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do. They have just as much conviction and determination as we do, just as much of a purpose and faith and fervor. They have amazing fighting skills, and their soldiers are just as well trained as ours. But our suits keep us alive and help us win, even when outnumbered ten to one. Without a functional suit, we’re just as vulnerable as they are. But with the suit powered and active, we are close to invincible.”
     
    DAVE
    Dave was struggling to find a comfortable position, sitting with the other initiates, while a Warden, probably not more than a couple of years older than he was, lectured.
    “You all know the story, or at least the parts taught in schools, and I expect you to know the basics already. Yesterday, we covered the Fall, where humanity descended into darkness. The Fall is where the history books all begin, so let’s just leave it at that for now. The Dark Age lasted for almost half a century, forty-seven years to be exact. There was no hope in sight, just a scattering of surviving groups, soon only descendants of those who survived the actual impacts, which killed most of humanity,” the Warden intoned, clearly bored from having told the same story too many times. Dave was finally finding a good position and tried to pay more attention. He’d never been that interested in history, so occasionally, there were nuggets he’d never heard before.
    “Then came the Descent, in which the Moon people brought salvation. Shortly after landing, they began gathering the scattered groups and communities of the land, one by one. In the beginning, the people were simply cared for—sheltered, fed, and protected. Then, as more began to show up, this started to become increasingly difficult. So, just a few years after the Descent, the Moon people made one demand. In order to receive help, a number of people had to make a contribution. For seven years, those selected would serve obediently, in order to feed, shelter, and protect the others. Thus, the first Covenant was born. The first Service was the Corpus, and it was back-breaking work. Cleaning rubble, cleansing contaminated land, clearing fields, road building, sowing and plowing, building, constructing. Hard, manual labor. Many didn’t make the seven years, but the Moon people demanded that everyone stayed until their term was up. And through those hard years, the foundation and principles of Corpus that we know today were created. Eventually, the need arose for different kinds of services, and the Janissaries were created. Enemies were trying to capture revived lands, both in the North and the South, and the Janissaries became the most powerful fighting force on the ground. Supported by the Moon people’s air and sea power, the Janissaries swept south and subdued all enemies all the way down to the Floral Sea. With the South conquered, it quickly became apparent that there was no way the Moon people could control such large areas of land unless the conquered peoples became part of the growing nation. And so, thirty years after the Descent, the second Covenant was formed, in which the southern peoples committed to the same allegiance to the common good as those who had gone before them. They would be eligible for Service, the first years only in the Corpus and then later in the Janissaries, and in return, the families of those serving would receive enough food and goods to live out the life of the serving family member. Eventually, most of the fertile lands of the south became State property, run by the Corpus, although some parts became ordinary towns and villages, as well, such as Charlestown and Stonehaven.” The Warden paused, and Dave thought of how he’d never realized there had been more than one Covenant. The pact that bound them all together must have been revised several times over. In school, he’d always thought the Covenant to be something that had always been there. Now, as he listened intently, despite the lecturer’s obvious boredom, he found that