Well, I have finished another chapter, but I am not at home right now, so I will put it up when I get home from school. Thanks for waiting!

Here you are, loyal readers, the next chapter!


“I have inherited a nation of weakness. Our enemies have marched through us, killing and maiming, and we were powerless to strike back. That all changes today! I will return us to our former glory as one of the Great Houses, and then take the fight back to our enemy! We shall be weak no longer!”
-Shogun Redstar
Shogunate Acceptance Speech


The Farmer’s Alliance strike group silently approached the convoy. This was the largest convoy to pass through the system in many years, and their spy in the government had found out about it and relayed it to the Alliance.

This would be their last chance to get it before it left the Kyushu system for Tau-29. It was filled with valuable food from Planet Honshu, and it was being shipped to Planet Leeds in Bretonia. The food was highly valuable, and that was why the Alliance wanted it so badly.

The strike group consisted of forty Falcons, compliments of the LWB, fifty Hawks, and twenty Dragons. From scouting reports, it sounded like there would be about a dozen trains, and several squadrons of corporate defending fighters for the convoy. That was why the Alliance had pulled out all the stops, getting every pilot and ship that they could to help take down the convoy.

The plan was to charge up to the trade lane near the Tau-29 Gate, disable one of the trade lane rings and possibly another one near it, and move in, kill the trains, and flee back into the nearby cloud with the loot. A simple hit and run strike.

Young Veteran Sakudura Nomo was a pilot of one of the Hawks. He had just joined the Farmer’s Alliance after he had gotten laid off working for a farm on Planet Kyushu. He was a good pilot, having learned from a young age, and had already been promoted to the rank of Veteran. He was signed up for a new Falcon, once the next shipment of them came in from the LWB in Rheinland, but he was forced to fly a Hawk for this one last mission. He liked the Hawk, but the Falcons were rumored to be a whole lot better.

The target trade lane ring came into sight now, just ahead. Nomo had heard that this was supposed to be a big battle, with a lot of enemies. All the better, he figured. He had been waiting for a chance to test his skill like this.

They got within range. His squadron leader came on the over the comm.

“Follow me, we are going to get in position for when the convoy comes.”

He acknowledged, and pulled up on the leader’s wing. They swerved around and then stopped. They were facing the side of the trade lane that the convoy was supposed to come out of.

Nomo peered out of the front of his cockpit, and he thought that he saw something coming up ahead. A closer inspection revealed it to be a large convoy, approaching rapidly.

“Heads up, we have a convoy coming out of the east ring!” he called out over the comm.

The rest of the pilots acknowledged and hurried to make final preparations for the incoming convoy.

The convoy reached the ring and popped out of it and reverted to normal speed; the lane having been disabled by the pirates. Nomo powered up his engines, along with the rest of the pirates, and charged into the fray. He targeted one of the escort fighters, letting the Falcons take the transports, and fired his lasers. Short, white bolts of pure energy lashed out and grabbed the small escort in their deadly embrace. The escort fighter burst into a brilliant ball of flame. Nomo tractored in the scraps of the ship, and targeted another fighter, opening fire yet again.

This pilot was more skilled, and managed to evade Nomo’s fire. Nomo pulled up and around, catching the other pilot by surprise, and nailed him with three quick bursts of his lasers.

Nomo was beginning to think that this fight was going to be very easy, when he picked up a new contact coming out of the other trade lane ring. It was very large, large enough to make him break off his attack on another one of the escorts to see what it was.

What he saw took his breath away. The mighty Battleship Nagumo had joined the battle, in an attempt to aid the convoy in escaping.

The pirates rallied, and Nomo’s squadron was assigned to attempt to take out the battleship. The young, bold pilot charged right at the battleship. He had no torpedo launcher, but he was going to try to take out the battleship anyway.

He charged straight at the ship’s bridge, dodging fire, and opened up on what he thought to be the bridge. His lasers hit the mark, and burned through several layers of armor to weaken the area. Then, Nomo fired a missile into the same area, and was rewarded with a bright explosion. He pulled up, right before he would have collided with the huge ship, and flew only a few feet above the top of the mighty ship’s hull. He reached the stern of the ship, cut his engines, and turned again. He was staring right into the engines of the ship.

He fired a total of three missiles up the engine pipe, hoping that they would do some damage, and then flew away. He was amazed when a tremendous explosion came from the engine. The battleship came to a halt.

Nomo thought that the ship would turn around and destroy him, but it still wasn’t moving. He quickly pulled up a schematic of the ship as he flew back towards the main fight near the transports, and noticed, to his surprise, that his missiles had put the ship’s reactor offline. The mighty battleship was dead in space.

jacob, more please, now please, thank you

Okay... i might of missed this but is jacob away, i am crying cus of no more reading about myself.

Jacob, if your not away dont let your baby here die... please its so good

Well, my computer has been down for a few weeks, and I have about four new chapters on my personal computer. The problem is that my personal computer doesn't have internet, and I am on Spring Break from school, so it may not be until Monday that I am able to post new chapters.

Sorry to keep you waiting!

Time for a big update!


“Dear Rheinland, you are the sweetest to me. My home, my house, I will die for you when the hour comes. As your leader, I promise to make you the brightest of all the stars in the heavens.”
Chancellor DSQrn
State of Rheinland Address


Chancellor DSQrn sat in his room, thinking out his next move. The room was dark, and it was what many would say to be too cramped for a mighty chancellor. But DSQrn liked it that way.

As he sat there contemplating, his closest advisor, Godfried Wilhelm, entered the room. The chancellor looked up.

“Ahhh, Godfried. Please aid me in my comtemplations.”

“Of course, my lord. What would you have me do?”

“I am contemplating whether or not to attack the pirates. If I attack them, I could gain prestige among our people and the other houses, but it could also lead to the end of Rheinland. We are hung perilously near the edge. The pirates have increased in size and power. If someone doesn’t stop them, then we will all fall. But the one who tries to stop them will also most surely fall to a combined pirate assault. I have no idea what to do.”

“My lord, you are asking the completely wrong question. It is not if you want to attack, but where and when. You have no choice. Let the pirates stay, and you will cause the end of all the houses and everything our people have worked for in Sirius. You must make it your crusade. Inspire your followers to strike the pirates with all of their might, and you will win.

“A crusade against the pirates? Sounds like a good idea to me. I approve of your brilliant idea.”

“That is all that matters. Shall I begin planning and scheduling general staff meetings for the coming offensive?”

“Fine, fine. Leave me.”

As he walked out of the room, Wilhelm couldn’t help but smile. He had the chancellor in his grasp. The real power behind the Rheinland government was he. Soon, he would kill the foolish chancellor, and be in a perfect position to take up the chancellery for him. Soon, he would the ruler of all Rheinland, and nobody would be able to stop him.

The door closed, and DSQrn realized that he had just made a big mistake. He had given Wilhelm too much power. He needed to personally choose the location, rather then let another do it instead. He needed to go and make the plans himself. He got up, and walked to the door. As he put his hand on the control pad, the door opened from the outside. A young aid, looking flustered, ran into the room.

“Chancellor, the Farmer’s Alliance have just taken a major offensive! They disabled a Kusari battleship in an attack on a huge convoy! The Kusari government is in chaos! Piracy is running rampant throughout the Kusari systems.”

Taking the report, and dismissing the aid, DSQrn sighed and sat back down. This changed everything.

“Many consider the election that took place after the death of Boss Rodriguez one of the key moments in Bounty Hunter history. The result would change the shape of the Guild, no matter who won. The importance was what changes were made. On one side you had a candidate who wanted to make the Guild go after pirates with more vigor than ever before, while on the other hand you had a candidate who thought that the Guild already fought pirates enough, and who wanted to settle the Guild down as a more peaceful, protective organization. The two sides would conflict in a very important moment in history, one that’s repercussions still affect us today."
-Athena
Major Points in Sirian History



The grand Council Hall of Deshima was filled with noise. The nominations were about to begin, and everyone was discussing who they wanted to nominate. The process was very traditional, dating back from the early history of the Guild. First, a “blind nomination” would be given, where each squadron leader would take a vote of the squadron and try to get a consensus on who to nominate. There was a specific criteria on who could be nominated and who couldn’t, based on career kills, age, and rank.

After the blind nominations were tallied, the nominees, often over twenty, would then come up to the front of the room and give a brief speech on their intentions on what they would do if elected to benefit the Guild as a whole.

Then, there would be another round of nominations that would involve each Hunter invited. They would each choose one of the nominees for a second nomination, and every vote would be counted, the rest of the squadron would not look at them at all.

Next, the second nominations would be tallied and the candidates who received the most would be allowed to remain nominated, while the rest would return to their squadrons. Then, the candidates would each be called up, specifically asked if they would be willing to devote the rest of their lives to the position, and if they said yes, then they would be asked to debate the other candidates the next day. They would receive a list of topics to study, and then they would rest.

The next day, the candidates would have an hour-long debate, and then there would be a final vote. The winner of the final vote would be elected the new Guild Boss.

So, the gathered hunters waited for the nomination session to start. The Ghosts sat quietly in the center of the hall, absorbing information and thinking.

Then, a man walked to the front of the room, and stood at the podium there. The hall quieted immediately, and all eyes focused on this man.

“Welcome to the choosing of the heir ceremony,” the man said in a deep, booming voice, “I am going to run the election both today and tomorrow, and when you leave tomorrow afternoon, there will be a new leader of the Guild. So, without further ado, I will request each squadron’s nomination. While I am calling out the squadrons, the squadrons not yet called may discuss and then choose a nominee. Each member of the squadron need not agree, but a majority must win. I will give you all a moment to begin your discussions.”

The Ghosts turned to each other.

“I think ww2jacob is the best choice,” said Dan, known as “Firebolt” by the rest of the squadron.

The rest murmured their agreement.

“But, I don’t want to leave the squadron! I don’t think that you guys realize that if I am elected, I won’t be able to lead the Ghosts anymore!” said ww2jacob.

“Sir, if I may say, I think that you are the only leader that all of us would agree to having. You are the best pilot in the Guild! Someone should at least be nominated, and everyone else will be nominating their own squadron leaders,” said James, another Ghost.

The squadron all seemed to agree.

“Fine, I guess if I get nominated, it doesn’t mean that I will be elected,” replied ww2jacob.

The man at the podium started naming off squadrons.

“Dragonheart Squadron?”

An obscure name was given.

“Thunderbolt Squadron?”

Another name that ww2jacob had never heard before.

“Ghost Squadron?”

James took the honor of standing and giving ww2jacob’s name. The Hunters in the hall all reacted in slight surprise, though many had seen it coming.

“Lightning Squadron?”

“ww2jacob,” replied the leader of the squadron. Jacob was very surprised. He had been double nominated.

By the time the squadrons had all given their nominations, ww2jacob had been nominated three more times. He had a lot of fans, evidently.

Then, each nominee was required to go into a back room, where they were to wait to give a short speech afterwards.

In turn, they each were called out, and they gave their speech, and returned to the room, not to their squadrons.

One man, who ww2jacob knew had told the representatives

Finally, ww2jacob was called out to speak to the crowd. A huge round of applause greeted him as he stepped out of the room, and continued until he reached the podium.

He drew in a deep breath, and began his speech.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Guild must be changed! We cannot be satisfied with partial victory any longer! We cannot be satisfied by working alone any longer! We cannot be satisfied by giving half anymore! We must change our ways! Our goal has always been to keep pirates from expanding, and guess what, they are expanding! Under our current ideals, we will be crushed. We will die with the houses, who have also grown complacent and unwary. So, I propose a new set of ideals for a new age! First and foremost, we should concentrate on fighting! Defense and counterattack must be our new tactics! We must hold back the pirates with one hand, while readying the houses to do the same with our other! Second, we must develop new technologies: guns, ships, and other things, to help us accomplish the first. We need to hire scientists to give us even the tiniest edge over our enemy. Thirdly, we must expand! Expand into the borderworlds, the edgeworlds, deep space! We must expand so we can stop the pirates on more fronts! In conclusion, I am saying that we must stop the pirates, by working with the houses, expanding, and gaining new technologies. As leader, I would work to doing just that. Stopping the pirates must be our task! You all see the storm coming, so do you want to prepare for it, or pretend like it isn’t happening?”

At that, he stepped down from the podium, and walked back into the small room. Both the room and the hall were dead silent for a moment, then the silence was broken by the announcer calling out the next speaker.

Jacob wasn’t sure whether his speech had come off well or not. The silence could mean many things, and he wouldn’t know exactly what until the next day.

“Great leaders often come about from the strangest places and times.”
-Guardian Master Vorian Francis
Reflections on the Sirian Civil War

As he walked the grand halls of the Royal Palace, Young Bret Bretonian, Prince of Cambridge, couldn’t help but be attracted to the grandeur of the place. He had lived here most of his life, and he still was amazed by the wealth that this place represented. His family was one of the richest in Sirius, having ruled over a house for centuries.

Young Bret, a mere seventeen, walked through one of the oldest parts of the palace, the Red Building. It had been built by the second king of Bretonia, King Henry XXVII, who was the last Bretonian king to claim descendence from the old kings of the ancient empire of England, back on Earth. That was back when this part of the planet, the island-continent of Greenwich, was the only area the Bretonians controlled. Bret knew the entire history of his great house by heart, since it was the main topic of learning in school.

He was headed to a private meeting with his father, King Edwin III, who was the current king. He was a pretty popular king, and a good administrator. However, he knew nothing about war, and with a conflict potentially on the horizon, the King had been asking his son, who was very interested in tactics and various military topics, for assistance. Bret assumed that this was one of those meetings.

He really enjoyed these talks with his father, who had always been too busy to spend much time with his son. Bret had grown up with his mother and tutor as mentors, and he wasn’t allowed many friends, since he was confined to the huge, and often very empty, palace until the age of thirteen. Since then, he had made a few close friends, but had still mostly kept to himself.

His father had always been a big role model for him, since Bret would someday fill his position. Bret knew that he had a long ways to go until then, however, and he was satisfied with the position of Prince for now. He had been sworn into that position on his sixteenth birthday, as the custom dictated, as he was his father’s only son.

Bret reached the large door that led to his father’s parlor, which was where he always held meetings with his family and close friends. Bret nodded to the guard at the door, and the guard returned the nod, and then opened the door.

His father, dressed in a red decorative robe, was sitting in an armchair near the center of the room. Bret gave a small bow, and his father gestured to a chair across from him. Bret took the chair.

“Son, I have called you here for a very important discussion. As you know, I am getting rather old. While I have had a long, steady reign, the steadiness is coming to an end. I have been fortunate to rule between the rough times of my mother, Carina, and the rough times that I sense are coming. I am a peaceful man, and I have no idea as to how to run a country during war. You, my son, know plenty about that, as you have demonstrated during our little strategy sessions recently. Now, I know that you are just settling into your newest job, and I want to tell you that what I am about to say will not necessarily happen for a while, but I want you to be prepared for when it does happen.”

“I…understand, Father.”

“Good. When war comes to Bretonia, I will give up my position as King, and lead a nice retirement. You will then replace me as the king.”

It took a few minutes for that to sink into Bret.

“You mean… I will become King when the war starts?”

“Yes, son. You will be.”

“There are many who call my election one of the greatest moments in history. I disagree. At the time, I didn’t even realize what it meant. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.”
-ww2jacob
Memoirs

The enemy was drawing closer. He, ww2jacob, was standing on the bridge of some ship. He recognized no one there. But, he knew there were a lot of people around him, and that he was in a fleet with other ships. Something inside of him told him that there was something out there, nearby. An enemy was out there.

He ordered for the ship to fire. He had no idea why, it was more of a subconscious action. Strange, since he had never even been aboard a capital ship as far as he remembered. Yet it seemed that he was commanding this one.

He couldn’t remember how he had gotten here, but he was here, so he thought that he would try to do his job, whatever that might be.

All of a sudden, he saw what they were fighting. In space, a good ways from the bow of the ship, there was a man. He floated in space. He seemed to be alive, which ww2jacob knew to be impossible. No one could live in space without a space suit, and this man had none. He did, however, have a sort of energy field surrounding him. Could this be what was keeping him from dying?

Suddenly, the man whipped about, and a huge bolt of energy launched from his body and slammed into the ship next to ww2jacob’s.

Just then, ww2jacob’s ship fired, and huge lances of energy streaked towards the man. The man did something that ww2jacob thought to be totally impossible. He absorbed the energy into his shield.

Using that energy, the strange man fired a gigantic bolt of lightning at ww2jacob’s ship. The lightning hit the ship, and was instantly distributed to every metal surface in the ship.

The energy passed into the metal floor underneath ww2jacob’s feet, and entered his body through his leather shoes that he didn’t remember buying.

He fell to the floor, and everything went black. Then, images flashed before his mind. Himself coming to, the ship accelerating, a giant flash, and then blackness.

“Sir? Sir! Wake up!”

Ww2jacob came to, laying on the couch in his room in Deshima. It had all been a dream. James was standing over him.

“Sir, the announcement ceremony is starting in five minutes!” James said.

It all came back to ww2jacob in a flash. The nominations, the speech, the debate that morning. He realized that he must have fallen asleep after the debate. That meant that the voting was done and that the winner of the election would be announced in five minutes!

“Sir, we might make it on time if we hurry!” James said.

Ww2jacob jumped off the couch and hit the floor running. He and James ran pell-mell through the hallways of the station, and made it to the hall with a minute to spare. They were both out of breath, and they quickly found a pair of seats at the back of the room.

The same man from the day before walked up to the podium.

“Well, all the votes have been counted, and we have chosen a new Guild Boss. The voting was very close. The winner won by less than ten votes, which makes it the closest election in Bounty Hunter history. Without further ado, the winner is… ww2jacob!”

Ww2jacob remained seated for a long moment. He was reeling in shock at the victory. It was only after the man at the podium had called him up twice when he slowly stood and made his way to the front of the hall.

Many people were up and cheering or clapping for him. Some remained sitting, looking glum, since they had probably supported another candidate.

When he reached the front, the man spoke again.

“He is your new Guild leader, and he will serve in that position for the next five years. We all hope he will live up to our expectations. Ww2jacob, your term begins tomorrow. You will come to the Council Chamber at 0900 hours. Then, you will receive a briefing on the current situation and your powers. The rest of you, except Ghost Squadron, may leave at your convenience. Thank you.”

Everyone began filing out, and the squadron came up to congratulate a still stunned ww2jacob. He knew this would be a long night, filled with a lot of well-deserved partying.

The IMPORTANT thing is, Jacob, when do I come into it?

Just kidding, this is great!

Actually, I was thinking in the next chapter or two.

Jacob, this is very awesome. Is your PC all better now? I hope so if we can look forward to receiving this all the time!

Excellent Excellent, MORE ME :

Naw your doing great, if i was writting this though i think i would sucumb to the temptation of writting all about myself. But i am fickle

Excellent work, ww2jacob!