Earth 2150 AD.... The galaxy is being explored to its limits. Since the
invention of traveling faster than the speed of light the only Human
colony we know as Earth has expanded to many. Now Humans have colonized
Mars and the Moon. They also have built a Space Station named Stardock
Alpha. Much bigger than any space station previously built, Stardock
Alpha has a bar, Weapon Outfitting shop, a Shipyard, Shops to buy and
sell commodity, Computers with Missions for people who will ship cargo
for money and living quarters for people who want to get lost in Space.
Humans wait until the planet of their dreams is discovered. Then they
plan to settle. They live peacefully like they don't have a care in the
World... Well the Universe that is. Until one day earth gets distressing
news:
"Admiral Sir!" Captain Joe saluted. Joe had been with the space program
for five years. He was six foot seven and had short brown hair. He was
thirty five.
"Yes, What is it Captain." Admiral Dickerson said.
"Admiral Dickerson" Joe started "Our outer planets are getting no
reading of life."
Dickerson thought for a moment."Send a Space Frigate to check things
out."
"Yes Sir!"
"Oh yes Joe, Please don't say sir to me anymore, it gets annoying" He
said as Joe left the room.
Dickerson had been serving the space program for ten years. He had been
appointed Admiral three years ago. He was about six foot five. He was
forty five years old, and he had gray hair.
A while later a Space Frigate took off from Stardock Alpha. A week later
a transmission came in. "All I have seen so far are a few pirates. I
whooped them. Do you think that's enough to drive people off planets?"
Dickerson said: "They are no match for our defense fleets."
"Roger Admiral, permission to jump to the Vega System"
"Permission granted" Dickerson replied.
"Radio you when I get there."
Three days later his voice came in again: "I am out of Lightspeed there
is nothing here. Wait...wait a minute....There are ships coming out of
Lightspeed, five of them. Their ships are so red it looks like blood is
painted on them. There are red balls locked on to me they are co...
BANG!
The ship shook from impact.
"Battle Stations!" yelled the captain .
"Missiles locked on, Sir" The weapon controller said.
"Fire!" the captain ordered "No effect?!" he said angrily after the
impact.
A laser shot at them from the aliens
"Shields to 50% sir." The Engineering officer said.
"Heavy rockets then! Fire! Little effect?" The captain said puzzled when
he saw the damage to the ship.
"10% shields" the Engineering officer said "5%...."
The Captain said: "Get this guy for me Dickerson, good by
Adm......."Silence.
Dickerson hung his head " Open a channel to any planets in the Vega
System... This is Admiral Dickerson, anyone please respond."
No response.
"Send a Cruiser. If he is attacked, tell him to get out of there and
come back here."
The Cruiser left. Two weeks later he came back very beat up.
"They have weapons like you won 't believe. Their ships are like blood
vessels in your arm. Cut off the circulation with your hand and the
blood stops, but if you release your hand the blood rushes to recover
the spot. That's why the missiles and heavy rockets didn't do any good
to the ship. We need at least one thousand ships to destroy them." The
captain reported when he was docked.
"Well then think logically. Instead of releasing the blood, keep it cut
off. Get all the ships you can and evacuate all the people to this
system. This will be our headquarters." Dickerson said.
"You heard the Admiral, get going." Joe said. Everyone left the room but
Dickerson and Joe. "What do we call ourselves?" Joe asked.
"Well, we will consolidate into one and be like the Federation in the
old television show, Star Trek. The name will be the Confederation."
Dickerson said.
Captain Joe snapped a big salute and said "Long live the Confederation!"
Steadily the Confederation's arsenal grew. Scientists made very strong
armor for ships. They called it tritanium. They put it on all Cruisers
and Frigates. They fit ships to be nothing but war machines. The
frigates were almost flat. The cruisers were the same except they had
landing and launching bays for small ships and vertical as well as
horizontal rear stabilizers. Their colors were red for the red alien
blood about to be shed. They also had blue circles on the wings for the
blue sky of Earth.
Dickerson promoted Joe to General.
"So General Joe" Dickerson said "How do you feel?"
The answer was plain and simple "I want to get out there and whoop some
aliens!"
"Join the club." Dickerson said.
A few hours later five thousand ships came.
"Perfect" Dickerson said. As all the ships came everyone cheered. With
so many ships they were bound to win.
"All right we need flight crew. Anyone who knows how to operate a
Frigate or Cruiser, report to the simulators as soon as you can. The
Confederation Space Navy pays fifty thousand credits per mission for
basic, uncomplicated objectives" Said Dickerson on Holo Vid (A high tech
TV System).
The crew rosters for most ships were filled. Positions were navigators,
weapon controllers, doctors and other small places on ships. Others were
pilots. When the aliens attacked a nearby planet, Dickerson said "Lets
move, there is no time to waste."
It was very complicated trying to shuttle five hundred thousand people
to their warships. It took twenty four hours.
Dickerson gave destinations and orders to ships "The cruisers do the
dirty work and frigates also if needed. Frigates will destroy any alien
civilizations on the planets. You will travel in groups of one hundred
at least.Good luck, good hunting and long live the Confederation!"
The Ships headed in different directions and jumped.
Dickerson and Joe stayed.
"Well that's it," Dickerson said, "Lets buy a Synthale." (A type of
drink)
That night neither of them could sleep.
The next morning they said to each other: "We need some action."
They went to the backup ships and asked to join. The manager said
"Sure."
Dickerson and Joe chose a cruiser and caught up to the rest. They
exchanged some crew and they were ready!
Battle after battle they fought the aliens which they called the
Vonians. The most famous battle was the battle for Tau Ceti. The battle
happened like this:
"We have a big one Joe" a scanner reported.
Joe went to Dickerson and said "There is a big Vonian Cruiser with three
fighters coming."
Dickerson said happily "Our first catch of the day! Battle stations,
fleet."
They all hid behind a planet and waited. The Vonian fleet didn't know
what hit them.
"Kill the fighters first with your missiles. Everyone target one fighter
at a time. Fire!" They destroyed the each fighter.
"Now for the cruiser," Dickerson said. "Heavy rockets ready, Fire!" The
heavy rockets all together made a big impact on the alien cruiser's
shields.
"He has fifty percent shields," the scanner reported.
"Proton cannons now. Fire!" Dickerson said "Frigates help them"
The frigates, eager to join, shot missiles and heavy rockets as the
cruisers shot proton cannons.
"He is losing!" Dickerson shouted. "Keep shooting!"
The scanner reported. "His shields are at Ten..... Five Percent... You
got him!"
Soon the cruiser was destroyed. The frigates went to check for Vonian
colonization in the system but didn't find any. They joined the cruisers
outside the atmosphere.
"Lets go home, crew" Dickerson said. A defender cruiser saw them on his
radar and called the president. He came to watch them land on Stardock
Alpha.
"We destroyed a cruiser!" Dickerson said over the cheers of citizens.
"Great job. You are the first one to come back. Captain Joe, come here
please.
Joe came up and saluted. "Yes sir" he said
"Lets go to the bar for a synthale, Dickerson, you and I. My treat." He
said.
Dickerson and Joe told the president what had happened. He nodded
approvingly.
Dickerson finished with "So we need reinforcements."
The President said: "We do have reinforcements but limited. This is all
I can do."
He took them to landing bay 4 in section 5.40.
"Here we have a well equipped frigate named The Reliant."
He walked into the next bay.
"We also have the cruiser Lexington, named after the aircraft carrier
that survived impossible odds. Too bad they dismantled it thirty six
years ago. Will this work?"
"Perfect" Dickerson replied.
Three days later they were ready to go.
"Thank you Sir" Dickerson said as he and Joe boarded the Lexington.
"No, thank you." the president said. "Without your advice on how to
destroy the Vonians we would be nowhere."
"Lets go" Joe said.
Whenever the newly equipped Lexington encountered any Confederates they
gave them the same advice on how to destroy the Vonians. They fought
many more battles and were better at each one. Then there seemed to be
fewer engagements with the Vonians. Some people didn't see them for
months. Then a year passed with no encounters.
Then one Day the president announced on the comlinks, "To all Ships: we
have decided to stop attacking. No alien ships have been seen for a year
and a half now and so, all ships are ordered to come home. Repeat: All
ships are ordered to come home."
"Too bad we don't have any champagne" Joe said to Dickerson.
"I bet they will have some waiting for us." Dickerson replied.
"Course bound for Earth" the navigator said. Dickerson and Joe looked at
each other and said at the same time "Engage!"
As Dickerson had predicted there were enough champagne bottles to fill
up the Sears Tower. Throughout all the battles the Lexington had
survived. It became a memorial on earth.
The 200,000 survivors became Veterans. The party for overcoming the odds
and destroying the Vonians lasted three weeks.
During the party, Dickerson and Joe became best friends.
Dickerson was now in charge of the space program and made a speech to
the public distributed on Holo Vid: "Those Vonians were tough to destroy
but we beat them. I am saying that because I am a Veteran of that great
war. We will now recolonize our planets and colonize new ones. All these
warships will not go to waste. They will escort large passenger carriers
that I call bulk freighters. We will be the superior power in the
galaxy. God put us here for a purpose. I believe this is the reason: To
kill the destructive aliens and teach the friendly aliens who we are. We
will have a great expansion!" The response was applause.
Many people bought tickets on colonization flights immediately.
They established ASTEX mining corporation on a newly discovered planet
with plentiful resources in the Antares system.
They also made a tourist resort on a planet in the Capella system. They
found many other planets. Half were colonized. The other half had
environments too hostile to live on.
Then a new species was discovered. They were defenseless and the
Confederation captured them and brought them to Dickerson. He was
surprised.
He walked toward them.
"A new species" he said "Where did you find them?"
"In the Satori system" their captors replied.
Joe was also in the room.
"They look like us in a way," he said.
Dickerson said "To keep them from destroying our planets the way the
Vonians did, let's enslave them."
"But Dickerson" Joe argued. "These are free people. If we enslave them-"
"No more Joe" Dickerson cut him off. "We are the superior power in the
galaxy aren't we?"
"We don't have to be," Joe said back.
"I said, no more Joe. You are relieved of duty." Dickerson finished.
Joe stormed out of the room, furious that Dickerson had relieved him.
"Who am I?" he thought "I am not just a paper to be taken, read and
thrown away!"... He stopped. He walked back into the room, threw his
badge at Dickerson and said "I quit." Then he went to his quarters.
He had a dream that night about a Big War, even bigger than the
Vonian-Confederation war, bitter slavery and a Vonian cruiser returning
to haunt him. When he woke up he knew what to do. He went on the next
shuttle to Stardock Alpha. He went to the Credit Union and closed his
account. Fifty Million credits came to him.
"I've been saving since I was ten!" he told the banker.
The banker stared at him.
"Its a ...joke...Get it?" He walked off.
He went to landing bay 6 in section 3.01. There was a cruiser there.
"Just my luck!" Joe said softly to himself.
He walked over to the manager.
"Excuse me" he said.
The manager slowly put down his Solar System Weekly, exposing his eyes.
He sat up smacking his gum "Can I help you?"
"I am General Joe," he said.
"Where's your badge?" the manager asked.
"Its right where its supposed to be" He said looking down at shirt.
"Wait its not....Oh dang, I left it in my quarters. That badge always
pokes me in the chest. I don't have any time to waste. I am on a secret
mission from Admiral Dickerson. I require a cruiser."
"I will have to clear that with the Admiral." the manager said still
chewing his gum.
"All right I will wait by the cruiser." Joe said.
He walked toward it. No guards were there. The guards were on a three
minute coffee break.
"Maybe I am lucky or God wants me to do this." He walked into the
Cruiser and started it up.
The manager had his back to the cruiser and was too busy listening to
the phone than what was happening.
Joe took off in the cruiser and put the ship in afterburner.
The manager was too late to lock on the tractor beam. "Someone is
stealing a cruiser! Stop him!" He yelled into the comlink.
Ten gunships took off and shot ten heavy rockets at him. Five hit the
cruiser's shields and the others aimlessly missed.The gunships shot ten
more rockets, but the cruiser went into Lightspeed before they could hit
it.
Joe went to Enyo Fuel Refinery. (A station exporting fuel from a
planet). He went to the bar and was about to order a drink when he saw
Holo Vid.
It said: "Wanted, this man identified as General Joe. A five hundred
thousand credits reward goes to the man who finds him."
Joe recognized the voice as Dickerson's.
"That traitor to me I called friend." he thought. He left the crowded
bar to go to the shipyard.
When he got there he said: "I will buy the Kestrel over there"to a
person about thirty five years old with a sad look on his face.
"All right" the stranger said.
He stuck the money in the credit register.
Joe pulled him by the shirt and whispered in his ear: "I will give you
one million credits if you take this ship to Tau Ceti 4 in the next
system. Make sure no one follows you. Done?"
"Okay....done" the stranger replied.
Joe walked out "I wonder if I can trust this guy. Oh well." He said. He
blasted off in his cruiser and went to Tau Ceti four. Then he waited.
Two days later, a black ship appeared followed by two patrol ships. A
distress call came from the black ship. Joe quickly got into his ship
and shot his proton cannon at the patrol ships. He destroyed them both.
The kestrel landed and the person from the shipyard came out! It was his
Kestrel!
"Reporting for delivery Sir!" he said
"Great" Joe said "Here is your money. I am here, protesting the
enslavement of alien people by the Confederation."
"What enslavement?" the stranger said
Joe told him the story.
"Bitter stuff, slavery. I want to work with you. My name is David," and
they shook hands.
"I need a wingman" Joe said.
"No problem" David said. "I can fly these ships." David was blond haired
about six foot four. He was thirty three.
"What are we waiting for?" Joe said.
They boarded the ships and left.
Joe and David rallied allies to fight the Confederation. Their Kestrel
became known as the Rebellious Space Ship G.I. Joe.
On the eve of the new year they moved all of their troops and supplies
to a planet called Palshife in the Satori system. They had six thousand
ships with them. They secretly made a base under a mountain.
One evening as David and Joe headed towards a bar they saw a gruff
person dragging two teens through an alley.
David thought: "There is something familiar about those kids." Before
you could say "Don't do it David" he took out his laser gun, aimed
quickly and shot the man who fell with a screech of pain. The two teens
got up.
"Lucas?..Davies?.."David said.
"Dad?" They said. They stared in disbelief at each other. They even
cried . They heard footsteps coming toward them. It was Joe.
"Are you insane!" he asked David "First you pull a gun on that guy then
you cry and... who are these boys?
David looked at Joe and said. "I was crying for joy! These boys are my
sons!"
Davies said: "We were captured five years ago and that pirate..."
Pointing to the person David had shot... "had made us prisoners until
you came along."
"Oh, I get it! Lets go to the bar for a family reunion, my treat!" Joe
said.
When they got there Joe asked David: "Could Lucas and Davies help us
with the rebellion?"
"Well they could but what if they get killed? It's become very dangerous
out there."David replied.
"Well, ask them and see what they say." Joe said. "We need them to help
boost the slave people's morale.
"I will ask them" David said.
Lucas and Davies were busy enjoying their synthales. Lucas was a blond
haired attractive eighteen year old. He was six foot one. He was also
one of the most wreckless drivers in the galaxy. Davies was a black
haired fifteen year old who was about as tall as Lucas. He was also very
courteous and very polite.
"Hey there boys," David said.
"Hey Dad," they said.
"Have you run into any Confederates people?" David asked.
"Of course," Davies said. "We got a parking ticket from an officer."
"Well," David said, "would you like some revenge?"
"Yeah!" Both Lucas and Davies said at the same time.
"Ok, here is the deal. You know about the Confederation enslavement and
deportation of the indigenous species on this planet?"
"That is cruel and hateful" Davies said "They are harmless and friendly.
I met one a few years ago. He said they were the Palshifians. I want to
work against the Confederation, be an admiral and even fight against
them."
"That's exactly what you are going to do" said David.
"Davies reporting at 2200 hours." Davies said from his cloaked Rebel
destroyer. "I am approaching Spica and there is a Confederation frigate
about to land. I am scanning his cargo. He has ten Palshifians on there.
Just like I said, that is cruel."
David was talking to him from a comlink on Palshife, "Well, Joe says
that you should get them off and bring them back here but I think that
is dangerous.
"Dangerous, smangerous"
"Davies I don't want you to get killed"
"I know but this is the right thing to do."
"Well, be careful. David out"
Davies thought about what his dad was saying. He would be careful.
He flew his destroyer close to the frigate. Then he sent a transmission
to the rebel ground patrol and told them the next message he gave them
would be the signal to destroy the frigate. He found the landing bay,
put on his breathing helmet, put his ship in auto land and uncloaked.
He jetpacked into the ship docking bay. The ship didn't detect him. He
carefully looked for any crewmembers. There were none at the moment. The
companionway door opened as he walked up to it. He looked over the side
and there was nobody. He looked at the map and he found that the cargo
hold was about one hundred yards from where he was.
He walked into a dressing room, took off his spacesuit and dressed in a
Confederation uniform. He walked a few more yards into the cargo hold.
He saw the Palshifians. They wore tattered rags and they were chained to
the wall.
He used a intergalactic lock buster he had found on the pirate who had
been shot by his father. He then broke their locks. He pointed toward
the door. They went out of the dark cargo hold and into the bright
companionway. He moved them into the escape pod and blasted away from
the ship. He maneuvered the escape pod a safe distance from the frigate,
and yelled into the comlink to the ground base. "Fire!"
"Where did all our slaves go?" The frigate captain wondered as he
patrolled the dark, unsanitary tomb of the cargo hold.
"Land on Spica anyway" his mission controller said after the captain was
back.
He flew close to the ground. Suddenly, shots from nowhere destroyed him
in seconds. The destruction was caused by an updated blue fire proton
cannon fired from the ground base hidden from view on Spica. The
atmosphere matched the color of the proton cannon exactly.
So started the Intergalactic Civil war.
Back on Palshife, things were going well. Lucas, with his computer
expertise made a linkup with the subspace network. He got the
transmission about the frigate being destroyed on Spica. He showed it to
his dad.
"Hmm..."he said. "Joe is the one you need to speak to about this."
When Lucas appeared with the printout, Joe was astonished.
"A frigate you say? Well it is time to put our ships to the test. If I
know Dickerson, he will send a Cruiser. If he is attacked, he will
leave. Send five Rebel Cruisers piloted by Palshifians. Davies will be
in command," Joe said.
"Yes, sir!" Lucas acknowledged.
A few hours later five Rebel Cruisers took off from Palshife. The
cruisers were shaped like clubs with the handle at the front of the
ship. The colors were black to partly camouflage them in space and red
for the color of the sun in the Satori System. It took the Cruisers a
week to get to Spica. They waited thirty minutes and a Confederation
Cruiser entered the system. The rebels deployed five fighters each,
almost simultaneously. The fighters were called Mantas.
The Captain of the Confederation Cruiser said, "I am being attacked by
triangular space fighters! Twenty five missiles are locked on to me!
They've hit the hull. My shields are down to fifty percent! I am out of
here! I am preparing to jump."
Five heavy rockets hit him.
"My hyperdrive has been breached! Oh shoot!"
The Rebels shot more missiles and heavy rockets.
"My shields are down to twenty five percent! They have our weapons
except...........are stronger than ours....." he said as five heavy
rockets
silenced him and his ship. That was a major Rebel victory.
The two sides fought for years on end. Twelve years passed. Millions of
people were dead or missing. The galaxy was a place of bloodshed and
fear. Davies was Admiral Davies now. Neither side could outsmart the
other.
Everyone had changed. Joe was the president of the rebels. David was a
good father to his sons who were adults now. Lucas got married to a
Palshifian and they had a son they named.....Joseph!
One day an unarmed Confederation Frigate entered Rebel space. He talked
to the Rebels and gave them a transmission from Admiral Dickerson. It
was for Joe's ears only. They took it to him and he listened to it.
It said: "Joe.....President Joe...I need you to listen to me. This is
Admiral Dickerson. The Confederation and I would like a truce between
our two people. We agree to release all our slaves. If you want to
negotiate further, meet me on Levo in the Levo system on July Fourth of
this year. Dickerson out."
Joe said to Admiral Davies: "Recall every ship to Palshife."
Davies disagreed "You still trust him, don't you" he said with an edge
on his voice.
Joe said: I trust him partly. That's why all our ships are coming."
July 4th 2185 In the Levo system....
"Jumping in to Levo.....Now" a hyperspace monitor said on the updated
Rebel Cruiser G.I Joe.
Joe had his hands behind his back, watching every ship for some sign of
a trick.
Soon blue-red ships came into focus. The Confederation had entered the
system. Two Kestrels transported Dickerson and Joe to the surface of
Levo. When they saw each other they shook hands and ended up hugging
each other. "Lets talk peace" Joe said.
When they got there they walked into a highly decorated room. They
talked and negotiated and came out with a solution.
They were going to withdraw their troops and join into one.Also they
were going to release the palshifians. They dismantled all their
warships and remantled them to be combined colors and better shapes.If a
second attack from the Vonians occurred the warships were there. They
also shared their technology. The Palshiferation was a peaceful
civilization.
Dickerson said to everyone: "The future is an open book."
Then Joe said: "and if we all take our place inside it, the future will
be filled with peace and prosperity."
The End
Or is it?