James Stark Rise: Mountain Pass
James Stark arrives at the main camp and meets General Keith. When he finds out his troops have been sent to attack into battle with the Bali, James leaves to join them. The battle wasn't going well when James arrives. He goes to the front and turns the battle around by firing the Polaris Round from around his neck.
Sample:
The hours passed aboard the transport. I felt every rubble of turbulence, every turn of the ship. The nanobots might have turned off my hearing, but they were programed to make my other senses stronger whenever one went down. It’s normally an asset during a battle, but when in a small metal ship, it wasn’t fun.
The sparks when we entered the atmosphere brought my sensitivity down as several nanobots went offline, but the energy of the craft was hitting me hard. The ship rumbled and quaked I found it hard to stay in my seat. We passed through quickly and hovered above our targeted landing zone.
I felt her rockets turn and fire quickly downward. The ship rocked back and forth as she steadied herself. The first leg of the transport touched down followed by the other three. The engine’s jets turned off and the cockpit doors swung open.
Sarah turned her chair and walked passed me. She slapped me on the shoulder and said something. I focused for a second, and my hearing was turned back on.
“What was that?” I said.
Sarah smiled and laughed, “I said easy landing.”
I shook my head. I felt the vibrations in the air, I don’t know what she said, but it wasn’t that. I opened my mouth, “Only if you want to call that a landing.”
Sarah put her hands on her hips, “I would like to see you do better, Commander Stark.” She offered her hand.
I took her hand and stood. She walked to the back of the transport and stood next to a large red button. I stood next to her as she reached up and pressed the button. A red light flashed at the top of the door, and the back opened letting in the bright sunlight, and dry heat.
She stepped out first and stepped onto the white platform in front of us. I stepped out and took in a deep breath. The air around me was hazy and dusty, the sun above me was bright, and the heat was already making me sweat. I smiled as I looked around.
“Not the face most soldier have when departing. Even the arrogant ones think this place is awful,” Sarah said.
I looked at her. I pointed to the red rocks around us and the sandy ground. I looked at the cloudless red sky, and towards the bright yellow sun. “I have been in a simulation room for a long time. I fought Death Valley Warriors in the Death Valley, underneath their two suns, but never felt the real heat of it. I was taken to our capital, but never smelled the shit, and pollution of the city. I haven’t heard the sounds of the city in decades.”
“Most people you transport saw sun just a few days ago. I have not seen a real sun in twenty years,” I said. The smile still plastered on my face. “And I missed it.”
Sarah smiled and turned around. We walked around the platform as another group of men were walking towards the transport. They were missing arms, legs, eyes, one’s face even looked flat. My smile faded as they passed us. Sarah turned around and looked at me.
“Those are some of the men I'm transporting back. They’re better off than most,” Sarah said as we moved to the end of the platform.
I looked down and saw a petite raven haired woman at the base of the platform. She held an old clipboard in front of her as she smiled at the two of us. She was dressed in a silver button down shirt and dark gray skirt that ended just above her knee.
Sarah walked up to her and hugged her. “Hey sis,” she said. The two broke off and stood straight. “I hope you’re having more fun down here than I’m having on the cruiser.
The woman rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding?” her face turned to a small scowl. “General Keith won't let anyone from my science team out of the base. We running the same analyzes of soil samples for the last month.”
Sarah patted her sister on the shoulder, “Well it’s nice to see you. This is James Stark,” he gestured towards me.
I offered my hand to the girl. “Oh,” she grabbed my hand, “Name is Skylar. Pleasure to meet you, I have heard a lot of things about you from General Keith.”
“Understandable, we are not on the best of terms,” I replied. I turned around and gestured around. “This is an interesting world. I don’t the simulations I ran didn’t even have the red sky.”
“I know, this place is so weird. The soil samples I looked at showed hundreds of chemicals that should have killed everyone on the planet. I can’t wait to learn more about it.”
Sarah smiled and shook her head. She turned towards her sister, “You are such a nerd, Sky.”
Skylar’s face turned a little read as she looked towards the ground.
I knelt down and grabbed a bit of the sand. The sand fell through my fingers. I turned towards Skylar, “If everything should be dead on this planet. Then why isn’t everything?”
Skylar shrugged, “Twelve cities, I have never left this camp. I couldn’t even tell you wants in the rocks. I can tell you, we have seen no animals, bugs, or vegetation, only the Bali since we got here.”
I looked back at the ground, “Odd,” I said. “You have any ideas about the atmosphere?”
Skylar shrugged again, “No idea, it’s possible the chemicals I found could create a dead zone above the planet. Without more information on what happened down here, I couldn’t tell you.”
“Sky,” Sarah was looking at her sister. Her eyebrows were slanted, her arms were crossed in front of her. “I think you should take Commander Stark to see General Keith.”
I took a hard look at Sarah, and then looked at Skylar. “You look like your mother,” I said laughing. Sarah turned towards me, and I turned towards Skylar, “I am already a day late.”
Skylar nodded and hugged her sister again. “Good to see you again sis.” She broke off and walked towards the ramp. “Right this way Commander Stark,” she said as she passed.
I followed her off the platform and into the main camp.
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