Loyalties

Chapter 17: Adrian

"All fleets reporting in, Admiral," Cindy says, smiling her all-beautiful smile.

"Perfect," I say, smiling back.
"Captain, do you have the coordinates locked in?" I ask Denis.

"Aye Admiral," Denis says, turning around to see me. "Ready for the biggest fight of our lives!"

That comment made me grin. "Colonel, weapon status?" I ask Joseph.

"They're gunna be eating a lot of laser," he says, laughing at his own joke.

"Very funny," I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "How's engineering, Lieutenant?" I ask Lauren.

"Whatever new tech they added, I pray to whatever damn god there is that our shields can hold this time," she says, analyzing a monitor intensely.

I take a deep breath in, the smell of fresh metal and the urge to fight filling my nostrils. Cindy walks up beside me and holds my hand.

"Captain, let's get this show on the road," I say, feeling the ship rumble underneath me as in a split second, we are launched towards our destination.

A few minutes into our long journey, I start to get a feeling of uneasiness. My mouth is all dried up and my heart's racing. I feel like my crew and I shouldn't be going on this mission. Yes, we are about to try to take over the Black Sun's armament planet, but the fleet there isn't nothing I haven't seen already; masses upon masses of vessels, ripping fleets apart in a matter of seconds.

"All senior staff, meet me in the conference room," I say as I walk off the bridge, Cindy following my trail.

"What's wrong Adrian?" she asks as the doors close behind us. "You rarely call a meeting this early."

"I don't know, I just have a feeling of uneasiness," I tell my girlfriend. "I feel like something else is going on and we're heading in the opposite direction."

I look at Cindy. "I'm scared," I say, hugging her.

"It's all okay," she says, hugging me back. "I'm scared too."
**
A couple minutes later, Cindy, Denis, Lauren and Joseph took their seats and looked at me, confused.

"Something wrong buddy?" Denis asks. "You seem more up tight than usual."

"Yeah, what's on your mind?" Lauren asks.

I sigh a shirt sigh, then start. "I don't have a good feeling about this mission. Sure, I can handle losing ships, it's happened a thousand times before, and I'm sure it'll happen another thousand. However, I feel like something isn't right. I feel like this is what they want." I put my hands on the edge of the table. "Something bigger could be happening."

"Yeah, something bigger is happening," Joseph says, smiling. "We're gunna crush those sorry little fuckers and show'em what's right!"

"I'm getting that feeling too," Cindy stands up as I sit down. "How come we haven't been intercepted yet?"

The room went silent. Cindy sat down, looking at me. After a couple minutes, I broke the silence. "If anyone notices anything out of the ordinary, notify me immediately," I say. "All but Denis, dismissed."

Cindy, Lauren and Joseph all got up and took their leave. Once the door closed, I walked over to my friend. "If anything happens that is unusual, you get us the hell out of there, my orders or not," I say in a low voice, even though no one is close by.

"Aye sir," Denis says. Throughout training, Denis was the closest to me besides Cindy. I could tell him a thousand secrets and he'd keep them all.

"Let's go, buddy," I say, walking out of the conference room.
**
"Approaching target, half hour," Denis calls.

"The fleet has received its orders, Admiral," Cindy says, punching something in to her console.

"Fighters and cannons prepped for action," Joseph says smiling.

"Shields and engines all on check," Lauren says, checking her diagnostics one more time.

I smile and walk over to Cindy. "Open a channel throughout the ship and to the fleet," I whisper in her ear. Cindy punches a couple buttons.

"Channel open, sir," she says, her eyes glimmering.

"Ladies and gentlemen of this fleet," I start, my hands behind my back. "We are about to get into the second most bloodiest battle this war has ever seen. It will be long, it will be tiring, and some of you might not make it out. Every one's names will e engraved in history, as we will take their armory, and this war will be won!" I signal to Cindy to sever the connection.

"Dropping, ten minutes," Denis says. "Whoever has to take one last shit can do so." The bridge laughs. At least our spirits are at least a little bit lightened up.

The next seven minutes are excruciatingly long and quiet. My palms start to sweat. Cindy stands beside me and takes my hand in hers.

"We'll make it," she says, but even she isn't so sure.

"Dropping out in five, four, three, two," Denis counts as the stars start to slow as we thunder to a halt. In front of us, a heavy blockade orbits the planet.

"Admiral," Cindy calls. "They're hailing us." I nod, and the voice of middle aged man floods the room.

"You are in Black Sun space," the man says. "I am Captain Fatima of the Destroyer and this blockade. Feel happy I'm in a good mood."

"This is Admiral Adrian Gershwarve of the Royal Navy ship Dread Armada, and you seem like nice folks. All you have to do is get away from the planet."

I hear Fatima growl. "Never!" he yells. "Prepare to be annihilated!" The comm is cut.

"Colonel, open fire," I order, and knowing Cindy, she already relaid the order. In a matter of seconds, the sound of cannon fire and the volley of lasers breaks the silence.

Almost instantly, a Black Sun cruiser explodes in a fury of color as it's ripped apart. I don't even think they've returned fire yet.

"Lieutenant, how's the shields?" I ask, a bit concerned. I feel the ship lurch, and I got my answer.

"That's the first shot that's hit us," Lauren says, confusion in her voice. "Sir, I'm getting that feeling too."

I gulp down whatever pride I had left. This isn't good, I think, ignoring the battle.