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General => General => Topic started by: Lazlo Falconi on August 17, 2009, 10:14:28 pm

Title: Another Day on the McQuarrie
Post by: Lazlo Falconi on August 17, 2009, 10:14:28 pm
<!-- If you wish to join, go ahead and do so at any time with any post, but just so you know, this is a continuation of this thread (http://z15.invisionfree.com/CJF_Network/index.php?s=eba0a5d2fea38864e8f7fa1ab0f98432&showtopic=1035&st=0). I'd highly suggest reading it, as no matter how many times I do, I keep laughing very loudly. It's the most ridiculous thing ever. Feel free to join but remember that we've reconstructed the solar system, Venus, Mercury and the Sun have been destroyed, in it's place, Jupiter is a star, there is no asteroid belt, Mars is the closest planet to the sun, followed by Earth, then Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. Yeah that's exactly how it is. -->

Unfiltered light was streaming through the windows of the Jupiter Orbital Station McQuarrie's large windows. The soft rabble of work being done could be heard all throughout the unfinished station. Lazlo walked along a corridor, smelling strongly of aloe and searching for Argus. When found, Lazlo decided to start up conversation, "Geez, yesterday was pretty exciting, huh?"

Argus shot Lazlo a flat look. "I received this today." He handed Lazlo a slip of paper with the great seal of Mars on it. Lazlo read it curiously.

Quote
ATTN: Argus Swift, Jupiter Orbital Station McQuarrie.

Long has The Great Planet of Mars watched McQuarrie in silence, wondering of your purposes. Yesterday, through destruction of the Sun, and the transformation of Jupiter, you had made your true intentions obvious. By destroying our scouts you have left no doubt in the minds of the Martian Senate. The Solar System is now at war. You have no chance at winning a conflict with a whole planet. Your only choice is to surrender to the rule of The Great Planet of Mars.

Under Martian rule, you will disable all weapons and have a Martian sentry and guard on duty at all times to protect you. All incoming and outgoing cargo will be taxed at the Martian rate of 5.25% with an additional 10% long-range tax. All non-cargo ships will be annexed and sold by the Martian Cabinet of Civil Obedience. Your crew members from Earth will be given the choice of denouncing their Earth citizenship or leaving McQuarrie. All non-essential personnel will be escorted off the station.

In 25 days a transitional liason will visit to oversee operations. You will comply.

Lazlo's scowl deepened with every line. "What are we gonna do about this?"

Argus shook his head, "I can't say. McQuarrie has the best pilots in the galaxy, but we just can't beat Mars in sheer numbers. Even if we win every battle, eventually our supplies and crew will deplete until the station dies off. It seems pretty hopeless."


Meanwhile, on the outer edge of the solar system, an electrical storm was brewing near the Heliosheath. So far from the influence of man, it went undetected. The sort of storm that brewed from a massive matter-energy transportation device. This storm was caused by none other than the Beltino Orbital Gate in orbit around Corneria, fourth planet of the Lylat system. The very same planet Lazlo had come from. When the freak space storm disappeared, three ships, somewhat similar in design to the Elwing appeared. The ships' inhabitants had been in contact with this sector of space for quite a while, with a terrorist sect known only as the SeaWolves. The large SeaWolf SeaSpace Space Base was nearby, and lowered it's defenses for the ships to dock.

Inside, the ships landed, and the three pilots hopped out of their cockpits. Wolf O'Donnell, Leon Palwaski, and Panther of the Star Wolf team were investigating. They looked around and noticed that, despite the name, there were no wolves to be found. Wolf grabbed the nearest grunt and barked, "Take me to Wolfix! Now!" The kid passed out, and Wolf glared at the next closest, who jumped and ran down a hallway. The team followed.

It was a long walk through many twisting corridors, with notched hiding spots in the walls. Wolf noted the decor as being slightly worn and mismatched. The main colors seemed to be red and gray, with black trim and hints of orange. Despite the group's reputation as a terrorist sect, there were actually many families on the base. Wolf wondered if they were raising their kids with their beliefs. A useless thought, but then what could be expected of terrorists? Wolf didn't care, he was a mercenary on a mission, he just needed to find his man.

Walking around, Wolf couldn't help but notice that nobody looked oddly at him. That was strange, most people were unaccustomed to his wolfen appearance. He stood like a man, but grey fur covered his body, and his head took on the shape of a wolf's. His hands, too, more like paws than anything else. He needed a specialized pistol and ship to allow himself to operate as the efficient mercenary he was.

At the end of the maze, Wolf and his party came to a large door labeled "Command". The man who had led them there asked them to wait, and walked through the door, closing it before Wolf had a chance to see inside. As with the rest of the base, the door was in very poor condition, probably pillaged from some other base years ago. He heard men yelling on the other side of the door, then a loud thud, and all was quiet for a while. The door opened to complete blackness, and Wolf heard a man with a rough voice ask, no, command, him to enter. He complied, and his wolf eyes quickly adjusted.

Inside was one hulking figure, on a large chair, large enough to be a throne, in the center of the circular room. There were other chairs at computers along the walls, but they were empty, with the screens turned off. Wolf motioned for his comrades to stay outside. Once in, the door closed, plunging the room into complete darkness. Wolf's eyes strained to see anything, and he kept his ears alert for any sound of movement. That rough voice again, "Wolf O'Donnell, I take it?"

Nodding, Wolf confirmed.

"Excellent, I've been waiting for you. You're looking for Lazlo Falconi, a strange man. Nobody seems to know where he came from. He's made quite a name for himself here. Sacking up with those McQuarrie scoundrels. As you know, you want him hostage, and I want his friends dead. You finally came, so I suppose you agreed on our terms?" Wolf remained silent, "Good. But I need some assurance, what makes you think you can take on these pilots?"

Wolf did not like this man's doubt, "I've fought Lazlo hundreds of times in simulations, we went through our military training together. He's a good pilot, but I can beat him. I've seen your video files of his other friends. They're no match for me. How do I know you'll have my payment ready?"

The man grunted, "It's worthless to me, why would I withhold it?" In truth it was. The small amount of the syrum he had stolen from McQuarrie had produced no cure for his condition. He had know idea what Wolf would want with it, that Wolf was to use it to infect all humans in the galaxy with the same disease Wolfix was cursed with. A similar disease to that shared by Wolf. But that was none of Wolfix' concern. He only wanted revenge against Argus Swift, the man who had wronged him so many years ago. It consumed him. Wolf almost felt pity, he had gone through the same, but killing Beltino Toad, the originator of the animal injection that had turned Wolf, had only left him with an empty feeling, and it hadn't cured him. Wolf's plan was much grander. There would once again be equality between all. No longer would he be an outcast, the sole wolf in a crowd of humans. All would be the same.

"Just make sure it gets to me. I'll have Argus here bound within a week." Wolf began walking to the door, "Oh, and stop hiding yourself. It's embarrassing." With that, he was gone.


On McQuarrie, Minion called to Argus in a panic. Argus groaned, "Can't I just have one day off?"

<!--Don't bring the SeaWolves and Star Wolf into this just yet, I want them to wait to get to McQuarrie -->
Title: Re: Another Day on the McQuarrie
Post by: Swiftman on August 19, 2009, 11:23:18 pm
What if Argus times the arrival of the Mars Liason with the arrival of Wolf? (somehow)

Argus says "Lazlo! Watch out!" on an open channel.

Wolf hears, thinks Lazlo is in the Diplomatic ship, and Wolf destroys it, pissing off Mars
Argus assures that he himself never opened fire on the ship - He surrenders the flight recorders of all his ships to prove it








Argus paced the corridors of McQuarrie. A lot rested on his mind, but thankfully, he lacked the proper attention span for much of it to get to him. His usual mellow self stood resolute, just with a bit of a crink in its back. Moreso a crink than his usual.

He passed a window.

The wonderful visage of McQuarrie Model 5 had barely become commonplace before circumstances required a change of scenery.

Argus put his hands behind his back and gazed for some time out this window. His mind casually flitted from subject to subject, not too worried about anything, but not entirely too optimistic either.

Minion called to Argus in a panic. Argus groaned, "Can't I just have one day off?"

Minion came to a halt before Argus, panting for breath. Argus patiently waited with his hands still behind his back for the boy to speak.

A minute passed. Argus could tell, since he was counting his foot taps, one for every second, and he had hit sixty.

"Are you THAT out of shape, Min?" Argus said sardonically with a cocked eyebrow.

"Sorry.... Got lost. Lots of backtracking." Minion gasped out, improving slightly.

"You helped design the damn place. You can't find your way around it?"

Minion took a few deep gasps before he spoke again, a bit more fluently this time. "I went down the A6 hallway from the Thoroughfare. Used to go right to your office in the old McQ."

"And I fear we'll keep having more mixups like this until we get the new Ralcomm network going." Argus said and started tapping out an old DOS tune on Minion's skull. He stopped when Minion took a swing at Argus, which he dodged with ease. "What'd you come bolting for, anyways?"

"Oh yeah!" Minion reached into his trademark gray jacket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. "Reply from Earth." He handed the paper to Argus, who unfolded it and read.

Quote
To Argus Swift;

We are sorry to hear of Mars' declaration of war on McQuarrie. McQuarrie has always been a valuable ally to Earth, and we normally would do anything in our power to aid you and your cause, however veiled they may be.

However, we regret to inform you that your request for assistance in dealing with Mars has been rejected. Earth is a peaceful planet, and possesses no military force that can rival against the considerable might of Mars. We are sorry, but what little aid we can offer is not worth the lives involved in having Mars declare war on Earth as well.

Our condolences;
The Senate Of 69


Argus pursed his lips and folded the paper back up. He handed it back to Minion, then turned back to the window.

Minion slipped the sheet back into his pocket. "So, what now?"

Argus remained silent.

"Well?" Minion spoke in a more serious tone. "Earth ain't gonna help us, so what're we gonna do?"

Argus said nothing.

"C'mon, man!" He tugged on Argus' arm a little. "We're toast if we don't do something!"

"Please let me ponder..." Argus said in the most depressio voice he could muster.

Minion took the hint. "Right... Sorry. I'll leave you to it."

Minion walked off with a bit of a hung head. Once he was out of earshot, Argus sighed.

"We're toast indeed...."



To improve his state of mind a little, Argus thought back to happier days.

Back when McQuarrie was still only in its Model 3 stage... A much smaller complex back then, it was still primarily a technological testbed. Earth had come into an utterly remarkable series of fortunate events, and had imposed a new world order to bring about the long-sought after World Peace. The Senate of 69 had gone long strides into producing this peace, but there were so few reasons to resist their council. As the first governmental system to officially embrace the therapeutic powers of sex, the Senate of 69 comprised only of 20 members that worked together to give advice to ailing countries on dealing with their problems. Never forcing rule, nor judging at all on any grounds, the problems of the world were handled with their swift magnificence.

Eventually, it was unanimously agreed by all the major powers of Earth to appoint the Senate of 69 as the primary figures of power of Earth.

Things miraculously worked out since then. To commemorate the new-found governmental system, Argus promised to begin plans of a Model 4 McQuarrie, with enhanced living and working conditions, to better serve their terra-based benefactors.

Curiously, Earth never made plans for their own space station.



"Mr. Swift!"

Argus sighed quite audibly. "How much more bad news am I gonna get today?"

The Comm Officer, Sax, smiled at Argus for a second. "If I was bearing bad news, I'd feel really guilty right now."

Argus' interest piqued. He turned away from the window and to Officer Sax. "Do go on!"

Sax handed Argus a small mp6 player with its own onboard speaker. "Report from our undercover guy."

Argus quickly snatched up the player and pressed play, holding its speaker against his ear.

"NEW VISITOR-" Argus lowered the speaker from his ear. "-came today. Same sorta deal as Nosey. Likes his shinies. Wants a taste of dick shaped like a bird. Waitin' for a chance."

Argus' face drooped a little at this bit of news. "So a wolfen mercenary is after Lazlo? This can't be good...."
Title: Re: Another Day on the McQuarrie
Post by: Lazlo Falconi on August 20, 2009, 07:19:35 pm
The wind ruffled Lazlo's hair a bit as he sat atop his perch on the Martian plateau. From here he could see the entire Martian capitol of New Constantinopolis, but the trees and bushes around him would keep him well hidden from all but the most sophisticated of tracking devices. It was a warm day, warmer than usual for Mars, but that could be attributed to the larger-than-normal sun in the sky. Mars had changed a lot since Jupiter was helioformed. He brought his spy scope to his eyes. The Imperial Martian Senator was meeting with someone, but his facial recognition software was having trouble deciphering what he was saying. If only I could read lips... He decided to scan the streets and see if anything of note was happening down there, when he came across Xteven Xavier.

Xteven was walking with a determined air. He looked as though he had someplace to be, though in reality he was just wandering the streets around the Capitol Building hoping to hear something important. Civil Propaganda posters were on nearly every wall, declaring war on McQuarrie If anyone knew where he was from, he'd be mauled.

A child screamed, then a woman, and soon the screams were spreading through the city. Everyone was staring up in amazement. Xteven looked up as well to see Deimos, the Martian moon used for staging military operations in space, breaking up. It was a remarkable sight, and both Xteven and Lazlo would have been watching in awe if they hadn't seen a new star created just days prior, but they had more important things to do.

The moon exploding had been an unfortunate distraction. Lazlo hated destroying anything that big, but he and Xteven had decided it was the only real way they could get done what they needed. Xteven rushed toward the Capitol building, with Lazlo watching intently. When Xteven disappeared into the building, Lazlo went back to the Imperial Senator's window. He was nowhere to be found, probably in a panic room somewhere.

Lazlo's comm unit crackled to life, "I've got the intel, rendezvous as scheduled." Xteven was only supposed to use the radio if there was any trouble, but Lazlo was glad to hear his friend's voice.

A few hours later, in a ratty cafe, they met to prepare for leaving. Xteven spoke first, "I've got everything, ship depots, training grounds, bases, platoon locations, Even a detailed description of the Senator's living arrangements."

Lazlo nodded, "Hear anything on the streets?"

Shaking his head, Xteven replied, "No, just general confusion. Most of the citizen's have never even heard of McQuarrie. Of course, some of them knew, and the rumors are wild, but nothing useful."

"Well I saw something interesting." Lazlo offered, "It appears the Grand Senator's afraid to attack McQuarrie. They've seen our weapons, and they know we can get aid from the Autobots. But his Secretary of Defense believes they can win if the Autobots stay out of it, and he's sure they will. The key is, they don't want to attack. They all hope McQuarrie will just lie down and surrender. Feh, not bloody likely. Not while I'm aboard anyway.

"It's gonna be hard to get back though." Lazlo continued, "Deimos put everyone on guard, and all incoming and outgoing ships are being search thoroughly. What's more... our ride left. Got scared of during the whole moon thing I think."

Xteven's face got darker with each sentance. A waitress came by to offer refills, but after seeing Xteven's scowl, decided against it. After she had gone,  he asked, "How do we get off this rock?"

Grinning, Lazlo pulled something out of his pocket, it looked like a small stylized triangle with a circle behind it. "With this. It's a prototype matter-energy transportation device. I err... 'found it' on the way here. Supposedly it will be able to convert our bodies into energy and 'beam' them to another location. It should be able to get us out of the atmosphere, but we'll need Argus to bring a ship to get us. I don't know how we'll do it though, we can't contact him, or the Martians will know we're around. Hell, even if we find some way to tell him to get us without them hearing, they'll shoot him down if he even comes near the planet."

Shaking his head, Xteven asked, "We can just stow away on a Martian ship."

Lazlo frowned, "And then what? No ships are heading toward McQuarrie, and we can't just hop out and ask them to let us transfer. You know how Martians feel about sto--Wait a minute..." Lazlo's grin returned, "There is a ship heading to McQuarrie soon."

A look of horror enveloped Xteven's face, "You don't mean... The liaison? Lazlo you're mad! If they... If they find us, we're toast!"
"You got a better idea?"

Xteven thought hard, and he continued thinking hard, every day trying to figure out another way, but 23 days passed, and still he had no clue. The liaison's ship was leaving the next day, and he was out of time.

It hadn't taken Wolf long to find McQuarrie, he just had to head toward the only star in the system. He noted that everything was oddly shaped as well, from the cloud of asteroids lining the outer edge, to the orbits of the planets. He wondered if something massive had happened, but didn't have time to think it out.

He had heard that McQuarrie was welcoming to visitors, so he sent Panther in to investigate. Wolf had wanted to go, but being a wolf in a crowd of humans had always made him stick out. Leon and Panther always had to do the spywork, but Leon was a madman, and probably would have ruined the mission. Panther was the only logical choice, though Wolf could have gone without is incessant flirting. He was always too busy paying attention to the girls than to his mission.

Wolf sighed, he should have brought others, but the Gate system couldn't transport more than three ships this far, and Leon and Panther were his best pilots. They wouldn't fail him, he could be assured of that. Failure was not accepted in the Star Wolf Team.

The small rock--he hesitated to call it a planet, it was so small, but stars don't have moons--he was on hid him from McQuarrie's scanners, and let him get glimpses of their communications, but with the background radiation of the star had kept him from learning much. It appeared Lazlo had left the day before, but Wolf was fine with waiting. He didn't care how long it took, as long as he got his payment.
Title: Re: Another Day on the McQuarrie
Post by: Lazlo Falconi on August 30, 2009, 10:04:24 pm
Richard Chronnister sat at his chair in the middle of the McQuarrie Operations Command Center, the heart and soul of McQuarrie. From here, a crew of seven officers oversaw all actions aboard McQuarrie. Chronnister loved his job. As First Shift Director he conducted McQuarrie’s staff during most of the day cycle, where the heaviest workload was. The day cycle was a bit longer than Earth’s own day, and synced up with Mars’ every three to four days, and thus saw a lot of action. Only the most talented and intelligent of McQuarrie’s crew worked the Command Center on the first shift, but he was Director.

Originally, First Shift Director was Argus’ job, but as time wore on Argus found he had other duties to perform for McQuarrie, and the best way to do that was to leave the day to day operations in the hands of others. He still oversaw anything major and had final say, but this was Chronnister’s command.

Elizabeth Cutler was in charge of watching all ships entering or leaving McQuarrie, to avoid collisions, and to warn the crew of any threats. She looked over her shoulder to Chronnister, “Three bogeys en route bearing two-four-oh mark eight-six. “

Chronnister nodded and looked to Billy Hart, the communications officer, “Hart?”

“Sir, no commun—Scratch that, incoming ident transmission… It’s the Martian liaison. They’re hailing.”

“Patch it through,” Chronnister said.

The speakers cracked, and a woman’s voice came over the Ralcomm system. “Jupiter Orbital Station McQuarrie, this is the Martian Liaison. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your technological distinction to our own. Your forces will adapt to serve us. To resist is useless.”

Hart looked up, “Transmission link cut off.”

Standing Chronnister sighed, “I sort of thought Swift would be here to handle this. Keep the shields up, and send out the standard greeting.”

Tapping a few keys on his computer, Hart looked stunned. “Uhh… Sir? We’re being jammed.”

Chronnister was starting to get angry, “By whom?”

Hart shook his head, “This doesn’t make sense. Says here the jamming signal is coming from deck eight. Do you think Swift’s up to something?”

Before he finished asking, his question was answered when an all frequency transmission emitted from the charred ruins of one of Jupiter’s moons. “Mars vessel, stand down. This station is now under the control of the Rebel Coalition Group Star Wolf.”

“…Star Wolf?” Chronnister muttered, “Doesn’t he mean SeaWolves?”

“Weapons activity from the Martian convoy,” Cutler said.

Chronnister barked, “Inform Argus. Cragen, set Defense Squadron to Ready Condition. All weapons and ships to the ready, but do not launch.”

There was a fury of typing and yelling, when an alarm blared twice and red lights began flashing. A soothing voice came over McQuarrie’s internal speaker system on all decks, “Defense Squadron at Ready Condition. All crew prepare for possible attack.”

Stephen Cragen, the Defense Officer was the next to speak, “Martian bandit firing, not at us.”

Cutler shouted. “New bogey, a ship has appeared at oh-seven-three mark two-six-eight. It was hidden by the sun’s radiation, scanner’s couldn’t pick it up.”

“That’s where they’re firing,” Cragen yelled, “Enemy ship retaliating.”

’And here we are caught in the middle,’ Chronnister thought. “Any word from Swift?”

Hart shook his head, “None.”

“Scratch that,” Cutler said, “Pyro-GX has just launched. Heading… One-seven-eight mark two-two-five. Sir, he’s heading away from both ships.”

“Probably trying to lure fire away from the station…” Chronnister said.  “Give me audio-visual contact. All Bandits and Swift. I want to see everything they do and hear everything they say.” The main screen split into three parts showing each ship. The group of Martian ships consisted of one armed drop ship and three fighter escorts, were firing toward another ship, unlike any the crew had ever seen. That is, mostly unlike. It did have some resemblance to Lazlo’s ship, the Elwing. Were Lazlo there, he would have recognized it instantly as the Wolfen, the main class of ship used by Star Wolf. It was maneuvering wildly, almost impossibly, evading every shot fired at it, all the while firing back at the Martian ship. The third portion of the screen showed the Pyro-GX, mostly obscured by the light from its thrusters. ’What does he want me to do?’

The Pyro-GX turned and fired across the bow of the Martian drop ship and the Wolfen. The Martians returned fire, but Wolf ignored Argus and continued his assault on the Martians. Before they could return fire, they were done, space rubble floating around. Argus got the message too late, “Swift, protect the Martians,” It was Billy Hart’s voice, “We’ve found Lazlo and Xteven’s biosigns aboard!”

Enraged, Argus began attacking the Wolfen, intent to kill. From the Command Center, Chronnister and the rest of the staff looked on. The Pyro-GX flew toward the Wolfen, Vulcan Cannon firing full bore. The Wolfen was too quick though, and was able to avoid most of the fire. The Pyro-GX swooped past the Wolfen and, turning, continued fire. Wolf needed all of his concentration to avoid Argus’ shots, and had very little chance to fire. But he wasn’t getting hit, just a few glancing shots and lucky hits. Chronnister had never seen such a skilled pilot. Wolf’s grating voice crackled over the Ralcomm, “You’re good, Argus Swift. If you ever need a place to stay when McQuarrie’s destroyed, look us up. If you’re still alive.”

Still firing, Argus replied, “Never. McQuarrie will always be around. If it’s destroyed, it will just come back. You can’t stop that.” Wolf saw his opening and fired. A loud pop came over the Ralcomm, originating from Argus’ ship.

“That…” Hart stuttered, “That sounded like decompression.”

Cutler’s monitor’s confirmed, “It… It can’t be.” Chronnister only shook his head.

“Sir,” Hart said, “Some sort of transmission from the Pyro-GX to bandit. Doesn’t look like communications… Or anything I’ve ever seen for that matter.”


Aboard the already small Wolfen, Wolf injected a serum into Argus, who was already passed out. Wolf grunted. It was too small a ship to have two men in, but he needed to bring Argus back. He sighed. He wasn’t supposed to kill Lazlo, but it would do for now. He tapped a few buttons on his console and a countdown started. He blasted away toward the SeaWolf’s base. He wasn’t worried about being followed. He had taken care of that.


Chronnister sat in his chair, head in hands. “You’re sure you detected Swift’s vitals on the bandit?”

Cutler nodded, “Yes sir.” Her console beeped, a sound she had heard a thousand times, but she jumped anyway. A ship was leaving McQuarrie without clearance. “Unauthorized flight deck activity…” Her eyes widened when she noticed the ident on it, “Sir! It’s the Elwing!”

Chronnister jumped up and shouted, “Hart, hail it!” Hart nodded, “Oh please let it be Falconi…”

“Elwing pilot,” Hart said, “Identify yourself.”

Lazlo’s voice came over the Ralcomm, “Who else would be in my ship? I’m laying in a pursuit course. Send anyone you want with me, but don’t try to stop me.” Just as the Elwing cleared McQuarrie’s docking bay, a strange energy wave hit McQuarrie.

“What is that?” Chronnister yelled.

“Some sort of particle inversion field,” Hart said, “I’m not sure what…”

Cutler cut him off, “Sir! The particles are interfering with FTL contrivance. Twelve bogeys have appeared.”

Hart confirmed, “Idents coming in… Mostly cargo transports, probably affected by the particle field. It extends for… 1.5 AU’s.” He turned in his seat to face Chronnister. “McQuarrie is stranded at sub-light speeds.”

Lazlo hailed again, “McQuarrie, what’s going on? I can’t jump.” Hart relayed all the information he had, and Lazlo sighed. “Alright… Coming back.”

Aboard McQuarrie, Lazlo sat in the lounge. A large plate of food was in front of him, but it was mostly untouched. He knew what Star Wolf was like, and he wasn’t sure that he’d ever see Argus again. He looked around; the mood in the room seemed to match his. Everybody was grieving at the loss of their leader, who had given them so much. A strange man sat next to Lazlo. A man he hadn’t seen since the day the sun was created. The Day of Atrocity, as it had come to be known. Lazlo thought back on their brief meeting…

Lazlo walked onto the newly designed Battle Bridge, along with Argus, and whistled, "Wow, this is good work, Xteven."

"Wow.... Nice work, Xteven. Very nice indeed!" Swiftman nodded his approval. A small blip-blip-blip sound was heard, and Swiftm walked over to the radar display, where three ships were seen, all in a line beside each other. It was two SeaWolf ships and a larger one in tow. Argus wasn’t sure what it was, but the other two ships were made from obviously stolen McQuarrie designs. After a short skirmish, his fighters returned with the strange ship.
’Such an odd piece of metal…’ Argus thought.

A square portion of the top was cut out with laser cutters, and Nick hopped into the interior of the pod-like relic. She popped out a flashlight and looked around inside. It was a chryoship, full of sleeping men and women. All but one of the pods had failed or were otherwise empty. That was when they noticed the gravity well which would destroy the sun.

After seeing Venus destroyed, McQuarrie set to work on saving the solar system, on filling Jupiter with enough mass to transform it. With Primus’ help, they were able to do so. At that instant, the door to the derelict pod blew open. A man, dressed in ancient garbs of cloth, yet with the impression of having noble flesh, stood with a polearm in his hand. He saw the myriad of various spaceships amongst the Hanger, brought back into the Hanger after Primus came around, and knew immediately that he was in the right kind of place.

There was soon a great rumbling, and McQuarrie began inching closer to the forming star. The gravity began increasing slowly; to the point that everyone felt they were standing on a steep incline. The exosuits were beginning to malfunction from the magnetic formations of the star.

McQuarrie jerked once again, this time being blown away from Jupiter, the light at this point was so bright, that even those on planets not facing Jupiter noticed it. Any moons that hadn't been sucked in with the asteroids disintegrated and the strangely clothed man fell to his knees, bowing his head, "I've found you, the Creators..."



The man spoke, bringing Lazlo out of his memories, “You are Lazlo Falconi.” It was more of a statement than a question. Lazlo nodded. “I am Gal’duk. You seem to have a lot on your mind. I would be honored if I could help.”

Lazlo smiled, not a humorous smile. It was a sickly sort of smile that never touched his eyes, a grin that belied the pointlessness of Gal’duk’s statement. “What could you do? Advance on the Seawolves?”

Gal’duk was not amused. “I can help you. I am what you would call a clairvoyant. I cannot read minds, but I have a strong sense of what others are thinking, and of what must be done. I have assisted many great leaders, and I would be honored to assist the great Creator Lazlo Falconi.”

Creator…? Lazlo looked Gal’duk up and down. “How do we get Argus back?”

Shaking his head, Gal’duk replied, “We don’t. Creator Argus Swift will come to us. However, I have seen something interesting in you. A promise you made long ago… Very, very far away. Do you recall?”

Lazlo’s face became very dark. He did recall, though he wished he hadn’t. “So you know that. What about it?”

Gal’duk shook his head, “Creator Lazlo Falconi, you once held a very strict moral code. But you’ve turned on it. You should reconsider. When you break a promise to yourself, bad things can happen. Even to the Creators.”

Lazlo nodded.

“There is one more thing,” Gal’duk continued, “A vision… Of the future. A friend of yours… Dead. You must return his life to him.”

“A friend? Who?” Lazlo asked.

Gal’duk shook his head again, “I cannot say. My visions are not always so clear. This is all I can tell you now.”

Lazlo looked down at his food. “Please leave.”

Gal’duk made an odd sort of bow. “As you wish.”


It was a dark room, not much lighting and all grey and red on the wall. Nothing was in the room save for a very tall man sleeping on a table in the center. He awoke and looked around, confused. He stood up off the bed and walked to the door, but it was locked. He had no idea where he was, but then he realized he couldn’t remember his name.

He sat down on the bed, trying to puzzle it out. Nothing came to him. ’What is my name? Maybe I don’t have one… Do people have names? It’s odd that I can remember how to speak, but not my name… No that’s ridiculous. I can’t remember anything about who I am.

He tried thinking about himself. He seemed normal, at least from what he could remember of other people. He remembered being tall. Taller than most, and he was hungry, but his hunger seemed odd. He didn’t feel like he needed to eat, it was just a nagging feeling in his gut. He pricked his tongue on a tooth, and felt it. A fang… What is happening here?’

Almost as if in answer of his question, the door opened, and a… A wolf… A wolf man entered. The man was at first confused, but after a moment, he realized he was more shocked at how normal the wolf man seemed to him. It was as if he were used to this. The wolf smiled, “Ah, Argus, I see you’re awake.”

The man’s confusion deepened, “Argus? Is that my name?”

Nodding the wolf man said, “Yes, and mine’s Wolfix. You don’t remember anything?” Argus shook his head. ’Perfect,’ Wolfix thought, “We’re best friends, you and I. Co-owners of the largest mining corporation in the solar system!” Wolfix continued his stories, filling Argus’ mind with half-truths and outright lies. Anything he could do to get Argus’ cooperation. He hated talking to Argus, but he also felt good about it. That strange amnesia serum Wolf had used was working wonderfully. Though he wanted to tear Argus to shreds, he knew he would be better off using Argus. Wolfix could turn McQuarrie and all of its fighters into a disposable fighting force for the SeaWolves. He would still have his revenge, and kill Argus Swift. But first, he would use his fighters and mining ships to build a huge empire. It was the most perfect victory he could imagine.

He told Argus all about the encounter with Wolf, about being defeated, and injected with the serum. Of course, in Wolfix’ version, Wolfix saved Argus personally, destroying Wolf’s ship and bringing Argus back to the SeaWolf base. He also told Argus that nobody on McQuarrie knew of Wolfix, and he liked it that way. People were afraid of his appearance, and he told Argus to never mention him. When all of his stories were finished, he sent Argus back to McQuarrie with instructions to rebuild the Pyro-GX, but to mass produce it this time, to build a fleet of such ships. Argus complied, of course, and returned to McQuarrie.


Chronnister was once again sitting at his chair in the middle of McQuarrie’s Command Center. It had been over two weeks since Argus disappeared, but there was no way of knowing where Wolf had gone with him. Lazlo had wanted to storm the SeaWolves’ base as soon as faster-than-light transportation was available again, but its location was a secret. So the crew sat and waited.

A beep was emitted from Cutler’s console. “Sir? A ship with a SeaWolf ident just came within range.”

Chronnister sighed, “Fire. Don’t ask, just do it.” Chronnister knew it was probably a bad idea, but he just didn’t want to deal with the SeaWolves right now.

“Belay that order!” Hart yelled, “I’m getting a transmission from the ship, it’s Swift! He’s alive!” The command center erupted in applause. Hart opened a link with McQuarrie’s announcement system, “Attention McQuarrie! Argus Swift has just been spotted on approach with the station! He’s coming home!”

Chronister laughed, “He did it! I don’t know how but he did it!”

Minion was sitting in Argus’ office when he heard the announcement, and he ran to the docking bay. When Argus docked and exited his ship, Minion lept into his arms, “Swift! I thought you were dead! What happened?”

Confused, Argus answered to the best of his knowledge, “I escaped, but I’m okay now. Who are you?”

Minion didn’t like that, “You don’t remember…?”

Argus told Minion about the amnesia, repeating everything Wolfix had told him. Minion ordered Magellan in the Science Bay to start working on a cure. Then he asked Argus why he came in aboard a SeaWolf craft.

“So you know about the SeaWolves?” Argus asked, “That’s great, Wolfix told me I shouldn’t mention him, but if you already know—“

Minion cut him off, “Wait, you were speaking to Wolfix?” Argus nodded. “We need to talk…” Argus couldn’t believe Wolfix had lied to him, he had seemed so nice. How could Wolfix be Argus’ mortal enemy, when the two had spent nearly a week speaking of their past?

<!-- Bear with me, I got a little windy and reached the post limit... -->
Title: Re: Another Day on the McQuarrie
Post by: Lazlo Falconi on August 30, 2009, 10:05:00 pm
Magellan was having no luck finding a cure, until Lazlo Falconi and Xteven Xavier came on the scene. You see, they hadn’t been doing a lot lately, but there was reason. They were off becoming even more rad dudes than they already were! Now, they were totally scientists with PhDs and everything! It was an online course or something. They were easily able to solve Argus’ problem by applying some of Xteven’s self-repairing nanobots to Argus Swift’s brain. The nanobots were able to find and repair the severed connection inhibiting Argus’ memory, and later that day, Argus remembered everything.

Jeez, what a corny ending to that story arc, huh? But oh, it’s not over yet. Because Wolfix found out about the whole thing. And let me tell you, he was mad. So mad, in fact, that he sent his whole fleet of fighters to engage McQuarrie.

It was first shift on McQuarrie. Everyone was settling into just another day on McQuarrie, when tracking sensors went off everywhere. “Chronnister we’ve got bogeys… Everywhere. Computer’s counting 38 class nine warships, and over a thousand fighters.”

Chronnister was just having all the bad luck lately. “Everyone, full tactical alert, launch all fighters, charge the Mauler, ready preparations for the Battle Array, and call Argus to the Situation Room.”

The emergency alarm blared again, and the too-familiar voice came over the speakers, “Defense Squadron at Ready Condition. All crew prepare for possible attack.” This time, however, it added a bit more, “Full tactical alert, all non-essential personnel are confined to quarters.”

When Argus entered the Situation Room, Chronnister was waiting for him, along with Magellan and Xteven. Lazlo strode in shortly after. “What do I need to know?” Argus asked.

“SeaWolves,” Chronnister replied simply, “Thousands of them.”

 Argus nodded, ’So this is what Wolf was referring to… He looked at a screen showing a computer rendering of McQuarrie and all of the ships surrounding it. There was an escape, but McQuarrie was too slow to make it. He pressed some buttons on the computer to open a Ralcomm link with the whole station. “Crew of McQuarrie, it’s been a pleasure, but once again, it seems we face utter destruction. Before any are killed though, I’m giving you the opportunity to leave. Thousands of SeaWolves have just dropped to sublight speed and are on an intercept course with McQuarrie. We estimate twelve minutes until rendezvous. All who wish to leave may do so now, but know this, if you choose to stay, it may be the last thing you choose to do. All who wish to stay, report to your commander, a ship or mech will be assigned to you. We’ll need all of McQuarrie’s force, and I’m not sure we’ll be able to do it, but we’ll go down fighting.” The link was closed.

“How many do you think will leave?” Lazlo asked.

Argus looked at his monitors for a few minutes. “Looks like nobody.”

Lazlo grinned, “I love this station.”

Several minutes later, McQuarrie rocked; the warships had begun firing. Cragen’s voice came over the Ralcomm, “Chronnister, Mauler is charged and ready. All birds affirm.”

“Fire at will.” Chronnister said. Normally, Argus had to authorize weapons use, but Chronnister did have authority to do so, for instances like this.

On the Flight Deck, there was a fury of ships getting ready, when the lights dimmed. Argus couldn’t see from here, but he knew the Mauler was being fired at the warships. McQuarrie’s shields would be reduced for a moment, but hopefully the SeaWolves were too far away to hit. Lazlo, Argus, Xteven, and all of McQuarrie’s fighters and mechs launched. Many would not return, and they all knew that.

<!-- Just keep this fight going, no reason to end it just yet! -->
Title: Re: Another Day on the McQuarrie
Post by: Deus35 on September 16, 2009, 03:15:06 pm
"Excellent" - said the mysterious villan. He resided almost half way across the universe as his throne room displayed a world map, with a scope that allows him to show events anywhere in the universe he resided in.

He turned the scope onto the battlearea, and then he cracked his neck, as he had lifted his arm on the throne to display a classic array of shiny buttons, he had looked down, and pressed the blue button. It had lifted the world scope up, and then displayed a battlefield grid zone instead.

He had then pressed the red shiny and classic button - it had made holographs appear onto the grid, as if a simulation. But in reality it had opened the giant ships cannon open from the large hatch. He had angled the large expensive cannon towards the McQ. and then began the charging process, the slaves chugging in black coal, and crystals in to charge up the most large cannon, for the crystal shining in the furance raises the range. The aim was perfect as the target on the giant area was placed. He had then pressed the yellow button to use the intercom.

"Get ready to fire, and then camoflage!" - He had shouted to the deck. The cannon fired, but nothing came out, but the people on the giant but shimmering ship knew to cover their ears as it blew from the cannon's head forward in a array of soundbreaking waves, and a giant lazer shining forth, the soundwaves travelling roughly with the giant lazer in space, as it was apart of the weapon as well. It was known all over the universe to make people deaf, if the beam did not kill them, they would stiff suffer.

The beam would then attempt to contact with the McQ. right in the middle of the battle.

(I have no idea, I just thought I'd try something.)
Title: Re: Another Day on the McQuarrie
Post by: Lazlo Falconi on September 17, 2009, 11:35:57 pm
<!-- No sweat, or as my comrade would say, null sweet. Like I mentioned, anyone is welcome to join.




Although, I was on the track to ending it... Out of great curiosity, have you read the original thread? -->
Title: Re: Another Day on the McQuarrie
Post by: Deus35 on September 22, 2009, 12:07:52 pm
// No. Lulz.
Title: Re: Another Day on the McQuarrie
Post by: Lazlo Falconi on September 23, 2009, 01:19:17 pm
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