3.
His classmates were aligning to the Malkalen stargate.
Stargates allowed starships to travel from solar system to solar system in seconds. Once you activated a stargate within 2500 meters, it would pull you inside its cylindrical infrastructure and spin up. Once it achieved the proper amount of power to propel you to your destination, it shot you at warp speed, (eight times the speed of light), to it. The star ship would then be cloaked for a short period of time upon arrival in the destination system, invisible to anyone else. Once a ship begins to move in space, its cloak would be disabled and the local police would scan your ship for any illegal goods. If you ship was found to be free of these, you would be free to proceed with your business. If your ship were to be found having illegal goods on board, you would be shot- and more than likely your ship destroyed by the police and their sentry guns.
Jack's Venture had nothing to worry about, of course. Carrying illegal substances in your ships would not only get you expelled from the institute, but also flagged as a criminal by the local police force, Concord.
Looking around him, Jack saw Malric's ship at his two o'clock. His ship number was "N-374". Just as Jack spotted his room mate, N-374 went into warp. The Venture shot away from Jack and his ship headed for Malkalen. Jack wasn't far behind. His ship chimed, "Warp Drive Active", and he was off.
Being in warp was a surreal feeling. Everything was a gray swirl around you. Jack couldn't make out anything outside his ship because its velocity was more than astounding. His ship compensated for the warp and relieved some of the g-forces put on his body. Without this technology, he and his ship wouldn't be able to survive. His Venture came to a slow halt as it came on its final approach to the stargate. Many of his classmates were there waiting their turn to jump. Jack knew a secret to get through stargates faster than his classmates. Most pilots sit where their warp puts them at the gate until the gate pulls them in to jump. Jack figured out that if he approached the stargates, they would prioritize him and make him jump before the ships that were not as close. He used this to his advantage to get into system first and begin mining as quickly as possible.
The stargate pulled his ship in. He was in the center of the stargate and it was spooling up. Jack could hear the power building and then it went quiet. A quick flash of light and he was off. Two seconds later, his ship was on the other side, in solar system Malkalen. Jack's ship was still cloaked. He checked the local list of pilots in space and found it to be free of criminal capsuleers.
His instructors were nearby, orbiting the stargate at ten kilometers. The instructors did not fly Ventures. They flew a small, frigate class, combat ship called a "Merlin". The Merlin was by no means the best combat vessel available for purchase, but it was light, fast, agile, and could deliver quite a punch with the proper pilot at the controls. It was more than enough to handle the kind of Gurista pirates that came into Malkalen looking to steal from, or kill unprotected miners. They had three stabilizers protruding from the main cabin, pointing downward and out to the left, right and front. On the stabilizers were Neutron Blasters, a hybrid weapon which fired a magnetically contained ball of sub-atomic particles at its target. What the weapon lacked in range, it made up for in damage dealing force. The instructors flew Merlins for the protection of their students. All were trained by the Caldari Military and were capable of fighting off small gangs of pirates that showed up looking for squishy, student Ventures.
Three instructors were assigned to today's flight lab. Jack watched one instructor stop orbiting, align, and warp away towards an asteroid belt. Jack realized he had been watching his instructors fly for at least ten seconds. By now, all of his classmates had arrived in system and were decloaking. There were about twenty ships in his fleet, not counting instructors. Over the communications channel, one of his instructors spoke,
"Malkalen five, asteroid belt one, is more than plentiful- and clear."
"Copy. Warping fleet at ten kilometers." Another instructor replied to the situation report.
Jack's HUD displayed "Following 'Instructor Kamura' In Warp". The instructor in charge of the fleet had the ability to warp all nearby members of his fleet to a destination in their current solar system. Instructor Kamura had warped the entire fleet together instead of letting them warp individually. This irritated Jack because usually the instructors allowed them to warp to any asteroid belt, so long as they cleared it first, and it was in the same solar system they were protecting. This gave Jack the ability to get to the belts first and pick the best asteroids to mine for the best lab grade.
Jack's ship sprang into its warp bubble, shared by all the members of his class and their two instructors.
"Abort! Abort warp!" Jack heard scream over the channel. "Guristas in belt! I'm engaged!"
"Shit! We can't! We're already in warp! We'll be landing in seconds!"
Jack was instantly terrified. His senses were switched to high alert, and his vision narrowed. He could almost feel the adrenaline spreading throughout his body like a crashing wave. This was the first time he would be encountering Guristas, himself.
"All students: upon landing, immediately warp back towards the Amsen gate. Everyone needs to get under the protection of its sentry guns and Concord as soon as possible! Do not wait for a fleet warp, warp yourselves out while we fight off the pirates."
At that moment, they landed.
Jack was able to see the pirates and his instructor clearly. The scout instructor was engaged in dire combat. His ship was obviously taking a lot of damage and being warp scrambled by a Guristas ship larger than him, Jack had never seen before. The ship was strange looking. It was asymmetrical and painted brownish green. On the side of the hull was the Guristas emblem: the skull with rabbit ears. The ship was bulky and had a long stem protruding from the front where the pirate pilot sat. It had a large bay protruding from its left side which housed its largest engines. The ship was accompanied by two other smaller ships which Jack recognized as "Kestrels". But, they too had the brownish green paint job and bore the emblem of the skull with rabbit ears. All three ships were orbiting his instructor at high speeds and firing missiles at him. He was warp scrambled and some of his engines were being slowed by a module Jack didn't know. He was in a very bad position, and Jack knew it.
"Everyone get out! I'm going down!" The trapped instructor shouted over comms.
"We can't leave until the students are out! Everyone get out!"
"They're through my shields and halfway through my armor. Won't be long now."
Ventures were rapidly leaving the system. Jack had lingered long enough. His instructors were starting to align to the Amsen stargate before they too, lost their ships. Jack aligned to the stargate. There was an explosion behind Jack which he could only guess was his instructor's ship. Jack heard the sweet sound of his ship chime, "Warp Drive Active", as he warped safely away from the three Guristas pirates and his instructor's wreck. He had survived his first Gurista encounter.
Stargates allowed starships to travel from solar system to solar system in seconds. Once you activated a stargate within 2500 meters, it would pull you inside its cylindrical infrastructure and spin up. Once it achieved the proper amount of power to propel you to your destination, it shot you at warp speed, (eight times the speed of light), to it. The star ship would then be cloaked for a short period of time upon arrival in the destination system, invisible to anyone else. Once a ship begins to move in space, its cloak would be disabled and the local police would scan your ship for any illegal goods. If you ship was found to be free of these, you would be free to proceed with your business. If your ship were to be found having illegal goods on board, you would be shot- and more than likely your ship destroyed by the police and their sentry guns.
Jack's Venture had nothing to worry about, of course. Carrying illegal substances in your ships would not only get you expelled from the institute, but also flagged as a criminal by the local police force, Concord.
Looking around him, Jack saw Malric's ship at his two o'clock. His ship number was "N-374". Just as Jack spotted his room mate, N-374 went into warp. The Venture shot away from Jack and his ship headed for Malkalen. Jack wasn't far behind. His ship chimed, "Warp Drive Active", and he was off.
Being in warp was a surreal feeling. Everything was a gray swirl around you. Jack couldn't make out anything outside his ship because its velocity was more than astounding. His ship compensated for the warp and relieved some of the g-forces put on his body. Without this technology, he and his ship wouldn't be able to survive. His Venture came to a slow halt as it came on its final approach to the stargate. Many of his classmates were there waiting their turn to jump. Jack knew a secret to get through stargates faster than his classmates. Most pilots sit where their warp puts them at the gate until the gate pulls them in to jump. Jack figured out that if he approached the stargates, they would prioritize him and make him jump before the ships that were not as close. He used this to his advantage to get into system first and begin mining as quickly as possible.
The stargate pulled his ship in. He was in the center of the stargate and it was spooling up. Jack could hear the power building and then it went quiet. A quick flash of light and he was off. Two seconds later, his ship was on the other side, in solar system Malkalen. Jack's ship was still cloaked. He checked the local list of pilots in space and found it to be free of criminal capsuleers.
His instructors were nearby, orbiting the stargate at ten kilometers. The instructors did not fly Ventures. They flew a small, frigate class, combat ship called a "Merlin". The Merlin was by no means the best combat vessel available for purchase, but it was light, fast, agile, and could deliver quite a punch with the proper pilot at the controls. It was more than enough to handle the kind of Gurista pirates that came into Malkalen looking to steal from, or kill unprotected miners. They had three stabilizers protruding from the main cabin, pointing downward and out to the left, right and front. On the stabilizers were Neutron Blasters, a hybrid weapon which fired a magnetically contained ball of sub-atomic particles at its target. What the weapon lacked in range, it made up for in damage dealing force. The instructors flew Merlins for the protection of their students. All were trained by the Caldari Military and were capable of fighting off small gangs of pirates that showed up looking for squishy, student Ventures.
Three instructors were assigned to today's flight lab. Jack watched one instructor stop orbiting, align, and warp away towards an asteroid belt. Jack realized he had been watching his instructors fly for at least ten seconds. By now, all of his classmates had arrived in system and were decloaking. There were about twenty ships in his fleet, not counting instructors. Over the communications channel, one of his instructors spoke,
"Malkalen five, asteroid belt one, is more than plentiful- and clear."
"Copy. Warping fleet at ten kilometers." Another instructor replied to the situation report.
Jack's HUD displayed "Following 'Instructor Kamura' In Warp". The instructor in charge of the fleet had the ability to warp all nearby members of his fleet to a destination in their current solar system. Instructor Kamura had warped the entire fleet together instead of letting them warp individually. This irritated Jack because usually the instructors allowed them to warp to any asteroid belt, so long as they cleared it first, and it was in the same solar system they were protecting. This gave Jack the ability to get to the belts first and pick the best asteroids to mine for the best lab grade.
Jack's ship sprang into its warp bubble, shared by all the members of his class and their two instructors.
"Abort! Abort warp!" Jack heard scream over the channel. "Guristas in belt! I'm engaged!"
"Shit! We can't! We're already in warp! We'll be landing in seconds!"
Jack was instantly terrified. His senses were switched to high alert, and his vision narrowed. He could almost feel the adrenaline spreading throughout his body like a crashing wave. This was the first time he would be encountering Guristas, himself.
"All students: upon landing, immediately warp back towards the Amsen gate. Everyone needs to get under the protection of its sentry guns and Concord as soon as possible! Do not wait for a fleet warp, warp yourselves out while we fight off the pirates."
At that moment, they landed.
Jack was able to see the pirates and his instructor clearly. The scout instructor was engaged in dire combat. His ship was obviously taking a lot of damage and being warp scrambled by a Guristas ship larger than him, Jack had never seen before. The ship was strange looking. It was asymmetrical and painted brownish green. On the side of the hull was the Guristas emblem: the skull with rabbit ears. The ship was bulky and had a long stem protruding from the front where the pirate pilot sat. It had a large bay protruding from its left side which housed its largest engines. The ship was accompanied by two other smaller ships which Jack recognized as "Kestrels". But, they too had the brownish green paint job and bore the emblem of the skull with rabbit ears. All three ships were orbiting his instructor at high speeds and firing missiles at him. He was warp scrambled and some of his engines were being slowed by a module Jack didn't know. He was in a very bad position, and Jack knew it.
"Everyone get out! I'm going down!" The trapped instructor shouted over comms.
"We can't leave until the students are out! Everyone get out!"
"They're through my shields and halfway through my armor. Won't be long now."
Ventures were rapidly leaving the system. Jack had lingered long enough. His instructors were starting to align to the Amsen stargate before they too, lost their ships. Jack aligned to the stargate. There was an explosion behind Jack which he could only guess was his instructor's ship. Jack heard the sweet sound of his ship chime, "Warp Drive Active", as he warped safely away from the three Guristas pirates and his instructor's wreck. He had survived his first Gurista encounter.
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