Night Squadron - Origins

***Note: This is a rough draft alternate version of the first novel in my 'Knight Squadron' series... This version was abandoned, as I was not happy with where it was going or what my vision was... So, I created an alternate version that will be published soon... and, there is no sexual content within this version... enjoy nonetheless.

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Chapter I:

Dravin IV - Kriegsmarine/Luftwaffe Training Center - Year of Our Lord: 2517

The morning sun broke over the clouds in the far horizon of Dravin IV, the rays shining upon an assembly of buildings nestled among the planet's giant crystal formations. Stenciled alongside one of the rounded buildings were the words Luftwaffe Pilot Training Center and beneath that the soaring Iron Cross crest of the Kriegsmarine.

Inside the main hangar of the Center, doors in the floor split apart to reveal a repulsorlift platform that began to raise a T-31 Skyhawk into the hangar. Inside the Skyhawk, a young brown-haired pilot finished his pre-flight check. He wore a grey flight-suit and light model helmet. He glanced around himself eagerly, noting that there was another Skyhawk parked ahead of him.

"Yo hayseed. Aren't you forgetting protocol?" asked a distinctly female voice over the comm. The young pilot, Aiden Hunt, frowned a bit at the Skyhawk ahead of him, the source of the transmission.

"Just making sure everything's in order, Jada. Not all of us are always hurrying." He then switched the comm channel before she could retort to the base's control room.

"Rookie One to tac-com control, request clearance for departure."

"This is Tac-Comm Control, clearance granted. Is that you kid?" responded a rough-sounding voice, one that caused Aiden to split into a wide grin again.

"Hack! Good to hear ya!"

"So you're running your trials today? Wish I could be with ya. You shouldn't have any problems though; this isn't half the stuff of the runs we used to do. Good luck!"

"Thanks!" replied Aiden as he powered up the Skyhawk's impulse engines and gently lifted it into the air.

"All right Jada, you ready to go?" he asked his companion as he nudged his Skyhawk to float next to hers.

"You know it! Let's see who can come out of this with the best score," she shot back. Suddenly, her Skyhawk shot out of the hangar.

"Hey!" Aiden cried out. Technically he was lead pilot and "protocol" deemed that he should have been first. But that was Jada Priss; constantly driving him closer and closer to insanity. He immediately goosed his throttle, not wanting to be left behind, and roared out of the hangar and into the bright morning sunlight.

A few minutes later they were flying over a patch of flatland that were free of Dravin IV's subiquitous crystals. Ahead of them they could see two more T-31s and the faint outlines of Ryders Canyon, the first part of their flight trials today.

"Green Leader to Rookie 1 and 2, are you ready?" came the voice of their flight leader, Captain Sim Merrick .

"Yes sir!" they chorused.

"Good. We'll begin with basic flight maneuvers. Stay tight and keep clear of the walls."

And with that they dove into Ryders Canyon. Jada immediately increased her throttle and jumped out ahead of Aiden. He growled softly to himself; he'd keep watch for a chance to get back ahead. Technically they weren't being scored on who finished before who, but it had always rankled him how Jada was so competitive with him. Not that a little competition between pilots was a bad thing but Jada almost seemed to make it personal, trying to show that the bumpkin from the fringes of known space couldn't keep up. Well he'd show her.

Ryders Canyon wasn't impossible to navigate just on its own; what made it a challenge was the fact that the walls were so close together. You had to keep on eye on how they were maneuvering; otherwise you might just end up as scrap on the side of the canyon. As they flew into one of the rare straight segments, Aiden saw his chance. He pushed the throttle and the engine in his T-31 responded, leaping out ahead of Jada.

"Hey!" she cried over the comm, but just then, Green Leader broke in.

"We're coming up to a fork in the canyon. Green Two will go left. You can go with him but if you're really a hotshot, follow me to the right."

Aiden immediately knew what he was going to do and suspected it was the same thing that Jada was going to do. He pulled hard right on his flight stick, arcing through the fork right on Green Leader's tail, Jada in close pursuit. Green Leader hadn't been kidding; this part of the canyon was much more tight and winding than the previous part.

"You're just lucky I can't pass you right now," grumbled Jada. Aiden chose not to respond; he was too busy trying to follow Green Leader through the serpentine course.

"Now get ready, this is the hardest part of the course up ahead. Rookie Two, follow Rookie One's lead. You're going to have to pull hard left, then right, and then either go up and over or through a short tunnel. Get ready for it... NOW!"

Aiden immediately pulled hard on the stick, sending his Skyhawk into a tight left bank. Suddenly he noticed that the canyon wall was getting a little close on the right for his liking and applied a little etheric rudder with the right rudder pedal. His turn had been loose enough, however, to let Jada slip past him with a blast from her engine. There was no way he'd catch up to her, not now that they had to go into the right turn, the canyon walls oppressively close on both sides. They came out of the turn, hot on each other's tails. Ahead, Aiden saw the tunnel that Green Leader had mentioned. It had come up so suddenly and Jada had dropped so suddenly to head into the tunnel, that Aiden hesitated a moment. He tried to dip down to follow Jada, but he was too late. Cursing slightly under his breath, he bounced back up and over the mottled sand-colored stone. He pushed the throttle to its stops but found to his annoyance that Jada came blasting out of the tunnel, still ahead of him.

"Aw, was that a little too hard for you, Hunt?" she asked, derision dripping from every word.

"Nope, just surprised me a little bit," he replied through clenched teeth.

"Too bad you don't get do-overs," she quipped.

Now they were flying through a relatively straight part of the canyon and Aiden could see ahead that Green Leader and Green Two had already made it out of the canyon, past some tall rock pillars that guarded the exit. To Aiden, they looked like the monstrous teeth of some ancient predator... and he suddenly had a very interesting, very dumb idea. It would be tight, but not impossible, according to his sensors. As Jada flashed past the teeth, Aiden drifted towards the right as he approached them.

"Hunt, what are you..." began Green Leader but by then it was too late to stop him. Just as got to the teeth, Aiden banked slightly to the right, stomped on his left rudder pedal and decreased thrust. At the perfect moment that he was lined up with the largest gap between the three teeth, he punched his throttle to full, feeling himself smashed into the seat by the sudden acceleration. He shot through the gap, his top airfoil scraping against one of the pillars. He immediately executed a snap roll to the left and came roaring out of the canyon.

"That was awesome!" Aiden cried, his face stretched into a grin so wide it almost hurt, blood and adrenaline thundering in his ears.

"You still clipped yourself coming out of there, a little more and you'd have been splattered," shot back Jada.

Aidan rolled his eyes and would have snapped back if Green Leader hadn't cut in.

"Great flying out there you two. You've earned yourself a pair of actual starfighters. Now, let's see if you can impress Commander Farrell."

Aidan felt some of his good mood evaporate at that announcement. Commander Farrell was known for being the hardest of the hard-nosed instructors and Aiden had been hoping he wouldn't be part of the trials today. As the quartet of Skyhawks soared over the jagged Dravin IV landscape back to the base, Aiden thought that the chance to fly an actual star-fighter was still worth it.