/ 1/25/8272 CE
/ Corporal John Maxwell
/ Alexandria
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TWENTY YEARS LATER
I looked out on the sprawling City as I pulled on a shirt. 'Alexandria' as it was called was the largest city on Eden, more of an experiment by the Chairman and Doctor James, it had a combined population of just over a million. The city’s purpose was to see if we could all peacefully coexist in one area before we reveal this to the public at large.
I was currently on leave from a deployment fighting the HLF, they had become..... sparse in these last twenty years. Almost no activity had come out of their territory. Which is good, the UEG is..... tired, we've been fighting nonstop for nearly two thousand years. Things are not looking good for humanity, the UEG is on the edge of falling apart, even more so than before.
I don't think we even know what peace is anymore.
No, I know we don't, but we can start again here.
The other races here are used to us now, they know what we really are. The Hives have been united under a single banner, as with the Wyvern. The Equines have also come far, their population is growing steadily from what James says. He was.... ecstatic when they began producing offspring on their own. Even if they are not exactly what we intended. Apparently the genes get scrambled, and they either are born with a horn, wings, or both, and in some cases neither.
A spotted a black dot hanging in the air and my HI magnified the image, revealing something odd.
'A Ark-ship? What the hell...' I thought to myself.
My confusion grew as three more appeared in the air.
Standing in at one hundred and fifty kilometers, Ark-ships are the biggest ships in the UEG fleet. Despite their massive size they never served in direct engagements, they were only used to transport huge numbers of ground troops and supplies, although they did hold six Frigates each in their hangers that could be called on to protect the ship.
'Maybe the Chairman had decided to go through with the reveal.'
A knock on my door interrupted my musings, it opened a second later to reveal something I was not expecting.
"Chrysalis!?" I said, 'Oh crap, she doesn't look happy.'
She moved slowly into the room, her wings flaring, eyeing me the whole way, "Three weeks....Three! I had to learn that you were here from James!"
I had not seen her in eighteen years, so I guess her anger was justified, though she looked more happy than angry. She had grown well, she looked exactly like her mother, as did the rest of the Matriarchs. The only way I knew it was her was the crystal hanging around her neck.
"I've been in system for three weeks, yes, but I've only been planetside for two days. Sorry." I said to my friend, hoping to calm her down.
A angry Púca is a bad thing, one the size of her could rip a baseline human in half with their powers. She couldn't kill me, but she could do some damage.
After hearing that her wings came back to their normal resting places, "Oh..... well its good to see you again John." She said. "sorry about that."
I waved her off, "It's alright. Hey I was heading out to a meeting with the Chairman, wanna come?"
She did the Púca version of a smile, a slight twitch of the wings, "That would be nice."
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I brushed passed a rainbow maned pegasus, making my way to the orbital elevator.
"What do you think the Chairman wants John?" She asked me.
"I don't know, but I've got a bad feeling about all of this." I said back.
"I know, I can feel it, the whole Hive can." She said, "John, I'm scared."
We stopped as we reached the doors to the orbital elevator, "Don't worry, we won't let anything happen to any of you." I said as I placed a hand on her shoulder.
With a nod we walked into the complex, only to be greeted by a Praetorian, "Corporal, the chairman needs to speak with you." He looked at Chrysalis, who was practically hiding behind me, "You too Ma'am. He's on the orbital." He said pointing up. "Come with me."
We followed the Praetorian into the tram, feeling the Gs as it accelerated up the tether.
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/ Corporal John Maxwell
/ Alexandria's Orbital Tether
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The Praetorian stopped at a set of doors, "The Chairman is waiting for you." We walked in but the Praetorian stopped Chrysalis, "Ma'am you are coming with me, Chairman's orders."
"Where are you taking me?" She asked.
"That's classified, Ma'am, I'm authorized to use force if you do not comply." He said back.
She looked at me and I nodded, "It's ok."
"Be safe." She said.
"Ya.... you too." I said back as the Praetorian took her away.
I walked through the doors finding myself looking at the back of the Chairman.
"Chairman, Sir." I said with a salute.
"John.. Take a seat."
'He sounds......off.'
"You wanted to see me?" I said.
He turned around to face me, "Yes, I have some..... bad news."
'Oh crap...' I thought, "Sir?"
"Three days ago a ONI scout ship found this," A hologram appeared in the rooms center, a recording from the ships cameras. It showed a planet with a dozen HLF ships orbiting it. " an HLF staging base. A ONI team found their target, I'll give you one guess at what it is."
"Here." I said grimly, "Sir that we have a massive fleet here, I doubt they can do much harm."
"Normally yes but..." The image sped up then slowed when a Wormhole opened, from it dozens of HLF warships pored through. Then another Wormhole opened and a massive dreadnought appeared. My stomach dropped.
"How... how many?" I asked.
"One hundred and fifty, including that Dreadnought. From what we can tell this is what they have been doing all these years, amassing this fleet. How could I have been so foolish, thinking them defeated." The Chairman said solemnly
"They outnumber us three-to-one." I said, still not believing what I was seeing.
"John, we both know what's going to happen, they're going to crush this fleet, then the planet. There's no other outcome, reinforcements are too far away." He said.
My mind went back to the Ark-ships, "The Ark-ships?"
"We're leaving John. The Ark-ships are already being prepared. I am getting everything off Eden that I can....but many are going to be left behind. We have a limited space on the Ark-ships, only the most..... valuable are going to go." He said.
" I....understand, Sir."
"Their main objective is the capture of the planet and the majority of the populace. You'll be ground side, organising a defence, the fleet will hold them off for as long as they can. Your objective is to protect the Ark-ship 'Odyssey'. You'll exfil to the 'Odyssey' and jump to Terra, from there the population will be redistributed to heavily defend positions on the garden world 'Iroquois'." He said.
"What happens to you? Where will you be?"
"I will be aboard the Fleet's Flagship, the Super Dreadnought 'Badb'." He responded.
"If I may how do you plan to pull this off when we so outnumbered?" I asked.
He took in a deep breath, "Sometimes the only way to win is to make sure your enemy will fail in his objective."
"Chairman there has to be-" I started.
"That will be all Corporal."
In the back of my head I knew he was right, "Yes.....Yes, Sir."
I turned to walk out, before the Chairman spoke up, stopping me.
"Corporal, your friend, Chrysalis, will be on the 'Odyssey'. I suggest you do your job well."
"Yes sir"
The doors closed behind me.
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CODEX
UEG Ships. Tagged United Earth Government Vessel (UEGV)
Super Dreadnought (UEGV-SD) - Super Dreadnoughts are the largest ships of the line in the UEG, standing in at fifty kilometers. Their main gun fires a round that impacts with a force of 5.5K megatons of energy. A small number of these warships exist, with most at Terra.
Dreadnought (UEGV-D) - The normal flagship of a fleet, Dreadnoughts stand in at twenty-eight kilometers.
Cruiser (UEGV-C) - Cruisers make up the bulk of the UEG fleet, they stand in at fifteen kilometers used in fleet-to-fleet engagements.
Destroyer (UEGV-D) - Used primarily for ship-to-ship engagements, they stand in at eight kilometers.
Frigate (UEGV-F) - Used for preliminary attacks against small fleets, used in packs of ten to fifteen. They stand in at one-and-a-half kilometers.