Fiction:Sperron War: Ante Bellum

Something from the outside shook the Zaranian frigate like a rock would shake a leaf in a pond. Delta-2 gave a grunt. Ever since he and his friend, Omega-1, been recruited to Orange Company, the best company of soldiers in the Zaranian Army, he'd been on constant training missions in the Defiant. But he was used to it being grazed by flying rocks, so he didn't think much of it. He was worried when it felt like they were plunging, falling into a wormhole. Omega-1 asked, "what's with the nose-dive, pilot?" The others laughed. But there was no response from the speakers. The ship kept plunging. Suddenly, the plunging stopped. The Defiant smashed into the surface of TR5, the planet to which Orange Company was headed. The ship exploded, sending Delta-2 hurtling out of the cargo hold. When Delta-2 regained his senses, he saw a devastating sight: the Defiant, snapped in half like a stalk of celery, fire raging around it. The corpses of Delta-2's comrades lay around the wreckage, burned and twisted beyond recognition. Delta-2 heard a grunt. He ran to where the sound emanated to find Omega-1, pulling himself out from under the cockpit, fully alive. "Are you okay?!" "Yeah. I mean, I've got a few scratches, a broken rib, and probably a dislocated shoulder, but yeah. I'm fine." "Who would've done this?!" As if to answer his question, a small, spider-like creature crawled from the wreck and scuttled towards him. A dozen more followed. The two friends stood back to back as the tiny cyborgs surrounded them. The Zaranians attacked. They blasted their way out of the enemy ranks, shredding them to ribbons. Now that they had gotten out of their predicament, they faced another problem: finding shelter. After finding a place to set up their tent, they got it out and began setting it up. They were finished within minutes. Omega-1 remarked, "Just like a training mission, isn't it?" "Yes, except we're soldiers now. And if we fail, there's no one out here to help us." As soon as he said that, a massive Sperron Warship appeared menacingly out of a cloud bank. A group of soldiers followed behind, armed with pulse blasters. Suddenly, a squadron of TetriTIE1 Fighters hyperspaced out of nowhere, followed closely by the Insurance II, the personal transport ship of Terkonzal, a legendary Zaranian warrior. The TetriTIE1 ships screamed into battle, using their Proton Beam drainers to make short work of the larger warship. Drained of all energy, the ship promptly dropped to the ground like lead, flattening the soldiers. Terkonzal landed his ship, hopping out and calling to the two soldiers, "I heard you were coming out here. I also heard that the Sperron were cutting off all trade routes with all of our allies, as well as making aggressive moves against the Rethraai. I decided to give you a little insurance. Hop in!" The Zaranians jumped into the solar sailer and were off.