In Vélizy – Villacoublay Air Base, there were 4 big squads of new recruits. Being an effective Shine pilot was their sole goal. Each squad had 6 boys in it. That meant 24 prospective young pilots. The big pilot program was managed and headed up by the United Nations because they had to manage humanities response to the Z'lanthrax threat. Henri was born in France to a French mother. His "father" was a Z'lanthrax marauder. That made him more than a bit unpopular on the base. He was fluent in both French and English. His proficiency in English was entirely self taught. It was now time to hone his skills as a pilot. He wanted to serve his country first and then his planet. Henri wanted to fight to defend his homeland and family. France had lots of good looking recruits and he was one of them. Henri did not have a background of pilots in his family. However, it was fine to try. All humans with Y-chromosomes had the ability to have the gene to pilot. Attempting to synchronize might develop a power there. His grandfather was not a military man, so Henri was not used to living on base.
He knew nothing of the protocols and was not professional when on the clock. Kazuki saw how he was treated as a half blood. Especially after being called the "red eyed devil", he knew that they were not nice people. Even their drill sergeants spoke ill behind his back when they thought that Henri could not hear it. He had great hearing. It was not right. He was 14. Henri was able to join with the Pilot Program with a recommendation of a recruiter he had found. Very strict discipline was beaten into him from childhood. He was totally fine with being a team player and letter a leader lead. Henri wanted to pilot. If it really was not working, he could always transfer out to a place with people that also spoke French. He had 5 squad mates training and sleeping in the same quarters with him. He wanted to suss them all out to see if they were good people are not. Their names were Noel, Guy, Remi, Adam, Fabien and Calvin. It was not as bad as he initially thought. It was way worse. Only 3 of them were actually focused on becoming real pilots. The other 3 seemed to be soft and serious slackers.
Fabien was a third generation Shine pilot candidate. Henri could respect that. Both his grandfather and father were Glowies. Both had sadly sustained critical injuries that made them unable to continue piloting the Shines. His grandfather was a notable Top back in the day. His father was a Bottom. It was a shame. Sometimes it really was the case that the most entitled assholes actually had some skill. They had retired from service with honor. Some people were disappointed about what befell them. Due to his desire to follow in his father's example, he aspired to be a Bottom. Because his father was a Glowie, Fabien was essentially born on the base. He knew all the big protocols and was professional when on the clock. Off the clock, he was as catty as could be. His father and grandfather had instilled hospitality, patience and humility into his head. Because of his position in his family, Fabien spoke several languages fluently. English was one. He made sure to never talk to Henri in English out of spite for him. Henri rolled his eyes. None of the others spoke anything but those or Spanish.
