A New Dawn - 2. Chapter 2

"...Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth..."

-Seattle

***

Jupiter Station-Sol System

 

The Novus Diluculo, New Dawn, was the second of her class to be built. Two other Battlestars were created by the UEN military, the Prometheus and Endeavour. Both were currently in different systems for training. The Battlestar class ships were created by the UEN Space Navy; the engineers designed them after heavy carriers on a popular television show from the early 21st century.

 

The Novus Diluculo was 4,640ft long from bow to stern, 1,820ft wide from Flight Pod A to Flight Pod B when they were extended, and had a height of 580ft. The main hull of the ship is divided into three sections; the bow of the ship contains the primary living quarters for crew and guests, recreational facilities, mess halls, shipboard operations (The Bridge/CIC, Situation Room, and Computer Core), water storage and purifiers, and the forward control thrusters. The mid-ship area contains the Flight Pod retraction mechanisms and crossways linking the hanger pods for the transfer of equipment and personnel. The stern of the ship contains the 6 sublight engines (Four of which are mounted externally in engine pods with the two other on the main hull between the engine pods), four Terra Gate Jump Drives, and control thrusters. The outer hull armor plating is made out of a unique metal-alloy that helped disperse the energy from a weapon bolt portion across a vast portion of the hull. If the armor is overheated during an engagement, however, hull breaches and fires develop as energy leaks through. The hull armor plating is superior at warding off damage even from a direct nuclear explosion.

 

As armament, the ship has 26 large gun turrets mounted on each side of the main hull across the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the main hull. The Flight Pods are equipped with 20 smaller turrets, and 2 squadrons of 25 Reaper F-22 fighters. Yep, she was an impressive ship, I thought to myself seeing her through the view ports in Docking Bay 5.

 

"Sir, the Specter Fighters have been loaded into the Novus Diluculo", said Sam as I arrived at Docking Station 5, with President Carter and two of her Secret Service detail that will be accompanying us on the tour.

 

"Alright Sam."

 

"Docking Bay 5 is now ready for transfer" droned the Jupiter Station AIX.

 

"Sam, you, Corporal Davis, and Rainer take point. The rest of you spread out" giving them my orders then, "President Carter, your ships waits."

 

***

 

Novus Diluculo-Sol System

 

"Good Evening President Carter and welcome to the Novus Diluculo.", said an attractive woman when we entered the ship, "I am Commander Dawn, the holographic avatar for Novus Diluculo AIX."

 

"I knew of such Artificial Intelligence Technology, but I never imagined it was so advanced" President Carter said behind me.

 

"The military scientists and engineers have kept our creation a secret; currently only the Battlestar-Class starships have holographic avatars."

 

"I see," President Carter said, "and why was I not informed about this technology earlier?"

 

"I can answer that," said a man coming from around the corner. His voice had a slight accent that sounded Russian, "We had to make sure the technology was as near to prefect as possible and the Joint Chiefs only recently decided that on this tour we would reveal their existence to you and the Ghosts."

 

"I take it you are Admiral Alek'zanovitch." President Carter said extending her right hand to the Admiral.

 

"Yes, I am." He said shaking the President's hand, "Excuse me, where are my manners? Welcome the Novus Diluculo Madame President, it's a great honor to have you on board."

 

"Thank You Admiral" she said turning to me, "This is Colonel Carter, the Commanding Officer for the 3rd Squadron of the UENMC Ghost Division. He and his team will be watching over me while I am on this tour, along with two Secret Service agents."

 

"Ah, Yes of course. As head of the security detail, we have prepared a briefing for you that should prove helpful. It can be delivered at whatever time is most convenient to you."

 

 

"No time like the present," I said as I turned and watched the rest of my team board the ship. "I trust that your crew can show me men to the quarters that they'll be using. Also, if there are no objections, I'd like my second in command, Sergeant Major Matthews," I said as I gestured to Sam, "to sit in on the briefing."

 

"Of course Ensign Mendez, show Col. Carter's men to the third level living quarters. And you may follow me to the Situation Room," he said as he turned and disappeared around the corner he had just come from.

 

***

 

After the briefing Sam and I headed down to our living quarters to pick-up our team and head down to the Flight Pods to check out our Specter fighters. We separated into 2 groups of seven, me leading my group to Flight Pod B and Sam leading hers to Flight Pod A. The Specter fighters were specifically made for the Ghost Division. They were smaller than the Reaper F-22s carried by the Novus Diluculo and had the same camouflage technology as our suits. The Specters were outfitted with two 6-Barrel Kinetic-Pulse Auto cannons and could carry a 2,000lb load of missiles/bombs.

 

"Excuse me, what are you doing down here?" said a man when we arrived at the flight deck.

 

"I'm looking for Chief Petty Officer Michaels." I told the man.

 

"She is right over there" pointing at a woman under a Reaper.

 

"Thank You" I said walking over to the reaper, "Chief Petty Officer Michaels?"

 

"The one and only." She slid out beneath the Reaper, "So you're here for those fighters we got earlier?"

 

"Yes Ma'am."

 

"Bah, call me Chief, seems everyone else does." she said.

 

"Very Well."

 

"You know they made us clear out both Flight Decks before they brought those fighters in, pissed me off a little that I had to lose control of my flight decks."

 

"You know the military Chief; there are things you don't need to know"

 

"Hmm" she said walking over to a console on the wall, "Bring them up." A few feet from us the floor hissed and seven compartments open up, raising our fighters up, "What the fuck....Sir we haven't touched-"

 

I stopped her, "What do you mean Chief" I said with a smile.

 

"What...Your fighters aren't there." CPO Michaels said pointing to what seemed empty space.

 

"Oh, they are there." I said pressing my wrist. In front us, of the Specter's camouflage system turned off.

 

"Well I'll be."

 

"Like I said; some things are need to know."

 

***

 

After checking the fighters we headed back to our quarters to clean up. Some of us decided to head over to the mess hall for food. The others decided to go to sleep early.

 

"Mmm, real food" Sam said digging into her plate; we laughed at her exclamation, "Hey after eating REMs for two months we need this."

 

"Sam you won't have to worry about eating REMs for another four months." I said taking a sip from my coffee.

 

"You can't say you haven't missed this." Sam said picking up a chocolate pastry.

 

"No I can't, Sam" I chuckled. For over 5 years I have been with this team. I've trained and done missions with each one of them. The only new one to the group was Private Smith, who came to us from Academy a few months ago. Yep, we are one fucked up family here. I know Sam and Corporal Rainer are dating each other, although fraternization among service members is no longer illegal such relationships are still frowned upon by high command. The other couple was Captain Ramirez and Major Anderson, both good men that I have known since my time in Academy. I only found out about them when we were on duty on Mars and I found them in a situation that would have made my mother blush. It was fun watching them squirm, trying to give an explanation as to what they were doing. Out the 14 of us only Staff Sergeant Hernandez and Sergeant Stover are married and have children. I couldn't help laugh at the situation that I am in as their Commanding Officer.

 

"What is going in that head of yours Colonel?" asked Corporal Bennett.

 

"Nothing much, just thinking we are one sorry looking bunch." I said

 

"Aww, Colonel you're hurting our feelings here."

 

[Don't do anything stupid, you hear?] I said as two Army soldiers neared are table.

 

[Yes Sir.]

 

"So y'all the spooks that we've been hearing about", he said loathing voice, "Y'all don't look that tough for people to be afraid of y'all."

 

"I suggest that you go back to your food and leave my men alone." I told him with some venom in my voice.

 

"Men?" he said, looking at Sam and three other female members from my team, "I'll show you what real men are" he said to Sam while grabbing his crotch.

 

[Don't...] I tried to get out, but was too late; Corporal Rainer stood and punched the soldier in the mouth. Soon after, the soldier's friends jumped on Rainer and then my team got into the brawl. The Marines that were sitting a few feet away from us got into the brawl trying to stop the Army and Navy folk from getting hurt by my team, but ended up fighting the same people they tried to pull off of my team. I just stayed sitting, sipping my coffee, and let them beat each other up.

 

After a while, I headed to the mess hall doors and locked them. Then I headed to the kitchen to get myself another cup of coffee. The cook there was looking at the mess the soldiers were making. Once he saw me in the kitchen, he just looked at me, clearly wanting me to do something. I sighed out loud and set my now empty mug on one of the counters and headed back to the mess hall doors.

 

I grabbed my lance from my left holster and slammed it down on the table closest to me, "SILENCE!!!"

 

They all stopped in their tracks, "Now that I have your undivided attention, you will do good to listen to me." I paused to see if anyone dared to defy me, "Good, now I want every one of you maggots to clean up this room, not one of you will be leaving ‘til I can see the wall glittering. Is that understood?"

 

"Yes Sir." they answered weakly.

 

"I SAID IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?"

 

"YES SIR"

 

"Good, now get to it." I headed back to the Kitchen and the cook handed me a full cup of coffee. I walked to the nearest clean table and sat down, watching the soldiers in front of me work. After 20 minutes or so they were assembled in lines, waiting for me. "Good, now that this room is clean again, it's time for your punishment."

 

"Hey that's not fair." called out a soldier.

 

"I thought you were at attention, and I haven't given anyone the liberty to speak." I paused for any protest, "Now I want you all to apologize to the cook here who has given his time to cook this meal for us, and for acting like raging monkeys."

 

"Sorry SIR, for messing your Mess Hall Sir, and for acting like monkeys Sir" they said in unison, the cook just nodded as reply.

 

"Good, now I usually give 100 push-ups to everyone as punishment but since the Private back there decided to voice his opinion it will now be 150. Oh, and I do mean everyone or I might forget what number we are on and start over from 1, is that understood?"

 

"Yes Sir"

 

"Good, now get down and let's begin" I ordered them, "Now, Down!"

 

"One Sir!"

 

"Down."

"Two Sir!"

 

"Down."

"Three Sir!"

 

"Down." That's how it went. We only had to restart twice, because some Privates decided they didn't want to go on. Once we reached 149, I went to the mess hall doors and unlocked them. They opened to reveal a very angry Admiral Alek'zanovitch with security.

 

"WHAT is going on here?" he demanded.

 

"Excuse me, Sir" I told him and turned back to the soldiers, "Down."

 

"150 Sir!"

 

"My team is dismissed, the rest of you have to wait on the Admiral here."

 

"DISMISSED!" I heard from behind me, "Colonel, I want you up in the state room, NOW!"

 

***

 

"What was that down there?" Admiral Alek'zanovitch asked me when I entered his Stateroom.

 

"Punishment."

 

"Punishment?"

 

"Yes, a brawl broke out and I was punishing them for tearing up the mess hall."

 

"When did you decide that you were the Commanding Officer on this vessel?"

 

"Sir, I never had the illusion that I was the CO on this vessel as you put it."

 

"Then why did you find it necessary to punish those under my command, lock the doors, and lock me out of the mess hall security system?"

 

I stayed silent, looking at him.

 

"I asked you a question Colonel" he said emphasizing the colonel part.

 

"Well Sir, since my team was involved, I had to punish them for disobeying my direct order, and since those soldiers under your command caused this disruption, I was within my legal authority to punish them for their actions."

 

"You should have let me handle it Colonel."

 

"And what would have happened to those responsible? You would just send them off to the brig for a night or two."

 

"Colonel...."

 

"No, you listen to me SIR. I was well within my rights to punish your men, just as you can with my men while we are on this vessel."

 

"Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that Colonel? Just because your mother is the UEN President doesn't give you any more power here." He said slamming his fist on his desk.

 

"Admiral, my relation to the President hasn't gotten me this rank; I worked for this rank since I joined the Marine Corps."

 

"Then Colonel, don't step out of your realm of power again, and undermine my authority here, IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?"

 

"YES SIR" I barked out, "Sir, if you don't mind I need to go and rest for my shift in the morning. If you wish to continue this conversation later on, then meet me for breakfast at 0600 hours." I said leaving him with his mouth hanging open before he could protest me leaving.

 

***

 

At 0420 hours I woke my team up and headed to the recreation facilities for PT, Physical Training. I led my team on a 6 mile run around a track, and then began a warm-up and line formation exercise. A few minutes into PT, Marines started showing up and they got in line with my team. I also led them through PT and finished off with a line-jog through the track. I dismissed them and headed to the showers. 5 members of my team decided to stay back and work out on the machines that the recreational facilities offered. Once done showering, I headed back to our living quarters and got suited up for the first shift. Before I left for the mess hall I told Corporal Rainer that he was with me on the first shift, starting at 0700 hours.

 

***

 

"Good Morning Sir." I said, sitting down and setting my tray where Admiral Alek'zanovitch was sitting.

 

"Morning, Colonel" he said lifting his head from reviewing the DP (Data-Pad) in front of him and watching me sit, "I must apologize for my behavior yesterday, I let my emotions get a hold of me."

 

"There is no need for apologies Sir, If I were in your position I might have done the same thing."

 

He kind of chuckled and looked back down at the DP, "I know you aren't the biological son of the President, I was wondering how it was that you came to be adopted, if you don't mind me asking?"

 

"It's alright" I assured him, "Have you heard of the Alpha Centauri Incident?"

 

"Yes."

 

"I was the youngest refugee from the planet Alpha-Omega-IX."

 

"Really?"

 

"Yep"

 

"Then I'm sorry for asking, I don't want to bring out any bad memories."

 

"It's okay Admiral, I'm over it. The only thing I do want, is to find the bastards that did it and make them suffer." I said with my voice filled with anger.

 

"So you know that it wasn't the rebels remaining from AAA."

 

"Yes Sir, I found out a few weeks after I joined the Marines.

 

"Please call me Dimitri, we're off duty Colonel."

 

"Hehe, then you call me Daniel." I said grinning, "So Admi...Dimitri I've noticed you have a slight accent, are you Russian?"

 

"Yes I am, I was born in Moscow."

 

"Ah"

 

"Is that a problem?"

 

"No...No it's just that I have always admired the Russian accent" I told him, bah like I was going to tell him that I found Russian accents very sexy, "So what interested you so much that you become an Admiral?"

 

"Well my father was a Navy Admiral, and his father before him and so on, you could say my whole family was involved in the Military. But I didn't want to just be a normal Navy Admiral, so I choose to join the Space Navy."

 

"Was your father pissed?"

 

"No, he was somewhat disappointed that I decided to join the Space Navy instead of the original Navy, but once I gained the rank of Admiral and the Novus Diluculo to command, he couldn't be more proud of me."

 

I smiled at him, then I noticed the time on my wrist display, "Shit I better get on my shift, it would be a bad sign to my team if I show up late."

 

"Go ahead Daniel, it's been nice talking, although I was expecting another shouting match" he said grinning up at me.

 

"Then why don't you join me for dinner later tonight once you get off of your shift." Again he had his mouth hanging open, "You should close your mouth, wouldn't want a fly to get in there."

 

"I can't, I have some things to take care off."

 

"I see" I said with some disappointment.

 

"Why don't I take a rain-check and we'll set up a date later on."

 

"Sure" I said a little bit fast while strapping my helmet, "Well I better go, Later Dimitri"

 

"Bye"

 

***

 

"There you are Daniel" my mother, the President, said when I arrived at her quarters.

 

"Busy on your speech, I see." Pointing down at the clutter of paper in front of her, "A bit old fashioned to use real paper." I said as I un-strapped my helmet.

 

"Sometimes Daniel, you just need to write with real ink and paper."

 

"You and your customs mum."

 

"Hehe, when you get to be my age, you'll see what I'm talking about." She said chuckling, "So, I hear you had breakfast with our dear Admiral."

 

"How did you know?"

 

"Oh I have my contacts Daniel; I am the President of the largest super power in the universe, you know."

 

"Humph" childish I know, but she was looking into my private life, "Where's Corporal Rainer?"

 

"Next door with the Secret Service Agents looking at the security video feed."

 

[Rainer, anything I need to know?]

 

[No Sir, everything looks safe from here.]

 

The door chimed, "Come in." President Carter said.

 

The doors slid open and in came Dawn, "I have the documents you asked for Ma'am."

 

I gave her a disapproving look, "What? I was expecting her."

 

"You should have waited ‘til I checked who it was before you allowed anyone to enter, even if you knew they were coming."

 

"You and those damn Secret Service Agents, all the same, thinking someone out there is out to get me."

 

"Well that's what we are here to do, to protect you."

 

"From Dawn?"

 

"Yes...No...You know what I mean."

 

"Yes, Yes, now go next door and watch my door from there, I have to finish my speech."

 

I sighed out loud, she always got her way. Walking towards the door I saw her wink and thank Dawn, that bitch. I know it's a bad thing to call your mother, but still, that bitch used Dawn to spy on us.

 

"You..."

 

"Have something to say Colonel?" she said with grinning smile, knowing that I found out she was using Dawn.

 

"No Ma'am."

 

"Good." She said returning to her speech.

 

Oh I'm going to get her one of these days. And no, this wasn't the first time she used her so called "contacts" to spy on me. The first time I found out was when I went on a ‘date' with a marine I met on duty. I only found out when the agent slipped up, letting me know someone had been following me. The day after the ‘date' the so called agent met my fist, which loosened his mouth to tell me who had ordered him to follow me. After the shouting match, as always, she got her way, I did promise her that any agents following me would be found with bruises and scrapes. Yes, I know it's bad for me to direct my anger towards the agents who are following orders, but damn it, it made me a bit happier.

 

Oh I'm going to hate tomorrow, having to stand near the podium while she gives her speech. It would be the first time a Ghost would appear on Universal television. God, I hope nothing goes wrong.

 

***

 

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the United Earth Nation and her colonies," President Carter began. "This January 27th marks the three hundred fiftieth year since our nation's founding. The founders of our nation believed they would usher in a new era of peace, as did most of the world; as you all know, they were most unfortunately mistaken. Instead it resulted in a bloody war that lasted over forty years, claiming the lives of far too many. Fourteen years ago we silenced the last of the remaining rebels of the Asian-Arab Alliance, who in their short sightedness, greed, and an irrational fear brought a war to our people that never had to happen. Today we honor the memories of every one of our soldiers who heroically gave their lives in the preservation of our nation and way of life." Pausing for a moment, President Carter took a deep breath and lowered her head for a moment before raising it again, conviction evident in her eyes.

"In the past few hundred years, we have seen incredible advancements in technology. Innovations by the brightest minds among us have brought us medical technology that once existed only in our people's wildest dreams. The development of the nano-anti-virus resulted in the eradication of the most destructive diseases ever known to humanity. Even as billions of our people died at the hands of an unseen enemy, we developed a means to survive and prosper. We have managed not merely to treat, but eliminate viruses that have long plagued our people. Now these diseases exist merely as words in our historical archives. Yet, as we remember those who gave their lives in heroic defense of our way of life, we must likewise never forget the loss of the billions who died."

"War and disease were not the only problems to plague our history. Between natural overpopulation and the devastation brought upon our home planet, our people faced the period of our history that has now come to be known as the great starvation. This too, we overcame with ingenuity. Between the developments of genetically engineered crops to better provide for the sustenance of our people and advancements in terra-forming technology we again pulled ourselves away from the edge of devastation. However, lack of food was not the only problem caused by overpopulation. With so much of Earth devastated, simple living space swiftly became a rare commodity, as overpopulation quickly translated into overcrowding. Again, the brightest minds among us came to our rescue, with the furtherance of the Terra Gate technology, which has allowed us to colonize our own solar system and others."

"Our history is one of strife. Our legacy is to overcome adversity, and either adapt to change, or change ourselves as a means of adapting. We have come far, my fellow citizens, but even though we are stronger now than we have ever been before, we must not allow ourselves to waver. We must be ever vigilant, both as citizens, to ensure the continued strength of our nation, and as individuals, to reach our greatest potential."

 

"May what ever Powers you believe in Bless you all."

 

 

***

 

"All hands prepare for jump." The PA system announced.

 

Admiral Alek'zanovitch took out his key card and entered it into Terra Gate Jump Console, activating the countdown for the jump.

 

"Jump in 5"

 

"4"

 

"3"

 

"2"

 

"1"

 

"Jump"

 

The ship shuddered as the Terra Gate Jump Drive (TG-Jump Drive) activated creating a strong gravitational and electromagnetic energy pull that pulled the ship from normal space into a wormhole that exited at our targeted jump location, putting the Novus Diluculo into a geosynchronous orbit around the designated planet. To an outside observer it would have looked like we flashed from point A to point B. The real physics of this technology, long ago thought science-fiction, was that both types of engines were active during flight the TG-Jump Drives and the subluminal engines, and they followed the laws of conservation of energy and momentum. Meaning we neither created nor destroyed energy, just converted it into another form and kept a constant velocity from the time we entered the wormhole to the time we exited

 

The TG-Jump drives took 15 minutes to cool down between each jump, which also allowed them to return the energy not used back into space. Most people think that the TG-Jump Drives allowed superluminal travel, which was not true. TG- Jump Drives only created a stable wormhole that allowed us to travel through it with our subluminal engines, although the trip does look instantaneous.

 

***

 

It has been two weeks since the tour started after the Presidential speech. In those two weeks we had visited more than twenty colonies in the four known systems. The last jump brought us to Cronus-3, a planet that had been colonized only a few years ago. So far it has been a successful one, the only thing they lacked was medical supplies, which the President was bringing for them on this tour. Some of the media-ships had problems locking on for this jump since it wasn't in the database as of yet. That strange mental noise occurred again a few minutes before the last jump, though it was stronger than the last time. It put most of my men into the Med-Bay, Sam included. GCCO said they also experienced the same incident, and they didn't know what to make of it either. GCCO decided we should tell the President and Admiral Alek'zanovitch of what happened to us. Dimitri told us he already knew of our abilities; it seems an old friend of his told him stories about the Ghost Division in the Marines. The incident was something I don't want to experience again; it almost brought down all my mental defenses down trying to hold it back.

 

So here I was a few days after, heading to the mess hall for a quick bite before I had to start my shift. As I was heading to the mess hall I saw Dimitri walking by and asked him he would like to join me for breakfast.

 

***

We got to the mess hall and gathered what we each wanted before sitting down on a table near the view ports. Dimitri set his plate on the table and walked over to the coffee machine and made two cups of coffee, he then came back and set one in front of me before sitting down.

 

"Thanks"

 

"You're welcome" he looked at me with concerned eyes, "So are you okay?"

 

"Yes I am, so stop fretting over me like some concerned lover." I said, causing a long silence between us. I couldn't take the silence, so I decided to switch the subject to something else.

 

"So here we are again." I said taking a sip from my coffee and setting the mug back on the table.

 

"It seems so" he said shaking his head and chuckling," Two weeks and we haven't tried to kill each other after our last breakfast."

 

"You were the one doing the screaming and yelling in the first place." I exclaimed.

 

"Ah, but you were the one who was undermining my authority."

 

"The only thing I did was lock the mess hall doors."

 

He gave me a look of disbelief and shook his head;"I really don't know what to say about you, Carter." He stated and went back to eating his food.

 

"Oh?" I said looking up from my plate, "What would..."

 

"Sirs you're both needed up on the bridge immediately." said a soldier coming to our table.

 

"Wonder what this is about?" Dimitri said

 

***

 

"What's going on Admiral", said President Carter coming into the CIC.

 

"We have lost contact with Earth and most of the Colonies." Admiral Alek'zanovitch informed her stepping away from the central console, "We've been trying to find any signal coming from Sol System, but so far we've had no such luck."

 

President Carter walked over to me and asked if I knew what was going on. I told her the same thing Dimitri told her.

 

"Admiral" the Com Officer screamed out, "We are getting a transmission"

 

"Put it on screen"

 

"This is ......of the UEN Space Navy declaring.......I repeat a Foothold situation on....." the transmission burst before going silent.

 

"Sir, we've lost the signal."

 

Shit this is not good I thought to myself, Foothold stood for an invasion or attack on earth. I walked to the Com Station and gave him frequencies to try out. I waited as the Lieutenant typed in the frequencies of seven different secret GCCO satellites, "Colonel we have a signal."

 

"Put it on screen" I said to him. The screen changed to show the Ghost insignia of a Red Crescent moon with a sword going through it with metallic wings on the hilt, "This is Colonel Daniel Carter of the 3rd Ghost Division, code identification Gulf-Mike-Charlie-One-One-Seven-November-Delta-Nine."

 

The screen flashed bringing up an image of a disheveled soldier, "Oh thank the powers, I thought we lost everyone."

 

"Sergeant what's going on?"

 

"I don't know where to begin Sir." He pressed something on the console in front of him, the screen flashed to show Earth under attack, with some form of superstructure in orbit, "A few minutes ago that alien superstructure on screen jumped into orbit and launched fighters; we are also getting reports of similar attack all over the Sol System and the colonies."

 

President Carter stepped forward and asked, "Sergeant what can you tell me about Washington?"

 

"I'm sorry Madame President.", said the Sergeant appearing on screen again, "But Washington was one of the first locations to be attacked, soon after that most major cities were taken out also."

 

"How did this happen? Didn't our defenses pick them up?" Alek'zanovitch asked the Sergeant.

 

"No Sir, they did not. These aliens jumped into orbit over earth and were able to shut-down our defense network even before we had a ...."

 

An alarm went off and the Sergeant looked down on the console in front of him, "That cant be right." we heard him state.

 

"What's going on Sergeant?" Admiral Alek'zanovitch asked.

 

"Sir, sensors are showing that the alien superstructure is building up energy."

 

The screen resolved back to the image of earth. Everyone one on the bridge was watching what was about to unfold. Every single fighter appeared to be returning back to the alien superstructure as a bright light built up in the mid-area of it. All of a sudden a beam of bluish light shot out of the bottom of the superstructure and struck Earth. We watched as the atmosphere burned away, from the waves of energy being emitted by the beam, and the oceans began to boil. The continents were breaking apart as the beam turned to a harsh shade of red. After two minutes or so the superstructure launched four missiles at Earth, burying them deep into the mantel. The superstructure ceased the energy beam and jumped before a humongous explosion took place. The Earth was torn apart hurling debris in every direction. Gaia, Terra, Earth was silenced; the great mother to Humanity was dead.

 

The silence was broken by the Sergeant, "Oh my gods, Sirs they..." and the transmission went dead, and with it the image of wreckage.

 

"Admiral!" an officer called out, "We have multiple jump anomalies and contacts on sensors."

 

***

 

End of Chapter 2