Age of Tommorows
Chapter 1:We were not alone
"The Apollo missions of the 20th century were a significant milestone in human history, It was the first time humanity stepped foot on another planet. "-A teacher stated while pointing to old footage of the Apollo missions in the hologram and proceeds to explain how the Apollo missions came to be and its effects on human history
"Man, I already know all this" Jack Yorner, a lean and lanky 15-year-old boy with short, messy brown hair and striking blue eyes. He has a sharp jawline and a small nose that sits in the center of his face. unknowingly said while looking at his phone under the table
'I can hear you, 'the teacher stated and the rest of the class laughed to which the teacher
"Um I'm sorry" Jack stated without a care in the world, he was after a very curious individual, he had always dreamt of leaving the solar system
"Well since you already know it all, why don't you make a presentation on the Apollo missions to be presented tomorrow then," the teacher said with a slightly arrogant tone.
He had nothing to say, well he got himself in trouble now
"Class is dismissed," the teacher said and Jack went outside, ignoring the
Their classroom was a circular dome with holographic 3D projectors, Virtual reality Goggle kits, and tables with interactive screens in them, all to provide the most education in the last decade of the 29th century.
Their school exists in an outpost settlement called Ara Via Prox which comprises around 12,000 people on the Anti-Charon facing side of Pluto.
The settlement is usually powered by highly efficient nuclear fusion reactors and is a network of 6 anti-radiation circular domes where people make a living out of farming, selling, and exploring the surrounding area for potential resources. Though one of the major features of this outpost is the myriad of observatories around the settlement where scientists mainly work.
Jack, runs and leaves to the Dome exit terminal where exiting the large kilometer dome they are in are done, as he enters the changing room, a Universal multipurpose Environmental suit or UMES is quickly 3D printed in a mere 1 minute, these are suits that can adapt to any environment in the solar system and are powered by highly efficient ion battery cells which can last for years on end. These technology from the 23rd century are still in use due to how easy they make visiting and settling planets and moons in the solar system without switching to new suits every time you visit a planet, moon, or asteroid
Jack leaves the dome into the icy dark surface of Pluto together with his Nanofab kit backpack. Portable Nanofab kits are portable 3D printers that can produce basic objects like flashlights, batteries, survival kits, and even computers in less than 5 minutes, This technology is widely used around the solar system and completely accelerated humanity's presence in the solar system. Some say you can build an entire settlement with just UMES and Portable Nanofabs but that's an exaggeration
As Jack walks to the Vehicle parking Facility outside the Dome to pick up his Ion Hover rover, an extremely versatile vehicle that can go through any terrain due to how it hovers one foot into the air. he meets with his sister, Alice Yorner a 12-year-old short brown haired girl
"you made trouble at school again, Mom and Dad are very angry with you and they are saying you should Go home," Alice said in a slightly annoyed but worried tone
"Well tell them I'm going to the observatory, Mondrago said he found a group of stars that could potentially hold life 230 light years away, I'm not gonna waste this opportunity" Jack retorted as he prepared the Rover that was gifted to him on his 12th birthday
"Tell them yourself," Alice said in a condescending tone as she storms out of the facility and
"Ok bye" as he quickly enters his rover and drives away, since Pluto has no atmosphere, accelerating a hover rover is like a cakewalk and so electromagnetic roads are constructed to connect the myriad of observations, farms, towns, and facilities in Pluto or any planet. These roads help slow and control the vehicle using powerful AI technology.
"Hey Jixa, how long till we reach the XV1 observatory," Jack says as he drives the vehicle around Pluto's dark and icy surface. Personal AI is commonplace around the solar system and they assist a person in their day-to-day activities. though not every person has them.
"Based on our speed, we will reach there in 5 minutes" Jixa, Jack's personal AI commented in a robotic tone"
"Hey Jixa, turn on the news," Jack said, and a screen popped up with a news update.
"Protests on Mars and Earth against the Jovian alliance's acquisition of resources in the boundary between the Jovian system and the asteroid belt. Private organizations are claiming ownership over the resources in the asteroid belt, leading to tensions and conflicts. There have also been reports of terrorist attacks on privately owned mining asteroids in the belt."
Jack felt a sense of frustration at the constant conflicts and tensions between humans and their organizations. "So many issues, why can't people just behave themselves?" he thought to himself as he drove towards the observatory facility.
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"You are late"-Mondrago, a 104-year-old scientist His short, grey hair was neatly combed to the side, while a pair of wire-framed eyeglasses rest on his sharp nose. he was using the telescope
"Man, I messed up and had my sister confront me in the terminal, but anyways what did you find"-Jack rebutted.
Jack started hanging out in this observatory when he was 12 years old, he was always interested in Astronomy and exploring planets, and he dreams of one day joining an exploration organization that will send manned missions to Alpha Centauri viewing the Astro politics of the solar system a convoluted mess that he wants to leave from.
"Actually, Something much important came up, I recently found out that over the past 5 years, Oort cloud exploration outposts have been disappearing one after another, the reason why this has not reached the news is that the disappearances have been slow and steady and that most outposts barely have 5 people in them"-Mondrago explained
"Not only that, a Kuiper belt outpost suddenly lost contact 1 month ago and the Kuiper belt community is currently investigating this issue" Mondrago explained and an article popped out of the holographic projector
The Kuiper Belt community is an organization of a collection of settlements, outposts, and research stations centered around Pluto and the Kuiper Belt
"So what do you think is the reason for this? alien invasion perhaps?"
"That's unlikely but possible, my theory is that the center of the milky way emits high ionizing radiation throughout millions of years like how the sun emits coronal mass ejections every couple of years or so" Mondrago explains
"Got any proof"-Jack retorted in a sarcastic manner
"Shut it, young man, I'm trying to get a Nobel peace prize here"-Mondrago stated in an angry tone
"So we don't know"-Jack stated
"Unless we investigate, currently they are sending a recon ship to check up on them"
"Ahh I hope they find out what is going on, anyways what did you find, I don't have much time and I Have homework to do"-Jack stated as he changed the topic
Mondrago proceeds to show a hologram presentation of a group of stars and planets and how life could develop there, including computer simulations of their environment.
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As Jack leaves the observatory, he heads home thinking of the possibilities of the cutting off communication in the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud, but decides to prepare himself for the earful he will receive from his parents.
As Jack passed by a vending machine selling Nanofab material near his residence, he was thinking of buying an extra new set as his supply of Nanofab material had almost run out.
He ran into a friend, a boy named Lester Cromwell, a timid-looking boy with glasses wearing a school uniform
"Lester, nice seeing you here," Jack says in a greeting tone
"Jack, I would like to ask you what you want to do in the future," Lester asked in a shy tone.
"Live long enough to visit another star system and leave the solar system forever," Jack says with pride
"Why do you ask?"Jack states again
"You see I have been accepted to Study in a Prestigious University Overseas, and I'm wondering if I should leave what I have here behind"-Lester asks in a sad and shy tone
"Why should you wonder? The Universe is large enough, why would you tie yourself to one spot when you can go anywhere?"Jack retorted
"That's what I would think, This opportunity may never present itself again so why not move forward towards tomorrow instead of staying behind in the present?'"Jack explains fervently
"But I'm not gonna convince you to take either side, I'm gonna convince you to follow your heart and even if you choose either, I will still be your friend," Jack says with a smile on his face
"Ok I will think about it, Bye Jack" Lester replied
As they greeted each other and said their Goodbyes, Jack Yorner was left pondering his statements. He feels left behind as others in his class have been accepted to major universities around the solar system while he has yet to receive his acceptance letter.
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As Jack rushes towards his home in the Dome, he hears a deafening explosion, followed by the blaring of alarms and the screams of panicked people. He dodges falling debris and rushes past the chaos, his heart racing with fear and confusion. What could have caused this attack?
The Dome, despite the massive hole that has been blasted through its walls, manages to maintain its atmosphere, thanks to its plasma-based defenses. But as Jack looks around, he sees the horrific aftermath of the attack: people crushed, burned, and killed in the blink of an eye. His thoughts turn to his family, and he rushes to his home, praying that they are safe.
He sees his sister struggling to pull their mother out of the rubble, and his heart sinks. "Mom, are you okay? Where's Dad?" he asks in a panicked voice.
"Take your sister and go to the evacuation center," his mother says, her voice firm and urgent.
Jack and his sister know what that means, but they refuse to accept it. They keep digging, desperate to free their mother from the rubble.
Meanwhile a few hundred kilometers away in Pluto's central city
"What do you mean we are under attack?"-Aros Vesmanos, The president of the Plutonian community. he was a tall man with white hair a mechanical arm and a flat-top haircut
The Plutonian community is not exactly a single nation, but a confederation of research outposts, industrial towns, cities, and settlements with a small population of 1.2 million people centered around Pluto and Charon as both communities united once a space elevator was built that connected Pluto and Charon. The President is merely an honorary title with barely any authority to have a semblance of unity on the dwarf planet.
Humans first set foot on Pluto in 2092 and set up research stations, and observatories in this far-flung region of the solar system, and since then this far-flung region has kept its silence and neutrality towards politics in the inner solar system.
"Unidentified ships were suddenly spotted around multiple outposts and settlement in the anti-Charon hemisphere, reports say they shot the Outposts, cities, and settlements and is currently moving here" a holographic military man informed the situation
"Any idea who?"The president asks attentively and worried
"The ships they possess seem to be Dark circular albeit, it looks like conjoined Dark spheres in a straight line" the hologram stated as pictures and videos of the ships pop up in the President's office
"Call every settlement and city to action we are under attack"-The president replied and the hologram swiftly agreed and ended the call
"Who in the world is attacking us? These ships don't look like they were made by any planet?"
"Are we being invaded by extraterrestrials?" the President thought
Back to Ara Via prox
Amidst the chaos and destruction, they catch a glimpse of something that makes their blood run cold: a dark ship, made up of conjoined spheres in a straight line, hovering outside the Dome and firing deadly laser beams at everything in its path. The Dome's defenses are almost useless against it, and the people are defenseless.
Suddenly debris started falling toward them, and as instinct like his body was saying he should live, he moved out of the way. and as the smoke cleared he saw the dead bodies of his mother and sister, his father was probably already dead as he heard his mother scream out that his Dad is inside.
The realization hit him that his entire family was dead and all he can ever do is scream. He screamed hard and thought about what to do amidst the confusion before passing out due to shock some rescue personnel heard, spotted him, and swiftly rescued him.
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The Battle of Pluto was bloody but swift, It completely took 1 week for the Plutonian system to be overrun by the extraterrestrial invaders Though when it happened it made Intersolar news and rumors that the solar system was under attack by Alien forces. Though it was discovered that high-energy railguns and Ion lasers could penetrate the defenses of the sphere ships the invaders have.
It was finally clear to many that in this vast universe of emptiness, Mankind was not the only being that inhabited the Universe. Many were extremely worried, some threw a fit and burned down buildings, but many reacted to worry over their future.
A week after the fall of Pluto the United Nations held a conference in Tyria, an asteroid city in the Asteroid belt. It served as the headquarters of the 800-year-old organization named the United Nations. The United Nations has gone through multiple renovations and renovations ever since it was founded in 1942, It was vital in restabilizing the solar system during the centuries after the First Solar War(2523-2534)though its power remains limited, many major nations, and organizations use it to limit the power of their rivals.
The convention was held on May 28,2895,2 weeks after the attack on Pluto started.
It was an eventful convention, they had discussed things ranging from nation status and capabilities to talking about the level of cooperation needed to win the war, but overall everyone agreed to the creation of a United military coalition to help combat the alien crisis.
Names for the invaders were also given and they were designated as Araxvians due to reports seeing them having Arachnid-like appearances.
Discussions on their intentions were also shared, particularly about reports of how Pluto has been overturned into a massive forward base and the number of enemy vessels stationed in the area which suggested they plan to settle the solar system.
The probable theory is that they have traveled the interstellar void for hundreds of years before reaching here
UN representative George Takaso summed up the convention:" We are being attacked by a force that seeks to completely eradicate our species from the face of the Universe, We are now reminded of how we were never alone from the start and how the universe came to us, to eradicate us. Do we just simply accept it? Do we cower in fear when the Universe decides to remind us of our insignificance?
No! we will not accept this, If this continues humanity will be like those flickering lights in the night sky that appear and disappear on the cosmic time scale, Humanity should even for a tiny fraction of the age of the universe, burn brighter than a trillion billion stars and leave our mark on the cosmos before perishing into the Dust we came from, that is what it means to truly live to leave a mark on the Universe and say we were here before. It's what it means to live.
We shall let go of our past hate and troubles and fight this Great war for Survival, they come knocking on our doors expecting fear and surrender, but they have yet to find out our history of bloodshed over the past thousand years, they have yet to see the terrors we can unleash, They will see whose terror will terrorise the other first. The Second Solar war has begun"
The speech echoed through every outpost, settlement, city, region, planet, moon, asteroid, and space station in the solar system and was heard by every being who had the designation of Homo Sapien.
It resonated with everyone, it changed people's minds, though not every mind was changed. Nonetheless, a carnage never before seen await the solar system and those who live in it.