Trial by Fire: The Coy Method pt V

Posted on Sun Sep 7th, 2025 @ 12:18am by Commander Rosa Coy

453 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: Character Development
Location: Above Bajor

30 Minutes Later - After the debrief

The bay’s calm gave way to adrenaline as automated combat drones accelerated, now fully aggressive, weaving and firing simulated plasma streams. Bajor glowed beneath them, its continents and craters blurring past in the fighters’ high-speed passes.

“Formation tight!” Rosa barked, slicing through comms. “Cover your asses. Anticipate vector changes. Watch your wingman!”

Arven’s ego flared; he peeled away to intercept a drone head-on. Threx had to yank him back into formation mid-roll. Jeyna overcorrected on a bank, sending Dalkor into evasive action to avoid collision. Veylin maintained composure, guiding Sira Lenar with quiet commands, but Sira’s reaction lag caused a near-miss with a simulated energy blast.

Coy’s voice rang in Rosa’s mind, teasing and pointed "Oh, this is delicious. Look at them scramble. The human thinks he’s Maverick. The Trill’s panicking. The Bajoran almost kissed a plasma pulse. You could almost laugh… if it weren’t your responsibility."

Rosa bit back a smile. Her eyes tracked every pair, noting instinct, creativity, and recklessness. She allowed herself a small indulgence: a barrel roll around a drone, showing the cadets the line between daring and discipline. Her Peregrine cut tight, engines screaming, her voice crisp over comms: “Focus, Eagles! Predict your enemy before it moves! Trust your partner, trust your instincts, and fly like your life depends on it, because it does!”

The cadets began to falter under pressure. Arven ignored Threx once more, nearly colliding with a simulated asteroid. Jeyna froze in indecision mid-attack run. Dalkor argued over vector priority instead of responding to drone fire. Veylin and Sira worked well as a team, covering each other’s blind spots, though Sira still lagged in reaction.

Rosa’s small voice cut across the chaos, sharp, biting: “Come on, you are pilots, not passengers! Move, anticipate, and act — now!”

Coy laughed softly in her mind, low and teasing: "Oh, this is tasty. Look at the little green ones scramble. I told you, Rosa, this is where the fun begins."

Rosa’s eyes never left the field. She allowed one fleeting indulgence — letting a pair of drones drift near Sira’s wing, seeing if she would trust Veylin enough to maneuver correctly. The young Bajoran reacted, adjusting in tandem. Rosa’s eyebrow lifted. Not bad, kid. Not bad at all.

Across the formation, lessons were being learned, mistakes corrected mid-flight, egos tempered by the unforgiving void. By the end of the pass, Rosa had mental notes on every cadet’s limits, strengths, and potential points of failure — and Coy had already begun whispering mischievous suggestions for how they’d react to the next, even harder exercise.

TBC

 

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