Galactic Earth Federation: The End of the Golden Age

Foreword:

In the year 2057, mankind has taken to space. Many people welcome its prospects; the pioneers of the space age.

Mankind began its journey over the stars when a mysterious message came detailing how to design a space drive that would allow ships to reach the nearer stars at an acceptable pace. But to test the knowledge of the whole of mankind, the message left a few gaps that humans had to work out how to cover. Like how to make it turn. When all problems were finally fixed, the launch was initiated on the 11th November 2011. Many people forgot about the launch until the message arrived two years later. A colony had successfully been launched at Alpha-Centurai! Forty-four years later, the humans dominated their corner of the galaxy.

Chapter 1: The Soldiers Beginning

I stared in fascination at the torch like object I held in my hands. It was balanced as well as an assassin’s knife, as deadly as any gun. I held it up in the defensive stance, and turned it on. The blade materialized in front of me, and the deadly red glow of the laser surrounded it. I practiced my motions: parrying, blocking, slicing, stabbing, lunging and any other imaginable move with a sword as light as an empty metal case. I clicked the button again, and the sword and laser disappeared as fast as they came. This was a real laser sword not a civilian weak replica. I still couldn’t believe it, I had actually become a soldier! I started to get dressed in my uniform. My blond hair and blue eyes stood out over my slightly tanned face. My uniform gave me that frigid, hard-as-nails look. I finished getting ready in my tailor made uniform, designed for my one and three quarter metre tall build. I finished my preparations and teleported to the Galactic Earth Federation’s Warrior Head Quarters (GEF WHQ)

“In today’s exercise, you will train by fighting each other, with blades set to ‘Training’ mode. Think of this as a form of game: when you hit your opponent, you get points according to where you hit. For example, if you skin their finger, that is one point. Stab them through the heart, and you will earn 20 points. Start when I call.” “Five, four, three, two, one…” On one, everyone started their swords. The light from all the blades materializing became almost blinding, and then the room glowed orange from the fake laser’s light. Suddenly, we began. I started a fanciful weave around him. Lunge, step back, slash, parry, repeat… It was repetitive, and I found my mind wandering. ‘Here I was 25, finally able to take the job of my dreams. My trainers all said I had talent. I previously had learnt an esoteric martial art called Kendo. I was very fortunate to find someone who could actually teach it. It was an art focussed on teaching how to fight with (and sometimes without) a swor-‘ The sting went across my arm. I was too busy within my thoughts to variate my pattern and he picked it up. I immediately slashed back just in time to slash his arm. “Rethard 5 – Yurvine 5” my earphone announced. I jumped back and sliced forward simultaneously, and slashed his outstretched arm lengthwise. “Rethard 12 – Yurvine 5” I dived sideways and rolled over to quickly get back to my feet. Then I sidestepped and and lunged, driving the sword through his chest on an angle. “Rethard 20 – Yurvine 5” my earphone announced, quickly followed by a signal indicating the end of the session. Yurvine turned to face me, we both bowed to each other, and then walked off. “Kevin, come here.” I was dreading that sound, the sound of my trainer calling me over. “Kevin, I noticed at one bit in there, you weren’t paying attention. Now, I know you are thinking that I’m just going to give you another lecture on how that could be fatal, but I’m going to say, if duty is required, and you still are known to mentally slip, we won’t give you that duty. We are concerned about your life. Think about that. Now I don’t want you to feel left out, say pay attention and I will tell you a way that my father taught me to help build a powerful concentration.”

‘This is so hard.’ I rebuked myself for breaking my own concentration. The flame remained motionless as a flame in a semi-vacuum(1) does. My communication panel (COMP) buzzed, letting me know someone was at the door. “Kevin ?” the familiar voice called. “Can I come in?” I made an effort to recover my normal state. I walked over to the panel and saw my trainer on the Holographic View Panel (HVP). “Come in!” I said and reached over, pressing the open button. My trainer walked in, and examined the room. “You live pretty simple don’t you.” he said. “I know another student who lives very luxuriously. I don’t agree with that however. Sometimes you tend to think too much about your possessions. But those who have little left behind, they can focus easier on the task. Anyway, how are you going with that focussing trick?” “Well, I managed a minut-, oh sorry, a Kimensio and 28 Dimensios.” He looked at me in amazement. “And how long have you been practicing?” “Two hours and… oh, I mean 4 Simensios.”. My trainer turned around and stared. “You have a great potential. It took me days to be able to focus for a Kimensio. Keep focussing. You could be a very important member of the GEF peace-keeping forces.”

Footer:

1 - The flame is held with a dome which is mostly a vacuum, just a little bit of oxygen and heat is added. Therefore the flame can survive, but doesn't have any factors influencing it.

Glossary:

1 – Units of Time:

Dimesio/s: Counterpart of a Terran second (circa 2008 A.D.(Before 1VD)). 100 of these make a Timensios.

Kimensio/s: Counterpart of a Terran minute (circa 2008 A.D. (Before 1VD)). 100 of these make a Simensios.

Simensio/s: Counterpart of a Terran hour (circa 2008 A.D. (Before 1VD)). 100 of these make a Timensios.

Timensio/s: Counterpart of a Terran day (circa 2008 A.D. (Before 1VD)). 100 of these make a Magdivis.

Magdivis: Counterpart of a Terran month (circa 2008 A.D. (Before 1VD)). 10 of these make a Vasdivus.

Vasdivus: Counterpart of a Terran year (circa 2008 A.D. (Before 1VD))

NOTICE: COUNTERPARTS DO NOT MEAN ROUGHLY EQUAL TIMES! A DIMENSIO IS FASTER THAN A TERRAN SECOND!