(by Lance Erlick)
While I never call the process Annabelle goes through in The Rebel Within basic training, I can see how some might come to this story with that expectation. So let me clear that up.
The society in The Rebel Within has recruitment issues to fill the ranks of its military and security forces. The government resorts to tracking (forcing) selected young girls toward security. Annabelle is one who is tracked for political reasons.
The military commander who takes on recruits for her elite unit has the dubious task of weeding out those who are only fulfilling their security obligations or otherwise will not have what she is looking for before they enter boot camp.
She puts the potential recruits through a grueling qualification process to assess the potential talent she will have to work with. Her final test, a gladiatorial fight to the death serves her purposes, but is also is a political spectacle in support of government policy.