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        “Your papers, sir.”

        “Here you are, Corporal. Ensign John Page reporting for duty with the 178th.”

        “Thank you, Sir. Take the lift at the end of the passageway down to Deck C.  Captain Masters is in the hanger bay.”

        Shouldering my kit, I followed the marine’s instructions. I was still a bit apprehensive about my new posting. I’d been transferred from my old squadron under a bit of a cloud and no CO likes to have one of those enter his squadron. They’re nothing but trouble. I just hoped that story hadn’t preceded me.

        Exiting the lift was like entering a new world, far different from the antiseptic sterility of the command decks. Hoses, tools and workmen were everywhere. Shouts, curses and sparks flew about with wild abandon. It felt like coming home. Stepping over to a grimy tech, I reached out to tap him on the shoulder and get his attention.

        “Look out” came the cry from overhead.

        Looking up I saw that the thruster assembly they were working on had broken loose from it’s cradle, and was on a kamikaze run with me as the target. With no thought for dignity, I dived clear, straight into a puddle of coolant and somebody’s boots. 

        “And what the hell are you doing on the flight deck mister?” the boots’ owner asked me in a voice colder than space itself.

        “Um, sorry ‘bout that. I’m looking for Captain Masters.” I replied.

        “Well you’ve found me, so what can I do for you, huh?”

        “Ensign Page reporting for duty, Sir!” I replied, finally getting a look at what the boots were attached to as I got to my feet and braced to attention. She was about 5’8”, with a slight build. Blond hair framed a pretty face and blue eyes that could freeze nitrogen. I had a sinking feeling that I wasn’t making a good impression. The look in her eyes confirmed that feeling.

        “Here’s my package, sir.” I said, handing over my personnel chip. She took it from me without a word while eyeing the stained jacket I was wearing over my uniform. 

        “Follow me!” She ordered.

        Gathering up my gear while trying to ignore the grins from the techs that were watching this little bit of entertainment, I trailed her into a little office just off the flight deck. The little room was furnished with a table, two chairs and a Kaff dispenser. A compunit in the desk was the only other piece of equipment in the room. Tossing my personnel chip on the table she turned to study me. I must admit I don’t look that impressive, being only 5’6” tall with mousy brown hair and sharp, angular features. Also my battered but beloved flight jacket was now severely stained as was what could be seen of my uniform. Evidently from the disparaging sniff she made she thought so too.

        “So you’re the newbie they sent us?” she said

        “Actually, sir I…” I started to reply, but was quickly cut off.

        “Probably don’t even know the difference between an Apollo and a Valkyrie.” She said, and then continued muttering, “God, why can’t they give us some experienced pilots!”

        This was I felt rather unfair, I mean I know I’m young but she hadn’t even looked at my package yet so how could she say I was inexperienced? Yet as I started to explain she cut me off again. I decided then that I wasn’t going to volunteer any information; they’d have to ask for it.

        “I’m going to send you out with Lt Strachen so we can see if you actually know how to fly one these birds. Any experience on the Apollo?” she asked.

        “Yes sir.” I said woodenly.

        “We’ll see,” she said giving me a glare “follow me.” And walked out.

        Leaving my kit where it was she ambled over to an enormous man who was overseeing the installation of a guidance pod on a Hercules.

        “Boomer, I’ve got some fresh meat for you. Take Ensign Page here and put him through his paces to see what he knows.” She said with a sly smile and a wink.

        “Sure skipper,” the man mountain replied with an easy grin as looked me over. Fresh meat indeed! “You coming with us?”

        “Nah, I’ll watch it from the telemetry holo.” 

        She turned to me with a grin and said “You take the ship in bay 3. Call sign is Alpha 2”

        From the assorted grins around me I got the sneaking suspicion that they all expected me to fall on my arse. Hah, showed just how much they knew.

        A burly tech eyed me up as I approached Bay 3 and shot an enquiring look towards Captain Masters. She nodded. Sighing he came up to me and held out his hand. He’d heard all that had gone on before so I could understand his attitude. I even felt some pity for hime.

        “Master Chief Dimesko, sir. Chief Tech for ship X3278-A2.”

        “Pleased to meet you, Master Chief, Ensign John Page,” I replied, shaking his hand, “Hold my jacket for me, will you?”

        He gave a sudden start as he saw the uniform top my jacket had been hiding, started to open his mouth but shut it when I held a finger to my lips and shook my head slightly. A large grin spread across his face as he looked from me towards the throng around Lt Strachen and Captain Masters. 

        Leaning closer he whispered, ”Boomer likes to let you get close, pull a fishtail turn, cut power and kill you as you overshoot.”

        “Thanks chief, I’ll keep that in mind. Oh yeah, what’s the usual betting odds on a ‘newbie’, huh?”

        “Usually 10 to 1, but looking at you I reckon 15 is more likely. Uh no offence sir.”

        “Non taken, here’s a grand, go make us some money.” I grinned, “Oh and by the way call me Joker”

        His jaw dropped when I said that and then the biggest smile I’ve ever seen split his face. I guess my reputation had filtered through here as well.

        “Goddamn, are we going to have some fun today!” he said.

        Dimesko helped me suit up and get strapped into the cockpit. Quickly I ran through the start up checklists and gave Dimesko a thumbs up. He grinned at me, locked my canopy down, and ambled over to join the throng. Probably trying to get the odds heated up before he laid the bet.

        “Alpha 2 to Control, on the cat and ready to go. Permission to launch? Over” 

        “Control to Alpha 2, permission is granted. Good Luck” came the laughing reply.

        I grinned as I fed full power to the thrusters and engaged the launch sequence. Suddenly there came the usual kick in the guts as my fighter was thrown out the launch tube and into space. Quickly I eyed my readouts. Everything was running perfectly. I thumbed the comm. switch on my throttle and reported in to Boomer.

        “Alpha 1 this is Alpha 2, my board is green, over.”

        “Copy that Alpha 2. We’ll be using level 1 ROE. Call to initiate is Tallyho, disengage is Knock it off. Over.”

        “Alpha 2 copies. Out.”

        Level 1, huh? Trying to show the new kid up, were they. This was going to be fun. I set my master arming board to training mode and radioed Boomer, “Alpha 2 to Alpha 1, weapons set to Psi Gamma.”

        “Alpha 1 copies, weapons set to Psi Gamma.”

        We flew in formation to put some distance from the base and us. At about 25 klicks from the base Boomer radioed me.

        “Alpha 2, Alpha 2 break right now, we’ll start when clearance is 5 klicks. Over.”

        “Alpha 2 copies. Out”

        I fed power to the main thrusters and pulled her into a smooth 3G right turn. With the Inertial dampers on I could pull manoeuvres of 27G’s without feeling it. God but this was a sweet bird, Chief Dimesko knew how to keep them flying at optimal efficiency. Glancing at my Lidar display, I saw Boomer’s ship about 5 klicks from mine. I thumbed the comm. 

        “Tallyho!”  I called.

        “Alpha 1 copies Tallyho” came the reply.

        I slammed the throttle through the afterburner gate pulling her up into a spiralling climb, selecting missiles as I went. At the top of my looping climb I brought the nose round towards Alpha 1. Perfect. There he was all lined up. I must have taken him by surprise because he was still on a level plane and not spiralling up and over with me. Lock icons flashed red on my scope and I thumbed the comm. 

        “Alpha 2, Aspect missile launch. That’s a kill. You’re dead, Alpha 1.”

        “Alpha 1 copies kill,” came the curt reply.

        I don’t think Boomer liked that. 16 seconds into the engagement and he was already dead.

        I quickly broke contact with him, using some debris to break up my signature. Looping back and around I managed to come up underneath him. This time he saw me and half rolled as he pulled back, ruining the shot I was trying to line up, and forcing me to loop over the top of him. At the apex of the loop I rolled my ship, chopped the power and pulled down into him. Perfect. There he was again, right where I thought he would be. I squeezed the trigger and pale blue bolts hit his fighter. Again I thumbed the comm.

        “Alpha 2. Gun kill. You’re dead again, Alpha 1”

        “Alpha 1 copies gun kill” came the surly reply.

        I think Boomer was getting pissed off by now with my shenanigans. We continued sparring for a while with me getting 7 more “kills” to Boomer’s 1 before he tried the move I’d been warned about. It’s a great move and I should know as I helped develop it, but the only problem is that the tail wags as you start the manoeuvre. An experienced pilot who is aware and catches that movement can beat it every time, if he knows the counter. I did. When Boomer came to a halt, facing my supposed direction of travel I was nowhere to be seen. I had already cut power and had slid sideways while spiralling over and around him placing me perfectly in his six. I fired directly into his rear thrusters from a range of 12 meters.

        “Alpha 2. Gun kill.”

        “Where the hell did you go?” asked an angry Boomer

        “Behind you” I replied.

        As I was about to say some other things to him, we got the recall from the GTD Severance. Winging around I slotted in on Boomer’s port side and followed him in towards our home. On coming in to rest in the hanger the first thing I saw was Chief Dimesko’s grinning face.

        “How much we make?” I asked.

        “14 grand” he replied.

        “Gimme 9 grand and keep the rest.” I said

        “Thanks, Joker” he said with a delighted grin.

        With his help I unstrapped myself and clambered out of the cockpit. I walked over to the tool bench and picked up my jacket. Slinging it over my shoulder I sauntered over to where the crowd was in deep discussion. As I drew nearer I could hear Boomer complaining to Commander Masters.

        “Dammit, Skipper, he was all over me like a rash. Who is this guy, anyway?”

        Before she could reply he caught sight of me and his eyes went to my uniform that was now exposed for all to see.
“Triple ace, Distinguished Service Cross with cluster, Medal of Honour!” he muttered, eyeing up my ribbon collection “ God, this guy’s got more medals than the Admiral. Why the hell are you still an ensign? And how did you know that last manoeuvre of mine and what was that counter you pulled.” he continued.

        “Because I had a falling out with my previous CO,” I replied. “As to the fishtail turn, Chief Dimesko warned me about you trying it and I helped develop it and its counter move. I think that covers everything.”

        “You what?” 

        “I helped develop it and its counter,” I repeated.

        Captain Masters cut in over the renewed muttering that had greeted my remark

        “Boys and girls let me introduce you to Ensign John Page, call sign ‘Joker’. Formally of the Advanced Tactics and Weapons Development Squadron, the 157th Star Killers  squadron.”

        “You’ve gotta be joking,” moaned Boomer “He’s the ‘Joker’. I thought he was supposed to be a Lieutenant Commander or something.”

        “He was but as he said he had a slight, um, disagreement with his previous CO. The board exonerated him but reduced his grade.” Replied Masters.

        “What’d you do, Joker?” asked one of the techs.

        “It’s classified” was my cold reply.

        That answer cut off all conversation like a knife. In the sudden silence I turned to Captain Masters and asked, with a mischievous grin, “Well are you happy with this newbie then?”

        “Yes. Yes I think I am,” she said thoughtfully “ You’ll be bunking with Boomer here on Deck D. He’ll show you the way.”

        “Thank you, Sir,” I said drawing up to attention and saluting, “Am I dismissed?”

        “Yes Ensign.” she replied returning the salute.

        “Oh yes , one last thing before you go. Why the hell didn’t you tell us who you were?” she asked.

        “You didn’t give me a chance to,” I said as I followed

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