War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past by Conner Walworth Page B

thrusters on the back of the ship and
rotating thrusters on the wings that allowed the ship to move in
circular movements if need be.
    He went to the back of the ship and walked up
the ramp, seeing a few more men make their way in as he reached the
top. He waved at them to board as he continued to inspect the
interior of ship. Armino turned the power on and checked all of the
readings for the weapons, thrusters, shields, stealth field, and
everything else that would be vital to the success of the mission.
The thrusters showed one hundred percent, as did the shields, and
stealth field. He engaged all of the weapons and insured they all
functioned properly.
    Armino glanced down at his watch and read
7:55 a.m. The rest of the men would be arriving very shortly, so he
made his way to the ramp of the ship to await them. Once the last
race had boarded he started to talk.
    "Alright guys, it's time. I've checked
everything on the ship and it's all good. I want you guys to focus
on the mission at hand while we're traveling to Plouton," He
pointed at Donnchadh. "You're going to be my co-pilot today."
    "Ahhh come on Armino! Can't you give me a
break?" he joked.
    "Stop your whining and get up here," he
ordered. "Everyone else, do whatever you think you need to do to be
prepared. When we land you need to be ready to go within seconds,
so don't get too comfortable."
    The men all nodded and dispersed throughout
the spacious ship. Donnchadh walked up to Armino and stood next to
him.
    "Don't you ever do that again Donnchadh,"
Armino sat in his seat. "You've gotten to lose with me."
    "What?" Donnchadh asked.
    Armino turned around. "Your attitude needs to
change in front of all the men. I know you're just playing, but I
can't know if they know that. I don't want them to think
questioning their leader is okay."
    Donnchadh put his hand to his forehead. "Sir,
yes sir."
    Armino held his frustration in. "Let's start
up the engines, slowly."
    Armino and Donnchadh started pulling levers
and pressing buttons, making the engines roar to life. Armino
pushed the yoke forward and the ship moved towards the exit of the
bay and off of Hera.
    "Set Plouton as our destination and initiate
Sonodrive," he ordered Donnchadh.
    "On it." Donnchadh pulled up a holomap and
picked out Plouton.
    "I have an alert set that will tell us when
we're fifteen minutes from Plouton. When it goes off, we're going
to apply the stealth field. No one will ever see us coming, or
leaving," Armino informed Donnchadh.
    "Alright," He leaned back in his seat. "I'm
just going to wait here until we get to Plouton, just in case
something goes wrong."
    Armino nodded in approval. "I am too. I'm
anxious and I can't wait to get this mission over with."
    He shut his eyes and reclined back in his
chair, knowing it would be a longer trip than usual. He had never
paid attention to how long the jumps took, but guessed this one
would be a little longer than usual since Plouton was on the outer
edges. His nervousness was gnawing away at him, he hadn't been this
nervous on a mission since his first in the GSOU. He had also never
gone on a mission with little to no information, or with the
responsibility eighteen lives. The two felt like a very bad
combination to him, but his options were limited.
    Armino jumped awake to a rapid beeping noise
coming from his warning dash. He quickly straightened in his seat
and let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was just the alert that
he had set to warn him Plouton was closing in. He applied the
stealth field and waited patiently.
    The ship exited Sonodrive with a big lurch
and he knew that that would alert all of the men that they'd
arrived at Plouton. He saw Donnchadh wake up in the chair next to
him through the corner of his eyes and glanced over.
    "You ready to go to work?"
    Donnchadh raised his eyebrows. "I've been
ready since we left."
    "Good," Armino said. "Apply thrusters to max
power. We're moving in quick."
    Donnchadh applied full power to the thrusters
and