Blowin' in the WInd

From Acw

BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND

After the End

Captain Albert Templestone strode onto the bridge of the echelon carrier HMSS Baldwin. The huge viewing panel that took up a whole wall of the impressively large bridge showed a cluster of giant asteroids, surrounded by a whirling nightmare of smaller rocks. Templestone knew that above and below the limits of his vision, the new asteroid field was extending thin arms as it settled into a belt orbit around Sol.

The HMSS Baldwin hung silently in space above the chaotic maelstrom of rock and debris that was once Earth. For two months now, on the orders of Acting Prime Minister Allard, Rear-Admiral Hawthorne had been braving the dangerous gravity tides, beaming a beacon to any elements of the scattered Home Fleet that were still finding their way back to the now-defunct epicenter of humanity’s galactic empire.

Hawthorne was troubled. Reports intercepted from the German and Russian colonies on Mars indicated that the planet’s orbit was shifting closer to Sol and the planet itself was heating up. The entire Solar System was changing, growing used to the new balance of mass orbiting the star. Krasnikov jumps were being interrupted or aborted as the gravity fields altered wildly in their attempts to find a new equilibrium. Spacelanes that were familiar were no longer so. Detritus littered even the most heavily-travelled routes, and even maintaining position 3000km above where Earth used to be exposed his ship to a multitude of miniscule hull breaches from micrometeorite showers. He couldn’t wait to leave.

Templestone stepped up to the command dais and saluted Hawthorne. Hawthorne returned the salute. “What is it, Captain?”

“It’s a lightwave from Fleet Command Elysium, sir. We’re going home.”

He snatched the transmission from Templestone and scanned it to confirm his orders. Sure enough, the Baldwin was ordered to rejoin the Home Fleet in orbit around Elysium. He glanced up at the viewing pane, which momentarily dissolved into static before regaining the feed from the external hull cameras. Looking at the ravaged space that was once Earth, Hawthorne thought to himself wryly: Home? Where exactly is that now?

Concluding the second story arc for A Colder War, Blowin’ in the Wind chronicles the building of a new galactic order after the End of the Earth. Set between May 2368 and July 2374 AD (or in the new ‘Post End’ dating system, 0-6 PE), it will be smaller than, and feature a more involved system than previous ACW games. Register now, spaces are very limited!