"Skywalker?"
"Yes?" Luke turned around and saw a technician approach him as he was getting ready to leave the briefing room.
"I'm here to guide you to the sim and give you an introduction to the X-wing fighter."
"Ah, right," Luke said. The general had briefly told him about this before the briefing. He'd volunteered to help in the fight and had been allowed to attend the briefing before he had even officially been tested due to the time restrain they were under. "Well, lead the way," he added with a hand gesture.
"Follow me," the technician said and started walking down a new corridor. Luke dutifully followed along.
After a minute or so they arrived at another large room where several flight simulators had been placed close by each other.
"This is where new pilots test and train," the technician explained. "Usually we don't send anyone into a fight without proper training, but if you do well, well, we need all the pilots we can get for this," he admitted, looking a bit uncomfortable with the whole thing.
Luke smiled at him. "It's okay; I volunteered and I've already seen the thing we're going up against. Just give me the crash course."
The technician seemed to relax at Luke's attitude and quickly motioned him over to one of the sims. "Take this. Once you're settled in I'll give you the run down."
Luke quickly climbed into the simulator and strapped in. His eyes roamed over the controls, most of them familiar like his Skyhopper and a few of them unfamiliar.
"Okay, here's the quick run down. Power up/down, throttle, up-down movement, rudders for right and left, repulsorlift control, lasers, proton torpedoes, hatch closure and release, comm channels – just keep that on standard – , and targeting computer in case you need to make a run. With me so far?" the technician asked looking at Luke for confirmation.
Luke sucked it all in and nodded. "Yeah, I'm with you."
"Okay, I'll just get you started then. Close the hatch as soon as I'm free of it and prepare for the test run. Don't forget to put on the helmet and turn on the mike."
"Right," Luke replied even as the technician was pulling away so Luke could get started. The helmet was plain with just a blue Rebel Crest on the top front sides and a black symbol further down on the sides. Luke thought he had seen a few other helmets with this design in his short time here and he supposed it was the standard design the Rebel Alliance put on all their helmets if a pilot didn't request something different. He shrugged mentally. It didn't really matter to him; he'd take whatever they gave him.
"Okay, I'm ready," Luke announced over the comm channel to the technician outside.
"Great. Then power up your X-wing and get ready for take off. The first part of the course is simply to help you get a feel for the power of the X-wing and how it react to your movements. Please take off gently, then hover for a moment before you push it forward and rise. Avoid rising too steeply or give it too much power until you're well clear of the hangar."
"Got it," Luke replied. Pulling gently on the stick he got the X-wing to rise from the hangar floor, then he gave it a little forward power to leave the hangar behind. He noticed the training program showed a different hangar to the one he'd arrived in, but didn't dwell on it. Even if it was just a simulator the feeling of flying again made his heart leap with joy and excitement and he pushed the throttle up a notch once he was out of the hangar and rising.
"Well done. Keep your present course and soon you'll be guided through the practice run. You'll seen some markers in a moment; these will show you what movements to make. Left, right, up, down, loop, etc. The necessary information will show up on your cockpit display as you go. Don't worry if you miss something; this is just your first test run, so do you best and have fun."
Luke grinned. "I will. I see the markers now." He immediately corrected his course to follow them head on. Then the first pair flashed by on either side of him and his test run had officially started.
Luke swerved left and right, up and over and then under different markers as indicated and felt himself relax as he got used to the greater power of the X-wing compared to what he was used to. He also slowly added more speed to it until he was flying through the course at a neck break speed. Then he blinked as there was suddenly no more markers or information on his screen.
"Great job so far!" the technician complimented him. "Next up are the target zone. First you'll have some stationary targets to hit, then moving targets will start to appear. Try to take out as many you can, as fast as you can, but don't crash."
"Got it," Luke replied again and headed for the canyon where the display was now telling him to fly. Luke felt like he was back on Tatooine except he now flew in a far more powerful and deadly machine and he was loving every minute of it. He swung his X-wing through the curves with ease; this canyon offered a lot more space than Beggars Canyon back home and lit up target after target as they showed up. As promised he soon got moving targets and Luke felt his focus sharpen as he started chasing TIE fighters though he did feel it was a bit unfair to shoot them when they weren't shooting back. He supposed they would probably be shooting back later though; after all, this was only a test run.
"Okay, next up are some more lively targets and one big stationary target; it's your goal to destroy the stationary target with proton torpedoes while avoiding been taken down by the TIEs and towers. Shoot as many of those as you can and once your run is complete, head back to base. Your computer will guide your way."
"On it," Luke replied with a grin. This was fun and so far it hadn't really proved difficult. Sure he'd had to slow down a bit to get all of his previous targets and had even managed to completely miss one until he was almost past it, but the technician had said not to worry about that so he didn't. Instead he focused on the new threats. If Luke had thought it unfair to shoot the TIEs that didn't fight back then he had no such thoughts now. Now laser fire started filling the canyon and Luke quickly answered with his own even as more and more laser fire erupted around him.
Luke focused on the TIE fighters; he could outfly the towers, but if he didn't take out the TIEs they would just slip in behind him and start firing at him from behind and then he would be in trouble. His shields took some hits, but he was still flying when the stationary target came into view. Luke shot another TIE before switching to proton torpedoes. As soon as he had a target lock he fired, pulled back on the stick to quickly climb and switched back to lasers to take out the TIEs he had missed. To his surprise none followed him after the target exploded. Instead his display lit up with 'Please return to base' and Luke turned his X-wing around to do as ordered. Since neither the display nor the technician had said anything to him about how to return, Luke decided to see just how fast this thing could fly and went back into the canyon at full speed. He heard something on the headset, but whatever it was seemed to be cut off before it was spoken as Luke leveled out and flew as fast as he could through the twists and turns of the canyon with a smile on his face. Now this was flying!
He burst out of the canyon like a mynock on fire and in a few moments the display informed him where to find the base. Luke cut back on the throttle when the base came into view and remembered to cut in the repulsorlifts as he slowed down for the landing. With a gentle bump he landed where he had taken off from and closed everything down. He smiled to himself. Sure, he'd missed a few targets and taken some hits in the last run, but his X-wing was still in one piece and flying and he felt pretty confident they would let him fly. As the technician had said they were in need of pilots.
Luke released his retrains and popped the hatch to climb out. "Well, how did I do?" he asked with a big smile at the technician, but then frowned slightly at the way the technician was looking at him.
"Was this really your first time flying an X-wing?" he asked in a strange voice.
Luke scratched his neck, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious. "Well, yeah. Or at least flying one in a simulator. It wasn't that bad, was it?"
The technician slowly shook his head. "No. No, it wasn't. I think I can confidently say you're flying today. Please take the left-hand passage and then the second door. There you'll find the gear you'll need in space."
Luke lit up in a smile. "Thanks! I'll do my best," he promised even as he left the room.
The technician looked at the results on his datapad. "If your best is anything like this then you'll do just fine," he said softly to the empty room.
§
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in," General Dodonna called.
A technician stuck his head in and marched over to him before offering a salute. "The results of recruit Skywalker's test run, sir."
Jan Dodonna looked at the man and noticed something different about him. "Thank you. What was your impression of him?" he asked even as he took the datapad to look through the results himself.
The technician hesitated for a moment then shook his head. "Sir, I've never seen anyone but a seasoned pilot fly like that through the course. And he claims it was his very first time in an X-wing!" The technician shook his head again. "I honestly find that hard to believe."
Dodonna raised his eyebrows. "Really? That sounds promising. We'll have to send him up then."
The technician cleared his throat. "Ah, I already sent him to get dressed for the upcoming battle, sir. I figured we'd be nuts to deny someone like that."
Jan Dodonna smiled. "Good. I'll go over these results and decide where to put him. We don't have much time to get ready; the Death Star can get here any moment so we need all pilots and craft ready to fly. Go to the hangar to help out."
"Yes, sir!" the technician replied with another salute before leaving.
Dodonna then turned his attention to the data and felt his eyebrows rise again. Not only had he flown faster through the course than new pilots usually did – at least without crashing – he had also gotten the vast majority of the targets. He hadn't destroyed most of the towers in the last part, but instead taken out a fair deal of TIE fighters before blowing up the big target and all of it done with minimal damage. He was impressed. He had seen some good pilots come and go during his time with the Rebellion, but usually they had more formal training than Luke Skywalker did. Of course, he wasn't the first Tatooian to join them or to be a hotshot pilot. And then there was the name. Jan Dodonna remembered another Skywalker from another time and he couldn't help wondering if there might be a connection there. Still, now wasn't the time to dwell on that. He needed to decide where to place Luke.
He took another long look at the results before him then made his decision.
§
"Skywalker."
Luke turned around again. He had barely left the dressing room before his name was called from behind. Then he straightened up as he realized who the speaker was. "General! Happy to flying with you today, sir."
General Dodonna smiled back at him. "Happy to have you flying with us, Luke. We have a free spot in Red Squadron, which will be acting as support for Gold Squadron while they make their target runs."
Luke nodded to show he was listening.
"You'll be Red Five and leader of second flight."
Luke blinked. "Leader? Oh, thank you, sir."
General Dodonna gave his shoulder a squeeze. "I feel confident that you'll do fine. You seem to be a natural pilot."
Luke smiled back. "Thank you, sir. I've been flying all my life on Tatooine though I'll admit I've never flown anything like the X-wing before."
"And what do you think of it?"
Luke grinned. "It's amazing! Fast and respond to the slightest touch. It'll be fun flying the real thing soon."
General Dodonna gave his shoulder another squeeze. "I don't know about fun, but it should certainly be interesting. Go get ready; the fight can start any moment."
"Yes, sir!"
§
"I'm sorry, what?" Red Leader said, not sure he had heard right.
"You didn't mishear me; Luke Skywalker will be Red Five and leader of second flight. His scores were excellent and I feel confident putting him in that position."
"I'm sorry, sir, but shouldn't that position go to a more experienced pilot, like Darklighter? Not that I doubt he did well, but we both know that the test run isn't really like the real deal. And Darklighter is already in second flight."
General Dodonna nodded. "I know. And I considered it. But I stand by my decision, Garven."
Just then a warning sounded to alert them of the Death Star's arrival.
"Get to your fighter and your pilots. You'll be going up there in a few moments."
"Yes, sir. And I hope you're right about Skywalker."
"Don't worry; he'll do fine," General Dodonna said before hurrying off to the Command Center.
Garven Dreis did trust the General, but he still decided to seek out this new pilot himself to see what kind of man he was before going into battle with him.
He found him in animated talk with Biggs Darklighter, one of their better pilots.
"You sure you can fly this thing?" he asked Skywalker a bit skeptically, but Biggs answered before Luke could do more than open his mouth.
"Sir, Luke is the best bush pilot there is."
Garven felt a sense of relief at Biggs' words. If Biggs thought that highly of him then he probably really was that good. He smiled at the young man before him. "You'll do fine."
"Thank you, sir," he said nodding respectfully.
Yes, Luke Skywalker really would do well, he felt sure of it. Now they just had to fly up there, blow up a Death Star and try to make it back alive, and then he wanted to know more about this enigmatic young man Princess Leia had brought with her into the Alliance. Unfortunately neither he nor Biggs would get the change to hear about his adventures, but the Alliance would survive and Luke would live on to fight for them.