Of Hearts And Stars (Classic Editon) (The Cadet Starship Chronicles)

by West, Edward

  Without looking to see who had spoken, Captain Fifty Three asked “What would you know, noob?”

  “Anyone can buy those at the student store, scrub.” said the familiar voice.

  Captain Fifty Three turned to yell at whoever had the nerve to disrespect him like this “Do you know who-” he began to say, but promptly fell silent.

  Leoric Swift was walking down the stairway from the upper floor of the lobby, hands in pockets and a wry smile on his face.

  Captain Fifty Three frowned “What are you doing here Swift?” he asked him.

  “I'm here to step on you.” Swift declared.

  “What!?”

  “Here I was watching the field exams, seeing tomorrow's talent today, and what do I overhear? Wilson Johnson picking on people.” Swift leaned forward and said in a cold whisper “Makes me wanna break your stuff.”

  “You- you can't!” Wilson cried and took a step back.

  “Oh but I can!” Swift said and took a step forward.

  Wilson turned to run, but Swift caught him by the collar and swung him back around.

  “Wilson Johnson, Captain of Student Crew number Fifty Three, I hereby challenge you to a duel!” Swift said as he removed a white glove from his left coat pocket. Just like the days of old, and in true gentlemanly manner, he proceeded to slap Wilson across the face with the white glove “ I demand satisfaction!”

  The applicant crew let out a cheer as Swift issued the challenge. Most of the members of the applicant Student Crew, being new cadets as well, had never met Swift, so for a first impression there was something about him that they already liked. However, their first impression of Wilson certainly did not go well for the Captain of Student Crew number Fifty Three. Corrigin did recall the fight in the bathroom from a few days ago; he had seen first hand what Swift is capable of. If he is as good with ships as he is with his fists, then this duel will be awesome, Corrigin thought.

  Wilson stopped struggling and slumped his shoulders.

  “What are your terms?” He asked.

  “I wager my ship, LaCroix, against your crew's rank.”

  The applicant student crew began to murmur among each other with excitement. In a study guide Corrigin read the following: Match loss resulted in a drop of rank unless otherwise noted by a governing official. Furthermore, wagers can stack with this rule, resulting in a double drop of rank if a loss incurs and the terms allow.

  Since this challenge contained a wager, it fell under this rule. Corrigin had a feeling that crew number Fifty Three must be B-Rank, and with that being the case, his applicant crew might have the chance for an opponent for their field exam.

  “No sweat. I just need an hour or two to assemble my crew...” Wilson said and was immediately met with boos and jeers from the applicant student crew. Apparently they had come to the same conclusion as Corrigin. It was also highly possible that if Wilson were to walk away now, they would not find him again in a reasonable amount of time for their field exam.

  Just then, Mr. Method leaned over the railing above and called out “No need for that Cadet Johnson. A one on one duel will provide the applicants with a demonstration of a Captain's skill level. As is such, both you and Cadet Swift should be able to pilot your ships without the aid of your crews.”

  Even though Mr. Method was required to go to a mandatory instructor's meeting that was taking place at the time, he still had to oversee the field exams for the applicant student crews. Because of this he had been on the observation deck above, listening to the cadets the entire time.

  Corrigin directed his eyes to the observation deck to see who the voice belonged to, and did not recognize him right away. A tall man with short navy blue hair, stern orange eyes, and despite the youthfulness of his facial features, he wore the instructor's uniform with an unmistakable air of authority.

  “I wish you weren't here...” Wilson muttered underneath his breath.

  Mr. Method cocked an eyebrow and said “If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride Cadet Johnson.”

  Wilson Johnson recoiled as if struck by Mr. Method's wit. The applicant student crew members stood there with amazement and disbelief. How could it even be possible to hear mumbling from such a great height?

  “Is that all? Well then good luck, and have fun. I'll notify your respective crews so that they can come and watch.” Mr. Method said and disappeared once more onto the floor above.

  As Wilson and Swift made their way to the simulation loading area, Corrigin and the applicant crew headed up to the observation deck. There were several view screens, some of which displayed live streams from the field exams while others dedicated themselves to charts and statistics. On one such screen was a picture of Swift with his personal stats. Apparently the picture had been taken when he wasn't ready, as he was clearly not looking at the lens, and his hair was much more disheveled than usual, lack of sleep written all over his face.

  Corrigin read Swift's stats out loud “Tier one. Division one. Seat one. Nine hundred and forty four wins. Oh wow!”

  “You should see his losses.” Mr. Method added.

  “He's lost before?” Corrigin asked.

  “Everyone loses from time to time Cadet O'Hare. However I will admit that not everyone wins quite as much as Cadet Swift. Since this season began he's won about four hundred official duels and matches.”

  Corrigin read Wilson's stats and his jaw dropped.

  “Tier three. Division four. Seat...forty four. Two hundred and thirty eight wins. What the heck?”

  “You should see his losses too.”

  “Are they as much as Swift's?”

  Mr. Method laughed and said “No. More like double the amount of Swift's. Losses generally aren't shown to the cadets, but staff do have access to that information.”

  -28-

  Miley Harrison, crew number Fifty Three Vice Captain, was the first to arrive. She was followed shortly by Felix Short, LaCroix technician, who joined her and everyone else up on the observation deck.

  “What did he do?” Miley asked Mr. Method.

  “Swift caught him teasing the applicants.” Mr. Method replied.

  “Figures.” Miley grumbled.

  Felix jumped into the conversation “Sometimes justice is served; even if all your order is a salad.” he said.

  “Justice is blind, so why couldn't Swift just not see Wilson being a jerk?” Miley shot back.

  “Because love is blind honey. Justice is only fakin' it.” Felix said and everyone laughed.

  Mr. Method then announced over a speaker “In this challenge the best two out of three matches wins. After the first initialization, ships will re-spawn fully functional when destroyed. Medals will be awarded for the following: Being the first to achieve a successful take off, three consecutive strikes, first blood, first strike, and having achieved victory along with beating previous time records and so on. Medals will be awarded on the spot, and summary medals will not be awarded in the event of a total victory.”

  Soon all members of both crews arrived on the observation deck, their eyes locked on the live stream.

  “This is bad.” Morris Leeds, crew number Fifty Three weapons/navigation, said “Wilson only knows one role, and that's Captain.”

  “Oh boy. I know what Swift would say about that.” Jeremiah “Jay” Tall, LaCroix technician, said.

  Alexandria “Allie” Hendrixson, LaCroix Vice Captain, ruffled her hair and gave her best impression of Swift.

  “Captain isn't really it's own role, but a mash up of all roles scrub. You suck if you don't understand how important your crew-mate's roles are in winning.”

  Miley giggled and said “Sadly Wilson doesn't think that way. For him it's about shouting commands, and then blaming everyone but himself when we lose.” she then gave her best impression of Wilson “Miley stop feeding the enemy!” as she waved her fist in the air.

  “If we win?” Morris added “He'll say something stupid like 'My back hurts because I carried you all to victory!'”
saying this last part with his nose turned high up into the air.

  Allie and Miley began to laugh.

  When the simulation finished loading, Swift materialized on the bridge of LaCroix's virtual counterpart and immediately took out his smartphone while making his way to the navigation console. Once there he initialized the ship's navigation and weapons systems as he pulled up the ship's audio configuration. Next he synced his smartphone with the ship's audio and loaded a play-list titled “Wu-tang”. He pressed play and ran off towards the engine room as the sounds of old-school hip-hop filled the ship.

  “Tiger style...” Felix said along with the introduction of the first song. Being a Staten Island native, Felix had become a fan of the Wu-tang Clan after having heard his father play them throughout his childhood. His hair was dark auburn which contrasted his light blue eyes, and he stood roughly three cm shorter than Revy, who was often regarded as the smallest member of LaCroix. Which in turn led Felix to be known as shorter than short.

  Revy cocked her head to one side and said “He always plays this song and that other one about cream. It tastes good, yes, but to write an entire gangster rap about it is absurd.”

  “They mean a different kind of cream. Like cash, and how important it is to their daily lives. Dolla dolla bill y'all. That kinda thing Revy.” Felix explained.

  Revy shook her head “Cream is cream Felix.” she replied.

  Felix sighed and put a hand on Revy's shoulder “This is true.” he said and everyone laughed.

  Meanwhile the ruckus of The Wu spread up and down the corridors of LaCroix as Wilson struggled to initialize his own ship's weapon and navigation systems.

  “Why the hell is this so hard??” he wondered aloud.

  Wilson had always been proud of his role as Captain. As is such he felt that he had the hardest job, what with worrying about the battlefield and making the 'tough choices'. In Wilson's mind he did not have the time or necessity to learn the other roles on the ship. That's why he had a crew under him.

  “What an idiot...” Miley said as she watched Wilson on one view screen.

  Morris looked at the view screen she was watching and said “He still hasn't started the engines...”

  Allie gave Morris a consoling smile and said “Do not worry. Swift may be arrogant, over the top, and downright rude. He may bend rules, disregard social norms, and shout at inappropriate times...”

  “Uhhh...?” Morris interrupted Allie, but she simply held up a finger to request more time explaining.

  “But he is a man of honor. He will not fire until both ships are ready to fight.”

  “Then this match will take forever...” said Miley.

  Just as Swift finished with initialization protocols for LaCroix's engines, Wilson had finally finished with his ship's weapons and navigation, but did not leave the console immediately. No, he would not be playing music like his dunderhead of an adversary. He began charging his ship's primary cannons.

  Swift made it back to the bridge just in time to see ship number Fifty Three's cannons preparing to fire. A mischievous grin spread across his face. Those were breaching cannons, and without shields engaged, the blast would shred and destroy a ship in a real life scenario.

  Corrigin pointed at a view screen showing both ships and cried out “What's he going to do?! He spent too much time fiddling with music and didn't put up his shields!”

  Xue Zhao Lin, LaCroix engineer, clicked his tongue and wagged a finger as he said “See that grin? That devil's grin? He's got a plan, and you can believe it'll be ridiculous. Consider yourself lucky that you're not on the ship with him right now.”

  Swift jumped into the pilot's cradle, and jammed a sharp kick into the auxiliary roll controls while accelerating the starboard engines with the hand controls. LaCroix jolted up and onto it's side, dodging ship number Fifty Three's cannon blast, before landing upside down with a loud crash. The captain's controls on LaCroix had been specially modified by Felix and Revy to be touch sensitive at the request of Swift. Sparks flew from the hull of LaCroix as Swift took off, just barely avoiding collision with ship number Fifty Three.

  Mr. Method called out “First take-off medal awarded to LaCroix!”

  Eventually Wilson was able to bring his ship off of the deck, and started scanning virtual space for any signs of LaCroix. Swift still hadn't attacked, but as far as Wilson is concerned, nobility will get you nowhere in a fight. It's really just self righteous showboating at the end of the day. A ping on the minimap indicated to Wilson that he had found LaCroix, and he charged forward with lasers ready.

  LaCroix cruised just ahead of Fifty Three, right outside of weapons range. Every time that Wilson accelerated to close the gap LaCroix accelerated to widen it. If he slowed down to maneuver? So did LaCroix. He found himself becoming irritated with this game of cat and mouse.

  “Stop running loser!” Wilson shouted over the all chat.

  “Chase more baddie.” Swift taunted him.

  “I don't know why you wanted to one on one me if you're too scared to fight me. No wonder you have one of the fastest ships in the academy!”

  “Not my fault you brought a soapbox to a ship fight.”

  Wilson decided to stop trying to catch up and to focus more on matching LaCroix's current speed. If he could lure that cheeky moron into a false sense of security, then he'd be able to catch him off guard. Wilson was so pleased with himself that he began to laugh.

  LC, LaCroix's on board AI, switched the music playlist.

  Swift kept his eyes on the minimap while she sat on a nearby handrail, swinging her legs and singing along with a jazz rendition of Wonderwall. Every now and then she might miss a word when singing, or be slightly off key. This would bring a tiny smile to Swift's face, but drive Felix up a wall.

  He would say “I don't get it Swift. She's an AI, so she shouldn't be makin' any mistakes at all! Why don't you just update her personality drivers?”

  Actually, Swift did attempt to update her personality drivers once. He recalled LC asking “What ya doin Swifty?” when he brought up her system registry.

  He had happily replied “Updating your personality drivers. With this you'll be perfect. The best at everything without having to learn anything!”

  As he loaded the set up files he had heard a familiar voice say “You don't have to be perfect, because once you achieve perfection your life is over in a sense. You can no longer improve, or move forward and the days become long. You become stagnant.”

  It had been a recorded clip of his own voice; from when he had consoled Allie after they lost the previous year's academy tournament.

  LC then said in her own slightly eight-bit voice “I do not wish to become stagnant Swifty.”

  Swift smiled and said “I guess you're right...or in this case I'm right? Ah whatever! How about I just update your information database and let you build your own custom personality?”

  LC gave him a big smile and said “Magical!”

  Swift kept his promise and LC's calculations were always razor sharp, but her D minor could use a little work.

  -29-

  LC looked up as if reading something unseen and said “Swifty, he's engaging his primary and auxiliary thrusters.”

  To Swift this meant that there was a high probability of Wilson trying to burst into weapons range. Perhaps he was trying to catch him off guard by cruising so slow for so long? No matter. They had already arrived where they needed to be.

  This is it, Wilson thought. He engaged his thrusters and accelerated forward without a second thought. Which was pretty dumb, because if he had waited just a little longer, then maybe he'd have been able to react to what happened next.

  Swift executed a complete vertical drop, giving no prior indication that he was going to do so. This maneuver, made famous by Swift's father, is called a zero point drop. Wilson now found himself charging head first into a meteorite that had been previously obscured by LaCroix. He panicked and jammed on the reverse thrusters while strugg
ling to turn. A skilled pilot might have mimicked their opponent, an average pilot might have gone up and over, and a brave novice might have tried to blast through it. But this was Wilson Johnson, so he ended up slamming the side of ship Fifty Three into the meteorite, wiping out his shields and destroying his port side thrusters. He could no longer move and LaCroix was no where in sight. Wilson already knew what was coming up next.

  “LC, rotate thrusters one and two ninety degrees counterclockwise, then engage and activate them simultaneously with the aft take off thrusters. Fire a three shot burst from the Mark IV cannons at one hundred eighty degrees.”

  LC did as Swift commanded, when she finished she said “Wow Swifty that was cool, complex sounding stuff you just said there. Basically you wanted me to flip the ship and shoot when facing up?”

  “Oh yeah!” Swift replied as he drummed his fingers to the music.

  The concussive force from LaCroix's cannons knocked Wilson from his seat and onto the deck. Ship Fifty Three's AI began to recite a long list of casualties from every system on the ship. He scrambled to his feet as CGI smoke billowed into the room and simulated sparks flew through the air. A brilliant white light enveloped him and he kicked his seat in frustration.

  Mr. Method announced loudly over the speakers “First strike medal awarded to LaCroix! First blood medal awarded to LaCroix! Triple strike medal awarded to LaCroix! Ship Fifty Three will re-spawn in five seconds.”

  “That was cheap.” Wilson said to Swift over the all chat.

  “What's cheap? Map awareness? Were you even looking at your minimap?” Swift replied.

  “Shut up!” Wilson glared at Swift.

  “Okay, my bad. Obviously you were.” Swift said sarcastically.

  “I said shut up!” Wilson screamed.

  This was getting on Wilson's nerves, but he remained calm; he wasn't mad. The victory medal counted as two medals, and match summary medals were still available that he could achieve. He could still win this, but he couldn't let Swift trick him with anymore lucky plays.

  Swift steered LaCroix out of the meteor belt and idled in the area outside of the enemy spawn. He intended on ending the match with the next exchange, but also wanted to test an experimental new weapon he had named Pol's Voice. When he saw that ship Fifty Three respawned he set his plan into motion.