Chapter Text
Her stomach wouldn’t stop turning over - it was actually happening. She stood shoulder to shoulder with the other C-Sec cadets, trying to stand as straight as possible while still straining to see over the turian recruits in front of her.
“Today is your first step to becoming protectors of the Citadel - the heart of the galaxy,” the asari Academy head began, pacing the front of the room. “Many of you have seen combat, others are less experienced with being in the line of fire. Regardless, you will all be held to the highest standard during your time in the Academy and beyond. You will face adversity, experience triumphs, and learn from your defeats. Most importantly, you will learn to cooperate with your fellow cadets to utilize each other’s strengths and compensate for your weaknesses. It is only through teamwork that C-Sec maintains law and order in our highly esteemed Citadel.”
Daine swallowed hard. She had been looking forward to this moment for so long, but now that she was here the magnitude of what she would face was starting to set in. Executor Pallin’s speech the night before hadn’t triggered her nerves nearly as bad as they were now. It was just a welcome dinner after all, nothing to get worked up about. This however was their first day as cadets where they would be constantly evaluated on their performance in order to stay and eventually graduate from the program.
The Academy head continued on - Commander Kyala, Dain remembered, the asari’s purple facial stripes gleaming under the lights - “You will be split into groups for your preliminary fitness exams. Assignments are on the bulletin. Report to your assigned station at 0900. Dismissed.”
Daine’s stomach did another somersault. She had found out the night before that she was the only human in her cadet class. It wasn’t a common occurrence, but with the Alliance improving their incentives for continued service more and more human C-Sec candidates were opting for continued military service rather than transferring to the Academy. She knew the required fitness scores to stay in the Academy were tailored by species and gender, but with her competing with so many turians there was no way her scores could compare in the eyes of her superiors.
Suddenly someone lightly elbowed Daine in the ribs as the cadets shuffled over to the bulletin. “Lighten up Morah! They wouldn’t have let you get this far if they thought you were going to flunk out with a little fitness test!”
It was Aseythia Prani, her asari roommate. “You look pale as a sheet. Come on they’re just going to have us do some laps, drag some weights around, maybe yell some insults at us and then we’ll call it a day. Nothing you can’t handle.”
Daine had only met Aseythia a few days ago after receiving their room assignments. Both of them lived on the Citadel so they were able to meet up before moving into the Academy. Aseythia had a perpetually bubbly personality, but at 300 years old had considerable wisdom to back up her seemingly carefree attitude. Upon asking about Daine’s parents and background she immediately picked up on her roommate’s hesitation and changed subject. Daine was grateful for her discretion and glad she had someone to call a friend at the Academy. Few others were quite so welcoming.
Daine squinted at the bulletin trying to find her name. Abruptly she was pushed aside and tripped, falling on the ground.
“I don’t wait for low-life humans,” the double toned voice of a turian sounded over her.
“Hey! Watch it!” Aseythia cried as she tried to get to Daine’s side. The offending turian’s cronies blocked her way, pushing away anyone else that was trying to get the bulletin.
A voice sounded behind Daine, “You’ll have to excuse my colleague’s behavior. Our species isn’t normally so hostile to our colleagues. He was just leaving.” The intervening turian, his blue eyes brought out by the azure markings on his face, gave a pointed look at the offender.
“They should have never started letting humans into C-Sec,” the turian who had pushed Daine grumbled. “We were done anyway.” The group of pushy turians made their way away from the bulletin toward the training center.
“That’s Cael. Not the greatest example of turian service to all.” The turian helped lift Daine to her feet. “Garrus Vakarian. I think we’re in the same group. Your name kind of stands out.”
Daine sighed. “Daine Morah, but I guess you already know that.” It wouldn’t be the last time she stood out like a sore thumb.
“Those jerks! I hope they get the worst drill instructor.” Aseythia had finally been able to make her way over the them and checked the bulletin. “Damnit. I’ve got my mile first thing. We should get going. We only have about 5 minutes to get to our stations.”
Daine looked at her omni tool. Aseythia was right they needed to get going.
“That should be plenty of time.” Garrus said as they made their way to the training center.