“So what’s with the skull patch” the little blue creature's words buzzed as the translator in Jack Hallsen’s ear morphed the strange sounds into english. “Hmm, well a lot of warrior groups from my people like to be as intimidating as possible so I guess it’s just for intimidation.” Hallsen’s reply took a moment to translate into the Usali dialect before the little blue slug thing could reply, “Two questions, one, if you’re supposed to be a stealth group wouldn’t the enemy never see it? Two, wouldn’t you have the intimidation factor down? I mean look at you, you're larger than even the biggest Al’domi warrior.” Hallsen thought about this for a moment before giving an answer, “Hmm, I never really thought it all through but I guess the patch is just in case one of my group gets killed, then hopefully the enemy checks the body, sees the skull, and shits themselves.” Hallsen seemed a bit annoyed with the line of questioning from the blue creature, he was just here for a drink after all, or at least as close to a drink as he could get on this floating pile of rubble, “Also you have to keep in mind that I’m not even the biggest of my own team, let alone my species” the 5’11” tall man seemed to resent that he never got that extra inch to hit six foot. “Wait you guys get even bigger!?”
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In the year 2118 catastrophe struck the human race, an experimental gravity bomb tore a hole in the fabric of space resulting in an unknown species coming into Earth’s orbit. Before Contact could be established with this new race they began an orbital bombardment of Earth’s surface, turning the planet into a barren wasteland. With the planet’s surface reduced to dust the aliens left, thinking Humanity had been wiped from the galaxy, what they didn’t know was that humanity had built underground bunkers designed to sustain human life indefinitely during the second half of the 21st century. These bunkers were designed for the martian colonies that had been established prior to the aliens' bombardment. What followed was a period of rapid reconstruction for Earth, aided by a now independent Mars, over the next 200 years.
Today was the big day for Hubert Reece, for the first time ever humanity would have a shield against those who would seek the extinction of the human race. He always hated the way suits fit him since he could never get one tailored to fit, the shoulders were always too tight and the length was always too short, he looked like a gorilla stuffed into human clothing, but today was a special occasion so he had to bear with it, at least for a little bit. The man glanced at the antique clock that sat on the wall of his living room, ticking away. It was hard enough finding batteries for it but he couldn’t bring himself to get rid of a family heirloom that had been passed down to him after his father passed away just over two years ago; His dream was finally coming true, humanity would finally be safe if everything worked out.
Snapping out of his daze when he noticed the time Hubert hurriedly grabbed his briefcase and helmet before rushing up the stairs to his airlock. Snapping his helmet into place over his membrane underseal he could just barely make out the noise of Jerry Farnik blaring the horn of his car. After hitting the big red button on the side of the wall the airlock door slowly started to open as a big blue pearl in the sky slowly came into view, it had a little more brown in it these days compared to pictures of old but Earth’s resilience showed proudly even after its near destruction almost 200 years ago. The door to Jerry’s car opened and Hubert stood still for just another moment to finish taking in the beauty of the Earth. “C’mon Hugh’, you’re wasting time, we gotta get you to the docks for the christening ceremony.” It was an ancient tradition that somehow made it through the devastation but it was one that Hubert was glad remained as he was going to be the one to perform the odd ritual.
“You know you’re going to be late now, we were supposed to have you at Huygens by 10:00” Jerry spoke in a dejected tone, knowing that Hubert wouldn’t really care all that much. “The launch isn’t even until noon, being a few minutes late won’t change that, plus who even cares about this ceremony anyway?” Hubert’s response came as a shock to Jerry. “What do you mean who cares? This is supposed to be good luck for a ship, for your ship”. “My ship doesn’t need luck, I designed it to last” Hubert seemed more and more agitated by the conversation with Jerry. “Look, I know Public speaking isn’t really your thing, but you were the lead designer on this ship, and not just any ship, the flagship of the navy and regardless of whether or not you think you should be doing the honors it was given to your and now you are responsible for bringing hope to the entire human race, so screw your head on straight and get it done, alright?” Jerry’s suddenly serious tone snapped Hubert out of his pouting fit, “Right” was all he could give in response.
The rest of the drive was quiet as the two made their way to the Mons Huygens Dock Yards, the premier ship construction and launch system on the lunar surface. As the gates opened a massive underground chamber was revealed, showcasing the 2000 foot long, 450 foot wide flagship, the largest ship they could make that would still be able to launch from the lunar catapult system, as it was being loaded into the launch bay before final checks were conducted. As the car drove past the dock workers loading up the ship faint yelling could be heard over the sound of metal scraping against metal echoed deafeningly throughout the underground chamber, how anyone could yell so loudly was a mystery to both Hubert and Jerry.
Eventually the car rolled into a small parking lot and stopped in front of an office building, the two men got out and headed inside. Walking through the narrow hallways seemed ironic to Hubert considering the space just outside the building was so open. After passing a few doors the men reached a conference room meant to hold important meetings relating to the daily operation of the Huygens facility, inside were a collection of important figures such as Chen Huyang, head of the Mars Colony and Duncan Kreed, President of the Stellar Defence Committee.
Kreed was the first to speak up, “You boys are late” the irritation in his voice was on full display leaving no room for doubt that he was not happy about the current situation. Hubert replied in his usual disinterested tone “Yeah, but a few minutes late just to make sure my speech is in order for the ceremony hardly seems like a big deal”. Kreed scoffed “Is that all you think this is? This was supposed to be a meeting to discuss the future of humanity and all you can say is that it doesn’t seem like a big deal!” his sharp tone cutting right through Hubert’s nonchalant demeanor “Um… uh… yes, sorry sir, it won’t happen again.” “It better not” Kreed replied with a stern expression.
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Next it was Huyang to speak up, “Gentlemen, settle down, please, we have much to discuss”. The meeting lasted almost an hour and a half, most of it related to the launch ceremony as Hubert had expected but what came next was something unexpected. “After the launch ceremony is complete and the flagship forms up with the rest of the fleet they’ll head to Mars to formalize the union of Earth and Mars.” Kreed spoke with a spark of pride in his voice; After spending over an hour with the man Hubert could tell he wasn’t one to hide his feelings, that’s probably what got him elected in the first place he thought.
“For our final order of business you’ll need to listen up, Reece.” Hubert’s normally tired looking face grew an inquisitive look, for all his lack of outward expression he couldn’t help but be the curious type. Kreed spoke sharply and to the point as he often did, “As much as I hate your attitude and lazy approach to life I know you’re the best man we have for this job. We’re starting an experimental weapons program and I want you to be the director of the program.” Hubert’s inquisitive look shifted to one of shock, “Sir, don’t you think this is a little too much responsibility for me, I mean I’m just a ship designer, I don’t have any experience in management.” Kreed chuckled, “And the fact that you realize that tells me you’ll do just fine, besides, we’re sending Jerry here with you to keep you in line, you’re fine with that right Jerry?” Jerry sighed “Absolutely sir.”
The two men walked quietly out of the building towards the car, thinking over what they had just been told, in essence it was up to them to ensure humanity had a place in the galaxy, a task neither had any intentions to take lightly. The men reached the car and as soon as the doors had shut Jerry burst out into a fit of hysterical laughter “HAH! Um,uh!” he said mockingly “HA… hooooo, if only you could have seen your face.” “Were you thinking about that the entire meeting?” Hubert asked, a bit annoyed. “Most definitely, I’ve been looking forward to the day someone finally put you in your place and it was even better than I could have imagined.” By now the tense atmosphere of the walk back to the car had dissipated and the two had gone back to their normal routine of taking jabs at each other during the car ride, “At least I had more to say than just ‘Absolutely sir’.”
The drive back to the launch platform was relatively short and the men found themselves surrounded by journalists and reporters asking questions about the launch. Out of the sea of individuals Hubert could only hear one question “Is the ship safe to fly?” came from an unknown voice in the crowd. “This ship is the most robust we’ve ever built, if the others flew this one will too.” The rushed nature of the defense program always bothered the public but Hubert knew his designs were sound and just wished that by now the public would put at least some faith in his work. When they emerged from the crowd Jerry reassured Hubert “Don’t worry about them, everyone knows you do great work and those reporters are just looking for flashy headlines and controversy”. “I know, but it just baffles me how some people could still seem on the fence about a planetary defense force after what happened”.
Shortly after the men approached the back of the stage where they found a very twitchy woman with a headset on and a tablet in her hand. “Oh good you're here, is your speech ready? Do you have a memory stick so I can load it onto the podium?” The questions practically shot out of the woman at light speed. “Yes everything is ready, here’s the memory stick” Hubert handed the woman a small green rectangular box before adding, “Are you okay, you seem on edge?” The woman, not even bothering to make eye contact, spoke while doing something on her tablet, “How could I not be? I’m only in charge of making sure this entire ceremony goes smoothly.” Before Hubert or Jerry could give a response the woman snapped out of her twitchy behavior, “Sorry I’m just a bit stressed from all of this, it’s a pretty big day after all. You’re on in ten, good luck out there.
Ten minutes flew by like nothing and Hubert slowly walked onto the stage, as he emerged from behind the curtain he was greeted with an ocean of people, it looked as if the entire lunar colony had shown up for the ceremony. As he reached the podium a wave of calm washed over him as his initial nerves melted away. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to make this as brief as possible but I can make no guarantees, for today is a new dawn for humanity. Two centuries ago we were faced with an unforeseen cataclysm, almost two thirds of our population was lost, each life a sacrifice we shall never forget. But today is not a day of mourning, today is a day of celebration and hope. We have bounced back as we have throughout history with sheer grit and determination, and with us we’ve brought a message for those who would seek our destruction, that we will never stop fighting for survival.” After a brief pause for applause Hubert continued his speech which lasted about half an hour. “And with the christening of this ship I usher in a new age for the human race, an age in which we shall never again have to fear annihilation at the hands of some unseen foe.” Cheers roared out from the crowd as the bottle smashed against the ship.
As he walked off the stage Hubert saw the woman from earlier reach the podium and he could hear from the speakers “Now if everyone could please leave the staging area and proceed to the viewing area we can get the ship launch underway.” He could hear the footsteps of the crowd stomping out of the launch bay and out into the viewing dome as the curtains drew closed. “That was great Hugh, best speech I’ve heard in a long time.” Jerry seemed a little too excited that someone else’s speech had gone so well. “The best part is still to come, let’s head to the monitoring room. The men entered a room full of screens and keyboards each with a unique readout or camera feed to give as much information about the launch as possible.
As time for the launch quickly approached tensions began to rise in the room, calls of 'nominal readings’ and ‘looks good here' could be heard from the various crew members watching the status readouts. Eventually the countdown began, sending everyone into an eerie silence. The tension in the room only grew as the countdown reached its finale “3… 2… 1… Launch” an electric hum could be heard throughout the station as the magnetic launch catapult fired up and began to move the massive ship. Just before reaching the base of Mons Huygens the support boosters fired with their distinct orange glow to help propel the ship out into lunar orbit. As the ship barreled towards the peak of the mountain the tension in the room seemed to disappear. The massive battleship flew into space with ease, as if it had done so many times before. A sense of pride washed over Hubert and everything seemed to move in slow motion as he muttered under his breath “We’ve finally made it.”
When the ship had successfully reached orbit Duncan Kreed approached Hubert with his usual stern expression, although this time with a slight hint of a grin, “Well you’ve done it, now it’s time for you to meet up with the fleet and get to Mars.”