Chapter 13: Flight Simulator

Chapter 13: Flight Simulator

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryugii. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

Flight Simulator

"Do you think it's ironic that I'm being hunted by birds?" I asked, turning to look at Adam. Red dots blinked on my map, a reminder of the dark swarm behind us, ready to tear us apart if they caught us. "Since I'm pretending to be a feline Faunus, I mean?"

"Please keep your eyes on where you're going," Adam said through gritted teeth, fingers tight on the armrests. Credit where it was due, though; he was wearing a seatbelt this time. Given that we were spending a decent amount of our time upside down, I'm not sure he'd survive this if he wasn't.

I turned back forward and obeyed him without replying. Piloting was turning out to be a very different experience than Driving, but I thought I was getting the hang of it. At the very least, I was learning new thingsfor example, the improvement my Nature Affinity gave me towards Dust usage evidently improved the fuel efficiency of things I was driving. Since it was a percentage based increase, that was really good news because it would give a massive improvement when I was flying a vehicle that was meant to cross between continents. The issue of where, when, and how I was going to refuel remained, somewhat, but this gave me more breathing room.

But more than anything, I was glad I was getting a chance to get used to thinking three dimensionally in a fight. Sure, on the ground you could jump and suchand there were more than a few uses for that when you applied the leg strength of a Hunter, as I well knewbut it was still a big difference between that and flight. A lot of it is just really simple stuff that's hard to grasp until you experience it for yourself.

For example, keeping sight of the enemy in the big blue sky. I could already tell that one of the most dangerous aspects of this mission was going to be all the stuff I just could not see and that getting and maintaining sight would be vital. If an enemy ship or a Nevermore or a Fell Albatross saw me before I saw them, it might be over before I could regret it. I had an advantage thanks to my Map, but while it was invaluable, it was also two dimensional and when it told me there was something behind me, well, it could be referring to any point in a cubic mile of space. And I wasn't sure if it would alert me to targets I didn't know about, either.

Take right now, for instance, where a murder of Nevermore was on my proverbial heels as they followed the rising turn of my craft. There was a bit of a story there, but it can be summarized as 'the Universe hates me.' We'd run into the dark flock pretty much a minute after we left Vale's airspace and the Nevermore had been stalking us since. The Brightside was that they weren't the giant version, but even that wouldn't make a huge difference to me if I messed up; giant or not, they were creatures who could rend stone and steel alike with their feathers and talons. They could not, apparently, shoot the former forwardsomething I'd learned on the jobbut while this was proving to be a good way to train my Pilot skill, if I let them draw to close or get altitude on me

I smiled fiercely, getting an idea.

I shifted the thrusters on either side of the Bullhead, turning sharply even as I shifted the aircraft from a horizontal to vertical position. I rolled, pushing the nose of the Bullhead low and then turning the motion into a steep slice turn, before pulling back to rise back to my previous altitude before they could shoot at me.

And then I was closing in on the murder of Nevermore from the side, speeding up.

"Oh, shit," Adam ground out, tightening his hold on his seat.

"Aura Crash," I replied, the light of my soul washing over the Bullhead right as we dove into the swarm. Relatively fragile bones broke across the surface of enhanced steel, rattling the aircraft with a chorus of shattering pops and cracks even as we jostled at the impacts. Savage claws and razor feature clawed at us, training to tear open the ship and bring us down with then, but the iron shell of my Aura protected us.

You used Pilot's Low Yo-Yo without the skill. Your Mastery improves by 10%.

Mastery of the skill Pilot increases! Pilot's level goes up by one!

Mastery of the skill Aura Crash increases! Aura Crash's level goes up by one!

Your level has increased by one!

I let out a laugh as I cleared the darkness of broken wings, the corpses and blood of Nevermore sliding free of the Bullhead's armor, unable to gain traction due to my Aurabut I wasn't done. I reduced the angle at which I banked during a turn and then pulled up, rising higher into the air in a wide arc that left us, for a moment, upside down.

The moment passed as I spotted the remainder of the murder, scattered slightly by my crash and trying to regroup. I could have just continued my turn and wound up behind them, but I tightened it instead, bringing myself down on the birds instead, plummeting towards them as fast as I could.

"Why the hell did I agree to this!?" Adam snarled. "We have guns on this thing, you know!"

"Aura Crash!" I answered again, smashing my way through the flock of birds again. They let loose high-pitched, warbling cries as they broke across my ship, flying in every direction before plummeting towards the earth. I followed them down for a moment before pulling up and into a turn, before rolling out of my flight path and spinning laterally, and then completing the turn after cutting what I could out of it. I focused on the few remaining Nevermore, got them in my sights, and starting firing. I shot wide at first, adjusted the angle to bring it closer, and at least a few of the shots must have hit because several of the birds fell limply out of the sky.

You used Pilot's High Yo-Yo without the skill. Your Mastery improves by 10%.

You used Pilot's Displacement Roll without the skill. Your Mastery improves by 10%.

Mastery of the skill Pilot increases! Pilot's level goes up by one! Pilot's level goes up by one!

Mastery of the skill Aura Crash increases! Aura Crash's level goes up by one!

A skill has been created through a special action! Battles in the air have created the skill 'Dogfighting Mastery' to help seize the sky!

"I know," I replied belatedly. "That we have guns, I mean. But there's a limit to our ammunition so we might not be able to rely on it during the mission, if the ship we steal is even armed. Leveling up Aura Crash is the way to go, I think, so I can just crash through whatever's in the way. You might want to get used to it now."

Adam just growled, still holding on. I continued talking as if he hadn't, though.

"There's good news, though. It seems like there are shortcuts to improving my abilities," I said. "Because I used a skill I didn't actually know, I got a lot more experience. If I grind this way constantly, I should be able to improve more quickly. No, more than that, if I can figure out how to do this with other skills"

I frowned.

"Oh, but it didn't happen beforedoes it only work in combat?" I mused. "Hmwell, that's fine. Let's find some more Nevermore, okay? I need to get my flying skills as high as possible before the mission, right? So let's fly around for a bit longer before we land."

Adam swore under his breath.New novel chapters are published on

"When we get on the ground, I'm doing to make you train until you feel like you're gonna die, I swear to God." He promised.

"Ah, please do," I said, smiling. "Since it's to get stronger, I'll happily endure it."

Adam growled something but I didn't hear it. It was as if there were suddenly a great distance between us, a vast empty space that swallowed the sound. I knew he was there but my senses just brushed over him, focused elsewhere.

Behind me

A skill has been created through a special action! After repeated use of your sixth sense, you have obtained the ability 'Sense Danger' to detect impending misfortune!

Sense Danger (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

Survival Instinct augmented by Aura, this ability allows the user to sense when bad things are about to occur or when they are being watched by those with ill intent. The higher the skill's level, the sooner it can sense danger.

But for a few seconds, it bought me some time.

I knew that I was doing well, but I also knew this was a momentary thing. The guns on the Bullhead weren't up to hurting such a creature, much less killing it, and even if I could keep dodging, I knew it would hit me eventually, at which point it was over. I could evade a dozen attacks, but the fact remained that I only had to screw up once.

I went over my choices as quickly as I could, trying to find a way out, an alternativebut no. There was only one way we were going to be able to get the time to charge Adam's attack and get a clear shot. But even then

The Nevermore suddenly tucked its wings close and fell for a second, but that was all it needed because I immediately overshot it. A moment later, I heard the flapping of massive wings on the wind and

I had a thought. I considered it for a moment, deemed it crazy, and decided to do it anyway.

"I have a plan," I told Adam as I felt the Nevermore drawing nearer. It wasn't trying to shoot at range this time, settling for simply overcoming me and tearing me apart, which it would do in short order unless I did something.

"Is it a good plan?"

"I don't know yet."

Adam nodded seriously.

"What is it?"

"Trust me when I tell you that you don't want to know," I said. "Just be ready to get out on my signal."

"Oh, shit," He replied eloquently. "What? I meanwhat? What are you doing, Jaune?"

"Do you know how a bird flies?" I asked, before diving for a second and pulling back as hard as I could, keeping tight control of the thrusters as I did. I made the Bullhead rear back, nose pointing upwardsstraight upwards until I was staring at the sky and then a little bit further until I almost thought I'd go plummeting backwards. I saw the Nevermore pass over me, great wings shielding me briefly from the sun.

And then I righted the aircraft, shifting the thrusters to push me back into position in a motion that felt more like falling then flying. A moment later, I was climbing again, even as the Nevermore curved around to find me. I looked into its red eyes and this time I didn't run, didn't turn, didn't try to escape.

I flew straight at it.

"Jaune, please don't tell me we're going to crash into it," Adam said tightly.

"Okay," I nodded. "I won't tell you. Aura Crash."

"Goddamn it!"

The Nevermore, apparently, had been expecting a trick, had been waiting for me to try to pull away so it could seize me. It had not expected me to collide full force with its chestand it definitely didn't expect what I did next.

"Air Aura," I said for the first time, even as the Nevermore drew its wings around itand mereflexively.

And then we were falling.

I had no delusions of beating a monster that strong. My bullets did nothing and even my Aura Crash had barely hurt it. But at the end of the day, despite its size and the magic that must have gone into its very existence to allow something that big to fly, it was paying at least passing heed to aerodynamicsand now it was in Remnant's cruel grasp. I couldn't hurt it with my weapons or my spells, but that didn't matter, because I could take the wind out of its wings and leave it to fall.

The Nevermore tried to hold on to us at first, grasping the Bullhead in its talons as it spread its wings open wide, but as it flapped them, our descent did not slow. It tried harder, almost frantically, attempting to fly, before seeming to realize that we were taking the wind out of its proverbial sails and letting go, trying to escape.

I wasn't having any of that. As we came free, I thrust us close once more, staying parallel to the almost vertically falling Grimm, just out of reach of wing and claw. It flapped its wings, trying to shift itself, but always I stayed even, spiraling around it as it corkscrewed through the air towards the unforgiving earth.

"Jaune, pull up," Adam said as we got closer to the green tree tops.

"Not yet," I replied, staying in my turning path around the Nevermore, cutting off any attempt it made to fly.

"Jaune," Adam said again as our view of the world filled further and further with green. We were scarcely more than a hundred meters away now.

"Not yet," I answered. I had to be sure, had to make sure it would crash, or I wouldn't get another chance.

Fifty meters.

Forty.

Thirty.

"Jaune!"

I pulled away less than twenty meters from the treetops and watched as the Grimm crashed into and through them, carving a scar of destruction through once-unbroken green. I was already shifting the controls, lowering the vehicle the few meters that remained as fast as I could to land awkwardly on the debrisand then the door was open. For a moment, I was blinded by a sudden rush of blue screens, informing me of my improved mastery of Piloting and that I'd learned some odd number of skills in 'Aerial Combat Maneuvering', but I brushed them aside in annoyance, too busy to care.

"You worry too much," I told him, stripping off my seatbelt and standing quickly. "I told you I had a plan. I've never crashed into anything I didn't want to."

Adam muttered darkly as he and I jumped out of the Bullhead together, walking across broken wood towards the massive form of the Grimm, which was already beginning to stir clumsily, seemingly dazed by the fallbut I knew that wouldn't last.

Adam fell instantly into his stance, all signs of irritation and emotion falling from his face as he entered the battle, beginning the countdown.

"He won't stay down for thirty seconds," The Faunus noted quietly, but didn't shift from his stance.

I cracked my neck and then my knuckles, stepping past Adam and across the broken ground.

"Yes," I said. "He will."