Small wisps of white, pure clouds hung low over the brilliantly blue sky of
Naboo. A small breeze stirred the tree-tops, making a soft rustling over
Raek's head. He looked around the forest expectantly, a small-yet large in
his hands-blaster was clutched next to his chest, and he was dressed in
soft green clothes with small blinking lights spaced around it. On
instinct, he spun right, dropping into a crouch. Another small figure, one
looking like it belonged to a ten-year old, moved into the light, wearing a
light blue. He spotted Raek a moment too late and fell backwards as Raek's
shot took him full in the chest. Raek adjusted his aim slightly to another
emerging figure, and dropped him before he could even raise his gun to
bear. Then he was moving, running lightly through the trees, alone in a
world of enemies, it seemed. He shot another that appeared before him
without slowing. Although it was only a glancing shot, it was enough, it
appeared, and the boy flopped back onto his side.
Raek moved deftly, quickly, and silently, the only sound the sound of his soft footfalls on the earthen floor beneath him. He slowed after a few minutes, and began to stalk through the trees until he could see IT.
IT was a large building, old-fashioned, made of wood, with sentries on all four corners and undoubtedly some snipers some where. Raek holstered his own pistol and pulled the sniper rifle off of his back and lay under some small bushes. Poking the muzzle just barely out, he sighted in and fired once . . . twice . . . three . . . and four times. Three of the four sentries were down and one sniper up on the balcony. Then a blue clad ran out from the trees maybe four feet from him. Raek swiveled as the boy began yelling "Sniper in our midst!" and brought him down with a single shot.
The front door opened, and Raek sighted in on the man standing there, looking dumbfounded at the sentries down around him. A single quick shot put him out of action. His com bleeped once, and then from the trees around him came seven of teammates. They all gave him a big grin. "Door's open now," Raek said.
"Awesome," Juls, one of the only girls on the team, noted. "You do good work, Raek."
"Cut the chatter . . . and no names!" reprimanded Sool, the team leader. "Crystal 4, you got a plan?"
Raek looked around at him. "Yeah . . . I do."
"Fill us in, Four."
"Six, Seven, the other sentry is still up. You take him out, any others that might be up over there. Five, you're door watch. Pay attention to Six and Seven's signals, all right? No slip-ups like last time. The rest of us . . . we go in." Juls, who was three, nodded and pulled out her pistol again. "Good?" All nodded. "Good. Go."
He rose and flipped his rifle on his back and whipped out his pistol as the team broke out into a run to the house. Six and Seven slipped away, their rifles up and searching. Raek ducked into the house and narrowly avoided being shot by an ambusher waiting just inside. He rolled, coming up with his pistol trained on the spot where he had been, but he was already down, having taken a shot from Sool and Juls combined. Raek nodded his thanks and gestured for One and Two to go right while he and Juls went left. They worked their way leapfrogging, and went to the other side of the house . . . and to the target.
Juls picked up the papers and files while Raek glanced out the window. Six and Seven were pinned down outside by heavy fire from about ten foes. Raek gestured to Juls, who caught on and signaled One and Two on her com. They arrived moments later and they made their way all together to the back door, where, on the count of three, they spilled out, pouring fire at the assailers. Two went down, and as they turned to counter the new threat, Six rose up and plucked off two more, but seven was down. Raek fired without watching as he ran for the cover of a nice tree. And just as soon as the storm of fire began, it ended.
He looked around the corner to see five more teammates, twelve through sixteen, slinging rifles over their shoulder and the rest of the team rising up to greet them. They slung Seven on a makeshift sling as One sent a message to all members "Target secure-return to base." The woods, which had been ringing with blaster fire, fell quiet as the Crystals disengaged. "They'll know what this means," One said. "Let's high-tail it home."
Crystal Squadron was an elite crack squadron meant for any type of mission- stealth, infiltration, flying, ground insertion . . . anything. The members had been taken into it at age six and ever since all their life had been was war and how to kill. The growing members of this squadron would be cold- blooded and deadly efficient, as soon as they were sent into battle. Their days weren't their own . . . they belonged to the squad and to the "cause." The Naboo people hoped that they would be an adequate force to protect their planet from invasion by anyone-until the Yuuzhang Vong came along. They designed new fighters for the squad that were actually designed to be fighters. They built them with the best materials possible, and outfitted the planet with several large cannons and planetary shields. The Crystal Squad was trained how to fly their new craft and fly them well . . . and then the Galactic Alliance showed up and offered them a fleet as the Yuuzhang Vong drew nearer. Eagerly the people accepted, and the Crystal Squad, which had trained in mock battles and mock situations for so long, was finally harnessed for combat at the young age of fifteen. And the Yuuzhang Vong came.
41/2 years later
Raek sat up on his bunk, flexing his sore muscles and looking down the narrow aisle as others began waking up too. Juls swung off of the bunk above his, and for a moment Raek was again lost in her figure. It had really blossomed in the last year, and she had grown beautiful in his eyes. Puberty, he decided, sucked. He stood and moved into the showers. The entire squad had used to shower as one, until the girls became girls and boys became boys, and now they all had private stalls. He washed quickly and dryed and dressed in his regular fatigues. They ate breakfast out on the balcony overlooking Theed, and he allowed himself a moment to think about life without war . . . without killing and tactics and all this other stuff they were trained in so heavily.
Juls sat next to him and watched him think for a moment. She was tall, lean and wiry, her figure, while not full yet, was already attractive, she had short brown/gold hair, and stunning blue eyes. Raek, the same age, was a little shorter, with close-cropped brown hair and vivid blue eyes. He was extremely lean and tough, but handsome. He just didn't show the muscle like Sool did. Sool was at least three times the size (and at least fours time louder) than Raek, and had dull grey eyes and dirty blond hair. Cain, Raek's best friend, sat on the other side of him and clapped him on the shoulder. He was a little shorter than Raek, but not by much, and had short red hair and green and gold eyes. He was the comic relief when there was no other.
Raek smiled at them both and looked over the city again. "I don't suppose we'll see it again for a while after we go up, huh." Not a question, but almost a statement of truth. Once they did go up to join the GA fleet hanging above their planet, then might not come back. There was a very real chance that all of them could be killed.
Cain smacked his shoulder again. "C'mon man, don't talk like that! 'Course we'll see it again!" He tore into his food then, and Raek looked over at Juls. She was staring at the city with an aloof detachedness.
"That would be fine with me," she whispered. "We don't belong here anymore. We belong up there, fighting."
Raek nodded, agreeing with her statement. It was true enough. They did belong wherever there was a fight, that was for sure. But is 15 old enough for a soldier? "We go up at noon, schedule says," he said softly, and Cain gave a whoop.
Noontime came all too soon for Raek. But when he walked into the hangar in his black flight suit followed by his thirty-one teammates, he couldn't help but feel that destiny was being realized right then. He waved at Cain and gave Juls a thumbs up as they climbed the ladders into their fighters.
Their fighters were called Star Points, or Points by the pilots, and consisted of a main fuselage like the Naboo fighters, terminating in a point, but then there were three engines instead of two, all three quite a bit larger, one under the cockpit (whence the name Star Point), and two on shorter wings off of the front of the craft. The two wings were angled up and back, also painted a jet black, and each engine had another shield generator, so that the Point had three overlapping shields for ultimate protection. The inertial compenstaor had been dialed up to GA regs. Since they shared everything they knew about fighting Yuuzhang Vong. The hyperdrive was in the main fuselage, and the ship was armed with proton torpedo launch tubes right under the nose, and six lasers that could be set on any variety fire. A stutter switch had been installed too. The Naboo engineers had missed nothing.
Raek powered up the craft. It hummed to life and lifted off of the landing brace in which it rested and onto it's own repulsors. "This is Lead. All report in," came the call over the com.
"Two."
"Three." Juls sounded excited.
"Four."
"Five." Cain sounded as if he couldn't wait. Raek understood their feelings, now.
After everyone had reported in, they took off in single file, in order and roared their way up to outer space. Raek felt remarkably safe with Juls before him and Cain right behind, and he knew that when they were together, nothing would be able to touch any of them.
They arrived at Eagle Eye, a Naboo defense fleet ship and now their flagship. They were authorized to take any action against anyone, and no one was in command of them except for them. They docked without incident and got out and gathered around Lead. He looked around at them all, then, with a slight nod, said, "Let's hit the sims."
* * * *
Raek moved deftly, quickly, and silently, the only sound the sound of his soft footfalls on the earthen floor beneath him. He slowed after a few minutes, and began to stalk through the trees until he could see IT.
IT was a large building, old-fashioned, made of wood, with sentries on all four corners and undoubtedly some snipers some where. Raek holstered his own pistol and pulled the sniper rifle off of his back and lay under some small bushes. Poking the muzzle just barely out, he sighted in and fired once . . . twice . . . three . . . and four times. Three of the four sentries were down and one sniper up on the balcony. Then a blue clad ran out from the trees maybe four feet from him. Raek swiveled as the boy began yelling "Sniper in our midst!" and brought him down with a single shot.
The front door opened, and Raek sighted in on the man standing there, looking dumbfounded at the sentries down around him. A single quick shot put him out of action. His com bleeped once, and then from the trees around him came seven of teammates. They all gave him a big grin. "Door's open now," Raek said.
"Awesome," Juls, one of the only girls on the team, noted. "You do good work, Raek."
"Cut the chatter . . . and no names!" reprimanded Sool, the team leader. "Crystal 4, you got a plan?"
Raek looked around at him. "Yeah . . . I do."
"Fill us in, Four."
"Six, Seven, the other sentry is still up. You take him out, any others that might be up over there. Five, you're door watch. Pay attention to Six and Seven's signals, all right? No slip-ups like last time. The rest of us . . . we go in." Juls, who was three, nodded and pulled out her pistol again. "Good?" All nodded. "Good. Go."
He rose and flipped his rifle on his back and whipped out his pistol as the team broke out into a run to the house. Six and Seven slipped away, their rifles up and searching. Raek ducked into the house and narrowly avoided being shot by an ambusher waiting just inside. He rolled, coming up with his pistol trained on the spot where he had been, but he was already down, having taken a shot from Sool and Juls combined. Raek nodded his thanks and gestured for One and Two to go right while he and Juls went left. They worked their way leapfrogging, and went to the other side of the house . . . and to the target.
Juls picked up the papers and files while Raek glanced out the window. Six and Seven were pinned down outside by heavy fire from about ten foes. Raek gestured to Juls, who caught on and signaled One and Two on her com. They arrived moments later and they made their way all together to the back door, where, on the count of three, they spilled out, pouring fire at the assailers. Two went down, and as they turned to counter the new threat, Six rose up and plucked off two more, but seven was down. Raek fired without watching as he ran for the cover of a nice tree. And just as soon as the storm of fire began, it ended.
He looked around the corner to see five more teammates, twelve through sixteen, slinging rifles over their shoulder and the rest of the team rising up to greet them. They slung Seven on a makeshift sling as One sent a message to all members "Target secure-return to base." The woods, which had been ringing with blaster fire, fell quiet as the Crystals disengaged. "They'll know what this means," One said. "Let's high-tail it home."
Crystal Squadron was an elite crack squadron meant for any type of mission- stealth, infiltration, flying, ground insertion . . . anything. The members had been taken into it at age six and ever since all their life had been was war and how to kill. The growing members of this squadron would be cold- blooded and deadly efficient, as soon as they were sent into battle. Their days weren't their own . . . they belonged to the squad and to the "cause." The Naboo people hoped that they would be an adequate force to protect their planet from invasion by anyone-until the Yuuzhang Vong came along. They designed new fighters for the squad that were actually designed to be fighters. They built them with the best materials possible, and outfitted the planet with several large cannons and planetary shields. The Crystal Squad was trained how to fly their new craft and fly them well . . . and then the Galactic Alliance showed up and offered them a fleet as the Yuuzhang Vong drew nearer. Eagerly the people accepted, and the Crystal Squad, which had trained in mock battles and mock situations for so long, was finally harnessed for combat at the young age of fifteen. And the Yuuzhang Vong came.
41/2 years later
Raek sat up on his bunk, flexing his sore muscles and looking down the narrow aisle as others began waking up too. Juls swung off of the bunk above his, and for a moment Raek was again lost in her figure. It had really blossomed in the last year, and she had grown beautiful in his eyes. Puberty, he decided, sucked. He stood and moved into the showers. The entire squad had used to shower as one, until the girls became girls and boys became boys, and now they all had private stalls. He washed quickly and dryed and dressed in his regular fatigues. They ate breakfast out on the balcony overlooking Theed, and he allowed himself a moment to think about life without war . . . without killing and tactics and all this other stuff they were trained in so heavily.
Juls sat next to him and watched him think for a moment. She was tall, lean and wiry, her figure, while not full yet, was already attractive, she had short brown/gold hair, and stunning blue eyes. Raek, the same age, was a little shorter, with close-cropped brown hair and vivid blue eyes. He was extremely lean and tough, but handsome. He just didn't show the muscle like Sool did. Sool was at least three times the size (and at least fours time louder) than Raek, and had dull grey eyes and dirty blond hair. Cain, Raek's best friend, sat on the other side of him and clapped him on the shoulder. He was a little shorter than Raek, but not by much, and had short red hair and green and gold eyes. He was the comic relief when there was no other.
Raek smiled at them both and looked over the city again. "I don't suppose we'll see it again for a while after we go up, huh." Not a question, but almost a statement of truth. Once they did go up to join the GA fleet hanging above their planet, then might not come back. There was a very real chance that all of them could be killed.
Cain smacked his shoulder again. "C'mon man, don't talk like that! 'Course we'll see it again!" He tore into his food then, and Raek looked over at Juls. She was staring at the city with an aloof detachedness.
"That would be fine with me," she whispered. "We don't belong here anymore. We belong up there, fighting."
Raek nodded, agreeing with her statement. It was true enough. They did belong wherever there was a fight, that was for sure. But is 15 old enough for a soldier? "We go up at noon, schedule says," he said softly, and Cain gave a whoop.
Noontime came all too soon for Raek. But when he walked into the hangar in his black flight suit followed by his thirty-one teammates, he couldn't help but feel that destiny was being realized right then. He waved at Cain and gave Juls a thumbs up as they climbed the ladders into their fighters.
Their fighters were called Star Points, or Points by the pilots, and consisted of a main fuselage like the Naboo fighters, terminating in a point, but then there were three engines instead of two, all three quite a bit larger, one under the cockpit (whence the name Star Point), and two on shorter wings off of the front of the craft. The two wings were angled up and back, also painted a jet black, and each engine had another shield generator, so that the Point had three overlapping shields for ultimate protection. The inertial compenstaor had been dialed up to GA regs. Since they shared everything they knew about fighting Yuuzhang Vong. The hyperdrive was in the main fuselage, and the ship was armed with proton torpedo launch tubes right under the nose, and six lasers that could be set on any variety fire. A stutter switch had been installed too. The Naboo engineers had missed nothing.
Raek powered up the craft. It hummed to life and lifted off of the landing brace in which it rested and onto it's own repulsors. "This is Lead. All report in," came the call over the com.
"Two."
"Three." Juls sounded excited.
"Four."
"Five." Cain sounded as if he couldn't wait. Raek understood their feelings, now.
After everyone had reported in, they took off in single file, in order and roared their way up to outer space. Raek felt remarkably safe with Juls before him and Cain right behind, and he knew that when they were together, nothing would be able to touch any of them.
They arrived at Eagle Eye, a Naboo defense fleet ship and now their flagship. They were authorized to take any action against anyone, and no one was in command of them except for them. They docked without incident and got out and gathered around Lead. He looked around at them all, then, with a slight nod, said, "Let's hit the sims."
* * * *
