“Head Erus.” The voice said, that of Captain Halthuss, addressing the block head of the Economic Block of the FDI, “I’ve secured a planet for us.”
“Good!” the old man would reply, sounding extremely pleased. “Good…What’s the price?”
“Currently, a pretty steep amount of the resources that are extracted.”
“‘No price was too high’, we told you, correct?”
“Correct.”
“Then there need not be punishment. Return to Forlorn Hope as soon as possible.”
The transmission would be cut soon after that, and Halthuss, forced into the role of diplomat and ambassador, would begin to leave the space allotted to him by the AD. It would seriously hamper research efforts to have to fork over so much material to the AD, but…it was either take the Devil’s Deal or suffer and die within the year. Ten percent…
Soon, he would begin delving into the Sehraya back home, to deliver coordinates and recall all other out-bound trips. It wouldn’t be too much longer, that his family and colleagues would be safe. If only that mattered to the FDI’s central council.
—
The planet organized by them by the AD was near-perfect. A wonderful distance from its star, though warmer than where they had previously resided, a strong protective layer of gasses and atmosphere from said star, and other such requirements for Izerani life. Perhaps the price paid would not be so steep after all. Its star was a dimmer orange opposed to the brilliant yellowish blue of their previous home, leading to a strange phenomenon of plant life – it permanently had yellow, orange, and red colorations, regardless of season or weather. The many rolling plains and savannas were often flat, with heavy geologic activity in convenient places.
Mountains rose especially high, however- casting shadows as monumental as their height onto the creatures and places below. Wildlife on this planet was remarkably similar to that of Earth, an ever-bewildering phenomenon in G-S16 with its commonality. Despite the minor inconveniences like extremely powerful natural disasters, which they would come to know soon enough, this planet was perfect for the Izeranis to inhabit. A wide variety of habitats, creatures, temperatures, and even resources…what wasn’t to gain?
—
Initial colonization efforts were extremely rough. With the lack of agricultural equipment, the primary driving factor for the FDI to settle, a lack of food and other bare essentials, the ticking clock was still counting down to doomsday. Only 10 major settlements were started, the largest of which would be the to-come capital of Yvrillo 8, only housing 50,000 individuals with included industry for the time being. The FDI had hardly 1,200,000 people total, with an army only 5000 large. Their warships were vastly understaffed, requiring scrounged-together robotic assistance to maintain themselves. Munitions for the antimatter lances and other exotic weapons were ever-decreasing, and the complicated profiles of the vessels to maintain their excellent stealth characteristics were ever dwindling as whatever material could be salvaged was strapped onto the outside to maintain whatever armor they did have.
Simply put, the FDI was desperate. The proverbial “doomsday” would be in approximately a year’s time, with food stocks running bare and material storage facilities going empty. Despite achieving a planet, it would take more than a year to set up required industries and facilities to survive. Thankfully, the one bone they were thrown is that, as a complete foreigner to this galaxy, whatever international currency was used didn’t yet apply to them, so material transactions were the preferred method of doing business. That, and less…savory means.
—
A major part of FDI operations to this point had been mysterious raiders of surrounding nations, with brutal and lightning-like strikes on isolated cargo vessels to take their cargo and run off with whatever they could, maintaining themselves for scarcely another day. This included a mysterious heist of Alaaxi cores to potentially see what made them tick, and perhaps harness this energy for themselves.
Frankly, the FDI needed manpower. And time. Neither of which they had.
The bell of doomsday tolls.
