Thanks for the interest, guys. We still need some more military cadets, though! I'll make an NPC one myself but don't want to have Aiko teaching a gaggle of NPC midshipmen; the thematic thrust is supposed to be "our sensei is hardcore and maybe a little crazy" not "Aiko gathers some old acquaintances for an adventure." (That second one comes later down the road
). So, in the spirit of getting people hyped about playing cadets, I'm going to take a paragraph or two to talk about SAAMMS.
The Star Army Academy of Military and Medical Sciences exists today as the amalgamation of two older schools: Educational Facility 1 and Educational Facility 2. Both were built by the biosciences corporation PNUgen decades ago. EF1, however, was given to the Star Army as a place to train new officers in four year undergraduate degree programs. EF2 remained a PNUgen facility until the company's disbandment, upon which it also came under Star Army control, and its program is a 16 year comprehensive educational program that begins training children at the age of 6 until they're 22.
Today, both EF1 and EF2 are part of the combined SAAMMS. It's like how real life universities have multiple colleges on campus, such as commonly-found colleges of Letters & Science that stand simultaneously with colleges of Engineering.
Those students who attend EF1's military sciences program are Star Army cadets ranked Shoi Kohosei and, according to the wiki, are generally "elite" students (whether socially or as a matter of personal ability). These students need political sponsorship to attend the school. EF1 is analogous to the United States Naval Academy. It has four year college degree programs to turn young adults into Star Army officers and, much like graduates of the USNA, these freshly-minted Shoi tend to be given the best pick of fleet assignments compared to other sources of commission.
Contrast EF1 with Yamatai's other officer schools.
Ketsurui Academy is a separate college that specializes in engineering and technical sciences education.
Mayame Officer School is the equivalent of real life Officer Candidate School and trains prospective Star Army officers who
already have college degrees.
Kyoto War College is primarily known for its graduate-level courses in leadership and military sciences, but has more recently included undergraduate studies and correspondence education for in-service soldiers.
Students who attend EF2 tend to have been students there for a large portion of their young lives. They were the best and brightest among Yamatai's youth who were selected to study in a tailored program from childhood to early adulthood. It's like going to a private school that encompasses a student's education from elementary to college level. After 12 years in their 16 year program, these students specialize in a specific biosciences field. Although this part isn't explicitly stated: those last four years could conceivably also include becoming a Star Army cadet alongside their EF1 classmates.
That's basically just a summary of what the wiki page says with the information rearranged for explanation's sake. I hope it helps give a feel for our starting plot hook and the character of SAAMMS, both as a standalone institution and where it fits in to the larger scope of military officer education currently employed by the Star Army.
Everyone's welcome to play the characters they want, but I encourage players to consider making Shoi Kohosei in their final quarter of studies at EF1. Part of why I only asked for a name, species, and occupation was to make such things easy on everyone because those three things are all that's needed to jump off in Open RP.
I'll be writing some setup scenes while waiting for this interest check to run its course. It's usually nice to give the interest check thread about a week before setting off. I know Alex is champing at the bit to play Matsuvo so: don't worry, we won't linger a long time waiting for players who can get added after the plot's launch.