Take flight

"Again! Begin!"

The barked order rattled Aerrow's already frayed nerves and he took a hesitant step forwards. Almost immediately his legs were swept from underneath him and two sharp jabs to his stomach left him breathless on the floor.

His opponent today, Ryder, looked down at him with a smirk and then walked away to high five his friend. Cole returned the gesture, flicking his hair back and grinning at Batesson. The three were so far undefeated in the ring and so claimed the top three positions of the pack, with the other students close on their heels.

All the other students, except for one.

Aerrow coughed and got unsteadily to his feet. The others in the group didn't look impressed, and Aerrow felt his stomach sink even lower at the fierce scowl on Sensei's face.

It was clear that Aerrow was as far from the top of the pack as was possible.

He ducked his head and walked out of the ring to join the group watching the fight. As he came close, several of the other cadets moved out of the way so as not to even stand near to him. He felt a small pang of hurt as Damian averted his eyes and refused to look at him.

No, Aerrow wasn't even in the pack; he was the bone they gnawed on and left buried in the dirt.

"What went wrong?" Sensei demanded, but instead of asking the class for feedback, he stood nearly nose to nose with Aerrow.

Aerrow stammered at the confrontation and tried to apologise.

"No! You do not apologise for fighting poorly! How would you apologise to a girl who has lost her parents to the Talons you failed to protect them from? How would you apologise to the father who has just lost his son? You could not, because words would not suffice. Only action. Only swift, and decisive, action."

Sensei's voice gradually reduced to its usual controlled volume. Aerrow struggled to keep his head up and maintain eye contact as he felt the Master's disappointment in full force.

"Preferably," He continued, "Before you have lost the fight."

He stepped away and shook his head, then dismissed the class. Aerrow had never felt lower.


Two and a half weeks, Aerrow thought miserably. It's only been two weeks, and I've already screwed everything up.

He was following behind the rest of the group who were chatting loudly amongst themselves. He wasn't sure which class was next; he was too busy getting acquainted with the new aches and pains from his latest humiliation in the ring.

It came to his surprise then, when they ended up in an open sided hanger bay they hadn't yet encountered. The roar of an engine in full flight startled him out of his thoughts and he turned to see Major Tom gliding in on a skimmer. Just as it looked like he would crash, the machine suddenly transformed. The wings retracted and two wheels burst forth from the chassis. With a screech of tyres, the bike landed on the ground and skidded to a stop in front of the cadets.

Major Tom grinned widely at their eager faces. "Welcome to your first flying lesson." Aerrow wasn't the only one with wide eyes, and he quickly closed his mouth when he realised he was gaping. Major Tom looked completely different. Here, relaxed stance astride his magnificent ride, moustache ruffled from the wind, he was no longer just a soldier. Here stood a Sky Knight.

He gestured at the skimmer and one control in particular on the side, "Many of you will have already flown basic mechanical aircraft, but few will have had the privilege of riding a real skimmer which can change between bike and flight mode at the pull of a lever. Not only will you need to handle your ride with skill on the ground, but also with expertise in the air, as that is where the majority of your time will be spent on a squadron."

The Major dismounted and called for them to form ranks. Then they walked further into the hanger and found a line of twelve skimmers waiting, one for each cadet. As everyone took their place next to a ride, Aerrow laid a hand on the rough leather of the seat and traced the faded numbers 3472, and couldn't decide what emotion the butterflies in his stomach were tied to.

"You should all be competent enough to dismantle and re-assemble your ride by this point in your mechanics training. You will soon get to know your assigned skimmer inside and out, as one day your life may very well depend on it. But for now, we're going to learn how to run before you can walk. Mount up!"

Aerrow numbly swung his leg over the bike and gripped the handlebars tightly.

"Engines on!" The roar of twelve skimmers turning on as one was deafening in the metal hanger. Aerrow couldn't tell if it was him or the machine shaking with anticipation.

"Now, to the sky!" Major Tom revved his bike and dirt sprayed up behind him. Aerrow gave no thought as he kicked the bike into gear and twisted the throttle. They raced out of the hanger into the blinding sunlight. The speedometer rose steadily as the cliff edge drew nearer. He went up a gear, and another, and another. He was right behind the Major. They were still gaining speed.

Suddenly Major Tom deployed his wings and the skimmer was off the Terra, progressively gaining height.

Aerrow pulled the lever.

He felt the machine change beneath him. Wings burst out at each side and the sudden lift tore the wheels from the ground. The bar beneath his hand loosened into a control wheel and the skimmer shook unsteadily as he adjusted his grip. He revved harder and the skimmer rose higher, higher, higher…

And suddenly Aerrow couldn't contain himself anymore. The butterflies in his stomach flew out in a rolling laugh that the wind tore from his lips and carried all around him. This was amazing! The machine was gliding effortlessly through the air now. Aerrow could feel the sun on his face and the wind tousling his hair, which had been limp and ragged from stress. He took a deep breath and felt himself come alive. He had always longed to fly, it was part of the allure of becoming a Sky Knight, but he never could have dreamed it would have been this easy, this natural.

Coming back to himself, Aerrow saw Major Tom break and turn in the air to face him. Easing off the throttle and changing to static position, Aerrow slowed to a complete halt and marvelled at how steady the machine was as it hovered in one place. He was now close enough to see the Major's face, and as their eyes met he looked surprised to see Aerrow already hovering next to him. Aerrow looked over his shoulder, expecting to see the rest of his troop high in the air with them.

A handful of skimmers were in the air, but they were only just getting off the ground and many were weaving awkwardly back and forth as their riders struggled with the controls. Even more skimmers were still driving to gain speed, and a small few didn't seem to have left the hanger yet.

"Skilfully done, cadet." Aerrow turned back to Major Tom, who gave him a firm nod and rare smile.

Aerrow couldn't contain the huge grin on his face, even as several of the others joined them in the sky.

It took another five minutes for everyone to be hovering in the air, some looking frustrated, some nervous, but many reflected Aerrow's own excitement. The Blizzarian, Kipp, was the first to reach them and shared a smile of exhilaration with Aerrow.

"Now that we're all here, we'll start with some basic manoeuvres."

Aerrow couldn't remember having so much fun in his whole life. They started with basic controls and flight paths then quickly progressed to offensive and defensive moves such as the barrel roll, break, sandwich, low yo-yo and scissors. Aerrow strained to commit each one to memory, and then physically strained to complete each drill. It was challenging, but with each success Aerrow's confidence grew and he pushed himself and his ride to go higher, faster, further than everyone else. When they began some work in pairs and groups, Aerrow was met with smiles and thumbs up, a complete one-eighty from the cold shoulders he'd been enduring for the last two weeks.

As the sun touched the horizon, Major Tom gathered them all into a hovering circle of skimmers.

"Well, I can honestly say that wasn't all terrible." He gave a small smile. "Before we wrap up here, we're going to do one final exercise. So far, most of your training has been led by competition. A vital part of leadership however, is about teamwork and trust.

"You must all learn how to function as part of a squadron before you can hope to successfully lead one. From now on you will think of each other as fellow squad members. This will involve knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses, and trusting each other to have your back.

"This final exercise is designed at just that. We call it 'wing-walking', and I will need a volunteer to demonstrate for the rest of the group." The Major smirked and stood up on his seat. The movement was casual, as if he were merely getting up from a chair, but the dizzying drop of several hundred feet was not something easily forgotten.

Glances were cast around as Major Tom waited. As Aerrow caught several pairs of eyes he saw something he hadn't seen there before: fear. Corinna was biting her lower lip. Batesson was clutching the controls tightly in his massive hands. Many of the cadets, so strong and brave with solid ground under their feet, were very much diminished up here in the air.

But Aerrow felt the opposite. This was the first class he had excelled at, where he felt he had truly earned his place at the Academy. He felt so much lighter and surer than before. This role reversal threw him for a moment, until it buoyed him up and he found himself cautiously letting go and tucking his feet underneath him. He heard Cole take a sharp breath in next to him.

Holding his arms out to both sides for balance, Aerrow gradually straightened up until he was fully upright and level with the Major.

"Our youngest member then." He pointed around at the skimmers. "As the name suggests, you will walk from one skimmer to the next using the wings as your pathway. Be sure you don't hit any controls, especially the transmuter, or you and your unfortunate squaddie will be getting a first-hand lesson in exactly how well bikes fly."

"Yes, Sir." Aerrow swallowed and nodded his understanding. He shuffled his feet towards the left wing and slowly made his way onto it. As he took his first proper steps on the wing, his skimmer automatically adjusted position to compensate for the weight. Aerrow felt the comforting hum of the engine below and his confidence grew again.

When he reached the wing tip however, he saw the distance between himself and the next wing. On the ground it would have been a meagre distance, but high up in the air was a different matter entirely. Aerrow didn't think his legs would stretch that far: he would have to jump it.

He turned to face the wing directly and took a calming breath. Before he could think too deeply about what he was doing, he took a step forward and jumped.

His feet landed squarely on the wing tip, but the skimmer tilted alarmingly as it took his weight. Aerrow dropped to one knee and stretched his arms out. He grabbed the wing with one hand and felt a different hand grab his other wrist. He looked up to see Damian's pale face a metre from his own, and gave him a grin.

"Nice catch."

Damian deflated as he let out the breath he'd been holding and grasped Aerrow's wrist more firmly. "Seriously? Cracking jokes right now?"

Aerrow chuckled as he pushed back up to his feet, feeling the skimmer correcting already. "No time like the present." And he meant it. As sudden and real as the risk had been, Aerrow hadn't felt any fear.

Damian cautiously let go of his wrist and Aerrow manoeuvred his way across the cockpit and towards the next skimmer. The jump between wings was smaller this time and Aerrow's knees bent gently to adjust with the skimmer now he was ready for it.

After making his way across four more skimmers Aerrow couldn't help but start laughing as he jumped varying distances, increasing his speed until he was nearly running across the wings. His fellow cadets were gasping and laughing in turn, infected by his excitement and fearlessness.

By the time he got to Cole's skimmer he was breathing hard from adrenaline and barely took note of the downward tilt to the boy's lips. With a final leap he was back in his own seat and grinning from ear to ear.

One by one they all took to the wings. Most met with varying success, and many clearly hadn't completely shaken their fear yet. The session ended well, excluding the difficulty of landing that resulted in three minor crashes, and as they left the hanger for dinner Aerrow found himself walking between Kipp and Jael and chatting enthusiastically about the last few hours.

The confidence and certainty he had felt in the air stayed with him all night, bringing him out of his shell at dinner to joke with the others. When Damian went to punch his shoulder teasingly, he dodged and, without thinking, returned with a swift jab of his own to Damian's side that brought out a high pitched yelp of surprise. Kipp snorted with laughter and sent water shooting out of his nose.

Aerrow welcomed the distraction that provided, as it gave him time to take a deep breath and calm his suddenly racing heart. It was fine, he thought, no problem at all. As long as I stay in control, it's fine. The thought was like a weight off his chest and he exhaled with relief. Things were looking up.