The outer reaches of Terran airspace, from what I've heard from scientists, is covered in some sort of shell made from those black crystals. Thankfully, the Orginium hasn't interfered with our aircraft. Whenever we send a ship or drop pod down to their planet, it's as if we are smashing through a glass dome. I never witnessed this, as my transport had no windows. Not that I would like to be the lucky few on the ground who get to deal with raining shards of crystal, mind you.
The base, codenamed "Hell's Gate", we touched down in was one of several the RDA had in Terra. Ironically, the jungle we settled in was practically a paradise. The tropical, humid air was rather refreshing compared to the smog back home. Yeah, it was perfectly breathable without any exo-masks. The jungle was part of a larger nation called Sargon, which was mostly desert. Terra has large expanses of untouched wilderness, so we were free to do as we pleased. It was rather fishy why the natives haven't civilized most of the land. The true reason almost cost the entire planet in the end, but I'll save that for later. Even looking back, it still makes no damn sense.
Anyways, I was rolling on through the base to where SEC-OPS was holding orientation. Dump trucks, filled over the brim with black crystals, drove on past me to the bases refinery. This was where the Resource Development Association, or RDA, got most of its Originium. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Then, cutting off the fleet of haulers was a militarized truck carrying a telephone-pole sized missile. I stopped and gawked. It was a Russian air defense weapon. Did they have an entire setup here? Who in the hell were they shooting at?
"Jake Sullivan, keep pace!" The crew chief of the Valkyrie shuttle barked at me.
I fall back in. The thought of the missile never left my mind.
"Head in the clouds, meal on wheels?" One of the guys behind me snickered.
"Just admiring the fireworks." I shot back.
The batch I was in, the next round of SEC-OPs personnel, were briefed the situation before we took off for Terra. Our garrison was in Acahualla, a place similar to the Amazon before it was chopped down. It of course, still has all the vicious wildlife you can expect. There was a short mention of the native tribes of Acahualla, but they live far out of the way. A non issue.
That was what was bugging me about the SAM site. Hell's Gate was supposed to be the stronghold of sorts, guarding the largest surface operation of Originium extraction, but against who? Guys chucking spears at our gunships? You shoot at an animal with one of those missiles, and there will be nothing left.
Anyways, I rolled into canteen, where the head of SEC-OPs was holding orientation.
"You're not in Kansas anymore. You're on Terra now. That there, beyond the fence, every living thing that crawls, flies, or lurks in the mud, wants to kill you and eat your eyes for jujubees. There are an indigenous group of humanoids we collectively call the Terrans. To be frank, they are quite similar to us. Just try to image yourself with your animal ear of choice, and you have a good idea. In our case, the locals resemble bipedal crocodilians. For any prospecting gator tamers with us, don't bother. Even their ladies can smash your skull in. Some of these Terrans are capable of what can only be described as magic, and can slice through our kevlar like it's tissue paper. Thing is, since they come in so many shapes and sizes, you often can't tell if they can use this magic until you are burnt to a crisp."
Later on, I figured out that this "magic" was called Arts by the locals. All Terrans, from what I've heard, have an innate ability to manipulate the surroundings through Originium. The details are complicated, but we quickly figured out that they were bending things on a quantum level. We had been doing the same with the crystals long before we discovered intelligent life. Quantum fiber optics, quantum anti-matter reactors, quantum this, quantum that. Regardless, it's magic in my book. For the most part in Acahualla, they simply shot superheated plasma at us through the power of Originium. I found out shortly that they were capable of more. Much more.
"As head of security, it's my job to keep you alive. I will not succeed, not without all of you. If you wish to survive, you need to cultivate a strong mental attitude. You need to follow the rules. Terra's rules..."
He never brought up SAM site. It would be more understandable if there was a hostile Air Force, but as it was blasted on the news since the discovery of a lifetime, Terra's aviation is... stunted. There are no airports, no space shuttles, and the only nation known to fly combat jets uses stuff far behind Earth's 6th generation craft. This is all because of the "Dome", an inexplicable barrier 7000 km in the air that shorts out Terran machinery at even lower altitudes. Now that's what I'd call a hard ceiling. It has no effect on Earth tech, and the Valkyries have been designed with the "Dome" in mind. The RDA has had air superiority over the entire planet since day one.
Then who do they fear?
I rolled out of the cafeteria. Forgot that I was still part of the SCI-OP's Avatar program. They lumped me in with the rest of the security recruits because of my background, but I'm pretty sure I was the only soldier among them. Hardly any of them were soldiers or police officers. Mostly game hunters or private contractors.
So while everyone else was reported to their dorms, I was due at the base's Biolab. I was cruising on through, then trouble found me.
"What is that girl doing on your shoulder, skinhead?"
A middle-aged woman was chewing out a bunch of SEC-OPs guys in the hallway. The lead guy held with him a youngish woman. White jacket, stylish sneakers, red bandana. There was no way she came from jungle, er, lived in the jungle. She wasn't even a part reptile.
She had two fox ears lying down on her head.
"We found her in the crash. Quaritch wants her in the interrogation room."
"Oh, the air raid? You mean the civilians you shot down..." Her eyes drifted to the girl's wrists. They were bleeding. "Seriously? Open wounds will get you infected here!"
"Step aside, Augustine." The SEC-OPs guy tried to move around Ms Augustine, but she got into the girls pockets a pulled out an ID.
"Angelina Ajimu. Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals." Her eyes went wide. "My god." She wiped a tear. "She was just trying to help the Acahullans... after we poisoned them all!"
The SEC-OPs jock wasn't taking it. "I've had enough of your shit, treehugger."
The rest of his boys grabbed the Doctor and forced her out of the way. It was just like the bar. I had to...
"At ease, Lyre."
The General had calmly approached during the ruckus. He had a cup of warm coffee with him. Lyre and his men released Augustine shortly. One of the troopers fixed her hair.
"Quaritch! You..." Grace started.
"I'll yet you have custody of our guest. Make sure she is in the right mind before I begin questioning." He replied. "Biolab, Lieutenant! Asap!"
"Sir!" Lyre saluted, before hauling off the fox eared girl.
Grace followed behind them, but not before giving me the side eye. "Don't muck up things any further, skinhead."
She left, leaving only me and the General. "Nevermind our head xenoanthropologist, Grace Augustine." He said, hand on my shoulder. "She's had her panties in a twist over how I run things here. She wants to bring love and kisses to the operation, but I bring results."
"Like that SAM site." I replied.
"The SA-10, Sullivan. It's an Old Soviet rustbucket, alright. Saved all of us from being bombed to kingdom come."
"...So about Angelina. You think her organization is a cover story?" I ask.
"Good! You're sharper than the rest of your peers!" He laughed, slapping my back. "I believe we will get along just fine, Jake Sullivan. Now, go off and help with Grace's pet project. Remember your roots. Dismissed."
I strolled off for the Biolab, seemingly with a new friend in tow.
The Vulpine woman awoke, screaming. Her immediate surroundings was a medical bed and an IV. She gradually eased her breathing and checked her wrists.
They were covered in bandages.
"W-Where's my monitors..." She spoke. "My Oripathy monitors! Doctor...!"
It was not the doctor Angelina expected. Instead, she was met with a sweet faced woman with auburn hair, who bent down to her level. The next person was a man in a wheelchair, observing intently. Another group of men watched from further away, wearing green combat fatigues.
Neither of them had any obvious animal parts. "Maybe they are Aegiran, like Thorns!" Angelina rationalized in her head. Yeah, that would make sense...
She then saw "it". An Anchrosaurian male floating in a giant test tube.
"EEEEP!" She shrieked. "WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!?"
Angelina tried to use her Arts, but a sharp, stabbing pain emanated from her hands. She fell back into her bed, eyes welling up with tears.
"What's going on?" The wheelchair bound man asked, desperately "Why is she in pain? Is she ok?"
"Oripathy." The doctor spoke gravely. "The crystals are in her bloodstream. If she uses her Arts, the disease progresses."
"Meds, stat!" She called out. A lab assistant quickly handed off pills to the woman, who then offered them to Angelina.
"Take them. It will help." She spoke softly.
Angelina gulped them down without a second thought. Her symptoms relaxed.
"This medicine is very similar to the kind Rhodes Island makes..." She responded. "Thank you very much!"
"Talk about a complete 180." The wheelchair man commented.
"So, are you folk rivals to Rhodes Island?" She asked innocently. The doctor and wheelchair man gave her dumbfounded looks. "Either way, I came to deliver a very important message to your leader." Her friendly smile disappeared. "A Catastrophe will strike Acahualla by the end of the day."