The simulator never prepared her for this. Sims used speakers and vibration tables to give the illusion of engines flaring. Real life was something else. The roar of the twin engines kicked the Starling forward. Instead of hearing a sound effect, Ellie felt the vibration through her seat and spine. Her jaw rattled. The burst of speed crushed her into her seat. She held tight to the controls and eased the throttle forward to launch speed. She went faster. The red and white lights blurred into a single line. The launch was visceral in a way the simulator couldn't recreate, but while Ellie shook inside her ship, the magnetic tunnel smoothly guided the Starling all the way down the launch track. Ellie throttled forward to full speed, burst clear of the Paris, and was free.

She curved left and up and once, residual atmospheric turbulence streaming behind her with ribbons of thin flame which faded as their fuel was exhausted.

Behind her, the Paris rolled as Ellie levelled out and turned for the waypoint.

"Whoa, I did not see that coming!" said Brin.

'They said those simulations were accurate, our launches were nothing like that,' said Aiden. "What did you think, Aurora?"

"It's rougher than I expected. What about you Eleanor, shouldn't you be shouting 'woooo' or something?"

Ellie ignored the taunt and flew on to the way point. At exactly thirty kilometres out she killed the engine and revered thrust, bringing her to a full stop relative to the Paris. She saw another plume of fire evaporate from a launch tube.

"How was your first real launch?" said the Commander as he approached their position. "I'm afraid there's more turbulence in a real launch than we can simulate."

"Rough," said Aiden.

"Exhilarating," said Aurora.

"There will be plenty more to come. Now let's get started. Fan out behind me, fifty metres behind and apart, and follow my lead. Your job is to hold your relative position to mine. Ready? Let's go."

Archer pulled ahead of the cadets, and they each nudged lateral thrusters to give themselves the required distance. Then, he started forward, a simple one g, straight line thrust. The cadets followed, slightly staggered already as they reacted at different times. Ellie and Aurora held the closest position to the leader. Aiden and Brin quickly caught up.

Archer advanced to two g, then three g, steadily increasing speed while the others followed. Automated systems on each Starling tracked response time and accuracy, while back on the Paris launch bay, the second group of cadets, under the guidance of Lieutenant Awan, observed and made notes.

"So far, so easy," said Archer. "How about something a little more challenging. Remember, hold relative positions." He turned his ship slowly through ninety degrees. Not a challenging manoeuvre in itself, but for the cadets spread in a line behind her it was difficult to emulate and hold their positions. Separated by two hundred metres, and now at four g, it was a challenge for cadet grade pilots. But they pulled it off, Ellie coming through with a smoother line from start to finish. Aurora took a second longer to line up her controls, but she made it, and they ended the manoeuvre as one unit.

Archer broadcast another formation, still at four g, and took them through that as well. Then he had them swap positions in the group and repeat the exercise. They finished an hour later, flying back to the Paris in a single line. By the time they had landed, the second group was already in the tubes and heading out. Archer gave her group five minutes to break while the Starlings were reset and lowered through the floor for their next launch. They sat in the launch bay with datapads in hand and observed the second group in their own manoeuvres.

All the while Commander Archer questioned their decisions, prodded them for more information. What went wrong? What went right? What could be better? Why this turn, why this speed, why this angle.

When the second group had completed their field exercises the class reviewed the morning together. The Commander and Lieutenant picked apart their telemetry in detail, cross-referencing points of interest with video feeds and heart-rate monitors and simulations of what their controls were doing, and what they should have been doing. Their were questions, and quizzes and spot checks, and then they did it all over again.

By her third launch, Ellie was getting used to the turbulence. It felt more normal than the simulated launch. Simulators were too gentle, she had told the others, remembering her time in the Dead Fleet, but when they pressed her for more detail she refused, drawing curious looks from her commanding officers and a knowing stare from Aurora.

Archer drew alongside them at the thirty-click rendezvous point and explained the next exercise. This time, she said, they would be in a simulated two on two fire fight. The mission objective was simple; Any target lock of three seconds would be recorded as a kill and end the mission.

"Cadet Tam, Cadet Young, you will be team one. The others are team two. You have fifteen minutes to score, and the exercise begins in time minus two minutes. I expect teamwork, so you have access to private channels now."

Brin pulled away immediately with Aiden following a moment later. Ellie and Aurora looked at each other through their canopies.

'How do you want to do this?' said Ellie. "We should have a plan."

"Ideally, with someone else, but I'll work with what I have," Aurora replied. "Just don't get in my way. This will be over quickly." She thrust forward and circled back to the Paris to get some distance from the other team.

"Begin in ten seconds," Archer announced.

Ellie grunted into her mic and twisted her stick and followed Aurora. If they didn't have a plan she would be forced to stick with her wingmate or two against two would quickly become two against one.

"Time!' said Archer.