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THE DROP SHIP CRUISED into the hangar bay of the Eternity. It was, according to Mallory, to be called “Apocalypse” squadron, because designating ships as scalpers was an arcane, ridiculous and absurd practice and damnit all, she was naming his own squadron and to hell what Admiral Valentine said.
According to Mallory, of course.
I disembarked my men from the ships, instead loading a twelve-person team into Mallory’s ship and arming them heavily. Amongst them were Corporal Vearse, Lieutenant Venlent, and two Sergeants. I ordered Ivata to stay behind, and he was not happy about it.
I felt the Shadow of Eternity shudder under my boots as I stepped off the ship and onto the hangar deck. All around, deck personnel were hustling about, refueling and adding munitions to the dropships, preparing them for combat. Once we left the gravity well of our sun, the trip would only take approximately twenty minutes with our powerful ships to reach our target. In less than an hour, the Fleet would engage the Phelb armada and we would deploy to the surface of Gilbaglia two.
A smaller set of boots hit the deck a few paces from me and I glanced over to see Mallory walking towards me. She pulled off her helmet and her red-brown hair was plastered to her head, brown eyes shining. Her olive colored, freckled skin was as stunning as ever, and the flight suit she wore did wonderful justice to her curves. I distracted myself by pulling off my own helmet.
“Good to see you again, Flight officer.”
“I know.” She said, reached up and pulled me down and kissed me. I was shocked for only a moment before I gave in and returned her kiss.
“Well, now it’s definitely good to see you again.” I smirked.
She smiled, but there was no happiness or humor behind it. “Are you going to die?”
I blinked. “Say again?”
“I just want to know if you’re going to die down there.”
“I haven’t any intention of dying on Gilbaglia two, Flight officer Ruiz.” I said with a slight smile. I reached up and squeezed her arm and she managed a weak smile.
“Good.” She turned to walk away. “By the way, you look extremely hot in that uniform.”
I shook my head as she walked away, then clicked on my communicator. “Colonel Valentine to the bridge.”
“Go ahead, sir.”
“Do we have any estimate of enemy strength on surface?”
“Wait one, sir, preliminary reports are being analyzed. Admiral Valentine will brief you when information becomes available.”
“Very good, thank you. Valentine out.”
It only took a few minutes for my father to hail and relay information to me. I thanked him, returned to my dropship and strapped my crash harness around me. Then I glanced up at Peter, who was smirking at me like an idiot. “You forgot my name on the roster, Colonel.”
“Do you even have a weapon?” I looked him over.
“Oh, do I get one yet? Or am I still a prisoner?” He grinned wider.
“You’d do well to shut up now.” I pulled my helmet over my head. I switched on my comm. “Colonel Valentine to Apocalypse Squadron. Approximate enemy strength on surface is one hundred. Apocalypse one and two will launch, all others remain in reserve onboard to repel boarders if needed.”
“Yes, sir.” Came a crisp reply.
“You’re only taking a dozen?” Mallory asked over the comm.
“Reports have fighting in only one major city. It appears to be a weaker scouting force, and apparently, they’re only looking for navigation data from the spaceport. We’re going to have to stop them. We’ll need close air support. You up for it, flight officer?”
“You bet your ass I am, Valentine.” She replied.
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