Griffin marched down the corridor, his skirt billowing around his legs. He walked with a sense of superiority, holding his chin high with his hands laced behind his back. Looped around his wrist was a small carrier for his personal AI. A small earbud sat in his left ear to allow him to communicate with his AI and others.

A call came through his personal AI. “Call from Audrey Ness, communication officer on Volta Moon Base.” A smooth electronic voice said into Griffin’s ear.

“Manaid, answer,” Griffin commanded. “What do you want, Audrey?”

“Good morning, Commander Sanderson. How are you today?”

Griffin gave an exasperated sigh. “Please skip the pleasantries. I am a busy man.” Griffin passed by one of the Pyramid pilots. The pilot saluted him; Griffin gave him a look but nothing else.

“Of course, sir. We just got a new information package from the Volta Science Base. It has some interesting information-”

“Why are you telling me this? Just send the package through to the Anapeza fleet. Must I do everything for you?” Griffin said his voice was getting more and more angry. When he entered the control room, a few people looked around for the loud, angry talking, but when they realised it was Griffin, they looked away quickly. Griffin loved the fear he imposed on others; it fed his overlarge ego.

Audrey replied calmly, “It is just that the information contained in the package regards new discoveries on Volts that we don’t want the Ishan Empire getting their hands on.”

Griffin stopped walking abruptly. “Then encrypt the information package and send it! What is the likelihood that the Ishan empire is even slightly concerned about Volta? It is a frozen planet so far away from everything that even our own fleets aren’t concerned about it. This whole expedition is just a waste of money! Nothing on that frozen hell is going to solve any of our problems.” More people in the control room began to listen in on Griffin’s conversation even if they refused to look at him.

“But sir, they have found- “

“I don’t care what they have fucking found on that frozen wasteland! Just get send the message and be done with it. I don’t have time for this nonsense,” Griffin shouted at Audrey. His swearing drew a few eyes, but only from the higher-ranking officers.

Griffin disconnected the call before Audrey could say anything else. “Incompetent bitch,” Griffin scoffed to himself before storming from the control room.

Across the base, in the communication room, Audrey was muttering the same thing. Even though she knew it wasn’t the right thing, she encrypted the message and sent it to the Anapeza fleet. She had been given a direct order; she wasn’t in the mood to lose her job.

Still, the information package nagged at her all day, something about the situation felt wrong.

“Why couldn’t Sanderson just listen to me?” Audrey said to herself as she showered that night. “He really is an incompetent dick. So high and mighty. If anything happens, it’s on him.”

* * *

Griffin was woken by a strident siren. It rang through the base, waking all the inhabitants. Griffin hurriedly put in his earpiece and mounted his AI on his wrist. “Manaid, call Richard Forelock.”

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Richard answered the call immediately. “It’s a proximity warning,” Richard said before Griffin could even pose the question. “Something is coming at us fast with an excessive number of weapons.”

Griffin hurried from his room. “Shit!” he yelled before hanging up. “Manaid, call Magnus Gaman.”

“Yes sir?” Magnus answered.

Griffin hurried into the control room. “Launch the pyramids. Ishan fighters are coming straight. I want you ready to meet them before they get in firing range.”

Griffin hung up on Magnus, then sat down in front of his display. It flared to life as he connected his personal AI. A hologram of the base appeared before him. On one of the screens, it showed the reading that had set the alarm going.

The radar had picked up 70 Ishan fighter ships heading towards the moon base. The readout informed Griffin that they had five minutes before the Ishan ships were in firing range.

The hologram of the base showed twenty-four pyramid fighter ships being launched from hanger two. The base had only been supplied with eight cubic groups. That was only forty-eight pyramid fighter ships the base had to work with. That wasn’t even enough to make one Rubik formation.

Griffin called Magnus again. “Launch all the pyramids. We don’t have time to be messing around with backups.”

“If I could, I would, sir, but we only have twelve trained pyramid pilots on base. They are all already manning two ships, four would be absurd,” Magnus stated.

“Can they do three?” Griffin asked in a panic. He was running out of time and ideas. They only had two minutes before the Ishan fighters reached them.

Magnus took a second to think. “It would be too risky to give my fighters three ships to worry about. Two is already pushing it. Three would be reckless. Don’t you think you should be evacuating the base? The ships still have some time to get out. I don’t think this battle will end well. We’re horribly outnumbered.”

“Don’t tell me how to do my job. Just do what you can with the pyramids. I’ll see what I can do from base.” Griffin ended the call just to start another. “Manaid, call Officer Manix.”

“The laser guns are preparing. They need another minute to boot up.” Manix said automatically, correctly assuming what Griffin was going to ask.

“Shit! We don’t have that kind of time.” He watched as the clock ticked down to thirty seconds.

Why do they make weapons have a boot-up time? Griffin thought to himself.

“I’m doing the best I can, sir.” Manix replied in a panic.

“Yes fine. Just start firing as soon as possible.” Griffin hung up and looked down at the hologram.

The pyramid fighter ships had made an arrow formation and were heading to meet the Ishan fighters. He put his head in his hands. Griffin knew nothing they did would prevent the inevitable. He didn’t know what to do, he rarely didn’t know what to do.

He finally decided. He made a call. “Audrey, send an information package on what's happening. The fleet needs to know. Also tell the science base something. Not much they can do if the Ishan decides to attack, but still, send something.”

“Yes sir.” Audrey hung up.

Griffin watched in despair as seven, twelve, fifteen of their pyramids were shot down, going red on his hologram. Seven more pyramids were launched immediately, only for ten more to be shot down. The pyramid fighters weren’t going to last long. They were hopelessly outnumbered.

The laser gun lasted about two minutes. It managed to shoot down ten Ishan fighters before being shot. Griffin began to bite his nails, a nervous habit he hadn’t done in years.

Griffin finally came to the realisation that not launching the Koi passenger ships had been a mistake. The Ishan would shoot down anything that tried to leave. “Fuck,” Griffin said to himself. “Manaid, call Officer Pully.”

When Pully answered the call, Griffin said, “Get the Koi’s ready to launch.”

“Yes sir. They will be ready in two minutes.”

Griffin ended the call, and over the bases PA system he commanded, “Everyone get to hanger three. Koi passenger ships will be departing in two minutes.”

Even though the whole base was evacuating, Griffin stayed seated. Two minutes later, two Koi ships launched. Both were shot down only seconds after they left the base. Every ship that launched didn’t survive more than a minute.

Griffin just sat and watched the massacre from the control room. He was one of the only people left alive on the moon base. Every pyramid fighter ship had been shot down, and not a single Koi passenger ship had survived.

Even though nearly everyone on the Volta Moon Base had been killed, the Ishan still sent one last ship to finish them off. It was a massive combat ship with more weapons than the whole Volta Moon Base.

It shot one nuclear bomb.

One bomb.

One explosion.

And Volta Moon Base was no more.