- Joined
- Jul 17, 2013
- Messages
- 566
- Reaction score
- 47
A Galaxy Burning: A Starmade Fiction (Chapter #12)
- Thread starter MrNature72
- Start date
therimmer96
The Cake Network Staff Senior button unpusher
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2013
- Messages
- 3,603
- Reaction score
- 1,053
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2013
- Messages
- 517
- Reaction score
- 90
Matt_Bradock
The Shrink
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2013
- Messages
- 798
- Reaction score
- 464
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2014
- Messages
- 164
- Reaction score
- 156
Can\'t wait to read more! The character interaction is interesting and the word choice and pace of the story keeps things exciting. Again, nice work and keep it up! ^_^
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2013
- Messages
- 387
- Reaction score
- 62
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2013
- Messages
- 517
- Reaction score
- 90
Chapter 12: Retribution
Note form the Author:: this is an intermediary chapter that I\'m using to bring the crew from B to C. I hope you enjoy the ride. It\'s not a really happy one.
I was back in the Washington, drinking myself into a stupor as I watched the Vaygr station aboard the screens in my quarters. A massive countdown timer loomed ominously above the great mass of metal. It showed the Vaygr\'s life slowly ticking away, down to the milisecond. We were down to twenty minutes now. Apparently the Vaygr were going through some planned routine, and would probably all deploy at once. I stumbled out of bed, found my alcohol cabinet, and located the hardest, most acidic whiskey I could possibly procure. Falling back onto the bed, I proceeded to pour it down my throat, my liver already crying out in anguish.
Fifteen minutes. Still nothing. \"Jeremiah!\" I shouted, \"Has there been ANY movement?\"
The intercom system opened up. \"Negative.\"
\"What the hell are they doing?\"
\"I\'m not quite sure, sir.\"
Jeremiah wasn\'t sure of something. That never boded for anything. But I had a solution for this kind of situation.
More alcohol.
The countdown timer hit ten minutes. I was beginning to get worried. Why weren\'t they escaping? Did I miss something? Did the reactor actually have emergency limiters? No, I looked over everything. I checked every last piece of data. I watched as Jeremiah sat there, systematically controlling the Reactor from a safe distance. I grabbed my head. Gah. Thinking while trashed gives me a headache.
At five minutes, though, it dawned on me. \"Jeremiah?\"
\"Yes?\"
\"Lower the guns.\"
\"Sir?\"
\"They aren\'t going to escape. They know. They all know. They also know the reactor will kill them a lot faster than the vacuum of space. Lower the guns.\"
I heard silence, and then the click of the intercom turning off. \"Fuck you...\" I muttered under my breath. I managed to sustain an elongated middle finger at the screen just long enough to give the station my final respects as it exploded, killing thousands. I managed to mantain consciousness only moments longer than that.
I woke up with my face on the floor. My nose felt twenty different kinds of jacked up. I rolled onto my back, grabbed the front of my face with my thumbs on the bridge of my nose, and forced it back into position with a soft *pop*. At the same time, I promised myself I\'d get some soft carpet installed on the floor. I tried to pull myself onto my bed, failed miserably, and ended up just curled up in my sheets on the cold, silvery floor. Boy was I mess.
To make everything infinitely better, Maria walked into the room. Fantastic. Now I have to listen to her mother me.
\"Get up, Andrew.\" She said, \"We\'re already back at Zanzibar.\"
Well Jesus, I thought to myself, where\'s all the love? I tried to say \"let me get a shower and have some coffee to get all this damn alcohol out of my system\". What came out was \"shower and... blurg... coffee.. go away.\"
\"Just... hurry up. We got the rest of the credits from the Auditor, and he just left. We\'re waiting for something to do. We\'re waiting for you.\"
I waved her away, managed to get up and out of my clothes, and force myself into the shower. I laid in the tub as hot, steaming water pelted my face. It flushed out a lot of my hangover and put some sense into me. I stepped out, got some fresh clothes on, grabbed the seltzer water Jeremiah left for me as always (this time with some pills next to it to help me handle my hangover) and made my way to the bridge. Everyone was waiting for me there. It fell into silence, save for the shock troopers snapping to attention, as I entered the room. I slowly hobbled my way to my captains chair, and took a seat. \"At ease.\" I said. Only the troopers relaxed. No one said a word. I sat there sipping my seltzer water. I took the pills, and waited for their effects to kick in. Slowly, after maybe fifteen minutes of total silence, my head cleared up. I broke the silence. \"Jeremiah.\"
\"Yes, Captain?\"
\"Store that information from the station somewhere safe. I\'m going to need it later.\"
\"Understood.\"
\"Jackson.\"
He stood up. \"Yeah, cap?\"
\"How many did we lose?\"
\"A squad and a half. Just got some reserve troopers from Zanzibar, so we\'re back an\' runnin\'.\"
I took another sip of my seltzer water. \"Good. Maria?\"
\"Yes?\"
\"How are you feeling?\"
\"I\'m fine.\"
\"Great.\" I took another sip, realized I was out, and placed it in the cupholder. \"Everyone, I have orders for you.\" I instantly felt every crew member\'s eyes lock with mine. \"Put this on the comms. I need everyone to hear it.\" Jeremiah nodded, and clicked a button. \"Everyone, this is Captain Andrew Johnson. You have five days off. In no more than 120 hours, I want you back aboard this ship. Take your credits, and enjoy yourselves on Zanzibar. Everyone needs to be off of this ship in less than 2 hours, as we\'ll be taking it out for service elsewhere. I also need a little time to think. Oh, and once we\'re back, stragglers will be left behind, so don\'t be late. Enjoy your leave.\"
There were murmors, and then happy little shouts as the crew made their way out of the ship, grabbing essentials from their rooms on the way out. Once the bridge was clear, I asked Jeremiah to lock the door. Jackson was the first to speak up.
\"What\'s that about, Capn?\"
\"Glad you asked. Jackson, say, you seem like someone who would know where I can get my foot in the black market.\"
\"Sure thing. Why, whatchya need?\"
\"I need a way to find the Debrisian Palace.\" Everyone looked at me in awe. The Debrisian Palace was a veritable flying fortress; One of the greatest flagships of the DFN Fleet. The catch was, it was constantly kept secret. But aboard that Palace was likely some direct connection to the President himself. And he planned to pump all this information directly to the president. Andrew had all the DFN knowhow to get him through the Palace, but he just needed a way to get to it.
\"Why the hell are you trying to get in the Palace?\"
\"So I can send the President everything we learned.\"
Maria chimed up, \"Why not just send it in an encrypted package?\"
Jeremiah answered for me. \"That package would go through a thousand different hands before it reached the president. And probably a spy or two. Andrew is correct; That\'s simply too much risk. It must go directly to him.\"
\"And yer given us five days to pull this off?\" Jeremiah said. But no sooner had he finished did a big smile come across his face. \"Oh yeah. I know just the place.\"
\"And where is that?\"
\"Nectar-99. Way way the in the middle of nowhere.\"
\"Well, you heard the man. Let\'s hit it.\"
\"Wait!\" Maria interjected, \"What about the ship. Don\'t we need a crew?\"
\"Jeremiah, think you can control the ship for five days?\"
\"Yessir.\"
\"There\'s our crew.\" I got out of my chair, and Jeremiah took my place. Instanty, his robotic arm began to move and transform into a mass of extremely thin wires, which inserted themselves into a hundred or so plugs hidden on the arm of the chair.
\"I am now.... the ship.\" Jeremiah whispered. His eyes glowed a faint orange. But his body went partially limp as he merged with the craft. Everything went online as if it had a full crew.
\"That... can\'t be healthy.\"
\"It\'sh what wes\'ve... evoslved tho do.\" Said Jeremiah, his words coming out partially slurred from his limp jaw. His body was now on the same power and technical plane as the ship itself. It was not a pretty sight, but it was efficient.
\"Alright, Jeremiah.\" I said, \"Bring her to Nectar 99.\" I walked over and took a seat. \"You sure this is the right place to go to?\"
\"Damn straight it is.\" Jackson responded. \"Just gotta trust me, cap\'n.\"
The ship roared to life, and made it\'s way to the nearest FTL node. We entered slipspace.
I realized I needed more seltzer water.
Note form the Author:: this is an intermediary chapter that I\'m using to bring the crew from B to C. I hope you enjoy the ride. It\'s not a really happy one.
I was back in the Washington, drinking myself into a stupor as I watched the Vaygr station aboard the screens in my quarters. A massive countdown timer loomed ominously above the great mass of metal. It showed the Vaygr\'s life slowly ticking away, down to the milisecond. We were down to twenty minutes now. Apparently the Vaygr were going through some planned routine, and would probably all deploy at once. I stumbled out of bed, found my alcohol cabinet, and located the hardest, most acidic whiskey I could possibly procure. Falling back onto the bed, I proceeded to pour it down my throat, my liver already crying out in anguish.
Fifteen minutes. Still nothing. \"Jeremiah!\" I shouted, \"Has there been ANY movement?\"
The intercom system opened up. \"Negative.\"
\"What the hell are they doing?\"
\"I\'m not quite sure, sir.\"
Jeremiah wasn\'t sure of something. That never boded for anything. But I had a solution for this kind of situation.
More alcohol.
The countdown timer hit ten minutes. I was beginning to get worried. Why weren\'t they escaping? Did I miss something? Did the reactor actually have emergency limiters? No, I looked over everything. I checked every last piece of data. I watched as Jeremiah sat there, systematically controlling the Reactor from a safe distance. I grabbed my head. Gah. Thinking while trashed gives me a headache.
At five minutes, though, it dawned on me. \"Jeremiah?\"
\"Yes?\"
\"Lower the guns.\"
\"Sir?\"
\"They aren\'t going to escape. They know. They all know. They also know the reactor will kill them a lot faster than the vacuum of space. Lower the guns.\"
I heard silence, and then the click of the intercom turning off. \"Fuck you...\" I muttered under my breath. I managed to sustain an elongated middle finger at the screen just long enough to give the station my final respects as it exploded, killing thousands. I managed to mantain consciousness only moments longer than that.
I woke up with my face on the floor. My nose felt twenty different kinds of jacked up. I rolled onto my back, grabbed the front of my face with my thumbs on the bridge of my nose, and forced it back into position with a soft *pop*. At the same time, I promised myself I\'d get some soft carpet installed on the floor. I tried to pull myself onto my bed, failed miserably, and ended up just curled up in my sheets on the cold, silvery floor. Boy was I mess.
To make everything infinitely better, Maria walked into the room. Fantastic. Now I have to listen to her mother me.
\"Get up, Andrew.\" She said, \"We\'re already back at Zanzibar.\"
Well Jesus, I thought to myself, where\'s all the love? I tried to say \"let me get a shower and have some coffee to get all this damn alcohol out of my system\". What came out was \"shower and... blurg... coffee.. go away.\"
\"Just... hurry up. We got the rest of the credits from the Auditor, and he just left. We\'re waiting for something to do. We\'re waiting for you.\"
I waved her away, managed to get up and out of my clothes, and force myself into the shower. I laid in the tub as hot, steaming water pelted my face. It flushed out a lot of my hangover and put some sense into me. I stepped out, got some fresh clothes on, grabbed the seltzer water Jeremiah left for me as always (this time with some pills next to it to help me handle my hangover) and made my way to the bridge. Everyone was waiting for me there. It fell into silence, save for the shock troopers snapping to attention, as I entered the room. I slowly hobbled my way to my captains chair, and took a seat. \"At ease.\" I said. Only the troopers relaxed. No one said a word. I sat there sipping my seltzer water. I took the pills, and waited for their effects to kick in. Slowly, after maybe fifteen minutes of total silence, my head cleared up. I broke the silence. \"Jeremiah.\"
\"Yes, Captain?\"
\"Store that information from the station somewhere safe. I\'m going to need it later.\"
\"Understood.\"
\"Jackson.\"
He stood up. \"Yeah, cap?\"
\"How many did we lose?\"
\"A squad and a half. Just got some reserve troopers from Zanzibar, so we\'re back an\' runnin\'.\"
I took another sip of my seltzer water. \"Good. Maria?\"
\"Yes?\"
\"How are you feeling?\"
\"I\'m fine.\"
\"Great.\" I took another sip, realized I was out, and placed it in the cupholder. \"Everyone, I have orders for you.\" I instantly felt every crew member\'s eyes lock with mine. \"Put this on the comms. I need everyone to hear it.\" Jeremiah nodded, and clicked a button. \"Everyone, this is Captain Andrew Johnson. You have five days off. In no more than 120 hours, I want you back aboard this ship. Take your credits, and enjoy yourselves on Zanzibar. Everyone needs to be off of this ship in less than 2 hours, as we\'ll be taking it out for service elsewhere. I also need a little time to think. Oh, and once we\'re back, stragglers will be left behind, so don\'t be late. Enjoy your leave.\"
There were murmors, and then happy little shouts as the crew made their way out of the ship, grabbing essentials from their rooms on the way out. Once the bridge was clear, I asked Jeremiah to lock the door. Jackson was the first to speak up.
\"What\'s that about, Capn?\"
\"Glad you asked. Jackson, say, you seem like someone who would know where I can get my foot in the black market.\"
\"Sure thing. Why, whatchya need?\"
\"I need a way to find the Debrisian Palace.\" Everyone looked at me in awe. The Debrisian Palace was a veritable flying fortress; One of the greatest flagships of the DFN Fleet. The catch was, it was constantly kept secret. But aboard that Palace was likely some direct connection to the President himself. And he planned to pump all this information directly to the president. Andrew had all the DFN knowhow to get him through the Palace, but he just needed a way to get to it.
\"Why the hell are you trying to get in the Palace?\"
\"So I can send the President everything we learned.\"
Maria chimed up, \"Why not just send it in an encrypted package?\"
Jeremiah answered for me. \"That package would go through a thousand different hands before it reached the president. And probably a spy or two. Andrew is correct; That\'s simply too much risk. It must go directly to him.\"
\"And yer given us five days to pull this off?\" Jeremiah said. But no sooner had he finished did a big smile come across his face. \"Oh yeah. I know just the place.\"
\"And where is that?\"
\"Nectar-99. Way way the in the middle of nowhere.\"
\"Well, you heard the man. Let\'s hit it.\"
\"Wait!\" Maria interjected, \"What about the ship. Don\'t we need a crew?\"
\"Jeremiah, think you can control the ship for five days?\"
\"Yessir.\"
\"There\'s our crew.\" I got out of my chair, and Jeremiah took my place. Instanty, his robotic arm began to move and transform into a mass of extremely thin wires, which inserted themselves into a hundred or so plugs hidden on the arm of the chair.
\"I am now.... the ship.\" Jeremiah whispered. His eyes glowed a faint orange. But his body went partially limp as he merged with the craft. Everything went online as if it had a full crew.
\"That... can\'t be healthy.\"
\"It\'sh what wes\'ve... evoslved tho do.\" Said Jeremiah, his words coming out partially slurred from his limp jaw. His body was now on the same power and technical plane as the ship itself. It was not a pretty sight, but it was efficient.
\"Alright, Jeremiah.\" I said, \"Bring her to Nectar 99.\" I walked over and took a seat. \"You sure this is the right place to go to?\"
\"Damn straight it is.\" Jackson responded. \"Just gotta trust me, cap\'n.\"
The ship roared to life, and made it\'s way to the nearest FTL node. We entered slipspace.
I realized I needed more seltzer water.
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2013
- Messages
- 1,183
- Reaction score
- 614
FlyingDebris
Vaygr loves my warhead bat.
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2013
- Messages
- 2,458
- Reaction score
- 1,312
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2013
- Messages
- 566
- Reaction score
- 47
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2013
- Messages
- 566
- Reaction score
- 47
