CH1: An Off-day

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"Bank right!"

The Hellcat made a sharp turn to the right and dodged the shot from the enemy ship.

"Geez! You don't need to scare me like that! I know what I'm doing!"

"You nearly let us get hit!"

"Here! You fly!"

"Fine by me!" The KG pilot grabbed the handle and pulled up. "Hang on." The cruiser turned around and started flying straight at the ship.

"What the hell are you doing?!?" Yelled the former co-pilot.

"Stay here and find out!" The pilot pressed the yellow buttons at the same time on each side of the joystick and they both heard a loud crack. The two stored missiles on each wingtip had launched off and hurtled at the ship at an amazing speed. The Hellcat slowed down quickly. Then the missiles made contact with the ship.

CAKAKKKKKKKBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!

The eco tanker ship exploded and fell to the desert sand dunes below with a shockwave of dust.

The co-pilot was dazed and shocked.

"Jinx, please remind me not to fly with you on your missions."

"Hey you called me by my proper name for once. And by the way, I saved our butts back there, in case you didn't notice."

The co-pilot sighed.

"Look, Ashelin. You're never gonna get anywhere's without being aggressive and getting the job done without any resistance. Remember that, okay? I guess things change with the KG training over five years…"

"I didn't finish training. I'm taking a… what's the word… a break."

"Since the war, when has there been time for a break?"

"Never."

"Then why are you on a break?" Jinx asked suspiciously.

"Didn't you hear about the monster attack in the Fortress three weeks ago?"

"Yeah, why? What's there to be afraid of? Krimzon Guard don't run, kiddo. But I hear it's some lame joke. I mean, c'mon, even if there was a monster, what would be so bad about it? We see metal heads every day, practically 24/7, so what would be so bad about a little… er, thing? It's not like he or it or whatever the hell it is has sharp teeth and claws, and can climb walls, and can ambush you from any point it pleases, right?"

Ashelin was silent for about two seconds.

"Right. In fact, I've never even see-" But her sentence was broken off by a clapping sound that was louder than a crackle of thunder and there was a flash in the sky.
"Woah. What the heck is that?"

Jinx pointed to a pink and yellow fireball coming down from the sky rapidly that was heading straight for the industrial section of the city.

"Both hands on the steering mechanism please!"

Jinx grabbed the joystick quickly.

"Sorry, but let's go check it out."

The Hellcat zoomed at full-speed from the near edge of the wasteland to Haven City. They arrived in a matter of minutes and saw where the thing landed.

"Here take the reins for a sec so I can get a good look." He switched the controls to Ashelin.

Jinx used his focus-lens on his goggles to get a closer view, since they were flying at least 500 feet in altitude above the scene.

"Anything?"

"That's odd… there's a blonde kid and some orange rodent standing in the exact spot where we saw it land… Everyone's acting as if nothing happened down there… Very strange… Oh good, the Commander and three of our men already on it. That was fast. Well, it's nothing we won't hear about at HQ. Lets go park her."

Jinx flew the Hellcat Cruiser to the Krimzon Guard Fortress and descended it vertically and slowly in the reserved pad. He shut the ship off after it touched the ground gently. Jinx got out first, then Ashelin.

"C'mon. I would report you for 'taking a break' when you were supposed to be in training, but I'll let you off this once, only because you're the Baron's daughter and a… a friend."

"Thanks."

"But now, you have to get to training. It's not that hard, really. It's your last year, after all. So make it the best. You're lucky you're not signed in yet, too. Or you would've been caught riding with me. I'm sorry, but I won't let you do that again. That one time was a freebee. Have fun in class."

"Okay."

"No, not 'okay'. 'Yes sir' would be the appropriate term."

"YES SIR!"

"That's more like it. Well, off to 'class' for you, kid. I'm gonna go grab a little something at the Hip Hog, and I always take advantage of my lunch hour y' know. While I'm there, do you want me to bring you back anything for your lunch hour?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Alrighty, then."

Jinx checked in and hopped back into the same ship he parked.

"Oh, and by the way… your class starts in two minutes. You're gonna be late."

Ashelin jolted all of the sudden.

"Not again!" She complained.

Jinx started the cruiser back up and headed to the south. She waited for the Hellcat to be out of sight and waited for the last guards to clear out of the area. The place was empty. Everyone was at the training center except her and a few patrols. She ran over to the wall near the rooftop started climbing the ladder on the wall extremely quickly straight up until she got to the top. She saw a pair of guards walking by chatting about their weekend plans and the upcoming championship NYFE races. Ashelin pulled herself up and casually walked infront of the guards and stopped as if nothing happened and put a smirk on her face to make them look like they weren't working hard enough. The guards stopped talking and froze, then straightened their positions and looked at her with interest. One of them whistled at her.

"Hey baby!" Said the guard on the left fluently trying to look cool… until the other guard slapped him. Hard.

"OW! What the hell was that for?!?" He yelled angrily. "You're cramping my style, man!"
"What style? You think you got style? I'll show you style!" They started arguing with each other.
"BRING IT ON!"

The two Krimzon Guards started fighting each other and whacking each other with their weapons and were so distracted with beating the crap out of each other that they didn't even notice Ashelin walk away and open up the air vent behind them. She slipped through it quickly and put the lid back on. It was very dirty and there were all sorts of junk and stuff in the shaft. For the last few weeks she used the airshaft to get to the training center in the Fortress. It wasn't the easiest route to take, but it was the shortest. She crept along quietly and came to a split and turned left. Then she came to the elevator shaft a few feet later. She looked down and saw the elevator coming up, so she jumped onto it and landed softly without making a sound or rattling it.

She straightened her uniform and stood up properly and casually, the way a KG normally on duty would. Her uniform was still covered in dust from top to bottom and the front parts of her boots were slightly tattered. She didn't worry about it though, even if the instructor was to get angry at her again. The elevator continued to go up and stopped at the exact same floor the class was. The door opened and a Krimzon Guard stepped in, just as Ashelin stepped out. The Guard stared at her dirty uniform, sighed, and then mumbled something to himself that Ashelin didn't exactly hear. She headed to the right of the hall when just when she turned the corner she saw Erol, the instructor, standing out side of the classroom.