Here it is, fresh off the grill. Chapter 2. This one is shorter than the first, and even in my opinion it's not nearly as good. I'm still in the intro, but once I've introduced the characters and gotten everything set up, expect the chapters to flow more smoothly. I'm almost done with the intro, I only have a couple more characters to bring in, then the story can really get started.

But enough of that for now. Just read it and enjoy it. Here it is.

The Sovereignty

Chapter 2:

Twenty-two year old Paul Walker sat on his bed in his tiny crap hole apartment, holding his service pistol with both hands. The gun that he was carassing with his fingers looked mighty friendly, a bit too friendly. But what the hell? Why not be friends with a gun? It wasn't like he was going to be needing friends much longer. After what he had done, that gun was the best friend he had now, the only friend, and it was about to do him a huge favor.

He had always been an emotional person, something which his childhood peers had made fun of, always calling him an emo and teasing him. They would pretend to cut themselves, pretend to cry and say "The darkness. I need the darkness." He had hated every single one of them. Well, every one of them except for his best friend, and only friend he had as a child. A small boy with blond hair that cussed too much, a boy by the name of Frank Johnson. And now Paul had just killed his best childhood friend. His friend, and he just f*cking killed him. But he was following orders, why should he be feeling so bad about this? Probably because you killed four hundred and twenty-six other people along with your best friend, he thought. He didn't really think it, the thought just raced into his head.

He had to do it. He just had to drop that bomb. It was the only way of making sure that the disease stayed isolated, and there was no telling if Lloyd Thompson had stopped at the mine and infected countless others. He did what had to be done. But he had killed his best friend and hundreds more. Yet, if he hadn't bombed the mine, just one person could have left, made contact with another human being, and started a pandemic that could very easily destroy humanity as we knew it.

I was following orders, he thought, and I did what needed to be done. Like hell he did. That wasn't what needed to f*cking be done. What needed to be done was bomb that asshole colonel instead of the mine. After all, it was the colonel that had told ordered him to bomb the mine. How could Paul expect to live with himself now? That was one order he shouldn't have followed, and he f*cking knew it. Simple. He wouldn't have to live with himself anymore. He put the gun to his right temple and pulled the trigger. The day had come and gone, and Paul Walker wouldn't be there to see the next sunrise.
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Frank Johnson and James Olsen walked side by side through the burning desert, with only the heat and occasional light breeze to accompany them. They had been walking straight for nearly thirty-six hours, and to them, it only seemed that they were heading deeper and deeper into Hell. The temperature had climbed to over a hundred and thirty degrees, and they had no more water. They had tried to make it last as long as possible, but with an average daytime temperature of a hundred and thirty eight-degrees, and a nighttime temp of twenty-two, it simply wasn't possible.

They both tried their best to forget what had happened the night before. On the night after the bombing, warmth wasn't an issue, there were plenty of fires from the burning debris, but last night, with no fires they both were so desperate for warmth in temps below freezing, that they had burned some of their cloths for a fire. It helped them through the night, but now they were both on the verge of collapse. When they burned the cloths, they had burned their shade for the next day.

It truly was a planet of extremes. They were now both questioning their judgement about leaving the mine. Three days they had waited there, and for three days no one showed up. On the second day, six of the thirteen remaining survivors of the bombing had died when the ground collapsed on them while trying to unearth the storage rooms with food and water. They probably should have left, then again, they probably shouldn't have. What neither one of them realized was that with no navigation tools, they had both been walking in a huge circle. The settlement was to the west of the mine, but now they were heading south, towards nothing. There was nothing south of the mine for eight thousand miles.

"Hey Frank... you wanna stop a minute?"

"What for? We gotta keep goin." Frank looked to his left and saw James, who looked about to collapse.

"I... think... I'm gonna... be..." James was stopped mid-sentence by a stream of blood that came from his mouth. He staggered for a minute, threw up blood again, and hit the ground. Frank rushed over to him, only to get soaked in blood when James lost it again. He turned James over on his side and noticed his nose, ears and eyes were also bleeding.

"Frank..." he threw up again, "go on. I... I can't... keep goin. Go... find the... help. No... reason for you... to stay here and... die too."

Frank looked at his stricken friend. He was actually asking him to leave him in the burning desert to die, while Frank would walk a little further and die himself. When they first left, James was complaining about his stomach. He had thrown up one time the day before they left, and up until now, had felt fine.

"No. I promise, I'm not going to leave you." Frank said this, and he meant it. He wasn't going to leave his new friend, no matter how sick he got. No matter how long they had to stay there, he wasn't going to leave him. At least now they were in the shade of a massive canyon wall. Frank knew this place. It was a place marked on the map as Desperation Canyon. He was able to recognize it by the huge towering column of rock that vaguely resembled a huge penis dominating the landscape. He now knew they were going the wrong way.

But if they could just make it through the canyon, there would be a small hut at the end of it. They could at least die under the comfort of some type of roof. But either way, they had to move soon. A huge stand storm was moving in, and if they didn't get out of it, they would both be dead before the sun went down. But how? Frank wasn't going to leave his friend. He just wasn't.

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Despair was the only thing now that accompanied Frank Johnson as he walked through the dark desert, hallucinating, seeing double, hearing voices. He had seen James three times since he died earlier that evening. He was walking right beside him, with blood rushing out of his nose, ears, and eyes. When he tried to say something, more blood just spilled out of his mouth, yet it sounded if everything were perfectly normal. He was saying "You left me, now God has left you. You're gonna die in here Frank Johnson. Fifty-four men been found dead in Desperation Canyon, and you're gonna make fifty-five."

Frank tried to shut the thought out of his mind. He knew that James Olsen wasn't really there. He knew James Olsen was laying about twelve miles behind him on the freezing desert floor, covered in blood and vomit, laying with one arm sticking out to the side and the other over his forehead. But why was his mind doing this to him? Hadn't he suffered enough? He had been stranded in the desert with almost no food and very little water for five days now. Three of those days he had just been sitting on his ass at the destroyed mind doing nothing, hoping for someone to come and get him and the rest of them off of this Hell hole. But that never happened, and on the third day, Frank and James left, heading out west to the settlement. They knew to head toward a large canyon that could be seen from the mine, but the morning after they left, a huge sandstorm had made them lose their way.

They were just wandering around, and when the storm finally did die down, they saw a canyon. But this wasn't the New Hope Canyon that they were hoping for, instead, they found Desperation Canyon, a place where fifty-four people have died from dehydration and despair. Frank knew that without some point of reference, it was impossible to walk in a straight line. But when they left, they had a point of reference. That damn storm had issued them their death warrants when it got them turned around and headed south. From thirty miles away, they had both spotted Desperation Canyon, but they didn't know that it actually was Desperation Canyon until they were right on top of it. The cliffs had hidden the giant cock rock until they were almost inside the canyon.

Now, another damn sandstorm had moved in, blinding Frank as he walked alone through the haunting canyon. No man had ever made it through the canyon on foot, and Frank knew his luck was running out. The wind and the sand was coming in from the north, meaning the canyon walls offered no protection, and only made the intensity of the weather worse. Frank kept on walking. Maybe he would get lucky and suffer a heart attack or something, and just drop dead right there, no more pain, no more cold, no more heat, no more suffering. But he wasn't a lucky person. And he wasn't lucky enough to just die right there. No, he thought that God must not have put him through enough.

He was so focused on his own dilemma that he didn't see the sheer drop in front of him, drawing ever closer with each step. Not that him being distracted was the only thing, he actually couldn't see it because of the storm. His mind had turned to thoughts of suicide as his left foot took a step and felt nothing but air. He started falling down the loose pebble and sand cliff, clawing and desperately trying to find a foothold. But his luck had run out. He slid down and his elbow slammed up against a large rock, breaking his right arm and dislocating his shoulder. He let out a loud yell that was drowned by the howling wind. He slid further and rolled over a large flat rock, falling off the end and landing on his left knee, breaking his leg and his hip. His face hit the sand and his head felt like it was about to explode. His leg and his arm hurt tremendously, but his head actually hurt worse.

He tried to move and couldn't. A rock came rolling down the slip face and landed on his lower back, damaging his spine. The pain in his leg was gone, but he realized he couldn't move his other leg. He knew what had happened. He just lay there, getting buried alive by the sand. He thought so this is it huh? This is the way it ends? Fine by me. He actually started talking to himself now. He kept muttering one line over and over. "I'll just die here. I'll just f*cking die here."

_________________________________________

Wow...more death in the first two chapters than in most fan fictions altogether...

Killa, keep it up! You're going great!!!

keep it comin man!

007

Thanks for the people who at least told me wether or not they liked it (both of you) and don't worry. Chapter 3 is almost done. I have one more section to write, and it'll probably be up sometime tonight or tomorrow. I hate having to beg you to post, but it just looks tacky (sp?) when I only have two or three posts between chapters, and I know more than two or three people are reading this.

Besides, you want to give me encouragement or, well, you know how I am about my storys. If I don't have enough encouragement, I may not have the proper motivation to post the next chapter for a month.

Good story

Hi,
I only just read your story but it has really captured my imagination!. I was waiting for someone to do a story about freelancer and you are doing great! You've even inspired me to maybe write my own story, possibly about the Alliance and the Coalition, Or perhaps the Dom'Kavosh.

Keep up the good work!

@thank you Saviour.

And now, it's finally done. I will tell you right off the bat, not a lot happens in chapter 3 and it is kind of short, but chapter 4 will be longer and will clear up some of the gaps. Hope you like it. And I apologize in advance. This one was kind of rushed. Either the next chapter or the one after next is when I'm planning to have the plot really pick up pace, then the chapters should flow more smoothly and seem a little better written. Enjoy.

The Sovereignty

Chapter 3:

Little Jesse Thompson climbed out of the small hatch and closed the door behind him. He stood up and was almost instantly melted by the heat. It was only 6:45 AM but the temperature was already ninety-seven degrees and the sun was bright overhead. He walked away from the hatch and over to a small hut next to a cliff wall that was mostly sand and pebbles, and had two massive canyon walls rising above it. This was it. The most inhospitable place on the entire planet of Pittsburgh, Desperation Canyon.

As he walked over to the hut and opened the door, he noticed something strange out of the corner of his eye. He looked to his left a bit and saw something dark that stuck out from the light brown sand like a sore thumb. He walked over and gasped at the sight of a skinny, severely sunburned corpse, half buried in the sand. He was about to turn and run inside but stopped. The sand around the head was moving slightly, almost invisible little clouds of sand blew away from the face every second or so. This wasn't a corpse, it was still alive.

__________________________________________


Rebecca Thompson slowly climbed out of her cot, her back now creaking like an old house. She had been sleeping on a cot now for nearly two weeks, and she was getting damn near tired of it. She slowly stood up and walked into a small room that resembled a kitchen. As she walked, her hip groaned and popped with every step, causing a lot of pain. Pain that Rebecca didn't notice. For the past week, she had been like a ghost, not wanting to eat or drink, not doing anything for herself, and only thinking about one thing. Her daughter Emily, now buried six feet underground with a small cross at the head of the grave, the words Emily Thompson: April 14, 1362- November 27, 1372 carved across the horizontal beam.

When they had arrived at this hell hole two weeks ago, Lloyd had left her and the two kids in this hatch to go find someone in Kusari who supposedly could help with the situation. He had left them on the second day, now it was the second week and still no sign of him. Then, one week ago, Emily had gotten sick. Very sick. At first, she was complaining about her stomach, then she was throwing up blood. Six days ago she had actually started crying blood, a few hours later, blood was running from her ears and nose, and that night she was even urinating blood. She died early the next morning.

Then Rebecca entered great depression. It had been five days since her daughter died, and neither her or Jesse were starting to feel sick. Rebecca knew that it was the disease that Lloyd had been talking about, but why hadn't it affected her or Jesse? If it hadn't been for Jesse, Rebecca would be dead by now. Not from sickness, but from dehydration and starvation, and not because she couldn't get food, but just because she wouldn't. She wouldn't do anything. She barely said a word to Jesse anymore, who seemed to be accepting the fact that his sister was dead. But not Rebecca. Emily was her baby, and things would never be the same. She would probably never get over this. But she had to stay strong, for Jesse, and only for Jesse. She was quite convinced now that Lloyd was long gone, probably dead.

Where was Jesse anyway? He usually went outside to the small hut to get the day's water, then he came back inside and woke her up. But where was he? She heard him leave fifteen minutes ago, and not a sign of him since. She threw on a pair of pants and a tee shirt and walked over to the ladder that led outside. She was almost to the top when Jesse came out of nowhere and almost jumped right on top of her head. He stopped and his foot slipped on the top rung of the ladder and kicked her in the face.

She almost fell down but managed to hold on. She looked up at him to see that he was staring out toward the slip face of the hill at the end of the canyon. Finally he looked down at her and said "Mom, it's... it's a man. There's a man out there. He's hurt, barely alive. Come quick."

She only looked at him and didn't move. "Is it your father?"

"No. I don't know who it is, but he's hurt real bad. C'mon, hurry up!"

She climbed out and winced at the sunlight. This was the first time she had left the hatch since she buried Emily five days ago, and the light was almost unbearable. Finally, she took a few steps to where Jesse had run off to again. The door to the hut was open and she could see the faint outline of a person in the shadows. She walked in and almost tripped over a leg, and looked down at the man. He was laying on his side, almost burned black, with an arm and a leg that looked broken and a bad gash across his back.

"Come on sweetie, we've gotta get him inside."

Jesse just looked at her. "How're we gonna get him down the ladder?"

"Well, baby, I don't know. But we can't just leave him out here in this hut, do you have any idea how hot this thing will get?"

It took them an hour and a half to get the burned body inside. They finally had to strap him down to a long piece of metal and slowly lower him down the hatch. When they got him inside they laid him down on Rebecca's cot and took off his shirt and shoes. He was burned beyond belief, the skin on his lips were almost completely gone, his skin was darker than Rebecca's brown hair, his ribs easily poked through his chest, and he barely felt like he weighed a hundred pounds. Jesse held up a small plastic name tag he found in the man's shirt. Independant Mining Guild Employee Franklin Drey Johnson. Age: 27, Demolitions, Planet Pittsburgh's New Hope Canyon Extraction Facility. Employee #: 00275816.

What would someone from a mine that far away be doing way out here in Desperation Canyon? Oh well, he would eventually be able to tell them. Luckily for Mr. Franklin Drey Johnson that Mrs. Rebecca Emily Thompson was a doctor and had all the medical equipment stashed here somewhere she needed to get him back in shape. Maybe he could help them fix that hunk of junk Rhino spaceship that was just wasting away in the small hangar. Maybe he could get them out of here. God knew that Rebecca and Jesse had had enough of this place.

___________________________________________

Four Weeks Later:

"We're almost positive it's them, sir. Thermal and sonic imaging shows three people inside. A woman, a small child and a man. Sonic imaging also showed a small corpse buried in the ground a little ways from the hatch entrance. We've also detected a Rhino freighter in a small hangar, but judging from it's position it doesn't look capable of flying."

Adam Olsen just stared out of the window of the bridge, the small desert planet of Pittsburgh looming in the distance. It was the perfect hiding place, nothing but desert, only eleven human settlements on the entire planet, nine of them being mines. Well, make that ten settlements now, thanks to mister Paul Walker, who had unfortunately died last month.

Adam Olsen was a lawful man, a man who served in the Rheinland Navy under the command of Colonel Lindemann, and who's mind had no room for morals, only following orders and doing what needed to be done. And that included arresting his older brother James, who had helped enemies of Rheinland by giving them shelter and a place to hide. Adam didn't know that his brother had died a month earlier from the illness that the entire Rheinland Task Force was secretly trying to isolate. They had been looking for the Thompsons for over a month, and now they had finally found them. Adam didn't like this part of his job, but if any one of them put up a fight, he would have to kill them. He would probably be ordered to kill the kid anyway. He didn't want to, but he knew he would probably have to. The thing with this virus was that there was not a single human alive who was immune, it just took longer to effect certain people. If this thing got out, they could be looking at extinction of the human race within six months. If preventing that cost a few innocent lives, then so be it. That's the price that has to be paid.

His ear piece radio crackled again, and an officer's voice came through. "Sir, we've positively IDed them. The woman just came out of the hatch, it's confirmed now. Rebecca Thompson, and that kid we saw earlier who we couldn't ID, it's Jesse Thompson. We still don't know if that man with them is Lloyd, but we're ready to move in on your orders."

"No. I want four men to come with me, this matter is personal. Ready my ship, we launch yesterday. They don't have any weapons, this won't take long. And I'm directly ordering you to eliminate, not apprehend. Understood?" Adam had one of his mood swings, now he was almost anxious to kill that man, the woman and her kid. He probably was insane.

"Yes, sir. Over and out." The radio clicked.

Adam Olsen walked over to the window and stared at Pittsburgh once again. They were in a low orbit now, and he could just make out Desperation Canyon, which was visible from space. He followed the canyon down to the very end, where it narrowed considerably. He stared at that one spot and grinned.

"Now we've got ya, you son of a b*tch."

________________________________________

beautiful.

****ing awesome.

i love the Emo reference, that was cool.

Keep it up, its got HEAPS of potential left in it, and im looking forwards to reading a lot more of it.



Bloody Bretonians! Almost as bad as the French!

this chapter was pretty good i thought...

keep the story turnin man!

007

.... is still in the works. But hey! As long as I've got your attention maybe I should tell you all that chapter 4 will probably take a little longer to get here than I originally anticipated. I've got a lot of stuff to do around the house, along with a bunch of other crap so I probably won't have much free time.

Edited by - Killa on 7/4/2006 2:15:24 PM

Um... hi. I'm sorry for the double post, and I'm sorry for bringing back up an old thread, but I'd rather do this than starting up a new one. I know it's been four months since I last posted here, and tonight was the first time in three months I opened up my folder titled The Sovereignty.rtf. I re-read it, and have started writing a little on it again. So, I'm wondering if you guys would like me to continue TS (the plot outline in my head still remains largely unchanged from when I posted the last chapter) and post them. In all honesty, I've pretty much lost all intrest in Freelancer, sure it was amazing and captivating those oh so many years ago, but now, compared to some of the other games I've played, it just seems dull, limited, and somewhat unoriginal. I've played through the story to death, saw everything there was to see in multiplayer, and even with the MODs it's just like more of the same old same old.

Now, as far as TS goes, I set it eighty-five years after FL, so that I would not be constrained with really continuing the story of FL, which IMO did have quite an anti-climactic ending. I didn't care for Trent too much, so I decided to depart him. Anyone that's read the first three chapters of TS knows that this is a pretty big departure from my other stories. This is more about the characters themselves, not just what's happening around them.

Sorry, got a little off track. I'm sure some of you have lost intrest in FL just as I have, but my question still stands. The reason I designed this story the way I did was because when I first came up with it, my FL intrest was dwindling. It was made this way so that I wouldn't have to depend that much on FL. The only thing TS has in common with FL is the universe it's set in. Different time frame, different plot all together, different characters, ect. I'm sure I could just create a new universe to set this story in, and maybe be more apt to finish it, but if I do that I most likely won't post it here, if I ever posted it anywhere. So, would you guys rather me go through the trouble of picking TS back up and posting it here? Or have you all just moved past FL and don't really care anymore?

(Sorry for the long post. My America's Army clan says I have a disease known as LAPD, short for Long-Ass Posting Disorder. Although, I know I'm really nothing compared to Taw and some of the other people here.)

EDIT: If no one replies within a week I'll assume no one is intrested and let this die for good.





Edited by - Killa on 11/13/2006 2:25:58 PM

Of course you have to keep this up! I'm sure there's lot of lurkers who has, and still read this. This is a really good and interesting story.

Keep up the good work, Killa. Not to draw attention away from Killa, but why not check out my thread?

Edited by - ubertrekkie on 11/15/2006 2:14:28 PM

Yes! Keep going!
Seriously, it's awesome.