Stardate: 10.02.2255

Location: City of Antoris Prime, Planet Brendor II, Brendor System, Alliance Northern Colonization Zone

 

Antoris Prime, named after the first person who had set foot on this planet, was not only the capital city of Brendor II, but the Manufacturing Capital of the Terran Alliance as a whole. Despite not having a readymade Precursor Mine underneath its surface like the border planet of Oredtes III, or any exceptional mineral riches like some of the Alliance’s other planets, Brendor II’s natural inhabitability (it was a class 15 world), enterprising citizens and the fact that it was one of the Alliance’s earliest settled planets, had helped it to become the most productive planet in the Alliance territories.

And as the capital city of the Alliance’s most productive planet, Antoris Prime was a very busy place indeed. The skylines were thick with huge Skytrains which zipped across the city, mostly carrying workers from the numerous Manufacturing Centers on the outskirts of the city. Squadrons of Air Taxis and private hovercars only added to the organised chaos, as giant space freighters took off and landed on the nearby Space Port, carrying surplus products to be traded to the other planets of the Alliance and even exchanged for the goods and currencies of the Alliance’s neighbouring alien civilizations.

Jack Haverton was a worried man indeed as he unseeingly glanced out the Plexiglass window of the Skytrain. His worries were not centered on himself, but rather on the fate of his colleague and till late his co-worker Sal Corrison. Sal was a good man, a good father, a good worker and most importantly a good friend. But he was not very flexible in his thoughts…and so when the government started upgrading the factories to the new, almost fully automated Manufacturing Centers…he could not adapt. The result…he had lost his job. And with 4 mouths to feed in his family, he was in dire circumstances indeed. True the government’s federal welfare scheme would not let his family starve, but things would be hard…

The soft voice of the Skytrain’s automated comm. system, announcing the approaching stop, broke through his thoughts. This was where he had to get off.

As the Skytrain sped away, Jack Haverton turned and walked towards the nearest grav-pad, which would take him down to the sub-levels of the city. Ten minutes later he was walking through the doors of his favourite watering hole, a disreputable bar-cum-diner called The Orisons. Somehow, like always, the dim lighting and loud raucous ambience inside served as a therapeutic remedy to soothe his already frayed senses. The place was crowded as usual, and there were even some Altairians present, with their strange cybernetic face ornaments and glowing symbol covered dresses.

As Jack made his way to his usual spot near the bar, he noticed for the first time that something was wrong. The nearby Virtua-Pool and Auto-Gambling setups were deserted and everybody seemed to be crowded near the single holo-tank in the joint. And it wasn’t even Hover-Soccer week.

The sound emanating from the holo-tank became more audible as he worked his way closer. The smartly dressed GNN anchor was just saying – “Although the military remain tight-lipped about the entire event, our sources have confirmed that as of a few weeks ago a single Drengin warship, identified as one of the powerful Ith’kar Frigates gifted to them by the Collective, engaged and took out 2 Alliance Nova Missile Cruisers in a surprise attack, before moving on and destroying the relatively unprotected Alliance Military Starbase Omega 7 in the Sol sector, leading to the death of many of the station’s almost 500 strong personnel. This, despite the recent peace treaty signed between the Alliance and the Drengin.”

Several outraged gasps could be heard as well as a few horrified cries. A few of the crowd even had relatives working in that station…Jack couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. He turned his attention back to the display.

“However, our reports also indicate that the Drengin ship, identified as the D.I.S. Kro’kar was finally intercepted and destroyed by an Alliance Nexus squadron, consisting of 2 ships, one of which was destroyed in the battle. Sources have learned that the military plans to re-build this Starbase and have decided to install some heavy-duty weaponry this time around, like in the case of the other frontier Battle Stations. We have also been informed that Alliance Nexus Cruisers have engaged and destroyed 2 more Drengin Escort ships, gifted by the Collective.

The Drengin representatives have as usual no comments, other their usual threats of annihilation. We also have reports of protestors converging on the Drengin Embassy on Odin III.”

Here the holo-tank switched to a view of a large angry crowd holding banners and protesting outside the embassy, as Alliance Enforcement Officials held them at bay by brandishing their Stun-Batons and Needle-Guns while behind the walls of the embassy the emotionless Drengin Guards paced relentlessly, carrying some terrifying looking weapons.

Jack Haverton could take no more. Suddenly the dim lighting, increasingly volatile atmosphere and the loud din were making him feel nauseous - he had to get out!

As the doors parted and he stumbled out, an ominous feeling of dread overcame him. Surely there was going to be full-fledged war now - a deadly interstellar war with one of the deadliest and most aggressive civilizations in the galaxy. And as the Alliance’s Manufacturing Capital, Brendor II would be a prime target. With all the Alliance’s fleets at the various borders, the core planets themselves were guarded only by the weak and obsolete Guardian ships, thereby leaving them almost defenseless against attacks from space – something amply demonstrated by the Omega 7 incident. And how would the Alliance’s neighbours react to this crisis?

The future had just got a whole lot more uncertain…