NationStates Jolt Archive

'Look at her...sure is a far sight from Mars, eh?' said Kluft as he sipped at a cold cup of coffee, his face twisting as the bitter taste of the drink hit him.

Colonel Kluft was of course referring to New Home, the world he and hundreds of millions had come so far to make their new home. Fleet General Lyboc, as usual, was completely taciturn, only grunting in response to Kluft.

The Aumanii Battlespace Dominator Hydra, and her task force, had been assigned to defend this far flung colony, located in a galaxy, named in a scientific pattern of random numbers and letters that no one bothered to remember, far from home. Over eight hundred million civilians had fled Mars for many reasons, mostly lack of work...the planetary market was overcrowded and the economy had a hard time keeping up, supplying jobs was nearly impossible...

That was until this galaxy was found, seemingly untouched by the all too familiar powers...and most conveniently, located at the tail of a wormhole. The opportunity for resource gathering was infinite, the opportunity for employment was undeniable.

However, finding a planet worth settling wasn't an easy process. It took months of surveys to locate New Home, and even then it was forecast that the world wouldn't be as rich in resources as the optimistic settlers would have anticipated...The planet was rich in forests, which along with many lakes and rivers, dotted the plains of New Home. The planet looked dusty and yellow, with vast black patches, from orbit, no where near as beautiful as Earth or even Mars...The place was damned cold, but humid and hot during the short summers...not something your typical Martian was used to, no doubt the settlers would spare no complaint for the government.

'The Civilians can begin the descent as soon as they wish...' said Fleet General Lyboc, indifferent. Lyboc's XO, Colonel Menfi, a Turk by ethnicity, repeated his Commander's order...but with more enthusiasm, and cursing.

Soon, the gargantuan colony ships began a slow, meandering, descent to the world. Some of the ships approached forests to start logging camps, others to the plains for farming...and even more to the lakes and rivers to facilitate fishing...assuming this planet even had edible sealife, or any at all.

Contrasting heavily with the lumbering civilian vessels were the small, quick moving, fightercraft that streaked towards the landing sites, followed closely by much larger troop ships. They were to secure to landing zones, a mere formality...a reflexive procedure taken by Lyboc and his Army counterpart, former Dictator of Auman, General Sheikh Navarrone.

'Better safe than sorry.', that being said by Navarrone's entourage of Army staffers like some highschool motto.

Lyboc, Navarrone and Kluft all stood together, watching the fleet move about a large, floating, holographic representation of the planetary system, quietly.

Fleet General Lyboc had only recently recovered from wounds he had suffered during the ambush on the Gorgon, an experience that left him completely broken as an officer. His assignment, like Navarrone's, was a way of keeping them out of the high intensity Solar theatre and let them live out the rest of their careers in relative peace and gain their full pensions...

Flight Captain Kluft, however, volunteered for this post...the man fancied himself a bit of an adventurer, joining the military to "Travel the galaxy. Meet new people...and kill them!"

For the sake of Lyboc and Navarrone, hopefully the younger Pilot won't get his wish...

Several Months Later...

Snow was crunching under their feet, steadily, for miles they walked along the banks of the River Golobulus which had iced over several nights ago. To their left were rows of dark, twisted, trees. Fog filtered ominously from the dark forest, you could barely see further than fifteen feet in any direction...the children swore they could see wolves waiting for them in the mist.

'Daddy, I don't like it here. How much longer?' complained a young girl, held tightly by her mother. Darryl, patriarch of the Kleboldt family shushed his daughter. Drake clutched an old rifle in one hand and held onto the strap of his backpack with the other, the man was carrying well over a hundred pounds. After awhile, and much more walking, the family struggled over a snow bank. Darryl had given his only pair of snow shoes to his wife, Anne, so she could carry their daughter Lena. Drake came to the crest of the bank shortly after his wife and daughter who scaled it much easier than him. Drake nearly slipped and fell to one knee, relieved himself of his pack and said...

'This is our new home. Not to bad eh? I made it myself.'

'It's wonderful, so big!' said Anne. Lena clapped clumbsily, she was 4 years old after all.

The log cabin that Darryl had brought his family to was modest by most standards, but when you considered that a 400 square foot apartment cost an arm and a leg back on Mars it was a great huge mansion to alot of the homesteaders. Intergalactic warships circled overhead, contact with VASCNET was still active and communication between hundreds of worlds, colonies and military formations was still very active, but in contrast most of the people below lived a very basic lifestyle. Those who could adapt moved out into the wilderness and staked claims to huge parcels of land, the population quickly started to move away from the first cities that landed, which were basically the broken down hulls of the colony ships that brought them to New Home. People made their livings whatever way they could. Gold panning, an antiquated practice by Galactic standards, provided a decent wage and started a modest trade in Jewellry and started the basis for the fledgling colonies economy. Fishermen, hunters and trappers all sold their goods in the cities for what ever they could get for them.

However, supplies from elsewhere in Auman were sparse. The colonies were adapting however. New Home was a rich world, it provided everything humanity could ever need to survive, if not flourish. The difficulty in this case was taking advantage of the worlds vast resources. The sweeping mountain ranges held many minerals, but the Aumanii hadn't the equipment to mine them. The lush forests held many trees to harvest for shelter, not to mention the game to be had. The many lakes and rivers provided fish, so much fish, for the Aumanii to eat. If it were not for the bitter winters, this world would be a paradise...The Aumanii have barely even begun to explore this planet and they've already found enough to sustain their population for a trillion years.

The Kleboldt family entered the cabin, which was sparsely furnished. Darryl had spent all his money getting them to New Home and in the end all he could afford were a few bedrolls and a wood burning stove, as well as a few other essentials. The Aumanii homesteaders were free, finally, of the cramped cities and pollution of Mars. Life was basic. Life was hard, but it would get better.