The silence and anticipation were killing him. The cold, steel interior of his bunk were boring him and he craved for something exiting to happen. But at last he was confined to his bunk for now with the knowledge that HQ wanted him to come to the bridge in 2 hours.
He didn’t know why though and that bugged him. Why would command ask a standard trooper like himself to come to them. Perhaps they were going to discharge him. That thought was sickening to him though, since the army was all he had left. He remembered the day that took everything from him and his kinsmen had known for aged that it would come: Ragnarök.
The year was 2135. It was a normal day leading up to Christmas. William lived in the European union in what used to be Ireland before the treaty that unified all the nations in the EU. His family was strictly pagan, an ancient, polytheistic religion that had died out in most regions of the earth. He remembered the cold wind piercing his jacket as he chopped wood in an effort to stay warm. It was at that moment he heard the roar echo through the valley he lived in. Strange lights dashed across the clear skies, but they weren’t the northern lights he was used to. They were dots, leaving trails of green, that faded away soon after. They were fast. Moments later he saw the fighter jets of the union fly over his head, only to moments later be obliterated in a great ball of fire, caused by some unknown energy weapon that these green dots seemed to have. What followed after was pure chaos. Hundreds more of these beams appeared and soon the valley was set on fire by their foreign energy weapons. William remembers his home on fire with no trace of his family. Later that week he learned that none but a few survivors were recovered from his town, his family was gone. Aliens had found their way to the earth and they were not peaceful. They were dubbed Assari by the united European nations. Humanity was driven to the brink of extinction. It’s only saviour was their adaptability.
Soon there was a breakthrough in reverse engineering the alien tech, which lead to the creation of the first star fleet. William was probably one of the first few hundred to board these ships as he had been fighting on the frontlines the years prior to it’s creation. The sight of the first ships were a special one. They were crudely made. A very blocky design made them look distinct from their Assari, which were rather elegant pieces of tech. But the human ships functioned none the less and rapid advancements made these first ‘precursor class’ cruisers able to hold up in a fight against the Assari.
William was snapped out of his thoughts though as his scroll, which was like a high-tech holographic phone, rang. It was the alarm he had set so he would not forget to go to the bridge as command had ordered. He lazily put on his button-up vest and made his way to the bridge, following the lines painted on the wall which showed the way through the maze-like interior of the ship. Soon he reached the command deck of the ship. A few other people were present, which surprised him. He joined the six other’s and stood in the line they had formed. He saluted and placed his hand on his back to stand in attention.
The commanding officer was called Maize. He stared out to the galaxy displayed on the half-dome walls that formed the command deck. He turned after William had joined the group and looked over it, his steel grey eyes resting on each member as if he inspected them. His eyes were cold and one would say devoid of any emotion as he had probably seen many horrors in the 10 years of war that had already passed.
Finally he spoke up “Welcome soldiers. You are probably all wondering why I called you here. “. He waited for the in-synch ‘aye sir’ to pass before continuing
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“HQ has decided we are going to take the fight to those Assari bastards in a little more… personal way. You will all be part of a new spec-ops devision, codenamed ‘Phoenix squad’. I guess HQ thinks you are the bright souls that will revive the human effort in this conflict. They are out of their minds, but who am I to judge. Your job will be to infiltrate special interest locations, protect or kill VIP targets, assist in military operations, provide recon and all that good stuff. HQ has given you many additional privileges and will supply your efforts with the newest, cutting edge technology that rolls out of the labs. Starting with these” He had moved over to his holo-table and pressed a few buttons to display a 3-d hologram of a suit. It seemed very bulky like a suit an old demolition man would have used, but with a bit less armour so that you could move better in it. Commander Maize spoke up again
“These suits were dubbed ‘the Icharus armor’ by the lovely folks back at HQ. They should really come up with more creative names for weaponry” He added with a half bored tone “They consist of a skin-tight suit made up of a new nano-carbon mesh which allows you to move rather freely whilst the armoured plates protect you from plasma bolts. I believe the plates are made of that alloy the Assari ships are made of, so these are lightweight, but will probably protect you better than most steel suits. As you might know we cannot make this alloy ourselves, so these are created from salvaged Assari ships. Which means the material is rare, so make sure you keep these intact.’
Maize looked over the group one more time with a stern gaze. Maize returned to his speech after the soldiers had shouted ‘aye sir’ once more. “Right you will also receive code names. This effort must be kept as an upmost secret, understood. Alright. Number 1, step forward please.”
A short, lean looking man from latin descend stepped forward. Maize inspected him and nodded, he looked at the scroll he had tucked in his elbow “Mr. Castillero. Track record says you have performed well in your scout unit. 21 confirmed kills on Assari troops with a marksman rifle. Impressive, most struggle to even kill 1. Your assigned codename will be Eclipse. You will receive armour and weaponry that suit your skillset as a markman. Dismissed’
The newly named Eclipse left the room after a salute. Maize called number 2 to him. She was a girl with fiery red hair and a freckled face. She seemed to be about 1.70 meters tall, taller than Eclipse. “Mrs. Quinn. Hmm interesting.so you can fly these hunks of steel huh? It even mentions you are good at it. How nice. Your codename shall be Valkyrie. Dismissed.”
He gave the names to the other 4 members as well. A tall, strong looking man from African descend, whose name was Pearle, got codenamed Sledge. Probably due to the fact that he could floor a man with one hit. Then there were the twins named Jaeger who got codenamed Apollo and Artemis. Finally there was a man named Kroon, who William immediately recognized as being Swedish due to his accent. The man was a bit older than him and he got the codename Dawn.
Finally it was William’s turn. He anxiously waited. This was definitely the excitement he was waiting for. Maize looked at him “Mr.Andersson. Your record doesn’t seem very outstanding in any way. However it does state that you have fought since the beginning and have seen many battlefields. Most of them disasters. Maybe a testament to your luck. Heh they gave you the right name then. Irish it is. Suits you. Alright soldier dismissed.” With that, Maize turned and set his gaze back on the projection on the wall. William left the command deck. His heart was throbbing from the excitement. ‘Phoenix 7, Callsign Irish. That has a ring to it’ He mumbled to himself as he retreated to his bunk. He fell onto his bed and tried to take a nap, but the excitement made it hard. He was ready for this new chapter in his life.