Jin raised his practice combat knife as Alexei charged at him with a knife of his own, first staring with a forward thrust. His attack was swiped to the side by Jin who was able to follow up with his own upward slash attack. The two of them had traded blows for several moments as everyone around them watched, each of them dressed in gym clothing with Norio's symbol on them.
Jin had been inside a gym with his squadron and several other human and Astrean pilots, sparring with one another as part of their daily training routine. Jin dodged another one of Alexei's attacks as his fellow pilots around him cheered him on, using his free hand he was able to distract Alexei for a spilt second. Using this chance he grab him by the arm and was able to flip him entirely over his shoulder.
Once Alexei was on the floor Jin held his fake knife to his throat, signaling his victory. The room began to flood with the sounds of cheering and applause.
"
"."
As Jin began to receive more praise for his victory he was approached by a Norio officer dressed in a service uniform, Commander Aizawa.
"
Jin and Alexei both saluted. "
"
"
"
The general saluted and left the room leaving the pilots back to their training. Jin had grabbed a towel and decided to head out towards the lobby and give Katsumi and soon after his mother a call back on Earth. Upon reaching her through video he was greeted by the sight of Katsumi smiling into the camera, the two began to catch up. Each of them asking how the other was doing and such. Oddly enough Katsumi had been wearing a space suit and inside of a room of sorts.
"
"?"
"."
"
Katsumi had shaken her head. "
Jin went on to explain that his time on the red planet was not all too peaceful due to Xenos and insurgents, but nevertheless he finds the time to take in the views of the landscape and sky.
"
"
"
Jin ended the video call.
***
Jin sat in the cockpit of his jet with the canopy still open and the maintenance crew running about, he was dressed in his combat uniform and the runway was completely pressurized from the Martial surface outside. One crew member climbed the stairs next to his jet and handed him his helmet.
"
Once he hopped down Jin closed the canopy and pressurized the cockpit. Placing in his helmet he lowered the face shield and watched as the HUD activated, displaying a variety of information. From radiation levels, vitals, to the audio waves of his comrades. Slowly, as the engines turned on he rolled the jet into place for takeoff as the doors far ahead of him slowly opened, allowing the runway around him to depressurize.
"
"
Jin fired the thrusters attached to his jet and sped down the runway, passing the doors at sonic speed and taking off into the air from a ramp-like structure. Beside him was the rest of Demon Squadron flying in a vertical climb as they continued to escape Mars's gravity. The yellow streaks of flames leaving behind trails of fire and the sky grew darker and darker by the minute.
Before he knew it the sky was completely gone and nothing but the blackness of space was before him, Jin's thrusters had run out of fuel and fell from his jet back to Mars beneath him.
"
"
"
"
Jin nodded and sped towards the Astrean supercarrier in the distance which had been waiting for them to arrive. Once the squadrons boarded the spacecraft the AS Mystral departed towards the Ceres.
***
The canopy to his jet opened and Jin hovered down towards the surface of Ceres, because that dwarf planets atmosphere was thin there was little gravity holding the pilots in place. Its surface gravity resembled that of the Moons near Earth, while there was some resistance it was more than enough to allow Jin to move freely.
He jumped from his jet and landed near a crater alongside Nio and the rest of Demon Squadron, rifle in hand and suit feeding him oxygen through the vacuum of space. Diva Squadron had soon joined them and the two teams proceeded to trek towards their target, a large base ahead of them where insurgents were hiding out.
The mission had been to destroy the railgun which laid destruction upon one of Norio's space stations days prior, as well as capture or kill the insurgents using it. Once they arrived at the gate surrounding the base Jin and Nio stacked up on each end of the door while Ayane placed a charge, going at a safe distance the door exploded and alerted the entire base.
"
Jin took cover behind a crate and returned fire with his rifle, an energy-based weapon that worked well within a vacuum and gave him a greater edge. He was able to gun down several of the enemy before switching over to a more closer piece of cover near the bases front entrance. After shooting two more of the insurgents he stood just outside the gate and kicked down the heavy doors with Nio's help.
"
Jin had followed Nio as he took point into the structure ahead of them, an outpost owned and operated by insurgents. It was fairly obvious to Jin at first due to its lack of corporate or military symbols and he knew all too well that whatever lay behind the doors in front of him, it wouldn't be good. Amethyst Squadron had decided to infiltrate the outpost from a different angle in order to catch the enemy off guard.
Jin closed the heavy metal door and pressurized the chamber they stood in. Once the air was present he opened another door and led both Demon and Diva Squadron down a narrow hallway for several moments, the sounds of footsteps could be heard ahead of them. Followed by shadows of figures armed with what seemed to be weapons.
"
They found themselves inside of a hangar filled with crates and other cheaply manufactured spacecrafts that rebels would use, accompanied by the sight of another large metal door. One that most likely hid the weapon they were sent to destroy.
Taking cover the group opened fire on a number of insurgents above them on a catwalk, bullets from both sides filling the room with smoke and sparks as Jin strayed from cover to cover in attempt to get closer. Finding an opportunity he boosted up to the catwalk and knocked down one of the rebels.
"You little..!" one of them shouted.
Jin turned around to block an incoming knife attack with his own and grabbed the insurgent by the arm, shoulder flipping him and driving his blade into his chest. As Ayane and several of her teammates took to killing the remaining insurgents, Takeo, Alexei, and Haru proceeded towards the metal door to open it. Planting a charge Haru had stepped back and blown a hole into the barrier before them.
By now the insurgents were all dead but it wouldn't be long before they sent reinforcements, Jin knew he had to act fast. After rushing through the open hole Jin found himself inside of a research room of sorts, a monitor displaying camera angles around the outpost on a computer beside him and in the center of the room, a large cylindrical weapon standing.
"
"
"
Jin radioed command and stated that the weapon was secure, following this the self destruct sequence was initiated leaving the group ten minutes to escape. Once Jin had cut comms with them a red alarm began to flash throughout the room.
"
Jin looked onto the monitor to see the outside of the base, to his horror he watched as a swarm of Xenos began to make their way into the station from seemingly all angles. Their deformed humanoid structures and partially flesh skeletons able to withstand the void of space even made the situation more dangerous.
"
"
Jin led the two squadrons down another hallway where at the end they came upon a nearby airlock that led to a destroyed section of the outpost exposed to space. After stepping in and activating their oxygen Jin cycled the airlock and depressurized the chamber. Opening the door he was met with the first wave of Xenos.
"
The supercarrier in orbit above complied and within minutes of the two squadrons being outside onto Ceres's surface, both Norio and Astrean jets swooped down onto the scene. Jin rushed to his as the canopy opened and jumped into the cockpit. After assuming controls Jin flew higher into orbit and began to fire upon the base below at any remaining insurgents, to give the others time to get to their aircraft.
At this point the detonation would commence in 15 seconds, once the rest of Diva and and Demon Squadron were in their jets they cleared the A.O and began to fly off.
"
After that thought a blinding light behind them appeared followed by the sight of debris and sparks. The base had exploded in a huge ball of fire that was dead silent in the void of space but nevertheless terrifying in plain sight. Jin was able to catch his breath as he and the others flew back towards the supercarrier.
"