Little Demon’s artificial gravity mechanism was never strong, making it feel awkward when someone walked inside the massive military transport vessel. Despite it’s low gravitational pull, it was much better than having to float around in space with almost no control. Someone who’d been on Earth’s moon would note that the AGM felt just like the moon’s gravity, but slightly stronger. Sure, sometimes you’d have to chase a floating object every once in awhile but it was helluva lot better than nothing.

The captain of Little Demon watched his crew of nine expertly work with precision at their stations. Each crew member focused solely on their job at hand, rarely distracted from their occupation; ensuring their beloved captain that they were taking their objectives seriously.

The gentle hum of the C-SSX’s engines created vibrations that were easily ignored to those who were within the reinforced fuselage of the cargo bay. The EDF soldiers payed no attention to the engine, instead they chose to focus on conversations, card games that greatly annoyed the players in the poor gravity, and sleeping. Every other trooper would search their sea-bag for any items that they had carried with them to their voyage. Those who had never flown in spaced watched from the small view ports that were scattered about on the ship’s walls; plastering their faces to watch the red planet spin beneath them as they got closer and closer.

Athy held his sea-bag between his legs as he studied the papers that were in his hands. He gripped them tightly, preventing the important documents from floating away into the crowd. The irish born man concentrated his icy-blue eyes on the papers, ignoring the roaring chatter of his fellow soldiers.

“We admire your expertise with your medical skills throughout the years of your service as a Earth Defence Force combat medic. Our records show that you’re a highly decorated serviceman with undying loyalty to his peers and superiors. But despite all of what we have said, we can not allow you to be enlisted for our program. Thanks to un-”

Athy growled and crumbled up the document in his hands and tossed the letter to a soldier who alley-ooped it into the waste bin. The trooper and his friends cheered in mock celebration.

The irishman placed his hands onto his lightly freckled face in disappointment. He’d worked with such dedication to be included in a EDF experiment that heavily involved the best combat medics from around the world. Apparently, he wasn’t good enough and declined his offer as soon as the EDFRA got his application.

“Fuck…” Athy whispered to himself.

Athy’s thoughts were interrupted when the cargo bay was bathed in a gentle yellow light. Everyone understood that the yellow light instructed all personnel to cease what they were doing and strap themselves into their seats.

The troops did what they were told without any hesitation. For those who were gambling with their card games grumbled in irritation as they were forced to quit their game. Surely enough, in a span of two minutes, everyone was strapped in and ready for Little Demon’s descension into the martian atmosphere.

The irishman did what he was being told and strapped the harness around his body. Soon the C-SSX Transport started to shake, rocking the men inside the cargo bay back and forth like a bumpy car ride on a country road. The first-timers looked around the bay, trying to occupy their minds from discouraging thoughts that filled their heads. The individuals who’ve gone on many interplanetary trips continued their conversations with no worry on their minds and voices. Athy relaxed himself in his slightly uncomfortable seat that had very little padding, he alwaysed view the rides as nothing to sweat about as long as a good crew is in control.

The temperature in the cargo bay raised a couple of degrees. If it wasn’t for the heat shields protecting the ship, everyone would be cooked alive in a matter of minutes. The AC units started to come back to life at the command of a crew member of Little Demon; lowering the temp back down to it’s original state.

The trembling of the ship ceased when the transport safely passed through the higher atmospheric levels, all that was left was smooth sailing towards the Cydonian military base. Sighs of relief sounded from the inexperienced troopers when the captain informed the passengers that everything was clear of any problems that might of arisen.

A Little Demon crew member in a white jersey directed everyone to stand and gather their belongings. Like the troopers surrounding him, Athy undid his straps and stood up with his sea-bag on his back. Oxygen masks were being handed out by some of the ship’s crew members.

Even though the terraformers were doing an impressive job on mars, it still proved difficult for someone who wasn’t accumulated to the martian air to breath. Even if someone had managed to adapt, they’d still need the assistance of a better air supply every once in awhile to live. Athy was one of those people who were able to survive without the assistance of a air supply, but over time he’d subcome to his need for better air and wear a mask to help him.

The terraformers was and still is one of humanity's finest achievement. In the year of 2078, NASA, ESA, and a few other space agencies sent thousands of terraformers to Mars. By the year 2193, the martian planet showed signs that it was starting to transform into a habitable secondary home for the human race.

Athy placed the mask on his face and strapped the air-tank onto it’s designated holder onto his rust red cammie pants. The uneven weight on his pants annoyed the pale skinned irishman, every movement that he’d made, the air tank would brush up against his legs and distract him from whatever he was thinking of.

The Little Demon made it’s adjustments so it could land safely onto the long stretch of runway for large space shuttles like the C-SSX. From the opposite end of the runway, the air traffic control tower buzzed with radio chatter as the titanic landing gear of the transport shuttle graced the pavement with it’s wheels.

Everyone inside the space shuttle lurched back when Little Demon used it’s brakes to slow down the speeding craft. The brakes squealed as the momentum of the C-SSX carried on; rumbling along the runway. The two pilots of the ship executed their maneuvers with precision; keeping the craft from swerving and killing its occupants as it speed across the pavement.

The bay master yelled out another command for the passengers. The EDF troops placed their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them. Athy felt the gloved hands of a trooper upon his shoulders; patting him to let him know that he was in position. The soldiers slightly leaned forward for the next stage of the stopping.

Little Demon’s started it’s retroburn, making the passengers brace for the sudden stop that made them lurch backwards. If it wasn’t for the “hands on shoulders” safety procedure, everyone would be in thrown into a pile at the back of the cargo bay. The retorburners were a key factor for stopping large space shuttles such as the C-SSX Transport Vessel.

Small cheers could be heard when the C-SSX came into a halt. The bay master walked over to a large yellow control panel on the fuselage and flicked a switch. Little Demon’s cargo bay doors slowly opened; filling the bay with martian air and dust.

The troops began to file out of the massive cargo bay in formation. Athy was greeted with a small gust of wind; making his clothing flutter in the changing air. He glazed his eyes over the massive military base that was a key factor for EDF control in Cydonia. The Cydonia Military Base wasn’t the largest nor the smallest, it was right in between; just enough to show enough control in an area without disturbing the residents that lived ten kilometers away.

Cydonia Military Base was one of the more famous bases known to mankind. CMB was the fifth EDF base constructed on Mars, the third largest, and the most impressive by Earth’s standards. The CMB’s most important asset is it’s dedication to accommodating the aircraft and spacecraft that frequently filled it’s airspace and hangers. The other noticeable parts of the military base were the barracks, headquarters, motor pool, and armory; all encased in massive biospheres to ensure easy living for those who were within.

Athy desperately wanted to return to his squad mates in A3 barrack, but strict regulations forced all entering personnel to fill some forms in the terminal. Ever since the bombing three years ago by the Insurrectionists on the CMB left some of the personnel paranoid about another attack. So, EDF made is so that everyone had to go through some checkpoints to determine if they’re clear or not.

The man was ushered into the almost emptied terminal building. He expected the people that he was riding with to be with him but apparently they had something else planned for them. Athy just shrugged his shoulders despite the weight of the sea-bag on them.

Athy followed the directions that were described on the walls of the terminal. After turning some corners, he found himself being greeted by a sharp-dressed woman behind a barred kiosk.

“Please place your wrist on the counter so we can scan your ID.” She asked the irishman.

He placed his wrist onto the cold metallic counter for his ID implant to be scanned by the woman. She waved the scanner over the implant, his ID showed up onto the screen in an instant. The woman carefully inspected the man’s record.

NAME: O'BRIEN, NATHAN “ATHY” AENGUS

SEX: MALE

DOB: 16-8-2206

AGE: 28

POB: ATHY, IRELAND

RACE: CAUCASIAN

ALLEGIANCE: EARTH DEFENCE FORCE

RANK: SERGEANT

ROLE: E-5 ELITE COMBAT MEDIC (ADVANCE)

UNIT: 66TH BATTALION, 98TH INF. REGIMENT, 102ND INF. DEVISION

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CLICK HERE 

The woman behind the kiosk looked at the files in front of her on the computer screen. She inspected Athy’s actual picture with the one given on the computer’s files. The slightly pale irishman with short light-brown and freckled face grinned at the viewer of the picture. His blue eyes witnessed many things in all of his twentyeight years living; some good things, some bad things. His build was athletic, Athy was that type of man who cared about his body and spent his mornings working out in the weight room when he had the chance.

“Well Sergeant O’Brien, everything seems to be in order. Take it easy sir and have good day!” The woman chimed in her friendly voice.

The man returned her friendly farewell to the woman. A pair of armored doors opened to allow him entry into the other areas of CMB, he hurriedly brought his sea-bag back onto his shoulders and carried on.

When he passed the armored doors, we continued his way down a long hallway that lead to the rest of the military base. Athy steadily walked, observing the continents on numerous bulletin boards as he went on towards the airtight exit.

He grasped the exit doors in his hands and pulled them open; the barely breathable air quickly encompassing his body and filling the terminal’s hallway. Athy stepped onto the red surface, hearing the crunch of the gravel under his boots. His eyes once again surveyed the base and all of those who worked inside.

 Sergeant O’Brien brought his hand to his oxygen mask and removed it. The mask fell to his chest as he filled his lungs with the martian air. The smell was far from anything that could be related to Earth’s air. Mars had a rust like odor to it’s air due to it’s iron enriched surface. Many would re-attach their mask as soon as the martian scent touched their nose, but Athy quickly adjusted and continued his task at hand.

Troops marched in formation at the command of their superiors. They sang their cadences loud and proud so that the other troops could hear them do their rounds around the base.

“My back aches

My belts too tight

I don’t know but I’ve been told

Martian pussy is mighty cold

Sound off 1, 2

Sound off 3, 4!”

Athy rolled his eyes at the vulgar military cadence that the troops sang aloud to that everyone around could hear them sing their hearts out.

(Three minutes later…)

Athy recognized the familiar heavy-duty, barrack door that was in front of him. He could hear the chatter of his squad mates converse with each other freely within the airtight walls of the dust covered building.

The barrack’s door opened before Athy had the chance to grip the door handle. The man who opened the door was a man who was only in his late teens; Private Hartmann. He was the newest addition to Athy’s squad, the young private wasn’t the brightest out there but his action response and quick wit usually did him well.

“Scheisse- er, guten morgen Sergeant O’Brien!” He saluted in his southern german accent. “Was your little vacation good?”

“I wouldn’t call it a vacation, more alike a trip of disappointment. It was shite to be completely honest.” Athy voiced.

The german rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed that he accidentally stirred something in the Sergeant. “Traurig, I didn’t know. I hope I didn’t set you off so early in your return…”

The irishman patted the young german on the shoulder. “Nah, you’re fine Hartmann. Has everything been well since I left?”

Before the Private could answer, he brought his oxygen mask to his face and filled his lungs and then answered. “It’s been sehr gut sir! Everyone has been taking it rather easy despite all of the commotion with the insurgents in sector E7.”

“Damnt,” Athy cursed silently. “well I better get going.”

The sergeant started his way before the private settled a hand on his shoulder, capturing Athy’s attention.

“One last thing sergeant…” Hartmann paused for a second in thought. “Two days ago, Colonel Xiao ordered our squad to meet with him and several others at the briefing room in A21. What ever it is, it’s highly confidential; the others haven’t had the slightest clue of what it is.” He informed.

“When is the briefing?”

The german let out a huff as he recalled. “I believe around 21:00 hours; tonight.”

Athy looked down at his digital wrist watch; 10:29AM it read in a gentle blue glow. “Alright. Everyone is aware of the briefing, right Hartmann?”

“Yes Sergeant O’Brien, all personnel in our squad are aware.” Private Hartmann answered his superior.

“Good. Now if you’d excuse me, I’m going to recuperate with the rest of the squad; I haven’t seen them in a week.” He excused himself.

The private nodded his head, understanding. “Go ahead, sorry if I kept you longer than you’d like.”

Athy waved the german off and set his course onto the barrack. When he opened the heavy-duty door, the familiar setting of the building made him feel welcomed. His squad mates flashed him friendly smiles and greetings as he walked towards his bunk at the back of barrack A3.

He removed the heavy sea-bag and let it fall to the ground, finally pushing it under his cot with a foot; he’d deal with it later. Athy let his body collapse onto the bed to rest as chatter flowed into his ears; english, french, and german filled the air in an incoherent mess of voices. Another set of sound could be heard; the thumping footsteps of someone getting closer.

The medic flicked his eyes open to search for the owner of the footsteps, and surely enough, the only american in the squad was standing by Athy’s side with a note in his hand.

“Sergeant O’Brien,” He saluted. “two days ago we were given special orders by Colonel Xiao himself-”

Before the american could finish, Athy interrupted him. “Corporal Jackson, I’m aware of the orders that were given to us.”

The corporal listened to his superior even though he had information just for the sergeant. “Sorry sir, I didn’t know that you were already informed. But, a message was sent to you from an unknown source last night.” Jackson handed the note to Athy. “Careful sir, messages like the one you hold sound mighty sketchy.”

The sergeant inspected the note closely. “Thanks…” He mumbled to the american, unsure if he was grateful or not about the message that was given to him.

“No problem sir, if you need anything, come get me.” With those words, Corporal Jackson left.

As the corporal walked away to join his squad mates, Athy studied the message in his hands.

“Jackson is right, this is sketchy…” Athy thought to himself.

The irishman carefully opened the envelope with his thumb and pulled the letter out. Athy’s brain immediately recognized the Colonel’s watermark on the brownish-white paper. He quickly unfolded the document to read what it had to say. He sighed in disbelief at how Colonel Xiao presented the letter; unprofessional was what it was and foolish.

“To Sergeant O’Brien

A series of unforeseen events has lead us in need of you and your squads assistance. As you may know, you and your squad have been requested for briefing at 21:00 hours; but I need to converse with you privately. I need your presence in my office at 15:00 hours so that we may discuss why you and your squad has been chosen…

-Colonel Xiao.”

Athy hissed through his teeth, unsure if what ever he and his squad was getting into was good or not. By the way that the message sounded, something didn’t seem right; an odd feeling began to develop in the Sergeant’s gut. Anyone else who’d read the letter could agree that something wasn’t right.

He placed the odd document back into its envelope and set it beside him on his bed. He twiddled his thumbs as he thought about what would be happening in the mean time. The troops who were in the barracks could see their squad leader's mood change, but they ignored him and continued as they were.

(Three hours later)

Sergeant O’Brien found himself walking down a long, tiled hallway while being escorted by a pair of troopers. He felt that the escort was unneeded; it’s like they were suspecting foul play from the sergeant as they made their way to the Colonel’s office.

A different pair of guards stood at the Colonel’s office entrance; faces lacking any emotion. Their hands were locked behind their back, holding a powerful posture that almost screamed strength.

As Athy and his escort closed their distance, the guards at the entrance opened up the heavy doors to the office. When the sergeant fully entered the office, he gave a crisp salute to the colonel who stood behind his desk.

“You requested my presence sir!” Athy saluted.

The chinese oriented Colonel looked up from his work on the desk, stood up and returned the salute.

“Ah, I’m glad that you’re here Sergeant O’Brien. Please take a seat…” He offered while waving his hand at the chair that was in front of his large mahogany desk.

Nathan O’Brien took the offer from the Colonel and sat himself onto the leather chair. Colonel Xiao nodded at the troops who escorted Athy, they promptly left the Colonel and Sergeant alone.

When the pair left, Xiao focused his eyes on the squad leader. “I’m sure that you’re are wondering why I called for you. Well, prepare to be enlighten…” The chinaman opened a drawer and pulled out a file that had numerous papers occupying it. “I’m going ahead and giving you the information on your mission, I want you to have some foresight…”

Xiao found the papers that he was looking for. The documents that he held in his aged hand were files of each member in Athy’s squad.

“I’m very impressed by your squad’s performance. Strong, reliant, professional, and even more great qualities that I care to talk about. Are you proud of them?”

Athy nodded his head. “Yes sir.”

The Colonel chuckled. “Good.” He peered down at the papers in his hands. “I’m sorry if this so ‘all of the sudden’ but I really need to get this out.” He got out of his leather office chair and walked over to the large window that gave an amazing view of the base. “I need to listen and keep your mouth shut, what I’m about to tell you is highly confidential information. Can you keep a secret? If not, you’re up shit creek without a paddle.”

Again, Athy nodded his head. “Yes sir.”

“Splendid, now about the mission and it’s background.” Colonel Xiao huffed, clearly irritated. “About a week ago, our forces were testing some new experimental technology that could possibly begin the next great step forward into interstellar exploration. The experimental tech was being used on a modified C-X’s hyperdrive engines, after some tests and other prototypes, the experimental tech proved to be promising. Sadly, the insurrectionists discovered what we were doing and decided that they needed the experimental tech for themselves.

Surprisingly, we’ve managed to locate it’s possible location on the uncharted section of Cydonia. The ship’s black-box managed to figure out that something wasn’t right and initiated it’s distress signal and alerted us; lasted for a couple of minutes before it was ceased. The possible location wasn’t the only thing we learned, we know that it’s engines are slightly damaged, along with the experimental tech too. The threat of them flying away is highly unlikely, it seems that they are aware that their prize is damaged and are weary about it.” The Colonel paused, deep in thought. “I think that’s all that needs to be said. If you have any questions, wait until briefing at 21:00; I don’t want any repeats and I’m sure that it’s better if your whole squad is with you.”

Colonel Xiao stood up again and stuck his hand out over his large desk. Athy shook his hand once again.

“Remember what I said; don’t talk to anyone about the information I gave to you until the briefing with your squad.”

“Yes sir.”

“You’re now dismissed.” Xiao finished. “And by the way sergeant, I am telling you this so that you may have extra time to think about the mission.”

Sergeant O’Brien gave his superior another salute and left the colonel’s office with haste.

(Hours later at the briefing room)

Twelve men sat patiently inside the briefing room, waiting for Colonel Xiao to present himself. All of the EDF soldiers were quiet, not bothering to disrupt the silence in the large room.

Athy was one of the twelve men. Unlike the others, he already had some information on their objective. He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt uncomfortable about the mission that was assigned to him and his fellow soldiers. The little back story that was given to him seemed rather eerie…

The overhead lights on the ceiling began to die down as the Colonel walked his way in front of a large metal podium. His black beady eyes scanned the soldiers that were ahead of him; studying their faces closely. To the colonel’s back, a large holo-screen flickered to life with the EDF insignia shining brightly.

Colonel Xiao cleared his throat as the EDF insignia was replaced by several images depicting a large space vessel with a set of peculiar engines, an unrecognizable part of mars, and a group of insurrectionist running into a cave.

“This,” The Xiao started, using a laser pointer on the picture of the space vessel. “is the Inferno, a C-X space shuttle with modified hyperdrive engines that posses some experimental technology that can create a huge impact on the human race. I’m not going to sugar coat it men, this experimental tech could possibly push forward our attempts on future colonization of earth-like planets outside our solar system.”

Some of the troops in Athy’s squad moved at what the colonel said.

“Yes, I did say earth-like planets; planets like Kepler-22b and Gliese 581d, along with others that are much alike, if not better.” The chinese man stopped and chuckled when he saw some jaws drop from the EDF troops. “Interstellar travel… something that our ancestors have been dreaming of for hundreds of years. Now, before all of you get too excited, it’s still experimental, extremely expensive to make, and still in its early stages of development. So far there has only been a very small handful, despite quantity; it’s performance is promising. Anyway, I’m getting off topic…”

The holo-screen behind him changed the pictures that it once depicted; save for one. The picture that it now focused on was the picture of the rebels running into the cave, apparently unaware of the UAV that was high above them. Five figures dressed in the common insurrection uniform, one in red robe that covered the whole body.

“These rebels are the presumed hijackers of the Inferno. With the information that the UAV has gathered, we know that five of the six rebels have heartbeats; so that means that this group is being accompanied by a droid. We don’t know the capabilities of this droid, but we must treat it as a threat just like it’s owners. When our UAV attempted to hack into the droid’s software for information, our little eye in the sky contracted a virus from the droid’s firewall.”

If it wasn’t for the colonel in the room, everyone would’ve probably whispered to each other in distaste. Like the others, Athy had a dislike to anything that killed and didn’t have a heartbeat; droids, drones and other automatons.

Both the EDF and the insurrection used automatons frequently during battles. In a fight, who ever possessed the better drone or droid usually succeeded; with the robot doing the more difficult jobs such as search and destroying.

Anyone on the field knew the capabilities of a highly advanced droid; walking heartless killers.

“I believe that it’s about time that I start the briefing of the actual plan.” Again, the holo-screen changed. Now it was filled with several battleplans glowing. “As always, there will be two fireteams; Quebec and Zulu. Both fireteams will have their usual fireteam leaders, Sergeant O’Brien in charge of Quebec and Sergeant Rowell in charge of Zulu. I’m sure that all of you already know that.”

The colonel flicked his eyes at the troops; they nodded their heads.

“Quebec and Zulu will be transported via a high flying C-SSX. Upon reaching the destination above the cavern entrance, all of you will drop and glide to the required altitude to deploy your chute. When grounded, Zulu will deploy a surveillance drone into the cave to search for any possible signs for current occupants, with possible information that is gathered, both teams will infiltrate and eliminate any resistance.

Once the all clear signal is given, two engineers will parachute down and esses the damage done to Inferno and see if she’s free from tampering and sabotage. While the engineers do their jobs, friendly forces will secure the perimeter; preventing any insurrection from making any moves.” Colonel Xiao finished.

With the brief pause, Athy and his fellow troops started writing down notes, detailing the information on small pieces of paper. Xiao saw this and allowed them to continue, proud that they were so driven to excel their mission.

After three minutes quickly flew by. “All of your armaments will be the same. But this time, two droids will accompany both Quebec and Zulu; the Q-21s will be lightly armored yet deadly, don’t be afraid use them at will.” He placed his slightly wrinkly hands onto the metal podium. “Questions?”

Athy raised his hand, along with several others. Because of the Sergeant’s rank, the general chose him.

“Sir, what if the vessel isn’t there? Do we still continue the search for insurrection? ” He asked.

“If Inferno is not there inside the cavern, then report its state. And yes, you’ll continue the search and destroy of rebels.” Xiao informed.

Sergeant Rowell was picked next. “What would we do if we’re overwhelmed by enemy forces?” He asked.

“You wont.”

If the Colonel wasn’t a harsh man, the whole squad would’ve given him strange looks of confusion. Rowell wanted a better answer, but he knew to never question his superiors answer. Athy gave his allied sergeant a shrug of the shoulders in confusion.

Minutes passed as the general answer question after question, all about the operation that was given to them. When all of the raised hands ceased to rise, the chinese superior started to gather his papers.

“Alright. Everyone will wake up at 4:30AM, quickly eat breakfast away from the other troops, armor up, then leave at 5:15AM. Your destination should be reached at 6:00AM.” Xiao made a brief pause in thought. “I wish all of you the best of luck. This mission can probably determine the future of the EDF/Insurrection conflict.”

(TIME: 4:30AM)

Fireteam Quebec and Zulu woke up at their required time of 4:30AM. All of the men made their way towards the mess hall, only to discover that they were the only ones inside the massive building to eat their breakfast.

Athy and his men were given a hearty meal; several pancakes, a large spoon full of scrambled eggs, toast, sausage, grits, and oatmeal filled not only their plates, but their stomachs too. The meal that was given to them was rather generous, the troops were usually given small portions. Not that the troops minded…

Both Sergeant Rowell and Sergeant O’Brien understood what a large meal usually meant. Every time troops were given a large meal, it hinted that they’ll be occupied for a long period of time and they would be using every single ounce of their energy to get the mission done.

After everyone had eaten their share, they began to head towards the armory that was across the military base. The other occupants of the facility slowly started to wake from their slumber. The sun was barely peeking over the red horizon; the dust that was kicked up from the wind prevented the morning sunrays from blinding those who had just risen.

Finally, after walking for what felt like thirty minutes, Quebec and Zulu entered the armory. The building was more of a partial bunker; half the building was above the ground and the other half was below. The reinforced armory was massive, it held almost every single weapon, armor, ammunition, and powered exoskeleton inside.

Under the watchful eyes of surveillance, the EDF troopers located themselves to their respected area; deep within. The sound of men yelling, pumping themselves up for the mission that they were about to be deployed into. For whatever reason, Athy’s troops loved gearing themselves up inside the bunker-like building, the energy was an odd phenomenon.

The lone irishman unlocked his locker and removed his cammies, replacing them with a special skin-tight under-armor that would provide his body with a more comfortable fit to the outer-layers of armor. The black under-armor helps the wearer move around more easily in his exoskeleton that would soon be acquired. He then fitted his feet into the combat boots, covered his hands with special gloves that would protect his hands from any threats such as flying debris and shrapnel.

Next came the light combat armor. He attached each armor plating to its required area; chest, back (with overlapping armor plates along the spine), thighs, arms, shoulders, knees, shins,  and crotch (covered by groin protector). Majority of his body was protected by the special plates that were covered in active camouflage sensors. When Athy activated the armor’s camouflage, the armor plating turned from its default beige to match the gray metallic walls of the armory. As soon as he steps out of the armory and into the martian air, the armor will then change into a brownish-red hue.

The sergeant then pulled out his TACPAD from his locker and tightly secured it onto it’s designated spot on his left forearm armor plate. The TACPADs were given to each EDF soldier on the field, the arm mounted tactical database is used for analyzing and displaying combat information to the user. The small computer is deemed as one of the most important aspects of the soldier.

 Finally, Athy positioned himself inside a small metal housing that would attach his exoskeleton to him. His arms and legs were spread far apart from each other; ensuring that the robotic arms that were outfitting him would have an easier job. From the corner of his eyes, the sergeant watched as the mechanical arms danced around him, placing each armored component onto his body. He could feel the weight add up as each piece was added, soon, all of the weight from the exosuit would feel weightless thanks to the on-board computer and motor systems. When the small but powerful battery was installed, the whole suit powered to life; all the stress from the weight of the exoskeleton was eliminated from Athy’s body.

With almost no effort, Athy stepped forward from the platform. The sound of the exosuit moving with his body was quiet as a whisper. Even though Athy’s current weight was around 128 kilograms, it would add up as soon as his other gear would be given to him.

Athy wasn’t the only one wearing an exoskeleton. Sergeant Rowell was encased in one too, but was much bigger and more powerful than Athy’s suit. The fireteam leaders were the only ones fitted with exosuits; everyone else wore medium or heavy combat armor.

Some of the crew members of the armory started to help outfit Quebec and Zulu with their equipment. Two men wearing a white jersey with an insignia of a medical cross with a eye in the middle began to load large backpacks know as “Unit One Packs” onto Athy. The backpacks are filled with all of the necessary medical gear to stabilize anyone with the worst of injuries. Whatever the wound may be, a elite medic like Athy could fix it up in a matter of time.

As each pack was loaded up onto Athy’s exoskeleton, the weight added up more and more. The suit was doing it’s job, it eliminated the stress from Athy’s body. He felt a pat on his shoulder; a signal that he was fully loaded with his medical gear.

Athy stepped off the exosuit assembly platform and hulked his way to the firearm distributor.

Much like the crew members in white jerseys, some men in red uniforms started strapping on all of the combat equipment. The irishman stood in front of a armored kiosk where a man in a slightly different red jersey was handing out assigned weapons.

Athy placed his hand onto a scanner; registering the information to the quartermaster. The man in the red jersey confirmed the information and called for another man in a similar uniform to retrieve Athy’s firearm.

Through the armored bars, Athy watched the man remove a gauss rifle off it’s holder and hefted it over towards the quartermaster. The quartermaster gripped the ten kilogram coilgun in his gloved hands and placed it onto the counter and passed it underneath the armored bars of the kiosk.

Athy picked up the XM-50 Gauss Rifle and placed the weapon into his back holster. Like the other stuff that he carries, it felt weightless to Athy. Next, the quartermaster set five magazines down onto the counter, each full of ten tungsten steel alloy projectiles that could shred through most armor. He attached the magazines on to a magnetic holster on his thigh. The last thing that the quartermaster gave him was a battery pack for the gauss rifle. Athy promptly picked it up and slid it into the coil gun and activate it; a hum originated from the weapon in his hand. Lastly, the QM gave Athy a sidearm, a trio of frag grenades, and a standard combat knife.

The medic walked back to locker for the last piece of equipment. Inside the metallic locker was Athy’s helmet, what made it different from the others was the red-cross on a white circular plain. The beige helmet was almost like the other armor plates that he wore, they too were covered in active camouflage sensors.

Athy placed the high-tech brain bucket onto his head and lowered the visor down onto his face. He then locked the visor into place and activated the HUD. His vision was then filled with a gentle blue glow as the systems booted up with his exoskele and TACPAD. A flood of information filled his heads up display; detailing info of his squad along with suit, weapon, and ammunition count.

QUEBEC---

FIRE-TEAM LEADER:: SERGEANT O'BRIEN

MEMBERS:

O’BRIEN

JACKSON

WOLFGANG

HARTMANN

BEAULIEU

RITTER

ZULU---

FIRE-TEAM LEADER:: SERGEANT ROWELL

MEMBERS:

ROWELL

SUMMERS

FAY

LOBO

YAO

TIMMONS

EXOSKELETON:::

ALL SYSTEMS NORMAL

BATTERY:: 100%

CURRENT WEIGHT:: 142 KILOGRAMS

DAMAGE ASSESSMENT:: 0%

ARMOR DAMAGE:: 0%

WEAPONS:::

PRIMARY:: XM-50 GAUSS RIFLE

BATTERY:: 100%

AMMO:: 50x TUNGSTEN STEEL ALLOY DARTS (5 FULL MAGS)

SIDEARM:: M1001

AMMO:: 48x .45 ACP ROUNDS (6 FULL MAGS)

GRENADES:: 3x RIPPER FRAG GRENADES

CLOSE QUARTERS:: STANDARD COMBAT KNIFE

EQUIPMENT:::

REBREATHER:: ALL SYSTEMS NORMAL

HUD:: ALL SYSTEMS NORMAL (100% BATTERY)

RADIO COMMS:: ALL SYSTEMS NORMAL (100% BATTERY, COMM CH. 23)

FLARES:: 2x

FLASHLIGHT:: 100% BATTERY

SOLAR PANELS:: N/A

TOOLS:: ALL ACCOUNTED FOR

MRE:: 5x (ALL VARY)

TASER:: 100% BATTERY

HEALTH:::

HEART-RATE:: 42 BPM

STATUS:: NORMAL (CALM)

DAMAGE/INJURIES:: N/A

BREATHING:: NORMAL

PROBLEMS:: N/A

BLOOD FLOW:: NORMAL

“Sergeant O’Brien, are you ready?” Sergeant Rowell asked over the comm channel.

Athy cleared his HUD of the information that had been blocking his view of the other sergeant. The irishman could tell that all of his fellow troops were starting to head towards the hanger.

“Yeah, I am ready. I was just checking over my systems.” Athy explained.

Sergeant Rowell waved a caged arm at him, anxious to leave for the mission. “Let’s go.”

(3,000 meters above DZ)

The green light that signaled to ready for deployment illuminated the troop bay of the C-SSX. Athy and his troops stood up from their seats and instantly began to check their jumping gear and parachutes. Both of the engineers in Quebec and Zulu turned around from where they stood to double check the chutes of the droids that were accompanying them.

The once solid light now blinked; one by one, the troops began to jump from the safety of the bay and into the dusty martian air. They all fell in formation, each soldier minding the space around them as they got close and closer to the DZ.

The air around Athy whipped around, reminding him to grip the parachute deploy cord in his hand. Sergeant O’brien turned himself around to check on the droids that were with them. Both of the automatons were being held onto by the engineers; the deploy cords in their hands, just like Athy.

A series of loud beeps sounded over the bustling wind. Athy spun around in three hundred and six degrees to check his surroundings. When he saw that he was all clear, he yanked on the deploy cord. The sound of multiple parachutes could barely be heard of the howling wind, the troopers glided their way down to the brownish-red surface that was now hundreds of meters below them.

A thankful sigh escaped the medic’s lips when he saw that all chutes were deployed by his squad mates. His heavy-duty canopy carried him through the air with little difficulty, almost as if he was a gliding vulture searching for it’s next meal.

From high above the ground, Athy could see the cave’s opening; a large black hole on the mountain side.

“How the hell could they fit a damn spaceshuttle in there?” Private Hartmann asked, having to yell over the wind.

A automatic rifleman from Zulu turned his armored head to look at the massive hole in the ground. “You gotta remember, the insurrectionists are crafty guys. I bet theres a fucking hideout beneath all of the rock; complete with everything they need to survive down there like the rats they are. Shit, I bet that theres a fucking cloaked hanger opening on the other side of the mountain.”

“Can you shut the hell up? We’re on a mission here.” Sergeant Rowell sternly commanded the two.

The two did what they were told.

Athy raised his legs for the landing that was quickly coming. He braced his body as his legs slammed into the ground; if it wasn’t for the exoskeleton’s hydraulic-like legs, the full weight of everything on him would’ve crushed his legs. When he landed, a cloud of red dust was kicked up around him; coating him in red dirt. The thumping of boots could be heard all around him as his squad mates landed all around him; creating their own little red clouds of martian dirt.

Athy removed the parachute from his back and left it on the ground, the pick up crew would take care of it when the mission was over. The medic heard a growl of annoyance from behind him, he turned around to see Private Hartmann untangling a droid from its chute.

“Fucking piece of shit droid. Can’t even untangle itself from it’s own goddamn chute.” The german quietly hissed.

Corporal Jackson was tempting to help his friend, but Hartmann just promptly pulled out his CB and started cutting the cords and chute away from the automaton. The robot thought that it was free from his entanglement and tried to take a step forward to join in formation with the other droid.

It’s metallic foot got caught on a series of cords from the parachute. Both of the fire-teams watched in anger towards the droid as it fell to the ground with a thump; slamming it’s head on a rock.

“High-tech my ass…” Hartmann whispered with venom in his voice.

With a few more cuts, the private freed the automaton. The droid casually got back onto it’s feet and joined the other droid as if nothing happened. Athy brought his TACPAD to his visor and located the droid’s files.

DROID:: VECTOR

CLASS:: Q-21

BATTERY:: 99%

DAMAGE:: 3%

WEAPON:: XMR-7 ASSAULT RIFLE

AMMUNITION:: 305x 7.62 (5 FULL MAGS)

OPERATOR:: PRIVATE 1ST CLASS HARTMANN (QUEBEC)

STATIS:: ALL SYSTEMS NORMAL

Athy let out a sign and motioned his fellow troops to follow him to the cavern and line up onto it’s entrance. The sound of the soldiers moving across the rocking surface was almost silent; the quiet sound of gravel crunching under their feet and the exoskeleton’s hydraulics was the only thing that could be heard.

Corporal Jackson dialed a series of commands onto his TACPAD. A small device detached itself from the american’s armored back, the small black quadcopter buzzed to life and hovered above the moving squads. Jackson activated another command to the drone; giving both Quebec and Zulu it’s view on their HUD.

The squad quickly stacked themselves on the entrance of the massive cave. So far, the troops couldn’t see anything inside the cave; it was too dark to tell. The width of the opening was around 78 meters long and the height was around 132 meters tall, a small stream of water flowed from out of the cave.

“Don’t drink the water…” A voice said in Athy’s head; something he heard on his first trip to mars.

Athy enlarged the drone’s view on his HUD. The lone american took control of the recon drone by using his TACPAD to fly. Everyone watched through the quadcopter’s eye as it silently buzzed into the cavern’s mouth.

The cave was dark, almost pitch black, the only source of light came from a few rays of sunshine that peaked through. The corporal activated the drone’s night-vision, the cave’s interior now developed an eerie green hue to its rocky walls. The troops studied the cavern, looking for any signs of activity.

After a few minutes of flying and observing, the drone flew deeper and deeper inside. Soon, the drone picked up signs of activity in the area. A small trail could be seen along a strand of gigantic stalagmites poking from the ground. Jackson flied the quadcopter close to the trail, close enough to see multiple sets of footprints.

Corporal Jackson’s drone followed the trail, until he was guided into a bigger cavern. Even with the drone’s night-vision, it was still difficult to see.

With the information that they gathered, Quebec and Zulu began to slowly enter the cave. They carefully maneuvered around inside the darkness, their formation spread them far apart from one another. Their movements were aided by the help of NV on their HUD, but it only did so much; the darkness still surrounded them.

The drone helped the EDF soldiers find the first clues of human activity within the cave. They stealthily followed the tracks to whatever they lead to; farther and farther down the trail went on into the dark depths of the cave.

Through Athy’s night vision, he could see small strands of insulated wire that lead to somewhere or something.

Sergeant Rowell’s comms crackled to life. “Lookout team, sensors show that we’re entering a large cavern; no other information available.”

“Could it be where the Inferno is, sir?” Private Summers asked while looking through the sites of his rifle.

“Maybe...”

Athy sent out a command to show on everyone’s HUD; all of his troops quickly formed into a line, a droid in the front and a droid in the back of the formation.

Like a mouse, Quebec and Zulu maneuvered further into the dark cavern with their weapons gripped tightly. They took their steps carefully as they pressed their boots into the rocky surface; not wanting to trip and fall onto the rough ground. Their eyes scanned the darkness as if it was going to jump out at them. Heartbeats picked up as they continued into the blackness.

The troopers wanted to use their flashlights or flares instead of their night vision, but the wanted source of light would give away their element of surprise if they were to stumble upon the enemy.

Knuckles turned white when the squad heard a series of rocks crumble down a ledge. Rifles turned towards the source of sound; expecting someone to be pointing their gun at them. Sergeant Rowell ordered to move on, leaving him to scan the ledge one more time before he carried on.

Again, several more rocks fell, causing loud echoes to bounce of the walls of the titanic cavern. Athy gave a command to make a defensive formation; something wasn’t right and he could feel it in his gut.

*CLINK!*

*PING!*

The eyes of the EDF soldiers became assaulted by a blinding light from an unknown source. Grunts of irritation sounded from them as Athy attempted to give a command; only to be interrupted by a thunderous bang and electrifying shock.

Sergeant Rowell and Sergeant O’Brien collapsed to the ground in paralysing pain as thousands of volts of electricity wracked their bodies and exoskeletons. The surge of electricity override the suit’s functions and made them systems fail; leaving the wearer to fall to the ground with a thud.

Athy’s eyes could barely see what was going on around him; he was dazed, his eyes seemed to have a mind of their own, and they were drastically out of focus. His ears ringed like an old church bell on a sunday morning; making him groan. The medic’s head throbbed in pain, it felt as if he was hit in the head with a shovel.

Suddenly, the cavern was illuminated by large fluorescent lights that dotted the cave’s walls. Athy wanted to see more, but his vision wouldn’t allow him  

The irishman wasn’t the only one experiencing the paralysing pain. The cave’s interior filled with groans and moans as the soldiers struggled to get their bodies to cooperate. Athy’s head managed to fall to his right shoulder, giving him a view of what was coming towards his men.

A menacing bipedal automaton stomped its way towards the droid that had caused trouble at the start of the mission. It sent out it’s right metalic hand and gripped the other droid’s head and started to close it’s fingers; crushing the reinforced cranium of it’s victim. The EDF droid wanted to resist but couldn’t, not only did the electricity from the ambush stun it’s systems, but the offending droid’s power was too great. The hand of the black and dark-orange droid crushed the head of the Q-21’s as if it was a empty soda can.

Athy made a connection; this was the insurrection droid that was shown in the debriefing.

With little effort, the insurrection droid removed the head of the Q-21 off it’s shoulders and tossed it to the side like a broken toy. Unfortunately for Athy, the victorious automaton stared at him with it’s glowing red photoreceptors. It’s long, narrow face had a white skull painted on.

Laughter echoed off the cavern walls, filling the EDF soldiers ear’s as they laid on the rocky ground. Athy couldn't see the owner, but he knew that it wasn’t anyone’s from his squad. A set of claps sounded from an unknown owner from behind the insurrection droid.

Sergeant Rowell managed to recuperate with his body, his exosuit managed to bring it’s systems back online too, the sergeant brought his rifle into firing position while in prone.

Like a flash of lightning, the droid dashed over to Sergeant Rowell and kicked his assault rifle out of his hands with it’s metallic claw-like foot. The weapon soared through the air and fell to the ground ten feet away and skidded towards a pair of mysterious boots.

Before Rowell could reach for his sidearm, the droid used it’s clawed foot and slam the man’s head into the ground.

“Don’t you try to do anything stupid EDF pig!” A masculine voice roared. “If you do, I’ll blow your brains out all over your buddies!”

Athy was about to send his hand out to reach for his handgun but was stopped by a pair of cold hands.

“Same with you fucktard.” Athy heard from behind; his captor crushing his hands into a ball.

The medic watched in anger, all of his squad mates were being disarmed, stripped of all of their weapons, and secured with reinforced handcuffs. Athy felt the cold sensation of metal cuffs being locked on his wrist, just like his troops.

The insurrection droid walked over towards the last EDF automaton, who was suffering from a malfunction with it’s right leg. The black and dark-orange droid once again gripped its victim’s head and crushed it as if it was nothing.

Five insurrectionist men surrounded the captured EDF soldiers, all briefly celebrating their capture. One of them, who Athy guessed was the ringleader, stepped slowly towards him.

The man was dressed in the common insurrection ‘Freedom’ uniform; dirty and covered in red dirt. He was a white man with a athletic build, just like Athy’s. He had a dangerous looking pair of green eyes, peering into Athy’s blue irises like a cold killer. His grin was chilling, anyone who’d look at his cheshire smile would shiver in discomfort. His head was adorned with a small mohawk, a odd hairstyle for rebels like the insurrectionists; they all tried to look the same to confuse the authorities.

“Hot damn boys! Look at what has stumbled into our humble abode without our permission.” The ringleader yelled to his group.

A large insurrectionist grunted in annoyance. “Zex, who about you do us all a favor and shut up.”

The ringleader, who Athy had just learned his name, glared at the offender with a unamused face. “Fuck you.” He stuck his middle finger at him. “Now, lets see who these guys are…”

Zex motioned for one of his crew to join him by his side. A man calmly walked towards him with the droid following in his shadow. Athy couldn’t make out any of his facial features; a large mask covered most of his face except for his eyes and forehead. The man’s build was not as impressive as his fellow rebels, his build was more lanky than athletic. His eyes were a dark brown, the clash of his brown irises and black pupils made his eyes look like black marbles rather than actual eyes. But the major thing that made him stand out from the rest was his left arm. He too had a TACPAD like all of the others, but instead of it being a piece of equipment on forearm armor, the TACPAD was literally embedded into his arm. The augmentation was a grisly sight; it made Athy think of the procedure to get the device into his arm.

The man with the augmented arm stumbled next to Zex like a man who had too much to drink at the local pub. Zex leaned in and started to whisper a command to the man who was now lightly swaying back and forth.

“Droideka,” He slurred out, definitely buzzed. The droid that had easily disposed of the EDF droids snapped his attention to the man who called it’s name. “force the medic to the ground so I can scan him.”

Sergeant O’Brien held his breath as Droideka stopped his way towards him. In a blink of an eye, the droid kicked Athy to the ground and pressed a foot onto the man’s back to keep him from moving. The man groaned in pain that was inflicted on, before he could get a better gasp of air, the droid pulled Athy’s arms out and into the open.

All of the captured EDF soldiers watched as their squad leader was roughly treated by the automaton. The sergeant grunted in pain as the droid pulled his cuffed hands behind his head and waited for the augmented man.

Corporal Jackson cussed a storm under his breath, the american tried to send a distress signal. But the cry for help couldn’t be heard, the rebels had jammed their comms.

The augmented man aimed his scanning gun at Athy’s ID implant. A series of small red lasers traveled up and down on the area of the ID. The sergeant cussed silently, all of his information had been violated by an insurrection scum.

The rebel with the embedded TACPAD clicked his tongue as he observed the information that was being uploaded into his augmentation.

“Lets see…” He began. “Sergeant O’Brien, first name Nathan, last name O’Brien. Goes by Athy; probably because you home is Athy, Ireland.” He shot the irishman a cocky grin. “Am I right Mr. Potato?”

Athy didn’t even reply, he just did his best to ignore him.

Everyone in the cavern watched the commander of the droid slowly walk around the downed sergeant. His marble like eyes peered down at the exosuit that surrounded the medic’s muscular body.

“I’ve always wanted my own exoskeleton just like yours. Not to big like your buddies,” He jabbed his thumb towards Sergeant Rowell. “but yours is just the right size so that I may move around more freely. Imagine the shit I can do with such a thing!” He slurred drunkenly.

The ringleader sighed. “I’m sorry to interrupt your useless rambling cody, but we really need to get outa here. Their superiors are probably wondering what the hell happened to them and are most likely debating whether or not to send reinforcements. Fuck, not only that but we can’t keep their comms jammed forever too. So get your goddamn job finished so we can haul them off!” Zex hissed.

The menacing droid detected the hostility directed towards his master and turned it’s body towards Zex.

“Try anything stupid Droideka, I swear to fucking god I’ll launch your metal ass into the fucking sun.” Zex growled a deadly threat towards the droid.

The augmented man known as Cody took a deep breath to calm himself. “Stand down Droideka.”

The hands of the automaton clamped shut as he turned away from the ringleader to rejoin Cody’s side. The EDF troopers glanced at each other to confirm the bizarre display that happened.

In a blink of an eye, Zex’s mood changed from anger to disturbingly joyful. He clapped his gloved hands in merriment; grinning like a madman all awhile. “Shit! I forgot all about our sweet new ride!”

“So, this really is the guy who hijacked the Inferno. Seems to be that he still has it… strange. Insurrection usually sell stolen goods- oh wait, its a very unique ship. He’s probably keeping it as a trophy, could be holding it for others uses too.” Athy thought in his throbbing head.

“Aldar,” Zex yelled, capturing the giant insurrection man’s attention. “we’re going to need you muscles.”

The giant stood up from his sitting position, reaching the staggering height of about two meters; give or take a little. His muscles practically threatened to tear away the red-uniform he wore; at first glance, his arms could be compared to be thick as a tree trunk. He had pale blue eyes that seemed to be slightly glazed over with an odd sheen to it’s look. The giant’s skin comparable to Athy’s irish skin; pale. His light brown hair was buzzed short, probably to deter anyone from grabbing it during a fight. His face was adorned by a stubble of a beard, giving him an almost moutain man appearance.

“I’m gonna need to you to drag the sergeant in the bigger exoskeleton into the Inferno.” The ringleader commanded.

The giant simply nodded his head and did as he was told. Aldar gripped the arms of the sergeant’s exosuit with his massive hands and started to pull him along the grown. The EDF soldiers watched in astonishment at the massive feat that the large rebel was performing. Sergeant Rowell’s exoskeleton was well over two hundred and fifty kilos; yet he was dragging it behind him as if it was nothing but a sack of rocks.

“Everyone else, take a prisoner and force them into the cargo bay of our ship. I have plans for them. After they’re all in, gather their weapons and ammo; we can put it in good use.” Zex commanded the others.

Athy’s men desperately wanted to break free, but all of them knew that the odds were against their favor and if they dared to make an attempted to escape, they’d probably be killed just like the droids.

Two of the unknown rebels forced two of Sergeant Rowell’s men to their feet and ordered them to put their hands onto their shoulders with their head forced down. The insurrectionists ordered two more troopers to stand and perform the same procedure as the others did.

Before Athy could see the others stand, the irishman felt a pair of metallic hands grip his neck and pulled upwards, forcing him to stand to his feet.

“Careful Droideka, don’t break his neck.” Athy heard Cody order his automaton. “Dead EDF pigs don’t carry a high ransom.”

Droideka pushed Athy forward towards the EDF’s mission objective.

The Inferno was docked on a landing pad platform in the middle of the gigantic cavern; how Athy and his troops missed it was a mystery. The modified engines of the ship was the most notable thing about the vessel, the large alien-like slipspace drive almost engulfed the engines in a metallic cocoon. It’s cargo bay doors were open, giving a view of the compartment that was full of clustered items. The hull of the C-X was painted pitchblack, giving it an almost invisible quality while flying through space.

As each step Athy took, he noticed that the fuselage had been damaged by small arms fire; shallow dents were pocked all of the vessels body, in some areas the armor plating looked like a golf ball.

“Fuck!” Zex screamed. He looked away from his TACPAD and punched the cavern wall in anger. “Son of a fucking bitch. Alright, we really need to go, the sensors of our outer perimeter have detected two Zipher-class fighters coming our way. Team, load them up along with their equipment and hurry. We need to get off this fucking rock.”

The demanding commands of the Insurrectionists filled his ears as him and his troops were forced into the cramped cargo bay of the C-X. A small ray of hope surfaced for the EDF soldiers of Quebec and Zulu; their chances of survival rising.

Cody dashed towards the cockpit of the modified C-X. The controls were familiar to him; save for the control panel for the slipspace drive that was built in. The man with the augmented arm had flown many of these shuttles before, his first job for the insurrection was to steal space vessels and sell them to the blackmarket on Phobos.

Aldar gave Cody the all clear signal when everyone and everything was aboard.

Athy watched as the docking platform started to raise. He shuffled his weight uncomfortably in his exosuit, the wearer wasn’t normally supposed to sit in the suits. One of the unidentified troops started blindfolding the EDF soldiers with dirty rags covered in black oil. Those who tried to resist earned a slap to the face from the large rebel who observed the captives like a hawk.

Cody dialed a command into his TACPAD. The cavern wall in front of Inferno started to slowly open, the gears and mechanics of the door screamed and groaned in stress as the opening grew larger and larger. The lone pilot activated the engines of the modified ship; filling the cavern with a deafening roar and heated air.

“Hurry up Cody, they already passed the inner sensors. They’re going to be here any minute!” The ringleader yelled over the roar of the engine.

Cody sighed. “I’m going as fast as I can! The modified engines aren’t exactly the fastest thing to start up.” The man flipped some switches, pushed some buttons; and soon enough, the Inferno hovered off the landing pad. “Okay…. now lets just easily fly outta here.”

The medic could feel the ship move, the hope of being saved was ceased as fast as it had came. Athy couldn’t see his squad mates, but he could feel their worry practically radiating off of them.

“We’re fucked.” Athy thought.

Cody worked as fast as his body and mind would allow him. Being the only pilot made flying the shuttle much more difficult that it already was. The headset that he wore crackled to life, startling the man.

“I thought I canceled all com-”

“By the order of the Earth Defense Force, we demand that you land the ship that you’ve stolen. Any and all-”

Before the speaker could continue, Zex removed the headset off Cody’s head and placed it on his head and adjusted the boom.

“This is the new captain of the Inferno. We reject all of your commands and promptly ask you to go fuck yourself, have a nice day sir.” With those final words, Zex disconnected the comms.

Cody precisely directed the shuttle out of the hidden hangar. He gripped the flight controls with his now sweaty hands; the stress of the situation made him think and act harder. When the Inferno cleared out of the cave, two Zipher fighters roared high above them with a vapor trail behind in their wake.

“I don’t like the feeling of this…” Zex hissed towards Cody.

The pilot growled. “Neither to I, and I’m the one flying. If I screw up, we’re all dead.”

“All dead?” Zex asked. “I highly doubt that we’ll die if you some how managed to fuck up and crash.”

Cody shook his head. “I’m not worried about crashing, I’m worried that they’re going to shoot us down before we even leave this planet.”

The rebel ringleader laughed. “HA, you think they’re going to attack us? Bro, they know that we have hostages-”

“*BEEP BEEP* WARNING LOCK-ON DETECTED!” The on-board flight assistant informed.

Zex rubbed the back of his head in surprise. “That’s messed up.”

The augmented man ignored his and peered around the main control panel of the C-X. “Flares… where are you? Ah, here you are!”

With a push of a button, the IR flares of the Inferno launched from under the wings. The warning systems died down as the air around them was filled with flares.

“Cody, we need to go!” Zex once again yelled.

“I know, what the fuck do you think I’m doing?!” The pilot yelled.

All hope died when everyone in Quebec and Zulu heard the lock-on signal. They now understood that their own side was willing to ignore their deaths just to make sure that a small handful of rebels wouldn’t get away. Not only that, they were willing to destroy a new piece of technology while killing an elite squad of loyal troops.

“We’re really fucked.” Athy thought once more.

The intensity of the engine grew once more when Cody sent more power to the thrusters. The vessel soared through the air at three hundred meters an hour with an incline that made it a challenge to stand.

The cockpit filled with the warnings of a missile lock from the EDF fighters. Cody silently edged the shuttle on as it made it’s way through the lower levels of the atmosphere. The higher they went, the more speed the Inferno picked up. The cargo bay rattled as the equipment shook violently, it felt as if there was an earthquake actually shaking it.

“Come on, come on we’re almost there…. Just a little bit further!” Cody stressed.

Aldar turned away from the captured troops to glance at the cockpit. “Are you sure they won’t follow us when we’re in space?” He asked in a heavily icelandic accent.

Another set of warnings rang from the control panels. The pilot swiftly turned them off and addressed the large rebel. “They can’t. Zipher fighters aren’t built to access space, their engines require air to function properly.”

“And if they have a cruiser overhead.” Zex added to the question.

Cody bit his lip. “Then we’re fucked; probably. If we desperately need to get away when we’re up there, we can always test out the slipspace drive.”

“WARNING: TYPE-TEN ENEMY MISSILE LAUNCHED. USE EVASIVE MANEUVERS.”

The marble like eyes of the pilot widen in fear. Type-ten tracers missiles were impossible to escape from without IR flares; which they had just used up in the short span of time. Cody couldn’t perform any evasive maneuvers, the ship couldn’t handle the stress.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

The repetitive warnings filled the entire ship. The augmented man skills couldn’t prevent what was to come.

Everyone side the C-X was violently thrown towards the starboard when the missile slammed into the port of the ship. Fortunately, the type-ten missile failed to penetrate the armor of the shuttle but still damaged a small section of the wing.

“Droideka!” Cody yelled to the automaton. The droid snapped his attention to his master. “Take control while I start up the slipspace drive!”

When Cody left the pilot’s seat, the droid slipped itself behind the controls. Droideka knew how to fly a C-X, it watched his master whenever they had stolen a ship; learning to pilot the shuttles to the point that it could to it himself.

Cody’s hands flew across the controls of the slipspace drive panel. The buttons and switches and other devices were foreign to him, he never expected to use such a device in his whole life.

When the rebels had first hijacked the Inferno, Cody interrogated the pilots almost to the point of death just to learn how to operate the new tech. The pilots were stubborn, but after filling one of the ears of a pilot with molten lead, the other confessed as much information he knew about the slipspace drive.

“Alright, lets see…” Cody mumbled. He tentatively coded in a series of commands into the console. Seconds felt like minutes as he worked, nervously pressing buttons in hopes that he was doing everything right. “Almost got it…”

The slipspace engines hummed to life, confirming the beliefs that Cody was doing it right. The insurrectionists sighed in relief, the threat of being killed dwindling away as they were approaching the upper layer of the martian atmosphere.

“Slipspace jump in ten, nine, eight, seven…” The flight assistant counted down to slipspace jump.

The ears of EDF soldiers were filled with the cheers of the rebels, a new feeling of despair growing for the captured by the troops. Athy tried to keep his head clear of what the rebels were planning to do with nim and his men.

“Five, four… WARNING, ENEMY MISSILE LAUNCHED” The flight assistant warned, too late for the Inferno and her occupants.

Cody gripped his hair with his hands in shock and fear. “AW SHIT THE SLIPSPA-”

The type-ten missile slammed into the modified engines of the C-X. Bits and pieces of the shuttle were violently torn off the vessel, warnings and emergency sounds and displays filled the entire cockpit in a inconceivable mess.

For what happened next filled the occupants of the cockpit in fascination and fear; a large distorted void appeared in front of the ship. Everyone was thrown back as the engines made it’s last thrust; a thrust that would send the group of humans on a unfavored path.

They were going to be far from Cydonia…

(Meanwhile, several billion light years away…)

Princess Celestia, the co-ruler of the Equestrian Empire, marveled at the sight that was ahead of her. Her loving magenta eyes admired the massive crystalline superstructure that speared out from the other smaller crystal building that surrounded it. Anypony who basked in the gentle glow of the Crystal Castle could feel the love radiating off; captivating both the hearts and minds of the ponies who lived within the protective shielding that surrounded the whole empire.

A single set of flapping wings could be heard, wings that Celestia knew; her sister’s. The eldest alicorn turned around to see her sister slowly walking towards her, making the snow crunch underneath her horseshoes.

“Isn’t the Crystal Kingdom lovely this time of year Luna?”

The darkblue alicorn filled her lungs with the chilled fresh air. “Aye, it is. The beauty is truly mesmerizing.”

Princess Celestia let a little giggle escape her lips. “It’s hard to believe that our dear Cadence is now the beloved leader of this astonishing kingdom. Never before have I met a mare who’s so able and willing to take care of the once-abused subjects of this empire.”

“She truly is capable of fulfilling her duties as a honorable leader who wishes the best for her ponies.” Princess Luna added.

The Solar Mare allowed a grin adorn her face. “I remember when she was a small little filly…” She turned her head away from her sibling. “Anyway, how about we return to the Crystal Castle. We’re bound to catch a cold by standing out here without any warm clothing to protect us.”

The Lunar mare lightly shivered. “I agree, it’s a bit cold for my liking, dear sister.” She used her large cerulean eyes to scan the city, admiring all of the decorations that littered the crystalline building. “I can’t wait for Hearth's Warming; for the first time in centuries, the crystal ponies will finally re-experience the joy filled holiday.”

Celestia nodded her head. “It’ll be a whole new experience on it’s own. I’m so glad that Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor invited us here so that we may enjoy the historical moment with them.”

The sound of a train’s whistle could barely be heard in the distance.

“Tia,” Luna began. “isn’t that the train the Elements of Harmony are occupying?”

“It should be, judging by the sun. Come let’s go and greet them; they must be so anxious to meet us.”

With those final words, both of the alicorns started to make their way to the train station while bearing the cold that chilled their bones.