Eclipse

Status
Not open for further replies.
"Correct, Rick, you really impress me sometimes", Dima said. The Corinthian finally said he submitted. The portal was opened and they walked through. "Gaurds, take the officers and put them into interogation. As for the sailors, kill them!" he said, maliciously.
 
Rick simply smiled, just as malevolently. Inwardly, he was upset at himself for being this cruel. After all, he was on a quest to save existance, and only good can create, as evil can only destroy. But still, the act was necesary. so all thet Dima knew was Ricks Pure, udder, masickism.
 
Unelievably, Dima felt hatred at himself for doing this, but he had to live up to his title and keep the human race alive, didn't he?
 
Rex Brannon heard the message and thought it was directed at him. He was in the process of changing from missiles to torpedo, to have a dealing card, when he discovered it was directed at a Corinthian Frigate. He decided to wait a bit more, he had a perfect escape route if needed, but he saw an opportunity for business in this Corinthian Frigate...
 
A'tara's earset crackled to life next to her eardrum. The smooth, white metal vibrated with unrecognizable words and phrases, pushing them into the tangled morass of her dreaming mind. The words swirled beneath her heavy gold brushed eyelids along with the tail end of the homma induced images that had kept her company for the majority of the exploration. The drug was wearing off and her senses were once again focusing on the external as her conscious mind asserted itself.

She woke up quickly but the moment seemed to stall, time was still weighed down and every sensation seemed to try to pound itself into her skull at once. The rusty creak of the hanging bunk as she shifted filled the cramped, darkened quarters of her scuttle ship. It grated like iron talons against glass and she immediately stopped her movement only to have the noise replaced by the much-calmed sounds of her blood flowing through her grey veins and her lungs sucking the air from the room.

The back of her throat was dry - parched. Much like her mouth, nose, and the other mucus membranes on her body. Her gloved hand reached upwards as she grasped for the tall glass of filtered water standing on the rack above her. Empty. She didn't remember but a little under two days ago when she had plunged into the homma state she had drained the glass as the fruit leached the moisture from her body.

A'tara growled, though the effort brought her only the sensation of ground glass being rubbed against her throat, and swung her booted legs downward off the bunk. She sprang off the cot and forward toward the door, her quarter were only ten by seven feet in the pitch black she encountered the door face first. To this she only growled again, another burst of pain, and jabbed at the lock console. The glossy door parted with a satisfying click and A'tara blinked back the dim starlight that now assaulted her eyes from the aft viewscreen. A dozen or more strides and down the stairwell brought her to the 'dining area' and there her prize waited. Hanging from the dull silver wall was a brown hose; it's thickness no greater than her pinky. She yanked it forward and wrapped her black lips around the metal nozzle, instinctively drawing mouthpiece to the back of her throat and sucking. The metal piece buzzed for a few seconds as it gauged the amount of water in her body before it begin spewing out the tepid, lukewarm recycled water. To A'tara it was as fresh and sweet as any she'd ever tasted.

Too soon, the flow stopped and the monitor beside the hose lit - red beetle like characters and numbers began to scroll through available water and other resources. With the edge of her thirst dulled, the woman hardly noticed the figures; instead, her black eyes scanned the rest of her equipment. She glanced down at the illuminated timepiece built into her glove. She had awakened three or four cycles early, why?

Suddenly the words returned, flickering in her memory like the ink in a burning manuscript. They seemed garbage until she realized it was a foreign language. Terran; her still cottony brain spit out a translation: "Enter. This is the End of The World. (We/I) present (you/you) to carry. Again. (We/I) present (you/you) to carry. You land in docking bay 3-R, finish."

A'tara walked to the fore section of the scuttle ship and slipped into the metal seat before the central navagation's center. A few taps on the keyboard spit forth a stream of data and a picture of the massive ship that was preparing to enter the asteroid field. "Surprise, surprise." Her deep voice echoed slightly in the darkness of the fore section.

A'tara had negotiated the scuttleship into the shadow of one of the largest iron and nickel asteroids. The slight gravitational pull was enough to keep her small ship steady without the continual adjustment of thrusters. She was currently at power down mode while her initial surface samples were purified and she waited for the four other probes she had lunched to return with core samples. She tapped her fingers against the warm plastic membrane of the console, sending tiny chemical signals to the computer to run a deeper scan of the surrounding area, and wondering how they had spotted her meager power output, especially as she was on the opposite side of the rock.

The answer came in the energy signature of a small vessel docking with the warcruiser. They hadn't spoken with her at all she realized before another sudden stream of data poured over the monitor. Yet another ship was scanned and identified. Interesting. Her superiors had made no mention of a military presence in the area. On the contrary, apart from the space mites she should have been alone.

It was obvious the military ship was after the lightly armored craft maneuvering deeper into the field. Whatever was happening she had little desire to make her presence known. A'tara rubbed her temples as a slight frown creased the golden skin of her face. Why couldn't she have just stayed asleep?
 
"Lieutrnant Colonel Rick, please send a meessage to the hiding privateer. Please include this in the transmission: Surrender now and you might live. Don't try to outrun us as this is one of the fastest ships in the universe. Don't try to go to hyperdrive as we have already created a gravity well. Try to elaborate it a little bit more, though", said the rear admiral.
 
Rick stepped up to the communications wall, and opened a signal.
"Attention privateer. Attenrion privateer. The Small unregistered ship is to be docked within 2 cycles. You are requested to come aboard for questioning. If you cooperate, you will be allowed to live. Otherwise your ship will be destroyed. Any escape is impossible, as we allready have you locked in a gravity well. our weapons are locked on your ship, so if you try to hyperdrive, you won't. Your only option is to surrender. What is your responce?"
 
Another voice entered A'tara's earset, the language was guttural, its meaning imprecise though no more so than many of the other tongues she had learned. The speaker seemed irrational. "We don't know you so we're going to blow you up even though you have not provoked us." So many species seemed to only echo the sentiments of the Graco'that'a. A soft, almost imperceptible chuckle escaped A'tara's dark lips. She wondered at the mentality of someone who'd open a gravity well inside an asteroid field - it was the equivalent of starting a forest fire to capture a squirrel. Smaller chunks of frozen rock were already being pulled forward into the well and a cursory glance at her sensors told her at least fifteen asteroids measuring 3 to 5 kilometers across were shifting erratically in their flight path, tilting slightly towards the sudden force.

The 'End of the World' was still hovering on the opposite side of the asteroid so a modified lightwave signal wouldn't reach clearly. Her nimble fingers reached out in the darkness and caressed the smooth contours of her workstation. The slight chemical signal her hands gave were enough to send a rough equivalent of the radio pulse they seemed to utilize. Her earset hummed gently as the connection linked, she paused a breath to translate her thoughts into Terran then started. "Captain, many Greetings, i give. Doctor A'tara, i am. This field, for Atlas Mining under Iliadire Corporation, i explore, map, and categorize. For precious metals and extractions, We look. All the necessary papers and documentation, from your Government, i have."

Another delicate tap on the work screen sent the electronic authorization to the bloated giant of a ship. The Captain was certain to have heard of Iliadire; the multi-galaxial business was spread across the civilized universe. What she wasn't certain of was if the arm of the government which sanctioned the analysis had any dictate over the military.

This thought nagged at her even as she continued, "In all matters, i comply. Not finished, however, the core probes until - " A'tara's voice stopped as she tried to convert cycles to days. If one day was equivalent to one and one half cycle then a little more than three cycles was, "two days, i need. Please until then, to continue, allow me." She licked her lips. This was not the easiest language to communicate in; it lacked nuisance and her vocabulary was about three thousand words too short.
 
When he was sure noone was looking, he sent another message. THis one in a monotonal language that sounded like the typical sounds of a swamp melted into one voice. A responce came through quietly, sounding almost exactly the same.
"Captain sir,"
"What is it Leutenant Colonel"
"Sir, they claim to be a scout ship, simply mapping the area."
"We still need to question them"
"That could be a problem. You see, it's a bio-ship from the zono section."
"Zono section? that place hasn't been mapped yet"
"Yes sir, but it has been explored. I was with one of the exploration teams. Their language is very limited compared to our own, so speeking english is difficult. so I would like the oportunety to question the pilot."
"Fine. Tell them to come aboard and get it over with."
"Yes sir"
Rick sent another message. roughly tranlated means; "We're sorry, but we don't have 3 cycles to give you. You need to come onto our ship and undergo questioning. I will arbitrate the questioning, so you can be sure that your time in our harsh atmosphere will be as limited as possible."
 
As Bal sat and listened to the comm signals he wondered why the sensors of the Man O' War had not detected him. His Raven fighter should have been spotted and blasted by now but he thanked his luck that he hadn't. He changed the comm unit to that of his squadron, "Lead, this is Six. I have a little trouble here."
"Six, this is Lead. I see your little problem but there is nothing that we can do at the moment. Can you blast away from there?"
"Not without them detecting me Lead."
"Well hang tight. The Falthus will be jumping into the system in about six minutes. When it does move out of there, the Falthus should distract them....I hope."
 
OOC: Hey, Angelius, I said there was a gravity well, no one goes into hyperdrive and no one gets out by heperdrive. Atara, a gravity well is invisible and does not draw anything in. Please edit your post.

IC: "Rick, please enlarge the radar screen twenty times", Dima said. the screen grew. "Two small unidentified ships still not moving. One is the privateer. The woman must of probably picked up the transmission by accident. The other looks like a Raven class fighter. Enemy. Tell it to surrender immediately. Just in case, dispatch 5 squadrons", said Dima.
 
Rick moved back to the comm station. "Attention, squadren 2, 3, 6, 9, and Q, move out and intercept the Raven class fighter. Do not destroy! simply flank and await further orders." He then sent a message to the raven fighter. "Attention Raven class fighter. Your ship has been spoted and you are requested aboard for questioning. Resist and you shall be destroyed. Attempt escape and you shall be destroyed! Please respond"
 
OOC: hope to have you as a regular here Never, one of the best writings I've seen around!

OOC: maybe it is not then a gravity well. If it is a gravity well, it has gravity, and it attracts thing. It sounds more like a jump neutralizer or something, or a gravity well that is constantly adjusting so people can't jump, but it doesn't attract things, but that doesn't sound too plausible.

_This military people still believe what the government tells them!_ was the first thought of Rex Brannon when he heard the message for him. _Don't they show physics anymore to the captains of the ships? I mean, I know they are very easy to pilot nowadays, but this is ridiculous. It is all so basic, it is just mainly a question of mass and power, and power sources being so similar in our technology, no man-o-war even approaches the speed or maneuverability of a fighter, they have too much mass, too much armor, too many weapons, too many people onboard. Someone has lied to that man, he believes he is faster than a fighter, and this means it is time for action. I never liked our government, and now I do even less. If they lie to their own captains, it means the war is going very badly, it means we are loosing it._

With light fingers he typed in his touch-screen and soon the strength of the gravity well appeared as a three-layered three-colored graphic on it. Getting rid of it would have been easy, as the gravity well creator had to compensate for the other energy sources, any mass destruction would need time for the gravity well to adjust, and fighters where very fast at hyper-jump.

He wasn't so sure he wanted to go there any more, but he sensed an opportunity to get money, and he smelled something rotten in his government. He was a privateer, yes, but his honor called him. If his government was so corrupt as to lie to its own captains, then it was soon going to become a dictatorship, and that was no good for his business.

"Man-o-war, I'll dock on you in no time, sir, before your gravity well attracts undue attention."

Thus said, he changed the torpedo in his launch bay with a normal missile, that way the man-o-war wouldn't feel threatened.

He accelerated out from the asteroid pulling incredible G and with a very tight turnaround he showed the man-o-war something it should have never forgotten: big ships have more fire power and armor than smaller ones, but fighters are more maneuverable and faster than them. Maybe this way the captain would start questioning his intelligence, and would be pointed in the right path to discover who was lying to him in the government, and more important than that, why.

He went to the living room in his ship, living being a joke by the designer as it was almost like a coffin, and got his gala dress from the old times when he had been in the army. He also got his phaser, set on stun, and his ceremonial sword. He was fond of his old shiny sword, being the kind of people who still trusted old-fashioned melee weapons. He wanted to see this captain and gauge if he was intelligent enough and loyal enough to his people to get the conspiration.
 
"Sir, the 5 squadren ships are deployed and are currently flanking the Fighter. He has radioed his surrender, and is currently moving into docking position. What are your orders?"
"Keep the smaller ships in position until the fighter is docked and it's piolet aboard. What of the other ship?"
"Sir, that ship is of unique design and it's pilot of a culture not used to unimechanic design. The ship itself is a biomechanic technology. It will take some time to devise a method of allowing her to dock with us."
 
As Bal docked his fighter into the main hangar bay of the Man-O-War he knew instantly that there is no way he could get out of this. He looked down at the soldier that was standing in front of his ship and smiled then waved. He looked at his left VDU and said, "Talon, I want you to start a self destruct countdown. Set it for five minutes and start it as soon as I get out."
The words UNDERSTOOD appreared on the VDU and after it did Bal unstrapped himself and opened the canopy. After he closed the canopy he climbed down the boarding ladder and straight up to the soldier that he was looking at earlier.
"Well, I suppose that you should take me to the captain."
"Don't get smart with me you scum-"
"Scum, I am deeply offended....but I think we should go and see the captain now."
Before the soldier could say something Bal heard a noise behind him and then fell to the floor as something, most likely the butt of the blaster rifle slammed into his back.

The next thing Bal knew was that cold water had been splashed onto his face and he was then smacked across the face. He opened his eyes to see a nasty looking lieutenant colonel looking down at him. He was roughly thrown into a chair across from the captain of the ship who looked at him with interest.
"What made you think that we would not see you. Are you that stupid," the captain of the ship said.
"No, but I thought that you might be," Bal said seconds before he was smacked in the back of the head with a balled up fist.
 
"Now. You know the rooutine questions. Employer, purpose, etc...Or will I have to use more... "persuaisive" methods!"
Bal smiled and kept his mouth shut. He glanced over at his timepiece on hsi arm, wondering why there wasn't chaos in the ship.
You should really set it for a silant countdown. Rick's voice sounded in his head, though his lips never moved. It probably woudn't have mattered though. Suit yourself. I'll have to extract your knowlege personally. Rick took out a small, head worn device, and placed it on Bal. The last thing he remembered before falling asleap was the look of cynical pleasure on Rick's face....


-------Rick had used the foreign device before. The technology was strange, and unduplicable, but Rick's status allowed him to keep and freely use it. It wasn't really necessary for what he was about to do, but display is everything. Plus it gives other's an opportunity to see what was going in in that head-------------


OOC; the next parts will be in a dream state. in a dream, anything that happens, everything you see, it is all completely normal. George washington IS your father, CHarizard did say "I cracked again" wile roaring, and you have been flying a banana for 30+ years. When you add to it, remember that you don't figure out that I'm invading your head for a Good while. At least not for two posts. Just make things look as messed up as possible, yet sound as common as possible. Oh, also, I am trying to probe your mind for info, so incorperate details into your dream.


IC; Bal woke up on a soft mattrass. Sitting up, he stretched and turned off the alarm clock. "Yawn.. C:90 in the mornign. that leaves me a good 40 cycles to relax befor shipping off." The wall opened and a blue skinned woman came in. "Anjelica, have you come to see me off?"
the woman kissed bal on the cheek and said "What do you think?" they got up and walked out of the cubible. Down 3 corridors they walked, chatting mildly about the latest Bill Cosby score. Finally they got to the docking bay. Bal kissed angelica once more and started to ascend into the ship. "Oh, wait a minute honey!" anjelica shouted. "You forgot your orders from General Farnal about the asteriod cluster!" angelica tossed Bal a hunk of wood with writing on it. He caught it just before dissapearing into the ship, shouting 'thanks'.
 
"Get that privateer in here quickly!" Dima shouted to a leutenant. He watched on as Rick probed the pilot's mind. They couldn't see what was going on, but he trusted Rick.
 
OOC; as I said in the OOC in the last post, the device was there so others could see what was going on inside his mind. Just go to the holo-pad and activate "PSyonic record 17 (or was it 16?)"
 
OOC: My bad, I shall redeem myself now.

IC: He walked over and pressed the button. A strange scene unfolded on the screen.
 
OOC; this is going to show just how warped my dreams can get, as I am basing it this on them.

IC Bal flew the blue ship through the galaxies, passing conselations, moons, stars and barbra strisans. Nothing disterbign happened for a good while. Then, on a random sweep of an empty soler system, another ship with red hair came. The adolescent voice came over the radio "What are you doing here?" Bal responded "I'm just mapping the area."
"Care to battle?"
"I'd love to! I warn you, I am very skilled!" The femail;s ship jetisuned a small red and white ball, towared the direction of Bal;s ship. The ball exploded in an array of red light. THe light formed into the shape of a star, and solidified. Bal countered. he sent his own red and white ball towared The misty ship. His ball exploded and reshaped into the form of a gigantic white bird!
"Articuno, Ice beam!" was the sound bal made over the radio. the white bird sent a whiter blast beam toward the starfish. The starfish took the blast, and counterattacked with, per Mistey's instruction, a hydro pump. THe stream of water slamed into articuno's chest, nocking it back some. Articuno then flew high into the air. The starmi used swift attack to hurt articuno so high in the air. articuno stayed in the game and hit starmi with the fly attack. Starmi was nocked back and onto the ground. It was not beat yet, though it's energy was getting kinda low. Articuno then suprised starmi with a solar beam. The grass attack was super effective against the water pokemon, and starmi fell for good this time. Mistey accepted defeat and called her pokemon back. Bal was proud of his articuno and gave it a nice meal. then, gettin onto it's back, Bal flew to the veridian city pokemon center to rest his pokemon. They were, and he made his way back into the world.
Not 20 minutes after coming out of the pokemon center some ninja's attacked. They jumped out of the bushes and started kiclign and slashing at bal for no apparent reason. Taking care of them was no problem though, as he happened to have a banana bomb in his belt. the yellow dildo exploded in a sticky, smelly yellow goo that you absolutely musn't put in the refrigerator. The ninja's ran off, and godzilla gave a hearty congrats to Bal.
 
Rex was escorted to a waiting room. The captaind was obviously occupied, because time went on and he didn't appear. Rex saw in the hololibrary the same old navy books that where being used when he was a student. Something was definitively wrong with his government. Well, he would talk of that with the captain, after discussing business, of course.
 
The captain entered the room and looked at Rex, with a look of a person that was obviously very busy. Rex sat down without saying a word, surprising the captain who sat down in a plush chair to the opposite him, "So you are the captain of the privateer. So good to that you joined us."
"Well I didn't have much of a choice now, did I," Rex said in a matter-of-fact voice.
The captain just looked at Rex then smiled, "No, I suppose you didn't. We would have destroyed your ship before you had a chance to power up your shields."
Rex said nothing, he just smiled as he realized that his shields could not be detected. Just as Rex was about to answer a scream ripped through the relative quiet. Rex stood quickly, "What was that?!"
"Oh, it's nothing....just something that is going on in the next room. Now, I have a little business proposition for you."
Rex didn't say a word, he tried to regain his composure but before he could another scream ripped through the air.

[Edited by Angelius on 08-29-2000 at 01:53 AM]
 
"Captain, you seem to have read my mind." said Rex with a shark smile " That was exactly what decided me to come in, that, and a small thing about our government... but better talk business first, then we can go on to... other themes." said Rex Brannon, thinking about profits.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top