Commander Helix of the Allied Alliance-X had tasked my squad with the easiest mission, as usual.

Fresh out of planet Ankor's Training Academy and into the Alliance, my friends and I weren't exactly refined militants, but we knew how to handle a few basic laser guns and how to fly a standard spaceship. However, we believed that at least after six months, we would have been given a weightier mission- even if only slightly weightier- than cargo delivery.

That's why when we assembled in the mission control of our nice little ship and read our holographic briefing instructions, we all seemed to have drunk lemon juice. The sourest of them all.

"Another cargo transit? Are you kidding me?" Zara glowered. Her sleek black hair covered one eye as usual.

"Captain you've got to do something about this. Go talk to the Commander or something." Vee eyed me with dismay written all over her face. "There's no fun in cargo delivery anymore." She puffed and stormed out into the hallway. Her bright blue hair bounced with every stride.

"Hey c'mon, it's not that bad!" I called out after her. My hands stroked my snow-white spiky hair backward as I let out a sigh.

"The tips of your hair are now dyed red." Mex's robotic voice drew my attention. I clenched my jaw as I looked in his direction. His polished blue camouflage face was blank as ever. I took in his build, six feet steel robot soldier, still as naive as ever.

I heaved a sigh. " Yes, Mex. Yes, I dyed it." I spun towards the cockpit at the end of the room which was barely three meters away from the huge transparent panel that revealed the deep space beyond. Slouching on the sleek pilot seat was our scrawny top-notch redhead pilot who stared with bored eyes at the holographic mission briefing in front of him. Not him too. "C'mon Andy help me out here. This mission builds character."

"Lemme stop you there Cap. Vee is the most humourous of all of us and she's not laughing. Because we already have enough 'character'. What we need is a real fight experience. Three star kingdoms are at war. This is supposed to be the army. We are supposed to be fighting. It's what we signed up to do."

I stood there and held his gaze, my jaw clenched. Indeed the war was worsening but the qualifications to be at the Frontline were not up to me to decide or negotiate. It irked me sometimes when they overestimated my duties even more than when they undermined my authority.

"What? You gonna throw me in a cooler or something?" He arched a brow, still oozing boredom. "It might be fun for a change you know."

I rolled my eyes. At least our friendship bond was there. "Really? Now I regret not adding 'torture chamber' to the renovation blueprint I submitted."

"We're renovating?" Zara perked from a corner of the rectangular metal room.

"Yes, we are. Captains were ordered to send in the teams' suggested improvements via holographic blueprints yesterday."

"Why wasn't I aware?" She whined, a bit to my discomfort.

"Did you check your mails?"

"Bruv who reads their hypermails?"

"That's why." I took a deep breath.

Suddenly the comm rang throughout the ship, in a particular beeping that signified an incoming call. I turned towards Andy. "Who's on the line?"

"Brix, the Alliance's new Minister of Transit." Andy swiped some holograms. "Opening the line."

"Alpha Six?" A gruff voice boomed from the speakers. We were having trouble with our visuals so it was an audio-only call.

"Affirmative. This is Captain Marco of the Alpha Six."

"Alright, I am calling from Transport control onboard the AA-X mothership. Be informed that the cargo is being teleported to your ship's storage as we speak. Remember your mission is to make a hyperspace jump and deliver the cargo to our forces at planet Zokra. They are far out of our tele-beam range and in dire need of the cargo."

"What's in the box?" Andy quipped as he reclined on his seat. I shot him a glare but I wasn't in his line of vision.

"Safe journey, Alpha Six." Brix's voice took a sinister tone. Static followed immediately after.

"What the heck was that about?" Andy finally looked less bored. It seemed I wasn't the only one that was anxious.

I spotted Vee's blue hair at the side of the door. I turned to see her leaning against it. I couldn't help but pause to consider how it perfectly matched the team's uniform white jumpsuit. She rolled her eyes at my observation. "What?"

"Um-nothing. We've got the cargo now." I straightened up. "Mex, go make sure it's fastened tight back there. Andy, get the turbo engine up and running for hyperspace."

Andy spun around to face the controls. "Let's all ignore the creepy sender. Great idea." He piped as he interacted with some holographic displays.

I crossed my arms. "It's probably a misunderstanding on our part. Anyways, Zara and Vee, you two will be in charge of dispatching the cargo once we arrive."

Grunts followed almost immediately. Fortunately, I had a considerable counter. "Hey, we might finally get an ascension into a higher position if we pull this one off. After all, we are delivering to a warzone."

"Fine whatever."

"You'd better be right."

Good enough responses for me. I grinned with optimism, surely this work would not go unnoticed.

"Captain the ship is ready for the jump now."

"Thanks, Andy. What about our precious cargo Mex, are you ready for transit down there?

"Yes captain all peaceful and quiet here. But-hey stop this!"

Panic struck me. Was there someone else on the ship?

"Mex? Mex what's going on back there?"

Only dead silence replied me. I pulled my laser pistol from my utility belt and dashed out of the control room. The hallway lights immediately went off and darkness quickly took its place.
"Mex!" I called out.

The storage room was just a few strides and a left turn away. I tapped the middle of my utility belt and my suit's glow function activated. From the corner of my eyes, I noticed the girls trailing me from behind with their guns out too. Reinvigorated, I advanced towards Mex's last known location. Our boots echoed in the dimly lit hallway as we cautiously drew nearer. Beads of sweat began to form on my head. No way there could have been a forceful entry or even a discreet break-in. My ship might not have been rigged for an all-out battle but its security systems were topnotch. We would have been alerted of a breach if there was one. So what could this mean?

Suddenly, red eyes beamed in front of us. I jerked back as the hallway lights came back on.

"Just kicked into emergency power!" Andy's voice reached us from mission control. "Is everything okay back there?"

"As of this moment," Vee gulped. "probably. But in the next few seconds, that status might be way outdated."

A sunset-yellow huge robotic standing wolf with lethal jaws towered over us. Mex's sparking robot arm was attached to one of its hellish steel claws. It's chest moved rhythmically, immitating breathing. Surely it was considering the menu in front of it, selecting which one of us would be fitting for the main course.

Sore luck! I inwardly screamed as it lurched at me. However sudden laser shots pushed it back. I heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Thanks, guys."

The few seconds after was enough time to think clearly. I snatched two cube-shaped grenades from my utility belt and launched them in the Naroid Soldier's direction.

Vee erupted as I did so. "You dolt, you'll blow the ship!"

As the grenades hit, e.m.p waves burst out and spread throughout the hallway. The Naroid Soldier, being deactivated, dropped stiffly to it's knees.

I smirked at Vee. "Do I still look like a dolt?"

She let loose a flushed smile. "A stellar one."

"I see I'm being too familiar with you guys-"

"Cut the act, you're 18 like the rest of us." She nudged me with her elbow.

"Nicely done, Captain Marco." An iconic voice said. Startled, I turned to see Commander Helix with two Alliance Soldiers armed with laser rifles.

"Commander," I saluted. "To what do I owe this honor?"

He looked down at the deactivated Soldier. "We found out a mole had infiltrated the AA-X mothership. Took us a while but we flushed him out, Brix Alcrazar. We immediately traced his recent activity and teleported here to make sure your team was not in danger. However, I'm impressed to see that you handled this situation quite well."

I struggled to rein in my nervousness. "It was nothing much Commander, just a few e.m.p grenades, that's all."

"Don't sell your team short captain. I believe an Ascension is due." He smirked.