Hammer

Oscar was very thorough with familiarizing himself with the controls of the aircraft. After checking fuel and that the ships systems were all functioning properly, he left the cockpit and look around the aircraft.

In the cargo hanger, Oscar saw some soldiers stacking crates. Walking up to them he saw that they were no younger then him. Oscar quickly realized that these soldiers were also recently graduated recruits. Making his way to them he introduced himself as the pilot.

The leader of the recruits was the first one to speak, introducing himself and his teammates. "Hi my name's James, that's Daniels and the one stacking boxes is Tyson."

James had this confident smirk on his face as he talked, probably because he had just asserted himself as the leader of his hand of freshly minutes soldiers. Ground grunts were all like that. The ones of same rank would always try to assert dominance over the others. It was some sort of tradition from way before humanity could even travel the stars, or so the soldiers always said.

"Hey my name's Oscar Reid and I'll be the one piloting this wonderful piece of metal."

The group exchanged pleasantries and chatted for a little while longer. No one in the group knew what their mission was going to be or where they were headed.

After a few more minutes, another group of soldiers, this group being older and a lot rougher looking the the batch of recruits Oscar was talking to, walked into the cargo hanger. The recruits immediately lined up and saluted the older soldiers.

"At ease recruits, or should I call you soldiers now."

The soldier who spoke had lieutenant symbols in his uniform and seemed to be the leader of this group.

"My name's Lieutenant Daminco Santiago but you will refer to me as sir or lieutenant is that clear recruits!"

"Yes sir Lieutenant!" All three recruits yelled in unison.

Lieutenant Santiago saw Oscar standing by the side and made his way over. It was clear that he did not like having a fresh out of the academy cadet as his pilot. However because of rank and status, Oscar was technically the same rank as Santiago, hence the frown on Santiago's face.

Oscar introduced himself, exchanging pleasantries with the lieutenant until he saw it fit to end the conversation. Oscar couldn't help but grin seeing as he was one of the highest-ranking officers on board the ship.

After another hour of prepping, the rest of the soldiers finally arrived. there were now 20 soldiers and Oscar. However nobody knew what the mission was gonna be.

Then the last thing anybody expected seeing was the elite of the ground forces showing up. Five Specters showed up, in full gear, with their faces covered beging there protective helmets. Their armor was a slick black color and each one carrying a state of the art high energy rapid fire pulse rifle.

Four specters with carrying a crate well what could be assumed as the leader walks up to the Lieutenant and Oscar, stopping right infront of the two.

"Name's Hammer."

The two waited for the Specter to say anything else but he didn't. With an awkward silence between the three of them, nobody knew what to say. The silence was broken by a familiar voice.

"You get use to it son. Specters don't say much. I've known Hammer since he first became a specter and even I haven't heard him say more then a few words at a time."

Looking past the silent soldier, Oscar was surprised to see Commander Harris walking up. Both Oscar and Lieutenant Santiago straighten up and saluted the commander.

With a smile Harris responded "At ease soldiers. I am now going to brief you on your mission which in I will be accompanying you."

Still with a look of utter dismay, Oscar could not believe that he would be flying the Commander on his first mission. This made Oscar feel a little worried. How important was the mission if five Specters and the commander himself where going to join the mission.

"Everyone gather around and listen closely."

The smile off Commander Harris's face disappeared and was replaced by a serious expression. Commander Harris waiting for everyone to gather around and looked at each of them before continuing the explanation of the mission.

"We will be heading to a remote location where is a secret military science facility is located. The facility is located in the Damarian mountain range."

The mountain range is approximately 8 hours away by air, and the farm where Oscar's family lives is right along the way. Oscar thought to himself that maybe he could see his family leaving the farm and heading to the space port nearest to them.

"We will be going to the facility to pick up the scientists that are there as well as ensure that all sensitive material is carefully taken care of. The Specters will take the lead and head into the facility while the regular soldiers will form a defensive perimeter around the ship and ensure that the scientists get to the ship safely."

Oscar still could not get the fact that he was flying Commander Harris for his first mission. Also a deep sense of worry filled his gut, as if telling him that something was definitely going to go wrong.

Oscar's gut was usually never wrong.

The soldiers left to make sure that all the equipment was stored and locked up, leaving just Oscar, Harris and the Specter named Hammer.

"Son I know this is your first mission. but from what I have been told you are a hell of a pilot. You got top scores flying these types of ships and right now your the best I got" Commander Harris spoke softly.

"I will do my best to live up to your expectations sir!" Oscar replied.

"Good, now I will leave you too it and let you make the appropriate preparation for this mission. I have allowed you to have access to full weapons ammunition. we might need support if things go south."

With those words, Commander Harris left and walked further into the ship, Hammer following right beside him.

Oscar turned around and walked out to find the engineer chief to ensure that all his weapons were locked, loaded and ready to fire.

His Fat lady had two automatic anti air Gatling turrets on the top, sides and one on the bottom. There was also two missile slots that could load up various different types of missile emplacements. For this mission Oscar loaded up with the Dragoon hellfire missiles.

The missiles had a heat seeking option as well as a manual target fire option. The best part about these missiles was that each missile split into six smaller missiles, giving them a wide area of effect and making it hard to shoot them down.

After about an hour of prep work, all the equipment was stored, locked, the the ship was fully fueled and stocked with ammo. Everyone was ready and waiting for the order to take off.

"Cadet Reid, you have permission to take off and head to the designated coordinates."

With a grin Oscar flipped a couple switches, pressed a few buttons and the engines came to life. Slowly the ship lifted off the ground and made its way out of the academy hanger.

With one big breath, Oscar pushed the throttle and the Fat Lady took off, soring into the sky, heading towards it destination.