Fire and Brimstone

In the Green hills village square and its landmark, a bell tower. The harvest of the day is being sold. Multiple stalls full of vegetables, fruits, grains and other farm products scatter the square. Like usual the square is full of people from other villages.

Electric tractors, hover trucks and titans from other villages and towns arriving to trade with the village. The local kids playing around awe at the old military mechs and eventually riding on one of the titans.

Emily's father is in one of the stalls selling homegrown vegetables and fruits. It was a small stall but it made up for its diverse products.

One of his customers, an old couple orders from him and wraps their order with newspaper. Giving their thanks to him after paying.

"Another happy customer." He says to himself, putting the money in a plastic bucket.

He looks around the square crowded square, still amazed how there are still this many people at this time of day.

Suddenly his digi tab vibrates from his pocket. He checks his digi tab and sees a text message with the sender named anonymous. The message isnt what he wanted to read. And he isnt the only person to receive the text.

He then dials a number. Calling Emily's mother back the house. Picking beries in the backyard, her phone rings and removes her gloves and answers.

"Hey hon." she says.

"Mira listen to me. I need yyou to start packing our bags. Emily's too."

"Jun what are you talking about?"

"Something wrong is going on."

•••

As classes end for the day, all the students head home to study for their finals, others head to hang out. Emily and her friends are walking by the shopping area just beside the large highways and walkways connecting to the otherside.

A shadow looms over them for a moment. A large airship passing by the shopping area, but it isnt any ordinary airship. It was a stinger class missile ship. It's unusual for people to see warships passing by the city but it happens. Its thrusters glowing brightly at the orange sky.

"You think they got lost?" Emily asks.

"Probably, last weekend a carrier had its navigation system damaged during a storm. Calhoun City was the nearest city with a shipyard so they stayed for repairs." Arthur explains.

"Atleast the children are amazed." Link says as young children are mesmerized by the warship as it dissapears in the orange afternoon sky, the tall buildings blocking its view.

Emily and the rest of her friends stops by a cafè to get some coffee. Paxy cant seem to choose. Something the two boys despise alot.

"Hmmmm. Old terran recaff or jet joe coffee?"

"Just pick old terran its got cream for free" Arthur says in a bored tone

"Let her choose, surely she'll pick jet joe" Link answers back.

"They're both my favorite alright! Now you guys just stay quiet and let me choose." Paxy yells to the two boys as she continues to struggle which to order. But the two boys keep annoying the green haired girl. The cashier feeling awkward with the three's quarels.

Emily drinks her coffee in the corner watching the three fight before seeing another shadow looms above them. Looking up, there are more airships in the city, all with markings of the federation army and airforce. Military Airships only come to Calhoun city during festivities and events. Even then only a limited number of them are allowed.

"Here's your Jet Joe miss."

Emily looks back at her friends, Paxy finally having ordered a coffee. The cashier sighing in relief.

"Told you she would order joe." Link boasts to Arthur as the three walk towards Emily.

"So we gonna go now or what?" Emily asks Paxy.

"Yup! lets go!" Paxy says with a genuine smile. The two boys glad she finally ordered something. Unlike the last time. Exiting the cafe more ships are seen entering. Now it was the Navy.

"I'll call Jenna and tell her were on our way to her place. She'll be so excited to see us!"

"By the way, does she still have the necklace Emily gave her? It'd be pretty bad if she lost it." Arthur asks

"You mean the earth pearl necklace I bought for her last year?" Emily clarifies.

"Mmhm." Arthur nods.

"Im not sure, I havent asked about it."

"We'll just ask her personally."

As Emily and her friends enter Calhoun central station, Army railers began arriving . Soldiers of the Calhoun army garrison disembarking the railers as it stopped. Tanks rolling off the car that carried them.

Emily and her friends didnt notice their arrival having already boarded a railer heading the opposite direction. With the doors closing, the railer departs.

•••

In the university. Proffesor Nod is reviewing his papers for the final exams in his computer while listening to the news feed at the ceiling mounted holo screen in the office.

"So working overtime again." Proffesor Zen enters the room with the door squeaking.

"Yeah." Nod answers stretching his arms high. "Once im done with this i gonna get a pizza and head home. I need to make sure they learned something. The harder the questions the better."

"And make sure they cant cheat?"

"Mmmhmm. How about you. Your exams almost finished?"

Proffesor Zen turns on his computer and turns the monitor to him.

"I already finished it last week." Proffesor Zen gleefuly replies.

"I still do not understand how you do that."

"Im pretty much an expert on organizing papers mathematically."

Proffesor Nod giggles then notices the screens go static. Other staff in the office notice the static screen. A bright light shining through their windows.

•••

Thw newsfeed focuses on the loss of contact of the Gremo mining colonies and Military forces now being sent to investigate for possible pirate attacks.

"Damn pirates." Arthur hisses as the news report continues throughout the train. While watching, Emily's phone rings. Its her mother calling.

"Hey guys I got a call, mind if head at the back for a sec?" Emily askz.

"Of course, were still ten stops away from Carter Town." Link aswers.

"Yeah it's still a long way to go, plus Jennas place is just beside your village." Paxy adds.

Smiling, Emily makes her way to the back of the railer car as to not disturb anyone but just as she left, the screens in the railer lost connection.

"Hey what happened?" A passenger blurts. The loss of connection somewhat odd, it only happens when the screens are being repaired, usually its just one screen that tends to be broken. All the screens has lost connection.

Emily then answers her phone. "Hey mom" Emily said.

"Emily thank goodnes you answered. Where are you right now?" Her mother asks in a worried voice. The connection being somewhat chappy.

"Were heading to Carter town, me and my friends heard Jenna's gonna have a party so were gonna give her a visit." Emily replies. Suddenly her father answers.

"WHAT!?! EMILY, YOU TO COME HOME RIGHT NOW!" Emily distances her phone from her ear due to her father's yell. Raising an eyebrow she puts her ear again in her ear.

"Dad. I...Wait." Emily now became confused. Her father is never this distressed before.

"Dad, what's going on? Did something bad happen to Mr. Mickey again?" Emily questions her father.

"Emily, come home quick were leaving Calhoun!" Her father answers, only for Emily to ask again.

"What? Why!?!"

"Something bad is happening, the nearby villages are packing and heading for the space port....." While her father is explaining, a little boy sees something in the sky and tells his mother.

Hearing the boy, she looks out the railer's window. It was everyone did not expect, not even in a thousand years. More people are also seeing the glow up in the clouds.

Paxy and the two boys look at the direction people are looking. The sky glows with a reddish orange color. Getting brighter and brighter. Burning objects and fireballs fall out of the clouds. Emily stares at the burning objects, ignoring her father's distressed voice calling out to her.

"Emily whats happening!?! Emily? EMILY!?!". The burning objects continues to fall until the view is blocked as the railer enters a tunnel. Everyone on board nears their faces to the window.

A bright white light flashes in the distance. Emily and the rest of the people shield their eyes from the blinding light. As the light fades she lowers her arms, and see's a shock wave coming towards them.

"EMILY!" Arthur calls for her.

It was too late. The shock wave collides with the railer.

It rocks the railer violently causing Emily and anyone standing to fall to the cold steel floor. The window glass shattering, sharp glass shards flying towards the passengers. Fortunately the railer is unfazed and continues on its journey.

Emily hits her head however and falls unconcious.

•••

The confederate ships, on the process of slowing down millions of kilometers away, fire torpedoes at the space stations and shipyards. Destroying and crippling multiple ships en route to Gremo.

The stations and ships fire back only to be intercepted by laser fire. Other confederate ships deploy their landers, the larger ships fire their railguns and missiles directly at the planet.

Radio chatter fills the comms as railgun slugs and missiles slam at the planets surface with devastating velocity. Cities, forrests, and small villages wiped out in a flash

Federation ships on the other side of the planet quickly undock to intercept the invading fleet.

One of the ships, a kilometer long cruiser with a triangular shaped hull fires its rcs thrusters, distancing itself from the station.

Its hull painted with a number forty five and its name. F.S.S Genghis khan. Reaching a safe distance its large engine cone glows blue and fires. Accelerating its way into the battle unfolding.

•••

Emily slowly begins to wake, her ears ringing and feels dizzy. Trying to stand she has difficulty maintaining her balance and grabs on a safety railing. The back of her head hurts. Something warm flows from the back of her head. Touching her head a red liquid is in her hand.

Her blood, her head is bleeding, she hit her head in a luggage compartment door. Her heart pounds at the sight of her own blood but snaps back to reality from the screaming.

The passenger section is a terrible sight. People wounded from the shattered glass. The little boy who was happy earlier cries from a glass shard sticking out from his right eye, his blood spewing like a leaking pipe with his mother trying to stop the boys bleeding.

Another person choking from his own blood, a glass shard stuck in his neck.

Her father still in the phone calls for Emily again and again. Emily picks her phone at the floor and see's her phone is intact, but the screen is cracked.

"Dad, what's happening? What the hell was that!?!"

"Emily listen to me, I need you and your friends to come to our village, the military is using the village square as an evac site".

"But dad!"

"Just-TzzZT....."

".....Dad?"

Emily's phone fill with sounds of static and her call lost connection. She calls back but shows her only with a no connection notification.

"Emily! Are you alright?" Arthur calls out to her. Looking at the passenger compartment. Arthur sees her and tenses up seeing the blood drip from Emily's head.

"Oh god your head is bleeding"

"Im fine, hows Link and Paxy?" Emily asks worried about the two.

"They're okay. Link got some glass on his shoulder but its no big deal, Paxy's patching him up." Arthur answers, helping Emily to get back to where they were sitting.

As everyone tries to help each other, more orange glows appear, sounds of explosions following after. The passengers watch in horror, more fireballs and burning objects fall from the sky.

Link can see turrets and parts of a space station, meant to intercept meteors and other threats like pirates. This isnt the pirates doing. Only military grade weapons are capable of doing that much damage. Paxy busy removing glass shards stuck in Link's left shoulder and healing his wounds with a medical kit she carry's in her bag.

"Alright that should do." Having finished patching up Link she looks at the burning debris entering the planet.

"Link. Tell me this isnt what I think is happening" Paxy asks with a trembling voice.

"It probably is" Link asnwers Paxy with a gloomy voice. Tightening his fist.

Arthur calls out to them with Emily in his arms. Seeing her bleeding Paxy rushes to help her.

"Emily! Are you alright!?!"

"Yeah Pax Im fine." Emily says to Paxy to calm her friend.

"Arthur let her sit here." Paxy directs Arthur to the chair they were sitting earlier and treats her wound. The railer nears Carter town station but instead of stopping it continues.

A man yells why they arent stopping before passing through a large cloud of smoke which answers his question. The whole town near the station is in flames. Large pieces of debris crashed dead center of the village, large flaming craters everywhere.

Passing the small town, the speakers rang and came to life.

"This is the conductor speaking to all passengers. I have been informed that Confederate Forces have made planetfall and are taking over major cities and shipyards. Planetary evacuation protocols are now in effect and military forces are now in the process of evacuating all villages. Greenhills village is our next and final stop. Any wounded will be tended to immediately. Pray we make it out alive". As the railer conductor ends his announcement a large formation of jets and gunships fly above the agri-fields. Their engines roaring loudly.

Landers and dropships enter the atmosphere, using burning debris as shields from ground fire. Emily and the rest of the passengers watch in fear and shock. The whole planet is now at war. Air raid sirens echo while the sounds of battle surround them almost everywhere.