CH 01

3rd person

Admiral Tyler sits at his desk, annoyed because he has a lot of paperwork to do. He looks out the window longingly as he remembers his days as a pilot. Oh, the freedom he had... while he was reminiscing, his alarm went off. 'Is it that time already?' He thought, looking at his watch. After fixing himself up to look presentable, he walks out into the hallways of the VVS Audax, a grand and Mighty ship, capable of everything from military confrontation to colony establishment. Tyler walks down the hallway towards the bridge, nodding toward anyone he comes across.

Coming to the bulkhead, he opens the door, alerting the crew to his presence. "Admiral on deck!" the vice admiral calls out. Everyone stands and salutes, "At ease," Tyler says, "Get back to work." Everyone acknowledges and proceeds to continue with their duties. Tyler turns to his vice admiral and asks, "Is the Vhole engine charged?" the vice admiral responds with "Yes Admiral Jacobson, sir!". Tyler nods in satisfaction. "Good, begin Vhole jump procedures". "Yes sir!" The Vice admiral turns to the bridge crew, "Begin Vhole bonding procedures!" "Yes sir!" the bridge crew responded. Suddenly, a voice can be heard ship-wide. "Beginning diagnostics. Vhole shielding: Online. Lunaclysm safety protocols: Operational. Vhole engine: Online. Vhole bonding reactors: Online. Diagnostics are complete, and Vhole jump initiation is ready. According to Jacobson protocols, all ships must return to the Audax before Vhole jump initiation." The ship's PA, Daniel, calls out. Tyler turns to the vice admiral, "Open up fleet-wide comms." The vice Admiral complied and passed the message to the bridge crew. The admiral announced, "Soldiers of the EUF, The fleet will be Vhole jumping shortly. Please ensure all protocols and regulations are followed. Prepare for Vhole jump. That is all."

From an outside perspective, the fleet looked to be stretching into lines of light, then it disappeared. Within the Vhole void, Vhole shielding can be seen flaring up, preventing hull damage from the abrasive danger of the Vhole void. Vhole engines across the fleet flared up and fired, causing the fleet to be propelled forward into the void. Navigational systems directed them towards a tear in the void, and they fly through.

Upon emerging from the void, a bright flash occurs. The sound of the ship's PAs is heard throughout each ship. Onboard the Audax, the flagship for this fleet, Daniel begins diagnostics. "Beginning Preliminary Diagnostics... Vhole Shielding: Online... Lunaclysm safety protocols: Active... Vhole Engine Systems: Operational...Vhole Bonding Reactor: Online... Life support: Online... Subsidiary systems: Operational... Hull integrity at 100%. Preliminary Diagnostics complete. Time until Vhole shields recover: 37 seconds and counting." Daniel concludes.

"Daniel," the admiral begins, "Scan the system." "Acknowledged" Daniel replied as he starts scanning. After a moment, "Warning: Unknown vessels in-system. They are not broadcasting UWS, NCR, SAF, Australian, Russian, or VVS IFFs." Tyler was shocked, his face pale and his palms sweaty, Tyler tries to remember what he is supposed to do in this situation. "Sir, are they aliens?" One guy asks. Tyler snaps out of it and orders for the First contact package to be sent and that the Vhole engine be charged for a quick escape in case things go south.

"Sir, they are charging some kind of weapon!" one of the bridge crew panicking cried. "Order the fleet to engage Vhole jump! Activate contingency 7714!" With a bright flash, and skipping diagnostics, they jumped away. "Status report!" the admiral demanded. Daniel replied with "Vhole shields: offline, Hull integrity at 98% due to the miscalibration of shields due to being rushed." Daniel continued, "Recommendation: Locate the nearest VVS base for repairs, and initiate hull degradation protocols." The admiral ordered the fleet to pull into the Shanxi naval base. He began to type up a hasty report about what happened. He quickly sent it and ordered Battlestations to prepare for an attack.

1st person (???)

"Unknown ships have entered the system, sir!" Someone on the bridge shouted. 'Ugh, it's probably just more pirates.' I thought, "Explain, soldier." The soldier continued, "It is broadcasting an IFF that isn't known in our databases in a language not known in our databases." That piqued my curiosity. "Where did they come from?" I asked, wanting to know how to proceed." The other person's face paled(?). "They came from the direction that the relay is at... and they appeared from nowhere, The relay is dormant." That... is concerning. "They have scanned the system and are broadcasting something!" the soldier shouted. "Shoot them!" The weapons crew charged up the mass accelerators and fired. Looking back, I would always regret that order...

3rd person

"So what do we do? An alien race that's hostile, and it's directly adjacent to Shanxi..." One Council member asked. Another replied, "It's simple, we just deploy some ships and soldiers. possibly some power armor units." "That could be a bad idea though, what if they get a hold of the power armor and reverse engineer it?" A third Council member asks. "You are assuming that one, they will be able to kill off our power armor units, get them to their equivalent of an R&D department, and reverse engineer it all without triggering the failsafe." the second council member replies. "Guys, focus, we are trying to come up with a plan, stop bickering like rad roaches fighting over food!" A fourth member exclaims. "Will you all shut up! This is important!" they all quiet down after the fifth member yells.

"So we have a hostile alien race that tried to kill us, and we assume, rightfully, that they will likely attempt to take the Shanxi system," the council member pauses to breathe, "and now we need to come up with a defensive plan on how to stop that from happening." The council member finishes. Council member four starts with "We have the second fleet there already, the fourth and sixth fleets are nearby, and we have a garrison of Minutemen units and a unit or two of power armor soldiers," Council member one interrupts, "I say we send the sixth, they have heavy weapons and could send these Xenos packing!" Council member two counters with "No, we should send the fourth. They have the strongest shields so we can learn more about them and their weaknesses." Council member three counters the counter with "Why not both? It would drive them out quicker." "No, that would lighten up our defenses in other areas too much." Replies council member five.

A person with hair and a scarred face walk in. "What do we know?". "Nate!" Council member five calls out in surprise. "D'you miss me?" Nate, the sole survivor asks. "Yes actually but now is not the time." Council member five says exasperatedly. "Kind of like it wasn't the time when you kept spamming me on radio freedom about how 'aNotHeR SetTlemEnt NeeDs YouR HeLp' when I was fighting off a pack of Deathclaws?" Nate raises his eyebrow. Council member Five sighs. "Look I already told you I was sorry. How long do you hold a grudge? It's been," Preston pauses to look at his Pip-boy "One hundred and forty-one years!" Preston sighs. "Anyway, that is currently irrelevant. Could you please wait until we are done here? Please and thank you." Nate sighs and walks away.

"Send The fourth, we need to defend the colony and that is what the fourth is for." Preston sighs. "Also send some reservist troop carriers to aid in the defense of the planet's surface settlements and installations." He continues, unaware of how professional and inspiring he sounds. "to be honest I think it is a great idea. It's a good plan, we have the defense of the skies, of orbit, of the ground, this plan can cover all bases." Council member two says gleefully. "Well, there are a lot of logistical issues to account for, such as whether will we be able to feed them during the fighting until we can resupply them?" Council member three points out. "If we can't feed and supply them while they are out there, they become casualties because they cannot fight." "Okay, then we send supply ships with them, it is a very simple and easy fix." Council member one suggests. "I agree with that." Council member four states. "As do I." Preston also replies. "Well then, let's finish up the details of our plan." Preston continues.

Planning routes and Vhole jumps, Figuring out the logistical requirements, and Deciding on the deployment of ships and fleets, the council members planned out what they would do. "We should put this fleet here." "No, that would jeopardize this defensive position. I recommend here instead." This kind of talk went on for hours upon hours. It could take longer, but they had to be quick. The aliens could attack at any time, be it months, days, or even seconds. Finally, it has come to vote. "All council members, please state your vote." Council member one went first, "I, Oliver Jackson of Australia, hereby vote yes to this plan." the second council member went next, "I, Irini Divinski of Russia, hereby vote yes to this plan." the third council member followed, "I, Asaka Aoki of the NCR, hereby vote yes to this plan." the fourth council member went next, "I, Carlos Ribeiro of the SAF, hereby vote yes to this plan." the fifth council member went last, "I, Preston Garvey of the UWS, hereby vote yes to this plan." they all finished. "The final outcome of this vote is..."