Looking out of the port-side window, watching the currently tranquil blackness of space. It was beautiful and vast filled with thousands of stars and planets that spanned across its endless reach. My eye began tracking a subtle glint of light, a piece of steel dancing into view. Floating around the haul of the massive UGF warships like countless trophies collected over its years of service.
In the distance, a massive blue giant dominated its section of space. The home world of the most powerful enemy the human race has ever faced lay within the rings of that sun. No other planets could sustain life in this system. Soon, the window would continue to tint, blocking the light from the sun as we closed the distance.
Stepping away from the window, I muttered to myself, "Not too long now."
Slowly, I made my way to the hangar from the observation deck. My dirty and worn boots gently thumped against the clean steel grates of the floor. Gunmetal grey bulkheads with pipes and electrical boxes broke apart the symmetry of the endless passageways. Some display panels lined the walls, showing the outside view of the ship, some had UGF-News playing on them.
In my path, some Navy men and women were standing before one such panel with the news playing. As I walked by, a tall blonde anchorwoman was standing in front of a repeating video of multiple ships heading into space. A box on the right of the screen with the names of the recently deceased. The bottom of the broadcast were other news stories that were less important but still new scrolled across, such as "Alien bug infestation reported in a nearby star system," and "Spice on Sarak: spices in demand, prices soar." My HUD scanned over both and pulled up options to view further details on each, blinking and asking, "Would you like to know more?"
Ignoring the prompts, I passed many other crewmen watching the news as I made my way to an elevator. Their doors slid open and a few Marines and servicemen stepped out. Most looked at me with contempt after noticing my outfit. I was wearing a black and gray combat suit with my matte black helmet tucked under my arm. I always disliked it hanging on the mount on the back at my neck, putting unwanted pressure on my old interface. Subconsciously I reached back and rubbed the scar, messaging the tension in my neck.
The elevator opened before my stop, letting on the few more servicemen. I took in their young age and worried expressions, noticing the single stripe upon their crisp uniforms. Both of them were obviously cadets. I shook my head, pushing my thoughts into the back of my mind. The door opened on my deck, and I said, "Excuse me," as I pushed past the cadets to my deck.
Suddenly, a loud blaring filled the halls of the behemoth class ship. "Enemy inbound, repeat enemies inbound," an artificial female voice announced over the ship's intercom, warning of an incoming attack. "Little far," I thought. The enemy had a strategic advantage within the rings of the sun, with electrical interference messing up any sort of radar or early warning systems we would have. Setting up ambushes would be easy. Why throw away lives like that?
My Comms came alive, and a female voice said, "Lock and load. We're already in the hangar, boss. Your frame is already loaded; I kept the seat warm and ready."
Mentally switching my Comms to reply, "Already on my way. Be there in a sec," I hurried my steps a bit, even though I knew we wouldn't be launching for another hour. "The Demons already set in the spikes?" I asked.
"Yep, boss, we're set to rock," came a voice, her loud music blaring over the Comms for the whole team to hear. I didn't mute it, but I turned it down.
Arriving at the amidship hanger, I showed my ID, and the doors slid open. I ascended the steel stairs and made my way across the catwalk to my personal mech—an older model with lots of modifications. Passing by my team, all within their own warframes, only the top of each was shown above the railing. The dull and scuffed black armor of my warframe showed the many pits, scratches, and small dents from years of combat. Each one told a story spanning from one part of the galaxy to the other. My mech, barely visible within the matte black spike, emitted less than 1% of overhead light—it looked alien as it seemed to absorb the light. Shaped like a long dull octagonal nail with swivel thrusters for added maneuverability.
Stopping at the steel scaffolding in front of my mech, the floor and railing extended to the cockpit. I climbed in and started the reactor, closing the hatch around me. Armor plates slid over the hatch, and my ears popped with the pressure change when the hatch sealed. The many screens came alive projecting a full 360-degree field of view, and readouts on my machine and systems, another monitor showed camera feeds of the Themis. Currently it split between our deck, and an outside view of the ship.
The low hum of the generator beneath me was like a warm welcome from a good friend. I waited to pull the harness over my battle suit, but I did sit my helmet off to the side. I cut my Comms and closed my eyes. I slid down my seat and got comfortable, I had time for quick power nap.
The whole ship shuddered, waking me. I opened an eye but didn't hear any klaxons going off. Closing my eye again, my Comms came alive within seconds. "Boss, are you seeing this?" the same female voice came through the Comms again.
Yawning before replying, I said, "Nope... What's up?" I asked while stretching as much as I could within the confines of the small cockpit.
"Check out the news feed quick, it's almost done, hurry," she sounded excited.
The news popped up on my main projector. The headline read, "The first skirmish breaks out with an overwhelming victory." Underneath the headline, the same behemoth we were on was shown, with a much smaller ship in the distance. The battle showed each side launching fighters. The UGF fighters won the fight without any losses. The enemy ship launched hundreds of drones, but the behemoth's point-defense easily took them down. The behemoth lined up its main armament, a long triangular cannon, the triple mag. The heavy gauss rifle was capable of firing 3 rounds at super-sonic speeds. The rounds fired in a triangle spread, hitting the smaller vessel, shearing it in half, and breaking the ship apart on impact.
A deep voice came over my Comms, "Commander Smith, we are arriving near your launch coordinates. Are you sure you want to do this? Not going to lie, but this seems like suicide to me. Even if you can get past their shields, you have no way to get back to the Themis even if you complete your mission," the commander said.
"Thank you, Commander, for your concern. We are still going through with this. Even if we cannot complete our mission, yours is just as important," I said.
"Well, Godspeed and good luck to you, Zero," the commander said.
A timer popped up on my HUD. Launch time: 2 minutes and 30 seconds and counting. I secured my harness and secured my helmet. Finally, I synced with my warframe. I felt all the readouts of my mech like an extension of myself. "Closing the spikes. Get ready for launch," I said to my team.
A red skull appeared over the front of his armored visor, a zero cut into the forehead of his own. Similar to the other members of the Reapers, each with a different skull adorning their armored visor.
The timer hit zero, taking a final slow deep breath. I opened the Comms channel to my team and the bridge crew of the Themis, "Reapers launching," I said, issuing the final command. The floor under the spikes opened, revealing only the bleak darkness of space, surrounded by the infinite twinkling of stars as far as the eye could see. The spikes housing the Reapers shot out of the belly of the Themis at high velocity before disappearing from radar.
A while later, only using their correctional thrusters, they made orbit around a long-dead planet. Using its gravity, the spikes performed a slingshot towards their final destination, gaining speed as they went.
Hidden within enemy space, five ominous spikes flew in combat formation towards their destiny.