Cultivation of the Military Caste

Upon arrival in Orta at age eight, a marixidoe is stripped naked and tossed into Ortakol Harbor. If she cannot swim, observers (older marixi) let her drown; those who swim to the beach first are pulled aside not for accolades, but for the task of recovering those who have drowned. This task is a marixidoe’s first lesson in never leaving behind one of her own.

Onshore, their elders separate them into groups of fifty. Each group, called a ‘cirque,’ are part of the Team Onboarding program located near the surface area of the Ortosk Basin. Cirque-battalions identify as Toobs, and the marixidoe as a Toob or Toober.

Each ‘toober’ marches barefoot and naked to the Orta Annex where she receives a wearable belt containing two one-piece suits (one for barracks, the other for surface runs), a hide washing kit, nail clippers, and four under-suits. After receiving her ice-shoes, she puts on her surface suit and belt, then marches up the slick ice path to an Ortosk Basin cavern near the surface. Here, she finds her barracks, with a lone ceiling window revealing the sky. Each enclosed room contains fifty body-size stalls, one for each toober, and a toober will live here until the age of thirteen.

A significant part of toob training is psychological; she must be relied upon to obey orders and follow instructions without question. No elder marixi uses her name, but she must address her toobmates by their genetic names (never their pod-given name.) There are strict grooming standards as toobers must keep their appearance uniform. A toob performs routine tasks such as folding her uniforms and under-suits, standing to attention, and maintaining her physical regimen.

During the polar day, toobers undergo dive training naked in glacial ponds; they dig tunnels in the pack snow and run on the surface ice. Training during the polar night includes daily instruction on standard operating procedures, military courtesy, tradition, and history, as well as uniform care and wear.

At the start of their thirteenth year, Toobers march to the Surface Excursion Center, where each is paired with another to compete against three other pairs in what is called a Surface Trial*.

*Surface Trial is where those born with ilitux display their symptoms; a toob found to have ilitux undergoes a genetic test before transitioning to the Guardia Training Center.

Each pair explores the Ramax Prime (Eastern Antarctica Ice Sheet) on the same mission carried out by Femitokon and her eight chosen companions, with each team traveling from base to base, metaphorically ridding the continent of helovx. They collect the national flags from base ruins, and the pair with the most flags scores highest on the trial. A toober’s Surface Trial is unobserved; some have lost their lives to surface wildlife or the elements, and in rare cases, some lose their lives in altercations with other toobs.

A toober’s performance during her Surface Trial determines her Brood Assignment. On the last day of her thirteenth year, a young marixi transitions to physical and weapons training in the Base Reserves Ortosk, located within the Orta Dome. Here, she will cohabitate in a twenty-five-member unit called a ‘Brood.’

Brooders spend the next four years training in hand-to-hand combat, performing surface mobility exercises, and competing in aquatics. These twenty-five marixi live and train together daily, six days a week. Those who earn one day of free time must dedicate it to higher educational study. Those unqualified to expand beyond their physical training must return to the barracks for their free day. During the polar night, Broods supplement their surface drills with weight training and indoor swimming. During the polar day, Broods undergo instructional training, learning strategies, scouting techniques, blaster handling and care, sexual education, and surface triage. Surface drills during the polar day are limited to low-threshold ice-running, as hibernation takes up a portion of their end-of-year.

Among teenage marixi, there are leaders and followers. A leader emerges and will choose 3 to 4 others to join her gang, typically close friends. These gangs are called a Pack. During training, Packs will engage in regular competition with other packs. Pack confrontations that escalate to violence will result in severe disciplinary action.

Orta hizaki design training trials to encourage cooperative stances among brooder packs. When a pack leader becomes concerned with her pack’s overall performance, she compels her pack to join a rival pack and conquer a trial or obstacle; this Brood Order leads to friendly interaction between rival packs in the barracks, which results in Full Cohesion when one leader falls in behind the stronger or more charismatic one.

Brooder Order Social Stages

  • Primada Brood (Pack-Leader)
    • Chosen Broods (Pack-Chosen)
  • Pack Warfare (Competition)
    • Culling (a Leader will shed a Follower)
  • Cooperative Stance (Leaders unite their respective Packs)
    • Brood Order (Both Pack-Chosen groups unite)
  • Full Cohesion (One Leader socially acquiesces)

Every Brooder puts aside her friendships at Final Trial.