The Starwing Journals

[RayanStiger]

This is a story written by a friend of mine named Tim Lutter. It's sorta a cross between Star Fox and Halo. Even though I'm not a Halo fan, the mix is brilliant, and the battle descriptions are incredible. It's also based off of a role-play invented by Tim's brother, Josh. I take no credit for any of this- I only edited it, mostly just spelling and grammar stuff. (The only chapter I haven’t edited is chapter 4)

Before you read it, it might be a good idea to read his index (6 pages long), since it has a bunch of stuff in it that is helpful for understanding the terminology of the story. He also has pictures and music for it, but I dunno how to put that stuff up here. It's on my comp and I don't really want to go through a lot of trouble just to put them up. The flight combat theme is awesome though.

This is not the complete story, as Tim is still writing it. Also, this is not the most updated version, so there are probably a few more chapters he’s written that I don’t have. This version is 15 chapters long and just over 112 pages (Yes I know that’s HUGE for putting on a forum). So don’t feel like you have to read it all at once, but it definitely is worth reading. Feel free to comment on it and such. I can’t recommend this enough to you- read it and you’ll see why I like it so much. Enjoy!

[RayanStiger]

Terminus Scriptum

You may want to know about some of the species that inhabit the universe; so I will explain the major ones in list form.

Verash: My species, we are humanoid, generally standing about 5’8” to 6’2” depending on what kind you are. The big characterizing thing of Verash is that we have features of human animals, dogs, tigers, raccoons, eagles, etc. and in my case a fox. I have a fox’s head, and tail, and have the orange and white fur as well. We have slightly better technology than humans, but share a lot (not all) in common. Our galaxy is situated roughly in the middle of all the others.

Humans: Humans are bipedal creatures that were the first to build hyperdrives. They soon came in contact with the other species in the galaxy, and a thriving technology trade began. Humans are generally peaceful, and have not really fought a galactic war. Their galaxy is located northwest of ours.

Mythphec: If one word could describe Mythphec, it would be “crystal.” They use crystals for everything, from lights, to power sources, to weapons. They are generally about 6’8”; all are fairly thin and walk with unusual grace. Some can float up to several hundred feet into the air, but they prefer to stay on the ground. Mythphec all wear long cloaks in colors representing their caste. There is no inferior caste; it’s just that each differs in function. The warrior caste is very small but extraordinarily deadly. Their primary weapons are thunderstaffs; a nine-inch opposing dimension crystalline power source is the butt of the weapon, with the quasi-plastic portion next. The quasi-plastic section is a very strange material; it can collapse into itself and make the total staff length about eighteen inches. The focusing head is the “pointy” end, and is made of crystal. They vary in appearance and are the actual emitter for the lightning. The staff damages and stuns at the same time, but it generally only stuns weaker foes like Enfec. The staff can be used two ways, you can either cast bolts of lightning for quite a distance, or you can use it like a quarterstaff and when you hit your opponent, they get the juice. It sure beats Verash shock lances. I carry one of these thunderstaffs as my primary means of incapacitating opponents. Mine is different though, I asked the artisans to craft a double ended one for me; collapsed length about twenty-four inches, extended length, about my height of six feet. The Mythphec galaxy is located northwest of ours, past the human galaxy.

Nebuzaradan: The most technologically advanced race known. These guys are amazing; most of the parts to my ship came from them because they are the best. Their average height is about 6’; their military is unique in that their armor looks awesome and is very nice shades of blue and white. The average one has the I.Q. of about double a Human or Verash, and their geniuses are off the charts. The Nebuzaradan are just not attacked because the races that would attack them know that the war would be over in a half a day or less.

Synacarib: I don’t know much about this race besides the fact that they are twelve feet tall when standing, walk on two legs or four, have wings, and live with the Subcon. They are not currently at war with anyone.

Targonians: these guys are pretty cool. They stand about 7’ and weigh about seven hundred fifty pounds. They look like thick-bodied lizards that walk on two legs, and are covered on their backs with large spikes. They also have a large envenomed horn that protrudes from their forehead. They are not currently at war with anyone but themselves. There are many clans that are all trying to prove that they are the greatest, and so they are constantly bickering and fighting. In the large central galaxy, they control the northern half while we control the southern.

[RayanStiger]

The next few races are the “bad guys” and are either at war with us or are nursing a grudge.

Subcon:

Public enemy numero uno. These guys study war for a living. They were peaceful toward us a few years ago, but they wanted to return to their “glorious warlike heritage,” and so they declared war on us by capturing our home planet and attacking lots of other systems, thus started the Great War. As I write this index I am sitting on my energy hammock in a hastily constructed barracks. We are currently about two hundred miles from the capital city of Vera prime. That’s right, we are taking our home planet back. It is not an easy task as the average Subcon is about eight feet tall and weighs a little over a thousand pounds. They have large shells on their backs that in wartime, read, all the time, are studded with metal spikes. They cannot retreat into the shells (thank goodness) because it stops at their back, it looks like you took their basic thick, semi-reptilian bodies and glued a shell to their backs. They have short tails and wear spiked collars, wristbands, and armbands. Every male Subcon wears snout rings that indicate battle honors/rank. Gold being the highest, and blue the lowest. They are mostly red (their shells and faces) but their stomachs are tan. A reason I hate them is because they take forever to die. The other day I did an amazing move and landed on top of one of their heads (I have some hypotheses but I am still trying to find out how I did it). I drew my throwing knife and stuck it deep into his head, but it took him a full thirty seconds to die! In the process he swung me against a nearby tree and darn near broke my back. Fortunately I was wearing a full suit of armor (This is unusual because I normally don’t wear full armor) and it saved me. The Subcon live on Synacarib planets, and this is where they get their good technology. Their galaxy is almost directly west of ours and a little to the north.

Enfec: This race is very sinister, instead of killing their victims outright, they torture them until they die. Even their weapons cause more pain than death, one of their most infamous weapons is “The shard launcher” we call them heartseekers, hell shards, or just “the shards.” When they hit your body they cause immense pain by a neurotoxin at their tips, and if you don’t pull them out they worm their way into your body inflicting pain as they go. They seek toward your heart and when they reach it after a few days, you need a trip to the morgue. During basic training for the Verash starforce, I ticked off one my drill instructors and he had me sent in for three weeks of “Enfec torture survival training.” When I came out of that, I had an unbelievable toughness and tolerance for pain. Lets just say that when I was actually captured and tortured, I endured it for a few hours, and Miles Gladius got us out (I’ll explain about him later). The Enfec are generally about 6’2” and fairly frail, their armor is fairly brittle as well. Just using my bare fists and concussive gloves I can kill them quickly. Their galaxy is south east of ours.

There are hundreds more races, but the ones that actually have governmental control over their space were the ones mentioned.

Being a fighter pilot outside the military necessitates owning a fighter. I built mine myself out of the highest-grade octanium, which is one of the hardest, toughest, and strongest metals known. I had the best avionics installed and the weapons are unique. The primary weapon is a Nebuzaradan medium fusion beam that was made for use on frigates. The two units that make it up are so big that the ship had to be built around them. Basically it is two Starwing space turbofans built around the beam units with the cockpit in the middle. I could make things a lot simpler by including a photo of a standard fighter that has the same basic layout as mine.

Anyway the weapons are unique in that they were designed to be used on and against frigates, which are a lot bigger than fighters. The two beams harmonize about ten feet in front the barrels. This multiplies their power and makes for a nice light show. Normally cruiser and frigate based weapons are so slow to fire that they are completely ineffective against fighters, but these fire a beam not a pulse so they are perfect for use against fighters, and heavy enough to take down frigates (which means that fighters are obliterated in seconds). There is another weapon that my ship carries that is capable of taking down light cruisers; it has been modified so it is a little more powerful. What it does is it takes a large pod of nova matter (one of the most powerful destructive substances known) and coats it in a packet of exentron (one of the most powerful energy types known. It’s way more powerful than plasma, and even more powerful than fusion) the result is a projectile that can actually penetrate shields, by burning off some of the exentron to create a “hole” in the shield, and then the large explosive charge flies through the target’s hull and explodes inside, blowing the target apart. Nova matter does exactly what you think it does, it creates a super nova, like a dying star. After the tremendous explosion, there is the temporary formation of a small black hole. Which means that the pieces of your target are sucked into one point and disappear; the intimidation factor of this weapon is very high.

Because of the nature of the special engines and some upgrades I have acquired, my ship is the fastest combat subwarp ship I have seen. Weapon size and other factors make it unable to carry a warp drive though. Instead it uses a specially designed Lucas ring that holds powerful hyperwarp drives and latches on to it to travel long distances. I have no clue why it is called a Lucas ring; maybe some guy by the name of Lucas developed it. Whoever developed it did a good job though, the thing works. When in combat or just flying around, the ring detaches and becomes dormant until I need it. In the fighter pilot skill department, my father, Vyker Starwing, can take me to school because he has done it twenty years longer than I have. But When I am his age and have spent as much time flying as he has, I’ll be able to destroy him!

[RayanStiger]

The Starwing journals
Volume 6
Infinity Minus One

Before reading this, you might want to check out the index, it contains information on the species that inhabit the galaxy, as well as some other important stuff.
Chapter 1: Introductions

13/2/484/25 (a year ago)
My boots hardly made a sound as I walked down the brightly lit corridor. The time, eleven hundred hours; the place, Verash military headquarters, Vera prime. I knocked on the door marked “Gen. Gray,” and straightened my uniform. My breath came rather unsteadily; I heard general Gray croak, “You may enter.” I opened the door and marched inside, halting exactly twenty-four inches in front of the desk, “Lieutenant first class Starwing reporting as ordered sir.” My salute was as crisp as the creases in my uniform; a month of leave hadn’t hurt my military bearing a bit.

“As you were, take a seat.” I sat down and waited to hear what he was going to say next. He puffed his throat in and out a couple of times, “ Before I continue, let me take a look at your dossier.” He tapped quickly on a holographic keypad and looked intently at the projected screen in front of him.
Species: Verash
Type: Fox
Name: Fox Tiberius Starwing
Rank: Lieutenant 1st class
Age: 21
Height (from tips of ears): 6’4”
Weight: 152 lbs
Notes: As you might expect with a Starwing, Fox is an outstanding fighter pilot, one of the best. Graduated the academy with the highest honors. Shows outstanding leadership potential, enough to lead an elite squad. He is trustworthy and able to handle the great stress of battle despite his young age.

There was silence as he stroked his chin thoughtfully; he scanned another few documents, then slowly faced me, his large frog eyes narrowed and stared into mine. “Your records are impressive Fox, and I have decided to promote you early. With this promotion comes greater responsibility, and a new squad…An elite squad.” I could hardly contain my excitement as he handed me a data stick. “That stick has all their dossiers on it, as well as some other information. You are officially relieved of command of squad three thirty-four K and are now commander of the newly commissioned two twenty-fifth V Special Forces unit.” He stood and I followed his lead. His long fingers deftly removed my three silver lieutenant’s stripes and put on the four gold ones of a corporal second class. He shook my hand and then pulled out a small, arrowhead shaped patch. “This designates you as the leader of an elite squad.” I looked at it; the stylized figure of an ‘E’ was emblazoned over a shield, and beneath it was a crossed sword and assault rifle. A star indicated that I was the leader.

“Sir…I don’t know what to say…Am I even ready for this?” He clapped me on my shoulder. “Your records indicate you are. Good luck out there corporal. I would recommend looking at those dossiers when you get back. Oh, and you got a whole new barracks to yourself, well…until your squad arrives. You are dismissed.” I stepped out in a daze, and almost crashed into a huge armored figure. I stammered an apology and stepped around him. “Holy Toledo! That guy must have been almost eight feet tall!!” I thought.

As I walked out to my new barracks I shook my head in amazement. “Well Fox, you’ve only been in the military two years, and look at you- you’re a corporal, and leading an elite squad.” I put my thumb on a small panel at the door and grinned as it flashed “Access granted.” I stepped in and took a deep breath before raising my hands above my head and shouting, “YEEE-HAAAA!” I did an aerial over to the computer near my rack and slapped the data stick in. After it had hummed for a moment, I pulled the dossiers up. The first image that met my eyes was of a Tiger type, carrying a huge gun. I put a stick of gum in my mouth and scanned downward:
Species: Verash
Type: Tiger
Name: Tiger "Bruno" Steel
Rank: Lieutenant 2nd class
Age: 24
Height: 6’11”
Weight: 213 lbs
Notes: Heavy weapons specialist. Rather thickheaded. An outstanding all-around fighter. Treat with respect.

Species: Verash
Type: Falcon
Name: Talon "Hawkeye" Kestrel
Rank: Lieutenant 1st class
Age: 22
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 136 lbs
Notes: Using his sniper pistol he can drop targets at a mile without a scope. His rifle has an effective range of five miles.

Species: Verash
Type: Weasel
Name: Fox Tiberius Starwing
Rank: Lieutenant 1st class
Age: 23
Height 7'2” (due to long neck)
Weight: 192 lbs
Notes: A superb medic, as well as a good fighter. Master of 21st Millennium Jiu-jitsu.

Species: Verash
Type: Raccoon
Name: Richard "Slick" Bandito
Rank: Lieutenant 2nd class
Age: 20
Height: 5' 7"
Weight: 130 lbs
Notes: Utility guy extraordinaire, also a skilled thief and pick-pocket. Very intelligent; wide knowledge spectrum.

“Looks good so far,” I thought to myself. “Lemme check out the last two. Oh boy, I sure hope they approved my request.”

Species: Verash
Type: Fox (Female)
Name: Vicenzia Callisti Kitray
Rank: Corporal 2nd class
Age: 21
Height (from tips of ears): 6’1”
Weight: 139 lbs
Notes: Part of your old squad, Fox.
I got your request and approved
It. Good luck with your engagement
Plans. –General Gray

When I read this I grinned from ear to ear and tried to find a word to express my excitement, “RIGHTEOUS!!!” After a second I laughed, “Man! That’s an old one! Let me see here…16th millennium!” A smile was still pasted onto my muzzle as my eyes dropped to the last entry.

Species: Human
Type: N/A
Name: Miles Gladius
Rank: Lieutenant 1st class
Age: 32
Height: 7’ 10”
Weight: 376 lbs
Notes: Easily distinguished by his
Unmatched stature and custom
Armor. Very wise and battle experienced.
Do not question his advice.

[RayanStiger]

I looked at his picture and recognized the armored guy that I had bumped into outside the general’s office. “Miles Gladius…hmm, for some reason this guy looks familiar.” I thought, but I couldn’t figure out where I had seen him before. “Still, it looks like he could do some serious damage.” Studying the two huge swords strapped to his back reinforced my judgment. After I had reviewed the rest of the documents I stowed my gear away and examined the rest of the barracks. It was a simple square room, with three energy bunks on either side; and a computer terminal in each corner. There was a doorway opposite the entrance, inside and to the left was a suite for the squad leader, and to the right was the locker room and bathroom. When I had finished exploring, I took off my beloved camo vest and hung it on the uniform holder, then flopped onto my bunk and waited for everyone to show up.

I was reading some information on the four great Mythphec swords, when the door opened and the room was darkened for a moment as the huge figure of Miles blocked the light; Richard and Mike were following him. I rolled to my feet and walked over to the near giant. Some remembrance stirred in my mind, and yet I still couldn’t place it. “Miles Gladius…I am honored to have you as part of this squad.” He offered me his huge hand and we shook, “Well, you must be Fox Starwing, the ace fighter pilot that I’ve heard about.”

“Well, either that or it was my father, Vyker Starwing. He can take me to school when it comes to flying. But hey, when you’ve done it as long as he has, you can’t help but kick butt.” Mike and Richard both stepped forward and saluted me. “Glad to meet you guys, I hope our friendship grows quickly.”

Richard chuckled, “Oh don’t worry sir, I think we’ll get along just fine.” As his grin widened I remembered what was said in his dossier and clapped my hand to my thigh. But it was too late; he roared with laughter and produced my wallet. I snickered and crammed it back into my pocket. “Gee corporal, you took that well, you should see how some other people react.” His voice became outraged as he strutted about, “Whaaaat! You little upstart! Drop and give me twenty!”

By this time I was laughing outright and managed to choke, “Now that was the best impersonation of Major Gutmann I have ever seen!”

As we continued to talk, the door opened and Vicenzia stepped in; after not seeing her for a month she seemed more beautiful than ever, and a gasp nearly escaped my lips. I stood up just a little bit straighter. “Vixy, am I ever glad to see you…I noticed your promotion when I looked through your files. Good work.”

A smile tiptoed across her face. “Well Fox, together again…when I talked to the general he said impressive things about you. I’m glad that I am still under your careful leadership.” Under my fur I could feel myself turning red.
“Thanks…well hey, when I first saw you in that Enfec detention facility I swore that I wasn’t gonna let you out of my sight.” She put her hand on her hip and tilted her head slightly.

“I’m that good looking?”

“HECK YEAuHHUUMMPPHH >choke< hrrruummpphh…uhhumm” Miles looked at me “Come on, spit it out Fox.” I blew my wad of chewing gum into a trash capsule and flashed one of my killer grins. Vixy knew exactly what I meant to say, she shook her head and said laughingly, “Still the same Fox I knew back in the old three-three-four.”

Richard looked at me with knowing eyes and asked half sarcastically, “Wow! Are you gonna propose or something?”

I glared at him and thought to myself, “How in the name of Shartoth did he find out about that?!!” Not wanting to blow my cover, I changed the subject. “Hey! Where the heck is Tiger anyway?”

Mike rolled his eyes, “I’ve worked with him before. Unless his C.O. is behind him the whole way, he’s generally late.” At precisely that moment, the door burst open and Tiger swaggered in.

“HOWDY FOX!” He looked around and then bellowed as if explosions had deadened his hearing, “WHERE’S THE CLOSET?? THIS GEAR IS GETTING HEAVY!!” I sized him up; a bazooka was slung over his shoulder, along with a retrieval cannon. Five belts of ammo were across his massive chest and several huge hand grenades dangled from his waist. Two large bags of demolition equipment were in his left hand; another huge gun was in his right.

I pointed to it saying, “What the heck is that thing? I’ve never seen a bigger gun in my life.” He brandished it, “This is an immolator. I call it my toaster. It was originally designed to take out soft skinned vehicles and light tanks, but I found that it positively erases foot soldiers. Generally there are only melted guns and ashes left.” He added in an undertone, “With the increasing hostilities of the Subcon I decided to test it on one of them. It works, that’s all I need to say. Boy, you shoulda seen what this thing…Eegghh…where’s the closet?”

As he was busy trying to cram all of his stuff into the small confines of his locker, I gathered everyone else together. “All right, now that everyone is here, let’s do some formal introductions. My name is Fox Starwing, and I have the privilege of leading this squad. A few of my skills include demolitions, bypassing security systems, moving as silently as a ghost, and proficiency with this.” I drew my thunderstaff and whirled it through the air. After demonstrating several difficult moves, I put it back. “I’m also one of the best starfighter pilots in the galaxy.”

I motioned to Mike and he spoke up, “Well, my name is Mike Fix, and I’m a medic. I patch you guys up when you get shot. I know my assault rifle inside and out, and I can administer a shot in under a second…Fox, I’ll demonstrate on you.” I stepped up to him and watched in amazement as his arm became a blur. A split second later an empty syringe dropped to the floor.

“Hey, what the heck was in that thing, adrenaline?”

“No, it was a neuro-stim shot- it makes your mind sharp, and gives you a boost in energy. Also, I must demonstrate something else. Fox, punch me as hard as you can.”

I remembered about the Judo and so I thought, “Hehe, I’ll distract with a quick kick to the shin and...” As my leg shot out, his boot hooked it and brought it up into his hands. He twisted my foot and pushed backwards; I corkscrewed through the air and landed on my back with a crash. Groaning, I stood up. “I didn’t ask you to start the judo lessons just yet.”

He laughed. “Don’t worry, with my teaching it’ll only take a year and you’ll be almost as good as I am…I’m through. You wanna go, Richard?”

[RayanStiger]

Richard looked around, “My name is Richard Bandito. I’m the utility guy. If any of you needs something in the field, odds are I’ve got several of it in my backpack.” He tapped a normal camouflage pack. “Also, if any of you ever need something that’s really hard to get, I can almost always get it for you in less than twenty-four hours. One of my hobbies is negotiation, and people tell me I’m pretty good. I fight with an assault rifle and this.” He opened up his backpack and took out several tubes. He then proceeded to lock them together and attach a magazine of rockets.

“A collapsible rocket launcher! Brilliant!” Tiger said, watching everything as he continued to struggle with his gear. I scratched my head in wonder.

“How the heck did that thing fit into your backpack? And you say you have more stuff in there?!”

“That’s my secret, and nobody has ever found out, not even my good friend Mike.” The tall weasel just shrugged his shoulders. I nodded towards the falcon in the corner. He folded his arms indifferently.

“My name is Talon Kestrel, and I’m a sniper. My rifle has infra-vision, thermal, sonic, and brainwave imaging, and I can shoot a fly off a wall at five hundred meters…with my pistol. Here, hand me that cup from over there.” He filled the cup with water and held it at arms length. His breathing became undetectable. I looked at the water in the cup and folded my arms. There were no ripples on its surface.

“Not bad, you’ll fit in just perfectly” I nodded. Talon held it still for a couple of seconds longer than let his breath out.

“I like performing sixty-caliber brain surgery on Subcon warlords as they eat breakfast…”he added. “I’m through, who’s next?”

Having finally stuffed all his equipment into his locker, Tiger stepped forward. “Eegghh, my name is Tiger Steel, and I’m the heavy weapons guy. If all of you were standing just a little bit closer, I could obliterate everyone with a single shot from my immolator… I’d rather use my bare hands instead of a pistol, and I like large booms. I do my job well…I remember the time that my squad was pinned down by three Enfec tanks. Since I was the only guy with a bazooka, I jumped out of cover and opened fire. Before they had hit me once, I had managed to blast two of them. The third one retreated, and so I charged after it, I finally got him, too. And then there was the time that …”

I cleared my throat, interrupting. “Uuuhh, Tiger, tell us some other time. We still got two more people to go.” He looked like I had just ordered him to use a pistol.

“Well if the corporal insists.”

Vicenzia spoke up next. “I’m Vicenzia Kitray; you can call me Vixy. I was part of Fox’s old squad, and I’m tougher than I look. Fox basically chose my primary weapon for me when he had this thunderstaff made as a gift.” She took out a staff that was exactly like mine, but slightly thinner, and spun it so fast that it almost disappeared. “I do a lot of what Fox does; demolitions, bypassing stuff, you get the general idea. But you’ll learn more about me as time goes on. Miles.”

Miles put his helmet on a bunk and began. “My name is Miles Gladius. My role in this squad is a tactical advisor, and jack-of-all-trades. I can split Subcon down the middle with my sword, and can break open blast doors with my bare hands and armor augmentation.” Tiger’s mouth dropped open and he made a strangling noise. Miles looked at me and said quietly, “I have known Fox’s father for a long time.”

Suddenly, it all clicked in my mind. “YOU! Now I remember… you were the tall guy that always wore armor, even when you came over to our house. I saw you and dad talking together often when I was younger. I don’t know why I didn’t recognize you outside the general’s office.”

He smiled, “I do. You had just been promoted, and assigned a new squad. Your mind was on other things. Besides, I got new armor.” I shook his hand vigorously.

“It’s good to see you again, Miles. I’m glad that I am in command of so great a warrior.” He chuckled.

“You’ve grown into quite a young man yourself, Fox.”

We spent the rest of the day setting up the barracks, talking about our past assignments and sharing old war stories. “You guys can choose your bunks, the only favor I ask is that you keep your bunk and personal space inspection ready. I hate a messy barracks, and believe me, we have some real trash heaps on this base. Vixy, your room is through that door over there.” She looked inside and then turned towards me.
“…But this is the squad leader’s room…”

I held up my hand. “Not any more.” She smiled in that way that made my knees weak, and stepped inside.

Miles looked dubiously at his energy bunk and then turned to me. “I don’t think that I’ll fit… Maybe I should just sleep in the corner.”

“Nahhh, I’ll get somebody to install a bigger one. Do you sleep with your armor on, or off?”

“On in wartime, off in peacetime. The only time I take it off in wartime is for the occasional shower, and for parades where you must wear the dress uniform.”

I nodded. “Ok, I’ll have to get a really, really big one.”

After everyone was done putting their gear away, we went to the chow hall for dinner. Miles took entire trays of food to our table, and made them disappear with astonishing rapidity.

“Holy smokes Miles, you’re gonna be the terror of the chow hall, and the death of the chefs.” He emptied a bowl of stew in one sip. “Hey, when you’re as big as me and work as hard as I do, you need a lot of nourishment.” He finished his meal before we did, then went to the dessert area. Tiger was behind him, and came back grumbling with an empty cone in his hands.

“That Miles guy is a real piece of work. He just emptied the ice cream machine.”

We went to the firing range afterward so I could get an idea of how we stood in the shooting department. Talon cleaned our clocks, and it was a tie for second between Miles, Vixy and I. Tiger couldn’t compete with us because of how his weapons blew things up. What he did on the Anti-tank range was quite impressive though. Richard and Mike didn’t shoot as well as us, but Mike took his assault rifle apart and put it back together in thirty seconds, with his eyes closed. One particular aspect of their rifles intrigued me.

“How can you empty four magazines that fast and not have your barrel got so hot that it deforms?” I asked.
“Well, we were both from the same squad, and then got transferred here. Our old commander got us a going away gift. Our barrels are made of solid octainium, second toughest metal known. We can theoretically fire at least ten magazines in rapid succession before the heated barrel starts to melt other parts in the gun.”

“Interesting. I really like how after you empty a mag or two, smoke just pours from those vents on the side.” He grinned and whispered, “Me too!” They both knew how to use the grenade launchers on their rifles very well, better than anyone I had seen recently.

As we walked back towards our barracks, I thought of how effective we would be in combat. “I think that we are gonna kick some tail when we get deployed. This squad is going to go far.” Miles nodded his head.

“We’ve got a good leader, and skilled members. I heartily agree.” The rest of the evening passed quickly as we talked long into the night, and finally went to sleep.

[RayanStiger]

Chapter 2: The Shadow of War

22/4/485/25(the present)
I grinned as I remembered that day: the day that I had been given command of my squad. Not much has changed since then, except that our friendships have grown considerably, and we have become much more deadly. We have had several high profile assignments in the past several months, and I have been promoted to Corporal 1st class. About two months ago, Vixy and I were formally engaged. Richard knew about it only minutes after I proposed; I still haven’t figured out how he finds out stuff so fast.

A really cool thing that happened between then and now was my gaining the ability to breath fire. I know what you’re thinking; you probably think that I am some kind of strange mutant or a super hero. I’m not. I wanted a weapon that I could keep with me at all times and not actually look like I was armed. So I went to the Nee’ek, the last word in bioengineering in this universe. After paying them a large sum of money, they made several organs for me that produced two liquids; when the liquids mix, and make contact with oxygen, it takes a split second for them to spontaneously combust (it takes a split second so that the flames don’t burn my muzzle). These organs were placed inside my body with holding chambers and some small tubes. If you were to look inside my mouth, and I were to manually open up the tubes, you would see two small holes in the back of my throat. When I want to breathe fire, all I do is think about it like you would think to tense your muscles. The holding chambers and tubes work in unison to spray the liquids quite powerfully, giving the fire a range of about five to seven meters. Vixy can breath ice in the same manner.

Before I continue, a word about the stardate system. The first number is the day of the month; there are no names for the months, they are just numbered. The second is the month; the third is the year of the age, which is a millennium. The final one shows what age it is; in this case it is the twenty-fifth age/millennium.

The cruiser we are aboard entered the warp just three hours ago; it’s destination, the Verash home planet of Vera Prime. My squad and I are part of the army that is being sent to take back our planet from the Subcon, and as you might expect many people are nervous. I have faced the Subcon before so I am not as nervous, but when you are up against a couple hundred thousand even I have some butterflies. I really wish that I could be providing air cover… I make those Subcon anti-aircraft gunners look terrible when I am flying. When it comes to fighting them on solid ground, I may be way more graceful then they are, but they study war from the age of three. Their kindergarten is centered on fighting with wooden bludgeons and stun blasters. This toughens them up and identifies the leaders early. To me their big disadvantages are large size, and slow reflexes. Their advantages are many, though; they are very strong, unbelievably tough, and have huge guns, plus the fact that more than half their economy is centered on war. They have to be the most well equipped army in the universe. Fortunately, their technology is not as high as some other races, and they like to use clubs as melee weapons.

We should arrive in one and a half days. Then we run the Subcon blockade, blow some of their ships up and land our troops on Bald Top, a small mountain about two hundred miles from the capital city. Then they will try to drive us away, but we should have time to set up our defenses and prepare.

Earlier in the afternoon, I went down to the armory and chose the suits of armor my squad would wear. Usually I don’t like to wear armor because it restricts mobility and dexterity, which are two of my key strengths, but I figured that it would be better to have more protection. I chose six suits of Mk-8 combat skin. This kind is one of the newest models, and has some unique features. The helmet doesn’t actually cover your face; it is a crescent of metal that rises about an inch from your head. When you wear it, it looks like the smooth crest of a Kyna bird. Instead of protecting you by a layer of metal, it projects a clear force field “bubble” around your head that protects it. It latches on to the collar ring of the armor for power. The helmet actually has a neural link connected to the armor, which has fibers of sherisium running through it. This means that as you think to move your arms or legs, the neural link will pick up your brain waves and move the armor in unison with you by using the sherisium as “muscles.” I tried one on and noticed that when I activated the power it became like it wasn’t there, and actually increased my strength a little. Another useful feature on these new models is the active camouflage. There are photoreceptors on the armor that pick up the color of the ground and your surroundings, and then alter the suit’s color to hide you in any environment. This is the first suit of armor that I feel like I can fight in; my squad and I put them on and got familiar with their operation over the next few hours.

I do not like the position of our cabin. It is right near the hull, and if it were breached, we would be the first ones to be killed. It does provide a spectacular view of the warp tunnel, though. I trust our gunners and shield operators to let nothing get through. I was dead tired from all the activity of the last few days, and so I ordered everyone to turn in a little earlier than normal. As I lay on my bunk, I heard Miles humming “Old Soldiers Never Die”, one of his favorite songs. A smile crept across my face as I was listening, and I dropped off.

[RayanStiger]

23/4/485/25

The cycling of the action on a gun wakened me, and my instincts took over. In one smooth move I rolled off my bunk and dropped to the floor, drew my alien energy carbine and aimed it at the sound. Miles sat against the wall with his gun cleaning kit laid out around him and was busy polishing his enormous pistols. I sighed, stood up and folded the stock on the carbine back under the barrel.

“Miles, you gotta be careful when you do things like that. I might have taken a shot at you.”

Miles looked at me dubiously. “Don’t worry about that. I’m in my armor.” I showed him my carbine, neatly folded. “ Hmmm, that might have gotten through,” he grunted. I awakened my squad and banged on the wall to Vixy’s room. There was a crash and loud cursing, and my eyebrows shot up. Miles raised his gaze from his pistol, glanced at me and said quietly, “Fox, that’s the wrong wall.”

I thought for a second and replied, “Yeah, you’re right. She would never use language like that.” I went over to the other wall and tapped on it softly. No reply, so I banged harder, still no reply. I was contemplating using my boot when there was knock at the door. I opened it and she stepped in. I looked at my wrist computer and said, “My alarm hasn’t even gone off yet, how is it that you’re ready?”

She glanced through the window at the blue warp tunnel that was racing buy, “Today I decided I was going to bang on your wall and wake you up, so I got up a little early, but for some reason you got the jump on me again.” I grinned and chuckled slightly.

“Eegghh… you’re getting silly Fox. That’s what a woman will do to you,” Tiger said.

“Well if you could get a ‘woman,’ you might get a little silly yourself,” I shot back.

“Whaaaat! Me? Silly?! NEVER!” he roared emphatically. I just nodded and decided to drop the subject. Tiger’s still thick headed as ever, so he generally wins arguments. He never was a guy to use logic, just really big guns. I rubbed the crystal ring on my index finger and remembered what everyone’s faces looked like when I told them that Vixy and I had been engaged. Maybe when everything cools down with the Subcon I can start thinking about the wedding.

I bellowed at my squad to turn off their energy bunks and then did an informal inspection. Because we are an elite squad, we can wear whatever we think is best. I wear my BDU pants and a combat vest with my camo vest over it. Everybody seemed to be squared away, so we trooped down to the mess hall. Miles eats like an Atlan rock lizard; about three times the rest of us, so when the chefs see him they make a large serving up special. We sat down at a table and began to eat, a few minutes later a golden eagle came over to our table. It was Major Gutmann, my C.O.

“Corporal Starwing, the briefing is at thirteen hundred in room 2B-5.” I stood, snapped a salute, and tried to say “yes sir” but the food in my mouth got in the way. He brushed off the crumbs that I had puffed onto his uniform and gave me the evil eye.

“Swallow, then say it.” I gulped and said, “Yes, sir.” He returned the salute and walked away. I sat down and looked at Miles. “You know, sometimes he’s a little harsh, but generally he’s a pretty nice guy, and he takes military discipline seriously. I’m glad I’m under him and not captain Holt.” Tiger made a gagging noise and Miles mumbled his approval through a mouthful of biscuit. We finished our meal rapidly and Miles thanked the chefs.

We took some time to practice at the target range after we had eaten. Talon used his pistol and began drilling his target’s head full of holes. Tiger went to the “heavy weapons” section and blasted away with all he had, blowing up several simulated tanks in the first couple of minutes. Miles used both his pistols, and I tell you they sound like cannons when they go off. He thoroughly enjoys the boom and hefty kick delivered by them. Since Vixy and I use the same primary weapons (double Mythphec thunderstaff) and those weapons are a bit different from most, we have to set up the holo targets to sense different kinds of hits. Her staff is a little thinner and lighter than mine and so is able to be wielded a little bit quicker. Its only disadvantage is that it does less damage, but the faster speed makes up for it.

For several hours there were clickings from Talon’s silenced pistol, large booms from Miles’, and explosions and laughter from Tiger’s position. Our staffs have a kind of crackle and then a peal of thunder. Richard and Mike both have fully automatic select fire weapons and they thoroughly ventilated many targets. We all racked up our scores and as usual Talon won. “If our military was made up of guys all trained like you, the Subcon wouldn’t have a chance,” I said.

He grinned. “Yeah, but just remember, snipers can be defeated by hiding from them, the military needs people like you to go in and actually take ground.”

I nodded and said, “Lets go get a quick lunch before heading to the briefing.”

I always make it a point to be at briefings and other important things fifteen minutes early. So we sat in our seats and talked about the great shots we had made until the room started to fill. General Brandock came in and roared his greeting. He is a lion type, and the only guy who has a voice gruffer than his is Miles in a bad mood. Then he pointed to a map and began. “If we are going to manage a complete take back of our planet, we must secure a strong initial position. That is why we have chosen Bald Top as our first point of insertion. There will be sixty thousand troops in the first landing, and another sixty thousand should follow after the first dropships are cleared. Tanks will accompany the second landing, and it should be about this time that the Subcon attack. Because of the rather difficult task of taking down at least two, maybe four regiments of Subcon (a regiment is 30,000 troops), all our elite squads will be part of the first landing. We will put troops down all over the planet, but this will be our primary strike force because it is so close to the capital city.” So this was it I thought. All we got to do is wipe out about 100,000 Subcon and hold Bald Top.

Miles looked at me and said, “Fox, this is going to be more dangerous than anything we have done before.”

I leaned over and whispered, “That’s why I got the suits of armor, and besides, we have you. You’ve got to be as good as a couple thousand Subcon.”

“I’m not invincible, Fox, and the odds are against us. We will have time to set up defenses though, and that should give us the advantage.” General Brandock said that the ship would be emerging from the warp at about 0300 tomorrow, which will have us making planet fall at about 1200.

Vixy used the time after the briefing to buy her crossbow. She has been looking at different manufacturers by way of the galactic link in her SLC-50 (star link computer), and she bought the best model available. These tek-bows fire their arrows or bolts at speeds many times the speed of sound, they generally make a laser like noise and the arrow lights up as it tears through the air. Vixy wanted a silent one to use for covert ops, so she ordered the best. The teleport technology we have is incredible. She just set her SLC to receive mode, then checked the package and cleared it through. The crossbow holds bolts in the stock, and feeds them up when you cock the string. It has a scope with night-vision, thermal imaging, brainwave imaging, and several other modes. She also ordered a case of poisoned bolts that are so deadly they can kill a Subcon in seconds. There is a small sabot that protects the user from the envenomed tip until it is fired.

I spent the afternoon resting and discussing plans with Miles and my squad. Several other squad leaders came and asked Miles some questions because they know that he is one of the most battle experienced beings on the ship. At dinner there was an eerie silence in the mess hall. People knew that some would not eat at the mess hall again. Miles gave me some advice.

“Use terrain to your advantage, and always try to hold the upper ground. When you’re melee fighting, keep your head about you and use your reflexes to their utmost. Focus on the things at hand. Concentrate on parrying every single attack thrown at you, and when your opponent is off balance, press in for the kill and don’t stop until they fall. When you’re at long range, keep your head down and trigger pulled. You’ve survived thus far, and if you do what you’ve been doing, you ought to walk out of this one as well. Think, don’t feel.”

As I lay on my bunk, I remembered Miles’ words and wrote them down here for future reference. Before racking out, I looked each of my squad mates in the eye and said “It is going to be an honor to fight with you tomorrow.” There was silence as they each shook my hand and headed off to bed. I pulled Vixy aside and repeated Miles’ instructions to her. She nodded, straightened her shoulders and walked out of our room. As the door slid shut with a click, I looked at Miles and said, “I sure hope we don’t lose anyone tomorrow.”

He nodded grimly and said “Tomorrow has enough worries of its own; let it worry about itself. Get some sleep, Corporal.”

[RayanStiger]

Chapter 3: First Blood

24/4/485/25
There was a tremendous crash and my eyes flew open. The ship gave a lurch like something had hit it and all of us besides Miles were thrown out of our bunks and into a corner. Miles was standing and toppled over like a tree. I wondered how long he had been up and if he really needed sleep at all. Richard’s voice came weakly from the bottom of the pile. “If I’m not already flat enough, would you have Miles jump on us and make me flatter?” I apologized and got off the pile. Tiger was groaning loudly about a “broken back” and I glared at him with my “If your back was broken you wouldn’t be able to move” look. He carefully got up and stopped complaining. Vixy burst in, clad in full armor, the ends of her staff glowing slightly with St. Elmo’s fire.

“I think that we’re being boarded!” Then she looked around and saw Richard still lying on the ground groaning, “Oh, I guess you already knew.”

There was another lurch and only Vixy and I stayed on our feet (we have superb reflexes and balance). A groaning and cracking noise rippled through the ship, and my mouth dropped open in horror. A small crack began to travel horizontally across half our wall. Then it gaped open and I felt the vacuum of space begin to tug at my body. I sucked in my breath and grabbed for something to hold onto when there was a kind of a buzz and electric whooshing sound and a blue, transparent force field covered the crack. We all let out our breaths and Miles said, “Now I remember, I should have told you guys, but I forgot. The captain told me that this ship is equipped with breach seal, we didn’t have to worry.” Everybody else stood up shakily and we told Miles to remember next time.

We heard the voice of General Brandock come through the intercom “Attention all troops, we have been boarded. For those on level one, move to hangar 1A-3. If you are on level two go to hangar 2B-1…”

“That’s us!” I said. We hastily donned our armor, and I snugged my rocket pack down until it was tight on the shoulder plates. Wow! I didn’t think that it would fit over the armor. My X-14 rocket pack uses a neural link in a special helmet to control it when I am not wearing armor, but because this armor has a neural link, it interfaces quite nicely. This helmet does have a HUD, but it’s not designed for flying. Miles put his helmet on and I heard the clicks of his armor sealing. The squad moved out into the main corridor and looked at one off the many holo-displays.

“See, they’re already fighting in the hangar.” Miles said. He looked closer, “The Subcon have two personal tanks in there and about a hundred troops. This isn’t gonna be easy.” We decided to go to the hangar, and once inside, split up. With help from the hundred twenty-five troops already in there we could cover the Subcon from three sides. We sprinted down the hallway and slid to a stop outside the hangar.

The doors to the hangar were already open and we could hear the banking of heavy Subcon guns, and the quick, controlled bursts of Verash assault rifles. I looked and saw that the Subcon were facing perpendicular to us and were pinning down the seventy-five or so troops that were still fighting. Our troops were behind some crates and fighters that were close to the left hand wall. Several Subcon had gotten around and were chopping our troops up in hand to hand. I watched one swing the chainblade that was on his gun in a scything sweep and a Verash was cut nearly in half.

Vixy, Talon, and Tiger went to the left while Miles, Richard, and I went to the right. Mike went to help some wounded soldiers who were lying in a corner. As we turned to the left and followed the right-hand wall, Richard dove behind some crates and began to take those familiar tubes out of his backpack. I could almost see Miles grin inside his helmet. We began to sneak through the fighters; some of them were blown up, others just flipped. We were about in the middle up against the wall when the Subcon commander spotted us. He barked a quick command, and I translated it for Miles.

“There’s two more, both rear elements take them down.”

Miles rested his pistols on the fuselage of the ship we were behind and growled, “Then let’s give ‘em a hot one.”

Yes! They only think Miles and I came in I thought to myself. The rest of the guys might be able to do a surprise attack. I felt the sweet slap of the muzzle blast as Miles took two careful shots. One Subcon took a graze to the shoulder, but the other one was not as lucky. The explosive shell hit his chest squarely and there was a reddish-brown puff; he crumpled to the ground.

“Nice shot!” I said as I put the stock of my energy carbine against my shoulder and clicked the charge button (it’s the single most powerful ranged weapon I have). My steel gray eyes sighted down the smooth, reflective surface of the top of the carbine. After three seconds a small green light came on and I squeezed the trigger, a large greenish-white bolt of energy leapt from the barrel and took off a Subcon’s arm, armor and all. He looked at the stump of his shoulder where green sparks were still shooting out, and then picked up his gun from off the ground with his good hand and continued to advance. I didn’t bother charging this time. I pulled the trigger and held it down; it recoiled against my shoulder about twelve times a second. Fully automatic fire with this weapon is truly awesome; in three seconds about thirty-five bolts had burnt off the Subcon’s front armor, and turned his face into blackened carbon. He collapsed heavily with almost no head to speak of.

Most of the Subcon shots were missing, but one glanced off of Miles’ shoulder plate, and another rippled my fur as the energy field around my head deflected it. They weren’t doing much to us at range so they charged, hoping to push the fighter back against the wall and crush us. I took this lull as an opportunity to ignite my rocket pack and shoot twenty feet into the air. Miles was ready and instead of waiting for them to push him, he actually pushed them back and then flipped the fighter onto them, trapping half of them underneath it. I was about to cheer, but my rocket pack, for the first and last time, failed. I fell twenty feet to the floor, but broke my fall with my arms and rolled. I used the tremendous momentum I had gained to complete my roll and do an aerial over a startled Subcon’s head. Before he had time to turn around, the handle of my throwing knife was sticking out of the back of his neck. Miles shouted “Smooth move, Fox!” I didn’t have time to retrieve my knife before three Subcon had decided to get up close and personal.

[RayanStiger]

As I drew my staff, I heard a puff and whoosh, and then an enormous bang. Miles described the scenes following because I was embroiled in melee combat. One of the Subcon’s personal tanks had been hit in the thinner rear armor by one of Richard’s rockets and was blown to pieces. A second puff and whoosh, and the second tank burst into flames. The commander yelled for some of his troops to take down the rocket launcher, and Miles began to fear for Richard’s life. Talon had gotten in a good position though, and began picking off those who ventured too close to Richard. As those were taken down, he began to shoot at anything that crossed his sights. So the commander bellowed to his men to take out the sniper. They turned and raced towards Talon, but then there was a hissing as Tiger popped out from hiding and opened up with his immolator. There was a tremendous roar, followed by a blast and a fireball that climbed fifty feet into the air. Ashes and melted guns fell to the floor. He shouted taunts at the Subcon and kept firing.

As all this was going on, I had my hands full. The first Subcon readied his heat rod and attempted to stab me through the chest. Miles’ words were ringing in my ears: “Focus on parrying every single attack thrown at you, and when they are off balance, press the attack until they fall.” I blocked the blow and at the same time smacked one in the shins; he grunted and limped a little but continued to fight. There was a crunch and a sharp pain as one of them stepped on my tail to hold me still. I gave a yelp, turned around as far as I could, and stabbed downwards with my staff; he leapt off with a grunt and stamped his foot on the ground a couple of times. I was moving constantly, blocking, deflecting, rolling, flipping, and when I could, directing my counter-attacks against the biggest Subcon of the group.

Miles drew his sword and gave a great war cry. In one blow, he swept the Subcon that were trapped beneath the fighter headless and turned towards me. He battled his way across the hangar, taking huge swings at the Subcon foolish enough to stand in his way. One was cut completely in half down the middle, several had their heads lopped off, and even more had appendages removed before they were run through. As Miles got closer I gave a shout and spun my staff, hitting the guy in front of me with a hurricane of blows and pushing him back. I pushed him off balance with the ferocity of my attack and when I had beaten his guard down, I brought my staff down on his unprotected head. There was a flash, and then he convulsed and fell dead.

“No time to celebrate now,” I thought, and whirled around to face the other two. One of them attempted to grab me and was immediately sorry for his efforts. I back flipped, and as his arms closed around nothing, I rammed my staff into his stomach armor. His breath exploded from his lungs at the strike, and I could see arcing and sparks as electricity flowed into him. Generally Subcon aren’t knocked out by my staff’s stunning charge. Enfec fall like flies, but Subcon are a lot tougher. This one must have been weak, though, because his eyes rolled back and he fell in a heap at my feet.

“I’ll finish him later,” I thought as I looked at my last antagonist. There was a yell and a hurtling, gray object hit him. He stumbled back, and Vixy attacked with blinding speed. She had also used her rocket pack, which is the exact same model as mine, and had landed with her feet on the Subcon’s head before flipping and landing lightly in front of him. She gave a battle cry and the final finishing blow, and then turned to me.

“Is that one dead?” she asked, pointing at the stunned Subcon at my feet. I used the graviton activator that I had implanted into my hand and pulled my knife back to me. (The knife and my staff have gravitons in their grips, so I can pull them to me from several hundred feet away.) I stuck it in him and said, “He is now.”

The Subcon realized that they were going to die, and so they banded together into one group with the commander in the middle. They were being attacked from three sides and so the remainder fell quickly. The commander saw that I was in charge of at least some of the defenders and so he picked me for his own personal target. He had a huge spiked mace as his melee weapon, and I saw that if he hit me even once, he would finish me. I decided to put my evasive skills to good use for this encounter. He came at me swinging, and I deflected some with my staff and evaded others by moving. I knew that if I hit him enough, even light hits, eventually the electricity would do its work, and he would die. So as I was blocking and dodging, I began to meld attacks to the blocks, so that when I blocked with one end of my staff, the other end would strike him. This went on for a while, and I must have hurt him because he gave a great roar, and pushed me backwards. I went with it and ended up a couple yards from him. He bellowed and bore down on me, his mace raised above his head, ready to crush me with one blow. This is exactly what I wanted him to do; I took my energy carbine, which I had charged when I put it away, and fired. He was in no condition to dodge it, and so he took it to the chest. He gave a yell of pain and went completely berserk. All I could do was to keep backing up and blocking as he furiously attacked me. At the end of about thirty seconds, he collapsed to the floor, and lay there, still swinging violently and cursing. I went up to him and swung my staff down onto his head. There was a crunch and crackle of electricity; he shuddered, and then lay still. I looked over and watched Miles cleave a great two-handed stroke that took off the heads of the last three remaining Subcon.

The hangar was a mess; many fighters had been blown to pieces as the tanks tried to blast people behind them. There was Subcon blood all over, and the walls were covered in dents that bullets had made. I shook my head as I looked at the devastation and at the dead and wounded Verash. I said my next words slowly and vehemently, “Ahh, Shartoth!”

Miles walked over to me, wiping his great sword of the reddish-brown blood and said, “The cleanup crew is gonna have a tough time with this.” Because in battle I always charge my energy carbine before I holster it, I allowed the charge to evaporate, and collapsed my staff. My knife was covered in blood so I wiped it clean and sheathed it. Vixy came over, collapsed her staff and took her helmet off.

“I’m glad that at least I got to surprise them. Man, that was one sweet move when you fell out of the sky and flipped over that one’s head.” I carefully unlatched my helmet and took it off.

“My rocket pack failed, that was why I fell. When I hit the ground I saw a Subcon facing me and decided to get behind him so I could knife him. Besides, I had to bleed off some more energy before I could come to a stop… I think that I’ll have to get my rocket repaired. Fortunately I asked the guy who built it for me to make it use readily accessible parts.”

Tiger swaggered out from behind a stack of crates. “Man, I must have gotten at least four with one shot!” He was fine, and so was only everyone else in the squad.

Talon began looking at the dead Subcon and counting the ones with a mysterious third eye. “That brings my total to eighty-seven. I got sixteen today!” he said gleefully.

Miles looked at us and said gravely, “Do not glory in war and bloodshed. Remember that we are only doing this because we have to. Just look at how many we lost.” Talon fell silent and stared at the ground. Mike approached us, wiping some medical instruments.

“They got ninety-two of ours. Our defensive positions prevented them from completely overrunning us.” Tiger’s face dropped and he swore. The intercom crackled to life in the hangar and an emotionless voice said that all of the Subcon on the ship had been wiped out.

Total Subcon casualties: 1,300. Total Verash casualties: 987.

Miles took his helmet off and looked down. “You can bet that the elite squads like us helped keep that number as low as it is. Usually Subcon inflict more casualties than they receive.”

I nodded. “We should probably try to get some more sleep before we make planet fall. You guys can go; I need to have my rocket pack repaired.”

[RayanStiger]

Vixy came with me, and we headed for the nearest armory. There was only one repair technician on duty. He took a look at my rocket and said that a short in the energy flow control module had triggered a safety shutdown to prevent a possible explosion. He said that with the new parts they were installing it wouldn’t happen again. My wrist computer still showed that it was early morning, and the lights were dim in the repair bay. There was the soft hum of the engines and reactors …the ship’s pulse. As I stood around waiting, I saw some chairs and slumped into one with a groan. That number was constantly going through my mind: 987, 987, 987. I put my head in my hands and thought, “That’s a pretty big number, and yet tomorrow we could lose fifty times as many or more. Why am I doing this?” There was a sliding noise as Vixy sat down in a chair opposite me and I realized that I had said my last thought out loud. She looked at me sensitively, yet also with a certain determination about her.

“Fox, our freedom and our people must be fought for. If we just let the Subcon take our planets, they would wipe us all out. There are some things that are worth fighting and dying for.”

I looked up into her deep turquoise eyes and said, “Tomorrow any one of us, or all of us, could die. This is the first time that I have actually thought that I might die, and I’m a little scared. I keep thinking of those guys in the hangar. They ate with us last night, but now they’re gone. I knew one of those guys from boot camp…He was my bunkmate…It could have just as easily been me. And this is bigger than anything I’ve gone through before… I’m not sure what to do. This is not just us against a few isolated Enfec, or Subcon…this is war.”

She brushed her tail up against mine. “Remember the time back in the old squad, the time we had to take that hill.” I nodded, and she continued. “You looked at me then and said basically the same thing as you did just now. But then you took command, just as I knew you would, and we took that hill without a single casualty to our squad.” The scene flashed before my eyes and I smiled slowly. She leaned over and squeezed my hand. “You’ve always led us well before, and I have no doubt you’ll do it again.” A comforting warmth flowed through my body at her touch. I looked down and swallowed slowly.

“…You’re one of the only things that keeps me going at times… Knowing that you’ll be there, fighting by my side.” I looked earnestly into her eyes. “You don’t know how much you mean to me.”

She smiled in that special way and I felt my knees go weak. “Yes, I do know, because you’re always there for me.” In that moment I realized that if I had to, I would die for her, and I struggled for words, but none would come. She said softly, “Don’t worry, I know what you’re trying to say.”

“How?”

“I can see it in your eyes…” I dropped my gaze once more and sat quietly.

There was silence for a while, and the technician came out and quietly put my X-14 on a table. I started and looked around quickly. “Oh, good, it’s done.” I rose slowly and went over to the table. As my hands lightly brushed one of the pack’s engine nacelles, I turned to Vixy. “There are times that even great warriors have to run with their tail between their legs. That’s another reason I got this thing made.” I added almost as an afterthought, “If it happened to mine, you might want to get yours looked at too.” She took it off and handed it to the technician who opened it up and did some quick checks. He adjusted a few things and said that it was a possibility that it might fail. I told him to replace the part and bill the squad for it. After a few minutes, the replacement was done and we walked back to our cabins slowly. Before we went into our rooms I put my finger under her muzzle and lifted her eyes to meet mine.

“Please be careful… if I were to lose you…”

She glanced at the crystal ring on her index finger. “Don’t worry Fox… I gave you my word that I would marry you, and I intend to keep it.”

[RayanStiger]

After she had slipped inside her cabin I stood outside mine leaning against the door, and thought, “This is the first time I wish there was no such thing as war. Before it was a contest, a game. But here on a large scale…” I left the thought unfinished and opened the door. Miles was congratulating Mike on his bravery. I came to find out that Mike had protected a group of wounded by gunning down four Subcon as they had tried to get close and finish them off. I filled out an award application right there and sent it to my C.O. After a time there was a beep on the holo communicator in our room. I leaned over and pushed the “receive” button, and General Brandock himself appeared.

“I want to congratulate you and your squad on your skill and bravery. I just got this application saying something about a medic who wasted a bunch of Subcon as they tried to attack a group of wounded he was attending to.” Mike seemed to have lost his speech and stood there stammering.

“Yeah, that was my medic all right,” I laughed. General Brandock asked Mike to come to his quarters immediately. Mike went out with a kind of dazed look, and as soon as the door was closed, we all burst out laughing.

“Boy, you would think that he never talked to a general before!” Tiger said.

“Yeah,” laughed Richard, “when he stepped out, it looked like HE had taken too much anesthetic.” We were still chuckling a few moments later when there was another beep on the communicator. It was Vixy. She asked if we could keep our celebrating to ourselves, she was trying to sleep and couldn’t with us making such a racket. I apologized and heard Tiger mumble something about soundproofing and paper-thin walls. A couple minutes later, Mike walked back in with something in his hand. He opened it and we saw that he had been awarded the silver star. In every battle there is one silver star and two gold stars given out for acts of bravery. The silver one is higher (the gold ones are brass, not gold), and it had inscribed on it, “Mike Fix, for exceptional bravery.” We all clapped him on the back and did some congratulating and then activated our energy bunks. As we lay down I could see the space battle raging outside our window. The repair robots had sealed up the breach in our wall, so we didn’t have to worry about that any more. Surprisingly, it didn’t take me long to drop back off.

25/4/485/25

I awoke to a banging on the wall and muffled laughter. I should have known she was gonna do that. I groaned and rolled off my bunk groggily. Miles was already awake and was standing at the window; now I know why some people don’t think that he’s human. I walked over beside him and stared out at the large Subcon blockade. Miles continued to look and said, “We’ve been doing quite well in the space battle, let’s hope we do as well on the ground.” There was a crick in my tail so I snapped it back and forth a couple of times until it popped. I have got to remember to try and keep it off the ground in battle. I woke the rest of my squad up and reminded them that the mess hall was closed.

“You’re going to have to eat some of your rations, we should get a restock when we make planet fall.” Tiger sat on the floor and popped open a class B ration capsule, then there was a knock, and I let Vixy in. She was grinning from ear to ear.

“Ha! I got you back!”

“Look, why don’t we just drop this whole thing; then we’ll both be able to sleep in,” I grumbled.

We all sat down against the walls and began to eat the meal of our choice. I picked up the light blue crystal that was lying on the desk and said to Miles, “We still don’t know what this thing does.”

“Patience Fox, the Mythphec guys who looked at it said that it probably does something.” I dropped it into a pocket and continued to eat.

After the ‘meal’ I told everyone that we should probably get into our armor. Vixy said that she had something for me and so I waited as she got it. She walked back in and said that she had purchased it a while ago and was waiting for a good time to present it. She held up a pair of plain black boots, and I gasped.

“Wooaah, a Mythphec body suit!”

“After what you said yesterday about being afraid of dying, I decided to give it to you today. Put it on, put it on!” I stepped into our wardroom, changed out of my normal stuff and put the boots on. I put my fingertips on several hidden pads on the boots and then stood up. There was a hissing and my body was covered in a black suit. These things have got to be one of the best forms of personal protection available. What it does is after you activate it, billions of tiny dense-weave, thermoplas fibers shoot up your body and stop at your neck. These fibers take impact (say from a bullet) and spread it over a large area, stopping the bullet from penetrating. Heat and energy from a laser gun is dissipated into the billions of fibers and has no noticeable effect. If the suit is punctured or cut, you take it off and it repairs itself in about six hours. I stepped out; the mat black ‘skin’ rippled as I flexed my muscles (I’m pretty strong, but not massively bulky.) , and several people whistled.

Then Vixy said, “If you wear this under your Mk-8 armor, it will provide some serious protection. I know that mine works superbly.”

I looked over at her and said softly, “Thanks, this layer of protection could make the difference in the battles ahead.”

She grinned and replied, “Hey, it’s the least I could do for a guy who has gotten me some pretty nifty stuff.” She patted the rocket pack that was on her back and I nodded. Everyone put on their armor, and we decided to just sit and wait. I remembered to take the crystal out of my BDU pocket and put it inside a pouch that was on the armor.

That crystal is very mysterious. I got it the same place I got my energy carbine. So far the only things that we have found out are that it is absolutely indestructible, and it violently moves away from energy sources that are directly applied to it (shooting it with a laser for example). I’m still amazed at the story of how we got the stuff.

[RayanStiger]

(Blah. I just talked with Tim and he says my version is way outdated. So I won't add any more until I get the real thing. But I don't really see any reason to delete this thread since I'll be putting it up again later. Whenever that is.)