Matt's Story

Fighter Fleet

      Matt flew backwards and hit a wall. As he slid down it, he grunted. He looked up at Olia, who had been his closest and probably only friend since he joined the rebels. She opened her mouth to apologize, but he gave the slightest jerk of his head. A rebel leader, whom he had never seen, was watching the duo to see if they were ready to be promoted to a fighter fleet.
     Matt twirled his bow staff as he ran toward Olia. He had wanted to use a blaster, but he had terrible aim. He had also thought that a sword would be handy, but couldn't go without hurting himself one way or another. He had been told, though, that he had a natural talent with the bow staff and went with it.
     Olia dodged the worst of the blow, but he still hit her shoulder lightly, sending her stumbling sideways. As she got up and aimed another blow at Matt, a bell rang to tell them that their spar was over. He and Olia nodded to each other, shaking hands, before standing shoulder to shoulder in the center of the training room.
     "Very good. I think you would make excellent fighters. I know this may seem an odd test for fighter fleets, but you did not question it. A team must know each other well and must also be able to fight hands on in emergency situations. You have proved that you fill both qualifications," the rebel leader said.
     "There should be a third member of your team, as most do, but we are... short handed," a familiar voice said now. Matt almost smiled when he recognized Te-Osh's voice. He hadn't seen her since the day she had rescued him from the Galra about six months ago.
     Matt thought about that for a moment, though he could have sworn that he had spaced out for several minutes rather than just a few seconds. He had been rescued six months ago. About a year before that, he had been abducted by the Galra with Shiro and his dad. That meant that it had been about two years, give or take a few weeks, since he had been on Earth. Suddenly, he missed his family a lot and felt like hitting something for not thinking about them or Shiro.
     "So... What does that mean?" Olia ventured. She had been Matt's best and probably only friend since he joined the rebels.
     "We have designed robots that can be programmed to fill any position in a crew. Perhaps we can give them a test run."
     Olia had a glint in her eye. Matt smirked. He knew that she had wanted to be a pilot for a long time. It was one of the first things he had learned about her. And naturally he would be the tech expert, in charge of communications, though he would easily be able to fill the role of engineer too. He knew how all of the technology worked and knew how to fix broken down machines.
      He had been the tech expert on the Kerberos Mission. He and his dad had fixed a lot of the stuff together, though his dad had the official title of engineer and he had been their tech expert. Shiro had been their pilot. He had enjoyed being a pilot because he felt free in the air, like he could do anything.
     He'd told Matt that given the choice, he would of course stay on Earth. Keith had needed him. But if he had been given the choice, had he been allowed to do whatever he had wanted without having to worry about anybody else, Matt knew that Shiro would have gone to space for several years gladly, just as long as he could fly. He had joked around a lot, naturally, but he never joked about piloting.
     "Well then," the rebel leader said, bringing Matt back to the present. "Welcome to fighter fleet."
     Olia grinned, and Matt smiled broadly. Of course this was amazing, but now they could find out more. They had been on the rescue squad in the six months since he had been recruited by Te-Osh, but he had only been on one rescue mission. Even then, the Galra had been aware of what was going on. Now, maybe, they could figure out how.

     "So what did you want to tell me?"
     "What?"
     Olia looked up from her model spacecraft, confused. Matt had gone through briefing. It had been almost a whole day since he had been rescued and he'd been told to sleep but he couldn't. He knew that Olia had wanted to talk to him.
     "On the ship. When I agreed to join, you looked like there was something you wanted to tell me."
     Olia narrowed her eyes at him and tilted her head to the right just a little bit. She finally sighed and put down her pieces.
     "The glue needed to dry anyway," she said. She stood up and looked out the doorway before closing the door. "Look, it's probably nothing, but I've had an off feeling about the rebels for about a... month, I think they're called on Earth. I'm trying to make it so you understand."
     "No, no," Matt told her. "I need to learn all of these space terms. I guess... I guess I'm going to be here for a while."
     "Right, well, you brought up a good point, about how we should rescues as many as possible and everything. I had been wondering about that...."
     There was a knock on the door. Matt and Olia stopped for a moment. Olia slowly went and opened the door. There stood a tall figure, one which Matt had never seen. The figure's features were obscured by it's mask.
     "Training in ten minutes."
     And then the figure was gone.

     "This will be your ship."
     It looked like every other rebel ship. It was big, able to carry loads of people, but also armed so that they could fight. The fighter fleet ships, however, were a little smaller in size compared to rescue fleets and were built with more speed.
     "Perfect," Olia said, grinning wildly. Her eyes sparkled as she walked up to the ship and inspected it. "I love it!"
     "You like any ship you can fly," Matt laughed. He had to admit, it didn't look any different from other ships, but it still felt... special.
     "I will leave you to it," the rebel leader said. He walked away. He was a serious looking man, Matt had noticed, and his skin was green. Not because he was sick, Matt had noted to himself as a joke, but because it was his natural skin color.
     "Well, Captain," Matt said, still grinning, "what's her name?"
     "I... will have to think about it, actually. I've always wanted to pilot a ship, but I never imagined...." Olia turned to him, smiling broadly. "I never actually thought I would get to pilot an actual ship."
     "You're the best pilot out here! How could you not end up being a pilot?" Matt asked. "Come on, let's look inside!"
     The ship had three seats, one of which would be taken by each of them and the robot. Olia sat in the pilot's seat and Matt smiled as he saw her. She was so happy, and he couldn't help feeling happy for her.
     "Dad, this is amazing! I can't believe you've flown in one of these before! And I can't believe that I'll actually get to go on the Kerberos Mission with you guys! It's so cool!"
     "Matt, calm down!"
     Matt's bright eyes, still adjusting to not wearing glasses, shone with excitement. He looked as Takashi Shirogane walked in and took his place in the pilot's seat. He smiled happily at Matt....
     "Matt? Matt are you okay?"
     Olia's words brought Matt back to the present. Without realizing it, he had sat down in his chair. Quickly he wiped away tears.
     "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
     Olia looked at him with a slight frown. She seemed to be studying him now. They had known each other since day one at the rebels. She had been on the squad that rescued him. She was his best friend here. She knew him better than anyone. He knew it was no use lying to her, but he didn't feel like talking now.
     "You miss them," she said quietly. "Your dad and Shiro. You miss them, don't you?"
     Matt didn't trust himself to talk now. He nodded and wiped away another tear. He took a deep breath to steady himself and then smiled.
     "This is silly. This is so, so silly. This is wonderful. I shouldn't...."
     "Hey. It's okay. You miss them, I get it. I miss my family too."
     Matt smiled. He looked around the ship. This wasn't the Kerberos Mission. The wasn't the Galaxy Garrison. He lost his father and friend then and could no longer see his sister and mother without endangering them. It wouldn't happen again. He wouldn't let it happen again.
     "Welcome to fighter fleet, Captain Olia."
     "Welcome to fighter fleet, Tech Expert Matthew Holt."

     "The mission was failed on purpose."
     "What?" Matt asked. "We did everything we could! Did you fail on purpose? Because I didn't!"
     "Of course I didn't!"
     "This is what I was trying to tell you!"
     Olia looked around, worried. She dragged Matt aside and lowered her voice.
     "We only rescue a few people. You know that. And those always seem too easy. The big missions, like this one, where we try to rescue several people, almost never work. The Galra are almost always on to us. We have a spy, Matt. For all I know the rebel captains are teamed up with them and this is all staged."
     "Staged? But-but why? I mean, we want the Galra Empire to fall. Who do the fighter fleets fight if not the Galra?"
     Olia look Matt dead in the eye. Something there scared Matt. Her voice cracked when she answered, sending chills down Matt's spine.
     "I don't know."