Shine On, Space Cadet (Pt. 14)

“So what do we do?” asked Cal.

“Sit back and relax. Unless we run into an issue on the drop mod transmitter like I mentioned.”

“How often does that happen?”

“About fifty percent of the time.”

“And then what?”

“You and I can go for a walk.”

“Alright… carry on, petty officer.”

“Aye, sir.”

One of Omar’s men brought in some coffees and Cal sat back in one of the empty chairs and watched the numbers on the screen go up. Some of the men were placing bets on which drone would rack up the most kills. B-356 and B-514 were the crowd favorites it seemed. This continued for a while and after a couple of hours the numbers stopped going up for a group of drones. Omar leaned over one of the monitors and cursed quietly.

“It’s always this one. I had told the boys back in Rio to swap out this pod. Well, no issue, looks like you and I get to go down their Lieutenant.” said Omar, with a shrug.

Cal couldn’t help feeling a little excited after having spent the last couple of hours of his first combat mission sipping coffee and watching a computer screen. Omar told him they would take a shuttle down to the surface but to gear up like it was a ground assault, just to be safe. The two of them suited up in the armory and made their way to one of the shuttles at the rear of the ship. Two other technicians joined them and brought along various tools and a new transmitter for the drop pod. Cal was nervous but excited.

“Ready to go, sir?” asked Omar before launching the shuttle.

Cal strapped into one of the seats, fixed his combat helmet and clipped the assault rifle to his breastplate.

“Aye, Petty Officer, take us down.”

With that, the shuttle detached from the Turk and hurtled towards the planet’s surface. The atmosphere was thick and the approach towards the colony was rough but within minutes the shuttle breached through the clouds and made its final approach towards the location of the damaged drop pod. Cal looked out the window at the front of the shuttle and saw the sprawling Exxon colony ahead. Plumes of smoke rose from all around and a large building at the center of the colony bore the Exxon logo which was missing the E and N letters.