Remember the Starfighter Read Online Free

facilities, much of it automated by robotics. The raw minerals and manufactured equipment were then sent above to the station, which served as a supply depot and shipyard. Each day, Julian made his tiny contribution, transporting containers to and fro from station to ship. For almost two years he had done this, thinking little about life and just doing.
    But soon that would all change. In spite of his past fallings, the military was calling him back. The war was coming.
    He felt the sensation, the pain burning through his mind. Drips of blood fell from his nostrils, and down to his chin. Rather than wipe it away, Julian massaged the side of his head, and warily remembered where this all began. The old wound would fester, as it always had. It would not let him forget.

Chapter 3
     
    She placed the bandage on the wound, and let it work.
    Settling on the skin, the patch of white fiber latched on, covering the cut at his forehead. In a few seconds, the microscopic machines under it would begin rebuilding the tissue.
    “This should make the pain all go away,” she said.
    She called herself Nalia, a lieutenant in the military. He had seen many officers on Meridian station in the two years he had worked there. But never her. She was focused and carried herself confidently. Julian, on the other hand, couldn’t help but feel utterly tired from everything they had just gone through.
    He guessed some had survived the attack on Meridian, although surely many had died. The station had more than 500 people on board. 
    “These bandages will have to do until we can get you to a functioning medical bay,” Nalia said. “There’s not much here I can work with.”
    She waved her hand at the equipment. The Crusader’s med bay was nearly barren, only a pair of examination tables left standing in the vacant room. Basic medical kits, however, were still in stock.
    Julian pushed himself off the examination table; his bloodied clothes were now changed into a spare gray uniform. He touched his ribs, feeling the outline of the bandages around his cracked bones.
    “I don’t know how we survived that.”
    “Neither do I,” Nalia replied. “I’m just glad I bumped into you. Else I’m not sure I’d be able to pilot this ship.”             
    “No,” he said. “I’d be dead if not for you, lieutenant.”
    “No need for the formalities. Nalia will do.”
    She walked off, moving to sit on a chair nearby. Minutes ago, she had cleaned herself up, washing away the smears across her hands and cheek. While the enemy’s attack had been brutal, she appeared unfazed by the trauma. The mark of a veteran, even as she was young, perhaps no older than himself. SpaceCore Intelligence had always been known to recruit from the best and the brightest. In Julian’s experience, most were no-nonsense, and rarely social. This woman, however, was something different.
    “What a total clusterfuck,” she said. Nalia groaned as she spun in the swivel chair.
    “The Endervars attack and wipe out Meridian and our weapons plant on Eras. Strategic command didn’t even see it coming.”
    “What happened back there?” Julian asked. “Why are the Endervars here? Didn’t the military projections put their arrival to this sector in another half-century?”
    “Officially, yes,” she said. “But just in the last few years, we’ve seen the Endervars aggressively expand into this region of space. We count thousands of ships, maybe more. We have no idea why, only that they’re clearly on the search for more sentient life.”
    “So the rumors are true then,” he said. “That’s why I was called back into duty. I was scheduled to report to Haven’s military command. But then this all happened.”
    She chuckled at the irony. “Well, we’re headed there now,” she said. “I was originally stationed on the Avenger, but was transferred to Meridian to help lead operations there. My big promotion.”
    “The enemy ended