The alarm's voice buzzed in the ears of the scrambling mass beneath it. The siren bathed the metal walls with red light as it flashed quickly, loudly. The people below it moved just as swiftly, each to their designated place. Those with no business fighting scrambled to their living quarters in the core of the base while the warriors sprinted towards their respective vessels. Still more people rushed towards the control room, for without their constant supervision, the pilots were helpless. Who would know when they suffered injuries if they weren't closely monitored?

Another siren, but this one was drowned out by the sound of engines as the pilots and their ships rose to hover above the ground. The lights changed to a flashing white to signal that they were allowed to deploy, and every single vessel shot from the hanger. The counterattack had begun.

Simultaneously, personnel dubbed as "Monitors" rushed to their positions, donning headsets, quickly pressing holographic keys, and talking excitedly. They were the second eyes of the pilot, each paired to a specific ship. Every occurrence, every hit the ship took, every injury the warrior received was displayed upon the screen before them. Each one made contact with their partner, letting them know that if anything to falter, they were there to fix it.

One such dark haired boy sat at his station, clicking buttons madly, his blue eyes flicking quickly around behind his thick glasses. He sat at a special station, set slightly apart from the others. Normally this would be a cause of interest for the other occupants of the room, yet now that lives were on the line, everyone was completely focused on that situation at hand. The esteemed Monitor spoke quickly to his pilot, filling him in on the details as quickly as he possibly could.

"…coming in from the right fast. There's at least twenty of them, or at least that's what our radar is saying. Be careful out there. You know he could be in the formation…" The timid Monitor often feared for his pilot, especially if there was a chance that their largest threat would be in the fray.

From his seat within the starship, the pilot responded. "Yeah, I know, John. I'll be fine. You know I'm too cool to die."

John shook his head quickly, fully aware his pilot couldn't see him. "Dave. I'm being serious. You know how hard it is to shake him! He's nearly totaled your ship three times!"

"And how many times have I ripped his apart?" The question was low, nearly growled. The albino pilot hated nothing more than his mysterious enemy. They had never managed to get a visual of the damned flier, but Dave thought of little else once he was in his cockpit. Whenever there was an attack that included that fucker, it seemed that he always went for Dave, and it seemed that just as many times, the mysterious ship followed him no matter what maneuvers he performed. The only sure thing Dave had on his side was his speed. It was a last ditch sort of thing, but it had saved his life more than once.

He could see the approaching ships, and his red eyes flashed. Ripping off his sunglasses, he prepared himself for battle. A left hand flipped three switches as he conversed with John. "I'm about to go in. I see the ships. Any orders from up top?"

"No, just the standard attack message," John answered quickly. His mind was only half with Dave as he quickly scanned the visual streaming from the ship. Was their enemy in the hostile formation? Where was that feared vessel? "Do you see him anywhere?" he asked, flustered. The threat always put a little nervous flutter in his stomach. With a quick gesture, he routed power to Dave's weapons and shields, distributing them precisely how he knew his partner preferred: seventy offensive, thirty defensive.

The two enemy battalions floated before each other in the darkness of space, waiting for the other to make the first move. Dave and John could spot several familiar vessels, ones that had destroyed too many friends in the past. The Alternian race was a hostile and ruthless one, and that meant that battles between the two species were incredibly frequent. Yet now they remained at a standstill, waiting for the humans to fire first.

Dave shifted in his chair, fingering his controls. "This is taking too long. John, get ready to do a beautiful fucking cannonball into these space bitches."

"Dave! No-!" but John could already see Dave's hands moving, preparing for an attack. Instinctually, John shifted to perform his own complimentary actions; he knew precisely what Dave wanted to do. It wasn't up to him to decide whether or not it was a good idea. John's job was merely to follow his pilot's orders and protect him.

And so the ship's core was tapped, energy pouring through the vessel. "Three…two…" Dave smirked, clutching his controls. Back at the base, John cringed, leaning forward, anticipating the movement. He was scared. He was so scared for his partner.

"…One."

With that, the albino clamped down on his controls. In a burst of energy, his ship shot forward towards the fighters in the back, barreling straight through the Alternian ranks. It was such a quick movement that the first few alien pilots had no time to react before Dave shot past them. It was a common strategy of the race to send their weak men out first and reserve the better fighters for desperate times by placing them in the back. This was something the humans knew well, and Dave aimed for the dead center of the rear row. If he was going to fight, he was going to attack those with power. It was a reckless move, but it was just how he did things.

"Nine!" The shout came from John. Accordingly, Dave turned to his nine-o-clock position to see what John had spotted. Although the first few Alternian pilots had been taken off guard by his advance, the few seconds it took him to get through to the back few ranks had given the more experienced ships time to arm themselves. Now one opened fire at the albino's left.

Moving quickly, John shifted shield power to concentrate on the alien's intended target. This was risky, since Dave was flying in the middle of several dozen ships that could attack at any given moment, but if he didn't reroute the power, it was possible his pilot could get damaged. "Careful, Dave!"

Nodding, Dave watched the attack glance off of his shields. Moving his left hand to operate the controls on his left viewing wall, he fired off two expertly-aimed shots. The enemy pilot had meant to take him on his non-dominant side, trusting that Dave's aim was less accurate on that side. Unfortunately for the Alternian, Dave was left handed, and so he delivered his counter attack with deadly accuracy.

By this point, the other human pilots had advanced. Although a few were still locked in combat at the front, three or four ships had penetrated as deeply as Dave and now waged combat on those around him. John's pilot smirked as he observed, thrusting his ship up to survey the fight form above. He needed to find his target. His rival had to be there somewhere! And yet despite his attempts, he couldn't seem to spot the all-too-familiar ship. Had the pilot been injured? Killed?

"DAVE!"

Suddenly, Dave lurched forward. A shot had hit barely two feet behind his cockpit, and warning lights began flashing. "Where the fuck…?" Craning his neck quickly, he turned to see his opponent.

John swore profusely. He hadn't seen that attack coming. How had he missed a whole ship? Where was the enemy? He had just swept the area and seen nothing! But now! Now someone had fired and nearly killed his friend without warning. A quick glance at Dave's health monitors relieved some of John's fear, but he had to focus on the task at hand. Dave was calling to him.

"Where the fuck did he come from?" The question was panicked, and that was unlike Dave.

John flicked a few buttons, shifting his scanner on and turning one of his viewports towards the new threat. He swallowed hard.

It was a huge ship, unlike anything either human had seen before. Were it not for the scanner, it would have been impossible to tell where the pilot was. But a bright blob appeared from the inside, where the device had spotted the pilot. There was the Alternian that had almost killed Dave. They were huge, judging by their reading, bigger than any alien the boys had spotted before. Yet that was not what troubled John. His eyes were fixed on the readout of the abilities of the ship. Namely, his gaze stared pointedly at the most horrible words John had seen in his life:

"Unknown technology: unknown capabilities."

"Get out of there!" It was a full scream, and Dave heard the desperation behind the order. Clutching his controls, he shot his vessel forward. The monster's ship stuck on him, following the human pilot's moves expertly. Dave doubled his efforts, glancing down at the video feed of the enemy ship every few seconds. Dive, glance, twist, glance, weave, glance. And then suddenly Dave ascended and…it was gone! The place on his display where the ship had been was now empty. The vessel that chased him was nowhere in sight.

"What's going on?" He needed an answer. Dave had never been so terrified in his life. An unknown enemy coming from nowhere, then disappearing again! He didn't know what to think! Dave began scanning his viewports quickly, frantically. "Answer me, John! What the fuck is going on?"

But John merely gaped at the screen. Unlike Dave, who had had to focus on flying, on steering, he had kept his eyes on the enemy vessel at all times. He could scarcely believe what he had seen.

"Dave." The voice was panicked, quiet, shaking. "Dave, get out of there. Come back. Retreat. Now."

"But why? Where did he go?" It was just like the pilot to question an order to retreat. John saw that his warning was no use without a reason behind it. As much as he wanted to save his friend from the terror, he knew Dave would never cooperate until he knew why he needed to run. John swallowed and reported what seemed to the albino to be nearly a death sentence.

"It…Dave. That ship. It can go invisible."

A bolt fired at Dave from the right.

John screamed.

Dave swore.

And then, John's screen went black.