From the Abyss

Orange One

"Red alert, red alert. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill" spouted the PA system in the sleeping quarters jolting everyone awake. A resounding groan was emitted from the mouths of the other pilots.

"This better not be another false alarm" I said to no one in particular, as I knew they shared the same opinion. In the past week, there have been a record total of 14 false alarms here at Hermes station. Hermes station was posted just outside the Abyss, and the tracking crew were prone to thinking that an asteroid was the attacking alien fleet.

As for the official name of this fleet, it was still undecided after eight months or combat with them. The QUESO scientists came up with an impossibly-long name that no one uses outside of mission briefings. The public uses what ever name is in style that week, this week it is "The angry E.T's" I think. The pilots however, have one unified name for them, "The squids". This was chosen from the only manned craft of theirs ever to be recovered. The people higher up chose to keep what they looked like a secret, but there was a rumor spreading around that stated they shared many similarities with aquatic life, particularly squid, hence the name.

"Kerman" I said to my wing man "Pass me my quantum communications thingy will you."

"So, you're actually going to bring it this time huh?" He smirked.

"Oh, shut up, that was a mistake "I said, lying right through my teeth. Last mission, I chose to leave my communicator behind because the captain of our flight group kept trying to give me some chicken-shit orders that would cost us our squadron. These days in the military, so many people are being drafted that half of our personnel used to be freaking office job managers, with barely any training.

"Orange flight, you are go. Report to the flight decks to board your ships." Says the flat baritone of the PA announcer.

"Well its show time" I mumble to myself. I strap on my helmet and start walking briskly to the flight deck. I immediately spot my X-8 Cobra Interceptor, as it is the only battle-marked of the bunch. My entire squadron is green noobies, fresh out of the academy. My previous group, "The flying circus", was a top of the line bunch, with a kick-ass captain. I got moved because of the injury I suffered with them. A malfunctioning escape pod costed my two weeks recovering and put me in a fresh squad. Well, you can't win 'em all.

"Vvvvvcheet, Vvvvvcheet" went the old loading system

"What will it be today Sergeant?" Asked the per-programmed voice of the loading robot.

"Just load the normal stuff, but I want no missiles, in case it is a false alarm, less wasted. The main fault with the X-8 is that once you mount something in the launchers, the only way to get it back out is to dismantle it. But do you know the worst part? The QUESO is starting to charge pilots for any wasted munitions, and my bill is already in the five digits, and anymore I'll have to get a part-time job somewhere, and there aren't many of those left. Since the first encounter, the world has been plunged into a frenzy. Half the companies in the world converted to munitions and space craft to deal with the demand, and most of the other half shut down, as people wanted to have more time to do stuff before the world went to shit.

"Orange one, go" I said sounding off.

"Orange two all set"

"Orange four, ready"

"Where's orange three?" I asked.

"Engine problems, he can't make it" supplied Kerman.

"And then there were three" I muttered under my breath, starting to feel fear creeping up from inside of me.

"This is Green one, resupplies for Green two, three and four haven't arrived yet"

"Shit" cursed Jeffery, Orange four.

"if this is an actual invasion, we're screwed" said Kerman.

The hanger doors start to creak open, and I catch the first glimpse of the enemy force. Hundreds of mini-attack drones waited ahead of us.

"Well at least they're mini drones, not full-size ones" Kerman says, grasping at straws. I feel the familiar force of the catapult launching our ships into the dark well in front of us.

"What the hell" I say, feeling my bravado and gung-ho attitude come rushing back in, like someone opened the flood gates. "Let's kick some ass!"