Captain Virna woke Samuel up early the next day.
"Wake the fuck up sunshine. Get naked and get to the launch bay"
Samuel did as instructed, he came out his room and found himself in front of other four people, totally naked. Everyone looked at his red embarrassed face and laughed.
"Don't be nervous kid, everyone goes through this" Nancy walked up to him.
Although she was bald, too skinny and her chest looked deflated, she still called Samuel attention, he could not avoid it, he turned even more embarrassed and Nancy laughed.
"Cut it off, Nancy, everyone get ready. You guys know what to do, I will take the kids with me"
Captain Virna was also naked; she signaled Samuel and Hector to follow her and the group started moving, at the end of the hallway there was a metal door. Behind the door, an elevator took them down. There was a complete facility underground, tens of technicians hurried from one side to another, connecting cables, moving equipment. One of them came close to captain Virna and saluted.
"Ma'am, the exos are ready"
"Good, is the team in charge of fine tuning the new pilots exoskeletons ready?"
"Yes, Ma'am"
"lets get to it then"
The technicians wearing blue work overall took the new pilots to their exoskeletons, Samuel and hector Scholars were standing side by side, there were no visible difference between them. The two men looked at their machines with such attention and wonder that they didn't listen to the captain voice.
"Wake up, kids!" Virna yelled.
"Now, I know you are gonna try to show some bravado and resist the activation without painkillers, everyone tried, you will fail like everybody before you, don't be stupid"
The two young men looked at each other. The captain looked at them with an annoyed face, and sighed. She walked to her own machine. The two man looked at her exo, it wasn't a training Scholar, the yellow machine was a lot taller than the flimsy practice exoskeletons, the huge red sword on its back looked like a death sentence, the small canons mounted on both arms didn't seem as imposing compared to the machine size but still could dwarf a war tank connon.
"So that's the Devon's Wrath" Samuel said in admiration.
"Well, get in" the technician reminded them.
Both men climbed into the human like black silhouette of the already opened cockpit, as the metal box moved and integrated into the exoskeleton, the black plastic fabric wrapped around Samuel body and small spikes like needles prickled through his skin. The machine activated partially and the pain started.
"Samuel, are you ready?" in the darkness of the cockpit the voice of one of the technicians could be heard.
"Yeah, I am ready"
"Do you need a painkiller?"
"No. I am good"
"Copied. Full activation in one, two.."
Samuel gritted his teeth.
"Three"
As the machine came fully activated and he got visual feedback from the exos cameras, the pain increased and Samuel screamed. Then suddenly he felt relieved to some degree.
"I told you two, not to try to be tough guys!" captain Virna yelled to him by the radio system. "From now on the system will regulate your painkillers need according to your vitals and biological needs. Now, try to move your exos limbs, start slowly"
Samuel did as instructed, the pain was turning unbearable. However, the machine did not administer any extra pain killers.
"Captain, something is wrong, this hurts too much, something must be wrong with my implants, is not like in the hospital"
"Of course not kid, this is the real deal, the hospital stuff was a short simulation, now you are dealing with a full exoskeleton"
"Captain, I need a rest, I can't take this anymore"
"A rest? You been here ten minutes, you will have to endure this for hours in every battle. Now get to work, and move that arm, you won't get off the Exoskeleton until all the exercises are completed, failing to comply will decrease the dose of painkillers you receive, now get moving"
Samuel looked around, he saw the dull gray Scholar Hector was using trying to do its moves; his balance was awful and almost fell a few times, the only reason it didn't fall was because it was still half anchored to the base platform by a set of mechanical giant arms. It would have been funny to watch, if it wasn't for the fact he was in the same situation and the unbearable pain he was tolerating right now. Samuel focused on his own situation and continued to do his exercises as instructed, the cycle of exercise, pain, a little relief and then more pain continued for an hour, while Samuel complained, screamed, cried, all the disdain for the senior pilots he considered addicted disappeared. When the training was finally over and the cockpit opened up Samuel and Hector stepped out trembling, their bodies sweating, faces full of tears and snot like if they were toddlers. The technicians gave them towels and had to help them walk back to their living rooms.
"Men, what the fuck was that?" Asked Hector as he trembled on his way back to the dormitories. They had recovered some strength after being out of the exoskeleton for a while.
"This shit hurts, some pain for a while is tolerable, but having you body in flames for an hour, I tough I was going to die"
The two man made it back to the barracks and let themselves fall on the sofas of the living room with only the towels covering their bodies, the two man fell asleep.
The scream of a woman woke them up. The two men jumped up exalted as the other three pilots laughed their ass off at their expense.
"Very funny!" Yelled Samuel, as he looked at the pilots with contempt.
"Relax dude, is just a joke. How was your first day?"
"Horrible"
"Well don't worry, you will develop some tolerance in a month or two"
The idea of getting back into the cockpit made Hector a Samuel turn pale. In this exact moment the Captain came into the room.
"Well done you two, now go take a shower, we will eat in one hour, four hours of rest and then we will do the second training session of the day"
"What?!" Hector and Samuel reacted in surprise and fear at the same time.
"Welcome to the Exo pilot program, here is hell twice a day every day until you die or retire, hurra!" Announced Vincent opening his arms.
"Hurra!" the other pilots yelled.
"I am not hungry" said Samuel, touching his stomach.
"I don't care, this is the army, I am your captain, you are a pilot candidate, you will obey, you will go take a shower, go to the mesh hall and eat. Is that clear pilot?"
"Yes ma'am"
"I didn't fucking hear you"
"Yes Ma'am!"
"Moving then"
The pilots walked towards the showers and took a bath. As they showered they talked and joked around.
"Two more months and we will finally get the fuck out of here. I want to kill some Tencts already" Said Vin.
"Yeah, if I don't get to kill some of those things after all this pain, I am gonna be very, very angry" Jim seconded.
They made it to the mesh hall, it was quite small just four long plastic tables; the five pilots sat together at one of the tables, the food was served in the typical army tray, however, there was a difference, their food was brought to them, they had different foods to some degree. Samuel and Hector food was smashed potatoes, roasted chicken, toasted bread, there was butter and jam, and other stuff, including some mars candy bar.
Samuel and Hector looked at each other, they obviously expected something different.
"Our diet is served according to our caloric needs" the captain, who had just arrived explained.
"Well I am a little to heavy for such a rich diet" Hector mentioned as he looked a his belly and then at the tray.
"Don't get used to it, the first week they pamper the new pilots a bit. Is a way to help them eat, I bet you don't have much of an appetite after your first real piloting experience" Vin said.
"I feel like if I eat, I might vomit" confirmed Samuel.
"Yeah, that happens all the time. Just eat, it will go away... or you will puke your guts out, one or another" Added Jim laughing.
"Shut up and eat Jim" ordered the captain.
"Yes Ma'am"
As Samuel and Hector started swallowing the food they actually showed some enthusiasm about eating.
"Captain, can I get dressed after piloting, I don't want to be walking around naked?" asked Hector with a bit of embarrassment.
"Sure, but I warn you, getting dressed is annoying, you don't wanna waste time and energy in things like that when you get out of your Exo. Also remember the side effect of some of the stimulants we use, after a while the damage to your nerves will make your skin very sensible, specially after piloting, clothes will feel like needles, even silk or cotton, but if you want to get dressed, go for it, no one really cares" the captain answered.
The meal ended without any novelty. The pilots went back to the barracks, most of them fell asleep in the sofas of the living room. To Samuel this place felt more like a university dormitory from one of those old American movies than a military facility. Hours later they where brought to the underground facility again, the two new pilots trembled in front of their machines while remembering the unbearable amount of pain their where about to undertake.
"Get in there, right now!" the captain yelled.
Still the two men didn't move, the captain her self pushed them in and a few minutes later, the pain started.