The Galactic War: Rogue Element ~The Beginning

[Terenia]

"Because I prefer the advantages of this form," Efaen says simply. She is breathing a little heavily when they finally reach the simulator, and she is forced to relent.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, she looks around her, ensuring that the only people around are herself and Eleric. Then she focuses on demorphing, letting the changes occur as quickly as possible, wanting to get the process over with. The sooner you do this, the sooner you can morph back, she tells herself.

The transition from human to Andalite is not a particularly attractive one, though Efaen's natural aptitude for morphing makes it much more appealing. She controls the morph, subconsciously more than anything, so that her deep purple fur appears first, coating the pale, freckled skin of her human morph. Then the more dramatic changes take place, forcing her to shift onto an extra pair of legs, and to return to thought-speak as her mouth melts shut. Her tail appears last, lithe and swift, with the smaller blade of an Andalite female.

Once the morph is finished she regards Eleric a little cautiously, not sure what his reaction will be, to the morphing process or to her own form. <I presume this is more suitable?> she asks lightly.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Eleric raises his eyebrows as he watches Efaen demorph.  <You are estreen.  I have not been party to such beauty in years.>  He looks Efaen's true form up and down before quickly moving his eyes to the door console, busying himself to hide his reaction.  <Well, it certainly is not unsuitable.  Far from it.  You will...fit...rather ...well...in a Tail-Fighter.>  He tries to master himself and regain his ****y swagger, with limited success.

<Let's begin.>  He opens the doors into a facsimile of the Tyrennian's hangar bay, more specifically, into one of the special hangars with two Tail-Fighters parked side-by-side.  He walks through toward the Tail-Fighter on the right.

[Chad32]

Claxter takes some shots at enemies as well, honing his own less than perfect shooting abilities. Some Hork-Bajir try to weave through trees to keep him from getting a clear shot, but he learns to predict their movements. over time their movements become less obvious and predictable, and more come at one time, giving a steady rise to the difficulty. He made plenty of connections, a few misses, and despite his attempts at dodging, was occasionally struck and lost points.

Initially you lose a pint if you get struck, and gain one if you hit the enemy, but on harder difficulties you lose one point for a miss, and two if you're struck. Combine that with the more intense effort on the enemy's part, and your points could drop like a rock. 

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Aetheas starts out the training doing quite well, he feels-- his score rockets initially as he pegs wave after wave of Hork-Bajir, and even manages to dodge the occasional shot. He goes out of his way to take some shots that would be easily within Claxter's range, simply hoping to finally best Claxter's score-- he came close the last time they this simulation, but so far the Command Warrior has always managed the higher score.

Soon, however, his overexertion begins to take its toll-- his eyes and his gun arm begin to grow weary, and his aim grows steadily less accurate. He switches the Shredder to his left hand to continue firing, decreasing his accuracy further, just as misses begin counting as negative points. Each time a Dracon shot hits him, he grows more frustrated, and the more frustrated he becomes, the more rushed his shots become.

[Chad32]

<You have to keep calm, Aetheas.> Claxter said, trying to pick up the slack, though he was starting to have a tough time too. <I'm not totally sure if this game is designed to be won, anyway. You just have to go as long as possible before the game wins.> He could be wrong, though. It would be kind of funny if it could be won, and he just hasn't gotten good enough yet. <Use the trees for cover. Don't worry too much about points. It's not like the top scorer gets a special trophy or anything.>

It was hard to tell a perfectionist like Aetheas that you don't have to be perfect to be admirable.

[Myitt]

Myitt, looking just as exhausted and bewildered as Chris, nearly runs into her old friends in the hallway.

She starts and backs up a step.

"Keslin?" she breathes. "They...won't tell us what happened to...oh, ****, is Tess okay? The children...?"

[Terenia]

Efaen looks surprised, and a little taken aback, by the compliment on her morphing. She considers rebuking him, but instead just looks a little uncertain. Lucky for her, Eleric seems distracted, and she uses the opportunity to compose herself. Luckily, Efaen is not entirely used to expressing emotion without a mouth, so for all appearances, she remains fairly stoic.

<<You will have to begin with the basics, I'm afraid,>> Efaen says as she follows him. <<I haven't been near the controls for a ship. Not that I can remember, at least.>>


Keslin pulls to an abrupt stop, blinking himself out of the daze that Chris has fallen into. "Myitt," he breathes. He is silent for a few beats, processing her question and then taking in a deep breath. "Child," he corrects, unable to hep choking on the word a bit. "Just one...I...the other..." He swallows, putting a hand against his mouth. "Dapsen," he whispers. And suddenly it's too much for him, too overwhelming. The exhaustion, combined with strain of remaining in a leadership role while Tess is in pain, of losing one of their children on top of all the losses they have already faced. He sags, leaning against the wall, clenching his teeth together as tears leak from his eyes.

[Myitt]

Myitt watches mutely, shock jarring her so badly that she is unsure what to do or say for a long moment.

"Keslin," she says softly, going to Chris' side and drawing them into a hug. "Oh, Chris, I'm...we're so sorry."

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

<Ah..Um..yes.  I'm sorry, training a person with no remembered experience is itself a new experience for me.>

Eleric gives the simulator a quick thought-speech command, and it adjusts the program quickly.  The only thing that changes about the scene is that an open version of a ****pit pilot console appears on the open floor between the two tail-fighters with plenty of space to walk around the outside.

<This is your piloting console.  It might look a tad intimidating at first, but it'll become your second home in no time, I'm sure.>  He grins, regaining a little more of his confidence.  The console is arced not unlike a shortened, widened horseshoe.  There are myriad touch surfaces along with blinking lights and one physical display.  There are two physical "joysticks" on either side within comfortable resting distance for each hand.  Above the console, displays pop up around the central viewing area, showing ship statistics and a rudimentary HUD.

Eleric glances at Efaen again and gives the simulation another command.  A fully-functioning, but holographically-generated two-piece ARC appears in his hand.  He holds it out for Efaen.  <Here, put this on.  It is called an Apix Realtime Computer.  You might have seen several of us wearing them.>  He ****s his head to highlight the one that's currently attached to his left ear, arcing around the left side of his head to terminate in a slightly widened tip at the corner of his left eye.  He gestures with the one he's holding up.  <This one is fully functional even though it's simulation-generated.  You can't take it out of the simulation deck, though.  Just hook the holo-display over your ear on the side with your non-dominant eye.  The other piece goes in your utility belt.>  As he speaks, a utility belt appears around Efaen's humanoid mid-section.  He grins again, wondering what her reaction would be.  The simulation deck could be quite impressive to someone who'd never experienced it, or in this case, doesn't remember ever experiencing it.  Unless, of course, the rebels had one and she'd been allowed to explore it.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Aetheas takes Claxter's advice, doing his best to stay in the trees, to use them for cover. He finds a nice little grove of trees that forms almost a wall on one side of him, and nestles into it as well as he can, firing repeatedly.

<Gah!> he yells, as an unarmed Hork-Bajir bursts from his wall of trees and rushes him. He turns and fires, but misses, and the Hork-Bajir's slash is enough to have opened him from tip to tail, were this not a simulation. In frustration, he fires three quick shots in the direction opposite the one the Hork-Bajir had run from, and ends up hitting three Hork-Bajir. 

Better, he thinks.

<I am performing beneath my abilities,> he tells Claxter between shots. <I know I am capable of better than this. I can feel it. I simply do not like...> he ducks as a simulated Dracon beam sizzles the air overhead, <the feeling of inadequacy brought on by a performance that is less than my best. Hah!> he shouts again, as he fires at a Hork-Bajir in the trees, missing, but narrowly.

[Chad32]

<Having high standards for yourself is a good thing, but sometimes your standards are so high that it's just hard to meet them all that time. this leads to frustration and anxiety, which causes more problems. The standard I set for myself is to just do better today than I did yesterday. Even if it's just a little bit, it will add up over time. Making a log of things could help you see how much improvement you make week by week. I don't need to say that I should be at a certain skill level by a certain time. I just need to be better now than I was in the past. You may find it's less frustrating then.>

Claxter said this in between his own shots. It may be harder to focus, trying to give advice while concentrating on the game, but in real life a battle doesn't stop just so a Prince can instruct his Warriors.

[Shenmue654]

Keshin glances at Terenia's presence warily, as if just noticing it. This woman was single-handedly responsible for the third biggest mess they had ever been in, and the rebels took her in...why? They'd never exactly gotten the story behind that. He wondered, on occasion, if the rebellion did things less for any strategic concern and more because they were nice people.

<Heck, yeah Considerin' one of those guys got shot last time 'cause o' idgit here. Old softies, the rebels.>

<Hard to believe, given how many of them have had a gun pointed at my head.>

Keshin munched idly on his protein Bar and then glanced at Illim. "So what now? Do we meet up with the other Yeerks on the ship? I heard..." Keshin bites his lip. "...is old Revan really dead? How many of your people perished in that raid?"

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Aetheas fires, then speaks, <I have...> he ducks, <had moments...> he fires twice, <In which... gah!> He dodges aside, but is hit repeatedly anyway. <In which I have performed...> He fires, wildly, into the trees, missing with all shots except one, <At a level far beyond...> He retreats out of his safe-spot as Hork-Bajir pour from the trees, Dracon fire falling around him like rain <What I am normally capable of...> He fires into the trees, doing his best to track a group of approaching unarmed Hork-Bajir with his stalk eyes. <I only wish...> He leaps backwards, instinctively swinging his tail at a nearby unarmed Hork-Bajir, which of course passes through the simulated creature with no effect, leaving it to slash at Aetheas, <To achieve that level with...> He ducks his head and sprints forwards, between two approaching groups, firing repeatedly, <Greater consistency... No!> A third group of Hork-Bajir has flanked him, and he finds himself surrounded on three sides.

[Chad32]

Claxter shot down the Hork-Bajir that were turned from him, opening a hoel to let him stand tail to tail with Aetheas for better coverage. <Efficiency is...always good. You just need to...examine past efforts to...get a good idea of what you...do right and wrong. Just try not...to overexert your...body too much while trying...to get better.> Claxter was finding it hard to keep up with all the enemies now. <I'm glad this is...just a simulation. It would be pretty...scary otherwise.>

<I'm sure you'll...be a great Prince...some day. You have a lot...of potential.> There was a good chance they may never be allowed back with their people, though. He wondered if the promotions Ossanlin gave really mattered if their people didn't recognize them on the chance that they were welcomed back. Perhaps they shoul;d just think of themselves as their own fledgling military.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

<We would not... have survived... level three... if this were real...> agrees Aetheas.

He falters for a moment, taking a hit, when Claxter tells him he'll be a great Prince someday. He knows that, of course, but it's a bit of a shock to hear someone else acknowledge it.

<Thank you,> he says tentatively, unsure whether he should genuinely be thanking Claxter, or whether there's a hidden meaning in the Command Warrior's words somewhere. It wouldn't be the first time someone had found an underhanded way to insult him with what sounded like a compliment.

He does his best to keep his back to Claxter, moving less from his spot. For a little while, the strategy seems to work-- he's far more effective only having to cover 180 degrees-- but as the difficulty of the simulation increases, he soon finds himself being overwhelmed again.