Discovery

Extraterrestial.

For centuries humanity had often asked itself the same question over and over again: are we alone on the Universe? Most scholars and great thinkers were skeptical about the possibility that there were other intelligent life forms on a different part of the universe; after all, the chance of a life-bearing planet with the exact condition as Earth was less than 0.001%. Others were not so skeptical, though they found it unlikely for the same reason, while there were those who vehemently refused such a frivolous theory.

After all, Humanity was created in God's image as a unique existence that could never be found elsewhere, and it would be blasphemous to think otherwise, or so the Catholic Church had said.

But no matter the varying opinions regarding alien life, humanity still poured their strength, energy, and wealth in finding out if there were others like those found on Earth, even a single trace of a micro-organism that would signal the start of life. A few leads had been discovered through the decades, and yet that dream of meeting another sentient race had seemed more of a fantasy than anything else at that time; the universe was just too vast to find anything remotely resembling life. And so humanity kept on dreaming, waiting for the day when that theory would finally be proven true.

They did not really had to wait too long.

On October 3, 2047 A.D., NASA had detected what was unmistakably a sign of extraterrestial life on a planet just a few lights years away from the Solar System. There had been an uproar immediately w,ithin the community, and an emergency meeting was swiftly held. For over three days various space agencies had debated on their next course of action. This was the breakthrough everyone had been waiting for, but no one wanted to act so rashly. It was the first time humanity had discovered life outside Earth, so naturally they had to be careful; the risk of encountering a dangerous organism was just too great.

In the end, everyone had decided to send a probe with a message attached if it turned out to be sentient. The distance was too far for a proper communication to be sent, and they did not even know if it would respond. So on May 26, 2048, NASA launched the first A.I.-operated probe Humanity on a 70-year journey in deep space in the ,hope of confirming the validity of their discovery. They did not tell the world at first, however, wary of the backlash should it prove to be false.

Decades passed, wars were fought, and new technologies were developed. NASA had kept watch in all those years, uninterested with the state of the world. A few times they had been almost disbanded, but they managed to stay; being one of the only two remaining space agencies, the other being the Russian Aeronautic Agency or RAA, their importance to the world could never be dismissed nor forgotten.

It was then on one fateful day, when NASA was monitoring the construction of Earth's first fully functional moon outpost, that Humanity sent back a much long awaited message.

It had arrived.

With unfathomable excitement, NASA watched the first images of the planet were transmitted back on Earth. It was a regular gas giant, barely indistinguishable from those they had already seen. Despite this, they were not disappointed. What was important was the one on its surface; whatever it was, the numerous cameras on Humanity was detecting heavy activity.

Breaths held, everyone in the Mission Control Center watched as the probe entered the atmosphere. They could feel the anticipation rising in the room; even the Russians on the other side of world watching at the same time were silent. They knew this was a historical moment, and they wanted to engrave this on their memory as the first time their race had encountered another life form.

Later on, they would be cursing themselves for starting the project in the first place.

As the probe broke through the planet's brown sky, something hit it with so much force the camera went dark in an instant. Confused and bewildered, NASA tried to reestablished visual contact. It had happened too fast to see anything, but they caught a glimpse of what looked like a tentacle, which they found extremely disturbing.

Moments later, contact with Humanity was finally cut off. For several minutes they tried to salvage the mission. However, when it was apparent that they had already lost the probe, only then was the project deemed a failure... or so they thought. When they reviewed the last images Humanity had captured before it was destroyed, a chill went down their spine.

They had discovered an extraterrestial life. They had proven the theory. They had made contact.

It just so happened that the organism they had encountered was not alone; there were thousands of them, and all were aggressive and dangerous. The planet was virtually overran with these creatures, which they called Unidentified Aggressive Lifeforms on account of their appearance; they looked like red jellyfishes with hundreds of tentacles.

The incident was kept secret. The world must not know that a potentially dangerous alien species was just outside the solar system. It would breed chaos, and the peace they had established after World War 3 would be shattered. So they remained silent, and everything had been uneventful for a year.

That was until NASA detected them again. This time, they were grouped together in what they would later call a Mass Union Ship, and had just passed Pluto. To their horror, they realized after calculating the speed and trajectory that it would arrive on Earth within ten years.

Nobody denied what would happen if it did. Knowing what would the outcome be, NASA had decided to inform the UN. At first, there was much panic. The countries were still recovering from the devastation of the third world war, and their military power was still being reorganized. Most, if not all, armies were reduced to half their strength, and could not replenish it in such a short time. But despite this, they all recognized the threat. The UALs would wipe out humanity, that much was certain.

There had been many heated debates at first, and more than one occassion the threat of a fourth world war was brought on the table. However, after much arguments, the countries all agreed upon one thing: Humanity had to prepare. They soon revealed it to the world, which resulted in riots for being kept in the dark. But in the end, humanity accepted the inevitable.

In response, the International Space Defense Force was quickly established. Though they did not have any weapons for space warfare yet, it did not deter them from improvising. Using the recently developed High-Maneuverablity Utility Suits, an all-purpose exploration vehicle, they transformed them into Earth's first war machines. Manufacturing plants for weapons and spare parts were soon put into motion, and a worldwide militarization was started. Recruitment to become pilots began in earnest, in which many people had eagerly enlisted, and a an academy was put up in the US. At that point everyone wanted to be a hero who would save Earth.

And so it was then that six aspiring pilots would enlist on the same day in the hope of becoming a hero. Nobody knew it at that time, but they would soon shape the fate of Humanity itself, and thus would become legends who would be remembered even after Earth was destroyed and humanity was adrift among the stars searching for a new home.

He stared at the compound, feeling as overwhelmed as the rest of his friends. It had started as a joke, then turned into a challenge, and now they were here.

"Are you sure about this?" one of them asked. She looked irritated for some reason.

He scratched his head. "Uh, maybe?" He let out a chuckle. "What do you think, Lalah?"

The other young woman to his left grumbled. "Don't ask me. This is your idea."

"Well, yeah." He would admit it was his idea. But it was not as if they all had to agree, which they did anyway. Besides, piloting those HiMUS seemed like a cool idea at that time.

"If you're going to decide, better hurry up soon or we'll ditch you." A man next to Lalah said with a sigh as he adjusted his glasses.

"I have to agree with him," a third woman said. "Staying here will not do us any good."

He was quiet for a moment. He had practically dragged them here, though he was certain they were as curious as him. And now he was having second doubts. But no matter. They had come a long way just to enlist. It would be a waste if they leave without trying.

"Fine," he said. "Let's go inside." Then he glanced to his right. "Ah, don't be mad, Megane. It should be, er, fun?" He was not really sure.

The woman known as Megane glared at him. "Your idea of fun is not exactly exciting." With that she started to walk away, her long hair swaying. The rest of them followed her, shaking their heads at their friend who had brought them here.

Hiroki Saitou blinked, then sighed and sprinted after them.