The God Complex: The Book Of Alan, Destroyer Of Worlds

Chapter Twenty-One

"BREAKING 'S NEWS' ALERT: Countdown to evacuation is now fully underway. Operations have begun to flatten the remaining rain forests, save two of each animal and ensure there is ample toilet paper for the long journey ahead. Message in and tell us what you prefer: quilted or scented.

The Command Centre was a vast room located at the top of the shuttle, surrounded by a clear dome of ionised glass, giving an uninterrupted panoramic of the universe around him.

The room was segmented by metallic control panels for each station, with the Captain's chair elevated from the rest of the floor. Towards the back was the observation deck where the board of Directors would oversee all operations. In real life, this Command Centre would have at least twenty people running around controlling all aspects of the shuttle, but for this simulation, they only wanted it to be down to the pilot's reaction and decision making to get them out alive, when they were attacked.

Gabe leaned back and promised himself if he got the role of Pilot, he would find a way of hooking up a sound system to this room - the infinite majesty of the universe was starting to get on his nerves.

Rubbing his aching neck, he blinked through dry eyes and shuffled in his seat. It had been six straight hours since he lost Kate during an Evasive Action simulation when she accidentally evaded herself into the path of an oncoming meteor shower.

Six straight hours at the mercy of Commander Cain and It all came down to this final showdown. All that stood between Gabe, his 100% record and the position of Pilot and Officer on the SS YAMA, was the final Hostile Attack mission.

Up until now he had been playing it safe - using his shields to good effect; positioning his shuttle to defend his weakest point whilst attacking enemy craft at their most vulnerable. However dog fights with enemy shuttles were too random and chaotic, so as soon as he felt he was losing control, he would abort and try again, much to the twisted satisfaction of Training Commander Cain.

'Run away again, did ya?' He'd laugh into his ear. 'Reeeal brave of ya.'

'Still alive aren't I? He'd snark back sitting in the darkness of the empty Simulator, waiting for that jolt as it reload. Within seconds, light ripped through the cabin and off he'd go again.

With each passing simulation, he realised the importance of strategy; the importance of taking those first few seconds to sit back and observe how they attacked him, in groups and individually, in doing this, he began to see patterns and started using the strength of each shuttle to its advantage, he was even able to take a few of them down. But time was running out, It was no good to him just to survive training, he had to complete the Simulator with zero casualties otherwise it would have all been for nothing.

He had to risk it all.

Weaving his way through rapid laser fire he took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind, his last attempt was the closest he got to completing the mission, but he was forced to abort when the horizon filled with reinforcements that came from nowhere.

It was clear the Training Commander was going to do everything he could to stop him from succeeding.

It was all or nothing.

Red light filled the Command Centre of the SS YAMA Pharmaceuticals as excessive fire rained down upon him. The black leather pilot's chair creaked as Gabe accelerated through the first wave of attack.

He checked his position: entering quadrant Five-B216, about a week away from the rest of the fleet and no signs of any other craft. There rarely ever were - the Simulator preferred to kick up a surprise attack, so you didn't know what was coming.