I know it’s a lot, but please read it and give me your honest opinion.
0300 hours, November 14, 3078
Master Sergeant Jason Morven of the Alliance Defense Command (ADC) sat in a wall-mounted chair in a room cramped with a dozen other men and women. They were aboard a Phoenix drop ship, descending toward the surface of the planet Chellara II.
Jason closed his eyes in deep thought. At times like this, he would think back to how the war began.
In the year 2720, Humans unlocked the secret to traveling between planets. Not just in Earth’s solar system, but across the entire galaxy. After the breakthrough in science, it took Humans less than a decade to colonize over a dozen planets spread across the galaxy.
In the year 2949, Humans discovered that they were not alone in the universe by making first contact with an alien species, the Trunin. They were a peaceful species, who, like Humans, also thought they were the only inhabitants of the universe. After spending years learning each other’s languages, and after the invention of the universal translator which allowed for seamless communication between the two species, Humans and Trunin formed an intergalactic alliance, and have been good friends ever since.
In the year 3039, a third alien species revealed itself to the Alliance. They, however, were not a peaceful species at all. Before the Alliance could even attempt to make contact with them, the new species attacked one of their inhabited planets, killing hundred’s of thousands.
The Alliance attempted to make contact with the third species. But after they attacked another planet, all attempts to communicate were abandoned, and all efforts were then focused on fighting them off. It was the beginning of a long and brutal war.
The third species had first appeared out of a black hole-like portal. It is for that reason that the Alliance had dubbed them the Rift.
Jason was distracted from his thoughts by a blast of incredibly loud music. His eyes reflexively shot open and he saw Private Shawn Vest reaching above his head to a radio.
“Turn that crap off before I use ya’ for target practice!” First Lieutenant William Trimmers yelled for everyone aboard to hear. His voice was cracked from years of almost constant shouting, but he was still very intimidating to Jason.
“Gladly, sir!” Shawn said with a mouth full of chewing gum. His voice was thick with sarcasm. He saluted the Lieutenant, but there was no respect in the salute at all. Then he finally reached up and switched off the radio. He seemed to be moving with deliberate slowness, as if to see how slowly he could turn off the radio without the Lieutenant yelling again.
Even after the obnoxious noise was gone, Jason’s ears were ringing from the intense volume of Shawn’s radio.
The moment Lieutenant Trimmers turned his back to Shawn, the woman sitting next to him, Private First Class Ashley Fresco, jabbed her right elbow into Shawn’s left arm. She and everyone else, including Jason, were wearing full body armor and helmets that obscured their faces with tinted glass. But Jason could sense her expression was that of anger and annoyance.
“Ouch!” Shawn exclaimed as he rubbed his left arm with his right. He shrugged at Ashley as if to ask, “What did I do?”
Jason grinned with satisfaction. He had known Ashley his whole life. In that time, he had learned that it was never a good idea to get her angry. She had once given a man twice her size a black eye for refusing to move out of the way of the restroom door.
Jason, Shawn, Ashley, and everyone except Lieutenant Trimmers had VR51W Assault Rifles strapped over their shoulders. The Rifles were gas operated, bullpup design, and used 6.8 mm rounds. Jason and Ashley both carried their own EV9G automatic pistols as their sidearm and everyone else had 9mm handguns as their sidearm. Every one of them also had combat knives, but Jason’s was unique. Lieutenant Trimmers carried a B9610 pump-action shotgun and a Desert Eagle as a sidearm.
Jason was no stranger to high caliber handguns such as the Desert Eagle. On Earth, his Uncle had a one-thousand-year-old gold-plated Desert Eagle in a display case on the mantle in his library.
“We’re approaching the drop zone, Lieutenant,” a man said over the Phoenix’s communication channel.
“Nice n’ easy up there,” Lieutenant Trimmers said. He faced his fellow soldiers and shouted, “Listen up, Marines!”
Immediately, every single person aboard the Phoenix, including Shawn, sat up straight in their chairs and faced their Commanding Officer, all of them paying very close attention to his every word.
“I know none of you have ever been inside enemy territory before!” Lieutenant Trimmers began. “Well I’ve got good news; this is your lucky day! You will be joining your fellow ADC soldiers on Chellara II! If we succeed in retaking the planet, it will be a major victory in this war! Now get down there and show the Rift what we can do!”
“Sir, yes, sir!” everyone shouted in unison.
Jason
distance
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