The New Hope:The Phoenix Rises

The Phoenix Stirs

"Now that we're alone with the Officer Cadres of our respective units," Major Kelly began, scratching his cheek, "I'm sure most of you have a great deal of questions," and his eyes locked onto Tibbets most of all. He saw the curiosity with which the man stared at them all, the advanced Science-Fiction Soldiers of the future. He told them, "I'm gonna preface this by saying that they'll all hopefully be answered."

Tibbets raised his hand like they were at school and the Major gave a nod to him. The young 101st Airborne Lieutenant asked them, "Not to sound ungrateful, major, but you're god-damned right most of us have questions. Cuz people don't just drop from the sky in stuff capable of breaking atmosphere, come say 'hi' and 'we're your friends now' without some sort of... I don't fucking know..."

"I understand, Lieutenant. And I appreciate the healthy dose of skepticism," He nodded, "I summoned you all here for the specific reason of relaying how we got here with permission from both President Nixon and the commanding officer aboard our ship, the Spirit of Fire . Captain Cutter wanted this reveal done a little earlier, but fear of the Nazi rat bastards having spies in the US made First Contact one hell of a private affair."

"That's putting it mildly," Fischer said, letting his CAR hang by the strap as he gesticulated during his speech, "To put it into perspective, people, the CIA was only told about this about a month after they landed in Area 51. They were present for much longer than that up above..." and he pointed at the ceiling in a metaphorical way of showing the skies.

A few murmurs between the officers echoed, but Tibbets remained vocal, stating, "Ship. You guys say you're from space and now you're mentioning Navy stuff. Which is it?"

"The UNSC has multiple branches, lieutenant, as it was heavily modeled after the United States. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines ," The major grinned as he and his troops called out, "Oorah!" with some degree of pride. The 1st Marines Division officers cheered in kind, wide grins on their faces. He then continued, "The UNSC Spirit of Fire is a support vessel, akin to the amphibious assault ships of modern times. She's still armed like a fucking Cruiser, though."

"And you guys aren't bombing the Nazis from orbit?" Tibbets snorted, "Seems kinda hard to believe..."

"We would've," Jeon spoke next, "Risk of civilian casualties and escalation to nuclear warfare is too high at the moment. Until we manage to help the Organization of Free Nations research a potent enough anti-nuclear defense net, our operations will remain small-scale, such as supporting combat here in the South African region. And fucking with the Nazis' Civil War, obviously."

A few laughs echoed amidst the ranks of both sides, with Aletta, who'd now joined them, smiling.

"Nukes get in the way again," Voiced Haverson, sighing, "Can't have a good ol' war with them around anymore," and he smirked as a few of the boys around them laughed. He told them, "Mutually Assured Destruction is a fucking pain. The Nazis would've been floored without the Nukes the moment we recovered from that blow to the back of the head that was Hawaii."

"That is exactly the reason the UNSC has decided to help," Major Kelly nodded, "We hate the rat fuckers as much as you do, for different reasons. Ancestral even," and he took a pause to think. He asked, "If we may proceed with the briefing, ladies and gentlemen," only to wait for Tibbets to butt in again.

The man stayed quiet, much to the major's surprise. It seemed as though his interest was finally piqued, considering the situation unfolding around them was a combination of dream and a sort of nightmare. It was the Sword of Damocles, hanging above Civilization, but also their possible safety net, the saviors of mankind, a brother from beyond...