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Spensa and Rig exit the training room and begin jogging towards the launchpad. Cobb radios in to the flight as they're running to the launchpad, and mistakenly identifies Kimmalyn as Quirk, a name that sticks. Spensa enters a Poco-class starship, and a member of the ground crew informs her of its basic differences from the mockpit she practiced on. She activates the acclivity ring, and lifts off, feeling the g-forces of flying for the first time. She levels out at fifteen hundred feet, and Jerkface does a roll call. Cobb informs Jerkface that flight command has ordered them to climb to two thousand feet and hover above the city, hoping to trick any Krell that come near into thinking that their rookie flight was a fresh set of veteran reinforcements. While waiting, Spensa and Arturo explain the basic strategy of the Krell; large bombers carry precious lifebuster bombs, that if dropped on the city, would vaporize all of Alta Base, Igneous Cavern, and destroy some of the lower caverns. After a little more waiting, Spensa spots a Krell ship heading towards Alta Base at 11 o'clock, two hundred feet down. Jerkface informs Cobb, Cobb informs flight command, and Jerkface and Nedder are given the command to go after the lone Krell ship. Spensa breaks formation to join Jerkface and Nedder, and Cobb orders Hurl to follow as her wingmate. The four cadets streak toward the Krell ship, hoping to intercept it before it reaches Alta Base, when it suddenly swoops around and flies toward them.
=== Chapter 11 ===
As the Krell starship approaches, Spensa attempts to pull into a turn she's drawn thousands of times, only to realize it is much more difficult to pull off in real life, almost crashing into Hurl. Whilst performing a series of dogfighting maneuvers with Nedd and the Krell ship, Jorgen pulls off a near-perfect twin-S dodge. Cobb warns Jorgen to avoid performing complex maneuvers, as it will allow the Krell to identify him as a flightleader, and therefore target him. After performing a perfect Ahlstrom loop, Jorgen attempts another spin, this time less successful, leading the Krell back towards the other six members of the flight. The members of the flight scatter, but Morningtide clips Bim in the scuffle. Krell destructor blasts hit Rig head on, but his shield holds, and Kimmalyn dropped five hundred feet below her flightmates to try and line up a destructor shot. Jorgen decides to lure the Krell ship higher so Alta's AA guns can reach it, only to realize his shield is down. Spensa nearly blacks out from g-forces in a rush to save him, only for Kimmalyn to snipe the unshielded Krell ship from far below. Rig reveals he threw up in his ship, so Cobb tells him to return to the launchpad, with Hurl as an escort. Cobb reveals Kimmalyn's recommendation to the Flight School because of her accuracy record as a gunner from Bountiful Cavern, and the flight retreats to the launchpad as Nightmare Flight come to relieve them. The flight is shown their bunks, but Spensa is not given one, and is told by Cobb that Ironsides has forbidden her access to a bunk or the mess hall, and that she must take the elevator to get between Igneous Cavern and Flight School every day. Two MPs escort her off the premises, and she overhears Jorgen and Cobb talking about the insubordination of the flight. Jorgen leaves in an extremely expensive private car, and Spensa walks off toward the waiting area for the elevators. As she's waiting in line, she realizes that her secret cavern is probably a quicker commute than going all the way back to Igneous, so she goes there and falls asleep in the cockpit of the old ship.
=== Chapter 12 ===
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