by Ryk Brown
“Please.”
“Do not expect much,” Master Koku said. “It has been several decades since I have piloted anything other than a wave rider. My controls?”
“Your controls,” Nathan replied.
“I have control,” Master Koku announced. At first, he simply guided the ship through the next few gates while he refreshed his memory on the feel of the Gunyoki fighter. “The feel of the controls have improved since my day,” he commented as he guided the ship through the next gate. “They seemed to have recovered much of the feeling of direct connection that was lost over the years.”
Nathan watched as the old pilot skillfully guided the ship through one gate after another, without any wasted motion. Every maneuver flowed smoothly into the next, and the engine nacelles seemed to rotate constantly, pausing as needed to apply thrust in the appropriate direction, their angles relative to the ship’s longitudinal axis changing when appropriate, as well. The difference was the lack of hesitation which existed when Nathan was flying. The movement of the engine nacelles never abruptly changed direction as they did with disturbing regularity when Nathan was piloting.
Nathan glanced in his auxiliary view screen, which was currently displaying the camera focused on Master Koku behind him. The old man was calm and relaxed, his expression serene. His steely gray-blue eyes darted from canopy to console, and back again, with amazing speed. His head, upper body, and arms never moved more than necessary, just like the engine nacelles outside. The old Gunyoki master was one with his ship, even after decades of separation. It was truly a marvel to behold.
Finally, Master Koku steered the fighter through the final training gate, and brought it into a slow, graceful, one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.
“That was amazing,” Nathan declared. “Everything was so fluid. Not just the movements of the ship, but of yourself.”
“When you are truly connected with your vessel, the ship’s movements, and your own, are as one,” Master Koku explained.
“But, can you really fly the ship so gracefully in a combat situation?” Nathan wondered. “It seems to me that a more aggressive style would be necessary in order to survive.”
Master Koku smiled. “All young pilots believe such nonsense. Allow me to demonstrate.” Master Koku pressed several buttons on his starboard control pad.
Movement on his center display screen, the one that displayed the course layout, caught Nathan’s eye. “What’s happening?”
“I have selected a more difficult level. The course is reconfiguring itself.”
Nathan squinted, studying the layout while it reformed. “It looks like it’s getting shorter.”
“Not shorter, but more compact,” Master Koku corrected. “Brace yourself, Captain Scott.”
Nathan barely had enough time to do so, before Master Koku had taken the ship to full power, and the acceleration forced him back into his seat, threatening to crush him. His eyes wide, he watched, in both horror and amazement, as the old man dove full speed through the first gate. The ship rolled over to the left, its nose coming up as he turned toward the next gate. Their rolling motion continued as they passed through the second gate, and as they dove down for the third gate. In fact, it felt like the ship never stopped rolling, pitching and yawing, sometimes in ways that felt contradictory to their flight path. With every gate that approached, Nathan was sure they would collide with its boundary, but his fears were never realized. Master Koku cut every corner precisely, always clearing the gate by the same single-meter distance, and always taking the most direct, effortless line to the next gate.
“It’s about to get interesting,” Master Koku stated calmly.
Warning alarms sounded in the cockpit, informing them their ship was being targeted by more than fifty weapons turrets. Nathan’s eyes widened as Master Koku armed both their shields and weapons, delicately balancing power amongst the three primary systems, ensuring the right amount of power was always being delivered to the system that needed it most, exactly when required. Stub-missiles launched from their weapons pods on either side; two, three, sometimes four at a time, each of them finding and disabling their targets. Laser turrets on the aft end, upper and lower sides, of the ship danced about, expertly neutralizing weapons turrets as weapons fire, from those very same turrets, streaked past them on all sides. Although Master Koku was careful to ensure that every shield had adequate power just before it might absorb a weapons blast, none ever struck their shields, as the old pilot always managed to shift the fighter just enough to move it out of the path of incoming fire. Finally, as he approached the final gate, the old man cut his engines, allowing him to use the plasma cannons on the front of each engine nacelle to disable the last four weapons turrets that were firing on them.
And throughout the entire flight, the old Gunyoki master maintained his serene demeanor. Never did he appear stressed, and never did it appear as if he was not certain that what he was doing would work the way he expected.
Finally, the fighter leveled out, and Master Koku throttled the engines back down. “Not my best effort,” he said with a tinge of disappointment.
“Well, it has been a few decades,” Nathan said. “Uh, just out of curiosity, what difficulty level was that course set at?”
“Master; Level Ten.”
“Of ten, I assume?”
“Correct,” Master Koku confirmed.
“And what level was I at?”
“Novice; Level One.”
“Then, I still have a ways to go, yet,” Nathan said.
“Correct, again.”
* * *
“All due respect, Captain, but that sucks!” Aiden said.
Captain Nash dipped his chin slightly, looking at the young ensign.
“Sorry, sir, but Three Eight Three is fully operational. I know she looks like shit, but that’s just on the outside. We’ve been busting our backs getting her ready for action. If I tell my crew we’re moving to another gunship now, I’ll have a mutiny on my hands.”
“Don’t you think you’re exaggerating things a bit, Ensign?” Robert suggested.
“Have you met my chief engineer, sir?” Aiden asked. “I call her ‘honey badger’, behind her back, of course.”
Robert’s eyes narrowed. “They have honey badgers on Kohara?”
“I was born and raised on Earth, sir,” Aiden explained. “We moved to Kohara when I was sixteen.”
“I see.”
“Sir, the only things we have left to repair, other than the damage to the bottom of our hull, of course, are all minor, and wouldn’t interfere with our ability to fight,” Aiden said, pleading his case.
“We’re not expecting a fight, Ensign. We just need ships to fly guard over the fleet, while the Aurora is one jump away.”
“That’s all the more reason to let us stay on Three Eight Three, Captain.”
“So, everyone in the fleet can look out the window and say, ‘look at that banged up ship that’s protecting us.’”
“More like, ‘hey, that’s the ship that skipped off the surface of Kohara, and saved Captain Scott’s ass!’ uh, sir.”
A small chuckle came out of Robert’s mouth. “Do you have your latest readiness report handy, Ensign?”
“You bet,” Aiden replied, handing his data pad to Captain Nash.
Robert looked over the long list of systems still needing attention on the ensign’s gunship. “You call this a few things?”
“I never said that, sir,” Aiden corrected. “I said we were fully operational.”
“I suspect you and I have very different ideas of what ‘fully operational’ means, Ensign.” Robert handed the data pad back to Aiden. “Do me a favor, fix that glitch in your targeting sensors next. I don’t want to get one of your plasma torpedoes up my ass.”
“Does that mean…”
“Congratulations, Ensign. Your ship has been activated,” Robert said as he turned to walk away. “Your new call sign is Striker Three.”
“Yes, sir!” A
iden replied. “Thank you, sir! And I promise, no plasma torpedoes up your ass!”
Robert shook his head as he walked away, wondering if he had just made a terrible mistake.
* * *
“Looks like you’re getting the hang of it, Captain,” Loki commented from the back seat of their Gunyoki fighter as Nathan threaded their way smoothly through one gate after the next.
“I see your weapons officer knows as little about the ways of the Gunyoki as you,” Master Koku’s voice said over their helmet comms.
“Eight training flights in two days, and he still won’t let me move past grandma level,” Nathan muttered.
“You are in luck, Captain, as the ‘grandma’ level has no targets for your weapons officer to engage.”
“So, we’re bumping up to, what, advanced grandma level?” Nathan joked as they passed through the final gate on the training course.
“Intermediate; Level One,” Master Koku replied. “Try not to make me regret doing so.”
“Someone’s never heard of positive reinforcement,” Nathan said under his breath.
“The Gunyoki do not believe in… What was that expression you used?” he asked, his voice trailing as if he were speaking to someone near him, instead of to Nathan and Loki.
“Blowing smoke up your ass,” Josh replied.
“Ah, yes. The Gunyoki do not believe in blowing smoke in one’s ass.”
“Close enough,” Josh decided. “Remind me what my job is here, again?”
“To be quiet, and to learn,” Master Koku advised.
“That’s an awfully tall order for Josh,” Nathan teased.
“What happened, Lok?” Josh wondered. “You fall asleep back there?”
Nathan pulled the fighter into a tight turn, coming back around as the training course reconfigured itself into tighter groupings.
“Unlike the previous level, in which all gates were evenly spaced, the intermediate course has clusters of three to four gates that are close together, with longer distances between each cluster. There are targets for your weapons officer to hit at the first and last gates in each cluster.”
“I’m ready,” Loki assured him.
“I’m turning into the first gate now,” Nathan announced.
“Increase your forward speed by ten percent,” Master Koku instructed.
“Increasing speed by ten percent,” Nathan acknowledged as he applied forward thrust, and waited for his speed to build.
“You will need to roll and turn at a faster rate, due to your increased speed and the tighter spacing of the gates,” Master Koku warned.
“I know.”
“I’m picking up a target,” Loki reported. “Top right corner of the first gate. I’m tagging it for lasers.”
“Lasers are generally used for close-in targets,” Master Koku advised. “From further out, missiles would be your first choice.”
“I thought I’d take it one weapons system at a time for now,” Loki replied. “Until I get used to the system’s responsiveness.”
“As you wish. However, had the targets been live…”
“I know,” Loki replied, cutting him off. “We’d already be taking shield hits and losing points.”
“Or worse.”
Loki fired the topside, starboard laser turret, disabling the first target.
“Nicely done,” Nathan congratulated as he brought the fighter into a tight turn for the second gate, just as they passed through the first.
Loki studied the gates on the sensor display in the center of his console for a moment. “If you take the next gate low, I can take out the outbound target with one of our ventral turrets now, instead of later.”
“Copy that.” Nathan pushed the nose of the fighter down, bringing his intended flight path away from the left side of the gate and down toward the bottom right.
Loki waited until the ship passed through the second gate, and pitched upward, giving him a clear firing line at the target on the fourth gate, still two gates ahead of their current position. He fired the port ventral laser turret, sending a beam of highly-charged laser energy passing under the edge of the third gate, striking the target on the fourth. “Got it.”
“Nice shot,” Nathan said as he pulled the ship into a roll, and arced over the bottom edge of the next gate, its border passing over their heads by no more than two meters.
“A good shot, but a lousy tactic,” Master Koku scolded. “The maneuver will add two seconds to your time, which the early shot will not replace.”
“I could’ve told you that,” Josh boasted.
“But it would be a good tactic in battle,” Nathan argued.
“There are no gates in battle.”
Nathan steered the ship through the fourth gate, and into the longer stretch between the first and second cluster.
“Two targets on the first gate, in the second cluster,” Loki reported. “Locking missiles on targets. Missiles away,” he added, pressing the missile launch button.
Two stub-missiles darted away from the missile pods on either side of their fuselage, streaking toward the next gate. A few seconds later, two flashes of light appeared on the top and bottom of the next gate.
“Targets disabled,” Loki reported confidently.
“And in proper fashion,” Master Koku confirmed.
Nathan dove through the first gate of the second cluster, rolling the ship over, and entering a climbing left turn, allowing his engine nacelles to continue their sweeping movements without changing direction as they moved from one thrust position to the next.
As they approached the last gate in the cluster, Loki deftly fired their lasers, disabling another target just before they passed through the gate.
“This is easy,” Loki bragged in a fashion unlike him.
“You expected it to be difficult to disable things that do not fire back?” Master Koku wondered.
“This guy is killin’ me, Lok,” Josh exclaimed in delight.
Loki looked at the next group of gates, noticing something peculiar. “Uh…”
“Yeah, I see it,” Josh replied.
“There’s more than four gates there,” Loki warned.
“I thought you said there were only three or four gates in each cluster?” Josh said to Master Koku.
“It is possible that I was not entirely forthcoming,” Master Koku replied.
“Am I seeing things, or are those gates moving?” Nathan wondered.
“Holy crap,” Josh exclaimed.
“Too easy for you now, Mister Sheehan?” Master Koku inquired.
“I’m calculating the gates’ drift rates and directions for you now, Cap’n.”
“I can’t use missiles,” Loki decided. “I’m going manual with the lasers,” he added, grabbing the laser controls.
“I can match my drift angle with that of the gate’s, if it helps,” Nathan offered.
“If you pass through the gate without disabling the targets on it, you will lose points,” Master Koku warned.
“I know!” Loki barked, feeling the pressure. “Crap, there’s two of them.”
“I’m matching the drift,” Nathan decided.
Loki took his first shot with the dorsal starboard turret, but missed the target by more than a meter. “Damn it!” he cursed, firing again. “Got it!”
“Gate threshold in five seconds,” Nathan warned.
“Roll her to starboard, Cap’n!” Josh urged.
“That’s going to make the next turn more difficult,” Nathan said as he rolled the ship to the right.
Loki fired the ventral port laser turret as the ship rolled over, disabling the second target on the left side of the gate as they passed through. “Got it!”
“You just lost ten points,” Master Koku announced.
“But I got it!” Loki insisted.
“The position transponder is in the nose of your ship,” Master Koku explained. “You disabled the second target, but not before the nose of your ship had breached the gate threshold.”
“You can make up the lost points by flying faster!” Josh urged. “Increase your roll rate, and hold it through the next two gates! And speed the fuck up!”
“Got it,” Nathan replied, trying to remain calm. He kept his thrusters firing as he rolled, increasing their forward speed as he passed the next gate, then held the roll as he eased the ship to starboard, on course for the third gate.
“Pause your roll for a few seconds as you pass the gate,” Josh advised. “Then start it up again at half the previous roll rate as you turn toward the fourth gate.”
“Are you sure?” Nathan asked.
“Of course, I’m sure,” Josh insisted, sounding slightly insulted.
Nathan stopped their roll as he passed through the next gate, starting it again at a slower rate a few seconds later, pulling the ship into a shallow left turn, despite the fact that he was rolling right. “This doesn’t feel right.”
“The next gate is going to be too close, Josh!” Loki warned.
“Flip her as you pass through the gate,” Josh instructed. “Nose over ass! Then neutralize your nacelles, and fire full thrust for three seconds!”
Nathan had no time to acknowledge the instruction, already pitching the fighter’s nose up hard, flipping the ship over as it passed through the gate. Two seconds later, his engine nacelles reached their neutral position, and he jammed his throttles all the way forward, holding the thrust button for two full seconds as instructed, shaving off a tremendous amount of forward speed in the process.
“Now flat spin left ninety!” Josh ordered.
Nathan complied, immediately bringing the nose of the ship ninety degrees to the left, so they were essentially flying sideways.
“Full burn for three!” Josh barked.
Thrusters fired as Nathan pressed and held the button. The fighter jumped forward, instantly shifting their flight path a few degrees to the right of their original course.
“That’s it!” Josh announce proudly. “Another ninety left, and then burn for five to get back up to original entry speed, plus five percent to make up the lost points!”
Nathan completed the last turn and fired his thrusters as instructed, passing through the fifth gate, which was sliding away from them from left to right.
