Takk-Oaka watched the glow of ion engines popping into sight over the planet of Tyeop. The flickering lights of blue, red and yellow stood still over the calm and soothing appearance of the planet. It was beautiful. The majestic green landscape was in perfect balance with the flowing streaks of blue, marking the rivers and waterfalls exclusive to the planet. The cities were just large enough to make out clearly from the grand window of his command ship, The Dynastic. At a first glance, the planet almost seemed peaceful, noting the stillness of the clouds and land.

Takk had to remind himself of the horrors taking place on this tortured planet. A branch of the Empire had full control over the planet. They used the planet as a tool to absorb mass amounts of money. The people here were robbed and taxed to the point where living a sustainable life was almost impossible. Citizens were used as slaves for the building of the Imperial base found on the far end of the city, Kinnar. In the mist of his thoughts, Takk still managed to hear the sound of cautious footsteps behind him.
“Captain?”
“Yes, Er, Master Takk, might I suggest that we prepare for descent?”
Takk rubbed his furry, white chin inquisitively and thought for a moment.
“Good idea captain, sorry for the delay. Prep the gun-ships, and make sure to ready the drop-ships as well. It’s going to be a tough battle out there.” He turned around and looked Captain Reves straight in the eye. “And hopefully a quick one.”
Captain Reves smirked and swiftly exited the room. Takk took one last look at Tyeop’s perfection before bolting out trough blast doors.
He rushed through the hallways and catacombs of the Dynastic. In his haste, he began to wish that he hadn’t designed his command ship to be so large.
He heard the purr of engines and excited voices immediately after walking in to the main hangar. The figures in white, metal-plated uniforms were flooding the area. He could tell everyone was getting that pre-battle adrenaline rush due to the fact nobody was speaking as they attached wide variations of guns to their chests before loading into the massive, heavily fortified gun-ships. The sight of hundreds upon hundreds of gun-ships, lined up like soldiers on a battle field, made Takk’s heart skip a beat, they were all under his command.
He walked over to his own, specially designed gun-ship, with it’s wings gleaming in chrome and the hull with carefully coated with foreign designs from all around the galaxy. He admired his work before walking off and met the anxious eyes of the rest of his squad.
“Are we ready?” he asked.
“As always Master Takk” replied Fives, just one of the five others in the squad.
“Glad to hear it,” Takk raised his brow, “I’ve designed a way for us to safely enter the drop zone without becoming easy targets for snipers.”
“Oh no, don’t tell me it another one of your inventions,” groaned Twos, “Need I remind you of what happened on Hontick. Those grappling crossbows nearly caused our untimely death plummeting down the Hontick cliffs.”
Takk grinned, “Well I can assure you that these armored wing platings have been tested and are safe. You see, we can slide the edges just beneath our arms and use them to glide down off the gun-ship.”
Fours gave an inquisitive look, “Very crafty, but how will this help us accomplish anything?”
“I was hoping you would ask,” replied Takk, “Being the first to descend upon the planets atmosphere, we don’t want to detected on our arrival. And if we were to get on the ground from the gunships dropping us off, the ground soldiers will surely spot us. In using these armored wings, we are reducing our chances of getting caught. Okay, enough talk, lets load the gun-ship.”
“Yes, Sir!” His squad replied, nearly in sync.
The squad was silent as they boarded into the rather cramped interior of the gun-ship. Takk made a note to redesign the gun-ship so it will be able to fit the five members of his squad and himself comfortably. Takk glanced out the panes striding along the side of the gun-ship wall, the hangar was getting smaller and smaller as the gun-ship calvary poured out of it’s interior. He then turned and looked out at their destination. He laughed quietly to himself, “Boy, are they in for a surprise.”
The ice cold empty feeling of space disappeared and he could feel a refreshing breeze of coolness, telling him that they had entered the planets atmosphere. His vision became impaled as the misty, white clouds surrounded the air. It was becoming difficult to see the other gun-ships gliding foreward along side his own, but he could still make out the feint glow of the engines through the dense vapor.
Takk yelled to Threes, who was steadily piloting the gun-ship, “Keep us steady, they wont see us through these clouds.”
He felt a small lurch as the gun-ship stopped descending. The gun-ships interior was filled with sounds of clicks and zips as he and his squad attached their armored wing plates under their arms.
Fives snickered, “We look like gorgy birds!”
“Genius isn’t it?” Takk questioned, “I purposely colored the design gray and cut the flaps on the end to make us look like birds native to this area.”
Fives replied, “Genius indeed, Takk. Good job.”
Takk spoke up, “Okay guys, everyone ready to go?”
His squad responded with nervous nods. Without further explanation, Takk leaped from the gun-ship door.
His face was numb from the powerful wind blasting upward at him. He allowed his hands to tuck out and behind his ears, giving him a perfect streamline as he plummeted down from the gunship. The feeling of the wind slipping and crawling around his furry body was incredible, the pure energy of the downward force shook his body in every direction. And the view, as he exited the layer of clouds, you could see the entire city of Kinnar. It was beautiful. Huge elaborate buildings plated with shillings of chrome and large, majestic fountains with illuminated water pluming from it’s sides.
“YAHOO,” Takk was ecstatic with adrenalin. His heart was pulsating at an extreme speed. He pulled out his left arm like flaps and his body twirled until he was belly up looking up at the clouds. He could loosely make out the rest of his squad, excluding Threes who was piloting, but his vision was shaking so much he couldn’t focus his eyes.
Takk became dizzy looking back down at the city. All the building were much larger than they should be. His eyes widened.
“Dammit all!”
WHAM! Takk felt and infinite range of pain as his body upper body and chest slammed up against cold chrome, and then nothing. He felt his nerves lose grasp of reality, he couldn’t move. He tried to look around but darkness kept closing in.

He managed to whimper out, “h-e-l, h-e, he-l-p,” before he could no longer feel, see, nor think. His body lie motionless on the chrome roof of the tall, sleek building.
***

Takk slowly opened his eyes and groaned. He could make out a small room with a few tables, or so he thought; it was all like an abstract painting that was blurred and streaked. He herd concerned voices approaching.
“Hey Takk,” said Five’s voice, “You took a pretty bad crash, you came to close to one of the buildings and slammed into it. Nothing appears to be broken, but you head took a pretty good banging. You may have some trouble remembering things.”
Takk’s vision was coming to, “Well I can vaguely remember my neglecting to open up my armored wings and slamming into that cursed chrome. It doesn’t make well for a landing for the face.”
Fives gave a small laugh, “Glad to hear your in fair condition, but Fours recommended you stay lying down for a bit before we move. And you can remember what he did last time you disobeyed his medical advice, well, I just don’t do it again.”
“Very well,” Takk sighed, “Where are we anyhow? We haven't been spotted yet have we?”
“Were in an abandoned civilian home, north from the Chrome Tower in the center of the city.” Fives lowered his voice, “And no, we haven’t been spotted. In fact, we haven’t seen a single imperial soldier, a bit suspicious.”
“Suspicious indeed,” Takk responded, “I wonder what they’re up to.”
Fives spoke back up, “Yes, but in the meantime, Threes is getting an areal map of the area, preferably so we can find an entry point.”
Takk nodded and Fives exited the room. Takk took the time to glace around at his surroundings. It was almost like being inside a small jungle. Directly in front of him there was a window on a green wall, with a small table underneath. There was a shelf lining the interior of the walls plastered with variations of plants, vases and pictures. One of the pictures caught his eye. Takk extended his hands, and let energy flow from his hand. The energy that his former teacher, Master Cuetas, had once taught him to use. Master Cuetas was an Imperial mastermind. He was cold hearted and evil, killing for sheer entertainment.
Takk thought to himself, “If I hadn’t escaped that stronghold, I’d probably have my body hanging out in the center of this city square.”
Takk grimaced as the picture slowly floated to his body and into his anxious hands. It was he and Master Cuetas, standing in front of a grand, menacing tower. It was the Empire’s old capitol building back on Baofais. That is where Takk was created and raised. He would train every day with weapons and fists. He would partake in small battles against live opponent, and kill them all. He was trained to leave no survivors.
Takk put his head down, remembering the horrified faces of his fellow commanders right before they were shot in the head with a revolver bullet. He was a monster. A killer. A physco. He had to remind himself that he was none of those things now. Now he fought for a cause. Now he fought alongside worthy soldiers, who care about the well being of the galaxy. Now he was a leader, a motivator, an d an idol to all of the worlds. His peace was short lived and he jolted upward, wincing in pain. He threw the picture across the room and briefly watched it shatter up against the wall.
“We’ve been trapped” Takk screamed.
He managed to leap out of the room just before it burst into flames and shrapnel. Metal planks and chrome bits were launched into the air. The ceiling immediately began to collapse above him and he grabbed a gun resting on a table.
“Move! Get out, quick!”
Takk sprinted out the door in half a panic, his squad following close behind. Fire and charred material was spitting out at them in their escape out into the street. The street was bare and abandoned, except for the fire and booming of the building behind him.
“It’s been evacuated!” Takk shouted, but his voice was drowned by another explosion. This time from above. The sky was blurred with white and black clouds, and a mess of small star ships zooming and scattering around.

“It’s an ambush,” cried Twos

Takk pressed a button on his arm, “Takk to Dynastic, whats going on up there?”

No reply.

“I repeat, Takk to Dynastic, do you copy?”

Still no reply.

“Out communications are cut,” growled Takk. He let out an enraged grunt and began pacing back and forth.

“How could I let this happen?” he screamed. “First thing I slam into a building, next I wake up to a full scaled attack! We’re the ones who are supposed to be attacking! We were going to-”

Takk trailed off in speech as he saw the emerging dark shadow passing through the clouds glowing in orange, red, and yellow. He and his squad stopped breathing as the lumbering ship came plummeting down at them enthralled in flames and coming down fast. Nobody bothered to move. The Dynastic was coming down and they were likely going with it.

“It’s to big to outrun” Fours said.

Takk spoke up, “No, but surely there will be some survivors on the ship, I didn’t design that thing to break easy.” He was motivated with a new hope, “Once the Dynastic crashes, we can collect the survivors and raid the tower! Get some metal sheeting from that building; we’re going to survive this hit!”

The squad lit up, “Yes, Sir!”

The five scrambled collecting pieces of metal, large and small and formed a small fort. It was small and thin, hardly enough to provide a sturdy shelter. The falling command ship was only minutes away from slamming into the ground.

“All right, everyone in” Takk yelled.

The squad gave Takk doubtful looks but piled in obediently. Takk entered the small shack and extended his arms. Energy flowed from his hands, and wrapped around the small shack. Takk closed his eyes and concentrated hard. He can’t mess up. This force field must save them from the blast. It has to.

The ground beneath Takk began to shake progressively. It took everything in his power not to collapse in the midst of the quake. His eardrums were bursting and he became dizzy. He was practically thrown away from the incredible force of the explosions taking place as the mass command ship met the ground. Shrapnel was pelting up against the shack and Takk’s muscles shook under the pressure and weight.

Takk strained his face, “Can’t...........hold....on” His face grimaced as the ground beneath him began to slide away. Twos shouted something, but the sound from the explosions and vibration made it too loud to hear anything.

Minutes went by, feeling like days as Takk kept his force field alive. Blasts of wind and flame flew past the pathetic shack and the squad managed to maintain their balance. By the time the explosions subdued, there was barely any parts of the shack left.

Takk dropped his arms and the circle encasing the remains of the shack flitted out. He kneeled on one leg, panting and breathing hard. It was dark, they were completely surrounded by burning piles of what was left of his command ship.

He stood up, “We can’t waste any time, lets start looking for survivors.”

The rest of the squad slowly raised to their feet and dragged themselves across the clearing and began to work their way through the rubble. Takk started pulling off some sheet metal. He manages to break into what used to be a hallway in the grand ship. Surprisingly, it was still in fair condition, there could very well be many survivors. Takk hurtled over the small brink excitedly and began running down the halls.
“All survivors, please make you way out into the clearing. Bring all your weapons, rations, supplies, and wounded,” he shouted.
Heads starting popping out of doorways and forming lines working their way to the nearest exit. Takk grinned. He met the nervous eyes of the shocked survivors and gave a reassuring nod.
He called again, “All survivors, please report to the clearing west of you position. Bring all supplies, including weapons.”
Takk and his squad searched for several hours before reporting to the clearing themselves. Takk was stunned. There were about 15,000 men already grouped together, with more piling in every second. He sprinted to the center of the newly populated clearing and sprung up onto a large chunk of metal.
“Okay every body, listen up! As you know, we’re in pretty bad shape. Our fleet is under attack and our command ship had been destroyed. But we’re not done, not yet.”
All eyes were on Takk now, and nothing but silence.
“We may be in the middle of a heap of burning metal, but it’s a heap of metal with over 15,000 armed men inside. It’s a heap of metal that the Empire looks at as a death-trap. It’s a heap of metal that is concealing our well-being and existence. The Empire doesn’t know we’re here, or alive at least.”
The men were beginning to shout in agreement.
“The Empire thinks we’re done for. Master Cuetas has us overlooked, but he was wrong.”
The men were shouting now. Takk spoke up, “Let’s storm out of here and show them who’s right. Let’s bring down the chrome tower, and take this planet for ourselves!”
The survivors stormed out of the clearing, yelling and shouting. They were inspired and hopeful. It was just then that their gun-ships started appearing out from the sky. Takk’s arm beeped and a message sounded, “Takk, it’s me Threes. We’ve managed to overtake the Empires fighters. Where are you, are you okay?”
Takk looked at Fives, “I don’t suppose there’s any need to respond. He’ll find out soon enough.”
Fives smiled. And with that, he and the squad ran and joined the frenzy of men poring out of the sides of the broken and distorted Dynastic.

It was that day that Takk and his army took the planet of Tyeop. The Chrome Tower was destroyed and Master Cuetas was captured. That day Takk learned a new fighting strategy, hope.