Atlantic Ocean

  2093.06.23

  Later that early morning, the 17th Eclipse Platoon was gathered by the docks of the base stationed in Argentina. They were reading themselves to board the battle cruiser, Sword of Angels, which is part of Salvador’s Fleet. They are to meet with the Fleet Miss Helena stationed at Saint Helena Island. The platoon was checking gear and equipment to make sure they had everything for their mission to Africa.

  Malery and Flechter were walking down to the docks, holding a Kornet launcher. Right behind them was General Troyer, pushing a cart of concealed missile tubes. Manteo grabbed the watch in his pocket, brushed the glass with his thumb, and strapped the watch on.

  “Here we go again, Dad,” he whispered to himself.

  Manteo looked up at the battle cruiser, anxiously waiting for the boarding. Carl was beside him, strapping on his backpack. Malery was checking the missile tubes for the Kornet, and then gave a glance at Manteo. Stood up and walked over to him. Manteo looked away, trying to ignore her eyes as she approached him.

  “Mr.Ramirez. If things go south, have your back.”

  Manteo was embarrassed by the interaction and continued to avoid eye contact.

  “Thank you…Jacobs," she gave a soft smile and walked away. Carl overheard and responded, “Yo, I think she likes you.” he grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it.

  “Shut up, that's disgusting, I would never.” Manteo's cheeks became a little hot, and he wanted to punch Carl for his comment.

  “Nah, in all seriousness, man. I gotchu too.” Carl smiled, his hand on Manteo still, giving him a little shake after releasing.

  Manteo never thought about a love life. He has been fighting for years, and that thought never crossed his mind. He was so busy thinking about saving humanity and avenging his family that he never thought of having his own. But with Malery. Never would he do such a thing; he hated her bossing him around, the snarky behavior she had at times, and the way she always embarrassed him in front of everyone.

  Moments later, after waiting, the Swords of Angels amphitheater speakers went off. The captain was announcing all parties to board for takeoff. The 17th Eclipse gathered its supplies and boarded the cruiser. And the mission of the Eclpise has begun.

  ***

  Sword of Angels had been sailing for some time now and was only a few miles away from reaching Salvador's fleet. This was a large fleet; there were four Aircraft Carriers, ten battle cruisers, seven Destroyers, fifteen Frigates, and forty-five Assault ships. The total is just above one hundred twenty-eight thousand men. The Fleet the Ecplise was traveling with, Salvador’s Fleet, contains two Aircraft Carriers, six Battle cruisers, three Destroyers, thirty Frigates, and thirty Assault Ships. They hold above three hundred thousand men. This was one of the largest navies humanity had left. This fleet was the only way humanity could punch a hole into the front lines off the shores of Africa. Swords of Angels is commanded by Captain Conners. He sat in his chair on the command deck when he received a message.

  “Captain, we have an incoming call,” one of his crew members announced.

  “From whom?” Conners responded to his naval communications officer.

  “It’s Fleet Admiral Gurnee, sir.”

  “Patch him through,” Captain Conners straightened himself in his chair. “This is Fleet Admiral Gurnee, of Fleet Salvador. Who am I speaking with?”

  “You're speaking with Captain Rylan J. Conners, in command of Sword of Angels.”

  “Good to hear from you. I’ve been expecting your arrival.” There was a pause for a moment.

  “We got bad news, we got junkies inbound. By the time you reach us, they will be all over.” Captain Conners looked at one of his crew.

  “Get everyone on alert and to their battle stations.”

  “Aye, sir.” The combat-ready alarm system went off. The crew member on comms announced to all soldiers to man their stations.

  “Admiral? What’s their firepower? Should we’ve worried?” Conners asked.

  “No clue, Captain, my recon scouts were blown to pieces before they could return to the fleet.” Captain Conners became worried.

  “Admiral? We got a Special Eclipse on board. They need safe passage to Africa.”

  “I am aware of their presence, have them board SSG Calvin. I will ensure their safe departure.

  “Aye, aye, Admiral. Give 'em hell.” Admiral Salvador ended the transmission. Captain Conners began commanding his staff to prepare for war.

  ***

  Sword of Angels arrived at Fleet Salvador; some of their ships were on fire and smoky. Of course, there they were. The Machines. Their battlecruisers and frigates are targeting all allied personnel. Several ships were sinking, and the lifeboats were leaving. Water spitting out into space from explosions. Loud cracking filled the air with the sound of cannon fire and anti-aircraft guns. Jets flying in the sky, dogfights all around. Some Jets are crashing into the ocean. Bombers flying overhead, dropping bombs, missing their targets. Swords of Angels was hailed by the nearby battlecruiser, asking for assistance. The battlecruiser was surrounded by machine U-boats. Sword of Angels deployed a small fleet of boats to assist.

  Meanwhile, on the Sword of Angels, the Ecplise platoon on board was preparing arms. In the barracks room on the 3rd floor. Captain Bailey gathered his team, Alpha squad. This includes Specialist Manteo Ramirez, Private First Class Carl Simmons, Senior Airmen Flechter Adams, and Airmen First Class Jin Sage. General Henry Troyer gathered his team, Omega squad. Which includes First Lieutenant James White, First Lieutenant Malery Jacobs, Corporal Haider Sammus, and Seamen Kamala Jackson. General Troyer hailed Captain Conners for departure.

  “Captain, are we safe to leave?” He had his hand on his left ear.

  “Head to dock bay five. There will be two crafts waiting for you. Then I will give you the go for departure. We are two miles from the SSG Calvin post.”

  “Alright, Captain, we are headed over there now.” Then, the very next moment, a loud explosion is heard, muffled by the ship's layers of metal. The explosion was so big that the entire ship rattled, creaked, and swayed to the side. The lights in the room and hallways flickered for a brief second and returned to normal. Everyone jumped, but kept their calm and focused their attention on the general.

  “Platoon! We are on the move. Double time. We head to Dock Bay Five.” General motioned with his hand to head out of the room.

  “General, are we boarding the other ship?” asked Lieutant Jacobs.

  “Yes, Jacobs, now move it. I don’t think this ship will last.” Still motioning everyone until the last person was out of the room. The Eclpise were moving down the hallways, making their way to the Dock Bay Five. Manteo was nervous, scared. He hated the ocean; it was an inescapable abyss to him. He kept his cool and focused on the mission to get off this ship. General Troyer placed his hand on his ear again. “You're breaking up. Repeat.” There was a worried expression on his face. “Captain, you there?” Everyone stopped in their steps.

  “This isn’t good. Faster pace, everyone,” gave a hand signal to move forward to the platoon.

  What the Eclispe didn't know is on the top deck. The machines have boarded and started killing everyone. One infiltrated the command deck, almost killing the Captain, but only a few of his staff made it. The captain tried to warn the General, but his ear comms were busted. He struggled to find another on the command deck. The room was smoky and barely lit, as the machine was shooting all over the place, but the crew on the command deck was able to kill it before more damage was done. The captain was luckily able to find an earpiece. It was on his chief communications officer's body. He placed his hand on the body and bowed his head. He grabbed the earpiece and reached out to the eclipse.

  “Come in, General-,” trying to catch his breath. “It’s Captain Conners.”

  “I hear you. What hit the fan?” the General exclaimed.

  “We got junkies-” he coughed from the smoke in the room. “on board, watch yourself.” The General alerted his platoon. They bared arms, ready to meet the enemy face to face. The moment after the call, another explosion. But this time, right in the side of the ship where the Eclipse was, in the hallways. The wall imploded inward, tossing Manteo backward, as mental shads and air-compression pipes burst. Fire erupts in the air. All members ragdolling as well, hitting the walls and the ceiling. The alarms went off, and the intercom repeated the message, “Breach on level 4, breach on level 4.” Everyone was getting back onto their feet, checking their weapons and gear. Checking themselves for injuries. Manteo felt a warm sensation on his head and liquid trickling down his forehead. He touched it with his hand and brought it to his face. It was his blood.

  “Is everyone alright!’ yelled Lieutenant White.

  “Oh no! We need a medkit here!” shouted Sage, on his knees, hovering over the body of Carl Simmions. Manteo rushed over and looked at Carl's body. It had a large laceration on its lower left abdomen. Carl was completely unconscious, no movement or sound. Sage checked for a pulse, “He is alive. Someone give me something to wrap his wound.”

  “Right here!” Sammus tossed a large gauze wrap to Sage.

  Sage began to pack his wound with gauze to stop the bleeding. And warp his entire abdomen to hold pressure. Manteo watched all this unfold, completely shocked by the scene. One of his team members was badly hurt and wasn’t sure if he was going to make it. They can’t lose another person; it was bad enough to lose two others a while back, but another would be too much. This made Manteo sick to his stomach.

  “We've got to move. Bailey, Sage, pick up Simmons, we are not leaving him here,” said Troyer, grabbing his gun off the floor. Sage and Bailey picked up Carl, placed his arms over their shoulders, and dragged him. Manteo was frozen, still looking at where Carl laid. Malery tapped his shoulder. Mateo looked at her. He looked into her eyes; he could see she was worried, worried for him. He nodded at her to let her know he was good, and he began to follow along with everyone else. Checked his gun quickly and began to move toward his team. He was falling behind a bit. He looked at the gaping hole caused by the explosion and could see clearly outside. He looked out and saw a Frigate, sinking, on fire, and people jumping off. Things are not going well out there, he thought to himself.

  The Eclipse reached docking bay five and saw the two boats left for them. Marines were attending to them to have them ready for departure upon the arrival of the Eclipse. They all boarded, Bailey and Sage gently placed Carl's body on the boat. Then the platoon broke into its squads. Kamala Jackson took the wheel of one boat with the Omega squad. Adams was behind the wheel of the other with the Alpha squad. Started the engines and slowly left the docking bay out to the ocean.

  “Captain Conners, we are in Docking Bay Five, ready for take off. Are we good to go?” Troyer is talking through his earpiece.

  “Yes, we are two thousand feet from the SSG Calvin. They will take you abroad and transport you to Saint Helena Island.”

  “Aye, Captain. Give 'em hell.”

  General Troyer motioned his platoon to start their engine and take off. When all of a sudden, a loud bang came from behind them. There stood a tall Manchie, gunning down all the marines in the bay. Manteo got on the boat's gun and aimed it at the machine. Pressed the trigger and felt the kick back from the gun as it shot heavy rounds toward the Machine, hitting it with precision. It wasn't quite enough to stop it. It bent forward in the position all Marines know of. It was ready to fire its missile pod.

  “Missiles inbound!” Manteo shouted out.

  Four missiles shot out of the machine, shrieking by both boats, missing them, and hitting the water. The Machine raised its hand and began firing its wrist-mounted gun barrels. Manteo focused his aim back on the machine. The boats were almost out of the docking bay, out into the warzone on the water. Admas grabs a kornet launcher from his bag. Yelled at Jacobs to keep the boat steady to lock on the target. Manteo kept his suppressive fire on the machine.

  “3, 2, 1…LOCK! FIRING!” shouted Adams, the kornet's missile launched out, screaming toward the machine, making a direct hit. The machine let out an eerie metallic shriek and burst into flames, falling over a railing into the water.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Target down, nice shot, Lieutenant,” Manteo said. The boats safely exited the docking bay into the open waters.

  All around them was chaos. Jets flying by, screaming, firing, and launching missiles. Cannon fire and the sound of gunfire deafened the air. The Eclipses were looking for the SSG Calvin. It was nowhere to be found. Troyer hailed Captain Conners for directions on which way to head. Conners told him they should be 500 feet from reach. The Eclipse boats sailed through some smoke and debris from a sunken I.T.C. ship. When they emerged from the smoke, there was the SSG Calvin, taking heavy fire from a nearby I.T.C. battle cruiser. Alpha squad was on alert, same as Omgea. Troyer hailed SSG Calvin. No answer. A loud humming sound can be heard; it's far away. But very loud, it can be heard through all the cannon fire in the air. It got closer.

  “SSG Calvin, come in. This is General Troyer of the 17th Eclipse. Permission ot board?” Silence. A huge hole burst out with an explosion on the tip of the SSG Calivn; metal shrapnel flew everywhere, and a piece missed Jin Sage. That loud humming was very close now. It sounds like a muffled man’s scream on a low pitch. It made everyone on edge; the hairs on their bodies stood up. Manteo looked up to the sky and saw a large triangle-shaped airplane resembling a B-2 Spirit bomber. It had three more trailing behind it. They flew over their head. Manteo kept eye contact, watching them as they flew toward Sword of Angels. The nearby enemy battle cruiser stopped firing upon SSG Calvin.

  ***

  We head back into the command deck of Sword of Angels, Captain Conners sitting in his chair, just hanging up his call from General Troyer.

  “What's the damage?” he asked his crew. One of the crew members looked at his cracked screen.

  “Captain, hull’s damaged pretty bad, armor breached forty percent integrity. Lower levels taking in water, sir.”

  “Damn, weapon systems?” Grabbing the chair armrest and squeezing it with anger.

  “AA guns offline, torpedo launchers busted, main canon is all we have. Sir,” the crew member, looking up to the Captain. Scared, admitting defeat in his own heart. Captain Conners, staring out through the windows, sees all the destruction unfold. Not sure if they were winning or losing. He saw another ship heading toward them. Turning to its side, only a Captain knows those maneuvers. It was preparing to fire upon his battle cruiser. With his defenses not working, he is not sure he stands a chance, but he will give hell because he will go out in a blaze; he's not easy to take out.

  “Arm the main cannon.” Captain Conners said to his crew. Out the window, Captain Conners saw the battle cruiser's cannons turn towards his. The enemy’s cruiser fired multiple shots, missing and hitting the side of Captain Conners’ battle cruiser.

  “Target in range,” A crew member said

  “Fire when I say so,” Conners replied

  The enemy battle cruiser fires another round of cannon fire. This time, two shots hit the top deck, causing minimal damage.

  “Bring us in closer, slow pace,” Captain Conners commanded. The Sword of Angels was slowly drifting towards the enemy battle cruiser, its nose pointing directly toward the middle of the enemy battle cruiser.

  “Fire the main cannon!” Captain Conners commanded his crew members. Sword of Angels cannon fires towards the enemy battle cruiser, and it was a direct hit in the middle.

  “Again,” another direct hit on the enemy.

  Another round of enemy cannon fire scored a direct hit on the Sword of Angels, taking out their main cannon.

  “Captain, the main cannon is blown,” a crew member said. Captain Conners didn’t know what to think now,

  “Captain, we have four bogies inbound Northeast. It’s four bombers, sir.” Captain Conners’ heart dropped. What decision does he make in this situation? He needs luck; all that he can get or his crew goes down with him.

  “Captain, call from maintenance crew. They’re able to fix one of our anti-air guns,” and that luck Captain Conners had just received.

  “Tell someone to man that gun and shoot down those dombers before they reach us.”

  “Aye, Captain!” the crew member radioed a soldier. The soldier who answered to the call of duty was able to fasten himself in the anti-air guns seat and aimed towards the bombers headed their way. The soldier pressed the trigger, unleashing all the rounds he could; bombers got closer. He hit one and plummeted into the ocean. The enemy battle cruiser fired more rounds and hit the anti-air gun, killing the soldier and blowing a hole in the ship where the anti-air gun stood.

  ***

  Manteo watched the bombers reach the Sword of Angels. One of the bombers crashed into the water. His heart dropped at what unfolded. Sword of Angels erupted into a burst of explosions and flames. The bombers made their run successful. They can’t possibly lose more people, Manteo thought to himself. The bombers began turning and flying toward his position. He looked back at Sword of Angels; it wasn’t sinking but drifting toward the I.T.C. ship. “That's a tough ship,” he whispered.

  “General?” he said, hoping to find some hope or direction on what to do.

  “SSG Calvin, do you copy? I repeat, do you copy? This is General Troyer of the 17th Eclipse. We need to board your ship.” his face was getting angry. “The hell with it. Everyone board that ship asap. Sage…I will help bring up Simmions. On the DOUDLE MARINES!” They all looked away from the burning Sword of Angels. And began boarding the SSG Calvin using grapple hooks to climb on deck. Troyer helps Sage tie a rope around Carl’s chest so the others can pull him up over the railing. That loud humming sound began to fade in again. Manteo looked back toward the Swords of Angels. The bombers are headed right to their exact position.

  “GENERAL! The bombers…they are headed this way.” Manteo hurried his way to one of the ropes and climbed his way up the railing onto the deck. Troyer climbed his way up, followed by Sage.

  “Three of you, on the AA guns. Shoot those junkies out of the sky!” Troyer pointed to the three anti-air guns that had mangled, torn-apart marines next to them. Most likely, their users, killed in action. Captain Bailey, James White, and Haider Sammus took their positions on the AA guns and prepared for them selfs for the bombers' approach.

  ***

  The command deck was on fire, and smoke quickly filled the room. Captain Conners is on the floor, with a mild concussion, coughing, and trying to regain control of breathing. The emergency alarms were going off, barely audible amid the raging fire behind him, blocking the only way out of the room. He stood up with the help of his chair.

  “Sit-” he coughed, “Sit-rep,” trying to clear his vision.

  “Captain-” his crew member was coughing as well. “Armors breached, we are taking in lots of water.

  “We have the engine running still?” he was thinking of a devious plan.

  “Yes-” coughs. “Captain, engineer at seventy percent integrity.”

  “Punch it, straight into that ship, you hear me. Tell everyone on board to abandon ship, Mandy-” there was a pause, “we are trapped in here, the fire will cook us alive.” She looked at the door, engulfed in flames, so hot the room was becoming an oven. “Aye, Captain.” She reached for the ‘ABANDON SHIP’ button. The intercom started to play a message on repeat, “ABANDON SHIP. REACH THE NEAREST LIFE BOAT.”

  “Going full speed, Captain!” The Sword of Angles picked up speed, gaining momentum every minute. Captain Conners looked out the window. He saw his entire crew running everywhere, trying to reach the lifeboats. His upper deck is on fire, with gaping holes all over. He looked at the I.T.C. ship, anger in his eyes. Wanted this to hurt them really bad, that's if they even had feelings. It began to bombard his ship with cannon fire. Missing every shot.

  “Eight hundred feet till impact,” Mnady said.

  All the years of service, Captain Conners was glad to die on the battlefield. And he hopes his sacrifice will not be in vain. His family died at the hands of the junkies, and he wanted payback so bad.

  “Three hundred feet”

  “Mandy.” He looked at her, walked up to her, and gave her a handshake, then pulled her in for a brief second of a side hug. “It's been an honor to serve with you.”

  “Thanks, Captain, it's been an honor to have you as my Captain.” A tear shed from her face, and she saluted her captain.

  “Likewise, likewise.” Everything went black.

  ***

  An enormous explosion erupted in the distance. Manteo looked and saw that the Sword of Angels rammed the enemy ship. Sinking both of them.

  Lieutenant White looked through the AA gun’s sights, trying to get a good aim at the incoming I.C.T. bombers. His left hand is on the rotating wheel that turns the gun left or right; his right hand is on the wheel that aims the gun’s barrel up or down. Adjusting his gun's position to align with the right-side bomber, he fired. The shots burst in the air, missing his target. The bomber swayed side to side to dodge his hits. Captain Bailey, on the other AA gun, was struggling to get his gun to turn. He was only able to turn left to right, unable to aim up or down. He fired his shots frantically, hoping he could hit one of them. The bombers, approaching slowly and dodging all the fire from the Eclipse, one decided to break off from the formation and head high into the air, its nose pointed completely up. Sammus was nervous; his palms were very sweaty, and he couldn't get a grip on the wheels of the AA gun. He was shooting for a good minute until his gun stopped working. It was out of ammunition.

  “I am all out!” he yelled, his voice muffled by the sound of the AA gunshots.

  “Sammus! Come with me, we are going to the command deck. We can check the weapon systems.” General Troyer yelled for Sammus.

  Sammus got off the seat of the AA gun and ran to General Troyer.

  “Jacobs, Ramirez, stay here with Bailey and Lieutenant White. The rest of you, help bring Simmons with us; we will care for him on the command deck.” Troyer said.

  Everyone began what their general ordered them to do. Manteo stood by Captain Bailey, his gun ready, watching him try to shoot down the bombers. Malery is placing a folded-up Kornet launcher on the floor. Its systems are checked, and it is prepared and on standby, so when the bombers get closer, it is ready for setup. The rest of the platoon grabbed Carl’s unconscious body, his gauze wrap around his abdomen full of blood. Manteo watched; he was getting hot; he felt his rage building. He wanted to make those Machines pay for their aggression.

  “HA! GOT YOU!” yelled Captain Bailey. One of the bombers' left wing caught fire and began descending into the ocean.

  Manteo looked back toward the action, amazed and glad with Bailey’s accomplishment. When he was looking in the direction the bomber was falling. He realized the bomber that was left was at least a thousand feet away. And the other one was way above, no longer flying straight up, but straight down at a high speed. The bomber is going to kamikaze itself into them. When he quickly noticed this, he ran to Bailey to let him know, so he could shoot it down.

  “Captain, look up, the junkie wants to perform a kamikaze,” he had to yell, because of the loud rounds from the AA guns.

  “Oh, so they admit defeat. Huh, don’t want to go down as a soldier.” Captain Bailey smirked, turning his AA gun in the direction of the descending bomber.

  “OUT OF AMMO!” Lieutenant White yelled, got off the gun, and ran to Malery. “You need help setting up that kornet, Jabocbs?” he asked her.

  “Oh yeah, let’s shoot that mother out of the sky,” she replied.

  He ran to her and helped her set up the Kornet launcher. They both grabbed the tripod that held up the barrel. Unfolded the legs and placed them firmly on the deck floor. Malery pulled out the scope in the middle of the legs and turned on the targeting system. James, as Malery was reading the targeting system, pulled out the actual target laser. A large box-shaped object, with a scope in the middle with a large diameter, sat right on top of the legs. This box contained the laser that locked onto any target, allowing the missile to home in. Malery was finished, so she grabbed a missile. It was inside a concealed tube. She placed it on top of the laser box and latched it in.

  “Lieutenants, the bomber is right on us,” Manteo said, looking toward the bomber, which is now at least two hundred feet away.

  “Have you hit an air unit before with this Jacobs?” James looked at Malery with a raised eyebrow.

  “Of course I have, Mr.White. Don’t you worry, just sit back and watch the show,” she gave a little smile and winked.

  She crouched down, placed her eye to the scope, and her hand on the left side, where she found the controls. The Kornet’s missile tube began to move, looking around as if it were alive. She found the bomber through the scope and began the lock-on sequence. The Kornet started beeping slowly.

  “Locking on,” Malery said

  The beeps are getting faster.

  “3…2…1…” It was no longer multiple beeps; instead, the kornet gave a long beep, signaling it had locked onto the target.

  “FIRING MISSILE!’ Malery yelled.

  The Kornet fired the missile concealed in the tube, leaving a streak of smoke behind. All three of them watched the missile propelling toward the bomber. The bomber tried to dodge, but because of its close proximity, it was unable to and was hit under its lower belly. engulfed in flames, and it also began to descend to the ocean. But unfortunately, James was unable to take out the kamikaze bomber.

  “BRACE YOUR SELFS!” screamed James.

  The bomber was coming in so fast that no one was able to think about where to run away from. It nosedived right in the middle of the SSG Calvin, erupting into a large explosion; the entire ship shook.

  “What was that!” Troyer said over comms.

  “Damn junkie nose dived on us, sir,” James replied through comms, struggling to get up from the floor.

  “All of you in one piece?”

  “Yes, yes, we are.” he got to his feet and was now helping Malery to hers.

  “Good news, we made it to the command deck. Bad news,” he paused. “The entire crew is dead, including their captain. I want the three of you to head over here. We need to get out of this warzone.”

  ***

  The platoon all stood in the SSG Calvin's command deck, awaiting General Troyer’s next move on how they would complete their mission to reach Africa. The room was covered in blood splatter, and the floor was wet with pools of blood and body parts. The command deck’s crew was slaughtered, the same fate the Swords of Angels crew would have faced. If not for their quick action. SSG Calvin’s Captain lay dead in his seat, body hanging over the side. The room had an eerie feel. The machines are getting smarter; they know they can cripple a ship by taking out its leadership without blowing it up. Troyer was at the steering controls with Kalama Jackson, checking the weapon systems and overall damage of the ship. Manteo walked up to the window to look out, saw the large hole left by the bomber, the fire raging, and tons of smoke. He looked out in the distance, watching Fleet Salvadors defend itself against the machine fleet. From the looks of it, they were losing; there were so many ships sinking. One of the aircraft carriers was split into two. More of those bombers are doing runs on other ships. He could see an island, which must be Saint Helena Island, where his platoon is to head. Smoke settled, and what came into view amazed Manteo. Another fleet.

  “General! Is that Miss Helena Fleet!” Manteo pointed out. Excited, help is on the way.

  “SSG Clavin is in rough shape; it can make it to the island, though. We need to head there and join up with Miss Helena fleet.” Troyer exclaimed, pressing buttons on the control system.

  “Jackson, steer this ship to that island. I will take control of the weapons. The rest of you…sit tight, we are heading right into the fire.”

  “Yes, General.” Kamala started pressing the button just like Troyer, and the ship began to move.

  The SSG Calvin was sailing right into the naval combat all around. General Troyer was hoping they wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire. He armed the cannons and the automatic AA guns, in case there were more of those pesky bombers. The ship sailed closer and closer to the island, many missiles and cannon fire missing along the way. They made a short stop to assist a frigate taking heavy fire. Taking minimal damage themselves.

  “Jets inbound!” yelled Kamala.

  “On it!. Just keep us on course, we are close to the fleet.” General Troyrer activated the anti-air guns.

  SSG Calvin was about one mile away, also in proximity for a secure communications channel. The jets harassed the ship, circling around, shooting their guns, not doing much damage. The anti-aircraft guns locked on and were firing in bursts, the bullets glowing red in streaks. Shooting so fast, it looks like lasers. The Center console between Troyer and Kamala had a flashing yellow light, with a soft, repeated beep. It was an incoming transmission. General Troyer answered,

  “SSG Calvin, what is your purpose in fleeing the battle?” said the unknown voice.

  “Who’s talkin’?” replied Troyer.

  “Admiral Williams, in command of the Miss Helena fleet. Who am I speaking with? You aren't Captain Richards?” Admiral William seemed to be angry that it wasn’t his comrade.

  “Admiral. You're speaking with General Troyer of the 17th Eclipse. Your Captain is dead…junkies boarded…wiped out the crew.” he really did not want to say that to the Admiral, depressed by the scene of the dead crew members.

  “Ah, you're the ones we are to transport to Walvis Bay. Pass through, we will help with taking those jets out,” the admiral exclaimed with cheerful spirits. Completely ignoring the loss of his Captain.

  The next moment, two jets came screaming by, following the enemy jets. With quick precision, the jets easily took down the harassing enemy jets. SSG Calvin was now safe, and the Eclipses platoon’s mission was going well so far. Besides the fact that they had an injured marine.