Chapter 1
‘JUST FIRE THE CANNON YOU FOOL!’ Reginald bellowed at the top of his voice, left eye twitching. ‘WE HAVEN'T GOT ALL DAY, AND THE ENEMY ISN'T JUST GOING TO STAND STILL FOR A YEAR!’
‘Chill, bro,’ Willis said conversationally, moving the cannon slowly from side to side, and getting it into position. ‘I can’t aim with you bellowing in my ear.’ Reginald stepped slightly back, but kept the volume.
‘JUST SHOOT THE ENEMY BASE!’ he screamed. ‘THIS IS A MILITARY BASE, NOT A PONY RIDING CAMP!’
‘Alright,’ Willis laughed. He moved the cannon one more time, and pressed fire. The laser shot, and the enemy base blew up in a plume of smoke. The simulator blinked out, and Willis was left holding a handle.
‘Good work, Willis,’ Reginald said gruffly. He had been tugging worriedly at his grey handlebar moustache, but now he let it fall. His uniform was simple, grey clothing, his captain badge on his chest. He wore a sword on his back, and a pistol in a holster by his side.
Willis grinned.
‘I ain’t gonna let you down, cap,’ he smirked. Tall, with short yellow hair, and a white suit signifying the fact he was a trainee, he had a long laser blaster on his back like a sword, and a pistol on his hip. Willis was a very good shot. His nose was slightly blunt, and he held himself confidently.
‘Good job Will,’ Keren said, clapping him on the back. ‘Now, let’s see if your twin William can do better.’
Keren was a tall man, with an electric whip by his side, and a katana on his back. He held no gun, but Reginald knew that if he got his hands on one, he could shoot the nose off a monkey at 100 paces. His brown hair tangled on his head, and he had a long brown beard. His suit was red, signifying his first mate position. He gestured William forward.
William was a nervous kind of person. Identical to Willis, he wore his hair long to show the difference. He was a pro hacker, and could probably steal an entire bank without anyone noticing if he decided to go for crime. He slouched around, and his voice was slightly squeaky. Together, he and Willis were the two Wills.
‘You know I’m not good at this kind of thing,’ William complained, slouching to the controls. He gripped steadily in his hands. Reginald turned the simulator on, and the enemy base popped into view again. It was fully operational once more, and its cannons were moving, and firing.
William, as usual, panicked. He shot wide, and the simulator shut down. Reginald’s face was thunderous.
‘What, in the name of great gouda, was that?’ he said in a dangerously quiet voice.
‘I missed?’ William squeaked.
‘This,’ Reginald said, still in that dangerous voice, ‘is a simple training exercise. If you cannot hit an approaching enemy ship without being decimated, then what is the point of having you on this program?’
‘I’m good with knifes?’ William muttered, more a question than an answer.
‘And that’s the only thing keeping you with your twin,’ Reginald said. He slapped William on the back. ‘You’d better get better, or there’ll be consequences.’
Reginald was the captain of the space station, De$tr0yer 15. It was one of the 20 fortress space stations, designed to protect Earth and its inhabitants from any outer invasions. The crew had to be the best of the best, because they had a strong responsibility. Ever since the 2025 Decimate attack, the top minds on earth created ARS (Alien Repulsion System) and they had trained captains for each space station.
K1-T3, the aliens were called. They came out of the sky, creatures with tech much more advanced than anything Earth had ever seen. It was mass destruction. No one had actually seen the mysterious K1-T3, but they knew they existed. People died on that day of the first attack. Thousands, maybe Millions laid down their lives to expunge the alien force.
They hadn’t heard anything from the mysterious forces that had attacked the earth ever since, but it paid to be sure. And that was what had brought Reginald from his small apartment in south-east Sydney to become a captain in the De$tr0yer 15. His job was to train the two Wills how to fight, and how to defend earth from potential enemies.
‘Ok,’ Keren said, bringing Reginald from his thoughts. ‘We should probably run a reconnaissance.’
‘Good idea,’ Reginald said. ‘Wills, let’s see how you do out there.’ They walked out of the central hub of the De$tr0yer 15, and down a corridor to find a bunch of small spacecrafts. These weren’t like rockets, no, no, the people of Earth had given up using rockets in 2026. These were W1ngers, fast, and deadly.
They were made almost entirely out of titanium. They had laser cannons under each wing, and the hatch at the top allowed people to climb in. The jet boosters were at the back, and each ship was equipped with a deadly lance at the front, for, ‘stabbin’ and killin’ aliens!’ In short, as Willis said, they looked a bit like X-wings with a pointy stick at the front, and no R2-D2. Everyone boarded their W1ingers, and they sped off. As always, Reginald looked back at the De$tr0yer as he sped away.
It looked like a giant castle, floating around. Reginald could see the huge patch of earth and rock that it stood on, and he could just vaguely see the force-field surrounding it. the De$tr0yer was small, for a giant castle, but it dwarfed any rocket ship in the past. It was made entirely out of black-stone, and some parts were even coated with obsidian. Reginald could see the flag at the top of the central turret, with De$tr0yer 15 marked on it in bold. Turrets were at each corner as well, and Reginald could see the automatic cannons, constantly moving, scanning, stopping, checking, then moving on again.
And on the central turret, there it was. The apex of all destructive weapons. The mega cannon. This huge destroyer was the most powerful thing that had ever been thought by the human mind. When it hit something, that something was instantly destroyed, whether it be planet, star, or car. It had been tested on one of Saturn’s many moons, and the moon had been obliterated into dust. As Willis said, it was the equivalent of a human death star.
Reginald smiled grimly. If K1-T3 ever tried invading again, they would be up for a nasty surprise. But for now, reconnaissance.