"Fire the thrusters." the pilot ordered, as the fighter jet moved aimlessly in empty space. I then felt a jolt forward following which the jet moved forward. This was it, I felt it in my bones. This is where I either save my crewmates, my friends, or I die, trying to save them. Profus and Emanta were sitting right opposite to me, and I could not make eye contact with either of them. Now with absolutely nothing to do but wait, I did what every other person would do when he has nothing to work, think. There is something really fishy going on with Profus. Montwik and Reneesh know it too, but Montwik is just too scared to accept it. I was sure of that. But we were going straight to the palace of the Kenjah, and apparently, he was right there, probably waiting for us. He probably knew we were coming, all thanks to the infamous spy, who has been passing our information to him. 

"What are you thinking about?" Profus asked me, interrupting my thoughts. "Just thinking about this whole thing." I replied, looking at his face trying to read it, but all I got back was an expression which is hard to be read. "We're going to get them back, and win this war and save your world and ours. I can assure you that." He replied. "That is the millionth time I've heard it, Profus, and I am sick of hearing the same thing being told a million times." I said. Profus looked at me, most probably not knowing how to reply. "What is wrong with you, man?" Reneesh, who was sitting right next to me asked. "What?" I asked back, not clearly understanding what he meant by that. "You have been acting all weird around him since the day you hurled the false accusations at him. And by the way, I also noticed another thing. You have started acting weird all of a sudden with Emanta as well. As someone who stuck with you for a very long time, I need to know what it happening in that small brain of yours." He said. "It is hard to explain, Reneesh. All this stress, this confusion I have in me, it's been taking a toll on my mental health." I replied. "When all this is done, I'm buying you a drink. Just you and me." He said, smiling. "I'll take that offer up." I said, smiling back at him. 

I looked out of the window and found that the rest of the ships were moving along with us as well. The destroyers and the battleships could be easily differentiated. The destroyers looked a lot meaner than the battleships, stating the obvious. They had a lot more weapons and were smaller than the battleships, which is an advantage considering smaller ships need a lower amount of fuel and can maneuver around easier than bigger ships, And on the other hand, the battleships were huge and had comparatively fewer weapons. But don't get me wrong, both of these ships looked like they could cause some real damage. Meanwhile, the only prominent thing which differentiated the ships of the Vortex and the Crux Armies was the color and the symbol, which was visible on either sides of the ships. Apparently, the ships of the Crux Army, which I was told were slower than the ships of the Vortex Army, were upgraded and were now as fast as their counterparts. That meant, we had just another day before we were within visibility range of the Photrox. 

"AlphaTwelve, this is the confirmation for General Montwik that the Rescue Mission is a go. Captain Holder is in command of the mission. Beta One over and out."

We had just five days left until Earth is destroyed, once and forever. We still have one day to reach the home planet, Photrox, which leaves us with just four days to win the war. That is some thin margin of error. If we mess up, then there is no way we would have enough time to correct ourselves. 

"All Alpha, Charlie and Tango team ships have been given the go-ahead to enter enemy territory. The first line of defense has been destroyed, all thanks to the efforts of our Research team. The only resistance you will now be facing is that of the enemy ships. All the best, and may the force be with us."

"How did they manage to take out the first line of defense?" I asked Emanta, who seemed to be the only person I actually knew who could answer my question. She seemed taken aback by the fact that I asked her something but she managed to give out an answer. "The teams who managed to hack into these systems were the people who actually built them in the first place. They know all the systems on the home planet, except for the kenjah's palace, inside out. So it must have been a cakewalk for them." She replied, looking at me the whole time. "That's nice to know. The fact that the things which were built to kill us, were prepared by people from our team. That's reassuring." I said. She managed to smile and did not reply to that. I then looked at Profus to see what his reaction was. I didn't know if it just was my imagination, but he seemed a bit paler than he was a few moments ago. If he really was the spy to the kenjah, this must have come as a shocker for him. The news that the R&D department was trying to take out the first line of defense was known to none. And he probably was counting on it to reduce the number of ships which would reach the home planet. But I doubt if Kenjah wouldn't have seen it coming. From what I've heard and seen, he is quite a hard person to outsmart. 

With these thoughts in mind, I slowly dosed away. I was tired and tensed. We had four long days ahead of us, and these four days mattered the most. 

***

"Dude, wake up!" Reneesh said, shaking my body. I sat up,rubbing my eyes, still feeling groggy from the deep sleep I was in. "What happened?" I asked him, looking around to find everyone strapping their arms to their suits and putting on their helmets. It still was dark outside, but not as dark as it was before I had fallen asleep. "We're nearing photrox. We just entered the inner boundary. Holder said we ought to keep an eye out for stuff." Reneesh replied. "How long was I out?" I asked, not able to believe the distance we had a covered whilst I was asleep. "A little over thirteen hours." he replied. "THIRTEEN HOURS?" I exclaimed, surprised by the time I spent sleeping. I had never slept this long at a stretch before. "You looked very tired, Rithvik. And we have a long day ahead of us. You deserve the sleep." He replied, smiling. 

"This is Charlie One, we are approaching target positions. No enemy ship detected on radar."

"This is Alpha Twelve, we are going into stealth mode in three...two...one... cease all communications  with Beta Team until touch down. Over and out."

"Alright, in a few hours we will be reaching the point where the Charlie and Tango teams would take a detour around the planet. We would be behind one of Photrox's natural satellite, and the Charlie team would use their advanced signal jammer to cut any kind of communications from an enemy ship if we ever encounter one, exactly according to the plan. We would always be under the cover of Charlie Four the whole time until we reach the point where we would drop down to the surface. I know one point outside the palace gates where the security is minimal and we would be landing there. We do not know how things are right now on the surface but the plan is soon after we land, we take a secret tunnel built by the resistance to enter the kenjah's palace and break our way into the prison and get the prisoners out. We then make our way back into the tunnel and get the hell out of there before back-up arrives. As simple as that." Briefed Holder, the boss. "Sounds too easy, doesn't it?" I asked. I already was aware of the whole plan. We had discussed it innumerable times during the meetings. But then things never go according to plan, I suppose. "We will beat the shit out of anyone who  comes in our way." Holder replied, looking at me. "Yeah yeah, we sure will." I replied, looking out of the window, longing to meet Konrad and Anna again. 

*** 

"This is Alpha One, we are approaching our target position. Various enemy ships on radar from different fronts. Charlie and Tango teams, proceed with immense caution. Various jets in stealth mode in the vicinity."

"This is Charlie One, we are approaching natural satellite, Ares. Alpha Twelve is being covered by Charlie Four according to plan. We have visual confirmation of several enemy ships in the vicinity. Proceed with extreme caution."

***

"We're getting closer, Reneesh." I mumbled as I looked out of the window, spotting several ships and jets. The ships were  not moving, but the jets seemed to be making rounds around the home planet. Photrox by itself was a beauty. It was orbiting a red giant and was approximately two times larger than the Earth. There was a huge ring surrounding the planet which was gleaming in the sunlight and  looked like something in the neighborhood of communications and solar paneling. With a start I realised something, that was project Solaris, or how it would have looked like if it were successful. and looking at Reneesh's face, I sensed he had figured it out too. "Strange, isn't it?" I asked him, to which he replied with a nod. That huge ring, which surrounded the sun, harvested solar energy to the maximum and send it back to Photrox. Although energy generation was just one fraction in the various uses of project Solaris, it was a crucial part of it, and it was the main reason for it receiving the funding it required. The planet looked blue and had patches of green on it, just like Earth did, but had this slight tinge of red in it, due to the color of the sun. 

***

"All teams be advised, this is Beta One, permission for deployment of Signal Jammers is approved."

"Whoa whoa WHOA!" Holder yelled as he steered the jet to the starboard. "We have an enemy jet on our tail!" He yelled. "This is Alpha Twelve to Charlie Four, we have a tail, over." The missile lock alarm blared in the jet as I clutched my seat. "Hold on!" Holder yelled as he lifted the jet, pointing the nose upward. "Missile deployed." Warned the computer system. "Deploy countermeasures!" he yelled to the co-pilot. We were still climbing, leaving Charlie Four below us. "We have to get down! We need to take cover behind Charlie Four! We can't let them know what we are up to!" Holder yelled, as he pointed the nose downward now. "Cosmo, listen!" Holder said to his co-pilot. "On my count put all thrusters on reverse." He ordered. looking up from the cockpit, searching for the enemy jet. "There it is!" He said, pointing his finger. "It is directly above us. Reverse the thrusters in three..two..one..NOW!" he said. The jet jerked backwards and I was pushed side-wards, thanks to Newton's Laws. The enemy jet was now directly ahead of us, and before it could make a move, Holder fired at the jet, which exploded but the flames died down just as soon as they erupted. Space 101: there's no oxygen in space. "ONE DOWN!" Holder yelled, as he put his fist in the air. "Thousands to go." Cosmo said, as he looked at the radar, searching for any ships. 

"Charlie Four, this is Alpha Twelve, we took down one enemy jet. Probably our first victory." Holder said. "Don't get your hopes up, Alpha Twelve. We have reports that the rest of Alpha team is under fire from all directions." came the reply. "Alright, we're coming back to your level. Cover us. And  take care of these jets, please." Holder said. "You got it, Alpha Twelve. Big Brother is there for ya." 

"We have thirty minutes till drop. Keep your eyes peeled. Tell me if you see anything." Holder ordered. 

___

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-LPS21/ Rithvik.