Prologue: Welcoming in the New
Video Log: 13.113.243-54-A
Stardate: 13.113.243
Earth Year Equivalent (EYE): 5429
Subject: Colonel Tyrone Shephard, Noble Team
Team Roster: Col. Tyrone ‘Brain’ A. Shephard, Maj. Jack ‘Blade’ S. Carter, Corp. Teal ‘Boomer’ C. Jackson, Pvt. Soren ‘Scope’ P. Chekov
Location: ‘City of Angels,’ Filstia Prime, Filst System
Assignment: Secure and Protect Human Ambassador.
________________________________________________________________________
“Noble Team, check in.” said Shephard, his clicking, slightly guttural, accented voice speaking out over the radio.
“Boomer, checking in,” said Jackson, his insectoid, Helios accent filled the airwaves.
“Blade here,” Carter said, allowing his guttural voice to slip out of the coded common they spoke.
“Scope here, in position and rarin’ to go!” Chekov, the enthusiastic new member of Noble team said, his Ramnatic accent making his Common barely understandable.
“Stay in position, keep your Cloaks on unless something happens. Remember, the government knows we’re here. The Imperious terrorists don’t.”
Affirmative responsive fled through the speakers in Shephard’s helmet, allowing themselves into his ear. To an outside observer, Shephard would look like nothing more than a slight ripple in the air. Only highly trained eyes would be able to spot him, and those only at extremely close range.
Suddenly, a call rang forth over the radio, the voice of his CO blaring through the speakers of his and his team’s radios.
“Alright, showtime ladies! You know what to do,” Said the General, watching from an orbital battlecruiser.
“You heard the boss, Scope, keep a bead on the Ambassador. Blade, you’re with me. And Boomer, set up your ‘distraction.’ Just keep it out of civilian areas,” Shephard ordered.
“Brain, I already got my gear set up. You don’t have to mother me you know,” Jackson said.
“Ignore the big guy, Boss, we got a show to put on,” Carter said, de-cloaking beside Shephard. His HUD had shown the hulking, cloaked mass walking up. When the exo-suit de-cloaked, however, he actually got the details of the suit. It was a huge, seven-foot tall mass of metal. The five-foot-wide shoulders attached the thick arms to the body, the artistic styling of the entire suit giving one the impression of an insect. The helmet itself was a round, smooth conical structure, with small horn-like projections leading up to the top. Six parallel strips led up the front of the helmet, housing the redundant visual sensors as well as helping with the entire insectoid look. The chest piece was a jagged cylinder, emphasizing the hard angles in the nestling armored plates. Each suit looked identical to the next one, the dark, almost black color lending them a semi-demonic look.
Carter’s ‘ceremonial’ sword was strapped to his exo-suit’s back, the intricately carved handle peaking over his right shoulder. Shephard knew that the energy blade could shear through an Arachnid-Class Tank with ease, to say nothing of what it could do to unshielded armor. The blade itself was made of a rare alloy, making it stronger than any other known metal. It never dulled, and it would only change shape in the heat from a star. The blades themselves were forged in a time long past, the secrets of them lost to the ages. Only six teams in the Republic’s forces were equipped with them, and Shephard found it to be a point of pride that his team had been so equipped.
Shephard’s ruminations were cut off by Carter, who pulled out his MG34 Mark III ‘Plasma Blaster’ Rifle and ran an automatic and a manual diagnostic. Shephard copied his teammate’s actions, before re-cloaking, walking forward and out of the ‘escape pod’ that had crashed here earlier. The Republic had wanted Noble Team deployed in secret, only appearing near the Ambassador when she gave her speech. They decided that a malfunctioning escape pod bay on a small merchant ship would provide the perfect cover,
According to the debriefing, Chekov would be providing Overwatch while Jackson set up ‘distractions’ around the public area. Shephard and Carter would be the Ambassador’s personal Guard.
The two suited soldiers sprinted down the tight alleyways of the poor district of the ‘City of Angels,’ their cloaks barely needed in the blackness of the alleys. The sun had yet to touch the tops of the high skyscrapers surrounding them.
“City of Angels my ass,” Carter said, cutting through Shephard’s speakers, “This place looks worse than a Rakk-dog’s behind!” He indicated the piles of filth lining the streets, his cloaked arm a ghostly, glowing blue cylinder on Shephard’s HUD.
“Cut the chatter,” replied Shephard, “Even if I agree with you, we are on silent in transit, unless Case-Zero happens.” Case-Zero was code for ‘worst case scenario,’ which in this instance was an Imperius attack.
“Acknowledged, signing off,” Carter replied.
The two cloaked figures emerged into a large plaza, the early-morning sunshine streaming into it. It was surrounded by small shops, although the names suggested questionable wares and services. One of the names was “Sleazy Joe’s Pleasure Slaves, for all your fantastical desires!” Shephard shook his head, turning into another alleyway, leading Carter through the maze of tight alleys and small plazas. They finally exited the poor district, noticeable by the lack of trash. Even the buildings changed, the dark concrete turning over into bronze metal plating. The streets were plated too, the boots of the exo-suits clanging against them until the silencing gel covered the metal studs in the rubber soles. After a short walk, they walked into a discreetly opening door, which lead into a small lobby like room. A small, squid-like humanoid stood there, waving the pink tentacles on his head around nervously. He squinted around, before discreetly pulling off his cap and wringing it in his two main tentacles. He then put it back on, pointing the brim towards a freight elevator.
Shephard took the hint, opening the door and walking into the elevator, followed by Carter. Shephard pushed the ‘balcony’ button, barely avoiding pressing the surrounding buttons with his massive, armored finger.
“We really need a smaller version of this suit,” Shephard said, looking towards Carter, “Have you heard of the new plan they are working on? The bio-engineered soldiers with their neuro-tech armor?”
“Project ‘S’?” Carter answered, taken aback by his commanding officer’s breach of radio silence. “Yeah. I ‘eard of it. Supposed to put us out of a job.”
“Right, like that’s gonna happen. Alright, almost there. We’ll decloak to check in, and then we’ll use some sort of ‘experimental camouflage’ to appear like a normal guard. I love science as much as the next guy, but all of this experimental tech being used on missions of this import gives me a really bad feeling.”
“I know what you mean, Brain,” replied Carter, “but orders are orders.”
The conversation was cut off by the ”ding” of the elevator. The two cloaked masses left the elevator, moving into the cramped hallway. They moved into the only available door, entering a large room with a wall-sized door on the other side. The room was sparsely furnished, with a few squishy chairs and a small table lining the edges. In the center of the room, two human guards stood, their lightly armored frames standing stock-still. The Ambassador stood between them, her expression a perfect poker face.
“Colonel, Major, I presume that that was you,” She said, her rich voice filling the room.
“Yes ma’am,” Shephard said, de-cloaking with Carter. The two guards took an involuntary step back as the metal giants appeared.
“Ma’am, I assume you have the experimentals with you?” Carter asked, gesturing towards the two coppery boxes in her hand.
“Yes, and you can just call me Solaris,” Replied the Ambassador, holding forth the two cubes in her hand. “If you just plug these in to your AI slot, your suits will automatically update. As long as this is in your suits, you will be able to change your appearance.”
“Same deal as the cloak when it was first being tested, ma’a- I mean Solaris?”
“Y-yes, I guess, assuming they used the update cubes to reconfigure your armor,” replied Solaris, her voice faltering for a moment.
“Okay. Here I go.” Shephard plugged the cube into the AI slot at the base of his neck. It took a moment for the update to take place, small repair bots going about and reconfiguring the hardware of the armor to fit the new parameters. Soon, his figure shrunk, the bent light waves visible for a few moments as the generator worked it’s magic. Soon, Shephard looked like a normal human in armor, even his blade and gun appearing to have shrunk.
“This is weird,” Shephard stated bluntly, holding up a hand in front of his face. “I still see myself at the same size, yet also at this small size. It’s giving me a headache. Wait, there we go.” A small wave ran over the generated body, seeming to solidify the small figure before them. “Now I can see as if I was cloaked. Alright, Blade, your up.”
“Yes, sir.” Carter shoved his update cube into the slot, soon appearing to become a copy of Shephard.
“Good, now Shephard- do you mind if I call you Shephard?” Solaris began, turning her eyes towards Shephard. When he nodded, she continued, “Alright, Shephard, Carter, I believe you were briefed before about everything before? Just to recap, I will be giving my speech, and you will guard unless, or more than likely, until Imperious spies open fire.”
“Yes, Ma’am. I mean, Solaris,” Shephard replied, his habit breaking forth against the Ambassador’s earlier wishes.
“Good. We start in a half-hour,” Solaris replied, moving over to one of the couches.
The next thirty minutes passed quickly for the small group, the human guards staying by their charge while Noble Team took up the other end of the room. Carter pulled out his sword, slowly cleaning and inspecting the shining, almost perfect blade. Shephard fieldstripped his rifle before cleaning it and rebuilding it. His mind was racing during the monotonous procedure, however, allowing his body to fall into its old habits as he contemplated different scenarios and how he would react to them.
Fully flanked, plasma fire coming in from all sides. Ambassador’s shielding down. Blade, take up left position. I got right. Boomer, activate traps. Scopes, take ‘em down. Use my Plasma Blaster to kill what I can. Pull Ambassador inside.
Guards turn traitor. Elbow in face, use knife to slit throat. Pull Ambassador inside.
Ambassador kidnapped by hover-vehicle. Jump after, grab on. Use-
His thoughts were interrupted by the Ambassador getting up, moving towards the balcony door. She waved towards Shephard, who got up and took his position on the right of her. Carter mirrored his actions on the other side. With the two guards, the whole procession was in an arrowhead formation, the Ambassador on point and Noble Team bringing up the rear. They entered the small, spherical glass balcony, looking down into the packed plaza below. A huge screen on the window above the balcony displayed the procession to the waiting crowd.
“Citizens of Filstia Prime! I am Ambassador Solaris, from the human world of Earth, here to welcome your system to the Republic!”
Loud cheering broke through the sound-proof bubble, the sheer volume shaking the glass. Solaris raised her hands, quieting the crowd below.
“Over thirteen million cycles ago, a brilliant race of bipedal insectoids looked to the stars. They searched with their eyes and there technology for another sign of life. They called out, they asked the darkness for some glimmer, something to tell them they weren’t alone. They received no answer; only echoes of their own unanswered questions. They left their home, hoping to run into others. They found only primitive life, mammals, fish, birds, reptiles. Not a single intelligent lifeform. They spread across the cosmos, filling the galaxy with their mighty empire, but they were alone. They felt their existence was empty. However, did they sit down and give up? Did they decide ‘oh well?’ NO! They set their scientist on research, planting the seeds of intelligence into the genetic code of thousands of planets. They left reminders of themselves, monoliths, unexplained landmarks, and sometimes even ruins of cities. They withdrew from the planets they seeded, allowing them to expand on their own. Their mighty empire shrunk, slowly petering out. Today, no one knows what happened to these precursors. These forerunners. They disappeared from history the galaxy only remembering the artifacts they left behind. Their legacy lives on, however, with the mighty Republic! We who speak their ancient language, who use their blueprints and technology to advance our own!”
She stopped, allowing the crowd below to run wild for a moment.
“Only a short time ago, my planet was once like yours. Four thousand cycles ago, we were a lost race. We still felt that digital watches were a neat idea. We too turned to the stars, hoping for answers. We sent out signals and probes, hoping to mingle our culture with any we may have found. Unfortunately, we were not as lucky as you. We were found first by the Imperious. They attempted to wipe out our entire planet, using their superior technology to decimate our population. However, they did not expect the harsh retaliation we gave them. Our planet fought off the invaders, even though over two thirds of our once seven-billion-strong population was deceased. We sent out a signal, begging for help. We, unlike the insectoid forerunners, received a reply. Down from the skies descended the Republic fleet, finally throwing off the last of the invaders. Our world, Earth, newly liberated and united, joined the Republic, rising to become prominent members on the councils. Our tenacity allowed us to be here today to welcome you, the new generation of the Republic.
“Many of you may wonder why I have given you the history of my world. It is because we are proof that a people can achieve much, even when dwarfed by the amount of other races out there. Use our story; be inspired by it! Your race can become a huge asset to the Republic!”
The cheering drowned out the next few words of the Ambassador, before she finally silenced them. For the next few hours, the speech rode on, finally reaching a crescendo and then concluding.
Only one Imperious spy was ever found, but he was quickly tagged by Chekov and dragged to the extraction point by Jackson. When the speech was concluded, the Ambassador was escorted to the extraction point as well, before everyone boarded the small transport ship and taken to the orbiting cruiser.
The mission debriefing was very short, ending with Intel’s retrieval of the upgrade cubes. Noble Team left for their quarters, finally stripping off their exosuits and falling into their bunks. There was little chit-chat, instead just four large humans crashing into the bunks.
Less than three hours later, they were woken up by a knock on their bulkhead door. Each of them woke up instantly, checking the identity of the knocker with a video feed before opening the door to the black-suited Intel officer. A small datapad found it’s way into Shephard’s hand, before the officer disappeared back into the bowels of the ship.
“What’s all that about?” asked Jackson, his dark skin visible now that the armor was off.
“We got another mission. Delta Quadrant. Skorpus System. Oh, you’re gonna love this. We get our own Racer-Class. Always wanted one of them. Apparently, we’ll get more mission data when we enter the system,” Shephard replied.
“Great. Another blind mission. If we enter the system and we are under fire immediately, I want to go rouge,” Said Carter, pulling out his energy sword, inspecting the keen edge.
“You should know better than to joke about things like that,” Said Chekov, cleaning his custom scope. “They might take you seriously.”
“Who said I was joking?” Carter deadpanned, before ruining the whole effect by laughing.
“Stow the chatter guys. Turns out we leave ASAP. It says to stay in armor for the trip, so we know this will be a hot landing. Let’s suit up and go,” Shephard said, pulling on the armored boots. The rest of the team proceeded to follow his example, placing first the boots, then the inner skeleton of the armor, and finally the armored plates themselves. They grabbed their weapons, each with their standard MG34’s, plus their weapons of specialty.
Chekov had a SR57 Mark XVI, a large sniper rifle with a custom-tooled scope that could get an accurate shot in at least three miles. His personal record was a pea-sized bullseye at a range of ten miles. He was the best sniper in the fleet.
Jackson had a GL89 Mark II Grenade Launcher, capable of throwing any hand-toss grenade over five hundred feet. It’s usual ammo, however, were SMART impact grenade rounds, which could be fired like a normal bullet, speeding straight towards a target, or by launching in an arc like a regular grenade.
Carter had the standard-issue HP42 Pistol, his specialty being strapped to his back. He also had a collection of small knives covering his armor, albeit hidden unless one knew where to look. Each knife was perfectly balanced, and could be thrown at least 50 feet without losing accuracy.
Shephard kept an heirloom plasma revolver from his great-grandfather, having been handcrafted with an expert precision. It’s molded grip fit perfectly into his armored hand, and even more easily into his normal one. The history behind the gun ran deep in his family, and had saved his and his team’s life on many missions.
“Alright, move out. We’re off to Hanger B,” Shephard said when his team was fully armored. They left their quarters, jogging off through the corridors towards the hanger. They passed quite a few regular troopers, their lightly armored bodies seeming to be a frail comparison to the armored team. Only one branch of the military had the exo-suits, save, of course, for the few exceptions made for aquatic-based and non-oxygen breathing races that join the republic. The Armor Corps maintained the smallest standing force, and also the most split. It was rare for there to be more than one Armored team in a system at any one time, even during invasions. They were considered the elite, and treated with a mix of fear and respect by the regular troops.
After running through countless hallways, noble team reached Hangar B. They walked in, Shephard whistling as his eyes fell upon the beautiful ship placed gracefully in the hangar. It was sleek and black; it’s near frictionless surface allowing for ease of travel in atmosphere and out. It was a long, tapering conical structure, with two arcing wings on either side.
The team entered the ship, looking as the interior came into view. No expense had been spared, the ship containing weapon lockers packed to the brim with ammo, food storage with enough to last several months, even a large holodeck style gaming system for entertainment.
“Damn, this is better than I expected. This looks as if a rich brat decided to buy this, only to pass it on to us. I wonder how she flies,” Jackson said, immediately moving over to sit in the reinforced chairs that had been recently installed. He pulled out a cord from the holodeck system, before plugging it into his suit’s access port and jumping into a game.
“WOAH. This has EVERYTHING! Even. Oh. Don’t tell me that’s…” He continued, oblivious to his team’s mirth in the background. He was focused on one icon on his screen, a small, furred face with a long, conical muzzle and perked up ears. Embedded around the orange and white furred face was a communication device, a green eyepiece covering one of the eyes. An unmistakable ship design was visible in the background. “I haven’t seen this game since I was a child! It’s the only surviving game from before the Imperious attack on Earth! It’s Starfox sixty-four! They even have the original dialogue as an option. Wish I could read and understand Ancient English. Ah well, the translation is just as good.”
“Why would you want to read the original? English is such a pain. I remember having to struggle through a class on Ancient literature. I mean seriously. It brought new meaning to the phrase ‘It’s all English to me,’” Chekov said, shaking his head.
“Well, ever heard of the ‘Contrid Slavers?’ That game could only really be played if you knew Cornitridian. I mean seriously, what does ‘All your slave are belong to us’ even mean?”
The rest of the team rolled their eyes, continuing to explore the different areas. There were four separate rooms, each with positions for their armor and weapons. A small exercise bay was also installed, four body machines bolted to the floor. An escape pod bay was across from it; a large Hover-Class Escape Pod sat inside, big enough for the team, their armor, and half the gear on the ship. Finally, they reached the cockpit, an impressive affair of flashing buttons and blank screens.
“Alright team, we’re lifting off in 5. Get ready,” Said Shephard, performing the preliminary flight tests. He contacted Command, requesting permission to leave, before finally lifting the ship up off the ground. The inertial dampeners were so good that no one inside felt a thing, and Shephard would have called in a malfunction if he had not seen the hangar roof get closer through the viewplate. He swung the ship around, shooting through the now-open hangar doors. His viewplate was filled with the black emptiness of space, before showing a sliver of the planet’s moon. Behind him, Carter walked up, asking a question.
“Hey, didn’t you say we were lifting off in—Oh,” He began, stopping when he saw the viewplate.
“Yup. This baby has everything. I’ve never seen dampeners so advanced,” Shephard said, reclining in the pilot’s chair. He slowly entered the coordinates of the system, allowing the computer to engage the intra-dimensional shielding and engines. The viewplate went opaque, so as to save the pilots from the insanity that is commonly found when gazing into hyperspace. The smallest of forward shifts indicated the release into the other dimension.
“Listen up, boys, we’ve entered hyperspace and have a good long trip ahead of us. We’ll be there in three days. Enjoy yourselves,” Shephard said over the comm. He proceeded to flick on the security and autopilot systems, leaving the cockpit and returning to the central cabin. Jackson was still connected to the holodeck device, and Chekov had joined in too. Carter was sharpening one of his many knives, using a small energy stone to hone the blade with microscopic precision.
“Yo Brain, you have gotta try this. This must be one of the newest versions, I mean it’s almost as if I’m actually in the game. I haven’t had this much fun since before boot camp,” Chekov said.
“Alright, but Blade, you’re in too. That’s an order,” Carter sighed, sliding the knife into its appropriate sheath, before waltzing over and plugging in with Shephard.
For the next few hours, Noble team lost themselves in the games. The virtual effects inside their suits were extremely realistic, even more so than the specially designed holodeck suits that normal, un-Armored people used. They probably would have continued their play if not for a cool, computerized female voice interrupting their play.
“Warning: Large Dimensional Ion Storm Detected. Recommend Leaving Holodeck System and Assuming Emergency Posi-“ A small surge cut off the computer and flickered the virtual reality the team was in. Immediately, they pulled the cords out of their helmets, jumping to their specific stations. Shephard ran towards the cockpit, his heavy metallic body making huge thumps as he went.
He entered the cockpit, slamming into the pilot seat. He pulled down a dimensional filter screen, peering through into the red scape that was hyperspace. The small pocket dimension they had created around the ship shimmered and shook as the raging mass of exotic ionic particles seething just outside of it. A huge blast of lightning-like energy rammed through the shielding, striking the hull of the ship, followed by a huge roll as the forces at work overpowered the inertial dampeners.
Acting quickly, Shephard accelerated the engines, hoping that the storm was a localized dimensional anomaly, and would not be one of the gigantic ones that sometimes raged across hyperspace. However, his luck was not that good, as he just succeeded in stirring up more energy bolts, which shot around and into the ship.
“All hands, prepare for emergency dimensional departure. I don’t know where we are, but we’re going to find out real soon,” Shephard said over the comms, hoping that Jackson had reached the engine room. Exiting hyperspace was a standard procedure, but it had to be done slowly to avoid the risk of a dimensional backlash. An emergency exit was one of the most dangerous maneuvers in the known galaxy, the easiest and best-case failure scenario being instantly vaporized. The worst case, well, the ancient humans had come up with a close description, although they thought that Lovecraft had just made up his monsters.
Shephard engaged the emergency exit procedure, punching a hole through the protective plexi-glass shield in front of the button. A shudder ran through the ship, followed by a huge leap of forward momentum. A few crashes indicated that at least two of his teammates were unprepared, and were thrown backwards. A white field encased the nose of the ship, dragging itself quickly through the rest of it, bow to stern. It looked similar to the scanning mechanisms used by some of the stellar species in the Republic.
Just before the ship fully exited, one last beam of exotic particles, supercharged with their ionic counterparts slammed into the stern of the ship, causing a massive explosion to the de-shielding metal ship.
“FUCK! Engine room is leaking atmosphere. Sir, the blockhead’s jammed. The whole ship is decompressing,” Boomer yelled over the comm., snapping Shephard into action.
“Abandon Ship. Repeat, Abandon Ship. Grab what you can and meet at the escape pod. We leave ASAP,” He yelled, barely acknowledging the affirmations of his team. He ran towards the escape pod, stopping to grab a few extra ration and ammo packs. He proceeded to jump into the pod, stationing himself at the pilot’s seat.
He was there for maybe thirty seconds before the rest of his team arrived, following his example and jumping into the pod. Each of them had grabbed similar supplies to Shephard, although Jackson had managed to snag a few of the more powerful explosives that had been locked into a safe by a passcode that only Shephard knew. Pushing aside his curiosity, Shephard slammed down the hatch, and pressed the launch button. A huge blast of fire threw the small craft out of the derelict, decompressed ship. A few explosions followed their escape, although the outside of the nearly-invisible ship seemed fine.
“Shit. There goes our mission. So, what now? Any planets around?” Chekov said, trying to break the tension in the pod.
“Yeah, it’s the big, blue-green ball floating directly behind your head. From the scans it supports life, and energy scans show it is literally bursting with tech. Hopefully, they’re Republic, or at least friendly. I think the scanners messed up though, it keeps telling me that the star in this system cannot exist. Eh, we’ll check it out when we get there,” Shephard replied, scratching his helmet. He turned the pod towards the indicated planet, using the inertial engines to speed them forward.
However, Murphy seemed to favor them, as the ship began to change trajectory, contrary to Shephard’s controls and every possible law of physics.
“Shit, what the hell’s going on? My controls aren’t responding. How is this even possible? We’re accelerating, Shit, hitting atmosphere now,” He said, forcing himself to fall back onto instinct rather than panic. The nose of the ship began to burn up, followed by quite a few other meteors. For some reason, they flashed different colors, some red, some blue, some purple, even a few pinks.
“What the hell did I eat? Meteors don’t do that! Come on, Come on!” Shephard continued, oblivious to his team’s reactions. The planet below seemed to be getting closer and closer, a large green forest being visible past red glow that encased the ship.
“Landing procedure failing. Emergency engines offline. Computer not responding. Flaps offline. Shit. Comm array down. Emergency beacon offline. We’re going down. It’s been a pleasure serving with you,” Shephard said, watching as the ground got closer.
“You too, Colonel. See you on the other side,” Replied Jackson.
“Brace for Impact!” Shephard said.
A loud crash was the last thing the team heard, before their respective consciousnesses was encased in darkness.
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Nice story bro