The Next Morning for Christopher

The next morning as Christopher entered the hangar deck, security at the entrance directed him to the briefing room. Already in the room he saw his squadron along with the entire wing.

For Christopher, this was not his first rodeo. The mission would now change from one of protection to one of close air and ground support for the troop transports and troops on the surface. Christopher’s least favorite phase of the invasion was about to begin the collection.

The collection phase was a brutal and heartless operation of collecting and separating the men, women and children, then transporting them to the Empire’s home world’s reeducation camps. For the men that meant military training. They sent those who did not comply to the factories. The women would be tested and placed in society according to their aptitudes. The children would be placed in foster homes across the Empire.

As the briefing continued, Christopher, who by now knew the briefing by heart, tuned it out as he envisioned the carnage that was about to take place. He thought by now his heart would have grown cold to the slaughter of an entire planets, but it had not.

He was growing tired of war. He needed to find a way out.