[b]OCTOBER 16, 2846
2230 Hours (SYSTEM CLOCK)[/b]

The UEGNC [i]Interloper[/i] cruised through the black and blue void of a RIFT tunnel. The Relative Interdimensional Field Transit, or RIFT, is humanity's solution to the limitations of sublight travel. It worked by basically tunnelling through time and space, and, reality itself to an extent, to get from one point of space to another at hundreds of times the speed of light. Some would have said that it was impossible, and perhaps it was to a scientist before the year 2238, the year the RIFT was discovered. Using this, humanity entered a new golden age and spread to the stars before beginning to rapidly colonise planet after planet like our ancestors did when they began to explore the boundaries of Earth. 

Of course, this also lead to a new age of piracy. Space pirates raided shipping lanes and attacked the trading outposts of colonies located far away from Earth, and they began to be feared everywhere. That is, of course, until the Earth government stepped in and formed the United Earth Government Naval Command as a testament of Earth's military might and security force. They struck back, and space pirates began to be much less common. Years later, after some disagreements with several outlying colonies for independence, another war broke out, eventually turning into a fully fledged conflict that had been going on for more than two centuries. 

Then the Vaskrans attacked, and even more shit hit the fan. The empire of sapient lizard-like aliens suddenly dropped out of their own method of FTL travel, and attacked the colony world Cascade. Though they were repelled after a few weeks by the local UEGNC forces, it was just the tip of the iceberg. More Vaskran forces arrived and sparked a full-blown war between humanity and the Vaskrans. They attacked colony after colony and won battle after battle, and the UEGNC found itself slowly being pushed back. 

Three years. Three long and hard years since the start of the war. Millions of lives had already been lost, not to mention the dozens of colonies that had been attacked and occupied by the aliens. The UEGNC rushed to counterattack, but even with all the machine and might of the UEGNC, humanity was still getting pushed back. Thousands of marine divisions and units were rapidly deployed and redeployed to face the enemy, as were hundreds of thousands of ships.

The 217th Marine General Combat Infantry Battalion was one such unit, a battalion of around a thousand strong, supported by dozens of aircraft and armoured vehicles. They were assigned to the UEGNC [i]Interloper,[/i] a [url=http://www.3dartistonline.com/users/96/thm1024/frigatetex_2.jpg][i]Colorado[/i]-class heavy frigate[/url], The ship itself was one of the most well-armed and armoured class of frigates. It measured at just under 581 metres long, and is 121 metres tall and 213 metres wide. It was plated with roughly 85 centimetres of nanocomposite duratanium battleplating, and it was equipped with frigate-grade GeneRated Intelligent Defence (GRID) energy shielding. It boasted a large variety of powerful weapons that ranged from energy to projectile weapons, with its most powerful weapon being its main spinal particle cannon. Powered by a single antimatter reactor, along with a pair of auxiliary plasma reactors, it could remain active for years. With its eight repulsor thruster units, it could cruise through realspace at thousands of kilometres per second, and boasted high manoeuvrability. 

All in all, it made it a force to be reckoned with.

In one of its well-lit corridors, Private Samantha Ashley strode through dressed in a simple tanktop and pants. Several other marines and crew occasionally walked by, each one taking the time to admire her rather shapely body and impressive hair, but were quickly turned away by the angry look she gave them. It was rather late at night, or at least according to the ship's system clock, and almost everyone else had decided to turn in. The 217th had just come from an engagement on the colony world of Asgard, ending in a victory for the UEGNC. Ash paused for a minute and stretched, before yawning. That done, she continued until she eventually reached a door marked 'D-312'. She tapped its controls next to it, and it slid open with a soft hiss. Her bunk wasn't that big; just a bunk bed, desk, and small closet. Small, but comfy enough. 

"Oh, hey Ash." Her bunkmate greeted. Ethan Graves was one of the few guys who hadn't immediately asked her out, and responded with complete indifference when he found out he was going to be her bunkmate. Other guys would've probably gotten some... [i]ideas.[/i] "How're you feeling?"

Ash looked down at her bandaged torso. She had been hit by a Vaskran energy bolt several hours ago, which had been a lucky shot and pierced through the carbon nanotube layer of her bodysuit under her powered armour. "Pretty fuckin' terrible. Nothing BioHeal couldn't fix, though." She responded, giving him a grin. 

Graves chuckled at that and lay down on his bunk. "Well, that's good to know. Come on, just climb up and switch off the lights. I want to sleep." 

The redhead snorted. "Yeah, yeah. Lemme just sort out some of my shit." She stalked over to her cupboard and sifted through her belongings, before something caught her eye. It looked like some kind of jewel. She didn't remember picking that up. Then again, that box contained random pieces of junk collected from numerous battles. "What the..." Ash reached to pick it up, but as soon as her fingers came into contact with its surfacem she immediately felt a jolt of pain, almost like a someone had dropped a stun grenade right next to her. "Ow! Fuck!" She cried.

"What?" Graves asked hastily sitting up and hitting his head on the bottom of the top bunk in the process. "Ow!"

Ash immediately burst out laughing, the pain suddenly gone. "Nothing, nothing. Just go back to sleep."

Graves rubbed his head. "I wasn't even sleeping." He groaned, before lying back down and turning."

"Whatever, dipshit." Ash replied, letting out a sigh before she climbed into her bunk and fell asleep.