AN: A while ago I made a story by the same name. I deleted it because it sucked, here is a better story. More of a pet project.
"For all passengers to Shanxi colony number "two-oh-four" please report to gate "A-114", thank you." The loudspeaker blared out over the cacophonous noise that was the mass driver terminal. People rushing all about in order to get back planetside. Some of them miners on leave from mining the moon they currently resided on. Others engineers required to keep the buildings habitable, some even accountants working for the Khurstag Mining Corporation, but most of them were using the moon terminal to get to Shanxi from another one of the system's planets. One such was a woman by the name of Sheila Strasser, a scientist from out of system. Sheila came to Shanxi in order to investigate an alien artifact in space near Shanxi. She came all the way from the Khurstag system in order to study the item. She was to meet up with an research team planetside, and she was on her way.
Sheila is running through the terminal in order to get to her gate in time. She HAS to make it to the gate in time, the team will not wait for her. Ticket in hand, and her luggage being dragged behind her, she can see the gate now, the clerk seems to see her running and waits for her.
"My ticket." Sheila barks this out, panting, out of fatigue from running all this way. The clerk simply nods and takes her ticket, then points her to the door. Walking on through the door onto the ramp, Sheila sighs she had made it, sweat pouring down her forehead. The ramp leads her on the shuttle, she can't see the outside of it, due to the ramp encompassing all but the door. Looking around she sees only one open seat, and with the shuttle about to launch, sits in it, buckling the straps. The man next to her looks at her, eying her up, before he finally speaks.
"So what is your business down on the dump we call Shanxi." The man, obviously a miner askes her.
"The alien object, near the planet." The man nods, and was about to speak, until the warning klaxons went off. The shuttle was about to launch, and all became quiet. First the humming of the mass shifter started, using an exotic element scientist call element zero, to alter the mass of the shuttle, making it easier to accelerate and decelerate. With the mass of the shuttle decreased, the mass driver begins its work. Launching the shuttle electromagnetically towards shanxi, travel time 46 minutes.
All throughout the trip Sheila wonders what will be found, but more importantly, what would aliens think of humanity? How much more advanced would they be? Would they think of the Systems Alliance as an outdated political system? Well the alliance is kind of confusing to understand anyway. A group of human controlled systems all with different laws, beliefs, technology levels, culture, and politics loosely held under one banner. The alliance doesn't even stop the systems from warring with one another as far as she remembers the Carrarshie System is at war with the Vorax System over some cultural belief. No, Sheila mentally slaps herself. She can't take her time worrying, and the artifact hasn't done anything yet, maybe the creators aren't there? Sheila couldn't get the thought out of her mind the whole time she was on the shuttle.
Sheila was brought out of her thought when the landing klaxons blare, and the shuttle is grabbed by the ground based magnets. Through the help of the magnets, and the reduction in mass from the mass shifter made it all possible. Even though the shuttle was windowless, people could guess what was happening, mainly in part the screech of metal on metal, it was obvious they were coming down in a launch tube. The screeching only stopped when the brakes in the tube stopped the shuttle. Not long after the passengers were to depart from the shuttle, and head down into the terminal. Sheila being among the first off had no problem getting through the terminal to the streets of the colony, her goal to get to the research center. Once there she would meet up with the research crew.
Standing in front of the address given to Sheila, she walks up to the door and presses the button on the buzzer. "Yeah who is this?" A monotone voice, one would expect a pious man to hold responds from the speaker. She presses on the button on the speaker and responds.
"This is Sheila, here to join the research team for the alien artifact." she releases the button allowing the voice on the other side to respond.
"Ah yes, we have been expecting you Ms. Strasser. I'll be there in a second." With that being the last words she heard spoken from the intercom, she has to wait. She does not wait for long the clackering of long outdated locks is heard, and the door swings open. A figure in a khaki robe greets her view. "Greetings I am Cicero, of House Cognitionis, from the Alpha Centauri system. May the Creator's blessing be with us." finally looking at her to reveal his face, he smiled. She couldn't help but stare at his face. His left eye has been replaced by a robotic one, with a red glow. The data jack of the side of his head. "Is there something wrong Ms. Strasser?" His words snapping her out of her trance.
"Ah yes Cicero, I'm alright." Her eye being drawn to his robotic arm, painted in the same khaki as his robe.
"Alright then Ms. Strasser, please come in." Stepping back, and allowing her to enter. Upon her entrance into the research center, she realized how small it was. It was only one room and a bathroom. "Dr. Johnson, the lady from Khurstag university is here."
"Thank you Cicero, Ms. Strasser is it?" An old lady, in her early sixties stood up from her seat at the computer.
"Yes, I came here as soon as I got your email." The doctor looks pleased, obviously a determined candidate, and that was just what she was looking for. Nodding in approval she immediately begins to tell her that they depart tomorrow. They have a ship and everything, a crew to investigate the object, and most importantly a ship, albeit with an old fashioned cherenkov drive instead of a warp drive, but still ftl capabilities nonetheless. And she lie on a futon in the room, she dreamed. She dreamed that they discovered just who it was that made the ruins found on Mars a century ago. And just what the ruins they found were.
"Everyone buckled in?" Cicero asked everyone, upon seeing Sheila and the Doctor give him a thumbs up he began the takeoff process. Signalling to the traffic controller, and the ship they are heading too that they are ready. The shuttle jolts to life, Sheila bucking in her seat as the shuttle begins to head to orbit. "With the plasma thrusters of House Cognition we shall be to the ship in less than three minutes." Cicero spoke the truth, the thrusters of his home bringing them into orbit quickly and smoothly, comparatively to other thrusters.
Landing in the shuttle hanger of the ship and crew they payed for, the captain welcomed them and told them that they hoped to do further business if it ends up going further. Heading up to the bridge of the ship and observing the empty void that was known space. "Funny, my people do not use exposed bridges." Cicero had to comment on the difference between his home and this one.
"This is not a military ship, this ship was not made for combat. It is merely a modified hauler." Dr. Johnson commented, Cicero only listened patiently taking everything she said into memory. It wasn't much time until they began to head out to the object. After everyone was buckled up, they initiated the cherenkov drive. What would usually take three hours now will only take thirty seconds, and then they have arrived.
It has been three days into the trek, and multiple EVAs worth of poking and prodding to try to figure out the objects purpose. To be honest, it looked kind of like a gun to Sheila. "So Doc, what exactly do we know about the object." Sheila askes.
"It was discovered when the colony was set up, and now three Alliance standard years later, we got the funding to figure out what it exactly is. Before she could say anymore a crewmember of the ship bursts into the room.
"Doctor Johnson! The object! It appeared to have turned on. One of the men on EVA was doing something, and it just turned on!"
"Quickly Sheila!" With no time to waste, they ran to the bridge, and what met their eyes was astonishing. The object was active, rings spinning, and a bluish glow coming off of it. "Out of my way, let me see those readings!" Pushing the crewman out of the way she read the ships albeit primitive, sensors. "A type of radiation is coming off the object this is-" A blip came up on the radar, then another. Before they knew it, at least a fleets worth of ships were in the system. "Send a message, this may just be first contact." Before anyone could carry out the Doctor's order, and solid slug slammed into the ship, causing a cataclysmic explosion due to damage caused to the cherenkov drive. There were no survivors.
"Sir, we have S.O.S signals coming in from Shanxi colony, not only that we also have messages sent in."
"Well what do they say?" The radio operator only pointe to the screen he had, and the commander read the message. It was all corrupted, except for a few words, such as, invasion, first contact, alien, starvation. "By God. You, alert the president, tell him that our colony of Shanxi has been besieged by a supposed alien threat." The radio operator he pointed to immediately got to it. "Men as of September 15th, 2157, we are at war. And let it be known, that the Union of Khurstag shall fight to teeth and claw, or my name is not David Anderson!"
AN: This is just a proof of concept to see if anyone would want to see this continue. It's going to be more of a thriller instead of a hard core acction, but if you are from The Reich and the Empire, the action will be there as well. If you want to see a continue follow and review, let me know your thoughts.