Chapter the 2ndest!
After the second chime, Kath sighed and pulled out a strange looking device from her pocket. Noticing the other's surprised looks, she plugged it the front of her data pad. The instant the activation lights came on, lines of light emitted from each 'pad.
"Call synchronizer" she explained "latest civilian project"
A much thicker line shot out of her datapad, hit the centre of the table and the inbuilt hologram projecter activated. A figure wearing a grey robe popped into existence.
"Greetings" the figure said. the voice had a slightly metallic tone to it.
"Why's it using a voice synthesizer?" thought Hal
"You four have been selected to go beyond the immediate boundries of the Sirius Sector. Into the fringes of deep space. You will not have to go far. This is a simple exploration mission."
The voice was sounding more and more like the automated mission readers to Hal.
"However, Deep space is uncharted. We recommend stockpiling on ammo and supplies. If you choose to decline this mission, your short further existence in this universe will be very painful."
"I guess thats a yes from all of us" Hal said, looking at the other pilot's faces.
"Excellent. we have discovered a jump hole that will take you most of the way. co-ordinates have been uploaded onto your neural net. Call me for help, or further instructions when you are done." the figure exclaimed beginning to fade.
"Wait!" shouted Kath, "What's your name?"
The robed figure turned towards her.
"My name, is not important" the figure hissed, then vanished from view.
"What a wierd name, Not Important!" said Wolfe, attempting to brighten the mood.
"Come on, lets go." sighed Kath, wiring the bill and a tip to the barman.
They walked to the hangar in silence. then spotting something amusing, Hal spoke up.
"look at that starflier" said Hal
"whoa, I'm suprised its still nearly in one piece." grinned Morris
"i'm pretty sure that's duct-tape holding that wing on." said Kath "it looks like if enough people look at it, it'll collapse"
it was at that moment the Wolfe had a look as well. the ship collapsed into a heap of debris.
"let's run now"
a few metres away from that heavily borrowed from H2G2G (hitchhikers guide to the galaxey for those who don't know the abbreviation) scene, the writer decided to return to his normal writing style
"Ah heres my ship!" Hal said happily. "a Corsair Titan, complete with v10 gravitrons and a balanced weapons range. capable of blowing most ships to pieces within a few seconds. And" he added, taking out a button, "remote starting" he pressed it and the engines flared into life.
"I don't see any missles." said Morris
"Never trusted them" said Hal, leaping into the cockpit and pressing a few buttons. The engines switched off , the loading doors of the cargo bay opened and a loading crane moved to the operational position. Hal sent an order for food and water and climbed out of the VHF.
Nothing could've prepared him for Kath's ship.
"A NOMAD FIGHTER?"
"Captured. its nice and light to handle, and i was able to graft a shield on it."
"so how do you get in and control it?"
"you don't really. you touch it, and sort of, hard to expain, merge yourself with it."
"Sounds nasty"
"it's wierd the first time, but i'm used to it now. watch."
She laid a hand on a panel ("did it purr? or was that just my imagination?" thought Hal) and appeared to concentrate. She slowly dissapeared from view. however, when she was completely gone, the fighter seemed actually alive. Hal could swear it was now breathing.
"you see," said Kath's voice inside Hal's head "it's now like controlling a body. at least i won't need food, until i get out"
"Hal, where's Kath?" shouted Wolfe
Hal said nothing but pointed towards her ("No! its not her, it's her fighter, is it?"
"Hold on no playing arou..." he cursed in his native tounge " you're saying that she's... one of THEM?"
"No, I'm not a nomad." said Kath, phasing out of her ship. "it's just one of their ships. and a unique controlling method. where's your ship?"
"being patched up, i ran into some hackers on the way here."
"much damage?"
"not really, though my engine is breached and at least two of my weapons are in-operable.
"yeeesh. what sort of ship?"
"valkyrie"
"of course"
The was a large crashing noise from outside the station
"what the hell was that?" screamed Hal, from the floor
"Morris here, i had a little accident with a cruiser. shield generator is busted and ship hull needs major repairs"
"how'd it happen?" Wolfe asked
"from what i'm recieving it was because of a faulty tradelane ring, which didn't slow them down enough for the exit. the Zoners are deactivating the lanes here until maitenence from Agiera get here. so we're stuck until they arrive.
"rodger that. need assistance getting back?"
"yeh, engine isn't turning over. looks like the fuel link has been severed."
"i'll get him. my titans fitted with a tow." volunteered Hal
"Go ahead, i'm not stopping you" said Morris. "Hey sounds like they're willing to pay for the damage."
Half a minute later and Hal was in space.
"Hal, i have a visual on you, i'm on your 8."
"copy that. is your tractor beam still online?"
"Checking... Yeh, its online. Why?"
"little trick i learnt in the Bretonian Armed Forces. i'm releasing the tow, tractor it onto your ship."
"can't you just link up usually?"
"not with that amount of fuel around you. my engines would cause it to explode"
"tractoring now"
The space around Hals ship hummed as a lance of energy danced from Morris' ship. Hal scanned the ship, knowing that an external reading would be more accurate then internal as Morris' computer had most likly recieved damage.
"oooh. a Chimera. nice. well, lets see, shield's are gone, engine is actually completly off your ship. and starboard wing is buckled."
"shut up and get me inside."
"yessir"
Hal manevered Morris' Chimera into a dry dock and then watched as the service cranes moved the ship into a repair slot in the hangar.
after landing himself, Hal ran to Kath and Wolfe who were inspecting the two damaged ships.
Kath turned around
"Ah Hal, i have managed to contact our contractor. he wasn't happy but he accepts we have to stay until repairs are complete and tradelanes are back up. meanwhile, we're to get some rest."
"seperate rooms?"asked Morris.
"yes, all adjaecent. luckily. leave the datapads on, i've asked the dockmaster to notify us when your ships are ready."
Hal was doozing peacefully in his room when he recieved a call from the station AI
"This is Dockmaster 1A7. The Valkyrie belonging to Wolfe Von Hittsun has had it's repairs complete. The repairs to the Chimera belonging to Morita Kaito are 75% complete. thank you"
Hal woke up, cursed the fact he'd hadn't set the sleep setting on incoming calls (only calls that were of high priority would be let through).
"oh well, seeing as i'm awake i might as well head to the recreation room" he thought gloomily. "there's probably an e-book to read or something."
suddenly his datapad piped up again.
"Hal, this is urgent!" Wolfes voice filtered through the speaker, "come down to the hangar."
"ok, what is it?"
"an attack!"
"on a freeport? are they crazy?" then Hal remembered freeport 7 "Nomads?"
"no, their not like anything i've seen before."
"damn. Hold on"
Hal ran down the hall way and jumped into the lift. however, he was getting suspicious of lack of alarms, running pilots and escape pods launching.
and he was very suspicious of the fact, that when he got to a window, there were no explosions or any unidentified ships. still he ran to the hangar.
there he met Wolfe who was grinning.
"got you" he chuckled, "anyway" he continued, serious now "we've been placed on standby, Kath and Morris are on their way. Morris' ship has nearly been fully repaired, technically its battle ready, but they're yet to replace the wing."
"don't do that again" growled Hal
they watched in silence as the new purple wing was fitted to the ship. Target diagnostic went without a hitch as each and every drone was destroyed.
"Good as new" grinned a mechanic.
"Great" said Morris gleefully, "without further ado, lets launch"
ah , what words can describe the majesty of Omega 3 system in the early morning, as freeport 1 rotated so the inhabitants felt simulated dawn in accordnance with standard time. and the light glinting of the 3 metallic and one crystaline ship was sublime. that is, it was till you heard the trasmissions between each ship.
"Bad news fellas, tradelanes are still offline" transmitted Kath.
"Damn!" shouted Hal. "Well i'm not waiting. form up on me!"
the others complied and soon they were cruising the route that the tradelane took.
End Chapter the 2ndest!
please note, i'm trying to keep this as accurate to the Discovery Mod universe as possible. i can't remeber if Omega 3 has tradelanes or not. so any correctionment will be noted