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| - "No..." Raxis repeats himself as he walks into view. Fresh from the officer's barracks he stops for a moment at the edge of the flight deck. Followed closely behind by an astromech unit adorned in white with dark green accents, the 2nd Lieutenant glances over a clipboard. Tapping the screen softly with an image recognition pen, he glaces back to the droid. "Vee-Ten, I'm going over the new inventory. We've got some cadets, crates, and uniforms. I don't mind if you associate with the droids at the technician center but at the med center they're way too busy..." The red haired woman comes jogging in from the exercise field having run the obstacle course three straight times. Her forehead glistens with sweat as she runs around the perimeter of the landing pad, making her way towards the barracks. "Speaking of which..." Raxis trails off, looking up from his datapad as the shape of Cadet Varn approaches in the distance. "...it looks like today I've been assigned to one." Raxis smiles. Tapping the astromech on the head lightly with the datapad, he shuts it off and begins to walk to intercept the cadet. Pacing himself to not seem rushed, he finds himself within speaking distance. "Cadet Varn." Seeing the figure approach from the direction she's headed, she slows up a bit, not certain whether to take evasive action or not, but the figure isn't giving hostile vibes yet. Then too quick, he's upon her and she catches the glint of rank for a second and she slows down even further. When she hears her name she slows to a stop still jogging in place to keep her pulse up. Then she see's the rank and she pulls out a crisp salute despite her bouncing up and down. "Yes, Sir!" Thankful for the salute, Raxis reminds himself to not look too pleased for the sake of the training, his face remains pleasing but fails to display any emotion. Tapping the datapad, he returns the salute. Standing in place, he boots up the datapad and takes a moment to look at her. "At ease, Cadet. I'm Lieutenant L'ygr, one of your training instructors and it appears that today you are on my schedule." He pauses, looking to his watch. "Get showered and changed into your flight suit, miss." Her grey eyes glitter with amusement and a smile creases her face. "Aye, aye. Sir." She continues on to the barracks and freshens up. 20 minutes later, she walks out in full flight uniform with her helmet on her head. As she approaches the Lieutenant, she flashes another salute. "Cadet Val, reporting as ordered. Sir." Returning the salute again, he turns and motions for her to follow him. "Allright cadet. I'm going to be very blunt and very honest with you. To start..." He pauses, taking a moment to look at her, "...My name is Raxis L'ygr. I am a 2nd Lieutenant. I am from a planet named Garqi. However until you get your wings the only thing you know about me is that my name is 'Sir' and that it is your job to do exactly what I say." He begins, with a seemingly soft attitude with enough inflection to convey that he means it. "Being a cadet, and not having your wings, your name to me is going to be 'Cadet Varn'. Do you understand?" Thinking she had most of this down already but doesn't let her thoughts show on her face, she nods once. "Yes, Sir." "Good..." He pauses as they walk towards a small building with many cables leading into it. Opening his datapad, he taps the screen a few times. "Tell me in your words your experience with trans-atmospheric starfighters." "Well, I grew up on Corellia and started the process to become a pilot for the Space Defense arm of CorSec before the Imperials took her over and was just about to pass when the attack happened. After the battle I left to join the New Republic to try and reclaim my homeworld. So my experience with trans-atmospheric starfighters is academic at best, but before the takeover my instructors were telling me I was a natural with the stick." She glances around at the building, curious as to it's purpose though she guesses it's the control tower. Nodding softly, Raxis steps up to the door and opens it. Ushering her inside is a suite of six replica starfighter cockpits in a circle. Their backs all connected to a computer suite, the dark tinted canopies are all currently open, revealing that they have the simulator room to themselves. "Well, Cadet Varn, then to put it bluntly our goal..." he begins, motioning her towards the nearest simulator chair with a wry grin. "...is to make sure your experience is very hands on and serious. The simulators are similar in effect but a far cry from the stress and excitement of a space battle. We're going to be making damn sure that if you ever see combat, you -and- your X-wing are well armed." He pauses, closing the door behind them. "Now, before we begin I'm giving you permission to speak freely. Ask me any questions you have before we begin." Rebecca looks over the simulators and nods approvingly just like at the academy, though those were much nicer facilities. She looks back to the Lieutenant with a steady stare. "No questions, sir. I believe in actions speaking for themselves." A wry, near telling grin crosses Raxis' face as the young officer smoothly motions towards the simulators. "Very well then, Cadet Varn. Please step into the simulator to begin. I'll be observing you from the monitors." Rebecca nods and moves over to the simulator and hops up into the cockpit. Her movements are fluid like she's done it a hundred times before. As she settles into her seat the canopy eases down and she starts to connect her vital systems to the appropriate places. The view screen snaps on showing the landing pad outside in realistic detail. She quickly scans the area to make sure it's clear and starts her pre-flight check. As she goes through them she announces them aloud to Control. "Engines green, repulsor lift coils, green. Shields green. Weapons green, Torpedoes green. All systems green." She hovers her hand over the activation switch for the repulsors.. "Control, this Trainer 1, requesting permission for takeoff into orbit around the planet." The display shows the local planetary body, and the X-wing located on at the flight deck. In perfect visual simulation, the planet slowly reacts in the background with a slight breeze and a cloudy sky. "Copy, Trainer One, proceed on flight path uploading now." Raxis' voice crackles over the comm. Followed by the navcomm opening a file to reveal a course plotted to an area of open space half a kilometer outside of orbit. "Copy Control." She brings up the display on the screen in front of her. She flicks the switch and the repulsor coils kick on lifting the agile X-Wing off the tarmac. She throttles forward just a bit and angles the nose skyward, with the new pitch the ship seems to hover a few meters above the ground. "Alright, let see how these New Republic X-Wing's stand up." She mumbles to herself and kicks the throttle forward. With the sudden thrust the X-Wing leaps from the surface of the planet and rockets away into the sky. Grinning slightly she says to herself once more, "Not bad, not bad." then she suddenly pushes the stick to the side and the X-Wing responds by performing a few barrel rolls. Then a few seconds later the fighter breaks through the atmosphere and settles on the course to the rendezvous point. After a few moments of wait, the silence is interrupted by the sound of an astromech droid beeping in response to new information on the X-wing's sensor array. From behind the X-wing, a TIE fighter has been generated in the distance, and is on course for the trainee's X-wing. "Allright cadet..." Raxis' voice hisses over the comm. "We're going to start this one basic. Take down that tie." Focusing her attention on the black dot just barely out of her vision. "Copy that, Control. Scratch one Eyeball." Her thumb runs the fire selector and the green cross hair changes to yellow brackets. With slight twitches of her hands she settles over the distant target. She flips her shield controls to double front for the incoming head on action. The most dangerous maneuver in dogfighting. The X-Wing continues to rocket towards the Tie and a steady beep is issued from the Astromech as it tries to get a lock. Then the brackets go green and Rebecca squeezes the trigger launching two blue streaks toward the incoming fighter. Sensing the incoming attack, the TIE fighter banks at the last second and rolls. Using its superior agility, it spins deftly to the side as the pale haze of the proton torpedo passes it and turns again to chase the starfighter. Screaming past the X-wing, the TIE banks roughly and fights to get behind the X-wing as the furball begins. Maneuvering, the torpedo eventually fizzles and explodes as the TIE opens fire as it gets a weak angle on Trainer One. Keeping one eye on the Tie as it avoids the torpedo and starts to swing onto her tail, she flicks the switch to even out her shields as green bolts start to appear in her view screen. She pulls up sharply and in mid climb rotates the fighter to right itself as it comes out of the climb, performing a perfect Emmelman then she immediately inverts the fighter and pulls up on the stick reversing the maneuver she just pulled into a split-S and comes up behind the Tie. She thumbs the selector switch and the cross hairs immediately flicker red and she squeezes the trigger once more sending a cycling array of red heated energy toward the unprotected Tie. Spinning again, first to the left and then to the right, the TIE screams backwards and banks out of view. Cutting its engines to speed for increased maneuverability, the TIE rockets in a downward-right angle to again push the X-wing into a spinning turn. Finally getting a shot at the rear-right side of Trainer One's engines, it fires again. Tracking the Tie on the sensor board as it tries to come up behind her once more. "Oh no, you don't." And she starts to cut her turn even more sharply making the shots go wide. The increased G-Forces push her back into the accelerator couch and she comes out of the turn onto the Tie's tail once again. The reticule glows red once more and Rebecca hits the fire selector to fire linked and she squeezes the trigger once more sending two bolts after the other at the Tie. A solid hit scores the back of the TIE and a grey-blue explosion sparks out of the tail as it records on her ships onboard computer the location of the hit for recording. Spinning out of control, the TIE explodes initially, followed by inwards compression, and is destroyed. A solar panel wing floats off. Immediately afterwards, a new blip is located on radar as a new TIE approaches from in front. Roaring towards her, it opens fire. Rebecca having pulled off before seeing the shots connect registered the blip fade from her sensor board and she smiles. Then another blip appears and the astromech squeals in terror as the first few green bolts sizzle harmlessly of her shields, she instinctively inverts the fighter toward the new target and lets go a blast of red energy just before the Tie passes above her ship. A spark is seen from the TIE as a red blast of laserfire skims underneath the cockpit. Scorched but far from beaten, the TIE rockets overhead and does a horizontal slide, spinning its cockpit to right itself and pursue the lone X-wing. Angling to predict its angle of correction, it opens fire with a hail of eerie green blasterfire. Rebecca keeps an eye glued to the sensor board and the movements of the Tie and sees it swing about and open fire. Rebecca calmly performs another split-S taking the X-Wing swiftly out of harms way. As she passes underneath the Tie once more she Immelman's again and sets her sights upon the new target. The reticule flashes red and she releases another dual burst of red laser fire. Kicking hard upwards into a rough climb to avoid the attack, the TIE pulls downwards out of the climb to complete a half-loop and trail its opponent. Returning fire, it sets its sights on the top lining of the X-wing, attempting to score a hit along the astromech's bay. A few bolts score along the shields reducing their power just a bit as the X-Wing jukes out of the way into a roll. Halfway through the third rotation Rebecca pulls up on the stick and climbs toward her attacker once more. And again she gets pushed back into the accelerator couch as the maneuver starts to attack the inertial compensator. The Tie hovers in her sights as the reticule glows red once more and she squeezes the trigger. However, the TIE has a different plan. As the attack flashes towards the TIE it suddenly tilts upwards, cuts it speed, and the X-wing rockets past. Offering itself an immediate opportunity to attack, the TIE opens fire on the squared back of the X-wing. Not one to pass up new tricks, Rebecca performs the same maneuver against the Tie and it's shots go wide. She chuckles to herself as the Tie is in now for a perfect shot. She quickly sets the fire control to quad burst and lets loose the full power of the X-Wings weapons on the poor Tie. The movements of the TIE seem mechanical, yet erratic as if the AI is suprised that the maneuver would have been attempted so soon. Regardless, the inside of the X-wing's viewport gets a very good view of its dramatic explosion. A moment passes without a new TIE emerging. Breaking the silence is the sound of 2nd Lieutenant L'ygr's voice. "Now for the finish..." is all that is uttered. Before long however, 2 TIE fighters emerge dead ahead of the X-wing, and move in for the attack. "Copy control." Rebecca replies as she flicks the shields to double front once more. The distance counter scrolls away at lightspeed. She switches over to torpedoes and focuses the brackets over one the Tie on the right. The yellow brackets flicker then glow green. When they solidify the beeping tone from the droid goes solid. Rebecca casually presses the trigger almost lazily. Unable to escape the lock, the TIE on the right side of her view attempts an Immelman turn, but the proton torpedo trails after it. A satisfying glow of fire warms both the side of the viewscreen and the radar as the enemy fighter is shattered with the explosion. However, there is one other TIE, and not willing to miss an opportunity, it opens fire. Heading straight for the exploding Tie the X-Wing shoots through the ball of enflamed gasses. Chunks bounce off the hull with sickening thuds but the maneuver works as the trailing Tie's shots miss her by a wide margin. Inverting the ship she pushes down on the stick putting the fighter into a dive and reverse loops back towards the remaining Tie. By this time the Tie heads straight for her and she snaps of a quad burst hoping to nail the eyeball with a lucky shot. A direct hit scores the center of the TIE fighter as portions of the blaster salvo can be seen piercing through the other side of the TIE's hull plating. Even before the explosion, any body inside the cockpit would have been obliterated before the electrical and propulsion systems begin to erupt. Within nanoseconds, the TIE erupts in a haze of fire. The dark viewscreen of the simulator fizzles and the interior of the simulator cockpit is replaced by a warm orange lighting that gradually fades to match the lighting level outside. The screen shows an upload, as the session saves under a log set under her name, and the simulator begins to power down. As the canopy starts to rise, Rebecca can barely contain herself. When the canopy fully opens she nearly flies out of the cockpit and looking towards the control console, her smile radiates her pleasure. "That has to be my best simulator run yet." She positively bounces from one foot to the other in her excitement. Breaking his stoic flat-featured face that speaks of having to have an air of authority, an impish grin crosses his features as he makes the last of his notes on his datapad. Looking up to smile to her, he adjusts his footing and turns off the viewscreen of his datapad. Half-shaking his head at her as he smiles and watches her like a hawk. "Well...that definitely will be a good entry in your folder." She visibly settles down a bit though her smile doesn't diminish. She nods at the Lieutenants words. "I'm a right natural when it comes to flying." She leans back against the hull of the simulator. "Though I thought for sure you'd hop in one of these things and give me a true test. Nothing beats a living breathing brain." Her eyes glitter with slight mischief. Breathing in deeply, Raxis lets out a slow breath as one of his eyebrows arch almost comically. He folds his arms to appraise her for a moment. "A natural eh?" He replies, walking to stand near her at the simulator beside hers. "Now...I -don't- want to blast you out of your cloud..." He begins, tilting his head to the side slightly. "Your simulator mission was at the cadet entry level. Now that we know what you can do, be aware that it's going to get much much harder. The quality of the Simm-TIEs are going to get harder, faster, and with better hull protection. Also...the TIEs you fought didnt have the same shielding as a standard TIE Mark-II." He adds, looking to her. "But we have our launch pad that's for sure..." He trails off, patting the simulator in thought, clearly tossing the idea of a duel in his head. She looks at the Lieutenant for a few moments. "You mean I was at the lowest setting?" She starts giggling and tries to stop after a few minutes she manages to stop herself. "You should have kicked it up a few notches and the result still would have been the same." She steps away from the simulator and moves directly to the Lieutenants side and pats him on the shoulder. "That's no way to see what a cadet can really do, unlike up there." She points toward the ceiling. "In there, you can't be vaped into tiny particles. And just because I'm a woman, doesn't mean I can't handle my own." She starts to step away. "If you really want to see what I can do, we should go up in the real thing sometime." Watching her, he nods slowly as she steps away. His eyes gain a reflective gleam to them as he seems to be weighing her. A wry smile forms at the corner of his lip as he talks. "Fair..." he pauses, tilting his head once again. "...I'll tell you this. I didn't alter the settings because you are a woman. Our commanding officer is a woman and she's a fine pilot. Really, what I did was toss you into the lowest setting just to see what you know about maneuvering, which I can tell is pretty good." He pauses again, as a flash of recollection passes his eyes. "We'll go up into space and do training skirmishes, we'll increase the settings on the simms, and if I have any control in the matter we're going to do everything we can to prepare you. I've seen a lone TIE ace decimate a patrol of well trained pilots with my own two eyes..." He looks towards her in an almost daring view as his voice gets more serious. "...we look for the best, and from top to bottom we're going to make sure that the best of the best flies with Ghost." Rebecca pauses and turns back to the Lieutenant and nods. "Good..." She pauses for a moment. "I...." She struggles with the words as she's not used to saying them. "I apologize for the woman remark. But you won't be disappointed with this recruit. You can check the records with the CorSec Academy if they haven't been destroyed yet. I was in the top 5 of my class before the invasion. Though, they probably wiped everything out...." Her features take on one of sadness as she remembers her homeworld, but it quickly dissipates into a smile. "But I'm sure we'd make a great team." Then she turns and starts for the door. "Hey..." Raxis mutters softly to get her attention as she turns towards the door. His demeanor shifts from a commanding officer to the simple visage of the twenty-two year old man he truly is. He turns to look at her through a hanging lock of hair from his forehead. "...at the end of the day, do me a favor and don't forget what I'm about to say." He turns, squaring his back to the computer hub to look her square in the eye. "We're all going to take care of eachother. Ghosts are family. We mend eachothers wounds and we all want to help eachother get our worlds back. I know it sounds cold, gods I hated it myself when I was told this in boot camp, but for right now you're in our care." He grins, nodding upwards to her. "You're good. Now I'm not going to tell you what I put on the file, but I think you're good. Training's going to be tough and you may even hate us sometimes but at the end of training are a nice shiny pair of wings and a new family that sticks together. We'll mend eachothers wounds, fight, gamble, watch laserball over beers and gods willing help eachother get our worlds back. The more you want that...the more you'll understand everything else about fighting the war. My door is always open." He nods to her approvingly, "Now get some grub, Cadet Varn..." He smiles, face morphing back into the gruff visage of a commanding officer. "...if I see scores like this again I'm going to have you scrubbing the inside of loader droids in the pits so much you'd think you'd joined a jawa detail." Rebecca turns around and looks at the Lieutenant once more. Her eyes gleam dangerously for a second at the threat of scrubbing droids. "I'm up for anything you can throw at me. And..." She pauses for a bit. "I don't think my scores will ever be low enough to require that sort of duty, sir." Pronounces the last word as sir but spelling it with a C and a U. She wonders if the Lieutenant will catch the slight insubordination, though she thinks of it as showing respect. With that final word she turns about and walks out of the simulator room.
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