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The Federation soldiers stood in awe at what they had just seen. One man had taken down no less than seven Gynt troops. This man now stood within the frame of the door the Gynt troops had broke down. He gripped the whirring blade of light and energy tightly in his hand, his body remained in a battle ready position for several more seconds. Then, with a sharp sound, he retracted the blade of energy back into its hilt leaving only a metallic cylinder in his hand. He then approached the Federation soldiers as though he knew they were there before the Gynt had even broke down the door.

He stopped just a few feet in front of the closest soldier. He looked around amongst the soldiers as though he were looking for a specific person. Then without any warning, he yelled, "Which of you are Lt. Allion, and Lt. Sadrik".

"I'm Lt. Allion", Allion walked toward the Ideji soldier, "However...Lt. Sadrik hasn't arrived yet".

At the mention of this, the attitude of Gale's men suddenly changed. Lt. Sadrik was their original commanding officer. The attitude of Gale's men had become sad and solemn. The Ideji soldier saw this, "Lt. Sadrik is dead then, and you're all that's left of his men".

Gale's men were startled at how quickly the Ideji soldier figured this out. After a couple moments, all of Gale's men nodded to tell the man he was right. The soldier just sighed and moved toward Gale. When he was only a foot or so away from Gale, he stopped and looked at him, "So you must be the officer in charge of the platoon now".

After he said this, Gale remembered that he was a soldier of the Federation, and this was a superior officer, Gale straightened his posture, saluted, and said, "Sergeant Mendred Gale sir".

The Ideji soldier smiled, and saluted back, "Colonel Ravek of the Ideji Order".

"So you're Colonel Ravek".

Everyone looked over at Allion who had apparently been the one who said this comment. "My men and I were given the order to come to the hanger and await the arrival of you and Lt. Sadrik".

Ravek's expression changed, going from an amused smile to a serious, stern look. "Right, listen up. You've all been selected for a special assignment. With me as your C.O., we're going to take a boarding craft to the enemy Capital ship, and cause some serious hell. But first, I have a question for all of you. Do any of you know why we're fighting this battle?"

When he asked this question a lot of the men were confused by it, "Sir, isn't it because they've invaded our territory", asked a confused soldier.

"That's only part of the issue".

Again many of the men were confused, "Then what's the whole issue sir", asked Allion.

As he said this, Ravek began to move up a loading ramp that led into a boarding craft. "I'll explain on the way, let's go. Make sure you've got plenty of ammo and supplies before we move out".

Ravek continued into the vessel until he disappeared into the darkened back area of the ship. At first all anyone did was stare after him, the same question on everyone's mind, how the hell can two severely diminished platoons cause any damage to the defense force of a Gynt Capital ship. Even with an Ideji trooper leading them it seamed like an impossible task. Eventually everyone took Ravek's advice and stocked up on supplies. When they were all ready they all went up the ramp into the vessel. Gale headed his platoon into the vessel. He walked down the aisle of the all too familiar look of a Troop SLT (Space to Land Transport). A row of fold up chairs big enough for one soldier to sit in on either side, and an assortment of nets and ropes overhead to grab for troops needing to stand up. At the end of the aisle was a lone chair sticking out from the wall that separates the cockpit from the rest of the craft, a chair specifically designed for the C.O. of the men using the craft. The seat was designed so that a C.O. could overlook his troops before they go into battle, it also made it easier for a C.O. to issue commands to the men.

Once everyone was situated in a seat, or standing grabbing the nets in the canopy. Then, with a shake, a rumble and a clicking noise that sounded the closing of the main hatch they had all just come through, they were off, off into the vastness of space. Along the walls were windows, windows that gave the men a way to see what was going on around them. An explosion off the port bow caught the attention of many soldiers. "Oh God...the Romefellor...it?s been...destroyed".

Private Sokov said this with a look of horror on his face. Gale, Allion, even Ravek looked out the window to see the sight. Sure enough, the battle cruiser they had all just left, the Romefellor, was being bombarded by a Gynt battle cruiser. After a few seconds of battle cannon bombardment, the Romefellor imploded. Ravek stood and faced the direction of what was once a great Federation Ship clicked his heals, straightened his pose and saluted. Other men around him began to do the same. Eventually every man in the craft was saluting. Then, once every man was back in place, "Alright, you wanted to be filled in on the whole story".

At this, everyone's attention was directed to Ravek. "Well, as you all know, we're heading for the Gynt capital ship; the question on all your minds...is why"

"It's because the Gynt have captured a Senator".

These words hit the men like a blast to the teeth, "A senator...how?" Allion practically yelled this question in Ravek's face.

"About four hours ago the capital planet was attacked by a small Gynt fleet. Our space forces engaged the enemy in orbit, however. A Gynt covert ops team managed to get to the surface and capture the Senator. As soon as they got back to their ship their fleet escaped. An alert was signaled to all Federation Border guards to find, intercept and engage the Gynt fleet. We've been given the task to retrieve the Senator. So we better not screw up".

After the mission brief everyone went silent for the rest of the flight. Meanwhile, outside, the battle continued to rage on. Ships tearing each other apart, firing from every possible direction, ships with countless men and gynt alike being blasted into oblivion. Soon, the Troop SLT began to slow down. "Prepare to board".

As this was said over the intercom, the men loaded their weapons and prepared to board what would soon be the lying place for many men. Then, a loud thud, a shudder, and the familiar clicking noise, the ramp opened to reveal the inside of the Gynt capital ship. "Set up a perimeter".

Ravek gave the order in a persona that the men had never seen before, the persona of a man who has seen many a battle, and killed many a man...