A/N: Yes, I know that there are 24 pilots in a Slipfighter squadron, I'm just too lazy to name everyone in Delta Squadron. And besides, I'm only mentioning people who will be important to the plot. And Zeke is still chewing on my toes, just so you know. Anyhow, about the squadrons: I'm getting most of my ideas and inspiration from the Star Wars 'X-Wing' book series, so I'm sorry if I make too many Star Wars references by accident. As far as I know I'm the only person doing anything with Slipfighter squadrons, so if you're reading this and suddenly go: "Hey, I want to do a fanfic staring Corrin Larkan, or some other Slipfighter pilot," please mention whom you got your ideas from. :coughs: That would be me!

Chapter 12

Jade roared first out of the gigantic hangar in which her squadron was housed. One by one the rest of her pilots came roaring out behind her. "Form up with your wingman," she ordered over the squadron-only frequency of the radio. "All units report in, call signs only." She paused. "This is Jade, ready to go."

"The Fire's Prophet is standing by on your wing," Nuria announced.

"Tuna here," Clear Running Water, a Than in his male stage of life reported. "All systems check and ready to go."

"This is Oenone," Cynthia said. "Let's kick some Alpha Squad ass!"

"Viper's got all systems workin' without a problem so far," Kaysea said. "Repeat, Viper's ready to go."

"Venus is ready to wreak havoc on arrogant little Alpha boys," Shauna said.

"This is Storm, ready for action," is all Winter said. The Inari woman never said much.

And so it went with the rest of the squadron reporting in with their call signs and stage of readiness. When the last person had reported in, Jade said; "This is Leader. We're meeting up with Alpha Squad at rally point Gamma, which is five light-minutes from here. Remain divided into your wing pairs and be ready for anything. If you hear the tone that means someone has a lock on you, you're out and will fly to rally point Omega, marked in green on the battle map." Jade looked down at her own battle map to ensure it was working properly. The blinking blue dots that represented her squadron were divided up into twelve pairs of two. "Alpha Squadron will be marked in red," she continued. "The object of this exercise is teamwork, so if I catch anyone leaving his or her wingman to peruse an enemy fighter, I'll paint you myself," she said, using the pilot slang 'paint' meaning missile lock. "We'll be able to see how Alpha Squadron fights, and vice versa. The mission objective is simple: protect your wingman and paint as many Alpha boys as you can. We're going to head to rally point Gamma now, so be alert. Jade out."

Jade banked her fighter to the left, following the blinking purple dot on her HUD (A/N: heads-up-display) that represented rally point Gamma. The rest of the squadron followed, and they covered the five light-minute distance in well, five minutes, duh.

Jade glanced down at her battle map. "This is Jade. Doesn't look like Alpha Squad is here yet, but I want everyone on active sensors just in case." She flicked the switch on the active sensors, and suddenly her HUD and battle map was awash in red dots.

"Shit, they were waiting for us!" Cynthia exclaimed.

"No unnecessary chatter, Oenone!" Jade snapped. "Everyone, tune your radio frequency to wingman only. You're gonna have to work together. Jade out." She flipped her frequency so that the only radio transmissions she would hear would be Nuria's. "Let's go hunting, Prophet."

Jade and Nuria flew into the already roiling mass of dogfighting Slipfighters. "This is the Prophet," Nuria announced. "I've got a bastard on my tail. Shit, he's almost got a lock on me-"

"On my mark, I want you to come to a dead stop, repeat, dead stop," Jade told her.

"Stop! Are you crazy?"

"Mark!" Jade shouted, immediately cutting power to her engines, Nuria doing the same.

The Alpha Squadron fighter zoomed right past them. Before it could bank around, both Jade and Nuria had clean missile locks. The loud tone broke out, and the opposing pilot powered down weapons. "Good piloting," the Perseid male announced over the radio has he bacnked off toward rally point Omega.

"Yeah!" Nuria exclaimed.

Jade shook her head, not bothering to reprimand Nuria for the unnecessary com chatter as she and Nuria flew towards their next target.

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(Commonwealth report filed by leader of Slipfighter squadron Alpha, Commander Corrin Larkan) Summary of training session: Alpha Squadron lost when Jade, the leader of Delta Squad, and I were the last remaining pilots. After a brief dogfight, she won. Requesting that she be transferred to Alpha Squadron so I don't look so bad. I'm glad we're on the same side. (End report)

A/N: I was planning on uploading Chapter 13 today, which is more Gaheris/Trance interaction, but I'm out of time because I can't be on the internet after 4:00. Tell me what you think about the new chapters, please!