Mission Pertinent
Red light flashed as one Lt. Coal ran down the ship's corridor, attempting to get to the escape pods. His captain had instructed the grey fox to get to the surface at all costs, he did have information that could turn the tide of the war after all.
His blaster bounced against his hip as he ran down the clearing halls. The other soldiers knew his orders and cleared the way. None of them wanted to die, but they were ready to accept their deaths if such an occurrence was to happen, there was more at stake than just themselves. Some of them shot him jealous looks, but really they had no idea what faced him on the planet and how awful he would feel if he could not finish his assignment. Because, not only did he have to get out of the ship before it was destroyed, but then he would also have to fight through the war's front lines.
His simple officer's uniform did not provide much protection from the fire fight what was sure to be happening on the planet. The ship did not really have any armor stored on it either. He had asked for extra weapons, but very few were willing to give them up, as if keeping them was a sign of wishing to keep fighting, since a soldier is not allowed a security blanket.
Then the sirens turned on. The relatively calm emergency suddenly turned into an all out free for all. Each crew member began to frantically run around, orders being screamed over loud speakers and then repeated numerous times by nearby officers. The ship began to clang loudly around them, with clouds of steam coming down from seams between the ceiling's metal plating.
Coal's brow furrowed and he ran even faster, tail straight out behind him. Things were getting worse and he needed to move quicker than he originally thought. The data disc was tucked away safely in his front pocket. He had not been told what the contents were, just told that it could save the world. The transport room was just a head, an officer awaiting him.
"Your pod is all ready, Sir!" he said. The avian saluted him before pushing the button that unlocked the door and allowed it to slide open as Coal ran past.
"Thank you solider! At ease," the fox said, the last words fading away.
Coal stopped once the door was shut and he heard the beep of a lock. There were two escape pods in the bay, both of them marked differently. A few weeks ago the commander thought it a good idea to paint on with the enemy's patterns. His mind was torn between leaving it so others could try and escape safely or taking it himself so he could at least make it to the surface. He sighed, once again coming to the conclusion that there were more lives at stake then just those on this ship.
The fox jumped in, pulling the hatch down over his head. As it self-locked, lights started to come on, their color a cool blue rather than the brash red outside. The main computer flashes quickly, but Coal wished it would have gone faster as the clangs outside got louder.
"Welcome. Please State Your Name," the computer spoke.
"Lieutenant Coal."
"Greetings Lieutenant Coal. Please State Your Destination."
"Surface landing, Washington D.C., Earth," he said clearly as he strapped himself in. "Immediate departure."
"Of Course Lieutenant. Opening Hatch Doors And Preparing Engines For Dissent To Surface."
There was a light hum, one that was almost welcoming to his ears. That was until random items started falling from the ceiling. Coal banged his hands on the consul, suddenly getting frustrated that the computer was not going any faster.
"Damn it thing! Go faster!"
"Hatch Doors Are Not Open Far Enough."
"Switch to manual controls until father notice! I need to get out of here," he said, biting his lip.
"Manual Controls Engaged."
Coal took the steering rod in his paws and pulled back slowly. The escape pod came off the ground, thrusters filling the bay with steam. He began to push forward, this ship drifting towards the doors. They were still only open about half of the way, so he put the pod in its side, suddenly happy for the safety harness. He slowly drifted out of the bay, straightening the pod out. He looked back and noticed that door had not opened any farther. The one time the escape room needed to be used it was broken. How poetic was that.
"Switch back to auto-pilot and travel to previous destination," Coal commanded, removing his paws from the steering rod.
"Auto-Pilot Initiated."
The pod then zoomed along, finally getting a move on, and it wasn't to long before the atmosphere could be seen burning up around them. As Coal looked back into space, it looked like fireworks going off with the various explosions and fires. He sighed, paw moving to tap his front pocket. This was his mission now, up there was the past. The fox turned around and looked out the front, the land mass known as North America quickly coming into view.
"Impact In Five Minutes."
The lieutenant reached for his blaster, unhooking from its holster and removing the safety. He would have to run across no man's land in order to reach the Commanders. Hopefully there was not a large skirmish going on, but he doubted it.
"Impact In One Minute. Beginning Countdown Sequence."
Coal took a deep breath in. He could make out people on the ground, the stark blue uniforms of his allies against the deep red ones of the enemy. There was not much in the way of fighting going on right now, but it was obvious that both sides were confused at the incoming pod. He took a small comm out of his pocket and typed a message to be broadcast to all of his soldiers.
"Thirty Seconds."
'Do not shoot! Please provide cover! Urgent Intelligence for the Commanders!'
He sent the send button just as the computer rang out for the twenty second mark. He quickly slipped the message pad into his pocket and urgently unbuckled the safety harness. The cool blue lights switched to yellow at the ten second mark and the breaks made an awful amount of sound as leaves and dirt gathered in them. These pods were not exactly made for surface landings after all.
The pod crashed and he busted through the glass quicker than it would open. He looked to the left and saw his allies ready to cover him and smiled. The red soldiers were looking at each other, quite confused as to what was happening. The fox paid them no mind though as his foot-paws hit the ground and began to run.
He semi-saluted the men in the field as he ran past them, desperate to deliver the message. It was not long, however, until the lasers began to fly. His paw gripped his blaster tighter out of habit, finger placed over the trigger.
"Watch out!"
Coal turned his head to see a blaster bolt heading his way to hit his chest. His foot paw shifted and pushed him off to the side. The bolt hit his arm which made him wince in pain. He could not stop moving. Even with all the sounds of battle around him, even with the stinging of burned clothes and flesh, he just kept moving. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw soldiers falling to the ground.
His foot-paw hit the ground and created a splash. He glanced down and saw red hit his knee. Being up on the ship, he had not experienced this amount of pain and destruction. The realization that there was enough blood to splash his uniform made him stop for a moment. He starred down at the ground, stunned as to what he was seeing.
"Go you fool! We can't hold them forever!" a comrade shouted at him.
Coal snapped out of his daze and looked over. The soldier was right. There was no time for this sentimentality. The sooner he got this message to the Commanders the sooner the bloodshed would end.
"I owe you my thanks," the fox shouted.
"No, you owe me a beer," the other said with a wink before getting back to shooting.
The fox smiled at the light hearted gesture. If this ends soon, he thought, I'll buy them all a beer. A group of red solders came at him from the side, blasters firing. Coal swung his out to the side, slipping a digit over the trigger and pulling as he ran. He did not care if he hit them, just that he distracted them enough to continue forward.
"We've got you covered!" a chorus of voices screamed from his other side.
He looked over to see a group of fighters, civilian's from the looks of it, taking aim on the enemy. Coal grinned, amazed at the unification of citizens during times of need. He dodged behind them, removing his digit from the trigger and allowing them to take over. He had a mission and he would complete it.