Chapter 2
"What's on the agenda for today, Krys?" Fox asked. Krystal looked at the readout, and read, "1000 hours. Krystal's flying lessons." Fox sighed. "Great," he said sarcastically. It wasn't that Krystal was bad, she just took a while getting used to the controls. The Great Fox still had a scar from when she meant to charge her lasers and launched a bomb instead. Right into the Great Fox's side. Those were extensive repairs, and they hadn't been quite completed yet. Fox looked at his watch. 9:30. "All right, let's go."
They reached the launch bay, and walked to their ships. Fox's ArWing was still a little banged up from Dinosaur Planet, but Krystal's was brand new. Better yet, Fox had given it a new paint job. The regular white and blue combo had been changed to blue and green, respectively. Why was he spending a fortune to do this stuff? They needed the money for repairs and upgrades! But somehow, he didn't care.
Fox hopped into his ArWing, Krystal climbed into hers. They started their G-Diffusers, and flew out into the vast starry expanse. Not a planet within a hundred miles.
"Okay, Krystal. We're practicing combat skills today. I'll activate a set of holograms, and you have to shoot them. Every time you destroy a set, the next set will be activated. Got it?"
"All right, Fox. I'm ready."
"Then... GO!" Fox flipped the command switch, and the holograms materialized.
The level started simply, just slow moving, unarmed ships. Krystal breezed through it easily. Level 2 started up. The ship moved more quickly, more erratically. But Krystal still bagged them all with no problem. Level 3. Now they were armed. Krystal was careful, shooting only when she had a clear shot, rolling to deflect others. She was at 95% shields, only hit once.
Then Level 4. The new set appeared, in two formations of eight each. Krystal was again watching, letting them make the first move. A mistake. Before she knew what was happening, the ships had circled her and fired. Only a few seconds passed, and she had dropped to 20% shields. Krystal tried to escape by somersaulting. Which caused her to crash through a hologram.
The alarms stopped ringing, and the ships disappeared. Krystal was excellent until Level 4. She had always lost it there. Fox glanced at his watch, which read 1130 hours. "Let's head back in for lunch, OK Krys?" Fox asked. He didn't show it, but Krystal knew he was disappointed.