The shadow of the first line of fences and depots embrace us. I take one final glance back at the crowd. I find the small figures of my family still searching for me. Why didn’t I yell out when I could of? Just to hear their voice and see their reassuring stare one last time.
Heartbreak.
And this is a new type I’ve never met before, and the worse kind I am sure of now. I am leaving my family, my younger brother behind with no guarantee of coming back. The times him and I spent running around playing, building toys. Arguing and fighting. Rides I gave him in my car to the movies, and talking about the big stuff in life.
At the end of it all, I couldn’t even say goodbye.
He won’t see me again till I come home in a casket. Oh god, how many of us will come home dead? Julian? who is a father. Isaac? who is my best friend here.
An officer atop a crate directs the coming formations. We’re ordered right. My boots clunk against the metal ramp as we descend below ground through a tunnel. We enter a huge catacomb of underground rooms full of machinery and scaffoldings that lead to numerous carriers. We take one raised walkway to a carrier before us, a long torpedo shaped shuttle almost completely underground. Only its nose sticking out above land that we saw earlier as we approached.
At the hull door is an officer giving directions on how to board. “Climb the ladder till you see your color. You will be told your color as you walk pass. Also, the chairs rotate, meaning once we hit zero gravity they will reposition to face you parallel with the ship.”
I reach the door. “Part of Platoon L?” says the officer.
“Yes”
“Purple.”
The artificially lit corridor of the spacecraft swallows me as I climb the ladder to find my platoon and seat. I reach my level, leave the ladder, take my seat, and just like everyone else, remove the heavy laden equipment on our bodies. But our souls are still heavy. We place rifles into side seat holsters, and duffle bags in netting above our heads. Hundreds of seat straps buckle as the ship’s engines roar to life and shake the entire vessel.
“This is your Marshall Hannibal speaking.” Everyone hushes as the speaker system projecting his voice continues. “Today marks the making of history. I do not need to remind you of the devastation and loss of life in the Dolus System that is occurring as I speak. Already one planet, Gemina, has been completely destroyed, a total of twenty million people are dead on that lost planet to the Herculeans. And on Nova Terra, the relentless invasion has just begun where the Herculeans have laid siege to a new city, Jericho, the same time we depart to save them. This is the history of mankind coming together as one force…”
“Except China,” whispers Isaac.
“…as one race and species to fight the invading Herculeans. This is our great crusade across the galaxy like knights of old, where we will relieve the desperate people of Nova Terra from the enemy species, the alien Herculeans. This is the survival of humanity, the battle of the fittest. Let us pray that God wishes us on top. You are my brave warriors who have joined me on this journey…”
“Like I had a fucking choice,” says Isaac. I tell him to shut it.
“…Let our valor, our strength as mankind unite us. From the shores of California to the steppes of the Urals, we will prevail against a common enemy. The next five days of our hyperspace journey will be a time of anticipation, and a time that all of you will need to mentally prepare yourselves for what is to come. Earth, all of humanity from this star system to the next is immensely proud of you. They, and our future generations will view us as their heroes, their saviors. God bless America and the Party.”
The radiocast ends, and our necks slam against the seat cushions as the carrier takes off. My port window fills with white smoke, next blue. I lean over to try and see Earth. But already all of Parris Island is undistinguishable and quickly covered by clouds.
We break through the atmosphere, and marines desperately grab any loose equipment as we enter zero gravity. Next is a slight panic as our seats rotate to align with the shuttle, till we realize we were warned. Our shuttle shrinks as the launch rockets are released and we use thrusters alongside Earth’s gravity to reach our next destination. Out in the blackness away from Earth lies the mystic sight of the Arc station. A gigantic ring shaped platform that will launch the International Fleet into hyperspace. For a few moments I get the experience of seeing it through the port window of the carrier: a massive metal portal that will teleport me to my new life once we pass through its interior wrap slip.
I hear Julian talk about it across aisle. “The Arc station was created around five decades ago. It mimics a wormhole found at the end of a black hole, but instead of it being completely unpredictable where one would end up in the galaxy if traveling through one, this Arc will launch us on a faster than light course to a similar space portal in the Dolus system called Hope. The fastest way of traveling yet created.”
A yellow light beams on and off above us alongside a siren. “Docking. Docking,” says the Captain.
Our carrier comes upon a huge wire in space between two squares. As we get closer I realize the wire is a structure, the two squares independent space stations, the whole thing rotating slowly. The thin structure between the stations is a hallway with hundreds of docking bays along it, where the gigantic battleships of the Fleet reside. Our carrier nears one battleship, the Star Crusader, with the white bold abbreviations of United Nations International Military on the star side. Its massive shape looms over our carrier as we close in till we are side by side to it, where arms with claws reach out from the battleship to magnetically attach us for the loading sequence. Along the side of the battleship is a hanger that the arms bring us into. Once our hanger is stuffed with carriers, the outside space doors slide shut as oxygen is pumped into the hanger.
“Up and ready!” says Tarnus. We follow him into the hanger and through large traffic corridors to our new seating sections: crammed rows just like the carriers, but now by the dozens in order to fit the thousands of marines and soldiers the battleships will ferry.
“What does your helmet say?” says Vance to Isaac, as we sit down in our row.
“Fool’s Gold,” says Isaac.
“Why?” says Alex.
Isaac takes out his marker. “Do you wanna join or what?”
“Join?” says Vance.
“Yeah, Peter over here already has.” Isaac hands the marker to Vance and he adds it. Next it goes to Alex, Tommy does it too.
“So what does it mean?” says Ray, adding it as well his after watching us.
“Will we used to be the Golden Youth,” says Isaac.
“There it is,” says Vance.
“There it is,” we all mutter.
“Detaching” alerts the ship intercom. “Preparing for jump.” Our battleship tumbles about as the rotating wire shaped structure it is attached to spins quickly. Marines slam their faces into bags and puke as the rotations become faster, and then we are jerked about as we detach on a timed rotation into free space, and drift towards the Arc gate. The battleship rotates slowly as it repositions itself to be topside up with the others. I look out the side window panels at Earth as it swirls behind us while we reposition.
I am really leaving Earth.
It glistens behind as a giant marble of light blue colors and white pearly clouds that swathe the surface. This is what I am fighting for? It’s beautiful. But if the Herculeans can wipe out one planet so quickly, can we really stop them from reaching here?
Five days later, I still ask that question.
The Fleet has arrived in orbit of Nova Terra, and we waddle with our equipment through the hallways to board the Osprey carriers that will take us through the atmosphere, and onto the outskirts of the sieged city Jericho. We have rehearsed the invasion strategy multiple times on digital war game simulations during the journey.