United Nations of Earth – United Nations Marine Corps (UNMC)
United Nations Expeditionary Forces (UNEF) - Strategic Operations Command (STRATCOM)
Date of Revision: 09 October 2267
This document constitutes the authoritative operational overview of Operation “Rising Star.” It is maintained under the jurisdiction of the Office of Interstellar Affairs (OIA) in coordination with the UNEF Strategic Operations Command and the Allied Committee on Extraterrestrial Contact (ACEC).
All personnel are to be informed that this file is oftenly updated as new intelligence, field reports, and assessments become available. Due to the ever changing nature of planetary operations and first-contact environments, information contained here may be incomplete, provisional, or subject to constant revision.
Personnel assigned to or supporting Operation “Rising Star” are legally obliged, under the Article 4.1 of the UNMC Operational Information and Security Directive (OPSD-01), Article 1.3 and 6.1 of the Office of Interstellar Affairs - “Rising Star” Operation Protocols (OIA - RSOP) to:
- Ensure easy and free access to the latest iteration of this document through all necessary means.
- Verify the possession of the most recent approved revision of this document prior to undertaking any mission-critical task.
- Actively request updated briefings from their supervising officer or operations intelligence liaison if new data has not been received within the informed update cycle.
- Report all discrepancies/outdated references/information to the OIA Documentation Office without delay.
Failure to comply with the described procedures may result in administrative review, disciplinary action, or reassignment depending on severity and operational impact.
Operation “Rising Star” was initiated under the UNE Resolution 1187-β in response to escalating hostilities with Sumrac Imperial Diktat, an intergalactic civilization with a history of aggressive and expansionist stance in regards to other species.
The Colonial Bureau (CB) has lost contact with several*1 Frontier colonies, with the Frontier Intelligence Directorate (FID) confirming hostile presence among the Frontier worlds and colonies.
The Frontier Intelligence Directorate, in collaboration with the Colonial Bureau has identified the planet Novzahc (NVZ-441C) as a potential target for enemy occupation, with projections indicating imminent adversarial interest in establishing a forward operating base within the system.
To prevent hostile forces from securing this strategic location, the UNE Security Council authorized a rapid interdiction by the UNEF 7th Expeditionary Force. Early surveys confirmed the presence of an indigenous, Pre-Industrial population of small, anthropomorphic rodent-like beings with levels of technology analogous to humanity’s medieval age, with clan-based societal structures. While First Contact Protocols would normally restrict direct engagement, the Security Council invoked Emergency Directive 77-L, after the 1887-β Resolution’s approval, allowing limited-contact occupation due to urgent military threat.
Operation “Rising Star” is therefore tasked with the following priorities:
- Deny enemy access to the Novzahc system.
- Secure an UNEF defensive presence on-world.
- Establish Military Sites across the planet’s surface.
- Uplift, Develop and Cooperate with the indigenous people.
“God dang it- I forgot how bloated this thing was-” The young private awkwardly chuckled at the sight of the confused and lost rodent sitting right beside him, his voice slightly softer than the average marine. He quickly scrolled up through all that incomprehensible information at the palm of his hand, pressing and sliding a gloved finger across the screen of his personal operations device while the sound of the metal beast hummed and roared around them.
Skavit was currently sitting right beside “Quito” inside the quite spacious Metal Beast, closer to the driver’s seat, where the driver was testing out some of the incomprehensible electronics and machinery. Quito was a recruit, just like him, and it was also his first deployment. When he first met him, like half an hour ago, he felt a sense of kinship with the brown-haired human, mostly because of their lack of experience, but that feeling soon faded away because of a gap between them, both in height and knowledge. As for the two drivers, though? Skavit didn’t know who they were, and they already looked a tad bit too busy for a chat, as for now, talking some technical jumbo between each other while pressing seemingly random buttons and levers of sorts.
?The place felt claustrophobic in a way, being surrounded by metal with very few spots being cushioned to avoid anyone smacking their heads against it. For now, the feeling wasn’t that strong, but the rodent could already imagine how the entire squad would have to get together like sardines in a can.
?“Aha! Here.” The private exclaimed, tapping the screen a few times until an anatomical diagram appeared on screen… one of someone from HIS species. The rat would stare in both wonder and horror for a few seconds, his mind struggling to wrap around how they got all of this in such a short time.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Wh-... How- there’s some things here that I didn’t even… knew I HAD.” Skavit grasped the device, inspecting the diagram while the human looked down at him worryingly. The vermin would tap over the screen with his claw awkwardly, more detailed information appearing as he read through all that incomprehensible technical jargon in front of his very eyes.
“Wait, you didn’t?” Quito asks, leaning in to get a better look as it becomes clear that the private just skimmed over that section during his first read.
“Toto…” Skavit mumbled, furrowing his brows while he looked up at the human, questioning his intelligence, squinting at him. “Did ye really read anything in here?”
Quito furrowed his brows, mouth opening to defend himself but before he could say anything, several steps echoed outside the metal beast. The remainder of the squad stepped inside, chatter taking over the place as everyone began to take their seats. The private took his gun, which was on the seat to his right, tightly clung to it as Sarge Wood stood in the middle. He was visibly older than the others, with some extra experience on his golden skin and a small scar on his left cheek. That caused his whole stance to have an air of authority to it. He wore practically the same uniform, a field cap on his head, a small patch on his shoulder indicating his rank while carrying a weapon over his shoulder with a sling.
In total, nine warriors sat over the seats, all of them wearing almost the same uniform and similar weapons, aside from a few exceptions. The one Skavit saw the most was called the M55C, referred to as a “bullpup” rifle, with a sixteen-inch barrel and a more slim look aside from a few sections, especially the mounting rail, designed to fit attachments, like the lasers they used. Hell, even Arizona, who was sitting across from him, had one; the only difference is that he had a funny-looking tube underneath that he used to shoot a training grenade at the rodent once. The other exceptions were from two other soldiers; they had a variation from the M55C, one called the M55F3, with some slight differences here and there, but the most notable one being that it used drum-shaped magazines instead of normal ones.
Skavit himself straightened his posture, pointy ears standing upright! He knew the sarge had something to say, but why hadn’t he spoken a word so far? Well, that question would soon be answered, a brown haired woman with a pony tail stepped inside the vehicle and walked up the ramp. She’d stop near a seat closer to the exit before freezing, realizing something and instead, going deeper into the vehicle. Finally, the woman sat down beside Arizona, closer to the drivers, with Wood giving her a small nod as she took a seat. Just like him, she stuck out like a sore thumb among the soldiers, but for a different reason. She wore different clothes, a bright blue jacket, blue body armor, and a blue helmet with an odd-looking white symbol over it, while carrying a bag over her back.
With seemingly the last person coming inside the metal beast, Wood took a quick look around, inspecting everyone for a few seconds. “Alright, boys, I’ll keep this one short since of you already went through the brief.” He announced before continuing. “First thing I’ll get out of the way is: You all have seen this brand new bad boy around for the past few weeks. Unfortunately, this is yet another hand-me-down, like a lot of our equipment, so expect something to go wrong with it, eventually.”
That said, Skavit could FEEL Quito’s soul coming out from his body as he leaned a bit back on his seat right beside him, clearly bothered but trying not to show it. “This M2217 has been pulled out from the shelf after the 5th was done with their operations in a planet with similar terrain around twenty years ago, so you all better treat this thing well, respect it, because it has seen more combat than all of your asses combined.” The sarge goes on while looking around, glancing at each of them. “Second thing: this is a diplomatic escort mission, your duty will be to make sure our interpreter Skavit and Nila, an Envoy on behalf of the UNE, deal with their diplomatic duties and make sure they come back alive, well, and .”
Silence answered his words, most of them paying attention to him, others, like Arizona, were quickly glancing at the others to check on their reactions. “Third thing: Avoid lethal options unless strictly necessary, such as a threat to your own life, your comrades, or our envoy and interpreter. If things go south, we do not want to piss the locals off even more by killing their relatives and family, which is why we’ve been provided with some fancy equipment for crowd control from the MP, such as flashbangs and a long-range acoustic device mounted here instead of an actual gun.” He added, tapping the metallic ceiling of the beast. “If shit hits the fan, we all bunker down inside here and turn that on. Questions?”
?Once again, more silence greeted him, and the sergeant just nodded along. “If you have questions about our mission, refer to me; if you have questions about cultural topics and how not to look like a dumbass in front of the locals, refer to our Interpreter; and if you have questions regarding our Envoy’s diplomatic objectives, keep them to yourself.” He wrapped up the brief, stepping forward towards the drivers and talking specifically to the blonde male at the wheel. “Turn on this old hag and hand me that box between your feet.”
?“Damn, thought it was a gift for me~” The driver replied with a chuckle, reaching down and grabbing a compact black case from between his legs while the other driver did her magic, and soon enough, the machine would burst into life, humming as its core roared. Meanwhile, Wood took the case before turning to face Skavit, which made him the poor vermin abruptly tense up and try to straighten his posture even further than it already was, looking up at the taller warrior for a few seconds before the human offered him the case.
“This one’s for you.” He stated, placing it on the vermin’s hands. “It’s like one of those smaller guns you tested during training, but it has been modified to better fit your needs.”
?Skavit stared down at it, his claws and finger pads feeling the rough texture of the case for a few seconds, eyes wide as his tail shifted behind him and pointy ears slightly twitching. He’d carefully open the simple locks on the case, almost as if he were dealing with a priceless treasure. What he saw inside the case was simply beautiful, to say the least. Smooth metal molded into a semi-automatic pistol with a boxy design. He recognized it, the XM14, but of course, there were a few details off here and there, like the slightly shorter grip and definitely more lightweight; perhaps some of its internal workings changed. Alongside the weapon itself, there was a small attachable holster, one that he’d quickly put on his belt and slide his new weapon into, before dealing with the four magazines inside the case.
With that out of the way, the Morning Sergeant turned his attention to the drivers. “Get this old hag running! By now, we should have already been halfway towards the Fhin outpost!” He roared the orders, and suddenly, the machine came fully to life. Skavit could feel it move through the terrain, the sensation of motion briefly startling him before the vermin got used to it, tail swaying behind him as he settled the case down beneath his feet, barely able to hold back his excitement.