[Atrocities]

Part XIX

Past Tense

Segment C

The holographic imaged blurred for second as the next scene was loaded. When the image finally formed they were on what appeared to be the Bridge of an Alorian war ship. It was a rather large bridge by any definition, and one that was full of Alorian officers and crew. They moved about performing their tasks oblivious to the image upon the viewscreen.

Earth was beautiful, a blue gem hanging in the tapestry of space like a safire glowing in the dark. It was the crown jewel of the mighty Alliance, a virgin world as pure as any eden ever imagined. Untainted by war, a condition that was soon to be changed, this pristine planet was the birthplace of all humans; weak humans that is. As Vice Lord Vek Waldorf stood before the image of Earth on the massive bridge viewer he fathomed how much he hated this planet and the weak humans that called it home. He wanted nothing more than to boil its oceans, reduces its forest to ash, and slaughter its inhabitants. This planet may have been the birthplace of all humanity, but it was neither his birthplace nor any member of his crew.

“My Lord all ships are now within striking distance and the Earth Orbital Command has transmitted clearance through their orbital defense satellites.” Said the Alorian weapons officer from his station. Vice Lord Waldorf was like most other Alorians, tall and slender with a muscular build and commanding presence. Vice Lord Waldorf considered himself to be one of Aloria’s most gifted military minds. Soon the Alliance would come to know his name as one of the mastermind behind this brilliant attack, a true military genus. The plan was flawless, by luring the Alliance into a position whereby they trusted them, the Alorians have been able to bring an armada into the very heart of the Alliance, a fatal mistake that the Alliance will not soon forget.

“Very well, send the message.” Vice Lord Waldorf was attired in his best uniform, an impressive Alorian military design, one with many more bars and ribbons than those of the officers around him. He stood amid deck looking directly at the image of Earth on the viewscreen as it changed to the face of the Subadar of the Alorian Imperium. “Send to fleet, we attack in one minute!”

The Subadar of the Alorian Imperium spoke. It was a pre-recorded message for the people of Earth and the members of the Earth Stellar Alliance.

“People of Earth, and members of the Stellar Alliance, a new dawn has risen in our universe, one that will afford us all the serenity of peace that our ancestors had promised. As this message is being broadcast throughout the Alliance our warships orbit Earth the home world of all humanity and the very heart of the Alliance. Know this, we are here as the voice of the galaxy, the voice of the pure, the voice of the chosen, and with us we shall bring the tide of everLasting change. Your fates were ceiled long before your births, and even now at the twilight of your deaths you still possess no compression of your genetic weaknesses. Let it be known that the natural evolution of the universe is that the strong survive and the weak perish. Fear your deaths not, for those that are about to deliver them do so knowing they are the superior race.” With that the screen went black and all hell broke loose on Earth.

Tam Christopher stood in the Counsel Chambers in Paris as his stomach sank and the room began to fill with the noise of concerned conversation. Something was wrong, something horrible was about to happen and Tam knew that he was powerless to prevent it.

Vice Lord Waldorf, standing proud on the command deck of the Alorian Flag ship Atrocities, was smiling from ear to ear as he looked upon the helpless Earth. Even if they’re planetary weapons did respond it would be too late for his ships were already in optimal firing position. It was with sincere gratification that he gave the order that would forever go down in human history as the most infamous order ever given.

“All ships commence firing!”

The hologram faded and the lights in the courtroom brightened.

Tam Christopher stood once again, and began to speak. “Members of this court, what you are about to see is a compilation of the events that followed. With that he sat back down and tapped a few controls on his consul. The room dimmed once again, and a holographic star field began to take form.

The Alorians had sent an envoy of just five ships to Earth. Ships of the First Alliance Fleet, including the Yorktown, scanned each of these ships as they passed into the Sol System. Earth was one of the most heavily defended planets in the quadrant with an entire Fleet of star ships protecting her. Yet not one of these ships had expected or was ready for the treachery of the Alorians. The Alorian ships were of a class not yet identified by Alliance intelligence, and were assumed to be nothing more than large diplomatic vessels with few armaments. However these ships were far more than they appeared, each possessing a Galvon Sensor Inverter, which generated false sensor readings in order to hide there true payload of heavy Galvon organic weapons.

The Alorian ships all fired their weapons; both beam and torpedo simultaneously unleashing a hellish green light that filled the night sky. A hundred or so torpedoes and beams streaked through the atmosphere of Earth at incredible speeds. Never before had Earth been attacked from orbit and those who were outside innocently looked upon the display of lights as nothing more than simple orbital fire works completely unaware of the true nature of the lights that were now raining down upon them. So many of those who saw the brilliant green lights did not realize what was about to happen and watched in morbid fascination as the objects struck their targets and war became a reality. In the first salvo nearly two and a half million people died, in the second and third salvos ten times that number perished. It was the single most deadly attack against a human planet in the history of mankind.

The first Alorian salvo was launched and directed at Earth Command and the city of Denver Colorado. The Alorians beams hit amid tower of Earth Command Central Complex building, some one hundred and fifty stories tall, piercing through its glass and durasteel structure with horrifying results. Within seconds the upper portion of the building began to sway and then collapse downward upon itself taking with it nearly twenty two thousand souls. The high yield explosive torpedoes from the first salvo stuck the campus with the force of ten nuclear fusion bombs, the resulting explosion could be seen from space as the campus was completely obliterated within a millisecond.

The first of the Alorian organic torpedoes impacted shortly afterward in the cities of Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. The resulting explosions obliterated old Seattle, vaporized the west side of Portland, ripped the Golden Gate Bridge from her foundation twisting her into wreckage as San Francisco burned. Many of the torpedoes impacted directly in cities along the west coast of the American continent reducing them to little more than piles of smoldering rubble. The whole attack on the surface of Earth took only thirty seconds to complete. What took centuries to build was destroyed in the time it takes to order a cup of coffee.

The Alorians then turned their attention toward Earths orbital Shipyard facility and the Space Docs. For nearly a hundred years these shipyard facilities were the Beacon of the Alliance space fleet, true symbol of mankind’s desire and ability to explore the stars. The shipyard its self was without a doubt an icon of the Earth Stellar Alliance Space Fleet but within seconds it was no more. Twenty five thousand people, six star ships, and one hundred years of history were blown into atomized metallic and durra pLastic particles so fine that they would orbit the Earth for decades to come.

Once the orbital shipyard facilities were destroyed the Alorians ships targeted the defenseless orbital colony of New Prussia. Earth first orbital colony, New Prussia was established nearly fifty years earlier and had a population of six hundred thousand people. The Alorian ships weaponry made short work of the orbital community reducing it to little more than a burned out hulk floating in space. Within a month it would burn up in Earths atmosphere as it descended down toward the Earth, a fairy funeral pyre for the entire planet to see.

During this time many of the Alliance ships began to react. The Yorktown was the first Alliance vessel to lay waste to an Alorian ship, the Avenger, nothing survived. It took the combined vengeful fire of thirty-five Alliance star ships all of about a minute to destroy all but one of the Alorian ships. The Alorian Dreadnought Atrocities had managed to evade the counter attack and was well out of weapons range of all but a few of the Alliance star ships. Those that did engage her were destroyed or badly damaged. Although the Atrocities escaped the attack upon Earth, she was ultimately destroyed in the final battle over Galvon Prime five years later.

As the lights began to brighten the hologram dissipated and sounds of shock and murmurs of sadness and grief could be heard and indeed felt throughout the courtroom.

Tam Christopher knew that he had won his case before he had even presented it. He knew that Damascus Gore would be found guilty of his war crimes, and punished accordingly. If he had a gun, he would shoot the Alorian himself for he had shaken this man hand and trusted him with all of their lives only to have that trust betrayed and his family killed. Oh yes, if only he had a gun he would shoot him dead right here and right now. But that was not Alliance Justice, and justice for he alone could not bring back all those who had died. No, Gore had to be punished by the Alliance for only the Alliance could punish him in the name of justice. His fait would serve as an example to all those who would commit mass murder in the name of war.

It took the Alliance Judges less than twenty minutes to find Damascus Gore guilty of the war crimes in which he was indited. He would be sentenced to life in prison here on Earth along with all the other war criminals from the Alorian Imperium. All totaling, nearly one hundred thousand of them would be sent to the Earths first Orbital Penal Colony ironically named Aloria.

As Tam sat in his chair looking out over the darkening sky line of Seattle, remembering these events from ten years ago, he thought of Damascus Gore and all of the Alorian war criminals and what they might be thinking about knowing that their Homeworld was now nothing more than a dead rock in space. God had a twisted sense of humor if he had one at all. Aloria was spared the war, but not Gods wrath.

“Sir,” It was Tams aid Meredith Shelby, “I have your transport ticket for passage to New Mecca.” Tam sat there quietly for a moment before responding.
“Thank Meredith, just place it on the table.”
“Sir it has been a pleasure working for you.” She said simply as she sat the ticket card on his desk. “I hope you find peace there.”
“Thank you Meredith, I hope you and your family enjoy Pacifica. I hear it’s a beautiful planet.”
“Thank you sir.” She said softly. “It has been an honor to know you.” With that she turn and quietly left the room. Tam continued to sit in his chair looking out his window at the now darkened sky over Seattle. He pondered his future for a while then left to go home and pack. His transport would be one of the Last to leave Earth before the end came. As he walked down the hall toward the grav-lift he looked down at the name on the ticket card, ‘Pandora’ what an odd name for a starliner he thought, then entered the grav-lift and descended toward home for the final time.

High above Earth orbiting ever so slowly in the night sky was the Aloria Orbital Penal Colony. It was a huge ugly facility constructed at the end of the Galvon Earth war to house nearly a hundred thousand Alorian war criminals. Mostly officers and soldiers captured during the war that had been charged with crimes against humanity and convicted and sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison. But now with the eminent destruction of Earth coming, they were being loaded aboard a starliner, one of the largest ships in the Twin Star Lines capable of carrying nearly a million and half passengers and crew. As Damascus Gore and the other prisoners were being transferred to the Starliner, he could see through the windows of the boarding ramp the ships name, as it was painted as large as a building for all to see on the ships outer haul, “Pandora,” he whispered out loud.

Senator Owen Cassady closed the book of Origins and slowly lowered it to his desk. He sat their pale and expressionless for many moments. His wife entered the room; she had brought him a cup of hot lacto berry juice.
“Owen,” she asked in a concerned voice, “are you alright?”
Owen looked up at her and shook his head no. “No my love, I am far from alright.”

[ July 01, 2003, 14:51: Message edited by: Atrocities ]