| Author |
Darkspace - Twilight (Now with Alternate Ending!) |
JackSwift
Cadet
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: October 30, 2002
Posts: 1806
From: Where the Sun dont Shine (Seattle-ish)
|  Posted: 2005-06-25 16:01
Or provide a whole lot of background.
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(too lazy to rehost that old sig)
\"Errare Human Est.\"
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2005-06-26 04:14
If I hadn't played Halo or Doom I prolly wouldn't have gotten those books either....
But yeah, it is something to consider 
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BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2005-06-26 07:01
Call it...
Rogue Spear goes to Holywood!
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2005-06-26 10:53
GothThug hits New York? Oh wait, they did that one... Deep Impact
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2005-06-28 01:13
Bump 'cause I feel like it
BTW, w00t 20 pages! =)
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2005-10-09 16:15
Holy massive update! Ohhh yeah - since I got my new bank job & I have no internet access despite the fact that I'm on a nice P4 windows comp I've taken to writing when it slows down.
BIIIIG chapters and a lot happens in them - so pay attention boys & girls!
As always... MS Word Doc Linky-poo
Special surprise post after this one too!
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Chapter 22
Bito thoughtfully chewed on a piece of cheese, as was his practice. He was not happy with the way things were going. He trusted Firestorm implicitly - thats why he had asked that he escort Cassius in his endevours. He sent the order for the Yinbo to stand down a full five minutes ago, so now he waited impatiently for confirmation - either of the order being obayed, or one or more of the ships being destroyed because the order was disobayed.
"Admiral Bito, the Lysander reports that Cassius has stood down his weapons as ordered, and the Lobby Ghost is prepared to safely detonate the subspace interchange." Bito heard the speaker crackle. This might be just the edge they needed - if Coeus was right, and that Uggy spy wasn't lying.
*****************
As all the mixed and mingled ships of the line mixed and mingled in vain attempts to outmanuver the enemy beasts, three ships stood their increasingly shaky ground. The Charger and Harpoon interchanged places covering the more vulnerable Jump Cruiser Avernus. Rocko was a masterful pilot, Coeus knew, but could only do so much with a ship.
"Marines report ready, Admiral." Jameson said. He glanced nerviously at a tactical display watching the distance tick down to the nearest dread.
Coeus said nothing for a whole minute, he just watched the same distance display. He knew that he was running an extreme risk by bringing these three small cruisers way out in the open like this, but something had to be done, and Coeus had faith that this would not be a push in vain. Something inside of him told him as much.
"Admiral! One of the dreadnaughts has come about and is about to converge on the Avernus! Theres no way either us or the Harpoon can break around to catch up, she has to wormhole out!" Coeus froze, he could see plainly on the nav screen that even if the Avernus plotted the jump as soon as the dread turned toward they would never make the wormhole in time. The Avernus was a goner.
That was the feeling on Rocko's bridge as well. Everyone there knew their end was nearing. Rocko's face was grim, set in stone and looking rather haggered. His mustache caked with blood, one eye bandaged shut and his remaining eye stared straight at the camera display showing the dreadnaught turning towards.
*****************
"Lobby Chost to Yinbo and Lysander, recommend you jump to a safe distance." Stardancer said on an open channel just before she engaged her own aged tachyon drive. Nearly simultaniously, the small cylinder that was so precisely positioned in space, and the two remaining ICC starships burst into shows of light - the ships as they were jumping away form the ever expanding sphere of destruction that quickly took the place of the small cylinder. The slower Yinbo found its antimatter jump boosted by the ever expanding subspace wave - a speed jolt that killed three crewmen who weren't properly restrained and injured dozens more. The intensity of the shockwave disapated after a few thousand gu - but the effects in subspace rippled throughout the entire galaxy. Jumpdrives stoped, ion drives imploded - several ships in the Delta Province quadrant found themselves sucked into the JumpGate to Groombridge - they were never heard from again, nor were any ships that went through the gate to investigate. The most profound effect however, was not felt but rather was seen. The shimmering golden glow that was surrounding the Evil ships began to dissipate. Torpedoes began to get through. Their weapons, however, still packed more of a punch than any of the human ships could withstand.
"This is the C.C.S. Mercy to the Avernus, come about hard to port we'll cover you." Rocko's head snapped up at that. The Mercy, his old ship from long ago. He hadn't known she was still in service! After the Sirius incident he knew better than to ask for a specific command when he was demoted back to Captain. He had no time to be remeniscent - he ordered his helm hard to port. As he watched, the enemy dreadnaught, which had apparently lost its main shielding and was beginning to take massive damage, opened its gun ports and focused its fire on the rear of the Avernus, and for a split second they found their marks - the lights on the bridge dimmed as the entire ship shook with the impact - but the shaking was all too brief as the Mercy soon intercepted the beams before they could reach the Avernus' aft shielding. The ship's shields flared up in a brilliant blue pattern, sparks flying briefly in the cold dead of space before sputtering off into nothingness.
For a moment, it seemed as if the Mercy would withstand the onslaught, but meer seconds into the barrage, the shields put up no more resistance, and the beams scathed across the hull of the ship, piercing through the paper thin intersteller armor in meer seconds. In a brilliant flash, the Mercy disappeared as her jump core went critical and the particles that accelerated the flying brick to faster than light speeds impacted against each other on subatomic levels. Rocko shed a single tear, not only for the men and women who he probably knew and had most likely lived with, but also because he could see, for the first time since this onslaught had begun, the beginning of the end of everything which he had fought and bled for so long now.
The crew of the Mercy had bought time for the little task force with their lives. Rocko had no doubt that many more would be spent before the day was done. While yes, they could finally hurt the enemy ships now for some reason, the Evil were more than capable of dishing out the damage the entire fleet could deal a hundred fold. More than that, there was the spectre that those shields could come up at any moment, the aliens had already displayed a mastery of technology far beyond that of the three factions - or even of the Mir. That fear was far more damaging than any weapon. Morale is a very dangerous weapon, and Rocko knew that Hawk knew that.
*****************
Storming around the bridge of the Del Monte, Hawk sputtered and raged in his usual fashion about the entire pitch of the battle. He raged so much that when an aid came to tell him about three incoming cruisers, Hawk simply killed him for the inturruption of his rage. So it was not so much of a shock to the rest of the bridge crew when Hawk wheeled about and stared at the blips indicating three enemy ships. Rather than fuming even more about what was, to Hawk, an unexpected turn of events, he sat quietly in his chair and waited to see who won the race for Earth. The human ships were much faster and more nimble, but they proceeded cautiously, they knew how extremely dangerous the Del Monte and company were - but nonetheless they advanced, emboldened by the fact that they could now damage these mysteriously modified K'Luth Dreadnaughts. So focused on the three advancing cruisers was the bridge crew of the Del Monte that they didn't realize that their companion dreadnaught, the Soul Eater, had begun to fall to the combined firepower of the two human factions.
The Del Monte was now under attack from two fronts, each as dangerous as the other. Vox eyeballed his tactical panel and relayed the order to flank and converge on the lead enemy dread - ignoring the still dangerous Phantom Knight. As ships began to converge on the enemy flagship, power levels started to decrease inside the Phantom Knight. Vox silently cheered, as the marines that the UGTO had dispatched accomplished their mission! Hopefully they could still be rescrued - but that wasn't a priority right now, because the Del Monte was doubtlessly preparing to repel boarders. That couldn't be helped - that was the only way to keep these enemy ships from escaping to try again another time. As the majority of the combined fleet converged on the sole remaining Evil dreadnaught, the Phantom Knight found itself being picked off by the merchant ships and scouts. The word went out to the fleet to inform the remaining Marine squads - Mount up.
Back on the Charger, Jameson and Coeus squared off in the center of the bridge. If the crew didn't know their captain and admiral better, they would have thought that they would soon come to blows. The throught drifted through Coeus' mind as well, but he laughed it off. Jameson caught on to it quickly. "Thinking about just knocking me out and going anyway?"
Coeus chuckled loudly, he knew it would never come to that. "Thought crossed my mind... but no, I need you to command the Charger - since after all, she is officially your ship. Ter' - I have to get on that ship. This is the answer to everything that my life is leading up to."
"I'm sorry, Admiral-" Jameson started.
"Don't quote regulations to me Terry, I don't care. If it makes it easy then I'll resign and take my own ship over there, but the odds are that I'd get shot down before the MLPs - which is why I'm going to send the Spirit of Philadelphia on auto-pilot anyway." Coeus had already made up his mind. There was no time, he had to get down to the Marine quarters and suit up. He started to walk off when Jameson stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "I'm going Ter'." Coeus said plainly.
"I know. I just wanted to give you this." Terry handed Coeus a pulse pistol - it was old, possibly as old as the Charger herself - and possibly older. It had the scratches, scorches, and dull look that came only with years and years of reliable use.
"Shes beautiful." Coeus said, and he meant it. "Where'd you get 'er?"
Terry just smiled, and turned the pulse pistol over as it sat in Coeus' hand - the nameplate was worn and had as many scratches as the rest of the gun, if not more. The name was barely discernable from all the wear, but it was clearly recognisable at the same time - at least to Coeus it was. It said Captain Marcus Darksoul - C.C.S. Charger. A single tear rolled down Coeus' face. Thoughts and memories flowed through him as he relived the brief lifetime he had with his father. He looked Jameson in the eye, Terry nodded and Coeus turned and left to join the Marines.
Chapter 23
The quarters were cramped. None of the Marines were willing to volunteer to give up a spot to probably save their life and Coeus wasn't about to order them, much less ask. So, Coeus stood. It was the most dangerous thing you could do while breaching an enemy ship. Then again, the only real worry the MLPs had to worry about was being hit by the enemy point defense - there were no enemy shots that would just rock the boat or anything like that. The way Coeus had seen the first wave of MLPs destroyed, he knew that the Marines inside never had a chance to realize they were going to die. Not an entirely bad way to go. Useless, but not bad. Then again, a useless death is the worst in the mind of every ICC that Coeus had ever served with. The lessons learned by that first wave of MLPs however were key to the survival of this wave of landing pods. So, in the end, perhaps they didn't die for nothing. Yes, thats how Coeus chose to remember those first Marines who gave their lives. And, if this wave didn't make it, then he wouldn't have to worry about remebering.
"Two minutes!" the platoon LT. yelled. Coeus was surrounded by grunting, hooting and hollering, and stoic silence all at the same time. Pretty happy group, Coeus thought, given what we were about to dive into. He checked his pulse rifle's charge, and made sure that his father's pistol was safely secured in Coeus' right hand holster, and that his own pulse pistol was secured under his left arm in his secondary holster. It wasn't until the one minute mark that Coeus noticed one of the younger Marines was staring at him. Coeus stared back at him, not threatening or challenging, nor fearful or apathetic. Just returning the Marine's blank gaze. Neither spoke for another thirty seconds. Then, finally, as the computer started the 30 second countdown, the Corporal spoke up.
"You don't think we'll make it, do you Sir?" he asked.
Coeus was dumbfounded by the statement, not only because of how blunt and outrageous it was, but also because of how true it was. "What makes you think that?" he asked the Corporal slyly.
"I've served on the Charger since I joined the Marines sir, I know how you feel about sending men off to what is most likely their deaths, and I know that you would never ask us to give our lives for something like this unless you were willing to do the same. Its our honor to fight alongside you, Admiral." the Corporal said. With that, he saluted sharply from his restraining seat - as did every other Marine on the landing pod. Coeus fought back the tears that were struggling to the surface and welling up in his eyes and saluted them sharply in return - and was nearly jostled onto the floor as the MLP was launched. Coeus snapped off the salute and started to move forward amidst cheers of 'Hoo Rah!' and took up station next to the pilot - who was trying his damndest to remain professional.
"Disembarking the pod-bay now, Sir." the pilot said as officiously as he could. Coeus looked out the window and saw the bottom of the Charger's primary hull flow by. The ship seem to pass by unbearably slow. He could see the details of the paint that mismatched in countless places as the pieces of the hull had been torn away and replaced with whatever was on hand. Potmarked armor plating and the subtle glowing grids that were the shield emmiters. The MLPs - four of them - rose up along the port side of the ship and began to peal away, while still remaining inside the shield grid's protective force. The engineers of the Charger had worked together with those from the Harpoon to boost both ship's shield strength ten fold using techniques and technology learned from the alien invaders that Admiral Delafelde had uncovered. He would have implimented it sooner but he needed people with an intimate understanding of ICC shield technology to make it work.
All too soon, however, the bright yellow beams that spelled instant death to the MLPs began to flash and sputter against the now strengthened shields of the Charger. Looking at the sensor display, Coeus saw ten more smaller blips converging on the center of the screen. They were the MLPs from the Avernus and the Harpoon. Even with the strengthened shields that she now sported, Coeus doubted that the Charger could take much more of this punishment, they needed some way to take some heat off of her. The MLPs of the Harpoon saw this too - and apparently they defied orders and broke formation to speed ahead. Coeus figured that they broke orders because as soon as they started to speed up he heard Delafelde come over the broadcast channel screaming at them to return to formation. He ordered them, when that didn't work he threatened them, and when that didn't work he pleaded with them. He knew it was all in vain - he had trained them too well, had too much of their devotion to himself and to the cause of humanity - not just the UGTO - to be persuaded from their course. As he watched, the MLPs drifted further and further towards the edge of the bright blue sphere of the Charger's shields. She was taking one hell of a pounding, but it would soon abate with the lives of six incredibly corageous marine platoons, Coeus saw, because the bright yellow destructive beams emitting from the hull of the enemy dreadnaught were tracking along the shield perimiter where the Harpoon's MLPs were headed. The dread had already begun tracking them. Delafelde continued to plead with his Marines, even though he knew it to be an effort in vain most likely.
Before Coeus could say anything, or anyone else, the cream colored UGTO MLPs had passed through the passive end of the intensely powerful shields and were obliterated one by one - the bright yellow beams however did not track back to the Charger but continued to fire on the location that the MLPs were. Coeus saw quickly as the jerry rigged shield booster sputtered from the lower pylon rack and the glowing of the forward shield arc intensified - amplified by the momentary reprive that the MLPs were able to provide. It was their sacrafice that allowed the Charger to redouble her shield intensity - the rest of the MLPs would be able to safely dock with the enemy ship. Even so, Coeus ordered the remaining MLPs from the Charger and the Avernus to spread formation. Coeus' MLP stayed in center formation where it was most protected, but also most obviously the central target. It wasn't until the Charger was directly under the Del Monte that Coeus gave the order to break formation and make for the hull of the enemy ship. Thats when Coeus realized his mistake. By the time he got the word out, all of the MLPs except his own were already beyond the shields. The enhanced AM torpedos were detonated right against the shields meer meters from the lower hull of the Del Monte - too close for the beams to track but still close enough to get the warheads out of the tubes and armed. The Marines didn't even have time to send out a distress signal.
"Sir." The pilot remained stoic - Coeus would have to put him in for a comendation if he survived. "What do we do now? Theres no way I'm taking this ship outside of the shields. Before the pilot could finish his statement however, the Charger moved even closer to the dreadnaught. Coeus imagined Jameson on the bridge looking out the window and trying to see into the portholes on the underbelly of the gargantuan ship. He had obviously disengaged the collision safety protocals to get the shields to come into contact with the enemy hull. It had a surprising effect, the newly reinforced shields. He could see the edges of the shields flare up - sadly the full shape of the shields didn't hold and they cut off when in contact with the hull of the dreadnaught to give a sort of conduit with which to protect Coeus' sole remaining MLP all the way upto hull contact.
"Floor it." Coeus said, but was one step behind the pilot who had already gunned the throttle. It was going to be tricky. While the Charger was far more manuverable, she couldn't remain in such close contact with the dread like that - and having the shields all the way up against the hull like that had to be draining them faster than enemy fire probably could - even from point blank of this monster. Coeus was glad he chose the 3rd Marine platoon of the Charger - they had a reputation that rivaled many of the hardened battle worn planet side regiments on the fringes of ICC space. To do that from a cruiser based squad was quite an accomplishment indeed, and it required some masterful piloting of the MLPs to get done.
“Approaching the hull. Stand by for docking and cutting operations.” The pilot said. Coeus strapped himself down This was going to have to be quick, they had to get onto the hull and inside the enemy ship before they could pick the MLP off the hull once the Charger disengaged to recharge her shields. “Impact in five, four, three, two.” The entire MLP shuddered with massive impact trauma as the nose of the small craft dug its way through the outer hull. The protective screens had come down over the windows to prevent any part of the enemy ship’s structure from piercing them, so Coeus just stared at the sensor display as the cutting torches dug through the struts and layers of the outer and inner hulls – and finally found themselves a corridor.
“Extending sleeve.” The pilot said. He took off his headset, picked up his rifle and led the platoon through the small tunnel to the interior of the Del Monte. Coeus followed immediately afterwards. When they were all inside, they sealed the MLP end of the sleeve corridor, and the pilot hit a remote control that disengaged it from the hull. They were on their own now. Turning back to the Del Monte’s end of the sleeve, the pilot hit some controls on the wall, and the ramp burst open on its explosive bolts. Peering around the edge, the pilot carefully stepped out into the dark, damp corridor. Coeus was hesitant, he could neither hear nor see the pilot now. He looked behind him, and saw the marines gripping their pulse rifles. The Corporal looked at Coeus from the back of the pack, and nodded his head. With that, Coeus turned his attention back towards the Del Monte, and stepped out into the fog.
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2005-10-09 16:19
As a special treat to anyone who has never downloaded the ms word doc I'm posting the prologue that I wrote about 3 months ago & put in the word doc, but never used.
Enjoy!
Prologue
For decades, the K’Luth hae relied on humans to conduct espionage. They knew the risks were great, but the rewards given to loyal agents of the Hive were enough to keep even the most xenophobic human from becoming a double agent, as were the punishments for those disloyal to the Hive.
It had taken many years for the K’Luth to specially train an elite intelligence corps. The humans who thought they were in charge were all, at one time or another, prominently featured in the intelligence reports of both the I.C.C. and the U.G.T.O. – sometimes both at once, the reports singing either praise or warning. There was one name, however, that managed to stay under the radar of both factions, and do more effective work than those names found constantly in the reports.
Stardancer flashed a smile, an alien gesture to the lobster looking creature in front of her.
“So tell me, agent,” a robotic voice said from a shiny metallic device on the alien’s head, “why are we here, and why did you request all of the information on missing ships throughout the K’Luth’s outer edge territories?” The translation software was finally tuned properly.
Stardancer picked a pair of eyes and looked the K’Luth intel officer square into them and said, “Because I’m afraid for the future of all the races.”
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Fatal Rocko Willis
Fleet Admiral
Fatal Squadron
Joined: March 01, 2003
Posts: 1336
From: Kentucky
| Posted: 2005-10-09 17:31
Stands up and Appluades! Bravo!
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Jaydawg
Vice Admiral
Joined: October 11, 2003
Posts: 150
From: vermilion AB
| Posted: 2005-10-09 22:15
Can you say amaze!?
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2005-10-10 16:37
I'll be posting something on why the ship classes aren't the standard ICCS & whatnot later.
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BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2005-10-10 17:42
Damn good read
(Boycott Coeus, he killed me!)
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2005-10-11 16:42
Really quick...
_______
Memo
Subject: Experimental Ship Classes
From: ICC High Council
To: All ICC Fleet Personel
Body:
As of the release of this memo the ICC High Council has elected to ammend the current ship registry classes to include a new, special designation for ICC Fleet Starships under the following circumstances:
- Prototype
- Currently under Overhaul
- Unattached to a fleet division
- Experimental
- Those ships with experimental technology in core systems
As you can see, this will change roughly 1/3 of the fleet's ships to this new registry. At current - only one registry designation has been decided for all of the above mentioned circumstances.
Ships that are effected by this new regulation will now replace the I.C.C.S. registry with the new registry effective immediately. The new registry designation is N.C.X. - Naval Confederate Experiment class ship.
Undersigned - Grand Chancelor Richard Faustus Lyle
[ This Message was edited by: Coeus [FIX 483 FIRST!] on 2005-10-19 15:49 ]
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GothThug {C?}
Fleet Admiral
Joined: June 29, 2005
Posts: 2932
| Posted: 2005-10-11 16:46
wow, interesting last chapter and prologue, kept me on the edge of my seat and coeus "GothThug takes newyork" plz boy no fat jokes 
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2005-10-11 16:56
Hey, it works doesn't it?
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2005-10-19 23:03
Hey... guess what... The website is finally up!
I got off my ass & spent a few hours fixing HTML around & whatnot and... well, see for yourself!
http://onesoul.dragonsbreath.tv/twilight
I'll have more later for it. Enjoy! I'd be happy to host any other fanfic's websites if they do the coding 
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