The War Across the Stars (2 page)

“And we’re back.  During a meeting on the Elonian planet of Delacrose, Vorgian official Rigel Korth shot all three Elonian delegates.  It came as no surprise to the Vorgian government.  Most information remains classified.  The three representatives who were left dead were Brandon M
c
lure, Mason Neely, and Garreth Johnston.  Four of the building’s guards were severely wounded.  Chancellor Valedez and the Senate have ruled that this matter must be taken to war.  Troops are preparing as we speak.  The first target is expected to be Enphuerzo, but all solid information remains classified.  Many people look at this as our opportunity to seek vengeance on the Vorgian people for what happened ten revolutions ago,” the anchor said in an alarmed tone.

Max finally came creeping through the door and noticed us staring at the news. 

“Hey fella’s… what’s up?” he asked. 

“The war has started with the Vorgians.  They intentionally murdered three of our delegates on Delacrose.  Four of the guards are now receiving medical treatment,” Miller told him.

“Oh… Wow…” Max said, shocked. 

“I knew it was only a matter of time before those darn Vorgians started this up,” Miller revealed.  “Be prepared for a call any day now.  It’ll come.”

He was right.  Only a week later we received a call for the Rangers to go to Enphuerzo. 

“Boys… The time has come.  We’re sending you to Enphuerzo to destroy the ground based power generator of the
Fargo
space station.  It is used to recycle power from the station and recharge major systems, such as shields and energy weapon batteries.  Spies have reported that it is in the Aruvia Desert,” Miller instructed.

“Sir!” Washington said.  “It’s not there.  The spies must have found a decoy.”

“What do you mean?” Miller asked.

“It is in the Pombo Jungle.” 

“That’s not what our intel tells us! And we trust our spies to do their job!” Miller growled.  “You will be going to the Aruvia Desert.  GO!  Your transport will be outside.” Miller yelled.

We went to our lockers first.  I grabbed my pack, SR-4 and all my ammunition.  Then I picked up my Hopkins-81 pistol and put it at my side.  Nevin preferred the H-44 to the H-81 due to it’s light weight and high caliber.

Our first action… it was so close.  Sometimes I wish it had never come.  We went outside and boarded the transport.  We were ready.

“Hello, my name is Bob Jenkins.  I’m going to be your pilot.  Enjoy the ride.”

The man was incredibly thin and pale.  He looked nervous and unprofessional.  Immediately I grew concerned he was as new as we were.

We sat back and felt ourselves rise off the ground.  We rose higher and higher until we entered the Eupholan atmosphere.  As I looked out the window, the view was awe-inspiring.  The rain was pouring down onto trees and plains.  Then, I thought about the mission.  I immediately became nervous.  I felt my body tense up. 

“Hey Rob,” I said. 

“What James?”

“Why are we going to Enphuerzo first? It’s the furthest planet from Euphola,” I told him.

“That space station…
Fargo
… is very big and strong.  If we take it out first, Vorgian morale will drop.  Particularly since if this ever came down to a last stand, it would be a great help in such an endeavor.  I don’t know if the Elonians… erm…
we
, can even beat it.”

“So it could end the war quickly?” I asked.

“Yeah, or it could strengthen their resolve… who knows, maybe it’s a trap,” Robert suggested.

Then we were interrupted.  “Oh… um… Hi.  That Miller guy.  Oh… Ahh… He wants to talk.  Um.  With you,” Bob Jenkins stuttered.

“Alright, let’s hear the colonel,” Ryan said.

“Hello?  Come in!  Are you there?” Miller was saying.

“We’re here sir,” Ryan said. 

“Good!  You have two hours to destroy the objective before Admiral Dixon arrives with his fleet.  Don’t fail him.  Dunkelman, You’re in charge.  Complete the mission and we will
officially
promote you to sergeant.”

“Roger that sir,” Ryan said. 

“Over and out,” Miller concluded.

“Um… S’cuse me,” Jenkins squeaked.  “We are about to warp.  It could get messy on the other end.”

Then we heard the three coordinate points being dialed in.  I’d never warped before, so I didn’t know what to expect.  Civilian craft only used Ultradrive for FTL transportation between planets.

I looked out the window and saw a blue light surrounding our ship.  It began to fade.  Then I saw Enphuerzo. We had been nowhere near Enphuerzo just moments ago, and yet in less than a second we had traversed the immense distance between the two worlds.  It was incredible.

Our ship began to quickly descend toward the planet.  Suddenly, I felt the entire ship shake. 

“We have a problem!” I heard come from the helm. 

“What happened?” Philip Fergensen asked.

“Ahh… Ahhh…  We’re getting shot at.  We have been spotted by
Fargo
.  This wasn’t in the plan.  We have been hit.  Shields are at twenty percent.  We need twenty-five percent shields on this ship to make it to the surface.  That is, without it getting a little warm,” Jenkins said. 

Ryan ran to the controls, in the helm.  We began to go faster.

“What are you doing?” Jenkins asked.

“Trying not to get killed!” Ryan said back.

“Oh… Oh… Oh, good idea!  Have you ever piloted one of these transports?”

“Nope, just Interceptors.  Quite a difference,” Ryan told us.

“That’s just grand,” Jenkins murmured. 

We continued to descend rapidly.  Through the window I could see laser blasts pass by, narrowly missing our transport.  It was only a matter of time before they secured a missile lock.

We started going through the atmosphere, a warm glow appearing around the shields.

“Shields are at twelve percent,” Ryan said as we went deeper into the atmosphere. 

It was eating away our shields, which needed to remain active due to what appeared to be multiple design flaws with the new transport.

“Seven percent!” he called. 

I climbed up into a small glass dome.  It was located in the center of the ship.  Multiple missiles were approaching our transport.  Fortunately, we were out of range of
Fargo
, but enemy interceptors were in the air.  I slipped down the ladder just enough to call out to Ryan. 

“Guys!  Missiles at six o’clock.  Ryan, speed up,” I yelled. 

“If we go much faster, we’ll burn up what is left of our shields,” he announced. 

Then, the ship shook violently.  I held on tightly to the ladder in the center.

“Looks like Warp Drive is down!” Ryan exclaimed.

Chapter 2

The Base Strike

I could feel the ship getting hotter. 

“Shields are at zero percent!”  It’s gonna get awfully hot in here, Ryan called. 

“I kinda figured that one out Ryan!” Nevin said. 

The heat was quickly draining my energy.  Finally we burst out of the dangerous portion of the atmosphere, into the air that the people below breathe.  It slowly began cool. 

“Phew!” Ryan sighed.  “That was close.” 

I started to climb down the ladder when I saw something with the corner of my eye.  I turned my head and saw two VDF-74 interceptors coming for us fast. 

“We have company!” I announced.  “They’re opening fire!”

“This can’t be happening!” Jenkins uttered. 

“Well it is!” I responded. 

“We’re all gonna DIE!”  Jenkins screamed in fright.

“Well… I’m trying to avoid that!” Ryan shouted back. 

The ship shook again and began to fall downward.  The already rough ride quickly felt as if everything had gone wrong.  A steady alarm activated in the helm, only adding to the chaos.

“Guys!  I’m losing control,” Ryan told us.  “Engines are down!”

             
“Please don’t get us killed,” Philip said.

I climbed back up the ladder.  Suddenly cannon fire shattered the window dome.  I simply let go of the ladder to avoid a bullet through the brain.  Pieces of the shattered window fell to the floor below. 

“Ow… What was that?” Max grunted when some of the pieces cut his arm. 

“We’re still falling!”  Ryan said from the helm.  “About a minute before impact!”

             
“Everyone to the back of the ship, I've pulled up as far as I can!” Ryan said as he came running out of the helm. 

             
“Here it comes!” Nevin warned as we all held onto anything in the back to support us.

             
A loud crunching sound filled the air.  We saw fire in the front of the ship.  I closed my eyes as the front of the ship came closer.  The crunching grew louder. 

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Jenkins screamed in terror.

             
The crunching stopped.  It felt like we had stopped sliding across the ground.  I opened my eyes.  It was bad. 

“Guys?” I said as I looked around what was left of the ship. 

The front was terribly smashed, forced together like an accordion.  I couldn’t even see where the ladder was.

“I'm okay,” I heard Ryan say. 

“Help me… Am I okay?” Jenkins asked. 

“Ooooooh… you’re dead…” Max said mockingly.

“I-I-I am?”  Jenkins questioned.

“No, Max is kidding,” Nevin said. 

             
“You guys are off subject again,” I said. 

“Let’s look for a way out,” Ryan ordered. 

“The door was up front,” Philip said. 

“There isn’t an up front anymore,” Nevin pointed out.

“So we are trapped in the burning wreckage of a transport ship on an enemy planet?” Max asked. 

“Yeah, pretty much,” Nevin answered.

             
“Maybe we can shoot a hole through the wall.  This transport seems to fall short of standards in almost every aspect, maybe it has poor armor too,” I suggested. 

“Yeah,” Ryan agreed. 

He took out his H-81 and shot the wall eight times.  No penetration. 

“Maybe our SR-4’s would work better,” Nevin added. 

“Worth a try,” Ryan said.  “All right.  Everyone see that the spot I hit?” Ryan asked. 

“Yep,” Philip said. 

“Ready,” Ryan called.  “Fire!” 

All shots hit their mark.

             
“Yes!” Max yelled.  “We punched a hole straight through the wall.” 

“Hold on…” I said.  “What do we do with a couple centimeter hole?” 

“Oh…” Max sighed.  “Not much.” 

“Well, it sounded good,” Nevin admitted. 

“We all have a couple grenades,” Ryan said. 

“In an area this small, I think the explosion would kill us,” Phillip pointed out.

“True,” Max agreed. 

“What if the explosion was on the other side of the wall?”  I asked. 

             
“How could we do that, James?”  Ryan inquired. 

“I'm not sure, but I think we’d survive,” I answered. 

“I really don’t like the sound of that,” Jenkins whispered from the corner. 

“Oh, well.  Would you rather live out your slow starvation with us in a tiny space of burning transport!?”  Max exclaimed. 

             
“N-n-no,” Jenkins said.

“Oh!” I said.  “Our SR-4’s did get a hole through the wall.  So if we put enough together, we can slip the grenade through the hole.” 

“Great plan,” Ryan told us. 

“The fragmentation would surely incapacitate one of us,” Philip warned.

“We're not using frags,” Ryan countered.  “We've got concussion for this op, purely explosive force.”

             
Within three minutes we had fired a decent ring of holes.  Then we started to connect them into the larger hole.  It took a lot of ammo but we had brought plenty.  Then, only twenty minutes after the crash, we were nearly free.

             
“All right Max, start it and push it through the hole.  Okay?”  Ryan instructed. 

“Understood,” Max said. 

He pulled the pin, then  tried to put it through the hole.  As he pushed it in however, it stuck in place.

  “Guys! Help!  It’s not going through!” he yelled frantically. 

Ryan ran over and kicked the grenade with all his strength.  It was barely enough, but it fell through. 

Ryan leaped backward, trying to distance himself from the explosion.  Then we heard it explode, blowing down the wall of the battered transport. 

“Yes!” Max called out.  “We need to hurry.  Dixon’s gonna be here and need that generator down,” Ryan instructed.