Celestial Nexus

The Earth looked normal from space. It’s beautiful oceans looked calm, the clouds appeared to dance as they floated over the continents and the green hue of the lush forests could be seen. There was no way to tell anything was abnormal from afar.

Vayle had spent her morning working on her ship. Currently she sat in her hanger staring at the withering wings of her mothers GS-1. It was a single cockpit fighter ship with dual guns and one laser unit. The ship had an elongated triangular geometry. The nose was stretched far forward from the cockpit, with a small concealed opening at the tip. This area was the heaviest of the ship with the internals being home to the laser. It was classified as a level 4 weapon, capable of cutting through most metals, including hardened steel. The two guns rested under the rear edges of the ship. They had the ability to rotate 360 degrees and shoot in all directions. The frame was built of engineering grade aluminum, capable of withstanding high speed space flight and atmospheric exit and entry. The cockpit was old and worn, with the seats in tatters showing the stained yellow foam underneath.

The GS-1 had been named Amelia by her mother. It was only a few years old at this point, but it looked like an old withered veteran: the wings were rusty, the paint was gone, the landing wheels broken off. For a brief moment Vayle let her memories wash over her. She remembered the day 3 years ago when her mother flew off in it for the last time.

Her mother was a pilot in the military's air interception squadron. She had been called to an urgent sortie. The Citadel was under attack on Venus. There were reports of dark robots attacking Venus, killing without remorse. The high council, in disarray, could not comprehend the situation and ordered all the air squadrons deployed. Vayle remembered the calm confidence on her mothers face as she climbed into Amelia and closed the cockpit. Her mother was a mark 9 ace, having won hundreds of air battles. Suddenly the massive engine roared into life and her mother flew off.

It wasn’t until 2 days later that the ship came back with the cockpit empty. It had been almost decimated, the wings were torn up, the engine barely running, that roar she was familiar with was barely a whimper now. The fuel lines were leaking, and the landing gear was destroyed. The ship had landed on its lower frame.

Vayle had read the reports. No human machinery was a match for the robots, later named Zyre. Her mother had died in combat. The ship had triggered an emergency retreat mode after the death of its pilot and flew back to Earth.

A loud metallic clang awoke Vayle from her memories. The stabilizer bar she had attempted to weld onto the wings earlier that morning didn’t hold and dropped to the ground. A look of annoyance showed itself on Vayle’s face. She took a breath and stood up from her chair, reached for her welding iron and stepped towards the dropped stabilizer bar.