Chapter 1 : Fire in the Sky
Location: Deep Space, over planet XII of the Rigel star-system, 20 years after First Hostile Contact.
Another asteroid comes into view and fades away as a lone Anthromorph soldier sits by a rather large window in a flagship's Rec Room. Inside is mind beams another all-too-familiar news broadcast, speaking word about recent war events. It fills him, repeating the same words of hours before.
"...the board will come to a final decision regarding his sentence tonight. In recent RAAC (Rigel Aerospace Assault Corps) news, another contingent of freighters and passenger transports are reported missing after a repeated bombardment by what Commoner and Military alike now refer to as 'the Sey'Tan', as a nod to their somewhat Hellish design. Officials report that after a recent military attack, these vessels disappeared into what they identified as a reddish portal, with scientists calling the phenomena 'dimensional fatigue'..."
The 'Morph intakes a shot of a whiskey-like liquid, and turns from the window to the bar where he obtained his drink and sets the shotglass on the counter, wiping his Core Unit's (Or in other words, an artificial body) face with one of his tendrils, then returning to gaze at space, the ship now turning to present a view of Planet XII, his home. He can't help but emit a sigh of sadness as he watches his home from above.
The Rec Room seems a lot emptier now than it used to be. When he first arrived on the Flagship "Amiral Gemisi", all was bustling with stories of war-veterans who fought in the early Sey'Tan battles. Some lived themselves to tell of these stories, some are just second-hand accounts. Most of the time, these secondhand accounts live up to the 'exaggeration and stretched truth' quota. Some of these include the popular 'I was kidnapped and fought out of there with my bare tentacles' stories, while others go far beyond their laughability expectancy.
He missed the company of even these miserable flight-training dropouts. Every once in a blue moon, he'd get a little more company, maybe a wingman or two. Most of the time though, it was either a guy telling him about 'The end of the world', emptiness, or the quiet sound of the telepathic vision receiver blaring war news into his head, which it was doing now. He ha a strong urge to turn it off, when an overhead broadcast speaker does its familiar chime, and speaks:
"Lieutenant Ak'Tarma, please report to the briefing quarters on the first floor. General Komutan requires your attention. Lieutenant Ak'Tarma, please report to the briefing quarters on the first floor. General Komutan requires your attention. .. Thank You."
The message plays its chime once again, then cuts off. Wearily, he gets up from his bar stool and walks over to the lift entrance, pressing a flashing red button on its side to open it, then walking in. A sign says: 'Please turn off all communication receivers of any kind before using this lift' and he adheres, but not before a final message comes from the news receiver:
"...As what seems to be a project almost unknown to commoners at this time, RAAC Board members have leaked the news of a supposed long-term project in the form of planet evacuation and recolonzing, in order to begin new life on other worlds away from the Sey'Tan invaders. If what this report claims is true, we are all left with many questions, most of which are: Who will go? Who will get left behind? And most importantly, WHO is making these rash decisions?"
Ak'Tarma shuts off the receiver, having heard enough. He turns to his side and finds that he's not alone in this lift. His Core Unit seems to bear the rankings of a communications officer. He speaks to Ak'Tarma through a telepathic transmitter.
"I heard the news too. So the crackpot RAAC have finally flew over the edge this time, haven't they?" He says.
Ak'Tarma stays silent for a moment, somewhat trying to ignore the person. Another damned war-pessimist coming to confront him.
"Not much of a talker, huh?" He says, then sticks out a tendril to him. "Communications officer Konusma Aygiti, at yer service..." He looks at Ak'Tarma's badges and nametag. "Lieutenant Ak'Tarma. Call me Aygiti, if you want. Or, don't talk at all. All fine with me. I'll prolly be your only friend aboard this ship for a while, if you ask me. I know the dirt on this ship, its crew, war news, et cedera, et cedera. I collect it, and store it in my Core Unit's facial cheeks." He points to his artificial face. Must be a new model, even Ak'Tarma had not acquired one as of yet.
He finally speaks up. "That would explain your breath. I don't need your pessimism nor your friendship. Since you're annoying enough as it is, and I have to work with you, I must tolerate." He fumes, clearly irritated.
"Okay, mister. Jus' know whenever you need someone to come watch your back, or you need the scoop on something around here, just track down my ass. In the meantime, this is where I get off." He replies, just before stepping off the lift on the comm-deck.
Clearly, that updated 'Morph unit was a bit of a hothead. Like all the rest of the damned new fly-crew. Aygiti, huh. Sounds like the name of one of the new crew from the planet surface anyway, from a crew replacement log from only days before. A fresh guy, not used to the real fear and pain of war. He'll soon learn.
A few minutes later, the sound of a 'ding!' emits from the lift's speaker system, and Ak'Tarma steps off, walking over to the briefing room door and passing trough an Identification Checkpoint on his way. Red lights flash around him, scanning for foreign objects, weapons, the like. His visual receivers go slightly blind for a few minutes, but return to normal as soon as he enters the Briefing room, which is lit by the lights of computers and the 'war-table' in the center of the room. A familiar face turns to greet Ak'Tarma as he makes his entrance, known as General Komutan. His look is solid, showing neither a smile nor frown. Simply a neutral look.
"Lieutenant Ak'Tarma, we have news. Some bad, some good." He speaks.
"I'll bite. What's the bad news, sir?" Says Ak'Tarma.
"Things don't look good in our favor. I'm sure you've already heard... the news."