OCC: Sorry for misspelled names.. heh (what was it, OOC or OCC?)

O'Connor. And those are on standard fighters? Jeese...

*Suddenly the screens of all fighters went red*

Micheal: What are you waitng for? Lets give em' a hell guys!

*He started to shoot pirates who were suprised to see a cruiser here. Everyone engaged the pirates*

O'Connor: Well Lutz guess it's you and me against those cruisers.
Lutz: Yeah, I guess.
Quigley: Then its time you guys get working - one of those is in range!
O'Connor: Hope it won't burn out...

*Roger fires the beam and hits a fighter, but the beam bounces off and hits another one and then it goes aginst pirate cruiser*

Michael: Nice shot!
O'Connor: I did all that?
Lutz: Yes.

*Lutz shoots the Fireblade at pirate cruiser and it blows a hole init so big that fighters can fly through*

Lutz: One down, two more to go!
Quigley: those fighters pop out like flyes... They are a bit too easy for my liking.
Denson: Inbound, inbound - Enemy fighter wing six o'clock, five clicks away and closing fast.
Quigley: Arrigoni we'll take care of them!

*Quigley and Arrigoni are heading away from the battle*

Arrigoni: how many are they?
Denson: About 6 or 7, all Valkyre.
Arrigoni: Easy prey!

*Arrigoni shoots a torpedo at closing enemys. They avoid it, but don't shoot back.*

Quigley: Whats the matter? Why don't they shoot back?
Arrigoni: Maybe their weapoins are jammed.
Quigley: All of them?

*While saying this he teared the enemys shields off with his new gatling guns, but still nothing*

Arrigoni: This is getting weird...
Quigley: Yes, they are just heading twowards the Arizon
Arrigoni: Maybe we should keep them away?
Quigley: Ok, just in case, but how?

*Meantime at the heat of battle*

Denson: Second pirate cruiser is aiming us. You better get rid of it!
Micheal: You get that second cruiser down too! Hehee you guys must really like your defenders.
O'Connor: I hate defenders! Ooh whats this button!

*Roger presses the weird button*

Lutz: Let me guess a new secret weapon?
O'Connor: Nope it's a seat warming and electric windows! This aint not bad fighter at all
Lutz: <sarcasm>Ha ha ha</sarcasm>
O'Connor: Ok ok I don't know whhat it does.
Micheal: You should try these things some other time.
O'Connor: Someone got those blasted fighters off my six! Arghh, I just lost a wing! We got to take the cruiser down fast!

*Roger shoots another time and hits directly the cruiser. Lutz shoots the pirate cruiser and removes its command deck about the time when Roger and his "escorts" passed through.*

O'Connor: Hehee, Nice shot! Some piece just crushed one of my six o'clock problems.
Lutz: No problem.
Michael: Yes we have a problem. The Battleship is now in range! What should we do?

*Those were the last words Roger heard before something from behind knocked him out.*

----------------------------------------
Knight who wears White
www.thestuffnetworks.com
\ Demi God /

Micheal: "Yes, we have a problem. The battleship is now in range, what do we do?"

Laserfire was streaming all around Psawhn. This battle was so intense, it made the last one look like a kitten convention. Still, he had so far managed to keep his shields up throughout the whole engagement. But now, with the Battleship Arizona in range, who knows what might happen.

Lutz: "Remember, guys, keep the battleship alive! "

I remember, Thought Psawhn. My ship's still on that boat. Then he had an idea. No matter how much he hated this Valkryie, there were some good things. One of which was that 'ion cannon,' the Avarice. He looked down on the control panel, and sure enough he saw the label Avarice Activation .

After activating, he heard the ship shudder as the panels slid open to deploy the ion cannon. However, the handling of the ship, already pitiful, dropped even more. He doubted that he could outturn a gunboat. (Actually, he thought,I am a gunboat. )

Psawhn: "I have an idea. I'm going to try to disable the Arizona "

Lutz: "What? Are you crazy?"

He used the thrusters to race alongside the battleship (using up the last seven of his shield batteries), and engine killed to turn around. When the source of the glare from the battleship's engines was squarely in his crosshairs, Psawhn pressed the trigger. Instantly he could hear the whir of both ion cannons rotating up to full speed.

The effect was amazing. Two steams of rapid fire blue-white bolts shot out from either side of the cockpit, dispersing where they hit on the battleship. After only a second, the ion cannons shut off automatically, but the effect was done. The large flare from the Arizona 's engines faded, and the battleship was disabled. At least, that's what he thought, until two rear-facing turrets hit Psawhn dead on, crippling his shields. Three enemy fighters siezed this opportunity and attacked Psawhn in his shieldless and sluggish Valkryie.

Psawhn: "Guys, I nee-"

The thick armour only stood up for just a few seconds before the ship erupted into a massive green and yellow fireball.

OOC: It's "OOC", short for "Out Of Character." I have no idea what OCC stands for...

Edited by - Whasp Commander on 16-09-2003 01:15:11

OCC: Bit of a biggie this one... 6 & a bit pages in Word...

-------------------------------------------

Lutz: "NOOO!!! Psawhn!! Come in!! Come in!"

Nothing. Saying that the Defiants sensors were totally off line. In his mad dash against two of the three cruisers the Defiant had taken a beating. Half his bots were used us, and he only had 5 batts left, half a charge.
He'd seen Psawhn go on a suicide mission, taking out the engines of the Arizona, the ion blasts had shut down all nuclear reaction in the engines core, the Arizona was now a sitting duck. But Psawhn had paid for it. Two turrets had turned the Valkyries shields into swiss cheese, the three pirates finishing the job off. Lutz prayed there was an escape pod. As it was though he had other things to think about.

So far about half of these mystery pirates were damaged or crippled, but the true pirates, the Arigosha had taken a beating too. The Arizona lay crippled, and the biggest of the three pirate cruisers was still causing grief to a great many people.

Lutz: "Danson! Where's the Vengeance!? We need her here, you need to take out that damned cruiser!"
Danson: "You'll have to wipe out the shields first, but we're in range in about 90 seconds!"

The Defiant fly side by side Michaels Falcon, the two ships poured laser blasts into what appeared to be a small bomber. The golden explosion blossomed in space, large enough to take out a passing crippled ship, which was unfortunately Arigosha.

Michael: "Whoops… er, lets not mention that one eh?"

Lutz signalled affirmative as he fired twin cannonballs at another pirate ship. One flew past, distracted by the glow of a decoy, the other crashed into the Dagger fighter, barely hitting, but the explosions washed over the engines.

Lutz: "O'Connor! How you holding up?"
O'Connor: "My starboard wing is mangled, I've lost both guns on it, and it ain't helping my flying either! I'm sorry guys, I'm gonna have to bail onto the Vengeance"
Lutz: "No worries, but I don't suppose you could get one last shot outta that Stormblade could you?"
O'Connor: "Yeah, but I'll never make it back, the cruiser will have me. Even if you hit it with Fireblade straight away I still doubt I'd make it. I've got a top speed of 45, and three Arigosha escorting me."
Lutz: "OK, don't sweat it. I'll think of something else."

The Defiant spun around, engines cut, his twin Diamondbacks and Cerberus turned a Wolfhound into it's component parts.
Engines flaring into life he flew out behind the Arizona and saw part of Psawhns Valkyrie still intact, and an escape pod floating near by.

Lutz: "Micheal! Psawhn! Can you hear me?"
Nothing. Lutz prayed that he was merely unconscious.
Lutz: "Has anyone got any shields killer missiles!?"
A series of negatives answered that question. Most of them had been fired into the first two cruisers, allowing the Fireblade access to the hull.

The next idea had already been formed in his mind before he even realised. Swinging round once more he fired a brief volley at the remains of the Valkyrie and watched with pleasure as one of the Ion Cannons, the Avarice, flew clear. Reprogramming the remaining nanobots he swung under the floating gun and brought the ship into alignment with it, on the empty turret slot he had. The nanos were working away when the dreaded moment arrived, the cannons of the Arizona had found him. 5 seconds was all he needed. Less was all he had.

Arrigoni: "Hold on Lutz!"
Suddenly out of nowhere The Camel swung past, taking the bullets soaking them up in the over powered shield that the heavy freighter carried. Two torpedoes were fired straight at the turrets. Each one slammed into what was left of the shields, but enough damage carried forward to cripple the turrets. Two further explosions came form the engines though; the Arizona was near destruction.

Lutz: "Careful lads! Keep it alive"

The cannon attached, Lutz swung out to the last pirate cruiser, which had turned broadside to the Vengeance which was facing it direct.

Denson: "In position Lutz, but you better hurry, this one is packing one hell of a punch!"

Lutz swung along side O'Connor, just as a passing Dagger slammed into his already damaged Defender-XS. The Dagger, already badly damaged simply dissolved in space, the Defender was sent into a violent spin, sparks flying from it. It was dead in space.

Lutz: "O'Connor! Come in damn you!"
Nothing. The allies were falling. Psawhn was down, O'Connor was floating in space, Quigley's ship had taken a beating and fully half the Arigosha hadn't made it this far. The Defiant was holding up, but not for long, with only 5 bats left. The Camel was doing good, the pirates had ignored it in the main, and Michaels Falcon was still doing well. He had the highest kill count of all the allies, at 16.

Having no choice but to leave O'Connor Lutz flew to the cruiser and armed the new turret. He managed a quick burst before he exploded on the Defiant.

Lutz: "Damn it!"
Arming 6 Cannonballs his fired the lot, dumbfire, into the side of the cruiser.
He'd unknowingly turned as he'd done so, only a little, but enough to send two of the missiles straight through the shield generators. The Cruiser was vulnerable.

Denson: "Hold on to your seats gentlemen! And get away from that cruiser!"

The Vengeances turn was here. Out gunned and out armoured by the remaining pirate cruiser the Vengeance had taken a beating. Now it lived up to its name. At the front was the new cannon, a fully enhanced version of the Fireblade. The weapon began to glow, a giant ball of light developed at the front of the ship. Hydrogen atoms were burning blue in the vicinity as they were sucked into the beam that was charging up. Through the mixture of gasses and debris that the fighters were in everyone could hear it. When it fired the only way to describe it would be that it screamed . The blue beam sped across the gap separating the ships faster than a heart beat, the plasma tore into the hull of the cruiser, moving across it. Armour didn't melt, it vapourized . Coming to the main power plant at the rear, directly within the heart of the ship the beam stopped moving. From his position now high above the two capital ships Lutz watched in wonder and horror as the beam passed clear through the hull, ripping out the other side in a series of giant explosions. The screaming deepened as the beam faded, shrinking in size until it was diminished entirely. All along the hull of the cruiser explosions were evident as the power grid started to explode. Lutz flew down the side of the ship and saw the entirety of the damage caused by the Vengeance. An entire tear covering over 4 decks covered the cruiser from bow to stern. The beam had passed over each section for no more than 3 seconds, and yet Lutz could quite clearly see at least 30 metres into the ship. Coming to what was left of the rear of the ship Lutz gazed straight though to see Michaels Falcon fly out of it having passed clean through whilst chasing one of the few remaining pirate ships. The Dagger chasing the Falcon didn't last long either as two cannonballs hit it directly in the cockpit.

Michael: "Hey Lutz! You stole my kill!" He said, just as the ship he was chasing ignited into a bright, but brief fireball.
Lutz grinned…

All around him the Arigosha were on the upper hand. Almost all of the pirates were destroyed, and he sighed with relief when he heard Arrigoni say that he's picked up the crippled Defender-xs of O'Connor's, and the escape pod that hopefully contained Psawhn. Quigley had recently docked having suffered a bad hit to the engines, and Michael was still destroying pirates.

The Arizona was crippled, it's engines useless, all but two of it's guns destroyed, and 6 Arigosha ships were working on them.

Lutz: "Micheal, I need you to land with me on the Arizona."
Michael: "Sure thing, I'll meet you in the landing bay. We gonna be OK? Theres still a lot of people on board, some of them are bound to be armed."
Arrigoni: "Guys, you stay here and polish this lot off. I've got a few guys on board The Camel that are used to this sort of thing. I'll breach the hull in the cargo bay and we'll board. I'll keep the officers alive though."
Lutz: "Yes! Good thinking that Arrigoni! I won't ask how your men are used to that sort of thing though!"
Arrigoni: "Probably best that you don't!" He added with a laugh.

The Camel changed course, swinging ponderously around to pull along side the stranded Arizona. Welding torches flared briefly as The Camel bolted on.

Gazing out at the final pirate cruiser Lutz was still in disbelief. Luckily the beam from the Vengeance had completely destroyed the fuel reserves, absorbing the energy and firing them off harmlessly into space. The cruiser didn't have enough nuclear reactions taking place to complete explode, but it was still glowing orange with fire.

Lutz: "Come on Michael, lets land. We'll leave the remaining pirates for the Arigosha, let them have their fill of revenge."
Michael: "Sure, lead us in"

The Defiant flew ahead, Michael swung into formation behind. Lutz request docking permission in case the crew of The Camel had taken over, and was pleased to hear Arrigonis voice come over the comms. The landing bay doors were opened, and the two ships settled down inside the fighter bay. Lutz saw the ships of his friends that had escaped in the Valkyries; they'd be back for them no doubt…

Arrigonis voice came over the comms: "Lutz, Michael: we’ve captured or killed almost all resistance. There was only a dozen soldiers on board, and half of them are dead. The remaining 6 are have barricaded themselves near the rear of the ship, what’s left of it. I've got the officers in the brig, ready for you."

Lutz ran down the corridors, Michael behind. He'd waited a long time to see this, to see Andy Smith again. He was sure it was him, it had to be. And as he entered the brig he wasn't disappointed.
Lutz grabbed hold of Andy by the front of his jacket and pulled him into a crunching headbutt. As Andy staggered backwards he was met with a right hook that cannoned into his chin and sent him sprawling to the deck.

Lutz: "You filth. You absolute lowlife. Not only did you sell me out, you turned traitor to Liberty. You stole the XS and Stormblade and tried to steal Fireblade too. Why?"
Andy: "You wouldn't understand, your kind never do." Came the words as he spat out a gob full of blood, and a piece of tooth.
Michael: "What do you mean his kind?"
Andy: "All honour, and nobility and "Do the right thing""
Arrigoni "And is that so bad? To uphold the law, follow a moral path?" Sounded sort of hypocritical coming from Arrigoni. But he wasn't a bad sort. He may have lived a little on the edge of the law, but he had honour and moral, not many appreciated that in him.
Andy: "Of course not! But sometimes laws must be bent, the lesser of two evils must be taken in the face of a useless good."
Lutz shook his head: "No, never must the evil path be taken. And why is turning traitor the lesser of two evils? What was so staggeringly bad that caused you to turn traitor?"
Andy sneered: "You'll find out soon enough you fools. All of you. It doesn't matter about me, I'm just a pawn, I've played my part, I can be sacrificed."
Lutz: "Arrigoni, would you be so kind as to break Mr Smiths thumbs please. Michael, go get me a plasma torch will you please? I'll make you talk Andy, if it's the last thing I do. Within the hour you will be begging for me to kill you."
Andy cowered on the floor as Arrigoni came closer, but Arrigoni grabbed Andys arm and braced his foot from the mans chest, holding the outstretched arm in one hand and gripped his thumb with the other. Michael ran through the door.
Arrigoni: "In how many places do you want it broken?" he asked of Lutz
Andys face was a picture of terror as he listened to the casual talk between the two men.
Lutz: "In as many places as you can get. Try for at least three places though, give him something to feel."
Michael: "Hold on Arrigoni, I got the plasma torch Michael waved the torch, ignited it and poured the bright purple plasma down a sheet of metal he had in the other hand. The metal was cut clean in two.
Michael: "Yeah, it's working fine. What do you want me to do with it?"
Lutz: "After Arrigoni has got to the third finger start on the other hand. I'm going to get a jackhammer for his toes. Froan had one for hammering in the coils for the new cannon. Did you know those rivets weighed about 3 kilos a piece, (About 6.6 lbs..) and it hammered them in in one go?"
Michael: "Whoa! Imagine what that could do to your toes?! That’s gotta hurt."
Andy screamed and ripped his hand out of Arrigonis grip. He hurled himself into the corner of the cell, shaking.
Andy: "OK! I'll talk! Just leave me alone!"
Lutz turned round: "This had better be good you know Andy, that Jackhammers a bit on the heavy side and I'd rather not have to haul up here later when I can just get started now…"
Andy: "No, no, no… I'll tell you everything. Well, everything that I know."
Michael flared up the torch once more: "Best get started then."
Andys was fixated at the plasma that burned before him, and couldn't take his eyes off of it as he begin to talk
Andy: "It started about a year ago. Word was received by the Liberty Intelligence Agency of a new cruiser being developed by Rheinland. It was rumoured to be the ship of all ships, and at least 3 were being made. Not much later we found out we were wrong, there was 18 being made. With the recent political actions happening within Rheinland the whole of the Liberty's top brass were extremely worried, a conflict with Rheinland seemed inevitable. Certain projects were pushed forward, others cancelled, and some radical ones developed. One such was Fireblade. A weapon of that magnitude could have swung the balance of power into Liberties favour. But the researchers couldn't get it working, it would never start firing. We flew the final test mission in what was a last ditch attempt to get it working. As you know we targeted the Xeno's. But as predicted the beam failed, and the project was scrapped."
Lutz: "So why did you blame me for gross negligence then?"
Andy: "Fireblade was my project in a way. I was responsible for getting it developed and manufactured. When it couldn't succeed I knew I missed my chance for glory. I had to stay in research business I was determined to get a weapon developed that could stop the Rheinlanders."
Lutz: "So you blamed me, shifting the failure of the weapon over to me in an effort to stay in your career?"
Andy: "Yes. There was other projects being handled at the time using similar technology. The head of another project wad killed in a freak testing accident. I wanted to take over, but a blemish of all the wasted man hours on Fireblade would have been used against me, I'd have never got the job."
Michael: "He's talking about the weapon on that Defender-XS that O'Connor stole isn't he? The Stormblade?"
Andy nodded: "Yes. It works on the same lines as the particle cannon, but it breaks down electromagnetic waves. It causes them to collapse on themselves, the waves lose cohesion and collapse."
Arrigoni: "Effectively taking out a ships shields on one shot"
Andy nodded. "The weapon worked much better than Fireblade. It could be run at much lower energy uses and was cheaper to build with that weapon we could take out any of the cruisers shields in one shot. We'd have the advantage then."
Lutz: "So why all this? The taking over the Arigosha, this so-called fictitious pirate clan that you've created?"
Andy: "Even with Stormblade the Rheinland fleet would be unstoppable. I've seen the damn things up close. The day I was asked to join. I figured if I joined and gave them either Fireblade or Stormblade the Rheinland fleet would become truly unstoppable. They'd be able to invade quickly, less casualties. We used the Cruisers as a test against the Arigosha. But we went too far, and almost wiped them out. We could risk that sort of news getting out, so we became the clan. It would also cover us for any of the more, darker, things we needed to do. It would have been perfect were it not for the Rheinland pride. They wouldn't allow their military personnel to adopt the name of a known group of criminals."
Lutz: "So that was the plan uh? Get the extra technology to them to help them kill us all faster?"
Andy: "Yes…"
Lutz: "So who approached you?"
Andy: "The officer of Rheinland cruiser Brimstone, Heplante. It was Heplante who showed me the new cruisers."
Michael: "And they are where exactly?"
Andy: "They were in the dockyards of Geragast, but I'm guessing they've been moved by now."
Arrigoni: "So, what about 1,600 tonnes of gold on board this ship, logged under your name, that’s got nothing to do with it?"
Lutz and Michael both looked up alarmed.
Arrigoni: "Well we was having a good look around whilst we was taking care of them little toy soldier boys they had."
Lutz: "Well?"
Andy: "It was to be used to help get the Fireblade back" he said quickly, a little too quickly… "We reckoned that we could tempt you into giving…" The shot from Lutz's gun resounded through the cell, the bullet tore through the left eye of Andy and into his brain, killing him instantly.
Lutz: "Never tar me with that brush you treacherous scum…" he whispered.
Arrigoni: "Well, I hope we got everything we need outta him, cos we aint getting much else now."
Lutz: "Arrigoni, get back to the Vengeance. Find out the condition of your guests, hopefully they'll be alive. We need to figure out what the hell to do."
Michael: "the way I see it there's not much we can do. 18 Cruisers, new ones. We barley survived an encounter with three. The Vengeance took a beating you know."
Lutz: "I know… We need more firepower. I may have to go back to Liberty, to the Navy. If we can get that weapon from the Vengeance on every Liberty Cruiser…"
Arrigoni: "May I just add two stumbling blocks to this? You're a wanted convict, and the only man who could do those modifications, at least with any speed, is Froan. Who's been kidnapped by that psycho Terranova."
Michael: "OK, so we find that son of an overgrown rhino and we take him down and take back Froan."
Lutz: "OK, Arrigoni, you have your orders, Michael, start getting together everything we know about Terranova"
Michael: "Sah!" Michael ran out the room excitedly, glad to be on the trail of Terranova.
Arrigoni: "Hey kid, you're not my superior, just remember who you're ordering around."
Lutz turned round: "Forgive me Arrigoni, I'm getting a bit on the edge here."
Arrigoni grinned. "No worries kid."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in space the Vengeance crew were patching up the blast marks in the hull. The armour plating was being salvaged from the undamaged side of the pirate ghost ship, and the light mesh armour was further improved with slightly more denser patches, designed to draw a Fireblade strike towards less critical parts of the ship. The remains of the Arigosha said good bye and flew off to retake their base, all the remaining Rheinland "pirates" having since fled, although a few stayed behind, having found a new cause to follow. A fleet of Junker ships turned up, and in return for all access to the debris they helped the Vengeance crew repair their home. The ways and ideas of the Junkers produced some new designs on the Vengeance, including a new sensor array over twice as effective, and the inclusion of missile rack on both sides of the ship. Each rack contained 16 Javelin missile launchers, each with over 20 missiles, A coolant system was added, and the missiles could now be fired just over a second apart. The gold that was looted from the Arizona was stowed on board the Vengeance, the remainder was left for the Junkers should they be able to get rid of it.
Lutz, Michael and Arrigoni had landed mid way through repairs, and the first thing they did was check on the status of the two pilots on board The Camel...

If it wasn't for the inky blackness of the night you wouldn't appreciate the brilliance of the stars...

Quigley felt anger pulsing thourgh him. The Cerulean Dream was being lowered onto the Vengence's flight deck but not under her own power. It had required a tug to move her. While on the Arizona , the techs had taken her apart, studing the modifications he had made to the Patriot. Arrigoni and his "men" had found her in the battleship's tech room in pieces. It would be days before Danson and his gearheads could sort out the mess and get the Dream into flight status. As it was, the Valkerie, although it had a lot of battle damage, was closer to being flight ready.

Fuming, Quigley looked around the flight deck. He saw Arrigoni standing outside of his Rusty Camel . He had just returned from the Arizona with prisoners and was now directing their removal.

Quigley: Arrigoni, what's the news? Where we going?

Arrigoni: Ah, Quigley. You were hell on thrusters with those Avarices of yours.

Quigley was about answer when he saw one of the prisoners stop and stare at him. The prisoner spoke, confused.

Prisoner: Avarice and Quigley? Can't be; he's dead.

One of Arrigoni's men shoved the prisoner roughly with a rifle butt.

Quigley: Wait a sec. Who are you and who do you know me?

Prisoner: Paul Riggly's the name. But you I don't you.

Quigley: I'm Matthew Quigley.

Riggley: Matthew? Who the hell are you? I'm talking about a Ten Quigley, dead man.

Quigley lunged foward and grabbed Riggly's collar with one hand and placed his Daumann needler under the man's chin with the other. Everyone else froze.

Quigley: How in the dark heart of the Corsairs do you know about Tenadore Quigley.

Riggly: I...I...was apart of the ambush that killed him.

Flames of rage filled Quigley's vision nearly blocking all reason and fair judgement out of his mind. Only a twinge of self-control kept him from pulling the trigger.

Quigley: You had better tell me everything and fast before I turn your skull into a canoe.

Riggly gushed forth the truth like a waterfall. Riggly had been apart of Liberty's secret weapons programs. He had been the head of security of his brother's program. The object of the program was creation of combat-capable ion cannons. The result had been the Avarice guns. Ten had been a chief test pilot for the program.

Quigley also found out how his brother had know Lutz. The Blade-class weapons were being developed at the same time at the same location as the Avarice gun. The three weapons teams worked to together quite often, sharing incites that might move along each other's projects. Lutz's failure was big news among development teams. No one was surprised. The weapons weren't ready for combat testing, but the brass wanted results quickly. When Lutz's Fireblade failed, Lutz took all the blame. Lutz was imprisoned, and the existence of the project and status of the project were kept secret.

Finally, Riggly came to his brother's death. The convoy Ten was suposed to escort in contained parts vital to all three projects. Riggly had been a spy for Rheinland ever since they had approached him after finding out about Liberty's secret weapons. Riggly had betrayed the convoy to the Rhienlanders. The Rhienlanders, posing as pirates, jumped the convoy. They destroyed the fighter escort including Quigley's brother, and captured the convoy. They took the convoy back to New Berlin. Before they left, they gathered all wreckage of Ten's Defender and destroyed it. With no evidence of Ten's death at the scene, the disaster was blamed on Ten. The Navy had thought Ten had hijacked the convoy himself.

Riggly finished, sweating and quivering. Quigley threw him on the deck, again it was all he could do not to blast the snivelling traitor. In a burst of incite, Quigley realized why he had been washed out of West Point. The Navy, suspecting Ten of treason, feared that Quigley was some kind of sleeper Ten was sending into the Navy to cause more havoc.

Quigley was still angry but also relieved. He had carried the grief of Ten's death and his shame of his dismissal for a long time. Ten was still dead and he was still civilian, but those feelings were now easier to bear now with the truth.

Arrigoni: Quigley, are you okay? Do you want me and the boys to deal with Riggly here?

Coming back to the real world, Quigley holstered the needler. Arrigoni's men picked up Riggly with no gentleness and started the prisoners moving again.

Quigley: No, what's going on?

Arrigoni: Nothing much. Lutz discovered a plot by Rheinland to invade Liberty using Liberty's one super weapons.

Quigley: We've got to warn the Navy and LSF.

Arrigoni: Lutz is appointed himself to that position.

Quigley: Has he finally lost it? He's one of Liberty's most wanted criminals.

Arrigoni: You know how our friend is when he sets himself on a task. Also I think is planning to contact his wife, Alys, who is still on Manhattan.

Quigley: He has gone mad. Nearly everyone on this ship is wanted by Liberty. Daniel and I are the only propably don't have prices on our heads. And Daniel's in sick bay.

Arrigoni: Yes, but what are we to do? We also have to find Terranova, the sneaky weasel.

Quigley thought to himself, considering all the options.

Quigley: I've got the best chance of getting into and out of Liberty. I know a few people in mediumly high places.

Arrigoni: Quigley, you said your self. Your name ain't the best in the Navy.

Quigley: I'll worry about the Navy. You find that psycho. I'll find Lutz and disuade him of going and convince him to let me go.

Bob Hope

1903-2003

British by birth, American by choice.

Entertainer, humantarian, patriot

None more honored

Edited by - jedierrant on 04-08-2003 20:44:07

Edited by - jedierrant on 04-08-2003 20:52:03

(OOC: Request to Wizard, this bit should actually fit somewhere before Lutz's story, can you put it in there? If not, oh well, just read this before you read lutz's post. btw, sorry for the late reaction, but I was a bit busy.)

Michael looked at the fleet that was heading toward them at cruise speed. At 2k distance the Pirate fleet cut their cruise engines and firered up their weapons.
Left and right some Arigosha pilotes couldn't control their nerves and had allready engaged battle in search for revenge. The brave fellows didn't stand a chance against the cruisers and the fighters. Some of the Arigosha realised that and in a desperate attempt to do some damage, they kamikazed into the cruisers.

Michael sped up to maximum speed and lead the remaning pilots into battle. They were greeted by an array of missiles and a few torps.
Michael firered with all he got and managed to take down 5 or 6 missiles before he had to evade. He pulled up and saw some missiles miss him at not more than a few inches. He could not prevent being hit by one missile wich slammed into his side, decreasing his shield by nearly 80%. He was able to take some distance to let his shield regenerate and to take a look around.

Michael saw that others were not so fortunate as he was. Those who were not distroyed by the missiles were taken care of by the pirates who now had an easy job as most of the Arigosha had no shields and virtually no hull strength left. about 10 brave Arigosha lost their lives in the first moment of the battle. The others regrouped and were able to put up some kind of a fight. But the pirates were well organised and Michael knew they wouldn't last to long, certainly not against those cruisers.
In a glimps he could just see Lutz and O'Connor taking on the cruisers.

But he had also noticed 5 daggers braking of from the main battle and closing in on him.
Michael targeted the first ship wich was a bit in front of the other 4 and quickly took care of it's shield with his pulse weapon as he passed it. Michael immidiately cut his engines and turned around. He dropped a few mines to keep the others pirates busy who were now on his six and thrustered towards the shieldless dagger. Michael blasted away with all he got and the pirate never knew what hit him as the dagger imploded.
Pieces of dagger skipped of his still regenerating shield as he kicked his engines to the max and pulled up in order to make a looping.
He ended up directly behind one of the pirates who immidiately dropped a few mines. Michael cunningly evaded them and and quickly took down the shields of the dagger. He firered a missile and broke hard to the left. As he lined up with his next target he saw on the scanner that the missile had done it's work.

Michael: "Two down and three to go"

Two of the pirates were completely missplaced having to evade mines, gunfire and explosions. The other one, however, was lining up with Michael and now facing him head-on. They both thrustered towards eachother, giving it all they had. Strafing left and right, Michael was able to evade some of the slow moving tachyon bolts. His enemy was not so lucky and Michael had taken down his shields and firered a missile. The impact killed the pirate instantly but unfortunately Michael was to close to the blast and the little bit of shield that he had left was erased.

Michael: "Sh*t"

He now had two pirates on his tail, wich were able to dodge his mines. The pirates saw that Michaels shield was down and seized the opportunity. They soon had pounded a hole the size of a football in his cargo hull.

Computer: "Hullbreach imminent"
Michael: "Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, not good!"

He was able to dodge the rest of the shots and quickly punched his shieldbattery activator. He was relieved to see he had more than enough batteries left. He swung around to take care of the remaining pirates, but he saw three Arigosha who had allready taken care of them.

Arigosha Pilot: "Thought you could use the help."
Michael: "Yeah, thanks guys. I was allmost spacedust. These pirates are better than I expected. I won't make that mistake again."
Arigosha Pilot: "Are you gonna be allright?"
Michael: "I guess so, I've got enough bats and bots. But I've lost most of my cargo and it's not around. I think those pirates you distroyed looted it and it got lost in the explosion.
Arigosha Pilot: "Sorry about that..."
Michael: "That's allright. You saved my life, no gold can repay that. Now lets get back into battle."

*thinks* I really need a better ship...

Michael sends his nanobots to work as they flew back. The fight had thrown him a bit off course so he engaged his cruise engines. Or at least he wanted to, but all he heared was a click and the horrible sound of an engine failing.

Michael: "Oh no, not again! I just got that repaired"

He tried his engines and was relieved to see that they were working. As long as they didn't need to make a run for it, he would be alright. But the loss of his gold and the disabled cruise made him furious. No mercy this time, they had bothered him for to long now.
He thrustered back and was just in time to take out a few pirates who were giving hell to a couple of Arigosha fighters.
He checked his, still working, scanner and saw that two of the cruisers were allready taken down. That was quick, those weapons clearly hadn't shown their ultimate force yet.

Another Arigosha pilote was in big trouble as three daggers lined up behind him for the kill and more appeared.

Arigosha pilot: "Help! I've got a whole fleet on my six! Anyone he..."

The pilot was not able to finish his request for backup, but Michael and 4 other Arigosha had heared the request and they were allready heading for the daggers.
With his first salvo Michael took out the first two pirates who were allready damaged. The other pirates, about eight of them, were too busy with the four Arigosha pilotes, that they didn't at first notice Michael. He was able to take down another two, before the pirates realised that Michael was the biggest threat.
They were braking of their fights with the Arigosha and engaged Michael from every side.

Michael: "Who crap, help me out here!"

The Arigosha that were left alone, now targeted the pirates and as Michael had managed to take down another pirate, the hunters had now become the hunted. Michael lined up with a pirate from behind and tailed him, blasting away with his lasers. Ship hull pannels started to brake lose from the dagger and Michael saw the pilot eject, but it was to late. The ship exploded, distroying the escapepod.
The Arigosha had surprisingly taken care of the rest allready, but there was no time to relax as another 7 pirates closed in on them. As they firered they took out two of the Arigosha with their first salvo. Michael quickly firered three missiles taking down two of the daggers shields. He passed the pirates and cut his engines to turn 180 degrees. He took out the two shieldless daggers and engaged a thrird.

Michael checked his scanner and saw that there were only a dozen Arigosha left. It didn't look good, but they had to hold on a few more minutes.
Suddenly he saw Psawhn disappear behind the Arizona and the three daggers that had targeted Michael suddenly engaged Psawhn.
In a moment it was over. A big explosion blinded Michael shortly as the daggers distroyed Psawhns ship.

Lutz: "NOOO!!! Psawhn!! Come in!! Come in!"

But there was no reaction and Michaels scanners didn't pick up any escapepod either. He hoped that Psawhn had been able to eject and that it was just the homing signal that was busted.
He engaged the daggers and in a blind fury he distroyed them before even Michael knew what had happened.

The Defiant came up on the side of Michaels Falcon, the two ships poured laser blasts into what appeared to be a small bomber. The golden explosion blossomed in space, large enough to take out a passing crippled ship, which was unfortunately Arigosha.

Michael: "Whoops… er, lets not mention that one eh?"

Lutz signalled affirmative as he fired twin cannonballs at another pirate ship. One flew past, distracted by the glow of a decoy, the other crashed into the Dagger fighter, barely hitting, but the explosions washed over the engines.

(OOC: Lutz, I borrowed a bit from your post. I hope you don't mind but it fitted in and it saves me some work )

They broke up again and Michael could just see how Lutz made short work of one of the pirates.
But he had no time to enjoy it because another pirate had found him and had locked on to him. Michael tried everything from dropping mines to flying underneath the Arizona in a desperate attempt to shake off the pirate. He was comming around the cruiser as he saw another dagger right in front of him. It didn't look good for him and just as he was about to call for back-up, an enormous blue energy beam bursted through the side of the cruiser. Michael could barely prevent his ship from flying straight into it.
What the hell was that! He had never seen anything like this.
And then it hit him, the gun on the Vengence . Was that gun shooting straight through at least 50 meters of highly advanced cruiser?
Michael turned around and saw that his persuader had responded to late. Michael was blocking his view and where he had pushed his nose down to dogde the beam, the pirate was probably to stunned to do so. He was completely vapourised by the beam.
The other pirate was able to dodge it aswel and was now directly in front of him. Michael locked on to him and chased the pirate straight through the cruiser, wich was almost falling appart. Michael could see several fires and was again affraid of what weapons like these could do in the wrong hands. He was obviously thinking about Terranova.
Suddenly the dagger in front of him exploded and he saw Lutz's Defiant passing him.

Michael: "Hey Lutz! You stole my kill!"
Lutz: "Micheal, I need you to land with me on the Arizona."
Michael: "Sure thing, I'll meet you in the landing bay. We gonna be OK? Theres still a lot of people on board, some of them are bound to be armed."
Arrigoni: "Guys, you stay here and polish this lot off. I've got a few guys on board The Camel that are used to this sort of thing. I'll breach the hull in the cargo bay and we'll board. I'll keep the officers alive though."
Lutz: "Yes! Good thinking that Arrigoni! I won't ask how your men are used to that sort of thing though!"
Arrigoni: "Probably best that you don't!" He added with a laugh.

As the Camel created an entrance for them, Michael had a chance to take a good look at the cruiser. That cannon blasted a hole in the cruiser wich was going from the front to the back entreirely, almost cutting it in half. He was surprised that it hadn't blown up in the proces.

Lutz: "Come on Michael, lets land. We'll leave the remaining pirates for the Arigosha, let them have their fill of revenge."
Michael: "Sure, lead us in"

He was glad to here Arrigoni's voice over the comlink answering Lutz's request to land.

Edited by - Nickless on 05-08-2003 23:38:21

(OOC: this one is right in place )

Michael was shocked to see such agressiveness in his old friend. Lutz just killed a man in cold blood. Sure, Michael understood the situation well, but still. He didn't expect it from Lutz.
Anyway, he had now filled his cargobay again with the gold looted from the Arizona and he was asked to dig into Terranova's past, something he was glad to do. He was gonna find that bigheaded cow and tear him appart. But he would begin by getting his cruise engine repaired.

He was glad to find everyone in one piece abort the Vengeance . The fight had killed a lot of Arigosha and had injured Psawhn, but the losses were not in vain, they had won the battle.
But they had yet to win a war.
The captain of the Arizona had told them that Rheinland was prepearing for invasion, with no less than 18 of those cruisers! That was something to be afraid of.

He walked in to the bar of the Vengeance and hook up with the mainframe. He typed in 'Vincenzo Terranova' and let the computer perform a search. A news item from about 20 years ago popped up.

News Item: New Roma System; today a convoi of trading vessels and freighttrains were attacked by a large group of pirates near the Venice Icecloud. All of the ships, wich belonged to Scorsese Industries and were transporting luxury goods from planet New Roma to luxury liner Scicily (1), were destroyed and no survivors were detected. The CEO of Scorsese Industries, Martin Scorsese, has reacted with bitterness to the New Italian Congress and has demanded that the President increases Police and navy patrols in the entire system. "I will not let these pirates destroy our companies and kill our employees while the gouvernement does nothing. I demand that the preident steps down if he doesn't do something about this situation soon." As said CEO Scorsese in a direct interview with the eight o'clock new. At the question if it were through that he himself was going to run for president, he replied, "No comment".

After that a list of names appeared of the casualities. He saw the names of Terranova's parents on the list.

Lutz: "Have you found anything yet?"
Michael: "hmmyeah, check this out, Terranova's parents were killed in a Pirate attack about 20 years ago."
Lutz: "that doesn't give us much of a clue, now does it?"
Michael: "Perhaps it does. I think we might want to go to New Roma. With such a weapon in his possesion, wouldn't you avenge those who you loved?"
Lutz: "I sure would."

Michael could see the bitter grin on Lutz's face. He knew enough. Lutz had gotten his revenge for his unfair trial and his eviction from the Liberty navy. He now wanted to go after Terranova who had used him to get the Particle Cannon.
They all wanted to get Terranova, but most people were just afraid of him now he had a super weapon and wanted to disable him before he could use it against them. Michael couldn't blame them, somehow he was afraid of that to.
But Lutz had a score to settle and Michael knew that if they would meet Terranova again, it would probably be the last time. Lutz had the only other ship with a Particle cannon and wivh was able to stand a chance in battle with Terranova. And a battle it would be, Michael figured. Terranova was not someone to take lightly, he had proven that before. And in all honosty, Michael feared that Lutz's fighting abilities weren't good enough to match those of Terranova. Maybe if he was able to get that big gun from the Vengeance on his ship somehow, with reduced energy usage ofcourse, he might be able to stand by Lutz in battle. Or even one of those stormblades wich could take down a shield in a blink of an eye, may provide a substantial advantage and then maybe they could pull it off.

(OOC 1: I don't know if I typed Scicily right, but correct me if I'm wrong )

Edited by - Nickless on 05-08-2003 00:17:23

OOC:You know I finished writing this and sent it and the stupid board didn't post it? Now I have to write all over again.

The lift doors opened and Quigley stepped out onto the bridge. The bridge, like all Liberty cruisers, was semi-circular. The command chair was in the center of the half circle, facing the emmense forward viewport. Arrayed around the command chair were the stations for the bridge crew all facing inward toward the command chair.

Lutz stood beside Captain O'Connor who had an almost regal appearence in his command chair. Quigley approached the two.

Lutz: Oh good, I was just about to look for you. You're the only one who hasn't heard our plans yet.

Quigley: Arrigoni already told me, and that's why I'm here.

Lutz: What do you mean?

Quigley: I mean, I can't let you be the one who warn Liberty. You're still one of Liberty's most wanted.

Lutz: I know, but I'm the only one who know all the details about the weapons programs and Rheinland's treachery.

Quigley: You're not the only one.

O'Connor: Who? Quigley, what are you talking about?

Quigley: One of the prisoners we took off the Arizona , Paul Riggly. He knows everything.

Lutz: Riggly? Hey wait a sec, he was the security chief on the Avarice program.

Quigley: Yes, he was a Rhienland spy and betrayed my brother so the Rhienlanders could get vital components for all three weapons programs.

Lutz: Your brother? You mean Ten Quigley? Geez, I never thought about you two being related. I'm sorry, kid. He was a good man.

Quigley: Thanks, Lutz. I plan to take Riggly and go straight to West Point. I still know people there. Hopefully, they'll believe this wild story.

O'Connor: Sounds like a plan. I'll tell my people to get underway. Excuse me.

O'Connor got up and walked over to the helmsman's station and gave a few orders. He excused himself further, saying he need to check the status of the ship's repairs. Once he was gone, quigley leaned in closer to Lutz.

Quigley: Arrigoni also mentioned that you might be going to Manhattan to contact your wife.

Lutz looked away kind of sad and wistful at the thought of Alys.

Quigley: Do you have a message you want me to give to her. Or I can even arrange for her to get off Manhattan all together. What'll it be, Lutz?

Bob Hope

1903-2003

British by birth, American by choice.

Entertainer, humantarian, patriot

None more honored

Edited by - jedierrant on 05-08-2003 17:27:25

Daniel was floating. It was a wonderful sensation, just hanging there in the nothingness that enveloped him. However, this sensation didn't last long. Soon his concious mind started to question what was going on, and after he realized he was asleep, Daniel opened his eyes.
Instantly a bright blast of light hit his eyes, causing Daniel to scrunch them shut. After working a bit to let them adjust, he sat up and took a look around. The room around him must have been the medlab, although he had never been there before. The medic on duty noticed his activity, and came over to ask a few questions about how Daniel was feeling, and also told of what maladies he had sustained. There wasn't much wrong, except for a few bruises that won't go away for a week. The concussive shock that resulted from ejecting from an exploding ship had caused him to be unconcious, until now. Still, Daniel was asked to remain for a few minutes for observation.
Daniel took this time to reflect on the past while. It seemed that he had gone from being practically bored, to be plunged into the most action he'd ever had in his life. He bordered on the wrong side of the law, though he doubted that he had his face on any 'Wanted' list at all. The only time he had been out of the cockpit in proximity with Navy personelle was on the Battleship Arizona , and that ship was currently taken out of service. By his own hand, too. This 'Indepentent Fleet' business was strange. Sure, their activities weren't all that legal, but they removed the punishments for the actions. Very strange...
At last, Daniel was allowed to go. After a brief moment of indecision, he decided to stop by the flight deck first. The Seer was probably already brought in from the Arizona , but he wanted to check first, to make sure. After that, he'd hit the bar.
However, as soon as Daniel reached the flight deck, he forgot all about going to the bar. Directly in front of him lay the Cerulean Dream , in mangles. The ship was barely recognizable, except for the unique paint job. It didn't take that long for him to conclude what had happen to it, and it worried him for his own ship. After all, if liberty technicians went through fighter that was their own model (albiet modified), what would they have done to a Kusari Elite fighter? He ran to his ship, almost slipping on the floor.
He stopped dead in his tracks as he rounded the Camel , coming in view of his ship - or, at least, what he could see of it. The fins weren't attached, and the side plating had been ripped away, laying on the floor surrounding the Seer. As Daniel took a closer look on the exposed insides, he found many of the components were unattached, but merely in place. Obviously they had been taken out by the Arizona 's techs, and replaced hastily before it had been towed in. Actually, it wasn't that bad. He could have it all fixed up in under a couple of hours, even by himself. Obviously there wasn't much special about his ship, despite it being Kusari. Daniel didn't know what it meant, but it wasn't the nicest feeling. Still, he had to bless his luck. Perhaps it was because his ship wasn't as heavily modified and... 'unconventional' as Quigleys Patriot. Besides a couple performance tweaks, there wasn't anything special about Daniel's Dragon except for the...
Daniel's heart stopped. His neuralnet. It was probably one of the most advanced pieces of software and interface devices existing in all of Sirius. Plus he had Ageria USI codes, which he had expanded upon to allow to read a tradelane ring or jumpgate's 'black box' like an open book. If the wrong people got a hold of that...
Actually, who was he kidding? It's just software. The few benifits that the advanced neuralnet gave paled in comparison to weapons like Stormblade or Fireblade. It was just that he didn't like other people using his gift from his mother and late father like that. In addition, the neuralnet was still an advanced prototype known only to high-level Kishiro scientists employed on Kansai Research Station.
Still, Daniel climbed up to his cockpit. It was a shambles, and would take longer to repair than the rest of his ship. However, the console still worked. Using it, he brought up a log of all accesses to the Neuralnet in the past twenty-four hours. Sure enough, there had been a complete download of the software and databases. The information was probably still on the Arizona , however, so it couldn't spread.
Daniel shut down the ship's computer then walked off to the mess hall. Nothing he could do to fix his ship right now, at least not while he was starving. He didn't give his neuralnet another thought.
Little did he realize that his neuralnet could be used as a weapon as tactically devastating as Fireblade, in its own right.
As Daniel passed the Dream again, he saw that Matthew (OOC: Do you prefer to be called firstname or lastname? I assume that the characters are familiar enough with eachother to be on a first name basis. ) was studying his ship. He soon noticed Daniel.
Quigley: "Hey, Psawhn, you're up."
Daniel: "Who's Psawhn? I'm Daniel."
Matthew was confused for a second, before Daniel explained.
Daniel: "I'm Psawhn only in the cockpit, and that's it. Anyway... yeah, I just got out of the medlab. What's going on?"
Quigley realized that Daniel hadn't been filled in on anything that's happened after the battle. He wondered how to start explaining when Daniel cut in.
Daniel: "I can see that there's a lot to tell me, but can we do it somewhere else? I haven't eaten since before the battle, so I'm starving."
They walked off towards the mess hall, while Quigley started to fill him on on everything.

Edited by - Whasp Commander on 06-08-2003 09:23:33

OOC: I'm gonna write myself in now. I hope you don't mind. I hope Wizard doesn't mind. Also, this is gonna be short, because it's late and I'm tired, and I'm not supposed to be on the computer right now.

Radio: Sir, we're picking up a distress signal: It's coming from a escape pod.

O' Connor: Allright, tractor it in. Make sure there's a team ready when it arrives.

It was nothing that would stop a conversation.
_________________________________________
Thomas Johnson was sleeping when he felt the distinctive change of momentum signature of a large ship tractoring him in. He had been tractored in before, but he figured a Police vessel didn't have that much power.

Johnson: Dammit! I'm caught again!

'Well, I'm not going down without a fight.' he thought. He put the two pistols he had gathered off the battleship in his hands, ready to shoot at all who would shoot at him. In a few minutes, he could hear people outside trying to get his pod open. When it opened...

Johnson: YOU'RE NOT GETTING ME ALIVE THIS TIME!!!

Soldiers were there with rifles ready. But they did not have Liberty uniforms.

Soldier: PUT THE GUNS DOWN AND YOUR HANDS UP!

They weren't Liberty. He might as well comply. So he did. Soldiers gathered his weapons and cuffed him, and they took him to the brig.

OOC: Here we go again...

O'Connor: Harrison!

*Security cheif ran to captain*

Harrison: Yes, sir!
O'Connor: As long as I'm here could you bring me some coffe?
Harrison: Erm... yes, but don't you want to know about the man in ecape pod?
O'Connor: Oh, yes, I almost forgot about him... Who is he?
Harrison: Don't Know, sir.
O'Connor: Ok, leave him in the brig... oh and search him and get someone to question him too. I'll see if we can get out of this dump..

*Roger went to navigator and told him to head for Alpha Draconis. Then he headed for fighter bay. Everybody in the ship felt when Vengeance ' engines start working*

O'Connor: Hey, Denson!
Denson: Yes?
O'Connor: See if you can take that Stormblade and mount it in Echo 3 torpedo hardpoint.
Denson: Yes, I'll do that, but where are we heading?
O'Connor: Well we haven't decided where to go next. So I think we should move to Alpha Draconis, from there we can go to liberty and New Rome system. Besides it would be way too dangerous to stay here.
Denson: What about patrols in Alpha Draconis?
O'Connor: They don't know us... and besides its been desrted eversince that mining station blew up.
Denson: Yes, they should know better when building a mining station that uses explosives in highly explosive gas cloud.

*When passing through the bar roger saw Daniel and Michael chatting. He sit with them just in time to hea what he had missed. Roger ordered a class of water and listened with interest.*

----------------------------------------
Knight who wears White

www.thestuffnetworks.com
\ Demi God /

OOC: This seems pretty long. Hmmm. Glad to be in the story.

Johnson: Is this really nece--- OWWWWW! What? Do you think I'm a drug smuggler or something.
Security Officer: Just making sure. *He slips the glove off his hand*
Harrison: Allright Mr. Johnson, please take a seat.
*Johnson painfully sits*
Harrison: We looked at your criminal record: two counts of possession of illegal arms and two three year sentences at Sugarland for them, one count of grand theft ship, and a multitude of arrests. There is a outstanding warrant out for your arrest, and a small bounty of 2500 credits on your head. Care to explain yourself?
Johnson: The illegal arms thingys are for flying around in a Wolfhound and carrying an illegal sidearm upon getting caught. The grand theft ship was for stealing a Rhino and making a break for Hamburg. The arrests were all part of a six-month trip to Houston when I was seventeen.
Harrison: Please go into detail for each count.
Johnson: The first charge was when I was thirteen and had been flying around Hudson for about a month, and I got caught. The second charge was when I was on my first Rogue raid ---
Harrison: You're a Liberty Rogue?
Johnson: Yes, --- and I got caught before it started. The third was when I decided I didn't want to stay on the dead rock of Houston, but I had no means to get off. The numerous arrests were when I was collecting all the necessary parts for repairing a badly beaten Wolfhound.
Harrison: I see. You said that you had escaped from the Battleship Arizona. Care to explain?
Johnson: Well, you see. When I was on Hamburg, a LSF sting operation managed to get me while I was sleeping. They classified me as a fifth level prisoner, which in actual terms means I would have had to kill a dozen police officers.
Harrison: How did you do that?
Johnson: I didn't -- It was a mistake. So, they thought that only a military ship and a military prison could contain me so, I was transported to the Arizona.
Harrison: And how did you escape?
Johnson: Some moron officer blew a hole in my cell, and he took two guys with him. Naturally, I took the opportunity. So I wandered around alot, and then there was a big battle outside, so they weren't very concerned about me. I gathered two military issue Agiera DM-PDP-223 pistols and their holsters off some dead bodies. Then the lights went out, and then they gave the abandon ship order. You didn't need to tell me twice. So I found an escape pod, fought a guy over it, and I left. I must've hit something on the way out cuz I traveled really slow.
Harrison: I see. And then you came here.
Johnson: Yes.
Harrison: And you were about to engage in battle with my men.
Johnson: I thought I was on a Navy ship with Navy personnel.
Harrison: I see. Mr. Johnson, I will now report this to the captain, and you will be detained for an indefinite amount of time while we decide what to do with you.
Johnson: Not like I've been through this before.
*Harrison leaves*
-------------------------------
After O' Connor had finished listening and Daniel and Michael went off, Harrison approached the captain.

Harrison: Captain.
O' Connor: Yes, Harrison?
Harrison: About the prisoner. He's a Liberty Rogue, but he hasn't flown much. He spent most of his teenage years at Sugarland, and he managed to repair a badly beaten Wolfhound. He fled from Houston in a stolen Rhino, was caught by the LSF, taken onto the Arizona, and escaped from it during the battle.
O' Connor: Seems like a pretty intelligent fellow, doesn't he?
Harrison: Yes, sir.
O' Connor: You said something about him repairing a badly beaten Wolfhound?
Harrison: Yes, sir.
O' Connor: It seems like with the sudden influx of ships we have, we could use a good mechanic like that. Tell him he's our newest greasemonkey.
Harrison: Aye Aye, Captain.
*Harrison leaves.*

Edited by - Jim Groovester on 07-08-2003 00:35:33

*As Roger looked up some old beer cans and other usless stuff he had from his former life he thought of what can he use this new guy - Johnson for.... When sudennly it hit him - the Rogue connections! Roger went to fighter bay and saw Johnson working on Echo 3.*

O'Connor: Hows the gun placing going?
Denson: All fine, but we had to put in the defenders power cell in E3 aswell. Now this weapon can be fires faster.
O'Connor: Was it your idea?
Denson: No, it was the new mechanic... Johnson I belive was his name.

*Roger steped up on Johnson who was under the ships nose welding new armor plates and talked to him.*

O'Connor: Hows it going ith that weapon?
Johnson: Almost done, I'm just putting some armor protection over the wire.
O'Connor: Good, good. I actually wanted to talk to you about your connections to Liberty Rogues.
Johnson: What about them?
O'Connor: As you might understand many of us aren't very well with the Police forces and we could use a place to hide Vengeace while we are in Liberty systems.
Johnson: Yes, but how would they belive me? I haven't been there in a long time.
O'Connor: Well thats something you should think about. Oh and can you pilot a fighter?
Johnson: Ofcourse I can and not bad either!
O'Connor: Then you can configure Echo 2 to your liking, if there are going to be other battles as big as this we just might need you out there.

*When Roger was walking in the fighter bay, he saw other fighters and he got a weird idea... Roger walked up to a mchanic and say him to paint Echo 3 white.*

----------------------------------------
Knight who wears White

www.thestuffnetworks.com
\ Demi God /

Johnson thought alot about what the captain said while he worked. Try to get a cruiser a safe haven in Liberty space. That was quite alot to ask for a bottom of the bottom guy like himself. He had no standing in the ranks whatsoever. He knew how pirates thought. They worked more on favors than on pity. But, he didn't have many favors to pull. But that aside, he still had alot of friends. Some of them had to be in high places in the four years he had been gone. He had seen some of them rise in rank after he came back from his first imprisonment. It was still a helluva task. And he had just been hired nearly three hours after he first arrived on this cruiser. And already he was part of the crew and taking orders. He hadn't quite warmed up enough to his new CO. Damn, he thought, this is probably the hardest thing I ever will do, for lots of reasons.

Well, he thought, at least I have a ship. Though I would be far more comfortable in a Rogue equipped Wolfhound. Especially the one I built myself. But beggars can't be choosers, he thought to himself.

After he finished his current task, he looked at Echo 2. He had never seen a ship like this before, but he 'opened up the hood' so to speak, and began theorizing.

*Suddenly the cruiser stopped*

Radio: Number 5 engine is down!
Denson: Why?
Radio: All wires are fried

*Roger just happed to walk past*

O'Connor: Send a mechanic over there... and check for rodents.
Denson: Rodents?
O'Connor: Yeah, those little fuzzy hairballs... Ok ok my hamster has got away. Tell teams to set their weapons to stun, I want to catch him alive.
Denson: Yes, sir
O'Connor: And call everyone to meeting in bar.

*Just as Roger was leaving radio said that those wires weren't teared up by animal, that was cut with a knife. Engines were back online. And the ride continiues.*

O'Connor: Just great... there can only be two explenations - 1. A Hamster with a knife or 2. A traitor.
Denson: Traitor?
O'Connor: Maybe... we'll see, get that new guy to bar aswell.

*After he said that he went to bar, ordered a drink and waited for others. Ships engines stopped. And Denson announced that we are at Alpha Draconis.*

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Knight who wears White

www.thestuffnetworks.com
\ Demi God /
--Agree With ARCON Week--


Edited by - White Knight on 07-08-2003 15:00:15