The First Starfighter, Grace Goodwin [popular novels .TXT] 📗

The First Starfighter

Starfighter Training Academy: Game 1

Grace Goodwin

The First Starfighter

Copyright © 2021 by Grace Goodwin

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electrical, digital or mechanical including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning or by any type of data storage and retrieval system without express, written permission from the author.

Published by KSA Publishers

Goodwin, Grace

Cover design copyright 2021 by Grace Goodwin

Images/Photo Credit: Deposit photos: sdecoret; Ensuper; innovari; kiuikson;

Publisher’s Note:

This book was written for an adult audience. The book may contain explicit sexual content. Sexual activities included in this book are strictly fantasies intended for adults and any activities or risks taken by fictional characters within the story are neither endorsed nor encouraged by the author or publisher.

Contents

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Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

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1

Jamie Miller, Baltimore, MD, United States

I settled into my gaming chair and put my headset on, ready to get started. Work had passed so slowly today because all I could think about was getting back to the game. It was sad that I was more eager for time in front of a screen instead of being outside in the sunshine, but my friends were here, inside the chat room where we could talk to each other through our headsets and play together in real time. My BFFs were in different countries, but they felt close. As if we were in the same room. As if we were a team.

Well, we were that. A team that had me on my final mission. We had been trying to defeat this level on the same mission for two months. Two months! Every Friday and Saturday night we played Starfighter Training Academy together, the hottest new multiplayer game on the market. I’d even splurged and upgraded my Internet to be lightning fast.

All of that said everything anyone needed to know about my social life. I was an introvert, able to befriend strangers whom I’d never met instead of coworkers. I was more into books and video games than trying to meet new people. I hated parties. Bars. Shopping.

Although if Lily or Mia said they were coming to visit, I’d be so excited. And nervous. I only knew what they looked like based on their video screen images—and their game avatars.

“Ladies, are we ready to take down some Dark Fleet scum in the Vega System?” I asked, shifting to get comfortable. Adjusted my headset. I picked up my controller with eagerness. Finally… it was time to play. My excitement made my palms sweat, and I alternated wiping them on my flannel PJ pants I’d put on as soon as I’d come home.

“Let’s do it. You’re so close, Jamie. You’re going to win the game and graduate from the training program,” Lily agreed, although I didn’t hear a lot of eagerness in her voice.

I was the only one who had reached this level, accumulated enough XP—or experience points—and successfully completed every mission… except one. The last one I needed to reach full Starfighter rank. Lily and Mia weren’t far behind in their own game stats. A weekend or two and they’d run their last training missions as well. The goal of the game was to finish every mission assigned to one of the ten different fighter types. I was a Starfighter pilot. Mia ran tech operations for an entire team, coordinating ground and space forces during large-scale missions. And Lily? She had one of those giant robot bodies that went around and smashed everything in sight with indestructible fists. Lily had a berserker streak that made both Mia and I laugh.

Me? I just liked to go fast. Really freaking fast. And fly. And blow stuff up.

When I played, I was the exact opposite of the person I was every day at work. As a delivery driver, I spent most of my time alone. It was boring, but it paid well when I included tips, and I didn’t have to talk to a lot of people.

Mostly I rang doorbells and ran back to my truck so I could get to the next stop. I always felt like I was playing a grown-up version of Ding Dong Ditch.

But not tonight. Tonight I was going to kick Dark Fleet ass and take names. “Queen Raya is going down,” I vowed. “I have a hunch that last group of Scythe fighters is protecting her command ship.”

“I totally want you to kick her ass, Jamie. But I don’t want the game to end,” Lily continued.

“What?” Mia’s shouted objection came through my headset, making me wince. I adjusted the volume. “Why not? We’ve been trying to beat this crazy game for months—this mission alone has taken weeks.” She drew that out as if it had been torture instead of fun for all of us. “What do you mean, you don’t want it to end?”

Mia’s German accent was nothing like Lily’s, which screamed upper-crust British boarding school, but I’d grown used to both of them. We’d met in the game, started playing together, and clicked as a training team. Been best friends ever since, even if the only time we connected was with our headsets on and controllers in hand.

“We can’t let Jamie win,” Lily reaffirmed, and Mia sighed loudly as I took a drink of my soda. I frowned, but they couldn’t see me.

“Why not?” Mia asked. “If Jamie finishes the game, we’ll be right behind her. I’ve got one mission left after this. You’ve got what? One or two? And once