May 4th
Planet: Unlisted
Deep underground near the planet's core laid a complex tunnel network of concrete reinforced bunkers.
One room in particular was set up as a personal office. Wooden furniture, an intractable display desk, cushioned leather chairs, with the occasional painting and flag masking the rough texture of the concrete walls.
Sitting at the desk was a four armed man in a fancy black suit, two of these arms were bionic attachments. He had his feet propped up on the table while smoking an expensive cigar imported from a famous terran world.
In front of this man were two others. One wore a gray military uniform as the other wore a simple suit in all black.
The relaxed man blew out a large cloud as the cigar smoke danced around the room like a fleeting ghost.
"So what was so important that I was called here for a meeting?"
"It's in regards to the UGN…"
He immediately began to frown hearing this.
"Those bastards? What about 'em?"
"Well…there have been reports of a mysterious 'Gate' appearing on their capital home planet. From this gate, soldiers of a different dimension began marching out…"
He slowly lifted his feet off the table as he put all four of his palms on the table.
"Go on…"
"That's as far as the reports go sir… There's been an uptick in the amount of supplies arriving to Earth along with a few UGN units backed by scientists being sent into what they are referring to as 'the other dimension'. But for what purpose isn't entirely known yet…"
The quadripod leaned back into his chair, crossing two of his arms against his chest, keeping the other two planted in the table.
"Well that's damned news if I've ever heard any… The last thing I want is the UGN holding an entire fucking galaxy in their backyard that they could pull resources from."
He lifted one of his arms up to rub his chin.
"Unfortunately with how recently the last galactic war ended, it'd be impossible to convince the other council members to take full blown action…"
He pondered quietly for a moment before facing the officer sitting next to the agent.
"Dammit… Go inform the Revolutionary Sons that I would like to meet with the Syndicate Head."
"Yes sir." The soldier in the gray uniform responded.
"Good, as always we will meet on Reenus-XI."
UGN FOB
Alnus Hill
A dreamy haze enshrouded the air around the compound. The sun hasn't quite yet graced the lands of its warm embrace but it could be seen peeking in the horizons with a glorious pinkish hue.
Raphael was already up and about. He was walking towards the mess hall equipped in full gear with helmet in hand and his railgun magnetically attached to his Power Pack. A magnet that could only be released from his personal biometric scanner.
Being late to breakfast while having a muster call for a mission ment no breakfast, and to hell with that, he thought to himself.
The mess hall was close to the logistics hub, posted right in front of the Gate. He could see never ending convoys of tracked trucks coming in and out of the gate leaving a growing cloud of black smoke.
He didn't think much of it, figuring the UGN just had invested prospects towards future development.
Previously, any planets they've secured from hostile conflicts shared a similar scene of fanatic logistics operations. Whatever resource the planet or station had to offer was exploited to its fullest.
As the old saying goes, "Whatever it takes". Raphael thought to himself.
The young drop trooper made his way into the mess hall and was presently surprised to see barely any lines. He made his way to one of the many Complete Meal Dispensers that allowed for a number of meals to be provided as long as appropriate nutrient supplements were provided.
These large vending-like machines were crude and efficient.
Up to 15 different meals could be produced, each one ensured appropriate calorie intake for front line soldiers. Far better than any field ration, though these meals were still a far cry from something made with care.
Raphael grabbed a dispensed meal before making his way to a table full of mates in his newly assigned squad. To an equal degree of joy and disdain, Sammy was one of the members in his squad.
As he sat down he felt that familiar devilish grin staring at him as Sammy spoke up.
"Good morning Sunshine, we've been waiting for you. You sleep well?"
"Has anyone told you how perfect of a target your grin makes?"
"I take it you haven't gotten enough beauty sleep then…"
Jonel, who was sitting across from the two, mumbled with food in his mouth, "When's the wedding?"
"Next Tuesday."
"And you promised me a personal interstellar jet!" Raphael said sarcastically, shooting daggers at Sammy as if he was some kind of house wife.
"I swear to God if you guys act like jackasses while I'm stuck with you I will shoot someone… " spoke a drop trooper named Rappa who was also assigned to their squad.
"Ahhh shut the hell up." Another soldier named Remix pointed his fork at Rappa.
"Doc, I'm just tired of dealing with shitbags all the time."
"Let the greenhorns be. They seem fun compared to the last squad I was paired with, who were nothing but uptight assholes like yourself."
The table went quiet for a short duration as the combat medic named Remix took an audible gulp of his drink. A glass of stimulative filled chocolate milk.
"I'll take any squad that's not one of those blood thirsty ones who are already training for the next war." He said as he wiped his mouth with his robotic hand.
"Over the years I've had a number of friends die a horrible death while I attempted stabilizing them. Some that managed to survive had to be administered mechanical reconstruction at a military grade."
The Doc paused.
"Of course in this damned world those men looked me in the eyes with a smile saying 'Whatever it takes'... Convinced living in a walking steel coffin built for war could pose a good life."
This time Remix took out an old fashioned steel flask as he took a big swig.
Sammy chuckled at this sight.
"A Doc and a drunk, even on duty? I think we'll get along just fine. I'm going out in a blaze of glory so don't go dragging my head back throwing it into a Siege Casket."
Remix gave a side eyed smile.
"Hey I have a synthetic liver so even if I wanted to drink myself to death I couldn't. The AI does 90% of the job for me anyway and being a little buzzed keeps me focused on hand."
He leaned back speaking in a more serious tone.
"Well if you want to die a so-called normal-" He used air quotes, "death then fine by me. The hypocratic oath is rather fucked this day and age considering all you need to survive is living brain matter."
Pointing to both Raphael and Sammy he asked,
"You boys seem close, know each other before getting transferred?"
Raphael jumped in, "Yeah believe it or not we joined up with the buddy system… Before this we were stationed with the 214th."
"No shit?" This time a different drop trooper spoke who was previously silent for the altercation.
"When I first got my wings I was assigned with the 214th. The buddy system actually worked for once? Man I don't know who filled your boy's paperwork, but next time you see your recruiter you'd better give him your pension." The man chuckled.
He was an obviously older gentleman which could be distinguished by his raspy voice. A body that has endured so many drugs, poisons, toxins and the likes.
This was Staff Sergeant Dale, the man in charge of their squad for this little operation.
"Depending on the day I want to kill him… But we've known each other since we were kids so if I ever did such a thing I'd have two mothers smacking me in the head when I eventually got home…"
Raphael responded while Sammy kept his shit eating grin.
"A sight more rare than those dangerously beautiful binary pulsar systems…" The Doc mumbled as he continued eating.
There were two other members of the squad sitting at the table who hadn't said anything yet and instead continued eating their breakfast.
One was a man named Shelby who was the designated marksman. And the final member was a combat engineer of the gravitational giant subspecies called Tony.
Only a few subspecies of humans exist due to gravitational, or rapid and normal genetic mutational factors.
Tony specifically was a member of one of the largest variations of gravitational giants, clocking in at a solid 8 in a half feet tall.
"Grubs poor. Funny lads make it better." Tony groaned as he aggressively stabbed at his food.
Hearing this, Sammy spoke up again.
"Did you guys hear that one of the crab synths was killed during the initial operation?"
"Really?" Jonel asked, poking at some pancakes.
"Yeah, I heard a primitive ballista bolts managed to penetrate it in the head and ruptured the electronic nervous implants-"
"It opened its mouth." Dale said without breaking visual contact of his food.
Raphael physically jolted at the statement with his neck bobbing his head around.
"It just… opened its mouth? These frontline brutes have a weakness as simple as that?"
"Usually no." The Doc took a bite of some sausage as a voice module in his throat continued speaking while he chewed.
"I don't know the full details, but it's being assumed the Gate and this other dimension somehow messed with their override commands causing them to act in an unorthodox manner." He swallowed.
"In the diagnostics it showed they spent a large amount of time talking to one another trying to confirm what the objective was. Synths usually never talk to each other and the only reason why they have any vocals are for emergency scenarios."
"Where'd you hear this?" Raphael inquisitively looked at Remix.
"From Tony. He was talking to some of the other engineers earlier."
At this time the sergeant began cleaning up his plate as he gathered all of his equipment.
"Alright, hurry and finish eating. If anyone's late to the muster and I get in trouble for it I will string your ass out for the crows to eat!" Dale said as he got up and made his way out the mess hall.
At this point all the members of the squad either began cleaning their areas or hurriedly stuffed food down their gullets as fast as they could.
Raphael got up and felt a hand placed on his shoulder for a brief moment.
He looked over to see Shelby who greeted him with a nod.
"Don't mind Rappa, kids a prick."
Raphael returned a quiet nod in response as they walked outside.
The UGN compound was extremely busy. People of all professions scuttled around working on various projects and building infrastructure. Heavy construction mechs, vehicles, drones, and fabricators disturbed the otherwise peaceful surroundings as they worked around the clock growing the compound into a fort.
Along their trip to the 104ths command tent, Raphael began staring at an extremely tall synthetic creature which was commonly referred to as a "Quadripod Walker".
This creature topped at a height of 30 feet and stood on four long, skinny legs. They reached a sharp point at the bottom giving it the ability to bury its feet into the terrain, allowing the walkers to climb practically any obstacle regardless of how steep the elevation.
Heavy armor plates along the legs were bolted onto the creature, covering almost every part of the body minus some areas in the joints.
Some sharp spikes made of chitin jetted off around the joints, the only natural form of protection this creature had without the previously mentioned additions.
Its main body resembled a cellar spider in that it was grossly small and round in proportion to the legs.
This particular synthetic had a welding attachment as well as some multi tool arms built into its face.
Raphael watched as it effortlessly walked over the crowds of people to wherever its destination might be. Everyonce in a while, it would emit a low pitched rumbling moan that echoed throughout the entire compound as it stomped around.
Finally making it outside of the 50 ton steel gates, the squad made their way up to one of the many command tents that littered the fields.
A number of UGN regiments were stationed in the other dimension and each unit had their own command tent where orders from the Head Operations Center trickled down to the soldiers.
The group walked into the command tent to see both the sergeant and doc already there, talking to the captain and two lieutenants who were sitting at a makeshift metal table.
Glowing behind them was the 3D holo projection of the surrounding terrain the group saw during the briefing yesterday.
"I see the whole squad is here, let's get to business." Said the captain as he leaned back folding his arms.
"You lot are to be stationed at this village…" He pointed to the furthest village on the hologram.
"Since there's a few distinguished members within your squad…
"Oh they're distinguished all right." One of the lieutenants said under his breath as he scrolled through his holopad.
"Either way…" The captain sighed.
"Your squad is going to be deployed at the furthest village within the scope of Operation Newfall. As you should all know, the objective is simple. Update your HCM's with the attached Auto Translation Module to make our future endeavors in these lands easier, while protecting those who are non combatants."
"Are we getting a mobile Relay Unit?" Sergeant Dale asked.
"Without proper infrastructure or the capacity to bring in low orbit space ships, we won't be able to get in contact with command. That village would be within static range with our base HCM's."
The other lieutenant chimed in,
"We've already constructed a Signal Relay Beacon which should realistically reach the entirety of this continent. Regardless of where you are you should be able to get in contact with command. Although we have encountered some unusual interference within this dimension, it shouldn't prove any issue for this short distance."
Dale nodded in confirmation.
"As you heard in the briefing yesterday, we've spotted decent sized contingents made of surviving deserters in the general area around the FOB. They are raiding and pillaging the lands in a scorched earth tactic."
The captain lectured.
"As you know, this type of battle tactic has been deemed ineffective for the most part due to the limitless population and resources offered in the modern day… So we want to avoid a waste of lives even if the uppers don't give a damn."
Raphael thought back to the sight of never ending convoys of vehicles crossing to and from the Gate.
It makes logical sense that the enemy would try such a tactic considering their situation. A nation stuck in medieval technology would have no way of knowing the true scale of an enemy who has conquered the stars.
While they burned their homes and fields in desperation, the UGN was bringing in thousands of tons of supplies by the hour. On the other side of the gate was a near constant operation of spaceships landing and dropping off supplies to explore the new dimension.
Their enemy could only work with what little land the continent offered while the UGN had hundreds of thousands of planets under its control.
"That is all for the mission. Any questions?"
"Are we going to be given any specialized gear?" Dale asked.
The captain sighed saying,
"I don't want to try and convince them why you need more gear. You'll be assigned the usual Survivalist Drone with the attached gear. You lads also have hover jets so even in the midst of an emergency you can just fly back."
"Protecting those who are noncombatants." Dale said with a serious tone.
"I'm not over estimating our enemy, but at the same time if randomly 5,000 showed up at the village then we will fail to properly defend it even with our weaponry. That's all I'm trying to point out, captain."
"Fine…"
The commanding officer responded with a tired tone.
"Since you have a giant with you, go ahead and take a Tri-Laser field gun and slap it on him… Although we haven't seen any groups that large with the Hawk Eye drones so you shouldn't even need it. God forbid it gets lost or damaged…" He looked at the sergeant with a serious expression in his eyes.
Now the sergeant sighed before responding, "Yes sir, I understand."
"Anything else?" Asked the captain, who received silence for an answer.
"Alright, get the hell out of my face. Scramble!"
The squad collectively let out a "Yes sir!" before making an about face and proceeding out of the command tent.
Once outside Dale looked towards Tony,
"Come on, let's go bug supply and grab a field gun. You guy's stay here and we will fly out once we've returned." he pointed at the rest of the members.
The two drop troopers walked off, back towards the compound.
Raphael took this time and laid down on the grass putting his arms behind his head. He closed his eyes, focusing on the refreshing breeze and the slight burning warmth of the sun's rays.
These types of worlds were rare at the end of the day, so he wanted to enjoy the experience as best he could. Even during times of war, beautiful these agrarian worlds turn into hellish apocalyptic landscapes despite everyone's best efforts to avoid such outcomes.
Sadera
Imperial Capital
The Emperor's throne room looked like something you'd see in one of Earth's ancient paintings depicting the start of humanity. Glorious stone masoned walls and chiseled marble pillars lined the room as gold shined and glittered throughout.
A lavish red carpet ran along the middle of the room right up to the impressively crafted, golden throne that Emperor Molt was sitting atop of.
Silver braziers lined the pillars as they lit up the palace with a warm glow. At the back wall housed a large mosaic window, depicting the Empire in a glorious assortment of colors.
A bald man slowly walked up towards the throne as he gave a solemn bow.
"Marcus… you may speak." Emperor Molt waved his hand.
Marcus lifted up his head with a bit of worry in his eyes.
"It's an updated report on the situation in Alnus. Apparently our fears of a nation run by monstrosities was unfounded. Scouts who've disguised themselves as peasants managed to approach close enough to confirm this."
"So, our enemy is indeed human." The Emperor stroked his beard.
"It appears so your majesty, although multiple large beasts and metal golems were noted walking around the enemy's fort at Alnus. Regardless, they managed to completely wipe out our two legions and we've also received word that the entirety of the Army of Unified Kingdoms was defeated. My informant said they were routed by their powerful explosion and light magic before they even reached Alnus Hill…"
"A nation of beast tamers powerful mages huh? I anticipated such an outcome of the Unified Kingdoms considering our very own legions, but such news is still worrying... Have the wyvern riders dispatched the new orders to the commanders in the fields?"
"Yes the operation has been ongoing for a few days your majesty, but I have my concerns…"
Emperor Molt raised his eyebrows, completely unphased despite the information heard.
"What is it, Minister Marcus?"
"The previous orders detailed to the legionnaires and deserters will slowly cripple us should this war drag out. How do we plan to make up for the loss of supplies and revenue from our subjects whose lands suffered from the war?"
Molt glared at Marcus with a stern expression.
"Your current character makes it seem as if this is the Empire's first time of crisis. This glorious country was built on the strength and blood of my forefathers and subjects. We will overcome this trial, cost what it may… As a remedy for your concerns, we can administer some of the slaves to work the barren grasslands to offset the loss."
Marcus looked up with a sleazy smile.
"We'd have to have extra guards for any warrior bunnies in particular since it would be near their home lands."
"Do what you must, is there anything else?"
"Yes your majesty. I have the imperial decree written on an official ledger, as requested, informing the masses of conscriptionary service."
Emperor Molt nodded quietly before waving the Minister off.
"Good. Immediately inform me of any updates on our enemy."
Marcus bowed respectfully before quickly making his way out of the throne room. He hadn't noticed but one of the Emperor's sons, Prince Zorzal, was standing in the room wearing a malicious smile.
"Did I hear you correct father? Slaves, including a few of the remaining bunny warriors, will be sent to the grassland for forced labor? That's hilariously cruel!"
Zorzal said as he strutted with an unpronounced swagger. He held his hands on his hips holding a heroic pose.
"I'm sure Tyuule will love this! Her people will be able to experience a glimpse of their savagery lifestyles before we so graciously brought humanity and civilization to their untamed lands. We did promise to take care of her people after all."
Emperor Molt just sighed with annoyance.
"I don't know why that beast is still alive. I thought I ordered you to execute her already... The image of a Prince being with such a creature, it's revolting and delinquent."
The Prince only scuffed as he turned towards the hall's great wooden doors.
"Oh I don't think so father. Keeping her around as a war prize is more than fitting for a leader of her stature…"
As Zorzal walked out of the throne room, Emperor Molt tiredly palmed his head and sighed.
Falmart
The squad of 8 UGN drop troopers were swiftly moving across the countryside high in the air.
Occasionally, one of the troopers would slowly land on the ground before pushing against it, launching themselves in the skies as they continued their soar. Sometimes they'd reach hundreds of feet in the air with their ascends.
This little maneuver was needed in order to avoid overheating the Felkhend vents. Micro fusion reactors rarely melted down, but the amount of heat generated from the repurposed gasses used for thrust had a reputation for liquefying sensitive equipment after extended usage.
Raphael scanned across the landscape as the sun's rays were completely absorbed by the abyssal paint of the power armor.
As he gathered information from his surroundings, his onboard AI was processing this to create a personalized 3D map displaying the surrounding terrain. This information was used in conjunction with the previous HawkEye drones where the information gathered was rendered in a more detailed image that would be uploaded to the UGN database.
The countryside of this 'other dimension' was rather beautiful.
Large open grass fields as far as his artificial eyes could see, only to be broken up by a few sparse and healthy looking tree lines. He's been on a number of planets in his short experience of adulthood, but none were as pristine as this one.
Almost as if he was walking through an oasis in a sea of nothing but ice cold and barren rock. Different from those empty crater filled planets with nothing but quarries as millions died contesting it.
Seeing ancient stone/thatch houses and windmills was mildly entertaining, but the fields of vegetables and grain sparked an awe in him. A proper farm instead of the advanced, pipe littered, field factories of genetically engineered super plants.
Occasionally one on fire, or in ruins, would come into view from far away. The squad could only frown at such a sight as they flew forth.
A voice then called out through Raphaels HCM's.
"Hey Doc…"
"Aye?"
"Which Sector Corp is stationed with us in this other dimension? I only recognize a few of the units around, the rest back at the FOB I ain't ever seen before." Jonels voice spoke over the HCM.
Meanwhile Dale had to make a quick touch down making a soft landing.
Some invisible panels on the Felkhend shot open as hot gas was quickly purged from the system. After no more than a few seconds, he shot back up into the air with intense speed.
"They're from Sector Zeta-II. The Zeta Corp is engineering focused with a few combat units. In the previous great war their Corp tailed behind ours. Anytime we captured a planet, they swooped in and handled all the POG logistic crap."
"That explains all the synthetics at base. I've never seen those large Quadripod Walkers before. So where's the rest of our lads then?" Raphael asked in his HCM.
Remix turned himself around to face the squad as he continued flying into the direction of the village.
"They're still in the sector… Well on our side of the dimension at least. Right now anyone entering the sector has to accept a Naval ship scan along with provided documents with reason for entering."
He turned back around as the little maneuver slowed him down a bit.
"Not quite martial law…But something similar."
Remix thought back to what Raphael said before adding,
"Engineering Corps usually get a bunch of cool synthetics since some are cheaper and more reliable than drones… It's ironic how we outlaw slaves and cloning, yet the creation of programmable synthetic creatures is a-okay."
"Say Doc, if you care so much about the synthetics why don't you just go and free 'em yourself?" Rappa snarked.
"Speaking of slaves…" Jonel interrupted.
"Has the thought ever crossed your minds that slavery is a social norm in this world? I remember seeing a report on the number of people still marked as missing from the terrorist attack in district 27 makes me wonder…"
As Jonel finished his sentence an awkward silence fell upon the squad. No one really wanted to comment further on this.
The UGN troopers have been flying for a little over 2 hours now. The only change in scenery consisted of the various forests, tree lines, and some sporadic villages.
Shelby, who was flying at the front of the squad's formation, suddenly paused holding up his hand.
The squad came to a rapid halt as they all hovered in formation, holding different angles.
"What is it?" Dale asked.
Shelby didn't say anything as two hydraulic tubes began to slowly extend from where his eyes were situated behind the helmet.
All the drop troopers had their own unique forms of bionic eyes, but designated marksmen had an even more advanced pair of cybernetics.
Marksmen eyes were referred to as SpyGlasses, a parody and reference to the ancient spyglass tool once used for nautical purposes. These bionic eyes functioned very similarly with the ability to physically extend the vision of its user to many miles.
More often than not, these bionics are never fully utilized due to terrain issues. Their eyes could see past what the geographic limitations would allow.
"I see what looks like a caravan…"
"Yeah we can just barely see them too. What spooked you Shelby?" Sergeant Dale asked.
"About 3 clicks ahead of the caravan is an ambush. I can make out multiple heat signatures hiding out in the treeline up ahead where the dirt road cuts through it."
"Ain't that the direction of the village we are heading to?"
Sammy asked as he sarcastically put his hand against his helmet as if he was looking through a pair of binoculars.
"Change of plans, dive ladies!"
Dale ordered as he zoomed off parallel to the ground. The rest of the squad quickly followed, ripping through the sky with the distorting hot gasses.
Slowly the picture grew larger as the ant size people began to form human shapes and appearances. The white yellow-stained bonnets of the wagons screamed their position as anyone could spot them from far away.
The squad of UGN drop troopers took a defensive VIP position.
They formed a circle over the slow moving caravan in the sky before the squad, with the exception of Shelby, slowly started to descend around the caravan.
As Raphael made a calm landing, he could feel eyes staring at him.
He looked over to see a little girl and boy sitting next to what he presumed to be their mother who was holding the reins of the wagon.
Raphael honestly felt a bit bad.
Their eyes were filled with complete terror and fear. The little girl held onto her mom closely as she buried her face into her gown. Even the mother was frozen in complete shock.
She was witnessing 8 men who had the ability to fly by themselves. No wyverns or beasts as far as the eyes could see. One of these men was still hovering just above her wagon, making an ungodly loud noise as the backfiring vents steamed and exploded.
Her only reaction was to try and cover up both of the kids as best she could.
Raphael sighed trying to give a gentle wave to the group.
Nothing about the drop troopers implied they were human outside of their shapes. They were covered from head to toe in glowing futuristic black power armor and nanosuit.
Their V-shape blue tinted visors completely blocked out the troopers eyes with the exception of those like Shelby, who have a custom made helmet for their bionics. Although SpyGlasses were almost as far as you could stray from being human.
No biological material is left after such advanced and invasive procedures.
Raphael looked away to avoid staring and frightening them even more. He could see Dale attempting to talk to the lead caravan while Tony held the front position.
Seeing a giant hold a field Tri-Lazer gun was honestly pretty badass. Felt like something out of a movie.
Dale began to walk down the road as he made a waving signal for the squad to follow before speaking through the HCM.
"Looks like the other squads deployed at the closer villages have been doing a good job so far. Communication is rough, but they at least were able to understand we are here to help them."
"I've never seen the auto translation module in learning mode. This stuff is much more impressive than I give it credit for." Raphael admitted.
"Yeah but you need the helmet on to use it so you can't go kissing dog girls that easily." Sammy smirked.
"Didn't you say you'd tear into any girl with pointy ears?"
"No I said-"
"You two ever shut up?" Rappa snapped.
"I need all of you to lock it up now!" Dale barked in an annoyed tone.
"Be morons once we arrive and set up, I'm sick of hearing the constant chatter over comms. Keep an eye out, and for the love of God don't immediately shoot any heat signatures in the trees…"
The HCM's went silent as the squad kept its steady pace guarding the wagons as they continued down the bumpy dirt road.