Talle’s footsteps echoed in the darkness, as he made his way down a sloping corridor. Ahead of him, a pulsing blue glow issued from the Scion reactor. The intruders where already there, examining the controls. One of them, who Talle recognized at the leader, was muttering something to himself about a trap. “How right you are” Talle said to himself. Carefully, he made his way across the catwalks, and dropped down to the level below. He could tell by their hushed whispers and pacing footsteps that they where nervous. That was just as well, for panic was his ally now. Slowly, he reached across the gap that separated the catwalk from the reactor canister, and pulled the coolant hose.
The response was instant. Alarms began to scream and wail, and Talle had just enough time to kill the backup system before two Z.E.C.O.T. members dropped down the ladder behind him. He sprinted about halfway around the circular walkway, and was pleased to see the rest of the team slide down the ladder behind the first two. Then the trapdoor began to close, just as he had planned. He reached the ladder with time to spare, and began to climb. But as Talle neared the top, he felt someone grip him tightly around the ankle, and looked down into the Face of Delphi Morsed. Above him, the hatch closed, and sealed with a faint hissing sound. He had been trapped, in a melting reactor, with 12 men who wanted to kill him.
In the darkness above the snow covered landscape, a small gray dot drifted across the starry sky, headed slowly towards a mountain, and disappeared behind a jagged peak. The dot, which was in fact a tiny spacecraft, made it’s way down into a ravine, gliding smoothly between the steep walls, and occasionally dipping low as it spotted a likely landing site, but lifting up again when the spot proved to be to rocky, too small, or simply to dangerous to attempt. Finally a suitable patch of snow was found, and the ship extended it’s spider like legs to touch down.
Once it had landed, two figures emerged. They where both wearing heavy coats and hoods that covered their faces. The person on the right, whose name was Dotu Sate, bent down and picked up a handful of snow, while the person on the left, called Livia Dabn, drew a deep breath of air. “This show” said Dotu ‘s voice from behind the hood “this snow fell recently, probably in the last twelve hours.” “That’s bad” Livia was now speaking. “Our tracks could be seen. We should...” “Nah, it’s okay.” Dotu interrupted “When you leave, the blast from the engines will cover my footprints. We won’t be detected, trust me.” “I do trust you” Livia replied “or you wouldn’t be here on Zoria in the first place. I suppose you’re probably right.” The cold had set in, and they began to shiver uncontrollably. Livia pulled her coat as close to her as she could and mumbled “I hate this planet” under her breath. Dotu, meanwhile, was having similar thoughts, but kept them to herself. She scanned the horizon, and finally found what she was looking for, a flashing light that stood on the top of the beacon at Qui Tummal starport. And as her eyes adjusted, she began to see other things as well. To the east of the beacon was a thin tower that rose a half mile into the sky along with a few smaller less prominent buildings. Northwest of the beacon was a hill, on top of which sat a pyramid. This pyramid was the temple of Zoria, which had once been used for worship, but in modern times had become the central offices for the Zorian government. Livia came up behind her. “Terrible isn’t it” she said dryly “All frozen and bleak. How the Zorians can inhabit this place is beyond me”. Dotu actually thought the snowy landscape was rather quaint, but nodded her head in agreement nonetheless.
Her thoughts where cut abruptly short by the sound of a ship approaching. Dotu scrambled to take cover under a nearby overhang, while her instructor hastily climbed aboard the small vessel in which they had arrived. As she reached the top of the ladder, she turned to Dotu. “Stay in contact! Report everything to us!” Moments later, the small ship shot into the sky as if it had been fired out of a cannon, and shortly after that, a Zorian patrol vessel flew slowly and majestically over the mountain. From her hiding place, Dotu watched the medium sized craft circle, admiring the Zorian ship design which was far superior to her own government’s. Slowly, the patrol ship drifted away into the darkness, leaving Dotu completely alone. Slowly, she began to make her way down the mountain towards the city of Qui Tummal.

Two words come to mind: good writing

Keep it up, Captain LeGrenadier.

Whitehawk

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(url="http://"http://pub51.ezboard.com/fquillzfrm4.showMessage?topicID=10.topic")A Pilot's memory(/url)
"Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of congress. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain