Comte De Morcerf
Business Prophet
- THIS IS A ROUGH DRAFT. REVISIONS OF PLOT MAY OCCUR AT ANY TIME.
At the end of the 24th Century, Mankind had advanced far beyond the humble borders of the Sol System and began extending their influence throughout the Milky Way. Under the influence of the Federation of Allied Systems (FAS) since 2211 A.D., Mankind's problems of famine, poverty, genocide, terrorism and war were non-existent. Humans now had the technology to terraform planets, jump into hyper-dimensional space to achieve great distances in star travel, and a near infinite source of power from intense solar energy and the element Crelonium (Cre 177) to fuel their rapid expansion into the Milky Way... Sovereign and colonial systems alike were prospering under the guiding hand of the Federation. Or so the FAS would lead its constituents to believe.
In reality, the current governing body of the FAS was an autocratic organization comprised of imperial elitists concentrated on Earth. Many of their controversial programs involved conducting illicit and covert military operations to suppress any who opposed their tyranny. The Intelligence Operations Command (IOC) was one such proprietor in the FAS's shady operations. However, due to the massive scale of the Federation's massive Army, Navy, and Armored Weapon Corps., most citizens found little reason to protest the government that brought them prosperity and peace for so long.
In recent decades, the FAS has been establishing colonies on its outer territories, or Border Worlds, of the Norma Arm in an attempt to explore the unfathomable regions that lay behind the Galactic Core. One such Border World was the military research and weapon storage colony of Serpentis VII (S:VII). This small, rocky, rogue planet with an unforgiving atmosphere yielded no agricultural potential but was abundant in raw minerals. S:VII had no orbit in accordance with any known star, shrouding the planet with rumors and mystery and lay in near darkness with the exception of the extremely rare light from the Galactic Core, which was projected to occur within the next 100 years. This made it the perfect place to hide a top-secret military and scientific research facility along with a massive weapons cache.
Dating almost 40 years from the current star date, the FAS tasked the staff of the Serpentis Cybernetic and Biological Research Facility with the mission of vastly improving the mass-produced cybernetic and genetic enhancements of the military in under 4 years. Under the instruction of Chief Scientist Dr. Holly Tamskovich, the team found this task to be impossible with the time frame they were given. A year went by with the project yielding unsatisfactory results. Human bodies could only take such a finite amount of alterations. Two years passed before the Serpentis staff gained any ground against the FAS However, their luck would soon change.
The Border Worlds were prospering from their economic boom in agriculture and raw minerals. In an effort to stifle their growth, the Federation imposed a tariff on all goods exported from the Border Worlds. In addition, the FAS began confiscating any surplus of goods produced by the Border Worlds. Growing tired of the FAS dictatorship on Border Worlds, insurgent groups across the known galaxy were gaining a following in politics concerning their systems. They demanded the unjust treatment to end but were denied. The FAS eventually blockaded any trade routes going into or out of the colonies, hoping to kill the supply chain to the resistance. Peaceful protests eventually erupted into riots when an unarmed cruiser carrying passengers native to the Border Worlds was shot-down for disobeying Federation Blockade Protocol. Within hours, over 50 planets had overthrown the Norma Arm Regional Federal Government and officially seceded from the FAS, declared themselves the Independent Systems' Union (ISU). Handfuls of Federal troops even committed high treason and aligned themselves with the Secessionist Movement, as they were formerly known in Federation space. The situation had grown from a nuisance to legitimate threat to the security of the colonial territories. The Federation was desperate for a pocket ace that could turn the conflict to their favor. The FAS raised an effort to garner private companies to invest into government funded programs. Due to this influx of capitol and desperation, the Serpentis Research Facility was given new life.
Under the guidance of Holly Tamskovich, the Serpentis team began top-secret operation to create the perfect super soldier. The project was formerly known as the SERPENT Corps. Due to the nature of the experiments and tests conducted, the project called for children tests subjects. In contingency with the IOC, the project began abduction 25 pre-selected and genetically perfect candidates between the age of 6 and 7 for the program. Any record of the children was stricken from Federation databases and their families were kept in the dark about their whereabouts.
Since day one of the project, the candidates of the project were subjected to the most intensive and rigorous military training they could physically endure. Their minds were broken down and then rebuilt from the ground up. They were being molded into the perfect soldiers. But the drilling and physical training was but the easiest obstacle they had to overcome. Every day during their studies of general education and advanced military tactics and strategies the science staff administered low-intensity crelonium radiation waves and recorded their findings. As soon as they graduated their advanced training, the were about 12 years old but with the bodies of Olympic athletes and the minds of doctorate graduates. But soon, they were to be subjected to a set of alterations and mutations that would change their bodies forever.
For several day, the candidates of the SERPENT Corps. were operated on by a team of over 200 medical staff and automated surgical machinery to create a monstrosity of flesh and engineering. The subjects were lain upon before the surgical staff as they administered life support to proceed with the operation. Every bone in the body was broken to stretch the body to insane proportions. They graphed high-tech fibers into their muscles to increase their strength and speed. Their spines were wired with cybernetic amplifications to give the brain the ability to maintain full control of the augmented bodies. Neural circuitry was added to control a high-tech body armor system drafted by Dr. Tamskovich herself. Only five of the original class survived the procedures. Five of the most advanced members of humankind to ever exist.
Within days, the group began to exhibit strange behaviors aside from their difficulty adjusting to their bodies. Cameras that were stationed to watch their quarters began malfunctioning. Automatic doors would open and close spontaneously. At one point, the youngest of the class sent a shock wave of energy during physical training. It was inexplicable. The survivors of the program could literally manipulate the energy around them. The science team immediately upgraded their armor to adapt to these new abilities and hone in on each of the individuals' specialty. Despite all these new additions, some among the IOC and Federation High Command had their doubts about the project and were speculative about the overall costs of the endeavor.
The SERPENT Corps. began their first operation in the year 2390, when they we about 18 years old. What was originally planned as a simple reconnaissance operation turned into a massive counteroffensive by ISU forces at the Battle of Manassass on the planet Charity. Nearly twenty thousand ISU minutemen and trained professionals assaulted the Federation Base of Operations on the planet. Only 2000 troops were left behind to defend the station including the SERPENT Corps. The battle stretched on for 9 days nonstop. 1343 Federal government staff made it off of Charity that day, but despite the heavy casualties, the Federation managed to inflict massive damage and demoralization to the ISU ranks. Thanks to the swift planning, tactics and defense of the FOB, the SERPENT Corps. managed to save the majority of the New Manassass staff while delivering over 20000 casualties to the ISU force and destroying every trace of Federation Intelligence Operations Command documents present in the databases. This was almost half of the original ISU siege force. When the survivors returned to Federation controlled space, they were all debriefed and required by Federation law to maintain absolute secrecy about the rescue operation. The proved to be an impossible task due to the incredible feats accomplished by the SERPENT Corps. Word began to spread. Anonymity of the project was no longer an option. The Federation had to go public. While the true names of the candidates were never released, there pseudonyms became famous. Unknown to the project and many in the Federation military command, their were some in the IOC who saw the SERPENT Corps. as a massive expense than a military asset. Behind closed doors, the IOC began research on an inexpensive and higher subject yielding program. This new group of super soldiers, or formerly known as GHOSTs, were stronger than normal human but were less enhanced than their predecessors. They also exhibited some energy manipulation and thought sharing abilities, the GHOSTs had nowhere near the same level of power as the SERPENT Corps. But what they lacked in physical ability they made up for in sheer tenacity and availability of resources. While the SERPENT Corps. armor, weapons, and mechanized vehicles were all tailor made to suit each individuals abilities, the GHOSTs were able to adapt to any weapon, vehicle or ability depending on the situation and environment. This gave them a different yet just as efficient edge as the SERPENTs. The GHOST Program would never be made public. They were either deployed on suicide missions or on deep-cover operations behind enemy lines.
Near the end of the year 2398, the war between the FAS and the ISU had reached an apparent stalemate. This eventually led the IOC to deploy the SERPENT Corps. on a recon and recovery mission deep into ISU territory on the planet Marathon, the central hub of the Union. Federation intelligence found that the ISU had a recommissioned, portable Smart-AI from the Pre-Expansion Era. Data that this AI had collected from the past and present was so imperative to Federation military and colonial expansion that the IOC had tasked the SERPENT Corps. to retrieve or destroy the data within the AI's mainframe. The operation was proceeding with minimal complications until the Federation's main battle fleet exited from a hyperspace jump in low orbit of Marathon. The Federation claimed that the ISU was in breach of the Gaussin Convention by recently assassinating the governor of a prosperous Border World and killing unarmed Federation prisoners of war. The called for the surrender of almost one hundred individuals they classified as war criminals including renown insurgent leader, Viktor Kaworski. 5 minutes passed after the FAS issued their ultimatum. First came a warning shot then came the most explosive force known to man.
During the first warning shot, the SERPENT Corps. Had already extracted their target and were headed out-system on the advanced stealth frigate, The Harbinger. Moments before they jumped into hyperspace to return to Serpentis VII, they received an encrypted transmission from an anonymous source. By the time their computer cycle the encryption algorithms, they had entered their target system. The sound message was broadcast over the bridge's main speakers.
It was Dr. Holly Tamskovich. Gunfire and explosions could be heard the in the background. She sounded distressed.
"GET OFF MARATHON. SERPENTIS HAS FALLEN. IOC LIED -"
The message cut out, but it was still received too late. When The Harbinger exited their hyperspace jump, hundreds of Federation warships led by IOC Vice-Admiral Titus Pullo were laying siege on Serpentis VII. Their communications were flooded with distress calls from the research facility. Multiple reports showed that the Federation Fleet had obliterated Marathon with an IFRIT nuclear strike.
Originally banned after the Earth-Mars War, INFRIT warheads generate high-yield radiation explosions that have the power to decimated planets leaving planetary bodies fractured and scarred and unable to sustain life. Earth's moon cracked under from the decimation of a prototype INFRIT.
Marathon was silent. Everyone on the surface or who couldn't escape the blast perished in an instant. Serpentis was next.
TO BE CONTINUED...
If you have any questions, please PM with the title of "Once More Into the Breach"
