Hidden Potential

The flight back was much more intense. During the rescue mission, Federation forces had pulled back their defence line, slowly retreating with the intent to leave the planet. Oscar had to fly over enemy controlled territory for much longer, which meant greater risk of being shot down.

However even in the dire situation, Oscar felt relief that his family was safe, and he trusted his piloting skills to get him and his family out of danger.

...

Commander Harris looked over the holoscreen, seeing the movements of his troops and the enemy. He had ordered that all Federation forces retreat back to their designated regroup points, where transport trucks and dropships where waiting to pick them up and make a full retreat for the spaceport.

He knew this would put Oscar and his team in a much more dangerous predicament, but in order to save as many lives, he had to give the order. Besides, he trusted Oscar's flying.

When Oscar was originally chosen to be the pilot for the research facility mission, Commander Harris was definitely skeptical. On paper, Oscar was an average pilot, his grades where all average. However, one of his instructors insisted that Oscar had hidden potential. When asked why, the instructor simply said it was because of his grades.

The instructor told Harris to take a closer look at all of Oscar's grades. Upon closer inspection, he found out that Oscar scored exactly in the middle on every subject. There was no fluctuation in his performance, every test result came out almost exactly the same.

Normally this would not rise any suspicion, there are student who are average and don't every show any remarkable results, however, even the most average student has a subject they are better in then in others. Oscar on the other hand scored the same in nearly every test.

It was obvious that Oscar was on purpose, trying to get average test results, which is why his instructor looked into his performance, watching recordings of all his exams.

While he always scored in the middle, what was most interesting was how he would only turn in his exams when half his classmates had already talked turned theirs in. This didn't just happen once, but multiple times. It's as if Oscar wanted to go unnoticed and appeared just like an average student.

However, to achieve this result, Oscar had to know which answer to respond to correctly, and what score he needed to have inorder to maintain his average standing.

His written exams were not the only suspicious qualities about his school life. Oscar's physical exams were also average. In fact he also always placed right in the middle during any physical exam. When looking through the recorded footage of the exam, the other students were all panting and exhausted,however Oscar was still relaxed, as if he never even took the exam in the first place.

In the mock battle simulations, Oscar was always given an average score. However, looking at all the simulation results, it was found that he had never once been shot down. The simulations always ended the same, either the enemy was just barely defeated, or time would run out resulting in a tie. None of the a simulations ended in his fighter being shot down.

All this was brought to the attention of commander Harris when he was selecting a pilot for the research facility mission.

Based on what was found, he knew that Oscar was not an average pilot or an average student. In fact, he could tell that Oscar had hidden potential that would allow him to succeed in the military.

Knowing this, commander Harris could not beging to fathom why Oscar tried his best to not stand out.

Looking at the holoscreen, he saw that Oscar and the other dropships took off and where already on their way back to the spaceport.

"Sir the evacuation has been completed. All that's left is for us to make our way to the ship".

Commander Harris nodded, and turned away from the holoscreen.

"There is a transport ship waiting for you commander. Once you board it will take you straight to the space port and the Chariot"

The Chariot is commander Harris's command ship, an old generation destroyer used in humanities first intergalactic war. His ship is a midsize dominator class destroyer, about 1500 meters long. With its six massive rail guns, various smaller weapons armaments and its thick tungsten hull plating armor, the Chariot is a warship that is able to make its precense known on any battlefield.

Even against the newer generation warships of the Federation, the Chariot has the power to make itself known to any enemy that is unfortunate enough to run into it.

...

Oscar was flying low and fast, using the tall buildings of the city for cover. To others the surroundings flew past in a blur, but to Oscar, he could see everything clearly. His ability to react almost instantaneously to obsticals allow him to pilot effectively through airspaces that contain loads of debris or obsticals.

"Oscar, change of plans you are gonna meet us at the Chariot. I will be sending its location to you in a moment"

Commander Harris's voice came over the com. A few moments later, a new set of coordinates appeared on one of the displays in his cockpit. Oscar changed directions and flew towards his new destination and the waiting Chariot.

A minutes later, through the window, Oscar could see the Chariot. It was a massive ship, with it's thick armor and many turrets, the warship gave off a domineering precense. As he got closer to the ship, the more he began to relax.

As he flew closer to the warship, Oscar radioed in.

"This is Lieutenant Oscar Reid, security code...."

He gave his security code and he receives authorization to dock with the ship. Since the Chariot was an older generation warship, it used an exterior docking system. There where designated docking areas where a ship docked. Once a small dropship or fighter aligned itself with the docking port, clamps would automatically attach itself to the smaller ship.. Small hanger doors would open up and the clamps would slowly bring the smaller vessel inside.

Once the vessel was inside, the hanger doors would close, sealing the small ship inside. The ship would then be dragged through another sets of large doors to the central docking area, where mechanics, and other ships are.

While the process was slow and left the smaller fighters and vessels exposed to danger, it also allowed the massive warship to launch and dock Manny ships at once. This system also prevents enemies from destroying the warships ability to launch fighter and supporting vessels.

As Oscar flew closer to the warship, he could see many transport vehicles loading the last of the supplies before the ship took off and left for orbit, finally meeting up with the other surviving federation warships.

Oscar was looking forward to finishing this mission and finally getting some time alone with his family. He could not believe that he found his family and they would be in the same warship leaving the planet.