The Fox

[street228]

RP

Captain Jaonna, one of Galcom's best black ops officers, was sitting in the

back seat, of a shuttle bound for the Eluri, Procon sector. There had been

reports of a TER/MIL black op's operative running "AMOK" in that region. Disobeying

direct orders, openly defying the fleet, and doing covert hit and runs. Apparently, he

shows no regard, for race, class or affiliation, what-so-ever. Calling himself "THE FOX".

The commander of the Paladian Space Station claimed, on Universal broadcast, that he had

no jurisdiction over any black ops personnel. He made public statements saying his hands were tied,

in a beurocratic magmire, and refuses to do anything about this apparent renegade. It was this

reason, Joanna had been given this assignment. It was merely to appease an outcry, from some

of the various individuals, with clout.

Jaonna, knew everything there was to know, about this operative. After all, she had

trained him. She had always admired him, for his radical "fly by the pants" tactics, which always

seemed to be one step ahead. He had an uncanny ability with almost any ship, but the

heavy cruiser's were his forte.

The "Fox", was commander Street. He called his ship, "Coyotes". He had been on assignment

on Procon. The assignment was buried so deep, in secrecy, only Jaonna, and one other high ranking

Galcom official, actually knew it's purpose. All contact with commander Street, had been severed

from the beginning. That was over 6 months ago.

Not one report!! This peeved Jaonna. She had been against it from the start. She had wanted to

send in a operative, to monitor the mission's progress, but had been stonewalled. She had been given, no

say, in the matter. Now she had to go in and figure out what was going on.

She couldn't let street know she was there. She had already sent

two of her most trusted operatives into the region. No one

could figure out why street had suddenly surfaced in such a radical mannor.

"What in the SC's name, was he doing?", she thought, "Coming out in such high profile, antagonizing and

challenging the fleet, of all things!. And not just the fleet, but ALL the fleets! Has he gone crazy?.

It wouldn't be the first time, one of Galcom's operatives had gone over the edge, But this thing

street was doing, was so far out of character, there has to be something else going on."

She was determined to find out what, before someone actually killed him.

After all, Street was the only one, who seemed to know the truth. Rumors were running wild.

Seems, a couple raider ships tried attacking him, a few days ago.

One of them was wasted, by the Paladian station. The station's commander denied protecting the "Fox",

and claimed his gunners were simply doing their job. The other, a carrier, "fox" had somehow forced

down into the water, on the dark side of procon.

Jaonna, suddenly realized, she was smiling. It did please her, to hear of Street's successful

application of a very dangerous tactic. The most dangerous tactic taught in black ops. Very few operatives,

had been able to actually perform it, and survive.

There was a witness. A Captain Stone. Stone was not saying alot, but apparently, stone tried to

tractor Street's ship, when seeing both street and the raider spiraling toward the ground. All Stone would

say, " was that he almost lost his shuttle, in the attempt, and had to disengage the tractor. Last he saw of

street, was seeing his ship going down. Captain Stone denies, any connection with street. He says, he was

just trying to save a friendly from death, and that was all there was to it.

Next couple days, reports were coming in, of some Insurgent fighter in a bar, claiming, he had tried to catch the "Fox",

but was unsuccessful. Other reports, from Paladian, say there was an insurgent fleet Solnar, seen chasing

street toward Procon. No one knows what happen with the Solnar, but street has been seen drifting on the edge of the

Eluri sector, broadcasting his contempt for all the fleets, and challenging them to do anything about his

actions. At some points, he threatens them...laughing hysterically.

It would be no big deal, to the fleets themselves, as they have more important fish to worry about. But, street

has hacked into the communications, is and incessantly broadcasting to every satellite repeater across multiple

regions. Galcom would love to put an end to this embarrassment, as would some others.

"Fasten your seat belts please, Last jump to Paladian" came over the shuttles intercom, shaking Jaonna from her

thoughts.

"Well, here we are", She thinks, with a huge sigh, "We shall soon see"

to be continued............

[ 09-16-2004, 01:19 PM: Message edited by: street ]

[street228]

(continued)

news update: "GALCOM SECURITY FORCES NARROWLY MISS FOX",read the

headlines.

At approximately 18:40 today, the Paladian Star Station was surrounded

by cloaked ships, as GSF staged an unexpected attack on the fox.

"The attack was successful," said an unidentified GSF officer, "In

that we have the fox's ship; however, when boarded, he was not on

board".

Jaonna, skimmed through the rest of the article, knowing there was

no information, she did not already know. She wanted to see if there

was any mention of commander Sair, of Paladian Station. Seemed, the

harder she tried to arrange a meeting, the more remote it was becoming.

GFS had him under guard, somewhere.

The attack on Fox, was without warning, and the whole station had

gone on "LOCK DOWN". Jaonna, knew better than try to push any weight

around GSF, in the field. Some real big shot, staged this one.

Sitting in the mess hall, looking over the paper, Jaonna comfortably

listened. The little listening device was an ancient, passive,

amplifier, implanted inside her ear everything. the frequency control

-ed modulation filters, eliminated all the background noise from the

environment.

"That fox, never was in that ship, I tell you!", one of the GSF

personnel mumbled to the man across the table.

"Don't be ridiculous. He had to have been. That ship didn't pilot

itself, that close to a star station!"

The two men were sitting across the room, trying to be discreet.

"You tell me, how he got out without anyone seeing anything. Not even

a transporter beam", the first man retorted.

Jaonna, was smiling inside. She had feared the worst. it had been highly

possible, street had been caught, and was already under .interrogation

Lying to the media was common practice, for GSF.

That night, the klaxon's sounded. Upon cracking the door, Jaonna could

hear guards mumbling about a FIRESTORM, with Fox's transponder signature,

drifting a couple thousand kilometers from the station. It's S.O.S was being

transmitted.

Jaonna, decided to get dressed and go for a stroll. Making her way towards the

command center, she was quickly putting together pieces of fact and rumor

being discussed among those aboard the station.

GFS, was not planning on approaching that ship, that was sure. Where fox

had obtained a replacement ship, was anyone's guess, and Jaonna knew,

there was little chance of anyone finding out.

Turning a corner in one of the corridors, Jaonna ran headlong into commander

Sair, accompanied with his personal body guards. He grabbed her by the elbow,

and barked, "Come with me,. We were just coming to talk with you"

Commander Sair had practically pushed Jaonna along. It was evident, they were

heading toward command. Pushing through the security doors of the command

center, they kept moving, until they reached an office. Stepping inside, She

noted a man standing , looking out the window.

"Margaret", Sair blurted to the woman sitting before a console, "Secure this office.

Priority One Omega. No one gets in; Not GSF..Not anyone!" Sair's voice, sounded

like he ordering a new recruit to do 100 push ups.

Margaret, quickly pushed something on the console. There was a slight hum, as the security

field generators released their initial storage charge, and the security shield engaged.

"Commander Jaonna, meet Commander Cartman," Sairs stood rigid "Commander Cartman,

was the strike leader, against the GVC Coyotes,. earlier. Not that ship out there pretending

to be crippled"

"Why tell me?", Jaonna was being cautious, showing no expression.

"Because I know who you are. I know your connected with this Fox, and I want your help.", Sair

was showing frustration. as he wanted desperately to do something, but could not..

(earlier)

Street was sitting at the com, almost mesmerized with the view. He had always enjoyed the

last stage of approach. The beauty of such a large, man made object, in space. The twinkle

of lights , seem to give it life itself.

Suddenly, deaf defying explosions started going off. The shields gave way, almost immediately.

a whole volley of missiles had hit; one right after another.

"Shields Failed" , rang out the computer, " Warning...Warning...Damage" The ship rocked

violently. There was an audible whine, as the reactor went off line.

Street sat calmly in his seat. He knew what he was going to do. This was an inevitable scenario.

Plans had been carefully put in place. Now was the time.

"Hull is damaged", the computer monolog continued, "Warning, Damage"

Street reached out and pushed the button....

(to be cont.....)

[street228]

Kahn, a Ter/Raider, had acquired a new solnar class ship. He was

more than a little perturbed. He had lost two ships, of late. and

both had been, while attempting to gain brownie points with his

Commanding officer. Both attempts had failed. Kahn realized what

had gone wrong, but that didn't help. Now it was a matter of honor.

He had scrambled, to get back to the Eluri sector. He knew fox,

was still there, and he wanted to finish that Fox off!!

upon completing the jump, into the sector, he quickly noticed,

FOX with an S.O.S. His shields, and engines were down, and he was

drifting. Kahn,who was normally quite attentive, did not

notice, just how fast fox was drifting. He made the jump.

Coming out of hyper, he flew right past fox's crippled ship.

Suddenly there a barrage of pta fire, damaging his ship.

"Damn, what the hell...?" thought Kahn, before realizing, it had

been a ploy. " Grrr"

Damage was, mostly, just the armor, with minor damage to various

systems. Knowing, he was vulnerable, Khan quickly jumped to Procon's

dark side. cruising along, in a defensive mode, to get repairs

under way.

"Sir, the Fox just jumped, he is headed this way", one of his

officers reported.

"wait until he enters the atmosphere, and go space bound", he

said.It wasn't the best of strategy, but for the moment, he didn't

feel he could take on Fox effectively. "Get this bucket repaired,

on the double, gentleman" he ordered his engineers.

When street had seen Kahn's return, he was impressed. This Kahn,

was quite aggressive. whether from grudge, or just following

orders, his persistence was admirable.

Street sat calmly, playing crip, as Kahn,s ship passed within

a few kilometers. The Pta's aboard Fox's cruiser lashed out.

Not enough to really hurt kahn, but giving him a good stinging.

Street watched to see what this raider was going to do next,

and was not surprised to see him jump to Procon. When Kahn

entered orbit, is when the decision was made.

" Turn off that S.O.S. and go after that raider", street

ordered his navigation's officer.

"Planet Fall Established" Where was Kahn? Street looked around

and realized, he had missed his mark. "If you can't fly this damn

ship, Let someone who can take over!" He was pissed. "all right,

take us back into orbit. we will never catch him from this distance."

As the Coyotes, reached orbit, the Klaxon sounded. There was Kahn,

less than 30 Kilometers away. Street could see he was turning, but not

as fast as he should have been. At first, he wasn't sure Kahn had

even noticed, but then the pta's started singing.

Jaonna and Commander Sair, stood glued to the screen. This was the

same type of thing, he was getting use to witnessing. "Fox is a fitting

name", he mumbled.

Jaonna said nothing. She watched the whole scene, as a trainer would

watch a cadet. Judging every maneuver. Feeling pride, when done correctly.

But coming with this particular event, there was anticipation, and

a sense of dread. "Just how good is this Raider?", she thought, "And

why is he here now, and why the fox? There were several unescorted

transports in the vicinity," She wasn't sure what it was that made

this whole situation, a bit out of place. Something just didn't quite

add up.

They watched as the coyotes unloaded a volley of missiles at the raider.

Kahn's PTA were firing, but could only beat fox's shields down in increments.

The coyotes was swinging around, putting his main guns down the middle

of the Raider ship. This went on for several minutes. It seemed like

time held still. Then all those missiles, made contact...one right after

the other. They could see, Kahn had lost his shields, and was sustaining

damage. Suddenly, when no one would have guessed it possible, that raider

had managed to jump toward procon. Even before the coyotes could respond.

Kahn had made planet fall.

Street, grimaced, as he watched the damaged raider ship diving toward

Procon. He never thought, Kahn would actually enter the planet's atmosphere

without shields. But there he went. right into the atmosphere.

The awaiting explosion came just minutes later.

" I wonder if he made it, this time.", street mumbled aloud.

"Pardon, sir?", asked the first officer.

"Never mind, go to strategy B2. Let me know when your ready", Street ordered.

He had something else, on his mind. He was thinking of Jaonna. wishing, she

could see how good her training had paid off.

(to be cont.)

[street228]

continued.....

Two days had gone by. No one had seen or heard from fox. Jaonna,

was slightly amused, at catching herself thinking of Commander Street,

as the "Fox". She knew, when fox decided to "Run Deep", no one could find him.

Commander Sair, worried Jaonna. He knew too much, and had some high up contacts.

The isolated stand against GFS, was as dangerous a position, as any could take. The GFS

was known for it's back handed approach, dealing with uncooperatives, in the field.

This Commander Cartman, was another problem too. He was, at present, loyal to

Sair, but Jaonna could sense, he was one who could turn. He would be one,

she, and Fox, would have to keep an eye on.

So far, Commander Street, had not actually attacked a friendly. All his antics,

over the communications channels, had served to inflame every fleet, but it was

the smallest fleet, who would be the first to challenge Fox in battle.

The morning of day three, the Dam broke. Jaonna awoke early, and decided to

get a bite to eat. Upon entering the galley, she could feel the excitement.

The buzzing conversations, were made up of wild speculation. Fox had been seen

flying out past the IFA2 worm hole.There was word, that the DEVIL's Hand Raiders

were trying to entice Fox to enter their region of space, but fox was challenging

them to come to procon. One intercepted transmission from the legendary DEATH STRIKE,

the most feared of all raiders, Leader of the Devil's Hand. It had been scrambled,

but Paladian cryptic division, had decoded enough of it. It was clear. The Devil's

Hand, was taking street up on his offer.

Commander street, had been sitting in Tacops. He had been at it for hours. Sair, had

relayed the content of the transmission intercepted from the DEATH STRIKE. Street was

a little apprehensive. Though, he was sure of his skill, there was always a chance

of a miscalculation. That one small error...making the difference between life and

death.

"Commander", the comms officer interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes? What is it?"

"There is a commander Ethan Stone, of an EarthCom Firestorm, wanting to chat

with you sir."

"Put him on my private channel", Street remembered Stone. Stone had saved him,

when things had gotten hairy, but EarthCom? "So, now stone was with EarthCom", he thought, then smiled.

"What's up Commander? What can the FOX do for you?" street asked.

"Thought you could use a little help. The Devil's Hand, is headed this way...you

have any plans?" Stone was all business and direct to the point.

"Just staying alive...is the only thing i have planned" street responded. Even

though, Stone had proved to be an unexpected ally, street wasn't about to reveal

any real detail, as to what he was up to.

"No time to chat. I'm going to greet them at the gate...good luck commander" the

transmission ended abruptly.

Suddenly, the klaxon sounded. One of the Raider ships, had come through the gate.

Street started barking orders, through the ships general communications channel,

as he raced for the bridge.

On the bridge, Commander Street's well trained crew, were busy scanning and making

calculations.

"Launch the shuttle....Target that Solnar," It was Kahn, He had been the first

through the gate. Commander Stone's Firestorm had just come out of hyper, and was

closing on Kahn's ship.

"Shuttle Launched".."Hyper Jump Initiated" the computer announced. Then, the klaxon

rang out a second, then a third time, as two more ships came out. They were all

three within range of Stone's ship. Street could not help but wonder, what was

driving this Commander Stone, but was not about to complain. He smiled, at the

thought of the surprised look, that would be on the faces of those Raiders.

"To late, to change strategy", Fox thought aloud, "Ok. put everything we got, up

the Maru's back side"

Just as the Coyotes came out of hyper, and started to swing around on the Maru, to

unload a volley of missiles, the DeathSrike's PTA started hammering the coyotes' shields.

"Hold it steady. Stay on the Maru."

"Yes Sir" the nav officers voice was steady, but street could see the worried look, on

her face. The steady "BOOM...BOOM" hammering the shields, had street sweating. He could

not let the crew sense his unease.

"Where's that third ship?" street demanded. His voice, barely audible above the

pounding his ship was taking.

The shuttle had jumped to Paladian station, first. This was to give the Coyotes time

to distract the Devil's Hand Commander. The plan was to get within a few hundred yards

of the DeathStrike. The legendary leader of the Devil's Hand....Commander Shingen, himself.

Carl, knew his mission was dangerous, but would complete it for his Commander, or die

in the attempt.

The shuttle came out of hyper, the second time, right in the midst of the battle. There

she was. The DeathStrike. PTA blast were cutting through space, like swords of fire.

Missiles were exploding all around the maru. Carl got a glimpse of the Maru. He noted

plasma streaming from here main engines. The EarthCom ship was relentlessly punching

holes through her hull. her shields had already failed.

" This little trick, should make that Gammy scratch his bald little head", carl whispered,

as he pushed the download command. The virus, was well on its way into the DeathStrike's

weapons computer.

The third ship was a Ter/Rai. A Commander of the Silver-Lining. A Commander Jason. It was

no surprise, there was a Ter/Rai helping out the Devil's Hand, but the name of the ship, was

uncanny. Street thought it looked familiar, but could not place it. He kept feeling like

it was connected to Prime Fleet. Was this the same Silver Lining, attached to Prime fleet?

"Warning Shields are down" the computer sang out, "Warning... Damage" The Coyotes, had

left the Maru, for Stone to finish off.Fox had full guns blazing as he headed

for the DeathStrike." Warning Damage".

"Hard to port!!...Hard..." There was an explosion, as medbay was decimated. " to port!!! damn it!!"

street screamed, to be heard through the noise. That Jason, had come across

the starboard side of Fox's little starcruiser, and took advantage, of a distracted gunner.

Relief came in increments...along with the shield charge, building back up.

"What the f...", Came shengin's voice over the comm channel" My guns aren't working..

I'm pulling out." Street smiled. Carl had succeeded. He noticed,

the missiles were finding their mark, as the legendary DeathSrike jumped. He wasn't sure,

but Street thought he saw minor explosions, and plasma leaking, as she disappeared.

" OK, Lets teach that Commander Jason, a lesson about attacking the Fox" The Coyotes, along

with one very unexpected EarthCom ally, jumped on the Silver-Lining. The Maru, was

exploding, in its last stage of life. The legendary Death Strike. and Leader of the Devil's

hand had been forced into retreat. Street was wondering what was going through

this Commander Jason's mind, when he realized, he was all alone. It took less than 10 minutes,

for the EarthCom ship, and the Coyotes, to finish off the Silver Lining. He had gone out,

in a bright orange ball of fire, in the end.

to be cont....