Recruit: Book One of the Universal Conflict ( Under Constant Editing)

Chapter 28

  The squad assembled in the hanger bay before the dispersal of the programmers ships to disable traffic to and from the planet.

  "Iggy," Krystal said "You're in charge of the ground forces in your section. Hawk, Rufe, you'll cover Iggy.  Cory and I will  cover Shoure."

  Hawk and Rufe saluted in response. Turning, they headed to their fighters for their pre-flight checks.

  "Ig, Chuff is the one who will be taking your directions, he's one of the best we know in combat." Cory told him.

  "Good to know." Iggy returned "I'm not all that good with weapons."

  "That's why you have him," Cory said "You direct the op, he carries it out."

  In the meantime Krys went over their fighters preflight checks making sure they were in shape.

  Walking back to Shoure, Cory stopped and asked if he was ready to go. Getting an affirmative answer, the squads ground fighters boarded the transports and awaited the order to launch.

  Twenty minutes later they were on the way. Upon reaching the planet it was obvious that the disabling tactic hadn't been heard about here. Ships surrounded the space between planets, floating in clouds of vapor from open hatches, bodies of Ruchkitay amid the clouds.

  Approaching the atmosphere they met the air strike squadrons making their way back to protect the main fleet.

  Landing proceeded without a hitch. The ground fighters poured out of the transports and began clearing out buildings around the world. Being the fifth world reclaimed the warriors now knew the tricks the enemy would try. This knowledge made the operation quicker, with each planet freed faster than the last. So far their luck had held and no news had gotten back to the Ruchkitay.

  Quickly enough the search for survivors began. Surprisingly, this was what took longer than exterminating the enemy did.

  Making his way through the mass of survivors Cory followed Shoure in the search for his family.  His home city was massive and he found no sign of them in his home or neighborhood. Searching through the crowds was futile, as there were just too many people. As soon as the survivors were fed and those in need of medical help had been taken care of, they were free to return to their homes.

  "I'm sorry, Shoure," Cory said "This way will take too long. You'll just have to wait, either here or at your home."

   "You're right." Shoure said dejectedly "Let's get back to work. At least that will take my mind off it for awhile."

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  On the other side of the planet Iggys family was found safe. During the reunion Iggy found out Shoures family had gotten to his home safely. As soon as they were able Hawk radioed Shoure about his family. A couple of hours later the squad reconvened at Iggys home for a true celebration as Shoure was reunited with his family. For both Shoure and Iggy it had been several years of worry and anxiety. Now they were able to return to the fleet knowing their families were safe and healthy. 

  During the party both Iggy and Shoure discussed returning to the fleet with their families. Although disappointed, the families understood their reasons for wanting to finish the job of eliminating the Ruchkitay threat once and for all.

   "We will continue with the mission until we're sure that this won't happen, ever again." Shoure stated as Iggy nodded in agreement.

  "You're more than welcome," Krys said "you're needed."

  "That's true." Cory agreed "Both of you are integral members of the squad. We're glad you decided to stay. Are you bringing anyone with you?"

  "Only our mates, if it's alright." Iggy replied "The young ones will stay here to resume the rebuilding of the family business."

  "Of course it is." Krystal said "We need all the help we can get. I'm sure they have skills or talents we need."

   Soon it was time to leave since everyone who had needed help had received it. This time it had only taken a week to accomplish.

  Back on board the Revenge, T'ilvesh welcomed all of the new volunteers to the fleet. This had happened with every planet retaken, volunteers joined the fleet to help defeat the Ruchkitay.  The fleet grew larger with each reclaimed world. By reclaiming the stolen ships they had more than enough space for all of them.

  Since they had become more efficient with every planet retaken the losses were minimal. Only two had died retaking this planet, but everyone in the fleet mourned each life lost. The members of the fleet felt they were a close-knit family and every loss was deeply felt.

  After the funerals the fleet prepared to move to the next world to free. In just a few hours the fleet was at the stardrives maximum velocity heading for the galactic barrier.