Here I am with another chapter of The Will of Resistance. This time, we're gonna start the Falmart natives visit to our world. Or, more precisely, our Galaxy. But before the meeting with UNSA Headquarters, they first need to get to Earth. And to do it, they have to visit few more places.
Anyway, let's start this journey.
Chapter 10
,,Through the Gate"
July 11, 2150
07:08
Terhis City Main Plaza, Angier Prime
When in years following the war between Resistance and Sadera princess Pina Co Lada wrote in her diaries, that after crossing the Gate diving both worlds, she saw buildings bigger than anything she saw before. Enormous towers made of glass covered in snow, towering over the Gate, higher than biggest towers in the Empire. Not only she, but also other Falmart natives were taken aback by what they were seeing in front of them.
"Are these…walls?"Bozes asked.
"Look! There are people!"Pina said, pointing at one of the buildings.
Through the glass in the wall, they could see a group of African Union soldiers sipping coffee and talking about their own business. One of them apparently told a joke, as they started laughing.
"Buildings made fully of glass…"Pina thought."In Sadera, only the richest families could have glass windows. And they made whole buildings of it!"
"They are effectively using limited space."Lelei noticed.
"Does it mean, that Resistance is overpopulated?"Rory asked.
"Possible."Lelei agreed.
Pina looked at Bozes with worried expression on her face.
"In any case, Empire declared war on civilization able to build something like this…"princess said.
"I know, your Highness."Bozes replied.
They were then hit by a sudden gush of the wind. Tuka quickly hugged herself, feeling the stinging cold.
"It's cold…"the elf said.
"We told you."Dora said."Winter starts here around this time of the year."
"You can get a coat if you want."Suvi said.
"No. I'm fine."Tuka replied with smile.
"Okay. But tell, if something changes."Yuko added.
Meanwhile, Ester approached the checkpoint set up next to the exit from the Gate area. There, a tall creature with round head and six black eyes on it gave her some documents to sign, using one of it's six arms. The creature's skin was gray and it was dressed in an elastic suit.
Falmart natives looked at the creature. They heard, that except of Humans, Chakdrik, Nashini and Shakayans, there are other races, but seeing one of them right after exiting the Gate made them feel uneasy.
"Modrans."Ester said, pointing at the creature."They aren't the best fighters, but they are the best officials from all known races."
"Okay…"Pina said, looking at Modran empty eyes.
"Well, isn't it major Barkhorn?"a voice behind them said.
When everyone turned around, they saw a dark skinned man, dressed in a coat. He had black hair and under the coat, he had a black suit. He also had a scar under his left eye. He was accompanied by two more men in suits.
"I'm Amir Haddad, agent of Egyptian General Intelligence Agency, sent here by the order of the African Union. I was ordered to escort you."the man said.
Ester stopped signing the documents for a moment and looked at the EGIA agent and his companions.
"So you're here because of HQ?"Ester asked.
"Not exactly, but I'm in contact with UNSA on Earth."Amir replied."But it's so visible?"
"I guessed."Ester said.
In response, the African Union agent laughed. He then reached under his coat and took a small book from there.
"I checked you."Amir said."Born on January 22, 2132 in Dortmund, Germany. After finishing the high school, you joined UNSA Air Academy on Titan, Saturn's biggest moon, after the application age was lowered to 15, to start training there. You ended the academy with the best score in piloting a fighter, as well as getting the rank of major for that. Since then, you and your squadron have the second highest score in UNSA and Resistance, only better than you are Nashini Mohiga Squadron. You also fought in the Battle of Terhis, supporting the evacuation of civilians."
He closed the book and hid it back into the pocket in his coat.
"Is that right?"Amir asked.
"I see that you did your homework on us."Ester said with respect in voice."Should be expected after intelligence agent, though."
"Thank you."agent replied.
Lelei the leaned to Dora.
"What is UNSA Air Academy on Titan?"she asked.
"The most prestigious Human military school. Pilots trained there are often best of the best. We all went there."Dora replied, pointing at Suvi and Yuko.
Lelei nodded.
Ester, in the meantime, started filling the last places in the documents and gave the to the Modran. Alien nodded it's six-eyed head and touched Ester's forehead.
"I wish peace to you."he said in his language.
"And may the winds lead you."Ester replied, also in Modran language.
After it, she turned to the group of Falmart natives.
"What was that?"Bozes asked.
"Traditional Modran farewell. It comes from that their religion is mainly focused on winds and air, as their home is pretty windy place."Ester explained."Anyway, can you lead us to our transport?"
"Yes, follow me."Amir said.
The group then followed him. African Union agent lead them to the silver bus, standing in front of the fence surrounding the Gate. The door opened and Amir turned to the group.
"This bus will take you to Terhis Spaceport."he said."Shuttle will take you on RNS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which will then take you on Earth. There, you will be met by my counterpart in UNSA Intelligence and Counter Terrorist Agency."
"Okay then."Ester said."Load up, people! We're gonna have a ride."
Bus' door opened and group made their way inside. Soon, a small convoy consisting of the bus in the middle, two African Union, more precisely Moroccan Aksha 4x4 MRAPs, in behind and front of bus and EGIA car in front of first MRAP.
As the convoy made their way to the city's spaceport, Falmart natives had their first true look at the Human colonial city. Everywhere, crowds of people were taking care of their business. Majority of planet's population consisted of Africans and Arabs, because of African Union, but dozen or so other races members were visible too.
"Look at them."Lelei said.
"Is this the market place?"Rory asked.
"Or some kind of festive?"Tuka guessed.
Convoy then turned into the nearest turn.
"Wait. This isn't way to spaceport."Dora noticed.
"No. We first need to do some buying. They can't enter UNSA Headquarters in jeans, right?"Ester replied, looking at Tuka.
Soon, bus stopped in front of the clothes store. Ester told the group to follow her and soon, Falmart natives entered the store. There, they were allowed to freely choose their clothes to during the meeting with Resistance leaders.
In case of Tuka, it was an elegant suit. She changed into it and exited the changing room and showed herself to everyone.
"Wow, it looks really good on you."Yuko said.
"When you have such sexy body, everything looks good on you."Suvi added with smile.
"You really had to say that, huh?"Dora asked.
Suvi just threw up her arms.
"And what are you gonna wear?"she asked Lelei and Rory.
"This."Lelei said, pointing at her clothes.
"And this."Rory said, pointing at her clothes."It's Apostle's outfit after all.
After everyone looked through the clothes (even Suvi and Yuko got themselves some cool T-Shirts), Ester approached the cash and paid for everything.
"Please, save the bill for UNSA Navy."she said.
Next, the group returned to the bus and convoy was again en route to the spaceport. On their way, they stopped at the local McDonald's and Ester bought several packs, each for everyone. Inside were fries, cola and hamburgers.
"It's better to be full, just in case. So please eat."Ester said.
Pina and Bozes opened their packs and took the hamburgers. They looked at them from all sides, uncertain about it.
"Bread, vegetables and meat…Strange combination."Bozes stated.
"But better to do what Ester said."Pina stated and the two bitten the hamburgers.
And immediately felt like they never ate anything better before. Turns out, that this combination actually was pretty impressively tasty.
"Well, seems they enjoyed it."Suvi stated.
"Even when you're from another world, you will always enjoy good hamburger."Ester stated.
Their travel took another hour, before they reached their destination. Upon reaching the Terhis City Spaceport, Ester told them to come out of the bus. And once they did, the Falmartese stood in front of even bigger building than the ones they saw before. It was made of glass too and had words 'Terhis City Spaceport' written over the entrance.
"Space…port?"Lelei asked.
"Easy, you will see when we get to our transport."Ester said.
Amir approached the group.
"Well. This is where my role ends. Once you reach Solar System, you will be taken over by my counterpart in ICTA."he said.
"Thanks for the escort. Maybe we will meet again."Ester said.
Amir just laughed.
"Oh, I think we will."he said."Anyway, wish you best during your travel."
he then entered his car and two EGIA cars, accompanied by MRAPs, left. Bus followed them few seconds later.
"Okay, let's check if our transport is waiting."Ester said.
She then went in the direction of the spaceport and entered inside through the automatic door. The Falmart natives watched as the door open and close without pulling the handle and followed four Resistance soldiers.
Inside, they saw even bigger crowds of people. Some had boxes on wheels with them, others had smaller boxes with handles. They were walking in every direction and talked with numerous languages.
"There are even more people than in the city."Tuka said.
"Spaceport is communication heart of all bigger cities. People are traveling left and right from here."Dora explained.
Ester then approached one of places where the ushers were sitting.
"What do you need?"the usher asked.
"We had a flight from position five."Ester replied.
Usher looked into her computer for few seconds. Several clicks later, she turned back to Ester and nodded.
"Of course. The shuttle is waiting. It will take you straight on RNS Dwight D. Eisenhower."usher said.
"Thank you."Ester replied and turned to her group."Okay, our transport is waiting. Let's go."
The group made their way through the corridors of the spaceport. People around them were looking at the group with confused looks, but nobody made any comment. However, Pina felt somehow uneasy between such big crowds.
"Your Highness, is something wrong?"Bozes asked.
"No. It's just…How can we even win with someone, who has so many people? Probably if they wanted, they could recruit soldiers without end."Pina replied.
"So maybe it's better, if we stop fighting them."
Pina just nodded.
"Okay, there it is."Ester suddenly announced.
They stood in front of a long bridge, leading to the round platform. On the platform, there stood a bigger craft, resembling the dropships used by Resistance, it didn't had weapons mounted on it. Additionally, it was painted in white, with words 'Algerian Spacelines' painted in green. The back door was opened.
"We have to go inside of that?"Pina asked.
"Yes. Civilian shuttles maybe aren't as efficient as military dropships, but they still are the best way of travel."Dora explained.
Group made their way towards the shuttle, where they were greeted by ship's crew in from of two stewardesses and one stewards. They led the group inside and showed them to sit on the places and when everyone was sitting, they started to pull down the harnesses, which had to keep them all in place during the flight. Next, the crew walked to their own seats, where they did the same.
"Why are we need these?"Bozes asked, pointing at the harnesses.
"You're gonna find out soon."was the only answer she got from Yuko.
Shuttle then shook, signaling it started to lift into the air. Screens, replacing windows in the sides of the hull, activated, showing the blue sky over planet's capital city. But what most surprised the Falmart natives, was the moment, when ship started setting up in vertical position.
"Tilt angle: 90 degree."pilot announced."Prepare for atmospheric in ten…nine…"
"What is he talking about? And why are we going up?"Lelei asked.
"You will see!"Suvi replied.
"…two…one…zero…Atmospheric flight initiated."pilot ended.
And right as he said that, everyone was literally pushed into the seats, as ship started flying higher and higher through the clouds. Pina and Bozes looked at each other, don't knowing what was happening. They were feeling, like someone was literally sitting on their chests. What made the situation more worrying, were the calm faces of Ester, Dora, Yuko and Suvi.
But after seeing on the screens, that their mode of transportation is being engulfed by flames, two Knights/nobles literally felt panic growing in them. And truth be told, Tuka, Lelei and even Rory were worried about it.
"What happened, why are we burning?!"Pina exclaimed.
"Easy, it's normal!"Ester replied.
By the next two or so minutes, the flames engulfed the shuttle. However, after that amount of time, they disappeared, together with shaking of the ship. And when this happened, the Falmartese looked at the screens on the walls and blinked their eyes.
On one of the screens, they could see blue ball, with three green stains on it. Behind it, they could see black emptiness, filled with thousands of blinking lights. And behind the blue ball, in the distance, they could see a bigger, yellow light.
"Impressive view isn't it?"Ester asked."It should be expected after someone, who for the first time flew into space."
This brought attention of Falmartese on her.
"Space?"Tuka asked.
"Yeah. Space is where we live. This is where the planets and stars are placed."Yuko replied.
"Wait…Planets and stars?"Pina asked.
"Yes. And thanks to our technology, we can easily travel between each star, moon or planet."Dora replied."We call it interstellar travel."
Pina then felt as she widens her eyes. She knew about other planets and stars, she heard about them from Imperial astronomers. But traveling between them? It shouldn't be possible. But this was different world after all…
"How can you travel between planets and stars?"Bozes asked.
"We use the so-called 'hyperspace'. It's special system, which allows us to travel with speed of light."Suvi said.
"Travel with speed of light?"amazed Tuka asked.
"Fascinating."Lelei stated.
"And interesting at the same time."Rory added.
In the meantime, Pina was thinking about this what she just heard. They were able to travel with the speed of light. And light is probably one of the fastest things in the world! You just had to light up the candle and the room already was covered in light. She looked at the planet below them.
"But your planet is actually beautiful from this view."she said.
"Well, this planet, Angier Prime isn't actually our home planet. It's merely a colony."Ester said.
"Colony?!"both Pina and Bozes asked.
Empire itself had several colonies on the coast of Falmrt and beyond the Great Ocean, but to have an entire planet as a colony? And to make it look so outstanding…
"And to think we enraged such a powerful and advanced empire like Resistance…"Pina said, making the Resistance soldiers frown.
"Sorry, but you are wrong. Resistance isn't an empire, but an alliance."Yuko pointed out.
Pinna and Bozes gulped again.
"An alliance?"Bozes asked.
"Yeah. And alliance of numerous nations able to use interstellar travel like Humans. And our full name is Resistance Alliance."Ester said.
"So all these races…"Bozes said.
"Are Humanity's allies. Chakdrik Collective, Nashini Republic, United Nations Space Alliance, Tertan Federation and United Shakayan Kingdoms are the five most powerful members of Resistance."Dora replied, making Bozes shrug.
"I actually wondered, why Human faction had this 'Space' in name."Lelei said.
Two Imperials just looked at each other. To enrage bigger, more powerful empire was bad. But to enrage alliance of nations, able to travel between planets and stars just like that using speed of light and using weapons able to destroy entire armies…This was the direst situation Sadera ever landed in.
"Father, what have you done?"Pina thought.
"So…If this Angier Prime"Rory said, pointing at her seat"isn't your home planet, then we have to go there with this?"
Resistance soldiers looked at each other and all shook their heads.
"No. Smaller crafts like shuttles or dropships aren't capable of hyperspace jumping."Ester said.
"Then how do we get on this planet where Humanity comes from?"Rory asked.
In response, all four pointed at the second screen. Falmartese looked at it and felt even more stunned, than after seeing planet from space.
On the screen, there was an enormous shape easily visible on the background of stars. On it's both ends, green and red lights were blinking. Behind it, there was a blue glow. Shape was simply sitting in one place, not moving a bit. It was also lighted up with numerous white lights, making Falmartese able to see it's gray color, with several blue markings on it.
"What…is that?"stunned Bozes asked.
"Well. This is ship."Yuko replied.
"A ship?!"Pina exclaimed.
"More precisely, a warship. Such ships are our main fighting force in the emptiness of space."Ester replied.
This was enough for Pina. These people were able to build ships, which could travel between stars and planets. To it, these were warships! Even Imperial galleys weren't as big. The biggest ship she ever saw, was as big as two galleys connected together.
Shuttle made it's way towards the ship and when they were flying next to it, Pina saw what was written on it's hull. A single inscription saying 'RNS Dwight D. Eisenhower'. Next, their shuttle flew through the force field of the hangar and sat on the ground.
"Well. We're aboard."Ester said, as she lifted her harness up and stood up.
She was followed by Dora, Suvi and Yuko. Then by Lelei, Tuka and Rory. Pina and Bozes stood up as the last and followed their group. They entered the hangar and saw numerous soldiers and ship crew members walking between vehicles placed in the hangar. They could see Humans, as well as other races.
"Your Highness. This place is like a city!"Bozes said.
"No. It's a military compound."Pina stated.
Ester, Dora, Yuko and Suvi then stood in the hangar, looked up and saluted. When the Falmart natives followed their sight, they saw a blue banner with white drawings on it. Next, Ester turned towards them and smiled.
"Okay, before we show you your sleeping places, we're gonna show you to this ship's current ruler. Follow us."Ester said.
She then went in the direction of a small rectangle in the hangar, separated from the rest of the hangar by barriers and white paint. Everyone entered the rectangle and stood in it, waiting for what was going to happen. Soon, the rectangle started lifting up.
"Wait, what's happening?"Tuka asked.
"It's elevator. We use it to go from lower floor to higher and vice versa without using stairs."Dora explained.
Elevator then took them through several more ship decks, passing by the doors on each of them. Finally, it stopped in front of one of these door and they opened, revealing a small corridor leading to the bigger area.
"This is what we call the Command Deck."Ester said."From here, ship's captain commands everything what's happening on the ship and around it."
In that moment, Pina lifted her hand up, trying to turn Ester's attention on her.
"And if I can ask"princess said"who is the captain of this ship?"
"Captain Eriksson. I'm sure you met him."Ester replied.
Pina then remembered that elder man with cane. So he was the commander of this ship? He had to be a great commander to get command over something like this. And experienced, seeing his age.
"But now, let's go. Current captain is waiting."Dora said.
The door leading to the bridge opened and Falmart natives entered. Immediately they saw an enormous window in the front part of the bridge, pointed towards the darkness of space. Round them, people were talking and controlling things on their consoles and datapads. Two more people stood in front of a holo-table in the middle of bridge.
It was one of these two Ester spoke to.
"Egon, we're here."Ester said.
A young man, probably in the middle of his twenties, looked up from the holo-table. He looked at the Falmartese and nodded.
"So these are our 'special guests from Special System?"Egon asked.
"Yes. Please meet. Lelei La Lalena, Tuka Luna Marceau, Rory Mercury, Pina Co Lada and Bozes Co Palesti."Ester said.
"Wait. Pina Co Lada?"Egon asked.
"Yes. It's her name."Ester confirmed and turned to the Falmartese."Ladies, please meet first officer Egon Sammer, captain Eriksson's right hand and ship's captain during Eriksson's absence."
Falmart natives could only nod, as only Lelei knew a bit of English. After that, Egon turned back to the table and looked at the map of the so-called 'Local Sector', which housed Solar System, Alpha Centauri, Sirius, Angier and several other systems.
"So, when are we going back to Earth?"Ester asked.
"As fast as possible. But we have enough fuel to jump to Alpha Centarui, then through it. After third jump, we're gonna stop at Uranus to refuel."Egon replied."When this will be happening, you can show our guests around the ship."
"That's what we planned."Ester replied.
"Okay."first officer then turned to the crew at the consoles."Prepare for hyperspace jump to Alpha Centauri!"
"You're now gonna see, how the hyperspace jump looks like."Yuko said to the Falmart natives.
Everyone then looked at the crew, running between the consoles, while others were pressing buttons. Several switches were switched and ship started to turn around, to point it's nose in the direction of Alpha Centauri. Some green lights lighted up and sound of heating the engines was heard.
"They all look so disciplined and do their tasks so competently."Pina thought, seeing the men and women of the bridge crew."It seems like they did it numerous times."
"Jump accuracy?"Egon asked the navigator.
"Accuracy: 99,8%. We're gonna jump on the orbit of Alpha Centauri IV."navigator replied.
"Good."Egon said.
"Jump in three…two…one. Now!"first of the ship's pilots said.
And as he did it, ship entered hyperspace. Falmart natives looked in amazement at the hyperspace tunnel, the blue lights passing by the ship. Pina and Bozes were the most amazed. So this is how the faster than light travel looks like?
"Even our greatest mages couldn't create something like this."princess thought.
Ester turned to the group and smiled.
"Until we're traveling to the Solar System, let us show you the ship."she said.
Group then followed her out of the bridge. They made their way to the elevator and started going o the lower decks.
Later…
"RNS Dwight D. Eisenhower is a Gen. Juan Salazar-class Heavy Cruiser, sixteenth ship of it's class. It's also the first ship of Dwight D. Eisenhower-subclass."Ester said, as the group walked down the corridor on Deck 4.
Tuka then lifted her hand.
"What is 'subclass'?"she asked.
"It's class in class. Ike, as we shortly call this ship, looks like other Gen. Juan Salazar-class, but it has more weapons, newer torpedo launchers and better propulsion and navigation. So it still belongs to the class, but at the same time it's it's own class of ship."Dora explained.
Tuka nodded.
"I still can't believe you can make such enormous ships."Bozes said.
"Actually, Heavy Cruisers are more like medium-sized ships."Suvi said.
This took the attention of Pina and Bozes.
"Medium? You mean that…?"Pina asked.
"There are bigger. Battleships, Carriers, Super Carriers and Dreadnoughts. These are the ships we classify as big-sized."Dora said.
Pina gulped. For her, Dwight D. Eisenhower was already enormous. And to hear, that there are ships even bigger than this was just stunning.
They were then passed by three Ethan-type androids, which brought the Falmartese attention.
"And these metal men?"Pina asked.
"We call them 'androids'. These are machines resembling humans. They can speak, have arms legs and intelligence. In short, it's artificial form of life."Yuko explained."Ethan-type androids, like the ones we just passed, are additionally equipped with ability have emotions."
Pina once more looked back at the robots, that walked away already. Ability to create life…Necromancers could do it, but only by resurrecting the dead. They, on the other head, could create a whole new life from the scratch.
"And this is our common room."Ester said, as they entered to a room.
Inside, there were sofas, armchairs, television and even a small kitchen in the corner. Falmartese looked around and saw also a small gym in the back.
"And what is this room for?"Lelei asked.
"We use it to rest. We can have something to drink, something to eat or train a little. We can have a sit there, if you want."Suvi proposed.
"We really can?"Bozes asked.
"Of course. Everyone can have a sit in common room."Ester replied.
Rory was the first to run inside. She jumped up and landed on the sofa. Not long after, smile appeared on her face.
"I have to admin, this actually is comfortable."she said.
Rest of the group quickly joined her and sat in the armchairs or sofas. Ester went to the kitchen, from where she took several cans of cola and opened them all, after which she gave them to everyone. Next, she sat on the sofa with Dora, Yuko and Suvi. Lelei, Tuka and Rory were sitting on the second sofa, while Bozes and Pina were sitting in the armchairs.
"And what is this?"Pina asked, pointing at the TV.
"We call it 'television'. Using it, you can watch whatever you want. I will show you."Yuko said.
She grabbed the TV control and turned it on. Immediately, TV showed the one of more classic fantasy movies, in form of The Lord of the Rings. Falmartese watched these moving pictures with amazement.
"It's amazing…"Pina said, as she watched the Battle of Helm's Deep scene.
"Of course, this is just a movie, not real thing."Dora pointed out."But there are also things, that show true life in the TV."
"They have so much amazing technology…We will never beat them…"Pina stated.
Meanwhile…
Falmart, Fort Terhis
As this was happening, truck driven through the Fort Terhis' gate and into the base. When it stopped, the back door of the truck opened and members of the Rose Knights started exiting it. They were still surprised, how short was the travel from Italica to Alnus Hill. Now, they looked around the base.
"You know why are we even here?"Panache asked.
Hamilton looked at her and threw up her arms.
"I don't know. I just told by Resistance soldiers, that princess wanted us to be here."she replied."But where is she?"
"I can answer that."a voice said.
Knights turned around and saw a young woman in a strange attire walking up to them. When she stood in front of them, she smiled.
"Excuse me, but who are you?"Grey asked.
"Colonel Oksana Natchenko, one of base's commanders. Well. I suppose you're here because of your princess' request?"Oksana asked.
"Yes. Can you lead us to her?"Panache asked.
"Well. There is a situation. Please listen to this and you will know."Oksana said.
She then looked at her hand terminal and clicked something on the screen. After she did that, Knights heard a familiar voice.
"Dear Knights."
"It's princess!"one of them exclaimed.
"What have you done to her?!"another shouted.
"Wait. Listen further."Oksana ordered.
Knights stopped talking and continued listening:
"I'm leaving this message, so you know everything is alright. I wanted you to come to the Resistance base to wait for me. I made a deal with their commanders and went to their world, so to see how it differs from ours. I won't be back for two days or longer. Colonel Oksana Natchenko will take good care of you and prepare you places to sleep. End of the message."
Oksana then took her hand terminal off and hit it into her pockets. Knights looked at her with confusion.
"So princess went on the other side?"Hamilton asked.
"Yes. By going on the other side, princess wants to see, how our world looks like. We couldn't say no, right?"Oksana explained and Knights nodded.."Now, follow me. I will show you where you're gonna sleep."
Knights, although a bit confused, followed her into their new sleeping quarters.
Back aboard RNS Dwight D. Eisenhower…
Uranus orbit
After reaching the Solar System, Ike was put on standby on Uranus Station, placed in orbit of the ice giant. Currently, refueling operations were on going, so it could perform a jump towards Earth. Tanks of the station were currently pumping the tons of fuel inside the fuel tanks of the ship, while crew and passengers were allowed to leave the ship.
Ester's group was currently sitting in a restaurant on the station. They weren't eating anything, just talking.
"Where did even Yuko go?"Dora asked.
"You know her. She always like to disappear on stations."Ester replied.
Right then, Yuko ran into the restaurant with a magazine in hands. She sat with the others and opened the magazine immediately.
"Where have you been?"Suvi asked.
Yuko looked on her from behind the magazine.
"You know. Last time I was in Solar System was two years ago. I wanted to check all the game releases I lost by that time."the Japanese explained.
"Okay then."Ester said.
"Excuse me"Pina said"but how long these 'refueling operations' will take?"
Dora looked at her hand watch.
"Normally, it takes half to an hour. But if we won't have any problem, we will have to wait around half an hour."she replied.
Right then, the TV in the restaurant, which until now was showing just a music channel, turned on the news. There, the presenter looked in his papers and back on the camera. He had a worried expression.
"Lelei, can you translate?"Tuka asked.
"Of course."Lelei replied and sarted translating the news."We stop the current show to tell you the breaking news. On the day of July 11, 2150 at 0800 hours Earth time, the Resistance base in the Gorgon System was overrun by Holy Order forces. Battle which ensued in the process lasted for just half an hour, as attacking Holy Order fleet consisted mainly of Hadadrian Super Battleships and Viricon Swarm Ships and Slash Ships. We have recording provided by a crew of surviving vessel, which evacuated from the system."
In that moment, the face of presenter changed on the recording from a camera. It showed fleet of black-colored, three kilometers long ships, accompanied by smaller, silver-painted vessels, engaging fleet of Human and Chakdrik warships. Missiles, shells and bullets were flaying everywhere, while fighters were engaged in dogfight. Suddenly, one of silver ships started loading something on his nose and soon, purple laser slashed directly through the middle of Ike's sister ship, cutting it in half. Then, cloud of silver objects literally pierced through another ship and went out from the other side, making the ship explode. Then, a black, long ship engaged in broadside with Chakdrik Light Cruiser, taking it out in matter of seconds.
For Falmartese, seeing the space battle for the first time was something both amazing and terrifying. Especially for Pina and Bozes, as they looked at these enormous and powerful warships being ripped apart in literally seconds. Ester also told them, that such ships can have crew up to thousands of people. And now, before their eyes, thousands of people perished just like that. Even biggest battles empire fought made thousands of people die in matter of days, not seconds.
"Seems like Holies haven't changed much."Suvi stated.
"Yeah. These cocksuckers will never leave us alone, unless we get them first."Dora stated.
Pina and Bozes were listening to this with confusion.
"What are you talking about? And what actually happened in this 'Gorgon System'?"Pina asked.
White Squadron members looked at each other and sighed.
"Right. I'm sure you three know what it actually was?"Ester asked Lelei, Rory and Tuka, which nodded."But you two don't know our history. Resistance isn't an alliance we created just for fun. We created it to counter the army known as 'Holy Order'."
"Holy…Order?"Bozes asked.
"These bastards are pain in our asses for last twenty years."Dora said."Since their first appearance in 2130, they started decimating armies in the Galaxy, as we were simple bugs. This is why a number of races, including Humans, Chakdrik, Shakayans, Nashini and Tertans, banded together to fight them. But we're not doing pretty well."
Knights were stunned. For them, Resistance was powerful and undefeated force, which could bring down all armies with ease. And now, here they were, learning, that Resistance is a weaker force, which loses the war, which lasts for twenty years now.
"But where did this Holy Order comes from? Why do they hate you so much?"Bozes asked.
"I actually wondered the same, since your soldiers told me about it."Lelei added.
"Well. It actually is fault of us, Humans."Yuko said.
"What do you mean?"Tuka asked.
"To answer that, we need to go back in time for around one hundred years."Ester said."Although at that time we Humanity was united under one banner, we still had our divisions. In 2051, an independence movement known as Settlement Defense Front, or SDF or SetDef for short, risen on Mars, our biggest colony at the time. They were saying, that only Humanity should rule the Galaxy, while other races should be enslaved. In the beginning, we didn't payed attention and let them be. However, because of that, they started rising to power and in 2064, they managed to take all seats in Martian colonial government. They wanted to make Mars new Human power, independent from UNSA. This is why in 2070, they started what we call 'Secession Wars'."
"What were these wars about?"Pina asked.
"Secession of Mars, of course. We fought SetDef for two years, but war ended with stalemate and peace treaty was signed, allowing Mars to become independent. But as we soon realized, it back stabbed us."
"They started occupying planets in other systems, like Alpha Centari or Sirius, bringing reigns of terror to their inhabitants."Dora continued."For almost thirty years of peace between us, they led campaign of piracy in these system, cutting us from resources. At the same time, they used these resources to built fleet strong enough to counter UNSA Home Fleet, force responsible for protection of Earth, our homeworld. There also were numerous skirmishes between UNSA and SDF, but fortunately we managed to take care of them in diplomatic way."
"But of course, peace can't last forever."Suvi said.
Falmart natives looked at each other. From what they heard, this SetDef was pretty cruel, so to say.
"What happened next?"Rory asked.
"In 2100, during Fleet Week, every year celebration for Home Fleet, they launched a full scale attack on city of Geneva, where UNSA Headquarters is located. They infiltrated our structures and managed to disable the Anti-Air Targeting Intercept System, or AATIS in short, Earth's 'Iron Shield', which was responsible for protecting Earth from invasion."Dora said.
"They used AATIS against us, almost completely wiping out Home Fleet in one, swift attack, leaving only two ships at our disposal: Space Warfare Carrier Retribution and Assault Destroyer Tigris."Ester said.
"But didn't you had more fleets? I'm sure you had to."Bozes said, actually getting interested in the history of Holy Order.
"We had."Ester confirmed."But in other systems, where they were occupied by other SetDef forces, or were destroyed right after entering Solar System. But still, Ret and Tigris managed to inflict heavy casualties on SetDef forces. But they were ultimately destroyed, too. However, before that, Retribution and captured enemy Super Carrier, Olympus Mons, managed to destroy SetDef orbital shipyard, making them unable to produce ships."
"And when this happened, we managed to contact our troops in other systems, prepare a plan and finally break through the Solar System blockade, invaded Mars with our forces and ended the war, by capturing the Martian capital city of Landres Nova."Suvi ended.
But Ester sighed.
"But, as it turned out, they had a hidden fleet in the Inner Asteroid Belt. From there, they escaped during the Exodus and vanished in Unknown Regions, parts of the Galaxy which weren't surveyed yet."she said.
"Where for thirty years, with help of races living in Unknown Regions, they rebuilt and rearmed, only to invade the Galaxy under the name of Holy Order. They are led by Supreme Leader Broke, which, for them, is incarnation of God."Dora ended."Everyone in Galaxy still say us, that we should pursue the Exodus fleet to destroy them. But we had to focus on rebuilding Solar System, which was left devastated after the war."
"And what happened to Mars after war?"Lelei asked.
"You remember these Human soldiers in redder uniforms?"Suvi asked and they nodded."They are soldiers of Martian Republic Shock Troopers. Mars kept it's independence, but it's government changed and now, Mars and Earth are allies. Martian Navy, Army and Air Force is considered one of the most powerful Human militaries."
The Falmrtese were now thinking of everything they heard. It seemed, that Resistance is actually in worse position, than Sadera.
"Now it all makes sense."Pina thought."However…"
After few seconds, Pina leaned towards Bozes and whispered to her ear:
"Maybe if we could get the help of Holy Order, we would be able to stop Resistance?"
But these words didn't went unnoticed by Ester and the rest.
"Good luck."Dora said."They aren't playing in alliances. I'm sure they would prefer to enslave you, like they do with everyone, at the same time bringing you Enlightenment of Supreme Leader, by killing you in millions, like they are doing with us. Only allies they have, are races conquered and subjugated by them."
And just like that, with these few words, all hopes of getting help against Resistance disappeared. However, she also realized, that if Gate opened on planet controlled by Holy Order, even worse fate than being defeated by Resistance would meet them. Being enslaved, by fanatics believing in Enlightenment of Supreme Leader, which want only to have complete and unopposed rule over everything. While Resistance tried to have peace with them, to be able to fight against the danger in their world.
"From what I know, this war entered stalemate too."Lelei noticed.
"Yes, six years ago."Ester replied."And you know, that every war has a moment, when everyone have simply enough and just want it all to end?"
Falmartese nodded.
"Well. This war entered this moment ten years ago."Ester ended.
In that moment, her hand terminal let out a melody. When she looked at it, she saw message from Sammer.
"Egon says, that refueling is done and we can go on the ship. Let's go."Ester said.
Group then stood up and walked out of the restaurant to continue their way towards the place Humanity called home: Earth.
XXX
And another chapter out of the list. It's more like a filler, I know. But I just wanted to show some of the history of this world, before going to the meeting in Geneva, which will happen in the next chapter. But before it, another short history lesson will happen.
I'm sure some of you also noticed, that this history is based on story of CoD: Infinite Warfare. I know this game don't have much sympathizers, but I enjoyed it, so please, don't send me hate mails or anything like that. Thank you.
Now, trivia:
Aksha 4x4 MRAP-produced by Aksha Motor Company for Egyptian Army. However, it also is used by numerous other member states of African Union, like Morocco or Liberia. It's equipped with one 12,7mm machine gun, can transport up to six soldiers and is also produced in 6x6 version.
Slash and Swarm Ships-types of ships used by Viricon Empire. First of them is equipped with powerful laser on the nose, powerful enough to melt through armor of even strongest Super Battleships and cut them in pieces. Second, on the other hand, serves as a transport vessel for the so called 'Swarm', billiards of Viricon microbots flying in one big mass and causing damage to enemy vessels, by disabling or completely destroying them.
Again, for those interested:
I wish peace to you.-In Mor.: Shakesh Shasheri Sha.
And may the winds lead you.-In Mor.:Shareka Shavid Shamani Shrosa.
With trivia done, I can say, that I will catch you on the next one.