Trainee Cafeteria

Sidko slid his plate of imitation meat down the lunch line, he threw the basic slop additives on top of it and proceeded to sit down next to his unit.
"Did you see the drone through the tests?" Oreon asked,
Sidko took a bite out of his fake meat,
"Yea, what was that all about? I never heard of a drone supervisor before"
Zzarr nodded,
"I asked the commander, he said that it's the other C.O., they just transferred her, supposed to be a legend of sorts"
"A legend? Of what? There hasn't been anything worth becoming a legend over as far as I know. Come to think of it, the biggest news around these parts is still those savage rebels on Soltin" Oreon said, thinking aloud.
"Why don't we check the Protectorate database?" Sidko asked as he took out his GCID,
"Hey S.I.M. Can you look up "Lieutenant Aradi" in the GP Database?"
"Of course. Now loading"

The three, at first, waited in judgement, then as the profile of their commanding officer loaded, they were shocked at their findings. Oreon looked at the profile,
"Holy f*#$^ing sh*t, she's a legend"
Zzarr nodded,
"Total badass"

Sidko, in a nonchalant fashion, stated:
"She's like a movie character come to life"

Oreon comically snapped at him, though in agreement, more of it seeing Sidko underestimating the situation they were in,
"Don't be a moron!"
Zzarr read the contents of their new C.O. aloud,
"Achieved recognition by the elite champions of sports for 3rd highest performing citizen in galactic history"
Sidko nodded,
"Incredible, she'll get us in top shape then, won't she?"
"Idiot! Do you realize what this means!" Oreon uttered with a somewhat, growling like tone,
Zzarr continued,
"Served on behalf of the Council's interests in dismantling large scale Marauder conflicts in 40.09"
"Wow she looks great for her age"
"It's not normal to look that young at her age!!" Oreon growled,
"She's an Ancient class, Elf variant. The only one in the entire galaxy"
"Hey I'm the only me in the whole galaxy, like peas in a pod"
Oreon sighed,
"Sidko I know you can't be this stupid"
"Actually Oreon"

Sidko's expression went smug,
"I am. I don't see the problem there"

Zzarr looked up at Sidko,
"It's a problem, for us, think about it, we might be the first class in Galactic History to where few First Generation Citizens didn't graduate from. To be frank Sidko, I don't know how you managed to get by, I think Officer Brak might've plucked you out of the bunch because of how fast you follow orders. From the looks of things, it might be a mercy to have failed this class instead of passing it"
Oreon nodded,
"Yea, you were hanging on by a thread this past training month, which were extended well beyond the normal length, or did you forget?"

Sidko's face dropped from his natural aloof state, to a horrid, scared expression,
"..oh no...you're right.....how did I even pass that...."

Oreon sighed,
"Don't worry Sidko, at least we fail together"
Zzarr shrugged,
"Cheer up Oreon, if Sidko can pass, then we can all pass, besides, written exams are my specialty"

"Not mine" Sidko murmured, Oreon looked at Sidko,
"Sidko you have no specialties, you're a grunt, like me and Zzarr. But one thing is for sure, as long as we put faith in the Council to guide us, we're good"

A protectorate officer walked by, the 3 stiffened up, it was a rather short, built individual, going by the name of Pachki, she sat down immediately, slamming her food on the table. It was clear she was eavesdropping on them,
"So you're Aradi's new toys huh?"
The 3 remained quiet,
"I feel bad for you, but I tell you what, she's not all that" she said as she began talking between eating her meals,
"Let me ask you something, if people like her are so great, why are we around? No offense to the little one in your group. We're the future of the Council, Aradi just has a bone to pick with her new replacements, she's been at the top of her game for so long and she's being taken off the table, I'd feel bad if she wasn't so stuck up about it. You'll all pass, maybe not that tiny one, but the rest of ya will. Anyways, gotta go"

Somehow, the citizen had finished her meal during that speech, she got up and quickly left.
"Wow what a great prep talk" Sidko said with a genuine brighter mood, Oreon and Zzarr look at him,
"You know I think your birthing pod might've had too much TLC" Oreon said. Zzarr's elbows suddenly hit both Sidko and Oreon at the same time,
"It's her!"
The 3 looked in the same direction, towards the cafeteria line.

A drone floated in line, definitely not out of place. It had 2 arms extended from its metallic underbelly, attempting to pick up a meal tray. A secretary quickly followed behind the bot, picking up the tray and placing it in its cold metal pincers. The secretary spoke, many onlookers were staring in bewilderment at the scene,
"Ma'am I was assigned to help you with this sort of thing, you don't have to use the drone to pilot around the whole base"
The drone floated away, an angry voice emitted through the speaker, though in a quiet voice, it was held by a strong arm of authority,
"Die"

The drone floated right in front of the 3 trainees at the table, they watched as the machine simply passed them by, giving no heed. Sidko and Oreon looked at each other,
"Bro I am going to preorder that janitorial service at this point" Oreon said,
Sidko nodded,
"I'm actually worried about the idea of passing now"

Field Operation Trainer Cubicle

The drone rested on its charging station next to an Elf on her lunch break. Aradi dug into her Protectorate lunch, she hated every bite she took, but it was the standard Citizen meal. She relied on her body's unique biological design to convert ill tasting things into nutrients. Her hand would grab a cup of pure water, a privilege of Endangered Citizens, every drink she took helped ease the taste down, and an exhale giving her the relief she needed. Aradi watched some funny 4 legged pet videos as she ate, but her thoughts were else where,
I know what I'm doing here is important, but I seriously miss being an S.F.O.... I should be out there, making the Council safe. Even if every single New Gen Citizen graduated tomorrow, it wouldn't even qualify to register as an idea to what percent of what I've done in less than a week....

"Ughhh" Aradi groaned loudly. She then quickly finished her meal,
I still need to introduce myself properly. Think I'll pop in during the exam

Day of Exam

Oreon, Sidko and Zzarr sat next to each other in the exam room, tablets with the Council logo slowly spinning. Officer Brak entered the room, a sigh of relief, he had become known as the softer, more lenient of the Officers. He turned to look at the trainees,
"Today is phase 2 of your process into becoming a true servant of the Council, I hope you're ready for this exam, it's going to question you on every aspect of being a Protectorate, but I'm sure you all trained well for this, without fur-"

A drone suddenly flew in,
"Ah, Lieutenant Aradi, I though-"
"I was called away to verify a report, I would've arrived here at the last second if it were in person. Continue, Officer Brak"
"I was just finishing up, would you like to add anything?"
The Drone turned to the trainees,
"You're all the future of the Council, so act like it, and pass, you have big shoes to fill, the S.F.O. isn't a walk in the park, you need to be ready to run around the entire city all day, you need all the protocols and codes memorized in order to do so in an orderly fashion. If you fail. I will personally select the job of your lowered class ranking, that'll be fun for me, less for you" the drone said. Officer Brak looked to the side,
Not sure if word salad or fast hate food on that one, he thought.

Officer Brak smirked,
"You wouldn't be here if you already didn't have that mindset, good luck to you all. Begin!"

An hour later

"Congratulations everyone. You passed!" Officer Brak said smiling, meanwhile, Aradi's eye twitched, Officer Brak had a strange way of getting under Aradi's skin without even trying,
I don't like you, Officer Brak, your behavior is that of a child, I detest people like you. I detest childish people.

Everyone blew a sigh of relief. Officer Brak then proceeded to swipe on his tablet,
"Now we're on to phase 3. The final phase, cooperation" he said, Sidko looked a bit nervous, reasonably so, he didn't think he'd make it this far, and he had no idea what this next phase was....

"This phase has 2 parts, the first part will be self-governance. You are to apply every aspect you know to your base, that's right. You will all be in charge of executing the Council's will in your unit, ranking will go from the highest scores to the lowest. Let's see here...."

"Recruit Zzarr, you'll be in charge of Hall Monitor management as well as notifying the unit when lights go out, and when they go on....Ropo, Vaeri, Bon, Vinnie, Keyden, you're hall monitors, you'll be switching weekly, and that's correct, you'll be doing this for a while. 2 months of isolation, applying all you know. Moving on to the other positions..."

Officer Brak listed all duties of the trainees, Aradi almost felt like her name would be named any minute, but alas she had graduated quite long ago...

"...and either I or Lieutenant Aradi will be checking in every month, we'll be staying in the command barracks upstairs in the event of an emergency. Understood?"

All the trainees nodded. Officer Brak took a deep breath and exhaled,
"Alright, to your bunks!"

Month one

Night fell upon Gantun, everyone laid in their bunks, some sleeping, some restless. Sidko laid on his backside, staring up at the ceiling, the hall monitor walked around, making sure people were asleep. Suddenly, he felt a pressure being pushed from under him. His head slowly crept over to peek at the person under him, it was Oreon, the Citizen whispered,
"Yo yo Sidko, I knew you couldn't sleep"
Sidko looked at him with a displeased face,
"Probably because you keep pushing your feet up into my bunk" he whispered back,
"Me and the gang set up a secret gaming room, we're supposed to meet tonight, it's down the hall, in the bathroom. You in?"
"You're barely telling me now? I thought I was your best friend"
"Dipshit, you are my best friend, that's why I didn't tell you until it was ready"
Suddenly a light shined towards them, they pretended to be asleep. Ropo walked by, being suspicious. After a moment or two, they both started talking again,
"How in the stars are we supposed to get passed Ropo, he's too tight"
"We made fake bodies out of our pillows and our clothes, we'll be going in our underwear, nothing more" Oreon said. Sidko smirked,
"Ok let's go"

For the next month, trainees would be sneaking in and out, with Officer Brak being the one checking in at the end. Aradi was in a meeting with Officer Brak and one other Protectorate, they sat at a round table, enjoying their morning breakfast and what not,
"So Aradi, you called a meeting, what's going on?" the officer asked,
"It's one of the recruits, Ropo, I'm noticing weird upticks in the details of his report logs"
"What do you mean?" Officer Brak, Aradi
"They seem.....increasingly condescending, week one, it was fine, but week two, I noticed a very intent and hostile description on ... .well...everyone. I looked at recordings of his performance, he was at the bottom of the list, just underneath Recruit Sidko"
"So a recruit is venting his frustrations, not like any of us haven't done it before"
Aradi swiped on Ropo's profile,
"....Week 2, I am already tired of the incompetence of my fellow trainees, they don't just act incompetent, but sleep incompetent, I am a weapon, the Council's weapon, I am sharpened daily..."
"That seems pretty normal" Officer Brak said, Aradi continued,
"The others are not sharp, they are blunt tools, they should be discarded, I hope the Council decides to discard them soon as possible"
Officer Brak shrugged,
"I've had similar thoughts before"
Aradi sighed,
"But you didn't write them down in the logs, everyone has thought themselves to be better than their others, their betters. But Ropo is displaying a behavior common with people who are at a breaking point"
The other officer took a sip of coffee,
"If a fight breaks out, it'll bring their score down, and they'll be diversified into different groups who are in phase 3, it's not a big deal"
Aradi placed the tablet on the desk,
"I get it, it's rare, but I think we have a serious problem, I'm not talking about a simple fight here, I'm talking about something that could be worse. But I'll follow protocol, if we can't agree to pull this recruit out, then something bad is going to happen" she said. Officer Brak nodded,
"I think you might be over examining things, dedication to the Council doesn't always come with nice things to say, given your track record, I bet you've thought some of the sa-"
Aradi snapped, cutting him off,
"I never once thought about hurting another person because I knew they were weak, and I especially wouldn't if I was at the very bottom of the performance list" she said as she got up and walked out.
Officer Brak took a snip of coffee,
"Dammit, now we have to post near the barracks nightly"
The other officer groaned,
"Huhhhh"
Officer Brak nodded,
"It's protocol, if trainers can't agree to plug someone out, we gotta take turns outside of the door of the barracks on night shifts until this part of the phrase ends" he said as he got up.