Urbscaelum

[Mizagium]

Political Entities of Urbscaelum

The Federation of Earth and her Moon

The Dominion of Venus and the Asteroid Colonies

The Kingdom of Mars


Characters

Tauren Volt - Venusian native; resident of Roegon City

Freiden Graff - Venusian native; resident of Roegon City

Ryan Frost - Martian native; Prime Minister of Defense

[Myrdraxxis]

Commander Gearth Orren sat in the command chair of his Earth-pattern cruiser 'Vermont'. The ship was one of many in the Earth region's forces. All regions, Mars, Venus and the Colonies technically belonged to the Earth Federation, though at times, being so distanced it was easy to forget that humanity was still considered to act in a central government.

'And that has been growing strained as of late.' the commander mused. Relations between Venus and Earth were becoming strained as of late.

"Commander! We are entering the Venus sector outer perimeter." An ensign called from the deck below. Orren nodded.

"Take us in, son. Display ship ID for check point and keep heading at five-oh seven."

"Aye, sir."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Fenix base was a small outpost on the edge of Venus territory. While supposedly there WAS no 'divide between Earth and Venus, in the minds of all people, boundaries had begun to form. And that extended to Mars and the asteroid Colonies as well.

"Oi, Bent!" A voice snapped the station's director out of his thoughts. "We got a cruiser commin in."

Bent nodded and glanced down at his controls and displays. The command room, though it could hardly be called one, had about as much space as a walk-in closet. Needless to say many of the crew were....restless... "Where the hell is Marqe! He is supposed to be monitoring the incomming traffic!" Bento called out. A shout from down the hall answered back

"He was going to check the cargo bay. We got in some new equipment or somethin.."

Bento sighed and turned to the screen where the 'Vermont was approaching. "Whatever. Just proccess these guys through."

[Myrdraxxis]

Fenix station shook, causing Bent to lose his balance. "What the hell was that?" He shouted. There was no response, but muffled shouting signified that the station team was still there. Bent cursed and looked out the viewpoint. The 'Vermont' was almost past the station and into the atmosphere. Suddenly the ship jerked. Bent blinked in surprise as it turned and began heading BACK toward the station.

Bent hit the radio frequency. "'Vermont' this is Fenix station, verify clearance and destination." Bent said loudly. His only response was garbled static. "This is Fenix station, please respond!' Bent said, panic rising into his voice. The ship wasn't slowing, heading on a collision course for the station. "Vermont, respond!" Bent was standing now, quickly calculating how much distance was between the station and ship. Not enough to get to the escape pods....

Bent's eyes drifted down to the small picture of his wife and son...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Turn to starboard! Evasive maneuvers!" Orren cried, staring in horror as the station loomed closer.

"Systems not responding! We cant change the course, sir!" the ensign from before said desperately.

"Collision in five seconds!" Another crewman cried. Orran stared at the station, and cried out in horror...as the 'Vermont' and Fenix station were consumed in a fiery explosion.






This was what came to be known as the Bloody Cosmos incident. The ship and station were both destroyed with all hands, totaling up to four hundred deaths. From there, tensions between the Earth Federation and Venus escalated into full scale conflict, each blaming the other for the incident and future incidents. Four months of constant fighting have happened since, with no end in sight.....

[Mizagium]

Tauren Volt stared out the apartment window at the thick, yellowish clouds that rolled by. The 47th floor of the Paris skyscraper gave him a good view of the Venusian atmosphere, as well as the city below. IT spread out before him like a three dimensional map, allowing him to plan a travel route without consulting any digital device. Not that he would need to anyway. Growing up in the floating city of Urugwen gave him a sort of instinctive internal compass.

Something like that could be said for all of the cities native-born inhabitants, which accounted for ninety-five percent nowadays. Very few Terrestrial natives remained living. Those that were were usually either tourists, excited to visit a world where the gravity was very similar to home - the Martian low gravity had turned away potential space-tourists since the beginnings of terraforming - or company employees, transferred or relocated.

Tauren often wondered what it would be like to visit Earth, the home of all humanity. Not that he was particularly attached to it (he considered himself a true Venusian - but he believed one should at least visit the first home of humanity some time in their life, out of respect, if not curiosity.

"I'm going to Freiden's!" Tauren shouted back into the apartment as he gathered his pack.

"Okay, sweetie, be back by dinner."

"Alright mom!"

"And don't slam the - " The door slammed behind Tauren.

[Mizagium]

Despite being native born, Venusian cities were still something of a curiosity to Tauren. Every city had been planned from the beginning, making them each perfect grid patterns. A sheet of polarized glass at fifty feet up kept the Earth-like atmosphere separate from the Venusian. The atmosphere itself wasn't harmful, but the frequent acid rain was. Skyscrapers after the fifth story were obscured from view, creating a sense of pressure.

As though the sky could fall at any moment.

It was into one of these obscured skyscrapers that Tauren sprinted. Not losing momentum, he shouted a hasty greeting at the usual receptionist, and slammed hands-first into the elevator wall. The doors closed. He panted heavily, slumping to the floor as the lighted numbers clicked up.

When they opened, a tall sixteen-year old girl stood with her hands on her hips, scowling. "You're late." Her fiery red hair made her look fierce. Tauren was not impressed.

"I got here, eh?" He was still out of breath.

"Barely, it seems." Her dire look melted away and she sighed at her friend. He joined him on the elevator and pressed the button for ground floor. "Where are we off to this time?" she asked as the doors slid shut.

"It's a secret," Taurned grinned.

Freiden smacked him over the head.

[Mizagium]

Prime Minister of Defense Ryan Frost flicked off the satellite television showing a news broadcast, and faced the members of the Ministry of Defense. The room remained silent as everyone attempted to not be the first to speak. Each flicked their eyes nervously around at each other, chewing their lip or the end of a pen. Frost remained silent as well, but he was in charge, he HAD to speak first.

"Gentlemen," he began after a minute or so of uncomfortable silence. Everyone jumped in their seats at the abrupt break in the quiet. "It seems things have gotten worse. Earth and Venus are at each others throats - have been for months now. The current tension is thicker than the Terrestrial atmosphere, but it cannot stay. It will break, and blood will be spilled. Agreed?"

There was a murmur of agreement and a flurry of nodding heads, but not one word was spoken. Frost rolled his eyes and bit down on his next words, choosing a less offensive set, instead. "Oh, for Christ's sake people, say something! Anything, damn it! I can't be the only one to speak here, that's not what this ministry is for. Now someone man up and tell me how this ensuing conflict is going to affect our kingdom!"

Silence.

Fucking typical.

"Uh, sir?" A hand came up somewhere down the table. "If I may?" A young man stood up, nervous, and full of apprehension.

"Yes, lad, of course! What's your name?"

"Liol, sir. Liol Greenwyrd."

"Go ahead, Liol."

The young man flinched at being addressed by his first name. "Yes, sir. Ahem. If and when the Earth-Venus tension erupts into open violence, I fear Mars will be inevitably drawn into the conflict." All the other ministers lowered their heads at this admission. It was akin - in their eyes, at least - to talking treason. Frost was not so perturbed.

"And what makes you think that, son?" Frost was old even by modern standards, and had fallen into the habit of calling anyone under 45 "son". "We've built our entire foreign policy on staying OUT of interplanetary disputes. Why would be be drawn into the possible conflict?"

"Well, sir," Greenwyrd looked to his fellow ministers for support, only to be left struggling alone. "When the Vermont exploded at Fenix station four months ago, Venus and Earth both launched strikes against one another. Earth struck harder and faster. In the terms for peace, Earth took all of the factories of Mercury in exchange for not devastating the Venusian atmospheric cities. A threat which anything but empty.

"Venus was allowed to hold onto their claims to the asteroid mining corporations, but without the factories, they have no way of processing the raw material. Earth has maintained a monopoly on the Mercurian factories since then, but until now, it hadn't been a problem. But now the excess material is piling up, and the cities are beginning to run short of supplies..."

"And earth is the only supplier which can meet Venus's demands," Frost finished.

"Yes, sir."

"Venus will either have to deal with Earth, or try and retake their factories. Neither option will go particularly well for them."

"No, sir. Venus has always been rather prideful of it's independence from Earth, a status which has been effectively revoked with the occupation of Mercury by Federation forces. They recently agreed to process one shipment of material from the asteroids, at 400% the actual cost."

"Jesus!" Frost exclaimed. "That will put the cities even further in the shit than if they did nothing. Anything else?"

"A number of Venusian corporations and cities had condemned this action and demanded a reduction in cost. Earth has yet to even say no. It doesn't look good sir. Not for anybody."

"Especially for us," frost whispered, realizing. "Venus will turn to us for aid. And so will Earth. If we refuse, we condemn Venus, and make allies of the Federation. Not to steal the spotlight from the real conflict, but the God of War is in more trouble than the Goddess of Beauty."

"Sir," Greenwyrd agreed. "But for now, no one is looking to us. We are safe, for the moment."

All eyes turned to face Ryan Frost. No one breathed. Frost looked into each and every pair, seeing the true fear in all of them. "I will report this to His Majesty, Oscar II. He will give us further direction."

Frost stood with Greenwyrd, and the other ministers scrambled to join him. He made a right angle with his arm and placed a fist of his heart; the others returned the salute. "Glory to the throne of Mars."

"Glory."

[Myrdraxxis]

Kenn Deverin saluted another soldier as he passed through the ship's hallways. The 'Evermore' was bustling with soldiers these days, though Kenn himself had only been asigned to the ship a month ago. He tugged at the collar of his uniform, which displayed his rank as Ensign first class. He was fresh out of the Venus military academy, just like most of the other crewmen of thie Evermore.

Since the escalated tensions between Venus and Earth, the military academies were filling up rather quickly.

"Hey, Kenn!" A voice to his left made the pilot stop. Another soldier strode up and grinned. "How ya been, man?"

Kenn smiled back. "Miguel, it's been a while."

"Sure has, haven't seen you since the Academy. What are the odds we'd both be on the same ship?"

The two ensigns strode through the ship, catching up and talking easily. Kenn turned toward a side door. "Well this is my room. I'd better tuck in for the night." Miguel nodded.

"Sure, I get it. Tell you what, how 'bout we head down to the cafeteria later. I hear Ol' Gerald was transfered here too."

Kenn smiled and waved goodbye to his friend.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Earth Federation ship silently hovered in the shadows of Venus' orbit. The stealth field technology, fresh off the assembly line, appeared to be working, for they had been able to sneack past defenses easily.

Captain Murr stared down at the distant city, hovering above Venus' surface and sneered. "Stupid spacers." he muttered. "Lets teach them to think they were safe here."


"All hands to level one battle stations! Launch fighters and bring weapons to bear at coordinates B-051/Bravo 56! Prepare for battle!"

Murr grinned.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The peace of he Venus city was shattered as a hellstorm of fire rained down. Buildings exploded into fire as citizens ran around screaming in panic.

Federation fighters swarmed down, dropping payloads of missiles down onto the city.




Kenn staggered out of his room as the warning klaxons blared around him. "An attack? Here?" he asked out loud.

"All pilots and soldiers to your stations! Sensors show Federation ground troops moving into the city. Launch battlesuits to engage!"

Kenn swore and ran for the hanger, passing scrambling soldiers as he went. When he entered the hanger he quickly ran to his battlesuit and boarded. He was part of Battlegroup Foxx, their division colors displayed proudly on their suits as Black and silver.

"All units report in!" A voice sounded on the team comm as Kenn slipped into the cockpit.

"Tango 1, check." a voice sounded.

"Tango 2, check."

"Tango 3, check." Kenn recognized Miguel's voice.

"Tango 4 check."

"Tango 5 check"

"Tanfo 6, check" Kenn said.

"Alright boys, lock and load." Tango leader yelled. The hanger doors opened, and Kenn felt a jolt as his suit was released from the holding clamps. His fingers danced across the keyboard in front of him as he began start-up procedures. The display in front of his winked to life and Kenn instantly sw the chaos around him as the suits fell into the city.

TangoTeam dispersed into smaller teams,scattering out. Tango 4 and Tango 3, Miguel, landed on either side of Kenn.

"Runnign weapons check." Tango 4 reported over the comm. "All weapons green. Phase sabers and shoulder guns free. Rifles safety cache is off."

"Lets go, Kenn!" Miguel yelled. The three suites began dashing through the streets, passing through the destruction al around them.

[Mizagium]

(lolololol VENUS DOESN'T HAVE A MOON lolololol

Is this the city where Tauren and Freiden are?)

Sirens blared as the first missile impacted the city's atmospheric shield, a thick layer of ceramic glass that enclosed everything below fifty feet, and protected it from the acid rain. Seconds after the warnings came online, the shield shattered. It wasn't made to defend a city from an attack, though there had been talks of research in the field. Large chunks of material fell on the city, furthering the damage being done by the incoming missiles.

Civilians panicked and ran for cover, only to be pushed aside and trampled on by their neighbors. Many more were killed by the falling shield than the actual barrage. Then the towers started toppling, taking with them everyone who remained inside.

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY! We are under attack by Federation forces! I repeat: WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!"

"Rodger that. Air support incoming."

The air-carrier Vulcan detached from it's berth at the Hermes Military base.

"ALL HANDS TO STATIONS. PREPARE FOR COMBAT ETA: 4 MINUTES."

Harken Io followed the crowd of Air Force soldiers down the halls of the Vulcan to hanger T-84. From there the group split up into their squads, and then into individuals. The G-067 fighters waited like birds of prey anticipating the hunt. Affectionately nicknamed "Harpies" by the pilots, they were versatile fighter craft built for atmospheric and low orbit combat. Io clamored up the ladder into the cockpit.

"Finally some action, eh?" Roland Versai, a fellow squad mate, called over the sound of engines warming up.

"One of our cities was attacked, Roland. I don't think that's anything to be excited about." Io silently went over the pre-flight checklist, not bothering to hide his disapproval.

"Yeah, I know. But now we have an excuse to kick come Federation ass!"

Whatever reply Harken had prepared was cut short by the hatches sliding shut. A display flickered to life on the inside of the cockpit. His hands found the familiar controls, testing their give and pull. A fierce grin crossed his face. This was his home.

"ALL FIGHTERS PREPARE FOR LAUNCH!"

Io tightened his restraints and fitted his face mask that supplied oxygen. The hanger doors opened on his screen, revealing a swarm of Federation fighters bombarding the Venusian city, a sight that made his blood boil.

"LAUNCH!" Io jerked back in his seat as the Harpy fighter lurched out of the Vulcan and dropped into he atmosphere. The autolaunch disengaged, putting him in full control. Immediately, his eyes locked onto a potential target. His computer followed a second later. He twisted the throttle and banked the craft a hard right, and stabilized right behind the Federation craft. Without giving his enemy time to react, Harken flipped up a lever and pushed the trigger. A single missile ignited and shot forward. Harken pulled away as the enemy craft's tail end exploded, and ripped the fuselage apart. The emergency bailout program had no time to protect its pilot.

"Nice shot!" Roland called over the radio. Harken said nothing but smiled inwardly. No one messes with my planet.

[Myrdraxxis]

Kenn fired his rifle into the skies, blowing down another transport. The Feddies were starting to send down shuttles with ground troops. Ten had already touched down and it was slowly becoming a losing battle for the defense force.

"How the hell are they winning?" Tango 2 roared over the comm. "We are ON fucking Venus! How can they beat us on our own turf!"


Better military, Kenn thought. The Federation had always had a more structured fighting force, whereas Venus was more technologically advanced.

"Ground forces spotted at Bravo sixty-two! Tango Team B move to engage!"

Kenn nodded and piloted his suit down the street, Miguel and Tango 4 close behind. Miguel had his shoulder-mounted chain-gun trained on the sky. "Getting some heavy action up there." he muttered. "How many Feddie ships did they find?"

"Unconfirmed" Kenn said. He halted a few feet at the corner of a large high-rise. Cautiously his battle-suit inched forward...and jumped back as the wall exploded in a shower of debris. "Damn it. Heavy emplacements and tanks already in place." he said.

"Tango 4, jump pack to the roof, try and site for us. Miguel, radio for air support."

"Roger." two voices said over the comm. Miguel flipped a switch in his cockpit.

"Air control this is Mobile Armor 801st, requesting air support at target location. Set for sighted targets, over."