Chapter 7: Exam Day

Loona Wulf sighed as she adjusted her position again inside the simulator's cockpit in a vain attempt to get comfortable while doing her best to filter out the instructor's voice as he explained the test's scoring system. The test itself was taking place inside the Lylat Academy's Simulator complex a large gymnasium room with no windows and one hundred and fifty can-shaped pods that were the simulators themselves. Each pod contained a student about to take the test who were either listening to the instructor or doing their pre-flight rituals.

Loona didn't know why any bothered to listen to the instructor as the test was already explained in their student packets. All students wanting to go through the flight courses at the Lylat Academy had to take the simulated flight test that would simulate a battle with all of the student's vs AI enemy fighters. The instructors observed the test from an observation room containing twenty monitors some showing individual students, some showing pod diagnostics, and others that were currently blank but would show a live feed of the simulated battle. The students would start in a partially powered down Arwing inside of a friendly ship before having to power up as many systems as possible and launch out of the hanger. Once out of the hanger the students would head toward the center of the simulated battle area and engage a swarm of enemy fighters attempting to get as many kills as possible while not being shot down themselves. A student's average would be graded based on how quickly they launched and how many kills they received while being shot down or taking damage would detract from their score and end the test for them. The student's scores would then determine what level of classes they would attend that year.

The simulation itself was realistic thanks to the Pod's installed G-diffuser system rigged to mimic the effects of gravity inside a spaceborne dogfight and the cockpit itself arranged to mirror that of a real Arwing. The video graphics were also top of the line and small rods inside the pod's metal exterior would shake the pod to simulate the force of nearby explosions, all to create the most realistic depiction of a space battle.

Loona had taken this test before when she first applied to Lylat academy and so was ready for what was to come though she did get a kick out of watching how the new students would react to the simulator. Speaking of Loona looked around at the various other students inside their pods all mostly uninteresting while some were amusingly looking at the simulator's control panel with anxiety.

Nearby Wolf was rolling his shoulders to loosen them up before leaning back into his pilot's seat seeming to find a comfortable position. He glanced over to her and gave her a smirk and a nod of acknowledgment before squaring his shoulders and resting his hands on the flight stick, ready to go. Loona took the silent comradery and gave a slight smirk of her own before continuing her examination of the room.

The next person her eyes landed on was Wolf's rival Fox McCloud and his group of friends that had all managed to get their little corner of the simulator room to themselves. Fox McCloud was a bit of a celebrity in the walls of the Academy, not all of them for good reasons. Ever since the First Contact War Fox's father James had a major falling out with both the public and his own family. James McCloud had been injured in the eyes during the fighting and now had a condition that left his eyes extremely sensitive to light forcing him to wear shades at all times. His pride had also taken a hit as the invincible Star Fox group been ripped apart on live broadcast by a single enemy fighter managing to kill Pigma Dengar and wounding both James and Peppy Hare. Peppy was forced to retire and took a teaching job at a Cornerian high school while also reconnecting with his wife and daughter. James meanwhile took to drink and publicly calling for continued hostilities against the UEG and even Cerinia. While his call to arms against the UEG was shared by many Lylatians his repeated calls of subjugating the Cerinians who were now allied with Lylat were not at all popular with the public. Soon the public distanced themselves from the former Lylatian hero for his views on the Cerinians while the military distance itself from trying to incite war with the UEG. This apparent 'betrayal' in James's eyes caused him to spiral down a rabbit hole as more and more her resorted to the bottle and became more hostile to those around him. It got so bad that James's wife Vixy divorced him and moved away with Fox and his baby sister Viv to live on Corneria while James went to Papetoon. All of this weighed on Fox as he entered the academy and was known as James McCloud's son. Despite that however much to Fox's credit, he was a brilliant flyer and above average academically, which combined with his good looks and charisma managed to carve himself a decently sized friend group and reputation as being one of the best pilots in the academy.

Said friend group consisted of Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad, Miyu Lynx, Fay Spaniel, Bill Grey, Katt Monroe, and Lucy Hare. The group itself where almost all above average pilots with Fox and Falco standing out as exceptional dogfighters that could put many active-duty pilots to shame. Loona suspected like many other students that this group was likely going to be the reincarnation of the Star Fox team if Fox had his way.

Falco Lombardi had been a hotshot road racer in his youth and had made quick friends with Fox after Fox had shown he was both a skilled pilot and bike racer. Although the avian could come off as a bit of a dick with an ego he was at least loyal to his friends though Loona still hated the pricks 'I'm better than you' attitude.

Slippy Toad was the son of the famous Beltino Toad a researcher for the Cornerian Military R&D. Slippy, unlike his friends, was the only one that was just an average pilot but more than made up for it with his mechanic skills. Slippy was a genius mechanic and probably the best in the entire school although a little timid when around others outside of his friend group.

Miyu Lynx was a real firecracker and the only one in the group that Loona could get along with fairly well in private. Miyu was the secret fantasy of a lot of guys being the perfect combo gearhead and thrill-seeker while also knowing how to flirt and turn heads with her looks. The native Zonnesian was generally upbeat and snarky but had a good head on her shoulders.

Fay Spaniel was best friends with Miyu and neighbors who took a liking to each other early on. Fay was very shy and timid but was one of the best academically performing students in the whole academy. Her pure white fur, shy attitude, and smarts also made her popular amongst the male population though they could never approach her without going through a very protective Miyu.

Bill Grey was an all-around well like bulldog and member of the school football team. Bill came from a well-off military family and Loona knew that if Fox didn't offer him a spot in Star Fox he would likely have decided to go career in the Cornerian military. Despite his well-muscled frame, he was a big softy at heart and genuinely nice to almost everyone.

Katt Monroe was an extremely attractive pink and white-furred feline that could tease just about anyone and leave them a mush of stammering hormones. She always dressed and acted flirtatiously despite her rumored poor background but also had a one-sided infatuation with Falco for some reason that escaped Loona and everyone else.

Finally, Lucy Hare was Fox's childhood friend having been introduced by their fathers before Star Fox was disbanded and Loona suspected confidant during the rough patch his family went through. Lucy was known to dabble in both mechanics and physics and was also one of the academies to minds especially in the physics department. While not as sought-after as Katt or Miyu Lucy was also pretty attractive though most guys couldn't tell with her wearing more conservative clothes that hid her frame and curves.

All told Fox McCloud's pack were a formidable friend group and one of the standout groups in the student body, though one that was often at odds with her own and saw each other with suspicion and sometimes animosity.

The thought of her group made Loona look around before finding her friends amongst the other students. Loona's friend group consisted of her best female friend Twyla Moon, the feline and canine hybrid Nitro Fluff, a white rat named Ina Oni, a panther named Panther Caroso, and of course, their leader and her brother figure Wolf O'Donnell. The group was seen in a negative light by the rest of the school since most were from the street or had dealings with criminal elements in their past.

Sitting in the pod next to her was Twyla Moon was a female grey-furred bat with purple eyes somewhat hidden behind a pair of pink-tinted shades she always wore. Loona had met her at a club when she saw the attractive bat DJing at a club recommended by Panther. After the show, Loona had helped Twyla out with some rowdy crowd members and the two quickly hit it off. Twyla was attending the academy to get a military scholarship to help pay for her music degree even if it meant pledging the next four years of her life after college to the Corneria military. From what Loona gathered if she raised enough money Twyla wanted to open a club so she could DJ whenever she wanted to instead of struggling to find venues and land jigs.

Panther Caroso was a black-furred panther with pale green eyes that insisted that he was a gentleman despite his connections to the Zonness Mob. Panther was a notorious womanizer and reportedly only joined the Lylat Academy to 'admire the most beautiful female flowers the Lylat system had to offer'. Panther had even tried to flirt with her but was quickly ended by Loona decking him with a hook and Wolf promising to castrate him. Still, Panther found a way into their friend group because of his criminal background and piloting ability.

Wolf O'Donnell in addition to being regarded as the most intimidating individual in the whole school was also seen as the antithesis of Fox McCloud. Where Fox was friendly and happy, Wolf us antisocial and grim. Where Fox was charismatic and optimistic, Wolf was intimidating and pessimistic. The only thing the two shared was exceptional piloting ability that separated them from almost all their peers. As a result of this, the two were almost always battling each other in every competition they could either academically or in the simulators. As a result of their rivalry, they drew their respective friend groups into their conflict leading to a rivalry between their groups.

Another member of their group that wasn't in the simulator room was Nitro Fluff was the son of a one-night stand between a successful feline businessman and a female wolf prostitute who both died after Andross's weapon hit Corneria. Nitro lived at an orphanage for a while before taking advantage of the military's need for soldiers and applied to the Lylat Academy. From what he told her he planned to go army for four years before retiring to become a police officer and then detective on Corneria. Nitro himself had dark grey fur with a near-black underbelly and limbs. He had spikey hair he died bright red that somehow worked with his blue and yellow heterochromia eyes. Nitro was a bit of a flirt and thrill-seeker at times but was generally easy to get along with and upbeat which were unusual traits for a sniper of his skill.

Finally, the last member that was also not present was Ina Oni was a female rat from surprisingly Venom and so had to deal with a lot of discrimination here on Corneria. Ina had snow-white fur and wild hair that went down to mid-back but was surprisingly attractive and silky smooth. Ina had bald pink feet hands that she kept wrapped in bandages and striking eyes that had ruby red sclera and a pale while pupal that lacked an iris. Ina had been born from a female convict serving time on Venom's detention center. When Andross's weapon hit the diminished guards at the supermax prison had to transfer as many people as possible off-world and as someone who hadn't committed any crimes Ina was sent to Corneria for integration into the general population. Ina having no money to her name had quickly developed into a life of petty theft helped by her natural stealth when she eventually ran into Loona who offered her membership into her gang. When Loona had decided to enroll in the Lylat Academy Ina came along and quickly applied for the army route.

Loona looked up at the countdown clock and saw that they had less than three minutes before the pods would all simultaneously close and the test would begin. Loona locked eyes with Twyla "Up and left of spawn, I'll be slowly spinning" she stated to her friend who nodded with a thumbs up. Loona didn't bother communicating with either Panther or Wolf because she knew that Wolf would fly directly into the thick of the fight and Panther would follow him. As she settled in and readied herself to start the test, she and the rest of the students heard a commotion by the doors to the auditorium.

Loona and the rest of the student body looked over toward the entrance doors and froze at what they saw. After a couple of seconds of silence, some students began talking amongst each other in hushed whispers, others lowly hissed or growled, while others kept their thoughts to themselves. Loona herself was one of the students that kept quiet but her eyes tracked the group that just entered the auditorium as her ears perked in attention listening to the group's discussion as they approached. The group consisted of High Admiral Pepper in his full military regalia, President Tabby in her gray business suit, two Cornerian marine guards, and the two human individuals that attracted everyone's attention.

(Russ's POV)

Russ once again found Jake and himself the center of attention as they were led into the Lylat Academy by High Admiral Pepper and President Tabby. Ever since they had entered the limo and began their trip to the academy the humans had been receiving bad news. Apparently in the name of bettering relations President Tabby and High Admiral Pepper had decided that both Jake and Russ would be staying with separate homestay families instead of the UEG Embassy. Russ had been opposed to the idea, but Jake had agreed with it before he could voice his protests. Russ knew that this was an attempt by the Lylatians to isolate and monitor him and Jake but after giving Jake's actions some thought he realized this also drew some attention away from the embassy itself.

The rest of the car ride was spent listening to President Tabby reiterate Cornerian laws they would need to know. Russ was familiar with a lot of them thanks to his briefing with Lady Cinder and did not need to be told that killing someone was a crime. That said there were a few laws he had not heard about that were instituted recently. First off was that things like public drinking and recreational drug use were legal under certain conditions, apparently an attempt to lower the stress of its population after the deaths of so many of its people. Russ could visibly see Jake perk up at the mention of public drinking and resigned himself to likely being introduced to a lot of beverages he wouldn't necessarily enjoy. The other was to let them know that an old law that was known simply as Pack Law had been reinstated to deal with Lylat's population shortage. From what President Tabby said it allowed the male to have more than one wife called in Lylat as a Pack. Russ originally thought that Tabby was telling them this so they would not be surprised to see multiple females with the same male in public or at the academy. Then Tabby had dropped the bomb that diplomates regardless of their species both fell under this law. Both Russ and Jake suspected this was a honeypot situation or at least a way for the Cornerian government and military to keep closer tabs on them but at the end of the day it meant that he would have to deal with military or government agents trying to use females to get information from him, admittedly Russ conceited it was one of their more viable ways of getting info.

Russ had stewed over the pointless hassle of it all the way to the academy not even paying attention to much of the beautiful campus and instead focusing his mind on the coming test. He had spent the last couple of years getting familiar with various Lylat strike craft and after intel reached them that Lylat was transitioning to Arwings, he had familiarized himself with all the crafts controls and capabilities. Altogether he had spent around eight hundred hours in the sim piloting the Arwing and seven hundred actual flight hours in a UEG mockup of the fighter. To help with his familiarity Russ had even piloted the Arwing against other UEG fighter craft as an aggressor to help UEG personnel familiarize themselves with their potential adversaries and learn its capabilities. Russ had more losses in the Arwing than he ever wanted but considering every fight he had was to his great disadvantage and was meant to be a learning experience for the UEG pilots his pride didn't suffer too hard. It also helped that he had a decent amount of victories.

Russ glanced about and found an open pod between a nervously staring male otter and a female husky with oddly colored eyes and a spiked black collar that was giving him an appraising look. Ignoring the two Russ jumped into the sim pod and took off his jacket before handing it over to Jake before Admiral Pepper came over "Do you need an overview of the controls?" he asked in a friendly manner.

Russ shook his head while making a show of glancing around the cockpit "No, I should be able to figure it out" he said wanting the High Admiral and the Lylatians to think that he could familiarize himself with the alien controls in only a couple of minutes.

A siren blared to life announcing ten seconds to simulation start and causing Pepper, Tabby, Jake, and the two guards to leave the area and enter the viewing room with the examiners. Russ sighed as he leaned back in his chair before spinning the flight stick around in a circle, side to side, and up and down to get an idea of its max positioning and resistance. Nodding in satisfaction he glanced around as the lights in the auditorium turned red and pod doors began to slide close. As the doors were closing Russ felt someone staring at him, turning his head he was met with the female husky from before who was gazing at him inquisitively.

The first thing he noticed was the silted pupils with all-white iris and red sclera that did not conform to what he was led to believe was a typical eye color shared by Lylatians. Next was her white and gray fur and long silver hair that while looking unkept looked well taken care of and had a natural elegance to it that helped compliment her looks instead of detracting from them. From the part of her Russ could see she was wearing the academy uniform and wearing it pretty dame well with the way it accented her slim waist and breasts. Russ and the unknown female starred at each other for a bit before Russ noticed the pod doors about to block his vision, so giving a nod Russ broke the stare down and refocused on the screen in front of him as the doors closed and he was surrounded in blackness.

As he sat there Russ came to a sudden realization, he had been checking that husky out. Russ shook his head "Damn, that time I spent with Lady Cinder must have rubbed off on me" he thought remembering how often Lady Cinder had tried to distract him with her flirtation or teasing him with her looks. Russ was not unfamiliar with the fairer sex but could count the number of sexual encounters he had on a single hand and have the majority left over.

As a combat clone who was often viewed with animosity or superstition by the greater population, Russ had little to no experience with social interaction, the few times he had a sexual encounter being the result of stress relief and post-victory euphoria with a female combat clone of the Victoria series Victoria-3151 if he remembered correctly but that had occurred back at the end of the Clone Wars well over a hundred years ago. Cinder on the other hand had been a crash course of sexual tension, innuendo, and flirtation that had him on edge constantly and well outside his comfort zone, but he suspected that was the point.

It was this because of this time spent with Cinder that he found himself noticing the female form more often and thus was well aware that despite the fur, extra appendages, and muzzle he had found the female attractive. Russ groaned internally before thinking to himself "Damn it, Russ, get it together you don't need this right now before this whole diplomat experience even really starts!"

Russ saw the screen in front of his boot up and like a switch forgot his previous thoughts and became hyper-focused on what he needed to do as the screens around him came alive and showed the interior of a Lylatian hanger and an open hatch leading to the blackness of space that was only just as black as his control panel. Russ sighed in exasperation as a voice in the hanger called out "Scramble!"

: Simulator Room, Viewing room:

"What is this?" Pepper growled as he, Tabby, and Jake noticed from the screen showing Russ's cockpit that the human was the only one in the entire auditorium with a completely powered down Arwing. Pepper knew that part of the test was for the students to bring back their Arwing's systems but it was meant to be only in a partially powered down state with ten subsystems down and one or two main systems offline, not a completely cold aircraft. The other students were already flipping switches and restoring systems to full operation with some restoring only what was necessary before rocketing out of the hanger.

"U-umm I-I'm not too sure sir." One of the examiners replied at a loss for why the human's craft was the only one in such a state.

From where Jake stood he noticed that while a majority of the ten examiners were genuinely confused, three or four were not surprised by this development and one or two even had smirks of accomplishment. Already knowing who the guilty culprits were Jake glanced at Russ's screen again while everyone was distracted and decided not to say anything.

"The human will just have to find a way to adapt and overcome, we cant grade him differently than his peers as it would be unfair to all the other students" one of the instructors, a male bear that Jake had identified as one of the smirking individuals, stated with an apathetic voice and uncaring shrug.

Pepper looked like he was about to continue arguing before Jake decided to intervene "It's no problem High Admiral" Jake spoke up causing the group to look at him before giving a nod at Russ's screen "Russ has this in hand." The group looked over and many let out a sound of surprise as they saw Russ rapidly bringing the Arwing's systems to life at a speed that likely broke some records for a cold start.

"H-how?" one of the examiners questioned before one of the techs that had been monitoring one of the stations gave an impressed chuckle.

"He powered up the engine core first and overheated it before channeling the power to his auxiliary thrusters and weapons thus heating the other systems with ambient power left over from the transfer." The tech announced, "At this rate, he should be ready to go about-" the tech started before the group saw Russ's Arwing accelerate into the void of space "now."

: Simulation, Pod # 3282:

Loona growled in annoyance having to wait for her weapons to cycle for thirty seconds before she could finish up the system reboot by turning on the targeting system. The reason for her annoyance was that weapon cycling was one of the slowest start-up procedures you could get in the exam and had already caused her to watch a majority of students accelerate out of the hanger. She did not know who was who since the simulator assigned them random numbers based on their pod numbers. Still, as Loona finished the power-up and began to accelerate out the hanger she noticed another craft identified as # 4213 follow her even as she banked up upon exiting the hanger. Once the craft had followed her to her meet up point with Twyla Loona was confident # 4213 was her friend and so began visually scanning the space around her and her radar.

The battle itself was taking place in the center of the map which was surrounded by a ring of asteroids and debris that formed the out edge of the combat zone. The Lylatian carrier that functioned as the student's spawn point was on the southwest end of the combat area and was inactive as far as weapons or maneuvering go. The primary fight was occurring in the center of the map which was a giant melee around the wreckage of a few cruisers. Already a couple of hundred students and just as many enemies were mixing it up there or in areas nearby as laser fire streaked across space, the red and blue colors signifying enemy and friendly fire apart. Even as enemies were shot down more spawned out in the asteroid field and moved into the engagement area. The friendlies, however, didn't have any respawns and so over time more and more students would be shot down before leaving the few exceptional pilots to survive as long as possible while getting more kills until they finally were overwhelmed or the timer clocked down and the simulation ended.

As Loona and Twyla looked around for some targets of opportunity their attention was grabbed by another Arwing joining them above the carrier before it hovered a bit and then accelerated toward the asteroids. Loona was about to disregard the fighter before suddenly she felt her instincts demand she follow it. Not knowing why but trusting in the instincts that had kept her alive for all her life Loona followed the fighter designated # 4311 with Twyla following her.

"Loona, can you hear me, girl?" Twyla's voice suddenly came through her speakers. Loona keyed her comm system before replying.

"Yes Twy, I can hear you. How did you get the comm system unlocked, I thought they locked out the ship to ship comms for the test?" she asked knowing that the communications system was opened if an instructor needed to talk to a student but was locked out of having pod to pod communications.

Twyla scoffed on her end of the transmission before replying "Oh please as if I'd let myself be censured by anyone. I know the comm systems almost as well as I know the Hightail Boy's first album. I managed to make a workaround and can now access the comm net so long as I know the pod number" Twyla explained with pride.

"Huh, well nice going Twy. You ready to get some kills?" Loona asked with an eager growl.

"Hell yeah, girl! This bat's ready to party~!" Twyla answered with a cheer before calming down "Before that though, any reason we're following the rando?" she asked no doubt wondering why Loona was following another aircraft away from the dogfight.

"A gut feeling really" Loona grumbled before hardening her resolve "Something tells me we should follow this one since they seem to have some kind of plan. Think you could link our comms?" she asked wanting to reaffirm her instincts.

"Yeah sure give me a couple of seconds" Twyla replied as Loona sighed and refocused on the fighter ahead of her.

: Simulator Room, Pod # 4311:

Russ could not help but chuckle at some of the stupid video game-like qualities of the simulator fight he was witnessing. While the simulation itself felt like a real fight there were a few details that were utterly unrealistic such as all the enemy fighters exploding in perfectly spherical red explosions when killed and the enemy craft behaving the same way when engaged by one of the student's aircraft. The simulated fight had one other unrealistic feature he had noticed that he planned to use to his advantage.

Before Russ could implement his plan, however, he noticed two Arwings fly in pursuit of him. Wondering if this was another attempt of the Lylatians to sabotage his test he was readying himself to lose them in the asteroid field when suddenly his comm unit opened with a female voice. "Testing, testing, this is Twyla Radio coming at you from all the way back here behind you in # 4213. Can you hear me examinee # 4311?"

Russ hesitated for a second before figuring there was no harm in hearing this Twyla out. "This is 4311 to 4213, I hear you"

"Awesome~" Twyla replied seemingly happy to hear his reply "So long story short my friend Loona in pod # 3282 saw you heading this way and decided to follow you to see what you have planned and if you wouldn't mind a couple of wing women. You do have a plan right?" Twyla asked seeming worried that she and this Loona were wasting their time following him.

Russ arched an eyebrow somewhat surprised at this Loona's instincts. "Damn good instincts she has then, I guess these Lylatians just have some gifted instinctual pilots as we do then," Russ thought before deciding to answer her "Affirmative, can you link up the comms so you both can hear me?" he asked.

"Sure, just let me bring Loona into our call…" Twyla responded before another harsher voice came through.

"I hope you're not wasting me and my friend's time # 4311. Since she already introduced me as Loona you know who I am and how much of a bad idea it would be for you to waste my time" the voice of who Russ assumed was Loona growled hinting to him it was one of the many canine species.

Assuming that whoever this Loona was, she had a reputation amongst the academy's population he replied "It's my first time attending the Academy, so I have honestly no idea who you are"

"Oh, great I'm following a freshman!" Loona angrily snarled likely thinking she had misjudged his skill level.

"Not a freshman a transfer so don't get mad quite yet, I do have a plan and so long as you both are confident in your flying ability I wouldn't mind you helping out" Russ assured the two of them.

There was silence for a couple of seconds as the two Lylatians pondered his proposal before Loona's voice came back. "So, what's this plan of yours exactly?" Russ gave a small confident grin and began giving them the outline of the strategy that would assure their win in this exam.

: Five minutes later, Pod # 3244:

Fox McCloud grinned as yet another enemy fighter met its end from his lasers bringing his tally up to twenty kills. Fox had grown used to this test over the years he spent attending the academy and so knew how the exam worked to the second. Although no students had ever lasted to the end of the exam Fox was one of the few students who could last till only three minutes remaining. Most students thought that the correct strategy was to rush into the dogfight and get as many kills as you could quickly but Fox and the more experienced students knew that the best strategy was to survive for as long as possible while getting the occasional kill. Over time the more inexperienced students would be shot down by making mistakes or being overwhelmed by enemy fighters. The more experienced students would then have a target-rich environment and less competition and would rapidly begin racking up kills before the simulation would eventually throw overwhelming numbers of enemies at them and eliminate all the students with the more skilled like Fox managing to survive the longest. All told this difference in tactics showed on the kill counters with most students averaging around seven to ten kills while the more experienced students averaged around seventeen to twenty by the end.

Knowing he had plenty of kills for this early on in the sim and seeing that the sim would begin throwing massive enemies at them any second Fox decided to break off from the engagement and give a look over the entire battlefield. As Fox pulled away and made sure he had no pursuers he examined the furball with disinterest before he noticed something. "What the hell?" Fox spoke up looking at the larger number than normal friendly aircraft on his sensors and the fewer enemy contacts than what there should have normally been. Fox knew that there were around four hundred students in this exam by this point in the simulation there should have been around two hundred and twenty left with most freshman and some sophomores not able to sustain combat for as long as the fifteen-minute simulation lasts. However, there looked to be around three hundred friendly contacts left engaged with roughly two hundred and sixty much fewer enemy craft then there should have been.

Fox saw other friendly aircraft breaking off from the engagement, likely other experienced juniors, and seniors who had noticed the same changes he had and were cautiously trying to figure out what was happening. Fox noticed a pair of fighters close in and pull in on either side of him with an ease that told him it was likely Falco and Bill who had practiced that maneuver enough to do it as if by second nature. Suddenly another four aircraft pulled in as well before a voice broke through his comm "Finally! Fox, this is Fay can you hear me?"

Smiling at the sound of his normally shy collie friend Fox replied "I can hear you, Fay, got the comms working I see."

Fay chuckled on the other end "Yep, took a while to find everyone. You're the last one, here let me link you into the call" Fay said before suddenly Fox heard other voices coming in through his comm.

"I'm telling you it's just because we're doing better this year than before!" the voice of Falco stated heatedly over the comm.

"Bullshit, birdbrain! Even if everyone in the entire school got better over the summer break it wouldn't be enough to explain this wide a difference!" replied the fiery voice of his friend Miyu just as heatedly.

"Hey guys I got Fox in the call with us" Fay announced causing the others to greet him.

"Hey everyone, what's the argument about?" Fox asked but already having a suspicion as to the answer.

Lucy Hare was the one to answer "Miyu and Falco were arguing over why the battle seems so off this time. Falco seems to think everyone somehow got better during the break while Miyu thinks something else is going on" Lucy answered calmly. Fox sighed before smiling to himself at Falco and Miyu arguing which happened a lot in his group of friends while Lucy was ever the voice of calm reason. Fox admitted that keeping the peace amongst their pack would have been nearly impossible without her especially after what he and his mother went through with his father.

Not wanting to think of those memories in the middle of a test, Fox focused on the question that started the argument in the first place. "I think Miyu has a point Falco" he stated before looking at the furball "something else is happening here". Falco grumbled over the comm even as the others chimed in their agreement. As fox continued watching the furball he glanced over at the mission timer and was startled to see five minutes left on the timer. "What the hell is going on?" Fox thought "We've should be up to our necks in bandits right now." Deciding to get on top of this issue Fox called to his friends "Guys something weird is going on, heads on a swivel" he called out.

"Fox! I'm picking up a lot of activity out in the asteroid belt to our ten o'clock!" Fay suddenly called over the comm making Fox's eyes shoot to his sensors while his hands adjusted the range to include the asteroid belt. Sure, enough Fox saw a large group of enemies inside the asteroid belt in pursuit of three friendly aircraft that were circling back on each other and engaging the enemies on the other's tail. Fox blinked at what he was seeing before realizing what the three examinees did. Soon a smile formed on his face before he began chuckling that then developed into laughter that filled the comm net.

"Something you want to share Fox?" Miyu asked agitated at having her ears full of Fox's laughter.

Fox was able to reel in his mirth and gasping for air while wiping a mirthful tear out of his eyes before replying with a chuckle. "I just realized they played the exam" Fox replied before explaining. "Those three engaged the enemy in the asteroid belt with strafing attacks making their AI target them instead of going into the center of the dogfight where we were. One of them must have memorized the enemy fighter's spawn rate and locations so they could just draw more and more away from the fight. They managed to keep the fighters off of them by using the asteroids to channel the enemy craft into certain areas for one of their allies to strafe and kill a few before speeding by. They are just repeating this over and over with impunity since the enemy AI are not programmed well enough to break off from them or catch them in the asteroid belt" Fox explained before giving an approving nod. "Those three just broke this test. Wouldn't be surprised if they have the largest amount of kills out of everyone here."

"Well, are we just going to sit here or are we going to get in there and get some of those kills before the test end?" Falco shouted over the comm before his Arwing broke and speed toward the asteroid field.

Fox sighed in exasperation at his friend's hotheaded attitude "Damn it, Falco, come on everyone we can't let him go alone and we do need a few more kills" Fox ordered as he pulled his Arwing around to follow his avian friend. The rest of the group gave their affirmatives before they all flowed their leader toward the enemy and a hotheaded bird.

X Simulation Room, Pod #4311 X

Russ yanked his yoke slightly left while adding a little rudder before depressing on the trigger sending a stream of laser fire ahead and eliminating three bandits on Twyla's six. Pushing his throttle forward his craft careened further into the asteroid field while he dodged a few asteroids and threw off the aim of his pursuers. So far, the simulation was going well with no major hiccups in his plan. One thing he had not been prepared for was the Lylatian Arwings having energy missiles. He had seen Twyla use a missile to blow a pair of enemy craft off Loona's tail and ever since had combed his fighter's systems before finding the missile firing system. Russ had determined that it was a primitive targeting system that required the fighter to keep the enemy in front of him to have the missile keep lock however the missiles themselves were rather interesting being composed of almost raw energy with a front homing sensor module mounted to their front along with unknown mechanical equipment that contained the energy of the missile until it hit the target. The missiles themselves looked like a green ball of energy that would streak out leaving a shimmering green contrail before impacting the target with an emerald green explosion of heat that at least in the sim had a decent radius. Russ had found using the missile was relatively easy but told Loona and Twyla to hold off on using them for now knowing that they would need them later in the sim especially considering they had the multi-lock capability.

Russ had lost count of how many targets that he and his two friendlies had accumulated over the time they spent in the asteroid field but as Russ suddenly saw a surge of enemy contacts following the three of them and the spawn rate of enemies sharply increase the final act of Russ's plan began to take shape. "Loona, Twyla it's time. Accelerate to full throttle and follow me!" he ordered before throwing his throttle into full afterburn and streaking forward while centering his full concentration on dodging asteroids in his path. Behind him, Loona and Twyla copied his movements trusting him to guide them through the asteroid field while on full afterburn, the enemy behind them wasn't so lucky, however.

In the entire time that Russ and his allies had been in the asteroid field he had kept track of roughly how many enemies were pursuing them while keeping their numbers between eighty to one hundred and twenty. Now, however, the enemy's number surged to well ever three hundred who all accelerated to full speed to catch up with their fleeing quarry. Unlike the three Arwings however, the enemy AI could not simultaneously avoid the asteroids and the other couple hundred of friendlies in such a crowded space.

X Simulator Room, Pod # 3282 X

Loona's senses were on full blast as she did her best to follow the Arwing in front of her and Twyla as it rapidly maneuvered around the asteroids while all her senses were screaming at her to abort and slow down. On the other hand, though her heart and soul were practically howling in delight at what was happening.

Flying had always viewed flying as a means of making a paycheck, she did not particularly enjoy it, but she had a natural talent for it, and her little brother figure Wolf loved it, so she kept doing it. If you had asked her about what she did not like about it, she would tell you it was taking orders and being restricted in how you were supposed to fight the enemy. Do not do this, that is too dangerous, do not stress the airframe, do not leave the group, it all boiled down to that there was one correct way to engage the enemy that you had to do. Loona hated being effectively put on such a short leash and participate in what was essentially putting yourself into a giant furball were you couldn't keep track of what was going on but to get kills you had to snape off a shot and get lucky at a passing aircraft, take out some unaware enemies on an allies tail, win a boring turning fight with an enemy, or the more likely in an actual combat engagement fire her missiles from long range wait for the bandit to explode before turning around and flying away for a while to eventually turn around and repeat the process.

What she was doing now, however… it had truly opened her eyes to the thrill of combat flying. Using one's wits and tactics to beat the enemy, coordinating with allies to lead the enemy into traps, flying into dangerous situations against overwhelming odds, Loona loved it. The one thing that stuck out the most however was the feeling of flying like she was, however. Loona felt the stress on her aircraft and body, the hyperawareness of all her senses alerting her to dangers that screamed by her, Loona now truly felt what it was like flying on the razor edge of her capability. So, despite the g forces squeezing her into the back of her seat, despite her success resting in the flying ability of a person she didn't even know the name of, despite the number of enemies attempting to destroy her, and despite the sensors and collision alarms screaming at her in warning messages, Loona couldn't help but howl in excited jubilation. She now knew she LOVED combat flying.

"Arm missiles and get ready to break for cobra maneuver on my mark" came the voice of the examinee in pod 4311 partially breaking Loona from her excitement and letting her refocus on the task at hand. "Break in 3…2…1…Mark!" the pilot shouted just as their Arwing's broke through the asteroid field and into the open space near the center of the AO. As Loona hit her breaks and pulled hard on the yoke sending her Arwing into a sharp turning clime and forcing her back into her seat as the G-forces nearly made her pass out even with the G-diffusers trying to mitigate them to the best of their abilities. In front of her canopy space blurred as her Arwing rapidly changed direction with her only consistent reference was the Arwing of their unknown leader that she could see had also deployed his breaking thrusters.

In only a couple of seconds, they had completed the turn and Loona was able to see the chaos in front of her. The enemy aircraft had not been able to entirely keep up with them due to their high speed and leader leading them through the asteroid field unimpeded. Now the enemy was in perfect missile range while also boxed in by asteroids and each other with any attempt to separate leading to collisions with friendlies or asteroids. In other words, they were fish in a barrel.

Loona's targeting system lit up as the multiblock system acquired six random targets in the giant cluster of enemies. "Lock target's… fire!" their leader called before all three pressed the button on the top of their yokes and fired their entire missile payloads. Seventeen missiles streaked out toward the cluster of enemies who could dodge or change course leaving green trails that eventually ended in explosions that claimed multiple bandits each. Also, missile streaks appeared from multiple other directions as other students joined their impromptu volley. The effect was disastrous as enemy AI fighters attempted to evade only to collide with other fighters while other aircraft flew into the explosions and were destroyed as well with only a paltry number of enemies escaping the combined forty missile volley of the students. These thirty or so enemy aircraft were then pounced upon by the twenty or so students who made quick work of the overwhelmed and poorly positioned enemy.

Loona saw more enemies spawning in at the edge of the asteroid field and threw herself into the dogfight with the amassed students who had been joined by the rest of the student body. The enemy AI was being ripped to shreds essentially being spawned directly into the student's crosshairs before being destroyed after only a couple of seconds of being spawned in.

As Loona downed another pair of enemies she wheeled around to see another group spawned directly in front of her. Grinning as she pulled the trigger to fire, she was suddenly met with a black screen. Loona paused in confusion before she saw a message scroll across the screen.

XXXXX Simulation Over XXXXX

XXXX Congratulations XXXX

XXX You Survived! XXX

Loona's eyes widened in shock before darting to the mission time at the bottom of the screen and saw it read as zero. Loona sat there in shock for a couple of seconds at managing to survive the impossible simulator mission of Lylat Academy before the hydraulic hiss of the pod's canopy opening jolted her awake in time for the bright lights to make her squint her eyes. Standing up and climbing out of the pod Loona's eyes were still adjusting when she felt herself smack into a warm body.

Although Loona couldn't look up fully to see whoever she almost ran into her other senses were working just fine and told her something about the person in front of her. The first thing she noticed was her sense of smell telling her that the individual in front of her smelled of rich leather, cinnamon body wash, and masculine sweat that mixed to create a very appealing aroma that made Loona feel warm. Next was her sense of hearing that could pick up the steady breaths of the individual that told her that he had not been startled by their collision. Finally, was he sense of touch telling her that her breasts were currently snuggled up next to a hardened broad chest with defined pectoral muscles. "Oh, damn. Loona likes. Loona really, really likes th-" Loona's thoughts were interrupted by a pair of strong and firm hands grabbing her arms and gently pushing her away from their owner before letting her go after she steadied herself.

"You alright there?" a familiar voice asked in slight confusion and bewilderment.

Loona groaned and nodded her head "Yeah, my eyes are adjusting here give me… a… second" Loona replied before trailing off as her eyes finally adjusted enough for her to look up at the form of the human standing in front of her.

Now that she was only a foot or two away from him Loona could make out in defined detail how well built the human in front of her was. He was not bodybuilder material or anything, but his muscles were all well defined and large enough to show a rigorous training and workout regimen that didn't focus on any particular part of the body, although Loona particularly took note of the chiseled abs that couldn't be hidden by the human black shirt. His eyes and hair also had some additional features that Loona only noticed because she was this close to the man. First his hair while seemingly black had strands of silver every now and then that was hidden by the rest of his hair. Additionally, his eyes which looked yellow were in fact gold with stands of yellow that made the rest of his eyes appear yellow.

Loona noticed that despite her shock at just what was standing in front of her she nearly lost herself in those eyes before she shook herself and forced her usual personality forward. "First off don't touch me. Secondly, yes I'm fine just my eyes need adjusting" Loona growled before sneering at the human before deciding to confirm a theory she had once she heard his voice. "So I'm guessing that was you in the simulation that led me into the asteroid field?"

The human nodded "Yeah that was me, you must be Loona then. My name is Russ it's a pleasure to meet you" Russ asked politely while giving her a nod in acknowledgment.

"Well, it's one-sided pleasure then human. I risked a lot banking on your little plan so you better be thankful it worked as well as it did, or you and I would have a problem." Loona growled wanting to establish herself as someone not to be crossed.

Russ just calmly watched her before nodding "Well then I'm glad my plan worked and allowed you to succeed. I will endeavor not to over presume again and avoid including you in my 'little' plans." Russ replied giving her a nod in acknowledgment before turning and walking away dismissively.

Loona watched the human walk away in confusion. The human had not been intimidated by her aggressive behavior or disgusted with her bizarre eye color which he could not miss with how close the two had been. Instead, he had been rather respectful before she had decided to mouth off at him, after that he had been polite but dismissive of her. Even as Loona felt Twyla come up to her and start talking to her Loona's eyes never left the human as he walked out of the room and through the exit door. At the time she did not know why the sound of the door shutting made her heartache in regret.

Aaaaaaaannnnnnnnndddddd Chapter!

Well guys this has been a long chapter to type but I'm finally finished and thankfully will be able to post this before Christmas. As a quick note, I've changed Russ and Jacob's height to 6'2 and 6'4 respectively.

Anyway, I hope all of you have an awesome holiday season and new year's! Here's hoping 2021 is a lot better year than 2020.

Until next time remember to stay frosty and don't forget to review!