until the sequel!
EDIT: Decided to post 16 at the end of this. Want to keep TLR tidy
Enjoy and thank you all so much for the great support you gave me while i was writing this. Special thanks to the 4 of you who followed this and posted all the way through, Dex, Killa, twitch and VA. Cheers guys
. More thanks go to Eraser for putting this up on the fan fic section of the site and everyone else who came and posted their good replys in between chapters.
Chapter 15 – Acts of Courage
“Sir, we have them on scanner range. It looks like the whole of Sirius is here” said one of The Order lieutenants.
“Good” replied Orillion.
“Osiris, this is Colonel Trent, requesting clearance”
“Colonel Trent, this is The Osiris, your are cleared to dock”
Trent docked followed by Juni, Kress, Cobo and Halap. Halap’s escorts returned to the mother ship.
“Juni, Trent welcome back. Come on we have work to do” said Orillion.
Hakkera, Von Claussen and King were waiting on the bridge as Orillion, Juni and Trent made their way through.
“Lieutenant” said Orillion looking at one of the ships engineers. “Start her up!”
The engineer switched on the group communications so that everyone in the fleet could listen in.
“Ok people. You are all about to be filled in on the situation we have here and I will keep it brief. First off, I am Casper Orillion the commander of this operation. Our plan is simple. We will fly through the Jump gate that is being loaded in to your neural nets now, and engage the Nomads with the full force of our forces. They will not take prisoners, and neither will we. We know there could be hundreds of Nomads on the other side. Our target is Nomad City. Our mission is complete when all hostile forces have been eradicated and the Nomad City is no more than space particles. That’s it. Good luck to all of you. Orillion out”
“Short and sweet” said Trent.
“Our only goal is to put the Nomads on the extinct list colonel” replied Orillion.
The engineer at the communications station came over and interrupted Orillion.
“Sir, the Dom Kavash Mother Ship has just contacted us. Modifications to our Anubis’s have been completed” said the engineer.
“Good. Lets get down to the docking bay. We’ll take the transport to the mother ship”
“Your coming with us?” asked Juni.
“Yes Colonel” replied Orillion. “We’re going to need every last man for this”
Everyone made their way to the transport in the docking bay. The bay doors opened and the transport flew out cleanly.
“Wow. Look at them all!” said King referring to the Sirius fleet.
“Its remarkable isn’t it. Only 2 years we were on the brink of destruction. Now its our turn to take the war to the Nomads” said Hakkera.
The transport docked on the Dom Kavash mother ship.
“Welcome back” said Halap. “Let me show you our work”
Halap led everyone over to the segregated landing pad. The eight Anubis’s were gleaming.
“These look fantastic” said Juni.
“Yes. We have completed the shield remodulation, weapon firing rates, and the hull armour. We are especially proud of the armour” replied Halap.
“It looks like the hull of this ship” said Trent.
“The hull of our mother ship is strong. We made some slight changes to it to make it extra light, so you didn’t lose the manouvourability”
“They look great Halap. Thank you for you and your peoples work”
“Our pleasure” replied Halap.
Orillion turned to face his comrades.
“Watch yourselves out there. I want you all back alive”
Everybody nodded.
“Lets go and do this. Halap, we’ll see you out there”
Everyone made their way to their ships. Halap and 20 Dom Kavash fighters made their way to theirs.
The docking bay door on the mother ship opened and the final swarm of the Sirius fleet entered space.
The Osiris and the Dom Kavash mother ship remained in neutral space.
“Be careful Trent” said Juni worryingly over the private communications. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything thing happened to you out there”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. Besides, I promised I’d take you to Hawaii didn’t I?” said Trent reassuringly.
“Yes” said Juni while smiling gently.
“I don’t break promises”
“Thank you” whispered Juni.
Orillion came over the communications channel.
“Ok everyone, this is it. The jump hole is not far from here. Lets go”
Everyone engaged cruise speed and headed for the jump hole.
It was only 4k away and fleet arrived in a few seconds.
“This is it people. Prepare for heavy resistance when we clear the jump hole”
Each house fleet cleared the jump hole and entered the Nomad system.
It was certainly not what the fleet had intended to see. A thick particle cloud had sensor efficiency down to a minimal, along with visibility.
“What is this!?” shouted Trent. “Could intel be wrong?”
“We’re flying blind here people. Be on full alert” said Orillion. “Head straight through the particle cloud”
The fleet gradually advanced through the particle cloud and it started to thin.
“Sensor efficiency restored”
“Look familiar Trent?” said King over a private communication.
Through the clearing of the particle cloud was the sight every Order pilot had seen before. A dyson sphere. The Nomad city was nowhere to be seen.
“No Nomad vessels in scanner range. What is going on?” said Trent.
“I don’t know but I sure as hell don’t like the looks of….”
A huge explosion cut off King’s reply.
“This is Battleship Wash….on, w…ha…hul…..rea.h, losi….wer”
Another explosion rocked the Washington tearing it in half.
“My god!” gasped Orillion.
Every scanner went haywire as hundreds of red Nomad vessels decloacked all around them. The Nomad city also showed up on scanner range, 12k away.
“EVERY ONE, BREAK AND ATTACK!!” shouted Orillion.
The unfamiliar red glow of the Nomads had taken everyone by surprise. The aggression and power of the advanced nomad strain was incomparable.
“Shields….fa..li…!..!”
Another battleship, this time Kusari, went up in a ball of fire.
Panic spread through the fleet. A few of the Hispanic daggers turned and fled only to be met by decloaking Nomad vessels.
The Nomad fighters were plentiful and their armour strong. Their missiles had the strength of medium sized asteroids and they tore apart 2 of the Liberty Cruisers.
“They’re tearing us apart!” shouted King.
“King watch out!” shouted Trent. “Nomad on your tail!”
Trent opened fire on the Interceptor tailing King; the modified Dom Kavash weapons tore the ship in half.
“Ha ha. King these weapons are great!” laughed Trent.
Space was lit up by weapons fire.
The order pilots opened up firing every weapon available to them. Their accurate fire destroyed many Nomad vessels.
Two more explosions emanated close by. Two Bretonian battleships had been destroyed by Nomad fire.
“Hovis, this is Trent, are you and Tobias ok?”
“Bretonian, Hovis here. The Hoods sustaining the Nomad fire. We scrambled dagger light fighters with the best IMG and race pilots to protect us. No casualties so far.”
“Good” replied Trent. The safety of Jun and Tobias were Trent’s main priorities.
The Hispanic VHF’s were holding their own. The years of conflict between themselves and their enemies was paying off.
The other house fighters were fighting bravely. Liberty however had lost many of their smaller ships, and the sustained Nomad fire was gradually wearing down Bretonian and Kusari fighters.
“Trent, I am picking up multiple inbound ships. They are coming through the particle cloud. The clouds interfering with my scans and stopping me from identifying them” said Von Claussen.
“Sirius fleet, this is Captain Schloffer of the Rheinland Battleship Westfahlen. We have come to pay our old friends and visit”
A small attack force consisting of the Westfahlen and 15 Valkyries had come through the jump hole.
The Rheinland force had lost a few ships through the particle cloud.
“Its good to see you Westfahlen. Rheinland forces are very welcome here” said Trent.
The Valkyries engaged the closest nomad vessel.
The aggression and vengefulness that fuelled the Rhinelander’s made them more than a match for the Nomads. The sight of his brethren had brought a newfound aggression out of Herr Von Claussen.
Many of the smaller Sirius fighters were losing ground as more Nomad ships decloaked.
With all the excitement of the arriving Rheinland fleet, no had noticed the Dom Kavash vessels fly back towards the jump hole.
“Sir” said Juni. “They are getting constant reinforcements and our forces are getting smaller”
More explosions followed as a further two Kusari battleships were destroyed.
“Sirius fleet, scramble all reserve craft, we….”
Orillion communication was cut off.
“Human forces, this is Halap of the Dom Kavash. Disengage and return home!”
The Dom Kavash mother ship had come through the Jump Hole.
The size if the ship drew the attention of the Nomads as many of them turned to fire on it.
“Halap, what are you doing?” shouted Orillion.
“This is our mess human. We should never have you got involved in this. Disengage and return home”
“We’re not going anywhere Halap. You know that!” said Trent.
“We are sorry we lied to you Trent. But WE must be the cure to our disease” replied Halap.
“What are you talking about!” said Orillion.
“We will end this. There are two hundred escape pods filled with our youngest being taken on to your ship. We have given them our memories so that they learn from our mistakes. Promise us you will allow them to live along side you in peace”
Further explosions shook space. The Sirius fleet was not going to be able to withstand the Nomad attacks for too much longer.
The Dom Kavash powered up their cruise engines.
“We have set a course for Nomad City. Our power core explosion will be enough to eradicate this system. Leave now or you will all be destroyed”
Orillion knew that this might be the only chance they had to destroy the Nomads. He was under no illusions that the fleet was taking casualties.
“No we won’t allo….”
Orillion cut off Trent.
“Trent, we must let them do this” said Orillion over the private channel. He then activated the group channel. “Sirius fleet, we are to disengage and return to the Osiris. Jump hole co-ordinates are being uploaded in to your neural nets now”
“We can’t let them do this!” shouted Juni.
“This may be our only opportunity to destroy the Nomads Juni”
“Yes sir” replied Juni.
“Halap. We won’t forget the kindness your people showed us. Thank you” said Orillion.
“Thank you human. Take care of our people. No please, get your forces out of here. We will miss you…friends”
The Dom Kavash mother ship cut all communications and their cruise engines fired up.
“Ok people, you heard the man, pull back!” said Orillion
The Sirius fleet engaged their engines and made a retreat to the jump hole. The Nomads that had stayed to fight them pursued.
Trent stopped at the entrance to the particle cloud and watched the Dom Kavash mother ship heading for the Nomad City.
“Goodbye” whispered Trent. He felt a little choked by the Dom Kavash bravery.
“Trent this is no time for sight seeing. Come on!!” screamed Juni who had noticed that Trent had stopped.
Trent turned his craft and entered formation with Juni as they headed through the particle cloud.
The fleet ahead of them stated to scramble through the jump hole. The remaining Battleships providing cover fire from the nomad ships that had pursued.
The fleet cleared the jump hole and a few of the Nomads who had evaded the Battleship fire jumped through the hole. Juni and Trent were they last to make it.
“Your time has come” said Trent to himself.
They both heard the huge explosion as Halap flew the mother in to the Nomad city.
“Come on, let’s go”
Trent and Juni flew through the jump just in time.
As they cleared the hole, the fleet was mopping up the Nomad fighters who had passed through with them and the jump hole closed behind them.
A resounding cheer went out throughout the remaining ships when the last interceptor was destroyed.
“Phew. That was way to close” said Trent over the private comms to Juni.
“Looks like we’ll be spending that long vacation on Hawaii after all!” replied Juni.
Trent laughed down the communications.
They could relax now the Nomad threat had gone.
“Everyone, set a course for the Osiris, we will celebrate this great victory on board”
The fleet set a course of the Osiris.
Chapter 16 – To Fallen Heroes
Transports left the remaining battleships to dock with the Osiris.
On the deck there were celebrations. Champagne had been opened as everyone drank to the victory.
Orillion started to tap his glass until everyone was quiet.
“Today is a great day for us and for Sirius. Today, we are all heroes!”
Loud cheers echoed through the Osiris. Orillion got everybody quiet again.
“To our fallen comrades, who fought bravely for their house, for Sirius, and for our right to live!”
Everyone raised their glasses then lowered them
Orillion continued.
“Finally, the bravery that we have witnessed here today will be remembered in the annals of human history. Our first contact with a friendly alien species. A species that helped us to eradicate our common enemy. May those brave warriors forever be in our thoughts. To Halap, and the Dom Kavash who sacrificed their own lives, to save ours!” Orillion raised his glass. Everyone else followed.
“Lets celebrate!” shouted Orillion.
The deck of the Osiris broke out in a roar of cheers.
The party continued long in to the night with the Osiris bar drink supply being hit heavily.
King, Trent, Juni, Herr Von Claussen, Lord Hakkera and Tobias were all sitting down on a table in the Osiris bar.
“So what now? Looks like we’re all unemployed!” said King jokingly.
The table laughed.
Juni leant over in whispered in Trent’s ear.
“I know what’s now” she said cheekily.
Trent grinned.
“Oh do you now!” he replied.
“Hey!” said King. “What’s funny?”
Everyone else at the table knew something was going on with Trent and Juni.
“Oh King. So innocent!” said Juni laughing as her and Trent got up to leave the table.
“What?” replied King genuinely confused about what was going on.
Orillion came walking over before Trent and Juni could leave.
“Hey, Orillion” said Trent.
“Colonel Trent” replied Orillion nodding. “I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank you all for helping The Order protect Sirius”
“What are you going to do now?” asked Trent.
“Take a long vacation. I have a friend who works for Spa and Cruise who can get me cheap tickets for any of their cruises”
Juni and Trent looked at each other and smiled.
“What about The Order?” asked Von Claussen.
“It will still be here. You never know when an alien race is going to show up!” replied Orillion laughing.
“Where is the Osiris going from here” asked Hakkera.
“Back to Hathor. And we still have our Dom Kavash friends to take care of. They have requested Sprague to be their new home. I intend to make sure that they get it”
“Well” Said Trent. “It has been a very long day. Now if you’ll excuse us, we are going to our quarters”
“See you in the morning Trent. You too Juni” shouted King.
“Hey, are those two…”
“YES KING!!”
Edited by - Bret Bretonian on 8/19/2004 2:38:18 PM
Edited by - Bret Bretonian on 8/19/2004 2:41:22 PM
