Assessment team reporting in:

-Graotios mining colony defenses - none

-Orbital station defenses - minimal. Includes, twenty 534 mm projectile cannons (main anti-meteor counter measure), two-hundred energy and projectile classed CIWS (secondary anti-meteor counter measure), reinforced high-impact plating, and six main laser batteries.

Due to an unusually high rate of meteor encounters, Orbital station is well equipped to handle large meteor showers and thus large groups of fighters. Projectile weapons and missles ill-advised. Lack of defense for energy based weapons (i.e. ceramic based plating) is notable.

Final recommendations: auxiliary operations 3, 4 or 6... Report out.

::Communication sent... undetected::

Spiiefre (SPEE-free) couldn't hear the orders from his chief manager over the loud, grinding sounds of his primitive drilling tool. Wiping the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve he looked upon countless others like himself, tired and overworked, looking on attentively as the chief manager jabbers on and on about quotas not being met. Spiiefre didn't want to be caught slacking off, so he powered down his drill and listened to the chief manager's mind-numbing lecture. This particular manager was a lot more boring then the rest of them, adding to his lecture by picking out young men and giving them the "when I was your age" speech.

"You, the one day-dreaming." Shouted the chief manager.

"Who, me?" Spiiefre asked.

"Yes you, when I was your age, I came to this colony looking for somebody to feed me. That's how poor I was. Why are you here young lad?"

"For the view!" exclaimed Spiiefre, waving his hand and pointing out all the unsightly rubble made by the tired mining crew and earned Spiiefre a few chuckles from several miners.

"Ha! And you call yourself a Ditosian?" sneered the chief manager. "Just be glad you're doing something to help your planet instead of helping yourself. With that said, you lazy pieces of wasted youth have to start working harder, last week's findings were blah... blah... blah... " Sick of it all, Spiiefre dropped the drill and dragged his tired body out of the quarry.

The huge 20 mile by 20 mile square quarry was only one out of many that dotted the surface on the mining colony of Graotios, where Spiiefre lived and worked. Spiiefre entered the grav lift and pressed the button for ground floor, a nick name for the surface around here. As he leaned against the red colored tubing, he can't help but hate the view, an open pit miles deep, filled with misery and weary miners imported from his home planet which was who knows how far away. He also noticed that he had worked over past the shift change signal and it was the dead of night. Although one wouldn't be able to tell in the pit from hundreds upon hundreds of small floating lights which kept the pit lit as bright as day so that not even a spec of dust worth something would be missed.

The grav lift stopped on one of the mid floors, more miners poured into the grav lift from the tunnels they've been excavating for nearly 3 decades. Too tired to really care about being crammed with 12 others in a grav lift only designed for 7, Spiiefre gloomily stared into the ugly artificial crater which he had spent the last 2 solar years of his life.

Things were always like this in the mining colony, crammed and smelly. Which reminded him, he hasn't eaten for a while, which meant a trip to Graotios's prized distributor. A very expensive machine that did its job very well.

Spiiefre's heart beated just a little faster when finally they reached ground floor. As the red transparent sliding door of the grav lifted open, a burst of fresh air rushed in to greet him, the coolness of the night soothing his tired body. Spiiefre always loved ground floor, the surface. Lush with untouched forests and the gentle chirping of the indigenous wildlife, it reminded him why he left his over-polluted world in the first place. Despite for the giant monstrosity of the main communications tower, the view was actually pleasant. He especially liked to take walks in the nearby forest, or "unprocessed materials" which it was more commonly refered as, under the cover night while the chief managers weren't looking.

After a moment or two torevel in the damp cool night, Spiiefre clicked a few buttons on his handcomp and headed to the the way heheard a faint voiceyelling his name. It was his friend, Lireed (LEE-reed), technically a fellow miner. Lireed was a man of strong build. Easily seeing over the heads of others, he was a good six foot five, considerably taller then the average Ditosian, five foot nine. Surprisingly though, with the strength to match his large size, Lireed spent most of time out of the pit, examining samples of the earth. Not actually a miner per say, Lireed was a deep core sampler, an occupation not requiring much strength but dealing more with hardcore calculations, though he did drill his own samples.

"Hey Spiiefre, another day of taking walks amongst the "unprocessed organic material"? How uncivilized." Lireed joked as he caught up to Spiiefre.

"If you consider appreciating the unprocessed savage, well yes Lireed, I am."

Spiiefre remembered the first time he and Lireed met. It was about 2 solar years ago when the shuttle Spiiefre was on first landed onto the surface of Graotios. Being new to such a lush environment, Spiiefre was absolutely astounded by what he saw through the window. The trees, so green and colorful, filled with their multicolored blossoms. The animals, small and harmless, looked like the creatures that Spiiefre could recall from tales as a child. Spiiefre especially remembered seeing a small, ape like creature scurrying about which looked like a friendly creature from his favorite story. Seeing this world through the shuttle window wasn't enough for Spiiefre, so with determination and grit he forced his way to the nearest exit, settling for nothing less then to be the first out the door. When he bursted through the access panel, Spiiefre's senses are bombarded by the environment around him. From all sides his sight, hearing, and smell are overwhelmed by the sensation of the flora about him .

Within moments of being allowed free time, he ventured into the lush forest where he ran into Lireed, who was cursing and sobbing because he has gotten lost. At first glance, Spiiefre thought that Lireed was a horrible creature of the forest, with its tattered clothing and freakishly large size. Fearing for his life, Spiiefre heaved a rock at Lireed, missing by a mile. Lireed noticed and pleaded Spiiefre to help him out. After they both made it out, they've been friends since.

"Yo, Spiiefre. hellloooo. Snap out'f it. You know day dreaming is a bad habit too."

"I'm ok, just thinking a bit bout the past Lireed"

"Suit your self, I'm going to the distributor to get a new drill, mine broke again. Care to join me up to there?"

"Sure I will, I was on my way there to pick up a little extra snack anyway." On the way, they chatted and gossiped about the happenings on the colony. They also discussed the adventures of their weekly trips to the orbital station. Then out of the blue, as if the sky knew that both Spiiefre and Lireed were gazing at it, they both noticed a small flash in the star filled sky.

Spiiefre noted, "I wonder what that could be?"

"Ahh don't worry bout it Spiiefre, probably the orbiting processing station blowing up another damn asteroid, you know how they love to overdo things like that, they have nothing better to do."

"You're probably right" Lireed shrugged as the two of them moved on without a second thought.

As they approached the distributor, they come across a peculiar scene, a line at the distributor. The large building was riddled shafts and openings and capable of serving many at once.

"Broken?" Lireed sighed, "How am I supposed to work now?"

"This isn't right," Spiiefre said with a bit of concern, "It receives all demands via hand comp, and the supply is instantly teleported from the orbital station to the distributor. The distributor is supposed be so efficient that lines were to be totally eliminated."

"Well it aint working now, damn orbital station, do your jobs vacuum heads!" Lireed screamed as he shook his fist fiercely towards the sky. Suddenly they heard a soft, yet intimidating voice from behind them.

"Probably just a malfunction at the orbital station, no need to fuss Lireed, I'll lend you my drill" Both of them turned back and saw their good friend, and Lireed's childhood buddy, Mandy (short for Miranda), a young woman with a tomboyish air about her. If there was ever a mirror to Lireed, it was her. Mandy's specialty was high hazard excavation (H.H.E.). Her, somewhat, slender body was wrapped in a raggedy work uniform, and the drill she carried was specially designed for somebody of her weight. The H.H.E were considered the "man's man". Their job was to excavate high risk areas which usually housed the most precious of minerals. Of course like any good miner, she was covered from head to toe in soot.

Spiiefre and Lireed had always considered Mandy's human name strange. Mandy's mother was a human, and she married a Ditosian traveling barter while he was on one of his trips. Mandy and her parents traveled system to system, following her fathers line of work until Mandy's mother fell ill and died when she was only 4. Afterwards Mandy's father decided to settle down on the mining colony of Graotios where she and Lireed met as children. The two of them were the best of friends, until Spiirfre joined and turned it into a trio. But their friendship was as strong as ever, despite all the arguments.

"Really Mandy? Your drill? Ha! Don't make me laugh; you're supposed to be in da kitchen whooping me up some food."

"Please Lireed, save that for your "spouse", if she exists."

"Hey!" Lireed scorned,obvioulsy offended.

"Just messin wit ya Lireed, and besides, I drill in places where you'll probably just turn and run." Said Mandy coolly

"Remember when you got scared from a little sukaing insect (equivalent to a cat sized mosquito) and ran into the forest, and Spiiefre here had to save you?"

"Hey, I can do the stuff you do, and that sukaing was pretty dam big." Lireed whined "Plus I got a special someone at home to think about."

"That's enough you two" Snapped Spiiefre. "Honestly, have you two been like this since the years of childhood?"

"Yes!" both Lireed and Mandy shouted. Suddenly, the loud screeching howl of the shift change signal echoed amongst the open mining quarries. And then the gentle hum of several thousand grav lifts activating soon followed.

"Well, I'm outa here," Lireed boasts proudly, "unlike you two, I got a wife waitin for me." Mandy scoffed a bit after Lireed had made his bold stand.

"Bye then you two, it's my shift now" Said Mandy as he heads toward the nearest grav lift.

As Lireed and Mandy head off in their separate ways, Spiiefre is left alone with his he decidesit's time for a walk andheads off to his favorite thinking spot on Graotios, the woods. Planning to take a quick stroll and make it back to the sleeping quarters before any chief managers catch him.

It was when walking through these unscathed forests where Spiiefre's head is most clear. In the tranquility of the plant life, Spiiefre pondered about his life, and what will come next. "Will I become a chief manager? Or will I die now, in this forest?"

Back at home, well his old home back in Ditosanien, he pursued a career as an Ecological researcher. Unfortunately Ditosanien had little to no use for Ecological researchers. Its surface entirely covered in industry, Ditosanien regulated its planetary environment with huge machines called atmospheric stabilizers, which were purchased and maintained from the prominent banking/trading hub planet of Biengu.

Useless in Ditosanien, Spiiefre moves to Graotios, where he heard therewas an actual existing ecosystem. He honored the luck of deciding to come here, being able to walk in a real forest, smelling and touching plants as he continued to where ever his heart desired. Yet it also saddened him, knowing that sooner or later there would be an open pit where he stood.

What seemed to be just moments later, the unmistakable shift change signal roared throughout forest. Spiiefre made a dead run for the mine, hitting and tripping on everything along the way. And then, as abruptly as it began the signal stopped, replaced by a low, bellowing explosion. Not knowing what to think, Spiiefre resumed his previous pace, even though his lungs seemed to be on fire. Breathless and barely standing, Spiiefre crashes through the last of the braches and comes to a horrible scene.

The tower which used to bear the signal transmitter was now a smoking crater. Looking upon the scene, Spiiefre saw dozens of miners dowsing the flames with fire retardant. As Spiiefre approached the disaster, he noticed that there were also several victims. Spanning from minor cuts and bruises to severe burns, but it was only when at the crater itself, Spiiefre became aware of the actual damage. It seemed that before crashing onto the shift change signal tower, the meteorite collided and shattered the dish of the main communications tower, which was the only means of reaching the space station above him.

While trying to gatherhis wits from the chaos surrounding him, Spiiefre quickly caught a glimpse of red in the corner of his eye. Using nothing but will power alone he overcame his worse fears and slightly lifts his head, hoping to any divine power that his assumptions were wrong. However, Spiiefre couldn't help but feel a sense futility as he stared into the faces of at least a dozen red, glowing fireballs; Each with its own diabolical grin, steadily coming forth with only one goal in mind.

Frozen in panic, Spiiefre just stood by and stared as the first of the batch came roaring by, leaving a trail of smoke and debris in the air as it passed. It barely missed the distributor, which was usless without the communications tower,and like a dying dragon it collided into the ground with a loud booming death cry. The meteorite didn't explode however; instead it slid, taking out several grav lifts and ending up crashing down into an open quarry.

Spiiefre was paralyzed with fear. He watched as each meteorite came crashing down one by one. Amazingly they crash in a way where they would do the most damage, either sliding and igniting several fires, or exploding and reducing structures to rubble. Then suddenly, as if he was hit by a meteorite, he came crashing down into the ground as a flaming projectile comes sliding by.

"What the hell are you doing?" Cried Spiiefre's savior, "Stop standing around and assist with those fires!" The hero turned out to be the "when I was your age" chief manager. Then as quickly as he came, he shoved a tank of fire retardant into Spiiefre's arms and ran off to help , Spiiefre gets up and ran to the nearest burning structure- the sleeping quarters, all the while the sky spewed forth a limitless rain of fire.

"Anyone in need of my assistance?" Spiiefre screamed. A burly young man approached Spiiefre.

"We can use some help to save people trapped in this building." Cried the man. An explosion of a nearby meteorite shakes them both, nearly toppling Spiiefre over. The Burly man lead Spiiefre towards a small group of men, and one woman.

"Mandy?!? What are you doing here?" Asked Spiiefre, more confused then ever.

"What does it look like?" declared Mandy with an irritated tone. "I'm here to save people, same as you. Don't worry about me; I'm a H.H.E specialist. The only dif b'tween men and valuable ore is that the ore is smarter." Though oth Mandy and Spiiefre shared a smallchuckle, there was no escaping the gravity of the situation.

"Ok, everybody pair up" Shouted the burly man. "2 rescuers per victim, remember, everyone has a shot of survival, save as many as possible!" Shortly afterward the small group disbanded and rushed into the burning building.

"You c'min Spiiefre?" exclaimed Mandy.

"Uhhm... yes of course"

They both enter the burning sleeping quarters, fire retardants blazing. While running through the corridors, Spiiefre and Mandy follow a path already cleared by the others until splitting off from the pack. Mandy skillfully extinguished the fires ahead of her as she continued further on. On the other hand, Spiiefre stumbles clumsily after, having trouble putting out even the smallest of flames.

"Come on Spiiefre, you're slowing me down."

"I... I can't breath" Spiiefre murmured. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up."

"K then, I'll just scout out ahead for any survivors. I won't be too far." Mandy said as she disappeared into the thick smog. Spiiefre, tired from lack of sleep, propped himself against a wall to catch his second wind. While slidding down to his feet, he hears a faint "Help" on the other side of the wall.

Spiiefre quickly jumped to his feet and pressed his ear against the wall, shouting. "Is anyone there?" At first he hears nothing, then a weak "Yes."

"HEY MANDY!" Spiiefre shouted on the top of his lungs. "I've found one! Come quick!"

Spiiefre then began to attack the synthetic wall with his bare hands, wounding them considerably. Then, realizing his irrationality used his fire retardant to bash in the wall. The foam-like wall broke away easily and by the time Mandy arrived Spiiefre has already made a hole big enough for them to go through. As they entered they make quick work of the small fires in the compact room and found a hand underneath a large pile of rubble.

"Look, there he is" said Mandy as she startedkicking offthe debris.

As they freed the pinned down man, Spiiefre caught by surprised to find a familiar face.

"Lireed?" asked a dumbfounded Spiiefre. "Is that you?"

Lireed however didn't reply as Spiiefre and Mandy brushed off the last of rubble.

"Spiiefre, grab his legs, I'll get his shoulders." Mandy shouted.

As Mandy and Spiiefre began to lift Lireed's unconscious body out of the tear in the wall, there was a loud explosion in the next room. The force of a crashing meteorite blew down a supporting wall and the ceiling in the compact room begins to collapse. Strangely, all Spiiefre could notice was a small devise that Lireed had a death grip on.

All three of them miraculously make it out of the compact living quarters as it collapsed in itself. Then, without warning, Spiiefre noticed a rather large, loose piece of ceiling which hung precariously over Mandy's head.

"WATCH OUT!" shouted Spiiefre as he pushed her out of the way with all of his strength. She and Lireed landed safely on the out of the way, only to witness a large section of the ceiling collapse on top of Spiiefre