Nations at War

Homeward Bound

A single vessel floated through the night sky. Various types of metal lined its surface. Occasionally, a light would blink on the surface of the craft. The vessel continued through the darkness without a sound.

Homeward Bound  had been built in the unification wars of another continent a few hundred years ago. It was a Veteran-class Orbital Assault Carrier, measuring only seventy blocks long. It still used liquid TNT as fuel, and required a full-scale launch stand to achieve orbit.

A small opening appeared in the lower hull of the Homeward Bound. An Orbital Drop Pod zoomed out and disappeared into Planet Minecraft.

*          *          *          *          *

It was nearly a week after the assault on Fort Cobblestone. Cleanup had almost finished and work was progressing at a slow but steady rate in Steve's hangar.

"How long do you think it will take the fleet to be finished?" asked Admiral Spark.

"Probably before next year, or maybe a bit after," replied Steve.

"Hold on. I'm getting a transmission."

"Greetings, Admiral Spark. This is Nivelia Thyome. I am coming in to land near your fortress. Don't worry, I have every intention of helping the republic. Thyome out."

An Orbital Drop pod slammed into the ground, sending fragments flying and rebel guards running for cover. Unfortunately, a descent from orbit had built up too much momentum. At a speed of more than a hundred blocks per second, the pod kept going through the ground.

It smashed through the long-buried roof of the hangar and into four zeppelins still under construction. Blocks which had never seen daylight for thousands of years gazed up into the sun.

A ramp rolled down from the drop pod and a figure stepped out. She was wearing a full set of iron armour and had an unfamiliar weapon across her back.

"Sorry about the mess, but next time, do try to make the floor harder."

*          *          *          *          *

"General, our attack has failed. The rebels were not only able to repel our assault, but their fort seems undamaged."

"What? You idiots! Why couldn't you smash a tiny loathsome rebel house with two thousand creepers, four thousand skeletons, ten thousand zombies and one thousand spider jockeys?"

The general paused for a second, before picking up his diamond sword. "How many rebels were killed?"

The sergeant looked uneasy. "Sir..."

"How many dead republicans were there?"

"Um..."

"Three... Two..."

"I don't know! None were documented!"

The general slowly turned to face his sergeant. "I did NOT spend thousands of gold blocks to hire MORONS to dig up dirt near the rebel fortress!"

"Sorry, sir, but maybe next time..."

"Die!"

All that was left of the raider sergeant was a pile of smouldering ashes.

*          *          *          *          *

"What? The Homeward Bound? I've never heard of such a ship. What's it like?"

Steve, Spark and Nivelia were sitting in Spark's office.

"The Homeward Bound  was a Terran Orbital Assault Carrier. It used to belong to Captain Nostrom before he was killed in the unification wars. His ship crashed on a remote island, and I found it. I repaired it with the help of my crew, and it's up in orbit."

Nivelia looked sad. "The Terran homeworld was under attack. Nostrom was the last hope. After that, the Terran Empire fell.

A technician burst into the room. "Great news! The Balkons Weapon Mod is now available! Come and get your stuff!"

Nivelia looked surprised. "You guys just got Balkons Weapon Mod? The Terran had it ages ago."

*          *          *          *          *

Steve pointed his new musket at a distant skeleton, almost invisible due to the heavy downpour. Nivelia had her own, brought from Terran civilisations.

Crack!

A bullet shot from Steve's musket and slammed into the skeleton, shattering it completely.

"Boom, headshot!"

All around, technicians and guards were testing their new weapons. Blowgun darts, crossbow bolts, javelins, blunderbuss bullets and cannonballs sailed through the air and into the hillside.

*          *          *          *          *

"Damn it! Why do we keep losing!"

In the rebel stronghold, a general was raging at the stone walls of the room. "How can the republic idiots get these weapons? WE don't even have them yet!"

His shouts were drowned out by the heavy barrage of musket fire which smashed through one of his nearby watchtowers.

The rebel attack on the raider mob training base had started.