"Son of an ITCH."
-.Praetor
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| Tide Of Darkness. | | | Author: | | | IP: | adsl-34-XXXX | | Date: | 11/25/02 04:11 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 0, Max: , Min:
Lifetime Rating for SiG.: 7.0000 | |
Tide Of Darkness
I need to figure out a better title..
I was nervous when the commander hailed me. I'd been flying recon around the Orbital Platform ‘New Gettysburg‘. Lately the Shadow Combine had been on high alert due to enemy sightings in the area, and as such, I was on constant scouting runs and patrolling our borders. As I left from my room in the Starport, I was wondering what in the world I had done wrong this time. As a pilot of an elite Wraith squadron, I wasn't supposed to get into trouble at all, to set an example for the lower ranking officers.
I went up to the Dropship bay in the Starports main hangar, and looked around for my pal John. John has been a Dropship pilot for the majority of the time he has been with Shadow Combine. Now, don't underestimate his ability because he flies a Dropship. I've always given Dropship pilots a great deal of respect. They fly into hot zones, weave through enemy defenses and pick up/drop off troops. That takes guts. I saw him sitting on a crate next to his Dropship, Slurping down what appeared to be soup.
"John! Hey man, I need a ride to the Command Center!"
He looked up. "Are you serious Spike? What the hell do I look like to you? A friggin' Taxi driver?" I glared at him.
"Come on, it wont take you more than five minutes, man. Besides, have you forgotten about The Thing?" I made a gesture with my hands.
Spike's just bluffing.. There really isn't any 'Thing'. He's just hoping John did something fucking stupid
"You wouldn't!" he stared at me with a small look of fear on his face.
"Try me," I replied..
He got up, dusted himself off, and hopped into the Dropship. "Come on, lets go" he gestured for me to hop aboard. I got in, buckled up, and off we went.
I arrived at the Command Center no more than one minute later. Given, I was in an incredibly fast aircraft. I still am amazed at how Terran technology has advanced in the last few years. I hopped out of Johns ship, thanked him, and jogged into the Command Center. "Lieutenant First Class Spike to see Commander McCloy" I said to the officer guarding the commanders quarters. The officer looked down at a small holo-screen, a thin, rectangular piece of transparent flexible plastic, held by the cylindrical handles on either side of the screen. He found my name on the list, looked up, and ushered me in. I nodded, and walked in.
The commander didn't exactly look pissed, which was a huge relief. But I've known Commander McCloy for a few years now, and if there was anything he was good at, it was hiding his emotions. As I entered his quarters he looked up. "Take a seat" he said, with a hint of... was that remorse?
"Sir" I said, as I sat. I looked around his office, It wasn’t the biggest office I'd seen, but it sure beat the hell out of my 8x10 foot room. He had medals, plaques, all sorts of awards tacked to the walls. Commander McCloy was old fashioned. Sitting there, looking at me, holding an old fashioned pen in his hand, with that old cloth paper stuff under the pen. I took no notice of the iron plated walls, and iron floor. Command Centers can get really dreary at times. The average Command Center is primarily constructed of metal. The halls are lit by fluorescent lighting. I could hear the sounds of SCV’s being constructed, and the rumble of marines jogging down the hall.
I stared at the Commander, he stared back. "Sir?" I spoke out, "What is it?".
"Spike, you are one of my most trusted and skilled officers" he paused, as if to re-think his statement. "And you've almost always come through for me. Listen, our outpost in the northern part of this platform has stopped communicating with us". I looked at nothing in particular, already anticipating another dull recon mission.
"Their communications systems are probably malfunctioning again" I interjected.
"Lets hope so. Alright, I want you to take a small wing of Wraiths out there at 09:00, alright? I've already had some SCV's equip one with long-range com-systems and all of the Wraiths have been equipped with brand new cloaking systems. Our engineers have finally figured out how to power them. But be warned, you cannot stay cloaked for long"
McCloy took a breath, I smiled. I knew the commander expected some action. Cloaking systems are expensive, and not given for normal missions. "All right, sir, I'll round up some of my best pilots," I said, standing up. I saluted the Commander, he saluted me and dismissed me.
As I walked out of the Command Center, it dawned on me. "Oh crap. If John left, I'm going to have to walk back to the Starport". I exited the building, immediately looking for Johns jet black Dropship. Oh, thank god, I thought, as I saw it. Its engines starting to fire up. "John!" I yelled at him, hoping to catch his attention, while running towards the ship. "John, lower the ramp! let me in." He saw me, and lowered the loading ramp.
"Dude, the next time you make me wait on you like a hooker, I swear...".
“Sorry man, the Commander had some important news for me" I said, staring at john with a look of friendly wickedness in my eyes.
"Oh yeah? What'd he have to say?" John looked somewhat interested, whipping out a small juice-pack, Raspberry flavor.
"Well, I'm off to one of our outposts on the northern part of the platform. With my own squadron of wraiths, all equipped with cloaking systems".
John choked on his juice. "What the hell?" he looked at me, leaving the ship on autopilot. "Who's flying with you?". I smiled, I knew he would ask me that.
"Well, it's up to me to choose my pilots. John, what are you doing today?".
----
The Dropship, after being cleared for landing, landed on the Starport’s greasy landing pad, and was towed into the main hangar. “Yanno, I’ve always wondered why those Starports always look so dirty” I said, “I mean, we have the technology to colonize entire planets within a century’s time, but we can’t keep a Starport looking pretty?”.
“Dude, Shut up,” John retorted, “You need to know when to keep your thoughts to yourself sometimes, man.” He looked around and thought; he does have a point, though, I mean, look at this place. He looked at the three blinking beacons, each one one-hundred and twenty degrees apart from each other on a circular pad. The lights cast an eerie glow on the stacks of fuel kegs and supply crates as they flash, one after the other, in a clockwise rhythm. The sun was just now peeking up from the horizon. “Alright Spike, lets get to that mess hall. After you interrupted my meal earlier, I’ve been extremely hungry.”
-
The officers mess. It’s always crowded with hungry men and women, salivating at the thought of a delicious meal. Today is Monday. I remembered that they serve Pancakes and French Toast for breakfast on Mondays. And after John mentioned his hunger earlier, I took notice of my own. My stomach had been growling for a while, I was just too nervous earlier to take heed of it. I was anticipating the long wait in line as we were riding the Gravity Lift down to the mess hall. Maybe I’ll see Margaret there, I thought.
Margaret is one of the top-guns in Nova Squadron. She strikes fear into all of her enemies. Even me, but for different reasons. Her Green eyes have a mysterious look about them, Her beautiful Dirty Blonde hair, which always looked magnificent, whether or not she even intended it to. Her features were all perfect, she was the picture perfect reincarnation of an angel. “Hey man, wake up, what the hell are you thinking about?” John queried. “Oh wait, let me guess. You can’t wait to get to stare at Margaret McCloy until your eyes glaze over, right?”
Margaret is actually my girlfriend, and I had to include her in my story somehow, so why not make it cheesy? She likes it, so hey.
John always had to rub in the fact that Margaret was the Commanders daughter. “You know you haven’t a snowballs chance with that girl, don’t you?” he stated, it wasn’t meant as a question. A look of sadness flashed upon my face, if only for a second or two. “Hey man, leave me the hell alone. It’s a free country…Err, well, no. It’s not. But I can think whatever I want to.” I said, angrily. But I couldn’t help but think that he was right. I mean, what in the world would a girl like her ever see or want in a guy like me. I sighed, just as the Lift slowed to a halt. The Gravity Lift’s iron-plated doors slid open, making that hydraulic 'Tssshh' sound.
By the way, Margaret actually DOES look like that. Green eyes fucking own.
“What the frig?” I said aloud, as I peered into the mess hall. “Where the hell is everyone?” I asked.
“Hell if I know” John replied, and walked towards the counter. I took a look around the room. The rows of plastic and iron tables sat empty throughout the room, save for three people at one table in the back. My heart skipped a beat. Margaret and a few members of Nova Squad sat at the table, talking, but not eating. I gulped. “SHIT” I heard John yell out, and snapped my head immediately in his direction, along with Margaret and her friends. “CLOSED? What the hell is going on here!” he yelled very loudly.
Margaret spoke up, “Hey, they open in 30 minutes. Didn’t you read the small print?”. John read.
“Uh… Feeling kind of stupid right now, sorry about that!” he said with a embarrassed smile on his face. My stomach growled, so did Johns.
“Hey, aren’t you Spike? You’re that new guy in Nova squad, right? Yeah, you are. I heard that you can do some amazing things in a Wraith” Margaret said.
“Uh… I… um… Yeah, I’m the new guy. You’re Margaret McCloy, aren’t you?” I asked, pretending I didn’t know.
“Yeah. So, would you two gentlemen care to sit with us today?” My heart leaped. Nice. Margaret wants me to sit with her? Nice… was all I could think.
“Yeah, of course we will!” John said, covering for me. He obviously saw the stupor I was in.
“My name is John, and who would you all be?” John asked, shaking Margaret’s hand, and offering it to the guy sitting next to her.
“I’m Jason” he said, shaking johns hand.
“And I’m Matt” said the last pilot, shaking Johns hand. I looked at them blankly.
“Oh, hi. I’m Spike” Shaking Matt, Jason, and finally, Margaret’s hand. “So very pleased to meet you all.” I said, sitting down across from Margaret.
“So what’s up with you, Spike? Where do you come from?” Matt asked.
“Well, I was born in a fringe world colony called ‘Ceres‘, but not long after, I was drafted into the military, and became a Wraith pilot. My family brought me up well. My brothers own their own businesses in the colony, supporting my parents.” I said, taking a breath. “And not long after I became a Wraith pilot, I was sent to Shadow Combine. I’ve not seen much action around here, but I’ve been told I am extremely skilled. Maybe that’s why I’m in Nova Squadron now.” I looked at Margaret, waiting for a response.
“Sounds interesting” Jason said, “I’d like to see you in the air, Spike. I want to see what you can do.”. I thought about that for a moment. I needed 4 people, plus myself, for the mission later. John, Matt, Jason, Margaret, and myself. Five.
“Are you guys going to be extremely busy today?” I asked, looking at all of them, and taking notice of a few officers milling about the room, waiting for their Breakfast. “Because if you’re not, I have a question for you.”.
“Shoot” said Jason, “We’re all ears. We’ve got today off.”.
I looked at Matt, then Margaret, then John. They all nodded. “Alright, well. Commander McCloy has asked me to choose 4 pilots that I would like to accompany me on a small mission.” I looked at them, they stared back. “He’s equipped each Wraith with Cloaking systems, and one with long-range communications systems. We’ve lost contact with an outpost on the Northern part of this platform, and he’s asked me to check it out. But I figured that he wouldn’t give me four Wingmen and install Cloaking systems unless he expected trouble.” They all nodded. “So what do you say, Margaret, John? Matt, Jason? Will you fly with me?” They looked at each other, then back at me.
Margaret smiled, “Yes, we will. It’s been boring as hell around here, I’m just dying for some action!”.
Buzz, buzz, buzz. The breakfast line was now open. We all got up simultaneously, and headed towards the line. Perhaps thinking of food, but probably thinking about what will happen within the next twenty-four hours.
---
Only two hours left until we’re out of here, I thought, while walking towards the officer in front of McCloy’s office, “Lieutenant firs…” I was cut off by a woman’s voice.
“Tell my dad that I’m here to see him” She said. I turned around only to see her big green eyes staring into mine.
“H-hi,” I stuttered, “What are you doing here, Margaret?”.
She smiled, “I’m here to tell dad that I’ll be going with you on that mission, Spike”. The officer at the door let her in, but held his hand out to stop me.
“No, no, let him in as well,” came a voice from inside the office, “I’ve been expecting him”. I walked past the officer, into the room. The door hissed shut behind me.
---
“No” Commander McCloy said. “I need you here, Lieutenant,” looking at Margaret.
“I’ve nothing to do today, nor tomorrow,” She protested, “nothing has been scheduled for me, and I believe that I’d be an asset to Spikes group”. She stared her father down.
“Commander, what’s going on here?” I asked, interrupting the staring contest going on between father and daughter. “What really happened to that outpost? Why would you give me a Wing of Wraiths equipped with Cloak technology just to re-establish communications?”.
The commander sighed, “This is one of the reasons I chose you, Spike, your intelligence is not to be underestimated,” he paused, an upset look upon his face. “We lost communications with the Northern outpost yesterday evening, but not before a distress call was made”.
I thought I could sense a tinge of fear in his voice, but listened intently. “They were under attack by an unknown enemy, they were overwhelmed. The enemy was quick and lethal, the outpost fell within a matter of minutes”. My eyes grew wide in shock Shadow Combine has always had pride in its ability to hold its own. Being taken down in minutes was extremely unusual. “As far as we know, the enemy was invisible. The Command Center’s reactor was damaged, and overloaded a minute later. The defensive Bunkers were of no use. A Marine can’t shoot what he can’t see. The distress call we received was short, but held these details. The last technician alive, the one who sent the call, said that he saw the enemy. Giants, clad in pitch black armor, wielding glowing red swords”.
“What the hell…” Escaped my lips.
“So we scout the Northern area, and report back anything we find? But can’t the enemy cloak itself?” I asked.
“Yes, and yes,” the Commander responded, “That’s why you go in cloaked as well. Cloaking systems mask all possible means of detection. You are the wind,”. He paused, “If the technician saw one of the enemy, then they can be seen. My hunch is that they cloak at will, to conceal themselves. Probably to keep their identity a surprise. They didn’t know anyone was alive, so they were not cloaked”. I looked at Margaret, who was staring at the commander. I looked back at commander McCloy.
“All right, sir”. Margaret and I got up and saluted him.
“I suppose you’re going no matter what, eh, Margaret?” he asked.
“I’d never miss an opportunity to kick some ass, sir,” she replied.
“All right, then, good luck”. And with that, we left his office.
---
“So, bro, what do you suppose we name our mighty squadron?” John asked me, while we were walking towards the Wraith hangar.
“I don’t know,” I replied, as we were entering the hangar, “Lets come up with a name later”. The hangar was a vast rectangular shaped room with bright florescent lighting. Wraiths were scattered about in some sort of ‘efficient’ layout. Wraiths are powered by the same type of reactor as a Command Center, just a lot smaller, And thus, has a different name. They are called Apollo Reactors.
Wraith engines are no longer powered by chemicals, and thus the thrust isn’t chemical. Instead, the thrust consists of subatomic particles being ejected out of the rear of the ship at near light speeds at maximum, giving the Wraith extremely high speed potential. However, in atmospheric conditions, such as Earth, one must take into account the gaseous atmosphere. The friction caused by the Wraith’s Neo-steel plating ramming into gas molecules at speeds higher than 2000 miles per hour is enough to tear it apart, piece by piece. So, on-planet flight speed is greatly inhibited.
“Spike!” she called out, from the right end of the room, “Over here!”.
I looked to my right, “Oh, hey Margaret!,” I said, as John and I turned towards her and jogged over.
“Would you take a look at these beauties?” she asked, “These beat the hell out of the old Wraiths I used to fly”.
I looked at Matt and Jason climbing into the cockpits of their respective Wraiths. Jason would be flying the Wraith equipped with the com-systems. “You guys just cant wait, can you?” I asked.
“Hell no, we’ve been itching for some action since this morning! Come on, lets go!” Matt said, stopping to look at me.
“All right then, lets blow this Popsicle stand,” I said, not exactly knowing what a Popsicle stand was, but remembering someone saying it a few days ago.
“Wraith squadron Omega cleared for takeoff!” Said a woman’s voice over the loudspeakers in the hangar. 5 mammoth slabs of Neo-steel rose up behind our Wraiths, in order to block thrust from disintegrating anything behind us. We took off out of the hangar feeling no centrifugal force, due to the Inertial Dampers installed in the Wraith. Inertial Dampers are a useful bit of technology that block all effects of inertia inside of a small area. Back in the first years of supersonic flight on Earth, pilots would lose consciousness because no blood would be flowing to their brains. This was because moving so fast would force blood to the lower half of their body. Now, this was no problem.
We took off out of the hangar like five bats out of hell, breaking the sound barrier before we knew it. For Wraiths, the sound barrier wasn’t really a barrier anymore. It was more like a piece of tissue paper in front of a freight train. It’s not as though there is a sound barrier in space, though, so Wraiths don’t have to worry about being detected by sound. In any kind of sound-conducting atmosphere, however, if a Wraith wanted to remain unnoticed, it would have to fly at subsonic speeds.
“So guys, how are we feeling this fine morning?” Jason asked, using the private com channel for our Wraith squadron, “I cant wait ‘till I get to see some action!”.
“Amen to that, Jay,” Matt replied, “I haven’t gotten to fly anything but the simulators for the last month. This place really sucks”.
"Ladies," I said, in a mordant tone, "Lets try to keep the talk to a minimum. We should be coming up on the Combine’s border in a few seconds, let’s try to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary".
The New Gettysburg platform was constructed in segments, like other space platforms, and assembled in space. The platform was a vast expanse of steel, with iron catwalks scattered about the platform. Ideal spots for offensive units to gain a high ground advantage, I thought. There was the occasional pit along the platform, like a catwalk, but lower than the surface of the platform, rather than higher. Solar panels were scattered about the platform as well, usually alongside an array of satellites. Stores were built into raised space platform areas, and there was a cluster of greenhouses near a halfway constructed building.
As we flew over the array of greenhouses, I took notice of a small cluster of stores: Bob’s Guns, Joe’s One Stop Food Stop, and the Gettysburg Arcade. "Funny, isn’t it," I said, "How many people actually go to an arcade placed smack in the middle of a space platform?"
"I’ve got something on radar, sir," Jason interrupted excitedly, "I don’t know what it is, but it definitely isn’t anything from the Combine!"
"All right, Jason, how far away, and where?" I asked.
"One hundred kilometers North, in sector fifteen, sir" he replied, "It’s really big, sir, really, really big"
"How big is it?" I asked.
"Big, sir," He replied
"It’s one hundred kilometers north?" I replied questioningly, "That’s way past our destination…"
"Sir, by my calculations," Jason said, "That’s past the platform. It’s in space, sir".
"What the hell is going on around here?" said Matt, awestruck.
"What ever it is, it’s not what we’re looking for right now. We’re here to check out the Northern outpost, and report back anything and everything we see." I said, in a serious tone.
"Indeed," Margaret said, "We’re about 30 seconds away from the outpost, gentlemen, shall we try out these new cloaking systems?"
"Yeah, let’s do it," John said, engaging his cloaking system.
I looked at his Wraith, beginning to blur. It started slowly at first, with the outsides of the wraith seeming to twist and waver in space, the very same way you can see objects behind a very high heat source seem to glimmer and distort. Then, all at once, the entire Wraith was engulfed in a veil of blurriness, the entire thing seemed to be warping and trembling. Then it was gone. "John? You still with us, pal?" I asked, already knowing the answer, but asking anyways. I’d never seen a Wraith cloak before, and it seemed as though John had disappeared.
"Yep, I’m here. Aren’t I just so cool?" He replied.
"Not really, no. You aren’t," Margaret replied, with a hint of amusement in her voice, "engaging cloak" Her Wraith began to go through the same process as John’s did, slowly blurring at first, and then all at once disappearing.
"Damn, that really is amazing," I said.
"Engaging cloak," Jason, Matt, and I said in unison. Our Wraiths cloaked, just as we entered the outer area of the Northern outpost.
"Um, guys, what the hell?" Said Matt, "I can see a missile turret just beyond that catwalk…"
"So? What’s wrong with that, Matt?" John asked.
"It’s not spinning, and it doesn’t have any missiles left, " he replied. "But I suppose I can understand it not spinning, judging by the gaping hole in its side," He indicated a jagged hole in the side of the turret on his comm. Screen, sending the image to all of us. It looked like the rectangular body was torn like aluminum foil. One side was shredded, leaving a huge hole in it. Its spinning head, much like that of a radar dish, was no longer moving, and its missile pods sat empty.
The communications systems in Wraiths aren’t limited to simple radio transmissions, they are video, as well. The video is an ideal addition to communications in battle, because one could indicate a certain spot on ay object on his screen, and it can be sent to all other Wraiths on their comm. channel. There are three main screens in the Wraiths cockpit. Two are smaller screens, at 7" by 9", and are located on either side of the main screen, which is 14" by 16". The smaller screens usually hold tactical data, mission information, enemy unit data, and occasionally, video communications. The main screen holds an overview map of the area, labeling all enemy and friendly units, and all other tactical information needed. It can zoom in on any specific unit or location. The three screens are located directly below the windshield of the Wraiths cockpit, surrounded by a myriad of buttons and switches.
"But why doesn’t it have any missiles left?" I asked, knowing that the average missile turret has in excess of twenty missiles stored within its rotating head. The turret must have fired all of its missiles. Missile turrets can only fire at airborne targets, as its missile payload is only STA (Surface to air).
“Hell if I know,” said John, “but I have a strange feeling that we’re about to find out”
“What do you mean, John?” Jason asked, looking over his screen again. “I don’t see anything particularly unusual on my screen.”
“Well sure, not on your screen,” John replied, “why don’t you use your infrared scanner? Learn to think outside of the box, Jay.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he said, hitting the infrared scan button on his main view screen, “What exactly am I looking for?” Jason’s screen changed slightly. In fact, it remained pretty much the same, except now, it was in infrared. Five things showed up in immediate proximity of his Wraith. Four were reddish yellow blobs surrounded by a very light blue object, and were on either side of his Wraith. That’s Spike, that’s Matt… John… and there’s Margaret. “What the hell?”
So, do you see it yet?” asked John, “that fifth thing behind us all, what is it?”
“There’s something behind us?” I asked, turning on my infrared scanner, “guys, what the hell is that?”
The object, as if sensing its own discovery, ceased its pursuit of the Wraiths, and veered off to the left, speeding up.
“Is it running away?” Margaret asked, looking at her infrared screen.
“Looks like it to me, What do you think we should do, Spike?” Matt asked
“Well, we know that it’s not anything from Shadow Combine, and we know that there are hostile enemies in the area, in possession of cloak technology…” I began to trail off as I noticed two fast moving objects coming at us from our left flank.
“What the hell are those?” Jason asked, being the leftmost Wraith in our formation, he was the most worried. “They sure as hell don’t look like anything Terran!”
The two objects, space ships of some sort, were light yellow in color. The metal they were made of didn’t look familiar, it was very curvy, not very many straight lines or flat surfaces were on either ship. They resembled old Earth jet aircraft, the major differences were the fact that they had no tail wings, and had 2 small wings on the nose of the ship. Keeping in mind the fact that there weren‘t many flat surfaces, their wings were curved downwards and were quite thin. The ship didn’t appear to have windows of any sort, nor did it appear to have any obvious weapons. The ship was driven by dual thrusters in the back, again, very much like an old Earth jet, but the bright blue light emitted from the engines was unmistakably alien.
“Lets get out of their way,” I said, thinking our cloak would keep us concealed.
“Yes sir,” said Matt and Jason, Margaret and John already having had the idea, sped up to get out of the way of these two unidentified spacecraft.
“Sir, they’re slowing down!” said Jason, with a tinge of excitement in his voice, “They’re slowing down and turning towards us!”
“Uh, shit?” Said Matt, “I thought these brand spanking new cloaking systems would be a great asset, instead, they don’t help us at all!”
“Never mind that, Matt” I said, “let’s attempt to keep our cool. Jason, use your communications system to hail one of those spacecraft.”
“What every you say, sir,” Jason acknowledged, keying up some numbers, and opening a channel to the aircraft. “Channel open, sir.”
“This is Lieutenant First Class Spike of the Shadow Combine, we aren’t looking for trouble here. What is your business following us?”
All of a sudden, a thought popped into my mind: What is your business here? Well, yeah I should ask that next, too, I thought. Again it happened, No, what is your business here, Terran? “Okay, so now I’m hearing voices in my head. Wow, what’s next?” I said aloud, not realizing it.
“What, Spike? Voices in your head?” Asked Margaret.
“Um, no, yeah, hold on a second,” I replied. “Unidentified spacecraft, are you friendly or hostile?” Again, I could feel that strange feeling in my mind, as if something was walking around inside of it. Get out of our space, Terran, or you die. It said, and a feeling of hostility came along with the thought. A feeling very much like when you think of something someone did to you that infuriated you, and you felt like killing them for it. Hold on a second! Can these aliens speak telepathically? Can they talk by simply sending thoughts into other being’s minds? If so, then couldn’t they read my mind right now? I thought. Yes, I can. Said the voice. Then you know that we aren’t leaving here, this is our space, I replied in thought. Foolish Terran, you will die. And with that, the enemy Spacecraft came to a halt, about 20 meters away from Jason’s Wraith.
“What the hell Spike!” Yelled Jason, looking at a small light in his cockpit light up, “Those bastards have a lock on me!”
“Jason, get the hell out of the way! Let’s see some of your amazing skills, man!” I said, charging the burst laser cannon mounted to the underside of my Wraith.
Two brightly shining blue objects flew out from the underside of one of the Alien spacecraft, headed towards Jason, who was now flying fast out of the way. “Jason, you’ve got two missiles on your 6!” I yelled.
“No shit? What the hell do you think I’m running from?” He yelled back, “I think I’m in deep, man!” He began to accelerate, faster and faster, his speed increasing so quickly it seemed as though he was being yanked by some invisible rope. The missiles sped up too, always matching his speed and going faster, closing in on him slowly.
“What the frig, man!” Jason yelled, I can’t shake them! Damn it, this isn’t supposed to happen! I’m an ace!” Jason became silent for a moment. “Guys, I’m going to try something.” And with that, he slowly began to make a wide turn, now flying back towards the enemy spacecraft that had fired off the missiles in the first place. “If I’m going down, bitch, I’m taking you with me!”
“Jason, no!! Don’t do it, man!” Matt yelled, but it was much too late for words.
You Terrans are so stupid. Does that fool actually think he can harm us by ramming into us? Came the voice, again, inside of my head. What does it matter, I thought, He was going to get hit anyways. “Jason, Punch out!!!” I yelled at him, through the comm. system.
His Wraith slammed into the alien spacecraft that had shot at him in the beginning. I thought I could see a small spout of fire erupt from Jason’s Wraith, right before it hit the spacecraft. The space right around the alien spacecraft flashed a bright blue, as Jason’s Wraith slammed into it. “What the hell is that? Do these aliens have some kind of energy shielding?” I said, remembering some rumors I had heard about Science Vessels researching a new technology called “Matrix shielding”. It was a brand new scientific endeavor. It created a powerful energy field around anything one so desired, making the object nearly impervious to any physical attack.
“Shields?” Matt said, sounding dumbfounded.
The spacecraft was thrown back by the impact, the same way any object is thrown back when something hits it, transferring its energy of motion into it. It’s ‘Shields’, a circumambient scintillating blue, were clearly visible now. All of a sudden I had a thought, this time one of my own: What about the missiles following Jason’s Wraith…?
Oh, well, this certainly wasn’t expected, said the voice.
The two bright blue missiles flew into the spacecraft, piercing its energy shields, and slamming directly into its hull. The ship exploded, an extremely effulgent light blue, along with Jason’s Wraith. The Wraith’s explosion adding a orange-red hue with the aliens blue. It was a beautiful sight, but its cost was awful.
The light outside of my Wraith’s cockpit was so bright that I couldn’t see a thing. My eyes hurt badly from the brightness of the explosions that I squeezed them shut. A moment later, the light was gone, along with the enemy spacecraft. You will pay for this, Terran. You will all pay dearly, the last alien said, speeding off back in the direction from whence it came.
“Oh, hell no, you’re not going anywhere!” I said, getting a bead on the enemy craft, “eat this!” I fired the now fully charged Burst laser cannon, watching its bright orange beam zip towards the enemy craft. Again, that bright blue shielding lit up, but not as bright this time. So maybe it’s shields aren’t so tough after all, I thought. “Guys, pursue that ship! Blow it to pieces!”
“Already on that, Spike,” Margaret replied, taking off after the ship. “Hope you like the taste of Gemini missiles!” She fired two missiles at the ship, weakening its shielding a little more, and rocking the ship under the missiles’ explosions. “Damn thing just wont blow up! Here, have another taste!” She said, firing off two more missiles.
The missiles exploded in space, right next to the alien craft, but this time, the shielding disappeared too. “Have a nice day!” Margaret said, taking one last shot at the aircraft, this time with her burst laser, tearing the ship in half. The ship exploded much in the same fashion as the other one did, blinding us with its intense brightness.
“Woo!” Matt yelled, “Good work, Margaret!”
“Yeah, no problem,” she replied. “Hey, that light blue thing on the infrared is running away again!”
“What?” I asked. “Oh, you mean that little thing that was following us earlier?”
“Yeah, it’s moving away pretty fast,” Margaret said.
“Let it. We’ve got more important things to take care of right now,” I said, thinking about Jason.
“Does anyone know if Jason was able to punch out before his Wraith exploded?” John asked.
“I saw a small spout of fire come from Jason’s Wraith just before he crashed into the alien craft… Maybe he was able to eject,” I replied. “But I didn’t see anything after that. The explosions were so bright that I had to shut my eyes.”
“Yeah, me too,” said John.
“Let’s hope he was able to escape, he doesn’t deserve to die, he‘s a good person.” Margaret said.
To be continued...
Next installment within one week!
I'd like to give some credit to Praetor, for actually inspiring me to write this, and also jacking the name "Spike" from him. I really liked the name, and couldn't find a more suitable name at the time.
Caught Naked, your HTML guide halped mucho. Thx brah.
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