21. The world of Tellus (Part 1)
Tellus was a world much like Terra, several continents filled with various biomes ranging from frigid tundra to temperate plains to scorching desert and everything inbetween. Tellus was colonized in the early days of the dark age of technology, the colonists found it so much like Earth that many examples of Terran flora and fauna were introduced and thrived. Tellus thrived during the dark age of technology and maintained strong ties with Terra but at the onset of the age of strife but much like its twin Tellus fell in to chaos and war and had much of its knowledge and technology destroyed in the fighting. For hundreds of years the singular government of the world fractured and splintered in to hundreds of kingdoms and republics, empires rose and fell and after thousands of years memories of Terra and inhabited worlds beyond Tellus faded in to legend. After the nation states of the world were established and some semblance of peace and balance was achieved between them technology started to advance again and by the time of the 31st millennium the world was comparable to Terra in its very early space age.
At this point in Tellus' history the many nations of the world were no longer using direct military force as they once did, earlier devastating wars that spun out of control and killed millions forcing that option from the forefront, instead they fight with espionage and economic power with old rivalries and ideological differences deciding the sides each nation would take, if they took one at all. On the surface at least the world seemed peaceful, with the only direct military action being taken by any nation being the quelling of civil strife or insurgency.
The Unified Republics of Vespia was one of the most powerful nations on Tellus, militarily and economically, it was a collection of smaller republics that banded together some 500 years ago in order to defend themselves from much larger powers that existed at the time, governed by a high senate that proposed and voted on laws that affected the entire country and led by a High President, the current one being Lucero Castio.
President Castio looked like an old man, despite only being 48, the stress of his job had turned his once beautiful head of hair grey and given him wrinkles, and he was certain his hair line was also retreating, arguing with the opposition party and signing orders that would disgust the public had that effect but still he did his job despite the sleepless nights because of the good he knows he has done and can still do. He sat alone in his spacious office, security agents just outside the single door in, reading over the daily reports he received on the situation at home and abroad. He sighed and rubbed his weary eyes, the situation was always the same but somehow at the same time different, he had to find a way to turn every slip up made by a foreign government to the advantage of his all the while every other nation was doing the same and he had to fight them off best he could. Castio was about to return to his reports when the phone on his desk rang.
"Hello?" he was confused since only people with the highest clearance had a direct line to him without going through his secretary and giving him forewarning
"President Castio, good morning or it must be evening for you" Castio recognised the thick accented voice instantly
It was Premier Yakov Zukif, the leader of the Kyvian Federation, the second leading country and Vespia's major rival for the past almost 100 years
"Premier Zukif, what do I have to thank for this unexpected call?" the two leaders rarely talked outside of official functions, they had no need to, they weren't friends on a personal level and their countries weren't on very friendly terms either
"Just a personal call to see how a fellow leader is fairing in these trying times" Castio became even more confused by that answer, "The Summer palace has such nice gardens, are the blue lilies blooming in the memorial garden yet?"
Castio instantly recognised the question for what it was, a code, there was no such flower as the blue lily they were called sapphire lilies and the memorial garden didn't have any of those in it, what most people would figure was a mistake on Zukif's part was a code that the two needed to speak on a much more secure line than this.
"Yes they are, quite beautiful flowers" Castio accepted the invitation, "I was going to walk my children around the garden, are the blood daisies in bloom in the ice garden, what about the white roses or the emerald irises?"
Zukif understood the coded speech as well as Castio, "Only the daises and roses for now, quite the sight, I should invite you to see very soon"
Blood daisies was code for military personnel, white roses for scientific and emerald irises for economic advisors, so all Castio knew for now was that Zukif had something important to discuss with Vespia's top military brass and scientists.
"I look forward to it" Castio put the phone down and proceeded to call his top generals and the foremost scientists in the country
It took only a few hours for them all to be gathered in the capital and bought to the Summer palace. The Summer palace was the home of the president of Vespia and had been for the past 400 years, it had many historic rooms and little had been changed since it was constructed except for modern amenities being added, but even at its construction many secret rooms and passage ways were built in to it and they had been upgraded over the years. It was one of these secret rooms that President Castio headed to, leaving most of his security behind as only the most senior and trusted people could know about some of these rooms. He walked up to a large wooden cabinet, taller than him and heavy enough to need 4 men to lift it, it looked like it was filled with fine cutlery and china, Castio opened it and felt around the back of the cabinet until he felt a latch and the back popped open allowing him to take a set of stairs down to a secret room.
The room had been specifically designed that only select signals could enter or leave the room, signals that commercial devices couldn't pick up or produce, Castio took his place at the head of a long table facing a large wall of screens. His top generals and commanders of other military branches filed in and behind them came the foremost experts in physics, engineering and other scientific fields his country had.
The room soon received a signal and the image of Premier Yakov Zukif appeared on one of the screens with his generals and scientists. Zukif was an unsmiling man with an ice-cold stare, his features hard and angular, he sat wearing a black suit with his county's standard pinned to the lapel.
"President Castio, I hope you don't mind but I invited a few other to this meeting"
Several of the other screens on the wall lit up and other world leaders appeared; the Prime Minister of the old Albonic Kingdom, the Fuhrer of Bavri, The President of the People's Republic of Qui and several other leaders of powerful countries, along with their own generals and experts.
"What is the meaning of this meeting Premier?" it wasn't unusual for two leaders to occasionally secretly talk like this but it was for all these leaders from countries that stand so far apart politically and ideologically
"24 hours ago, Kyvian space command lost contact with the Rasmorsi satellite that was photographing and mapping the furthest edges of our solar system"
"If you are accusing us of anything then you have gone mad Premier" Prime Minister Hast of the Albionic Kingdoms spoke up, Castio noticed that the Prime Minister wasn't sitting at the head of his table instead the King of the Albionic Kingdoms sat there, meaning even he was called to listen to this
"I am accusing nobody of anything, in fact Rasmorsi sent back images of the cause of the communication loss"
"If you just want help getting your satellite back then why call us here?" General Jormos, the leader of Vespia's army, asked referring to the military
"We do not want help getting it back" Zukif pressed a button in front of him and pictures came up for every leader around the world
They showed the darkness of space and several asteroids in the distance that made up the belt at the edge of the system, it looked like nothing special until Castio took a closer look at the asteroids.
"What's wrong with those asteroids?" his top astrophysicist asked, "They are far too clumped together"
They zoomed in on the cluster of asteroids and it soon became clear they weren't asteroids, the lines were too clean and positioning too deliberate.
"By god!" everyone present realised what they were looking at at the same time, "This can't be real"
"I'm afraid it is" Zukif sent through another image, this one of the objects at closer range
It was clear to all that these objects were a fleet of ships that originated somewhere outside the solar system. Panic spread amongst everyone present quite quickly as each had their own idea on how to deal with the looming threat, some suggested they contact the aliens to confirm their intentions, others said communication was impossible and they needed to start organising a united defence immediately while some others said that fighting the aliens was impossible and they needed to set plans in motion to preserve their culture and the human race and others still just gave up.
"Can you all shut up!" the grizzled old king of the Albionic Kingdoms spoke with a powerful voice that silence all the overlapping voices, "Good, now it's clear we cannot fight them in the field but that doesn't mean we must give up"
"His majesty is right, we must find a way to fight this enemy" Castio stroked his chin as he forgot all his other troubles and focused on this, "We first must inform the leaders of the other nations"
"We should first confirm that these aliens are our enemy" one of the scientist spoke up
"Those ships are made for war not peace" General Jormos countered
"How could you know that, these beings might not think anything like humans, we can't assume anything here"
Jormos pointed at the picture still up on the screen, "Those are barrels, I doubt they shoot friendship"
"And those are troop transports" the head of the navy pointed out a few ships in the fleet
"You can't possibly know that" the brains clashed with the brawn again and again as one sought to work off of assumptions and the other to have a clean slate
Scientists and military leaders from across the globe argued with each other and things descended back in to madness.
"It doesn't matter if they are friend of foe!" Castio spoke, "We need to find a way to defend against them in case those barrels don't shoot friendship"
The military officers from across the world sat in silent thought for several seconds before any of them spoke, "The nations present here represent over 50% of our worlds military strength" Lord General Orpos of the Albionic Kingdoms spoke first, "If this enemy is able to transverse the stars then they will have weapons to match that technological level, even with all the military power of our world we don't stand a chance in a conventional war"
"So what do you suggest?" Premier Zukif asked
"The nations here will not survive the coming war, they will be wiped away in a moment but we can construct the framework to allow our people to fight"
"You are suggesting a guerrilla war?" Castio figured that was the only solution
"If we can set up supply and ammunition dumps across the world and decentralise our militaries, then by the time the enemy arrives while our governments will fail our military strength will survive to make occupation or conquest impossible"
"The Lord General is right" General Jormos agreed, "This enemy will overwhelm any defence we mount but if we make it too much effort to occupy our world then they will leave"
"Or they will kill us all" another military officer interjected
"They might do that anyway" Lord General Orpos sighed, "But this is all we can do to ensure the continued existence of the human race"
"And how are we going to tell them all?" Fuhrer Polor of Bravi asked
"Should we?" Zukif wondered
Another argument erupted over whether and how to tell the public about the approaching doom.
"The citizens should be armed like the military so they can fight as well" someone suggested
"We need small trained and skilled squads if we want to cause real damage not mobs of armed bumpkins" another argued
"But they still need to be told about this"
"It really doesn't matter anyway as the fleet gets closer anyone with a telescope will be able to see them"
"We have 2 months to prepare we can't sit here arguing the entire time" Castio injected his own thoughts, "We need to inform the other nations of the world, the international council annual assembly is in 2 weeks, we can tell them and the world there and we should start preparing"
"Agreed" the world leaders set on a course of action
The screens all when black as each leader signed off and Castio was left alone with his top generals and scientists.
"Will we follow on the agreed upon course of action?" General Jormos had to ask this despite the fact they had few options
"Until the situation changes we will, start the process to decentralise command and start setting up depos across the country" Castio sighed as he held his head, for the first time wishing he had lost his re-election campaign.
The international council or IC was an effort to foster global cooperation and as a place to facilitate negotiation between nations but it had little power besides suggesting resolutions to sovereign nations. The IC assembly would meet annually in the city of Korse the capital of the Republic of Bavri, the city was chosen as it was the city where the treaty that ended the 3rd Tellusan war was signed, the war that led to the creation of the IC. The leader of every nation in the world would travel to Korse for 2 weeks of meetings and assembly sessions. The building they would meet in was the main IC headquarters, a great glass building with 50 floors that overlooked the Kor river that ran through the city, at the heart of the building was the main assembly hall, as massive hall that had row upon row of seats to house representatives from all 274 countries in the world and the 12 unrecognized regions or observers.
Press and journalists from across the world were present at the opening of the annual assembly, the president of the IC thanked all the leaders for attending and reiterated the mission of the IC. All the eyes of the world were on the central podium as Castio, Zukif and the other leaders who knew about the approaching enemy took the stage, much to the surprise of everyone, they had all agreed that Castio would deliver the news to the world.
Castio took the podium and looked out at the gathered leaders and cameras pointed at him and for the first time in his career he felt nervous talking in front of a crowd, he swallowed his fear and began his speech.
"I welcome you all, leaders of the great nations of Tallus, I stand here with my respected equals to deliver grim news to you and the rest of the world" Castio pressed a button on the podium and a picture came up on a large screen behind him, "2 weeks ago the Kyvian satellite Rasmorsi suddenly stopped transmitting, the mission of the satellite was to photograph and map the outer edge of our solar system, the last pictures transmitted by Rasmorsi show a fleet of alien ships heading for Tellus and we have reason to believe they are hostile"
The assembly hall erupted in to chaos as the various leaders of the world threw around accusations and suggestions, "We have the best minds working to contact the ships but they have yet to respond to any hails, we are trying every wavelength we can think of but we will not give up hope for a peaceful meeting with these visitors from the stars"
The rest of the assembly was focused solely on the issue of the approaching ships and the news of an alien invasion spread across the globe like wildfire, the annual assembly had to be cut short as the news had destabilised several nations and riots were being reported in cities across the world. The world was quickly falling to chaos as some tried to deny that aliens were going to invade and others rushed to stock up on anything they could get their hands on in preparation for what they saw as an apocalypse. Martial law was quickly declared to put a stop to the wide spread rioting and looting and all activities that weren't directly related to the crisis at hand were suspended.
President Castio was constantly in and out of meetings with military personnel and experts as well as other world leaders, he had barely slept the past month as the fleet slowly approached their world, it being constantly tracked by the satellites they had orbiting the other world of their solar system, his hair was definitely receding now and he had aged at least 10 years as doom approached. It was late at night and Castio was taking a short nap in his office, his first rest in a few days, when someone burst through the door and startled him awake.
"SIR! THEY SENT A REPLY!" some scientist was slapping a tablet he held for the president to see
The tablet showed a string of numbers and a map of the world with a circle over a region in the Albionic Kingdoms, "What am I looking at?"
"They replied to our hails and sent these coordinates, we believe that it is a meeting point"
"Where is it exactly?"
"It is a field in the Albionic Kingdoms just west of the city of Norrsom"
"Could it not be where they are planning to launch their invasion?"
"I doubt they would tell us that"
"True, get everyone on the phone"
The approaching fleet had transmitted the location to all the governments of the world and the leaders were split on what to do, the King and Prime Minister of the Ablionic Kingdoms had already stationed a significant military presence in Norrsom and the field, some leaders believed it might be a trap while others thought it might be a genuine invite. Castio decided to travel to Norrsom in time for the fleet to arrive, he would be joined by Premier Zukif and several other leaders.
The field was filled with every man and vehicle that could be spared, every different kind of weapon system the Albionic Kingdoms had was pointed at a spot right in the centre of the field. The King was the only representative of the Kingdoms who had come out, the royal family and the Prime Minister taking shelter in a secret bunker somewhere in case this was a trap. Castio stood beside the other world leaders with the Albionic King standing most prominent of all since it was his nation.
King Alliste VI was an old man, quickly approaching 100, as a young prince he had seen some action on the front lines of the 3rd Tellusan war and was even present for some of the fighting during the final battle of Korse. He was hunched over and supported himself with a cane but despite his obvious physical weakness his mental strength was as strong as ever.
The alien fleet had entered geostationary orbit above Tellus several hours ago and now they just waited for them to make landfall. World leaders, military officers, scientists and select news organisations were all present as they waited with baited breath for the visitors to finally reveal their intentions. Satellites soon picked up an object leaving one of the ships and heading for the surface, it soon came in to view for the people on the ground, an aircraft, it looked similar to the ones built on Tellus but this one was clearly more advanced with it being able to travel the void of space and enter and exit atmosphere at will. The aircraft circled above for several seconds before making a slow decent and landing in the only free space available.
The boxy aircraft was coloured white and grey with strange swirls and symbols painted across its surfaces. Everyone on Tellus held their breath as a ramp lowered, touching the ground with a soft thud, it was hard to see inside the aircraft but rows of glowing red eyes could be seen, the tension was broken by a single deafening thud, the sound of many metallic boots against the aircraft's deck. The owners of the glowing eyes marched out of the aircraft for all the world to see. They looked like they could be human but they were all 7-8 feet tall and were completely sealed in bulky plates of armour coloured the same as their aircraft, they carried banners some with the same symbols drawn on their armour and aircraft and others baring a two headed eagle. They marched out in two rows forming a corridor from King Alliste back to the aircraft.
The sound of foot falls that came from the aircraft was greater than the combined sound of all the armoured giants. Everyone present and across the world gasped as the source of the sound stepped from the aircraft, wearing armour similar to the giants but this one was even taller and bulkier than them but the most surprising thing to everyone was that they went helmetless and it was clear to everyone that they were human.
Next time: The World of Tellus (Part 2)
