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Yep, sunsets were the only thing I ever enjoyed about Mars. The rest of the planet was nothing but a constant reminder of hardships, a symbol of death and pain for me. It almost seemed useless to fight for such a planet, but I was committed to a cause. I cared only about my own squad and the safety of the colonists, who had suffered greatly from the effects of this war. I had no sympathy for the interests of the big businesses and would gladly have allowed the rebel colonists and Outlanders to have their way with each company’s CEO. I wasn’t fighting for their cause. I wasn’t fighting for them to make more money. I was fighting for the lives of the innocent.
I returned to the base that evening knowing little more about Julius. He would remain a mystery to me for many more years, before I would ever understand the man I called my friend.
Over the next two weeks our squad did nothing but train for our first engagement. From morning to night we flew through the hills and valleys surrounding the base, learning the new terrain. We had to adjust to the possibility of freak sandstorms and violent hailstorms, something we had never experienced before in flight school. The more hours we flew, the more adept we became to our environment. With each passing day, we became more confident in our abilities and our team. Even Nat had turned out to be a better pilot than any of us could have expected. He was a solid addition to our squad.
At night, we spent two hours doing system checks and any necessary maintenance to our fighters. The performance of our fighters would be one of the most essential elements of our survival. It was the most lethal killing machine in the air. The Star Base Fighter, NASA's greatest military device, was first introduced five years ago. The fighter was equipped with short and long-range missiles, long-range laser rifles, and large capsule-shaped detonators (also known as devastators, for the amount of damage they cause) released from the fighter's back compartments. The fighter, known by the Outlanders as the "Black Death" because of its color, is roughly fourteen feet long and eighteen feet wide from one wing tip to the other. In stealth mode, a fighter is a silent bird of prey capable of innumerable damage and destruction at the enemy's expense. Not the fastest aircraft, the fighter has a top speed of Mach 3.6, seconded only by the Rebel Hover Fighter's speed of Mach 4. Though smaller and more agile in the air than the Star Base Fighter, the Hover Fighter could not maintain the same firepower we did, meaning every shot they took had to count.
After all of our training, the Fleet gave us our first sortie. Our assignment was not to be disclosed to us until morning, but I had an idea we were going to be sent to Star Base 9 to help free it from rebel control. The evening before, I stood on the runway watching the sunset in the distance...
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