"This is the real thing people, watch your scopes and stay away from the planets gravitational pull. Mars is a wasteland of endless deserts and sandstorms. We don't want another 2152 on our hands, keep your ships on course and report in." The Captain barked over the intercom.
As our ships flew out of the hanger and into the void of space, I felt the fear amongst my comrades. There was seven of us, but four in truth, we were all that was left of the 92nd fighter squadron on the Earth space force ship Colossus. The rest were civilians, conscripted from the transport ships we were escorting. We had to travel through the red zone of space, the distance between Earth and Mars. It was dubbed so because of the fierce wars between Earth and the Martians, they are the colonists that landed on Mars several years ago. They built huge settlements to resist the harsh conditions of the red planet and believed they had some holy birthright to it. Both planets had monumental cruisers patrolling the red zone of space and would send small squadrons of fighters to intercept the spy satellites and probes that were constantly being launched to delve into the other sides secrets.
Although what normally happened was both ships would launch fighters and they'd intercept each other, making the headlines of both planets and creating some kind of support group to 'stop the war'. I'd seen this all before and it wasn't likely to change, one side would eventually capture the very valuable resources on the moons of Mars and then something else would be fought over. The only enemy the human race had ever had were each other and in over 5000 years, things had never changed.
The control panel on my ship came to life, we only had small fighter ships, but they packed one hell of a punch within the right hands. "Weapons engaged" the monotonous computer voice interjected. This would be the last time for us, or for them. There was no mercy in space. The sun was a fiery orange diamond in the sky, drumming fear into our hearts with its all mighty glow. "Okay gentlemen, lets keep this quick and easy, check your targets and engage autopilot" the captain squawked on the radio. "Autopilot engaged" the computer bleated. Our ships organized themselves into a point formation and the roar of my engine filled the cabin. The blue ionizing agent of the fighters engines drifted through space as we flew towards victory, or demise. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, as is the usual for me before I attempted to cheat death once again.
As my eyes opened I saw the beautiful unison of our ships, it made me think of how much the human race had achieved because it worked as a whole species, defeating any obstacle that mother nature threw in its path. Striving to survive under any conditions, sacrificing their lives in the name of valour and to protect their fellow man. "Lasers charged" the computer droned on, although emotionless it had made a point. Although it had taken hundreds of minds and men to build our nature defying ships, they had the potential power to destroy thousands of lives. With this thought I activated my radar and prepared for what was ahead.
The bright red glow of the enemy ships was now on my radar, it was only a matter of time before their menacing black shapes appeared ahead and the chase began, I lowered the visor on my helmet. Adrenaline and fear pulsed throughout my body and my heart beat raged uncontrollably. "Autopilot Disengaged, enemy detected" the bleak computer informed. Suddenly as if to highlight the inhumanity of the electronic computer, I heard the full emotion of the human voice over the radio. "Lets get 'em boys, this ones for Miller" Suddenly I was infused with courage and my hands tightened on the ships controls. 10 silhouettes appeared in front of our ships and our two forces travelled towards each other at speeds once only dreamt by man. There was a deafening silence.
Then "Targets are now in firing ra-" Before I heard the end of the sentence, blue and red lasers beams slashed the void of space. Explosions went off all around me, shaking the cockpit and blurring the bright stars. I wrenched the joystick to the side, throwing my ship into a spin. Then hitting the thruster jet buttons on the dashboard, my ship juddered and exploded with speed, black and white fighters sped across the glass screen, followed by the fuzz of lasers and mist of missile trails. They shone frantically, as my craft burst out of the dogfight. Then "Warning: Missile detected" I heard the first word and instinctively hit the countermeasure button to my left.
