“My wing already has blood on their hands from their rescue mission; this battle will not be any different.” She shrugged.
“Then, I will need you to seek out Zaera and have her prepare your wing while you report for briefing alongside my other wing captains.” They entered the hangar bay, and he nodded to Erlyn, who stood next to a large holo-display wall with a small gathering surrounding him. Idris gripped her shoulder and pointed to the group. “I’ll be over there, briefing the others. Come as soon as you’ve addressed your wing.”
She saluted him. “Yes, Sir.”
Idris let her go and paused for a moment. He gave her a gentle smile, nodding his head once, before meeting his wing captains.
Jaiya didn’t have the time to feel embarrassed by her odd human ways; he didn’t take offense at her salute. Change didn’t happen overnight—at least, it didn’tnormallyhappen overnight, but the past two weeks tempted her to believe otherwise.
She scanned the bustling hangar bay, searching for her wing. It wasn’t hard to spot them, clustered together, and tucked away near their transport. Their earth-toned skin stood out in a sea of metallic and gemstone-colored Daextru, even in the same uniform of black pants and colored tops.
Every wing was assigned a color in order to make recognition simpler. If one needed to find a member of a certain wing, one only had to search for their color.
Jaiya had decided their color would be lime-green. It was bright and contrasted well with the black in their uniforms. Most importantly, none of the other wings had a color similar in brightness to theirs. They all used the metal or gemstone colors of their scales.
And yet they don’t divide themselves by the color of their scales or horns . . .
“What’s happening, Cap?” Zaera asked as soon as Jaiya was within hearing range.
Jaiya surveyed her team and was glad to find her whole wing accounted for.
“The front line has declared an emergency. The Warrior Princess needs backup, and Prince Idris is gathering his squadrons to leave. He asked if we were willing to join the fight against the CTA.” Jaiya searched her pilots’ faces, gauging their responses. No one seemed opposed, and Nix seemed a little too eager about the news. “I know we’ve already voted that we’re going to stay. Technically, we aren’t required to go, since we haven’t sworn ourselves to him. I want to bring the decision to a vote. No hard feelings if it’s a pass—”
“Captain, we want to earn our stay. Staying behind will only create tension between the Daextru and us. They are just now starting to get used to us,” Edam said. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to have to play Old Christo Columbus, crisscrossing space trying to find a planet to play boy scouts on.”
“Hey, Captain Lian!” Nix blurted. “I just want to fuck up some Vresqoxk spider-asses. Sitting around here is nice and all, but it’s starting to get boring. I say we go and show those bastards what’s up.”
“I can ask about getting access to more of the starbase, if you guys want—”
“I don’t think you understand, Cap,” Zaera interjected, crossing her arms. “We all agreed to come here to join forces with the Daextru, knowing who we would be going up against. It’s kill or be killed, and we’re ready to hunt.”
“Is this true?” she asked, meeting her wing’s gazes. Each one of them nodded, confirming the decision.
“Okay, I will let Prince Idris know.” She turned to Zaera. “You’re in charge. Prepare the wing for takeoff and wait for our instructions.”
* * *
Jaiya gripped her steering wheel tightly, feeling her body pressed back against her seat as her fighter warped into the Daextru frontline.
She thanked the Stars that each species had their own shape and color of ship because she wasn’t prepared for what she saw. The view sent chills through her.
The bulky silver CTA fighters were sandwiched between triangular charcoal Daextru starstorms and the claw-like green Vresqoxk vessels. All of their command ships scattered throughout.
She was glad the grounds crew had modded her fighter’s systems to sync with the fleet and painted them in Daextru coloring because CTA fighters were being slaughtered.
The Vresqoxk had betrayed the CTA and were shooting their backline as they were busy engaging the Daextru.
“This is a bloodbath,” Zaera muttered into their private wing comms.
“Serves those motherfuckers right!” Nix laughed. “I say we sit back and watch the action, then play clean up later.”
“Keep the comms clear.” Jaiya barked. “Obviously, we weren’t prepared for this twist.”
Her wing was nestled near the back of the squadron, following closely behind.
Idris knew that they weren’t going to be familiar with their alien flight patterns, beyond what they had witnessed themselves in battle with them. By putting them in a line of their own, they would be able to make any adjustments as needed and clean up any stragglers that escaped the bulk of the battle.
It was also a sign of trust, for they could easily pick off the backline from this position.
