Alternate History - Gallia Triumphant!

[Capt. Henry Morgan]

26 January 826 AS
City of Port Jackson, Planet Kythira (formerly Gran Canaria)

To say that Sergeant Olivia Bailey was having the worst day of her life would be the understatement of the century. Actually, her life had been getting progressively worse every day since New London capitulated. One of the first things the new puppet government on New London did was renounce all Bretonian claims on Gran Canara and the Omega-49 system. At first, it hadn't been too bad. They weren't answering to Gallia, and OSI had generously offered to supply the colony.

The good times didn't last, though. Within a few weeks, the Corsairs took advantage of the Bretonian withdrawal from the system to claim it for themselves. In a surprise attack, the Corsair fleet swept aside the few ships the the Zoners were able to muster at short notice and quickly captured the Zoner stations. With space superiority achieved, troop transports landed outside every major settlement on the planet. Most of the cities were not equipped to resist a full-scale invasion and fell quickly to the Corsair advance. The last few pockets of Zoner resistance fell within the next couple weeks. The Corsairs established their capital in Gran Canaria's largest city and claimed it, under the name Planet Kythira, as the newest territory of the Corsair Empire. Port Jackson stood alone.

The Bowex Colonial Authority had foreseen the possibility of an enemy attack on Port Jackson and equipped the local security forces accordingly. Every attempt to enter the city had initially been repulsed, but everyone knew it was a matter of time. Every ship at the spaceport capable of carrying passengers had loaded every refugee they could and attempted to run the blockade. Most, but not all, made it safely away. A few days ago, the Corsairs had finally managed to breach the city's anti-air defenses and landed marines. Since then, a furious street-to-street battle had taken place.

Sergeant Bailey hadn't slept at all in the last 48 hours and was nearing the end of her rope. Still, there was work to be done. BCA troops slowly pulled back to the spaceport in an orderly retreat, killing as many Corsair marines as they could in the process. They kept on coming, though, their numbers seemed endless. At last, the surviving BCA troops were pushed out of the city itself, with only the spaceport remaining uncaptured. There was only one ship remaining at the port, the luxury yacht SS Golden Hind. Sergeant Bailey had spoken with the Hind's Captain, Warren Belch, briefly. He was a decent sort, if a little nervous and paranoid. She couldn't hold that against him, though. He remained behind long after others had fled in the hopes of saving as many lives as he could. Once the ship was loaded to capacity, the crew quickly buttoned up the hatches and requested clearance to depart.

Once they received it, the ship lifted off. Just as it started to gain altitude, though, an artillery shell struck the Golden Hind directly amidships. The yacht started to fall back out of the sky, back towards the spaceport. Just before it struck the ground, Sergeant Bailey only had time for one thought.

At least I don't have to worry about tomorrow...