The Elysium - Origins
At a distance, the Earth seemed alright, somewhat smoky and a little too quiet. It wasn’t until the surface went from luscious shades of green and blue to a brown monotonous khaki, that the Space Force realised something was definitely amiss. Coupled with the lack of communications from the planet, and the mass extinction of greenery on the surface, we could all see that something was wrong. Even from the edges of the source Solar System (A1-A), in the asteroid belt, the miners were slowly becoming aware that something had gone horribly wrong.
memo sent 12/5/2132 orig:Earth
memo recv 13/5/2132 orig:SF Orbiter C6-2
memo openfile
file corrupted - cannot read data
This was the last memo sent to us from Earth. In order to maintain order on the Martian colony, they were not informed of this issue, and neither were the mining crews in the distant asteroid belts in System A1-A. So, we sent the first ground crews to the surface.
In their drop pods they entered the atmosphere, but almost instantly their inbuilt Geiger Counters spiked on their suits, which led us to our current theory, that the surface had been wiped out by some sort of nuclear weaponry. The troops were recalled but had suffered extensive radiation exposure and subsequently 5 of the initial 10 troops were diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, and 2 died due to an undiagnosed condition which AI has been trying to solve for the previous two weeks.
As soon as we became aware of this, all resources were diverted to the Martian colony. It would be the new hub of humanity in the solar system, and terraforming of the surface was sped up significantly because water deliveries to Earth could now be diverted to the red planet. As word reached the outer asteroid belts, mass genocide events happened, where despite the valiant efforts of the Space Force, workers felt that they could not live on in light of the death of their relatives on Earth.
However, the Autarch of the International Space Force, codename Inctus felt that it was risky to not further investigate the cause if the extinction event on Earth. Industry had long ago been moved to the Moon, a move which meant that manufacturing fleets of space craft was now much more affordable due to the weak gravity and strategic position, so a new fleet was created for a special task force, codename The Elysium.
After 7 years, in 2139, a memo was sent from The Elysium B3-4, an observatory, which had noticed that organic life seemed to be present on the shoreline of Hindustan, formerly India. Upon closer inspection, they noted the following.
memo sent 12/5/2132 orig:Observatory B3-4
memo recv 13/5/2132 orig:SF Orbiter C6-2
memo openfile
we have found signs of organic life and a small settlement on the surface of Earth, in [sic] Chennai. there seems to be movement on the ground and Viceroy codename Naperin requests the Autarch's permission to deploy several drop shock troopers to the surface to further investigate the situation.
The Autarch himself decided to permit this investigation, due to the fact that the current search into the habitable planet orbiting Proxima Centauri would take another 14 years to be completed after being dispatched in 2143. Upon reaching the ground, the troops encountered brief resistance from a few human settlers who had supposedly hid underground during the event which they called the “فائر بال”, or fireball. They spoke Urdu and Hindi and had built some small houses around the Chennai area.
Upon the success of this first mission, the Autarch repurposed The Elysium, and dispatched the Viceroy to oversee construction of the city of Chennai. The human population at the time was around 100, all seemingly having rode out the radiation in an underground bunker. Alongside construction of more houses, a hospital was created and a relay tower allowed direct communication with the Viceroy’s personal orbiter, which was currently in a geostationary Earth orbit. It was to act as a both a training centre for new members of The Elysium and to send troops quickly to the ground in the event of any altercations.
The Elysium - Development
memo sent 12/5/2132 orig:Earth Chennai Signal Tower
memo recv 13/5/2132 orig:SF Orbiter C6-2
memo openfile
there are reports of an insurgency heading towards our newly built settlement. reports indicate movement to the north east of our location, somewhere in the sea. we have activated shield generators but they will not be able to hold off a large scale bombardment. requesting backup from the viceroy.
This was the first sign of an insurgency on the ground settlement in New Chennai. Ever since then, presence of The Elysium there has been growing. The inhabitants are growing restless, and as such the Viceroy dispatched several Sergeant’s to select some for training with The Elysium. Numbers of citizens on the ground have spiked to 700 and AI have been managing agriculture on the ground successfully, with the production of radiation resistant crops feeding the large population effectively.
The year is 2156, and the Autarch has uploaded his consciousness alongside that of the Viceroy to supercomputers so that in the case of his premature death he can inhabit an artificial body. The martian colony has developed further and terraforming is 84% done. Levels of carbon dioxide have become toxic but plants are being introduced to the ground to produce oxygen and nitrogen is being mined and shipped to the planet too.
You have been selected to train with us on the Viceroy’s Orbiter, in order to be dispatched to maintain peace on the Earth settlement named New Chennai. Your aim is to maintain peace on the ground, and violence may be necessary but you are advised to keep it to a minimum.
The Space Force currency, Credits, have been extended onto the Earth Settlement, and once your training is completed, you will be paid per hour on the ground. From the training station, owned by the Viceroy, codename Naperin, the Earth is visible, and on most windows you will be able to see markings displaying the location of New Chennai.
Your training is deliberately intensive, and uses the most recent of technologies, including but not limited to, AI training bots, Holographic simulations of situations in which you will usually operate, and generic teaching from senior ranks aboard the SF Orbiter C6-2. However, your training can be cut short at any time if your behaviour is deemed incorrect. You have been fitted with a universal translator chip and as such you are only permitted to speak when you have direct permission or the AI systems will incur punishments including fines.
May we all prosper under the benevolent guidance of the Autarch.