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Our Empress ‘Celestria’ is known as a living goddess and her word is law.
That is why, when she said the galactic enemy will not attack our world, the public believed her.
But the generals, knowing that the enemy are attacking every world in the western spiral arm of the galaxy for their resources, created a secret Black Ops team.
That team includes the best of the best from all the services and they put me in charge.
My Black Ops team doesn’t officially exist, not even the Empress knows that we exist and we answer only to the generals.
We make things happen. If the enemy creates a powerful weapon we destroy it.
If the enemy has a secret, we interrogate whoever we need to until that secret is revealed to us.
Not even the enemy knows which planet we are from.
After six weeks of operations my team finally get a big break. We got our prisoner of war, a high ranking general, to talk.
He told us of a stronghold housing several high-tech research and development laboratories.
He told us that they are making armor and weapons, including their greatest secret: A weapons platform capable of unbelievable destruction, known only as the ‘Planet Killer’.
The platform fires thousands of antimatter warhead missiles, which when they hit the ground they burrow down to the planets core and explode, so the planet is literally torn apart from the inside out.
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So here we are, barely thirty six hours after gaining the Intel, deep inside enemy controlled space, in a solar system close to the edge of the western spiral arm of the galaxy.
The planet we are currently on is barren and rocky with no trees insight for us to hide behind, fortunately the twin suns had set over an hour ago enabling us to easily sneak under the darkened sky,
we see the stronghold looming in the distance, the lights from the windows giving the only idea of its massive size and location.
I then smell it, the smell of burning ozone. “Hit the deck! Shut your eyes!” I yell to my platoon.
A second later there’s a bright flash as a plasma ball flies at the speed of sound above us towards the stronghold in the distance.
Lying face down in the dirt, I look behind me to my troops, making sure they are also face down in the dirt, the sound wake from the plasma ball hits us almost deafening with the sound.
Shutting my eyes closed the second light is so bright that it blinds me for a moment.
The ground trembles at the same time as the heat from the blast hits me.
There is no need to look. We all know that the stronghold and the village surrounding it would now be nothing more than a giant burnt-out crater.
“What the hell? Are our own people trying to kill us now?” My second in command yells. “I thought they want the stronghold and laboratories in one piece”.
Before I could say anything the communications unit on my right shoulder buzzes to life, “All ground troops this is the Drala Fi. Prepare for immediate transport”.
A smile creeps along my lips at the mention of the ship my wife serves on as second-in-command.
The horizon starts shifting and blurring as the transport beam takes hold. The planet’s alien landscape was soon replaced by the sterile transporter room.
My wife stands behind the transporter controls replacing the normal technician, her eyes are down and bloodshot it looks as if she had been crying.
The captain stands in front of us; his usual stony face was soft and his eyes downcast.
I knew right then something terrible had to have happened.
He then said the words none of us wanted to hear. “Home-world was attacked. The Empress is dead. The humans have won”.