Terra Forever

Chapter 1

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Ezra Carter woke with a start. He swore he was never going to get used to space travel, even with his extensive training at the Praetorian academy. A siren blared throughout his barracks area signaling for the men and women that it was time to relieve the night watch and get to stations.

Being fresh out of the academy, Carter moves like a well oiled machine. Drilled into him from day one, he slipped his boots on over his jumpsuit and activated them. The tungsten, carbon and steel alloy plate armor move into place at just above his knee caps. Then came the thigh, waist belt, chest plate, shoulder, and arm plates.

The final two pieces of the armor were the back plate, which positioned itself directly in line with Carter's spine, and the most interesting part in Carter's mind, the helmet. Once in place, the helmet buzzed to life, and the spinal section spliced itself into his main nervous system, allowing for direct sensory input from the suit.

All the plates magnetically sealed together at the joints, he was combat ready. One of the key tenants of being a Praetorian meant always being on guard. Threats could come from any direction, or from anyone. Even those you thought were allies.

Carter's bunk was the farthest from the exit as he was the Sergeant in command of this squad. His brother, Tatian Carter, directly across the walkway, was his assistant squad leader. He glanced over for a split moment and noticed he was keeping pace with him, as always.

In synchronization, Carter and his brother grabbed their Praetorian spear, slammed the butt against the ground, echoing through the compartment, and marched down the walkway in perfect military formation. As they passed each bunk, the respective Praetorian fell in line behind them, and the Squad marched into the hallway.

Their boots' echo seemed to never end in the corridors of the ship. Its crew cleared the way as soon as they were spotted as to avoid being trampled by the moving wall of armor plating. The squad moved through the ship on their way to the hanger bay of the ship to receive their new orders. Upon arrival to one of the ship's four hangers, Carter realized his squad was the first on deck.

Ceremoniously marching across the hanger deck to where the two cohort Officers stood. The squad halted at the strike of the plasma spears on the deck. One more strike, and the Squad faced the stage in unison.

It took just under two minutes for the other 10 squads to arrive and form up. At the strike of the last spear, the Cohort Officers, an Optio and Centurion, moved in unison to the edge of the stage.

"Praetorians!" bellowed the Centurion.

The entire Cohort struck the deck with their spears a single time in unison.

"I am Centurion Achillen, the Commander of this cohort. In a few moments, we will get underway to the Martian surface." He looked around the hanger deck, glaring at the 100 men in formation. "This is NOT a vacation... You will be given specific assignments per squad, and are to follow your orders to the letter. Some of you will be assigned to the palace as guardians of the Governor and his family. Others will be patrolling the capitols various sectors, and Legion 23's headquarters. Remember your training. It will serve you well on this world."

As if on cue, two Sparrow class combat shuttles landed on the opposite side of the hanger. Their troop transport ramps lowering and the Sparrow's crew filing out to perform checks on the spacecraft.

"Praetorians! Mount up!" Commanded the Centurion once more.

The Cohort split down the middle. 5 squads, 50 troops per Sparrow, marched up into the shuttle and took their seats. Each soldier strapping in and preparing for entry into the Martian atmosphere.

Carter and the other 5 squad leaders made their rounds of their respective squads, checking equipment and making sure each soldier was properly strapped in. He had always hated re-entry training at the academy.

All checks complete, the squad leaders and the crew chief marked ready on their consoles built into the seat. Carter heard the Pilot and co-pilot making final checks themselves and finally the radio traffic came through the troop compartment.

"Sparrow One to Aries Control. All checks complete. Awaiting flight plan and launch codes" stated the pilot.

The radio chirped and the flight control Officer on the other end came through. "Aries Control to Sparrow One and Sparrow Two. You are cleared for departure. Sending flight pattern to your ship's computer now, safe hunting."

"Copy that Aries. Sparrow flight designation is Delta Three Seven. Beginning launch sequence."

The shuttle's ramp closed behind the last crew member and the compartment lit up with a soft red glow from the emergency lighting. Carter would never get used to this part of the trip and was glad he wasn't tasked as a pilot in the academy. Imagining the void of space all around them. The only thing shielding them was two meters of armor plating on the sparrow.

The red lighting glinted off everyone's purplish hued armor in almost a devilish way. As tradition had it, the Praetorians never made small talk. Only when absolutely necessary was one allowed to speak. Their purple armor spoke enough for them. Everyone knew what they where there for. And everyone knew of the Praetorian reputation.

The suit sensors picked up on the engine spooling up to higher RPMs meaning they were finally getting ready to leave the hanger of the massive carrier ship. There was no kick or jolt as the pilot smoothly lifted from the deck and rotated the shuttle to the exit of the hanger. At least this pilot had some experience under his belt, Carter thought to himself. He wondered if the other Sparrow pilot was this good as well.

Hearing the electrical hum of the landing gears motors drawing the legs up into the hull and locking them in place, Carter checked his straps one more time. The Squad Sergeant sitting across from him nodded, giving Carter a bit of relief.

At that moment, the gravity plates kicked in to help with the force of acceleration and flight maneuvers. His armor seemed to anchor him in place. There was but a small pull on the troops as the combat shuttle accelerated through the door and out into the void of space.