Chapter 103 Revolt
On Terra, the sun hadn't yet risen.
With its population of one trillion, though, the streets were already full, including in front of the Federation Senate.
The Senate's role had always been to hold the Federation together, despite the thousands of systems under its control and the billions of different xeno citizens in the nation. It was considered the most politically important place in the Federation, even more so than the Chancellor's palace. The senate was the Federation's symbol of democracy and tolerance between humans and Xeno.
Today, the Senate was discussing a controversial bill to conscript a portion of the population in anticipation of a possible all-out war with the Orc empire.
In the middle of this discussion, ten humans arrived in front of the Senate building's walls.
They wore long jackets which hid something important on their bodies.
The men stood there for only a short time until their watches chimed to announce the new hour. At that moment, one man shouted, "For the Eternals!"
The ten men scattered at great speed!
The Senate guards were surprised by the audacity of these men and immediately opened fire with their laser pistols
However, even though the shots hit them, they seemed to do little, for the men were all Ascensionists!
Even despite this, the sheer number of guards allowed them to kill the men one by one with focused fire. Yet, just as the guards thought they'd solved the problem, the noise of a shattering door rang out near the gathered Senate!
Somehow, one survivor had managed to penetrate the Federal Senate.
While the senators were debating the conscription bill live on TV, a man entered the chamber and pulled up his coat—revealing a hundred kilos of explosives!
He immediately raised the switch in his hand and shouted, "Glory to the Eternals!"
A huge explosion shook the district, sweeping a shock wave through the Federal Senate and some surrounding buildings!
The inhabitants, watching it live on their HoloTV or holo-watches, were stunned.
A kamikaze terror attack? The inhabitants of the Federation had little exposure to such radical terrorism. But just as they were just beginning to realize what had just happened—
Another explosion rumbled near the Chancellor's Palace!
Then another in one of the planet's biggest shopping malls, then in a major power plant!
In short, the explosions were everywhere on Terra.
More than a hundred explosions occurred across Terra, but, unfortunately, it wasn't the only planet affected. Over ten more Federation planets were attacked simultaneously. Of course, one element connected them all: each attack was committed by Eternals with strong explosives.
***
General Ralfot, who was in his office during the explosions, was totally shocked! So many symbols and locations of Federation power had been swept away, and almost all senators had died!He also would have died, had the Secret Service headquarters not been kept secret. Fortunately, Chancellor Souley was also unharmed, as had just returned from the Galactic High Council and was not yet on the planet.
The planet-city in some places was unrecognizable, and entire neighborhoods had been razed to the ground. The situation was critical!
The first reports already indicated that more than one million were dead. Even apart from the deaths, the very heart of the Federation had been struck! They had to react immediately.
But how? The Eternals were a people, not a nation...
Ralfot had absolutely no power to decree political measures against the Eternals. He was a military man, not a politician. Nevertheless, being one of the highest ranking officers of the Federation on Terra, he knew needed at least to declare a state of planetary emergency.
But just as Ralfot was signing the emergency declaration, he received a notification from the Army services.
He immediately opened the message, which reported that fighting had broken out between the Federation garrison forces on Era and the Eternals in the Era Prime system!
Ralfot realized the bitter truth: this was no small incident. The Eternals as a whole were rising against the Federation.
The situation on Era was deadly serious, because that's where the majority of Eternals remained. According to the Secret Service's latest intelligence reports, there were more than three hundred and seventy-five million Eternals on the planet.
If Era fell, almost four hundred million immortal Ascensionists would pour into the Federation! It would be a far more critical situation than even the war with the Orc Empire.
Ralfot had to speak with the Supreme Chancellor as soon as possible… but first, he made a heavy decision.
He asked the Ministers of War to declare martial law, then called for military reservists throughout Federation space.