Universal Power System

The emergence of the second Water Sentinel caught everyone off guard. Mako, Bill, and Nathan were standing right by the pool, while Erin, Leon, and Iris were slowly getting back on their feet a bit further away. The Water Sentinel rose from the pool, its towering form casting an imposing shadow over the training room.

"No way! The crystal can recharge that fast!?," Mako muttered under his breath, realizing the dire situation they were in. The Water Sentinel was fully charged and ready to unleash its power once more.

Before they could even react, the Water Sentinel unleashed a torrent of water, targeting all six cadets. The massive wave of water had such force that the attack completely knocked them out of the central zone, leaving them drenched and unconscious.

**************

"W...ake.... u..p..." A sound came from a distance.

"Wake... up..." The sound became clearer and sounded closer.

"WAKE UP!" Commander Sable's loud voice boomed across the room, jolting Mako to wake up and stand up straight.

Mako was super confused as to where he was or what had just happened with his memory still hazy of previous events; however, things were slowly coming back to him.

He was currently inside Commander Sable's office with Erin, Iris, Bill, Leon, and Nathan all present and awake.

They were all standing in front of the commander's desk watching the replay footage of their training match with Commander Sable critiquing everything.

Mako slowly began to remember as he realized how he got here. He got wiped out by the giant wave along with everyone else and lost the training match.

After realizing what had happened and coming to his complete senses, Mako joined all of his teammates and stood beside them quietly as Commander Sable continued pausing and playing the footage while telling them all everything that they did wrong.

After going over the whole footage, it was safe to say that Commander Sable wasn't impressed in the slightest. He turned off the footage and turned towards the six of them with a furious yet controlled gaze.

"Listen up, all of you!" Commander Sable's voice echoed through the room. "This match was meant to test your teamwork, adaptability, and strategy. But all I saw was chaos and recklessness!"

Mako, Bill, Leon, Erin, Iris, and Nathan stood silently, knowing that the Commander had every right to scold them because they did indeed all fail the training match. They knew they had let their emotions get the best of them, and it cost them dearly.

"You were divided into two teams for a reason. Teamwork and coordination are essential in combat. Yet, all I saw were individual skirmishes," Commander Sable continued, his gaze piercing into each cadet. "You can't let personal grievances get in the way of your mission. In a real battle, such behavior will lead to disaster."

Many of them felt a sense of guilt wash over them. They knew that each one of them had contributed to the discord between their teams by not thinking about the team and letting emotions cloud their judgment.

"Bill, you can't let your personal feelings for Nathan dictate your actions. You are all soldiers now, and you must act as a cohesive unit. It was your duty to make sure that the team operated smoothly, but instead, you just allowed him to go ahead without any confrontation, leading him to be the first one to get knocked out by the first Water Sentinel," Commander Sable addressed Bill, his voice unwavering.

Bill nodded, looking solemn. He realized he had let his anger towards Nathan get the better of him, and it had affected their performance as a team because if Nathan was moving with them from the start, they would have arrived quicker at the site as an overall team and could have easily dominated Mako's team who had just struggled to defeat the sentinel.

"Mako, your tactics were promising, but you must learn to control and discipline. You are too careless with your energy and skills and you don't think how it will affect your team. Erin was completely out of the fight because of you who made her use all of her energy to maintain that wall." Commander Sable continued. "Your abilities are valuable, but they mean nothing if you don't work together effectively."

Mako nodded, acknowledging the truth in Commander Sable's words. He knew he had to learn to be a better leader and not rush into things, ignoring his own conscience who is trying to be calculative, and actually thinking things through before doing them.

"Nathan, your arrogance and disregard for your teammates' skills are utterly and completely unacceptable. You are part of a team now, and whether you like it or not, you're going to need to learn to cooperate and respect your teammates." Commander Sable addressed Nathan firmly.

Nathan's defiant expression softened slightly as he took in the commander's words. He wanted to retaliate by saying that it was not his fault, his teammates were so weak, but he couldn't really say that after being the first one to get knocked out by the sentinel and having the least amount of participants in the training match.

He still refused to make any friends as those would only drag him down again, but he couldn't deny that he did in fact hinder their performance as a team.

After greatly scolding the three bigger players, Commander turned towards Erin, Iris, and Leon.

"Erin, you have great potential, but you are relying on it too heavily. I'm sure Malik has already informed you of the risks of using mutant genes when they haven't recovered yet. Don't take your gifts for granted and focus on improving yourself from the ground up." The Commander said in a less harsh tone.

"Iris, you have to gain control over your emotions. In battle, the enemy will take advantage of any and all emotional leverage that you provide them. You completely froze up and had tears down your face as you saw Mako get slammed by the Water Sentinel. I admit the thought of losing a friend is quite deep and painful, trust me, I have lost many great friends over the years, but you have to remain strong if you want to survive," Commander Sable said empathetically.

"Leon, you need to communicate better with your teammates. It's crucial to coordinate your actions and support each other during combat. You ran in blind and went straight for the crystal without letting Bill knows anything. You were lucky that Erin only used a little bit of ice to cause you to slip. It could have turned out a lot worse for you and Bill wouldn't be able to do anything to save you," Commander Sable lastly scolded Leon.

The three of them nodded, knowing they had to improve their individual weaknesses so that they can be part of an effective team.

"The Water Sentinel is a formidable foe, and you must learn to work together if you want to get that crystal," Commander Sable stated firmly. "Now, you will train together as one unit until you can demonstrate true teamwork."

"I will allow you to take this training match again by the end of the week if I see that you are capable enough for it, and if you pass, you will get the green light for your first mission, but if you fail or I deem you unworthy, you will not be executing your first mission." Commander Sable announced, showing no remorse to the shocked faces of all six of his students.

"You will be one of the weaker groups of students going into military school if you let the latter become a reality, and let me tell you, the special class of the military school is quite tough, slack around, and you might just lose your special class privileges," The Commander threatened.

The six cadets exchanged glances, feeling a sense of urgency and renewed determination to prove themselves as a team. They knew they had a lot of work ahead of them, but they were determined to overcome their flaws and become a cohesive unit.

"Dismissed! Now get back to training!" Commander Sable barked, and the cadets quickly dispersed, heading back to the training area.

Mako, Bill, Leon, Erin, Iris, and Nathan all took different spots on the training field and began training. They had a week to overcome all of their flaws and refine their techniques to become worthy enough to go on their first mission, and that was something everyone was passionate about and wanted to give their all.

**************

Just as everyone left Commander Sable's office and he relaxed back into his chair, a secret invisible door opened from the wall right next to his desk, and Commander Anderson walked out in his military uniform.

"You don't have to be so hard on them, Sable. They defeated the Water Sentinel on the first try. Usually, beginning cadets don't even make it to the central zone, much less face and defeat the sentinel." Commander Anderson said.

"I understand what you mean, Anderson, but you know I can't take it easy on them. If they even get the slightest hint that they are stronger and better than most beginning cadets, it will just boost their ego and they will become ignorant of what they have to do in order to progress forward. We have lost too many young talents because of this, but no more. I will deal with them my way," Commander Sable replied.

Commander Anderson walked over to the glass wall in Commander Sable's office and watched as Mako and his friends trained.

"Alright, Sable. I trust you. Even though all of them voted against you because of that, I still believe in you and I know you can guide their shining stars onto the right path." Commander Anderson said to Commander Sable with a smile.