RIIING! RIIING! RIIING!
The distress signal rang through the Assembly spot.
Men dressed in black full body suits rushed out of every walkway to the armory, picked up a plasma riffle and ran back to the Assembly spot.
In less than five minutes, over two hundred men had assembled orderly, save for their worried faces.
A muscular man who wore a similar suit walked up an elevated platform, followed closely by a woman who.. stuck out.
One would notice her greyish mechanic overall from anywhere.
Despite her odd appearance, the men in black looked at her with respect.
"I'll go straight to the point," the man spoke as soon as everyone settled down. "The Nagas are trying to besiege this station. That should never happen."
The men below, or rather, soldiers, all experienced a sudden change in emotions, accompanied by confusion.
"I understand your confusion," the bulky man spoke knowingly. "I demand that you stop seeing this station as simple as I seems on the outside," his expression turned grave as he contemplated whether to continue or not.
"Commander," the 'mechanic woman' called him, "Please proceed. The information would be announced later anyway," she added with a shrug which surprised the supposed commander.
"Rina! It is supposed to be top secret project.." the commander refuted but the mechanic cut him short.
"It isn't that much of a secret now, I guess," she said as she stood up. "I'll 'help' you explain it, commander." she said it in a tone that sounded more like, "I'll take it from here".
The commander sighed and went to his seat.
"I believe none of you is dumb enough not to notice that their are too many mechanics and engineers on this station than needed," her first sentence gave off her demeanor, straightforward.
"I guess I'll be first knight to drop her shield in outer space..," and..
BOOM!
A supposed top secret was told like a meme. The Commander nearly fell from his seat. 'This girl.., Sigh. She really has poor manners,'
"What?" Rina asked when she saw all their
confused faces. "Don't say you didn't catch that," she dramatically face palmed.
"Stop that, Rina," the other woman on the platform said harshly but her face was red in embarrassment.
"OK, enough with the nonsense," her expression turned serious. "As per the Earth's United Government order, we are here to install the Energy Barrier type A- 233 from Angel Designs..."
With an explanation that lasted two minutes, the soldiers felt both relief and despair.
Relieved that the installation was at its last phase, and only needed 12 hours of charging to start the shield; and despair on learning they need to survive for half a day against aliens.
"I know that this might be a heavy weight on you but you all need to know that it is OUR only planet that needs US now," Rina added after seeing through their frowns.
"Thank you for your 'help', Rina," the Commander smirked at her. She only shrugged a reply before sitting down again.
"We have to purge those idiots and show them that humans aren't some pushovers!" He gave the soldiers a stern glance.
"Yes sir!"
"Hmm.." the commander nodded in satisfaction. "Everyone, assume your battle positions and, prepare for battle!" The soldiers scattered as soon as this order was given.
"Why the face, Commander?" Rina asked when she noticed the frown on his face. "Have some hope in your soldiers, they already did fair enough in the drills,"
"That's not it," Commander Maxwell school just head. "Forget it. You wouldn't understand anyway.." his voice trailed off at the end.
Maxwell Boston,, the Commander of Special Unit X0-373.
He had been in many battles and the feeling he has now is not new at all.
Dread.
Fear.
These feelings might be mistaken for nervousness, which is quite common before battles.
Dread, however, is an entirely different thing. It is a feeling almost same as desperation. The obvious cause is perspective.
Although he doesn't care if his mission here failed, when he thinks about the chances of survival he feels,, helpless.
Logically thinking, and ambush this size is no longer an ambush.
Their Sensor Beacons picked up fifty different ships on the course to this station, not to mention that there is a medium sized mothership, FYI, "medium" is a ship stretching over a kilometer.
On normal terms, an enemy army this sized is considered normal, but to march one such army just to destroy a mere space station, it is an overkill.
"Haaa, why did I ever agree to cone here,," Comm. boston muttered under his breathe.
"Because its your job?" Rina sneered as she walked down the stairs.
"..." Boston was speechless.
"I won't be surprised if she could read minds," her assistant chimed in. "And that wasn't a compliment you eavesdropping rascal! "
Boston could only look at the trip in surprise. He thought they were almost the same..
RIING! RIIING!!
The alarm rang again, but this time it had a certain urgency in its cry.
At almost the same time, the captain's walkie talkie was contacted.
"Reporting Sir! The Nagas have breached the port. Our energy shield couldn't hold out for so long an.. SHHR!"
They call was interrupted and ended in white noises.
"Initiate safety mode NOW!" As soon as the captain said this, all the important personnel in the station ran towards an elevator and dropped immediately to the lowest flow.
Safety Mode meant placing only the soldiers on the exterior areas of the station and the other non-fighters in the interior. The access paths to the interior are then locked and guarded by soldiers.
It was pretty much safe considering that the ship has walls made of several layers of alloyed Aluthium.
It is a mixture of aluminium and a newly discovered element, Thiomium. It was discovered on most asteroids in space. Well, it is no longer a surprise to see people going "asteroid fishing".
The Safety Mode is only the first line of defense. When the Nagas broke into the lower parts of the ship, although much later, Rina decided to ask her friend for help.
"Don't be unreasonable Rina! You'll only get the both of you killed!" the commander tried to dissuade her.
"We only need a small opening for the emergency ships to blast away," Rina argued.
"How would she even do that alone?!" the commander chuckled helplessly.
"Have you forgotten who I'm talking about?" Rina snapped. "The ship you are using was made by her,"
"I know what you want to say," Boston stopped her speech. "I saw it myself and although I don't doubt its prowess, it will be an overkill for her to come here?!"
"Uuhh, guys?" Rina's assistant waved her hands between the two. "I'm kinda left out here," she tried to pout but stopped when she saw everyone was too serious.
"Sorry. Its Andrea's ship," Rina answered but her assistant, Vera, raised her eyebrows at her.
"Okay I'll tell you," Rina raised her hands in defeat. "Before we left, she was trying to create a supersonic ship engine," she paused them turned to look at a blackboard.
"And how is that supposed to help us get out of this mess?" she questioned.
Rina gave a funny look then sighed again.
"Anything going at supersonic speed can pass through a hole 10cm in radius, don't you know that? How are you even an engineer?" Vera's face turned red in embarrassment. Rina has literally pointed out her shortcomings and she didn't even bat an eyelid.
"That's not so nice, Rina," Comm. Boston chuckled.
"Am so sorry, Vee," she apologized to hee assistant. "It's just that all this pressure's getting to me and.."
VRRRM! VRRRM!
Rina's apology was cut short her phone's vibration. She gave Vera a sorry expression and walked to another side of the room.
"Hello," she answered the call.
"Let me talk to her first! I wanna know how my baby's doing.." it seemed as if someone was fighting for the other end.
"Haaa, I'm fine mum," she rolled her eyes. "Just give the phone to Andrea, I need to let her in on something, okay?"
"Alright honey, but stay safe up there OK? " the voice added.
"Fine already?! Just hand over the phone already," Rina felt her patience running out. Her mum had always been overprotective.
"It's me, bestie. Send me your location and I'll be there in a second," the voice changed from a tiny sing-song to one with a certain heaviness.
"Oowh, Andrea. You never change, do you?" Rina said jokingly.
"You do realize what I meant by "a second", right?" the other feminine voice chuckled happily.
At that moment, Rina's eyes nearly popped out.
"It worked!" she shouted loudly that everyone I the room heard her.
"Calm down, calm down," the voice said soothingly.
"Sorry about that," she blushed again. "But do tell me, does it work or not?" she recovered her shame quickly and became more serious.
"Yes and no," the other voice sounded a bit disappointed. Rina frowned a little before she squinted her eyes in thought.
"Haa.. Why do you do that?! Can't you just talk straight for once?" Rina almost lost her composure, again. A giggle was heard on the other side of the line.
"The hypothesis works but.. It's not yet done the test drive so.."
"Then that means we can do it!" Rina jumped up in joy, literally. The others in the room felt it was weird for her to be jumping, considering her shortness.
"What do you mean do it? Are you seriously considering using this ship to rescue you?" her friend asked.
"Of course?!" Rina shook her head slightly, not that the other person could see it, just one of her weird behaviors.
"Are you nuts or something?! I just said it hasn't had a test drive and you know what that means?!" her friend seemed to be loosing her cool too.
*giggle*
"That this will be its test-drive," Rina answered,...