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Space. The brass said "It's the only hope Humanity has left." Yeah right. Just look at what we've gotten ourselves into. Outnumbered, outgunned, and way out of our league. We never should have come here. -General Harris, Vega IV Defense Force HQ, September, 2140.
"Just tell me what we're looking at, James." Admiral Stukov stated as he stood on the bridge of his battleship, staring at the main screen, displaying a fleet of purple-and-black colored ships that seemed to distort space as they moved. Stukov stood firmly as one of the Petty Officers brought him a data pad, reading scrawling across it as the petty officer rattled on about energy readings and life signs. The only thing going through his head was how resistant they were to his weapons, and how he had gotten into this mess.
One Year Past, August, 2139. New colony world, Akirus V. Planetary Search Team Lima.
"Hey, Sarge, look here. I think I found something." Private Wright said over his radio, standing in front of a door approximately seven feet in height, the rest of his squad slowly appearing out of the dense jungle that surrounded it. The Sergeant, a man in his mid 40's sporting 5 o'clock shadow and thick eyebrows, tapped on the door with the butt of his rifle. A hollow ringing resonated off the door as the man put his left hand to his chin and began to think. "Corporal Worth. How much explosive do we have left?" he asks, turning to a man in the squad with the black shade-visor down over his eyes, and what appeared to be pieces of an EOD suit added to his standard kit. "We got enough to get through that, man." he says, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a block of C4, then motioning for everyone else to cough up their blocks, as the Sergeant reached his right hand up to his ear to activate his radio.
"This is Sergeant Higgins, of PST Lima. We've found a strange structure, and are now attempting to breach it." He stops talking as he then re-positions himself behind a tree almost a hundred feet away, Worth pulling out his detonator and pressing the button. The explosives detonate, leaving a massive hole in the building where the door used to be. "Will update you on our findings once we explore the structure further...........Roger that, proceeding with caution. Out." he states, then moves his hand down to his rifle, raising it to his shoulder and aiming through the holographic sight as he advances towards the newly-made door to the structure. "Okay, proceed with caution, boys. We don't know what's in here or if they've got any kind of nasty surprises for us." the Sergeant says, then makes a hand motion for his squad to advance, entering in the middle of the squad and following them through.
Inside, a long flight of stairs awaits the soldiers, leading down several hundred feet until they finally arrive at a massive hanger, filled with ships made of a strange purplish-black material, at least two dozen present. The Sergeant orders half the squad to go and check out one of the ships, while he takes the other half of the squad and explores the rest of the hanger, where they find a long hallway, lined with windows that showcase massive tubes containing strange alien lifeforms that looked almost like they had octopi on their heads. The Sergeant continues down the hallway with his half of the squad, containing Private Wright, as well as a young rookie who had just been folded into their squad from basic, and a young Private who had been with the squad for several months. The Sergeant held up his left fist, a sign to hold position, as they came upon what looked to be a control room. He entered, and began to look around, when suddenly the room became bathed in red light. "Double-helix based life-form detected. Commencing awakening sequence." a computerized voice speaks, as a door on the far side of the room opens and reveals one of the tanks containing an alien creature, the tank slowly emptying as the alien's eyes open, revealing yellow spheres with single black dots at the center.
The alien begins to move within its tank, then steps forward as it opens, clear liquid dripping off it as it slowly walks towards the Sergeant. "My name is Staff Sergeant Edward Higgins. State your name and purpose here!" he yells, then points his rifle at the alien, the being tilting his head from side to side. Higgins then hears a voice in his head. "My purpose? My purpose is to destroy you and your kind." the being then tilts its head forward as it begins to walk, Higgins opening fire, draining his entire clip into the alien, the bullets impacting the air in front of the being as a barrier of sorts shimmers then dissipates, the bullets dropping to the ground. "What the fuck are you?" Higgins asks, reaching for another clip and ejecting his empty one, only for the alien to grasp him around the throat and begin choking him. "I am one of many. I am a Harbinger. And your entire race is doomed. But I must give thanks. Without you coming here, we may have lay dormant forever." The alien thinks into Higgins mind, then tosses him down the hallway towards his squad, as all the tanks of the aliens begin to drain. The squad rushes to Higgins' aid, helping him stand as he points his entire left hand back the way they had come, screaming "GO!" as he takes off as fast as he can in his combat gear, reaching his hand for his radio, telling the rest of the squad to escape the hanger.
After escaping, he squad takes cover in the trees and waits for the aliens to come out of the doorway they had made, while Higgins activates his radio. "Command! We have a serious problem! Aliens with some serious tech and temper calling themselves Harbingers. I think we just woke them up. Be advised, ships of black/purple coloring. Approximately two dozen." Higgins says into his radio, as he looks up, the aforementioned ships lifting into orbit one by one.
"I kind of feel like this whole war against the Harbingers is my fault. I was the one who woke them up. Now all of humanity's paying for it. Some days I find it hard to keep living." "So how do you, Sarge?" "I keep thinking it'd be a damn shame to die before I fixed my mistake." -Conversation between Staff Sergeant Higgins and Corporal Wright, Jumper to Vega IV from Homer III, June, 2140.
One year. That's all it took. One year for the Harbingers, as they called themselves, to take all of our colony planets. Turns out all of those perfect worlds we kept settling on was home to a fleet of ships and Harbingers. Now here we are, counting down the minutes until their fleet blows ours into oblivion. But I'll be damned in I'm going to let them take us without a fight. Stukov thought to himself, as one of his Ensigns reported in that something had happened planet-side, and that he was to contact the higher-ups as soon as possible. He sighed as he sat down in the Captain's chair of his flagship, The Zaftra, then pressed a key on one of the arms, contacting the navy brass. He always hated speaking to them, considering he was a soldier and they were politicians, but orders were orders. Once the communication screen opened up in front of him, the Admiral of the Navy, Admiral Gerald Buckley, immediately briefed him on the situation. "Admiral Stukov. One of our teams planet-side has found something that might be able to win this war. We need you to pull a fourth of your fleet to the opposite side of the planet to cover our escape. You might want to come along as well, Admiral." Buckley says, then cuts the connection, leaving Stukov with a very confused look on his face. Nevertheless, Stukov does as asked, taking his flagship and a fourth of the fleet to the other side of the planet.
Once there, he witnesses something spectacular. A massive starship lifting off from the planet's surface, and nearly plowing over his small portion of the fleet. He then receives a transmission from Buckley, bringing it on-screen in front of him. "What do you think of our secret weapon? One of the scouts we had out searching for the hanger on this planet found this. We've loaded as many people as we can on board. Pull your fleet inside and we'll head for the farthest planet we can get to." the Admiral says, sending coordinates to Stukov for where to direct his fleet, the fleet-admiral both awed and confused. But alas, he had orders, and he directed his fleet into the massive fleet hanger aboard this planet-ship of theirs. Once there, he disembarked, and found himself walking almost a mile to the bridge to find what little remained of the brass: General Harris, himself, and Admiral Buckley.
Then, it was time to decide what to do next. The ship lacked jump capabilities, meaning it would take forever to travel. But they had enough energy and supplies to get halfway back to Earth. That meant six months of space travel aboard a giant tin can. They decided they'd spend the next five months searching for a planet to land on, then use the remaining power to scan the database, considering the Harbingers most likely wouldn't know where Earth is. So they began their trek home. Five months passed, and eventually they set down on a planet the size of Saturn, comprised of 30% mountains, 10% grasslands, 20% desert, and 40% ocean. Sadly, the only place they could set down was the ocean, but at least they could examine the ship's databases in peace and without having to expend much power on traveling.
Then it hit them like a slap in the face two weeks later. One of the databases seemed to contain detailed information on the power source of the ship, claiming it was powered by some form of radiation that came from the stars, and could penetrate the armor and shields of most ships. The only reason Humanity hadn't known about it was because it had no effect on their bodies or machinery. But the power source of the ship seemed to feed on this hidden form of radiation. The only problem with the system seems to be that multiple cables connecting absorption panels to the power core seem to be disconnected. So they set to work, fixing the disconnected cables and powering up the ship.
Then there was the matter of leadership. The brass was dead. Dead and cold back on Vega IV, and all that was left was Harris, Stukov, and Buckley. So they decided to rework the rankings completely. This was all that was left of humanity, so they had to be as strong as possible. General Harris became Admiral Harris, and was given reign over all ground-based operations. Admiral Buckley became Admiral of Internal Affairs, and handles anything that goes on aboard the ship itself. Admiral Stukov became Admiral of the Navy, and was given reign over all space-based combat. It was also agreed that any major decisions that would affect the entire ship would be decided by majority vote between the three admirals, and outside of that, no one Admiral received more power than the other. As for the regular soldiers, Officers were still chosen for their leadership ability, while the NCO's were given promotions based on their prowess in combat and nothing else. The Military presence numbers near 430,000, while the Civilian presence barely tops 70,000.
With power restored, their weapons back online, and shields restored, they departed, and headed back, to reclaim Vega IV for themselves, and to pound the Harbingers into submission.
"Just tell me what we're looking at, James." Admiral Stukov stated as he stood on the bridge of his battleship, staring at the main screen, displaying a fleet of purple-and-black colored ships that seemed to distort space as they moved. Stukov stood firmly as one of the Petty Officers brought him a data pad, reading scrawling across it as the petty officer rattled on about energy readings and life signs. The only thing going through his head was how resistant they were to his weapons, and how he had gotten into this mess.
One Year Past, August, 2139. New colony world, Akirus V. Planetary Search Team Lima.
"Hey, Sarge, look here. I think I found something." Private Wright said over his radio, standing in front of a door approximately seven feet in height, the rest of his squad slowly appearing out of the dense jungle that surrounded it. The Sergeant, a man in his mid 40's sporting 5 o'clock shadow and thick eyebrows, tapped on the door with the butt of his rifle. A hollow ringing resonated off the door as the man put his left hand to his chin and began to think. "Corporal Worth. How much explosive do we have left?" he asks, turning to a man in the squad with the black shade-visor down over his eyes, and what appeared to be pieces of an EOD suit added to his standard kit. "We got enough to get through that, man." he says, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a block of C4, then motioning for everyone else to cough up their blocks, as the Sergeant reached his right hand up to his ear to activate his radio.
"This is Sergeant Higgins, of PST Lima. We've found a strange structure, and are now attempting to breach it." He stops talking as he then re-positions himself behind a tree almost a hundred feet away, Worth pulling out his detonator and pressing the button. The explosives detonate, leaving a massive hole in the building where the door used to be. "Will update you on our findings once we explore the structure further...........Roger that, proceeding with caution. Out." he states, then moves his hand down to his rifle, raising it to his shoulder and aiming through the holographic sight as he advances towards the newly-made door to the structure. "Okay, proceed with caution, boys. We don't know what's in here or if they've got any kind of nasty surprises for us." the Sergeant says, then makes a hand motion for his squad to advance, entering in the middle of the squad and following them through.
Inside, a long flight of stairs awaits the soldiers, leading down several hundred feet until they finally arrive at a massive hanger, filled with ships made of a strange purplish-black material, at least two dozen present. The Sergeant orders half the squad to go and check out one of the ships, while he takes the other half of the squad and explores the rest of the hanger, where they find a long hallway, lined with windows that showcase massive tubes containing strange alien lifeforms that looked almost like they had octopi on their heads. The Sergeant continues down the hallway with his half of the squad, containing Private Wright, as well as a young rookie who had just been folded into their squad from basic, and a young Private who had been with the squad for several months. The Sergeant held up his left fist, a sign to hold position, as they came upon what looked to be a control room. He entered, and began to look around, when suddenly the room became bathed in red light. "Double-helix based life-form detected. Commencing awakening sequence." a computerized voice speaks, as a door on the far side of the room opens and reveals one of the tanks containing an alien creature, the tank slowly emptying as the alien's eyes open, revealing yellow spheres with single black dots at the center.
The alien begins to move within its tank, then steps forward as it opens, clear liquid dripping off it as it slowly walks towards the Sergeant. "My name is Staff Sergeant Edward Higgins. State your name and purpose here!" he yells, then points his rifle at the alien, the being tilting his head from side to side. Higgins then hears a voice in his head. "My purpose? My purpose is to destroy you and your kind." the being then tilts its head forward as it begins to walk, Higgins opening fire, draining his entire clip into the alien, the bullets impacting the air in front of the being as a barrier of sorts shimmers then dissipates, the bullets dropping to the ground. "What the fuck are you?" Higgins asks, reaching for another clip and ejecting his empty one, only for the alien to grasp him around the throat and begin choking him. "I am one of many. I am a Harbinger. And your entire race is doomed. But I must give thanks. Without you coming here, we may have lay dormant forever." The alien thinks into Higgins mind, then tosses him down the hallway towards his squad, as all the tanks of the aliens begin to drain. The squad rushes to Higgins' aid, helping him stand as he points his entire left hand back the way they had come, screaming "GO!" as he takes off as fast as he can in his combat gear, reaching his hand for his radio, telling the rest of the squad to escape the hanger.
After escaping, he squad takes cover in the trees and waits for the aliens to come out of the doorway they had made, while Higgins activates his radio. "Command! We have a serious problem! Aliens with some serious tech and temper calling themselves Harbingers. I think we just woke them up. Be advised, ships of black/purple coloring. Approximately two dozen." Higgins says into his radio, as he looks up, the aforementioned ships lifting into orbit one by one.
"I kind of feel like this whole war against the Harbingers is my fault. I was the one who woke them up. Now all of humanity's paying for it. Some days I find it hard to keep living." "So how do you, Sarge?" "I keep thinking it'd be a damn shame to die before I fixed my mistake." -Conversation between Staff Sergeant Higgins and Corporal Wright, Jumper to Vega IV from Homer III, June, 2140.
One year. That's all it took. One year for the Harbingers, as they called themselves, to take all of our colony planets. Turns out all of those perfect worlds we kept settling on was home to a fleet of ships and Harbingers. Now here we are, counting down the minutes until their fleet blows ours into oblivion. But I'll be damned in I'm going to let them take us without a fight. Stukov thought to himself, as one of his Ensigns reported in that something had happened planet-side, and that he was to contact the higher-ups as soon as possible. He sighed as he sat down in the Captain's chair of his flagship, The Zaftra, then pressed a key on one of the arms, contacting the navy brass. He always hated speaking to them, considering he was a soldier and they were politicians, but orders were orders. Once the communication screen opened up in front of him, the Admiral of the Navy, Admiral Gerald Buckley, immediately briefed him on the situation. "Admiral Stukov. One of our teams planet-side has found something that might be able to win this war. We need you to pull a fourth of your fleet to the opposite side of the planet to cover our escape. You might want to come along as well, Admiral." Buckley says, then cuts the connection, leaving Stukov with a very confused look on his face. Nevertheless, Stukov does as asked, taking his flagship and a fourth of the fleet to the other side of the planet.
Once there, he witnesses something spectacular. A massive starship lifting off from the planet's surface, and nearly plowing over his small portion of the fleet. He then receives a transmission from Buckley, bringing it on-screen in front of him. "What do you think of our secret weapon? One of the scouts we had out searching for the hanger on this planet found this. We've loaded as many people as we can on board. Pull your fleet inside and we'll head for the farthest planet we can get to." the Admiral says, sending coordinates to Stukov for where to direct his fleet, the fleet-admiral both awed and confused. But alas, he had orders, and he directed his fleet into the massive fleet hanger aboard this planet-ship of theirs. Once there, he disembarked, and found himself walking almost a mile to the bridge to find what little remained of the brass: General Harris, himself, and Admiral Buckley.
Then, it was time to decide what to do next. The ship lacked jump capabilities, meaning it would take forever to travel. But they had enough energy and supplies to get halfway back to Earth. That meant six months of space travel aboard a giant tin can. They decided they'd spend the next five months searching for a planet to land on, then use the remaining power to scan the database, considering the Harbingers most likely wouldn't know where Earth is. So they began their trek home. Five months passed, and eventually they set down on a planet the size of Saturn, comprised of 30% mountains, 10% grasslands, 20% desert, and 40% ocean. Sadly, the only place they could set down was the ocean, but at least they could examine the ship's databases in peace and without having to expend much power on traveling.
Then it hit them like a slap in the face two weeks later. One of the databases seemed to contain detailed information on the power source of the ship, claiming it was powered by some form of radiation that came from the stars, and could penetrate the armor and shields of most ships. The only reason Humanity hadn't known about it was because it had no effect on their bodies or machinery. But the power source of the ship seemed to feed on this hidden form of radiation. The only problem with the system seems to be that multiple cables connecting absorption panels to the power core seem to be disconnected. So they set to work, fixing the disconnected cables and powering up the ship.
Then there was the matter of leadership. The brass was dead. Dead and cold back on Vega IV, and all that was left was Harris, Stukov, and Buckley. So they decided to rework the rankings completely. This was all that was left of humanity, so they had to be as strong as possible. General Harris became Admiral Harris, and was given reign over all ground-based operations. Admiral Buckley became Admiral of Internal Affairs, and handles anything that goes on aboard the ship itself. Admiral Stukov became Admiral of the Navy, and was given reign over all space-based combat. It was also agreed that any major decisions that would affect the entire ship would be decided by majority vote between the three admirals, and outside of that, no one Admiral received more power than the other. As for the regular soldiers, Officers were still chosen for their leadership ability, while the NCO's were given promotions based on their prowess in combat and nothing else. The Military presence numbers near 430,000, while the Civilian presence barely tops 70,000.
With power restored, their weapons back online, and shields restored, they departed, and headed back, to reclaim Vega IV for themselves, and to pound the Harbingers into submission.
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