trans_9 | Exhaustion [Open]

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Exhaustion [Open]

The first thing that Asuka had done was open a comm post to see how long it had been. Then she'd learned she'd been gone for months. Precious, valuable months spent running mazes (she couldn't exactly remember it all - it was a blur, like a dream). She was probably left behind by now! So, the third thing she'd done was gone straight to the Sensoriums and started flying. She'd done combat scenarios, cold starts, everything that she'd learned before, she'd done over and over again, trying to improve her reaction times, trying to master the controls.

There was no way in Hell she was going to be the worst pilot in the squadron. She was going to be the best. Which was why she'd just gone for a day or so without sleep and was more then a little bit exhausted.

And still flying a simulated X-Wing.

You couldn't fault her dedication.

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"Really, now." Michel cut the Valkyrie's speed to the point where the X-Wing could conceivably keep up with it - his little ship lacked the shields of the sturdier X-Wing, but it more than made up for it in its quickness.

"You think you can actually hit me in that thing? That's really kinda cute."

Asuka answered by triggering a barrage of laser fire, red bolts zipping through space - she could still catch up to him. His VF-25 was faster, but not that much faster. She thumbed over to torpedoes, waiting for her HUD to give her the steady tone of a target lock.

"That's more like it!" He teased, rolling the Valkyrie to the side in a snap-dive through scarlet lasers, taking advantage of his craft's superior maneuverability to juke to the side just when he thought she might have a target lock.

Of course, Skull pilots cut their teeth on dodging missile barrages, so it wasn't like he'd never done any of that before.

Asuka gritted her teeth, trying to fight on through the exhaustion that threatened to force her down and out. She kicked power over from her shields into her engines and zipped after him, more laser fire lancing out. At maximum thrust she could keep up with the VF-25 - although certainly not as maneuverable.

She wasn't going to let herself lose this one.

He noticed the sudden burst in speed - rare, for an X-Wing - and further noted that the craft's shields were now gone. "You're an aggressive little bird," Michel murmured to himself. Dangerously so, even.

That could be the death of her, if she tried it against the wrong person. His finger wandered towards the trigger, but... no, he'd set rules, he'd play by them.

In Asuka's mind, the best defense was a good offense - and in this case, the sooner she shot him down, the better. More scarlet laser fire stitched through the void, tracking her target. Her HUD kept flickering green - target lock - and then going back to it's neutral blue as the VF-25 juked and weaved. Her gunnery wasn't what it could be. She'd been at this for hours and by now she was practically wrestling her stick over.

She was going to get him, one way or another.

To be fair to her, Michel wasn't making it easy. "Good thing you're using beam weapons," he called back, his voice light and breezy but no less teasing, "If you'd been using solid ammo you'd have run out by now, shooting like that."

"Shut up!" Her voice sounds more then a bit strained as she whips the X-Wing around, triggering another burst. She's trying to keep him hemmed in, trying to anticipate where he's going to be. She's starting to develop a pounding headache, but she fights through the growing throb in her head to stick with Michel. She wasn't going to lose. She wasn't going to lose.

Hm. There was something in her voice - a strain - that told the sniper that this exercise was probably doing more harm than good right now. Time to end it.

The Valkyrie stopped its juking for just a moment as the targeting equipment slid down, but then it moved again - parts detached and slid together again as it transformed into its human-shaped Battroid mode... and as Michel whipped around, the railgun was already pointed directly at the oncoming X-Wing.

He fired.

There. He stopped. She bore down, squeezing her firing stud down, laser bolts filling the void in between the two craft. As Michel whipped it around, she kept tracking him - she had him -

Then her X-Wing exploded.

The VF-25 was much less well-defended than the X-Wing, and had it been a real fight the scarlet beam that scored a hit on the Battroid's leg would have caused some serious damage, but he held together.

And then the battlefield faded, leaving him standing in the empty Sensoriums - which was occupied by one other, who he imagined to be the other pilot. Michael leaned back against the wall. "Should've kept your shields up. Would have taken me two shots that way."

"Shut up," Asuka retorted, "I didn't come here to get humiliated. I came here to practice."

She stalked toward him, all animated arms and cold fury, "Where the Hell do you get off, coming into my practice session and showing me up?!"

He reached up to adjust his glasses. "Haven't you heard that 'failure is the greatest teacher'? At least you can live to learn about it if it's just practice."

The sniper quirked an eyebrow. "Right?"

"I don't need your help or your advice, idiot! So why don't you get out of here?" She swept a hand toward the exit, huffing indignantly. "You're not wanted."

Michael just tilted his head to the side. "Sure, sure, I'll just let you get vaporized by the Ohm next time. And don't you think it's a bit of a bad move to be ordering someone who outranks you around?"

"Since when do you outrank me? Who the Hell are you, anyway?" Asuka eyed him over.

He grinned at her. "Commander Michael Blanc, Skull Leader. Girls can call me Michel."

"Well, sir, if you don't like my attitude, you can get the hell out of my simulation!" Asuka shot back. "And if you don't like that, you can file a report with my commanding officer! Now get out!"

Edited 2011-01-16 05:02 (UTC)

Okay, time to be the commander. Was this how Ozma felt all the time back home? "No, I don't think I will. Hey - look at me." He was getting the impression she was pretty worked ragged.

Asuka was pretty prickly on her good days, so stung out, worried, stressed and physically and mentally taxed from working herself so long, she wasn't exactly a paragon of reason. She glared at him for a few moments more, fuming silently and then turned on her heel, stalking away.

"Stacy, get me my simulation back!"

Time to really be the commander, then. "Stacy, as her superior officer in Starfighter Command, ignore that order. In fact, don't run any more simulations for a few more hours, all right? Thanks."

It'd only been the few moments she'd been glaring at him, but he'd seen those dark circles under her eyes. "Somebody needs to go rest up before she's ready to get in a pilot's chair again."

"Go to Hell! I'm fine! I know what I'm doing!" Asuka's voice was shrill - almost a shriek. She didn't need or want his interference.

"Stacy, make that twelve hours. For this one here, anyway." He reached up and adjusted his glasses again. "A pilot that doesn't know her limits gets herself and her wingmen killed. Do you want to be that pilot?"

Asuka's face went pale and then turned to angry shade of red. She spun on her heel and started marching away from him, hurling her simulated helmet to the floor as she walked. She didn't have to put up with this shit.

And Michel just sighed.

He'd have to have a talk with Trudy about that one.

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Exhaustion [Open]

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