Recruit: Book One of the Universal Conflict ( Under Constant Editing)

Chapter 13

   The cruiser appeared on the far side of the target galaxy just a few light years away from the most massive fleet Cory had even dreamed could exist. Ships of all sizes were spread out in front of him. From ships slightly larger than his fighter to ships four times larger than the cruiser. Some even bigger. Aboard each and every ship were people of every race that had their worlds overrun by the Ruchkitay. Every warrior  was anxious to begin retaking what was stolen from them.

  "Now the real work begins." T'ilvesh said as they all left the bridge to start the training of all fighters in the use of Earths weapons.

   As each ship sent their best to become instructors Cory and the rest of the squad had made sure weapons were available for the fleet. Training was fast, thorough and around the clock.

  Every time Cory and Krystal passed the area used to train the instructors, the reports of the various guns could be heard and the air was thick with the smell of cordite.

  It had only been a week since they had passed through the barrier of Surni and Rufes galaxy.  There were still several weeks until the first planet to retake would be in range. In that time Cory worked with maintenance crews to outfit all vehicles with the weapons he and Krystal had brought back the plans for. Day by day the fleet became more prepared to fight.

  "This had better work." Cory muttered to himself as he and the crew of fighter maintenance loaded a pod of air to ground missiles onto his fighter.

  Since the weapons had come from Earth Cory felt it was his responsibility to lead the first strike.

  "I don't like it." Krystal said looking at Cory, tears gathering in her eyes "You don't have to do this."

  "Yes, I do." He replied as he finished mounting the pod under the wing of his fighter "It's my worlds weapons so I should be there making sure they work."

  "I can do that." She came back at him.

  "You are needed in command. Not on the ground. Not yet." Cory argued wanting to keep Krystal as safe as possible. The thought of her getting hurt or worse sent his nerves into overdrive. He didn't want the extra stress now. Knowing they would compromise didn't help.

   "Let's go see the Commander and see what he thinks."  She stated.

   "Alright." Cory gave in, knowing what T'ilvesh was going to say.

  Having brought the subject up during a coffee break a few days ago, he knew Krystal wouldn't be allowed on the front lines for weeks yet. Not until the data from several campaigns had been fought and a thorough analysis been made.  Krystal didn't  know that Cory had talked to the Commander. She would be pretty pissed at him but right now he didn't care. Her staying safe was his main priority.

   The meeting with the Commander went as Cory thought it would. T'ilvesh flat out refused to let Krystal off the bridge during the attack.

   "But Corys flight skills aren't up to attack capability yet." She argued.

  "That's why you are going to take him out and train him, starting today." T'ilvesh ordered "We will be passing several planets that will give him the skills he needs."

   "Yes, sir." Krystal acknowledged sullenly,  knowing she would not win.

  "Cory,"  the Commander went on "As of now you are a flight leader. Your training starts now. Both of you get flying."

  Turning around T'ilvesh dismissed the couple and returned to his work.

  Cory and Krystal headed to the hanger bay to start his flight training. Climbing into the cockpits of their  fighters they settled in and powered up.

   Flying out from the cruiser Krystal took the lead. Heading towards a system that had no planets that could support life .

   "When we're in range we will start strafing runs." Krystal said "I'll pick out your target, you'll follow and try to hit the target."

  "Sounds easy enough." Cory answered, feeling a bit nervous.

  "Don't worry." She reassured him "You'll get the hang of it. All it takes is practice and you're going to get all you can handle."

  Flying to the moon of a small outlying planet Krystal picked out a rock the size of a medium sized Ruchkitay.  Cory fired his chain gun and tried to hit it. His aim was off a bit as the slugs went wide as he missed by several yards.                                                                                                                              "Damn it !" Cory swore as he banked for a return run.                                                                                     "Don't worry about it, just relax and fly, when it looks right. Fire." Krystal reassured him "You'll get the hang of it soon."                                                                                                                                                    "Right...relax." Cory said,  more to himself rather than to anyone else.                                                      "She's right," T'ilvesh's voice interjected on the comm unit .                                                                           "I didn't know you were monitoring." Cory replied.                                                                                              ''Just take a couple deep breaths, just like your hand to hand training taught you." the Commander told him.                                                                                                                                                                       Cory could be heard as he followed orders. "All right, let's line it up again." As he said this he lined up to make his run.  All went silent as the chain gun was fired.                 
  "Shoot, missed again."                     As the day wore on Cory improved a little, scoring four in a row to finish up the day. Returning to the ship Krystal engaged him in a game of tag chasing him to improve his evasive flying. Cory got into the flying match trying to get her to overshoot and get his turn to chase her around for a while.

  The Commander let them play as he tried to formulate a plan of attack. What bothered him most was the intelligence of the Ruchkitay themselves. They were a formidable opponent.

This action was going to take careful planning. He strode out to the bridge.

  "Communications, get word to every officer, captain and above, that we meet on The Retaliator after new downloads for a strategy conference." He ordered.

  "Yes, sir !" the communication officer replied even as her fingers started to open the priority broadcast channel.

  "After you're done with that call the training flight back immediately. Please" T'ilvesh requested as he headed to his quarters to clean up before going to The Retaliator for the conference.

   Having been told about the conference when they were called in from training, Cory and Krystal hurried back to their quarters to clean up for the meeting. In twenty minutes they were back in the hanger.

  T'ilvesh led them to a shuttle large enough for a squad. Cory was in a new Captains uniform with flight leader status on the breast. As soon as they were seated the shuttle headed out.