Harvest
[Very Rough. Need to be edited.]
The terraforming of the moon was the result of decades of hard work, dating back to the 40’s. The concept first came into being as Project X59, a theoretical experiment conducted by the budding nation of Takis. It received many millions of dollars in funding, searching for ways to transport the required materials between the Earth and the moon. A vessel was designed and deemed plausible, but one major issue became known. The moon had an extremely weak magnetic field, and even if all the required gases and materials were successfully delivered and deployed, it would simply blow away on the solar winds. As a result, the project was dropped and wouldn’t be returned to until after the Cataclysm.
When the Cataclysm began, Takis had absorbed several of the nations around itself, as the leaders of the nation were attempting to elevate it to the world stage. Fortunately for them, they never succeeded, and were the least affected by the War. Immediately after the Cataclysm, Takis suddenly became THE world leader. Most other nations were either radioactive wastelands, or falling apart from internal unrest. Takis, Arrakis, and Chtar were the most unaffected by the War, most likely because of their complete refusal to align themselves with any other alliance. Of course, even though none of these nations were impacted by any of the warheads launched, the mass amount of heat from so many high yield explosives had catastrophic results, the atmosphere literally lit aflame. Mass amounts of the ozone layer was burned away, baring the surface to the suns deadly rays. In some areas, places where the suns light touched, the area would spontaneously combust. Asphalt melted, fires were rampant across the planet, and the death count rose even higher than it did from the weapons alone. Only Takis had the capability to protect itself. It had researched quite extensively in the art of colonization on foreign planets, and had designed habitation domes. These were designed on a scale made for several inhabitants, not entire cities and towns. Work was done on creating larger types of domes, but it took almost 3 months to be completed. People had to hide in underground bunkers during the day, and came up to the surface at night. The situation was tight, and people were quickly getting tired at the tight quarters within these underground installations. Work began on the first dome, around the city of Aperture, the capital of Takis. It was completed after only one month of work, and was a massive achievement, not only to the leaders of Takis, but also to the populace of Arrakis and Chtar. It took only a year for the rest of the dome system to be completed, and after the leaders of Arrakis and Chtar practically begged for access to the dome tech, another 4 and a half years were dedicated to building these domes before all known organized human civilization was guarded by the domes.
Trans-Newtonian technology was discovered 22 years after the completion of the domes, deep in what used to be known as the Russian Federation. This opened a brand-new frontier for humanity, though before this discovery Takis was considering the colonization of the moon impossible, these new materials suddenly made Project X59 possible. One of the newly named materials, named Indicium, had the ability to project magnetic energies, and can create powerful magnetic fields if coupled with the right transmitting tech. Suddenly, the entire industrial power was dedicated to constructing a massive shipyard, and revised plans of the original terraforming ships were made. 10 years later, the shipyard was completed, named New Hope. It would take 5 years for each of the terraforming ships to be completed and loaded with the necessary personnel and materials to be launched. Each would be named after the nation that funded their construction, Takis, Arrakis and Chtar, in that order. Hope blossomed within the domes, only to dampened by the first major conflict to occur since the Cataclysm
The current leadership of Takis was formed as a council, but three council men held the most powerful positions. The first was the General Councilor, tasked with overseeing all functions of the nation. The Nourishment Councilor, tasked with keeping the growing population of the domes fed, and the Military Councilor, who dealt with all matters of defense of the domes from outside threats. The Military Councilor was a woman named Silvia Karson, who had been elevated to her position of councilor after defending the domes against several attacks conducted by outside raiders (All people who weren’t under the citizenship of the three nations before the building of the domes were not allowed access to the interior, which has led to conflict). She was known as being a feisty shrewd commander, who will help you out if she likes you, but will cut you off at the knees if you fail. Her and the current General Councilor, an Andy Varis, were at ends with each other. Councilor Varis has been attempting for the past 3 years to reel in public support to increase his own power in the council. Karson was vehemently against this, and had had several confrontations with the general councilor in front of the entire council. The recent construction and launch of the terraforming ships had drastically increased votes for the General Councilors power grab, and after a week of voting, it went through. Karson was livid, ranting with several other councilors on the vast mistake that had just occurred, this could put the very domes in danger. That this was supposed to be a council, and no one council members should have more power than any other. Many agreed, but didn’t have much of an option to resist this change, as changes to how the nation was ruled could only be altered by the citizen, and no one in power could change it. Karson continued rival Varis, but he used his new-found power to create a new military section, named Internal Security. He repositioned 2/3 of Karson’s forces into this new section, intentionally weakening Karson. This was a move he thought would protect him from Karson and leave him to gain more power, but it was this that would ultimately lead to his downfall.
The largest attack to be launched by the outsiders was against Tillerson Dome, which covered the town of Tillerson, which was surrounded by a forest that was carefully tended, the towns purpose was to filter air through the plants, as the air outside the domes was unhealthy, caused by the fallout and various chemicals in the air. The town was inhabited by 4500 people, and had a garrison of 400 soldiers from Internal Security, and 150 soldiers from the Military Department. It had been a year since Varis had become top dog in the council, and the terraforming ships had not departed for the moon yet, as they were still loading material from the ground. An outsider force of over 8500 soldiers, equipped with armored vehicles and attack helicopters attacked the dome on August 30, 2084, at 19:54, twilight. The initial attack was devastating. Charges placed around the base of the dome, missed by the ill trained Internal Security force tasked with patrolling the outside of the dome, detonated, blowing massive holes into the interior. A large portion of the dome completely collapsed due to its structural integrity being compromised. This initial attack resulted in the deaths of 85 civilians, and 34 of the Internal Security forces. After this, there was a lull, 24 minutes in which the outsiders did not move forward. There was an immediate evacuation order, and all soldiers were ordered to don containment suits. Over half of the Internal Security, never put on these suits, as they were never trained to wear them. This would result in a majority of the defense force to be completely out of commission, after experiencing symptoms of chemical poisoning. The Mil Dep sections immediately set up defensive positions around the 2 doors that led out of the dome, and had several squads dotted around positions. One account by the soldiers, PFC Jacob Livins, was brought up. “We were running through the forest, heading toward the main power stations, and this was the first time I had seen the sky in ages. There was still a bit of light, but that wasn’t what I was focusing on. I was watching the trees. They were withering before my eyes.” The entire forest was withering away, leaves turning black, the wood shrinking and cracking from the radiation. Mil Dep had gotten to their positions, but there wasn’t much hope of a successful defense. Inter-Sec wasn’t ready, most of them panicking and running out with the civilians, and the ones who were capable didn’t have any orders, so they simply stuck around the door defenses. Most soldiers were set up and ready at around 20:00. They had called for reinforcements that were inbound from the adjacent dome, including vehicles. They would arrive at 20:47. Takis numbers were now 234 Internal Security personnel, and 150 Mil-Dep soldiers. The main attack began at 20:18.
It began with strafing runs conducted by the 3 outsider helicopters, bombarding Takis defensive positions with rockets and cannon fire. Takis had only a few ways to fight back, as they never expected to be fighting air targets within a dome. They did have laser guided AT launchers, but these would require a constant track on the aircraft, which proved difficult. Only one helicopter was downed, after it had swooped down to close to the ground, and its pilot panicked and slowed. That gave the ground forces the time to hold a laser onto it and then blow it out of the air. The ground forces arrived shortly after. 7 Old-World tanks began rolling down into the dome, followed by dozens of APCs. PFC Livins position was one of the first hit, by a single tank and 12 APCs full of infantry. “It was overwhelming. It was my squad and Lieutenant Cables squad. All added up, it was 16 men against what had to be about one and a half platoons’ worth of men. We never could have held that power complex.” The old-world tank, which had been identified as a T-90, took up position on a nearby hill and fired multiple HE rounds straight into PFC Livins position. Casualties were immediate. 2 men from Lieutenants cables squad died the moment the shelling began. They were all told to spread out and wait for the shelling to stop. 3 more men were gravely injured before it stopped, effectively cutting their fighting force in half. Then the infantry came in. PFC Livins helmet cam captured frantic fighting within the power station as they were surrounded. “The power station was critical to the defense” Livins said, “The MK 3 combat armor wasn’t as widespread then, so our visors didn’t have the lowlight option yet. We needed the power to see the enemy, and we weren’t so sure if they had any sort of night vision goggles. It didn’t work out either way” Livins squad leader, a Beth Masheen, ordered a retreat from the station. They had given the enemy a hard fight, killing 15, destroying 3 APCs and wounding many more. Livins and Masheen ran out of the station together dodging bullets on the way out. The power station had fallen. Most other positions fell in a similar way, a tank shelling their position, and then infantry rushing in. Soon the only position held by Takis forces was the doors. The time was 20:32. A Sergeant Jane Tipper was in command of a viper combat vehicle, part of the forward vanguard from the reinforcements. “There was a lot of panic. Most of the Internal Security guys were begging me and the other Vipers to fall back, that the position was going to fall. They weren’t wrong, but I wasn’t about to leave on account of those guys. I ran up to the Mil-Dep commander there.” She jumped from her vehicle and went into the command capsule. The commander for the entirety of the Mil-Dep forces was Colonel Adam Lazarskei. He was an inexperienced commander, having never faced any sort of actual combat. But he had performed excellently so far, sending the necessary units to the places they were needed, and calling fall back orders at the appropriate times. Tipper walked up the him. “I asked him what the plan was.” Tipper said, “The situation was much worse than we had expected, and the orders we had been given were no longer compatible” The Colonels plan was to hold for as long as possible, keeping the main force of the outsiders back with hit and run tactics with the Viper vehicles. The Vipers were equipped with a 35-mm autocannon and 6 AT rockets on the side of the turret. They had a top speed of 75 miles per hour, and were custom made for scouting and harassment. 4 Vipers had come in and he was going to use all of them. “I asked him when we were to move out, he said now, I turned around to run out and tell the rest of the Vipers the news. I was nervous. These guys had rolled over the other squads out there, and from what we knew they were dedicated and capable.” Tipper got the rest of the Vipers ready, and radio contact between the Vipers and The Colonels command capsule was achieved. Tippers Viper was ordered out toward the west flank. She was met with immediate disaster. “They had advanced much farther than we had thought. One of their tanks was right there and ready for us the moment we left the battlements, they had us caught.” A round blasted through the side of Tippers Viper, tearing into the crew compartment and splintering into many pieces of shrapnel. The gunner, who went by the name of Jenkins, was hit by the brunt of the shards. He died instantly. The driver was completely unscathed, but Tipper was hit with shrapnel in the right arm, tearing large pieces away. She was bleeding and gravely wounded. “It was the most excruciating pain I had ever felt” Jane said. “It was ripped to pieces, and if it wasn’t for the driver coming up and putting a tourniquet on it I’d have bled out right there.” Tipper and Hernandez, her vehicles driver, jumped out of the ruined Viper and proceeded to crawl away from their vehicle. Seconds later, an APC rounded a corner and blasted away at the remnants of the Viper. Outsider forces were pushing hard at the defenses, and only a fraction of the forces at the barricades were actively defending it. The Internal Security forces were in complete disarray, many of them panicking at the gunfire flying over their heads. Numbers of active Internal Security were 79, with the number of combat ready Mil-Dep personnel was around 67. The time was 20:42. Reinforcement were only 5 minutes away. It would be too late.
There were several modes of transportation between the domes, with wide open roads crossing the surface, or long underground tunnels. The only way into or out of Tillerson dome was through said tunnels, which had a road and train racks right alongside each other. The reinforcements were coming in by train. A Corporal Lee Trivet remembers the journey. “We were tense. Most of us had never been in combat before, and the few of us that had were in small skirmishes. From the reports that were coming in, this was a full-on battle, one that we were losing. I didn’t know what to expect.” Everyone on the trains were from Mil-Dep, as the commander of the Internal Security in Pinnslet Dome was hesitant to deploy forces to what sounded like an “Untenable situation”, in his own words. Lee was frank about how he felt about the commander’s position. “We all called him a coward. It was known that Intern-Sec was poorly trained and directed, with most of its commander picked out for political reliability and not capability. We thought that we would need all the men we could get to take back Tillerson. Turned out he had made the right move.” there were about 400 men on the trains, a brigade’s worth, along with several armored vehicles sitting in rear cargo compartments. It would arrive at the station located just on the interior of the Pinnslet-Tillerson door. They hoped that they would be received by an intact FOB, and appropriate orders. Instead, 3 minutes before they would arrive, everything had already descended into chaos.
The FOB that was quickly constructed around the Pinnslet-Tillerson door was put under command of Major Bill Carson, a commander from the ranks of Intern-Sec. He was known for being hilariously incompetent at command, barely managing to command a platoon in formation. Colonel Lazarskei knew of his incompetence, but had no one else available to command FOB duties, and he hadn’t expected the outsiders to throw the massive amount of men and equipment that were now assaulting his positions. While the Colonels FOB at the Corber-Tillerson door was holding, Carson’s FOB practically fell apart the moment they made contact. From what is pieced together from the video footage and eyewitness accounts of the skirmish, an outsider helicopter had strafed the FOBs forward most positions, and Carson had ordered an Immediate retreat farther into the FOB, completely abandoning the Train station in which the main bulk of the reinforcements were inbound. The Intern-Sec forces which he had ordered to fall back completely fell apart, the soldiers falling back in small increments with no sort of real fighting retreat, leaving most of them to be picked off by outsider long range rifles. A tank began rolling down, straight through the retreating soldiers, mowing them down. “I-it was a complete massacre” Sergeant Arnold Conway said. “The screaming…. It was insane. I just ran as fast as I could, and I swear bullets were tracing straight up to my heels.” There wasn’t much in the way of cohesion in any area under Carson’s jurisdiction. The FOB was beginning to receive fire from buildings surrounding it, and there were several friendly fire incidents. The train was fast approaching and, contacts were already pushing hard at the weakening walls of the P-T FOB. Where was Command? He had already jumped in a private vehicle and was driving as fast as possible through the tunnel. He passed the train. (I need to return to this section. I would like to emphasize the amount of panic and disarray that was occurring.) LCpl Evert noticed the vehicle fly past. Lee and his section were prepping for combat, as all contact between the train and the P-T FOB had been lost. The time was 20:46 Their train wouldn’t make it as far as the tunnel opening.
The C-T FOB was entrenched in brutal combat. The outsider mechanized sections moved forward incredibly quickly, blasting through the delaying units and straight onto the doors. The helicopters had returned, but they didn’t have free reign to the skies like before; one of the 2 surviving Vipers had been set up with a twin .50 Caliber turret, and the gunner was good enough to fire effectively at the aircraft, damaging it enough for it to crash. The number of casualties for the outsiders was rising, but so was the same with other Takis forces. When the news of the P-T FOBs destruction, Colonel Lazarskei lost hope. “I hadn’t expected so many of them to come in.” He wrote in a message. “My plan was to keep the enemy off the doors until reinforcements came, and then push forward and recapture. Everything was falling apart faster than I could react to, and with the main bulk of our help coming from Pinnslet, I could only see catastrophe in the future.” He was correct. While the reinforcement train came into the C-T FOB in relative safety, the train coming from Pinnslet was met with immediate fire. “It was a shock.” Lee says, “We came out the tunnel opening, and everything went sideways. Literally.” A squad of outsider engineers had managed to sabotage the tracks, blowing off a portion of the rails. The train came onto this section of the rail and jumped, flying off the rails and tipping onto its side. Immediate fire came from all sides straight into the train. Almost half of the force was either killed or wounded in these first couple seconds. “We were routed almost immediately. I just told the guys to run back to tunnels. As fast as you can. It was hell. It only got worse when the lights cut.” The fight for the power station had damaged several parts of it, including several monitoring computers. Power surged through some circuit breakers, that promptly overloaded, one after another. PFC Livins had been fighting on one of the flanks at C-T FOB when it happened. “It was sudden. One minute I was firing at an outsider assault squad, then everything went black. I dived onto the ground. The only light I could see was from the muzzle flashes and explosions.” While the reinforcements that arrived were equipped with lowlight visors and lights, much of the garrison were not. While the outsider forces also didn’t have any way to see, they had more experience in night fighting than the Takis Forces did. The line started to break. “Our chance of winning had gone from slim to none” the Colonel wrote. “Our main reinforcement train just fell apart, and now our eyes were gone. We had a few portable lights but those were around the station. I ordered all dead and wounded to be loaded onto the trains.” Colonel Lazarskei had decided that there was no other option, that a retreat was required. He contacted the commander of the reinforcements and arranged to have them hold position around their train. “I broadcasted to all soldiers in the area to leave the defensive positions in the FOB and make their way to the train station.” Takis numbers were dropping faster than ever. “I remember hearing that order” PFC Livins said.” I was… angry. I knew that we had no other choice than to run, that staying would most like end in us being captured or killed. I wasn’t angry at the Colonel. I was angry the outsiders. This was our home, Tillerson dome was where I was born and raised. And know it had been reduced to a battlefield. Bodies of people I knew, friends, littered the ground. My home was gone. I turned to Beth, my SL and the expression that was on her face… I think she felt the same way.” Livins and Masheen pulled a fighting retreat, firing at the outsider forces following them. Livins and Masheen would be the last few soldiers to arrive at the train, while a convoy of wounded and infantry was coming in from the north. They were fighting the outsiders hard, trying their best to cover their wounded comrades. Several would die getting to the train, and several of the remaining outsider tanks were pushing hard, cracking the line further. The line was about to break. The number of active Intern-Sec personnel was 0. The number of active Mil-Dep was around 210, counting current reinforcement levels. The time was 20:55.
Tipper, meanwhile, had been receiving treatment in a medical tent at C-T FOB. Her arm had been amputated as a result of the damage it had taken, but she didn’t have much time to absorb this when she awoke. The tent was in a state of panic, the doctors and medic scrambling to pack up their supplies and move the wounded out. “I remember coming to and just feeling groggy. The medic who had done the procedure on me just told me to get up and move. I tried asking him about my arm, but he moved away. I sat up, and looked down. That’s when I saw my new stump. Didn’t have much a recovery time though. He came back, pulled me up, and pushed me outside.” Tipper, along with all of the other wounded, were being moved to three Black Tail APCs’ that came in with the reinforcements. The vehicles were known to be hardy, though while lacking in firepower, made up for it in tough armor plating. Tipper was pointed toward one of them. “I wasn’t the most conscience at the time, having lost a whole lot of blood. I remember being loaded into one of the Black Tails, and one of the medics passing by and injecting me with something. I blacked out.” The IFVs were to move out of the FOB and toward the train station, which was about a quarter mile away. The convoy immediately went on their way, driving down the road full speed. They were met with heavy fire. The outsiders were taking full advantage of the retreat, pushing forward faster than the Domers could retreat. They had managed to advance and surround the FOB and station, and the convoy of Black Tails had to break through a line of outsider forces, albeit a small one. Bullets bounced off of the sides, and grenades detonated around it. This was futile against the APC’s and they continued to barrel down the road, smashing through anything in their way. They drove down into the station, relatively undamaged. PFC Livins was one of the first to go down and open the APC hatches, pulling the wounded out and toward the trains. “It was hectic, for sure. Many of them weren’t exactly in the best of shape, and we had to sling them across our shoulders to carry them into the train. All the time there were bullets whizzing over our skulls, and a couple of those connected. I saw a guy take one straight to the dome as he was coming back down from the train. It was… rough, to say the least.” The Takis forces were on their last gasp, having been forced back into the train. The wounded were being moved in at a quick and steady rate, but the outsiders were coming in faster. The last of the wounded being loaded, the train immediately began to rush down the tracks, toward the dome doors. The moment the train began to move, the incoming fire dropped in intensity. Instead of a steady stream of intense fire, it came in incessantly, random short bursts. The outsiders knew the Domers were beaten. The train made it through the doors, unscathed. The time was 21:04. Active Mil-Dep numbers were 198. The number of wounded amounted in the hundreds, many left behind in the panic. The battle was over.
The reaction to the battle was one of immediate shock. There had never been such a major attack on a dome, and the fact that the outsiders could gather enough forces to conduct a dedicated attack on a dome, and succeed, caused a panic dome-wide. When the AAR and debriefs started coming in from the troops on the ground, the outrage and blame quickly turned onto Councilor Varis and his appointment commander of Intern-Sec, Calvin Cartwright. Only a day after the battle, calls were sent out for their resignation and prompt imprisonment for negligence. While Mil-Dep consolidated and started planning to take back Tillerson, demonstrations erupted in the streets of Aperture, around the council building. While discussions on how to deal with the ‘Tillerson Situation’ took place inside, Cartwright had the insight to place a platoon of Intern-Sec troops around the building, for ‘security’. This would have catastrophic results. Reports of what exactly happened are varied; Some say the demonstrators began assaulting Intern-Sec troops, some say the Intern-Sec began to use force to push back the protesters. Regardless of who did what, the protest around the Council Building quickly turned into a riot. In the end, 78 protesters were injured, with 3 dead. The Intern-Sec platoon received negligible casualties. When news of this reached Councilor Varis, he immediately fled the Council Building, departing to a private estate on the edge of Aperture. The public response was one of complete hysteria. Demands of the arrest, even execution, of Andy Varis and Calvin Cartwright were rampant. During all of this, Karson simply stood back and watched. When the riot occurred, Silvia took this chance to activate a special forces unit, dubbed Section 7, to raid Andy Varis’s estate, and capture both Varis and Cartwright. Simon Black was the leader of an 8-man squad, and would later become director of the unit. Due to the operation not having been declassified even all these years later, there are very little details on the op. On September 3rd, sometime between 21:00 and 2:00 Black and his team infiltrated The Varis estate, which was being guarded by a platoon of Intern-Sec, supposedly for protection from other rioters. A heavy firefight ensued, and Varis was killed attempting to escape. Mr. Cartwright was captured, and the team left by use of one of the vehicles in Andy’s carpool. The Intern-Sec platoon sustained heavy casualties, while Blacks’ team was virtually unscathed.
[I've lost inspiration for this. I wrote the first 6 pages in a week. It comes in waves. The most recent bits I dislike.]
The terraforming of the moon was the result of decades of hard work, dating back to the 40’s. The concept first came into being as Project X59, a theoretical experiment conducted by the budding nation of Takis. It received many millions of dollars in funding, searching for ways to transport the required materials between the Earth and the moon. A vessel was designed and deemed plausible, but one major issue became known. The moon had an extremely weak magnetic field, and even if all the required gases and materials were successfully delivered and deployed, it would simply blow away on the solar winds. As a result, the project was dropped and wouldn’t be returned to until after the Cataclysm.
When the Cataclysm began, Takis had absorbed several of the nations around itself, as the leaders of the nation were attempting to elevate it to the world stage. Fortunately for them, they never succeeded, and were the least affected by the War. Immediately after the Cataclysm, Takis suddenly became THE world leader. Most other nations were either radioactive wastelands, or falling apart from internal unrest. Takis, Arrakis, and Chtar were the most unaffected by the War, most likely because of their complete refusal to align themselves with any other alliance. Of course, even though none of these nations were impacted by any of the warheads launched, the mass amount of heat from so many high yield explosives had catastrophic results, the atmosphere literally lit aflame. Mass amounts of the ozone layer was burned away, baring the surface to the suns deadly rays. In some areas, places where the suns light touched, the area would spontaneously combust. Asphalt melted, fires were rampant across the planet, and the death count rose even higher than it did from the weapons alone. Only Takis had the capability to protect itself. It had researched quite extensively in the art of colonization on foreign planets, and had designed habitation domes. These were designed on a scale made for several inhabitants, not entire cities and towns. Work was done on creating larger types of domes, but it took almost 3 months to be completed. People had to hide in underground bunkers during the day, and came up to the surface at night. The situation was tight, and people were quickly getting tired at the tight quarters within these underground installations. Work began on the first dome, around the city of Aperture, the capital of Takis. It was completed after only one month of work, and was a massive achievement, not only to the leaders of Takis, but also to the populace of Arrakis and Chtar. It took only a year for the rest of the dome system to be completed, and after the leaders of Arrakis and Chtar practically begged for access to the dome tech, another 4 and a half years were dedicated to building these domes before all known organized human civilization was guarded by the domes.
Trans-Newtonian technology was discovered 22 years after the completion of the domes, deep in what used to be known as the Russian Federation. This opened a brand-new frontier for humanity, though before this discovery Takis was considering the colonization of the moon impossible, these new materials suddenly made Project X59 possible. One of the newly named materials, named Indicium, had the ability to project magnetic energies, and can create powerful magnetic fields if coupled with the right transmitting tech. Suddenly, the entire industrial power was dedicated to constructing a massive shipyard, and revised plans of the original terraforming ships were made. 10 years later, the shipyard was completed, named New Hope. It would take 5 years for each of the terraforming ships to be completed and loaded with the necessary personnel and materials to be launched. Each would be named after the nation that funded their construction, Takis, Arrakis and Chtar, in that order. Hope blossomed within the domes, only to dampened by the first major conflict to occur since the Cataclysm
The current leadership of Takis was formed as a council, but three council men held the most powerful positions. The first was the General Councilor, tasked with overseeing all functions of the nation. The Nourishment Councilor, tasked with keeping the growing population of the domes fed, and the Military Councilor, who dealt with all matters of defense of the domes from outside threats. The Military Councilor was a woman named Silvia Karson, who had been elevated to her position of councilor after defending the domes against several attacks conducted by outside raiders (All people who weren’t under the citizenship of the three nations before the building of the domes were not allowed access to the interior, which has led to conflict). She was known as being a feisty shrewd commander, who will help you out if she likes you, but will cut you off at the knees if you fail. Her and the current General Councilor, an Andy Varis, were at ends with each other. Councilor Varis has been attempting for the past 3 years to reel in public support to increase his own power in the council. Karson was vehemently against this, and had had several confrontations with the general councilor in front of the entire council. The recent construction and launch of the terraforming ships had drastically increased votes for the General Councilors power grab, and after a week of voting, it went through. Karson was livid, ranting with several other councilors on the vast mistake that had just occurred, this could put the very domes in danger. That this was supposed to be a council, and no one council members should have more power than any other. Many agreed, but didn’t have much of an option to resist this change, as changes to how the nation was ruled could only be altered by the citizen, and no one in power could change it. Karson continued rival Varis, but he used his new-found power to create a new military section, named Internal Security. He repositioned 2/3 of Karson’s forces into this new section, intentionally weakening Karson. This was a move he thought would protect him from Karson and leave him to gain more power, but it was this that would ultimately lead to his downfall.
The largest attack to be launched by the outsiders was against Tillerson Dome, which covered the town of Tillerson, which was surrounded by a forest that was carefully tended, the towns purpose was to filter air through the plants, as the air outside the domes was unhealthy, caused by the fallout and various chemicals in the air. The town was inhabited by 4500 people, and had a garrison of 400 soldiers from Internal Security, and 150 soldiers from the Military Department. It had been a year since Varis had become top dog in the council, and the terraforming ships had not departed for the moon yet, as they were still loading material from the ground. An outsider force of over 8500 soldiers, equipped with armored vehicles and attack helicopters attacked the dome on August 30, 2084, at 19:54, twilight. The initial attack was devastating. Charges placed around the base of the dome, missed by the ill trained Internal Security force tasked with patrolling the outside of the dome, detonated, blowing massive holes into the interior. A large portion of the dome completely collapsed due to its structural integrity being compromised. This initial attack resulted in the deaths of 85 civilians, and 34 of the Internal Security forces. After this, there was a lull, 24 minutes in which the outsiders did not move forward. There was an immediate evacuation order, and all soldiers were ordered to don containment suits. Over half of the Internal Security, never put on these suits, as they were never trained to wear them. This would result in a majority of the defense force to be completely out of commission, after experiencing symptoms of chemical poisoning. The Mil Dep sections immediately set up defensive positions around the 2 doors that led out of the dome, and had several squads dotted around positions. One account by the soldiers, PFC Jacob Livins, was brought up. “We were running through the forest, heading toward the main power stations, and this was the first time I had seen the sky in ages. There was still a bit of light, but that wasn’t what I was focusing on. I was watching the trees. They were withering before my eyes.” The entire forest was withering away, leaves turning black, the wood shrinking and cracking from the radiation. Mil Dep had gotten to their positions, but there wasn’t much hope of a successful defense. Inter-Sec wasn’t ready, most of them panicking and running out with the civilians, and the ones who were capable didn’t have any orders, so they simply stuck around the door defenses. Most soldiers were set up and ready at around 20:00. They had called for reinforcements that were inbound from the adjacent dome, including vehicles. They would arrive at 20:47. Takis numbers were now 234 Internal Security personnel, and 150 Mil-Dep soldiers. The main attack began at 20:18.
It began with strafing runs conducted by the 3 outsider helicopters, bombarding Takis defensive positions with rockets and cannon fire. Takis had only a few ways to fight back, as they never expected to be fighting air targets within a dome. They did have laser guided AT launchers, but these would require a constant track on the aircraft, which proved difficult. Only one helicopter was downed, after it had swooped down to close to the ground, and its pilot panicked and slowed. That gave the ground forces the time to hold a laser onto it and then blow it out of the air. The ground forces arrived shortly after. 7 Old-World tanks began rolling down into the dome, followed by dozens of APCs. PFC Livins position was one of the first hit, by a single tank and 12 APCs full of infantry. “It was overwhelming. It was my squad and Lieutenant Cables squad. All added up, it was 16 men against what had to be about one and a half platoons’ worth of men. We never could have held that power complex.” The old-world tank, which had been identified as a T-90, took up position on a nearby hill and fired multiple HE rounds straight into PFC Livins position. Casualties were immediate. 2 men from Lieutenants cables squad died the moment the shelling began. They were all told to spread out and wait for the shelling to stop. 3 more men were gravely injured before it stopped, effectively cutting their fighting force in half. Then the infantry came in. PFC Livins helmet cam captured frantic fighting within the power station as they were surrounded. “The power station was critical to the defense” Livins said, “The MK 3 combat armor wasn’t as widespread then, so our visors didn’t have the lowlight option yet. We needed the power to see the enemy, and we weren’t so sure if they had any sort of night vision goggles. It didn’t work out either way” Livins squad leader, a Beth Masheen, ordered a retreat from the station. They had given the enemy a hard fight, killing 15, destroying 3 APCs and wounding many more. Livins and Masheen ran out of the station together dodging bullets on the way out. The power station had fallen. Most other positions fell in a similar way, a tank shelling their position, and then infantry rushing in. Soon the only position held by Takis forces was the doors. The time was 20:32. A Sergeant Jane Tipper was in command of a viper combat vehicle, part of the forward vanguard from the reinforcements. “There was a lot of panic. Most of the Internal Security guys were begging me and the other Vipers to fall back, that the position was going to fall. They weren’t wrong, but I wasn’t about to leave on account of those guys. I ran up to the Mil-Dep commander there.” She jumped from her vehicle and went into the command capsule. The commander for the entirety of the Mil-Dep forces was Colonel Adam Lazarskei. He was an inexperienced commander, having never faced any sort of actual combat. But he had performed excellently so far, sending the necessary units to the places they were needed, and calling fall back orders at the appropriate times. Tipper walked up the him. “I asked him what the plan was.” Tipper said, “The situation was much worse than we had expected, and the orders we had been given were no longer compatible” The Colonels plan was to hold for as long as possible, keeping the main force of the outsiders back with hit and run tactics with the Viper vehicles. The Vipers were equipped with a 35-mm autocannon and 6 AT rockets on the side of the turret. They had a top speed of 75 miles per hour, and were custom made for scouting and harassment. 4 Vipers had come in and he was going to use all of them. “I asked him when we were to move out, he said now, I turned around to run out and tell the rest of the Vipers the news. I was nervous. These guys had rolled over the other squads out there, and from what we knew they were dedicated and capable.” Tipper got the rest of the Vipers ready, and radio contact between the Vipers and The Colonels command capsule was achieved. Tippers Viper was ordered out toward the west flank. She was met with immediate disaster. “They had advanced much farther than we had thought. One of their tanks was right there and ready for us the moment we left the battlements, they had us caught.” A round blasted through the side of Tippers Viper, tearing into the crew compartment and splintering into many pieces of shrapnel. The gunner, who went by the name of Jenkins, was hit by the brunt of the shards. He died instantly. The driver was completely unscathed, but Tipper was hit with shrapnel in the right arm, tearing large pieces away. She was bleeding and gravely wounded. “It was the most excruciating pain I had ever felt” Jane said. “It was ripped to pieces, and if it wasn’t for the driver coming up and putting a tourniquet on it I’d have bled out right there.” Tipper and Hernandez, her vehicles driver, jumped out of the ruined Viper and proceeded to crawl away from their vehicle. Seconds later, an APC rounded a corner and blasted away at the remnants of the Viper. Outsider forces were pushing hard at the defenses, and only a fraction of the forces at the barricades were actively defending it. The Internal Security forces were in complete disarray, many of them panicking at the gunfire flying over their heads. Numbers of active Internal Security were 79, with the number of combat ready Mil-Dep personnel was around 67. The time was 20:42. Reinforcement were only 5 minutes away. It would be too late.
There were several modes of transportation between the domes, with wide open roads crossing the surface, or long underground tunnels. The only way into or out of Tillerson dome was through said tunnels, which had a road and train racks right alongside each other. The reinforcements were coming in by train. A Corporal Lee Trivet remembers the journey. “We were tense. Most of us had never been in combat before, and the few of us that had were in small skirmishes. From the reports that were coming in, this was a full-on battle, one that we were losing. I didn’t know what to expect.” Everyone on the trains were from Mil-Dep, as the commander of the Internal Security in Pinnslet Dome was hesitant to deploy forces to what sounded like an “Untenable situation”, in his own words. Lee was frank about how he felt about the commander’s position. “We all called him a coward. It was known that Intern-Sec was poorly trained and directed, with most of its commander picked out for political reliability and not capability. We thought that we would need all the men we could get to take back Tillerson. Turned out he had made the right move.” there were about 400 men on the trains, a brigade’s worth, along with several armored vehicles sitting in rear cargo compartments. It would arrive at the station located just on the interior of the Pinnslet-Tillerson door. They hoped that they would be received by an intact FOB, and appropriate orders. Instead, 3 minutes before they would arrive, everything had already descended into chaos.
The FOB that was quickly constructed around the Pinnslet-Tillerson door was put under command of Major Bill Carson, a commander from the ranks of Intern-Sec. He was known for being hilariously incompetent at command, barely managing to command a platoon in formation. Colonel Lazarskei knew of his incompetence, but had no one else available to command FOB duties, and he hadn’t expected the outsiders to throw the massive amount of men and equipment that were now assaulting his positions. While the Colonels FOB at the Corber-Tillerson door was holding, Carson’s FOB practically fell apart the moment they made contact. From what is pieced together from the video footage and eyewitness accounts of the skirmish, an outsider helicopter had strafed the FOBs forward most positions, and Carson had ordered an Immediate retreat farther into the FOB, completely abandoning the Train station in which the main bulk of the reinforcements were inbound. The Intern-Sec forces which he had ordered to fall back completely fell apart, the soldiers falling back in small increments with no sort of real fighting retreat, leaving most of them to be picked off by outsider long range rifles. A tank began rolling down, straight through the retreating soldiers, mowing them down. “I-it was a complete massacre” Sergeant Arnold Conway said. “The screaming…. It was insane. I just ran as fast as I could, and I swear bullets were tracing straight up to my heels.” There wasn’t much in the way of cohesion in any area under Carson’s jurisdiction. The FOB was beginning to receive fire from buildings surrounding it, and there were several friendly fire incidents. The train was fast approaching and, contacts were already pushing hard at the weakening walls of the P-T FOB. Where was Command? He had already jumped in a private vehicle and was driving as fast as possible through the tunnel. He passed the train. (I need to return to this section. I would like to emphasize the amount of panic and disarray that was occurring.) LCpl Evert noticed the vehicle fly past. Lee and his section were prepping for combat, as all contact between the train and the P-T FOB had been lost. The time was 20:46 Their train wouldn’t make it as far as the tunnel opening.
The C-T FOB was entrenched in brutal combat. The outsider mechanized sections moved forward incredibly quickly, blasting through the delaying units and straight onto the doors. The helicopters had returned, but they didn’t have free reign to the skies like before; one of the 2 surviving Vipers had been set up with a twin .50 Caliber turret, and the gunner was good enough to fire effectively at the aircraft, damaging it enough for it to crash. The number of casualties for the outsiders was rising, but so was the same with other Takis forces. When the news of the P-T FOBs destruction, Colonel Lazarskei lost hope. “I hadn’t expected so many of them to come in.” He wrote in a message. “My plan was to keep the enemy off the doors until reinforcements came, and then push forward and recapture. Everything was falling apart faster than I could react to, and with the main bulk of our help coming from Pinnslet, I could only see catastrophe in the future.” He was correct. While the reinforcement train came into the C-T FOB in relative safety, the train coming from Pinnslet was met with immediate fire. “It was a shock.” Lee says, “We came out the tunnel opening, and everything went sideways. Literally.” A squad of outsider engineers had managed to sabotage the tracks, blowing off a portion of the rails. The train came onto this section of the rail and jumped, flying off the rails and tipping onto its side. Immediate fire came from all sides straight into the train. Almost half of the force was either killed or wounded in these first couple seconds. “We were routed almost immediately. I just told the guys to run back to tunnels. As fast as you can. It was hell. It only got worse when the lights cut.” The fight for the power station had damaged several parts of it, including several monitoring computers. Power surged through some circuit breakers, that promptly overloaded, one after another. PFC Livins had been fighting on one of the flanks at C-T FOB when it happened. “It was sudden. One minute I was firing at an outsider assault squad, then everything went black. I dived onto the ground. The only light I could see was from the muzzle flashes and explosions.” While the reinforcements that arrived were equipped with lowlight visors and lights, much of the garrison were not. While the outsider forces also didn’t have any way to see, they had more experience in night fighting than the Takis Forces did. The line started to break. “Our chance of winning had gone from slim to none” the Colonel wrote. “Our main reinforcement train just fell apart, and now our eyes were gone. We had a few portable lights but those were around the station. I ordered all dead and wounded to be loaded onto the trains.” Colonel Lazarskei had decided that there was no other option, that a retreat was required. He contacted the commander of the reinforcements and arranged to have them hold position around their train. “I broadcasted to all soldiers in the area to leave the defensive positions in the FOB and make their way to the train station.” Takis numbers were dropping faster than ever. “I remember hearing that order” PFC Livins said.” I was… angry. I knew that we had no other choice than to run, that staying would most like end in us being captured or killed. I wasn’t angry at the Colonel. I was angry the outsiders. This was our home, Tillerson dome was where I was born and raised. And know it had been reduced to a battlefield. Bodies of people I knew, friends, littered the ground. My home was gone. I turned to Beth, my SL and the expression that was on her face… I think she felt the same way.” Livins and Masheen pulled a fighting retreat, firing at the outsider forces following them. Livins and Masheen would be the last few soldiers to arrive at the train, while a convoy of wounded and infantry was coming in from the north. They were fighting the outsiders hard, trying their best to cover their wounded comrades. Several would die getting to the train, and several of the remaining outsider tanks were pushing hard, cracking the line further. The line was about to break. The number of active Intern-Sec personnel was 0. The number of active Mil-Dep was around 210, counting current reinforcement levels. The time was 20:55.
Tipper, meanwhile, had been receiving treatment in a medical tent at C-T FOB. Her arm had been amputated as a result of the damage it had taken, but she didn’t have much time to absorb this when she awoke. The tent was in a state of panic, the doctors and medic scrambling to pack up their supplies and move the wounded out. “I remember coming to and just feeling groggy. The medic who had done the procedure on me just told me to get up and move. I tried asking him about my arm, but he moved away. I sat up, and looked down. That’s when I saw my new stump. Didn’t have much a recovery time though. He came back, pulled me up, and pushed me outside.” Tipper, along with all of the other wounded, were being moved to three Black Tail APCs’ that came in with the reinforcements. The vehicles were known to be hardy, though while lacking in firepower, made up for it in tough armor plating. Tipper was pointed toward one of them. “I wasn’t the most conscience at the time, having lost a whole lot of blood. I remember being loaded into one of the Black Tails, and one of the medics passing by and injecting me with something. I blacked out.” The IFVs were to move out of the FOB and toward the train station, which was about a quarter mile away. The convoy immediately went on their way, driving down the road full speed. They were met with heavy fire. The outsiders were taking full advantage of the retreat, pushing forward faster than the Domers could retreat. They had managed to advance and surround the FOB and station, and the convoy of Black Tails had to break through a line of outsider forces, albeit a small one. Bullets bounced off of the sides, and grenades detonated around it. This was futile against the APC’s and they continued to barrel down the road, smashing through anything in their way. They drove down into the station, relatively undamaged. PFC Livins was one of the first to go down and open the APC hatches, pulling the wounded out and toward the trains. “It was hectic, for sure. Many of them weren’t exactly in the best of shape, and we had to sling them across our shoulders to carry them into the train. All the time there were bullets whizzing over our skulls, and a couple of those connected. I saw a guy take one straight to the dome as he was coming back down from the train. It was… rough, to say the least.” The Takis forces were on their last gasp, having been forced back into the train. The wounded were being moved in at a quick and steady rate, but the outsiders were coming in faster. The last of the wounded being loaded, the train immediately began to rush down the tracks, toward the dome doors. The moment the train began to move, the incoming fire dropped in intensity. Instead of a steady stream of intense fire, it came in incessantly, random short bursts. The outsiders knew the Domers were beaten. The train made it through the doors, unscathed. The time was 21:04. Active Mil-Dep numbers were 198. The number of wounded amounted in the hundreds, many left behind in the panic. The battle was over.
The reaction to the battle was one of immediate shock. There had never been such a major attack on a dome, and the fact that the outsiders could gather enough forces to conduct a dedicated attack on a dome, and succeed, caused a panic dome-wide. When the AAR and debriefs started coming in from the troops on the ground, the outrage and blame quickly turned onto Councilor Varis and his appointment commander of Intern-Sec, Calvin Cartwright. Only a day after the battle, calls were sent out for their resignation and prompt imprisonment for negligence. While Mil-Dep consolidated and started planning to take back Tillerson, demonstrations erupted in the streets of Aperture, around the council building. While discussions on how to deal with the ‘Tillerson Situation’ took place inside, Cartwright had the insight to place a platoon of Intern-Sec troops around the building, for ‘security’. This would have catastrophic results. Reports of what exactly happened are varied; Some say the demonstrators began assaulting Intern-Sec troops, some say the Intern-Sec began to use force to push back the protesters. Regardless of who did what, the protest around the Council Building quickly turned into a riot. In the end, 78 protesters were injured, with 3 dead. The Intern-Sec platoon received negligible casualties. When news of this reached Councilor Varis, he immediately fled the Council Building, departing to a private estate on the edge of Aperture. The public response was one of complete hysteria. Demands of the arrest, even execution, of Andy Varis and Calvin Cartwright were rampant. During all of this, Karson simply stood back and watched. When the riot occurred, Silvia took this chance to activate a special forces unit, dubbed Section 7, to raid Andy Varis’s estate, and capture both Varis and Cartwright. Simon Black was the leader of an 8-man squad, and would later become director of the unit. Due to the operation not having been declassified even all these years later, there are very little details on the op. On September 3rd, sometime between 21:00 and 2:00 Black and his team infiltrated The Varis estate, which was being guarded by a platoon of Intern-Sec, supposedly for protection from other rioters. A heavy firefight ensued, and Varis was killed attempting to escape. Mr. Cartwright was captured, and the team left by use of one of the vehicles in Andy’s carpool. The Intern-Sec platoon sustained heavy casualties, while Blacks’ team was virtually unscathed.
[I've lost inspiration for this. I wrote the first 6 pages in a week. It comes in waves. The most recent bits I dislike.]
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