by REM
Footage appeared of the carnage on Talee. Josh watched a firble male and female collapse to the ground, clawing at their necks. Lesions opened on their bodies, internal fluids leaking from their limbs.
Josh scrunched his face in disgust during a clip showing a crowd of humans dropping to their knees, and a close-up of a man’s bloody face deteriorating as if being eaten alive.
The green-brown streams of toxic clouds were shown spreading throughout the city until the footage ended on a shot of dead bodies littering the streets.
I can’t believe this shit, thought Josh. Why would they do that?
Heads were shaking throughout the hall. Josh eyed a multitude of angry faces.
Stinnet clicked the remote and turned back toward the audience. “This death storm lasted for approximately twenty minutes. Our scientists say it could’ve gone on for up to an hour, or possibly no longer than five minutes. The duration of this phenomenon is partly random, and partly determined by the number of terra-mites/terra-mite genders used. I’ve been given a scientific explanation of this, but I’m not going to try and elaborate such complex paperwork.”
Stinnet stared grimly at the crowd. “The Mercens have warned us that the weapon used was only a prototype, and that they have a much larger force cannon capable of wiping out half of Creston with a single blast. Our intelligence division believes these statements to be true, though no one truly understands how they expect to get a weapon of that magnitude anywhere close enough to Creston to strike the planet. But here’s the deal: with a weapon of that caliber—we don’t want to find out.”
Josh nodded along with the officer’s words.
“A new Creston cruiser has been called to the southern Void Zone and will be posted at the same location as the one prior. All ships from here to Creston have been placed on high alert. Battle-carriers are being prepped for deployment in the event Commander Clint deems it necessary to have them ordered to this area.”
Josh glanced at Jill fidgeting with her fingers. Her upper body looked extremely tense while she stared toward the front of the room. “Hey,” he whispered.
Jill looked in his direction.
Josh smirked. “I’d shoot down all those Mercens myself before I let them harm you or anyone on Creston.”
She lowered her brows and looked at him as if confused, or at the very least in disbelief of his statement. Then she managed a faint smile before turning back toward Officer Stinnet.
When Officer Stinnet had finished his briefing, Josh remained at the hall to discuss the Talee matter with the rest of the crewmen. Once everyone had decided to leave, he walked out from the hall with the four other pilots from his unit. “My wallet’s missing,” he said, reaching for his back pocket, then turning toward the hall before stopping to think.
“I didn’t see anything in your seat when you got up,” said Jill.
The others were just looking at him.
“Never mind. I’m pretty sure I left it up at the infirmary,” said Josh. “I’m going to run up and get it.”
Hoss nodded.
“We’ll see you back at the unit then,” said Ace.
Josh hustled to the medical wing. Entering the patient room, he saw his wallet on a small table where he’d thought it’d be. After slipping it into his pocket, Josh made his way down the hall, but stopped at one of the rooms upon seeing who was inside. Smokey.
When Josh entered the room, the old pilot cracked his eyes, then opened them fully. He grumbled a bit and then said, “Young buck.”
“Heya, Smokey. I’m really sorry about what happened to you.”
Smokey stared at Josh with big round eyes. His head jittered some. “I’m lucky to be alive thanks to you, Rolly, Clint, and anyone else involved in that rescue.”
“Everyone’s happy to have you back.” Josh dropped his eyes for a moment. “Rolly didn’t make it out.”
Smokey’s face stiffened briefly. “I heard. He was a good officer, a brave man. But we gathered information more important than a sole life. If there was any way to save him, I’m sure it would’ve been done.”
Josh nodded slowly. “The Mercens have created a lethal weapon capable of ending all life on Creston within a couple shots.”
Smokey grunted and looked around. He then reached for a bag of seeds on a small table and shoved a handful into his mouth. It was only then that Josh noticed a pile of shells on the floor.
For heaven’s sake, thought Josh, cracking a grin.
“Those damn snakes don’t have enough of what they need to hit us yet. If they did, they would’ve already tried to. But they’re close,” said Smokey, squinting one eye and widening the other. “It’s up to our intel teams to locate their harvest point, and discover any external tech facilities.” Smokey glanced around the room as if checking for hidden microphones. “If I were running this operation, I would call forth every ship we have and attack those serpents in an all-out do-or-die.”
Josh could sense the seething hatred from Smokey, even though the old pilot’s face was calm. So many would die, he thought. If masses of humans are going to die either way, at least Clint’s way gives hope of avoiding that. “How would the Mercens be capable of making it close enough to Creston to strike it?”
“How were you able to sneak into Neton without detection? Misdirection, cover-ups. There’s always a way. Nothing’s impenetrable.”
Josh felt a deep fear. He thought instantly of his family and friends on Creston—seeing visions of mass destruction—the effects of terra-fume.
There was silence between the two of them.
“I’ve got to get back to the unit, Smokey. Rest up,” said Josh, placing a hand on Smokey’s arm. He turned for the door.
“How many you gonna kill, young buck?”
Josh peered down, waiting a moment to reply. Then he opened the door to leave. “Thousands, Smokey… Millions if I can.”
When Josh got to the third unit, not much time passed before the rest of the squadron arrived. Josh was lying back on the couch. Maya and Reena hurried over to give him a hug.
“They finally released you!” said Maya.
“Doctor said I’m in good shape.”
“All right, amigo!” said Tor, slapping a hand on Josh’s shoulder and plopping onto the couch.
Josh made eye contact with, Ven who was passing by.
Ven didn’t say a word. Instead he went straight down the hall to his room.
“Did you guys hear about what happened on Talee?” said Josh, turning his attention to his friends.
Their faces went grim.
Tor nodded.
“Officer Stinnet was waiting for us at the north flight deck. He took us to a small room and filled us in on what went down,” said Reena.
“It’s unbelievable—murdering all of those people like that,” said Maya.
“They’re not from Creston, so I wonder if anything will be done,” said Tor.
“No, but they’re from Earth—and innocent civilians regardless of anything,” Josh replied.
Everyone seemed to concur.
“We’ll see what happens,” said Reena.
Their conversation went on for a bit. After a while, Maya and Reena broke off to go to their rooms. Tor remained on the couch.
The kung fu movie they were watching went on for about an hour before nearing its end. Hoss had come out for a drink when a green light flashed from atop the big monitor. An emergency message ran across the bottom of the screen in red: “2nd squadron carrying out bombing of Mercen and Notle military facilities on Neton moon. All reservists on standby. 3rd squadron to phase yellow.”
Josh had opened his mouth some in shock.
Hoss saw the message from the kitchen and shouted, “Guys! Get out here.”
The other pilots hurried to the lounge.
“Here we go,” said Nate, staring at the screen.
Maya and Reena had furrowed expressions.
“This is probably going to trigger a war!” said Kyle.
&n
bsp; Jill looked startled. Ven shifted his lips as if unfazed by the news and ready to kill.
“I doubt that,” said Ace. “From what I’ve been told, the Mercens only have one active facility on the planet, and that it was in bad shape. The Notle airbase there hosts Mercen fighters, so that had to be hit first, but there’s not much the Notles can do about it as far as retaliation goes. And the Mercens, they just killed thousands of humans. This strike pales in comparison. They know that. Our bombing was more of a do-something-instead-of-nothing response, since our options are limited.”
Josh knew better than anyone present that Ace was right.
“How come the 2nd squadron got to do all of the bombing?” asked Kyle.
“Pretty sure it’s because they lost Handler and were thirsting for revenge,” said Hoss.
“What’s to stop the Mercens from hitting Talee again?” asked Tor.
“Their own planetary security has been beefed up. Commander Clint has ordered highly advanced ground-to-air defenses to the planet, as well as two reserve strikers to be stationed there until the arrival of the Creston cruiser,” said Ace.
“All the bloody going back and forth with Mercens will never stop. It’s time to put an end to this; time for an all-out war,” said Ven.
“And if we lose!?” said Jill, catching almost everyone by surprise.
“A war like that’s a big gamble,” said Nate. “Mercens have a lot secret tech we’ve yet to see.”
“Well, so do we, mate,” Ven was quick to say.
Josh was partial to Ven’s point of view, but had come to grasp that the price of an all-out war was far too high. At least with the back and forth scuffling, the vast majority of beings get to go on with their lives.
Later that evening, when Josh went to retire for the night, he lay in bed thinking, There could already be a fully armed and operational force cannon out there. It could be en route to Creston right now under whatever guise.
Chapter 7
Josh and the 3rd squadron had woken early and were being led by Ace to the gym for a pre-patrol workout. When they rounded a corner into a long hall leading up to the gymnasium, the eight remaining pilots from the 2nd squadron were coming down the same corridor. All of them had bags in their hands and packs on their shoulders.
Wonder what’s up, thought Josh, looking over the 2nd squadron curiously.
“Is it that time already?” said Hoss.
“Aye, it is,” replied Dazzler. “The 1st squadron arrived late last night.”
Both units stopped.
Josh knew immediately what they were talking about. He’d forgotten all about it. They’re being rotated home to Creston.
“How’d the bombing go last night?” said Ace.
“Lost one of our new guys, Sletcher. Leveled all targets on the hit list. Also downed three titans and one shadow fighter,” replied a 2nd squadron pilot.
A couple of the other 2nd squadron pilots nodded.
“Sorry for your loss,” said Nate.
“It hurts, but you guys know as well as us, pilots come and pilots go out here in deep space,” said Dazzler.
Josh thought the suddenly glum expressions on the pilots’ faces were telling of that truth.
“You all enjoy the off-time, now. Don’t worry yourselves with things out here,” said Reena.
“Terra-fumes aren’t making it to Creston,” said Hoss.
“Be safe. These are tense times,” said a 2nd squadron pilot.
“I’ll be twice as good as you by the time you get back, Dazzler,” said Kyle.
“I’d like to see that,” said Dazzler, offering Kyle his hand.
The pilots of each squadron exchanged handshakes and embraces.
Josh shook with Dazzler.
“See ya,” said Dazzler, as if they shared something special in being a part of Clint’s black ops circle.
“You know it, Dazzler,” said Josh.
The 2nd squadron continued on.
When the 3rd squadron started down the hall, Josh asked, “Are there any hotshots in the 1st squadron?”
“There’s a hotshot in every squadron,” Nate responded.
Hoss was nodding and said, “Ace’s cousin Tomlin is the squad leader for that unit.”
“There’s also Jekel,” said Kyle.
“Raving lunatic,” said Reena.
“He has machine guns mounted on the top and bottom of his striker’s wings,” said Ace.
Machine guns? thought Josh. What the hell good would those do? “Why does he have machine guns on his ship?”
The vets had a variety of grins on their faces. Hoss’ was wide. So was Kyle’s. Reena’s expression was somewhat goofy. Ace and Nate looked simply amused.
“He waits until he gets the enemy’s shields down, then unloads on them the old-fashioned way,” said Ace.
Josh tightened his eyes and smirked as if confused. What a sick fuck, he thought.
“He says it gives him pleasure and keeps him motivated to fly his best,” said Reena. Maya looked at her and laughed.
Partway into the 3rd squadron’s workout, Officer Stinnet stopped by and pulled Ace off to attend a meeting. Josh was surprised the squad leader didn’t make it back by the end of the session.
Later, when everyone was back at the unit, Josh sat at the lounge table with Nate and Reena. “Ace has been gone an awful long time,” he said.
Nate shrugged. “Yeah. Could just be going over some of things normally required by Rolly.”
“Should be a good experience for him,” said Reena.
“Guess so,” said Josh, recalling the stern look on Officer Stinnet’s face at the gymnasium. He’d felt a bad vibe about it.
Josh was still at the table reading a magazine with Nate and Reena when Ace entered the unit. Everyone at the table looked in the squad leader’s direction.
Ace strode toward them with a staunch expression. “Emergency briefing; we’re having a meeting. Wait here while I round up the others.”
Josh raised his brows at Nate and Reena and could tell they were shocked too.
Ace marched down the halls and collected the entire team. All stood around the table with Ace at the head.
Wonder what the hell it could be now, thought Josh. Just don’t tell me another planet has been struck with terra-fumes!
Ace made sure to lock eyes with everyone at the table. “Officer Rolly is alive,” he said.
The squadron was in disbelief.
I always knew it was a possibility, thought Josh. He peered at Ace’s troubled face and could tell there was more.
“Are we going to rescue him?” asked Kyle.
“Do we know what kind of shape he’s in?” said Nate.
Ace kept silent, staring at them for longer than usual.
“What is it?” Reena asked.
“Rolly’s condition is considered good,” said Ace. “But in order to get him back… Commander Clint is going to trade himself for Rolly.”
There were a few gasps at the table. Maya was one of them.
Josh was stunned by the news, and felt a tearing of emotions when saying, “We know Rolly better, but Commander Clint is far more valuable to this ship, and to the whole of Creston.” He caught Jill and Ven nodding out the corner of his eye.
Hoss shook his head. “Trading Commander Clint for Officer Rolly is too extreme. There’s got to be another way.”
“There’s not,” said Ace. “The Mercens have made certain that Rolly cannot be found. They won’t risk another Smokey-style extraction.”
“But Clint for Rolly makes absolutely no sense,” said Maya.
“A couple of the other officers tried pleading that case, but Commander Clint insists Captain Tichi is capable of taking charge of the Rampage until home command assigns a new commander. With that in mind, he reasons we’re simply trading a life for a life.”
“Mark of a true leader right there, mate,” said Ven.
Tor glanced at him for a moment.
“When is this going down
?” asked Nate.
“Three hours from now. At a vacant space lot on space station F in the southern Void Zone. The site was agreed upon to lower chances of a double-cross by either side. Envoys are set at a ten-fighter max. The exchange will take place on the space bridge connecting the lots. 3rd squadron will be handling the escort.”
Damn, thought Josh, playing out the swap scenario in his mind.
The unit door slid open. Officer Stinnet walked in and over to the table. “They’ve been debriefed?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” Ace replied.
Officer Stinnet looked at the disturbed faces. “No one hates the idea more than me, but it’s been ordered, so we follow.” He placed a small black box on the center of the table and pressed a button on it. A hologram of planet Zint appeared in front of the group. “The location of Mercen terra-mining has been discovered. Commander Clint has ordered a double-squadron strike on the facilities, which is to take place directly after the Rolly swap. The expectation is a delayed Mercen response, since their attentions will be on their new highly prized prisoner. Nevertheless, our attack must be swift.”
Officer Stinnet pressed another button. Red and blue dots appeared throughout the hologram. “Red spots are possible enemy defense systems. But our intel on this is extremely uncertain, so be ready for anything from anywhere. Blue spots are structures, equipment, and facilities that must be taken out. Josh, Hoss, Nate, Maya, and Reena will be part of a drop team that will land at the side of this mountain and enter a cave with five other elite Creston marines. The elites will be leading the way. Your jobs are just to provide cover fire. There will be a ten-minute window to confirm or destroy the objective.” He paused for a moment and gave the group a hard stare. “We believe the Mercens’ force cannon may be in that cave. If so, we can take out their biggest threats in one fell swoop.”
Josh glanced subtly at his crewmates, thinking, We’ve got to get those targets. I hope nobody dies on this damn mission. I wish this could be done with a black ops team, but of course the planet is too heavily guarded. He caught eye contact with Tor and looked away.
