Outsystem: A Military Science Fiction Space Opera Epic

PROLOGUE

STELLAR DATE: 3226929 / 12.07.4122 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Edge of the Grey Sea, Pluto
REGION: Jovian Combine, Sol Space Federation

A young sapling exploded beside Tanis and she dove for cover, scampering away as splinters flew in every direction. She slipped into a depression, flattening herself as much as possible, hoping it was enough to stay out of sight. Another shot hit a rock nearby and liquid fragments of stone rained down; beading off her armor.

<Does anyone have a location on that shooter?> Tanis sent the question over the Link.

Both Sorensen and Reynolds signaled negative.

Angela was covering tactical co-ordination and placed several pointers on the team member's HUDs.

<It could be any of these. The plasma bolts are firing at over ten kilometers per second and they have their muzzle flash masked.>

<Sorensen, get behind that knoll to your left. See if you can deploy nanoprobes to get Angela triangulation data,> Tanis directed.

<Aye, sir.>

<Reynolds, hold the center, I'm going right into that streambed.>

Several more shots impacted the ground around the team's position. Reynolds slipped his rifle up over his cover and fired two electron beams before pulling back and rolling to a new location. He continued to draw as much attention as possible while Tanis and Sorensen worked toward their new positions.

Tanis made it to the streambed without drawing any fire and her retinal HUD indicated Sorensen was in position and had deployed his nanoprobes.

<Better view?> Tanis asked Angela.

<Resolving...I just need a few more incoming beams to triangulate their source.>

The enemy obliged, returning fire at Reynolds' previous location.

<Got em!> Angela highlighted a position on each team member's HUD and Tanis set a countdown. The soldiers set their rifles to a magnetic proton beam and when the timer hit zero, they all fired on the enemy position.

There was a moment of silence, the rippling of the water flowing past her body seemed to grow in volume; then the desired explosion flared up and streams of plasma sprayed in every direction. Tanis's visor darkened to shield her eyes and when the tint faded she saw a hundred-meter swath of young forest on fire.

<You sure do know how to shake things up, Major.> Sorensen's rasp sounded in her mind.

<All other teams have made their objectives,> Angela said. <The main strike force is on its way in.>

Tanis rose out of the water, unlocked her helmet and tucked it under her arm. Above her the roar of orbital drop craft and the accompanying streams of fire turned the night sky into a spectacular show—arcs of color and plasma painted across the backdrop of Jupiter's dark bands.

It had been some time since she had been in a primary assault force, the last five years had been filled with out of the way assignments such as this one.

Strangely, the familiar yearning to be in on the larger action just wasn't there. For that matter, the exultation she should have been feeling in securing her target wasn't there either

<You're just anxious for the GSS's response.> Angela sounded a bit nervous as well.

Tanis and Angela had been paired for nearly a decade. In that time the embedded AI had become closer than a sister or a best friend; it was almost as though Angela was simply another side to her. Tanis knew that wasn't entirely true—the AI residing in her head was a distinct individual, even though at times it didn't feel that way.

<And you've never been vetted this thoroughly before.> Tanis slipped a smirk into her mental tone, then felt momentarily guilty. <But you'll do fine. You're not the one with the soiled record.>

<That doesn't matter. The GSS will have access to the truth. They'll know you aren't the monster the media made you out to be.>

<Let's hope so.>

Tanis met up with Sorensen and Reynolds several minutes later. Sorensen was covered in mud and Reynolds was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"You shoulda seen it, Major. He came striding up, all cocky as shit and then caught his boot on this tiny twig—couldna been bigger than my pinky. Gun goes flyin', arms are wavin' and the big man just topples over like a felled tree."

Sorensen wasn't smiling. "God damn planet. Why'd they have to make it rain so much here? Place is an effing mudball."

Reynolds slapped him on the back. "That's progress, lad. Besides, you know the Jovians, once they got a few worlds orbit'n Jupiter they just had to try'n collect the whole set!"

"What does that have to do with how much it rains?" Sorensen grunted and Reynolds merely shrugged his response.

Tanis smiled at the two men and drew some comfort from their camaraderie as the team walked back to the pickup point. It was bittersweet though, after the massacre on Toro she never felt like the enlisted troops looked at her quite the same way. It sapped some of the satisfaction from moments like this.

Later after her team had arrived at the TSF's northern continent HQ, she passed her electronic authentication tokens to the TSS Midway orbiting above and checked her personal messages over the Link.

There it was; the message from the GSS. She stared at the glowing icon for several minutes before finally mustering the courage to open it. She could feel Angela in the back of her mind, as intent on the contents as Tanis.

Major Tanis Richards

References and qualifications accepted. Final, in-person interview scheduled for 3227134.75000 (local time) Enfield Building, Jerhattan, Earth.

GSS Colony Operations

"This is it, Angela." Tanis kept her voice soft, afraid that the emotion in it would be picked up by some officers nearby. "We finally made it."