BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Jace was firing his gun several times at the target. He was killing time while he waited for the next training announcement to come through. They had just finished their first month but he still did not know what the second month of training would consist of.

    So for the time being he was keeping up with his various forms of training. Practicing his marksmanship was one such form of training. He had gone through most of the rifles and shotguns. At the moment he was just working on the sidearms and pistols.

    The pistol he was currently firing was a Magnus Revolver. It was the same type of revolver he took from an Inquisitor. That same gun he had lost to what was apparently a Victorium Imperial Guard for the High Priestess. Which made him feel a little less annoyed but was still annoying.

    Because now if he wanted another revolver he would have to buy it. But for the moment he would have to put up with just borrowing one from the armory to use on the firing range. He pressed a button and pulled up the digital targets. The targets he was accurate enough to keep his shots within the center black area.

    "Good shooting, you consider buying one of those? They are quite expensive so I would suggest getting it cleared first." An observer for the firing range pointed out. He was here to help people operate unfamiliar weapons. It was a job reserved for older veterans who had used just about every weapon during their time.

    If Jace recalls he remembered seeing the old man at the gym earlier in the week at some point as well. "I will wait until I know what type of position I will be operating after this training. But I used to have one so I know just how good the pros and cons of this gun are." Jace answered the older man.

    "You did? What happened to it? Those things are not easily lost or misplaced." The observer asked him.

    "I was dueling this person and ended up losing it. I took their sword and they took my revolver." Jace responded with a shrug.

    "Really? Is close quarters combat not your thing?" The observer asked.

    "Actually I was fighting a high ranking Victorium soldier who specializes in close quarters combat. So I would say coming out unscathed was rather fortunate." Jace shrugged.

    "Ha! You kids are all the same. Excuses excuses. If you get out done in an area, you train in that area until no one is better than you." The old man chuckled while shaking his head. "But this new generation is too used to being stuck in a rut without figuring out a solution for yourself."

    Jace frowned in confusion but decided to leave it be. He went back to his target practice but soon the old man observer left. Presumably to go get some other work done. He spent another hour practicing before his new watch received a message. Sёar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    [To all candidates of Project Tartarus,

    The next stage of your training will consist of filling all gaps in your knowledge that we feel are unacceptable. In order to do that we will need to see and test who needs what type of training in order to be considered proficient.

    Testing will commence tomorrow and will consist of written tests and practical tests in order to make an appropriate evaluation. Testing will be done in almost every possible area that can be trained. While some will be done in VR Drive Pod simulations, most will be done in real life in order to maximize the practical and realistic element for evaluations.

    All testing will be evaluated at a level appropriate for system compatibility. But all candidates will be asked to apply themselves to their greatest capability. In the event of failure training will be commenced until success.

    Subjects that are failed will be trained in the subject and tested again after a few days. The process will continue until all subjects are fully trained. All subjects are preorganized into a tier list of what should be known the most.

    A note for all candidates. I have spent the last four weeks observing the candidates of the project and have determined that your own mentality is the thing most detrimental to your own growth. This cannot be easily trained or gotten rid of. So instead I will be personally going around and finding a way to change all or your mentality.

    But I will leave all candidates with the knowledge that all of you are capable of much more if you just push yourself to a higher standard. Director Fenrir, Admiral Dakota, and the Emperor may believe you are the best. But I only believe you are the best in this generation, so you can be so much better if only you have the appropriate competition. The highest scores recorded in either the Vexical Empire''s or the Grand Hexarian Empire''s history for these tests.

    I am the person in charge of the second month of your training. As well as the general in charge of the ground forces for Emperor Loyalists. I have sixty years of service in the military going back to even before the Vexical Empire was formed. So when I say there is untapped talent I know what I am talking about.

    Have a good rest day,

    General Ty Nikolai.]

    Jace frowned as he put away the guns he was using. Handing them back to the armory specialist and noticed that the old man observer from earlier was not there. After asking the person in charge of the armory he was even more confused. Apparently there was not an observer on duty earlier. Apparently they were specifically asked to not put an observer on duty.

    For a few minutes as he made his way back to his bunk he was confused. The person on duty was not an actual observer while the higher ups specifically asked that there not be one. As he walked in and saw everyone relaxing he was starting to have a feeling about what was going on.

    He had a feeling that he had just met General Ty Nikolai. It seems he started the training early. Jace felt like he should keep this to himself for now. Which would be annoying but he would do it after giving the General''s words some thought.

    He pulled up some information on General Ty Nikolai. He might as well learn about him while he had nothing better to do. Some light reading would do him some good.

    General Ty Nikolai started out as an officer in the Grand Hexarian Empire. For the first thirty years he spent on the front lines. Racking up a record of maintaining minimum casualties. The records were extensive with how well he adapted strategies and terrain in order to combat enemies. Even using mecha and scrap from previous battles in their tactics which during the time was thought as dishonorable.

    This was back when the Grand Hexarian Empire was still commanding respect from its neighbors. During the time there was a certain way combat was done. Humans would fight in covered terrain utilizing guerilla tactics in order to fight. While Mecha would be fought in a nearby open field or farmland. If a commander was in a mecha they would duel with the claim of minimizing casualties while fighting for glory.

    General Ty Nikolai utilized anything and everything to win as long as it did not violate a war time agreement. Using sabotage and traps against mecha or using smaller mecha to help hold infantry fortifications. He rose through the ranks not because of connections but because his superiors recognized his ruthlessness and strategic ability. After thirty years of service he made it to a position where he could command a platoon.

    But instead he was listed on documents that were classified that Jace could not access. It was that way all the way from the fall of the Grand hexarian Empire until the current emperor took control of the Vexical Empire.

    Then for the last five years he was listed as a General in charge of Infantry and guards that would be coming out of the Echo System. All of which now had classified jackets of their own. Seems him being in charge of all military Emperor Loyalists was not just a show of strength.

    Once he started getting into it he realized that more than a quarter of the Vexical military strength was hidden in this system. General Ty Nikolai commanded a quarter of Vexical''s military and as far as he could tell he was completely unknown to most of the nation.

    Whenever this civil war really became heated, General Ty Nikolai was the card the emperor was definitely keeping up his back sleeve.

    Sitting back and thinking about it caused Jace to realize the emperor was a fan of slight of hand. He was having Admiral Dakota stand directly outfront as a distraction with his brand new Warship. While at the same time he had an experienced genius like General Ty Nikolai in reserve with enough military to conquer multiple systems in a few days.