The Terran Empire was the first and oldest of humanities nations and home to Terra itself, the birthplace of humanity. Much of humanity's current domain was once under its rule, the vast empire lived through conquest, defeating countless numbers of different alien lifeforms to expand the borders of human space.
The problems with its rule only arose when expansion slowed down. With only rudimentary means of faster than light travel, a single emperor ruling over the empires hundreds of thousands of star systems became very difficult to achieve.
The empire quickly devolved into civil war, various nations emerging from the conflict. However the main conflict happened between the Terran Empire and the nation known nowadays as the Greater Northern Alliance, the latter completely dominating and overwhelming the spread out empire.
The Terrans were forced to cut their losses, recalling all their forces from throughout the human domain and concentrating their defence around their core star systems. Untold thousands of space faring vessels formed what was now known as the Great Terran Wall, an impenetrable complex of battleships, space stations and asteroids.
Every space-able vehicle or structure was placed into its defence, from civilian shuttles to commercial space stations. All were centred around large asteroids pulled into place and loaded with guns and fortified emplacements.
Even today in the present, no one knew what went on beyond the wall, the Empire turning completely elusive to the outside galaxy.
That's why it was such a shock for Leonard to read that the Terrans had emerged from their hole, no one thought they were a threat anymore. Years of isolation had doubtlessly left them completely behind in technological innovation.
And yet apparently not. According to this information anyways.
The information went on a little more, mainly explaining the overwhelming force the Terrans deployed as they claimed back their lost territories. However the memories suddenly stopped. Leonard felt like there was more to it, that the story of his future life did not stop there.
However no matter how hard he read over the scribbled notebook, or dug into his head there was nothing. As if the memory was wiped and not available to him.
"I have to test this." Leonard said to himself, placing the book back in his draw. "I have to see if it's true."
He couldn't believe straight up that the nation he was born and raised in his whole life would collapse in a matter of weeks, as what he read had described. It was such an outlandish idea that anyone he told would think him a crazy deranged conspiracy theorist.
Even going back to Bulwark was not the best idea, at least from Leonards perspective. Such a revelation brought about by his connection with a Lord Core would lead them to locking him away and picking at his brain for information. He had gotten away from such a fate due to his family's position and political power, however weighed against the possible future of the nation as a whole he didn't think he would escape a second time.
It wasn't that he couldn't bring this to their attention, or that he wouldn't. Just that he would have to gather sufficient real life proof and gain a position where he could not simply be thrown away.
However he would have to wait for the morning, the night had already become late and he could hear his father cooking some food in the kitchen. He was hungry, he hadn't had home cooked food for years, and the smell that assaulted him when he opened his door was delicious.
"You go to sleep or something Leo?" His father asked while mixing a bubbling curry, "I called out but you didn't answer."
"Yeah, was kinda tired." It was a good enough excuse so Leonard didn't bother coming up with another as he took a seat at the table.
"It is a long trip from the Adamin system," Arthur noted. "Food will be ready in a minute."
Leonard was looking forward to it, good food was a rarity in the Mech Corps, especially when he was stationed in a PDF base. Lack of funding and supplies left them scraping the bottom of the barrel, the rations they served could barely be called food.
"I haven't had good food in years," he complained. "The food on Trinity was alright, but it was just rehydrated nutrient packs. And don't even get me started on the slop they called food at base."
Nutrient packs were very popular amongst sailors. While the taste always left something to be desired, their very compact size and long shelf life led itself well to the pearls of long interstellar travel. The only thing needed was water, the highly condensed ratio was like a sponge, expanding many times over when rehydrated.
"Ha, that's one thing about the Corps I don't miss," his father laughed, bringing over two plates of steaming curry and rice. "The food was always shit."
Leonard gave his father a quick thanks before shovelling the food into his mouth. Being able to eat something with actual taste almost brought a tear to his eye.
"I figured this might happen so I made extra," Arthur laughed at the scene, as Leonard almost completely devoured the entire plate before he began with his own, eating in a much slower and controlled manner.
It didn't take long for Leonard to fill his plate back up again and return to stuffing his face some more, however a bit more in control the second time around.
"Man I missed this, thanks for making curry." Leonard spoke between mouthfuls. "I'm surprised you remembered I liked it."
"Hey give me some credit," his father laughed guiltily, scratching the back of his head. "Of course I remembered."
Leonards eyes narrowed. It was not hard to read his fathers tells when he was in a relaxed setting like this.
"You asked mother didn't you?"
"Guilty," he freely admitted. "Cut me some slack, you know how bad I am with remembering these things."
"Well at least I get to eat it so that's really all that matters." Leonard sat back and patted his belly, a satisfied smile on his face.
"Have you got into contact with your squad yet?" His father asked, cleaning off their dishes from the table.
"Not yet, I sent a message to Arming but their local time is still early morning." It felt weird still calling his squadmates by their last names while he was out of uniform. Old habits die hard, he guessed.
Kyle Arming was his full name, however even if they were close they had very little off time to call each other by their first names. Although maybe it was just Leonard, many others called each other by their first names, some members of his squad even called him by his first name.
He assumed it was just because of his position that caused him to be a stickler for the rules and refer to everyone by their last names.
"He'll call back when he gets up."
It didn't take long after he said that for it to happen either, he shot a quick apology to his father who dismissed him with a wave of his hand before retiring to his room for the evening. Leonard did the same before answering the call.
Arming face popped onto of his comm, his surroundings being the familiar interior of the Iron Knights destroyer they were deployed out of before their mission on Adamin 2.
"Captain, good to see you." Arming smiled, his previous injuries completely healed. "I'm surprised you're alive after seeing the state you were in when they pulled you from your mech."
"That bad huh?" Leonard had heard his injuries were severe, however only heard. He was out like a light, only waking up after his body was fully healed.
"It was a miracle that you were still breathing despite half your body being turned to mush." Arming shook his head, the image was still disturbing even weeks later. "I heard you got sent home on sick leave?"
"Yeah, I'm back on Citadel now for two months." Leonard leaned against his window, looking out at the city's lights at night. "How are you though? Still stationed on Adamin 2?"
"We've been recalled back to the fleet. The Swarm reinforcements coming in from space have all but stopped and the fleet has been able to position themselves to bombard the surface now."
Orbital bombardment made everything easier. The only reason such a thing hadn't been in place beforehand was the continuous stream of Swarm travelling between the fallen Adamin 1 and Adamin 2 was a constant threat to the fleet.
The fighting up in space was far more one sided than down on the planet, the Naval fleet of the Iron Knights Division may not have included massive battleships, but did have 3 cruisers. Alongside the majority of the Iron Knights mechs they inflicted heavy casualties by forming a partial blockade of the planet. Less than 10% managed to sneak through.
And now with the threat in space gone, their weapons could be turned against the Swarm remnants on the planet itself. From there the battle was as good as over.
"That's good news. How has everyone been handling it?"
"As good as we can be considering there are only five of us left." Arming, Gaits, Becker, Jones and Dalton. Everyone else having died in the line of duty. Besides Leonard himself of course. "Command was considering dissolving our squadron, however they decided to just wait until the new recruits finish training to fill in our numbers. They've put me in charge, but hurry up and come back would you? The amount of paperwork I have to do is infuriating."
Leonard laughed at that. The amount of administrative work he had to complete was fairly substantial, having to be responsible for ordering supplies and organising the various technicians and maintenance crews. A lot of that however was streamlined when they returned back into the fleet and were not operating out away from the main force by themselves. However Leonard didn't envy all the after combat reports Arming would've had to fill out in his stead.
"I'm glad they didn't split everyone up. I'm sure you will be just fine managing while I'm gone."
Arming himself did not doubt that, but he still looked at Leonard like he had wronged him.
"That's all well and good for you to say, cuddled up on your home planet while I do your job for you." He smiled despite himself, not truly meaning what he said. More trying to give Leonard a hard time. "When do I get to go on leave? I'm rejected every time I ask!"
Leonard laughed. It felt good seeing that Arming was so animated, clearly their previous battle hadn't worn down his spirits any.
"You'll be fine," He waved off his concerns. "Aren't you set to retire soon? Doesn't your contract end in a few years?"
"Yup," Arming nodded. "2 years, 4 months and 13 days from now I'll be a free man once again! Free to do whatever I want."
"You never did tell me what you plan on doing."
"Yeah, I still haven't figured that out." Arming image looked a little unsure. "This is really all I know, being a mech pilot is all I've ever done. Point me at a enemy and I can kill them, no problems, but that skill doesn't really transfer to civilian life."
It was a common issue amongst retired veterans, trained their whole adult life to be nothing more than weapons of war. Many simply returned to similar work, operating as mercenaries or contracted security. Leonard's father, himself included, were very lucky in that regard, having positions in their families many business always open to them.
"Didn't you say you wanted to be a teacher? I'm sure there are many academy's that would take you on as an instructor."
"I'm sure there is," he admitted, though looked unsure. "But I don't know if I could sit still in a position like that. I don't know, your family doesn't need another security officer do they?"
"Ha," Leonard laughed. "If you want to keep working for me so much you just need to ask, i'm sure we can find something."
"Urgh. Forget I asked asshole."
Leonard spent a while longer talking with Arming, before having a short conversation with every member of his squad. They were dealing with the aftermath differently, however it all seemed to be going well.
There was a little tension with Gaits after he was snubbed for the temporary promotion, however the recent battle seemed to numb some of his more outlandish tendencies.
All in all everyone seemed well.