"Silence!"
As the holographic loudspeakers switched on, Instructor One-Eye's thunderous roar exploded against the eardrums of twenty thousand recruits.
The Central Plaza fell deathly silent. Even the recruits' heavy breathing was forcibly stifled.
One-Eye looked down from above, his gaze raking across every face like a blade.
"The thirty-day recruit training ends today!"
"Only you know how hard you worked this past month and how much progress you made."
"Now it's time to prove yourselves!"
There was no emotion in One-Eye's voice. It was chillingly cold.
"The rules of the Monthly Grand Exam are simple."
"There are twenty thousand of you here. But this time, the regular combat regiment of Military Floating Land No. 17 will take only ten thousand!"
The plaza remained silent, but every recruit's pupils contracted. A suffocating tension filled the air.
"That's right. Half of you will be eliminated today!"
"After a month of hardship, you should understand the law of this starry expanse: strength is the only truth.
"Those eliminated today will be stripped of military status and sent to work in production."
No one objected. No one dared make a sound.
Having delivered the threat, One-Eye's mechanical eye flashed crimson as he dropped an announcement that sent everyone into a frenzy.
"But if you can climb over the people beside you and be among the ten thousand left standing in this plaza!"
"Those ten thousand will be formally enlisted and assigned directly to the active combat roster of Floating Land No. 17 Combat Regiment!"
"The Military will not only free you from your civilian slave status. It will also grant every one of you access to training with the Empire's current-issue infantry war machine: [Standard Powered Armor]!
"And you'll qualify to begin training in [Federation Martial Arts]!"
Boom!
Powered armor! Federation Martial Arts!
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