A new Horizen

Heliosu, the capital planet of the Kharrn confederacy and the last bastion of defence against the UDME. The current location of a deadly battle that will decide the fate of the entire galaxy. For two thousand Kharrnate years (3452 Terran years)  the Kharrn Confederacy had conquered and secured the majority of their home galaxy, reaping the rewards of rich mineral and gas deposits on many of the metallic planets that made up a majority of the planets of their home system. While many sentient species were present on these many different planets, the agenda of the Kharrnate council would not be halted for the petty concerns of Xeno species, especially those that had not yet mastered space flight.

The Kharrn had distinct physiological advantages over the different species that they shared their galaxy with, which would help to explain the rapid conquests and resulting genocides of the past hundred years. The average Kharrn is a hexapod bird-like reptile that stands at a height of four to five meters. Their skin is made of a tough but flexible leather like material covered by scales that resemble multi-coloured feathers which not only confer basic protection against the elements but also a high resistance to the primitive weapons used by the majority of the other species of their home galaxy. They possess three sets of eyes , two pairs on either side of their avian heads and one pair located in the upper-middle of their faces much like humans. These eyes can see in a range of visions such as infra-red and low-light. The main feature of their face however is the elongated, razor-sharp beak that juts out of the middle of their face, with a pair of nostrils located on the top back of the beak.

Through the use of these physical advantages as well as laser weapon technology that had been developed and improved throughout the years the Kharrn had maintained dominance over their home galaxy and lived in an age of prosperity and enlightenment.

That is, until the UDME ‘Dione’ class scout ship arrived at the edge of the galaxy undetected and discovered the many mineral-rich worlds that the Kharrns had mastered. As quietly as it arrived, the scout left, laden with detail scans of both mineral laden planets and more importantly, the entire Kharrnate military presence

. Confident in their seemingly un-opposed rule, the Kharrnate military commanders were taken by complete surprise when a week later an entire UDME Battle fleet warped in  to the middle of the system, blew away the heart of the Kharrnate navel assets and razed the military stronghold world that co-ordinated the majority of the Kharrnate system defence fleet.

The following battles could only be described as a slaughter, as the majority of the unprepared and unco-ordinated Kharrnate military were routed and substantly wiped out. With their colony worlds falling at an astronomical speed, the ruling cadre of the Kharrnate over took the responsibilities of the military command and issued the order for all remaining military assets to return to the capitol planet for a desperate last stand. They also issued the command to ready an old abandoned military weapons project that had sat unattended in a bunker for the past five-hundred years.

++Alpha Euripides Sector++

++Galaxy Designation 113AA-XX , Local Name “Maltaa”++

++Standard UDME Date: 32/14/5988th Millennium++

++Day Seven of Operation ‘Iron Hammer’, Strike group Thémis++

Lieutenant Colonel Maxmillian Anderson surveyed the xenos capital city with a look of what can only be described as utter confidence. A senior officer of the UDME 131st Pavonian grenadiers, he had the immense pleasure of commanding the strike forces that were responsible for the final assault on the Kharrnate command headquarters. Often described as cold and calculating, the Lieutenant Colonel was well known for his fast and brutal methods of war fighting, favouring lightning fast mechanized assaults combined with overwhelming air and orbital strikes. A skilled swordsman, mainly due to his father’s love of fencing, Maxmillian was brought up in a middle class family in a small rural town on Pavonia and joined the UDME military at the age of sixteen.

With a stern and grim appearance, and an olive skin tone due to his background, the Lieutenant Colonel was the picture of confidence. The UDME was unlike many other major military powers as instead of being purely composed of one or two species that attained ranks due to birth right or upbringing, the UDME was composed of around twenty different species and, while primary comprised of humans, every species had an equal right to join the military and ranks were rewarded based on competence and proven battlefield ability.

After 40 years of service ranging from basic infantry, orbital drop and ascension to his current position of a senior officer of his home regiment, he was pleased to soon add another victory to his impressive resume that his long and decorated career had amassed. His musings were quickly and loudly interrupted by a young corporal of the signal corps “Lieutenant Colonel! , Major Richardson confirms that the 234th are ready to begin the assault on the main compound and await your command!”

Maxmillian sighed, as much as he respected the Major, the man had the burning desire to join the front most units and throw himself straight into were the fighting was fiercest. While this amount of bravery was certainly a good quality, Maxmillian was a firm believer that a senior officer should remain calm and collected to effectively co-ordinate his troops, not charging headlong into the enemy, yelling obscenities and slaughtering enemy troops in an orgy of bloodlust. Still, the fact that the major had the good sense to ensure that a more… patient commander remained in charge of the assault. “Very good corporal, inform the Major that I will join the units momentarily, our victory shall be swift and glorious”.

++Main command Bunker, Kharrnate command compound++

“Honourable Kerl vo’ha, the mor’ke have breached the outer wall of the compound, they have already killed most of the defence force, and all of the defences have been overwhelmed, it is only a matter of time before they gain entry!” The speaker, a lowly warrior whose name was unknown to the Kerl vo’ha, was half obscured by the dim lighting in the inner bunker, visibly cowered before his mighty presence. Kerl vo’ha Mentrass, one of the highest ranking members of the ruling caste, relaxed in his seat. It was pointless attempting to stop the invaders, their surprise assault had wiped out the main elements of the Kharrnate military in a matter of minutes and even though he never voiced his thoughts aloud, it was well known that the Kerl vo’ha blamed the laxness of the military commanders for this crisis. He turned his attention towards the messenger, and in a voice of calm and serenity that only a being utterly convinced of their actions can project, uttered one command, “Activate the Raging Sun”.

++Inner wall, Kharrnate command compound++

++Twenty minutes earlier++

Private Albert Reynolds was not having a good day. Earlier in the morning he had woken up to the glorious sight of his MKIV EPSIA Standard infantry armour (a fully enclosed, tan brown coloured amour suit consisting of lightweight amour plates and a filtration system)  now sporting a bright orange left shoulder pad and a full, body length picture of Bert (an orange Muppet from a children’s show that was for some reason still well known amongst a legion of trained soldiers) painted on his chest plate with the words ‘B is for BERT’ drawn with hot pink paint below it. This was not surprising as Albert was both the youngest and newest member of the team and as such was the target of many practical jokes in regards to his name. His squad mates, all of whom had prior combat experience, were merciless in their initiation of the rookie and this was but one of the countless embarrassments he had to have suffered during his short time as a solider In Baxter squad.

So that is how it transpired that Private Albert Reynolds, of the 234th General Infantry found himself in the middle of a warzone wearing an armoured suit with a bright orange Muppet on the front, fucking fantastic. “Rookie!” Albert looked to his left and spotted his squad sergeant, Sargent Madison, hunkered down behind a loose collection of rubble. “Where’s Klein?”

“I don’t know sir, I’m fairly certain he was with Tomas and Lee” Klein, the squad medic, a bookish man who hailed from the capitol city of Pavonia was well known for his friendship with Tomas and Lee.

Just as Madison was about to give Albert a verbal lashing in regards to his knowledge of the location of his squad members, colonel Perkins, the second newest member of Baxter, rushed out of his cover behind a wall, he was halfway to Madison’s position with only two meters to go.. FZZTTT ‘SPLAT’. Perkins took a sniplaz round straight to the mid-section, cutting through the soft mesh between the armoured plates and leaving a scorch mark in the wall opposite. Albert watched as Perkins body twitched once and laid still, a pool of blood forming around him.

“SNIPER!” Madison hollered, and Albert ducked his head just before a barrage of energy bolts smacked into the abandoned husk of an armoured personnel carrier he was hiding behind. Albert peeked around the side of his cover and saw thirty Kharrnate soldiers wielding standard issue Kharrnate lasrifles charging out of a side door of the inner complex towards the UMDE forces.

  BANGBANGBANG! Albert fired a three-round burst from his SR17 infantry rifle into the Skull of a Kharrnate Shas’no, the Kharrnate equivalent of a sergeant. The SR17 was a standard issue rifle that was widespread through UDME forces, a favourite because of its accuracy and reliability. It used standard UDME energy magazines, energy clips which were developed to standardise UDME infantry weapons so that one type of magazine could be used with all the standard infantry rifles. The clips, which held an equivalent of 200 standard rounds, worked on the principle that it was far more efficient for the bullets to form in the gun, through an advanced form of particle engineering which constructed the bullets in the gun with zero delay. The SR17 that Albert was using featured a standard 4X holo sight which could be changed to a 8X scope for long range combat. The rifle had an underslung micro-rocket launcher and could alternate between a three-shot burst, semi-auto and fully automatic.

Albert ducked back behind his cover just as another sniper round whizzed through where he just was and it smacked into the side of a wall support. Just as he was about to duck out again, the air around him became electrified, and a faint buzz could be heard in the air. A voice crackled through his headset “zzt.. This I... verrt Lieuten… zztt Colonel Anderson, all tro… zzt are to fall bac..” Albert could only stare as a bright flash expanded out from the compound and enveloped everything in sight, then he saw nothing but black.

++Equestria, Ponyville++

++Sunday++

Twilight Sparkle had just finished a rather intense studying session, focused around the ‘magical art of invigoration spells’ and was on her way to Sugercube Corner to meet up with her friends to discuss their plans for the coming week. When she walked into Sugercube corner, she was ushered over to a table by Applejack, and they were joined by Rarity and Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash having already sat down and started on a rainbow frosted cupcake. “I do say Twilight, I am just worried sick about you and your ceaseless studying, you really need to take more time for yourself”, Rarity stated. “Yeah Twi”, said Rainbow Dash through a mouthful of cupcake, “All that Egghead stuff all the time is so boooring. I don’t know how you even manage to get out of bed in the morning”. “Rainbow!”, an insulted Twilight replied, “The ‘magical art of invigoration spells’ is one of the most fundamenta…” “TWITCHY TAIL!”, came a shout from the kitchen, and faster than the eye could see Pinkie Pie dashed out from the doors of the kitchen and rocketed underneath the table. “Pinkie, what is it now?” Twilight asked. Her question was answered with a loud ‘THUMP’ outside Sugercube Corner. The girls rushed outside to investigate and found what looked to be a large robot monkey lying on the ground in a pool of red. Rarity immediately fainted and Twilight approached it warily. “Stand back girls, we don’t know if it’s dangou.. Rainbow!” Twilight yelled just as the inquisitive Pegasus hovered over the prone object on the ground. “Hey girls” Rainbow said, “What in the Hay is a Perkins?”