The Unseen War

Chapter 5

Earth Year 3010, May 20th

Twenty-Seven months after the Attack

We had been in combat several times since our squad switched our location. Sia was a fantastic pilot and I was usually able to pick her out of a dogfight while disabling Taggon and Regored ships. There were several close calls for both of us. We were part of the same squad and she kept the enemies off the Totallers while the Totallers disabled the enemy. We were usually silent after battle, knowing that we were the cause of death as we seemed to come so close to it ourselves. We hadn't talked about it but we both knew we had the same feelings about combat.

We were in a common trade route through the Higher Quadrant, and usually the enemy would drop out of a Pass and, if it was Taggon or Regored, we would disable their ship and board them. Once we had to repair a Whist Diplomat ship and send them on their way. I was glad that wasn't my job, the Lieutenants and Captain were in charge of handling the diplomatic side.

We finally got orders to move to a different position and were moving closer to the Lower Quadrant than normal. We were being positioned near Sargos, an uninhabitable planet at the very outskirts of the Lower Quadrant. When we dropped out of the Pass, there was a moment of silence before every alarm on the Tempest started blaring. We had dropped right onto a Regored ship.

The Tempest shuddered with impact as the shields were hit. I grabbed my helmet and we ran for the airlock. We were the unprepared ones this time. Luckily Regored didn't employ the use of Totallers so the only chance we had was on us. The pilots went for their ships quickly and I saw Sia as she ran past. She looked determined, not noticing me as we passed.

We reached the airlock and we tethered ourselves to the Tempest waiting for the room to depressurize. The Tempest shuddered again, this was something we were used to but it still felt very different. Being the ones unprepared and unable to escape if things got bad. Usually the Sibylline Core was ready to go for our side, this time it would be ready on their side.

The airlock opened up and we launched ourselves towards the Regored ship. The laser fire felt more intense than normal. The Tempest was shooting more than normal, as if it was determined not to let this ship leave. Maybe they were just determined to fight with all their might.

I made it to the Regored ship along with a few others. There were definitely less Totallers than normal, I hoped it was just my own miscounting and not casualties. Most of the squad went for the guns while I made my way towards the airlock. I opened up the airlock and stepped inside of it, letting my tether go as I waited for the rest of the Totallers. I was certain that we could disable the ship fast enough when all of the sudden I felt something familiar.

I threw deep into the airlock and hoped that it would be enough. The Regored ship initiated a Pass and we were gone.

I grabbed the inner door of the airlock and pressed myself against it, hoping that I wouldn't be ripped to pieces. It felt like thousands of arms were grabbing me and trying to pull me from the airlock. I knew if I loosened my grip even slightly, it was going to pull me out mid Pass and I would be spread across the quadrant. Passes were normally sixty seconds of extremely fast space travel, this Pass felt like years.

I was gripping the inner door so tightly that my hands hurt. I pressed my food into a small crevice and hoped it was enough to keep from getting pulled out. There was no way for me to close the airlock from where I was. I knew that if I let go, it would end my life in an instant.

Even through all of the pain, my thoughts turned to Sia. She probably hadn't seen me get into the airlock, she would never know what had happened to me if I let go. The pain was almost unbearable, even if I survived the Pass would I be able to survive the crew on board?