Since I have officially been banned from getting ill again by amberreed69 I have another chapter for you all. Thanks for the reviews by the way!
"If you're not going to kill it then you might as well take up origami!" Scarlet said loudly as she set up the equipment for my shooting practice. "You have twenty targets in total appearing all around at any given moment. You have to shoot them before the time runs out. For every miss then you'll get crunches. Got it?" Her voice was strictly business so I nodded my head obediently. "Good." She pressed the button.
I sensed a change in the air, a metallic humming which made my skin twitch on my left side. Whirling around I had barely aimed the gun before I had fired. Just as I had pulled the trigger I felt heat coming from behind so I turned, keeping balanced in my spin as I shot again. Several more shots were fired like this but when one managed to squeeze through and fire at me just miliseconds before I had shot it, I barely had time to react.
As the fake bullet shot towards me I could feel the magnetic pulse coming from it, which was incredibly strange. I could taste the metallic zing of electricity at the back of my jaw, directing me to the location of where the source was. I flipped up into the air, twisting and rotating my body to become a more difficult target to hit.
Placing one foot down I swung my other around, pulling myself out of the way clearly before shooting down two more targets in quick succession. I watched the lights move, changing direction to form the next target. Without thinking my body began to react.
I ran up the fake wall, springing from one side of a building to another to gain ground before kicking off with all of my might, the muscles in my length propelling me backwards. I arched my back, twisting to angle myself towards the window as the fake soldier took shape and lifting his gun.
My trigger finger squeezed and the lights all faded away. A clear headshot. When I landed back on the ground I turned, shaking my head to clear my slightly confused thoughts before looking to Scarlet. "How did I do?" She just stared at me. The clock beside her was frozen with a good fifteen seconds to spare.
"How…you…"
"What? Did I do something wrong?" I asked in genuine concern, stepping forwards. "I can do it again if you want and I'll do as many crunches as you throw at me." Scarlet smiled at me then shook her head.
"No it's just…you moved just like me." With a little shrug she sighed. "I got my record the same way you did. A headshot whilst rotating in mid-air. Kind of uncanny." Unsure of what this meant I swallowed.
"So because I didn't miss any…does this mean no crunches?" Scarlet cracked an evil grin.
"Hell no. Now drop and give me fifty! I want to see sweat pouring from you!"
After Scarlet's pretty tortuous routine of endless exercises, shooting practice and weapons management I was pretty tired the next morning. Somehow my body felt fine, it was my mind which was reeling from all the information she had thrown at me. As I was doing press ups she was reeling off facts about every subject imaginable then getting me to repeat them a few minutes later.
So as I went down to the jet hanger to find Rip the next day, I was hoping he wasn't going to do something stupid and put me in front of the controls of a plane, because I was likely to fall asleep and crash. Thankfully he got me into a plane with two controls, which was only a training model with the inability of flight. Thank heaven.
Rip seemed excited to be teaching someone all his stunts, his broad grin never left his features but the moment he was sat in the pilot's chair, he became very serious in his teaching, showing me exactly what every button did or what dial told you what until I practically had it all memorised. I was beginning to feel a little grateful for the enhanced memory function.
Within the hour I was running the start-up sequence without even needing Ripcord to guide me. He seemed impressed. "But you're genetically improved, so it doesn't count." He told me sternly with a broad grin. "I learned on natural talent."
"Sure Rip, whatever makes you feel better." I laughed, guiding the plan through the air, watching the screen as virtual clouds flew past. I kept on glancing to Rip for approval of what I was doing before he asked me to land. Just before I could begin the sequence, however, the dial showing a wide berth of my surroundings began to flash with a dot fast approaching our location.
"Please tell me this is all fake still." I begged of Rip who laughed.
"Of course it is. Well, you've met a possible enemy target. What you gonna do about it?" I shot him a glare.
"You're supposed to be tutoring me." Rip grinned cockily.
"I believe in learning on the job." Sighing I glanced around before flicking at a few switches then reached up, turning a dial before speaking into the mouthpiece of my headset.
"Baby Eagle to Blackbird, report?" I tried questioningly, sending a look to Rip who rolled his eyes.
"You want to find out if they're friend or enemy, that's your first mission. If they start firing at you, then they're your enemy. However, if they reply to your communication then you can liaise with them as to who they are and then go from there. Oh and try and sound like you know what you're doing." Narrowing my eyes at Rip I turned back to the virtual screen in front of me where a black jet streaked past then circled around. "Hostile behaviour, be on your guard." Rip advised.
Instantly I switched from autopilot to manual, manoeuvring around to face the Blackbird. "Unidentified aircraft you are in restricted US Military flight space." I began, taking a sneaky glance to Ripcord to see if he was mocking me. He wasn't. "Identify yourself." After there was a soft click and a woman's voice came on screen.
"Simulation complete. Please land your craft then exit safely through the door. Please mind your head and descend the steps with caution." I blinked then chuckled.
"Well. That was easier than anticipated."
"You wait until we get out into the air. Because that's where we're heading next." All colour drained from my face as I stared at Ripcord whilst landing the plane. He was true to his word. The moment we were out of the testing unit he was dragging me to a jet with two seats, one behind the other. He put me in front.
"But Ripcord, I've never flown before!"
"You just did." He replied tartly, strapping himself in.
"Yeah…in a virtual computer simulation." I snapped back as I triple checked I was buckled in. "I cannot believe you're making me do this."
"Hey, think of it this way. In a plane you only crash and death is pretty instant. When you go over to Heavy for aquatic training, if you screw up then you drown, which is a lot slower and way more painful." The moment my radio was up I spoke in a dead tone.
"Funny." Starting up the jet I felt it hum into life as the engines warmed up. "You guys really know how to welcome someone around here."
"Sure do. Make sure you ease on the speed for a moment to let everything check through. Just roll gently forwards before you make your break for the sky." Ripcord advised, settling down in the back. Thankfully he had emergency take over controls so that he could get us both out of trouble if I massively screwed up. Sucking in a deep breath I did as he suggested then once I was satisfied that everything was still in working condition since its last check up, which had been two minutes ago, I began to gather some speed.
Once we were zipping down the runway I lifted us up into the air, biting my lip and whimpering slightly as I felt the weird sensation of solid ground falling behind us. I almost forgot to raise my wheels. Oops. After a while of tight handling and nervous navigating, I began to relax into things.
Ripcord was constantly in my ear, which was both a blessing and a curse. His teaching was good and helped to remind me that I was in good hands but at the same time, it was constant. Therefore it got annoying at one point. We circled the island, never going out of radio distance. "Eagle six what's your status report?" A voice asked through the radio but thankfully Ripcord answered, since he was the senior officer and this was an official update.
"The skies are clear as far as I can see. Nothing to report." I swear that guy was like some unlucky jinx or something, because the moment the words left his mouth, a hostile enemy jet appeared. The metallic surface gleamed as it soared close to my wing, forcing me to bank hard out of the way then pull a tight return to locate it again. "What the hell! Rip! This had better not be one of your ideas of learning on the job!"
"No! This one isn't on me!" He yelled back then grabbed his controls. When I remained piloting the jet, swerving around the jet as it tried to lock onto us.
"Uh…Rip? Why aren't you flying the jet?" I asked him as calmly as I could, although my heart was hammering at a million miles an hour.
"It's not working! The system isn't responding!" He did not help by practically hyperventilating in the back. Now I was in a panic.
"What?" I practically yelled, pulling hard on my joystick to perform a complete loop over the jet's head, taking a deep breath before speaking through my mouthpiece. "Alpha Nest this is Eagle six. We have a hostile enemy aircraft within the perimeter." When all I received was static, my panic attack returned. "Rip?"
"Yeah?" He answered, his voice breaking.
"Promise not to panic." I said then dropped our altitude a little before banking steeply upwards, keeping out of the way of the enemy aircraft as it continued to pursue us.
"Okay."
"We've lost all communications." There was a long pause before I heard an almighty scream leave his lungs. I flinched against the sound, my sensitive hearing picking up the high soprano like it was on a megaphone. "Rip? Rip? Rip!" I bellowed and he fell silent. "Shut the trap and concentrate. I need eyes on at all times." Ripcord gulped then nodded.
"Sure, sure I knew that." He looked around then called out. "Six 'o' clock, coming up fast." I added some speed then pulled a wide circle, rolling over the body before diving into some cloud cover. "Nice one."
"Thanks. No idea where it came from. Seems like you're a better teacher than you…" Before I could finish the sentence, a jet shot out in front of me, causing me to yell in shock then bank hard left to avoid collision. "Heaven on earth! Do you want to make sushi out of us?" I yelled over the radio, trying to connect with this new bird but all I got was static again. "Damn."
"Just stay calm, Robyn, you're doing great. Now we have the standard issued ammunitions on this baby, we'll have to use them."
"They were disabled before we came out, remember? You really want a novice flyer handling weapons like that?"
"Point taken. Okay so we're stranded. We're going to have to head back and let out boys finish them off."
"Rodger that." I replied then narrowed my eyes, concentrating. The two jets flashed passed, circling us. It was like they were toying with us, which confused me. Why were they waiting? They hadn't even fired one shot at us yet. I pushed these thoughts aside and powered forwards, going back on my trail to return to base and signal for aid.
As predicted the two enemy jets followed, both trying to pull alongside me. I allowed them to do so, something ticking over in the back of my mind. Suddenly I had no idea what I was doing, my body completely took over. The moment both jets were level I performed the body roll, turning the jet over on its side then flew over the jet on my right, continuing until I was on its other side then lowered my jet, gliding underneath.
The jet, now a little confused, veered off to the left to expose me, allowing me a free break towards the base. I took the chance, my mind hardly registering what was happening since it was going so fast. When one of the jets opened fire with a Tommy gun, I smirked.
"Finally. Some real fun." I mused then glided out of the line of fire, weaving and snaking my way through.
"Watch your tail, they're coming in hot." Ripcord called, watching carefully out of the visor.
"Hang on to something." I advised then pulled around. "Let's give them something to think about."
"Robyn? What are you doing?" Rip asked slowly and slightly fearfully. I cackled wildly.
"Something crazy!" With that I looped over my head, pointing the nose back the way we came then turned so that we were now going in the other direction.
"That's towards them!" Rip half yelled. "You insane girl!" All three of us bore down on one another. I saw one jet waver, beginning to break off but he pulled back and continued forwards. Who was going to crack first? We were closing in. Closer and closer until we were practically nose to nose.
At the last second, with Rip screaming in my ear, I turned the plane on its side. We just fit through the gap but at the last minute panic the other two jets both split off, breaking out of formation then both banked around in a circle. Calculating every moment to precision, I veered through the jet to have first fired, counting on their arrogance. It worked.
They open fired on us and I pulled their direction to the other jet. "Robyn!" Rip yelled in terror but I had already pulled him to where I wanted to be. Bullets ripped through the air at the other jet and I think several may have struck before it was able to move out of the way.
"That was fun." I mused aloud then smiled as the base came into view. "Yay! Ground! Safe, solid ground!"
"Uh huh." Rip groaned, his head rolling back. "I'm gonna hurl."
"Please don't." I informed him, glancing around before focussing on my monitor. I waited for a few seconds before frowning. Why hadn't they began firing at the two jets circling around the island? Didn't they see them? What the hell was going on?
That was when it clicked. The reason they didn't initially open fire, the reason why one was reluctant to stay on the collision course, the reason why Rip had sounded so afraid at my plan, the reason they didn't shoot down the jets…was because they were us.
"Rip. I'm going to murder you for this." I practically bellowed at him. "You had me thinking we were going to die!"
"Hey, we're alive, right?" Rip offered weakly with a grin.
"I am. You? Not so much." With that I flipped up a small case then flicked the eject switch for the back. "Have a nice swim."
"What?" Were the last words Rip spoke before his seat exploded from the jet and he soared up into the air before falling down to the sea. He pulled the chute open and glided down, kicking his legs at the rich blue water below. I had to laugh. "Kiss that, jerk." I mocked then joined the other two jets in formation, taking the left wing.
We soared through the air, lapping around the island before going a little further out for one last round of what felt like exhilarating freedom. The air was not as scary as I thought it would be. For some reason flying came naturally to me, as if I had done it all my life. My fingers knew what to do, my mind seemed to just leak with the information I needed to control the aircraft.
Finally we pulled back in for landing, rolling down the runway before exiting the jet. I had christened it Martha. "Thanks for the ride Martha." I patted the body then turned, allowing her to be taken care of by the professionals. That's when I saw Rip striding towards me, dripping wet and carrying his parachute. I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing.
Clutching my side I almost doubled over from the laughter, wiping my eyes as tears filled them. When I realised he was still striding towards me and not breaking pace, I began to quieten down. "Uh…truce?" I offered weakly, holding up my hands in surrender. Rip lunged for me.
I yelped and fled, turning to get away. Running off the runway I glanced back, thankful that I was a lot faster than I used to be because of my enhancements. It seemed to be an endless list but so far they were coming in handy. When I turned back, I almost ran into the two other pilots who had helped Rip out with his trial.
Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.
I stopped running, staring at them with a slightly gaping mouth as I lost all train of thought. It had been them? Then that meant I had almost killed one of them! Oh crap, now they must hate me even more than before. Crap, what do I do now?
Thankfully I was saved by a charging bull. When I say charging, I literally mean charging. He slammed into me full pelt and tackled me to the ground. My mind blacked out and for a moment I was completely unaware of everything until I was blinking myself awake.
Rip lay underneath me, his arm between my legs as I bridged beneath it, threatening to break it. He was crying out for me to let go and Snake had me by the arms, dragging me away. "But…how did that happen?" I frowned, rubbing my now throbbing head. "Rip I'm sorry! I didn't mean to. I blacked out, I swear I wouldn't hurt you on purpose!"
"Dang, you got some grip!" Rip hissed as he shook out his arm, nodding to Storm who had helped him up. "What do you mean you blacked out?"
"Well. I blacked out." I answered then looked to Snake. Instantly I moved away, retreating into the invisible shell I had created for myself. I curled my arms around me and hunched over a little, lowering my head. "I'm sorry."
"Hey it's fine. I've had worse from Duke. Believe me. I have the scars to prove it." Still I felt bad. This guy had had a pretty rough day because of me. "You seriously don't remember what happened?"
"I didn't see anything." I repeated.
"Well, you kind of flipped me onto my back with your leg somehow, completely had it horizontal then you sort of swung into position, landing us both but you had my arm." Rip recounted.
"You were fast. Faster than ninja even." Storm said with a curious look on his face, his arms folded across his chest. With three pairs of eyes all staring at me I retreated further into my shell.
"I'm sorry." I whispered again then pushed my way free past Rip, hurrying away until I was safely out of sight, ignoring Rip calling my name. I ran all the way to my room with the excuse of having a shower. It had been a long day and it wasn't even over. I still had aquatic training. Maybe I'll actually manage to drown someone this time.