Atlantis

Chapter 2

An array of brilliant oranges and pinks streaked the sky to the east as a flight of United Island war planes soared steadily above the sea of clouds beneath them. The five flying machines were lined up in a basic travel formation, their guard down for the time being. Enemy planes hadn't been seen or even detected for miles and although the flight was slowly approaching Strett territory, they were not on an attack mission.

This put Alek's mind at ease, even though he knew he should be on constant alert at all times. A pilot never knew what could pop up on the radar in times of war, but fortunately, that particular reason was what he had his co-pilot and flight mechanic for.

At the thought of his flying partner, Alek glanced at the strategically placed mirror to his left, trying to see what the mech droid was up to. He usually busied himself with repair jobs or intel codes, but to Alek's disappointment, the mirror on the other side revealed the droid's shut off sensors and darkened photoreceptors. The pilot shook his head in disappointment and tried to force down a smile. He turned his focus back toward the flight formation with a sigh. His co-pilot was about as active as a tin can.

"MOP," Alek started, his voice cracking from staying silent for so long." MOP, you know what the commander says about sleeping on the job."

There was no response. Alek slouched in his seat, his safety straps tightening against him as he moved. He supposed he didn't blame the droid. The flight group had been flying for almost the entire night before and now that dawn was breaking, Alek was starting to feel the exhaustion kick in. It was plain bad luck that the rumored Vigoran plane they were scouting out had been spotted at the very edge of United Island territory. Border patrol usually handled this kind of stuff, seeing as the supposed sighting of the enemy ship hadn't even been confirmed by stronger intel yet, but they were busy fighting off a massive Vigoran fleet further north. It seemed as though Flight Patrol 104 was the stronger intel.

The flight's commander, Thren Greywolf, hadn't liked it any more than his scouting party had, but according to the dearly beloved Colonel at high command, 'sacrifices such as long distance patrols must be made in order to ensure the safety of the United Islands.'

Alek glanced at his mirror again and scowled at the powered-off mechdroid as jealous exhaustion suddenly surged through him. He pressed his back into his seat, hoping to create an uncomfortable lump in the back of MOP's flight chair, not that the droid would necessarily feel anything anyway, being made of metal and not skin. Alek cleared his throat, his teeth gritted.

"MOP," he said in a sing song tone," if you're just going to stay powered off, I might as well take the opportunity to play some of my favorite Tyro Gettle songs," the pilot finished, grinning mischievously as the droid's photoreceptors gradually began to glow brighter as he powered back on. He suspected the mechanical man could hear him even in stasis. The droid hated music of any kind, but Tyro Gettle especially seemed to get on his nerves. Alek supposed it had something to do with the obvious mechanical auto tune the singer used in every song, but he could only suspect.

Still grinning, the pilot fiddled with the radio dial, hooking up the soundtrack to the regular frequency. The fuzzy noise of static cleared away as a voice appeared, metallic tones echoing out of the communicator. Alek began to hum along as he heard his co-pilot power up behind him.

"How is this a legal sound?" a familiar monotone voice droned over Alek's shoulder. The pilot stifled a chuckle at the mechdroid's obvious annoyance. It was strange how a metal man was able to express emotion but when MOP didn't like something, everyone knew.

"C'mon she's not that bad," the pilot replied, almost shouting over the ear wrenching music. A metallic scoff emitted from the mechdroid behind him.