Tick-tick-tick

The bomb’s mechanisms kept going with no regard to the chaos around it. 

“Damnit! It is always down to two wires, isn’t it Gregarrd?” Kyko muttered to his droid. 

He continued to stare at the wires, hoping something would eventually make sense. The air was thinning and Kyko did not feel all that comfortable being so close to the impulse engines. If this bomb did not kill him, the infinite space just 5 feet from him surely would. 

Tick-tick-

“Finally! Hey Gregarrd, in all those old films we used to watch the hero never chose the red wire. Since I am no hero, I deduced I should choose that very one and as luck would have it, I beat the system!” 

Greggard barked enthusiastically in response. 

The compact space that the device was hidden in contained nothing more than the back up generator, the perfect target. 

These Martians are coming to be quite predictable, thought Kyko. 

He pushed open the metal door behind him and glanced down the long hall, deactivated bomb in hand. Fighting could be heard from the end of it, but he had confidence Titus would have it cleaned up in a jiff. This was always how it went, after all. He disabled the ever-present bombs and  Titus did the dirty work. 

The hatch in the wall next to him allowed for proper disposal of the device. He could feel the pull that was created in the air the second that hatch opened. Kyko’s curiosity of what space could possible hold for him would one day turn deadly. The feeling was gone the moment the hatch slammed shut and he shook it off. 

Continuing down the hall with his droid at tow, he found Titas. A sickly green head dangled from his massive fist and a equally sick smiled marred his otherwise imposing face. 

“That easy?” Kyko questioned. 

“Quite. Their poor tactics will never cease to amuse me,” Titus jested in response. He had been fighting these aliens for over a year now and has been itching to teach them a fighting lesson or two. Being trained by his war-born father, he was the best in his class in his youth. No one could best him, except Kyko occasionally. 

This particular war has been going on for 37 years between Earth and Mars, both strong colonies. Mars was jealous of the advantage that Earth’s citizens had when it came to it’s natural resources. Mars, being an organically barren planet, demanded to have equal rights to them, to which Earth refused. 

Kyko and Titus were born into this war sixteen years into it’s progression and it has yet to end. The people of Earth agreed to a draft for the military and Kyko, along with Titus, were sucked into this life with no say, only their classes and experience to save their asses from time to time, like when particular alien asses invade their ship and attempt a suicide bombing. 

“We better get to the cockpit to see how Lerena has fared,” Titus remarked.

“Oh, I am sure she’s fine. Hasn’t crashed yet as far as I know.” 

Lerena, too, was a victim of the draft. She was orphaned at the age of eight and a soldier ever since. They made quite the formidable crew. 

In the cock pit, Kyko immediately noticed Lerena’s absence. 

“Um, we do have a pilot, right? I did not just dream that up one horribly lonely night?” Kyko questioned.

“No,” Titus answered with a jovial laugh. “She is nothing like the sort of woman you’d create, Ky.”

“Just checking.”

They searched only to find her  asleep beneath the controls.

“Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey, princess,” Kyko said with a stern kick to her back-side. 

″Eggs, mmmmmm,” Lerena mumbled sleepily. “Don’t mention eggs.” 

“I’ll make you a huge pan of them when this bloody war ends and you tell me why you’re asleep during a damn invasion!” Ky replied, yelling the last part. 

“No... sleep... for... three... days,“she mumbled half-heartedly.  

“Ugh,” he groaned. “Let’s just get out of here.”

“I’m with you on that. Ler, you can sleep when you’re dead. Get up.′

She slowly crawled out from beneath the console and got to her feet. 

“Ok let’s go.”

(The end, but you get the gist)