A Viper's Nest Ch. 10

"Understood," he replied.

Sitting there inside his training pod, John watched the progress bar as it slowly made its way towards one hundred per cent. When it did, he leaned forward and did as he was instructed. Shortly after pressing the button, the lights inside the pod and his helmet's HUD disappeared. John thought that there was a power cut but then everything came back on and he found himself flying through space.

"Wow," was all John managed to say.

*****

Flying through space, inside the cockpit of a Mamba fighter, John was surprised by how real everything was. He had expected the training pods to be similar to the simulators back home on Earth, just more advanced, however, John's mind and body reacted to everything as though it was real. It had taken him a few minutes to get used to how easily the fighter responded to his use of the controls. What he had not expected were the g-forces. Shortly after the power came back on, he had pulled back the joystick and grunted, loudly. Remembering his training, John started to clench and adjust his breathing.

"John, you've forgotten to activate all the features of your Nano Flight suit," the Flight Lieutenant pointed out, "I'm activating them now. You should find it easier to control the Mamba and you won't need to adjust your breathing or clench," she said. John thought he heard her suppress a laugh.

"Thanks, I guess it's my fault for not reading the manual," he replied.

"Don't worry, we all make mistakes," Nuki said, "you've got thirty minutes to get used to the pod and your suit. After that, I'll start sending enemies and they won't be easy," she warned.

"Understood," John replied.

*****

"Captain," Comms Officer Oatshul called out, "we've received ready signals from the rest of the fleet," she said.

"Thank you, Oatshul," Captain Thazha replied as she pressed a button on her command chair, "this is Matriarch's Blessing to all ships, form up in single file formation, we'll be heading out shortly," Thazha ordered.

"Confirmations received Captain," Oatshul called out a few minutes later.

"Helm, increase speed to one-half and follow the route we received from the Pride," Thazha ordered.

"Aye Captain," came the reply.

The Matriarch's Blessing, an Atheris class Destroyer, started to tilt up as the forward thrusters underneath the front of the ship ignited. Once the ship had reached an angle of forty-five degrees to the galactic plane, the five engines at the rear flared. The Destroyer lurched forward as the ship's speed increased and a short distance behind it the remaining ships fell in behind the Blessing.

"Once the fleet has joined us on this angle, increase speed to full," Captain Thazha ordered.

"Aye Captain," replied the helm.

Thazha stood up from her command chair and walked over to the Tactical Display Table. Both her Comms Officer and Tactical Officer joined her. Each Viper was lit by the emerald glow from the TDT's holographic projection. Currently, it displayed a close-up view of Border Station Five and the large fleet of Matriarchy ships. With a single press on a nearby keypad, the Captain adjusted the display and it was now showing a real-time view of the small fleet. Tactical Officer Altsiah used a keypad that was projected just in front of her to bring up detailed information on each ship.

"If we take the route given to us by the Pride," Altsiah started to say as her crimson scales reflected the green glow of the TDT, "then it should take us a few hours to get into the blind spot," she said. After a few more buttons were pressed the TDT was adjusted to show an overlay of the nearby system.

"I concur," Comms Officer Oatshul said, "we'll need to drop a relay beacon here and here," she pointed to two points along the plotted course.

"Once we reach this point here," the Captain said as she pointed at the display in front of her, "we'll have the rear Corvette deploy a relay beacon," the green glow from the Tactical Display Table complimented Thazha's emerald bioluminescence.

"Does the Pride or the Minerva think we'll encounter something?" Oatshul asked and the Captain shook her head.

"If they do, then they aren't telling us," she replied.

"How come we've only spotted this blind spot now?" Altsiah inquired.

"Unknown," Thazha replied, "each system is meant to receive extensive wargames before each comms relay and monitor satellite is positioned," she said.

"It looks like the Survey Core failed," Oatshul said.

"Not necessarily," Captain Thazha interrupted, "I've seen some reports where blindspots don't get detected for decades," she pointed out.

"Huh, well, it's good that the Pride of the Matriarchy were running wargames," Tactical Officer Altsiah said.

"Agreed," replied the Captain.

*****

Five Hours Later:-

"John, you've got three enemy fighters closing on your position," Flight Lieutenant Nuki said, "change course to three hundred and forty-five by seventy-six," she ordered, "your sensors should be picking them up shortly," Nuki pointed out.

"Understood," John replied, "changing course to three hundred and forty-five by seventy-six," he said.

John slowly rotated his right wrist to the left and pushed down on the left foot pedal as he watched the coordinates displayed inside his helmet change. He felt his fighter rotate to the left and then turn. As the g-forces increased, his Nano Flight suit made rapid adjustments to its shape, which in turn lessened the effects on John's body. It had taken him a few hours to get used to the feeling, but he was glad to be wearing it. On several occasions, John had forgotten he was inside a training pod. The technology behind its creation was so advanced that he had to keep reminding himself that he was not piloting a real Mamba fighter, flying through real space, and fighting real enemies. A few seconds after he had finished the course corrections, three red dots appeared on his HUD.

"That's it, John," Nuki said, "activating your multi-lock missiles now. Don't forget to do a hard turn after you fire them" shortly after she finished talking, the icon for John's multi-lock missiles came online.

Winking his right eye, he scrolled through the available weapons until his HUD moved onto the newly activated missiles. A single blink from his left eye told the onboard computer to select them and then an ammo count appeared. With the multi-lock missiles now active, John locked onto the three enemy fighters. Using his right index finger, three missiles were launched and headed straight for their respective targets. When his HUD informed him that the launch had been successful, John did a one-eighty turn and brought the engines to one hundred per cent.

With an audible grunt, John was forced against the back of his modified cockpit. He could feel each of the adjustments that his Nano Flight suit made as it tried to compensate for the sudden increase in g-forces. Glancing at the velocity readout for his Mamba fighter, John watched as his speed decreased rapidly and then a few seconds later it increased.

As his craft flew away from the incoming enemy fighters, several of the other pilots formed up on John's fighter. With their objectives within the current training exercise over, they started to congratulate John on his speedy progress.

*****

Flight Lieutenant Nuki watched John from her seated position. In front of her, displayed on multiple monitors, were the live feeds from each of the training pods. At a glance, Nuki could tell who had the most battle damage, who was going to run out of ammo first, which pilot had scored the most kills, and each pilot's current health status.

An explosion to her right drew the Flight Lieutenant's attention away from John's feed. One of the Viper pilots had managed to destroy a trio of enemy Torpedo Frigates. After a few button presses, Nuki was able to replay the last thirty seconds and she watched the footage on the larger central screen in front of her. Just as the last of the three Frigates exploded, the nearby double doors opened. Stepping into the room was Wing Commander Zsosu, the light from above reflecting off of her bright blue scales.

"How goes the training?" Zsosu asked as she walked over to where the Flight Lieutenant was sitting. The doors behind her closed with a gentle hiss.

"The pilots are performing well," Nuki replied. She reset the main monitor in front of her and pushed back on her chair, allowing the Wing Commander to lean in and look at the monitors.

"What about John?" Zsosu inquired as she stood up and took a step back.

"It took him a while to get used to the training pod," the Flight Lieutenant replied "however, I'm impressed with how well he has managed to adapt," she said.

"Bring up his feed onto the central monitor," the Wing Commander ordered. A few seconds later and both Nuki and Zsosu's faces were lit up by the live feed from inside John's training pod.

The two Vipers watched as he piloted his fighter around the hull of an enemy battleship, deftly manoeuvring around the ship's point defence batteries, scoring direct hits on key subsystems. Shortly afterwards a series of internal explosions spread across the hull of the battleship before it exploded spectacularly. A chorus of cheers came from the live feeds of the other pilots as the training exercise came to an end.

"Have the computer compile a report on John and send it to the Matriarch and the Admiral," the Wing Commander ordered.

"At once," replied the Flight Lieutenant with a curt nod.

Nuki watched as Zsosu headed back out of the room. The armoured double doors slowly swung open after accepting her palm print. The Flight Lieutenant turned around when she heard the first of the training pods open up.

*****

John's body ached as he pulled himself out of the training pod. Deactivating his helmet, he wiped his brow with his right hand and he saw how much he had been sweating. An unknown Viper nearby offered John a drink of water and he gladly gulped it down.

"You're not bad for a male," the unknown Viper said.

"Thanks...I think," John replied.

"Not bad?" came a voice from behind, "did you see how he took down those defence turrets?" the voice asked.

John turned around and found another Viper pilot behind him. She had stopped directly behind and so when he turned his face hit both of her large breasts, they wobbled despite the Nano Flight suit she was wearing. The Viper looked down at John and smiled.

"If only the Flight Lieutenant hadn't won," she said with a wink. Unlike the first pilot, this one had deactivated her helmet. She had vibrant blue scales with a random pattern of white, dotted around her face and hood. The pilot's eyes glowed blue.

"Settle down back there," a familiar voice was heard from behind.

Turning around, John saw that Flight Lieutenant Nuki was standing just in front of the desk and chair, the various screens that had previously been showing data were now black, presumably switched off.

"I'm sure you are all tired from your training," Nuki said, "but we still need to debrief, follow me," she ordered.

John watched as she headed for the now open double doors and the Viper pilots slowly started to fall in step behind her. A hand appeared on his right shoulder as a tall Viper walked past John.

"Come on Terran," she said, "this is where you get to regale us of your heroic last stand against that Lupine battleship," the Viper Pilot then slapped John on the back. She laughed as John stumbled forward.

"Hey, careful!" another pilot called out as she caught him, "males aren't as strong as females," she pointed out.

"Especially Terran males," said another Viper.

"It's okay, everyone," John said as he looked at the three pilots. He noticed that several of the others in the room had stopped to watch.

"I thought I told you girls to follow?" Flight Lieutenant Nuki called out from the corridor, "stop fussing over the male and get moving," she ordered.

As a group, the Viper Pilots all hurried out of the room. John was rather unceremoniously carried out by the second pilot who had protested the slap to his back. Looking up, John watched as her helmet deactivated and he made eye contact with a white Viper. She smiled at him as they headed through the armoured double doors and down the corridor.

*****

Eight Hours Earlier:-

"Are you sure this will work?" Captain Eki asked as she sat in a pile of pillows. They had searched the Life pod for anything of use and were surprised that one compartment was stuffed with twenty pillows.

"No, not really," Engineer Zozta replied, "the Nanos contained within each of the life pod's maintenance bays were designed specifically for basic ship maintenance, not construction work," she said.

"Then why suggest it?" Eki inquired.

"Because I think it's the best chance we have of warning the station," the Engineer replied with a hint of annoyance in her voice. She looked up at the Captain when she realised and quietly said sorry.

It had been an hour since the Ericius ambush and while all of the life pods had escaped the destruction of their Patrol ship, Matriarch's Light, all attempts to warn Border Station Five had failed. There just wasn't enough power in any of the pods to produce a strong enough signal. Currently, the crew were discussing all possible ways to send a warning and Engineer Zozta's had so far been the best one.

"Let's give it a try," said one of the Vipers in a different life pod to the one Captain Eki and Engineer Zozta were in.

"I agree," came another voice. Several more voices were heard, and each one gave their approval to the Engineer's plan.

"I believe the crew have spoken, Captain," said Tactical Officer Ustu with a smile.

The Captain looked over to where she was sitting and noticed that Ustu was holding onto Comms Officer Hunull. Eki had noticed the pair spending a lot of time with each other over the last few days. Since the ambush and their successful evacuation of the Matriarch's Light, the two Vipers had somehow managed to claim the small corner they were currently sitting in. She was impressed, considering how cramped life pods were.

"Very well," Captain Eki said, "let's start the modifications," she ordered.

Over the next few hours, Engineer Zozta instructed the crew on how to make changes to the Nanos stored within each life pod's maintenance bay. Once complete, they would be able to construct airlocks onto the hull of each life pod and then have them connect to form a pentagon, with the Captain's pod acting as command and control. While the main goal of the modifications was to contact the station, by linking the pods together the combined power would enable them to travel faster and also boost the overall transmission strength of a planned emergency signal. An improvement in overall crew morale would also help their current situation.

"Modifications are complete, Captain," Engineer Zozta called out from her seated position.

"This is the Captain," Eki said as she stood in the middle of the life pod, "all pods, activate the Nanos," she ordered.

Along the hulls of each Life Pod, bright blue light could be seen as billions of tiny Nanos left their reservoirs and started to construct airlocks. When the work was done, the Nanos that were left retreated into their reservoirs.

"All life pods report one hundred per cent hull integrity and they are ready to connect," reported Comms Officer Hunull.

"Thank you," Eki replied, "Zozta, start the link-up process," she ordered.

With a single press of a button, the six life pods started to move toward each other. Small thrusters along each of their hexagonal hulls fired. Five of the pods slowly moved closer while the sixth, the life pod containing the Captain, moved to the underside of the pod that would form the top of the pentagon. When each life pod was within range, they stabilised their position and then long umbilicals extended. Ten minutes later, all six of the life pods were securely connected. Using her pad to check over all of the seals, Engineer Zozta activated the final link-up process and smiled.

"It worked, Captain," she said excitedly, "all life pods are now connected and their computers are linking up. Once I have done some final tests, I will deploy each ship's solar sail and then start work balancing the power levels for a transmission test," Zozta said.

"Well done, Zozta," Eki replied, "I'll make sure to recommend you for a commendation," she said and then laughed at the expression on the Engineer's face.

Once all of the readouts from each pod were green, Zozta opened up the airlocks and the Captain heard a cheer from her crew echo throughout the combined life pods. Screens inside the central pod showed Vipers passing through each airlock, embracing friends, and laughing with each other. Captain Eki guessed that within a matter of hours each pod will be given a specific designation and the crew will start to sleep in groups.

*****

Nine Hours Later:-

"Here's to John," a voice called out.

The noise level inside the canteen, one of several set aside for the pilots who serve on board the Ruination of Minerva, rose as the group of twenty Viper pilots all cheered. It had been an hour since they had all left their training pods and had sat through a lengthy debriefing. Everyone was currently enjoying a well-earned break and some food.

"I still can't believe you were able to take out that dreadnought," said a brightly coloured Viper who was sitting opposite John and to his right.

"Did you see the way he piloted his Mamba?" said another Viper, whose scales were black with white spots. She was sitting at a nearby table and looking over to where John was.

"Don't forget it was just a simulation," another pilot pointed out, her eyes glowing a vibrant pink against her dark red scales, "while it's true that he adapted quickly to the training pod, we don't yet know how he'll react when it's real," she pointed out. John watched as she used her long tongue to scoop out the contents of a large bowl of glowing pink paste.

"You're just mad you lost that competition," a Viper sitting behind John pointed out, "you were singing his praises before it started," she said with a snigger. A few more of the nearby pilots giggled along with her.

"Don't make me come over there," warned the pilot with the dark red scales.

"That's enough!" said a new voice in a commanding tone. Everyone in the canteen looked over to where it had come from. Flight Lieutenant Nuki was standing just inside and looking in the direction of John and the twenty Viper pilots.

The noise level dropped as she walked over to where the glowing paste was. One of the Vipers behind the counter handed her several bowls and a glass of water. The Flight Lieutenant then headed straight for the table John was sitting at. Several of the pilots moved out of the way as Nuki sat down opposite him.

"Here's to John!" the Flight Lieutenant shouted as she raised her glass of water.

There was a moment of stunned silence and then everyone cheered. Several of the nearby Vipers patted him on the back, rubbed his shoulders or even tried to feed him some glowing paste. What drew John's attention, however, was the tip of a Viper's tail that had wormed its way around his left leg and was now rubbing against his groin. He looked up and made eye contact with Nuki. She had a mischievous grin on her face and the Flight Lieutenant winked as John's face went red.

*****

"Sending transmission now," Engineer Zozta called out.

At the front of the Captain's life pod, a small communications array unfolded and the tip started to glow. Inside, Zozta looked over the various screens in front of her, each one had been reprogrammed to display vital information. The one she was currently looking at informed her that the warning signal would drain forty per cent of their overall power.