Max checked the charge on the pistols, and was satisfied when he saw it at 98%. Like the plasma pistols Battle Scouts would use in battle, these practice pistols were lightweight and fired in semi automatic bursts. The only difference was that the synthesizers on the combat pistols produced plasma, and these practice pistols produced blue pellets designed to freeze the area on your body that was hit.
Putting the pistol away, Max holstered them to the belt of his battlesuit, and waited. Tryouts had already begun, and Max had decided to try out for Zeta Squadron. It was a new Squadron created only last year, but already Zeta Squadron has established itself as one of the two best Squadrons in the Academy, alongside Alpha Squadron.
Zeta Squadron had been the one and only Squad that Max had been hoping to join since he received news that he had been accepted into the Academy, and for good reason. Logan Meier, a veteran of the Great Wars and a national hero, founded Zeta Squadron as his own when he enrolled in the Academy last year. As one of the Little Eagles who fought in the war to defend the Allied Territories, recruitment for the Squadron was extremely strict, and Zeta Squadron was made up of only the toughest and most ruthless students in the Academy.
But none of that scared Max. He had remembered seeing Logan on television a few years ago, paraded around the country as a hero and hailed for his heroic feats in battle while the Allied Territories chartered the treaty that would eventually end the Great Wars. Ever since then, Max had looked up to Logan, and who would pass up a chance to serve in the same Squad as their hero?
“Gates open in one minute.” A voice crackled on the radio built into the combat helmet that Max, and the forty nine other students wore. He couldn’t see their faces now, since the helmets they wore had reflective visors and cover their faces entirely, but Max saw earlier that the group trying out for Zeta Squadron was made up of entirely first year students, whereas the other Squadrons had some second and third year, and very rarely fourth and fifth year students trying out too.
But even though there was so many others competing against him for the limited openings in Zeta Squadron, Max wasn’t worried. He performed well on the reflex and speed exercises, though he did also only perform substantially well on the strength and obstacle course. But this was what counted the most, the final exercise.
Every single one of the potential Battle Scouts would have to compete against the Squadron’s members in a practice exercise. With thrusters on either of their feet and extremely lightweight battle suits, they would have to prove just how well they could fight in a unit and as a Battle Scout.
“Gates open in five,” The voice crackled on the speaker. “Four, three, two, one.”
Max sprinted out of the door and into the training arena as they opened, and immediately realized that was a bad idea. The holding area had been dark, whereas the arena had bright lights shining from overhead that his eyes could not adjust to in time.
Blinded temporarily, the entire front line of the fifty first years was decimated by Zeta Squadron, who came forward rather conservatively while firing their weapons at the rushing first years.
Diving into the ground just as a blue pellet whizzed right above his head, Max cursed as the immobilized bodies of first year students dropped all around him. They had been too eager to prove themselves, and now they were paying the price for it. Slowly allowing his vision to adjust, Max surveyed the arena and saw that row after row of eight feet tall stone blocks lined the arena.
This meant that they still did have some cover, and Max saw that the students still standing were already using the stone blocks as cover from the devastating fire of the enemy team.
Rolling aside, and using his thrusters to leap a great length so that he was behind cover, Max took this moment to catch his breath and surveyed the situation. There was still about thirty or so of them left, meaning they still had the numbers over Zeta Squadron’s fifteen-ish men. All hope was not yet lost; all they had to do was regroup, and counter with a rally.
By communicating with the remaining first years through their helmet’s built in radio, all the while laying down covering fire, the thirty strong survivors recalled strategies and formations that they learnt in classes to try to counter Zeta Squad’s attack. After a minute or so of this, the first years devised a strategy to advance forward in a clever counter assault.
Sending five first years sprinting to the left and another five to the right in an attempt to throw Zeta off their real game plan, Max watched as another five used their thrusters to leap up onto the blocks of stone, perching themselves on higher ground to better lay down covering fire.
And now it was time for the real assault. With fifteen students, Max advanced steadily forward, using the thrusters to leap from cover to cover, all the while peeking out in short bursts to fire his weapon. At the same time, the group of five students on either side of the arena would start advancing too, in an attempt to encircle their outnumbered foes. The first years might not have experience or skills on their side, but they did have the numbers, and they would exploit that to their fullest extent.
For a while, it seemed like their plan was going to work as Zeta Squadron was forced to retreat and take cover. But combat had so much more layers than just what you study in a textbook, and the first years would soon learn this the hard way.
Picking up quickly on their strategy, Zeta’s team leader devised a deadly counterattack, capitalizing on their individual specializations. Snipers rang through the air as two pellets zoomed up above them, striking two of the first years on top of the stone blocks in the helmet and sending them crashing down to the ground with a hard thud.
The Assaulters and Sappers split both way as they rushed to take care of their would be flankers, while the five Battle Scouts of Zeta Squadron went head on against Max and the fourteen other first years, leaping forward as their thrusters sent them up high into the air. And that was when Max finally saw him; the steel blue tinted visor was unmistakably Logan’s. And the way he seemed to barrel through the air toward them, thrusting up onto the stone blocks and jackknifing off them effortlessly while dodging the first years’ fire in midair was almost unbelievable.
“Watch out!” Max screamed a warning, as Zeta’s Battle Scouts came down directly on them from above.
The fighting that ensued was like nothing that Max had ever experienced before. No amount of training or theoretical classes could have prepared him for this. The Battle Scouts of Zeta Squadron were just too skilled, too fast, and too accurate. They very effortlessly took every single approach that they had learnt in a classroom and applied them in the heat of battle without even a second’s thought or hesitation, using their thrusters as an extension of their body’s capabilities, staying in constant movement, and leveraging the high ground.
The first years were just no match for Zeta Squadron’s Battle Scouts, and Max quickly found himself just desperately trying to survive the brutal counterattack.
Jumping forward, Max broke into a roll and activated the thrusters on his feet, leaping several feet forward as he took cover behind a stone block, just as a hail of blue pellets struck it. This was no practice exercise, Logan was leading Zeta Squadron in a decisive and brutal attack without showing any mercy. The first years did not even have a fighting chance.
Suddenly, Max wondered if he should have just listened to his friends when they told him to stay away from Zeta Squadron.
•••••••••••••••
“I’m telling you, Zeta Squadron is just bad news. You should stay away from it.”
“What? Zeta Squadron is one of the two best Squadrons, besides Alpha Squadron! Why would you stay away from it?”
Max, Haley, and Kyle were standing in the middle of the crowd of students in the Hall. Besides first year students, the crowd was mostly made up of second and third year students, with maybe two or three fourth and fifth years wandering around somewhere. For the most part, if they hadn’t been accepted the first few times, students lost interest in joining Squadrons, which explained the decreasing rate of older students at the fair.
“Then why not just join Alpha Squadron?” Kyle asked. “If you want to go for the best, join Alpha. They were one of first three Squads founded here at the Academy, alongside Gamma Squadron.”
“Yeah, well neither Alpha nor Gamma Squadron are led by Logan Meier.”
Max watched as Haley and Kyle exchanged sighs with each other.
“Come on, we’ve all seen him on the television a few years ago.” Max shrugged. “You all know who he is, how could you not be excited to see him here?”
“Because,” Haley said, trailing off for a second. “Well, he’s not that special. There are plenty of former Little Eagles who fought during the war that now study here at the Academy, and all over the country.”
“Yeah,” Kyle agreed. “Though surprisingly, most of them want tnothing to do with the Squadrons. Can’t beat the real thing I guess.”
Max rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but you know that Logan is different. He was a hero, he helped bring an end to the Great Wars. It would be an honor to serve in the same Squadron as him.”
“Okay, but now that he’s here...” Kyle glanced at the far end of the Hall where Logan stood at Zeta Squadron’s stand. “He seems like a little bit of an asshole.”
“Kyle’s right, Max.” Haley said. Max had met Haley about an hour or two ago, and so far he though she seemed rather nice. “I’ve heard bad things about Logan, and Zeta Squadron in general. Just look at how most of Zeta Squadron is made up of fourth and fifth years. He founded the Squadron only last year when he enrolled, and right away he takes in only the older students? That doesn’t seem a little strange to you?”
Max was perplexed. “So? Logan only wants the best of the best in his Squadron, is that so wrong?”
“They’re his goons, Max.” Haley rolled her eyes. “Logan is just a bully, and those older students do his dirty work for him.”
“How would you know for sure?” Max frowned, waving these accusations away. “Those are just rumors you heard from the other students on the way here. For all you know, they could’ve just been jealous that Logan became leader of his own Squadron when he was just a first year.”
Both Kyle and Haley sighed, but before they could say anything else, they were interrupted by an announcement over the school’s intercom system.
“The tryouts will begin shortly.” Max noted, then looked back to his friends. “Hey listen, if you want to try out for Alpha Squadron, go ahead. But I’m just saying, joining Zeta Squadron has always been a big goal of mine, so that’s what’ll try to do.”
“I guess I can respect that.” Kyle managed a smile, and clasped Max’s shoulder. “Good luck.”
“And stay safe.” Haley added, nodding.
“Thanks guys,” Max said, turning and jogging off toward Zeta Squadron’s stand. “And good luck with Alpha Squadron too!”
•••••••••
Trying to catch his breath, Max leaned against the stone block, clutching his practice pistol to his chest, when he suddenly heard a heavy thud from above him. Max looked up to see that one of Zeta’s Battle Scouts with a black battle suit had landed on the block he was hiding behind.
Rolling to a side, Max narrowly avoided the shots that his assailant fired at him. Spinning around to return fire, his eyes widened as he saw that the black armored Battle Scout wasn’t there anymore. Combat awareness was stressed as vital in class, but it was difficult to tell who was where in the heat of the battle.
Eyes darting about, Max could not find his pursuer, and began to panic as he felt himself freeze on the spot. He couldn’t think of anything to do; it was hopeless, the black armored Battle Scout was just toying with him, and would eventually pick him off.
Unable to come up with a better plan, Max broke into a run as he began to run as far away as possible from where his attacker had last been. Just as he began to do so, however, boots thudded heavily down on the ground behind him, and Max fell over just in time to dodge the pellets that had been aimed at his back.
Spinning around so that his back was to the ground, Max held out his weapon at the black armored Battle Scout who was standing over him. Even though he had a helmet on, Max just knew that his attacker must have been wearing a triumphant smirk on his face as he stood over his outclassed opponent. Slowly, he lifted his pistol up, training it on Max’s head for the finishing blow.
But the one mistake the Zeta Battle Scout made was in underestimating Max. In the time it took him to raise his weapon, Max had managed to pull himself together and squeezed the trigger on his weapons. The blue pellets left the barrel of his weapon, and Max watched as it splattered over the Zeta Battle Scout’s firing hand, liquefying into a blue liquid and then quickly solidifying again so that it froze his hand and weapon. Max had disarmed him.
Unlike the overconfident Zeta Battle Scout, Max did not waste any time, quickly jumping to his feet and firing another shot to his helmet. The helmet solidified, and Max pumped his fist into the air in victory before turning to help his losing teammates. The snipers had taken care of the five first years perched on the stone blocks, and their left and right flanks had been destroyed. While it was unlikely that the first years could rally back into victory, at least Max had taken down one of the Zeta Battle Scouts. They would surely take that into consideration when selecting first year recruits.
But suddenly, Max felt a hand grab at his shoulder, spinning him around so that he was looking right at the enraged black armored Battle Scout, except now without his helmet. With his weapon hand and helmet frozen by the blue pellets, he must have used his free hand to pull off his helmet to come and grab Max, which was against the rules.
“What are you-“ Max began to say, but was cut off as the older student slammed his knee up into his solar plexus.
With the wind knocked out of him, Max crumpled to the ground as he gasped for air, clutching at his midsection. The Zeta Battle Scout wasn’t just older, he was also huge, bigger and taller than most of the fifth years. This made the strike against Max’s stomach, one that he had been totally unprepared for, and extremely debilitating attack.
“Thought I was finished, huh?” Max heard him say, before another blow fell down upon his helmet. “We don’t go down so easy, not in Zeta Squadron.”
The older student had used his hard, frozen hand to strike Max’s helmeted head, which left him in a state of disorientation and pain. By the time he managed to collect himself and pulled up to a sitting position, the battle was over. The first years had been utterly defeated.
“Well, that was easy.” Max heard someone say and watched as the blue visored helmet come off. Long locks of his light brown hair spilled out into the open air, and Logan smirked as he looked around him. “Fifteen against fifty, and boy one of us down.”
Something caught Logan’s eyes, and Max turned to see the older student who had assaulted him, his weapon hand still frozen and his helmet gone.
“What happened to you, Nelson?” Logan scoffed, almost as if disgusted.
“Doesn’t matter.” The older student tried to shrug it off. “I took care of it.”
Pulling off his helmet, revealing his flushed face and dirty blonde hair matted against his pale forehead, Max jumped to his feet and pointed at the black armored Battle Scout.
“He’s a cheat!” Max accused. “I froze his weapon hand so he couldn’t shoot, then I shot him clean in the helmet at close range. I beat him fair and square, but he just took off his helmet and hit me!”
“How’s that cheating?” Nelson laughed.
“It’s against the rules!” Max argued, storming over so that he was face to face with Nelson. “You can’t hit me, you’re supposed to practice your skills with the pistols to immobilize each other, and I hit you square in the face at close range!”
“Yeah, well if that’s the case, and I managed to pull off my helmet, then I don’t think you did such a good job at immobilizing me.” He said with an infuriating smirk. “But meanwhile, that knee to your stomach really did a good job at immobilizing you, didn’t it? Even without my weapon, I still beat you.”
“That’s not fair!” Max said and turned to Logan, as if pleading for him to help. But Logan seemed, at best, unbothered by Max’s predicament, and most of Zeta Squadron was even laughing at Max. “The rules were the rules, I beat him fair and square! I outsmarted him and I beat him!”
“You didn’t do shit, kid.” Nelson said, provoked by Max claiming in front of all the first years and Zeta Squadron that he had been beaten by a first year. “Put your crap back on right now, and we can settle this once and for all.”
“I don’t think it really matters.” Logan interrupted, walking away. “In the end, all of you performed pathetically, I could’ve hit all of you with my eyes closed. If it were up to me, I’d have none of you on my Squadron.”
Max felt his fist clench. “I was never hit.”
Logan stopped in his tracks. “What?”
“Want me to take care of him for you, Logan?” Nelson sneered as he cracked his knuckles.
Spinning around, Logan strode toward Max, though he did ignore Nelson. Slowly backing away, Max glanced left and right as the older students of Zeta Squadron approached him menacingly.
“I-I didn’t say anything wrong.” Max tried to say bravely, to show them he wasn’t afraid. “None of your pellets hit me. I was never immobilized.”
The rest of Zeta Squadron looked expectantly on at Logan, who seemed to be considering Max’s words.
“You’re right.” Logan shrugged, then raised his pistol and fired off three pellets into Max’s chest. The pellets splattered point blank into the young boy’s chest, knocking him back and sending him to the ground with a thud. “There, fixed it.”
“Fucking loser.” Nelson snickered, only to be grabbed by the shoulder by the smaller Logan.
“I’ve got some things I have to speak to you about too, Nelson.” Logan said harshly. “We’re gonna have to talk.”
And with that, Logan and the older students walked away, sneering back at Max, who could only look back at them with a mix of embarrassment and fury. Now, there was no way Max was being accepted into Zeta.
•••••••••••
Max turned the shower knob and immediately warm water came pouring down on his naked body. Sighing in relief, Max let his head hang as he allowed the water to wet his dirty blonde hair.
His body was sore and stiff, the joints feeling like creaky wooden boards whenever he moved, and his chest still stung from the point blank shot he had taken from Logan’s practice pistol.
Cursing under his breath, Max splashed some water at the porcelain wall of the showers in frustration. He should have just listened to Kyle and Haley from the start. His friends were just trying to protect him, and they were right. Logan, and his entire Squadron, were nothing but bullies, and Max just couldn’t see himself as one of them, even if they somehow decided to accept him into one of five openings in the Squadron.
Raising his arms to scrub his hair, Max winced as the pain in his chest reminded him not to do anything to strenuous for now. While he knew that nothing was broken or seriously injured, Max still hoped that both Logan and Nelson would be punished. He had heard that Logan had brought Nelson to the headmaster, but General Zantar wasn’t too pleased about hearing that Logan fired his practice pistol at a first year after the exercise either.
The Academy nurse had examined him and assured him that he’d be alright with some rest, but nothing could take away the shame of having been so wrong about Zeta Squadron. The pain in his chest and his sore solar plexus would just serve as a reminder of it every time he made any sudden movements.
Sighing, Max looked around at the empty showers. Well, at least he had gotten the showers all to himself, since the other first years were all long gone by now. Max had never liked showering with the other boys, but every training exercise made him sweat quite a fair bit, so it was not like he had any choice.
Max had never really been a shy boy before, but ever since he hit puberty, he had suddenly started becoming self conscious of his personal development, namely the lack of pubic hair and perceived smaller than average length between his legs. Luckily, Max didn’t have to worry about that now, and was able to shower freely.
Just then however, loud footsteps could be heard approaching, and the doors to the showers opened noisily.
“Are you kidding me? This is stupid, AND unfair!” The obnoxiously loud voice said.
Without having to turn around, Max knew right away that it was Nelson, probably just coming back from the headmaster’s office after hearing whatever punishment they had thought suited for him. Without turning to look, Max continued to shower quietly.
“Oh, look who we have here?” Nelson scoffed, as he hung his towel and uniform on the rack. “The crybaby who had to go complaining to the headmaster.”
Max frowned. He hadn’t been the one to say anything. More than likely, one of the other boys or girls filed a complaint after seeing how Max had been treated by Zeta Squad. Still however, Max remained silent, ignoring the older bully as he washed under his hairless armpits.
“What? No excuses? Not even gonna try to whine and complain that it wasn’t you?” Nelson spat, pulling off his wet shirt with so much force that it was almost ripped off. “Do you know what they did to me? They suspended me from the Squadron for a whole month. A whole month! Just for roughing you up a little. Do you know how long that is, especially since it’s my last year?”
A little smirk creeped onto Max’s face. He had wished for something a little harsher, but Nelson got what he deserved.
“I can’t believe how soft the Academy has gotten these days, accepting little fags like you. Back then, we were all a bunch of tough little first years, we didn’t cry when the older students had a bit of fun and started roughhousing us. No, we never complained, but we got tougher.”
Nelson paused for a moment, as if thinking about something.
“You talked a big game earlier after the exercise, acting like you somehow beat me or something.” Nelson said, and there was something dangerous in his voice that Max didn’t like. “But look at you, now that no one else is here to save you. You don’t even dare to turn around and face me, you won’t even look me in the eye and challenge me like you did earlier.”
Max felt his heartbeat quicken. He didn’t like this, not one bit. Turning slightly, trying to be casual as he glanced around to watch Nelson, Max felt his heart almost skip a beat as he found that the fifth year boy had not only dropped his pants, but was sporting a raging erection.
Spinning back around to face the porcelain shower wall, a little too obviously, Max’s eyes widened. His cock was both thick and long, and super veiny. Its girth must have been as thick as Max’s forearm, and lengthwise it must have been about ten inches. It was everything that Max’s cock was not, a true monster cock.
“You see?” Nelson smirked, and Max heard stepping into the showers slowly. “You’re scared aren’t you? Because, all alone, you realize that if there were nothing holding me back, you would truly be no match for me. Because, without the safety of your rules and teachers, you realize that I’m the better of us two.”
Max listened and swallowed nervously as he began to hear the splatter of water as Nelson’s feet stepped on the wet porcelain, until he stopped right behind him.
“Because now, with nobody around to protect your little baby ass, you’re scared.”
Max, heart racing, jumped as he felt one of Nelson’s hands smack his bare, wet ass, squeezing it tightly. With his other hand, Nelson rubbed against Max’s bony hips.
“H-Hey!” Max said, trying to turn around to pull away, but he felt Nelson’s elbow and forearm press against the back of his head, pinning his face to the white shower walls.
Struggling fruitlessly against the much bigger boy, Max let out a whimper as he felt Nelson’s tongue licking all around his fair cheeks and ear, and then sliding down to his neck. Max closed his eyes, shuddering at the unfamiliar sensations.
“Please...” Was all he could manage now, and Nelson scoffed at that.
“Just so you know,” Nelson said mockingly. “My other hand is stroking my big, long cock behind you while I savor your petite little body.”
A throbbing penis head rubbed against Max’s lower back, right above his smooth butt cheeks, confirming Nelson’s statement. Max didn’t understand. Sure, he knew about sex between a man and a man, about how they could feel good if they were intimate with each other. But never before had Max thought of himself as being appealing to another guy his age, let alone an older boy.
Confused, and overwhelmed with emotion and fear, Max let out a surprised yell as a finger was inserted to the knuckle into his anal cavity un-lubed and without warning, Max began struggling even harder, which only seemed to invite Nelson to stick a second finger inside him.
“Trust me,” Nelson grunted, as Max felt his fingers slide in and out of him. “When you see what I have in store next, you’ll be thanking me for this.”
It was a weird feeling; Max didn’t have any natural openings in his body as a boy, and had never felt anything move freely in and out of him like this. But there was no mistake about his discomfort here. Nelson was being far too rough and sudden with each of his movements for Max to ever find a way to enjoy this at all.
After what seemed like forever, the fingers were finally removed from Max’s small fourteen year old butthole, but panic washed over him anew as he began to feel something else pressing against his opening.
“No-No, stop!” Max screamed as Nelson lined up his ten inch cock, prepared to penetrate Max.
“Fuck you, fag boy.” Was all Nelson had to say, before he thrusted his hip forward full force.
Max let out a blood curdling scream as the glans of Nelson’s cock forced its way into his sphincter, but his continued struggling and the enormous size of Nelson’s cock both made it difficult for him to enter Max fully.
“Shit... Just relax man.” Nelson grunted as he kept thrusting against Max’s contracting sphincter walls, going in deeper centimeter by centimeter every time. “Just let it loosen a little, take it easy kid.”
“No, stop it! Take it out, take it out, please!”
Max was in tears now, but unable to do anything else, he simply let the tears fall down his face as he was pressed against the porcelain shower wall. Nelson, meanwhile, seemed to finally give up on his current approach, and released Max from his hold.
Before Max could do anything else, however, he was taken down to the floor hard face first. He saw stars as his face smacked against the white porcelain ground, and was sure his brow had been cut open.
At this position and angle, Nelson had better leverage to thrust into Max’s butt. He began to thrust deeper and deeper, now fully fucking him, but Max was too dazed from his head hitting the ground to scream as he felt Nelson’s cock go deeper inside him.
“First year assholes sure are tighter than any pussy I’ve ever had.” Nelson grinned.
Above them, the shower was still running, and the water that Max was laying on on the ground was now colored red with blood. Was it the cut on his brow, or was his gaping asshole now bleeding? Max didn’t know. His whole body was numb by now, and all he could do was sob as Nelson thrusted about half of his ten inches into him from behind.
After laying there on the bloodied water for what seemed like forever, screaming for help whenever he could summon enough energy, Max finally felt the full length of Nelson’s cock leave his gaping hole.
Two hands grabbed his shoulders, and Max was spun around by Nelson. Dazed and confused, Max closed his eyes to block out the bright lights of the showers. Meanwhile, Nelson began to straddle Max and stroke his cock all the while aiming his tip at Max’s face.
With eyes still closed, Max offered no more resistance as Nelson gave him a cumshot, flinching only slightly as he felt the semen erupt onto his bleeding face.
“That’s a good look.” Nelson laughed to himself as he stood up. “The little fag lying in his own blood, with my cum all over his face.”
Max heard the snap of a shutter, and was sure that Nelson had taken a photo of him. But, too tired to even move, Max didn’t care. The last thing that Max heard, right before he fell unconscious, was the shower doors opening, and someone asking: “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
At last, someone had heard Max’s pleas for help.
