Earth... Our home... The cradle of human civilization for the past 200,000 years.

She fell.

A crippling natural disaster destroyed our home and turned the planet inhospitable. It started slowly, but then developed, each stage killing thousands more. At the rate it was advancing, scientists predicted that our world would be fully consumed in 30 years. It grew like a plague... I was born during year 12 of the Scourge, as it would be called, in New York city. Born to a modest family in its suburbs. I still remember the days when I'd be playing with my friends, then the nights... When the sky turned blood-red.

It was a traumatizing sight for me back then. I had barely aged 5 when the first Blood Moon appeared over NY's suburbs. I couldn't sleep. I was afraid, trembling at the sight... Many nights like that one followed.

Then, at the age of 15, by request of the few proper scientists that remained and by the Governments that still held within Europe and the US, I and a few of my friends, with dozens of kids and teenagers from other nations, were taken by a conjoined NASA-ESA-ASA program to create an evacuation plan. 'Casus Terminus', the Cause of the End was the codename... For 3 years, we trained to become better than what we were, as the conjoined Space Agencies rushed research and developed technology we couldn't believe...

Finally, in the 26th Year of the Scourge, we were taken aboard the Evacuation Ships, a small fleet of them, in orbit just above Earth... We could see just how far the Scourge had spread. It had eaten the Poles, Africa, Canada, half of Russia and most of Asia. It was incredible, damned awful yet, eerily beautiful. Whatever it was, it was destroying our home... Many of us cried as we were taken aboard the Charon-class Evacuation ships.

After we were settled into the Cryo-bays of the ships and frozen, the Space Agency scientists continued their work to prepare our ships, setting the course until, finally, in the 30th Year, at the final, the ships were ready to leave. The Scientists had left us, to our own machinations, the times of thawing us out set and the course laid in... And so, we left Terra, our home... For good.

Finally, after 10,000 years of slumber, we awake, at the other side of the Galaxy, our ships untouched and only for us to be greeted by our new home... A frozen world and a new star system... Our rebirth... Welcome to...

Stellaris:The Helios Rebirth

Book 1:The Federation

Time:2 weeks since Thawing.

Location:HELIOS System. On surface of Helios Prime.

Exploration Team 1. Formed of:Chief Science Officer Adrian Ross, Scientist Ana Marino, Scientist Marcus Greyfax with Escorts:Lieutenant Daniel "Paragon" Shepard and Corporal Cadet Matthew Siegfried.

The howling winds, signal of the blizzard that had begun on the snowy planet's surface, threw whirlwinds of snow about in the faces of the five exploration team members. Science Officer Ross, much like his fellow compatriots and their two escort troopers, was clad in thick, padded white coats and pants, as well as snow boots, ski masks and goggles. The only thing that differed among the group was the gear each was carrying. Ana, for example, had a Sensor Suite pack on her back, with her hand moving from left to right in a looping motion as the freezing sensor screen in her hand, connected to the battery pack in the backpack by a thick, insulated wire, beeped incessantly.

The sounds of intensifying wind and the crackle of collapsing snow under their boots was about the only thing they could hear as the snow flying ahead of them made it impossible to see five feet in front. Adrian himself was carrying a set of light poles in his heavy-duty backpack, which he kept implanting into the snow at intervals of exactly five feet, to allow themselves to see as they powered up and flashed white. Marcus was the one with the best pair of eyes, raised in Canada's coldest regions that hadn't been touched by the Scourge, he knew well and truly how to orientate himself in such heavy winter conditions.

"How much farther are we gonna go, doc?!" Demanded Daniel with rasped breath, holding his ancient Earth model AR15, with winter camouflage and an ACOG sight which was already fogged up, close to his body with the safety on. The need to yell was normal under such conditions, as the damned wind made it nearly impossible to understand each-other without it and the COM wasn't working either, no matter how many times they tried. The Lieutenant continued his complaint vehemently "Any more steps forward and I think I'm gonna need to be Thawed again! The cold's biting right through my fucking coat!"

"Just a few more steps and we can call it a day, Lieutenant! I have three more Light Markers to place here and we've mapped out our route so far, then we can head home!" Adrian yelled back in response.

Dan sighed, then yelled "I'll go prep the Rover for RTB, then! It needs to heat up, especially in conditions like this! This is like the third snowstorm we got this week!"

"I'd suggest taking Cadet Siegfried with you!" The Doctor said, looking back "This snowstorm is clearly worse than the others and you know what Einar said about taking pairs even in easy Snowstorms!"

Dan sighed and nodded "The god damn Viking... Alright, Cadet! Let's haul ass!" before turning about with the young rookie following him, snow crackling and creaking under their weighted combat boots as they ran through the storm, following the light poles left by Adrian and thus vanishing into the waves of snow. Adrian continued his walk, followed by his two fellow researchers as he implanted another light pole into the snowy hillside before going up onto the massive, smooth snow mound.

"This is amazing... Eerily beautiful too." Ana whispered, her Spanish accent resounding. Adrian hummed in agreement as the trio of scientists were awfully close together, enough so that each could check the other's readings for anything. Young Ana had been a singer in the school choir and a damn fine scientist(Her major WAS sciences after all), so she could well read the scanner in her hand. Looking over at the pinging device as a few of its counters spiked up suddenly and maintained the position, the girl said "I'm getting strange readings from up ahead, Adrian! It's... Like an energy source of sorts! About 500 meters out ahead, bearing 0,0,0"

"We'll come back to it! Save the readings on your scanner's USB drive!" the Chief Scientist responded.

"We couldn't have picked a more hostile planet to land on, Chief! We're barely making any progress on our research!" Marcus said, his Berliner accent taking over his voice.

Adrian nodded, then sighed and placed the Light Marker atop the hill, before continuing his steps down. "It'll be worth it! We'll find a more habitable place soon, if not make this one habitable, trust me!"

Finally, the last Light Marker had been placed at the other side of the hill. The boy nodded to his two teammates, then said "Let's return! The Lieutenant must be expecting us!" before swiveling about. Ana huffed, then said "Uphill again we go!" before heaving her backpack, placing the handheld sensor back into its holster and running up beside him. Marcus rolled his eyes, then joined the pair as they moved uphill.

"This isn't exactly how I imagined my skiing vacation would be, Adrian!" Ana joked, garnering laughs from both boys.

Adrian nonchalantly responded "Yeah, well, you know! This ain't exactly an easy thing for us either! Hearing you complain is usually the highlight of my day, though! Means we're doing something right at least!"

"Ha Ha, Adrian..." The girl laughed condescendingly.

Following the path back, the group immediately saw the heavily-armored Rover, the first part of it coming to show being the tank-like tracks, then the lights and finally, the massive, boxy white hull with red stripes running across it. Atop the vehicle was a communication antenna that was aimed backward, possibly at Firebase ALPHA, the first outpost that had been built on the planet upon first landing. From aboard the vehicle's cockpit the Lieutenant waved at them, his hood off his face, same for his goggles and ski mask, thus revealing his blue eyes and silver hair(A strange side effect given by the Thawing being this decoloration of hair for some) and a pale face, with a single scar running from the top-left to the chin.

Beside him, Matt looked over his AR15, his hood off his head. The boy was pale, with blonde hair and green eyes and seemed rather calm, happy even, a strange thing considering the situation they all found themselves in. The Lieutenant stood up from the driver's seat, then left through a back door in the cockpit and opened the back hatch of the vehicle, allowing the scientists to climb aboard. Ana removed her backpack and placed it ahead of herself, being the first one to seat and remove her hood, mask and goggles, only to reveal a beautiful young woman with messy, long brown hair and hazel eyes, her skin slightly more colored than the others, due to her birthplace:The west coast of Spain.

She arranged her hair, setting it back up into a bun as the boys climbed aboard, setting their bags aside onto the seats, with Marcus closing the hatch behind them. The lights aboard the vehicle's hold turned on, allowing the group to see their comrades better. The Lieutenant nodded to everyone and said "Strap in. We're going back to the Outpost. Einar'll want a full report face-to-face." before headed back to the cockpit.

Adrian pulled off his face's protective gear and placed his goggles on a seat beside him, before pushing his raven hair back up from his forehead. He leaned himself back into his seat, then exhaled and said "Finally... Warmth..." as the air conditioning aboard the vehicle revved and began to heat the hold. A slight, but sudden jolt that sent the trio slightly tipping to the left(Or right, in Ana's case) signaled the vehicle began moving.

"Excited to come back to what you scanned, Ana?" Marcus asked, removing his goggles as to look at the girl.

She smiled, then nodded and said "Yes and no... Yes, because it'd be something big we've found and no, because I'm tired of the cold. Mierda, I could feel the blizzard through my ski mask."

"Tell us about it." Adrian sighed, lowering his head to look at the girl. "I'd be glad to find something to help us get the hell off this world fast."

Ana leaned ahead, then looked to both of them and said with a smile "What do you think we're gonna find tomorrow?" to which the two boys smirked. The prospect of a possible alien energy source was endearing to young minds such as theirs and doubly so if it could contain something that would help them accomplish that mission given to them by their ancestors.

Adrian nodded and said "I'm betting it's some ancient structure left here eons ago, for us to find and recover tech out of. It'd be amazing to find an FTL drive, some hydroponics items or something of the sorts."

"I can bet my lunch for a week it's gonna be a crashed ship. Something to help us find a way off the planet if not colonize another world here, at least." Mark added calmly. He looked out the back window slit of the car, to see lights behind them. Exploration Team 2's vehicle lights flashed right beside them... Good. He looked back, then said "Looks like ET 2's coming back as well."

"Be advised, all crew, we're entering the Outpost. Prepare to disembark." The PA voice of the Cadet sounded off, partly joyous to be out of the snowy hell. Soon, outside, they saw a massive gate and finally, blue lighting and rock walls. It had been a 30 minute trip from the drop point to here... As they watched the other transport come in, the team felt the vehicle shift and turn, before coming to a halt.

The Lieutenant popped the cockpit door, Assault Rifle and chest rig in his hand, then said "We're here, kids. Let's go." before stepping toward the door and pressing the button. The ramp of the vehicle hissed, then clicked and pushed open as steam exited from the hydraulic pipes in small clouds, before the ramp itself opened fully, revealing their home for the last few months...

The team picked up their bags and clothing, then followed the Lieutenant out, with the Cadet being the last trooper out of the vehicle. He pressed the button and shut the hatch closed, then turned off the vehicle's engine with the click of a button from his remote control. Adrian looked upon the hangar for the second time today. The massive place, built into the rock wall of a mountain east of where they'd been had room for dozens of transports vehicles, with a vaulted ceiling of rock held up by steel support pillars and grating. Six workers were on scaffolding, working on repairing an electrical panel in the far back of the hangar.

Two squads of two guardsmen each were patrolling the hangar, AR15s slung on their shoulders and winter camouflage gear. This place was also considerably warmer, so they didn't need to wear the padded coats that the scientists and their troopers wore. The SEC-Teams here wore tactical combat helmets, with HUD Glasses on their eyes and were clad in tactical combat gear. A type-3 Chest Rig with level V armor plates on the chest, two shoulder pads, each with an ammo pocket that held a magazine, flags on their shirts which showed their nationality and finally, gloves that linked wireless to the HUD glasses, with sensors that read the ammunition of their currently-held weapons.

"Yo, Adrian." Ana said, taking the boy's attention from his gawking. The boy looked to her, before she smiled and said "C'mon. Einar'll want to know what we've found out there."

He hummed, then nodded and started walking, under escort from the Lieutenant and his Cadet. The group went to an elevator that was linked straight to the main command tower. This place was a marvel. It was amazing, what the Engineer corps managed to achieve with so few people in even fewer days, was a basically self-sustaining base which could be expanded upon underground, as far as it was needed. Once everyone had settled in, the Lieutenant pressed a button on the Elevator and it hummed, then dinged and started going up, quiet as the air.

The Lieutenant flicked his base-side radio on, then spoke into it "This is Echo Squad. We're coming up to the HQ. Survey for today's finished."

"Roger that. Meet you upstairs." A male voice with a strong Swedish accent answered.

Adrian sighed, then said "That guy's voice never changes it. I'd recognize it even if the Radio was shot to shit."

"Shows how good it is to know someone." Dan said. Despite his looks, he was a 21-year-old man that had graduated West Point military academy and a US Citizen. Formerly, anyway...

The elevator pinged, then the twin doors in front slid apart, to reveal a small command center, with a window that overlooked the outside. The ceiling was, again, rock, but held up by steel braces and the room itself was filled with consoles that lined the walls in an amphitheater design, with the top console being that of the commander of the base. Three consoles were currently manned by research personnel, while the others were offline. On-deck there were two more people. A young man clad in an officer's uniform, but with no equipment on him and a 22-year-old, clad in a Joint Ops uniform, formed of a black onesie with blue stripes.

"Project Leader. Major." The Lieutenant saluted, with the Cadet behind following suite. The two men turned to greet them, the one clad in the Joint Ops uniform with a smile. The Major, meanwhile, sighed, then nodded to the Project Lead and said tensely "I'll be out of your hairs, sir... Lieutenant, Cadet, let's go." before stepping off with them. The two saluted again, then swiveled about and walked away to the elevator.

Adrian walked up to Einar, then shook the man's hand with a smirk and asked "What was that about?"

"Eh. The Major coming in to ask about Thaw more soldiers. I told him we can't yet, not until we stabilize our food production." Einar responded, calmly. "So, what've you three got for me?"

"East side's been mapped via scanner and we've set up Light Markers." Adrian reported, then he looked toward Ana and offered "And?"

The girl, stepped up, nodded and said "And we've found an energy signature. Artificial from the first ping. Didn't have time to look more in-detail though, because the cold was killing us." and she smiled, then said "Perhaps it's a way off?"

Einar nodded to her, then scratched his chin and said "Didn't get a good look at it, did you?"

The team shook their heads, making the young swede sigh. He nodded and said "Gotcha... Tomorrow's a new day and the forecast said it's cloudy, but clear in the early morning. I'll be sending you out again, to see what you can find. Anything else you wanna report?"

"No. Nothing really." Adrian sighed. "The Major seemed a bit tense, though. Anything we should know aside from the trooper thing?"

"Nothing to worry about, guys. I've got it under control." Einar responded calmly. "The guy may seem like trouble, but he's actually just thinking about the best interests of this little colony. In his own way. You know how hardheaded military can be, especially these Yankees from West Point."

"Worrying, but we'll let you handle it." Ana waved it off "Not like he can do anything. Most of the squads are loyal to you anyway."

Einar nodded, then said "Tomorrow at Eight o'clock sharp. You're going for that contact. Now go get some sleep. I've still got paperwork to complete. Good night."

"Good night, boss!" The group saluted with smirks plastered on their faces, then swiveled about and walked away. Down the elevator shaft and into a tight, clean and bleach-white hallway, the group was forced to walk down one of the 'lanes' in a column, as to allow the others to pass. The place was currently housing about 400 people if the SEC-Teams were included, but they had their own separate barracks, but the space was still bloody cramped.

The team took a right, then stopped at Door 03, for Adrian to pull out his access card. He slid it across the scanner, which pinged, then the door hissed and slid up, opening. Soon, the trio entered their barracks. Two sets of bunk-beds lined the back wall of the cramped room, while in the middle there was a single table, with three seats and a pillow.

A young Asian woman clad in a tank top and long pants with the Japanese flag sown onto one of the pockets sat in the top left bunk, a cast on her left leg, a tablet in her right hand and her left running over it. Without even turning her head to acknowledge them, she smiled and said "Welcome back, conquerin' heroes." With a Hokkaido accent. "Heard you made a big discovery with yer scanner, Annie."

"Blake." Nodded everyone, going to their bunks. Adrian climbed up to the top right bunk, then extended a food tray to the girl and said "Here you go, Kotetsu." to which the girl smirked and took it. Her blue eyes locked onto the food, mashed potatoes and whatever remained of the frozen tofu cans and whatever remained of the Chicken supply that had been cryo-frozen, then flash-cloned. She groaned, then chuckled and said "Chef's surprise again. That's the third time this damn week. Where's the carrot soup?" taking the tray

"I'll ask Monty next time I see him. 'Till now, this is what we're left with" Adrian responded smugly, leaning back. "How's your leg, Blakey?"

"Hammered as hell, just the way ya left it." The girl's grin widened. "But hey, feeling in my pinkie toe's coming back."

"Remind me I owe you a massage for that one." The boy said, flicking his own tablet on. The two down below laughed heartily...

Ana murmured "Always her, damn it." snarkly, crossing her arms and grinning.

The boy responded non-chalantly "I broke her leg by mistake, not yours, Ana. Try and coerce Mark into massaging you." and he set his gear onto his own bunk

Mark responded with a smug "Oh! Hell to the fuck no. I'm pretty sure she hasn't showered in the past 2 weeks. I ain't touchin' that!"

"Oi, fuck you, pendejo! At least I'm not the one who keeps scratching his nuts every waking hour of the day!" The girl snarled, butting heads with the boy, to which the two at the top bunks looked down and said in unison "Calm your tits, ya numpties."

"Are you two fucking serious right now!?" Ana barked, glaring at the two.

Adrian nodded and said "Pretty much." before backing up into his bed and continuing his read.

Blake smirked, then said "It's just the way things are." Before retreating back to her meal. Mark and Ana stared at each-other, then sighed and got into their respective bunks. Ana told "I'm going to hit the hay. See y'all tomorrow." to which everyone responded with "Good night, Spaniard." making the girl huff. She clapped her hands together and shut off the light in the room, thus leaving only the lights of the tablets on.

Next Day...

The team locked their gear into place, with Ana taking her backpack and slinging both straps over, then locking the harness into place. She was the second-to-last to board the transport truck, followed by Cadet Siegfried. Ana sat down beside Adrian while Siegfried, of course, moved on into the cockpit of the truck. The group looked to each-other, then Adrian bumped Ana's shoulder and said "Ready to go make that big discovery of yours a real thing?"

"Yeah..." The girl said with a smile. Everyone set their masks, goggles and hoods onto their heads, then Adrian said "HIT IT!" as the hatch closed behind them.