Chapter 1: Orders

ALL HANDS TO YOUR ASSIGNED BATTLE STATIONS, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK. ENGAGE AND DEFEND. I REPEAT, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK. ENGAGE AND DEFEND. THIS NOT A DRILL.

Flashing red lights, sirens and alarms blared throughout the entire ship followed by the violent rumbling and rocking caused by the explosions hammering into the ship into the ship. Pilots ran to the hanger, firemen ran in multiple directions desperately trying to contain the spreading fires, medics scrambled to retrieve as many wounded as possible. And yet everyone was seemingly remaining calm throughout the entire madness. Major Asus thought to himself as he completed his pre-launch prep.

Next, he went into his warm-up stage and dry runs. His two 125MM chain guns spun as smooth as butter before descending back into their storage hulls. He then ran the dry run for his 155MM plasma cannon. It charged up effortlessly as expected and then he returned it to its storage hull as well. He looked over his ammo digital counter and nodded in satisfaction. 2,500 rounds of 155MM and 4,200 rounds of 125MM. Just as he finished all of the light on his dash bleep green and he nods once again and pulls down his mic. "Trick-Shot to Handler, all pre-flight analysis' complete. All systems are green and good to go. Ready for departing on your command."

"Roger that Trick-Shot. Releasing arms now." Handler responds. He watches as the claw like limbs unclamp and slowly rise back towards the ceiling. "Arms clear, booster warm-up is approved. Bay door will open in fi... Uuh, standby Trick-Shot."

"Roger. Standing by." He acknowledges. A few minutes pass and Handler's voice once again comes through the headset.

"Handler to Trick-Shot, deployment has been denied. Standby for the Admiral. He has a special mission for you. Departure is suspended until the mission is accepted." Handler says and the Major can only raise an eyebrow in confusion. A special mission? He didn't recall doing anything to warrant receiving a special assignment.

While he was deep in thought he failed to notice the 5-star Admiral approaching his battleship. TINK, TINK

He looks to his right as someone taps on the right side of his canopy. He flips a couple switches and soon the canopy over the cockpit hisses and pops open.

"Admiral Wine. Pleasure to see your sir." He says greeting the Admiral with a salute.

"Greetings Major. You've already been briefed by the Handler I assume?" He asks and the Major nods.

"Yessir. May, I ask what I did to warrant such a noble task?" He asks and the Admiral nods as well.

"You may." He says before gesturing to a young woman he didn't notice before. She had short cerulean hair, sapphire blue eyes, and light pink cheeks. Her light blue lips were slightly cocked to the side, and she was fidgeting nervously. "This is Crystal Liter Chalmaya the XIV. She is the current princess of Chameleon. Your assignment is to safely escort and return her to the joint nations sector of our glorious home world of Primia."

The Major could only stare at the Admiral in disbelief as he takes in the assignment. He starts to speak but the Admiral cuts him off.

"This is a direct order, Major. You will escort her to our home world or die trying. Failure will not be tolerated. You will be banished from our world if you fail to deliver her. High Command understands the flight capabilities of an RX571 Starfighter. If she is not returned in 2 years and it is deemed you chose not to return her, then your family will be exiled from the planet. Is that understood Major?"

Major Asus clicks his tongue in annoyance, and he nods showing he understands. "Good. Now than miss Chalmaya, up you go." The Admiral tells her, offering her a hand and helping her climb in the empty co-pilot seat.

"T-t-thank you." She stutters as she climbs in. The Admiral shows her how to put on the seatbelts and oxygen mask. She thanks him again and adjusts the seatbelt to fit her comfortably.

"You will depart in 10 minutes. A flight crew will be coming over shortly. This mission is priority 1. Ammo will be reduced by half. Rations and fuel will be split evenly in return." The Admiral says just as a flight crew carry cylinder containers and medium sized boxes.

"Understood sir. I will not let you down or fail the glorious Empire." He says dryly having no choice but to obey the order. Orders were absolute. Once one was given there was no going against it. It would be carried out one way or another. That being said, he didn't have to like it, and he didn't. He would do the bare minimum he needed to, to ensure that her health was maintained, and she arrived home presentable. Outside of that she was on her own.

The Admiral probably expected him to be courteous as well, so once he would be until they were completely out of open frequency range. After that he would leave her to her own devices, and he would be left to his own. As he was once again deep in thought the Admiral once again takes him by surprise.

"For the next 36 galaxies at least, whenever you stop to resupply or refuel, DO NOT under any circumstance trust anyone. Not even our allies or kind." The Admiral whispers in a tone so cold it made him involuntarily shiver. "Our princess has a lot of enemies, and now so do we. Greed changes people Derringer. She didn't ask to be the princess; she shouldn't suffer a for a choice she didn't have to make for herself."

After being addressed by his first name the Major can only click his tongue once more and sigh in defeat. "Understood sir. I will ensure she returns safely. Even if I must crawl on the ground like a worm using only my teeth. I will deliver her to our home world."

"Good. Looks like the crew refitted sooner than expected Major, the deployment window should be starting soon. Fly fast, strike hard. God speed and as always. For the Empire." The Admiral says giving the Major one final salute.

"Thank you, sir. I will not fail anyone's expectations. For you, and the Empire." He says returning the salute.

"Handler to Trick-Shot. Bay door opening in 3."

"Tick-Shot to Handler. Understood. Doing one final check diagnostics on the co-pilot. Requesting one 2.1 QT canister of anti-nausea mist. With all these fireworks it's sure to be a bumpy rise."

"Copy that. Request approved. Make it quick Trick-Shot."

"WILCO." He says and then quickly switches to the flight crew channel and makes the request. Almost as if on they were on standby, 3 men run up and begin the installation.

"Installation complete Major. Good luck out there sir." The one he assumed to be the head crewman says giving him the two-finger salute, which he promptly gives back.

"Trick-Shot to Handler. Anti-nausea installed. How long till deployment." Asus asks, as he begins flipping various switches and pressing varying buttons. The soft humming of his engine starts to fill the cabin and soon both members of the ship feel the light swaying of the ship leaving the ground.

"Handler to Trick-Shot, deployment in 60 seconds. Be safe out there. See you on the other brother. Fly fast and strike hard. For the Empire!"

Just as Handler yells his last bit the bay doors explode off.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP

The ships alarm begins to blare as the sudden pressure loss and items getting sucked out into space begin hitting the ship.

"Sorry Handler. 60 seconds is to long. Deploying now. FOR THE EMPIRE!" He yells shoving both throttles forward. The engines flare as the ship races forward. The surrounding black background beings to stretch into what seemed like black and white streaks as the ship began hitting subsonic speeds.

He looks at all of his instruments and makes sures one last time that everything is still good to go. " Alrighty. In the name of the Empire. I shall deliver the target home." He says to himself flipping up the last few remaining switches. He looks back at his passenger and they lock eyes for a split second, but she quickly looks away.

"Aye, put this in your mouth. I don't need you biting your tongue off." He says handing her a mouth guard.

"T-thank you." She says gingerly, taking it from him and putting it in her mouth. It was bigger than she thought, and it barely fit but she managed to get it in after a little wiggling.

"Oh, Might want to use the anti-nausea mist as well. In roughly 45 seconds it's going to get bumpy."

She only nods in response and puts the oxygen mask on. She changes it to anti-nausea and soon a light hissing sound is heard, and the clear mask is filled with a green mist. She slowly becomes dizzy and after a few seconds the mist stops, and it automatically changes back to oxygen.

Asus takes a deep breath. Flips the final switch and shoves the thruster all the way forward. There's a loud click and the engines scream. They quickly enter hypersonic speeds. Once they hit mid hypersonic, his right thumb presses down on the red button on the throttle. There's a loud roar and then everything turns white.

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