Kim
スター軍の司書
----188604/ Section 6 facility/ Hangar/ morning----
Jack sat atop a large crate, and rubbed his side which was still healing from the Week prior. He wore a Revenant undersuit and had the helmet sitting beside him. He was waiting for Aster Blake, he had called her to the hangar with basically no explanation. He waited trying to put on a expression of calm normality which had been getting harder each day to fake.
Aster had come into the hangar, dressed as she normally did on a regular maintenance day, in her Revenant undersuit and holding a toolbag. "Yes, Mr. Pine?" She appraised him curiously with her violet eyes, uncertain of what he wanted or how he was doing since the incident.
"Hello Aster, I thought we could give you a different task today. You will not be needing the tool bag. Now come here, I have something you'll need for this task," Jack said kindly yet softly, which was unusual given the authoritative tone he usually used. He got off the crate and moved his helmet before placing a hand on the lid.
The intern raised an eyebrow and set the tool bag on a nearby shelf. She closed the distance between herself and Jack and stood beside him. She stared at the crate with growing curiosity. "A new task? What do you have for me to do?" Her voice held no mystery, she was uncertain of the task and his intent.
Jack pulled a flight suit out of the crate, it was new with a purple panel, "Today, you're taking flight lessons. Think of it as a gift. You've given my lieutenant a smile to his usually brooding face. A good influence on him as well, as he was a pilot before being a trooper. I think it would be nice to give you the knowledge you need to share a more personal common activity. This here is a Skyguard designed flightsuit for U-1 pilots. It's yours." He said closing the lid and offering the suit to Aster.
"You can use the Saber equipment room to change while I prep the bird." Jack said gesturing to the door leading to said room.
Aster's eyes widened as she accepted the suit. "Oh! Thank you!" She beamed as she bowed. "I like getting to spend more time with Jay... He's a senpai and yeah..." She blushed. "I'll go change then!" She hurried off toward the equipment room and quickly changed. She re-emerged wearing the skintight white and purple paneled flight suit. She flexed her fingers in the gloves and walked back into the hanger. She was smiling brightly as she waited.
When she had returned, Jack was looking over the hull of a U-1 with a black finish and red markings. His had been destroyed in his fight with Lazarus and only recently reconstructed.
"A plane is a personal thing, it says a lot about its pilot and their character. Everything from how they personalize it to how they fly it." He says as he walks around to a second tarp covered unit, removing the tarp to reveal another U-1 black with purple markings, "So it's probably best you have the plane to go with the suit."
She circled the U-1 with growing wonderment. "It..it's mine?! Sugoi! J..Mr. Pine, this is all really cool... but am I getting this training to join Saber? I know that I.. couldn't help during.. but.. I don't want to feel that way again," Aster bit her lower lip as she approached the U-1 and placed her hand on it like she wasn't sure if it was real. "Or is this extra credit for something I might have missed in class?"
"I'm not making you join anyone. If you decide to join Saber, or Section 6, that is your choice and yours alone. And what happened last week was not your fault, and I'm sorry you were around to experience that. The fault was mine. I wasn't strong enough, and foolish at that. To think that the past would stay hidden and be forgotten. No, this is because I see a young woman who has fallen in love with a young man, both who I respect and have a bright future ahead. If I can have a small part in helping that future being even just a little easier to reach, then I have done my job. Aster, do you know how long Section 6 has been around?" Jack said lowering his gaze and turning away slightly at the reference to last week.
"Not really. You've only been with USO for a year though? I didn't particularly enjoy feeling like I was 8 and trapped in a cargo compartment again. I just wish that I could have been able to stop Amit being taken, he was my first friend here," her gaze remained down on the U-1 as she spoke. She looked back up to Jack. "You do not control the choices that other people make, let alone that ... man. The only thing any of us have responsibility for are our own actions. You did what you could for everyone. You've done so much for your family and you tried to protect them."
"Five months, that's how long. Oh, how I wish I could make you understand. That thing.....was me. He may have been my clone, but he is everything I've done in the past. And some of the things he said, hinted at- they make me fear whatever it is I, possibly, don't even know about myself that he seemed to. People may view me as a good man out here in this place, but in others, they only remember the evil I've done. When I came here, it was not to build something good. No, when I came to this planet seven months ago, I came here with nothing but the purpose of completing the next mission. Each one a paycheck, and each a reminder of my lack of empathy towards others. Now, because of my sins, my son is having void knows what done to him, and a sister who probably blames me for the death of her children, and justly so," Jack said as he placed a hand against his craft to steady himself.
Aster placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "I have spent my life around Jiyuuians and Nekovalkryjra that have seen multiple lives, different variants of themselves as a result of being brought back to life through Soul transfer. Sometimes, the unthinkable happens and we see another version of who they are. Our souls are divergent at times. We live our lives with the opportunity to make certain choices, and we might not always make the same choice if given the chance... but, things change. That man might have been your past but he is not your present." She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze.
"This man here, this man who is plagued with survivor's guilt, this man mourning the loss of life and shouldering this burden of someone else's actions, is you, Jack Pine. You here and now, are a good person. You are not your past, any more than I am my past. And we both have a future. Yours is full of life and more children, both biological and otherwise," she offered him a reassuring smile. "Don't let this destroy you. You have a family that loves you."
"Aster, you don't understand. I've killed a lot of people, hundreds, maybe thousands. I see every one of them at all times and at the back of my mind, he whispers. And someone made a clone of that man because they wanted that kind of person. What right do I have to have a family when I have taken so many other lives? I joined the military thinking it would be a better life than on a street. But it was just a mirror that showed what I really was. Even now I feel rage at what I've done; and what that thing did to my home and family. I'm scared of what might happen, that I might hurt them." Jack said taking a step away.
Aster turned to face him and her hand lingered near him. "You don't understand. That rage, that regret, that fear is what makes you human. What makes you not a monster. I have seen monsters, Jack. They wore the faces of my friends, adults that were trying to protect us... they physically changed, and ripped us apart until only 100 of us were left and trapped for 2 years, helpless to watch as other survivors got blown to pieces by people wearing allied power armor. Monsters do not mourn the loss of life they cause. They do not fear what they could do. Monsters just do it."
She watched him with understanding in her violet eyes. "You are not a mindless killing machine. I have seen that and you are not it. You are a survivor of the darker part of your soul, you might hear the demon rasping in your ear but what makes you a good person is not giving in to it. Fear is a tangible thing we can touch, it wraps its coils around your soul and chills you but we can fight it so we can live another day. Do not let your fear drive you away from your loved ones."
"What are you talking about, monsters wearing.....faces? Aster...what happened to you? Your not making much sense." Jack said as he turned back to Aster, his expression confused but still terrified from what had been revealed, from both of them.
"In YE 32, the United Outer Colonies Peacekeeper Anti-Piracy Task Force lost all contact with the rest of the Peacekeeping Forces in the Yugumo Cluster. Those of us on the edge of the Cluster in Siren system had no idea that anything was wrong until our ships started returning to Mayer Station damaged. They lost control inside the environmental shields and crashed into the hangar bays..." Aster began as she watched his expression, crossing her arms in front of her.
"If it had just been that, it wouldn't have been so devastating. We were under attack. They treated our environmental systems with something as fires tore through the station. We had traitors in our midst that were spreading... something. The infection transformed them and they..." Her eyes looked down for a moment, her expression haunted. "They stopped being people. They ate us, ripped us apart. They were working with the Mishhu to turn us, kill us."
Her voice waivered at the memory as she brought her eyes back up to look at Jack, "I was 8 years old. I didn't understand why any of it was happening. My mother was the base commander. She was responsible for us and the several hundred thousand that lived on Mayer Station. Mom gathered us and fortified us but she was critically injured in the attack. We waited for 2 years hiding in cramped office for help. We could only do so much. There were 25 of us that were Peacekeepers but the other 75 were like me, civilians. Miners, technicians, families. Every day we lived in fear. Would one of us turn? Would they get through? Would there be a tomorrow?"
"There is not a day that I don't think about Mayer Station. All of that helplessness. All of that guilt. Why did I survive when my friends didn't? Why did I survive when there were nurseries of younger children that didn't? Was there anything I could have done to have been less of a burden? So yes, I understand guilt, regret, life and death. I know what it's like to live in constant fear of becoming a monster that would kill everyone you love without a moment's regret," Aster offered a soft smile to Jack. "But I am not a monster. I am alive. I am not ruled by my fear."
Jack was silent for a moment as this hit him, the thoughts rushing. To think this young woman who had seemed only happy and eager to learn and help others, had been through what could only count as nightmares brought to life. "Aster......I'm so sorry.....I never knew. You have been through more than you should have ever had to endure at that age. Hopefully with our work here, others will be spared our pasts. We've all lost people, and here I am dwelling when I could be doing. I grew up without family, my best friend Zeke being the closest thing to a brother I had before I came here. And like you now, always drove me to get off my ass and make a change. You don't want to feel helpless anymore? Then I'll give you the skills so you can be anything but. And you can help improve our efforts to improve life and fight fear. Sound fair?"
Aster smiled again, her mood brightening once more as her haunted expression gave way to something more like acceptance and hope, "Sounds good." She placed her hands on the U-1 again. "The only way towards any future is forward. Our past can drive us but should not control us." She looked back at Jack, responding with reassurance in her voice. "If I can do something by being able to fight and fly or invent or build something that can save someone, then I will be happy I was able to make a difference in someone's life. If I can forge a stronger future here, then I will get stronger. But today, in this very moment, my goal is to not wreck this new U-1, ne?"
"Yes, well that is a good starting place. I'll get you in the air and well start there. Please take the pilot seat." Jack said straightening before retrieving his helm and putting it on.
Aster grabbed her own helmet and climbed into the pilot seat of her U-1, fastening herself in. She pulled it on and waited for further instructions on how to begin.
Jack climbed into the passenger seat, "Alright, so I'm going to take the con and get us airborne as take off is one of the harder parts to flying. Hub, guess I'll need to instruct on mode 2 later, but I'll just show it to you for now as I walk us on to the run way."
Normally an automated system would have a arm pick up and move the unit to the catapult, but Jack preferred stretching his legs so to speak. He placed a suited hand to the side of his part of the cockpit and synched with the vehicle before removing his hand. A moment later he went slightly stiff in his restraints as he assumed control. The fighter switched to mech mode causing the cockpit to restructure with the seats now being stacked instead one behind the other and the top of the canopy now in front as Jack sat above and Aster below. The walls of the cockpit would almost seem to become transparent, giving the two the experience of seeming to be floating in their seats with the controls in midair while still in the hangar. The U-1 which now stood in its humanoid mech form, and walked forward to stand on the catapult system before switching back to fighter mode.
"Alright, we're loaded onto the catapult system. I'll let you have the honors of igniting the thrusters. The button should be flashing on your console now." Jack's voice came through the speakers instead of his mouth as the hangar doors opened to let in the harsh desert sun.
"S..sugoine!" Aster held her breath for a moment as the U-1 shifted around around her. "Hai!" She excitedly pressed the flashing button as she looked around her, verifying that there wasn't anyone behind them. "I guess I get to learn how to do this the old fashioned way?"
"Yeah, I kinda cheat with the Geist letting me possess the vehicle and all. Maybe at some point we can get you one, but it's a major decision and a long talk about it." As the thrusters charged, and the magnetic arms raised to either side of the ramp, crackling with static charges. The fighter soon was sent smoothly flying into the air before jack leveled out and slowed to cruising speed.
"I would have to kinda die to get it installed, wouldn't I? Or is there a way to do it without all of the yelling and feeling like I'm dying?" Aster asked softly.
"No, there isn't and id rather not wish that way on anyone. It's another nightmare I wish I didn't have. pre-STed bodies are the only humane way we know off right now. Beaumont, didn't since he's a cyborg, his optics being already enhanced. I dunno, it's something that needs to really be thought about thoroughly before implantation. Alright, take the controls, and keep a the controls nice and steady." His voice said still over the speaker, but returned to his own vocal chords as he disconnected part way.
"I know it might seem like a step backwards, but why not make a contact lens or some sort of control device that has the same sort of capability? Would you lose that much reaction time with an external device?" She placed her hands on the joysticks and moved her feet to the pedals. "Just ease both sticks forward and depress the right pedal to go forward?"
"You don't need to move the sticks unless your changing your pitch, or roll. The pedal on right is the fuel feed for the thrusters while left controls the air brake and counter thrust." Jack explained while the soreness in his side was caused by sudden shift in G's from the launch.
"Just hold them steady then?" Aster applied gentle pressure on the fuel pedal to get a feel for it. "Left for up and right for sideways?"
"Yes, more or less, and pushing the right stick controls the throttle of your after burner. Do some loops and barrel rolls for practice. Then we can do fly by for course training." Jack answered as he pulled a 3D map of the fighter's surroundings, with the fighter in the middle. Safety, and system statuses scrolled down the right of his HUD.
Aster tested the controls and gently eased the left stick forward as she gently pushed in the right stick, and depressed the right foot pedal. She wanted to get a feel for how much force to put into her movements to get her desired affect with the lower end of the spectrum versus accidentally spinning out of control. She checked the U-1's responsiveness before applying more pressure on the controls.
"That's good, just ease pressure on the controls, take it slow. You learn fast, so you'll be an ace in no time." Jack said relaxed in the back seat as she explored the controls.
"The maneuverability should increase with the fighter configuration? Or should I worry about counter steering?" Aster played with the controls more, increasing the pressure and speed as she moved the U-1 into a larger loop that evolved into more of a figure 8.
"Fighter mode is more maneuverable, while mech configuration is more adaptive. Your doing good, and I think you got the basics. I'm going to display a series of maneuvers and AR some goals for you to fly through using the canopy HUD. You got this," Jack said as several floating rings appeared with a glowing trail doing various loops and such that weaved through each ring.
Aster watched the pattern that she was supposed to follow and steered the U-1 through them, taking the first few rings a little fast before she compensated for the turns and distance for the different maneuvers, following the glowing trails.
Jack watched and was impressed at how fast she was learning, "Good, your doing great. Once finished with the course, how about some simulated target practice?"
"Sounds like fun, like laser tag?" Aster replied brightly as she played with the controls.
"Sort of, more like a videogame, but the plane is real." Jack said as she neared the courses end. Several fighters of different make were slowly rezzed into existence beyond and would begin attacking one by one as soon as she left the last ring, "alright, stay focused, things are about to get serious."
"Ok! Just tell me how to shoot!" Aster replied brightly as she moved her U-1 to avoid the incoming fighters.
"It's as easy as lining up the holographic sight and pulling the big red trigger on the joysticks." Jack said a little thrown off by her eagerness.
The teenager was used to playing Nepleslian videogames with her boyfriend. She even enjoyed the flight simulator games she sometimes ran across. She toyed with the holographic sights and pulled the trigger a couple of times at the targets waiting to see if she scored the hit before firing a couple more rounds into the fighters.
Four enemy fighters came in different angles with the closest having already taken hits. "Alright, now the important part is to evade and eliminate." Jack said deciding to lean back and command the enemy targets.
Aster nodded, though he couldn't really see her. She zig zagged through the field, trying to pull the enemy fighters into their own cross fire as she evaded them, trying to get the simulation to shoot itself as she went after the fighter to her 12 o'clock.
One of the four soon exploded as enemy to her right fired in an attempt to flank, only to hit its comrade as she darted away.
She inwardly cheered as the attempt worked and maneuvered the U-1 after the fighter above her, ducking and rolling as she fired at it and mindful of the other fighter that was remaining.
Jack sat atop a large crate, and rubbed his side which was still healing from the Week prior. He wore a Revenant undersuit and had the helmet sitting beside him. He was waiting for Aster Blake, he had called her to the hangar with basically no explanation. He waited trying to put on a expression of calm normality which had been getting harder each day to fake.
Aster had come into the hangar, dressed as she normally did on a regular maintenance day, in her Revenant undersuit and holding a toolbag. "Yes, Mr. Pine?" She appraised him curiously with her violet eyes, uncertain of what he wanted or how he was doing since the incident.
"Hello Aster, I thought we could give you a different task today. You will not be needing the tool bag. Now come here, I have something you'll need for this task," Jack said kindly yet softly, which was unusual given the authoritative tone he usually used. He got off the crate and moved his helmet before placing a hand on the lid.
The intern raised an eyebrow and set the tool bag on a nearby shelf. She closed the distance between herself and Jack and stood beside him. She stared at the crate with growing curiosity. "A new task? What do you have for me to do?" Her voice held no mystery, she was uncertain of the task and his intent.
Jack pulled a flight suit out of the crate, it was new with a purple panel, "Today, you're taking flight lessons. Think of it as a gift. You've given my lieutenant a smile to his usually brooding face. A good influence on him as well, as he was a pilot before being a trooper. I think it would be nice to give you the knowledge you need to share a more personal common activity. This here is a Skyguard designed flightsuit for U-1 pilots. It's yours." He said closing the lid and offering the suit to Aster.
"You can use the Saber equipment room to change while I prep the bird." Jack said gesturing to the door leading to said room.
Aster's eyes widened as she accepted the suit. "Oh! Thank you!" She beamed as she bowed. "I like getting to spend more time with Jay... He's a senpai and yeah..." She blushed. "I'll go change then!" She hurried off toward the equipment room and quickly changed. She re-emerged wearing the skintight white and purple paneled flight suit. She flexed her fingers in the gloves and walked back into the hanger. She was smiling brightly as she waited.
When she had returned, Jack was looking over the hull of a U-1 with a black finish and red markings. His had been destroyed in his fight with Lazarus and only recently reconstructed.
"A plane is a personal thing, it says a lot about its pilot and their character. Everything from how they personalize it to how they fly it." He says as he walks around to a second tarp covered unit, removing the tarp to reveal another U-1 black with purple markings, "So it's probably best you have the plane to go with the suit."
She circled the U-1 with growing wonderment. "It..it's mine?! Sugoi! J..Mr. Pine, this is all really cool... but am I getting this training to join Saber? I know that I.. couldn't help during.. but.. I don't want to feel that way again," Aster bit her lower lip as she approached the U-1 and placed her hand on it like she wasn't sure if it was real. "Or is this extra credit for something I might have missed in class?"
"I'm not making you join anyone. If you decide to join Saber, or Section 6, that is your choice and yours alone. And what happened last week was not your fault, and I'm sorry you were around to experience that. The fault was mine. I wasn't strong enough, and foolish at that. To think that the past would stay hidden and be forgotten. No, this is because I see a young woman who has fallen in love with a young man, both who I respect and have a bright future ahead. If I can have a small part in helping that future being even just a little easier to reach, then I have done my job. Aster, do you know how long Section 6 has been around?" Jack said lowering his gaze and turning away slightly at the reference to last week.
"Not really. You've only been with USO for a year though? I didn't particularly enjoy feeling like I was 8 and trapped in a cargo compartment again. I just wish that I could have been able to stop Amit being taken, he was my first friend here," her gaze remained down on the U-1 as she spoke. She looked back up to Jack. "You do not control the choices that other people make, let alone that ... man. The only thing any of us have responsibility for are our own actions. You did what you could for everyone. You've done so much for your family and you tried to protect them."
"Five months, that's how long. Oh, how I wish I could make you understand. That thing.....was me. He may have been my clone, but he is everything I've done in the past. And some of the things he said, hinted at- they make me fear whatever it is I, possibly, don't even know about myself that he seemed to. People may view me as a good man out here in this place, but in others, they only remember the evil I've done. When I came here, it was not to build something good. No, when I came to this planet seven months ago, I came here with nothing but the purpose of completing the next mission. Each one a paycheck, and each a reminder of my lack of empathy towards others. Now, because of my sins, my son is having void knows what done to him, and a sister who probably blames me for the death of her children, and justly so," Jack said as he placed a hand against his craft to steady himself.
Aster placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "I have spent my life around Jiyuuians and Nekovalkryjra that have seen multiple lives, different variants of themselves as a result of being brought back to life through Soul transfer. Sometimes, the unthinkable happens and we see another version of who they are. Our souls are divergent at times. We live our lives with the opportunity to make certain choices, and we might not always make the same choice if given the chance... but, things change. That man might have been your past but he is not your present." She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze.
"This man here, this man who is plagued with survivor's guilt, this man mourning the loss of life and shouldering this burden of someone else's actions, is you, Jack Pine. You here and now, are a good person. You are not your past, any more than I am my past. And we both have a future. Yours is full of life and more children, both biological and otherwise," she offered him a reassuring smile. "Don't let this destroy you. You have a family that loves you."
"Aster, you don't understand. I've killed a lot of people, hundreds, maybe thousands. I see every one of them at all times and at the back of my mind, he whispers. And someone made a clone of that man because they wanted that kind of person. What right do I have to have a family when I have taken so many other lives? I joined the military thinking it would be a better life than on a street. But it was just a mirror that showed what I really was. Even now I feel rage at what I've done; and what that thing did to my home and family. I'm scared of what might happen, that I might hurt them." Jack said taking a step away.
Aster turned to face him and her hand lingered near him. "You don't understand. That rage, that regret, that fear is what makes you human. What makes you not a monster. I have seen monsters, Jack. They wore the faces of my friends, adults that were trying to protect us... they physically changed, and ripped us apart until only 100 of us were left and trapped for 2 years, helpless to watch as other survivors got blown to pieces by people wearing allied power armor. Monsters do not mourn the loss of life they cause. They do not fear what they could do. Monsters just do it."
She watched him with understanding in her violet eyes. "You are not a mindless killing machine. I have seen that and you are not it. You are a survivor of the darker part of your soul, you might hear the demon rasping in your ear but what makes you a good person is not giving in to it. Fear is a tangible thing we can touch, it wraps its coils around your soul and chills you but we can fight it so we can live another day. Do not let your fear drive you away from your loved ones."
"What are you talking about, monsters wearing.....faces? Aster...what happened to you? Your not making much sense." Jack said as he turned back to Aster, his expression confused but still terrified from what had been revealed, from both of them.
"In YE 32, the United Outer Colonies Peacekeeper Anti-Piracy Task Force lost all contact with the rest of the Peacekeeping Forces in the Yugumo Cluster. Those of us on the edge of the Cluster in Siren system had no idea that anything was wrong until our ships started returning to Mayer Station damaged. They lost control inside the environmental shields and crashed into the hangar bays..." Aster began as she watched his expression, crossing her arms in front of her.
"If it had just been that, it wouldn't have been so devastating. We were under attack. They treated our environmental systems with something as fires tore through the station. We had traitors in our midst that were spreading... something. The infection transformed them and they..." Her eyes looked down for a moment, her expression haunted. "They stopped being people. They ate us, ripped us apart. They were working with the Mishhu to turn us, kill us."
Her voice waivered at the memory as she brought her eyes back up to look at Jack, "I was 8 years old. I didn't understand why any of it was happening. My mother was the base commander. She was responsible for us and the several hundred thousand that lived on Mayer Station. Mom gathered us and fortified us but she was critically injured in the attack. We waited for 2 years hiding in cramped office for help. We could only do so much. There were 25 of us that were Peacekeepers but the other 75 were like me, civilians. Miners, technicians, families. Every day we lived in fear. Would one of us turn? Would they get through? Would there be a tomorrow?"
"There is not a day that I don't think about Mayer Station. All of that helplessness. All of that guilt. Why did I survive when my friends didn't? Why did I survive when there were nurseries of younger children that didn't? Was there anything I could have done to have been less of a burden? So yes, I understand guilt, regret, life and death. I know what it's like to live in constant fear of becoming a monster that would kill everyone you love without a moment's regret," Aster offered a soft smile to Jack. "But I am not a monster. I am alive. I am not ruled by my fear."
Jack was silent for a moment as this hit him, the thoughts rushing. To think this young woman who had seemed only happy and eager to learn and help others, had been through what could only count as nightmares brought to life. "Aster......I'm so sorry.....I never knew. You have been through more than you should have ever had to endure at that age. Hopefully with our work here, others will be spared our pasts. We've all lost people, and here I am dwelling when I could be doing. I grew up without family, my best friend Zeke being the closest thing to a brother I had before I came here. And like you now, always drove me to get off my ass and make a change. You don't want to feel helpless anymore? Then I'll give you the skills so you can be anything but. And you can help improve our efforts to improve life and fight fear. Sound fair?"
Aster smiled again, her mood brightening once more as her haunted expression gave way to something more like acceptance and hope, "Sounds good." She placed her hands on the U-1 again. "The only way towards any future is forward. Our past can drive us but should not control us." She looked back at Jack, responding with reassurance in her voice. "If I can do something by being able to fight and fly or invent or build something that can save someone, then I will be happy I was able to make a difference in someone's life. If I can forge a stronger future here, then I will get stronger. But today, in this very moment, my goal is to not wreck this new U-1, ne?"
"Yes, well that is a good starting place. I'll get you in the air and well start there. Please take the pilot seat." Jack said straightening before retrieving his helm and putting it on.
Aster grabbed her own helmet and climbed into the pilot seat of her U-1, fastening herself in. She pulled it on and waited for further instructions on how to begin.
Jack climbed into the passenger seat, "Alright, so I'm going to take the con and get us airborne as take off is one of the harder parts to flying. Hub, guess I'll need to instruct on mode 2 later, but I'll just show it to you for now as I walk us on to the run way."
Normally an automated system would have a arm pick up and move the unit to the catapult, but Jack preferred stretching his legs so to speak. He placed a suited hand to the side of his part of the cockpit and synched with the vehicle before removing his hand. A moment later he went slightly stiff in his restraints as he assumed control. The fighter switched to mech mode causing the cockpit to restructure with the seats now being stacked instead one behind the other and the top of the canopy now in front as Jack sat above and Aster below. The walls of the cockpit would almost seem to become transparent, giving the two the experience of seeming to be floating in their seats with the controls in midair while still in the hangar. The U-1 which now stood in its humanoid mech form, and walked forward to stand on the catapult system before switching back to fighter mode.
"Alright, we're loaded onto the catapult system. I'll let you have the honors of igniting the thrusters. The button should be flashing on your console now." Jack's voice came through the speakers instead of his mouth as the hangar doors opened to let in the harsh desert sun.
"S..sugoine!" Aster held her breath for a moment as the U-1 shifted around around her. "Hai!" She excitedly pressed the flashing button as she looked around her, verifying that there wasn't anyone behind them. "I guess I get to learn how to do this the old fashioned way?"
"Yeah, I kinda cheat with the Geist letting me possess the vehicle and all. Maybe at some point we can get you one, but it's a major decision and a long talk about it." As the thrusters charged, and the magnetic arms raised to either side of the ramp, crackling with static charges. The fighter soon was sent smoothly flying into the air before jack leveled out and slowed to cruising speed.
"I would have to kinda die to get it installed, wouldn't I? Or is there a way to do it without all of the yelling and feeling like I'm dying?" Aster asked softly.
"No, there isn't and id rather not wish that way on anyone. It's another nightmare I wish I didn't have. pre-STed bodies are the only humane way we know off right now. Beaumont, didn't since he's a cyborg, his optics being already enhanced. I dunno, it's something that needs to really be thought about thoroughly before implantation. Alright, take the controls, and keep a the controls nice and steady." His voice said still over the speaker, but returned to his own vocal chords as he disconnected part way.
"I know it might seem like a step backwards, but why not make a contact lens or some sort of control device that has the same sort of capability? Would you lose that much reaction time with an external device?" She placed her hands on the joysticks and moved her feet to the pedals. "Just ease both sticks forward and depress the right pedal to go forward?"
"You don't need to move the sticks unless your changing your pitch, or roll. The pedal on right is the fuel feed for the thrusters while left controls the air brake and counter thrust." Jack explained while the soreness in his side was caused by sudden shift in G's from the launch.
"Just hold them steady then?" Aster applied gentle pressure on the fuel pedal to get a feel for it. "Left for up and right for sideways?"
"Yes, more or less, and pushing the right stick controls the throttle of your after burner. Do some loops and barrel rolls for practice. Then we can do fly by for course training." Jack answered as he pulled a 3D map of the fighter's surroundings, with the fighter in the middle. Safety, and system statuses scrolled down the right of his HUD.
Aster tested the controls and gently eased the left stick forward as she gently pushed in the right stick, and depressed the right foot pedal. She wanted to get a feel for how much force to put into her movements to get her desired affect with the lower end of the spectrum versus accidentally spinning out of control. She checked the U-1's responsiveness before applying more pressure on the controls.
"That's good, just ease pressure on the controls, take it slow. You learn fast, so you'll be an ace in no time." Jack said relaxed in the back seat as she explored the controls.
"The maneuverability should increase with the fighter configuration? Or should I worry about counter steering?" Aster played with the controls more, increasing the pressure and speed as she moved the U-1 into a larger loop that evolved into more of a figure 8.
"Fighter mode is more maneuverable, while mech configuration is more adaptive. Your doing good, and I think you got the basics. I'm going to display a series of maneuvers and AR some goals for you to fly through using the canopy HUD. You got this," Jack said as several floating rings appeared with a glowing trail doing various loops and such that weaved through each ring.
Aster watched the pattern that she was supposed to follow and steered the U-1 through them, taking the first few rings a little fast before she compensated for the turns and distance for the different maneuvers, following the glowing trails.
Jack watched and was impressed at how fast she was learning, "Good, your doing great. Once finished with the course, how about some simulated target practice?"
"Sounds like fun, like laser tag?" Aster replied brightly as she played with the controls.
"Sort of, more like a videogame, but the plane is real." Jack said as she neared the courses end. Several fighters of different make were slowly rezzed into existence beyond and would begin attacking one by one as soon as she left the last ring, "alright, stay focused, things are about to get serious."
"Ok! Just tell me how to shoot!" Aster replied brightly as she moved her U-1 to avoid the incoming fighters.
"It's as easy as lining up the holographic sight and pulling the big red trigger on the joysticks." Jack said a little thrown off by her eagerness.
The teenager was used to playing Nepleslian videogames with her boyfriend. She even enjoyed the flight simulator games she sometimes ran across. She toyed with the holographic sights and pulled the trigger a couple of times at the targets waiting to see if she scored the hit before firing a couple more rounds into the fighters.
Four enemy fighters came in different angles with the closest having already taken hits. "Alright, now the important part is to evade and eliminate." Jack said deciding to lean back and command the enemy targets.
Aster nodded, though he couldn't really see her. She zig zagged through the field, trying to pull the enemy fighters into their own cross fire as she evaded them, trying to get the simulation to shoot itself as she went after the fighter to her 12 o'clock.
One of the four soon exploded as enemy to her right fired in an attempt to flank, only to hit its comrade as she darted away.
She inwardly cheered as the attempt worked and maneuvered the U-1 after the fighter above her, ducking and rolling as she fired at it and mindful of the other fighter that was remaining.
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