The ship was coming alive around Michael and his girls as they toured its interior, bustling with an absurd amount of activity as potential recruits ran every which way to their assigned stations. The Intrepid had visited roughly half those cities Michael and Aurora had chosen for recruitment drives and they were more overwhelmed with volunteers than ever. It seemed everyone was eager to pay the invaders back the damage they had wrought.
In each stop the Intrepid would land for two days and take on a veritable horde of passengers that would be screened both physically and mentally. After passing, they would be given a series of tests designed to reveal their aptitude and skill sets, as well as their preferred position. The recruits would then be assigned a bunk and a schedule of different stations they could attend during their time aboard. In most cases this would involve being given a presentation on what was involved in the advertised position followed by tests in simulators, or in actuality for the case of noncombat applicants.
After the first day the recruits would bunk down for the night, during which an evacuation drill would go off and only those who had the foresight to read their manuals would know where to go. When two days had passed and those chosen had been approved, the Intrepid would wait one day for them to close their accounts and say goodbye to friends and family before blasting off to space for drills. The next few days would determine who could stand the rigors of living in isolation under such conditions and who would be put ashore at the next stop.
As Michael and his party neared what he'd come to term the Reception Hall where he'd first come aboard, they were battered by heat and dust swirling in from the open hatch packed shoulder-to-shoulder with new faces. The potentials were siphoned off and directed to one of various desks that would get them squared away. Marcus and a security team lined the bulkhead in light armor, wary of letting so many unknowns into their haven.
Suddenly, a man in dark brown covering broke from the ranks of newcomers and sprinted towards the group. He took a small, compact gun from inside his sleeve and shouted in greatly accented English, "For the good of humanity, die alien scum!" Before he'd finished he was already squeezing off rounds at the blue-skinned outlander.
Michael blurred to his right, covering Dejah's body with his own. The assailant got off two shots before a loud boom shook the enclosed space and the top half of the gunman's body simply disappeared, leaving the remainder to slosh to the deck in a messy, sickening puddle. Michael checked his party for wounds, absently associating the sound he'd heard with that cannon Marcus called a sidearm. It looked like a grenade launcher, though it shot capsules that released energy based on the rays fired by the B'Amuf. He liked it because it had considerable stopping power minus the collateral damage.
Finally getting around to checking himself, Michael was surprised to see the bullets hadn't penetrated his uniform and knew the girls hadn't provided him something made of ordinary material. Even more unexpected was that the mass of recruits hadn't broken and fled. In fact, some were already moving towards available desks, still willing to come aboard. He just shook his head at the resilience of the human race and turned towards Dejah.
The lightly furred girl had her arms tucked into herself and was shaking slightly, Aki and Rin on either side of her offering words of comfort. Michael supposed the mechanical bot that had pulled up and started the gruesome task of vacuuming up the bloody remains wasn't helping. He shared a look with Marcus and the grizzled veteran nodded and headed off, already talking into his comm.
When Earth had begun mobilizing to face the extraterrestrial threat, there was resistance, but not by the usual suspects. North Korea, for instance, flat out told the Council that if provided the ships, they were more than willing to supply the men needed to fill them. The most common disagreements occurred with countries that didn't want to be placed under their assigned representative among the Council of Terra. Ireland, for example, was dead set against any form of subservience to England. Only by threatening to put them under the French did they finally relent.
Iran was another unforeseen outcome as they fully supported putting aside their differences to attack the invaders' home worlds. The Grand Ayatollah had even come out and said that they had a new calling, one that shifted their religious duty to the 'true' nonbelievers: aliens. And there, in part, lay the cause of what happened today. After the attack by the B'Amuf there arose tremendous anti-alien sentiments. Oftentimes, sects would form with the sole purpose of keeping Earth 'pure' and eliminating all extraterrestrials before they could make another attempt at conquering the planet.
Probably the most depressing thing about it all Michael thought, was that while the majority of the planet, the Council of Terra included, did not condone or agree with such actions, it was clear that Earth would take a xenophobic outlook towards the stars. There would be no more welcoming gestures as President Whitmore had first tried in his Whitehouse bunker.
Security would override all else in this new age and outsiders would be looked upon with suspicion. Where before, countless settlers and traders might have migrated out and blended with other cultures, slowly immersing themselves with the galactic community, now, Earth would be sealed off until they knew just what they were dealing with and if they could handle the possible threats.
Michael knew it was judgmental and intolerant towards those races who had done nothing to deserve such feelings, but even he couldn't disagree with the policy. Someone had come along and pulled back the curtains to reveal a dangerous jungle filled with unknown predators. Whole civilizations that had been ancient before humans had walked the Earth. They had their own customs and systems in place that didn't account for the human race. The need to tread carefully warred with the burning desire they had for revenge.
Michael and his girls retired to their suite, though Aurora departed soon after as she had to address those recruits trying out for the bridge crew. He and Kat sat on opposite sides of Dejah on the bed while the twins grabbed pillows and sat on the floor in front of them. They all saw that Dejah was still pretty shook up and remained silent, giving her some time to collect herself.
For her part, Dejah couldn't figure out why the episode had affected her so much. She certainly didn't resent the humans their prejudices given their encounter with the B'Amuf. It also hadn't been the first time she'd almost died. In fact, she'd been under constant threat during her captivity.
