�Sir, Admiral McInton requests your immediate counsel, sir.� The name made David twitch a little. Had the admiral survived? How? �He�s on ship eleven, deck 3. The H link should get you there, sir.� The man was referring to the digital pathway that could take him from his ship, through the docking tubes, and to the amiral�s ship. David flashed the man another salute, and turned to the fore of the ship.
After passing several doors, he came to a round enclosed room. In it were what looked like several black holes in the ground, all entrances to complex tube transports that could be rerouted at the touch of a button. Their panels covered them, since they were currently dead links. David stepped on one, and a screen appeared in the air before him. He let the software take the few fractions of a second to load, then went through its user interactive kernel. He found the destination prompt, and typed in the symbol �H�.
The screen disappeared, along with the panel beneath his feet. Darkness engulfed him, as the Actigrav technology pulled him through the slide of interconnecting tunnels. Blue and green lights whizzed by, and David began to feel somewhat ill. Besides the air that rushed past his clothes and face, David couldn�t tell he was moving at over three hundred kilometers per hour, going from ship to ship.
The air began to slow, and a hatch appeared to open before his feet. Beyond it was ten feet of air, and the floor of the admiral�s ship. The Actigrav slowed him so effectively he only felt the drop of the last inch as his feet made contact with the metal alloy floors. He surveyed the area, and took the only exit out of the room. Several signs pointed him to the admiral�s quarters, though he already knew where they were. The hallways were covered in stains of smoke and instacrete that had been recently applied. People that walked through the halls gave him blank looks, as though they had seen hell and lived to tell the tale. He arrived at the door to the admiral�s quarters, and initiated the knock sequence on the panel.
Before his hand reached the panel, the door slid open. The Admiral sat there on his chair, but not how David remembered seeing him last. His eyes were heavy, and a bandage was still around his forehead. He raised a glass half full of whiskey, and bottomed it.
�Come in, don�t be rude� the admiral said. Before David entered, he saluted McInton. He approached his desk and stood straight, at attention. �Sit down son.� David did as he was told. The admiral�s eyes inspected David, but David did not make eye contact.
�Ok, here�s what I called you in for: Mars is our last sanctuary now. It�s the one installation that the enemy doesn�t know of yet, and we�ll be landing in a few hours. I�ve read you and your team�s backgrounds and I saw that you have some flight experience.� �Some� was not a very appropriate word. The hundred and thirteenth division were some of the best pilots in the alliance, almost as good as the Navy�s Hellfire squad.
�Anyways, before we get close to Mars, we need you and your remaining team to take some of the M-13s and scout the area. Any enemy surveillance systems or craft must be destroyed. They cannot find out about our location. You have twenty minutes to prepare. Understood?� David nodded, and stood straight again.
�Very well� You�re dismissed.� David turned to leave. He was about to shut the door, when the admiral spoke again. �Oh, and David. About Earth� It wasn�t your fault. Your team did more than I could�ve possibly expected of you. There was just too many��
�Thank you sir. My team and I will make it our personal duty to do whatever it takes to see the salvation of the Alliance. I�ll get my team saddled up.� He pressed the seal, and the door hissed shut.
David took the S link over to the hangar, and sent out the call to N�tn�see and William. Jean was okay at flying, but David knew she didn�t like space missions. She would also be able to provide mission support and analysis, so he kept her behind.
Another set of doors parted, and David looked out to the massive steel-gray room that lay before him. Three stories below the balcony he stood on now, three of the M-13s stood, cockpits open, awaiting him. They resembled the SU-37, with their forward swept wings and sleek cockpit. They were capable of flying through vacuum or atmosphere, which would make them perfect for their task.
The two main vulcan machine guns, equipped with .998 caliber slugs, stuck out on either side of the nose. The missile racks lay tucked underneath the wings, and were still being loaded. The vulcan canons were very powerful machine guns, and with their massive rounds and high fire rate, they could pierce through several feet of titanium plate and rip a ship to shreds in seconds. David�s personal favourite.
He began walking down the stairs to the ground floor, but stopped halfway. He looked down, and noticed his boots weren�t buckled shut. He cursed himself, knelt, and strapped them on extra tight. Mess-ups can happen anywhere, anytime, David thought. He finished the walk down the stairs, and strolled over to his plane.
It was painted in his favored style; gunmetal black. He placed his hand on the fuselage and let it run down the side, feeling its smooth texture. So gentle a substance, capable of deflecting most calibers. It had been too long since he�d flown, too long since he�d felt that amazing thrill�
N�tn�see and William approached him, helmets in hand. Their flight suits were heavy as hell, but they still stood straight at attention.
�At ease�, David said. They still stood straight, awaiting anything he might say.
�We got ourselves a mission� He began. They already knew this, but he just liked using that to start his briefings. �We�re approaching our Mars facility, and command believes there may be Clanners watching the planet. Before the larger ships get close enough to be detected, we�re to go in with our M-13s and take out any targets of opportunity. William, N�tn�see, you two are wingmates. I�ll fly cover for both of you.
"Let�s saddle up!�
