Fleet School was an institution based in the former Battle School that trained children to be commanders of exploratory, recon, outpost, and colonization missions in the Dispersal Project. It was administered by the joint efforts of the Ministry of Colonization and International Fleet.[1]
Curriculum[]
Acceptance[]
As a policy, Fleet School only accepted children who were from an off-Earth family since the nations of Earth withdrew the authority for the International Fleet to conscript children from the planet. However, exceptions to this policy were infrequently made, as in the case of Dabeet Ochoa. Fleet School also only chose its students from the pool of children of members of the Fleet, with the exception of a few families who owned corporations or were descendants of the free miners who helped the IF during the First and Second Formic Wars. There was about half as many Fleet School students as there were Battle School Students at a time.[1]
Once accepted, a student would be transported on existing International Fleet ship channels to the school, a difference from its Battle School days where there was a specific shuttle that would only carry students.[1]
While Battle School accepted its students at age 6,[2] Fleet School had students who were all around age 11.[1]
Student Life[]
Unlike Battle School, Fleet School did not censor mail to the students, mainly because it was not wartime.[1]
Instead of "armies," students were organized into "teams" to remove the military connotation.[1]
There were several mess halls and each student would be assigned to a certain one, likely on a team basis. The food was described as subpar, but that was how the military was. Most of the kitchen staff had been retained from Battle School, and their standard farewell was still "Go save the world."[1]
Rules[]
One of the rules of Fleet School was that there was to be no discussion of religion, just like it was in Battle School.[1]
Groups[]
Students organized themselves into various groups based on their family heritage. These groupings contributed to the lack of cooperation within teams, but the Fleet School administration allowed it.[1]
True Children[]
The "True Children" were the direct offspring of International Fleet personnel. This group was further subdivided into "Veterans", children who had at least one parent in active duty in space during the war. "Onlookers" had parents stationed on Earth or Luna.. One such student was Zhang He.[1]
The True Children acted pompous and and as though they had special status.[1]
Inks[]
Derived from the U.S. abbreviation for a corporation, inc., "Inks" had parents who owned large companies that owned real estate in the Belt, Mars, and moons with space stations.[1]
Miners or Freeborn[]
The "Miners" or as they called themselves, "Freeborn", were children hailing from families of asteroid miners who had helped in the First and Second Formic Wars. They were usually poorer than the other groups. The Miners were further subdivided into the "Great", those coming from rich mining clans, and the "Brave", those hailing from the families most crucial in the war. There were only two students in the Brave class; one of them was Delgado.[1]
Dirt[]
This group was for children who had come from Earth. The only member of this group was Dabeet Ochoa.[1]
Studies[]
Although the battleroom was still a part of the curriculum, the students did not care about their rankings because the Third Formic War was over. There were also various types of tests, most involving current affairs about the International Fleet or the Formics.[1]
Teams[]
Teams were the equivalent of Battle School Armies, with toon leaders and commanders.[1]
Dabeet's Team[]
Dabeet was placed into a team with the colors Green-Blue-Green. It had at least more than one toon, and its commander was Bartolomeo Ja.[1]
Structure and Appearance[]
Location[]
Fleet School Station was located at the 5th Lagrange point, a location where the gravity of the Earth, Luna, and Sun cancel each other out, allowing for a more stable orbit. However, it still technically orbited the Earth.[1]
Structure[]
Fleet School retained the same structure as Battle School, mainly the 3 spinning wheels that created the centrifugal force, although they were very outdated since Gravitics had been developed over 100 years prior. The inner ring spun inside a track that lay inside the middle wheel, and the middle wheel did the same inside the outer wheel.[1]
The station had a coating of Nan-Ooze on its surface that would protect it to a degree in the event of an attack, like all Fleet ships The outside of the station also had many hand grips for use during EVAs.[1]
Just like in the Battle School, there was an unfinished section with lower temperatures. This area had no surveillance equipment and no amenities, and the outer hull had not been plated yet.[1]
Battleroom[]
Four of the nine battlerooms were retained from Battle School. The game was the same, with Flash Pistols and Flash Suits, but an extra element was implemented; shapes were able to be pulled from the walls and Stars in the room in order to construct strategic structures.[1]
Appearance[]
Inside the station, the light-up walls that would guide students to their barracks were retained from its Battle School days. Some walls were in fact doors into the machinery of the station that could be opened with someone's handprint. The barracks were also the same, with lines of bunks and lockers for each student.[1]
Like in Battle School, there was a game room, but since the Fleet School children were not as young as the ones who attended Battle School, the games meant for little children were in the back. The wall grate that Bean used to crawl into heating vents to spy on teachers and students had been clamped into place to avoid a similar situation.[1]
History[]
Creation[]
After the end of the Third Formic War and the International Fleet lost its purpose of war according to the Locke Proposal, Battle School was shut down and converted into a training facility for children who would be future explorers and governors. The remaining Battle School students were sent home.[1]
In order to pay for its upkeep, Fleet School also served as a maintenance station for commercial ships. In commercial terms, it was known as Fleet School Station.[1]
Children of the Fleet[]
After the terrorist threat to Fleet School became known, they first brought two extra fleet personnel to beef up station security. Some time after that, a conversation between the Minister of Colonization and another person led to the commandant of the station Urska Kaluza, the training officers, and Dabeet Ochoa to be reassigned from the station. However, Dabeet hid and did not go to the airlock, and the small transport ship left without him.[1]
About five days later, the terrorist ship arrived at the station in the form of a Juke Limited vessel, loaded with Vacoplaz. Dabeet Ochoa, along with a team including Monkey, Ignazio Cabeza, Bartolomeo Ja, Ragnar Olafson, Zhang He, and Teburoro Timeon came up with a plan to blow the ship away from the station before it could destroy it, saving everybody aboard. The raiders who had come from the ship were told by Dabeet in an announcement that whoever was in charge of them had set them up on a suicide mission that had failed, and told them that they should surrender unless they wanted to be killed by the Fleet ships that would soon arrive. Two of the raiders' officers were shot dead by their own men and two others were critically injured. They were locked in the battlerooms until the Fleet arrived, where they were then carried away as prisoners.[1]
Soon after, it was uncovered that Urska Kaluza was a collaborator on the terrorist attack and was arrested. Robota Smirnova, back after being on an observation ship that was planning to hijack the enemy vessel, was second-in-command and thus became Commandant in Kaluza's place. The Ministry of Colonization Hyrum Graff visited the station afterward to give Robota advice on school administration as well as visit with Dabeet.[1]
Personnel[]
- Colonel Urska Kaluza - Commandant (formerly)
- Robota Smirnova - Head of Security, Commandant
- Lieutenant Odd Oddson
- Enya Polonia - Inventory Manager
- Gusti - Accountant Teacher
- Unnamed kitchen staff
Students[]
- Dabeet Ochoa - Dirt
- Ignazio Cabeza
- Teburoro Timeon
- Delgado - Freeborn, Brave
- Zhang He - True Child, Onlooker
- Ragnar Olafson
- Bartolomeo Ja
- Cynthia Munk - Miner/Ink
Trivia[]
- In Shadow Puppets, the former Battle School was shown and stated to have been converted into a stop for colonists heading to their colony destinations, nicknamed Ellis Island. No mention of Fleet School being present there was made.[3]
- It is interesting to note that normal civilians were not aware of the existence of Fleet School, as the doctor Dabeet Ochoa saw on Earth believed that the only thing at L-5 was the old Battle School.[1]