The NTF

“Get me out of here Command!”

“You have your orders, Follow them!”

“The GTVA has destroyed the GTSC Voyager!  They’re too many, I can’t hold them back much longer!”  The frantic wingman responds.

Suddenly, a loud rumble and static suddenly overcome the conversation.

“Alpha 3 respond.  Alpha 3!”  Static was the only thing to be heard.

“What!  The Prototype was destroyed!”  Admiral Aken Bosch yells as he paces back and forth behind his desk and in front of the starry background of space.

“Well it seems that the alliance thought there was something strange going on and destroyed our science vessels and fighter cover.  We lost contact with our forces in Deneb.”  The command officer explained.

“ETAK must be initiated.  The future of the NTF depends on it!”  The Admiral said firmly.  The man left swiftly and Bosch was left with some troubling questions.  Did the GTVA find any information on ETAK?  How will he avoid the next confrontation with the GTVA?  These questions plagued him.

“We got contact six kilometers ahead!  Command, your coordinates were bogus!”  Kevin yells into his headset as a hailstorm of laser and missiles fly towards them.

“Where’s the blockade command!” Kevin yells.  A jolt from a missile knocks his front shields down to twenty-five percent.

“Those ships were reprioritized elsewhere.  Continue on Alpha 1.”

A swarm of NTF Loki class fighters converge on his group of bombers and fighters.  This area of quiet space was disrupted with more NTF fighters emerging from the blue vortex of subspace.  A voice comes through his headset.

“Alpha 1, this is command your target is the NTF Iceni.  You must succeed in destroying that cruiser.  Millions of lives are at stake.”

“Command, your coordinates are bogus were six thousand meters behind.  We have no way of catching up to them.”

“Well use your afterburner and succeed.  Command out!”

“Okay flyboys lets get the job done!”  Kevin yells as others respond vigilantly.

Kevin targets an enemy ship and pursues it through the dogfight weaving in and out of debris and laser volleys.  Kevin releases a swarm of missiles but are intercepted by a countermeasure released from his prey.  Kevin holds down the trigger and red lasers from his gunports spew lethal power on the shields of his sworn enemy.  He makes contact with the hull of his target and pieces chip away and hit Kevin’s damaged shields making a buzzing noise as they deflect.  Kevin sees that his target is spinning out of control and erupts in a ball of intense fire.  Kevin has no time to savor the victory as an enemy fighter bears down on his tail.  Kevin weaves in and out to avoid the green bolts of energy rocketing from his opponent’s gunbarrel.   The buzzing noise of his shields grows more intense as they weaken.  He then goes in to a barrel roll and his pursuer follows only to be led into a trap set by his squadmates.   His pursuer is no longer following and a debris field is all that remains of the battle.  Kevin suddenly remembers the objective that he was to complete.

“All remaining fighters form on me!”  Kevin yells.

“I copy Terran.”  The synthesized voice of the terran-Vasudan translator drones.

Ever since the Great War of 2335 the humans and their once alien wartime foe called the Vasudans formed an alliance to protect the remnants of their culture.  They formed the GTVA Galactic Terran Vasudan Alliance.   This worked to regain contact with Earth after the Sol-Delta Serpentis jump node collapsed during the ladder half of the Great War.  The Vasudans and the Humans shared technology and built up from the devastation of fifteen years of war.  The GTVA worked for peace but until the Neo-Terran Front came into existence eighteen months ago the General Assembly had governed peacefully.

Kevin directed his attention to the cruiser that had almost reached the GTVA held Sirrius jump node.  A voice came through the headset.  It was gruff and calm but full of hate and deception.  It was Admiral Bosch.

“I commend your attempts to capture me.  But I fear I must part with you.  But be aware to question the wisdom of your leaders.  Helm, engage subspace drive.”  The large flagship entered into the swirling hurricane of blue energy until fully engulfed, and disappeared.  A long silence was instilled among the pilots until Kevin spoke.

“What the hell command!”  Kevin yells angrily.  “You let him get away!  There was no chance for us to catch him!”

“What are you talking about?”  Command asks sternly.

“You know damn well what I’m talking about.  You purposely put us out here.  There was no coordinate error.  I demand to know the truth!”  Kevin yelled.
          “You’ll be informed on a need-to-know basis.”

“I don’t mind being a pawn, but only if the game makes sense!”  Kevin remarked angrily.

“You’re out of line Alpha 1.  Were done here, return to base!”  Command responded with a hint of anger.  Kevin’s fury was represented by five years of confusion and lies that the GTVA had filled their heads with.  He enlisted for the honor and dignity that the GTVA had provided.  Even if it meant being a pawn in a game only known by the highest officials in the General Assembly at Vega.

The glistening cruiser named the GTD Aquitaine lay peacefully in orbit around Capella’s fourth and most densely populated planet.  Kevin landed his fighter and went to debriefing.

“You were completely out of line!  Anger is not an excuse to upbraid your superior officers.”  Commander Stenson exclaimed. “Let this serve as a warning, do that again and it’s gonna get ugly.  Got it?  Dismissed.”

“Permission to speak freely?” asked Kevin.

“Granted”

“I’ve been flying for the GTVA for five years and I always knew my objectives and what I was fighting for but in the past eighteen months things have become unclear.  Good men are dying out there because command doesn’t tell us crap about our objectives.  I want to know the truth!

“You can’t handle the truth!” Commander Stenson yelled as he rose from his desk.  “Nor can I.  I’m in the dark as much as you are Kevin.  But you must obey your mission objectives whether you understand them or not.  Got it?  Suit up for your next op.”  The commander said quietly.  Kevin left swiftly into the crowded hallways.

“Hey Kevin!  Wait up!”  Joseph yells from the sea of people in the hallways.  Kevin waited as his best friend caught up to him.

“What’s up man!”  Joseph asks Kevin as they twist and turn through the hallways.

“Command is really pissing me off.  It almost makes me want to join the NTF.”  Joseph looked at Kevin in astonishment.

“Shhh!  Someone will hear you!  You can get grounded for months for saying that!”  Joseph whispered to Kevin.

“I didn’t say I was or anything!”  Kevin whispered back in his defense.  There was another long silence until Joseph spoke again.

“Do ya want to get a drink or something?”

“Can’t right now.  I have an op to complete.  I’ll get back to you on that later.”  Their paths separated.

The crowded flight deck was swarming with excitement.  He could hear the command officers above giving orders to the pilots in action.  There were ships all around him.  Most ships were kept on side balconies.  The huge skylight that lined the ceiling displayed a red nebula streaking across the starry backdrop.  Thick steel double doors lined the deck and fighters and bombers were launching and landing.  Crews were running across the runway to clear the deck after fighters land.  There were ships in wing formations that were passing beyond the gaping hangar doorway.  Kevin reached his squadron briefing room, the 17th Metal Militia.  Inside were rows of desks.  A huge monitor displayed the GTVA symbol.  The low ceiling held light fixtures that gave a warm glow of white light.  Other pilots were lingering about talking.  Kevin didn’t know any of them and sat down at the third row.  The entire room quieted as a highly decorated officer came before them.  All men took their seats and waited for the gray-haired man to start the briefing.

“As you all know Bosch has escaped us yet again and reconnaissance has not detected his new whereabouts.”  The man continued

“Getting to the point of this briefing, you will attack a cargo depot in the Epsilon Pegasi asteroid belt.  There are a complement of six Loki class fighters guarding the depot and six sentry guns.  The NTF has gone through a lot of trouble to hide this depot so we must scan the contents of the cargo first.  Since the cargo is hidden in the densest part of the asteroid belt we cannot risk a recovery.  Gather your squads and get to your fighters.  You leave in ten minuets.  Dismissed!”

PERSONAL LOG OF ADMIRAL AKEN BOSCH

I have eluded the GTVA by the skin of my teeth.  If it weren’t for the wrong coordinates of my pursuers’ jump drives I would have been captured by them and Humanity would never realize its full potential.

We lay in waiting for the right moment to enter the small corner of the universe called Gamma Draconis.  It is a star when compared to the stellar firmament, an insignificant spec in the vast cosmos.

Is this my destiny, to live as a fugitive and to elude the beast hungry for my blood?  I formed the NTF- not for my hatred of the Vasudans but for my love of humanity.  That is one thing that my foes will never fully understand.

When we make contact with our enemies that we vanquished from our home systems thirty-two years ago we will forge a new alliance with the Great Destroyers who veil themselves in mystery.  With them on our side we can go into the depths of space with no fear.

My foes think of me as a butcher of innocence, sadly, that is what I’ll be forever known for.  This is my chance to prove my crusade isn’t a lunacy dreamt of by a fool.  I’ll prove it to them!

“Alpha, this is Command, you’re clear to go!”

“Roger that command.”  Kevin complies as he rockets forward into the infinite boundaries of space.  Kevin and his wing of four Heavy assault fighters come to a halt and wait for clearance to depart into subspace.  Kevin maneuvers his ship around to see that the mighty Aquatine has joined the infinity of stars.  Kevin didn’t realize how far he was from his base destroyer.

A command officer’s voice comes through his headset.

“Alpha, you are clear to jump to Epsilon Pegasi.  Good luck.”

“Roger that command.  Jump pre-sequence engaged.”

“The blue vortex of subspace consumed the four fighters.   Kevin sat uneasily as he put his life in the computer’s hands, expecting to be guided through the tunnel of blue light swirling in a counter-clockwise commotion.

Kevin had many questions bothering him about the GTVA.  Why were they letting Bosch escape?  What information are they holding from us?  Why?  These thoughts kept his mind off the task at hand until a loud rumbling noise shattered them.  A bright light blinds Kevin and when the light dies down a dense asteroid belt greets his eyes.   Just as their briefing officer said.  They find a series of red dots on their radar indicating hostiles.

There is no time for Kevin to get his bearings.  His squad is attacked by a swarm of Loki class fighters.  Laser fire rains down on the four fighters.  Suddenly a voice bursts through Kevin’s headset.

“I’m goin’ down!  Mayday may-” The message was overcome by static.  His squad was being shot down one by one.  He had no time to contemplate the events occurring.  He had to survive.  A fighter moved across his field of view as Kevin targeted it.  His gunbarrels launch a salvo of awesome power at his target, just missing by a couple of feet.  The fighter leads Kevin along a treacherous path through moving asteroids.  He dodges left and right, up and down.  Mimicking his enemy’s every move.  Kevin’s attention is totally focused on his target.  Suddenly a clearing approaches and Kevin launches four hornet swarm missiles.  They pursue the target, leaving a trail of gas behind.  The missiles snaked around each other as they hunted down their prey.  When finally their effective range is reached and they detonate all at once.  Knocking the fleeing fighter’s shields down.  Kevin holds down the trigger on his flightstick and it releases red volleys at the weakened shields of his enemy, finally making contact with the hull.  The distance between the two fighters was growing so Kevin fired his afterburner.  Almost immediately Kevin’s target spun out of control and into a deathspin.  The target erupts into a ball of flames.  Pieces eject from the inferno.  Sending a chunk of thruster at Kevin.

“Oh, crap!” Kevin yells, as he pulls on the joystick so hard he feared it would break.  Kevin doesn’t avoid debris in time and crashes into it hard, jolting Kevin so hard it gave him instant whiplash.  His ship status reported several hull cracks and busted a coolant line.  His hull integrity reading ninety percent, well above severe damage status.   Now there was the matter of scanning the cargo containers.  Kevin plots a course for the cargo.   When suddenly a frantic voice bursts into Kevin’s headset.

“Alpha 1, is that you?  This is Alpha 3!  H-Help me.  I’m hur--bad!  My subspace drive, com---ications subsystem has been destroy--, so has my engine-, three of my four weapons, my missiles are jammed and my computer is mal----tioning.”  The young man yelled desperately.

“Hang on alpha 3, I’m calling in a recovery ship.”

Kevin sees the damaged fighter slowly gliding toward him.  Orange gas pours out of the sides.  The ship was dotted with burnt craters still steaming and a large gash where one of the engines should have been.  It was replaced with a blackened frame, pipes protruding in multiple directions.  Liquid was pouring from underneath the cockpit.

Kevin diverts his attention to the six cargo containers.  A subspace vortex opens up and an alien ship appears.  The green black and red ship was not of Terran or Vasudan construction.  The angular ship had long prongs sticking out of it like protective spikes.  The thrusters had an eerie red glow to them.  In front of the alien ship were two out-reaching arms to collect the Terran cargo box.  And as soon as the thing collected the cargo, it re-entered subspace.

“Uh-command?  Did you see that?”  Kevin asks while trying to make sense of the events that just unfolded, but to no avail.  His thoughts took him back to training for the GTVA in Vega.  The eerie look of the ship made him shudder when he made the connection to a Shivian freighter he learned about at the academy.

He drew his Myrmidon fighter to a halt and started the scan of the cargo.  Another ship came onto the radar it was a tug ship that Kevin called in.  The scan of the cargo boxes was almost done when the Command officer’s voice suddenly comes through.

“ALPHA, GET OUT OF THERE!  WERE DETECTING A HUGE HOSTILE FORCE HEADING TO YOUR VICINITY!”

Kevin turns to see that the two ships were docked and about to depart.  Suddenly, a myriad of subspace vortexes opened and strange red and black fighters appeared.  Then a split second later a larger subspace vortex opened revealing an unknown cruiser.  Kevin instinctively activated his jump-drive.   The hum of the jump-drive grew louder and a transmission came into his headset.

“AAAARGH-“ The scream was cut off by a rumble then static.  Kevin crossed the threshold into subspace.