A subspace radio transmission is being broadcast throughout much of known space, apparently relayed between hundreds of ships and then broadcast into the void of space for all to hear. There also have been reports of several worms are also spreading throughout a significant number of civilian and entertainment networks, carrying a data packet with the video file attached.
At first there is no video feed; merely a woman's voice.
"To all receiving vessels: Flash traffic, priority zero one three. I say again, all receiving vessels set this broadcast as highest traffic priority."
A video feed begins to transmit, showing a young woman in a pressure suit sitting on a pile of rubble. A crumbling city situated inside a large cavern can be seen in the background, much of it crushed by what appears to be the caved-in cavern roof.
"This is a day of grieving day for all children of the stars. Only moments ago a Yamataian warfleet arrived in the system and indiscriminately slaughtered the inhabitants of system without discretion. This is the story of the Dispossessed, the Unwanted, and the Invalids that once dwelled on Halna. This is our story."
The camera cuts to a Yamataian battlegroup jumping into the system. These vessels immediately begin breaking formation and cutting down any ships that happen to be in orbit near the planet.
"As you can see from the camera drone's recording, the Yamataian butchery began without so much as a moment of hesitation. These brave spacefaring souls were cut down without even being given chance surrender, never mind flee or fight. This of course was especially devastating for one of our own Freespacer caravans that had stopped for emergency propulsion system repairs in high orbit. The Sanguine Stargazers, as the fleet was known, had its Mothership moored in high lunar orbit at the time of attack."
The camera cuts to a brief clip in which a Yamataian gunship fires aether burst at the superstructure of the city ship, which cuts straight through the vessel. For a moment the scene seems almost surreal; the ship continues to drift in orbit in spite of the gaping breach carved through its center, as if nothing had happened at all. However, a brief moment later several secondary explosions ripped through the superstructure, and the cityship began a fiery descent into the atmosphere. The scene then returns to the young woman.
"Projections indicate the Nursery Module was destroyed by the initial blast, thus sparing the children aboard from being burned alive during reentry. However, the rest of the crew was not as fortunate. Last supply roster indicated there were approximately 247,300 Spacers house aboard the Mothership, though at least five percent of that population was planetside and remains unaccounted for."
Her eyes drop for a moment.
"No hope remains for even the few of us that have survived since the loss...the loss of our Genebank and Nursery module aboard the Mothership means...means..." She choked back a sob, and took a deep breath. With a tone of bitterness in her voice she spat the words, "It means never again will the sounds of children be heard throughout the Sanguine Stargazer caravans. Nothing remains for us but to wallow in despair for our forgotten future. The only hope that remains for us is that our loss will not be in vain -- that this genocide will serve as a warning for other caravans so that they may prepare for the coming storm that follows in the wake of these Yamataian fascists!"
A second figure in a pressure suit quietly helps her off-camera, then after a long moment, takes her place to continue the report. The reflective visor of the suit is pulled down so as to hide this person's face, but the raspy voice reveals that it is an older man. The slight quivering in his tone also reveals that he, too, is disturbed by recent events.
"I apologize for that. It has been a long day for all of us, not just the Stargazers. Things were just as bad planetside, you see. The Yamataian raiding forces began killing people indescriminately regardless of affiliation, trade, or race. Aether bombardment from high orbit also depressurized several entire levels of the subterranian complex, which left a large part of the population to die from asphyxiation and exposure due to Halna's lack of atmosphere."
"Collective reports began trickling in to the local Node Nexus by the end of the invasion, which quickly concluded that the majority of the lunar facility -- and its population -- would be destroyed by the initial Yamataian assault. Knowing that there was little left to lose the Node authorized a sector-wide nuclear weapons release to launch a retaliatory strike. With the aid of several Savant Tactical Computers and shipyard technicians, the civilian militia managed to arm and launch several EMP-nuke class starship cruise missiles through the tunnels into fallen sectors containing enemy power armor units."
The video feed changes to an overhead camera scene showing several Mindys moving from building to building through what used to be an alley, now littered with debris from crumbling structures. Several turn their attention towards the end of the street where a tunnel entrance begins to glow with a dull orange light that steadily grows brighter and brighter. Finally a dull roar and a blurred shape reveals the light is actually the thruster flame from a cruise missile about two meters long. The Mindys see the missile streaking overhead and they begin to launch into the air and flee in every direction, but a split-second later a radius of several city blocks is promptly obliterated, along with the camera drone recording the scene. The recording ends and the video feed finally turns back to the reporter.
"Bear in mind we are not merciless butchers like the YSE. Nuclear weapons were only employed in evacuated sectors of the city, or those in which Yamataian orbital bombardment had already killed 90% or more of the population. Yet, in spite of their restraint, these brave comrades managed to inflict terrible losses back onto the Yamataian butchers. They made them return in kind what they have extracted in the blood of our people."
"But perhaps more importantly, the resulting explosions also caved in large sections of the subterranian tunnels -- which along with ionizing radiation and local ECM emitters, managed to hide several sectors of the Halna city from the slaughter. I sincerely hope that my far flung kin will hold an honor ceremony is being held for these brave souls, both privateer and Spacer, whose tenacious resistance is a shining example of the bravery of our entire civilian militia on Halna."
The man lets out a long sigh as if the toll of today's events had no only weathered his body, but the core of his soul as well.
"We, as a race of children of the stars, began in carnage. We were the dispossessed and invalids who grew tired of fighting, and instead chose to begin again far from the war and strife that had befallen us. Some of us, myself included, still clung to the slimmest of hopes that this peace would last...but where there is power there will be corruption, as the Yamataian fascists have clearly demonstrated."
The figure leaned forward and pulled back the reflective visor of his suit. The man's appeared in his early fifties, yet the dark rings beneath his eyes and his weather-worn face made him seem much older than that. Indeed his very expression seemed to hint that he had lived through much more than he would have liked to, and that he was not a man who was at peace with himself.
"Brothers and sisters, children of the stars, we will never be left to live our lives in peace until the last Empress has been strangled with the entrails of the last Taisho. I beg of you, my far flung kin, the first of you to receive this transmission initiate a referendum on my behalf for the mobilization of the Free State."
"To our distant cousins, our fellow spacefaring races: We held out hope that the Yamataian dictators had given up their long, bloody history of conquest and slaughter. We were wrong. As they have demonstrated in the past, and even today, they will stop at nothing to ensure their dominance over the free peoples of the stars. How long until the YSE fascists end up desecrating your own world as on Kohana? How long until your cities are reduced to smoldering ruins as on Lor? How long until your people are butchered indiscriminately as on Halna? Or worse yet, how long until you are visited by Useu the Genocidal and have your worlds utterly demolished as on the douzens of Mishhuvurthyar worlds? How long will you live in fear of the Yamataian fascist state?"
Under his breath he mutters the addendum, "By what right do they call the Mishhuvurthyar monsters? Even the Mishhu had the civility to restrain from obliterating douzens of planets."
The older man pauses for a moment as he tries to find what to say next. After a moment his expression turns to one of hardened resolve.
"Now I ask of you, my distant cousins: How long until you stand up and fight?"
End transmission.
At first there is no video feed; merely a woman's voice.
"To all receiving vessels: Flash traffic, priority zero one three. I say again, all receiving vessels set this broadcast as highest traffic priority."
A video feed begins to transmit, showing a young woman in a pressure suit sitting on a pile of rubble. A crumbling city situated inside a large cavern can be seen in the background, much of it crushed by what appears to be the caved-in cavern roof.
"This is a day of grieving day for all children of the stars. Only moments ago a Yamataian warfleet arrived in the system and indiscriminately slaughtered the inhabitants of system without discretion. This is the story of the Dispossessed, the Unwanted, and the Invalids that once dwelled on Halna. This is our story."
The camera cuts to a Yamataian battlegroup jumping into the system. These vessels immediately begin breaking formation and cutting down any ships that happen to be in orbit near the planet.
"As you can see from the camera drone's recording, the Yamataian butchery began without so much as a moment of hesitation. These brave spacefaring souls were cut down without even being given chance surrender, never mind flee or fight. This of course was especially devastating for one of our own Freespacer caravans that had stopped for emergency propulsion system repairs in high orbit. The Sanguine Stargazers, as the fleet was known, had its Mothership moored in high lunar orbit at the time of attack."
The camera cuts to a brief clip in which a Yamataian gunship fires aether burst at the superstructure of the city ship, which cuts straight through the vessel. For a moment the scene seems almost surreal; the ship continues to drift in orbit in spite of the gaping breach carved through its center, as if nothing had happened at all. However, a brief moment later several secondary explosions ripped through the superstructure, and the cityship began a fiery descent into the atmosphere. The scene then returns to the young woman.
"Projections indicate the Nursery Module was destroyed by the initial blast, thus sparing the children aboard from being burned alive during reentry. However, the rest of the crew was not as fortunate. Last supply roster indicated there were approximately 247,300 Spacers house aboard the Mothership, though at least five percent of that population was planetside and remains unaccounted for."
Her eyes drop for a moment.
"No hope remains for even the few of us that have survived since the loss...the loss of our Genebank and Nursery module aboard the Mothership means...means..." She choked back a sob, and took a deep breath. With a tone of bitterness in her voice she spat the words, "It means never again will the sounds of children be heard throughout the Sanguine Stargazer caravans. Nothing remains for us but to wallow in despair for our forgotten future. The only hope that remains for us is that our loss will not be in vain -- that this genocide will serve as a warning for other caravans so that they may prepare for the coming storm that follows in the wake of these Yamataian fascists!"
A second figure in a pressure suit quietly helps her off-camera, then after a long moment, takes her place to continue the report. The reflective visor of the suit is pulled down so as to hide this person's face, but the raspy voice reveals that it is an older man. The slight quivering in his tone also reveals that he, too, is disturbed by recent events.
"I apologize for that. It has been a long day for all of us, not just the Stargazers. Things were just as bad planetside, you see. The Yamataian raiding forces began killing people indescriminately regardless of affiliation, trade, or race. Aether bombardment from high orbit also depressurized several entire levels of the subterranian complex, which left a large part of the population to die from asphyxiation and exposure due to Halna's lack of atmosphere."
"Collective reports began trickling in to the local Node Nexus by the end of the invasion, which quickly concluded that the majority of the lunar facility -- and its population -- would be destroyed by the initial Yamataian assault. Knowing that there was little left to lose the Node authorized a sector-wide nuclear weapons release to launch a retaliatory strike. With the aid of several Savant Tactical Computers and shipyard technicians, the civilian militia managed to arm and launch several EMP-nuke class starship cruise missiles through the tunnels into fallen sectors containing enemy power armor units."
The video feed changes to an overhead camera scene showing several Mindys moving from building to building through what used to be an alley, now littered with debris from crumbling structures. Several turn their attention towards the end of the street where a tunnel entrance begins to glow with a dull orange light that steadily grows brighter and brighter. Finally a dull roar and a blurred shape reveals the light is actually the thruster flame from a cruise missile about two meters long. The Mindys see the missile streaking overhead and they begin to launch into the air and flee in every direction, but a split-second later a radius of several city blocks is promptly obliterated, along with the camera drone recording the scene. The recording ends and the video feed finally turns back to the reporter.
"Bear in mind we are not merciless butchers like the YSE. Nuclear weapons were only employed in evacuated sectors of the city, or those in which Yamataian orbital bombardment had already killed 90% or more of the population. Yet, in spite of their restraint, these brave comrades managed to inflict terrible losses back onto the Yamataian butchers. They made them return in kind what they have extracted in the blood of our people."
"But perhaps more importantly, the resulting explosions also caved in large sections of the subterranian tunnels -- which along with ionizing radiation and local ECM emitters, managed to hide several sectors of the Halna city from the slaughter. I sincerely hope that my far flung kin will hold an honor ceremony is being held for these brave souls, both privateer and Spacer, whose tenacious resistance is a shining example of the bravery of our entire civilian militia on Halna."
The man lets out a long sigh as if the toll of today's events had no only weathered his body, but the core of his soul as well.
"We, as a race of children of the stars, began in carnage. We were the dispossessed and invalids who grew tired of fighting, and instead chose to begin again far from the war and strife that had befallen us. Some of us, myself included, still clung to the slimmest of hopes that this peace would last...but where there is power there will be corruption, as the Yamataian fascists have clearly demonstrated."
The figure leaned forward and pulled back the reflective visor of his suit. The man's appeared in his early fifties, yet the dark rings beneath his eyes and his weather-worn face made him seem much older than that. Indeed his very expression seemed to hint that he had lived through much more than he would have liked to, and that he was not a man who was at peace with himself.
"Brothers and sisters, children of the stars, we will never be left to live our lives in peace until the last Empress has been strangled with the entrails of the last Taisho. I beg of you, my far flung kin, the first of you to receive this transmission initiate a referendum on my behalf for the mobilization of the Free State."
"To our distant cousins, our fellow spacefaring races: We held out hope that the Yamataian dictators had given up their long, bloody history of conquest and slaughter. We were wrong. As they have demonstrated in the past, and even today, they will stop at nothing to ensure their dominance over the free peoples of the stars. How long until the YSE fascists end up desecrating your own world as on Kohana? How long until your cities are reduced to smoldering ruins as on Lor? How long until your people are butchered indiscriminately as on Halna? Or worse yet, how long until you are visited by Useu the Genocidal and have your worlds utterly demolished as on the douzens of Mishhuvurthyar worlds? How long will you live in fear of the Yamataian fascist state?"
Under his breath he mutters the addendum, "By what right do they call the Mishhuvurthyar monsters? Even the Mishhu had the civility to restrain from obliterating douzens of planets."
The older man pauses for a moment as he tries to find what to say next. After a moment his expression turns to one of hardened resolve.
"Now I ask of you, my distant cousins: How long until you stand up and fight?"
End transmission.