The Legendary Junkmaster

Adam and Dani felt curious as they heard footsteps walking up the side of their platoon from behind, accompanied by light gasps. Eventually, the heavy footfalls of the Infinity passed by them, allowing them to get a look at who they were up against.

However, just like every other cadet, the pair were stupefied by what they saw. That 'thing' was not a person! The armour looked thick enough to block anything that they could throw at it!

That assumption was just an illusion, though. Although the Infinity was indeed heavy as a whole, the armour itself was classed as a medium type since Jason had shaved the plates down to reduce their weight and thickness. The cadets had misinterpreted the thicker areas as being all metal. Unaware that they were hollow and protecting vital equipment.

Jason had naturally known that he would be taking part in the same training as Adam and Dani. However, they had no reason to suspect that the Seed was him. As Jason came to a halt in front of Sentinel, the latter decided to introduce him to the Captain.

"This is my apprentice. For now, I have forbidden him from speaking so as not to give away his identity until we can come up with a solution. I trust that you can work around this?" Sentinel's tone alone already said that he would not accept no for an answer.

"That's fine, sir. However, if you're protecting his identity, I assume that he won't use his real name. What should his teammates and myself call him then?" Captain Hyde eyed the alien-looking Infinity with some interest. The cadets were all allowed to use their own equipment during training. It was only when they became fully-fledged Guardians that they would receive uniformal armour that had been tailored to their Powers.

Jason glanced at Sentinel through his visor with some interest. In fact, Sentinel had actually never said anything to him about not being allowed to talk. If he had known about that, he was sure that he could have found some way to distort his voice.

"Friday…" Sentinel said as he stroked his chin. The cadets gasped when the hologram appeared next to Sentinel and bowed. "What did you find?"

"With respect, sir. There was only one suitable name that accompanied the provided keyword. Ouroboros." Friday bowed once again before disappearing from sight. 

Jason raised an eyebrow at their exchange. He had no idea what Ouroboros meant, but it sounded kind of cool.

"You heard Friday, Captain. You shall call him Ouroboros." Sentinel nodded his head as if he was happy with the name while the Captain wore a complicated expression on his face.

"It's a bit strange sounding. It sounds like a name that would be given to a Pillar." Captain Hyde tried to wrap his mind around the pronunciation. 

"Who cares? Now, I thought you were in a hurry? So can we get this show on the road? My apprentice and I have a lot of work to do after this." Sentinel scoffed at the Captain's ill-concealed complaint.

The Captain appeared a little panicked by Sentinel's rebuttal and immediately snapped a salute before turning to address his platoon. 

"Ok, platoon! Group up!" The Captain yelled, and the cadets nice, neat formation immediately shattered as everyone rushed to group up with those they along with best.

The forty-eight cadets split up into eight teams of six, and naturally, Adam and Dani ended up on the same team. The Captain glanced at the groupings as he wondered where to put Jason. His eyes fell on Adam, and a smirk crossed his face. This was an excellent chance to bring him down a peg. If he could not fight against Sentinel's Seed, then he had no chance of proving himself.

"Ouroboros. You shall join Ms Kane's team over there." Captain Hyde pointed towards Dani. He was not stupid enough to make it evident that he actually targeting Adam with this move.

Adam and Dani's expressions became cold when they heard the Captain's order. They obviously knew that it spelt the end of them being able to make a good impression during this training exercise. Just as Jason went to move to join their team, Sentinel suddenly cut in.

"There's no need for that, Captain. My apprentice will be taking part as a solo combatant." Sentinel's tone sounded arrogant. Almost like he had complete confidence in his apprentice's ability to wipe the floor with every cadet present.

This obviously rubbed many cadets the wrong way as they glared at Jason with blatant hostility. However, even he was surprised by Sentinel's statement. After all, the Infinity had never been tested in live combat, so he had no idea how it would hold up with nobody to watch his back.

"Sir, are you sure? Not to question your judgement, but it's a little early to count my cadets out." Captain Hyde was clearly shocked as well. 

For one thing, he did not like the idea of the Lord Commander looking down on his troops. Sure, he had hoped that some would receive a beating from Ouroboros earlier. However, that was only to make them more passionate about improving themselves.

From the way Sentinel had spoken, it was as if he were spitting in the face of the Captain's efforts to train this batch of cadets! Now that was something that he could not ignore!

"I'm positive. One day he will take my place. So he needs to learn what it's like to face overwhelming odds alone. To be in a situation where he can not rely on reinforcements or for anyone to watch his back. This is the perfect place for him to start learning that lesson." Sentinel nodded his head as he spoke and scanned the cadets.

'Plus, my speech just now should drive them to work together to bring him down. Which will simulate an actual battlefield where he's surrounded by a unified enemy. What more could I ask for?' Sentinel chuckled lightly as Captain Hyde proceeded to give the order for the teams to scatter throughout the training ground…