*clears throat*

CHILD OF SIRIUS
THE STORY OF ROBERT LAMB

By: ww2jacob


August 23, 1123 AS, Planet Pittsburgh, New York System

I am a Lamb. I am a member of one of the last family lines that was started on Earth. At the time when Timothy Lamb climbed aboard the Liberty, the Lamb family was centuries old. My uncle, who spent many years tracing our family back, claimed that the Lamb family has been in existence since before the country of Liberty, or America as it was called then, had even been formed on Earth.

However, I am the last living member of my family. Our family has had a long history of prosperity here in Sirius. We have done almost everything that you can possibly do here, serving in various military and police forces, freelancing, trading, bounty hunting, advising house leaders, and even some pirating. Throughout my family's adventures, we have earned many friends, and just as many enemies.

I grew up on Manhattan. My father was first a LPI officer, and then he got promoted to the LSF. However, the family blood that ran through his veins made him restless. After a few months, he could take it no longer. He resigned from his post and left for the border worlds. He was a very successful freelancer in the border and edge worlds for three years.

His life changed on a routine stop in the Omicron Gamma system. He was delivering a shipment of H-fuel to Planet Crete. About 5k from the docking ring, a Corsair pilot stopped him. She told him to drop his cargo. He refused. She began attacking him with incredible fury and skill. By the time my father made it to the docking ring, he had blown a full load of nanobots and shield batteries and his hull was about to breach. He landed barely in one piece. After getting repairs and selling his cargo, he went to the bar. He saw the young woman who had attacked him and went over to buy her a drink and talk to her.

The next thing my father knew, he was married to that Corsair and they were headed back to Liberty space to settle down. They had stopped to fix her reputation in Liberty at a Zoner base, so everything was in order. They landed on Manhattan and bought a very nice house there. They enjoyed a wealthy next few years due to my father's riches that he had gotten as a freelancer. I was born in 1105 AS.

When I was thirteen, strange things began happening to members of my family. My father's father was killed in his apartment in New London. Bretonian Police could not figure out who killed him, but they guessed that it might have been the work of the Mollys. He had been an advisor to the Queen of Bretonia, so that made him a potential target for murder by the terrorist group.

Then, my uncle was killed near Los Angeles. He was on a transport heading to California Minor. (He was going to look for some family records) The transport was jumped by dozens of ships as it was about to board the California Minor Trade Lane. The only hint that the LPI could find in their investigation was one radio transmission that was picked up from one of the attacking ships. It was, "Lamb must die!" This puzzled the police investigators. Whoever killed my uncle had known that he would be on that transport and specifically wanted to kill him.

My father was deeply distressed by the murder of his father and brother. He began secretly training in his old Sabre VHF. He believed that someone was out to get his family, and he and I were the last two male members of our family.

On my fifteenth birthday, My father took me out to the Detroit Debris Field in his Sabre to teach me to fly a ship. Over the next year, I would go out every Saturday with my father in his Sabre or with my mother in her Titan. I learned everything about controlling my ship: shooting, dogfighting, using different types of weapons and missiles, using the tractor beam, and scanning other ships. As a bonus, I got to hear a lot of my parents' stories from their days of freelancing together before they retired.

On my sixteenth birthday, my present was a beautiful ship of my own! It was a Dagger Light Fighter. It was fully outfitted with top of the line weaponry and shielding. I was so happy. My training increased to twice a week.

One year later, my parents came to me and said that they had taught me all that they could. They told me that they had a surprise for me. They said that we were all going on a family vacation. We had never done one of those before. It sounded suspicious.

He told me that we were going to go in our fighters. We launched and he took us towards West Point. When I asked him where we were going, he said that we were going to the Badlands. I wondered, "Who goes on a family vacation to the Badlands?" I guess that is what you get when your father is a retired freelancer and your mother is an ex-Corsair.

The trade lane ended and we were in the Badlands. He then took us deeper into the field. A few moments later, he stopped. Then, flying right at us came six Xeno Light Fighters! They broke formation and attacked.

In the end, my parents and I killed all six of the enemy. I got my first kill. I guess it was pretty easy, but it wasn't until then that I realized how incredibly good my parents were at flying! I could tell that they weren't even trying, but they still got five kills before I even knew what had happened. I was lucky to get the one kill.

We were in that field for an hour. Between the three of us we took out 15 Xenos, 17 Rouges, and 5 Outcasts. I got two of the Xenos, two of the Rouges, and one Outcast. By then, I was tired and we headed back home. I thanked my parents for taking me and keeping the pirates off my back while I scored my kills. The next day, my father painted two Starfliers, two Bloodhounds, and one Dagger on the fuselage of my ship to symbolize my kills. He also decorated my ship with the symbol of the ace. It was then that I realized I was an ace!

A week later, as we were preparing to go out again, there came a knock at the front door. My father answered it. My mother and I watched him from the hall. At the door was a man wearing a gray overcoat. He said, "Mr. Lamb, a certain party hired me to give you a message." He then handed my father a piece of paper. All of a sudden, my father turned very angry. "The scum!" He cried out and made to close the door. All of a sudden, the strange man pulled a large gun from under his coat. "Kill the Lambs!" he cried. He shot my father.
As I turned to run, I saw the piece of paper the man gave my father flutter down near my feet. I snatched it up and sprinted down the hall and around the corner. My mother followed me. She pulled a gun from her left pocket. She tossed it to me. She pulled another one from her right pocket. Reacting to my surprise, she said, "Even retired Corsairs always carry guns!" Then she said, "Run to your ship! " "l'll hold him off!" I ran.

I reached the garage. Right then it hit me. I was probably leaving for the rest of my life. I would need some money. I dug around in my father's ship and found a pile of credits. I grabbed them, knowing he would want me to use them, and hopped in my Dagger. I lifted off our launchpad and soared into the sky. My scanners didn't pick up any other ships following me. I almost went back down to try and find the man who killed my father, but I decided against it. Revenge could wait; right then I needed to survive.

So, here I am in the bar on Planet Pittsburgh. I am going to rest here tonight before I leave Liberty. Those people who wanted my father killed are probably going to want to kill me too, so it would be best to get as far away from here as possible. Well, at least I have money. I counted the money I got from my father's ship. It added up to two million credits! It was a good start, but I would need more to be successful. I guess I will have to take up the family business, freelancing. As I was thinking, a newsflash came on the screen. "In other news, the Police are puzzled over the case of the murder of famed freelancer Gregory Lamb. He and his wife were found dead in their house after being shot by a hired gunman. The man was captured by LSF operatives while attempting to flee. He insists he doesn?t know who hired him to kill Lamb. Fortunately for the family, Gregory's son Robert somehow escaped the murderer. In an interview, an LPI officer said..." As the newsflash continued, I said to myself, "This is not going to be easy."

Note: this story was created with the background of the Evolutions 1.28 Mod
Kudos to Pathfinder and Chips for the great mod!

Edited by - ww2jacob on 8/20/2004 4:28:43 PM

Edited by - ww2jacob on 11/16/2004 8:15:34 PM

August 26, 1123 AS, Planet Unity, Prague Sector, Florida System

Well, this is an interesting place. As I have learned, Planet Unity is a planet that has bases owned by the four major houses. I am sitting in the Prague bar, trying to recall what has happened over the past few days. Prague is the Rheinland section of the planet. I carefully chose this sector due to the fact that no one can know me here.

I have been very busy for the past few days. At Pittsburgh, I heard from a man in the bar that there were many ships that had recently been lost in the Badlands. I went to go check it out. As part my birthday present, my father had given me all of his nav map records from his freelancing days. As I looked at the Badlands area on the map, I noticed a few places that my father had marked as potential wreck locations. I went to go check them out.

A few hours later, I emerged from the Badlands with a bunch of new weapons and a hold full of cardamine. I had acquired the drugs by accident. One of the wrecks was a Rouge ship that must have had some in its hold. When I activated my tractor beam, I tractored it in with the ship's weapons. I hurried to the nearest base to get rid of it. West Point Military Academy was closest. Fortunately, I found a student there who was willing to 'take it off my hands'. However, he did pay me quite handsomely for it.

After leaving West Point, I took the nearby Trade Lane to the California Jump Gate. I took the gate to California. From there, I explored the system. When I passed by a Liberty Rouge base in the Whitney Asteroid Field, I saw a Jump Hole to the Texas system. I took it. On the other side, I saw some more wreck locations on the map. I looted them. After selling my loot, I went exploring. Behind the Bering Jump Gate, I saw a strange trade lane. It looked normal, but it was not marked on the map. My father had never been here? Curiosity overcame me. I took the lane. It came out at another jump gate. It said that it led to the Florida System. There was no record of that system on the map. Yet again, curiosity took over. I jumped to the Florida System.

On the other side, I there was a beautiful, bright system. In the middle of it were three suns. There was a Trade Lane nearby. I took it. At the end was Planet Unity. It had four different docking rings! A quick scan told me that one led to Philadelphia, one led to Okinawa, one to Prague, and one to Coventry. I landed on Prague.

So there I was. I needed a clue, a hint, a sign, or something. "Wait," I thought, "I have a clue in my pocket!" The paper that the gunman gave my father! It was still in my pocket! I quickly pulled it out. On one side, on what appeared to be the main side, there was a symbol. A strange skull with a tattoo of a strange planet on the forehead. On the other side, in small letters, were the words: Vlademeir Blanchoff, Crimson Cossacks, Kamchatka. Finally a clue! I had heard of the Cossacks on the news. They were a separatist group in House Romanov. My father had mentioned that he had never gone to that area of space before. Sure enough, there was no mention of Kamchatka on his map. Well, it sounds like my only lead was going to take me to a place that even my father had not been to. I will stay here in Prague until tomorrow, when I plan to leave for Romanov space.



Edited by - ww2jacob on 8/20/2004 4:31:07 PM

Edited by - ww2jacob on 11/16/2004 8:16:55 PM

August 31, 1123 AS, Planet New Moscow, Central Federal District

Finally, after so much searching, I have found and spoken to Vlademeir Blanchoff! I have been wandering through Romanov space for days now. After I left Planet Unity, I went to Magellan. At Freeport 4, I spoke to a Lane Hacker. He told me that the Hackers had made contact with the Crimson Cossacks. He didn't know much about them, but he did have the coordinates to the jump hole that the Cossacks used to get into Magellan. He couldn't remember the name of the system that it led to, (he was pretty drunk) but at least he gave up the coordinates.

After leaving Freeport 4, I headed to the drunk Hacker's coordinates. I hoped he was right about this. I reached the coordinates and sure enough, there was a jump hole. I scanned it. My scanners said it led to the Federal District of Kamchatka! What luck! I took it.

On the other side, I saw a wing of Cossack fighters. When I asked them where their base was, they gave me coordinates to a large planet on the other side of the system. I activated my cruise engines and headed to that planet.

Upon reaching the planet, I gained permission to land. It was named Planet Kirensk. At the bar, I was very surprised to hear that no one had heard of Vlademeir Blanchoff. One man did direct me to a nearby jump hole. He told me that it led to the Ural District. He said that I might find Blanchoff there.

I went to Ural. No one had even heard of Blanchoff. I then went to Yakotusk. Then the Central District. Finally at Planet Moscow, I found a lead. The bartender told me that there was a man by the name of Vlademeir Blanchoff who sometimes came into the bar. He happened to know which apartment building Blanchoff lived in. He gave me the address.

When I reached that building, I went to the front office and got Blanchoff's apartment number. I took the lift to his room. I knocked on the front door.

"Who's there?"

"My name is Robert Lamb, I wish to speak to you."

"Fine, fine, come in, just make it quick."

I entered the room. It was dimly lit. It looked normal enough. It seemed Blanchoff had been a pilot at some point, the walls were lined with paintings of battle scenes. I asked him if he had been a Cossack pilot.

"Yes, I first flew with the Federation. Then I became dissatisfied with the government, so I joined the Cossacks."

"What was wrong with the Federation?" I asked.

"The government is corrupt, Mr. Lamb. The czars are only interested in personal wealth now. Citizens are starving everywhere, but the czars do nothing. When I was in the Cossacks, I fought for those who were too poor to fight for themselves. I served as a spy for the Cossacks for three years."

I asked him why he quit.

"Unfortunately, I was betrayed. Someone told the Federation about me and I was forced to go under. That is why I am here. I am waiting to return to my comrades. But now it is too dangerous to go. The Federation is everywhere."

I then showed the piece of paper to Blanchoff. He didn't know about the symbol on the front, he had never seen anything like it, but he did know something about the back.

"You should ask my good friend Martin Hewman. He is a Red Hessian pilot. I have known him for years. Haven't seen him lately, but last I heard, he was in the Dresden System. He might know about this."

"Thank you for your help Mr. Blanchoff."
"Glad I could be of assistance."

I left the apartment. As I headed back to the spaceport, I realized that I had learned relatively little for all the searching I had done. I decided that I would try and get a new ship and some more money before I went to Rheinland.



Edited by - ww2jacob on 8/20/2004 4:35:15 PM

Edited by - ww2jacob on 11/16/2004 8:18:50 PM

September 17, 1123 AS, Ronneburg Base, Omega-5 System

Well, it's been awhile. A lot has happened since the last entry. After leaving New Moscow, I bought a freighter. It was hard to let go of my Dagger, but it had to be done. It is hard to believe, but that ship had not seen any action since the battle in the Badlands with my parents. The purpose of buying the freighter was so that I could haul freight over a trade route that I had scouted out.

The route paid off. Over the course of two weeks, I had netted over three million credits in profit! I headed back to the Romanov Systems to buy one of their ships. I had noticed that their ships were highly advanced. I wanted one of them.

I went and bought the finest ship they offered, the Ravenclaw. I then went and got it outfitted with the best weapons that it could carry. Then, I went to the Dresden system. I saw the Red Hessian home base on my nav map. I headed to it. I landed and walked into the bar. I asked the bartender if he knew of a Martin Hewman. He said Hewman was an ace in the Hessians and led the Omicron Brigade. However, the Omicron Brigade had been transferred to the battle-worn base at Ronneburg in the Omega-5 system. He gave me coordinates.

Omega-5! That system was the setting for an almost continuous battle between the Hessians and the Corsairs. My father had told me that he had done some work in that system. He had worked out of Cadiz, the Corsair base in the system. He had accompanied Corsairs on missions against the Hessians, and sometimes looted wrecks on the battlefield in the middle of the system.

I would have to be very careful in that system. So far, I had been very careful to make sure that none of the factions had a record of me. (Since I had flown an unmarked ship in the Badlands, the pilots I had killed had no way of reporting me, therefore there was no way those factions could know me.) Even though I had that advantage, I could still get caught in the crossfire very easily. Not to mention, there were active mines and traps scattered all over the system. I would have to keep an eye out for those at all times.

I left Dresden and went to Stuttgart, then Omega-11, before arriving at Omega-5. Ronneburg was close to the jump hole that I had arrived in, so I went over and docked with the base.

Once inside, I went to the bar. I asked the bartender about Hewman, and the bartender pointed to a table in the corner of the bar. A lone Hessian sat there. I walked up to him. He invited me to sit.

"So, what do you come to me for?"

I showed him the picture.

"What do you know about this?" I asked.

Hewman's face changed. He looked afraid.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

So I told him the story of how my father and mother were killed. He sat there quietly, listening.

"Yes, yes, I know a lot about this, but how do I know I can trust you?"

"Vlademeir Blanchoff directed me to you."

"Vlademeir? How is he?"

"He is undercover for now. He was betrayed."

"Wow. Well, if Blanchoff was undercover and you found him... You must be good. Fine, I will tell you what you need to know about this mess you have gotten into, but I cannot help you any more than that."

"All I need is information."

"Good, good. But we cannot discuss such important matters here. Hessains are trustworthy, but they have big mouths. We will go to my room."

I followed him out of the bar. When we got to the room, he invited me to sit down. The room was small, as were all on stations, but it was quite comfortable.
"Now, I believe we have some matters to discuss," he said. "This is the symbol of the Outlaw Assassination Cult."

"Who is that?"

"The Outlaw Assassination Cult, or OAC, is a group of assassins paid by a group of pirate groups. They secretly kill leaders of houses and rival pirate groups. Their existence is so secret that only a select few in each of the paying pirate groups know of them."

"What pirate groups are you talking about?" I asked.

"Well, the Outcasts primarily fund it, but many other groups supply weapons and ships to the OAC, and they sometimes even give pilots."

"What other pirate groups?"

"Let's see, the Mollys in Bretonia, the Unioners in Rheinland, the Rouges in Liberty, and the Golden Chrysanthemums in Kusari, as well as the Gaians and Xenos. We are also concerned that a few other groups may join in the near future, we have to make sure they don't. Those would be the Blood Dragons, the Bundusch, the Lane Hackers, the Junkers, and the Hogosha. We are also concerned with the Crimson Cossacks. If the Lane Hackers join the OAC, then the Cossacks very well may too. The Hackers influence the Cossacks a lot, so that is another problem. We want to try and keep this threat from spreading to all the houses if we possibly can."

"Who is we?"

"The Order. I am an Order agent. I am working undercover as a Hessian to try and stop this problem. I convinced my old friend, Blanchoff, to work with the Cossacks, so I could later make him an operative, but he doesn't know any of this, it's for his own safety. Anyway, the Order found out about it right away. We began working to shut down the organization before it grew, but it got out of hand too quickly. We are now working with the five house military and police forces to help stop the problem. Most of the houses have already felt the sting. Important people in the houses are mysteriously getting killed all the time, people like those in your family."

"What about my family?"

"Haven't you figured it out? The OAC has it in for your family. If I am correct, then your family has had a long history of service in the houses and as freelancers. These groups recognized this and wanted your family killed because they considered them, and you, to be a threat. Plus, your father married a Corsair. The Outcasts hate the Corsairs, and vice-versa. That gave them another good reason to have your family eradicated. That is what we are doing, trying to stop the killing of all these people. But we need help. I am here to get the Hessians to help, and tomorrow I will go under a sign of peace to the Corsair base to ask for their help."

"That's suicide, you are a Hessian to them, they will kill you."

"I must go. Besides, if they hear it involves the Outcasts and Mollys forming an alliance, they will have no choice."

"Well, I wish you the best of luck."

I turned to leave.

"Oh, Mr. Lamb."

"Yes?"

"If you recover any pilots in your quest to single-handedly eliminate the OAC, or if you want some more info, go to Planet Toledo in Omicron Major. The Order will want the pilots and they will be glad to give you information."

"How did you know what I was going to do?"

"It is pretty obvious. You seem like the type of man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and you want to avenge your family. So you will get it done, or die trying. Just one word of advice, know when to stop."

"Thanks for your help."

"Oh, and don't forget, this conversation never happened."

"Right."

I exited the room and walked down the hall. My head was spinning after all I had learned. It was almost too much to digest. Almost. Though I knew what I had to do. I would do just as he predicted, hunt down the OAC, and the seven groups involved with it, and leave no survivors. Except those in prison. Maybe.



Edited by - ww2jacob on 8/20/2004 4:44:56 PM

Edited by - ww2jacob on 11/16/2004 8:22:08 PM

Ok guys, you must have pretty long attention spans to have made it this far.
Expect the next chapter within the week. I also hope you will respond and tell me about the story, what you liked, what you didn't, what you thought of the characters, and other stuff. Thanks for reading it!

Jeez did you write enough at one time yet?

*eyes start popping out of head from constant reading*

It was very good although i do not play that mod unfortunately so i have no knowledge of the ships you talk about so if you could give descriptions for us lesser players it would be appreciated.

edit-whoops forgot to add the very essential 'no' in there

Edited by - Dragonborn on 8/20/2004 7:30:27 PM

Good idea, I'll work on it.
In the meantime, you can find the story of House Romanov at the site below
(You will have to copy and paste, I don't know how to do links)
http://www.paranoia-online.com/chips/in ... topic=2233
Keep the suggestions coming!

Edited by - ww2jacob on 8/20/2004 4:52:05 PM

hmmm says i have to register, oh well i s'pose i can do without since i don't feel like registering.

All ya have to do is give a username and password, and maybe an e-mail address. It's not that hard, and the Romanov History is definatly worth reading!

Very Cool.... Its nice to see a Fan Fic that takes place in EVO

The Cors and tha Hassien are still Fighting over that system

Edited by - Reaver4k on 8/21/2004 12:26:56 AM

Okay, I'm still working on the next part. I hope I'll get it done soon. Anyways, i just wanted to give a message to Eraser. I think that you might have forgotten to put this story on the other forum. You might not like my story, but I think it still is classified as Fan Fiction, so it needs to be on the other forum... right?

We have a fan fic forum, I hope you have realised that!!! After you read this, post an "okay" so you know, and then it will be moving!!!

Yes, that is what I meant in my last post. PLEASE move it. I want it in the other forum.
Thx.

Edited by - ww2jacob on 8/28/2004 10:09:48 AM

Done