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A Stellar Affair

Chapter three

The Academy

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Authors Note :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

And now the most beloved part of any story, the legal mumbo-jumbo. If you are not of legal age in the area you are reading and in, stop and go no further. Star Fox and all related characters are copyright Nintendo, all other characters were created by me and are strictly fictional. Any resemblance to any person living, dead or represented as Artificial Intelligence is strictly coincidental and has no bearing on the melting of snow in Egypt and should be taken in such.

Now on with the story.

* * * * * * * * *

It's now day eleven at the academy and Major Maxwell has been working me hard. The majority of the time has been with the Arwing. I've learned how to fly and to fight in it. In fact I've excelled way beyond his expectations. It's as if I was born to fly the Arwing.

I've beaten every scenario the simulator had for the Arwing and went so far as to outmaneuver the training computer at its highest level on the live fire range. Every time I would climb into the Arwing I would draw a crowd of spectators to watch my next training session.

Finally Major Maxwell called me aside. "I've thrown everything at you with the exception of the kitchen sink, and you shrug everything off as if it were no more than a flea bite. Today's training is gonna be a little bit different. The flight info is already been uploaded to your Arwing. You are to fly out to sector 37, once there you'll be fighting a mixture of drones and live pilots. Now if you can pass this your training will be over. Indeed there ain't nothing that I would be to teach you that you don't already know. Just keep a level head and you'll do just fine.

Once the briefing was over I left the control room and made my way down to my Arwing. The monkeys, as some of the military from my world call the mechanics that work on airplanes, had my Arwing prepped and were just awaiting me to climb in.

Donning my helmet I made sure sealed with the flight suit and began my pre-launch checks. Ten minutes later all systems had come up green and I gave the mechanics the thumbs-up. Reaching over I switched my radio over to the tower frequency and contacted major Maxwell.

"Falcon one to Academy tower."

"This is Academy tower go ahead falcon one."

"Academy tower this is falcon one requesting clearance for takeoff."

"Falcon one, you are clear for takeoff on launch pattern alpha. Once you clear the atmosphere you are to make course correction and make your way to sector 37. When you've reached checkpoint one, the testing will immediately begin. There will be no word from the tower stating when the trial will begin."

Looking down at the crew chief I again gave him the thumbs up and watched as he looked to the people on the left and right of my ship. Each one gave him the thumbs up stating my ship was cleared for takeoff. He then turned back to me, saluted, and put both arms straight out to his side and slowly started raising them.

That was my cue that I was clear to begin launch. Slowly I applied power to the engines and felt the Arwing lift off the ground and hover. His right hand came forward and pointed two fingers under my Arwing. Reaching over I flipped the lever and felt the landing struts retract into the craft.

Turning he dropped to one knee facing away from me. His left arm extended straight out in front of him, his right arm straight behind. He brought his right arm up over his head in an arc injure his hand back along his left arm to his body. That was my signal that something was clear and I could launch.

Applying power to the forward thrusters I cleared the Bay, raised the nose in my Arwing up, and gave it full throttle. The Arwing instantly responded and rocketed me through the atmosphere. In less than 30 seconds I cleared the atmosphere and input the coordinates for sector 37. The Arwing responded, smoothly adjusting its course and heading off towards the training area.

I did a quick rundown on all systems while I waited. So far the Arwing was operating without any glitches which was surprising being that it was the only one of its kind and I was actually giving it its rundowns. Even though it had been fully tested in the lab, I expected some glitches to make it through. So far it ran like a charm.

I was so engrossed in scanning its systems that I jumped when the alarm went off stating that I would be at the training area in less than 30 seconds. My orders popped up on the heads-up display stating that there was an enemy force nearby that had ambushed several convoys and had effectively shut down the sector of space. My mission was to engage and destroy this force. I was authorized to use any and all means necessary to accomplish this mission.

My mind instantly switched into combat mode. I shut off all navigational lights and anything that would give me away. Next on my list was to arm all weapons systems. I placed the missiles on standby and verified all other systems were go. Switching on long range radar I scanned the area immediately around me looking for anything that would give away the enemy force.

The only thing that showed up was a lone asteroid field on the edge of my radar. What better place to hide ships the asteroid field.

Engaging my passive jamming, I shut down all equipment that they could use to find me. Switching off my main engine I engaged the low-power thrusters that were a part of the new Arwing. These thrusters were designed to leave no signature and be untraceable to the enemy.

Slowly I made my way around to the other side of the asteroid field and entered from the opposite side. Most of the rocks in here way too small to hide a ship but there were four possibilities that could be at. Choosing the nearest asteroid I brought the Arwing down and hugging the surface slowly made my way around it.

Reaching the top of a small rise immediately brought the Arwing to a stop. It seems my hunch was right. Nestled in a crevice, were two ships just waiting to ambush me. Arming two rockets I prepared to fire. I knew they didn't see me and by the time they did see the Rockets it would be too late. Slowly I maneuvered the Arwing around so as to have a clear shot.

An evil grin spread across my face as I let loose two rockets. Being this was a training exercise, two simulated rockets flew from my Arwing and impacted the two ships before they even saw the launch. I slid my Arwing over the rise and down next to two ships smiling and waving as I continued on. In training mode I knew that the rocket jet shut down their systems including communications and engines to simulate there destruction.

Making my way further along the asteroid, I jumped when two plasma bolts landed only a little bit in front of my ship. Instincts kicked in and before I knew what had happened I had engage the engines and shifted the full throttle. My radar lit up showing several ships converging in my area. Several more plasma bolt's went streaking by my cockpit as I tried to shake whoever was behind me.

"No sense hiding now." I said as I brought all systems on line fully. My heads-up display showed four fighters approaching from the front. Without even hesitating I let three rockets fly and use the main guns to take out the last fighter the whole time trying to shake the fighter that was behind me.

"Damn this person's good." I said to myself realizing that there was a person behind me and not a drone. I flew straight through the debris of the four ships that were in front of me and watched as the other pilot maneuvered around it.

"Mistake number one." I said to myself with a smile. I spun the ship around so fast that even with the gravitational dampeners I could still feel the G. force pulling me into my seat. Before the other pilot could react I had opened up with my main guns scoring several hits before he could pull away. As far as I can tell the blast didn't cause any damage to the other fighter, but it did put me on the offensive.

My heads-up display flashed a warning stating I took an indirect hit to my left-wing causing little damage and radar showed another aircraft approaching from above me. Without any hesitation I stood my Arwing up on its tail, launched two rockets, and twisted back down to continue the pursuit of the first aircraft. My computer told me that the two rockets had barely armed before they impacted the other ship.

The other ship had gained a small lead by this time and it took all my skills to stay behind it. I watched as it twisted and turned trying to shake me. Then with a quick flip and twist, it entered a small asteroid field. Following it I not only had to keep up with him but I now had to dodge chunks of rock at the same time.

My opportunity came what seemed like an eternity later but a little less than a minute had actually passed. The mysterious fighter tried to bank around a large asteroid and came face to face with another. Twisting to avoid the second one spun it around, exposing its underside to me. Without hesitation, I opened up with cannons and rockets scoring several direct hits.

The training computers took over shutting off the engines and radios leaving the ship to drift indicating that it was destroyed. I did a quick loop and flew off to clear the rest of the enemy force.

I had just cleared the asteroid field when I heard Major Maxwell's voice over the comms.

"Falcon one, stand down. Exercise is complete. Return to base."

"Academy tower, this is Falcon one, acknowledge. Returning to base." I replied. A few seconds had passed as I turned to base before the comms came alive again.

"Engagement one this is Academy Tower, reset sequence sent, accepted by three craft. Verify acceptance by all parties."

"Academy tower, engagement three not responding. Resend sequence." The voice sounded familiar but with the events unfolding, I couldn't figure out where I knew it from.

"Reset sequence resent."

"Engagement flight, this is engagement one. Engagement three is not responding. All craft locate engagement three and verify craft condition."

It had to be the craft I had engaged in the asteroid field. Quickly flipping the Arwing over I engaged full thrusters heading towards the area I last saw it. It took a minute before I located it adrift in the asteroid field.

"Engagement one, this is Falcon one. I have located missing craft. Transmitting the coordinates now." I called over the comms as I moved closer to assess the craft.

Falcon one this is engagement one, coordinates received. We are in route. Can you verify craft condition?"

"Engagement one, this is Falcon one. Craft appears to be ok, maneuvering closer to verify."

"Falcon one this is Academy Tower. Transmitting reset sequence to your Arwing. I need you to relay it to Engagement three."

"Acknowledged Academy tower. Awaiting reset sequence to relay... Academy tower, reset sequence received, retransmitting now." I waited for the other craft to reset. When it didn't I accessed the Arwing's AI to assist.

"Computer, verify reset sequence has been transmitted."

Reset sequence has been transmitted. Came the feminine voice of the ship's AI.

"Has it been accepted?"

Reset sequence has not been accepted, attempting to access ships computer.

I maneuvered the Arwing to a point right in front of the other craft and waited for the AI to connect. I looked over the other craft and noted its familiar design but couldn't come up with where I had seen it before.

Contact established, ship's diagnostics show it was struck by an asteroid destroying transmission antenna and several systems.

"Verify ship status and attempt to transmit reset sequence directly."

Life support is on line, long range communications are inoperable, inter ship communications are on line, engines are locked in training mode, pilot controls are unresponsive. Direct transmission of reset code is not possible, control computer is inoperable.

"Can you establish a link with the inner ship comms?"

Attempting to establish link... Redirecting communications... Accessing communications circuits... Link established. Communications on line.

"Engagement three this is Falcon one, do you hear me?"

"Falcon one this is engagement three, I hear you." came a feminine voice over the comm unit.

"Engagement three this is Falcon one, what is your status?"

"I'm okay, I took an asteroid which shorted out my computer a few minutes ago. I have no controls."

"Confirmed, first thing we need to do is get you out of here. Then we can get you somewhere for repairs."

"Falcon one this is Academy tower, report."

"Academy tower this is Falcon one, Engagement three was hit by an asteroid which fried the computer. Need to remove it from the asteroid field to have repairs made. Life support is green. I have established communications with it although long range communications are dead. Any ideas on how long till we can get it removed?"

"Negative, tow assets are out of range, working on alternate plan."

Sensors show that there is a large asteroid converging on our present location, ETA till impact, one hour.

"Academy tower this is Falcon one. You have less than one hour. Sensors indicate a large asteroid on a collision course with us."

"Acknowledged Falcon one."

"Computer, any ideas on how we can remove the other ship from the asteroids path?"

Calculating options...

Plans ran through my mind so fast I could barely follow them till it all came to a dead stop. It was a long shot but it might work if the other ship would cooperate. "Computer, can you access the landing gear of the other craft?"

Attempting to access... rerouting command systems... compensating for damaged systems. Link established.

"Engagement three, long range sensors show..."

"I heard... what are you planning?"

"Well, I plan on moving you out of here but can't guarantee it will work. I wanna lock us together by our landing gear and drag you out."

"You're gonna have to do all the work, my systems are dead."

"Just hang on and enjoy the ride. Computer, extend the landing gear of both ships." I watched the other ship's landing gear deploy at the same time I felt mine being deployed. Slowly I twisted my craft around and under the other one. Flipping it over, I brought my landing gear up to the other crafts gear. Alignment was off so only one strut would make contact out of the three.

"I can only engage one strut because they don't line up. This is going to be a rough ride out of here."

"Make it fast, I don't want to see what that asteroid looks like up close when it smashes into a ship."

Looking up, or was it down, I spotted the asteroid was closing in fast on us. Grabbing the throttle I pushed the engines to full and began to steer us out of the field. Struggling with the controls I rolled the two ships trying to clear the edge of the asteroid as it rolled past. I felt a shudder as one piece that was sticking out impacted on my ship. Compensating for the impact I tried to find the least congested route out of the field.

"Computer, damage report."

Engine two damaged, containment at thirty percent. Attempting to compensate. Containment failure imminent, preparing to eject fuel cells. Ejection of fuel cells not possible. Trajectory of ejected cells will not clear second craft.

"Options?"

Cells must be manually removed to negate overload of containment field."

"So in other words, I have to go out and manually remove cells."

That is correct.

My comms were bombarded with chatter as Engagement three and one along with Academy tower burst over my radios. Each one telling me that I can't do that. That I would be killed if I attempted it.

"I have no choice. If I don't attempt it we are dead anyway. This is the only chance we have."

"You are ordered to not..." Major Maxwell's voice came over the comms before I had them cut off.

"Computer, kill all incoming transmissions." I had specially programmed that command into the computer so it would appear I had cut the transmissions. In reality all it did was cut the links between my incoming and outgoing transmissions so it would appear I had cut them off.

"Alright, let's get this started. Computer, disengage all external command interfaces. Major, I'm gonna do this and you won't stop me. Computer, plot a course out of the asteroid field and once clear reengage the external command control."

I checked my suit over to verify it sealed before I continued on. "Decompress the cockpit and prepare for EVA."

I took off my harness and spun around in my seat. Behind it, strapped to the supports, was an survival kit I had created to supplement what the craft naturally carried. Reaching inside, I pulled out a thin rope which I tied off to the panel supports. The other end I tied to one of the rings on my suit.

"Open cockpit canopy."

Slowly the canopy opened and the artificial gravity shut down. Grabbing the pilots seat, I spun myself around and pushed myself towards engine number two. I had to make a wild grab for the wing as I passed by but made it to the engine without incident. Everything was going great until...

My eyes were drawn to the meteor we were passing. Suddenly my hands locked as fear gripped me. My heart rate and breathing increased drastically. It was then that the AI stepped up.

Jay... listen to me. Came the voice of the AI.

Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Which I did.

Now relax. Listen to my voice. You are completely safe. You won't fall and you won't drift off. You are secured to the ship. Just concentrate on what you are doing. Let everything else go. Concentrate and open your eyes. I slowly opened my eyes and focused on the wing of my Arwing.

Slowly move yourself over to the engine. Taking another deep breath I slowly worked my way to the engine.

Now to your left there is a panel with a red border. Undo the two clamps that are holding it closed and pull it open. Inside will be two red levers. One at a time pull those levers and extract the cylinders that come out. Once you have them you can close the levers and the panel.

I did each step as the computer instructed me. Soon I had two cylinders, each about a foot long and four inches around in my hands.

Now get your butt back into the ship.

"What am I to do with these cylinders?"

Bring them with you.

Made my way back to the cockpit and slipped the cylinders behind the seat before strapping myself in. Disconnecting the rope and coiling it up, I slipped it into a cargo pocket as the canopy sealed shut and gravity was restored. When the cabin was re-pressurized I took off my helmet and wiped the sweat off my brow.

You did great, the engine is stabilized and we are in route to a rendezvous with the Great Fox. I have contacted them and given them the coordinates of our exit point. We should be exiting the asteroid field in one minute.

I looked at the control panel in wonder. Did the AI just compliment me? I was drawn out of my thoughts by the AI announcing the edge of the asteroid field.

We are approaching the edge of the field. I have the Great Fox on scanners.

"Reestablish external communications and hail the Great Fox."

Communications reestablished, The Great Fox online."

"Jay, answer me!"

"Great Fox this is Falcon one."

"Dammit Jay what the hell do you think you were doing? You could have been killed."

"I only had one chance before the engine containment failed. I couldn't eject the fuel rods because they would have hit the ship. I couldn't release the ship and safely reengage it. The only viable option was to manually remove the cells. It's over, it's done and we have more pressing matters like delivering my package safely. Why don't we concentrate on that?"

"You're right, once you get within tractor beam range you can release the ship and we'll take over."

"Waiting on your signal Great Fox."

"Falcon one, we have you in range, we'll take it from here."

I released the clamps and watched as the other ship was slowly drawn to an opening in the side of the great fox. I was just turning away when my comms came to life.

"Falcon one this is Academy Tower. Return to base IMMEDIATELY and report to my office."

"Academy tower this is Falcon one, Acknowledged."

With a sigh I turned the craft and made my way back to the academy. It looks like my butt was about to get one size smaller from getting chewed.