Chapter One
Brian Taylor watched the sunrise down the river as he reeled in a baited lure in the calm water with his fishing rod. Entirely at peace and in harmony with nature, he was pleased with his new job. A park ranger now, he had previously been in the infantry, a full-time soldier for the past twelve years. Suddenly, he felt a tug on the line. He pulled back on the rod, hooking a fish. Reeling it in wasn’t easy, and he knew it was a big one. After five minutes of wrestling with the fish, he reached down and pulled out a smallmouth bass. Quite proud of his catch, its green scales were perfect camouflage from bigger prey in the water. Smiling, he unhooked the lure and then placed the fish back in the water.
Moving back, he sat on a large grey boulder along the river and looked out over the water and forest. Thick pine trees ran along the opposite side of the river, and rocks lined both sides. Further down the river, he eyed the rapids, which led into a large open lake.
“Peace,” he breathed as he took it all in.
On the other side of the river, a black bear came out, its fur just as dark as his own short hair. Bears were his favourite animal, particularly one that was now extinct: Arctodus, the North American short-faced bear, one of the largest apex predators that lived in North America, weighing up to 2,110 lb and standing 12 feet tall. They were all extinct now, having died off 11,000 years ago after living for 800,000 years. Scientists blamed climate change for their extinction, but 11,000 years ago humans were coming into the picture as the Great Ice Age was ending. It wasn’t hard to believe the two were somehow related.
His radio clicked, and he heard a voice.
“Hey Brian, you there?” a man’s voice asked.
He pulled out his radio, knowing Richard’s voice.
“Hey Rich, what’s up?” He began to pack up his rod and head back to his truck.
“I know you don’t have service out there, but I thought you should know something weird has happened at the White House, and CNN is down,” Richard said.
Brian raised his brows and thought that strange. Before he got to his truck, he stopped.
Suddenly, a boom occurred overhead. He was stunned and fell back, dazed. He blinked up and a large object appeared, its long, slender frame smashing through the atmosphere as it fell. Debris began to peel off in unison on both sides, almost as if it were timed. Suddenly, he realized what he was looking at as the shock wave washed over him.
Commander Triarius of 10th Company, 301st Legion, held onto an overhead rail as the battleship OSS Sunder came out of warp inside Earth’s atmosphere. Being the mother ship of his legion, he was inside a ship within a ship, his company corvette-class vessel, OSS Bloodhound, moving into position.
“Brace for release from Sunder,” the ship captain stated.
Suddenly, he felt a jolt as they launched out. Being inside a dropship within his corvette, he stood in the middle and looked down the compartment at his troops sitting along benches against the bulkhead. 1st Platoon all looked at him. He couldn’t see their eyes behind their visored helmets. All their suits were completely armoured in case they had to fight in space.
He tapped his helmet comms to talk to his entire company. The rest of his men were in four dropships, including his.
“10th Company… We already went over the mission, but I’ll remind you. Do not engage the locals. They are all in a state of shock. If their military elements engage us, then engage back as per your rules of engagement, but remember, they are our brothers and sisters and will be brought back into the fold. They do not know what’s coming, but we do. If I don’t talk to you again… know that no matter what happens, our true enemy will regret ever coming across us and coming to this planet, Earth. We can change how this ends. We will win. For humanity, I will bleed.”
The soldiers in his dropship all saluted with their hands across their chests.
“Dropships, prepare to fall,” the captain of Bloodhound stated.
Triarius hated being inside a dropship and falling. On other planets there would be a rain of explosions and fire in the sky, various weapons of all shapes and sizes trying to snuff out the smaller craft from existence. Whole companies had been lost during drops. He would rather drop-pod, quickly get in and get to the battlefield. Every drop was different for each situation, however.
Suddenly, he felt his chest heave as the dropship fell out of Bloodhound and stabilized. Natural light enveloped the compartment, and they all looked out the portholes at the dark green terrain below.
“Commander,” the pilot asked.
“Report,” Triarius replied.
“OSS Sunder just warped out. Also, Pathfinders report the LZ is clear to land. The local guard is holding back and has set up their own perimeter, sir.”
“Affirmative. Take us in.”
“Acknowledged,” the pilot replied.
On both sides of the dropship, doors opened and two door gunners took up positions. Their helmet visors had white paint with teeth drawn onto the front. Their Gatling cannons were capable of turning most living things into mist and debris, and objects into atoms.
He looked down below at the city the locals called Toronto, but it looked more like a town. On Planet Orion Prime, the entire world was one vast city, having endured 100,000 years of human technology. Thinking of its sunrises, he looked to the east and saw the sun rising.
Moving his hand to his helmet, he took it off and suddenly breathed in the fresh air. The oxygen made his head spin a bit, and he felt slightly high. Placing his helmet back on, he cleared his throat and shook his head.
“Landing in ten,” the pilot reported.
As the dropship landed with a thump, his troops stood up and readied their weapons. The back ramp lowered, and they began to run out and take up positions.
Triarius walked out with his weapon on his back. Stepping onto the pavement, he moved into a large parking lot, looking around at the surrounding buildings.
“Sergeant, I’m taking Private Ieana and Corporal Caren and linking up with the city leader.” He looked to City Hall and saw people on the front steps, all in fancy suits.
“Roger, sir… Ieana and Caren, report to the commander for guard detail.”
Triarius watched both of them approach and salute, then turned and made his way to City Hall.
Samantha Wood watched in awe as a large black-armoured alien marched toward them. Her heart was beating madly, and fear had taken hold. She couldn’t move. She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t. She only watched as the alien halted in front of them. On either side of him were his bodyguards, she assumed.
Swallowing, she began to breathe. She was still afraid, but her senses were slowly coming back. Mayor Robert Stafford was visibly upset and in shock as well. He cupped his hands in front of him, and she wondered what was going through his mind. Just twenty minutes ago, they had all seen the broadcast of First Contact when a UAP landed on the White House lawn. The news cut out, however, and no one knew the outcome. Other reports spoke of Russia, Britain, and China also receiving UAP landings and contact with world leaders.
The alien reached up and took off his helmet. She held her breath. Beneath it was the tan face of a human man, his hair short and black. Suddenly she felt less scared. He was rather handsome, his green eyes set on the mayor.
“Do you understand me?” the alien-human asked in a strange accent.
The mayor stuttered. “I… uh… yes, I understand. You speak English?”
The ship the alien-human had arrived in broadcast the mayor’s words through speakers across the parking lot and surrounding area. A crowd had gathered at the perimeter, hauntingly quiet as they listened.
“Yes. Before first contact with lost human colonies, we learn the main languages of that planet. I am Commander Triarius of the Orion Human Empire. This may come as a surprise, but among the stars there are a thousand different planets with humans inhabiting them. My homeworld is in what you call the Orion constellation… Orion Prime. It was arranged that way so every human in the galaxy could look up and know they are not alone. You might be wondering how… well, we are not sure how, but sometime 200,000 years ago we took to the stars, and a colony ship found its way to Earth.”
Triarius spoke with the voice of a commander and a teacher. He nodded to the mayor and paused. The man’s eyes were dark green, and it looked as if he were staring into the mayor’s soul.
The mayor nodded. “I see.” He looked at Samantha. She swallowed, blinked, and shook her head. Being the mayor’s aide really sucked right now.
“Why now?” she asked, trying to help him find a response.
Suddenly, she felt a stillness. She knew before looking that Triarius was staring at her. She slowly turned and suddenly felt naked before him as his eyes locked onto hers. Feeling ashamed, she looked down.
“Yes, wh—” the mayor began, but he was cut off.
The commander’s voice shifted from calm teacher to stern authority.
“There is a threat to humanity… amongst the stars.”
He pointed upward and turned to address everyone who could hear.
“There is an alien race that is dead-set on eradicating all human life. They call themselves the Valadarian Union.”
