STELLAR: World on Fire

Chapter 3: You Are Not In Kansas Anymore

            On Earth, at headquarters in the briefing room Jack, Ben, and Allison were discussing what Allison saw. Jack was dressed in a black tactical uniform that all the other soldiers wore. Ben wore a black shirt and black cargo pants and boots. "You're sure that's where he's headed?" Ben asked, needing reassurance on everything she had just explained. Allison nodded. "Of course I'm sure, I even intercepted the transmission between Greed and the mystery men that came to pick him up." Allison replied. Ben let out a deep sigh. "Well that presents us with a predicament. We don't even know if the atmosphere in Starlight is breathable for us." Ben said. "Kate doesn't seem to be having any problems with the atmosphere." Jack argued. There was a brief moment of silence. Jack had a point. "Even if we could survive the atmosphere what are the chances that Greed doesn't see us coming." Ben remarked. "We'll have to travel there when it's dark. No one can know that we're there. Take a small fire team, bring him in dead or alive, and leave before " Allison suggested. Jack turned to look at Ben crossing his arms waiting for him to make the call. There was a brief moment of silence as Ben thought for a moment. "Alright then we'll go tomorrow, I'll contact NASA and notify them ahead of time. As of tomorrow Operation Spearfish is a go." Ben said. 

           Later, Jack went to the training room. It was a large room. It consisted of two rings where you could spar in hand to hand combat, a weight rack that was placed all the way in the back, several treadmills lined up next to each other, and several thick punching bags. Jack was dressed in a white shirt and black shorts. He first wrapped his hand with his boxing wraps and then proceeded to put on his blue boxing gloves. He began striking the bag with a jab and a cross. He continued doing so before speeding up his pace. He then began striking with various other punching combinations rapidly until suddenly Allison came and held the bag. "Whoa there hotshot calm down. What's your frustration?" Allison asked. Jack had to take a minute to breathe before answering back. "What if we don't catch him, he has the home field advantage, we don't even know our way around Starlight." Jack said. "You're nervous I get that,  but you don't have to worry, we'll get this guy, dead or alive." Allison told him reassuringly. 

              The next day in the docking bay Ben briefed the team on the mission. "Okay Listen up guys, the intel that we've gathered shows that Greed has gone back to his planet. Your objective is to go there, track him down, and bring back dead or alive. Remember keep it quick keep it quiet. We don't need the locals to know we were there there because if they find out what's going on then it's going to cause a massive panic." Ben explained. "Does everybody understand?" He asked. "Yes sir!" The team exclaimed in unison. Jack, Allison, and the rest of the team gathered their weapons and got into their black SUV's and drove to NASA headquarters. It was a forty-five minute drive. When they arrived at NASA headquarters a group of men wearing white lab coats awaited them and later escorted them to the space shuttle.

           Once they gave them an overview of how to navigate the controls and how to deploy the landing gear when they touch down they boarded the space shuttle and took off. It was a forty-eight hour flight until they finally landed in a dark forest. This forest was not like the ones they had back on Earth however, the ground and the fertile soil of which the trees and plants grew from had a bright turquoise glow emitting from its surface. The pilot of the shuttle spoke through the PA system. "Ladies and gentlemen, you are not in Kansas anymore. Welcome to Starlight." He said, obviously quoting the 2009 science fiction movie "Avatar". This was it. This was the day Jack was waiting for. This was the day Jack would take Greed down and bring him in, dead or alive.