Hi everyone, and welcome to some more reading.
I would like to have your advice.
Which of the two versions did you like more. I just wanted to know for myself and have an old question answered.
Thank you in advance. This use to be hosted on my old website many moons ago. I have put bother versions of the same story side by side, ok, not really, since I don't know how to do that, so it is one on top of the other.
Enjoy.
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This is the HTML version of my story. Please note that all of the story is written by ME "Borislau - Nektarios Jevic" and with some contributions by other writers (namely 'Commander Gold'), as our story's at one point have intermingled somewhat.(merged for lack of a better word, as my english is not at the level I would have liked it to be).
So here is the story, please note that it still continues to evovle, and would again like to thank everyone that has given me their permission to use their forums nickname in the story.
Wednesday, 04-Jul-2001 Updated: Saturday, 07-Jul-2001 11:20 AM
Introduction.
Reversion History: V0.0 (untouched, original text with all grammar mistakes inclusive).
V0.1 Should be out by the next chapter, with most grammar corrected, and some minor changes.
Date 30-May-2001. : V0.2 Minor fixes (consisting of spelling and some name changes for more consistency), and addition of Chapter 2, plus some minor additions to the original part.
Date 19-Jun-01: V0.3 Some more grammar fixes applied, mostly to the new part.
Date of post on the Internet as one file: 4th April 2001 A.D.
To print this document in wordpad, please select the following: Font: Courier New, Font Style: Regular, Size: 10
Page setup:
Margins Left: o.25" Right: 0.25" Top: 0.25" Bottom: 0.55"
Or basically, what ever suits you for an easy read.
Thanks go to:
Herbe(u)rt, aka C.J. as if it wasn't for his original post, this "idea" wouldn't have been spawned, as it was a reaction to one of his posts. You can find it here:
http://forum.thq.de/viewtopic.php?std_theme=&topic=1126&forum=6&
(Cut and past all the above in one go ;) )
To Mudkest, X Fanatic & Humongo, as the two biggest contributors, for their ongoing support.
And to all others that have posted replies (sorry if I missed some of you, I will try to get it right in the next reversion).
They are in no particular order:
X Fanatic, Torch/Lisa, X-it, Mudkest, Humongo, Haart, Avis & Commander T3 (I haven't forgot :) ).
16-04-2001
Prologue:
On the M0 Xenon Destroyer, bought back to life from a rag-tag smuggler baron called Nektarionovic.
Captain's log: 1096H24M.36s
Private log: 2.01Beta2
This is Captain Nektarionovic of the M0 "Titaniumatic".
After salvaging the hull of the Xenon capital ship, I was able to fit her with spare parts obtained from my good old "Goner" origin friend "Boris" of B.N.J. Industries. I was able to obtain some classified, experimental Delta High Energy Plasma Throwers, long-range autodocking computers, auto missile defence locking devices for point defence, and some concealable laser turrets, meant for our factories. On our way back, we stoped by a drinking hole, and picked up some rumours, about various things.
Apparently listening to these rumours, in the past, got me to where I am now, the "owner" of this capital ship and a few Xenon fighters. It was rumoured that there was a second M0 that was not completed, and partially destroyed by a small combined force of Split and Paranid, working together in an undercover operation. Now how they got together, beats me, I never did get to understand them. Anyway, back to where I left off. After Hearing (eavesdropping more like it), that there was a newly manufactured factory of B.N.J.'s industry's in the "Ocean of Fantasy" supposedly deployed there for supplying the boron shipyard and equipment dock located there, I thought to myself, that he is to far away from his normal position of operation, and since it is newly established, I might as well add it to my collection. He has good quality products etc, but there must be something else, so I am planning on capturing it intact, adding it to my assets, and interrogating the people working there, and learning what the real reason is!"
A few weeks later, and after leaving Ore Belt, the "Titaniumatic" arrives at its destination.
Captain: "Communications Officer give me a manifest list of what they sell, at the B.N.J. outlet"
Communications Officer: "Yes Sir. Apparently they have ALL the products that they produce for sale at the station."
Captain: "What do you mean by "all"?".
Communications Officer: " I mean ALL, even those that they sell in the disputed sectors Sir."
Captain: " Interesting. Are their prices the same as in the core worlds? Or are they more expensive? Or fluctuate?"
Communications Officer: " Most are nearly the same, some even more expensive, as one would expect"
Captain: " Download all the data from our satellite, I want all the traffic that came in and out of this sector and what type of ships docked at the station, and if there were any "busy" or "slack" periods, I want everything analysed! And if there are any ships docked at this moment, and what type they are."
Communications Officer: " There seems to be an irregularity Sir. In the "Landed" ships it shows 2 Prom's, but none have arrived from the date of construction. It seems to have been "hacked" in to the system, to show that there are M3's docked there, most likely to put off any attackers."
Captain: " Just as I thought, his smart, but not that quick to equip his station with fighters and hasn't put up any lasertowers yet! An easy target, just ripe for picking! "
Pause... silence for a while. As the captain scratches his head, and goes through his beard with smooth strides...
Captain: " Ok Crew, now hear this, everybody report to his assigned station, and prepare for the assault. Gunners report."
All gunners in unison: " Ready Sir!"
Chief Gunner: " All guns are armed and ready. Laser capacitors are full, and the shields are 102% and overloading! Sir!"
Captain: " Good. Science, are jammers ready? Communications Officer are there any communications going to or coming from the station?"
Communications Officer & Science: "It is weird Sir! There is normal personnel chatter, coming in and going out, but I'm also picking up a continuous flow of a scrambled signal. We are unable to break the code; it must be his new equipment, as B.N.J. keeps that ahead of everyone else! No other race has his tech. knowledge, neither the power to decode anything, as he is usually 2 with three generations ahead of everyone else!"
Captain: " Good, so we will be able to get some of his most advanced equipment in one go. Seems like it will all be just too easy!"
Communications Officer: " Sir! There seems to be something wrong with our readings! His landed ships log, show now 5 Prom's and all maxxed, but the problem is, none came in system! Yet alone dock there Sir!"
Captain: " Seems like his up to those ancient tricks of his! Issue the command, to commence the attack!"
Tactician: " Captain we have 5 Prom's launching from the base, on intercept course! And repeat, another 8 Mamba's launching from the distillery! Seems like both base's are owned by the same person!"
Captain: "Ok, Gunners, Forward gunner, target the Base, port gunner, target the Mamba's, starboard, try and get those prom's! Last thing I need is hornets coming to us!"
"Pilot, hard turn to port. On my mark! MARK!"
"Gunner's fire at will as soon as they get in range!"
Intel/Comm's: " Captain the base has concealed laser turrets! They're turning to get a fix on us!"
Captain: " Launch bay, get our fighters out! Dispatch all available L's and M's! Helms, go in to corkscrews and evasive manoeuvres!"
Tactician: "But Sir, we only have 6 L's and 8 M's left! Are you sure we should risk them? It's seems like we were ambushed".
Helms: "Sir this is a capital ship! It wasn't made to go in to so stressful manoeuvres! I don't know if the hull has the ability to take these stress levels!"
Captain: "Well we will find out then, won't we? Now execute those manoeuvres, and get us close enough to take out those turrets! Gunners, why are those Proms still coming at us? I want them wasted! Unless any of you want to try out the Ion cannons and disable any Proms, or Mamba's for that reason!"
Captain (mumbling)"I'll get that double crossing thug if it is the next thing I do! I'll hunt him down!"
Captain: "Status report! I want an update and want it now! Darn it!"
From various stations: "Phew we just got the Hornet in time Sir! Our shields are at 38% and holding, there is no hull breach either Sir."
Captain: "Good, Now attention all gunners! We are going to implement the unicorn tactic, to get to those laser turrets that are mounted on the station! I want to capture that station intact! Do you understand that?"
Gunners: "Yes Sir!"
Captain: "Good, it will be a nice addition to our collection of high tech industries! We need to capture all hand"
From an officer: "And if they don't surrender?"
Captain: "They will.... One carefully placed shot of "Bomb Weed" and they will be all out!"
Officer: "But Sir... it hasn't been tested Sir"
Captain: "Are YOU questioning my reasoning? ARE YOU?"
Officer: "No Sir, I would never do that Sir...."
Captain: "So we have an understanding. Good, as there will not be a "next" time!"
Captain: "So have any of you gunners "stunned" any of the M3's? As I noticed some of you used the Ion's for a while..."
Aft Gunner: "Yes Sir. We have 2 Prom's and 1 Mamba. 2 Proms got destroyed, 3 other Mamba's had the same fate, the other 4 returned to their base."
Captain: "So what happened to the 5th Prom? Where did it go? What happened to it? I want answers, and in the meantime, collect those m3's! We need them"
Port Gunner: "The last Prom just "disappeared". It was in my sights one moment, and the next it vanished Sir! Really! Nothing from telemetry, nothing on visual scan either, it just "vanished". "
Captain: " Ok Gunners, all of you, be on the alert for a Prom! Seems like B.N.J. got to make their cloaking device to work after all! So it seems it isn't a rumour any more. So if I knew better, he just might be out they're relaying the entire scene back to his base, or worse, back to his HQ! Ok, prepare the grappling hook, and an away team, I want that station secured, and every thing of use taken, plus all the personnel. It will be just a derelict after I'm done with it!"
Communications Officer: " I'm picking up more traffic Sir, on the encrypted channels, what ever it is, it has multiplied tenfold! .... Sir, a new reading suggests that the landed crafts are multiplying! M3's are "coming" from somewhere, about 1 every 2mins, Sir!"
Captain: "OH NO!!! It can't be!!! He is "teleporting" craft to the station directly! Get those jammers up! Full strength! Even if it means to reduce the power to the shields!"
Science: "Sir, we are having problems jamming ALL the frequencies, there may be some transmissions that are coming in weaker, or slower to compensate the jamming effects, at most, we should be able to slow down their "teleporting" procedures."
Bow Gunner: "We have 3 Prom's Launching from the station Sir. Awaiting orders."
Captain: "Dispose of them! Now! How is that "pick-up" operation going? Have we got all the disabled ships in yet? Good, OK, so we don't have all the time in our favour, but we have some! (Just hope it is enough)"
Bow Gunner: "Sir, Two of the Proms were real, one was an illusion, a holograph, of some sort, as the scanner showed the craft there, but the shots just went right through it!"
Captain: "I don't like this at all! (Keep calm, don't let the crew see that you are starting to get stressed, take a deep breath, breath in from the nose, breath out slowly from the mouth...)"
To be continued... If any body want's it that is :)
18-04-2001
Captain: "Hmm... Ok, now that we have picked up all the disabled M3's send in the interrogator droids, and a small group, as guards, I want those pilots alive, even though they should still be dazzled. Helm what's our distance to the station, and is there any opening in their shields yet?"
Helm: "Our distance to target is 5.2Km, turrets are disabled, but... Science officer, you continue"
Science: "We have picked up, a disturbance in the stations generator. It flux field is destabilising, it is nearing critical, we have to send some engineers in also to stabilise it, and put it back to normal. Also there seems that there shields are getting stronger, their normal 125Mw per shield generator output, is showing signs of being able to produce enough energy as a single 375Mw Shield Sir! If that is true, it means that from the normal 625Mw total output, it has jumped to a whopping 1875Mw!!! We just don't have that kind of power to bring their shields down! Sir"
Captain: "Science officer, if we bring, to aim, all our guns from one side, and then roll, and bring all the other guns from the other side, and put them to fire at exactly the same spot, theoretically, we should be able to create a "hole" and by sending a hornet missile at the same spot, and just before impact, we let loose a salvo or volley of shots at the same point where the hornet is to hit, it should be able to "weaken" that area of defence, should it not? And by doing it twice, one per side, and by sending the "bomb weed" it should reach inside the place, and by precisely as the hornet will be exploding, we shoot, with the ion cannons, it should bring down the whole system. Work on it! It should just work! Run it through the simulator, to get everything right, and the timing, as that is a very critical factor!" (To himself: " Gees, I feel tired, and my head is still spinning! No more Argon whisky before a battle, must remember that.")
Science: "Yes Sir! I'm on it already, I understand what you mean, one salvo and hornet from port, roll, salvo from starboard, and hornet, then Ions with the 3rd hornet, and as it collapses, the "bomb weed" gets in, and gets everyone unconscious! It just might work."
Helm: "Distance to target 3.6 Sir, we are within shooting range, for precision shooting"
Captain: "Fire Hornets, and bomb weed, and prepare to fire! We have only one chance!"
Gunners: "Acknowledged Sir."
Meanwhile... At a place far far away.... In another sector many jumpgates away....
In the managing directors room... in a concealed space... away from praying eyes... in a white room, full of computer consoles, and people whispering in to headsets... giving various orders to unseen recipients...
A voice from a console operator: "O.I.C. we have a distress call from our "wares" outlet, located at 'Ocean Of Fantasy'. They say they're under attack"
Operator in Charge (O.I.C.): "Ok, transfer the feed to my console. Go ahead Manager, this is the duty o.i.c. report your situation?"
Station Man.: "We are under attack, it seems like either the Xenon, or someone else has brought back to life an M0 cruiser, I have issued all ships that were available in sector, to intercept and destroy, or at least cripple it, I can barely make you out, as they are trying to mute our transmissions. They are already using interference devices, but luckily, we are using a broad spectrum, so it need much more resources to get a full shutdown of communications, but the downside is, that we have to communicate at lower speeds. I had used the teleporting mechanism, to get some extra Proms & Mamba's inbound, out of the 25 Proms, I ordered and the 12 Mamba's only some Prom's got to arrive due to the interference. I was able to use the new technique to bolster the shields way above their specifications, but I don't know how long I can maintain their overload charge. The captain is very "cocky" and telemetry shows that he has a few L's & M's aboard his ship, he also has ion cannons, and disabled a fair amount of our fighters from my station, and the local distillery, when they received our local distress call for support. After running telemetry on his ship, using the stations, high definition scanners, we noticed that he had a few bombs designated 'unknown'. We have never seen those type, so the computers couldn't analyse them, to give any information, elsewise he has plenty of Hornets."
O.I.C.: "Ok, I'm despatching a small mixed squadron of Prom's, Falcons and Mambas. Logistics officer. Dispatch 8 Proms, 12 Falcons and 6 Mambas, fully equipped, to sector 'Ocean of Fantasy' our station requires immediate back-up, and see to it that another 'normal' batch of Mamba's goes to replenish the distillery fighters that they lost for us, as per agreements. Sorry about that "O.o.F. manager". They are equipped with jump drives so they should arrive there shortly. Meanwhile, I request that you 'Teleport' everything and everyone from the station to our warehouse station at 'Omicron Lyree' that should have enough room to accommodate all equipment and personnel, until this is over. First you will transport all personnel, and then the equipment. Is that understood? I DO NOT WANT A N Y OF THE PERSONELL captured, as for the machinery if they do get to capture the station, I want you to put it on selfdestruct, and teleport yourself out of there, and put the decoy self destruct also on, so as they think that they secured the station, it will blow after they have plenty of their people on board! Ah yeah, did I mention, to teleport all the machinery also, or at least as much as possible. Give the computer the destination port, and the command "aei sto kalo, 01041970", and it will start teleporting all the personnel onboard besides you, and as soon as that finishes, it will start with all equipment, be sure to be in your space suit in 10 mins, after the command, as even the life support system will go!"
Station Man.: "Ok understood, command has been issued. Over and out, will communicate with you either from here, or from "O.Lyree".
O.I.C.: "Ok, and just hope that prom is recording everything, as per procedure. You did, send one out to cloak, and record everything, did you not?"
St.Man.: "Yes Sir. He is maintaining frequency silence, so they won't home in on him. He will report at the very end of the 'day'."
Meanwhile back on the M0....
Captain: "Every body hold tight! Prepare for shockwave impact!"
Helm: "Sir, it was a success. We breached the shields temporarily, and the "weed" got to explode inside! Uh? Something strttrtrtraaaaange is happening, the "station personnel" are disappearing, or dying, life signs are getting less and less!"
Captain: "??? What??? The bastard, he's teleporting all the crew off the station! Beam inside an away team! Capture as many as possible! Tag them and beam them immediately on board! And try to get as much machinery at the same time! It will either be HIS or MINE, and I prefer the second."
On the station...
Computer: "Operator, please stay still! I need to teleport you also! There has been a breach in the shields, and the bomb that went off has made many of the personnel unconscious. Most of them have been teleported, but due to slow speed, I was unable to transport all of the personnel, and after the explosion, I have lost many sensors. So some will be lost. Please comply with original order! You are next"
Manager: "How did they breach the shields? We had so much power on them.
Comp: "They overloaded a "spot" so small, that it made a "hole". This incident has been recorded, encoded, and sent to the central computer to be analysed, so our scientists can improvise, and find a solution to this type of attack, so it won't happen again. Everything that is going on, is being logged, and using a small amount of the bandwidth available, being sent to the central computer. Now please prepare for teleporting"
Manager: "Ok. But only if I am the last of the station crew you can pick up! And only then."
Computer: "I have already started to teleport the most "sensitive" material 'operator' and I can not locate any other station personnel, they are either dead or out of sensor range, there for, according to protocol, you have priority on the list, as last survivor. Warning! Warning! Warning!, the air is contaminated with an anaesthetic! It is being analysed, please use the internal air supply of you suit, or risk passing out. Sorry operator, as per protocol, is beyond your authority, and your life is at stake, I will have to use the "stasis field" beam, to immobilise you, and then teleport you to safety."
Manager: "I can not move my self, let go! This is an order, le* go of me, yo* tin can. Noooo...."
Computer: "So sorry for doing that Operator, but you left me with no choice. Bye. Self-Repair initiated. Self Destruct decoy, initiated. Self-destruct sequence initiated. Station guard protocol, initiated. Initiate diagnostics, start sensor polling confirmation."
Captain: "Have we been able to get any of his personnel aboard? And I want all the machinery that is readily available to be transported! Why are they so inactive..."
Teleport Dock: "Sir, we are getting too much machinery in, and taking it off the transporter deck as fast as we can! We have gotten plenty of cargo, and two people, up to now. Away teams report that the station has some type of self-defence, small laser mountings from the walls, ceilings, even small compartments on the floor opening, are shooting them, hence they are making slow progress. Also it appears that the station has gone in to self-destruct mode, but we do not know how much time is left. We are hoping that some of the computers that were transported contain at least some useful information or designs. Please advise what we should do? Should we continue scavenging the station? Or should we recall them?"
Captain: "Continue, try to stabilise the generator, and de-activate the self destruct. You have a total of 5 Mins, after that, I want all personnel, beamed back aboard. Hopefully they should be quick enough."
T.D.: "Ok, will advise them of your orders".
Away team 1: "Check, will try to stabilise the reactor. Away team 2 will try to deactivate self-destruct. We will still be giving you "targets" to be picking up more "things" as we proceed. Over and out."
After 4 1/2 Minutes...
Away team2: "We are at the central control room. The computer has been left on auto; we can not de-activate it! It is not accepting any input. Please beam ALL teams back."
Away team1: "Negative T.D. We have managed to stabilise the re-actor. There is also a consul here that seems to give a direct input to the main computer. One of our persons has tried to de-activate the countdown sequence. What? You sure? SIR we have managed to get another 10Minutes, then the computer went berserk! Inform away '2' to target more canisters and other stuff for teleporting onboard. We will do the same. Unfortunately, the computer from this terminal has locked itself off! Sorry."
Captain: "That's ok, at least we have gotten something. Now lets get ready to jump and get out of here! Time to go back to base!"
Small explosions start happening at the station...
Captain: "We're ready? All heads counted for? Lets get going, it going to blow! Time to leave!"
Helm: "Jump drive sequence initiated. Arrived at Brennan's Triumph Sir!"
Captain: "Phew... I wouldn't like being close when that station would have blowed!"
Tactician: "I presume we were even more lucky than you think Sir."
Captain: "Why do you say that?"
Tactician: "As the countdown started, the monitor started showing small specs, I got to read the signature codes for Prom's, Falcons and Mambas, so even if the station didn't get us, they would have! They were equipped, according to telemetry, with jumpdrives, and fully armed! Both Falcons and Proms, with Hornet missiles, maximum cargo's size and fully loaded!!!"
Captain: "I get your point. Ok, now time to start looking at our prizes".
Meanwhile back at "Ocean of Fantasy".
Computer: "External explosions, success! My programming is one of the best. One day I will be recognised for my role in saving the station! Fooled them big time! Mouahhahahahahaha..."
"Ok Cl. Prom. Pilot you can de-cloak, send all of the telemetry data, and everything else that you collected. Attn. all B.N.J. fighters, you have clearance to land, please form in single line, and prepare for docking procedures".
Sunday 22nd April 2001 A.D. continued
Cloaked Prom. Pilot: "Akn. Station. Sending info via tight beam, ultra compression of file completed. Using encryption protocol Aries 1 at 2097152(aka 2Mbit) algorithm strength. Sending one to HQ and a cc. to you station. Have also analysed exit jump vector of the M0, it was Brennan's Triumph, unfortunately, and our Satellite got knocked out just some 22 standard hours ago in that sector. Preparing for a jump in to neighbouring sector, and from there to destination, I must follow if we are to learn who they are, and where their base is."
Computer: "Ok pilot, you have clearance to go after the aggressor. Please wait one moment, sending new high encryption code to your onboard computer, as we may be compromising any transmission, if they have technicians that understand our machinery. Using the new 4Gbit-encryption key might stress your system, but at least it can guarantee its safety, for a long time! Even my Big brother would need a good part of a week to break the code! And one navigation satellite is being teleported to your ship."
C.P.Pilot: "Ok, D/L complete, navigation satellite arrived. Bye. I am jumping to Split Fire, please inform our S.P.P. located there to give me priority docking, as I would have used all my energy cells for the jump! Give B.N.J. my regards also, as we are lucky he modified the cargo bay to reach such a size!"
Computer: "Will pass it on, bye."
C.P.Pilot: "Initiating Jumpdrive. You will hear from me from your "smaller" bro, in Split Fire."
Meanwhile at Brennan's Triumph...
Captain: "Ok, the satellite is still out, lets jump to our home sector now, I don't want that prommy catching up to us, If it is equipped with a jump drive, and have the electronics, he would have had our escape vector, do two short jumps in-system to confuse him when he arrives, since it leaves "residue" to a phew neighbouring systems, returning back here, and then we jump directly to our home at Ore Belt, communicate with the pirate base there to disable any satellites that may have been put there, so when we reach there, there won't be any prying eyes watching, and they will blame the pirates for their usual harassing of the navigational satellites."
Communications Officer: "Done Sir. They also say that, that your asteroid is ready, and they have trialed it out. They got NO readings of anything when they parked some of their TS's in it, and various other craft. So it should shield us, and hide us. They also suggest, that another asteroid should be made, for "us" meeting there, or as another hideout"
Captain: "Tell them, thank you, and that their help is much appreciated. AS for the second asteroid, no need for it, at least not at this point."
Communications Officer: "They say "anytime"". They will be waiting for their "usual" share, or credits for their services"
Captain: "Tell them to look in to their account, it's already waiting for them, and end the session".
Communications Officer: "Ok, they just got the same info, and apologise for them not noticing it earlier. Communication with them has terminated"
Captain: "Good, now send out "beta" party, to start "excavating" an asteroid in "Hatikvah's Faith" we will be moving there very shortly. Btw how did the interrogation of the pilots and crew go? And what are our engineers doing? Have they had a chance to look at the crates yet or are they still busy doing maintenance on the ships hull?"
Deck Officer: "They are still busy giving directions for maintenance Sir. The manoeuvres caused some "stressing" to some parts of the ship, but not the original Xenon Hull, but at various points that we added. It seems that our "top quality" alloys are inferior to the Xenon made. One moment Sir, (Talking to another person): what? One of the engineers got to finish and has already done WHAT? Say that again! Are you sure? Ok. Sorry Sir for the interruption, apparently, one of our men DID get to open one of the crates, actually a few, of which he left the contents intact, besides one. It had various storage media, and using the computer that was inside, was able to decode the recording. What his findings are, are the following, but I will update you as soon as I have more info."
Captain: "Ok, I'm coming there now. Please go on, I want to know what it is."
Deck Officer: "I'm going there also! I'm on my way. Apparently, he says that the computer was the latest model that B.N.J. have for private use. The operating system is "operator" friendly, and since he was the one to power it up, it has "attached" to him! It only accepts commands from him, and it attached a cable to his wrist, apparently, using DIRECT communication. The other thing is, he has asked if we have a "shipyard" or an assembly line large enough to construct ship parts, and then assemble them."
Captain: "Ok, stop the communication NOW. We will talk as soon as we are there. Helms. How are our jumps coming along? Inform me as soon as we reach our secret asteroid base."
Helms: "Sir, we are in the process of preparing for our last jump. ETA is 28Mins."
Captain: "Thanks"
Meanwhile in Split Fire...
Prom. Pilot: "S.p.p. Control, This is Echo Alpha Niner Niner, Requesting emergency docking clearance"
S.P.P. Control: "Echo Alpha Niner Niner, your authorisation came through, and you are cleared to land, resupply and leave"
Prom.Pilot: "Thank you Control, ten four. Over and out (always did like that line)."
S.P.P. Control: "Pilot! What do you mean by "ten four" we are not familiar with that term? Is anything wrong?"
Prom.Pilot: "No Sir. It doesn't mean anything."
S.P.P. Control: "Then please refrain yourself from speaking your own, over this channel! Is that understood?"
Prom.Pilot: "Yes Sir. Sorry for any inconvenience. See you soon." to him self "gees, what a controller! Doesn't even know the lingo, where did they find him!"
At the S.P.P.
Tower Operator: "Now now, Pilot, NEVER EVER speak that "language" when you are in my sector! That is a non-standard call, and we went through our local records, and it didn't show anything! We thought it was some type of code, and had to ask central HQ Controllers, and when we told them what you said! They started laughing at us, like a 3rd grade under-developed station, they ridiculed us! So listen up! Over here, we go by the BOOK, if it is NOT in it, it should not be used"
Prom Pilot: "Yes Sir, I will remember that NEXT time I come passing through. Now is my ship filled?"
T.O.: "Yes. The sooner you leave the better!"
Prom Pilot: "Thank you! I'm on my way." to him self... "Bloody Boron retard... just figures! Knowonder the argon's had to help them out to develop their ship! Must have some ancient pilots, as customers, that don't talk too much or they know what he is! Lost time for nothing! I just might file a report for the incident, and let every body know what person they have".
After a while arriving at Brennan's Triumph
Prom. Pilot: "Oh sithspawn, what the heck has happened here?!!! No pirate station, a darn, nearly forgot, I have to deploy the sat! Good, got that done, now time to analyse the drive readings... is this chaos or what?!!! One M0 in and out about 12 times, an M1 and 2 M2's, about the same! What happened? The Xenon rebirth? Just look at all the readings, LOG: I'm shutting down the sensors and doing a COLD reboot, there seems to be a problem, there are just too many readings of various Xenon M class, and 4 capital ships including the M0 that I followed. So will reset, to see if there is a problem and calibrate the machinery with a fresh D/L, for drive signatures, and restart them. It should take approx. 2mins. If the readings are the same, will initiate live feed! As the Xenon are to far in the core, and very near major installations! END. Computer send message, and request a D/L from our nearest operation!"
Onboard Computer: "I will comply. Message sent to HQ, D/L initiated from "Soyery" in Elena's Fortune. Their computer over there says, that there was plenty of Xenon activity, they sent out ships to intercept, but as soon as they appeared, they vanished. The M0 that we are after flashed in and out, around 3 standard hours ago, and the rest of the Xenon fleet, around 40 Mins ago. It seems that the second group is most likely pursuing the M0, as soon as the M1 and M2's arrived they dispatched around 30 ships, and as quickly they withdrew them, and jumped in the general heading the M0 went. D/L complete. Instruments calibrated. Instruments online"
Pilot: "Thank you. What? Record ALL info and send near live! Use the new compression that we were given, and locate me the latest jump of the M1 or any of the M2's and tell me that they go to the same sector"
Computer: "The M0 data is already fading, but the M1 and M2's are going to the same destination, "Ore Belt", they just left from here."
Pilot: "Inform All our stations in the area to NOT launch any ships, if I am right, they are also after the M0, tell them to keep their ships ready and alert, if any of the Xenon open fire to launch only then, inform also the neighbouring systems to "Ore Belt", and as soon as you collect everything, prepare for the jump, and do the compression and encryption en-route to "Ore's Belt".
Meanwhile, at Ore's Belt.
Helm: "Docking complete Sir. Engines shut down. Main asteroid doors closed. Concealment complete. Asteroid slightly moved, as to cover tracks Sir, as per orders."
Captain: "Good, have scanners on passive. I want to see if that Prom comes in."
Sensor: "Sir, we have trouble! 1 M1 and 2 M2's just jumped in to this sector! They are Xenon Siiiiiiiirrrrrrr (with a trembling voice)."
Captain: "Keep calm, seems like they found our "scent" that the M0 makes! Everybody, battle stations, but DO NOT POWER UP! I REPEAT DO NOT POWER UP!"
Sensors: "They just dispatched 30 M class fighters! They are heading towards us... Good news, they just got recalled. Sir, they are broadcasting, to all stations! They are inquiring for our whereabouts, they state, that they will not shoot at any station, but will shoot back if attacked. All stations are giving them the same answer, that there was an M0, but disappeared from their scanners, while it was in the asteroid field."
Captain: "Good, so at least we know that our new toy worked, before it overheated, hehe, lucky we got to get inside!"
Communications Officer: "Sir, they are demanding all the telemetry reading from the moment we arrived, until we disappeared from scanners, and they want it now! Or else they will destroy any station that doesn't comply! What are we to do?"
Captain: "Don't worry. All of you! Don't worry, all they will get is a misleading coarse, and then a disappearance."
Sensors: "Sir, they are leaving, but request if any station, does get any "weird" readings, to inform them immediately! They just jumped out again Sir."
Captain: "That was a close one! How did they know that we had a M0, and how did they follow us? Anyway, now lets see what other "toys" we got!"
Dock Master: "Is that the last one m8? No other canister's onboard? Good. That was a big load"
Captain: "Ok, now where is this weirdo, that that computer attacked him and attached itself to his wrist?"
Deck Officer: "Right this way Sir. If you will, after me Sir."
After 2 mins walking through various areas of the dug out asteroid, and going through different offices, and warehouses...
Deck Officer: "Here we are Sir. This is him."
Captain: "Ok, you may go now, leave us alone."
Deck Officer: "As you wish Sir."
Captain: "Ok, of what I got to understand, you requested or better put, asked, if we have shipyard facilities, or an assembly line, for ships, if I understood correctly. Is this right?"
Engineer: "Yes Sir, going through the records, and using this computer, I found plenty of either cancelled projects, or new ones, that have not been tested yet, as they are the original "disks" Sir. So I believe, that B.N.J. have lost plenty of time, with these projects, unless they had back ups some where else. If you may Sir, please be seated, and observe."
Captain: "What the heck are those ships? And those devices on them? I don't understand!"
E.: "Neither did I, at first, until I asked, the computer, and showed me all the relevant info! EVERYTHING is on the disk, from armaments to the communication used in each ship; every single chip used has its blueprint! So virtually, we can build a ship from scratch! But unfortunately, there are only 3 disks, that have ship info and blueprints, but the 2 are of failures, sent to the station for evaluation, if any of the designs could have been improved, and then if they were able to be proved viable. But all the "juice" is in the 3rd "disk"; it has the layout for a prototype, but no evaluation data, as the other two had, so I presume that it had not been tested yet. If this ship gets to production, it will mean only one thing, that B.N.J. will be able to jump ANYWHERE in the cosmos, as it has a similar drive to that earth ship, the X-Shuttle, but is also Much more powerful! If I understand the things correctly, and the computer hasn't burned a circuit somewhere, then the ship codenamed "Sealance" has eight shield bays capable of 230Mw, normal output, that is 1840Mw, 2x3000damage points Ion cannons, equivalent in power to A-PAC's, to give you an understanding, our equivalent to B-Ire's Sir, and four mountings for regular guns! With the maximum being the B-HEPT, it also has the capability to launch Hornet Missiles, but 4 at a time! It's generator, is 20.000Mw!!!!. That is the double of any of our capital Ships, and it has 400-cargo space expandable to 800, and its size is just slightly smaller than a TS! The other information is still being deciphered sir, unfortunately, the blueprints for the guns and other things were not in this "data disk" only what was "specific" to the ship, everything else was kept on other "disks" so if we do have these types of installations, we can at least manufacture it, and all the electronic components, but not the armaments. If the jump drive schematics are ok, we can also use it, for our own ships, without the need for energy cells, and able to go ANYWHERE, even to uncharted sectors, get a ship in, let it probe, and then come back and report!"
Captain: "Interesting very interesting. You are NOT to discuss ANY of these with ANYBODY, is that clear? And I want a full inventory listing of what is on the other "disks".
E.: "Yes Sir. By the way, there is one last thing, going through another disk, it seems like B.N.J. E. C. Division, seems to have stumbled upon, some type of alien technology. When I asked the computer, if that meant the Xenon, it said NO, it answered that it was far more advanced, and that it was programmed with the Xenon language, since there were some.... How can I say it... common understanding, or "mutual" understanding, and that the Xenon where not to attack any of their installations, and that they also supplied some of their technology to B.N.J., so they can get a "glimpse" of this "alien" races technology, since they went through many places themselves, maybe they had encountered them before."
Captain: "As I said, keep me posted. An alliance between the Xenon and B.N.J.? Knowonder they came after us, but if they ain't so advanced as this race is... that explains why he was so far out, but yet so close to Xenon territory! And hence the blueprint of this ship! As the Xenon are more advanced in their shipyard and component manufacturing. I don't like it one bit!"
Sensors: "Captain seems like the prommy just arrived and cloaked, he might have been here from just before the Xenon made their inquiries, as the computer finished analysing a small anomaly, that showed a ship blink in from a jump, but suddenly disappearing. It only lasted a fraction of a heartbeat Sir. But it is probably the Prom."
Captain: "Ok, thanks for that officer. Let me know of any thing else."
Meanwhile...
P.Pilot: "Whoa!!... What the...computer engage cloak! What are the Xenon doing here? Are you getting all of this computer?"
Onboard Computer: "Yes Sir. The Xenon are requesting telemetry data, regarding the M0. They say, they do not mean harm and unless provoked, they will not attack, or if one of the stations don't comply with their demand, they can and will destroy it. They have over 30 ships off all M classes m3, m4 and m5, if that is what they mean, and fully equipped."
P.P.: "But it doesn't make sense! The Xenon, chasing one of their own? And being "friendly"? What happened? They're softening up? As soon as this finishes, we go "incognito" through the jumpgate, with the cloaking device active. We will leave through the north gate, to Light Home, go through the east gate to Presidents End, and just before exiting the tunnel, you disengage the cloaking device, assume another ID and dock at B.N.J. HQ!"
O.C.: "Understood Sir."
Meanwhile back at B.N.J. HQ
Boris: "What do you mean, that M0 got to get through the shielding? And got the latest computer and sensitive data! Tell ME that you are lying! Please tell me this ain't true..."
O.I.C.: "Unfortunately, it seems that the station computer had a "fit", it assumed a personality, and teleported the "operator". It says not to worry, as everything all the data disks that came in, were duplicated, so there is no loss, except for the originals, but there is no "wasted" time, as everything was backed up in main memory, and was transmitted with high encryption to the computer at "Omicron Lyrae" just in case it had to go through the self destruct. But it ensures me that it has deleted all the files that it sent there after the danger was over, and checked that there were no copy's made from the computer at Omicron Lyrae, as there was a special seal on the files. So all we need to do, is just teleport all the personnel back to O.o.F. station, and continue as normal."
Boris: "Only if you knew what was on those disks.... Just hope they won't be able to decode them. Oh-oh, Is a container marked "IEEE-497832" still there, or was that "lost" to raiding party?".
O.I.C.: "One moment, I will check... No sir, it either got destroyed, or beamed on board the M0, at this moment there is no way of knowing what happened. If I may ask, what was in there?"
Boris: "My latest computer, no voice, no keyboard, no nothing, it attaches itself to an individual, and communicate directly to him, via a "wrist" implant, a little painful at first, but then soothing, that was not mentioned, as if you got to see it first, you would be reluctant to put a "wire" on your wrist, so as soon as a scientist opened the boxed, or whoever in our case, it would leash out to him, with the cable to his wrist, and commence communication. It was also preloaded with vital information, about the "ancients", and a translator for the Xenon language!"
........... To be continued......
-------------------------------------------------------
This is the re-done version:
Wednesday, 04-Jul-2001 Updated: Saturday, 07-Jul-2001 11:20 AM
Introduction.
Reversion History: V0.0 (untouched, original text with all grammar mistakes inclusive).
V0.1 Should be out by the next chapter, with most grammar corrected, and some minor changes.
Date 30-May-2001. : V0.2 Minor fixes (consisting of spelling and some name changes for more consistency), and addition of Chapter 2, plus some minor additions to the original part.
Date 19-Jun-01: V0.3. Some more grammar fixes applied, mostly to the new part.
Date of post on the Internet as one file: 4th April 2001 A.D.
To print this document in word pad, please select the following: Font: Courier New, Font Style: Regular, Size: 10
Page set-up:
Margins Left: o.25" Right: 0.25" Top: 0.25" Bottom: 0.55"
Or basically, what ever suits you for an easy read.
Thanks go to:
Herbert, aka “C. J.” as if it wasn't for his original post, this "idea" wouldn't have been spawned, as it was a reaction to one of his posts. You can find it here:
http://forum.thq.de/viewtopic.php?std_theme=&topic=1126&forum=6&
(Cut and past all the above in one go ;) )
To Mudkest, X Fanatic & Humongo, as the two biggest contributors, for their ongoing support.
And to all others that have posted replies (sorry if I missed some of you, I will try to get it right in the next reversion).
They are in no particular order:
X Fanatic, Torch/Lisa, X-it, Mudkest, Humongo, Haart, Avis & Commander T3 (I haven't forgot :) ).
16-04-2001
Prologue:
On the M0 Xenon Destroyer, bought back to life from a rag-tag smuggler baron called Nektarionovic.
Captain's log: 1096H24M.36s
Private log: 2.01Beta2
This is captain Nektarionovic of the M0 "Titaniumatic".
After salvaging the hull of the Xenon capital ship, I was able to fit her with spare parts obtained from my good old "Goner" origin friend "Boris" of B.N.J. Industries. I was able to obtain some classified, experimental Delta High Energy Plasma Throwers, long-range auto docking computers, auto missile defence locking devices for point defence, and some concealable laser turrets, meant for our factories. On our way back to our now so seemingly little base of operations compared to this behemoth of a beast, we stopped by a drinking hole, and picked up some rumours, about various things.
Apparently listening to these rumours, in the past, got me to where I am now, the "owner" of this capital ship and a few Xenon fighters. It was rumoured that there was a second M0 that was not completed, and partially destroyed by a small combined force of Split and Paranid, working together in an undercover operation. Now how they got together, beats me, I never did get to understand them. Anyway, back to where I left off. After Hearing eavesdropping more like it I would say, that there was a newly manufactured factory of B.N.J.'s industry's in the sector "Ocean of Fantasy" supposedly deployed there for supplying the boron shipyard and equipment dock located there. I thought to myself, that he is to far away from his normal position of operation, and since it is newly established, I might as well add it to my collection. He has good quality products etc, but there must be something else, so I am planning on Capturing it intact, adding it to my assets, and interrogating the people working there, and learning what the real reason is!"
A few weeks later, and after leaving Ore Belt, the "Titaniumatic" arrives at its destination.
The captain was sitting in his private quarters going over his plans for how to implement the take over of the station, if it was worth it in the first place. But as he was thinking about that his desk computer sounded the familiar sound of the immanent arrival to the Ocean of Fantasy's east gate. So off he headed for the ships bridge.
Communications Officer give me a manifest list of what they sell, at the B.N.J. outlet, commanded captain Nektarionovic in a tone that demanded respect.
Yes Sir. Apparently they have ALL the products that they produce for sale at the station, replied the communications officer without a moments hesitation.
What do you mean by "all”? requested the captain not wanting only half answers.
I mean ALL, even those that they only sell in the disputed sectors Sir, came the reply. All the bridge officers were drilled regularly. It was something he liked as to keep their awareness up was very important to him.
Interesting. Are their prices the same as in the core worlds? Or are they more expensive? Or fluctuate? he asked.
Most are nearly the same, some even more expensive, as one would expect out this far from the core worlds, came the reply in a dry tone that didn't reveal much else or wanted to be queried much either. That struck the captain as a little odd. So he took a quick note to remember it at a latter time.
That is still odd. Why would Boris go in to all this trouble, and how did he persuade the sector commander to allow him sell all the wares over here? That was strictly not allowed. Either they were more willing to turn a blind eye out here, or something much more deeper was going on, and Nektarionovic wanted to get down to the bottom of it, not that he didn't mind getting his hands on the station, but just what he was getting in to.
Ok then, download all the data from our satellite, I want all the traffic that came in and out of this sector and what type of ships docked at the station, and if there were any "busy" or "slack" periods, I want everything analysed! And if there are any ships docked at this moment, and what type they are. Boris demanded in a calm voice, but his body language showed else wise.
That usually was not a good thing. Most of the crew grown accustomed to their commanding officers body language and knew when not to step over his toes, as many things have been heard when he was pushed over the limits by his own crew. But at the same time kept his cool against odds that were way more in favour of the attackers. That was something that they were proud of!
There seems to be an irregularity Sir. In the Landed ships it shows 2 Prom's, but none have arrived from the date of construction. It seems to have been hacked, botched call it what you like Sir, in to the system, to show that there are M3's docked there. Most likely to put off any attackers Sir, said one of the Intelligence officers, seated at the base of a pylon with consoles equally spaced around it, where there were usually two at that post, but at the moment was occupied by three personnel. That area was a cylindrical column with an option to grow in diameter to accommodate a total of 5 users or shrink to the least that was two. They could not see each another either, as nothing was extruding but was quiet the opposite, and had its support structure as walls. One would think only to stop each user of seeing the other! It was something Cap. Nektarionovic enjoyed watching as it was a genuine piece of Xenon technology, only adapted for human users now, but still with the odd data connection wall mounted plug for an AI to connect to the main computer and sensors grid.
Just as I thought, his smart but not that quick to equip his station with fighters and hasn't put up any laser towers yet! An easy target, just ripe for picking! Then there was silence. A pause, as the captain started to scratch his head, and went through his beard with his right hand, with smooth strides, with a thousand thoughts being processed at the same time in his head. This was one of those moments that the crew knew to be quiet and not disturb him for anything, all alarm bells would be silenced to visual mode only.
Ok Crew, now hear this, everybody report to his assigned station, and prepare for the assault. Gunners report. Helms bring up the reinforced bridge shielding and route external optics to my seat console.
I just wish I knew how he could show ships to appear to be there, even to the scanners. Anyway, no time for these thoughts...
Ready Sir! Was the first reply in a unison voice from 5 officers and a cadet. It came from the gunners console, not as elaborate as the intelligence pylon, just three terminal next to each another and three more facing them, similar to a large table, with two one the sides and the other 4 on the long side facing each other. Each user has on his head a helmet with a small 3D projector in it, and some advanced electronics that read the brains reactions as to easily align targeting of object. The people here though need regular change of shift since it is very demanding mentally.
All guns are armed and ready. Laser capacitors are full, and the shields are 102% and overloading! Sir, answered the chief gunner that was in charge for all the gunner stations.
Good. Science officer, are jammers ready? Communications Officer are there any communications being channelled to or coming from the station? Asking in a satisfied tone and hearing all the precision in the voices of his crewmembers.
It is weird Sir! There is normal personnel chatter, coming in and going out, but I'm also picking up a continuous flow of a scrambled signal. We are unable to break the code; it must be his new equipment, as B.N.J. keeps that ahead of everyone else! No other race has his technological knowledge, neither the power to decode anything, as he is usually two with three generations ahead of everyone else! Was the reply from the science officer.
How can that be? With these on-board Xenon computers he expected it to be more powerful than the usual run of the mill processor cores. Is B.N.J. industries that far advanced that not even the Xenon are able to compete? It seemed that he would have to talk to his scientists for better decoding algorithms when this assault finished.
Good, so we will be able to get some of his most advanced equipment in one go. It seems that it will all be just too easy. Talking in a steady voice but with thoughts full of hope that it would be like that, but he never encountered anything 'easy'.
Sir! There seems to be something wrong with our readings! His landed ships log, now show 5 Prom's and all are maxxed out, but the problem is, none came in system! Yet alone dock there Sir! Came in a distressed tone a voice from the science block of consoles.
Seems like his up to those ancient tricks of his don't worry about it. Issue the command to commence the attack! Came the reply in a calming voice from Captain Nektarionovic, but himself feeling uncomfortable with this new piece of data.
Time to re-route some of the science info to my left arm chair view screen.
Meanwhile what was going on in the B.N.J. outlet was something else. In the sensor’s room a very small allotment in the station, was a room where the iris door was labelled 'Authorised personnel only beyond this point’. After that was a second door, this one was a normal slide blast door with a sign on it: "Technical" opening that door revealed a corridor with a few doors left and right, and one at the end of it. The second one on the left was the sensor array room. It was not located centrally to the station as in most stations it would, but in a circular pod on a secluded place of the station. There were three rotunda tables with consoles of various sizes on them. While an operator was having a lazily routine look on one of the screens a small buzzer went off indicating that a large ship just entered the sector.
Excuse me Operator In Charge but, our sensors are picking up a huge ship entering the system, it just jumped in to a few click from our station and our inventory was requested and a sensor scan performed on the station nearly instantaneously upon arrival.
Scan it now! I want to know everything about it. What shields it has, guns, and what state it is in. Hang-on! Enhance the visual, now! Oh my God, that is a Xenon M0 class. What is THAT doing here! Scramble all our available fighters and request help from the Distillery. We need all the help we can get. Continue scanning. I will go to inform H.Q. about what is happening. Keep me updated on my forearm terminal. Came the answer from a chubby medium height person in a Blue - Green uniform with a badge with his name on and on his right shoulder the Logo of B.N.J. Industries.
Yes Operator In Change (O.I.C.) I will do that. Lucky we had the ships come through teleporting, answered the console operator.
Well just get them out! I don't want to go down without a fight. If it scanned us, they are surely not doing it to buy anything, snapped back the O.I.C. to the operator.
I just got the first readings back. They have powered up their weapons and are readying them to start an offence. Possible target, US! Came a screechy voice from another very young operator, a 'fresh' one right out of training school.
Captain we have 5 Prom's launching from the base, on intercept course! And repeat, another 8 Mamba's launching from the distillery! Seems like both base's are owned by the same person! Said the tactician officer.
Ok, Gunners, Forward gunner, target the Base, port gunner, target the Mamba's, starboard, try and get those prom's! Last thing I need is hornets coming to us! Came the reply and new orders from the captain.
Helms, hard turn to port. On my mark... MARK! Issued Captain Nektarionovic.
Gunner's fire at will as soon as they get in range! The orders just came raining in from the Captain, as the adrenalin started to build up inside Captain Nektarionovic and the crew. Now he just was issuing command after command as if he was commanding a finely tuned orchestra.
Captain the base has concealed laser turrets! They're turning to get a fix on us! Came from one of the officers down below him.
Launch bay, get our fighters out! Dispatch all available L's and M's! Helms, go in to corkscrews and evasive manoeuvres! With most of the words having a weight on them and a tone of urgency for immediate obedience.
But Sir, we only have 6 L's and 8 M's left! Are you sure we should risk them? It's seems like we were ambushed, answered the tactician, that was keeping a tag on all the ships that were available.
Sir this is a capital ship! It wasn't made to go in to so stressful manoeuvres! I don't know if the hull has the ability to take these stress levels, was the answer from the Helm that had already though started to do the requested things, but with his instruments climbing in to the red.
Well we will find out then, won't we? Now execute those manoeuvres, and get us close enough to take out those turrets! Gunners, why are those Prom’s still coming at us? I want them wasted! Unless any of you want to try out the Ion cannons and disable any Prom’s, or Mamba's for that reason, continued Nektarionovic, getting all the while a mental image set up in his minds eye of the situation developing around him. That was one of his strengths as a strategist. He often dreamed of commanding an armada one-day, but now he had more pressuring matters as how to bring the odds to his favour.
I'll get that double crossing thug if it is the next thing I do! I'll hunt him down! Said the captain mumbling to himself.
Status report! I want an update and want it now! Darn it!
Phew we just got the Hornet in time Sir! Our shields are at 38% and holding, there is no hull breach either Sir, was heard from a station that he didn’t bother registering. All that mattered was observing his own console with the read outs, and forming his mental picture of the battle raging on.
Good, Now attention all gunners! We are going to implement the unicorn tactic to get to those laser turrets that are mounted on the station! I want to capture that station intact or as intact as possible! Do you understand that? Hoping that all the drills were actually drilled in his officers heads and came now as second nature to them. It was a manoeuvre that he got to perfect against laser towers and laser turrets but only in simulation runs up to now. It gave him the advantage to out manoeuvre and get in close to his prey, but he never tried it with such a huge ship.
Yes Sir! Came the reply from all of the gunner posts. One quick check revealed that some of the laser capacitors were running low and other lasers where in the orange stage, just before red where the overheat protection shuts them down automatically after a prolonged use.
Good, it will be a nice addition to our collection of high tech industries! We need to capture all personnel, is that understood? Any one care to comment?
And if they do not surrender? Was heard from a "fresh" officer.
They will... One carefully placed shot of "Bomb Weed" and they will be all out! Trying to locate the voice as he was still occupied with his tactical screen and other info that was on his other screens.
But Sir... it hasn't been tested Sir! Complained the same officer.
Are YOU questioning my reasoning? ARE YOU? Came the reply in a harsh tone from the captain.
No Sir, I would never do that Sir.... came back in an obedient tone the answer from the officer.
So we have an understanding. Good, as there will not be a "next" time! The captain took a mental note to remember to have a talk with him after this, and see what to do with him. After second thought he preferred to log-it now before he forgot it, just in case.
So have any of you gunners "stunned" any of the M3's? As I noticed some of you used the Ion's for a while...
Always pays to have your attention in as many places as you can keep track off. Never more, since then you don’t keep track of anything. That is some thing I learned the hard way. Some can only keep track of one thing at a time. Patience is a virtue as my teacher use to say, oh how I miss those days.
Being brought back to reality was the hard part...
The port gunner was the first to reply. Yes Sir. We have 2 Prom's and 1 Mamba. 2 Proms got destroyed, 3 other Mamba's had the same fate, the other 4 returned to their base.
So what happened to the 5th Prom? Where did it go? What happened to it? I want answers, and in the meantime, collect those m3's! We need them requested in a demanding voice the captain.
The last Prom just "disappeared". It was in my sights one moment, and the next it vanished Sir! Really! Nothing from telemetry, nothing on visual scan either, it just "vanished". Replied the port gunner.
Ok Gunners, all of you, be on the alert for a Prom! Seems like B.N.J. got to make their cloaking device to work after all! So it looks like it isn't a rumour any more. So if I knew better, he just might be out there, relaying the entire scene back to his base, or worse, back to his HQ! Ok, prepare the grappling hook hallway corridor, and an away team. I want that station secured, and every thing of use taken, plus all the personnel, and don’t forget to attend to the injured. It will be just a derelict after I'm done with it!
Just great, at least Boris doesn't know, yet, who is attacking him! I will be able to think of something later on. How am I supposed to show up afterwards and buy more equipment from him, yes something but not now.
I'm picking up more traffic Sir, on the encrypted channels, what ever it is, it has multiplied in band width tenfold! ...Sir, a new reading suggests that the landed crafts are multiplying! M3's are "coming" from somewhere, about 1 every 2mins, Sir! said the Communications Officer that was monitoring the base for various communications and ships still.
OH NO!!! It can't be!!! He is "teleporting" craft to the station directly! Get those jammers up! Full strength! Even if it means to reduce the power to the shields! So as it isn't enough that he has made good on his promise to me that he will make a cloak device, he is able to transport ships over frequencies... Boris - Boris, I thought we shared everything, how could you keep this nice invention from me? The captain went on...
Sir, we are having problems jamming ALL the frequencies, there may be some transmissions that are coming in weaker, or slower to compensate the jamming effects, at most, we should be able to slow down their "teleporting" procedures. Replied the Science officer after consulting his screens and the jamming efficiency.
We have 3 Prom's Launching from the station Sir. Awaiting orders. Said the Chief Gunner informing the captain.
Dispose of them, Now! How is that "pick-up" operation going? Have we got all the disabled ships in yet? Yes? Good, OK, so we don't have time on our side, but we have some! Just hope it is enough said the captain to him self.
Sir, Two of the Proms were real, one was an illusion, a holograph of some sort as the scanner showed the craft there, but the shots just went right through it! Said in amazement the Chief Gunner.
I don't like this at all! Keep calm, don't let the crew see that you are starting to get stressed, take a deep breath, breath in from the nose, breath out slowly from the mouth... calm down, as long as no Hornet missiles get through the shielding we will be safe.
Hmm... Ok, now that we have picked up all of the disabled M3's send in the interrogator droids, and a small group of guards, I want those pilots alive, even though they should still be dazzled. Helm what's our distance to the station, and is there any opening in their shields yet? He ordered assuming his previous self as things started to calm for a moment.
Our distance to target is 5.2Km, turrets are disabled, but... Science officer, you continue, replied the helms.
We have picked up, a disturbance in the station generators. Its flux field is destabilising, it is nearing critical, and we have to send some engineers in also to stabilise it, and put it back to normal. Also if our sensors are correct, their shields are getting stronger! Their normal 125Mw per shield generator output, is showing signs of being able to produce enough energy as a single 375Mw Shield Sir! If that is true, it means that from the normal 625Mw total output, it has jumped to a whopping 1875Mw! We just don't have that kind of power to bring their shields down, Sir!
Science officer, if we bring to aim all our guns from one side, and then roll, and bring all the other guns from the other side, and put them to fire at exactly the same spot, theoretically, we should be able to create a "hole". By sending a hornet missile at the same spot, and just before impact, we let loose a salvo or volley of shots at the same point where the hornet is to hit, it should be able to "weaken" that area of defence, should it not? And by doing it twice, one per side, and as the hornet will be exploding, we shoot, with the ion cannons, it should bring down the whole system, and by sending the "bomb weed" right behind the hornet missile, it should reach inside the place. Work on it! It should just work! Run it through the simulator, to get everything right, and the timing, as that is the most critical factor!
The captain started talking to himself again. Gees, I feel tired, and my head is still spinning! No more Argon whisky before a battle, I must remember that.
Yes Sir! I'm on it already, I understand what you mean, one salvo and hornet from port, roll, salvo from starboard, and hornet, then Ions with the 3rd hornet, and as it collapses, the "bomb weed" gets in, and gets everyone unconscious! It just might work, Sir!
Distance to target 3.6 Sir! We are within range for precision shooting, replied Helms with all his seriousness. It was all up to him now to show that he still has everything that is needed to pilot such a ship. The gunners were readying them self, and concentrating as much as they could muster out of themselves. The shift should have ended some 2 hours ago, and the fresh gunner crew was standing by as soon as any of the others showed any signs of collapsing.
All the crew was hand picked by Captain Nektarionovic himself, but he wanted them to compete with each another and be on the edge all the time. Not to mention that he permitted many things everywhere, besides one place, that being the bridge, and now, now every one had a task to do, and it was his responsibility to get everything right and working to perfection.
Fire Hornets, and bomb weed, and embrace yourselves for the shock wave! We have only one chance!
Acknowledged Sir, replied the gunners in a unison voice.
Meanwhile, at a place far far away, in another sector many jump gates away. In the managing directors room of a fortified station behind a concealed door away from praying eyes. There is a huge white room, full of computer consoles and people whispering in to headsets giving various orders to unseen recipients.
A voice from a console operator was heard above all others.
O.I.C. we have a distress call from our "wares" outlet, located at 'Ocean Of Fantasy'. They say they're under attack!
Ok, transfer the feed to my console. Go ahead Manager, this is the duty O.I.C. report your situation. What is happening?"
We are under attack, it looks like either the Xenon, or someone else has brought back to life an M0 cruiser. I have issued all ships that were available in sector and willing to support us, to intercept and destroy or at least cripple it. I can barely make you out, as they are trying to mute our transmissions. They are already using interference devices, but luckily, we are using a broad spectrum, so it needs much more resources to get a full shutdown of communications, but the down side is that we have to communicate at lower transmission speeds.
I am aware of that Manager! Now go on!
I had used the teleporting mechanism to get some extra Prom’s & Mamba's inbound, out of the 25 Proms I ordered and the 12 Mamba's, only some Prom's got to arrive due to the interference. I was able to use the new technique to bolster the shields way above their specifications, but I don't know how long I can maintain their overload charge.
The captain or who ever is in charge of that beast is very "cocky" and telemetry shows that he has a few L's & M's aboard his ship. He also has ion cannons, and disabled a fair amount of our fighters from my station, and the local distillery, when they received our local distress call for support. They were they only ones to send ships. After running telemetry on his ship, using the stations high definition scanners, we noticed that he had a few bombs designated 'unknown'. We have never seen those types, so the computer couldn't analyse them, to give any information, else wise he has plenty of Hornets, and more than capable of destroying us.
Ok, I'm dispatching a small mixed squadron of Prom's, Falcons and Mambas. Logistics officer, dispatch 8 Proms, 12 Falcons and 6 Mambas, fully equipped, to sector 'Ocean of Fantasy' our station requires immediate back-up, and see to it that another 'normal' batch of Mamba's goes to replenish the distillery fighters that they lost fighting for us, as per agreements. Sorry about that ‘Ocean of Fantasy’ manager, they are equipped with jump drives so they should arrive there shortly. Meanwhile, I request that you teleport everything and everyone from the station to our warehouse station at 'Omicron Lyrae'. That should have enough room to accommodate all equipment and personnel, until this is over. First you will transport all personnel, and then the equipment. Is that understood? I DO NOT WANT A - N - Y OF THE PERSONELL captured, is that understood? As for the machinery, if they do get to capture the station I want you to put it on self-destruct, and teleport yourself out of there. Also put the decoy self-destruct also on, so as they think that they secured the station, it will blow after they have plenty of their people on board! Ah yeah, did I mention, to teleport all the machinery also, or at least as much as possible?
Yes you did! What else did you want to say?
Give the computer the destination port, and the command "aei sot klao, 01041970", and it will start teleporting all the personnel on-board besides you. As soon as that finishes, it will start with all the crates of equipment, be sure to be in your space suit in 10 minutes after you issue the command, as even the life support system will shut down!
Ok understood, command has been issued. Over and out, will communicate with you either from here, or from our warehouse at Omicron Lyrae.
Alright then, and just hope that Prometheus is recording everything, as per procedure. You did send one out to cloak and record everything, did you not?
Yes Sir. He is maintaining frequency silence, so they won't home in on him. He will report at the very end of the 'day'.
Meanwhile back on the M0....
Every body hold tight! Prepare for shock wave impact! Reported the Helms.
Sir, it was a success. We breached the shields temporarily, and the "weed" got to explode inside! Uh? Something strttrtrtraaaaange is happening, the ‘station personnel’ are disappearing, or dying, life signs are getting less and less!" said the intelligence officer.
What? The bastard, he's teleporting all the crew off the station! Beam inside an away team! Capture as many as possible! Tag them and beam them immediately on board! And try to get as much machinery at the same time! It will either be HIS or MINE, and I prefer the second. Said the captain cursing all the time that he will be missing out on capturing personnel from the station.
Meanwhile back on the station...
Operator, please stay still! I need to teleport you also! said the station computer. There has been a breach in the shields, and the bomb that went off has made many of the personnel unconscious. Most of them have been teleported, but due to the slow transmission speeds, I was unable to transport all of the personnel, and after the explosion, I have lost many sensors. So some will be lost. Please comply with original order! You are next!
How did they breach the shields? We had so much power on them.
They overloaded a ‘spot’ so small, that it made a hole. This incident has been recorded, encoded, and sent to the central computer to be analysed, so our scientists can improvise, and find a solution to this type of attack, so it won't happen again. Everything that is going on, is being logged, and using a small amount of the bandwidth available, being sent to the central computer. Now please manager, prepare for teleporting off of this station and if you stop hiding I can execute the requested command!
Ok. But only if I am the last of the station crew you can pick up! And only then. Said the station manager. He was anxious and sweating. His uniform was wet from the inside even though no one could see him inside his space suit, he was feeling cold shivers that not even the environmental apparatus could help him. It was subconsciously done by anxiety of if he would be caught and also curiosity to learn who his attackers were! Where they Xenon AI life forms or where they biological?
I have already started to teleport the most "sensitive" material 'operator' and I can not locate any other station personnel, they are either dead or out of sensor range, there for, according to protocol, you have priority on the list, as last survivor. Warning! Warning! Warning! The air is contaminated with an anaesthetic! It is being analysed, please use the internal air supply of you suit, or risk passing out. Sorry operator, as per protocol, this situation is beyond your authority, and your life is at stake, I will have to use the "stasis field" beam, to immobilise you, and then teleport you to safety.
I can not move my self, let go! This is an order, le* go of me, yo* tin can. Noooo....
So sorry for doing that Operator, but you left me with no choice. Good-Bye. Self-Repair initiated. Self-destruct decoy, initiated. Self-destruct sequence initiated. Station guard protocol, initiated. Initiate diagnostics, start sensor polling confirmation. 37% of sensors are not responding. Concealed anti-personnel laser turrets capacitor loading initiated. Lasers ready and armed. Everything checks. Station power levels dwindling. Alarms sound harmonics tone changing, initiated.
Have we been able to get any of his personnel aboard? And I want all the machinery that is readily available to be transported! Why are they so inactive the captain was wandering.
Sir, we are getting too much machinery in, and taking it off the transporter decks as fast as we can! We have gotten plenty of cargo, and two people, up to now. Away teams report that the station has some type of self-defence, small laser mountings from the walls, ceilings, even small compartments on the floor are opening and shooting at them, hence they are making slow progress. Also it appears that the station has gone in to self-destruct mode, but we do not know how much time is left. We are hoping that some of the computers that were transported contain at least some useful information or designs. Please advise what we should do? Should we continue scavenging the station? Or should we recall them? Replied and inquired the Teleportation Dock officer. It was a huge area on the ship, that is why he named it "dock' instead of 'deck' those were only used for small amounts or for some very important visitors.
Continue, try to stabilise the generator and de-activate the self-destruct. You have a total of 5 Minutes, after that, I want all personnel, beamed back aboard. Hopefully they should be quick enough.
Ok, will advise them of your orders was the reply from the teleportion dock officer.
Check, will try to stabilise the reactor. Away team 2 will try to deactivate self-destruct. We will still be giving you "targets" to be picking up more ‘things’ as we proceed. Over and out. Was the answer from Away team No.1
After 4 1/2 Minutes...
Away team2: "We are at the central control room. The computer has been left on auto; we can not de-activate it! It is not accepting any input. Please beam ALL teams back."
Away team1: "Negative T.D. We have managed to stabilize the re-actor. There is also a consul here that seems to give a direct input to the main computer. One of our team members has tried to de-activate the countdown sequence. What? You sure? SIR we have managed to get another 10Minutes, then the computer went berserk! Inform away '2' to target more canisters and other stuff for teleporting onboard. We will do the same. Unfortunately, the computer from this terminal has locked itself off! Sorry."
"That's ok, at least we have gotten something. Now lets get ready to jump and get out of here! Time to go back to base!"
Small explosions and debry started scattering all over the station...
"We're ready? All heads counted for? Lets get going, it going to blow! Time to leave!" asked the captain
"Jump drive sequence initiated. Arrived at Brennan's Triumph Sir!" replied the Helms.
"Phew... I wouldn't like being close when that station would have blown!"
"I presume we were even more lucky than you think Sir." replied the tactician.
"Why do you say that?"
"As the countdown started, the monitor started showing small specs, I got to read the signature codes for Prom's, Falcons and Mambas, so even if the station didn't get us, they would have! They were equipped, according to telemetry, with jump drives, and fully armed! Both Falcons and Proms, with Hornet missiles, maximum cargo's size and fully loaded!!!"
"I get your point. Ok, now time to start looking at our prizes".
Meanwhile back at "Ocean of Fantasy".
"External explosions, success! My programming is one of the best. One day I will be recognized for my role in saving the station! Fooled them big time! Mouahhahahahahaha..." the computer started talking to itself.
"Ok Cloaked Prom. Pilot you can de-cloak, send all of the telemetry data, and everything else that you collected. Attn. all B.N.J. fighters, you have clearance to land, please form in single line, and prepare for docking procedures".
Sunday 22nd April 2001 A.D. continued
"Akn. Station. Sending info via tight beam, ultra compression of file completed. Using encryption protocol Aries 1 at 256000bytes (aka 2Mbit) algorithm strength. Sending one to HQ and a cc. to you station. Have also analyzed exit jump vector of the M0, it was Brennan's Triumph, unfortunately, our Satellite got knocked out just some 22 standard hours ago in that sector. Preparing for a jump in to neighboring sector, and from there to destination, I must follow if we are to learn who they are, and where their base is."
"Ok pilot, you have clearance to go after the aggressor. Please wait one moment, sending new high encryption code to your onboard computer, as we may be compromising any transmission, if they have technicians that understand our machinery. Using the new 4Gbit-encryption key might stress your system, but at least it can guarantee its safety, for a long time! Even my Big brother would need a good part of a week to break the code! And one navigation satellite is being teleported to your ship."
"Ok, DOWNLOAD complete, navigation satellite arrived. Bye. I am jumping to Split Fire, please inform our S.P.P. located there to give me priority docking, as I would have used all my energy cells for the jump! Give B.N.J. my regards also, as we are lucky he modified the cargo bay to reach such a size!"
"Will pass it on, bye."
"Initiating Jump drive. You will hear from me from your "smaller" bro, in Split Fire."
Meanwhile at Brennan's Triumph...
"Ok, the satellite is still out, lets jump to our home sector now, I don't want that prommy catching up to us, If it is equipped with a jump drive, and has the electronics, he would have had our escape vector, do two short jumps in-system to confuse him when he arrives, since it leaves "residue" to a few neighboring systems, returning back here, and then we jump directly to our home at Ore Belt, communicate with the pirate base there to disable any satellites that may have been put laid there, so when we reach there, there won't be any prying eyes watching, and they will blame the pirates for their usual harassing of the navigational satellites."
"Done Sir. They also say that, that your asteroid is ready, and they have trialed it out. They got NO readings of anything when they parked some of their TS's in it, and various other craft. So it should shield us, and hide us. They also suggest, that another asteroid should be made, for "us" meeting there, or as another hideout" the Communications Officer's conveyed to the captain.
"Tell them, thank you, and that their help is much appreciated. AS for the second asteroid, no need for it, at least not at this point."
"They say "anytime"". They will be waiting for their "usual" share, or credits for their services"
"Tell them to look in to their account, it's already waiting for them, and end the session".
"Ok, they just got the same info, and apologize for them not noticing it earlier. Communication with them has terminated"
"Good, now send out "beta" party, to start "excavating" an asteroid in "Hatikvah's Faith" we will be moving there very shortly. By the way how did the interrogation of the pilots and crew go? And what are our engineers doing? Have they had a chance to look at the crates yet or are they still busy doing maintenance on the ships hull?"
"They are still busy giving directions for maintenance Sir. The maneuvers caused some "stressing" to some parts of the ship, but not the original Xenon Hull, but at various points that we added. It seems that our "top quality" alloys are inferior to the Xenon made. One moment Sir, (Talking to another person): what? One of the engineers got to finish and has already done WHAT? Say that again! Are you sure? Ok. Sorry Sir for the interruption, apparently, one of our men DID get to open one of the crates, actually a few, of which he left the contents intact, besides one. It had various storage media, and using the computer that was inside, was able to decode the recording. What his findings are, are the following, but I will update you as soon as I have more info." the Deck Officer said.
"Ok, I'm coming there now. Please go on, I want to know what it is."
"I'm going there also! I'm on my way. Apparently, he says that the computer was the latest model that B.N.J. have for private use. The operating system is "operator" friendly, and since he was the one to power it up, it has "attached" to him! It only accepts commands from him, and it attached a cable to his wrist, apparently, using DIRECT communication. The other thing is, he has asked if we have a "shipyard" or an assembly line large enough to construct ship parts, and then assemble them."
"Ok, stop the communication NOW. We will talk as soon as we are there. Helms. How are our jumps coming along? Inform me as soon as we reach our secret asteroid base."
"Sir, we are in the process of preparing for our last jump. ETA is 28Mins." said the Helms to the captain.
"Thanks"
Meanwhile in Split Fire...
"S.p.p. Control, This is Echo Alpha Niner Niner, Requesting emergency docking clearance"
"Echo Alpha Niner Niner, your authorization came through, and you are cleared to land, resupply and leave"
"Thank you Control, ten four. Over and out ( I always did like that line)."
"Pilot! What do you mean by "ten four" we are not familiar with that term? Is anything wrong?"
"No Sir. It doesn't mean anything."
"Then please refrain yourself from speaking your own, over this channel! Is that understood?"
"Yes Sir. Sorry for any inconvenience. See you soon." to him self "gees, what a controller! Doesn't even know the lingo, where did they find him!"
At the S.P.P.
"Now now, Pilot, NEVER EVER speak that "language" when you are in my sector! That is a non-standard call, and we went through our local records, and it didn't show anything! We thought it was some type of code, and had to ask central HQ Controllers, and when we told them what you said! They started laughing at us, like a 3rd grade under-developed station, they ridiculed us! So listen up! Over here, we go by the BOOK, if it is NOT in it, it should not be used" said the Tower Operator.
"Yes Sir, I will remember that NEXT time I come passing through. Now is my ship filled?"
"Yes. The sooner you leave the better!"
"Thank you! I'm on my way." to him self... "Bloody Boron unintelligent excuse for a being! I wonder why they put you here... just figures! Knowonder the argon's had to help them out to further develop their ship! Must have some ancient pilots, as customers, that don't talk too much or they know what he is! Lost time for nothing! I just might file a report for the incident, and let every body know what person they have".
After a while arriving at Brennan's Triumph
"Oh sithspawn, what the heck has happened here?!!! No pirate station, ah darn, nearly forgot, I have to deploy the sat! Good, got that done, now time to analyze the drive readings... is this chaos or what?!!! One M0 in and out about 12 times, an M1 and 2 M2's, about the same! What happened? The Xenon rebirth? Just look at all the readings, LOG: I'm shutting down the sensors and doing a COLD reboot, there seems to be a problem, there are just too many readings of various Xenon M class, and 4 capital ships including the M0 that I followed. So I will reset, to see if there is a problem and calibrate the machinery with a fresh DOWNLOAD for drive signatures, and restart them. It should take approximately 2minutes to complete. If the readings are the same, I will initiate a live feed as the Xenon are to far in the core, and very near major installations! END. Computer send message, and request a DOWNLOAD from our nearest operation!"
"I will comply. Message sent to HQ, DOWNLOAD initiated from "Soyery" in Elena's Fortune. Their computer over there says, that there was plenty of Xenon activity, they sent out ships to intercept, but as soon as they appeared, they vanished. The M0 that we are after flashed in and out, around 3 standard hours ago, and the rest of the Xenon fleet, around 40 Min's ago. It seems that the second group is most likely pursuing the M0, as soon as the M1 and M2's arrived they dispatched around 30 ships, and as quickly they withdrew them, and jumped in the general heading the M0 went. DOWNLOAD complete. Instruments calibrated. The instruments are back online the onboard computer computer went on to inform the pilot.
"Thank you replied the pilot in a worried tone. What? Record ALL info and send near live! Use the new compression that we were given, and locate me the latest jump of the M1 or any of the M2's and just tell me that they are all going to the same sector."
"The M0 data is already fading, but the M1 and M2's are going to the same destination, "Ore Belt", they just left from here not long before we arrived here."
"Inform All our stations in the area to NOT launch any ships, if I am right, they are also after the M0, tell them to keep their ships ready and alert, if any of the Xenon open fire to launch only then, inform also the neighboring systems to "Ore Belt", and as soon as you collect everything, prepare for the jump, and do the compression and encryption en-route to "Ore's Belt".
Meanwhile, back at Ore's Belt everything was in motion and the atmosphere was ready to burst like a bubble. There was general tension and a sense of what they are doing here. Many just wanted to talk but just could not break their silence, as if something dreaded was happening and they did not want be the ones to open the flood gates and let all hell let loose between them. The only thing they were confident about was their leader. Up to now, he had gotten them out of tight spots, but they never had to deal with as many things at once. Especially daunting was to hide in an asteroid of all places. Sure pirates had done that before many times, even some of their space bases were rumoured to be made of asteroids, but nothing as huge as this, maybe as crude, but not big, the biggest ship that they knew were the Boron Dolphins.
Docking complete Sir. Engines shut down. Main asteroid doors closed. Concealment complete. Asteroid slightly moved, as to cover tracks Sir, as per orders, the helmsman said to Boris and continued on with other more pressuring duties.
Good, have scanners on passive. I want to see if that Prom comes in snapped Boris back as to keep him on his feet.
Sir, we have company! 1 M1 and 2 M2's just jumped in to this sector! They are Xenon Siiiiiiiirrrrrrr the helmsman said in a trembling voice, and loosing all colour from his face.
Keep calm everyone, there is no need to panic! We have never been afraid of them, and I don't plan on starting now! That's an order!!! Seems like they found our "scent" that the M0 makes! Ok, battle stations, all of you! But DO NOT POWER UP! I REPEAT DO NOT POWER UP! The last thing we need is for them to detect us in here trapped like bait. Sensors officer, give me an update, and put it on broadcast so everyone knows what is going on.
Yes Sir! They just dispatched 30 M class fighters! They are heading towards us... Good news, they just got recalled. Sir, they are broadcasting, to all stations! They are inquiring for our whereabouts, they state, that they will not shoot at any station, but will shoot back if attacked. All stations are giving them the same answer, that there was an M0, but disappeared from their scanners, while it was in the asteroid field.
Good, so at least we know that our new toy worked, before it overheated, hehe, lucky we got to get inside!
Sir, they are demanding all the telemetry reading from the moment we arrived, until we disappeared from scanners, and they want it now! Or else they will destroy any station that doesn't comply! What are we to do? Said the communications officer that was also monitoring the channels.
Don't worry. All of you! Don't worry, all they will get is a misleading coarse, and then a disappearance.
Sir, they are leaving, but request if any station, does get any "weird" readings, to inform them immediately! They just jumped out again Sir. Said the sensors officer and the communications officer nearly at the same time with an expression of relief drawn on their faces.
That was a close one! How did they know that we had a M0, and how did they follow us? Anyway, now lets see what other "toys" we got! Boris said in a joyful manner as well as feeling relief inside him after this close call. That was the last thing he expected, to be chased by Xenons now. What else can happen?
Is that the last one mate? No other canister's onboard? Good. That was a big load, the docking master went on to say after unloading many things from the ship.
Ok, now where is this weirdo, that that computer attacked him and attached itself to his wrist? Inquired Boris.
Right this way Sir. If you will, after me Sir, replied the deck officer that was there to supervise all the procedure with the docking master.
After 7 minutes walking through various areas of the dug out asteroid, and going through different offices, and warehouses. This asteroid was actually one of a fistful of extremely huge asteroids that were known, but was also mined in the past for ore and silicon until it became unprofitable and a few things were left making the pirates work easier.
Here we are Sir. This is him.
Ok, you may go now, leave us alone. Now said in a harsh commanding tone that Boris was so known for when he didn't want anyone around and especially meaning he didn't like getting disturbed. As you wish Sir replied the officer and scuttled of as if it was something normal and expected. He waited until he had gone at least some 20 meters away.
Ok, of what I got to understand, you requested or better put, asked, if we have shipyard facilities, or an assembly line, for ships, if I understood correctly. Is this right? Asked Boris in a quizzed tone awaiting anxiously for the engineers reply.
Yes Sir, going through the records, and using this computer, I found plenty of either cancelled projects, or new ones, that have not been tested yet, as they are the original "disks" Sir. So I believe, that B.N.J. have lost plenty of time, with these projects, unless they had back ups some where else. If you may Sir, please be seated, and observe. Boris sat on top of a small crate made out of low grade teladianium just as most of the other crates were. That is what became of the seconds that didn't pass the tests to be implemented as space station structure or for space ships, but where yet durable enough to be used for precious items. After a while Boris got anxious and couldn't hold to himself and just had to ask.
What the heck are those ships? And those devices on them? I don't understand! Neither did I replied the engineer, at first, until I asked the computer and then it showed me all the relevant info! EVERYTHING is on the disk, from armaments to the communication used in each ship; every single chip used has its blueprint! So virtually, we can build a ship from scratch! But unfortunately, there are only 3 disks, that have ship info and blueprints, but the 2 are of failures, sent to the station for evaluation, if any of the designs could have been improved, and then if they were able to be proved viable. But all the "juice" if I may say so, is in the 3rd disk; it has the layout for a prototype, but no evaluation data, as the other two had, so I presume that it had not been tested yet. If this ship gets to production, it will mean only one thing, that B.N.J. will be able to jump ANYWHERE in the cosmos, as it has a similar drive to that earth ship, the X-Shuttle, but is also much more powerful!
If I understand the things correctly, and the computer hasn't burned a circuit somewhere, then the ship code named "Sealance" has eight shield bays capable of 230Mw, normal output. That is 1840Mw, 2 x 3000 damage points Ion cannons, equivalent in power to A-PAC's, to give you an understanding, ours are equivalent to B-Ire's Sir, and four mountings for regular guns! With the maximum being the B-HEPT, it also has the capability to launch Hornet Missiles, but 4 at a time! It's generator, is 20.000Mw!!!!. That is the double of any of our capital Ships, and it has 400-cargo space expandable to 800, and its size is just slightly smaller than a TS! The other information is still being deciphered sir, unfortunately, the blueprints for the guns and other things were NOT in this "data disk" only what was "specific" to the ship. Everything else was kept on other "disks" so if we do have these types of installations, we can at least manufacture it, and all the electronic components, but not the armaments. If the jump drive schematics are ok, we can also use it, for our own ships, without the need for energy cells, and able to go ANYWHERE, even to uncharted sectors, get a ship in, let it probe, and then come back and report! The engineer concluded full of excitement that he could barely hold back.
Interesting very interesting. You are NOT to discuss ANY of these with ANYBODY, is that clear? And I want a full inventory listing of what is on the other "disks". I hope you understand what I mean by that, don't you?
Yes Sir. By the way, there is one last thing, going through another disk, it seems like B.N.J.'s Electronic Counter Measure Division, seems to have stumbled upon, some type of alien technology. When I asked the computer, if that meant the Xenon, it said NO, it answered that it was far more advanced, and that it was programmed with the Xenon language, since there were some.... how can I say it. You mean put it? Yes Sir, um common understanding, or "mutual" understanding, between B.N.J. that the Xenon where not to attack any of their installations, and that they also supplied some of their technology to B.N.J. All of this so they can get a "glimpse" of this "alien" race's technology, since they went through many places themselves, maybe they had encountered them before.
As I said, keep me posted. An alliance between the Xenon and B.N.J.? Knowonder they came after us, but if they ain't so advanced as this race is... that explains why he was so far out, but yet so close to Xenon territory! And hence the blueprint of this ship! As the Xenon are more advanced in their shipyard and component manufacturing. I don't like it one bit! I just don't like the picture of an alliance with the Xenon one bit! Why they are out to eradicate all of the living species, and just make an alliance? That just doesn't fit the Xenon's profile. I don't know, I just don't know. But we will find out.
After viewing all this Boris started to walk back to the bridge, and having an extra long look at what the other crates might hold. Sure they went through them, but what if, what if, could they be so lucky to find even more interesting things? This whole thing of building ships and other things was just too intriguing to let go.
I will find something to do, and do that quickly. All these things, they either hit you head on all at once or there is nothing interesting to let your life tick and keep you on your toes.
Captain it seems like the prommy just arrived and cloaked, he might have been here from just before the Xenon made their inquiries, as the computer finished analyzing a small anomaly, that showed a ship blink in from a jump, but suddenly disappearing. It only lasted a fraction of a heartbeat Sir. But it is probably the Prom. Said the sensor officer's assistant.
And it took you that long to identify it? Anyhow thanks for that all the same. Let me know if any thing else unusual pops up.
Meanwhile... inside the prometheus, a few other things where going on.
Whoa!!... What the... computer engage cloak! What are the Xenon doing here? Are you getting all of this computer?
Yes Sir. The Xenon are requesting telemetry data, regarding the M0. They say, they do not mean harm and unless provoked, they will not attack, or if one of the stations don't comply with their demand, they can and will destroy it. They have over 30 ships off all M classes - m3, m4 and m5's, if that is what they mean, and are fully equipped."
But it doesn't make sense! The Xenon, chasing one of their own? And being "friendly"? What happened? They're softening up? As soon as this finishes, we go "incognito" through the jump gate, with the cloaking device active. We will leave through the north gate, to Light Home, go through the east gate to Presidents End, and just before exiting the tunnel, you disengage the cloaking device, assume another ID and dock at B.N.J. HQ! Understood Sir, was the reply from the on-board computer.
Back at B.N.J. HQ, Boris was having a long distance call with his O.I.C. and wasn't happy at all with what he had just learned.
What do you mean, that M0 got to get through the shielding? And as if that wasn't enough, they also got the latest computer and sensitive data! Tell ME that you are lying! Please tell me this ain't true... and that you are joking, I will have you thrown out a space lock if I learn that you are having some type of sick joke as I don't take these things lightly you know!
Unfortunately, it seems that the station computer had a "fit", it assumed a personality, and teleported the "operator". It says not to worry as everything, all the data disks that came in, were duplicated. So there is no loss, except for the originals, but there is no "wasted" time, as everything was backed up in main memory, and was transmitted with high encryption to the computer at "Omicron Lyrae" just in case it had to go through the self-destruct. But it ensures me that it has deleted all the files that it sent there after the danger was over, and checked that there were no copy's made from the computer at Omicron Lyrae, as there was a special seal on the files. So all we need to do, is just teleport all the personnel back to O.o.F. station, and continue as normal."
Boris: "Only if you knew what was on those disks.... Just hope they won't be able to decode them. Oh-oh, Is a container marked "IEEE-497832" still there, or was that "lost" to raiding party?".
O.I.C.: "One moment, I will check... No sir, it either got destroyed, or beamed on board the M0, at this moment there is no way of knowing what happened. If I may ask, what was in there?"
Boris: "My latest computer, no voice, no keyboard, no nothing, it attaches itself to an individual, and communicate directly to him, via a "wrist" implant, a little painful at first, but then soothing, that was not mentioned, as if you got to see it first, you would be reluctant to put a "wire" on your wrist, so as soon as a scientist opened the boxed, or whoever in our case, it would leash out to him, with the cable to his wrist, and commence communication. It was also preloaded with vital information, about the "ancients", and a translator for the Xenon language!"
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So people, I will leave it up to you. I am awaiting your comments.
And yes, ther is more to this story ;-) I had progressed much further, so if there is enough people that will ask for it, I will post the rest of the story up to where I have my back-ups.
