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Child of the Hispania (Final Message 1/26/07)
Read, add and comment on excellent written stories by fans, set within the Freelancer universe
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Thu Jan 05, 2006 1:18 pm
An extra-long chapter! This is 5 pages in MS Word compared to the other chapters, which were mostly about 3 or 4 pages. This could of dragged on even longer, but I felt I had to end the Freeport 9 arc, and I must say it’s a relief to finally have this section done. I also can’t believe how quickly I got this done, I thought it wouldn’t be done until the weekend.
----------------
Disclaimer: Blablabla (see previous chapters)
Child of the Hispania, by Sybot
Chapter Four: Freeport 9 Besieged, Part Three: The Battle of Freeport 9
Paulo woke up to a gentle sizzling sound and a strange, but not too unpleasant smell. Slowly opening his eyes, he realised what it was. The wall above his head was glowing and melting where laser beams had hit it. This brought him fully awake. He ducked down just in time to avoid more beams flying overhead and adding their energy to the glowing section of wall. Looking around he could see most of his fellow escaped Corsairs flat on the floor while a few, including Mendez, were at the barricade trading fire with a group at the entrance to the prison corridor.
“Who is it?” Paulo asked loudly over the blastershots, crawling towards a male Corsair hiding in an empty cell.
“Bounty Hunters,” replied the man angrily, “damn fools have had us under fire for the past hour. I wish I had gun, then I could take them down!” Suddenly there was a clattering sound as something bounced towards the barricade.
“Frag grenade! Get down!” yelled Mendez. Everybody who wasn’t already on the floor got there very rapidly and Paulo leapt back into the cell with the other Corsair. The explosion deafened Paulo. He struggled to look around the corner, his ears ringing. The barricade had been completely blown out by the grenade. Mendez was the only Corsair still firing, shooting his pulse rifle at the Bounty Hunters while still on his back. Two others were trying to get up after having the barricade fly into their faces. One, a woman, was keeling up shakily behind a small table that was all that was left of the barricade. She keeled over to reveal several shards of shrapnel lodged in her head. Her gun fell to the floor and bounced along towards Paulo.
“I’ve got it!” he shouted, but even he couldn’t hear himself over the ringing and he doubted any of the others could either. After pulling down the safety, Paulo checked the charge left. Luckily there was enough to keep it firing for the next hour or so. Risking a peek into the corridor, he could make out at least five figures moving down the corridor through the smoke the grenade left. He ducked back inside and clicked the safety off. Out of nowhere his hearing returned, unexpectedly pummelling his ears with screams, shots firing and orders being yelled. He winced as he got used to the noise level again.
“Take them down!” Mendez was shouting, now frantically firing the pulse rifle at the advancing enemies. Paulo leant out of the cell, firing a volley at the Bounty Hunters. One took several to the chest and stumbled backwards before crashing to the floor. The others ran into the empty cells either side of them. Mendez took advantage and dialled up the rifle to it highest setting. Taking it up to his shoulder, he fired at one of the cells. The rifle emitted a loud bang as a large rippling effect could be seen flying through the air. Mendez was knocked back by the recoil, swearing loudly. The energy pulse entered the cell and there was a rush of air as it released.
“Oof,” went the Bounty Hunter inside, before going silent forever. By now the other two Corsairs with blaster pistols had managed to free themselves from the tangle that used to be the barricade and were pouring wave after wave of lasers into the fray. One Bounty Hunter was hit, then another. The few remaining enemies seemed to decide this was a prudent time to retreat.
“Yeah, run *****es!” yelled one of the other armed Corsairs, starting to chase them down. Mendez grabbed him before he could get anywhere.
“Not yet,” he said calmly, but with a glare that caused the other Corsair to look terrified and back away nodding. Mendez stopped glaring and stood up to address the rest of them. “Grab a gun and follow me, the main attack will be beginning in just over half an hour.”
“Yes, sir,” came a stream of voices. A small group moved forward and took the guns from the dead Bounty Hunters. Then all the Corsairs, including Paulo, followed Mendez as he marched out of the corridor, only stopping briefly at the entrance to check for hidden enemies.
“Hold here,” said Mendez, raising a hand as they approached the primary boulevard, “Paulo, Rogelio, Juanita, come with me.” Paulo and the other two Corsairs, a tall man with a dark complexion and a quite tall woman who was only slightly older than Paulo. As they entered Paulo was surprised by how empty it all felt, compared to the bustling panic he had seen earlier.
As they made they way down the corridor, a voice boomed through the station. “To the remaining inhabitants of Freeport 9. This is Elder Maden. You are no longer able to leave the station. Any attempt to leave the docking bays will be thwarted. Anybody left will be treated as hostile. If you wish to surrender to boarding Corsair forces, come to the docking bays, unarmed. Anybody carrying a weapon will be shot on sight. I repeat, to the remaining…” Paulo stopped listening when the message repeated, and it appeared the others had too.
“Lets go, the boarders will need some help,” ordered Mendez. The others followed him without question. They arrived at the armoury, having spent the past twenty minutes searching for it. Following the easy removal of a Zoner guarding it, they went inside.
“Whoa!” all eyes bulged with surprise at the sheer range of weapons on offer, from blaster pistols up to heavy plasma launchers. After Rogelio had finished drooling, Mendez handed him a pile of pistols and rifles.
“Take these back to the others, Juanita, make sure he gets there safely,” were his commands, along with, “tell them to fan out and eliminate any armed resistance they encounter”
“Of course sir!” They said in unison. Juanita straightened into a salute and strode out of the room. Rogelio struggled behind her, slowed down by the weight of the weapons.
“That just leaves us!” Paulo said happily, glad to be with such a strong leader as Mendez.
“You’re right,” the man replied, “that means we have the best job!” He reloaded his pulse rifle, and then handed a blaster rifle to Paulo. It was the first time he’d ever held anything bigger than a pistol, and the power of the weapon radiated from it, while he struggled to get used to the weight.
“What’s our job?” Paulo suddenly asked when they were underway, realising it might not be good.
“Clear out the primary docking bay, as that’s where the main boarding party is likely to land. I think they’ll be pleased. We might even get promoted!”
“A bit hard, seeing as I don’t have a rank yet,” Paulo mumbled glumly, still unsure whether he had actually failed or passed the Rite, regardless of what Mendez said. Suddenly voice could be heard coming down the boulevard.
“Quickly Judith, we have to get to the docking bay, if we’re caught away from there they might not let us surrender!” The voice was male and sounded very frightened. Paulo and Mendez quickly ducked into a small maintenance room just off the main boulevard.
“I’m coming!” exclaimed a female voice a bit further off. A old black man in Libertonian attire came into view, limping from an obvious artificial leg. Just as he passed out of view, a middle-aged woman wearing a white jumper ran up behind him. Paulo and Mendez peeked out of the doorway.
“Follow them to the docking bay?” Paulo’s question was so succinct that Mendez merely nodded. They followed closely behind the pair, keeping as quiet as possible so as not to get heard. After a few minutes they approached a barricade, not unlike the one they had erected in the brig. Seeing who was crouched on their side of it, they quickly leapt to one side had hid. At least thirty people, mostly Zoners but including a few Bounty Hunters and others, were watching the main entrance to the primary docking bay. They were armed the teeth. When the couple approached, a Zoner that looked like he was high ranked stopped them.
“Nobody surrenders!” he said angrily, thrusting a pair of blaster pistols at them.
“But we’re just…” the woman started.
“Attempt to go through there and surrender and you will be shot, understand?” interrupted the Zoner.
“Don’t worry Judith, we’ll fight,” the man said, raising an arm to block his angry spouse, “I never liked surrendering anyway” They were given the guns and took up position on Paulo’s side of the barricade along with the others.
“There are too many of them,” whispered Paulo.
“Obviously,” growled Mendez, “we should wait until the attack begins.” It was hard, hiding in silence, but time went on and the next few minutes were uneventful. Abruptly there was a loud clang as a ship landed in the main docking bay. Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t be audible, but in the intense quiet before the storm, it was as loud as a thunderbolt. It was followed shortly by another clang, and then another, then several more.
“Ready!” yelled the Zoner commander. The defenders pointed their weapons over the barricade. Paulo checked the energy supply on his rifle. Mendez dialled his pulse rifle to a lower setting, allowing a faster fire rate. A crash signalled the battle beginning. The wall surrounding the docking bay door blew out in a huge explosion, sending shards of metal flying in all directions. Somehow, no one on the barricade was skewered. A tense few second ensured while everybody recovered from the shock of the blast. Suddenly a figure appeared in the dust, charging through the gaping hole.
“For Hispania!” came an enormous yell from the figure. The sentiment was echoed by many voices behind him. The figure raised what appeared to be a gun. The defenders opened fire, and the figure fell without letting off a shot. However, he was followed by many more figures, now recognizable as Corsairs, pouring through the gap. The defenders had more targets than they could shoot. Corsairs were falling, but many more made it through and started shooting at the barricade. Despite this, the barricade appeared to be holding.
“Now?” asked Paulo.
“Now!” Mendez confirmed with a shout. They leapt round the corner and opened up with their rifles. The defenders were caught completely by surprise. Many were hit in the back and fell.
“They’re behind us!” one of them cried out in fear, pointing at Paulo. Paulo shot him in the chest and he shut up. Screams came from the enemy line as the conscripts panicked, leaving only a few Zoners and Bounty Hunters, presumably those with previous combat experience, to fight it out. By now they had realized the threat and several guns were turning to point at Paulo and Mendez. They leapt apart, leaving the weapons fire to sail between them.
“Lets get moving,” said Mendez. He slowly moved backwards, away from the firefight, and Paulo followed suit. The remaining defenders turned back to the main boarding party, but the damage had already been done. Corsairs were swarming up the boulevard, and now killing just as many defenders as they had lost. When they reached the barricade, the front of the line leapt over and opened fire into the cowering conscripts, only to be gunned down by the remaining coherent defenders.
“Pull back!” the Zoner commander yelled, pouring lasers into the second wave of Corsairs. At his command, the survivors got up and fled for their lives. Many were too slow and got overrun by the Corsairs, causing the whole barricade to erupt in vicious melee fighting.
“Too many!” Paulo gasped, exhausted from the running and gunning they had been doing. The retreating defenders were charging towards them, weapons raised.
“I agree!” Mendez said. He made a dash down the corridor, leaving an astonished Paulo to follow in his wake. Right behind them, the defenders, led by the Zoner commander, had gone from retreat to pursuit. Ducking to dodge plasma and lasers flying over his head, Paulo was just about to catch up to the elder Corsair when he suddenly skidded to a halt. Following a mid stride collision by Paulo, Mendez spun round, grabbed him and pulled them both off to one side of the corridor. Paulo was still shocked by this when a flurry of weapons fire came from the direction they had been heading. It struck the charging defenders, wiping out most of them in a single volley. The remainder, comprised mostly of conscripts, fell apart and ran in every direction. Mendez threw Paulo to one side and opened fire, knocking most of them done, leaving a second volley from the others to finish off the group. Paulo could guess who it was.
“Mendez?” came Rogelio’s voice, “you can come out now!”
“Of course I can, you dip****,” growled Mendez. He stood up, stopping only briefly to pull Paulo to his feet. “We need to link up with the main force, there could be other pockets of resistance to root out” Paulo moved around the corner and saw Rogelio, Juanita and three other Corsairs covering the corridor.
“Stop right there!” yelled a Hispanic voice from behind Paulo. Nobody breathed a sigh of relief just yet. They all remembered Elder Maden’s second message.
“…Anybody carrying a weapon will be shot on sight…” The words rang through Paulo’s head as he turned to face the group of boarding Corsairs, at least twenty strong. Mendez already had his hands in the air, but it didn’t seem to appease the lead Corsair. Maybe he didn’t realise who they were.
“Open fire!” The rest of the boarding Corsairs lifted their pistols and aimed them directly at the former prisoners.
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Cliffhanger again! It would be ironic for Paulo (or Mendez) to have survived the Battle of Freeport 9, only to be killed by their own guys by mistake.
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Disclaimer: Blablabla (see previous chapters)
Child of the Hispania, by Sybot
Chapter Four: Freeport 9 Besieged, Part Three: The Battle of Freeport 9
Paulo woke up to a gentle sizzling sound and a strange, but not too unpleasant smell. Slowly opening his eyes, he realised what it was. The wall above his head was glowing and melting where laser beams had hit it. This brought him fully awake. He ducked down just in time to avoid more beams flying overhead and adding their energy to the glowing section of wall. Looking around he could see most of his fellow escaped Corsairs flat on the floor while a few, including Mendez, were at the barricade trading fire with a group at the entrance to the prison corridor.
“Who is it?” Paulo asked loudly over the blastershots, crawling towards a male Corsair hiding in an empty cell.
“Bounty Hunters,” replied the man angrily, “damn fools have had us under fire for the past hour. I wish I had gun, then I could take them down!” Suddenly there was a clattering sound as something bounced towards the barricade.
“Frag grenade! Get down!” yelled Mendez. Everybody who wasn’t already on the floor got there very rapidly and Paulo leapt back into the cell with the other Corsair. The explosion deafened Paulo. He struggled to look around the corner, his ears ringing. The barricade had been completely blown out by the grenade. Mendez was the only Corsair still firing, shooting his pulse rifle at the Bounty Hunters while still on his back. Two others were trying to get up after having the barricade fly into their faces. One, a woman, was keeling up shakily behind a small table that was all that was left of the barricade. She keeled over to reveal several shards of shrapnel lodged in her head. Her gun fell to the floor and bounced along towards Paulo.
“I’ve got it!” he shouted, but even he couldn’t hear himself over the ringing and he doubted any of the others could either. After pulling down the safety, Paulo checked the charge left. Luckily there was enough to keep it firing for the next hour or so. Risking a peek into the corridor, he could make out at least five figures moving down the corridor through the smoke the grenade left. He ducked back inside and clicked the safety off. Out of nowhere his hearing returned, unexpectedly pummelling his ears with screams, shots firing and orders being yelled. He winced as he got used to the noise level again.
“Take them down!” Mendez was shouting, now frantically firing the pulse rifle at the advancing enemies. Paulo leant out of the cell, firing a volley at the Bounty Hunters. One took several to the chest and stumbled backwards before crashing to the floor. The others ran into the empty cells either side of them. Mendez took advantage and dialled up the rifle to it highest setting. Taking it up to his shoulder, he fired at one of the cells. The rifle emitted a loud bang as a large rippling effect could be seen flying through the air. Mendez was knocked back by the recoil, swearing loudly. The energy pulse entered the cell and there was a rush of air as it released.
“Oof,” went the Bounty Hunter inside, before going silent forever. By now the other two Corsairs with blaster pistols had managed to free themselves from the tangle that used to be the barricade and were pouring wave after wave of lasers into the fray. One Bounty Hunter was hit, then another. The few remaining enemies seemed to decide this was a prudent time to retreat.
“Yeah, run *****es!” yelled one of the other armed Corsairs, starting to chase them down. Mendez grabbed him before he could get anywhere.
“Not yet,” he said calmly, but with a glare that caused the other Corsair to look terrified and back away nodding. Mendez stopped glaring and stood up to address the rest of them. “Grab a gun and follow me, the main attack will be beginning in just over half an hour.”
“Yes, sir,” came a stream of voices. A small group moved forward and took the guns from the dead Bounty Hunters. Then all the Corsairs, including Paulo, followed Mendez as he marched out of the corridor, only stopping briefly at the entrance to check for hidden enemies.
“Hold here,” said Mendez, raising a hand as they approached the primary boulevard, “Paulo, Rogelio, Juanita, come with me.” Paulo and the other two Corsairs, a tall man with a dark complexion and a quite tall woman who was only slightly older than Paulo. As they entered Paulo was surprised by how empty it all felt, compared to the bustling panic he had seen earlier.
As they made they way down the corridor, a voice boomed through the station. “To the remaining inhabitants of Freeport 9. This is Elder Maden. You are no longer able to leave the station. Any attempt to leave the docking bays will be thwarted. Anybody left will be treated as hostile. If you wish to surrender to boarding Corsair forces, come to the docking bays, unarmed. Anybody carrying a weapon will be shot on sight. I repeat, to the remaining…” Paulo stopped listening when the message repeated, and it appeared the others had too.
“Lets go, the boarders will need some help,” ordered Mendez. The others followed him without question. They arrived at the armoury, having spent the past twenty minutes searching for it. Following the easy removal of a Zoner guarding it, they went inside.
“Whoa!” all eyes bulged with surprise at the sheer range of weapons on offer, from blaster pistols up to heavy plasma launchers. After Rogelio had finished drooling, Mendez handed him a pile of pistols and rifles.
“Take these back to the others, Juanita, make sure he gets there safely,” were his commands, along with, “tell them to fan out and eliminate any armed resistance they encounter”
“Of course sir!” They said in unison. Juanita straightened into a salute and strode out of the room. Rogelio struggled behind her, slowed down by the weight of the weapons.
“That just leaves us!” Paulo said happily, glad to be with such a strong leader as Mendez.
“You’re right,” the man replied, “that means we have the best job!” He reloaded his pulse rifle, and then handed a blaster rifle to Paulo. It was the first time he’d ever held anything bigger than a pistol, and the power of the weapon radiated from it, while he struggled to get used to the weight.
“What’s our job?” Paulo suddenly asked when they were underway, realising it might not be good.
“Clear out the primary docking bay, as that’s where the main boarding party is likely to land. I think they’ll be pleased. We might even get promoted!”
“A bit hard, seeing as I don’t have a rank yet,” Paulo mumbled glumly, still unsure whether he had actually failed or passed the Rite, regardless of what Mendez said. Suddenly voice could be heard coming down the boulevard.
“Quickly Judith, we have to get to the docking bay, if we’re caught away from there they might not let us surrender!” The voice was male and sounded very frightened. Paulo and Mendez quickly ducked into a small maintenance room just off the main boulevard.
“I’m coming!” exclaimed a female voice a bit further off. A old black man in Libertonian attire came into view, limping from an obvious artificial leg. Just as he passed out of view, a middle-aged woman wearing a white jumper ran up behind him. Paulo and Mendez peeked out of the doorway.
“Follow them to the docking bay?” Paulo’s question was so succinct that Mendez merely nodded. They followed closely behind the pair, keeping as quiet as possible so as not to get heard. After a few minutes they approached a barricade, not unlike the one they had erected in the brig. Seeing who was crouched on their side of it, they quickly leapt to one side had hid. At least thirty people, mostly Zoners but including a few Bounty Hunters and others, were watching the main entrance to the primary docking bay. They were armed the teeth. When the couple approached, a Zoner that looked like he was high ranked stopped them.
“Nobody surrenders!” he said angrily, thrusting a pair of blaster pistols at them.
“But we’re just…” the woman started.
“Attempt to go through there and surrender and you will be shot, understand?” interrupted the Zoner.
“Don’t worry Judith, we’ll fight,” the man said, raising an arm to block his angry spouse, “I never liked surrendering anyway” They were given the guns and took up position on Paulo’s side of the barricade along with the others.
“There are too many of them,” whispered Paulo.
“Obviously,” growled Mendez, “we should wait until the attack begins.” It was hard, hiding in silence, but time went on and the next few minutes were uneventful. Abruptly there was a loud clang as a ship landed in the main docking bay. Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t be audible, but in the intense quiet before the storm, it was as loud as a thunderbolt. It was followed shortly by another clang, and then another, then several more.
“Ready!” yelled the Zoner commander. The defenders pointed their weapons over the barricade. Paulo checked the energy supply on his rifle. Mendez dialled his pulse rifle to a lower setting, allowing a faster fire rate. A crash signalled the battle beginning. The wall surrounding the docking bay door blew out in a huge explosion, sending shards of metal flying in all directions. Somehow, no one on the barricade was skewered. A tense few second ensured while everybody recovered from the shock of the blast. Suddenly a figure appeared in the dust, charging through the gaping hole.
“For Hispania!” came an enormous yell from the figure. The sentiment was echoed by many voices behind him. The figure raised what appeared to be a gun. The defenders opened fire, and the figure fell without letting off a shot. However, he was followed by many more figures, now recognizable as Corsairs, pouring through the gap. The defenders had more targets than they could shoot. Corsairs were falling, but many more made it through and started shooting at the barricade. Despite this, the barricade appeared to be holding.
“Now?” asked Paulo.
“Now!” Mendez confirmed with a shout. They leapt round the corner and opened up with their rifles. The defenders were caught completely by surprise. Many were hit in the back and fell.
“They’re behind us!” one of them cried out in fear, pointing at Paulo. Paulo shot him in the chest and he shut up. Screams came from the enemy line as the conscripts panicked, leaving only a few Zoners and Bounty Hunters, presumably those with previous combat experience, to fight it out. By now they had realized the threat and several guns were turning to point at Paulo and Mendez. They leapt apart, leaving the weapons fire to sail between them.
“Lets get moving,” said Mendez. He slowly moved backwards, away from the firefight, and Paulo followed suit. The remaining defenders turned back to the main boarding party, but the damage had already been done. Corsairs were swarming up the boulevard, and now killing just as many defenders as they had lost. When they reached the barricade, the front of the line leapt over and opened fire into the cowering conscripts, only to be gunned down by the remaining coherent defenders.
“Pull back!” the Zoner commander yelled, pouring lasers into the second wave of Corsairs. At his command, the survivors got up and fled for their lives. Many were too slow and got overrun by the Corsairs, causing the whole barricade to erupt in vicious melee fighting.
“Too many!” Paulo gasped, exhausted from the running and gunning they had been doing. The retreating defenders were charging towards them, weapons raised.
“I agree!” Mendez said. He made a dash down the corridor, leaving an astonished Paulo to follow in his wake. Right behind them, the defenders, led by the Zoner commander, had gone from retreat to pursuit. Ducking to dodge plasma and lasers flying over his head, Paulo was just about to catch up to the elder Corsair when he suddenly skidded to a halt. Following a mid stride collision by Paulo, Mendez spun round, grabbed him and pulled them both off to one side of the corridor. Paulo was still shocked by this when a flurry of weapons fire came from the direction they had been heading. It struck the charging defenders, wiping out most of them in a single volley. The remainder, comprised mostly of conscripts, fell apart and ran in every direction. Mendez threw Paulo to one side and opened fire, knocking most of them done, leaving a second volley from the others to finish off the group. Paulo could guess who it was.
“Mendez?” came Rogelio’s voice, “you can come out now!”
“Of course I can, you dip****,” growled Mendez. He stood up, stopping only briefly to pull Paulo to his feet. “We need to link up with the main force, there could be other pockets of resistance to root out” Paulo moved around the corner and saw Rogelio, Juanita and three other Corsairs covering the corridor.
“Stop right there!” yelled a Hispanic voice from behind Paulo. Nobody breathed a sigh of relief just yet. They all remembered Elder Maden’s second message.
“…Anybody carrying a weapon will be shot on sight…” The words rang through Paulo’s head as he turned to face the group of boarding Corsairs, at least twenty strong. Mendez already had his hands in the air, but it didn’t seem to appease the lead Corsair. Maybe he didn’t realise who they were.
“Open fire!” The rest of the boarding Corsairs lifted their pistols and aimed them directly at the former prisoners.
----------------
Cliffhanger again! It would be ironic for Paulo (or Mendez) to have survived the Battle of Freeport 9, only to be killed by their own guys by mistake.
Fri Jan 06, 2006 9:28 am
The first of the interludes, to give you something to read while you wait. These will probably be mostly CNS bulletins. Their whole purpose is to see how the rest of Sirius reacts to events in the story.
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Interlude 1:
All the news that’s fit for you, this is the Colony News Service.
Refugees continue to arrive in Rheinland and Kusari from the Edge Worlds. While many stories that they bring contradict one another, CNS has been able to piece together an account of what happened.
Most refugees tell us that Freeport 9, a Zoner base located far outside of the Houses, had come under attack from the mysterious pirates known only as Corsairs. Some say they were forced off by the attackers, others say they fled of their own free will. Reports are conflicting on the fate of the station; some say the station was destroyed, while others seem to believe it was occupied. Either way, an accurate assessment of fatalities cannot be determined until all the refugees are accounted for.
The Houses have responded with shock that the Zoners, a faction who strive to keep neutral in all conflicts, would come under attack. President Tanners of Liberty has ordered an immediate investigation and has dispatched several Liberty Security Force agents to the Edge Worlds. While Kusari and Bretonia have pledged their support for the investigation, Rheinland has yet to make a statement. Meanwhile, the Gas Miners Guild (GMG) has started its own unofficial investigation, stating ‘we are very familiar with the Corsairs. If they are moving we need to know’
More on the situation as information is received.
In other news…
----------------
Chapter 5 will take a while, I’ve got writers block. Best guess is the start of next week.
----------------
Interlude 1:
All the news that’s fit for you, this is the Colony News Service.
Refugees continue to arrive in Rheinland and Kusari from the Edge Worlds. While many stories that they bring contradict one another, CNS has been able to piece together an account of what happened.
Most refugees tell us that Freeport 9, a Zoner base located far outside of the Houses, had come under attack from the mysterious pirates known only as Corsairs. Some say they were forced off by the attackers, others say they fled of their own free will. Reports are conflicting on the fate of the station; some say the station was destroyed, while others seem to believe it was occupied. Either way, an accurate assessment of fatalities cannot be determined until all the refugees are accounted for.
The Houses have responded with shock that the Zoners, a faction who strive to keep neutral in all conflicts, would come under attack. President Tanners of Liberty has ordered an immediate investigation and has dispatched several Liberty Security Force agents to the Edge Worlds. While Kusari and Bretonia have pledged their support for the investigation, Rheinland has yet to make a statement. Meanwhile, the Gas Miners Guild (GMG) has started its own unofficial investigation, stating ‘we are very familiar with the Corsairs. If they are moving we need to know’
More on the situation as information is received.
In other news…
----------------
Chapter 5 will take a while, I’ve got writers block. Best guess is the start of next week.
Tue Jan 10, 2006 4:34 am
Computer trouble over the weekend + writers block + school = update sometime later this week
I can't really tell you how long it will take. I know where I want to go, but getting there is hard to do atm.
Edit- Also I have exams coming up, meaning I have to spend more time thinking about revision than about the fic.
Edited by - Sybot on 1/10/2006 4:40:07 AM
I can't really tell you how long it will take. I know where I want to go, but getting there is hard to do atm.
Edit- Also I have exams coming up, meaning I have to spend more time thinking about revision than about the fic.
Edited by - Sybot on 1/10/2006 4:40:07 AM
Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:59 am
Finally got Chapter 5 done. No action but plenty of exposition. I had to rewrite the games idea of the Corsair Rite of Passage, which may cause a knock on effect further down the road in terms of their actions.
----------------
Disclaimer: Blablabla (see previous chapters)
Child of the Hispania, by Sybot
Chapter Five: In Brief
“Open fire!” repeated the leader of the boarding Corsairs. The rest of the group took aim, turned off the safety on their pistols, and then…
“Hold fire!” a familiar voice shouted from behind the group. Paulo couldn’t have been more relieved to see Elder Villanueva pushing through the crowd to the front. He stopped at the front of the group and turned to address them. “You would fire on your own! These are clearly fellow Corsairs!”
“Step aside, Elder, we have orders to shoot anybody not from the boarding party who carries a weapon,” responded the lead Corsair.
“Fools!” exclaimed Villanueva, “these Corsairs risked their lives to help you” He indicated the bodies of the defenders that had been killed just minutes beforehand. “And now you want to shoot them!”
“They could be pretending to be Corsairs, Elder, we shouldn’t take the chance,” said the Corsair, sounding calmer than the Elder. Paulo was worried this might convince the other Corsairs in that group to side with him.
“Nonsense!” said Villanueva loudly, “I can vouch for them. I even know one of them personally!” He turned and marched towards the group. Paulo was grateful that his presence had saved them, when suddenly Villanueva walked straight passed him, ignoring the young Corsair, and stood in front of Mendez. “Mendez!” he announced, “its good to see you!”
“Mendez?” exclaimed the lead Corsair, sounding both shocked and amazed, “I thought you were dead, we all did! Y..you look so different, I didn’t recognise you!”
“Its lucky then that Munio here had the sense to not try and shoot us!” Mendez said angrily at the lead Corsair.
“S…s...sorry sir,” stuttered the lead Corsair, slowly backing away. He quickly composed himself, realising his team was watching, then twisted around and started back through the crowd, spouting orders. “That way is clear, everybody follow me. We have more defenders to clear out!”
“Yes, sir!” chorused the rest of the boarding Corsairs as they warily turned and went after him.
“Thank you, Munio. I thought I’d had it then,” Mendez said, his voice suddenly soft. “I can’t believe that mierda pequena didn’t recognise me!” His voice was hard again.
“No need to thank me, anything for a former wingman,” replied Villanueva modestly.
“You flew with Mendez!” Paulo finally had to say something. It was very surprising that a man like Elder Villanueva, who Paulo saw as another old fogey, who had probably bought his place on the Council of Elders rather than earned it through combat.
Villanueva sighed. “Yes, Paulo, I did. It would be wise for you not to speak like that to your Elders in future,” he responded without even turning to look.
“So you did notice me!” Paulo said incredulously.
“Of course, but would it have been better to mention a Corsair well known by all those who have served with him, or a young man aspiring to be a Corsair? Which one of those would have sated the mob?” Villanueva continued to avoid looking at Paulo.
“Sorry sir…” Paulo muttered.
“That’s better,” said Villanueva. He spun around to reveal a smile on his face. “And now congratulations are in order for you for passing the Rite!”
“Well done!” and similar shouts came from Rogelio and the other Corsairs.
“How do you know passed?” Paulo asked, surprised at this sudden change.
“As your adjudicator, I had to travel just outside of your Centurion’s scanner range. I was slightly concerned when I detected weapons fire from inside the Graveyard, but you made it out in one of the Dead Ships and were on course out of the cloud, so I knew you were safe”
“You just stood by while I was attacked and when the Bounty Hunters took me!” yelled Paulo, suddenly getting very angry. It was the same rage that had took when he beat The Boss to death.
“I couldn’t interfere when you were attacked! It is the rules. If you died, you died. As for the Bounty Hunters, I would have fought them off had there not been five of them in Hammerheads and me in my lone Titan. All I could do was watch and call for help. When it arrived, you had been taken and your ship was left drifting, except for a single Artifact in the hold. Therefore, you passed, welcome to the ranks of the Corsairs.” At Villanueva’s words, Paulo (who had been held back by Mendez during the Elder’s explanation) began to calm down.
“Thank you…” mumbled Paulo, embarrassed at the anger he had displayed in front of everybody.
“At least you’re showing some manners now,” said Villanueva. He started down a corridor. “Mendez, gather up the rest of your people and meet me in the main hanger bay” Then he walked off, apparently ignoring the weapons fire that could be heard in the far off reaches of the station.
Mendez was able to find a few of the Corsairs that he’d ordered to split up. Unfortunately they reported the deaths of two of their fellow escapees. Even as the sounds of battle began to die down across the station, the group arrived at the main hanger. It was filled with Titans and a few of those ships Paulo didn’t recognise from before. They were large and bulky, like a Freighter, but armed with many guns and launchers, perhaps more than a Titan. The guns were mounted on short wings that jutted out of the main bulk at regular intervals along its length. A cockpit jutted out at the front/
“That’s a hell of a ship,” muttered Rogelio as they stepped into the shadow of one.
“Imagine flying it. I bet you could take on a whole fleet of Bounty Hunters with one of these,” Paulo said in amazement.
“Hey there!” Elder Villanueva was standing at a hatch leading inside the one they were walking past. “Let me introduce you to the Cataphract-Class Troop Transport. Think of it as a cross between a Freighter and Gunboat. I’m sure you would all like to see inside”
“Sure,” said Mendez, trying to ignore Rogelio’s enthusiastic nodding.
“Follow me,” Villanueva said as he climbed into the hatch. Inside was basically a giant barracks. Up each wall were several levels. Each housed rows of beds, presumably for the troops it was carrying. In the centre were crates filled with rations, weapons, explosives; everything a soldier would need. They went up to the front of the ship, entering a door labelled ‘Command Centre’. Two Corsair guards stiffened in salute as Villanueva passed by. The inside of the Command Centre was filled with consoles, all with valuable data on them. They entered a door to one side that led to a small conference room. The group crowded inside and the door closed behind them.
“What is all this, Munio?” asked Mendez, leaning forward on the conference desk. The dim light making him look more menacing.
“I am about to fill you in on what has been happening in the time since you all were captured. What you are about to hear is not to be talked about outside of the Corsairs. Not even to civilians on Crete.” This sounded serious. Paulo certainly felt events were getting far larger than just him. “Before the Bounty Hunters got you, I’m sure you heard rumours about a project called ‘The Road to Rheinland’”
“Of course!” Mendez slammed a fist on the table. “Before I was captured, I took part in meetings with the top Elders on Leon to discuss this”
“Yes, anyway, the plan is simple. The complete and utter extermination of the Red Hessians,” continued Villanueva. Surprised mutters came from the rest of the Corsairs. The Elder pressed a button and a holographic map of the Sirius Sector appeared in the centre of the table. It zoomed in until only Rheinland, the Sigma and Omega Systems, and the Corsair systems were visible.
“Our fleet will split into two parts. The North Fleet will concentrate on eliminating the Junkers in Sigma-13 and New Berlin. This is to honour our agreement with the Hogosha. If we do this for them, they will get the Kusari Navy to increase pressure on the Outcasts and keep them off our backs. The North Fleet will then move through Rheinland. The primary targets are the Bundshuch in Frankfurt and all Police bases in Frankfurt and New Berlin.” The hologram displayed a red arrow sweeping out of Sigma-17 and into Sigma-13, Frankfurt and New Berlin, before continuing to Dresden.
“The South Fleet will eliminate the Red Hessian presence in Omega-11, hopefully drawing away some of the defenders from Ronneburg. Then we will destroy that base and end the war in Omega-5 once and for all.” The hologram displayed a second red arrow that came out of Omega-41 before splitting into two to hit Omega-5 and Omega-11 and joining together again for an attack on Dresden. “The two fleets will meet in Dresden and destroy the Hessian headquarters, which is rumoured to be in that system.”
Two more arrows appeared, these ones blue. One lead from Stuttgart into New Berlin, and another lead into Sigma-13 from Honshu. “These are the only major threats. The Hogosha have made no promises about holding back the GMG, and there is always the risk of what is left of the Rheinland Military launching a counter-attack. However these risks have been deemed acceptable. The only situation in which we may abandon our plan is if Rheinland somehow gets the other Houses to help fight us. This is unlikely considering the war they waged against Liberty and Kusari just two years ago” The hologram disappeared and the lights came up to full brightness.
“Well…you can’t say it isn’t ambitious,” said one of the other Corsairs.
“This is going to be fun,” grinned Mendez.
“I suggest you all get some rest, the attack on Yanagi is planned to begin tomorrow,” Villanueva said above the chatter of the group.
“Yes, Elder,” they chorused, and marched out of the room as best they could considering its small size. Just two Corsairs still stood there. Mendez looked at Paulo, then back to Villanueva.
“I think he wants to talk to you, Munio,” he said.
“Thank you Mendez,” Villanueva replied, waving the Corsair away. Mendez nodded and left the room. “What is it Paulo?”
“I was wondering Elder, when I was in the Graveyard I was attacked by strange ships, were they part of the Rite?” the young man asked.
“More the Rite was set there because of them. We call them the Spirits, but recently there have been sightings in the Houses of similar ships, which they called Nomads. They are considered the primary obstacle in the Rite. For our purposes, they teach you humility. By forcing you to flee rather than fight, they show that you are not the greatest pilot in the galaxy. Those who are not good enough to flee or those who foolishly fight are killed, ensuring the Corsairs are amongst the best yet not over arrogant. Collecting the artifact was merely a test of your ability to follow orders under pressure”
“I see,” replied Paulo. He wasn’t about to mention that he had tried to ‘foolishly fight’ them.
“But you passed. Now you are part of the best military force in Sirius. Welcome aboard!”
“Thank you, Sir!” exclaimed Paulo, snapping to a salute, “there is a favour I would like to ask of you, Sir”
“I guess you’re owed one seeing as you helped tremendously in the battle earlier. Go on…”
An hour later they arrived at the cellblock where the Corsairs had been held. Several guards patrolled the corridor. Cells previously holding criminals were now holding prisoners taken in the last battle, with a few exceptions.
“This one?” asked Villanueva, indicating the cell of Menito Tieren, the Outcast who had helped comfort Paulo during the first few hours of his detention.
“Yes,” Paulo answered. The emaciated Outcast perked up at this. “The least he deserves for all he helped me through is to return to his people”
“Hey, that’s right!” Menito pulled himself to his feet.
“I suppose so,” grumbled Villanueva. It was clear he didn’t like releasing a prisoner from a rival faction.
“Our only quarrel with them is territorial, we should at least show some compassion to our fellow Hispanics, especially after what the Bounty Hunters, our mutual enemy, have done to him,” Paulo said.
“Hey, very deep Paulo, very deep” Menito said with a huge smile, “I too think that the Children of the Hispania should stick together” A few moments later, Villanueva nodded to a guard, who deactivated the electric bars and shut down Menito’s stun cuffs. “I knew I could count on you kid,” he said as he pushed open the bars and walked into the corridor. He patted Paulo on the shoulder then limped to the guards waiting to escort him.
“Why does he get to go! What about the rest of us!” yelled one of the other Outcasts still imprisoned.
“Humanitarian grounds,” chuckled one of the guards. He activated the stun cuffs, causing the Outcast to writhe around in agony, wearing a sadistic grin that Paulo thought was unsettlingly like The Boss’.
“Give him a basic ship and lock its course to the Omicron Beta jumphole. He can go from there,” ordered Villanueva. The guards responded affirmatively and nudged Menito to get him the direction of the exit. As they were walking out, Menito looked over his shoulder.
“Hey, Paulo, keep in touch! Maybe we’ll meet again sometime!” the Outcast shouted as they rounded the corner.
----------------
If you want to know, the bits that were holding me up were the conversations between Paulo and Villanueva, since I didn’t quite know how either would react to the Nomads (ending up with me changing the Rite of Passage) and Paulo’s capture, and the bit at the end with Menito (lol only now do I realise I have created 3 major characters whose names begin with M). Since the latter sets up stuff for later in the story, I wanted to get it right.
Chapter 6 will be back to battle as the Corsairs mount an assault on Yanagi Base.
----------------
Disclaimer: Blablabla (see previous chapters)
Child of the Hispania, by Sybot
Chapter Five: In Brief
“Open fire!” repeated the leader of the boarding Corsairs. The rest of the group took aim, turned off the safety on their pistols, and then…
“Hold fire!” a familiar voice shouted from behind the group. Paulo couldn’t have been more relieved to see Elder Villanueva pushing through the crowd to the front. He stopped at the front of the group and turned to address them. “You would fire on your own! These are clearly fellow Corsairs!”
“Step aside, Elder, we have orders to shoot anybody not from the boarding party who carries a weapon,” responded the lead Corsair.
“Fools!” exclaimed Villanueva, “these Corsairs risked their lives to help you” He indicated the bodies of the defenders that had been killed just minutes beforehand. “And now you want to shoot them!”
“They could be pretending to be Corsairs, Elder, we shouldn’t take the chance,” said the Corsair, sounding calmer than the Elder. Paulo was worried this might convince the other Corsairs in that group to side with him.
“Nonsense!” said Villanueva loudly, “I can vouch for them. I even know one of them personally!” He turned and marched towards the group. Paulo was grateful that his presence had saved them, when suddenly Villanueva walked straight passed him, ignoring the young Corsair, and stood in front of Mendez. “Mendez!” he announced, “its good to see you!”
“Mendez?” exclaimed the lead Corsair, sounding both shocked and amazed, “I thought you were dead, we all did! Y..you look so different, I didn’t recognise you!”
“Its lucky then that Munio here had the sense to not try and shoot us!” Mendez said angrily at the lead Corsair.
“S…s...sorry sir,” stuttered the lead Corsair, slowly backing away. He quickly composed himself, realising his team was watching, then twisted around and started back through the crowd, spouting orders. “That way is clear, everybody follow me. We have more defenders to clear out!”
“Yes, sir!” chorused the rest of the boarding Corsairs as they warily turned and went after him.
“Thank you, Munio. I thought I’d had it then,” Mendez said, his voice suddenly soft. “I can’t believe that mierda pequena didn’t recognise me!” His voice was hard again.
“No need to thank me, anything for a former wingman,” replied Villanueva modestly.
“You flew with Mendez!” Paulo finally had to say something. It was very surprising that a man like Elder Villanueva, who Paulo saw as another old fogey, who had probably bought his place on the Council of Elders rather than earned it through combat.
Villanueva sighed. “Yes, Paulo, I did. It would be wise for you not to speak like that to your Elders in future,” he responded without even turning to look.
“So you did notice me!” Paulo said incredulously.
“Of course, but would it have been better to mention a Corsair well known by all those who have served with him, or a young man aspiring to be a Corsair? Which one of those would have sated the mob?” Villanueva continued to avoid looking at Paulo.
“Sorry sir…” Paulo muttered.
“That’s better,” said Villanueva. He spun around to reveal a smile on his face. “And now congratulations are in order for you for passing the Rite!”
“Well done!” and similar shouts came from Rogelio and the other Corsairs.
“How do you know passed?” Paulo asked, surprised at this sudden change.
“As your adjudicator, I had to travel just outside of your Centurion’s scanner range. I was slightly concerned when I detected weapons fire from inside the Graveyard, but you made it out in one of the Dead Ships and were on course out of the cloud, so I knew you were safe”
“You just stood by while I was attacked and when the Bounty Hunters took me!” yelled Paulo, suddenly getting very angry. It was the same rage that had took when he beat The Boss to death.
“I couldn’t interfere when you were attacked! It is the rules. If you died, you died. As for the Bounty Hunters, I would have fought them off had there not been five of them in Hammerheads and me in my lone Titan. All I could do was watch and call for help. When it arrived, you had been taken and your ship was left drifting, except for a single Artifact in the hold. Therefore, you passed, welcome to the ranks of the Corsairs.” At Villanueva’s words, Paulo (who had been held back by Mendez during the Elder’s explanation) began to calm down.
“Thank you…” mumbled Paulo, embarrassed at the anger he had displayed in front of everybody.
“At least you’re showing some manners now,” said Villanueva. He started down a corridor. “Mendez, gather up the rest of your people and meet me in the main hanger bay” Then he walked off, apparently ignoring the weapons fire that could be heard in the far off reaches of the station.
Mendez was able to find a few of the Corsairs that he’d ordered to split up. Unfortunately they reported the deaths of two of their fellow escapees. Even as the sounds of battle began to die down across the station, the group arrived at the main hanger. It was filled with Titans and a few of those ships Paulo didn’t recognise from before. They were large and bulky, like a Freighter, but armed with many guns and launchers, perhaps more than a Titan. The guns were mounted on short wings that jutted out of the main bulk at regular intervals along its length. A cockpit jutted out at the front/
“That’s a hell of a ship,” muttered Rogelio as they stepped into the shadow of one.
“Imagine flying it. I bet you could take on a whole fleet of Bounty Hunters with one of these,” Paulo said in amazement.
“Hey there!” Elder Villanueva was standing at a hatch leading inside the one they were walking past. “Let me introduce you to the Cataphract-Class Troop Transport. Think of it as a cross between a Freighter and Gunboat. I’m sure you would all like to see inside”
“Sure,” said Mendez, trying to ignore Rogelio’s enthusiastic nodding.
“Follow me,” Villanueva said as he climbed into the hatch. Inside was basically a giant barracks. Up each wall were several levels. Each housed rows of beds, presumably for the troops it was carrying. In the centre were crates filled with rations, weapons, explosives; everything a soldier would need. They went up to the front of the ship, entering a door labelled ‘Command Centre’. Two Corsair guards stiffened in salute as Villanueva passed by. The inside of the Command Centre was filled with consoles, all with valuable data on them. They entered a door to one side that led to a small conference room. The group crowded inside and the door closed behind them.
“What is all this, Munio?” asked Mendez, leaning forward on the conference desk. The dim light making him look more menacing.
“I am about to fill you in on what has been happening in the time since you all were captured. What you are about to hear is not to be talked about outside of the Corsairs. Not even to civilians on Crete.” This sounded serious. Paulo certainly felt events were getting far larger than just him. “Before the Bounty Hunters got you, I’m sure you heard rumours about a project called ‘The Road to Rheinland’”
“Of course!” Mendez slammed a fist on the table. “Before I was captured, I took part in meetings with the top Elders on Leon to discuss this”
“Yes, anyway, the plan is simple. The complete and utter extermination of the Red Hessians,” continued Villanueva. Surprised mutters came from the rest of the Corsairs. The Elder pressed a button and a holographic map of the Sirius Sector appeared in the centre of the table. It zoomed in until only Rheinland, the Sigma and Omega Systems, and the Corsair systems were visible.
“Our fleet will split into two parts. The North Fleet will concentrate on eliminating the Junkers in Sigma-13 and New Berlin. This is to honour our agreement with the Hogosha. If we do this for them, they will get the Kusari Navy to increase pressure on the Outcasts and keep them off our backs. The North Fleet will then move through Rheinland. The primary targets are the Bundshuch in Frankfurt and all Police bases in Frankfurt and New Berlin.” The hologram displayed a red arrow sweeping out of Sigma-17 and into Sigma-13, Frankfurt and New Berlin, before continuing to Dresden.
“The South Fleet will eliminate the Red Hessian presence in Omega-11, hopefully drawing away some of the defenders from Ronneburg. Then we will destroy that base and end the war in Omega-5 once and for all.” The hologram displayed a second red arrow that came out of Omega-41 before splitting into two to hit Omega-5 and Omega-11 and joining together again for an attack on Dresden. “The two fleets will meet in Dresden and destroy the Hessian headquarters, which is rumoured to be in that system.”
Two more arrows appeared, these ones blue. One lead from Stuttgart into New Berlin, and another lead into Sigma-13 from Honshu. “These are the only major threats. The Hogosha have made no promises about holding back the GMG, and there is always the risk of what is left of the Rheinland Military launching a counter-attack. However these risks have been deemed acceptable. The only situation in which we may abandon our plan is if Rheinland somehow gets the other Houses to help fight us. This is unlikely considering the war they waged against Liberty and Kusari just two years ago” The hologram disappeared and the lights came up to full brightness.
“Well…you can’t say it isn’t ambitious,” said one of the other Corsairs.
“This is going to be fun,” grinned Mendez.
“I suggest you all get some rest, the attack on Yanagi is planned to begin tomorrow,” Villanueva said above the chatter of the group.
“Yes, Elder,” they chorused, and marched out of the room as best they could considering its small size. Just two Corsairs still stood there. Mendez looked at Paulo, then back to Villanueva.
“I think he wants to talk to you, Munio,” he said.
“Thank you Mendez,” Villanueva replied, waving the Corsair away. Mendez nodded and left the room. “What is it Paulo?”
“I was wondering Elder, when I was in the Graveyard I was attacked by strange ships, were they part of the Rite?” the young man asked.
“More the Rite was set there because of them. We call them the Spirits, but recently there have been sightings in the Houses of similar ships, which they called Nomads. They are considered the primary obstacle in the Rite. For our purposes, they teach you humility. By forcing you to flee rather than fight, they show that you are not the greatest pilot in the galaxy. Those who are not good enough to flee or those who foolishly fight are killed, ensuring the Corsairs are amongst the best yet not over arrogant. Collecting the artifact was merely a test of your ability to follow orders under pressure”
“I see,” replied Paulo. He wasn’t about to mention that he had tried to ‘foolishly fight’ them.
“But you passed. Now you are part of the best military force in Sirius. Welcome aboard!”
“Thank you, Sir!” exclaimed Paulo, snapping to a salute, “there is a favour I would like to ask of you, Sir”
“I guess you’re owed one seeing as you helped tremendously in the battle earlier. Go on…”
An hour later they arrived at the cellblock where the Corsairs had been held. Several guards patrolled the corridor. Cells previously holding criminals were now holding prisoners taken in the last battle, with a few exceptions.
“This one?” asked Villanueva, indicating the cell of Menito Tieren, the Outcast who had helped comfort Paulo during the first few hours of his detention.
“Yes,” Paulo answered. The emaciated Outcast perked up at this. “The least he deserves for all he helped me through is to return to his people”
“Hey, that’s right!” Menito pulled himself to his feet.
“I suppose so,” grumbled Villanueva. It was clear he didn’t like releasing a prisoner from a rival faction.
“Our only quarrel with them is territorial, we should at least show some compassion to our fellow Hispanics, especially after what the Bounty Hunters, our mutual enemy, have done to him,” Paulo said.
“Hey, very deep Paulo, very deep” Menito said with a huge smile, “I too think that the Children of the Hispania should stick together” A few moments later, Villanueva nodded to a guard, who deactivated the electric bars and shut down Menito’s stun cuffs. “I knew I could count on you kid,” he said as he pushed open the bars and walked into the corridor. He patted Paulo on the shoulder then limped to the guards waiting to escort him.
“Why does he get to go! What about the rest of us!” yelled one of the other Outcasts still imprisoned.
“Humanitarian grounds,” chuckled one of the guards. He activated the stun cuffs, causing the Outcast to writhe around in agony, wearing a sadistic grin that Paulo thought was unsettlingly like The Boss’.
“Give him a basic ship and lock its course to the Omicron Beta jumphole. He can go from there,” ordered Villanueva. The guards responded affirmatively and nudged Menito to get him the direction of the exit. As they were walking out, Menito looked over his shoulder.
“Hey, Paulo, keep in touch! Maybe we’ll meet again sometime!” the Outcast shouted as they rounded the corner.
----------------
If you want to know, the bits that were holding me up were the conversations between Paulo and Villanueva, since I didn’t quite know how either would react to the Nomads (ending up with me changing the Rite of Passage) and Paulo’s capture, and the bit at the end with Menito (lol only now do I realise I have created 3 major characters whose names begin with M). Since the latter sets up stuff for later in the story, I wanted to get it right.
Chapter 6 will be back to battle as the Corsairs mount an assault on Yanagi Base.
Fri Jan 13, 2006 1:01 am
Thanks for all the replies.
I really learnt the hard way how to write well. A few years ago I joined a forum where fanfics were judged quite harshly on their writing. This forced me to improve my writing to get approval. Just compare the original chapter I wrote for COTH (link in the first post), which I wrote before I joined those forums, with the ones now.
Also, the great response to this fic has spurred me to start planning a sequel. All I have decided about it at the moment is the overall ending, but I have written a short preview if anybody's interested.
I really learnt the hard way how to write well. A few years ago I joined a forum where fanfics were judged quite harshly on their writing. This forced me to improve my writing to get approval. Just compare the original chapter I wrote for COTH (link in the first post), which I wrote before I joined those forums, with the ones now.
Also, the great response to this fic has spurred me to start planning a sequel. All I have decided about it at the moment is the overall ending, but I have written a short preview if anybody's interested.
Tue Jan 17, 2006 2:05 pm
I managed to finish Chapter 6. Have fun!
----------------
Disclaimer: Blablabla (see previous chapters)
Child of the Hispania, by Sybot
Chapter Six: War in Sigma-13, Part One: Junked
Bed. Launch. Cloud. Aliens. Explosion. Escape. Radiation. Captured. Cell. Pain. Breakout. Beating. Weapons. Battle. Briefing. Release.
A week of memories flooded through Paulo as he relaxed; glad to be back in the cockpit of a Centurion, not fighting in a vicious infantry battle, as he had been just two days earlier. After all the doubts he had felt on that fateful day he had left to complete the Rite, he still found it hard to believe he was now a Corsair heading into battle.
The reports from the front were good. Yesterday early raiding parties had swept in and eliminated the Junker’s perimeter patrols from the Yanagi debris field. Today the main assault was beginning. The Hogosha had promised to send support; apparently they had several wings of CSVs waiting in Honshu. Paulo snorted with laughter at the thought of those slow, ugly ships going into battle. He struggled to hold it in even more when he remembered that’s what they would be fighting. They would be no match for the superior ships and pilots of the Corsairs.
“What’s so funny Collazo?” came the voice of his flight leader. Pedro Botella was a good pilot, but Paulo was still disappointed when he was assigned to him. He had wanted to be part of Mendez’ team, but apparently competition for a place there had been fierce.
“Nothing, Sir,” Paulo replied.
“Good, we need everybo…”
“Sir! We’re approaching the Sigma-13 Jumphole,” Juanita’s voice interrupted Botella in mid sentence. Paulo had got to know Juanita a bit better of the past couple of days. She was a bit to stuck up and arrogant for him to be interested in her, but her experience in Bounty Hunter captivity had humbled her and made her much more likeable as a friend. Apparently she was a member of one of the wealthier Cretan families.
“Roger that,” came four voices at once; Paulo’s, Botella’s, Antonio’s (the final wingman whom Paulo didn’t know very well) and finally the pilot of the Belisarius , one of the first Cataphracts to be produced, which they were now escorting. The three Centurions, one Titan and the Belisarius stopped as they approached the spatial vortex.
“Antonio first,” ordered Botella.
“Got it,” replied Antonio. He powered his engines back up and took his Centurion into the glowing spinning centre of the jumphole. The fighter disappeared. A few tense moments later a broken radio message came back. “…attack…I…they…Hunters…”
“GO!” yelled Botella. Paulo was only too happy to oblige. He put his engines on full thrust and charged into the jumphole.
“****!” Paulo swore with shock coming out of the jumphole. A Barracuda was flying straight at him, barely pulling up in time to avoid a collision with his ship. He quickly took stock of the situation, while pulling crazy evasive moves. At his best guess, there were three, maybe four, Barracudas in the immediate area of the jumphole. A few glimpses of Antonio through the dense blue clouds of the Crow Nebula revealed his ship on fire and dodging wildly.
“Help me!” Antonio’s voice screamed out of his comm. Paulo turned his ship around, leaving the Barracuda that had been tracking him to overshoot badly. He locked onto the nearest Barracuda and opened up with the guns. The Bounty Hunter made a run for it as soon as his shields went down. Paulo ignored him, knowing there were bigger threats. He twisted the ship around 90 degrees awkwardly and managed to spot Antonio again, and this time he could make out the Barracuda just a few hundred metres behind him. He pressed the trigger with all his strength and neutron beams spattered onto the enemy’s shields, causing them to short out. Paulo activated the targeting computer and launched a missile as soon as he had a lock. He wasn’t going to let this one run away. He awaited the satisfaction of a kill whilst watching the missile blaze a pretty trail through the nebula. He didn’t get it. The missile impacted the Barracuda’s shields, knocking them out again but doing no hull damage.
“Damn shield batteries!” he shouted at no one in particular. Suddenly another missile streaked in and finished the job. The explosion was particularly beautiful, as the gases in the nebula mixed in and combusted.
“Need help with that?” came a familiar voice. Paulo could easily imagine the smug grin on Juanita’s face right now. Unfortunately this wasn’t the time for games.
“Thanks Juanita…I guess,” Paulo didn’t really think that was the best comeback, but it would have to do.
“Cut the chatter guys!” came Botella’s voice. Paulo turned back towards the jumphole. Botella and Juanita were stuck in a close furball with two of the Bounty Hunters. He went to help them, but then broke off his attack run when he noticed the spinning jumphole. Something was coming through. Shortly after that the Belisarius arrived, guns blazing. Paulo’s squadron had to move quickly to get out of the line of fire, but one of the Barracudas was not so lucky. It was vaporised by the first volley of beams and rockets. By the time the second volley appeared, there was only empty space where the fighter had been.
“You’re not getting away!” exclaimed Juanita. Her Centurion swung after the surviving Barracuda, firing a continuous stream of beams into the Bounty Hunter. The fighter was totally overwhelmed. An explosion rocked the Barracuda’s side and it spun into an explosive gas pocket, creating a colourful conflagration. Paulo managed to snatch a glimpse of two more Barracudas, including the one he had let flee earlier, before they disappeared into the cloud. He started after them when Botella came onto the comm.
“Let them go, Collazo,” he said.
“Yes, Sir,” Paulo responded disappointedly, stopping his craft and turning back to the group.
“Good, everybody form up on the Belisarius ,” Botella ordered. Paulo and Juanita all took up their positions, but when Antonio moved into position, Botella stopped him. “Your ship is too damaged, return to Freeport 9…”
“Castile Base,” corrected Juanita.
“Fine, return to Castile Base and get it fixed up, we’ll send for you later,” Botella continued, ignoring Juanita’s insubordination.
“Coming through!” a familiar voice exclaimed. The fighters turned to see a Titan charging out of the Sigma-17 Jumphole. After moving out of way, another wing of Centurions and a Cataphract, the Justinian , came through at top speed. “You’ll never get to see the battle if you hang around here,” chuckled the Titan’s pilot.
“Just get going Mendez, I’ve got a damaged wingman to deal with,” Botella replied, groaning in annoyance.
“See you at the rendezvous point,” Mendez said cheerfully. The Justinian and its escorts activated their cruise engines and disappeared into the cloud.
“Stupid arrogant mother…” Botella was muttering under his breath, unaware that the rest of the wing could hear him.
“Sir?” Antonio asked.
“Oh right, get moving Reona,” Botella said, snapping out of his anger.
“Yes, Sir!” Antonio chirped. He moved into the jumphole and disappeared from view.
“Everybody else form up and head to the waypoint”
They did as ordered and the group headed deeper into the cloud. After a few hours, they arrived at the rendezvous point, a point about twenty kilometres east of Helgoland Station.
“That’s a lot of ships…” spluttered Paulo upon picking up the Corsair fleet on his sensors. As they approached the armada, it came into view and its true scale was revealed. At least twenty Cataphracts, and over two hundred fighters, all assembled to begin the assault on Rheinland.
“Presenting the Corsair North Fleet,” Botella announced happily.
“Cool…” was all Juanita could say.
“This is Elder Denaer aboard the Constantine; glad you could make it Belisarius ,” came a voice sarcastically over the comm..
“Sorry about that Constantine, we had some trouble with Bounty Hunters on the way,” replied the pilot of the Belisarius .
“No problem, the Road can be delayed while we hang around waiting for slackers,” sneered Denaer.
“Sorry Elder,” said Botella, cutting into the conversation.
“Good, that’s what I wanted to hear,” said Denaer, no longer sounding as harsh. A beep indicated his switching to address the whole fleet, “and now for the plan. The Justinian and Belisarius will take their assault groups to Helgoland. The Justinian ’s group will hold their position, creating a blockade of the tradelane and acting as a reserve for the Belisarius ’ group. The Belisarius will lead the assault, with the rest of the assault group right behind it. The rest of the fleet will follow the Constantine to Frankfurt and conduct a sweep of the asteroid field where the Bundshuch base is rumoured to be. Once it is located it will be boarded and captured for use as a forward supply base. Is everybody happy with these orders?”
“Yes, Elder,” chorused the Cataphracts. The Fleet began to split up into the assault groups. The Theodora and the Artabasdus joined the Belisarius . Just a short distance away, four other Cataphracts met up with the Justinian .
“Everybody activate cruise engines on my mark,” Mendez’ voice came out of Paulo’s speakers. They did as told, and the two groups sped off towards the station. Paulo spent the next few minutes remembering everything he had learnt. He was sure he’d need it in the coming battle. As they approached Helgoland, a transmission came in.
“Approaching ships, this is Helgoland Station, identify…holy Hell!” The mildly Rheinland-accented voice shouted in shock as the fleet emerged from the clouds on a direct course for the station.
“Helgoland, this is Commander Mendez of the Corsairs, stand down your weapons. Any attempt to stop us will be met with lethal force,” Mendez sounded as calm as lake in summer. Contrastingly, the Helgoland operator was getting increasingly panicky, which was slightly worrying. They had counted on the station submitting immediately.
“But if we do that you’ll attack!” he cried.
“We have no quarrel with you, but we will be blockading the tradelanes until further notice,” Mendez replied.
“Fine, fine,” spluttered the operator, “whatever you want!” Of course, Paulo knew the operator was now frantically calling for backup. His sensors read the weapons on the station and tradelanes deactivating, and all ALG fighters scrambling back into the docking bay.
“Belisarius , you are clear to proceed to Yanagi,” Mendez said.
“Got it Mendez,” responded the pilot of the Belisarius . The assault group split off from the rest and headed into the Yanagi debris field. Radiation monitors beeped in alarm, but Paulo ignored it, knowing it was just residual left over from the reactor cores of Rheinland ships lost in the Battle of Yanagi. As they approached the Depot, a flight of Legionnaires linked up with them.
“Your route is clear, we’ve eliminated most of the perimeter patrols,” communicated one of the pilots. Of course, this had already been reported but better to be safe than sorry.
“Thank you Alpha Wing,” Botella replied. The Legionnaires activated their cruise engines and sped away back towards Helgoland. “Here we go!” They charged directly at the Depot.
“Attention all ships in the area! Hostile craft inbound, all defenders launch!” The voice of the Yanagi operator rang through Paulo’s cockpit. He readied weapons.
“CSVs on the left flank!” shouted the pilot of the Theodora .
“Got it,” replied the head of the Theodora ’s escort wing. The group broke formation and engaged. Beams of destruction lanced across the cloud, explosions of ships and missiles created blinding flares. Paulo tore himself away and focused on the rapidly approaching Yanagi Depot. The defenders were launching as fast as they could fit out of the docking bays.
“All fighters engage, Cataphracts move in once they are thinned out,” Botella ordered.
“Yes, Sir!” exclaimed Paulo and Juanita together, both happy to be back in combat again, and in such a turkey shoot. Their Centurions leapt forward under the power of afterburners, with about eight others right behind them. The CSVs scrambled to form a battle line between the attackers and the station.
“I’ve got a lock!” Juanita shrieked with glee. “Firing!”
“Same here!” Paulo replied, pushing the trigger. Their rockets ploughed through the cloud, leaving a colourful trail of ignited gas in their wake. The nearest four CSVs in the line exploded. They charged through the opening, while the CSVs nearby tried to turn and track them. Then the rest of the fleet hit. CSVs began exploding left and right. Paulo struggled to locate one that wasn’t about to be destroyed.
“More launching!” someone from another wing shouted. Sure enough, a column of Junkers had just left Yanagi. Paulo broke formation with Juanita, letting her go off and blow up something else. One Centurion had already begun its attack run. It strafed the column with its cannons, taking down the shields on three and sending another into a death spiral towards a piece of scrap metal. Unfortunately as it passed, a pair of CSVs broke away from the column and got a lock on the hapless Corsair. Their cannons were inferior to the ones on Paulo’s ship, but they were able to keep up a sustained fire on the Centurion, until it eventually succumbed and exploded.
“No!” yelled Paulo with righteous anger. Breaking away from his own strafing run, he turned to avenge the pilot. The first Junker didn’t even know what hit him. A short burst from Paulo’s blasters followed by a single missile were enough to wipe him from existence. The other noticed his companion’s demise and used his afterburners to quickly dodge out of Paulo’s weapon range. Snarling with frustration, Paulo turned after him. He noticed the Junker was trying to lure him to the Depot, so he decided not to give chase, knowing his ship couldn’t stand the strength of mounted weapons.
“The Artabasdus is under attack!” one of the wing leaders shouted. Paulo looked at his HUD and realised the column he’d stopped attacking had managed to flank the main force and was swarming the Cataphract. He swore at his own stupidity for letting a vendetta get in the way of the battle. The Junker stopped and tracked Paulo speeding away. Paulo could guess his disappointment at not luring a Corsair into the trap. The situation looked bad at the Artabasdus . CSVs were everywhere. Paulo leapt right in, annihilating a CSV with his cannons straight away. Dodging to avoid scrap metal he managed to get behind another CSV that was making a strafing run on the Artabasdus . Paulo made a frenzied attempt to destroy it, but this pilot made cunning use of nanobots and shield batteries to ensure he lasted long enough to launch his payload. A volley of torpedoes sped from his bays, and moments later he went spinning away, his cockpit vaporised by Paulo’s neutron blasters. The Artabasdus tried to dodge to slow moving projectiles, but it was too slow itself, and the impact sent its shields into overload. They flared out in a dazzling blue light and the surviving CSVs began to concentrate their fire on it.
“Hull breach!” cried the pilot of the Artabasdus . Paulo swept down the flank of the Cataphract, forcing all of the attacking CSVs on that side to back away, and even destroying one. As he passed by he could see the grey goo of nanobots covering up the hull breach. Suddenly an explosion burst out of the side of the Artabasdus . Paulo was barely able to dodge the flying shards of metal. It began lolling to one side, a trail of atmosphere flying out of the massive gash in the hull.
“Artabasdus is going down!” Paulo shouted on the general frequency.
“All fighters converge on the Artabasdus and form a defensive field,” Botella dispatched his orders to the assault group.
“Negative,” said the Artabasdus ’s pilot in between coughing and over the noise of alarms in the background, “the damage is too extensive, I’m going to eject.” Before anyone could say anything else, the cockpit broke away from the Cataphract and activated engines of its own. Ignoring it completely, a pair of CSVs poured their fire into the drifting hulk. Explosions thundered through its length, the hull rippling and buckling. Paulo couldn’t watch such a magnificent ship go down. Instead he focused on bringing down the CSV in front of him, which he did in short order. When the Artabasdus came back into view, it was little more than a selection of wreckage. Paulo was glad that it didn’t have its whole complement of infantry onboard, or the tragedy would have been even more pronounced.
“I’m coming into firing range of the station,” said the Belisarius ’ pilot. Eager to see a Cataphract in action, Paulo ploughed back into the main battle. By now there were only a few CSVs left, but these were the Junker’s best pilots, and they were putting up a good fight. Paulo only had to stop briefly to knock a Junker off the tail of one of his comrades, and then he had a clear view to the Belisarius . “Powering up weapons,” the pilot said excitedly. He must have been happy about using his weapons at full power for the first time.
“Hang on!” shouted a female Corsair voice from somewhere near the back of the battle, “I’m picking up new contact, lots of them!”
“By the Hispania…” Botella gasped. Paulo turned away from the Belisarius and saw a terrifying sight. A fleet of ships was approaching in cruise mode. There were at least twice as many of them as there were Corsairs. As they got closer it became obvious that they were Civilian-Class ships, ranging from Hawks to Eagles. Their ID tags read GMG.
“Corsair forces,” came the voice a distinctively Kusari man, “on the order of the GMG you are to withdraw from Sigma-13. You are no match for us. We have already driven away your backup at Helgoland. Leave or die”
----------------
Done. Phew, that was the longest chapter yet. Half my January exams are done now, so I should have more time to write now. Expect the next chapter by the end of the week.
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Disclaimer: Blablabla (see previous chapters)
Child of the Hispania, by Sybot
Chapter Six: War in Sigma-13, Part One: Junked
Bed. Launch. Cloud. Aliens. Explosion. Escape. Radiation. Captured. Cell. Pain. Breakout. Beating. Weapons. Battle. Briefing. Release.
A week of memories flooded through Paulo as he relaxed; glad to be back in the cockpit of a Centurion, not fighting in a vicious infantry battle, as he had been just two days earlier. After all the doubts he had felt on that fateful day he had left to complete the Rite, he still found it hard to believe he was now a Corsair heading into battle.
The reports from the front were good. Yesterday early raiding parties had swept in and eliminated the Junker’s perimeter patrols from the Yanagi debris field. Today the main assault was beginning. The Hogosha had promised to send support; apparently they had several wings of CSVs waiting in Honshu. Paulo snorted with laughter at the thought of those slow, ugly ships going into battle. He struggled to hold it in even more when he remembered that’s what they would be fighting. They would be no match for the superior ships and pilots of the Corsairs.
“What’s so funny Collazo?” came the voice of his flight leader. Pedro Botella was a good pilot, but Paulo was still disappointed when he was assigned to him. He had wanted to be part of Mendez’ team, but apparently competition for a place there had been fierce.
“Nothing, Sir,” Paulo replied.
“Good, we need everybo…”
“Sir! We’re approaching the Sigma-13 Jumphole,” Juanita’s voice interrupted Botella in mid sentence. Paulo had got to know Juanita a bit better of the past couple of days. She was a bit to stuck up and arrogant for him to be interested in her, but her experience in Bounty Hunter captivity had humbled her and made her much more likeable as a friend. Apparently she was a member of one of the wealthier Cretan families.
“Roger that,” came four voices at once; Paulo’s, Botella’s, Antonio’s (the final wingman whom Paulo didn’t know very well) and finally the pilot of the Belisarius , one of the first Cataphracts to be produced, which they were now escorting. The three Centurions, one Titan and the Belisarius stopped as they approached the spatial vortex.
“Antonio first,” ordered Botella.
“Got it,” replied Antonio. He powered his engines back up and took his Centurion into the glowing spinning centre of the jumphole. The fighter disappeared. A few tense moments later a broken radio message came back. “…attack…I…they…Hunters…”
“GO!” yelled Botella. Paulo was only too happy to oblige. He put his engines on full thrust and charged into the jumphole.
“****!” Paulo swore with shock coming out of the jumphole. A Barracuda was flying straight at him, barely pulling up in time to avoid a collision with his ship. He quickly took stock of the situation, while pulling crazy evasive moves. At his best guess, there were three, maybe four, Barracudas in the immediate area of the jumphole. A few glimpses of Antonio through the dense blue clouds of the Crow Nebula revealed his ship on fire and dodging wildly.
“Help me!” Antonio’s voice screamed out of his comm. Paulo turned his ship around, leaving the Barracuda that had been tracking him to overshoot badly. He locked onto the nearest Barracuda and opened up with the guns. The Bounty Hunter made a run for it as soon as his shields went down. Paulo ignored him, knowing there were bigger threats. He twisted the ship around 90 degrees awkwardly and managed to spot Antonio again, and this time he could make out the Barracuda just a few hundred metres behind him. He pressed the trigger with all his strength and neutron beams spattered onto the enemy’s shields, causing them to short out. Paulo activated the targeting computer and launched a missile as soon as he had a lock. He wasn’t going to let this one run away. He awaited the satisfaction of a kill whilst watching the missile blaze a pretty trail through the nebula. He didn’t get it. The missile impacted the Barracuda’s shields, knocking them out again but doing no hull damage.
“Damn shield batteries!” he shouted at no one in particular. Suddenly another missile streaked in and finished the job. The explosion was particularly beautiful, as the gases in the nebula mixed in and combusted.
“Need help with that?” came a familiar voice. Paulo could easily imagine the smug grin on Juanita’s face right now. Unfortunately this wasn’t the time for games.
“Thanks Juanita…I guess,” Paulo didn’t really think that was the best comeback, but it would have to do.
“Cut the chatter guys!” came Botella’s voice. Paulo turned back towards the jumphole. Botella and Juanita were stuck in a close furball with two of the Bounty Hunters. He went to help them, but then broke off his attack run when he noticed the spinning jumphole. Something was coming through. Shortly after that the Belisarius arrived, guns blazing. Paulo’s squadron had to move quickly to get out of the line of fire, but one of the Barracudas was not so lucky. It was vaporised by the first volley of beams and rockets. By the time the second volley appeared, there was only empty space where the fighter had been.
“You’re not getting away!” exclaimed Juanita. Her Centurion swung after the surviving Barracuda, firing a continuous stream of beams into the Bounty Hunter. The fighter was totally overwhelmed. An explosion rocked the Barracuda’s side and it spun into an explosive gas pocket, creating a colourful conflagration. Paulo managed to snatch a glimpse of two more Barracudas, including the one he had let flee earlier, before they disappeared into the cloud. He started after them when Botella came onto the comm.
“Let them go, Collazo,” he said.
“Yes, Sir,” Paulo responded disappointedly, stopping his craft and turning back to the group.
“Good, everybody form up on the Belisarius ,” Botella ordered. Paulo and Juanita all took up their positions, but when Antonio moved into position, Botella stopped him. “Your ship is too damaged, return to Freeport 9…”
“Castile Base,” corrected Juanita.
“Fine, return to Castile Base and get it fixed up, we’ll send for you later,” Botella continued, ignoring Juanita’s insubordination.
“Coming through!” a familiar voice exclaimed. The fighters turned to see a Titan charging out of the Sigma-17 Jumphole. After moving out of way, another wing of Centurions and a Cataphract, the Justinian , came through at top speed. “You’ll never get to see the battle if you hang around here,” chuckled the Titan’s pilot.
“Just get going Mendez, I’ve got a damaged wingman to deal with,” Botella replied, groaning in annoyance.
“See you at the rendezvous point,” Mendez said cheerfully. The Justinian and its escorts activated their cruise engines and disappeared into the cloud.
“Stupid arrogant mother…” Botella was muttering under his breath, unaware that the rest of the wing could hear him.
“Sir?” Antonio asked.
“Oh right, get moving Reona,” Botella said, snapping out of his anger.
“Yes, Sir!” Antonio chirped. He moved into the jumphole and disappeared from view.
“Everybody else form up and head to the waypoint”
They did as ordered and the group headed deeper into the cloud. After a few hours, they arrived at the rendezvous point, a point about twenty kilometres east of Helgoland Station.
“That’s a lot of ships…” spluttered Paulo upon picking up the Corsair fleet on his sensors. As they approached the armada, it came into view and its true scale was revealed. At least twenty Cataphracts, and over two hundred fighters, all assembled to begin the assault on Rheinland.
“Presenting the Corsair North Fleet,” Botella announced happily.
“Cool…” was all Juanita could say.
“This is Elder Denaer aboard the Constantine; glad you could make it Belisarius ,” came a voice sarcastically over the comm..
“Sorry about that Constantine, we had some trouble with Bounty Hunters on the way,” replied the pilot of the Belisarius .
“No problem, the Road can be delayed while we hang around waiting for slackers,” sneered Denaer.
“Sorry Elder,” said Botella, cutting into the conversation.
“Good, that’s what I wanted to hear,” said Denaer, no longer sounding as harsh. A beep indicated his switching to address the whole fleet, “and now for the plan. The Justinian and Belisarius will take their assault groups to Helgoland. The Justinian ’s group will hold their position, creating a blockade of the tradelane and acting as a reserve for the Belisarius ’ group. The Belisarius will lead the assault, with the rest of the assault group right behind it. The rest of the fleet will follow the Constantine to Frankfurt and conduct a sweep of the asteroid field where the Bundshuch base is rumoured to be. Once it is located it will be boarded and captured for use as a forward supply base. Is everybody happy with these orders?”
“Yes, Elder,” chorused the Cataphracts. The Fleet began to split up into the assault groups. The Theodora and the Artabasdus joined the Belisarius . Just a short distance away, four other Cataphracts met up with the Justinian .
“Everybody activate cruise engines on my mark,” Mendez’ voice came out of Paulo’s speakers. They did as told, and the two groups sped off towards the station. Paulo spent the next few minutes remembering everything he had learnt. He was sure he’d need it in the coming battle. As they approached Helgoland, a transmission came in.
“Approaching ships, this is Helgoland Station, identify…holy Hell!” The mildly Rheinland-accented voice shouted in shock as the fleet emerged from the clouds on a direct course for the station.
“Helgoland, this is Commander Mendez of the Corsairs, stand down your weapons. Any attempt to stop us will be met with lethal force,” Mendez sounded as calm as lake in summer. Contrastingly, the Helgoland operator was getting increasingly panicky, which was slightly worrying. They had counted on the station submitting immediately.
“But if we do that you’ll attack!” he cried.
“We have no quarrel with you, but we will be blockading the tradelanes until further notice,” Mendez replied.
“Fine, fine,” spluttered the operator, “whatever you want!” Of course, Paulo knew the operator was now frantically calling for backup. His sensors read the weapons on the station and tradelanes deactivating, and all ALG fighters scrambling back into the docking bay.
“Belisarius , you are clear to proceed to Yanagi,” Mendez said.
“Got it Mendez,” responded the pilot of the Belisarius . The assault group split off from the rest and headed into the Yanagi debris field. Radiation monitors beeped in alarm, but Paulo ignored it, knowing it was just residual left over from the reactor cores of Rheinland ships lost in the Battle of Yanagi. As they approached the Depot, a flight of Legionnaires linked up with them.
“Your route is clear, we’ve eliminated most of the perimeter patrols,” communicated one of the pilots. Of course, this had already been reported but better to be safe than sorry.
“Thank you Alpha Wing,” Botella replied. The Legionnaires activated their cruise engines and sped away back towards Helgoland. “Here we go!” They charged directly at the Depot.
“Attention all ships in the area! Hostile craft inbound, all defenders launch!” The voice of the Yanagi operator rang through Paulo’s cockpit. He readied weapons.
“CSVs on the left flank!” shouted the pilot of the Theodora .
“Got it,” replied the head of the Theodora ’s escort wing. The group broke formation and engaged. Beams of destruction lanced across the cloud, explosions of ships and missiles created blinding flares. Paulo tore himself away and focused on the rapidly approaching Yanagi Depot. The defenders were launching as fast as they could fit out of the docking bays.
“All fighters engage, Cataphracts move in once they are thinned out,” Botella ordered.
“Yes, Sir!” exclaimed Paulo and Juanita together, both happy to be back in combat again, and in such a turkey shoot. Their Centurions leapt forward under the power of afterburners, with about eight others right behind them. The CSVs scrambled to form a battle line between the attackers and the station.
“I’ve got a lock!” Juanita shrieked with glee. “Firing!”
“Same here!” Paulo replied, pushing the trigger. Their rockets ploughed through the cloud, leaving a colourful trail of ignited gas in their wake. The nearest four CSVs in the line exploded. They charged through the opening, while the CSVs nearby tried to turn and track them. Then the rest of the fleet hit. CSVs began exploding left and right. Paulo struggled to locate one that wasn’t about to be destroyed.
“More launching!” someone from another wing shouted. Sure enough, a column of Junkers had just left Yanagi. Paulo broke formation with Juanita, letting her go off and blow up something else. One Centurion had already begun its attack run. It strafed the column with its cannons, taking down the shields on three and sending another into a death spiral towards a piece of scrap metal. Unfortunately as it passed, a pair of CSVs broke away from the column and got a lock on the hapless Corsair. Their cannons were inferior to the ones on Paulo’s ship, but they were able to keep up a sustained fire on the Centurion, until it eventually succumbed and exploded.
“No!” yelled Paulo with righteous anger. Breaking away from his own strafing run, he turned to avenge the pilot. The first Junker didn’t even know what hit him. A short burst from Paulo’s blasters followed by a single missile were enough to wipe him from existence. The other noticed his companion’s demise and used his afterburners to quickly dodge out of Paulo’s weapon range. Snarling with frustration, Paulo turned after him. He noticed the Junker was trying to lure him to the Depot, so he decided not to give chase, knowing his ship couldn’t stand the strength of mounted weapons.
“The Artabasdus is under attack!” one of the wing leaders shouted. Paulo looked at his HUD and realised the column he’d stopped attacking had managed to flank the main force and was swarming the Cataphract. He swore at his own stupidity for letting a vendetta get in the way of the battle. The Junker stopped and tracked Paulo speeding away. Paulo could guess his disappointment at not luring a Corsair into the trap. The situation looked bad at the Artabasdus . CSVs were everywhere. Paulo leapt right in, annihilating a CSV with his cannons straight away. Dodging to avoid scrap metal he managed to get behind another CSV that was making a strafing run on the Artabasdus . Paulo made a frenzied attempt to destroy it, but this pilot made cunning use of nanobots and shield batteries to ensure he lasted long enough to launch his payload. A volley of torpedoes sped from his bays, and moments later he went spinning away, his cockpit vaporised by Paulo’s neutron blasters. The Artabasdus tried to dodge to slow moving projectiles, but it was too slow itself, and the impact sent its shields into overload. They flared out in a dazzling blue light and the surviving CSVs began to concentrate their fire on it.
“Hull breach!” cried the pilot of the Artabasdus . Paulo swept down the flank of the Cataphract, forcing all of the attacking CSVs on that side to back away, and even destroying one. As he passed by he could see the grey goo of nanobots covering up the hull breach. Suddenly an explosion burst out of the side of the Artabasdus . Paulo was barely able to dodge the flying shards of metal. It began lolling to one side, a trail of atmosphere flying out of the massive gash in the hull.
“Artabasdus is going down!” Paulo shouted on the general frequency.
“All fighters converge on the Artabasdus and form a defensive field,” Botella dispatched his orders to the assault group.
“Negative,” said the Artabasdus ’s pilot in between coughing and over the noise of alarms in the background, “the damage is too extensive, I’m going to eject.” Before anyone could say anything else, the cockpit broke away from the Cataphract and activated engines of its own. Ignoring it completely, a pair of CSVs poured their fire into the drifting hulk. Explosions thundered through its length, the hull rippling and buckling. Paulo couldn’t watch such a magnificent ship go down. Instead he focused on bringing down the CSV in front of him, which he did in short order. When the Artabasdus came back into view, it was little more than a selection of wreckage. Paulo was glad that it didn’t have its whole complement of infantry onboard, or the tragedy would have been even more pronounced.
“I’m coming into firing range of the station,” said the Belisarius ’ pilot. Eager to see a Cataphract in action, Paulo ploughed back into the main battle. By now there were only a few CSVs left, but these were the Junker’s best pilots, and they were putting up a good fight. Paulo only had to stop briefly to knock a Junker off the tail of one of his comrades, and then he had a clear view to the Belisarius . “Powering up weapons,” the pilot said excitedly. He must have been happy about using his weapons at full power for the first time.
“Hang on!” shouted a female Corsair voice from somewhere near the back of the battle, “I’m picking up new contact, lots of them!”
“By the Hispania…” Botella gasped. Paulo turned away from the Belisarius and saw a terrifying sight. A fleet of ships was approaching in cruise mode. There were at least twice as many of them as there were Corsairs. As they got closer it became obvious that they were Civilian-Class ships, ranging from Hawks to Eagles. Their ID tags read GMG.
“Corsair forces,” came the voice a distinctively Kusari man, “on the order of the GMG you are to withdraw from Sigma-13. You are no match for us. We have already driven away your backup at Helgoland. Leave or die”
----------------
Done. Phew, that was the longest chapter yet. Half my January exams are done now, so I should have more time to write now. Expect the next chapter by the end of the week.
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