章 1: Straight to oblivion

Cassius looked out the window with a defeated sigh...

"For fucks sake."

It is probably one of the most frequent and notable statements uttered in humanity's long history among the stars, and it would be Cassius's unfortunate last.

In the year 3060 following the invention of FTL and implants that essentially worked as onboard supercomputers, humanity had finally reached the stars and conquered a multitude of them, discovering quickly that they were not alone in the universe, and that the universe was not as friendly as some had wanted to believe naively.

After decades of war, Cassius Heketate had found himself rising through the ranks of the United Worlds Military to command a battalion of Heavy Infantry, essentially an 8-foot-tall suit of powered hate that took all the desired wants of an armored vehicle, weaponry, arms, etc and compressed it down to man size. to be worn and piloted by the elite of the elite, their singular purpose was to break through the toughest lines with overwhelming speed and firepower needless to say it was normally a short-lived career.

Hence why retiring to a large grandstanding ceremony above Sol 3 herself in honor of his service to Earth's United Worlds was one of the proudest moments of his life, where he then chose to get away from the chaos that was the inner worlds civil war roaring behind the scenes and retire to a farming world with no official planetary designation, but the locals un-imaginatively called it "The little green marble", a homage to one of the first photos taken of Earth.

It was supposed to be a quiet retirement, and it was for nearly a decade... but nobody expects a terrorist attack in the form of a planetary bombardment.

Imagine his luck? Peacefully tending to his library and gardening without a care in the world and without warning the sun proceeds to rise from the North. But I guess that's life for you.

Before being atomized along with the beautiful garden he had painstakingly cultivated, his last thoughts were consumed by his aging military implants rewarding him for completing one of his daily tasks.

** Congratulations RET-Col Cassius Hekatate for hydration of Large Hydrangeas, there are three tasks left today! **

** 1. Make supper! **

** 2. Study of Ancient Earth Scripture! **

** 3. Check your Holonet mail!**

With a grim smile, an even more defeated sigh escaped him as he muttered his final

"Fuck sakes..."

He didn't regret how he lived his life, or how he died, nobody in his immediate family was on world when he along with its largest city was turned into glass, plus the government would hopefully do their due-diligence and look after them with his pension and a large collection of bullshit he had stashed away off world...

Death feels like falling, apparently... yet in the most permenant and forever of meanings with true nothingness as its only companion.

But more importantly, is this what death is supposed to be? Absolutely lackluster in his opinion, he at least expected the fires of hell to greet him with outstretched arms if it took into consideration his long and outstanding career, especially if the gospel of the old faith was to be believed.

"Well, this is terrible." He thought.

With nothing to do for eternity, he considered the old scriptures he had read as a pastime, how incredible it would be to live on Ancient Earth back when swords and men were what mattered, not powered armor or AI that could defend an entire system with light seconds of delay.

Or what about.....

** ORION System Error 32. No connection to physical body detected**

** ERROR**

** Searching for connection**

A dull buzzing shook his soul, or whatever he was now. His Implants had come with him?

If he had to spend eternity with this old thing, he'd sooner the gates of hell, but hey, atleast he's got a companion.

"Orion System, where am I?"

** ... **

"Orion, you there?"

** ... **

Giving up on a response, he shrugged his metaphorical shoulders and continued to think, about everything he had learned, and everything he wanted to learn, and about his damn Hydrangeas that were absolutely atomized by some terrorist group.

And so he persisted for an eternity.

**CONNECTION FOUND**

"Finally Orion... Connection? What do you mean?" It was at that moment Cassius saw, or rather percieved a light.

Something new!

His soul glimmered with excitement as it was pulled closer and closer.

"Once more into the breach..." he thought as he recited his unit's motto excitedly, but wait... if this is the afterlife... His soul stiffened with dread...

He's not about to be born again... is he?

"No! NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT!" propelled by forces outside of his control his soul writhed in sheer, unadulterated terror, he absolutely did not want this experience.

Screaming, thrashing, and unwilling, Cassius was dragged into the light.