Dieing to Live - Pt 3

The girl sat on the edge of the seat, grinding her foot into the metal plate of the tribunal's floor. Gilly sat motionless beside her, holding her hand firmly as they waited to be escorted into the court room. The girl was 14 now, 8 years after that fateful day her father had taken the life of her mother before her very eyes. Eight years of horrible dreams and a vicious hate growing within her. Numerous times in the past, her father had sent letters and vid messages asking to see her, to talk to her, and every one going unanswered. Now his parole hearing had finally come and after much pondering and a little persuasion by Gilly, she'd decided to attend.

"Selina Vallete?" She bit her bottom lip and rose, turning to follow the Concord officer through the doors into the court room. He led them to the front row behind the desk of the prosecuting attorney and motioned for them to have a seat, telling them the proceedings would begin shortly. Barely a breath of time had passed when the side door slid open and in walked her father, escorted by two other Concord officers, his hands securely bound. They locked eyes for the briefest of moments before her own eyes narrowed and she turned away. Soon after the judge entered and the court was in session. Selina heard little of it as her mind drifted off but when the judge's anvil smacked down, announcing the court was dismissed, she was more than happy by that time to get the hell out of there. Numerous times throughout the hearing, she could feel the eyes of her father looking over to her, but not once would she return his gaze. And when the judge ordered his parole to be revoked for another 5 years, she did nothing but grin silently to herself.
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Selina spun round, grabbed the woman by the hair and slammed her face into the lockers. Blood spewed everywhere from her broken nose and the gash in her forehead. She released her and let the woman drop to the floor nearly unconscious before turning to glare at the other two women standing near. "Anybody got anything else they want to add?" They both stared wide eyed at their friend and slowly stepped backwards.

"I didn't think so," she said before grabbing her gym bag and stormed out of the locker room. She stopped for a moment outside the door and contemplated where to go. She knew it wouldn't be long before they came looking for her. Yeah...probably not the smartest move to assault the station commander's daughter. The way she seen it though, the bitch had been asking for it for weeks now and at this point, with graduation being this very weekend, there were no possibilities of anyone, even the commander, from stopping her from graduating. But that didn't mean they couldn't make her last couple days hell.

Turning on her heel, she headed for her ship's hanger.
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At the age of 17, all students are given the opportunity to undergo the medical testing necessary to determine whether a person is eligible for becoming a pod pilot. The tests of course aren't always accurate as at times there are still potential pilots who never wake after their first neural link session with a pod. For the most part, however, that potential is very small. Having turned 17, she wasn't sure she even wanted to be a pod pilot but with a little prodding from Gilly and some of the other foster girls, she finally relented and soon found herself anxiously awaiting the results from her recent testing.

As she walked in the door that evening, having returned from school, she could tell immediately that something was up. Not too hard to do really when the entire house was standing at the door with a large cake and a lot of large smiles (although some strained by jealousy). And dearest Gilly just couldn't keep the news of her passing the tests any longer than she had to.

At first she was hesitant. All this time she had been focusing her studies on eventually becoming a medical physician. She'd always had a fascination with the human body and even more so knew there was money to be had in the advancement of clone engineering. But a pod pilot? Besides the usual fame and money in being a pod pilot, there was a lot of other benefits. Take for instance the idea of being in control of some really big guns! And the more appealing aspect, being in control of your own destiny.

But after much deliberation, the decision was made. Pod pilot it would be.
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Selina grimaced at the double beep of her ship's neocom informing her she had an incoming transmission. She paused for a moment when she saw the colonel's name, already guessing why he might be contacting a lowly rookie like herself. However, unless she wanted to turn pirate now, figured it'd be best to acknowledge the incoming communique.

"Selina Vallete! I swear to all Eve I'll have your head for this! What the frack do you think your doing assaulting the Admiral's daughter?!"

Selina smirked. "Me?! Assaulting her? With all do respect sir, her and her little companions have been assaulting my personal mentality nearly since day one of my training. And if I'm not mistaken sir, it's in the interests of the Academy to take care of their students, so as not to put them through any additional mental stress until they are properly trained to handle the rigors of the pod. They have been.."

"Bullshit Selina! Absolute bullshit and you know it! You've talked your way out of every punishment in the past and because of your pending graduation, you know you'll escape punishment for this one as well. Your nothing but a starfire Selina. A starfire ready to explode. Well I hope your as resourceful as your mouth is because you have just been docked half of your graduation bonus as well as graduating with a -1.0 sec status. How's that suite you Miss Selina Starfire?"

Immediately, the communication was terminated.

Turning her "eyes" towards the stars, she mentally grinned from within the confines of her pod.

"That suites me just fine Colonel.....just...fine...."