A Stellar Affair Chapter two: A New Life

Story by Duvalio Profaneth on SoFurry

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#2 of A Stellar Affair


A Stellar Affair

Chapter two

A New Life

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Authors Note :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

One of these days I'm gonna stop moving around enough to write "Or edit in this case" these stories and get them posted in a timely manner. Well maybe not. For anyone who doesn't know it yet, Iraq $(_)<k$...

For those of you who are awaiting the next chapter of the Woodland Visitor... It will continue.

And now the most beloved part of any story, the legal mumbo-jumbo. If you are not of legal age in the area you are reading this in and currently are in, stop and go no further. Star Fox and all related characters are copyright Nintendo, all other characters were created by me and are strictly fictional. Any resemblance to any person living, dead or in any quasi-living state is strictly coincidental and has no bearing on the flow of milk in the Milky Way and should be taken in such.

Now on with the story.

I was led into a building on the outskirts of town. It appeared to be an office building but once I got inside, I knew better.

There was a security checkpoint inside the door in which I was signed in and directed to a small office down one of the halls. Once there they took a photo of me and had me fill out some information on myself.

"Umm... Excuse me."

The bunny behind the desk looked up and smiled. "Yes?"

"I don't have an address or that. What am I supposed to put?"

She opened a folder on her desk and shuffled through some papers. "Ahhh yes." She looked up and tapped her computer screen a few times. "If you would just fill out the areas that are outlined, I'll fill in the rest."

I looked down and noticed a few lines were highlighted. I started filling them in giving them the basic information about me including my name, age, interests and other basic information. While I was doing this I watched as the other areas were filled in. when my contact information was filled in I stared at the names. It can't be I said to myself as I read the names. My emergency contact was a Mr. O'hare and my Academy Sponsor was McCloud.

McCloud, there was only one McCloud I ever knew. What were the chances that this was him? But still that would explain what she was doing at the hospital. But even if this was him, why is he sponsoring me, and what academy was this?

"Cadet Price... Cadet Price."I was jolted out of my thoughts by the bunny as she handed me an ID Card. On the front was my picture and name along with my sponsor's name. On the back was a building and room number. "This is your access key. I don't think I have to express how important it is. This key grant's you access too many areas in the academy including your room. If you do happen to lose it, you will report it to the cadre immediately and report here as soon as possible. Now if you will go back outside that door and continue on down the hall two more doors, your next stop will be supply. Have a nice day and I hope you enjoy your training at the academy."

Maxwell led me out the door and down to supply where I scanned my Access card and was given three huge bags full of gear. I could have easily shoved two bodies in each bag and had room left over they were so big. I put the first one on my back and wondered how I was going to move the others when Maxwell grabbed them throwing one over his shoulder and carrying the other as if it didn't weigh anything.

And then it was back out and down the hall once again. This time there was a desk at the end where I once again scanned my access card and waited for the lion to look up.

"Cadet Price, you are in room C-445. Hop on the elevator and go up to the fourth floor. Turn right upon exiting the elevator and follow the hall down. Your room is at the end. You have fourteen days to get settled in and get familiar with the general layout of the academy. Here is your schedule." He handed me a folder and on the cover was a schedule with what I would assume were classes and following them were rooms and times. "If you have any questions, any of the cadre here can answer them for you. Good luck on the test."

Maxwell turned and led me into the elevator and up to my room. Dropping my bag on the floor I looked around the room. There was a main living area and off that sat a bathroom and bedroom and even had a small kitchen like area in one corner.

"Price!" Maxwell called. Looking back, he motioned me to come over and sit down. Walking over, I took the chair across from him and waited. "I'm sure you have a thousand questions right now."

"A thousand and one actually." I interrupted.

He let out a chuckle and continued, "Alright, a thousand and one. I can answer about fifty of them. But that should clear up the basics of why you're here. Your sponsor is usually the one who brings you here and does this. He couldn't make it so I was asked to fill in for him."

"Who is my sponsor?" I asked.

"I was told not to reveal that to you."

"Why?"

"I do not know, I was just told to inform you of why you're here. Every twenty-six weeks the academy holds placement tests. The top sixteen out of hundreds of cadets test and try to outperform each other hoping that they place high enough to be chosen by one of the many elite teams that defend us from any enemies that may come into our sector of space. The rest get positions within the regular military. Now some strings have been pulled to get you into these tests with the hope that you will be placed into one of the teams. McCloud's team just happens to be in this iterations selection. As for the test, there are five parts to it. Endurance, Combat, Marksmanship, Flight and Survival."

"Flight, but I know..."

"That's where I come in. the next two days I will show you your ship." He said with a grin.

"My ship?"

"Yes, your sponsor is so sure of your abilities that he secured a fighter for you. When this test is over, you, your fighter, and the equipment here will be reassigned to his team." He reached over and gripped my shoulder. "It is a great honor to be a part of his team. Every cadet in the academy would die to receive that honor. For him to choose you and to sponsor you show's how much trust and confidence he has in you."

"But what if I fail?"

"Don't worry about that. Just try your best. He doesn't expect anything more than that. I was told to inform you that if you just try your best, you have not failed him. But don't worry about that right now. We need to get you some weapons. Most cadets have their own weapons or choose them the first day of training. Since you are skipping that whole phase of training we need to catch you up. If you will follow me we'll go to the armory and remedy that."

On the walk down to the armory he continued his talk.

"According to your schedule, your first test will be the endurance test. Not much training we can do for that in the allotted time. The course varies on the placement of the obstacles each time its run. There isn't enough time to train you on them so we'll have to hope for the best there. The following day you have your marksmanship trials. That's what we need to assess."

He halted outside a solid looking door and motioned for me to scan my access card. The screen lit up with my name and asked for authorization. Maxwell stepped up and scanned his card. The screen then scrolled through a bunch of numbers and then turned green. The door swung open silently to reveal a large room with hundreds of rifles and pistols on display.

Maxwell motioned for me to enter. "This is the academy arms room. I need you to select two weapons from here, one rifle and one pistol. Just place your access card in the slot beside the weapon. Then you can handle the weapon and see if it's to your liking. If not, place it back on the rack and remove your card. If you do like it, remove your card without placing it back and that weapon will be registered to you."

Slowly I walked up and down the rows of weapons. There were hundreds of rifles of various sizes here, from huge monstrosities that looked like they would need a forklift to move them to ones that looked like they wouldn't hurt a mouse at point blank range. After about twenty minutes of walking up and down the racks one of the rifles caught my eye.

It looked to be out of a sci-fi movie as did every other weapon here. There were two barrels, one above the other and two magazines under it. The upper barrel's opening was about as big around as a pencil where the lower one could have fit a golf ball in it easily.

I ran my hands over it before I remembered and slid my access card in the slot and lifted it off the wall. I was surprised at the weight of it. It was very lightweight and kinda reminded me of an assault rifle.

Maxwell walked up behind me. "Why don't you try it out? If you don't like it then we'll return it and find another."

"I can return it?"

"Well it's a little harder than assigning it to you but I was told to make sure that you were comfortable with it."

I looked over the weapon then decided to take it and at least try it out. Removing my card I carried it down to the next indicated area. Pistols of all shapes and sizes lined the walls. Looking them over, I wondered if I should pull a Dirty Harry style weapon and pick the hand cannon or go for something smaller.

I finally settled on one that was about the size of a Dessert Eagle but weighed less. As I pulled my card, I just hoped the kick wasn't as bad.

Maxwell took me down to another counter and had me swipe my card again. This time I received the ammunition, belt and holster for my pistol and ammunition for my rifle. He then grabbed a belt pouch and had me put the ammo in it and put it on.

With the pistol on my side and carrying the X3C rifle we headed out of the armory and through the halls of the academy.

More twisting and turning soon found me outside the academy's shooting range. A short swipe of his card and I was following him down a hallway and into a booth.

"Alright, let's see what you can do." Maxwell said before turning to a series of buttons on the wall.

Slowly making my way forward I placed the rifle on the counter as he reset the target and brought up the screen beside us. A close-up of the target appeared on the monitor and slowly came into focus.

"Since this is your first time with this rifle, I'll go over it once before you begin." He picked up the rifle and pulled both magazines out of it setting them down on the counter. "The X3C is one of the newest rifles to come out of Corneria. The need for a high power, light weight but extremely deadly combination spawned its production. It didn't get a whole lot of acceptance in the military but was commissioned for special operations rolls where the less that was carried was better. It consist of an extremely high powered rifle utilizing Xerion core shells, capable of punching through a foot thick solid rock wall and still be able to take down a target once done. It also contains one extremely powerful PHRL or Personal Heat-seeking Rocket Launcher."

My eyes just kept growing wider as he rattled of each feature. By the time he was done I had to pick my jaw up off the floor, I was so shocked. This one weapon had enough firepower to stop a battalion of soldiers and he acted like it was common.

"Now if you will pick your jaw up off the floor and come over here I will show you how to load and fire it."

I watched as he slid a magazine into the bottom and charged the rifle. Then he explained how the scope worked and demonstrated the laser sight. With this kind of sighting on the rifle I didn't see how I could miss, even at long range.

"Now, I won't go into the PHRL right now as that won't be part of the trials but it essentially loads and fires the same way except it uses this trigger." He removed the magazine and emptied the rifle placing it back on the table, then stepping aside he said. "Now if you will come here and load it, we can begin your target practice."

Slowly I walked forward and picked up the rifle. It felt a little awkward, but I figured that I would get used to it soon enough. Holding the rifle up like I had seen in so many old war movies I slid a magazine in place and chambered a round.

"Now aim at the target and fire when ready. I want to see how well you do without any instructions."

Bringing the rifle down I turned on the scope and laser designator. Looking down at the target I lined up the laser with the center of the target and squeezed the trigger. It was a good thing that I held the rifle tight because I wasn't ready for the kick. It had about as much kick as the BB gun I had fired as a kid. I think a newborn could have fired it and hit the target without it hurting them.

"Good shot, now try that again."

I looked up at the monitor and saw a hole dead center of the target with a number one in it.

"What ya waiting for, your target to die of old age. Fire already."

I again sighted the target in and began firing at it. I had just fired my fifteenth round when I heard him tell me to stop. "I don't think we'll have to go any further with this. It kinda looks like they made the rifle especially for you."

I looked up at the monitor and saw only one hole in it. The hole I made with my first shot but inside the hole was a white blob where the number one was originally. I looked back at him and said, "But I only hit it once."

With a grin he turned to the monitor and said, "Watch this." I watched as he slid his finger across the screen and the target moved and shrank until there was only a small copy of it with the number one in the corner. There was an arrow pointing to the center of the target where my first shot hit.

"This was your first shot." His finger slid another target from the main one up next to the first one. This one had a number two on it with an arrow pointing to the center of the target. "And this was your second shot. As you can see, you hit the same spot as the first. Now watch this."

He drew out each shot I fired into its own little window and I watched as each shot was shown to be in the same area. I turned to Major Maxwell and saw him smile.

"As I said, it appears as though they made this rifle specifically for you. Every shot is dead center, making only one hole in the target. If you fire like that during the trials then you won't need to worry. In fact I think we need to move on to level two. This consists of fifteen targets of various sizes. The only catch is their moving. Think you can handle that?"

I nodded and watched as he reset the target and it disappeared. Then the screen read "training level two accepted. Initiate when ready." He then turned back to me.

"Alright, let's see what you can do with moving targets. Get ready, it starts in Five... Four... Three... Two... One..."

I quickly turned back to the range and awaited the first target to pop up. From small circles no more than four inches across to life sized silhouettes of people aiming guns at me, I shot at every one as it appeared. I didn't know how many I had hit because as soon as I fired, another target was popping up.

"Good job," Maj. Maxwell said. "Now let's try the pistol." I had fired pistols before, I just hoped this one was similar as I slid a magazine into it and chambered a round. So far so good, I thought as I waited for the first target. I heard the Major grunt in approval as he again set the targets to come up. This time he set them at level nine, wanting to see what I could do.

Sweat started to form on me as I fired the first shot. The targets that were appearing were no more than four inches across and some of them were only about two inches if that.

When the pistol was empty I heard the Major say, "Reload and keep going." Slapping a new magazine in I let the slide go forward and instantly fired off the next round almost missing the target.

Shot after shot, target after target I fired. For over an hour I reloaded and continued to fire being thankful that the thing didn't have much of a kick. Soon the last target popped up and went down just as fast with a well placed shot when the buzzer sounded and Maj. Maxwell said, "good job."

"I see we don't have to work on your marksmanship. In fact if you do that well on the trials, I think you might even be able to win. Now if you will collect your empty magazines and follow me we can see about getting you some food.

"I'll take over from here Major." Came that voice again. My head jerked around and there she stood. This time she had a smile on her face as she waited for me to finish gathering up my gear.

"Yes maam." The Major replied then looked back at me. "I will see you first thing in the morning to go over the next phases of your trials cadet." Reaching out he shook my hand then turned and left.

"Now if you will collect your gear we can go and get something to eat." I just stood there like an idiot not wanting to believe my eyes. When she reached over to help me is when I snapped out of my daze. I grabbed the pistol and holstered it then slung the rifle across my back before picking up the empty magazines.

"Follow me." She said and turned, walking over to a machine near the entrance she again turned back to me. "If you will please place your ID in the slot, we'll see about getting you some fresh ammunition."

I placed my card in the slot then watched as she inserted the empty magazines into another, one at a time. Then she motioned me to continue. When all the magazines were placed inside she hit a few buttons and a green light blinked on, then new magazines appeared in a larger window below the first.

I retrieved all the magazines and placed them into my pouch, then removed my card before turning to follow her out the door.

"I bet your wondering why I'm here." She said as she took me through the compound. "I hope you don't take offense to this but you are different. In the hospital you said you were a human. Humans are just legend, none have ever been known to exist, yet you are here. I'm intrigued."

We turned into the cafeteria and went up to the counter.

"I assume that since you are new to this world that you don't know what to order." She asked.

"No, I was only given the hospital food which they choose for me."

"Then allow me to order your food for you." She turned back to the counter. Soon we had two trays of food and were making our way over to a table in the corner.

We started asking each other questions. Me, I was trying to find out more about this place and why I was here. She wanted to know more about me and the human race. An hour later as we got up to leave I was no closer to finding out if my suspicions on who sent me here were true or not.

We walked back to my room and she excused herself. "Tomorrow Max will be starting on flight instructions. Hopefully you will take to that like you did your weapons training. Oh yea, from this point on you are to wear your cadet uniform and sidearm at all times."

I watched her until she turned the corner and I couldn't see her anymore. Then with a sigh I went into my room and began unpacking, wondering what tomorrow would bring.

A Stellar Affair Chapter one: Change

::::::::::::::: Authors Note ::::::::::::::: First I have to apologize to everyone who has been waiting for the next chapter of the Woodland Visitor. Some people say that when they can't write, that they ran into a wall. My wall feels like the...

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