Aurora, Wayward Pt. 06

Rocan smiled, "Marine of Vengeance please stand." Vivian stood up. "Other hybrids, please stand and then sit back down. Marine of Vengeance, continue standing."

Screamer had a look of anger on her face, "You put hybrids into each squadron?!"

He nodded, "I shuffled them around and found the best 3 pilots and the best 3 snipers and put them together in your groups."

He looked over at Vivian, "Confirmed kills?"

She smiled, "36 after today. I believe I was the last shot that came in. Right behind your canopy where the armor was thickest over the engine."

He nodded, "You would be correct. She was not sure the other two would hit me, but she ensured, being the furthest from the target that it did not, in fact, destroy my craft. If I had been a touch faster, she would have hit a partially recharged shield. As it was, they all hit within a fraction of a second of each other. Trust me, I checked. Your kill count as a sniper is 35 confirmed. All headshots."

Cougar looked over, "How did you get that good?"

Rocan threw up an image Vivian did not know he had of her. Vivian was asleep in bed at the hospital long ago after the sniper attack she suffered, "She took one in the shoulder and 2 in the left lung. She joined the Marines to become a sniper, like those who were hunting her. She was shot at by 2 snipers."

He threw up the image from her scope. "A little-known fact about Home Guard sniper rifles; they have a camera in them." They watched as she put the round through the scope of the man and his face melted off.

He looked over, "Plasma round sniper rifle. This was the second suspect in her attempted shooting and was locked up in prison. The guard who arranged a prisoner swap for him is now locked up in his old cell with the man who took his place. All on conspiracy to commit murder for hire.

She is the deadliest sniper in this room; she also sits on the Hybrid Council as the junior red blade underneath my Admiral. One space-based. One ground-based. Both red-blades." He threw up his redacted file with awards. The box flashed over the title and unredacted what he worked in. He looked over, "In 250 years this is how wars are fought.

What we did today would be standard combat for Gresan pilots, other colonies were working to form these types of units because of our successes. Most of you died. Most failed to listen to the suggestions of your snipers. Because you are pilots.

Pilots who rely on targeting computers and sensors to tell you where the enemy is located. The Caldar was such an enemy and they were eliminated with the technology we are bringing forward. Let me show you another from the Samar system. This information is classified by all your governors and not to be discussed outside of here.

A group called 'collectors' who were into genetic experimentation. Overwriting all your genetic code by fucking a female pregnant, forcing her to give birth to more of the 'genetic experiment.' All while her body transformed over to being a male version of them.

We lost one survey member due to this because she went for a dip in the stream without a marine guard present. This is the hidden ship that came about. I was directing action once I was in Arrow-1. Watch what I do here."

They watched his gun camera footage as he slammed between the engines and then targeted just about everything and everyone in the area. He flew out.

Rocan looked over, "They had 5 separate engine rooms and I did that to 3 of them. You have to know what to target and that is engineering classes you will have to take on to be able to do those things.

For now, engine rooms should be off-limits until you finish that engineering training. You could hit bridges, fighter and shuttle bays, or other ship sections for now. Next, we have images from one of my destroyers.

The ship on the far side is the Terran Battleship called the Excalibur. A beautiful and deadly ship. It has far superior firepower to what we are using as you will see in a moment. We contacted them and they came to investigate the unusual genetic creatures. They fired on this alien ship once it was revealed. This ship popping into the frame."

He paused the display. "You can see my fighter there leaving the area. This is why."

He restarted it as they watched the Drakor fire, only gasps were heard in the room. He looked over, "That is a Drakor ship. To say they could outgun us is no lie, and you have seen it here, from our cameras and not from our Terrain ancestors recordings.

This happened. We had to fight a stealth target we could not pick up on sensors. We have to blast the shields hard enough that they dropped their cloak for the power to fortify their shield defenses and their weapon batteries. They were getting hammered by all of our ships."

He focused in on the Excalibur's firings. "Those weapons are military-grade high-end rail guns that ripped through the shields and the engine compartment and pulverized the area in its entirety. They then took out the second one. I had 2 destroyers and my battleships that fired on that ship.

Targeting one engine room at a time. To bring down shields over each of those 3 engine rooms before I flew my arrow inside. They did it for 2 technically. The Drakor shot dropped all shields on the remaining engine rooms and the rest of the ship.

Excalibur's rail guns are far more effective as you can see. The Drakor could incinerate our ships in one shot, shields, and all. We should all be glad their view and mission in life are helping societies strike a balance to strive to live with other races in harmony.

We ran a scan once the alien ship was visible. They ran with a standard titanium hull, mostly. Their shields were overlapping and extremely strong. That has some meteorites built into the ship or the ship was built into them. At least one of them showed as a geode. The arrow can rip through titanium hulls.

The ships that are only metallic hydrogen, the arrows you are getting, could rip through them. They would have a hard time against Home Guard ships because we use a stronger alloy. These commendations I have for hand-to-hand combat. Boarding action.

We used a ship called the nail gun. Same principle, with a far different design, smaller and thinner. Not arrow-shaped more like high impact manned rockets with dart-style wings. We went in and breached hulls. Captured a few ships that way for analysis.

You have all been auditioning for being space-based Marine pilots. The only one to get two hits on me, the first and the last in that testing, was Marine of Vengeance. AKA Snipes to her Marine Corps unit or as you have known her, Maniac.

The other two tagged me in the other five groups. One was a pilot, her call sign is 'Whip.' Worked with a Marine Corps sniper spotter. She told her to bank and spin it. She did. She let off eight rounds and hit me once. Banking is an air-breather fighter maneuver and it was different enough to catch me off-guard.

The other was another sniper. Two snipers worked together at that point. One playing the bait, and again banking when directed to let the other take the shot. I banked with her on that one. She sniped me from a very long distance, yet she fired a 3-round burst giving away her position.

Unfortunately, she did not change hiding place and went into the barn with no shields active; I scored 4 hits on her instead of one firing 4 shots. I guessed correctly she would pull straight out instead of trying to reverse to get away from my approach.

A tactic to get me into their sights that was pulled by a few pilots in this final evaluation. Used safely only by 3 pilots with spotters across all of the groups. Over half the snipers used the carrier for cover in some fashion. In space, you use what you can if it is available.

This exercise was all about getting over preconceptions. Every single one of you was here for a reason. You are a great sniper or a great pilot. What will get formed under the five new flight leaders, one for each colony, is your Space-Based Marine units. I have 2 fighter pilots and 3 snipers I have put in for those slots to your respective governors.

I suspect, based on my talks with the governors, that you will all become Squadron Commanders and likely Flight Wing Commanders when the next class goes through and you have two Squads to work with initially.

He looked over, "Screamer. You are a great pilot; the best pilot in the class in fact. You need to learn to adapt to a stealth enemy. That was the point of today's exercise. I identified the five best candidates to head up those units.

The hybrids are not among them. The only hybrid to score a hit today; scored two. One played bait and another played the spotter in those two other groups, non-hybrids landed those shots. Now you know why Maniac is standing there. You will find your class ranking posted on the monitor outside of the room.

Shadow, you earned 1st place in those rankings. No hybrids are listed out there. The governors have them all. Three of them were ahead of you but they are not here as part of your military. They are here as part of my instructional staff, and to learn.

Hidden in with the students of this first class. They went along with your strategies. The only time I had a deviation was when you Screamer would not listen to a sniper telling you exactly what was happening. She read the battlefield. She had to be a space-based sniper.

No targeting computers. No sensors. The battlefield changed and you failed to adapt. Just like most of the fighter pilots did during solar wind training. Those that passed that training listened to the snipers about making the adjustments needed."

He looked over, "Rabbit, that is your new callsign. You dove for the hole and earned it."

They laughed as she stood, "You got honors for most improved from initial assessment to graduation. You made the top 5. The shot you landed put you into the top 5. You were running in 7th place.

You followed the directions of your sniper and scored a hit. Then you went to celebrate instead of following up on the shot. The fight is not over until you are recalled. You should have either been tailing my ass or bugging out for the carrier and let the snipers take down the target.

The last one was your best shot at survival. She could have turned all 3 snipers on me if I tailed you. You took them out of the equation. You will notice, there are separate scores for flying, physical fitness, hand to hand, and shooting. Two boxes, one from flying and one from the internal range for most of those.

It was not based totally on your time in the cockpit. Those who worked the gym and range just as hard as the time in the cockpit scored higher overall. It was an average with half coming in the air and the other half coming from being up to marine standard for boarding actions."

Rocan went to walk out, "Screamer, you're with me."

He thought out, * Turn your interface on. * Vivian turned it back on.

He thought to her, * You were at the head of the class and my new Flight Wing commander on my battleship, and my Lead pilot in the Home Guard. You earned it lover. *

She smiled and walked over to Rabbit and Shadow. Rabbit shook her head, "I thought hybrids had to carry their swords everywhere."

Vivian smiled, pulled off her necklace, and changed it into her sword. Turned it on and then off. Before she hooked it to her belt. She looked at them, "You both did really well. I flew with Rabbit in 3 groups because you kept improving. You were in the top 4 of the fighter pilots. Solar winds training and training aboard the carrier were the keys that got you there. Then you finished as the second-highest fighter pilot.

Screamer is probably screaming right now. She was the best fighter pilot in this class, by far. She has great piloting skills and a bad attitude. Shadow, I flew with you twice. Once at the initial assessment and then in the graduation.

I know you had airbreather fighter training as it showed but you adapted and overcame that drawback. Your record said you had some space flight time as a child with your father. You earned the top spot. Screamer was on the bubble.

He put her in charge to try and get her to prove herself, a make or break moment. She is a high-strung fighter pilot, and she had her way or no way attitude from every hybrid I spoke with who flew with her.

She is a great pilot and she worked at the gym but not the firing range, no practice at all. The hybrids are instructors here and we got briefings on the make-up of each team and your standing, but not the tests we would be going into. Those were a surprise for everyone.

We knew your strengths and weaknesses that needed improving. I did not become a great sniper in a day. I know because I spent a lot of time practicing and getting stronger and better on the range, and then in combat. Screamer got on the range only during the assessments. She did not practice with a sniper rifle and it showed in her scores."

Shadow looked over, "You got the top spot, didn't you?"

Vivian smiled, "I learned a lot of flying over the last year before we started this; some fighters but mostly shuttles. I had space-based flight training and I was a trained marine sniper. Arrow-1, I had not seen or been informed about before we saw it first-hand.

He kept it from all of us for this first class. War is hell and some Trisen types hated I was a sniper from Pena because of that little war we had. I only fought in 3 engagements in the last year. None of that matters now.

We know what caused that war and it was not those in the room but an outside alien influence. I was just made the Flight Wing Commander of his fighter wings aboard his battleship, and the Lead Pilot in the Home Guard.

Now I know why he wanted a sniper in this group. I questioned it when he recruited me. I was shown his record a while back and that partially answered it but until today, I did not see why it was a big factor in a fighter.

He was testing 6 hybrids for that spot and for 2 squadron leaders. The other 2 who finished in the top 3 are my likely Squadron leaders or a Wing commander on Admiral Rivar's Battleship.

One is an ACE pilot from Disen with 20 confirmed fighter kills from her 6 years in the service. She had been out for 4 years when he arrived. She wanted back in after seeing what he was doing and getting a call from her Governor telling her Rocan was looking for hotshot pilots.

She did not fly in this class as she just delivered 3 babies last week. She will be in the next class and she is far better than Screamer, Flying Vengeance. He has not told us his plans except some will be non-hybrids and some will be Sentinels in each of the squadrons we form.

Some of those were Sentinal instructors you flew against. What you do not know, Shadow, is you are guaranteed a shot at becoming a hybrid or a marine in the Home Guard if you ever decide to leave the service. He will hold a spot open for you. Rabbit, if you ever do it, you might scurry by.

He will talk about that when he brings in the new fighters tomorrow. The 5 anyway for each colony's new Marine Squadron Leaders. He might bring in all 25 of them. I will be in my fighter; being his new Wing Commander we will head down together I would assume based upon discussions he had with the instructors.

The new fighters are not as fast, 5x instead of 6x speeds. But they have the same shields, an all metallic hydrogen body, and they have slightly less powerful weapons than what we had during training.

They are not as fast, because of the framing, but they have the same black coating to make them that much harder to see, except for the designations on the craft. We need to get your flight crews and ordinance guys up to speed before we put these plasma cannons into their hands."

Rabbit nodded, "Why the metal change?"

Vivian sighed, "Titanium is hard to find in this system. It is all coming from Samar and is going into the structure to support the colony movers, the Home Guard Fleet, and into the training fighters for this class in order to better protect the students. When we are firing at each other during live-fire assessments.

He has told the governors he is training your Governors' Defensive Forces, he is not out to train them for attacking each other. Not anymore. That is his hope and goal." They both nodded their understanding at that.

---

Rocan pointed to a chair for Screamer to have a seat, "As I said you are a damned fine pilot. Perfect for your services space-based fighter squadrons. Not ideal for being a space-based marine. You had three major screw-ups that kept you out of the top 5.

One, failure to listen and read the changing battlefield. Two, abandoning your wingman and forcing a division because of your prejudices against snipers. I looked at that pattern she set you up with. She had an upper and lower 360-degree field of vision.

It was a solid pattern. I attacked from the top and all fighters on the bottom would have been all over me going through. I attacked from the bottom and that fighter up top would have seen me coming. Any side attack, you had 2 guns in front ready, and at least 1 in the back ready.

3 of them ready to take me out on the other side. You broke that formation and abandoned your squadron. It was a solid formation given the target you had and the goal I had set to just kill the bogey and not protect the carrier."

She looked over, "You put me in command."

He nodded, "I did, but I wanted you not to be a tyrant and listen to your team. I warned you about being open to suggestions. You had that same attitude in 3 separate drills before this. 2 of them you were not in command and argued with the flight leader on every decision when you were not in charge.

It made no difference if you were right or wrong, half the time you were wrong in your assumptions counting today. Both flights you were not leading still succeeded, they just did not score as high because of the conflicting tactics you kept introducing to those who were the flight leader assigned.

The other thing that held you back was no practice time on the sniper range. We monitored those who practiced at improving. You are very reliant on computer targeting. I took that out of the equation. I put you outside of your comfort zone and you fought with someone who told you exactly what was going on.

She had no clue about that fighter. I kept that secret, even from her and she is on the Hybrid Council. None of the hybrids knew of it except Fria because she helped to build it. Several Sentinels, including Commander Jamerson, Master Chief 'Torque' Wrench, and Aurora knew of the details on that fighter.

Restricted data until today. It was a secret I informed the governors about because of imminent domain claims and the fact they could never duplicate it. Vivian did not know it existed or that it would be the bogey in the final test. That was by my design.

When your targeting computers were shut down it was a sign from me to you that what she told you was right and you still fought her read of the battlefield. You moved into that formation; got frustrated and got yourself killed for your efforts.

All because of your impatience and the fact the idea was not yours. She was right and you moved off to target without computers and broke a workable formation. You abandoned the snipers who had the best shot at hitting the target or spotting for your fighters to land a shot on your target.

That happened in the other 2 groups I talked about. You belittled them as they moved into sniper positions because they knew how to manually target. They used the environment, in this case, the Carrier to hide their presence and make it harder for my targeting computer to lock on.

The stealth net will tell you you have a bogey, but your targeting computers are not going to see it to function properly. It will give you a general overlay but targeting computers will not work on that target to find key spots to strike.