The Optimum Project

Chapter 45

What I wish for

I suppose this is the part where I tell you to be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it, yeah well...
I totally wanted this.

As my fellow cadets targeted me, I began thinking omnidirectional, as in I flew up. The barrage of laser fire that followed was of course weakened so that it only disabled a ship for the duration of the simulation, but it was satisfying to know they were firing on each other.

"I am required to notify you that for the duration of this simulation I am not to assist you in any way."

"Acknowledged" I shot back as my response.

Immediately my mental HUD disappeared, and I was on my own.
I checked the scanners and looped around an asteroid as the remaining 10 fighters flew after me, jostling desperately to get into a good firing position, apparently everyone wanted that supercharger.

I dodged through laser fire as I finished rounding the asteroid, and punched the engines to full throttle, triggering an ion blast from the sudden flux in energy and taking down another two fighters.

I growled, "Not good enough."
Yanking the control sticks, I spun the fighter around to face the oncoming fighters; I was now flying backwards and firing into the cluster of remaining cadets, who were caught completely off guard by the unconventional maneuver.

"Four left." My breath was coming on heavily, and my hands gripped the controls like iron, I was running on a pure adrenaline rush.

"Okay, think, these last four will be the best fliers, I need to blast them out of the water before they can get to me."

I slammed the throttles forward, stopping my backwards momentum so suddenly the remaining four cadets had no choice but to split up so as to not to crash into me. I watched as they gathered just out of  firing range, and I realized what they were doing.

"Teamwork? Really?"
I grinned, I knew just the way to take some of these guys out.

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I reached over and tapped the communications button, tapping into their feed and listening in.

"I say we go for a four-sided approach, one from each side," the speaker was male, a deep, resonant voice that payed tribute to an African American heritage.

"Won't work," this speaker was female, "he'd get out of that like he did earlier, up or down."

"I agree with June," another girl, this voice was softer than the other, "He'll just dodge and pick one of us off at his leisure."

"How about a bait and tackle maneuver?" This was another guy, he sounded beefier, and nasally.

"That... That might work," that was the first girl, June.

"Let's do it, but who's going to be bait?" This was the nasally guy.

It was at that point that I decided to chip in, "I have a question, if you all work together, only one of you can get the supercharger, so..."

I laughed to myself as a series of curses and arguing flooded the coms as they not only realized that I had been listening, but that I had a point.

Then I sat back and watched.