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  #381  
Old January 6th, 2006, 01:58 PM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

They knew about the so called victory not about HOW MANY died or how I probobly shoulda phrased that better.

And heck if you read Selene's statement you know that even the MILITARY doesn't fully know how many died considering she thinks only 30 million died (that's 100 million short).
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  #382  
Old January 9th, 2006, 07:49 PM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

It's good to see that Starhawk is continuing with this story despite his other distractions. In this latest episode, I like the emphasis on the sheer scale of Icaran achievement, and the foreshadowing of a titanic conflict in the near future.

A few nitpicks:

Admirals usually don't take over a ship's bridge and give orders directly to the helm. They issue general instructions to their captains and let them give the detailed orders to carry out their assignments. Of course Admiral Ross may have taken direct control just for the fun of running a ship again.

"Two thousand square kilometers" isn't a radius, it's an area. A circle with an area of 2000 km^2 has a radius of just over 25 km.

Our sun contains about 99.85% of all the mass in our solar system. To build a sphereworld with the mass of our sun, the builders would have to import the mass of about a thousand Jupiter-sized worlds. Not to worry, though. Freeman Dyson estimated that a sphere 3 m thick could be built around our sun at a distance of 1 AU using all the mass of the planets and other "debris", or several cm thick using only elements with atomic number greater than 2.

When I looked up Dyson spheres I was surprised to learn that Dyson's original vision wasn't for a solid shell, but rather for orbiting stations in such numbers that they intercepted all of the local sun's output. Although SE IV uses the term "sphereworld", authors can interpret that concept in various ways to suit their stories.

References:

http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/dysonFAQ.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere
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  #383  
Old January 16th, 2006, 07:20 PM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

Blimey you do indeed learn something every day, although I do struggle to think of a time I will need to know about Dyson Spheres in everyday conversation.

Anyway to topic: Mr Starhawk will we be seeing more of this soon or is another several month break in the offing?
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  #384  
Old March 2nd, 2006, 06:46 PM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

Hi all bet you thought this was dead eh Well suprise!

Okay this following chapter is a two parter (I am still working on part two) but here is Part One, sorry it took me so long to write this but this chapter and the one that follows it had a big emotional effect on me for personal reasons and though I enjoyed "writing" it I found some of the imagery hard to describe without being TOO graphic.

I will warn you all right now the Icaran universe is going to becoming darker and more gritty as the chapters go on, this is not to "gothify" it but is to show that no matter how staunch and devout a culture is that it is impossible for decades of war and billions of deaths to pass without effecting a nation (or in this case galaxy) at it's very core.

I've edited and re-edited the following segment so I hope you all like it.


Warning the following two chapters are RATED R for:
Nudity
Rape
Intense descriptions of gore and mutilation
Adult Language
Adult Conent

Please do not read further if any of these offend or scare you.


Alone in the Dark
Be near me when my light is low... And all the wheels of being slow.
Alfred Lord Tennyson


His Majesty’s Light Cruiser LC 303 formerly known as HMS Repulse before a modern Super Dreadnought took her name, was an old ship the last of the old Retribution class light cruisers that had not been turned into a museum or scrapped.. In fact even after her retrofit with modern weaponry 303 wouldn’t even scratch a modern warship if she fired all of her guns at the same time….and so she was assigned one of the most boring jobs in the Royal navy….patrolling the inner “frontier” systems while her crew (which was mostly inexperienced recruits or washouts that couldn’t cut it on an SD) ran the standard anti-smuggler and anti-piracy duties that were normally assigned to the new Federal Space Security Division.

Commander John Dexter, her current CO thought of it as a disgrace for spacers in the Royal Navy to be babysitting the inner frontiers while the real warships and their crews fought for the very survival of the Empire. But he was an officer in his Majesty’s navy and though he was young for his rank (only twenty-two standard years) he was an exceptional officer who ran his ship and his crew as if he were on the most important mission in the entire Empire.
It had been two months since 303 which Dexter and the crew had unofficially named “Forlorn” had left Neurenburg naval base on Dexter’s second cruise in command; and so far it had been the standard run of the mill boredom as the old warhorse which had once served on the fighting lines of battle fleets did her bit for Praetor and Country.

Tellus 1st:

Commander Dexter sat in the small command center of Forlorn sipping a cup of naval coffee, slowly chewing the jelled mix that had started to form as the “coffee” cooled….though the rest of the crew thought he was nuts John genuinely liked the taste of the jell better then the coffee it’s self so he’d heat up a big mug and let it cool after a few hours and chew the little chunks of mix as they formed and floated in the remaining water, it was part of his daily routine and after a few months even his bridge crew got used to it. But today he had honestly forgotten all about his coffee as he read reports that his section leaders had turned in earlier that morning.
“You look worried sir?” Lieutenant Commander Harriman’s voice surprised Dexter who swallowed a chunk of jelled coffee hard as he almost tossed the flexi pad with the reports on it across the bridge.
“Damn it Alex I told you to stop doing that….one of these days you’ll give me a heart attack.” Dexter glared even as the impish grin he rarely shared with anyone but friends came involuntarily across his lips.
“Well skipper if ye’ e’er do have a heart attack I’ll be sure to call a medical team for ye’……o’ c’urse that’d be after I assumed command o’ this old rust bucket.” Harriman said returning his Captain’s grin.
Harriman was nearly three time’s Dexter’s age and had joined the navy back when ships like the Forlorn had still been the queens of space; and though he was a gruff fowl mouthed old spacer that could make most snot noses cringe in fear without even raising his voice; Harriman was a good officer and had taken an almost instant liking to his new Commander; especially since like Harriman himself Dexter had risen from the ranks of the enlisted to become an Officer.
“Hell if I’d leave an vacuum eater like you in command Alex you’d probably end up blowing up a planet or something….and how would that make me look?” Dexter said as he placed the flexi aside with an exaggerated gesture.
“Aye, with my damned lot o’ luck I’d probably do just that sir’ but seriously ye’ do look a mite bothered and befuddled skip….if ye’ don’ mind me sayin’ so o’ course.” Harriman’s drawling voice had turned more serious as his commander’s grin faded into a grimace.
“I don’t mind you saying so Lieutenant Commander, these reports are depressing…..this ship was once a ship of the line! A warship in his Majesty’s service with the best crew and equipment, but now……” he shrugged and looked to the “sky”.
“Ah so that’s it is it sir? Well most of this crew is green, and granted ol’ Forlorn is not what she used to be but this old warhorse has some fight in her still, and she’ll surprise ye if she gets the chance.” Harriman patted the arm of his chair as if he were petting a beloved old hunting dog and Dexter couldn’t help but feel a little guilty that he could never really bring himself to thinking of Forlorn as anything but an old scrap heap that didn’t deserve the title of “warship” in this day and age but he knew Harriman had served on her not only during the Phong Wars where she survived the disaster that had been the third battle of Fornax but he had served on her ever since staying with all nineteen of her captains until they got promoted and moved onto the “modern navy”.

“Well to tell the truth I’m less worried about the ship then it’s new crew….most of these kids are just out of boot, and OCS and it’s starting to show in our performance…..we’d barely make muster if we were a line ship.” John sighed as he looked at the face of his chief weapons officer who was in fact a seventeen year old girl that had just come out of OCS with the rank of Ensign on her first cruise.
“Aye they’re kids….and they’re green but if you give me another few weeks I’ll kick their green arses all over the decks and leave each of ‘em with a boot stamp the size of a dreadnought until they shape up….or by god I’ll space the lot of ‘em” Harriman’s drawl had gone harsh as he eyed the bridge crew and made sure his voice carried enough for all of them to hear him.
And it was all Dexter could do to keep from smirking when the lovely young ensign at weaps blushed so red he thought she was about to explode.
“Well Sailing Master I think on that note I’m going to go to my quarters….such as they are. And get something to eat…..you have the Com.”
“Aye Sir I ‘ave the com, see ye’ in a few hours.” Harriman said with a mischievous wink that told his Commander to expect some drills over the next few hours that would probably make the crew wish they had gone into battle instead.

Tellus 2nd:
The attack had been a total surprise and had come in the middle of the night, a single pirate ship that was roughly the size of a Federal security Peacekeeper class starship had just appeared out of an asteroid belt and jumped the Forlorn engaging in a brief energy duel before deploying grapnels and boarding the small Icaran warship.

“Marine’s report to deck six I repeat report to deck six, we are being boarded….damage control parties to…..uh….decks five and three.” Ensign Caldwell said nervously as his eyes raced over the incoming reports from his section.
“Gou Shi! Caldwell what section do you want us at down here we don’t see the boarders!” The marine sergeant’s voice barked back.
“Ta ma de! They’re on deck five marines…..fire control get to deck six now.” Caldwell panicked as he tried to organize just what was going on, and was in the middle of panicking when the fire control party on deck five comned the bridge.
“Damn it command this is DC team seven we are under fire and ….” Automatic weapons fire cut off the end of the sentence and Caldwell’s face turned white as he realized what his mistake had done.

“Thank ye’ mister Caldwell yer damn fool SCREW UP just cost me eight member’s of my crew.” Harriman’s voice cut across the bridge like a cold wind silencing the chaos almost instantly as the weight of that simple statement sank in.
“Commander Sir, Reactor one is going critical engineering is trying to lock it down but they don’t think they can.” Ensign Paris said coolly as she looked up from her bridge readouts of the engineering deck.
Harriman turned to face her, his eyes hard enough to stare death himself down “Ensign ye’ know there’s only one thing ta’ be done….so just do it a’ready.” his voice was quiet and cool, unlike it had been only seconds before and the young woman stared back at him frozen for a second as her mind raced.
“Commander there are fifteen engineers in reactor room one if we eject it we kill all of them.” She stared for a moment and when Harriman did not respond she nodded and pressed a series of commands “Reactor one has been jettisoned reactor room has been vented….there is no longer a danger of breach sir.”
“Very well Ensign.” Harriman said simply as he monitored the situation from his command interface calmly even as dozens of voices shouted over the comns, including a dying message from marine fire team three which by the sound of things had just been wiped out.
“Commander! A group of boarders has breached into reactor two….marine fire teams Delta and Vega are engaged.” Caldwell’s voice was over excited for an Icaran Naval officer but at just this moment Harriman did not care because if a group of boarders got to the only remaining reactor and shut it down then Forlorn would lose all of her power and be helpless.
“Got that Ji Nv!” Fire Control officer Ensign Blake shouted as her guns finally struck the raider’s hull instead of its shields; as large debris and atmosphere poured from the open wound another I-Las shot struck the enemy ship tearing off it’ entire portside arsenal as the beam raked it.
“One more hit and she’s mine sir.” Blake said hungrily as she fed target data to the gun crews….just then the entire bridge sank into darkness and a low hum sounded the loss of all power.
After a few seconds of silence the lights came back up and all power was restored, the damage control board went green and all comns went quiet.

“Well great ladies and gentlemen we’re dead….or at least we would be when those pirates decided to send over more boarding parties.” Commander Dexter said as he stepped back onto the bridge; he had been declared a casualty in the opening exchange and had stepped off the bridge to monitor the simulation from the Damage control room instead and his mood had only gotten darker as the simulation went on.
“All department heads are to report to the briefing room in one hour, in the meantime Sailing Master Harriman I would like to speak with you in private.” When Harriman nodded Dexter simply nodded back and turned around, leaving the bridge in silence.

An hour later and the small briefing room was crowded with the various department heads, Ensign Blake, Fire Control; Ensign Caldwell Damage Control; Lieutenant Geer Marines, Lieutenant Elizabeth McClain Navigation, Ensign Walker Astrogation and Ensign Paris Engineering.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen let’s get right down to business, Harriman here will give each of you a review of your departments and their performance during our latest simulation.” Dexter gestured to Harriman who stood up and cleared his throat.

“First off ye’ were all caught with yer pants down and that lad’s and lassies is just plain unforgivable during a deep range patrol, Gawd forbid those’d been real pirates out there tonight instead of a simulation.” Harriman eyed each of the young department heads fiercely letting each word sink into their heads before continuing “My lord Caldwell led EIGHT crewmen into an ambush by pirate boarders because he got his bloody deck layout confused, not only that but he neglected to inform TWO marine fire teams of boarders in their sections leading to those teams being wiped out as well.”
Caldwell went ghost white as the other department heads looked at him, Lieutenant in particular was glaring at him because Geer had been in one of those two fire teams that got ambushed and wiped out.
“I’m sorry sir, I don’t know what happened.” Caldwell managed to choke out even as he nervously played with the buckle on his belt, slowly tracing the Imperial eagle with his thumb.
“I know what happened lad’ Ye’ screwed the pooch because ye’ panicked and that is something we are going to train out of you.” Harriman said more calmly as he saw the anguish in the young man’s face. “Besides your not the only one who screwed up….now Ensign Blake, if I may say so Captain.” He looked at Dexter with a small smile “Performed very well and her targeting data gave our gunnery crews several good shots before the “boarders” In reactor two took out our power.” Harriman nodded at the young woman with the barest hint of a smile on his lips.
“Now on to Navigation…..Miss McClain you unfortunately were declared a casualty shortly after the engagement began so I will not lay too much blame on you, for your performance.” Harriman paused just long enough to let the words your performance hit home. “However your navigation crew did terrible in this simulation, one wou’d think they didn’t know how to perform a bleedin’ evasive maneuver.” Harriman glared at her for a moment longer and to his surprise she simply nodded.
“Yes sir they screwed up and I intend to make sure it never happens again.” Her voice was totally unshaken and her eyes burned with a sureness that impressed the gruff old Spacer; she knew her department had made a mistake and she didn’t try to whitewash it or make excuses she simply accepted it and set herself to the task of correcting it, something most people her age never bothered with.
“Now as for…..” Harriman was about to continue when a voice over the room’s intercom cut him off.
“Captain to the bridge…..Captain to the bridge……we are receiving a class one federal distress signal.” the voice was almost mechanical over the com unit but even then the shock was audible and Harriman and Dexter exchanged brief glances before both rushed for the door.
“Everyone report to your stations now!” Dexter said as he left the briefing room on Harriman’s heels, several of the officers present immediately followed after Dexter as their stations were on the bridge….Lieutenant Geer however raced to get to the marine barracks while Walker went to check up on her engineering crew before reporting to the bridge.

Harriman and Dexter calmly entered the bridge and reported to their stations, even though Dexter felt anything but calm as the dread over receiving a code one federal distress call meant…..it was better known to spacers as a “Banshee call” because it was the last message a ship would ever send before being destroyed or it’s crew killed.
“Alright Ensign Toumas let’s hear it.” Dexter forced his voice to stay calm and casual despite the bile he could feel rising in his throat, after a second the hiss of the bridge com and then a desperate young voice cut through the silence.
“I repeat this is the Federal Security ship Pontus we are being boarded, they came out of nowhere and are overwhelming our security forces, they have already taken the lower decks…….I am declaring distress if anyone can hear me please respond……” The voice belonged to a young man who despite what he had just reported sounded eerily calm.
“Com put us through…..” Dexter waited for a moment until the com officer nodded “This is Commander John Dexter of the LC oh three to Pontus who is attacking you and what is your status?” he already strongly suspected the status of the Federal security ship but it made no sense…..they were in a core system, who could attack a FedSec ship out here?
“LC oh three, we don’t know who’s attacking us it’s an older Sol Coalition battleship that’s been refit……..status is not good they are already working their way to the bridge I hear the gunfire…..the captain and most of the crew are dead, I was ordered to stay here and relay information to anyone I could. Sir they’re not just killing our people they’re doing……horrible things to them.” The young man’s voice cracked for just a moment and Dexter felt his heart ache.
“Alright Pontus what are your coordinates we will be there as soon as possible.” Dexter turned to face Harriman and shook his head slowly.... all the Forlorn could do was get revenge for the FedSec ship because by time they got there it would all be over…..and what made it worse was that poor young man on the other end of the line already knew he was dead.
“Sir I’ve transmitted coordinates……they just set off a demolition charge at the bridge door sir one more and they’ll be through…..please make them pay for killing us sir.” The young man’ sounded more angry then sad and it was a feeling Dexter could understand.
“We’ll get them for you Pontus I swear it.” John Dexter said coldly, and after another second of silence a large explosion on the other end of the comn line sent a shiver up his spine.
“They’re through three oh three……God take our souls!” The sounds of screaming and gunfire were intermingled with a horrible sound that Dexter couldn’t quite place a sound of crunching and tearing…..and then the com went silent.

Seconds passed but it seemed an eternity until Dexter finally spoke again, using every ounce of will he had not to cry “Helm lay in a course for the Pontus last known location.”
Harriman patted his Commander’s arm gently “I hate to hav’ to say it sir but if they cou’d kill a Peacekeeper class starship so easily shou’d we really be engaging ‘em in naught but a light cruiser?” Harriman seemed to want to spit after suggesting that they simply turn around and abandon a fellow Icaran starship. Unfortunately it was true because though it was only a FedSec ship a Peacekeeper had almost twice the firepower of the Forlorn not to mention a much larger ground combat force.
“I know it’s probably not the smartest idea Harriman, and we’ll certainly launch a messenger drone to the nearest naval base but we have to at least try to see if there is anyone to save.” John looked at Alexander Harriman’s eyes and saw a glint of pride in the older man, and couldn’t help but feel somewhat more confident.
“Aye lad we ‘ave to at least try.” Alex Harriman said with a grim smile before turning back to face the screen “Time to intercept?” He barked, his voice back to it’s old give ‘em hell tone.
“Sir ETA eighteen hours, they are at the far edge of the system on the other side of the Herman asteroid belt.” Lieutenant McClain answered her voice still as stony and confident as it had been during the briefing.
“Very good…..pass the word, the marines run anti-boarding drills and have all crewman don armor and side arms.’ John looked at his bridge crew one more time and began to wonder if this would be the end for him and his crew….a crew who had been utterly beaten in a simulation against boarders.

Tellus 3rd:
It had been eighteen hours since the Forlorn had received the distress signal from the Federal Security Peacekeeper Pontus and finally the slow old light cruiser was coming up on the coordinates of the battle that had claimed a Federal security ship and it’s crew.
“Tactical what have we got?” it had been the first time in hours that anyone on the bridge had even spoken and John could almost feel the stir of tension as everyone on the bridge waited to hear from tactical.
“Sir I’m detecting the Pontus on short range sensors now, she’s dead in space as best I can tell…..multiple breaches along the hull that look like they were made by grapnels…..there’s not much air on her sir.” The tactical officer’s voice droned on professionally listing the damages the Pontus had suffered until his voice suddenly raised in surprise “Sir I’ve got life signs, it’s too hard to tell how many or even where they are but I’ve definitely got life signs!”
John Dexter didn’t even wait before slamming his fist down on the com button he had set to Geer’s com earlier “Attention Lieutenant Geer I want a squad marines and a team of Corpsmen to the launch bay in two minutes.” John was optimistic for the first time since he had heard the distress call….life signs meant survivors and that could mean that somehow the Pontus had repelled her attacker in the end.
“Aye sir……I’ve already got Alpha squad and Corpsmen Burke and Riley down in cutter six with your permission we’ll launch right now.” Geer’s voice was toneless as he pretty much admitted over the com that he had violated procedure and had his marines board a cutter. Dexter grinned for just a moment and turned to Harriman to see the old spacer smiling outright.
“Aye sir there’s hope for this crew yet.” Harriman said under his breath before turning his attention back to his tactical plot.
“Very good Lieutenant you have the go ahead…..get over there and bring those survivors back.” Dexter said more seriously before cutting the com circuit “Tactical can you get me a visual yet?” he rotated his chair to face the ship’s main screen as Tactical Officer Cherenkov’s hands raised over the controls.

After a few seconds the screen came to life and the optics began to focus on a huge grey and red object…..a few more seconds passed as the optics zoomed in to reveal what was left of the Peacekeeper class vessel Pontus.
“My God…..she’s been blown to hell.”
“How could anyone survive that?”
“Her entire superstructure been shot off!”
The whispers across the bridge were brought to a quick end as Harriman cleared his throat and leveled a look around the bridge that would have brought down a Spartan Kraken.
“Sir it looks like whoever did this tried to capture her intact but was forced to destroy too much of her for it to be worthwhile…..the grapnel hits are in non critical areas and as best I can tell other then the superstructure being destroyed there is very little actual hull damage.” Cherenkov’s tone remained bland even as the rest of the bridge crew’s nervous whispers had to be quieted.
“Sir marine cutter six has launched and will board the Pontus in under one minute at max acceleration.” Ensign Walker reported from the astrogation section almost offhandedly as his eyes remained fixed on the screen along with the eyes of almost every bridge officer.

A dull thump announced the marine’s breaching a damaged section of hull as their cutter latched onto the outer shell and fired off a breaching charge. Barely five seconds passed before the first fire team marines zip lined down to the deck, weapons at the ready. As the first four marines spread out to give the second fire team room to drop their rifle mounted flashlights shown eerily in the smoke filled darkness of the Pontus corridors
“Alright fire team one you’ve got the upper decks, fire team two your with me Burke your with team one, Riley your with me.” Lieutenant Geer whispered over his helmet com, just in case anyone hostile was here Geer wasn’t about to make a commotion.

As Geer’s fire team got past the wreckage in the corridor where they had first entered the ship the marine on point suddenly stopped short causing the marine behind him to bump into his back.
“Gou shi Henderson what’s wrong with you?” the second marine’s voice hissed over the com line as he recovered from the initial shock of bumping into another fully armored marine.
“Look…” Was all Henderson managed to croak out, hearing the tone in the marine’s voice Geer pushed forward and aimed his rifle’s flashlight at the deck.
Geer stopped up short and felt his stomach wretch, he had seen battle casualties before but the bodies that were laid out in front of him were not simply killed they were mutilated, their guts carved out and their skin flayed….by the look of agony on what was left of one man’s face it looked like the mutilation had happened while some of them were still alive.
“This couldn’t have happened during a firefight…..not even if the ship took a hit…..my God sir someone did this to them….I mean deliberately…..carved them up like meat.” Corpsman Burke’s voice barely registered as Geer raised his rifle and aimed it down the corridor ahead…….more bodies or parts of bodies were strewn about the deck as far as he could see.
“Alright…..enough……we’ve still got survivors on the deck below us and damned if I am going to let them die here when what’s left of this ship’s atmo vents because we couldn’t get a hold of our own nerve…..move out” Geer barked the last two words more to keep himself from vomiting then to sound in charge and as he passed through more of the charnel house that had once been a ship’s deck he found it harder to keep his breakfast down.

As Geer and his marines made their way down to the next deck more horrors awaited them, including female crew members stripped naked and tied to various pieces of debris along the bulkheads their bodies were in a state that would make any Icaran sick but Geer and his marines couldn’t afford that as the air supply was even now running out for whoever it was that managed to survive this massacre. As the marines reached crew quarters they found more bodies with the females being tied to the hatches the marine’s motion detectors began chirping, as the marines got closer the realized it was coming from one of the rooms that had a naked and mutilated woman tied to the hatch.
“Loren, get it open, Horrowitz, Janec provide cover.” Geer raised his rifle toward the corpse strung hatch as Loren advanced and checked for any improvised explosives. After a moment the marine slung his auto rifle and pulled out his combat knife to cut the cords that secured the woman to the hatch.
‘Who the cao could do this sir?” Marine Loren said as he gently cut down the mangled woman’s corpse and laid her aside to get through the door she had been tied too.
“I don’t know Marine but whatever xeno scum did this is going to burn.” Geer said icily as Loren opened the hatch to reveal another group of dead bodies, this time all male who had apparently been dragged in to the quarters after being injured, where they were then tortured and killed.
Loren paused as he approached the head and heard a rustle in a closet; he quickly made a gesture that alerted the other marines to what he was looking at, Geer and Horrowitz took up the flank while Janec was signaled to fall back and protect Burke.
As Loren carefully approached the door he heard a quiet thud and felt his heart begin to race, if it had not been for his training he would have unloaded his weapon into the closet right then and there but he kept his nerves under control and carefully slid the door aside.
A high pitched whine pierced the air as a dart pistol fired square into Loren’s breastplate, knocking the marine back a few inches.
Just as the two men who had been flanking him were about to open fire Loren screamed “NO! She’s one of ours God don’t shoot!” and stepped into the closet, another dart shot rang out and again Loren’s breastplate had a chip of armor fly off before he finally grabbed the pistol and threw it clear of the person inside the closet.
“Get away from me you bastards……get away I’ll kill you!” a young female voice shouted followed by some words even Geer had not heard used before, quickly the two other marines slung their rifles and rushed over to help Loren secure the struggling victim without causing her harm.
After a few seconds of struggle that seemed an eternity the naked writhing figure who’s face none of them had managed to see in the darkness suddenly stopped moving altogether and for a moment Geer felt a sick pang, fearing that she had died in her struggle.
“Burke get your *** over here, she’s hurt!” was all he managed to get out before the corpsman physically moved him out of the way and was kneeling over the nude and battered young woman. For over a minute the corpsman said nothing as he ran scans over her slowly inspecting her for any major injuries he would have to treat there, it was when that he moved the hair that had been caked in blood and blocking her face to place the oxygen mask on her did the true horror of the situation become apparent.
“Oh dear god….she’s a kid…..she couldn’t be older then fourteen” One of the marines….Geer couldn’t quite tell who at that point quickly opened their visor and went to the corner and began vomiting violently as the other two stood with him in numb horror. ”Burke…..what’s her status?” Geer kept his voice battlefield calm even though everything in him was afraid he already knew the answer.
“Sir…..she’s been raped and beaten, as near as I can tell multiple times, she’s got broken ribs and her one lung has a rib gone clear through it, she’s also got internal bleeding in several places…..I think whoever did this to her left her to die slowly on purpose.” Burke gently unhooked the greatcoat from his armor and wrapped it around the young girl before injecting her with a stasis fluid and placing oxygen on her.
“We’ve got to get her back to the ship now sir….” Burke looked up with a fire in his eye that Geer had only ever seen in combat personnel, a fire that cried for blood and revenge but tempered with months of medical training and compassion for the young woman that was lying broken on the floor in front of him.
“Alright Burke, once stasis sets in we’ll get a stretcher and get her out of here…” Geer’s voice was still filled with hatred as he tried to force himself to look away from the young woman that was lying on the floor. Less then four minutes later the marine cutter was on it’s way back to the Forlorn with two survivors, both women and both in the same condition…..a fourteen year old Fed Sec Spacer named Allyson Landry the other survivor was Commodore Liza Adair NavInt which just added new questions like why naval personnel were on a FedSec ship?

What the crew of the Forlorn could not know was that the hardest and most trying fight they’d ever face was only days away for as the marines were bringing the two survivors back to the Icaran light cruiser, she was being stalked by a predator who had already butchered one FedSec Peacekeeper class patrol ship’s crew along with others that the inexperienced crew would only later find out about……

To be Continued
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When life gives you lemons take them and squeeze them in life's eye until it gives you the oranges you asked for!

"If men build things to look like our penis such as towers and ships does that mean female achitects represent women having penis envy?"
A line that made me chuckle, I can't remember where I heard it I just know it made me laugh.

"I'm not really a slapper....I mainly punch and gouge."
Tammy Lee my kung fu instructor/sifu's daughter when asked if she ever slapped a boy for saying something nasty to her.
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  #385  
Old March 3rd, 2006, 05:43 PM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

Nice switch from the frontline "Glory Navy" to the rear echelon "Working Navy". I think Starhawk has correctly portrayed the crew of such a ship: rookies, screw-ups, and pre-retirees.

The young crew members of both ships in Part 1 remind me of the Royal Navy in the age of sail, with its teenage midshipmen and pre-pubescent powder monkeys. However, given the size of the Icaran Empire, the navy's ability to draw on both manpower and womanpower, and the Icaran life span, I doubt the armed forces would need to recruit children. Moreover, the complexity of interstellar craft relative to sailing ships would seem to make an advanced education a prerequisite for service. Finally, adding "jailbait" (of both sexes) to the crew of a man-o-war on extended duty would seem to be a recipe for trouble, no matter how thorough the Icaran indoctrination and crew screening techniques.

As for the "pirate" ship, I was expecting it to strike when the Forlorn's crew was slightly weakened by the departure of its boarding party. I'm curious to see what circumstances the enemy considers even more favorable.
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Old March 3rd, 2006, 05:54 PM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

Hey Hunpecked it's always great to hear from you I really learn a lot from your critique of my story and it helps me find what i need to correct or go into more depth on.

Yeah I figure that since the "Ships of the Line" of the Icaran Royal navy only engaged in full on battles since you obviously wouldn't dispatch a squadron of your most powerful battleships to capture a few smugglers. There had to be someone to do the "scut work" that had no glory, or "honor" to it, they simply do the ugly job no one wants like stopping smugglers or pirates.

As far as the young crew, Icaran society is not quite like ours in the regards to children in the work force, they are considered adult at 13 and are usually pretty well educated by then (remember the advanced schooling techniques I mentioned way back)additional schooling from that age on is pretty much what we would consider "college" level and higher. They also perform less "tech related" jobs aboard ship while they undergo training, for example they are mess cooks, gun crews, "janitors" that sort of thing. It also depends greatly one which Icaran world they come from.

For example on a world like Sparta it's actually SAFER aboard a navy warship then it is back at home (which is also oddly enough why the bulk of the Spartan soldiers are women) so the naval recruitment age on Sparta is 14. Many worlds are like this as well as it is on some worlds seen as merely a further education, or even a right of passage.

On many core worlds like Icara, Brandenburg and the like the minimum recruitment age would often vary, usually to around 16-17 years old.

As far as "jailbait" goes, well that's hard because as far as being attracted to a 14 year old "child" goes, well I think any adult whether aboard a warship or not would know better then to do something with her/him, remember there are fully adult crewmembers aboard ship it's not like they'd go months with nothing to look at but pre-teen girls/boys.
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When life gives you lemons take them and squeeze them in life's eye until it gives you the oranges you asked for!

"If men build things to look like our penis such as towers and ships does that mean female achitects represent women having penis envy?"
A line that made me chuckle, I can't remember where I heard it I just know it made me laugh.

"I'm not really a slapper....I mainly punch and gouge."
Tammy Lee my kung fu instructor/sifu's daughter when asked if she ever slapped a boy for saying something nasty to her.
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Old March 4th, 2006, 12:02 AM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

Starhawk, thanks for clarifying the Icaran view of adulthood. It's interesting that the advanced educational practices in the story result in a social situation reminiscent of "primitive" Napoleonic Europe, when "children" labored alongside adults in the fields, shops, and armed forces, and often married in their early teens. The lack of automation in Icaran society (explained in an earlier post, as I recall) would tend to provide ample opportunities for inexperienced workers.

However, recent scientific studies suggest that the Icarans may be employing more than just advanced education here. Apparently the part of the human brain affecting judgment, self-control, planning, and organization doesn't fully develop until age 20 or after. If so, it would seem even highly trained teenagers would be at a disadvantage in unfamiliar situations, compared to their older peers.

On the other hand, the Icarans can probably pick and choose the best young recruits (even for the Working Navy), and teenagers tend to live up to what's expected of them. Under a strict merit system, the Icarans can promote the mature teens and defer promotion of the late bloomers. I found it interesting that the youngest crewman mentioned in the story is a female; even in the future, perhaps females still mature earlier than males?

As for jailbait, if the Icarans only recruit "adults" then the "problem" doesn't exist (presumably the age of majority is also the age of consent). However, the view that all the older "adults" would prefer their own company to that of the younger "adults" seems a bit naive--the novel "Lolita" isn't entirely a work of fiction. As an Icaran ship's captain, I'd tend to keep the cabin boy away from the chaplain, "adult" or not.

PBS's look at the neuroscience of adolescence:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...ows/teenbrain/
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  #388  
Old March 4th, 2006, 01:55 AM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

Quote:
Starhawk, thanks for clarifying the Icaran view of adulthood. It's interesting that the advanced educational practices in the story result in a social situation reminiscent of "primitive" Napoleonic Europe, when "children" labored alongside adults in the fields, shops, and armed forces, and often married in their early teens. The lack of automation in Icaran society (explained in an earlier post, as I recall) would tend to provide ample opportunities for inexperienced workers.
Yeah I sort of wanted to play on that in a unique way, after all with the science and technology to advance your education at an accelerated rate do you really get to stay a "child" in the eyes of society or are you expected to do what every other adult does and play your part?

Quote:
However, recent scientific studies suggest that the Icarans may be employing more than just advanced education here. Apparently the part of the human brain affecting judgment, self-control, planning, and organization doesn't fully develop until age 20 or after. If so, it would seem even highly trained teenagers would be at a disadvantage in unfamiliar situations, compared to their older peers.
Well your not about to see any 16 year old officers and as I said most of the "youths" are in positions of relative unimportance during their training and indoctrination, the ground combat forces only recruit at age 17+ because of physical and mental maturity which is not AS Important when your just a naval gunner or mess cook.
Other then that it is possible they use "artificial" means to develope the brains of the youths I haven't quite decided on this point just yet.

Quote:
On the other hand, the Icarans can probably pick and choose the best young recruits (even for the Working Navy), and teenagers tend to live up to what's expected of them. Under a strict merit system, the Icarans can promote the mature teens and defer promotion of the late bloomers. I found it interesting that the youngest crewman mentioned in the story is a female; even in the future, perhaps females still mature earlier than males?
Yeah the navy in particular is picky about their recruits and they have about 700+ billion humans on hundreds of worlds (that are all required to meet recruitment quotas) to chose from.

And heh yeah the reason the youngest crewmembers you'll likely see are female is because (not only in scientific) but in my own personal experience girls mature far faster then boys so they'd rather have mature crewmembers who can be more easily trained and disciplined.

Quote:
As for jailbait, if the Icarans only recruit "adults" then the "problem" doesn't exist (presumably the age of majority is also the age of consent). However, the view that all the older "adults" would prefer their own company to that of the younger "adults" seems a bit naive--the novel "Lolita" isn't entirely a work of fiction. As an Icaran ship's captain, I'd tend to keep the cabin boy away from the chaplain, "adult" or not.
Well I'm not going to get into a debate about pedophiles here as that would just derail this whole storyline but I will say that most people I've met prefer company more their own age then those of people much younger then themselves.
__________________
When life gives you lemons take them and squeeze them in life's eye until it gives you the oranges you asked for!

"If men build things to look like our penis such as towers and ships does that mean female achitects represent women having penis envy?"
A line that made me chuckle, I can't remember where I heard it I just know it made me laugh.

"I'm not really a slapper....I mainly punch and gouge."
Tammy Lee my kung fu instructor/sifu's daughter when asked if she ever slapped a boy for saying something nasty to her.
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Old May 20th, 2006, 06:16 PM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

Hey all long time no post.....just wanted to let you know this story is fAR from dead and that I am right now working on Chapter 2 of the latest "series" involving the HLS 303 (Forlorn).

For personal reasons this story arc means a lOT to me and so I wanted to get it RIGHT so I have been working and reading and re-reading and having others read the still unfinished chapter.

Also from now on the "From the Begining" story will be a little different then it has been, it will get darker grittier and less "child friendly" during mainly battles but also in other 'arcs' that may come in the future.

As far as technology goes I have also been working on making the tech more consistant so that it is easier for your suspension of disbelief


Anyway I hope you all look forward to my story continuing
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When life gives you lemons take them and squeeze them in life's eye until it gives you the oranges you asked for!

"If men build things to look like our penis such as towers and ships does that mean female achitects represent women having penis envy?"
A line that made me chuckle, I can't remember where I heard it I just know it made me laugh.

"I'm not really a slapper....I mainly punch and gouge."
Tammy Lee my kung fu instructor/sifu's daughter when asked if she ever slapped a boy for saying something nasty to her.
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Old June 29th, 2006, 02:39 AM
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Default Re: A new Game story (From the begining)

Alone in the Dark pt2
When my candle burns away and the dark of night replaces day,
Stand by my side, I will not fear when deaths’ grim voice at last I hear.
And when the toils of war at last are done; I will rise from dust to greet the dawn.

Death prayer of an Icaran

It had been less then an hour since the “Forlorn” had discovered the Federal Security ship Pontus adrift with only two survivors; both women and both raped and tortured to within an inch of their lives. And it had been less then five minutes since Doctor Mara Goldberg and her corpsman met the marine gunship in the docking bay with a stretcher and full life support kit.
“Make a whole damn it we’ve got wounded!” the doctor shouted as she ran to keep up with the stretchers as two marines pushed them so that her corpsman could get access to the two women and treat their wounds, thanks to modern science their bodies were in stasis and could not get any worse-at the moment at least- but if they were not treated before the stasis wore off then both of these women were likely to die in a matter of minutes.
As the two stretchers raced through the cramped corridors, naval personnel and marines who had not gone over with the boarding party stepped aside, some uttered quick prayers as the two women passed, others began crying, and still others simply looked on numbly unable to believe that anyone or anything was capable of inflicting the kind of needless suffering these women were going through, not to mention the last horrible moments that must have led to the deaths of every other person on the FedSec ship.

********

Meanwhile light years away a small community of independent minded people who had once been citizens of the now defunct Empire of Man were going about the normal work that met fringe colonists especially on tiny outposts like “Independence Bluff”. Several colonies just like it had popped up since the fall of the Empire and the Great War that currently engulfed the two largest human Empires began. These colonies remained independent mainly because Icara could not spare any ships or troops to re-conquer them at the moment,

Mostly farmers a few smithies (not even warranting the term factory by modern standards) and ranchers the 5,000 men, women and children of Indie Bluff as the locals tended to call it were hardly concerned with the galaxy at large, they had barely a scrap of modern technology as far as anyone else would consider it and they were proud of it, mainly because they were descendants of the Amish who had been forcibly removed from Sol during a war centuries ago, and long after what the Icarans called the “Final Sol war”; they were also proud of their lack of tech because as they saw it the rest of the galaxy had gotten to reliant on the stuff, even Icara; the Empire where “automation is the ultimate degradation of man” had tech that would have made their ancestors gape in awe.

It was on this world where Jeremiah Herschel and his family lived, he had always considered himself blessed with a beautiful wife, a daughter now nineteen and a son now seven and his job as a farmer in the community. Indie Bluff was a small world but it was home and he loved it’s long flowing purple grass and it’s thirty foot oak like trees and like many other elders he believed God had picked this world out for the Amish long before man had ever even realized those twinkling lights in the night sky had planets around them let alone that some day man would reach out to those worlds.

Jeremiah was working in the field with the rest of the men from his small town as they did every day but Sunday of the harvest season when a noise the likes of which he had not heard in years drew his attention to the sky, Jeremiah and the other men looked up to see a huge fireball tearing through the sky, the boom they had heard told them that this was no meteor but was under at least partial power because it had triggered it’s descent thrusters which meant a ship.
The men quickly dropped what they were doing and began running back to their village to get the women and children to shelter, Jeremiah felt panic as he thought of Icaran jackboots tramping down his fields and Icaran bayonets pointed at his beautiful family, not only that but he had heard rumors that Icarans conscripted men, women and even Children! into the navy if the ship making orbit had taken casualties in battle. He feared this less for himself then his boy Ezekiel who was a strapping and fit young man who would make a perfect spacer.
As the fireball led into a smoke trail Jeremiah strained his eyes as he tried to catch a glimpse of what kind of ship it was that was heading for his village and his family. If it was a civilian ship then they could hope that it was just an emergency landing and that whoever it was would not betray their position to Icara, if it was a warship in orbit then those could be armored marines coming down even now. As the thought of a warship coming struck him like a hammer Jeremiah ran even faster towards his village; where he now saw the women and children gaping up at the sky, though he did notice that some of the women were even now taking their children to the cellars.
Jeremiah finally reached his home and saw his wife Hilda and his daughter packing food and supplies while his son carried the boxes to the cellar, the Herschel’s unlike most of the other families had a cellar entrance inside their home instead of outside, this made it easier for them to store their supplies in the winter so that they did not have to go outside during the coldest hours to get food and other things. Hilda shot a nervous smile at her husband and waved him off to help his son pack the goods into the cellar while Mina their daughter continued to wrap bread and put it in the last basket.
After the supplies were packed Jeremiah came back to the kitchen and smiled nervously at his wife “Come on Hilda you and Mina go to the cellar now, Ezekiel and I will stay here and find out who they are and what they want, Hans and his wife and daughters are also going to be coming over any minute so you’ll have company in the cellar.” His voice was urgent but stern and if there was one thing in this universe Jeremiah Herschel could be sure of it was that his wife would not disobey him when he told her to stay safe.
“God be with you.” Was all Hilda said as she cried and embraced her husband before Hans and his family showed up, immediately Hilda lead Brenda (Hans wife), Leona (his 9 year old daughter) and Brunhilde (Hans 12 year old daughter) to the cellar.
“So Jeremiah you think that those heretic Icarans have come to our world?” Hans said quietly as the two men calmly took old fashioned sonic rifles out of their carrying cases and each man took his (a sonic rifle won’t kill you but it will sure put the fear of God in you as you feel like your brain is trying to escape your skull).
“I don’t know Hans but I hope it is just some civilian that had to put down for repairs or something, but Icarans have to be the most stubborn people I’ve ever met, and when they decide they want something they take it, all others be damned.” Jeremiah’s voice strained as he turned and saw his son taking his sonic rifle over to the window…..”If they come to take our sons and daughters they’ll have a fight though and let us hope they do not want to kill today.” Jeremiah said in a low voice so that only Hans heard him, the Amish of Indie Bluff did not use the Sustain treatments and so at most lived to be just over a hundred, and Hans and Jeremiah were already in their forties and so neither felt much fear of being taken in a press gang, but their children….they were just perfect.

What seemed like an eternity passed before the hum of an engine and the tramp of heavy boots could be heard, and Jeremiah expected to see an Icaran marine column coming down his streets at any moment instead he saw a single vehicle which reminded him somewhat of an old style earth “truck” but it was much larger and had at least one big gun in its bed, around it was clustered a group of men wearing ragged looking clothes and carrying cruel looking weapons, not all of which were firearms.
Jeremiah had only seen an Icaran once but he knew right away these men were not Icarans, not only were they dressed in shambles but they were short and most of them were black, while most Icarans were tall and either Anglo or Asiatic in appearance, only as they got closer did he notice that their black color was not their skin, at least not on all of them, it was in fact a series of deep wounds that had been filled with dark ink to give them a frightening appearance. Jeremiah did not have time to think further as all hell seemed to break lose at once, he heard in the distance the sound of screaming women and children, and the shouts and hollers of men, followed by noises he had never heard in his life (the sound of battle), sonic rifles whined as the villagers defended their homes, but slug throwers responded quickly the sound of shrieks of agony tore the warm morning air.

Jeremiah and Hans both fired their Sonic rifles at two of the men in the group that had just entered their village, both men went down screaming but to the horror of Jeremiah and Hans alike instead of taking cover or rushing to aid their fallen comrades the other men simply laughed and began firing back; other men in the village opened fire with sonic rifles as well and Jeremiah looked out his window just in time to see two of his neighbors burst into flames as the slugs from these beast-men hit them in the arm or leg. Jeremiah had never seen an inferno round being used and to him it seemed like Satan himself was attacking their small community.

As the fighting went on Jeremiah saw the raiders break away into small teams and begin breaking into houses, Jeremiah saw a young man of about twenty-years dragged from his home by two of the raiders, and then mercilessly chopped into small pieces by primitive looking axe-like weapons, what shocked Jeremiah more then the sheer gore and horror was that the poor boy remained alive for several minutes as the two raiders slowly chopped off limbs and parts of limbs and relished every moment of his pain.
Hans shouted and fired a shot into one of the raiders as he came towards the house he and Jeremiah were taking shelter in, the man went down screaming a horrible bestial short of scream and began flailing on the ground as the effects of the sonic rifle continued to play havoc with his body.
Jeremiah fired at another raider sending the man…..no WOMAN! Into violent seizures and a rather audible and noxious case of diarrhea which seemed only to make her friends even more anxious to get into the fray.
Jeremiah heard a woman’s scream and looked over to his neighbor’s house and saw several raiders go down into the cellar of Betty Holtz after a few seconds he saw a raider carrying what he sickly came to realize was Betty’s head, more shrieks tore the sky as men were ignited by inferno rounds or simply torn apart by blade and bare hands as the raiders kept tearing the village apart.

“Hans I have to find a way to disguise the cellar entrance and protect our families’ can you hold them off for just a few more minutes?” Jeremiah asked in a voice that surprised even himself in it’s calm serenity…..he knew that he would die this day and that God would welcome him home, but he also knew that his family still had hope to live and he would do everything in his power to protect them for as long as God gave him time.
“Go…..God be with you Jeremiah your boy and I will hold them here.” Hans said with a grim set on his face as he saw Ezekiel take another raider down with his sonic rifle…..the problem was of course that sonic rifles did not kill and that those raiders would be fine in a few hours and most likely want revenge. But at least for the next few hours they would not be able to hurt anyone else.

Jeremiah raced out of the kitchen back into the main house and began looking for something….anything that would let him hide the entrance to the cellar that his wife and daughter and the family of his friend were hiding in. And then without even thinking he took a book case and moved it over to where it was a few inches away from the cellar door, he grabbed a rug and placed it over the door before sliding the book case on top of the rug, he just hoped and prayed that these raiders did not like books. He found himself taken aback when he heard himself laughing at the thought of those monsters outside tearing at a bookshelf to get the first copy of the Bible or his wife’s cook books. After a moment of delirious shock Jeremiah came to his senses when he heard the sound of a horrible scream coming from his kitchen. He grabbed a small axe from it’s place on the mantle and ran to the kitchen, sonic rifle in one hand axe in the other, he saw his son taking cover behind a cabinet and took a quick look around and saw his friend Hans laying on the floor, the whole left side of his torso had been blown open by a weapon the likes of which Jeremiah had never seen before.
It was in that moment that the kitchen door broke down and a figure burst through the door only to be dropped by a sonic blast from his son’s rifle, two more raiders came in and while one was brought down by a shot from Jeremiah the other raced for his son, without thinking Jeremiah flung his axe down on the figure as it raced by and as he heard the horrible crunch of blade meeting bone and flesh Jeremiah recoiled, leaving the axe buried in the skull of the raider who fell to the floor in a bloodied heap of gore and dead meat.
Jeremiah never even felt the dart that tore his head off and was mercifully spared the sight of his son being torn apart by vengeful raiders as they carved and mutilated the young boy......before leaving to tear the rest of the house apart.

********
Commander Dexter waited outside of the doors to the light cruiser’s tiny infirmary pacing as he waited for the doctor to come out and inform him of the condition of her patients, it was the first time Dexter could recall ever hearing of a doctor sealing off a ships infirmary, but considering the nature of the two women’s injuries he could certainly understand her reluctance to allow just anyone to stumble into the infirmary at the moment.
“Commander there ye’ are, I brought ye’ coffee.” Harriman’s voice boomed from behind Dexter causing the young Commander to jump a few inches off the deck and whirl around with a grimace on his face.
“Damn it sailing master I’ll have you hung next time.” Dexter said mockingly as he took the cup from the old Sailing master and looked at it, the jell was just starting to float to the top of the brownish water.
“Ah on the charge o’ tryin’ to kill a senior o’icer n’ doubt.” Harriman said with a shrug as he leaned against the wall and waved his hand with a callous indifference.
“Now there’s an idea….they still hang folks for that right?” Dexter said as he chewed a piece of jelled “coffee” mix and stared thoughtfully at the deck for a moment “Alex, who could have killed a Peacekeeper class ship like that and butchered her crew? The mantisorans don’t operate like that and pirates couldn’t kill a ship that big.” Dexter continued to stare at the deck as Harriman took a long slow breath.
“Well sir, if’ the’es any indies out here that could kill a Peacekeeper class, I’d o’ thought NavInt would have hea’d o’ the bastads…..unless it’s someone new.” Harriman paused for a moment before he finished “A new group of damned to hell Xenos.”
“Or humans Alex…..God knows there were people back in our own history who were sadistic Gan ni niang that got off on torture and rape.” Dexter shuddered as he remembered some of his history classes covering Praetor Li and his “appetites” especially toward young boys….until he conveniently died in a tragic accident involving his shuttle exploding..
“Aye……’tis true but to do what was done to that crew, I mean that was either pure enjoyment or pure hatred on their part……to do…that.” Harriman shivered as he remembered starring in numb horror at the camera feed from the marines.
The infirmary door silently opened and a marine guard, wearing the dark green tunic and black trousers of a standard enlisted duty uniform walked through them into the corridor, his face was pale and he almost forgot to salute Commander Dexter before heading off down the corridor at a slightly quickened pace.
A young woman stepped through the same hatch the marine had left open; she was wearing the white tunic of a naval medical officer and had just pulled a mask off with her left hand before saluting Dexter.
“Captain, Sailing Master, both patients are recovering, at least physically, God knows how they will be mentally when I bring them out of their comas.” Doctor Mara Goldberg had been from Jerusalem on the New Bethlehem colony she was tall dark skinned woman with dark hair and had what she liked to call a “very Jewish personality” which Dexter had come to realize meant, stubborn as a mule, often somber, and usually unshakeable, so when he saw her flushed face, and almost wobbling legs he immediately felt his stomach clench.
“How bad is it Dr?” He asked in as calm a voice as he could manage considering the circumstances.
“It’s pretty damn bad sir, the younger one’s got internal damage caused by what I’m guessing to be a bladed weapon that was…..” she paused as she heard Harriman choke down bile.
Naval officers of the modern era would see many a terrible thing, bodies torn and shredded or simply melded with deck plating because of heat, but ironically it was easier to cope with because war was not intentionally “cruel” you did not deliberately inflict pain on your enemy if you could kill them painlessly, and it was oddly impersonal in ship to ship combat, but to see a crew not just killed but tortured was too much even for the old spacer to handle.
“Alright Doc, we get the bloody idea.” Harriman choked out with a grimace before excusing himself and following the marine down the corridor.
“Sorry doc…it’s just hard.” Dexter said apologetically as he reached a hand out and patted the doctor’s shoulder. He had been “lucky” and not seen what had happened to the two women in person, the doctor had not only had to see it but had to try her damndest to fix the shattered bodies something Dexter could never imagine trying himself.
“Aw hell its fine…..anyway Captain if you would like to come in they are both fully clothed now, and I was about to bring the older woman out of her coma.” Goldberg turned toward the open hatch and gestured for the Commander to follow; after a moment he swallowed hard and followed her in.

The infirmary was dimly lit and the older woman was in the bed closest to the hatch, the younger woman was still surrounded by a curtain so no one could see her, Dexter saw a second marine in the room that had apparently had a stronger stomach then the one whom had left; the marine snapped a silent salute which Dexter returned grimly as he walked hesitantly to the unconscious woman’s bedside, the doctor followed him quietly and prepared a hypo injector with a medicine known by laymen as “thaw”. Doctor

Minutes passed before the unconscious woman began to twitch and move uncomfortably as the waking world began to pull at her, the woman’s eyes opened and after a second of shocked silence she screamed, a horrible scream that made Dexter’s blood run cold and his hair stand on end, the scream of someone who has had something beyond all imagining happen to them. She began kicking and throttling against the soft force of a containment field that held her body in place to prevent injury; Doctor Goldberg and one of her corpsmen rushed over to the bedside to calm the violent flailing woman; several minutes passed before the woman finally started to calm down and her senses returned to her.
Dexter stared at the woman for several long minutes, trying to force himself to remember who she was, she looked like someone he should know but he just couldn’t bring her name to his forebrain. Finally as she stropped struggling and relaxed the Doctor set the restraining field to minimal force and laid her hand on the woman’s shoulder.
“It’s alright, your safe.” Goldberg’s voice was soft and sweet but the woman still stared unbelieving and in shock.
“Can you hear me……..do you know who we are?” the woman still stared up blankly her mouth slack her eyes glazed.
Dexter stepped forward and forced his face into a mask of calm “Listen to me soldier…..you will answer me now.....do you know who you are.” His voice somehow kept it’s battlefield composure even as his stomach clenched at the thought of yelling at a woman in such a horrible condition.
Somehow his tone broke through the ice and the woman’s eyes went sharp, at first with fear and then something that looked almost like fear, at last her entire body seemed to relax as she finally seemed to truly be looking around her.
“Actually…..”the woman’s voice was a hoarse whisper and she began coughing almost immediately after she spoke, the young corpsman handed her a packet of water and she drank greedily for several seconds before the young man took the packet away from her to make sure she didn’t make herself sick.
After a moment she looked at Commander Dexter with what could almost be called a smile “Actually…..commander it’s not soldier” she paused and cleared her throat again “It’s Ma’am, I am in fact Rear Admiral Liza Adair.” Her voice croaked again but somehow she managed to keep her composure “Naval intelligence.” She finished the last word with a fierce cough before almost collapsing back onto the bed.
“Oh……damn……I apologize ma’am.” Dexter saluted briefly and all color flushed from his face, which seemed to lighten the battered woman’s mood even further.
“Don’t worry….about it.” She said slowly before falling back to sleep. Goldberg looked at Dexter and nodded to reassure him that she had merely fallen asleep ‘She’ll be fine sir….but she needs some real rest for a few hours.” Goldberg’s tone left no doubt in Dexter’s mind that she was not requesting him to leave but in fact was merely being very polite about telling him to get out.
“Alright doctor…..oh and please do come to dinner tonight with the rest of us in the wardroom.” He managed to smile when she nodded and quickly turned and left the room, his gut still feeling like he’d been kicked by a Spartan Kraken.

Chapter two
An hour later Dexter was sitting alone in the wardroom, it was naval tradition that a Captain usually arrive last but Dexter had wanted some privacy and besides he thought I’ve never stood too much on tradition anyway. He was wearing his standard duty uniform and had asked that all of his senior staff do the same at dinner; he always thought the tradition of full dress at dinner for the senior staff on the same ship was stuffy and for old men and Admirals….neither of which he was.
He let his mind wander for a few minutes as the thought of some shadow in the void of space hunting down and destroying a powerful Icaran starship and butchering its crew began to create a sense of dread in him he had never felt before in his life. As he realized almost for the first time that he was scared he actually smiled….a humorless smile that made his normally attractive face look almost like an old Nazi rebel death’s head. “Son of a *****….I’m scared of a ghost.” He said aloud as he forced the fear from his mind.
Just then the hatch opened and two officers stepped through, wearing the normal crimson red tunic and black trousers of a naval officer’s duty uniform; Ensign Blake in the lead and Ensign Paris following, both men walked in and saluted; Ensign Blake was tall for an average Icaran woman, she was also rather rough looking for someone her age, especially in the modern era of Sustain but she beamed a personality that made others pay attention to her when she spoke, Paris on the other hand was almost her exact opposite, he was short and had it not been for Icaran workout regiments being a required part of school, work and general life he probably would have ended up a fat man, his body was broad as a barrel and his face reminded Dexter a little bit of a pug’s, Paris was also quiet and his personality was almost non-existent but he knew his job and he did it well.
Both young officers took their seats and a moment later two more figures appeared in the door, Ensign Caldwell, his face sickly pale as usual and his nerves so on edge Dexter was surprised the young man didn’t constantly seizure, Caldwell managed a quick shaky salute before almost running to his seat and parking himself silently, Ensign Walker stopped for a moment and stared awkwardly at the display the other officer had just made, Walker was from a naval family, he was tall muscular and by the book, his hair was cropped closer then most spacers kept it, almost marine or army like and his piercing grey eyes conveyed his emotions in a way no one could seem to ignore. He saluted smartly and walked at a leisurely pace to his seat without a second glance at Caldwell.
Lieutenant’s Geer and McClain walked in side by side and Dexter grinned for a split second, he always thought the two would make an interesting couple with interesting kids, Geer was taller then most core world Icarans, and his muscles were clearly visible even through his dark green tunic and black trousers, marines joked that the man could knock out a tank, and anytime Dexter saw the man he almost believed it, Geer was not an attractive man but he wasn’t ugly, and his close cropped hair had a habit of making his pronounced ears look even bigger, but the young marine always had just an overwhelming presence of self confidence and vitality that made the man a virtual walking recruitment holo, his dark green eyes almost matched his tunic and he often joked that his eyes were issued by the marine corps…..marine green. He saluted yet stayed next to McClain, the woman was average height for an Icaran core world woman, and she had long brown hair tied tight in a style that many naval women preferred, her posture and expression was pure confidence and professionalism as she walked into the room, but Dexter also couldn’t help but notice that she always seemed to have this glint in her eye that reminded him of a schoolgirl who looked like she would pull a prank on you in a heartbeat if she ever got the chance. And Dexter couldn’t help but take note as the two officers took seats next to each other.
Sailing Master Harriman came in several seconds later, still buttoning his tunic and looking rather sheepish before saluting and taking his seat at the opposite end of the table from the Captain. Doctor Goldberg walked in silently, her white tunic and trousers standing out amidst the dark colors of the “armed service” officers. She smiled politely and took her seat with no sign of embarrassment on her face over being late.
This was their first formal dinner with this crew since launch as he had kept the crew to too strict a schedule over the past weeks for any sort of formal activities and Dexter couldn’t quite figure out how to start up a conversation.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen.” Dexter said quietly, the other officers nodded back at him and he felt a little twist of irony that he faced battle with less anxiety then a dinner. After a few moments of awkward silence a line of mess staff came in with trays laden with food and drinks, including a bottle of Leosian brandy that Dexter suspected Harriman brought aboard.
After the plates were set and the glasses filled with wine Dexter made a brief toast and took a sip of his wine, he hated wine but because he was in front of his officers he forced him self not to make any nasty faces as the horrible flavor and aftertaste played out on his taste buds.
“Well I suppose we should get to the point, there’s a hunter out there and she killed one of our ships…..and butchered the crew.” Dexter paused and let the statement sink in for a moment “And I intend to hunt her down and kill her.” The room was suddenly filled with a sense of heaviness in the air, as if everyone wanted to protest right then and there but through sheer force of discipline were holding their tongues.
“Sir…..is that wise?” It was Blake’s voice, soft yet confident and unyielding even though if Dexter were the type he could ruin her career just for questioning him.
“Maybe not but we are going to do it anyway by time a capital ship arrived God knows how many more people would suffer…what I intend to find out Ensign, I want you all to give me your opinions on your departments…..are they ready for battle?” Dexter said flatly as he looked around the room at his officers.
“My gunners can handle it sir.” Blake said without even hesitating, she didn’t even flinch when the other officers stared at her for a second.
“My marines are……well marine’s sir; we’re always ready for a fight.” Geer grinned boyishly at Blake before turning a solemn face to his captain.
“My……uh….well my damage control parties sir, that is to say we could use…..some more practice I think…..I mean I believe sir.” Caldwell said shakily.

Dexter glowered at the young man for a moment as did just about everyone else in the room besides Goldberg who simply shrugged and Paris who was totally oblivious to the social nuances at play.
“Well mister Caldwell I guess after dinner you should get your DC crews together and get them into shape now shouldn’t you?” Dexter said icily as he glanced at Harriman, the old spacer nodded almost imperceptibly letting Dexter know he would help kick Caldwells DC teams into shape.
“Alright, what about the rest of you can your departments handle battle?” Dexter watched the other officers in the room nod, no one spoke for a moment because everyone besides Paris seemed to notice just how big a boot stamp Caldwell would have on his posterior the next morning.

After an hour of serious discussion regarding the departments and their capabilities the dinner finally relaxed into a more casual and friendly meal between fellow officers, not just senior and subordinate officers. Geer even led the officers in singing an old “sea shanty’ about a sailor named Jack; after dinner broke up and the officers went back to their various duties, Dexter, Harriman, Geer and Goldberg remained in their places for.
“So, seriously how crazy am I for considering this Alex/” Dexter said with a grin as he looked at the three senior officers in his crew.
“Well, sir’ they ha’e a big advantage ov’r us in terms o’ tonnage an’ mass, if they actually are a battleship like that poor spacer on the Pontus said.” Harriman shrugged as he continued to ponder his answer.
“Do you think he was mistaken sir?” Geer said in the same unperturbed tone he always seemed to have.
“I’m not sayin’ he’s mistaken, just that it’s possible, not to criticize FedSec: space but it’s a new branch of a new security force, they still ha’e a lot of green people who may na’ know what’s really shooting at them when stuff starts exploding.” Harriman turned back to face Dexter, who had by now steepled his fingers under his chin as he thought the situation over.
“New or not FedSec:space technically has jurisdiction with law enforcement in the provinces since their creation, just like FedSec:ground has authority over the army and marines in matters of internal law enforcement.” Dexter spoke to no one in particular as he brought up the only argument that would allow them to save face if they withdrew from the region and allowed the pirate to continue it’s raids and massacres until a full navy or FedSec:space task force arrived to deal with it.
“Aye, but there are at least a dozen independent colonies, and about a hundred merchantmen prowling this region, not to mention five Icaran worlds within striking distance of here…..if we wait for reinforcements thousands of lives could be lost….or more” Harriman said grimly as he took a sip of brandy.

“I know, but Blake was right, it’s a damn battleship maybe bigger, and it destroyed a FedSec:space enforcement vessel larger, and better armed then we are, with a large FedSec:ground detachment aboard.” Dexter allowed his private fears to be known only among these four officers, to the rest of the crew he would always be the gung ho superman that he portrayed himself as; of course that “act” was only partially false, because Dexter had always been self confident and brazen, which is why he was blessed and cursed with the rank of Commander at such a young age.
“Sir…again not to insult those FedSec troops but FedSec:ground are peacekeepers, designed for limited engagements with primitive militaries or rioters not armored combatants skilled in infantry warfare. My marines could have probably neutralized the FedSec:ground detachment aboard Pontus with minimal losses.” Geer frowned as the thought of his marines being butchered like the FedSec crew on Pontus.
“Granted Lieutenant but we can’t be sure of that, and there’s another point I haven’t brought up, one of the survivors is Rear Admiral Liza Adair, NavInt which just brings up a whole load of new questions.” Dexter looked around, only the Doctor and he had known the identity of the older woman, the rest of the crew thought she had just been a Naval training officer. The Marine Lieutenant looked shocked for the briefest of moments before his face returned to the confident mask of steel it always was, Harriman just squinted thoughtfully.
“Well I am not a combat officer, but if I’m not mistaken NavInt having one of its highest ranking officers out in the frontier suggests something very big going on, so why did they not dispatch an entire FedSec:space and ground combined task force; why only one ship?” Goldberg crossed her arms and looked at the combat officers quizzically.

“Or a whole damned naval squadron, nothing says “peacekeeping” like a squadron of super dreadnoughts that can wipe out your solar system.” Harriman continued to glare at the table as if he could make it answer his questions.
“Only one way to find out ladies and gentlemen and that is to speak to Admiral Adair when she awakes; which reminds me doctor what is the progress on your patients?” Dexter had unbuttoned his tunic as soon as the other officers had left and now he played with one of the buttons; nervously awaiting the doctor’s answer.
“As you know sir rape is a rare crime in the Empire, not only is our culture totally geared against such actions but it’s impossible to get away with it now a days with DNA and RNA identifiers……so we are not exactly equipped to deal with such atrocities on an average medical basis.” She frowned thoughtfully “Fortunately, both of them have recovered physically, mentally on the other hand….Adair seems to be far stronger mentally and has already begun to force herself to recover with what little help I can offer, the young woman who Adair identified as FedSec:space spacer Allyson Landry, age fourteen.” Goldberg paused again as she heard the marine across from her gasp, he hadn’t realized just how young the girl was.
“Please continue doctor.” Dexter assured her as he poured another glass of brandy.
“She seems to be far more withdrawn and broken mentally, I’ve tried to help her but whenever someone touches her it gets ugly, she bit Corpsman Bran when she first woke up and realized that Bran was bathing her.” The doctor’s frown only deepened “Bran’ll be fine we already re-grew her right index finger and healed the skin and nerve damage, but Landry is a whole different story and I can’t figure out how to help her.” Doctor Goldberg sagged for the first time that Dexter could remember and he realized that it was getting late and everyone needed to rest or get about their duties, and he needed to get to bed before the alcohol he had consumed sank in.
“Alright doctor, do your best as always, Geer I want you to start your marines on counter boarding practice and CQB drills with the rest of the crew starting tomorrow morning, if they try to board us I want my naval crew able to at least put up some fight without burdening your marines.” Dexter noticed his voice had gotten somewhat sluggish and hurried his final orders and good nights before leaving the wardroom and heading to his quarters to sleep off the two glasses of brandy he had drunk cursing himself for not developing a “navy man’s tolerance” to alcohol and worrying over the next few days.

To be continued:
__________________
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Tammy Lee my kung fu instructor/sifu's daughter when asked if she ever slapped a boy for saying something nasty to her.
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