[Last Of The Jedi] - 08(14)

They didn’t care about maps, but they managed to hang huge lasersigns reading SAFETY SECURITY JUSTICE PEACE on every major hallway. And holoprojections of the Emperor in better days, before his hideous scarring.

He hated this school. It was designed to humiliate and control. Well, of course it was. It was run by the Empire in order to fashion little Imperials who would become big moffing evildoing Imperials.

He made it to class with seconds to spare. To his dismay, Kestrel was there, the student who was supposed to be his advisor, but whom he was perfectly certain would turn out to be his tormentor. Kestrel stood at the front, talking to the instructor, who turned out to be Lieutenant Maggis.

Thanks for the directions, sir.

Kestrel saw Trever and flashed a cocky grin. He threaded through the other students and came toward him.

“Hey, Fortin. Fifteen degrades on your first day. Not exactly a stellar beginning.”

“I’m not worried,” Trever said.

“You should be,” Kestrel replied, putting his hand on his fake blaster. “I just might decide to give you another.”

Trever was about to blow everything and tell Kestrel what he really thought when he spotted Lune across the room. That gave him the self-control he needed. He thought of Ferus, deep in enemy territory. He began to understand now what kind of self-control Ferus must have to exercise in order to make it through a single day. Lune was much younger than he was, so he was surprised to see that they were in the same class. But he should have guessed that the kid’s Force-ability would land him in advanced piloting.

Maggis called the class to order, distracting Kestrel. Trever moved toward Lune. The boy hadn’t seen him yet, and he didn’t want Lune to betray him by looking surprised or calling out.

Instead, Lune surprised him. Of course the kid did. He was close to spooky, the way he could tell when someone wa behind him. The Jedi Master Garen Muln had worked with him on “awareness tactics” back when they were all on the asteroid. Garen was practically a ghost now, his powers diminished, but he was still a good teacher. Trever wanted to think “awareness tactics” was just Jedi mumba-humba, but it actually did seem to work.

“Tell my mother I’m okay,” Lune said without turning around, as soon as Trever was within earshot.

“Tell her yourself. I’m going to get you out of here,” Trever replied.

Lune lifted a shoulder slightly, but Trever got the meaning: Good luck.

“Today, you worthless lunkheads, we’re going to move on up to flight simulation,” Maggis announced. “Note the key word, simulation. I wouldn’t trust the lot of you to pilot me around a space park. Now pick a partner and decide who will be pilot and copilot without shooting each other and we’ll begin.”

It was lucky that Trever and Lune were standing together. As the new recruits, it was natural that they would pair up.

They made their way to one of the flight simulators and stepped inside the cockpit.

“I’ve got special handlers,” Lune said once they were inside. “Spies that watch me. I think they report to Maggis. Kestrel is one. Him and his friend Flinn. I’m never alone.”

“Not a problem,” Trever said. “I’ve gotten out of worse places.” He wasn’t sure that was true, but it sounded good.

Lune took the pilot’s seat and Trever swung into the copilot’s. The cockpit window was a blank holographic screen. Suddenly it came alive with ships.

“You’re in the middle of a battle,” Maggis’s voice boomed out from the system speaker. “Red against blue. Pilots fly. Copilots engage the enemy.”

Trever grabbed the laser cannon controls of their ARC-170.

“Visual sightings only,” Maggis said, his voice booming through the cockpit comm. “No targeting computers in this exercise.”

“This should be fun,” Trever said.

He aimed the cannon at a nearby vessel, honing in on it.

“Trever, we’re blue!” Lune shouted. “Shoot at the red guys !”

“Oops!” Trever swung the cannon around and aimed at a red ship on the monitor. He squeezed the trigger. The ship exploded on-screen.

“I am one full moon amazing shot!” Trever crowed,

“Watch out, Captain Amazing, there’s one coming up on our left,” Lune said, diving the craft down.

The battle program was complicated and fast. In addition to competing against the other students, they had other obstacles to contend with. It was a large-scale battle, and Star Destroyers and Tri-Fighters would suddenly enter the airspace. Buzz droids would suddenly loom. Asteroids careened toward them. Trever had a fine time blasting away at the other starfighters, but he knew he wouldn’t have lasted a minute without Lune at the helm. The boy seemed to know when a zoomy ARC-170 would dog their tail before it registered on the screen.