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Revealed: Chapter 15

"What was supposed to be a simple operation has now gotten a lot more complicated." The deck commander for the hangar bay stood atop several metal crates and spoke over a small sea of people in combat armor. The Admiral put the remainder of the fleet that had remained loyal to battle station and each ship was currently moving into position around the dreadnaught. He also made it clear that this operation will be completed no matter what. That meant that the unarmed shuttle were still expected to get boarding partied to the Jostens' stations and capture them.

All of the teams from this ship were gathered here in the hangar for the final briefing to address the new situation. I saw Krauss and his brothers and the Hawthornes were in their own little corner listening. Most of the teams were on the heavy cruisers and the dreadnaught, so we avoided losing that many there. I looked around, there were people from several countries and organizations. I saw the iconic blue helmets of the UN peacekeeping force, the American, Canadian, German, British, French and even the Russian flags on the backs of the people's armor. The people who didn't know English had their helmets on since they had translation software.

"The shuttles are still launching despite this debacle, but not until the fleet can open up a large enough hole in their defenses." He yelled out so everyone could here. "Until then, everyone will wait in their designated shuttles so they can be launched as soon as possible."

A hand came up from an American who couldn't have been older than twenty. Poor kid, he joined up at the worst possible time.

"What is it, Private?" The commander looked at the boy.

He lowered his hand. "What about enemy fire. Once we get out there, we'll be exposed to every bit of enemy fire that comes our way." A murmur of agreement rose from the crowd.

"Lucky for us. The German's were smart enough to load three whole squadrons of fighters into their beast. They will provide cover where the capital ships cannot." He boy nodded, his question answered.

Another hand rose up, this time from a Brit. He didn't wait to be called on. "What are we supposed to do when we get to the bloody stations? The plan was that they would surrender. Now half of the god damn fleet's gone off with them. They won't just be opening up their doors to be shagged." A few more immature people snickered and the deck commander glared at them.

"You'll have to cut through. Each and every shuttle carries the necessary equipment for a standard breach." He reached down and a mechanic handed him a plasma torch. "Once your shuttle reaches their designated targets, the pilots will open the side hatches where you will cut through. Don't take too long, the pilots are instructed to return after two minutes of sitting idling. If you're not on the station after two minutes of cutting, then you'll have another chance in the next wave."

He was going to keep talking, but a red light that hung in the center of the station turned on and gave the entire room a red tint.

"The fleet is engaging." The deck commander clapped his hand together loudly. "Get to you designated shuttles. Good luck and god speed."

Dismissed, everyone began to move at once. I walked with the flow since it was going where I was going anyway. I, along with Crane was attached to a Spec Enforcers squad. Krauss was with a German frogman squad and a squad of Green Berets. Everyone was assigned to a shuttle and that was it. Teresa and her soldiers had their own shuttle. It was agreed upon that all of our shuttles were going to hit the main station, but to lower the chances of all of us dying, we were separated.

"Here we go." I spoke to Crane as we crowded into the shuttle. There were several others seated and strapped into their seats. They wore the iconic pitch black armor of the Spec Enforcers, which contrasted greatly with the white armor that Crane and I were wearing.

"This is getting tense. This is like some mini invasion." We sat down and began to strap ourselves in. A few others began to filter in and set themselves up.

I watched each one, seeing if I recognized any of them some of them looked vaguely familiar, but I didn't know them. The last person I did recognize.

"General Mathews. What are you doing here?" I asked as he stepped on in full Spec Enforcer attire. He smiled down at me and took the seat to my left.

Slowly lowering himself into the chair, he grabbed the buckles for the straps and began to secure himself. "Decided that I need to get out of the office." He joked.

"Generals don't usually go into combat." I stated to him.

"Well, technically I'm not supposed to. I'm here to supervise the mission. I was put in charge of the squads that are going to the main station and decided to get a closer look." He was fully strapped into the chair now and leaned back and simply relaxed. He took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth unlit.

'If you makes you feel any better, I'll just have Crane stay with me." He looked over at Crane who was listening with a silly grin. "You are still a good shot, right?"

"The best." Crane rested his gun on his lap and patted it.

"Good." He leaned back into his seat. "See Commander, or should I still call you Captain, since as of noon yesterday, you were promoted to a naval captain." He held out his hand and I shook it. "Congrats."

"Thank you sir." It was odd. He was technically part of the ground infantry which was an entirely different department as the Navy.

"What about me, sir." Crane asked.

"Still working on your paper work." He played with the end of his cigarette. "Wonder if they'll let me light this."

He got his answer immediately as the two pilots got on board. "Sorry sir.' One of them said. I couldn't tell which one. They both had their helmets on and were both looking at the general. "No smoking on my ship." He leaned over and grabbed the cigarette and the General let go of it willingly.

The pilots closed the side hatch to the shuttle with a press of a button. They then stood in front of everyone. There were roughly twenty of us on the shuttle, which was its carrying capacity. "Listen up." The pilot on the left rose his hands to get out attention. "The shuttles have been stripped for speed and maneuverability. That means no life support, so I suggest you put on your helmets and seal your suits."

Each of us put on our helmets. I was put into darkness for a second as the helmet turned on. I was then met with the familiar hud that held just about every spec of information that I would need. Across from me was the black and smooth faceplates of the Spec Enforcers. I could see the reflection from the glow of my eyes on them.

"Once the ship stops, the timer starts. We'll actually be opening the doors a bit before we get to the stations so you won't have to worry about screwing with the controls." The pilots then turned and went to the cockpit which had no door so we could easily see out of the ship through there.

The hangar was now empty of everyone. There was only the red tint that was coming from the light in there. The ground started to vibrate and I could see the massive hangar doors begin to open. There was no actual sound from it, only the noise from the vibrations since the hangar had to be emptied of air before opening the doors.

The slid away showing us all the carnage that was taking place. The hangar sat on the side of the ship, giving us a view of what was going on.

The thing was, modern military craft were designed for broadsides to allow for the most amount of firing. It was an old practice, but effective. The Columbia wasn't like that to make sure a stray round didn't fly into the hangar. Instead it was facing forward, letting us see all of the other ships.

My eyes went right for the dreadnaught. The massive ship was built with one thing in mind, fire superiority. It sported over a dozen massive rail guns that clung to its sides like leeches. There was no fancy lasers that told you exactly where rounds were coming from. The only hint that the guns were firing was the recoil. The barrels would light up and then shutter before repeating. The one kind of munition we could see was the missiles. The spouted out of the ships one by one, leaving a small and wispy trail.

One of the ships in sight, a destroyer was hit. A portion of its top was torn away silently and I could see the atmosphere vent from it along with... people.

Space combat was horrible that way. If you were on a ship that was gushing out air, there wasn't very much you could do, only hope that the part you were on wasn't hit and that the door were closed and sealed.

I looked away and focused on the red light in the hangar, just waiting for it to turn green. It wasn't the fighting that was the worst part of these kinds of missions, it was the waiting. Waiting in your shuttle and especially waiting during transit while under fire. Most of the time, when a ship was hit, it simply shattered from the force, not always killing everyone inside due to their suits. There had been stories of people picked up after engagements, dead from asphyxiation or purposely tearing open their suits. It was known that if you died in space, you were lucky to have your body recovered.

'Keep calm. You're nerves are affecting me." Dog did the equivalent of slapping me in the face.

"Keep calm." I said out loud. No one could hear me, radio silence during transit was basic practice. Many argued against it, saying the isolation was unhealthy for the mind, but for the time being it was what we did.

I tore my eyes away from the small human shaped outlines that were slowly drifting out of view. I've shot and killed people and that had never bugged me that much. It was often quick and I was moving too fast to stop and look for long. These people were there, floating around right in view for everyone to see.

'Focus. How can you work like this?' He scolded me and I found that it was helping. It got my attention away from what was going on out there.

"Thanks." I muttered, trying to control my breathing now.

'Plus, how can you work in these suits. I'm smelling you never before.' If he was doing this to simply distract me, then it was working.

"Lights green. Lights green." A voice, maybe form the pilot or someone up on the bridge called out. "Launch."

The ship jerked to life and slowly rose form the ground along with the other shuttles in the hangar. I wondered how Krauss is doing. He was tough and my guess was that since he was with his brothers, he was doing better than me.

The ships in front of us left the safety of the hangar and immediately peeled away and sped off to the right and above. I couldn't see anything but out ships, the traitor and the ships that were already protecting the stations were out of sight.

Our ship left the hangar and went upwards and immediately began to accelerate. I was pushed into the sides of my seat and I felt like I had a ton of bricks on my chest. I clutched my rifle tightly, I would have brought it up to my chest if the g-forces would have allowed.

The ship turned and faced the planet and the enemy. They were facing broadside as well and moving around, trying to dodge any of the supersonic, invisible rounds that were coming at them. Most of them were frigates, but there was a few destroyers and heavy cruisers. We still retained most of the fire power, especially with the dreadnaught.

A few streaks went by the shuttle. It was the fighter support we were promised. They were small and limber, meant to harass the enemy and draw their fire. I hoped that they would do their job well.

The ships and the stations were slowly becoming larger with each passing second. The shuttle didn't shake or jitter, there was no air to transfer the vibrations of any near misses. If we were to be hit, it would come as a surprise unless it was a missile, but they all went straight for the capital ships.

Minutes passed before we crossed the enemy line of ships. I breathed a sigh of relief, which was the hardest part. The radio suddenly came on and connected to all of the shuttles that were heading to the main shuttle.

"First team is finished cutting and boarding." It was a Frenchman. "Engaging hostiles."

"Second team currently cutting." This one was Krauss.

"Copy that." IT was the voice that told us when the light had turned green. "A ship was shot down on route, other teams are still arriving."

"Third Team just arrived. Beginning breach." Teresa spoke over the radio.

Everyone I knew made it to the station in one piece. Maybe for once, a single part of a mission would go right.

The door on the side of the shuttle opened silently. I didn't notice that the atmosphere had slowly vented out of the ship over the course of the entire flight. All of our buckles automatically came undone and the magnets on the bottom of our boots turned on, keeping us in place.

"Final team has just arrived. Beginning cut." Mathews stood up and the rest of us followed. He changed us all onto a frequency that was just for the teams attacking this station. 'Two minutes move!" Mathews shouted.

The person nearest to the torch which was near the back picked up the device and passed it forward. We made a chain gang and got the torch up to the front where a woman with a Canadian flag on her back immediately turned it on and began cutting.

"Second team is in. No hostiles, moving forward." Krauss spoke.

"Third team had the break open. No hostiles."

We were going to be the last on board. The woman was making a large circular hole, the torch was making short work of the hull and was nearly done. She left just a faction of an inch left and stepped back.

Mathews stepped forward, the woman moved out of the way. He stood next to the nearly complete breach. "Final team has finished cutting. Opening breach." He yelled out and bashed the side of the hull, causing the hole to open up.

"Moving in." he raised up his gun and we all went in.