Blades

Hmm. I've been way too slack recently. 19 hours to get to end game. Hmm. Looks like I got some work to do. I'll let you know when I beat it.

Once again, The Basement will be broadcasting live tonight from 10pm - 1am (GMT) which converts to, ah, 5pm - 8pm EST. This weeks show theme is DISCO INFERNO so I suggest you drag on your white flares, wax back the hair and climb into those big assed shoes. Expect more of the same topical, amusing and downright offensive chat from myself, The Rook and Emmster. See the website for connection details, and I dont wanna hear any whinging about Instant Messanger. Tis what we use for the time being. www.thebasement365.fsnet.co.uk

Heres the deal, Akuma. I save your ass in RP, and you draft up a dashing, square jawed, Charlie Sheen look alike Orion Fleet Commander for all the hot academy graduates to swoon over. Sounds fair to me. Nice work.

[RP] The GCV Tsunami, under the command of Fleet Commander Savage breached the exit mouth of the in system jump gate and ploughed into the Jupitor region. Seconds later, standing beside his tactical officers station, he took stock of the grim situation. "Oh hell," started Savage, looking left to right accross the tactical stations visual display. "looks like we in poorer shape that I thought." From where he stood, he ascertained that the Orion fleet, at least, those Orion fleet commanders who were present in the Jupitor region, were in trouble. The GCV Galetea, under the command of his friend James Hamblin was dead in space, and surrounded by wave after wave of Insurgent shuttlecraft. The GCV Sark, commanded by his executive officer also present, looked as if it had sustained substantial surface damage, but was inactive. It's obvious theres been a firefight here, but why didnt Greg retaliate? The answer came to him instantly. Obvious, really. Talk about being outgunned, thought Savage. Theres gotta be at least four cloaked Insurgents out there. He must have been sitting back, buying time for my arrival. Swell. "Comms, raise the Sark for me." "Aye sir." said the communications officer. Savage went back to examining the tacops readout. The Tenchi, commander Akuma's ship was in trouble. Being tractored by Insurgent shuttles, to an unknown destination, it was rapidly being dragged out of the engagement area, and not resisting. According to his scans of the Tenchi, her shields were active, weapons were hot .... but no fire. She's turned, thought Savage. We've lost her to the enemy. Anger boiled up in Fleet Commander Savages face. He wore a grim, pained expression on his face and the emotion of the betrayal was clearly evident for all those on the bridge to see. He clenched his fists into balls, and thumped down three times hard on the tacops display. Daniels at the helm turned in his chair and looked startled at his commanders outburst. Savage flashed him a look that would bring a cadet to tears, and the helmsman rapidly turned back to his console. "Sir?" said the comms officer. "I've got Miller on channel." Savage looked up at the viewscreen, his face just as angry and contorted as it was before. "Helm, put us on an intercept course with the Tenchi, maximum thrust. Comms, patch Miller through." Miller's tired looking face appeared on screen. "It's good to see you, sir." he said. "Wish you could have got here sooner, though. So much for a little recovery operation." Savage nodded at his Xo. "Status?" he said. Miler began to recite the most important information regarding the current engagement. "Sir, we are dealing with a minimum of seven Insurgent contacts. The ICV Nevermore, under the command of Akira has been battering the Tenchi senseless. However, we also has confirmation that Rattler is here too sir." Rattler, here? "Flyin with an escort wing of at least four cruisers. We can also confirm at least one other Insurgent in the area, although we dont know what ship it is." "So we got at least seven Insurgent hostiles, one renegade officer and one dead Galcom cruiser. At least." Miller nodded on screen. "At least sir. And sir, the Nevermore fired on us without provocation, going against Rattlers orders." This surprised Savage. It wasnt like Rattlers no.1 to go against his friend and comrade. "I think he's makin it personal, sir. He came at me with everything he had. We barley got out of it with our skins intact. Hamblin didnt." Savage looked back down at the tacops display. It was evident that Rattlers shuttles were attempting to take control of what was left of the Galetea, while more were pulling the Tenchi out of the immediate area. "It's not good, sir." said Miller. "But regardless, we're ready to engage on your command." Savage sighed. "We're on a direct intercept with the Tenchi, Greg. Theres no way in hell I'm letting her defect with them." Miller frowned. "Sir, im not 100% sure thats what she's doing. The Tenchi and the Nevermore were pounding eachother quite hard until the shuttles got into place and began towing her away." "Then why is he just allowing it to happen now? No, she's turned, and if we cant drive off the aggressors and take custody of her ourselves, I'll burn that ship to ashes." Miller looked shocked. "Sir, what about the crew? They cant all be willing to defect with her." Savage shook his head. "We get one shot at this Greg, and if we dont get control over this situation, we take them out. One and all." Miller stepped closer to the viewscreen, almost as if he wanted to speak privately with his commanding officer. "Sir, arent you taking this a little too personally? Punish Akuma for her crime, but the ship? The crew? Theres over a hundred people on that ship." Savages anger got the better of him. "Dammit Greg, havent you been paying attention? We are in a state of war. We got the Gams pushing us back to the home systems, raiders taking advantage of the lack of escort pillaging our relief transports, and now Insurgents stealing our own so when the dust settles with the gams, they can hit us hard and bury Galcom. I will NOT allow one of my officers to be taken by those *******s. Not now, not ever." Miller swallowed. He'd never seen Savage quite as wound up as he was now. "Sir, if we go after that ship, we're as good as dead. Rattler gave explicit orders to his people that anyone interfering with the Tenchi, Galcom OR Insurgent will be taken out. Sir, he's got the firepower to do it, and he's probably already ordered his ships to intercept you." Savage nodded. "They wont find me quite as easy to kill as Hamblin, and Rattler knows this." "Sir, with all due respect, theres no way you can repel that sort of firepower. You may get the Tenchi, but they will get you for sure." "Maybe." said Savage. "But we not licked yet. I have a trick or two still up my sleeve." As if on que, a tight band coded communication found it's way to the Tsunami and alerted the fleet commander to a very important update. "Miller, Foss is on station under cloak. I'm relaying escort instructions to him. He's gonna earn his pay this day and cover my ass, just like the Deterrence battle Group should do. For your part, I want you go engage the Nevermore. She still outguns you, but you should be able to do enough damage to force Rattler to call off some of his escort dogs from going after me. It evens up the odds a bit, and gives me some room to maneuver to end this." Miller sighed, not entirely happy with his instructions. "I will obey, of course sir, but Im not happy with this." "Neither am I Greg, but it has to be done. Good luck, and dont get dead. Savage out." With that, the link was terminated. Now I've commited myself, thought Savage. Hell, maybe I should be commited. Is greg right? Am I taking this personally? It didnt matter now. The Tsunami was three minutes from intercepting the Tenchi. In all liklihood, Rattlers hidden escort wing was bearing down on him under cloak, attempting desperately to gain some ground before *attempting* to burn him up. Regardless of the outcome, the Tenchi would either be recovered within the next five minutes, or destroyed utterly. In all liklihood, the Tsunami would burn up with her. But not without one helluva fight. "Are we venting as planned?" asked Savage. "Yes sir." said the tacops officer. "Dispersion is as expected. Not currently detecting anything in the wake. So far, we clear." "Keep the rear turret hot. The second I give the order, I want the sky lit up." The tactical officer nodded. "Yes sir." Savage stepped back to his command chair and sat. He looked hard at the viewscreen, and wondered how the next few minutes would go. "Time to intercept with the Tenchi?" he asked. "Two minutes, eighteen seconds." reported the navigator. Two minutes eighteen seconds, thought Savage. Perhaps time enough for one final miricle ..... [/RP] Ok, I've put a few things in motion here that is setting up for the finale. Those of you in the know, well, you know where this is gonna lead. The pieces need to be set in place, but there isnt anything commital happening right now. Set it up, but try not to instigate anything too serious right now. Things look messy, but theres still one big surprise yet to come. ------------------ 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' [This message has been edited by Blades (edited 08-15-2000).]

Sorry gang, I've been distracted for the last few days thanks to work, The Basement, private development work, excessive womanising and the odd hour or two of sleep. However, I now have half a day with absolutely NOTHING to do, so expect a major update shortly. Ron, Rattler, remember those things we discussed? I'm gonna start putting events into motion. Akuma, we really need to talk about where this is going.

Phew .... that was an interesting show. Next time, I expect more of you guys to attend. I got two from here, which is a start. What can I say? Yuo missed me rippin on Hamblin.

Ease up James. It's [RP], remember? Anyway, we commited to a certain path now, and it can go one of two ways. If I manage to talk to Akuma AND pull one outta my ass, I think we're all gonna go home happy with the outcome.

[RP - Posted on behalf of commander Greg Miller] "Incoming!" shouted the Tactical officer, mid way through the Sarks 360 thrust turn. "We have multiple inbounds! Aspect seeking missiles, launched from the Nevermore!" So much for the ceasefire, thought Miller. "Helm! Reverse thrust! maximum burn!" "Aye sir!" shouted the Sarks helmsman, roaring over the incredible sound generated by the reverse burn. The sudden acceleration shook the bridge occupants, sending them forwards and bracing against their consoles. "Helm, maximum burn on the maneuver jets! Z-4000 meters!" "Aye!" screached the helmsman, desperately carrying out his orders. "Lead impact in T-17 seconds ..." shouted the TacTical officer. "We have new contacts! Sixteen, read sixteen class 1 shuttles!" More shuttles? Oh hell, that means theres at least another four cruisers out there. "EOD!" screamed Miller to his Tactical officer. "Jam those *******s! PTA, full spread, I dont want to them getting through!" "... 13 seconds ..." "Sir!" It was the Sarks helmsman again. "Reverse velocity at maximum! We are at Z-200 meters!" "...11 seconds till lead impact..." Miller went to his tactical officers station and looked down at his console. EOD was functional, but the jamming wasnt complete. Several of the missiles were still painting him, squaring up on the Sarks midsection. Enough would get through to cause him a major problem. This is wrong, thought Miller. So, very very wrong. Three positive Insurgent targets, four more hiding under cloak, a possible turncoat, one dead GalCom cruiser and me, seconds away from becoming every Insurgents wet dream, holding my ass and waiting for the fireworks. Miller was almost despondant. "...7 seconds to impact..." Not like this. Not on my watch. "Helm! High energy turn! 180 degrees on x, spin us on the y and z!" The helmsman didnt waste the valuable split second to reply to his CO. Instead, he punched the orders into his console hard, and was thrown from his seat as the Sark grudgingly followed orders. From space, the Sark executed a violent 180 turn, while the maneuver jets sent the giant starship into a graceless spin. Shards of armour plating broke free from the midship, exposing the outer layer of the hull and causing minor breaches throughout deck three. Microfractures were reported all over the ship, and crewmen were strewn about, hurtled from their feet or chairs as the Sark desperately attempted to avoid Akira's brutal onslaught. Then, the first of the missiles impacted. The shields took the brunt of the first few missiles to hit home, and those fragments that got through exploded off target, doing considerable damage to armour but not further weakening the ships strained superstructure. The missiles that follow the first volley were mostly jammed, hurtling harmlessly into open space or taken down by massed PTA fire. "Status!" shouted Miller on the bridge. Seconds passed, then reports came in. "Sir, shields are at 32%, armour integrity is down to 88%. Engineering reports microfractures all over the hull, and our maneuver jets are suffering from the strain. Looks like we're gonna be sluggish for a bit. "Get the Sark under control" barked Miller. "And keep that EOD up. I dont want to give that ******* another chance to finish us." "Aye sir." replied both the helmsman and Tactical officer. "Comms, relay a message to Rattler. Ask him what the hell sort of commander he is, allowing one of his subordinates to take matters into his own hands. Tell him .." Miller pondered for a few moments before continuing. ".. tell him Savage will be very, very dissapointed." The comms chief nodded, and began to transmit the text only message. Miller slumped back into his command chair and looked into the viewscreen. For now, things were almost quiet. The Nevermore remained at its position, and continued to batter the Tenchi with its turrets. The Tenchi, likewise continued this dance of death with Akiras ship. He wants her, thought Miller. Or he wants me to think he wants her. Whatever the case, the battle raged on. Both active battling ships were beating hell out of eachother, and despite wanting nothing more than to lead assistance to his surposed GalCOm comrade, doing so would almost certainly result in the destruction of his ship. Wheres my damned backup? wondered Miller. If I engage, It's at least 7 to one. If I dont engage, they get Akuma, her ship and crew. I need to do somthing. I have to make a descision. Time was rapidly running out. [RP] Well, the odds are not in favor of the Orion Fleet just now. Miller is on his own, surrounded by way more bunnies than is good for him. As far as he's concerned, Rattler has lost control over his No.1 and is not best pleased. For RP purposes, this could explain why the two commanders have such a hatred for eachother (As explored in other threads) so all well n good there. Akuma, you need to post, and post quickly. The Tsunami is still a good ten minutes away from this little engagement, and dont think for a second you insurgent types are going to get away without a blodied nose. You may win the day, but it will be at a hefty price.

Oh boy. Now you gone n done it. [RP - Posting on behalf of Commander Greg Miller] The chaos that unraveled itself in the ever decreasing Jupitor space threw commander Millers over worked brain into a near spasm. From nowhere, the GCV-Deterrence had punched through the jump gate and right into a swarm of recently deployed mines. What surprised Miller more than anything was the devestating effect the mines had on commanders Foss fully upgraded Battlecruiser. Then it hit home, two facts coming together at once. Thats not the Detterence, thought Miller has he watched the ship break apart. It cant be, Foss shouldnt be anywhere near here, and certainly not from that direction. The second thought, equally as disturbing was the fact the the ship, whatever it was had ploughed into the mine field seemingly without shields raised. Then he understood. That commander was going for the Nevermore, trying to disrupt it's tractor beam. But without shields? Suicide run? Miller didnt have time to speculate. He could only watch in horror as the once proud Battlecruiser piece by piece began to crumble. It made a half hearted effort to withdraw from the turmoil around it, but was already long dead. Please god, thought Miller, dont let the reactor blow. Moments passed before his prayers were answered. Somehow, the ship, whatever it was managed to put enough distance between itself and the maestrome of fire before the killing blow could be dealt. Instead, it drifted, running on inertia only, away from the engagement area. "Survivors?" asked Miller, quietly. It took a moment, but his tactical officer pulled himself away from the specticle on the main viewscreen and began running the scans. "Aye, sir. Multiple contacts on board. Approximately ..... thirty five survivors." Miller closed his eyes and cursed. He looked around at his bridge crew, and could see the looks of saddness and fear in their eyes. So, this is your idea of a neutral position, Rattler? You son of a bitch .. "Tactical!" shouted Miller. "Give me a prediction on the most likely position of Rattlers ship based on it's last known course and speed." "Aye sir, working on it .. but theres a good chance it's not where the computer would predict. This IS Rattler we talkin about." Miller nodded. "I know, and thats exactly what I'm counting on. Helm, prepare to bring us about. Tactical, bring our weapons ho-" "Sir!" shouted the communications officer. *sigh* "What now?" barked Miller. "Broadband transmission from Rattler!" Miller frowned. "On speakers. And trace it if you can." "...tion ALL Forces within broadcast range of this signal. This is Rattler. Cease Fire, I repeat Cease Fire! Stand down your weapons and withdraw to safe distance. Ships of Insurgency will acknowledge this order immediately. Galcom Forces are asked to follow our example and report to your Fleet Commander via what ever channel you so choose. Necromancer is launching shuttles to search for survivors and render medical assistance only. We have no intent to take prisoners. I will turn all survivors, I repeat, ALL SURVIVORS and the bodies of the unfortunate over to Fleet Commander Blades immediately upon ascertaining the status of said crew." "Unbelieveable." said Miller. "First he tells us he doesnt want a conflict, then he destroys one of our ships ...... and now he's hiding under the guise of a mercy mission to stop us from retaliating. Outstanding." "Sir!" said the tactical officer. "I've got a rough bearing on his position, but not enough for a firing solution." "Not interested in going after him." said Miller. "At least, not yet. Time for that after we take care of the Tenchi." Miller stepped away from his commadn chair and behind his tactical officer. "You got anything more on the wreck out there?" "Aye, sir." said the tac officer, glumly. "It wasnt the Deterrence, that much is for sure." "Have you been able to identify it?" The tac officer nodded. "Yes sir. I think it's the Galetea, Hamblins ship." Hamblin. Dammit .. "I want verification as soon as possible." The tactical officer nodded, and began the verification process. "Helm!" shouted Miller. "Bring us 30 degrees to starboard and fire up the afterburners. Put us on a direct heading with the Nevermore. I want a firing solution on that ship." The helmsman began making the adjustments, then queried his CO. "Sir, the Tenchi is in a direct line of fire between us and the Nevermore. We cant get a 100% lock on the Nevermore without hitting the Tenchi." Miller sneered down at him. "I know. Follow your orders, and stand by to execute." The helmsman nodded and continued with his instructions. When he finished, he again nodded at Miller. "Tactical, status on the Nevermore and Tenchi." "Both ships are engaging eachother .... tractor lock was weakened thanks to the Galetea, but it's building back up. Fire from the Tenchi has intensified. And sir, im picking up shuttles ... heading towards the Galetea, or whats left of it." "Perfect." said Miller, seating himself again in his chair. "Keep an eye on those shuttles and the Nevermore and Tenchi. Let me know the second either one of those ships starts taking a real pounding. Helm, maneuver thrusters only, turn us 360 ... slowley." Everyone acknowledged, although didnt fully understand Millers intentions. Just need to buy us a little more time. [/RP] By my calculations, the Tsunami is another 15 minutes away. Your move, Rattler. Additional - I'm working on the assumption that someone from either the Tenchi or Nevermore is going to give the order to hold fire. If nobody from either camp does so very quickly, this truce isnt gonna last more than a moment. Somebody please set it up. [This message has been edited by Blades (edited 08-07-2000).]

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.

It's been a long time coming, but finally I am ready to launch The Basement, a live internet radio webcast from the less than sunny shores of the UK. Broadcasting for first time officially wednesday evening from 22:00 - 01:00 GMT, it's a live talk radio show that could be described as a combination of Howard Stern meets Dumb and Dumber. If you are young, easily offended or of an excitable nature, I recomend you dont tune in. For more details, see the official website at www.thebasement365.fsnet.co.uk and prepare for the unpleasentness. You have been warned. I hope to hear you all 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'

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.

I mentioned this a good few times before, but I am in the process of writing up PREEMPTIVE STRIKE as a mini novel. It's still fairly early on in development (Im busy as hell atm) but with any luck it should be ready for Xmas time.

Answer : iBarbarella I thank you

*sigh* Only in America ...

What can I say? I use everything I possibly can. Tend to use joystick more than keyboard, and I spend as much time with the bridgeview as I do in TacOps. I tend not to take to the ol Interceptors too much these days, instead concentrating on operations back home. I cant trust the AI to keep my baby in one piece when I'm off dusting crops, so these days I pretty much keep myself back at the barn.

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 ÔǪ 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 ÔǪ..ÔÇØ Savage turned and gave his 2IC a wry look. ÔÇ£ÔǪ.. 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 ÔǪÔÇØ 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).]

*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'

One word : DOOMED! I will post again later this evening.

I've recently had problems with people hacking some of my own polls on my other sites as well. I'm looking into finding a more secure polling system where jerk offs like these cant be disruptive. Wankers the lot of them.

[RP "She did What?!?" cried the indignant Orion Fleet commander from his office on the stations command deck. Greg Miller, the fleets executive officer grimmaced as Savage propelled himself from his large 'I'M THE BOSS, WHICH MEANS YOU DONT **** WITH ME!' chair and brutally kicked an open file cabinet draw shut. "Sorry, sir." offered Miller, as apologetically as possible. Savage shook his head and gestured wildly with his hands, walking back and forth the length of his office and swearing like a jarhead to invisible tormentors. "I cant believe that woman! She's been here less than a year and all she has done is mock me, the system, my entire ******* fleet!" Miller frowned at the fleet commanders outburst. He had never seen his CO as angry as this before, not even during the opening days of the second Gammulan war when the Deterrence Battle Group took a major pounding. This was bad. "I've had the recall order sent, sir, but she's either ignoring the RTB order or she isnt recieving." Savage rounded on his executive officer. "I want her brought back here, Greg, and I want her here now." "Aye, sir. I'll pull Bosch from R&R and have him spacebourn within the hour." "No!" shouted Savage. "Leave Bosch where he is. I want you out there, Greg. I want you to personally bring that, that 'woman back here." Miller nodded and took a deep breath. "Uh, this wouldnt have anything to do with the fact that she didnt want to go out with you, would it, sir?" Savage flashed him an evil glare. "Thats not very damned funny, Greg." Miller's stomach tightened. "Sorry sir, just trying to lighten the mood. Nothing meant by it." Savage closed his eyes and brought both hands to his face, rubbing his eyes gently. He took a moment to calm himself, then sighed deeply. "Why is it that I can command an entire fleet with absolute loyalty, yet I cant seem to control one womans desire to be different? Didnt I give her a chance to make somthing of herself in this fleet, Greg? Wasnt I leanient when she misbehaved? @!@$@#$~$!#~##~#@!#, I bent over backwards to help her fit in here, and what does she do? She mocks me in front of my people, she taunts me during briefings and thinks she gets away with it because she calls me 'honey'. She actively supports certain Insurgent ideals and has been known to have subspace 'chats' with Rattler himself. I mean, a tenth of what I let her get away with is enough to have her court martialed and discharged. Why does she do this to me?" Savage reseated himself in his chair, utterly dejected. Greg could read the worry and dissapointment on his friends face, and it didnt sit well with him. "I'll bring her back Karl, dont worry. And when I do, is it to be in chains?" Savage sighed again. "I cant let her carry on this way. She over stepped the mark one time to many. If I let this slide, people are going to start to question my loyalty and competence. I cant let one womans obsessive desire to ridicule me damage the fleet." Greg nodded. "Chains it is then." Savage nodded back at his executive officer. "Have your XO take command of the Tenchi when you find her. Have Akuma confined to quarters. Tell her ...... tell her im sorry." With the final exchange of words, Miller left the fleet commanders office. A few minutes later, the hulk of the GCV-Sark left the Orion stations space dock and began tracing Akuma Minakos flight path. Back in the command office, the emotionally drained fleet commander Savage began to set in motion the first stages of Akuma Minako's impending court martial, and discharge from duty papers. [/RP] Sink or swim. Redemption or discharge. Make this interesting for us guys, cos the Fleet Commander is pissed. ------------------ 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' [This message has been edited by Rattler (edited 08-01-2000).]

When you ready, gents. I got lots to say me. And if you wanna talk about Fleet rivalries, you couldnt come to a better person.

Dammit, I'm too busy to play games. Thats the problem with us Fleet Commander types, we always chasing after our tardy recruits and trying to keep things such as websites, other development projects and far too much R/L work related doings to put aside a minute or two to actually enjoy oneself. However, now and then I abandon everything and stay up for a 24 hour plus stint beating some game or another into submission. Recently, these have been the opponants I have well n truely smacked down. Freespace 2 (This rocks. Shoulda picked it up ages ago) Warzone 2100 (RTS that somehow got ignored by a lot of gamers. Real pity too, cos as far as RTS games go, it's amazing.) Odium (This game sucked so bad, I took it back immediately) X-BTF (Pretty, but once you get into it, it isnt as vast as it claims. I got bored quickly, so binned it for a rainy day) Lookin to pick up Ground Control at some point. I see it in the stores, enticing me with it's beauty. Kinda reminds me of Warzone 2100, so I think I'm gonna cave eventually. Diablo 2 is gonna get played at some point, as is Vampire and about a zillion other things I've got on my To Play list. Sadly, there just isnt enough hours in the day ATM. ------------------ 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'

Well, my inbox hasnt been as devestated as my last major thread did, but it's getting there. This is good stuff chaps, so keep it up.

Well, I was planning on tellin you all about my work related activities as soon as I got back from said work in the evening. So keep your pants on people. Anyway, I have been many things in my years as one of the world work force. I have been a bartender, an office worker, an L.A.R.P event organiser, a Vaccume cleaner salesman (Very brief that) not to mention a production operative and for the last few years, an IT engineer. Ok, I say IT engineer, but that doesnt really tell you what I do. You see, Im a bit of a jack of all trades. I've been a software developer, first line supt engineer, field engineer (That was exceptional fun), web developer and network administrator. Most recently, I have been doing a lot of freelance contract work, mostly in network engineering. Basically, I fleece businesses for all I can and get drunk on the profits. I'm also working a few more hours than I should in IT sales on a Large USAF base in the UK. Apart from that, Im busy being a compulsive womaniser and am involved in several online projects (Most notably BC3K, of course) not to mention putting together a Talk Radio webcast show for my second internet passion, IRC. I also write when I get the chance, go out to clubs and search for the missing part of my life. Namely a wife. Theres more, but you're probably bored with me already. That do ya 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'