Star Runners Read Online Free

to life. He didn't care about homework. He wanted to play Star Runners .
    He launched the game. The familiar loading image of Legion X4 Trident fighters clashing with interceptors from the Zahl Empire flashed on the monitor. The Tridents, their wings stretching downward and forward from the nose of the craft, bore down on the horseshoe-shaped imperial interceptors. He hadn't battled with imperial forces in a while. The servers focused the Legion forces on Tyral Pirate craft all the time. Although a different challenge existed when facing the pirate forces, he missed the skill of the computer-controlled Zahl fighters.
    The neon green bar at the bottom of the image crept across the screen as the game loaded. Waiting, he munched on the chips and took a few gulps of his drink. He propped his feet up on the desk and leaned back. He heard his mother watching television from the other room, so he slipped on his ear phones Dad had given him for Christmas two years back.
    He smiled, and shook away the memory.
    The old joystick with the cracked black plastic on the handle sat next to the keyboard and he calibrated it for play when the load screen disappeared. A dark game screen with the game's title, Star Runners , in a shining silver font, replaced the load screen. The star field drifted beneath the options. He considered logging onto the "sorties" server and doing a couple of missions. He liked the "dogfight" server, but sometimes he wanted a different objective than killing everything in sight.
    Cranking the volume on his earphones, he decided to proceed with a nice Legion-assigned escort mission and see if he could protect the civilians from a Tyral Pirate attack.
    The game launched and he disappeared into another world.
    *****
    The sunlight hurt his eyes. He shielded himself with his left hand while rummaging through his bag with the other. The school needed more windows. The afternoon light shocked his system after being inside all day under flickering fluorescent lights.
    He found his sunglasses and blinked several times.
    Students milled around near the doorways while others made a mad dash for the parking lot. Conversations centered on plans for the weekend. A large group of guys spoke about seeing a movie. A group of poor saps shuffled toward the line of buses roaring and rattling to life as they prepared to file out of school for the final time that week. At the far end of the school, Kadyn walked out carrying several books. She wore large black sunglasses. Austin swung his bag over his shoulder and strolled toward her as the breeze touched his face.
    The school day went by fast. His teachers didn't give any homework, but his math teacher, Mr. Abney, threatened a pop quiz on Monday. He didn't plan on studying Sunday night, not after seeing the scores Josh posted online. Because of a meeting with his football coaches, Josh did not come to the lunchroom that day, so Austin spent the period listening to Nicole drone on about her weekend plans. He avoided sharing his own. A movie in history class ended out the day, courtesy of Mr. Roell.
    The movie discussed the first seafaring vessels embarking on journeys into unknown waters to discover faraway lands. The Spanish swept through South America, bringing war and disease. Austin daydreamed about massive war galleons doing battle on the ocean with dozens of canons sending metal crashing into their enemy.
    Like most things, the movie made him want to play online and create battles of his own.
    Kadyn waved when she saw him leaving the building. The afternoon sunlight beamed down golden rays through the cloud cover, illuminating her brown hair. She smiled and pulled the books to her chest.
    "Hey you," she said.
    "Hey you."
    He reached out a hand and blinked.
    "Oh, my books? Thank you."
    "Chivalry is not dead." Austin tucked the books under his arm. "Have you seen Josh today?"
    Kadyn ran her fingers through her hair, tucking the wild strands behind her ear. "I saw him talking to Coach