What IS Normal?

[Angel Ryder]

Terra Alpha - Capitol City

ONE YEAR LATER

The main city center of Terra Alpha's 'Capitol City',yet another 'original name' that President Nick Ryder hated, was a buzz of activity after the planet formally declared independence from the Federation. The UFP was embroiled in numerous scandals and corrupt leadership had all but turned the once benevolent Federation into a Nazi like regime. Alien allies were being ejected from the Federation, "Terran Looking" aliens were given preferential treatment and there were rumblings they wanted to reform the Federation as an "Empire" and conquer and absorb systems and planets they wanted for their resources.

Angelica Ryder was sitting on the balcony of The Spire, a land based command center and office complex, watching the shuttles and construction crews literally printing new buildings in a matter of hours.

"Hell of a sight huh kid?" Nick said as he loosened his tie and walked over to his daughter.

"Yeah it is. So President... that's gonna take some getting used to." Angel chuckled and hugged him. "I guess you were right, there was something brewing, something really nasty."

"Trust an old spy." Nick said and put his hands on the railing. "I wanted you to hear this from me first. But... you remember when I used to work in Pythus System and there were these weird temporal and dimensional rifts?"

"Yes..." she raised an eyebrow.

"They're forming near here. I don't know how much time we'll have before they do something but... it could get very weird very quick." Nick said and looked out at the city. "All this could be for nothing."

"Or it's just our new normal dad. What IS normal anyway? Especially with us." Angel chuckled and walked over to the table with her coffee mug. "Besides whatever happens, we'll handle it.

Later --

A series of rifts opened up around the Terra Alpha System, security drone ships immediately went to investigate and were destroyed by a couple of large warships.

"We are position Lady Ophelia." a helmsman said in a gruff voice. "Why are we going to these other realities?"

"Because we're testing new ways destroy worlds and we can only really use it once per universe." She said and pulled her robe off and walked over to a tactical station and entered in some commands. "Let's see if this Terra Alpha System can be destroyed in one shot..."

The ship's underside irised opened and a large cone of energy began to form and shot out and hit the system's sun, which immediately went Super Nova and began to wipe out planets and moons within moments.

"Take us back through the rift, we should still see the carnage as we cross the threshold." Ophelia ordered and stood on the bridge watching the viewscreen as Starbase Byron was enveloped and destroyed, followed by Terra Alpha itself which erupted into a ball of debris.

"Oh... I can feel all those deaths in the iljuna... get me someone from the slave pits, I need to... vent." Ophelia said with a laugh and left the bridge

--

On Terra Alpha seconds before destruction.

"This is Commodore Angelica Ryder to anyone that can hear this our sun went nova, some vessal came out of a rift, opened fire on it and... we only have minutes or seconds... but... the readings of the ship, the weapon and our final logs... are being transmitted." she said as calmly as she could through through her comm station. "We may be lost, but... maybe this will help someone. Somewhere... go..." she was abruptly cut off as the solar wave desintegrated the building in a blinding flash of heat and light and left nothing in its wake but debris and destruction.


In another place... another when...

"...ica Ryder to anyone that can hera this..." Nick Ryder furrowed his brow and looked at his eldest daughter and stopped the message. "This came through a small temporal rift. With a rather huge data dump. Time stamp puts it a couple years in the future. But this is disturbing."

"I'll say." Angel nodded her head and pulled her glasses off. "So I guess this means Terra Alpha System is going to be a going concern."

"Indeed. Assemble a crew, I'll be calling in some people as well. When I discovered those small rifts, that greatly resembled the ones I encountered years ago, that seemed to remake reality around me. Hence why you're a grown adult when you should really just be barely out of a training bra and I'm a youthful 'old man'."

"You and Aunt Becca always did make me wonder what really happened there. Part of the reason why I worked with you both so closely." Angel stood up and put her arms around her father's shoulders. "Whatever happened there, we'll make sure it doesn't happen to us. But... at least one thing is for certain, I really can keep cool in the face of certain death and still send useful intel. Maybe Captain Larkon will actually trust me when I say I learned from the best."

"Well, Krull is an old friend but he never truly saw us in action. So... let's make something happen. Because I am seeing some really really nasty things happening in the Council." Nick said as he handed Angel a padd. "I think your mother is backing the wrong people."

"Good thing the divorce was finalized." Angel deadpanned. "By the way dad, there's a scientist on Earth you should meet. Name's Huntington. Apparently she's a pyrokinetic like you."

"Well that's rather disturbing considering I'm the only one like me because that's what the people who made did." Nick said with a frown.

"Exactly why you should track her down. Who knows who did it to her and why or how. Anyway... I've got to go and finish packing. The Mata Hari is being decommissioned and anything left on board after tomorrow will be stuck there when it gets put into mothballs and ripped apart for parts and you know how much engineers LOVE to dissect old Galaxy class ships."

"Listen I didn't put the order through..." Nick said and chuckled. "I had nothing to do with it. Besides, your old CO will love the new ship."

"So what exactly am I signing up for again?" Angel raised an eyebrow.

"A starbase and a rather nice ship which you'll have to see when you get there. It's a surprise." Nick said with a wide grin. "414th will be based out of Starbase Byron when we get everything sorted, honestly... I think we need to seriously keep our friends close these days and trust very few. This is a new normal dear."

"What IS normal anyway dad?" Angel said and waved over her shoulder. "Certainly not people like us or our friends!"

--

And so it begins...