"The Zero Null" Endorsed by iEnterprises™

The Zero Null

-Prologue-

The universe was once one. All were united under the rule of Supreme Chancellor Tavio at the end of the First Galactic War.

He eventually had two twin sons. The first born twin was Tios. The second was Taos. They grew up as rivals, but their father took more interest in Taos. Tios feared for the possibility that he might be denied the throne and secretly had his father poisoned.

The second son, Taos, knew that it was his brother's fear and jealousy that caused the sudden death of the galaxy's leader.

By the time Taos had gained enough support to launch an attack on his brother, Tios had already moved the capital of the empire to the planet of Elourd in the Evelyn Quadrant. Support for Tios was strongest in the Evelyn Quadrant and the Yorick Quadrant.

In the absence of his brother, Taos was able to raise anti-Tios sentiments and soon made the former capital that the deceased leader once used as his own on the planet of Rior which was part of the A1 Quadrant. There was also strong feeling of support for Taos in the AV8 Quadrant.

When Tios caught wind of Taos's uprising, he declared war upon Taos and anyone who supported him. That day, two new powers emerged from the United Galactic Quadrants, both lead by the same blood. Those who sided with Tios were known as Tellio and Taos's followers were dubbed the Tavocs.

Both sides proved to be equal matches and over course of decades, neither side was showing signs of winning, and nor was pride faltering among the soldiers.

This war was known as the Second Galactic War and soon, other elements would soon join the fray...

 

-Chapter 1-

It had been nearly six years since Zlade had enlisted in the Tavoc Space Pilot Program, and today was his graduation day. He had followed in the footsteps of his skilled older brother and hoped to create his own name for himself.

Zlade stood next to his friends he had made over the course of the past years. There were three people Zlade had met and they were very close to him.

There was Jay, probably one of the most skilled pilots in Zlade's batch. No one really knew her background, but that didn't matter to many of the students since Jay had shown skill in piloting worthy enough to be labeled a natural. When angered though, Jay was known to be cold and mean, one side of Jay Zlade was deathly scared of. But more often that not, Jay was very friendly and had helped Zlade more than once with his piloting. She was wrapping her finger around her deep oak hair, a common habit of hers, while she was conversing with Lynn.

Lynn, who was slightly shorter than Jay, burst into laughter as Jay finished a joke. After the laughter passed, Lynn shook her head as she tried to come up with one to match Jay's. Lynn loved pranks and was probably the most humorous in Zlade's opinion. He had received enough of the rough ends of Lynn's pranks to know. She always wore a sly smile which was highly accented by her silky black hair with some gray and red highlights all kept together in a simple ponytail. Unlike Jay who was skilled at piloting, Lynn's skill at piloting was poor, but her accuracy was top-notch. She rarely missed, and if by chance she missed, the second shot was sure to hit.

Standing next to Zlade was his closest friend, Jared. Although almost as funny as Lynn, Jared didn't joke when it came down to business. Zlade figured that it was Jared's alter ego because his attitude took on a whole new appearance. Gone was the blond haired jokester, only to be temporarily replaced by a serious and hardcore pilot. Jared's luck was second to none. During all the training, out of all four, he always got the luckiest shots and chanced upon the top routes through asteroid belts. But Jared's top skill was his analytical ability and engineering abilities. His father was a renowned spacecraft repairer and Jared had started engineering and learned at an early age. Jared usually knew if anything was wrong with almost all spacecrafts and could fix it in no time, something Zlade was thankful for.

Zlade himself was from a middle class family and only enlisted to help his family and follow his brother's lead. With his jet black hair, Zlade was often thought of as Lynn's brother, which both didn't understand. In his opinion, Zlade had a more relaxed countenance as compared to Lynn's sneaky and cheery face.

Zlade figured his only useful ability was to give commands and start and ensure the flawless execution of aerial maneuvers. His skills weren't as good as Jay's, but they beat out Lynn's by a long shot.

Zlade sighed in relief. They were waiting outside a briefing room where they would be told whether they passed the piloting exam.

Students were allowed to apply to be on the same battalions and squads, so all four had agreed on trying to enter together.

Zlade glanced at Jared. He could see Jared's eyes darting all over the place. The tension was very high.

Just then, there was a small hiss as a door slid open. A monotone robotic voiced echoed, "Enter please."

Lynn was the first to enter, followed by Jay, then Zlade, and last was Jared. The new room they had just entered was rather bland. It was gray all over with the exception of some certificates on the back wall.

A stern and commanding voice said, "Please take a seat."

The group turned to see a burly, brown haired man with holograms of themselves displayed over his desk. There were four dully-colored chairs that matched the mood of the room in front of the man's desk. They each took a seat.

Zlade noticed the title on the desk. It read: Dispatcher Derek L. Turner.

The Dispatcher looked over the holgrams and quickly glanced at their files from the Pilot Program.

He reached for something in one of his drawers and drew a fat cigar. The Dispatcher took a metal tab from his desk and pressed it against the end of the cigar and thus ignited it.

After taking a long drag from it, he looked at the group. Zlade smelled the rich aroma of the cigar start to waft around the room. Eventually he put the cigar down and cleared his throat. "Well I would like to congratulate all of you for passing the exam."

Zlade could literally feel the tension that Jared had created loosen and Lynn breathed a sigh of relief. Jay was beaming with confidence and pride while Zlade smiled to himself.

"Now," continued the Dispatcher, "you all shall make up Squad 4X under Orbit Commander Garth. You all will be stationed near the outskirts of Quadrant AV8 near the planet of Retorpe and start with preliminary scouting. Your battalion is in Bunker T. Commander Garth will give you more information when you all arrive."

That whole time, Zlade was more interested in the cigar than anything else. He had been watching it the whole time as its butt was glowing with molten orange tips emitting the lavish scent into the air.

Jared had to nudge Zlade to snap him out of his momentary infatuation with the cigar.

"Hey, Zlade," whispered Jared, "we've been dismissed bro..."

Zlade shook his head and cleared his thoughts.

"Sorry," he murmured as he rose from his seat.

Just as Zlade was about to exit the room, the Dispatcher's voiced resounded.

"Wait a minute, sonny."

Zlade stopped dead in his tracks. Outside he could see his friends giving him quizzical looks. He turned around to see the Dispatcher digging through his drawer. He lifted a small brown case and tossed it to Zlade.

"Hey kid, remember when you're out there, you are still a young man who has a life to live after this war. Now go get 'em!"

Zlade, a little stunned by the words, was able to stumble on a quick "thanks" and left.

When he exited, Lynn asked, "Hey, what's in the package Zigs?"

She knew that Zlade didn't take a liking to the name and when he scowled at her, she snickered.

Jared chuckled and Jay put her hands to her hips.

"Ugh! And we are the protectors of our people and all we do is laugh. We are really done for."

"Aww don't be so down Jay," responded Jared. "Sooooo Zlade, what's in the package?"

Zlade proceeded to open the brown leather case and found a set of cigars similar to those used by the Dispatcher. Also included was a metal chip lighter.

Jay raised her eyebrows.

"Are you going to start smoking now?"

Zlade pondered the idea.

"Mmm probably before some missions, I'll smoke one."

"Count me in," threw in Lynn.

Jay cleared her throat.

"Let's get going instead. We need to report to Bunker T for deployment to Retorpe."

"Joy kill," murmured Jared as we started toward the elevator systems.

 

-Chapter 2-

When they arrived at Bunker T, people were all over the place loading cargo into a giant ship in the middle. Also, smaller ships were being placed in via the sides of the spacecraft.

Jared broke the silence.

"Whoa... Guys, I think that's a D or C class cruiser. Looks like a Klepto."

Since they had spent six years with Jared, everyone pretty much understood.

For starters, cruisers were classified by letters, the largest being A class and the smallest being E class. A and B class ships were usually flagships while the rest carried several squads and were often used in space warfare.

Klepto model ships were D class cruisers that were the main ships used in the First Galactic War. Their golden peak was during the last battles. Eventually, some were rearmored to compete with modern cruisers used at the present time.

While they spent a few minutes gawking at the entire assembly working like ants in an anthill, a voice from behind the group said, "So, I take it that you are the new squad? Squad... Squad 4X, right?"

They turned to see a young man in a commander uniform.

"Hello, haha, my name's Garth and it seems you are the newest addition to our small battalion."

Garth proceeded to pull out a data tablet and started looking at the information on them.

"Mmm, not bad, not bad."

Apparently he didn't see Lynn's flight ranking, Zlade thought to himself.

As if reading Zlade's mind, Garth made a face and quickly glanced up at Lynn.

She guessed what he had seen and started to sway side to side a little. It was something she did when she became uneasy.

A few minutes later, Garth cleared his throat and pocketed the tablet.

"Uhh well I guess I might as well assign you all to a station on the Gelo... It is near the the end of ship. When you enter you'll be able to find it. It's number 468. There you'll find a large hangar. You'll be sharing that area with three other squads. Standard-class Diatoms will be available for each one of you. Also, tools have been prepared should you need to make any adjustments."

"What about our living quarters?" inquired Jay.

Garth pulled out the tablet again and scrolled around again.

"Uhh... Leading from the hangar will be four lounges for each squad. Yours is Lounge C. Now get going, we leave within 10 hours. It will take us only 7 hours to get to our destination."

The group thanked Garth. Lynn lead the way to the ship. Zlade couldn't help but notice may of the males working stop and stare as Jay and Lynn passed by.

He muttered to Jared, "Why couldn't there be more girls around?"

"Haha yeah, I hear you bro, it's kinda boring."

Eventually they entered the cruiser. Half an hour later, after following Lynn's lead and getting lost, Jared found the right way and brought them to the hangar.

It wasn't very large, but big enough to house 16 Diatom ships. There was a flurry of work and the sounds of orders and electronic tools filled the air. But Zlade only had eyes for one thing... That is, his first ship, a Diatom.

 

-Chapter 3-

Diatoms made up most of the Tavoc Space Force and was an iconic ship. The models had been formerly manufactured by a private company, but it was bought by the government to produce more ships at a lesser price. Diatoms were first implemented during the start of the Second Galactic War. Tellio forces didn't use Diatoms, but instead used SLTs which were slightly different than the Diatoms. Both ships were considered equals.

Diatoms were triangular-shaped with an elongated tip. The cockpit was made to hold one passenger, but some have managed to fit two.

Each Diatom was equipped with twin lasers on either side with a photon rocket cannon at the bottom. They were propelled by four ion neon rockets and a powerful hydrogen gas flame jet in the middle. The four ion neon rockets can also be used without the hydrogen gas jet for simple cruising or landing.

The cockpit wasn't very large. It was somewhat low making it less of a potential target. Controls aboard were simple, primarily using a joystick with missile launching capabilities as well as an on-board computer system called Automated Targeting and Steering System (ATSS) which helped in combat.

Shield generators were located on the bottom of the ships. Since generators tend to be weighty, smaller and less powerful shields were implemented. They could take several lasers and theoretically one or two photon rockets, but after the shield's energy cells are depleted, they took time to create more cells, although it was fairly easy to refuel the energy cells via a cell station aboard larger cruisers.

When Zlade got closer to them, he saw the gray, polished hulls. They each were differently colored. The ships were red, blue, yellow, and green.

"Finally, my own baby!" exclaimed Jay as she ran to claim the blue ship.

Jared was already lugging a toolbox as he yelled out, "Yellow's mine!"

Lynn looked at Zlade and made a face. "Look's like you're going to be stuck with green! Looser! Haha."

He rolled his eyes at her and casually walked to the green ship and slid his fingers across the shining body. "Hmm I think I'll call you Chaos."

He laughed to himself. It was the name he and his older brother had bestowed upon a miniature starship toy they had gotten when they were younger.

As he studied the hull of the Diatom, Zlade couldn't help but ponder and worry about his older brother. The family hadn't heard from the eldest son since he enlisted in the Tavoc Space Service.

Memories flooded Zlade's head making him feel dizzy. He yelled over to his teammates about being tired and decided to take a quick nap in their assigned lounge.

 

-Chapter 4-

•Above the planet Meader in the outer rim of the AV8 Quadrant•

Hal was a distinguished and young captain among the AV8 Tavoc Space Fleet. At such a young age, he had demonstrated refined skills in many difficult aerial missions. It didn't come as a surprise to many when Hal's superiors promoted him the the rank of Private.

When Hal was promoted, he was also given the task of leading a squad made up of other young and talented pilots. The squad was named Blazer.

Blazer's first mission was to investigate reports of possible Tellio ships scouting the outer reaches of the Tavoc territories and eliminate them.

Within his Diatom, Hal sighed. The squad was made of seven including himself, but he yearned to be done with this war and return to his family and enjoy a peaceful life. He had enlisted only to protect his family and his tour was to last 7 years. This would mark his sixth year in service and the memories made Hal just want to return back to a normal life. He had no idea how his family was since he left and wished to get in contact with them.

Putting aside his pains, he spoke into the comm system. "Dalek, how's the system radar doing?"

A coarse voice responded, "Nothing yet, Cap'n."

"Okay, thanks. Keep us posted."

Hal let out another sigh again. This might just be another bogey mission again, he thought to himself.

******

Hal and his squad neared one of Meader's larger moons. They had been patrolling for the last four hours just as protocol dictated and found no trace of any Tellio presence.

He was just about to order everyone to return to the base on Meader when suddenly his ATSS radar started blinking and making small beeping noises. It depicted a small red arrow on his display. Dalek's voice crackled over the comm. "Guys! We've got something!"

Excitement rattled throughout the group. From his cockpit window, Hal could see a small Tellio-affiliated scout ship. It was slightly smaller than the SLTs and Diatoms, but they were truly built for quick evasion and stealth with weak primary weapons.

Immediately the scout ship started to speed away from them. Its small trio-jets lit up and Hal issued the command. "Pursue the ship and shot down when possible."

He had been told not to take any precautions if it was a scout ship and to shoot on sight.

He pressed a few buttons and toggled the hydrogen rocket to allow him to compete with the smaller ship's speed. The chase was on.

Maybe this won't be boring, Hal said to himself.

 

-Chapter 5-

•Aboard the D-Class Klepto Cruiser Haras•

Zlade was rudely awakened by someone pulling his cheeks. He opened his eyes groggily. Blurred, Zlade identified his assailant as none other than Lynn. Not that he was surprised. It was something right up her alley.

He heard Jay call from nearby. "Lynn, leave Sleeping Beauty alone. I think that's enough."

Jared chuckled and Lynn withdrew her assault. As Zlade sat up and rubbed his eyes, Jay announced that they had already left the Bunker and that the cruiser was already taking them to Retorpe.

Zlade nodded and noticed that Jared had some dirt on his uniform. "You been rolling in the mud?"

Lynn answered instead. "Welllll, Jay forced him to do some basic runs and tests on the ships while making some adjustments."

Jared, who had sunk in his seat, added, "Yeah. Imagine that I, one of the greatest to enlist in this fleet could be forced by a woman like Jay to do dirty work!"

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Keep dreaming. You're going to be thanking me for saving your life," responded Jay in an aggravated tone.

While Jared and Jay bickered, Zlade suddenly felt a buzzing emanating from inside his pocket. It was his digital comm which was a small and thin rectangular piece of tech. Reading it, Zlade learned that their flight armor and helmets were available in the Supply Unit Area outside the hangars.

Zlade told everyone that he'd go ahead and pick them up and advised the rest of them to catch some shut eye. Jared and Jay complied, but Lynn, energetic as ever, said she'd accompany him to pick up the suits.

******

As the pair departed, Zlade noticed that there were only a few pilots still modifying their Diatom ships. On their way to the Supply Area, Lynn said, "Hey Zlade... There's something I need to tell you... Could you like lean over? I don't want anyone to overhear."

Zlade turned to her and contemplated what she would want to tell him.

Ideas flashed across his mind as he titled his head in Lynn's direction. He was rewarded with a loud clapping noise and then a stinging pain. Some pain tears escaped his eyes while he withdrew his warm and hurt cheek.

Zlade turned back to Lynn to find her smiling behind the camera of her digital comm. "Say cheese!"

Zlade swipped at the digital comm, but Lynn quickly moved it away from his reach. After several more failed attempts, Zlade tripped and fell on Lynn, sending both to the ground.

Realizing that he was on top of Lynn, he blushed and swiftly rolled off and got up. He offered her his hand.

Lynn gave him a bewildered expression before both started laughing. "So you're trying attack me, eh Zigs?"

Pretending to cough to actually shield his blushing face he murmered an apology.

"Don't worry about it, haha," responded Lynn, teasingly "I promise not to tell." She added a little wink.

"Uh yeah..." He muttered.

While they continued to walk, Lynn suddenly stopped. "Zlade... I hope you understand I was only joking."

Zlade smiled. "Of course, that's what you always do haha."

She nodded. "I know... But I just want everyone to still... Be you know, not be like lifeless but be happy. It's because..."

Zlade wondered whether to push on or not. He chose to. "Because?"

She looked a little down, a side that Zlade had never seen. "Please don't tell anyone, but before I signed up for all of this, my ex had been enlisted. After his tour was done... He had... Changed."

At this point, Lynn had teared up and Zlade moved closer to comfort her. The fact that she had an ex somewhat bothered him, but he didn't know why. Throwing that aside, he turned to Lynn and tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"Thanks Zlade... But when he returned, he was... He was violent. He wanted to kill and kill and kill... I had to leave him... Eventually he got mixed up with the wrong people... And... And I can't imagine any of us become as twisted as that... So please Zlade, don't change."

"Lynn... I never knew that you were hurting so much... But don't worry, none of us are going to go crazy. After all of this, we're gonna be all fine, so don't worry. Just keep being yourself."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pack of cigars the Dispatcher had given him. Taking one carefully out, he instructed, "Don't smoke it, just smell it. It'll remind you of back home."

She gave Zlade a question glance, took a whiff, then tossed it back to him. "If you're trying to get me high, it's not working."

"No, of course not!" he responded while replacing the cigar in the case.

Chuckling Lynn continued walking. "Haha I know. Thanks, now let's get those uniforms."

******

They found the Supply Unit Room with four one meter-long capsules marked "Squad 4X."

"Well let's lug them back," Lynn replied with a smile.

Not to Zlade's surprise, he ended up carrying three of them while Lynn lugged one.

******

Zlade sighed in exhaustion when he arrived at the lounge. Lynn left him in the dust when he dropped one of the packages, not bothering to assist him, she laughed bashfully and started jogging instead.

He found Lynn already dressed-up in the pilot uniform. It was a black jumpsuit with the Tavoc insignia above the heart. The jumpsuit was made of a flexible material, but places around the chest, arms, and legs also had small pieces of obsidian armor. Around Lynn's right arm was the helmet which was mostly a head protector and visor. When it was put on, another part of the helmet would cover the mouth. It had a built in comm link to communicate with the other pilots.

Lynn caught Zlade looking at her in the jumpsuit. "Ohh you like what you see?"

Zlade made a sheepish face at her and told Jay and Jared that he had their flight uniforms.

Not to Zlade's surprise, he discovered that Jay had taken a capsule as soon as he had arrived she had secretly taken one with her to the restroom to change.

Zlade walked over to one of the couches and saw Jared sleeping peacefully. Zlade nudged him, but received no response.

"Move Zigs!" exclaimed Lynn in a harsh whisper. He turned to see her holding with one of the capsules.

Zlade watched in horror and amusement as Lynn dropped the package on Jared.

A gasp could be heard. Then some cursing. All topped of with two loud thumps. And even more swearing.

Zlade and Lynn couldn't help themselves as they burst into laughter. Jared got up, his eyes tired and pissed off.

"LYNN and ZLADE!!!!!!!"

Lynn suddenly started to blame it all on Zlade. He insisted that she had done it.

While they were bickering, a loins voice holler. "Will you all SHUT UP? We're supposed to be prepping for our incoming mission, and all you guys are doing is blabbing! Seriously, c'mon."

Zlade turned to her. Then burst out into fits of laughter when he saw her.

Lynn and Jared looked and joined in on the laughter.

Puzzled, Jay asked what they found so funny.

Through his laughter, Zlade motioned to her shoes. Gray boots.

He eventually explained to her. "Well, they don't really seem to fit. They stand out too much and make your feet look huge."

Looking to get on her good side again, Zlade added, "But it doesn't take away from how cute you look in it."

Jay looked to her side and crossed her arms. As far as Zlade could tell, she liked the compliment and was probably blushing. He smiled and winked at her.

Trying to avoid further embarrassing herself, she instructed the boys to hurry and get changed.

Zlade grabbed the capsule that Lynn had dropped on Jared. When he was safely inside, he opened the capsule and started to change clothes. He could hear Jared's outcries from the lounge as he complained about bladder issues and what not.

******

Within a few hours, the entire 4X squad was next to their ships awaiting the order to board and prepare to launch.

All around the hangar, Zlade could see the rest of the squads scrambling around making last minute adjustments. Thankfully Jay had thought that through (using Jared) and they were all ready to depart.

A few minutes later, Zlade's digital comm buzzed. He took it out and read it. It was from Commander Garth and he gave them the okay to board their Diatoms and wait for the bay doors to open.

There were automated ladder systems that helped the pilots on the ship. As they were climbing and entering, he pressed a button that activated the squad's comm link and spoke into it. "You guys hyped for this?"

"Hell ya! I've been waiting forever," replied Jared.

Jay cut in. "Please don't forget to watch your language in the comm system."

"Joy kill," added Lynn.

"It's for all of our own good." She answered back, her voice slightly irritated.

Sensing another incoming arguement, Zlade tried to defuse it. "Hey guys, might wanna set up the ATSS on your ship."

As he entered, Zlade immediately absorbed what he saw. The seat was cushiony and would help detract from discomforts during long-term use.

The HUD bore the logo of the Tavoc Space Fleet. And there was a small box in the corner that was constantly running system diagnostics. There were some buttons around the display. They had small tags that read what they were for. Zlade noticed the Ejection Button for emergencies. Also, some buttons allowed for manual arming and launching of missiles, but that was in-case the ATSS failed.

Finally, he put his hands on the joystick. It probably digitally read his fingerprints from within the glove because instantly the screen changed to the Academy photo of him and read "Welcome Pilot Zlade."

He also heard a feminine robotic voice from within the helmet say, "Hello. I am your Automated Targeting and Steering System, or ATSS for short. But please address me as Lilah. Have you chosen a name for your ship, sir?"

"Yeah, it's Chaos."

"A very violent name, I see. Are you sure with your selection?"

"Yes. I have memories with this name."

"Oh dear, I would hope they didn't include you getting abused. And the name has been registered."

He chuckled. "No, just something I named. Hey, can you start running some system check-ups on the weapons and jets?"

"I shall start right away."

This was very convenient, he thought to himself.

Zlade's attention eventually drifted to the joystick again. It was very comfortable and it could accommodate one or both hands if necessary. From what he could see, there were some buttons. From flight training, one was for a quick thruster boosts. Two others were to manually arm and fire the lasers or launch the projectiles.

Suddenly, the bay doors started to separate and Zlade got a clear view of space and the planet Retorpe. Garth's voice came on. "Squad 4X, you are go to launch. Return to Cruiser Haras when your mission is completed. Good luck. Commander out."

Zlade immediately spoke into the comm system for the squad. "Take formation three."

"Oke doke artichoke," crackled Lynn's voice heartily.

Formation three was a standard protocol that could be used in combat and changing formations was easily. It consisted of the commander (Zlade) in the middle with the marksman (Lynn) on his left. To Lynn's left was the flier (Jay) to protect her and easily launch attacks. Next to Zlade's right was the heavy hitter (Jared) who would usually bring up the largest forms of attack, dealing with the missiles primarily.

Raring to go, Zlade said, "Lilah, please start the cruising jets and let's go!"

"Yes sir. Starting the four ion neon rockets, leaving the hydrogen rocket inactive."

Zlade heard a hum as the Diatom's systems sprang to life. It levitated upwards a little bit and then started at a casual speed and exited the ship. The view outside was spectacular. The stars glittered in the distance and on Retorpe, the white cloud swirls contrasted the planet's red hue.

"Lilah, start running basic system checks and please plot a course for our scouting mission. Also start the radar system."

"Yes sir," was the system's response.

Zlade looked on the display to and discovered a blue arrow with three green triangles surrounding it. A large green rectangle was on the edge and slowly disappearing. From what he knew, the green triangles were his allies and the rectangle was the cruiser they had just departed.

A voice came on the comm system. "Whew, that's one nice view." It was Jared's.

"Yeah, I know," came Jay's response.

"I should've brought a camera," added Lynn.

Zlade threw in, "It's such a relaxing view. I think when this is all over, we should come back here and just enjoy the scenery."

Enjoy the scenery, he thought to himself. Yeah, that wouldn't be too bad. He considered the thought. It seemed like something nice, but priorities came first and they needed to get through this war.

 

-Chapter 6-

•Above the planet Meader in the outer rim of the AV8 Quadrant•

Hal continued the chase. From what he could tell, there was possibly a mothership nearby- a small cruiser probably. And worst of all, an ambush.

"Blazers, prepare for the possibility of an ambush!" he exclaimed over the comm.

He received a chorus of "yes sir" in various voice degrees.

Hal decided his next course of action. "Hanna!"

His ATSS responded, "Yes sir?"

"Keep that ship in your sights. And open a communication line for me so I can inform the authorities on Meader."

The system didn't answer for a few seconds.

"Sir, there seems to be some sort of jamming signal nearby that is prevent me from making any contact with the authorities on Meader. It also seems to be able to interfere with the entire shield system. They are currently disabled."

A sinking feeling came across Hal. "Everyone, we're pulling out. There's a hidden jamming device, and chances are it's the mothership. It's an ambush!"

Outrage erupted within the comm system. There were arguments and blaming breaking out.

"I take full responsibility, but now we must withdraw! I repeat, withdraw!" exclaimed Hal.

As soon as they began to make the inverted turn, Hal heard some laser cannons. Preforming a barrel roll, he checked his radar. Only five of the Blazers were left, himself included. Two had perished. But that wasn't the worst news. Behind them was a flurry of Tellio ships and a medium-sized mothership.

"Any remaining Blazers, seek protection on Meader!"

He heard another explosion. Another Blazer was gone.

Suddenly Hanna said, "Sir, incoming transmission."

A flurry of hope escaped Hal and he nearly screamed, "Patch them through!"

A rich, feminine voice came through. "Hello Private Haddock."

Hal flinched as he heard his real name. "Yes? And who may you be?"

"My name is Irina Orínsado, commander of the Tellio Battlecruiser Gravitus. I would like to discuss your terms of surrender."

Hal's heart lurched when he heard this. His lucky day. Hal was starting to near Meader. Of his squad, only three remained now. Their numbers were slowly dwindling. He yelled over the comm system. "Almost there! Faster!"

Returning his attention to dodging the flurry of lasers from the SLTs pursuing them, he preformed a few barrel roles to dodge and evade.

"Let me save you the trouble Commander Orínsado, but we will not surrender!"

A laugh came from the woman. "Well, if you must, I will make you then. Are you familiar with the Tellio spacecraft model IGY-116?"

IGY flashed in his head. Those were the latest models being produced with the newest technology within the Tellio Space Fleet. "Yes, somewhat."

Another ally disappeared off the radar and Hal heard a rattling explosion. It was now him and one other pilot.

"Well, IGY-116 is the newest Battlecruiser that has been added to the Tellio Space Fleet. And it has been named Gravitus because of one of the greatest additions to Tellio spaceships."

Hal cursed. He knew what she meant now. Gravitus was probably equipped with the newest gravity wells that would slow down escaping ships. Then a tractor beam would easily pull them in. They were this close to Meader! Hal jammed his booster buttons and commanded Hanna to put them at maximum power.

Irina continued. "And that is... Gravity wells."

He saw that he was so close to Meader. And then there was an explosion from behind him and his entire ship rattled. Alarms buzzed and Hanna's voice came on. "Sir, we have taken a direct torpedo to two of our ion neon rockets."

Cursing even louder, he watched in horror as his last ally was blown to bits.

"So, do you feel the gravity wells in effect, Private?"

Suddenly Hal noticed that he was barely moving even with his remaining rockets at full boost. He had been caught.

"Hanna, try to patch me through to the Meaderians!"

"Sir, I have been trying, but the jamming is too strong. I have been able to send small bits, but even those take time for them to receive and they may not make it out."

He swore again and sat back, resigned. Sighing, he realized they had completely failed.

Hal heard a buzzing sound and his whole ship shook again, and it started being pulled toward the Gravitus.

"Hanna, what's happening?!"

"Tractor beam, sir."

The commander's voice came on again. "It seems you have failed, Private. And you are now you are our prisoner. But do not worry, we shall treat you... With great care." And she ended with a laugh before closing the comm channel.

Hal shuddered as he and his Diatom were pulled through the bay doors of the Gravitus BattleCruiser.

 

-Chapter 7-

•Above the planet Retorpe in the outskirts of the AV8 Quadrant•

Flying around aimlessly bored Zlade to death. And Lynn's corny jokes didn't really help lighten the mood. Zlade figured that Jay was probably feeling the same way, knowing her attitude. Jared on the other hand... Well based on the past, Zlade knew he was probably making his ATSS busy doing check ups and what not. Lynn was just telling jokes to whomever bothered to listen. A normal routine.

He looked at the timer on his HUD display. 2 hours, 34 minutes, 3 seconds, and 1.1 milliseconds. Sighing, he leaned back and instructed Lilah to set the ship on autopilot.

******

About half an hour later, Jared's voice came on the comm in an urgent tone. "Guys, my radar picked up some debris. I had my ATSS examine it and it identified it as part of a destroyed Diatom hull. I grabbed some samples. Also, observations showed that it had been somewhat recent. Maybe a few days ago."

"Can we get a location of where it might've come from?" inquired Jay.

"Doubtful, the system can't do that," replied Zlade. "Lynn can you send a-"

"Already done, the report's been sent to Commander," she responded. "See, you're a slow butt. Haha!"

"What?" asked Jared's voice, full of confusion.

"Don't bother trying to understand," was Jay's bleak reply. "We've gotta to do some more scouting around here. See if there's anymore."

Jay was right. As Zlade discovered, there was much more debris, but it was impossible to trace the origins. Lynn had gotten ahold of some data from Retorpe and it said they hadn't had any space battles recently.

"Just tell Commander more details pertaining to what we found when this is all over," suggested Jared.

They all agreed and continued with the mission.

******

After four hours, Zlade finally said the mission was complete and there was no trace of any Tellio ships. Just the mysterious debris.

He had Lilah patch him through to Commander Garth.

A voice crackled. "Commander Garth here. Yes Squad 4X?"

"Sir, we found no Tellio ships, but we found some debris from a destroyed Diatom hull. We sent a report earlier and currently have samples. Retorpe reports to not having seen any space battles nearby and it's assumed that the pieces were just floating through space."

"Hmm... Interesting. Well good job to you all. But that space debris troubles me. More importantly, you have a new mission. Your squad has been assigned to Retorpe where you'll find Corporal Eagle. He has a small fleet that is going through all the planets on the outer rim of the AV8 Quadrant and watching out for outlaws and Tellio forces. You will join his group. Also when you are there, have some scientists examine the debris and tell them to inform me as to what they find."

"Yes sir. It was an honor working with you Commander, short as it was."

"I think we'll be working with each other soon. Take care and good luck. Commander out."

Zlade wondered if that was what Garth always said whenever a squad was embarking. But he was more excited about being reassigned to watch the outer rim.

"So everyone, you hear what the Commander said?"

Jay was first to respond. "Sounds exciting. The outer rim's known for its outlaws. Might be able to catch one with a big bounty."

"Hel-" Jared started, but caught himself. "Err heck yes haha! Making money on the job!"

"You sound like an outlaw yourself, Jared," commented Lynn.

Zlade couldn't help but chuckle. "Cmon you greedy pilots, we've gotta get to Retorpe first! Last one there has to pay the fuel bill!"

 

-Chapter 8-

•Aboard the BattleCruiser Gravitus•

As Hal's ship was pulled through the bay doors, mechanical arms immediately grabbed the ship. He found that his Diatom was now completely useless. Somehow, they had turned off his entire ship.

Looking out from his cockpit, Hal saw several Tellio pilots working on their SLTs. Some looked up and watched him and his ship's landing procession. When the mechanical arms placed his ship down, some Tellio soldiers appeared from nowhere, forced open the cockpit and held blasters in his face.

The soldiers looked a little intimidating. They bore red armor with blue trim and a helmet with two lines going downwards that served as eyeholes. Or eye lines, he thought to himself. But the helmets were still scary nonetheless.

"Private Haddock please surrender any firearms under your possession and place your hands in the air."

He sighed and tossed one of them his small pistol and put both of his hands in the air.

"Oh and please call me Private Hal."

The speaking soldier nodded.

"Private Hal, now please stand up and exit the Diatom. If you try to resist, you will be shot immediately."

Hal smiled cooly and obeyed. The soldiers formed an oval around him. Two in front, one on each side, and two bringing up the rear. They started to process towards one of the door.

"Hey, please take care of my ship in my absence. A refill would be nice as well. Thanks."

Much to Hal's disappointment, they didn't respond.

******

After passing through plain white hallways and taking two elevators, Hal and his "accompaniment" reached a room a chair with restraints.

Surprisingly gently, the soldiers placed him in the chair and the plasma cuffs ensured that he stayed there.

As they were working, he inquired, "What about a restroom break?"

Some soldiers chuckled, but most ignored it. When they had successfully secured him, the troops left through the door. The last soldier said, "Private Hal, Commander Irina will be here to... Deal with you shortly."

"Thanks. And can I get a cup of water?"

Hal was given a door hissing closed as a response. Sighing he looked around. The room was a dull grayish with nothing inside it with the exception of him and his chair.

******

Hal must've drifted to sleep because when he woke up, he saw a beautiful and dazzling woman in a Tellio Commander uniform. She smiled as he woke up.

"Is this a dream?" he inquired groggily.

The woman giggled. "Of course not Private Haddock."

Suddenly Hal recognized the voice. It was the same one he had heard when just hours aboard on his ship.

"Well if you say so Commander Orínsado, but I would love to think otherwise," he answered back, flashing her a smile.

She blushed a bit. "Ah, but Private, that is another matter indeed. There are some tasks first haha."

"And they are?"

"Interrogation, naturally, is one."

"I see. Shall we start then?"

She winked at him. "Of course. So what was your mission, Private Haddock?"

He winced inside a little at the sound of his name, but continued to cooly smile at her. "Obviously, it was a plain-out failure haha."

"That much I can see, but what were the details?" she asked while walking around him.

He laughed again. "To protect my home from invading Tellio forces."

It was, in the least, the truth, he said in his head

Apparently Irina didn't find it funny because next thing he knew it, she grabbed his chin, and they were face to face. She sternly said, "Please Private, what are the exact and precise mission details?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "Why does it even matter?" Hal wasn't sure whether that was a smart answer. Either she'd continue pressing on or he'd receive a fatal blaster bolt. He didn't like the latter choice.

To his surprise, she laughed. "Mmm I can see that you're not willing to give that information up. And I wouldn't want to hurt you, not at all." She smiled pleasantly. "So I offer you this choice: join the Tellio cause. Together we can defeat the Tavocs and end it once and for all. The rightful ruler shall unite the galaxy once again!"

Hal just blinked at her.

"Do you not understand my offer?" she asked, obviously alarmed. "This is better than being imprisoned or killed! And you can help reclaim what's rightfully the King's!"

Hal blinked twice before responding. "Mmm, everyone knows your so-called 'King' murdered his own father, the Supreme Chancellor because he wanted more power. So I'm not interesting in helping a traitor and murderer like him."

"Lies! That is just propaganda that has been fed to you! It was Taos who started the rebellion! He began the uprisings! Taos caused the deaths of so many by starting a war to gain power! It is he who is the greedy one."

"How's about this: you let me go and I blow up this sad ship?"

Irina slapped Hal so hard he thought he might've lost a tooth. His cheek was warm and throbbing with alarming pain, but he forced himself to remain silent.

"Fine, if you will not willingly accept, you shall be forced to join us. I tried to offer you an easy way out, but you practically spit at my face."

Hal snorted. "Yeah you do that. And for the record, I didn't spit, you probably did when you were screaming and hollering at me though.

But she had turned around and started to walk away. "Such a shame... You shall be the first."

Before Hal could ask what she meant, Irina was already out of the room, leaving him to wonder what she was talking about.

 

-Chapter 9-

•In the Mang Hangar on Retorpe•

Surprisingly, Jay was the last one to reach the hangar. And she was pretty grumpy about it too, Zlade said in his mind.

"Listen up Jared," started Jay, "I don't know what you did with my Diatom, but I know you messed with the thrusters! Fix them!"

Jared was scared at the moment with a timeless expression. Zlade found it hard not to laugh and noticed that Lynn was giggling and recording the entire argument with her digital comm.

"I promise I didn't touch your thruster systems! Whatever the problem is, have your ATSS do a system check and fix it," replied Jared, while holding his arms up in a protective position.

While they bickered, Zlade felt a hand on his shoulder. The owner was a darkly-tanned man with blue eyes that stood out. The newcomer looked like he was in his late twenties. He donned a leather-silk suit with matching black pants.

"Don't you think that those two would make a create couple?" he asked Zlade.

Zlade stood there tight-lipped. He was sure Jay and Jared had heard the man's question because the argument had abruptly ended. It was Jay who answered the man's question.

"No! Not in a million lightyears! I can't imagine living with this buckethead."

Jared winced a bit and murmured a sarcastic, "Thanks."

"Now hey girl, don't be hating on that fine fellow. He ain't the ugliest thing in the universe," said the guy while walking over to get a better look at the group.

Zlade found it quite entertaining and looked to Lynn. Sure enough she was still filming.

Jay started, but was cut off by the man. "Hey sonny, you and that black haired girl a couple, too?"

Zlade flinched a little and Lynn turned her head and quit filming.

"Too?" inquired Jay. "Where does the first couple come from?"

"You and that blonde of course. Not surprising honey. I just told you. And then there's this boy," Zlade cringed as he motioned to him, "and the camera girl. See it's a perfect love-combination!"

Zlade noticed that Lynn had started to yell at the guy dressed in black. Jay joined in. Zlade started to slowly creep away from the battle-zone. Jared did likewise.

He mouthed "stupid, crazy man" to Zlade who nodded in agreement. When they neared each other, the two guys found the argument only strengthening and starting to attract attention from others in the hangar.

"Hey, why don't we leave them for a bit and find a scientist who can study the debris samples?" suggested Jared.

Zlade agreed. "I'll leave both girls a message on their digital comm informing them."

The pair walked over to Jared's ship and Jared grabbed the samples from within his cockpit. The samples were stored in a clear, vacuum-sealed bag and it's contents were visible. Zlade typed a quick message and hit the send button on the touchscreen.

Jared started to walk over to the information booth and inquired about a scientist who specialized in space technology. The automated program directed Zlade and Jared to floor 22 of the hangar area where there was a military scientist lab.

******

On the elevator taking them down from level 70 to 22, Zlade took a look at the occupants. There was a sanitation worker with his decontamination cart busily reading some text on his digital comm. There was also a pair of security guards chatting. When they made eye contact with Zlade, they gave him a military salute. He responded likewise.

The duration of the trip was mainly silent with the exception of the humming of the elevator system. There was also the constant hissing of the air decompresser that adjusted the air pressure as they sped downwards. Jared was reading articles about the latest war front on his digital comm. Zlade had contented himself with thinking about the hangar's populace. It seemed there were primarily workers and the common security personnel. There wasn't a moderate amount of pilots since this was a planet on the outskirts and the threat of a Tellio attack scared away most.

In total, they had made two stops by the time Zlade and Jared reached level 22. One on level 50 for the sanitation worker. Another on level 38 to allow a pilot to enter.

On level 22, the duo were amazed to find that the place had several shops, but they were stocked with outdated merchandise. Jared led the way claiming that he had downloaded the coordinates from the guide program he had used earlier.

A lot of walking and some turns lead them to an little more secluded area with fewer stores. A sign read: "Military Science Lab."

Zlade found a door and Jared told him that was it. When they entered, they were greeted by a wiry man donning a white lab coat with various pieces of technology. The inside of the complex was cluttered with tables holding various loose papers, digi-pads, and large pieces of scientific equipment.

"So, what brings you two fine men here?" inquired the scientist while running his gloved hand through his brownish hair.

"Well sir, we have some space debris from what seems to be the destroyed hull of a Diatom ship. Our acting commander asked us to bring a sample to you and wishes for you to analyze it," Zlade said while motioning to the bag in Jared's hands.

"Interesting," replied the scientist as he took the bag from Jared. Still observing it he asked who the acting commander was.

Jared flipped out his digital comm. "He is Commander Garth, currently stationed aboard the Klepto-cruiser Haras."

The scientist's bleak countenance changed into a sly smile. "Ah yes, I remember him. Last I saw of him was when he was just a novice pilot and I had started my space studies program. Please do leave me his comm codes." He then reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a slightly older looking digital comm.

Jared nodded as he uploaded the codes into the scientist's device.

"Thank you, young man. I shall also attempt to send you an update message if I get anything from it. And the name's Dr. Gael. Your's?"

"I am Jared and he is Zlade."

Zlade gave a slight nod and smile. "Well thank you Doctor, your help is much appreciated, but we must get going now to our next destination."

"Best of luck in space battle, and take care out there!"

******

It took Zlade and Jared half an hour to return to where they had landed their ships. After looking around, neither could find Jay and Lynn. Zlade pulled out and checked his message inbox. There was a new message. It informed Zlade that the girls had finished all the arguing, and they had decided to go eat at the food court on level 62.

He called over Jared and informed him.

"Haha, wanna bet they overspent and are short on credits?" joked Jared.

Considering it, Zlade accepted the bet.

******

After five minutes, the guys found the girls sitting at a table across from a smoothie shop with two male pilots sitting across from them. Zlade felt a little hotheaded and somewhat jealous. Jared seemed busy on his digital comm as usual. "Hey Zlade, I'm gonna grab a fruit smoothie. Want one?"

"Sure thing. Thanks," was his quick reply, but his attention was truly focused on the pair of pilots.

When he reached the table, the group looked up at him. Lynn smiled at him with a smoothie in her hand. Jay nodded to him while the two male pilots glared.

Lynn spoke up. "Zlade, met Tade and Jahx. Tade and Jahx, met Zlade."

Zlade flashed the guys a fake smile. One guy had dark hair with a light tan while the other had reddish-brown hair and light skin.

They didn't return Zlade's smile and quickly returned their attention to the girls. Zlade made a face at them and Jay shot him a questioning look quickly while Lynn finished a joke that brought howls of laughter from both men.

Trying to get them away from Tade and Jahx, Zlade asked, "Did you two wanna go shopping for some stuff?"

Lynn turned and looked like she was thinking about it. Jay shook her head.

"Mmm well not really, but we'll probably be done soon," answered Lynn.

Inside, Zlade was burning with jealously for some reason unknown to him. Then he smiled to himself. Fine, he said in his head, two can play at that game.

He nodded and walked off towards Jared who was carrying over a drink.

"Something up, Zlade?" asked Jared.

"Nah," he replied while taking a sip. "Let's go talk to some of the girls over there."

Zlade briskly started to walk over to a group of three girls sitting at a small booth. They were rather attractive and seemed to be looking his way.

Jared hurried to keep up with his pace. "You're ticked off because of those two guys with Jay and Lynn, aren't you?"

"No, I am definitely not!" Zlade said in a harsh whisper.

In a sing-songy tone, Jared continued. "Oh ye-es you are! Haha."

They were already close to the girls.

"Just shut it and we'll chat with these girls."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Jealous," came Jared's mocking voice. Zlade felt like punching him.

When Zlade reached the table, he asked, "Hey, do you mind if my friend and I sit here?"

A cute brunette girl giggled while her two other friends whispered.

"I'll take that as a yes," Zlade responded while taking a seat and smiling at them. Jared moved in beside him.

Across the table, a cute blond girl asked what Zlade and Jared were doing on Retorpe. Jared joked that he came just for her which sent the blonde into a red plume. Her friends giggled.

"Haha, no truthfully, my friend Zlade and I have been assigned to watch the outer rim planets on the AV8 Quadrant."

The brunette asked next. "So you guys are a squad? Are you under Corporal Eagle?"

The question caught Zlade off guard, but he responded cooly. "Yes that's right sweetie. We're supposed to join up with a certain Corporal Eagle. You girls wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?"

The girls gasped and giggled a little more. The blonde answered, "We are actually also part of Corporal Eagle's force and we function as a squad as well."

This stunned both. Zlade stole a quick sip from the smoothie.

"So is it just you three?" asked Zlade.

This time, the last of the trio spoke. She was super cute to Zlade and he felt kind of warm in the head. The girl had a lightly tanned body with beautiful curves all topped off with a soft, darkish brown hair. "Yep, I'm Lili the leader."

Lili pointed to the brunette. "She's Alya," and then pointed to the blonde, "And that's Tria."

Zlade felt a little tongue-tied and luckily Jared said, "Oh cool. By the way I'm Jared and that's Zlade. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"And even better to know we're in the same situation regarding our missions," added Zlade.

The girls giggled among themselves again.

"Ahem."

Zlade recognized the voice as Lynn's and turned to see Lynn and Jay looking at them.

"Cmon, let's go guys," Lynn said while checking out the other girls. She didn't seem as happy as usual.

Jared started, "Well, we just met these-"

Jay cut him off in an unusual more-than-irritated tone. "It's urgent information."

Avoiding another argument, Jared reluctantly got up. "I'm sorry about this ladies, but it seems we've gotta go. See you!"

Zlade followed suit. "It was enjoyable talking to you girls. Hope I get to see you later haha!" He couldn't help as his eyes lingered on Lili for a little longer. He gave her a wink.

Lili blushed a small bit while the girls chorused their "good byes." Lynn grabbed Zlade's arm and pulled him away.

When they were far enough from earshot, she stopped dragging him.

"Well, what was that about, Zlade?"

He smiled at her. "Just trying to get to know some of the girls haha."

Lynn quickly turned away. "Wel- Well whatever. Come on, there's some more pressing matters."

"Did you just stutter?!" Zlade couldn't see her face, but he had never heard Lynn stutter. It surprised him quite a bit.

Quickening her pace, she ignored the question. "Hurry up or else the elevator will leave without us!"

Zlade smiled and sighed. Time to run to catch an elevator.

 

-Chapter 10-

•Aboard the BattleCruiser Gravitus•

After a few hours of sitting and doing nothing, Hal could barely feel his legs. And he needed to take a leak. Plus he was hungry.

Now he was plain out grumpy.

Hal had already tried yelling, but it was to no avail. No one responded, but he was pretty sure someone had heard him.

Within the hour, he was rewarded when the door slid open and a set of soldiers came through the door and undid his restraints. "We are under strict orders to supervise you to the restroom. Any attempt to escape shall result in your death."

And the death of all the other troops too, he said to himself. He nodded.

Getting up was horrible. In the hours before he couldn't move a limb, but now they were all cramped. It hurt just to move an arm and walking was harsh. At least he made it look like it.

Hal had slowly been making small movements with his arms and legs so he wouldn't suffer from severe cramped muscles. More or less it was all an act.

And the soldiers fell for it. The troops in the rear supported both sides of his body. His arms were wrapped around a pair of soldiers' shoulders. Smiling, he had come second-to-none in the Academy's hand-to-hand combat. Actually, Hal had beaten his instructor as well.

When they were in a narrow corridor, he made his move. Hal used the bodies of the soldiers as posts and did a semi-backflip, sending both of his knees crashing into each of the soldiers' helmets. Next he swiftly completed the backflip and brought the two men's heads crashing together. As one of the bodies started to fall to the ground, Hal caught it and used it as a shield. Taking the blaster that was swung around the unconscious man's shoulder, he proceeded to shot the remaining guards who were caught surprised and unaware. Hal's marksmanship had been second in his class, something he wanted to perfect. These were the fruits of his practice.

Soon the smell of blasterfire filled the hallway. It wouldn't be long before they sounded the alarms, he said in his head.

Hal was jogging down the corridor and heard a few troops running. Then they stopped and yelled out something. Within a few seconds, the alarms were blaring.

It was only now a matter of time now.

After taking twisting turns to avoid troops and passing through unfamiliar halls, he stumbled into the hangar. He rejoiced to see no troops... That is until he came under a flurry of lasers all with the intent to kill.

Hal turned to see pilots also scrambling for cover while grabbing their pistols. Great, more blasters pointed at me, he thought while rolling his eyes.

He sprinted to a nearby SLT. The pilot had started to spray a few bolts at him, but Hal saw that the pilot had a shaking shooting hand. Which meant good news for Hal and fatally bad news for the pilot.

He launched himself into a somersault and blasted the pilot in the chest. "One shot kill, not bad," he complimented himself.

Hal did a quick turn and launched a series of lasers back at the group. It was laser mania in here. Gear was sizzling all around. The SLT he had been aiming for took a few blaster bolts, but it had been made to endure worse attacks.

Hal clambered in and sent as many shots as he dared to the now advancing forces around him. He pressed few buttons and started the ship. Hal toggled the manual flight setting switch and closed the cockpit while powering the jets.

He basically sped out of the hangar, blasting the bay doors on his way out with a few strong lasers. The controls were somewhat basic, maybe a little less responsive than a Diatom's. The main control panel was rearranged, but the Academy drilled them on SLTs and how they operated.

A transmission came on. "Private Haddock, it is impressive that you were able to escape my ship. It seems you truly are skilled."

It was Commander Irina. He shivered a little.

"Thanks," he quickly replied while setting the rockets to maximum power.

He started to type in the coordinates of Meader and tried to send a quick message that described the situation. Suddenly, he felt a rocking blast. The ship stopped working and just drifted. He knew what had happened. EMP blast. From where though, he had no clue.

He was rewarded to see an elegant and deadly-looking ship near his. It had sharp and blade-like wings with numerous weaponry systems. Among the was probably an EMP blaster. He couldn't see through the tinted cockpit, but he imagined Irina smiling at the thought of recapturing her prey.

Hal's hand hovered over the eject button but then recalled that there was nothing working on board. Only the stolen blaster. He started to search for a manual eject handle but remembered that only Diatoms were equipped with that. Cursing, he felt a shake on the ship as a tractor beam drew him in for a second time. The mysterious ship had already returned to the Gravitus leaving Hal to be slowly dragged in while streaming curses.

 

-Chapter 11-

•In the Mang Hangar on Retorpe•

Zlade had to sprint at full speed while pulling Lynn along to avoid being left behind. They entered the elevator panting. He could hear a few voices murmuring amongst themselves, but he ignored them.

Smiling, he looked to Lynn. "Well we made it, didn't we?"

She looked up and laughed. Jared and Jay looked throughly embarrassed. Taking advantage of the situation, Zlade said loudly for everyone to hear, "What's up with you two? It's like someone walked in on you guys making out."

Jay gave him a stare that said, "I dare you to continue." Her hands were clenched in fists.

Jared made a face at Zlade before sighing and burying his face in his hands. A few people laughed at the remark.

When they exited the elevator at level 70, Jay looked at Zlade. "What's with the funny business, hmm?"

"You sound like that one guy the girls were arguing with," added Jared.

Trying to avoid a fight, Zlade switched subjects. "Yeah, what did happen to him?"

"Oh, you'll find out. Follow me," she growled.

Zlade had a sinking feeling going on. She's so gonna kill me, his mind said. So dead.

******

Just when Zlade began to think Jay was lost, Lynn called them over to one of the private hangars. It was VIP with a personal lounge and all. Real classy.

"This is it," Lynn presented. The door was unlocked

She walked and the door hissed as it slid open. The rest followed. When Zlade entered, he instantly caught a whiff of some smoke. Inside the lounge, he noticed the dark man he had met earlier sitting at a table with two other people.

The man got up. "Ahah you must be the other half Squad 4X! It's great to meet all of you." He shook hands with Zlade and Jared.

"Hello sir, the name's Zlade."

"Nice to meet you. I am Corporal Eagle."

Zlade's eyes nearly popped out in disbelief. The Corporal moved on to Jared. How could a guy like him who had time to argue possibly be their new commander?

He turned to Lynn and Jay. "Uh nice meeting you two again..." He looked back to Zlade and Jared. "Eh how about you all join us at this table?"

When they were seated and reseated, Eagle motioned to the two other people. "This is Dallas, my second-in-command."

Dallas bowed his head a bit. He seemed around his early forties with a goatee. He had some long and sloppy dirty blond hair and held a martini in his hand.

"And Rena here is new to my group like you guys. She is currently my personal assistant," Eagle continued.

Rena had cute and short brown hair. She smiled pleasantly at each one of them before pulling out her digital comm and reading some things.

"Now," Eagle continued, "we have a small E-Class Junlo freighter that will serve as my command ship. She's named Tabitha and pretty darn fast for a Junlo model. That is because I personally upgraded her systems. Anyway, since it's an E-Class, your squad will be traveling with us in your own ships. Rena, could you fill them in on more details pertaining to our mission?"

She looked up from her digital comm and nodded. "Our small group is made up of three squads. Yours is one. Before I continue, would you like to change the name from '4X'?"

Zlade looked to his teammates. Jared suggested Star Blasters. Lynn put up Twinkle Bunnies. Jay didn't even bother to comment. But Zlade had it. "Our squad shall be called Zero."

Jared sighed. Jay sat back relieved. Lynn shot him a look of alarm. "Why not Twinkle Bunnies? Why Zero?"

It was the corporal who answered. "Before Supreme Chancellor Tavio came to power, he was once a member of a flight squad named Zero that helped end the First Galactic War. Is that the reason for the name, Zlade?"

"Yes sir, that is correct."

Rena typed a few things. "Done. As I was saying, we consist of 3 squads. Squad Zero is one. The other two are Squad Aiden and Squad Neo."

Before Zlade could stop himself, he blurted out, "Which squad is Lili in?"

Rena was slightly caught off guard by the question. "Uh let me check."

Zlade suddenly realized what he had just done. Blood rushed in his face. He could feel the intense gaze of his squad members, but didn't dare look.

"You know her?" asked Dallas in a raspy voice.

"Err, we met earlier," Zlade bleakly answered.

Before Dallas could further comment, Rena cut in. "Ah, she is in Squad Neo. Any other questions?"

No one asked anymore.

"Good. Now the three squads will accompany us throughout a small tour of a few of the outer rim planets. We are just going to do primary scouting, but you if you find any offenders of the law, you may take them out, but you need to clear that with us first."

Zlade stole a sideways glance. Jay looked hyped, Jared was probably thinking up something in his head, and Lynn was tapping her fingernails on the table.

Rena's voice burst into Zlade's train of thought. "We plan to be departing soon, so please start on any last-minute repairs. I'll message each of you digital comms when the time comes."

Well it's great meeting Squad Zero, we'll see you soon," Eagle said.

Zlade turned to Dallas whose number of martini glasses had nearly tripled. He murmured a barely audible, "Good bye."

The squad shook hands with everyone once except for Dallas who had his head down and an extended hand for a high five.

Some second-in-command, Zlade commented in his head.

******

When they reached their ships, Zlade asked, "Hey Jay, did you pay for the refills?"

Lynn shook her head. "Nah, the corporal paid it for us."

"Yup," chimed Jay. "Apparently it was a lot, so thankfully my credit account is intact."

"Where's Jared?" Zlade inquired after looking around.

Jay laughed. "Oh just checking on my thrusters."

"Wow..."

Lynn then said, "Hey, I did a quick look at the top bounties, and there's a bounty of 650 million credits on the head of a guy named S.R. Wolf. We gotta catch him!"

Jay retorted, "Yeah... No, it's highly doubtful we'll meet him. Much less catch him."

"Huh?"

"Well," Zlade started, "S.R. Wolf has eluded the government forces for over 20 or so years. His bounty is the highest by a few hundred million. He's just that skilled. Personally, I'd rather meet him and learn a few piloting techniques."

"Oh," Lynn said thoughtfully as she looked back on her handheld. "Well the second most is only 100 million credits. And that's Ao."

Jay looked at Lynn with a quizzical look. "Who is Ao...? Doesn't even come close to what S.R. Wolf has done."

"What has S.R. Wolf done, anyway?" asked Lynn.

Zlade said, "You name it, he can pull it off. A daring run from the Tellio home planet of Elourd to our own home planet Rior just to deliver several caskets of Tellio alcohol? He's done it before. And rumor has it that even our government hired him at one point. But now they want him dead."

"The life of a bounty hunter must be pretty complicated. You know, no one to trust because of that bounty on your head," commented Lynn.

Jay laughed. "I'm sure it is, but if you're S.R. Wolf, it's routine."

The two girls started to talk about girl stuff, so Zlade started to drift towards Jared until he heard some hushed voices speaking from behind a large freighter nearby. The freighter was a foreign model to him. Maybe a modified one, he thought to himself.

He decided that it would be best to record the conversation just in case. Stealthily as possible, he crept closer to hear what the people were talking about.

"She asked us to keep it here. Then it'll be used and tested from within," whispered a barely audible voice.

The next voice was much more louder and a little rough. "Yeah, I know, but when will we know? What are we supposed to do until she arrives with the fleet? I'm sure as heck not gonna be near here."

"Whatever, she'll probably message us. Cmon, let's go, I don't want anyone getting too suspicious."

Zlade heard the distinct sound of their footsteps as they walked away. He finished recording and sent a message to Corporal Eagle that included the conversation, and he also, "Suspicious activity. Who that 'she' is worries me. And the fleet part as well."

Right after Zlade hit the send button, a strong forearm pinned him by his chest against the side of the freighter. A pair of smaller hands grabbed his digital comm.

He got a good look as his assailants. The one pinning him down was a tall and bald man with darkened skin. His other arm was positioned as if ready to punch Zlade.

The other person was smaller with reddish hair and very light skin. He was fumbling with Zlade's digital comm. Zlade had to bite his tongue to avoid calling the guy a ginger.

"So," came a familiar, deep voice, "have you been eavesdropping on us?"

Zlade kept a straight face and loosened muscles a bit.

The ginger said, "Hey, kid, were you? How do you check your sent messages?"

Zlade tried his hand at a bluff. "Because she sent me to make sure everything went according to plan." He felt the dark man's forearm loosen a bit. He dropped his fist.

"And the fact that I was easily able to listen in on your conversation means that you both are incompetent."

Then Zlade made his move. He karate-chopped the dark man'a elbow and pushed the man's chest as best as he could. Instantly, Zlade lunged and punched the temple of the ginger who fell the the ground knocked out. Looking back at his remaining adversary, he narrowly dodged a crushing bear hug. Zlade quickly went for a knee shot but his kick was caught by the man's giant hands. Taking advantage of this, he stepped down on the man's hand and brought up his other foot for a finishing kick. Zlade felt his foot connect with the man head, but just in case it hadn't knocked the dark guy unconscious, he finished with a long, reaching jab that caught the guy in the nose. Both he and Zlade toppled down.

Zlade quickly got up and patted his uniform. Among his class of 300, he had managed to get third best in hand-to-hand combat. He grinned to himself.

Swiftly, he grabbed his digital comm from the ginger and saw a message from Eagle. It read, "Where?"

Zlade typed, "Next to our ships," and sent the message.

He heard a groan as the ginger started to wake up. Stay down you dang ginger, Zlade said in his head. And the ginger did so.

Within ten minutes, Corporal Eagle, his right-hand-man Dallas, the rest of Zlade's squad, and four security guards appeared.

Two guards quickly went over to the dark man and held stun blasters over him. Another went to the ginger. The last one went with Dallas as they went to check the freighter's contents.

The corporal surveyed Zlade's handiwork. "Not bad my boy, you took out both of them?"

"Yes sir. They caught me after I sent you the recording and I apprehended then."

"Nice job, now let's see what they had in their ship," he chuckled.

The rest of his squad mates came up to him.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Jay, "I didn't know you could fight for real."

Zlade rolled his eyes at her. "You're sounding more like Lynn everyday."

They laughed.

"So did you get hurt?" inquired Lynn.

He shook his head. "Not really. A quick jab took out the ginger. And then a kick and a punch took out gorilla man over there."

Jared nodded and smiled. "Well, you were like fourth among our group, right?"

He shook his head again. "Third, get it right haha. Weren't you like seventy?"

Before Jared could answer back, they heard something.

"OH DANG!"

The foursome rushed to the back of the freighter which was open. Zlade nearly fainted when he saw the contents. There were bins of poisoning gas, hundreds of vials containing illegal chemicals, but worst of all was the giant bomb. It looked like a newer Tellio-model, and thankfully it wasn't armed.

The corporal took a quick look again before calling over Dallas and Zlade's squad. "Okay, a lot more security's going to get here soon and start asking questions, so we're going to take off now. Dallas, head back and prep the ship and tell Rena to contact the others."

Dallas nodded and departed.

"Good job Zlade firstly. Next, you all heard me, we are going to leave within five minutes, so relieve yourself and get in your ships. Gotta go."

He waved before jogging off.

******

After relieving himself rather quickly, Zlade rushed to board his ship, Chaos. When he got in, he awaited the message on his digital comm.

"Morning, rise and shine Lilah!" exclaimed Zlade.

"Hello sir. Would you like me to start running basic protocol checks?" asked the robotic feminine voice.

He quickly replied, "Yes," before putting on his helmet. Leaning back, Zlade wondered why Eagle had been in such a rush to leave.

It was obvious that all of the cargo was from somewhere in the Tellio side of the galaxy and it would've been better to investigate, but Zlade didn't question orders. He had been taught to trust his leader's judgement, so he did so.

Hopefully that was the right thing to do, he said in his head.

Then he got the message from Rena to rendezvous at Retorpe's largest moon. Zlade yelled over the squad's comm system. "Zero Squad get ready!"

He received affirmative responses.

"Lilah, do we have clearance from the port authorities?"

"It is affirmative, sir. You are a go."

Talking into the comm system again, Zlade said, "Okay, let's go. We're taking formation three, Squad Zero."

He grinned as he toggled the thrusters and prepared to go.

Here we go, he echoed in his head.

 

-Chapter 12-

•Aboard the BattleCruiser Gravitus•

Hal relived events similar to what had occurred only a few hours ago... Or was it days? He wasn't even sure. Spending so much time trapped had caused him to loose his sense of time.

When the powerless SLT was placed down, several guards surrounded the ship. Through the cockpit windshield, he saw Irina in a tight jumpsuit and a flight helmet in one arm. In her other, she waved. Upon her face was a dazzling smile that showed clear confidence.

In normal circumstances, Hal would've returned with his "lady-killer" smile. But he didn't. After all, these weren't exactly normal circumstances. Instead he scowled at her.

Hal had to admit though that the tight jumpsuit on Irina did look very nice and he couldn't help it as his attention swayed from her to the blasters pointed at him outside.

A blaring voice disrupted him. "Private Haddock, exit the SLT and surrender any firearms in your possession. And place you hands in the air."

"Protocols," he growled.

Slowly, Hal grabbed the stolen blaster he had and opened the windshield a little bit. Expecting to be shot, Hal immediately threw the blaster out and then quickly shut the windshield in-case of a stray laser.

When he heard none, he carefully and slowly opened the cockpit's protective glass and stepped out. Instantly he heard a sharp noise as a blaster bolt hit him in the back.

Hal felt his body go numb and crumpled into a ball on the top of the ship. He found it hard to move, but the pain wasn't much. Cursing he realized it was a stun bolt.

Quickly, a set of troops rushed up and set about placing cyber cuffs between this arms, legs, and neck. Even though it hurt, Hal did his best to resist by flailing and thrashing about. He managed to kick one unsuspecting soldier, but another came to take his place.

Within a few minutes, Hal was complete subdued. He was dragged along by two guards off the ship.

As they proceeded, another set of guards followed them. There's too many, Hal noted in his head.

The brought him to Irina who looked as beautiful as ever in her flight uniform and for once Hal was thankful that it was a nice looking female who was dealing with him and not some fat guy.

He was in a sitting-kneeling position. Looking up at the woman, he gave her his best woman-killer smile.

Maybe, just maybe, he thought, this smile will make her love me and she'll turn good and we'll all be happy.

Tch yeah right, realistic thinking, Hal's mind responded.

He was seriously loosing it... Talking to himself... Who would've known?

Back in reality, Irina regarded him with an icy look in her eyes, but Hal found it hard to focus on just her eyes.

"If I said I love you, Commander, would that save my life?" asked Hal sarcastically.

"That's much too late, Private. I admit as dashing as you seem, our love will not prevail. My duty to my people comes first and foremost."

Hal played his last card. "But together we can make more people!"

It was a stupid thing to say, but in Hal's opinion, it was pretty funny. The guards all roared in laughter. Hal saw Irina flinch and start to blush all shades of red.

"Wh- Wha- What di- did you just say Pri- Private?" she asked very much flustered and embarrassed. If her face could be compared to the darkest red, it would be camouflaged.

Seeing an opening, he took another gamble.

"You heard me, let's get married! I love you, you love me. Doesn't seem too bad, does it? My looks aren't exactly the worst, and yours are kinda like the best. You catch my drift?" Hal answered through a grin.

The laughter only grew stronger in the hangar. It was obvious that Irina had never expected any of this craziness to have occurred.

She murmured something quickly about putting him in a cell and turned to leave. As she turned, Hal saw that the tips of her ears were also red. As she was leaving, she nearly tripped. Something Hal found intriguing.

After a while, the laughter died down and some guards carried him to the same room he had just escaped from. They placed him in the chair but didn't use the chair's restraints since the cyber cuffs he already had on restricted his movement.

On the soldiers' way out, one remained behind. The straggler checked to see if any of his fellow guards were watching. Then the guard did something Hal would've never expected.

Turning with his face concealed by a helmet, the soldier made a sign that Hal knew.

A circle over the soldier's heart followed by a fist against the center of the imaginary circle.

The sign that signified there were some Tavoc supporters and spies above the ship.

Hal nodded quickly, more surprised and excited than ever. The soldier hurriedly left the room and let the door close.

Exhilarated that he wasn't alone here, Hal sighed in relief and thought a little bit.

Maybe I just might make it home. With Irina as my wife. Wait... Nahh. Or hopefully. She sure responded interestingly to me, Hal said in his mind

At that he chuckled for his first time since whenever. He couldn't remember his last time. And Hal was happy to laugh.

 

Bump.

iZaln

 

-Chapter 13-

•Orbiting Wasad, Retorpe's largest moon•

Squad Zero made it to the moon without any issues. Zlade looked in amazement at Corporal Eagle's Tabitha ship. It wasn't the prettiest ship, nor was it the ugliest Zlade had ever seen.

The Junlo model cruiser was a little worn but they was some nasty defense systems obviously displayed on the ship's body. There was some different armor plating and a new rocket engine.

Jared's voice came to life on the comm system. "That, my friends, is how to properly fit a cruiser with military-grade weaponry. Whew, that's one heck of a ship... I'm happy it's on our side."

"But it looks so outdated! Like an old guy wearing young women's clothes," Lynn whined.

"Uh... It's a deadly ship. It's not an Ed Hardy ship... So it's fine, and I don't really get your analogy," Jared murmured.

Before any more could be said, the ATSS came on. Lilah spoke, "Sir, Tabitha is requesting a cross-comm link between your squad, Squad Neo, and Squad Aiden."

Zlade gave an affirmative, and then turned his attention to what was outside his ship. Corporal Eagle's Tabitha was lazily floating and in the distance he could see the two other squads.

He turned to the radar and saw that there was a squad with three members. Most likely Neo. The second squad only had two ships. Aiden obviously, he said in his head.

Before he could use the radar to specify the models of the ships, Rena's voice crackled in his headpiece.

"Hello everyone. As discussed, we are going on a tour of the outer rim of the planets. Our first planet on our tour is Tiaz. I'll give coordinates after you introduce yourselves to each other."

A rugged tone spoke after Rena, "Hello Squads Neo and Zero. The name's Khoal and my mate's Kyle."

"Yep that's me," cut in a lighter sounding voice. "It's a pleasure to be working with all of you!"

A feminine voice came one next, and Zlade immediately recognized it. "It's our pleasure to meet you Squads Aiden and Zero. I am Neo Squad's commander Lili and my teammates are-"

A pitchy voice cut Lili's voice off. Zlade was slightly annoyed. "My name is Alya! I hope some of you are cute guys!"

A muffled voice said a few things.

"Sorry guys! That was Tria and she's like super shy. But don't worry, she's actually really whiny," Alya added in.

The group heard the muffled voice speak again. Followed by silence.

Eventually, someone spoke. "Squad Zero?"

Zlade blinked and snapped out of his small daze. He had been looking at the ships and from what he could see, Squad Neo was comprised of Diatoms but Squad Aiden had different ships.

They were Swerves which were T-shaped space-fighters with melded cockpits and wings in a horizontal line leaving the rest of its vertical body with a powerful twin set of hydrogen jets and a set of four carbon rockets.

Weaponry was a major asset to Swerves since they sacrificed durability for speed and power. Compared to the twin lasers on each Diatom's tips, Swerves had a mini-turret on each wing as well as a triple rotating laser automatic. Also, they came equipped with two photon cannon lasers, both located near the bottom of the ship.

Since the ship had so much firepower, it lacked in defenses. Swerves did not come equipped with energy shields and the plating of a Swerve could only take so much damage.

Zlade was impressed. Swerves were very expensive and the fact that Aiden had them was a sign that the squad had done well on difficult and high-paying missions.

Returning his attention to introductions, Zlade introduced his squad members and told who was in which colored ship.

When Zlade finished, Corporal Eagle's assistant, Rena spoke. "It is an honor to work with all of you. Now I will be sending the coordinates of our next destination to each of your ships. Your ATSS will prompt you when it receives it. After that, we will use Star-Speed and it should take us an hour or so to arrive. Tabitha out."

Zlade sighed and sat back. The ATSS program Lilah asked him if he would like to use the coordinates sent to him by the Tabitha.

"Yes, we will be using Star-Speed, so I'll leave it on auto-pilot. That means you're driving. Okay?"

"Yes sir," responded the program.

Zlade thought he heard a little mischievousness in Lilah's voice, but dismissed the notion. He then changed his comm signal to only his squad.

"Guys, an hour flight. Will you survive?" Zlade asked sarcastically.

Exasperated, Lynn said, "Well I really have to use the bathroom."

Jay sighed. "Please tell me you're joking."

"I'm not!"

"Liar," Jared called out.

Tuning out of all the usual arguing, he saw that his ship was prepared to go and he just needed to authorize the Star-Speed trip.

"Guys, shut up and let's go," he said on the comm system.

Zlade noticed on his radar that Tabitha had already started to speed away. So did Squads Aiden and Neo.

"Lilah, our trip's a go!" he hollered.

"Yes sir."

Zlade heard the humming of his ship grow louder and the Diatom shook a little. Suddenly the ship started moving at an increasing pace and within minutes, space and stars were just a bright and dark blur.

The HUD display showed the time left before they reached their decision. 58:04:11.

Fifty-eight minutes, four seconds, and eleven milliseconds. Great, he said to himself. I think I'll steal a quick nap.

Pretty soon, the monotonous hum of his ship, Chaos, lulled Zlade to sleep.