Chapter 3

The Valhalla burst back out into the space surrounding the colony of Midgard. At least a dozen other ships were already in defensive positions around the planet and stationed around the lunar base. The planet from Orbit looked like a giant yellow marble with patches of blue and some green. The planet was mostly desert and canyons but with large sea and coastal areas. The main cities were in these lush areas where mining and fishing were the main sources of income. The mines of this planet gained a very light alloy which was used in the production of light military vehicles. When refined down to an even lighter it alloy was used to manufacture the combat armour of heavy infantry regiments. There were also of course outposts in the more remote desert areas such as trade, mining and research stations all dotted about. The population of this colony was estimated to be around 25 million people marking it as a young and very prosperous planet. The moon which was in relative low orbit of the planet was the site of the small shipyard and an extensive military base. Unusually for moons the atmosphere was breathable as the low orbit gave some oxygen up as well as partial atmosphere, this was boosted by atmosphere generation stations placed in locations around the base. This gave the entire moon a breathable atmosphere though long term exposure there causes small breathing problems.

The carrier stopped not far from the lunar base and the soldiers on board were transported down on shuttles. The inside of the main military station was an open pristine white space serving at the terminal roughly the same size as a small train terminal for troop and ship crew movement. The other parts were typical of bases, it had a garage, numerous barracks' and a control tower. The tower served as the centre of military operations as it was large and well built enough to house command and comms. It had a view over the area including the runway and fighter hangers. At that moment they were in the terminal area which was in complete chaos as soldiers and civilians all ran around accomplishing very little. The newcomers just stood at the entrance and watched the scene of disorder for a little while. The Marshall switched into the command mode as he ordered most of the soldiers to stay at the entrance and took a large group with him to the commander's office. The office was tucked away in the corner of the terminal and was only found after a shove through the panic stricken crowd and grabbing a member of it for direction. The group waited outside as Greyman and Gharret entered. The room was small, stuffy and stank of strong alcohol and cigars. The walls were decorated and bookshelves stood at the back. The desk near them was a lavish mahogany brown with stacked up reports, a metal desk lamp and a empty bottle on top. On the right hand side to the door there was a large screen which was on, the display was of subdivided security monitors. On nearly all of them there were people panicking. In a large comfortable chair sat the obese arrogant commander Cameron who had displayed pure disgust at the sight of the two unclean and low down men walking through his door. The man was mostly bald but with a thinning hair line not out of choice and he wore the decorated uniform of a governor. Gharret went to speak but was beat to it by his superior next to him

"What's with the panic?" Greyman spoke in a very calm, collected tone but clearly attached to it was the message of anger

"You, you have spooked them. They think the war is coming to their doorstep"

"It is" Gharret spoke but was silenced by a look from his superior

"He's right, it is already here" The commander snorted and shifted in his chair before speaking

"Doesn't matter, I shall receive reinforcements"

"I will be receiving the little which is coming and will be forming together any volunteers from here and taking 1500 from the 30th on the colony" Cameron's eyes widened

"What authority do you have over me?"

"Admiral Hassan. I have control over this base for the duration of this fight. Gather everyone to either the terminal or a nearby screen, I will address everyone on the base"

The commander nodded grudgingly.

Soon after several announcements the people stopped running about and stopped to listen. Greyman stood up on the highest surface he could find which happened to be the desks in the centre of the terminal. He stood up as the frightened people watched from the front and his own calm soldiers watched from the far rear. He surveyed the room taking in the atmosphere and working in his mind what words he would say, would he comfort them or tell them to get in line. His mouth moved

"The war has been going on for so long, I can't remember when it started. None of us ever thought that this day would come where all out conflict raged and the Imperium was threatened, we were threatened" His voice inspired confidence "But it is here now, that fact will not go away and you sure as hell cannot run from it. We will make out stand here and fight those that come under the flag of their Federation, we have our flag as well and we will stand tall under it. I can imagine most of you think that running to the colony will save you, but it will not, those that come do so with the intent to take all our lives, what will you do? Will you run or fight? Will you stand by or help in any way you can, weapon or tool, frontline or supply. When this battle starts I will have by my side the bravest and un-fearing men, you are them, and you will fight by my side if not for the Imperium then for your own lives and those of your families."