UC Chapter Header A [https://i.imgur.com/LTseeZG.jpg]
Front 3 - And The Days After That
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3.1 - Daily Life Aboard The Fluchtig Part 1
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Despite an eccentric first couple of days, Una soon found herself adapting to life aboard the Am-Fluchtig. To her relief, no one ever mentioned her panic attack, nor did they act particularly differently around her. Even the sombre atmosphere of the crew towards the destruction of the escort frigate began to lift as the crew of the ship got back to focusing on their own survival, utilitarian as that might be. So it was that within a few days, things began to fall into a natural rhythm of sorts.
The daily routine for a pilot consisted of many mostly personal activities. The mornings were spent in the gym, this being mandatory for all to prevent the effects of degradation that living in a zero-G environment brought. Further, considering the physical aspect of operating a Vijaik, it was considered doubly important that all pilots were fit.
This didn't necessarily require them to be bodybuilders or anything but simply be all-around healthy.
Next would come time on the simulator. To Una's utmost relief, there had been no more group practice sessions, and for the most part, she generally found herself sparing against the simulator's AI programs. They were all required to log a certain number of simulation hours daily; as for bouts against her fellow pilots, the system was somewhat informal. It was expected that if you happened to be in the under-hanger at the same time as another, then you would practise together. Indeed, it seemed both Kolme and Hoki, in particular, would make time to train alongside Una periodically. Sabban also had no issue with going against her - From Una's perspective, however, these sessions with the other pilots proved to be somewhat troublesome - Quite simply, they reminded her each time of just how far ahead of her they all seemed to be. With thoughts of Hikari, a far better pilot her age still on her mind, this lack of skill compared to the others was becoming of genuine concern.
This feeling of malcontent peaked when even her practise against the AI opponents started to decline, with her gaining points one day only to lose them the next, which usually indicated a pilot had reached their current 'simulator skill cap'.
By her fifth day, half a week aboard the ship, Una had found a couple other issues, too: Aside from physical training and simulations, the rest of her days were scheduled for her to perform maintenance on her machine (a fairly fruitless task considering they had yet to see actual combat) and 'duty standby' - At all times one pilot was on this 'standby', which put simply meant to sit around in your respective mech's cabin, probably on the simulator, while being ready to make an emergency launch should the Fluchtig ever come under enemy attack.
It was scheduled so that shifts as awaiting pilot would line up with your simulator time. Moreover, this duty extended past just the ship's ensemble of five pilots. Three additional 'probationary pilots' also existed aboard the Fluchtig. To gain this duty, one from any department simply had to volunteer. They would then dedicate daily some of their free time to learning the basics of Vijaik combat, and once they reached a simulator rank of 'E' along with receiving approval from the ship's combat command (currently Lt Nilas), they would then qualify for the unofficial rank - Allowing them to take standby shifts at times when the official pilots were asleep and such like. In turn, they would receive a modest pay increase or other additional benefits.
In reality, no commander would actually send any of these half-trained personnel out to battle; rather, if they found themselves on duty during an ambush, they would prep the machines (starting the generators, performing equipment checks and moving the mecha to the launch deck in the main hanger) as to allow the actual pilots, whether they be eating or asleep, time to prep and then launch immediately into battle.
Una had yet to practise against any of the three, though she had passed them on occasion, usually leaving the under-hanger as she entered the space. There was the high-ranking bridge officer who peculiarly wore sunglasses despite being permanently aboard a fully lit vessel. The mechanic, whom all the other mechanics joked frequently about being dirt broke and finally, a woman from the generator room. The trio would regularly report to Kolme, but other than that, it had little to do with Una.
As for herself, Una’s stand-by period simply meant more time on the simulator, growing ever more discouraged at her own lack of progress.
Finally there was the free time. Considering the ship was currently just travelling from one place to another with no planned combat for a couple weeks, Una found herself with a frustrating amount of downtime. True to form, Miss Hoki had managed to acquire a physical manual of the Neo-Type Vijaik for Una, which she had begun dutifully spending her evenings pouring over in the hopes of finding some knack or other to better-making use of her new machine - But other then that there was little she was required to do.
In fact, generally speaking, her time on the Fluchtig really was proving quite solitary. There was no parade in the mornings like there was back in her school days, nor did anyone take much note when an officer entered a room. Gone were the ever-present stout NCOs who would bellow the likes of "Officer On Deck, ATTENTION!", instead the likes of Kolme or Hoki would enter to no fanfare whatsoever. The same applied whenever one of the bridge officers came down for some minor reason or another.
And although she did frequently train with the others, broadly, there was no requirement to do so as long as she submitted a small digital file to Hoki or Sabban (who seemingly handled the day-to-day admin of the squadron on Kolme's behalf) listing her activities for the day had been fulfilled. There were even entire days where she could go without having any real interactions with the others outside of mealtimes. As for mealtimes, she began to treasure her lunchtime encounters with Miss Hoki and the array of sweet-smelling foreign teas the woman would bring along.
For her evenings, Una had taken up reading in the botanical garden, a large area filled with foliage and a massive window staring out at space. Most of the time, however, this window was projected onto with images of sunsets and the like, with the idea being to make the room feel like an authentic slice of home. It did help to an extent, but from the artificial light above to the faint outline of the hexagonal windows between the tree line, it never quite felt like the real thing to someone who had spent time on the lush landscapes of planet Bhaile.
To be perfectly honest, Una was realising she felt lonely. In a-way, it seemed as though the scenery had changed but that she was still boxed in, just like her time confined to the barracks back on Abhaile.
'There's people all around and stuff to do, but really...'
Even the box she felt herself in seemed to grow ever more constricting. Accounting for her daily trips to the garden, in reality, the spaces she occupied were somewhat limited.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
The Fluchtig was no doubt a large vessel, but her part of that world was, in a sense, only a small run. The central dome that made up the primary operations part of the ship housed multiple sections but was dominated mainly by the hanger bays and the prime generator - Adding on her lack of any reasons to go near the general living block or the bridge and really Una simply lived between the ships amenities block (the garden, gym & canteen), the under-hanger for training and officer's quarters for sleeping.
Fluchtig Dome Layout Sketch [https://i.imgur.com/kCBXMF2.jpg]It was bizarre to imagine that just beneath her feet lay a whole network of cavernous rooms. There were supposedly massive warehouses brimming with food, ammunition and other supplies, along with the extensive water reservoir needed to conduct both life and the cooling of equipment aboard the ship.
Furthermore, there were apparently entire spiralling networks of interior tramlines that ferried people to and from the Fluchtig's four impressive main batteries, with whole crews living out there at the far ends of the ship, people that she might never come across in her entire time serving the warship.
With all this in mind, Una decided, on her fourth day aboard, to make use of her apparent autonomy aboard the ship, to do some minor investigation of what her fellow pilots did in order to become such talented individuals.
For his part, Kolme spent his time being rather more busy than Una had first guessed. He attended frequent meetings with other staff officers, including the ship's captain - He spoke often with all manner of crewmembers from various divisions, as well as organising and ordering most of the supplies needed for their Vijaiks.
Speaking of which, he made a point of attending and signing off on all experiments conducted by the workshop team on the mech's experimental equipment. This surprised Una, who had only ever really known the sort of officer who'd haphazardly sign documents while trying to avoid as much leg work as possible.
image [https://i.imgur.com/qLyT9ad.png]
As for the test equipment itself, Una soon learned that Sabban and Hoki held the rank of ship's official 'Test Pilots' (partly a reason for their officer ranks of 'Ensign') - This detailed them trying equipment not only for their own machines but also for Kolme and Scarlet's.
They'd oftentimes make use of the old MBT to do these tests, and it struck Una that despite everyone's frequent slacking off of the antique machine that lived in the workshop, whether being used for the three probation pilots training, moving freight or part-taking in dangerous testing - The old workhorse was pulling its weight more than any other piece of machinery on the whole ship.
After observing a couple of these tests, Una finally made up her mind to offer her assistance; after all, if it had some part to play in how skilled Sabban had become in just a couple months, then she would be foolish not to try too - At least that's what she had thought.
When Una ultimately did volunteer, she was met with something entirely unexpected. Breaking form from his usual stoic and uncaring expressions, Sabban had launched into an all-out verbal assault against her, demanding to know how she could be so reckless and naïve.
The fact that everyone was usually so causal aboard the ship had made Sabban's outburst all the more poignant, and this abolishment of her initiative towards self-improvement had left her somewhat unmotivated to find other avenues of possible change. Sabban hadn’t even seemed to change much over the news of Cadet Unit B’s demise, despite them also being his former classmates - Yet her volunteering had caused an outright tirade of anger - Perhaps he was more on edge not to see Una repeat the same mistakes as there classmates?
‘That's if he even remembered who I am…’
Thankfully, it hadn't been long after this lecture that Hoki, ever the responsible adult of the group, took Una aside and explained what had conspired. According to the former teacher, Sabban had simply been worried about Una's safety.
'Funny way to show it!'
Test piloting 'apparently' brought with it several dangers that required a high level of piloting skill to handle.
"A 'rookie' pilot might not know when to stop a test in order to avoid damage to equipment or injury to the pilot and others around them."
Una had still felt somewhat hurt by the harshness of the ordeal and a little embarrassed in herself at making such a childish request. As such, when the solution to seemingly all her mounting problems of loneliness and inadequacy arose, it came from an unusual source. Indeed, Una's second five days aboard the Am-Fluchtig proved very different from her first. Suddenly, she found herself with a partner for breakfast time, a coach for physical training and a 'demon supervisor' for the simulator.
Apparently, by request of Sabban (possibly as an apology for his earlier outburst), The Scarlet Scourge, former ace of the Remembrance fleet and X-space pirate of near unmatched infamy (and the woman who had scared Una witless during her first simulation) - Had taken it upon herself to tutor Una. She had apparently accepted Sabban's sudden request based on a self-proclaimed excess of spare time, and so in days, Una had found herself wondering if she should have been more careful towards what she wished for...
While her peaceful lunches with Miss Hoki remained, pretty much everything else became up-ended. Breakfast now occurred in the break room via the franchise machine for the simple fact of it being faster. Physical training now involved a lot of being 'encouraged' by Scarlet, who, despite being clearly very fit, never actually seemed to do any exercise, opting instead to monitor Una's progress.
Reading of the manual had gone out nearly immediately, Scarlet instead using any free time Una had for additional training.
This all, Una had to admit, led to some benefits. Firstly, although it had been hard work, she had managed to consistently get back to beating the current setting of the computer simulation, which, despite her own disregard towards, Scarlet seemed to have no issue in using the so-called 'child's toy' that she'd so vehemently argued with Hoki over - As a teaching resource for Una.
She'd also swung it with Kolme to get permission for Una to actually practice maneuvering in real space, which led to her first stomach-churning experience with the Fluchtig's electronic ramp launchers. All this training in the many forms it took was intense to put it lightly. But better than loneliness and focusing on her grief surely? Or at least so Una hoped.
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