Road Of Advancement

Theodore quickly fell in routine after his first days as a KMU U1 Cadet. His days were filled with training, learning and catching up with MD subjects all the while trying to have a social life.

Juggling all these was a real chore. Theodore really enjoyed himself even if his life was as hectic as ever.

The busy lifestyle suited him well. He liked to be occupied. He would rather sprint towards his goals than gradually try and reach them. Seconds shouldn't be wasted. Seconds become minutes, minutes become hours and eventually days and months. He was a workaholic. This was grained into his soul. But for the first time in two lifetimes, he genuinely enjoyed himself - even when he was relaxing.

In his former life, he struggled to make a living. Once he had the ability to keep his head above water he strived to become affluent. Once he made it there, he set his goals even higher. He was always driven to become better. But foremost, richer. He had strived to be financially independent, to a level where making money was an obsession. Now, making money was simply redundant. The Thompsons' were tycoons.

After realising how redundant it would be to chase after money, Theodore felt lost for a bit. But then came the realisation that he had all the freedom in the world to chase after new goals. And his goals could be as outlandish as he wanted them to be. He had a great backing, he already gained a massive improvement to his physique and mental state. He even had one of the most advanced AI in the world.

So Theodore had set his sights on entering KMU. He set his sights one entering as an ELITE cadet. He wouldn't settle for any less. So he gritted his teeth and ploughed through three-and-a-half-month of hellish learning and training. And now he got in. Not just in; he fulfilled his goals and even went beyond what he thought he was remotely capable of. The feeling of fulfilment, of success and acknowledgement, had put him in a great mood for the first weeks on campus.

He ran around meeting up with Quince, Julian and Gaméz. He even hung out with Avery. Even with all his social activities, he managed to keep up with his studies. Part of this could easily be contributed to Summit - who made Theodore's study time as effective as possible. Recording lessons, summarizing, finding and summarizing additional reading material, extrapolating knowledge...

But everyone acknowledged that it was also Theodore's own contribution. No one was harder on himself than Theodore. No one worked as many hours as Theodore. So to his own surprise, he started to rise in the rankings throughout the first weeks and was now knocking on the top 10 of the leaderboard.

"You know Theodore, you're really a monster. Its been seven weeks and you're already twelfth on the leaderboard. Weren't you like, thirty-second or something in the first week?" Gaméz asked.

"It's quite surprising really. Working hard pays off I guess." Theodore shrugged. "It won't be enough to get selected, however."

"You might be wrong Theo. Your potential is way higher than most above you on the board. They're bound to acknowledge your rise. If I were them, I would rather spend extra time on the quickest learner of the Elite class than some of the chumps that are above you." Julian responded. "You shouldn't underestimate yourself. Besides, you have additional pro's going for you."

"Like what?" Theodore looked up from his book "The Human Factor in Mech Piloting."

"You're also a mech designer? Don't you think that knowing mech's in and out would make you a better pilot? As a marksman, there should be things in those courses that you can use to your advantage."Julian said

"Well, it's not that simple Julian. Though I admit that it's helpful. Exploiting that knowledge is a lot harder than you might imagine. It's not like a mech would plainly offer it's weaknesses up for me to exploit."

"It's still nice to have you analyzing our opponents during matches though. Pretty glad you joined my team, Theodore." Quince said.

"Individually you really do well Theodore, but Quince his team is really trailing behind. Maybe you can switch to my team next semester Theo?" Julian fanned the flames of an argument that repeatedly replayed in their conversations. Theodore had been invited by all of his friends to join their team but he had decisively chosen for Quince's team.

"We'll see after the selection. First-term ends in three weeks and next week they'll announce the three teams that will participate in the academy matches. It wouldn't be surprising if all of you would be picked for the first string. You're all top 8 on the leaderboard." Theodore said.

"We'll see next week. With Gaméz on three, Quince at five and Julian on eight we do make a fair shot at making the first string. But it depends on who the staff picks. Perhaps they'll build their team around the golden three and decide we aren't a great match."

"I don't think so. That Etana guy is dominating the leaderboards since the start of the semester. He's a bit of a loner. I don't think he has any friends in U1. The Walter' kid is a good pilot, but he won't mesh well with Dwight. And between them, I would pick Dwight. Zeus could be a great addition depending on the set-up of the team."

"Do we even know anything about Etana?" Theodore asked.

"Not really. I asked around, but no one has a clue. Popped out of nowhere, supposedly a special recruit by KMU. He did do the examination however, he insisted apparently. Totally crushed us all as you know. It wasn't even funny to look up his score on the public leaderboard of the exam." Julian said.

"Strange that someone so gifted pops up here at KMU, right? I mean Dwight was bound to be first If I have to believe my grandfathers' words." Theodore interjected

"Regardless where he popped up from or why he is here. His ability is uncontested, to say the least. It really makes it hard to predict who they'll pick and based on which parameters. You could argue that the synergy of a team makes a great difference in who you'd pair up. There's also a lot of differences in piloting style and prefered mech-type. We'll just have to wait and see." Gaméz said, and with his answer silenced the discussion.

Theodore called up the current leaderboards on his comm.

HORUS LEADERBOARD U1

1 Etana

2 Dwight Hightower

3 Gaméz Rodrigues

4 Zeus Regus

5 Quince Cross

6 Davey Walter

7 Arthur Levi

8 Julian Brandt

9 James Potter

10 Ricky Ross

11 Alistair Azerty

12 Theodore Thompson

13 Anthony Hollow

In the beginning, people expected legacies to lead the leaderboard. Usually, this would be the case. But with crown Prince Zeus Regus subjecting himself to the examination, many notable figures followed in his steps. KMU was the preferred university of the Regus Federation. Because of the KMU's status and doctrine you would find notable figures in all years that came from the three main Regus planets.

Because of this, there would be no Keppler Pilots attending KMU. They would choose to go to 'Hellmsworth Academy'. Hellmsworth was a longstandinf Rival of KMU. Where KMU was a sober military university, Hellmsworth was a decorated second-rate University that was very outspoken. Their red coloured suits and their schools' crest and motto said it all.

"Non ducor, duco". I am not led. I lead. It was a pretentious slogan that did fit the schools ideal. It was a University that specifically aimed to train and teach the leaders of the next generation.

KMU's "Ready for All, Yielding to None" paled a bit in comparison. Just the fact that it wasn't in Latin already made it less pretentious. Theodore found the KMU slogan to be rather well fit for a military University. They would yell the slogan every morning during their physical exercises so the slogan was etched into his brains by now. Wake him up at two in the night and he would without arguing answer to the university's creed. The repetition of hard labour and military drills every day humbled the cadets and made them respect the creed and the military in general.

Even though there were a total of ninety-six elite cadets strived to improve and worked their a.s.s off all day, the general consensus was that only the top ten would fight for a place in U1 first sting team. The second string team was great too, but third-string was pretty much only bench warmers.

Theodore was certain that he would manage to get into one of the prestigious teams, however, he did not think he would be in the same team as his three prodigal friends. Each of them performed well above his abilities. The difference between the top ten and his twelfth place was actually still a large leap.

In total there would be thirty six-cadets selected to represent U1.Three teams of twelve cadets. The problem lay in coordination, personalities, preferences for certain classes and ability. Theodore could make first sting based on his position on the leaderboards. But his place all on the leaderboard did not mean he was the best for his role, the best for the team or even if he fit the tactics and preferences of KMU staff.

The selection was easily the most talked-about subject on campus. Regardless of which House you belonged to, everyone cared for who would be selected. The team that would win most points for KMU's plan to promote to first-class were undoubtedly the Mech Pilots.

Yes, research, staff, facilities, economical power... many things factored in the final score of a university. But one had to excel in someplace if they wanted to promote to a first-rate university. And for KMU, this was Mech Piloting.

If KMU could top the second-rate inter-academy mech-piloting competition, it would surely sling the KMU to greater heights... Possibly withing reach of a promotion.