Although he had been half expecting it, the suddenness of the door�s opening made him jump slightly. He stood straighter. Through the alien hatchway a young man dressed in basic grays stepped through. His rifle first met with David, then scanned his crew. David realized he had been holding his breath. He exhaled.
�Sorry about that, but we couldn�t really be sure if it was you or one of those bastards.� The soldier slung his rifle, and gave David a crisp salute. David returned the gesture, as did his team.
�The admiral is waiting for you in his quarters, sir. Deck K, room one hundred and thirteen.� David nodded to him, and he turned to his team.
�It�s time to face the music.� He turned on his heel, and walked out the hatch.
The admiral sat there in his chair, his feet propped up on the desk. Against regulation, but screw them. Smoke puffed from his cigarette, as he sat there gazing across his room. He heard footsteps outside his door. The door slid open, and a young officer stood there where the door had once been. He was about seven feet tall, and had no distinguishing marks about him, save the deep scar that ran along his right cheek. The officer gave him a crisp salute, and stood there at attention.
The admiral placed his feet firmly on the floor, reached across the table, and crushed his cigarette in the ashtray.
�At ease. Please, come in. Sit.� His hands directed them to several chairs that lay strewn about his desk. The group that filed in stood before their chairs, and sat in unison. Only one of them seemed to be out of synch with the others.
�From what I have on file, I�m assuming that you are David?� The young officer�s legs twitched slightly, as if he were going to stand. He said, �Yes sir. This is my remaining team, and the man near the port wall is-�
�Sam, I know. We�ve� met.� His eyes flashed a cold glance at Sam, and drifted back to the officer. The man looked like he was about to cough. Probably from all the smoke that lingered through the room, the admiral thought.
�Since you�ve been out of contact with us for the past thirty seven days, I�m assuming you haven�t heard the news.� David raised an eyebrow, curious.
�No sir, I don�t know of any current events which have taken place in our absence.� The admiral exhaled, and sat silent for an instant. His gaze went from David, to his team, to Sam, and back to David again.
�Our intel boys have been seeing a lot of activity on Terrana 6�s moon, Lunarus, that they believed was some kind of preparation for something. They were right� we picked up some transmissions from Europa�s observatory, and they�re on their way. They�ve assembled their fleet, and they�re going to try to take Earth. They wiped out most of the smaller colonies near Stellakus Prime, and Earth is their next target. Your team has a new assignment.� The admiral stood, and began pacing around the room. He stopped at a painting, and pretended to be interested in it. He turned his head to David, and kept speaking.
�Our ships are not capable of holding off an Armada like that through brute force, so our only option is to outwit the bastards. What we need is for a boarding party to get on to their command ship, and scrap the crew. I believe the little vessel your team commandeered will do the job perfectly. Once on board, your squad member Jean will shut down their firewall security systems, and place the remote piloting software under one of our frequencies. If your team fails,� he paused.
He leaned across his desk, and stared right into David�s eyes. He looked dangerous, someone that even David wouldn�t want to take on in hand-to-hand combat. �Earth will fall. And you know as well as I do that that cannot happen, at any cost. Even your lives.�
David stood, and his team followed suit. �Sir, yes sir, we will protect her with our lives. We will not fail you.� David meant it. This was more than a mission; this was personal. Attacking enemy strongholds and territories was a mission, but this seemed like it was something different. For the first time, David felt this mission somehow would be part of him.
A thud rumbled through the hull, and the ground shook. The admiral struggled to his feet, and tapped open an intercom terminal on what looked like a pane of glass.
�Report!� he shouted. Static rang through the room, but a voice quickly cut it short.
�They�re here sir! More missiles inbound� we�re taking heavy fire. I think you need to be up here, sir.� The admiral snapped off the terminal, and turned to David.
�Get back to your ship. You�ll pass an armory on the way down, but you need to move quickly. This ship will probably be their primary concern, so get out of here!� David acknowledged the order, nodded to his team, and they left. Sam stayed behind; he had no place in this.
They sprinted through the hallways, and David was reminded of their escape from the enemy base only hours ago. The loud clunk! of their boots making contact with the floor rang through the halls, as they ran for their lives to the armory. The door was open, and they dashed in.
David grabbed what he could- an assault rifle with over a thousand rounds in ammunition, and a pistol. Jean grabbed a rifle too, but went more heavily on the pistol ammunition. William grabbed explosives equipment and his favorite full auto pistol, grinning as he holstered the weapon. N�tn�see noticed a locked cabinet, with some stealth gear. He kicked it open. He peered inside, and grabbed some rope and an HF blade. He sheathed the sword and tied it to his back, and grabbed some extra magazines for his target pistol. As he finished putting the sword in its new home, he shot a look at David. He understood; N�tn�see worked better in small spaces when he could use his favorite tools. He was trained heavier in infiltration and espionage, something that David admired.
They finally got to the hatch of their ship, as more thuds rang through the admiral�s ship. David rushed through the door, and went to the captain�s seat. N�tn�see went for his navigations console, and Jean and William took gunner turret controls. Hisheena put on the Comms headset, and gave David the thumbs-up signal. The engines roared back to life, and the little ship sputtered away from the admiral ship and headed straight into a hornet�s nest: The enemy armada.
