1 Chapter 1: The Awakening

The year is 4102, various species of the milkyway have expanded to the near by neighboring galaxy, the Helios Cluster. Though, they found Helios was inhabited and had much history, secrets, and opportunity! The settlers of the milkyway, set a path for generations to follow and explore a whole new front. Unfortunately, old habits die hard. A war wages on between the Colonial Frontier Militia and the Galactic Taunis Mining Industries. Major bloodshed across multiple worlds, as they fight, an unknown force is annihilating planets by wiping out all life on their surfaces....

The beautiful night sky was lit with bright stars, as 2 people lay in the tall grass and star gaze upon the night sky.

"Do you think we will ever travel the stars Dutch?" Said a blue alien girl.

Dutch, the boy laying next to her, starred at the star filled sky, "I don't know, maybe?"

The girl laughed and pointed at the brightest star, "Look! That ones getting bigger!"

Dutch's heart sank as he saw the star got brighter and appeared to be getting closer.

The girl sat up and looked at Dutch with a blank face "You can't save everyone by yourself...."

Dutch shot up, feeling cold and scared at what she said, "W-what?"

Suddenly a gust of wind hit them both with an ice cold touch, the star was growing closer to the horizon, about to touch it. Dutch began to breath heavily and as it hit the ground, Dutch saw a column of fire impacting the ground. Lighting shot across the land and hit Dutch and the girl... the wall of fire approaching them "NOT AGAIN!! NO!" Screamed Dutch as the girl stood up, black scars of lighting arms showing on her body "You wont ever.....STOP THISSSSSSSS--" she screamed as the fire rapidly approached them, the intense head burning them before the fire is even touching them, Dutch screamed "VETRAAAAA---" as he burned away

"FUCKING WAKE UP!!!" yelled a female, Dutch suddenly awoke to gunfire and bullets hitting the wall.

"THEY'RE ADVANCING ON US!!! GRAB YOUR DAMN RIFLE!"

Dutch is sore and his head was pounding, Dutch quickly got up and grabbed his rifle, he ran to the closest cover with the female soldier. "That concussion grenade got you good! Will you be alright?!"

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting it! How long was I out for?" Dutch asked as he held his head. "Head feels like it was hit by a truck!" he groaned in pain, the gunfire did not help.

"Maybe 5 minutes! I don't really know! They threw a bunch of shit at us as we pushed the LZ and blew up our extraction ship! The renta corp are blood thirsty today!!" she said.

Dutch held his head in pain, he took a moment to collect himself, taking a deep breath and looking at the female soldier.

"Vetra... agian?" he mumbled quietly.

the female soldier grabbed his collar and pulled him closer.

"Did you say my name Dutch?" she said loudly.

He slapped his helmet, trying to focus. "Yeah! Vetra, we need to regroup and get the fuck out of here! Who's all alive?" he shouted.

Vetra shrugged.

"Very helpful" Dutch replied sarcastically.

A scream is heard as a Frontier soldier is hit from multiple directions, their body thudded right beside Dutch.

"WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!! (Dutch turned on his radio) WE NEED ANOTHER E-VAC!! THE LAST ONE WAS SHOT DOWN!!!" Dutch shouted furiously into the radio.

"We are sending another evac ship, here are the coordinates for the LZ, the fleet Admiral has given permission for OTG weapons. Move to the new LZ after we give support. Copy?" Said a women on the radio.

"COPY! EVERYONE GET READY FOR DANGER CLOSE!!!" Barked Dutch.

Moments later, loud screeching sounds and hissing were heard. As all the Frontier soldiers took cover, missiles landed on the G.T.M.I. forces. Obliterating them.

As the Frontier soldiers ran through the smoke and dust on the scorching desert planet, in the distance a purple gas giant is visible and a beautiful mix color planet in the sky, in front of them is the C.F.M. 6th fleet, that was in orbit. The fleet was engaging a G.T.M.I. cruiser, fighters could be seen flying too. like flies, swarming around them.

"THROUGH THOSE CLIFF OPENINGS!! MOVE!!" barked Vetra. Dutch and many other soldiers begun to run, with a few on edge of the group watching out for G.T.M.I. forces from behind and sides. They heard a rumbling sound in the distance, a C.F.M. fighter was tailing a G.T.M.I. fighter, burst of shots and maneuvering around pointed columns of rock. As they were closing in on the cliffs, a loud explosion is heard and the G.T.M.I. fighter has visible smoke coming from it, it begins to break apart and debris starts falling everywhere in front of the group. The enemy fighter started spinning uncontrollably and it blows up mid air, fiery debris fell around them. Avoiding debri as they approached the cliff openings, gunshots rang out and a squad of G.T.M.I marines were seen on top the cliffs, firing down. Bullet impacts are heard and 3 frontier soldiers fell to the ground dead. One of bodies landed and rolled towards Dutch, Dutch was distraught at the sight of the dead soldier. They took cover behind rocks and debris. "YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!!" Let out one of the soldiers as he returned fire, "GET DOW--" said another but it was too late. The soldier who returned fire had dropped to the ground after his head had suddenly exploded. Vetra went onto the comms "WE ARE DEALING WITH HEAVY CAUSALTIES!! WE NEED MORE SUPPORT ON OUR LOCATION!!"

The same women's voice came on "A Lammergeiers gunship is on its way to provide cover fire. ETA 3 minutes."

"I don't think we got 3 minutes!" said Dutch shouted to Vetra.

More gunfire is heard, impacting on the cover.

"Stay behind cover till that fucking gunship is here!" Ordered Vetra.

Dutch did a roll call "Who is all still fucking alive!?"

"Sergeant Voin, still kicking!"

"Corporal Schive, accounted sir!"

"Private Decken, cal-" a bullet whizzed by and hit the soldier in his visor.

"Private Tes' li, reporting!"

"Lance Corporal John, Still alive!"

Lastly "Sergeant Vik, staying out of fucking sight!"

"So, I forgot. How many soldiers did we land with!?" asked Dutch.

"Twelve!" shouted Vetra.

"So we got seven people left? Fuck!" Exclaimed Dutch.

A loud roaring sound is heard coming from behind them, a G2-5X gunship came into sight. It shot a small set of missiles at the squad, accompanied with a burst of rounds.

The enemy squad tried running soon as they as they heard the gunship but were quickly over come by the barrage of lethal weapons. Turning them into a red mist as small chunks of armor flew to the ground.

A deep voice came up on comms "This is papa bird 1, over. Continue to LZ, we will provide cover till you get to the opening. Copy?"

Vetra let out a sigh of relief, Dutch replied to the pilot "We copy, moving now!"

As the remaining Frontier soldiers started to move, metal clacking could be heard, over the radio the voice spoke again "Is that small caliber fire? Are they asking to die? Turn the turret 42° left and teach them a lesson Kar." The 2nd pilot had laughed and turned the gun at the source of fire. Unleashing a straight 10 second burst of fire. No more clacking could be heard.

Their unit reached the opening.

As they moved through the opening, Vetra took point with Dutch right behind her. They would be traveling for a few minutes, so Vetra thought she would make small talk.

"So, did you have a nightmare when you were unconscious? Same as the last few or?"

Dutch replied with a tired voice "Yes and no. The ending was a bit different. The doc says its a form of PTSD, but he's not sure."

"Well, we're PAS kids. I doubt a PA event can be shrugged off easily. When we meet back with the main fleet, how about we get you to a therapist? It helped me!" Replied Vetra with a laugh.

"Yeah, define 'helped'?" Dutch laughed.

Vetra gave him a cold stare.

"I don't like talking about it, you know that. Besides, its just dreams. I'll be fine." Said Dutch, trying to avoid the discussion.

(PAS- Planetary Antihalation Survivor)

Suddenly, a small group of small rocks fell from above and 2 G.T.M.I. scouts fell to the ground, dead on impact and then a large 4 arm creature with Frontier armor hopped down.

"What took you all so long? I saw the gunship and ran over!" Said the Alien.

"Nubasik! What the fuck!? YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO HERE!" furiously shouted Dutch.

Nubasik, the 4 arm creature replied with a laugh "HAHA.... and? The Admiral might be pissed but I heard you had some trouble going on. So, I came to join the fun. I see that most of the recovery team is dead."

"Yeah, we were ambushed by some Taunis marine squadrons. When we approached the objective, we got pinned from all sides. We didn't lose many there." Explained Vetra.

"We Star Corps and Recons always get the deadly jobs. You should of expected some kind of fight!" Excitedly said Nubasik.

The pilot burst onto the comms again "Thermals show a shit ton of Taunis marines at the LZ, should I clear them out or should we get a new LZ?"

"Clear them out. We are moving forward, what is the ETA on that evac ship?" Asked Dutch.

The pilot spoke again "Well, it's a simple transport ship. It will take 6 of you and then the remaining will hop in with us. we will fire wide rounds and scatter missiles!" A second voice came up "Understood, let heaven rain hell!"

As the gunship cleared the LZ, the group saw a big cloud of smoke and their evac in the distance.

"Double time!" Yelled Vetra.

As they ran into the smoky opening, the evac ship had landed already and its engines hot. Ready for a quick take off.

Roughly 50ft from the ship, mores shots broke the sounds of running and 2 more soldiers hit the ground and on the comms came the deep voice "FUCK TTF! TAKE COVER! DANGER CLOSE! DANGER CLOSE!"

As the remaining took cover, 5 highly equipped soldiers appeared from the smoke and began opening fire but before anymore bullets could hit more Frontier soldiers. The gunship rained lead onto them, killing the 5.

"OPENING SIDE DOORS! HURRY UP AND GET IN! 2 TAUNIS FIRETEAMS APPROACHING FROM BEHIND!!" Yelled the pilot.

"Negative, 6 of us left! keep on that covering fire!" Shouted Dutch.

"GET ON THE SHIP DUTCH!!" Screamed Vetra, Dutch turned to hop in, but as he raised himself. He felt 2 sharp pains in his back and he fell the floor of ship.

"Fuck! Get us the hell out of here!!" Yelled Vetra. Nubasik pulled Dutch over and check him. "They didn't piece his armor!" As Nubasik pulled 2 bullets out of Dutch's back. Dutch jolted up.

"FUCKING OW!" yelled Dutch.

The pilot of the transport ship popped on the comms "We are exiting the atmosphere! Hold on!

In.... 3.... 2.... 1..... We are good!"

The other soldiers looked out the shuttle door window and with a shocked voice. "Is that a G.T.M.I. cruiser? Why is there only 1 ship fighting our fleet?" exclaimed one of the soldiers.

"You didn't see the cruiser earlier? It was visible from the surface! The 6th fleet was too!" replied another.

Vetra replied with a calmer tone "Well the assets we came to evacuate, unfortunately Taunis got to them first. They tortured them for info, probably were told it was going to be a small force. Taunis bought the lie and prepared for a small force. Don't forget, the ambush happened moments after we found the assets, dead! They were waiting for us! They didn't expect a whole fleet!"

The scene from the window showed the entire 6th C.F.M. fleet laying fire on the Taunis cruiser, it stood no chance against the fleet. The cruiser had lost its main thrusters and was falling into the planets atmosphere.

Then a beast like sound came onto the comms and spoke "Grah! Admiral Val Saud calling fleet, get all ships docked and prepare to jump!"

Everyone but Nubasik was clearly upset about the mission and losses we took. The gunship landed in the main command ships under belly bay, as the whole team were exiting the gunships. They were approached by a giant reptilian with large wings (A draco), the whole team stopped and saluted him. Vetra spoke up "Admiral Val Saud, sir! We unfortunately have to report the mission was not only a failure but was a complete fucking mess! We lost most of our team! I am sorry sir!"

The Admiral looked upset but when he spoke, he was calm with his response. "As upset as I am about our failure here today, it wasn't a complete loss. We took out one of the Taunis cruisers, killed some of their marines, took out 5 TTF, and not all but some of you made it back in one piece..... what of our assets? I don't see them here." the Admiral said sternly.

Vetra couldn't look him in the eyes as she told him. "All of the assets were taken captive by Taunis and tortured for information. They held out and gave them false information.... none of the survived... Sir..."

The Admiral raised a hand in a fist and was furious, "THOSE TAUNIS BASTARDS! At least the assets didn't give up the cause! May they rest in peace!"

He finally saluted and walked away, "Ok everyone. Med bay, we all need check up!" As Vetra looked at Dutch....