The Guardians of Sol

by Spencer Kettenring

  Tenkenhito finished his speech. It was Telamon's turn. He thanked the Assembly for placing their faith in him the last few months. He announced his intention to retire once Tenkenhito was more familiar with his resources and responsibilities. It was far past time that he paid more attention to his family and familial concerns. He threw in a half-serious joke about buying Alkaios Industries products. Many of the representatives were kind enough to laugh. He had full faith in Tenkenhito's abilities and the future of the Confederacy, the Guardian Corps, and the Sol system as a whole. Telamon's focus through it all was on Delilah in the front row, and her supportive smile.

  Epilogue 2

  July 7, 2290. The Forge.

  Rachel laid back and tried to relax as the nurses attached sensors to her body. Sarah Castle gave her hand a supportive squeeze. That hand was sporting a new diamond ring in an important place. James had proposed during the Thundermakers' R and R in Von Braun City. The two didn't have a date yet, but both had made it clear to Rachel that they wanted her to be there.

  "Rhys would have been ridiculously excited to be here. He didn't talk about it much, but I know how much he wanted to have a family," Sarah reassured her sister-in-law.

  "I know," Rachel replied with just the smallest tremble in her voice. "I also know that he didn't want those children to be orphans."

  "Hey, the baby will still have you. And the fighter corps is getting a ton of new recruits so I'm switching over to be a flight teacher. I'll be around all the time to give you a hand."

  "What about Jimmy?"

  "He’s been promoted to captain. They’re giving him the Thundermakers, but they will all probably be doing their share of training as well now that everything is part of the Confederacy."

  "It’s good to know that where ever I end up I'll have family around," Rachel said relieved.

  The nurse moved a machine from the ceiling to hover a few feet above Rachel's belly. Once all the connected equipment was turned on an indistinct fleshy mass appeared above a holographic display to one side.

  "Give me a moment to clean the image up, please," the man requested.

  The image further resolved to show a still developing body. The image shivered just a little with each heartbeat from the baby.

  "Well that's interesting," the nurse muttered. He did something on his control pad and the image rotated 180 degrees. "Congratulations! You're having twins."

  Epilogue 3

  Date: Unknown. Location: Unknown.

  I fought my way back to consciousness. Things were a bit fuzzy; inside of my head as well as out. My displays couldn't seem to make up their minds if they wanted to show me static or headache inducing riots of color. A certain weightlessness gave me the impression that I was in microgravity when I would really have preferred not to be.

  "Rommy?" I asked, hoping to whatever divine forces existed that she was still operating.

  "Yes sir?" She replied. Just the sound of her voice, of Rachel's voice, was enough to slow my heart rate to more optimal levels.

  "I can't see a thing; can you do anything about that?

  "Give me a moment."

  Slowly my HUD cleared up - mostly - and I had the bloody red eye of a red gas giant staring back at me. There were scattered remnants of a ship, possibly ships, around me, but none seemed close enough to be of any particular use.

  A hallway filled with gunfire. A blade intent on cleaving my head. Dislocation. I shook my head gently to clear the burst of memory. I had been inside a ship when it had - apparently - made a poorly executed jump through time-space. I must have been unconscious for hours, at least, for the debris to have cleared as much as it had.

  "Rommy, give me status report." Thinking was getting a little harder. I felt so tired.

  My HUD filled with data about my armor that essentially said "everything is too damaged to tell exactly how damaged it is." I must have been leaking air. That or I had a concussion. Perhaps both. It didn’t feel like a concussion though. My displays dimmed a little. One or more of the plasma cores powering my armor must have been cracked or something. That really was a pretty gas giant. I noticed now that it even had a large ring system, reflecting the light from the system's blue sun. Heh, I laughed to myself. Finally left old Sol system.

  "Rommy, I think I'm going to sleep for awhile. Would you mind singing me a lullaby? Just so I can hear Rachel's voice?"

  "I will do what I can, sir."

  The music was nice. Thinking was… much harder now. My displays dimmed even more. Was it the displays or my eyes though? Doesn't really matter, I guess. A ghost of anger stirred when I realized that I wouldn't get to hold me wife again. Or, perhaps more importantly, that should she wouldn't get to hold me. She wouldn’t even get to bury me. No, I had to die out in some godsforsaken corner of space like a moron. The view was very pretty, at least. A shadow passed over me. My vision faded even more.

  Well, I sighed internally. Shit.

  Timeline

  2024 – Mars One mission begins its one way trip to colonize Mars.

  2025 – Astronomers find visual evidence of planets in multiple other solar systems likely to be inhabitable.

  2034 – Economic and territorial tensions between the United States, the European Union, and certain Asia nations forming the Eastern Pact spark World War III.

  2038 – Further economic strains force both sides to seek a truce. World War III comes to an unofficial end.

  2047 – Breakthroughs in String Theory allow the manipulation of gravity. The United States, in collaboration with the EU, Japan, and South Korea establish the research base on the moon that will become Von Braun City.

  2053 – The lunar research base develops a scale-able prototype graviton-ion engine that will allow humanity easier access to the rest of the solar system.

  2059 – Equipped with the new engine and other experimental technology, a ship makes the trip to Mars in two weeks during the planet’s closest pass to Earth, and making the first new physical contact with the Mars One colonists in 30 years.

  2062 – China begins construction on an orbital elevator to more easily access space and solar energy.

  2066 – Terrorists backed by the Eastern Pact detonate a nuclear device in Washington D.C. to ignite a full blown nuclear World War IV.

  2067 – With the North American eastern seaboard, the Middle East, and large parts of Asia now radioactive wastelands, the survivors begin to pick up the pieces.

  2068 – Destabilized by the conflict, Great Britain’s government is overthrown by a charismatic man claiming to be King Arthur reborn.

  2068 – The Republic of Texas takes the lead in forming an alliance of the remaining States, Canada, and Mexico as the North American Confederacy.

  2069 – Freed from its treaties with the USA, the Japanese Emperor takes a more prominent role in leading Japan. He begins a campaign of relief and inclusiveness with neighboring nations that forms the basis for a later, formalized, Asian Empire.

  2070 – Australia and other Oceanic nations formalize their alliance and trade relations to stabilize the area and become an economic power in their own right.

  2073 – Mars and Luna begin construction of the first space colony in orbit of Mars. The effort is bolstered by manpower from the North American Confederacy.

  2074 – Multi-national corporations begin their takeover of South America and its resources.

  2075 – King Arthur begins a diplomatic campaign to strengthen and rebuild the ties of the European Union.

  2076 – Greece, several Caribbean nations, Luna, and Mars officially join the North American Confederacy, prompting a name change to the Confederacy of Sol.

  2079 – The Confederacy begins towing asteroids into Earth orbit to use as resource satellites to fuel construction of a second space colony at Lagrange Point One.

  2082 – Construction of the first space colony is finished.

  2083 – Two separate Confederate expeditions make their way to Jupiter and Saturn for research and to prep
are the way for more permanent expeditions in the future.

  2085 – Mobile robotic mining begins on the surface of Mercury.

  2090 – The Asian Empire finishes the orbital elevator in China and begins to exploit some of the resources within the Solar system.

  2091 – The Advanced European Union claims much of western Asia. As the areas are still highly radioactive, no other nation interferes. The Union begins occupying northern Africa.

  2092 – The Confederacy of Sol reorganizes its military into the Guardian Corps. The position of the Sentinel is created to lead both organizations.

  2093 – The Confederacy and Asian Empire launch a new wave of space colony construction. Treaties concerning the administration of these areas are drafted and signed.

  2100 – The Asian Empire launches the first generational colony ship, the Di Jun, towards Alpha Centauri.

  2108 – The Advanced European Union finally joins the other major nations in exploiting the solar system’s space born resources.

  2111 – Two more colony ships commissioned by the Confederacy and the Republics, respectively, leave the solar system.

  2115 – Breakthroughs in quantum mechanics find multiple layers in space, and suggest possibilities for circumventing the speed of light velocity limit.

  2118 – Doctor Benjamin Archimedes develops a faster than light propulsion drive.

  2119 – An experiment with the new FTL drive goes awry on an old resource satellite. All personnel are lost when the satellite is ripped apart.

  2120 – South Africa and a tribal alliance led by the Zulu nation begin a push for modernization in the face of AEU territorial aggression.

  2121 – Dr. Archimedes creates a more stable design for his drive.

  2130 – Construction on the colony ship Chiron begins.

  2133 – The first mass-produced second generation power armor goes into service in the Guardian Corps.

  2137 – The slipspace capable colony ship Chiron jumps out of system to Alpha Centauri.

  2138 – AEU territorial aggression forces Israel to join the Confederacy for protection.

  2140 – The first true Artificial Intelligence is created by scientists on Luna.

  2145 – Territorial disputes are common, but seldom result in more than a few weeks of skirmishing.

  2150 – Extensive reconstruction of the Martian shipyards begins.

  2151 – The Swordmaster program is instituted.

  2177 – Permanent research bases are established around the solar system.

  2209 – Construction of the Forge begins.

  2238 – Construction of Jupiter and Saturn stations begins.

  2247 – Corporation Security forces make a land grab in North America but are pushed back by the Guardian Corps. Michael McCulloch meets Telamon Alkaios during the skirmishes.

  2254 – The Gates are constructed near planets and population centers to provide stable exit and entry points for slipspace jumps.

  2268 – A vessel testing an experimental Archimedes drive is lost with all hands aboard.

  2273 – Terraforming efforts begin on Venus.

  2284 – A Centurion invasion fleet arrives in the Oort cloud and begins operations to destabilize Sol politics.

  2289 – Goaded by Centurion instigators, the Republics launch an attack on a Guardian coastal research base in the hopes of acquiring advanced technology.

  On The Confederacy

  The Confederacy of Sol is an alliance of independent nations designed to maximize the freedom and prosperity of all of its citizens. To join, a nation is required to adhere to certain requirements designed to stifle those things which have traditionally brought about the downfall of great civilizations. Some of these requirements include capping social programs at a certain (small) percentage of GDP, guaranteeing certain rights for citizens as influenced by the United States of America’s Bill of Rights, and supplying their share to the common defense through manpower, resources, or currency.

  Member-states are free to pursue any form of government that their citizens prefer, provided that they still observe membership requirements. The Confederate government proper holds more power than most historical confederacies, in that, within reason, it can coerce member-states to certain courses, but maintains much less power than a full and actual federal republic would. The Confederacy does maintain a three branch checks-and-balances style of government with the Civilian Assembly filling the legislative role, the Sentinel filling the executive role, and a small court system filling the judicial role. The court system and Civilian assembly mainly concern themselves with settling disputes between member-states.

  Member-states are not taxed so much as they are expected to provide an equitable and proportionate donation for the functioning of the Confederacy. The Confederacy makes extensive use of artificial intelligences and computerization of keep operating and administrative costs down to the absolute minimum. As such, these costs maintained to around three percent or less of budget. Member-state contributions are locked at eight percent of GDP and cannot be raised or lowered without a unanimous amendment to the Confederate constitution.

  As the head of both the civilian and military divisions of government, the Sentinel is able to wield immense power. His directives, however, can be countermanded by a majority vote in the Civilian Assembly, or a similar vote by his military council. A Sentinel may serve up to three consecutive terms of ten years. A new Sentinel must be approved by both the Civilian Assembly and the military council. Among other things, a Sentinel must have served in at least two branches of the Guardian Corps.

  Representatives in the Civilian Assembly are elected or appointed by their respective nations, and serve for no more than four terms of five years. Representatives are completely accountable to their nations and must vote in accordance with the wishes of their people.

  The judges in the court system serve various terms and are appointed by the Sentinel and confirmed by the Assembly. Judges on the Supreme Court may serve one term of fifteen years in that court.

  Representatives and Judges are paid the same as a corporal in the Guardian Corps. Neither governmental branch has the power to increase their own salary. The Sentinel receives a salary commensurate to his Corps rank before being appointed to his position.

  On The Guardian Corps

  The Guardian Corps is a meritocracy that shares many attributes with militaries of the past, but divides its responsibilities and Corps of personnel differently. There are four main divisions: The Venators, the Vindicators, the Castigars, and the Engineering Corps.

  The Venators are the intelligence wing for both the Confederacy and the Guardian Corps. They spy and carry out clandestine missions that the other Corps are not capable of. Venators are trained to work in groups sizing from a full squad all the way down to single officers. Several agents are usually under the direct supervision of the Sentinel working as his Hounds. Venators make use of the lightest rated power armor equipped with active camouflage.

  The Vindicators are the most numerous of the Corps and operate as both the army and the navy within the Guardian Corps structure. Vindicators are organized by squad, then company, division, and finally legion. While often deployed by the larger units, it is not uncommon for squads from many different legions and divisions to end up working together without the rest of their group. The navy uses army ranks for the sake of simplicity, but does retain ranks such as admiral and commodore to denote naval experience as well as the number of ships under that officer’s command. Vindicators make use of medium rated power armor. Naval pilots make use of the lightest rated armor equipped with various support systems.

  The Castigars are essentially heavy infantry and heavy cavalry rolled into one. These walking tanks form the backbone of any Guardian force in battle. Castigars are organized in the same way as Vindicators, and are usually deployed as individual squads. The Castigars have three main branches of Special Forces within their Corps.

  -The Ring Jumpers are trained and equ
ipped to operate in deep space operations, and are around Saturn and Jupiter.

  -The Spartans are Greece’s contribution to the common defense. Trained in Greek Agoges instead of either of the main Guardian academies, these Castigars are organized in squads of twenty and companies of three hundred, but are otherwise similar to the main force of Castigars. Due to tradition, a full company of Spartans acts as the Sentinel’s bodyguard, although the men are usually cycled through by squad. Their armor is specially designed and provided by Alkaios Industries.

  -The Specials Division is the pet project of Sentinel McCulloch and his predecessor. The Specials are designed to find and include the best of the best from the main force of Castigars and provide them with customized cutting edge equipment. The Specials are under the direct command of the Sentinel, but are expected to work within the traditional command structure as much as possible.