The War Across the Stars

by Alex Pennington

  Nevin and I both opted not to respond to his parting comment, and as we had done on Sontonos, followed Robert to our destination. We pressed on through the snow for a good twenty minutes before reaching the peak of a massive hill. From the hill we could see a sprawling UED camp, tents scattered in tight clusters and soldiers ambling about.

  “This is it. And look guys, I’m sorry for what I did. I’m sorry for your family, for your soldiers, for everything. I know it’ll never make up for it, but my life is all I have to offer… My life and Admiral Cope’s,” Robert stated smoothly, seemingly unfazed by his eminent death.

  I opened my mouth to respond, but Nevin replied first.

  “I don’t believe a word that comes out of your mouth anymore Rob, but at this point I don’t really care. Go ‘redeem yourself’ and get out of our lives,” he said angrily, his face red with fury.

  I looked up to see a silhouette in the sky, likely an approaching ship. Cope was here.

  “Light me up,” Robert said.

  With the timer on the Eupholium preset by Phil and Boone, I tapped the activation button and concealed the explosive again. Five minutes. Robert would be dead in five minutes. He smiled slyly at me, and then took off in a sprint toward the camp.

  Nevin and I assumed prone positions overlooking the camp. I passed him my SF-42, equipped with a scope, and he loaded it with his last mag. I peered through my Oracle scope briefly, then watched carefully as some sort of UED gunship landed on the far edge of the encampment. I breathed in carefully, keeping a steady eye on the transport. Robert reached the base and walked toward the center.

  We were watching, waiting in the cold, harsh weather of Marzoc. Nevin was to my right. Our fingers were on the triggers, despite them being numbed by the cold. Admiral Cope was in our scopes. We could have fired but instead we held our fire. We followed orders and waited.

  The man in charge of the entire UED fleet marched from his gunship toward a larger tent in the center of the camp. Admiral Cope entered the central command tent. Robert followed him in. We waited for the explosion. It didn’t come.

  “Hasn’t it been five?” Nevin asked in a hushed tone.

  “It has to have been. Or the adrenaline has severely slowed our time perception.”

  “Gah, C’mon!” Nevin called out, though still not loud enough to be heard from more than a few meters away.

  The main tent, larger than the others, had two guards standing near the door, and several more patrolling nearby. If the Eupholium would detonate, it’d easily kill them all. But still the only sound was the heavy wind that blew the snow across the surface of the planet. My eyes began to feel heavy as I watched, and I felt my focus begin to slip away.

  The tent flap ruffled suddenly, and then Robert appeared.

  “What’s he doing?” I whispered.

  “Living.”

  His finger pointed toward us, my scope identifying the details of his second betrayal.

  “Shoot, he’s busting us! He must have disabled the Eupholium!” I said, my crosshairs dancing around his head.

  As I steadied the rifle, I heard the crackle of gunfire and soon the sound of bullets pelting the ground around me. Snow began bursting up as the bullets tore into the ground.

  “They’re headin’ for the gunship!” Nevin said, the sound of his rifle firing overwhelming that of the enemy MG.

  “Keep them off it, we need that ship!” I said, frustration setting in as Robert turned around, about to reenter the command tent.

  I breathed slow, processing the situation.

  “Ross, you need to work on your aim,” Colonel Miller’s voice boomed in my head.

  I was tired. I was hungry. I was cold. But above all, I was a Ranger.

  My crosshair moved, as if in slow motion across the front of the tent, then across Robert’s back. I lifted, the to bars marking an X across the back of his head.

  I fired.

  The singular 12.7mm round soared through the air, freed from its prison within my SR-4. The same SR-4 I had used on Enphuerzo, the same one I’d killed my first man with on Sontonos, the same one that had been by my side to do my bidding for every mission that it could be used.

  A burst of blood and a fragment of skull raced from Robert as his body fell into the tent’s flap. His head remained exposed, as the tent’s flap was pushed aside by his arm. He may have been dead, but I couldn’t be sure. I fired again, once more striking the head of my former squadmate. He could not have survived. Looking back toward the gunship, too many troops were closing in on it. They had to be preparing for Cope’s escape. We needed to be there.

  “Nevin, let’s go!” I screamed, leaping up and charging down the hill.

  Without another thought he was on his feet sprinting beside me. I watched as round after round rippled past me, though left me untouched. The freezing snow fell from my body in large chunks as I continued the sprint. All I could think about was taking that gunship and getting home. Everyone was depending on us. Toward the end of the hill I slipped, sliding down the slick hill until I tumbled at the bottom. Though like Nevin at the Cover Point during training I gracefully somersaulted, once more on my feet and running. The tents were directly beside us as we tore alongside the camp. I saw a man nearing the gunship’s side entrance and quickly pulled out my pistol.

  With my SR-4 held with its stock beneath my shoulder, I raised my pistol left-handed and fired two shots. The man nearest the gunship dropped and I picked a new target, still moving nearer the ship. He dropped. Another target. Two rounds to the chest. Then I saw Cope. He was close, just a few meters away. From the essentially un-aimed position beneath my shoulder, I fired a round of the SR-4, the kick stumbling me due to the awkward stance. Against the odds, the round struck Cope’s leg, splintering the bone and instantly bringing him to the ground.

  I holstered my pistol and made a final dash to the gunship. When I reached it, I leaped through its open hatch in a single swift move. Not even a second later, Nevin had done the same, slamming the hatch behind him. I checked the other side hatch, which was sealed, and then quickly entered the cockpit. Gazing down at the controls, I realized that Ryan was our only experienced pilot. We had made it this far, but how were we to fly the gunship away?

  To my surprise, Nevin seized the controls and began punching buttons. I heard the engine engage and just as I heard something slam into the hatch I also felt a strong jerk upward. We were airborne. I backed up, grabbing the controls for the gun mounted directly beside the port hatch. The digital interface provided me line of sight for the gun, and I squeezed its trigger. The minigun’s rounds unleashed a hail of lead onto the UED forces, shredding anything that couldn’t retreat, including Admiral Cope’s body.

  Soon Nevin had pulled away and the ship was returning the direction we had come. We had done it. The gunship was ours, Robert and Cope both dead in the cold, unforgiving snow.

  “Nev, we… we did it! How did we just… how are you flying that?” I asked, exhausted, though jubilant.

  “I’m improvising James. I’m no pro, but I’m doing the best I can,” he said, the gunship rocking uneasily for a moment.

  “We are going to make it Nevin, we’re going home.”

  He nodded, his hands shaking has he held the controls. We had all picked up the roles that Ryan had left behind, filled the void of his absence. Nevin ran the controls of a gunship. Phil had set up explosives. Cass filled the same combat role, wielding an assault rifle. And lastly, I was the leader. My team looked up to me to guide them through this mission.

  The sound of a few final bullets pinging off the exterior of the gunship faded away as we soared toward our team. Within a few minutes, we had traversed a distance that had taken twenty to walk.

  “There they are,” Nevin said, pointing with his head, unwilling to remove a hand from the controls to show me.

  I smiled, knowing what it meant. We were in the final stage of our escape. We were in the endgame.

  Chapter 21

  In
to the Hornet’s Nest

  Nevin eased the gunship to the ground, slowly resting it on the snowy plains. He exhaled loudly as he disabled the engines and leaned back. Together we opened the starboard hatch and dismounted the gunship. Despite the gray, angular metal, the gunship truly was a beautiful sight. Stepping into the snow, I once more could feel the omnipresent cold. We each approached the Corsair, and the back hatch opened, as if on cue. Within the team was eating the fruit that Cassidy had picked from inside the Tredecim capital. She smiled and tossed one to me.

  “Phil said they’re safe. I say they’re good,” she said.

  Though hesitant, I took a bite from the fruit and was satisfied by the mere feel of food in my mouth. Without delay I consumed the remainder of the fruit, wishing only that there was more to go around.

  “Thanks. Good idea to grab ‘em Cass,” I said, stepping into the relative warmth of the Corsair.

  “Congratulations Ross. You survived. Washington and the Admiral are dead, I presume?” Malum inquired, his face plain.

  “Yes sir. We’re done here. I suggest we take the Hornet before the UED can reorganize.”

  “Agreed,” Boone pitched in.

  “Anyone else a pilot, I can’t say I’m the best,” Nevin admitted.

  “Uh, I can,” the ensign, Jeremy announced. “I was trained in basic dropship flight before I went to be a Nav officer.”

  “That’s more than I’ve had, controls are yours,” Nevin said, pointing to the gunship.

  “How should we split?” I asked.

  “I’d advise—,” Phil started, before being cut off by Malum.

  “Rangers, you shall take the UED Gunship. Ensign Lowell will be your pilot. My pilot, two Marines, and Boone shall take the Corsair.”

  Not seeing anything wrong with the plan, aside from what was likely to be shaky piloting of our craft, I nodded. Everyone loaded onto their respective ships, and we took off, ascending from the horrid planet for the last time. I extracted Ryan’s tags and twirled them slowly between my fingers for a few minutes, reflecting on how Operation UNKNOWN had been in so many ways, a disaster. Though our mission was accomplished, and it was nearly time to head home.

  I used the digital screen of the port gun to watch the icy planet slip away, fading into an ever-smaller entity. We began our approach on the massive UED fleet, though due to their disarray, and our UED IFF, we were not fired upon. We smoothly approached the one ship of Vorgian design, the title Hornet emblazoned across the starboard side of the bow.

  We glided effortlessly to the aft of the ship, slowly lowering toward the open hangar bay. Its gate was hung ajar, though it appeared the pressure field remained active. We passed through it, our ship first, followed seconds later by Malum’s Corsair. We touched down with a clank, and I braced myself. If any Vorgians were left, they would all be on this ship.

  I slipped in the final magazine of 9mm rounds for my H-81. Nevin readied his SMG, and Phil did a double check on his shotgun. Cass slowly ran her fingers over her AR-27 before checking the magazine.

  “Let’s finish this,” I said, opening a hatch and sliding out of the craft.

  My team followed suit, Jeremy taking up the rear.

  “Take this, keep it safe,” Nevin said, slipping Jeremy his H-44.

  The higher caliber round seemed an odd fit for the naval officer, but he accepted it graciously and tried to mimic our stance.

  We advanced through the dark hangar bay, old Wildcat dropships and Preston-Class Tanks lined the walls. When we reached the doorway out of the hangar, I looked back, confirming Malum and his team were with us. I entered the hallway right behind Phil, who had assumed point.

  It seemed as if the entire ship was trying to preserve power, almost all lighting disabled. The light from our gun-mounted flashlights was our only dependable source of luminance. In a way, it reminded me of the pirate base we had destroyed on our last mission before Operation UNKNOWN. But then they had been confused, untrained. They were hardly a threat. Here the Vorgians could be waiting for us, having set a trap. We had no way of knowing how much Robert had told Cope, or whether any of the exchange had left that tent via COM.

  Phil turned a corner. Still nothing.

  We were en route to the bridge, there we could gain lights and hole up as we departed the planet’s orbit. Passing by another corner, only darkness treated us.

  “Is it… is it empty?” I asked, barely able to believe it.

  “Surely not, they’d have had to leave some nature of sentinel, would they not?” Phil countered.

  “One would think… but… Not seeing anyone,” Cass murmured in response.

  Several more minutes of the nerve-racking travel resulted in no hostile encounter. Though we did find the bridge.

  Exiting the dark hallway, we stepped into the dimly lit command room of the Hornet. It was a wonderful sight, several consoles scattered about, a large port providing a view into space.

  “Let’s lock down the entrance to the bridge. If anything is alive on this ship, I don’t want it in here until we’re back in the Jerico system,” I said, an air of command in my tone.

  “Roger that,” Phil said, closing the lone bulkhead into the bridge.

  “Ensign, take the Nav station, get us moving,” I requested.

  “On it sir, uh, Sergeant,” he replied, still submissive as usual.

  Each of us split up amongst the room, assuming positions on stations and consoles that we knew little about. But somehow, some way, we would make it work. It took every person on the bridge, but we filled every necessary slot. Our skeleton crew was prepared for launch.

  “Ensign, take us away. Engage Ultradrive and plot our course for Euphola,” I said.

  “Right away,” Jeremy’s chipper response echoed.

  It seemed everyone was smiling, taking in the fact we may actually survive. Only Boone and Malum seemed to hold their stern postures.

  “Good work back there, James,” Cassidy complimented.

  “This has been a lot for all of us, but we’re home bound now,” I sighed.

  “The war is finally over,” Nevin added. “When we reach home we can rest easy.”

  “While we head home, I think I’ll crack open that ol’ laptop and see what I can learn about the UED. We might be hearing from them again sooner than we’d all like to think,” Phil stated.

  Thinking about our experiences, I sat down in the captain’s chair. Mysteries still remained, unsolved, and perhaps forever doomed to remain that way. Might my sister still be alive? Who are They? Might we ever contact the UED again? But as we soared through Ultraspace, our course set to home, I couldn’t help but push the questions from my mind. We still might not make it through the Black Hole Belt, we may still fail to reach home. But if we die, we can know we died having completed our mission and having done everything we could to survive against the odds. In real war, you have to.

  Observing the adjacent console, I opened the log. At the time the unlimited access to the information stored within the Vorgian captain's log meant little to me. With the mission complete, it all seemed so far away. Though what did matter to me, was remembering every soldier that fought alongside us on Marzoc. Giving every one a chance to be remembered for what they did. I scrolled to the bottom before appending my best guess at the date. I then began to type.

  In Memory of the Soldiers Who Gave Their Lives on Marzoc.

  Unknown Soldier- Killed by UED Sniper

  Cpl Rush- Killed by UED Explosive

  Cpl Hood- Killed by Praetorian

  Marines of Alpha- Killed by Praetorians

  Marines of Epsilon- Killed by UED

  Paladin Tank Crew- Killed by Messor

  Corsair Pilot- Killed by Vorgian AA

  Cpl Max Pippin- Death Unknown

  Lt Ryan Dunkelman- Died a Hero

  Note from the Author

  Five years in the making and the tale of the War Across the Stars has finally come to its conclusion. The project has meant a lot to me and se
rved as a creative outlet for the entirety of my High School career. I am proud to have started it in 2007 and to have remained dedicated to it for the years following. It is hard to fully comprehend that it is all over, but I appreciate everyone who’s been a part of helping to fulfill this achievement.

  Special Thanks

  James D. Pennington

  Kristi McNary

  Falisa Calhoun

  Coree Rogers

  Kerry Beach

  Davion Bowens

  Troy Pennington

  Genna Pennington

  Jasmine Miller

  About the Author

  I was born on 13 October 1993 to Troy and Marquita Pennington. We have lived in the city of El Dorado, Kansas for my entire life, and as such it really represents home to me.

  I've always had an interest in writing, ever since I was a little kid, but it wasn't until 6 grade that I set out to write a book. The result, wasn't too great, and I dropped the project for a while. Then in 2007, after just starting my 8 grade year, I was inspired to give it another go. With a brand new story set in a science fiction universe, I set off to create what later become The War Across the Stars.

  In addition to my writing, I've always put my academics as a priority, seeking to go above and beyond when I can, and ensure that I maintained my 4.0 Grade Point Average throughout my entire education. I participated in the school's Scholar's Bowl team as well as the City's Youth Commission, on which I served as Chairman for my final two years. In 2012 I was awarded the Dean's Scholars' Scholarship to attend Wichita State University, which I will be doing in Fall.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Prologue

  Part I The Vorgian War

  Chapter 1 The Start of a War

  Chapter 2 The Base Strike

  Chapter 3 A Battle to Remember

  Chapter 4 Assault on Sontonos

  Chapter 5 The Danger Zone

  Chapter 6 Tronadan

  Chapter 7 Rescue and Rest