Terra Invicta

by Sammyboiii

Chapter 1: Repercussions

Powering on
Please wait...
Channel 034: Union News Network

Crashing can be heard in the background amongst the hissing of RAM gas, a nanite-infused gaseous compound designed to cause an irritating body-wide stinging sensation meant to harmlessly deter public disruptions. The camera drone pan down and to the left to reveal a woman on the screen in the midst of what appeared to be a very violent protest.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! This is *crash* Lucy Wilson reporting *tsssss* directly from in front of the Union embassy on the Algan homeworld! I apologize if the audio it a bit hard to *sirens wailing* interpret but it's all part of the job contract!" she paused to look behind her as algan peacekeepers, local law enforcement, arrived on the scene with a loud whirr form their anti-grav shuttles and hovered with sonic weapons visibly exposed on either side of the vehicles. She turns back to face the camera, "Protests have broken out regarding the Union's violation of the Homestead Treaty. The destruction of the Tyrum homeworld has added to the upset caused by the Union's raid on the Wassari in order to eliminate their threat should they have been given enough time to develop FTL travel. Most Terran embassies have been shut down due to the cutting of diplomatic ties between the GTU, the Peronisti Union, *BOOM* the Wassari Protectorate, and, most obviously, the Algan Republic.

The holoscreen flickered off once again, only this time on purpose. Brant had heard enough. He was tired of hearing network after network talk about the deteriorating state of the Union's diplomatic relation with, well, everybody. He got up from the couch and headed over to his kitchen. "Good evening, Brantley. What may I prepare for you today?" asked the residence's AI.

"A burger and a Coke, please," replied Brantley. He always was a sucker for the old-timey lifestyle.

"Right away." With that, four robotic arms that before sat motionlessly and efficiently folded on the counter walls were reanimated and instantly began preparing everything needed for a hamburger. Patties Were grilled, bread was baked, vegetables were cut, and condiments squirted on. The meal was completed in a mere 10 minutes and Brant couldn't help but stare in awe even after all the meals he had made with the machine. Even though he was technically "temporarily fired" and without pay, what they had already given him was more than enough to buy some high tech goods. Granted, it meant he would have to sacrifice other living conditions. These included having to deal with occasional power outages, stale air, and Deborah, his neighbor who he suspected had a huge crush on him considering the fact that she would deliver marionberry pies straight to his doorstep with chocolate hearts no matter how much he asked her to stop.

An alert appeared in the upper left corner of his sight as his contact alerted him that there was somebody at the door. "Well speaking of the Devil..." Brant made his way to his apartment entrance and initialized the door phase change, revealing -- you guessed it -- a marionberry pie with chocolate hearts. He turned away and the door rematerialized behind him. Maybe being put on leave wasn't as good as he thought. Just as that thought concluded, his holoscreen booted up and began displaying the flag of the GTU. This was immediately replaced by the face of Brant's former superior: High Admiral Vorchavski. Somehow, all of them went unnoticed by the annoyed Brantley who was in the middle of finishing his burger when the High Admiral spoke up. "Good morning, Johnson."

"WHAT the fu- oh, Jesus." Brant sighed as he simultaneously realized that he had dropped his burger and who he had embarrassed himself in front of. "Vorchavski? I-is that you?" The man in the hologram did not flinch but only gained a barely noticeable smirk.

"Yes, Johnson. I am here to tell you that your leave has been recalled early and you're being reinstated immediately." Vorchavski calmly stated to an almost petrified Brantley.

"What?! I haven't seen a sign of the military in two years and you think you can come in here a-"

"Alright, good talk. A shuttle has been dispatched to your location. Glory to the Union!" Before Brant could respond, his holoscreen had turned off and the sound of Brant's struggles to speak was replaced by the humming warble of anti-grav engines. Brant looked out of his windows only to see a Mars-class lander with the words engraved on its side:

Property of the GTU
USS Archer Dropship

"Welp, time to get back to work." Brant finally stated with his hands on his hip. He proceeded to slide his windows open, allowing the engines' thrust to blow everything that once sat on the kitchen counter in front of him on to the floor. A smile came across his face as he climbed through the window and the ship's side shifted out with a hiss and slid backward, allowing the officer to climb inside.

Brantley fell from his window sill and into the main cabin of the dropship just outside. Thuds filled the cabin as the officer clobbered and rolled into the hallway. Silence filled the cabin as got on all fours and stood up. Once he regained his posture, the Captain looked around. He was surrounded by now transparent walls, the alloy's nanites displaying the outside of the dropship through cameras located n its exterior. He followed the luminescent lines flanking the main walkway of the cabin to the front where two pilot seat was located. Once he got up there, he noticed that, while the holographic console and dashboard were on, there were no pilots. Oh, thank God nobody saw my... entrance. he thought to himself. The whirr of the dropship's engines increased in volume as the dropship lurched forward and the Captain sat down in the pilot seat. Brantley looked out the lander's "window" as he exited Mantac VI's atmosphere. The space-scrapers quickly fell as the lander angled itself towards the stars. The ship accelerated rapidly without the drag of the atmosphere and a moderately-sized ship could be seen along the horizon.

"Oh, goodness. I missed you, space!" A wave of excitement washed over the Admiral as he became surrounded in swirls of black, blue, and purple. The emptiness of it all almost made him feel as if there was not a care in the world. It reminded him of the vast expanses, the countless star systems, and their even more countless planets. His eyes practically sparkled with wonder as his yearn for discovery was revived. Speaking of discovery, he was now just moments away from reuniting with his pride and joy: the USS Archer.

The Archer is a Ceres-class research vessel. Designed and first manufactured just fifteen years ago, the Archer was more than the ordinary starship. Being one of the earliest vessels to have incorporated Precursor nanotechnology, the Archer was, and still is, one of the most advanced vessels in the entire Union fleet thanks to its crew. The Union had poured some of its best and brightest into this ship in hopes that it would allow the Union's most capable to venture and discover more about the universe. All, of course, in the name of bettering humanity. Brantley, although he may not look like it at first glance, tested as one of the highest in Union Academy history, scoring a whopping 1540/1600 on his military aptitude assessment. His mind flashed back to his graduation from the academy and the talk with the dean fo the school about a new and improved vessel that was currently being constructed somewhere in the Mars orbital shipyards.

The Fleet Admiral's thoughts were interrupted, however, as the dropship's holographic console display turned from a blue, orange, and green to a solid red across the board. Where dials and graphs used to be, thee hologram now displayed only the message, "Welcome back, Captain. Please get back in your seat and brace for docking."

Brantley blushed a bit, remembering that there were cameras on board the lander.

Brantley walk out of the lander to a hangar of saluting figures. But they weren't just figures for long for he quickly recognized all of his fellow officers even though he had not seen them for years:

Dahlia Rogers: my chief xenobiologist
Roger Orwell: my chief engineer
Usher Mulligan: my chief military officer
Chase McLending: my chief comms officer

"I would give your boarding of the dropship a 10, sir!" Chase blurted out as soon as the Captain exited the dropship.

"At ease, lady and gentlemen," he stated in between awkward chuckles.

"You son of a bitch..." muttered Roger.

"Excuse me?" the Admiral inquired with a slightly threatening tone.

"You had to go and tend to those prisoners, didn't you? You big-hearted bozo. We fucking missed you!" With that, he embraced me, followed by Dahlia, Chase, and, finally, Usher.

"Haha, it's a blessing and a curse, I suppose" Brantley replied.

"Well, we're glad to have you back, sir. Our interim captain was a bit of a-" Dahlia attempted to say.

"Pussy." finished Roger.

"Roger!" there was a pause. "... I suppose..." said Dahlia with her thumb, index, and middle fingers rubbing the bridge of her nose.

Brantley finally broke the silence, "Well, I'm very eager to catch up with all of you but I think I should get some rest. This is all a bit of a shock and seeing all of you has been extremely exciting and-"

"That's understandable, sir. Let me show you to your dormitory." led Usher, interrupting the Captain who had no energy to continue. The rest of the crew saluted and returned to the bridge as Usher and Brantley took an elevator to the top deck and began down a corridor to the Captain's room. They must have turned down more than 20 different hallways. It is amazing how Brant had this ship figure out 2 years ago. That was the thing; all of this was so sudden. Only a few hours earlier he was making plans to spend the day in my undies watching whatever the first channel the holoscreen tuned in to when I turned it on was. Now, without any re-acclimation or drills, Brantley has been thrust back into command of one of the most advanced ships in the GTU fleet. He didn't have time to finish that thought, however, as he arrived at his room and had to scan his retina in order to be allowed entry. Upon doing so, Usher saluted and began his trek back to the bridge, retaining the cold and stoic expression he almost always wore. When the Admiral entered, he saw something that made him very happy; a king-sized bed with a warmly-lit, simple-looking desk beside it. It was nothing much but being exposed to the cutting-edge on board this ship takes its toll after a while. He stumbled his way over to the bed and slumped onto it. Without even getting under the covers, he fell into a deep sleep.

In his dreams, he sees something.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You are a strange one, being a navy silhouette sang from behind me.

"What? Who are you?"

What do you want?! the unidentifiable shadow struggled to speak, a raspy tone only partially conveying the true intensity of their inquiry.

"Hello? Are you okay?" The Admiral began to clumsily stumble towards the fading figure. He reached out with his hand to touch it and swiped in a desperate attempt to grasp whatever was trying to communicate with him.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Admiral Brantley shot up in his bed. His eyes were wide and sweat was pouring down his face. He quickly scanned the room around him, his head popping around like a chicken.

"Okay, o-okay. It was just a dream..." he calmed himself. But, what was the being that tried to contact him? It looked almost like a... unicorn. Brantley quickly shrugged the thought off, justifying it under the fact that it was just a dream. Having sufficiently calmed himself, he relaxed his posture and slumped back down into the bed, leaning back up against his back board. With a yawn and a stretch, he looked at his ceiling. "Alright, time to get this show on the road." He raised his arm to use his wrist terminal. With a few swipes and taps, the windows in his dormitory began to untint and revealed a black wall of metal and specks of light. This was no doubt a space staiton. A huge one at that. The terminal that the Archer was in looked at least 5 or 6 times the size of the ship's 412-meter body. That was funny, too. Why were we parked in a terminal meant for a much larger vessel? Eh, a question for another time, Brantley thought. Right now, he needed to figure out where he was.

"Computer, where am I?" Brantley calmly asked the ship's AI. A holographic projection materialized in the corner to the left of the entrance, displaying a simple sphere with concentric lines, almost looking like an eye's iris.

"Good morning, Captain, or should I say afternoon?" a voice rang throughout the Captain's neural implant, "We are currently docked at Terra Prime Station, in orbit around Sol III." With that, the sphere phased into thin air leaving the Captain to his own thoughts. Oh, great. So now the ship has an attitude, too. Time to make planetfall on Ear- Brantley stopped in his own thought's tracks. Did the computer just say Earth? "Computer!"

"Yes, Captain?" The sphere rematerialized, projecting from the luminescent strips on the wall once again. The Admiral squinted and raised his index finger in an attempt to physically express his confusion.

"Now-n-now did you just s-say that we were... we were at Earth?" he asked as he approached the floating orb.

"Well, I technically said we were at Sol III. But, yes, we are at Earth." it nonchalantly replied. The Captain simply stood with his index finger pointed at the orb and his eyes still squinted. Holding in his feelings, he strained, "Thank you... that will be all." The sphere disappeared once again and the Admiral let what was building up inside of him out.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" he yelled as he clawed his face in an attempt to physically cope/ snap himself out of this alternate reality. His bedroom doorbell rang as his contact displayed a camera feed of what was outside of his bedroom. There was an officer outside with a worried expression on his face.

"Captain, sir, are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, officer, just fine. Thanks!" the Captain quickly replied as he regained his composure and flattened his bed head with his hands. The officer outside nodded and returned to his post down the hall. Brantley hobbled his way over to his bed and sat down on it. "Well, that was certainly a wakeup call." he joked. Normally, the Captain wasn't this upset over... anything really. It is, however, important to understand the implications of being on Earth. Brantley needed answers. So, he opened a map of the ship's bridge deck on his contact display and began to make his way over to the bridge, coming to term with his situation along the way.

Come on, Brantley! I know you just got back to military duty with no review whatsoever but you need to get it together! This was especially true now. Earth is the capital planet of the GTU. Now, what exactly does that mean? That means that the only reason anybody would ever come here, or rather could ever be permitted to come here, was either if they were the top 1% of the top 1% returning home, they were some galaxy-changing scientist one day away from making a breakthrough and was about to set up shop on Earth to give it a technological edge, or they were the leader of some alien civilization negotiating their integration into the Union. Why was hte USS Archer here? Brantley thought the best way to get answers was to ask. The bridge was now right in front of him.

The circular door in front of him whirred as the carious mechanisms undid themselves and interlocking metal components slid across the door's surface to reveal a hexagonally-patterned nano-membrane as a final line of defense. This dephased itself as the computer interfaced with his neural implant to confirm my ID. As he stepped through, a guard flanking the left side of the entrance saluted and exclaimed, "Captain on deck!" Upon hearing this, the entire crew stood to form their sseats, saluting, and the Captain was temporarily caught off guard by both this show of respect and the absolutely spectacular view in front of him. "At... at ease, crew," he mumbled as he was still amazed by what lay ahead of him in the bridge's viewscreen. The crew returned to their seats as the Captain approached his seat, his eyes unable to peel themselves away from the scenery.

In front of him was the slightly curved profile of mother Earth, lit by the sun and spotted by high rises that breached the atmosphere and space elevators carrying cargo to and from the hundreds of space station in geostationary orbit of the planet. "Beautiful, ain't it?" he heard Roger from behind me.

"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't. I have only been to earth three times in my life: once for my Bar Mitzvah, once for my promotion to Fleet Admiral, and now." Brant replied.

"Well, it's nice that you're finally up. We are here for a briefing and some new cargo. Some very expensive new cargo." stated Dahlia. That must be why they came to Earth. They had the galaxy's premier science institutes and, considering his sudden recall in addition to the GTU's risky move against the Tyrum, we must be preparing for the repercussions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, on a small blue planet in a galaxy far, far away...

A blue alicorn awoke in a cold sweat and scrambled to get on her feet as she fell off the side of her bed and collided with the ground. "Princess, are you okay?!" one of her guards asked with concern as he burst through her chamber doors.

"I don't know, Edge. I don't know." Luna replied, still laying in a contorted position on her chamber's marble floors.

Author's Note:

I understand that the story-telling and overall flow of the story is a bit clunky right now. But, I aim at improving my writing skills over time. So, please, continue reading and I don't believe you will be disappointed.

Comments

[StubobNumbers]

Marionberry? Is that a reference?

*Googles*

Huh, there is an actual breed of blackberry with that name.

There is also a former Democratic Party Congressman from Arkansas named Marion Berry.

[BestinDworld]

are you going to finish this?