The Visitors

The system Equis Major. 37 light years from the nearest Imperial colony. The perimeter of the system.

Sector ZZ1-PLURAL-Z-ALPHA

TISS Primo Victoria

"Launch all aft communication drones! All guns, fire on the heavy Cruiser!" The shout emanated over the com link from the Bridge of the damaged vessel to the cockpit of the fighter-bomber in the hanger. "All pilots prepare to launch. 30 seconds!" Shouted the deck officer.

"15 seconds!" The ship's artificial gravity flickered for a moment before regaining power.

"10 seconds!" The hanger doors started to open.

"5 seconds!" The engines on the boomarang shaped fighter-bombers ignited.

"Godspeed Viper squadron." Came the Captain's voice.

The pilot of the small craft winced as he was catapulted out of the bay at 1 kilometer per second. He relaxed as the internal compensators kicked in and the gravity returned to normal. "Alright Alpha flight, we got a mission straight from the top." Came the voice of flight lead over his com link. "Our primary goal is to cover the heavy cruiser with the prince on it until they stop going after it. After that we just finish these guys off and then sit tight for our new orders."

"Incoming fighters and bombers! Viper, Falcon , and Yankee are clear to engage. The rest of you hold back and takeout the stragglers."

"Hell yeah! Viper, form up on me!" Shouted the pilot into his helmet mike. "Alright, primary targets are the bombers. The fighters can't damage anything bigger then a corvette, so their secondary."

"Copy that lead.""Copy.""Right, targeting the bombers." Came the replays over his helmet speakers.

The two groups of fighters neared each other and opened fire with their energy weapons. Beams of plasma collided with the hardened armor of the fighters and bombers as the organized initial clash turned into an melee of plasma and lasers. Explosions marked, if only momentarily, where someone had been unlucky or unskilled enough to occupy the same space as shot from a gun.

Viper lead wove through the incoming fire and fired some shots of his own. He sighted in on a bomber which was outlined in red on his HUD. The bomber pilot, releasing just how desperate his situation was, started diving and weaving this way and that in a desperate attempt to evade his pursuer, but it was in vain. Viper lead outclassed his opponent by many orders of magnitude, and after the first few shots, the bomber was hit. It started to destabilize and entered an out of control spiral. Viper lead pulled up and narrowly avoided the explosion which consumed the bomber.

As the two groups collided (figuratively, except for one unfortunate incident) the voice of the Admiral came over Viper leads comm.

"Viper lead, you have new orders. There is a heavy cruiser inbound in sector 3-54-89, heading straight for the weakest point in the line. It's shields are down, but nothing can reach it before it hits the supply ships except for you. Get over there and hit that thing. Stop it at all costs, Viper lead."

"Copy, Admiral, Viper, you heard the man. Form up on me and move towards that cruiser."

As Viper formed up in a tetrahedron formation, they broke away from the still raging battle behind them. They dove toward the smooth rectangular shape of the heavy cruiser, which was engaging two of the stingray shaped corvettes escorting the supply ships.

"Escorts one and two, this is Viper lead. Open a corridor to the cruiser and we'll do the rest. Copy?"

"Copy that, Viper lead. Go straight down the middle. We disabled most of their anti-fighter emplacements on the bow, so you have a better chance to take them out."

"Alright Viper. Line up on me and let's go."

"Copy." Came the four replies.

The fighter-bombers lined up and dove towards the heavy cruiser. It's massive bulk filled up the forward view screens of the tiny craft as they started taking flak.

There was a flash of light and a brief scream on the coms before a shout came from Viper four. "Shit! Fives gone!"

"Ten seconds until we're in range, Viper."

The range closed quickly and soon the order was heard, "Fire at my target!"

The four short range nuclear bombs carried by the fighter-bombers deployed and raced towards the surface of the cruiser. Viper squadron peeled away from the sight, and soon four miniature suns formed for an instant.

"Can anyone see the effect?" Asked Viper two.

"Aw hell...." Said Viper lead, a note of sorrow in his voice.

"Sir?"

"Their still going, their reactor is overloading, hell, you can see it through that hole we made, but their still going."

"So what do we do now, sir?"

Viper lead looked at the cruiser, and then at a picture taped to the upper right side of his cockpit, and then sighed loudly.

"You guys get out of here. Get to the minimum safe distance." As soon as he said this, he switched frequencies to the channel he shared with the Admiral.

"Sir, I regret to inform you that the cruiser is still mobile. It will be dealt with momentarily."

"Good, wait....if you launched your bombs, how are you going to............Viper lead, don't do this! Come on, Mike, don't do this!"

"Sorry sir, I made a promise to Sally. You know I can't break that promise." He responded as he turned his fighter towards the now exposed reactor of the cruiser.

"Dammit, Mike. Please."

"Goodbye, John." Said Viper lead, Mike, as he steered his fighter into the gaping hole in the cruiser.

And, with one last look at the picture, and in a bright flash of light, fire and plasma, Viper one's battle was over.

"Viper one? Come in, Viper one? Damn it, somebody answer me!" Shouted Admiral Donaldson.

"Sir, this is Viper two. One and five are down. We just finished the last of the small craft, what are your orders?"

"*sigh* return to the ship. Donaldson out." He paused and looked at the holographic battlefield being projected in the center of the bridge. "What's the status of the enemy fleet?"

"Sir, primary enemy threats have been neutralized. The few surviving vessels are withdrawing, and our ships are regrouping."

"Good. Captain, you have the Conn."

"Aye sir."

His majesty, De Hyacintho Sanguis (or Prince De[pronounced Day]), of the house Augustiorisque, third in line to the Imperial Throne, and commander of the 3rd Royal Guard Battalion, 1st Royal Guard Regiment, 1st Terran Defense Division, 1st Imperial Army, and the highest ranking member of the Royal family in the Seventh Imperial Fleet, looked at the Admirial with a suspicous gaze.

"What now?" Inquired the prince.

"Well, your highness, we still have to dodge the main fleet, but so far we've given them a run for their money." The Admiral sighed sadly, thinking of his lost friend.

'No time for that now' he thought.

"Your highness, the time has come for us to part ways."

"WHAT!?!

"Hear me out. The main pirate fleet has at least one battlecruiser, and the heaviest ship we have left is a heavy cruiser. Our top priority is your safety, and the fleet is currently unable to provide it. We're in the middle of uncharted space, the main pirate fleet is between us and Imperial territory, and we are the biggest target in three sub-sectors. Your no longer safe with the fleet. I'm ordering the transfer of you and your battalion to the supply ships that have room, as well as the one or two spare light frigates we have."

"But what will that do? It's not like we can set down on a planet and hide on........ You found a inhabitable planet, didn't you?"

"Ah, we'll I see the past three years have given you a better understanding of the way I think. Yes, to answer your question we found a habitable world in this system. We just ordered the royal transport to jump to a nearby point, and then meet us in a few days. The main fleet is going to leave now, and the hyper footprint should be enough to draw their attention away from the system long enough for the transports to offload your battalion and some support staff onto the the planet, in addition to a few essentials, and then leave the system. We're going to split the fleet into multiple elements and move them towards the border. With any luck one of the fleet elements or FTL drones will make it to Imperial territory and relay the coordinates."

"So, let me guess, we're going to drop into a jungle hell with giant, fire breathing turtles with razor sharp teeth? Or a world where it always rains an acidic compound that melts through power armor in a matter of hours? Or how about a desert where the sandstorms have made formations of razor sharp rocks that can slice through a shield without any effort?"

"I think for once you'll be pleasantly surprised. The planet has all indications of being a Terran class world. Yes I said Terran." Donaldson smirked at the expression the prince was giving him. "And get this. All our readings indicate an oxygen environment." The look of disbelief on the Princes face was to much for Donaldson, who promptly burst out laughing. This would be the first habitable planet they had found in months that wasn't actively trying to kill them.

"Well, knowing you, you already have Major Heinreich's support with this plan, and nothing I can say will talk you out of it."

"Indeed, you have learned these past few years. But yes, to answer your question, we talked and we agreed that this is best."

"*sigh* fine, damn it. I know that trying to convince you two is a lost cause. But your primary goal is to survive. You can drop me off here, but if it comes down to covering for me and getting back to the Empire, you are to get to the Empire and tell them what's happening out here. These pirates are too well armed, and they seem to be moving towards the border. So those are your Orders, and you, of all people, don't disobey orders, do you?"

"No, your highness, you know me better then that."

"Good. So I take it my battalion is already transferred?"

"If their not done yet then they will be soon, yes. The trip in system should take no more then a a day on the transports.. More then enough time for you to prepare for the landing."

"Any sign of natives?"

"We can't tell this far out. If there are you might want to stay clear, based on our prior experiences in this sector."

"You don't say? While, who am I to question the wisdom of the great negotiator?"

They both laughed at the nickname given to Donaldson by the Imperial Diplomatic Corp. The Admiral had earned the name when he discovered evidence of an assassination plot by a diplomatic group aboard his ship sent from a rival Empire. He had acquired (after three hours of rather questionable and very bloody interrogation)  a confession, and then thrown them out of the airlock. The Empire responsible promptly invaded, and was then destroyed by the Imperial fleet in retaliation.

"Very well. At least the Major trusts my judgement." Replayed the Admiral. This caused another laugh, as their disagreements lead to arguments which had become legendary over the past three years of the campaign.

"Alright then. I guess I better insure that the slackers in my battalion aren't messing around again." They laughed again. the Royal Guard was one of the most disciplined units in the Imperium, for obvious reasons. soon, however, they grew sober.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for sometime. Farewell, my friend. And remember your orders"

"Of course, your highness. And your highness." Said Donaldson quietly. "Your father would be proud if he could see you today."

"We'll then, you'll just have to tell him of my changes personally, won't you?"

"Yes sir." Replayed the Admiral. The two saluted, then the prince left the briefing room. Donaldson watched the door close, then reached up and tapped this comm link once.

"I need the location of 1st recon."

One day later....

"Hey! Twilight! Whatcha doin up there anyway!" Shouted Applejack. "You've been up there all day! What's the big deal about a meteor shower?"

"Well, first of all its unscheduled. It's not a normal shower. Second, it looked like it just appeared last night" replied Twilight from her balcony.

"This is a completely new phenomenon. It might mean something big! Like......umm.....aliens, or something." She said with a sheepish expression.

"Aliens? Really? Like from a comic book? Isn't that sort of Spikes thing?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds odd, but think about it! The first time a new event occurs! And I get to document it! isn't it exciting?" Asked Twilight.

"Well, I guess.........just be careful, ok? I don't want you to be disappointed if  it turns out this is some sorta mixup or somethin. Ok?"

"Fine. I have to return to my observations now. It's important I monitor every step of this process so I can document it correctly." Twi said, turning to look back into her telescope.

"Alright, I guess. See you Twilight!" Shouted Applejack as she trotted off.

Twilight looked at her friend go before looking back through her telescope.

Had she looked sooner, she might have seen a smaller dot detach from one of the 'meteors', and head towards the surface.

The gunships in the upper atmosphere...........

"So they found WHAT!" Shouted Specialist Jackson. "There are indigs (sentient indigenous life forms/population) on this mud hole? How did we not know about this until now! Don't they think this may be important?"

"Dammit Jackson, shut the hell up!" Shouted Sargent Bondarek. "Command didn't know about this because their tech level is to low. From what we could gather in the past few hours, they could be anywhere from the Stone Age to the advent of the nuke, and we won't know until we get there, so quit your bitching and load up! Our squad drew the short straw and we're goin in first to find a Forward Operating Base (FOB)! Lock and load, we drop in 5 minutes."

Jackson turned away from the main bay and went to the materializer in the rear of the bay. If they were gonna drop into another hellhole then he was gonna be prepared. Lets see, he thought. I bet that if this is anything like the last planet, it's gonna get real hairy real quick. Better grab an extra knife. Maybe a flame thrower would work to. Jackson quickly grabbed the extra knife and wrist mounted flamethrower, and made five cartridges of super condensed fuel. Each canister was rated for five minutes of continuous fire, but Jackson knew from experience that that wasn't much time in pitch combat.

As he did this, he examined his armor load out. It was pretty much standard for the first recon. Assault rifle, sensor beacon, and grenades were included in all of the squads load outs. But Jackson also had his S1W7 Black Widow. It had variable fire, burst or semi. He also had two demo packs, a flame thrower, and an extra knife.

"Really Jackson? A flamethrower? Do you have any idea what we're going up against?" Asked a shadow in the corner seat of the gunship's hold.

"Do you?" Retorted Jackson.

"No, but I bet it can't stop a 50 cal through it's skull." Replied the shadow, who leaned forward and revealed himself to be the team's sniper, Cpl. O'Neal. In addition to his standard load out, he had a MOR-94 hammer, a sniper rifle (for obvious reasons), and a rangefinder build into his armor, which could double as a laser designator in a pinch.

"What if it doesn't have a head? What if their, like, amorphous blobs! Yeah! That devour all they touch! And can't be burned! And are bullet proof! And that can melt through arm-"

"For the last time, shut up! Your scaring the women."

"Sarge, it's not his ranting that scares me, it's his pick up lines." Said 'Big' Barbra, the teams machine gunner, said around the lollipop that never seemed to leave her mouth. Her girlish freckles and long blond hair hid her love of violence. She had a modified R-KMG7A Ripsaw, a mortar, and a beacon launcher with three beacons.

"Or his smell!" Chimed a small, black haired woman. She was Raven, the squads engineer. She had a shotgun, a repair tool, and a custom hacking tool, which could convert any enemy turrets encountered.

"Or his- "

"Yeah, yeah, I get the hint. I'll be good." Said Jackson, glaring at the two women who shared the bay with him. He soon leaned back and smiled. "Y'all are just angry I'm the only one who try's to pick you up. Everyone else is to scared!"

The rest of the bay started laughing at the jib. Jackson's attempts to get a date were notorious as they were half hearted. It had been a running joke that whenever they dropped, Jackson would try to get a date with one of the girls. Needless to say, he failed every time. But the squad got a laugh from it and so Jackson did it to provide a moment of joy to his unit.

'Especially sense we could die today, like-'. He tore his train of thought away from that subject and laughed anyway.

"Alright you apes, the drop zone is in sight. Our goal, and the goal of the other two teams, is to find a suitable site for a FOB. Our area of operations is a heavily forested area by what appears to be a small town. We will start in a clearing towards the center of the zone and look for any threats in the area. We have twenty-four hours until we need to call in the base, or evac. Oohrah, jump troopers?"

"Oohrah!!" Came the five responses.

"Sixty seconds until drop zone one." Came the pilots voice over the intercom.

"Thirty seconds!" Jackson strapped into the seat.

"Fifteen seconds!" The seats in the bay for squad that was about to launch inverted 180 degrees backwards.

"Ten......nine.....eight......seven......six......five.........four.......three.....two.......one........launch"

The five members of  the 1st recon squad, 1st platoon, Easy company, 3rd Royal Guard Battalion, were launched at the planet at just below the speed of sound.

And Jackson smiled.