Unit #23 of the Space Army Fleet
Nearing atmosphere of Main Red Eye Planet
Mission: coordinate and carry out EMP attacks on ionosphere to disable all electrical equipment on ground level
The soaring galactic eagles flew effortlessly through the great vast of space. They made not a sound as they neared their target. The fleet was enormous; it consisted of at least 70,000 Space Army Aerial Fighters.
They had all gone through the required three years of combat training. It was not as simple as bullets, shells, and grenades. Because of the fact that the enemies were greatly advance in their technology and most were based in space, having to learn to fire plasma guns, anti-dark matter cannons, and white-energy bombs.
Energy.
Dark energy.
Energy crisis.
It was a universal problem. For Amarkia, the nations of Earth, for the Red Eyes, the IEO, and all other civilizations in the vast universe. The need for more energy at a faster pace and at a lower cost was quickly becoming viral.
It had been long unknown why the Red Eyes and the IEO constantly tormented Amarkia and its allies across the galaxy. Many believed for generations that personal grudges between the Emperor and Larry had been the spark that lit the ever-lasting conflict between the two sides.
But the discovery of the Terra-Track brought many new truths into the light. No one had yet any idea of how long it had been down there, nor how long everyone else knew about it. But not one day after its rediscovery, the Red Eyes and the other Amarkian enemies jumped out from their inactivity states to pounce on every given opportunity.
Just as Amarkia was willing to do anything to keep the Terra-Track and protect its own, so were the Red Eyes capable of committing horrendous acts to retrieve the Terra-Track, which they viewed as rightfully theirs.
Yet no one had any certainty of who had the Terra-Track first after the disintegration of The Great Conglomerate, the first great evil force in the universe. Even the Terra-Track's origins were still unclear amongst many.
But everyone knew what it meant.
Unlimited, eternal, and free energy for anything and anyone for all time.
It represented complete energy security and power source for anything and everything for however long you wanted. And over the millennia, the Terra-Track itself had seemed to develop a mind of its own.
If the owner has of pure enough heart and chaste soul, the Terra-Track could follow its owner's personal orders and many times, especially during a crisis or in high adrenaline moments, it would act without any outside interference.
After the lecture they'd just received on the Terra-Track and the vital importance, the critical importance of defending that single, six-sided, palm-sized light blue cube. The very fate of the whole universe would be decided in the final outcome of this new war against the Red Eyes.
"And now," the Commander of the Fleet had said, "we have to fight now just with all that we've got, but also put our minds and hearts and souls into it. We fight to bring justice into the places where abuse and corruption have taken over. To remember the sacrifices that our ancestors have made which permitted us and our children to get where they are. So, when you are out there, flying at the speed of sound and facing the greatest threat since The Great Conglomerate, remember that if you die, it won't mean that you failed. All that matters is that you are truly putting everything you've got into it."
Not three hours later, the entire fleet with the Commander at front were racing at breakneck speed towards an almost-certain death zone. The entire region around the main Red Eye planet was as dangerous as a mine area.
"Here, we go, boys," everyone heard the Commander's voice. "Get ready to take your positions. Left flank and weapon carrier! Get ahead of us and be ready to fire the first nuke. It had to be at the precise speed so that it will explode while still in the atmosphere. We are here to fry their electrical systems, not to blow up their cities."
With great agility and speed, the spacecraft carrying the single, Hiroshima-sized bomb accelerated with its escort and plunged nose-forward towards the planet's atmosphere. The ionosphere was near the top, so they had to be slow enough to fire but fast enough to make a quick retreat.
Everyone knew that the Red Eye satellites kept a close eye for any foreign objects. Just as the Space Army had done when the United Nations invaded Amarkia, they managed to deactivate the Red Eye satellites in a sector of the atmosphere. However, they only had a 2-minute window before they fired back up again or other satellites detected them.
Four minutes were not long, especially under the current circumstances.
"Okay, men," the pilot of the carrier said. "We've only got one shot at this. Delta-32. You got me covered, right?"
"Roger that. I got your back. You just focus on hitting that bullseye. Just as long as we keep within the time, we'll be fine. Now let's do this!"
The engines roared as they accelerated towards the safe zone. The pilot kept his eyes forward, while keeping his peripheral vision on the timer blinking on the dashboard. One minute and forty-nine seconds left.
He thrust the throttle forward steadily to not speed up too fast. Even with their technology, speeding to the sound barrier was still a risky move. And the last thing anyone wanted was to crash land onto the Red Eye surface. Besides getting killed in the impact, it would provoke the Red Eyes into a lethal response attack.
They'd already sent a mothership to Amarkia to destroy the force field so that later, they would have no defense to attack. And despite their great technological innovations, Red Eye weapons were still far superior to Amarkia's.
And Red Eyes were completely unmoved. They were purely evil. And they had no mercy on the fearful of heart. If anyone of their soldiers became alarmist-like or panicky, the commander or general would shoot him dead in front of everyone.
"It's coming up fast! Ready the bomb! Load the propulsion jet!" the pilot responded.
"Okay, I'm right on your tail!" Delta-32 responded.
"Here we go!" the timer now read thirty-two second. Well, this is it. Now or never. The pilot placed himself into position as he continued accelerating towards the planet's ionosphere. When he blinked his eyes, the timer went from thirty seconds to five.
"Hit it now!" the Commander shouted over the radio.
As if in a dream, his thumbs wavered to the button involuntarily. He pressed it.
The boom resonated from beneath the spacecraft and he saw the 10-foot-long point-headed nuke fire itself towards the atmosphere. Everyone veered upwards sharply. In their rearview vision, they saw the familiar sight of a massive explosion, followed by a massive white sheet of light that encompassed the entire atmosphere.
It only took a few seconds for an Electro-Magnetic Pulse from a nuclear weapon detonating high up in the atmosphere to overload and cripple the grand majority of all electrical systems on the surface. Everything from cars to airplanes to computers would instantly shut down.
When the carrier pilot turned his attention to the sight in front of him, the sounds were suddenly filled with blazing alarms and red flashes on the screen. The Red Eye fighters had come out of nowhere.
They had no resistance in destroying the entire fleet.
Just before the carrier's spacecraft disintegrated, the pilot managed to send a signal to Amarkia.
"What are the losses?" I asked Larry.
"Uh, would you feel terrible if I said that the entire fleet was destroyed?" he said.
"Yes, I would!"
"Well, if it'll make you feel any better, they did manage to fire their nuke right at the given target. But you have to understand something: firing a nuclear weapon at an enemy force like the Red Eyes is considered sacrilegious."
At least one had gotten in. I'm not saying I wasn't saddened by the death of those brave souls. But now it was essential that we concentrate our efforts and minds on the current problems in front of us.
The Red Eye laser attack had not subsided. It had only been several hours, yet it seemed like days. Whilst I was lost in deep thought, a young officer, a Velociraptor to be exact, came in running, his feathers looking half-burnt. "Sir…the lasers…on the force field…it's…raising the temperatures. It's getting dangerously hot outside! It's nearing 140 degrees!"
Larry and I quickly abandoned our post inside and ran into the outdoors. The sky had become a sickly haze of yellow-orange. Heat waves were sizzling in the air and I instantly felt the sweat starting to pour down my face.
There were now fifteen lasers shooting down all over the force field. They were all right above or close to Sauropolis. "Spiny…we have to turn off the force field."
I didn't look at him. I couldn't bear to have to say yes to that. I knew that probably we'd all burn to cinders in here, but letting the Red Eyes in…
"Okay. Open the force field. Make sure our army is ready. This is going to be gruesome."
A few minute later, I saw the protective blue shield disappear from sight.
That's when the bombing started.
It was almost instantaneous, but out of nowhere the skies were suddenly filled with hundreds of Red Eye planes and dropping bombs everywhere. The ground shook violently and clouds of dust now filled the air. The sounds were now those of screaming people, whistling of heavy bombs dropping from thousands of feet up. Air-raid sirens screaming.
I jumped into TIV with Larry as we managed to see our own planes and helicopters appearing out of hangars. Ahead of me on the other side of the road, tanks, military trucks, and other vehicles were now speeding.
The explosions were getting closer and TIV started to shake from side to side as we came thundering down the highway. Larry was on the phone, going completely berserk. "I want everyone out there! Get all civilians into the city bunkers! Call the Space Armies now! Place the entire nation under lockdown! Get…what?!" He flung the phone aside. "There's a fleet of Red Eyes racing towards the Palace!"
That did it. I slammed my foot on the gas pedal and we were both pushed backwards into our seat. I practically jumped off the highway ramp onto the street, crushing the street light. I raced down the street, completely oblivious that the bombs were getting closer. I was pretty sure that we were an acquired target.
I crashed through the Palace Gates and braked on the lawn. I jumped out just to see three Red Eye planes firing on the roof and the front side. "Larry! Get the Palace underground! And seal it!"
In extreme situations, like this one, we could literally move the entire Palace underground and it can remain there for several days or a few weeks.
The ground shook again as we heard the panel doors underneath us opening and the entire Palace rumbled as the entire mass began moving. My family was in there and so were Lilia and hers. I was sure that the rest of the gang would be okay, wherever they were.
"Hey, Spiny? Isn't that Roger and Darla running towards the Palace?"
What…did…he…say?
It was true. I hadn't noticed until that moment. They were coming down the road and had made the turn on the driveway. I ran towards them to meet up. Before I could wave to Roger, I was knocked back by a tremendous explosion and the world suddenly turned dizzyingly terrifying.
My eyes suddenly began to sting and tears flowed down my cheek. I felt a warm sensation on my left cheek. When I drew my hand away from it, my fingers dripped with fresh blood. My throat started to feel ached and the air was toxic.
They dropped a chemical bomb.
The place where Roger and Darla had been was now a cloud of green-yellow mustard gas and I heard a girl screaming in pain. I began to get up, but my head suddenly felt like it would explode and my temples screamed in pain. I saw Larry's silhouette running ahead of me and disappear in the gas cloud.
He was carrying Darla in his arms and somehow was carrying Roger in his tail. I shuddered when I saw Roger's face. It had become a red-orange burnt shape and half of his lip was gone. Darla's shirt and jacket had been incinerated, leaving only her bra and the clothes beneath the waist intact. He skin was like metal when you burn it in the oven. Flakes of skin actually fell from her torso.
Her face was covered by her long blonde hair.
I had no desire of seeing what it looked like.
Larry helped me up and he placed both in TIV. Behind us, we heard the deafening roar of a jet engine. When we had turned around, we saw the planes crash into the front doors of the palace and the Red Eye pilots crash through their windows, fully armed.
Larry and I didn't have to say anything. We grabbed our guns and ran towards the Palace, now halfway down. Avoiding the shards of glass on the floor, I came to meet myself in the line of fire. Larry pushed me down in time just before the Red Eyes fired.
Larry and I crashed ourselves against the sides to hide and fired at the enemy. The Red Eyes' only mistake was trying to sneak out and find new places to hide. We got them all while they were hiding.
We jumped out the windows just as it went under. In the distance, we saw the city now on fire. I knew the skyline by memory and seven skyscrapers had now gone. Above us, we saw the Red Eye planes returning to the mothership, pursued by our own.
"That's it? They're leaving now?!" I asked, astonished.
"Yeah, it looks like."
I felt my breath escaping. What was it with these fools? Where they going to continue doing this? Just tormenting and teasing us, as if trying to erode our confidence little by little? Larry must've been using his Telepathy Power, because he said, "That's exactly what they are doing."
I felt a burning pain on my left cheek, where I'd been scraped by the blast and blood now stained my left shoulder. But I wasn't worried about that now. "How are Roger and Darla?"
"I'm not sure. I'll take them down to the Palace and have the Medical Staff look after them."
"Hey, you're not going to do the same thing you did with Lilia's parents, right?" I asked him.
"I don't know, why?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. I just figured you'd use your Healing Power to cure them completely then erase their memory of it all just like you did with Mr. and Mrs. Woods."
"Ah, I don't know. I'll see. It depends on individual circumstances." He grabbed Darla and started carrying her to where the Palace used to be, near a manhole. "What are you going to do?"
I looked back at my capitol city, flames everywhere and clouds of black smoke billowing up. "I'm going to address the nation. There's going to be a lot of scared people."
"Yeah, I know. I'm one of them," Larry said.