Shattered Skies Book 1: Embers (WIP)

Prologue: The Battle of Terra

Date: 3/17/2155

Location: Sol 3 (Terra) Spaceport

   "Alert! Alert! All crew to battle stations! This is not a drill! Repeat! This is not a drill!" Walker jumps with a start as the calm, friendly atmosphere of the spaceport's cafeteria is broken as alarms shriek.

   "What on Terra is going on?" he mutters, glancing out of the viewport. Several streaks of blue have appeared in the distance, telltale marks of ships exiting grav-jump. In most cases this wouldn't be out of the ordinary. Ships come and go all the time. But this was outside of the normal traffic lanes. If a battle station alert has been called, they whatever those ships are, they are a threat.

   Without a word, the cafeteria empties as crewmen rush to their stations. Walker is no exception, darting towards the docked T.R.S. Skyward, where his fighter stands ready. Running through the transparent docking tube the vessel comes into view. The ship was a Guardian-Class carrier, flat topped like the naval aircraft carriers of yesteryear with a sleek, angled lower hull.
Walker's eyes shift towards the incoming craft. Bolts of red pulse weapons fire slam against the mag-shields of the ship and station, leaving behind only ribbons of light shimmering across the shield's surface.

   Who are these guys? They couldn't be Aserati. The battle line is at least 50 lightyears from here. They couldn't possibly have gotten through unnoticed.

   Walker reaches the hanger bay where his trusty Wolfpack fighter stood ready. The ship was designed after old jet fighters from pre-interstellar Terra. An elongated fuselage with long wings on either side. Three fins on the tail of the ship complete the look, resulting in a sleek, aerodynamic design. Rocket pods sit under the wings armed with both dumbfire and heat-seeking rockets. Plasma cannons on either side of the cockpit round out the fighter's armament, creating a reliable, deadly ship.

   Climbing up the steps on the fighter's side, he slides back into the familiar surroundings of the cockpit. He relaxes slightly, feeling at home in the confines of his fighter. With a flick of a switch on his control console, the cockpit canopy slides into place, sealing shut with an audible hiss. Another switch initiates the pre-flight diagnostics.

   The center screen starts scrolling through a list of subsystems. Life support, heat sinks, control thrusters. Each one flashes green as the program deems them within tolerances.

   The hanger lights dim, replaced with red warning lights and klaxon alarms.

   "Attention." A prerecorded message begins. "Clear the hanger bay area for depressurization. Repeat, clear the hanger bay area." The message loops over and over as crewmen make their way towards the exits.

   Walker hits the ignition switch, feeling the rumble of the engines powering up. He reaches for his helmet before putting it on and activating the AR-HUD system in its goggles. A three dimensional rendering of his ship, a fuel gauge, an ammo counter, and thermal scanning all appear before him as projections on his goggles.

   Before long, the hanger bay is depressurized. The outside world descends into the complete silence of vacuum. Only the sounds of the fighter's internal systems reach Walker's ears.

   The bay doors open, revealing the fight outside. Missiles and rockets try to punch holes in the ship's hull, but are vaporized by the beams of the Skyward's point defense network. Walker hopes that the enemy can't overwhelm the PDN through sheer volume of fire.

   Once outside, the AR-HUD starts marking targets. Red crosshairs for hostile, blue shields for friendlies. Now Walker finally gets a chance to see what he's up against. Much to his surprise, The attackers are indeed Aserati. The red and black insect-styled ships are distinctive to their race.