Star Flight Adventures

Chapter 2: Training Begins

Meanwhile, the seven had managed to get to the medical lab. Jazz, the team's medic was already there waiting for them.

"So what now?" asked Fara to Jazz.

"You will each come up one at a time, so that I can prick one of your fingers. We need blood samples to get your medical information." He had seven clean needles and seven test tubes. One by one, the girls came up to him. He took one of the needles and pricked their right index finger. With gentle hands, he would squeeze the wound so that a few drops of blood went into the test tube. Then he would place a band aid on the wound.

"That's the last one," said Jazz after Yuki was done. "I'll put these into the computer system. Now head to your rooms." He waved a hand to show the seven that they were free to go.

The girls did as they were told. With the other members help they got their paws scanned and the four digit code entered. They were told to get unpacked latter. The seven then went to Katt's room.

"Welcome!" she said after she answered the door. Fara and her friends walked in, and their eyebrows went up. Besides a bed, a closet, and a dresser, the room was filled with stuff you would find in a beauty salon. There was a barber chair, a table for nail work, and all kinds of other things.

"What is this?" asked Fay.

"This is the beauty salon of Star Flight," said Katt. "This is where special grooming for the team takes place. What do you think?"

"Wow," said Luna. "This is amazing. Who does the process?"

"I do," said the feline. "Before I became a mercenary, I was learning beauty techniques. Then while traveling, I was attacked by a patrol squadron from Venom. This made me want to stop Andross at all costs. Eventually, I stole an Invader III prototype from his army and made it into my own ship. Then during the Lylat War, I helped the Star Fox team with some of their battles. After that, Nicholas found me, and I joined his team."

"I still remember the techniques that I was learning. It was me who braided Nicholas's hair for the dances. So I know something about that. I would image that it would help you, Luna."

After leaving, the seven along with Katt made their way downstairs. Dash and Nicholas were waiting for them by the hanger bay door. Fara and her friends still found Dash's height at 6 foot 5 inches to be staggering. He seemed to tower over Nicholas who was only 5'7.

"Are you seven ready?' asked Nicholas. "The rest are on the inside." He entered another four digit code on the control panel next to the door. It opened with a hiss. He led them inside.

The hanger bay was huge. It held the fighters of the team including seven extra ones. They were four tanks as seen in the video during the graduation ceremony, and two subs. The subs looked like the Blue-Marine used by Star Fox, only the colors were green and white. The tanks looked like the Landmaster used by Star Fox with the colors being green and white. Each vehicle had the Star Flight symbol somewhere on the body. But the tanks on the Star Flight team looked more like what the Landmaster on the Star Fox team would eventually become.

"What do you think?" asked Nicholas. The seven just stared at everything. "You'll learn how to pilot the vehicles later. The main reason why your here is to get your outfits. We can't have you in the clothes you're wearing now. However, any jewelry, boots, or coats should work. When you've selected which one, take the sets of the outfit that you've chosen up to your room and change into one of them."

"Wait a second," said Fay. "Were are the cars you guys had? I don't see them." The other six also noticed that those vehicles were gone.

"Those were only rental ones," the vulpine explained. "We knew that at the end of the year that we wouldn't need them anymore. So we gave back to the dealers."

He went to a section of the bay and pressed a button. Clothing tubes came out of the wall, each tube having a different outfit complete with some kind of shoes. As they were coming out, the robots of the team entered the bay and took their places next to Bill and Dash.

"Now then, let's let our new mechanic go first," said Nicholas. "Those outfits there should work." He pointed to some of the tubes. "They're meant to get dirty and are easy to wash."

Fay ended up choosing one that had a red vest that was worn over a rugged tan dress that went below her knees. A belt to hold all the mechanic tools she would need came with the outfit to go around the collie's waist. And the shoes were brown work boots. She held up the clothes to her body for everyone to see. In an instant, she and the team knew this was the outfit for her.

Yuki then chose a suit with the exact same colors as Dash. Nami selected an outfit similar to Cody's except that the shirt was colored silver. Lucy decided on a yellow space suit that had short sleeves. The suit came with white gloves, and the neck portion was red.

When Lucy was finished, Nicholas turned to Miyu. "I think the coat Katt gave you will work perfectly for whatever you decided on." Miyu chose an outfit that had a red tank top for the upper body. There were white gloves for her paws, and green pants with a regular belt colored black. The shoes were grey boots with yellow markings on them.

"Now it's your turn, Luna," Nicholas said to the she wolf. Luna selected one that had a chest plate with shoulder pads. Under that went a cerulean blue short sleeved shirt. The shirt left her stomach exposed. The gloves were grey and went up to her elbows. Her pants were also cerulean blue, and the boots where light grey.

Fara just watched as Luna selected her outfit. She couldn't help but feel jealous that Luna seemed to look good in just about everything.

"Okay, you're up Fara," said Nicholas. The vixen chose an outfit that came with a white vest. Beneath that there was a purple short sleeved shirt that left the stomach exposed. Grey fingerless gloves came with it, along with green pants, a regular belt colored black, and light grey boots.

"That's the end of that," said Nicholas. The team walked out of the hanger bay, and the seven got changed into their outfits in their rooms. When they came out to show the other members, the five males, three robots, and two females all made nice comments.

The seven were then told to go do whatever they wanted. But they were expected to get up at 8:00 in the morning tomorrow.

X

The next day, Fara woke up to the sound of her alarm clock that she'd brought with her. She had gone to bed early so that she could get enough sleep. After changing into her new cloths, she made her way downstairs with the rest of the members. Nicholas and the robots were already up, with breakfast laid out for them.

"Good morning," he said politely to them as they entered. Everyone was silent as they ate. When the meal was done, the robots cleared the table.

"Now let's head to the combat room to begin," said Nicholas. Everyone went upstairs to that area. The room had been changed. There were now seven shooting ranges set up with targets at the end. Just square shaped ones with a circle in the middle. At the front of each range was a blaster.

"The first thing you seven have to learn is how to handle a blaster," said Nicholas. He picked up one. "This is the perfect one for beginners. Light weight and easy to use. Before we begin, we need to go over a couple of rules. First, make sure that when firing, everyone is out of your way. Second, only when everyone has stopped firing can you go to your targets to see how you did."

"These blasters only have ten shots, which is less than the average one. That's how many you have before having to reload. Notice how each blaster has a little rising notch on it. That's to help you aim." He then demonstrated how to turn off the safety lock on the weapon.

A bit latter, each of the girls was at one of the ranges. "Remember, these are only targets; not actual species," said Nicholas. "If that doesn't help, just image a robot coming in. And take your time; this isn't a race. We just need to get your aiming down. Then you can focus on speed."

Fara held the blaster. Up till now she'd seen them but never handled one. After turning the safety lock off, the vixen looked at the target that she was suppose to be shooting at, and raised the weapon. She wondered if she could do this.

Suddenly a shot from Nami's blaster distracted Fara. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She looked through the notch on her weapon and took aim. She let out a breath and fired. There was a tiny bit of a recall, but nothing that Fara couldn't handle. Somehow the firing of the blaster seemed to change Fara. She was getting a feeling of excitement.

When the last of the shots were done, everyone took a look. Some of the girl's shots had missed the targets. But a lot of them had managed to make a mark. There weren't any bull's eyes, but it still made them happy.

"Not bad," said Nicholas as he took a look. "Keep this up, and you'll do great. But with a lot of practice." He then showed the seven how to reload the weapons. Then new targets were put up.

X

By the time lunch came around, Fara felt that she had made some progress. During her last shooting, she had managed to get all the shots somewhere on the target. She even had a shot close to the bull's eye.

"Now put the weapons down. We'll continue tomorrow," said Nicholas. They made their way down to the dining area and ate. The group then split with the other members heading to a different area, and with Nicholas taking the seven up to the main control and briefing room when lunch was done. It was there that Nicholas told the remaining six everything he had told Fara about his ancestors, himself, his powers, and his home planet. Even though Fara had heard this, she wanted to hear it from the vulpine again. Nicholas didn't show the remaining six the techniques he had shown Fara. The main control and briefing room wasn't the best area to demonstrate. But he did show them his Cerinian weapons.

When he was done putting them away, the other six looked at him in silence. "That's a lot to take in," said Yuki,

"I know," said Nicholas. "But there's more. There are two more powers that me and my people posses that falls under the mind reading category. The first is that we can sense full blooded Cerinians and part ones anywhere. They could be in a whole other system, and I could still sense them." He closed his eyes.

"Right now, I'm sensing that my family is on Eladard," the vulpine replied. "Lucas is in school, and my parents are at work."

"The final one is that we full and part Cerinians can sense the developing young of our people. You see, when the Cerinian male or female is growing inside the womb, they send out mental signals that we can pick up. It takes about two to three weeks after conception before the signals start to go out. But we can't sense what the gender is. It applies to part or full blooded Cerinians."

"Wow," said Fay. "That's pretty amazing. Can you sense developing young of non Cerinians?"

"We can't," said the vulpine. "Those developing young don't send out signals that we can pick up."

Luna was just sitting in silence and listening. When Nicholas had first mentioned Krystal, she felt the same as Fara had when the vixen learned about her. But when the she wolf heard that the vulpine only saw Krystal as his sister, Luna felt better.

"And that ends my explanation," said Nicholas. "You need to know this stuff when we get to Eladard. More information about the planet you will learn latter. Now we need to get to the next part. Let's head to the weight room."

They arrived inside to find a table setup with seven orange water bottles sitting on it. The other members except the robots were already working out on the machines.

"Before you do anything else, you need to grab one of those," said Nicholas, pointing to the bottles. "They're all the same and already filled with water. Since there are no water fountains in here, you'll have to use those. If you run out of water, just go into the bathroom, and refill them. The cloths you're wearing are designed to work out in. But if you have any coats, vests, shoulder pads, and things like that, you might want to take them off. Also, any watches, glasses, and jewelry should be taken off."

After choosing a water bottle, the girls took off the accessories of their cloths and other items before going back to Nicholas. He had already taken off his green vest, necklace, glasses, and ring.

"Now before we begin, I have to ask; have any one of you taking a weight lifting class before?' asked the vulpine.

"I did in the 11th grade," said Miyu.

"Good; then you kinda know what to do," said Nicholas. "Do you know which muscle groups are the biggest on the body?"

"The chest and back," said the lynx.

"Correct," said Nicholas with a smile. "And it applies to both males and females. The way you should start is by either working the back or chest first. Then focus on both the front and back of your legs. Next do your sides and abs. Finally, do the front and back parts of your arms."

He pointed to some of the machines. "Those machines there are where you should start. They have diagrams on how to work them. But ask one of us if you need help. I suggest starting at the lowest weight possible to get an idea on how to do the technique the right way. Now I'll show you how to record the weight you do."

He lead them over to one of the chest machines. "Notice the diagram on the machine," said Nicholas, pointing it out. Next to that was a paw scanner. "Watch this." He placed his right paw on it.

"Welcome, Nicholas," said the machine in a male voice. It caused the seven to jump. "Last weight done; 100 pounds. Today up it to 110 pounds."

"That's basically how it works," said Nicholas. He sat down and got in the ready position.

"Set one of three," said the machine. Nicholas began the repts. When he reached 14, he stopped.

"Now that you've gotten the idea, chose a machine," said the vulpine. "The weight you do will be recorded, and the machine will remember for you." The seven got to work.

X

Weight lifting came to an end. Fara had done the lowest weight possible, but she felt a little sore. But it was to be expected; she'd never done this kind of thing before. It was now 3:00 in the afternoon. She and the others made their way with Nicholas to the combat room with the rest of the team and their water bottles. The girls stayed the way they were when they had worked out.

"Now we'll begin the process of defending your minds against my ability," said Nicholas, his vest and other items still off. "The other team members will get some things set up. They've mastered this, so there's no need for them to do this. Now will you help me explain what to do, Fara?"

"Sure," she said with a smile.

"Wait a sec, how come she's not doing it with us?" asked Luna.

"Because I've already mastered the mind blocking technique," Fara replied. "Nicholas already told me everything that he told you six. I was his first student."

Luna just felt jealousy that Fara learned about it before she did.

"Allow me to explain," said Nicholas. He then went on to tell the other girls about what happened at homecoming, to how he saved Fara from being killed. And why he decided to tell the vixen.

"My team and I made the decision to give Fara the chance to join us. Besides, she's a smart vixen; I wouldn't have been able to keep it a secret from her forever."

Luna understood, but it still made her jealous. Fara then began to explain how to do the trick.

"When you're ready, let me know," said the vulpine. One by one, he tested out each girl. Fay used her feelings for Bill as a defense, Yuki used her feelings for Dash, Lucy used her feelings for Ben, and Nami used her feelings for Cody. They were just as strong as Fara's had been. But once Nicholas distracted them, they lost their shields.

Miyu and Luna on the other hand used the team's symbol as their defense. It wasn't as strong as the others had been, but it was fairly descent. Miyu chose it because she couldn't think of anything else. And Luna used it to keep her feelings for Nicholas in the dark. Nicholas also distracted them to make them loose their shields.

"Well you all seem to understand the idea," said the vulpine when he finished with Luna. He then went on to tell them what he had told Fara when he had been done testing her. "I won't say what you used for your shield. That's your business." The girls who had used feelings, felt relived.

"Now you must work on it. I'll try to catch you off guard, until I can't catch you by surprise anymore. Then you can begin the process of putting iron walls around your head."

By this point, the other members were ready. "We'll dived up into pairs," said Nicholas. "Luna will go with Amanda and Katt will handle Miyu. Ben will work with Lucy and Bill will work with Fay. Cody will handle Nami, and Dash has Yuki. That leaves me with Fara. We'll switch so that way we can work with everyone as the days pass." Fara shot Luna a smug look that Nicholas didn't catch. Luna just glared at the vixen.

Nicholas and Fara made their way to a corner. "Now to warm up, will do some hand to hand combat techniques. This will come in handy if you don't have any other weapon on your paws." They began. During their practice, Fara was able to snatch glances at her friends. She saw that they were doing the same thing she and Nicholas were doing.

They did some punching and kicking techniques. An hour later, everyone took a break.

"Good job," said Nicholas when they stopped. "But it will get harder. But know that this will be important." Fara just took a drink from her bottle. Nicholas then went over to another corner of the room with the other members and grabbed some objects from a crate. They then went back to the seven.

"Catch!" Nicholas barked at the vixen. He tossed a wooden training sword. Fara caught it in her right paw. Her water bottle was in her left, so it was no problem. She put it down.

"Defend yourself," said Nicholas, taking a stance, a training sword in his paws.

Fara didn't know what kind of game he was playing, but decided to go along with it. She swung the sword at the vulpine. With a flick of his wrists, Nicholas deflected it. The impact jarred Fara's arms. Nicholas struck at her. She tried to defend, but was too slow. Nicholas got her on the arm. With a yelp of pain, Fara dropped the sword.

"Pick it up; don't just stand around," said Nicholas. Fara did so. "Come at me." Fara swung the sword at Nicholas. This time he moved out of the way. Fara just swung back. Nicholas dodged a few more of her blows before disarming her. Fara let the weapon come out of her grasp.

"Again," said Nicholas. Fara picked the weapon up, now wondering what Nicholas was up to. She swung, but at the last second changed the direction of it. Nicholas blocked it. "Changing directions; good!" he said. He struck at Fara. Once again he got her. The vixen could already feel the bruises beginning to form. She took a quick look at her friends who were also training with swords.

"Don't look around you; focus on the enemy!" shouted Nicholas. His arms were a blur. Fara felt a solid smack on the side of her head and went down, dropping her training sword. The next thing she felt was water being splashed on her. The liquid came from her water bottle.

"You don't have time to be laying around," said Nicholas. "Get up!"

Fara couldn't believe it. How could the kind, gentle vulpine that she'd fallen in love with be like this? "I thought you said I was like your sister," she said as she got up, grabbing her sword. "Would you really do this if we were siblings?"

"I would, if it would allow her to survive," said Nicholas.

"This is going to kill me," said Fara.

"A real enemy wouldn't soften their blows," said the vulpine. "Neither will I. Besides, if this would kill you, we wouldn't be doing it. Now come at me."

Fara just glared at the sword in her right paw. "Forget this," she said, dropping the weapon and began to walk away. Nicholas grabbed it and threw it at her, hitting Fara on the back. The vixen spun around with a growl, barring her teeth at him. She had anger in her eyes.

"Never turn your back on the enemy!" Nicholas shouted. Fara grabbed the sword and charged at Nicholas. "Keep your knees bent! Move your feet!" Nicholas said. Fara was a quick learner. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't even touch the vulpine.

X

At 5:00, Nicholas and the others stopped. The seven were moaning and growing. They were banged and scratched up. You could see the bruises beginning to form. Out of all of them, Miyu was the one in better shape.

Get them up to the hot tubs," said Nicholas to the robots. The three of them took the girls to their rooms to get the swim suits they had brought. Somehow the seven got them on. When they had arrived at the tubs with the robots help, they settled in the hot water.

Suddenly the girls noticed their pains and aches going away. Even the scratches and bruises were disappearing. "What's with this water?!" asked Nami.

"We're healing like crazy!" said Lucy.

"This is freaking awesome!" said Miyu.

X

They seven got changed back into their regular cloths along with their accessories that they had left behind in the weight room after their soak. They then came down to the dining area where the other members were. They then ate dinner because it was 6:00.

"Like the way the hot tub healed you?" asked Nicholas. The seven said that they did. "The only reason why it's doing it now was because you needed to. It works like a regular one when you don't need to be healed. But that hot tub has slight healing properties. It can only heal bruises, minor cuts, and scrapes. Anything more serious needs to be attending in the lab."

They ate the food, and then everyone was allowed to relax. The girls unpacked the stuff they had brought. Some of the things were ones that were important objects. They also put up framed pictures.

Fara finished setting up hers. Once was the family one that included her mom, dad, herself, and Grace. The others were together pictures of her and Nicholas during homecoming and Prom. She knew that no one would see these since the room was secure. Fay also had pictures of her and Bill set up and the same applied to Yuki with Dash, and Lucy with Ben.

Nicholas then gave the girls exercises to do to keep up their strength in the muscles and stretches to increase their flexibility. They were told to increase the exercises slowly over time and to do those and the stretches sometime before going to bed. The night came and everyone easily went to sleep.

X

The next day the same thing happened again. First they did shooting practice. Then after lunch, the six practiced their mental shields. Next they worked on only their abs and sides. Nicholas explained that the other muscles in their bodies needed a rest, but the abs and sides could be worked every day. Once that was done, the seven went through stamina and endurance exercises. It left them all winded.

They then went back to the combat room to practice hand to hand fighting with the same partners they had yesterday. Once it was done, the time came for weapon practicing with the other members.

"Not again," Fara groaned when she learned about it. She knew the hot tub would heal her, but she cringed at the thought of going through the pain of this part. Nicholas just smiled and tossed her the practice sword. The two foxes and others continued where they had left off.