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This is my first attempt at writing a short story in the Starmade multiverse. It is heavily based on true events that happened on the Nass server but with lots of artistic license and RP elements thrown in. It details the time leading up to my meeting with crazyf22raptor and, eventually, I will detail the merger of mine and crazy's factions and the other events that happened at that time.
I hope you enjoy this work.
I'll upload it chapter by chapter for you guys.
EDIT: Thinking about it, this isn't actually going to be very short, it'll end up being pretty darned long actually xD
EDIT 2: Minor adjustments; didn't copy over properly xD
I hope you enjoy this work.
I'll upload it chapter by chapter for you guys.
It was the year 2314. The pirates were roaming free, and had established numerous bases throughout known and unknown space. The dominant faction here was the_REMOVED_, and not for the right reasons either, as they were little better than the pirates. Continuous raids were carried out on lesser factions, seriously hurting their growth and destroying any military they may have had. Many factions were unable to cope with their onslaught, and were forced through inter dimensional portals to escape them.
Day One at Nass.
It was around May 2314 that the man known as Jake Lancia entered this battered universe. Jake was an experienced starship commander, adept pilot and half-decent shipbuilder. He immediately began building a Dauntless class corvette, a small and fast vessel with surprising firepower for its size. With a long, sleek shape resembling an old submarine, and powerful sublight engines allowing it impressive acceleration, it was the perfect choice for Jake's first foray into the depths of the universe. He christened the ship AFS Alliance, then began warping into open space...
Jake soon encountered a small fleet of pirate Isanth-VI fighters in open space, waiting for something to loot. These fighters resembled a tripoint with guns, but were not much of a threat. The main pirate commander transmitted a message to Jake's ship.
"You will stand down and give us yer loot, or be blasted into space dust right here."
"No chance." Jake powered weapons and shoved the throttle lever all the way forwards. The pirates also lurched forwards, ready to attack. The pirates were the first to fire, but their gunfire flew horribly wide. The Alliance bucked as a single shot impacted on the ship's shields, the shield energy moving to block the shot from hitting the hull. Jake fired off a small burst of his own towards the lead fighter. The first two shots were absorbed by its shields but the third shot dissipated them, allowing the next two to penetrate the bare hull of the fighter and hit its primary weapon control. Deprived of its combat abilities the Isanth sped away from the fight. The next two fighters were blown into dust by the Alliance's main repeater blaster. A fourth was destroyed when a lucky shot pierced its cockpit window, killing the pilot instantly. The fifth Isanth retreated, its pilot too terrified to continue.
"Personal log, 2314-04-05. First day in the universe Nass-01. A fleet of hostile fighters attempted to destroy my ship already. This universe seems to be overrun by the thieving buccaneers, I must find a way to drive them out. End log."
Day One at Nass.
It was around May 2314 that the man known as Jake Lancia entered this battered universe. Jake was an experienced starship commander, adept pilot and half-decent shipbuilder. He immediately began building a Dauntless class corvette, a small and fast vessel with surprising firepower for its size. With a long, sleek shape resembling an old submarine, and powerful sublight engines allowing it impressive acceleration, it was the perfect choice for Jake's first foray into the depths of the universe. He christened the ship AFS Alliance, then began warping into open space...
Jake soon encountered a small fleet of pirate Isanth-VI fighters in open space, waiting for something to loot. These fighters resembled a tripoint with guns, but were not much of a threat. The main pirate commander transmitted a message to Jake's ship.
"You will stand down and give us yer loot, or be blasted into space dust right here."
"No chance." Jake powered weapons and shoved the throttle lever all the way forwards. The pirates also lurched forwards, ready to attack. The pirates were the first to fire, but their gunfire flew horribly wide. The Alliance bucked as a single shot impacted on the ship's shields, the shield energy moving to block the shot from hitting the hull. Jake fired off a small burst of his own towards the lead fighter. The first two shots were absorbed by its shields but the third shot dissipated them, allowing the next two to penetrate the bare hull of the fighter and hit its primary weapon control. Deprived of its combat abilities the Isanth sped away from the fight. The next two fighters were blown into dust by the Alliance's main repeater blaster. A fourth was destroyed when a lucky shot pierced its cockpit window, killing the pilot instantly. The fifth Isanth retreated, its pilot too terrified to continue.
"Personal log, 2314-04-05. First day in the universe Nass-01. A fleet of hostile fighters attempted to destroy my ship already. This universe seems to be overrun by the thieving buccaneers, I must find a way to drive them out. End log."
Day Two at Nass.
The Alliance continued on its voyage of exploration, Jake desperate to find some vestige of civilisation that was untouched by the pirate onslaught. He quickly grew bored of the otherwise uneventful mission, often stopping to take shots at nearby asteroids and civilian vessels. After six hours of firing at every visible asteroid, a planet appeared on the sensors. A habitable, unclaimed planet several hundred thousand kilometres away, with an iron-oxide surface and oxygen atmosphere. Damn, how did I miss that. Jake punched in the coordinates into the warp drive computer, spooled it up, then hit the button.
What he saw next amazed and astounded him. There were around fifteen pirate Isanth-VI fighters in orbit of the planet along with six of the newly-introduced Isanth-Zeroes, a deadly new fighter with a completely new design and a variety of weapon systems. Jake quickly turned his radar jamming device on, desperate to avoid being spotted by that many fighters. He then popped several shots towards one of the Zeroes. The shots were absorbed by the Zeroes’ superior shielding, and all twenty-one fighters then turned around to try and figure out where the shots came from. You cannot fight what you cannot see. He let loose a barrage of fire towards the same Zero, finally collapsing its shields. The fighter began evasive maneuvers to escape, then spotted the Alliance visually. It bombarded the Alliance’s shields with quad beam weapons that bought the shields down to 30% capacity.
Warning lights sounded throughout the Alliance’s cockpit as the ship bucked and rocked at the intense fire the Zero was putting out. Shields at 20%, I have to do something. Jake charged the warp drive computer, and just as the Alliance’s shields collapsed it warped away.
The fighters remained in orbit over the planet, unable to pursue.
The ship came to a stop close to a Trade Guild automated shop. Jake waited for the ship’s shields to recharge before powering down the weapons, and then prepared to get hold of the materials necessary to improve the ship. He ordered four Low-Profile Repeater turrets, and attached them onto new hardpoints on the ship once they arrived.
He then warped towards an inhabited planet at the edge of the Neutral Zone (the area relatively free of pirate attacks and bases). He then hired two more pilots, ordered them to follow him, and set a course back to the red planet he had tried to liberate hours earlier.
Once the three ships arrived Jake immediately gave the order to engage radar jamming equipment and proceed at high sublight speed towards the pirate fleet. “Engage the Zeroes first”, he ordered over the comm channel.
Immediately, flashes of green and white filled the space above the planet as the two fleets clashed. The mercs followed their orders to attack the Zeroes, firing green bolts into their shields, collapsing the shields of one of them. Jake then let off a three-round burst that blew a large hole through the Zeroes’ power core, killing its power instantly and leaving the vessel drifting away. One down, five to go. The Alliance’s turrets fired continuously on the closest Zero, slowly dissipating its shielding. Then the mercs let off two seeker missiles that blasted the Zero into space dust. The Isanth-VI fighters circled the merc’s ships, firing ineffectual blasts at them, doing nothing to their shields, despite there being fifteen ships. Despite the battering the mercs destroyed two more Zeroes before turning their attention to the VIs.
The mercs launched huge volleys of swarmer missiles, heatseeking weapons unable to distinguish between friend and foe. Most of them blew the fifteen VIs into dust, but several locked on to the Alliance and impacted on its shields, almost bringing them down. Jake brushed it aside and turned his attention towards the remaining Zeroes. He fired two torpedoes at the nearest one as the mercs brought down its shields, allowing the torpedoes to blow a hole all the way through the fighter. The leftover hulk drifted, lifeless.
The remaining two Zeroes activated their short-range jump drive and jumped away, too scared to continue.
Jake then paid the mercs and set up standard orbit over the planet. He equipped his personalised Alliance spacesuit, personalised with blue markings and a reinforced plating. He launched a general-purpose pod from the center of the ship and used it to fly down to the surface. Amazingly, the air was breathable, so Jake took off his helmet and surveyed his surroundings. Grand mesas, wide plateaus, and high mountains stretched as far as the eye could see around him, all marked with a rust-red colour.
I shall call this planet, Vergesso, after this system's central star.
The Alliance continued on its voyage of exploration, Jake desperate to find some vestige of civilisation that was untouched by the pirate onslaught. He quickly grew bored of the otherwise uneventful mission, often stopping to take shots at nearby asteroids and civilian vessels. After six hours of firing at every visible asteroid, a planet appeared on the sensors. A habitable, unclaimed planet several hundred thousand kilometres away, with an iron-oxide surface and oxygen atmosphere. Damn, how did I miss that. Jake punched in the coordinates into the warp drive computer, spooled it up, then hit the button.
What he saw next amazed and astounded him. There were around fifteen pirate Isanth-VI fighters in orbit of the planet along with six of the newly-introduced Isanth-Zeroes, a deadly new fighter with a completely new design and a variety of weapon systems. Jake quickly turned his radar jamming device on, desperate to avoid being spotted by that many fighters. He then popped several shots towards one of the Zeroes. The shots were absorbed by the Zeroes’ superior shielding, and all twenty-one fighters then turned around to try and figure out where the shots came from. You cannot fight what you cannot see. He let loose a barrage of fire towards the same Zero, finally collapsing its shields. The fighter began evasive maneuvers to escape, then spotted the Alliance visually. It bombarded the Alliance’s shields with quad beam weapons that bought the shields down to 30% capacity.
Warning lights sounded throughout the Alliance’s cockpit as the ship bucked and rocked at the intense fire the Zero was putting out. Shields at 20%, I have to do something. Jake charged the warp drive computer, and just as the Alliance’s shields collapsed it warped away.
The fighters remained in orbit over the planet, unable to pursue.
The ship came to a stop close to a Trade Guild automated shop. Jake waited for the ship’s shields to recharge before powering down the weapons, and then prepared to get hold of the materials necessary to improve the ship. He ordered four Low-Profile Repeater turrets, and attached them onto new hardpoints on the ship once they arrived.
He then warped towards an inhabited planet at the edge of the Neutral Zone (the area relatively free of pirate attacks and bases). He then hired two more pilots, ordered them to follow him, and set a course back to the red planet he had tried to liberate hours earlier.
Once the three ships arrived Jake immediately gave the order to engage radar jamming equipment and proceed at high sublight speed towards the pirate fleet. “Engage the Zeroes first”, he ordered over the comm channel.
Immediately, flashes of green and white filled the space above the planet as the two fleets clashed. The mercs followed their orders to attack the Zeroes, firing green bolts into their shields, collapsing the shields of one of them. Jake then let off a three-round burst that blew a large hole through the Zeroes’ power core, killing its power instantly and leaving the vessel drifting away. One down, five to go. The Alliance’s turrets fired continuously on the closest Zero, slowly dissipating its shielding. Then the mercs let off two seeker missiles that blasted the Zero into space dust. The Isanth-VI fighters circled the merc’s ships, firing ineffectual blasts at them, doing nothing to their shields, despite there being fifteen ships. Despite the battering the mercs destroyed two more Zeroes before turning their attention to the VIs.
The mercs launched huge volleys of swarmer missiles, heatseeking weapons unable to distinguish between friend and foe. Most of them blew the fifteen VIs into dust, but several locked on to the Alliance and impacted on its shields, almost bringing them down. Jake brushed it aside and turned his attention towards the remaining Zeroes. He fired two torpedoes at the nearest one as the mercs brought down its shields, allowing the torpedoes to blow a hole all the way through the fighter. The leftover hulk drifted, lifeless.
The remaining two Zeroes activated their short-range jump drive and jumped away, too scared to continue.
Jake then paid the mercs and set up standard orbit over the planet. He equipped his personalised Alliance spacesuit, personalised with blue markings and a reinforced plating. He launched a general-purpose pod from the center of the ship and used it to fly down to the surface. Amazingly, the air was breathable, so Jake took off his helmet and surveyed his surroundings. Grand mesas, wide plateaus, and high mountains stretched as far as the eye could see around him, all marked with a rust-red colour.
I shall call this planet, Vergesso, after this system's central star.
Day Three at Nass.
After a long night enduring unknown creatures and bitter cold temperatures, Jake awoke to an amazing view of the Vergessian sun rising above the horizon, colouring the sky green. It was the kind of view only previously dreamed about. The mountains and hills cast long shadows across the rust red landscape.
Unfortunately Jake could not savour this view for long. He grabbed a nearby solar heater and used it to heat a can of standard rations. He gulped it down quickly; he needed his energy for later. Jake then began using his Fabricator to create a small, standard colony building design he had developed months earlier. As the construction would take hours once the blueprint was loaded into the construction droids, he decided to fly back to the Alliance in orbit. He picked up a transmission, being sent through all public channels;
"This is a trading offer by Mr Crazy. I am willing to trade some blocks of white advanced armor. See me if you want to buy them."
This might not be a bad idea. Jake pulled up his communications screen. Transmitting a message towards 'Mr Crazy', he began by listing several items he already had. White standard hulls; 1048. Black standard hulls; 4638. Ores; over 12 000 total. The ores piqued 'Mr Crazy''s interest enough that he agreed to trade the armour blocks for them.
"Please provide your galactic coordinates, Mr Crazy."
"Sending to you now, fellow trader."
Jake punched the coordinates into the warp computer, and spooled it up.
He arrived at a large military complex, full of differing designs of ships including a modified Isanth-VI fighter and a large battle frigate, among others. ‘Mr Crazy’ was flying around in a rather large vessel, in a slightly erratic fashion, awaiting Jake’s arrival. “Hi there” he eventually said casually over the comms.
“You’re Mr Crazy?”
“Well duh, of course mate”
“I have a large collection of ores here, you seemed interested in them?”
“Of course. Send them over and I’ll give ya the hulls.”
Jake used the matter transporter to send Mr Crazy the ores through the communications channel. Mr Crazy then proceeded to send the armor through once he confirmed he had the ores.
“These’ll do nicely for the new factory system that my faction, the Trident, is building here.
“We control this space; nothing gets through here without us knowing first. We followed your little adventures from day one and I daresay, you may become an amazing pilot yourself. Join us, Jake Lancia.”
“Sorry, but I’m freelance.” As he said it Jake knew he wasn’t telling the truth; he was, after all, leader of this universe’s branch of The Alliance, but didn’t want to get involved with Mr Crazy’s faction and politics.
“Well if ya ever need any work, we can provide it for ya.” Mr Crazy checked the scanners on board his ship, the TRV Dreadnought: they showed Jake as belonging to faction ID 11532; The Alliance.
“See ya round then”.
As he left Jake took one last look at the Trident base. Hundreds of ships, all lined up across separate facilities, waiting to be repaired or refitted. Mr Crazy’s Dreadnought was the only ship out of spacedock. As he turned to leave he spooled up the warp drive computer and plotted a course back to the planet Vergesso.
Once he had arrived he saw that the automated constructors had done their work; the colony building was complete, along with simple PV power generators to provide energy to the structure. But he turned his attention upwards; he needed a facility to construct and store potentially large vessels that couldn’t be kept on a planet.
So he decided to begin building an orbiting space station to keep ships in. He began with a simple wireframe encompassing 200m length and 80m width. From here he got the droids to flesh out the support struts to give the structure stability when complete. After that he uploaded a blueprint of the structure into the droids; he needed some rest after this long day.
After a long night enduring unknown creatures and bitter cold temperatures, Jake awoke to an amazing view of the Vergessian sun rising above the horizon, colouring the sky green. It was the kind of view only previously dreamed about. The mountains and hills cast long shadows across the rust red landscape.
Unfortunately Jake could not savour this view for long. He grabbed a nearby solar heater and used it to heat a can of standard rations. He gulped it down quickly; he needed his energy for later. Jake then began using his Fabricator to create a small, standard colony building design he had developed months earlier. As the construction would take hours once the blueprint was loaded into the construction droids, he decided to fly back to the Alliance in orbit. He picked up a transmission, being sent through all public channels;
"This is a trading offer by Mr Crazy. I am willing to trade some blocks of white advanced armor. See me if you want to buy them."
This might not be a bad idea. Jake pulled up his communications screen. Transmitting a message towards 'Mr Crazy', he began by listing several items he already had. White standard hulls; 1048. Black standard hulls; 4638. Ores; over 12 000 total. The ores piqued 'Mr Crazy''s interest enough that he agreed to trade the armour blocks for them.
"Please provide your galactic coordinates, Mr Crazy."
"Sending to you now, fellow trader."
Jake punched the coordinates into the warp computer, and spooled it up.
He arrived at a large military complex, full of differing designs of ships including a modified Isanth-VI fighter and a large battle frigate, among others. ‘Mr Crazy’ was flying around in a rather large vessel, in a slightly erratic fashion, awaiting Jake’s arrival. “Hi there” he eventually said casually over the comms.
“You’re Mr Crazy?”
“Well duh, of course mate”
“I have a large collection of ores here, you seemed interested in them?”
“Of course. Send them over and I’ll give ya the hulls.”
Jake used the matter transporter to send Mr Crazy the ores through the communications channel. Mr Crazy then proceeded to send the armor through once he confirmed he had the ores.
“These’ll do nicely for the new factory system that my faction, the Trident, is building here.
“We control this space; nothing gets through here without us knowing first. We followed your little adventures from day one and I daresay, you may become an amazing pilot yourself. Join us, Jake Lancia.”
“Sorry, but I’m freelance.” As he said it Jake knew he wasn’t telling the truth; he was, after all, leader of this universe’s branch of The Alliance, but didn’t want to get involved with Mr Crazy’s faction and politics.
“Well if ya ever need any work, we can provide it for ya.” Mr Crazy checked the scanners on board his ship, the TRV Dreadnought: they showed Jake as belonging to faction ID 11532; The Alliance.
“See ya round then”.
As he left Jake took one last look at the Trident base. Hundreds of ships, all lined up across separate facilities, waiting to be repaired or refitted. Mr Crazy’s Dreadnought was the only ship out of spacedock. As he turned to leave he spooled up the warp drive computer and plotted a course back to the planet Vergesso.
Once he had arrived he saw that the automated constructors had done their work; the colony building was complete, along with simple PV power generators to provide energy to the structure. But he turned his attention upwards; he needed a facility to construct and store potentially large vessels that couldn’t be kept on a planet.
So he decided to begin building an orbiting space station to keep ships in. He began with a simple wireframe encompassing 200m length and 80m width. From here he got the droids to flesh out the support struts to give the structure stability when complete. After that he uploaded a blueprint of the structure into the droids; he needed some rest after this long day.
Day Four at Nass.
Once he got up, he noticed the shiny new structure in orbit; the droids had done their work. He also noticed that the Trident had established a base about a sector away from the planet, and that there was a ship heading from it towards the planet...
“Attention unknown ship, identify yourself or be fired upon”
“Hey it’s only me, Mr Crazy, your trading partner? Don’t ya remember me at all?”
“Ah, it’s you, what do you need?”
“Permission to establish standard orbit over your planet?”
“Granted. There’s not much here yet though.”
Mr Crazy set up a standard orbit over the planet, then launched a general-purpose pod from his ship. He flew towards the recently completed drydock station, and simply observed it.”When are ya gonna have a ship to put in here?”
“Soon Mr Crazy, soon.”
In fact Jake was already working on a new frigate blueprint that he called the Freedom class. It would be over 100m long, contain heavy cannon weaponry, and be able to withstand significant pirate fire. It would also be heavily turreted to deter pirate and faction fighters from attacking it.
Several Alliance Hawk fighters entered into escort formation around the Dreadnought as Mr Crazy began flying back towards it to re-enter. Their thrusters glowed light blue as they assumed their assigned positions around the larger ship, intending to see it off if Mr Crazy eventually left. But just then several vessels exited warp right on top of the Dreadnought; their faction signatures were scrambled, showing intent to attack. The ships were each at least 150 metres long and bristled with guns along their ventral surfaces.
“Attention TRV Dreadnought. Your forces are outnumbered and outgunned, and will not succeed in a straight fight. Surrender your ships to me immediately, or we will kill you anyway.”
Who are they? Jake opened a comm channel to the Dreadnought. “What the hell is going on up there?”
“Jake, help me, damn it!”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Because if ya don’t, you have no chance against these guys! _REMOVED_ is the dominant faction here; only we have the firepower to even attempt to defend against them!”
Jake had very little time; he quickly ran out of his building to the landed Alliance, started its atmospheric thrusters, and initiated a vertical climb out of the atmosphere. He ordered the four Hawks in orbit to protect the Dreadnought if it was attacked, and ordered all pilots into their ships immediately. Now would be a good time for that Freedom frigate…
As the Alliance blasted out of the atmosphere 6 additional Hawk fighters followed it out, all waiting on Jake’s command. The pilots all signalled their readiness, then proceeded towards the Dreadnought.
“Looks like you bought friends. No matter, you will all be eliminated…”
Suddenly the lead enemy ship blasted several orange cannon shots towards the Dreadnought which were absorbed by the frigate's shields easily. Two others attempted to fire on the Hawks but their fire went horribly wide. Three more ships initiated fire on the Dreadnought, putting serious strain on its shielding, as Mr Crazy finally returned fire at the lead enemy ship, its white-hot cannon fire creating cackling electrical bolts on the enemy's shields. The Hawks zipped around the larger ships, avoiding turret fire while putting out beams and torpedoes of their own towards them.
Mr Crazy continued to concentrate his ship's firepower on the lead vessel, which was slowly losing shields. Suddenly warning lights flashed in the Dreadnought's bridge. 'Captain, our shields have been breached! I recommend an immediate retreat before we are crippled.'
'No! They attack our ships; we fall back. They invade our space; we fall back. Well, no more. The line will be drawn HERE! This far, no further!'
Several conduits exploded on the Dreadnought’s bridge as cannon shots impacted on the bare hull of the ship. Mr Crazy reopened comms with Jake. “We need serious help right now!”
“On my way, Dreadnought. Can you last just a few seconds more?”
“Let’s hope I won’t need to.”
Jake’s ship came streaking in underneath the Dreadnought as several explosions shook the larger ship; the enemy ships were firing torpedoes into its bare hull, dealing significant damage to the ship.
“We won’t last at all, as long as those torpedo launchers keep firing!”
“I’m on it, Dreadnought. Concentrate fire on the lead ship; I need its shields down.”
More warning lights flashed on the Dreadnought’s bridge. One officer got to his feet; “Intruder alert - sir, there’s an enemy boarding party on deck 3, working their way up!”
“We’re done for - evacuate the ship.”
“But sir-”
“Evacuate the ship, NOW!”
At once all the officers on the bridge got to their feet and ran to the rear escape pod hatch just off the bridge. After they had piled into the cramped craft it severed its connection to the Dreadnought and flew down, towards the planet Vergesso. Mr Crazy took the helm and weapons console of the ruined Dreadnought and began a last-ditch effort to down the shields of the lead enemy ship. He set the vessel on autopilot and focused the weapons on the closest cruiser.
“Crazy, it’s me - Jake. I just noticed that you’re the last person on your ship. I’m gonna beam you out of there, it’s too dangerous on your own.”
“No - I can do this! I will avenge my former crews!”
The Dreadnought’s main plasma cannons lobbed white-hot balls of fire towards the closest enemy ship, finally collapsing its shields. "There you are Jake - let em have it."
Two blobs of bright blue light streaked out from the Alliance, impacting the unprotected ship right on the main torpedo launcher, rendering the weapon useless. Jake then let off a burst of blaster fire towards the ship's bridge, drilling a hole right through the main bulkhead and decompressing the entire room, killing the bridge crew instantly. The ship drifted forwards, lifeless.
On the bridge of the Dreadnought Mr Crazy ended up setting the vessel on self-destruct and on a collision course towards the next enemy ship. But he was then swallowed up by an intense blue light as Jake finally beamed him aboard the Alliance. "About time - my ship was practically done for."
The ship rocked as several cannon shots from the enemy ships barely missed hitting the Alliance. "Well I guess that's the end of the mighty Dreadnought..."
The Dreadnought slammed hard into another enemy ship, detonating the torpedo warheads and the self destruct charges onboard to produce a huge white fireball that engulfed the enemy ship, disintegrating both ships with the sheer heat of the explosion.
"What now? There's still five more of em out there; how are we gonna down them?" Crazy's face was one of sheer terror.
"We run, so we can live another day. Hopefully we can build our militaries up enough to end this.
"All pilots, prepare to warp to the following galactic coordinates. We're getting out of here."
A few seconds later all pilots acknowledged their readiness, then all jumped into warp at once.
"You never did tell me the truth about your, should I say, employment."
Jake knew exactly what this was about. "I didn't think it was appropriate to disclose that information.
"So where's the rest of the fleet? There were hundreds of ships at your main base, after all."
"Undergoing a major refit operation. We need ships able to stand up to them, but they can't in their present condition.
"Perhaps a new warship is needed, one that can deliver withering firepower while maintaining good manuverability. I wonder if that is possible... If it is, such a ship could turn the tide of this conflict in our favour."
On the bridge of the enemy command ship, Admiral Leon Clifford stepped out of the turbolift to find an exhausted crew awaiting him. He opened a channel to all the remaining ships.
"All vessels, remain in orbit. Secure the stations and claim them as our own. Then we lay waste to this world.
"They will be taught the price of opposing us...
"This is war."
Once he got up, he noticed the shiny new structure in orbit; the droids had done their work. He also noticed that the Trident had established a base about a sector away from the planet, and that there was a ship heading from it towards the planet...
“Attention unknown ship, identify yourself or be fired upon”
“Hey it’s only me, Mr Crazy, your trading partner? Don’t ya remember me at all?”
“Ah, it’s you, what do you need?”
“Permission to establish standard orbit over your planet?”
“Granted. There’s not much here yet though.”
Mr Crazy set up a standard orbit over the planet, then launched a general-purpose pod from his ship. He flew towards the recently completed drydock station, and simply observed it.”When are ya gonna have a ship to put in here?”
“Soon Mr Crazy, soon.”
In fact Jake was already working on a new frigate blueprint that he called the Freedom class. It would be over 100m long, contain heavy cannon weaponry, and be able to withstand significant pirate fire. It would also be heavily turreted to deter pirate and faction fighters from attacking it.
Several Alliance Hawk fighters entered into escort formation around the Dreadnought as Mr Crazy began flying back towards it to re-enter. Their thrusters glowed light blue as they assumed their assigned positions around the larger ship, intending to see it off if Mr Crazy eventually left. But just then several vessels exited warp right on top of the Dreadnought; their faction signatures were scrambled, showing intent to attack. The ships were each at least 150 metres long and bristled with guns along their ventral surfaces.
“Attention TRV Dreadnought. Your forces are outnumbered and outgunned, and will not succeed in a straight fight. Surrender your ships to me immediately, or we will kill you anyway.”
Who are they? Jake opened a comm channel to the Dreadnought. “What the hell is going on up there?”
“Jake, help me, damn it!”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Because if ya don’t, you have no chance against these guys! _REMOVED_ is the dominant faction here; only we have the firepower to even attempt to defend against them!”
Jake had very little time; he quickly ran out of his building to the landed Alliance, started its atmospheric thrusters, and initiated a vertical climb out of the atmosphere. He ordered the four Hawks in orbit to protect the Dreadnought if it was attacked, and ordered all pilots into their ships immediately. Now would be a good time for that Freedom frigate…
As the Alliance blasted out of the atmosphere 6 additional Hawk fighters followed it out, all waiting on Jake’s command. The pilots all signalled their readiness, then proceeded towards the Dreadnought.
“Looks like you bought friends. No matter, you will all be eliminated…”
Suddenly the lead enemy ship blasted several orange cannon shots towards the Dreadnought which were absorbed by the frigate's shields easily. Two others attempted to fire on the Hawks but their fire went horribly wide. Three more ships initiated fire on the Dreadnought, putting serious strain on its shielding, as Mr Crazy finally returned fire at the lead enemy ship, its white-hot cannon fire creating cackling electrical bolts on the enemy's shields. The Hawks zipped around the larger ships, avoiding turret fire while putting out beams and torpedoes of their own towards them.
Mr Crazy continued to concentrate his ship's firepower on the lead vessel, which was slowly losing shields. Suddenly warning lights flashed in the Dreadnought's bridge. 'Captain, our shields have been breached! I recommend an immediate retreat before we are crippled.'
'No! They attack our ships; we fall back. They invade our space; we fall back. Well, no more. The line will be drawn HERE! This far, no further!'
Several conduits exploded on the Dreadnought’s bridge as cannon shots impacted on the bare hull of the ship. Mr Crazy reopened comms with Jake. “We need serious help right now!”
“On my way, Dreadnought. Can you last just a few seconds more?”
“Let’s hope I won’t need to.”
Jake’s ship came streaking in underneath the Dreadnought as several explosions shook the larger ship; the enemy ships were firing torpedoes into its bare hull, dealing significant damage to the ship.
“We won’t last at all, as long as those torpedo launchers keep firing!”
“I’m on it, Dreadnought. Concentrate fire on the lead ship; I need its shields down.”
More warning lights flashed on the Dreadnought’s bridge. One officer got to his feet; “Intruder alert - sir, there’s an enemy boarding party on deck 3, working their way up!”
“We’re done for - evacuate the ship.”
“But sir-”
“Evacuate the ship, NOW!”
At once all the officers on the bridge got to their feet and ran to the rear escape pod hatch just off the bridge. After they had piled into the cramped craft it severed its connection to the Dreadnought and flew down, towards the planet Vergesso. Mr Crazy took the helm and weapons console of the ruined Dreadnought and began a last-ditch effort to down the shields of the lead enemy ship. He set the vessel on autopilot and focused the weapons on the closest cruiser.
“Crazy, it’s me - Jake. I just noticed that you’re the last person on your ship. I’m gonna beam you out of there, it’s too dangerous on your own.”
“No - I can do this! I will avenge my former crews!”
The Dreadnought’s main plasma cannons lobbed white-hot balls of fire towards the closest enemy ship, finally collapsing its shields. "There you are Jake - let em have it."
Two blobs of bright blue light streaked out from the Alliance, impacting the unprotected ship right on the main torpedo launcher, rendering the weapon useless. Jake then let off a burst of blaster fire towards the ship's bridge, drilling a hole right through the main bulkhead and decompressing the entire room, killing the bridge crew instantly. The ship drifted forwards, lifeless.
On the bridge of the Dreadnought Mr Crazy ended up setting the vessel on self-destruct and on a collision course towards the next enemy ship. But he was then swallowed up by an intense blue light as Jake finally beamed him aboard the Alliance. "About time - my ship was practically done for."
The ship rocked as several cannon shots from the enemy ships barely missed hitting the Alliance. "Well I guess that's the end of the mighty Dreadnought..."
The Dreadnought slammed hard into another enemy ship, detonating the torpedo warheads and the self destruct charges onboard to produce a huge white fireball that engulfed the enemy ship, disintegrating both ships with the sheer heat of the explosion.
"What now? There's still five more of em out there; how are we gonna down them?" Crazy's face was one of sheer terror.
"We run, so we can live another day. Hopefully we can build our militaries up enough to end this.
"All pilots, prepare to warp to the following galactic coordinates. We're getting out of here."
A few seconds later all pilots acknowledged their readiness, then all jumped into warp at once.
"You never did tell me the truth about your, should I say, employment."
Jake knew exactly what this was about. "I didn't think it was appropriate to disclose that information.
"So where's the rest of the fleet? There were hundreds of ships at your main base, after all."
"Undergoing a major refit operation. We need ships able to stand up to them, but they can't in their present condition.
"Perhaps a new warship is needed, one that can deliver withering firepower while maintaining good manuverability. I wonder if that is possible... If it is, such a ship could turn the tide of this conflict in our favour."
On the bridge of the enemy command ship, Admiral Leon Clifford stepped out of the turbolift to find an exhausted crew awaiting him. He opened a channel to all the remaining ships.
"All vessels, remain in orbit. Secure the stations and claim them as our own. Then we lay waste to this world.
"They will be taught the price of opposing us...
"This is war."
Day Five on Nass.
Jake was forced to sleep on board the cramped Alliance that night. While Mr Crazy had arranged for a Trident patrol ship to pick him up and take him to the Trident Shipyards, Jake had no such luxury. He had to fly there himself, and had to sleep on the cold, hard durasteel flooring of the Alliance's main entry corridor.
During the night Mr Crazy had been working on that ship he described the day before, trying to balance everything out. The outer hull was already complete but systems needed placing. The vessel was slated to be 101 metres in length with powerful beam banks capable of quickly piercing shields, and strong thrusters more suited to a much larger ship. It was also slated to have strong shields resistant to most attacks.
Jake watched from the cockpit of the Alliance as Crazy worked in the inside of the mostly-empty shell of the ship, fitting the main beam banks to the front of the ship, wearing a fully sealed space suit allowing him freedom to move in the unforgiving vacuum of space.
I've lost everything I earned here. All I have left are my pilots and a handful of fighters; what's that going to do to a fleet of warships?
But I can't give up now, not when I've invested my time here to build the faction to where it was. I need to fight back against the oppressors and win back my hard earned planet, station and whatever ships were left there. And then I still need to build that Freedom frigate...
Right now though, I've been reduced to sleeping in the cramped compartment of a small two man ship that was not designed for long term voyages. How am I going to work my way back again?
And then it hit him.
He would need to work with Mr Crazy, and by extension, the Trident, to work his way back up. But I don't want to join the Trident - do I? It might be the only chance I have...
Jake opened comms with Mr Crazy. "I'd like to propose a permanent merger between my faction, and the Trident."
"An interesting move, Mr Lancia. I definitely wasn't expecting that."
"I'm thinking a joint leadership system would be best, as we're both obviously capable leaders, and it would allow some autonomy on our parts too."
"I'm gonna need much more convincing before I effectively hand over command of my ships to you."
"Alright then, I'm sending over a copy of my service record of my time in The Alliance."
"Well okay then, let's take a look..." Crazy opened the document on a computer terminal onboard the Trident patrol ship TRV Scouter Mk I. The document showed many facts about Jake, but the most important facts to Crazy were the command records:
--Accessing logs--
Name - Jake M Lancia
Age - 24
Gender - Male
Recorded combat actions (total) - 236
Combat actions (starship) - 184
Last known command - AFS Paladin (Battle Corvette)
--Accessing log entry Date 2313-11-29--
--Authorisation Granted--
Personal log, 2313-11-29. In my first day aboard the AFS Tripoli, we were attacked by unknown forces with scrambled faction signatures. The vessels tore through the ship's shields and blew open the front of the bridge. The captain was sucked out into space. As I was the highest ranking crew member left on the bridge I took over command of the ship. In the course of the fight I was able to disable two of the attacking ships and destroyed a third by using nearby asteroids to obscure my radar signature long enough to fire a salvo of heavy missiles into the ship's power core. The mission was a complete success, but it has been compounded by the loss of captain Braxton.
--End log--
"Well it certainly proves your abilities in countering impossible odds. Alright, I'm in. Joint leadership it is...
"I'm impressed by your apparent ability to effectively remove your ship's weaknesses and turn them into new strengths." Crazy shut down the computer system and proceeded to don his spacesuit again.
"Excellent, I'll let the pilots know, and tell them to change their faction signatures to match your ships."
While Jake did that, Mr Crazy recommenced work on the heavy frigate. There was not much left to install - just manuevering thrusters - but that was still a lot of work for a single person. Main power and all three weapon systems were operational, as was the warp drive and shielding system. The main shields were capable of projecting a 180 000 terawatt deflection system capable of repelling constant weapons fire. The torpedoes were capable of creating a 70m crater in a solid durasteel block that was 100 cubic metres.
A moment later Mr Crazy had finished work on the ship's thrusters; they hummed almost inaudibly in the background.
"I christen this ship, the TRV Quantum, the first of her class. This new class of vessels will lead us to victory over our enemies, nothing will stand in its way."
The new vessel was indeed 101 metres long, just as it was designed; the ship thinned near the aft end, though the ship was thinner in the Y axis near the aft. The front of the ship was dominated by the single, large heavy beam bank in a circular shape, sunk into the main hull about 10 metres for extra protection. There were two protrusions at the front, 10m ahead of the beam bank; these held the dual plasma cannons. There was also four torpedo tubes beside the beam bank, two tubes either side, with all four tubes sunk into the main hull. There was only two doors into the ship; these were reinforced to prevent attack from the sides. Finally the ion engines were of a new, more efficient design, allowing the ship to accelerate far faster than comparable ships.
Mr Crazy led several people into the Quantum, intending to build a crew for the state-of-the-art vessel. The ship had extensive automation systems and so only needed a small crew. Jake watched as Mr Crazy climbed into the captain’s chair, and finally gave the order to set out from dock.
"All systems appear to be functioning normally, sir."
"Thrusters at 25%"
"Shields are online with a capacity of 180 000 terawatts"
"Weapons are ready"
The bridge of the Quantum was a hive of activity as Mr Crazy took it into the nearby asteroid field; he was going to test the new vessel's manuverability. The large vessel easily flew between the small gaps in the asteroids, even fitting through a tunnel inside another larger one.
“Seems alright to me”, Mr Crazy eventually remarked, “set a course back home. Best speed.”
Back at the construction site Jake had only just got back into the Alliance when he saw the larger vessel warp away without him. But surprisingly he received a communication from the Quantum containing the coordinates back to the base; Jake had forgotten them since his first visit. He proceeded to warp to the base; he reasoned that the base was now also his new home. With that thought, he docked with the base, then proceeded to find Mr Crazy.
“I was wondering when you’d show up.” Jake swung round to see Mr Crazy behind him. “Your new quarters are this way. They’re empty at the mo aside from the bed and computer terminal, but we do have an extensive range of customisation options available. Follow me then.”
Jake followed Mr Crazy along a sparsely-lit corridor down to the habitation section, eventually coming to a stop at a door marked ‘JAKE LANCIA - CO-LEADER’. Did he know I was going to join up or something? He immediately jumped on the bed, like an exhausted child. Finally, a real bed… Durasteel blocks have nothing on this.
Jake was forced to sleep on board the cramped Alliance that night. While Mr Crazy had arranged for a Trident patrol ship to pick him up and take him to the Trident Shipyards, Jake had no such luxury. He had to fly there himself, and had to sleep on the cold, hard durasteel flooring of the Alliance's main entry corridor.
During the night Mr Crazy had been working on that ship he described the day before, trying to balance everything out. The outer hull was already complete but systems needed placing. The vessel was slated to be 101 metres in length with powerful beam banks capable of quickly piercing shields, and strong thrusters more suited to a much larger ship. It was also slated to have strong shields resistant to most attacks.
Jake watched from the cockpit of the Alliance as Crazy worked in the inside of the mostly-empty shell of the ship, fitting the main beam banks to the front of the ship, wearing a fully sealed space suit allowing him freedom to move in the unforgiving vacuum of space.
I've lost everything I earned here. All I have left are my pilots and a handful of fighters; what's that going to do to a fleet of warships?
But I can't give up now, not when I've invested my time here to build the faction to where it was. I need to fight back against the oppressors and win back my hard earned planet, station and whatever ships were left there. And then I still need to build that Freedom frigate...
Right now though, I've been reduced to sleeping in the cramped compartment of a small two man ship that was not designed for long term voyages. How am I going to work my way back again?
And then it hit him.
He would need to work with Mr Crazy, and by extension, the Trident, to work his way back up. But I don't want to join the Trident - do I? It might be the only chance I have...
Jake opened comms with Mr Crazy. "I'd like to propose a permanent merger between my faction, and the Trident."
"An interesting move, Mr Lancia. I definitely wasn't expecting that."
"I'm thinking a joint leadership system would be best, as we're both obviously capable leaders, and it would allow some autonomy on our parts too."
"I'm gonna need much more convincing before I effectively hand over command of my ships to you."
"Alright then, I'm sending over a copy of my service record of my time in The Alliance."
"Well okay then, let's take a look..." Crazy opened the document on a computer terminal onboard the Trident patrol ship TRV Scouter Mk I. The document showed many facts about Jake, but the most important facts to Crazy were the command records:
--Accessing logs--
Name - Jake M Lancia
Age - 24
Gender - Male
Recorded combat actions (total) - 236
Combat actions (starship) - 184
Last known command - AFS Paladin (Battle Corvette)
--Accessing log entry Date 2313-11-29--
--Authorisation Granted--
Personal log, 2313-11-29. In my first day aboard the AFS Tripoli, we were attacked by unknown forces with scrambled faction signatures. The vessels tore through the ship's shields and blew open the front of the bridge. The captain was sucked out into space. As I was the highest ranking crew member left on the bridge I took over command of the ship. In the course of the fight I was able to disable two of the attacking ships and destroyed a third by using nearby asteroids to obscure my radar signature long enough to fire a salvo of heavy missiles into the ship's power core. The mission was a complete success, but it has been compounded by the loss of captain Braxton.
--End log--
"Well it certainly proves your abilities in countering impossible odds. Alright, I'm in. Joint leadership it is...
"I'm impressed by your apparent ability to effectively remove your ship's weaknesses and turn them into new strengths." Crazy shut down the computer system and proceeded to don his spacesuit again.
"Excellent, I'll let the pilots know, and tell them to change their faction signatures to match your ships."
While Jake did that, Mr Crazy recommenced work on the heavy frigate. There was not much left to install - just manuevering thrusters - but that was still a lot of work for a single person. Main power and all three weapon systems were operational, as was the warp drive and shielding system. The main shields were capable of projecting a 180 000 terawatt deflection system capable of repelling constant weapons fire. The torpedoes were capable of creating a 70m crater in a solid durasteel block that was 100 cubic metres.
A moment later Mr Crazy had finished work on the ship's thrusters; they hummed almost inaudibly in the background.
"I christen this ship, the TRV Quantum, the first of her class. This new class of vessels will lead us to victory over our enemies, nothing will stand in its way."
The new vessel was indeed 101 metres long, just as it was designed; the ship thinned near the aft end, though the ship was thinner in the Y axis near the aft. The front of the ship was dominated by the single, large heavy beam bank in a circular shape, sunk into the main hull about 10 metres for extra protection. There were two protrusions at the front, 10m ahead of the beam bank; these held the dual plasma cannons. There was also four torpedo tubes beside the beam bank, two tubes either side, with all four tubes sunk into the main hull. There was only two doors into the ship; these were reinforced to prevent attack from the sides. Finally the ion engines were of a new, more efficient design, allowing the ship to accelerate far faster than comparable ships.
Mr Crazy led several people into the Quantum, intending to build a crew for the state-of-the-art vessel. The ship had extensive automation systems and so only needed a small crew. Jake watched as Mr Crazy climbed into the captain’s chair, and finally gave the order to set out from dock.
"All systems appear to be functioning normally, sir."
"Thrusters at 25%"
"Shields are online with a capacity of 180 000 terawatts"
"Weapons are ready"
The bridge of the Quantum was a hive of activity as Mr Crazy took it into the nearby asteroid field; he was going to test the new vessel's manuverability. The large vessel easily flew between the small gaps in the asteroids, even fitting through a tunnel inside another larger one.
“Seems alright to me”, Mr Crazy eventually remarked, “set a course back home. Best speed.”
Back at the construction site Jake had only just got back into the Alliance when he saw the larger vessel warp away without him. But surprisingly he received a communication from the Quantum containing the coordinates back to the base; Jake had forgotten them since his first visit. He proceeded to warp to the base; he reasoned that the base was now also his new home. With that thought, he docked with the base, then proceeded to find Mr Crazy.
“I was wondering when you’d show up.” Jake swung round to see Mr Crazy behind him. “Your new quarters are this way. They’re empty at the mo aside from the bed and computer terminal, but we do have an extensive range of customisation options available. Follow me then.”
Jake followed Mr Crazy along a sparsely-lit corridor down to the habitation section, eventually coming to a stop at a door marked ‘JAKE LANCIA - CO-LEADER’. Did he know I was going to join up or something? He immediately jumped on the bed, like an exhausted child. Finally, a real bed… Durasteel blocks have nothing on this.
EDIT: Thinking about it, this isn't actually going to be very short, it'll end up being pretty darned long actually xD
EDIT 2: Minor adjustments; didn't copy over properly xD
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