Fate of Terra - Rise of Empires

Chapter 2.4 - Continuation

Author Note: This will be the final 'Continuation' chapter of this story. Fear not, the rewrite will commence and has already begun towards the end of this chapter. 
My editors made a great point in that some of the things that occurred didn't fit, didn't work and, honestly; this is where the story began to unravel in the initial run. 

This was the last chapter I wrote before my trip to China. The story had grown so large, and so complex and so wonderful that I envisioned myself really struggling to continue writing it with the job I had lined up and the travel I had planned. Instead, if you've read the 'W's' chapter... that didn't quite happen. I had to write and write and just churn content out so I could stay alive. Literally, it was the only source of income I had access to outside of illegal, under-the-table cash-in-hand work that barely put a roof over my head #pingpongtable. 

From here on, expect new, expect strange, expect different and above all else, enjoy. 
JC

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"Attention! All personnel to ships. Repeat, all personnel to ships! Fleet restructure to commence within the hour! Squadron Leaders report to Air Bosses for placement." Michael's commanding tone broke out over the intercom system, snapping everyone from their scheduled respite.

Some complained about being pulled from bed, but it didn't last. The crew had been hand selected for their eagerness to serve and their zeal to be in the action. While they outwardly complained about the rude alarm clock, secretly they couldn't wait to get their fusion engines fired up. Thousands of pilots for the fighters and bombers alike assembled in the launch bays, the bark of Staff Sargent's and Engineers matched in equal intensity by the metal clang as cranes moved craft into magnetic launch rails. Faint thrums of power pulsing throughout the craft split faces in nervous grins. AI Furies docked behind their commanding pilots as bomber squadrons lined up, impatient for their turn to be catapulted into the 'fray.

The klaxon went off overhead as the housed Destroyers began their pre-flight checks. The drone of chatter and the accompanying enthusiasm was dwarfed as the monstrous quad engines began to fire up. Increasingly violent vibration danced the toolboxes of mechanics as coolant pulsed through the engines before, with a whoosh of warm air, the beat dropped and the engines barked into life.

The first Destroyer, with escorting Fighter and Bomber wings, was ready. The titanic launch door for the Destroyer remained sealed until the final moment when the simulated launch would time when, where and how, the different ships would deploy. With a final whine, the ship hunkered down into its housing like a stalking lioness sizing up the kill. 

People scrambled back into position as their superiors brought them to line. Unnoticed by the masses, Michael, Kat and Pan walked out onto the deck. Kat stood watching as incalculable mechanics, engineers, pilots and command structure NCO's operated with a single mind. Pan was somewhat distracted, communicating with the AI warships and double-checking that each had a place in the picket line while walking, so didn't notice the synchronicity that Humans were capable of. Perhaps it was a good thing, it would have put a dent in her belief that automation was the better way to operate.

Michael for his part, had eyes only for one ship. The half-painted Destroyer sat cocked and ready to go. The sleek design and the various fins for stabilisation and thruster emplacements likened it more to a taunt crossbow quarrel - somewhat stubby with shrunken wings. The partially completed paint job made the ship seem uglier, more brutal, more... sinister. Michael rather liked the look but accepted that it had to be finished. The nickel-chromium was a key part to the defensive measures of any of his ships, even more so important for the 'smaller' ships like the Destroyers.

Stepping onto the conveyor belt, the three magnetized their boots to its surface as wind whipped their hair around their faces. Michael was pretty sure they were going faster than standard, and Pan's impish grin was a bit of a give-away. Leaping off and gliding in the low-gravity of the entryway, the Major or Colonel or something was suitably startled to see them fly over  head towards the waiting elevators. He went to say something, probably to ask a question with an obvious answer, but Michael wasn't really paying attention to the details in that moment.