Training Program Log of Riley Shaw

Day 1: Welcome to the Furnace

They told us it would be hard. They never said it would start the instant we stepped off the shuttle. The sun hammered down on Alaric Base as the drill sergeant greeted us with a stream of orders and insults. It was not personal, just their way of burning the softness out of new recruits.

The first day was orientation. The Furnace, as they call it, is the heart of the base, where pilots are forged or broken. My flight group, Echo Five, has eight cadets. We were issued regulation uniforms, neural interface bands for simulator work, and a thick manual titled Survival in the Void. The dorms are bare and identical; each cadet is allowed one personal item. I brought a holo of Earth at sunset. I will need it when the days grow long and the pressure builds.

Week 2: The Gauntlet

If the first week was demanding, the second was something else entirely. The instructors dropped us into the Gauntlet—a relentless cycle of endurance runs, zero-gravity drills, and survival simulations. The hardest was the emergency-ejection scenario. We had to maneuver through a debris field while drones tried to tag us out. I came close to losing focus twice but reached the beacon without getting hit. My body is a bruise, my nerves are raw, and the neural sync sessions that followed left my head buzzing for hours. But I am still standing.

Week 4: First Simulator Mission

After weeks of classroom theory and cockpit drills, we finally entered full-mission simulation. Sitting in that pod for the first time, I could feel the hum of the neural link as it merged with my thoughts. The system loaded the Goshawk Mk III fighter profile, sleek and responsive even in virtual space.

The assignment was simple: navigate an asteroid belt under fire. It felt real enough to make my palms sweat. I clipped an asteroid during the final turn and earned a sharp rebuke from the instructor, but I learned more in those ten minutes than in the previous three weeks combined. Only two cadets cleared the course cleanly. I was not one of them—yet.

Week 6: First Loss

We lost Cadet Larsen today. Not to death, but to the strain. He walked out of the Furnace quietly, carrying what little he owned. The instructors always warned that not everyone makes it through. Watching him leave brought that truth home. The mess hall was silent tonight. No one wanted to admit how easily it could be any of us next.

Week 8: Advanced Maneuvers

Today was our first squad-tactics session. Echo Five was assigned to defend a convoy against simulated raiders. The neural link synced eight minds and eight fighters into one fragile formation. When I broke position to chase a flanker, the instructor’s voice exploded through my comm feed: “Hold formation or lose the mission.” I held. Lesson learned. Coordination matters more than ego.

Week 10: Live Flight

At last, the real sky. The Goshawk Mk III feels alive when you are in the seat, every motion mirrored instantly through the neural interface. The engines roared as we pierced the cloud line above Terra Secundus, sunlight flooding the canopy. The mission was simple: fly in formation, perform a maneuver sequence, and land intact. Simplicity ends where gravity begins. I held formation to the finish, though my flight path wobbled more than I would like to admit. The instructor gave a rare nod of approval. That was enough.

Week 12: Combat Exercise Alpha

Everything was built toward this. Combat Exercise Alpha is the final test before assignment to an active wing. The scenario: defend a colony transport convoy against successive attack waves while navigating an asteroid field. We started strong. Then Vega, our lead, was taken out halfway through, and command fell to me. The responsibility hit like a shockwave. Every maneuver, every call, carried weight. When the simulation ended, only three of us remained. The silence afterward felt heavier than any debriefing.

The instructors dissected our performance without mercy, but in the end, they said words I will not forget: “You are ready.”

Reflection: Graduation Day

Twelve weeks ago, I arrived here as a hopeful cadet. Today, I graduate as a certified fighter pilot of the Third Aerospace Wing. The Furnace did not just train us—it reshaped us. Standing before my locker, I looked once more at the holo of Earth’s sunset. I see it differently now. The horizon is no longer something to return to, but something to reach for.

For Echo Five, this is only the beginning.

End Log

Location: Alaric Training Base, Terra Secundus
Cadet Name: Riley Shaw
Program: Fighter Pilot Initiation Course
Log Period: Week 1 through Week 12