-----chapter 2-----
1020 hrs EST
Mars, the rust red fourth planet from the sun, hangs in the background of stars as hundreds of starships orbit the planet named after the god of war.
Ever since the Drakh attacked Earth, and all Earth forces mobilized in the second largest mobilization since the Battle of the Line, all inbound and outbound traffic had been banned. Defense grids turned outward to protect Earth had been turned inward, to keep anyone from getting off Earth, and spreading the Plague beyond the globe of Earth.
Ever since the quarantine, Mars had become the central seat of the Earth Alliance. And the rush hour traffic which belonged to Earth a two years ago had moved to the next door neighbor, Mars.
MarsDome became a secondary capital to EarthDome.
Tension has always been thick between Earth-borns and Mars-borns. Ever since the first Mars settlement was established, Mars was under direct control of Earth. And it continued; even after small groups of Marsies joined together to try and free Mars.
The battle would continue through the years. Through the Food Riots, up to the Civil War between Earth and the Insurrectionists, led by Earth Force Captain John Sheridan.
Mar's struggle came to a new dawn when Sheridan's forces returned to Earth, to bring Earth Alliance President Clark to justice, and return Earth to the people. Sheridan surrendered himself to the Alliance, with an ace in the hole.
Instead of facing court martial, and life on a penal asteroid, he became the president of the InterStellar Alliance. When he took the office, one request which was granted was that Mars would be free.
Even though to the day Mars remains free, the ethnic tension remains. Earther tourists on Mars, being attacked by Marsies. "Go back home, worthless Earthers!"
In all the years mankind had endured through existence, the advances in medical and space technologies, ethnic hatred remained. And probably would never be erased until the day mankind ended.
Sitting alone in MarsDome Square Gardens, on the far side of the dome from the capital facility, Earth Force General Hillard glances at his watch, sitting in the area surrounded in green.
Hillard could only wonder what Mars was like before it became the barren rock all have come to know and love. What it would had been like to walk through the lushly vegetated fields of Mars. Walking outside the domes that scattered all across Mars without breathers or thermal suits.
May be one day Mars would look like Earth again. But Hillard would not trade Mars for Earth any day. Hillard was one of the high ranking officers off world that fought against the Drakh when they attacked Earth.
Once Hillard heard that a superior alien force was approaching Earth to attack, and that John Sheridan had uncovered it, he was not to jubilous.
And he was not alone. The last time Sheridan approached Earth with a fleet of starships, it was in the Last Day of the Civil War. A war in which Hillard followed his orders, and stood by his president. Though he avoided prosecution for the orders he followed to this day, he would remain untouched, because he was the Director of the clandestine organization deep in EarthForce beyond recognition. He commanded the Storm.
One day the Shadow vessels throughout the galaxy would be recovered, and fall under his command. His people, would be a storm making its way through the galaxy. And the work that Clark started would continue. Earth for Earth. Earth would be a force dare not to be reckoned with.
Sitting on the park bench, with a man in a dark gray suite sits with shades over his eyes. The sound of birds sounding through the speakers hidden throughout the park.
"What have you got?" Hillard asked, not looking away from the fountain in the middle of the park as a mother walking with her small son around the stone fountain.
"We've discovered a planet on the rim, possible housing a vessel. A team has been dispatched."
"What of the dealings with IPX?"
"The president of InterPlanetary eXpeditions has been successfully, encouraged."
"And the other matter?"
"A formidable opponent. A clear and present danger to the plan."
"He is a good man. He served under me on the Intrepid. A good man. Not worthy of this fate."
"He is un-encouragable, I'm afraid."
"I know that."
"Sources say, he is in allegiance with the Techno-Mage Order."
"Wizards of illusion. They serve no threat. I have been reassured that this associate of Gideon's is a rogue. The Techno-Mage Order will never intervene. But Gideon, is a different story. He is a determined officer. Once he sets his mind to something, it doesn't matter whose feet he runs over, he will achieve his goal. That is why Sheridan chose him for the Excalibur. A ship if not for my path, would had been mine."
"The Excalibur would be a healthy addition to the cause. Just not under her current command staff." The suit remarked.
"The threat ends, once and for all."
"Yes, General." The man in the suit responded as he glanced at his watch, and walked off. None of the passing people even suspecting that a high level meeting took place.
"Your a smart man, Gideon. To smart for your own good." Hillard muttered as he looked up to the transparent pressure dome where the sun-rise was shining through.
Hillard continued to sit, as the little boy walking on the edge of the fountain slipped and fell into the water. The mother moved to retrieve her son. The boy was laughing hysterically as was the mother.
That was what humanity was about. Happiness. Freedom. And that was what Hillard and the Storm fought and sacrificed for. And there would never be a day that Hillard surrendered. Either the Storm reigned, or Earth would perish. Earth would not exist without the Storm.
Gideon and his Techno-Mage associate would never project a threat to his cause ever again.