[b][u]Kausis System: Fairbank Mining Company[/u][/b]
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The workday is over, and miners pile into a mobile bar they had set up. The wealthy planter that sponsored this colony, Merryweather Fairbank, doesn't sponsor the bar. No, the miners pay for Dierks, the bartender who went on these mining expeditions, out of their own pockets. 

It's strange; looking from the inside, you wouldn't know they were miners, or that they were Gaian. Hell, you wouldn't even know that Terrans ever colonized outside of Earth, as the atmospheric bubble that surrounded many of the 'residential' asteroids allowed for them to walk into the bar without a suit. They laughed as Dierks, a former Ranger, brought them drinks, and a few grabbed guitars, fiddles, and other instruments. As Dierks went back to the bar the pour out some whiskey, while the miners sang a rousing and drunken 'Rose for Virginia', he looked out the window; Fairbank may not pay for a bar, but he does pay for a somewhat decent defence system-you need one on these far off expeditions to ward off whatever small pirate groups would try to harass the miners. Right now, Dierks stared at an ion cannon-the colony had about forty of these, all manned by Fairbank's private security. That's when he noticed a small dot in the distance-it soon turned to many. Ships. Xeno ships, by the looks of them. "Shit!" he exclaimed, and scurried for the bar, grabbing the laser rifle he kept underneath in case someone got too roudy. "Xenos! Everyone, get a gun!"

The rest of the bar all started shouting, worried, as the ran out of the bar to either their homes, or the supply shacks around the asteroids which usually had a few weapons in them. Due to the ambush, it was hard to be prepared, but some managed to get a spacesuit on. The ion cannons started firing, blasting down a number of the oncoming Dathu craft, but as they moved onwards, the miners prepared for a fight. Dierks saw a couple of boarding craft moving towards the asteroid his bar was on, and, knowing that a pitch battle outside would be a losing battle, yelled to the armed miners that still remained on his rock. "Everyone, behind the bar and shut up!"

His heart beat. He's known battle before. All rangers have. The skull and rank insignia tattooed on his arm proved it. He and about ten miners were crouched behind the bar, rifles in hand, waiting for a signal. He heard the bar doors creak open, and the foreign footsteps of a Xeno step inside. One of the miners moved his hand to his trigger, but Dierks looked at him, shaking his head. He waited a few more seconds, for more aliens to step into the building, before he shouted, "NOW!" The miners, all veterans, move up from the bar and begin firing a volley of energy blasts at the Dathu, cutting them down like the pests that they were. Dierks hopped over the bar, looking down at the corpses. They were disgusting creatures, unlike anything he'd fought in the army. He motions for the miners to move out, as they exit the building.

What Dierks came upon was far worse than he could've imagined. A whole fleet of these Xenos had enveloped the colony; the ion cannons on the edge they had come in on were destroyed, and about 24 of them remained. Meanwhile, miners and Dathu traded shots on the asteroids on which they had disembark. Other miners had gotten onto the plasma machines they used to blast holes in Asteroids and were using them as an improvised artillery. Some former pilots had gotten onto cargo and transport ships that had been outfitted with weapons and were trying in vain to fight back the horde, and some pilots who had gotten into cargo ships without weapons moved their ships to ram into the main Dathu warships, rather dying then awaiting whatever fate awaited them.

Dierks had seen his fair share of battles in his life, and knew this to be a losing one. The miners who had fought in the bar with him now went off to war, but he knew they were soon to die, and he went back into the bar to find his space suit, before jumping to a large nearby residential asteroid.

Dathu soldiers were blasting shots at a sealed door, and Dierks heard screaming behind it, and used the element of surprise to cut down the Xenos, going to knock on the door. "It's me, Dierks, open it!" A female voice behind it retorted, "Like Hell!" "Shit woman, do you want to fuckin live?" After a pause, the door unlocked, and Dierks looked inside to see a large group of women and children, who had huddled inside the house when the fighting stopped. He was also staring down a barrel of a shaking pistol.

He knew this woman-she was one of the only woman on the colony who was a miner herself, not just the wife of one. "Mary, put the gun down, it's okay." A tear rolled down her face as she hesitated, then dropped the weapon to her side. "Why ain't you fighting DIerks?" Dierks sighed. "I done enough of that...there a shuttle on this rock?" One of the other woman stepped forward. "Yeah, down below...but we can't leave our husbands!" Dierks turned around, moving towards where the shuttle was. "If they live, they'll find you."

As he and the survivors huddled into the shuttle, the AI booted up. "Emergency shuttle to Gaia, only to be used if absolutely necessary." Dierks looked up, rifle in hand, and shouted, "Shit, this seems a little necessary to me!"

"Affirmative. Are you aware that returning to Gaia if not necessary is a breach your contract with Mr. Fairbank, under page seventeen clause A6 paragraph 9?" Mary then stood up. "Fuck it, just go!"

"Affirmative." The emergency shuttle then blasted off. "Reaching warpspeed in 10...9...8...7..." As the shuttle moved out, a couple Dathu ships took after them, and the children started screaming. A plasma blast ripped one of the ships in half, as Dierks looked back to the chaos in the colony. The miners were putting up a good fight, but he knew it couldn't last for last. 

"3...2...1" At this, the ensuing chaos behind them went out of sight, and the survivors, and, as it would turn out, the only survivors of the battle, were safe.

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[b][u]James Montgomery Spaceport, right outside Bethleham, Gaia, Alpha Centauri System[/u][/b]
[img]http://coolvibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/space-city.jpg[/img]

Mutants loaded cargo of clothing and bibles onto the Eagle. [i]Of course, they're sending me in the Eagle,[/i] thought Cincinnatus, [i]What else would they send me in?[/i] Cincinnatus, of course, had been famous all over Terran space when he defended the Eagle against Xeno pirates for a full month. But with that fame came some losses...namely his left eye. As he watched the slaves load the ship, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Admiral Michaelson!" exclaimed President Parsons, his suit as sharp as the saber in Cincinnatus's belt. Cincinnatus turned to greet him, extending a hand. "Mr. President...for what do I owe the honor?" Shaking his hand, Parsons laughed, and said, "Why, just to see of my delegation to Earth! You will bring me back a bible, won't you?" The honored veteran nodded. "Of course, Mr. President," as he scoffed internally, or as his wife put it, 'rolled his missing eye'.

The pilgrims and other delegates that were also going to Earth turned around to see their president, all whispering to each other various remarks, some good, some not as good. Parsons, noticing the attention, chuckled, and put his arm around Cincinnatus's shoulder, leading him away from the crowd, then muttering, "Now, at this conference, don't get too chummy with the Xenos, okay?" Cincinnatus nodded. While Gaia has historically been extremely hostile towards non-human intelligent life, under the Parsons presidency, relations with the Aliens have started to cool a bit. Unfortunately, this has lowered Parsons's poll numbers a bit, and so, as talks continue, he doesn't want his delegation to seem to openly pro-Xeno.

Later, Cincinnatus was boarding the ship, and the pilgrims were saying their goodbyes to their loved ones, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see his wife, Virginia. "What, did you hope to leave without your goodbyes?" He chuckled, something he rarely did. "I thought we did that this morning!" She laughed, and hugged him tightly, leaving a kiss on his cheek. "Cincinnatus Michaelson, you never change." He smiled, and then looked behind her at his two sons, George, 25, and Jack, 18. George had recently graduated military school, and had become a lieutenant in the Marines, and was due to begin his tour of duty next month, while Jack was enrolling in a few months. Cincinnatus looked to George. "Now son, you take care of the farm while I'm gone, understand?" George saluted him, giving a stern, "Yes sir!" Cincinnatus then looked to Jack. "Jack...I'll see you." Jack nodded, not making eye contact, and Cincinnatus embarked the ship, and soon they were off, leaving for their neighbor.