text: This is my first foray into writing sci-fi, this is the opening scene of a short story idea I have. Feedback would be GREATLY appreciated! Sorry if this type of writing isn't allowed since it's not a full story. &#x200B; &#x200B; Eric sat in the cramped cockpit of his starfighter as he continued his patrol pattern. A white light blinked on his console, indicating a low priority message. Eric flicked the switch, and a video of a young woman popped up on the screen. His beautiful Kat was there, smiling like she didn’t have a care in the world. In her arms was their son, Antonio. He slept with his head, curled up against her chest. *Hey Spaceman!* *I miss you, happy birthday!* *I hope you get this message before your birthday this time, and I can’t wait to see you!* *Only three more weeks before your rotation ends, and you get to come -* The message cut off abruptly. This far from Earth, he was surprised he got as much as he did. The message was over two weeks late. Eric was on his last patrol past Pluto. In three hours, he would officially be on leave for the next two months. In 18 hours, he would be on a transport ship beading home. There was a white flash, so distant it looked like a speck of white lint on a black sheet. Then another, and another. Soon hundreds of white flashes were blinking on and off. Eric knew what they were, it was an Arkan battle fleet dropping in from warp. “EDF 1 to Pluto station Bravo, I’ve got warp flashes lighting up the night out here. We are under attack, activate the defenses!” Eric spoke calmly, relaying the orders back to the base. At 28 years old, he was the youngest base commander in the Earth Defense Force’s fleet. Of course, he was also the most highly decorated base commander as well. As the distant spots of light continued to blink in and out, Eric called to his squadron, telling them to form up oh him. Glancing at his computer, Eric saw the enemy count had crossed ten thousand. At that point, the computer could no longer determine individual ships. Two reaper class destroyers dropped out of warp behind him. Immediately ten identical ships launched form each deck, his squadron forming up behind him. “Alright, Wraith Squadron, we’ve got a battle fleet at least ten thousand strong out there. Perimeter mines will be coming online in 3... 2... 1..” Bright red flares into the night indicated the activation of the forty thousand perimeter mines that were scattered across this particular region of space. “There we go. Now, these Reapers are going to launch nanite swarms, those little bastards are programmed to eat up the alloys that the Arkan use on their battleships. That’s not going to leave much left for us to play with, but I still expect a minimum of a hundred kills each.” Groans and complaints poured from his speakers as his squadron complained about the high kill limit their captain had placed on today’s fight. “Can it Wraith Squadron!” At his command, the voices were silenced. “There’s not a man here who hasn’t single-handedly destroyed at least fifty ships. Those Arkan ships are garbage, and we all know it. It takes a dozen ships ten minutes of sustained firepower to even begin to threaten our shields. I don’t know why the Arkan have decided to break the treaty after fifty years, but I’m damn sure gonna make them regret it!” Eric’s squadron saw the two Reaper class ships deploy the nanites, which looked like a sea of fog poured out of vents along the ship’s hull. The swarm hung in the void of space until both ships, along with Eric’s squadron, were completely obscured from view. On Eric’s command, the Reapers engaged their magnetic pulse cannons, each pulse launching the nanites toward the enemy at nearly the speed of sound. With the mines activated and the nanite swarm hurtling towards the enemy, Echo squadron waited for the go order from their commander. “Commander, the mines are offline, I repeat the mines are offline!” The Pluto Base defense officer screamed into his ear; he was cut off by the panicked voice of the Captain of one of the Reaper ships. “Sir, the nanites have no effect on the Arkan warships. They’ve changed the configuration of their hulls to match ours, the nanites are ignoring them!” The blood drained from Eric’s face as he watched the Arkan fleet fly through the nanite cloud unaffected. “Captains, reprogram your nanites to eat all possible alloys.” Eric’s voice rang hollow in his own ears. The nanites would no longer distinguish friend from foe, all metallic objects would be destroyed. “Wraith Squadron, break formation and retreat. Reapers, you have two minutes to drain your reservoirs of nanites. Make them count.” The nanite swarm was one hive mind, always active, always communicating. If the order was given to one nanite, it would replicate to the others; any nanites left in the Reapers when they were reprogrammed would destroy their own ships. Reaper One jettisoned its nanite tanks with seconds to spare, it blinked out of existence seconds before the command to reprogram was send out. Reaper two wasn’t so lucky. One full tank of nanites refused to detach. Knowing if they warped out, they might bring the cannibal nanites with them, they stayed behind, knowing it meant their death. Eric watched as Reaper Two exploded in a short-lived fireball as the nanites rapidly ate through the engine’s shielding. As he retreated, piloting his fighter back toward Pluto Base, he saw the fireballs begin to erupt from the disabled mines as the nanites ate through the hulls, triggering the self-destruct subroutines hardwired into each mine. With luck, the Arkan fleet would be in the middle of the minefield, surrounded on all sides by the vicious nanites. He hoped that the Arkan fleet would be destroyed, but in his heart, he knew it wouldn’t be. This, was war.