| Author |
Darkspace Fanfic - Polaris |
Lux (Polaris)
Fleet Admiral
Raven Warriors
Joined: April 20, 2004
Posts: 835
From: Asgard
|  Posted: 2006-08-04 10:51
Well, here it is, the first chapter. Every year I write stories in my notebook during boring classes, but this time I have a laptop, so I can actually put it onto the forums. I'd usually write it when school starts, but eh. This'll probably be updated approximately whenever I write another chapter. I'd like to think my writing gets better each year, so...here we go.
P.S. Yes, I know, it's a bit centered around Raven and the ICC. For now, anyways.
Chapter One: Assignment
Human Quadrant, CD*13 System, Exathra, ICC Headquarters and Clan Complex.
0513 Hours, Exathra time.
Admiral Alexander ‘Polaris’ Vu walked out of his house. Well, rather, it wasn’t his house, but a residence provided by ICC High Command. Polaris, rather young to be an Admiral, still fit the uniform given to him well. Dark blue and adorned with the Admiral’s rank emblem, the uniform was crisp and clean. Pistol at his hip, Polaris strode into the pre-dawn light. Raven infantry stood in the courtyard, guarding the Raven residential block, though they seemed to be relaxed and unworried, though they had good reason to be.
Composed of tall, dark blue and black buildings, the Raven residential block was smack dab in the middle of the huge pseudo city created by the various clan headquarters, with defense turrets everywhere in and outside of the place. Various military buildings also were scattered about the city, but this was only the tip of the iceberg. Down underground, there were hundreds of miles of tunnels and installations, where the clans conducted their various businesses. Polaris stretched, and walked down the steps of his apartment, adorned with the emblem of the Raven clan, and headed towards a certain building to the north. A departing ICC ship roared over his head, and he looked up into the sky. Sometimes he missed Earth, but it was alright. While Earth was certainly unique in itself, so was Exathra. The stars were still out in the pre-dawn, little spots of light across the sky. Exathra’s companion, a moon named Minuete, hung in the sky, reflecting the light from CD*13, just like Luna did for Sol. But though it was similar, it just was unique. Nothing could ever duplicate the feeling Polaris had whenever he walked out early in the morning, and looked at the sky.
Polaris put on his Admiral’s hat, looked down, and continued walking. He got to his destination, a rather large and official looking building of glass and titanium, domelike in construction, with the ICC flag proudly waving in the front. People bustled all around, getting out and into jeeps, shuffling important looking papers, exchanging greetings, a few directed at Polaris. He greeted them in return, and walked through the front door of the building, where he was greeted with a sight of the inside. A large shaft was in the center of the building, going down for a mile or so. Not many people walked inside, and it was still moderately dark, and the stars still shone through the glass dome, making the place seem all the more quiet and serene. It was an illusion, however. Polaris knew that every floor of the shaft had many people hard at work, though on the first floor it was pretty quiet; only a little noise made it from the other floors and floated up the shaft to reach Polaris’ ears. Polaris headed for one of the many elevators positioned around the shaft, and got in, pressing his hand against the palm reader on the inside.
“Accepted.” The elevator computer spoke. “Please select a destination.”
“Raven High Command offices, 2nd Level.” Polaris spoke, loudly and clearly.
“Accepted.” The computer said again, and the elevator descended.
Polaris hung on tight to the side railings, as the magnetic elevator accelerated faster and faster, plunging down the side of the shaft. Lights flew by, floor after floor, until the elevator hit the ground floor of the shaft, and went into a tunnel that stretched further down still. The elevator started to slow, until it came to a halt. Polaris didn’t know exactly how far down he was, but he knew it was pretty danged far underground. The doors opened, and Polaris walked out.
Outside was a large, circular hallway, well lit, with doors every now and then on the sides. They were numbered 1 to 22. Polaris strode down the hallway, unusually quiet for this hour. He walked until he came to the number 15 door, where he put his palm into the scanner that was bolted to the wall.
“Admiral Polaris.” He said, loudly and clearly.
The door opened inwards without a sound.
Inside was a large conference room, consisting of a large, oval table, several large screens in the back of the room, and comfortable seats, some of which were occupied.
“Ah, well if it isn’t Kit.” Said a lady seated near the front, referring to him by his former callsign.
“Good morning, Fleet Admiral Lark.” Polaris responded with a smile, nodding at the other seated officers. “Fleet Admiral Enterprise, Admiral Eochu, Fleet Admiral Reaper.” Polaris said. “Morning to you all.”
“You don’t have to put all this ‘Admiral’ and ‘Fleet Admiral’ junk in front of our names, Kit.” Spoke up Enterprise, frowning a little.
“Just following protocol.” responded Polaris with a smile, sitting down in one of the chairs. “And you know, it’s ‘Polaris’ now.”
“You’ll always be Kit to us.” Spoke up Lark.
“Well, then I suppose its good that I still respond to either one. So, Lark, I’m here. Is there anyone else coming?”
“No, unfortunately. We were expecting Banshee and Fornax to come, but it seems that they’re still bogged up in a load of work down at Ross 248.” Said Lark.
Everyone in the room knew what was meant by ‘work’. The UGTO had been steadily advancing ever since they had broken the ICC fleets at 148 a month ago. Polaris felt a little guilty about not being able to participate in the fighting, but orders were orders. He was to stay at Exathra.
“Well, might as well get the meeting started.” Said Lark. “Lights to 10%, please.”
The lights in the room dimmed, till there was just enough to walk around the place without tripping over something.
“View screen one, display.”
The center view screen lit up. On it was a 3D map of all the explored systems the humans had ever been to, with lines connecting systems to show the locations of the jumpgates. ICC controlled systems were colored blue, while UGTO systems were colored white. K’luth systems were colored in red.
“So. This is how it stands as of now.” Said Lark, gesturing to the display. “UGTO forces have advanced all the way up to Ross 148, while the K’luth seem content to just sit there in their systems. Well, god knows what those aliens are thinking anyways. But, they’re unimportant to this meeting. As we all know, our fleets lost at Ross 148. Communications breakdown, clans not working together, blah blah blah. The point is, we lost, and the UGTO fleet has now opened the doorway to historically ICC space. R33 seems too strong for them, so they just put a guard fleet at that gate, and advanced to Ross 248.”
The screen zoomed in on Ross 248, showing the planets in detail. A few markers showed the location of the UGTO and ICC fleets there.
“Right now, the UGTO were actually able to capture one planet, the ice planet Tethitric. We’ve got a medley of clan fleets there, FS, EsF, S.W, Raven, and a few other, minor, clan fleets there. All seem to be willing to listen to Banshee, so no problem there. The problem is this.” Lark said, and the screen zoomed up on the UGTO fleet. A hundred icons lit up, showing the positions of their physical counterparts.
“This is the UGTO fleet.” Stated Lark. “As you can see…more than a hundred ships are in orbit of Tethitric. We think that a quarter of the fleet is comprised of the elite GTN, half the fleet made up of CEC, and the remaining quarter comprised of smaller clans, including CSA and VCA.”
“So we’re outnumbered.” Spoke up Reaper. “Nothing new.”
“Yes.” Replied Lark. “But, this time I’m not sure we can hold them off. Unlike the UGTO invasion fleets that attacked us in the last few months, this fleet seems well organized, experienced, and has a definite purpose. The other fleets, we were able to hold out and drive them away because they lacked at least one of these qualities.”
“So what do you want us to do?” asked Eochu.
“Alright, here’s the deal.” Lark said. “I’ve gotten permission from the ICC Naval Command to go ahead and send in some reinforcements. That said, I would like Enterprise and Reaper to take a moderately sized fleet into Ross 248, to link up with Banshee and Fornax.
“Question.” Said Enterprise. “Aren’t the other clans sending reinforcements?”
“Yes,” Lark responded, “But not that many. However, the ships they are willing to send will be incorporated into the fleet you will be leading.”
Enterprise nodded.
“Eochu, I’m sending you on a different, but nevertheless important mission.” Said Lark, turning to him. “The pirates have been acting up lately. The UGTO thinks that the ICC and the pirates are all the same, but let them think what they want. Several pirate factions have been operating from an asteroid belt in a nebula, in the Kapyten’s Star system, attacking freighters, the like. Seems like they picked one of the best spots to launch their operations from. The rocks provide cover, the nebula shields their signatures.” Lark sighed. “But I have faith in you, Eochu. I’m sure you can get the job done. I’ve already uploaded the specifics of the mission to your datapad. Polaris, I have a similar mission for you. The pirates in Kapyten’s are Eochu’s to handle, but it seems that there have been several pirate attacks here in CD*13, some even within 5000 gu of our planets. The pirates have never been this bold before, or attacked with such strong force. They’ve even attacked military patrols. I want you to investigate exactly where these pirates are coming from. With this level of attacks we’re sustaining, there must be a base situated somewhere out there. I’ve uploaded the necessary details of the mission to your data pad, including maps of the last pirate attacks, where they attacked, in which direction they arrived and exited, etc. Both you and Eochu can pick your escorts at will.”
“Should we get started immediately?” asked Reaper.
“No, not yet. There is still something I need to show to you all. Something that could change the tide of this war, and drastically tip the scales in favor of the ICC. Come on, men. We’re heading down to Research. We’ll take the underground tram.”
“Are we set?” said a man, walking out from behind one of the huge data compilers in one of the minor information storage rooms that were all about the ground based ICC Research Facility.
“Yep, it’s all good.” said his companion. “We’ve got what we came for. Surprisingly, it was a piece of cake getting it.”
“Great.” replied the man. “The ship prepped up?”
“It just arrived, it’s coming into orbit around Minuete. We finished early. It’ll take a few minutes to get into position.”
“Good. We should hurry, though. I’ve heard that quite a few Raven Fleet Captains are on the way here to take a look at some new, top secret gadget of theirs.”
“Raven Captains? A new piece of technology? Say, Crimson, we could-“
“The hell we will! We’re supposed to go in here, accomplish our mission, and get the hell out! We’re getting paid a lot for this, you know. A real lot. Let’s not jeopardize the money and our lives attempting something else! We’ve got what we came for. Now let’s go.”
“I suppose you’re right. Let’s go.”
The two exited the data storage room.
“Did you get what you came for, Admiral?” politely asked one of the three Marines guarding the door.
Crimson snickered inwardly at the Admiral part.
“Yes. We got what we came for. Thanks for making sure.” Crimson said, smile on his face.
And as they walked away, Crimson couldn’t help but grin wide at the irony of it all.
___________________________
[ This Message was edited by: Polaris {ISC} on 2006-11-09 21:11 ]
_________________
ICC Security Councilor - Raven representative
Loyal Admiral of the Interstellar Cultural Confederation Navy.
Senior Commander of the Raven Warriors, the ICC elite.
Captain of the Assault Dreadnaught \"Gungnir\"
|
Supertrooper
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: March 18, 2004
Posts: 1895
From: Maryland, U.S.A
| Posted: 2006-08-04 14:53
I Love You =). Excellent so far, keep it up!
_________________
|
Lux (Polaris)
Fleet Admiral
Raven Warriors
Joined: April 20, 2004
Posts: 835
From: Asgard
| Posted: 2006-08-04 20:58
Yes, yes, there will be some action. But not yet! I'm not just diving into the action on this one. -.-
_________________
ICC Security Councilor - Raven representative
Loyal Admiral of the Interstellar Cultural Confederation Navy.
Senior Commander of the Raven Warriors, the ICC elite.
Captain of the Assault Dreadnaught \"Gungnir\"
|
Joe dirt
Fleet Admiral
Joined: April 18, 2006
Posts: 273
| Posted: 2006-08-05 01:02
sounds good
_________________
|
Sixkiller
Marshal
Courageous Elite Commandos
Joined: May 11, 2005
Posts: 1786
From: Netherlands
| Posted: 2006-08-05 01:54
i like it polaris:)
_________________
|
Lux (Polaris)
Fleet Admiral
Raven Warriors
Joined: April 20, 2004
Posts: 835
From: Asgard
| Posted: 2006-09-22 22:43
Here we go, I finally got the will to write a bit more. If it needs work in an area, just tell me, so I can write better in the future.
Chapter 2
___________________________________________
The Raven Fleet Captains waited in the underground shuttle, understandably a bit bored. Polaris sat staring at the ground, lost in though. Lark stood near the door, tapping her foot. Enterprise was slumped in his seat, seeming to be lightly asleep. Reaper and Eochu were looking at the various things on the bulletin board on a wall of the almost supersonic shuttle, which seemed to be slowing down a bit.
“Finally.” Said Lark. Polaris seemed to come out of his thoughts, Eochu stood, and Reaper nudged Enterprise, waking him up. The shuttle stopped, and the doors opened. The Captains strode out, being greeted by the sight of the main area of the research facility on Exathra. Polaris had been here a few times before, as had the other Captains. White coated scientists walked about, doing their business, not even taking a second to glance at the new arrivals.
Enterprise stretched and yawned. “So what do we do now? Just stand here?”
Lark shook her head, checking her watch. “No, we’re supposed to be met by Trenton….though he’s slightly late.”
And it was at that moment that a scientist came jogging up to meet them. Polaris recognized him and the strange pattern on his sleeves, which marked him as one of the top scientists in the huge underground complex. Trenton was actually one of the top scientists, and to be met by him personally was a rather rare occurrence.
“Ah, Fleet Admiral Lark – and the Raven Captains.” He started, nodding at the group. “I’m dreadfully sorry about the lateness, we were making final preparations to the presentation.”
“It’s fine, Trent.” Replied Lark, using his preferred name. “We’re not in any real hurry. Lead the way.”
“Of course. Wait one minute – I’ll try and get a personnel transport.”
The six drove along through the complex, on one of the transports provided for scientists to get from place to place faster. It was relatively slow, as to reduce potential accidents, but it reduced the travel speed greatly. Trenton slowed as they came to the main elevators that led to the outside; it was a rule. As they slowly passed by, Polaris glanced over at a group waiting for an elevator to arrive. A few scientists and what looked like two admirals, Polaris thought, as he looked over them. One of the admirals turned around, saw the transport, and looked the Fleet Captain straight in the eye. Polaris was taken aback. The look that officer gave him was strange…he could’ve sworn it could have been…hatred? Contempt? Whatever it was, Polaris knew, somehow, that the admiral was mocking him, and that look contained pure malice. For what? he wondered. Then the elevator came and whisked the group away, up towards the surface. Polaris fixed the image of the man’s face in his mind.
Crimson and $ythe walked out into the morning sunlight. It looked like the start of a beautiful day on Exathra, but the pair didn’t pay attention. They had work to do.
“Status of the Mentor?” asked Crim.
“Nothing’s changed.” Responded Sythe, looking at his data pad. Still shows them as en route.”
“Well, they better get here fast. Our little ship isn’t exactly equipped for tachyon speed.”
“Their projected time of arrival is ten minutes. We should head to the shipyard.” Sythe said as they came to their parked jeep in the complex parking lot. Crim opened the driver’s side.
“No.” said $ythe, glaring at Crim.
“What?”
“You’re not driving.”
“Oh, come on…the last time, that was by pure accident – “
“No.” Sythe said again, shaking his head. “Crim, your piloting skills may be superior…but as for your driving skills…I’ll put it frankly. You suck. I’M driving.” He said, as he moved past Crim, taking the keys from his hand and sitting in the driver’s seat.
“I won’t forget this.” Crim said, with an air of annoyance but with a slight air of amusement. He got in the passenger seat, and they drove off out of the complex.
The Ravens came to two large steel doors after quite a bit of being shuttled around on the transport. Reaper, understandably, was annoyed.
“This better be worth it…” he grumbled under his breath. “I sure as hell didn’t use these hours to come see a new ship-board toilet design”
Lark glared at him.
Trent went to the panel by the door, slid in his access card, and went through several tests that ensured he was who he was supposed to be. After a few seconds, a green light showed on the panel, and there was an audible click. The massive doors opened inwards.
“Ah, well if you gentlemen would please step inside…” Trent said, gesturing to the now opened doors.
The group walked in, took a route down a side passage, and then entered a large clearing, presumably the final destination.
For a moment, all the Fleet Captains but Lark stood motionless for a split second.
“Wow.” Said Eochu.
What lay before them was what was presumably a weapon of some sort, according to the design, a barrel and at the other end, what appeared to be 6 glass containers in a circular arrangement, and filled with blue fluid. But this was one huge weapon. Granted, most ship weapons mounted on the outside were rather large…but this one was huge. Roughly a football field in length, and about a quarter wide, Polaris knew that the scientists wouldn’t have had an easy time getting the use of a lab this large. But the fact that they had gotten use of the room meant that this was a very important project indeed.
“Gentlemen, let me introduce you all. This here is the pride of my team, the result of years of research. What you see before you is the ICC’s newest and most technologically advanced weapon: The Ion Cannon.”
“Ion Cannon?” Polaris muttered.
“Ah, yes.” Said Trent, his voice excited. “This groundbreaking piece of equipment may very well turn the tide of the war in favor of the ICC. Allow me to explain, or at least explain what I feel you could understand easily. Basically, what this Ion Cannon does is fire a large mass of yes, ions, at a target. On impact these charged particles interact with the target ship’s systems, of course, wreaking havoc. It will short out systems, malfunction computers, burn out wires, and theoretically, disable, if not destroy the target ship. If all the electronics catching on fire, and the reactor power being overloaded doesn’t destroy the ship, you can bet it would have completely shut the enemy ship down. This has already been tested in a secure area on a captured ship; the results were extremely promising. In this particular test, the reactor was overloaded, though it compensated. 57% of the ship’s systems were burnt out, shut down, or disabled. Though that’s only a bit more than half, even a third of all systems disabled would cause serious damage, and leave the enemy ship significantly impeded in combat.”
“Excellent.” Said Enterprise, nodding. “But…there has to be some drawbacks to such a powerful weapon.”
“Ah, yes, there are a few.” Replied Trent, shaking his head. “The first and the most obvious, I believe, is the sheer size of the weapon. The second problem is that this cannon requires massive amounts of energy to fire. A standard ICC station will struggle with having three of these cannons fire simultaneously. So far we can fit at most, four on an ICC Line Station, though this will cause serious energy requirements to be met. We can fit two at most on an Assault Dreadnaught, also requiring massive amounts of energy from the reactor. One on a Combat Dreadnaught and all other types of Dreads.”
“I’ve already got a few in Raven stockpile.” Said Lark to the assembled group. “Any of you can get a few and ask the techies here to mount it on your ship. And…this brings me to another mission I have, for Reaper and Enterprise.”
The view of Exathra was beautiful, seen from the bridge of the ICC sensor station in orbit around the terran planet. The ICC officer manning his post sat and watched the ICC ships go about their business, their hulls occasionally reflecting light so that they almost looked like one of the innumerable stars dotting the infinite void of space. Perhaps if he had been watching carefully, and had not been entranced by the vastness and beauty of space like always, he might have seen, a thousand g.u. in front of him, an abnormally large and sudden twinkle of light. But then again, who was he to blame. The light, though bright, lasted for a split second, and the officer, when he glanced at his console, saw nothing on scanners, though the station must have been running a dozen or more ECCM and the same amount of Scanners. He looked back at the stars and Exathra, confident none would get past the sensors, and that today would again be a relatively uneventful day.
The Mentor slid gracefully though space, almost noiseless, except for the low rumbling of the ship’s propulsion.
“Status on Lord Crimson and Sythe?” asked the captain of the ship after some time.
“A-ok, sir. They’re alive, at the least, and are heading towards the shipyard for liftoff.” Answered an officer.
“Very well. Continue on, get us into position, and message them when we are ready.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
“Well then.” Said Lark to Enterprise and Reaper. “You know what to do. Get that cargo of Ion Cannons to the main fleet with Banshee. Hopefully, you’ll arrive before the UGTO eventually grinds down the fleet with their numbers.”
“Yes ma’am.” Enterprise said, glancing at the Ion Cannon in the lab. “Seems a mite heavy, though, but I’m sure the Transports can get along with reduced acceleration.”
“Good then.” Replied Lark, smiling. “Well then, Dr.Trenton, we’ll take our leave.”
“A pleasure to see you again, Lark.” Said Trent, nodding. “Good luck out there.”
Lark nodded and turned to the exit, motioning for the Captains to follow her.
“Well, that certainly was worth our time.” Said Reaper after they had cleared the lab and were in the hallways.
“Course it was.” Said Lark. “You think I’d pull all of you together for something trivial? I am the head of Raven, after all.”
“Alright, alright.” Said Reaper, laughing. “I didn’t mean to-“
Reapers words were suddenly cut short, and the group dove to the ground, which seemed to shake and tremble beneath them.
“Detonation confirmed!” said Crimson, looking at his portable data pad.
“Heheh…that should cause a little bit of a stir back there…a pretty piece of work, that bomb. A shame that was the only one we had.”
“I’m messaging the Mentor.” Said Crim, punching a button on his data pad. “Crimson to Mentor, Crimson to Mentor, do you read?”
A crackle, then a voice.
“Affirmative, Lord. We’re in position and awaiting your arrival. All ships have gathered from different locations. None have noticed us.”
“Good. Our ETA is fifteen minutes. Over and out.”
Crimson pocketed the data pad.
“That detonation would have aroused suspicion.” He commented. “Drive faster.”
Sythe nodded, and stepped on the acceleration pedal as the jeep zoomed off, narrowly missing a public transport bus, causing Sythe to swerve and give the occupants of the jeep a hard jolt.
“Good driving skills..my arse.” Crim muttered, shaking his head.
_________________
ICC Security Councilor - Raven representative
Loyal Admiral of the Interstellar Cultural Confederation Navy.
Senior Commander of the Raven Warriors, the ICC elite.
Captain of the Assault Dreadnaught \"Gungnir\"
|
Coeus
Grand Admiral
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: March 22, 2006
Posts: 2815
From: Philly
| Posted: 2006-09-22 23:01
HAHAHAHHA! Fan-friggin-tastic bro  Crimson you dirty little faction hopper! 
_________________
Do I really look like a guy with a plan?
'I'm gonna go crazy, and I'm taking you with me!'
ICC Security Council Chief Enforcer
|
Supertrooper
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: March 18, 2004
Posts: 1895
From: Maryland, U.S.A
| Posted: 2006-09-22 23:23
Keep it Coming Kit.
_________________
|
Little Pet Slinki
Admiral
Joined: April 16, 2006
Posts: 836
From: United Kingdom, South West.
| Posted: 2006-09-23 12:20
That is AMAZING, Keep it coming, Should be the official Darkspace book...
_________________
|
Lux (Polaris)
Fleet Admiral
Raven Warriors
Joined: April 20, 2004
Posts: 835
From: Asgard
| Posted: 2006-11-09 11:56
Chapter 3: Revealed
_________________________
The Raven Captains got up, uninjured from the rather large fireball that had appeared down the hallway in front of them.
“What the hell?” said Eochu.
“An experiment gone wrong?” spoke Polaris, arching an eyebrow.
“In any case, let’s go check it out. Move out!” ordered Lark.
“Agreed.”
The Fleet Captains ran down the hall, pistols at the ready, eyes alert and watchful.
“Heyy!” shouted someone from down the hall near the burning remains of what was apparently one of the minor storage bank rooms.
“Ah.” Said Lark. “Well if it isn’t PlungedJet. Alright, it seems that quite a few Marines up there accompany him. Seems to be under control.”
The Fleet Captains got nearer to the burning wreckage. Polaris saw a few Marines pulling a badly burned body out of debris that had fallen from the ceiling. The Marines saluted upon seeing the Captains.
“At ease, soldiers.” Said Lark, then turning to PJ. “What’s going on here, PJ?”
“Seems like a detonation of a medium sized explosive. Completely destroyed the room, as well as damaging an adjacent one. Packed a punch. We’ve got casualties, as well. Three Marines who were guarding this door.”
“Two of them are dead.” Spoke up a Marine somberly. “The third somehow…I don’t know how, but he survived the explosion.” He said, motioning to the burnt Marine his comrades were putting onto an emergency transport. “We’ll take him to the medical room. Hopefully he’ll survive.”
“Yes, and give us some insight into exactly who did this.” Said PJ thoughtfully.
“An admiral.” Croaked a weak voice. The Marine’s comrades immediately told him to be quiet and save his energy.
“No.” he muttered. “Before it’s too late…sirs…I think I know who planted the bomb. Two admirals recently entered the room…left not long after….they refused to tell me what they were searching for…pretty dammed rude about it, too…like they despised every one of us…”
“Thank you, soldier.” Said Plungedjet. “Rest now, you need to be taken to medical ASAP.”
“O’Brien…Gerden. Those were the names they gave me.”
Plungedjet nodded, and told the Marines to drive him off.
Those admirals at the elevator! Polaris thought, but kept his silence.
“O’Brien and Gerden?” said Lark.
“I’ll do a check right now.” Said Eochu, taking out his data pad. “Checking for officers O’Brien and Gerden. If the guards let those two in, they would have gotten an acceptable profile for those names.”
“Whew.” Said Plungedjet, taking in the scene, watching the Marines move debris and set up a barrier around the scene. “This’ll cause a bit of a stir within the ICC Security Council…the top secret, most heavily guarded, main research complex in all of the ICC, and someone is able to plant and detonate a bomb here. On the most secure level of the complex, no less!”
The Ravens stood in silence, watching the scene.
“I’ve found a match!” exclaimed Eochu suddenly.
“Really?” said Lark, leaning in to read the data pad. “What’ve you got for us?”
“According to this, Admiral O’Brien and Admiral Gerden are legitimate officers of the ICC Navy. But…”
“What?” asked Polaris, after a pause.
“But…I know for a fact….those two were declared missing in action only last week. I remember reading it in the ICC Naval News. They were both in the same patrol group around Tripwik…all was quiet, until one transmission was sent to base. ‘Under attack! Requesting assistance!’ was basically the message, and then they lost contact with ICC bases. “
“Did they mention who they were being attacked by?” asked Lark, dreading the answer.
“They messaged that they were being attacked by a large fleet consisting of a myriad of ships. No insignia. Painted black. The Pirates.”
“Well.” Said Polaris suddenly, turning for the elevators. “If you don’t mind, Lark. I’m going to pursue the ones who did this.”
“You know who?” replied Lark.
“Yes. When we were back near the elevators. I saw two Admirals waiting there. And one gave me such a look of hatred that I can’t help but think….”
“Well, they fit the description. Seemingly radiating hatred and contempt. Well, if you’re sure, you’re not going alone. Reaper! Enterprise! I want both of you to head to the nearest ground based Shipyard. Teryllias Shipyard would ordinarily be your destination…but I don’t think they would head towards such a major ICC Naval Shipyard. Instead, both of you, please head to Jessian Shipyard, a smaller, civilian one. Please use your authority to hold all outgoing ships, and take a complement of Marines with you to keep order, and stop anyone from going out or in.”
“Yes ma’am!” the two said, and ran off to get a transport.
“Eochu.” Said Lark. “I want you to go to Teryllias Shipyard, just in case. Whoever’s in charge should be more understanding, so it should be an easier job to stop activities and search for those two. In order not to clutter up military patrols waiting to dock, please tell the people in charge to watch out for suspicious persons. I’m sure by then the news will have gotten out among the clans and the Councils of the ICC.”
“Of course, Lark.” Responded Eochu, nodding, and ran off after Enterprise and Reaper.
“Really…this is such a pain. We’ll have civilian news stations harassing us about our lack of security for the next few months now. Polaris, you just keep watch over the whole thing from space. If anything goes wrong, I want you to provide support. Take whoever and how many people you see fit with you. I myself will be heading to the Raven orbital HQ with you, and keep track of things from there…maybe write a few reports on what happened.”
“Alright then. Let’s hope we can hurry and put these two to justice.”
“Identification, please.” Said the man behind a counter at Jessian Shipyard.
Crimson and Sythe both took Ids out of their pockets and put them on the counter.
The man scrutinized them for a second before handing them back.
“Ship ID card?”
“Here.” Said Crimson, tossing a flimsy piece of paper onto the counter.
“Well, you’re good.” Responded the man, opening the sealed door that led to the interior of the Shipyard. “I’m surprised you Navy people aren’t using Teryllias Shipyard…but whatever. The reasons of you guys has always escaped me. Have a good day.”
“Well, that went smoothly.” Commented Sythe as they walked towards their ship, parked in one of the many ship booths in the Shipyard.
“Of course. They were authentic Ids, after all.” Responded Crim, checking his watch. “Well, here we are.”
The two had come to their ship, a small, three-seater fighter ship, of the outdated F-7c class. Or at least, seemingly outdated.
“I assume you haven’t lost the data at this point?” asked Sythe.
“Nope! It’s right here.” Said Crim, grinning, and pulling out a data storage unit, a small, thumb sized piece of gray metal.
“Then let’s get the hell out of here. Don’t use the acceleration tube: just take off from the small runway so we don’t have to wait in line.”
The F-7 fighter taxied out, bypassing the massive acceleration tube that magnetically shunted ships into space in a mere half a minute, and got to the small, almost unused runway. The F-7’s engines flared a bright blue as the fighter took off, banked, and made for space, passing over a small ICC convoy headed to the shipyard, two men with the uniforms of the Raven Captains leading the way.
Polaris strode into the bridge of his modified Missile Cruiser, Starfury.
“Officer on the deck!” hollered the navigation officer, Roberto.
His bridge officers saluted, and Polaris did in turn, looking around at the familiar faces of Roberto, the navigation officer, Kylie, the communications officer, James, the Ship Systems officer, and Geoffrey, the Weapons and Fighter Bay officer.
“What’s the status on the Starfury?”
“All diagnostic checks run through. Ship’s status is a-ok, and ready to launch. All weapons systems online. Ammo is fully loaded. All crewmen are accounted for, including the garrison of Marines.”
“Alright. Take us out.”
The Starfury’s hull rang with a series of clanks as the giant docking magnets keeping the ship in place released. The Cruiser flew out, unguided, until the engines ignited a bright blue, propelling the ship away from the Raven orbital HQ.
“Take us into an orbit around Exathra, with a clear view of both Jessian and Teryllias Shipyard. Sound general quarters.”
“Affirmative.”
As the ICC Cruiser rumbled on its plotted course, two Combat Destroyers peeled off from a ship formation a few hundred G.U. away, and took up positions alongside the Starfury.
“Grand Admiral Plungedjet has sent two of his Destroyers to escort us, sir. Incoming transmission.”
Viewscreen one flickered, and the face of Admiral Padmajvara came on screen.
“Greetings, Admiral Polaris. We’ve been sent over by PJ to give you some support. We were originally just passing through this system on our way to Lalande, but he pulled us off to help you guys out. We’re under your command until further notice.”
“Much appreciated, Admiral.” Responded Polaris. “We’re just going to hold position over Exathra, help out if needed.”
“Affirmative sir. Padmajvara out.”
The viewscreen went blank.
“Scan the area.” Polaris ordered Roberto. “More specifically, scan any ships departing from Teryllias and Jessian Shipyard, open communications, and direct them to Raven HQ, where they will stay until further notice. Also, if you see any suspicious activity, report to me.”
“Aye, sir.”
The sky outside of the cockpit of the F-7 fighter grew dark blue, then faded to black, spotted with countless lights as the F-7 cleared the atmosphere, and entered the domain of space.
“Whoo…looks like they’re on to us.” Commented Sythe after a second of silence.
From the F-7’s limited scanners, Crimson could see a Cruiser and two Destroyer escorts sitting in space a few hundred G.U in front of them.
“They’re marked with the Raven insignia…perhaps sent by the Raven Captains we passed down on Exathra.”
Crimson reached for his communications intercom.
“Crimson to the Mentor. Do you read me?”
Silence.
“They may be keeping radio silence to hide their position…” Sythe suggested, looking nervously at the ICC Cruiser blocking their path.
Crimson sighed, and turned the craft to the predetermined pickup coordinates.
“Let’s hope that Cruiser doesn’t notice us…and hope the Mentor is still in one piece.”
“..Crimson to the Mentor. Do you read me?” the voice crackled over the COM.
“Do not respond.” Said the captain. “We’ve set our channels to the normal ICC military channel. They’ll pick up our communications if we speak.”
“Roger that.”
“It seems they didn’t notice our arrival, so all is well. How is the fleet? Everyone ready?”
“Yes sir, all ships are ready and in position. Awaiting your command.”
“Alright. Get ready.”
“Aye sir.” The officer said, hesitating only for a split second before putting his hand on the strange, red, seemingly alive dashboard, and hovering his finger over a certain button.
“This is the Starfury to ICC Frigate Selwan. Identify yourselves and your destination.”
“This is Commander Sukezamashi. We are in route from Teryllias Shipyard to ICC outpost 26, in orbit of Illambic. Identification number 8402-2482-5825b.”
Kylie, the communications officer, ran through checks.
“Seems alright.” She said. “ID number checks out. Commander Sukezamashi has also been confirmed as a loyal officer of the ICC.”
“Very good.” Responded Polaris. “Please, kindly direct them to the Raven orbital HQ.”
“Affirmative.”
Polaris sighed, and looked at the viewscreen showing the outside view. Enterprise, Reaper, and Eochu had had no luck so far. Polaris couldn’t help think that the pirates may have slipped through their fingers. Polaris glanced across at viewscreen two, showing a tactical display.
Hundreds of green markers represented the various ICC ships in the area, while hundreds more marked civilian ships. Hundreds of markers. The pirates could be anywhere. They could’ve stolen an ICC ship, they could be on a civilian ship, they could’ve driven past both Shipyards Polaris was guarding.
Polaris sighed once more, staring at viewscreen number one. A glint of light. Polaris sat up straight, and looked again in the area where the glint of light came from.
A star? He thought. A distant explosion? No…it seemed more like a glint of light off metal. Polaris squinted even harder. There! Blue light, possibly from an exhaust port.
“Roberto!” said Polaris abruptly. “Bring us to coordinates 2.9.4.1. Set scanners and ECCM to full.”
The Cruiser slowly moved towards the planet.
There was a loud ping! As the sensors registered a new object in close proximity.
“Sir!” said Roberto. “ICC fighter spotted! F-7 fighter class!”
“Open communications.”
“Com channel open.”
Polaris cleared his throat.
“Unidentified craft, this is Admiral Polaris of the Starfury. Identify yourselves. What fighter wing and ship do you belong to?”
“Oh damn…” said $ythe, as soon as they heard the Admiral’s voice over the COM.
“Don’t respond.” Said Crimson hurriedly, and pushed the engines to overdrive, then reaching for the communications board.
“Crimson to the Mentor, Crimson to the Mentor! If you can read me, open your cargo bay! We have been discovered by an ICC Cruiser!”
“Ship’s not responding.” Said Kylie, frowning.
“Alert Fleet Admiral Lark. Geoffrey, please ready all weapon systems. Target the fighter with one CL 500. All personnel to Battlestations.”
Alarms sounded throughout the ship, as personnel raced about.
“This is Polaris to unidentified craft! Respond and identify yourself, or we will be forced to shoot! Respond!”
“Go, go go!” muttered Sythe as the craft slowly made its way to the Mentor.
“This ship is going as fast as it can! Engine failure in 10 seconds.” Responded Crimson.
Polaris watched intently as the small craft sped along its course, on a seemingly meaningless path. “Where exactly is this ship going?” Polaris wondered aloud. “One last warning then. This is Polaris to unidentified craft! This is your last warning! Respond NOW, or we will open fire!”
Polaris waited…silence…
The intercom crackled, and a voice came through.
“This is Pirate Lord Crimson to Admiral Polaris. And I’ve got this to say. Burn in hell.”
Polaris grimaced.
“Open fire!” he commanded.
The CL shot through space, a blinding, red, destructive beam against the blackness of space. The concentrated energy reached out for the F-7 fighter, was about to touch it…when it abruptly was stopped mid-way. The F-7 fighter disappeared from Polaris’ sight.
“What the…” Polaris said, momentarily stunned.
“Sir! We’ve intercepted nearby communications…I’m putting it on speakers.”
“Welcome aboard, Lord Crimson. I guess it’s time for us to show ourselves.”
Space twisted and distorted, as the stars in that area of space were blocked from view, and space lighted red as the K’luth Cruiser revealed itself.
_________________
ICC Security Councilor - Raven representative
Loyal Admiral of the Interstellar Cultural Confederation Navy.
Senior Commander of the Raven Warriors, the ICC elite.
Captain of the Assault Dreadnaught \"Gungnir\"
|
BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2006-11-09 12:06
Odd, some of the chars in this post show up as Japanese characters for me...
...
_________________
|
Supertrooper
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: March 18, 2004
Posts: 1895
From: Maryland, U.S.A
| Posted: 2006-11-09 14:35
Kit..
Babys.Yours.NOW.
_________________
|
GothThug {C?}
Fleet Admiral
Joined: June 29, 2005
Posts: 2932
| Posted: 2006-11-09 14:53
OMG kit, this is awesome Fiction, Put me in there somewhere  my siphons name is the KSS Vampirah XD
_________________
|
Coeus
Grand Admiral
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: March 22, 2006
Posts: 2815
From: Philly
| Posted: 2006-11-09 21:55
Copied & saved to notepad, will read at work
Looks good kit!
_________________
Do I really look like a guy with a plan?
'I'm gonna go crazy, and I'm taking you with me!'
ICC Security Council Chief Enforcer
|
|
English
Deutsch
Nederlands
)
