"So what do you want to do first?" Larry asked as I was packing my military gear into TIV.

"First tactic is to subtly place the enemy into a weaker state so that when the time for actual battle comes, it will be easier to do." I jumped into the driver's seat and buckled up. As I turned on the ignition, I said to Larry, "Did you do what I asked you to do?"

"What did you ask me?"

"To get the smartest computer hackers from our prisons."

"Oh, yeah! Sure, I've gotten them. It's only five, I think. From what I hear, though, they are really good at what they do. Or…what they used to do. And what they used to do got them in the Slamhouse Hotel."

We arrived at our destination, the Sauropolis High-Security Civil Detention Center. It was one the highest-security and largest prisons in the world. In fact, many world criminals wanted by the CIA are currently serving time there.

If these were normal circumstances, I would've told you some technical and historic info about it. But since I'm on the brink of war, I have other matters to take care of. Sorry. Maybe when we return I'll tell you more of it.

Anyways, once we had our escort inside Larry and I walked down the gloomy, dark-gray hallways with steel doors and highly protected security cameras on every cell door, inside and out.

The warden led us to a small room with a single window in the back and a large table in the center. When they brought in the five convicts, my reaction was pure instinct: palpitating heart, chattering teeth, and hairs standing up.

Not now. You have guards around you. And remember…there are more important things now.

I took a deep breath and stood up straight, in order to assert authority. "Very well, men. Let's not bother with formalities and get down to business," I said.

The "leader", who had short, straight red hair and gray eyes and seemed to be around his late 20s spoke. "Yes, sir. What exactly are we to do? We weren't exactly told on what we were to do or how. We just know that you want us to do something."

"Yes. Your name?"

"Ray. Ray Logan."

"All right, Ray. I happen to know that your reason for your, ah, instalment in the facility, shall we say, was because you are the best in your business."

His eyes darted from side to side. "And what business is that, Your Majesty?"

"Computers. Aren't you sort of a hacker guru or something?"

He chuckled. "Well…I have loved hacking since I could speak and walk. I've almost reformed."

"Yes, that's very nice. But now, I want you to un-reform."

"Uh…excuse me?"

"I'm going to be frank with you, Ray, as we have little time. You may have heard news of our recent troubles with the IEO and the Red Eyes."

He nodded his head.

"Well, we have come up with a battle plan, most of which is confidential. However, you and your friends here could play an important role in settling a score against our enemies."

"We could?"

"Yes. I've read your behavioral reports and you and your friends are in the Top 2% of the best-behaved prisoners in the country!"

"Really? Huh, I did not know they counted that."

"Yes. Now, here's my deal. A personal deal from the King to you." I leaned closer to emphasize just how much red tape I was cutting here. "I want you to hack into the Red Eyes central computer system, and the IEO's financial system and corrupt both. In exchange, the five of you will be on probation for 12 months."

Wow, you should've seen his reaction! It was like I'd told him I was going to let him marry Bryce Dallas Howard.

"Sir, I, uh…I'm at a loss for words!" he said, smiling.

"Yes, I imagine you would be. Then you accept?"

"Um, well…" he turned to other four behind him. I kept my eyes on them to see if they made any kind of expression. None of them moved at all, not even nodding their heads. They just blinked. Ray turned back to me. "Yes, we accept."

"Very well. Let's get started." Larry came by and placed a laptop on the table, facing Ray. He sat down, his handcuffs removed, but four beefy guards stood by, their 7-foot weapons loaded and ready. Kind of weird, but I wasn't worried that this guy might attack me at any second.

"All right…let's see…" he started typing keys and moving the mouse. I know about computers and have taken classes on how to make and maintain websites but I don't know peanuts about hacking and making viruses.

"So…sir? What exactly do I need to hack?"

I stood up beside him, ignoring the warden's gestures not to. I wasn't worried, to say the truth. I just wanted our plan to work. Yes, our plan. Larry helped out tremendously. Anyways, I said, "Well, for the IEO, I need you to create something, anything that will hack their financial system. Their banking is all computer based, of course. Something that can corrupt it."

"Oh, I see. Same thing with the Red Eyes?"

"No, with them it's different. With the Red Eyes, I want you to try your best to infect their main computers. Central command, control center, that kind of stuff."

"Just keep this in mind," Larry said, breaking the silence he'd maintained since we entered the prison. "The Red Eyes are extremely hard to penetrate. They have incredibly powerful anti-virus and anti-spyware on every single computer of the empire. Every. Single. One. And even if you do manage to crash their network, they have thousands of back-up computers ready. So you'll have to find a way to mess that up also."

Ray hissed in amazement and ran his hand through his hair, leaning back in the chair. "Wow, uh, yeah, I'm not sure I can do that. I've never attempted such online security."

"Listen," I said. "I know that this is a great task. And even an expert can have huge obstacles. But please keep in mind that I have a nation and a people to protect. That includes you and your fellow inmates. Your families who are waiting for you outside; think of them. Of all those in the galaxy and the universe who are waiting for us to act. To bring justice to those who have caused us sorrow and grief."

He kept his dull, grey pupils on the bright screen in front of him. He turned his vision towards me. "Can I make a request?"

Yeah, you should've seen that coming. Great, there goes the whole plant!

"And what is that?" I asked.

"Four more chairs."

"Huh? Chairs?"

"Sure! For my buddies! It won't take just me, you know. This is a work that requires manpower."

Larry was already walking in with four chairs. The other convicts perked up and quickly sat down on either side of Ray. "So…will you do it?"

He smiled confidently. "We'll do our best, sir. Our very best!"

Red Eye Main Planet

Capitol City

Central Command of Electrical Systems

Control Room

The usual white-and-blue screens suddenly turned an eerie red as alarms blazed across the room. "Virus! We have a virus!" one of the workers yelled. He quickly ran to the adjacent office, pushing his co-workers aside as they all ran frantically.

"Sir, sir!"

"What is it, now? Can't a guy have some moments of peace?"

"We've been infected! A virus has corrupted our computers!"

His superior gazed at him strangely and raised his eyebrow. "Have we, now?"

"Yes, sir! And it's spreading quickly! It's affecting our power grid!"

"Oh? Can it really be all that bad?"

The worker rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the entire plant shut off, leaving everyone in complete darkness. The whirring of the motors and the hum of electricity all died down.

"Does that answer your question, sir?"

"But you have got nothing to worry about, my dear lad."

"Sir?"

"We've been expecting this attack for quite some time now. We know that Amarkia was planning something. We do have double agents for a reason, you know. It's a shame I didn't get assigned to personally eliminate King Spiny."

He stood up and walked into Control Room. "Well, what could we expect? What kind of damages?"

"Well, a lot of stuff, sir."

"I see. I suppose that would include vital and sensitive information, right?"

"Yes."

"Have you started the emergency procedure? The transferal of the data to separate files?"

Another worker bumped against his uniform and immediately recognized the chief's attire. "Uh, yes sir. But since the virus came suddenly and somehow managed to bypass all our anti-spyware and firewall software and stared spreading quickly to other computers, we have only managed to save 24% of the data."

"Uh-huh. And you did get the most vital things in that small percentage, right?"

He stuttered. "Uh…well, that's the thing, sir. We, uh…we only managed to save non-essential items. Since our essential items have stronger security and are more compressed, they are harder and take longer to transfer. So we just saved what we could."

"Idiots!" he said, slamming his fist against someone's cheek, not even knowing who it was. "Do you pretend to leave us in the dark?!"

"Sir! Please, calm down. We're working on it. We've never had an attack like this before. Might I suggest that you contact the authorities and inform them of it so that they can treat the source of the problem while we fix it?"

"How can I contact anyone if the phones aren't working? Everything's connected!"

"But your mobile phone isn't sir. And if you hurry, you might be able to contact someone before the blackout affects transmission towers."

He let out a heavy breath and a grunt. "Very well. Seen as I have no other choice."

The Governor's Office

Capitol City

"Oh, I thought you meant a military attack," the governor spoke through his cell phone. "It's not? Then what, then? Oh, a cyber-attack. A hacker. Well, who sent the virus? Amarkia?! What? How did they manage to…yes, I imagined you didn't know. Of course you don't know what do to! It's just that you are all too lazy to know that there are several backup plans for this. Yes, we lost power also. I am aware that it's affecting the entire region, but I don't want the Emperor to know of this, you hear?

"Now, then. In your basement, there are several metallic containers. They have back-up computers which are not connected. They contain all the same data you had on the ones you just lost. That's right. And get the giant solar-panels out. They have just finished construction on those. We've been working on those for years. Yes, I do realize that not everything will come back at once. I want all the restored power to return mainly to military stations and power plants. And residential areas. Yes, our people need electricity to be happy. It'll help us make others miserable."

He laughed ominously. "Don't you worry. You take care of the electricity, and we'll take care of the attackers. I'll see to it that you get a citation. Now, don't get emotional. You know what the sentence for that is." After hanging up, the lights in his office returned and his desk phone rang.

"Hello, this is Governor Herat speaking. Oh! Great Emperor Igétis! How great to hear your voice. Yes, I know. I agree. Yes, this problem must be solved. Don't worry, sir, I will personally take care of it. We've had our little fun with those space stations. Now it's time we had fun with Amarkia itself. Our soldiers who sneaked in are ready to attack once we join them for the party. As you wish, sir. I'll give the orders to attack."

Amarkian Office of Emergency Operations

Sauropolis, Amarkia

Three days later.

July 28, 2015

"What does the last report say?" I asked Larry, raising my voice amidst the dozens of voices and ringing phones. Larry came running with several sheets of paper. "I think we can safely say that we've achieved in succeeding with the first part of the plan."

"Really?" I said.

"Yep. Reports indicate that the blackout had spread to four other planets and all major center of communication, power plants, factories, residences, electrical grids and defense systems have all shut down."

I silently shot out a cry of victory. I seriously didn't think that we'd mange to send a virus strong enough and resistant enough to make it. I mean, first I wasn't sure, then I was. And then I wasn't, and then I was again. Then…well, you get the idea.

I guess it was so much uncertainty of their reaction that troubled me. But here I had the evidence in front of me, in white and black that the cyber-attack had worked. I let out a sigh of relief and was now confident that we would be able to knock out the next part.

"Well, you think we're ready for the real action?" I asked Larry.

He smiled with the same amount of confidence that I had. "Let's do it. I say we're ready. Well, almost ready. Our military and the Space Armies have nearly finished preparations. I know we'll turn it into a huge success."

At that moment, Larry's phone rang. "Yes. It's me." He dropped the papers from his hand and he looked like he was about to faint. "WHAT?! What do you mean? Oh, no! Since when? Huh? How long did…3 hours? Just three hours?! Then how come we were receiving reports that…delay time? Are you crazy? Well…all right. I understand."

After he hung up, I was quite curious, obviously. "What happened?"

He shook his head and muttered. "I can't believe it. Just can't…"

He started to leave, but I grabbed him and pulled him back. "Oh, no you don't! You are not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on. Who was on the phone? What happened? Why do you suddenly look so…defeated?"

He sighed and his whole body seemed to be coming down. "The…the virus we sent didn't work."

"What?"

"It caused a blackout across a few planets, but it only lasted three hours. The Red Eyes apparently found out in some way and they prepared themselves for it. They had backup computers that were not connected so there is no possible way of hacking those. On top of that, all of these new computers will have different, individual software. Plus, they had been building these planet-sized solar powers that can instantly restore power to areas in the dark. Everyone and everything has power again."

I collapsed on the seat nearby and crashed my forehead against my fists. I suddenly felt my confidence dying out and a sense of defeat and dread overtook me. We had failed. We had failed our mission. We put in a lot of effort and sweat and blood and we failed miserably. I didn't want to think how horrendous a military defeat in space would be.

I was lost in these thoughts, when all the computer monitors and the giant screen on the whole started flashing and beeping. "What's happening?"

Larry jumped to the nearest computer, pushing the guy aside. When he looked back at me, his eyes reflected terror. "They're here."

"What?" I asked. But I was almost sure of what he was talking about.

"The Red Eyes are here."

"What? How? Where?!" I felt my heart palpitate as my body was quickly going to panic mode.

"I don't know!" he said in a frightened voice. "They just appeared out of nowhere on our radar! They're in the upper atmosphere right above Amarkia! And they're descending. They'll be visible in a few minutes."

My response was automatic like all other air attacks we'd had. "Activate the force field! I want it set on the highest level!"

"Okay!" Larry turned to the other military officers present. "You heard the man! Turn on that force field! Get the planes and the fighter jets out! And ready all lethal weapons! I want those lasers and those plasma guns fully loaded."

The main monitor on the wall turned to a view of high up in the sky from a military base. A large, distinguishable Red Eye mothership appeared as a speck in the center. The speck started to grow and grow more massive.

However, this time the approach was different than the last one. I saw now hordes of smaller Red Eye aircraft appearing out of its sides. The ship just kept lowering and lowering, like the predator that stalks closer to its prey, waiting for the moment to attack. The prey knows that the predator is there. He knows that it's going to attack. But he was no way of knowing of when the attack will come.

"They're now 15 miles above us. They seem to be slowing down," a man near me sitting down said, removing the headphones from his ears.

From the view we were getting on the screen, we saw the ship now encompassing almost the entire sky view, brining again darkness over the entire area. I then saw with a terrified heart the massive laser beams shoot out from beneath and strike the force field.

I was almost sure that we'd be safe. And in case not, our army was ready and upgraded with the latest and most lethal weapons for combat. Then, all confidence vanished.

I suddenly felt very hot. The room suddenly became muggy and I could see steam staring to come off all the chairs and the seats. I tugged at the collar of my shirt and said to Larry, "Hey, how come it's so hot?"

"I don't know, I feel it, but…" he took a closer look and I could see he was using one of his powers. I could tell because both his eyes became huge, empty, black pupils. Creepy, but true. "Oh…no."

"What? What?"

"Spiny…I never thought of a heat attack on the force field."

"What are you talking about?"

His eyes returned to their normal, dark brown tone and I saw his lower jaw starting to tremble. "They're melting our force field generators."