Blades

Chav, I didnt get no mail from you ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

Sorry gang, I've had a difficult few days and havent had a chance to do any decent work. I'm not gonna be able to post until late sunday GMT so try and hold off on the mutiny. Just gonan take this brief moment of clarity to congratulate everyone that has worked so hard to put this thread together and make it as fun to read as it is to write. As always, comments are welcome. ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

Eeeep ! Polling day already. And still just the two of us. I dont know whats worse, winning or losing this particular engagement. Anyway, good luck to you Thomas. This is going to be interesting Oh, and I made a post the other day stating I was away on the 17th of this month. Well, thats wrong. I'm leaving on the 27th. Tac, cant think of anything more traumatic than going paintballing with you. So yeah, we sort somthing out. Grop me a mail with your contact details, and I'll make sure I get round to callin you while I'm in coutry. ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958 [This message has been edited by Blades (edited 10-15-1999).]

Oh yes, thats right. Tac's a local lad. But the SC? Sheesh .... as nice as It would be for me to hand deliver him some real beer (And by that I mean bitter) I dont think I can offored the $200 per hour chit chat rate. Still, I am a charity case ..... you never know And I am so worthy of pity ..... ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

It sounds dramatic. It is. Everything you always thought you knew about suspense and excitement is about to be blown away. Possibly ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

Sheesh. Somebody dont like bein the baby on the flight roster. And before you get any ideas, those missiles of yours WONT launch while you on ship! Anyway, better start a new thread before Tac starts complaining about download times. ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

Yeeeeeeees, I see now that meeting up with a rabble of Insurgents is going to be the quickest way to try out the American health service. Still, It might be fun to see how the other 'alf live. And I'll be swingin around Orlando or Kissimee sorta area for the most part. My American geography not quite as good as it should be. Anyone near there? ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

Countdown T  18 hours 40 minutes [Narrative On] PERSCAN MONITORING SYSTEM .. Isolate life forms in Shuttlebay  LIFE FORMS ISOLATED . Identify isolated life forms  WORKING .. Polovoski, Neena Rank, Lt. Commander Executive officer Reynolds, Paul Rank, Leutenate Junior Grade Communications officer Summers, Martin. Rank Lt. Commander, Chief medical officer Allen, Jayce, Rank Crewman 2nd class Combat Medic McKendrick, Michaell, Rank Crewman 1st class Flight Engineer Gasgil, Trey, Rank Crewman 2nd class Field Medic ... Isolate life forms in Interceptor bay  WORKING  IC1 Pilot : Banish, Captain IC1 CO Pilot : BigTone, Leutenant J.G IC2 Pilot : Shodan, Leutenant J.G IC2 Co Pilot : Gambit, Leutenant J.G IC3 CO Pilot : Pancake, Ensign IC4 Pilot : Diesel, Leutenant IC4 Co Pilot : Blackjack, Leutenant J.G  Identify life forms currently on bridge .. WORKING  2 life forms identified .. four life forms not entered into Perscan system  . Display identity of recognized life forms . Arnauld, Benni, Systems Engineer 3rd class Jensen, Tamara, Rank Leutenant Flight Officer . Search for command level personel not yet identified .. WORKING   1 life form identified .. . Display identity  Strang, Ailsa, Rank Leutenant Navigation Officer .. . Currently located in Medbay  Computer, open channel to Shuttle bay . . ACCESS DENIED  Damn. Computer, access Perscan database and remove Diamond, Philip from roster.  ACCESS DENIED . Hell. Time for some creative thinking .. wheres a portable thoron generator when I need one? Countdown T  18 hours 38 minutes [Narrative Off] ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI  PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

Just my opinion, but I think it would be prudent to await for some more nominations before we begin the voting process. I'd hate to come last Whatever the case, this really does need to be resolved within the next few days. Incidently as from the 17th of this month, I shall be sunning myself in Florida for a couple of weeks, and if anybody local has the urge to meet the British scourge, let me know so we can arrange somthing. ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

Countdown T ÔÇô 19 hours 2 minutes [Narrative On] From the bridge of the GCV Chikuma, Colonel Mallone scowled down at the fuzzy perscan readout and counted. ÔÇ£Six of them.ÔÇØ He said looking up at one of his few standing men. The marine opposite him nodded slowly then wiped a weary hand across his face. ÔÇ£Is the plague getting to you, son?ÔÇØ said Mallone, smirking at his subordinate. The marine immediately perked up, stood to attention and said an emphatic ÔÇÿÔÇØSir, no sir!ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Good.ÔÇØ Said Mallone. ÔÇ£We need ever able bodied man right now.ÔÇØ The marine agreed. Since losing nearly half his men to the doctors engineered virus and subsequent delayed anesthetic ÔÇÿcureÔÇÖ, Mallone had been restricted in his actions to take full control over the ship. As it stood, he couldnÔÇÖt risk sending in people to capture the remaining rogue personal while maintaining control over the bridge, the mess hall command center and engineering. As it was, most of his remaining people were stationed outside the shuttlebay, waiting for Neena and her reluctant followers to give themselves up. Of course, he could have simply used explosives and other heavy weapons to drive them out, but the collateral damage to the ship wasnÔÇÖt worth the risk. For now, he was happy at just having them contained. He had time on his side, and didnÔÇÖt need to needlessly risk his people and the ship in a vain effort to take the Lt.Commander down. The rest of the ChikumaÔÇÖs personnel were locked down in quarters and were not much of a threat. He had taken the precaution of rigging each of the crews quarters with micro explosives, so if anyone tried to escape they would find themselves smeared all over the nearest bulkhead. So far none had tried. ÔÇ£How is our guest?ÔÇØ asked Mallone, walking over to the restrained figure of system engineer Benni Arnauld. ÔÇ£He should come round in a minute or two, colonel.ÔÇØ Said the attending marine. ÔÇ£I hear he put up a brave fight.ÔÇØ Said Mallone, lifting the engineers chin upwards and getting a good look at his face. ÔÇ£Yes sir, he was quite insistent about not being taken to the bridge.ÔÇØ Mallone smiled. ÔÇ£Not insistent enough.ÔÇØ He allowed the engineers head to fall back down, then stepped away. The very instant that happened, Benni Arnauld sprang to life, pushing himself upwards and charging towards Mallone, chair in tow while screaming a variety of pre stella abuse. Mallone flinched slightly from the unexpected attack, but managed to side step the assault and watch as Benni unbalanced himself and came crashing down onto the deck plate. Instantly, one of Mallones troopers was on him, jabbing him painfully in the kidneys before dragging him to his feet and presenting him once again to Mallone. ÔÇ£Nice to see you up and about Mr. Arnauld.ÔÇØ Said Mallone. ÔÇ£**** you!ÔÇØ spat Arnauld back, a mixed trail of blood and saliva running down his chin from a broken tooth. ÔÇ£That seems to be a popular request these days,ÔÇØ smirked Mallone. ÔÇ£but IÔÇÖm sad to say, not in this life time.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£DonÔÇÖt break a habit on my account.ÔÇØ Sneered Arnauld, who was then brutally thumped in the gut by another marine. ÔÇ£Steady.ÔÇØ Said Mallone to his subordinate. ÔÇ£We donÔÇÖt want to damage our friend too much. Not when we have a business proposition for him.ÔÇØ The marine stood down, and took a step away from Arnauld and his colonel. ÔÇ£Proposition?ÔÇØ the injured engineer said. ÔÇ£Yes.ÔÇØ Said Mallone. ÔÇ£I believe you and I are not totally unalike, especially after reading through your service and personnel record.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Cute.ÔÇØ Said Arnauld. For the next ten minutes, Mallone explained to the system engineer exactly what he wanted him to do. When Mallone concluded, he allowed Benni a moment to gather his thoughts before asking his first question. ÔÇ£Whats in it for me?ÔÇØ the system engineer said. Mallone smirked. ÔÇ£You get to live.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£I want more than that.ÔÇØ Said Arnauld. ÔÇ£I want the rest of those pricks on ship, especially that bitch Polovoski and the engineer head prick.ÔÇØ Mallones smirk grew into a smile. He liked this man. He had a lot of potential. ÔÇ£You pull off what I want you to do, and IÔÇÖll deliver them to you personally. What do you say?ÔÇØ System engineer Benni Arnauld though for a few moments before finally deciding. Countdown T ÔÇô 18 hours 51 minutes [Narrative Off] ***** Gallion, IÔÇÖll mail you with the specifics shortly. ***** ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

***** hehehe. Thats funny. Sadly, I have to punsh you for it. Mock me would you? ***** Countdown T ÔÇô 19 hours 10 minutes [Narrative On] Neena Polovoski, Personal Log Well, somehow I have stayed alive long enough to make another log entry. After my last depressing addition, I didnÔÇÖt think IÔÇÖd get the time or have the opportunity to do it again. IÔÇÖm more than pleased I was wrong. Well, IÔÇÖm taking a breather at the moment. ItÔÇÖs been one of those days. ItÔÇÖs been one of those weeks actually. Hell, no point going over old ground. Lets start with the last twenty odd minutes. My team and I had somehow managed to evade Mallones troops all the way from medbay until just before reaching engineering. Just as we came around the corridor, we faced off with about ten of Mallones people rounding the opposite corner. Everyone froze, seemingly surprised by eachother. Then we went to ground, took firing positions. It was tense. Nobody wanted a fight, but everybody knew that it would probably happen sooner or later. There was a brief round of negotiations, and then Mallones troops were reinforced by at least five or six more people. One of my people panicked and opened fire. He dropped one of the new arrivals and started a firefight that nearly got us all killed. It was so confusing. Everybody firing at once, people from both sides began to drop. Some from weapons fire, and some from the docÔÇÖs little knock out drug. Whatever the case, the sudden confusion amongst Mallones troops gave us a brief moment to take advantage of. We didnÔÇÖt have the numbers or the firepower to take them on properly, and if we had done the remaining troops would have vaped us. I didnÔÇÖt favor suicide, so I gave the order to retreat to the fall back zone. ThatÔÇÖs when it got really confusing. Everybody started to fall back at once, with the Sgt. Laying down covering fire while we pegged it down the corridor. The two walking wounded marines we had with us had been killed in the initial firefight, so there was just myself and an armed combat medic with any threat potential. We also had another medic and a flight engineer still with us. Four in total out of the nine who left medbay. As for Sgt. Diamond. I donÔÇÖt know what happened to him. HeÔÇÖs probably dead now. As we made our way down to the shuttle bay, I linked in with engineering. An engineer open the comm and began shouting at me. I could hear weapons fire and screaming. Pleading voices, offers of surrender. Someone called out for the chief. No response. More fire, more pleading. Then nothing. The comm died. Like Sgt. Diamond, Spencer is now probably dead. Engineering has fallen. The four of us managed to get to the shuttle bay. What greeted us was an ominous sight. ATVÔÇÖs had been deployed with droids manning the gun controls. We froze as weapons trained on us. I called for McKendrick, and a moment later he and the doc popped out from behind cover and aimed weapons at us. He seemed relieved when we got there, but also disappointed by our numbers. The doc too looked extremely depressed. I was surprised to see him at all to be honest. I had expected him to remain in medbay until things got really difficult. I guess Mallone had decided to move against him sooner rather than later. McKendrick gave an order to the droids, and they stood down from their turrets. We were allowed in and took positions behind the ATVÔÇÖs. Over the next few minutes, I learned that there was just the six of us in the shuttle bay, with some of the pilots in the launch bays left to retake the ship. The squad of marines that Sgt.Diamond had sent down to reinforce engineering never made it. They could be alive and hiding out somewhere, or they could be dead. I donÔÇÖt know. Right now we are in a very precarious situation. Thanks to McKendrick, we have the shuttle bay nicely sealed off from the rest of the ship. If Mallones depleted forces attempted to take us out, they would have one hell of a fight on their hands. On the flip side of the coin, we are effectively prisoners within the shuttle bay. If we leave, they will cut us down in seconds. So long as we are in here, there is little we can do. Now all we can do is sit back and wait . . . see what Mallone throws at us next. Countdown T ÔÇô 19 hours 7 minutes [Narrative Off] ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958 [This message has been edited by Blades (edited 10-11-1999).]

Sorry gang, a combination of RL troubles and fly have kept me bed ridden for the last few days. I've followed the board, but not had the energy or insight to put pen to magic paper for a bit. You guys wouldnt want me to post a half assed segment anyway, right? Expect more by this evening and the final part of this blessed sage to begin shortly. This ride is about to get a helluva lot bumpier. ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

Eeeeeep! I forgot about that little detail. Completely disreguard that post. In fact, since I cant delete it (Did I mention I'd make an excellent Admin?) could someone in authority Zzap it dead for me? Yes, even I do make mistakes once in a while. Chars ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958 [This message has been edited by Blades (edited 10-08-1999).]

Just wonderin . . . . Is there any progress on determining who else is in contention for the hallowed prize of Fleet Commander? And if there is, where would one cast a vote and when? Details details ! ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

Countdown T ÔÇô 19 hours 30 minutes [Narrative On] Jenifer LoganÔÇÖs Personal Log I donÔÇÖt understand whats going on anymore. Before everything went nuts a few days ago When the war broke out with the Gammulans, everything was fine. Dad had calmed down and withdrawn most of his complaints against Commander Stone, and had even settled down a bit after reading my diary entries about my ÔÇÿPilotÔÇÖ. He told me then that I shouldnÔÇÖt be having such thoughts and feelings for a man like him, but I wasnÔÇÖt interested in listening. How dare he anyway? He shouldnÔÇÖt talk to me like IÔÇÖm a little girl. IÔÇÖm grown up now, and have every right to think what I want. Besides, itÔÇÖs not as If I havenÔÇÖt known men before. IÔÇÖm just glad I caught him reading the most recent entries, and not the one from March this year. He would have shit a brick! Anyway, we were confined to quarters until the emergency had passed, and although this was inconvenient I was still able to pass the time watching vids and playing Ultima 89 on my datacom. Then that man, what did dad say his name was? Mallone, yeah, Mallone had one of his come here and start asking lots of difficult questions. I didnÔÇÖt hear most of it, and when dad refused the marine got angry and started shouting. ThatÔÇÖs when dad began pushing the marine and got thumped. That was about twenty minutes ago. The marine locked the door and I cant get it open now. Dad is hurt but the internal comms are down. I cant get through to medbay or anywhere else. The medkit we always have with us helped to stop the bleeding, but I think heÔÇÖs got a broken rib or something. And if that wasnÔÇÖt bad enough, weÔÇÖre both sick with some kind of illness. IÔÇÖm pretty scared if IÔÇÖm honest, and the ship seems to be moving again after sitting still for ages. I donÔÇÖt know where were going, or what we are going to do when we get there. All I know is that dad is hurt, I havenÔÇÖt seen my pilot for days and those dark marines are running all over the ship. Wait . . . . I think I can hear a gun shooting. Oh, I hope itÔÇÖs not coming here. IÔÇÖm so scared, I donÔÇÖt know what to do . . . End Log Countdown T ÔÇô 19 hours 27 minutes [Narrative Off] ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

Countdown T ÔÇô 19 hours 35 minutes [Narrative On] Engineering was about to become a very confusing place. The corridor outside engineering was also about to become a confusing place. Several things seemed to happen at the same time. The first thing was the sudden arrival of teams four, nine and ten. Their instructions were to take control of engineering, take Chief Spencer into custody and await the arrival of teams three, five and eight to lock down the engineering crew present. However, as the three teams rounded the corridor and bore down on engineering, they happened across Lt.Commander Neena Polovoski and her band of would be mutineers at the opposite end of the corridor. For a brief moment, both sides were motionless, then Mallones marines began taking firing positions. In response, the combat officers mutineers began taking defensive positions of their own, grabbing cover within doorways and pointing their assortment of firearms down towards Mallones men. For the longest time there was silence, neither side willing to commit to open combat. Althoug Mallones marines were hard trained and dedicated soldiers, there was not one amongst them that actually wanted to kill one of their own. One of the marines from Mallones side shouted an order to the combat officer. The order was simple, lay down your arms and surrender immediately. In response, Lt.Commander Neena Polovoski informed her counterpart that it was they that should stand down and surrender, citing illegal orders and charges of war crimes. For the longest time (In actuality a mere twenty seconds) both sides faced off against eachother. Had it not been for the untimely arrival of teams three, five and eight, there could have been a possibility of peacefully ending the conflict. However, as teams three, five and eight rounded the same corridor that the other teams occupied, a nervous (And extremely paranoid) marine from NeenaÔÇÖs troupe, opened up with his rifle and dropped two of the new arrivals before anyone had a chance to stop him. As a result, a mass of weapons fire engulfed the corridor, and the fine line between war and peace broken apart. Before the conflict was complete, engineering would be stormed, everyone still present within killed and the survivors from NeenaÔÇÖs team beating a fast retreat to the shuttle bay. The battle for the Chikuma had just begun. Countdown T ÔÇô 19 hours 25 minutes [Narrative Off] ***** Please note, the outcome of the battle for engineering has already been established, and players not wanting to get wiped out had best post their escape story quick sharpish. Another quick point, there are 18 enemy marines present in this conflict. ***** ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

Countdown T ÔÇô 19 hours 43 minutes 8 seconds [Narrative On] ÔÇ£How are our patrols doing?ÔÇØ asked Mallone from the command chair. The marine at the combat officers station brought up a modified perscan display on the terminal. ÔÇ£Sir, team two has just entered medbay to take the doctor into custody. Teams three, five and eight are sweeping the crew quarters and are locking them down. Team four, nine and ten are converging on engineering. Everyone else is in the command center in the mess or up here, sir.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Excellent. Any luck with the ships internal sensors?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Partial sir, but IÔÇÖm still not able to get reliable readings. Once they stop however, I should be able to get a bead on them in under a minute.ÔÇØ Mallone was still angry with Stone and his Equinox program. Not only had it shut out access to the ships major systems, it had locked down transporters, launch control and scrambled the perscan system. Despite having his best technical crew working on the perscan problem, he was still only able to get accurate sensor readings from crewman IF they stayed put in one location for more than a minute. Limited, but for now it would have to do. ÔÇ£Colonel!ÔÇØ shouted one of the bridge marines from Graves old tactical station. ÔÇ£What is it?ÔÇØ enquired Mallone. ÔÇ£Sir, someone is prepping the Interceptors for launch.ÔÇØ Mallone pushed himself from his newly aquired chair and went over to the tactical station to verify what his subordinate was telling him. ÔÇ£Damn.ÔÇØ Said Mallone. ÔÇ£I was sure the pilots would have tried to hook up with the Lt.Commander.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£It would have been the most logical deduction sir. Consolodate her forces and make a stand.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Indeed.ÔÇØ Agreed Mallone. ÔÇ£Which leads me to believe that the good Lt.Commander knows more about whats goin on than I had given her credit for.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Yes sir.ÔÇØ Agreed the marine. ÔÇ£What do you suggest colonel?ÔÇØ Mallone thought for a moment. ÔÇ£Whats the status of the Interceptors?ÔÇØ The marine tracked his fingers over the terminal and brought up the relevant information. ÔÇ£Flight worthy, but just barley sir. Looks like the repair crews hadnÔÇÖt got round to patching them back together from the previous engagement.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Charged?ÔÇØ asked Mallone. ÔÇ£Not to full capacity sir. But they have sufficient charge for a brief furball.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Armed?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Yes sir, each interceptor is fully loaded with ordinance.ÔÇØ Mallone frowned. ÔÇ£I would have preferred you tell me something other than that marine.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Yes sir. Sorry sir.ÔÇØ Mallone stepped away from the tac ops terminal and considered his problem. The way he saw it, a determined fighter crew could, as a last resort, cause an awful lot of damage to the Chikum internally. He of course based this on the assumption that they, like Neena were aware of the existence of the RANDOM device on board ship. Fortunately, the fighters built in safe guards would prevent the launch of the missiles from within the launch bay. However, the forward guns had no such restrictions. It had been a mistake not to secure the flight deck the moment he suspected Commander Stones change of heart. He also realized it had been a mistake not deactivate the fighters individually. Now, there was the potential for the mission to be screwed without them ever getting near the target. ÔÇ£Ah, colonel?ÔÇØ said the marine manning the combat officers terminal. ÔÇ£Yes? What is it?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Sir, IÔÇÖve been interlinking this system with our remote equipment in the mess hall command facility. Someone from the outside has just hacked into the HK system and is accessing the database.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£What?ÔÇØ said Mallone, sounding surprised. ÔÇ£How?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm not sure sir. Whoever it is has bypassed three security protocols and hacked into the mainframe.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Can you lock them out?ÔÇØ The marine nodded. ÔÇ£Yes sir. IÔÇÖll do it now sir.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Wait!ÔÇØ said Mallone, an idea springing into his head. ÔÇ£Has he tried to access the launch protocols for the devices?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Yes sir, but he wont get them sir. Theres no way he will ever break through six levels of encryption.ÔÇØ Mallone thought for a moment more, then began to smile. ÔÇ£Give him partial access to the drones. Let him think he has enough to allow him to reprogram them.ÔÇØ The marine began to work over the terminal ÔÇ£HeÔÇÖs downloading the protocols now sir.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Good.ÔÇØ Said Mallone. ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm assuming he cant be on the move while doing this. I want a trace on that download path. Tie in with perscan and identify our hacker.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Working.ÔÇØ Said the marine, again tapping into the security console. Mallone stepped back to the command chair and seated himself again. He stretched back into it, enjoyed itÔÇÖs comfortable feel and allowed himself to enjoy a moment of pure relaxation. He was almost annoyed at the marine when he informed him the trace had been successfully completed. ÔÇ£What have you got for me?ÔÇØ said Mallone. ÔÇ£I tracked the signal sir. I got it just before the hacker disconnected. And I donÔÇÖt think he noticed the trace.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Who is it, and where did the hack originate from?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Sir, itÔÇÖs System Engineer #13,Benni Arnald. HeÔÇÖs currently near deflector control, trying to evade our patrol.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Benni Arnald huh? That names seems mighty familiar.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Uh, yes sir.ÔÇØ Agreed the unsure marine. ÔÇ£Shall I have the team close and take him down?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Negative.ÔÇØ Said Mallone. ÔÇ£We could use a man with his talents. Have the team pick him up and bring him to the bridge. If he resists, knock him down but donÔÇÖt kill him. I want this one alive. I got a feeling he could be useful.ÔÇØ Countdown T ÔÇô 19 hours 37 minutes [Narrative Off] ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#43692958

Better get a move on Gallion. You could be running out of candidates real fast Not that I want to worry the rest of you. ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#31927230

***** Ah, good timing Ron. I was worried for a bit weÔÇÖd seen the last of you. ***** Countdown T ÔÇô 19 hours 55 minutes 19 seconds [Narrative On] ÔÇ£Status report.ÔÇØ Ordered Mallone from the ChikumaÔÇÖs command chair. ÔÇ£Sir!ÔÇØ said one of the troopers that had just reported to the bridge. ÔÇ£Just got word from two of our people down in pilot country.ÔÇØ Mallone spun in his chair to him. ÔÇ£Tell me.ÔÇØ The marine stepped forward, snapped to attention and began his report. ÔÇ£Sir! Troopers Smith and Caplan were bringing up additional equipment to our command center in the mess when they faced off with the pilots. All of them sir.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£And?ÔÇØ said Mallone. ÔÇ£And it got a bit confusing, sir.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Confusing how?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Well sir,ÔÇØ started the marine. ÔÇ£Seems the pilots didnÔÇÖt like the look of Smith and Caplan too much. So they bolted sir. Most of them anyway. One of the pilots managed to cut up Smith pretty good before escaping.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£They escaped?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Sir, yes sir! Ran right through them sir. Knocked them for six.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£I see.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£And confiscated their weapons, sir.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Marvelous.ÔÇØ Groaned Mallone. The marine colonel swiveled back in the command chair to face the view screen. ÔÇ£Seems like Lt.Commander Polovoski has finally gotten round to assembling her merry band of mutineers.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Yes sir, seems that way sir.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Well, we canÔÇÖt be having that sort of thing going on on my ship.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£No sir, it wouldnÔÇÖt do, sir.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£My thoughts exactly. Very well, I had hoped to put this off for a little longer, but It looks like the Lt.Commander has the same nasty habit as Stone did for forcing my hand.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Shall I deploy the men, sir?ÔÇØ Mallone nodded. ÔÇ£Have them begin locking down everyone in personal quarters. If there is any resistance, kill them. Have a team goto the barracks and eliminate any marine personnel encountered. Have another team take control of engineering. Again, if there is any resistance, kill them.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Yes colonel.ÔÇØ Said the marine. ÔÇ£And what of the surviving command staff?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Track them down and put them under arrest. If they resist, kill them.ÔÇØ The marine nodded, and began to move for the bridge exit. ÔÇ£One more thing.ÔÇØ Said Mallone. The marine turned and faced his commander. ÔÇ£Yes, sir?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Should you run into any significant resistance, deploy the HK drones.ÔÇØ He said. ÔÇ£Sir? Do you think thatÔÇÖs a good idea. I mean, they are still experimental.ÔÇØ Mallone smiled. ÔÇ£IsnÔÇÖt everything we brought with us marine?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Yes sir, but we havenÔÇÖt calibrated them do distinguish between our people and everyone else.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Then make that your first priority marine. I want those units prepped and ready to deploy in twenty minutes.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Sir, I donÔÇÖt think we will need them. I doubt we will meet much resistance.ÔÇØ Mallone stood from the command chair and approached his subordinate. ÔÇ£If theres one thing I have learned from my brief time on this ship, itÔÇÖs that you should never underestimate the capabilities of this crew. Like it or not, they are dangerous. Stone surprised me, and I wont make that mistake again. Get it done marine.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Yes sir.ÔÇØ With that, the marine saluted quickly and left the bridge. When he was gone, Mallone reseated himself and pondered the likely activities of Neena Polovoski and her band of mutineers. Countdown T ÔÇô 19 hours 52 minutes 37 seconds [Narrative Off] ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#31927230

Target Countdown T ÔÇô 20 hours 5 minutes 32 seconds [Narrative On] In medbay, Neena Polovoski frantically worked her fingers over one of the redundant terminals and attempted to reinitialize her command protocols remotely. Frustrated with continual failure, she concluded that Stone must have locked out all access to the higher command functions. ÔÇ£Anything?ÔÇØ asked Sgt. Diamond from her side. ÔÇ£Nothing.ÔÇØ She said, shaking her head. The old marine regular slammed a fist down hard on the terminals display unit. The screen shook with the violent thump. ÔÇ£Then I guess Stone didnÔÇÖt have a change of heart after all.ÔÇØ Neena shrugged. ÔÇ£I was so sure Sgt. I spoke with Reynolds when he came in and he was certain the commander had decided to scrub the mission.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Do you know any more details?ÔÇØ the Sgt. asked her. ÔÇ£No.ÔÇØ she replied. ÔÇ£But IÔÇÖm due to meet him in his quarters in a little over half an hour from now.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Lt.Commander!ÔÇØ said an over excited medic as he ran into medbay. Neena turned to him, noticed the look of concern in his eyes. ÔÇ£What is it crewman?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Sir,ÔÇØ he started, fighting for breath. ÔÇ£I was in the mess hall with Otis and McGillan when a squad of those black troopers came in and threw everyone out.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Hell.ÔÇØ Said the combat officer. ÔÇ£At least we now know where they were goin in such a hurry when they left here. What were they doing?ÔÇØ The medic gasped again, and allowed himself to rest on Neenas terminal. ÔÇ£Not sure sir, but they brought in a lot of equipment. They made us leave very quickly and threatened to shoot us if we didnÔÇÖt scarper pronto.ÔÇØ Sgt. Diamond stood to his full height, turned to the side and tapped into his lash com. ÔÇ£Strager? Get the rest of our people prepped for combat. I want a full tac loadout and ready to move in three minutes.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Theres more Lt.Commander.ÔÇØ said the exhausted medic. ÔÇ£Yes?ÔÇØ The medic took a deep breath and then explained. ÔÇ£Sir, I ran into an engineer who had been working on the malfunctioning bridge doorway. He told me that Mallone went up there in a real hurry and told him to clear out.ÔÇØ Overhearing, the recovering communication officer sat up from his biobed and interrupted the conversation. ÔÇ£Neena, Stone ordered Mallone up there just before me and Ailsa left the bridge.ÔÇØ Neena frowned, and then had an awful thought. ÔÇ£Mallone went up there to make sure Stone continued with the mission.ÔÇØ As if on queue, the Chikuma began to shake as the main engines came back online. Neena turned back to her console, and again tried to initialize her command protocols. Again, she failed. Just then, Spencer down in engineering broke through static and began shouting at her. ÔÇ£LT.Commander, the computer core has just come back online. Engines are up and running as is navigation and weapons control.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Can you interface with the propulsion systems chief?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Negative!ÔÇØ replied Spencer over the background hum of the engine room. ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm just as lock out as I was when everything died a few minutes ago. But someone is in control.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Oh god.ÔÇØ Said Neena, a horrific thought crossing her already taxed mind. ÔÇ£Spencer, stand by to evacuate engineering. Get your team together and stand by for further instructions.ÔÇØ Neena linked off and began frantic tapping on the medbay terminal. Within moments, she had managed to access one of the less restrictive systems. Reynolds, now off the bio bed walked hesitantly over to her and over her shoulder. ÔÇ£Why are you looking at the perscan system?ÔÇØ he asked. A moment later, he understood. ÔÇ£Oh my god.ÔÇØ The junior officer said. From what he could read on the flat 2d terminal, Commander Stone and Tactical Officer Graves were dead. His heart skipped a beat, and an awful truth dawned on him. ÔÇ£Mallone has taken the ship.ÔÇØ He said solemnly. ÔÇ£Noooo!ÔÇØ shouted the combat officer, beating on the flat screen with her fists until its surface began to crack. The banging stopped all conversation and activity in medbay, with medics and patients alike looking over at the enraged combat officer. When she stopped her thumping, the medbay remained quiet. Only the slight beeping of automated equipment broke the cold silence. ÔÇ£Neena?ÔÇØ said Sgt. Diamond after a moments pause. ÔÇ£We have to assume Mallone is going to take control of the entire ship. We have to prepare ourselves if weÔÇÖre going to oppose him.ÔÇØ Neena shook her head. ÔÇ£We have to get a message out to all our people, but Mallone could have a squad of his people on their way over here as we speak.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£They are not here yet Lt.Commander. We have to evacuate sickbay and get to a defensible position.ÔÇØ Neena thought for a moment. ÔÇ£Engineering.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£My thoughts exactly.ÔÇØ Said the old marine. ÔÇ£Although thatÔÇÖs the first place they will try to take control of. They may already be on their way.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£We better move fast then.ÔÇØ Said Neena, standing from her chair. ÔÇ£If we can hold onto engineering, we can slow them down.ÔÇØ Just then, and rather unexpectedly, a small droid thumped against the secured medbay entrance. Neena turned to look at the curious little device, and Sgt. Diamond instinctively drew a firearm and leveled it at the droid. ÔÇ£Wait.ÔÇØ Said Neena. ÔÇ£I think thatÔÇÖs the droid that McKendrick took control of.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£McKendrick? The traitor?ÔÇØ Neena cursed herself for not previously explaining to the marine. ÔÇ£Sorry sgt. ItÔÇÖs a long story. Suffice it to say, McKendrick found out something real interesting. IÔÇÖll explain on our way to engineering.ÔÇØ A moment later, Neena unlocked the medbay doors and allowed the little droid to enter. It wheeled itself up to her, extended it cranial unit to full height and interfaced with the medbays terminal. As she watched, line after line of text began to display on the monitor, explaining to her and all those that observed that McKendrick was in the shuttle bay, accompanied with stolen ordinance from the weapons bay and ready to make a stand. ÔÇ£Reynolds,ÔÇØ started Neena. ÔÇ£Get a message through to our pilots in the ready room. Update them of our situation and tell them to get to Shuttle bay and load up.ÔÇØ Reynolds nodded and went about his duty. ÔÇ£Looks like we got a nice fall back location.ÔÇØ Said Sgt. Diamond. As he spoke, his lash com signaled him. ÔÇ£Go.ÔÇØ He barked into the mike. ÔÇ£Sgt,ÔÇØ started the tinny voice. ÔÇ£We have 8 healthy people and three walking wounded locked and loaded. Standing by for orders.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Excellent.ÔÇØ Said Diamond. ÔÇ£Move out and secure engineering. If you meet any of Mallones troops en route, you are cleared to engage them.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Understood sgt.ÔÇØ Said Strager. ÔÇ£And you?ÔÇØ Sgt. Diamond looked round at the combat officer. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre preparing to move out and consolidate as many additional personnel as possible. If things get FUBARÔÇÖd, fall back to the shuttle bay.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Understood sgt. Good hunting.ÔÇØ Neena pulled away from those gathered around the terminal and sought out the CMO. She found him, standing over Ailsa Strang on a biobed. ÔÇ£How is she?ÔÇØ The CMO frowned. ÔÇ£Not good. She didnÔÇÖt react well to the infection. SheÔÇÖs stable, but not going anywhere.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£We donÔÇÖt have a choice.ÔÇØ Said Neena. ÔÇ£We have to get down to engineering.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm a doctor, not a counter insurgent. Besides,ÔÇØ he pulled a device from a nearby tray and flashed it over her head. ÔÇ£I got a feeling there are going to be a lot of casualties over the next few hours. IÔÇÖm needed here.ÔÇØ Neena sighed, and quickly realized that the doctor couldnÔÇÖt be argued with. ÔÇ£Ok doc, you stay. Just donÔÇÖt forget, when Mallones men start falling down, they gonna get wise to your involvement and come looking for you.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Maybe.ÔÇØ Said the CMO. ÔÇ£But I promise you, should things get difficult, IÔÇÖll make myself scarce real fast.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£You do that.ÔÇØ Said Neena, smiling. ÔÇ£Just remember Lt.Commander, we only managed to tranq half his people. Theres at least 16 combat worthy troops that wont fall down in . . ÔÇ£ he quickly checked his chrono. ÔÇ£the next 45 minutes.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Understood doc. Keep your head down.ÔÇØ The CMO smiled back at her. ÔÇ£Always Neena, always.ÔÇØ Moments later, those willing to make the perilous journey through the occupied ship were ready to move out. In total, there were nine of them, including Neena Polovoski, Sgt. Diamond, Comms officer Reynolds, two walking wounded marines and an armed combat medic. Neena linked back to engineering. ÔÇ£Spencer? Change of plans. WeÔÇÖre coming down to you. Lock out access to anyone but us and a ships contingent of marines that are on their way down. If Mallones people get there before we do, donÔÇÖt resist. No heroÔÇÖs, understood?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Understood!ÔÇØ shouted Spencer over the background noise. ÔÇ£Anything we should do before then commander?ÔÇØ Neena thought for a moment. ÔÇ£See if you can disrupt the ships power systems, but donÔÇÖt initiate unless engineering is taken or I give you the go ahead.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Acknowledged commander. One thing though, is Stone with us or against us?ÔÇØ Neena swallowed hard. ÔÇ£Stones dead Mister Spencer. Mallone killed him.ÔÇØ The com went quiet for a few moments. ÔÇ£Understood Neena. WeÔÇÖre in real trouble, aint we?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm afraid so.ÔÇØ Said the combat officer. ÔÇ£Hang tight chief, weÔÇÖll be with you in a few minutes.ÔÇØ Deactivating the link to chief Spencer, Neena cast an unsure glance at her assembled crew and then nodded the command to move out. Weapons at the ready, they stepped out of medbay and began their journey down towards engineering. Target Countdown T ÔÇô 19 hours 59 minutes 12 seconds [Narrative Off] ***** Participating players have 24 hours from the time of this post to sound off. Otherwise, you will be assumed to be captured or killed. Chavik and Ben are excluded from this rule. ***** ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#31927230

Actually, that time index bit is for everyones benefit. Quite a lot could go on in the next hour in game, and I want to keep it tidy and precise until I write myself out of this current turn of events. Anyhow, is everyone happy with the latest turn of events? Confused, perplexed? Let me know what you think. ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#31927230

Mission + 23 days 19 hours 30 minutes [Narrative On] Commander Stone had been expecting MalloneÔÇÖs arrival on the bridge. He had also expected the big man to be less than happy with him at this time. As anticipated, Mallones vocal arrival on the bridge did little to quell the gnawing sense of dread he now felt. ÔÇ£Stone!ÔÇØ shouted Mallone as he came through the bridge access way. ÔÇ£What the hell are you doing?ÔÇØ The commander spun in his command chair and faced the fuming man. ÔÇ£IsnÔÇÖt it obvious even to you Colonel? WeÔÇÖre moving out and heading back into GalCom territory.ÔÇØ Mallone glared at him, barley being able to contain his fury. ÔÇ£You donÔÇÖt have the authority.ÔÇØ Stone smirked at him. ÔÇ£Not only do I have the authority, Colonel, I also have the moral responsibility.ÔÇØ Mallone shook his head at him. ÔÇ£Moral responsibility?ÔÇØ he jeered. ÔÇ£You have got to be joking. Where were your morals when you destroyed the Berlin and betrayed the fleet?ÔÇØ Stones eyes skipped from the enraged marine and briefly to Graves at the tactical station. The younger man looked shocked, stunned even by what he had just heard. Mallone took a moment to glance at the junior officer. ÔÇ£DidnÔÇÖt you know?ÔÇØ he said, smiling. ÔÇ£This entire mission is illegal. Not sanctioned by command at all. In fact, we are the renegades. We are the ones starting a war.ÔÇØ Jensen turned and glared at Mallone. ÔÇ£You mean none of itÔÇÖs true? The Omega directive? The assassination of the Supreme Commander and the diplomatic staff?ÔÇØ Mallone snorted. ÔÇ£You stupid girl. Of course itÔÇÖs false. We couldnÔÇÖt risk taking out the Supreme Commander and our best military heads. We need them just as much as you do.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Then what are we doing out here? Starting a war with the Gammulans for no reason?ÔÇØ Again Mallone smirked and shook his head Stone swallowed hard. ÔÇ£Clear the bridge.ÔÇØ He ordered. Jensen, the only other officer still on the bridge looked round from her flight console and looked questioningly at her commander. ÔÇ£Sir?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£ThatÔÇÖs an order Mister Jensen! Clear the god damned bridge.ÔÇØ Jensen snapped to her feet, cast an unsure look at Graves and then made a hurried move towards the exit. As she approached, Mallone stepped to one side and pulled his sidearm from itÔÇÖs holster. ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt think so.ÔÇØ Jensen froze in place, and Stone pushed himself fast to his feet, his hand immediately going for his own weapon. ÔÇ£Hold it!ÔÇØ shouted Mallone. ÔÇ£Or IÔÇÖll reduce your pilot to bleeding entrails.ÔÇØ Stone froze, his pistol half out of itÔÇÖs holster Mallone grinned at Stone while keeping an eye on the frozen flight officer. ÔÇ£Bring it out, nice and easy commander.ÔÇØ Slowly, Stone obeyed, removing the blaster from itÔÇÖs holster fully and tossing it aside. ÔÇ£You wont get away with this Mallone.ÔÇØ Mallone couldnÔÇÖt help but let a small laugh escape him. ÔÇ£Oh my commander, thatÔÇÖs so clich├®d. Have you got any more for me? No no, let me guess. You were going to say ÔÇÿMy people will stop you, whatever you do to meÔÇÖ . .. am I right?ÔÇØ Mallone allowed himself another brief laugh. ÔÇ£And this is the part where I tell you the entirety of my plan.ÔÇØ Stones eyes narrowed. ÔÇ£Something like that.ÔÇØ He coolly said. ÔÇ£But before you do, theres something I want to add to our little drama.ÔÇØ Mallones grin faltered, and his eyes turned their attention fully on the commander. ÔÇ£And that is, commander?ÔÇØ Stone flashed him a cold smile. ÔÇ£Computer : Activate Equinox.ÔÇØ An instant later, the computer acknowledged in an unemotional female voice. ÔÇ£Program Equinox initiated. Bridge command protocols deleted. Primary ships systems have been disabled.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£No!ÔÇØ exclaimed Mallone, taking a sudden step closer to Stone and leveling the pistol at his chest. At that same moment, Graves took a step back from his tactical station and positioned himself closer to Mallone. ÔÇ£Computer!ÔÇØ shouted Mallone. ÔÇ£Reinitialize manual helm control. Authorization Mallone zero-seven-nine-six-three beta.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Invalid command protocol.ÔÇØ Replied the computer instantly. ÔÇ£I took the liberty of removing youÔÇÖre access to the ships systems along with my own, the XOÔÇÖs and SpencerÔÇÖs. Nobody left on this ship can access helm, navigation or the weapons systems.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£You!ÔÇØ shouted Mallone, taking another bold step closer to the commander. Unnoticed again, Graves also moved up. ÔÇ£This changes nothing! All you have done is delay the inevitable!ÔÇØ Stone held his ground. ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt think so Mallone. This ships not going anywhere now. Not without helm or navigation.ÔÇØ Mallone snarled at him, his lip curling in surprised fury. Steadily, his anger began to subside, and his features grew softer. Stone didnÔÇÖt like it. He had the look of a man with a trump card to play. ÔÇ£If weÔÇÖre not going anywhere,ÔÇØ started Mallone, swinging his weapon arm away from the commander. ÔÇ£then we have little use for a flight officer.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£No!ÔÇØ screamed Stone, lurching towards Mallone as his aim fell upon Tamara Jensen and his finger began to squeeze the trigger. His other arm shot out and knocked Stone to the floor the instant he came into range. At that same moment, Graves charged. Closer to the marine than Stone, the instant the weapon discharged, he collided and knocked them both over the communications terminal. As they fell, Graves watched Jensens slight figure reel backwards from the weapons impact and slump out of sight. Mallone rolled and sprung to his feet the instant he touched the deck plating. Beside him, the winded Graves was attempting to push himself to his feet. His head arched up briefly and looked into Mallones stern face. The marine recognized resignation in the tactical officers eyes, and without a moments hesitation, kicked out with his boot, hard and precise. Graves neck crumpled under the impact, broken in several places and crushing his wind pipe. Mercifully, he died instantly. Mallone turned a moment later, looking in the direction where he expected Stone to be lying unconscious on the deck. He was genuinely surprised to find Stone hurtling at him again, but dismissed this thought the instant Stones extended fist connected with his nose and sent him reeling back over the communications panel again. This time not so fortunate, Mallone landed badly and lost grip on his sidearm. The blaster scattered across the deck, far out of immediate reach and lodged itself under the navigation stations tracked chair. Stone threw himself over the blocking terminal and landed hard on Mallone. His hands were immediately around the marine Colonels neck and began to squeeze. Alarmed by Stones surprising strength, Mallone gripped the commanders forearms with his hands and tried to lodge them free. Surprised by more enraged resistance, he thrashed out with his legs and kicked Stone painfully in the ribs. Stone rolled with the impact, feeling the snap of at least one of his ribs and slumped in agony beside Mallone. Forcing himself to his knees slowly, he looked up in time to block a vicious kick aimed at his head, then swept out with his freed leg to knock Mallone back on his feet. As the marine fell onto his back, Stone forced himself painfully to his full height. ÔÇ£Murdering son of a bitchÔÇØ he sneered, taking a step closer to the prone marine. Mallone, in a single and precise movement, flipped himself back to his feet and swung a reverse kick out at Stone. Unprepared for the attack, Stone failed to block and was shunted back by the blow to his chest. He fell back a good seven feet, and stumbled backwards over his command chair. ÔÇ£IÔÇÖve been waiting for this a long time,ÔÇØ said Mallone, spitting a broken tooth from his bleeding mouth. Stone gasped as he began to climb back to his feet, cradling his broken rib with his left arm. ÔÇ£If you wanted this,ÔÇØ Stone said to his opponent. ÔÇ£you could have just asked. You didnÔÇÖt have to kill Graves and Jensen.ÔÇØ Mallone began to stride confidently towards the injured commander, the maniacal grin on his sweat-drenched face gleaming threateningly. ÔÇ£YouÔÇÖre right. I didnÔÇÖt have to kill them.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Then why?ÔÇØ asked Stone, taking another painful step closer, and falling into a combat stance. Mallone stopped short of the commander and also fell into a similar stance. ÔÇ£Because I wanted to.ÔÇØ Mallone fired an aimed punch forward. Stone deftly avoided the strike, and flung one back, connecting solidly on the bigger mans chin. Mallone reeled slightly, clutched his damaged chin with his left hand and nodded at the commander. ÔÇ£I gotta hand it to you Stone, youÔÇÖre not quite the walkover I thought you were.ÔÇØ Stone answered with his fists and feet, launching into a number of maneuvers that surprised Mallone further. Deflecting most of them, Mallone fired a few retaliatory strikes back at the commander. Like the marine, Stone deflected most of the blows, but failed to anticipate another powerful chest kick that sent him reeling back towards his chair again. ÔÇ£Where did you learn to fight Stone?ÔÇØ asked the marine as he launched into another bout of kicks and punches. Again Stone deflected, and again found a weakness in the marines defenses and exploited it, knocking Mallone to the floor before he was himself brought down by a surprising sweeping attack. Both men rolled backwards and up onto their feet. Again, they were a few feet from each other, retaking their stances and awaiting an aggressive strike. ÔÇ£You think youÔÇÖre the only Special Forces on this ship? I spent a year undercover on Sygan. They donÔÇÖt just let anybody do that.ÔÇØ Mallone smiled. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs a pity that you didnÔÇÖt stay there, you might have saved yourself a lot of pain.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Pain is my business.ÔÇØ Said Stone, launching into another volley of kicks and punches that had Mallone blocking and retreating. ÔÇ£Is that so?ÔÇØ said Mallone as he frantically tried to deflect most of the blows. Momentarily finding himself free from attack, he lowered his guard just long enough to reach behind him and pull out a standard issue combat knife. Stone frowned at the new addition, and carefully reoriented himself to defend against this latest weapon of attack. ÔÇ£Well,ÔÇØ concluded Mallone, bringing the knife up and within striking distance of Stone. ÔÇ£I guess this is your closing down sale.ÔÇØ With that, Mallone launched himself into an all out attack of the commander. Over stretching himself in his effort to stab Stone, he found himself struck viciously several times. He reeled from these blows, and for the first time during the melee found himself threatened. He didnÔÇÖt like this. DidnÔÇÖt like it at all. Each of his men had been personally trained by him, and he was superior to all of them in hand to hand combat. The thought of being defeated by a mere starship commander angered him, even if this particular commander had received previous Special Forces training. The thought also occurred to him that if he was defeated, then the mission, the real mission would fail. He couldnÔÇÖt allow this. Launching himself at Stone once again, he was careful to avoid overstretching himself and was rewarded with several deep lacerations to the commanders forearms and hands. Withdrawing slightly from the knife attack, Stone arched out with his legs in an attempt to dislodge the knife from the marines grip. Spotting an opportunity, Mallone swung to the side and launched a powerful kick at the commanders midsection. It connected, sending Stone reeling backwards. Unbalanced, the commander fell and landed awkwardly between two consoles. He looked up just in time to see Mallone flip the knife blade into his hand, draw it behind his head and throw it with lethal force down towards him. A curious sensation overcame Stone, but not as curious as the sight of the knife, buried up to itÔÇÖs hilt into his chest and leaking blood down his scuffed uniform. Lacking the strength to do anything but frown in disbelief, Stone resigned himself to the knowledge that he was beaten. ÔÇ£Killing me doesnÔÇÖt change anything Mallone, youÔÇÖre still beaten.ÔÇØ Mallone stepped into Stones view and crouched down in front of his defeated opponent. ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm afraid thatÔÇÖs not quite true.ÔÇØ Stone looked into the big marines face and found that he was nearly smiling. A sense of dread overcame him, an understanding of sorts in his last few moments. ÔÇ£Stiles lied, didnÔÇÖt he?ÔÇØ Mallone snorted, and wiped a hand over his bleeding lip. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs so sad. Only now at the end do you understand.ÔÇØ Stone gasped as he began to feel the digging pain in his chest. ÔÇ£Stiles never trusted me with the mission. He expected me to turn back once we got close to our target. ThatÔÇÖs why you are really here, to make sure I didnÔÇÖt turn back.ÔÇØ Mallone chuckled. ÔÇ£Not quiteÔÇØ he said. ÔÇ£Stiles trusted you to get this far, perhaps even go all the way to Gammulan space and make the attack. However, despite what our beloved leader may have told you, Gammula was never our real target.ÔÇØ Mallone grasped the hilt of the knife and slowly twisted the blade inside Stone chest. The commander cried out in agony, the blades serrated edge doing more damage to his already brutalized innards. ÔÇ£You *******!ÔÇØ cried Stone into his tormentors face. Mallone chuckled, gaining immense satisfaction from his victimÔÇÖs agony. ÔÇ£Where were you going with that thing?ÔÇØ Mallone stopped the twisting, and in a single brutal stroke withdrew the knife from Stones chest, wipes it on the commanders tunic and replaced it into itÔÇÖs sheath. ÔÇ£The last place we were ever going to go with the device was Gammula. What a waste of fine ordinance.ÔÇØ Mallone began making way over to the navigation station. Once there, he reached under AilsaÔÇÖs unoccupied seat and fished out the blaster. He turned, and began walking back towards the mortally wounded commander. ÔÇ£No commander, weÔÇÖre not going to Gammula with that thing. WeÔÇÖre going somewhere very different. Somewhere unexpected. Somewhere beneficial.ÔÇØ Stone managed to force out a pained chuckle. ÔÇ£Wherever you think youÔÇÖre taking that thing, it doesnÔÇÖt matter. This ship is dead in space. Within a matter of hours a fleet of ships will be here and will stop you. YouÔÇÖre not going anywhere. Launch control has also been locked out, as have the ships transporters. Theres nowhere for you to go. Nowhere to hide. YouÔÇÖre just as dead as I am.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£All you did by locking out the command protocols was inconvenience me, commander. I can have this ship up and running again in a matter of seconds.ÔÇØ Stones vision began to fade, and he began to drift ever closer to the abyss. ÔÇ£How . . ?ÔÇØ he managed to spit out. ÔÇ£Failsafe.ÔÇØ Said Mallone, lowering himself face to face with the commander. ÔÇ£Watch this Stone, youÔÇÖre gonna get a kick out of it.ÔÇØ Mallone cleared his throat, and smiling said. ÔÇ£Computer : Initialize command protocol Baker-two-five-seven-nine-four.ÔÇØ The computers female voice took a moment to respond, and seemed to be experiencing a few difficulties. ÔÇ£Command initialized. Protocol baker-two-five-seven-nine-four Initialized.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£How?ÔÇØ asked Stone quietly, his voice fading as his heart slowed. ÔÇ£There were some adjustments made to the computer core during the refit. We had a few special systems installed just in case something like this happened. You see, we thought of everything.ÔÇØ Mallone beamed at the commander with a huge, mocking smile. ÔÇ£You . . . . wont get . . . away . . . with this . . . . ÔÇ£ croaked Stone. ÔÇ£Wanna bet?ÔÇØ replied Mallone. ÔÇ£Computer : Execute command Preemptive Strike.ÔÇØ Moments later, all major bridge systems came back online. The engines began a slow burn, and the ship reoriented itself and began blazing off in a new direction. ÔÇ£As you can see commander, the ships now fully on automatic. I cant disable the system now even if I wanted to. Which means neither can you, or your crew. Impressed?ÔÇØ Stone looked up on final time into Mallones eyes. Lacking the strength to utter any words, he mouthed a silent question. ÔÇ£Where?ÔÇØ said Mallone. ÔÇ£Ok, since your about to die, IÔÇÖll tell you. But shhh, itÔÇÖs a secret.ÔÇØ Mallone bent close to the commander and whispered quietly into his ear. He withdrew his head in time to register a final look of disbelief and shock from Stone. ÔÇ£Monster.ÔÇØ Whispered Stone, and in a final defiant gesture, spat into the Marines cracked face. By the time Mallone had wiped the blood and saliva from his eyes and nose, Stone had become still. Standing, Mallone stepped away from the dead commander and looked over the fallen body of Tamara Jensen. The blaster wound had hit her in the shoulder, and hadnÔÇÖt killed her outright. ÔÇ£I think IÔÇÖll let the boys have some fun with you.ÔÇØ He said to her, rolling her over with his boot. ÔÇ£Pretty young thing too.ÔÇØ Just then, his wrist comm bleeped. ÔÇ£Mallone, what is it parker?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Sir,ÔÇØ started the voice from the comm unit. ÔÇ£We have established a command unit in the mess hall.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Excellent. Have alpha team report to the bridge immediately.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Yes sir. What about commander Stone sir?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£ThatÔÇÖs no longer a problem. Stand by for further orders.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Understood sir?ÔÇØ came the slightly worried voice. Mallone deactivated the wrist comm, and walked over to the command chair. Taking a moment to relish in the irony of it, he seated himself in Stones chair and gazed into the viewscreen. ÔÇ£Computer. Display time to primary target and begin a continuous countdown.ÔÇØ The computer obeyed, and displayed the current time index as well as the estimated time to target. ÔÇ£Twenty hours, four minutes and six seconds.ÔÇØ Mallone smiled. Tomorrow was going to be glorious. ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#31927230

Mission + 23 days 19 hours 16 minutes [Narrative On] Personal log Colonel Stuart Mallone, Orion Special Ops I just got a call to goto the bridge. It seems Commander Stone wants to discuss something regarding the mission with me. IÔÇÖm concerned that his conscience has gotten the better of him and heÔÇÖs having second thoughts. I had better get up there and straighten this out. Additionally, the rumors of mutiny on this ship are increasing, and with the sudden outbreak of this infection IÔÇÖm beginning to think theres more to these rumors than idle speculation. I have already had to send nearly half my contingent down to medbay to have them treated. IÔÇÖm keeping the other half on standby in case my gut feeling turns out to be true. I got them searching for Flight Engineer McKendrick, the man who somehow got the better of one of my best men. When heÔÇÖs found, I will personally remove the mans spine. What the . . . ? WeÔÇÖre moving. The ship is moving. Damn Stone, what the hell does he think heÔÇÖs doing? ÔÇÿAndrews? Cancel the search. Have all our people assemble in the mess and standby for contingency plan Delta. Yes, even those in medbay. This is a priority 1 emergency order. Clear out any other personel in the mess and have them establish a secondary command interface. Mallone out.ÔÇÖ Stone is way out of line. Who does he think he is? HeÔÇÖs nothing more than a delivery boy. IÔÇÖm the Sheppard. Time to make him understand this. Mission + 23 days 19 hours 20 minutes [Narrative Off] ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#31927230

Mission + 23 days 19 hours 7 minutes [Narrative On] From the bridge of the GCV Chikuma, Commander Ted Stone looked blankly into the whirling flux anomaly and despaired. Recent events had brought him to the upper level of his stress tolerance, and with the sudden and deeply troubling biohazard outbreak amongst his crew, it pushed him over. Suddenly, the entire mission seemed wrong. Not just wrong, but immoral, unjust and in retrospect, futile. Fleet commander Stiles had originally recruited him because he, like many of the other recruited commanders had served time in combat against the Gammulans and was more than aware of their vicious intellect and complete disregard for other sentient life. The things he had seen on the Falkyrie home world had permanently ruined his ability to sleep unaided, not to mention instill a sense of utter disgust and loathing for them as a people. As far as Stone was concerned, there was no justification for their existence. When Stiles approached him with his plans for a preemptive strike, Stone fought long and hard with his conscience before finally accepting. His GalCom training and long service had taught him to respect the chain of command, as well as the ideals of Galactic Command. However, Stiles played on his fears of an eventual cataclysmic war between the Gammulans and GalCom and convinced him that when it happened, GalCom would fall and the peoples of earth would perish under the Gammulans technologically superior boot. Despite having to betray his own people, maybe even fire upon them, Stone believed that it was necessary for the survival of the human race. Never before had their been such a powerful and ruthless enemy. Their manufacturing potential was far greater than that of the allied governments, and even with the assistance of the Insurgents it was unlikely GalCom would survive an all out conflict. The last major engagement had devastated the GalCom fleet, and even after all this time production was only just returning to normal. The Gammulans on the other hand had rebuilt their fleet quickly, taking advantage of their huge economical infrastructure. If the misinformation propaganda from HQ hadnÔÇÖt been able to convince the Gammulan spy network that Galcom had quickly rebuilt itÔÇÖs own devastated fleets, a second wave would have come quickly and overwhelmed the home quadrant.. However, no such attack had come, but people like Fleet Commander Stiles expected it to come. And soon. The plan had been a bold one. Several break away ships from GalCom would begin minor raids on Gammulan shipping in the Credian quadrant. These attacks would panic GalCom into dispatching vessels to intercept and destroy them before the Gammulans took it upon themselves to retaliate. Meanwhile, two other vessels would assume silent running and navigate into the Syrion quadrant and take advantage of flux fields to penetrate deep into Gammulan territory and deliver an experimental weapon of mass destruction to eradicate the industrial and military center of the Gammulan empire. One of these two ships, the GCV Onasis, would attempt to divert perusing vessels from the weapon delivery ship, the Chikuma. As fortune would have it, the Onasis was intercepted by the Tsunami before hooking up with the Chuikuma. Stiles had miscalculated Commands tactical response and that mistake nearly allowed the Chikuma to be intercepted not only by the Tsunami, but also the Berlin. Mallones people had previously stolen the RANDOM device from itÔÇÖs secret testing facility and brought it to the Chikuma. This event coincided with the initial strikes against Gammulan shipping, and it was hoped would throw GalCom into disarray and convince them that the weapon system was heading for a rendezvous with the renegade fleet in the Credian quadrant. However, with the devastated Tsunami managing to evade the Chikuma it would have become all too apparent for the command staff at GHQ that the RANDOM device was heading to Gammula via the back door, and the fleet in the Credian Quadrant nothing more that a diversion. Right now, Stone believed a rapid response fleet was preparing to intercept the Chikuma and destroy her before she jumped into enemy territory. Stone checked the time again. 13:07 hours Twenty three minutes before he was due to enter the anomaly and reappear in Gammulan space. Twenty three minutes before he sent himself, his crew and billions of Gammulans to hell. Was it all worth it? Was the price of peace worth a genocidal war? Could he sacrifice his ship, his crew and the lives of thousands of his fellows to ensure future peace? For the first time in his life, commander Stone knew without any doubt that he had been wrong. Wrong about himself, wrong about Stiles, wrong about the mission. The worst thing was, he had always known this, had always known that it was wrong. But up until now, it didnÔÇÖt seem real. DidnÔÇÖt seem possible or likely to succeed. And now, with them on the brink of entering enemy territory and annihilating the Gammulan home world, it seemed very, very real. Time to put things right, he decided. Time to go home. ÔÇ£Mister Reynolds?ÔÇØ said Stone, coughing, the initial signs of infection plain for those still on the bridge to see. ÔÇ£Aye commander.ÔÇØ Replied a sickly looking Reynolds. ÔÇ£Signal Mallone and tell him to get up here. Also, have Neena meet me in my quarters in one hour. Then get yourself off to the medbay, and take Ailsa with you.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Aye sir.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Mister Jensen?ÔÇØ ÔÇ£Yes commander?ÔÇØ Said the seemingly unaffected flight officer. ÔÇ£Clear the flight path and plot a course away from the anomaly.ÔÇØ Jensen looked confused. ÔÇ£Sir?ÔÇØ Stone was wracked with a sudden cough. ÔÇ£Please Tamara, IÔÇÖm not in any condition to repeat myself. Suffice it to say, weÔÇÖre scrubbing the mission.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£But commander.ÔÇØ Started Graves at tactical. ÔÇ£We cant just abandon the mission. WeÔÇÖre in a state of war, sir!ÔÇØ Stone looked up at him and slowly shook his head. ÔÇ£Not any more mister Graves. This war is over.ÔÇØ Mission + 23 days 19 hours 12 minutes [Narrative Off] ***** Until otherwise stated, all events are to be time indexed no later than Mission + 23 days 20 hours and 30 minutes You will understand the reasons for this shortly. ***** ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#31927230

Eeeep! Is it right I just soiled myself after reading the contents of this thread? I mean, are you serious? Me, a fleet leader? Ok, without descending into chaos lets first discuss the validity of being recomended by an Insurgent. Hmmmm, suspect. Seriously though, thanks for the vote of confidence Charles, but I think both Thomas Seimens and Lynx are infinetly better suited for the role than I. However, if the powers that be take leave of their senses,(And the rest of Orion fleet dont defect in protest) I'd be proud to lead. Just think real carefully before doing anything rash, please. ------------------ Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó PRIME Fleet 'For Queen and country' ICQ#31927230