THE FIREFALL TIMELINE

Svald, you are the three time consecutive champion of the Shanghai Annual Holmgang Challenge. What does it take to keep winning the way you do?

Really, it's not easy, as you know. You need a total commitment to excellence and a hard work ethic. These days, kids have it easy. Shit, I had it easy. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it's a great time to be alive, you know? But I'm lucky to have had a grandfather who reminded me not to take these things for granted, to find something I really enjoyed, and to pursue it as hard and as fast as I could. Without that drive, what I do would not be possible.

Some say that your crew is made up of the highest paid and most experienced techs in the sport and that they are the real reason for your success rather than your talent. What is your response to these allegations?

I love my crew. Let me say it again, I love them! I'm not a scientist, so what they do is like magic to me. They take these industrial and commercial frames, stuff that was never meant to be pushed as fast and hard as what we do to them, and then they gut the things, strip them all the way down to the skeleton to drop the weight. Then they bolt on the tech, the jump jets, the ability modules and concussive weapon systems. And the next thing you know, the whole thing transforms from a clunky loader to an agile extension of my body--an athlete and a warrior. We can't get our hands on the military models, but from my experience we get very very close. We're just limited by our power supplies, really. Once we figure out something like a portable fusion reactor, you'll see what we can do!

I don't think there has been a darker day in my life than the day that asteroid began its barrage on the Earth. We had thought it would pass us by. The trajectory was all wrong for a collision. My colleagues around the globe had agreed with the assessment that there would be a near-miss event, but that there was almost no chance the asteroid would collide with Earth. How could we all be so wrong? We watched in horror as the massive asteroid shattered as it passed the moon's gravitational well. By the time we figured out that the "near-miss" would become thousands of impact events, it was too late to do anything about it. People on the surface panicked. I can't blame them.

Unlike the great majority of known impact events, this asteroid did not crash directly into the Earth. Instead, due to its relatively slow speed and angle of descent, the asteroid was captured by the Earth's gravity and pulled into a low orbit where it collided with satellites, orbital tethers and anything else unfortunate enough to be in its path. Eventually, under the influence of orbital decay, it began to strew its remains across the Earth's surface.

We lost communication with our ground team shortly thereafter. All the information we have gathered since then has been from our earth-bound cameras and any stray radio signals that we can pick up. It's been about three months, and only now does it appear that the barrage is ending. What was once the asteroid is now just a jagged ring of dust, encircling the Earth like one of the rings of Saturn.

Brothers and sisters, the Firefall has ravaged our great country of its true leadership. It has unleashed enormous destruction that obliterated our once glorious capital and mighty cities. But even before our president and senators could be given a proper memorial, the Connies began conspiring for control of our country.

Like flies attracted to a rotting corpse, governors and politicians now circle over the remains of our government, vying to take power for themselves, their egotistic voracity only further fragmenting our great country.

Seeking to escape the long, hungry tentacles of these scavengers, Texas has seceded from the union, calling themselves the Republic of Texas. Following their lead, a unified South has also separated themselves from the carcass of the old United States, returning to their roots as the New Confederacy.

It is a travesty, my brothers and sisters. It is a travesty against all that America stood for to lose these patriots. And it is a travesty that it only took a few damn, greedy politicians to make it so. But take heart, there is still hope!

We will not lie idly by. Battle lines for war have been drawn. It is time for a second Civil War to bring this great country back to its former glory. While it is a sad thought to turn arms against fellow Americans, something must be done to stop the politicians, the Connies, in Chicago and the East. They falsely call themselves the Constitutional United States, but they are nothing more than looters, criminals and opportunists. Their corrupt "constitution" is nothing more than a stomach-curdling perversion of what our founding fathers laid onto paper so long ago.

Brothers and sisters, we encourage you to join the Guardians of America and fight for the reunification of your country. Together we will stand up against Connie and directly oppose their grab for power.

The Guardians are formed from the remnants of our nation's legitimate military. The very military that was appointed by our government before the devastating events of the Firefall. It is our job to take this country back, to reinstate the stability and prosperity of our former lives.

Since the first rock collided with our planet, we have steadfastly defended the West Coast from any and all threats, foreign and domestic, and in return your state governments have dedicated themselves to this war effort and to our cause.

Join us and help fight to reunite our great nation. Join us to fight for your families and for your homes. Join us to fight against the tyranny of the Connies.

Fear not, for we are certain to emerge victorious. Already, there are rumors of dissatisfaction with Chicago's so-called government, and the northeastern states are forming their own battle lines. Many of these "Yankee" soldiers have abandoned their posts and returned to their homes, uniting under the banner of the New England Union. It is only a matter of time before they join us in the fight against the CUS in Chicago. It is only a matter of time before we once again become a united nation.

Join the fight for your country. Enlist in the Guardians of America.

SECRETARY RUSCH: We are receiving reports that Spain, France and Germany are now rejecting our consulate's authority as inheritors of the Union's command. They are also no longer accepting refugees from other nations. The United Kingdom and Denmark are requesting aid.

KREUTZER: Why are they rejecting our authority?

RUSCH: Focusing on internal problems. They claim they don't have enough resources to give "sufficiently" to the Union.

KREUTZER: This is what is happening in the States, is it not?

RUSCH: Yes Sir. There are reports of at least four separate groups claiming governance. The United States appears to be facing a complete collapse.

KREUTZER: Damn it. It would seem we are to suffer the same fate. We cannot allow this to happen-- Commander Burgstaller, what is the status of the Armed Forces?

COMMANDER BURGSTALLER: We have forty battalions and six air squadrons completely intact and ready for duty. Are you suggesting we incorporate them in humanitarian missions?

KREUTZER: I am suggesting that we use the Armed Forces for war-- My friends, the European Union is at the threshold of complete anarchy. I will be damned if I allow Europe to fall back into the chaos and savage infighting that it took thousands of years to escape.

RUSCH: Sir, taking military action against our neighbors at such a time will only turn our allies against us.

KREUTZER: Mr. Rusch, if we do not take action, our allies will turn against us. If the world hates us for our actions, so be it. It is a price I would gladly pay if it means preserving the Union-- My reputation will die with me, but this is bigger than any one of us.

BURGSTALLER: What is our course of action then, sir?

KREUTZER: Mobilize your men. I want to launch an immediate attack on Germany and France. From there we will have a foothold to secure Spain and Norway. Afterward, we will shift to the east. I won't engage on two fronts if I can avoid it.

BURGSTALLER: Yes sir. When would you like the attack to begin?

KREUTZER: What day is today?

(inaudible response)

KREUTZER: We attack in three days. Make your men ready.

BURGSTALLER: We have neither the space nor supplies for prisoners, sir. What should we do with those that resist?

KREUTZER: Shoot them. Make an example of them.

BURGSTALLER: Sir, that would go against--

KREUTZER: Geneva no longer exists!-- Let history judge us all, but I will not let this union disperse into chaos.

Jemaine,

Thank you for your letter. When we last spoke, I was worried I'd never hear from you again. Thank you again for your help in getting my family to safety. I am forever indebted to you. I am sorry that I could not leave with you. These people here need me and I could not abandon them.

This year has been much worse than the last. We have almost completely run out of food. We're still trying to suss out a way to get the fishing boats out there, not that I expect much good will come of it as cold as it is. Dunedin has become a ghost town, only a quarter of those that didn't leave are still alive.

Temperatures rarely rise above freezing these days.

The last time I saw the sun was almost 4 years ago. I went to the solar fields yesterday to see if there was anything I could do to help. The sparkies were working as hard as they could, but not a single panel wasn't covered in soot and ash, another day wasted.

The old coal power plant near Highcliff isn't worth the stone it's made of. There it sits, rusting and crumbling like the decaying corpse of a once great beast. How the decisions of the past come back to haunt us. Save the Earth only to damn humanity.

We haven't had any form of power for over two years. I can't run any medical equipment. No electricity for lights. And worst of all, we do not have electricity to heat our homes. We ran out of trees for firewood nearly two months ago and we're running out of homes that still have wooden frameworks. I'm not sure how much longer we can last without help.

We've requested support from Wellington and the North Island. Medical supplies, food, evacuation, anything. We've heard bugger all in response though. From what we can tell in our radio communications with Christchurch and Nelson, it appears that the North Island has abandoned us. There are rumors that the Kiwi government is actually at war with the Aussies. But, I cannot believe these rumors to be true. It makes no sense. Jemaine, why on Earth would we be at war with Australia?

I hope this letter reaches you safely. Share my love with Susan. If you can, please send any supplies you can spare. I'm not sure how much longer we can survive.

-Murray Kearney

I think it's pretty absurd to debate which country was damaged most by the Firefall. I'll admit it was terrible across the world, but what happened in Japan. is incomparable.

I remember when the rock fell out of orbit. We could see it all the way from my hometown in Akita. We watched, mouths agape, as it silently smashed into Tokyo. Moments later the deafening roar of the city's destruction hit us. It didn't feel real until that point, but afterwards there was no doubt it had destroyed everything for hundreds of kilometers. They say that the blast wave was the same as two hundred atomic bombs but I don't know about this. All I know is that I did everything I could to get my family as far away from it as fast as possible.

We were lucky. We ended up on one of the final ships to leave Akita, a fishing boat. It took us up to Sapporo where we found ourselves anchored in the harbor for five months. The officials in Sapporo, they wouldn't let us dock, wouldn't take any more refugees. They said there was nowhere for us to go, there just wasn't enough room in the city. And I'll tell you what we believed them. The harbor was so packed that you could walk across without getting your feet wet.

It was a rough time. Being stuck in those conditions... With meteors still falling. Every night they would light up the sky. Occasionally a big one would hit the Sea of Japan and send rogue waves towards the harbor, sinking some of the smaller vessels.

The first chance I saw to get out, I took it. The only jobs that were open were in Tokyo of all places. I heard stories about how some crazy billionaire wanted to rebuild the city, calling it New Tokyo. I didn't care about his reasons, I just wanted a way to take care of what was left of my family.

Within a week of being hired as a general contractor I found myself at the job site. It was then that I figured out what they were calling New Tokyo was little more than a tent city. My entire family shared a ten by ten slab of concrete covered with a tarp. It wasn't ideal by any condition, but it was better than being refugees in a harbor.

I worked with a crew of five guys. In classic managerial fashion, we had all been provided workframes, but there was only enough electricity to run one of them at a time. At the time, the whole camp was powered by a converted steam-engine. There was barely enough electricity to keep us from freezing to death, let alone to run all the equipment. It made things tough, but we all had a job to do, so we rotated chargeups and then tried to conserve our energy over course of the week. We rarely made it more than two days without some sort of delay. Still, we did everything we could to get the job done.

The worst part about New Tokyo was the air. You couldn't work without a mask because of all the dust and ash floating around. I remember at the end of each day, I'd have a layer of dust and snow caked on to the filter of my mask making it difficult to even breathe. It was disgusting. I wouldn't let my family out of our tent without one.

The water was also damn disgusting. It was barely drinkable, tasted like it came from a plumbing trap. I ended most days at the bar.

I spent a lot of nights drinking sake. It was my escape. Helped me to pretend I was in Akita and forget about life in New Tokyo. Most nights were the same, a standard crowd doing the same thing I was.

One night, however, I got to share a glass of sake with Shigeru Ichizoku [CEO of Enermax Industries and primary investor of the rebuilding of New Tokyo] himself. It was a night I'll never forget. Ichizoku himself talking to a slouch like me. It must have been a sight to see...

[Ozu pauses to smile as he reflects on this]

I don't think most people understand what it was like for him. He had the weight of the whole country on his shoulders. The Firefall had shattered Japan and left its people without a home, but Ichizoku just couldn't let this happen. He had invested all his money into New Tokyo, hired tens of thousands of workers like me. Paid us. Gave our families something to eat... Somewhere to sleep. He gave us hope. And yet, he was failing. New Tokyo was failing.

I think it is impossible for someone like me to give someone like him advice. What the hell would I know that he didn't already. So I did the only thing I could think of. I bought him a drink and I listened.

The next day, he went to survey the meteorite. And he found something. He figured out something was strange about that damn rock.

The next thing I know, hundreds of scientists were showing up to do experiments on the asteroid rocks. We'd hear stories about how they hadn't seen anything like them. How the rocks broke the laws of physics. How they weren't effected by gravity quite like they ought to have been. Real strange stuff...

These stories went on for years with no real excitement or change. All I knew was that I had a job and my family had food on their plates. Then the EMP hit. [ed. An Electro Magnetic Pulse was caused by the first test of utilizing crystite as a power source] It brought our power-grid right down and fried electronics all over the place. One of the techs told me later he was fixing blown transformers for six months as far as ten kilometers outside of town.

That was the day that crystite boom started.

Within a month Ichizoku had us building a power plant that ran off the crystite. At the same time, Enermax began selling licenses for the process of using crystite for electricity. Suddenly it was like New Tokyo was a boom town or something. It was an exciting time, it was like we could finally see the sun rising after a terrible night.

Next thing I know, since we were the only ones that knew how to build the crystite power plants, my crew and I started getting job offers from all over the globe. I ended up taking one in Australia, working for Ashworth Electric. It was nice to finally get my family out of that dusty place. Not that Australia was much better.

[Ozu laughs jokingly]

As we were leaving, I ran into Ichizoku once more, he just happened to be at the docks as the same time as me. Believe it or not, Ichizoku actually remembered me. We talked for almost an hour about how crystite would bring peace to the world and how it would finally end these new dark ages. It was good to see a smile on his face. It's a smile that I'll always remember...

When we parted ways he shook my hand and wished me luck. It was the last time I saw Ichizoku, or Japan for that matter.

[Ozu pauses for a few moments as if he debated revealing the next part]

You know, I still lose sleep sometimes... I hate to imagine how he took it. You know, when he figured out how wrong he was.

I'm not sure what I expect from writing this. But at least it helps pass the time. I never thought that I'd be a part of something like this. We left port on a full dropship. Twenty men. hell, it was more like five men and fifteen boys. My brother had already done a few runs to Atlantis. He kept telling me how the waters were red with blood and the beaches were crushed bone instead of sand. I thought he was only trying to scare me. I was wrong.

We landed on the eastern shore. We'd almost completed our foxholes and forward encampment when they attacked. Out of no where mortar rounds started blowing all around us. The screams were nearly more than I could take as I watched my platoon burn to death. All I could do was hunker down and hope I didn't get hit.

It felt like hours, but only minutes later, I was picked up and pushed at the oncoming enemy. I'm still not sure who got me moving, but I can still remember them yelling "Fire your gun until you die, Keita!"

That's exactly what I did.

Plasma rounds and bullets shot past me nearly burning my ears off as I ran, screaming, up the embankment. I couldn't even see an enemy. I just fired and reloaded without thinking. All the while, I waited for one of those bullets coming my way to hit me and end it all.

By the time I reached the top of the hill, I was alone. I caught something moving out of the corner of my eye. On reflex, I turned and fired. It was an old man. Had to be at least sixty. I couldn't tell if he was a Neo-Dixie or a Euro. One of my shots must have hit his hydraulics because the leg of his frame kept twitching. The shot that count was just above his chest guard in the base of his neck.

As he lay there dying, I couldn't help but just stare. We both looked at each other with the same expression. what the hell are we doing here?

By the time the rest of the guys got to me, the battle was over. We secured the beach and cleared for the engies to come in to start harvesting crystite. Figures that they wouldn't send in any more dropships with reinforcements or even take out the wounded, all they wanted was that damn rock.

I was the last one left in my platoon. HQ reassigned me to a new one, but I hear they're fighting the Euros on the north side of the island and won't be here until tomorrow. I just want to go home.

One of the other guys said he saw the Morningstar last night. He said it is right above us, just waiting to launch an attack. I don't buy that though. I didn't see anything up there. And if they were up there, what in the hell would they be waiting for?

I remember some of my childhood in Athens, before the Firefall. The memories are only glimpses though. I remember my mother. I remember her taking me to the Parthenon, the Temple of Hephaestus, Mount Lycabettus. She wanted to show me the masterpieces of my ancestors. I remember the Olympic Stadium where my father would often take me to watch old football matches.

My family could trace its history in Athens nearly all the way to antiquity. So I'm sure you can imagine how tragic it was that my father and I were on holiday in London when the Firefall began. And with the War of Reunification and the invasion of Greece by Ivan [ed. Ivan is the slur used by the EU forces during the Crystite Wars to describe Russian forces], you can imagine how it felt for my father and I, knowing that we would not return home to our family.

I think it was around that time that my vendetta against Ivan began to grow. From that point on, I counted down the days until my eighteenth birthday. As soon as I could, I wanted to join the EU military and perhaps one day get a chance to liberate Greece.

Of course, that chance came during the Crystite Wars. At the Battle of Athens.

At the time I was a bomb-chaser aboard the E.U.S. Morningstar. Bomb-chasers were just like the old spitfire pilots that escorted bombers back in the twentieth century. The only differences were that we were escorting a mindless bomb and we were doing it at a couple thousand knots straight down. It was a ten-thousand-kilometer plunge from orbit towards the hard earth.

During Athens, I was flying an F-85 Remora. It was a cozy little two-man fighter that had a reinforced heat shield and secondary turret. It was great for bomb-chasing. My gunner was Ulmer McTish, a fiery little Irishman that could shoot the toes off a housecat with that turret. He was a good man, a good guy to have riding behind you.

The bomb we were chasing was headed straight for an Ivan missile battery in the middle of Athens and our job was to keep any sort of missile or bogie from shooting that bomb down prematurely. We were the first stage of the attack, if we didn't do our job in downing that battery, the jarheads riding the infantry bombs would be dead before they got their boots on dirt.

The Morningstar was already under attack the moment we were launched from our bay. From that point on, it was a ten thousand kilometer run towards the atmosphere and our road was filled with nothing but bogies and counter-missile attacks. Ulmer did a hell of a job keeping them off, I got a chance to take a few out myself. Our wingman, a guy named Briggs, did better than the both of us.

We made it to the blind dive with the bomb still falling on course. The blind dive was the point when you hit the atmosphere, when the plasma exploding off your ship is so bright, you can't see a thing. The moment we came out of the blind dive, however, that's when the real chaos began.

We found ourselves under fire from anti-air defenses, Pav-90 Valkyries, counter-missiles and even a few air mines. We had about a minute left in the chase at that point, but it seemed like the better part of an hour. We were spraying our gunfire like it was going out of business. Ulmer watched for any incoming projectiles to our sides, Briggs and I just worried about plowing an open path in front of us.

When the bomb was close enough, I broke off from the bomb hitting about ten G. I radioed for Briggs to check on. But. [ed. Nostromo appears visibly upset at this point]

After a bomb is delivered, since usually this put you in the middle of enemy territory, the job of a bomb-chaser instantly became doing as much damage as possible before making a run to friendly airspace. As our squadron leader said, "If you still got ammo, you still got a job to do."

So, Ulmer and I broke into combat with Ivan Valkyries.

We found a few decent dogfights. I downed four Ivans that day, almost made Ace. Ulmer downed a lot more. The battle over Athens was something out of this world. It reminded me of that old story, Clash of the Titans. It was truly an apocalyptic scene.

When we were out of ammo, I turned towards our pickup rendezvous. The route it was on took us right passed the Parthenon. I wanted to see it, after all those years, you know. As we passed over, all I saw was rubble. An Ivan Valkyrie had crashed right through it.

It was impossible to tell, but sometimes I dread to think that it was one of the Valkyries I was dog fighting that day.

As I'm sure you know, the Battle of Athens ended with the eventual liberation of Greece. About a year later, when I got a chance for leave, I returned to Athens to see the city again.

But, of all the places I visited with my parents, all that remained was Mount Lycabettus. Everything else had been destroyed during its liberation. After only a few days, I left and returned to duty early.

It was no longer the home I remembered, to this day, I haven't returned.

-Did you ever reunite with your mother and family?

During that trip, I went back to the house I grew up in...

[Nostromo pauses]

Or. where it used to be.

First, let me personally welcome you to the Omnidyne PR team! I know you share my excitement for the future of energy powered by crystite. As a new member of our Corporate Tours team, you are an important ambassador for the company, and an educator of the general public on this important new resource.

Crystite reactors now power nearly all developed nations and we are quickly introducing them to second and third tier nations on a monthly basis. Our micro reactors can be found in almost everything from vehicles all the way down to everyday conveniences such as consumer electronics and, yes, even the complementary Omnidyne lighter you received with your new hire gift package. Thanks to our research and our advanced procedure for refining crude crystite, Omnidyne has grown to be the leader in crystite technology!

Please review the following FAQ prepared by the company to answer the most pressing questions visitors commonly have on their tour of our energy facilities. It is imperative that you convey the knowledge contained here accurately and positively. You've all been chosen for your friendly, outgoing personalities and your mission is to align the public with a new understanding of the excitement, safety and efficiency associated with this powerful source of energy.

Welcome to the future!

Hadrian Ashworth Founder & CEO, Omnidyne Corporation

What is Omnidyne all about?

Based in Victoria, Australia, with branches located across the world, Omnidyne Corporation is the most successful crystite energy company on the planet. We are engaged in nearly every aspect of crystite power, including the building and operations of the world's most energy efficient crystite power plants, the trading of crystite between nations and even the mining and transportation of crude crystite ore.

How did Omnidyne get its start?

Omnidyne Corporation, formerly known as Ashworth Electric, was founded by its namesake, Hadrian Ashworth, during the coldest years of the Nine Year Winter. Ashworth Electric dedicated itself to solving the needs of millions of struggling Australians by buying and retrofitting abandoned and previously obsolete power plants to run off Australian coal reserves. In doing so, Ashworth Electric helped in making Australia one of the few nations that did not suffer momentous losses during the prolonged energy crisis.

How is crystite ore refined?

Crystite ore must be refined before it is used to produce energy. Omnidyne Corporation originally licensed the process of refinement from Shigeru Ichizoku's Enermax Industries, the discoverer of crystite as an energy source. Since then, Omnidyne has discovered many new ways to maximize crystite energy production, and keeps these techniques as a closely guarded trade secret.

How does a crystite reactor work?

Like the positive and negative potential of a battery, it is the difference between polar opposites that create energy. crystite is the positive of the battery. When the reactor is switched on and a mild current run through the ore, the negative momentarily appears on the other side of the reactor. This negative mass is the crystite's exhaust which becomes energized by the crystite in what we call the Shizuma Field. It is with the Shizuma Field that we can tap into the electromagnetic aspects that generate the massive amounts of energy we have become accustomed to.

Some say that crystite is a negative influence on the global community and has only led to greed and war. What makes Omnidyne any different?

Our staff at Omnidyne is united in our belief that crystite is a gift to our world rather than a curse. We believe it to be an element that is both unparalleled in its energy outputs as well as safer than any other known energy sources. We believe that the conflicts and violence attributed to crystite are not derived from the crystite itself but in fact the governments that seek to hoard and control the finite levels of crystite for themselves.

We believe that the cure for war is not the abandonment of crystite but instead the discovery of new sources of crystite. To quote our founder and CEO Hadrian Ashworth, "I believe wholeheartedly that a stable supply of crystite can only bring with it a stable world, free from the desperate demand of crystite."

Why is crystite safer than all other energy sources?

Crystite is 100% safe, non-toxic, non-polluting and produces far more energy than messy alternatives such as nuclear power or fossil fuels. Crystite requires no solar panels or wind turbines to blight our landscapes, and tiny amounts can be harnessed to power the most mundane means safely and effectively. There are no side effects from crystite power and no health risks from the energy it radiates.

How does Omnidyne plan to deal with the finite levels of crystite on Earth?

To further show our dedication to the needs of the global community, Omnidyne has invested enormously in the search for untapped crystite reserves. This search is not only taking place across the globe but also throughout the cosmos. We are united in our belief that if crystite came from the sky, there is bound to be more out there. If Omnidyne can find it, we are confident that our team of brilliant and accomplished engineers and scientists can find a way to mine it.

Alpha Prime was founded largely out of necessity. The incredible time and cost of transporting mass across interstellar distances would not otherwise be justifiable. It takes enormous amounts of energy to reach speeds even approaching one tenth of the speed of light, which is why our first probes were powered first by nuclear fusion, and then by nuclear pulse propulsion. Even so, it took the first crystite powered probes several years to arrive and map out Alpha Prime.

It was the advent of crystite reactors, with their incredible power output, that finally cut the trip down to more a more manageable seven to eight years. Even so, the mass of crystite required for each leg of the journey was enormous, requiring starships with mile long reaction chambers constructed and fitted entirely in orbit. It is for this reason that so few starships have ever been built, especially those with the power to actually leave the solar system.

It was, of course, crystite that drove the push to the stars. Crystite, not naturally occurring on Earth, is born of interesting star stuff and sprinkled sparingly through the universe. The devastating Firefall event deposited a generous amount of the blue crystals on Earth, but if mankind wanted more, it would have to venture outside the solar system.

It was Hadrian Ashworth, the Omnidyne mogul, who led the movement. He founded the colonizing subsidiary, Centauri Company as a part of Omnidyne and sold shares to major governments in exchange for mineral rights to any crystite found in the Alpha Centauri binary-star system. By doing so, the Centauri Company amassed the huge sums required to build the ships that would eventually colonize the distant star. More importantly, it pushed the world into a united ceasefire as nations were forced to work together for their common good.

Alpha Prime was discovered thanks to the very asteroid that nearly destroyed us. By understanding the small differences in the way crystite reacts to gravity, Omnidyne scientists were able to discover that the asteroid was not in an elliptical pattern around our solar system. By recalculating the reverse trajectory of the Firefall Asteroid before it collided with Earth, they were able to map the asteroid's path back to Alpha Centauri. Confident enough to invest in its hypothesized trajectory, Omnidyne next sent crystite powered probes to further investigate the system. By pure luck, or the anthropomorphic principle, depending on your beliefs, spectral scans were done on Alpha Centauri with an emphasis specifically on Centuari A. The scans revealed the presence of overwhelmingly more crystite, located in captive planetary debris, forming a ring and circling a marginally habitable planet we now call Alpha Prime.

Three colony ships were built for the voyage. Led by the CMS Ichizoku, all of the ships were fully dismantled upon arrival to provide the raw materials and habitats for the new colonists. With a total population of over 3500 individuals, the tested genetic pool showed sufficient diversity to become self-sufficient and for robust population growth to begin...

(Dr. Greenfield looks over her glasses at the students)

That means sex and children.

(The room erupts in laughter)

The colonies are tailored specifically for the mining and extraction of crystite from Alpha Prime's planetary rings. The first freight ship to leave and return, the CMS Victoria, arrived back at Earth only three years ago. It was a full eighteen years after the launch of the Ichizoku.

To ship ore more frequently, and to bring news, supplies and a semblance of order to the colonies, two massive starships were constructed: the CMS Aegis and the CMS Wei-Ling. The next shipment of crystite, aboard the Aegis, is still eight years away from today. Meaning it's a staggering eleven years between shipments.

The ships are intended to eventually operate on seven year rotational cycles. When one ship is arriving at Alpha Prime, another is returning to Earth, carrying a precious cargo of crystite to be unloaded and dropped planet-side, quite literally, to fuel our hungry economies. Of the six starships ever built, the Aegis, Wei-Ling and Victoria are the only three currently in operation. There is enormous pressure from Centauri Company shareholders to develop a faster way to ship crystite.

Now, in addition to the issues of profit, the management and development of remote colonies is extremely difficult. Made more so by the four year transmission time for messages between planets. These types of remote challenges haven't been encountered since the 16th and 17th centuries when the British Empire attempted to control roughly a quarter of Earth's available land mass and over 480 million souls. Which, of course, did not work out so well for the British.

It therefore seems inevitable that issues of independence and the tensions that accompany them will take their natural course, and that the colonies on Alpha Prime will one day cut their ties with Earth and form humanity's first extra-solar sovereign nation. Such a nation would have an exceeding amount of influence, given its control over crystite production. A point not lost on both Omnidyne executives and investing nations.which may explain the tremendous effort being expended by the Centauri Company to develop a faster than light warship.

Make no mistake, the Arclight, albeit currently cast in the mold of humanity's next great triumph of science, is indeed a warship... armed and designed to project Earth's authority over this distant colony and its most valuable resource, hence the capacity to carry an entire marine division, known as the Centauri Accord. Of course, only time will tell if Omnidyne's technology and strategy is enough to overcome the lessons of history.

Doctor Mitra Batsheba, Cambridge 2227 Doctorate Graduate, is the lead science officer on the development and build-out of the CMS Arclight. Being schooled in a variety of sciences, she is widely considered to be one the brightest minds of our time.

Mitra Batsheba was born to a pair of affluent professors teaching in Rasht, New Persia. "My parents were a great influence on me as a child. Both of them believed in peace as an achievable goal and supported the idea of a global community. They pushed me to cherish cultural diversity and to think about things logically with a critical mind," Mitra said during an interview with the Journal last autumn.

Mitra's mother, Zahra Batsheba, was a well established biochemist and her father, Hadi Batsheba, a tenured theoretical mathematician teaching at the University of Rasht, in what was once Iran. With a strong influence in science, Mitra found herself under constant instruction. This, in combination with her natural genius, helped propel her to a life of unrivaled academic success.

In the wake of the ceasefire of the Crystite Wars, Mitra left her homeland to attend school at Stanford University where, with a full ride academic scholarship at the young age of only sixteen, she double majored in applied physics and chemistry. Mitra explained, "It was important for my parents that I experience the world to avoid the 'New Persian propaganda', as they call it. I was lucky enough to get accepted to Stanford."

From there she pursued a master's degree in quantum physics from Australian National University where she also interned for Omnidyne Corporation. Upon graduation, Mitra Batsheba was hired on full time by Omnidyne Corporation as an associate researcher while she began work on her doctorate in theoretical physics here at the University of Cambridge.

Mitra offered a few insights to her work at Omnidyne Corporation while studying at Cambridge, "During my time at Cambridge, I was fortunate enough to work on many projects for Omnidyne, including the in-depth study on the properties of crystite exhaust. It was quite fascinating. The exhaust would, under the right circumstances, absorb and transform microscopic levels of carbon. I came to call the process 'melding' in my notes."

The term melding has since become widely used amongst the scientific community to describe crystite exhaust. Though Batsheba was only able to make minimal headway on understanding melding, her work did gain the attention and respect of Omnidyne executives.

Batsheba's most well known accomplishment came with the proving of her own doctorate thesis. Titled "Precision Arcfolding", Mitra Batsheba's thesis proclaimed that if given enough concentrated energy, arcfolding could act as a viable and practical form of long distance travel.

Arcfolding is a means of using high levels of energy to fold time and space in on itself, effectively creating a wormhole capable of transporting matter large distances in a matter of seconds. Early forms of arcfolding required massive amounts of energy to transport relatively small objects only a few kilometers away. As the technology was further developed, arcfolding could be accomplished with larger, more complex materials and sent farther distances. However, it quickly reached a technological plateau, becoming notoriously unreliable in its accuracy.

Further discounting it as a viable form of long distance travel was, as coined by the famed 22nd century theoretical physicist Kenneth Spig, the jaunt. The jaunt is the actual journey through arcfolded space, where matter becomes exposed to an "absolute void between points". As a result of this exposure, matter will arrive at its destination with a surface temperature near that of absolute zero. This prevented the transfer of many objects, specifically those that were water based, volatile, inherently brittle or organic.

"I was never a fan of anyone telling me that something was impossible", Mitra said. "With the help of the Cambridge science lab and Omnidyne, I was able to create a shield of energy that protects organic matter from the void. Our first successful test involved arcfolding a living mouse from Cambridge to San Francisco with only a location deviation of 0.2 millimeters."

When news of this breakthrough hit the scientific community, Doctor Batsheba was immediately promoted to lead science officer, her current position, on the development and build-out of the Arclight, Omnidyne's long abandoned concept for a starship capable of faster than light travel.

I was recruited by the Centauri Company to work on Alpha Prime. They were planning to open a university in Ichizoku City for the college aged children of Alpha Prime colonists to attend. The position was for the head of the history department and the pay outmatched anything on Earth. Ever since my childhood, I dreamed of seeing other worlds. It didn't take long for me to accept.

I departed for the CMS Arclight from Smoke Mountain, Brazil where I had the opportunity of riding the famous Tower of Icarus. Omnidyne retrofitted Smoke Mountain's existing orbital tether into the largest lift in history. Named the Tower of Icarus for the Arclight's dare to reach Alpha Prime through Arcfolding, it acted as the backbone for transporting the ship's frame and components to orbit for assembly at an orbital shipyard.

Having a fear of heights, the ride quickly became unnerving as we rose high above Brazil. But as the ride continued and the ground began to blur into a great panorama of South America, my fears began to subside and my attention shifted to what was above me. The Arclight was a massive island of technology floating peacefully in space. It was an uncanny thought to believe that this leviathan was made by the hands of man in a span of only a few years.

The Arclight was larger than the CMS Aegis, Victoria and Wei-Ling combined. The dual crystite-powered reactors that fueled its enormous arcfolding engine required enormous amounts of space. It was said that the engine, known as the Schwarzschild 1 was designed to give a higher output of energy than the Sun during a five-second burst. Of course, this amount of energy required vast amounts of crystite which only added to the ship's gargantuan size.

When I reached the apex of the orbital tether, I was escorted, along with a group of fellow passengers, to a series of gondolas where we awaited our turns to be cleared to board the Arclight. Security seemed fairly tight, which is understandable due to the magnitude of the operation in both size and importance, but I managed to pass through fairly easily with a quick biometric scan.

As I boarded the Arclight I was shown my quarters, a cozy one room cabin that I am sharing with a geologist from India. After getting settled in, I decided to explore the ship a little.

I quickly discovered that the Arclight was nothing less than an orbital city with everything from small convenience stores to bars. It even contained a working tram system. I have heard that the Aegis and Wei-Ling were also equipped with such commodities, but I can't imagine that they could have been much more accommodating than what was on the Arclight.

During my time, I stopped by a coffee shop with a large window that overlooked Earth. There I had the pleasure of talking with a mechanic that had been working on the Arclight for over a year. He was polite enough to tell me about the building of the vessel. I was interested to learn that Omnidyne's claims were true about the ship requiring the cooperation of the entire planet. Nearly one hundred thousand workers from across the globe were hired and brought in to work on the project, helping build both the actual ship as well as its supplemental components.

He went on to tell me about the captain of the ship, a joint-nation appointed Texan named Thomas Knox. Knox is an experienced naval captain from the Republic of Texas. I look forward to the opportunity of perhaps meeting him during my time on the Arclight. He is reputed to be very polite and cordial, it would be interesting to get his account of the Crystite Wars.

After this conversation with the mechanic, I decided to take a self guided tour of the rest of the ship. I however didn't get very far. Most of the Arclight is dedicated to military purposes and is restricted to civilian access. The muscle behind the military is made up of an entire division of the 'Centauri Accord': a joint-nation military force that is intended to protect the interests of the colony's investors. After some small talk with an MP, I became well informed that there are no 'green-soldiers' in the Centauri Accord. The entire unit consists of veterans who were hired directly by the Centauri Company after their service in their respective militaries had ended.

On my way back to my cabin, I laughed at the thought that at least we would be safe from a surprise Martian attack. Of course, I think this show of military power is a little much for the colonists of Alpha Prime.

Returning to my cabin I decided to flip through a pamphlet that was set out on the desk. Acting in concession with Captain Knox as the Centauri Company appointed military overseer was an even more capable man; Admiral Orestes Nostromo. I remember hearing stories about the admiral during my research on the Crystite Wars. It is an understatement to say that he is anything but a national hero amongst the European Union.

I was also delighted to see that once in deep orbit a formal tribute to the ship would be held. Attendees would include Doctor Mitra Batsheba, an acquaintance whom I had met a few times during my time at Cambridge, Omnidyne executives and representatives of Centauri Company investors. I don't see a mention of Hadrian Ashworth being present at the ceremony, but still I think it would be an interesting event to attend. At the very least it will be interesting to meet with a very multinational assembly.

The ship departs from orbital dock to reposition itself in deeper orbit tomorrow. From there we will begin our journey through multiple jaunts to reach Alpha Prime. We are scheduled to reach our destination in about eight days.

I can't help but feel as if the tensions and hatreds created since the Firefall are finally being forgiven.

For once the world below us seems overcome with hope.

Aris Holden - Historian