“Just to show there’s no hard feelings, we made you cookies,” Kiera said, handing a plate to Perkins.
“Aww, you two are okay. Ready to take to the sky today? Jac’s going to fly alongside you, then he’ll go alongside Emily.”
“Can’t wait!” Kiera said. They’d just been ground piloting for the last month. Jac wanted to make sure they really had a feel for their mechas and the movements that they could do before moving to actual flight, there had been a lot of jumping practice. They were still using the simulators everyday before they got into the mechas themselves. Kiera didn’t complain, Jac was favored to take the Premier League this year. She and Emily got to work with the ground crew at his last race and it had been extraordinary. Now she’d be taking to the sky.
<<”Okay, Little,”>> Jac’s voice came over her comms, <<”Take two laps around the track and once you pass through the start line then I want you to activate jets.”>>
“Understood,” Kiera said. This was the moment she was waiting for, going from a runner to a pilot, actually flying through the air!
Kiera checked her surroundings before starting. The last two weeks had come with pranks by the ground crew: whoopie cushions on her chair, a fake fuzzy fanged spider in her helmet, show tunes whenever she spoke on her comms, magnetizing her to her seat. It had taken a bit to get the euclidean chocolate but it was going to be worth it. Some well deserved revenge disguised as a chocolatey baked treat. Euclidean chocolate was a nutrient rich, low sugar chocolate that was popular to be used in Imperial survival bars and those who wanted a sweet treat without a lot of sugar. Eating too much of it resulted in unpleasant bowel movements, one of the reasons it was used in the survival bars was to deter people from eating the entire bar at once. They had made double fudge chocolate chip cookies.
With nothing unexpected Kiera began to run; maybe Perkins and the others recognized the seriousness of flight and hadn’t pranked her. The memory of tripping came flooding to her as she reached the starting line and she switched to her jets. The rocketed her over the line, and she pulled up too hard, thrown off by the unexpected thrust pushing her back into her seat. The angle was wrong, she slammed the legs into the track and crashed. The jets immediately disengaged.
<<”You okay, little?”>> Jac asked, <<”Perkins, I swear if you did something…”>>
“No, he didn’t, I flashbacked to his prank and messed up,” Kiera grumbled, “Can I try again?”
<<”Yep, we’ll keep going until you get some sky,”>> Jac said.
The second time around the track Kiera launched herself into the air. She yelled in delight, closing her eyes and threw her hands into the air in celebration. Then promptly crashed into the stands because she didn’t turn. The third time wasn’t much better, she eased off too much on her jets as she turned and crashed into the ground. After the fifth crash Jac told her to take a break.
Emily didn't do much better. Her first launch shot her up and she somersaulted and crashed into the ground. Her second she launched too fast, overcorrected and hit the ground. Her third veered her into the stands on her first turn. Jac called it for the day after her fifth crash as well. He told them they had done well and he’d seen other rookies do far worse. Perkins and the crew agreed; they actually got into the air and managed to turn. Flying was different from running a mech on the ground. The next day they woke up stiff and sore, despite the aspirin they took and the hot tub they had soaked in, both recommendations by Jac.
Stolen story; please report.
When they arrived the next day, both girls were met with glares, “What happened? Did we dent the mechas too much? You said the Mercs were durable and I didn’t think we roughed them up too much?” Kiera said innocently.
“Most of us were in the bathroom the rest of the day after your sweet treats,” Harrison said.
“Oh no! Is there some kind of stomach bug going around?” Emily added, looking concerned.
“Jac sent us the label of the chocolate you used in those cookies!” Perkins shouted.
Kiera and Emily burst into laughter, “I thought you guys liked pranks!” Kiera managed through the laughter.
“I warned you they were firebrands,” Jac said chuckling, “I told you not to haze them.”
-[]-
Flying was incredible. It had taken most of the morning, but Kiera was in the air flying laps around the track while Jac was coaching Emily. Kiera didn’t interrupt; Emily was making more progress with each attempt and she was getting into the air with each one, her problem was staying in the air. Ballet lessons started for both of them next week.
<<“How does it feel to be a real pilot?”>> Perkins asked.
“I love it,” Kiera said, angling herself so she was hovering over the track, “This is the best feeling ever.”
<<”Just wait until you’re on a track with others flying around you, the adrenaline from that is like nothing else,”>> Perkins said, <<”You two are naturals, I haven’t seen a pair of pilots as young as you two pick this up half as fast as you did.”>>
“Good instruction and a lot of simulator time. Nothing natural about it. I’ve wanted to do this since I first heard that Jac was racing mecha seven years ago and saw my first race.” Kiera replied, flying forward on her mecha once Emily and Jac had passed over her. Emily’s tears of joy and elation came over the comm. Emily always cried when she was happy, and thanks to Elise, didn’t feel bad about it.
<<”You’re brother’s a good guy, lot more down to earth than other pilots. It’s a pleasure to work with him. We’ve got the Bastion course next week.”>>
“I am including you, Harrison and the others in that good instruction. Knowing how things work made a lot of this click. Truce on the pranks?”
Laughter came over the comms, <<”Sister, you won’t see another from me. I’ve learned my lesson with you two. Definitely Jac’s little sisters. You ready to land?”>>
Kiera grinned at the comment. The crew believed that Kiera and Emily were twins with how close they were and how Jac treated them. Kiera saw no reason to correct them; in every way Kiera saw Emily as her sister. It was time for the hardest part of flying, landing. Unlike a star fighter she didn’t need to have a runway and slow down on it, but there was a fine art of cutting the engines at the right time and not scorching your landing site.
“Tell me where to land, Mr. Perkins.”
Kiera didn’t crash, but it wasn’t a graceful landing. She cut the engines too early and managed not to fall by running down the track and leaning back onto the controls giving her gyroscopes a workout. Emily crashed into her. They went down in a heap, but at least there were no new dents. It was a victory, they both had flown in a mecha, an actual real mecha. Jac took them out to dinner that night. It was a huge accomplishment for them both and he was extremely proud.