Pax

[jonathan hernandez13]

http://3danimation.e-spaces.com/graphic_design/future_city_downtown.jpg

"Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure" - Marianne Williamson

The Story: It is the twenty fourth century...Earth has unified as a single planet, and while there are still nations, the short-sightedness of despots and bureaucrats no longer hinders long term human developments and enterprises. It was not always so...

In the twenty first century Earth established its first colonies, first on the Moon, on some of the asteroids (particularly the larger ones such as Ceres), and then eventually virtually every rock in the solar system. Venus and Mars were terraformed, colonists on worlds without atmospheres (like Mercury and Ganymede) adapted by building domes, underground tunnels, etc. Space seeders were sent outside of the solar system to spread humanity to the stars. They were very slow (sub-light speed) and most were lost. There is no telling how many human generations survived from those early endeavors, some seeds germinate, others wither and die...

After the archaic age of the space seeders colonists of the twenty-second century were able to travel to other star systems using wormholes to circumvent the speed limit of light. Most of the worlds exist as semi-autonomous Commonwealths, neither completely independent from Earth nor under Earth's dominion. Some planets, such as Venus, are very peaceful and maintain good relations with Earth. Some planets, like Mars, are very warlike and seem to be in a kind of cold war with Earth.

There are many parties in the galaxy. There's not just the United Earth Aerospace Force, there are smugglers, marauders (space pirates), slavers, spacers (people that are born, live, and die only in space), independent civilian contractors, mercenaries, and so on. There are even rumors that on the frontier of the galaxy, out beyond the farthest colonies, aliens have begun to sniff out human settlements...

For once in the system, as well as in the galaxy, there is peace; pax galactica, but that peace is tenuous and perhaps short-lived. There are all kinds of nasty people who wish to end that peace. The Martians are militant, there are pirates in the deep dark places of the solar system, and colonists on extrasolar worlds longing for freedom from Earth, even if they have to fight a revolution to get it...

The Game: The game is a story-telling RPG. You will create a character and play the game by supplying the dialogue, controlling their behavior, and explaining their actions through exposition. From time to time I may play as a NPC (non-player character), throw some curve balls your way, drop clues, gifts, updates, etc.

The concept behind the game is that your characters are individuals living in this future universe I've created. Your character could be an Aerospace Force cadet from Earth, a spy from Mars, a political refugee from the Galactic Consortium (see glossary), or a smiling, spacing, drifting, grifter...

Rules: Please read (borrowed from Honorius with slight modifications)

1)Please read everyone’s posts; this allows us all to follow along with the story. Respond to another's post as applicable or pertinent to the story, (or if you want, or if your character wants).

2)Avoid writing either one-line posts or extremely long posts. If you really only need a short post or can't condense a long one that's fine, just try not to do it too often.

3)Please make sure to proofread and/or edit your posts. I'm not a grammar Nazi but because we're on a writing site I should at least encourage us all to adhere to correct grammar and punctuation, etc.

4)Do not attempt to control another character without their consent. A story won't be fun unless we can all control our own characters' fates.

5)If you can no longer play or will be noticeably absent for a long time your character may be NPC'd, or killed, or reassigned to another mission, etc. If you are a new player and would like to jump in at the middle of a story no problem, we'll just role-play your character in, say you are reinforcements, a new consultant, etc.

6)Try not to flood the thread with excessive posts or overpower other characters too much. We need fewer chiefs and more Indians, if you'll excuse the expression.

7)The game thread will be for the game, if there are any issues, concerns, gripes, complaints, comments not relating to the game/story please discuss elsewhere. Otherwise, if there is a problem that is game related I strongly do encourage you to bring it up OOC so that we can all fix the problem together.

EDIT: I have begun a Pax discussion thread to drop updates, info, and discuss issues with gameplay.



I don't want to be too restrictive and limiting, so almost anything will fly (there are obviously limits). Please no silly posts, no BFG super guns, light sabers, or UFOs. While I won't be restricting every aspect of this game universe there is a certain feel and style to it that I want to preserve. It's a science fiction RPG, not a fantasy one, so while I love fantasy, I'm leaning more towards Robert Heinlein than J.R. Tolkien.

If you would like to address me or another user out of game character please use the acronym OOC (out of character) so that we all know where you're coming from. Otherwise anything written in your post will be taken to mean narration/dialogue, etc.

The story comes first. Rules will most likely have to adjusted or even bent dramatically as this progresses. Remember that the goal is to enhance the story, we will not be simply obeying laws like mindless automatons. You are encouraged to be creative and improvise. I encourage and strongly recommend full participation.

The most important rule is to have fun!

Character:

Name:
Gender:
Age:

Appearance: Give a brief description of what your character looks like, details are good, and if you would like to include pictures or artwork as well that is welcome.

Personality: Is your character introverted or extroverted? Leader or follower? Are they a clown, stern, a lover, fighter, book-worm?

Background: Give a brief story of your character to explain where they're from, etc. There are no class restrictions, you can play just about whoever or whatever you want, as long as they are not a clearly an evil person.


I look forward to seeing you all, somewhere, out there, in the whole wide galaxy...

[Oasis Writer]

Get 'er goin'. :)

[Nikhil]

Name: Arc (Archaic Astero)
Gender: Male
Age: 19

Appearance: 5"5, quite thin, wears casuals, never seen in military uniforms, untidy black hair, black eyes, light brown skin tan

Personality: He is weak but fast. A total book-worm(not exactly but seeks knowledge), bases everything on explanation, bores people with extra-scientific answers. He usually bends to anybody's will and is quite introvert. He is used being teased for many things including his name.

Background: He was an above average computer specialist.

[NRG]

Name: Nathan Brown

Gender: Male

Age: 22

Appearance: Nathan is average weight and wears exactly what he's told to with extreme neatness. He's got short brown hair and brown eyes. He's quite tall.

Personality: Nathan takes extreme pride in his reputation in the military. He would never disobey even the smallest of orders. He likes to be the leader of groups, however he isn't too bossy. He does his best to get along with everybody.

Background: Nathan grew up on Earth and had always dreamed of space. As a child he would often be found reading books about the moon or how space-travel worked. Naturally, when he was old enough he wanted to reach the stars so he joined Aerospace.

[jonathan hernandez13]

Name: Greg "Pappy" Gunther
Gender: Male
Age: 53

Appearance: Pappy is a short and stocky caucasian man with tattoos on both of his forearms. His left forearm has his first unit logo, the Centaurus fleet on it, his right forearm has the Manticores Aerospace Squadron on it. He has dark hair that is beginning to grey at his temples. His eyes are grey and seem to flash when he's angry. His face has many scars and wrinkles on it, and when he speaks you can tell that some of his teeth have been broken off at the gums, knocked out in bar fights.

Personality: Pappy is an old school, grizzled, mean and gritty enlisted man (Master Chief). He is a vetarn, the kind of guy who's "been there, done that". While he seems gruff and grim he is at heart a big teddy bear and loves to spoil his "kids" (lower ranking enlisted and officers). Once you get to know him and earn his trust he is a great friend and companion, the kind of guy you want standing next to you when the crap hits the fan...

Background: Pappy is a vertan of the second Interstellar war and multiple other minor skirmishes and battles. He has since learned that peace is almost unattainable. He has become a crass, shrill, and strident cynic. His attitude has gotten him into trouble with superiors before, and he has had to serve on many "hardship" tours because of it. As an experienced senior noncomissioned officer he has been all over the galaxy and brings excellent insights. He is the guy to talk to when you have a question about how the galaxy works.

When you guys arrive at the aerospace port you notice robot service drones, offworld tourists, and many service members in uniform running around. Pappy is sitting alone at the waiting area. He is in full uniform and has a great many decorations on his service jacket. He has orders to report to Aerospace Force headquarters just like you, and he is close to retirement, so he is in a bit of a mood.


OOC: I don't know how many people will be joining us for the game (at least one other person has expressed interest) so let's wait here for a bit and interact with each other. When it's time to go you'll know, an officer will be meeting with us. And thanks guys for joining my game.:)

[Evil Flamingo]

Name: Kyla Trinery (Most just call her Trin)
Gender: Female
Age: 25

Appearance: Trin is about 5’ 7” and very physically fit. She has light skin, due to spending almost all her life aboard ships. She also has peculiarly green eyes. There's a large scar on the back of her head, right where the neck meets, which she doesn’t really bother with trying to hide. She looks quite good in her UEAF uniform and she knows it, but her facial expression would never show it. She’s lived a hard life and that's the only thing her face shows, not really telling if she gets enjoyment or despair from anything, just a hard calm.

Personality: As mentioned before, she has the personality of a veteran interrogator. This is mostly due to her excessive loneliness aboard her father’s freightliner, and from the event in which her father died. She is calm and calculating, simultaneously. Although her expressions are usually impossible to read, she is always thinking of what’s going on and her surroundings. She is a generally quiet person, only really speaking when she actually needs something or is spoken to. Trin isn’t really a leader as much as she is a follower, but she can take the lead in a situation if no one else will. She values courage above anything else, another aspect of her life due to her father’s death. From growing up as a spacer, she will always find comfort in being space rather than planet-side. Trin isn’t truly a mean person, but she comes off as one to anyone who doesn’t know her very well. One fault of her though, is how judgmental she is about people. If she finds a reason to not like somebody from the beginning, she probably won’t ever change that.

Background: Kyla Trinery lived the hard life of an interplanetary freighter family, a life most couldn’t deal with. Born aboard father’s shipping vessel, the Dartmouth, she was raised as a hard laborer in a ship, secluded from most other people. Although her father worked her to exhaustion almost daily, with different hard work on the vessel and ground labor for the next shipment, she loved him very much for teaching her all she knows. She had an older brother, who tried to be tough like her father but never was. He was somewhat abusive towards her, trying to prove he was a “man” of the family. When she was fifteen years old, one event changed her life completely. On a return voyage back to Earth for a new pickup, the ship was raided by another vessel while on short stop outside of Ganymede for a small shipment to Earth. The intruders, who instantly overpowered the ship’s small crew, were enraged by the fact no cargo was on board yet for them to take. A short struggle ensued, in which Trin was knocked out by a rod hitting her in the back of the head, and most of the surviving crew, including her father that wasn’t hiding was shoved in the docking bay after the airlock. The outer doors were subsequently opened and the crew all perished. Trin witnessed this after waking up in the security room and beating a pirate to death with the same rod he hit her with. After the pirates had left, some people came out of hiding, including her brother and mother. She never forgave her brother for hiding instead of fighting like her and her father, and separated herself from the family a few years later. She worked odd jobs for the next few years, doing repairs on different ships or out freighting with other companies. Trin had few, but very close friends throughout her life, and has been made a very tough woman with endless amounts of work. But she never forgot the day her father died, and how much it shaped her own life. It is one of the many reasons she joined the UEAF and left freighting behind. Consequently, Trin is very useful for technical and navigation knowledge on board vessels. She is not the most diplomatic person though, and never did well in any of her UEAF training for that.

[Evil Flamingo]

Leaning up against a column at the station, Trin looks around at all the tourists with slight contempt. Damn tourists, making to much noise. I just want to get off this planet.

She turns her head and sees Gunther sitting alone over in the waiting area, looking nearly as annoyed as she is. Although everyone calls him "Pappy," it just never stuck with her. Contempt leaves her face as she notices him though, and is replaced by respect. Someone that decorated deserves respect in her eyes.

A few tourists stare at her a little bit, it's the overly fitted uniform and she knows it. Trin doesn't even give them a glance. She doesn't really have time for that nonsense and just looks off to the old MC, then up at the sky. Finally, back into space. A smile almost forms. She's going back home. The thought brushes the sound of the tourist cat-calls away with ease.

[NRG]

This was it. Nathan was about to go into that dark mystery called space. His dream of exploring the unknown was about to become reality. He looked over to Pappy. All those years of experience. his mood was justified. Nathan didn't know all the details, but apparently, this was one of Pappy's last missions. He glanced around the area waiting for some sort of signal to get on board. What was taking so long?

[jonathan hernandez13]

Pappy grunted as he smacked the inside of his palm with a quivering fist. He always got the shakes before leaving orbit or before making a planetfall. Nerves was all, just nerves...

Out of the corner of his eye he could see a tall, young looking serviceman with brown hair and an immaculately kept uniform.

"Hey kid," Pappy growled.

"You look...new in uniform. You ever been up there yet?"

[NRG]

"No Sir," answered Nathan as he discreetly checked his uniform. When he was sure everything was neat, he looked back up at Pappy. It was hard to tell what the man was thinking so he continued speaking, "I've dreamed of it since I was a child," he added. Even while talking to Pappy, Nathan's brain was spinning with excitement for the journey ahead.

[Nikhil]

After arriving at the port Arc glanced around to look for his boss. "Mr. Greg Gunther," he said reading it off a note, "Now where is he?"

A bulky tourist who probably didn't notice him brushed rather hard against him. Arc immediately responded, "Hey! Can't you see someone is here?"

"Shut up, I didn't notice you and that's not my mistake, you are hardly visible. Now get out of my sight or I'll crack you head," said the tourist.

"That's rude," he remarked, "Dare you brush against me one more time!"

"What? You talking to me, now look here buddy don't mess around. Just stick to yourself and don't reply like that. Next time you'll find yourself missing half your teeth," growled the tourist.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry," spoke Arc and turned around. And there was his boss. He walked up to him yet again fearing another scolding for wearing casuals. But he wasn't exactly the one who went out to fight.

[NRG]

"Shut up," came a tourist's voice. Nathan turned his head to see the commotion. A tourist and another UEAF member who was unknown to Nathan were arguing about something. Patty left and headed to the two. All these distractions, they were getting to Nathan's head. They must've been waiting for over an hour now and he wanted nothing more then to get into space.

[Roric]

Name: Austin Rainer
Gender: Male
Age: 19

Appearance: Austin has short brown hair and brown eyes. He has a well trimmed build with paler than average skin and a somewhat youthful face. He's rarely seen out of his uniform and besides that he doesn't wear anything else special.

Personality: Austin is never afraid to give his opinion and is rather intelligent. He easily gets annoyed and dislikes any form of indecision. However, Austin is also very loyal to his comrades and isn't afraid to give into emotion.

Background: Believing in destiny, Austin has always known he was bound to be in the UEAF. He has excelled in intelligence gathering, diplomacy and combat but dreads having to fly a ship more than anything. He is an only child born to a good family of investors on earth. He usually only carries with him a standard pistol (when allowed) and always his PDD which is an extremely powerful model with the most storage space for data and best security on it. Austin is obsessed with gathering as much data as possible as pretty much everything and is secretly skilled in hacking. Exactly why he needs so much information nobody knows for sure.

[jonathan hernandez13]

Pappy perked up a bit when he noticed that the tall kid in uniform was actually an officer. Midshipman, would be lucky to be an Ensign if he made it past his first hardship tour, but still an officer due his respect and title. Pappy chuckled.

"Please don't call me sir kid, I'm an enlisted man, I should be calling you sir. Don't hold your breath though. S'kay kid, you'll get your chance to see it all." Pappy let out a deep sigh.

"Whole lot of nothing out there; cold, dark, empty...nuthin'. And then when you do finally get to a rock you'll be lucky if its one that ain't full of craters. If you get to one with air you're lucky if you can breath it; fifty fifty shot of them being too hot or too damn cold. Aww hell, listen to me ramble. Just ignore me kid, I guess I'm just bitter. Where are my manners? I'm Gunther, Master Chief Gunther. Call me Pappy."

Pappy could hear and see as the rude tourist exchanged heavy words with a short guy in civilian clothes. Even though he was out of uniform he could tell the kid was fleet.

"Mister Greg Gunther?" The short guy said. Pappy put his face in his palm.

"Oh brother, I hate that name, call me Pappy kid. And what the hell did you do with your uniform, is it a the dry cleaners? Sheesh, you boots...no offense. I can't say I give a damn, just tell the Lieutenant when he gets here that you're...getting the buttons rotated or somethin'."

"Oy, and these tourists are sure getting ballsy, nerve a him. If I wasn't still hung over I would have caved that ape's head in. You need to have more confidence kid, how you gonna kill Martians and Marauders if you can't stick up for yourself? Sit down and relax, waiting for the others to show up."

[Nikhil]

"Oh brother, I hate that name, call me Pappy kid. And what the hell did you do with your uniform, is it a the dry cleaners? Sheesh, you boots...no offense. I can't say I give a damn, just tell the Lieutenant when he gets here that you're...getting the buttons rotated or somethin'."

"Oy, and these tourists are sure getting ballsy, nerve a him. If I wasn't still hung over I would have caved that ape's head in. You need to have more confidence kid, how you gonna kill Martians and Marauders if you can't stick up for yourself? Sit down and relax, waiting for the others to show up."

"Yes, sir," replied Arc and sunk to the nearby chair. Finally after so much, he was here. He looked around and saw a fellow sitting next to him. He extended a hand forwards and said, "Nice to meet you. I am Archaic Astero. You can call me Arc if you like!"

[NRG]

"Nice to meet you. I am Archaic Astero. You can call me Arc if you like!"

It was the UEAF member who was arguing with the tourist. He had untidy hair and was just wearing casuals. He seemed nice. Nathan gave his hand in return. "Nice to meet you Arc, I'm Nathan Brown. This your first time in space?"

[Nikhil]

"Nice to meet you Arc, I'm Nathan Brown. This your first time in space?"

"Yeah, I do not fancy the space much but I am fascinated by the systems. I can handle the systems well but, I actually cannot...", he said, disappointed, "I am really thin and I am often bullied. I am weak, you can say. If only I was a little stronger... but let's forget that. I hope that I revolutionize the space systems in my future. That is actually my aim."

[NRG]

"Yeah, I do not fancy the space much but I am fascinated by the systems. I can handle the systems well but, I actually cannot...", he said, disappointed, "I am really thin and I am often bullied. I am weak, you can say. If only I was a little stronger... but let's forget that. I hope that I revolutionize the space systems in my future. That is actually my aim."


"I don't plan on doing any of that. I just want to see space, see Earth from the stars. Maybe one day, when I'm more experienced with space, I might learn a bit more about the systems, but for now, I just want to experience space first hand."

[Nikhil]

"I don't plan on doing any of that. I just want to see space, see Earth from the stars. Maybe one day, when I'm more experienced with space, I might learn a bit more about the systems, but for now, I just want to experience space first hand."

"Well, I cannot deny that I hate space. - It is great but I love computers more than science. But computers are a part of science too. Everything including nothing is science. - Space travel had started as early as the 19th century. - Amazing. - They used to have little rockets to move to space. - But of course, space is a mystery. - Even after four centuries we do not know everything about it. - But the only thing I came here was to experience the space. - It sounds weird and I bet there is quite more to it than we know. - I love the mysteries of science. - There have been theories every 10-20 years about Doom, Doomsday and Apocalypse. - I hope a genuine one will come. Won't you?" Arc started his little foolish talk yet again. Despicable.

[NRG]

"Well, I cannot deny that I hate space. It is great but I love computers more than science. But computers are a part of science too. Everything including nothing is science. Space travel had started as early as the 19th century. Amazing. They used to have little rockets to move to space. But of course, space is a mystery. Even after four centuries we do not know everything about it. But the only thing I came here was to experience the space. It sounds weird and I bet there is quite more to it than we know. I love the mysteries of science. There have been theories every 10-20 years about Doom, Doomsday and Apocalypse. I hope a genuine one will come. Won't you?"

"Doom? I don't think so. Humanity's only just begun. Look at us, in a couple of centuries time, we'll be even more advanced." Nathan stood up and stretched. "I'm going to go have a look around, see if there's something to eat around here. Nice talking to you Arc. I'll be sure to catch up with you later."

[Lebby]

(Sorry for the late entry :D And Don't worry guys, i can still finish Crimson Flame)

Name: David Carter
Gender: Male
Age: 19

Appearence: Carter has thick black hair (strictly non regulation) cut just above his sky blue eyes. He has a sharp nose contrasted against his large lips. Late night writing marathons and wild parties account for the dark sleep rings that mar his otherwise handsome face. He has a pale complexion, with a light birthmark on the left side of his face. This is often mistaken for a fake tan, or dirty smudge. Carter is taller than average, with a long neck, and thin torso. His uniform is usually neat, with an underlying layer of shabbiness. A stain on his shirt, and a couple buttons undone are common blemishes on Carters dress sense.

Personality: Carter fancies himself as the charming, dashing rogue who arrives, sweeps the ladies off their feet, before disappearing into the night leaving swooning woman, and jealous men. In reality he can usually be found under the table, lying in a pool of vomit at one of the many parties he attends afterhours. (Admittedly he has taken many woman to his bed, although he has a morbid fear of a long term relationship). His dishevelled appearence and unprofessional antics would lead to any other recruit being discharged, fortunately for Carter his doting father is a higher up, and is constantly pulling strings to keep Carter out of trouble. Carter is dramatic, over the top, funny and cheerful at nearly all times. He never saw the appeal of not being nice to everyone he meets, and therefore he makes friends easily. When Carter isn't at the centre of attention, training (or skiving off his duties) he is writing. Carter writes novels, short stories, satires, rants, poems, or just his thoughts. He carries a notepad full of ideas at all times, and his spontaneous nature means that the scribbling of Carters pen is a common sound in his company. Carter accepts the authority of those he likes, and scorns the authority of thsoe who he deems to have not earned his respect. Carter also has a habit of stating his opinion like its the only one that matters, this has lead to a number of arguments with those he cares about, although deep down he believes everyone is equal.

Background: With a father in the Navy it was always expected that Carter would sign up (Although it took a whole year for his father to drag him away from his rampant partying just after highschool). Carter never knew his mother, and has no intention of meeting her. For the past few years Carter's natural intelligence, fathers input (although Carter puts it down to his own charm) have landed Carter into the navy with high results across the board. He specialises in piloting single man fighters, sharpshooting and diplomacy. Carter can fill the role of leader quite naturally if the situation calls for it.

[NRG]

Nathan took in his surroundings. There were so many people, it was easy to get lost and after walking for twenty minutes, he realized he had reached the same seat where he and Arc has just been talking. Arc was gone but he had been replaced by another man, most likely a tourist. The man had dark black hair and needed a shave. He wore a forest green jacket and baggy blue jeans. The man hadn't noticed Nathan yet and got up from the seat. He looked around and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets before pulling a small device out of his right pocket. What was it? Nathan followed the man but after a couple of minutes, he lost him in the crowd.

[Headroller]

And so it begins... good thing I have a lot of free time lol

Name: Jeromey "JJ" Jacobs
Sex: Male
Age: 23

Appearance: Image of the "Rugged Individual", tall and handsome, usually unshaven and pale from years of spacetravel. Dark green eyes and a black high-and-tight haircut accentuates chiseled features of his face and lithe body. Wears dress trousers and a well decorated jacket over one of his many flamboyant shirts, untucked shirttails reaching past the hem of his jacket, and a regulation ground pounder cap.

Personality: Extremely self-centered, a thrill-seeker. Seeks out the extraordinary in any group, be they extraordinarily competent, attractive or experienced, and their exact counterparts to become friends or rivals with. Decides whether he will have a combative or supportive relationship with the other person within the first minute of seeing them. Tends to take far to many risks, and while some are to fuel his thrill-seeking, others are carefully planned maneuvers. He hasn't failed in such a risk once.

Background: A born and bred military brat, he joined the UEAF straight out of primary school at 16 as a cabinboy, without even telling his parents. The next time he talked to them in person he was 19 and a Third Class Petty Officer Machinist, participated in several skirmishes and policing cruises and was well on his way to officer training and flight school. His mother fled the room, his father grinned and poured him a drink, a Marine "ground pounder" himself. Since then, JJ earned a reputation in flight school as a danger to himself and in Officer Candidate School as a danger to everyone around him. Yet, he showed himself to be extremely competent and efficient in his duties, though sometimes at the cost of his fellows.

[Headroller]

The port was bustling, just like the last time I'd been here. "The port that never sleeps" some said. I didn't know too much about that, but there seemed plenty of action going on around here. Spotting an unmistakable old man in uniform, I walked in Pappy's direction, only to be stopped by seeing one of my fellow ensigns casually leaning against a pillar away from the Chief's slowly growing group.

"Aha! I thought I'd see you here Trin!" I dropped my satchel on the ground and leaned against the pillar next to her. The woman was elusive at best, damn hard to find and harder to get her to talk to you at worst.

"How was your leave after graduation? I half expected to see you at the Space Clam, but you never showed up."

[Nikhil]

After Nathan went around, Arc too got up and moved about the crowd. He found nothing interesting and most of the tourists were quite rough and didn't take notice of him walking there. They simply brushed him aside and made their way. After some time, he spotted a man with black hair with a little bit of beard. He was trying him best to avoid being spotted and had a strange device in his hand.

"Suspicious," thought Arc and followed him. And then he pushed right through the man and made it look like an accident. The device fell down from his hand.

"What the HELL are you doing?" asked the person.

"I am really sorry. Let me pick this for you," said Arc and extended his hand to pick the device.

"No thanks," the man said roughly and seized the device from the ground. Arc had no clue as to what it was since it automatically closed the doors/cover of the device.

He turned away and after a few minutes noticed Nathan.

"Hey, we meet again. i just saw a strange man. Big bloke and had a really advanced device. I couldn't see what exactly it was. I knocked into him intentionally but the device had an external black cover which automatically closed. And I was about to touch it when he seized it. But he was acting strangely. Very strange, indeed," he said.

[NRG]

Nathan was still walking around when he heard Arc's voice. "Hey, we meet again. i just saw a strange man. Big bloke and had a really advanced device. I couldn't see what exactly it was. I knocked into him intentionally but the device had an external black cover which automatically closed. And I was about to touch it when he seized it. But he was acting strangely. Very strange, indeed," he said.

"No kidding? I saw that guy just a second ago. Something's going on about him. I'm going to keep following him and find out if he's on our ship."

[Nikhil]

"No kidding? I saw that guy just a second ago. Something's going on about him. I'm going to keep following him and find out if he's on our ship."

"If you're gonna follow him now, it's gonna be difficult. There's a big crowd and I lost him. He just disappeared in the crowd but I would recognize him anywhere. It was strange though. So what should we do search for him? The only hope is that whatever he is carrying is really very advanced. My laptop, yeah it's outdated but the screen is bigger than the mobiles. We can enlarge the screen on a wall but wouldn't that attract attention. But coming back to point it is vaguely possible that my laptop can track him down. So what do you say? And oh! Plenty of our teammates have arrived," he informed.

[NRG]

"We shouldn't get any of our teammates. The bigger the group, the more attention we'll attract. Attracting attention's bad because this isn't an official mission or investigation and if it turns out the guy's got nothing to hide, we'll be in serious trouble. We should split up. You got a phone?"

[Nikhil]

"We shouldn't get any of our teammates. The bigger the group, the more attention we'll attract. Attracting attention's bad because this isn't an official mission or investigation and if it turns out the guy's got nothing to hide, we'll be in serious trouble. We should split up. You got a phone?"

"Yeah," Arc said and pulled out his mobile and searched for the nearest device which turned out to be Nathan's mobile. He sent a request for connection and said, "Accept the connection and now which way are you going to look?"

[NRG]

"Yeah," Arc said and pulled out his mobile and searched for the nearest device which turned out to be Nathan's mobile. He sent a request for connection and said, "Accept the connection and now which way are you going to look?"

"I'll go left, you go right. If you spot him, don't do anything, we don't want anyone knowing about this unless we're absolutely sure he's a threat."
With that, Nathan left.

[Lebby]

"Oh bloody hell," I groaned.

My head was throbbing, my nude body was slick with perspiration, my vision spinning. All in all not a pleasant way to wake. Using my elbow to support my weight, I looked blearily around the small room which I had managed to completely trash in the week since graduation. I grinned sheepishly, 'A new record.' Movement on my bed halted my mischievious train of thought, I slowly turned.

'Please don't be a man,' I thought desperately.

Thankfully the other inhabitant of my ruffled bed was a rather attractive woman with dark skin, and silky black hair. I pinched the bridge of my nose, and rubbed the drunken sleep from my eyes furiously, "Morning," I yawned.

She smiled revealing straight white teeth, "Morning."

"What time is it?"

"I dunno," she replied still smiling.

I nodded, and rolled over, checking the clock. It was late morning. I yawned, and settled back into the comfortable crevace left by my slim figure, and groped blindly for the warmth of my companion.

"But last night you said something about setting off on some Navy assignment today," the pretty woman laughed.

My hangover was replaced by dread.

"****!"

I flung the sheets off my bed, and scrambled around desperately in my mountain of rubbish for my crumpled uniform, all the while enduring the mocking giggles of the girl. My trousers were under a stack of beer cans, my boots atop a pile of read books, my shirt was still AWOL. I sighed and yanked my trousers on, zipped them, and then pulled the rugged boots onto my feet. The sudden activity ensured my headache returned with a vengeance. I slumped back.

"Any chance of help?"

The woman shrugged, and crawled over to where I was struggling with my boots. She pushed one boot on my left foot, whilst I got the right. I nodded my thanks.

"Whats your name?" I asked.

She grinned, "I thought you said no names."

I frowned, "Did I? Probably for the best. Now help me find my goddamned shirt."

The next five minutes were spent frantically tearing my room apart searching for my shirt. Eventually the musty thing was uncovered at the bottom of my dresser. I hastily buttoned it up, smoothed it as best I could, and stowed my trusty notepad in the top pocket. I then strapped my holstered gun to my waist, slung my bag over my shoulder, kissed the woman deeply, then was out the door, and stumbling down the hall with many curses shouted in my wake.

*

"Why is everything so loud?" I whined to myself in response to the overwhelming space port.

I spotted Pappy and my heart sunk, I was suddenly very self conscious of my messy appearence. If there was one thing Pappy was scrupulous about, it was uniform. All in all though, I liked Pappy in the few times I had met him, although I wasn't so sure he liked me. He was one of those men whom instantly commanded respect, but he was rough, and down to earth and not obnoxiously official, all traits which I liked. I still wasn't ready to face him though, and so I slunk quietly over to two other lowly officers. One was a pretty woman, with a hard look, and a scar near her neck. The other was a ruggedly handsome man, who towered above most people in the crowd.

I joined them both, hoping that Pappy had not spotted me.

"Hey. Hi. I'm Carter, midshipmen, drunkard, womaniser, writer, pilot, 'guy whos gunna get an ass kicking if Pappy spots me in this state,' mind if I hang around here and neaten up?" I asked the two in a cheerful tone, as I extracted a mirror and razor from my satchel, and began to shave.

[Nikhil]

"I'll go left, you go right. If you spot him, don't do anything, we don't want anyone knowing about this unless we're absolutely sure he's a threat."

"Agreed!" replied Arc enthusiastically and walked off casually; "Hell lot of tourists around here."

He took out his mobile and searched for devices again and this time he selected other devices. It didn't show him anything particular. Someone nearby was listening to a music with his MPZ. Another was reading a book on his e-book reader and so on. At the last he saw the entry:


Device Name: Unknown
Device Type: Unknown
Device Access: Private
Location: Within 1 metre, other details unaccessible
....

He punched his fist in the air and said, "Damn!"

"You seem perturbed," said a voice nearby.

Arc turned and he was the same person whom Arc was looking for

"Yeah! I just lost Asteroid Impact to a person on the multiplayer server. I had bet 120 WildCards. Imagine, I now just have 65 WildCards left. Wanna play? You have your mobile," said Arc and motioned to the device he held in his hand.

"I'll use my other mobile. This one's a poor model," he grinned and asked, "Which server?"

"S12," said Arc and quickly searched the devices in his vicinity. The nearest was the mobile whose date he saved and the next was the unknown device.

Meanwhile he saw Nathan who looked at him. He simply winked without the man noticing him.

[NRG]

Arc had the man distracted, now was Nathan's time to move. Behind the target was a vending machine. Nathan smiled, hunger and suspicion, kill two birds with one stone...

Nathan strolled over to the machine checking out the selection. Arc still had the man distracted so Nathan risked a peek at the mans right pocket on his jeans. A small device was loosely held inside. Making sure he didn't seem strange, Nathan inserted a couple of coins into the machine. As he waited for a strange looking bag of chips to come out, Nathan stepped back into the man. "What the hell?" the man turned in shock.
"Sorry, sorry, I tripped over something on the ground, I didn't mean to bump you."
"Dude, you just interrupted our game, I was about to win!" said Arc, pretending not to know Nathan, "just get your chips and leave!"
"OK... sorry..." Nathan waited for the man to turn back to Arc before glancing at the ground. Good, the device had fallen out of the man's pocket. Nathan grabbed the device and his chips before walking off.

What the hell had he just gotten himself into? He needed to prove that this man was dangerous, otherwise, he'd just committed theft...

[Nikhil]

Arc watched with amusement as he won the game and said, "Yeah, I won. Nice playing friend. Want another match? And I do not see many people here with time? I am waiting here for my uncle to arrive. We are on an educational tour. What about you?"

"I would love to play another match. I am waiting for a friend of mine," he said.

Meanwhile, Arc quickly sent a message to Nathan acting that he was changing the setting of his mobile phone. The message was:


I scanned the device and my mobile says it is "UNKNOWN" and even the access is "PRIVATE" Something's fishy.

[NRG]

Nathan looked at the device trying to figure out how it worked. He pulled the lid open and found a small piece of paper float to the ground. It read remember, ship 9342. What was going on? That was the same ship he was leaving on. He turned to see Arc and the man playing another game. By the looks of it, Arc had just won when the man felt his right jean pocket and began to show signs of panicking. He'd obviously just realised that his device was missing. Whatever this device as, it was important...

[Nikhil]

"Hey! Pickpocket!" yelled Arc and ran towards the direction opposite of Nathan's way; "Somebody get him!"

The man followed Arc and the two of them ran for a while and stopped panting; "It was someone behind you. He pulled something out of your backpocket.I couldn't see his face as just as I looked over your shoulder he turned. Really depressing, maybe we can find evidence in the security cameras," said Arc knowing full well that from the angle Nathan took the device he won't be seen and he had disabled the cameras later on to make it look like whoever the thief was he had come after Nathan left.

The man now showed signs of panic and ran away mumbling something as, "What will happen....?"

Arc now let himself get lost in the crowd and met Nathan and asked, "Received my message? What's it?"

[NRG]

"Received my message? What's it?"

"I think it's just a phone, but it must have something on it, it's got extreme security. Codes everywhere, I'm not able to break it open. I can't just go back and give it to him, we should wait until we're on the ship, maybe Pappy will be able to help us out, he's trustworthy."
Nathan sat down, opened his bag of chips and reflected on the day so far. His first trip to space, it hadn't even begun yet and he was already in trouble... there was nothing left to do but relax...

[Nikhil]

"I think it's just a phone, but it must have something on it, it's got extreme security. Codes everywhere, I'm not able to break it open. I can't just go back and give it to him, we should wait until we're on the ship, maybe Pappy will be able to help us out, he's trustworthy."

"It is possible for us to break open it but we'd better not do that. We should first show it to our seniors," he agreed on the point, "I'll go get some drinks for us."

Arc went to the machine looking around for any sign of the man. No, he was not there at all. He soon returned with two bottles. He passed one to Nathan and open his one.

[NRG]

Nathan opened the bottle and checked his watch. "Well, at least this killed some time, we should be leaving soon. I'm going to catch up on some well deserved sleep," he said. He lowered his head on the bench and within in seconds he was dreaming of space.

[Nikhil]

"So, he is off to sleep," mumbled Arc and saw a game parlour and ventured straight into it. He simply loved them. He soon had a Simulator Helmet on his head and went for the game.

[Evil Flamingo]

"How was your leave after graduation? I half expected to see you at the Space Clam, but you never showed up."


Trin's musing of being back aboard a ship was quickly interrupted by a fellow officer. Mother ****er, I was a good God damn mood, what the **** do you...oh I'm just being cranky. She stopped her negativity and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it and still relaxing against the pillar. It was the last one she'll be having for who knows how long. Has to enjoy it while it lasts. She didn't turn her head to answer the officer.

"My leave was as much as to be expected, more work as always."

Trin let the smoke fill her lungs, while she noticed two younger officers messing with some tourist. Dumb kids trying to impress the MC by finding out some plot, huh? Yeah, that's gonna work real well, she thought. I can't wait to see Gunther throw their asses on the bench and tell them to shut up, even though she knew he would never do that anyways.

Her head turned straight towards the officer and said "what the hell are those punks doing?" She really had no idea. Then the two kids moved back to the waiting area and one fell asleep. The other then moved off towards the gaming parlor. She turned back to the sky and started smoking again. "Nevermind."

[Nikhil]

Arc returned out of the game parlour very soon as the games were not really good. He looked forward to meeting the other members of the team. As he reached the bench the first one he saw was an arrogant woman smoking cigarette.

"Even after centuries of campaigning some people never improve, do they?" Arc asked his conscience. He was disgusted that one of his team members was going to smoke. He moved away from the woman and sat next to another member.

[NRG]

Nathan woke up to find police all around the place. Crap! The man had reported his device missing. Nathan slowly crept over to the nearest bin and pulled his chips bag out of his pocket. He quickly threw the device in th bag and tossed the bag in the bin. The device wasn't dangerous, he knew that, he had looked through the systems before falling asleep, it couldn't be used for anything more than communicating and saving data. He quickly walked back to the bench and sat, waiting patiently for the ship to depart. Déjà vu.

[Evil Flamingo]

Even after centuries of campaigning some people never improve, do they?

Trin breathed as much she could on the next drag and let out a slow line of smoke till she was out of air. Hmmm, she though to herself, good enough answer for ya? Her face almost gave away how pleased her answer made her feel.

She then noticed the number of security in the area and saw the sleeping offficer run over to a trash can a drop something in it. So, what? are these kids stealing now? What the Hell.

[NRG]

Nathan tried to distract himself, but he just wasn't the type of person to commit a crime. He decided the least he could do was 'find' the device. He continued searching the port before he found the man in the green jacket. "Hey, um, I heard the police talking, and I found some sort of device in a bin when I put my chip bag in there. Might be yours...?"
"Did you touch it?"
"No, I left it in case it was dangerous..."
"Good. Thanks." The man left past Nathan.

[Nikhil]

Looked like the woman had heard him and was retaliating. He promptly got up and pointed the "No Smoking" sign to her and went to a distant bench.

The security around had risen but there was nothing those people could do. He noticed that the woman was suspicious of his and Nathan's intentions.

[Headroller]

She was obviously not in a good mood, having a b**** moment it seemed. Or maybe it was just her time of the month or something. I sighed and shoot my head, Women... Instead of brooding over my notsohappy comrade, I watched the younger ensigns fool around the space port, biting my lip to keep from laughing out loud. Serious as it may be, the scene playing out was hilarious in a strange way, as long as they didn't get caught stealing. Whatever, it's not like they're going to have much free time in zero G. Let em screw around.

My voyeurism was interrupted by another ensign who came to stand near me and Trin.
"Hey. Hi. I'm Carter, third lieutenant, drunkard, womaniser, writer, pilot, 'guy whos gunna get an ass kicking if Pappy spots me in this state,' mind if I hang around here and neaten up?" He produced a razor and mirror, attempting to clean up his disheveled mug.

I couldn't help but let out a laugh, "I think you'll be needing more than a shave to get past the Old Man. But good ta meetcha Carter, I'm JJ, this is Trin, our big sister I guess, hehe," I patted her on the shoulder, blissfully ignoring the danger of interrupting the apparent staring match she was having with one of the other ensigns. "I'd shake your hand but..." his occupied hands were explanation enough.

[Evil Flamingo]

Carter walked up, looking and acting like many of the men she had known through her freighting days. Disheveled, unkempt, and constantly running late. He didn't really bother her at all, but instead felt like the same character she had known. Davis, Johns, Lyman, and now this Carter. They were all interesting in their own right. Whether they were useful or not was always a question though.

She felt Jacobs' hand pat her on the shoulder, but didn't really think anything of it. She ran her fingers through her hair by her ear and then turned toward Carter.

"Hi."

[Roric]

Austin entered the busy port, initially noticing the commotion of all the tourists. He remained silent, scanning the crowd for a moment, wondering why a group of officers would meet in such a busy place to prepare and discuss a mission. Clearly the UAEF didn't give a damn about the little group they've assembled and were simply ****ting on them now with a mission. Austin moved forward, soon seeing the new boots scattered around the port. He walked up to a small group who had assembled around an old, probably crippled, veteran.

"So this is where we're to all meet then I suppose?" Austin asked the small group of JJ, Trin and Carter who had all assembled around the geezer. "I'm Austin by the way, good to be working with all of ya."

[jonathan hernandez13]

Pappy snorted and perked up at the sound of Aerospace secutiy running around and the midshipmen chatting. Had he fallen alseep? What the hell? He looked at his chronometer, it with past 1500 hours, their liason would be there soon. He sat up and scanned the waiting lobby, new boots had showed up. There was the little guy, Arc, and the tall fella. There was also a physically fit yet pale looking girl smoking and seeming for all the world bored with living.

There was also a tall, unshaven, green eyed fellow who looked more like a brawler than a spaceman. He looked like he had seen some action already, probably prior enlisted. There was also a black haired rougish pretty boy whose uniform looked like it was falling apart, and a brown haired, well built youth with intelligent, eagle keen eyes.

"Hmphfff, some things never change. Boots are boots." Pappy grunted and stood up.

"Alright you slags, get your butts over here and fall in. Look at you, some of you knuckledraggers look damn decent and the others look like they've been up all night at the bar. Well I hope you got some good hooch in your gut cos you'll be drier than the Sahara for the next month, I can promise you that. Now fall in! Hmmphhff! What the hell are they teaching you kids in space camp these days?"

Outside of the aerospace port a large aerospace transport was taxiing on the runway

OOC: it kind of looks like this

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/X-30_futuristic_nasa.jpg

"Alright you space monkeys, the Lieutenant will be here shortly, and I can guarantee you he'll be a bigger asshole than me. You should see the way he chews ass, makes me look like a pussycat."

An immaculately dressed officer in seasonal dress Aerospace Force uniform proudly walked in. He was tall, slim, and had a lean face like a jackal. His eyes quickly scanned the waiting lobby and quickly found the group in formation.

"Alright guys, here he is. Atten----shun!" Pappy growled.

The Lieutenant steps before Pappy and they exchange salutes, Pappy reports.

"Master Chief Gunther reporting for duty sir; midhsipman detail assembled and standing by."

"Very well Master Chief, cut your salute and put them at ease."

"Aye aye, sir. At ease!" Pappy barked at the detail with a surprisingly loud voice. When he mumbles it's hard to tell how well he can project.

"Good afternoon gentlemen, and lady, sorry to keep you waiting; the shuttle had to refuel. My name is Lieutenant Carlson. The Master Chief here knows all about me, he'll tell you all the gory details, no time for that now though. We'd better get going now, they're waiting on us up there."

The Lieutenant pulls out a PDD (personal data device, almost like a palm pilot but more robust - PDD's are so commmon and compact that they make wrist watches, cell phones, and even pads of paper obsolete)

"Alright, roll call. If you're here when I call your name say 'present', or 'here' or something and we'll board the aerospace transport shortly."

OOC: alright, this is the moment of truth; the Lieutenant reads the muster report and all the players are on it. If you would like to go with the group aboard the shuttle you can just say here and we'll leave. If you decide at this point that you want to stay behind and would rather explore the galaxy on your own just don't answer and we'll count you UA (unauthorized absence, basically AWOL).:)

[Roric]

"If they're not here they're not here, lets just go," Austin stated irritably. Formalities like roll call were time consuming and a waste of time. He crossed his arms, shuffling out of line and raised his hand for a brief moment, "anyways, Austin Rainer is here."
He observed the new lieutenant while waiting for the others to all decide they were here. He was clearly full of himself and probably thought he was the greatest thing to happen since space travel. However, there was something Austin liked about him; most likely it was the lieutenant's attitude that gave off an aura of knowing. Austin liked people who were "in the know" and he figured a high ranking official would be more than useful in his own intelligence gathering endeavors.

[jonathan hernandez13]

Oops, I should probably do this before I forget:redface:

Lt. Carlson (NPC)

Name: Benny "the Claw" Carlson
Gender: Male
Age: 26

Appearance: Benny is a tall man with a slim athletic build. His hair is blonde and his eyes are blue, his skin is fair, and he speaks with an unmistakable yet refined and charming southern drawl. His eyes are almost dagger sharp and he has the appearance of an apex predator when he's focused on a goal.

Personality: Benny is a good man but a stickler for detail and discipline. He runs a tight ship, does things by the book, and needs to dot every "I" and cross every "T". He is the overachiever type who doesn't have time for any funny business, it's all strictly business for him until he gets leave time. No time to fool around, he has to get promoted as fast as possible.

Background: Benny is focused on his goal of becoming a starship Captain. He already became an Aerospace Force officer, something he did to impress his father as much as himself. He came from a family of enlisted veterans and always felt like he's had to compete with his three other brothers for attention and approval from daddy. Benny competes with himself as much as anybody else. He earned his nickname of the claw because on a planetside mission he was wounded in combat and lost one of his hands to enemy fire. His hand was eventually replaced with a cheap prostetic that looked like a claw until he was given an adequate, lifelike replacement. His experience in combat is not as extensive as the Master Chief's, but he has been in a few fights and has earned the trust and respect of some of the old school enlisted men.

OOC: my inspiration for Carlson is the character Matthew Maconahay played in "U-571". There was a guy in my old squadron who looked just like him and was also named Carlson.:)

[Evil Flamingo]

Trin kept her posture fairly tight even with the ease order, being used to the position and almost finding comfortable in relation to all the cramped ship compartments she was used to working in. She observed the lieutenant, his athletic figure and and to the point way of speech. It was respectable for a superior officer, someone who had at least seen some of what space has to offer, and to take.Finally I can get off this planet.

Trin felt the callouses on her hands as she held them together in a rather tight "at ease" position. The skin was hard and rough, as any other freight worker or mechanic's would be. They reminded her of her upbringing, of her father, of her kill. Trin didn't know if she joined the UEAF for revenge of her father, to help others, to prove herself as a strong woman, or because she had no possible advance in life. But now she felt as if she would find it, and it began here, leaving for some mission; some distant field of battle or maybe even close to home. She knew that only here could she really test what she believed was inside her, a real sense of courage that few have shown true. Gunther had, and she respected that instead of envied it, she aspired for it.

Although Trin showed little emotion while in the line of low-ranking officers, she was excited to be back in space, back home. Though she had to deal with a lot of younger guys not used to space travel and the enormity of it, even the superior officer was barely older than herself, she would enjoy being what she was used to.

The young officer turned toward Carlson and said, "Kyla Trinery...present, sir."

[Headroller]

As soon as the Lt. (OOC: pronounced L. T.) showed up, bells started going off in my head. I think I recognized him from one of my cruises into the Alpha Centauri system. "The Claw" I think he was called, a real stickler from what I'd heard. He'd been in charge of a different shift of the ship crew than I, but word got around. If he's in charge, then I doubt we'll be able to get away from duties much. Damn.

I only nodded in recognition when reporting for roll, "Jeromy Jackobs sir." I threw him a tighter salute than usual and returned to my atease position.

[Lebby]

"I think you'll be needing more than a shave to get past the Old Man. But good ta meetcha Carter, I'm JJ, this is Trin, our big sister I guess, hehe, I'd shake your hand but..."

"Hi"

Trin's curt greeting dispelled any thoughts I may have been entertaining of a relationship with her, I grinned and nodded all the same. JJ on the other hand almost screamed 'partner in crime.'

"It's a pleasure to meet the both of you, and cheers for the cover. Oh move a little to the left please," I requested, gently bumping JJ to the left so he completely obscured Pappy. I then scraped away the stubble that had grown over the last few days of reckless fun.

"I'm Austin by the way, good to be working with all of ya."

I finished my shaving, stowed my kit away, and shook the hand of the newcomer.

"Likewise mate, I'm Carter, drunkard, womaniser etc etc, and I've recently been introduced to Trin," I pointed to the smoking woman, "and JJ," I heartily thumped the big man on the shoulder. Then my happy face dropped as I heard Pappy call out.

"Oh bugger."

I reluctantly filed in behind the others, and stood behind them in the line.

"My name is Lieutenant Carlson"

"****..." I hissed.

Carlson had been one of my instructors during one of my excersises in the big black, and he was the definition of 'by the book.' I prayed he was in a good mood.

"Hey JJ," I whispered, "Might wanna pick up a spade to scrape my guts off the ground, coz that's all thats gunna be left of me after Carlsons through."

With that said, I slowly stepped into the ranks alongside everyone else.

"Sir, Carter sir, here sir," I stated firmly trying to fit in as many sirs as possible to placate Carlson.

I snapped a crisp salute, and waited for my judgement.

[NRG]

This was it. Nathan was about to experience space. When his name was called he instantly replied, "Nathan Brown, here Sir," it wouldn't be long now...

[jonathan hernandez13]

Carlson got done taking his muster report and promptly put his PDD away before looking over the new boots. As a training officer he was used to getting sloppy new boots all the time, but he would have to lick their chops a bit, it was tradition and required to enforce order. While calling out the names he could hear impatient grunts, whispers, and moans. The only thing worse than fresh guppies were undisciplined guppies.

"If I didn't know any better I would swear that you guys were fleet, but when I look at you all I see are a bunch of sloppy slags." He began to pace past them, eyeing them up and down and examining their uniforms, the ones who were in them anyway.

He looked at Arc.

"What are you looking at, short stuff? You lose your uniform on the way from the yellow brick road? What the hell is that thing growing on your head? When was the last time you got a regulation haircut, nasty?"

He stepped in front of Austin next.

"And you, what the hell is that thing strapped to your waist, you hunt Rhinos on the weekend son? Look at that thing Chief, you a gang member son? You might wanna check that thing at the armory when we get shipside, how you got that piece past aerospace port security I don't wanna know."

Stepping in front of JJ the LT. did a double take at the decorations on his jacket.

"Well well, what do we have here? Looks like we got ourselves a prior enlisted man Master Chief. Well don't say...don't think I'm gonna take it easy on you just because you've seen some action, you're still a young blood on my ship. Get that shirt tucked in and find a razor, grizzly Adams."

Seeing David next, Carlson made a grimace and snarled.

"What the hell are you trying to do to my beloved Aerospace Force son? You shamed that uniform the minute you stepped out the door with it on. What is that stain? Why is your hair out of regulation? You look like a bag of ass son, I should strip you bare right here in front of everybody and show them all your perty pink little underwear."

"I don't know what the hell I do wrong Chief, why did I get this group of misfits? I don't know what the hell to call them."

"Misfits, sir?" Pappy growled.

"Say again?"

"The misfits sounds like a good title, sir. They're a peanut gallery, but I think they have potential."

"Misfits, eh? That's a little catchy, they might bitch about it though."

"The only time a space dog is happy is when they're bitching about something, sir."

"Very true Chief. Alright gang, here's the drill, we'll be boarding the shuttle now, we should arrive at the Sol fleet headquarters at the L1 La Grange point in under an hour. If you remember your training then you'll remember that that's 61,500 kilometers away from Earth. Do the math in your heads folks, we'll be moving at quite a clip."

"Now from this point forward, the Master Chief is your daddy, that's why we call him 'Pappy'. Any problems, any concerns, any bitches, moans, gripes, or complaints go through him first. Respect the chain of command. You may be officers, but this old enlisted dog will be breast feeding you pups until the day you're ready to leave the kennel. Now let's get going already."

Carlson begins to storm out of the waiting area for the departure gate with Pappy in tow...

[Roric]

"Rhinos do make quite the sport," Austin said slyly in a low voice as Pappy and Carlson walked on. He'd keep his weapon out of sight for the meantime just to keep Carlson in better spirits. Austin followed slowly behind his commanding officers, pulling out his PDD and started updating it with new profiles of his comrades.

[jonathan hernandez13]

OOC: I need to update something. I posted something inaccurate when I said that the space station we would be going to is at the L1 La Grange point, it should have actually said L2, cos that's where we're going. Subtle difference there, carry on shipmates.:redface:

[Evil Flamingo]

Home. Trin smiled lightly, and walk at a brisk pace behind the lieutenant. There was no waiting around to BS with the guys here, these were orders she couldn't wait to follow. And she was in a good enough mood now to even shut out the side comment she had for being talked to like a first-timer about launch.

This would be the first time she came into contact with the L2 zone though, which was a free-fire zone against incoming vessels generally. She was excited to see the ships and the port itself. Being somewhere other than at docking or loading, or some God forsaken bar, sounded more than appealing. Maybe I can even find out some of the specs on these vessels; find out which is best for my own liking. Maybe I can call that one my own someday. Her excitement betrayed her emotionless usual appearance. Trin couldn't wait to be on station, if not an assigned vessel.

[Nikhil]

Arc followed the Lieutenant alongside Nathan and whispered, "This is gonna be exciting. Shall we tell them now or later on board?"

After all he was going to space. It would be fun and he would love to work with the computer systems over there. And one of his personal projects was to gain more information about...

[Headroller]

Stepping in front of JJ the LT. did a double take at the decorations on his jacket.

"Well well, what do we have here? Looks like we got ourselves a prior enlisted man Master Chief. Well don't say...don't think I'm gonna take it easy on you just because you've seen some action, you're still a young blood on my ship.

"Yessir," I replied, looking straight ahead. I hadn't gotten the best of receptions in flight school for my decorations, enlisted men that became officer's were regarded as retards, good at what they knew but nothing else. No leadership qualities. I'll need to prove that wrong.

"Get that shirt tucked in and find a razor, grizzly Adams."

I grinned at the name, way to similar to what I'd had as a spacemonkey. After watching him and Pappy walk towards the gate and some of the others forge ahead after them, I stuck my hands in my pockets and patted David's shoulder with my elbow, laughing quietly, "Looks like I might need to borrow that razor of yours man." I made no move to tuck in my shirt.

We followed after in the back of the group.

[Lebby]

Even I grimaced at the moutful Carlson gave me. I looked shamefully at my scuffed boots as he walked on. I wouldn't get my hair cut though, anytime any officer had bought my appearence into question, my Dad had swooped in and got me off the hook. I grinned to myself, imagining Carlson's face when I revealed my Dad to be a Vice Admiral.

"Looks like I might need to borrow that razor of yours man."

I grinned, and handed JJ the razor, before slapping him on the back.

"Sure I look a tad shabby, but YOU are something else Grizzly! Get that jaw smooth as a babies bottom asap!" I laughed good naturedly.

My heart was now thumping in my chest though. This was IT. Space; The final frontier.

[NRG]

"This is gonna be exciting. Shall we tell them now or later on board?"

"I don't think the device was dangerous, I left it back there, don't mention it to anyone, we just stole from a guy..." replied Nathan.

[Headroller]

"Sure I look a tad shabby, but YOU are something else Grizzly! Get that jaw smooth as a babies bottom asap!"

Grizzly, yep that's gonna be my name again. I laughed a good natured laugh and pocketed the razor, "I still say it's a stupid reg, your going to need as much air resistance in space as possible so you don't go bouncing around in low G."

[Lebby]

"I still say it's a stupid reg, your going to need as much air resistance in space as possible so you don't go bouncing around in low G."

"Screw that!" I exclaimed, "We both know its for the ladies!" I nudged JJ in the ribs with a wink.

I then lowered my voice, and nodded in the direction of the marching Lt, "What do you think of Big Lungs Mcgee? Sure is a shouty bugger ain't he?"

[NRG]

Nathan sat down, strapped himself in for takeoff and waited. This is it. Space. Mysterious, never-ending space. He heard the LT walking through the aisle. Nathan quickly checked his uniform. All neat. He wanted to make a good impression on his new boss. God, he hoped the LT hadn't found out about his and Arc's 'investigation'...

[Headroller]

"Screw that! We both know its for the ladies!"

I winked back, "Ah, what sacrifices we must make for that elusive nooky!" I was really starting to like this guy.

he nodded in the direction of the marching Lt, "What do you think of Big Lungs Mcgee? Sure is a shouty bugger ain't he?"

I replied in a neutral voice, not really trying to hide the comment, "Meh, he's got a reputation as a rulebook officer, he certainly plays the part. Hell, I wouldn't put it past him to throw us in the brig for something minor." We found our assigned seats and strapped into the acceleration chairs. Next to us, another one of the new officers strapped in, checking his uniform. I recognized him from training, the Poster Boy.

I snickered but ignored him, bending to retrieve my oversized PDD from my satchel. "So what'll the entertainment be for today's flight, my unkempt friend? 'Dumb****s in Space' or 'Centauri V'?"

[NRG]

Nathan looked around. There were two other officers next to him whom he vaguely remembered from training but didn't really know. They both seemed nice enough. "Hi, my name's Nathan Brown."

[Nikhil]

Arc found himself his seat next to Nathan and saw an officer make fun of Nathan. He ignored that officer who looked like he never had a shave.

It was unusual for him to talk to other people. He had always been an introvert and had been a computer guy rather than a brawler like most were over here.

[Evil Flamingo]

Trin was seated farther back than the rest of the officers, trying not to listen to the conversation. Whatever, it's just the guys.

She looked around interior of the ship and noticed how unbelievably well kept it was. They must have thirty people hired to keep this transport in top condition. This is an infinite budget at work right here. She couldn't hardly here the thrusters roar from the soundproofing. I thought I'd go death before I died, living back on the cargo holds like I use to. Then she noticed a cup holder on her armrest. Oh well, that's just stupid, ****'s going to fly everywhere. What idiot decid...I don't even care to know.

Trin strapped herself in, now seeing that everyone was on board. She hoped all those guys farther up would take the hint and get prepared. For those who didn't know, that atmosphere never is fun to go through.

[NRG]

After a moment of waiting, Nathan decided neither of the men had heard him so he decided to introduce himself at another time. Arc sat down next to him. "Any tips for takeoff?"

OOC: Nikhil, I know they were making fun of Nathan, but Nathan didn't know that and he tries to be friendly with everyone.

[Evil Flamingo]

Trin started to overhear the conversations going on in the cabin. The two older guys were BSing, as was to be expected, and the younger guys seemed kind of shut out. Although Nathan was asking Arc the question, she knew he hadn't had any experience either, so she decided on commenting.

Any tips for takeoff?

The first thing that came to mind, although she knew better than to say it, was for your own good, don't throw up in front of all these guys. She knew he'd hate her for it if she said, but didn't understand why she even cared.

"Well hun, you can start by strapped yourself in. Turbulence from the atmosphere will kick you right outta there and send you bouncing around. Good way to get yourself ****ed up early on. Yes, it's obvious, but if you've seen what happens when a person doesn't...well it's not the prettiest picture."

She thought to herself, good enough, he'll learn the little things on his own. You don't learn unless something happens to you. Trin took her hat off and brushed her hair back some.

[NRG]

"Well hun, you can start by strapped yourself in. Turbulence from the atmosphere will kick you right outta there and send you bouncing around. Good way to get yourself ****ed up early on. Yes, it's obvious, but if you've seen what happens when a person doesn't...well it's not the prettiest picture."

"Thanks," Nathan checked he was properly strapped in and tried to relax. A small drop of sweat emerged from his forehead...

[Evil Flamingo]

Thanks

Trin could hear the nervousness in his tone. She really couldn't know how he felt though, since she was so used to it, that it had become natural to her.

"...and calming down will help to," she mentioned while inspecting the rest of the cabin. "It isn't all bad, the station should be interesting anyways. I've yet to even see it."

And I've seen pretty much everywhere.

[Lebby]

"So what'll the entertainment be for today's flight, my unkempt friend? 'Dumb****s in Space' or 'Centauri V'?"

I Noticed the way he snickered at Nathan, and was about to apologise and greet him when he turned away to another boot. I sighed, and rubbed my eyes.

"Word to the wise JJ, the night before your first assignment, do not get smashed on cheap booze, and spend the night fooling around with some flexible floozy," I chuckled, but felt fatigue clawing at me, "Something about wild black hair and big brown eyes, drives me wild. Big tits help too." I sat up straight in my seat, and tried to stay awake by adressing everyone in the cabin.

"FRIENDS! Recruits! Countrymen! Lend Me your ears! Today we embark on the greatest adventure of our time! Today, we burst from earths constraining bonds, and plunge into a Galaxy of wonders, peril, and getting the crap kicked out of you by superior officers! Today, we make something of our worthless lives! Today we fight for Earth and all her colonies!" I let a hint of sarcasm drop into my voice, "Today we represent the Noble UEAF with it's hardened veterans, and shouty officers! This is the day we become MEN! Or very strong minded woman in Trins case... NEVERTHELESS! The Galaxy better be ready, Because we're coming its way! HUAH?"

A raised my arm in the air, now wide awake. I did always like speeches.

[jonathan hernandez13]

Pappy and Carlson were seated at the forward cabin and talking about official stuff, most of it too low to be heard. The UEAF was always short officers and really needed some newbees, according to the rumors the brief peroid of peace enjoyed in the galaxy was under assault from a hundred directions. There would be no shortage of missions but only so many people to shuffle around.

"Whadda you think of the misfits Chief, you see potential in them?" Carlson asked.

"Absolutely sir, I was a hell of a lot more rowdy my first tour. I know that the Aerospace Force doesn't let idiots in; they're all smart, fit, and well trained. They're the future of the Fleet."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Carlson muttered. A shout could be heard from the back.

"FRIENDS! Recruits! Countrymen! Lend Me your ears! Today we embark on the greatest adventure of our time! Today, we burst from earths constraining bonds, and plunge into a Galaxy of wonders, peril, and getting the crap kicked out of you by superior officers! Today, we make something of our worthless lives! Today we fight for Earth and all her colonies!" I let a hint of sarcasm drop into my voice, "Today we represent the Noble UEAF with it's hardened veterans, and shouty officers! This is the day we become MEN! Or very strong minded woman in Trins case... NEVERTHELESS! The Galaxy better be ready, Because we're coming its way! HUAH?"

Carlson rolled his eyes, Pappy chuckled and slapped his knee.

"Boots never do change, it's okay sir, at least they're motivated."

"What if it's false motivation?"

"Even false motivation is better than none."


The Aerospace transport shuttle taxis and takes off. At first the ride is smooth and like an average airplane ride, but then the shuttle's fusion boosters kick in and the craft begins to accelerate considerably. The gravities are intense, but you have been trained in simulators and can handle much worse.

Before long you notice not only that your ears are popping from the lose of pressure but that everything seems weightless. Hopefully you have remembered to take your space sickness pills, about one in ten get sick. The view out the cabin window shows a empty, infinetly black background and a blue green majestic ball that is slowly fading away behind you. You start to see stars twinkling in the distance, winking like the eyes of a cat. You find it hard to tear your eyes away from it, the stars are very vain and jealous...

[Evil Flamingo]

Trin stares outside her cabin window to the deep space and the distancing planet, and the millions of stars.

Talking to one in particular, most likely herself, "So many more interesting things to see once you get all that 'sky' out of the way. So many more places to go, so much to do."

Trin unlatched her her seat and fold a comfortable angle to look out the window, yet stay in one place. The thrills of zero-gravity had long since past in her life. She decided she might let the calm of space put her to sleep till she got there. Whether or not it was possible to sleep when your that excited is not really known, but she was happy enough as it was to maybe make it possible. Unless, of course, someone talked her, but she wouldn't really mind that anyways.

[Roric]

The launch into space was nothing unusual, the same was true for the starts; they were forever constant in the sky. Austin had finished updating a large set of data on his PDD and safely re-activated the security and stored it in his pocket. He passed the time by staring out at the stars, naming as many as he could. The speeches and riotous conversations the others were having were only somewhat annoying, it was nice to have a little light-hearted fun in the serious world they lived in. Austin continued to ponder what this first mission meant to his comrades, if they agreed to the seriousness of business or if they actually thought it would be a walk in the park.

[Nikhil]

After intense waiting, the space-ship had launched into the air. It was like any average airplane ride which he hated quite a lot. His ears experienced sudden bursts of pain. He tried in vain to hide his pain and began to swallow his saliva inside. Swallowing pained for a second but the pain in his ears suppressed. He repeated it a few more times. The pain was now considerably decreased.

"Now prepare for the enjoyment," he thought as the ship accelerated really fast. The pressure was nothing but the pain in ears was manifolded. He put his hands over his ears and closed his eyes shut.

"Ignore it, ignore the pain, it will be alright after sometime," he mumbled.

[NRG]

He had dreamed of this moment for years and now, Nathan Brown was in space. It was amazing, indescribable and Nathan would have given anything for it never to end. He turned to Arc. "This is great isn't-" Nathan stopped when he noticed how red Arc's face was. "You alright buddy?"

[Headroller]

OCC: Sorry, I was a bit busy today, JJ would've responded to the introduction NRG, so I'm gonna write that bit out.

"Hi, my name's Nathan Brown."

I turned back to Poster Boy and introduced myself neutrally, "Good ta meet you Nate, you can call me JJ. And this sorry excuse of an officer is David," I pointed over to my neighbor.

"Any tips for takeoff?"

Before I could respond, Trin broke in giving him a good dressing down. I chuckled to myself, Have you heard of the word tact lovely? But David was seeking my attention now. I raised my eyebrow in response to David's recounting of his nightime adventures, completely ignoring my earlier question. And then he started to spew a speech about the adventure of space. "Huah!" I said in half-hearted reply.

Almost as soon as the speech ended, the ship started accelerating down the runway for it's atmosphere climb. I pulled out a pair of earplugs before we hit the ships boosters. As the boosters hit, I saw someone grab his ears in pain, "Ignore it, ignore the pain, it will be alright after sometime."

Idiot, your arms are going to break.

The acceleration increased, the artificial gravities produced pushing us deep into our chairs and my head was forced back to looking straight ahead. After a moment of weighing something like a ton, the boosters cut out, and the wonder of Zero-G kicked in.

"Ah, that was fun..." I sighed.

OCC: Edit, sorry for the mixup...

[NRG]

OOC: Headroller, it was Arc who was mumbling about the pain, not Nathan.

Arc remained mumbling about pain but the others seemed fine.

[Lebby]

OOC: Carter has always been called by his last name, he'll probably make this clear to you guys :D

I whooped with the exhiliration that accompanied a ship breaking from the atmosphere. I had been on a few of the ships which my father commanded, and although they were much faster, the small transport still packed a surprising punch. Now wide awake I looked around. One of the other midshipmen, Arc, looked deathly pale, and Nathan was trying to comfort him. I smiled and looked out the window. Space. It never lost it's haunting majesty. The stars twinkled in the blanket of nothingness. I tapped the window, before withdrawing my notepad. I quickly scribbled down how I felt, and briefly described the vista splayed before me.

"Ah, that was fun"

"Indeed," I replied quietly, stunned by space. I then was self conscious of my silence, and turned back to JJ.

"Somewhere out there JJ," I spoke as I wrote, "is a planet for me, a home for me, and a beautiful woman for me." I put away my pen, and notepad, and looked wistfully into space. "Sure makes you think doesn't it?"

[NRG]

Nathan looked around. Trin was looking out the window, looked like she was deep in thought so he decided not to bother her. Arc was still looking sick, David was writing something down and talking to JJ. He was about to give up the idea of talking to anyone when he noticed a pale officer with brown hair whom he could vaguely remember from training. Nathan searched his memory for a name and came up with Austin. "Hi, Austin isn't it?"

Nathan prayed he had gotten the name right.

[NRG]

Nathan looked around. Trin was looking out the window, looked like she was deep in thought so he decided not to bother her. Arc was still looking sick, David was writing something down and talking to JJ. He was about to give up the idea of talking to anyone when he noticed a pale officer with brown hair whom he could vaguely remember from training. Nathan searched his memory for a name and came up with Austin. "Hi, Austin isn't it?"

Nathan prayed he had gotten the name right.

[Evil Flamingo]

Somewhere out there JJ," I spoke as I wrote, "is a planet for me, a home for me, and a beautiful woman for me.

Trin heard Carter start this reflection and thought of what she really wanted out of this. A ship, a vessel to call my own. My home. "My own home."

Maybe this crew would be tolerable she was also thinking. They're the most random collection I've seen, usually all there were were ten Carter's roaming around, but this crew seemed interesting enough. We'll see after our assignments here.

She looked over the guys, who were all getting to know each other now. What an odd bunch.

[Headroller]

"Somewhere out there JJ," I spoke as I wrote, "is a planet for me, a home for me, and a beautiful woman for me.

From behind me, I heard Trin say almost to herself, "My own home."

I thought a moment, strumming my fingers on the buckle of the seat. "Well, we'll all see that place someday. The Universe isn't endless, but we'll have more than enough to choose from. Heck, we might've already met what we're looking for..."

I meant of course, Earth.

[Lebby]

"Well, we'll all see that place someday. The Universe isn't endless, but we'll have more than enough to choose from. Heck, we might've already met what we're looking for..."

I raised my eyebrow, "Earth? Nothing but heartbreaks and hangovers back there!"

I sniggered, "No, your right, ain't no place like home. Earth is nice enough, but the grass is always greener on the otherside!"

I started to hum a catchy tune under my breath.

[Evil Flamingo]

Heck, we might've already met what we're looking for...

"I don't know what you're looking for," Trin said, looking directly at the officer now, "but I've met what I've been searching for a thousand times over. It's the obtaining of it that's difficult."

Trin scratched the scar on the back of her head slightly, and quickly replaced the action by brushing her hair over her ear.

[Headroller]

"No, your right, ain't no place like home. Earth is nice enough, but the grass is always greener on the otherside!"

I grinned at his enthusiasm, but was a bit disappointed by his naivete. Fell right into the gambler's fallacy.

"I don't know what you're looking for," Trin said, looking directly at the officer now, "but I've met what I've been searching for a thousand times over. It's the obtaining of it that's difficult."

I turned around to see her brushing her hair a little nervously, something must be bothering her. "Maybe for some, but I think the difficulty
makes it worthwhile. Something earned, not given or simply found, wouldn't you agree?" I flashed her a brief flirtatious smile, but it died on my lips. This was a far too serious subject for her. David seemed carefree of his fate however.

Whats out there waiting for me I wonder? Happiness? Or a grim end?

[Evil Flamingo]

Maybe for some, but I think the difficulty makes it worthwhile. Something earned, not given or simply found, wouldn't you agree?

That was exactly the answer she wanted to hear, and no where near what she expected. Trin flicked a smile at him and then looked out the window.

"More than you know."

[jonathan hernandez13]

The flight was not long, but after the rough takeoff, the flight was smooth in micro and zero gravity. The ride was almost peaceful enough to fall asleep in, which Pappy did as the Training officer, Lt. Carlson chatted with the crew men in the navigation cabin. Carlson came out to the sound of Pappy snoring and the midshipmen socializing.

"Good," Carlson thought.

"Become friends, better that than enemies. Watch each others' backs, become your brothers' (and sisters') keepers."

The shuttle begins to approach the L2 station. It began as a small metal pinprick in space, twinkling like a star that seemed to grow larger and larger. It becomes a blurry metal disc, and then details appear, like the rings that rotate to simulate gravity via centrifugal force. The station was spinning majestically, like some sort of Ferris wheel in space. The shuttle was aiming for the hub at the center of the big Ferris wheel, at the docking stations where the centrifugal forces were minimal and wouldn't fling the craft off into space.

"Wake up Pappy!" Carlson shouted. Pappy snorted and cursed under his breath. He was so close to retirement. Now more of the old routines. Hurry up and wait, dress, drill, training, dealing with wise ass boots and smart ass higher ups. It never changed, only the new faces did. The misfits seemed like a good gang at least, they would keep him young and he would keep them as sharp as iron tacks. Train them, suckle them at his teat, they would
be his last legacy before fading away like all the legends before him.

"We'll be docking soon. Reclaim your litter, strap yourselves back in if you haven't already. What the hell is that Arc kid doing? You can get your hands away from your ears, your brains won't come out, I promise. Okay, be on your best behavior; we'll be meeting with the Operations officer, don't embarrass me and the Master Chief."

The view from outside the portholes changes dramatically, the station quickly becomes so large that it engulfs and overwhelms the senses. It's impossible to take it all in at once, its sheer scale dwarfs the imagination. The knowledge that the millions of metric tons making the station housing hundreds of thousands of people makes you feel small in comparison. The shuttle passes through an immense docking hatch large enough to fit a dozen more shuttles, you begin to hear noises again as the airlock pressurizes. Your ears pop incessantly. Outside the portholes you see the insides of the cargo hull. It's well lit but poorly kept, there are stripped vehicles on the maintenance pads, many of them have been cannibalized for parts. Budget cuts. Maintainers in suits float by, but most of the maintenance is done by robot drones. An umbilical attachment clamps onto the shuttle's egress hatch, it makes the shuttle shudder slightly.

Some loud slamming sounds are heard, as you exit the hatch you float up the umbilical attachment, which has arm rails to aid in climbing "up" towards the gravity. As you pull yourself "up" the ladder (away from the hub) you notice that it's fairly easy work, but a force seems to tug on you as you get closer to the rings. After a few minutes the force becomes more noticeable and you have to flip yourself around on the ladder so that now instead of climbing "up" it you're climbing "down" it. Luckily, the engineers of the station were clever enough to put a lift at the embarkation deck so that you don't have to climb half a kilometer down. An aerospace man on duty meets you at the embarkation lift. He salutes and gives the appropriate greeting of the day.

"Good afternoon gentlemen, good afternoon ma'am."

Carlson returns the salute.

"Good afternoon; permission to come aboard."

"Permission granted." The duty watchman said and the process repeats as the detail present identifications and boarding passes to the guard.

"The lift won't take long to reach the ring section. We'll be at one gee there, so you can shake off your space legs." Carlson smiled, Pappy grunted, like usual. You're beginning to suspect that Pappy is a bit of a one trick pony, he only knows how to be grim and more grim, but harmlessly so.

When the lift is finally done making its 500 meter race down to the ring, you feel the old familiar tug of gravity on your legs again, but it's just a simulation. The space station seems even larger on the insides than on the outside. There are streets, towns, lakes, even small forests inside. Ahead is a kind of roadblock where some Aerospace Marines have set up a security checkpoint to keep anyone getting off the lifts from getting to the station. Carson approached them.

"Lieutenant Carlson here with a detail of midshipman. We're here to see the Operations officer, Lieutenant Commander Littlefield."

"I'm sorry sir, I do not have the permission to let you through at this time."

"What? For Christ's sake, you'll make me late. I have orders to---"

"I'm sorry sir but I can't, I have my orders too you see."

"What happened here?" Pappy asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know Master Chief, but you'll just have to standby for---"

"Look Marine, you get on a radio and tell your superior that Lieutenant Carlson is here with a fresh batch of midshipmen and that we're going to get on this station even if we have to go through you. We don't have time for jurisdictional nonsense, we have official galactic duties to attend to."

"I'll contact the duty officer sir." The guard said.

"You do that." Carlson said and impatiently stomped his foot. Another one of the Marine guards came by and whispered to Carlson, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I maybe shouldn't be saying sirs...and ma'am, but I heard a little something on the Lance Corporal underground. Scuttlebutt is around the station that the Martians have a spy somewhere on the station. Headquarters been trying to sniff them out for days, but in the meantime weird stuff's been happening around the station. Seems like we have some sabotage going on, now that's all I heard. I better get back to my post now sir."

"Carry on, Marine." Carlson bit his lip, and not typical of him, seemed worried.

"That's not good Chief. We have an Achilles class cruiser here that's been retrofitted with experimental new weapons. I was hoping that the misfits could have served on her for their first tour. With a spy running around the station who knows how many missions can be jeopardized now. If only we had a lead..."

[Evil Flamingo]

The elevator doors opened to the man-made world’s interior. An entire bustling city moved in front of Trin and all she could do of think of how huge this place must be, how many million, maybe billions of people lived and worked here. The structure was confounding, and the largest man-made object she’d ever witnessed. This place is ridiculous, absolutely amazing. Why hadn’t I ever tried to get a glimpse of this place before?

A few marines were holding a roadblock for some reason near the elevator, and not allowing Gunther or Carlson to pass. Oh what’s going on now? Carlson and the higher ranked of the two argued for a short while. After one of them left, to get someone hire up on the chain she assumed, the other marine whispered something only meant for this group of officers and Gunther to hear.

I maybe shouldn't be saying sirs...and ma'am, but I heard a little something on the Lance Corporal underground. Scuttlebutt is around the station that the Martians have a spy somewhere on the station. Headquarters been trying to sniff them out for days, but in the meantime weird stuff's been happening around the station. Seems like we have some sabotage going on, now that's all I heard. I better get back to my post now sir.

That explains this random hold-up. They must be trying to prevent anyone else who might be a spy from coming in. Trin looked up at Gunther who seemed quite concerned over the matter. It seemed inane to her at the moment, more or less because finding a single spy and a structure this large was like pinpointing specific rock on a planet of likewise color, it just wasn’t that conceivably possible. But maybe if this guy’s brazen enough to sabotage too often, he’ll leave enough clues behind. But I don’t know why I care, it’s not like it’s really our problem, is it? Then she got her answer promptly from Gunther.

That's not good Chief. We have an Achilles class cruiser here that's been retrofitted with experimental new weapons. I was hoping that the misfits could have served on her for their first tour. With a spy running around the station who knows how many missions can be jeopardized now. If only we had a lead...

An experimental ship waiting for us and this little bastard has everything locked down? She could only imagine all the different systems and apparatus to inspect aboard that ship, annoyed with this possible delay. Well maybe if we can find this guy we’ll secure our right to the vessel. Maybe if we…no…maybe if I prove myself, I’ll be a step closer to… Then Trin did something she knew didn’t even come close to wanting to do, or would think of in any other situation: Trin took the initiative.

“Well, sirs, maybe we already have a lead and just don’t know it.” What the hell am I doing? Alright, alright, calm down. This is good for you. “Where are the problems located, or with what specific systems? If there’s some way we can narrow this down, we might be able to find him…without running blindly around interrogating people.” This wasn’t what she wanted to do. Trin always lets someone else do the talking, she just follows. Just calm down, it’s good for you. You won't get noticed if you don't stand out.

[Headroller]

When the situation was explained, I loudly groaned. I don't have any time for some martian! I'm not one lets get out of here... Thats what I was thinking, until I heard the words "experimental" and "first tour". Mentally, my mind went haywire, I'm in!

“Well, sirs, maybe we already have a lead and just don’t know it. Where are the problems located, or with what specific systems? If there’s some way we can narrow this down, we might be able to find him…without running blindly around interrogating people.”

"The woman has a point. Who's in charge of the investigation?"

"Lt, Sarge, maybe we can help out once we speak to Commander Littleman."

[Lebby]

I stiffened at the mention of a Martian. Once a long time ago, I had been like so many others, filled with blind hatred. "Those savage Martian bastards!" I cried whenever their name was mentioned on the news vids. One day after a I had ranted about the Martians for an hour, about how they were inhuman, about how they had no right to exist, my father had pulled me aside and asked, "Have you ever met a martian?"

To this I had floundered. Dad told me to take a seat, he then spun me a story of the first time he ever met a Martian. It had been in one of the many border skirmishes that occurred on the fringes of Earth held space. My father had bordered a Martian warship. After the battle, after the Martian crew had surrendered, my father talked to the Captain.

"I asked the Martian Captain if he had anyone waiting for him back home," My father had said, "And do you know what he told me?"

"What?"

"He said yes. He had a wife, and two daughters waiting for him back on Mars. He showed me a picture of his wife, a pretty creature, and he showed me a drawing his daughter had sent him," My father then grinned, "And do you know what that drawing was?"

"What?" I had asked again.

"It was a drawing of the Martian captain shooting a hideous monster. And written on that hideous monsters chest, was the word 'Earthling.'" My father had then chuckled and waved me away. To this day, I have always thought of that, whenever someone spewed hatred about Martians.

"Lt, Sarge, maybe we can help out once we speak to Commander Littleman."

JJ's voice yanked me into the present. I scratched my chin.

"Thats as good of an idea as any, but uh, shouldn't we leave the counter espionage to the experts?"

[Evil Flamingo]

Thats as good of an idea as any, but uh, shouldn't we leave the counter espionage to the experts?

She looked over to Carter and tried to figure out what was going through his head. It seemed he was thinking about a lot other than the matter at hand.

"Well, hun, since we're pretty much docked because of this problem, and the 'experts' haven't caught him yet, I don't see why we wouldn't try to help out at least here." What else are we really going to other than waste time? Just go along with it, you know better.

[Lebby]

"Well, hun, since we're pretty much docked because of this problem, and the 'experts' haven't caught him yet, I don't see why we wouldn't try to help out at least here."

I looked at Trin, this was the second time she had adressed me, and the first time she had paid me any real attention.

"I know, it's just... Well I signed up to take down pirates, find lost vessels, help make the Galaxy a better place. Chasing spies, Martian spies is just... Well I'd just rather be making a difference, stopping a pirate lord, or defending one of the border colonies... I uh... Sorry, erm, just... sorry."

I cursed my hesitation.

[Headroller]

Delete for time

[Evil Flamingo]

I know, it's just... Well I signed up to take down pirates, find lost vessels, help make the Galaxy a better place. Chasing spies, Martian spies is just... Well I'd just rather be making a difference, stopping a pirate lord, or defending one of the border colonies... I uh... Sorry, erm, just... sorry.

For the second time that day she had to say the same thing. "I know what you mean...more than you know." Trin felt a sting on her scar, which gave her a small headache. She rubbed it a little, but the quickly just switched to brushing her back again. I need to stop doing that. But I can't forget...you couldn't make me. I don't want to make myself forget.

[Lebby]

"I know what you mean...more than you know."

I smiled at her, and wondered if there was more to Trin then her grim exterior. "Alright, well, I'll try to help, although Im far more adept at wooing woman, or flying ships, or both simeltaneously, than I am at witch hunts."

I leaned against the wall and grinned at JJ, "So, have you got a girl back home?"

[Headroller]

"So, have you got a girl back home?"

A girl he says? Well there are girls...

"Nah, never had enough time during training, and I tend to wander between cities when I'm on leave."

Run between is more like it. Earth women always "appreciated" their men in uniform but always were a bit... possessive.

"How about you guys?" I said to David and Trin, "Anyone waiting for you?"

[Lebby]

"Anyone waiting for you?"

"No girls but a lot of angry husbands," I uttered a bark of laughter.

"I had a strictly non committal policy with all my lady friends, I'll settle down when my strikingly handsome looks fade, my hair greys. Mind you when that happens, I'll probably be too busy entertaining myself by pretending to be deaf!"

I looked at Trin, and waited for her response.

[Evil Flamingo]

Anyone waiting for you?

Trin almost laughed at the question. Yeah, a lot of people are waiting for me to get in bed with them. But not deal with my attitude.

"Freight guys rotate out and transfer ships a lot. Not really a chance."

It was an outright lie. Nobody ever transfered, it was a hassle. She didn't want to explain to him th loneliness aboard a ship though. The same, hard personalities, cycle after cycle. Nobody wanted anybody, except for maybe a night, but Trin didn't usually even care for that. She always saw getting attached to people as a way to get herself hurt badly. The loneliness did get to her sometimes though.

[NRG]

A hundred things went through Nathan's mind. A spy? Just forget about it. It's probably nothing, he thought. No. He had to tell them.

"Lieutenant? I might know something about the spy..."

[Nikhil]

Arc was now feeling a lot better once having arrived at the station. The pain in the ears had faded out and he was putting up his confident face yet again. He was embarrassed by the fact that his ears always pained during any fun-flight. He remembered those days when he was a kid and was traveling with his classmates and teacher for an educational tour. His ears had hurt him and after the flight the bullies got him and kicked him around. They, they...

"Lieutenant? I might know something about the spy..."

He turned and saw Nathan, he looked quite nervous. This reminded him of his own childhood. But then Nathan's face turned confident. Arc had always been afraid. This angered him and now he decided that it was no longer his turn to be afraid. Rage boiled inside head not for something or someone but himself. He loathed his personality and wanted to kill it and change over to a new life.

"Sir, I too admit that I know something about the spy or his accomplice. While at the port we noticed a man, a strange man. He had a strange device with him which I and Nathan nicked away as he looked suspicious and was trying to hide himself. He also acted suspiciously by being really possessive of the object. He at the same time was quite afraid. The object's type was unknown but we found one message..." he said and hoped Nathan would continue here.

[NRG]

"The message was coded, so I couldn't get much out of it, but it said something about identity, so naturally when I heard there was a spy, I thought back to the guy. As Arc said, he looked pretty suspicious," said Nathan.

Crap. Nathan hoped to god that this guy had something to do with the spy, if he didn't, Nathan and Arc could be in deep ***t..

OOC: Are we allowed to swear in this?

[Roric]

Austin had dozed off for most of the trip but now the business with the spy was simply..... annoying.
"If the spy is already here then why is it a problem that new people enter, especially since we're with such decorated commanders," Austin said, the slightest taste of sarcasm on his tongue.

"Lieutenant? I might know something about the spy..."

Austin listened to their short account of what happened at the port carefully.

"So that's what you two were doing... interesting. But why would a spy on the station have a contact on earth? Perhaps we have also been infiltrated there," Austin concluded darkly.

[jonathan hernandez13]

Carlson and Pappy looked bitter and impatient as the Marine contacted his duty officer. While they waited the midshipmen began to buck up.

“Well, sirs, maybe we already have a lead and just don’t know it. Where are the problems located, or with what specific systems? If there’s some way we can narrow this down, we might be able to find him…without running blindly around interrogating people.” The girl said, Carlson shook his head.

"What do you mean you 'maybe already have a lead?'"

"The woman has a point. Who's in charge of the investigation? Lt, Sarge, maybe we can help out once we speak to Commander Littleman." The tall and rugged one said.

"It's Littlefield son, Lieutenant Commander Littlefield. And do you see three chevrons going up anywhere on my uniform, boy? I'm a dang Master Chief, for love's sake, these midshipmen..." Pappy said, a little annoyed.

"That's as good of an idea as any, but uh, shouldn't we leave the counter espionage to the experts?" The grungy pretty boy said.

The midshipman began to chatter back and forth, talking about girlfriends back home and God knows what else. Carlson and the Mater Chief ignored them and decided that they were telling tall tales or trying hard to get attention.

"Lieutenant? I might know something about the spy..." One of the midshipmen said, it was the neat looking clean cut kid.

"What the hell, this better be damn good Midshipman, because I'm not in the mood for..."

"Sir, I too admit that I know something about the spy or his accomplice. While at the port we noticed a man, a strange man. He had a strange device with him which I and Nathan nicked away as he looked suspicious and was trying to hide himself. He also acted suspiciously by being really possessive of the object. He at the same time was quite afraid. The object's type was unknown but we found one message..." The short fella spoke up, at last. Carlson was beginning to wonder if he had a voice at all.


Carlson's jaw dropped open.

"You wanna repeat that son?"

"The message was coded, so I couldn't get much out of it, but it said something about identity, so naturally when I heard there was a spy, I thought back to the guy. As Arc said, he looked pretty suspicious." Nathan backed up the shortstop.

"If the spy is already here then why is it a problem that new people enter, especially since we're with such decorated commanders. So that's what you two were doing... interesting. But why would a spy on the station have a contact on earth? Perhaps we have also been infiltrated there." The pale one remarked, rather sardonically. Carlson tuned him out and focused back on the two curious cats.

"If you saw this man again, would you be able to recognize him?"

"Sir, I got in touch with the duty officer..." the Marine guard said.

"Not now Marine."

"But sir, Commander Littlefield was there, at the ready room, at fleet headquarters Command. He said he needs you there ASAP, you and your new "boots", sir. S'what he called them. Said it was urgent, a surprise, that there were some special people there for you all to meet, or something like that."


Carlson sighed.

"Does that mean we can get through then?"

"Yes sir, we'll have a Centipede transport you there." The Marine said and waved them through the roadblock he was opening up.



After a short bit of waiting the Centipede sped by and stopped to pick up the detail; it was a long and thin magnetic levitation trolley. The group boards it and speeds off at amazing speeds for the headquarters command building.

"I knew that you apes would embarrass me today, if the Admiral of the fleet sees some of you mutts with your beards and sloppy dress code, and I get my ass chewed out, you will be going for a run around the entire circumference of this space station wearing combat gear. I promise you." Pappy growled.

The centipede begins to slow down as it approaches the Headquarters building, it seems as large as the Capitol building of Washington D.C. on Earth. Pappy whistled.

"They sure can build big in one sixth Earth gravity can't they? Make the skyscrapers of Manhattan look like saplings, heh heh."


The group are escorted inside by armed guards, as much for your protection as anyone else's, even though one of you appear to be armed for some reason. At a large lobby area a handsomely dressed and gregarious looking officer waved at Carlson and hollered.

"Well hell Claw, I was beginning to think that you would never show up."

"Somebody had the bright idea of keeping me and my newbs held up like common criminals. Can I thank you for that?"

The cheerful officer held up his hands in a show of innocence but was still smiling large enough to show all of his front teeth. His dimpled smile was contagious, you almost want to join him for no reason at all.

"That was out of my hands Carlson, I'm not in charge of Operations on the station anymore, I got bumped to a different command."

"What?"

"Yup, you did too, and so did your new guys, effective today, direct from headquarters. Forgive my manners, hello Master Chief, I believe we've met once before. Hello gentlemen, and lady," the officer said and addressed the group.

"My name is Lieutenant Commander Littlefield. I was the Operations officer of the station today, that's been changed though. We should really continue this discussion somewhere else." Littlefield said and began to walk off, he looks back to make sure that you're following him. Carlson is already familiar enough with the station to know that they're being taken to the mission planning room. When you arrive it is dimly lit, and just like in the old spy movies, you expect to be strapped down in a chair and interrogated. A few uniformed men are there with odd equipment that they are waving around like wands. A few men are standing ominously at the back of the room, it's too dark to see them, but they are watching the group as they enter.

"Please take a seat." He said and looked around the room.

"Thank you, that will be all." He said to the guards, dismissing them. After they were gone the technicians with the wands were done playing wizard.

"Sir, the room is clean."

"Good work Technical officer, I'll need you and your men to leave the room as well." He said and dismissed them with a curt nod of approval. One the double hatches to the room were secure he seemed to breath in relief.

"The room was bugged earlier; the war room was too, and the ready rooms. Hell, I heard they even bugged one of the galleys, can't imagine why. If you haven't already heard, the Aerospace Force positively identified an espionage agent from the Martian Hegemony. We suspect that he arrived at Headquarters in the hopes of learning everything that he could about the UESS Athena, our little black project.

"She's an Achilles class Cruiser that's been retrofitted with some state of the art...toys. Now that Martian spy wants the secrets of the Achilles, and he wants off this station. We've been very lucky thus far, we have a double agent working for us that's assured us he was still on this station and attempting to get close to the Athena. We set up the security checkpoints in the hopes of catching him as he tried to leave the station."

"Now we have a change in plans; we're gonna give that Martian S-O-B just what he wants so that he can run and report to his superiors. The only thing that Headquarters wants more than catching one spy is catching an entire network of them. Apparently the Martians have a base at the asteroid belt, which is outside of either Earth's or Martian jurisdiction. It will be very tricky, most of the belt Commonwealth parties will allow a cruiser in their space for short amounts of time, but they will not participate in our operation and should know as little about this as possible."

"Once we have identified the station we can neutralize them, hopefully bloodlessly. The Martian Hegemony won't even be able to formally protest, they'll deny any knowledge of them and say that they were a rougue cell or something. Meanwhile we'll have them back on Earth in a holding cell telling us all about how their Caesar class battle cruisers work." Littlefield smugly smiled and put his hands on his hips.

Carlson shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I don't know if this is a good time for this, but here it goes. I have two midshipmen here who think they might have spotted someone suspicious at the Aerospace Port. He had some interesting gear on him, and some kind of encryption software."

"Those two." A familiar voice said. A figure came out of the shadows, it was the mysterious dark haired man at the aerospace port.

"Those two knuckleheads almost blew my damn cover!"

"Easy there Patty. Lieutenant Patterson here is our Intelligence Officer. He's very good at what he does, even if he forgets his manners. He's been on the trail of the Martian spy for some time. He's been organizing a disinformation strategy in conjunction with our double agent."

"The damn spy was seen at dock too, snooping around the Athena. We've managed to give him a bunch of bogus data, bogus ship plans, bogus fleet statistics. We even managed to set him up for a trap. He hasn't been able to get anywhere near the ship so far, but because we told him, he's convinced that he will have a chance to once he meets with her at Ceres in the belt. That's where you all come in. We need ranking officers with the proper clearance, but officers new enough to the fleet where they won't be easily recognized." Patterson explained.

"You won't be going to the belt yet though, you'll be going to Jupiter. At Europa you will be making a rendezvous with a contact of ours, code name 'Star Wolf'. He's got a civilian transport and will be taking you to Ceres. Once there, you will be on your own..." Littlefield was putting on a serious face, but you could tell that another smile was coming.

"Like hell, sir. These are my kids, I'll be going with them." Pappy snorted, his arms folded.

"Master Chief, you're too well known and well decorated to go running around asteroids will guys half your age."

"With all due respect sir, **** no. I'm not leaving my kids anywhere alone. I'm in charge of them, I've lost too many young men and women in the past due to inept supervision and crappy planning. I'm not leaving them in fate's chance, she's a stone cold bitch. I'm going with them."

Littlefield sighed.

"I was afraid you might say that. Well, we'll just have to give you a cover. You're a retired veteran on vacation, and they are your...I dunno, we'll think of something. Report to the receiving post, they'll handle your paperwork, assign you clothes, a room to sleep in, all that good stuff. Tomorrow at oh-eight hundred is your hypnotic mission briefing, remember to take notes...that was a joke. Anyway, I hope to see you all again soon, when you all see my smiling mug again we'll be on the Athena by then. Sleep well, tomorrow is a long day. Dismissed."

The three remaining dark figures in the back seem to shift a little bit as you leave, they watched the entire thing in utter silence...







Name: Nick “Little Man” Littlefield, LT. Commander, Operations Officer
Sex: Male
Age: 36

Appearance: Littlefield is of average height and is slightly overweight, adding to his jovial appearance. He smiles often, showing large and well groomed teeth.

Personality: Littlefield is always seen smiling and is generally in good humor, even if he has to force himself, by God. He is a devout Christian, and while not a Bible thumper, believes very strongly in emulating the example of his savior. Less interested in war and more excited about the other enterprises in space, Littlefield is a competent officer and because he is easy going, is a very approachable personality. Despite being a pacifist, Littlefield is patriotic about being a member of United Earth and is ready to fight to keep the peace.

Background: Littlefield requested a duty station as close to Earth as possible to be near his family and was fortunate enough to work at Fleet headquarters. While having major responsibilities as station Operations officer at a somewhat lower rank than usual, he is slightly upset about his transfer to the Athena. He has managed to avoid the front lines of the struggle thus far, and while a bit apprehensive, he’s able to hide it well enough to fool all.



Name: Jason "Patty" Patterson, LT. Intelligence Officer
Sex: Male
Age: 31

Appearance: Jason is of medium height and with a muscular build. He has dark hair and is usually seen with an unshaven face and in typical civilian clothes. If he’s doing his job you hardly notice he’s there at all, he fails to stick out in anyone’s mind, by design.

Personality: Jason is short-tempered, crass, and caustic. He has no time to fool around, he’s nearly been killed before due to poorly planned missions going to crap. His goal is to end his contract as an Intelligence Officer as soon as possible and get reassigned to some desk job somewhere on a paradise planet.

Background: Jason comes from a family of police officers and was taught as a young boy to be disciplined and obey his authority figures. Jason has retained his discipline, but while willing to be an obedient trooper resents the politics behind his profession and has become jaded. If it wasn’t for all the phonies the job would almost be worth all the risks.

[NRG]

As the team shuffled out, Nathan walked over to Arc. "So we were going after our own team... I hope the LT's not too pissed with us..."

[Roric]

"Told you it made no sense for the spy to be the same one you went after," Austin said as they were leaving the room. He was happy to hear about their new assignment and see that they were going to be getting to work very shortly.

[NRG]

"Yeah, still, I guess it's better to be safe than sorry..." Nathan replied to Austin.

[Lebby]

I left the briefing room with a frown. My first assignment would be closing the trap on a spy. It seemed a strange choice for a batch of fresh midshipmen. I had been hoping for an instant transfer to a fighter squadron, but I guess boots get what their given. It didn't feel right, whether this was because of my attitude towards Martians, or because of my awkward skill set completely unsuitable for this mission, I wasn't sure. It didn't matter.

"Why don't they send that intelligence officer, or one of the other dozens lying around chief?" I asked Pappy, but didn't mind who answered.

[NRG]

"Why don't they send that intelligence officer, or one of the other dozens lying around chief?"
Pappy seemed to have a lot on his mind so Nathan took his best guess. "With the spy in here, there's probably a whole lot of suspicion going around, I would say they've got everyone searching for any others... Of course, I could be wrong, but that's my best guess...

[Nikhil]

"With the spy in here, there's probably a whole lot of suspicion going around, I would say they've got everyone searching for any others... Of course, I could be wrong, but that's my best guess..."

"Looks like we disappointing many of our fighter friends over here!" Arc muttered over to Nathan.

[Headroller]

I kept silent on our way back to the Caterpillar, planning for the mission. We'll need to go over ship boarding tactics. I'd rather have a squad or two of Marines, but since we're going undercover it'll just be us. I glanced around at my comrades, of all of us probably only myself, Pappy and the "Elephant Hunter" will be useful in a firefight. Perhaps Trin, the rest looked like they didn't give much attention to BCT. But would it even come to that?

I had nothing helpful to add to the idle chatter, preferring my own brooding of what could go wrong. Idle thoughts evaporated, there was a mission to be taken care of... and I'd have to wait a whole day before I knew anything else.

I slipped a flask from my dress jacket and took a swig. Can't just worry about it.

OCC: BCT=Basic Combat Training

[Lebby]

Worried by the apparent lack of knowledge as to why we were chosen to embark on this venture, I idly withdrew my unloaded pistol and twirled it around my finger. This amused me as we walked, but then I thought of something that I could bring to the mission.

"Hey guys, if things go tits up, any chance I can pilot us the hell outta there? If theres one thing I can do well- two things I can do well, one being the opposite sex, ha ha, sarcastic laugh, the other is fly," I grinned, "Put me at the helm of a fighter, transport, flying bathtub, and I will make it dance!"

I blew a strand of my long hair out of my face, "Its one thing I can bring to this mission, and its the one thing which feels right for me. You guys ok with that?"

[NRG]

"Its one thing I can bring to this mission, and its the one thing which feels right for me. You guys ok with that?"

"I'm fine with it, but I'd check in with Pappy and the LT just in case," said Nathan.

[Headroller]

I gave him a **** eating grin, "Sure, but it depends on two things: Who's baby we're flying, and if you can beat me to the pilot's seat."

[jonathan hernandez13]

"O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done; The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won" - Walt Whitman


"Why don't they send that intelligence officer, or one of the other dozens lying around chief?" One of the kids asked Pappy, the sloppy looking pretty boy.

"Aw, quit your bitching Midshipman, you wanted to see the stars, you'll see some now. Get some sleep, tomorrow's a big day."

***

At receiving you have to sign many "papers" (gossamer thin film with built in electronics, actual wood pulp paper is about obsolete), you get a bunch of shots from the medics, and you get assigned some gear (you can change out of your uncomfortable uniforms and into more casual flight suits) and a room to sleep in.

The bunks are fairly comfortable, and with all the travel you are fairly tired. It's easy to sleep, the roar of the fusion reactors, heard almost everywhere on the station, seems to hum you to sleep.

In the morning Pappy comes to get you early in the morning.

"Yeah, I know that the briefing is at eight, but I'm not gonna wait until then to drag yer butts outta yer bunks. Now wakey wakey, quit playing with your snakey. Get your ****, shower, and shave. Put some fresh clothes on and meet me at the chow mall for morning chow. I want food in your belly."

Morning chow is good but not superb, what else do you expect from chow hall food? At oh eight hundred you guys meet up in the briefing room and receive your hypnotic briefing, the details of the mission are uploaded into your brain.

The team is to don civilian clothes, given civilian identification, a cover story, and tickets for a civilian transport liner on its way to Europa. Once there you are to meet with a contact code named "Star Wolf". He has a transport that will bring you to Ceres. 'Star Wolf' will assist the team in spotting the Martian spy. Once his trust is gained details about the rest of team and base of operations can be uncovered.

After the briefing Lt. Commander Littlefield greets you with one of his wide smiles.

"Good morning Aerospacemen, hope you all had a good morning. This is going to be a great day, I can tell. Anyway, the Skipper of the Athena has asked me to get you guys."

Pappy perked up.

"The Skipper? No kidding?"

"It's okay Master Chief, you can relax. The Skipper is a real swell guy, you'll see. He's not too big on formality or any of that, you can be relaxed around him."


Littlefield leads you back to Fleet HQ and at a conference room with a long metal table. There are four people seated at the table, two men, one woman, and one...robot? You can instantly tell that the man at the far end of the table is the Skipper by his demeanor.

"Please, have a seat. My name is Commander Wilfong, I'm the acting Commanding Officer of the Athena." The man said. He was tall and well built, and hairy; he resembled some kind of half bear half human hybrid. Despite his beastlike aura, he was well mannered and cordial, he exuded confidence and power, a born leader.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Zakharova, my XO," Commander Wilfong said pointing at the female. She was very pale, but not pallid or unattractive. She was quite lovely and had a field of intensity around her, like a ballerina about to leap. Her hair was short, she wore no makeup or earrings.

"Good morning. If you all do your jobs you won't hear a peep from me, and if all is going well you won't even notice me on the ship. If something is wrong though, believe me, I'll know about it. I have ten eyes and twelve ears."

"This is Master Chief Redding, my Command Master Chief." Commander Wilfong said and motioned towards a middle aged African American man with a stocky build and a thin mustache. He had a scar just above his eyebrow and one eye seemed to squint.

"I prefer Chief of the Boat, even though the Athena isn't a boat. It's a tradition thing. Commander Wilfong may be the Commanding Officer of the Athena, but she is my ship, make no mistake of that. I've logged in more hours on that bucket of bolts than anyone else, there isn't an inch of her that hasn't got my blood, sweat, and tears on her. From the time I was just a snot nose little boot till now. I know the ship better than the engineers that designed her. You respect my ship and we'll get along just fine. Hooyah Master Chief." Master Chief said, directed at the group, except for the last greeting, intended for Pappy.

"Grrrr." Pappy responded.

"And last but not least we have a retired Chief Warrant Officer and very decorated war veteran with us. He'll be on the Athena for a bit serving as a civilian expert and advisor. Ladies and gentleman, please say hello to mister Adamski."

"Gunner, please." The robot said.

"Before you say anything, I know I look like ****. Just know that I'm as human as you are. Let's just say that I've seen my share of combat and on my last tour got blasted to nuthin'. When the Corpsmen medics found me there wasn't much of me left except for a heart, a brain, and a few other private bits that ain't none of your business. Carry on." The rob---cyborg said and crossed his arms.

"I've been looking very forward to meeting each of you, I read the reports on each of the service members that come on my ship, with gusto. I know a little bit about each of you.

"Mister Jacobs. You are no stranger to space travel and seem to be a bit of a reckless one at that. You’re prior enlisted and have combat experience. It would honor me if you would continue the fine tradition of ground pounding along with the Aerospace Marines of my ship. The platoon could use another officer, I’m sure that they would love to have you on their side. You will be assigned to one of our reconaissance teams, title: Recon Team Leader.”

“Mr. Rainer. You seem to have a penchant for intelligence gathering. I want you on board with my Intelligence department. I’m sure that the Intelligence Officer would love to take you under his wing and add another agent to the team. Intelligence is vital. Your official title: Intelligence analyst."

“Ms. Trinery. I know that you also have experience in spaceflight. I know about what happened to your family, damn shame, those Marauders will all have what’s coming to them one day. I know that you have revenge on the mind, just be patient, I can promise you that you’ll get your chance to kill plenty of them. You may have an aptitude for navigation, I would like you to be my woman on the navigation deck. Title: Navigation officer.”

“Mr. Brown. You are a poster boy image of a clean cut officer. I know that as a boy you have dreamed of space travel, and now I’ll put you at the head of all mission planning and organization. Title: Operations Liason."

“Mr. Astero. Everything in your profile indicates a very intelligent and talented young man who lacks confidence and prefers to stay out of combat. I wouldn’t dare waste your talents, because you love computers so much I want you at the Quantum Computer Core learning the ins and outs of our ship computer. Title: Technology officer."

“Mr. Carter. You have gained my attention, but that is not always a good thing. I know that you have a reputation as a lady-killer and a father who was an Aerospace Officer. Just know that there are no number of strings your father can pull to save your ass when the poop hits the fan. It will be these people in this room who will save you, Now I know that you love to fly, so if you can manage to keep your joystick in your pants, I will put you in the cockpit of the aerospace shuttle or fighter of your choice...when the time times. Title: aerospace craft pilot.”

“Now I have someone else for you all to meet, he’s a bit shy, but he got here about the same time as you all and has been dying to meet you all. Please say hello to Mr...”

Name: Pvt. Jerrome Russel-Leon Sarklin
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Home town: Dunon
Height: 5'10"
Weight:65 KG
Appearance/Apparel: usually dressed in his army fatigues out of practicality rather than loyalty. The basic grays of Private with unkempt curly hair and gray eyes along with his weight make him look gaunt at the best of times. No army man

Personality: Jerrome is cautious now that he is on his own, on first impression people take him to be a nervous child lost is a big scary world; but is really a genius in his own right. he finds peace in tinkering and upgrading his ship with his own inventions, and is just as happy repairing the damage to other systems that his 'upgrades' may inadvertently cause.

Background: from the Earth owned mining asteroid of Dunon Jerrome joined the military at 16 to escape from the prospect of working the mining machines. He trained as a pilot for 3 years and excelled. The military soon discovered his ability with electronics and mechanics - and considering he wasn’t doing so well with the other army brutes - he was moved into a research and tactics facility.

“Mr. Russell here is no stranger to space, hard work, and getting his hands dirty. He would honor me if he would join the engineering department, get on those fusion reactors and see if you can’t squeeze some more Joules out of the power plants. Title: Engineering officer.”

“Now I won’t be with you on Europa, but I will meet up with you at some point after we meet at Ceres. Never forget that as of now you are all officers of my ship, you represent me, and you will never be anything more or less than a member of my crew. You will not be left behind or forgotten, I wouldn’t ask any less of myself under the same circumstances. Now report back to the station‘s hub, you all have your orders, you have a civilian liner to catch; Godspeed. Dismissed.”

[Lebby]

"So if you can manage to keep your joystick in your pants"

At this I stopped gazing suggestively at the pretty Commander Zahkrovea, or whatever her name was.

"Aerospace craft pilot.”

Those words caused my heart to soar with joy. I glanced delightedly at whoevers eyes I could find, I was ecstatic. After we were dismissed, as soon as I was outta sight I leapt in the air and whooped with joy.

"MOTHER FUDGING PILOT!!!!!!!! YEAAAAAHH!!!!!!!!"

I added a little dance to my boisterously loud words. Grinning I reminded myself to thank Wilfong later. I spun around and winked at Trin, "So, its your job to make sure that floating metal boat doesn't get lost, any chance you could toss that expertise my way some time, brilliant pilot as I am, I have a terrible memory for directions."

I then turned to JJ, "Mate! Recon team leader! Brilliant, leadership role already! Thats nothing to sniff at."

I then gave Nathan a slap on the shoulder, "Looks like you call the shots now! In charge of mission planning? Just plan to put me and my gunship in front of hoards of pirates, throw in a hot space chick or two, and we'll get along famously!"

I gave him a mock salute, then just looked up and smiled.

[Headroller]

As soon as I heard the words 'ground pounder', I knew what was coming. And I was mad as hell. I managed to keep it all bottled up while giving the commander a crisp salute and a steady stride, until we left the room. Then, while David was yelling his celebration into the air, I turned to the wall beside us, kicking as hard as I could.

Instead of shattering my leg and sentencing me to a seated position, ideally a pilot's seat, the wall bent and absorbed my blow. It sprang me back as it regained it's shape, not a scratch or mar on it. "Fudging memory-steel," I muttered.

Behind me, David cried at my turned back, "Mate! Recon team leader! Brilliant, leadership role already! Thats nothing to sniff at."

I sighed. Well, it beats scrubbing muck from the teeth of gears... I shuddered, remembering my first duty as an airman. For weeks and weeks I was covered in the sludge, no matter how strong of a chemical remover I used. If it weren't for my choice in hygiene, I probably would've caught the nick-name "Blackface".

Damn space monkeys...

But, I took a deep breath, and relaxed. Turning back to the group, I tried to put a smile on and said, "Well hey, congrats everyone. Did we all get what we were aiming for?"

[NRG]

“Mr. Brown. You are a poster boy image of a clean cut officer. I know that as a boy you have dreamed of space travel, and now I’ll put you at the head of all mission planning and organization. Title: Operations Liason."

Nathan couldn't help but let out a stupid grin... This couldn't be getting any better!

"Looks like you call the shots now! In charge of mission planning? Just plan to put me and my gunship in front of hoards of pirates, throw in a hot space chick or two, and we'll get along famously!"

"Don't worry, as pilot, you'll be getting plenty of action. I'll try to give you as much as possible in the missions!"

Nathan walked over to the new guy and introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Nathan Brown, and, apparently, mission planner now. Don't worry, you'll fit in pretty soon."

[Shadow Reeves]

"Hi, I'm Nathan Brown, and, apparently, mission planner now. Don't worry, you'll fit in pretty soon."

"Hi, Jerrome, engineering " he replied and shook Nathans hand, then let go quickly. "and yeah, i hope so" Jerrome replied to Nathans multi-pronged introduction. Jerrome didnt really feel like continuing the conversation but considering he would be spending months with these blokes thought it better to.

"so mission planner huh? pleased?"

[NRG]

"so mission planner huh? pleased?"

"I couldn't have asked for anything better... how about you? Engineering, I've never been able to figure that sort of stuff out, small devices, sure, but huge ships? No way!" replied Nathan.

[Shadow Reeves]

how about you? Engineering, I've never been able to figure that sort of stuff out, small devices, sure, but huge ships? No way!" replied Nathan.

"yeah" he replied trying hard to add the right emphasis to convey his meaning "I, mmm, yeah find that ships all alike once you cover the basic circuitry. so you create things as well?"

[NRG]

"I, mmm, yeah find that ships all alike once you cover the basic circuitry. so you create things as well?"

"Not exactly. I like taking things apart, seeing what makes them tick. You know, analyse stuff. It's just a hobby."

[Shadow Reeves]

"Not exactly. I like taking things apart, seeing what makes them tick. You know, analyse stuff. It's just a hobby."

"oh right, thats kinda how i started. but it was with mining machinery...so do you know your way around here? i missed breakfast to get here on time."

[NRG]

"oh right, thats kinda how i started. but it was with mining machinery...so do you know your way around here? i missed breakfast to get here on time."

"Not really, my first time in space. But, I only had a bad bag of chips before arriving here, so I'll come with you. There should be some signs here..."

[Shadow Reeves]

"Not really, my first time in space. But, I only had a bad bag of chips before arriving here, so I'll come with you. There should be some signs here..."

Jerrome looked around at the other group members just mingling and chatting which sparked the question directed at the etha more than Nathan. "Do we have time? are we meant to be somewhere?"

[Nikhil]

“Mr. Astero. Everything in your profile indicates a very intelligent and talented young man who lacks confidence and prefers to stay out of combat. I wouldn’t dare waste your talents, because you love computers so much I want you at the Quantum Computer Core learning the ins and outs of our ship computer. Title: Technology officer."

"That's done it," Arc thought. He had studied how a Quantum Computer Core works but had never handled it. Simulators were there, but they didn't give one the feel of a real machine. The real machine buzzed with life but the simulator was still a cold imitation.

"oh right, thats kinda how i started. but it was with mining machinery...so do you know your way around here? i missed breakfast to get here on time."

"Not really, my first time in space. But, I only had a bad bag of chips before arriving here, so I'll come with you. There should be some signs here..."

"Signs here, what do you mean?" interjected Arc and added, "No breakfast, well me too!"

[Evil Flamingo]

Ms. Trinery. I know that you also have experience in spaceflight. I know about what happened to your family, damn shame, those Marauders will all have what’s coming to them one day. I know that you have revenge on the mind, just be patient, I can promise you that you’ll get your chance to kill plenty of them. You may have an aptitude for navigation, I would like you to be my woman on the navigation deck. Title: Navigation officer

Someday…someday I will kill every last mother-****ing Marauder as violently as I can imagine. But as for now, Navigation is a good enough position as any.

Trin saluted the officer as they were dismissed and moved with the rest of the group out of the room. David jumped for apparent joy and JJ was fuming after they moved out of there. What did you expect guys? Some of you were going to get things you wanted and others weren’t, it’s the first assignment anyways. Trin was quite glad she was placed on the navigation deck though. Her father had kept her with him for many hours up on his navigation deck, teaching her all the ends of the universe, and how to plot and set courses very well. More than once had she threaded needles in navigation, and made the pilot’s job too easy. It was part of her life before and became a part again. This was probably the best deck, except for maybe engineering, that she could have been put on. And it moves me forward towards my own ship.

Everyone talked excitedly around Trin, and she just leaned comfortably against the wall. She stared off towards JJ, watching his emotions change as his acceptance of his new assignment came to him.

Well hey, congrats everyone. Did we all get what we were aiming for?

A good enough position I’d say, at least for myself. There are things I’d like to be doing more, but navigation works. How about yourself? What were you aiming for? And don’t tell it’s what you were assigned, because everyone knows that’s a lie.” You wanted to be pilot didn’t you? Well, I think you’ll find out you probably have the most interesting job of us all. I envy you as well.

[jonathan hernandez13]

"Signs here, what do you mean?---no breakfast, well me too!" Arc said.

"Typical of Aerospace, always thinking with your stomachs. Come on guys, I'll show you the way back to the chow hall, maybe we can catch a Centipede transport and talk along the way." Pappy said.

[Roric]

Austin was pleased with his promotion. He was more looking forward to the wealth of data available to him now than assisting in the actual duties of the intelligence core. He would play his part of course and assist where necessary. A mixed sense of excitement and anticipation coursed through his body, he was ready for this mission and to take advantage of his new position.

"Come on, lets get this show on the road," he said.

[Lebby]

"What were you aiming for? And don’t tell it’s what you were assigned, because everyone knows that’s a lie.”

My stomach lurched, I had been completely oblivious to JJ's frustration. '****, I must have looked like such a smug tosser,' I thought angrily.

"I'm sorry JJ, I had no idea, erm. What was it you said earlier? Fight me- Oh yeah, Fight me for the pilots seat. Well uh, if thats what you really want, I have no problems swapping over every now and again, to let you have a little go at the reins," I smiled warmly, trying to make up for my ignorance, "So what do you say?"

[NRG]

"Typical of Aerospace, always thinking with your stomachs. Come on guys, I'll show you the way back to the chow hall, maybe we can catch a Centipede transport and talk along the way."

Nathan followed Pappy to the Centipede. "So, do you know when we should be leaving?"

[Headroller]

"What were you aiming for? And don’t tell it’s what you were assigned, because everyone knows that’s a lie.”

I pointed a thumb at David, "A comfy seat and a view of course..."

"I'm sorry JJ, I had no idea, erm. What was it you said earlier? Fight me- Oh yeah, Fight me for the pilots seat. Well uh, if thats what you really want, I have no problems swapping over every now and again, to let you have a little go at the reins. So what do you say?"

I raised my eyebrows in a look of stern appraisal, taking a moment to think of what to say. Weak? Or simply too accommodating? Weak? Accommodating? Weak? Accommodating? Weak? Accommodating...?

Would I even get my own ship command at this rate...?

I breathed a sigh of resignation, "Don't worry about it man, I was just pulling your chain. C'mon," I lightly clapped both of them on their backs, "Let's go get some grub." We walked after the Chief and the others.

[jonathan hernandez13]

"So, do you know when we should be leaving?" The kid names Nathan asked as he followed Pappy to the Centipede like a puppy. New boots were almost cute.

"Yes, ASAP. You know how it is in the fleet, hurry up and wait. In the fleet if you're early you're on time, if you're on time you're late, and if you're late you're UA. I dunno, hypno briefing said to catch the liner at late afternoon, enough time for us to ****, shower, shave and change into our civilian disguises. My advice? Get some good food in your belly now, it's gonna be a long trip to Europa." Pappy chuckled to himself, thinking about that one time at a bar in Europa when he got into a fight with some rowdy jarheads. Good times, and a few missing teeth to remember them.

The boots were going to love Europa, he could tell. The lady-killer would probably proposition the hookers, the little one with the penchant for computers would end up getting jumped in an alley by organ pirates, and the girl would end up getting into a fight with some dumb fleet kids on shore leave trying to pick her up.

OOC: UA = unauthorized absence, same as AWOL, or absent without leave

[Shadow Reeves]

Jerrome was beginning to feel just a little uncomfortable with all the extra crew now heading to the lunch room. he didnt like people - they confused him - unlike computers which did exactly what they were told, and even told you how to fix them. Humanoids didnt come with manuals, "perhaps the manual would be more scary than the people" he thought to himself.

In the fleet if you're early you're on time, if you're on time you're late, and if you're late you're UA.
eager to avoid awkward conversations about guns and women, and considering he knew little of the latter Jerrome suggested "Should we head to the ship and get some food there instead?"

[jonathan hernandez13]

"Should we head to the ship and get some food there instead?"Jerrome asked.

"If you want, but you better bring a spacesuit because the transport isn't in dock yet. Harr harr harr. Come on kid, lighten up, a little space humor." Pappy said and slapped the new kid on the shoulder.

[Shadow Reeves]

"If you want, but you better bring a spacesuit because the transport isn't in dock yet. Harr harr harr. Come on kid, lighten up, a little space humor."


Jerrome shruged off the big mans hand and feeling a little resigned to his fate followed the group to the lunch room. and although his hands were itching to get back to work on his many small projects, if his stomach was to complain any louder someone might be able to pick it up on a phonic interlave detector. As he thought of this a smile crossed his lips, but quickly vanished.

[Nikhil]

Arc walked towards the lunch room with the group hoping that he would get a good, tasty meal. He hadn't eaten for the day and was ravenous although he didn't have a good appetite.

"Food, is one of the exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, along with money and love," he thought, "Well, it isn't true because of scientific reasons but those magicians never know anything. They make silly laws to make up for their incompetence."

"The same is said about the earlier scientists. They make laws for what is possible and what is not possible to hide their own blank gaps of knowledge," he thought.

[Lebby]

I smiled as JJ lead us to the lunch room, the last thing I wanted was to get into fights with JJ over who was flying the ship.

"Lovely girls on Europa, very... liberal minded, shall we say," I chuckled slyly.

After a minute or so's walk I reached the lunchroom a little ways ahead of the others, my appetite driving me. I remember reading something about the male mind, and it only recognising the three f's: Female, Food, Freat. I laughed aloud as I loaded my tray with an assortment of edible, if bland, grub. I emptied more then one of the food dispensers, which accounted for some angry grumbles behind me in the line.

I sat at an empty bench, and tore into my food ravenously, waiting for the others to catch up.

[NRG]

Nathan grabbed a plate of strange looking food and looked for a table. David had sat down in a table by the corner, and, knowing how important it was to be able to trust each other in a mission like this, he decided it would be a good idea to get to know David a bit more. He placed his plate down and sat across the table.

"Looking forward to the mission?"

[Lebby]

"Looking forward to the mission?"

I grinned at Nathan, "Definitely, got my ideal role too."

I held my hand out, "I know your name, but I don't think we ever got properly acquainted, I'm Carter."

I winked, "So, looking forward to the ladies on Europa?"

[Shadow Reeves]

Jerrome waited patiently in line before pulling the 'chicken soup' handle and grabbing a few slices of toast. of all the food served in space Jerrome felt that chicken soup was the closest to what it is actually meant to taste like - and it was still a fair way off.

on approach to the table he heard one of the team ask Nathan
"So, looking forward to the ladies on Europa?"
wanting no part in the conversation he stopped short and sat sat at the table before them, pulled out his grubby looking pocket sized 'advanced sudoku' book and stared at a blank puzzle while eating his soup. he tried to build them mentally - and generally succeeded.

[NRG]

"So, looking forward to the ladies on Europa?"

"Yeah, I hear they're pretty different from the women on Earth, not sure if that's a good thing or not... you got any experience with them?"

[Lebby]

"Yeah, I hear they're pretty different from the women on Earth, not sure if that's a good thing or not... you got any experience with them?"

I burst out laughing, thumping the table with my fist, I beamed at Nathan when I calmed down, "Experience? Well, heh, I guess you could say that."

I winked, and gave him a nudge, "And trust me, its a good thing. Girls from Europa, much more game for a laugh, down to earth, beautiful eyes. Earth girls, are a tad more stuck up my friend."

I leaned back and took a swig of water, swirling it around in my mouth, as though I was sampling a fine wine, "Ahhh... We're gunna have to get you educated young Nathan... You up for that?"

[NRG]

"Ahhh... We're gunna have to get you educated young Nathan... You up for that?"

"I'm in space and about to head onto an undercover mission... so, to answer your question, hell yeah!"

[Lebby]

"I'm in space and about to head onto an undercover mission... so, to answer your question, hell yeah!"

I guffawed, then nodded my approval, "I like your enthusiasm mate. And since your the mission planner Im obliged to agree. Your orders were of course, get to Europa, then get to the nearest brothel or bar right? Im sure I heard you say that..."

[NRG]

"Your orders were of course, get to Europa, then get to the nearest brothel or bar right? Im sure I heard you say that..."

"Something along those lines," answered Nathan, "So long as that other guy, Star Wolf doesn't mind... or notice."

[Lebby]

"Something along those lines," answered Nathan, "So long as that other guy, Star Wolf doesn't mind... or notice."

"Don't worry he won't... I know how to get past nosy officers," I said smugly, brushing my casual slacks.

I gestured around generally, "So Nate, what do you think of the others?"

[NRG]

"So Nate, what do you think of the others?"

Nathan looked around. "They seem nice. I still haven't really gotten to know everyone yet so I can't say too much." Nathan took a chunk out of his bread which nearly cracked his teeth. he put the remaining bread back down on the plate reminding himself not to eat it. "How about you? What're your thoughts on these guys?"

[Lebby]

"How about you? What're your thoughts on these guys?"

I gathered my thoughts, and looked at the ceiling, "I like JJ, for obvious reasons, he's damn near identical to me. When I first met Trin, I thought 'average trying to be tough and macho hollywood girl,' but theres something more to her behind those eyes. Just a hunch. The new guy? Jerome, he seems quite a bit like Arc, shy, into technology. Im sure those two will get along famously. Ermmmm, whats his name, Austin? Yeah, he's a bit of a cynical bastard, by ain't cynacism and skepticism what keeps the army from getting sent into incredibly stupid scenarios? So I reckon he'll make a good intelligence officer. Oh and Pappy's a good man, he'll look after you. I've met him a few times, and Im pretty sure he hates my guts, even though I admire the bugger."

I glanced back at Nathan, "And as for you, well, I'll turn you into a sleazy womanising bastard yet!"

[NRG]

"And as for you, well, I'll turn you into a sleazy womanising bastard yet!"

"Yeah, don't worry the job shouldn't be as tough as it seems..." Nathan took a quick look at his watch. It was old and barely worn anymore, but the watch seemed like the best thing to Nathan. "We should probably get going, the ship'll be leaving soon and as Pappy said, if you're on time you're late."

[Lebby]

"We should probably get going, the ship'll be leaving soon and as Pappy said, if you're on time you're late."

I nodded agreement, finished my last morsels of food, sat up, then swaggered in the direction of the docking bay.

[Evil Flamingo]

Trin sat with the others as they ate and talked, but didn't really have much to say. The guys mostly talked about women and whatever else seemed to be their minds, all of which really had nothing to do with her, and so she didn't particularly care about it.

The food tasted slightly better than the freight "food plan" she was used to, consisting of "whatever the hell this is" and "that ****ing slimey thing," but it wasn't like it a restaurant or anything. It was subsistence and she knew it and didn't particularly mind. Wha'd I expect?

And as for you, well, I'll turn you into a sleazy womanising bastard yet!

This comment from David almost made Trin choke on her food. It was too funny for her to keep a straight face. Seeing this young corrupted might be fun to watch. The thought amused her for a few minutes as she tried to play off the choking on her food as nothing. I better not be the test for him though. And I'll feel bad for the poor bastard if I am. But I'll be glad to watch him fail a few times at the bars; always a good laugh. Trin couldn't help a small grin on her face.

She finished off the food and saw that the rest of the crew seemed to be getting ready to get out of here. I know I sure am.

[jonathan hernandez13]

Pappy helped himself to the split pea soup and listened as the new jacks chatted up.

"Good, become each others' friends, these will be the guys who will have your backs when the poop hits the fans", Pappy thought and smiled to himself. He decided to sit a little way from the junior officers, it was their mission more than his, he was just there until they didn't need the training wheels anymore.

Some of them were joking about hookers on Europa and Star Wolf probably being a nice guy. The only tail they were gonna see was the ass end of a transport, and Star Wolf was possibly the biggest asshole in the galaxy.

After the kids were done stuffing their traps he looked them over, looked at his chronometer, and looked back at them.

"You guys better get changed into your civie disguises, we'll have to board soon. Double time it, I'll be meeting you at the hub docking port when you're done. If you're late, your ass is grass and I'm a lawnmower, remember."

[Nikhil]

After eating his delicious meal, Arc got up and heard Pappy say:

"You guys better get changed into your civie disguises, we'll have to board soon. Double time it, I'll be meeting you at the hub docking port when you're done. If you're late, your ass is grass and I'm a lawnmower, remember."

"I'm already in my disguise, it's the others who need to change," he said, amused.

The others, apparently had taken to showing off in their military uniforms and will now have to change. He, however was already in a civil disguise for his own convenience. While, the others would change he would have enough time to complete the optional mission of Immaculate Interverse Part 4.

[Lebby]

I made a brief detour into the bathroom, where I donned my civies. A brown leather flight jacket, white undershirt, and well fitting grey trousers, tucked into cargo boots left me looking like a dashing space adventurer. I chuckled to myself, sweeping my hair out of my blue eyes. I winked to myself in the mirror, then exited the bathroom. I saw a pretty girl with blonde curls, leaning against the wall. A lonely expression was evident on her fine face. Brimming with charisma I strode to where she stood. Two minutes later I was walking back the way I came with an angry red slap mark on my cheek.

"Can't all be winners," I murmured, rubbing my features, before setting off to the docking bay.

[NRG]

Nathan got changed and went on his way to the ship. It didn't feel right, wearing casuals while at the same time ready to take orders...
Waiting by the ship was Arc. "Hey Arc, how's it going?"

[Nikhil]

"Hey Arc, how's it going?"

"Great," Arc said, "I needn't have changed, I already civilized. Just beat the optional mission of Immaculate Interverse Part 4."

The mission was quite easy and he finished it without any trouble. The stage's boss was pretty weak and it did not take much ammo off the protagonist.

[Evil Flamingo]

Looking like a civilian was an easy enough job, just slip of the fitted uniform and wear the normal work attire, or whatever was handy at the moment. Trin put on a sleeve-less, black top, some cargo pants, her usual green hat, and work boots. She looked like any hard-ass employee in down time between jobs, always on the constant prowl for a new captain to hire them. The only thing she really kept the same was the platinum chain around her neck, with her mother's cross. Her mother may not have meant much to her while she was living on her home vessel, since her father had taken her under his wing, but since she had long since left there was a need to remember her.

Trin looked at herself in the mirror and was pleased enough. She knew she might turn a few heads, at least the ones who were after working girls, and not the pets to mess around with all day. But she also knew she was on a mission, and that she could move quite readily and easily in these clothes. Nothing would wear her down.

After she left the room, Trin joined the others and almost laughed the red slap mark on David's face. "Already? Hasn't been...what...ten minutes yet. Nice job." She hinted a mocking tone for him, but couldn't really pull it off. Nice show for the womanizer in training eh?

[Headroller]

I'd laughed along with the guys over lunch but was stuffing my face too fast to make any comments. Some others nearby gawked at the huge pile of food and the several bowls of "food" that I had in front of me, all of which were nearly done by the time David and Nathan had finished eating half of their trays. I used the extra time to go change into my street clothes.

A brightly colored Hawaiian shirt and a pair of faded jeans all topped off with a necklace of kola nuts made me into the vision of a island-bound star-tourist. I even bought a tanning spray from a station convenience store to finish the look, now my pale face and limbs were a sun-drenched brown. No one would think I'd ever spent a day out of the sun.

Grinning to myself in the bathroom mirror, I gave myself a wink and grabbed my satchel, leaving the bathroom just in time to see David get slapped by a pretty blond girl. Owch! He retreated into the crowd, headed for the docking port.

A mischevious thought came to mind. Add to that my inflated ego after changing my appearance, I walked to the woman who was now glaring after David's retreating back. A short exchange of words later and we walked arm in arm, onwards after my defeated friend.

I caught up with him a short time later, being teased by Trin. "Already? Hasn't been...what...ten minutes yet. Nice job."

I grinned and whispered to the bombshell next to me, "Watch this."

We walked up behind him and putting on an angry expression, I said loudly, "Excuse me sir, do you want to repeat what you said to my wife just a moment ago to me?" I winked at the two of them out of sight of my 'wife', urging them to play along.

[Lebby]

"Excuse me sir, do you want to repeat what you said to my wife just a moment ago to me?"

It took me a second to appreciate the comical situation I had landed myself in. I pulled an agressive expression, and approached JJ, entering his personal bubble. I stopped when I was an inch away from his face, 'Talk about pouring salt on the wound mate,' I whispered.

Then I gave him a rough shove, and sneered, "Yeah, I said she'd look good chained up and smothered in melted chocolate. You wanna make something of it mate?" I threatened in a mock redneck accent.

[NRG]

"Great," Arc said, "I needn't have changed, I already civilized. Just beat the optional mission of Immaculate Interverse Part 4."


"Never played that game, I'm not too in to that sort of stuff," replied Nathan.

"Excuse me sir, do you want to repeat what you said to my wife just a moment ago to me?"


Nathan turned around to see a nice looking blonde with JJ confronting Carter. Deciding to let it pass, Nathan stood back, he was sure the two had some sort of plan. He looked around, some of the others were still missing...

[Headroller]

I stepped away from the blond to square off with David. He came in closer and whispered, 'Talk about pouring salt on the wound mate,'

'I'm having fun, but I got a reason,' I replied.

He gave me a shove and sneered, "Yeah, I said she'd look good chained up and smothered in melted chocolate. You wanna make something of it mate?" I threatened in a mock redneck accent.

A crowd was gathering now, the smell of blood was in the air. Out of the corner of my eye I saw far behind David and Trin a small group of guards started taking bets. I inwardly grinned, The more attention we get, the better this will be.

In reaction to the comment I brought my face into a furious scowel, arching my body over the shorter man threateningly. "D*** hillbilly! Didn't your mamma teach you how to address a lady! I think I need to teach you a new lesson!" I let loose an obvious right hook and caught David in the gut, lifting him off the ground. Literally lifting him; I slowed the punch at the last moment to a snails pace and mostly pushed upwards on the bottom of his ribcage with my knuckles.

David splayed onto the ground. I advanced menacingly, "Oh, I'm not done with you yet you rude twit!"

[Lebby]

"Oh, I'm not done with you yet you rude twit!"

On the ground, struggling not to laugh, I retorted, "Neither am I!"

With that I rolled to the side, scrambled to my feet, and leapt at JJ's legs. He fell back on the floor, and I sat myself upon his chest, fist raised.

"I'm gunna mess that pretty face of yours up!" In a lower voice I murmured, "Do something, I don't know how to fake beating your face bloody."

[NRG]

Carter and JJ were really getting into it now, their fight actually looked believable. Nathan took a few steps closer so he could really see the action.

[Lebby]

OOC: Sorry man Im off to bed now. I give you permission to write Carters actions until morning :D

[Shadow Reeves]

after Jerrome finished his brunch and his puzzle, he took from everyone elses action that it was time to get moving. He was headding in the direction of the change rooms when he recognised one of the other team members - whose name he haddent got yet - arm in arm with someone he didnt know, his sister perhaps?

Jerrome had chosen blacks, basic baggy black trousers and a black jumper with a hood and a gray gothic print across the front. after bagging up his army uniform and dropping it down a garbage shute "they will forgive me" he thought "it is an undercover mission after all"

leaving the changing rooms and heading towards the ship proved somewhat more difficult that anticipated. a huge crowed had gathered and at some end the spaceport security yelling and pushing and beginning to blow on their supersonic whistles, basic crowd control which made those in close proximity collapse to the ground clutching their ears and head in pain.

A little bit awestruck and out of his comfort zone Jerrome tried to avoid the mess completly but ended up being pushed into the center by the press of people; where he saw his two military chums slugging it out - and although no one was bleeding yet- it was probably only a matter of time.
now in the situation and on the edge of the circle he said loud enough to be heard by the two Neandathals "way to be inconspicious guys" then continued pushing through the crowed towards the ship.

[Evil Flamingo]

Trin whispered and shook her head at the three officers causing all the trouble, "what the ****..." Then she walked off, feeling slightly embarrassed to have tried to be nice with this lot of idiots. SHe sat down at a table a little ways away and just watched like a slightly curios civilian from a distance. This is probably the worst possible thing that could happen on a damn undercover mission.

She shook her head again as she watched the crowd and the confrontation. Then whispered again. "What the **** are they doing?" We better not be screwed by this. And I'm not taking a single bit of the blame.

[jonathan hernandez13]

Station security ran to the center of the crowd with batons and restraints at the ready. They saw the two boots wrestling on the deck and approached, ready to break them up. Just in time Pappy stepped in front of them and waved them off.

"S'kay guys, I'll take care of these two knuckleheads, they're friends of mine. They had one too many drinks at Killian's and are fighting over a chick. You know how it is, I'll make sure they stay out of trouble," Pappy said as convincingly as he could manage, at first it didn't work. The guards looked at the two officers and then back at Pappy, deciding they didn't need to throw two kids in jail if they had a babysitter with them.

"Get the hell outta here, now."

"You bet fellers, we're on our way to Europa, vacation."

"Yeah yeah, whatever, get the **** outta dodge before we bring in our supervisor, who just might throw you all in jail."

The guards walked off, breaking up the crowd and restoring order on the station.

"So let me guess this straight, you two mutts decide to act like a couple of ten year old brats on a crowded space station before a major mission. And the rest of you mutts just watched like a couple of tourists! You have rocks in your heads or what? If we didn't have to leave I would have left your sorry butts in a holding cell until we came back from Ceres. You try a stunt like that on Europa and I'll make sure that you get transferred to the solar storm station on Triton. Now fall in, you apes. All of you, get yer butts on that transport."

[NRG]

Nathan did as he was told and boarded the ship. He spent ten minutes staring around him in awe. He had never seen a ship this big. The others went in too, most of them weren't as surprised, they'd been in space before.

[Lebby]

I boarded the transport, then pulled Pappy aside.

"Sarge, that fight weren't real. JJ told me he were doing it for a reason, so I went along with it. Its important to trust your fellow soliders right? Isn't that what you always say? So, why don't we waltz to JJ and find out why he was doing, what he was doing. Could be important," I pointed to where JJ stood in the transport.

[jonathan hernandez13]

Pappy facepalmed.

"It's good to hear that the fight wasn't real, but the attention you were attracting was. Do you mooks understand the meaning of low profile? Now get your paws off me...and stop calling me sarge, dammit! I am a Master Chief in the United Earth Aerospace Force. You see JJ you give him a blow in the temple for me, I'm too angry at you pups to look at you."

[Lebby]

"You see JJ you give him a blow in the temple for me, I'm too angry at you pups to look at you."

I thumbed my forehead, and nodded at Pappy, "Understood chief."

I then sauntered over to where JJ stood, "Mate, I got into **** for that. What was it about? What was your plan?"

[Headroller]

I was starting to have a little bit too much fun with the 'fight', so much that I took too long to end it. As soon as I saw Sarge waving off a pair of guards out of the corner of my eye, I knew my plan was blown to space dust and my gamble to assure our cover was lost. I knew he was a good military man, but he had no concept of finesse.

"Aww s***," I moaned, pushing David off with an effortless shove and standing up to meet the chewing out I knew I was going to get, not even bothering to try and signal the Chief away.

The onslaught of words and spittle, laced with far too many connotations to the UEAF to repair our cover, left me unfazed from the acceptance that we were royally ****ed. As the Chief and David headed to the loading dock, I turned to the bombshell I had convinced into being my accomplice.

"Sorry," I shook her hand, sticking a small roll of bills into it, "Didn't quite go as planned. Fortune on you miss," I said, jogging off after my superior.

In the ship's head, I was washing off the spray tan with it's removing solution, now a useless and soon-to-be itchy disguise, when David approached me. "Mate, I got into **** for that. What was it about? What was your plan?"

"Well," I sighed, turnning off the tap to face him, half of my face still a deep tan, the other a startling white in comparison, "It was supposed to deepen our cover. If the spies had access to survailance, very likely, they probably knew who we were the minute we got onto the station, almost a certainty, and would also have noticed us dressed in civvies and boarding on a civilian shuttle headed for one of the most inhospitable stations to tourists in the system, too good of a chance. If they did all that, then our operation would be comprimised. They'd know that something was up, use resources on Europa to tail us to Star Wolf and then onwards to wherever we're headed after that." I kept my voice in a level monotone, but I was visibly deflated.

"The idea was to make it clear we were not the same people who had gotten onto the station only a day before. We didn't know eachother, I had a 'wife', etcetra, etcetra. If we were lucky it would've thrown any spies that had survailance off our trail until we reached Europa and dropped off the grid. But obviously, that didn't work too well."

OCC: It would be retarded funny if the blond bombshell woman was the spy.

[Evil Flamingo]

Trin walked to the transport feeling pretty pissed off for being berated for something she had no part of. Somehow, everything I do is wrong. What the ****? But she fell in behind the rest of the crew and moved towards the transport.

As she she entered the the transport, she heard the tail end of a one-sided argument between Gunthar and David, sounding like David was on the losing end. Good. Deserved for pulling **** like that. She leaned on a wall nearby and watched a disgruntled Gunthar come charging on by, not noticing her off to the side, which was certainly for the better. David came out to meet his idiot in crime JJ soon after. There better not be any more of that crap. I better listen in to make sure. The two didn't notice her leaning on the wall off to the side.

JJ told David what the original purpose for this mock fight was for. And you expected that to actually work? She couldn't help but speak her mind at this point. It was a decent plan with a few major flaws.

She approached the two slowly, and coolly. "The plan might have worked if maybe...I don't know...at least one other person knew what was goin' on. You left everyone hanging and now on Gunthar's bad-side." She didn't want to chastise him for the incident, but there really wasn't anything good to say. "What did you expect to really happen?"

[Headroller]

Before David replied, Trin joined in on the discussion, "The plan might have worked if maybe...I don't know...at least one other person knew what was goin' on. You left everyone hanging and now on Gunthar's bad-side."

I raised an eyebrow, Gunthar? Who, Pappy?

"What did you expect to really happen?"

"Not an intervention by the Chief, that's for sure. I'd only thought of the plan a few minutes before we were to board, how could I have communicated with all of you guys without raising suspicion on the cameras?" I sighed an leaned against the wall.

"Whatever, we'll just need to be discrete when we get to Europa. All in all, no harm done. We never really had a cover to begin with..."

[Evil Flamingo]

Whatever, we'll just need to be discrete when we get to Europa. All in all, no harm done. We never really had a cover to begin with...

Little cover is a Hell of a lot better than no cover. Trin was overly dissatisfied with the answer she received, but knew arguing would be fruitless. Instead she just brushed off the comment and leaned back against another wall nearby, locking her foot down so it was nearly comfortable to be there like that.

"Hopefully we can be discreet enough on Europa. It could turn into a mess, or absolutely nothing, which would be an almost worse option, if we aren't discreet enough. We'll see what happens though. It probably won't be that bad." What's with the optimism? I'm not cheery. She couldn't figure out that her mind was telling her to make friends with the people she was with on the ship. They could help her some day. Maybe that day would be sooner rather than later, but that's for fate to decide. As far as she thought though, it depends all on herself.

[Lebby]

"Whatever, we'll just need to be discrete when we get to Europa. All in all, no harm done. We never really had a cover to begin with..."

"Hopefully we can be discreet enough on Europa. It could turn into a mess, or absolutely nothing, which would be an almost worse option, if we aren't discreet enough. We'll see what happens though. It probably won't be that bad."

I nodded.

"Whoever's calling the shots must be pants on head retarded. Instead of sending spies with actual covers that they've developed, and have false proof, they send us! I get the feeling good looks don't get us as far as it does in the vids for this spying milarky," I sighed.

"Sorry Trin. Your right, I was stupid. No more buggerising around. We don't pull anything else and things will hopefully be fine." I bowed my head respectfully, acknowledging my stupidity.

[Evil Flamingo]

Whoever's calling the shots must have their head lodged up their ass. Instead of sending spies with actual covers that they've developed, and have false proof, they send us!

Trin turned towards David. "I'll agree with that to no end though. Unless there's something the spies can't deal with that's waiting for us. I have no idea." Could they be sending us in to spring an enemies trap? Are we the bait for the fleet to spring upon?

Trin then heard his apology and it snapped her out of her worries and thoughts.

[Headroller]

"I'll agree with that to no end though. Unless there's something the spies can't deal with that's waiting for us." Or something they don't want to waste their well-trained spies on... is that good(cakewalk assignment), or bad(we're merely pawns)?

A chime sounded, warning passengers to find their seats in preparation for the beginning of the voyage. "Well, enough conspiring in the Men's room, lets go strap in." I led the way out and to our seats, following the assigned seats on my ticket. Some of the rest of the team was already there, I grinned but offered no explanation for what happened.

If someone is curious, they can ask.

[NRG]

Nathan sat down in his seat and strapped in...

"So... what was up with that fight you guys had... It actually looked a little realistic..." he asked Carter and JJ.

[Lebby]

"So... what was up with that fight you guys had... It actually looked a little realistic..."

"I insulted his wife," I jerked my head at JJ.

"Nah mate, just kidding, all fake. Ask Mr Braniac here if you want the details he was the mastermind," I explained nudging JJ.

[NRG]

"Nah mate, just kidding, all fake. Ask Mr Braniac here if you want the details he was the mastermind,"

Nathan turned his head to JJ in hopes of an explanation, that fight had caused a lot of attention, not exactly the best thing in an undercover mission...

[Headroller]

Nathan looked at me expectantly, curiously and with a bit of concern it seemed.

I sighed, "How many times will I have to repeat it I wonder... There was a good chance we were seen by the spies on the station, both arriving and when we'd depart. New Midshipmen leaving so soon in civilian clothing on a civilian spaceliner? It'd take a numbskull to not figure something was unusual and have a tail waiting for us on Europa. The fight was my attempt to confuse them a bit. Not very successful, eh?" I gave a pointed glance at the Chief.

[NRG]

"Oh, makes sense now. So, does the chief know what your plan was or does he just think you were making complete asses of yourselves?" asked Nathan. He turned and the chief's expression basically answered his question. The chief looked pissed, no longer his cool self, but instead a huge frown across his face and menacing looking eyes.

[jonathan hernandez13]

The civilian transport liner is not luxurious, it is a cheap ride and you can tell that the Aerospace Force has been very frugal with their budget. The bays are cramped, crowded, you have to share it with immigrants from Earth. Many of them sound sick, many are coughing, loudly. Some of them will be staying on Europa, some are only using Europa as a way station (because Europa is an icy world, it’s resources make it a common stopping point in the system). Some of the immigrants are on their way to another system, or have nowhere to go but can't stay one place for long because of wanderlust.

You and the immigrants are not the only passenger on the liner, some vermin have hitched a ride too. Luckily the extermination drones catch all the rats, but the smaller bugs always seem to find a way to sneak in.

Looking out of the porthole you can see amazingly bright points, like stars, but closer and brighter; you know that they are the torch type fusion drives of starships. The fusion drives are so powerful that they are like small suns, a danger to commercial ships and any planet in range of their exhaust. The torch drives are limited when in an inner system for that reason, it also makes it very difficult for starships to hide from an enemy.

[NRG]

A woman walked by, offering drinks to everyone. Grabbing a plastic cup of water, Nathan was about to take a sip when a he noticed a small brown thing at the bottom... A cockroach flew out of the cup and left Nathan. He had just lost any slight appetite he had left...

[Lebby]

I lounged back as best I could in the cramped seat and thought about the spy we were going to take down. Earning his trust... That was something I reckon I could do quite well. I was a good actor, I was confident, and good for a laugh. I cracked my knuckles, and frowned, I still didn't like this task at all. I was many things, but I wasn't a liar. I hated deception, being strung along, betrayed, and thats what I was going to do to someone else.

I closed my eyes, and whispered to my comrades, "So, whos gunna be doing the talking to this spy?"

[NRG]

"So, whos gunna be doing the talking to this spy?"

Depends who has the most in common with the spy. If the spy knows everything about how things work, probably Arc or Jerrome. But, I wouldn't talk too much about the spy, people could be listening... talk about something else, something civilians would talk about." replied Nathan.

[Evil Flamingo]

Trin got as comfortable as she could in the seats. She had never actually been in a civilian transport, and didn't think much of it.

So, whos gunna be doing the talking to this spy?

"I'd rather we find out who they are and shoot them behind the knees. Seeing them try to run then might be a little amusing." And interrogating them would be even more interesting. Trin was a rather cold person to begin with, but when it came to underground enemies such as these, whom she put on the same scale as common ship boarders, there was no saving them. "...maybe torch their skin with a welder till they told us everything we needed to know." The reality was that she would whole-heartedly consider this as an option if it was presented to her.

She then heard Nathan's response and shut her mouth. How could I let myself go like that? God dammit.

[Lebby]

I nodded at Nathans response, and winced at Trin's cruel methods.

"But really, if this is the UEAF's chance to uncover an entire spy ring, why are they sending a bunch of boots who will more likely than not, botch the whole thing," I murmured. I was sure no one could hear.

"I know I've said this before but it really doesn't make sense. Somethings up. Maybe this is an incredibly long and overdone training excercise?"

[Evil Flamingo]

Trin had already agreed with David's statement long before he had said it now. What are we here for? She thought about it for a few seconds. "Are we an expendable recon? Maybe we're going in in civilian clothing so that the UEAF doesn't have to take any blame for it, but assure them of the martian's intents. Maybe we're not supposed to come out of this alive." She made sure no one was listening in other than David, and possibly Nathan. "But if that's the case, I'm going to make for damn sure I make it out of there alive...and return the UEAF their favor." If that's the case, I'm going to burn every last ****ing one of you.

[NRG]

"...Maybe we're not supposed to come out of this alive."

Good point, remember, in the beginning, they didn't want Pappy coming with us... Then again, Carter could be right, this could just be one big training exercise," Nathan added.

[Lebby]

"Good point, remember, in the beginning, they didn't want Pappy coming with us... Then again, Carter could be right, this could just be one big training exercise"

I laughed outloud, then returned to my low voice, "Unlikely. Think about it, why would the UEAF want us dead? We're new boots, boots that the UEAF is desperate for, and we haven't done anything that would warrant a shady 'no return' mission. More likely someones just been put into a position of power because they have tits the size of asteroids, and are mind blowing in bed."

[Evil Flamingo]

Trin turned and looked at David with a more serious and annoyed face than she had given in a long time. You dumb ****ing punk. Why can't you get anything beyond the little you're being told? Whatever just find some whore to **** on Europa, and stay out of the rest of our ways. It was finally established as she eased back down into her seat and prepared to take a short nap for the flight; she wasn't going to find any way that she would like David.

[NRG]

"Unlikely. Think about it, why would the UEAF want us dead? We're new boots, boots that the UEAF is desperate for, and we haven't done anything that would warrant a shady 'no return' mission..."

"True, but what if we are nothing but a distraction or bait? They don't care about us, we're just some new boots, we're perfect for 'bait'... Just, don't lose your head if anything goes wrong and we might find out exactly why we're being sent..." replied Nathan. The lights slowly went dim and he noticed that the majority of passengers on the ship had fallen asleep. He'd already slept a bit, but there wasn't much else to do so he shut his eyes, waiting for what seemed like years to get some sleep.

[Lebby]

Trin glared at me, an expression of malice written on her face. I recoiled from her sudden aggression.

"True, but what if we are nothing but a distraction or bait? They don't care about us, we're just some new boots, we're perfect for 'bait'... Just, don't lose your head if anything goes wrong and we might find out exactly why we're being sent..."

"Hey im sorry Trin. It's just my opinion. I think theres something fishy about it, but Im not quite ready to believe that the UEAF wants us dead. And everyone knows they are absolutely desperate for new officers, so I don't think they would send a whole batch to be bait either. They would send some privates, or delinquents. Hmmm. Actually if delinquents are on their hit list, I best start writing my will."

[Headroller]

I listened mutely to the worried conversation with my eyes closed, staring at nothing. As if to prove the point David just made, I slipped my flask out and pushed it into his chest, "Well if thats the case they wouldn't be sending a bunch of others with us mate. Don't spend your day worrying about it, just keep and eye and an ear open."

I did my best to recline in the chairs and flung my arm over my eyes. Behind them, I did worry about what was going to happen.

[Evil Flamingo]

I'm not quite ready to believe that the UEAF wants us dead

Trin laid back in the chair and closed her eyes rather difficultly. She wanted to get into an argument, but decided it could only make matters worse. Where the hell did they pull this guy out of? Has he never seen something go completely wrong and watch people die because of it? I bet not. I bet he hasn't truly even had a near death experience, and is running on an invulnerability complex. I almost hope this mission goes bad for that reason alone.

But as to that comment about the UEAF wanting them dead, Trin said only one thing before she really started to fall asleep. "I never said they wanted us dead. All I was saying is that they would want us dead before themselves, if they had the choice as they do here." Feeling satisfied with her answer, Trin promptly fell asleep for the rest of the flight.

[jonathan hernandez13]

Pappy snorted and sat back up, had he dozed off again? He looked down, frowned, and stomped on a bug trying to climb up his pants leg.

"Damn critters sure do grow big in microgravity. I hear the really hardcore spacers eat them, har. Well it might sound gross, but they're high in protein, reproduce quick, and weigh alot less than some animals. I love steak and burgers, but cows weigh over five hundred kilos and that's just to much to put into low orbit. Now chicken, that's a fine animal..." Pappy rambled to no one in particular, wondering how the kids would do on their first mission.

I'm not gonna let them die, he thought.


The transport's deceleration engines are firing, producing negative gees that the negative energy generators are doing a great job of buffering you from. You barely notice the lunge forward as the transport begins to park itself in orbit and then carefully descend to the planet's surface. You can see Europa out of a porthole, she's a big ball of ice, the most famous one in the system.

When the transport settles down on the aerospace port pad the passengers begin to trot out, you may notice the subtle difference in gravity, it's only about 15% Earth's, you weigh as much as a child even though you're a grown adult. Even with the cabin and colony pressurized as if you were on Earth, you have to walk carefully for fear of bounding off the surface and hitting the ceiling.

"Somebody wake Trin up," Pappy said and put on his hat, a 'retired veteran's' cap, the Skipper's idea of a joke.

"As soon as these cattle hoof it out of here I want us out and at Cilicia city, I wanna meet Star Wolf as soon as possible and get this pony show started."

[Headroller]

"As soon as these cattle hoof it out of here I want us out and at Cilicia city, I wanna meet Star Wolf as soon as possible and get this pony show started."

"Should we split up Chief? We all know where we're going, right?" I'd received nearly turn-by-turn directions to the rendezvous point with Star Wolf during the hypno-briefing and was fairly sure we could all deviate and still arrive on time. Smaller groups would be easier to hide, if the Martians are really looking for us.

[jonathan hernandez13]

"Dang it JJ, I don't like the idea of splitting up, not one bit. I suppose it's---okay. Don't make me come looking for you son, I don't wanna find out you been in some bar or stripper club passed out drunk. So far you kids already nearly got us in trouble. Keep a low profile and maintain situational awareness. Meet with Star Wolf ASAP, don't go foolin' around in some souvenir shop or nuthin'. Remember that we're here on a mission, not on a damn honeymoon."

[Lebby]

"Should we split up Chief? We all know where we're going, right?"

I groaned, "Split up? Have you got a major luncheon to rush off to? Ain't you seen the vids? You never ever split up. We ain't in much of a rush... Well i suppose it may be good for staying undetected, but if one of us gets picked off, we're isolated. The others won't know."

I looked at JJ apologetically, "I can see where your getting at, but I have this gut feeling that splitting up is not a good idea. I'm sorry, I hate to shoot down your idea like that."

[NRG]

Finally. The lights came back on and a conversation begun. Nathan could get up and get on to Europa. He looked around JJ and Carter were saying something about movies and getting picked off one by one while Pappy was warning JJ not to go pass out in a strip club and saying something about Trin. As everyone began leaving the ship, Nathan noticed she was still asleep at the back. Nobody seemed to have heard Pappy so Nathan walked over to her. He reached her seat and stopped. She didn't seem like the type of person who would be happy to be disturbed... but, he had no choice. "Trin, Trin wake up..."

[Shadow Reeves]

Jerrome spent the flight with his wireless headphones buds listening to some chill-out music and attempting to remove bugs from his minature shield generator; a small metalic sphere the size of his palm. At the moment it was in half with the chips and crystal-lines exposed. like most shields energy ran along the surface of a base metal and absorbed energy weapon fire, sucking it into a capacitor and discharged. Jerrome's plan is to allow it to also stop balistic weapons, which he was testing by flicking it, he was not really having a lot of success.

upon arriving the europa port he snapped his project closed and dropped it in his pocket waiting for everyone else to leave before he too stood up and followed the press of people down the connecting tunnel and into the pristine white of the security hold where each member of the flight walked in many lines through three sections of security. first Visitors placed their belonging in a tray and had them scanned before continuing on and being scanned themselves, followed by an on the-the-spot blood test and finally with a little ink stamp were cleared to enter the planet.

Jerrome sighed as he was given the all clear to cross the yellow line that dictated whether you where 'in space' or 'on world'.

time to find some warm cloths.

[jonathan hernandez13]

The aerospace port was very advanced looking, and seemed to be a bustlng station with tourists, venders, and service robots buzzing about. Holographic advertisements beamed at you, the domes overhead show Jupiter hanging in the Europan sky like a looming phantasm. You notice that the locals are quite tall, a side effect of living on a world with significantly lesser gravity.

"Alright guys, Star Wolf should be meeting us here right around---" Pappy began saying, he was interrupted by a loud explosion. Pieces of metal began to fall from the ceiling, billowing clouds of smoke swept through the port, people began to scream.

"What the, take cover!"

Several more explosions rocked the station, security guards with dark colored ballistic armor and batons ran to investigate the source as mischievous fellows with black market ballistics weapons ran through the aerospace port. A large piece of rubble falls and hits Pappy on the head, knocking him unconscious.

"In the name of the Peon Liberation Front, we, the fighting arm of the people, claim this aerospace port from the plutocratic bourgeoisie. Unite in arms brothers and sisters!" One of the armed gunmen said and began to take potshots at the security guards, who unprepared, were beginning to back away.

A curious fellow wearing black, reflective armor of some kind snuck up to Pappy like a ninja and produced from some pocket or fold a small pistol of some kind. His hair is so blonde that it seems transluscent and his skin is very fair. His eyes are blue, and you can tell by his strange stance and body shape that he must have had some cybernetic enhancements done to his body.

"Damn terrorists, Pappy's out cold. Well, I guess you guys are the boots that UEAF HQ warned me about. I'm Star Wolf if you haven't figured it out. Here, you better take these" the stranger says and hands you all similar looking pistols.

"They're Cochrane auto ballistics, Mark I, knock-offs of the Mercurian models. They're loaded with homing ball rounds, remember to paint your targets and they shouldn't miss. I hope you remember your training, pretty soon we'll all be knee deep in you-know-what. Stand by, here they come," Star Wolf said and aimed his weapon at a hallway as some of the terrorists began to approach, their boots slapping on the deck as they run up to you. Their guns are levelled and seem to be aimed at you...

[Shadow Reeves]

Jerrome was dazed. on his back and head ringing he felt as though he had just been hit by a train. The call "Take Cover!" broke through Jerromes ringing ears and prompted him to dive behind the reception desk of a gift shop.

"In the name of the Peon Liberation Front, we, the fighting arm of the people, claim this aerospace port from the plutocratic bourgeoisie. Unite in arms brothers and sisters!"

A little shocked and now bleeding from several shallow shrapnel wounds on his left arm, leg and chest; he felt inclined to stay where he was. Still, Jerrome peeked over the desk and saw several people down for the count, and although he could not be sure, one looked like Pappy.

the rest of the group appeared to have rallied close and the heavy boots could be heard thumping down the corridor.
He needed to get the the group, but his legs failed him. for the first time in a long time. he was scared.

[Lebby]

The terrorists were filing down the hall as my heart pounded. The man handed me a gun, which I rejected, I had my own. A trusty little bugger, never jammed once. I whipped out my pistol, and had a thought.

"European Police! Your surrounded, lay down your arms, and we won't shoot!" I yelled, trying to keep our cover.

A burst of machine gun fire over my head was their aggressive rejection.

"Alright then!" I ducked out of cover, and squeezed off a couple of rounds, aiming for their legs. The first guy collapsed, his leg bleeding, and one of his comrades tripped over him, causing a ruckus amongst their ranks in the thin corridor. Grinning I took cover again as a trio of rounds found their mark a little to close to home. I wasn't ready to kill these people. I'd never killed anyone, and the first time I do, I want it to be someone who is certifiably evil. Not some misguided resistance group.

"Guys we just need to hold them here. The real cops will arrive soon enough, and we'll let them handle the stragglers. Huah?"

I cement my point I fired another bullet, which hit a dark haired mans gun arm. He fell, screaming obscenitites at me. It was then I noticed Jerome a little further down the hall, trying to crawl towards us. ****.

[jonathan hernandez13]

Wolf was surprised when the rough looking young man refused his weapon, but then his brows rose when he saw that he had a piece of his own.

"Fair enough, more ammo for me then new biscuit."

"European Police! Your surrounded, lay down your arms, and we won't shoot!" The boy yelled, Wolf frowned. Could that work?

A spurt of fully automatic ballistic fire was the PLF's answer. Unmistakable sound of Mercuian manufactured assault rifles. The damn Mercurians would sell to anyone.

"Alright then!" The bold young man jumped out at fired back at the terrorists, managing to drop one by hitting him in the legs.

"Yeah, that's the spirit! Nice shooting," Wolf hooted as one of the gunmen fell over him. One of gunmen helped his comrade up and helped him make a safe exit.

"Two with one stone, good work. We keep this up we might be able to get out of this damn aerospace port. My ship is at hangar bay seven. Can you remember that? Hangar bay seven, my ship's name is the---"

Wolf took cover as more rounds flew his way, ringing loud in the hallway corridor.

"Guys we just need to hold them here. The real cops will arrive soon enough, and we'll let them handle the stragglers. Huah?"

"As much as I might want to, we may be waiting here forever. You ask any of the locals and they'll tell you, the Europan police are a bunch of weenies. They ain't fielding the right equipment to deal with these knuckleheads. They'll send an emergency response team eventually, but we don't have time for that."

The hawkeyed kid hit another gunmen while Wolf squatted and thought of a plan.

"Well hell, now that Pappy is out of commission which one of you newbies is the leader? I got a plan."

[Shadow Reeves]

as the self proclaimed terrorists were nearing the end of the hallway Jerrome knew he had to get himself a weapon, preferably with a thermo-optical sight - he had a plan.

finally finding his feet Jerrome launched himself behind the cover of a vending machine as someone shouted "Guys we just need to hold them here. The real cops will arrive soon enough, and we'll let them handle the stragglers. Huah?"

flicking his head around the vending machine he saw the man shouting "i really hope thats wolf" he said to himself. Jerrome waited for his team member to return fire before he bridged the gap to his team.

"Well hell, now that Pappy is out of commission which one of you newbies is the leader? I got a plan."

"well i have a distraction, but it wont work once they break cover and get out of that hall way." adrenaline pumping and not waiting for a responce he grabbed the gun that was offered before activating the 'painting' laser. he poped his head out and pointed it at the hallway wall just next to a main support where he was hoping a high pressure steam-heating vent lay hidden. he clicked the laser and ducked back down.

"Ready."

[NRG]

An explosion and screams followed by gunshots sounded into the ship. Nathan looked around, Trin was still asleep. Looking through the ship window, he saw Pappy fall to the ground. There was no time to get Trin. Nathan rushed through the ship to find the others in a firefight with an unknown ally. He ran through security, the alarm going off as he did so. Oh well, somehow, I don't think security are going to ask me to go back through anytime soon... he thought. He reached the others as something flew past his head. He pulled Pappy's unconscious body behind cover and searched his pockets. He found a small gun, good enough. Popping his hand out of cover, he let out a couple of random shots and heard a grunt of pain as reward.

[Nikhil]

Arc entered the aerospace port which was just fabulous.A really busy airport. Vendors were moving about selling their stuff while robots moved hither and thither working about. The people here were quite tall and Arc felt like a dwarf.

"Alright guys, Star Wolf should be meeting us here right around---" Pappy began saying

Pappy was interrupted by a mighty explosion and could only cry out a warning when a large chunk of metal hit his head.

A man came out of nowhere and looked much more like a strange human. Translucent hair, black armour and splendid acrobatics.

"I don't think we should fight this..." Arc was saying but was interrupted immediately.

"Damn terrorists, Pappy's out cold. Well, I guess you guys are the boots that UEAF HQ warned me about. I'm Star Wolf if you haven't figured it out. Here, you better take these" the stranger says and hands you all similar looking pistols.

Arc took one of the pistols and examined it. Meanwhile, the people were gathering inside the hall and seemed enraged. He slid out of the group and hid behind a stall. He pulled out his mobile and switched on the sound amplifier and thought what to say.

"European Police! Your surrounded, lay down your arms, and we won't shoot!"

And then he heard a few shots and thought that probably someone's dead. He then yelled into his mobile which amplified his voice, "Don't listen to him. We would prefer to talk rather than fight. Non-violence is the first step to accept demands. I apologise on his behalf. You can hold your weapons while we decide on an agreement. I repeat, you can hold your guns but please do not shoot and we expect a respected organisation as yours to honour an agreement. And again, I am sorry for his behaviour."

[Nikhil]

Arc entered the aerospace port which was just fabulous.A really busy airport. Vendors were moving about selling their stuff while robots moved hither and thither working about. The people here were quite tall and Arc felt like a dwarf.

"Alright guys, Star Wolf should be meeting us here right around---" Pappy began saying

Pappy was interrupted by a mighty explosion and could only cry out a warning when a large chunk of metal hit his head.

A man came out of nowhere and looked much more like a strange human. Translucent hair, black armour and splendid acrobatics.

"I don't think we should fight this..." Arc was saying but was interrupted immediately.

"Damn terrorists, Pappy's out cold. Well, I guess you guys are the boots that UEAF HQ warned me about. I'm Star Wolf if you haven't figured it out. Here, you better take these" the stranger says and hands you all similar looking pistols.

Arc took one of the pistols and examined it. Meanwhile, the people were gathering inside the hall and seemed enraged. He slid out of the group and hid behind a stall. He pulled out his mobile and switched on the sound amplifier and thought what to say.

"European Police! Your surrounded, lay down your arms, and we won't shoot!"

And then he heard a few shots and thought that probably someone's dead. He then yelled into his mobile which amplified his voice, "Don't listen to him. We would prefer to talk rather than fight. Non-violence is the first step to accept demands. I apologise on his behalf. You can hold your weapons while we decide on an agreement. I repeat, you can hold your guns but please do not shoot and we expect a respected organisation as yours to honour an agreement. And again, I am sorry for his behaviour."

[Lebby]

"No ones the leader, and I wouldn't dare declare meself a temporary leader if I wanted my bollocks to remain attached to my body. Thanking ye Trin, speaking o which, where is the bugger?" I glanced back at the ship, but the urgency of the situation bought me back to the fight.

A few feet away Nathan was firing shots into the terrorists which checked their advance. We were holding.

"Ready!"

I saw that Jerome had painted a high pressure valve with his gun, my eyebrows raised.

"Good plan. Once that blows, I'll hold off any stragglers. The rest of you horrible lot, get to Star Wolfs ship, or wherever else the bastard had in mind."

I leaned out of cover, and put a bullet into the stomach of another bad guy. A friend rushed to help him, and I wounded him to. More were coming though. I fired repeatedly, the sheer amount of incoming gunfire rendered my own attack innacurate.

[NRG]

"Don't listen to him. We would prefer to talk rather than fight. Non-violence is the first step to accept demands. I apologise on his behalf. You can hold your weapons while we decide on an agreement. I repeat, you can hold your guns but please do not shoot and we expect a respected organisation as yours to honour an agreement. And again, I am sorry for his behaviour."

Nathan turned to see Arc just in time. Arc! He tackled him down as another part of the metal roof fell down. The two of them fell to the ground, amazingly unscathed. "Arc, I know you want this to be peaceful, but it can't be. Pappy's out cold and these guys have already hit innocent civilians. You don't have to shoot to kill, but don't try negotiating with these guys. They're not peaceful..."

[Nikhil]

"Arc, I know you want this to be peaceful, but it can't be. Pappy's out cold and these guys have already hit innocent civilians. You don't have to shoot to kill, but don't try negotiating with these guys. They're not peaceful..."

"I never told you they were peaceful, idiot. I told them that they were peaceful. Distraction. That's the key to victory. If you want to win when you are outnumbered you can't play fair at all. While those stupids will think about what I am saying they'll be run down!" Arc told Nathan.

[Shadow Reeves]

Jerrome hiding from sight fired half a dozen shots into the air and watched the bullets curve backwards towards the pipe. the result was just what he expected; a hissing explosion followed by the screams of the wounded men close to the pipe.

jerrome looked over the barricade to see the hallway in a white out and waited for Pappy to yell the command to run. But none came.

[NRG]

"I never told you they were peaceful, idiot. I told them that they were peaceful. Distraction. That's the key to victory. If you want to win when you are outnumbered you can't play fair at all. While those stupids will think about what I am saying they'll be run down!"

Nathan felt like a complete idiot. Here everyone was working as a team, using distractions and Nathan was completely oblivious.

"Good plan. Once that blows, I'll hold off any stragglers. The rest of you horrible lot, get to Star Wolfs ship, or wherever else the bastard had in mind."

Nathan got up and called Arc. "C'mon, we've got to get to the ship!" He ran forward to the ship and stopped by Carter and Jerrome. "If we go one at a time they'll mow you guys down, we've got to go in groups! Wait... Trin! She's still on the ship, they'll kill her if they find her!" Nathan turned back to the ship and sprinted towards the ship. "Try and hold the ship here for a bit longer! I'll be as fast as possible!" he yelled to nobody in particular. He had made to the security checkpoint when the bullet hit.
Nathan screamed in pain as he experienced his serious wound. It tore through his shoulder, the sudden shock pulling him to the ground. Nathan tried to pick himself up but another explosion knocked another part of the roof down.
He was now blocked off and alone with no way to get to the others or the ship.

[jonathan hernandez13]

"Hah, that was a pretty nice move there kiddo, I was gonna say give me some covering fire while I ran for...ammo, but that did the trick; looks like the first wave is out of commission. We can't wait here too long though, they might have another wave on the way already, we gotta make it to my ship." Wolf was saying admiringly.

The clean cut looking one in the group ran back for the transport, apparently one of them was still asleep.

"Hurry the hell up, get sleeping beauty outta there before more of those PLF assholes show up."

An explosive shockwave brought part of the ship in on itself. Wolf rolled his eyes.

"Damn it, I can't get an easy break today. You guys: keep an eye out on that corridor. Here, take these, Black Widow mines. Set them up and make damn sure that you point them in the right direction," Wolf said and pulled some more gadgets out of his exotic armor's pockets. He produced some small grenade like objects.

"Hey, can you hear me in there kid? Stand away from the bulkhead, I'm placing plasma patches on the hull, close your eyes and get ready to spring out when you get a clear opening."

[Evil Flamingo]

An explosion rocked Trin awake from her seat in the transport. Nobody else except two security guards were with her aboard the ship. Some piece of the shrapnel ripped a hole in the hull of ship near the guards, who were screaming orders back and forth through their mics. It was chaos to say the least. What the **** is going on here? And where is everyone else? Her mind was screaming these questions.

Her questions were quickly answered as she looked out the ships porthole. Bullets from some rogue force were streaming across the station. Trin looked horrified at all the dead civilians and the damage. Guards were trying to fight off the group. Then she noticed her party, taking cover with another who seemed to be handing them weapons. Why the Hell was I forgotten? David stood up and took one or two of the opposition out. A hail of gunfire fell his direction soon afterwards.

The guards next to her stopped yelling orders and started firing. One of them got a clip off and hit nothing but station hallway. He’s panicking. Trin saw her whole body was trembling. I’m panicking. That really wasn’t acceptable. Soon afterwards, and as soon as one of the guards reloaded, and burst of automatic fire strafed their position and brought them both down like heavy sacks of grain. Blood started to run down the divots in the floor towards Trin. Oh my God I’m pinned in a ship.

She quickly eyed out the porthole again to see if there was any hope in the situation. Another burst of auto fire strafed the side of the ship but didn’t cut through. AS she looked out, she saw the group coming up with a plan. All she could think of for them though was get the **** out of here! The rogue group seemed to grow in number down the end of the hall, moving up as the fire on them died down. I need to do something. The she saw Pappy down on the floor and thought he was dead.

Trin’s trembling instantly ceased. She thought of her own father, of his death. Trin saw him through the security camera, standing in the airlock with a solemn expression on his face while the rest of the crew pounded on the door and pleaded for their lives. She saw him looked up at the camera, with a sole tear running down his face. He said something, but she couldn’t hear it over the screams, but it sounded like a prayer. Trin screamed her fourteen-year-old-girl scream at the monitor, watching their bodies flail helplessly as the port side access door opened. Trin saw Pappy again, she saw her father again.

Her mind had snapped into a plane that one could call stupidity, maybe courage, or possibly just a strong sense of direction and purpose. Any one of those could have driven her to what she was about to do, and maybe a bit of all of them did. She needed to save her father after all. Then Trin watched Nathan get shot down while coming towards the ship, possibly for her. You haven’t forgotten me. She smiled at this, even though he was bleeding on the ground. And father, I never forgot you. She kissed the cross around her neck, grabbed the guards freshly loaded pistol, and made her own stand.

She stepped out of the ship, took aim carefully, and moved towards Nathan first. She fired in a rhythmic and calm pattern, always aimed at the enemy’s bodies and without any resemblance of fear.

Pop, pop, pop.

Her shots took two of the unsuspecting group down and the others moved towards whatever bit of cover they could find if there was any. On of them already under cover took some shots at Trin. One of those shots clipped the right side of face, along her cheek bone and tore off the lobe of that ear as well. Blood ran down her neck and stained the side of her white top. She hardly noticed the pain.

Pop, pop, pop.

Only one of these shots connected with her targets as she moved. It only went through his hand, but his flailing with it and screaming scared the others around him. Trin just pictured her father as this was happening, not much else was on her mind. She made it to Nathan, who was bleeding profusely, but still able to move. She noted that. Trin slapped him to stop his screaming, grabbed him by his good hand to pull him up, and screamed “Move, move, move!” to get him going. She gave him an encouraging push towards the group right afterwards. She saw that Pappy still lay on the ground, and it drove her on forward faster.

Another shot from the enemy grazed her side as she fired on them more. This one did hurt her. The bullet cut her side, right next to her ribs, but not breaking them. This bled quite heavily and soaked the left side of her shirt. She cried out as she wanted to fall, but saw Pappy lying there. “No!” she screamed and continued firing. Then an explosion behind the soldiers rocked the station and killed a good number of them. The others stopped firing to look at what happened and help their friends. Trin stopped firing too, throwing the pistol and ran towards Pappy. She knew that she wouldn’t last much longer bleeding like that.

She checked his pulse and saw he was still breathing, but still unconscious. Hope filled her head though. I can save you Pappy, I can save you this time daddy. She wrapped her arms under his shoulders backwards, so she could stay low and still pull. He was very heavy for her, but all that lifting and working in the business had raised her strength quite a bit. She pulled him as hard as she could, which wasn’t very fast though. The group began moving towards another ship. That explosion must be a diversion. She called out to them, rather enraged that they were leaving him behind. “Get your ass back here and help me!” It wasn’t a call to anyone in particular; it was just for anything possible. She felt the blood loss making her grow more faint by the second, she had no time.

I have to save you this time.

[jonathan hernandez13]

The one who was on the transport popped out of the hole made by Wolf's plasma charge and came running and gunning at the terrorists like a possessed she-demon. She stooped down to check on Pappy and then tried to haul him off.

"Great, let's get going. I'll lead you guys the way to my ship, let's get the hell outta here before more of these yahoos show up," Wolf said, concerned about the wounded.

"Stitch, this is Wolf; get the engines warmed up and break out the medical kit, we have wounded inbound," Wolf yelled into his PDD, a woman's voice answered back.

"I heard something about terrorists. Is anyone dead?"

"Dead? Not yet, we got a girl here...a woman, she got clipped bad and she's leaking like a hose. Keep your eyes open, the RLF has gone insane and now they're attacking people randomly."

"Copy, I'll keep the lights on for you."

"Out. Follow me," Wolf said.

[Lebby]

During the lull in the firefight Star Wolf was shouting orders, Nathan was wounded, Trin who had dropped a good number of the bad guys was trying to help Pappy.

“Get your ass back here and help me!”

I rushed over to her, smiling "Put him down you stupid woman! Your injured, and I don't want you dying on me."

I briefly checked her wounds. Her neck was caked with blood, and for a horrible second I thought she had been shot their, and sustained a fatal injury. Luckily it was merely an earlobe that had caused the blood. The shot that had nearly hit her ribs was far worse. No way she would be able to support Pappy's weight with that injury.

"Trin, your gunna collapse with that wound, and that weight," I pointed at Pappy, "Hand the man to me, you limp your way after Star Wolf. It isn't weakness, your tough but your not stupid. You know your gunna bleed out if you don't get to Star Wolfs ship."

[Evil Flamingo]

The fact that David rushed over to help her made her feel slightly less crazed, but he went to check her wounds, she slapped his hands away. "Get the **** off me." What is he doing? Can't he for once just get to the matter at hand and help me with what I'm doing instead of ****ing around with something else? She was fuming and glaring at David.

"Trin, your gunna collapse with that wound, and that weight," I pointed at Pappy, "Hand the man to me, you limp your way after Star Wolf. It isn't weakness, your tough but your not stupid. You know your gunna bleed out if you don't get to Star Wolfs ship."

"I'm not ****in' limping," she protested, but it was the truth. She was hurt, not injured, and she was on a mission. Only a compromise would settle this, but at least she came up with it herself. Her glare died off. "I'll grab his legs, you get the top. Then we'll move a Hell of a lot faster." If he didn't except this, she would walk back to her pistol and shoot him in the legs. That was a fact.

[Lebby]

"I'll grab his legs, you get the top. Then we'll move a Hell of a lot faster."

"Dealio," I agreed grabbing Pappy's arms.

We hurried clumsily to where Star Wolf was leading the group. Nathan was still injured.

"Will someone help Nathan?!" I shouted at the group.

We arrived behind Star Wolf, and followed him to his ship.

[NRG]

"Hey, can you hear me in there kid? Stand away from the bulkhead, I'm placing plasma patches on the hull, close your eyes and get ready to spring out when you get a clear opening."

Nathan got up and began moving, but in a panic, he tripped over himself. The plasma blast exploded, burning half his left leg. He screamed out in pain, this wasn't looking good. Had it not been for Trin, Nathan would have died. She shot one hostile in the hand before slapping him. That brought him back to the situation. She pulled him up and yelled “Move, move, move!” before rushing ahead to help Pappy. Nathan turned and scrambled to pick up the gun he had gotten off Pappy. He let off a shot and managed to him someone in the kneecap. He turned to the others, only to find Carter and Trin pulling Pappy aboard Star Wolf's ship.
"Will someone help Nathan?!" yelled Carter. With a burnt leg and a bullet through his shoulder, Nathan struggled to get across what was no a battlefield. He was hit again in his left hand, now his whole left arm was useless. He ducked behind cover and fired several times with his right hand. He was losing energy and wasn't halfway across to the ship...

[jonathan hernandez13]

"What the hell?" Wolf screamed as a random gunman clipped the clean cut looking guy. He did a combat roll accross the deck, leapt up to shield him, and shot the gunman in the head. Actually, he aimed a bit high but the homing round quickly corrected and hit its painted mark.

"Now let that be the last of them, let's get outta here already."

Wolf lead them through the aerospace port to hangar bay seven, at least half of them were wounded by now, Stitch would have her hands full. It would have been hard to find the bay even if it hadn't been filled with smoke and red emergency lighting, but Wolf knew his way around the aerospace port.

"I guess you're gonna have to wait some other time to see Europa, ain't quite like a vacation eh? We got trouble in paradise now, something's got the PLF more pissed off than usual. And there she is," Wolf said, regarding a queer looking medium sized transport.

"She's called the Baroness, ugliest thing in this port ain't she? But I swear she's the finest ship a dreg like me could ever have. She's a custom job, I upgraded most of her myself."

It was built with purely space travel in mind, it had no aerodynamic features like stabilizers or rudders; it could never land on a planet with an atmosphere. While it appeared to be a commercial cargo transport of some kind it had obviously been modified, it clearly had an array of weapons on it.

"Get aboard, quickly. Stitch: come on out and greet our guests, they don't know the way to the medical bay, give them a hand." Wolf yelled into one of the ship's open hatches. An extremely tall woman poked her head out, her head barely clearing the hatch's overhead. She was dressed like a biker gang member from the twentieth century and had a very countercultural appearnce to her. Clearly she was raised in space, where no gravity impeded her growth. Her neck seemed to swoon like an ostrich's as she eyed them over.

"Who's hurt?"

"Can't you tell? On second thought, you better see them all to be on the safe side, they're a sickly bunch," Wolf said and hurried them all aboard the ship. He undid the tethers and moors and sealed the airlock hatch.

"Now you guys find a seat and strap your butts into it, I don't have time to wait for Control to open up the bay doors, I'm using an override," you can hear Wolf shouting from the Command room.

You can hear a hissing sound as the bay depressurizes and feel a gentle nudge as the thrusters lift the ship up through the opening overhead. If you look out of a porthole you begin to see black again, the ship has made it outside.

"Alright guys, we can relax again, we're leaving this crazy place. Next stop, Ceres---oh damn, maybe I spoke to soon," Wolf says as he sees something on an advisory panel...

[NRG]

After being saved again, Nathan followed the others, trying to put all his weight onto his right side of his body. They reached the ship and a tall woman greeted them. He was taken to a seat and he strapped himself in. The pain began to go away, replaced by comfort of the seat. Unfortunately, the comfort didn't last for long...
"Alright guys, we can relax again, we're leaving this crazy place. Next stop, Ceres---oh damn, maybe I spoke to soon,"

[Lebby]

"Alright guys, we can relax again, we're leaving this crazy place. Next stop, Ceres---oh damn, maybe I spoke to soon,"

I muscled my way past the others into the cockpit, "Hey Wolf, Im Carter. Midshipmen and all round dirtbag. Whats the prob?"

I cringed when I saw flashing alarm buttons on the control panel, "Missile Lock? Hullbreach? Oxygen Depressurising? Out of fuel?"

[Headroller]

I had dove for cover when the explosios went off, saving myself from a falling piece of ceiling. Unfortunately, that piece hit Pappy instead. I knelt silent throughout the beginnings of the fight, the terrorist's speech, the new guy that I assumed was Wolf, even the failed attempt to quell the shooters with threats. I took the weapon offered wordlessly, on giving a nod of thanks, and proceeded to a secondary hall on our flank. There was always an opening in a fight, the other midshipmen could probably deal with the head-on threat reasonably well, especially with the new blond guy, but no one thought to cover our flanks in the spaceport.

I sat silent in a dark corner behind a desk, facing where I supposed the terrorists may be coming from. Listened to the exchanges of gunfire, the occasional explosion and the constant moaning and screaming of pain and terror. Bastards.

Some of the screams were high-pitched squeals of children and babes echoing through the metal chambers and hallways. Bastards.

Once in that interval of simply waiting, I heard one particular scream, an oscillating cry of confusion, mute in concert with the bang of a gun. Bastards...

I saw Trin boldly walk out of the ship gateway, steadily shooting as she walked. Two trails of blood were drawn from her like thin red lines, on from her head, the other from her side. Both quickly drenched her shirt. Bastards!

But I kept still, fighting the urge to turn the corner and unleash hell on a better equipped opponent. Ad fighting my other urge to abandon my position, help the wounded, and leave us open.

But then my fellows headed back down an opposite hallway. Headed for another ship, I heard floating through the air. Not yet.

The others were almost out of sight when I heard boots stomping down the hallway. I grinned and checked my weapon; the action was stiff but it would suffice. Two of the terrorists walked right past me on the other side of the desk. Not yet.

Another pair and finally the last pair, footsteps heavier indicating they were the ammunition bearers. All three pairs passed my location without a glance behind the desk: A desk was a desk, nothing made another seem much different. Except for the armed man who sprung up behind the squad of terrorists.

Words were not passed, only weapons. I found myself several pounds heavier with 'requisitioned' gear, all of their weapons and a significant amount of ammunition, running after the rest of the group. I checked behind us often from cover. It was slow going for me, but I still got the chance to catch up in time to help get Pappy onboard the ship. Me and Nathan dragged him in while Trin did what she could pushing. Understandably though, her shirt was soaked with blood. I was somewhat surprised that she was trying to help us rather than treat her own wounds but the urgency of Pappys' condition was severe, possibly life threatening. If she thought her wounds were minor enough to ignore for a time, I would have no choice but to trust her.

I helped carry Sarge into the ships infirmary where a doctor, or at least I hoped she was a doctor. I assisted in whatever she asked, several of the other Midshipmen were injured, Trin probably the worst.

[Shadow Reeves]

Jerrome made it into the ship before the others, and although he knew trin was injured he haddent really seen the extent of her wound until she was helped into the ship.
seeing Trin's life poor out of her side made Jerrome's throat clench and his vision start to go a little dark... although he couldnt see it, felt the blood drain from his face. Jerrome couldnt handle blood, it was part of the reason he chose to study rather than fight his way through the 4 years of army training.

"Im a- im-yeah going to, uhm, head to the engineering quater" Jerrome stuttered before wandering - half stumbling - down the cargo bay with his vision getting progressivly darker.

[jonathan hernandez13]

A tall fella wearing a brown leather flight jacket and ridiculous looking trousers ran up Wolf in the Navigation room.

"Hey Wolf, I'm Carter. Midshipmen and all round dirt bag. What's the prob? Missile Lock? Hull breach? Oxygen Depressurizing? Out of fuel?"

"No, worse, system police. Half of the time these guys just like to harass spacers, how much you wanna bet they're looking for some kind of a handout? That's the way it is with these guys, they'll say they need to board to inspect for contraband and weapons, especially after a terrorist attack; damn PLF. Alot of them out here are crooked as hell too, working on the side for the crime syndicates. Unless I grease their grimy little paws with some creds they'll just keep bugging me, I got a schedule to keep and these jerks are gonna slow us down."

"Hey um, Midshipman Carter was it? You look like a pilot, give me a hand, mind the controls for me while I...take care of some stuff..." Wolf said and smiled mischievously.

Towards the rear of the ship, in the medical bay, Stitch got done seeing Pappy and Trin.

"Your friends will be fine, both of them. The older guy took a nasty blow to the head, but aside from a bump and maybe a headache latter on, he should be fine. I used a scanner to check his brain for damage, everything is intact. Gave him some painkillers and treated the area with a little bit of medi-gel. My advice is to not be around him when he wakes up, he may be in a mood."

"The girl I patched up with some trauma-foam, an injection of MEMs, and a few slaps of medi-gel. She doesn't feel a thing, between the painkillers and anesthesia I gave her she'll be high as a kite and mellow as a cat for the trip. If she stays in the hyperbaric chamber she might even be able to fight again by the time we reach Ceres, I can't promise she won't have any scars though."

[Lebby]

"Hey um, Midshipman Carter was it? You look like a pilot, give me a hand, mind the controls for me while I...take care of some stuff..."

My heart leapt with joy. No matter how slow, or ugly a ship, nothing compared to the joy of flying. I sat in the stiff seat, and frowned with distaste at the control pannels. The ship's controls were slow and unresponsive, I quickly made some adjustments, and soon everything was working better than ever. The joy stick was now oiled and smooth, but the ship was still far to sluggish. With a sigh I checked the energy gauges, and found that a large amount of excess energy was being diverted to power sections of the ship where no one was. I rerouted that power to the engines, which gave them some extra juice. A few more calibrations later and the ship was faster, the controls more responsive (and less messy with packets of crisps), and the ship more stable (one of the engines wasn't using as much energy as the others, and had made the whole ship slightly tilted and more wonky). Star Wolf may have been many things, but he lacked finesse with his vessel. I keyed the intercom, a smug smile playing across my face.

"Carter to Star Wolf, I managed to upgrade a few systems, make us faster, more stable, and fix the clumsy controls up here. If you got any chocolate in the cargo hold, I'll take that as payment."

[Shadow Reeves]

Jerrome sat on the engineering room room floor feeling the calm wash over him. it was like coming home after a holiday only now he was waiting for his nausia to pass. Even with hypno-correction he still could not bare to be around blood.

The engineering room was like most he had been too; 4 sections power, also known as 'flight', weapons, shields and navigation, each with a console, chair and a wall of flashing lights. in the middle there were three holographic projector rings which acted like a white board when a team were working on solutions. for the moment they simply showed where the ship was in relation to the closest planet. Eurpoa

Jerrome stood and watched one particular wall as the lights began to dace, then another. someone was removing all standby power associated with weapons and shields and forwarding it to engines and stabiliser systems.
Jerrome was hoping the wolf knew what he was doing, if an attack did occure the ship would be destroyed before a single cannon came online.
and even though he now felt a little cautious, he was glad they were moving faster.

[NRG]

Nathan couldn't take it anymore, the pain was killing him. Now that Trin and Pappy were better, he He got up slowly and headed to the medic, Stitch. "I haven't said anything yet, I didn't want you take your attention away from Trin and Pappy, but, in the battle, a plasma blast burnt my leg and I received two minor bullet wounds in my left arm. Could you check it? I just don't want to go into another battle and breakdown if a fly lands on my leg..."

[jonathan hernandez13]

The system police patrol ship following the Baroness was small compared to the Athena, but it was nothing for a commercial transport to scoff at, even one so well armed. The patrol ship had a few more guns, stronger engines, and several squads of police trained in boarding and seizure tactics.

"Carter to Star Wolf, I managed to upgrade a few systems, make us faster, more stable, and fix the clumsy controls up here. If you got any chocolate in the cargo hold, I'll take that as payment." The kid in the navigation room said, Wolf chuckled. Damn kid was on the ship maybe five minute and already moving things around. He got on the intercom.

"Alright you cocky pup, I've got three rules on this ship, this includes you all: one, don't make any changes to my ship without telling me first. Two, on this ship my word is law. Three, see rules one and two; that is all. Now, since we've got that out of the way, I need you to get ready to give me a max burn when I tell you. Finding the thrust throttle controls should be a piece of cake for you."

Wolf had a small but decent store of special items in his cargo bays, several of which, like the one in the rear, had been modified into makeshift weapon delivery systems. The aft cargo bay made a very decent torpedo launcher, all he would have to do was depressurize it and anything behind his ship would get hit, including obnoxious patrol ships. He had a special little payload for the Patroclus, a powerful little electronics warfare drone. After a little bit of jamming, a few EMP attacks, and signal scattering, the Patroclus would be in no condition to do anything but troubleshoot the gremlins in their avionics suites. Meanwhile the Baroness would be over the hill and far away like a thief in the night.

"Attention vessel, this is Commander Dentel of the system patrol ship Patrocles. Disengage your engines and prepare to be boarded." An unfriendly voice was saying, his voice booming over the radio.

"I'm gonna ditch these bastards. Hello? Whoever you are down there in engineering, I don't know your name but the ship's internal sensors are showing you, you're giving off signatures like a Christmas tree. While you're down there I want you to mind the reactors, in order to outrun these guys I'm gonna need one hundred and sixteen percent from the engines. It's okay, we should be fine, the powerplant was the first thing I upgraded on this beast." Wolf said and patted a bulkhead.

"Alright childrens, get ready, they're getting close now."

"I haven't said anything yet, I didn't want you take your attention away from Trin and Pappy, but, in the battle, a plasma blast burnt my leg and I received two minor bullet wounds in my left arm. Could you check it? I just don't want to go into another battle and breakdown if a fly lands on my leg..." One of the wounded midshipmen piped up as the treated ones rested peacefully on hasty bunks.

Stitch sighed.

"Aren't any of you guys healthy? Alright alright, sit up on this counter and I'll take a look at your leg." Stitch said and got her medical kit ready again, the medical robot scanned the other new crew members while she cleaned and treated the plasma burns on Nathan's leg.

[Shadow Reeves]

"I'm gonna ditch these bastards. Hello? Whoever you are down there in engineering, I don't know your name but the ship's internal sensors are showing you, you're giving off signatures like a Christmas tree. While you're down there I want you to mind the reactors, in order to outrun these guys I'm gonna need one hundred and sixteen percent from the engines. It's okay, we should be fine, the powerplant was the first thing I upgraded on this beast."


"Finally" jerrome thought, "something that i know how to do". he moved away from observing the holo projectors and pressed the intercom button on the wall. "Jerrome's my name sir, im going to have to steal power from the back up system, but i will need to kill the engines before attempting to patch the system. i will need about 5 mins prep, and 5 while the engines are off."

Jerrome was already sorting out the problem in his head as he spoke. The engines were already at 100% from the pilot routing from other systems. It wasnt simply a case of stoke the fire up with more fuel, this was a fusion reactor and 16% was not impossible, but not reccomended in the manual. He wasnt willing to remove shield or life support leaving only backup systems and navigation - which no one in their right mind touched.

"can you give me the time i need?" he finished up saying through the intercom.

[NRG]

Stitch finished the job and Nathan instantly felt better. A cool sensation ran down his left arm to his left leg. "Wow, that was... quick. I guess the wound wasn't as bad as it could've been. Thanks, I feel much better." Nathan left Stitch and headed back to his seat. The truth was, while he felt a bit better, the pain and weakness was still there. But there was a commotion going on through the intercoms and he wanted to make sure he was helping. It sounded like all the action was going down by Jerrome. He made his way down to the engineering room and found Jerrome. "Hey, I have no clue how all this works, but you look busy, any levers I can pull, switches I can switch? Anything?"

[Lebby]

I smiled and switched on the intercom, "With the extra power I rerouted from non essential systems, I can give you 120% Max burn. Merry Christmas. Jerrome do what you gotta do keep me updated, when I give you guys the all clear, grab onto something. Its gunna be a bumpy ride."

I gripped the joystick, and waited for Star Wolfs order.

[Shadow Reeves]

Jerrome had begun to get things ready to pull more juice from the fusion reactors. he was in the process of removing the entire front cover from the power console on the left hand wall and was soon to start trying to patch in a crystal-line rope the thickness of his arm into the backup system. 16% of a fusion reactor was probably equal to an entire nuclear powerstation, all of which will be running along the floor in crystal-line patch wireing.


"Hey, I have no clue how all this works, but you look busy, any levers I can pull, switches I can switch? Anything?"

"hey, Nathan isnt it? do you want to pass me a 4.3k red laser. should be in a - " the pilots voice came over the intercom cutting off Jerromes sentence...
"With the extra power I rerouted from non essential systems, I can give you 120% Max burn. Merry Christmas. Jerrome do what you gotta do keep me updated, when I give you guys the all clear, grab onto something. Its gunna be a bumpy ride."

"I hate pilots" jerrome muttered to himself and started coiling up the crystal-line. then to Arc he said "whats that saying? the man with the joystick will try and swing a bigger dick?"

in a flurry of thoughts and leaving Nathan looking a little lost, he pressed the intercom button. "Jerrome here, just letting you know that you will have about 45 seconds of 120% burn before the containing shield around the fusion reactor begins to fail. i can try and increase it... but you have taken every drop of excess power for those engines. "

And the to Nathan asked "how are you at math?"

[Lebby]

"Jerrome here, just letting you know that you will have about 45 seconds of 120% burn before the containing shield around the fusion reactor begins to fail. i can try and increase it... but you have taken every drop of excess power for those engines. "

I sighed, "Alright Jerrome. Give me a minute thirty seconds max burn, and you get an extra big Christmas present."

Scans indicated that the patrol ship was gaining quickly. Again I tapped the intercom, "Carter to Star Wolf, whatever your doing, do it fast. Their nearly alongside us."

[NRG]

"how are you at math?"

Nathan shrugged. "Pretty good I guess. I mean, I did well in school, what do you need?" he asked.

[Headroller]

Finally able to rest, I put most of the weapons I had picked up into a trash bag and left the open parcel in the corner, while leaving a sub-machine gun for myself. I stroked over the stitches that had been put in the Chief's skull, checking for inconsistencies. There were none. This woman was a very proficient doctor, she even fixed up Nathan in a matter of seconds, no small feat for a plasma burn.

A commotion ensued over the telecom about evading an incoming patrol. I didn't much like the idea of fleeing law enforcement but we were under cover, we needed to stay that way.

I smiled at the Doctor as Nathan wandered out, "Thank you ma'am, I thought we were in a fix there for awhile."

Walking across the infirmary to where Trin lay, I saw that she was awake, but very... lucid, like the Doc had mentioned. I sat down next to her on the bed, pointedly ignoring the amount of skin that had been revealed.

"How're ya doing there babe? We're flying first class this time it looks like," I joked.

[jonathan hernandez13]

Wolf waited patiently for the two hotshot aces to figure out how they were gonna get more juice, he should have mentioned that it was a simple enough matter because of the upgrades that Wolf made to the ship. It would take him hours afterwards to figure out all the changes they made to his ship and reverse them, whatever. He admired their resilience, for a first mission they were doing much better than normal.

The patrol ship ship got into an excellent firing position, the warhead wouldn't make a direct hit, but it didn't have to. It had a proximity fuse with a burst range of two hundred meters, the ship wasn't even that long.

"Alright guys, when I give the signal give me max burn." Wolf yelled as he secured the cargo bay and put his hand on the ejection handle. Yellow caution light flashed as he depressurized the bay.

"Annnnnd---now, now, max burn, full thrust!" Wolf yelled and pulled the handle, red lights flashed at him as the hatch to the bay flung open and hurled the warhead at the ship. They had to make damn sure that they weren't anywhere near the blast when it went off, the last thing the Baronness needed was an electronic warfare attack, she was practically held together with spit and glue as she was.

Looking out of a porthole you can she the Patrocles class patrol ship's lights and engines dying as she lost power, and drifting as a derelict as she lost control.

"Good job guys, set a course for Ceres, I'm headed back up for the navigation room in a bit. First I have to see to some changes made to the reactors, oh boy."

[Lebby]

"Annnnnd---now, now, max burn, full thrust!"

"Yeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!" I whooped as I gunned the accelerator.

I was pressed back against the seat by the force of the acceleration, but managed to crane my neck, and peak at the radar. The police patrol vessel had gone dark, we were in the clear!

"Good job guys, set a course for Ceres, I'm headed back up for the navigation room in a bit. First I have to see to some changes made to the reactors, oh boy."

Grinning, I slowed the ship and stabalised the thrusters, "Roger Star Wolf. Could I get Trin up here though? She's our navigation officer, I wouldn't trust meself with navigating us to Ceres, we'd probably end up in the middle of nowhere. With slobbering rampaging sexually frustrated aliens breathing down our necks."

[Shadow Reeves]

"Pretty good I guess. I mean, I did well in school, what do you need?"

"just need some basic power calculations done for the core power -"

"Alright guys, when I give the signal give me max burn."

"well dont worry about that, grab a seat and strap in" jerrome said as he moved to one of the seats in front of a console. while Nathan did the same.

the acceleration was much more than jerrome had anticipated as the engines roared to life and the ship begun to shake violently. pressed flat against his chair all he coult think about was the poor engines and the stress on the stabilising rockets.

[NRG]

Nathan strapped himself in and felt the pressure push against him as the ship shook. He found he had dug his fingers into the seat armrest. Luckily, this didn't last for too long, and within moments, they were back to normal, away from the patrol ship.