Snippet #2824909

Major Camryn was a stalwart Tranebian, he shared the typical sharp, royal features that many of the Oberon would describe, in the spanning decades of their planet’s re-entry to the galactic fold, as Gardenite. He stood a few heads taller than the Oberon and fellow Edenite peacekeepers in the TOC with him. His skin was white, yet tanned from the years of the sun into a shady cream that bore all the small marks and scars of his years on the planet.

With his gloved grip, it was as the iron will of a thousand worlds made itself manifest on the planet there. The Major and other peacekeepers were silent in the command center, the Captain and other Oberon nervous, expectedly. Besides Camryn stood a shorter Gardenite, mutton chops twisted and dusty from the planet’s earth. The two had been some of the longest to stay on the planet, and had watched many of Oberon soldiers that had come to defend their homes when they had first begun.

“This is an important moment for your world, Captain.” The Major began, dropping his hand to his side as he stood before a rusty table sprawled with a holo-projection of the battlespace. “You’re right to be nervous … there’s something you need to see.”

With a swipe of his hand, he drew open a sprawling projection of the sweeping frontline. More like a long string of sensors and observation points that watched the battles unfold between the rebel and government forces, where the lumbering legs of a sprawling machine could be seen in the mist.



Amongst the swirling dust walls and swirling desert storms, the shuddering metallic limbs continued lumbering on. There was a destructive wake, like watching a great shark wade through the murky waters along the shore.



The map shifted back to the mesa, and then deep into the core of the terraforming complex that sat beneath one of the many ancient volcanoes that dotted the planet. Nestled within, the sprawling geo-vein that ran down into the core of the planet.



Seizing the silence of the moment, the Sergeant spoke up, giving a quick scratch at the bottom of his neck to drive some dust out. “We’re about pinned on all sides, but we’ve got all the cards we need - because this thing thinks he’ll be able to just walk on in here and plug himself in.”

Camryn then spoke again, the map sprawling out to the defensive lines in the valley entrance to the Sanctuary.






Homier, Montie were joined to a section of other peacekeepers who had gathered at the trench by the motor pool after the reconnaissance car came shooting through on its way back to the town of Sanctuary, giving a near, hurried pace to the preparations for defense. Montie had lost track of the Sentran, disappearing somewhere with the mysterious “special detachments”. Their chalky, tan uniforms were a sharp, darker contrast against the Lizard pattern and khaki that the peacekeepers from off-world wore.

“Hey check it out,” Homer pointed to a hovering aircraft coming to the landing pad as he strapped down one last piece of kit onto the open-top Saber that would be the section’s transport out across the valley. As one of the young soldiers that had disembarked approached, Montie was seated on the floor with a disassembled weapon at his feet, the enormous MG-40B general-puprose machine gun sat with the internals on display.

Montie couldn’t help but notice how young the man was, even though Montie himself didn’t look a day over twenty. “Cheers mate, weird friends ya’ got there.” He remarked to the other, strange Oberon. There were all sorts of things one had to prepare themself for in the Exogarden, but throughout Montie’s service nothing had prepared him for the strangeness to be found throughout the galaxy.

“It’s the Obies’ own little gene-works - impressive really, oughta’ be a bit more tactful with handing out gene-key tech so willy-nilly.” Came another Aenglian accent, the peacekeeper loading a magazine into his carbine. HARRIS stenciled on the ID block on his chest.

“I heard they’re for the ranger and patrol ops, they can sit in the desert longer.” Homer offered, nursing a canteen with several deep gulps. “You think they’re gonna’ send out a night-op? I bet that’s why they’ve got a bunch of those soggies skulking around.”

Montie took the thought for a moment. Was that why a Sentran had been landed? It would explain why, despite being surrounded and outnumbered, things had been surprisingly quiet.

Harris clicked his tongue, looking over to the young Oberon. “First thing to know, don’t fucking talk too much like this guy. And stay away from him in the field, too. He attracts a lot of bullets.”

“I think that’s a sign of efficiency.” Homer came back shortly, putting the canteen away back into a pack on the Saber’s hood.


Harris and Homer then began to talk with Abrim, a few basic pointers about avoiding crossfires and staying away from the autos in transit, and definitely don’t take too much of the stims because it made a bad case of IBS.

Montie however, stared out across the tarmac to a nearby hut built against the rock features. There, he spotted those same chalky-uniformed men, assured he recognized one of them as the Sentran he had spotted earlier at the quartermaster.

And it was, Anderson briefly turned to look back out the hut before disappearing behind the door. There was a short cough as the air suddenly became cold, the deep rock of an abandoned mine and cavern bringing a respite from the unrelenting heat outside. He was joined by three other men, each armed with a short barrel rifle equipped with blocky suppressors.

As they walked along the empty cavern path, their footsteps were only joined by voices after passing through another wide opening in the rock. There, two other soldiers stood next to two ABEs, the man-sized automatons adjusting holo-projectors from their shoulders into the cavern air.

“You three the point team?” One of the men asked gruffly, the Sergeant pulling down the front of his facemask, and flipping up the night-fighting devices mounted on his helmet.

Anderson was the first to speak, nodding. “Aye, what’s the job?” The Sergeant then flashed a hand over to one of the autos, a holo-map spilling over the ground of the cave network out of the valley. From the eagle’s eye view, it was easy to spot the Sanctuary and her defensive cone nestled safely between the valley, as well as some of the villages that lay just beyond the perimeters in the ‘enemy contested zones’.