The recruits venture further into space, their space bus roaring as it propels them closer to the station. Jax stares out the window, and his eyes widen, feeling a chill run down his spine as he takes in the space's vast scenery. "Wow, this is amazing!"
"See, I told ya you would love it! There's nothing more beautiful in this universe than the sights of the cosmos. It's truly a sight to behold!"
"Yeah, you said it. I can totally get used to this!"
After a 45-minute flight, they disembark from the transport and feel a slight change in pressure as they step into the space station. "Please make your way to Room 3A next to the flight station," says the P.A system.
As Rojo travels to the exam room, he sees a face he recognizes from earlier. "Hey, Jax, doesn't that guy look familiar?"
Jax scrunches his eyes as his mind searches for recognition of this person. "Yeah, the look is familiar, but I can't remember who he-" Jax's eyebrows arch as he now remembers the person. It's the person who tripped him and made snide comments about his clothes. "Oh, him…"
"Sucks, he has to be here. He'll make this exam a lot harder than need be."
They enter room 3A and see a pink-haired and pink-furred humanoid cat with a tail wearing an Academy Uniform. Her race classifies as Hybrid Race: Cat Type. "Greetings, everyone. My name is Hikira Rank, Pilot of The Academy. Please get seated so I can tell you instructions for the exam."
"Thanks for getting seated, guys! For this phase, you will take a stinger ship spacecraft and fly throughout our flight course. But, before you go on, I'll show you a graphic of the ship parts. I suggest you all pay special attention as these are pivotal for you passing this portion of the exam."
With a flick of a switch, Hikira dims the lights, and the projector screen fills the room with a blueprint of the stinger spacecraft's interior. "These are the parts to a standard Stinger Style Spacecraft."
Hikira points to a figure with two black grips connected to a round shape that mimics the design of a steering wheel. "This object is known as the steering mechanism. It works a lot like the steering wheel of an automobile or a flying car. It's used to control the direction of where your stinger flies."
Hikira's finger lingers on a section of red buttons numbered 10-100, their glossy surfaces reflecting the light beside the steering device. "These numbers are set for how fast you want your vehicle to go. 10 being the slowest, 100 being the fastest. 10-30 are recommended for civilian and pedestrian travel, and 40-70 are recommended for transport and evacuation. The speeds of 40-70 are only permitted for Academy Pilots. Finally, 80-100 and above are only meant for battle."
Hikira points to the buttons on the right of the steering wheel, including a green one, a small red one, a bigger red one, a blue one, and a small golden R. "The final five buttons are the easiest ones to learn; The green button is your start button, the small red button is your stop button, the big red button is your emergency shut-off button, and the blue button is for the ship's P. A speaker and that R button is for Radio communication amongst your allies."
After Hikari cuts off the screen, she turns on the classroom lights and returns her focus to everyone. "Questions, anyone?"
"..."
"Ok then, follow me, everyone!" Hikari leads them to a room with a "Ship Bay" sign over the doorframe. Once they enter, Hikari holds out a white bucket full of tiny paper strips. "Take a random strip," They take a slip of paper and get a number from 1 to 13. Jax's number is 4, and Rojo's is 6. "What do these numbers represent?" asked Rojo.
"These numbers are the order in which you will take the course, 1 being the first and 13 being the last. With that being said, 1 you're the first one up to go!"
Moments later, Hikari emerges from her booth and strides toward Jax after the three cadets have taken their test. "Number 4! You're up!"
"Time for me to go!" Jax steps into the dark docking bay, where the only light emanating from the stinger ship is black and neon aqua blue paint contrasting with the darkness. He sits down and runs his hands along the ship's control board, inspecting each button and dial. "Remember the controls..."
Hikari reaches out and presses the button in the booth, signaling the ship. "Ok, Jax Okayasu, this exam phase will require you to maneuver around the course in front of you," The course is a line that sparkles a brilliant yellow, the turns and twists meandering along, leading to an unknown end.
"Follow the line until you reach the end of the course. You start the test with a score of 20. If you go off the course, you lose 1 point every second you fly off it. If your ship hits an asteroid, you lose 5 points. If your points fall below 10, you lose the test. You may not stop your vehicle during the test; otherwise, you fail. To conclude, you have a time limit of 20 minutes for this course. Questions?"
"Nope!"
"Ok then, you may start!"
Jax presses the green start button, then pushes 20 on the board. "We'll start slow," For a few minutes, Jax flies through the course with ease. "This isn't so bad. This is like flying a flying car," Suddenly, Jax's stinger becomes bombarded by a cacophony of asteroids. "Shit!"
With a burst of speed, Jax presses the engine to 40 and swerves the steering wheel left and right, the asteroids whizzing past the windows. After surviving the storm, Jax exhales, feeling relief wash over him. "Phew, that was close."
Jax returns the speed to 10, then flies steadily throughout the course. "Hopefully, it's easy street from here," Then, the path changes, taking on a series of winding curves, and the sight of asteroids raining surround his windows. "Damn, I should have known they'd pull out all the stops for the last stretch."
"Stay calm, Jax; analyze the situation. Find an opening,". Jax scans the asteroids until he finally notices a slight opening. "I got it!" Jax presses the 70 button, and Jax hears the engine whir as he soars through the pathway, narrowly avoiding the asteroids.
Jax returns to the ship's docking station on the other side of the space station. "Good Job on completing your test. Your score will be given to you after all applicants finish," says an automated voice.
Jax steps off his ship and strides through the lobby, his footsteps clanking against the metal floor until he meets Rojo. "How did it go?" asks Rojo.
"It was pretty challenging. That course has a lot of crazy turns, and to make it worse, asteroids fall everywhere all over you."
"Wow, so this will be a challenge. Good thing I've got a little flying experience,"
"Yea-" In a fit of rage, a tester storms out of the testing room, ripping off his Academy uniform and letting it drop to the ground. "This test is too hard. I quit!"
"Number 6, you're up!"
"Wow, he quit pretty fast. Guess I don't gotta wait as long," Rojo trudges through the hallway, heading for the testing area.
Rojo finishes the test in 17 minutes, then returns to Jax with a smugness radiating from his features. "How did you do?" asks Jax.
"It was easy as pie."
"That's nice to know. I'm glad you had success."
"Yeah, a few asteroids caught me by surprise, but not enough to take me out of the game!"
A shrill beep echoes through the walls of the space station. "All candidates who have completed the test, please go to ROOM 27D and wait for the rest of the testers to complete their test. Thank you for complying!"
"27D is all the way on the other side of the damn station. It's gonna take us an hour to get there!" said Rojo.
"I don't mind a long walk; besides, there's even a cafeteria here. Maybe we can get some lunch."
"Yeah, now that you mention it, I am hungry."
Rojo and Jax head to the cafeteria and pick up some food, then arrive at room 27D, where Hikira and other testers wait. "Ok, guys, have a seat."
As the final applicant's file into the room, Hikira receives a stack of papers from a younger female creature. "These are your test results from the exam. If you pass, you will get a paper. If you fail well... But anyway, if you fail, don't give up. Study and study more then next year. You will have a better chance of success."
Six individuals receive documents from Hikira. "Those who didn't get the papers failed the second phase. Thank you for participating and trying. I hope to see you next year!" The meeting room sounds with a discordant combination of moans and groans.
"What did you get on your test?" asks Rojo.
"I got a 17, you?"
"Nice job! I got an 18. I passed easily," Rojo looks at the paper, his eyebrows knitting together as he sees someone scored higher than him. "Wait! Someone got a higher score than me! Who?!"
"Look no further!" A short, brown-haired, tanned skin male human child with a tight red and white colored vest, white pants with red stars on the sides, and white boots appears in front of Jax. He places his test results on Jax and Rojo's desk. "I got a 19, which is a much better score than yours. You better hope we're on the same team next phase, poor bum, because if you're not, I'm coming right after you."
Rojo's lips curl in contempt, and he folds his arms once the child departs. "What a jerk," says Rojo.
"Ah, I wouldn't even worry about him. He's just tryin' to get in our head," says Jax.
"The next room for the last phase of the exam is Room 30D. Good luck to the rest of you! I dismiss you all!"
The remaining six rookies leave the room and go to the last room for the exam. After the rookies leave, Hikari examines Jax and Soma's test scores. "So far, Jax and Soma are on pace to break countless records set by younger Cadets during these exams. This year's class potential has a lot higher than previous ones."