Joy Ride

GREG MILLER · August 3, 2000

[RP]

"Sir, another Insurgent decloaking a stern of the Tenchi, ICV-. . . NEVERMORE!"

That word, NEVERMORE, was all too familiar. For it was the ship to my Insurgent Counterpart, Cmdr Akira. All of a sudden and out of nowhere, the Nevermore just pick the Tenchi up and started "Drag" her.

As I watched Cmdr Akuma Minako give me her account of the situation, and then cut me off, I just knew something was a rye, I aimed to get answers.

"Lt Banes, Hail the Nevermore!"

"Channel open Sir!"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Wabbit number two. What brings you to this neck of the woods, and why are you towing a piece of Galcom property towards the Wormhole?"

After I hailed the Nevermore, I turned to my XO and said, "Sean, Prep your boarding party, and up the number to ten Marines."

"Aye Sir!"

"Mr. Barsotti, take command of the Tactical station, you are now my XO."

"Aye Sir!"

At once Lt Cmdr Collins left the bridge, and Lt Cmdr Barsotti, left the Operations station, and manned the Tactical Station.

[/RP]

------------------

CMDR GREG 'GMAN' MILLER

ORION FLEET

FLEET EXECUTIVE OFFICER

T.B.G. NIGHTWATCH COMMANDER

TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP

GCV - SARK

ICQ 64202480

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

'The righteous care about justice for all,

but the wicked have no such concern.'

[email protected]

Blades · August 3, 2000

*groan* Talk about making things awkward for me. *sigh* Bloody women.

[RP]

Savage awakened from his near trance like state and blinked away the images that had been running rampant through his mind. He eased his head down a fraction, and noticed the hand written warrent for the arrest and confinement order of Akuma Minako of the GCV-Tenchi, completed bar the fleet commanders signature.

Sign, or not sign? he pondered.

It was irrelevant anyway. The order had been transmitted electronically to Millers ship even before the executive officer had boarded his ship. The only reason Savage filled out the form now was because regulations demanded it.

Regulations, scoffed Savage. Since when have I ever really followed regulations?

Before the rational part of his brain answered him, an urgent communication came through from ops.

"Yes?" barked Savage, irritated with the interuption of his thoughts.

"Sir," started Reynolds, the stations chief of communications. "Commander Hamblin is here to see you."

Jimmy!

"Send him in." said Savage, his mood immediately improving.

The two commanders hadnt been together for a very long time. A lot longer than either of them cared for. Difficulties with keeping the Insurgent menace at bay had forced the two friends apart for months, even years apart. The last time either men had been face to face was over 14 months ago. Yet somehow, the initial euphoria that overtook Savage upon his old friends arival quickly drained away as the sorrows of his most recent *complication* came back with a vengence.

The conversation waned quickly, and probably to Hamblins dissapointment, ended rather abruptly and without real acknowledgement.

Savage didnt even notice his old friend leave.

Some time passed before Savage was brought back to his senses. Reynolds, his ever faithful chief of station communications bleeped through an urgent summons for him to operations.

Alarmed by the disturbance, Savage went to his feet immediately and strode through the automatic doors and directly into the heart of the Orion stations C&C center.

"What is it?" he barked.

"Sir, we're intercepting a coded transmission from the Sark. It's Commander Miller, sir, and he's reporting a serious problem."

"Problem?" said Savage, stepping down to his comms chief.

"Aye, sir. Bunnies in Jupitor space. And there could bea lot of them."

Savage frowned, and quickly leaned down to the TacOps console. "We have any probes in the area?"

"None, sir. I can have one dispatched immediately."

"Not soon enough. Whats Gregs status?"

Reynolds shrugged. "Cant be too specific, sir. We got a fraction of the commuication before it was cut off."

"Jammed?"

Reynolds nodded. "Yes sir. From the tac data we managed to get ahold of, it seems an as yet unidentified Insurgent vessel is attempting to tow the Tenchi. Akuma must have run into some serious trouble."

Savage cursed his luck. Unless ...

"Pete, what have we got in the area?"

Reynolds quickly accessed the tactical database and brought up a manifest of active Battlecruisers in or near the Jupitor region. The results were not encouraging.

"With the exception of the GCV-Sark, we have nothing within immediate intercept range. In fact, GalCom presence is spread pretty thin all over the quadrant right now. Most of our forces are still holding off the Gams at Polaris."

Savage bowed his head and felt like shouting.

"However, there is a Galcom vessel currently in the Varan system. I think it's one of the Wraithers, sir. Probably SiN wing."

"Whats it doing out here?"

Reynolds pulled up tactical data. "Seems like its on patrol duty. Im guessing the commander must be a rookie, since they not assigned to the front."

Savage thought for a moment. "Ok, heres what I want you to do. I want yo to commandeer that Battlecruiser, and get it and it's green commander into Jupitor space to assist Miller immediately. I dont want to hear any shit from that commander, this is a direct order from the fleet commander. Once on site, he is to follow Millers instructions to the letter."

"Aye sir!" said Reynolds, relaying those instructions to him now.

"We got anything else, Pete?"

"Most of the TBG is undergoing repairs, including your ship, sir. We can pull a ship or two from garrison duty and have them assist, but their commanders have been active for almost 36 hours straight now."

"No." said Savage. "I want fresh commanders out there."

"Sir?" offered Reynolds. "Commander Hamblins ship is fully functional. I know it's not been crewed for the last eight months, but we can have a skeleton compliment on board in minutes."

Hamblin, thought Savage. He's not taken command of a Battlecruiser in a long, long time. Still ...

"Have Hamblin get his ass on board the ship.Tell him to get his sea legs strapped on, cos it's gonna be a bumpy ride."

"Aye sir." said Reynolds, stepping away from his commander and making an urgent recall to Hamblin and some reserveist crew.

Three ships ..... not exactly what you'd call an active Battle Group, but better than nothing. Lets jsut hope there arent too many bunnies hiding out there, or this could become a very bad day.

"Orders relayed, sir. Anything else?"

"Yeah." said Savage, pulling his tunic tight and zipping right up to the neck. "Get my ship ready. I want up and out of here in 30 minutes."

Reynolds looked puzzled. "Sir?"

"Got a problem with your hearing, Leutenant commander? I want the Tsunami spaceworthy now, and I dont want to hear any excuses. If that woman is doing what I think she's doing, we gonna need all the ships we can muster to prevent it."

"Aye sir." again said Reynolds, still looking puzzled, but carrying out his orders regardless.

Dont make me come after you, Akuma. You dont want me to do that.

[RP]

Phew. Over to you gang.

------------------

F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE

ORION FLEET

COMMANDING OFFICER, ORION FLEET

COMMANDER, ORION STATION

T.B.G DAYWATCH COMMANDER

TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP

GCV-TSUNAMI Ôäó

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

'For Queen And Country'

Rattler · August 3, 2000

{RP}

Range to target and Status of Necromancer Mr. Brown?

Sir, we are 3.5 kilometers off the stern of the Sark, fully cloaked, missles locked and ready!

Mr. Brown, if there are any signs of increased power utilization on that ship, I want her to just go away. Is that understood?

Aye, Aye Sir. If her needles peak positive, Our missle bays peak negative.

Very well, maintain Cloak and keep tight monitor on the Radiation readings. I'm beaming over to Nevermore. Mr. Brown, you have Necromancer.

{/RP}

------------------

Rattler, Insurgent One

Commander-In-Chief,

Insurgency

Official Tester,Battlecruiser Series

[email protected]

ICQ 12894104

"Bad? You ain't seen BAD, But WE'RE Coming!

Wold · August 3, 2000

"Phew" LOL, LOL,LOL....yea, this is making me sweat just thinking about it. Thanks Akira...here goes another 4 hours coming up with a response

[rp]

Bridge activity has just taken a dramatic jump. Juniors picking up all the 'lost' articles from the sudden panic. Several corpsmen removing Adams carcass for disposal out the nearest airlock with cleaining-bots scrubbing the surrounding deck and walls. Unfortunately for a rookie ensign, the computer cleaning required a human touch. Officers too busy to notice all this as they were putting emergency hatches and safties back in stand-by and then getting back into their normal duties.

Schlynk working out several alternative destinations. While Ngyuen, angry and frustrated with herself for not cracking the messages, putting said messages together for immediate send-off. Samantha squeaking information from passive radars. Judging the concentration on her face having about as much success as pulling teeth from a mad dog.

Having the feeling that our previous plans had been jeopordized, thanks to Adam, I begin working out new plans. Little did I know that my time would have been better spent NOT making new plans. Our time-table forgotten, cloaking hadn't been enabled, which could be a blessing in disguise. And apperantly Blades and his lemmings were more concerned with GCV-Tenchi then the ICV-Drakr. At least we weren't being lit up like a Christmas tree anyway.

"Samantha, we need to know what's going on out there. Go active on the radar."

The tactical scanner immediatly lit up with a myriad of mutlit-colored dots. Within a second all fluff information vanashed as Samantha kicked the filters on leaving only the angry red dots.... and one green dot??

Samantha knowing the coming question, "Sir, it's" INTRUDER ALERT, INTRUDER ALERT Drakr's AI suddenly interupts with a non-compasionate but very strong female voice. My eyes roll to the speaker in the ceiling with a glare, thinking I've got to find that intruder cloaning module. Knowing SOP is already ingaged Samantha continues as if nothing happened "Cmder. Akira and the ICV-Nevermore." Surprise, surprise! A big grin breaks across my face.

"Ngyuen?" I ask and get an immediate response, "Yes Sir, the package on Adams is ready."

"Excellent!" I respond as an after thought hits me.. "Append that text message sent from GCV-Tenchi to Cmdr. Foss to that package. Mark the whole package TOP PRIORITY, IMMEDIATE ATTENTION REQUIRED, code it and send it ASAP!" Good, won't have to wait to notify my superiors after all!

Just before Ngyuen can comply with my request the comm-link light flashes showing an incoming message with an auto-acknowledgement being sent back.

quote:

Your orders are to procede best speed to Varan. Disable one GCV-Kurai. Ensure that her records are destroyed by any means possible. Raven group will be nearby if you need assistance.

Schlynk throws a quick glance at me and begins making course changes again with a slight shake of his head. Probably with wry amusemnet.

"Alright people, Cmdr. Akira may change his orders after he reads that package, however; we'll procede as ordered."

Drakr turns and leaps into hyperspace heading for the Pluto jump point as an order races to IC1 and 2 to have them join their mothership there. [/rp]

follow the bouncing ball

as it goes from ship to ship

my head begins to swim

as my eyes keep up the trip

my stomach a swimming

i began to phlemming

I look at the deck

to see a lemming.

HEY, I'm a computer technician, so what can I say?

------------------

Cmdr. Wold

Spectre Fleet

Spectre Starstation

ICV Drakr

"Do or do not, there is no try!"

[This message has been edited by Wold (edited 08-03-2000).]

August 3, 2000

Finally! Thank God! Man, I thought I'd have to go out there in a bloody shuttle!

[rp]

I began to punch in the startup sequence, and was about to open communications to the dockmaster to give me permission to launch when, over the PA system, I got an urgent page from C&C.

"Commander Hamblin, report to the Galatea ASAP. Commander James Hamblin, report to GCV Galatea ASAP."

So he was listening after all. I thought, a smile coming to my face.

I instantly shut the shuttle down, opened the hatch, and climbed out. The technician was still waiting there, wondering what the hell was going on.

"You finished in there now, sir?" He said, with just a hint of disrespect.

I glared at him, slightly, before saying "She's all yours."

The technician climbed up back in, while I began the long push back up to the main corridor, which led to all the various hangar bays on the station.

When I finally managed to get to the hangar where the Galatea was located, I took a moment to take in the view. It was magnificent. At the Station's current position, the hangar which I was looking out of was facing the Alpha Centauri star. It didn't have the entire sun in view, but merely half of it, to the left. A magnificent view, as the light reflected off of the Galatea's hull, and seemed to make the ship shimmer. A number of other people had also stopped what they were doing to see this very rare and beautiful view. I wish I had a camera I thought, regretfully.

"It's a beautiful view, isn't it?" A voice behind me said.

I turned around, slightly startled, and saw a woman standing there. She had bright, auburn hair, tied up neatly into a bun, which to me made her look very fetching, and hazel blue eyes, which seemed to shine in the reflective light. She was wearing a Galcom uniform, and had the rank of Lieutenant Commander. She looked to be in her early to mid forties, which, although slightly uncommon, wasn't strange. Not everybody made Commander at thirty five.

My God, is this amazingly convenient or not? I thought. This woman seemed to me to be the most beautiful woman I had ever come across. How convenient. I bet she's going to be someone who's assigned to the Galatea.

I checked around to make sure she wasn't talking to someone else. Nope, no one nearby. It had obviously been me then. This was then reinforced by the fact that she turned to face me, and held out her hand to shake it.

"Hi. I'm Lieutenant Commander Kate Mulgrey."

I shook her hand. "Commander James Hamblin."

She had an amazingly firm grip, I noticed, and her voice was rather deep and husky.

Sometimes, I wondered if my life was just meant to be clich├®'d. My entire life could have very easily made the subject of a bad novel. A perfect example of this was Lieutenant Commander Tiretis. She was my executive officer, all that time ago. I had thought myself head over heels in love with her. The fact that she was my first officer meant that she and I had heaps and heaps of sexual tension between us. I had no idea where she is now, but she could very easily be married, have a family, a good career, and I was still completely alone, yearning for my old command. A textbook chapter in the life of James Hamblin.

I had some theories on why my life could be so easily charted, simply because it played out like some kind of badly written novel. It could be that of all the totally random and unexpected events that happened to every other person in the universe since the beginning of time, eventually, the odds of a life turning out like mine did, being so impossibly high that it would probably take centuries to calculate it, eventually someone's life had to have a series of events which could be easily predicted.

I sighed, inwardly, before pushing these thoughts out of my head. I could just be all imagining it, of course.

"So, where are you heading?" I said, conversationally.

She had a slip of paper in her hand, which she promptly held up to her face to read. "GCV...Galatea. Commander James Hamblin commanding." She smiled when she realised that was who she was talking to. Oh God. I thought, as my heart literally leaped when it saw that smile of hers.

I silently cursed and thanked God at the same time, if that was at all possible. I cursed him for, again, laying out the expected sequence of events in my life, and thanked him that this incredibly beautiful woman would be serving on my ship, despite the fact that I had just cursed him for making sure the exact same event occured. It was a strange universe.

"Well, let's get aboard, shall we?" I said, cheerfully, before turning around, and heading to the entrance to the umbilical connecting the station to the ship.

---------------------

I stepped aboard the GCV Galatea, the first time I had been aboard her, or indeed, any Battlecruiser, for what seemed like a lifetime.

The ship had a number of airlocks, and because I hadn't been aboard a Battlecruiser in a long time, I couldn't remember which deck I might be on.

"Hmm...let's see now..." I said, trying to look like I knew what I was doing. I looked left, and I looked right. In both directions, the corridor looked exactly the same.

"The clock is ticking, sir." Mulgrey reminded me.

I nodded. "Right." I turned again, trying to decide which way would be the right way, before noticing Mulgrey chuckling to herself.

I frowned, before turning to her. "Would you mind telling me what's so funny?"

She stiffled her chuckles, and said "No, sir."

"Fine." I said, before deciding to follow a technician who was heading down the corridor to the left.

The corridor that way split off into a T junction. Down at the end of both sides was a turbolift. The technician went into the left one, while Mulgrey and I went into the right one.

"Finally." I said to myself. Aloud, I said "Bridge." The turbolift started towards it's destination.

It took the 'lift about thirty seconds to get to it's destination. When it arrived, the doors slid open, revealing the Bridge of the Galatea.

"After you." I said, letting Mulgrey out first.

The Turbolift had deposited us on the starboard side of the Bridge, as that was the only turbolift shaft leading to the Bridge.

I stepped out behind her, and the moment my boot hit the deck, I felt right at home.

The Bridge was swarming with people. Technicians, mechanics, crewmen, systems engineers and, at the centre of it all, an officer who was sitting in my chair.

My chair. I recognised it, it was definitely the same one. Not an overly comfortable chair, but then again, I didn't like slouching when I was on the job.

I stepped over the endless cables, wiring, tools and tool boxes strewn about on the deck, leading to the various consoles and stations all over the Bridge.

The normal background chatter, which was to be expected on the Bridge of any starship, was intensified with the increased amount of people here, and the usual, slight hum of the engines two decks down was absent.

I stepped up to the centre chair, with Mulgrey behind me, and the person there stood up at attention, giving me a curt salute, which I returned.

Obviously, this was the first he had seen of me, so he quickly called out "Attention on deck!"

Immediately, the Bridge became silent, save for the intermittent bleeping of the computers. Everyone was standing completely at attention, and looking towards me.

I cleared my throat, and turned towards the Lieutenant. "Lieutenant, you're relieved."

"Yes sir." He said, and stepped down.

I turned to face the de-activated Bridgeviewer, and pressed a button on the right arm rest of my chair. It called up one of the three holographic screens in front of my chair.

The one to the left was the communications and navigation screen, and displayed waypoint information, a starmap of every system in the Galcom database, the ship's current location and time, mission orders, it was a two way visual link between me and any ship or station which I was in communications with, a rather useless, psuedo-3d version of the ship's radar, as well as other things.

It was this screen with which I was interested in, which I used to display my mission orders.

I quickly read through the document. Head to the Jupiter region, rendezvous with GCV-Sark, Greg Miller commanding, and assist the Sark with the capture and detainment of Commander Minako on board GCV-Tenchi. I am to follow Miller's orders until mission is complete, before awaiting further orders from Orion HQ.

I quickly activated the tactical computer, and called up a list of crew who were logged on board. "Damn." I cursed, silently. We had a total crew compliment of forty, who were called in from reserves aboard Orion HQ. That was barely a skeleton crew. Everyone would probably have to do double shifts just to get this ship to operational standards, and we'd have to do it on the way. This ship hadn't seen action in a long time. I just hoped the old gal still had it in her.

The mission orders said that deployment of the Galatea had to begin ASAP. Things were heating up fast, and Blades' most likely wanted the ship out there as fast as her engines could get her there.

I realised that I had left the whole Bridge crew still standing at attention, so I quickly deactivated the tactical computer, stood up, and said "Alright, this is an emergency." I turned to Commander Mulgrey. "Commander, I want this deck cleared, and this ship ready to launch, in ten minutes, now!"

She instantly sprung into action, stepping down to the lower deck. "Alright, you heard the Captain. Anyone who's not supposed to be here should get their stuff, and leave!" She had a suprisingly commanding tone in her voice, the kind of tone only a ship's Captain could get from having to maintain that almost God-like air of infallibility, which made me wonder if she was a former Captain who had been demoted for whatever reason.

I pushed the thought out of my head, concentrating on the task at hand. I punched the button on my arm rest which activated the PA system. "All hands, this is the Captain," I said, my voice booming out of the Bridge speakers. "Departure time is ten minutes. Any crew who is not supposed to be aboard is to collect their things and leave now. We're needed out at Jupiter as soon as possible, and I intend to make the rendezvous."

I settled back in my chair, as all around me the crew frantically rushed to clear the Bridge.

The Bridgeviewer activated, and the subdued lights of the Bridge suddenly brightened, causing me to momentarily squint my eyes while they adjusted to the increased light.

Ten minutes later, the Bridge was totally clear, and all hands were at their stations. All forty of them.

Out of a total of nine officers, there were five on board. Including myself, there was Commander Mulgrey, my tactical officer, Lieutenant Andrew Montgomery, flight officer, who was also the guy sitting in my chair when I first came in, Ensign Alan Stymes, navigator and Chief Engineer Lucy Keldon. The rest of the ship's functions were automated, some of which were in the middle of being repaired or refitted. With a total of three system's engineers on board, saying that repairs were going to be slow would be an understatement.

I sighed, before punching a button on my arm rest, which activated the PA system. Well, better get going then.

"All hands, this is the Captain," I said, my voice booming out through the Bridge speakers. "Prepare for departure. Secure all stations, and batton down the hatches."

The umbilical from the station was retracting back into position, and the anti-grav fields which held the Galatea in position would soon be deactivating.

I turned to my left, to face the tactical station, which was situated very close to the command chair to make it easier for the Captain and First Officer to converse. Mulgrey was standing there, wearing a headset. "Lieutenant Commander, hail the station". Mulgrey had control of the communications station routed to her station.

"Aye sir." She said, and tapped a few buttons. "You've got audio."

Leaning back in my chair, I said "Docking control, this is GCV Galatea, requesting permission to depart."

The deep male voice of the dockmaster came over the Bridge speakers. "Clearance granted Galatea, you are cleared for departure in T minus thirty seconds, mark."

I nodded, and Mulgrey shut off the comms channel.

I turned to face my helmsman, who was looking up at me expectantly, waiting for my orders.

"Helm, thrusters ahead one quarter, port and starboard at station keeping."

He nodded, turned back to his console, and repeated the order. "Thrusters ahead one quarter, port and starboard at station keeping, aye."

The ship's clock, located on the right side of the hud, displayed the time. Twenty seconds to go.

My navigator, Ensign Stymes, began a count down. "Nineteen...eighteen...seventeen..."

This intersected with the voice of my helmsman, who was saying "Initialising thrust assembly, manouvring thrusters at standby, anti-grav fields stabalised, reactor online, shield bubble extended to maximum..."

As he was talking, Mulgrey was relaying instructions to below decks. "Engineering, increase reaction rate of radine injection to..."

Stymes was now down to five seconds, and I watched the countdown on the clock with anticipation. The ship was lurching forward now at a slow pace, but gradually picking up speed.

"Two...one..."

Suddenly, an overhead light burst, and the deck rocked hard. It caught everyone by surprise, and Mulgrey was knocked to the deck.

"Report!" I called out.

Montgomery quickly checked his station. "Sir, the starboard shield impacted with the side of the hangar. I guess I wasn't keeping an eye on it, so it just kept on extending and extending until it hit. Normally, the computer would do that for me, and automatically adjust it to make sure it didn't hit, but with the half the computer's off-line, I'm having to do a lot of this manually."

I nodded, before noticing that the ship had gone into a slight spin.

"Why aren't the shields continuing to impact against the bay's bulkheads?" I said, causing Montgomery to check his station.

"Sir!" He said, with considerable alarm. "When the starboard shields hit the bay, it overloaded the generators. They're off-line! The force of the hit has also sent us into a slight spin. We're about to hit the side of the bay!"

I stood up, and quickly stepped down to beside the helm. "Are you sure?" I said, although I could see it for myself.

"Yes sir, impact in twenty five seconds!"

"Begin an emergency cold start of the manouvring thrusters."

"That'll take at least a minute," He replied frantically. "Twenty seconds!"

He wasn't acting particularly calm under pressure, which made me suspect that he was most likely a rookie, on his first assignment. Well, no matter. I'd just have to make do.

"Fifteen seconds!" He shouted, this time more frantic than before.

"Lieutenant, get a hold of yourself!" I shouted, trying to keep order. "Activate main thrusters, we'll burn out of here at maxiumum thrust at our current angle!"

But he wasn't listening any more. He had gotten up from his seat, and was shaking me by the shoulders. "Do something sir!" He pleaded, desperation in his eyes.

I pushed him back, knocking him down to the deck, and quickly getting into his chair. "Engaging full burn!" I said, checking the timer on the helm. Eight seconds left.

"Five metres from object." The Ship's computer said, over the Bridge speakers. "Three metres from object." It said again, as more time passed.

The engines flared to life, and fired out at maximum burn.

The ship literally shot out of the station, breaking every safety regulation in the book by doing so. I cursed to myself. I hated even coming close to breaking the regs, and prided myself on my service record which, until now, had shown that I could be relied on to follow the rules and regulations of Galcom to a t.

Nevertheless, it worked. I had probably incinerated half the docking bay just by doing that, and risked the lives of everyone who was on the hangar deck nearby, but I had no choice.

I turned in the helm chair to Mulgrey. "Lieutenant Commander, do you have any idea why the station's anti-grav field didn't compensate and put us back on our original heading?"

She checked the logs. "It seems they overloaded as well, sir." I noticed that her part of her hair, before tied up neatly into a bun, had fallen out over her face.

I got up from the helm, and stepped up to my chair, making sure to step over Montgomery who was still writhing on the deck in agony. "Sir, incoming hail from station C&C. It's Fleet Commander Savage."

I sighed, and rubbed my eyes. Before this day was out, I'd need a shower, a cup of tea, a long, hard look at myself in the mirror, and then a good night's sleep.

"Put him through." I said. The left holographic screen blinked into life, and showed the slightly angry, but equally tired face of Fleet Commander Savage, aka, Blades.

I made an effort to smile at him, and said "Sir, I understand that you're probably a little pissed off, but we are running out of time, correct? I'll transmit a full report when I get back."

Blades looked like he was about to say something, when I suddenly shut the commlink off.

"Sir, are you sure that was wise?" Mulgrey said, having noticed what I had just done. "He is a senior officer."

I looked towards her, and sighed. "He know's I'm right, Lieutenant Commander. If I'm not...well, I'll see you at the court martial."

She flashed that beautiful smile of hers towards me again, before returning to her duties.

Ensign Stymes looked up at me from the nav station. "Sir, transferring helm control to my station."

I made a mental note that we needed a replacement for Montgomery at the helm. Right now, though, we were incredibly short handed, and we had no time to go back to Orion to request more personnel. Besides, after what I had just done to Blades, I'm sure he wouldn't expect me back unless I had a full report of the earlier incident, and one Commander Akuma Minako in custody.

That woman has made this a pretty lousy day for me. I thought to myself, knowing that Blades was probably echoing the exact same thought right now.

"Ensign, get us the hell out of here. Set course for the Jupiter region, and jump at your discretion." I said, before finally letting that all important breath out which showed the crisis was over, and I could finally relax back.

"Bridge to security." I said, tapping a button on my armrest and remembering one final thing that needed to be done. "Get a security team up here ASAP. Take Mr Montgomery into custody, and put him in the brig."

By now, he was just lying there, tears in his eyes. I couldn't blame him. He was probably extremely embarrased at having lost control like that in a crisis. I decided to go easy on him.

When the security team of two Marines arrived, I said to them "Actually, confine him to quarters until this is all over."

They nodded, and dragged him off.

[/rp]

Phew! Done!

[This message has been edited by Commander Hamblin (edited 08-03-2000).]

Cmdr Hidama · August 3, 2000

The crippled Battlecruiser drifted away from Varan, trapped in a slow spin.

A marine rushed onto the bridge and saluted sharply, "Sir, we have...another problem, Lanna Kasugi says our only source of power is the solar reactor, but this spin directs the panels away from the sun every 7 minutes, at it's lowest point, we barely have enough power to run life support"

Hidama chuckled softly, resulting in quizzical stares from the few bridge crew that noticed, "of course, something else to make this trip more...memorable, thank you Marine, go tell Lanna I want someone on power management to activate working systems when power returns with each spin...and get me the status of our maneuvering thrusters, I want a team working on getting a shuttle into space as well...we can use the tractor beam to pull us out of that spin if we can't get the thrusters up."

The marine nodded then ran back into the turbolift.

"Lovely, we get to play in the dark from now on...Get a casualty report from Mallory, I need to know what I have to work with..."

**1 hour later**

---------------------------------

Hidama rubbed his eyes tiredly

"This damn rotation is getting annoying."

The commander's thoughts were inturrupted by the turbolift doors wooshing open and Jo Lanix, Research officer walked out and made his way around the debris on the bridge toward the captain's chair, "This communication failure is a pain, anyway, we lost a lot of people sir, Personal Quarters 1 is now a vaccum...there were 43 people in there, accounted crew is..." Jo looked around the bridge, counting the crew, "...56. We have marine teams searching for any more survivors and the remaining medics are having a hard time with casualties, some good news though, we can now launch shuttles...interceptors are another story, nothing we can do, the walls caved in on themselves and we need some heavy machinery to clear the rails. Maneuvering thrusters...no luck we ran out of materials to make the repairs, so Lanna is tearing apart anything we don't need for spare parts.

Hidama quickly assimilated this new information, "Thanks Jo, get back to the medbay and help out there." Turning to his flight Officer, Tommy Brooks, Hidama spoke again, "Get a pilot into one of those shuttles and tractor us out of this spin...get him to drag us toward the pluto gate as fast as he can then get his ass back in here after sending an SOS, let inertia take care of the rest...Kara, where's our probe?"

"Aye sir!" replied Tommy, obviously relieved that there was now something they could do.

Kara turned from her battered station, "probe's finished its run over the planet, holding geosynchronous orbit over the facility."

Hidama nodded slowly.

"I guess all we can do is wait..."

[/rp]

what fun! =)

------------------

Cmdr. Hidama Hasaki

GCV Kurai

1st Squadron, SIN Wing

Stationed, Starstation Wrath

"you might as well stay and fight, because if you run, you will only die tired

ICQ 28215391, GMT-5

=Wraith Fleet=

Akuma Minako · August 3, 2000

I'm a horriable rper I don't know why...

[rp]

She looked at her handiwork and shook her head violently. "What the hell am I doing."

She stood up from the command chair and makes her way towards Kirin. Slowly her second in command comes around. "Look Kirin," She says slowly. "I know this looks bad, I've botched up, more than I wanted to."

Kirin nodded scowling darkly at her. "You can say that again Commander! You've been reckless, more than reckless! You've put everyone in danger!"

Akuma nods. "Just play this through till they let us out of the tractor beam..." She says quietly. "You have command."

Kirin blinked. "What?"

"Please, do this for me." She shakes her head. "I'm a lousy commander. I was never suited to be a commander."

Kirin's eyes widened then a hand came up and made contact with Akuma's face with a loud SLAP. "DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT!"

Akuma blinked back tears from the hit. "W...What?" She turned away from him. "Why not? All I wanted was a family Kirin! You know that! Everyone on this ship knows that!"

Kirin nodded. "And we promised to help you find just that Commander." He lays a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of this yet." He smiles warmly. "It might not be the way that you like it."

Akuma shakes her head. "I...I think it's too late for that." She stands. "You're in charge, do what you have to, but please play this through."

Kirin nods slowly. "You know I and some of the other crew members don't like the fact that you talk to Rattler...To any of the insurgents." He reaches out and places a hand on hers. "But he's family to you isn't he?"

Akuma nodded silently. "He's the only one I've got to look up to." She turns from Kirin and heads towards the door. "I don't know why I'm even in Galcom...I should have joined the Insurgents in the first place!"

Kirin spun her around so fast that she barely had time to react. "DON'T GO TALKING LIKE THAT!" He regained his composure then touched her face gently. "We know you're past Commander, not a single person on this ship dosen't. We may be loyal to Galcom, but we also know what it's like to lose family. If he's all you've got left, we respect that."

Akuma smiled. "Thank you...I...I think I'm going to go lay down for awhile, till I regain my composure." Her eyes were clouded with unshed tears. "Kirin...I'm sorry." The doors slide open and Akuma Minako steps through them silently.

Kirin takes his place at the commanders chair and looks to communications. "Send a Text file to Rattler informing him that Akuma Minako is safe and that I have taken command until she is feeling better."

He clenches his fist. "Get a visual link up with Commander Greg Miller asap and make sure he knows it's important."

He looks towards tactics. "Keep firing those weapons ladies and gentlemen. You heard Akuma! Glancing blows only! No serious hits!"

[rp]

Mrr...I didn't expect to get in THIS much trouble! **sigh** Oh well!

------------------

AKUMA MINAKO

ORION FLEET

GCV- TENCHI

DETERRENCE BATTLE GROUP

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

"War is the plague of Mankind, created by Mankind."

GREG MILLER · August 3, 2000

[RP]

ÔÇ£Sir, Tactical reports that the ICV-Drakr has left this region and is on a direct course for Alpha Centuari. In addition to, a group of Insurgent Interceptors has just entered the region, from the worm hole, and is also heading to Pluto.

Now I was really wondering what the hell was going on, surely one Insurgent Battlecruiser was not going to take on the remainder of the Orion Fleet in Centris. I couldnÔÇÖt worry about that right now, I had to tend to the matter in front of me.

As I awaited a return Hail from the Nevermore, I got another report from the Comms station, ÔÇ£Sir, I tried sending out a coded message to Orion HQ but I donÔÇÖt think it made it.ÔÇØ

Puzzled, I inquired as to why, ÔÇ£Explanation?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir, it appears that the signal was ÔÇÿJammedÔÇÖ.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Jammed, from where, ahead?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No, from somewhere astern, Sir.ÔÇØ

HmmmÔÇªnow I was really concerned for my ship and her well being. Now it seemed that I was surrounded by hungry Bunnys and fresh out of carrots. Obviously a fire fight was out of the question; Unless I wanted to meet my maker early that is. However I also reminded myself that if I had to, I would sacrifice myself, just so neither the Sark, or the Tenchi fell into enemy hands. And for some strange reason, something from within was warning me, a rattler was ready to strike. For I knew if the Nevermore was here, the Necromancer could not be far behind, even if that meant behind me.

Oh but just then, a wild, delusional thought entered my head, for if I could bag not just the 2nd head bunny, but THEE head bunny of them all. Oh, Rattler and Akira would surely make prize processions in my brig, as well as any other. I would be hailed a hero though out all of Galcom. Orion Fleet would be bumped up to ultra premiere status, and Fleet Commander Savage, and I would get promotions, He would become either a Strategic or a Tacops Commander, I would become Orion Fleet Commander. The Supreme Commander of Galcom would know me on a first name basis and such. The Insurgency would eventually crumble from internal strife as splinter factions fight for leadership. Then reality sunk back inÔÇª. WHAT am I thinking about? I am out gunned, probably 3 to 1 or more, with a slither of a chance to even make a run for it. I would just be grateful to live to see another day.

Without hesitation, I stood up, opened a ship wide hail, and addressed my crew.

ÔÇ£As you may or may not know, we are now in the hottest spot in terran space. We are cut off from any direct support from Galcom Forces. Our odds of fighting our way out of this are nonexistent, although we would bloody a few noses on the way out. I feel diplomacy is the only option left. So I ask every single one of you to stay on your toes, for I cannot predict what will transpire next. Miller out.ÔÇØ

With that concluded, I sat back down and immediately tended to a concern of my new XO.

ÔÇ£Sir, I donÔÇÖt know what you are planning, but we cannot stay cloaked for long.ÔÇØ

Looking over at him I discussed a plan of action.

ÔÇ£You are so true in that statement, however, the Rabble also cannot hide for long. Although, they would probably risk radiation exposure a lot longer than I am willing to. So this is what we are going to do. Listen up people on my mark this is what I want to occur. Tactical, power down ALL weapons and decloak the ship, and return all sensors to Active mode. I want to light up on like a Christmas tree on their radar scopes, and be ready to rearm PTA weapons for incoming only. Also get the rest of the Marines sweeping the decks for intruders. I also want IC1 thru 4 ready for launch, just incase we need them to help us get outta here. Helm, all ahead, one quarter impulse power, IÔÇÖd rather not be a sitting duck while negotiating. Comms, open me a channel up for a system wide hail. Understood all?ÔÇØ

Instantly a series of ÔÇ£Aye Sir!ÔÇØ rang out around the bridge.

As my Lt Banes turned around in her seat, I knew she had something important to say.

ÔÇ£Sir, a recent review of Comms logs before we left Station, indicates that the GCV-Neptune, commanded by Cmdr Lockjaw, is heading home from the Alpha Gamma sector. Although, I donÔÇÖt anticipate him moving through the Jupiter region anytime soon.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Thank you Lt Banes, that information is most helpful, and I will take that under advisement.

MARK!ÔÇØ

As I said the magic word, the bridge automatically became busy.

ÔÇ£Channel open sir!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£This is Cmdr Greg Miller, GCV-Sark. I do not wish to engage in a bloodbath this day, and feel we can work this out to a peaceful resolution for all involved. As you can see, I am not hiding anymore, and wish the same of the whole insurgent force in this region. I will not open fire unless fired upon first. You have my word.ÔÇØ

I then signaled to Sandy to cut the channel.

As I sat and awaited for the next move in this game of Battlecruiser chess, I could help but to ponder my future.

If I get out of this mess alive, that damn woman better have a bloody good excuse for all of this. ÔÇÿCause if she donÔÇÖt, I will personally see to it that she never steps foot on another bridge again, except for maybe delivering a cup of coffee to her Superior Officer, who ever that sorry soul should be, god willing, just not me. Hey the word ÔÇ£BloodyÔÇØ has entered my vocabulary. I must be hanging around my British friends an awfully lot, Fleet Commander including. ThatÔÇÖs OK, they are one of the best group of people that I know and serve with, wouldnÔÇÖt have it any other way.

Just then I am suddenly made aware of an incoming transmission.

ÔÇ£Sir, We are being hailedÔÇª.It is the Tenchi, marked Important.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Good God, finally! Open the channel and stick it on the main viewer.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir,ÔÇØ

As I looked, I realized it was the TenchiÔÇÖs First Officer. Man, this is getting deeper by the second.

ÔÇ£Where is Cmdr Akuma Minako! Damn it Lt Cmdr Kirin, I demand answers and I wonÔÇÖt some NOW! I also demand to speak with Cmdr Minako, Immediately. Your ship could very well be getting a lot of people killed this day, including yourselves. Do you understand the caliber and implications of this situation? If not, be grateful I donÔÇÖt blast you to pieces myself!ÔÇØ

[/RP]

James, just remember, you will be meeting Cmdr Wold and the Drakr somewhere enroute between Centris, and Jupiter.

------------------

CMDR GREG 'GMAN' MILLER

ORION FLEET

FLEET EXECUTIVE OFFICER

T.B.G. NIGHTWATCH COMMANDER

TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP

GCV - SARK

ICQ 64202480

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

'The righteous care about justice for all,

but the wicked have no such concern.'

[email protected]

David Foss · August 4, 2000

(RP)

Man, I hoped Savage wouldn't have me brought up on charges for what I was about to do. I remembered the first time that I went charging into a possibly dangerous situation. Old habits die hard, I guess. Back then I had almost been thrown out of GalCom alltogether. It was only the last words of a certain Commander Savage that kept me in. I owed him for that. Though "in" as it was consisted of running local patrols for almost five years. Shortly after Commander Savage received a promotion and orders to take over the Orion Fleet, he'd seen it fit to promote me to the Deterrence Battle Group. God knows why. Maybe he figured I needed a change of scenery. After all, it was the excuse he'd given me. Did I buy it? Absolutely! Sometimes I'm not very bright.

After all, here we were, almost fifteen years from the date of that terrible mistake. And here I was, possibly about to make a similar mistake again.

"We don't have time to wait for orders from Savage. I'll probably end up in the brig for this, but I'll be damned if I let Commander Miller fry her by himself!" I said.

One jump away from Jupiter... I hoped everything would at least be marginally okay. Not like we were going to run into Raiders or anything.

I shouldn't have said that...

(/RP)

Blades, if you have any problems regarding the history mentioned above, let me know and I will revise it. Please let me know either way, though.

------------------

CMDR DAVID FOSS,

ORION FLEET

COMMANDING OFFICER, DBG

DETERRENCE BATTLE GROUP

GCV - DETERRENCE

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

ICQ#39741435

"War is dangerous. Seek to prevent it, lest we step in."

Akira · August 4, 2000

[rp]

"Mr. Kazumi, launch missles and try not to hit the Necromancer. Insurgent One like's his ship shiny and dent free."

"Aye, sir. Missles away. Salvo 1. Salvo 2. Salvo 3. Salvo 4. All missles away and on target. Awaiting arming order," the Combat Officer replied dryly.

"Incoming travler. Incoming Travler... Sir, it seems we have company."

"Very good, Youko. Master at Arms, check Perscan for his location and escort Insurgent One to the bridge;permission to board with my compliments." As an afterthought, "Take a squad of marines. I'd rather not have to explain how the CIC was abducted by intruders from my ship during my watch." Akira shift his focus to his datapad.

*********************

via secure shroud-net link

17 hops

Alpha 21 encoded:

...GCV-Kurai is no longer a threat. Clean up crew requested. Personel proceeding to cell site 38 per action plan zeta...

*********************

"Comms, relay a belay order to the Drakr and have him return transmit a readiness assesment with my compliments."

"Aye, sir, orders encoded awaiting acknowledge from the Drakr," Yuoko paused, "Commander, Cmdr. Miller is broadcasting a request for peaceful resolution." Ms. Yamada relayed questioningly.

"No, that won't do, Gman. I've got her and you must fight to get her back," Akira spoke to himself. To the crew, "A prize too easily won is cheap and just as easily forgotten," he replied staunchly. "Comms, hail Cmdr. Miller." Akira stood from his command chair.

A tap on the eypiece and the hud's lense glowed ominously red. Resolved and full of purpose, he looked more like the statue of a tyrant than a mere Battlecruiser commander.

"Channel open sir."

"Cmdr. Miller," Akira's voice resonated from the pit of his stomach as he willed his words across the void, "I want Akuma Minako AND the Tenchi. There will be NO peaceful settlement. I," he emphasized, "am Spectre. I glide through the night and claim those souls I deam appropriate. Pray I do not choose to return for yours..." A flick of his finger off screen was all the cue Lt. Yamada needed.

"Transmition terminated."

"Good, let's see how long it takes for him to realize that Minako and the Tenchi are indeed very important to Orion." Akira melted back into his command chair a moment too soon.

"Insurgent One on deck," the Master at Arms belowed. The entire command deck sprang from their chairs and into attention almost before they were fully oriented on the man. Salutes crisply followed as the whole of the crew present honored the Insurgent's Commander In Cheif. Fleet Commander Akira performed a crisp right face and profered a salute as well.

"Taking things to the extreme as usual?" Rattler's gate was casual and easy.

"As you were." Akira's crew returned to their duties with fervor anew. It was one thing to be aboard Spectre Fleet's command vessel. It was quite another to have your actions in full view of the top two military leaders in what was becoming the largest terran organization outside of GALCOM.

"Only as it's necessary, sir." Akira closed the gap to his long time friend and they shook hands. "Savage's XO apparently sees me as his counterpart and that he can come to his counterpart with an olive branch. It's time for the lemmings to understand that when they deal with Spectre, they don't send their second's. Each and every member of Spectre deserves to be met by the best the foe has to offer; not to be offered peaceful resolution by a lemming lackey too afraid to scratch the paint on his parade only yacht."

"And it makes Minako look like a victim and not what she really is..." Rattler broke in.

"There's that too. But it's a tad less dramatic than the other reason, don't you think?" Akira smiled the way a shark might just before a meal of fresh fish.

"You love these games too much, Akira."

"You use the transporter too much, boss. What are you going to do when you hop ships and find your insides on the outside?"

"Pray that the Cheif Medical officer is up to spec on cloning!" The two men laughed breifly. Neither of them seemed overtly concerned about the situation. It was a win win situation and all they had to do was play the game. Akira was in his element and the wise knew it.

[rp]

Wold, you're off the hook. Perhaps it's because i'm too tired, but your 'message' is a bit too vague for 3 a.m.

------------------

Flt. Cmdr. Akira

Commanding Officer

Spectre Fleet

ICV-Nevermore

Official Tester

Battlecruiser Series

Wold · August 4, 2000

getting more confused by 'light-second'.....

[rp]

Approaching the jump to Pluto IC1 and 2 take their flanking positions at a standard escort distance. Still no response from Cmdr. Akira from that message....

Glancing at the Perscan computer I notice that the 15 marines sweeping the battlecruiser had the last of the intruders cornered. Another few seconds and that problem would go away. I also notice that the cloaking radiation has diminished to zip.

Probes limited and hating to jump in hostle territory both blind and wide open.... "Helm, initiate cloaking just before jump. Tactical, put radar on passive and link to the ICs for an active read-out."

Computer systems sorting themselves out far faster then I or the rest of my crew lets out that nerve shattering warning of hostles. Being already tense from the day's activities I cant resist glaring at the tacops computer thinking 'Of course there's an enemy in the area! There's ALWAYS an enemy in this area you ....' STOP, yanking my thoughts back under control. Okay... deep breath and hit the red acknowledge button bringing blessed silence. That's better... now, what do we have here?

Well, well, what a surprise. That bloody red dot IS the GCV-Deterrence. "Samantha, Let me guess, they're right on course for Jupiter?" She flips me a quick thumbs up.

I mutter an exasperated "That's great!" I knew it.... That ship is definately appropriately named. No way am I letting them sneak up on the Insurgents SIC. But my orders...hhhmmmm..

Hah, good, intruders gone. "Schlynk, you've just been 'promoted'. THAT got a startled response! He flinches and looks at me with that uh-oh, I-don't-think-I'm-gonna-like-this stare. I continue on, unfazzed, "grab 20 of those marines and shuttles" I glance at the screen, "and shuttles 3 and 4. I can't be in two places at once, so you're going to fulfill Cmdr. Akir's orders regarding GCV-Kurai. If they abandon ship, tow it to Spectre Starstation, you have 2 minutes to launch." The Insurgency, spitting in the face of tradition, ALWAYS renames Galcom captured ships, and we could use the hardware. Schlynk snaps me a solute, slaves the Nav computer to my station and bolts for the hatch.

The logistix officer overhearing my orders powers up the launch control and TacOps barking over the intercom to the marines to grab their crap and hit the decks and prep on the shuttles.

During that 2 minutes we're busy disengaging the cloaking device, doing a 180 back to the Jupiter jump point, and launching the 2 shuttles and remaining 2 IC's with orders to all ICs for shuttle escort.

I wonder what Cmdr. Foss is going to think when we jump BACK into Jupiter space after launching our brood?

"Samantha, Get me an ETA for Cmdr. Foss's arrival into Jupiter, with a count-down." If I time this right and things 'go' as planned (hah) I'll be just right for a wee little ambush and still fulfill my orders.[/rp]

------------------

Cmdr. Wold

Spectre Fleet

Spectre Starstation

ICV Drakr

"Do or do not, there is no try!"

[This message has been edited by Wold (edited 08-04-2000).]

Blades · August 4, 2000

Sigh

All the big guns in one place at one time. Little Miss Minako is gonna have a lot of explaining to do when this is all over.

[RP]

Hamblin, you ÔÇª

There wasnÔÇÖt any time for these thoughts. Hamblins mistake had pretty much shot the desperate retrieval operation in the foot. Whether it was down to sheer incompitance from the hastily recalled skeleton crew, or part of some diabolical scheme to give his ulcer an ulcer, the result was the same. The odds were firmly stacked in the Insurgents favor.

The GCV-Tsunami, one of the older Battlecruisers still in active service of GalCom screamed out of spacedock and made way towards the wormhole that would take them into SolÔÇÖs Pluto region.

Activating the rear view on the TsunamiÔÇÖs bridgeviewer, Savage felt a twinge of sadness as the newly constructed Centris Orion station vanished from view as the jump engines engaged.

Is this the last time IÔÇÖm going to see her? he thought. Is this how my legacy ends, chasing a rogue, or incompitent officer across the stars?

The tense mood of the Orion Fleet Commander didnÔÇÖt rest easy with his crew. Scuttlebutt had been working overtime since he had given the order to hurry the Tsunami out of the repair dock and make best speed to Jupiter. Rumors had filtered down from C&C as to the nature of their assignment, and there was heavy speculation as to what they would find once they reached their destination.

When Savage had walked onto the bridge in the blackest mood they had ever seen him in, the majority of the bridge officers took this as a bad omen. In the time that they had served directly under his command on the Tsunami, they were all pretty much of the opinion that he met every challenge with a smile on his face, and an uncanny knack to pull one out of his hat and always bring them home.

Today, he didnÔÇÖt smile, and perhaps for the first time ever, they thought they might not come home at all.

ÔÇ£Mr Hock,ÔÇØ started Savage from his command chair. ÔÇ£whatÔÇÖs our running status?ÔÇØ

Hock, the Tsunami acting first officer withdrew himself from the a side terminal and took position beside his commander and read from a datapad in his hand.

ÔÇ£Sir, weÔÇÖre in pretty good shape, considering.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Just give me the basics.ÔÇØ Said Savage, nursing his aching head in right hand.

ÔÇ£Shield generator is at 78% normal capacity. We are currently charged to maximum, although since the upgrade isnÔÇÖt 100% complete we are going to have gaps in our defense perimeter.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£PTA and IOD status?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£PTA is at 70%, IOD is charging, but due to lower reactor output, our refire rate is down by almost 30%.ÔÇØ

Savage groaned. ÔÇ£And now the good news?ÔÇØ

Hock cleared his throat, and stepped a little closer to his commanding officer. ÔÇ£Not wanting to sound like a clich├®, sir, but that is the good news.ÔÇØ

Savage leant full back into his chair and put his hands behind his head. ÔÇ£I figured that was coming. Ok then, whatÔÇÖs the bad news?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Bad news, aye. Cloak is useless. WeÔÇÖre still awaiting replacement parts from Rockwell starbase. Ah, our replacement armour was scheduled to be put in place next Tuesday, and due to damage to the weapons pod, we donÔÇÖt have missile launch capability.ÔÇØ

Savage remained still and silent.

ÔÇ£On the plus side, sir, the cloning bays are fully functional ÔÇª..ÔÇØ

Savage turned and gave his 2IC a wry look.

ÔÇ£ÔÇª.. not that weÔÇÖre going to need them, of course.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Of course.ÔÇØ Replied Savage.

Just then, the Tsunami lurched out of hyperspace and came out uncomfortably close to the destination wormhole. As she resumed her normal cruising speed, several of the bridge officers became unbalanced and lost their seating.

Savage pushed himself from the deck where he had been thrown, and glared at Hock who had fallen to his side.

Painfully, Hock offered an explanation. ÔÇ£Finally, sir, the SIF generators are acting a bit, twitchy, so we may experience a few bumps upon entering and exiting hyperspace. We might want to limit the number of high energy turns as well.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£You might have mentioned this to me before coming out of hyperspace, Leutenant Commander.ÔÇØ

Hock nodded. ÔÇ£Recent addition, sir. Only just noticed it myself.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Clearly.ÔÇØ Said Savage, pushing himself back into his seat.

Minutes later, the Tsunami punched through the exit mouth of the Sol/Alpha Centaur wormhole and lurched towards the jump gate that would lead them to the Jupitor region.

ÔÇ£Are we still out of direct communication with Miller or Hamblin?ÔÇØ asked Savage.

Hock, from his normal position at TacOps tried to raise both ships. ÔÇ£Aye sir, seems so. The jamming strength is not as high as it was previously, but itÔÇÖs still in effect. Theres no way we can punch through at this range and communicate with either of them.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£DidnÔÇÖt think so.ÔÇØ Said Savage, sounding glum. ÔÇ£Can you verify whether or not theres any Insurgent traffic still in Jupitor?ÔÇØ

Again, Hock disappointed his commanding officer. ÔÇ£Afraid not, sir. We donÔÇÖt have any probes in the region, and we have zero chance of launching any either.ÔÇØ

Savage almost laughed. ÔÇ£DonÔÇÖt tell me, the probe launch tubes are non functional.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Actually,ÔÇØ started Hock, ÔÇ£the launch tubes are fully functional. ItÔÇÖs just we havenÔÇÖt received any replacement probe guidance systems from Rockwell.ÔÇØ

Savage thought for a moment. ÔÇ£So the launch tubes are functional?ÔÇØ

Hock wondered if the Fleet Commander was really paying attention to him, or just wanted verification. ÔÇ£Ah, as I said sir, the tubes are at 100%.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Hmm.ÔÇØ

For a few moments, Savage was deep in thought. The crew went about their normal business, albeit silently for a change. They knew better than to make noise while their CO was busy pondering their next move, or formulating a plan of action that in all likelihood, was going to get them all killed.

Eventually, Savage stopped pondering, and standing from his chair, began issuing orders.

ÔÇ£Comms, are we able to get a signal out to Earth?ÔÇØ

McFellis, the TsunamiÔÇÖs current communications officer swivelled in his chair and faced him. ÔÇ£Negative, sir. The jamming is pretty much complete. We could transmit once we are in the Earth region, but not before.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Dammit.ÔÇØ Said Savage. ÔÇ£Ok, this is what we are going to do ÔÇªÔÇØ

Moments later, the crew began to carry out their instructions. ICÔÇÖs 1 through 4 launched moments later, after a hurried briefing from the combat officer and peeled off in different directions, heading at full speed to their intended destinations.

ÔÇ£Time to Jupitor jump gate?ÔÇØ asked Savage.

ÔÇ£Four minutes, sixteen seconds at current velocity.ÔÇØ Stated the TsunmiÔÇÖs navigator.

ÔÇ£Good.ÔÇØ Said Savage. ÔÇ£Engineering, the second we enter Jupitor region, I want you to start venting plasma at the exact rate I told you. You are to keep doing that, regardless of our situation until you hear otherwise.ÔÇØ

Engineering replied and acknowledged their instructions.

ÔÇ£Ok then.ÔÇØ Started Savage, attempting to sound more confident about their current situation that he currently felt. ÔÇ£We all know what we are doing here, and what we might have to do. There is an undetermined number of Insurgent contacts somewhere ahead of us, and very little in the way of friendly forces to back us up. For all we know, both the Sark and the Galetea have already been destroyed and the Tenchi taken by the Insurgents. If Miller is following his orders, he may have bought us enough time to even up the odds a little. If things went badly, we might be having this fight all by ourselves. Without communications, we have no idea what we are stepping into. Hell, we donÔÇÖt even know for sure if the Insurgents are still in the Jupitor region. If they have moved on, we are going to persue them. Even with 30 minutes lead on us, tractoring another Battlecruiser back to the hutch is going to put a strain on their engines. We will intercept them if they are not here. We just have to be on the look out for any nasty surprises they might have left for us.

DonÔÇÖt think for a second that this is turning into a suicide mission. I for one donÔÇÖt like them, and have every intention of going home tonight and whupping Mr HockÔÇÖs ass at hoverball.ÔÇØ

Savage sat himself back down in his command chair, and blew out a silent sigh. He was never one for rousing speeches, nor was he likely to ever be good at them. It didnÔÇÖt matter though, it never did. His crew knew him, understood him, had always had faith in him. In a way, it was comforting to know that despite what they were about to step into, the Fleet Commander was consistent in his behaviour, and that, by no small means, was more comforting and inspiring than any number of rousing speeches could be.

ÔÇ£Time to jump gate.ÔÇØ Asked Savage, one more time.

ÔÇ£Jump gate to Jupitor region in fifteen seconds, sir.ÔÇØ

Savage closed his eyes, and for the first time in many years, uttered a silent prayer. When he had finished, he opened his eyes again and stared into the gaping maw of the jump gate.

ÔÇ£Mr Daniels, take us in.ÔÇØ

[RP]

Ok, the Tsunami is approx 25 minutes behind what is currently happening in Jupitor. Miller is already on location, and Hamblin shouldnÔÇÖt be more than a few minutes behind. IÔÇÖm gonna sit back here and see how things pan out. Once things get interesting, someone prompt the arrival of the Tsunami through the jump gate and IÔÇÖll pick up from there.

------------------

F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE

ORION FLEET

COMMANDING OFFICER, ORION FLEET

COMMANDER, ORION STATION

T.B.G DAYWATCH COMMANDER

TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP

GCV-TSUNAMI Ôäó

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

'For Queen And Country'

--- Just fixed some italics. ---

[This message has been edited by Akira (edited 08-04-2000).]

Cmdr Hidama · August 4, 2000

[rp]

Commander Hidama stared at the far off Cronus jump point through the bridgeviewer.

"How far are we?"

"163824km sir, and we're traveling at 57km/s, it will take us approx. 8 hours to reach the gate"

...that's too long, more insurgents will be here before too long, gotta find a way to speed us up...THINK! the engines are just damaged...they still might work...they may destroy us in the process though, we have to try it

"Activate the engines, prepare the afterburners, and tell Kasugi to hold them together with tape and glue if she has to!"

we just need to make it through the gate, Centauri Starstation will see us, Galcom HQ should've recieved the probe's data by now, they should know...

The ship began to rattle and shake as the sounds of the engines rumbled through the walls

doesn't sound very good...but we have no other choice

"Ok, ease her along slowly at first, start at one quarter and slide the thrust up, I don't want her to be upset with us"

A quick 'Aye Sir' and the engine's started to groan as they were forced into action against their will, the ship began to pick up speed.

"100 clicks...110...124...137...150...184...250-"

"You're speeding up too fast, hold at this speed," Hidama turned to his row of Marine 'Runners' which replaced his failed comm system, "get down to Engineering and tell me how the engine's are holding up"

The marine nodded and took off.

"how long to the gate now?"

"ETA 6 hours"

Hidama glanced at his monitor and noticed the speed had increased slightly, 258

they're in quite a hurry, I'll let them have it, the engine's should be able to take it, don't want to take them too far...

A short while later the runner returned, trying to catch his breath, "Kasugi says we...can go up....up to 500...that's all the strain the engines will take"

"Alright, bring us to 500 and hold it there!"

The ship accelerated once again

Kara spun around, almost tumbling off her chair, "SIR! There are two Insurgent shuttles with interceptor escorts coming through the Nevuela jump point! Engaging Cloak! Sensors on passive"

Shuttles? not quite what I expected, we can handle shuttles...the interceptors though, with no shields...

"Status of the turrets?"

"Fore and Aft are operational but don't have any power, we had to take them offline to engage the engines"

A binary star system and we don't have enough solar power to arm the weapons...

Hidama began to laugh, much to the surprise and bewilderment of the crew. "Can we siphon the power from the interceptor charge units to at least get off a couple shots?"

"That's a question for Kasugi, sir" replied one of the marines.

Hidama gave the marine a sideward glance, "So go ask her!"

Startled, the marine entered the turbolift and the door closed.

Hidama examined his display The Insurgents will intercept us in 10 minutes, we're 1 hour from the gate...

"Take all power from the cloaking device and siphon it into the transporters," Hidama glanced at a fresh runner, "Organize a team and have all the mines brought up to the transporter room"

It's a longshot, but it may work

The marine grinned as he ran off to gather his team.

8 minutes later

ok, mines are ready, Kasugi managed to jury rig the charger's, we got about 10 shots on each turret, not much, but better than nothing

Hidama moved to the front of the bridge and spoke loudly, "Alright everyone, this is it! the last leg of this trip, then we get to rest. But you gotta admit, it was one hell of a patrol!"

Moving back to his chair, the Commander began speaking his orders, "Every second, beam crab mine's in a random pattern in front of our pursuers, hopefully the mines will shoot em down for us, after the crab's are gone, begin beaming out leeches, space them so they don't detonate eachother"

They're sending shuttle's so they're not that intent on destroying us...yet, seems's they're trying to protect their little secret base...

"Have the computer encrypted and all the terminals outside the bridge and engineering locked out"

There's no way in hell I'm going down without a fight!

[/rp]

Galcom should now be aware of the situation here.

Wold, I'll let you take care of what happens to Schlynk and your team, I don't like calling hits.

------------------

Cmdr. Hidama Hasaki

GCV Kurai

1st Squadron, SIN Wing

Stationed, Starstation Wrath

you might as well stay and fight, because if you run, you will only die tired

ICQ 28215391, GMT-5

=Wraith Fleet=

[This message has been edited by Cmdr Hidama (edited 08-04-2000).]

GREG MILLER · August 4, 2000

Cmdr Wold, you need to edit your last post. The GCV-Deterrence whould be comming through the Sirius wormhole to Jupiter. The GCV-Galatea is comming through Pluto to get to Jupiter.

Akuma Minako · August 4, 2000

Kirin eyed Greg calmly, like a cat regarding a mouse just before he pounces. "I understand commander." Kirin says quietly but with enough authority benith that quiet voice to make Greg understand that he was now in charge. "Unfortunatly, commander Akuma Minako has relieved herself of duty and confined herself to her quarters."

Kirin pauses to think for a moment. "If you would like, I can have communtications patch you through to her quarters, though I doubt she's in any mood to talk to anyone."

Kirin closes his eyes and shakes his head slowly. "Just don't judge her too harshly sir." He says carefully with the deepest undertones of respect. "She's a good kid."

------------------

AKUMA MINAKO

ORION FLEET

GCV- TENCHI

DETERRENCE BATTLE GROUP

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

"War is the plague of Mankind, created by Mankind."

August 4, 2000

Bugger, I've missed a lot. Better get started then.

[rp]

The Galatea was travelling at reduced speed through the Pluto region. It was taking much longer for the Hyperdrive to recharge. The HSI was only up to the third dot, and it had been hours since we entered the system. Therefore, we were simply travelling along at maximum burn towards the Jupiter Wormhole.

In the meantime, I was taking the opportunity to look around my old ship. The old gal was exactly the same as I left her. As far as I could remember, at any rate.

Actually, if I wasn't mistaken, I was totally lost. I had completely forgotten the layout of the Galactan class Battlecruiser, which I had before known like the back of my hand.

I came around a corner and, finally, found a turbolift shaft. I literally ran towards it, as inside it would be a deck by deck schematic of the ship. From now on, until I get accustomed to the ship, I'm taking the turbolifts! I thought, as the doors slid open to let me in.

I stepped into the car, found the screen which displayed the schematic, pressed the button to activate it...and nothing happened. It flickered a bit, then died down, obviously needing repairs. I looked down, and saw that half of this turbolift car's wiring had been pulled out, and was obviously in the process of being replaced when I ordered every one who was not coming off the ship, back at spacedock.

"Bridge." I said, hoping that it was only the screen which wasn't functioning.

"Computer, I said, Bridge!" I repeated, more forcefully this time.

But the 'lift didn't respond. This turbolift car was offline. I sighed, and kicked the bulkhead in anger. Which caused the car to start descending, although not of it's own power, simply due to gravity. The anti-grav fields in this turbolift shaft must be offline.

The car was moving slowly, but surely, gradually gaining speed. I wasn't worried though, as it would reach the bottom of the ship before it would have gained enough of a speed to be a danger.

Nevertheless, the internal comm system bleeped as I recieved a hail from the Bridge. "Hamblin here, go ahead." I said, just leaning back on the bulkhead, and chuckling at the thought that I had finally got the turbolift moving.

"Sir, it's Commander Mulgrey." The huskey and, at the same time, rather enticing voice of my first officer came over the 'lift's speakers. "I'm detecting movement in the turbolift car in shaft B, but that shaft is off-line."

"I know, Commander. I kicked it."

"Excuse me?"

"I kicked it." I said, utter calm in my voice. "The car is now gaining speed travelling down to the bottom of the ship, where it'll most likely impact with the hull."

"Sir!" Mulgrey shouted with considerable urgency.

"What is it Commander?" I asked, deciding to sit down and wait for the 'lift to hit the bottom of the ship.

"That turbolift car isn't just moving downwards!"

"It's not?"

"No! The anti-grav fields in the shafts are malfunctioning! It's causing the lift to move both upwards and downwards around a central point, each time getting closer and closer to the point! Eventually, it'll just stop at the point, and having been moving upwards and downwards at a tremendous speed, when it stops the force at which it throws you against the bulkhead would kill you!"

My eyes widened, as I noticed the changes in inertia. They were very slight, but very noticable.

"Why are the inertial dampners compensating now then?" I asked, making sure that only a slight hint of terror was allowed to creep into my voice, despite the fact I was literally shaking with fear right now.

Ok, get a hold of yourself, you've been in life threatening situations before..., I thought, although in the back of my mind, I knew this was different. This was the only time in which my fate had not been in my hands. I was relying entirely on someone else, and it scared the hell out of me.

"They are working, to an extent, but when that car stops..." Her voice trailed off.

I could feel my forehead starting to perspirate, and I wiped it with my sleeve.

"Well, Lieutenant Commander, what do you suggest?" I said, again maintaining the illusion of calm.

"Hold on a minute, sir..." The link went silent, as Mulgrey began working on whatever it was she was working on.

The minutes passed, getting more and more tense. I noticed that I was wiping my forehead more and more each minute. My sleeve was now drenched in sweat.

"Done sir. I've jury rigged the anti-grav field in the shaft to work properly, but it'll only stay like that for a few minutes. The 'lift has stopped just below deck two, so you should be able to climb out! Go, now!"

I shot up from my sitting position, and pulled the handle labeled "Manual release", located to the right of the doors. The doors opened slightly, allowing me to push them fully open manually.

When I looked out of the now open doorway, I realised that when Mulgrey said the 'lift had stopped just below deck two, she had maybe stretched the truth a bit. In actual fact, although the doors on deck two were open, I'd have to crawl through a space that made maintenance tubes look comfortable. But, I could just barely squeeze through, although I might have to spend a few days recovering in the medibay.

I stopped thinking, knowing that I was steadily running out of time, and just grabbed onto the ledge. I pulled myself up, and, slowly, managed to get through to my neck, before the turbolift slid down a bit more, nearly crushing my back, and causing me to loose my breath. I just stayed there, in that position for a few more moments, while I regained my breath, before I gave one last surge of strength and pushed myself through, even managing to cause the 'lift to move upwards a bit due to me forcing myself through that hole. But that was most likely due to the anti-grav fields giving me a lot of extra help.

When I finally got through, I lay on the deck for a few minutes, completely exhausted. I'd definitely require some serious rest after this mission was over. Maybe I should let the Galatea finish her refit before I take command of her again. I thought.

"Sir, are you alright?" Mulgrey's voice sounded almost angelic to me, and I couldn't resist letting out a little sigh.

"Sir? Are you there?" She said, this time a little more urgently.

"Yes..." I was interrupted by a coughing fit which practically emptied my lungs of all air. "...yes, Lieutenant Commander, I'm here."

She sounded very relieved when she said "Sir, thank God!"

I slowly pushed myself up from the deck. "Looks like Satan will have to wait another day." I said, a slight smile on my face, which caused another coughing fit, which in turn caused me to collapse on the deck again.

"Sir?"

"Never mind, Lieutenant Commander. I'll be up there shortly. Hamblin out."

As I lifted myself up from the deck, I realised that we still this deathtrap of a ship still hadn't even arrived at Jupiter yet. I wondered how on Earth I'd manage to survive this.

Suddenly, I noticed a slight sobbing coming from around the corner. It was rather faint, but as I slowly got closer, I realised I was next to the detention centre. There were two marines standing guard at the entrance. Since we had no Combat Officer on board, I presumed that Lieutenant Commander Mulgrey had assigned them here. That woman certainly knew how to multi task.

I straightened myself up, straightened my uniform tunic, and took a few more moments to fully regain my composure, before walking in. I wanted to give my best impression to Lieutenant Montgomery.

I marched in, and the marines stood at attention. I nodded to them, and they stood at ease, while I made my way to the cell holding Lieutenant Montgomery.

He was, indeed, the source of the sobbing. He was sitting on the floor of the cell, crouched up into a ball, and shaking rather badly. Either he was cold, or the incident on the Bridge had effected him more than I thought.

"Lieutenant." I said, calmly.

He looked up, and saw me standing there, arms clasped behind my back.

"Lieutenant...I wanted to talk to you, about earlier." I said, not exactly sure where I should begin with this, nor why I was even in here in the first place.

He continued staring up at me, eyes red from crying, tears still dripping down his cheeks, and coughing slightly from crying for so long.

"Y...yes, sir?" He mumbled, barely audible.

I sighed. "Lieutenant, I understand that...that you're probably..." I paused, choosing my words carefully "...upset, about what happened on the Bridge."

He nodded slightly, acknowledging what I was saying.

I continued. "You were put under...a lot of stress. Was this your first flight outside of the sims?"

Again, he nodded, probably not confident enough yet to respond.

"It was probably a real shock to discover that you'd barely finished flight school, and you're already being assigned to pilot a starship into a potential battle zone."

Hearing this, he nearly burst out crying again, the tears beginning to well up in his eyes. I realised it was probably a poor choice of words to say he was shocked, so I quickly moved on.

"Anyway, I understand how you feel, Lieutenant. Don't be sad, it could happen to anyone."

As a matter of fact, I could understand how he felt. I, myself, had felt the exact same emotion he had felt back in the spacedock. Terror. Terror at loosing one's own life, and thinking you could not do anything about it. Feeling trapped, and reverting to an almost primal instinct to do whatever was necessary to survive.

I had experienced a small doseage of it in the turbolift just now. My years of experience as a Galcom officer, however, had made sure that I had remained calm, and didn't allow my emotions to show. This young man, though, didn't have those same advantages. More than ever, now, I felt truly sorry for him, and wished the whole incident had never happened. This man had been robbed of his dignity through no fault of his own, and I had probably compounded the error by throwing him in the brig.

The brig...wait, didn't I order that he be confined to quarters? Better discuss that with Mulgrey when I get to the Bridge.

In the meantime, I could feel that I was getting through to this man. He was now in a sitting position, still staring up at me, waiting for me to continue.

I crouched down, so that we were facing eye to eye, despite the forcefield separating us.

"Lieutenant, no one is blaming you for what happened. As we're short handed right now, I was hoping that you'd consider coming back to work. In exchange, I and everyone else will forget it ever happened. There will be no record of this in your service career, or my log." I smiled, to try to give emphasis to what I was saying.

It worked...more or less. Still staring at me, through glistening, he slowly nodded.

I got up. I had at least achieved something. I'd established a bond with this young man, to an extent. We were kindrid spirits, in a way, as we'd both experienced the same kind of unique fear that a person experiences in a life or death situation. I only vaguely understood what he must be going through right now, but that allowed me to get through to him, at least temporarily. If we survive this mission, I'm going to have to arrange councling for this lad. It might hurt his career, but better he do that than have this happen again, and put people's lives at risk.

I got up, turned around, and walked out of the Brig.

-------------

Back on the Bridge, this time making sure the turbolift I took was completely safe, as well as using the opportunity to check out an internal deck by deck schematic of the ship on my way to the Bridge, I settled into my chair, and called Mulgrey over to me.

She stood next to my chair, standing at attention. I loved the fact that every time I got near her, I could very easily smell her faint perfume which she wore. Right now, I could smell it all from the comfort of my chair. I was sorely tempted to lean back, and say "this is the life". However, it would have looked extremely weird for a Commander in Galcom to be leaning back in his chair on the Bridge, when everyone knew that these chairs didn't lean back.

Or maybe that wasn't the part that would have looked extremely weird. My brain was so muddled up from the events of the past few hours that I couldn't think straight. A few hours sitting in my chair, staring out at space through the Bridgeviewer would fix that.

In the meantime, I had to ask Commander Mulgrey something.

"Lieutenant Commander," I said. "Why is it that Lieutenant Montgomery is in the brig, and not confined to quarters as I ordered?"

She cleared her throat, obviously having expected this. "Well, sir, when he arrived at his quarters, he...attacked one of the marines escorting him there."

My eyes widened. "Attacked?"

She nodded, still at attention. "Yes sir. He broke a glass on a table, and threatened to hurt himself. When one of the marines came to investigate, he then threatened to hurt the marine, who was forced to..." She trailed off.

I nodded, understanding where she was going. "I see. Why was I not informed?"

This was obviously the part that Mulgrey looked like she was going to have trouble with. "Well, sir...you were..." She coughed again. "...asleep."

"Asleep?" I said, disbelief plainly evident, and why not. I would certainly remember if I had fallen asleep on the job, and it was a habit I didn't like.

"Yes, sir. You were...taking a nap." She said, trying to find the right words, while keeping a straight face.

My eyebrows were raised, now, and my eyes were widened completely. "Well, Lieutenant Commander," I said, taking a deep breath. "I just invited this boy to resume his duties. I suppose only time will tell if he actually takes me up on my offer or not."

She nodded. "Carry on." I said.

"Yes sir" She replied, before turning around and stepping down to her station.

I leaned my right elbow on my armrest, which in turn allowed me to lean my cheek against my wrist. My eyes began to close, slightly, and I could just about hear a faint chuckling, although whether that was from Mulgrey or Ensign Stymes at navigation, I wasn't sure.

Luckily, I was quickly jostled out of my semi-comatose state by an urgent call from Mulgrey.

"Sir, picking up two IC's, near the Jupiter gate. IFF says they're Insurgent. Also picking up launches..." She paused while she analysed the information. "...they appear to be shuttles, probably launching from a cloaked ship. IFF confirms that they are also Insurgent."

"Red Alert!" I called out, instantly awake.

Seconds later, and the red alert klaxons were blaring all over the ship, including the Bridge, calling all hands to battle stations.

"General Quarters," Mulgrey said, over the PA system. "I repeat, General Quarters, all hands to battle stations."

I was now sitting up, and at full alert. I had no idea what these Insurgents were doing here, nor what they wanted, but if we got into a fight, we wouldn't stand a chance against them. In addition, our priority was to reach Jupiter and assist Commander Miller. We couldn't afford to be wasting time messing around in Pluto.

I checked the HSI. Hyperdrive was fully charged, and waiting my order. Good. I wanted a quick getaway if necessary.

"Mulgrey, status of the cloak?"

"Cloak is fried, Captain. Chief Keldon reports she's had all three system's engineers working on it since we left Orion, but it'll still be a few more hours."

Damn. Suddenly, a thought occured to me. I got up, and stepped down to the tactical station.

"Lieutenant Commander, does the computer still hold the ID tags of all Galcom ships in the fleet?"

She nodded. "Of course, sir. It's with that kind of information that allows the IFF to identify what ship is out there. It's highly classified, and if a Galcom ship is captured, it's usually the first to go in the ship's databank. If it were ever captured, the entire fleet would have to change their tags, and even then there could be the possibility of the Insurgents decoding it."

I nodded. "Good. I want you to change our ID tag to make us look like we're the GCV..." I thought for a second. "...GCV-Deterrence."

She nodded, and quickly complied.

I explained my plan. "I'm hoping I can bluff them into believing we are the Deterrence. If they hail us, I want you to bring up audio and visual records of Commander Foss, and overlay them so that it looks like I'm him."

She smiled. "I could make you look like a talking bottle of Empirian Ale, sir."

I chuckled. "Commander Foss will do just nicely. Although, if afterwards, you would like a..."

I was interrupted by a call from Stymes. "Sir, the Insurgent vessel, it's de-cloaking!"

I quickly stepped up back to my chair. The only thought going through my mind was Idiot! Asking her out in the middle of a crisis, are you insane? I quickly shook the thought out of my head, and concentrated on the scene unfolding in front of me.

"Sir, identity scan shows that it's the ICV-Drakr," Mulgrey seemed to have a bit of difficulty pronouncing it. "She's heading back to the Jupiter gate."

Could it have worked already? Seeing a fully armed and ready Galcom battlecruiser, despite how untrue that may be, maybe this commander, who seemed like a total newbie, didn't want to engage in combat yet?

Only time will tell.

[/rp]

Bloody hell! This one almost killed me! I swear, they're getting longer with each one I take!

[This message has been edited by Commander Hamblin (edited 08-04-2000).]

Wold · August 5, 2000

uhm, uh, ooops... Thanks Cmdr. Hamblin for fixing my Tactical error. I would hate to have to rewrite all that. I was in Fairbanks on a road trip and was going from memory on a late night.

Anyway, I am new at this rp thing and I need a clarification on where Orion is. I'm using the map from the BC3K manual which has Orion orbiting Jupiter's moon Eropa and Vanguard on Ronus IV. From Akuma's 1st post she never left the planetary system where Orion was orbiting and everyone's converging on Jupiter. I'm confused becuase I was under the impression that Blades, Hamblin, and Akuma all started from Orion Starstation which would put them all in Jupiter's space when they launched from Orion, but they aren't there.

I seriously hope I just didn't screw things up...!

------------------

Cmdr. Wold

Spectre Fleet

Spectre Starstation

ICV Drakr

"Do or do not, there is no try!"

[This message has been edited by Wold (edited 08-04-2000).]

Blades · August 5, 2000

My assumption is this .... Akuma Minako is a fairly new addition to the Orion family, and sicne we are now nearling official BCM time (Circa 3010 - 3015) we are working on the assumption that the NEW Orion station is based in Centris. Thats where I've been following from. As far as exact date is concerned, its around the time of Gam War II, which (I believe) kicked off in 3008 and ran for several years. So, we are probably in or around 3010 - 3012 sorta time.

Yes, that means all us old timers in the Orion fleet have pot bellies and more grey in their heads that before, but thats what progression does for you. Anyway, this doesnt reall alter the plot any, and since when has an RP plot run 100% smoothly without any inconsistencies? Never is the answer. So anyway, dont sweat it.

However ...

Lockjaw, your most recent post is a little out of whack with what else is going on. You might wanna adjust it a tad, and I was actually hopin you might stumble accross things in or around Jupiter on your way back. If you hadnt noticed, we're in pretty poor shape here and could use the assist.

Anyway, back to the plot.

Wold · August 5, 2000

Okay, I think I can stay with the game plan now...

ICV-Drakr has left Pluto to Jupiter and the 'away' team has jumped into Alpha Centari before GCV-Tsunami's arrival into Pluto.

[rp]

As ICV-Drakr heads back to the Jupiter jump my thoughts get mired down in second-guessing my most receint decissions. Well I conclude to myself, what's done is done.

Lt. Ngyuen cocks her head sideways, "Sir, Alpha 21 secure message comming in, patching through to your datapad now." As soon as the message light flashes on the datapad I slap the id plate with my right hand and impatiently wait for clearance process. Finally the message appears on my screen:

*********************

... Belay order. Return to Jupiter space best speed. Readiness report ASAP.

Flt. Cmdr. Akira

*********************

I thumb the acknowledge button while addressing Ngyuen, "Comms, new orders for awayteam, affective immediatly, transmit when ready. Orders as follows: Lynx team, lemming hunt off, assist base with plan zeta. RTB to home station when completed. Authentication code: jf-7893gd93w32." I finish nod."

Several minutes later in Jupiter space not much has changed. There still appears to be a stand-off between the ICV-Nevermore, the GCV-Tenchi, and GCV-Sark. Well, first things first. Time to prepare the offense.

Not having an IC screen available I need to come up with some added fire-power. "Tactical, what's our current mine status?" Samantha punches up the loadout screen and her expression turns sour. "Not a full load, Sir. We have five crabs and five leeches and none in inventory."

I digest this information for several seconds wondering if I should shoot the wad. "Samantha, put three crabs around the emergance point and two leeches on the emergence point."

"Logistix, reconfigure power levels and weapons for close combat." The only exterior visible change was the solar panels folding up and being tucked away into their armor plated hold. Other not so noticable changes was launch control, cloning module, transporter, and tractor beam being disabled. At the same time shields, IOD, and PTA systems were set to maximum. Looking at the count-down clock the wait begins...

15 minutes......10 minutes......5 minutes......1 minute remaining.... "Cloaking engaged....NOW, Cmdr."

Meanwile in another far away system....

Flight Engineer Lt. JG Ralphinheimer, otherwise known as Lt. Ralph, was piloting Lt. Cmdr Schlynk and his command through the jump point into Varan space.

Lt. Ralph purses his lips and shaking his head, "I don't know, Sir., they cloaked as soon as we hit in system."

Schlynk stares at the scope, then the viewscreen, then back at the scope wanting to curse and bless his fortune at the same time. I've got NO training for this, how could Cmdr. Wold pick me for this!? Four ICs against a battlecruiser, oh yea, and two shuttles for targets. At least the BC can shoot back slips into his mind.

The avalanch of images triggered by that last thought storms through his mind. Images of the "guilty" condemned to death by his hands at GALCOMS orders. Orders by officers unwilling to do their own dirty intelegance work. Ignorance was 'bliss' at the time but now, now it's the fuel for the guilt. Squeezing his eyes closed while pinching the bridge of his nose with his left hand he pushes the ghosts back with a final thought. I'm not killing unarmed civilians and I finally got a Cmndr. willing to do his own dirty work.

With renewed will power and a cleared mind, Schlynk opens his eyes. Just as he opens his mouth to order the destruction of the GCV-Kuri when the shuttle rocks from a blast.

Schlynk questions a look at Ralph. Ralph shrugs as he responds "I think they are using their transporter to drop mines on us, Sir."

Without thinking Schlynk begins rolling orders out, having no clue as to where the ideas came from. "Shuttles, fluctuating speeds with a zig-zag pattern and as shields drop rotate the leading shuttle back. ALL ICs begine mine sweeping NOW!" Time to ride the wave and hope they ran out of mines real soon.

A flashing light gets Schlynks attention. He flips the switch and the comms screen pops up scrolling his new orders. Relieved that he no longer has to send the ICs up against the battlecruiser, he pulls up the zeta plans and contacts the base station.

"All right people, new orders. Both shuttles to jump to Varan escorted by ICs 3 & 4. IC's 1 & 2, ground base is reporting a probe, take it out and then fly cover for the shuttles. Execute! Schlynk, clear."

As they approach Varan the flight engineer begins rolling off a damage report for all ships. Couple of engines damaged, shield generator, nav computer, armor, atv, and lots more. At least no ships destroyed. Not yet anyway....

Pushing the comms button for the standard GALCOM visual in-system hailing frequency, Schlynks waits. After several seconds a very poor link is established. Using a soft, quiet yet somehow un-nerving voice, "Remember me Cmdr. Hasaki? My orders have just been changed. If you are still in this region when I'm finished with my current orders, I will come after you."

Back in Jupiter's space:

The chess game has begun and I'm losing.... No ship and cloaking has been on for six minutes and a total of twenty minutes has passed since jumping in. Disengaging the cloaking device I punch the all-ship hail; "Alright, I don't know where they are but we are staying right here until something gives or a superior tells us otherwise. We are maintaining a red alert. I want everyone to get something to eat, on station. And leave your combat suits on. I know the plumbings bloody uncomfortable and creates a red spot with the urge to itch, but better safe then sorry." I finish with a slight shrug and the old clich`e.

Sitting down I notice that my own food has appeared. Nothing like getting shot at with a full stomach. The wait... the worst part besides laying there in agony...[/rp]

------------------

Cmdr. Wold

Spectre Fleet

Spectre Starstation

ICV-Drakr

"Do or do not, there is no try!"

*** Sorry Wold, the encryption keys for that type of message are available to Command Staff personell only. Akira ***

[This message has been edited by Akira (edited 08-05-2000).]

Cmdr Hidama · August 5, 2000

[rp]

Hidama stared intently at the image of the minefield and the ships attempting to navigate it. Sweat rolling down his brow, he prayed silently that his plan would work. Several proximity explosions...the crab's lasers were lighting up the area, then it all stopped, the ships were turning around.

"Are they giving up?"

"No sir, they recieved a transmission just prior to turning around, looks like they're going after the probe"

what a strange move...they're letting us get away, it's very unlikely, even at maximum burn that they'll get to the probe and back to us before we reach the gate, and if we escape, it doesn't matter if we lose the probe

Suddenly and quite unexpectedly, the Comm's officer reported, "Sir, we're recieving a transmission from one of the shuttles."

Hidama blinked, then blinked again. "Let's hear it!"

"Yes, sir" He entered a few commands and the transmission began to play through a speaker in his chair.

quote:

"Remember me Cmdr. Hasaki? My orders have just been changed. If you are still in this region when I'm finished with my current orders, I will come after you."

Hidama just stared at the speaker as it began to replay the message

that voice sounds....familiar, who is that...

"Well, hopefully we'll be out of here before I find out..." Hidama suddenly remembered what had struck him as strange in the first place as he punched a few buttons on the armrest and a stream of static and distorted signals broke the silence. "Kasugi...I was under the impression that communications were non-functional"

The faint reply was quite difficult to understand, "Si*, I w#s ju#% w!r^@ng on th#$ sys%@m," A repetative, metallic, banging sound drowned her out, when her voice returned, it was much clearer, "That's better, finally got it back up sir, we have internal and external communications back up...but I had to tear apart several other systems to do it...and one of the interceptors, we weren't able to use them anyway."

Things are starting to look up

"Great job Kasugi!" Hidama turned to the comm's officer, "now you have something to do again! get any friendly ships on the horn and let them know we need assistance ASAP, a tow ship wouldn't hurt either but let them know there are hostiles in the area...tell em to bring a few Skyflash nukes for that facility as well. I also want that probe to begin moving away from those fighters, give em something to chase and buy us some time."

[/rp]

ok, any and all galcom ships should know about this now, I'll join the 'Jupiter Conflict' after I dock with Centauri starstation, also, I'm using the maps in the manual, if that station name is wrong, please let me know.

------------------

Cmdr. Hidama Hasaki

GCV Kurai

1st Squadron, SIN Wing

Stationed, Starstation Wrath

you might as well stay and fight, because if you run, you will only die tired

ICQ 28215391, GMT-5

=Wraith Fleet=

[This message has been edited by Cmdr Hidama (edited 08-05-2000).]

Wold · August 6, 2000

Jupiter space

[rp]

Lazing in the command chair chewing on flat, hard biscuit that would resemble pilot bread and spam mixed, thinking "Man this food tasts good! Nothing like battle to make ship-board nutripacs tast better. Oh, crap!" starteling myself and biting the inside of my cheek hard enough to make my eyes water. My logistix officer, Lt. Mark chuckles and responds, "What, forget your aniversery?"

"No, not quite that bad, but very close. I forgot to update Cmdr. Akira. Ngyuen, get me a comm link to ICV-Nevermore."

"Yes Sir, just a sec." A couple of seconds later, "Link established."

****************************

Cmdr. Akira, Cmdr. Wold here. Previous orders received and acknowledged. ICV-Drakr is in Jupiter space and two shuttles and all ICs were dispatched to Varan. Be advised, TacOps spotted the GCV-Deterance in Pluto heading to Jupiter just before we jumped. Cmdr. Wold clear.

****************************

Finishing the message I go back to my previous task of gingerly eating the brown, nutricious hockey-puck.[/rp]

I'm aware that the real GCV-Deterence is in Sirius. In case someone missed it, Cmdr. Hamblin covered my previous oops by 'borrowing' the GCV-Deterence tag to scare the mad bunny.

------------------

Cmdr. Wold

Spectre Fleet

Spectre Starstation

ICV-Drakr

"Do or do not, there is no try!"

ICQ 4669033

GREG MILLER · August 6, 2000

I will be leaving town today, and won't be back until next Sunday, and will be without net access for the duration. Blades, either cover for me if you can, or write me out, or if you guys and gal can wait until I get back, that would be better. I will catch up when I return.

Akuma Minako · August 6, 2000

Well when you get back next Sunday Foss and I will be off "Camping" damn...Well I'll make one post here and we'll see where we go.

[rp]

Akuma Minako perches at the edge of her bed holding a tiny music box in her hand. The song plays a past era song from a disney movie called Anastasia.

Tears marr her face as she humms softly then begins singing.

"Heart don't fail me now,

Courage don't desert me,

Don't turn back now that we're here.

People always say life is full of choices,

No one ever mentions fear.

Or how the world can seem so vast,

On a journey to the past."

She closes her eyes and reaches out blindly to her left pulling down a faded picture. A little boy around the age of five with brilliantly bright eyes and a smile that could soften the hardest of hearts.

"Somewhere down this road,

I know someones waiting,

Years of dreams just can't be wrong,

Arms will open and I'll be safe and wanted,

Finally home where I belong!

Well starting now I'm learning fast,

On this journey to the past!"

Her voice softens as she traces the picture tears splash on the glass. She then reaches out again to clasp a note. A note written by Rattler when he had saved her life.

She closes her eyes torn between two places.

"Home, love, family, there was once a time I must have had them too,

Home, love, family, I can never be complete until I find you!

One step at a time,

On hope than another,

Who knows where this road may go!

Back to who I was,

On to find my future,

Things my heart still needs to know!"

She stands up doing up the clasp of her uniform and placing the music box back on the shelf and placing the picture beside it. The music box still plays as she walks towards the comms unit.

"Yes! Let this be a sign!

Let this road be mine!

Let it lead me to my past!

And bring me home! At Last!"

She hooks up a private line and sends it on scrambled towards Blades. "I've been a fool." She says simply.

While waiting for her line to be secured on the other end she messages Kirin. "Kirin, warn commander Akira that we are opening fire and for them to drop the tractor beam! I want all weapons open in ten! Make sure you secure a line and scramble it!"

"Sunny side up or down Akuma?" Came the reply. "Glad to hear you're feeling better."

"Nothing like a little music to sooth the soul...And clarify the mind." She closes her eyes. "Just don't hit anything vital on the ship."

"Aye aye ma'am."

[/rp]

Wuuhuu!

------------------

AKUMA MINAKO

ORION FLEET

GCV- TENCHI

DETERRENCE BATTLE GROUP

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

"War is the plague of Mankind, created by Mankind."

Blades · August 6, 2000

We dont wanna lose momentum, so I shall post for Greg in his abscence. By the time he's back, the Akuma Minako trouble should probably be resolved, but who's to say thats the end of the story? Got a feeling this could go the distance.

So anyhow, I shall post on behalf of Greg shortly. If anyone on the wrong side of decency (By that, I mean Insurgent) wants to post, do so now and set me up. I would rather react to a situation that create one.

Akira · August 6, 2000

"Sir, Cmdr. Akuma is opening fire and requestst that the tractor field be disengaged."

"Gunny, have you completed planting the charges on the hull," Akira spoke to the air in front of him. A few of the bridge crew passed confused looks to each other.

"Roger. I'm ten seconds from the hatch now." The marine Gunnery Sgt.'s voice was tinged with the metalic harmonics produced by his EVA gear. "Charges will be hot five seconds following."

"Very, good. Combat," Akira switched focus, "prep your team to repell intruders. Injure and disarm if possible. I want captives but don't sacrifice your people. If capture is not clearly attainable, you are to execute with extreme prejudice."

"Aye, sir. Teams are equipped and ten seconds from posts."

"Tactical, ready sheilds. On my mark there will be a slight nudge, I want the tractor beam brought down sporadicly. Make them think we were damaged by Akuma's fire. Bring sheilds to 30%; full spread on the pta at 25%. A second set of charges will go off. I want the Nevermore to slowly spin on the x axis (left to rigt for you non aircraft types) and make her look like she's listing left. I want the nose around and pointing at Miller.

"Once his ship is in range bring everything to full. Launch all missiles but save the Vagrants. Keep a steady flow of mines out the tubes. I want a lethal debris field between us and anything GALCOM throws our way.

"Above all, keep your focus. If any of you perform a whim below your best, we'll be limping home if we get there at all."

"Scared Orion's going to catch you, Akira?" Rattler whispered.

"No. But I want them to think they can. Either way, you're safe. Strike Group Raven is ever present."

"Hmm... Always a card up the sleeve, old friend."

"Yes, Five to be exact. They're hiding just outside the Orion ship sensors."

"What about probes?" Insurgent One was prodding but not at all concerned.

"Jam them," Akira replied.

"New modifications to the Nevermore?"

"Always. Gallion's RE has worked very well with the other's. She's brought a brashness they need to think outside the box."

"Well, we'll soon see if the Nevermore's enhancements live up to their owner's audacity."

"The field is the best place to test. Numbers tend to lose something once human hands enter the fray. Crew," Akira bellowed, "on my mark. Three, two, one..."

"Let the games begin," Rattler spoke to the ship's commander.

------------------

Flt. Cmdr. Akira

Commanding Officer

Spectre Fleet

ICV-Nevermore

Official Tester

Battlecruiser Series

[This message has been edited by Akira (edited 08-06-2000).]

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