The first classes went well, Eneas once again took on his leading role as on the first day, his genius was recovering, he managed to get his Mecha running first, his protocol solution to the military problem presented was masterful, and in interstellar engineering his response was one of the best to the situation raised.
That day on the bridge of the "arcadia" the commander of the ship was Agamemnon, with a lot of bad idea and contempt he assigned Eneas to one of the fighters, the most useless and degrading position, deep down the fighters were not manned by officers in real life, but by mere soldiers. The desire to insult was clear.
Although Agamemnon's orders were not absurd or completely crazy, he was not an idiot, nor was he proposing the best combat option, at most it would ensure that the flagship was not destroyed. The problem is the despotism with which he dictated the orders, the only fighter pilot told Eneas to do whatever he wanted, the fighters were completely useless.
Also once his original plan was truncated due to the flexibility with which the enemies of Arcadia were moving in space, Agamemnon's orders became more erratic, confusing and despotic.
The simulation progressed and the Arcadia was in an increasingly worse situation, misaligned from the frontal position to attack, surrounded by hostile forces, with the mechas acting as a meat shield...
Having no other orders, Eneas did in his simulation what he had done in so many real missions in his other life, demonstrating his ability as a pilot.
When Penelope's fuse was about to be destroyed, the fighter appeared, opening fire at point-blank range against the enemy ships to give the cadet enough seconds to compose herself and defend her position.
These entry and rescue operations, with quick and precise raids, were executed perfectly by Eneas. It is true that he could not save everyone if they could not break the siege from the main ship and reach a better position in space.
When the simulation came to an end only one mecha and Eneas's fighter had survived, and the arcadia was theoretically severely damaged.
Captain Theseus permanently stopped the simulation, all the cadets formed a line. Penelope approached Eneas:
"Thank you for what you said before, your skill as a pilot really is something exceptional…"
Eneas smiled at the Cadet, returning her greeting and smile.
"Well, it could have gone much worse, your original plan was not bad, Cadet Agamemnon, but then you have not been able to adapt to the real situation or dictate orders that would give you advantages, you have only used the resources and your companions to finish the maximum simulation time, you can thank Cadet Eneas for saving your exercise, he is the only one who, having not given him any orders, has been doing and fulfilling his function perfectly."
"Excuse me, my captain, but we all know that fighters are useless. I highly doubt that the action of a fighter will be of any use or can change the direction of a battle. I think my strategy was wrong from the beginning but it's impo..."
The captain stopped him in his tracks with a gesture of his hand and began to reproduce the different events that could not be observed from the command post. At the time the simulation was carried out, Eneas' fighter had carried out 26 assists and distraction maneuvers to save the mechs, four raids against the enemy fighters registering 12 targets shot down, and on up to six occasions it assisted the main ship preventing it from being destroyed.
The entire class was silent, Eneas's piloting was truly worthy of praise, but it was no longer a question of skill, it was the very concept of using the fighter that surprised the others.
"Do you really think as officers that if fighters did not have a specific role in space combat, the Navy would not have ruled out their use a long time ago? It is true that fighters have weak combat power, but they are the perfect assistants in space battles thanks to their maneuverability, do not be fooled, fighters are there to enter and leave enemy lines, to attract fire or to gain the seconds needed to be able to counterattack, the only thing he did well as a commander is give him freedom to a trained pilot. You're going to have to improve a lot, Cadet Agamemnon, if you don't want to fail this course.
The cadet's eyes boiled with rage, but this was not the end of the day, there was still hand-to-hand combat class, there he could exact revenge for the humiliation received. Eneas was the weakest in hand-to-hand combat, and that day Agamemnon planned to teach him a lesson.
Captain Theseus continued exposing different aspects, failures in communication, position, and weapons used, and pointing out alternatives that could have led to said simulation being a complete success. Not that it could give the key to certain victory, but rather open the mind to other possibilities, or point out what had been obvious errors.
The class ended and everyone headed to the gym, Agamemnon kept casting harmful glances at Eneas. Lieutenant Aquiles was already there observing and silent as in all classes, the cadets were going to pair up in silence as they had done in recent days, but Aquiles stopped them with a gesture of his hand. He pointed to Eneas who took two steps forward, he began to look at the rest of the cadets, when he laid his eyes on Agamemnon he pointed to him.
The two cadets stood face to face at the close combat distance they had used in the previous days, a distance where only the skilled could dodge. Agamemnon's fist was clenched, but a look of self-sufficiency and cruelty shone on his face.
Perfect, the angry cadet thought, what better than humiliation and a good beating with the entire public watching to make up for what had happened before and take revenge.