Milky Way Brigade

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I live in a standard lower class apartment common to most citizens of the United Confederacy of Earth. Ever since the government reforms of 2050 following the discovery of humans in other solar systems, all United Confederacy men and women are required to “sign up” for a social class. However it is much less signing up versus being born into poverty or riches. The required income for upper class was so extraordinarily massive, only politicians and businessmen could think of it. For everyone else, they receive lower-class accommodations. Meaning few food rations and small, cramped apartments. I come from a long line of atmospheric farmers, and my family has always been assigned to the moon. There are atmospheric farms all over our solar system, and to say moon farming was glamorous would be a severe mistake. In truth it was the worst. The moon is so dry and barren, even with the oxygen and hydro-logic generators we barely extract any water from the atmosphere. The top farming stations are located on Earth, but only the privileged are allowed to live on our home planet. Due to overpopulation, humankind had been forced to spread out all over the system. Naturally the wealthy would stay on the most beautiful and hospitable planet. I have also heard good things about Mars, but I would never be able to afford to go, especially since space taxis charge by the light-year.

Looking down at my electronic tablet, I begin to think about my life as a farmer. There are certainly many more options to earn a living than farming, but they are much more dangerous and are definitely things I could not see myself initiating. Atmospheric farming is not a respected line of work, but it is easily one of the most important jobs one could have. It is our job to extract water from the atmosphere, and convert those molecules into a material us farmers call "hydropops". I am quite unfamiliar with how the process works, but those particles are used to supply our armies with ammunition as well as dynamic armor systems. What I do know is that we cannot use standard water to create hydropops, because our scientists discovered long ago that the water in the air has a different structure than drinking water or ocean water. Whether or not that is true, however, is up for dispute. Some say that we do not use our drinking water for fear of water shortages, but it does not matter much to me since I get my food rations either way.

As for other lines of work open to me and other lowerclass folk, known as “commons”, the options come down to piracy and joining the Milky Way Brigade. Space piracy has been increasingly common since the price drop on spaceships and space travel, and it is their job to break Confederate law. Whether it be by blockading trade routes, capturing royal ships or just plain theft, they make sure that our solar system has a good balance of negativity and fear. Something which I appreciate, due to the constant advertisements in our homes and tablets that speak only about the irrefutable goodness of our galactic government as well as advertisements from Bo'rases Quick Burgers and other various things I can't afford to purchase. However since the main traits in an ordinary pirate are lack of humanity and an addiction to cigarettes, the only option left for me is the Milky Way Brigade.

The Milky Way Brigade is the multi-planet military of the United Confederacy. The United Confederacy of Earth consists of all the planets in our solar system as well as a few smaller bodies of rock outside of it. We compete with other solar systems in our galaxy for power, resources and money. Every nearby system seems to have engaged in war with each another at one point and it is always due to greed. If somebody were to ask me why our military was called the Milky Way Brigade, I would shrug and simply say that the United Confederacy is a little confident in its' long term goal of conquering everyone else in our galaxy.

To be honest, I have always considered joining the Brigade. The benefits are certainly there. You're able to travel around in space for free and engage in political discussions with your fellow soldiers while drinking coffee at your stations local coffeehouse. My lack of knowledge in the true aspects of the Brigade are shown most in my lackluster description. I do know for a fact that the military of our solar system is quite average. We lose just as many battles as we win and while that does not sound very promising, it is at least just enough for the citizens to keep their peace-of-mind.