Jackson “Two Jacks” Murphy rocketed down the launch ramp, his fingers white as he sailed from the dull gunmetal gray of the launch tubes to the intense black of space, the blue-green planet above him, a sea of twinkling stars spread out before him. Jamming the stick down and throttling up he roared up into place along side his flight leader, they were headed out to meet the mysterious incoming objects. Flipping the toggle for his HUD to ramp up he heard the high pitched whine of his targeting computer kick on.

Glancing at the HUD his mouth dropped as the six-large objects began disgorging dozens of smaller blips on the screen. Hearing the static crackle of the flight leader echo across the headsets, “Alright boys and girls we have bandits incoming! We have fast movers, stay frosty!” With that everyone shut down all non-essential communications as they barreled towards the Qua fighters. In a matter of seconds Jack was in the proverbial shit. He banked his fighter into a twisting dive, following his flight lead as they tore through a horde of boomerang shaped dull black fighters. All around him flashes of high intensity lasers lit up the sky like lances of days of yore as both sides began in earnest their deadly dance in the high orbit above Darashal.

Racing through a stream of heavy laser fire, Jack saw ahead of him several of the black Qua fighters bank and turn away from him, as he did so his flight leader opened up with his own turbo lasers, firing a series of intense amber energy towards the turning fighters. Following his leader Jack checked his six and was a little miffed to see a bandit was closing in on them. Throttling back he turned inside the bandit and flipped up and over so the Qua was now between he and his flight lead. Accelerating forward he raced after the black ship as it tried to kill his lead. Dropping the hammer he felt the surge of power ripple through the fighter as he closed the distance, all the while his computer started lining it up for a kill, once the lock on triggered, Jack throttled his mic, “Tally ho!” he said as he unleashed a nuclear tipped missile. Pulling up and away as the projectile raced towards the ship, he managed to catch a glimpse of his lead getting hammered by the ship just before it exploded in a fiery ball of debris then suddenly flaming out.

A sickening feeling came over Jack as he whipped his fighter around, accelerating it through a series of harsh Snap-S turns trying to gain some distance from the fight. Roaring on after burners the sleek single engine fighter skittered and darted until it was nearly two-thousand miles from the battle. Lazily pulling up and turning his fighter back towards the fight, he just gaped. Brilliant flashes of light followed by sudden bursts of energy before they faded to nothing. Jack licked his lips as he began to easy the throttle forward heading back into the fight. Had he looked behind him he would have seen one of the large disk shaped Qua assault ships entering the atmosphere of Darashal.

The large assault ship roared through the atmosphere creating a series of sonic booms and a massive contrail as it dipped from frigid space to the much warmer upper-atmosphere then raced downward until it created a billowing roiling cloud as it headed towards one of the small settlements.

Sarah Qallar woke early this morning, far earlier than she normally did and both her parents were surprised and oddly pleased. To them their daughter was growing up, but Sarah woke early so she could head down to the little creek that ran through the farm. She had seen some of the local fauna there before, the large eyed and slender-limbed deer that populated the area. She had seen a doe and several fawn and wanted to see them again. Making her way gingerly down towards the creek in the early morning fog she was eager to get there in case the deer left. The sky was usually vivid this morning the petite ten-year old thought as she paused to catch her breath. Dazzling streaks of light seemed to appear and vanish in the darker parts of the sky. Maybe it would rain the little girl thought as she inhaled the chilly air and continued her walk. A boom in the air made her pause, looking up she saw one of the fighters that were kept in space station roar over head, following close behind it were several odd looking black wing like things. They looked like they were playing tag as the silver fighter thundered towards the far mountains, the others close behind it. Shaking her head the little girl turned towards the small creek when she saw them. Tall, misshapen creatures with a writhing mass where their mouths should be. Large black eyes stared at her as the closest one peered down at her. What looked like a gun held in its large hands.

Before Sarah could scream she heard a shot followed by another and another as her father unloaded his rifle at the Qua warriors. The one who was reaching for her was hit twice and stumbled, falling to the ground. The others began returning fire, heavy lasers rippled through the air, slamming into the pudgy farm, shredding the flesh from his bones. His scream echoing through the small valley, followed by his wife's cries.

Sarah just stared at the dying Qua before her, her mind numb to all else as she watched a series of colors flash and twinkle under the skin of the creature. Slowly reaching out she touched the slick, clammy skin and shuddered. Withdrawing her hand she gasps as the tentacles stopped moving and the large eyes focused on her, dimming slowly, the flashing lights under the skin fading to nothingness. Looking up Sarah saw another silver fighter and another as they raced towards something on the other side of the valley.

Standing slowly the little girl looked around, as an explosion rocked the area, kicking up dirt and debris high into the air. More of the strange creatures marched past her, they seemed focused on the small village that lay to the north of the farm. Not seeing her father or mother a stream of tears began as the little girl felt for the first time truly alone on this world.