The stars glowing outside the magcon field looked beautiful, even though they were just stars hundreds of lightyears away. that didn't matter, since to her they were always beautiful no matter how many times she saw them.
She was so busy stargazing she almost didn't hear the flight controller call out "Sting 6, you are clear for launch". She smiled and double checked the engines to make sure they were throttled up.
A small light above the rack holding her TIE fighter started to blink, getting faster and faster, until finally it stopped blinking and switched from red to a steady green. She felt a lurch as the TIE was released from the rack and she threw the throttle back, lurching the TIE forward and out of the magcon field.
All recruits were taught to use the light. The light signalled when the racks would disengage, and if you weren't quick enough the TIE would fall and hit the hangar floor, which would be bad since it could even prevent other TIE's from launching. So lots of practice was given before a cadet was allowed to fly for real.
Breaking free of the magcon field, she smiled as she was on her own, the TIE turning gracefully as she turned it a little each way, to make sure all her controls worked. Though each TIE was identical, occassionally small problems appeared that couldn't be forseen, and this had happened for centuries after mass production had become standard. It was still one of the universe's greatest mysteries.
Finally the flight controller came on, "Sting 6, you are to fly towards the nearby asteroid field on heading 135 mark 352. You are to dodge the asteroids for two minutes, then wait for further instructions."
She clicked on her comm and said, "Copy Control. Sting 6 out." She didn't double click the comm as was common within the squadron, since control was usually filled with officers and not the more common crewmen that flew. That, and it was easier to double click in a hot spot than actually comm in.
She turned and applied her thruster to 75%, a speedy cruise, which she turned back down to 60% just before entering the asteroid field. She had been warned that anything 50% and less would get her grade knocked down, so she was being careful and fast.
The asteroids floated slowly along, appearing to be calm, but that was from far away, not when smaller asteroids ranging in size from the size of a pebble to bigger than your starfighter were slung in a slingshot orbit around other asteroids, turning it into a shooting gallery. That alone made most asteroids off-limits to anything but experianced pilots.
She took a deep breath and dived in, swinging slowly around a large kilometer wide asteroid and then having to shorten it up quickly to slip between it and a smaller asteroid slowly moving together. She threw the throttle forward, just barely slipping through, and then had to pull as hard as she could back on the stick to avoid a third asteroid dead ahead.
This deadly dance continued, as she swung around, between, and once even through a gauntlet of hundreds of asteroids. She hadn't had enough time to throttle down again, so she was literally flying on the edge of her seat to pull the stick as far over as she could, the engine behind her starting to overheat with such abusive flying.
Finally the timer hit the two minute mark and she flew as quickly as she could for the nearest edge of the field. The controller came back on and said, "Congradulations Sting 6. Now change course to 354 mark 243 and engage the enemy starfighters."
That single word, starfighters, made her face pale underneith the bulky pilot's helmet. That ment there was more than one, and she was alone, unshielded. She gulped and sent her confirmation, then turned and headed for the targets.
There were three of them, slow moving Y-wing starfighters, patrolling near the asteroid field. One turned to come at her, and the others followed suit. She could see the range marker spinning down, and she forced herself to breath steady. Finally they got in range and she waited for the inevitable.
It was quick. The three starfighters opened fire with both their forward lasers and turret ion cannons. She spun her starfighter into a barrel roll, then dove down, letting the enemy follow her, before pulling up into a tight arc that let her shoot off a quick shot at the rear Y-wing.
The shields on the thing absorbed the shot, and she didn't have time to get another shot before she was again dodging around, avoiding the fire coming from the one on her tail. She saw one ahead and was about to fire when the missile lock indicator on her TIE started going off.
The one behind her had locked on with a missile, and she saw on her rear scope the brief flash before it slid out of the launch tube and came after her. Her eyes went wide, and she gunned it towards the Y-wing infront of her.
Because the Y-wing was slower, she would be able to get infront of it, and so while it was shooting at her, she dived, the missile on her tail swinging down to follow her... right into the spine of the Y-wing she'd ducked infront of. The Y-wing's shields absorbed some of the blast, but then they collapsed and the remaining energy sheered the ship in half, cutting through the fuel lines which then detonated.
The explosion obscured the fighter on her tail, and she took that time to go after the other one, the one trying to line up on the other's wing after the loss of his previous wing. She flew past, then turned back and opened fire, sending green bolts of energy into it's rear shields.
The shields held, and she had to constantly avoid the ion turret, but finally she punched through and sent the green bolts into the left engine nozzle, melting shut one of the ion ducts. The duct backed up, sending more ions through the other nozzles, heating them until they melted, and no more energy could get to that engine. The ship started spinning out of control, so that while not destroyed, the ship could be picked up later.
She was thrilled with her victory, until a blue ball of lightning flashed past. The last starfighter was after her, firing with everything it had, and she had to quickly dodge out of the way. The shots followed her, closely, and she tried to hide behind the disabled Y-wing. But her pursuer wasn't giving her the opportunity, and she was gunning it as fast as she could, hoping to get far enough away to swing around and make a flying pass.
Despite her best efforts, she couldn't stop the ion bolt that hit her TIE, overloading the systems and disabling them. The twin ion engines shut down, and she was then adrift in space, before finally the ship got around to nailing her with a pair of scarlet bolts of energy. The shining starfield went black.
She leaned back in her seat, pulling the helmet off and letting her sweat soaked hair fall free. The hatch at the rear of the simulator popped open, and the cool air was wonderful against her sweaty skin. She climbed out, panting, as the cool air of the Devastator cooled her off. She had to wait near the hatch for her eyes to adjust, before she could see. She then grabbed her gear and headed for her bunk, believing to have failed because she was hit by the last starfighter.
-----------------------
FM/CRW Linda_Irris/Sting6 (2-2)/Wing2/ISD-II Devastator/Offensive/VEN/VE