Fate of Terra

Chapter 9.1 - Adaptation

Michael walked down the gunmetal corridor of the Intrepid, the clanging of his black combat boots echoing along with Kat's as she kept pace at his shoulder. The girls had long since decided what he wore each day and had designed him a special uniform to unveil at the ruins of the White House earlier. With the new recruits coming onboard and him needing to act in a professional capacity, it would become his standard daywear.

It was a black military outfit similar to what the other crew wore, but with some distinct alterations. Consisting of a knee-length overcoat embroidered with silver trimmings on the chest, sleeve cuffs, and raised collar. The jacket had a half mantle hanging over the left shoulder emblazoned with a silver eagle, wings outstretched, grasping the world in an outstretched talon, while the other shoulder glinted as a silver spiked epaulet.

The jacket was buttoned to emphasise the warrior's physique underneath while the lower trailing edges were retracted to leave only the tails dropping down to billow as he strode purposefully. There was even a silver chain for him to attach his katana. The boots were also only worn by those on the Intrepid in the infantry, who were in black fatigues.

Turning a corner, he thought back to how his day had unfolded.

* * * * *

The Intrepid hovered over what remained of the White House. President Whitmore and his staff had been rescued from the underground bunker and were standing on the lawn. Those members chosen to sit on the Council of Terra were arriving from around the world. Once everyone had assembled, Michael, Kat, Takeshi, and a six man security team led by Marcus went down to join the party.

Photos were taken and speeches were made. There was a contrast between the ruins, representing the devastation and loss of life the aliens had caused, and the Intrepid, representing humanities strength and future. Michael thought the 100 Furies flying overhead had been a nice touch...

Afterwards, his group, the council members, and their aides, all boarded shuttles and went up to the Intrepid. There, in his main conference room, they hammered out a constitution and defined the duties and powers of the Council. It was decided that the flag for the Council of Terra would portray the same olive wreath depicted on the UN flag. In between the two branches would lie the globe set above a blazing sun to represent humanity rising into the stars. When they'd finished they broke for lunch and then Michael left the room while they had their first meeting.

Coming back into the room, Michael was amused that their first resolution was for him to hand over all of his technology and capabilities, including the Intrepid and Pandora. They didn't seem to like it when he explained that the constitution they'd just signed defined him and all those under him as a completely separate entity and didn't abide by their rulings.

He'd help them along, of course; provide them with the language of the invaders that Pandora had deciphered so they could properly interrogate the prisoners and take apart their craft; give them the moon base he was building, once he'd extracted the necessary ore to build a space dock; he would do what he could to protect the planet from invasion using all of his resources and actively participate in its defense.

However he was not, about to turn over all of his work. With the captured ships the council would have access to the alien's energy system, along with weapons and shields, and even their faster-than-light travel. What they did from there was on them. Michael and Pandora, as well as the scientists and engineers that had chosen to join them, would develop their own technologies and if, at a later date, they wished to share them they would. But Michael was not going to simply roll over and be a pawn for a government that wouldn't even exist if not for him.

Oh, they argued, they threatened, they accused him of a lack of 'patriotism,' but in the end, there wasn't much they could do about it. So, they left, except for President- now Councilman- Whitmore and Councilman Matsushita who stayed to visit their daughters as Michael ordered the Intrepid to the moon. His aim was to oversee the construction bots while he and Aurora planned a route to take the ship for recruitment drives. On the moon there remained twelve of the invader's vessels of the four different classes.

Pandora had access to their medical scans so they knew the physiologies of the aliens and, thus, what chemicals knocked them out. It was then a simple process to construct a hose which Pandora allowed to access each of the ship's air supply and pump in the agent.