2038
In his home in Morristown, Virginia, Thomas Whitmore shot up from his bed screaming, it was a long fearful scream that ended with him take a deep gasp to recompose himself. As he took a smaller gasp, he turned over in his bed to reach for his cane that rested against the nightstand. As he grabbed his cane, several objects could be found resting on the nightstand: A TV remote, his watch, a home phone, and a book titled: The LUFTWAFFE: A History. But, the most interesting thing was that several pieces of paper had a circle drawn on them, with a line going down the middle, the pen used to write them laying nearby.
Leaning on his cane, he got out of his bed and proceeded to put on his slippers. After he got up, he made his way across his room to the table that stood in the corner, in front of the curtained windows. Once there, he set his cane down on the table, which was littered with more papers of a circle with a line down the middle. Grabbing his robe from the chair, he proceeded to put it on. After doing so, he walked out of the room, leaving his cane.
The Washington Monument stood tall and proud as the sun's rays shown down on DC, the names of all the soldiers who lost their lives in the war of 2018, were engraved into the Monument. Across from it, and at the other end of several large lawns separated by stretches of stone, stood the United States Capitol, rebuilt after it was destroyed twenty years ago.
"The countless lives we lost in the war of '18' did not perish in vain, they inspired us, to rise from the ashes as one people, of one world."
The near horizon was dotted with buildings big and small, with bladeless helicopters, and ships with cylindrical bodies that had long arms attached to them, which were known as tugs, could be seen flying all over the place.
"For twenty years the world has seen no armed conflict, Nations have put their petty differences aside, united we've rebuilt our families, our cities, and our lives
Down on the lawns, trucks were littered all over the place as people were preparing for the twentieth anniversary of humanity's victory over the dragons. Large TVs had been set up at the edges of the lawns, as well as two large, curved bleachers, and a podium set up in front of the Capitol. Flying over the preparations, a helicopter flew over the Capitol building, in the direction of the Washington Monument. Turning right at the Monument and passing over a monorail line (which could also be found at the other side) the helicopter flew towards the Whitehouse, landing on its grounds.
"The fusion of human and dragon technology not only enabled us to defy gravity, and travel with unimaginable speed, it also made our planet, finally safe again."
Within a room in the Whitehouse, surrounded by her secret service, President Elizabeth Lanford stood in front of the window, reading the speech that had been set up for her. Turning to look at Patricia Whitmore, Thomas Whitmore's daughter, the President complimented her upon her work. "Great speech Patty."
"Thank you, Madam President." Came Patricia's reply.
just outside, a man was being led to the room where the President was currently occupied. Stopping just in front of the door, the secret service agent that was leading the man turned around and spoke to him.
"One moment." He said before walking into the room, leaving him with another agent that waited by the door. As he waited, the man's gaze came to rest on a portrait of Captain Steve Hiller. Shortly after he left, the secret service agent came back. "We're ready for you sir."
Upon entering, the man was greeted by the President. "Captain Hiller." She said shaking his hand. "Welcome to the Whitehouse." She said smiling.
"It's great to be back." Dylan Hiller replied, also smiling.
"I can not tell you how proud we are to have you flying our flag up there." Said the President.
"It's an honor Madam President." He told her.
"Your father was a great man, he'd be so proud. Think you know the secretary of defense." She said, indicating to Reese Tanner.
Turning around, Dylan greeted the man. "Sir." He said as he shook Tanner's hand.
"Nice to see you again son." Said Tanner returning the handshake.
"I know I don't have to introduce you two." The president said, pointing to Patrica.
Dylan chuckled and walked up to Patrica, who visibly smiled as they both embraced each other in a hug. "Moving up in the world," Dylan stated, about her position.
"Says America's knight in shining armor!" She shot back.
"You're the one that's back in the Whitehouse." He commented.
"yeah as an employee I don't quite get the same benefits as when I lived here." She said wittily.
Smiling at her comment, Dylan's attention was averted as the agent came back and tapped him on his shoulder. "Captain."
"Yeah?" Dylan asked as he turned around.
"We're ready for you." He said indicating to the table in the middle of the room where everyone was sitting.
"Thank you," Dylan said as he started to make his way over there. But before he could get far, Patrica called back to him.
"Dylan, be nice to Jake when you see him up there." She told him after he turned to look at her.
He didn't answer and turned back to join the others.
Two hundred and thirty-eight thousand miles away, a group of tugs is pulling a giant space laser above the barren, uneven surface of the moon. Inside one of these tugs sat Jake Morrison, who was rubbing his finger against his left temple as he waited for this task to be over.
As he sat there, a woman's voice came in over the intercom. "Moon tug #ten confirm position."
He buzzed in." Seven miles and closing." He replied. "The slowest trip of my life." He added after the connection was cut.
"Hey cheer up," Charlie said from across the tug as he woke up from his rest and made his way to the front. "There are worse things you could be doing then towing a half a trillion-dollar weapon."
Yeah, well I need a little more stimulation." Jake replied.
Charlie shot back."Hey, you know, I didn't have to follow you up here!" He said as he put away a blanket.
"Yeah you did, you get lonely without me!" Jake replied bluntly as Charlie returned to the other end of the tug.
"I was the youngest valedictorian, in the history of the academy. I could have been stationed anywhere, like San Diego, you know beaches, surfing!" His face baring a big grin, Jake pointed out a flaw in Charlie's proposal. "You've never surfed a day in your life!"
"But I'm a fast learner, and I got great balance, like a cat," Charlie said, countering Jakes comment
"Cat's hate water, Charlie!" Jake shot back as he pushed some buttons on a touchscreen.
As the tugs made their finale approach, everyone down in the Space defense station watched as the massive canon slowly moved into place. "Four percent reverse thrust," Jake said over the mic.
"Rodger, tug ten reversing thrust, four percent." A woman confirmed over the mic.
"The tugs and the weapon are on final approach." Came the voice of a man, his voice echoing throughout the base.
Within the bases control room, people around control terminals monitored the progress of the tugs. One of the men in the room addressed the Commander of the base, Jiang Lao. "They're in position, sir."
As the weapon began to set down, the woman from before spoke again. "Docking in three...two...one." There was a metallic thud as the weapon settled into place, red lights on the weapon dock turning to green now that it was in position. Clamps on the dock started to retract, to lock the weapon in place.
Jiang Lao spoke to the people in the tugs "Initiate uncoupling sequence." He told them.
"all tugs, disengage." came the woman's voice again. Up in tug ten, Jake pushed some buttons on the touchscreen while Charlie manned the arms in the back. As they started to pull away from the weapon, Charlie spoke to Jake. "You realize that there are only thirty-six women on this moon base?"
"I'm sure one of em will eventually come around pal," Jake replied while he tried to guide the tug away from the weapon. Turning around to look at Jake, Charlie continued. "You know, it's not like they all rejected me, I happen to have standards." suddenly the screens flickered and the lights turned red and there was a clang as the tugs clawed hands caught on the weapon, pulling it out of alignment.
"Whoa, What did you do?" Jake asked, alarmed.
"Nothing!" Came Charlie's response.
"That didn't sound like nothing!" Jake disagreed.
In the control room, one of the monitors showing the cannon beeped and went red, showing that the weapon had begun to fall in the direction of the base.
A woman in the control room spoke. "Tug #ten collided with the weapon!"
"The clamps have stoped, they're not responding sir!" Said the man from before.
Taking initiative, Jiang Lao issued out commands to the tugs. "All tugs, take evasive action, pull back, pull back!"
Up above, all the tugs pulled away from the cannon as it fell; that is, except for one. Back in tug #ten, Jake watched as the cannon fell; and saw where it would land. "Charlie it's gonna crush the base!"
"I said PULL BACK!"
"Aw, that's a negative sir!" Jake replied. Going into a dive; Jake turned the tug around and went to intercept the cannon.
"THIS ISN'T A FIGHTER JAKE!" Charlie yelled frantically.
"DON'T REMIND ME! Jake yelled back as he faced the cannon.
Charlie's end of the tug came to face the control room window and Jiang Lao spoke to him over the mic. "Lieutenant Miller, what are you Idiots doing?" Throwing up his arms, Charlie replied to the commander."I DON'T KNOW SIR!"
Pulling forward on the controls, Jake flew full force at the cannon.
"WE'RE GONNA DIE! THIS IS HOW I DIE!" Charlie screamed as the distance between the tug and the weapon closed dramatically. Once they reached the cannon, Jake used the tugs arms to grab onto the cannon; the clawed hands clamping down onto it. Putting in thrust, he began to fight the fall of the weapon; letting out a gasp as it's weight bore down on them.
"Sir he's slowing the fall!" Said the woman in the control room as she monitored the console.
As the cannon continued to fall; Jake thought fast and gave Charlie a heads up on his course of action. "Go to your happy place, I'm kicking in the fusion drive!"
"ARE YOU CRAZY? WE'LL BURN-UP!" Charlie yelled back. Jake responded accordingly."YEAH, IT'S VERY POSSIBLE!" Flicking some switches, Jake began to put the fusion drive into action. The engines kicked into overdrive as a green mist began to pour from them; propelling the tug forward.
"AHHH COME ON!" Jake screamed as he fought to push the cannon back into place. All the screens in the tug went red; displaying warning signs that the engines were overheating. As the tug slowly began to push the cannon forward, Jake started to laugh in disbelief. "YES! YEEESSSS, IT"S ACTUALLY WORKING!" He gave one final laugh before the tug pushed the cannon back into place; the clamps retracting to lock it down.
Charlie Untensed; letting his body loosen up as he relaxed from the terrorizing experience.
"I honestly didn't think that was gonna work!" Jake said bluntly.
Within the hangar bay, people went about their work running diagnostic checks on tugs, unloading equipment, and preparing vehicles for takeoff. Jake and Charlie stood near their busted tug, which was venting smoke from the engines. walking through the hanger entrance, Jiang Lao stormed in the direction of the two. Charlie took notice of this and spoke to Jake.
"Aw, shit, Jiang's coming in hot and he's got that look!" As Jiang Lao approached them, he shouted lines in his native language.
"He knows we don't speak Chinese, right?" Jake asked Charlie under his breath. When Jiang Lao got closer, Jake greeted the commander with a calm attitude. "Phew, that was a close call, sir!"
"You almost got us all killed!" Came his furious reply.
"Uh yeah but then I saved everyone!" Jake shot back smartly.
"You don't get credit for cleaning up your own mess." Jiang Lao leaned in and looked Jake in the eyes. "And you destroyed one of our tugs."
"Uh, actually sir, if anybody's to blame-" Charlie tried to set the situation straight but was interrupted by Jake. "Sir I lost my focus it won't happen again."
"No, it won't, your grounded until further notice!" The commander replied before taking his leave. As he walked away, Jake called out to him in a joking manner. "Can I still watch TV or...?" Turning to face his friend, Charlie spoke, trying to understand. "You didn't have to take the fall."
"Yeah, well, he already hates me why break tradition?" Jake said softly as he turned away and left.