Dusty told me that he was going to join the Navy. That was not something I was considering at the moment. I asked him why. "They treat pilots like kings over there. It is going to be us that are going to do all of the heavy lifting. Besides, we only have a couple of rivers that flow into the ocean outside of our borders anyway. It's easy a defense." he said with a shrug. I had to agree with him. I wasn't planning on establishing a new empire in my name. That really was not my style of play. I either liked to be the defender of a nation or the moral authority. That meant joining holy orders or the military and climbing the ranks. It seemed that the rest of the Pretty Boys were pretty split down the middle between the Army and Air Force. The Draks were in agreement that there was more action and therefore more honor in the Army. Alphonse and Finn wanted to join the Air Force as they wanted to do support and special missions. Omegas could make mecha builds suitable for combat in space, after all. I was a bit disappointed that we were going to break up after we got out of the academy.
Finn glanced at me before saying "We should try to go to the same place. It'll be easier to move along if you know you have friends have your back." I did not want to say anything because I wanted to see where it would go. If it worked out, I'd take it. "Well, I'm not changing my mind on this. The Army got the most votes so we should all go there." Leo said. "I'd like it if some of you came with us though. Three Alphas can't pilot the bigger mechas on our own." Liam added. That was true. As it was now, Dusty and me could be a team. The same thing was true with Alphonse and Finn. "The Navy would be my second choice. Draks hog all the credit for their victories when it comes to the Army. They at least let the Loko and Fojun shine every once in awhile." Finn said looking at Alphonse. He nodded. "That's not true! Draks make up most of the Kingdom, so really only just looks that way." Claude said defensively. Everyone just rolled their eyes. The king was a Drak. Of course they skewed things to make them seem better than they were.
Lokos were better on the river so there was no choice but to acknowledge them. In that vein, other ethnicities were given their due as well. The Muro were a very strong race and found themselves as special forces often. The missions they took were vitally important but also usually classified. Leo could see the way the wind was blowing and he did not like it. "I think the Army is the better place to be. You need to be in it to reform it. Davie's the type to go just to make them change their ways. Just like you picked Alphonse as a partner to show up Calvin's group." he said, appealing to me. It was true that I would do something like that. The only problem was that I did not have the choice on whether or not to be in the class. I had the choice to be in the Navy or Army. It seemed that the Navy was the better branch of the military. There was nothing at the moment that would change my mind. The general dynamic shifted. Now it was four for the Navy and three for the Air Force. "We still have time to think on it. Just keep it in the back of your mind" I said. There was no need to have a fight about it.
We had other fish to fry. Since we had a full faction, other factions began to challenge us. Some were older and stronger than us. We ignored them and focused on those that were weaker. The Pretty Boys took on two factions in one day. Because we were going after the weaker groups and avoiding the more powerful ones, we had lots of exp. but little prestige. It was a 7-0 record. Dusty got his commission with an in-game month to respond. That meant we had a big deadline as well. I was at Level 9 when we were given another challenge. Since they were weaker groups I wanted to bundle my stars together for a major boon when I needed it. I was pretty sure that a win would push me and the others over the top. It was the Pretty Boys against the Lions. I was fixed in the Omega role in the Elite mecha event. I was very confident. I had teamed up with Alphonse the first time, but the others would always have an excuse why they needed him elsewhere. Every other time, I'd put my foot down and pull him to me. That was last time though, so I knew I was going to have someone else with me.
