Blades

Well, more is in place this evening. Commanders Brief has been updated. It's now got a farting officer and a fish in it. Yes, I said FISH. Go look if you dont believe me. Also updated the Fleet deployment bit as well. Profiles from myself and the good Commander GMAN are in place from the TBG section. Other listed commanders, please forward somthing similar to mine or GMAN's example. No doubt, they will be modified but most of it will be flattering. (Unless you are Commander Hamblin) Also made an effort to put somthing in the Station Facilities area. Nothing there works just yet, but will do in a few days time. The TBG briefing room should be of special interest come MP, cos I will be posting mission orders n the like and only commanders with the appropriate access will be able to enter. Finally, bear in mind that msot of the title graphics are still just temp jobs until I get round to sorting somthing more interestin out. Thats it for now. Wheres all my positive feedback and butt kissing? Hell, I'll take feedback from anyone, even Rattler n his cronies. ------------------ F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE ORION FLEET TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó 'For Queen and country'

If it's any help, the Preemptive Strike thread is based in late 3003, as is the time where the Blades character took control of the ORION fleet. An accurate timeline would probably be useful for everyone, so why dont everyone who has started a mainstream RP thread post the start/end dates of their campaigns here so we can suss out where we all fit in. We do this, we got a timeline. ------------------ F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE ORION FLEET TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó 'For Queen and country'

Ah, tis the power of FLASH 4 at it's very best. Still got loads to do, but it startin to take shape.

Even more has gone up this evening. More importantly, stuff that wasnt quite finished in my previous upload is now in place. All ORION commanders go and look at the updated COMMANDERS briefing. If I have missed any active commanders from the TBG roster, please let me know here immediately. If anyone else wants to check it out just for the hell of it, the least it will do is make you giggle. Who says you cant have humor in the ORION fleet? http://www.hastur.freeserve.co.uk ------------------ F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE ORION FLEET TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó 'For Queen and country' [This message has been edited by Blades (edited 12-07-1999).]

More site stuff has been uploaded. Still work in progress but I'm goin as fast as I can. ------------------ F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE ORION FLEET TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó 'For Queen and country'

Additional details - The ORION site ahs been updated a bit this evening, and all members should now check out the rosters page to see who's who. I intend to build up a basic BIO of each commander and vessel, and ask that everyone currently on the roster send me a brief somthing via email. Newbie commanders shouldnt give their ships too much history, since this is very much an RP site, and we want to create our own history here, not make it all up before it happens. For timeline purposes, consider todays date 07/12/3003. This will be ammended accordingly once everyone agrees to a current RP timeline. ------------------ F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE ORION FLEET TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó 'For Queen and country'

Ok ladies, where are you all? I'm in the process of updating the fleet roster in preperation of the final commisioning of the TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP, and I can track down a measily 7 additional fleet members. Ok, so you 7 are active and alert, and for that I thank you, but the rest of you are bein seriously tardy. Unless I get other ORION Fleet members to call in immediately, everyone not accounted for (And thats going to be a LOT of people) are going to be effectively banished from any of the active Task Forces/Battle Groups within ORION. If this happens, the short term restrictions will simply be banishment to GARRISON duty, which consists of sittin about doin sod all in the reserves. You will have no battles, no glory. You will grow fat and old and die safe in the knowledge that you did NOTHING to further yourselves, or the prestigue of the fleet. Shame on you. Once BC:M is out n about, those still not ACTIVE will be retired. So, if you are a participating ORION Fleet member, sign in immediately (Members should check the ORION website for Roster details before cluttering up the board - I know who's in and who's out) and sound off. Commanders without any Fleet Aleigence should also consider a career with what will be BC:M's premier fleet. If you want to make a name for yourself in BC3K lore, you may as well do it with style. And that means ORION. ORION COMMANDERS should also modify their commlink sigs and include (In THIS order) everything covered below. I run a tight ship, tight Fleet and expect a uniform presence on the forum. CMDR *NAME* ORION FLEET TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP GCV - *VESSEL NAME* 'QUOTE' Thats it troops. Hop to it. ------------------ F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE ORION FLEET TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó 'For Queen and country' [This message has been edited by Blades (edited 12-06-1999).]

Fleet Commander Karl "BladesÔäó" Savage, reporting as requested. The crew of the GCV Tsunami and those fine officers of the ORION fleet stand ready to wash away the Insurgent threat. Here cometh the storm ..... ------------------ BLADES Ôäó ORION FLEET COMMANDER [TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP] GCV TSUNAMI 'For Queen and country'

Ok people, we in END GAME territory now. Six more days and this will all be wrapped up. Post short, post often. Take your eyes off the board too long and I will ICE your asses dead. There will be a brief pause between my output over the weekend (Madam needs attending to) but everything will pick up again come monday. I'm usually slacking off during the wee hours of the mornin here, so you american fellas have no excuse NOT to keep up to date. Lets make this BC history folks, I know you can do it. ------------------ BLADES Ôäó ORION FLEET COMMANDER [TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP] GCV TSUNAMI 'For Queen and country'

Just curious .... but is there any further news of the development of the mission script?

Countdown T - 4 hours 45 minutes [Narrative On] Somwhere in his minds eye, Reynolds watched himself die. He saw the plasma discharge leave the small turret on the HK drone and drill into the small of his back. He watched himself spin on the spot, collapse backwards onto the cold, metal deck then, after a collage of colors and distant images, the face of Sgt. Diamond glaring down at him. Reynolds watched himself silently mouth instructions to the hardened marine, then was overwhelmed with darkness. He felt himself die. Suddenly, he was dragged back from the curious specticle he was wittnessing, and became aware of the burning agony in his back. All at once, his senses came alive, and all at once he knew he was still amongst the living. However, the pain was such that he wished he was still dead. Briefly, his eyes opened. He was face down on a cold surface. His senses couldnt fathom where he was, but his mind rationalised that he was in the company of friends, desperately trying to keep him from slipping back to oblivion. He heard words from those around him, though he could recognise the voices of the Allen, the combat medic and the CMO. More pain. Jabbing in his back. Another wave of agony overtook him. Then, the bliss of unconsciousness took him again. Peace. ********** Countdown T - 4 hours 40 minutes Neena Polovoski examined the dressing surrounding her wound. It was a patch up job, nothing pretty. Just enough to keep her mobile and semi active. Perhaps later, once they had retaken the ship the doctor could perform the neccesary surgery that would fully heal her. She almost laughed at her optormism. "Whats the damage?" she groggily said to the CMO as he worked on ensign Reynolds. The doctor didnt turn, but answered none the less. "It was a glancing blow. The spine was severed, but we're working on reparing the most obvious damage." "Whats his prognosis?" The doctor was silent for a moment. "Well, he's alive and stable. The nerve damage is significant, but with the proper facilities and care he can expect to get about 60 % of normal movement. With therapy, perhaps up to 80 %." "Can he walk?" asked Neena. "No." said the doctor bluntly. "He will never be able to walk unaided again. Ever. With the right surgery and implants, he should be able to get himself around, but his days as a bridge officer are over." Neena was saddened by this. Reynolds was young and full of life. His appointment to the Chukuma just over a year ago had been the high point in his career. He had so much potential, so much promise. And now, it was cut short by Mallone and those flying monstrosities. Still, it was better than being dead. Reynolds might not be suitable for starship duty any more, but he could still have a very productive career back at HQ, or on one of GalComs other starstations. He was a talented comms officer, and had somehow managed to isolate the comm frequency from the drones that had saved them all. Perhaps a career in R&D would be presented to him, or maybe in intelligence. Whatever the case, she was glad he was alive and had the potential to recover. Recover, however, wouldnt happen until this crisis was over. First, they had to retake the ship, and they were no closer to that than before. "Whats the countdown at?" asked Neena. The combat medic, who was now watching the skillful hands of the doctor work on Reynolds shifted to the front of the shuttlecraft and pulled up the relevant details from the computer. "Countdown is at T - 4 hours 38 minutes, sir." Neena wondered. It had been over half an hour since the Chukuma traversed the most recent worm hole. That still didnt explain anything to her. She didnt have the faintest idea where they were or where they were going. All she did know, was that in a little over 4 and a half hours Mallone planned to use the RANDOM device on an unsuspecting population. Whatever the consequence, this could not be allowed. "There." said the CMO. "Thats all I can do from here." The doctor shifted from his position and immediately tied the shuttles computer into the medbays systems. "I dont know how the gunny did it, but I am really pleased we at least got some sort of outside access." "What are you looking for?" asked Neena, pushing herself up from her squatting position and unsteadily onto her feet. "Looking for ...... well, hello." "What?" said Neena. "I'm into the medbays computer and security systems. Ailsa is still there, unconscious. Her life readings are at 60% and holding steady. But theres more .." "WHAT?" barked the ever so slightly annoyed leutenant commander. "Jensen is there. And she's alive!" "Tamaras alive?" "Yes! And she's quite healthy. Unconscious and restrained, but healthy." Neena thought for a moment. "Guarded?" The doctor checked his systems for a few moments. "Negative. Nobody is home." Neena's brain began to work in overdrive. Suddenly, there was a plan in the works. "Doc, how much control do you have over the medbay systems?" "Apparantly, medical systems are considered a low level threat priority. I got full access." Neena found herself smiling. This was their chance! "Jayce, go get the gunny." The medic nodded. "Yes, leutenant commander." Neena watched the medic rush out of the shuttle. He seemed excited, as if he knew that somehow the tides of fortune were about to shift in their direction. "Doc, can you wake Tamara?" "Already working on it Lt. Commander." Nena slapped the CMO heartedly on the back. "Good work doc." Just then, Sgt. Diamond entered the rear of the shuttle. "You wanted somthing, sir?" "Yes sgt." said Neena. "Would you agree that staying here is a rather poor idea?" The sgt. snorted. "At best we got about another ten minutes before more of those damend drones come pouring in. The shield in here are shot, all but one of the APC's are disabeld and McKendricks droid army are little more than scrap metal. Now would be a good time to leave." "Problem is," started Neena. "is that as soon as we leave the shuttlebay, Mallones goons will track us on perscan wherever we go. We wont get a hundred yards without being taken down." "Damned if we do, damned if we dont." "Unless, of course, we got ourselves a trump card to play." Sgt. Diamond frowned at her. "Trump card?" Neena nodded. "The doc found Jensen in medbay. Not only is she alive, but she's unguarded." "Hmmmm," started Diamond. "I did notice Mallone pulling his people away from that area on my little jaunt around the ship. I guess he figures two downed and restrained crewmembers in medbay a minimal threat." "And thanks to your help, the doc has full remote access to the medbays systems." "How restrictive is his access from a remote location?" Neena though for a moment. She hadnt considered this. "Doc?" The doctor pulled away from the shuttles control terminal and reported. "Theres only so much I can do from here, but it's enough to cancel the restraining field and wake Tamara. Once she up on her feet, I can grant her the right priveliges and give her access to the rest of the medbay." Neena blew a sigh of relief. "Right, now thats sorted out, this is what we're going to do ....." ********** "Colonel?" Mallone regarded the marine that spoke to him. "What is it, soldier?" "The last drone has been modified. They are now resistant to the jamming." "Very good." said mallone. "Dispatch them immediately." The marine tapped into his control terminal. "Drones dispatched. Proceding on target." Mallone chuckled to himself. Finally, it was going to end. As troublesome as Neena Polovoski and her band of merry mutineers had been, they couldnt be able to withstand the final assault from the combat drones. However .... "Have the units outside the shuttlebay prepare to move in. I want to make sure there are no more complications." "Relaying those orders now sir. Teams three, five and six standing by to move in." "Give the drones two minutes head start, then send them in. No prisoners. I want them all toe tagged and ready to jetison within half an hour." At that moment, the other marine attended to the bleeping communications terminal. "What is it?" asked Mallone. "Sir, we're recieving an encoded packet from Fleet Commander Stiles." "Stiles?" said the suprised sounding Mallone. "You sure?" The marine checked the security authentication. "Yes sir. It's from Fleet Commander Stiles alright." Mallone frowned. "Have it decoded and sent to my terminal." Immediately, the marine obeyed. Moments later, Mallone read through the decoded text message that now displayed on his terminal screen. When he had finished, he thumped the screen with his fist and shattered the hardened plexiglass covering. "Sir?" enquired the first marine. "There has been a change of plan." said Mallone. "It seems that the Corsairs have been dispatched to this system to hunt us down. Stiles doesnt believe they know our true motives, but doesnt want to risk being intercepted." "So, what does that mean, Colonel?" "It means," started Mallone. "that the timetable for the launch has been brought forward." "How soon?" asked the marine. "Stile's fleet will begin the attack and sieze the secondary target one hour from now. We are to launch from extreme range in 45 minutes." The marine frowned. "But we will still be three hours from the rest of the fleet." "Theres nothing we can do about that. Not without destroying the central computer core and manually taking control of helm. And we cant risk doing that, not with the launch so close." The marine nodded in agreement. "I'll have the device installed on the modified probe, sir." Mallone nodded. "Have it loaded and prepped for launch. Oh, and enable the failsafe." The marine looked quizically at him. "Sir?" Mallone snorted. "I just had a bad feeling marine. And as a rule, I dont ignore those." ********** Launch T- Minus 42 minutes Groggy, but fully aware of her instructions, Tamara Jensen prepared for the manic dash out of the medbay and down towards engineering. In her hands, she held two distinct canisters of weird looking fluid. She didnt know what the containers contents were, but she had been reliably informed by both the doctor and Chief Spencer that when combined, these chemicles had the capacity to eat through compressed neutronium. Neena had explained the situation carefully to Jensen. She explained that the vast majority of Mallones troops were stationed outside the shuttlebay, keeping them pinned down while they were relentlessly attacked by the flying drones. Neena also explained that their only hope for escaping the shuttlebay that was shortly to become their tomb, they needed the perscan computer taken out. And thats where Jensen came in. Neena knew that it was asking a lot of the injured young officer, and that in all probability she would be intercepted by a team of goons after taking out the perscan system computer in engineering. The outcome of this likely event, was not good. However, it simply had to be done. Billions of lives could well be resting on her next few actions. Taking in a deep breath, and quickly testing her leg muscles for the neccesary strength needed for the manic dash, Tamara Jensen said a silent prayer and hit the exit button. ********** Launch T - 41 minutes The plan was simple. In precisely two minutes, everyone still in the shuttlebay would begin to enter the service ducts that Diamond had previously used and make their way to the interceptor launch bay. There, they would meet up with the stranded pilots, break into smaller groups and systematically take out the remaining troops. At least without the perscan tracking them, the odds would be even. ********** Launch T - 40 minutes "Colonel, we have movement on the engineering deck!" "What? Who is it?" "I believe it's the helmsman, sir. She's somehow escaped from medbay. She's making a beeline to the engine room." Mallone stepped up to the perscan system. "What the hell does she think she's doing?" "Unknown sir, but whatever it is she is planning, it looks like engineering is her target." "The computer core?" suggested the second marine. "No," started Mallone. "The core is shielded and would take a significant ammount of firepower to breach it. She must be going for one of the sub systems, trying to disrupt our control over the ship." "She's entered engineering!" mallone tapped his comm unit. "Team six, disregard previous orders and head to engineering. There is a rogue crew member attempting to sabotage ships systems. Neutralise her." "Sir, she's just standing there, not doing anything, she seems to be ........... what the hell?" Mallone turned to him. "What is it?" The marine swallowed hard. "Sir, Perscan just went down." "WHAT?" "It's just died sir. The whole system has gone down." "Switch to the back up." ordered Mallone. "We cant sir. The entire backup system was fried when you initilised the Preemptive Strike protocol." "Dammit!" shouted Mallone, kicking out at a redundant computer terminal and shattering the protective covering with his foot. "Get thsoe droens in there! Get them in there now. Send in teams three and five! Find those *******s and kill them!" ********** Launch T - 39 minutes "Incoming!" shouted McKendrick as the hum of approaching drones came within ear shot. "Everybody! Move out!" ordered Neena Polovoski. A rush of movement. One at a time, the survivors retreated into the the innards of the Chikuma and made their way towards the Interceptor Launch bay. Behind them, the sounds of automatic weapons fire accompanied the roar of explosions as the last remaining APC surrendered under a hail of plasma fire. Concealed between the deck plates of the shuttle bay, the unconscious Reynolds was oblivious to it all. Moments later, when the firing had ceased, the lead elements of teams three and five entered the shuttlebay to find nothing. "Colonel Mallone?" said one of the reluctant marines. "The're gone sir." The marine tore the lash away from his head as Mallones enraged roar bellowed into his ear. Launch T - 38 minutes [Narrative Off] ***** take it from here guys ***** ------------------ BLADES Ôäó ORION FLEET COMMANDER [TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP] GCV TSUNAMI 'For Queen and country'

Countdown T - 4 hours 58 minutes [Narrative On] "They are what?" screamed the enraged Mallone as he pushed himself from the command chair. The reporting marine involunterily took a step back. "Disabled, sir." Mallones face contorted into an expression that terrified the marine. His eyes were near manical, completely devoid of any flicker of rational thought. He looked as if he might burst into blind fury at any moment. The marine knew he would be the sole recipient of of that fury. "How?" asked Mallone, his face softening unexpectedly. "I'm not 100% sure, sir. But it looks like they somehow managed to isolate the return frequency from the drone control computer and jam it." Mallone snorted. "Cleaver." "Yes sir." repleid the Marine. "But we were able to cut through the jamming signal within a minute." Mallone turned his back to the marine and let out a despondent sigh. "And the drones?" The marine swallowed hard. This was the part he was least looking forward to explaining. "Well sir, during the time the drones were being jammed, they reverted to standby mode. They hovered in the air just long enough to be neutralized." Mallone snapped round at a frightening speed and backhanded the unfortunate marine accross the face. "Idiot!" he shouted as the marine tumbled backwards and crumpled on the floor. "You should have been prepared for this." Slowly, the marine pushed himself to his feet. "I'm sorry, sir. The technology is unfamiliar to us. We're working on impr-" The marine was cut short from his explanation as Mallone reached out and grabbed the man by the throat. In a lightning fast movement, he jabbed the marine with his free hand in the ribs, felt the break of bone and the muffled whoosh of breath being blown violently out through the marines nose. "Failure is not acceptable." said Mallone as he dropped the marine to the deck. "And you have failed me one time too many, marine." Mallone stamped decisevly on the downed marines throat and sharply twisted his foot. The sickening crack of breaking bone was loud enough to be heard by the two other marines manning the bridge. Even though they didnt look on at the specticle, the sound itself was enough to make them shudder. Fortunately for them, Mallone didnt see this. He was too busy watching the glimmer of life ebb away from the fallen marines eyes. "Now then," started Mallone as he stepped off the body. The two remaining bridge marines turned and looked directly at their commander, never allowing their eyes to look towards their fallen comrade. "can anybody tell me how many of those drones we have left?" "Twelve, sir!" snapped the first marine. "Twelve." said Mallone. "That should be enough." "Yes, sir!" agreed the second marine. "And they wont be able to jam the last batch." Mallone nodded. "Send them in. I want this taken care of, once and for all." The first marine saluted. "Sir, yes sir!" "Oh, and one more thing." said Mallone. The first marine looked up at the colonel. "Sir?" "Dont make the same mistake the corporal here did." The marine nodded. "Understood sir. There already dead." Moments later, the marine activated the final batch of hunter killer drones and directed them to attack the occupants of the shuttle bay. This time, nothing short of a miricle would prevent the total destruction of every living thing within. Countdown T - 4 hours 54 minutes [Narrative Off] ------------------ BLADES Ôäó ORION FLEET COMMANDER [TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP] GCV TSUNAMI 'For Queen and country'

Paperwork ..... there is always paperwork. I got a question. You guys see me as a sniveling muppet who's terrified of responsibility and totally overwhelmed with his new duties as a fleet commander? Ah, I'm talkin about the character BTW. ------------------ BLADES Ôäó GCV TSUNAMI ORION FLEET COMMANDER TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP ------------------ [This message has been edited by Blades (edited 12-01-1999).]

Cool post Ron. Not wanting to be a moany Morris, but the engineer in question IS in fact Ensign Reynolds. You know, the comms guy from the bridge? And hell, if you like him that much, I guess I'll let him live for a bit longer. Quick head count. We currently have one Leutenant Commander Neena Polovoski, Chief Engineer Spencer, combat medic Jayce Allen, the CMO (Who's name I cant recall for some daft reason right now), flight engineer McKendrick and the heroic Sgt. Diamond in the shuttlebay and available for active duty. Reynolds is alive but unable to do anything until he spent some quality time in sickbay and two distinct halfs of the other medic littering the place. The pilots are ALL locked down in the fighter bays and cant do a damned thing. Should the pilots want to do anything, the respective players really should get round to posting. Benni is currently bending over backwards to accomodate Mallone on the bridge, and all the rest of the crew are locked down in quaters and boobytrapped should they attempt to escape. For scenario purposes, they are no longer a useable variable. There are currently 12 functional goons outside the shuttlebay. There are 3 more in the operations center established in the mess and three others with Mallone on the bridge. Call this a tactical update if you wish. Happy hunting. ------------------- BLADES Ôäó GCV TSUNAMI ORION FLEET COMMANDER TSUNAMI BATTLE-GROUP ------------------- [This message has been edited by Blades (edited 12-01-1999).]

Actually, she older than me. Makes a change from my usual twinkies. Bah ... this is off topic. ORION rules !!!

Heh, thats enough outta you soldier! Ok ok ..... so things have been hectic around here for a bit. Have no fear, work is in progress. In the words of the man himself, "It will be ready when it's ready." I got me a new girlfriend anyway. You wouldnt begrudge an old man his new found love, would you?

Post away Ron. I'm lookin forward to this.

Welcome DEATHSTALKER. All active ORION Commanders should at this time consider themselves assigned to the TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP until further notice. ------------------ BLADES Ôäó GCV TSUNAMI ORION FLEET COMMANDER [TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP] 'For Queen and country'

Tac, Nope. Twasnt you. Also, was Reynolds the comms chief that was running. Suggest you read my previous post again. PLOT DEVICE ALERT PLOT DEVICE ALERT !!

Countdown T - 5 hours 30 minutes [Narrative On] "Idiot!" shouted the enraged Colonel Mallone from the bridge of the GCV Chuikuma. The target of his anger, one of the technical marines in his unit snapped to attention and took the brunt of the outburst without so much of flinching. "If I may explain, colonel?" Mallone stepped up to him, raising to his full height and staring down at the smaller man. "Make this good, soldier." "Sir! Yes, sir!" obeyed the marine. "The HK units are adaptive sir. They learn from their failures in combat and transmit the relevant data back to the engagement computer in the mess. The engagement routines are assessed by the computer, the available sensor information from the shuttlebay is analysed and a new attack model is determined." "In english, marine?" barked Mallone. "Sir! The second wave will be a lot smarter than the initial drones. They now know the full combat potential of their enemies and will take this into account on the second wave. They will succede where the first wave failed." Mallone glared at his subordinate. "They had better marine. Or you are going to find yourself reasigned to the engine room as reactor shielding." "Understood, sir. The second wave wont fail." Mallone dismissed the marine and turned his attention back to the bridge viewscreen. In a little over five hours, the Chikuma and her deadly R.A.N.D.O.M device would be in range of their target. In a little over five hours, the remainder of Fleet Commander Stiles's battlegroup would start their assault on the secondary target. It would take at least three days for a significant GalCom reaction fleet to catch up with them, and by then it would be all over. A treasure trove of technology and secrets would be in the movements control, and a new galactic power would be born. The price, however, would be the near extinction of another race. Mallone smirked. "Casualties of war." he quietly said. "Colonal?" said an officer attending the navigation terminal. "Yes?" said Mallone, turning his attention to the officer. "Sir, we are approaching the worm hole to Vega Eridani." Mallone looked back at the viewscreen and noticed the revolving anomoly in the distance, growing ever bigger as the massive Battle Cruiser approached. "Excellent." "No indication of Syrion or Drodian vessels, colonel." "Stiles didnt think there would be." said Mallone. "He figured they would probably keep a small reaction force at the borders of their territories and mass the remainder of their fleets at their homeworlds." "In preperation for a Gammulan counter strike?" "Exactly." said Mallone, grinning. The marine smiled at his commander. "The poor *******s. They wont even see it comming until it's too late." At that instant, the Chikuma passed through the worm hole and reappeared in the Vega Eridani system. TacOps immediately gave a readout of several Drodian transport vessels burning hard accross the system. "Any indication that we have been detected?" asked Mallone. The marine quickly checked over the TacOps station. "Negative, sir. The cloak is holding. There is no indication we have been detected." Mallone sat back in the command chair and blew out a sigh of relief. "Looks like the rumors of their sophisticated detection systems were unfounded." The marine turned to his commander with a slightly puzzled expression on his face. "Sir? You're dissapointed." "Not exactly." said Mallone. "It makes our job a lot easier, but the technology would have been valuable to us." The marine turned back to the bridge navigation terminal as it bleeped for attention. "We're set on the next beacon, colonel." "Excellent." said Mallone. "Next stop, Alteris." "Aye, sir." said the marrine. "Alteris it is." Mallone looked directly at the countdown indicator on the viewscreen and allowed himself another small smile. "Nothing can stop us now." Countdown T - 5 hours 14 minutes "Movement." reported Reynolds from the cockpit of one of the ATV's in the shuttlebay. "Source?" asked Neena Polovoski, shouldering her rifle and leaning over the communications officer and glancing at the readout. "Cant be positive, but I'd bet a years pay that it's more of those flying doodlebugs." "Hell." said Neena. "I thought we took care of the lot of them." "More likely that was jsut the first wave." suggested Spencer from behind her. "I took one of the less damaged units to pieces and found all sorts of complex analysis and comms equipment in them. My guess is, they are adaptive drones. Capable of learning and reassessing strategies." "Why dont I like the sound of that?" muttered the sickly looking medic that accompanied Neena, Reynolds and Allen from sickbay. "No question, it's more of the drones!" said Reynolds, sounding concerned. "And they commin in fast." "Combat stations!" shouted Neena, throwing herself out of the ATV and pulling her slung rifle to shoulder height. The rest of her people took similar stances, and positioned themselves behind crates, machinery and other fire absorbing structures as McKendricks mechanical army began to train the ATV's weapons systems on the shuttlebays exposed enterance. "Range?!" shouted Neena over the hum of frenzied activity. "Twenty five meters!" shouted Reynolds from the ATV's cockpit. "And closing fast." "Reynolds, take your position!" "Wait!" shouted Reynolds. "I'm trying to isolate their comms frequency. If I can isolate it I might be able to-" "Reynolds!" shouted Neena again. "Get your ass out here now and take your position!" "Incoming!" shouted McKendrick from his well covered position. Neena Polovoski heard the hum of the appraching HK drones before she actually saw them. As she turned her attention away from the ATV where Reynolds was hastily trying to isolate the drones comm frequency, the second wave of drones soared into view and immediately began blasting. She dived for cover, and barley evaded being cut in half by concentrated plasma fire. Allen and McKendrick immediately began firing at the closest of the airbourn drones, but meerly caused them to evade rather than strike them directly. ATV three's droid gunner began firing the powerful repeating plasma turret at the approaching drones, and managed to successfully drop two of the less nimble drones in the massed fire. The droids turned en mass at ATV three, and within a few frightening seconds had reduced the turret and cockpit into smouldering slag. The droid within was utterly destroyed, and squealed out in twisted agony as it's servo motors buckled and melted under the barrage. The drones then broke into smaller groups, and began heading in different directions throughout the shuttlebay. Each group concentrated fire on the ATV's of those positions occupied by the crew. As Neena pushed herself to her feet, she found herself staring down at two HK drones that had ducked under massed plamsa fire from ATV 2 to get at her. Her weapon was gone, lost during her dive for cover. She was defenceless, and staring death right in the face. The two drones approached, and their small, rotateable turrets swivveled and locked onto her. Neena swallowed, and accepted that now she would die. The lead drone violently exploded under a mass of small arms fire, and it's companion dropped and weaved in an evasive maneuver as the sickly looking combat medic tried desperatly to hit his second target. Neena rolled to her left, quickly scanned the floor for her rifle and then dove for it when she found it. Immediately, she was up on her feet, leveling the rifle at her would be assasin and loosing off a abrage of automatic weapons fire into the drone. It exploded on the third hit, sending shards of metal in all directions. She spun round to face her saviour, and beamed a greatful smile at him. The medic fell in two distinctly bloody pieces as a third HK drone blew through his midsection and passed through the new gap in an effort to aquire a lock on Neena. Horrified, Neena froze jsut long enough for the third drone to fire a single burning plasma charge into her shoulder. Knocked back, she collided heavily with a supply crate and fell awkwardly into an open access grill beneath the deck. The drone, apparantly satisfied that his target had been neutralised spun on it's axis and attemtped to aquire a new target. Inside ATV one, Reynolds frantically attempted to isolate the confused comm frequency of the attacking drones. So far, he had concluded that each of them was operating under it;s own unique frequency, and was therefore virtually impossible to simultaniously jam all of the drones. However, he did detect a faint (And concealed) returning carrier wave from each of the broadcasting drones. He quickly concluded that despite the drones autonomous nature, certain tactical information was being directed from a central source back to the drones. He excitedly isolated this frequency and attempted to jam it from within the ATV. To his genuine horror, he discovered that the jamming signal from the ATV's comms systems was far below the required output. He needed a more powerful transmitter. One that was designed to breach vast distances and punch through an assortment of interference. "Shuttle!" shouted Reynolds. He pushed himself out of the copilots seat of the ATV and back into the marine cabin. The exit doorway was open, and outside he could see massed weapons fire from both sides lancing accorss the deck. Sixty feet from his position, he could see the open rear enterance of Shuttle 1, and beyond it, the cockpit where he could transmit the jamming signal. Taking a deep breath, Reynolds steered himself momentarily for the insane dash accross the battlefield. Then he was gone, hitting the floor running. He crossed the first twenty feet without even realising he had done so. The weapons fire in front and behind him was distant enough not to be a major concern. The next twenty feet became more difficult, as he heard frantic shouts of "Get into cover!" and "Get down you idiot!" from his startled crewmates. Beside him, ATV 4's cockpit exploded and the concussion knocked him sideways. He hit the floor hard, the wind knocked out of him. He looked up, saw that he was barley ten feet from his target and groggily pushed himself to his feet and stepped closer. Blood trickled into his eyes, and he absent mindedly brushed the flow from his eyes and stumbled a few feet closer. Somwhere near him, a distorted voice shouted at him to get down, and he looked up just in time to see Allens vague features gesture in slow motion for him to move aside. To late, he realised what Allen was telling him, and he spun on his heel as a plasma blast burned into his back and sent him crumpling to the floor. He had been close. So very close. The shuttlebay doors were three strides away from him. A few more seconds, just a few would have been enough. Someone was standing over him. He couldnt see the face, his vision was too badly distored. With pained breath, he muttered the comm frequency he had isolated within the ATV. He repeated it. Said it should disrupt the drones for a few seconds. He gestured in the direction of where he though the shuttle was. He said he was afraid. Then he was silent. The battle raged on. Countdown T - 5 hours 08 minutes [Narrative Off] ------------------ Fleet Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó GALCOM ORION Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

Right, I'm back home in the not so sunny UK now. God, I hate it here. I want my sun n fun back. Ah well, shouldnt complain. Now got an excuse to finish sortin ORION out and get ready to kick some ass come the new year. I will be out again in Florida in April next year, so we will have to sort some type of meet up if at all possible. Had too much goin on with the new place over there to arrange anything this time, but I'm sure somthing could be done with 6 months notice.

Heh. Welcome member Bosch. You DO ask too many questions. You must the a new Parias in training. And NO, you cant have a full fleet roster yet. And NO, you cant be a squadren commander. Patience grasshopper ....

Fleet Commander Blades was half burried under a pile of paper work. However, this was a good thing. He prefered the chaos of organising the smooth running of the stations logistics requirements to the pressures of commanding a battle cruiser. However, he wouldnt admit to this. Since the briefing, he had been troubled. For the first time, he was responsible for the actions of an entire fleet. He wasnt prepared for this, didnt want this. However, fate dictated that he had to lead, and lead he will. Commander Hamblin knocked quickly on his office door and quick stepped inside. "You wanted to see me, Fleet Commander?" Blades nodded. "Correct. Here are your orders." Blades handed a datapad to the taller commander and allowed him to briefly overlook the instructions. "But sir," started Hamblin. "I was under the impression that you were goin to lead the ORION presence into the hotzone." Blades nodded cheerfully at him. "And under normal circumstances I would, Commander Hamblin. However, as you can see this station is a mess and running well under optimal capacity and to be frank, there isnt anybody here better qualified to sort this mess out than myself." "Sir?" questioned Hamblin. "Look, your orders are simple. You are to lead the Tsunami Battle Group into the hotzone and carry out the mission directives. Upon completion of the objective, you are to return here and resume your normal duties as my XO. For the duration of this assignment, you are in command of the Tsunami." "What about my ship?" Blades stood from his chair. "We both know your vessel is in need of serious repairs before it's even remotely space worthy. Those repairs are under way but will take time to complete. Once she becomes operational, I shall assume command and meet you at the target." Hamblin was taken aback. "But what about the Supreme Commanders directives. Surley he expects you to lead ORION in this endevour?" "The Supreme Commander would probably appreciate a smoothly running starstation more than my presence on site. I have every confidence in you, commander." "Yes sir." replied Hamblin, somewhat puzzled. "Inform your crew of the change in assignment, and have them board the Tsunami immediately. My people are already *assisting* the tech crew working on your vessel." "Aye aye, sir." said Hamblin, saluting. Awkwardly, Blades saluted back. "That is all." he said, concluding the meeting. As Hamblin shuffled out of his office, Blades slipped back into his seat, confident that he had dodged the bullet on this occasion. However, he knew it was only a matter of time before he actually had to lead the fleet in an open engagement. He just hoped that that time would be later, rather than sooner. At least then, he might be partially ready. ------------------ Fleet Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó GALCOM ORION Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

Well, as you can see I got back and posted as quickly as possible. Dunno If I can manage to juggle everything thats goin on at once right now, but will give it a try. Erm yes, the HK drones are airbourne buggers with plasma weapons. Kinda like those nasty little taggers in ST: Insurrection ... except these babies will kill your ass dead. My advice, dont be where they shoot. And yes, they are hard to kill ..... and as for numbers .... wave one consists of 24 of them. Climax situations can be messy and traumatic ..... people will die here. Post well ...... and I'll decide. ------------------ Fleet Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó GALCOM ORION Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

***** Sorry itÔÇÖs taken so long for an update. But as most of you know, IÔÇÖve been on vacation to Florida, had a website to build, a fleet to reorganize and an impressive older woman to woo. So far, IÔÇÖve managed to accomplish all of these with the exception of fully reorganize the fleet. Anyway, heres the next installment. We nearly in the end zone now. ***** Countdown T ÔÇô 13 hours 30 minutes [Narrative ON] The stand off had been going on for several hours. Mallones people, convinced that a frontal assault on the well defended shuttle bay would deplete their numbers significantly, (Not to mention damage the ship and endanger certain aspects of the mission) so remained at their positions on the controlled section of the cargo bay and waited. Work had been proceeding for the last few hours to ready the HK drones, and with the assistance of Benni Arnauld was close to completion. Neena and her motley crew of mutineers had armed themselves well, and had secured the majority of the shuttle bay from attack from the outsiders. However, none were confident that they could withstand a full assault, despite the frightening arsenal at their disposal, manned almost entirely by several droids. Despite the efforts of McKendrick, the droids themselves were poorly equipped for combat duty and at best could only hope to hold the advance of Mallones marauding troops for a short while. However, Neena believed with the support of the Pilots locked dock in the fighter bay and her own people positioned within the shuttlebay, a stand off of sorts could be maintained. Sadly, time was not on NeenaÔÇÖs side and inaction at this point was just as risky as making an effort to retake the ship. Whichever way she looked at it, the outcome was almost certainly to be the same. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ÔÇ£So then,ÔÇØ started Reynolds, now effectively second in command of the Chikuma. ÔÇ£what do we do next?ÔÇØ Neena considered his words for a few moments, and looked thoughtfully down at the sketchy perscan and tactical reports she was able to gleam from a shuttles command interface. ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt really know.ÔÇØ She honestly replied. ÔÇ£We could sit here and wait for help from the fleet, but in all likelihood we will be intercepted and destroyed before the got a chance to ask any questions.ÔÇØ Reynolds grimaced. ÔÇ£Anything else Lt.Commander?ÔÇØ Neena nodded. ÔÇ£Yes, we could sit here and wait for Mallones monkeys to come in after us. End result, pretty much the same. Although we will take a good many of them down with us and probably cripple several of the Chikumas major systems in the process.ÔÇØ Reynolds frowned even more at this option. ÔÇ£No, I donÔÇÖt like the sound of that either.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Ok then.ÔÇØ Said Neena. ÔÇ£The only other thing I can suggest at this point is that we fight. Try and retake the ship by force. Take control of engineering and the bridge. Reestablish the command protocols and signal an S.O.S to the fleet.ÔÇØ Reynolds slumped down onto a crate. ÔÇ£Odds are that will produce the same result, Neena.ÔÇØ The Leutenant Commander nodded. ÔÇ£Sad, but true. Besides, providing we somehow manage to retake the bridge and engineering from Mallones goons I doubt heÔÇÖs gonna be willing to just give us the command codes if we ask him.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£If we take the bridge quick enough,ÔÇØ started Spencer, the chief engineer. ÔÇ£We wont need the command over rides.ÔÇØ Neena looked at him. The chief was smiling. He had a datapad in his hand. ÔÇ£What you got there chief?ÔÇØ she asked. ÔÇ£Just pulled this from one of the shuttles. There was a partial tac link still in operation directly linked to the bridge. It wasnÔÇÖt there before, but it sure as hell is now.ÔÇØ Neena looked puzzled. ÔÇ£You would need Stones command codes to create that kind of link up, and heÔÇÖs dead. Which means ..ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Which means,ÔÇØ interrupted Reynolds. ÔÇ£that we either got someone on the inside trying to help us out, or Diamond is still out there somewhere.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm inclined to believe the answer lies behind door number two.ÔÇØ smirked the Chief. ÔÇ£Damn, that grunt is good.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£So whats on the datapad, chief?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Well,ÔÇØ said Spencer. ÔÇ£from what I was able to pull before the link was traced and shut down, it looks like every major ships system is operational, save for the transporters and launch control. However, the navigation and helm systems are locked out from manual input, which means we are flying on automatic. From the code fragments I was able to analyze, the program mother is running is self terminating at a set time, but cannot be interrupted until that termination time is reached. Basically, this ships on course for somewhere and nothing we do short of destroying the engines and navitron computer is going to stop us.ÔÇØ Neena looked at the now glum sounding Chief engineer. ÔÇ£Anything else chief?ÔÇØ Spencer nodded, solemnly. ÔÇ£Yes. We appear to be on a countdown. Our target, wherever that is, is less than 6 hours away.ÔÇØ Just then, in defiance of all things fair and just, a strange buzzing sound began to grow audibly closer to the shuttlebay. Immediately, everyone took their firing positions, the droids manning the APCÔÇÖs slowly adjusted to the perceived threat and began tracking the as yet unseen newcomers. As the seconds drew on, and the buzzing became louder, each of the assembled officers and present crewmen braced themselves for the anticipated firefight. There was not one amongst them who was not shocked to see the first of a viscious wave of automated Hunter Killer drones swoop like locusts into the shuttle bay. ThatÔÇÖs when the firing started. Countdown T ÔÇô 5 hours 43 minutes [Narrative Off] ------------------ Fleet Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó GALCOM ORION Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958