A New Frontier

[Ethereal]

Earth 2070, with much of the world reduced to rubble and rendered uninhabitable by the Omega, a nuclear holocaust provoked by a terrorist group which ended in tragedy, there is not much life around and the future looked bleak for mankind. However, a chosen few refused to give in. These people united and strove to bring mankind atop the catastrophe that claimed many and more. These people were the New World Government, mankind's last chance for survival. They have sought balance and stability, power and wealth, but more importantly, peace and prosperity. When the world's major cities and countries were nothing more but polluted zones that can't sustain life, the New World Government took measures to find places where contamination did not exist. They have found some and called them Sectors.

Promises of shelter and protection were sent out. Those who managed to get the broadcast immediately responded and came under the NWG's wings. Additional manpower came in flocks and herds. These were the very same people who were devastated by the Omega looking for change, a brighter future. It was not a hard task to get these people to cooperate for NWG. All it needed was a slight push with words filled with promise and the people are theirs to command. Soon, more and more came to their cause. NWG were forced to use their valuable resources to expand the growing community until they came to a resource shortage.

With only destruction and nuclear pollution around the Sectors, the only way for them to get more resources were to scavenge the Pol-Zones. It was a temporary solution to their problem. Areas with little contamination were easily stripped of usable resources and NWGs reach continued to expand. However, when the resources stopped coming in once more, a bigger problem of the same scenario arose. As they continue to expand, more and more resources would be needed to maintain and gradually continue expanding. But the earth is harsh and the resources they needed lie deeper in the Pol-Zones.

Brilliant minds gathered and began to work towards a permanent solution. With time growing short, they could only look at the most useful piece of technology they had, the HazMat suits. Scientists and engineers alike worked together to improve the design. Soon, a new and improved suit came into production. The new HazMat suits allowed man to walk even the most polluted zone without fear of radiation sickness. It came with a built-in life support system, integrated computer systems and additional functions like recharge mode and combat mode. The fiber coat were replaced with steel or titanium. It may have looked like a metal spacesuit but it was engineered in a way where the joints would be flexible enough to allow zero resistance and free movement. With these suits deployed, the Resource Acquisition or RA division was created and the NWG recruited more and more manpower into their search for resources.

Prosperity was once again in hand and the NWG continued its unparalleled growth. They now consisted of twenty sectors and growing. With the demand for resources reaching an all time high, and with lesser and lesser people wanting to work, the RA division came to a dilemma. They lacked the required manpower to supply the whole NWG populace of the resources they needed. Poverty arose and the NWG harassed the RA division to produce more. The leader of the RA division grew weary of the NWGs methods and instead of complying, coerced the entirety of the RA to break away from NWGs grasp. After making sure the NWG would not be able to replicate the HazMat suits, they left the sectors with the blueprints for the HazMat suits and began living in the Pol-Zones. They called themselves the Outlanders.

Negotiations were conducted to bring the Outlanders back into NWG and restore the RA division. However, the Outlanders have learned something of great value to them in the Pol-Zones that the NWG should not get their hands on. Refusing to cooperate, they gave out their own terms towards NWG in regards to the supply of resources. The Outlanders demanded freedom and exemption from the laws of NWG in exchange for continuing to supply them resources at fixed intervals. With no other option left to choose from, and with peace as their forefront of vision, the NWG were forced to accept and life had been slow ever since. Although they were expanding still, the resources are coming at a fixed rate and in turn, their advancement slowed down.

Several years passed by and mankind yet again faces a problem. NWG's research team came to believe that the earth would not heal in time to sustain their ever growing populace. Panic spread out among the people and the government was forced to take action. The Phoenix Project began funding. This was NWG's attempt to take matters into their own hands. The Project's goal is to explore deep space and look for a planet that can sustain life. It was a long shot plan but the people were left with not many options to choose from. Upon announcement of the Phoenix Project, the people were given renewed hope. It served as a promise waiting to be fulfilled and the people waited in anxiety. This is where our story begins...

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Czzkktt... bbzzt... ksshhh... Dwar...cczzkt 1 do... zzzzckkst opy?

The man stopped and tapped the headpiece of his HazMat suit lightly. He had to tap the headpiece a few more times before he was able to get a clear signal.

Base to Dwarf 1 do you copy?

The gentle voice on the other line belonged to a woman and the man couldn't help but smile inside his suit. Looking around to check his bearings, the man knelt down and laid out a map amidst the strong winds and dark surroundings. Pressing a button on the wrist part of his suit, a small light shot out from the chest part and illuminated the map before the man.

"This is Dwarf 1 to base, am I lost?"

Base to Dwarf 1 you are right on track. Five more clicks North and you should find our dig site. We got trouble over there and your skills are needed by the men.

"Oohh boy! Sounds like I got my work cut out for me eh? So Base, what are they having trouble with that requires my amazing skills?"

Cut the chatter Dwarf 1! On to your mission. We need what those men found.

"Cut me SOME slack Base, you're not the one out here in the Pol-Zone y'know? Okay, how about this Base, I get you your material with my amazing skills, and you go out for a drink with me. How's that sound?"

*sigh*... Base to Dwarf 1, copy. Stay safe Nuke. Base out.

"Base? Base? Was that a yes Base do you copy? Helloooo!!?? Naww geez... Well she did say copy right? So it is a yes! Yahoooooo! I'm gonna go on a drink with Elly!"

The man, in his sheer joy, crumpled the map and began sprinting due north towards their dig site. Maurice Hill a.k.a. Nuke, twenty-five, was a scavenger of the Pol-Zones. He is one of the best there is out there and not just the man knows it, everybody in the Outlanders does.

He was still scavenging ten years after he had joined the RA division. Maurice was now one of the Outlanders who lived in the Pol-Zones. To him, it did not really matter if he were under the NWG or the Outlanders. All Maurice cares for is to get the resources out of the Pol-Zones and be used for the good of mankind. Anywhere he goes as long as he could do it is fine with him.

After interchanging sprinting and walking north through the same barren wasteland for five clicks, Nuke had found the dig site and the men. They noticed his chest light and one of the men, a big brutish looking guy with a black HazMat suit walked up to him and extended his hand for a shake. Maurice did the same and the gesture was done.

"You must be Nuke from the Dwarf Team, glad you could make it. The name's Byron Haggart from Serpent Team, I will bring you up to speed."

"Whaddya got for me Byron?"

The big guy pointed over to the dig crew and their drill. Maurice could see that the drill is smoking and the men were trying desperately to keep the hole they dug from crumbling and closing in on them. His blue eyes winced to get a good look at the hole and then turned back to Byron.

"What's inside the hole?"

Byron's smile could be seen from inside his suit's helmet. The man was certainly proud of their find and his body gestures gave it away like candy on Halloween. Maurice had to tap Byron's shoulder to get him back to reality.

"Oh uh.. pardon me. Ehem! We managed to find ourselves a gasoline tank but the men are having trouble extracting the gasoline from it. The hole keeps caving in and the resource as you know is very valuable. We can't just abandon it."

"Oh I know that. So what's the problem? Why not get someone down there and plug a siphon on the tank? That should do the trick."

"It's not that easy. The hole can only be opened big enough to fit the siphon. If we try to open it up any more than what we have, it will crumble and the tank would be unreachable. Plus the soil is somewhat flammable. That's the reason we couldn't use the drill to dig a bigger hole."

Walking as they continued their conversation, Maurice took a peek inside the hole and could see the luminous stick dropped by the men on top of the tank. The size of the hole the men dug was just about six inches in diameter, it was just about right to fit a siphon hose and stick it to the tank. The problem was how to lower the soft bodied siphon hose and get it connected to the tank without rupturing it in the process. Nuke shook his head sideways and began looking for the Team's tool car.

"Listen up people! If you guys do as I say, we'll be out of here in to time! That gasoline is as good as yours!"

After Nuke got their attention, he began giving out instructions to every individual in the dig site. Soon, all the bodies were in motion and their operation to retrieve the gasoline from the tank began.

"This is not going to stop me from getting a drink with Elly! C'mon people! Hustle! I need the siphon hose started now!"

And so his work continued inside the lifeless portion of the world. Unknown to the people who live easy lives in the sectors, they were the reason those people could enjoy electricity, fire and refrigeration in the first place. But those did not matter to Maurice. As long as they are happy, he's fine with it.