| Author |
Darkspace - Twilight (Now with Alternate Ending!) |
Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
|  Posted: 2004-11-08 16:09
Uhhh, I post the MS Doc link for you all just for that reason... lol.
NO! You may not do what I have already done! Muwahhahahaha 
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Darkspace: Twilight
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2004-11-10 11:01
No words for this one, just enjoy it.
MS Word Doc.
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Chapter 17
“Sir,” the comms officer said. NubMarine looked over at him, and tried to shout over the roar of the fire that burned in the back of the bridge. Medics struggled to free a crewman trapped under a fallen monitor as damage control teams fought the blaze that burned from a ruptured power conduit. “I’m receiving reports of subspace activity around Earth – satellite systems aren’t recording any ECM rings, so they have ruled out the possibility of cloaked K’Luth. They advised you to be on alert for a possible emergency situation however.” The Ticonderoga shuddered under another volley of torpedo fire as the lieutenant finished his report.
“You can advise Earth that we already have an emergency situation, and tell them not to clutter up the comm. lines unless the entire planet is burning down.” NubMarine said. He thought for a moment that it was ill-advised to tempt fate by saying that, but it was too late now. He looked at the fleet-com screen and could sense something was out of place… somewhere… there! “Get me Admiral Backslash on the Absolut.” He said. Several seconds passed in which NubMarine gave combat orders before he turned back to the comms officer. “Well?” he said.
“Sir, uhh…” he trailed off. “Well sir, they aren’t acknowledging transmission. All we’re getting is static.” Nub looked at the officer, eyes unwavering. Wisps of smoke fluttered by – barely noticeable against the constant haze that filled the bridge. All the noise around him seemed to mute. Even as the ship shuddered and twisted under the strain of enemy fire and her own propulsion, Nub felt a calming silence descend upon him. “They are jamming their own comm. links, sir.” The lieutenant said.
Nub focused his fleet comm. into the Absolut, and deciphered their heading. They were going straight into the bulk of the Shadow Pirates little squad. “So Backslash knows.” NubMarine said. “Get me the nearest ship to Admiral Backslash, tell them to intercept the Absolut, disable her engines and drag her back to the planetary defense coverage.” Nub went back to his fleet comm. panel and punched in some numbers.
“Sir, I have the Heavy Cruiser Saratoga standing by, Captain Schakal commanding.” The comms officer said. He went back to his duty of sorting through messages, his job well done once again.
“Captain, I have an urgent mission for you. I need you to intercept a rogue destroyer, the Absolut, that is going to kamikaze into an enemy ship. It is imperative that we keep as many of our ships as possible intact, no matter what class they are.” NubMarine said. He impressed the urgency with the tone of his voice, despite the fact that it was wavering slightly. He hoped that no one noticed. Several seconds passed in which the constant drone of the engines, blended with the occasional impact alarm, and the groan of the hull under stress seemed to once again fade away as Nub focused his mind on the response that awaited him. The smell of arid smoke burned his nostrils, the glare of the alert flashers stung his wide open eyes, and the agony of seconds passing ramped his heart up to the point of exploding.
“Confirmed the location of the Absolut. Setting intercept course. Please be advised, Ticonderoga, they are running max speed. We will have to jump ahead of them to intercept – an action which will place the Saratoga in the line of fire and outside the Planetary Defenses. Do you wish us to proceed?” Captain Schakal said. NubMarine could see the captain feeling similar to how Nub felt seconds ago in waiting for the reply.
“Affirmative, Saratoga, intercept but do not remain in the combat zone for so long that you risk losing your ship or crew. Ticonderoga out!”
With that, Nub closed the comm. channel and focused on the battle at hand. With the Charger leading the front on one side, and the freshly repaired Enigma running things on the other side, Nub felt confident to push the center line a bit forward – but still within planetary defense lines. He began trying to isolate the enemy interdictors, as Captain Jameson had been doing on his front. Nub would have to put the captains name in for promotion, if Coeus agreed. That was, of course, assuming that Coeus made it back alive, and everyone else survived this as well.
*****************
Coeus walked onto the bridge of the Harpoon, and looked around in awe. He had been on several UGTO cruisers before, including a standard interdictor. This was no standard interdictor. Most of the bridge systems appeared to be run from holographic terminals. There were several operations stations that had been converted into sensor stations it seemed. The Harpoon seemed less like an interdictor and more like a science vessel. She was clearly a military vessel, however – the combat systems were very impressive. From the weapons readouts Coeus doubted that even the Charger could last in a long-term firefight with this beast.
“You are the first ICC officer to ever board the Harpoon not in shackles. First to ever see the bridge as well. You should be honored.” Delafelde said.
“He should be shot.” Another voice chimed in. It had an air of humor about it, bitter irony, and a familiarity that startled Coeus.
“Vox? Vox Dei? Is that you buddy?” Coeus said. He grinned madly when his old friend and adversary stepped out from behind a holo-display. The two shook hands and grinned like idiots as Delafelde made preparations to get underway. “What are you doing here? I thought you were commanding the Ruff.”
Dei grinned and said, “Last I heard you had retaken command of the Charger, so I should ask the same question to you.”
Coeus’ smile dimmed a bit, barely but still noticeable to Vox. “I had to hop on my own ship and head out here to finish a mission. Jameson took her off to Sol.” He said. After thinking a minute Coeus added, “How much do you know about what we are doing here.”
Vox started to answer, but Delafelde cut in first, “Everything that I know, my bridge crew – and most of the ships crew knows. Everyone here is, or was at one point, a member of UGTO Intelligence.” Coeus couldn’t help but grin at the phrase ‘UGTO Intelligence’ and both Vox and Delafelde picked up on it.
“By the way,” Vox said, “Does ICC High Command still take orders from Assault Cruiser captains?” He grinned as both Coeus and Delafelde laughed.
“Ok, enough of this, we need to get to Sol A.S.A.P., the UGTO are starting to wear down your guys there – if we’re too late then there won’t be enough ships between our two fleets to fight off the enemy.” Delafelde said.
“Aye sir,” Dei said. He motioned to Coeus, “There have been several attempts to communicate with the Admiral here, all sent to his ship but unable to be relayed to his personal comm. because of the EM interference of the planet. Should I hook him into the comms station so he can get in touch with his superiors and update them?” he said. Coeus glanced between the two officers.
“No.” Delafelde said. Coeus’ heart sank. “Take him to my bridge quarters and patch him in through my personal terminal.” He then said. He seemed to enjoy taunting the ICC officer, and Coeus really couldn’t blame him. If the roles were reversed, he would probably do the same to Delafelde.
“Thank you, Admiral.” Coeus said.
“No problem, Admiral.” Delafelde responded.
“Oh blow it out your bungs, sirs!” Vox joked, then started walking towards Delafelde’s bridge quarters, which amounted to the same thing as the Captain’s Rest on the Charger. Once inside, Vox pointed to the chair behind the only table in the room, Instead of facing the door like the table and chair did on the Charger, Delafelde had elected to have his back to the door and face out the only window in the room. His trust in his crew was that complete.
“Thanks buddy. Its good to see you again.” Coeus said. Vox smiled, then Coeus added, “By the way, you never did answer my question. Where is the Ruff?”
“Well,” Vox looked down, whatever it was couldn’t be good, “after a battle in Nicea against some of your guys, we had to retreat – but were cut off by a band of K’Luth. There were only two ships, cruisers both of them, but we were badly damaged. Normally, even as damaged as we were they would have been no match against us, but these K’Luth were different. They could fire through their cloak without increasing their signature, they had powered up their disruptors and increased the warhead yields of their AM Torpedoes, and never seemed to run out of power. The only reason that we didn’t die there is because we were able to trick the positioning of them so that one of the cruisers ended up shooting another, and nearly destroyed it. We finished the job, and limped back to port. Not before the hull was compromised to the point where it couldn’t be repaired, however.” Vox looked at his friend.
“Let me guess.” Coeus said.
“The mystery enemy that we need to stop. I lost over 75% of my crew in that battle. Because I had managed to outthink the enemy in those circumstances, Delafelde brought me on as first officer of the Harpoon. I will get my revenge on those aliens. The last report we got from our K’Luth spies said that the surviving cruiser had ambushed and captured a K’Luth dreadnaught, the Del Monte. We tracked her as far as Sol, but lost her when she entered the system.”
Coeus interrupted. “And she was followed in by at least two other K’Luth Dreadnaughts, the Phantom Knight and the Iron Fang. After I re-read some of our reports, and got some other information,” Coeus skipped over where he got the information – he highly doubted that even his good friend Vox would believe the whole business with Lelandra and their dead father. “I believe that the Iron Fang is at Earth, undamaged, and the Phantom Knight is licking her wounds from a brief but fierce firefight with two of our ships around Alpha Centauri. My estimates have her reaching Earth within the hour.” Coeus tried not to dwell on the fact that the Absolut was probably lost with all hands. It was just too painful, everything that was happening. “God I hate war.” He said.
“But what else do we know?” Vox said. The two sat in silence for a moment. Dei got up, and started to walk out. “Let me know if you need anything else, I’ve already set the terminal to broadcast on ICC frequencies.” And then he was gone.
Alone at last with his thoughts, Coeus was still for what felt like eternity. Finally, he took a deep breath, powered up the terminal and went through the motions to connect to Sol’s communications network. There was precious little time to spare. Outside, the world changed and space itself bent as the Harpoon entered a wormhole that was more powerful than she should have been able to create. Upon exiting the wormhole, she engaged her jump drives and proceeded to the jumpgate out of Wolf 359. Coeus was again reminded that this was no standard interdictor. With any luck, they would be to Sol within the hour. Just enough time to save the universe.
*****************
Backslash growled. Nub had seen the Absolut slip away from formation, and had ordered the Saratoga to intercept them. She was dead ahead, taking fire on her bow from the enemy. Rather than turning around to intercept the Absoult, Captain Schakal had elected to do the smart thing and wait for Backslash to catch up with her. For every move that Backslash made, the Saratoga mirrored it. It seemed that this would go on forever, with both ships unable to jump because of the UGTO Interdictor field. They were still outside of the enemy’s primary range, but just barely. It wasn’t until five minutes into the cat and mouse game the two ICC ships played that luck finally changed in Backslash’s favor. The Charger lived up to her name and lead a charge into the flock of UGTO ships nearest to Backslash, and took out the interdictor as well as two other UGTO ships and a Shadow Pirate cruiser. As soon as the Charger and her small strike force jumped out, Backslash made his move.
“Target the Havoc and engage jump drives!” he shouted. He would have his revenge. Instantly, they were transported past the Saratoga and were immersed in the fire of a dozen enemy warships. They were of friendly design, but not of friendly mind. The Absolut, already badly damaged, began to buckle under the stress. The upper ChemLaser pylon, damaged by the impact of the asteroid but not destroyed, finally succumbed to the shearing forces and snapped off. Plasma and sparks flitted off into the blackness of space, and drifted behind the ship. Ignited by the engine exhaust, the plasma burst into brilliant blue and red balls of flame. None large enough to track back to the source of the leak, but still not small enough to avoid rocking the ship a little bit more.
“Sir, we are closing on the Havoc. All MIRVs have been launched, weapons on continual fire. We aren’t doing enough damage to their shields and we won’t be able to pull around for another pass. We need to withdraw!” The helmsman said. Looking at the little screen stuck on the wall in the cargo bay that was now serving as the bridge, Backslash stared straight at the bridge of the Havoc.
“Negative!” Backslash said. He made the decision. "Full speed ahead! Keep our bow on their bridge! Engineering, give me ramming speed." He stopped, looked around at his crew. He saluted, and waved them all away, then flicked on the 1MC and said, "All hands abandon ship, all hands abandon ship. Collision course is set, you all have 1 minute to reach the escape pods!" The silence of the ship was perforated by the frequent blasts of impacts on the shields. It was doubtful that the Absolut would hold together long enough to reach the Havoc, but Backslash had to try, for Maria’s sake. For the sake of all that was right and honorable in the world, Switchblade must pay.
“With all due respect, sir, Maria was our friend too – just like everyone else on the bridge.” The helmsman said. He turned back around and faced his station. Backslash looked around, a tear forming in the corner of his eye. Most of the crewmen on the bridge stood at their posts, looking right back at the Admiral.
“And now you know, sir, what it means to be ICC.” The communications officer, an ensign who had taken over the station, said with a slight quiver to his voice.
“And now, sir, you know what it means to be family.” A voice said from behind Backslash. He swiveled around in his chair and faced Charlie. Backslash shook his head.
“No, Charlie, you’ve got to get to an escape pod!” he said.
“I’m sorry sir, but you can go to hell if you think I’m gonna let you hog all the glory. Engines are at maximum, Antimatter containment is set to breach as soon as we impact the Havoc. Its too late now, everything is already set.”
Backslash nodded, saluted, and turned to face his destiny. They all faced it together.
*****************
From the bridge of the Eternal, Viper stood directly behind the window that protected the crew from the vacuum of space. The comms officer had said that the Absolut was not accepting any transmissions, and they couldn’t jump to Backslash because of UGTO interdictor fields. All Viper could do is stand and watch as his friend committed his life to the ultimate act of stupidity, selfishness, honor and bravery.
“In all my life, I have never met a more stubborn, kind hearted, stupid genius. And I never will again. My friend has left of me, and I am but alone with my remorse. My grief is known to all, felt by all, and yet is only mine. Rest in peace, dear friend.” A bright flash lit up the entire battlefield like a small sun as the two ships collided, and the Absolut’s reactor went critical. The Havoc sustained a direct blow, and the location where her bridge used to be a crater now occupied. She began to list, and fluctuations could be seen coming from her engine exhaust. The brilliant red of fire that consumed the decks visible in the crater was quickly extinguished by the coldness of space. That coldness is what it was all about. The dish that was revenge can only be served properly in the dead, black, frigidness of the universe that was their lives. From birth to death, they struggled to retain as much of this emptiness as possible. Governments, militaries, people lived and fought and died for this emptiness.
Viper could stand no more of it. He walked slowly back to his command chair, and walked past it. He walked off the bridge, leaving the entire crew stunned and speechless. Someone would take over, someone had to, because Viper would never again.
[ This Message was edited by: Coeus (Waiting for 483) on 2004-11-10 11:19 ]
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Darkspace: Twilight
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Linna Yamazaka {Vice Admiral}
Vice Admiral
Raven Warriors
Joined: May 03, 2003
Posts: 415
From: killer
| Posted: 2004-11-10 14:07
Well it was nice knowing You Backlash, You served well. Heh anyway VERY KICK BUTT Fic there Coeus, WOuld it be possable that i can butt in with my story from here and we both work it in? What i mean is That i pick up what my ship does within my fic, and you also respond to the actions of the sobek within here? It is however up to you though as SO MANY have told me. It is Your fic and not mine.
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Two weeks™ Later and a new sig.
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2004-11-10 20:21
I've got the storyline planned out, just cool yer jets slick 
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Darkspace: Twilight
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BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2004-11-10 20:30
I hate u coeus!
I HATE UUUUUUUUUUUU
/me mumbles
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2004-11-11 00:36
Thats what you get for whining!
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Darkspace: Twilight
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Strategery
Grand Admiral
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: December 07, 2002
Posts: 522
From: Straight Outta Boston!
| Posted: 2004-11-11 03:05
NOOOOOOOOOOoooooo........
Poor Backslash. Well, I always knew he had a bad temper. Mix that with being an ex-GTN, ya know, all that Honor is All stuff, and that's what happens i guess
I just read the last 3 chapters and i'm stunned how great work it is. I gotta remember to save a copy when your done. I feel an amazing ending coming.
On a side note, the whole section on who attacked whom in terms of Coeus and Vox's stories, seemed unclear to me. Vox's ship seemed to be damaged by k'luth, but then it said 1 of the k'luth attacked another, and then there was the unknown enemy who captured a ship....It was all kinda confusing. I'm sure it will either become more apparent when the story concludes, or if i just re-read it or something.
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[S.W] Grand Admiral Strategery
ICC Master Battle Strategist (ret.)
Proud Commander of the C.S.S. Ticonderoga
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Meko
Grand Admiral
Joined: March 03, 2004
Posts: 1956
From: Vancouver
| Posted: 2004-11-11 05:49
THREE CHAPTERS!!!
twilight got bumped off the top ten for THREE Chapters.
i .... this.... they.... and.... wow....
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2004-11-11 07:20
Coeus & Vox were once friends (haven't decided which I wanted to switch to the other side to make them enemies). Once they were on opposing sides of the war, they kept the friendliness but still did their duty and fought on several occasions - but never went for a kill shot. Vox was just telling the story about how he lost his ship. Clearer?
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Darkspace: Twilight
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Strategery
Grand Admiral
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: December 07, 2002
Posts: 522
From: Straight Outta Boston!
| Posted: 2004-11-13 13:48
as long as it isn't critical to the flow of the main storyline, thats cool. Thanx.
_________________
[S.W] Grand Admiral Strategery
ICC Master Battle Strategist (ret.)
Proud Commander of the C.S.S. Ticonderoga
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2004-11-13 14:22
I think it would be cool if anyone who wants to would write a bio if their character is named (like Bito and Nub & all that) leading upto the events in the story... like any history of their interaction with other characters & whatnot. Might give me material for a future story (prequal perhaps? )
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Darkspace: Twilight
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Hawk™
Cadet
Joined: July 22, 2003
Posts: 570
From: Lagtopia, Lag system.
| Posted: 2004-11-13 17:28
dude what happened to me?
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Ashail
Cadet
Joined: February 12, 2004
Posts: 7
| Posted: 2004-11-13 17:44
You're hanging around Earth, Hawk...
This post made by Kitsune while using Bigmaster420s profile*
[ This Message was edited by: -Kitsune on 2004-11-13 17:45 ]
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Strategery
Grand Admiral
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: December 07, 2002
Posts: 522
From: Straight Outta Boston!
| Posted: 2004-11-13 23:19
Well it would be simple to write a backstory on me and Bito. We've flown together since we were both noobs (well, technically we still are noobs...), but anyway, we both were in S.W from day 1, but i do recall a time when a few S.W defected to the UGTO for pension plans and the promise of a good education for the little cheeseball children they have. Like Exathra University wasn't reputable! Anyway, Bito was 1 of em.
Theres plenty of material in our history, i'll tell ya another time. Later 
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[S.W] Grand Admiral Strategery
ICC Master Battle Strategist (ret.)
Proud Commander of the C.S.S. Ticonderoga
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2004-11-14 11:52
That helps
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Darkspace: Twilight
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