Chapter 3

Take that you three-legged mother-fucker!

Anonymous beta tester for 'Swarm Attack — Air Power'

Reggie Carson walked slowly home from the CAP testing center, a look of utter disappointment on his face. It wasn't that he had done poorly. In fact Reggie had scored a 6.8 and was eligible for Confederacy service. No, the problem was that Reggie just couldn't imagine how he would ever be picked up. Reggie's dad had died in a car wreck when Reggie was ten and now his mom had to work two jobs just to make ends meet. That left Reggie to help take care of his little sister when he wasn't in school. Besides, he didn't have any money to spend in any of the places where Confederacy pickups occurred, even if he could get away from home for a while.

"At least if I had scored below 6.5 I would know I wasn't getting off this rock" he thought, "but now I know I can volunteer but I doubt that I'll get the chance to."

Reggie's route took him past Wal-Mart where he stopped in to check to see if there were any new video games out. Reggie's mom had left him twenty dollars for the bus ride to the CAP testing center and lunch but Reggie had walked and packed a snack so he could save the money. Reggie rarely got the chance to get any spending money and he took every opportunity to buy a new video game if he could.

When his dad had died he left behind his computer. Reggie's mom didn't care anything for them so she let Reggie have it. Given their financial situation it was his only form of recreation. He scrounged together used parts from friends and spent what little money he could get on games and upgrades. Reggie's mom couldn't even afford cable TV so Reggie was getting his internet from a neighbor with an unprotected wireless network. It was safe to say that computer gaming was Reggie life.

Reggie had just entered the electronics section when he caught sight of the display on the end cap.

SWARM ATTACK — AIR POWER
Defend humanity from the spread of the Sa'arm!
Fly the fastest, toughest, most powerful fighter ever built.
Multi-player web-based game platform.
Compete in on-line tournaments and earn points.
The top 20 teams get an all-expense-paid-
trip to the Grand Tournament in beautiful Orlando, Florida
Top team members get $50,000 in cash and prizes!

"Cool," thought Reggie, "I could really use that kind of dough." Reggie picked up a box. "Wow, it's only $15 bucks." Reggie tucked the box under his arm and headed for the checkout.

Tiffany Carter sat at her desk in 6^th period calculus class waiting for the bell to ring. She had been fidgeting for the last five minutes and was watching the clock like a hawk. Finally the bell rang signaling the end of the day. She grabbed her books and was out the door as fast her legs could carry her. On her way out she bumped into Cassie Ferguson, head cheerleader and queen bitch of Harding High.

"Watch where you're going, nerd!" Cassie yelled as Tiffany sped past.

"Where do you thinks she's going in such a hurry?" one of the other cheerleaders said.

"Not on a date, that's for sure." Cassie quipped as the other girls laughed. "Then again, you never know. There must be a nerd out there somewhere, who would give her a mercy fuck. I mean, nerds must reproduce somehow! How else do you get more nerds?"

For once Tiffany didn't hear the snide and hurtful remarks. She was already outside and headed toward home. As she rapidly walked home she paid little attention to things around her. Likewise, people paid her very little attention. Tiffany was not noticeable in any situation. She always dressed down in loose clothing, usually in some shade of brown or tan. Her blonde hair was kept up in a pony tail and she never wore makeup of any kind. At sixteen years old, Tiffany was fully developed sexually, but she had only developed A-cup breasts and had a slim, almost boyish figure. Not that it mattered to her; she didn't need to go around half-naked trying to get picked up. If she got lucky enough to get caught in a confederacy pickup her CAP score of 7.1 would get her into space.

Tiffany bounded into her house and grabbed a soda and a bag of chips on the way to her room. She couldn't wait to get logged on and get in some flight practice on Swarm Attack — Air Power, or SAAP as the gamers refer to it on their blogs. Tiffany lived for flight simulators and had tried out every one she could get her hands on. After calibrating her joystick she spent an hour practicing ground landings and touch-and-go's before spending a half hour on space docking. Finally she got an IM from her friend Bingo that it was time to get logged in to the battle website for their evening mission.

Tiffany typed in her user name (Bat Girl) and password and was immediately transported to her virtual ready room. Bingo and Taz, her gunners, were already there. Tiffany adjusted her headset and said, "What's up boys?"

"Not much." Taz and Bingo said at the same time.

"Any idea what they're going to throw at us tonight?" Tiffany asked.

"No idea BG. The pipeline's been quiet tonight." Taz replied. "I did hear from my friend Argo that he heard we were ranked #5 after last night's mission."

"Sweeeeet!" Bingo said, "I can almost taste the shrimp I'm gonna eat while we are in Orlando."

"Don't get cocky boys." Tiffany replied, "There are a lot of missions between now and the tournament and we could still blow it."

"I bet you'd like my cocky, Bat Girl," Bingo purred, "Wanna blow it?"

"Shit man, you probably got a tiny little dick." Taz laughed. "BG needs a real dick like mine."

"I wouldn't fuck either of you perverts." Tiffany said with a grin, "I prefer men over little boys."

Taz and Bingo started to protest but their screens changed from the ready room to the briefing area.

"Listen up boys," Tiffany said, "we've got work to do."

Reggie's stomach lurched even though he was sitting in his desk chair as Hawk sent the Swift into a roll to avoid laser fire. Hawk had warned his gunners a split second before the maneuver so Reggie was able to keep his targets in sight and get off two more hits before his line of sight was blocked as he turned upside down. Hawk completed the roll and then turned hard right, bringing Kitten, the right side gunner into firing position. Reggie momentarily had a view of nothing but sky so he took a moment to assess his weapon status. Battery levels indicated that he had 5 shots left in the port side BLiPP.

"Hawk. Viper here. Down to 5 in the port BLiPP." Reggie said into his headset.

"I'm out." Kitten said.

"Affirmative. We'll pull a mid-level left so Viper can get a few more rounds off then we'll bug out for a recharge." Hawk replied. Hawk pulled up to 500 meters and started a left turn over the battleground below.

"AI, ID enemy groups of four or more." Reggie said. Immediately about a dozen clusters of combatants were highlighted on his targeting screen. Reggie chose five groups that were close to each other and fired one BLiPP into each.

"I'm out." Reggie said.

"Bugging out." Hawk replied as he pointed the nose of the ship upward and hit the thrusters.

Reggie sat back in his chair and flexed his fingers. He now had about 5 minutes of down time while Hawk took the Swift up into the ionosphere to recharge. Reggie pulled up the menu and selected the status screen to check their current score. They were second so far on this mission behind Bat Girl and her gunners.

"I'm off the air for a couple," Kitten said, "gotta hit the bathroom."

"Don't fall in!" Hawk replied.