Fall YE 34
The International Peace Education Initiative; a brainchild of the lesser officers who had met at the last recent IRC, where students from all allied nations were to join together in a opportunity to see the stars and learn how to create a better tomorrow.
Today was the first day of classes, the new term had begun much later than most of the other schooling processes across the universe, however these students were here for both leisure and education--- thus they'd be going right into the summer months. Yamatai had the initiative to set up the system, with academic advisors from all the allied nations, so classes were a six day process, with sunday as a rest day. But the Nepleslians had agreed to it only on the rule that the "educational stops" be more of a vacation for the weary star travelers. Agreeing, the Empire then donated a magnificent Hummingbird colony ship to be used to house the project.
'Ding dong--- dinnnng dong!'
That familiar sound echoed through the halls and zerogravity corridors of the international peace academy. It was the first warning bell for all students to start to class. Suddenly, as if someone had banged a hammer on the side of a wood tree--- the whole space ship came alive as a hive of students afraid of being late scurried out from every which corner, some Nepleslian boys were racing by on the mainstreet in a souped up muscle car, yelling things out the windows at the group of girls jogging. Something about asking them what was under their hood. It was normal fare for the craziness that had been held within the gigantic ship, this was the end of the two week settling period. Which with all these young adults, mostly meant a non-stop party. But now was time to get things going, now was the first page--- of the first chapter, of the future of this momentous project.
IPA: Grade 11 Class C Home Room - 0750
It would be the very first day for class 11C, they were not necessarily the best class by any means. But they were far enough from class 11E that they were bound to have been shuffled a few interesting characters amongst them. Most of these students at this level had chosen, or been voluntold that they would be joining this school to better serve their future. Only two more years remained until they would be graduating, so they had plenty of time to make everlasting memories. This class was off to a weird start though, a few gloryhogs and worrywarts were there sitting in the front, however it appeared as if the teacher had not arrived yet, and the last ten minutes until the starting bell were ticking quickly.
Someone was tapping his half-chewed pencils against the desk, and chewing ... chewing gum, in a classroom. The stuff was practically outlawed on the Yamatai, but there was a lucrative, if not benign black market for it. He looked over to one side and stroked his sideburns and the bandage running over the bridge of his nose. He couldn't help but grin, and looked over to his buddy behind him. "Hey, hey, John."
The kid with thick-framed sunglasses looked up at his friend, "What?" He asked as he tried to read one book inside the other. John's hairy friend pushed the book down to get his attention, "Manfred, what is it?"
"This is the first day of Class. Do you know what this means?" Manfred pouted, but John shrugged indifferently, "It means that our plan must be put into action." John raised an eyebrow. The plan was at best, ill defined and written on a few scraps of paper, but he nodded when he realised what his friend meant. "Let's make a good first impression." Manfred grinned.
Yasu who was more or less a bit of a odd sort, born on a Nep shuttle most of his life, never setting foot on land he was your typical spacer. Only he was Yamataian, with Yamataian immigrant parents, something about hiding from one clan or another, it would make for a very dramatic story. But he felt more at home with Luca and his buddy John, he had been trying to get in on their little group for the past few days now. "Hey guys, what are we doing?" he asked, posturing himself as if he had an idea of what was going on.
"The plan, of course, don't you know?" The Luca replied under hushed whispers. The Luca always had a plan, but communication was always a problem - even though the results were nothing to balk at in any case, "Kicking it off this afternoon."
Nodoka sat in the corner farthest back from the front. As far away from people and teacher as possible. She was going to listen, she was going to learn, she was going to graduate, and then she was going to go home and be away from all of the ... drama.
She looked off into space, or where space was. There were loudmouths already yaking, pretty people preening. She wanted the teacher to not be an idiot, and willing to discipline people. The last one had enjoyed the looks from the boys too much. Wearing her black track jacket and dark jeans, Nodoka wanted to be as standoffish as she looked.
Sitting beside Nodoka was a rare Nepleslian girl, who had red hair and quite a large chest hidden under layers of cashmere and cottons. She adjusted her glasses on the end of her nose. Her parents were always telling her that she could get cybernetic replacements, but she was more scared of the procedure than anything else. She was just as quiet, with similar intentions. However, she found herself enjoying the friendly silence, but as she looked around the room she started to wonder if they were the only two who cared about anything other then the extracurriculars.
"E-excuse me," she stumbled over her words said looking over at Nodoka. "I'm Jane," she said offering her hand. "P-pleasure to meet you, seatmate," she said with a uneasy smile.
Nodoka turned her head — almost swung it, like a gate blown in the wind. Her red-orange eyes bore down on the girl who was introducing herself. Her black hair, with its rough razor cut, clashed against her yellow-brown skin.
"Nodoka," she said, putting her hand out to shake Jane's. Squeezing a little too hard. "Pleasure to meet you."
The chilly air of the ship always made Renya despise her older sister for sending her on this little pet project. Renya moved to her classroom with much apprehension. She was on an alien ship, surrounded by aliens and light years from her ancestral home and family. She wore a thick white robe that concealed her curvaceous figure. Her sharp features gave her a kind of obvious regal beauty, and her tentacle like hair was quite a bit longer then her sister’s, which framed her face under her hood.
On entering the classroom she immediately looked around and took a desk on the left side of the classroom. Synthetics teaching, Nepleslians being loud, Renya feared she would probably be the only Gartagen sent to this little school.
Just about here an abnormally tall and slender Iromakuanhe with these rather massive thick horns protruding upwards ducked into the room. He searched around for a seat and almost instantly his gleaming gold eyes fell upon a creature of interesting make he absolutely needed to study further. With long legs smoothly propelling the spindly boy across the room, in between the desks, he found a seat beside Renya. Glancing down to the seat beside her, his eyes shifted to catch hers. "Is this seat taken?" he asked, his voice as warm as the desert sun and as smooth as sand over glass.
Renya looked at the horned Iromakuanhe and tilted her head. "Why yes, as you can see by the Abwehran sitting in it it is very much occupied." She paused and hoped the Iroma would catch her sarcasm. If he did not then she would pray for the future of his race.
The truth was Renya was a challenge and was very mouthy. Compared to the softer spoken Vishta, Renya was a spitfire. She was a fighter, but she had a humor about her and she rather enjoyed seeing who she could rattle and who could rattle her back.
"I am kidding of course." She said to the boy. As she spoke her blue tail curled and then went limp rapidly.
Jacob had already been seated by the time the bell had gone off, five seats from the back and dead center in the room. He had been among the Nepleslians who had.. more or less been 'told' rather then asked to go, he had protested somewhat... at least until he'd seen the food options.. Now he found himself idly leaning back in his chair, a data jockey propped up showing the latest issue of a Nepleslian defense review magazine... the head article being a brand new destroyer. He loved tech.... he loved reading about it... playing with it.. making it... and he hoped this little school would forward him somewhat in that respect.
He shifted his scrawny form somewhat, he was a damn stick and not quite tall enough to stick out of a crowd. He didn't care much about how he looked... his sandy brown hair wild and unkept and a few days worth of stubble present on his chin as his blue eyes swept the room.
"Do you make anything?" a voice asked from over Jacobs shoulder. A Yamataian boy with rather unmanaged hair and a floating drone above his shoulder, he took note of all the gadgets that the Nepleslian has on him, and his attention to the defence magazine article. "Me and a few others were thinking of making a robotics club," he said as the drone shifted in place and landed on the desk. "If you think you're into something like that, it'd be good to get another. I'm Hiroki, captian of the Cybernetic Crashers. We're big into remote PA fighting."
"PA fighting you say?" Jacob said as he leaned all the way back, his head resting on the Yamatain's desk upside down. Things were starting to look more interesting as he looked over at the small drone... his tools were in his bag... and now he wanted to take it apart.. "I can make a few things.... wouldn't mind seeing the specs for that little doohickey there." He said pointing off handedly toward the boy's 'toy'.
Nagatoki — a slender, buff looking Yamataian kid of about 15 — was at the far side of the classroom with his legs kicked up on his desk as he leaned back in his seat. His black leather racing trousers with a red stripe down the leg were unzipped at the ankle and he wore a matching jacket draped open to reveal a navy wifebeater emblazoned with a red spiralling centipede underneath that still. The damn Neps with their muscle car (their trash car if you asked him) had kept his attention for the better part of the morning, not to mention the two weeks he'd been here.
He glanced around to his new classmates. Some of them he'd beaten already. Some would be beaten. And some didn't matter enough to warrant his rivalship. If they didn't ride airbikes or race whatever suited their fancy, they could watch in envy and awe. Even the best, like Nagatoki, needed fangirls and streetbros to have your back. Indeed, everyone had a place, he thought, as he pushed his black hair back away from his handsome, pale face. It didn't matter if they couldn't envision it — all that mattered was that they played their role.
One of the more unusual sights was the appearance of a horned girl wearing a colorful scarf wound gently around her neck once, as well as a pair of elegant white bioplastic glasses that rested atop the unusual protrusions of bone and strange funnel-like things that passed for her ears. Mireia Ihejirika was unusual, but could hardly be described as unattractive, with a plump figure and a smooth light-chocolate complexion with only a faint sprinkling of darker freckles across her cheeks and nose. Her purple-ish auburn hair was back-length and accented bright yellow eyes.
She was bookish and a little frail (perhaps from a mere lack of exercise), mostly interested in browsing Yamataian and Nepleslia media with her Solan-made volumetric datarod than bothering to check over her notes on proper behavior for meeting with foreigners. She had already memorized all that, and reasoned that Yamataian animation gave an adequate enough image of their society. For a girl that might have been called isolated back home, was anything else really necessary?
Manfred tapped his pencil against the desk as he measured up everyone entering and taking their place. He couldn't help but wonder if this was going to be one of 'those' classes. The one where everybody has a story to tell. It seemed that way from all of the different faces. There were Iroma and Gartagens, so things were definitely shaping up to be interesting. "Hey!" He called from across the room, trying to get someone's attention. He wasn't sure whose attention he'd get though.
"Hi! I like the side burns." Renya called back waving sheepishly to Manfred. He waved back and gave the Gartagen a smile. If there was one thing Gartagens were good for, it was mischief.
Mireia turned her head, blinking and adjusting her glasses and double checking over the currently-displayed video on her device to see if that was a person making the noise, and not just a quirk of the sound system. It was definitely some loudmouth making a noise, and of course he had to be only a row away from her sensitive, noise-receiving horns...
"You're too loud." She spoke tensely, shooting him a furtive glance. Her accent was faint, mostly hitting those Nepleslian 'r' sounds and the way the attacked 't's, but otherwise being pleasantly understated. "Some of us are studying."
'Ding-donnnng ding donnnng!' the start of home room signaled and still no teacher was anywhere to be found.
The class of twenty, with two empty desks making a grand total of eighteen students arriving for the very first day were there in class without any supervision or teacher. Things might have gone silent for a moment, but after that the murmur of conversations interrupted by the occasional comment across the classroom. But it was for the most part left alone. That was until suddenly--- 'BAM!' a large force booted the door wide open. The noise silencing the commotion quite well, as a large muscular Yamataian man walked into the room, dressed in the school's grey and white track suits. He looked to be about six feet tall and three-hundred and some pounds, in his hand he carried a gigantic textbook and a bamboo sword roped around to his back. His short black hair was spiked up, with a white sweatband wrapped up around his gigantic cranium.
"Ha ha ha, ha — ha ha," Nagatoki laughed as the door crashed in, picking at the wall next to him, addressing nobody in particular but looking off to the empty space next to him. "Even the teachers here are third-rate. Mendokuse." His words were lazy and drawn out, a bit haughtly in their indifference. Nagatoki's eyes followed the strong educator while the man passed through the now open class entryway, his teeth clenched in a smirk when he saw the bamboo weapon tied to the man's hulking form.
Manfred grinned upon sizing up the teacher. John, meanwhile, hid behind his book within a book, taking comfort in the comics he'd been concealing behind the giant Maths book. This is gonna be fun... He rubbed his hands together - this could've been one of 'those' teachers, those strict disciplinarians who looked the part and even showed their beliefs by lugging a wooden sword around. Two can play at that game!
Renya dropped her hood from her head with her cloven hands. Her blue skin separated her from the rest of the class almost immediately. She was rather surprised to see they had such a large Yamataian for a teacher. It was too early for her too judge his appearance however, but the bamboo sword caught her attention, because resting against her desk next to her book satchel was a long wooden mockery of a Renshen (she was in fencing club, which she attended after school). She started wondering if he would be her instructor for that class as well.
Nodoka leaned back a little in her chair, staring at the ceiling. Jane was nice, and nice to look at. So was the brown girl up at the front, with the scarf. Those were good distractions. Pleasant thoughts.
Then came the teacher. Musclehead. Dickbag. Someone who was going to be hard on her and everyone else out of a misguided sense of ethics, needing to teach the children for the good of intergalactic society.
She wanted to hit the gym already. Or at least run. Away, preferably.
"..." Mireia's reaction was very subdued, merely setting her datarod away and sighing softly to herself. A hulking, loudmouth Yamataian was an unpleasant mix of stereotypes, and this one was trying to put up some kind of threatening act in order to cow them. It was unnecessary, and reasoned would wind up just giving off the wrong impression to all of the parents of intergalactic students (or their handlers if people in the room were actually spies).
Still, the Iromakuanhe was a good student even at her worse, and stood firmly at attention, adjusting her glasses just so that the blurry corners of her vision evened out. Nearsightedness was a rare thing among Iromakuanhe, let alone other species... something she was just a bit self-conscious about.
The loud bang brought the young Nepleslian back to sitting up, his eyes, like many others following the new arrival. To Jacob the man looked like a clash of old swordsman and modern gangland with his jogging suit/sword getup. Of course.. he could be the gym teacher.... and the mere thought of having such a man in a power position made the nerd shiver slightly at memories of his own school.. and dodgeball....
Almost as suddenly as the teacher had entered the room, a quick flick of his powerful wrist and the thick textbook was whipped across the desks and centered for Nagatoki's forehead, the self displayed badass of the class was busy mocking the teacher that the surprise attack came without warning, not even a twitch of his head preceded the swift projectile. This teacher's power level was off the charts, as his warrior prowess was displayed without any warning. "I was told I would be taking care of the troublemakers, no one said I would also be babysitting the punks," he spat out at the class. "Let me lay down the law right now," he said with both of his gargantuan hands coming hard down on his desk. "You will get along, and you will listen to my rules. All nations involved in this project have given me express permission to do whatever is necessary to keep the peace, that includes taking out the trash. Now if there's no other issues, we can continue with your instructions."
The force of the teacher's book volley made Nagatoki slip from his chair. But he scrambled to his feet straightaway, whipping his jacket tight around his arms while flexing and standing two inches taller than he already was as he gave his sudden adversary the most disdainful, disgusted look he was capable of. That's all he'd give the other, though, knowing he couldn't match the teacher's prowess on the man's home turf.
Nagatoki shrugged the jacket back on as he sat down, not bothering to tame his outer layer's collar as he muttered obscenities in his mother tongue under his breath. "At least you don't take shit, shinai-sama!" he jibed, half a parting shot at the teacher's choice armament and half actual recognition of the man's physical and martial prowess.
"Ahem," a young, fair Abwehran cleared his throat, rather nervously as he caught the tail end of the instructor's speech to the rest of the class. His hair was a wavy, raven black, that would have appeared rather attractive, were it not for the large, dark goggles nestled over his eyes. The girly young man stepped into the room, his books split under both arms as he seemed to be carrying all of them. He looked at the rest of the class, before looking at the teacher. "I... am not the trash you're talking about... am I?" asked the young man cautiously.
Luca was not actually Luca, since that would be silly. 'Luca' was actually a kid from Delsauria named Manfred Winsbury, son of a wealthy merchant couple, and his 'John' sitting behind him was actually named John, but his full name was John Hemmings, not John Morris. Together they were huge fans of Luca Pavone's exploits, and they wanted to be just like them - for better or worse. Manfred was nicknamed 'The Luca' for his bold exploits and quick thinking, as well as his fan-crush. "Mmmhmm." Manfred mumbled upon the teacher finishing his spiel.
As a testament to her race Renya did not even flinch at the teacher's action. In fact, had it been an equal setting, she probably would have done what most Gartagens do and take it as a direct challenge to her person. But in this setting he was an authority figure so all she could do was look on at the teacher and try to hide her defiance.
She did opt to raise her hand before speaking. She remained silent but would speak when hopefully called on.
"Meep!" Mireia did in fact flinch that second time around and in doing so, caused her datarod to fall to the floor with a clatter. It didn't begin playing the incredibly loud and ultraviolent Nepleslian exploitation action movie (featuring actual Neko-possibly-but-probably-not) that she had paused, much to her relief. The tube of plastic did roll away from her comfortable reach, forcing her to bend over into the alley and pick it up before anyone noticed... which might be difficult as it very swiftly brought her not-trivial assets onto display as they warbled within the confines of the school uniform.
Jacob's eyes went between the recently arrived Abwehran and the teacher, at least.. as soon as he got back in his seat... having dove from the floor the moment he realized the textbook was about to become a harmful flying object... of course... the movement had been worth a view not so far up the line of desks..
Manfred looked down at the floor upon hearing the clatter and noticed the Iroma having dropped something. He raised an eyebrow and wondered if that was the future of slacking off and watching movies in the middle of class. He made an impressed smile towards the Iroma. He looked over to John and whispered, "That's the way of the future right there man."
Nodoka noticed the Iroma. First from the meep. Then the ... Nodoka narrowed her gaze at what she saw. She filed away the image. A good image. Good distraction. Yeah.
She brought a hand to her head. "I'm never gonna pass this class," she said quietly.
The teacher's eyes grew wide as he heard a meek little voice come from the busted open doorway beside him, he was just done with one disruptive student and now another had arrived late to his very first class. The ones sensitive to energies could feel the ignition of a blaze within the raging demon of a teacher towering at the front of the classroom. His burning gaze turned slowly and locked on to the four-armed student standing at the door. "You are late," he stated as his hulking form turned with his head, "you better have a good explanation--- or the desk is to become the next object of my discipline."
"SIR!" the Abwehran suddenly snapped to attention, his raven hair waving beautifully in the sharp movement, "There is no excuse for violating the tenets set aside to preserve order, sir! I am sure my ancestors will understand, but I have no expectations!" The boy was already sweating, standing rather firmly. His fair face, and fine-cut features began to turn a rosy red, "I was stopped in the hall by one of the counselors, sir, because of my goggles, and was asked to remove them. After explaining my reasons the counselor did not give, so I was forced to find this classroom blind, sir!"
A distraction! The arrival of the Abwehran was just what Mireia needed to not draw too many eyes while she grabbed her datarod and stuffed it back into the... pleated skirts don't have pockets. That explains why it didn't stay when she put it away which leaves... a uniform blazer with pockets that are too small, a bag that'll probably be inspected and... the sweater.
Manfred, however was watching her, and gave her a thumbs up on the technology used to slack off during class and making use of the distraction presented to her - that meant that she was smart and opportunistic.
The Iroma gave furtive glances around her, trying to make sure no one was watching her- and promptly reddened and slipped the thing away into her bag when she saw Manfred's thumbs up. If she had tried stuffing that into her shirt while he was watching, she probably would have died. Of embarrassment.
Nagatoki was ready — he was an easily-distracted sort, after all — leaning forward over his desk with an arm outstretched, communicator in hand, just in time to snap a shot of Mireia's upturned behind as Manfred gave her a goofy smile. The Yamataian teen himself was a spectacle to behold, winking one eye closed and biting his protruding tongue as if something like that helped when taking a picture via a screen instead of a real camera's viewfinder. He leaned back again, examining his clearly artful work. "Ha ha. Awesome," he chuckled, not paying attention to the suave Abwehran nerd's protestations and explanations for being tardy.
Renya lowered her hand. It appeared this teacher seemed intent on harassing the students rather than actually teaching. Renya leaned back in her chair and decided to simply await further instruction.
Nodoka caught a glimpse of the punk-ass boy in front taking pictures of the alien girl. Par for the course. He seemed like the type. Pervert. Her Nekovalkyrjan mind launched into its usual rant about how boys were all such assholes, there never were any good ones that stayed good, the young ones were the worst of all, blah blah blah.
She looked at Jane, nodded, then got up from her desk. The teacher might hit her or shout or whatever, but that was cool; Nodoka was yelled at all the time. She got behind Nagatoki and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey. Fuckhead."
Nagatoki's generally jovial demeanor was hard to crack. He could take a book in the face in good humor. He could even take being called a 'fuckhead' without so much as a second thought — if it were from a person. But this one. This Nekovalkyrja. They don't get to talk to a Saiga like that.
"We got a problem, neko-tan?" he spat, standing more out of reflex than anything else, pivoting to meet her gaze. His tone now was more curt, but nonetheless retained its air of lax informality. "Maybe you didn't realize who you were talkin' at — I'll forgive you this once if you do us a favor and bow."
He didn't touch Nodoka to provoke her, no. Instead, he pulled his red fingerless riding gloves tighter in front of his chest, which just happened to be at level with her face. "Or did they not program that shit into your head when the pulled you outta the vat?"
" ... Seriously." Nodoka wanted to grab his finger and break it. Or bite it off. Neither made her species look very good, but who was going to defend a racist asshole like this guy? She thought the teacher might. But he had a shinai, not a gun.
"Just delete the picture you took of that alien girl," she said, leaning her forehead a little into his finger. "And I won't smash your stupid fucking face in."
"..." Meanwhile as a storm she was largely unaware of was brewing, Mireia returned to her seat quiet, shuffling a little as she never found flat plastic to be entirely comfortable and expected more, and then pulled out a sheet of Iroma-furnished smart paper. No cheap, environment-destroying and not-digitally-backing-up school supplies for this Iromakuanhe.
Manfred whistled at the two debaters in the class with a cheeky grin. Two Yamataians, no less.
"Oiiii~!" the teacher's voice rang out over the commotion, as the desk in his hands was flipped high up in the air, lodging itself in the ceiling and the massive body of muscle and rage practically flew across the room with a burst of speed. One of his giant hands grabbed hold of the Neko's shirt and held her high, the other hand similarly on the Geshrin.
"You both are going to the headlord's office, and if I hear another word from your mouths I'm going to smash your heads in together and do it again after you wake up in a vat of h-synth!" He then slung each of the fighters over his shoulder, and then started towards the door. "Everyone else, you're to go to S37-36; Nepleslian, or trade words class, get out of here, dismissed!" With that the massive brute then took the two troublemakers out with him to meet with the Supreme Ultra Grand Headlord.
"He must work out." Renya whispered to Mireia. In the meantime the Gartagen girl started giving the Luca, the eyes.
"Holy shit, that was awesome!" Manfred yelled aloud at the Teacher's escapades in a knee-jerk response. John, meanwhile, tried to hide under his book. Manfred sighed at John and told him quite frankly: "It's alright man. We haven't done anything wrong yet."
Manfred raised an eyebrow at Renya and gave her an upwards nod to continue before getting out of his chair and dragging his bookish friend with him.
At this point most of the other class that wasn't still stunned and flabbergasted at the situation were filtering out of the room and following their various mapping systems to the next location.
