Prologue

The Bridge Burners: The Planetside Legacy
Prologue
The Legacy of the Ancients and the First Bridge to Burn

The Terran Republic had been the rock standing firm against the tides of darkness in the galaxy for almost the entire age of interstellar travel. Their fire shone brightly from the scouting of the first wormholes in the region of space known as the Northern Stargate and from the first successful navigation of the Galactic Core, their emblems blazed with the founding of every new colony of man. It was an age of glory for mankind, a golden time of prosperity and development, humanity was finding a place among the heavens and making the galaxy better for those populated worlds it was to find.
No one can say when exactly the Inquisition became the true power behind the Presidency nor can they tell when they realised that the guns of the starfleet were not aimed towards the great dark beyond but turned inwards at her own people. The Republic had been conquered without ever a shot being fired.
For almost four thousand years the Terran Republic has colonized and conquered its way across known space, now over half the galaxy bends to the will of the Grand Council of Cardinals and their starfleet, freedom is little more than an illusion shared by dreamers and fools.
*****
Before the time of Auraxis and the unending war Staceh Bishop had been a loyal citizen of the Terran Republic, loyal in the fact that he had never done anything to warrant the attention of the Inquisition. After what seemed like an age in a backwater Orion Tract boot camp he was set out to serve the greater glory of the Republic, for whatever kind of illusion that may be. Serve the young man did, and serving with distinction in several major engagements had the result that he was soon fast-tracked into the elite TR Rapid Response Unit.
In the Epsilon Eridanii system there is an F-Type colony world named Chora, an old colony from one of the early days of the Republic with a culture almost as ancient as the heavens themselves. Terraformed to have rolling grasslands, forests taller than man can see and lakes to envy anything on Ancient Terra the planet was a symbol of the better worlds man could build. But beauty, elegance and culture has a tendency to attract the wrong type of people, the social uppers with their idea of chic descended upon the land with their wasteful ways. Pollution in the name of glamour, waste byproducts dumped in the deepest trenches of the oceans, destruction in the name of elegance, lands striped away for housing and commercial trends, and all the while the population spiraling out of control as retinues and merchants crowded onto this haven of decadence.
Plague had wracked the lower levels of Chora’s capitol, Larzoss, millions had died at the hands of a genetically engineered superbug that the Republic had secretly released to curb overpopulation on the world. A few began to grumble about the lack of medical relief sent by the Republic, soon there was uproar as word spread that the virus had been released intentionally. Tau Unit of the TR RRU had been pulled away from a minor border war to pacify the crowds of Larzoss before open rebellion was to break out. And so, with those orders, Sergeant Bishop was to find himself unwittingly at the head of one of the worst massacres in the long history of the Terran Republic.
Touching down on Larzoss all pretence of obedience was gone, Tau Unit ignoring all orders Staceh was to issue, opened fire into crowds of unarmed civilians, many of whom were sick women and children. Within the first hour more than 700 lay dead or dying, Staceh himself lay battered, bruised and barely breathing on the dropship, having been set upon by members of Tau Unit for having tried to stem the slaughter. In the end Larzoss was burned to the ground, nuked from orbit as Tau Unit returned to Sanctuary.
Recovering in the Medlabs at space station Sanctuary Staceh was to find himself beset upon by many of his superiors, why had he tried to interfere with the operation? Why had he tried to stop Tau Unit from completing their assignment? Then there was the real bombshell- why did he order the destruction of the city? Dread washed over Staceh, he was going to be made the scapegoat for an incident he had tried everything in his power to prevent. His only way out of this predicament was to accept a place on a dangerous mission through some new wormhole that had been discovered deep in the Frontiers near the Corporate District, to some unknown world that the Republic had decided to colonize.
Packing his gear a disillusioned Sergeant Staceh prepared to set off on exile as part of a first landing security detail with a bunch of scientists through some wormhole to some dirt water world on the far side of the Galaxy. At least it was better than being executed.
*****
The months on the colony of Auraxis dragged, Staceh spent his days patrolling one backwater base after another on some dust continent the scientists had seen fit to name Ishundar, to Staceh it was simply Hell. Routine was the order of the day. Patrol the north wall, patrol the east wall, patrol the south wall, patrol the west wall, check in with watch commander, patrol the north wall. Staceh remembered well the day they uncovered the alien technology in an artificial cavern to the west, he had been patrolling the walls.
It was good to have something different happening on the colony, BioLabs had been constructed to research some alien technology which could, in theory, bring a person back from the dead. Technology Plants were built to analyse the possible weapons potential of the recovered tech. Staceh was told to patrol their walls. Denied access to a technology that so intrigued him, Staceh grew more distant from his platoon, the mundanity of his forced exile was driving him further away from the Republic, driving him close to mutiny.
Late in the year a monster of a ship arrived in orbit, research associates from the Deep Space Research Conglomerate, and they had the blessing of the TR to hand select a security detail for the duration of their tenure on Auraxis. Staceh was selected to lead the security detail, under the new rank of Lieutenant Staceh Bishop, apparently someone on the board of the DSRC had heard about the Scouring of Larzoss and had decided that they wanted a man with an uncompromising will guarding their base. Staceh wanted to scream at them, to make them understand that he had nothing to do with the massacre, but in the end no one would have believed him, his reputation had a permanent black stain that might never be wiped clean. So now, skipped ahead to officer level, Lt Staceh was set up with his own offices and training facilities in a new base called Cetan, on the forest continent of Amerish.
Feeling a new life and a new sense of purpose Staceh began to recruit officers whom he knew to be trustworthy and whom he knew felt compelled, like himself, to know more of the alien technology and the ancient race whom they had come to know of as the Vanu. His first recruit was his second-in-command, Warrant Officer Dekov, a decision, which was to begin the longest and most enduring of friendships that Staceh had ever known.
Between them Staceh and Dekov built up a powerful and functional unit that not only had access to the alien technology, but actually got to field test the new equipment.
*****
On the Day that everyone on Auraxis remembers, whether with regret or with hope, Staceh and his unit stood proud on the main colony continent devoted to Vanu Research, one of the three main colonial centers that had affectionately been nicknamed the Sanctuary of the Vanu. The DSRC had assembled the TR Patriarchs of each continent to demonstrate their greatest discovery since harnessing the respawning technology that denied the reaper his quarry.
A device like a giant hub with 3 long, flat spokes had been built atop a hill on the south of the continent, the Chief of Operations stood tall by a podium with his research team by his side.
“No more shall we be limited to ponderous and energy expensive drop missions for moving man and materiel,” he announced, and pushing a button on his podium a great rumble shook the assembled masses. Rising upward on great pistons three massive curved pylons reached towards the sky. “We know that in the age of the Vanu energy points all over this world and perhaps beyond were harnessed by the ancient race, that they could control the ebb and flow of these energies.”
With a deep clunk locks slid into place and the pylons stood firm, creating a giant hollow hemisphere. A great white beam shot from the hub of the device and burst apart at the zenith of the hemisphere, the energy washing down its invisible edges like a great purple waterfall. The crowd gasped audibly at the sight of the light show. Staceh stood in awe, his gauss rifle held limply in his hands, of all his time in the service he had never seen something so beautiful. The light touched the ground and held in a beautiful glowing bubble.
“I present to you the first in our network of warpgates, the first step in realising the true potential of the Vanu Technology.”
The crowd cheered as a massive screen showed warpgates activating all over the planet.
*****
In the communications center of the TR Corporal Aven sat monitoring the wormhole, a rogue ship had been detected entering the far terminus and he was awaiting its arrival. Sure enough the wormhole burst open and a long probe craft began to emerge. Aven readied the orbital defense network to take arrest of the rogues, the giant plasma cannons charging up and locking on to the probeship.
Readings from the wormhole began to fluctuate wildly, something was affecting its stability at a quantum level. Aven searched drastically for the cause of the disturbance, scanning all frequencies and searching the heavens for an answer. Out of the corner of his eye he caught the DSRC broadcast- the Warp Gates! He watched in terror as the last bubble formed and the gate went active. The wormhole seemed to implode in on itself, slicing the probe ship clean in two. One section was confined to the boiling realm between dimensions to drift forever through hyperspace, the part of the craft that had emerged drifted towards Auraxis, entering the atmosphere and splashing down somewhere in the Southern Sea near the tropical continent of Cyssor.
Alarm bells went off all over Auraxis as the Colonial forces went into disarray, Command contacted Lieutenant Bishop, under General Order 5917 seize the DSRC agents and deactivate the warpgates.
The forces stormed the stage catching all the DSRC operatives off guard, Staceh planted his gauss rifle firmly to the head of the Chief of Operations.
“Shut down the warpgates,” he ordered.
“I can’t.”
Staceh pressed his rifle harder against the Chief, pushing his head down against the podium, “I don’t think that you heard me. Shut them down now!”
“I can’t!” The Chief screamed back, quivering in terror, “the energy fields are self sustaining.”
“Fine, then I’ll shut them down,” Staceh growled pulling away his rifle and turning to his troops, “MAX units, line up and deploy.”
The six heavy red MAX units assigned to the platoon turned to face the great bubble of the warp field and, hunkering forward, deployable anchors shot from their legs, lodging firmly in the ground.
“Take aim,” Staceh ordered, and the MAXes raised their great cannons.
“NO!” The Chief of Operations screamed as he lunged forward, grabbing for the lieutenant, but the effort was to prove futile and he never got close.
Staceh turned to see the Chief lying doubled over grasping his chest, Dekov standing firm over him, making sure that he made no more foolish moves.
Grasping for breath the Chief spoke raggedly, “You can’t,” he gasped, “if you destroy the hubs there will be nothing to contain the warp.”
Staceh and Dekov looked at each other, “What happens if the containment fails?”
“The energy will rip Auraxis apart.”
“Great,” Staceh cursed under his breath.
*****
Isolated on Auraxis the civilians began to question the rule of the Terran Republic. In the days after the Warp Gate debacle the DSRC was disassembled and whoever wasn’t executed was shipped off to outposts on the frozen wastelands of Ceryshen or Esamir. But now everything had changed, everyone had changed.
The people who had worked on the Vanu tech were increasingly shunned, blamed in some small part for the disaster that had befallen them. They worked together, learning more about the technology of the Ancients, finding new ways to adapt it, to better themselves. The surviving members of the DSRC were less accepted still, people blamed the DSRC more than they blamed the researchers. If the Conglomerate hadn’t shown up on Auraxis then the accursed warpgates might never have been constructed, the colonists might still have a way back home. Beaten and berated at every opportunity the DSRC agents felt the greatest oppression that the Republic forces could dish out. It shouldn’t have been surprising then that the first murmurings of rebellion came from these poor, belittled people.
When the revolt broke out it was quick and brutal, the remnants of the DSRC calling themselves the New Conglomerate stormed the base continent that had originally served as their headquarters and slaughtered everyone still sympathetic to the Republic. Of course, with the respawning technology now fully operational, the dead began to appear at the TR Command Center and word soon spread that Auraxis was in open rebellion. The TR loyalists wasted no time in mobilising forces, however their efforts were in vain, they had been too slow, the NC had already captured one of the key base continents. High Command figured that the key to maintaining control was to lock down all their facilities and slowly strangle the traitors. And so, in an act of extreme folly, TR forces invaded the Sanctuary of the Vanu continent and began something that could only be described as genocide against the Vanu researchers. The scientists had never had any intention of rebellion, they were perfectly happy in what they were doing, and had the TR any foresight they would have realised that the Vanu Technology could be used against the NC. But now the TR found these weapons turned against them, and crack security troops lead by Colonel Alex Kimber soon pushed the TR murderers back through the warpgate.
This victory demonstrated fully to the researchers how the Vanu Technology made man a superior being, and how it would provide the next step in human evolution, and so they officially accepted the sovereignty of the long dead Vanu race. The Sanctuary patriarch nominated a Prince Regent to rule in honour of the Vanu, and thus was born the Vanu Sovereignty.
*****
The civil war expanded to grip the entire world, soon all of Auraxis was ablaze in a war without end, where death had no meaning. Great victories were won and great defeats were suffered on all sides, endless bloodshed wracked the planet, people died for the same piece of land again and again. Nothing was ever really lost, nothing was ever really gained. After the first couple of years most didn’t even remember what they were fighting for, it was just a habit. The TR were brutes, the NC were power hungry, the VS were nearly alien. That was all anyone remembered.
It was in this time of uncertainty that the now General Kimber approached one of his most capable officers, Captain Staceh Bishop, with an offer to assemble and train a crack unit of Black Ops infantry. The mandate of this unit was to penetrate deep into enemy territory to take out their spawning technology. Staceh accepted immediately and began to seek out the finest warriors the Vanu had to offer. His first recruit was Lt Dekov, his old first officer who had been transferred to the 22nd Special Operations Command.
Reunited once again Staceh and Dekov soon put together a crack force that trained long and hard on what was once their home continent of Amerish. Through a strict regime of practice hacks, hot drops and war games Staceh created an efficient fighting force, but he still didn’t feel that it was enough, there were still technologies that could defeat the Black Guard.
He had heard long ago about a Captain in the 14th Electronics Warfare Division, an expert on the Vanu Technology and one of the original surveyors of Auraxis. And so it came to be that Captain Bishop had the brilliant Captain Latex transferred to the 4th Black Guard. Staceh was stunned when he first met Latex, he had expected a hardened warrior, not a beautiful young woman who could jerry-rig a pistol using only her comms unit and some pulsar ammo. Latex was there to educate the 4th on adapting all things Vanu, to help the troops better understand the ins and outs of the weapons. Staceh hoped that this would enable the troops to make basic field repairs and to allow them to understand the most effective ways to make use of any technology available. She taught that to be a member of the Vanu Sovereignty meant more than just using tools of the Ancients, it meant a mastery over all technologies, that to a true follower technology equaled might.
It was phenomenally effective, under the tutelage of Captain Latex the 4th took their abilities to a whole new level, to something beyond anything the average TR grunt could possibly comprehend.
It was at this critical time that the New Conglomerate invaded Cyssor.
*****
General Arvas Risker ordered that the 4th be sent in to subdue the NC forces, much to the protest of General Kimber and Captain Bishop. Risker simply would not listen to reason, the 4th were a Black Ops unit, not frontline forces, but all he could see in his mind was some bunch of adaptable super soldiers heroically marching across the NC front to victory. The argument raged between the CR5s, yet all the while Staceh had to follow orders and prepare the 4th for a battle they were not ready, nor trained for. Even when General Costas Enrico, one of the most respected if not the most respected VS General, issued protest against using the 4th Risker would still take no heed.
And so 3 enormous Galaxy dropships tore through the thick tropical air over Cyssor carrying the 4th Black Guard to a mission that was against their mandate and for which they were ill prepared. The 4th fought valiantly, as was to be expected, and for weeks they rallied the Vanu forces and held back the Conglomerate advance, but in the end the outcome was never in doubt. The NC simply poured more and more of the dreaded Vanguard heavy tanks into the field, behemoths of pure destruction, and against this onslaught the Vanu never had a chance. In VS Command the incident was fast becoming known as the Flagrance of Cyssor, but among the troops it was simply known as the Cyssor Meat Grinder.
The final tale of this epic saw the tired and ragged Vanu forces faced off against the New Conglomerate at Itan Bridge.
*****
Flail artillery fire set the sky ablaze; the high-density dispersion shells tore through the sky and pounded down hard on the VS positions. The Command Caste had been the first wiped out in that wave, the NC infiltrators had done their job lazing the targets well, and with the VS matrixing panels infected with an NC virus known as Blaster the only possible spawn point was at Sanctuary. With Cyssor currently under a warp energy poplock there was simply no way that the Commanders could return to the fray. The Vanu forces reeled from the loss of their leaders, the tide had turned against them and in the growing darkness it was coming in quick.
Not willing to accept defeat and hand Cyssor over to the NC Staceh took command of the remaining Vanu forces, rallying together a ragtag bunch of what remained of the 4th Black Guard, the 59th Commando Engineers and the 16th Air Assault Brigade. With little or no ammo left the Reaver heavy fighters of the 16th were little more than a distraction, but what the Air Brigade did have were 2 healthy Galaxy dropships.
A wave of Reavers shot overhead, drawing the fire of the Conglomerate emplacements, distracting them long enough for 2 full Galaxies to hot drop troops on the NC controlled banks of the Gunuku River. Too late did the NC notice the Combat Engineers running back along the bridge deploying spitfire turrets and mines, and as the NC moved to give chase they were cut down by the 4th Black Guard. With the bridge held they had bought time for the Sovereignty reinforcements to beat the poplock, but they would have to hold back the New Conglomerate for every precious second it would take for the reinforcements to arrive.
With the loss of the bridge the NC advance ground to a halt, the only thing they had that could cross the river were deliverer APCs, and that was a suicide journey. Even if they somehow made it past the Lancer anti armour fire they would be torn to pieces by spitfire turrets or blown to kingdom come by the boomers along the shoreline. For hours the New Conglomerate and Vanu Sovereignty fought a ranged battle, the NC troops had even taken to firing their gauss rifles at the encamped VS on the far bank, which inevitably resulted in a hail of Lasher plasma in return. The stalemate wouldn’t last though, and everyone knew it. Within the next few hours the first of the hacked bases would fall under the NC banner and it would be all over for the Vanu on Cyssor.
Despair began to set in among the troops, tension was thick, almost tangible in the air, and morale was at its lowest since the Vanu’s War of Purity had began. Staceh was now faced with a tough decision, recall now and save any more of his troops from facing the pain of death, or put up one last great push, to risk all to maybe bring the NC to its knees.
It seemed almost suitable that in this dark hour for the Vanu the late evening sky was to darken and rain began to fall. Lightning flashed across the heavens like a great sheet, the clap of thunder deafening to behold. Staceh, Dekov and Latex strode out of the Command Tent into the torrent and standing there, in the middle of the VS camp, Staceh removed the helmet of his REXO armor and stared into the sky, as if searching for the face of God. Lightning flashed across the sky again, a great purple fork striking down on the NC bank send sparks sailing into the black night. Dekov and Latex removed their helmets too, feeling the cool kiss of the rain trickling down their faces like the tears of a million Angels.
“We can win this,” Staceh said confidently, then looking to Dekov and Latex, “We will win this.”
By now the remains of the day had passed all the way into night and the surviving Vanu had begun to gather around their Captain, standing proud in the rain, eyes raised to the heavens. They too removed their helmets and felt the cool touch from above.
“The Barbarians of the New Conglomerate have pushed us to the edge yet still we stand tall. They pound us with their brutish weapons yet still we stand tall. They have taken our bases, our homes, yet still we stand tall. The NC fear us, they fear evolution. They taunt us, jab at us, beat us down, murder us yet still we stand tall.” Staceh raised his voice as he looked around the gathering Vanu, he called out in a proud roar, “I am through with standing! I am going to push back! The NC want us dead, the NC want to beat us back, the NC want to take our homes then that’s fine, but by God I am going to make them fight for EVERY INCH THEY TAKE!”
There were cheers and roars of approval from the assembled masses, the soldiers held their weapons high, and every single one of them would have given their lives gladly for the captain if he had so asked.
Staceh strode, not back to the Command Tent but to the last remaining Magrider, pausing briefly by Dekov, “Load up every Deli, Switchblade, MAX and Gal, we’re going across the water.”
*****
Crouching in the darkness along the riverbank, next to the turret bay of a magrider hover tank, Staceh looked along the line of assembled vehicles their lights turned off leaving them as little more than large shadows.
Latex crouched next to Staceh, “Its all set, sir.”
Staceh looked at the young Captain, a growing sense of pride inside him, “Right, if the NC want the bridge then lets give it to them.”
“Yes, sir.” Latex replied, then with one delicate finger she clicked the detonator in her hand.
For a second the sky lit up like it was day, seconds later the blast wave hit them followed by the boom of a hundred mines being detonated. The bridge held strong as great flames licked the sky like the tongues of Cerberus, the bundles of wood the Vanu had rolled down kept the fires blazing.
“There’s our distraction,” Staceh said, pulling himself up to the turret bay of the Magrider, “Saddle up.”
A rumble of thunder rolled through the night sky, a heavy growl that grew deeper and deeper.
“What the hell?!” Latex exclaimed as Staceh climbed down beside her.
“Big storm coming from the sounds of it.”
“Could the NC hacks have gone through early?” Latex’s voice was thick with tension.
“Not a chance.”
The rumble grew to a roar, the very ground itself began to shake, and in a flash of guide lights a full wing of Galaxy Dropships burst overhead, small lamps illuminating the logo on their base- the purple outstretched ‘Arms of Evolution’. The Vanu reinforcements had arrived.
“Big storm,” Staceh cheered to Latex, jumping back into the turret, “For Great Justice.”
“For Great Justice,” Latex replied, deconstructing into her switchblade.
The great line of Vanu vehicles moved onto the water after Staceh’s Magrider, a great metal wave glowing red in the raging firelight that burned bright from Itan Bridge.
*****
Itan Bridge was the turning point in the Flagrance of Cyssor, had the troops not rallied together the continent would have been lost long before any reinforcements could be dispatched.
The 4th was to see action only once more before being recalled to Sanctuary, but now that morale was so high many did not want to pull back from the advance. Staceh knew though that no matter how badly his troops wanted to continue the fight, they needed to recall. The 4th had been decimated, those who had died in the worst of the fighting and had not been consumed by Blaster were unlikely to want to rejoin the outfit, which left the 4th as little more than a shell of its former shadow.
During the victory ceremony the Prince Regent himself promoted Staceh to Colonel, with a new mandate, rebuild the 4th as an outfit flexible enough to perform the way his ragtag unit had at Itan.
Accepting the Vanu Star for Valour, the highest award in the Vanu Sovereignty, Colonel Staceh Bishop turned to face those assembled that day, in the front rows stood the remnants of the 4th Black Guard, the 59th Commando Engineers and the 16th Air Assault Brigade.
Staceh threw them a proud salute, a small tear forming in his eye, no longer was he stained by blood of Larzoss and the evils of others.
The assembly returned the salute and acclaimed in unison, “Hail Colonel Staceh, the Bridge Burner.”