Chapter 10 - And now there are four

Jako raise his hand quickly and said, "I'm joking, I'm really here to see you after hearing about your exploits."

Astrid cautiously look at Jako, sizing him up, "Thanks, I guess," she replied coolly. "Reputation can be a double-edged sword sometimes."

Jako chuckled. "Indeed it can. But in your case, I've filter out the rumor and focus only on the facts, the good things."

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Really? And what have you heard?"

"Oh, just that you're one of the most talented pilots in the academy," Jako said with a grin. "And that you have a knack for leading your team to victory."

Astrid looked at Jako skeptically. "And who exactly have you been talking to?"

"Um... just a couple of people and information from the net," Jako said with a shrug. "Word gets around, you know how it is."

Astrid studied Jako for a moment, trying to gauge his sincerity. But his friendly demeanor and easy smile seemed genuine, and she found herself relaxing a bit. "Well, I guess it's not all bad then," she said with a small smile. "But I still have to be careful. People can be quick to judge and even quicker to turn on you."

Jako nodded understandingly. "I know what you mean. But don't worry, I'm not here to judge. I just wanted to introduce myself and see if we can come to some sort of agreement."

Astrid looked at Jako with a mixture of suspicion and gratitude. He seemed like a decent enough guy, but she had learned the hard way not to trust people too easily. Still, she couldn't deny that it was nice to have someone reach out to her, especially given her current situation. And who knows, maybe Jako really could be of help.

"Thanks, Jako," she said with a genuine smile. "I appreciate it, however many have come curious but they don't know what they are looking for... are you one of them?"

Jako replied, "I'm offering you a free look contract with no commitment. You'll also have voting rights for any future loot...."

Astrid interrupt and state her demand, "I want the Vice-Captain position and the right to reject unreasonable orders."

Jako responded, "I can give you the Vice-Captain position, but keep in mind this is a military ship and you'll have to follow orders, especially during missions." Jako countered, "Okay, final offer, the right to reject orders only off mission."

Astrid agreed, "Fine, that's a deal."

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Academy - (on the way to meet the Ping Pong brothers)

IRIS comments, 'Your negotiation skills could use some work. You have already caught her on the free look contract without any binding period.'

'Building trust requires a strong foundation, especially after experiencing a betrayal. I will give her a correct when the trap here is the contract with no binding period, it gives me the ability to take away the benefit with a renegotiate anytime. Being kick out twice only solidify her reputations, I now have the upper hand' Jako pointed out.

IRIS smirked, "Sly bastard, anyway still thinking about flying with the bare minimum crew, Jako? Isn't it time you changed your mind?"

Jako responds determinedly, "The idea still stands. Imagine, if we can crew two ships instead of just one, we can accomplish so much more. In the grand scheme of things, having twice the number of ships in battle would have a significant impact."

IRIS retorts, "But who's to say one person's idea can change the grand scheme of things? Even if you manage to run a ship with minimum crew, it's highly unlikely anyone else will follow. There are too many disadvantages."

Jako remains steadfast and explains, "Have you heard of the butterfly effect? In chaos theory, a small action can lead to larger, significant changes over time. I need to start taking action instead of just talking about it. A war is coming and we need every ship. Isn't that why I was brought back? To shake things up?"

IRIS gives up, "You're right, I do wonder how many more excuses you can come up with. However, now that there are four of you, go do your thing host."

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ITI First Fleet Academy ,VR Simulation facility (S-17)

The blaring alarm echoes through the halls of the space ship, sending the crew into a frenzy of activity. Captain Jako rushes to the bridge, his heart pounding with adrenaline. Despite the experience of running this simulation many times before, he's still not immune to the pressure of the situation.

He takes a deep breath and focuses on the flashing red alerts on the ship's computer. A fire has broken out in one of the sections, and multiple systems are down. Jako knows he needs to act fast.

The rest of his crew had already gathered. "Alright, listen up," he barks, trying to keep his voice steady. "We've got multiple damages and a fire in section 3. I need each of you to take care of the problems in your designated areas."

The crew scurries off to their assigned stations, leaving Jako alone on the bridge to monitor the situation. But as he watches the red alerts on the computer, a sense of despair begins to set in. He knows that the situation is rapidly spiraling out of control and they may be in over their heads.

The fire in section 3 continues to spread, and Jako can hear the panic in Ping's voice as he instructs Pong on how to put it out. But despite their efforts, the flames keep growing. The ship's extinguishers had been depleted, and the flames were now licking at the walls and ceilings. He knew that they were in over their heads and that the situation was rapidly spiraling out of control.

As the clock ticks, the situation grows increasingly dire. Astrid is struggling to fix her assigned subsystems, but even her efforts are falling short. Meanwhile, Ping seems to have disregarded Jako's instructions, opting to fix a non-critical system instead. To make matters worse, Ping has even asked Pong to work on another system, further deviating from Jako's plans. Sweat beads down Jako face as he realizes that if they don't get their act together, the ship will meet its demise, again..

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, a message appears on the ship's computer screen "Simulation Terminated: Failure." The ship's systems shut down one by one, and the crew knew that the simulation determined that the ship is destroyed.

"Alright team, we have failed the simulation. Let's exit the simulation pod and run our debrief." Jako said, his voice heavy with defeat.

The crew quickly exit the simulation pod, the ship's destruction was caused by poor decision making, lack of communication and inefficiency. Jako thought with Astrid, a experience ex-captain the situation will change.

Jako's heart sinks as he realizes the weight of their failure. He feels the disappointment in himself and his crew, knowing that in a real-life scenario, there would be no chance for a do-over. The brothers attribute the failure to a lack of manpower, but Jako offers a different perspective - the small crew size was intentional for intense training and to seek out the elite members. Despite this setback, Jako remains determined to build a stronger team as they move forward.

"So many reasons to justify your decision, but how many are lies and how many are truths? No one can truly know," IRIS comments, its voice seeming to echo into the emptiness

Jako pulls Astrid to the side and the two of them quickly analyze the situation.

Jako give Astrid his rundown on the assessment of the brothers, Ping's poor judgement on priorities and Pong's tendency to follow Ping's orders instead of Jako's is the root causes of their problems. They stand a chance to success if they can resolve it. Astrid agrees and after throwing a few suggestion around, they decide on one that could work.

Jako make some final calculation in his mind and the two of member return to join the brothers. He turns to Pong and delivers the news: "Pong, I'm making you the engineering lead. Ping will report to you."

Pong is taken aback. He feels like the responsibility should fall on his older brother, Ping. "But Jako, Ping is my elder, you can't make him listen to my instructions." Pong protests.

Jako doesn't back down. "That is not my concern, I'm the captain here, and I'm making this decision." He pulls the "I'm the captain" card, and Pong is left with no choice but to reluctantly accept the role. Ping pat Pong shoulder as a sign that he agrees to the change too.

"We will try the new team arrangement out tomorrow, for now everyone is dismissed.", Jako waves the team to move off.

As the team slowly move in their own directions, IRIS commented happily. 'Oh, now you sound just like a dictator, you show them Captain. On another note, every crew member in your team has a record of warning received for act of violent... Be careful walking at night.'

'...' Jako is speechless