Echoes of Harmony

Vesta Colony

Inner Hyperion Empire

27 February 3303

Waiting inside the launch tube off the hangar bay of the space station known as Vesta Colony was boring. There was nothing to do but sit there and wait despite knowing the danger that sat outside. Being able to do nothing was especially difficult for Skylar Reid. The seventeen-year-old’s foot tapped against the floor of his H-19 Raptor, the newest space superiority fighter produced by the Hyperion Empire. He twiddled his thumbs in his lap and looked around, trying to do anything to take his mind off the hour he already spent waiting.

The tube was a mostly plain gray metal with lights running down the length of it. Currently, these were dimmed but still easily visible in the otherwise dark interior. Magnetic levitation rings on the sides of the tube interacted with ferromagnetic material in the fighter, holding it precisely in the center.

<How are you holding up in there?> said Lina Guezal, Skylar’s best friend ever since they both arrived at the training facility known as Space Station Vertyn just over six years ago. She spoke over the squadron communication link through their CAMs. <I’m sure it won’t be too much longer.>

<You know I hate this part, no matter how long it takes,> he replied. <Besides, it’s Keith you should be worried about. It’s his first time after all.>

<Hey, I’ve been studying!> Keith’s voice cracked slightly as he spoke. Skylar could imagine the way his face surely turned red. <How difficult can it really be?>

<More difficult than you’d think,> Skylar said. <But very fun if you let it be.>

<There shouldn’t be anything fun about war,> Lina muttered. Skylar started to reply to the comment before another voice cut through their communication.

<Astral Squadron, launch, launch, launch.>

The order from the flight controller was music to Skylar’s ears. After what felt like hours of sitting there in the cockpit of his fighter, he was finally going to get out into space and do something.

With a thought through his CAM, he ignited his engines, pushing the throttle to the max. A moment later, Skylar rocketed forward, the g-forces pushing him against his seat. Around the exterior of the launch tube, electromagnetic rings lit up to accelerate him faster towards the tube opening. The end of the track rapidly approached. Then, he cleared it and shot into space. On either side of him, more fighters launched into the void. An indicator through his CAM showed the one to his right as Keith and the left as Lina. Further down the line, another two squadrons of three each also came out and pawed the void, moving in opposite directions from them.

<Alright, we all know the drill. Well, most of us.> Skylar smiled as he pushed the acceleration of his Raptor to get ahead of the other two. Feeling the slight pressure of the g-forces before the inertial dampeners kicked in sent a shiver of pleasure down his spine. Being in the cockpit always made him ecstatic. <Vee formation and maintain standard patrol distance from the station until given orders otherwise.>

<Vee formation?> Keith groaned. <But that’s boring. I’ve read about so many different formations that are more interesting. The Bancroft Spear—>

<Boring keeps you alive,> Lina interrupted. <We practice the basics before getting to the more advanced stuff. Taking risks increases your chance of getting blown out of space. Some of us could do with a reminder of that.>

Skylar chose to ignore the comment directed toward him. His risks were always perfectly calculated. Even if sometimes his math skills were poorer than he hoped.

<And don’t forget the Hyperions can hear every word you say.> Skylar would have winked if Keith could see him. <Don’t want to give them any reasons to punish you.>

Skylar led the other two in a circular route around the station like an animal chomping at the bit waiting to be released. The only thing worse than waiting in the launch tube was flying through space and not being able to do anything. He waggled his wings up and down for a moment before doing a barrel roll first to the right then to the left, ending the maneuver in the same relative positions as before.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

<Way to show off, Skylar,> Keith said. There was a hint of amusement in his voice.

<You know me,> Skylar answered as he double checked the map in his HUD for any hostile contacts. As expected, there were none. <Can’t help but show off whenever I have the chance. But remember, Three, I’m Astral One right now.>

<Astral Squadron, there are one dozen unknown bogies heading in your direction,> the flight controller interrupted. Skylar looked at the map again and noticed the twelve red dots indicating the enemy fighters where there had previously been nothing more than empty space. <Intercept them and prevent them from reaching the station.>

<Astral Squadron moving to intercept.> Skylar brought his Raptor up in a shallow arc to match the trajectory of the enemy ships, which seemed to have manifested out of thin air. The other two followed behind him to form a vee. <Pick your targets and fire when in range. Start with missiles, but watch out for their barrage.>

<Yes, sir,> Keith responded.

Ahead of them, Skylar could just make out the boxy forms of the fighters the Druthagar used. Part of him wondered how they functioned with lack of aerodynamics before remembering the Dwarven race hardly entered atmosphere. Instead, they preferred fighting their battles in the void, where they flourished. Their lacking mobility was made up for by the sheer strength of their hull—though not strong enough to resist Hyperion technology.

Skylar saw locking indicators light up from both Lina and Keith. They each picked two of the twelve craft, picking from the half dozen on the left side. With a thought, the targeting system locked onto the ships. They didn’t even appear to react to being targeted. Sometimes, it was too easy. With a smile, Skylar pushed his throttle even higher.

<Astral Two, Fox Three,> Lina called out as she fired one of her missiles. Keith quickly followed her lead and let loose one of his own.

Skylar saw the missiles appear on the tactical map before they rocketed past him into the void towards the ships. He frowned. They fired much too soon. The enemy ships veered off from the oncoming barrage, dodging out of the way. Only one of four missiles hit their target, one from Lina’s fighter, causing the enemy to erupt in a ball of fire. The other three attempted to correct and swing back around before running out of fuel and detonating with brief puffs of smoke.

<Wait until you get closer before firing, Astral Squad,> Skylar called out over the link. A tone in his head followed quickly by his targeting reticle turning green indicated he was in range. With a thought, the missiles dropped out of the wings of the fighter, expanding and launching forward. <Astral One, Fox Three.>

As he sent the message, a harsh note warned him of an enemy lock. He pulled up relative to his previous trajectory and kicked in his afterburners, quickly bringing himself away from the battlefield. Lina and Keith followed suit though in different directions. The small red dots indicating the missiles followed them briefly before slowing and disappearing from the tactical board. When he returned his attention to the enemy ships, he saw the two dots of the ships fired at were gone, replaced by thin fields of debris.

<That’s two for me,> Skylar called out over the CAM link with a whoop. <Let’s see if you guys can keep up this time.>

Before he had much chance to celebrate the minor victory, a streak of red from one of the other fighters’ neutron cannons lanced across his viewport, glancing off his shields. He abruptly changed direction, turning towards where they came from. A brief look at the tactical overlay in the corner of his vision showed the trajectory of the fighter that fired at him. Lining up on an intercept course, he readied his neutron cannons and waited until his targeting reticle turned green. Immediately, he fired off a burst of blue beams that ripped through the fighter. It briefly lit up as the fireball of its engine exploding consumed it before becoming nothing more than the black of space.

<Astral one, splash one.> Skylar pulled his fighter up into a tight spiral away from the battlefield as the other three enemy fighters began to converge on him. Alarms sounded in the cockpit as they locked onto him one by one. Missile icons appeared on the tactile overlay heading directly toward him. With a thought, a burst of chafe erupted from the back of his fighter. The rockets took the bait, exploding harmlessly several kilometers behind him as he continued plowing forward.

He deactivated his engine and spun his fighter around. The g-forces even with the inertial dampeners slammed him into the side of his fighter, nearly causing his vision to go black. Using his attitude control thrusters, he tracked the nearest Druthagar fighter heading towards him. After just a moment, his targeting reticle lined up and turned green. The pilot attempted to veer away to avoid a collision as Skylar let loose a barrage of neutron beams. They ripped into the hull of the boxy fighter. Bursts of air came out of the holes rent in the sides before it erupted in flames.

The other two peeled off at forty-five degree angles before his tactical overlay showed them starting to curve back around. He kicked his engines back in, shooting forward. The blue dots indicating Astral Two and Three were closing in. A smaller indicator split off from each that quickly intercepted the Druthagar fighters. A moment later, both were nothing more than debris.

<Nice one, team,> Skylar called out over the link as he peeled away and made for a pair of the remaining fighters. Lina followed close behind, staying off his starboard wing. <Astral One, Fox Three.>

The missile fell away from the bottom of his wing and rocketed forward into the void. Another from Lina’s did the same, heading for the second fighter. Skylar let out a cheer as his Echo missile struck home. There was a brief flash of light, and the enemy fighter disintegrated into nothing more than a cloud of debris. A burst of speed sent him soaring through it with a spin. He double checked the tactical board in the corner of his vision. Only three more were following.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!