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« 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?
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