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Old March 2nd, 2006, 06:46 PM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

Hi all bet you thought this was dead eh Well suprise!

Okay this following chapter is a two parter (I am still working on part two) but here is Part One, sorry it took me so long to write this but this chapter and the one that follows it had a big emotional effect on me for personal reasons and though I enjoyed "writing" it I found some of the imagery hard to describe without being TOO graphic.

I will warn you all right now the Icaran universe is going to becoming darker and more gritty as the chapters go on, this is not to "gothify" it but is to show that no matter how staunch and devout a culture is that it is impossible for decades of war and billions of deaths to pass without effecting a nation (or in this case galaxy) at it's very core.

I've edited and re-edited the following segment so I hope you all like it.


Warning the following two chapters are RATED R for:
Nudity
Rape
Intense descriptions of gore and mutilation
Adult Language
Adult Conent

Please do not read further if any of these offend or scare you.


Alone in the Dark
Be near me when my light is low... And all the wheels of being slow.
Alfred Lord Tennyson


His Majesty’s Light Cruiser LC 303 formerly known as HMS Repulse before a modern Super Dreadnought took her name, was an old ship the last of the old Retribution class light cruisers that had not been turned into a museum or scrapped.. In fact even after her retrofit with modern weaponry 303 wouldn’t even scratch a modern warship if she fired all of her guns at the same time….and so she was assigned one of the most boring jobs in the Royal navy….patrolling the inner “frontier” systems while her crew (which was mostly inexperienced recruits or washouts that couldn’t cut it on an SD) ran the standard anti-smuggler and anti-piracy duties that were normally assigned to the new Federal Space Security Division.

Commander John Dexter, her current CO thought of it as a disgrace for spacers in the Royal Navy to be babysitting the inner frontiers while the real warships and their crews fought for the very survival of the Empire. But he was an officer in his Majesty’s navy and though he was young for his rank (only twenty-two standard years) he was an exceptional officer who ran his ship and his crew as if he were on the most important mission in the entire Empire.
It had been two months since 303 which Dexter and the crew had unofficially named “Forlorn” had left Neurenburg naval base on Dexter’s second cruise in command; and so far it had been the standard run of the mill boredom as the old warhorse which had once served on the fighting lines of battle fleets did her bit for Praetor and Country.

Tellus 1st:

Commander Dexter sat in the small command center of Forlorn sipping a cup of naval coffee, slowly chewing the jelled mix that had started to form as the “coffee” cooled….though the rest of the crew thought he was nuts John genuinely liked the taste of the jell better then the coffee it’s self so he’d heat up a big mug and let it cool after a few hours and chew the little chunks of mix as they formed and floated in the remaining water, it was part of his daily routine and after a few months even his bridge crew got used to it. But today he had honestly forgotten all about his coffee as he read reports that his section leaders had turned in earlier that morning.
“You look worried sir?” Lieutenant Commander Harriman’s voice surprised Dexter who swallowed a chunk of jelled coffee hard as he almost tossed the flexi pad with the reports on it across the bridge.
“Damn it Alex I told you to stop doing that….one of these days you’ll give me a heart attack.” Dexter glared even as the impish grin he rarely shared with anyone but friends came involuntarily across his lips.
“Well skipper if ye’ e’er do have a heart attack I’ll be sure to call a medical team for ye’……o’ c’urse that’d be after I assumed command o’ this old rust bucket.” Harriman said returning his Captain’s grin.
Harriman was nearly three time’s Dexter’s age and had joined the navy back when ships like the Forlorn had still been the queens of space; and though he was a gruff fowl mouthed old spacer that could make most snot noses cringe in fear without even raising his voice; Harriman was a good officer and had taken an almost instant liking to his new Commander; especially since like Harriman himself Dexter had risen from the ranks of the enlisted to become an Officer.
“Hell if I’d leave an vacuum eater like you in command Alex you’d probably end up blowing up a planet or something….and how would that make me look?” Dexter said as he placed the flexi aside with an exaggerated gesture.
“Aye, with my damned lot o’ luck I’d probably do just that sir’ but seriously ye’ do look a mite bothered and befuddled skip….if ye’ don’ mind me sayin’ so o’ course.” Harriman’s drawling voice had turned more serious as his commander’s grin faded into a grimace.
“I don’t mind you saying so Lieutenant Commander, these reports are depressing…..this ship was once a ship of the line! A warship in his Majesty’s service with the best crew and equipment, but now……” he shrugged and looked to the “sky”.
“Ah so that’s it is it sir? Well most of this crew is green, and granted ol’ Forlorn is not what she used to be but this old warhorse has some fight in her still, and she’ll surprise ye if she gets the chance.” Harriman patted the arm of his chair as if he were petting a beloved old hunting dog and Dexter couldn’t help but feel a little guilty that he could never really bring himself to thinking of Forlorn as anything but an old scrap heap that didn’t deserve the title of “warship” in this day and age but he knew Harriman had served on her not only during the Phong Wars where she survived the disaster that had been the third battle of Fornax but he had served on her ever since staying with all nineteen of her captains until they got promoted and moved onto the “modern navy”.

“Well to tell the truth I’m less worried about the ship then it’s new crew….most of these kids are just out of boot, and OCS and it’s starting to show in our performance…..we’d barely make muster if we were a line ship.” John sighed as he looked at the face of his chief weapons officer who was in fact a seventeen year old girl that had just come out of OCS with the rank of Ensign on her first cruise.
“Aye they’re kids….and they’re green but if you give me another few weeks I’ll kick their green arses all over the decks and leave each of ‘em with a boot stamp the size of a dreadnought until they shape up….or by god I’ll space the lot of ‘em” Harriman’s drawl had gone harsh as he eyed the bridge crew and made sure his voice carried enough for all of them to hear him.
And it was all Dexter could do to keep from smirking when the lovely young ensign at weaps blushed so red he thought she was about to explode.
“Well Sailing Master I think on that note I’m going to go to my quarters….such as they are. And get something to eat…..you have the Com.”
“Aye Sir I ‘ave the com, see ye’ in a few hours.” Harriman said with a mischievous wink that told his Commander to expect some drills over the next few hours that would probably make the crew wish they had gone into battle instead.

Tellus 2nd:
The attack had been a total surprise and had come in the middle of the night, a single pirate ship that was roughly the size of a Federal security Peacekeeper class starship had just appeared out of an asteroid belt and jumped the Forlorn engaging in a brief energy duel before deploying grapnels and boarding the small Icaran warship.

“Marine’s report to deck six I repeat report to deck six, we are being boarded….damage control parties to…..uh….decks five and three.” Ensign Caldwell said nervously as his eyes raced over the incoming reports from his section.
“Gou Shi! Caldwell what section do you want us at down here we don’t see the boarders!” The marine sergeant’s voice barked back.
“Ta ma de! They’re on deck five marines…..fire control get to deck six now.” Caldwell panicked as he tried to organize just what was going on, and was in the middle of panicking when the fire control party on deck five comned the bridge.
“Damn it command this is DC team seven we are under fire and ….” Automatic weapons fire cut off the end of the sentence and Caldwell’s face turned white as he realized what his mistake had done.

“Thank ye’ mister Caldwell yer damn fool SCREW UP just cost me eight member’s of my crew.” Harriman’s voice cut across the bridge like a cold wind silencing the chaos almost instantly as the weight of that simple statement sank in.
“Commander Sir, Reactor one is going critical engineering is trying to lock it down but they don’t think they can.” Ensign Paris said coolly as she looked up from her bridge readouts of the engineering deck.
Harriman turned to face her, his eyes hard enough to stare death himself down “Ensign ye’ know there’s only one thing ta’ be done….so just do it a’ready.” his voice was quiet and cool, unlike it had been only seconds before and the young woman stared back at him frozen for a second as her mind raced.
“Commander there are fifteen engineers in reactor room one if we eject it we kill all of them.” She stared for a moment and when Harriman did not respond she nodded and pressed a series of commands “Reactor one has been jettisoned reactor room has been vented….there is no longer a danger of breach sir.”
“Very well Ensign.” Harriman said simply as he monitored the situation from his command interface calmly even as dozens of voices shouted over the comns, including a dying message from marine fire team three which by the sound of things had just been wiped out.
“Commander! A group of boarders has breached into reactor two….marine fire teams Delta and Vega are engaged.” Caldwell’s voice was over excited for an Icaran Naval officer but at just this moment Harriman did not care because if a group of boarders got to the only remaining reactor and shut it down then Forlorn would lose all of her power and be helpless.
“Got that Ji Nv!” Fire Control officer Ensign Blake shouted as her guns finally struck the raider’s hull instead of its shields; as large debris and atmosphere poured from the open wound another I-Las shot struck the enemy ship tearing off it’ entire portside arsenal as the beam raked it.
“One more hit and she’s mine sir.” Blake said hungrily as she fed target data to the gun crews….just then the entire bridge sank into darkness and a low hum sounded the loss of all power.
After a few seconds of silence the lights came back up and all power was restored, the damage control board went green and all comns went quiet.

“Well great ladies and gentlemen we’re dead….or at least we would be when those pirates decided to send over more boarding parties.” Commander Dexter said as he stepped back onto the bridge; he had been declared a casualty in the opening exchange and had stepped off the bridge to monitor the simulation from the Damage control room instead and his mood had only gotten darker as the simulation went on.
“All department heads are to report to the briefing room in one hour, in the meantime Sailing Master Harriman I would like to speak with you in private.” When Harriman nodded Dexter simply nodded back and turned around, leaving the bridge in silence.

An hour later and the small briefing room was crowded with the various department heads, Ensign Blake, Fire Control; Ensign Caldwell Damage Control; Lieutenant Geer Marines, Lieutenant Elizabeth McClain Navigation, Ensign Walker Astrogation and Ensign Paris Engineering.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen let’s get right down to business, Harriman here will give each of you a review of your departments and their performance during our latest simulation.” Dexter gestured to Harriman who stood up and cleared his throat.

“First off ye’ were all caught with yer pants down and that lad’s and lassies is just plain unforgivable during a deep range patrol, Gawd forbid those’d been real pirates out there tonight instead of a simulation.” Harriman eyed each of the young department heads fiercely letting each word sink into their heads before continuing “My lord Caldwell led EIGHT crewmen into an ambush by pirate boarders because he got his bloody deck layout confused, not only that but he neglected to inform TWO marine fire teams of boarders in their sections leading to those teams being wiped out as well.”
Caldwell went ghost white as the other department heads looked at him, Lieutenant in particular was glaring at him because Geer had been in one of those two fire teams that got ambushed and wiped out.
“I’m sorry sir, I don’t know what happened.” Caldwell managed to choke out even as he nervously played with the buckle on his belt, slowly tracing the Imperial eagle with his thumb.
“I know what happened lad’ Ye’ screwed the pooch because ye’ panicked and that is something we are going to train out of you.” Harriman said more calmly as he saw the anguish in the young man’s face. “Besides your not the only one who screwed up….now Ensign Blake, if I may say so Captain.” He looked at Dexter with a small smile “Performed very well and her targeting data gave our gunnery crews several good shots before the “boarders” In reactor two took out our power.” Harriman nodded at the young woman with the barest hint of a smile on his lips.
“Now on to Navigation…..Miss McClain you unfortunately were declared a casualty shortly after the engagement began so I will not lay too much blame on you, for your performance.” Harriman paused just long enough to let the words your performance hit home. “However your navigation crew did terrible in this simulation, one wou’d think they didn’t know how to perform a bleedin’ evasive maneuver.” Harriman glared at her for a moment longer and to his surprise she simply nodded.
“Yes sir they screwed up and I intend to make sure it never happens again.” Her voice was totally unshaken and her eyes burned with a sureness that impressed the gruff old Spacer; she knew her department had made a mistake and she didn’t try to whitewash it or make excuses she simply accepted it and set herself to the task of correcting it, something most people her age never bothered with.
“Now as for…..” Harriman was about to continue when a voice over the room’s intercom cut him off.
“Captain to the bridge…..Captain to the bridge……we are receiving a class one federal distress signal.” the voice was almost mechanical over the com unit but even then the shock was audible and Harriman and Dexter exchanged brief glances before both rushed for the door.
“Everyone report to your stations now!” Dexter said as he left the briefing room on Harriman’s heels, several of the officers present immediately followed after Dexter as their stations were on the bridge….Lieutenant Geer however raced to get to the marine barracks while Walker went to check up on her engineering crew before reporting to the bridge.

Harriman and Dexter calmly entered the bridge and reported to their stations, even though Dexter felt anything but calm as the dread over receiving a code one federal distress call meant…..it was better known to spacers as a “Banshee call” because it was the last message a ship would ever send before being destroyed or it’s crew killed.
“Alright Ensign Toumas let’s hear it.” Dexter forced his voice to stay calm and casual despite the bile he could feel rising in his throat, after a second the hiss of the bridge com and then a desperate young voice cut through the silence.
“I repeat this is the Federal Security ship Pontus we are being boarded, they came out of nowhere and are overwhelming our security forces, they have already taken the lower decks…….I am declaring distress if anyone can hear me please respond……” The voice belonged to a young man who despite what he had just reported sounded eerily calm.
“Com put us through…..” Dexter waited for a moment until the com officer nodded “This is Commander John Dexter of the LC oh three to Pontus who is attacking you and what is your status?” he already strongly suspected the status of the Federal security ship but it made no sense…..they were in a core system, who could attack a FedSec ship out here?
“LC oh three, we don’t know who’s attacking us it’s an older Sol Coalition battleship that’s been refit……..status is not good they are already working their way to the bridge I hear the gunfire…..the captain and most of the crew are dead, I was ordered to stay here and relay information to anyone I could. Sir they’re not just killing our people they’re doing……horrible things to them.” The young man’s voice cracked for just a moment and Dexter felt his heart ache.
“Alright Pontus what are your coordinates we will be there as soon as possible.” Dexter turned to face Harriman and shook his head slowly.... all the Forlorn could do was get revenge for the FedSec ship because by time they got there it would all be over…..and what made it worse was that poor young man on the other end of the line already knew he was dead.
“Sir I’ve transmitted coordinates……they just set off a demolition charge at the bridge door sir one more and they’ll be through…..please make them pay for killing us sir.” The young man’ sounded more angry then sad and it was a feeling Dexter could understand.
“We’ll get them for you Pontus I swear it.” John Dexter said coldly, and after another second of silence a large explosion on the other end of the comn line sent a shiver up his spine.
“They’re through three oh three……God take our souls!” The sounds of screaming and gunfire were intermingled with a horrible sound that Dexter couldn’t quite place a sound of crunching and tearing…..and then the com went silent.

Seconds passed but it seemed an eternity until Dexter finally spoke again, using every ounce of will he had not to cry “Helm lay in a course for the Pontus last known location.”
Harriman patted his Commander’s arm gently “I hate to hav’ to say it sir but if they cou’d kill a Peacekeeper class starship so easily shou’d we really be engaging ‘em in naught but a light cruiser?” Harriman seemed to want to spit after suggesting that they simply turn around and abandon a fellow Icaran starship. Unfortunately it was true because though it was only a FedSec ship a Peacekeeper had almost twice the firepower of the Forlorn not to mention a much larger ground combat force.
“I know it’s probably not the smartest idea Harriman, and we’ll certainly launch a messenger drone to the nearest naval base but we have to at least try to see if there is anyone to save.” John looked at Alexander Harriman’s eyes and saw a glint of pride in the older man, and couldn’t help but feel somewhat more confident.
“Aye lad we ‘ave to at least try.” Alex Harriman said with a grim smile before turning back to face the screen “Time to intercept?” He barked, his voice back to it’s old give ‘em hell tone.
“Sir ETA eighteen hours, they are at the far edge of the system on the other side of the Herman asteroid belt.” Lieutenant McClain answered her voice still as stony and confident as it had been during the briefing.
“Very good…..pass the word, the marines run anti-boarding drills and have all crewman don armor and side arms.’ John looked at his bridge crew one more time and began to wonder if this would be the end for him and his crew….a crew who had been utterly beaten in a simulation against boarders.

Tellus 3rd:
It had been eighteen hours since the Forlorn had received the distress signal from the Federal Security Peacekeeper Pontus and finally the slow old light cruiser was coming up on the coordinates of the battle that had claimed a Federal security ship and it’s crew.
“Tactical what have we got?” it had been the first time in hours that anyone on the bridge had even spoken and John could almost feel the stir of tension as everyone on the bridge waited to hear from tactical.
“Sir I’m detecting the Pontus on short range sensors now, she’s dead in space as best I can tell…..multiple breaches along the hull that look like they were made by grapnels…..there’s not much air on her sir.” The tactical officer’s voice droned on professionally listing the damages the Pontus had suffered until his voice suddenly raised in surprise “Sir I’ve got life signs, it’s too hard to tell how many or even where they are but I’ve definitely got life signs!”
John Dexter didn’t even wait before slamming his fist down on the com button he had set to Geer’s com earlier “Attention Lieutenant Geer I want a squad marines and a team of Corpsmen to the launch bay in two minutes.” John was optimistic for the first time since he had heard the distress call….life signs meant survivors and that could mean that somehow the Pontus had repelled her attacker in the end.
“Aye sir……I’ve already got Alpha squad and Corpsmen Burke and Riley down in cutter six with your permission we’ll launch right now.” Geer’s voice was toneless as he pretty much admitted over the com that he had violated procedure and had his marines board a cutter. Dexter grinned for just a moment and turned to Harriman to see the old spacer smiling outright.
“Aye sir there’s hope for this crew yet.” Harriman said under his breath before turning his attention back to his tactical plot.
“Very good Lieutenant you have the go ahead…..get over there and bring those survivors back.” Dexter said more seriously before cutting the com circuit “Tactical can you get me a visual yet?” he rotated his chair to face the ship’s main screen as Tactical Officer Cherenkov’s hands raised over the controls.

After a few seconds the screen came to life and the optics began to focus on a huge grey and red object…..a few more seconds passed as the optics zoomed in to reveal what was left of the Peacekeeper class vessel Pontus.
“My God…..she’s been blown to hell.”
“How could anyone survive that?”
“Her entire superstructure been shot off!”
The whispers across the bridge were brought to a quick end as Harriman cleared his throat and leveled a look around the bridge that would have brought down a Spartan Kraken.
“Sir it looks like whoever did this tried to capture her intact but was forced to destroy too much of her for it to be worthwhile…..the grapnel hits are in non critical areas and as best I can tell other then the superstructure being destroyed there is very little actual hull damage.” Cherenkov’s tone remained bland even as the rest of the bridge crew’s nervous whispers had to be quieted.
“Sir marine cutter six has launched and will board the Pontus in under one minute at max acceleration.” Ensign Walker reported from the astrogation section almost offhandedly as his eyes remained fixed on the screen along with the eyes of almost every bridge officer.

A dull thump announced the marine’s breaching a damaged section of hull as their cutter latched onto the outer shell and fired off a breaching charge. Barely five seconds passed before the first fire team marines zip lined down to the deck, weapons at the ready. As the first four marines spread out to give the second fire team room to drop their rifle mounted flashlights shown eerily in the smoke filled darkness of the Pontus corridors
“Alright fire team one you’ve got the upper decks, fire team two your with me Burke your with team one, Riley your with me.” Lieutenant Geer whispered over his helmet com, just in case anyone hostile was here Geer wasn’t about to make a commotion.

As Geer’s fire team got past the wreckage in the corridor where they had first entered the ship the marine on point suddenly stopped short causing the marine behind him to bump into his back.
“Gou shi Henderson what’s wrong with you?” the second marine’s voice hissed over the com line as he recovered from the initial shock of bumping into another fully armored marine.
“Look…” Was all Henderson managed to croak out, hearing the tone in the marine’s voice Geer pushed forward and aimed his rifle’s flashlight at the deck.
Geer stopped up short and felt his stomach wretch, he had seen battle casualties before but the bodies that were laid out in front of him were not simply killed they were mutilated, their guts carved out and their skin flayed….by the look of agony on what was left of one man’s face it looked like the mutilation had happened while some of them were still alive.
“This couldn’t have happened during a firefight…..not even if the ship took a hit…..my God sir someone did this to them….I mean deliberately…..carved them up like meat.” Corpsman Burke’s voice barely registered as Geer raised his rifle and aimed it down the corridor ahead…….more bodies or parts of bodies were strewn about the deck as far as he could see.
“Alright…..enough……we’ve still got survivors on the deck below us and damned if I am going to let them die here when what’s left of this ship’s atmo vents because we couldn’t get a hold of our own nerve…..move out” Geer barked the last two words more to keep himself from vomiting then to sound in charge and as he passed through more of the charnel house that had once been a ship’s deck he found it harder to keep his breakfast down.

As Geer and his marines made their way down to the next deck more horrors awaited them, including female crew members stripped naked and tied to various pieces of debris along the bulkheads their bodies were in a state that would make any Icaran sick but Geer and his marines couldn’t afford that as the air supply was even now running out for whoever it was that managed to survive this massacre. As the marines reached crew quarters they found more bodies with the females being tied to the hatches the marine’s motion detectors began chirping, as the marines got closer the realized it was coming from one of the rooms that had a naked and mutilated woman tied to the hatch.
“Loren, get it open, Horrowitz, Janec provide cover.” Geer raised his rifle toward the corpse strung hatch as Loren advanced and checked for any improvised explosives. After a moment the marine slung his auto rifle and pulled out his combat knife to cut the cords that secured the woman to the hatch.
‘Who the cao could do this sir?” Marine Loren said as he gently cut down the mangled woman’s corpse and laid her aside to get through the door she had been tied too.
“I don’t know Marine but whatever xeno scum did this is going to burn.” Geer said icily as Loren opened the hatch to reveal another group of dead bodies, this time all male who had apparently been dragged in to the quarters after being injured, where they were then tortured and killed.
Loren paused as he approached the head and heard a rustle in a closet; he quickly made a gesture that alerted the other marines to what he was looking at, Geer and Horrowitz took up the flank while Janec was signaled to fall back and protect Burke.
As Loren carefully approached the door he heard a quiet thud and felt his heart begin to race, if it had not been for his training he would have unloaded his weapon into the closet right then and there but he kept his nerves under control and carefully slid the door aside.
A high pitched whine pierced the air as a dart pistol fired square into Loren’s breastplate, knocking the marine back a few inches.
Just as the two men who had been flanking him were about to open fire Loren screamed “NO! She’s one of ours God don’t shoot!” and stepped into the closet, another dart shot rang out and again Loren’s breastplate had a chip of armor fly off before he finally grabbed the pistol and threw it clear of the person inside the closet.
“Get away from me you bastards……get away I’ll kill you!” a young female voice shouted followed by some words even Geer had not heard used before, quickly the two other marines slung their rifles and rushed over to help Loren secure the struggling victim without causing her harm.
After a few seconds of struggle that seemed an eternity the naked writhing figure who’s face none of them had managed to see in the darkness suddenly stopped moving altogether and for a moment Geer felt a sick pang, fearing that she had died in her struggle.
“Burke get your *** over here, she’s hurt!” was all he managed to get out before the corpsman physically moved him out of the way and was kneeling over the nude and battered young woman. For over a minute the corpsman said nothing as he ran scans over her slowly inspecting her for any major injuries he would have to treat there, it was when that he moved the hair that had been caked in blood and blocking her face to place the oxygen mask on her did the true horror of the situation become apparent.
“Oh dear god….she’s a kid…..she couldn’t be older then fourteen” One of the marines….Geer couldn’t quite tell who at that point quickly opened their visor and went to the corner and began vomiting violently as the other two stood with him in numb horror. ”Burke…..what’s her status?” Geer kept his voice battlefield calm even though everything in him was afraid he already knew the answer.
“Sir…..she’s been raped and beaten, as near as I can tell multiple times, she’s got broken ribs and her one lung has a rib gone clear through it, she’s also got internal bleeding in several places…..I think whoever did this to her left her to die slowly on purpose.” Burke gently unhooked the greatcoat from his armor and wrapped it around the young girl before injecting her with a stasis fluid and placing oxygen on her.
“We’ve got to get her back to the ship now sir….” Burke looked up with a fire in his eye that Geer had only ever seen in combat personnel, a fire that cried for blood and revenge but tempered with months of medical training and compassion for the young woman that was lying broken on the floor in front of him.
“Alright Burke, once stasis sets in we’ll get a stretcher and get her out of here…” Geer’s voice was still filled with hatred as he tried to force himself to look away from the young woman that was lying on the floor. Less then four minutes later the marine cutter was on it’s way back to the Forlorn with two survivors, both women and both in the same condition…..a fourteen year old Fed Sec Spacer named Allyson Landry the other survivor was Commodore Liza Adair NavInt which just added new questions like why naval personnel were on a FedSec ship?

What the crew of the Forlorn could not know was that the hardest and most trying fight they’d ever face was only days away for as the marines were bringing the two survivors back to the Icaran light cruiser, she was being stalked by a predator who had already butchered one FedSec Peacekeeper class patrol ship’s crew along with others that the inexperienced crew would only later find out about……

To be Continued
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Old November 7th, 2004, 06:38 PM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

2409.6
The Sol Coalition light cruiser had hovered around the Gaia system ever since it had destroyed the colony ship at the warp point and Governor Averato was unwilling to dispatch the single destroyer that remained in his system after HMS Hydra went missing.
Finally with the construction of HMS Trafalgar the Gaia system had a ship strong enough to face off against the Sol warship.
The Captain and crew of Trafalgar never even got the chance to do a shakedown cruise, they immediately proceeded directly from port on a course to intercept the enemy warship.

“Captain Peters, this is governor Averato, if you believe that taking on that ship gets too dangerous for you I want you to fall back to Goin and join up with the Victory is that understood?” Averato’s baritone voice sounded odd to Captain Peters’ he had never known Averato to sound worried but this time, there was fear in his voice.
“Yes sir, but if Trafalgar can’t take that ship on I doubt Victory will be able to help us much.” Peters frowned at the face in the com screen “Well sir that just means my crew will have to even better doesn’t it?” His frown quirked slightly until he was grinning.
“Captain if you take out that ship I’ll give you a thousand crowns to buy your whole crew a drink!” Averato smiled before cutting the com.

“Tactical, time to intercept?” Peters looked across the large bridge and felt a swell of confidence, this cruiser was a magnificent warship, 500,000 tons of raw power with a crew of 2,100 of the best spacers in the galaxy. But still they were facing a ship that was only slightly less powerful then they were and it had unknown weapons and shield capabilities.
“Five-zero minutes sir, possibly less if they turn about to intercept us.” The tactical officer replied, she was young and green but then again almost everyone was green, Peters himself had only been an ensign back on HMS Saber when she first launched almost ten years ago but most of the navy was fresh out of the academy when they were given ships. Captains were drawn from the original crews of the first three ships to have launched from Icara but even they were new to command.

“Sir, they are turning about to intercept us!” the tactical officer shouted just twenty-five minutes after her initial assessment. “Revised time to intercept is one zero minutes, we’ll meet them just outside of Gaia seven orbit.” her voice calmed but the excited tone was still there, and Peters could hardly blame her his own excitement was almost painful.

The Icaran cruiser closed on the Sol Coalition Light Cruiser with amazing swiftness and finally they closed to weapons range.
“Alright guns, open fire!” Peters had to force himself not to shout as he watched the gunnery crews lights signal their readiness.

The six phased poloron cannons tore across space, to the shock of all gunners all but one beam missed it’s target by a wide margin, and the single beam that struck it’s target was blocked easily by the Sol light cruiser’s shields.
“What happened guns?” Peters asked coldly as he watched the enemy ship continue to advance on his ship
“Sir I don’t know, we are getting all sorts of sensor ghosts from that Solaran and she’s got phased shields.” the gunnery officer simply shrugged at his captain and turned back to his station.
Just as Peters looked back at the main display screen two thin orange beams raced out from the enemy warship and the shields of his cruiser flashed and flared as if they had been struck by some divine wrath. Peters expected damage alarms to start howling or collision alerts but instead he just heard the confused voices of his tactical and executive officers.
“What is it?” his voice was harsh as his tactical display showed his cruiser’s shields simply disappear, it was impossible by what the Icarans knew about shields, when shields collapsed a portion of energy that had dropped the shields would carry through the hull and cause damage to the ship’s hull, yet there were no damage reports.
“Incoming, three zero five by niner two!” The tactical officer shrilled, but it was already too late, by time the sensors had detected the incoming shell it had already impacted on the unshielded hull.
An explosion rent a massive hole into the portside of the Icaran cruiser and flames spouted out into space for a nanosecond before the vacuum consumed the flames.
Damage and collision alerts began sounding throughout the ship as if the cruiser were a wounded beast howling in pain.
“Phase cannons five and six are gone, neither crew made it out, 14 dead, engine five gone, portside fire control gone switching to starboard, reactor room two is gone, 20 confirmed dead, we’ve got damage control parties trying to seal the breach sir.” Chief Daine’s voice was strained as he finished listing the damage sustained by a single high yield cannon shell.
The battered cruiser returned fire and almost miraculously all four shots hit the enemy ship and finally brought down the enemy vessels shields and causing a burn through that destroyed two engines.

The return fire was brutal however and another shot tore another gaping hole in Trafalgar destroying another engine and killing over a dozen crewmen. The Icaran cruiser limped forward defiantly, she brought her cannons to bare again but this time all four shots missed, and she rocked under the devastating shell that was spat back at her by the enemy cruiser.
“Sir if we take any more hits like that structural integrity is going to fail!” The executive officer breathed in sharply as he saw two of their own shots impact on the enemy ship’s hull and it’s shield generators exploded.
“Captain, the sensor ghosts are gone I’ve got lock!” The gunnery officer shouted triumphantly as his gunnery crews achieved positive locks.
Another enemy shell came screaming towards Trafalgar and Peters expected to die this time around but jus as it closed in on them the shell continued on into the void of space before exploding 100 clicks off the Icaran’s battered port side.
“Oh thank God and all the Saints!” Peters’ exec sighed in relief, that shell could have done vast amounts of damage if it had hit the battered port side of the cruiser.
The Trafalgar closed to point blank and loosed another volley with her four remaining cannons, without those ghosts every single shot hit right where it was aimed and this time the Solaran light cruiser suffered, whole sections of it’s hull melted away before the devastating energies unleashed upon it, internal explosions lit across the shattered hull and finally the enemy starship flared into a brilliant ball of light and wreckage before winking out of existence along with 1200 of it’s crew.
Trafalgar had suffered her own losses however, 500 personnel had died and another 250 wounded, she was limping home at 2/3 speed and her supplies were almost completely destroyed when her portside supply hold was blown out by the enemy ship, but she had emerged victorious and saved the Gaia system from even more deaths.

2409.8
Admiral Tyson Babcock Given Command of 1st Fleet (Stationed out of Icara Naval base)
Admiral Yu Hing Pe Given Command 3rd Fleet (Stationed at Handra Base)
Rear Admiral Patrick Raley Given command 2nd fleet (Stationed in Gaia system)
__________________
When life gives you lemons take them and squeeze them in life's eye until it gives you the oranges you asked for!

"If men build things to look like our penis such as towers and ships does that mean female achitects represent women having penis envy?"
A line that made me chuckle, I can't remember where I heard it I just know it made me laugh.

"I'm not really a slapper....I mainly punch and gouge."
Tammy Lee my kung fu instructor/sifu's daughter when asked if she ever slapped a boy for saying something nasty to her.
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Old November 8th, 2004, 02:46 AM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

Some things you guys may need to know as the story goes on (so you don't get confused):

Royal Navy Ranks
Enlisted
E1= Spacer's Assistant
E2= Spacer
E3= Senior Spacer
E4= Petty Officer 2nd Class
E5= Petty Officer First Class
E6= Senior Petty Officer
E7= Cheif Petty Officer
E8= Master Chief Petty Officer
E9= Master Spacer

Officers
O1= Ensign
02= Lieutenant Junior Grade
03= Lieutenant
04= Lieutenant Commander
05= Commander/Sailing Master (if two or more commanders are permanently stationed on a starship and if one is not in the medical field the junior commander receives title Sailing Master)
O6 (when not in command of ship or base)= Brevet Captain
O6(in command of a ship or base)= Post Captain
O7= Commadore
O8= Rear Admiral
O9= Vice Admiral
O10= Star Admiral
O11(Special)= Grand Admiral of the Navy

Note: The Term Brevet is also given when a rank is unofficial or temporary. (I.E a Squadron commander with the actual rank of Captain will be referred to as "Brevet Commadore".

Army Ranks
Enlisted

E1= Trooper Recruit
E2= Trooper
E3= Trooper First Class
E4= Corporal
E5= Seargent
E6= Signifier
E8= Signifier Seargent
E9= Master Signifier

Officers
O1= Second Lieutenant
O2= First Lieutenant
O3= Captain
O4= Major
O5= Lieutenant Centurion
O6= Centurion
O7= Company General
O8= Regimental General
O9= General of the Corps
O10= Grand General of the Army

Army Stormtroopers
Enlisted

E1= Commando
E2= Senior Commando
E3= Elite
E4= Seargent

Officers
O1= Aquilifer
O2= Tessarius
O3= Centurion

Royal Marines
Enlisted

E1= Private
E2= Marine
E3= Corporal
E4= Seargent
E5= Gunnery Seargent
E6= Command Gunnery Seargent

Officers
O1= Lieutenant Second Class
O2= Lieutenant First Class
O3= Brigadier General
O4= General
O5= Comendant of the Marines

Unit Composition
Royal Navy

Section= 2 Capital Ships
Squadron= 2 Sections
Division= 3 Sections
Fleet= 2 Divisions+

Royal Army
FireTeam= 4 Men
Squad= 3 Fireteams
Section= 4 Squads
Company= 4 Sections
Brigade= 8 Companies
Regiment= 3 Brigades
Army Corps= 2+ Regiments

Storm Troopers
Ops Team= 3 Stormtroopers
Squad= 4 Ops Teams
Pursuit Group= 4 Squads
Hunter Killer Group= 4 Pursuit Groups
Assault Formation= 8 HK Groups
Purifier Force= 3 Assault Formations

Royal Marine Corps
Fireteam= 4 Marines
Squad= 3 Fireteams
Section= 4 Squads
Company= 2 Sections
Batallion= 5 Companies
Brigade= 2 Batallions


Well there you go a little Military Info (BTW the 1st 2nd and 3rd fleets are all understrength for the "official" fleet designation at the moment, however the ships are currently under construction to bring them up to and beyond the minimum requirement for the term "fleet".

P.S. Next installment is tomorrow after I re-read the draft.
__________________
When life gives you lemons take them and squeeze them in life's eye until it gives you the oranges you asked for!

"If men build things to look like our penis such as towers and ships does that mean female achitects represent women having penis envy?"
A line that made me chuckle, I can't remember where I heard it I just know it made me laugh.

"I'm not really a slapper....I mainly punch and gouge."
Tammy Lee my kung fu instructor/sifu's daughter when asked if she ever slapped a boy for saying something nasty to her.
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  #4  
Old November 8th, 2004, 06:54 AM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

Quote:

Bummer. Not bummer story - GREAT story - bummer Posts.

Let me explain. I look at the topic and see a new post. I think "Great! A new chapter!" and then I get disappointed that it's only a comment.

I'm not discounting comments at all (in fact, I'm doing one now), I'm just thinking it'd be nice to have comments posted elsewhere. But then I'd probably never read 'em.

No no no! Comment Posts (and the "is it a new chapter?" anticipation you describe) are what keep a story thread alive between chapter Posts and keep interest in the story up. Trust me, authors need comment Posts.
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Old November 8th, 2004, 10:05 PM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

2409.9 A busy month in Gaia
It was a dull day for the crew of the cruiser HMS Brilliance, they had been blockading the same warp point ever since Trafalgar had gone into port for repairs, the crew was more then bored the were starting to become absolutely worn out, they had been responsible for the intercept of three Rebel Alliance colony ships and their cruiser had killed over one hundred million human beings mercilessly.
Captain Babcock started to wish he had his brother’s job back at the Admiralty, at least there he would not be responsible for intercepting unarmed colony ships and playing the role of butcher so that these Alliance types didn’t expand into Icaran space.

“Sir I’ve got a GFG footprint!” tactical officer Schmit sounded nervous as he studied the nav chart in front of him. Babcock had the information fed directly into his command repeaters and he swallowed hard when he saw the footprint and mass readings, it was a cruiser and the hull shape suggested it was a Solar cruiser.
Babcock snorted in disgust as he remembered the Solar ship that had destroyed an innocent ark ship without even attempting to make contact!
“Battle stations mister Schmit, all hands to battle stations!” Babcock said coldly as his tac office punched in the alert codes and the familiar sound of klaxons and alarms began their tirade.
Brilliance closed rapidly on the offending starship and within seconds her broadside came to bare, her phased poloron beams lashed out but met either empty space or the cruiser’s phased shields.
A counter volley from the Solar, brought down the Icaran’s shields and two DU cannon shells slammed into her exposed hull.
“Damage report con.”
“Engines one, two, and three gone, starboard reactor gone, aft GFG gone, sir heavy casualties reported in those sections.” Schmit nearly shouted as the sound of another explosion jerked brought his attention back to his control Boards.
Another volley from Brilliance lashed out into space and this time it got lucky, the enemy ship’s shields went down and the Last beam that actually hit the enemy cruiser managed to pierce her hull just enough to take out her ECM generator negating her prime advantage.
The counter volley struck home on Brilliance yet again, and this time it’s second shell exploded right in the heavily reinforced prow of the Icaran cruiser, taking out her forward GFG and most of her primary sensors.
“Helm take us baring one-five-three-zero-zero” Babcock’s chilly tone sounded mechanical as he almost chanted out the coordinates.
The Icaran cruiser closed point blank on the enemy cruiser, only a few hundred meters off it’s port side, then her cruiser’s powerful phased poloron cannons swung round and dealt a devastating broadside which crippled the Solar cruiser’s weapons, and most of it’s engines. Another volley turned it into an expanding sphere of flame.

“Helm take us to Goin base for repairs.” Babcock’s voice had returned to normal as he read the damage and casualty reports, out of a crew of 2,000 he lost 50 dead and had 120 wounded, and his ship had the living hell beaten out of it.

The Price of Victory
Rear Admiral Yu Hing Pe sat quietly aboard the bridge of the Icaran cruiser Torment which orbited Handra base with the other warships of the 3rd fleet. He grinned at the thought of his small squadron being called a fleet, six ships didn’t even meet the official minimum requirement for the name fleet. He had just received his orders from the Admiralty and his fleet was getting supplies and equipment loaded aboard from Handra’ supply facility before they set course for the Fornax system to join the two ships of the Enterprise section.
“Admiral Yu?” the soft voice of his flag captain Allison Hickock sounded concerned as she saw the face of her Admiral.
“They want us to attack the largest base in Fornax before linking up with Ross’ ships and continuing on.” Yu’s voice was quiet enough so that only his Flag Captain could hear the concern in his voice, intelligence reports from the Enterprise and Wardo base had suggested that the Phong had one of their bases there in preparation for an assault on Handra and that left the Admiralty with no choice but to take out that base and all the warships that may be there when he arrived but with only 6 starships Yu hardly felt confident about his chances. But his orders were clear and he intended to carry them out come hell or high water.

Two days later the ships of the 3rd fleet left Handra base and made the jump into the Fornax system, their target lay ahead of them and the fleet immediately formed a battle line, HMS Torment holding the center of the line.
“Admiral I’m detecting one-five enemy destroyers closing fast from their base, radar also detects satellites in orbit around our objective.” Tactical officer Browler’s face was pale as he saw the sheer number of enemy ships coming their way, they had two cruisers two light cruisers and two destroyers vs. that entire fleet.
“Alright tell HMS Victorious to hold her position on our left flank with Retribution, King Roger and Manticore will hold the left. Inform them that Torment and Pollux will hold at our center.” Yu analyzed the formation that was coming at him with some hope, they were approaching in an old style arrowhead formation which meant that his line of battle formation may be able to defeat the oncoming warships in segments, unfortunately the arrowhead favored the destroyers because of their sheer numbers 15 to 6 was hardly an even match and he knew it.

Instead of heading straight into the Icaran battle line the Phong fleet attempted to flank them, Yu’s force moved to intercept and prevent themselves from being flanked but with their approach only the left flank would be in firing position for several minutes, fortunately they were also two of the heavy ships in the formation Retribution being one of two light cruisers in the Icaran navy, the other being Victorious which was one of the newest cruisers in the navy.
The Phong fleet closed in on the Icarans but the two warships on the Icaran got into firing position first and the Cruiser Victorious laid a devastating broadside into the closest Phong destroyer, the energy cannons caused the destroyer’s hull to buckle, whole sections of the destroyer began melting or exploding under the force of the beams clawing at it in rapid succession, within seconds the Phong destroyer ceased to exist and Victorious was seeking her next victim. The Icaran light cruiser also scored a kill before the startled Phong formation brought their own cannons to bare on the two warships.
Shell after shell slammed into the shields of Victorious and Retribution yet they held against the fire and the two Icaran warships sought out two more victims and within the blink of an eye only 11 Phong destroyers remained, unfortunately the counter fire this time was too much for the shields of Victorious and her hull erupted in flame where the shells scored home. Three of her engines were gone and all but three of her cannons but Commodore Stein refused to pull his ship out of the fight and his broadside crippled another enemy destroyer.
“Get us into that fight Helm!” Yu said bitterly as he watched Retribution turn another destroyer into floating debris….the Admirals eyes squinted as he saw another volley impact on Victorious unprotected hull.
“Sir message fro Retribution Commodore Stein’s flag bridge was destroyed, he’s dead sir as his command staff Victorious is withdrawing from the battle.” Com officer Jessup’s voice was more then a little shocked as he saw the battered hull of Commodore Stein’s flagship withdraw from the battle, leaving the Light Cruiser alone.
The Phong were fortunately using a kind of mount for their weapons that allowed them much longer range then the standard DU cannons that the IRN had used on their older ships but the Phong cannons also had much reduced accuracy, which was probably the only reason Retribution was still alive and fighting.
HMS Torment and Pollux finally closed the range with the Phong warships, two destroyers rapidly died under the firepower that the two warships unleashed, 7 Phong warships still remained however and two were pursuing the shattered remains of the cruiser Victorious.
“Commodore Hanson, reports his warships are in position to intercept those two Phong Destroyers sir, he recommends we sustain fire on the main formation.” Jessup’s voice sounded relieved as he saw the two light codes for the Icaran destroyers closing in on the enemy warships that were pursuing Victorious.
“My compliments to Hanson and inform him we will sustain engagement with their main body.” Yu said calmly as he saw another enemy destroy vanish beneath the fire of his warship. Two more enemy warships died rapidly as the other two warships brought their fire to bare.
The missiles from the two Icaran destroyers quickly brought the two warships chasing the Victorious to a halt, rapidly ending their pursuit with a volley of cannon shells and seconds after that another volley of missiles finished them off in two brilliant flashes of light.
“Sir two enemy ships closing on our port, INCOMING!” Browler’s voice was cut short as three cannon shells tore into Torment’s shields, a fourth shell impacted on the cruiser’s hull taking out two of her engines in the process.
“Return fire!” Flag Captain Hancock shouted over the din of damage alerts, her cruiser shook again as a secondary explosion tore open her aft gravity field generator.
The Retribution and Pollux moved into position beside their flagship and their combined salvo destroyed the remaining destroyers, it was only then that Yu was able to notice of Commodore Hanson had moved his destroyers into position near the enemy base, sadly their missiles were torn apart by the numerous point defense stations on the planet and its satellites.
“Sir Manticore is taking fire from the planet!” Jessup hissed as the displays showed multiple hits impacign on the unshielded destroyer. “King Roger is moving in to cannon range sir, she’s firing….I’m reading impacts on the surface, I think she got one of those weapon platforms.”
“Tell Pollux to follow us in, order Retribution to stay with Victorious in case any more enemy ships come into range.”
“Aye sir transmitting orders.”

Moments later HMS King Roger exploded into a ball of flames as she tried to shield the battle damaged Manticore.
The cruiser and two light cruisers that were still in fighting trim approached the enemy base, unfortunately Torment was the first to discover the range that the remaining planetary weapons platform truly had, her unshielded hull was rent by eight cannon shells.
Admiral Yu regained consciousness enough to see that his bridge had been exposed to vacuum and that most of his bridge crew was gone, the injured Yu looked over to his right where Captain Hancock was strapped to her seat and noticed that her helmet’s faceplate was opaque with blood, he glanced downward and saw a massive piece of debris embedded in her chest.
A brilliant light grabbed his attention back to where his ship’s view screen had used to be and his Last thoughts were of his son, who was a Captained a cruiser in the 1st fleet, then the light drew nearer and nearer, then an all encompassing flash ended the life of Admiral Yu and the lives of his crew as the massive shell tore apart the remnants of Torment.
The dead were avenged quickly however as the two light cruisers destroyed the satellites and weapon platforms that were defending the base, the base was soon destroyed as the Icaran warships opened up on it’s surface.
15 Phong destroyers and one of their most important bases in Fornax had been destroyed but the Icaran 3rd fleet had paid dearly for their victory, Victorious and Manticore had to be towed by the two light cruisers, Torment and King Roger had died with all hands including Admiral Yu.
The Icaran dead numbered 2,800 and the 3rd fleet was neutralized as an effective fighting force.

Meanwhile on the other end of the Fornax system Enterprise Farrogot and Saber successfully engaged and destroyed 4 Phong destroyers, suffering only 81 dead and 150 wounded.
__________________
When life gives you lemons take them and squeeze them in life's eye until it gives you the oranges you asked for!

"If men build things to look like our penis such as towers and ships does that mean female achitects represent women having penis envy?"
A line that made me chuckle, I can't remember where I heard it I just know it made me laugh.

"I'm not really a slapper....I mainly punch and gouge."
Tammy Lee my kung fu instructor/sifu's daughter when asked if she ever slapped a boy for saying something nasty to her.
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Old November 9th, 2004, 07:35 AM
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2410.0 A change of Flags
Commodore William Ross sat alone in his briefing room aboard HMS Enterprise, he had just come from the memorial service held for Rear Admiral Yu, the second he got back aboard his own ship he came straight to his briefing room and turned out the lights so he could be alone with his thoughts. The Admiral had been his tactical combat instructor back when Ross was still a snotty or “little gentleman” as they were supposed to be called-but never were-Ross frowned even deeper as he remembered the first time he had met Yu Lin Pe, the Admiral’s daughter was a first form midshipman like him and she had thrown him about three meters across the gym during unarmed combat training, he still remembered the smile on her face as she helped him up-and that it was a genuine smile of satisfaction and not an arrogant one of triumph-, and the look of pride on her father’s face-and the grin as he watched a 15 year old boy's face go fusion at getting thrown by a 1.5 meter tall girl who weighed less then 40 kilos-.
Chin Pe, the Admiral’s son had even been his roommate for two years and often Ross would have dinner with the Admiral’s family when the Academy was between forms….he decided rather quickly he liked the Admiral and his family even though they came from a low nobility and he was just a commoner.
On the day Saber launched from her port on Icara Ross remembered that the whole Yu family had all been there, Chin teased him about his habit of getting lost and Lin (then a commander waiting for her chance at command) gave him one of her typically strong handshakes and a hug as she told him not to get into any trouble, well he had gotten in trouble he got all Icara in trouble and they’d lost millions of lives already and in a way it was his fault. And now thanks to him stumbling across a hostile race Admiral Yu was dead, before even getting the chance to learn that his daughter had received her own command HMS Blackbird in the 1st fleet just like his son had recieved command of HMS Eclipse three months ago. Ross’ eyes began to tear up as he thought of how proud Hing would have been of his youngest child as she donned the red and black tri-point hat of a post captain for the first time (even though they wer never actually worn aboard ship they went back to the days of sail and the Royal Navy loved tradition)Ross thought about how her elegent features would have looked in a Captain's formal uniform, and he realized sadly how much he cared about the young woman....which made him feel even worse as if he were betraying her father somehow, even though he had chosen never to do anything about his feelings for her, or did he feel he betrayed her father by not doing anything about it? Either way she was 300 lightyears away now and he could do nothing about it....his depression rose as the feelings of loss drew closer to the surface.

The door chimed quietly and Ross snapped back to the present and made sure he covered his grief.
“Come.” His voice was still shaky but he was managing to get it under control
“Sir, a messenger drone has just arrived from the Admiralty, there is a packet of sealed orders for you, as well as Messages from Yu Chin Pe and Yu Lin Pe.” Captain Fowler’s voice was quiet as she handed her Commodore the envelope with his orders, she silently handed him the two Flexy’s from Admiral Yu’s children.
Ross quickly unsealed the envelope and saw a sheet of honest to god paper within it, in this day and age the Admiralty only used real paper for the most formal of occasions, his eyes quickly scanned the paper and his breath caught in his throat. As he saw Captain Fowler turn around to leave Ross held up his hand to stop her.
“Is everything alright Commodore?” She asked quietly.
“I’m not a Commodore anymore Sandra.” His voice still sounded shocked as he re-read the piece of paper in his hands.
“Sir?” Sandra’s face turned red as she saw the look on Ross’ face and thought he had been dismissed from his command.
“The Admiralty, has bestowed upon me the rank of Rear Admiral, they’ve given me command of the 3rd fleet such as it is, and have given me the authority to give field promotions to a captain, two commanders, and three Lieutenants.” His face lit up and for the first time since the messenger drone from the third fleet had arrived.
“Congratulations sir!” Fowler said as she gave him an enthusiastic handshake, her smile was almost as broad as his as she beamed at her new Admiral.
“Thanks Sandy, I’m going to need a new Captain for Retribution when Drake’s promoted to Commodore and you have my priority, that is if your up to it?” He asked almost cheerfully, it was her turn to be shocked this time and after a moment of obvious disbelief thought she started nodding.
“Well then Captain Fowler, when I make Captain Drake’s promotion to Commodore official you’ll take over as captain of Retribution,…and stop nodding before you break your neck.” Ross laughed again as the young woman realized she hadn’t stopped nodding and suddenly flushed when it was pointed out.

The list of Promotions and reassignments in the 3rd fleet are as follows:
Captain Sandra Fowler Transferred from HMS Saber to HMS Retribution
Commander Sarah Pallins former exec HMS Enterprise promoted to Flag Captain and given command of HMS Victorious.
Captain Thomas Drake former commander HMS Victorious promoted to Commodore and given command [i]HMS Pollux[/i.
__________________
When life gives you lemons take them and squeeze them in life's eye until it gives you the oranges you asked for!

"If men build things to look like our penis such as towers and ships does that mean female achitects represent women having penis envy?"
A line that made me chuckle, I can't remember where I heard it I just know it made me laugh.

"I'm not really a slapper....I mainly punch and gouge."
Tammy Lee my kung fu instructor/sifu's daughter when asked if she ever slapped a boy for saying something nasty to her.
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Old December 6th, 2004, 06:40 AM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

Heh I'm not finished in fact here is that promised chapter:

This chapter is rated PG-13 due to graphic violence and language (mainly violence) I recomend you not read this chapter if you do not wish to read a very visceral story of the Icaran ground war.

2419.6 Blood and death on hill 529
Mestra 2 fell swiftly before the advance of the 1st Icara regiment, 3,000 Phong had died in the defense of their world or because they got mixed up into the crossfire and were killed by accident, either way the Admiralty did not overly care about how many Phong died as long as the planet fell and all resistance was ended. The Icaran army regiment guarded the world for a week before an SS brigade took over the task and allowed the troopers to get back to their job.

That was two weeks ago now and Mestra I was proving a much tougher nut to crack, the initial landing alone killed ten Icarans when their dropship was blown out of the sky by a Phong RPS (Rocket propelled stab*) and the damned Phong had dug themselves in so deep that the Icaran tanks had to bLast at entire mountain sides just to hit a single cluster of resistance.
It was the job of Section 025 red (better known as the Razor Claws by the Icaran 1st) to capture such a position known as Hill 529 to local intel, a force of some 500 Phong warriors in the Charlie sector were being led from the bunker that now lay before the Icaran troopers.
“Alright Ladies, let’s get this job done, Brekenridge, Canowsky keep those Wolfhounds** on patrol, make sure we don’t get snuck up on while we’re dealing with the yellow bastards inside.” Lieutenant Kemper whispered into his com as he slinked forward along the mountainside with the rest of his section.
It was well into this world’s “night” cycle if one could call a red sky “night” and it was Kemper’s hope that most of the Phong would be asleep, or at the very least not fully combat ready, in the darkness two Wolfhound armed buggies raced away from the infantry and began circling the area.

After what seemed an eternity of crawling on his belly Kemper and his section arrived at the armored door to the bunker, it looked like rock but ground penetrating scans showed it for what it really was, a 2 meter thick battlesteel door to a Phong command center that had to be neutralized. Kemper grinned to himself, to make matters worse his section had been dropped off with orders to capture the Phong leadership intact and alive!
“Lieutenant the charge set, we’re ready.” Sgt Hailey jabbed her shoulder into the Lieutenant to get his attention, when he turned around she pointed at the door where two engineers had just finished placing a compressed “one ton” nuke.

“Alright, assault squad stand by for entry, squad two and three follow us in, squad four I want you to stay outside and cover our collective ***.” Kemper said as he pulled a small silver pad out of his hard suit’s breast pocket, after a moment to make sure everyone was clear he pressed the green button and silently count down in his head (5.….4.….3.….2.….1.….there!) a brilliant flash and a shockwave that rattled Kemper’s teeth signaled the detonation of the compressed nuke***.
“Go go go! Assault!” Kemper shouted as he stood up with the rest of the assault squad and ran into the breach they had just created, his “eye-piece” showed no life signs in the airlock they had just broken into but Kemper knew better then to take that as a sign of light defenses.
A scream from just ahead of him made the Lieutenant drop to the deck, and just in time a mono-molecular beam sliced along the wall and decapitated the man behind Kemper, another Icaran trooper shot out the generation point before the beam killed anyone else, but the beam had done it’s job, the trooper in front of Kemper was relatively short as Icarans went and the beam did not decapitate her as it did the man behind Kemper, instead it sliced off the top of her head only and left her in shock, twitching and seizing, a medic raced over but after only seconds he looked back at Kemper and shook his head.
Already two of his troopers had died, but that was no excuse for rash behavior, Kemper slowly advanced his section in a leap frog pattern, throwing shockwave grenades to make sure the corridors were clear of traps before advancing. So far no one had resisted and that made Kemper more uneasy and nervous then if he had to face down hundreds of Phong,, but there were no Phong waiting, corridor after corridor met them with only silence and the occasional booby trap that was disarmed by the Shockwave grenades.

Nearly twenty minutes had gone bye and the three assaulting Squads had reached a vast chamber near the heart of the base and still no resistance had met them, Just as Kemper was about to order his unit forward again a noise boomed into the room from unseen speakers, a noise the Icarans did not recognize at first, it was like crackling paper or a fireplace with a roaring fire. Suddenly comprehension dawned on Kemper, it was Phong laughter!
“AMBUSH! Fireteams cover your backs AMBUSH!” just as he shouted dozens of pulser darts tore through the Icarans, blood sprayed from torn arteries like some nightmarish geyser, the screaming of the wounded and dying filled the corridors, the stunned Icarans returned fire and succeeded in killing many Phong, but they were totally outnumbered and had been hit completely off guard, within moments all 36 Icarans were on the deck.

The Phong advanced from their hiding places and walked forward to inspect the bodies of the fallen Icarans, bayoneting the downed Icarans at the edge of the Icaran formation, just to be sure they were dead.
A Phong warrior walked over to Kemper and kicked him in the ribs with an armored boot, a grunt startled the Phong, who whirled his rifle around, too late to save his life however as an Icaran combat knife drove into it’s groin, cutting open the Phong’s main arteries in his legs.
A second Phong stood stunned behind Kemper as the Lieutenant whirled around with his assault rifle.
“Hey baby, you miss me?” Kemper sneered at the Phong warrior and depressed the firing stud on his rifle, the AP beam tore the Phong warrior in half and Kemper whirled around to look over his shattered formation.
“NOW!” The shout echoed along the walls and everywhere in the formation Icarans came to life and began killing the startled Phong warriors.
Kemper heard the satisfying whine of Anti-proton fire and the equally satisfying scream of dying Phong as if they were in a distant background, his focus fell onto Phong troopers that were attempting to fall back and reform their ranks, they all died swiftly as his beams swept across them.
A third of the Icarans was all that remained after the devastating ambush but Kemper was unwilling to give up here, and he could not call in the other squad outside or he would risk leaving his only way out open to enemy attack.

The advance continued until finally the sole remaining squad reached the massive armored doors at the heart of the facility, it took two compressed nukes to breakdown the door and admit the Icaran assault. The troopers rushed into the room weapons at the ready and stopped in stunned silence.
The sounds of sobbing brought the advancing Icarans to a halt, the room was no military command center, it was filled with Phong females and children, not even a single weapon was detected in their midst, several of the younger Phong ran towards the soldiers and began chittering relentlessly in their alien language.
“HALT! Stay where you are!” the Icarans shouted as the youngsters continued to run towards them.
“Damn it STOP!” Sergeant Hailey shouted at the top of her lungs but the aliens did not seem to understand.
“Get me a GA’DAMNED TRANSLATOR TO TELL THEM TO STOP!” Kemper shouted as he lowered his rifle, one of the Icarans raced forward, a translator unit strapped to his hip.
“Stop where you are!” he yelled in Icaran and the machine chattered out an equally loud shout in Phong.
The youngsters continued to run at the Icarans even after they had been told to stop twice by the translator, they were almost in hand to hand range and Kemper made the most terrifying decision of his life.
“Firing line! Cripple them if you can FIRE!” his order was met with the silent obedience of Icaran discipline and the entire squad fired into the advancing youths, three of the ones in front were cut to pieces as more then one trooper had focused their weapon on them by accident, several of the youths in the back stopped running forward and hit the dirt, others had limbs severed by the sweeping beams.
“CEASE FIRE!” Kemper’s order was echoed by Sgt Hailey and as suddenly as it had begun the Icaran fire ceased.
“Oh my God” a trooper behind Kemper said stunned, another trooper vomited into his helmet, the noise of the self cleaning unit covering the noise.
“Medic up front NOW, Lois cover him, get moving damn it!” Hailey shouted, she shoved the medic forward, Kemper forced himself back to reality and looked around the room, there were still a LOT of females and children hutted in fear, some of the more scared young ones tried to stand up and run away from the Icarans, but they were jerked down by their parents or other adults who had just witnessed the massacre.
The five youths of the group that had not been wounded or killed in the Icaran volley hugged the limp bodies of the dead or chittered into the “ears” of the wounded in attempts to comfort them. The Icaran mdic gently moved them aside and began running scans on the wounded while PFC Lois covered him.

“Why did they keep running at us sir?” Hailey whispered as she came closer to Kemper, she too looked pale and sick, but her voice remained calm and cold.
“Sir, I may be able to answer that.” The translator stepped forward after talking to several of the Phong in the room.
“The soldiers that ambushed us in the corridor were not just soldiers, several of them were command officials for this region, and sir, those youngsters are their children, when they saw us they knew we must have killed their parents and so they declared a sort of blood oath, similar to our custom of debt of blood except that instead of service provided by future generations, their blood oath requires the offender be bled.” The translator paused and looked sick for a moment, Kemper cleared his throat in a sign of impatience.
“Sir, they would have tried to bleed us, not kill us, a cut or bight would suffice by their tradition since they are the losing force here.” The trooper shook visibly.
Kemper looked at the stunned faces of his soldiers, they had all just become baby killers, even Phong did not deserve what had just been done to them, not this up close and personal, not over some stupid tradition!
The Lieutenant slammed his fist against a nearby wall and cursed silently to himself that fortune should put HIS unit in this position, they had failed their mission when they slaughtered the ambush force that had included the command staff of their region and NOW they had killed four orphaned children and left another seven with horrible injuries ranging from severed limbs to opened guts.
Kemper forced those thoughts from his mind and remembered the original Haden base with it’s millions of people, including children that had been destroyed by the Phong, so a few enemy children had been stupid enough to try and attack an Icaran firing line, so what he had ordered them cut down, they had become combatants the second they refused to comply with his orders and he made sure everyone of his soldiers knew it.

Less then a week later Lieutenant Kemper and the survivors of the Razor Teeth were awarded the Icaran sunburst medal for heroism above and beyond the call of duty, two days after that Mestra 1 had fallen to Icaran forces and the 1st regiment began occupation duty until an SS brigade could arrive.

*[Rocket propelled stab]A "stab" is a weapon that breaks apart into several metal disks when reaching a certain altitude, these disks travel at super sonic speeds and can slice apart any dropship or fighter in service.

**[Wolfhounds]: A wolfhound is a three person armored buggie with either a gatling style Anti-proton gun or a surface to surface rocket launcher.

*** [Compressed Nuke]: A compressed Nuke is a weapon that focuses the entire nuclear reaction into a "bottle" similar to how a traditional shaped charge focuses it's explosive energy. The radiation is sucked into the bLast area by the preasure of the "shaped" nuclear bLast and leaves only a small area radioactive,and even that radioactive area is harmless to anyone wearing a heardsuit or vac suit.
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When life gives you lemons take them and squeeze them in life's eye until it gives you the oranges you asked for!

"If men build things to look like our penis such as towers and ships does that mean female achitects represent women having penis envy?"
A line that made me chuckle, I can't remember where I heard it I just know it made me laugh.

"I'm not really a slapper....I mainly punch and gouge."
Tammy Lee my kung fu instructor/sifu's daughter when asked if she ever slapped a boy for saying something nasty to her.
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Old December 15th, 2004, 02:28 AM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

The Making of a Marine:
As Told by; Private Recruit Mahony, Robert Patrick

“I signed up to join the Marine Corps because ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted to see the stars, other worlds and serve my Praetor, the second I turned 16 I was down at the recruiters office for the Royal Navy, ah unfortunately when I took the entrance exam to the academy the recruiter told me that there wasn’t a position open for me, in other words I didn’t have the grades for it.”
“I joined the Corps so that I could get into the fleet and see the galaxy, sure there was a war on but we were kicking their asses so bad it wasn’t even much of a risk anymore, and well joining the army was just not a good Idea as I didn’t want to spend my time on a troop ship, those things were ugly flying barracks, while a warship was graceful and powerful. Anyway when I got to the Marine Recruiter the woman at the gate definitely mad me want to join the Corps, she was about 23 by the looks of her, obviously a Brandenburg native by her hairstyle and a real beauty, the Corps should have put her on their posters if you ask me. She told me where to report and the next thing I knew I was on a shuttle to the Icara Marine Recruit Depot on Honshu Island-in other words the place where they shave your head tattoo your arm and send you to join the other bald, tattooed men and women you’ll spend the next 3 months with- I guess they figured “Marine Recruit Depot” sounded better.
There I was a raw recruit with one hundred and forty-nine others wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into, and right off the shuttle this “black hat” or Drill Instructor comes over and starts screaming at us, I didn’t even understand him until he started slapping folks on the back and forcing us into a line, another DI walked over and started taking our bags out of our hands and throwing them into a big pile at the back end of the shuttle- I was honestly afraid they were going to shoot someone- we were sent at a forced run to our new barracks: where the aforementioned head shaving and arm tattooing takes place, well my tattoo read “ME5923-521/5”, I’ve been told ME stands for “Marine Expendable” by the DI’s and I don’t know if that’s true or not but it sounds about right.
We were shaved after the tattoo and then all of us-men and women- were thrown into this big shower room and told to strip for disinfecting, I hadn’t seen a naked girl in person till then and I just stood there stunned for a minute until a DI came by and whacked me with his baton right across the back of my neck, well needless to say the shock of naked girls wore off quick as the stinging sensation spread in the back of my head.
The DI’s left the room quickly and suddenly we were being sprayed with this hot liquid that was obviously not water, some chemical used to totally disinfect the body, it had a greenish mist come off o the spray instead of that nice white mist that comes from water, that and it smelt like a mix between piss and lemons.
After our “shower” we were shuffled outside-still naked mind you- and formed up into a column, there was a girl to either side of me and both looked about my age, I tried to face front but man two girls naked and right next to me! Well the DI saw a few of the recruits-glad to say not just me, and not just guys- looking around at each other so he said and I quote “Oh so your busy admiring each other’s assess eh? Fine look at the person to your left and grab their ***!”.
Needless to say no one did at first-actually someone behind me did but he was slapped by the woman that he grabbed.
“I SAID GRAB THEIR *** YOU SORRY SACKS OF DOG [censored]!” the DI’s voice echoed across the little training yard we were all in, followed quickly by the sounds of flesh smacking against flesh as the recruits followed the order, I turned so red when I grabbed the girl next to me I could feel the blood rushing out of m face, I just kept focusing on other things so it wouldn’t rush *ahem* elsewhere shall we say?.
“NOW that you’ve got a feel for each other, let me say this, that sorry lump of flesh your holding in your hand belongs is YOURS!, her *** is yours your *** is hers an SO ON, as long as you are a unit! Do you pieces of dog meat understand me!?”
I had the feeling that the only good answer was yes so naturally I said it but even that wasn’t good enough that drill instructor finally let us remove our hands from our neighbors posterior but then came another dressing down, though at least we found out his name, he was Command Gunnery Sergeant Tyrel Jackson and he’d been in the Corps longer then most of us had even been alive.
After the second dressing down we finally got shuffled off-more accurate to say we got run off- to the Camp’s equipment distribution center where we got our uniforms and unloaded weapons, then we got to go eat some dinner, if you can call that pile of goo they plopped down on my tray food. Finally it was off to the Barracks where we got lights out and some peace and quiet.

The peace and quiet ended at 4:00am base time as the traditional bugle called reveille over the camp’s loud speakers, half a second later DI Jackson came storming into the barracks screaming fire and hell at us, whacking those guys that were a bit late out of bed with his “staff of office” we were rushed off to the showers for a one minute wash- real water this time, though it was cold as ice- and then to mess hall where we got fifteen minutes to eat more goo.
After that we went for a nice run where I got to here my first running cadence (audio file included) http://www.grunt.com/downloads/Combat_Zone.mp3 to tell the truth I didn’t much like the sound of “Dying on a Combat Zone” but what can you do about it?
Then it was off to the rifle range where we got to hear Sergeant Jackson describe the marine darter rifle:
“Alright you sorry excuses for biomass this is a Marine Mk92 darter assault rifle, now those army boys might like their energy weapons but we marines know better don’t we?”
“Hooyah Sergeant”
“Mmmhm Damn right we do, you see what those army boys don’t realize is that their pretty little energy weapons do a nice amount of damage on the ground, but aboard a starship they’d punch a hole clean through the hull, and then where would we be, I tell you where we’d be floating in space. And I don’t know about you piles of puke but I don’t want to be floating around in space during a battle. Hooyah?”
‘Hooyah Sergeant!”
“This weapon was designed for use aboard ship, and during ship to ship actions, it has an effective killing range of 200 meters though I expect you all to be able to kill at 205 meters at least, a magazine of 45 7.75 millimeter explosive darts, and a retractable polycarbine stock. Any Questions?”
I knew better then to raise my hand but some poor sap always has to open their big mouth, and this time it was Recruit Daniels.
“Yes sir, if they are explosive darts how come they don’t pierce a starship hull?” he didn’t see the grin on Jackson’s face but the rest of us did, and it made us all cringe.

“Well Daniels that is a good question, anyone want to answer it?” no one spoke “You really are a bunch of maggots now aren’t you! Alright then Daniels I’ll tell you why an explosive dart won’t pierce a starship hull, and then I’ll ask you later today, if you don’t know the answer I’ll have you running laps around the armory for days you get me?”
“Hooyah Sergeant!”
Sergeant Jackson went into a long speech about the materials that make up a ship’s hull and the explosive properties of a dart round and how they react to one another, not to mention a brief speech about speed and reaction mass that I didn’t understand at all.
After that Drill Sergeant Keeting took us for a six mile march where I got to hear a Marine Corps Marching cadence, that went something like this:
“When my Granny was 91, she did PT just for fun”
(squad repeated )
“Oh when my granny turned 92, she did PT better then you”
(Squad repeat)
“When my granny turned 93 she did PT better then me!”
(Squad repeat)
“When my Granny turned 94 she did PT even more!”
(Squad repeat)
“When my granny turned 95 she did PT just to stay alive!”
(Squad repeat)
“When my granny turned 97 she up and died and went to heaven”
(Squad repeat)
“She met Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates”
(Squad Repeat)
“Said Saint Peter hope I‘m not late”
(repeat)
“Saint Peter said with a big ol’ grin!”
(repeat)
“Get down granny and knock out ten!”

I remember later that day poor Daniels couldn’t answer Sergeant Jackson’s question, poor guy did 52 laps around the armory while the rest of us had to stand there and watch in parade formation, it took him twelve hours!
After that we got rushed to mess hall, ate and finally allowed to report to barracks for lights out, all accept Daniels who had to make a little trip to the base Doctor for exhaustion or something.
On the Second day our class was given it’s name “852” and presented the class patch, we were then taken on a “celebratory run” by Sgt. Jackson, before the rest of the day began.

Three months of hell and FINALLY I’m an Icaran Royal Marine, poor Daniels didn’t make it though, he washed out along with twelve others and sadly Lauren Bard and Leonard Crown were killed during training, Lauren by a grenade some idiot dropped during combat training (we recruits never found out who, though we suspected it was one of the “wash outs“ that the MP‘s dragged off) and Crown by a landslide during mountain training, the same landslide where Daniels broke his leg, he couldn’t take watching a buddy get killed and washed himself out.
To be honest I’m glad I didn’t see either event as I may have joined some of the folks that saw it on the wash out line, though at least they left with honor and dignity intact, unlike those wimps that just couldn’t take the training or those morons that screwed up seriously enough to be dragged off by the MP’s for disciplinary action (two were shot).

I got my assignment though, it was to the HMS Yu Hing Pe all the way out on the Phong Frontier, me and a few others were being sent out to replace marines that were headed back home, I am looking forward to my service with pride and excitement and can’t wait for the transport to arrive tomorrow at 05:30 hours, which reminds me I better get some sleep, Private Mahony signing off.”
__________________
When life gives you lemons take them and squeeze them in life's eye until it gives you the oranges you asked for!

"If men build things to look like our penis such as towers and ships does that mean female achitects represent women having penis envy?"
A line that made me chuckle, I can't remember where I heard it I just know it made me laugh.

"I'm not really a slapper....I mainly punch and gouge."
Tammy Lee my kung fu instructor/sifu's daughter when asked if she ever slapped a boy for saying something nasty to her.
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Old November 10th, 2004, 01:42 AM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

2411.0
Ensign Liza Adair had been in the prison cells on the Icaran colony of Tathys IX for a long time now, such a long time that she knew most of the guards by their first names and even made a few friends among them. She still had no illusions though she was over a thousand light years from the nearest Alliance world and she was a prisoner, no matter how nicely the guards treated her and her fellow Alliance POWs.
The interrogators decided she didn’t know anything of value about the Alliance only three months into her incarceration, and she was glad of it because the drugs they used to make her talk also made her throw up rather violently after they settled into her system. Her compatriots were not the only Prisoners here either, she had seen a group of men that didn’t look like anyone back on New Haven, they were shorter then the average Rebel and their skin color was an olive complexion and their heir was dark compared to the fairer features of the Rebs, they also spoke a language she had never heard before but she did remember hearing them mention some place called Nuovo Roma and there used to be an empire who’s capital was called Rome back on old Earth thousands of years ago.
She also saw a handful of others that looked like some of the Solarans her own people picked up after a skirmish on their borders and she often wondered just how far these Icarans were expanding and how long they were going to keep her and the other Alliance personnel prisoner.

The heavy thump of armored boots was not all that unusual in the prison corridors but this time Adair noted that there was a much softer clap that sounded like a standard Icaran jackboot, one that their army officers wore when not in battle. A few moments later the door to her cell slid open and two armored troopers stepped in the door, they both carried stunners at the ready and she smirked, a trooper in full armor was around 1.8 to 2 meters tall and a single backhand could break a human’s jaw easily so the stunners were really just for show.
An officer stepped forward wearing the black trench coat, the jackboots and the black cap with the Icaran eagle emblazoned on it. His rank insignia suggested a Colonel or at least she thought they did, her casual analysis ended abruptly when she noticed the grim look on his face, she immediately straightened her shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes.
“Miss Adair, as senior surviving officer of the Alliance Personnel on this base you are to inform the rest of your compatriots that you are to be released in four hours.” He saw her shocked expression and a brief grin crossed his face. “The war is over, but before you rejoice I must inform you that the reason the war is over is because your nation has been absorbed into the Icaran Empire, they’ve surrendered.” the Colonel actually looked remorseful as he handed her the flexy with the information.
For a stunned moment she couldn’t believe it, her people were in an economic decline because of their lack of valuable planets in their space, her destroyed task force was a massive economic investment, and with it’s destruction would likely never have been replaced in all the time that she had been in prison. But even with that economic decline and the military defeats they had suffered she just couldn’t imagine her entire alliance surrendering, after the realization sank in she collapsed down onto her bunk and tears swelled in her eyes.
“I’ll leave you too it then miss Adair, but you have to meet your shuttle in four hours.” the Colonel turned about smartly and went through the doorway leaving Adair in stunned silence.

Public Speech by Praetor Leonidas XIV
“Today Citizens of Icara the greatest victory our people have ever achieved thus far was confirmed by our diplomatic corps, The so called Rebel Alliance leadership contacted our pickets just over a month ago and surrendered their worlds to our Empire.” Praetor Leonidas paused as the crowds cheered and called out their praise, he then raised his hands to bring silence to the thousands of citizens who had massed in Icara City’s “Public Square”.
“Ladies and gentlemen, though these planets will one day bring our nation’s strength to double what it was before the Alliance surrendered they are currently poor worlds with crumbling economies, we have a responsibility to bring these worlds into the fold wholeheartedly and fully, there are over 6 billion Rebels that are no doubt confused and quiet a few will likely be resistant to the change that is coming their way. The are used to that feeble governmental system of Democracy, where every citizen has a voice and where the rich are practically above the law…..for this very reason our Empire had long ago abandoned Democracy for the much stronger government we have today.” Leonidas smiled broadly as he heard the cheering crowds.
Democracy was long ago considered to be a foolish form of government by all Icaran people as a “rule by the mob” was considered to be too fragile for a nation that believed in it’s right to expand and believed God chose the line of Praetors personally, and so Praetors were seen as more then rulers, they were living saints to their people and more often then not lived up to the expectations their people held out for them. So it was that when the Rebel Alliance surrendered it was seen as a justified expansion of Icara for the good of it’s people, and as Leonidas promised them, some day Icara would rule over not just one human nation but instead over every human world and every Phong world in the galaxy! For it Was their divine right to rule and they would never yield as long as even one Icaran drew breath to carry on the fight to unify mankind under Icara’s Praetor saint!
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When life gives you lemons take them and squeeze them in life's eye until it gives you the oranges you asked for!

"If men build things to look like our penis such as towers and ships does that mean female achitects represent women having penis envy?"
A line that made me chuckle, I can't remember where I heard it I just know it made me laugh.

"I'm not really a slapper....I mainly punch and gouge."
Tammy Lee my kung fu instructor/sifu's daughter when asked if she ever slapped a boy for saying something nasty to her.
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Old November 11th, 2004, 01:50 AM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

2411.3 Wasp’s Sting
Captain Thomas Cadel ran down the corridors of the Tempel II military base, the nine other pilots of the 1st Wasp squadron ran beside and behind him as the battle alarms screamed.
“What the hell is going on?” Lieutenant Paris shouted as she buttoned her flight suit.
“A Phong battle group got through the warp point before those navy boys could intercept ‘em, so that leaves us!” Cadel’s was tense as he they made it to the small flight bay which held the 10 Wasp star fighters that made up his entire command (there were supposed to be 30 before he launched) he thought bitterly.

The Wasp fighter was a small one man fighter craft with two auto cannons which could fire 2,000 depleted Uranium rounds per minute and could out maneuver the cannons of a capital ship. It was an experiment commissioned by Admiral Babcock before he took command of the 1st fleet and Cadel was the first Pilot trained to fly these new star fighters into combat unfortunately for him his squadron was only 1/3 completed when the 8 Phong destroyers had been detected near their planet.
The Wasp fighters were designed specifically for fighting on the Phong front, their weapons would not have done much damage too a heavily shielded ship such as those on the Sol or NeoStar fronts and were also far cheaper then a capital ship-most of which had to be diverted to guard the Solar/Neo Star borders in case either of those powers launched any further sneak attacks.

Two hours later Cadel and his squadron were spaceborne and closing on their first target, the lead Phong warship, one of their “Fearless’ class destroyers that seemed to form the bulk of their navy.
“Alright Lads, get lock on that first lil’ bastard and let’s try and keep them away from Tempel.”
“Alright boss, we’ll keep em out of tempel.”
“Lad heh right sir”
“Sorry Janet sometimes I forget” Cadel enjoyed a brief laugh, he still had twenty minutes to close on the enemy and he wanted his people loose and relaxed when the time came to fight, he had trained with them for months now and they had all become very close, but more then that he knew he could rely on them no matter what, even though the odds were very much against them.

Twenty minutes later the 10 fighters of Wasp 1 squadron “Puking Dogs” had closed in on the first destroyer And space lit up as it brought it’s cannons to bare on the approaching fighters. Cadel’s own fighter rocked and shook as the shells screamed past him at nearly 3,000 gravities of acceleration.
Cadel worried for a second until he let his eyes drift to his in helmet HUD and saw all ten of his fighters still at his wing.
“Alright lads and lassies, let’s show this bastard to hell!” Cadel squeezed his triggers and the cannons mounted in the nose of his fighter opened up with a fury, as did those of his squad mates. Thousands of rounds poured out of the fighters as they strafed along the enemy ships hull and explosions erupted all across it’s hull tearing open section after section and destroying multiple subsystems and sending it spinning out of formation.
Every alarm in Cadel’s fighter began to blare as the enemy warships turned about to focus all of their attention on his squadron, but he and his fellows were already hunting down their second target a strafing run on that destroyer proved equally effective and it’s crew managed to lug her about and attempted to withdraw from the battle zone.
“Sir, I think they’re scared now, they’ve all turned about and are pursuing us.” the voice of Ensign Chaplain sounded excited as he turned about to join his squadron on their third victim.
A strafing run on the third ship was less effective and it still had a cannon left after their pass.
“Sir should we turn around and reengage?” Janet’s voice came over the com net but Cadel shook his head, forgetting he was alone in his fighter.
“Negative Jan, move on to the fourth target our goal is to cripple their ability to destroy Tempel not go goose hunting.”
“What’s a Goose sir?”
“Forget about it Jan. We’ve still got incoming!”
More shells poured into space as the Destroyers desperately tried to kill their assailants to no avail the smaller Wasps continued to sting again and again across the fourth and then fifth targets doing heavy damage, the fifth still had a cannon remaining and continued to fire defiantly.
“Sir that sixth destroyer’s got good gunners, they getting to close to me here I’m getti….” the voice of Ensign Janavits suddenly cut off
“Oh Jesus!” Janet shouted through the com as she just barely dodged the exploding wreckage of her wing mate.
“Stay calm, stay calm now get the lock on that bastard.” Cadel swore inside and out in his mind yet he could not let his anger cloud his orders or his whole squadron might join the young pilot who had just died.
The sixth destroyer paid in blood for it’s single successful hit as the nine remaining fighters blew apart it’s entire armament, spilling bodies and wreckage into space…..the destroyer limped away at less then a quarter speed.
The fighters of the Puking Dogs did not relent as the seventh destroyer was quickly put out of combat with another strafing run by the wasp attackers. The eight destroyer fought more valiantly, yet it did no damage to the Icaran fighter squadron and it too was quickly put out of action.
“Alright now let’s finish this!” Cadel’s voice was pure hatred as his fighters swung round against the two closely packed destroyers they had just crippled.
A second pass was all it took and both destroyers went up in brilliant fireballs as thousands of DU shells tore through hull and crew alike.
“Sir I’ve got six running, we can’t go after them all.” Janet’s voice was also full of hate as she realized their vengeance would not be complete.
A third destroyer was quickly overtaken and it’s hull erupted into fire as the nine fighters blew it apart with ease.
“Got a lock, Janet you want the honor?” Cadel’s voice was back to it’s calm command tone but he still felt the burning hatred in his heart, that destroyer had been the one who killed one of his pilots and it would pay.
“Thanks sir, Okay Beta team follow me.”
Moments later her and the other 4 fighters of the Puking Dogs Beta team dove in against the enemy vessel and tore it to shreds with their cannons.
“Sir we’ve got Phong escape pods here, orders?” Janet had already swung her fighters back around but Cadel knew she wouldn’t fire unless ordered, and he saw absolutely no reason not to give that order.
“Take ‘em out Jan”

In another sweep with their cannons eight Phong escape pods ceased to exist, and the Wasp 1st squadron Puking Dogs set course for home.

Less then two days later the Cruiser HMS Warspite assisted by the Puking Dogs pinned down and destroyed the remaining Phong warships, no enemies survived.
Only 1 Icaran pilot had died, the other 9 had achieved an astounding victory and were awarded the Icaran “Iron Cross” for valor above and beyond the call.
__________________
When life gives you lemons take them and squeeze them in life's eye until it gives you the oranges you asked for!

"If men build things to look like our penis such as towers and ships does that mean female achitects represent women having penis envy?"
A line that made me chuckle, I can't remember where I heard it I just know it made me laugh.

"I'm not really a slapper....I mainly punch and gouge."
Tammy Lee my kung fu instructor/sifu's daughter when asked if she ever slapped a boy for saying something nasty to her.
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