What Do You Mean I'm The Captain Of A Yandere Mercenary Company? Chapter 798: Flight Tests

Upon arriving at the hangar, endless rows of pristine white Exo-Knights stretched out before us, each one boasting an identical design formed by triangles pieced together in a style reminiscent of abstract artwork.

The cockpit nestled within the biggest central triangle, which parted open like a blooming flower bud to let the pilot climb aboard.

This setup resembled the model I'd observed at the exhibition, though I hadn't gotten the chance to pilot it myself.

Guidance led me to a unit secured in a maintenance bay, where I boarded the platform lift that elevated me to the machine's chest height.

A handful of individuals resembling scientists and engineers clustered nearby, observing as I entered the spacious cockpit capable of accommodating three occupants.

I began securing the harnesses around my seat while several engineers positioned themselves just outside the cockpit, clutching their personal terminals.

One nodded toward me, "First time?"

I nodded back, "I’m new. First day today."

He flashed a grin, "You’re lucky to be able to pilot this. I’m going to say that this Exo-Knight is pretty sick."

I returned the grin, "I’m sure. Thanks."

The engineer tinkered with his personal terminal a bit longer before offering a thumbs up and retreating alongside his colleague, clearing the way for me to commence the Exo-Knight's startup procedure.

I activated the switches and sealed the cockpit of the Exo-Knight.

Screens flickered to life, and I swiftly inspected the surrounding controls, getting acquainted with the cockpit layout.

It closely mirrored the Exo-Knight I'd handled during the exhibition, so adapting to it ought to prove straightforward.

"Daddy~ Should I take over the machine?" Renata inquired, her voice emerging from my chest area.

"Let’s not... In fact... I think the Exo-Knight is being monitored too..."

Renata let out a giggle, "Ehehe~ It definitely is, Daddy~ I already disabled it though~ If Daddy wants me to completely take over the machine, just let me know~"

"Wait... I mean... Isn’t the monitoring equipment getting disabled a clear sign to them that something is wrong here?"

"Oh, don’t worry, Daddy! They only have audio monitoring systems and not video ones. So I’m just feeding them white noise at the moment~"

"Ah... I see. Thanks, Renata."

"Ahaaann~ Daddy praised me! Ehehehe~"

At that instant, a call alert appeared on the side, and I promptly responded, causing a screen to display with Gary’s face appearing on it.

The display then broadened to include multiple smaller panels next to Gary as the remaining test pilots joined the call, populating the view with their visages.

Gary nodded, "Alright test pilots! Seems like there’s no issue with the startups. Detach and head out of the hangar to regroup."

I scanned the cockpit interior and located the toggle for external cameras; flipping it engaged, transforming the cockpit walls into transparent surfaces, creating the illusion of sitting on a chair suspended in mid-air.

I might have believed the Exo-Knight had become see-through if not for glancing aside to witness the surrounding Exo-Knights initiating movement without any alterations to their cockpits.

I eased up, aware that the exterior view was simply projected onto the cockpit's inner surfaces, keeping me hidden from those outside.

Glancing about, the remainder of the Exo-Knight stayed solid, permitting clear views of the head, arms, and legs.

Alright, let’s not screw things up on my very first day here...

I manipulated the controls, prompting the Exo-Knight to shift, the unit disengaging from the maintenance bay as it pivoted toward the hangar entrance.

The other test pilots advanced toward the doorway, so I followed suit, merging with the group as they leaped from the hangar prior to igniting their thrusters.

When my moment arrived, I hesitated briefly to gaze into the vast emptiness of space before leaping out, engaging the thrusters to propel me toward the cluster of Exo-Knights assembled nearby.

A solitary Exo-Knight hovered ahead of the formation, which I figured Gary was controlling.

We lingered until the entire group assembled before he addressed us once more.

"Alright everyone! I’ve got our tasks for the day! The labs want to test the manoeuvrability of the machines so they’re giving us a course to fly through! They will be uploaded to your machine’s maps so be sure to follow the route given to you! You don’t need to worry about logging anything as the labs will be the ones doing it so just fly to the best of your abilities! Got it?"

His words barely finished when my map interface refreshed, displaying an array of colored markers linked by lines adorned with directional arrows. Simultaneously, holographic rings materialized in the space ahead, aligning precisely with those marker locations.

That’s cool... They basically turned this to an AR obstacle course.

It’s like those flight simulation games where you have to fly through checkpoints in the shape of rings to complete the game.

I paused to commit the assigned course to memory, devising the optimal trajectory to finish it in record time.

Gary ascended a short distance, likely to avoid intersecting flight routes, then spoke to us anew.

"Alright! We’ll go off in waves! First group, Marcus! Tria! Spielia! Orta! You’re up first!"

The named quartet of test pilots surged forward in their Exo-Knights, tracing their individual paths as they plunged through the unseen rings visible only to them.

I furrowed my brow a tad while observing their passage through the void.

Although their maneuvers appeared standard... that was precisely it. Standard.

Like... I was kind of expecting them to be doing spins, twirls and dives in order to maximise the speed of their machines but... I don’t see them doing any of that.

They were just flying their Exo-Knights normally...

I mean... These are supposed to be elite pilots, right? So why are they just flying their Exo-Knights so ordinarily? Isn’t this supposed to be testing the machine’s limits? There’s no way they are pushing any limits at all from just flying it like that...

Gary summoned another set of five pilots, who proceeded along their designated routes, mirroring the initial group's approach almost identically, confirming this wasn't unique to the starters.

It might sound crazy for me to say this but... Why are they all so basic?

I directed my attention to Gary's screen and queried, "Umm... Team leader? Could I ask if we are supposed to do our best and fly as fast as we can?"

Gary frowned in my direction, "What? Of course? Why would you think otherwise?"

Hmm... So this was really what was expected then...

Oh! I get it now! They’re probably going to do several attempts and this is most likely them doing a warmup run.

I suppose... Maybe I should just take it easy as well?

Or... On second thought... I should just try my best first to get used to this Exo-Knight. Especially since this was my first time flying this Exo-Knight while the other test pilots already have experience with it.

"Tera!" Gary’s voice snapped me from my reverie.

I noticed he'd already summoned me to proceed, but I'd been too engrossed in contemplation and overlooked it.

I sprang into action right away, firing up the thrusters to propel the machine toward the initial checkpoint.

My ingrained reflexes dominated as I rotated the Exo-Knight, following the most efficient route to accelerate toward it.

Clearing the first ring, I promptly executed a ninety-degree spin to propel upward, heading straight for the subsequent one.

Even before passing fully through that ring, I'd already oriented toward the next objective, letting my inertia carry me through before reigniting the thrusters to hurl the machine ahead to the following marker.

I whirled, twisted, and looped across the expanse to navigate my designated checkpoints.

The surrounding space blurred into streaks as I maxed out the thrusters, hurtling forward at maximum velocity.

Utterly concentrated on finishing the route, I only unwound after blasting past the final checkpoint, executing one last spin to decelerate.

That was when I realised that the first group of test pilots who had started their course first hadn’t even finished their run and everyone else was just staring at me.

Err... Did I do something wrong again?