Raptor Squadron

Chapter One

Captain Davin Loranth stood at the head of a small briefing room looking at five of the worst excuses for pilots he’d seen in his fifteen year career. He had spent the last three months traveling from system to system searching out the ragtag crew and bringing them back here to Heaven Station, the orbital headquarters of the United Aramayan Shipping Conglomerate.

Some had been easier to track down than others. Lieutenant Cale Donos was already living on Heaven Station, while Rhel Vaddith, the hulking felinoid close combat specialist had returned to his jungle homeworld on the outer rim. He grimaced and shifted uncomfortably as he remembered the heat and humidity, and oh God, the parasites.

He glanced at his wrist chrono and scowled. Where the hell was his sixth specialist? As if summoned by his very thoughts, the rear door of the room burst open and a short girl carrying a mound of papers, personal data terminals, snack foods, and beverages rushed into the room. She peeked around the side of her burden revealing a mass of tightly curled honey blond hair, and grinned sheepishly.

“I’m really really really sorry for being late everyone! I just still can’t find my way arou-”

Davin saw his own horrified expression mirrored on the other six faces in the room as the tiny blond girl smacked into the corner of one of the tables. Papers and protein chips flew into the air, data terminals clattered across the floor and her bottle of blue liquid launched straight toward Rhel. Even his superb reflexes couldn’t save him. He managed to spring from his seat with unnerving speed for such a large figure, dodging the bottle, but upon hitting his chair, the liquid inside erupted straight into his face.

There was a strange moment of calm. Papers drifted lazily to the ground, and blue liquid ran in tiny rivulets down the felinoid’s face, turning his light tan fur a sickly shade of green.

Then the moment was shattered by several things happening at once. Rhel began hissing with displeasure while the redheaded girl seated next to him began laughing obnoxiously. Lieutenant Donos and Ensign Plax jumped from their seats and rushed to the blond girl in the middle of the floor, presumably to see if she was injured. The girl in question looked around at her mess and then her large brown eyes filled with tears and she began sobbing. Only the slender man sitting in the corner hadn’t yet contributed to the chaos. He just seemed to be trying to make himself as small and unobtrusive as possible.

Davin was frozen with shock. In all his years of service, he had never seen anything like this. These weren’t soldiers, they were children. He realized that this was going to be much harder than he had anticipated. Oh well, no time like the present.

He stepped forward, slamming both hands down on the desk in front of him and yelled “ATTEN-HUT!”

The reaction was almost instant. Everyone snapped forward and saluted. The slender man in the corner tipped his chair over in the process, and Plax dropped the blond girl, whom he had been in the middle of helping to her feet. She hit the ground, but shot back up immediately. Rhel Vaddith blinked rapidly, the blue liquid still trying to run into his eyes.

“Vaddith, go get yourself cleaned up! The rest of you get this mess cleaned up! Double time, soldiers!” Davin Barked. He watched the brief chaos that followed and was mildly surprised at the efficiency with which they completed the tasks.

Minutes later they were all reassembled in the briefing room. Davin Prayed for smoother sailing this time around.

“Alright, you all know why you’re here. You’ve been given another chance to fly. Your unit is going to be Raptor Squadron. This is going to be a unit that specializes in flight and covert ground ops. That’s the reason you all were chosen. Not only are you accomplished pilots, but you also have the necessary secondary skills we need to make this unit work.

"You all already know me but I’m sure you aren’t familiar with each other yet, so when I call your name, stand and I’ll give you your call sign. Lieutenant Cale Donos, Raptor Leader. Lieutenant Donos is your squadron leader, show him the same respect you would show me.”

The tall man on the far right side of the room stood up and saluted. He had well chiseled features and piercing blue eyes. As he glanced around at the other pilots, he noticed the redhead on the far end of the room looking at him as if he were edible and tapping her bottom lip with her index finger. He sat back down with a small smirk.

“Ensign Bevel Plax, Raptor Two. Ensing Plax will be in charge of patching you up when you get broken. Keep him on your good side.”

The Balding man next to Cale stood up tossed a lazy looking salute and a sardonic grin toward Davin. Next to perhaps the felinoid, he was easily the most visually striking of the group. Half of his face had been crushed in some accident in his past and was replaced with titansteel plating. An electronic red eye glowed brightly from within the dark confines of the machinery. He Resumed his seat also.

“Master Chief Rhel Vaddith, Raptor three. Master Chief Vaddith is your hand to hand combat instructor, a job I’m sure he’s going to have a lot of fun with.”

The felinoid stood slowly, casting a predatory gaze around the room. He was over two meters tall with light tan fur and rippling muscle, giving every move a sense of dreadful power. He saluted and resumed his seat as gracefully as he left it.

Next Davin called the names of the remaining three squad members. Petty Officers Jacen Lacer, Kara Martano, and Raena Ekiam. Jacen Lacer was the team sniper and very uncomfortable at being the center of attention. He was painfully slim and sat down as quickly as he was able after tossing a lighting fast salute.

Kara Martano was the small blond communications specialist who had made such a mess at the start of the meeting.

Raena Ekiam was the redhead tech expert and slicer. She garnered quite a few lingering looks from the males in the room, and loved every second of it.

“Alright, I think that’s everyone. Any questions?” Davin cast a glance around the room and motioned to Cale, who had raised a hand. “Yes, Lieutenant?”

“Yes, sir, there are only six of us, so where is the rest of our squad?”

“Very observant Lieutenant. You’ll meet the rest of the squad in the common room once you’re dismissed. After that you have two hours to get aquainted, then we’ll reconvene here at fifteen hundred for your first mission briefing. Is that it? Alright, dismissed!”