It was early on a Saturday morning, one of the very few break days for cadets at Galaxy Garrison. Yet unexpectedly, the group of young, sweaty, teenage first years were up off their asses and gathering in a hoard in the halls. People stood on their tiptoes to look over one another, desperate for a glimpse of the writings that would change their future forever.
"Fox... Foox. Let's see, Fooooox. Fenton, Fifer, Firth..." a tall-ish girl in front of rankings board muttered to herself, desperately searching for her own name as she got to the front of the crowd.
It was rankings day for all first years at the Galaxy Garrison. The right of passage into second year, some called it. All their hours of hard work and marks from countless classes slapped onto a massive board for everyone to see. And more importantly: team assignments. From here on out they were in groups, if one failed they failed together.
"Alison Fox! Here we go!" she crouched down a little to read it better, slapping her knees on the way down. "#2 in class 5A, hell fucking yes, team ID: FR-334V-3N. Great, now who the fuck is on it?"
She moved over to the team board, squinting amongst the forming teams to find hers. She found it off to the right side, stapled to the board.
"FR-334V-3N: Jenna Boudrois, Daniel Bronze, Alison Fox, and Finley LaPanne." She shrugged. She had absolutely no clue who the shit these people were. She couldn't help but wonder if they were actually cool or not. After all, she didn't want to be stuck with someone who had a stick up their ass for the next 4 years.
"Seriously? Again?" an annoyed voice came from behind her. She turned and saw a kid with black and white hair. They were looking pretty pissed, arms crossed and everything. "No matter how many times I fucking say it, the P isn't capitalized! Get your shit straight, Garry!"
"Hey," Alison paused, giving the person a once over. "You wouldn't happen to be LaPanne, would you?"
"It's Lapanne!"
"This is a verbal conversation?" she said, confused.
"I fucking hear that capital P, chum buddy pal." they gave a short laugh. "Anyways, just call me Finley. You?"
"Fox, Alison Fox. I'm your new teammate from now on."
"That's cool, I guess. Have you met the others?" they asked with an air that Alison could not figure out if it was interest of not. Maybe indifference? Who knew.
"Nah, the rare and elusive team members have not been sighted, but I also did just get here."
"I feel that." They looked around the crowd for a few seconds. "Well just standing here is getting us nowhere. "
Suddenly Alison felt a tapping on her shoulder. She turned around, only to find the space behind her unoccupied. She shrugged it off and turned back around. Someone probably just brushed against her, that's all.
"Down here." said a miffed voice.
She turned again and looked down at a shorter girl with brown hair who was looking way too awake for this ungodly hour of the morning.
"Uh, hey." Alison raised her hand in a half-hearted, lazy wave of acknowledgement and embarrassment.
"Hey." the girl tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. "Would you two happen to be apart of team FR-334V-3N?"
"Sure are, hombre." Finn piped up. "Whaddaya know, standing around did get us somewhere after all."
"Alright then." she turned her head and shouted over her shoulder. "Hey! Daniel, I found them and you owe me 5 bucks!"
"God damn it!" yelled a voice in the crowd. A boy with short dark hair and glasses expertly weaved through the crowd towards the three, assumably Daniel Bronze, which would mean the girl he was handing off a 5 dollar bill to was none other than Jenna Boudrois.
"Damn, why didn't I think to bet on people?" muttered Finley beside her.
'Well,' Alison thought to herself, 'at least these people don't have sticks up their asses.'
"Wait," Daniel pointed at Finley. "Weren't you that kid that tried to organize the chicken nugget protest outside the Garrison?"
"I have my passions, yes. Namely chicken nuggets."
"So, is it true that you got Takashi Shirogane to sign a petition for chicken nuggets?" Jenna asked, obviously interested.
"I will neither confirm nor deny these rumors, just know that I may have a certain signature framed and hung on my wall to this day, original copy." They gave a smug look. "Tell me, isn't Boudrois the name of the ace pilot cadet? The one who hasn't crashed the simulator once, even on her first run?"
"You can bet your ass it is. And here beside me is one of the best mechanics of our entire year, Daniel Bronze." she waved her hands and presented him the way one would present a Christmas tree or Will Smith's son.
'Damn,' Alison thought to herself again. 'my team is fucking cool.'
"So, right off the bat, but who's down for a PARTAY TONIGHT? Complete with cool, team bonding experiences? And snacks?" Finley clicked their finger guns enthusiastically at the three of them.
"I'm down, can't be at my quarters through. McClain said something about having Garrett over, so it's occupied." Jenna said, emphasis on occupied.
"Same here, roommate has already claimed the space." Daniel stated matter-of-factly.
"I'm in the same boat as Daniel." Alison explained. "Beaker's having his new team over as well."
"Y'all know what this means right?" Finley asked, excited off their rocker.
The other three looked at them with raised eyebrows.
"What?" asked Jenna, proceeding with caution from their tone of voice.
"We sneak out tonight after hours and all meet up at the murder shack for a secret, team FR exclusive party. Who's in?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Murder shack? No way I'm going anywhere near a place called murder shack after hours. Seems like a horrible idea." Dan waved his hands and shook his head in protest. Fuck team bonding, he did not want to die tonight.
"I'm down." said Jenna nonchalantly. "and you're coming with us, Dan."
"Fuck, I did not greenlight this!"
"Chill, dude. It's not like anyone's actually been murdered there. It's just the perfect place for a murder." Finley explained.
"Finley, are you going to murder us tonight?" Alison asked.
"Nope."
"Well by golly count me in."
"You're all insane and I'm 98% sure I won't have a team in the morning." Dan groaned.
"That's if you make it until morning." Jenna teased.
"Maps out everyone!" Finley commanded, using a very weak commander voice. Everyone pulled out their maps of the Garrison grounds while Finn pulled out a marker. "Meet here, the shack is outside the map and I'll need to lead you there. 2200, you got that?"
Jenna and Alison nodded in unison while Daniel was still shaking his head.
"Meet you nerds there." they winked, before sauntering off to who knows where.
"This is going to be terrible." Daniel sighed.
"Who knows, Daniel?" Alison slapped a hand on his back. "This could turn out to be the best night of our lives."
"Yeah, I somehow doubt that."
"Well, as the the Garrison officers say to new recruits: let's activate our force fields and just keep going." Alison smiled.
YOU ARE READING
Light Chasers
FanfictionA story about an unusual team of cadets at the Galaxy Garrison who were destined for so much more than life on earth.
