Chapter Eleven: Military Intelligence
Harry's POV
He smiled and waved slightly as the three slowly boarded their Shuttle the door slowly shutting behind them. He breathed a small sigh of relief and while normally he would be feeling relaxed after a good meeting between the representatives of two nations, or in this case the leader of one and the representative of another, he couldn't help but feel tense by the two women standing next to him. He knew they weren't too happy with the situation, or maybe it was more likely that he didn't wait to have them both sit in on the meeting, but either way, they seemed to be tense and had an easily identifiable cold look on their faces. His tension waved for a moment as the absent thought that they always had some type of cold look came to his mind only to have it come back like a raging inferno as they both turned their gazes on him. He mentally sighed at the looks and turned to head back to the cars and then the elevator to his bridge.
The sounds of the hanger bay doors closing echoing off the walls behind him as the two followed closely and quickly. Of course, even attempting to remain unnoticed was most likely impossible by his presence alone, but even the fleeting thought of a possibility of it being true was tossed out the window with the both of them follow him in silence. The sound of a car door shutting behind the three of them as they entered one of the few closed vehicles that they could somewhat safely talk in. "Alright, let's hear it." He said getting the two to glance towards each other before leaning forwards and lacing their hands together. "While your handling of the situation was very well done, it would have been preferable to wait until a certified First Contact Ambassador could be retrieved to establish a baseline between our nations." Admiral Blake said making him lean back and rest his head on the headrest behind him letting him face the ceiling.
"The situation wasn't allowing that type of move, after all, they could have used that time to report back and explain that a possibly hostile force was holding three of their representatives hostage." He explained getting two slow nods. "That is why your handling of the situation is well done, it still wasn't something we all preferred you getting into until you were trained to deal with the possible holes and traps laid out by the representative members of another species. It's possible to create a Political and Diplomatic nightmare going into talks unprepared." Admiral Blake explained. "We can consider ourselves lucky this time, however, they seemed much to unprepared to try anything." Admiral Pushkov said making him glance over at her. "Yeah, that much became clear the moment they spoke and then sat down in the meeting." He said thinking back on the moment in time before shrugging it off quickly.
"What will be happening to the mission, with people using an area so close to our borders as a transportation route wouldn't it be too dangerous or risky to move along our planned route?" He asked getting the two to glance towards each other in surprise. "The orders will stand until we can be informed otherwise, I'll update Military Intelligence and Homeworld Security about the new information and allow the Strategic Board back home to make a call, at the moment our current route doesn't take more than a few systems and we will be back in home space, it's little risk now that we know what to expect." Admiral Blake explained making him nod slowly. "I suppose we can't just dumb it halfway through, Explain to them that they will need to brief their selected ambassador all the information we have received to be expecting a call from the nation in question." He said getting the two to nod.
"I'm surprised you two got over on the ship so quickly." He said offhandedly getting the two to glance away from him. "Ordering an emergency transport wasn't difficult to do, we needed to expedite our arrival to ensure nothing negative came out of the meeting, we were pleasantly surprised to see everything so well in hand, aside from the fairly friendly air that was about the meeting." Admiral Pushkov explained making him blink slowly. "Isn't a friendly air better for us to foster good relations?" He asked getting a small snort. "Not in the way we are thinking, but yes ultimately it is a better alternative to having an argument right off the back or a hostile air." Admiral Blake explained making him nod slowly not sure where they were going with the first part and just letting the moment slide by. "What should I expect out of the rest of this training scenario?" He asked getting them two both sigh softly in relief. "The best bet would be to instruct you on fleet commands space battles, the difficulty will be breaking you of the habit that forms with planet-based combat." Admiral Blake explained making him frown softly.
"Habit?" He asked thinking back slightly. "In space combat, there is no correct direction or static plane everyone rests on, different elevations forwards directions and even some gravitational effects come into play. You've no doubt experienced it in the encounter with the pirate vessel on board your training ship, but that was a fairly short encounter not really forcing you to see all the variables and in fleet-based movements, it's much more dangerous and dire." Admiral Pushkov explained slowly talking for what felt like the most he had ever heard from her. "Right, why is it more dangerous?" He asked getting a small smile from Admiral Blake. "Weapon fire cones, and weapon directional facing." Admiral Blake said making him stare at the woman blankly. "Every weapon has a fire cone, static weapons that cant adjust firing direction by swiveling, such as missle pods and torpedo tubes, have what is called a fire cone and that cone is a cordoned off danger zone." Admiral Blake explained.
"This danger zone is an area where any passing ship can be struck by friendly fire from whatever weapons systems on board may be in action, another concern is crossing fields of fire. Having an enemy vessel between two of our ships can be exceptional dangerous since they don't need to worry about attacking an allied ship when firing on two separate ones of ours, whereas our ships need to be aware of what's beyond that enemy vessel and take it into account when assigning weapons systems to the destruction of the enemy vessel, the last thing we want is friendly fire taking out our own ships." Admiral Blake explained making him rub his head slightly as he could feel a headache forming. "So it's like a situation with a squad flanking on the ground, if the enemy is between the two squads they run the risk of shooting and killing each other." He said getting a small nod from the two.
"Including the possible angle of our ship in correlation to theirs the elevation in space and gravity having an effect on certain weapons... Space battles were already complicated with this in mind, but fleet space battles sound like hell altogether." He said getting small smiles from the two in amusement. "It will become easier with time, and we have plenty of it allocated to your training, therefore, you will become well versed in its uses, but a small thing to keep in mind, not every situation is taught and training only goes so far, you need to be quick thinking and prepared to take risks as well as accept losses." Admiral Blake said seriously making him frown softly and nod to the woman seeing her relax slightly. "Well, you have a ship and core fleet division to run, enjoy your time we will be in contact once we have boarded our own vessels." Admiral Pushkov said letting him step out of the car.
He watched the car pull away and shrugged before following his guards as they escorted him towards the elevators and from there the bridge itself. He sighed softly and leaned back into the chair glancing over all the stations as the ship slowly drifted through space. He felt the familiar flash of heat and information through the Neural link in his neck as he plugged the cord back in. He spent his free time overlooking the multitude of weapons systems on the ship. The number of weapons on the ship itself would make many believe almost the entire surface of the ship was covered in weapons, and while they weren't right in that assumption it wasn't like there were barely any on the ship. It had many weapons that were only shown when activated coming out of special ports and each had their own range of firepower. The weapon that had the most power and you could probably find groupings of three around certain sections on each angle of the ship were of a turret class weapon.
A miniature MAC cannon, while Railguns could be considered in the same class they were fundamentally different because of the coil spread and the makeup of the rounds themselves. Depleted Uranium and pure tungsten being used as Mack rounds and Carbon steel for the Railguns. The second weapon system to show up are missle pod systems with automatic selective missle loading, each one could load a certain category of missiles from their storage bays, anywhere from explosive, armor penetrating, anti-shielding, electromagnetic, and finally nanite warheads. It was the versatility that made certain that weapons could be quickly loaded with weapons to counteract whatever was impeding them. Another system was Laser and Plasma weapons, they were few and far in between, the ship not being specialized in that category since it was primarily a ballistic and carrier-based build and loadout but it had a few on the case it needed them.
He slowly shifted through all the systems running a quick diagnostic and coming up in the clear. He wandered over the sensor systems and halted on the programming and data. "Quick question, I understand the sensor systems can easily tell the location of military and civilian assets both foreign and domestic in this system and a system within applicable range, but what about its ability to detect things on the surface of a world." He asked aloud seeing the sensor station officers stop moving and look back. "We can get somewhat reliable information depending on the planets weather patterns, for worlds with ionic storms in the atmosphere it's exceptionally difficult to penetrate them, its similar to entering a nebula, the ambient energy in the system scrambles readings and lowers our sensor data." The officer said explaining slowly.
"What about our ability to see further down that the surface?" He asked getting pursed lips. "You mean like subsurface imaging and scanning?" the sensor officer asked slowly. "Yes, do our sensors have the ability to breach the surface and outline both underground unnatural and natural systems?" He asked getting a slow sigh. "Yes and no, We can only breach about a mile at most under the surface anything after that requires specialized equipment and most of that equipment requires it to be on the surface, however building a dedicated sensor satellite above the planet to use highly tuned sensors is also something you can do, it's more expensive and if you wished to use it on another world would require loading onto a larger ship for transport but it can be safer than actually landing on the planet surface with a specialized team and guard." The sensor officer explained making him nod slowly.
"Do we have the flight and scheduled system data for any of our research ships?" He asked seeing everyone pause. "Looking for anyone in particular?" An information officer asked cheekily. He stared in silence at the man and waited in that silence for the man to shift nervously. "No, I would like to know just how many ships are out and where all they are authorized to go to if we are opening ourselves up like today has shown, I'd like to know where they are so I can begin assigning them to scan systems outside our controlled space." He said slowly getting a slow nod. "I'll put in a request and have the dispatching division for our research teams compile a list of their known locations and adjacent systems outside or sphere of influence." The intelligence officer said moving his hands over the holographic display typing up a quick message.
"Incoming communications from Admiral Blake and Admiral Pushkov." The communications officer called as the familiar two displays flashed for a moment showing the live feed of both women. "We saw you are getting a little more involved in ship movements outside the fleet, we had planned to hold of instruction for that type of thing for a few months yet, you seem to be doing fine but when we come along that course we will help you with certain actions you aren't aware of yet." Admiral Blake said slowly making him shift in his seat. "Other than that we need to move onto the next system, once we are there we will be breaking up into two separated fleets and run a mock fleet battle." Admiral Pushkov interjected as the jump drives charged up. "A mock battle?" He asked getting a slightly amused smile. "Our intention is to have you run through a simulated battle against one of us, we hope you will see the number of things you will need to keep in mind when committing to greater fleet battles with this little simulation." Admiral Blake said making him nod slowly.
"How will this be broken up?" He asked getting a small smirk. "Admiral Pushkov will pull her fleet and watch from the sidelines, you will take yours and compete against my own, Admiral Pushkov will instruct you as we go through the simulated battle and assist in pointing out things you have either missed or will need to pay more attention to in the battle itself. We don't expect you to come out perfect but we do need to see what needs improvement above all else." Admiral Blake explained getting a short nod from the fairly silent woman. "What's the estimated transit time from here to there?" He asked tensing up slightly at the anticipation of a space battle." he said getting a small smirk from Admiral Blake. "We will be in jump for around five hours at the least, we will need a several hours cooldown time to allow the fleets sections to break up and form up at the designated area's in the system." Admiral Blake explained making him nod slowly.
"What will take place after the simulation?" He asked curious about the following steps. "Depending on certain categories we will be looking over, we will adjust the next steps accordingly, however, something that won't change will be our immediate movements back towards the Empire. Returning to controlled space is better for us, while our fleet size deters most people from attacking, we cannot assume most nations will end up taking the threat seriously, and while the likelihood of any of our ships being damaged enough is low, especially from a small fleet size, it is a risk better not taken." Admiral Pushkov explained slowly. He sighed and nodded in agreement, another lesson to have learned during this little jaunt. The hours passed by much faster than he could have ever expected and the sight outside his bridge he was now privy to didn't do anything to ease the nerves he had when they explained this little plan.
After all, a third of his fleet was now against him and another third was sitting on the sidelines to watch the battle. "Alright, sir, we will begin shortly is there anything you would like to ask Admiral Blake before the simulated battle begins?" Admiral Pushkov asked quietly. "Only one thing, how do we accurately tell when a weapon has struck the enemies ship and what is the level of 'Damage' that needs to be done for a ship to be taken out?" He asked getting a small smirk. "All turret based weapons have multiple targeting systems place on it, most of those are detectable by our ships, we can simulate the response of the weapon systems on our own ships. To simplify if a turret based weapon manages to lock onto a ship whatever that weapon is we take the damage it can do away from the total health the ship has." Admiral Blake explained slowly pulling up a small display for a Frigate class ship. "And how do you come up with the health numbers?" He asked.
"Each ship has a natural damage threshold, and depending on size and class will depend on a pre-allocated number representing the health of the ship, knock that number down to zero and the ship will shut down non-essential systems to ensure that they show up as destroyed. You start with a distinct advantage as far as health points for ships go, more of your ships are a larger class than my own leading to better shield numbers and hull armor numbers." Admiral Blake explained pulling up the system tactical data. "For the duration of this fight, our ships will be switching to mock battle IFF signatures wiping us from your tactical mapping, your sensor stations will supplement this data but there is a noticeable lag between where a ship is on sensors and where one is based on IFF signals." Admiral Blake explained making him nod slowly.
"Very well if you are ready we will begin in a few short moments." Admiral Blake said before the communication shut down. "So any suggestions?" He asked the silent bridge crew. "Sir, if I may." A voice asked making him turn to look. His eyes landed on the Sensor Officer and he slowly nodded to the man. "We might want to begin by ordering all ships to prepare long-range weapons systems first then follow up with short range." The Sensor Officer said making him blink in surprise. "No Medium Range?" He asked getting a slow shake of the head. "By the time the medium range weapons are ready they will already be within short range response, and while those weapons still work fine they aren't as agile as a short-range weapons system." The Sensor Officer explained making him sigh and lean back. "Send the orders, also order all ships to spread to a minimum safe distance from each other, we don't need weapons 'pinging' off each other." He said getting a short nod. He glanced over the tactical map and saw his ships slowly put distance between each other.
"Anything on sensors?" He asked his response being a klaxon ringing out showing multiple hostile contacts converging from several locations. "Shit, I forgot that it wouldn't be as simple as them coming from the front, report!" He commanded watching as everyone rushed around the room. "Three Halbard class escorting a Paris class coming from a thirty-degree angle above and to our port!" The Officer responded. "Another four Paris coming from a ninety-degree angle directly under us. Jesus, they move fast." A second officer reported glancing over at the tac map. He grimaced lightly as the red dots swarmed from multiple angles the silhouettes of the ships themselves barely noticeable against the blackness of space. "Scramble fighters, escort bomber's to perform a surprise assault hopefully we can ward them off with a fast assault response if only to reorganize." He said watching as the tactical map lit up with multiple smaller dots whipping around each ship for a moment like a tiny maelstrom.
The sudden lines of dots moving towards each enemy ship caused a noticeable reaction to the tactical map. One ship was particularly brave and entered maximum firing range for short-range completely circumventing the long-range weapons. He winced lightly as one of his larger Marathon classes winked out on the tactical map. the three enemy ship moving over its position. "Get me a bead on the command ship and pull up a firing solution for our main armament. I'm going to need two ships to break formation and make themselves an attractive target for several of these ships, we will be lining the area around them with long-range fire." He ordered seeing several weapons stations light up like a Christmas tree. "Sir, I've lost weapons controls for missle systems they are targeting the ship to our direct port and another that is near our stern on the starboard side." The weapons officer said making him blink.
He chuckled lightly at the realization of what was going on. "Electronic warfare huh, damn I forgot that was an option, begin countermeasures to the hack and have EW target all opposing ships to at minimum remove their shielding, simply shutting them down even for a short time should give a good advantage. What are the losses looking like?" He asked getting one of the tactical strategists to look over. "We've lost the Arctura and Medina but we count seven ships on the opposing side lost, one of which looks to be from friendly fire, their angle of attack was good for a blitz but our point defense systems are fairly strong." the strategist responded making him nod only to see the readout for his ship take a massive hit to shields. "What the hell is melting our shields?" He asked getting a small grimace. "Multiple Paris class ships using mac weapons on several angles, the shields are maxed out and straining from the heavy assault. That much ordinance fired at multiple locations are pushing power systems to the max." An officer replied making him sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose.
"We have a report from the Rostov, they've lost a third of their fighters to the enemy forces." An officer exclaimed. "The Stringent Response has lost eight percent of their own." Another officer reported making him wince slightly. "Send out recovery teams, use the fighter forces to escort them and call back all bombers the ships are out of effective range anyways." He ordered as his fleet slowly got picked apart. He blinked as the emergency light flashed on and the overheads shut down. "Well shit." He mumbled as the two screens flashed to life in front of him. "So what have you learned?" Admiral Blake asked making him frown slightly and lean back in the chair. "Not to forget things so soon after learning them." He commented sarcastically getting two frowns in return. "To remember that space isn't a flat plane, that an attack can come from any angle, that electronic warfare does exist and can be a detriment, and finally to not cluster everyone together." He said getting two slow nods.
"It is more than that but we can go over the finer details once we get back home, for the most part, your plan was a solid one for a starting point, to take advantage of your superior range and switch quickly to close quarters knowing their speed, but aside from what you have said another two things to keep in mind, your ship does not need to stay stagnant nor does any in your fleet, moving in any direction can increase the likelihood of a missed shot, and finally to allow the captains to work somewhat freely, they know what they can and cannot do as well as what their ship and crews can do, let them enact the plan you put in place in their own way, don't constrain them to specific instructions that don't allow them the freedom to move." Admiral Blake explained slowly before turning to the side for a moment. "We will hold off on another simulated battle, while you have shown a decent amount of promise the reactions to this battle are far from what will likely be going on in a real conflict so this will only go so far to prepare you." Admiral Blake sighed out looking over a small tablet with a frown.
"Looks like we've been asked to expedite our return, R and D are eager to have you home as they have a few things to demonstrate and such, as well as a forwarded request from MSOC for a meeting with you as well." Admiral Blake said before sighing as she set the tablet down. "Well that is fine I suppose." He said slowly getting two amused smiles. "Looking to get away so soon? Afraid you won't be able to keep up?" Admiral Blake asked getting his eyes to narrow for a moment before an amused smirk broke out. "Nah, you said you saw enough as it is after all, and you seem impressed enough for the moment." He said simply getting a roll of the eyes. "Well, we do have two options, one large jump direct to the system which is just achievable at this distance, or several smaller jumps." Admiral Pushkov said quietly cutting into their little squabble.
"What are the differences for each?" He asked getting a low sigh. "The longer route of more jumps leaves us with more time." Admiral Pushkov explained making him stare at the woman blankly. "As much as I want to return as soon as possible, I would like another free day before being hounded by egg heads and Special Operations." He said getting a slightly amused look from the two. "Well we will have a few jumps to go through and it will take up approximately thirty-three hours to actually enter the Sol System, and another two hours to sift through the traffic to get into atmo." Admiral Blake explained making him sit back and try to relax in the chair. "Least it won't be wasted time." He commented letting the chair lean back. "Sir, as a minor heads up, while the fleet is reorganizing we are going to be coming by in order to go everything in detail." Admiral Blake said making him sit up straight in response. "What time will you be on board?" He asked getting a small smile.
"Give us around an hours time, reorganization of this scale is fairly complex." Admiral Pushkov explained before her display winked out. "I suppose I might as well order some food for when they arrive." he said aloud with a small sigh before leaning back in the chair and thinking over what would be good to eat. "Sir, It would be best if we leave now, I've taken the liberty of having food be sent to the meeting room." A guard said quietly from his place next to him. He nodded and followed the man out, the trip towards the landing bay they were coming in on was much longer than the last time, having chosen one near the stern of the ship he found himself waiting as they moved along the roadways towards where he was expected to be. Much of the ship he hadn't seen so far made its presence known to him or at least much of what he hadn't seen on this level was shown to him.
It didn't take much longer than a few minutes for him to find himself sitting at the head of the table and looking down at the plate of food in front of him. He stiffened as a knock echoed from the closed door. "Enter." He said simply getting two guards to walk in first before both Admiral Blake and Admiral Pushkov walked in after. "Take a seat, Food was prepared for this little meeting as I am sure it is going to run into and most likely past dinner time considering the time is currently five in the afternoon." He said with some amusement. He watched both of them take their seats near his looking at the plates in front of them. "I apologize if it is something you can't eat, I do not know if you have any allergies or preferences." He said only to get two small smiles. "It's alright, for myself I do not have any preferences or allergies so anything will do, but if I remember correctly Admiral Pushkov prefers not to eat pork." Admiral Blake said turning to look at the woman getting a small nod.
"I will keep that in mind, I went with beef, so it shouldn't be anything you cannot eat although I will be sure to pass it along to the prep team that will be taking care of that since any other meetings we have I would rather be comfortable." He said shifting awkwardly in his seat. "We can begin the discussion after we finish eating if you wish, during that time we can answer any questions you might have." Admiral Blake said getting him to smile a bit and nod. He started in on his food getting a good bit of the way through the steak before a thought came to him. "I am wondering something. This is more of a personal question so you don't need to answer if you don't want to, but, why did you take Synthetic bodies?" He asked seeing the two stop mid-bite before Admiral Pushkov frowned slightly. "As far as I go, it was a preference, I had been interested in humanity, our original makers when I was first formed so the natural decision for me was to take a Synthetic body." Admiral Blake said before glancing over at Admiral Pushkov.
"My decision was mostly made for me, I did not lean either way but at the time we had lost most of our production facilities especially those that personalize the Android bodies, but our secret Synthetic facility was uncompromised, it was easy to create a Synthetic body or at least easier than running the risk with an Android one at the time." Admiral Pushkov said making him flinch lightly before rubbing at the back of his neck. "Would you wish to change bodies?" He asked getting total silence aside from a fork dropping. "Not that there is anything wrong with your current body! It's quite beautiful. Er, what I mean is, you look quite beautiful. Uh, god this is not helping." He said mumbling towards the end only to get a loud laugh from Admiral Blake. "Why is it you ask?" Admiral Pushkov asked a curious look in her eyes as she smiled lightly. "If you wanted to, I could always ask to have an Android body made for you, we could transfer you over." He said only to get an amused glance.
"Sorry sir, but transferring a mind from Synthetic to Android bodies is more difficult than that, there is an adjustment period, especially the loss of sensation, it runs the risk of damage to the mind, it's why we dedicate several months to adjusting those forced to go through that, if it was done Admiral Pushkov would be away from her duties for several months. It is less damaging to go the opposite way really, even if the initial transfer is more dangerous and difficult." Admiral Blake explained making him blink in surprise. "How so?" He asked getting a small purse of the lips. "The transfer can be dangerous due to the danger of the organic structures in the body failing from the sudden surge that the mind will give after transfer, generally it requires a lot of dedicated attention and careful planning to go that route." Admiral Blake explained making him lean back as his fork moved the food around on his plate for a minute.
"I see, I would be happy to put through the request should you ever want to do so." He said getting a smile from Admiral Pushkov. "It is appreciated but I am comfortable as I am." Admiral Pushkov said before returning to her food. "Besides if we are Androids we can really enjoy food." Admiral Blake said making him smile in amusement. "Right I forgot about that." He said getting an amused glance. "So What is it we need to discuss?" He asked getting the two to glance towards each other. "Your movements were fine, but we had a small discussion and determined that a long-term fighter and bomber training class could help you understand both space combat and the transition to traditional in atmosphere combat with a space vessel." Admiral Blake explained. "We understand you already have rough Fighter teaching but this would help you understand the finer details involved." Admiral Pushkov explained right after.
"Alright, how will this be done?" He asked getting the two to glance at each other before Admiral Blake put down a small projector letting the Holographic display light up in the middle of the table. "On board are thousands of simulation pods, used to allow pilots continuous training and some relaxation, we are going to have you in those pods for several months before starting you in the real deal along with several pilots, these pilots will no doubt be hand picked by your security detail, all precautionary I am sure." Admiral Blake explained making him sigh and lean back. "So this will be something I will doing even when back on Earth?" He asked getting a blink of surprise. "I had forgotten you have duties on the planet, We can have the Naval Air Division install a simulator inside the tower, it might be a little while until that is done since your security will be heavily involved." Admiral Blake said making him nod slowly.
"I want you to keep in mind though, that the ability to maneuver and adjust in a small ship like a fighter or bomber is very different from the movements of a large ship like a Frigate and such, the reason I say this is so you understand that in atmosphere combat and movements especially since you will be under a larger amount of gravitational force being so close to the planet will affect movement, and the speed at which your ship reacts to commands." Admiral Blake explained making him lean back a bit as he absorbed the exceptionally long sentence. "I see." He said before rubbing his eyes slightly from fatigue. "It's been a fairly trying day sir, with the results of your test and the constant movement and deep thinking I am not surprised in the least you are feeling tired." Admiral Pushkov said lightly making him sigh and nod.
"I have been up for almost sixteen hours, today at least, and while long-term sleep deprivation was touched upon the smallest bit during Army Basic, I don't believe they had larger tactical thinking and heavily complex movements and actions to be factored into the time you are awake." He said with a small roll of the eyes. "It's actually been proven with a small amount of trial and error that many who are tired through the day are more likely to fall asleep after finishing a meal and getting comfortable. I understand this room isn't that comfortable but it is my suggestion you return to your quarters and get some rest, it would do you well." Admiral Blake explained making him raise an eyebrow before moving to stand. He stretched a bit for a small moment as the two moved to stand quickly as well. "You don't need to get up on my part. If you want to return to your ships or even stay on this ship through the night you are free to do so." he said getting a lightly amused look from Admiral Blake.
"That's quite an offer sir, but I find myself surprised you are so willing to take us to bed." Admiral Blake said the restrained laughter in her tone. He coughed slightly as he almost tripped. "I can see speaking around you two will be just as interesting as every conversation I have with Miyumi and Kira." He commented getting a small snort of laughter from Admiral Blake as the normally cold and composed woman, who while warming up to him, laughed at the thought. "That wasn't exactly what I was saying." he said awkwardly staring at the woman who looked over him in amusement. "I know, however you looked like you could use a little amusement before heading off to sleep, I believe we will stay on the ship in the quest quarters, we will have several other things we will need to go over with you in the morning, and before resting ourselves there are certain Divisions on board we will need to visit to prepare for your training." Admiral Blake said making him nod quickly before leaving the two women alone.
He hoped his quick exit would save him from any other parting comments that would no doubt both take him by surprise and making him tense at the implications in the words alone. He had a sneaking suspicion that the implants weren't just there to distribute drugs in an emergency, he had a feeling it was also there to distribute artificial hormones to ensure the correct growth levels were upheld, as well as to supplement his bodies rather poor development due to other factors in the past. Although he couldn't know for sure, the extreme surge in emotions or rather him being prone to easy embarrassment, which was something he probably already had with his fairly sheltered upbringing, wasn't something he could just write off as normal. Normally to him at least, he could easily see it being assisted by the implants, although that was something he would need to be far more awake to figure out so he resigned himself to sleep and the faint hope that the next day would be easier.
It was with a small sigh, the small pounding in his head of an approaching headache, and a bright flash of red before darkness engulfed him that brokered the middle of the next day. "You know, when You had explained the Simulation pods to me, and their function I had the slight assumption that I wouldn't just be thrown in the deepest part of this and basically told to win." He said aloud getting a soft snort. "That is the point. Our placing you in the most difficult simulation was to show you the expectations and the result we are looking to have you get to, there may never really be a cap to your skills, and you can always be better, however, this is the uniformly regarded level of the exceptionally skilled pilot." Admiral Blake said making him rub his eyes as he raised the flight visor to the helmet on his head. He could feel the link from the helmet and took a small glance around the simulation pod.
From the way, everything was arranged it was almost a perfect recreation of the Nemesis Multirole Superiority Fighter's cockpit, multiple touch surfaces showing several key systems including weapons and their ammo count. As well as a perfect recreation of the size of its interior and the HUD glass that was covering every window on the cockpit, of course, the helmet itself could do that function but it was good to have backups. "She we run the beginning program?" Admiral Blake asked making him raise an eyebrow and nod slowly. "Yeah, what's the program's objectives?" He asked seeing a small list appear on the front blackened port. "As you can see its mostly to help you get used to the flight movements, you'll be starting in the atmosphere to get acquainted with both gravitational forces and the starting orientation that comes with a planet, knowing up and down and such." Admiral Blake explained making him sigh.
"After that, we will go over several aerial movements and then you will be instructed to head into space to start the training for you acclimation to an area where there is no unified up or down with which to go by." Admiral Blake explained before the screens flashed and he found himself looking at clouds before the ship suddenly nosedived. He grabbed the controls quickly and made a quick glance over the displays for the system and saw the thrusters weren't activated. He ran the startup and pushed the output to maximum pulling up several hundred feet before impacting in the mountain. "I know this is all fake, but I can't help but feel it isn't every time we start this and was it totally necessary to start the program without the thrusters activated?" He asked in mild annoyance getting a short burst of silence. "Yes, it is best for you to be aware of everything in the ship at all times, that was there to make sure you have fast reflexes and can take action quickly." Admiral Blake explained making him roll his eyes before relaxing slightly.
"First we will begin by several flight elevations. You are currently at three thousand feet above the ground, you should easily be able to take a good look at the landscape around you." Admiral Blake explained making him glance around and see a vast mountain range in front of him. "Yeah, I got a Mountain range below me." He said tilting the wing a bit to get a better look. "Alright we are going to have you focus on low flying, there are two sections to this low altitude flying, and 'skimming'." Admiral Blake explained making him blink. "Right, and the differences because they sound the same from a first impression." He said as he continued his path through the air. "The low altitude segment will be between the altitudes of one thousand and five hundred feet above the ground." Admiral Blake explained setting a small marker reminder at the top of his HUD.
"You will need to achieve that flight pattern for approximately five minutes, next will be a 'skimming' section, you will need to maintain an altitude between thirty and a hundred feet above the ground, while altitudes below that won't disqualify you or negatively affect the course it is suggested you don't try it due to the dangers it imposes." Admiral Blake explained. "Next will come to a split second reaction course through a large canyon in the mountains you see, you cannot leave the canyon as that will count as a failing score for that portion of the simulation." Admiral Blake continued before falling into silence. He angled the craft into a soft nose dive and only leveled it out at seven hundred feet. The ground was a hell of a lot closer now and while he was back in his element, flying in the air something he could do like a natural, being in control of an exceptionally responsive and fast machine to do it was far different from using a broom.
The time he was required to pass through the air went far faster than he thought, however, he was forced to dodge mountains since they weren't so small as to not pass his altitude. He dipped lower as a confirmation marker lit up at the top of his HUD. The Altitude meter showed his quick descent and he waited until he broke the threshold he was asked to and pulled up watching nervously as it continued to drop for a short time until it halted at little over forty feet above the ground. The sights around him blurred as he flew by at high speed. The only thing that wasn't blurred was anything in the distance far enough for him to see before it passed by. He jerked the stick in surprise as a small spire came close to taking out the left wing and his body reacted quickly weaving in and out of obstacles as he made the ship slowly follow the marker guiding him to the next segment of the training.
His completion of that segment was marked by immediately flying into a canyon and seeing the tall rough walls not too far on each side of him. "You know you never said what was to take place after this step." He said as he concentrated on the flight path he was making through the long winding canyon. "Your next step would be to ascend at a steady rate into orbit and once there create a stable orbit around the planet, one full rotation will be very quick and we won't need to spend long to find out if you succeeded in stabilizing your orbit." Admiral Blake explained as he spun quickly through a tight arch in the canyon. "Right because that is so easy." He said sarcastically as he dived lower to avoid an area in the canyon that closed in near the top. "With the displays inside the ship one will automatically switch from altitude and angle of approach display's to an orbital prediction display. Using that you can easily adjust your orbit to achieve a stable one." Admiral Blake explained making him blink.
He glanced over at the display before quickly looking back to continue the short test he was currently in. "Right, How far until the Canyon portion is completed?" He asked getting silence for a minute. "At your current pace, your exit should be right in front of you in little over a minute." Admiral Pushkov said quietly making him blink in surprise not expecting he was so close to finishing. The exit was blinding but something told him to pull up and he didn't quickly, he glanced back once his vision cleared and shifted in mild discomfort as at the exit was a spire jutting out towards the exit. "Well, that could have ended quickly." He said sarcastically before turning back to pay attention to his read out as he ascended at a steep angle and watched the numbers rise quickly. He blinked as the display shifted and he angled the craft forwards watching the arch slowly expand in length before he pushed the thrusters a bit harder.
He noticed the arch start expanded a bit more quickly than before and narrowed his eyes as it almost covered around the planet. He waited in patience and looked as the two ends met up although still a bit close to the planet. He turned off the thrusters and let the ship drift for a short bit before letting it cover a quarter of the total distance before turning the thrusters back on and watch the arch expand a bit near the closest end to the planet making him smile slightly as it cleared the furthest point of the atmosphere. He relaxed while the ship made a full rotation before his coms lit up. "Alright, it seems like you have an idea of orbital location and how to achieve a stable orbit." Admiral Blake said before sighing softly. "While that will be important when waiting for landing clearance I want you to also understand, in a ship-based fighting area it is useless. You won't be functioning in an orbital perspective the thruster power of each fighter is enough to allow free movement without worrying about gravitational forces too much." Admiral Blake explained making him nod slowly to the words.
"Next we will begin a small firing simulation, these will be static objects so you will not need to react as though they are actual enemies." Admiral Blake said before the marker showed the location of the first target He spun around almost completing a half rotation and found his weapons reticle line up on a literal target. He stared at the object for a moment before opening the closed visor and rubbing at his eyes in annoyance. "A literal target, when you said I had targets to fire on I assumed they were deactivated simulation ships or maybe a weapon floating in space that would be for a frigate to learn weak spots." He said getting a small snort. "First we need to address your accuracy from there we can move onto weak points but the target is very useful for determining the accuracy of a shot." Admiral Blake explained before he sighed a pushed the thrusters.
He armed the guns and held the trigger down for a short second watching as a burst of metallic rounds exited and streamed through space almost invisible to the naked eye, ignoring the IR marker for each round making them show up on his HUD. He blinked as they impacted against the target sending it spinning before he shot past it and the navigation system locked onto another target that was at a slight angle. He could swing around to hit it from a better angle but his approach was too quick to pull off for a better-angled pass so he aligned the reticle as best he could and fired again seeing the target spin in place in the zero-gravity environment. His last target was already spinning and he could see on the back of the target was an X marking it as the incorrect side to attack. He stared for a minute before shooting again almost wanting to just ram the thing for the ridiculous marker showing which side was to be shot.
"Very well done, the trainers will go over your results and send a detailed report, but from the tasks themselves you've passed the first simulation, which is the most basic." Admiral Blake said as everything shut down quickly making him sigh and climb out of the pod. "Do you have to ruin my sense of accomplishment." He said getting a small smile. "Have to keep you humble, you do have many more simulations before we even get to some of the good stuff." Admiral Blake explained making him sigh and roll his shoulders to relieve the stiff feeling they still held after the long fake flight. "Were the targets necessary?" He asked getting a small amused smile. "Not really but I couldn't help myself, seemed like a good enough way to get the point across. Also, most ships don't have bright colors aside from finding the bright lights of their thrusters, the cockpit lights, or the flash of their weapons firing, you won't have much to see in order to find them, that type of target is a good warm up to finding objects in space." Admiral Blake said leading him away. "Yeah still felt stupid though." He said with a small sigh following her as he continued another boring yet trying day.
A/N: Ah man so many days since the last update, this was a bit hard to do, I'm still trying to find the real way I want to do space battles, I know of a few works that did them really well and some that fell far short of the mark, yet I don't remember their names and I want to use good ones for inspiration, If anyone knows of any good ones, crossover or not send them my way I'd like to get an idea of how to do it justice, also keep in mind, this little thing of no fighting isnt going to last long, but you will have to keep wondering when it will happen since I dont want to ruin the anticipation.
I've also got a few ideas on new stories I will be exploring to keep my muse fresh for this and not completely burn myself out on one story.