Axel twiddled the dial in front of him to set his phaser on. The ship thrummed to life. Axel's heart soared as the ship vibrated and hummed. It wasn't like the simulation, it was even better. He placed a hand on the analog stick in front of him and positioned it gently backwards.

There was a knack to phased exits. Especially with technology as old as this. When it became clear that the locations of their hangers were obvious to any attacking Ivarozzans, Vaxorian scientists had created a method called phasing. It allowed ships to vibrate at such a speed that everything, including the people inside, were able to briefly pass through solid objects.

Axel's stomach lurched as they pulled up and phased through the ceiling. His entire body lit up with energy and a dull ache in his forehead intensified. The ship was equipped with dampeners to stop the side effects but the technology hadn't been perfected. As they reached the sky, the phaser turned off.

Axel leant to the side and wretched up his breakfast.

"Ewww, who the heck was that?" came Nitwit's voice.

Striker laughed. "Axel just hurled."

"Shut up, no I didn't," said Axel, the blood rushing to his face.

"Can we focus, please," came Scout's voice.

"Thank you, Scout," said Brixton. "One in five people vomit after their first phasing experience, Nitwit. Some of them better men than you will ever be. Everything alright, Axel?"

"Mmhmm," said Axel, wiping his face with his hand. "I'm alright."

"Alright, stay in formation," said Brixton. "It seems they are focusing their fire on the city. We need to go in the opposite direction to break into space. We don't want anyone to attack us. Axel, Scout, I need you to angle your ships to the east, then activate your atmospheric engines."

Axel nodded, then brought the ship into alignment. From the external camera, he could see the city below. The usually beautiful horizon was now tarnished by the orange glow of fire. Buildings burnt. Smoke billowed through the air. He hoped Wizan was safe.

"Oh crap," muttered Axel.

"That's half the city they've taken down, at least," said Striker.

"Don't focus on what's going on down there," said Brixton. "That is Land Division's problem. The terraforming is our problem."

Everyone fell silent and for a moment all Axel could hear was the rumble of their engines. His home town crumbled beneath them. He gritted his teeth. No way would he let these people take their planet. He was Axel Ford, son of Quentin Ford. The citizens of Displincia needed him.

Brixton gave them the signal and Axel activated his engines. His stomach jumped into his throat as the Viper-Storm jolted forward. For a minute, he was worried he was going to be sick again but managed to resist the urge.

The Commander's plan worked. By going out from the east, their ships broke into space undetected. Axel flipped on the stabilisers as they shot through the atmosphere. The ship smoothed out and seemed to do the work for him. Within moments, the white sky of Displincia was replaced with the deep void of space.

Axel's eyes lit up as he took in the beauty of what lay ahead of him. Danger or not, there was something about space that made him feel like he belonged. He thought about the trip with his father. Next time we come up here son, we'll be together again.

If only that had been the truth.

"Alright everyone," said Brixton. "We need to make a sharp turn to the left, please check your radar for signs of the attacker's vessel."

Axel took the analog stick and tugged it to the left. The ship followed his movement. He pulled down the circular radar from the area that was attached to the ceiling above. Current Viper-Storm models would automatically do this but he had to work with what he'd got.

A small round blip flashed and Axel's heart sank as he saw what they were up against. Even from this far back, it was massive. A metal cylinder rolled through space. Two black devices stuck on either side and formed a blue shield which draped over the machinery.

"It seems the attack force is based only on Displincia," said Brixton. "We destroy that thing quickly and we might not even have to get into combat."

Axel half-expected a groan from Rolly. He hated missions which didn't involve some form of attack. He took a deep breath to push the guilt to the back of his mind.

"That shield is like nothing I've seen before," said Scout. "None of the books in the library mentioned it."

"A shield is a shield," said Brixton. "I'm going to focus all of my fire on the generator on the left. Scout and Nitwit you shoot the one on the right. Striker, Axel, you're going to hold steady. Any oncoming attackers need to be dealt with."

"You sure we shouldn't just double up on the generator to take it down faster?" asked Striker.

Brixton growled. "Listen to my orders, boy. Ready, Scout?"

"Ready."

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They broke from formation and shot off in the direction of the metallic cylinder.

Striker muted his comm and poked his head up to Axel. "This is such crap. We both know there's not going to be any action. Didn't he say he wanted the job done quickly?"

Axel muted his own comm. "We can't afford to go against Brixton's orders. He's the only one who has done this type of thing before."

"I don't think anyone has faced an invader in a while, mate," said Striker. "Why don't we get in a bit closer? At least then we can have a bit of the action when the shields are down."

He had a point.

Brixton said there wouldn't be anyone coming because they had put their resources in the city below. If they sat here waiting and the generators refused to go down, they would be sitting ducks. If they were fierce enough to bring down the council building, then their resources outmatched anything an old fashioned Viper-Storm could throw at them.

But to disobey orders could cost him everything he had been working towards these last four years. He had to give Brixton a chance to do it his way.

"We need to wait and see how the plan goes," said Axel.

Striker cursed under his breath. Axel unmuted his comms and surveyed the scene ahead. Brixton's laser blasts smashed into the generator. They seemed to bounce off it. Scout and Nitwit were having a similar time. If Axel was close enough, he wondered if there would even be a scratch.

"We're going to need to recharge our fire power soon, sir," reported Nitwit. "I'm not sure this Viper-Storm can hold off for much longer."

"Keep firing, Nitwit," said Brixton. "We have to work with what we have got."

"Can't we use our main cannon?"

"Not unless you want us to be without a way of destroying the vessel," said Brixton through the zap of laser blasts. "Remember, we only have one projectile per ship. We are going to need that to break this thing down."

"Sir, I'm not being funny, but we need to focus all of our fire, one at a time," said Striker. "If we don't band together, the enemy will be on our back and, let's face it, we won't be able to take them on."

Brixton hesitated. To listen to Striker would wound his pride. He'd always been the one in control but now it was possible the apprentice was about to become the Master.

"Scout, Nitwit, focus your fire on the same generator as me," he said. "Stiker, Axel. Stay put."

"But--"

"I said stay put, cadet," shouted Brixton.

Striker fell silent.

Axel's blood pumped around his ears. His eyes remained on the radar. His head pleaded no blips would register. He wished they were focused on destroying a generator. The waiting was too much, he needed some form of distraction.

Then finally, a blast ripped through space and one of the generators was down. Nitwit whooped as the blue shield dimmed.

"Excellent work!" cheered Brixton and Axel's heart flipped from tension into excitement. They'd been up to space and they were actually going to make a difference. When they got back down to the planet they would be seen as heroes. Just like his Dad.

Something slammed into the side of the Viper-Storm. Axel cried out as the back of their vessel spun out of control. He wrestled control of the analog stick and turned them around. Nothing came up on the radar.

"What happened?" shouted Striker. "Where is the enemy?"

Axel didn't reply, he was too busy bringing the Viper-Storm to a halt. He pulled down another screen that was tucked into the side of the cramped cockpit. It showed their ship's armour was at 40%. Whatever hit them, hit them hard.

Their ship shot off towards the cylinder and turned one hundred and eighty degrees. Ahead of him, in the black of space he spotted a circular syntheticon. It was a big metal sphere and must have been what crashed into their side.

"They've sent out some kind of wrecking ball," said Axel. "The generator you destroyed must have triggered their defences."

The sphere soared at them and Axel pulled the analog stick away. The two of them were sent spinning aside. "Striker. Shoot it."

Lasers fired from their ship and crashed into the ball. It exploded in the air. Axel breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well that thing was kind of pathetic," laughed Striker.

"What if they send more?" asked Axel. “It didn't register on the radar."

"We need to take down that generator faster," said Striker.

"Stay where you are, cadets," commanded Brixton.

Striker muted his comms again. "He can't be serious. That thing took our armour down a huge chunk. We can't afford another hit."

"We need to listen to our orders," said Axel. "I don't want either of us to lose our place in Space Division."

"They won't kick us out if we make the right call," said Striker. "After what happened to Rolly, do you really think Brixton has our best interest at heart?"

The screen flashed in front of them. Their armour steamed. The radar showed nothing but how could they trust it now? Maybe Striker was right. Maybe they needed to make the right call. Axel nodded at him and they grinned at each other.

"Let's do this."

Axel's ship shot ahead and they joined the formation of the attackers and opened fire on the generator. It glowed orange.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Brixton.

"We need to destroy this generator, sir," said Axel. "We can't take another hit."

The Commander fell silent. The red lasers collided with the black box until finally it exploded and the shield dropped. Everyone cheered.

"Alright everyone, pull back, stay in formation," said Brixton. "Then on my command, let your projectiles fly."

They pulled back and looped away. Axel couldn't believe how smoothly they did it. All of that time in the simulator was paying off. Brixton remained in front while the other two ships stayed in a triangle formation.

"Alright, Striker, Nitwit, aim up and prepare," said Brixton and they waited patiently for the command.

A command which never came.

Without warning, six blips came up on the radar and space was lit up with a purple plasma beam. It smashed into Brixton's ship. Axel winced as the Commander's scream echoed through like the cry of a feral animal and his ship blew up in front of them. Another plasma blast crashed into the side of Scout and Nitwit's vessel. Everything went in slow motion as their Viper-Storm lit up the black void of space.

Striker let go of the projectile, which shot towards the attacker. Another plasma blast smashed into the side of it and destroyed it before the target was hit.

Axel didn't leave it any longer. He grabbed the analogue stick and rolled to the left as yet another plasma beam zoomed through the darkness. Six more blips appeared on the radar. The enemy ships were black domes that were twice the size of their Viper-Storm. There was no way he was going to be able to get through this.

His father's words rang through his mind. You're not dead until you're dead.

They hadn't been killed just yet. The Viper-Storm rattled as Axel turned the phasers up to their highest level. Plasma beams shot through them but they were moving too fast. He activated the descent pattern and held on tight as the ship made its way through the atmosphere. He flicked off the phaser and pulled the eject lever which sent himself and Striker flying up into the beautiful blue sky of Displincia.

Their parachutes automatically activated. Axel closed his eyes and hoped the attackers had backed off.

"Axel," shouted Striker. "We need to drop on the grounds of the Academy!"

He pointed towards the great skyscraper which was the Academy and Axel nodded as he programmed the shoot to take him to the coordinates of the grounds.

He couldn't see anyone behind him. They gathered their thoughts as they floated through the air. They were safe, for now. But their friends were gone and Displincia would never be the same again.