One Day Before Assignment
"Ms. (L/n), are you listening to me?"
Shooting your head up, you winced as you stared back into the eyes of the Headmistress of the Royal Interstellar Academy, Amelia Smollett, her green eyes narrowed at you. Her arms were crossed, black nails tapping against her arms as she glared. Ducking your head a bit, you replied to her apologetically.
"Yes, ma'am."
Her black brow raised itself, and she asked you as you seemed to sink straight into your seat.
"Is that so? Then tell me what attack maneuver would be used when engaging in combat with an enemy ship from an angle?"
Swallowing thickly, you looked down at your desk in thought as Elea, an Arcturian Valedictorian of the Academy, raised her hand and shook it insistently as Amelia awaited your answer. You then spoke as Amelia cleared her throat in expectance, tapping your pen against your desk in shyness.
"You would have to use the AMA Maneuver, which stands for Approach Maximum Aspect, as the best course of action. The maneuver gives a ship the most possible surface space to fire at the opposing enemy while giving the opportunity to defensively brace as well."
Elea audibly huffed as her hand came down to her lap, and Amelia nodded at you.
"That's correct. At least you're listening while sight-seeing, Ms. (L/n)."
Your ears began to burn in embarrassment, and you nodded as the woman turned around and began to teach and write on the board once more. Sighing softly to yourself, you scratched at your cheek before jolting as a crumpled piece of paper fell right onto your desk. Frowning, you opened it up to see some familiar messy handwriting and a doodle of what looked to be Elea with steam coming out of her ears.
'Looks like Elea didn't appreciate you stealing her thunder. Again.'
Jim. You rolled your eyes before glancing over at the human boy, his sky-blue eyes meeting your (e/c) eyes and giving you a goofy smile before he looked back at the board. Sticking his note into your folder, you couldn't help but smirk to yourself while slyly looking Elea's way.
While Elea was valedictorian and incredibly smart, the Arcturian was insufferable with her need-to-please attitude, her high class background that she constantly flaunted, and the high-and-mighty attitude that she always had.
While you and her were still freshmen in the Academy, you both had gotten off to an incredibly rocky start, and it had sparked a deep and wild rivalry between you two that seemed to never end. It wasn't lost on anybody in the Academy, not even the professors and officers,that you and Elea did not get along at all.
Despite coming from an incredibly poor background, you were also valedictorian in the Academy. Where you lacked in the more academic side of the coin, such as Topography/Cartography, you excelled the best in the more mechanical side of things. You were the best in your class in Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, and many other related courses that you had taken over the years being at the school.
Elea didn't enjoy sharing valedictorian with what she deemed as a 'space urchin,' but you really didn't care for what the alien had to say. After all, you had valedictorian for a reason as well, right?
As the last bell of the day rang, Amelia's ear twitched up, and she turned around, holding a hand up. Everyone stayed quiet and seated as the class awaited to hear what the Felinid had to say.
"Before I release you for you two-month break, I will be briefing you all on your End-of-Year exam. This exam is vital and will determine whether or not you and your teammate graduate from the Academy."
You and Jim exchanged confused looks from across the room.
'Teammate?'
Looking back at Amelia, the woman leaned against her desk, crossing her arms and tapping her nails against her arm.
"Each of you will be assigned a partner and a decommissioned ship for a year-long voyage. This test will force you to put everything you have learned while at the Royal Interstellar Academy to use, including both academic and mechanic. Firstly, you and your partner must make your ship functional to assure success on your voyage."
Your nerves began to hum with excitement the more Amelia spoke, and you were unable to keep still as you tapped your foot against the floor, leaning in slightly as Amelia continued on while grabbing a stack of packets as images of grand ships entered into your realm of daydreams.
"You will have various checkpoints throughout your voyage that you all must reach, but each team's goals will be fundamentally different in some way, shape, or form. If your ship does not pass inspection and/or are unable to continue your journey, you will fail and have to take another year before you will be able to retake the test. Your teams have been pre-assigned and are not up for negotiation. When I call your name, please stand and come to the front to collect your packet."
You almost breathed an audible sigh of relief when Elea was paired with a fellow engineer within the class, a Felinid by the name of Reagan, whom also happened to be a good friend of yours. He gave you a look of dread, and you shrugged at him, mouthing.
'Sorry!'
His brown eyes narrowed, and you couldn't help but chuckle before perking up at your name.
"(Y/n) (L/n) and Jim Hawkins."
Was it fate? You shared an excited smile with Jim as the two of you practically rushed to grab your packet from Amelia, who glanced at the both of you.
"Please read through this very carefully and plan accordingly. You will only have two months to prepare. Your ship may be found in the Engineering department, Hangar S4B2 in Warehouse 4."
As you and Jim walked out, you threw your hands up in the air and cheered.
"Thank god! I thought I was gonna get stuck with Ms. Fancy-Nancy."
Jim seemed to also be bustling with excitement, adding on as he flipped your team packet open and skimmed through the material.
"This is gonna be so easy. Looks like we got assigned to the Elegance."
The name made you jittery, and you couldn't help but bump your elbow into Jim's side, exclaiming.
"Wow, that sounds like it's going to be one hell of a ship! I'm so excited! C'mon, Cabin Boy!"
Jim guffawed at you, ramming his elbow into your side in return as he fell into step with you.
"Cabin boy?"
You didn't give him a chance to say anything more as you quickly opened the hangar door before you dropped everything in your hand. Jim stopped beside you before whistling lowly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Wow...I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't this."
Elegance was a small Ketch rig, a perfect boat for a two-man team. However, it seemed the ship didn't live up to its name at all. The paint had long-since peeled and/or faded from the ancient wood, the rudders completely rotted and busted. Booms for the sails were completely broken off or close to breaking, barely able to support the yellowing sails.
The stern and parts of the hull seemed to have serious rotting as well, looking unstable, and you let your head fall back, closing your eyes as you groaned from deep within your belly.
Suddenly, you weren't so excited.
If the outside was this bad, how bad was it on the inside? How terrible were the engines and electrics? An admiral was waiting by the ship, and when you groaned, the man turned and greeted you both.
"Good to see you both, cadets. Jim Hawkins and (Y/n) (L/n), I presume?"
You both nodded and the admiral introduced himself.
"Rear Admiral John Flemmington. This here is the Elegance. A beautiful scouting ship that sailed alongside the R.L.S Arethusa during the course of it's numerous voyages."
You mumbled to yourself, scratching your cheek.
"Doesn't seem so elegant to me."
Jim gave you a look as the admiral stared at the ship with a proud gaze before turning to you and Jim, turning stern and fixing his posture as the admiral cleared his throat.
"It is your responsibility to get your ship both cosmetically and mechanically in functional condition before you both start your journey. If it does not pass inspection in time for your voyage, you both will be forced to take one more year at the Academy before being allowed to retake the test. Am I clear?"
"Yes, sir."
Jim spoke loudly, and the admiral glanced at you. You, however, were staring at the ship with an apprehensive glance, and the admiral's brows became furrowed.
"Ms. (L/n)."
You blew out a puff of air before nodding.
"Yes, sir."
Flemmington gave you a look of disproval before saluting you both.
"Good luck to you both."
Flemmington walked off, and you rubbed your face in exasperation. Jim chuckled slightly before saying to you, walking up the steps and taking the first step onto the ship.
"What's wrong? I thought you'd be excited to get to a project ship."
You gave Jim a look as he looked over the railings of the ship at you, a playful gleam in his eyes.
"Well, when the dean told us that the ships we were getting were decommissioned, I thought she meant ships that were recently decommissioned, not from the damn prehistorics."
Jim rolled his eyes, shaking his head at you.
"Are you saying you can't fix her up?"
You gave Jim a dirty look, scrunching your face up at him.
"I'm gonna blow you up worse than what you did to Treasure Planet if you ask me something as stupid as that again. I can fix her up better than any idiot in our class, even you."
Jim laughed cutely before crossing his arms, leaning on the railing as he gave you a big smile.
"Alright, then prove it."
"You know, I really do hate you sometimes."