Sins of New Eden

by Hivemind

Prologue Part 3

Marked personnel at quarters bulkhead. ID Tag: Federation Navy

Loud bangs were heard at the quarter’s bulkhead door. Apparently Federation Navy officials don’t like waiting around for new recruits for more than five seconds.

“I’m coming, I’m coming, damn.” Canderous ran to the control panel and opened the door, only to be greeted by not one, but four Federation marines. One of the marines wore a suit of dark blue Federation-issue field armor, with a special insignia pinned to a patch of same-color leather on his shoulder. He carried no weapon, but had a stun-baton strapped to a utility belt around his waist, alongside several other unknown gadgets.

“Canderous Nord?” The marine in dark-blue armor questioned him with a raised eyebrow.

“Ya, that’s me.” Canderous shook his head in acknowledgment.

“Come with me, quickly.” Canderous complied with his command. The blue-armored marine motioned the other marines to follow him. The group made their way down a few corridors and through a maintenance doorway until they came to a large freight elevator, the door being guarded by two marines.

When the group approached the elevator, the guarding marines snapped to attention and raised their arms in salute. “Sir!” The men yelled simultaneously to who Canderous guessed to be a Sergeant, wearing a much more distinguishable coat of blue than the others, along with his special insignia patched to his shoulder.

“At ease. Private Felmon, what’s the current situation down in the plaza?” He spoke to the marine on the right side of the doorway.

“Getting worse sir, Concord barely has enough men to cope with panicking civilians. Some are getting violent now. Starting fights and whatnot. Won’t be long before all hell breaks loose.”

“Then we best not wait any longer. Take us down. Marines, until we reach the shuttle, stick close to mister Nord.” The marines nodded to the sergeant in acknowledgment, moving closer to Canderous at his orders. The marines guarding the elevator each took out a key card from a vest pocket, turned around, and in unison inserted their key cards into a port-hole. A siren blared and a red warning light flashed above them. After only a few seconds, the freight elevator doors slowly opened, revealing several cargo containers, some open and some sealed tightly with Navy issue bar-locks. The sergeant walked into the elevator first and looked around, surveying the large room, possibly checking for anything out of the ordinary, like smugglers or hidden explosives. “Looks clear to me. Come mister Nord, we can’t waste too much time here.”

Canderous, along his new bodyguards, strode into the elevator. The doors closed behind them with a loud bang, the noise resounding around the compartment. Somewhere, a power generator switched on, gears began to whire, and the elevator began it’s descent.

~~~~~

Canderous turned to the blue-armored marine, with a question or two in mind, “Sir, I never did catch your name.”

The marine didn’t turn to face Canderous, but instead kept his eyes forward. “Sergeant Bendak, Federation Navy, eighty-seventh marine division. That’s all you need to know about me.” Canderous liked the man’s description. Short and simple. Not to much information to remember should he ever find the need to.

“One other thing Sergeant Bendak, why are we using a freight elevator to get to the plaza? Wouldn’t it have been faster to just take the express elevator?”

“Too risky, several angry and panicking civilians down there, won’t be long before the riots start. This elevator is a back way down, so we won’t run into any of the angry little bastards on our way to the shuttle. ”

The elevator began to slow down, until it came to a halt with a loud thud, the sound of the locking mechanisms sliding in place soon afterward. Canderous heard the faint noises of angry shouts and screams coming from behind the door. Bendak turned to face the marines that surrounded Canderous.

“Marines,” shouted the sergeant, “Stay close to Nord, and keep your guard up.” After those words, the sergeant unsheathed his stun-baton gripping it tightly in his hand. Yellow warning lights flashed above them, a siren just the like one from before blared from some unknown source. The doors slowly opened up to a rather surprising sight. A wall of steel barricades and Concord police officers made what appeared to be a semi-circle around the plaza, where hundreds of angry civilians assaulted the police officers with threats and verbal swears. Security drones whirred overhead, their spotlights shining intensely bright on the angry mob. An intercom played repetitive advisories such as ‘To all station inhabitants. Please wait until the next outgoing shuttle becomes available’ and ‘To all ship pilots, the undocking queue is currently full, please wait until a position in the queue becomes available.’ The officers bore full riot gear, brandishing stun batons, riot shields, teargas launchers and the like. One of the police officers broke away from a conversation with a fellow officer and walked up to Sergeant Bendak as the group strode out of the elevator, his heavy riot gear clanking and bouncing around.

“Sergeant Bendak, the military bay has been cleared. Your shuttle will be the last one out before we seal it off.” The officer shouted through his helmet over the loud yelling in the background.

“Then let’s not waste any more time here.” Bendak shouted back to the police officer. He switched his stun baton on, sending an electric fizzle in the air. “Just in case. Marines, move!” The group advances in a rushed, but orderly manner. Bendak in the front, the marines in the back, and a fearful Canderous in the center. As the group walked by, the shouting of the mob intensified. Someone even had the guts to throw an empty Quafe bottle at them, who was soon grabbed by their arms and carried away by the police officers.

“Uhh, sergeant... why are all the people here so angry? There was nothing like this last night...” Canderous eyed the mob with nervous eyes, fearing that they might somehow break through the barricades and charge him at any second.

“You... don’t know yet? I’m surprised. The greatest event to ever occur in New Eden’s history happened, and these people want to get out and see it, which won’t happen I might add, or maybe they just want to get to their families to protect them.”

“Protect them? Protect them from what?” Canderous was confused, and in an another bit of shock when another Quafe bottle narrowly missed his head and shattered on the floor.

“Usually, when a event of great importance or urgency like this comes up, we would be briefed by the Fleet Admiral himself, but you have yet to be fully enlisted, so you won’t know until we get to the site.”

After a long and noisy walk, the group had finally reached the entrance to the military hangar bay, where a Concord officer greeted them with a salute and allowed them through. This hangar was designed differently from the others. Ships used in combat operations were still kept on their own separate hangar platforms, but there was a ground-level section near the entrance meant for shuttles that traveled to and from military installations.

A sleek, black shuttle was the only ship left in the hangar bay, it’s passenger door open and waiting. The marines led Canderous through the door and to a seat near the cockpit, the marines taking their seats near the back. The interior of the shuttle was surprisingly well furnished for a simple shuttle. The seats looked as if they came off of one of those rare Opux yachts, comfortable and sleek. Every seat had a holo-tv built into the back of the headrest of the seat in front of him, with a small holo-tablet in a holster next to it that acted as a remote control. He assumed that this was a shuttle meant only for the higher-ranking officials of the Federation Navy.

“Enjoying it Nord?”

Canderous jumped at the sudden voice that originated next to him. It was the voice of the sergeant, who decided to take a seat next to him.

“This shuttle belongs to the captain of the Iron Giant himself. This was the only shuttle available though, as every other Navy vessel left hours ago. So this was our only option.”

Canderous was about to ask why they didn’t just come sooner, until he was interrupted by the forward jolt of the shuttle, the hangar’s tractor beam pulling the tiny ship at a much higher speed than he expected. The shuttle made several twists and turns, snaking through the station like a mouse trying to find food placed at the end of a maze. The commander laughed at Canderous’s startled expression.

“We had to double-time it on the speed of the tractor beam’s pull. We leave for the site as soon as we board the Iron Giant. We wasted too much time here already having to deal with those annoying little rioters!”

By now, the strong pull of the tractor beam had ceased, indicating that the ship was now outside of the station. This time, a weaker, less surprising jolt propelled the ship forward, but for a shuttle, it didn’t feel as if they were going at full speed, until a voice over the shuttle’s intercom system gave the reason why.

“To all onboard personnel, we are currently experiencing heavy ship traffic coming out of the station. Flight time has been extended, but not for long. Estimated time to arrival at the Iron Giant, five minutes.”

“Well that’s just perfect.” The sergeant sighed, “Might as well see what Scope has been saying about this event.” The sergeant took the holo-tablet out of the holster in front of him and began scrolling through the Channels menu, pressing an icon labeled ‘Scope News Network’, causing his holo-tv to switch on, tuning in to the Scope News live feed. Canderous did the same, his holo-tv syncing up with the sergeant’s so that two differently timed, identical news feeds don’t cause confusion.

The news feed was nothing but static at first, but after a few seconds, the Scope News logo appeared on the screen.

"Are we live? Good. If you are just now tuning in, the event that some are now calling the “New Eden Rebirth” is attracting people from all over New Eden's systems."

The news feed switches over to a different scene, showing dozens of ships leaving a station at an alarming rate. Frigates, shuttles, and dozens of other ships were scrambling to move away from the station and warp away.

The feed switched again. This time the scene was inside of a station. A large mob was gathered at the middle of a plaza, shouting verbal swears and throwing small objects at Concord riot police.

"We are now broadcasting a live riot situation inside of a local station in the Dodixie trade hub, just one of many riots happening right now in some of the most highly populated systems around New Eden. Thousands of angry citizens are doing whatever they can to try and get out of the station, whether it is to get a glimpse of the New Eden Rebirth themselves, or just to get to their families and loved ones...OK, we now have a report from Concord police stating that the situation is currently under control. We will keep you posted in the meantime."

The feed switched once more, the camera now focusing on a large Navy fleet consisting of around a dozen Megathron and Hyperion battleships within close proximity of two Thanatos-class fighter carriers. Firbolg-class fighters were engaging a small fleet of Guristas pirate frigates, each one being torn apart with ease and exploding in a bright white fireball.

And in other news, a patrol flee-...brrzzzt... engaged...bzrrrrrzt...site."

The news feed cut off, along with the holo-tv a few moments later. The voice of the shuttle captain spoke clearly over the intercom once more.

“To all onboard personnel, we are now arriving in the docking bay of the Iron Giant. Sergeant Bendak, Captain Aran is requesting that you and Canderous Nord report to the bridge as soon as possible. Marines, you are to remain on standby.” Moments later after the captain finished his message, Canderous felt the hard bump of the shuttle landing in the supercarrier’s hangar bay, a loud bang of metal on metal confirming this. A door near the back if the shuttle unlocked and opened slowly, the sound of ion engines whirring-down flowing into the shuttle. The marines in the back of the shuttle filled out through the door, one by one, their armor clanking loudly on the metal floor. Canderous slowly got up from his seat, but a large, muscular hand reached out, grabbed his shirt collar, and yanked him upward. It was the sergeant, and from what Canderous could tell, he was impatient.

“This is no time to take it slow Nord. We wasted far too much time on the station and in that traffic jam. The captain is expecting us, now.” The sergeant walked with haste to the back of the shuttle and out through the door. Canderous, not wanting to anger the sergeant even more, or disobey a direct order, followed after him.

~~~~~

The trip to the bridge took less time than expected. You would think that for a ship of this size that it would take at least a half-hour to walk from one end of the ship to the other, but most of the many corridors and passageways were empty, so there was nothing slowing them down. Upon reaching the bridge entrance doors, the two were hit with a dark-green light. A small, camera-like apparatus in the upper-right corner of the ceiling scanned them down, looking for lethal weapons or contraband. After the scanner found nothing dangerous, the bridge doors swung inward, revealing a very busy control bridge. Navigators and astronomers were running to and from control consoles and a holographic star map centered in the middle of the room, holo-tablets in hand and scientific banter pouring out of their mouths. A marine near the door walked quickly over to the sergeant and saluted him.

“Sir, Captain Aran has been expecting both of you. He is waiting over there.” The marine pointed a finger towards a tall, broad-shouldered man wearing a dark blue coat near a control console.

The pair wasted no time in walking over to meet the captain. Upon reaching him, the captain turned around to face the two, a wide frown of impatience spread across his face. The sergeant was quick to salute him, Canderous following suite.

“Well, well Bendak, glad to see that you finally made it. Did you get lost in the women’s section of the Noble Exchange?”

“No sir! Just had some traffic problems sir!” Bendak acknowledged the captain in the same loud, responsive tone that Canderous had heard Federation marines use whenever he had to travel to military outposts to do business.

“Glad to hear it Bendak. And I believe that this man next to you is Nord?” Bendak replied with a simple nod of his head. “Then I suppose it's time that we take our leave.” He turned back around and yelled out in a loud, booming voice.

“All hands! Prepare for long-distance jump to the New Eden system!” He pointed a muscular finger at a scruffy looking engineer standing near him. “Chief, tell your engineers to warm up the jump drive and prepare the LDJCS for activation. Have damage control teams on standby in case something goes wrong or we have to abort the jump. Bendak, you and Nord are on standby. We jump as soon as the Jump Drive is warmed up.” Bendak lowered his arm and motioned Canderous to follow him to a corner.

“A long-distance jump? From here to New Eden? That’s impossible! From what I know, a Nyx can only jump up to four light years! The odds of trying to jump any farther than that without overloading the jump drive's core would be near impossible.”

Bendak raised an eyebrow to Canderous, along with a clever smirk on his face. “Can it Nord...can it?” Canderous raised his own eyebrow in confusion. “Experimental technology Nord. A Federation Navy design of a jump drive stabilizer that allows us to travel much farther than before, giving us a huge advantage over our enemies, but it still a prototype. The Iron Giant is the first to receive this new technology.” A few moments of awkward silence hit between them, until Canderous perked up to break the quiet.

“So, what is this "New Eden Rebirth" that everyone is talking about?”

A large smile grew across Bendak’s leathery face. “You have to see it, to believe it.”

Canderous wanted to ask as to what exactly he had to see, but by the look of that smile on the sergeant’s face, he thought it would be best not to ruin the surprise of finding out for himself.

All hands, brace for long-distance jump....

The air distorted around the bridge, giving it a wobbly, malformed look to it. Each second it intensified as the supercarrier’s jump drive built up incredible masses of energy.

Commencing jump in five...four...three...two...one...mark.

The ship disappeared in a very large, but brief distortion of space.

Comments

[Joey8225]

Let me guess, the EVE gate has reopened? Hmm, space ponies perhaps? I look forward to read your future chapters.

[Hivemind]

69545

My response to your nitpicks:

1. Switching tenses? Not happening
2. I was aware of this already. But if I put the main character inside of a capsule, it would make this story dry and boring. What the buck do you think was gonna happen when the major pony parts come up? That every capsule-dwelling person was just gonna sit in their bath of antifreeze and wave hello to the ponies?
3. Canderous is a "freelance" pilot, doing whatever he can to get by as the story description tells it, and buying the the larger, more powerful ships, like a Hyperion, can take quite a while for a freelance pilot.

Those nitpicks nitpicked me quite a bit. I knew someone was gonna scream about it sooner or later

[Hivemind]

69874

Triple post? Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

58567

Well in EVE Online tech or technetium is a very valuable and pretty rare resource that is located on only on moons, and it is what 0.0 alliances fight over. It is used in T2 production.

[Hivemind]

Sweet Cynabals Batman! Some unknown viewer of my story actually messaged me in-game

71111

Better make it good or someone may just blow you up over it.

[Due Dilligence]

Long live the state.

[Hivemind]

80449

The state can kiss my polished, blaster rapping ass

[Lordmiak]

So far, love it, seems very promising . I wonder what space-travelling technology is available to the ponies Wooden magic-propelled starships maybe ? with pie launchers, apple cannons, and frienship laser beams ?

My challenge now will be to NOT reactivate my EVE account

[Hivemind]

80884

This is a Human\Pony first contact situation. Just think of the sheer horror if Celestia got her hands on an Avatar

80983

I can picture it.

[Due Dilligence]

This actually made me restart my account.
@Hivemind The Federation can ... I sat here for 4 minutes thinking. Still nothing :x.

[Vashar23]

80983
In my EVE story she already have 4