Guest Matt Stryker Posted November 5, 1999 Report Posted November 5, 1999 The scene : The bridge of the GCV BlackStar, as usual dark and lit by the ever flickering light that Engineering can never solve as much as they try.Its commander, Matt Stryker sits in his command chair and tries to make sense of the conflicting reports that are coming in from several sectors of space. He pores over the information and sighs."Can't anyone get me a decent cup of coffee, I'm sick of drinking this damn Earl Grey tea, who's idea of a joke was this?" Stryker was unusually rattled this morning. "And shut that damn klaxon off, there's no alert, why can't someone fix that thing?". o O (Just his luck to be stuck with the recently comissioned GCV BlackStar, it was a nice ship but hardly anything worked on the vessel, and when it did, it was usually broken the next day.)He cast a wary glance around his crew, they saw their commander was a little edgy and kept to their stations, as he sipped his Earl Grey. "And another thing, is /this/ a mug?" He tapped the fine bone china, "How on earth did we get this garbage onboard the ship, was their a clearance sale at the old Movie Studios?" He muttered, "Next thing that will happen to me will be hair loss, then I'll start ordering my helm to engage."More of the data passed onto his console, attacks by Insurgents had increased by 15% in the last few months, oh this was going to be a hard week. Stryker's crew scrambled to their stations once more as the Alert Klaxon blared."Will someone please....."Stryker's mouth snapped shut as the radar lit with the familiar glow of red points, "At last, no false alarms. Launch all available Interceptors and raise those Shields Mr Lewis!"(To be continued)[This message has been edited by Matt Stryker (edited 11-06-1999).]
Parias Posted November 5, 1999 Report Posted November 5, 1999 (Non RP)ROLFMAO! ------------------ Parias ICV-Galatae ICQ:1293359 Staff member at www.tacticalplanet.com "I took this job because I love to blow sh*t up!"
Guest Commander Hamblin Posted November 5, 1999 Report Posted November 5, 1999 HEY!!! What's wrong with Earl Grey? I'm British, and you know that we're always drinking a lot of tea (Although that's just a stereotype. My Dad is British as well, and he hates Earl Grey). Well, personally, I love Earl Grey. If us British drink so much Tea, why do you Americans drink so much coffee?Well, other than the fact that you've made an outrageous insult of my country, the UK, it's a great story.Nah, only kidding . Looks very promising. I'm gonna keep up on this story ------------------ Commander Hamblin GCV Galatea Orion Fleet"For I dipped into the future, far as human eyes could see. Saw the vision of the world and all the wonder that would be..."
Guest Posted November 6, 1999 Report Posted November 6, 1999 Err... isn't the bald captain FRENCH? He should be drinking wine or somethinh *G*.Another Frenchman going where no one has gone before...(still at work)
Guest Matt Stryker Posted November 6, 1999 Report Posted November 6, 1999 (Non RP) Heh thanks for the support, I couldn't resist the Earl Grey Joke, since I hail from not-so Sunny Wolverhampton in the West Midlands. I hate tea, more of a Hot Chocolate person. Ever notice that Voyager looks like a Flying Spoon?GCV Commander Matt Stryker.[This message has been edited by Matt Stryker (edited 11-06-1999).]
Guest Matt Stryker Posted November 6, 1999 Report Posted November 6, 1999 (OOC Info) Note GNV = Galcom Navy Vessel for those of you who were wondering This is invalid M.G.Also you might notice that I jump around a little with the continuation of the story, perhaps even taking different views from each of the crew. Feel free to comment/join in?(RP)Lewis's fingers ran over the controls that brought the BlackStar's shields online, for that he was at least thankful, they worked."Shield Strength increasing Commander."Stryker nodded."Flight control reports all Interceptors away..."Stryker began to pace the Bridge, the radar showed hostiles incoming, but where were they?(Scene in Space - Mars system) *OOC* Space - where supposedly no one can hear you scream? then why can we hear the engines in Star Wars only kidding)Grey took one last look at the BattleCruiser and spoke into his commlink."Alright people let's tighten up here, cover my ass, there's something out here and I want to know what the hell it is."The other three Interceptors began a formation which brought them close to the leaders wing, stars reflecting in their cockpits as they cleaved through the blackness."All quiet out here Sir." said Nova the pilot of Interceptor two her eyes scanning the Radar, "I see the blips but we don't have visual." she mused, "Could they be Radar ghosts? interference perhaps?"At that moment Interceptor Three was engulfed in a torrent of laser fire which rained onto the fragile ship, hammering the shields till they began to collapse."Three, Break hard to your right, Four Cover Three, Nova you're with me!"(Bridge - BlackStar)"What the hell's going on out there Mr Lewis?"Lewis turned quickly, "Interceptor Three has come under fire from an unknown source, tracking shows bogeys but we have no visual...""No vis... they must be using a cloaking system, or something, damn it, get those people out of there, and prepare us for an emergency jump back to Galcom HQ."Lewis began to comply, "Sir we have more bad news, there's another hostile inbound, not a fighter class.....""Get me a visual on it, Grey and the other's are going to have to get back here as fast as they can."Lewis sent the recall order."Helm bring us about, prepare to engage the enemy, charge the IOD and......"It was that moment that both in Space and on the BlackStar's bridge time almost seemed to stand still, emerging from jumpspace was a nightmare of a ship. It looked like a BattleCruiser but somehow more distorted and darker, its hull was almost as black as the void that shrouded it."Oh my....god..." Stryker's face paled, "Get my people out, NOW!"(Space)"Nova, would you look at that, what the hell is it?""Grey, no idea, but we're being recalled.."Grey swore, "Damn it, I would have liked a crack at that baby, ok, Three, pull out, roll to the left, shake that thing, where ever it is."(To Be Continued)(Matt Stryker - GVC BlackStar) Adjusted M.G. [This message has been edited by SpcFX (edited 11-06-1999).]
SpcFX Posted November 6, 1999 Report Posted November 6, 1999 Matt,FYI - Galcom vessel registry is set, please do not make up your own. GCV is the only designation for a Galcom Command Vessel. Trying to keep ya out of the brig ------------------ Cmdr Mark Giao GCV-Jackal Official BC3K Tester
Guest Matt Stryker Posted November 6, 1999 Report Posted November 6, 1999 (NonRP)GCV it is thanks, sorry about that Still we all make mistakes, and the older we get, the bigger the mistakes we make GCV (hammers it into his head...)Thanks for editing the posts for me too, much obliged.
Parias Posted November 6, 1999 Report Posted November 6, 1999 Hmm, mind if I try smacking myself in here somewhere? Hell I might be able to keep this one going as well Note that this thread bears no marking on other RP threads, so while in another story I'm some drunken idiot begging for food, in this one I might be something.. different.. Hopefully I won't go out of line or anything.[rp] Parias slowly rose from his comfortable command couch onboard the ICV Black Shard, his new command vessel. The Insurgents had discovered artifacts deep near the planetary core of Sygan, and some kind of wierd new metal that had a strong power of some kind that seemed to absorb anything thrown at it and adjust itself for better protection in weakened areas. Along with it, researches were also able to bring a new PAD system online and sucessfully integrate it into the Black Shard."Helm, bring us about to face the BlackStar. Tactical, bring the PAD online, pronto!""But sir, the power of that weapon will put such a drain on our reactor.. it isn't perfec-""Dammit Harris I know about the risks, if by some random chance they punch through our shields, they still have the armour to worry about! Now charge the PAD and prepare to fire! We're taking control of this system!"The lights dimmed slightly as power was drawn from the reactor to charge the massive weapon. Servos could be heard whining overhead as the PAD was unsheathed from it's protective armour and brought into the open for firing position."PAD ready sir! The last of the GalCom interceptors have docked with that cruiser, and they appear to be charging their hyperspace drive!""I see. We can't have that now can we? Tactical, lets knock out their primary engine drive and see what they do. I expect precision, nothing more, nothing less. If that ship explodes from the beam, I'll personally have your head served to the high commander!""You mean Rat-""Silence! Dare not speak his name in the open! Now take careful aim and fire!"The shield indicator on Parias' hud dropped to 25%, and the lights totally went out as massive energy was drawn from the reactor. Red emergency lights came on. A large glow could be seen in front of the vessel where the gun was mounted. Then the gun spat out a large stream of laser fire straight near the rear area of the Black Star. A small explosion could be seen on the ship, and the engines suddenly lost their bright glow."Nicely done Lieutenant Harris. Keep up the good work and I might have some use for you yet. Now lets simply sit a moment and see what they do. Bring the shields down. Helm, bring us in circling manuevers around that ship.""But sir, we'll be right in the path of their IOD and turret fire! And without shields...""Helm, this is a field test of this ship and all technologies aboard. It would be rather unpleasant to return without testing out our hull armour, now would it?""Understood sir.. course laid in.""Very well..."Parias laid back on his command couch and sipped from a small cola. Other commanders often chidded him for not taking the "hard" drinks, but he prefered to be alert and ready, not drunk and stumbling.[/rp]Oh and note that the Black Shard is only a temporary assignment for this thread, I'll return to normal in other ones Hope I didn't go out of line at all.------------------ Parias ICV-Galatae ICQ:1293359 Staff member at www.tacticalplanet.com "I took this job because I love to blow sh*t up!"
Guest Matt Stryker Posted November 6, 1999 Report Posted November 6, 1999 *OOC* Ow, ow ow ow ow. Nah you didn't go out of line at all, I was expecting such from the Insurgents, well not as big a bang as that or anything, still, we are all story-tellers and each person's post can only enrich the story, now all I need is some help here GCV. Have to think on my post for this one.
Parias Posted November 7, 1999 Report Posted November 7, 1999 Take your time, I'd love to see you find a way out of this.. like pulling a Captain Picard/Kirk ------------------ Parias ICV-Galatae ICQ:1293359 Staff member at www.tacticalplanet.com "I took this job because I love to blow sh*t up!"
Guest Matt Stryker Posted November 7, 1999 Report Posted November 7, 1999 *OOC* It's the Earl Grey tea, makes you loose your hair when you command any starship. Less of course you're Capt Kirk, then you only have to replace the wig.[RP]Lewis reported the last of the Interceptors docked when chaos began to reign onboard Stryker's ship. It was struck by some form of Energy beam which hammered through the shields and into the main engine, like a knife through butter. This also caused the red-alert klaxon to begin to blare.Stryker rocked in his command chair, as reports of damage began to filter in, repair crews were assigned to their stations."Good god Lewis what the hell was that?"Lewis shook his head, "Energy readings were off the scale, the whole system went haywire for a moment, I can't get a clear calibration. God Sir, it almost tore the engine straight off.""Cut Mr Lewis, would be more appropriate.""Aye Sir, cut." Lewis shrugged, what ever it was, it was trouble. "The hostile is coming about, what should we do Sir?"Command, ah that sweet smell of power, till the last moment when someone almost takes your king in the universal chess game of life. Stryker shook his head, "First we see if we can't pull this scow of a vessel into somekind of order and second we route all available power to the cloaking system. I need to think."Orders flew thick and fast, Crews prepared stations, commands were issued, Engineering teams were assigned and slowly the Chaos lessened.Stryker placed his Chin on his Jaw, "Mr Lewis, Cloak this ship, at least we didn't lose that damn system...." The cloaking field was activated and the BlackStar, wounded but not down yet, faded from View.Stryker began to muse, when something on the viewscreen took his attention, Fragments of Asteroids were hovering dangerously close to the hostile, a plan started to form in his mind. If somehow he could use those and the surrounding nebulae. And then it hit him."Mr Lewis, I want a Shuttle prepared for Launch A.S.A.P." Stryker snapped his fingers, "Load it with one of those Bugnors, I have an idea. Get me Lisa Graves, she's the best Marine we have, I need her for a special Assignment."And so it was that the plan was implimented, the shuttle launched from the bay, with it's lone Pilot and precious Cargo. Graves was good, she'd spent a deal of time in active combat and she could whip most of Stryker's pilots. With a smile she nudged the ship into the shadow of the first asteroid. Her gentle touch moved the shuttle un-detected from rock to rock, closer and closer, until at last she was able to slip beneath the nightmare ship.Bringing the shuttle to a stop, she prepared an eva and stepped into the unknown with her cargo. Around thirty minutes later she returned onboard, strapped herself into the chair and returned to the BlackStar by way of her arrival route.Onboard the BlackStar ......"Sir Shuttle one is back onboard...""Thank you Mr Lewis.....You have command control to fire the device on my order.""Tactical, prepare to Fire the IOD. On my Mark, Mr Lewis....""Mark!!!"Lewis nodded and with grim satisfaction pressed the button that would detonate the device strapped to the Hostile's hull. It might not destroy them, but it should shake them up.At the same time, the IOD blazed towards the ship, with any luck, they would think Stryker had something on his ship that had one hell of a Punch.[/RP]*OOC* My finger's hurt from typing that one ------------------ Matt Stryker (Commander) GCV - BlackStar Orion Fleet
Parias Posted November 7, 1999 Report Posted November 7, 1999 Parias watched with great interested as the crippled Battlecruiser faded from view, and a small power spike that indicated a small craft had left the ship. After that, nothing."Really my dear Galcom friend, what good will cloaking do you? I have the power to tear your ship to pieces, and you simply try to hide in the shadows without moving an inch. I know exactly where you are."The sensors officer looked up."Sir, we're showing some power surges along the ship, it appears they are preparing to fire their primary IOD.""Interesting..."Parias was just taking a sip from his cola, when a small explosion rippled among the hull. The ship shook slightly, sending his drink right into his lap. Parias stood and cussed loudly.A small PIP opened at the lower end of the main viewer, showing an external view. Parias grinned as he saw the armour appear to ADJUST itself, slowly regenerating from the impact, while additional armour was brought around from other areas to compensate. The whole process only took seconds."Damage report.""The people sleeping in those quarters in that sector are a bit shooken by the impact, but I'm not reading any punctures or damage. It looks like the armour is working fine.""Excellent. And now to test out a couple more devices..... power up the new sensor array while I go change.."----------------A few minutes later, a small panel opened up the underside of the massive ship, which revealed itself to be a massive sensor array. It lit up as power was diverted to it."All systems operating normally, but I can already see many places where we can optimize the energy flow.. the device is taking up 25% more energy than it really needs to..."Parias listened intently to his science officer, Ella. She was a fine and capable officer, with an eager interest in new and mysterious devices."But it will function? Good. Keep me informed. Sensors, how's the device charging?""80%.... 90%... ready sir!""Very well. Activate."A large green wave emerged from the beam, then another, directed towards the area the Black Star was in. As it got closer to the ship, the beam expanded to cover more area, before finally vanishing at 100 units away.. The beams came out in a circular fashion from the ship, covering each angle.As one of the waves touched the Black Star, green electic energy was seen flying across the hull of the cloaked ship. This effect lasted about 10 seconds, in-which another wave impacted and the effect happened again. While the effect didn't do any real damage, it gave off a bright glow that made the ship stand out far more than even if it was uncloaked."Excellent. They certainly can't hide from us...""Sir, I'm a bit worried" said the helm officer. "That explosion that happened.. it was far more powerful and explosive than any normal IOD blast, at least as powerful as a mine..""They must have upgraded their weapon technology... obviously a tad too late, as our armour shows. Very well. One last technology to test. Tactical, raise shields and bring the new tractor beam online.""Aye sir! Tractor beam now going online. Thanks to the sensor array we can lock onto and haul the ship, even while it's cloaking device is activated.""Good. Very well, close to within tractor range. If this device functions properly, we can haul that vessel while our shields are up.. a rather useful tool."The Black Shard's engines began outputting energy, and a massive glow was seen behind the ship as it closed within range of the now helpless Black Star....------------------ Parias ICV-Galatae ICQ:1293359 Staff member at www.tacticalplanet.com "I took this job because I love to blow sh*t up!"
Guest Matt Stryker Posted November 7, 1999 Report Posted November 7, 1999 *OOC* Note, The BlackStar here has no relation to the Orion Starstation BlackStar well apart from the fact that it doesn't quite run at 100% also note, to SC, please don't kill me, I didn't invent the dangerously black Insurgent Ship or the tech. So gracefully I'm going to do the only thing that I can do, get the hell out of one nasty mess. Using an old Cliche, Set the Self Destruct. Stryker paused, "What?"Then his bridge lit green."More bad news, that recent energy spike we detected was some kind of beam, no damage. But they seem to know where we are.""Hell, that's it, Mr Lewis, get the people to their ships, and shuttles Set the Self Destruct, and prepare to launch on my Mark."Stryker stood on his bridge, he was dammned if they were going to get his ship, the hostile seemed to be coming for him, Tractor Beam probably.Slowly the two Titan's closed, Stryker made his way to one of the Shuttles, he eased himself into the seat along with the rest of his crew, "Thank god Lewis that this ship was only running a skeleton Crew.""Yes Sir, orders?""Use the Shuttles displays and give me a reading on the distance to their ship. When we close to 1/10th of Tractor Range, we should have about one Minute to get clear, the Nebulae and matter should mask the traces for long enough.""And." Added Stryker, "So should the destruction of the BlackStar."And so it began to unfold, the two ships closed, the countdown continued, till at last the hostile was almost upon them."Launch all ships Mr Lewis, Course Galcom HQ. Maximum speed."Lewis gave the signal.Shuttles and Interceptors shot from the Stricken ship, minascule compared to the BattleCruiser, tiny darts in the void, they turned as one small fleet of desperation and poured all they had into their engines, The other ship, waiting with the BlackStar caught in the Tractor Beam, would not have time to intercept them, nor would it know about the BlackStar's imminent destruction. Until........The tiny ships were clear, heading towards the Jump Gate, the BlackStar held stricken in the beam. Then seconds ran out, and the whole vessel blossomed into a beautiful ball of fire, like a slowly unfurling rose, trailing streamers of plasma all directions.Waves of unleashed energy rushed outwards, slamming into the hostile ship with a tremendous force, if it did not destroy the vessel then it would certainly give them a serious headache.As jumpspace claimed the tiny ships, Stryker sighed slightly, even though the ship didn't work right, he loved that vessel, as do all Commanders. But the one thing that crawed him, was that at last he had to leave a decent cup of coffee on the ship. ------------------ Matt Stryker (Commander) GCV - BlackStar Orion Fleet[This message has been edited by Matt Stryker (edited 11-07-1999).]
Parias Posted November 7, 1999 Report Posted November 7, 1999 The officer at sensors looked up with alarm."Sir! I'm picking up a massive energy surge from the vessel! It appears they've triggered an auto-destruct!""Typical of Galcom pigs, they'd rather die than join our magnificent cause...""Sir, there's a mass of ships exiting the vessel, difficult to detect thanks to the high energy coming from the cruiser and the nebula itself, but they're there.""Abandoning ship? I would have expected more of a fight my Galcom friends.. but alas, I cannot let you go. Tactical, prepare a shuttle to deploy the hyperspace inhibitor.""Uh, what sir?"Parias blinked for a second, then cussed himself for getting too drawn up in those vids..."Never mind. Engage drives to intercept, we must-""Sir, it's too late. They're away."Parias' face drained of colour.Suddenly, the ship exploded, rocking the vessel and sending Parias' cup of cola crashing to the ground."Sir, shields down to 15%! They must have dumped something into the reactor to increase the power of the explosion!""Dammit..."Suddenly Parias got an idea."Are there any corpses floating amongst the debris?""2 of them were blown clear and avoided being melted by the secondary blasts... uh, why?""I think I have a plan that may avoid our execution... dispatch a shuttle team to bring those carcasses on board. Have the medical officer re-create the bodies from whatever DNA may be left in the cloning chamber.""But sir, there are only 2 bodies and our orders were for-""Yes, but the rest did not survive interrogation." Parias said, winking at the officer.A few minutes later a shuttle was dispatched from the cruiser and picked up the bodies, then proceeded back."Sir, we're picking up multiple entries from the gates, it appears that the enemy has scuttled re-inforcements.""Very well. We have what we came from, primary objective fulfilled. Helm, engage hyperspace drive."With a white flash, the vessel jumped out and proceeded to the jump point, where it then vanished from the system. 2 of the Galcom vessels maintained pursuit for 2 systems before giving up, while the other one searched the debris for any remains. Only one in-tact object remained.. a slightly cracked coffee mug that somehow survived the explosion.(ooc) Hope that one is a bit better...------------------ Parias ICV-Galatae ICQ:1293359 Staff member at www.tacticalplanet.com "I took this job because I love to blow sh*t up!" [This message has been edited by Parias (edited 11-07-1999).][This message has been edited by Parias (edited 11-08-1999).]
Guest Commander Hamblin Posted November 8, 1999 Report Posted November 8, 1999 Hey Parias, you know that's unfair, you've not only invented completely new technologies, you've just contradicted Matt's story by saying that you stopped them jumping out, when in his one he did.If you were using normal BC3K technologies, he would have escaped. Maybe I should come charging in with the GCV Galatea but it's been outfitted with a new insta-destroy-death-black-Insurgent-ship-thingies-with-crap-names-like-Black-Shard.Hehe, that'll learn ya!
Ben Somerset Posted November 8, 1999 Report Posted November 8, 1999 And just to save Parias a little bit of trouble before the SC, Rattler, or Ron sees this, altering your posts might be a good idea. If you refer to this topic, you will notice that Ron specifically says: quote:You are not allowed to create new races, craft, locations, etc.This would also include new technologies. I thought I'd just give fair warning.------------------ Cmdr. Benjamin Somerset GCV Swiftsure Prime Fleet Commander, SIN Wing =TDY Wraith Fleet= "I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go into harm's way." - John Paul Jones[This message has been edited by Ben Somerset (edited 11-08-1999).]
Rattler Posted November 8, 1999 Report Posted November 8, 1999 I think Ben just about covered it all.------------------ Rattler, Spectre, Insurgent One Official BC3K Tester [email protected] ICQ 12894104"Old Age and Treachery will ALWAYS win out over Youth and Exuberance!"
Blades Posted November 8, 1999 Report Posted November 8, 1999 Bein the sorta guy I am (And havin an almost obsessive need for continuity and rules/regulations) i think it might be appropriate for someone to put together a 'Rules Of Engagement' text that all RP'ers should adhere to.It would avoid a lot of potential problems and keep everything posted nice n consistent.Just my six pennies worth ------------------ Fleet Commander Blades GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó GALCOM ORION Fleet 'For Queen and country'ICQ#43692958
Parias Posted November 8, 1999 Report Posted November 8, 1999 Ack! I just re-read the last section of the post.. teach me to try and make fiction while answering 5000 ICQ messages..Ok I'm editing my message, in-which we basically call it a day, head home, and that's it ------------------ Parias ICV-Galatae ICQ:1293359 Staff member at www.tacticalplanet.com "I took this job because I love to blow sh*t up!"
Guest Matt Stryker Posted November 8, 1999 Report Posted November 8, 1999 Good idea Blades.------------------ Matt Stryker (Commander) GCV - BlackStar Orion Fleet
Lynx Pherrett Posted November 9, 1999 Report Posted November 9, 1999 Aw, rats. Ya'll canned the "hyperspace inhibitors" and I was gonna come to Matt's rescue with a deus ex machina of my own. Actually, why waste it? Since this thread is about dead anyway, here's my alternative ending had Parias stuck with his original version.[Narrative ON]The Commander was in his cabin reviewing reports when he felt the faintest touch brush his mind like a ghost floating through his skull. His brow involuntarily furrowed and his shoulders gave a single serpentine twitch. His grandmother would have said, "Somebody just walked over your grave," but the Commander knew the source of this particular feeling.He left the reports displayed on the screen and switched the room comms and physical security from "admit" to "secure." This setting was beyond the standard "do not disturb" that was used when sleeping and could only be broached from the outside by an emergency override request. He also activated his special PERSCAN routine that would ignore what was about to happen.He slipped off his boots and crossed from his chair to lay upon the bunk. Resting his hands across his stomach and closing his eyes he began the process he had first learned many years ago. Within half a minute his respiration had slowed to such an extent that he could easily be mistaken for dead. A medical scan would show that his body was not only still alive, but that his brain was operating in a mode unknown to human medical science; thus the special PERSCAN codes, he didn't want the system to send an alert to medibay. His alpha waves smoothed to a slow undulation and slipped into synchronization with his deeper theta rhythms.Are you there?- yes/affirmation/positive, friend/short-lived-one/solid, we/i/gzun am/are aware/here/receiving -Did you call for me?- yes, our cousins/brothers/sisters/i/we have news/information/observation/sighting -There wasn't language, just the raw essence of communication, a nearly indescribable knowing.- the solids you call/name/identify as rebels/insurgents/traitors have disabled/impaired the gates/portals/relays - our voice/thought/contact becomes weak/faint/obscured from that region/area/system - we/i must/will destroy/eliminate/stop them/intruders/insurgents - the others/prey/victim/survivors will be/are untouched/unharmed/safe -we/i/gzun need/request your/friend's/solid help/assistance - Show me.The scene flooded into the Commander. Full spectrum data--a composite of IR, visible light, UV, radio, gravity waves and more--all combined into a single impression that replayed the incident leading to the destruction of the BlackStar and the disabling of the first jumpgate. The transition from past data to the current real-time information from the system was noticeable only by the slight degradation of the UV and radio spectrum components caused by whatever had been done to the jumpgate. But that minor loss did nothing to obscure the immense display of power by his "friends" the gzun as they took action to stop the other jumpgates in the system from being blocked.In the depths of the central star, the gzun compressed core material beyond the point of existence in this universe. The tremendous masses became denser and denser until space-time itself could no longer contain them; they crossed the threshold to become singularities, black holes. Propelled at hyper-light velocities by the gzun's manipulation of gravity waves, the small black holes shot upward through the star toward their targets, erupting from the surface in a wake of gigantic solar flares. In moments, each had outraced the slower flares and crossed the gulfs of space, unerringly finding their targets. The black shuttles and interceptors simply disappeared, each instantly collapsing and adding its minute mass to the singularity that had rocketed through it.Only the Insurgent battlecruiser itself was large enough to give a glimpse at the mechanics involved in its destruction. Although it was over in a microsecond, the details were sickenly clear. The black hole was targeted dead center on the intruder, approaching from underneath. As it neared, the intense gravity drew the closest part of the ship toward it; the belly of the ship distorted and flowed, sending a narrow tendril out 10 kilometers to meet the singularity. The black hole rushed up the tendril to its base, swallowing everything. As it passed through the bulk of the intruder the ship became an hourglass, two funnels quickly draining into a central point. The huge ship was gone, a final belch of hard X-rays as its last shredded atoms passed through the event horizon leaving the only testament it had ever existed to begin with.The black hole that consumed the battlecruiser, like the others, continued unimpeded out of the system. The gzun would probably round them up later, or steer them into harmless, decaying orbits around neutron stars or larger black holes.All the craft from the BlackStar were untouched. The remnants of light and other radiation from the immense solar flares would not reach the huddled collection of shuttles and interceptors at the disabled jumpgate for an hour or so. Even if someone aboard the ships noticed the flares, they would be unlikely to link the phenomenon from the star to the utter and instantaneous disappearance of their attackers.I'll come. Where?The image of the system quickly receded until it was just one flickering speck among thousands of other star systems, and a sub-current within the transmission pinpointed its location as if someone had overlaid a NAVITRON display. A spot known in the body-galactica of the gzun as "Left Armpit." The Commander was familiar with the system. - good/ecstasy/satisfactory, we/i/brothers need/want/desire you/friend remove/take the device/thing/interference from the gates/portals/relays - be/exist/live in/with peace/friendship/harmony -With that the connection was broken.As he brought his body back up to speed, the Commander shuddered to think of the power of the gzun. They normally ignored the doings of the "solids," as they referred to material lifeforms; but they obviously would not tolerate any interference with the jumpgates.The Commander considered what he knew of the gzun, the ageless entities that exist as sentient energy vortexes in the hearts of stars, simultaneously being individuals and clans. He had earlier learned from them that they did not create the jumpgates, but used them as vital communications relays. Before the jumpgates, their only real-time communication between the stars was by using gravity waves, all other energies being too slow since they are limited to lightspeed. When the jumpgates were created millennia ago, the gzun found they could use them as communications relays to converse in the complete electromagnetic spectrum. It was as if they had made a single leap from Morse code to the videophone. The increased bandwidth and constant information flow led those gzun living in systems connected by jumpgates to become something like a super-clan or single entity, the body-glactica. Thus, unknown to the ship of Insurgents, their disruption of the jumpgate had the same effect on the gzun that a minor stroke would have on a human. For that they paid with their lives.Undoubtedly the gzun knew exactly who had created the jumpgates. Little could happen in the universe that they did not observe and share with the whole. Certainly they would have taken a keen interest in their inadvertent benefactors. But that was knowledge they would not reveal to the Commander. They did not deny that they knew, besides, they seemed incapable of lying; instead they would just respond around the subject or ignore it altogether, that section of the image left an empty void. The impression the Commander gained was that the builders wanted their identity hidden and the gzun had vowed to keep the secret as a return favor for the benefits they received from the jumpgates. That they still kept it secret millennia later indicated to the Commander that, perhaps, the builders were still around somewhere. Likewise, the gzun knew the source of the Insurgent ship; but this they had no reason to keep secret. During his communion with them, the ship's image (like all gzun imagery except that related to the jumpgate engineers) contained within the composite presentation all of the information the gzun had observed since the ship had first entered space and come to their awareness. But the Commander doubted the gzun would take any preemptive action or revenge against the Insurgency as a whole. From what he had just witnessed, the gzun certainly could do so if they wished. But through him and the few other "solids" who could communicate with them, the gzun had developed a general appreciation for the material sentients currently in the galaxy. No, Sygan Starstation wouldn't suddenly disappear in burst of X-rays after being swallowed by a black hole--at least not over this incident.The Commander smiled to himself as he picked a destination that would require his ship to pass through the "Left Armpit." That way they could just happen to stumble across the BlackStar's support craft and he wouldn't need to explain how he knew there was trouble in that particular system. Additionally, he hoped the BlackStar's commander and crew would provide sufficient information to cover the search for a jumpgate disabler. Some of the bridge officers occasionally wondered what was behind all the coincidences this ship encountered, how they always wound up in the right place at the right time, and the less need for explanations this time the better as far as the Commander was concerned. He could just see himself leveling with the crew, "Yeah, it's really true; sometimes I go into a trance and talk with ageless beings that live in the depths of the stars." He chuckled and decided it best to continue to keep that little secret to himself.[Narrative OFF]------------I won't name the Commander or the ship. I, like the gzun, can keep a secret. Besides, it might make a good fallback position someday if I find myself needing to be rescued. ------------------ Cmdr Pherrett GCV-STRATOS Official Tester, Battlecruiser Series "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" -- George Santayana"You got to change your evil ways" --Carlos Santana[This message has been edited by Lynx Pherrett (edited 11-08-1999).]
Parias Posted November 9, 1999 Report Posted November 9, 1999 *clap clap clap*------------------ Parias ICV-Galatae ICQ:1293359 Staff member at www.tacticalplanet.com "I took this job because I love to blow sh*t up!"
Guest Matt Stryker Posted November 9, 1999 Report Posted November 9, 1999 *chuckles and nods*There's nothing more I can say about that one is there.*joins in the clapping*------------------ Matt Stryker (Commander) GCV - BlackStar Orion Fleet
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