Sidewinder Days
03 Oct 2016Steve Sake
"Congratulations commanders! From now on you're officially active members of the Pilots Federation. Each of you is entitled, as you already know, to a free Sidewinder and 1000 credits. Each and everyone of you will receive a message from the Bank of Zaonce confirming that their bank account has been opened and that the credits have been transferred, the message will also contain the number of the dock where your ship is parked. You may now leave, good luck in the black."The short and bald man that gave us the speech slightly bowed his head and went out of the room, leaving us in the hall beside the docks.
The ceremony had lasted only a couple of minutes, arguably there was no need to waste more time than necessary for a handful of newjacks getting their license and even if they wanted to organize something fancier there was no room for that because we were on a dinky outpost and not a space station.
Of course if I were to apply for the license in Achenar things would have been very different, but with my finances the Pilots Academy of LHS 3447 was my only option.
My fellow commanders were standing in a circle exchanging their comms numbers and chatting on how they would meet each other in space, maybe in a bar on a space station and share their stories of wealth and glory.
Yeah, I'm sure that will never happen.
Being that I was the only imperial out there and that I have never been a sociable person, I could hardly call the people in the room acquaintances. Not that they discriminated me in any way, in fact them being federals was more of an excuse for me to stay alone and mind my own business.
And so I decided I'd take my leave without bothering to say goodbye to people that I would never meet again. I took my datapad and skimmed through the message that I had just received.
-Your brand new ship, courtesy of the Bank of Zaonce, is docked at bay 07-
I smiled to myself, thinking at how once again the number seven, which I considered my lucky number, once again appeared in an important moment of my life.
I had already picked up my clothes, my flight suit and the rest of my belongings and was carrying them in a duffel bag slung over my shoulder. I walked along the corridor connecting the hangars. It looked like everyone else was still lingering in the hall, how a person wouldn't be excited at the prospect of flying their own ship was out of my capability to understand. The seventh hangar was at the end of the corridor, the door slid open as I approached it and there she was.
Boy oh boy, how ugly.
As long as you fly in a simulator you don't understand how big a ship really is and you sure as hell don't get to look at it up close from the outside. To most of the pilots the looks are just a detail, what's important for them is the performance, but not for me. Growing up I always admired the organic curves and the design of Gutamaya ships, the Sidewinder in front of me was the complete opposite of what i dreamed to fly when I was a kid. It reminded me of a wedge of cheese, with two thrusters and a cockpit.
As I was walking up the entry ramp a familiar voice called out to me.
"Leaving already? Didn't they teach you good manners in Achenar?"
Picture found here, all credits go to the author
Remember how I said everyone was just an acquaintance? Well Valery was a valid exception. I'm a fan of organic curves after all.
"You know me, saying goodbye to you would have meant saying goodbye to everyone else and I can't stand people that pretend to be my friends when they're actually not, and besides I just want to go out and fly a real ship for once."
"Me too, me too" She replied. "But that doesn't mean you can sneak off without a single word. Look, I know you think that once we leave this place we won't meet each other ever again but the bubble is not that big. I want you to promise me that you will contact me once in a while."
This girl, sometimes I think she can read my mind.
"I don't think this is a good idea, I like you and all but what if-"
"No ifs or buts! Just promise me"
Her face was playfully angry but rather scary nonetheless.
"Never take no for an answer, do you? All right, I promise I'll call you when I get the chance."
"Good boy. Now go, wouldn't want to stop commander Steve from his great adventure."
"Goodbye then. And Valery.."
"Yes?"
"Thanks for caring about an antisocial guy like me. I don't have words to explain it but it means a lot to me."
She smiled and let out a single laugh.
"Then you do realize it."
She came closer and kissed me on the cheeks.
"Goodbye. And remember your promise."
With that we parted ways. She walked out of the hangar and I walked inside the ship.
The inside of the sidewinder was even worse than the outside. There were patches of metal all over the bulkheads, covering holes that I preferred not to inquire about. The cockpit was covered with the same patches, there were tubes sticking out of the walls -some of which were held up with tape- and the paint covering the instruments and the rear of the seat was completely scratched.
Brand new my ass.
No surprise that these ships are so cheap, they just take an old model and fix it so it doesn't break into pieces and then send it over to the Pilots Federation.
I changed myself into the flight suit and connected my datapad to the ship's computer. I was not surprised when I was asked if I wanted to keep the ship's old name -Wendy- or if I wanted to change it to a new one.
Wendy? For real? I'm sorry but from now on you shall be called Wedge o'Cheese.
With that I was ready to take off so i made the request to launch the ship. As the docking platform rotated and lifted the Sidewinder in the vacuum of space outside the dock, the ship itself was working through the preflight checks. Everything seemed fine so I pressed the button to thrust upward.
Nothing happened.
Ok i get it, you hate me and I hate you but if we don't leave this place right about now we might be in serious trouble.
The comms crackled with an annoyed voice.
"DeLacy Sierra Tango Echo, please clear the docking bay immediately"
As with all pieces of technology I knew that the fastest and easiest way to solve a problem was to turn the thing off and on again, all the while fixing the thing with an healthy dose of violence. So I did just that, after turning the engines off and on for the second time I went to the back of the ship and punched the wall behind which I believed the main engine coupler was located. By some process unknown to me the engines powered on and the ship started hovering over the platform.
"DeLacy Sierra Tango Echo, you have ten seconds before deployment of lethal force"
I ran towards the pilot's seat and pointed the ship away from the station, boosting my way out.
"Pad loitering cleared, you may proceed your travel"
I was safe from ending my journey right at the start. Wiping the sweat off my face I selected the farthest system the FSD could reach and pointed the nose of the Sidewinder towards it. I was already aware that it would have been a long and hard time before I could upgrade to a better ship but all in all I was happy, my lifelong dream was coming to reality and a flying wedge of cheese couldn't possibly stop me from achieving it.
-Frameshift drive charged-
-Four-
-Three-
-Two-
-One-
-Engage-