He wore his red uniform, an old scruffy man, decorated head to toe in brass medals. He stood there sipping the whiskey in his cup through his thick grey mustache looking out the window into the hazy blue sky and the desert that laid beneath.
"Do you think it was worth it, my entire crew died," said Gerald Zionette, the sole survivor of the great rift incident.
"You couldn't have known Gerald, you tried to save them by flying out first in that shuttle. God knows you did a noble thing," the Admiral replied," I knew your father for a long time, he probably died proud of you that day."
Gerald's eyes began to tear as he remembered the final transmissions from his father ordering him to get farther away from the ship. The rift was too strong, the Emanation was to heavy, the rift came out of no where, and swallowed the ship whole. Gerald must've sat in that shuttle for ours, staring into deep empty space waiting for his father's starship to return. It didn't all he could see was the empty darkness.
"You gathered valuable data, completed the mission, and saved an entire colony. No one died in vein,"the Admiral paused, placed down his cup, turned towards Gerald and continued,"Look it's alright if you don't want to go just yet, Alpha Command would understand."
Gerald retracted the drop just before it poured out of the corner of his eye. He hid has pain, inhaled deeply, and said," No sir. I am fit for duty."
The Admiral approached and laid his right hand on Gerald's shoulder. "Alright, you have a week to assemble the finest senior officers in the sector," said the Admiral," Now go be with your wife, you need her right now."
Gerald looked up at the Admiral, with a strong glare of honor in reply he spoke," Thank you sir," and he walked out. It was just as a normal day in the base. As he walked down the corridor, he passed many officers going through, many old friends he hadn't seen in months. Being back on the ground felt good. But the day had only begun.
The sound of siren began to go off, it was the red alert. The base was under attack. Like a sudden quake, the building shook, and the ceiling cracked. The alert status had everyone dashing through the halls. Secretaries tried to keep their papers on the desks. Pilots scrambled with dashing speed. Gerald looked around for an exit sign, panicking he simply ran forward. The building was collapsing, the floors and ceiling began collapsing. Gerald had come to a dead end, the window ahead seemed to lead down to a pond. There wasn't enough time, Gerald could see the sky darkening from the massive impending raiders that hazed the horrizon beyond. He grabbed a chair nearby and smashed the window open. As he looked back he could see the lights flickering off, and a wall of rubble plumeting towards him from down the hall. It was now or never. Gerald jumped out the broken window and fell 5 stories in to the murky pond. The trail of dust and debris tail behind him as the building crumbled along side. the dust cloud brushed over the pond, and Gerald emerged to a hazy dust covered landscape. He walked away from the rubble behind him as some of it slowly continued crumbling and pouring into the pond displacing the water. As he limped through the dust cloud with the rays of the hot sun piercing through, he could here the loud screams, as people scrambled to escape the base, and the thunderous firefights in the sky. The dust finally cleared as Gerald reached a sandy hilltop. His leg must've been slightly twisted from the jump, his clothes muddy from the mixture of dust, sand, and water. The raiders left a blazing city behind him. He continued forward, to home, to his wife.....
Gerald looked up at the Admiral, with a strong glare of honor in reply he spoke," Thank you sir," and he walked out. It was just as a normal day in the base. As he walked down the corridor, he passed many officers going through, many old friends he hadn't seen in months. Being back on the ground felt good. But the day had only begun.
The sound of siren began to go off, it was the red alert. The base was under attack. Like a sudden quake, the building shook, and the ceiling cracked. The alert status had everyone dashing through the halls. Secretaries tried to keep their papers on the desks. Pilots scrambled with dashing speed. Gerald looked around for an exit sign, panicking he simply ran forward. The building was collapsing, the floors and ceiling began collapsing. Gerald had come to a dead end, the window ahead seemed to lead down to a pond. There wasn't enough time, Gerald could see the sky darkening from the massive impending raiders that hazed the horrizon beyond. He grabbed a chair nearby and smashed the window open. As he looked back he could see the lights flickering off, and a wall of rubble plumeting towards him from down the hall. It was now or never. Gerald jumped out the broken window and fell 5 stories in to the murky pond. The trail of dust and debris tail behind him as the building crumbled along side. the dust cloud brushed over the pond, and Gerald emerged to a hazy dust covered landscape. He walked away from the rubble behind him as some of it slowly continued crumbling and pouring into the pond displacing the water. As he limped through the dust cloud with the rays of the hot sun piercing through, he could here the loud screams, as people scrambled to escape the base, and the thunderous firefights in the sky. The dust finally cleared as Gerald reached a sandy hilltop. His leg must've been slightly twisted from the jump, his clothes muddy from the mixture of dust, sand, and water. The raiders left a blazing city behind him. He continued forward, to home, to his wife.....
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