After the Stormhammers: A Look Back 1/14/3134
INN - Interstellar News Network
PORT HOWARD – In the nearby Prince John Spaceport, a 3,500-ton Union stands at
idle, its sensors and weapons relentlessly tracking the sky, while helicopters maintain
an irregular, almost unpredictable patrol pattern. Deeper within the city, particularly
near the capital building and the planetary HPG compound, armored vehicles bearing
the insignia of the Towne militia, backed by the occasional BattleMech sporting the
logos of either The Republic of the Sphere or the 21st Centauri Lancers, stand at
attention, soldiers within eyeing every passing motorist with suspicion. These are just
a few of the less subtle signs that demonstrate how life has changed since the
Stormhammers, one of the latest factions to rise out of the chaos since the collapse of
interstellar communications grid, raided the capital city of Towne just a few months
ago.
In the northern sectors of the city, the signs are more obvious, and also more solemn.
Here, construction crews continue to clear away the rubble of fallen buildings, raising
the skeletons of new structures in their place, or leaving behind an empty lot. Even as
they work to erase the scars of the fighting, however, wreaths, crosses, holographic
portraits, and other memorials continue to pile up in the places where friends and
loved ones died, casualties in an urban crossfire that erupted during the morning rush
hours.
“You can’t go anywhere in this town without seeing something that reminds you of
it,” said Melissa Anderson, a Port Howard resident whose apartment complex stood
just three blocks away from the heaviest fighting. “Downtown, the streets are still
cracked in some places, and there are militia troopers everywhere.”
In the Port Howard hyperpulse generator, residents have found that even getting into
the inner lobby transmission booths involves a strict security screening, with local
ComStar and militia guardsmen manning weapons detectors and carefully watching
anyone who seems even the slightest bit out of place.
“It seems paranoid, and reassuring at the same time,” explains Adept Ursula Langdale,
an archivist employed at the HPG compound. “I mean, the Stormhammers did not
have any overt outside aid, as far as anyone knows, but the fact that the HPG was
again threatened by a hostile force has us all a bit on edge, and it’s nice to know that
there’s someone watching out for you in times like that.”
But for how long can the scars remain? How long can a city remain on edge, shell-
shocked at an unexpected and fierce attack that was so brief, yet touched so many
lives? How long till things return to normal, where people can feel safe again? To
many of the residents here in Port Howard, the answer is, perhaps they shouldn’t.
“We all figured that Towne had nothing worth fighting for, and so it wasn’t worth the
attack as long as more important world like Ozawa and Ankaa were around,” says one
unidentified Port Howard motorist. “Now, we know better. We should never let our
guard down like that again.”
INN - Interstellar News Network
PORT HOWARD – In the nearby Prince John Spaceport, a 3,500-ton Union stands at
idle, its sensors and weapons relentlessly tracking the sky, while helicopters maintain
an irregular, almost unpredictable patrol pattern. Deeper within the city, particularly
near the capital building and the planetary HPG compound, armored vehicles bearing
the insignia of the Towne militia, backed by the occasional BattleMech sporting the
logos of either The Republic of the Sphere or the 21st Centauri Lancers, stand at
attention, soldiers within eyeing every passing motorist with suspicion. These are just
a few of the less subtle signs that demonstrate how life has changed since the
Stormhammers, one of the latest factions to rise out of the chaos since the collapse of
interstellar communications grid, raided the capital city of Towne just a few months
ago.
In the northern sectors of the city, the signs are more obvious, and also more solemn.
Here, construction crews continue to clear away the rubble of fallen buildings, raising
the skeletons of new structures in their place, or leaving behind an empty lot. Even as
they work to erase the scars of the fighting, however, wreaths, crosses, holographic
portraits, and other memorials continue to pile up in the places where friends and
loved ones died, casualties in an urban crossfire that erupted during the morning rush
hours.
“You can’t go anywhere in this town without seeing something that reminds you of
it,” said Melissa Anderson, a Port Howard resident whose apartment complex stood
just three blocks away from the heaviest fighting. “Downtown, the streets are still
cracked in some places, and there are militia troopers everywhere.”
In the Port Howard hyperpulse generator, residents have found that even getting into
the inner lobby transmission booths involves a strict security screening, with local
ComStar and militia guardsmen manning weapons detectors and carefully watching
anyone who seems even the slightest bit out of place.
“It seems paranoid, and reassuring at the same time,” explains Adept Ursula Langdale,
an archivist employed at the HPG compound. “I mean, the Stormhammers did not
have any overt outside aid, as far as anyone knows, but the fact that the HPG was
again threatened by a hostile force has us all a bit on edge, and it’s nice to know that
there’s someone watching out for you in times like that.”
But for how long can the scars remain? How long can a city remain on edge, shell-
shocked at an unexpected and fierce attack that was so brief, yet touched so many
lives? How long till things return to normal, where people can feel safe again? To
many of the residents here in Port Howard, the answer is, perhaps they shouldn’t.
“We all figured that Towne had nothing worth fighting for, and so it wasn’t worth the
attack as long as more important world like Ozawa and Ankaa were around,” says one
unidentified Port Howard motorist. “Now, we know better. We should never let our
guard down like that again.”
| January 14, 3134 |
