Chapter One: Prologue to Tragedy

It was late December as snow blew across the Emeerson Plains of Harmony’s main continent just outside the City of New Sierra. All seemed calm with much of the war tied up in the Armstrong System. Though that didn’t mean there was no conflict on Harmony. As the Capital of the United Nations Federation in the Warden System, Harmony does receive regular orbital terror attacks by the Arabic Republic in attempts to disrupt supply routes to and from the Planet. However, there has not been a full-scale conflict in nearly fifty years.
Having recently returned from a training mission on Aurora, Major Kody Davidson of the USC Marine Corp was looking forward to spending his Christmas Leave with his wife Sara and five year old daughter Amy. As he was about halfway to base housing, he drove past the Dry Docks where the USC’s newest D-Class Battleship, the Blue Dawn, was currently having a full-overhaul done on its computer systems and gun-batteries. Kody had always dreamt of commanding a battleship ever since his parents took him aboard the Titan, The USC’s largest Class of Battleship. The only thing however, that was standing in his path from realizing his dream was Rank. Only Colonels or higher could command battleships.
Though there was a time when he did briefly command a Carrie-Class battleship, the Fire Under Heaven, after a surprise attack by the AR had killed the Heaven’s commander, General Greg Higgins. That was over five years ago.
Pulling up into his driveway, Kody noticed Amy in her pink and blue snow attire sitting on the front porch waiting for him to return. Upon seeing Kody’s 2147 Tiger XR2 pull up, Amy came running out to the drive with her little pigtails bouncing in the wind. Barely out of the car Amy came and jumped up and hugged Kody so hard and fast that he fell back into the driver’s seat. “Daddy, Daddy! You’re finely home.” She said.
“Oh yes, and for the next three weeks I am all yours Sweetie” said Kody picking up Amy.
“I made a drawing this week at school for you”
“Really? I would very much like to see it.”
“Yeah!” said Amy running inside to get her picture.
“She has been waiting for days to show you her drawing” said Sara walking outside.
“I figured as much. She sure does love to draw.” Kody said grabbing his dufflebag from the trunk.
“Yes, and she loves you just as much.”
“Is she the only one?”
“No, of course not” Sara said.
The rest of the day was spent mostly indoors with the outside temperature beginning to drop quite rapidly and a forecasted snowstorm blowing in. Winter storms on Harmony tended to be a bit more brutal than the ones on Earth with wind speeds matching nearly 85mph and a temperature ranging from 5 to -45 degrees. A few years ago, while Kody was off-world, Harmony suffered its worse storm yet when it dropped almost 18ft of snow in a week and an average temperature of -38 degrees. The snowstorms since then have all been rather small in regard to snowfall.
Kody watched on as Amy played some game she learned from school. An old rerun video disk was playing a tv show that was widely popular in the early twentieth-first century called NCIS. He notice through the show that things were quite different back then, like the fact crime was more common than it was today.
About thirty or so minutes into the show, Sara called out that dinner was ready. I should mention that Sara is the best cook in the city; having made several strips of baked chicken and mash-potatoes, corn-on-the-cob and for a dessert she had even baked a cherry-lime pie. Defiantly beats the military rations Kody ate while on Aurora.
After dinner, Amy played a bit more before falling asleep in the middle of her bedroom floor. Both Kody and Sara watched their little girl as she slept before Kody walked over and placed her in her bed. Quietly closing the door behind them, Kody and Sara returned to the living room where they sat cuddled in each other’s arms while watching a movie with the wind howling outside. Kody turned his head as the heavy snowfall turned into light flecks that melted as they hit the heated glass of the window.

****

It wasn’t until the middle of the night (about 2am) when Kody was awoken by the sudden ringing of his Holo-tablet. Being careful not to wake Sara, he got up and answered it. It was his commanding officer, “Commander Hendricks? What is it, Sir?” Kody said trying to keep his voice low.
“Sorry to interrupt your leave, Major, but I need you for a quick mission,” said the Commander.
“Um, sure. I’ll be there shortly”
“Good, I’ll explain more once you get here”
“Yes sir!”
Hanging up Kody walked over to Sara to wake her and let her know he was going to do a quick mission and that he would be back later in the afternoon. Driving this early in the morning isn’t exactly safe with it being the prime hunting time for Wika wolves. With the occasional flicker of glowing eyes in the darkness Kody pulled up just outside the main command building. Getting out he noticed Lieutenant Major Tyron Jackson walk up from the direction of the orbital elevator. Kody waved called out to him. “Tyron! Hey”
“Kody…I mean Major Davidson. Command called you in too”
“Yeah? Hendricks wants me for mission.”
“Same here. But I believe there’s more to it than that”
“What are you saying?”
“Remember the ambush on Armstrong 1”
“Yeah, why?
“I’m having the feeling now that I did back then”
“Come on Tyron. This is Harmony. We got 46 defense stations. You would need an armada to attack the planet and that’s only if you didn’t get shredded by the Memento Mori’s Super Cannon”
“I know. I just can’t seem to shack this feeling is all. Like something bad is about to happen”
“Well try to keep it together. I don’t want to be worrying about you up there”
“Ha!”
Inside Kody and Tyron made their way back to the briefing room where Kody was sure the Commander would be waiting. After opening the door Kody noticed the Commander and three other Officers standing around the planetary war table that displayed Harmony and the surrounding space. Kody knew right away that something was up when he recognized one of the officers as Vice Admiral Edward Simms who oversaw intel gathering related to AR movements in this System as well as the experimental research and development division; if he was here than there was more to the mission than simple reconnaissance.
Commander Hendricks noticed the two of them right away and walked over to them. “Good of you two to make. I’m sorry for cutting your vacation short but we have a situation brewing”
“Does it involve the Arabic Republic?” asked Tyron.
“Well, there has been an increase in chatter. But we aren’t sure. I’ll let the Admiral explain”
They all gathered around the table just as a holograph of the asteroid belt with one of the larger asteroids highlighted. Vice Admiral Simms cleared his throat before speaking. “Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I understand everyone has families to get back to so I’ll make this brief,” said the Admiral. “Earlier this week a transmission was traced to this asteroid about a large-scale assault being planned against Harmony. Long range scans have determined that there is a sizable force within the asteroid.”
“And you want us to give visual confirmation, correct.” asked Kody.
“No. I already have a scouting unit in the area, that has confirmed the presents of AR activity”
“Pardon me for being blunt than, sir. But what do you have in mind for this mission?”
“Mind yourself Major! You’re speaking to superior officer!” reprimanded Commander Hendricks.
“It’s all right Commander. I like a soldier who questions his orders.” Said the Admiral. “To answer your question, Major. I requested you and your team here because you all are the best pilots in the Corps. Your mission will be to pilot our newest H5-Fighters and destroy the enemy base before they get a chance to strike.”
“H5s? I wasn’t aware they were being rolled out yet?”
“Not officially, no. This will also be a test of sorts to see how well they fair in a live combat scenario. You will be carrying two 25-megaton nuclear warheads for the task, fly to the asteroid, destroy it and fly back. Make note of any errors you encounter or resistance of the enemy.”
“Yes Sir! When do we depart?”
“As soon as you are suited up!” replied the Admiral. “The Fighters are already prepped and ready on the tarmac.” he continued.
After getting suited up, Kody and Tyron made their out onto the black top they were met by the other two pilots assigned to their Wing, Second Lieutenant Rylie Bistro and Sergeant Bryon O’Neill. Kody had known Bryon since their academy days and from a few prier missions, but Rylie was new. He had heard of her before having trained and served under her father, Lieutenant General Jerry Bistro, but he knew very little of Rylee’s skill sets.
Kody was the first to speak. Evening Bryon, Lieutenant Bistro. I trust you both know the mission?” he greeted.
“Yes. Commander Hendricks briefed us while you were getting ready. Sir.” Replied Rylie.
“You don’t have to be so formal Lieutenant. We’re both officers.”
“Um, ok.”
“Is this your first time piloting a fighter?” asked Tyron.
“I’ve done almost fifty-seven hours in the simulator, and another eighty with in-atmosphere live flights.” Rylie replied.
“You’ll do fine. It’s good to have you on the team.”
“Thank you Major. It’s good to be here.”
Climbing into the cockpit of the H5, Kody right away noticed how different it was from a standard fighter. It had side levers for takeoff and maneuvering with a thumb-button on the side of the grips, most likely to fire the guns and launch the missiles/nukes, it also had a targeting monitor on the main console along with a holo-deck for communicating with command and an A.I. pad.
Everything suddenly came to life once Kody sat down, almost like the H5 sensed that there was now a pilot present. Seeing that the computer had already begun the pre-flight, Kody opened the comms to the rest of his squad. “This is Major Davidson! All fighters check-in!”
“Captain O’Neil, all set!”
“This is Lieutenant Bistro, I’m ready too.”
“Tyron Jackson, I’m locked and loaded and waiting for your command.”
“Good. Delta Leader to Base, we are green across the board requesting clearance to launch!”
“Delta Leader, this is Hendricks! You are go for launch, repeat, you are go for launch. God speed, Major.”
Moving onto the runway, Kody was the first to takeoff, followed by Tyron, and Rylie with Bryon bringing up the rear. Flying through the atmosphere in a fighter was a new experience for them as earlier models didn’t possess sufficient shielding to withstand atmospheric heat build-up. Once they had passed through the stratosphere Kody ordered everyone to cut back the main engines as they passed the defense stations of the Momento Mori, the Zakura, and the Vermont. Passing the blockade, they picked up speed and preceded towards the target destination.
At max burn, the four H5s took around twenty minutes to reach the asteroid belt of the Warden System and the staging base of the Arabic Republic. The new fighters were clearly way faster than earlier model Rapiers. Even if F-85 Rapiers were able to pass through planetary atmospheres, it would still take them well over an hour or two to travel the same distance.
About a hundred or so clicks out from the target, Kody and his team initiated stealth systems to mask their approach to the asteroid and not get picked up on radar scans. “All right, on final approach is everyone ready?”
“Finger on the trigger, just waiting on your command.” Said Bryon.
“Hold, until I get final confirmation,” replied Kody. “Delta Leader to Delta Actual, we are at the target location. Are we still cleared to destroy the target?”
It a few seconds, but soon Admiral Simms came in on the comms. “This Simms, you are still cleared!”
“Copy that, over and out.” Kody said. “All right, on my mark, launch warheads.”
For a brief moment, Kody closed eyes taking in slow deep breaths before giving himself a mental count to three when he came on the comms with his launch. “Fox Two!” he said as he hit the trigger. Tyron, Bryon and Rylie did the same. All four missiles launched from their H5s and quickly headed straight for the asteroid with Kody’s in the lead. At the same time, Kody and his moved slightly back so not to get caught in the blast radius and within the next minute, the endless black of space was filled with the blinding flash of nuclear light as the asteroid was consumed by the explosion.
Once the initial blast had cleared, Kody and his team flew closer to scan the debris field for traces of the AR base, and while several pieces of infrastructure of the base were identified, there was no traces of starships or fighters among the debris, nothing. Scenting something off, Kody jumped on the comms.
“Delta Leader to Delta Actual? We have destruction of enemy base, can you confirm, over?” Kody stated. There was nothing but silence coming. “Delta Actual? This is Major Davidson. Do you read, over?” he continued, still nothing.
For several moments silence filled the void. Then Tyron came over the comm. “Kody, I’m getting that bad feeling again? Worse this time.”
“Yeah, I’m getting one too. Somethings wrong and I don’t like it,” Kody paused. “Damn it! Everyone on my mark engage hyperspace,”
“Hyperspace activation wasn’t apart of the mission.” Stated Lieutenant Bistro.
“I’m expanding the parameters. We need to get back and see what’s up. Hopefully it’s just a bad comm connection. Make sure you get all data from the AR base’s destruction beforehand.”
Imputing Harmony’s position into the hyperspace destination computer. Such a short jump, from their current location Kody knew that it would take less then a minute. The only question that was on his was whether or not the hyper drive would work or explode. “Three…Two…Mark!” Kody said as he initiated the hyperdrive. Tyron did the same, followed by Bryon, and then Rylie.
Just as Kody had thought, the jump from their current location back to Harmony was as quick as blinking one’s eyes. The exit from hyperspace was less than smooth as a battle was taking place. The AR, as it would seem, had already begun their attack. Most of the Harmony Home Fleet was heavily engaged with several Arabic Republic ships and the Momento Mori Defense Station looked as if she was massively damaged. Though, that wasn’t stopping her inflicting her own damage to AR ships in orbit. However, she could not aim to reach the ones that broke through the blockage and were now attacking the surface.

[more coming soon]