Shades of War

Act 2 - Location: Medsift Vanguard - Aether Terminal

"Listen up soldiers! We're in dark times, the Taasha Armada is attempting to take over Vyria D9OU, they've already taken hold of its moons but we've taken over its ring." Captain Valrie stormed into the roon, blue outfit gleaming under the harsh flourescent light. Her expression resolute, she turned to face her troops, a sea of devout faces greeting her.

These were the Medsift, one of the most loyal soldiers in the galaxy. They often trained day and night to get to their already phenomenal level, but one person even surpassed that. That was Cayne Helix, he was the finest pilot the Medsift had ever seen and always willing to fight for his cause. His older brother used to be the best pilot they had ever seen until his life was tragically lost in a fight against the Taasha.

It was common to see a young Cayne wandering around the hangar, marvelling at the different ships and jets. Though his favorite was definetely the one his brother comandeered, it wasn't the larget ship or even the fastest, but it had haistory. That ship was put throught battle after battle, often looking worse for wear afterwards, but despite that his brother held onto it with all his might in order to one day pass it down to Cayne. He often said, "Cayne, one day this ship will be yours, and you'll be the captain of your very own troop. I want you to lead them well, these people let us in when no one else would, they saved us, and it's only right to repay that in any way we can."

Cayne would often nod along, wide smile and starry-eyed, and his brother would nod along with a soft smile of his own. Though one day he was told a different story, his brother's expression was unreadable, it spoke of secrets better left unsaid. And ever so softly he whispered, "Listen Cayne, these people gave us everything, they let us in when no one else would, and it's only right that we repay that in any way we can...but these people...they also take everything from others. They destroy them. And it's only rigt that we help those that are hurting in any way we can, do what you believe Cayne, but most importantly, do what's right." And Cayne, no older than 10, nodded along in confusion, not understand why his brother would say such things about the people that saved them.

That was 12 years ago, and since then Cayne became intimately aware of what exactly his brother meant. Though it was clear that not everyone shared that same opinion. Take Maddox and Iyleen, both Cayne's friends since the Academy but their views on the mission couldn't be more different if they tried. For example, the three of them were doing a routine patrol on a planet they were intimately familiar with due to their many visits for inspections. The three came across some Taashan stowaways, two siblings, that were surviving by stealing from local vendors. It was obvious that they were struggling and would have betrayed Taasha for Medsift if it ensured their survival. Cayne was in favor of getting them a light sentence, maybe even train them to work for the Vanguard. However, Maddox and Iyleen were strongly against it, the Taasha were their enemy after all, why should they help people that could one day turn against them? As a result, those siblings were executed after their "trial", despite Cayne's attempts to help.

It often went like that between the three friends, Maddox and Iyleen often advocating for the complete destruction of the Taasha Armada for their crimes against the Medsift Vanguard. While Cayne advocated for peace treaties and compromise between the Medsift and the Taasha. Perhaps they'll be able to settle those differences after the battle is over.

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And Act 2 is complete! Honestly, these acts feel a lot shorter on Wattpad than they did while writing on Google Docs. (But maybe that's just cause I'm not writing the story from scratch and only making minor changes as I, quite literally, rewrite this). Anyways, see you in act 3!