The final encirclement of the aeth army was taking place and the operation would officially begin three hours from now. The cadets were given an hour to get their affairs in other as they were divided into groups by the officers of the outpost.Standard issue guns and spacesuits were handed out and various checks were made to ensure everybody’s preparations were ready. An hour from now, everybody would board different carriers and follow the attack and pursuit fleet to their assigned location.In the third hour, the operation would finally commence.Meanwhile, Arran managed to sneak away from the other cadets without too many people noticing. When commander Margo had called for him, a lot of people wondered about his identity. Fortunately, not many people knew about Arran’s middle name. Only a few of his close friends and some instructors knew about it, so with them covering for him, Arran made it out of the hall unnoticed.When Arran left the hall through a side exit, he was surprise
‘Why has everybody been asking me that lately?’Arran had a strange expression on his face as he heard commander Margo’s question. That she had taken time out of her busy schedule to call Arran just now I ask him this confused Arran for a moment as he couldn’t imagine why she would do that.Seeing Arran’s expression, commander Margo frowned and quickly asked him.“What’s the matter? Is there any problem?”Commander Margo’s concern for Arran was written clearly on her face as she thought Arran had encountered a problem.This startled Arran, which prompted him to quickly reply.“No, there’s no problem at all.”“Then why do you look like that?” Commander Margo asked, not giving up.“It’s really nothing,” Arran hurried to explain.“It’s just, when you asked me how I was doing, I was surprised. A lot of people have been asking me that same question ever since I embarked on this mission.”Knowing that Arran was not in any trouble, commander Margo sighed in relief. Then, with curiosity, she
Arran walked back to his group, following commander Margo’s instructions. Along the way, he was in a daze.Thinking back to what he’s learned from commander Margo, Arran was in a special state of disbelief. It was that feeling when you thought you knew someone very well, only to find out you didn’t know that at all.That is how Arran felt right now when he heard how old his old man was.3000 years... this was not a number many people could relate to when it came to how long one could live.All his life, Arran had grown with the idea that he would live a very short life and die after only 90 years. It was only when coming to the upper realm that he found out it was possible to live for a thousand years naturally.This was even without training and increasing the level of one's life to a different stage. But even then, the idea that he could live an almost immortal life was still strange, and he had yet to accept it. That was why, when he learned his parents were more than 3000 years ol
Arran, dressed in a black space suit, stared out the window at the endless stretch of darkness that was space and for the first time, he felt small and insignificant before the vast expanse.This was not the first time that Arran was looking out at space. But at other times, he had either been moving too fast to notice how vast and expansive space truly was, or he didn’t care enough to actually sense his own incongruity with the universe.But this time, Arran was completely stationary and had been like this for many hours. That is why the feeling suddenly struck him.After leaving the outpost, Arran and the other cadets had arrived at their designated location and were currently in the loading cabin of a battle cruiser that was parked on the route they were meant to patrol and set up an ambush in case any criminals ever make it to their side.Since then, they had been here for almost four hours already but were still yet to see hide or hair of any vessels quickly sprinting through spa
“Attention, all units to your stations. I repeat all units to your station. We have activity on our side. Prepare for battle.”With the orders given, it was as if life had been breathed into the station, as everything seemed to come alive all at once. The previously patrolling soldiers shuffled around even more frantically, and military personnel from all departments became incredibly active.Arran saw all this through his perception that was spread outside the ship. The biggest change was still with the cadets in the various cabins.Suddenly it was as if they had been injected with a pack of hormones as every cadet lost the nervous look.In its place, excitement for the upcoming battle took hold of them.Most of the time, one might not be nervous when they were active, but they would definitely be nervous about inactivity. The saying that an idle mind is the devil's workshop is very true because when one has nothing to do, all sorts of random thoughts can come into one's mind, causin
A vicious battle was going on outside the ship. Many ships zipped around in space, chasing and firing at each other. Their pilots were like demented gunners on steroids, each trying their best to down their enemy with immense firepower.Silent shockwaves from exploding ships spread around space, the dark spectacle of vessels bursting in bright lights made even darker by the ever-present silence that overshadowed the loss of life.The scene of fire and death entered the eyes of the cadets as they watched battle going on furiously in space. In this scene, death was like a promise given to everybody who took part in this gruesome debacle, one that hung over their heads as a constant reminder that your life may be forfeit and any time.Now the cadets knew what the pilot meant when he said he would try his best to get everyone across. He had said that because he knew that not even he could guarantee their safety on this terrible battlefield.But as if to comfort them before they would lose
Having received command over the unit, Arran quickly gave orders to the cadets.“Alright, we are going to rush them. First, ignore the two by the access door and focus on the others, especially the three under the debris. That launcher worries me. Barry, take Nato Shelby and Flint and circle around to the debris. Cotten and Karry will cover you. Take down that launcher quickly before it causes any trouble for us.”“Clyde, you take point and attack the ones behind the broken wing. Take five more with you while the rest of us stay behind. Be careful cause they’ve got some heavy firepower. But it shouldn’t be a threat to you guys. As for the rest of you, fan out and cover your sixes. I’ll keep watch over the whole field and the access door in case anything happens.”“Move out!”Immediately after giving the order, the cadets started to move. Five veered off to the pile of debris where some enemy soldiers were fiddling with a launcher with three in the lead and two a little behind to cover
After the enemies were captured, the cadets then moved to clean up the last two hidden beside the access doors.Whether by fortune or not, no reinforcements arrived to fight the cadets, and Arran’s team was able to secure the access doors easily. The two enemies hidden there had not put up much resistance and since they didn’t need any more captives, Arran’s team killed them both.Clyde had also finished taking care of the five that had put up the most resistance. Their bodies lay on the cold metal floor with holes punctured all over their bodies. No blood flowed from the wounds, as they had been cauterized up by the heat of the laser shots.Seeing as they were done, Arran gave the order to clear the area.“Alright everybody, sweep the area and search for anything that may be of value.”Arran left his spot at the back and went forward to meet his teammates. Along the way, he checked up on the situation of the other teams in the hangar.The hangar had suddenly gotten quieter and the ot