Chapter 25

Combat Pilot Training

  We are in our formations. The new wave of cadets, we train in the newly configured combat ships that will be used by both Endarians and Humans alike. There are of course training weapons, lasers to simulate our actions, along with sensors to record our every movement and attack. All in all this is a highly capable space craft simulation that can slowly regenerate itself with ambient starlight. Technically, it feeds on the electromagnetic waves of stars.

  Also, I’m kind of excited. This weekend Mel will finally show me her project that she has been working on. This will be good, as this will also be her last free week for a while as she will join the 012522 class. The only problem with her enrollment is that since she is joining late, she will be placed on restrictions for the first ninety days, the same as the rest of us were. The reason she is in that older class is simple, to keep her with students who will be fully integrated into the system at the same time. This is the easiest way for the military to keep track of students and their progression rates. It is not unusual for people like Mel to show up midterm or even mid-curriculum. On a bright side Mel will not need to get as many certs as the rest of us will, seeing as she is already an Omega class student with a peak Mage Class, she is mainly looking for control and finesse with her magic.

  All in all, things are looking good. I avoided the spot where I created a minor tear with my Telekinetic burst last night. Though I hear the repair bots were up bright and early this morning.

  So yeah, things are going well. I’m going to get my first five certs after this class. This would be enough to get me a total of six, thanks to the one I got from moonlighting with Astria as Heal Boy. This means I can either advance my Psionic class rarity twice, putting me at Average. Or I could save them and try to evolve my Psionic class with an additional cert. I honestly don’t know what to do. Logic would dictate the upgrade in class rarity as Psionic is a powerful class. But what if I could get a better class? At this rate I don’t know what could be better? I mean a few more Affinity points in Pyrokinesis, maybe. But even that wouldn’t quite justify the expense. I am fully vested in getting certs for evolving my Mage class, but I don’t really see much benefit in doing so for my Psychic class.

  “This is a simulation. There are to be no killing attacks or blows. You can use either the mounted turrets which have been replaced with lasers that will be picked up and recorded by sensors on all ships. You can use powers, but only enough to disable a ship. DO NOT CRUSH, BREAK, OR DESTROY my test ships!” The instructor says, looking directly at me.

  I point to myself, as if trying to make sure I am the intended recipient of this rebuke. The rebuke is well earned as I showed the other Telekinetics where and how to aim their Telekinesis so they would easily disable an enemy ship.

  “Once your ship has been disabled, you are out of commission. Any attempts to use powers once you have been disabled, Psychic or otherwise, will be considered an automatic failure.” As DI Hopewell continued to speak, I began to get an odd itching sensation in the back of my mind.

  “Don’t worry. Your ships have been set up with an automatic kill switch to inform you that your ship has taken lethal damage. You ship will go to a state or rest but will still provide life support to you and your suit. We will be in space, so realize crazy things can happen. The most important thing to remember is that we will keep up with rescue equipment. Also know Fleet Commander Lemitov has brought in the first fleet to watch the proceedings and provide necessary search and rescue if needed. Consider this a recruitment drive, meaning you want to perform your best, so you get accepted into one of the big fleets.” The DI says.

  I had heard about something like this. The fleets here are basically independent companies who can make sales pitches to promising young recruits. Each fleet only gets so many slots they can choose, the rest are forced upon them. But the bonuses offered to the ones they recruit will always come from the soldiers that are forced on them. Basically, you can either get wined and dined by a big sports team or company, or you can work for the team and company at a reduced cost, knowing your bonuses are going to the top recruits. Apparently, it is a system that works as everyone wants to have the best and brightest in charge of them. Also, the prestige of having the best and brightest stay around is a deterrent to others. At least that is what I was told. The whole process sounded like an interesting idea if the details do get convoluted.

  Basically, you wanted to be seen as one of the top recruits, because then you got the most benefits. Some could even get recruitment incentives while still in the Academy. In fact, this was often the case, you saw a promising recruit, offer them sponsorship certs, then boom they have an amazing class and are more inclined to pick you as their landing spots. At first the military tried to shut down such actions, but then slowly studies showed that this improved the overall product, in this case the overall fighting capability of the military. So now, such actions aren’t just accepted, but expected.

  I decide to make a good showing. I don’t necessarily want to go to the first fleet, they are on the western border after all. But I do want to get as many sponsorship certs as possible, especially with my plan to evolve my Mage class. To be balanced, I am thinking I might also want to do the same for my Psychic class.

  “…With that follow me to our beginning location. We will first begin with single elimination matches.” DI Hopewell says.

  With that we follow in a steady formation. There are a few students who look wobbly for a bit, but overall, we look like a night tight unit on the move. This is the first test; can we move to a combat location as a unit and not injure ourselves or others around us. Flying in formation is dangerous, especially if someone isn’t used to doing so. Fortunately, we are all near the end of our training, for many this will be their last certification program before they go onto their military careers. For others, like me, this will just be a steppingstone of qualifications earned.

  Once we are in space, everything starts to change. How to describe it to a non-psychic? I don’t know. I guess the easiest way to describe it, is imagine you have been in a semi-awakened state all your life. All your life you know you can do more but are just so tired and lethargic. Then one day, you try caffeine for the first time and finally can awaken. From that moment on, you realize just how limited you were, how slow your mind felt, how alive you felt while consuming caffeine. That feeling of being alive and awake, that is what it is to go to space for the first time as a Psychic. Even for me, a veteran of going to space, I still feel the joy of my first trip into space.

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  I don’t exactly know why this is the case for psychics. Some people have theorized that it is the feedback of the electromagnetic properties of planets interfering with our Psychic brain waves. That somehow the two often conflict with each other and in most cases the fields able to be generated by the planet win entirely. Whatever the case, the feeling that we Psychics feel while going into space is amazing.

  “Whoa!” Most everyone exclaims as their minds feel the complete freedom that comes with flying in space.

  “You all have hot mics.” DI Hopewell says.

  Click.

  The sound of a dozen microphones going off at once is funny and expected. I am one of the few who does not turn off their mic, as I wasn’t one who spoke out. Instead, I was ready for this, though now that I am out there is something else, I feel.

  There is an energy that is seeming to build nearby.

  I scan the horizon, then I see a slight tear beginning to form in space. “Anomaly detected.” I shout out, then flag it, or at least I try to flag the anomaly, but that function is disabled from my ship. I guess it makes sense, this is a combat training mission, there is no need to have all the bells and whistles on, but still.

  “What is that Cadet Goldman?” DI Hopewell asks.

  “Spatial Anomaly detected. Heading two o’clock from our current trajectory. Azimuth plus twenty-two degrees.” I say, trying to map out the location of where the anomaly is to our current location.

  The more I spot the anomaly, the more I get a sinking sensation in my stomach. This is bad, really bad.

  “Cadet Goldman get back in formation.” DI Hopewell orders.

  Before I even realize it, I am out of formation and heading directly towards the anomaly I detected.

  “Cadet Goldman, get back in formation, this is an order!” DI Hopewell shouts, but it is too late.

  A bright neon green rift appears in space and what looks to be a giant eye flash for a second. With that a large-scale burst of energy is released.

  Vwoom.

  Instantly all my systems are shut down. A quick scan shows that the other ships have also shut down.

  Click, click, whir.

  Within seconds the emergency life support systems turn on. My ship is still gliding forward, going at the same momentum it had been previously. I am trying to stop my movement, towards the green-eyed rift that is slowly opening wide, but nothing is happening. Realistically I know it is just a switch that is turned on, a fuse breaker that is causing my engine systems from coming back on. Still my mind is panicking as I see the rift open revealing the first of what appear to be hundreds, if not thousands of Scourges.

  A quick glance back shows that even the First Fleet’s capitol class ship is rebooting. I try hitting the reset commands, the ones that force the override to turn back on. That is when I am met with a system warning.

  You have been disabled. Awaiting response from trainer. Awaiting response from trainer.   Awaiting response from trainer…

  “Fuck!” I shout, as my ship is still on a direct collision course for the scourge spawn point. Worse, scourge, at least the smaller sized scourge, are coming through.

  Realizing I need to buy some time for the First Fleet’s ship to come back online I do the only thing I can. I fight the horde of scourge that are coming.

  I don’t know if it is just my first time high from being in space, the fact that my powers seem to be boosted to an extreme level thanks to my potion from the Awakening trials, or maybe a combination of both? But my ability to focus on the individual minds with my Mind Rend power is astronomical.

  I can’t summon the flames like I did when fighting with Astria, as there is no oxygen to help the immolation process. But Mind Rend, that works wonderfully. Especially with these smaller creatures as their minds are little more than simple command structures. I imagine their minds containing something along the lines of find food, kill food, reproduce in food, repeat.

  The only problem with this anomaly is that it is not like the others I have seen or encountered to this point. The one that Astria and I fought, that was a spatial sac. A membrane that was slowly building up over time. There was just one problem, this section of space was flat. In fact, that was likely why the sensors didn’t pick it up as an anomaly. The only reason I even noticed it at all was the residual energy and… oh no. My eyes? I wonder, seeing their purple glow reflected at me in my cockpit.

  I look around and see that the capitol ship is slowly realigning itself as the power cores come back online providing stabilization and lighting to appear on the ship.

  “Send the response!” I shout into the mic, hoping that the relay systems are back up.

  Static.

  A faint hint of static is all I get. Still even that little is enough for me to feel slightly better. The static is a sign that systems are slowly coming back online. Now all I have to do is wait. Wait, while I glide ever forward into the spatial rift caused by the scourge.

  An impending wave of fear washes over me, as I look at the vast scar in space. I am now close enough that I can see the tear for what it truly is an event horizon, a spatial tear, a folding of spatial dimensions. Whatever it truly is, I don’t know, I’m just an eighteen-year-old grunt on a training mission. An eighteen-year-old with one hundred and fifty-three years of memories. Memories that mean all I can do is try to kill the surging monster swarm that is waiting for me to let up in my relentless assault for a moment.

  “Send the activation command. I am a sitting duck out here!” I shout. All the while I continue to kill more and more monsters that appear on our side of the tear. Occasionally, I have to Telekinetically push the dead monsters away, as I am uncertain what will happen if their bodies collide with my ship, especially in its disabled state.

  While I am killing monsters, I am preparing for the inevitable. At this rate I will gradually glide through the tear in space. I plan to make an emergency exit right before then. As such I am prepping and sealing my suit, disconnecting the main line from the console. Sealing off the main line and pull.

  I pull the emergency switch, but I realize a failsafe is engaged. I quickly look over my suit, but see nothing, then I spot it, one thin quire for liquids. I cut that one off. Then look up trying to kill the new surge of slightly larger scourge that have come through the rift.

  Once I am certain that I will not be assaulted by surging scourge as I get shot out, I prepare to pull the emergency ejection lever again when.

  VROOM!

  My whole ship lunges and lurches to life. In a second the jets that had gone silent suddenly whir to life and I am propelled forward.

  My ship, like a missile, rams straight through the open tear in space and through the other side. As soon as I emerge on the other side, I see thousands of monsters. My instincts tell me to pull hard to the left, so I do. There is darkness for a second, before splat.

  I run into the squishiest, most gelatin like creature I have ever experienced. Fortunately, my ship is fine, if a little covered in space monster guts. I notice there is a familiar green glow to the monster. Looking at the creature I can see that it is casting some type of spell of some kind. I get a brief glimpse of the glowing green spell, before it winks out of existence the same way the consciousness of the monster, I just killed winks out.

  With the green spell no longer active, the fissure, or rift in space begins to seal up.

  Badump. Badump.

  My heart starts pounding wildly as I realize I am about to be caught in unknown space, surrounded by monsters, with nothing but a ship loaded with training lasers.

  Using the full force of my multiple lifetimes of training as a pilot, and my developing Precognitive powers, I turn around, go full speed for the closing rift. Only to see the tear in space go away as I make my sharp bank to face the anomaly. Or rather, to face where the spatial anomaly was.

  I am at a loss of what to do for a moment, before a black swarm of death comes near. This is a black swarm that I have grown far too used to over my past few lifetimes.

  “FUCCCKKKKK!” I scream.