[Tysyacha]

As the test session continued, Tally kept a careful count of which student exams seemed a little too similar, and which ones actually contained original answers. She entered the student ID's of the cadets that she suspected were cheating and sent them over to Krishna. As for Sergeant Cul, he didn't seem to think that anything was amiss; he simply glared at each "greenie" and moved on.

[JediMaster12]

Krishna began looking through the exams that Tally had sent him. Unofficially he was the chief grader and proctor. Any problems came straight to him. He scanned through the records with the cadets exams. Several were red flags. He tapped n his message write, I suspect someone accessed the testing database and passed them out to friends. Some though are alright.

[Tysyacha]

Tally was shocked: How could they have hacked into our FedCON system so easily? As far as I know, these don't seem like the creme de la creme of computer scientists, although they could be. Something big is going on. I can feel it. The only way that these greenies could have done this is if a) one of our higher alumni gave them the codes and passwords or b) a faculty member did it. Either that, or c) someone is an undiscovered hacking genius, and we need to uncover who it is ASAP. In the meantime, what do you think I should do?

[Writer]

Rani was not the greatest writer in the universe. Her spelling was mediocre at best and her grammar was misplaced about seven times out of ten. Her writing came out like her thoughts, including the occasional Spanish word. She knew that if her score was handed back on actual skill, it would be terrible. If someone cared to sift through all the mistakes, they would find exceptional content. Rani was an exceptional critical thinker, and proud of it, and so she chose the more challenging of the two questions presented to her and began typing away, contented.

 

Two seats over, Akeirra couldn't decide whether to feel insulted or completely unknown. There were two questions on her screen and it was evident to her that she was supposed to choose one to answer, but neither of them made much sense. Either they thought she understood their language better than she actually did, or they knew her shortcomings and didn't care.

 

Either way, she picked the choice that made the most sense and made use of as much of her limited vocabulary as she could. All she could do was hope for the best, that they would acknowledge her limited understanding of their language and admit her anyway with the condition that she work extra hard in her intensive English course, which she'd planned to do anyway.

[JediMaster12]

Krishna tapped on his stylus as he managed his multitasking by grading what came in along with examining the exams that seemed out of place. He sent back to Tally, Don't disregard the Anatolians. More likely it was a student of Anatolian background. I've seen this configuration before.

[Tysyacha]

The female Sergeant glanced around at all the test-takers of Anatolian lineage. None of them seemed to be doing anything suspicious; they appeared perfectly quiet, diligent, and hard-working. However, as Tally had known all her life, looks could definitely be deceiving. Take herself: most who did not know her regarded her as a tall, blonde bimbo. What they didn't realize was that she could hit their solar plexus with one hand and make them triple over in pain.

 

She smiled, remembering the one time when she actually happened to do just that. A smart-mouth "greenie" one year had dared to give her a loud wolf-whistle and lick his lips, and within a matter of seconds, she had him on his knees bawling an apology. Nobody'd better crank MY voltage to high...

 

Suddenly, the ID number of another completed exam beeped into Tally's console. This is it. I happen to know that THIS greenie isn't what he seems. She sent a message to the offending student's console: Come here. Now.

[JediMaster12]

Krishna had noticed what Tally wanted to do and sent Give me the name before you send for him. Besides it's better if you have Cul remove him/her from the exam room. No need for disturbances.

 

**********

 

Aruko had no idea what was going on at the front table but he had just managed to finish his essay on his question. He looked at it with a devil may care look and justified it by saying that it was a critical essay after all. He was training to become an officer and he needed to be able to think. He read his essay one more time and satisfied that he had done everything, he submitted it.

 

The confirmation light blinked saying that it was received. After that, he had no idea what he was to do next. He still had forty-five minutes before the end of the exam and yet he wasn't sure if he was to be excused or not. So he simply just sat there and tapped his stylus absentminded on the desk, looking with temptation to end the testing interface and look for a connection to the InfoNet. He then noticed a decal that was interesting and clicked on it. It was a library selection of materials to look at while he waited. He clicked on a volume of the Frontier Sieges and began to read.