Author: Johannes "Jergen[K]" Cruz			Viewing: Chapter 4

Quadrant four of known space, those areas of the starmaps directly adjacent to the sol system, is known for it's brutality. It is little more than a ragged frontier, ruled over by the corporations and their own brand of militia. The only people that reside in the few colonies of this area are either the very poor or criminals that have been exiled from Earth and forced to go elsewhere. These squatters, each of them forming a community of the damned so to speak, are fiercely independent and loyal to one another. Their societies often exist within a compound no bigger than the smallest towns on earth, and if they are lucky they might have some means of contact with home. Every six months supply ships from Earth come into orbit with colony LX-477. The Freighters come into a high orbit, park, and wait for the shuttles from the planet to dock and begin operations. Freighters have a small crew, usually no more than 6 men and women, and they have no means with which to land in atmosphere. So, when one such ship arrived at the colony and received no beakon for rendevous, they had no way to contact the surface. Following standard company protocal they began a distress signal of their own. This done the crew of the Freighter went to their cryogenic chambers and placed themselves in hibernation. There was no need to age if one did not have to. *** Provisional Militia military units were usually composed of those few that either detested Earth politics, had no reason to serve in the main fleets, or liked the idea of higher wages more than that of duty. Being nearly mercenary, each unit equipped themselves with ammunition, supplies and men as they saw fit. Most operate within their own rank structures, training methodology and code of ethics. A very few of the militia were actually brought earthside to learn tactics from the Colonial Marines, but far more were left to their own ends to decide how to train their troops. Thus, militia ships were often as colorful as a festival, their fleets often having no tactical structure. Most of their ships were designed to be fast and inexpensive, unsuited for ship to ship combat because the enemy very rarely had a navy of their own. Out in the sticks of human evolution and expansion, these few were the only thing at least trying to keep some sense of civilization intact. Ever since the war began many units had renamed themselves to reflect their anti-xenophobe attitude. Thus, dozens of new charters came about under the rule of the different corporations that mined the worlds they were sent to protect. Among these were names such as: Bug Stompers, Divine Right, Alien Killers and Long Range Recon Patrol. Almost overnight dozens of new units emerged, some of them were rumored to be old pirate bands that had decided to go "legit" and earn a letter of Marquee and pardon from the Companies that sought them out. It was a contingent of one of these paramilitary groups that caught the distress call from LX-477. *** //Ship log LFRG-REAVER:DTG:210717:0320// //PRIORITY MESSAGE: TRANSMISSION SOURCE: FRE-HUMMEL'S DAWN, CON#3344332990047663// //MISSION STATUS:PARKED// //POSISTION:LX-477. CORPORATION OUTPOST:WEAPONS RESEARCH LABORATORY// //DISTRESS--DISSTESS--DISTRESS// The ship's computer, dubbed 'mother' because of the soft synthetic voice she used to speak to the crew of her ship, began the wake cycle on for her ship's crew. The 12 Marines and four pilots of the light frigate would be awake and ready in two hours, fully two days before they were to arrive at the outpost. *** Deep in the bowels of LV-477 a presence became aware. The awareness spread into the cold reaches of space, searching, reaching... Contact! There were those that would come here. There were those that would harm the hive. There were those that must be destroyed for the safety of the Mother-lifegiver. Shifting, the dark black exoskeleton of a hive warrior moved less than an inch as it settled back into it's burrow within the hollowed walls of it's hive-home. The Queen sent out calming pheremones, settling her many children so that they might rest themselves before the coming battle.