"You are a scoundrel and a waste of a uniform, Ensign!" Kohli raged, her face taught like suspension cables.
"I did my job, Ma'am," I spat, shooting her a glare that coulda skewered a rat. It'd been a week since Admiral Harper had ruined the team's cohesion and it showed. We'd just finished the second test and it had not gone well. At all.
It'd been an escort mission; each training team was serving as part of a convoy escorting supplies from Meridian to Fumirole in late 2038. The actual failure had been the fault of a comms officer and navigational officer on Ensign Fujikawa's crew. They failed to spot a rogue radar flare as an incoming missile, or report the sighting to the rest of the crews. What followed was a comedy of errors.
Curran moved to defensive posturing, as had I at Kohli's request, while Fujikawa tried to block the shot, leaving us with a critically injured frigate as a wave of covenant corvettes attacked us. As the destroyer on the mission, it had been our job to eliminate the threat or cover the retreat however, ever suggestion made by myself, Valette, Brit, and Brettman was second guessed by Mei and Drip, so tracking was too slow for Valette to fire at the precise moment.
"If you want to blame anyone, blame licker and the boot." I said, shifting my death-stare towards Drip and Mei, who stood beside Kohli, a clear line drawn in the sand between them and the rest of us. Valette stood quietly beside me, she'd stood with me, disgusted by the way that Drip, Mei, and Kohli had treated me. I'm wasn't sure what earned me that kind of loyalty but I was thankful for it. Brettman put a hand in the air, surrendering, as he stepped in to cool tensions.
"Look, we all dropped the ball. I know we don't get along but it will be a lot easier if we all drop our prejudices and pass this last test." He said, his voice calming the rest of us like a soothing breeze.
"I still can't believe they let you in." Kohli shook her head. "Regardless, Brettman is right. We have another test tomorrow and our last before assignment. Do as I say and trust each other and we never have to speak again… hopefully." She spoke with honesty, at least. She didn't want to deal with me any longer than she had to but there was always a sense of obligation about her, something that made me believe that she didn't hate me for what I was but for what I had done. I knew my past wasn't something to be proud of and I knew that would be difficult to face here at the academy but to her credit, Kohli was trying to help us all pass the school.
We looked about the empty classroom we'd debriefed in and saw the despondent faces of people who loathed one another. I swallowed, knowing that it was partially my fault that things had become so toxic and tried to shift my gaze away from the expectant face of Valette. She was looking to me for support, I suppose, but there ain't no way I was gonna throw myself at the feet of Drip and Mei for the sake of a training mission.
《》《》《》
In no time at all we were back in the sim, with a damned hell fire, Kohli and the rest of us were back in the sim for our final test. I could feel the atmosphere sour the moment Drip and Liang entered the simulation bridge and take their seats. Valette looked at me with a sort of nervous wince. With that, I felt a keen sense of dread as Kohli's expression hardened to a sharp point and call roles for the upcoming test. The Kobayashi Maru, affectionately named for a test popularised in early Science Fiction, was an unwinnable scenario.
This particular one was a rear-guard action with a simple set of goals. Complete the Cole Protocol, cover the retreating refugee ships, and, if you can, destroy the ancient religious site the covenant had come to the system to secure.
Simple enough for most Cadets but we had quickly gained a reputation as a bad seed. A cohort of misfits with issues obeying orders was a bad omen for the Navy. Loose cannons have been a danger to fleets since the age of sail and it was no different now. With an Admiral breathing down our necks and the each of us at the throat of the other we knew that we would need to go above and beyond to land a good commission.
So, where most could just cover the retreat and ace the test by dedicating all resources to the goal of retreating, Kohli was itching to have us go a little further. As Fleet commander, Curran had devised a very simple plan to last the fourteen minutes necessary to complete the retreat but I had spent enough time around Kohli to know that she had something up that gilded sleeve of hers. It was in the way her thin lips twitched when Curran told her we'd be on the exposed right flank. She couldn't help herself as she eked out a smile and yours truly had been caught by her, smiling back as I realised, I'd get to sling our ship about space like a cat with a mouse.
With everyone seated, the bridge seemed to open up a little and feel less claustrophobic that it had just a moment earlier. I was sat in the sim chair, running my hands over the controls when Curran begin to signal the fleet to move into position. My controls lit up as the boot up process ended and I sighed as the ship I was piloting, the Bucktooth, moved without resistance into position.
The games overseer came onto the comms and announced the start of the test and I heard Kohli stiffen behind me. "All hands, battle stations!" She said, firmly.
I gripped the console as I took the Bucktooth to port, feeling adrenaline rush through me despite the fact that I was well aware that this was all fake. Regardless of that, though, the stakes were high. Nail this test, and I would be away from them and have my own ship to pilot under a Captain who might not hate me.
"All ships, this is Curran, direct power to Comms and Nav, I want to know where the covenant is, ASAP." He said, his voice reverberating through my earpiece.
Kohli acknowledged the order, then turned to Brettman. "Cadet Brettman, scan the surface of that planet, see if you can find the Covenant that way."
I raised a brow at her as she met my eye. She elected just to glare at me, forcing me to return to the console and pull on the yoke, directing the Comms array towards the suspected area. Liang and Drip spoke hurriedly, coordinating with Brettman as I sat, idly drumming my fingers on the console.
"Scans coming through, Ma'am, seems like…" He paused, his brow furrowing. "Has anyone ever take this objective in the test?"
"Speak plainly, Cadet." Kohli replied, swivelling toward him.
"What he means, Ma'am, is that there is a lot of activity at the site." Mei said, interjecting, "I'm getting all kinds of readings through the comms dish. Spikes in radiation, a whole lot of erroneous blue-shift, massive energy spikes. That's not to mention the thirty cruisers in Geostationary orbit."
Kohli stepped forward towards her terminal, with a curious and keen poise. I thought she were gonna slip through solid steel like it were just a hologram but she stopped her eerie glide just short of the panel. The blue light from the screen illuminated her dark features and hardened face. She smiled.
It was a small smile but it was enough to make even me nervous. "Don't relay this information to the fleet. Hold position and try to locate the fleet escorting them."
Drip and Mei looked at each other and nodded and we all spent a very quiet half hour maintaining the ships position, patrolling the fleet's flank and searching for the enemy. I was stifling a yawn when Valette, who had been too quiet for my liking, groaned loudly.
"Is something wrong, Cadet?" Kohli asked, casting a pointed brow at the young girl.
"They do know these tests are nothing like combat, right?"
Kohli blinked, then spoke almost softly. "Yes, they do. However, research proves this is the best way to ensure cadets have basic skills down to a fine art."
Drip was looking at the three of us nervously. I felt like a little bit of an imposter but I had seen action at the helm of a ship, which was a fair sight more than Drip and the others had. Truth was that it all felt like too much of a game, even with a good commission on the line there was no urgency to anyone's movement. Valette returned to flicking at the Shive nuclear missile latch, enjoying the metallic clink of the lid as she played with it, idly.
Brettman looked to me and I shrugged, he smiled then returned his gaze to the screen. After a moment, his ears pricked up and his back straightened. "Ma'am? A probe has picked up a series of comms pings around the system. They're alien."
Kohli's brow tightened. "Damn it. They're here."
"W-what do you mean?" Drip asked, his voice cracking.
"I've seen this sim run a thousand times, they're here. Alright, to battle stations. Cadet Trippier, alert the fleet. Fetch, start pre-engagement diagnostics, make sure were running smooth. Savatier, bring those guns online." Kohli said, and a volley of 'yes, Ma'am's' followed.
"UNSC Bucktooth has sighted the enemy, all ships, assume defensive formation delta. We need to cover these refugee ships." Said Curran, calmly.
Brettman's expression was dark as the data from his probe lit his portion of the bridge in a blood red hue. He had a face that reeked of a deep knowing. The test was designed to be impossible but the size of the covenant force was well beyond anything that had been seen by any fleet in any engagement during the last 26 years of war. Mei seemed to get a sense of it as well, her leg bounced nervously as I taxied the cruiser to its designated vector.
"How many civilians usually get saved?" Valette asked, aloud.
"Usually, half is considered an outstanding grade." Kohli noted, absently answering.
"And that secondary objective?"
Kohli stopped and arched a brow, her iris narrowing to a point. "It's rarely taken, it's hard to hit, and it leaves the fleet exposed."
"What if we detonated a slip drive in the middle of their fleet?"
"Good luck getting the ship into position," Kohli said, grimly. "You'd need a pilot who could out manoeuvre an entire fleet."
"Well… we have one." I said, grinning.
"No." Kohli said, flatly.
"Why not?" I protested. "You know we won't get a good commission if we don't make something happen."
"We won't get a commission at all if we direct an admirals order. That action wipes out two thirds of the refugee ships at a minimum. Curran will not go for it."
I bit my tongue but noticed that her issue was less about the plan itself and more about getting in trouble for it. Luckily for all of us, it seemed as though Curran's plan wasn't going to be important for long.
It began with a ten-minute period of carnage and confusion. We lost a third of our escort ships, including Fujikawa in a pincer move that cost three destroyers to repel. Curran handled the fight well but his Carrier was dead in the water. All he could fight was a rear-guard action with his Squadron as they prepared to have us escort the ships out of system. Klaxons blared and everyone sweated, save for myself and Kohli who did as was dutifully asked.
"Ma'am?" I asked, watching another impossibly large wave of Covenant move in on Curran's position.
"Yes, Van Graff?"
"They're going all in."
"I can see that."
"They're light in the rear. Near the planet."
She looked to Brettman and Mei, both of which nodded.
She sighed.
Then surprisingly, she ordered our squadron to return to Curran. "Van Graff, Liang, get us near that planet."
I hammered the console with excitement as the slip engine booted and Mei fed me the Nav data for the jump. I took a deep breath. "Prepare for slip in three, two, one!"
We entered slip space and the world went black. Within moments we saw real space emerge before us and my mind ran like a ten-year-old on a caffeine binge. Firstly, drift…
"Drift is positive." Mei announced.
"Three mill too wide," I said, cursing our technological inferiority, "were exposed but I can pull it off, Valette, be ready."
She grinned wickedly and I knew she'd not let us down. Britney spoke dryly, however, "this could tear the ship apart, Ollie, I've got fire warnings on 8 decks here."
"Which compartments?"
"All of them"
Damn!
I kicked us into a hard burn, setting a course that would drift the Bucktooth into position for an orbital strike on the objective but it was going to be tight. The simulated ship was a good actor, yawning and straining as we rallied against the simulated thrust of the engines.
"We're spotted!" Mei announced, small group of three Battlecruisers have peeled from the main force, they're to reinforce the ships above-"
She was cut off by a ravenous Curran who yelled obscenities through our ears. "Where in the universe have you gone?!" He raged, "my orders were to-"
"Cadet Curran, your ship is compromised and the enemy are attacking en-mass, only a large force can hold them off long enough for any refugees to escape. I've decided to attack the secondary objective on the planet's surface. Afterwards, we may need cover to reach our final objective. We're going to detonate our slip drive inside their fleet."
"You're going to what!?"
"Trust us. Kohli out."
She looked at me and nodded, her mind made up. My idea or not, she was ready to go through with this.
We were coming in something fierce, closing fast on the planet as it swung into view.
"We're gonna come in tight, Valette, need you to space that Cruiser." I shouted as the nav station announced a covenant target lock.
"Arm Archer pods A through C and ready the MAC on my go."
We waited for a moment. "Fire the Archers, now!" Valette did as she was told, not questioning Kohli once.
Drip on the other hand balked. "Archers first?! They'll bounce of the shield!"
"Savatier, fire the MAC on my command" she said, ignoring the mewling Cadet chewing his nails at the comms station. "Three… two… one...FIRE!"
The cannon jolted and I watched the blue light scream along the bow and out into space. A tense moment followed as it raced the Archers, it was going at an astounding pace but it looked like the Archers might win right up until the photo finish. I yelled with delight as the MAC round speared the cruiser and popped its shields, only for the Archers to dust the unshielded plating in a chaotic and fiery explosion. The ship crew whooped as the Bucktooth blasted through space, waiting for the next target, a Corvette, to reach its effective range. I wasn't interested. My mind was fixed firmly on the trajectory we were taking around the planet. We were exposed, and a barrage of plasma was already streaking past the glass window from the covenant fleet as they thought to take us out without taking numbers away from the assault on Curran.
"Glancing blow to deck eight." Britney said, cool as ever, "dispatching fire crews, loss of power in nine compartments. Hull integrity holding."
Kohli barked something in reply but I was taking measurements, tiny little reallocations of power to the engines would set up an irregular drift around the planet, one that might surprise the simulated covenant forces until it was too late to react. We were getting closer now, and the bridge roared again, rattling and blazing with a moment of brilliant blue light as Valette rocketed a MAC round into space. Another tense moment passed and Kohli gave the order, the Archer's soared after them.
"Second shot required!" someone shouted, "it's not taken it out!"
"Can't, that Battlecruiser is in position!" said someone else.
"Thirty seconds to orbit, firing window a minute after that!" I roared, looking to Kohli. She didn't look confident at all and none of us seemed to pick up on that fact. I understood the feeling, we were still exposed and had two ships bearing down on us when this plan was difficult enough if we were undetected.
The shots were coming thick and fast now, red lights flashed on Britney's map of the ship and she turned to the captain. "Grav generators are failing, do I shut them down?"
"No, leave them as long as possible." Kohli replied, in total command, even as the bridge shook violently in the sim. Everyone looked about, myself included. Britney tapped her console and for the first time, she did so without the usual poise that came with Britney Fetch. It was unnerving for everyone and things began to fall apart.
"Ship diagnostics down, we're running blind!" Britney yelled.
Kohli looked at Mei and Drip, who gawked dumbly at her. "Get back to work, now! Savatier, firing solution on that objective, ASAP. Van Graff, start the manoeuvre. Liang, get me eyes on our enemy, I need to know where they are."
"PDC's overloaded, plasma fire is going to start getting through!"
"Brettman, deploy a fighter, we'll need visuals to identify damaged areas, coordinate with Fetch."
"Aye, Ma'am!"
I tugged on the throttle and boosted, then burst and emergency thrust canister on the rear port side, throwing us into a wide arc orbit.
"Ten seconds!" I yelled.
Nine…
Eight…
Seven…
The MAC engaged, lighting up as a small island came into view, enjoying its last seconds of life as the light from the gun, bright and angelic, lit the savage grin on Valette's face. The seconds passed and she loosed the shot. It cracked the atmosphere like the shell of a raw egg before wiping the forsaken island from the map. I tell you, it were a thing a majesty if you ask me. Of course, right then, we were all a bit too busy to be asking me about the beauty in firing a magnetised lump of metal into a religious holy site.
Now was my last big part to play, the course correction to the middle of the fleet. Two ships to dodge, then survive.
As I pushed on the throttle, kicking the Bucktooth into a higher gear and burning hard towards the enemy fleet. The sim rattled and Curran reported in, we watched the nav station as allied IFFs blinked out with zero ceremony and little resistance. Kohli was silent, her expression grim as she watched her actions play out on the nav screen. It was too late for them; it had been the moment the game-runners loaded in a pincer. Still, we'd given our cohort a slim chance of a good grade. The destruction of the Holy Site had to be worth a lot of points, or this would have been for nothing.
"Incoming!" Someone shouted, "it's coming for the-"
"Brace!" Kohli snapped. I assumed the brace position, jamming myself as deep into my helmet and chair as the bridge glowed purple and the hit exploded around the sim. Visuals went down. Drip and Mei's stations glowed red, and the blast windows sealed. My station was locked in place, simulating my unconscious state. That was fine, though, I knew the course was set. What did worry me was how unlike the real thing this was. I was almost bored as the controls simulated my waking. I took control of the throttle and rotated the ship, shifting our course towards the fleet with a lazy push on the stick.
I sighed, removing myself from the moment, watching everyone as they frantically tried to bring the situation under control. I saw Valette and Kohli share a look, one that told me they were in the same place as me. As the only members of the crew with combat experience, we were the eye of the storm. We knew that in a real scenario, this plan would have just failed.
This wasn't a real scenario, though. So, I overloaded the engines and watched as they sent us on a path straight into the middle of the enemy. We soared and there was little to be done. The damage likely grew but we were now a bomb, so long as they didn't take out the slip-drive, we would be fine.