The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryugii. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

Flight Simulator

"Do you think it's ironic that I'm being hunted by birds?" I asked, turning to look at Adam. Red dots blinked on my map, a reminder of the dark swarm behind us, ready to tear us apart if they caught us. "Since I'm pretending to be a feline Faunus, I mean?"

"Please keep your eyes on where you're going," Adam said through gritted teeth, fingers tight on the armrests. Credit where it was due, though; he was wearing a seatbelt this time. Given that we were spending a decent amount of our time upside down, I'm not sure he'd survive this if he wasn't.

I turned back forward and obeyed him without replying. Piloting was turning out to be a very different experience than Driving, but I thought I was getting the hang of it. At the very least, I was learning new things—for example, the improvement my Nature Affinity gave me towards Dust usage evidently improved the fuel efficiency of things I was driving. Since it was a percentage based increase, that was really good news because it would give a massive improvement when I was flying a vehicle that was meant to cross between continents. The issue of where, when, and how I was going to refuel remained, somewhat, but this gave me more breathing room.

But more than anything, I was glad I was getting a chance to get used to thinking three dimensionally in a fight. Sure, on the ground you could jump and such—and there were more than a few uses for that when you applied the leg strength of a Hunter, as I well knew—but it was still a big difference between that and flight. A lot of it is just really simple stuff that's hard to grasp until you experience it for yourself.

For example, keeping sight of the enemy in the big blue sky. I could already tell that one of the most dangerous aspects of this mission was going to be all the stuff I just could not see and that getting and maintaining sight would be vital. If an enemy ship or a Nevermore or a Fell Albatross saw me before I saw them, it might be over before I could regret it. I had an advantage thanks to my Map, but while it was invaluable, it was also two dimensional and when it told me there was something behind me, well, it could be referring to any point in a cubic mile of space. And I wasn't sure if it would alert me to targets I didn't know about, either.

Take right now, for instance, where a murder of Nevermore was on my proverbial heels as they followed the rising turn of my craft. There was a bit of a story there, but it can be summarized as 'the Universe hates me.' We'd run into the dark flock pretty much a minute after we left Vale's airspace and the Nevermore had been stalking us since. The Brightside was that they weren't the giant version, but even that wouldn't make a huge difference to me if I messed up; giant or not, they were creatures who could rend stone and steel alike with their feathers and talons. They could not, apparently, shoot the former forward—something I'd learned on the job—but while this was proving to be a good way to train my Pilot skill, if I let them draw to close or get altitude on me…

I smiled fiercely, getting an idea.

I shifted the thrusters on either side of the Bullhead, turning sharply even as I shifted the aircraft from a horizontal to vertical position. I rolled, pushing the nose of the Bullhead low and then turning the motion into a steep slice turn, before pulling back to rise back to my previous altitude before they could shoot at me.

And then I was closing in on the murder of Nevermore from the side, speeding up.

"Oh, shit," Adam ground out, tightening his hold on his seat.

"Aura Crash," I replied, the light of my soul washing over the Bullhead right as we dove into the swarm. Relatively fragile bones broke across the surface of enhanced steel, rattling the aircraft with a chorus of shattering pops and cracks even as we jostled at the impacts. Savage claws and razor feature clawed at us, training to tear open the ship and bring us down with then, but the iron shell of my Aura protected us.

You used Pilot's Low Yo-Yo without the skill. Your Mastery improves by 10%.

Mastery of the skill Pilot increases! Pilot's level goes up by one!

Mastery of the skill Aura Crash increases! Aura Crash's level goes up by one!

Your level has increased by one!

I let out a laugh as I cleared the darkness of broken wings, the corpses and blood of Nevermore sliding free of the Bullhead's armor, unable to gain traction due to my Aura—but I wasn't done. I reduced the angle at which I banked during a turn and then pulled up, rising higher into the air in a wide arc that left us, for a moment, upside down.

The moment passed as I spotted the remainder of the murder, scattered slightly by my crash and trying to regroup. I could have just continued my turn and wound up behind them, but I tightened it instead, bringing myself down on the birds instead, plummeting towards them as fast as I could.

"Why the hell did I agree to this!?" Adam snarled. "We have guns on this thing, you know!"

"Aura Crash!" I answered again, smashing my way through the flock of birds again. They let loose high-pitched, warbling cries as they broke across my ship, flying in every direction before plummeting towards the earth. I followed them down for a moment before pulling up and into a turn, before rolling out of my flight path and spinning laterally, and then completing the turn after cutting what I could out of it. I focused on the few remaining Nevermore, got them in my sights, and starting firing. I shot wide at first, adjusted the angle to bring it closer, and at least a few of the shots must have hit because several of the birds fell limply out of the sky.

You used Pilot's High Yo-Yo without the skill. Your Mastery improves by 10%.

You used Pilot's Displacement Roll without the skill. Your Mastery improves by 10%.

Mastery of the skill Pilot increases! Pilot's level goes up by one! Pilot's level goes up by one!

Mastery of the skill Aura Crash increases! Aura Crash's level goes up by one!

A skill has been created through a special action! Battles in the air have created the skill 'Dogfighting Mastery' to help seize the sky!

"I know," I replied belatedly. "That we have guns, I mean. But there's a limit to our ammunition so we might not be able to rely on it during the mission, if the ship we steal is even armed. Leveling up Aura Crash is the way to go, I think, so I can just crash through whatever's in the way. You might want to get used to it now."

Adam just growled, still holding on. I continued talking as if he hadn't, though.

"There's good news, though. It seems like there are shortcuts to improving my abilities," I said. "Because I used a skill I didn't actually know, I got a lot more experience. If I grind this way constantly, I should be able to improve more quickly. No, more than that, if I can figure out how to do this with other skills…"

I frowned.

"Oh, but it didn't happen before…does it only work in combat?" I mused. "Hm…well, that's fine. Let's find some more Nevermore, okay? I need to get my flying skills as high as possible before the mission, right? So let's fly around for a bit longer before we land."

Adam swore under his breath.

"When we get on the ground, I'm doing to make you train until you feel like you're gonna die, I swear to God." He promised.

"Ah, please do," I said, smiling. "Since it's to get stronger, I'll happily endure it."

Adam growled something but I didn't hear it. It was as if there were suddenly a great distance between us, a vast empty space that swallowed the sound. I knew he was there but my senses just brushed over him, focused elsewhere.

Behind me…

A skill has been created through a special action! After repeated use of your sixth sense, you have obtained the ability 'Sense Danger' to detect impending misfortune!

Sense Danger (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

Survival Instinct augmented by Aura, this ability allows the user to sense when bad things are about to occur or when they are being watched by those with ill intent. The higher the skill's level, the sooner it can sense danger.

Okay, if the sudden feeling that there was something terrible behind me wasn't enough to set me on edge, abruptly getting an ability called 'Sense Danger' hammered it home. Without hesitating, I pulled into a sudden turn and swung up to get higher. I looked forward, above me, and all around, trying to see what had pulled my nerves so taunt, but there was nothing—

"Over there," Adam said, voice suddenly quiet as if worried he'd be overheard. "You sensed it, too, right?"

"Hard to miss," I answered, voice strained. I focused my eyes. In the direction he'd indicated and saw a black shape in the distance, far away but approaching swiftly. For a moment, I thought it was just another Nevermore until I realized just how far away it was, at which point I knew I was right.

It was another Nevermore.

Darkness There and Nothing More

LV53

Giant Nevermore

"You know," I told Adam. "I keep meaning to get around to training my luck, I just don't know how."

"As you gain strength by getting stronger and gain intelligence by becoming smarter, logic would dictate you could improve your luck by getting lucky," Adam mused, eyes on the titanic Grimm.

"So what you're saying is it's impossible for me?"

"Yeah," He nodded. "That's what I'm saying."

I cracked my neck once and nodded at that in acceptance. I licked my lips once, glanced nervously at the creature, and then went faster.

"I guess I'll just make my own luck, then," I stated as the Grimm flew towards me.

I matched it's charge with my own.

"Do we have a plan?" Adam asked, growling.

"Would it make you feel better if I told you we did?" I asked, eyes focused on what was in front of me. The dark shape grew with terrifying speed, letting out a cry so loud that I thought I could feel it. I just went faster, pushing the machine as far as it could go without losing altitude. I had to match it on that front, lest it get in position to attack me with its feathers—this was going to be bad enough without it being able to attack me at range. I licked my lips as we drew ever closer, until I sincerely had to wonder if the creature's opened maw could bite the entire Bullhead in half.

"Yes, I would feel a lot better if we had a plan."

I nodded at that and was silent for a moment. The Nevermore's colossal wings seemed to shake the entire sky with every flap, causing the Bullhead to shake like it was passing through turbulence. I looked into red eyes, saw the bone-white mask that covered part of its face, looked once more into the abyss of its throat—and banked hard. I flew just right of its head, close enough that feathers scraped against the Bullhead, and then was passed it. I swung the Bullhead into a turn that was barely wider then it was and starting firing at the back of the Nevermore the moment it was in sight, even as it flew through the space I'd inhabited moments before.

"Okay," I said. "We have a plan. Step one: Don't die."

"What's step two?"

"Working on it." I answered, frowned as it seemed to brush off the bullets as if they weren't even there. It was, somehow, even tougher then it looked—which was just my luck, really. I began contemplating my options.

"Shit," Adam snarled. "Can we get away?"

"Maybe," I said, shaking my head. I'd considered running away the moment we'd seen the creature, but as wonderful as it sounded, there were a few problems with that idea. "Not conventionally, though. That thing's faster than we are and I'm betting it's got really good eyes."

"We have anything unconventional?"

"Working on it."

"Shit," He said empathically. He looked at the Nevermore, face set in a snarl. "This plan seems kind of lacking on all fronts."

"Yes, well, that's why I'm working on it," I replied, glad for whatever part of my power was keeping me calm. "If you have any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them."

Adam was silent for a moment before muttering something to himself and nodding.

"I might be able to take it out if I get a clear shot," He said. "But it would take a while to charge—longer than normal."

I nodded in acceptance, trusting him, and began working on a plan. Even if he couldn't take out the Nevermore with one hit, it was almost certain to do more damage than anything else we could throw at it, and that was as good a place to start as any. If nothing else, it might give us an opportunity to escape.

"How long?" I asked as I watched the Nevermore swing around, readying itself for another pass.

"Thirty seconds?" He asked, sounding uncertain. "Maybe a bit longer if I want to be sure. Grimm can take a lot of punishment. I'll need to be fairly close, too."

I considered my options quickly. I could open the side of the Bullhead and give Adam a shot into the open air—but no, that wouldn't work. The Nevermore would hardly stand still long enough for him to finish charging and Adam didn't seem to have a lot of mobility while readying his attack. If I sent him to the back of the Bullhead and told him to start getting ready, he'd be thrown around by the evasive actions I'd have to take to survive, which probably wouldn't help much either.

I tried to think of a different way to make it work, a way to juggle our limitations, but there were too many of them. I was probably going to need to pull out every trick I could think of to stay ahead of the Nevermore who was itself extremely mobile. Adam would need both thirty seconds to charge in relative comfort and a clear shot, neither of which was going to be easy to manage while trying to survive aerial combat with an opponent as fast and strong as a Giant Nevermore.

"Give me a minute to think," I said, banking the Bullhead again. I pulled it into a small dive before coming up hard, spinning the Bullhead as I did before pulling out of the turn, flying a wide arc around the Nevermore to try to get behind it, in a position where it couldn't, for the moment, attack me.

And if the Nevermore hadn't suddenly tightened its own turn, maybe it would have worked, but instead I overshot my target and ended up with it behind me, slightly to the side, and completely out of my sight. Instinctively, my eyes went to my Map, indicating the Grimm's position—but that didn't tell me anything useful. I tried to curve around it, but it just followed me, staying close enough on my heels that I never caught more than a glimpse of it and slowly closing in. I had a brief mental image of it catching us and pecking its beak through the hull of the Bullhead to tear out the squishy worms inside, before growling to myself.

The hell I was gonna die before I even got to the suicidal mission.

I took a risk, sliding into a turn even as I climbed. I could hear the vibration caused by the nearby flapping of massive wings, could see it closing in on my Map, but I had to focus with the Nevermore on my tail. I climbed yet higher, banking smoothly at the top of my path before slipping right back down to a lower altitude, placing the Nevermore above me. I licked my lips and waited for a second, then two, then three—

And pulled hard to my left, diving suddenly. I heard massive shapes cutting through the air beside the Bullhead and as they rushed passed, they sounded bizarrely like insects flying by my head. I pulled up, turning the Bullhead at an angle as I rose and changed direction. The moment I spotted the Nevermore, momentarily in a more vertical position as it gave up the pursuit in order to attack, I started firing at its face—and it's vulnerable eyes.

It gave a deafening screech and flapped its wings to push it to the side, as I'd hoped. I rolled the Bullhead as I climbed higher, pulled hard to escape it, and shifted my thrusters to right myself behind the Nevermore before it could recover. I shot at it, short, steady bursts of fire that I knew wouldn't really hurt it, but which gave the illusion I was hunting it, if only momentarily—an illusion I could only hope some instinctual part of the Grimm bought into. Any moment, it would recover and come up with another method of attack.

But for a few seconds, it bought me some time.

I knew that I was doing well, but I also knew this was a momentary thing. The guns on the Bullhead weren't up to hurting such a creature, much less killing it, and even if I could keep dodging, I knew it would hit me eventually, at which point it was over. I could evade a dozen attacks, but the fact remained that I only had to screw up once.

I went over my choices as quickly as I could, trying to find a way out, an alternative—but no. There was only one way we were going to be able to get the time to charge Adam's attack and get a clear shot. But even then…

The Nevermore suddenly tucked its wings close and fell for a second, but that was all it needed because I immediately overshot it. A moment later, I heard the flapping of massive wings on the wind and—

I had a thought. I considered it for a moment, deemed it crazy, and decided to do it anyway.

"I have a plan," I told Adam as I felt the Nevermore drawing nearer. It wasn't trying to shoot at range this time, settling for simply overcoming me and tearing me apart, which it would do in short order unless I did something.

"Is it a good plan?"

"I don't know yet."

Adam nodded seriously.

"What is it?"

"Trust me when I tell you that you don't want to know," I said. "Just be ready to get out on my signal."

"Oh, shit," He replied eloquently. "What? I mean…what? What are you doing, Jaune?"

"Do you know how a bird flies?" I asked, before diving for a second and pulling back as hard as I could, keeping tight control of the thrusters as I did. I made the Bullhead rear back, nose pointing upwards—straight upwards until I was staring at the sky and then a little bit further until I almost thought I'd go plummeting backwards. I saw the Nevermore pass over me, great wings shielding me briefly from the sun.

And then I righted the aircraft, shifting the thrusters to push me back into position in a motion that felt more like falling then flying. A moment later, I was climbing again, even as the Nevermore curved around to find me. I looked into its red eyes and this time I didn't run, didn't turn, didn't try to escape.

I flew straight at it.

"Jaune, please don't tell me we're going to crash into it," Adam said tightly.

"Okay," I nodded. "I won't tell you. Aura Crash."

"Goddamn it!"

The Nevermore, apparently, had been expecting a trick, had been waiting for me to try to pull away so it could seize me. It had not expected me to collide full force with its chest—and it definitely didn't expect what I did next.

"Air Aura," I said for the first time, even as the Nevermore drew its wings around it—and me—reflexively.

And then we were falling.

I had no delusions of beating a monster that strong. My bullets did nothing and even my Aura Crash had barely hurt it. But at the end of the day, despite its size and the magic that must have gone into its very existence to allow something that big to fly, it was paying at least passing heed to aerodynamics—and now it was in Remnant's cruel grasp. I couldn't hurt it with my weapons or my spells, but that didn't matter, because I could take the wind out of its wings and leave it to fall.

The Nevermore tried to hold on to us at first, grasping the Bullhead in its talons as it spread its wings open wide, but as it flapped them, our descent did not slow. It tried harder, almost frantically, attempting to fly, before seeming to realize that we were taking the wind out of its proverbial sails and letting go, trying to escape.

I wasn't having any of that. As we came free, I thrust us close once more, staying parallel to the almost vertically falling Grimm, just out of reach of wing and claw. It flapped its wings, trying to shift itself, but always I stayed even, spiraling around it as it corkscrewed through the air towards the unforgiving earth.

"Jaune, pull up," Adam said as we got closer to the green tree tops.

"Not yet," I replied, staying in my turning path around the Nevermore, cutting off any attempt it made to fly.

"Jaune," Adam said again as our view of the world filled further and further with green. We were scarcely more than a hundred meters away now.

"Not yet," I answered. I had to be sure, had to make sure it would crash, or I wouldn't get another chance.

Fifty meters.

Forty.

Thirty.

"Jaune!"

I pulled away less than twenty meters from the treetops and watched as the Grimm crashed into and through them, carving a scar of destruction through once-unbroken green. I was already shifting the controls, lowering the vehicle the few meters that remained as fast as I could to land awkwardly on the debris—and then the door was open. For a moment, I was blinded by a sudden rush of blue screens, informing me of my improved mastery of Piloting and that I'd learned some odd number of skills in 'Aerial Combat Maneuvering', but I brushed them aside in annoyance, too busy to care.

"You worry too much," I told him, stripping off my seatbelt and standing quickly. "I told you I had a plan. I've never crashed into anything I didn't want to."

Adam muttered darkly as he and I jumped out of the Bullhead together, walking across broken wood towards the massive form of the Grimm, which was already beginning to stir clumsily, seemingly dazed by the fall—but I knew that wouldn't last.

Adam fell instantly into his stance, all signs of irritation and emotion falling from his face as he entered the battle, beginning the countdown.

"He won't stay down for thirty seconds," The Faunus noted quietly, but didn't shift from his stance.

I cracked my neck and then my knuckles, stepping past Adam and across the broken ground.

"Yes," I said. "He will."