4. "Test Object"

Thirty seconds..

One minute..

Five minutes..

'Are they trying to scare us or what?' This and many more questions popped up in Andrea's mind.

Unfortunately, no one could answer them for her.

The past five minutes were painfully slow. It felt like an eternity, only because the mega ship had them cornered.

Not to say that she doesn't appreciate the time, even if it was mockery.

"The hyper drive is set but.." Midnight's voice came through.

"Don't worry, Midnight," Andrea said calmly. "We still have a good chance with the military flanking them."

Although Andrea put in the military as an advantage, in her heart she gave them no hope at all.

The mothership is just too powerful for them to handle. Maybe they do have a chance, but only with the correct plan.

"Contact the leader if the fleet," Andrea requested. "I need to know his plans."

"Call established.."

"Commander Carter online, may I know who you are?"a manly voice came through.

"I'm Andrea from Angel Designs," she introduced herself. "I called to ask if you have any plans to get us out of here."

"Miss Andrea.. actually.. we.. I.. Sorry but I'm confused about something here," the man stuttered.

"Ask away," although she already knew what he was going to ask, she let him do it, just one if her "normalities".

"Why are you here?" he asked after calming down.

"To save my friends, obviously," Andrea rolled her eyes, not that the Commander could see her.

"A little reminder,, that's our job," Carter said in sarcasm.

"Does you job include joking around with danger?" Andrea threw back.

"..."

"I have a plan," she added, her tone going flat.

...

The military fleet arrived behind the arc of urchins and stopped.

One would probably take a picture gladly if thus wasn't a war. The greenish arrows at the back closing in on black stars, with a giant black star at the center and a bluish black arrow at the middle of them all.

The scene remained silent for some moments,before the "greenish arrows" suddenly shot at the "black stars".

The attack was so sudden that all the urchins were caught off guard, all except for the giant one.

The mothership seemed to have a strong shield and was always on. The blasts kept bouncing off the ship like water on an oily surface.

At the same time, Midnight took off into the middle of the battlefield.

That was the only open space available since the shield won't open until fully deployed.

The only problem was that the mothership was also the closest to the middle, putting Midnight in a tough situation.

The blue black ship shot several times at the mega ship but nothing happened.

And as if to mock her, the mother ship suddenly opened several compartments and drew out more turrets.

Everyone in the ship held their breathe when all twenty something turrets pointed at Midnight.

Someone squealed in fear when the turrets turned yellow, a clear sign of charging up, then..

SHOOM! SHOOOM!

SHOOOOM! SHOOM!

The forever black space lit up as the turrets sent blazing lights with their shots.

And who were the target?

The military fleet.

In less than five seconds, earth lost over forty ships, and even more soldiers.

Yes this is not the highest number of soldiers that earth has lost since "First Cont.", the issue is how it occurred and the time-death ratio.

So far, loosing a hundred plus soldiers in a day-long battle is not so bad. It happens almost everytime there's an attack.

People grew tired of continuous mourning, although it still happens, and decided to get along with the feeling.

This time, however, everyone inside Midnight was out of wits.

Shock.

Surprise.

Fear.

Anger.

All these emotions poured out of these people in buckets.

Clearly, everyone was thinking of the same thing. A full-scale war.

It is bound to happen in the near future. With the prowess that the mothership showed, the survival of humanity is uncertain.

Not to mention, the true number of their enemies is unknown, which makes the fear valid.

After all, man is known to fear the unknown.

...

"Captain?!" Midnight's urgent voice sounded. "The enemy is attempting contact! Would you like to listen?"

Everyone gasped in shock.

If Andrea accepted the communication, shed be the first human to experience first contact!

Ever since the existence of extraterrestrial life or rather, the Nagas attacked, was revealed, they never tried to have any peaceful interaction.

Although it was expected, it still left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth, the very same reason for Andrea's hesitation.

"Put me through," she answered after a moment of silence.

"Uuh, bestie?" Rina walked up to her friend. "Are you sure about this? I mean, it might be a trap.. you know, trying to capture the ship?"

Andrea gave her friend a funny look.

"You are thinking too much," she grabbed her padded shoulders gently. "What harm can they possibly do over a radio call and besides, you are wearing the best armour around here so I don't really get you!?"

Rina was now wearing a deep purple arm our set which looked bulky but weightless at the same time.

The front of her armour was shaped.. as "feminine" as an armor could get, considering she's packed, turning flat at her stomach then it joins at he hips with the lower parts.

On the back and feet were jet thrusters which would allow her to navigate if she ever got thrown into space.

The deep purple color was the natural color resulting from the alloy of Aluthium and steel, a really strong metal.

On her shoulders and waist were bluish pads which allowed free movement.

Rina sighed exasperatedly at her friend's easy going attitude.

"Are you forgetting who we're dealing with?" she asked no one in particular. "There's a reason we call them 'aliens'."

Rina turned around and looked at Commander Maxwell.

"They should have done this earlier if the.."

SHOOOM!

Her speech was cut off when a spectacular scene unfolded.

The nozzle of the Naga mothership shot a beam that was so sudden for even Midnight to notice.

Everyone braced themselves for impact when the light of the beam filled the cockpit.

Out of nowhere, a great suction force tugged at Midnight and caught most people off guard.

It was too sudden that everyone was thrown off their feet. When Andrea regained balance, she immediately activated another set of energy shields, or at least she tried to.

The other people around her wondered why she suddenly ran to the control panel then stood fixed on one spot, but not until they noticed they were moving.

Immediately, Com. Maxwell moved to a window and looked outside.

"You guys.. I think Rina was right," he solemnly announced.

"What are you saying? What was I right about?!" Rina asked in frustration at his suspense.

"Don't trust aliens," the commander scoffed, but with a bitter expression.

"Nor should you keep their call ringing.." Rina added in sarcasm.

After receiving several speechless but scorning glares, Rina raised her hands in false retreat. "You gonna tell us why you look scared shit less or not?" Tired of the silence, Rina started her plays again.

"Well, for starters, the military is totally out of the game," Andrea said which made the commander give her an incredulous look.

"And second,, we're forcefully docked to the mothership and have less than fifty seconds before those guys get us! So get a move on, Commander?!" She added, practically shouting the last part.

Soon enough, they could see through the displayed cameras all over Midnight the soldiers struggling.

"We need to blow their docking tunnel," Commander Maxwell said to Andrea. "They'll keep pouring until we do so, and I'm sure we won't handle the next wave.." get added in a low subtle voice.

"There are some bombs on the ship but.. who's gonna go there?" Andrea answered slowly.

"..."

It was clear everyone had lost hope. If it were some other enemy then maybe they had a chance.

These aliens, however, were brutes. They were superior together human soldiers in almost every aspect.

Strength, resilience, even their firearms were futuristic!

"I'll go," Commander Maxwell stood up. "It's my job to protect you guys so.."

"You won't have to," Andrea cut him off. "I still haven't tried out something, it could get us out of here but only we will survive."

"Even being a test object is better than being mauled by some mindless brute," Rina mused, leaving the others in stupor.