Across the Stars

Part 1

A.D. 2198 - 3rd of June. Location: Earth's Moon.

"This is it then?"

"Roger. Tactical insertion in 3 minutes."

The dropship flew at top speed towards the drop point. They had only seconds, a small window of time when they were close enough to the enemy base yet out of range of the antispacecraft cannons.

The commander looked back at his crew, 11 of the best Star Marines. "Get ready, 57th. This is not gonna be some bed of roses." He hit the button to open the drop hatches, and the Marines stood ready. "Our objective is to get inside this base, and compromise the Falkonian Supercarriers. Then, we sneak a ride to the surface, and go back in time, find those alien sons-of-guns, and blow them to kingdom come. Copy?"

Each marine answered, "Copy."

"All signs, report in."

"Noir Lime, standing by."

"Tango Mike, standing by."

"Foxtrot Niner, standing by."

"Nova Echo, standing by."

The marines continued, and after all of them had reported in, the commander called out, "Drop in ten seconds!"

In exactly ten seconds, every single marine leapt from the dropship, tumbling a thousand meters to the base below, as the antispacecraft cannons opened up. The fall was long - almost a kilometer - but they would survive the impact, if not the defense grid.

The commander opened a communication channel, but just as he was opening his mouth to speak, an antispacecraft cannon round connected with his torso and disintegrated all but his shattered helmet.

Other marines were knocked out of the lunar sky, one by one, as the cannons found their targets. Only three of the ill fated 57th made it to the roof of the base - and only two made it inside. The third collapsed. His armor's seal was ruptured, and he froze to death in the vacuum of the moon's surface. As he breathed his last, he pulled the pin from a grenade, letting it explode and kill him.

Many years earlier, the Falkoks had first arrived on the Earth's moon. They had set up a base, and shortly after, the Falkonian Ambassador had persuaded the Earthlings to open the portal to the Falkonian Homeworld. The result had been disaster: A Falkonian spy had changed the coordinates, and opened the portal to a hostile planet. The Usurpation Forces, allies of the Falkoks, had come through the immense gap in space, attacking Earth and destroying years of human history. On their own, the Falkoks were not a threat - but with the massive resources of the Usurpation at their disposal, Earth had little hope left. The 57th Star Marines, also known as "Correction Nine," had been armed with Falkonian weapons and technology, and deployed to reverse the process, and defeat not only the Falkoks, but also the Usurpation and the vicious Civil Security forces, who had taken control of Earth. Now, it seemed that all was lost. Their unit was all but destroyed - and the time machine they needed was on Earth, in a Civil Security base.

The two remaining Marines took stock of the situation. They were in a Falkonian base, thousands of miles from their final objective, and they had been separated by the insertion.

The first Marine, a Major named Guy Noir Lime, got up, dusted himself off, and hailed his squad. "This is Lime, calling anyone from the 57th. Repeat, anyone from the 57th, please report."

A Latvian accent responded. "This is callsign Nova Echo, repeat, this is Nova Echo. Status?"

Lime sighed. "Well, we're 'it.' Who's in charge?"