Sitting on a bench, Dathekis leaned forward and examined his markings idly. He always did this, staring at them day after day, trying to make sense of what they foretold, which wasn’t really much of anything. He’d heard it told every which way. Many said it was a bad omen, others said it was for great things to come. Everyone had their own opinion, but no one definitively knew what it meant. They only had guesses and speculations. And Dathekis couldn’t blame them. His markings were strange and ominous in some strange way. He never really did like that, but what could he do? Not like he could change whatever his future was.<br/><br/>“Dathekis,” a voice said and he looked up. “Pay attention.”<br/><br/>He was sitting in the fort’s park. Off to their left he could see soldiers in sweats jogging in pairs around a long and arduous path. And he could hear the distant shouts of a marshal yelling at the newer recruits over their morning conditioning. “I’m here,” he said. Though, in truth he really wasn’t. His mind was still focused on his palms, but he could see his friends were playing at cards with each other. A few muttering curses here and there when the cards were turned against their favour. And he enjoyed their company.<br/><br/>Though, today just seemed like one of those days. Probably because of the eclipse that was soon approaching. The world grew darker as one of the moons began to inch its way over the sun. Their world seemed to hate darkness. And yet, he found it comfortable in a strange sort of way. Maybe because he loved space so much, or maybe because he’d spent way too much time up in the space station to get comfortable with the dark eeriness that was always a part of any space mission. He was a pilot, and seeing that he loved the sky and space, it only made sense he’d have some liking towards that darkness. It put emphasis on so many colours, so much brightness could be made from it. But if everything was bright light… where would all the colours and contrast go? There’d be nothing, no beauty.<br/><br/>And just as that thought crossed his mind, the world fell to darkness. A hush came over his table, and he could hear the marshals’ voices deflate, as if all the rage were driven out of their voices. He could feel their very world go silent, waiting in baited breath for the sun to spark back up. The tension growing. Rising.<br/><br/>And light came.<br/><br/>Only to be blotted out once more.<br/><br/>“Holy shit!” A voice said.<br/><br/>Dathekis looked up, confused. And his eyes widened.<br/><br/>Alarms went off around the fort and everyone sprung into action. A pre-recorded message blasted over the coms throughout the entire fort. An invasion was underway. Dathekis got up and ran towards the armoury, all the while his mind racing on how the fuck no one spotted a giant spacecraft headed towards their planet. And the answer to that chilled him. If it wasn’t able to be spotted, just how technologically advanced were they that they could so easily bypass their sensors? Or had they warped just within their planet?<br/><br/>Reaching the armoury, he quickly got into his pilot suit, grabbed his helmet and ran towards the hangar with several dozen other pilots. All in various parts of dressing and putting on their helmets. He put his on, strapped the belt underneath his chin, and got into his fighter jet. Several engineers surrounded his ship, fueling it with hydron tanks, making sure his baby was fit for the air. A minute passed and one of them gave him a thumbs up.<br/><br/>He began flipping switches in his ship. And it roared to life. A deep hum emanating from the engine as it’s tiny fusion core spun. He flipped a few more and moved the jet out of the bay and towards the hangar’s now opening doors. His squadron, comprising four other fighters, made a loose formation before the hangar’s opening. Dathekis turned on his comms.<br/><br/>“This is ST-Leader, can everyone copy?”<br/><br/>“ST-1, copy loud and clear,” a female voice said.<br/><br/>“ST-2, I copy,” another voice said, a voice Dathekis recognized as belonging to his friend, Taledak.<br/><br/>“ST-3, copy,” another said. Another female voice.<br/><br/>“ST-4, copy,” the last one said. A deep, throaty voice over the coms and one of Dathekis’ other friends.<br/><br/>“We don’t know what these invaders are capable of, guys,” Dathekis said, “stay in formation and don’t do anything stupid. Be ready for evasive maneuvers at a moment’s notice.”<br/><br/>Another click from a switch, and Dathekis heard the engine roar louder. And he was off. He could see the other fighter behind him, forming a triangle formation with his jet at its centre. And as they climbed higher, he could see fighters were spilling out from the enemy ship in waves. His heart began thudding, climbing its way up to his throat as nerves set their roots deep within him. He clenched and loosed his fists around the steering handles, and momentarily looked outside his window. He could see the capital city was now far below. The tall towers and buildings little more than dots and statuettes. He turned back to face the front and once they were close enough, he began firing.<br/><br/>Ballistae exploded in the sky as anti-aircraft missiles launched to try and destroy as many of the enemy fighters as possible. Dathekis and his squadron rode into the torrent. And immediately swerved. Members of his squad, widening their formations as they fired out into enemy ships. Several going down in flames within the first couple of seconds of contact. A dozen more friendly squads surrounded them. All of them desperately trying to hold back the torrent of enemy fighters. But they were too many, and Dathekis was finding himself in a bit of trouble. He was chasing after a particular jet that had nearly killed one of his squad members -- the fighter’s internal droid desperately trying to fix the damage -- but was also finding himself harried by three others, despite his squad’s and other squads’ best attempts to shake them off him.<br/><br/>The aircraft he was chasing swerved. Dathekis caught it early and fired a missile. And watched as it collided with the ship’s head. It exploded into a ball of flame that quickly plummeted. And the two behind him were caught with an anti-aircraft missile that sent them spinning towards the city’s shields.<br/><br/>A dozen more enemy fighters fell to his squad. Then, more and more were beginning to either fall or retreat back to their ship.<br/><br/>They’d done it. He couldn't believe it, but they’d held them off from invading the--<br/><br/>Dathekis saw a light growing on the enemy starship’s outer edge. Bigger and bigger. He watched as a massive beam of light descended into the capital city, tore through its shield wall and decimated an entire section.<br/><br/>His heart went cold as he recognized the section that had just been destroyed. His home.