Chapter 1 - One Side

"Daddy! Daddy! Hey dad! Dad wake up! Wake up dad, come on!"

A rough groan filled the air as someone stirred in their sleep.

"Ah Susie go back to bed honey."

"Daaaaaaad! You promised."

"Huh?"

"You promised to take me to the hydroponics dome today."

"Huh? Oh yeah, course sweetie, just give daddy a little time to wake up."

"Ok!"

The small girl jumped down from the bed and raced from the room slamming the door as she went. A further groan filled the air as a figure slowly sat up in the dim light. Reaching a hand up to rub his face he spoke again.

"Lights!"

The room was suddenly filled with a bright light that lit the entire room within a split second. The figure cried out slightly and covered his eyes sharply.

"Lower! Not so bright!"

The light level slowly faded to a dim moonlight and the figure removed his hand from his face. As the light fell onto his face it became apparent who the person was, Earth Alliance Commander Morgan Jake. He squeezed his eyes together and yawned before looking to his side. Beside him lay a woman of slim figure and brown hair. At the time she was looking up at Morgan, resting her head on one of her hands, her blue eyes looking right at him.

"Good morning." she said quietly.

"I don't know if its good or not." replied Morgan with another yawn.

"Well you did promise Susan you'd take the dome today and it's your own fault if you stayed up too late last night."

"Can't you take her?"

"Nope sorry, you know my schedule. Even when you're on leave I'm not, I've got a nine to five job to keep track of as you know very well."

"Can't you call in sick? I'm sure I could arrange for you to get paid if you did."

"Morgan Jake! You might be high in the military but that's no excuse to abuse your authority."

"Couldn't hurt."

"Uh huh."

The women sat up fully, pulling the dressing gown she wore tighter around her.

"Now Morgan don't you go trying to get out of this. You know how little Susan sees you and you know how much she's looking forward to going to the dome." she said.

"I know Kerry, I know. I'm just joking and all, saying that I don't understand what the kid sees in a glass dome full of flowers." replied Morgan.

"Maybe if you spent less time out of your office you'd find out. What are you up to these days anyway? You haven't told me anything about your latest project."

"Ah well its top secret honey, military intelligence kind of thing."

"So you can't tell anyone?"

"That's right."

"Well I doubt it could be very interesting, nothing you've told me about sounds any fun."

"Well sorta."

"Dad! DAD!" cried Susan as she came flying back into the room, "Are you up yet dad?!"

"Woah woah woah Susie! Will you calm down just a little bit, the dome doesn't open for another few hours." replied Morgan.

"Susan why don't you go and start breakfast, you're father and I will be down shortly ok." said Kerry.

"Ok mum!" replied the child before she darted from the room again.

"Ten year olds are such a pain at time." commented Morgan.

"Yes but they're also cute don't you think." asked Kerry.

"It's a good thing they are."

Kerry laughed and slowly got out of bed, heading over to the far end of the room where a large wardrobe was located. Morgan stretched and swung his legs out of the bed, sitting still for a moment before looking at the military uniform folded neatly on a chair beside him.

"You're not going to wear that are you?" asked Kerry looking across the room as she pulled her office clothes from the wardrobe.

"No, not today Kerry, I'm on leave." replied Morgan.

Before long Morgan and Kerry were making their way downstairs towards the kitchen. It'd taken than just under an hour to wash and get ready for the day and already Susan was looking about ready to go.

"You ready dad?!" asked Susan excitedly as she met them at the bottom of the stairs.

"Would you mind if I got something to eat first?" asked Morgan giving her an astonished look.

"Uh! Grown-ups!" moaned Susie as she gave her father an irritated look and walked off.

"Where'd she get that cheek from?" asked Morgan.

"You." replied Kerry as she walked past him.

Morgan rolled his eyes and followed his wife into the kitchen. Breakfast was light, consisting of fruit juice, cereal and a couple of pancakes with syrup. As Morgan and his wife ate the sun started streaming in through the huge sliding glass doors that covered two walls of the kitchen. A view across the San Francisco bay filled the view through the glass doors, the huge form of the Golden Gate Bridge taking up most of the view. Along the coast the port was clearly visible and far out to sea thin white lines could be seen which were in fact giant hover transports some of which were over one mile long. Over a rise to the south several large antenna masts could be seen poking out along with a few shuttle launch pads that belonged to the main military base in the area.

"I've missed Earth Kerry." said Morgan absently as he sipped at a cup of coffee.

"You've missed Earth? What about me?" replied Kerry.

"You too then."

"That's better."

"DAD!" cried a voice.

"I've not missed that." groaned Morgan.

"Go on get out of here, the sooner you get there the sooner she'll be quiet. I better be moving too for that matter." replied Kerry.

"When are you back tonight?"

"Normal time, about six."

"I'll see what I can do for dinner then."

"That'll be sweet but no take outs this time."

Morgan grinned awkwardly and stood up. Susan his daughter was now standing in the kitchen doorway literally bouncing in anticipation. It amazed Morgan that a person could be that energetic on a morning.

"Ok Susie I'm ready." he said slowly.

"Yay! Let's go!" replied Susan as she spun and raced from the room.

"Here we go."

Morgan gave a sigh and followed his daughter from the kitchen. The trip to the dome didn't take that long. Even with the morning traffic Morgan found it easy to find a quiet spot and the good weather added to the enjoyment. He had the roof of the car down and the speed they were going created a gentle breeze that took away the sting of the hot temperature. Susan was quiet for most of the trip except when they were getting close when she started making small excited noises.

The Dome in question was the Hydroponics Dome and was in essence a giant green house. As Earth had expanded out into space they had come across several unique varieties of plant life and through cross breeding with native Earth plants they had been able to create new plant life themselves. One such developed plant was found to have been a 100 curse for cancer, other plants had turned out to be high in vitamins and edible to boot. Morgan had never tried any of these new plants, he didn't quite trust bioengineering, but other he knew had and raved about the benefits. The dome was one such place where these new plants were bred and displayed to the public.

Soon the dome came into sight, emerging over the top of a small hill and Morgan had soon parked the car and was following Susan towards the entrance. As they had arrived early in the morning the queue to gain access wasn't too long but it still took about quarter of an hour before they were inside. Once inside Susan just stood and stared at everything around her. Morgan couldn't help but chuckle at his daughter's reaction to the dome, it was priceless.

"Susan!" came a sudden call.

Both Susan and Morgan turned to look towards the voice to find another young girl running towards then with an older woman running after her. Susan clapped her hands and shrieked slightly as she saw the other girl.

"Jackie!" she cried happily.

"Hey Susan! I didn't know you were coming here today." replied Jackie stopping near Susan.

"You didn't? I thought I told everyone."

"I was sick last week remember."

"Oh yeah!"

As the two girls fell into chatter the women who had been running after Jackie came to a stop nearby and propped herself up on small wall for a moment before walking over to Morgan.

"Hi! You must be Susan's dad." she said.

"Yeah, Morgan Jake, and you would be?" replied Morgan.

"I'm Rebecca Harland, Jackie's mum." replied the women, "Kerry's told me a fair bit about you."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Nothing bad if that's what you mean, she said you were in the military."

"Yeah that's right, I'm on leave for a few weeks right now."

"So you're taking your daughter out for a bit of quality time, how sweet."

"Don't get me wrong, I'd rather be sunbathing on the patio right now but I think if I hadn't taken Susan to this place today she would have boiled over."

"Heh! I know what you mean, Jackie has been bouncing with excitement herself for a few days now."

Rebecca sat down on the wall she had been leaning on earlier and looked at Jackie and Susan. The pair were now talking happily and making over exaggerated hand gestures as they did. Presently a faint peeping sound filled the air, causing Morgan to fish through his pocket in search of the source. He finally pulled out his pager and made a face at the message.

"Seems like whenever you get a break someone ruins it, I've been recalled." he said.

"Recalled, well if you like I could look after Susan and drop her off at home later if you like." replied Rebecca.

"You would, that'd be helpful, thanks."

"No problem, I'm sure neither of those two would mind."

"Yes you're right. Susan!"

"Yes dad?"

"Susan I've got a bit of bad news dear, my leave has been cut short and I have to head back to the base."

"Huh? Dad!"

"I can't do anything about it dear, Rebecca here says you can stay with her and Jackie and she'll drop you off at home tonight once your mother gets home."

"Ah dad! I was really enjoying myself."

"You'll still have fun without me, I'm sure it's nothing major anyway. I bet I'm back in a few days."

"You promise?"

"Sure Susie, I promise."

"Ok dad!"

"Yay! You get to stay at my place!" shrieked Jackie happily.

Susan seemed less enthusiastic about the prospect but didn't seem upset by it either. Morgan said his thanks to Rebecca and then left the dome, heading back to the car outside.

"This had better be worth it." he said to himself quietly.

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"Commander Jake? He's ready for you now."

Morgan stood up from his seat and nodded at the clerk that had spoken to him. Upon leaving the dome he had returned home to change into his military uniform and left a note for his wife before driving to the nearby military base. When he had arrived he had found out that he hadn't been recalled due to staff shortages but because the president was visiting the base and requested his presence. It had been then that he knew he wouldn't be able to keep his promise to his daughter, when the president comes calling you can't say no.

Morgan moved towards the door and the clerk opened it, shutting it behind Morgan as he passed through. The room beyond had a very old England type of feel to it. Bookcases lines two walls and the back wall had a large window in it that looked out over the rest of the base from its third floor position. A large desk sat in front of the window behind which sat a short chubby man. He wore a smart suit and had reseeding brown hair and blue eyes. Looking up as Morgan entered he smiled slightly and waved Morgan over.

"Ah Commander Jake, do come in. Find yourself a chair and sit down."

"Oh course Mr President." replied Morgan.

Morgan quickly sat down and waited for the president to start. The president, Jacob Kidderminster, sat still for a moment resting a finger on his lips before quickly leaning forwards.

"Glad you could make it on such short notice commander, I hope it wasn't that much of an inconvenience."

"Oh not at all sir." lied Morgan straightening in his chair.

"Good, in that case I'll get to business. I'm going to need your help with this one Morgan."

"Yes sir, of course."

"I don't know if you keep up with the news when you're on leave but last week I was in a council meeting with the Earth Senate. It seems that there is talk about what our military forces are doing."

Jacob placed his hands on the desk and leaned forwards even more.

"This little war is taking too long! If the senate finds out there will be a public outcry over night and my career will go down in flames. It's been nearly fifteen months since we started this and I was assured that it would have been over after three!"

Morgan was feeling slightly uncomfortable now, he had after all been involved heavily in this campaign and he could be blamed for several failures along the way. The president sat back in his seat and scowled at a plant in the corner of the room before continuing.

"To make matters worst I've just received a report from Mobius this morning suggesting that we have a second resistance group operating in the north."

"Another sir?"

"Yes another! And added to this we have the problem of that renegade Earth faction that the furries have allied themselves with. The attack on the Phantom 2 a few weeks ago was not what I needed. I've managed to explain it off as a renegade attack but the rumour that non-humans were present has already begun spreading. We need to end this now before the Senate starts asking questions."

"Yes sir I know, but how?"

"I've got a plan in motion as we speak but I'll need you're help. I want you to go to Mobius immediately and take charge. I'm placing a certain individual under your command for this mission."

Jacob leaned forwards and handed a folder to Morgan, which the commander opened and looked at quickly. Slowly he rose an eyebrow and looked back at Jacob.

"Interesting choice." he said with a smirk.

"I thought so, the Veil is just what we need for this mission." replied Jacob.

"Just what is this mission sir?"

"I'll upload the details to you once you are on your way and even then I'll only be uploading part of the plan. I've got to get things moving on this end, I want you to worry about the Mobius end, nothing else."

"Yes sir."

"Good, now you have a shuttle standing by to transport you to the Victorious and from there you'll proceed straight to Mobius and start phases one."

Morgan gave a nod and stood up, saluting as he did. Jacob gave a nod in response and returned to what he had been doing earlier allowing Morgan to leave on his own. As he did Morgan began thinking, just what was this mission and would it really sort out the Mobius problem? He was also thinking about the president's tone, he wasn't pleased but there was something else there, a deep hatred maybe. Morgan shook his head and chuckled to himself.

"What am I thinking?" he said to himself, "This is just another mission."

He waved playfully at the female secretary as he passed out of the building and into the sun. It was fast approaching lunch time and Morgan decided to get something to eat before he took the trip to space, packaged space food was never as good as the real stuff. He set of towards the cafeteria with a spring in his step and a whistle on his lips.

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It was later that day and fast approaching late evening when Morgan sat down in a chair in his room on the Victorious. He had spent lunch and a little time afterwards on the base, chatting to friends and seeing to a few last minute preparations before he had taken the shuttle ride into space. The Victorious was a large ship, one of the biggest in the Earth fleet, but nowhere near as powerful as some of the other ships. She was a carrier, designed for carrying fighters and other small ships rather than firepower. Saying that she did have a great deal of speed and easily kept up with nearly every ship in the fleet bar the super fast corvette class ships.

Morgan was now looking at a small computer, glancing at a flashing icon in the corner of the screen. The icon represented an incoming transmission and he knew that this was the transmission that the president had told him to expect. Morgan didn't know if he wanted to hear the details of the plan though, he had been thinking more and more about the president's tone and he had a slightly uneasy feeling about it. Finally he reached forwards and tapped the icon. It blinked and expended, turning into a scrolling sheet of words which took a moment to fully display before it stopped. Morgan sat back and started to read.

"As you know the situation on Mobius is getting worst by the day." read Morgan to himself, "This situation must be neutralised as quickly as possible and to do this we have to crush the resistance.

"Recent reports have signified a new threat in addition to the one already established on that strange world. This new threat is located in the north of the planet and is causing a number of problems, however, it does serve us a purpose. They seem less organised and as such are more vulnerable to a large attack. This larger attack is currently being worked on from my side but I need a decoy to draw their attention. To this end your orders are to engage the northern target and attempt to destroy it. If you don't it's of no importance, it will keep them occupied and will hopefully draw in all the major players. Once you have completed this objective stand by for further orders involving phase two, which I will transmit after phase one is completed.

"This mission must not fail, that is all."

Morgan sat forwards and tapped the screen again, causing the message to shrink and vanish from view.

"So that's the mission eh? This could be quite interesting."