Defending Love or Country?
By Anthony Jackson

Prologue: It is a time of battle and conquest in the universe. The Federation has been disbanded, breaking into hundreds of factions across the galaxy and destroying the peace that had so long prospered. Dark warrior king Zulin the Fearsome ravages planet sides from mighty starships, carelessly blazing entire populations in the fires of war for unknown reasons.

Above the skies of a backwater planet, a lone transport exchanges weapon fire with Zulin's command ship. As laser cannons crackle and blast away at the hopelessly overpowered vessel, ensigns are awoken to fulfill the oaths they took and defend against the inevitable boarding. A rag tag alliance from last remnants of the Federation now clings for life aboard the bridge of the doomed transport, devising a plan of escape from Zulin's near fatal ambush.

Chapter 1: The Ambush

One ensign aboard the Starlight's Destiny was asleep when Zulin's warship slowed into the Bistari system and opened fire. The massive warship effortlessly disabled its shields in a matter of moments and continued with the deadly first strike of red laser blasts as it approached for boarding.

"Kaze, take a spare power pack." Baro said tossing him one of his before pulling his combat vest out of a footlocker.

"Its not like we're going to last that long. Didn't you hear the stories? Zulin dismantled the planetary defenses of Asboron in under a hour." Kaze said sadly, his voice soft and weak.

"Yes, but he wouldn't dare destroy a ship bearing a diplomat. Capture it maybe, and that's why we're here." Baro said patting Kaze on the back.

The corporal across from them perked up at hearing this. "That's right, give 'em hell to the last man!" he shouted, encouraging a cheer from everyone in the room. Just then an officer ran into the room out of breath.

"Meet up in the hall intersection for briefing and posting, Comm system is out so that's why I'm here my self and not screaming at you from the bridge. Now MOVE IT!" he yelled and ran into the next room.

Baro snapped his helmet on and hooked its tracking system to his rifle, bringing a small green targeting reticule across a small green eyepiece over his left eye. "Ready?" Baro asked Kaze while he did the same for his violet eyepiece.

"Ready as I'll ever be, lets hit it." Kaze grunted and charged in the hall with the other men to help build their momentum. Baro joined right in the chaos, running into the hall way shouting and yelling battle cries to raise morale.

"Alright, alright, quiet down." Shouted the commander. Baro welcomed the surprised of seeing him before the battle, Commander Juan had always acted like he was one of them, it wouldn't surprise Baro if he fought side by side with his subordinate ensigns. Juan now looked at every man around him and met their eyes; Baro noticed how everyone perked up at seeing him just as he had. "In a few moments we shall face the inevitable, conflict with armed forces. You've seen the tapes in your training, now your going to see what it is like when there's a real blaster in your face. Some of you may be afraid, and there is no shame in that. But what separates men from the warriors is that we shall not be conquered by fear before that battle." Juan stopped and seemed to look at Baro for his next sentence. "Remember why you fight, we need your strength to pull through together. Without every last one of your hearts working with us, we all fall. But if we hold firm we will buy enough time to execute the escape plan, and that is main objective. If the princess does not escape Zulin's capture, there is no hope for the Federation."

At this the Commander activated his rifle, the same basic issue one all the ensigns had received at the end of basic training. "Lieutenant, Give these men their positions. Now it is time to fulfill your oaths. I'll see you out there. Good luck warriors."

After he marched off with his officers to seal the forward port where Zulin would most likely cut through first, the other officers handed out cards that must have been made last minute. Baro got his on the back of a mess hall menu that had written in black 'E-17', obviously junction E section 17. Walking with Kaze, he asked, "So, you think we have half a shot at this?"

"No." Kaze smiled, "but it will give me a chance to try out our new issue grenades. I've been itching to try their new sticky feature…"

Baro laughed and checked the settings on his rifle before crouching behind the barricades set up at E-17. "Where are you headed?" Baro asked him as he started to walk away.

"To E-15, We'll try and hold them off before you get a whack at 'em." Kaze said with a hint of depression.

"Yea well save a few for me will yeh? I haven't fired live ammo in so long I almost forgot what it sounds like." They both laughed and Baro hunkered down next to the three other soldiers assigned with him. Rumbles kept shaking everything and rattled Baro's already shaken head. Crackles cracked and sparks flew as power surges went through the ship, letting every soul know the enemy was coming.

"The main reactor must have been hit." Grunted the man next to Baro as the lights went out. The darkness always frightened Baro more then other things, he didn't mind creepy animals or heights or anything else, but it was darkness or maybe rather the absence of light that scared him.

He didn't have long to worry about the black surrounding him; through his green eyepiece he could see clearly that E-15 was tensing up. A cutting torch sparked and sizzled the pressure door, their ship must have already been docked with a boarding shuttle. Zulin's soldiers were a lot more efficient then their own Baro noted, even the training video for a perfect boarding wasn't so precise in timing.

Baro locked his rifle into place and spied through his eyepiece at the door, it was down and the screaming that echoed down the corridor meant they were through. "Here they come!" Baro shouted, finally seeing the enemy for the first time.

Dark gray armor covered all of their vital parts with heavy plating, just like in the training video. Tubes and hoses shown through the cracks in their armor, supposedly balancing each soldier's chemical intake including adrenaline and various steroids depending on the situation. Bright green eyes glowed from their helmets, making Baro hesitate for a moment at the fear they seemed to generate around them. That is until one of Zulin's hellish soldiers made way past E-15, Baro immediately began sniping the critical points like he had been taught to in basic training.

A low whine and pop came from his gun's barrel from the light squeeze of the trigger and down stumbled the first of Zulin's forces, falling down clutching the leg where Baro had broken through. His squad followed his lead, seeing that these demons were mortal seemed to take away any hesitation that previously was forced upon them. Blue lasers exchanged with Zulin's red ones, waves of fire sizzling and scoring the walls around them. Occasionally screams would come from an obvious human voice and Baro had to cringe each time to forget Kaze could have been any one of them.

"We can't hold them, fall back! Fall back to the bridge!" A sergeant screamed over the intercoms. This only encouraged Zulin's men, they seemed to revel in the fact a retreat had been sounded and three more of them charged up to the barriers at E-17.

Letting out a savage war cry Baro clubbed the first one with his rifle, sending him and the rifle uselessly to the floor. The next one grappled Baro and they struggled with each other by the arms while the battle surged around them, leaving them to face one another alone. Baro just bit his lip and growled as the soldiers' hands squeezed and tore at his muscle with the added strength of cybernetic implants. When he could take no more, Baro lets out a scream and fought his hands forward, ripping off his opponent's helmet. With three powerful head butts, Baro beat him to the floor and gave him one last savage kick before collapsing behind the barrier.

The ensign looked over at Baro out of breath, "That was amazing, he must have been a full foot taller then you!" the ensign cried in disbelief.

Baro examined his left arm, bleeding from the encounter. "They can't be human, at least not any more. Look at what just his hands did to my arm." The ensign nodded and wiped blood off his rifles bayonet. "Come on, we have to get to the bridge before E-15 falls completely. They can't hold them forever."

Baro lets out a deep breath and nodded, getting up slowly before trying to run with the only man left on his squad. No one had to say anything; he knew the others must have been killed by the third solider. Reaching the turbolifts, they rode up to the bridge deck like every other man and women would have to. 'We need to hold the bridge…' Baro thought to himself. 'But what if they are not after the bridge. E-15 would only lead them too…'

"Computer, stop this lift." Baro said looking at the surprised ensign.

"What the hell are you doing?" the ensign said softly, too weak to resist with much effort.

"We need to get to engineering, that's where they will head when section E falls." Baro said confidently and hit the control panel. "Computer, Main engineering."

Section F – Main Engineering

"Sir, E-17 just fell." Screamed a marine, sealing the barricade set up in the corridors. Commander Juan just continued his work on the panel he was activating.

"Very well, do we have any spare marine units available?" Juan asked firmly.

"No sir, the retreat was ordered too soon. Most of our men are on top level, and with the Comm blackout we can't signal for help."

Juan nodded and sighed deeply. Then he grunted inquisitively when he starred at the control panel and noticed a power surge in the turbolift. It had changed directions, coming directly for engineering.

"Grab some cover!" he yelled pointing his gun at the turbolift doors. "The lift from E section is heading down here. O'Connor, take the left hallway. Henry, your with me." Everyman was on edge and sweat appeared on Juan's brow, dripping off his gray eyebrows.

When Baromosa stepped out from the turbolift he looked surprised but walked out calmly and saluted his commander with the other ensign beside him. "Baromosa reporting in to assist." He said, arms shaking slightly from the fires burning around the control panels unchecked.

"I'm glad you're here, we need everyman we've got and there's no way to contact the bridge. We have to hold our own, but I've been in worst spots. Go and take cover on the left side, they'll be charging in front of you in moments." Juan pointed with his rifle towards the sealed blast doors, but his face grimaced at what he saw. Blue light was glowing from the door, making it swelter and twist from incredible heat.

Some solider who had been facing a panel yelled, "There coming!" dropping all of his work and grabbing the gun on his side. "They're using a plasma cannon to eat through the barriers."

"Everyone brace yourselves, fire as soon as the doors our down!" the commander ordered, ducking down behind the console and activating his virtual eyepiece. His was different then Baro's, when he activated the helmet an eyepiece was displayed by a hologram over his vision powered by a built in power source. It displayed all shorts of information and Baro admired it quickly, but went back to his own gun and activated its tracking system. It read a massive power source at the door, obviously the liquid like plasma that bonded itself to the door creating an extreme exothermic reaction.

When the door broke through five armored troops marched slowly through the breach with guns above their heads, looking like they surrendered. This made everyone stop and watch through their scopes. Even Juan never fired a shot, but Baro was sure if one of them so much as flinched the wrong way they'd get melted into the wall siding.

Regardless of their reactions, the soldiers made two lines against the side of the room and faced each other, dropping into attention. Then slowly, and old man in black robes and a dark blue cape walked into the room. He had short gray hair, a small white beard on his chin, and steel eyes that seemed to drive into Baro's soul. On his belt hung a black steel scabbard and the hilt of what appeared to be a sword but Baro wasn't sure.

"Put your guns away gentlemen." He said coolly. The few wrinkles on his face moved when he talked, showing signs of slight annoyance. "There's no sense in you being beat here. Zulin didn't even see fit to come here himself, he sent his apprentice. Me."

Juan starred at the apprentices face a moment, then with lightning quick speed grabbed his side arm and fired two shots before even Baro noticed. Two rounds of energy broke into the plasma conduit directly above the troops and exploded downward. The old man simply moved his hands and diverted all of the super heated plasma at his own men on his sides, melting their armor like wax. Screams of agony filled the room, and Baro took the time to act while this strange spell warrior worked his magic.

"Follow me! Get to the Bridge!" Baro screamed, hitting the emergency lock down controls near Juan. A giant door started to close down engineering, leaving the trapped apprentice scowling as he kept the plasma from hitting him with some invisible power.

"Now their only way to capture the ship is through the bridge, they won't be able to breach the doors. Sadly that will cut power from most of the ship, but it will keep shields up and life support. Good work Baro" Juan patted him on the back. "Alright, everyone take whatever route you can to the Bridge, take the service tubes if you have to. We might just win yet."

Baro watched as the door slowly came to a complete close, then shouldered his rifle and started his ascent up the tubes. 'I can't believe I just did that, didn't even realize what I was doing until… after I did it. That's not normal.' He thought to himself, wondering what inspired him to take command of the situation. 'The bulkheads and blast doors will hold, drilling through would be like drilling the outer hull of the ship, its insane.'

It wasn't long before they reached the top level; this small victory over such a powerful warrior was invigorating. When they reached the top Juan, Baro, and the Lieutenant were the first up. Stepping through the broken hallways and teal blue flooring, they reached the bridge. There was a giant round table in the center that was used for holographic displays and communications, and side computer terminals on the outer walls. Blue uniformed soldiers filled all of the seats, and the blue and tan armor of the marines were scattered around the room. Around the holo-table stood three non-military humans. The first two didn't catch Baro's eye, just normal upper class men. But the third was a dark skinned woman of 19, just around Baro's age. She wore a light blue silk dress that clung to her feminine body and held her dark hair back in a bun. The three of them were deep in study on the holo-table, depicting the battle overhead they were fighting.The woman looked up at him for a moment when she noticed the three of them. She smiled quickly and returned to her work, but her soft brown eyes gave him an odd feeling of security. Baro quickly snapped out of it when the entire ship shook again as it was hit by another barrage of laser fire.

"We can't hold them off princess, we need to sound the escape pods if we are to have any hope of survival." One of the officers addressed the woman Baro had noticed.

She shook her head and a concerned look swept her face. "We need a distraction first, I won't let our men die hopelessly. Any escape pods would be shot down before they ever came close to Bistari." The princess sighed deeply and looked sad. She was so calming to him he walked over to the holo-table, pretending like he knew what he was looking at so he could get a better view of the princess. Her eyes were very soft, but deep and saddened.

"How much longer will it be until soldiers get to the bridge?" Juan asked. Before anyone answered Baro interjected a comment.

"I don't think that is relevant, Zulin will destroy this ship before he allows a victory. Defeating his boarding party will only but time, if this takes too long he will destroy us." Baro said confidently, putting the gravity of the situation in his voice.

Everyone shot him dirty looks for dismissing the commander's question, but the princess looked at him in agreement. "He's right, we need a real plan." She said softly, in deep thought.

One of the officers looked up and offered a suggestion, "Well, we could rotate the ship at and angle to block his sensors and targeting. That way we could fire the escape pods before he could get a lock."

Everyone nodded in agreement and another added, "We could even dump the reactor waste to make like a smoke screen, that should block him good enough."

The princess looked up a little brighter and said, "Ok, everyone to the escape pods then. I need a few men to volunteer not to leave until the last possible moment, we need to ensure everyone's escape."

Baro's hand flew up immediately, as did several others. Apparently Baromosa was not the only one mesmerized by the princess. Red lights flashed again and Baro heard the more familiar sizzling pop of twisting metal. The doors were glowing blue from plasma eating it away again. The marines hunkered down, and Baro drew his weapon before standing in front of the holo-table. "All right, it's time to end this." Baro yelled.

Before the door was all the way down, Baro switched his rifle to full automatic and opened fire into the door, tearing into the soft steel and scoring whatever was on the other side. Blaster fire quickly came through the whole as well, causing the marines to join in and Baro backed up to grab some cover. It wasn't long until there was only one escape pod left on the bridge, starboard pods could be seen launching from the window so Baro knew the rest of the ship was getting to safety.

Zulin's troops broke through and unleashed weapons of much heavier firepower then standard rifles. Five marines were taken out so quickly Baro froze. It was like watching a waterfall of fire.

"Princess, you must leave." Baro yelled. "We only have 11 of us left, and the pod only fits three. Soon we'll all be dead if you don't leave now."

She started to complain, but soon there were only 2 other marines left pushed against the wall with the escape pod with Baro and Ember. Wordlessly Baro opened the pod and pulled her in. A laser blast whistled by his ear, and another took out the first marine. Baro pulled the last one in before taking a direct hit on his helmet and knocked him off his feet and slamming back into the pod.

The marine and the princess activated the pod, sending them spiraling to Bistari. While Baro struggled for consciousness he found himself looking into the princesses eyes when she came to look him over, and everything turned black except the bright glow of the planet getting closer.