948
Prologue
"Hiss…" The door opened up to the planet below. The drop ship shook slightly, causing some to grab the support bars to keep themselves steady.
"Time to rock n' roll." Said the squadron commander.
"Let's go!"
The whole squadron jumped from the back of the drop ship into space and began to fall toward the planet.
"All armor systems functioning normally." Said the squadron NCO. "Personnel officer check the status of our power packs." "All power packs at 100." Came the reply.
The squadron had entered the atmosphere now and their armor glowed red with heat.
"Everyone activate your energy rifles, we're approaching the target."
The ground was coming up fast. The whole squadron activated their H.A.L.O. wings and landed softly on the ground.
"All right," Said the squadron commander. "I want a mobile base set up and an immediate recon of the surrounding area, including locations of hills or any other geographical formation. After you've finished, I want the data loaded into our I.I.H.'s (Interactive Interface Helmet). That's all for now."
While mobile base was being set up, the recon team was out scouting the surrounding area. In about 5 minutes the team returned with the data and loaded it into our helmets.
"We found evidence of another squadron, but we think they may have been here some time ago and already left." Said the recon commander.
"I still want a perimeter to be set up and I want to be notified on the situation every hour. That's all." Said the squadron commander.
A few hours later, the perimeter guards detected an enemy force moving toward them.
"Hurry! They're coming straight for us!" yelled a guard.
The squadron commander dashed to the temporary tent in the middle of the camp and grabbed a pair of automatic pistols and a clip of grenades and ran back outside just in time to see an explosion rip the perimeter wall apart. The noise from the blast was deafening, but that was the least of their problems. A whole battalion of enemy squadron troops emerged from the smoke of the burning wall and opened fire. The whole camp was in a state of chaos as the enemy troops poured in and started to surround the unit.
"All right 948, you can drop your weapons or we can pry them from your dead fingers." Said one of the enemy who appeared to be the commander. "What'll it be?" he sneered.
"It'll be this!" said the squadron commander as he dropped a full clip of grenades on to the ground. "You've got about ten seconds before that goes off and we all die," He said. "Might as well leave." The grenades were going to explode any second now and, by the looks of things, they wouldn't be deactivated. "T minus 5, 4," came an electronic voice from the clip. "Damn it!" Yelled the enemy leader "Everyone get out of here now!" "1, 0." The grenades exploded with a billow of smoke. It had been a bluff. "Everyone get away while I hold them off!" yelled the squadron commander as he ran after the enemy. "The hell we're leaving!" said a staff sergeant and ran after him.
The rest of the squadron stood and looked at each other. Would they leave their commander to the enemy? This was answered by one of the flight commanders' running back into the smoke. He was quickly followed by the rest of the squadron and they soon rejoined the squadron commander. The situation was looking good. The enemy had been disoriented by the bluff and couldn't find their way through the smoke to where they had come from.
"Alright, here's the plan. Said the squadron commander "They don't seem to have thermal imaging capability, which gives us the advantage, everyone turn on your thermal visor." The squadron clicked on their visors and immediately located the enemies' heat signatures, huddled together while searching for a way out.
The squadron slowly moved closer until they could detect each enemy soldier distinctly.
"Once you have them in clear view," whispered the commander. "Open fire."
The squadron was inching closer and closer, closing in a circle around the enemy. They were so close that details on the armor were beginning to show. "On my mark," said the flight commander.
All of a sudden, the smoke was gone and the squadron was revealed to their prey. The enemy had their guns drawn and were pointing straight at the squadron. The squadron commander looked up to see an enemy helicopter with its side propellers pointed down.
"Kill them," Said the enemy commander.
The troops opened fire on the squadron. The lucky ones were killed in one shot; the unlucky ones were torn apart by grenades and enemy fire. A few survived and were holding up against the enemies closing in around them. "RAAAAAHHHHH." Yelled the last soldier left and threw his grenades into the cluster of troops. The grenades killed several of the enemy and left others mortally wounded. The soldier made a dash for the opening in the line, but was shot in the chest by a sniper. The last thing he saw was the enemy commander standing over him and taking off his helmet, but he blacked out and saw no more. He fell into the black abyss.
Chapter 1: Awakening
Darkness, eternal darkness, floating through nothing in an infinite space of blackness. Nothing had meaning here, hunger, emotion, time, feeling, were all lost in this void.
Suddenly, the black became warm and comfortable, and a voice spoke. The voice was the only human thing in the dark and as time passed by, it became clearer and louder. The warmth started to disappear and a feeling of being smothered started to work its way into the dark.
"C'mon Lenny, you're going to be late for school."
Lenny woke up to find his mother looking at me and telling me to get up and get dressed.
"That same dream again," he thought as he pulled on some clothes and went downstairs for breakfast.
Lenny's dad was already awake and dressed in his uniform and was already eating. Lenny looked in the cupboard and pulled out a box of cereal.
After he was finished eating he brushed his teeth and went to the car. Lenny's mom came out with the dog and gave him a hug. "Good luck on your first day of high school,"
"Thanks," he said and got into the car.
As his dad drove down the driveway, his mom waved one last time and he waved back. His life would never be the same after that day.
Chapter 2: Discovery
As Lenny and his dad drove toward the highway, Lenny asked him how far away school was. "About 20 minutes going the normal way," He said
"The normal way?" Lenny thought. "That's weird,"
He was curious by what his dad meant, so he asked him what the other way was.
"I've waited for a long time to tell you this," he said "I'm still in the military."
Lenny was shocked to say the very least. "But you retired 7 years ago," He said
"It looked like I retired, but it was a cover for the new assignment I have."
Lenny was confused, and the stuff he just heard didn't clear any of it up.
His dad pulled the car onto a deserted road and stopped. "I can see that you're having trouble believing all this, so I think I'd better show you what it's about instead of telling you,"
As he finished saying this, he pulled on the stick shift until it came out of the socket. He then replaced it with a silver handle and pressed a button on it. The car made a noise like a jet engine revving up and my dad started to drive it forward.
As they began to pick up speed, the car began to transform, the roof was getting lower and the car began to elongate. Wings folded out from the sides of the car and lengthened about 10 feet. Flaps on the inside of the wings started to incline down and the car began to rise in the front. The front of the car left the ground and the wheels folded up. The car was now totally off the ground.
As the car climbed higher in the air, the inside changed too. The seatbelts had changed into straps like in a fighter jet and the chairs had become sleeker.
Lenny dad piloted the jet straight up and accelerated the plane even faster. The force pressing on me was intense.
"Uh, dad?"
"What?"
"How fast are we going?"
"About Mach 5," he said "Are the G-forces bothering you?"
"Yeah just a little bit,"
"Hold on,"
He pressed a button on the steering wheel and instantly the forces were gone.
"G-force stabilizers. I just got them installed last week. Oh, looks like we're here." He said.
Lenny looked out the window and gasped, they were in space! They were headed towards an orbiting station that looked like a giant sphere. It was totally black, and the only reason he was able to see it was because it was silhouetted against the sun.
He was looking at it when a voice came from the stereo speakers. "Good morning Major Corbett,"
"Good morning Sgt. Woolard, I've got my son with me today, so could you get Josh in the CSR for me?"
"Sure, I'll get him right now,"
A hatch on the station open up and they piloted in.
"Well, I've got to get ready for work, so I'll be seeing you later," He said
"Hey dad, wait a second," Lenny said. He was confused. "Where am I supposed to go?"
"Just ask the computer,"
"What computer?"
"Just ask a question,"
"Where is the CSR?" Lenny said
"The CSR is located through the doors to your right," said a voice
"Ok, what is the CSR?" He said as He walked to the doors
"The CSR is the room where cadets are tested for their battle ability and is also used for training the cadet staff."
"Ok, thanks,"
Lenny went through the doors, and looked around, he was in a room that looked like an arena and in the middle there was a guy who looked about three or four years older than Him.
"Hi, I'm Josh Selby, nice to finally meet the son of Major Corbett," he put his hand out. "I'm the squadron commander of the AFJROTC unit NC-948 and I'm supposed to test your battle ability and measure your power level."
"Battle ability? I don't even know what that means,"
"Didn't your dad tell you about it?" he said,
"No,"
"It's how well you're able to fight in a battle,"
"But, I've never been in a battle before,"
"Well, I have to do
this. So come with me real quick and we'll get you set up with some
gear and a weapon,"
He walked over to a panel on the wall and
pushed a button. The arena disappeared and was replaced by a room
filled with weapons and armor.
"Let's see, captain, sergeant, here we go, trainee,"
He pulled a box off of a shelf and opened it up. Inside was a full suit of black armor, with a helmet that had a slightly gold visor.
"Put that on, and then we'll find you a weapon."
Chapter 3: Combat
Lenny had just gotten on the armor on when Josh came back with a data pad. "Basically, you press your hand on the pad, and it gathers information on what kind of weapon you are most suited for, so put your hand on here," He held out the pad. Lenny took off a glove and pressed his hand flat against it. It began to beep and different symbols flashed across the screen. After a couple of minutes, the beeping stopped, and a chip popped out from the side.
"Alright, now take this chip and stick it into the terminal over there," Josh said
Lenny walked over to the terminal and started to look for a socket. "You have to tell the computer what kind of socket to use,"
"Computer, I need a socket for a weapon analyzer," He said
A port opened on the terminal and he inserted the chip. The terminal hummed to life and started to read the data on the chip.
A few seconds later a small key popped out of a different port. Lenny grabbed it and read aloud: "Level 5 weapon clearance, primary weapon: Sapphire Rain,"
"What the hell?" exclaimed Josh, running over to him and grabbing the key. "Level 5?! You have to be at least in your third year of ROTC to get that clearance, and even then only the staff gets it,"
"Does that mean it's good?" Lenny said, curiosity beginning to grow
"It means that the computer thinks your battle skills are equal to that of a junior in high school," he said
"Whoa, wait a minute," he said "I've never fought in a battle before; I can't be that good,"
"Well, according to the computer you are, so let's test it right now. Computer, deactivate weapon and armor program,"
The room dissolved around them and they were back in the arena.
"Are you ready Lenny?" Said Josh
He pushed an Air Force logo on his belt and black armor sprouted from it, covering his whole body; it finally reached his head and covered it, taking the form of the helmet.
"Computer, activate weapon generator," he said. Another terminal appeared in the middle of the arena. "This is where you use the key," Josh said as he put the key in and turned. A box opened and he reached inside. He pulled out an emerald green spear and closed the box. "Now you do it," he said
Lenny went to the terminal and put the key in and turned it. The same box opened and he looked inside. There was a box in it that was about five feet long. He took it out and opened it. Inside was a samurai sword in a sheath that was blue metal. Lenny hooked the sword to his belt and unsheathed it. The blade was a deep metallic sapphire blue and had an eerie glow.
"Alright," said Josh "now we're ready. Computer, deactivate weapon generator,"
The terminal disappeared. Now, the only things in the room were Lenny and Josh.
"I won't hold back," Said Josh as he twirled his spear and swung it behind his back.
"Ok," Lenny said, sheathing his sword
"Let's go,"
He charged toward Lenny and twirled his spear, appearing behind him in an instant. Lenny barely ducked in time to avoid the thrust from the spear. Josh aimed a kick at Lenny's chest and hit him square in the middle that sent him flying across the arena. He got up just in time to see Josh's fist collide with his head. It knocked him off his feet again. "Come on," He yelled, "You'll never be any better than this I guess,"
Lenny got up and charged toward Josh, preparing a slash. As he closed in Josh jumped high into the air and spun his spear.
"Try this!" he yelled,
He came down in front of Lenny and stabbed the ground, sending a shock wave through the floor. The shake disoriented Lenny and caused him to trip. Josh aimed a kick at his head and sent him sailing across the floor like a rag doll. Lenny got up and saw Josh charging toward him.
Then all of a sudden, Lenny started to feel strange, like he wanted to annihilate him. He back flipped onto the wall and began to run from him.
"What are you running for?" Josh said
Lenny turned and pulled out the sword. "So I can do this!" he yelled as he jumped from the wall to him. Lenny landed in front of Josh and swung the sword. He parried it and thrust the spear at Lenny's chest. But Lenny flipped and slashed at him, narrowly avoiding the thrust. Josh was able to dodge the slash and proceeded to twirl his spear while slashing at Lenny. All of a sudden, he changed step and maneuvered his way through Lenny's movements. He thrust the spear into Lenny's arm. The pain was intense and Lenny nearly blacked out, but then, as he was fading, he felt a power surge through his body. He grabbed the spear and pulled it out of his arm and pulled the spear from Josh's hands. Lenny threw it to the other side of the room and jumped back several times; distancing himself from Josh. he put his sword back in the sheath and held it at his side, his other hand ready to pull it. The arena began to shake like an earthquake.
"What the," said Josh struggling to keep his footing.
"Are you ready?" Lenny said.
The rumbling stopped. Lenny pulled out his sword and made a slash at Josh from across the arena. For a second, nothing happened, but suddenly, a cut started to go along the arena wall and appeared on his chest, cracking the armor. The cut exploded. Josh was sent flying across the arena, hit the wall, and crumpled on the floor. Lenny suddenly felt weak and dizzy and he saw Josh getting up. The blackness was returning and he felt himself falling.
He never felt the ground.
Chapter 4: Departing
Lenny came to, slumped in a chair with all the armor removed. He also noticed that he had his regular clothes back on. He looked around; he was in a room full of what appeared to be medical equipment. He got up and walked to the door. The door was locked. "Great," he thought. As Lenny was sitting back down, the door opened and Josh came in.
"So, never fought before huh?" he said. Lenny noticed that he was bandaged were the cut had been.
"Oh, sorry about that," he apologized
Josh took out a data pad and handed it to Lenny. On the screen there was a chart of some kind that said Battle Power with his name. The number said 700,000. He looked up at Josh and asked "Is this good?"
"It's more than good," he said "it's unbelievable. You have the highest recorded battle power of a first year, ever. But what's even stranger is that the computer said you were holding back, and it seems that once you finish battle, you power drops to 50,000, which is about the average power level of a freshman."
"But when am I going to use this power?"
"I'll show you, come with me." All of a sudden, the door opened and a boy came in. He looked about 17 and had an exasperated look on his face.
"Hey Dean," Said Josh "What's up?"
"We've got a situation in the Cortallis system," he said "It looks like the Goltechs are causing trouble again" He looked at Lenny and introduced himself. "Hey I'm Dean Cahoon, Raiders commander,"
"Hi, I'm Lenny," he shook his hand
"Well," said Josh "I guess you'll have to see what I mean by experiencing it,"
"What?!" Lenny exclaimed "But I can't fight,"
"Apparently you can, and besides, it's only me Dean, Lin, and Clay here, and we need some help against the Goltechs,"
"Alright, I'll do it,"
"Good, come with us," said Josh and he ran out the door and dashed down the hallway. Lenny took off after him and saw him turn a corner. Lenny went around the corner and saw openings in the wall that were pods. He jumped into one and heard a voice. "Destination?"
"Um…" He didn't know where to go!
"Hanger," Said Dean as he got into one.
"Hanger," Lenny repeated. A glass door sealed the pod and it shot downwards. It only took a second. "Hanger," said the voice. The glass door opened up and he got out. He looked around. "Whoa!" He said. The hanger could have easily held a couple of towns! He saw Josh at a console. "Hey Josh," Lenny went over to him
"What is it?" he said
"Where exactly is the Cortallis system?"
"About 10,000 light years," he said without looking up
"10,000 light years?"
"Yep,"
"And how long would that take?"
"An hour,"
"Yeah right, I wasn't born yesterday you know,"
"Well if you'd rather not use the Quantum Accelerator then be my guest,"
"Quanta-whata?"
"A Quantum Accelerator is what we use to get across the galaxy to planets that need our assistance,"
"So basically we're like the police of the galaxy?"
"Pretty much. Oh looks like the fighters are ready,"
Lenny looked up and saw several fighter-jet looking vehicles lowered by robotic arms to the hangar floor.
"These are equipped with the ability to change from vertical to horizontal flight almost instantly," Josh explained as the fighters were lowered.
"Alright, everybody get into a GR." Josh yelled as he climbed up into the cockpit of the nearest one.
Lenny climbed into the one next to Josh and waited. The cockpit visor closed over him and a panel of switches and lights flickered to life.
"Ok, Lenny, do you see the ignition button?"
"Yeah,"
"Ok, you only use that when voice commands don't work, most of the fighter is run by voice though if you want, you can do it manually, so you can just say "Engine start," and the engine will start, simple enough?"
"Yes,"
"Engine start" Lenny said, and the fighter roared to life.
"Alright, I'm plotting in coordinates for the Cortallis system into the navigation system and sending them to your ship, that way; it will follow us to the system,"
"Ok," Lenny said
"Releasing docking clamps….now!"
The clamps released the ships, letting them fall towards the hangar floor.
"You have to use the steering wheel to go forwards or backwards," Said Josh as the hangar floor came up fast.
Lenny grabbed the controls and pulled back, causing the fighter to right itself and head for open space.
"Good job," Said Josh "You did pretty good for never having flown before,"
Lenny looked around. There were stars everywhere, and he would be traveling to one of them in 10 minutes.
"Alright, everyone activate your Quantum Accelerator on my mark. 3, 2, 1, now!"
"Activate Quantum Accelerator," Lenny said
He felt a slight vibration throughout the whole ship but it soon died down. All of a sudden, He saw planets and stars flying past his ship. A sun loomed straight ahead and he covered his eyes as it came closer.
"Activate your heat shield," Crackled Josh's voice through the comm.
"Activate heat shield," Lenny said, and immediately the cockpit visor darkened, he was able to look straight at the sun and see its swirling mass.
"Hey, go to manual control and go straight through the star," Came Josh's voice
"Are you kidding me?" What kind of idiot did he think he was to fly straight into a star?
"Hey believe me, okay?"
"Ok" And even though Lenny wasn't sure, he kept a straight heading on to the star
"Entering outer atmosphere of star," buzzed the computer
As he flew into the star, his ship hit little bubbles of gas that exploded into a brilliant display of blue and purple flames. He was nearing the center of the star now. And as he came closer, he went through a barrier of burning flame and came into what looked like a sphere of gases that changed color constantly in beautiful swirls. At the very center there was a glowing orb of flame that was suspended in the gases. Once he came out of the star the shield disengaged.
"So, what did you think?" Said Josh
"It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen before in my life. There's no way to describe it," Lenny replied
"Alright everybody," Josh announced now with a serious tone "We're here,"
Chapter 5: Training
As they dropped out of quantum acceleration, Lenny could see two planets that were very close to each other. One looked very similar to Earth while the other was almost entirely covered in land.
"The bigger planet is Cortallis and the smaller one is Cortallis Minor," said Josh
As they approached the planet, Lenny saw that there was huge canyon that ran almost all the way around the planet.
"That's not natural if your're wondering," He heard Dean's voice. "That was caused by a super weapon that the Goltechs built several thousand years ago. The Goltechs have been at war with the Cortallins for centuries,"
Lenny felt the ship vibrate. They had entered the atmosphere.
"The recon from the Quaiks says that there should be limited resistance," Said a voice he hadn't heard before. "I'm Lin Waters, Color Guard NCO. "I mainly do the tactical part of our missions,"
Just then, there was an explosion right by Lenny's ship.
"Alright!" crackled Josh's voice through the comm. "This is it!"
There were shots coming from the surface, but none of them were hitting the ships. They just exploded near the formation. Lenny tried to see where the shots coming from, but then he saw shots coming from everywhere.
"Evasive maneuvers!" yelled Josh.
The fighters rolled and looped to avoid the fire, expertly dodging each shot.
"Hey Lenny," said Josh "Switch to manual, that way you can learn how to fly the fighter now instead of later,"
"Alright," Lenny said, taking a deep breath. "Computer, switch control to manual,"
Immediately the fighter went into a nose dive, careening toward the ground.
"Shit!" He grabbed the controls and pulled out of the dive.
"Lenny what the hell are you doing?" yelled Josh, "Get back with us! They'll concentrate fire on yo-"
At that moment a shot hit Lenny's fighter and sent him spinning downwards.
"Mayday! Mayday! I'm hit!"
But there was no response.
"Computer! What the hell is going on?" Lenny yelled at the ship
"Primary communication relay has been damaged and can no longer function; also, primary engines have lost power." Said the computer in a calm voice.
"Isn't there any back-up power?" he yelled again
"Activating back up power," replied the computer
"Yeah!" said Lenny pulling on the controls as hard as he could.
The fighter barely missed the ground, scraping one of its wings, but it was able to pull out and shot straight up.
"Alright, let's see," Lenny said, wiping his forehead. "Computer, I need a lock on the rest of the group,"
"Unable to comply,"
"What!? Why not?"
"comm. array was damaged by hit, unable to establish a link with squad leader,"
"Damn it," Lenny though.
He was wondering what to do next when he heard a beeping coming from the control panel. He looked for the source of the noise until he found a small screen.
"Radar," he read above it. He noticed that there were several blips on the screen and that with each circle of the screen they were getting closer.
"Computer," He said. "Can you identify the signatures closing in?"
"The auditory signal indicates Goltech technology,"
"Shit!!" said Lenny, a chill running down his spine. "Computer, what weaponry is this fighter equipped with?"
"The GR is outfitted with twin energy cannons and is stocked with proton warheads for bombing raids,"
"Ok," Lenny thought for a minute and then had an idea. "Computer, notify me when the Goltechs are in weapon range,"
"Affirmative," Replied the computer.
"Any more suggestions for combat?" Lenny said.
"Wearing the Combat Suit allows the wearer to interface with the onboard computer more efficiently,"
"That's good and all except that I don't have the combat suit on anymore," He said.
"Negative. Combat suit confirmed. Check your belt,"
Lenny pulled up his shirt and felt relief wash over him. He pressed the Air Force logo and the armor spread across him. It felt like he was being covered by water but after the suit had finished it immediately became comfortable.
"Alright, how do I interface? He said.
Immediately his helmet flickered to life with a display of the fighter's systems. The weapons energy cell was at full power and there were ten proton missiles onboard.
"Warning," Came the calm voice of the computer, "Enemy signatures are ten seconds from weapons range,"
"Ok, let's do this!" Said Lenny, activating the ship's targeting system and hitting the accelerator.
"Enemies are now in weapons range," said the computer.
"Is there any way I can see them without turning around?" Lenny asked the computer.
Immediately a small screen appeared on the helmet's display, showing a video feed from the rear part of the fighter. There were four enemy ships closing in fast. One of them opened fire and the others took cue and fired. Bolts of energy were flying past the cockpit and missed by margins of inches.
"Alright," he said to himself, "Let's try to shake them, computer, close rear view display,"
He pulled the controls hard, causing the fighter to bank sharply upward, but the Goltechs followed suit and kept on firing at him.
Lenny was looking for a way to evade them when he remembered the giant canyon he had seen during the approach to the planet.
"That's it!" He exclaimed.
He veered the fighter into a nosedive and spotted the canyon. He hit the accelerator and rolled to avoid a barrage of shots. Flying into it, he maneuvered around the rocks and precipices. The Goltechs were not discouraged though, they flew into the canyon after him and kept on shooting. Lenny knew he would get hit again, so he looked for any way to lose them. The next moment he got his chance. Spotting a tunnel, he banked sharply and flew into it. His enemies followed suit.
The tunnel was quickly getting darker the deeper he went, and it wouldn't be long before he couldn't see anything.
"Computer," he said flying around huge boulders and rock formations. "Does the helmet have night-vision ability?"
"Affirmative," replied the computer
He was able to see the cave clearly now, and it was getting tighter.
"Is there a way out?" Lenny said just narrowly avoiding a massive column.
"Affirmative," was the reply "scanning indicates an increase in cave diameter 100 meters ahead,"
"Ok, let's concentrate on getting out of here," said Lenny.
He could see a tiny speck of light and was maneuvering toward it, all the while dodging the Goltech's fire and the cave itself.
"Warning," blared the computer, "Scanners indicate a sharp turn following the cavern exit," Lenny's stomach dropped "A decrease in speed is suggested for making the turn safely,"
"What the hell am I supposed to do?!" he shouted "If I slow down, I'll get blown to bits, and if I keep on going, I'll be smashed to bits,"
As he raced closer and closer, Lenny racked his brain for someway that he could avoid the impending doom.
"Wait! Why didn't I think of it sooner? The vertical engine! Computer, switch to full manual control!"
The fighter was screaming toward the opening as Lenny prepared himself for the maneuver.
"Alright, here we go!"
The next moment was a blur. As he came out of the tunnel, Lenny wrenched the fighter into a sharp turn so that the bottom of the plane faced the approaching wall of rock. Almost at the same time he smashed the vertical engine ignition, causing the regular engine to turn towards the wall and release a burst of propulsion. The fighter hung in midair for a nanosecond before Lenny was able to hit the regular engine ignition. Firing the engine at full power, he righted the fighter and flew out of the canyon.
"Activate rear view," Lenny said taking a deep breath
As the screen appeared on his display, he saw the Goltech's ships explode in a massive fireball.
"Whew," he said, turning off the view and piloting to the ground.
"Computer, check atmosphere content,"
"The atmosphere is composed of 76 oxygen and 22 Nitrogen, no breathing apparatus is required,"
Lenny opened the cockpit and took a deep breath. After a minute or so, he checked his surroundings. He had landed in a clearing of trees near the edge of the canyon he had just escaped.
"OK, now to find some help,"
Chapter 6: Trials
After a couple hours he had finished setting up his emergency shelter and moved all of his gear and supplies into it.
"Ok, I'd better check the fighter to see what damage the Goltechs did,"
The situation wasn't looking good, in addition to the damaged communication relay, the fighter was leaking fuel and one of the wings was bent at an odd angle.
"Well," Lenny said looking around "I don't have anything better to do, so I'll just take a look around,"
As he walked through the forest, he was surprised at how much like Earth it was. The trees looked like pine trees back home but there was something subtly different.
The further he walked the more something tugged at his mind. There was something wrong about this place, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
He saw a large hill up ahead and ran to the top to get a better view. The hill rose higher than the trees and he was able to see for miles. He saw what appeared to be an ocean in the direction he had been headed and decided that he would go to it eventually. And then he saw it: a massive city in the far distance.
"Activate 100 times zoom," He said
The view in his helmet became larger and he was able to see the buildings more clearly, but there were no flying vehicles that he could make out.
He was about to head toward the city when he realized that the sun was setting and it was getting dark.
"Tomorrow then," he said
As he was running back to camp, he figured out what was wrong. The forest was totally silent. He had not heard anything except the wind blowing the trees around.
This troubled him as it meant one of two things: either there were no animals, or they come out at night. Not especially hoping for the latter, he ran harder.
When he came back to camp, he noticed that the shelter door had been left open. As he crept closer, he heard a voice.
"Who, who, who?" scratched the voice, "Who has brought me a house and such nice things?"
"Me, now put your hands up and look at me," Said Lenny, drawing an energy pistol and aiming it at the stranger.
"Ok, fine, no need to be rash," said the creature as it turned around.
It looked more like a mass of cloth and fabrics, stained from many years of use. The creatures face was obscured by a large piece of cloth going across the face, leaving only the eyes to glint at Lenny.
"Take off the mask so I can see your face."
As he unraveled the cloth from his head, Lenny was stunned to see the face of a human, or something that looked like one. He looked like a man in his late sixties, but there was something about him that exuded a sense of power.
"Surprised?" he said
"Who are you? Are you human?" Lenny said, still taken aback