Freelancer : Part 1

[Herc34es]

Όνομα Συγγραφέα: Ηρακλής

Είδος:Επιστημονική φαντασία

Βία; Όχι

Σεξ; Όχι

Αριθμός Λέξεων: 14202 χαρακτήρες

Αυτοτελής; Οχι "PART 1"

Σχόλια: Είναι η πρώτη μου απόπειρα. Το είχα ξεκινήσει πιο παλιά και τώρα το διόρθωσα και αφού ανακάλυψα αυτό το site γιατί να μην το ανεβάσω να το δείτε...το έγραψα στα αγγλικά γιατί δεν μπορώ να γράψω στα ελληνικά το ίδιο άνετα με τα αγγλικά κυρίως για αισθητικούς δικούς μου λόγους. Διαβάστε και πείτε μου την γνώμη σας!!

 

 

 

Introduction

 

 

This is year 2215 AD mankind’s darkest hour. A war that has claimed the lives of millions for the same piece of rock raged for over a century. We have been fighting for so long that we have forgotten the reason we started it. All we know is that there were two sides: the Alliance and the Coalition. The war was balanced until one side managed to get the upper hand, the Coalition. The Alliance in a desperate move launched five Sleeper ships to the Serious system hoping that there they will start over without the differences that divided us and brought us to our destruction. Each Sleeper ship was named after its patriot nation: the Bretonia, the Hispania, the Kusari, the Rheinland, the Liberty. These five Sleeper ships managed to break through the Coalition blockade and headed for the Serious System.

 

 

 

It has been 800 years since then. We have lived, we have prospered, we have changed but we will never forget.

 

 

 

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

 

 

System: Sigma-17

 

 

 

“Delta leader, this is Freeport 7, you are clear to launch. Safe journey.”

 

“Thank you Freeport 7, glad doing business with you”

 

“Delta leader, be advised, we are reading unknown contacts in our scanners. We are sending a fighter wing to escort you till the nearest jump-gate.”

 

Five fighter ships undocked for the station and got into formation with the trader convoy, when the Radio bursted with the voice of the stations traffic controller:

 

“ALERT, ALERT, ALERT…UNKNOWN CONTACTS HAVE BREACHED THE PERIMETER DEFENCES. MAN ALL STATIONS, MAN ALL STATIONS.”

 

The unknown contacts launched something you can call a torpedo to the station. The explosions were violent; parts of the station were melted just right after the impact, while the shockwave teared apart the haul, the platforms and the bio-deck of the station, sending them drifting into space.

 

 

 

“An unexpected event occurred today 12-3-800 in 06:25. Freeport seven was destroyed. Unknown are the reasons of this act but the police is investigating whether this was an accident or a deliberate attack. Rescue parties managed to find only one escape pod with five people inside, of which one will be admitted to the hospital. The chief of police suspects the criminal organization “The Order”, which has gained recently power and influence amongst other criminals. President Jacobi has ordered a full investigation not only amongst the police ranks but also amongst government officials, since a leak is suspected. This is the Universal News Channel. We will keep you up to date as more are to be found out.”

 

 

 

A young man, in his early thirties, walked out of the Armored Transport that salvaged the escape pod. He was an average guy, not tall but not short, not fat but yet not thin, blond with blue eyes. This guy must be a ladies man. He was wearing a brown leather jacket, brown pants and shoes. The only thing that wasn’t brown was his shirt under the jacket, which was blue. He took a deep breath and looked around. Reporters were swamping the area trying to pass through the police officers in order to take a picture of the survivors and ask them questions. The only reporters who were allowed to enter were the UNC ones. “It really is all about quittances” he thought.

 

The medical officers were offering first aid help to the injured man before they transfer him to the hospital when he approached.

 

“Make sure he lives. He owes me some credits”.

 

“Your concern is touching. We will do what ever we can”, the officer replied and placed the injured man in the ambulance.

 

He left the area with a weight on his mind.

 

“What am I going to do now? Everything I had was on Freeport 7”-sighs- “Ohhh I need a drink”.

 

He entered the first bar he saw. There were many people in there. His eye, however, got a glimpse of a young Kusarian woman in a blue uniform. She was talking to a much older man quite intensively. He turned to the bar tender:

 

“Side one «a thing»”.

 

“All we got is liberty ale friend”.

 

“Fine” he hissed.

 

He had just drunk the ale when the bartender spoke.

 

“I know you”.

 

“Nah, I don’t think so”

 

“You were on the news. You are one of the Freeport 7 survivors. I heard that it was pretty hard out there”.

 

“Well yeah it was”.

 

“You are lucky to be alive”

 

“Well, lucky me”

 

“This drink is on me. It’s the good stuff”

 

“Why?”

 

“Cause it is not every time someone gets to start all over again”.

 

He grabbed the glass and drunk the liquid. It made him feel a little better. He turned and gazed the Kusarian woman. She seemed to be upset. He wondered why.

 

“She is a tough one”.

 

“Uh-huh”, he said, “and why is that?”

 

“Her name is Jun’ko Jane. She is LSF. All business. Try and talk to her. The police might find something to get you started”.

 

“Ok, I don’t have anything to lose anyway”.

 

He standed up and stretched his back. He walked to her table and heard a part of the conversation, how couldn’t he actually; they were nearly yelling.

 

“Things have changed, Commander Jane. With the more liberties «The Order» is gaining we are losing our profits. Profits that fund both the police and the Government”.

 

“Uh-hum”, he coughed. “Are you Jun’ko Jane?” he jumped into the conversation.

 

“I believe you have business to discuss” the man said while standing up, “I leave the matter to your delicate hands”, he said and left the table, in a very frustrated manner.

 

“No wait, uhhh”, she groaned, “What do you want?” she angrily replied.

 

“Sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt but I talked to the bartender and he said you may have something for me”.

 

“Who do you work for mister…?”

 

“Trend, I work for my-self”

 

“So you are a freelancer, and what ship you fly?”

 

“I lost mine, on Freeport 7”, Trend replied sadly.

 

“Oh, I am sorry to hear that. Well it happens that I need hands for a mission or two, are you interested?”

 

“Yes I am”

 

“Ok, meet me at the police ship hangar in 2 hours. Tell the security guard that I am sending you so that he will let you in, ok?”

 

Trend nodded positively and she gave a fade smile. She walked out of the bar and Trend gazed her as she walked herself out.

 

“I will better set off to the hangar she talked about. I have no idea were it is so I better get started with asking some directions”, he said to himself. He thanked the bartender and headed for the randevouz point.

 

 

 

Arriving to the ship hangar was hard; he has barely enough time before he is late. He rushed to the guard asking were to meet Jun’ko Jane. He was given an entry card and directed to Hangar 0. The hangar was empty and dark; no lights were on.

 

“Hello”, he said.

 

Then strong projectors lighted the area up blinding Trend for a second.

 

“I thought you wouldn’t show up Mr Trend”

 

“It is just Trend. So what do you got for me?”

 

“This is going to be an easy mission. You are going to baby-sit a convoy along with some other police crafts and act as their cover. The Convoy is stationed at Baltimore Shipyard and the destination is planet Pitsburg. The CEO of the mission is King. He will be waiting you tomorrow outside of the docking ring at 06:00. Don’t be late.”

 

“I won’t”.

 

“Good, we also have provided you with this ship”

 

“A Starflier?!”

 

“You are lucky enough to get a ship. You won’t have jump access yet and it is pretty basic. If you want a better one work for us and you might live long enough to get a new one”, she said with a smile.

 

“Uh yeah…”

 

“I have to go now since I have other business to attend too”, she said and left Trend.

 

She is very distant and cold he thought. That bartender was right; she is all business.

 

 

 

Location: Planet Manhattan

 

Time: 05:58

 

“All systems show green, you are ready to launch”, the robotic traffic controller responded.

 

“Roger that. Here we go”.

 

«The Starflier is a very basic star-craft. It is extremely venerable if engaged in combat cause it has a small energy capacitor, thus it can’t maintain constant fire on the enemy, it can’t mount a proper shield and the haul is extremely thin, a collision with any object may be the last thing you will do alive. However it is extremely agile. Due to the thinness of the armor the engine is able to maneuver this ship without any problems. And if you add a thruster then you never get shot if you are an able pilot, unless you are engaged by many enemies».

 

 

 

Coming out of the station a spectacular sight made him halt the craft. A Cruiser class spaceship and its eight escorts were flying to Newark Station. The police had set traffic control; no civilian or trader ships were allowed within a 10 SM distance.

 

 

 

Incoming transmission from: King

 

Ship: Patriot

 

Distance: 2 SM (SM=Space Miles)

 

System: New York

 

 

 

“This is King. Are you Trend?”

 

 

 

Trend presses the reply button:

 

 

 

“Yes this Trend. Is this a Rheinland cruiser?”

 

“It’s the Dunhow. It brings a Rheinland diplomat to discuss a matter about “The Order” problem. Don’t get to close. Come we have to go to our mission.

 

 

 

The cruise engines hadn’t charged when a message was heard by the Newark station:

 

“This is Newark station we are showing 15 unknown contacts approaching with cruise speed. Be advised. All police escorts are ordered to set a blockade.

 

This is Newark station to incoming vessels you are ordered to shut your engines and be escorted off the system”.

 

 

 

The unknown contacts were not halting their engines but instead they powered up their weapons and replied to the system channel:

 

“We are here to protect the President and we will do so by any mean we can”.

 

They blocked all incoming transmissions to them. The cruiser set its crew to battle stations and the escorts joined the police blockade.

 

 

 

King and Trend were also ordered to join forces. The plan was not to allow the 15 crafts to get in firing range to the cruiser. The blockade had charged the weapons and rushed in to destroy the invaders. The police crafts and the escorts were firing everything they got but those vessels had shields that not only adsorbed and deflected the shots but also their recharge rate was high. This gave them the advantage; despite they were only 15 against 41, shot down 8 ships very quickly. The cruiser has immense damage outputs, but its weapons are made to engage other capital ships and not fighters or bombers, its weapons couldn’t track the fighters due to their speed. All 15 ships got into range and fired 3 torpedoes each. A barrage of total 45 torpedoes was heading to the cruiser. Its big size makes it impossible to dodge. At speed of 200SP/s and with a thruster boost before the launch, all those torpedoes rammed the ship at speed of 250 SP/s. The haul breached and most torpedoes exploded inside the cruiser. Explosions from all over the ship were visible. They were so powerful that the ship was divided in three pieces: the engine, the main body and the control room. The main body and the engine quickly exploded; the nuclear power capacitor literally melted the cruiser’s main body and the engine’s H-Fuel exploded shattering the engine components. The control room remained almost intact. However the crew instantly died due to the decompression caused by the ship breaking into three pieces.

 

The defending forces seeked vengeance. However the enemy was better equipped and couldn’t shoot them down. Finally navy Defender class fighters and two Liberty gunboats arrived. Navy pilots are highly trained and gunboats are specially designed for anti-fighter/bomber vessels. Trend didn’t do much; he had a starflier, but managed to distract one fighter long enough for the allies to shoot him down.

 

The aftermath of the battle was a destroyed cruiser with no survivors, 25 lost ships and 15 enemies killed. While all ships have ejecting mechanisms those 15 pilots didn’t eject, which means this was a suicide mission.

 

Lots of noise was coming from the system channel. Police officers were shouting and yelling at each other, blaspheming and cursing, other were telling others to shut up, to search for survivors…

 

 

 

“Ahh that is one hell of a noise, I‘ll better shut the system channel” he turned it off and leaned back while taking a deep breath, “Yep, that’s better”.

 

 

 

“Trend this is King. Despite this event we have to proceed to our mission. Dock with the trade lane and head for Baltimore Shipyard. The convoy is waiting”.

 

“Who the hell were these guys? I have never seen such ships before in my life!”

 

“I have no idea, Trend, but what I don’t get is how they got so close to planet Manhattan, in the heart of Liberty space, undetected!”

 

 

 

It was obvious the King was upset…Trend could tell even if you couldn’t see him. To a police officer this is the worse case scenario.

 

 

 

“Here, Trend, the convoy”

 

“This is Alpha leader we were expecting you”

 

“All get into formation with Alpha leader. Are we ready to go?”

 

“All set. Engaging cruise engines. Docking with trade lane to Fort Bush in 5 minutes”.

 

The root to Planet Pitsburg was a long one. First waypoint of the mission was Fort Bush, a heavily armored Navy station controlling the trade lanes from and to Planet Manhattan, Baltimore Shipyard, Badlands and Planet Pitsburg. There the other police escorts will join and head for the last waypoint to Planet Pitsburg. It is a dangerous route because the trade lane passes through a large debris field in which pirates are a common encounter.

 

 

 

“We are half way there” Alpha leader said. “I don’t think there will be any pirates here”.

 

She hadn’t finish when King shouted from the radio.

 

“Oh shit…trade lane disrupted. Break of the formation and prepare to fight. Protect the trader ships. We have to hold until the trade lane is online again. Trend get ready”.

 

Liberty rogue pirates come through the debris in their Bloodhound type ships. They were in equal numbers with the police. Missiles launched from both sides and a few ships exploded. Trend avoided a missile by maneuvering amongst the debris. He shot down 2 pirate ships and tracked in their ejecting pods. The battle didn’t last for more than a quarter of an hour; Bloodhound fighters are big and hard to steer, while police Patriots are small, agile and fast. The trader ships however got hit by 4 missiles and fire has broken in several cargo decks. Smoke can be seen pouring out as the ventilation system tries to maintain the air clean inside the transport ship. However more pirates approaching are shown in the scanners.

 

 

 

“The trade lane is back up. All enter formation we have to go now”.

 

 

 

The lane jolted the ships with a speed of more that 1000SM/s. Within seconds the convoy was thousands of miles away from the pirate ambush.

 

 

 

“Thank god we made it in one piece”, Alpha leader said.

 

“Very nice job everyone”

 

“Ok, King, we kept the part of our deal, now keep yours”

 

“I am transferring payments now. Thank you for acting as bait out there. Trend, meet me at Planet Pitsburg’s docking ring. I will explain everything soon”.

 

 

 

 

 

A few minutes later King approached Trend’s ship.

 

“This mission was a decoy. We have intel that there is a hidden base in the debris field and we have to find it. According to the intelligence “Order” ships are supposed to refuel and take shelter before they launch attacks or do espionage missions. That’s why we have to destroy it! Now, let’s land to resupply. I will need you on the next assignment of mine. Meet me down there.”

 

 

 

This planet was dead. Literally dead. No plants could ever survive in such a toxic atmosphere. The sun couldn’t penetrate the thick full or carbon dioxide atmosphere. A brown cloud sky was the only thing you could see. The hundreds mining factories were the cause of that problem. When Planetform corporation found out that this planet was full of iron and other metals needed for ship construction all industries settled in this planet making it from a habitable planet to the worst planet living on.

 

As soon as Trend got out of the ship he felt ill, his eyes were burning and he could barely breathe. He rushed in the star-port’s facilities and waited for King. He ordered a drink and half an hour later he showed up.

 

“Ok, Trend, here is the next assignment. We are to fly in that debris field and search for the base. There are already other police scouts out there and when they finish we will continue from where they stopped. We will have waypoints set to cover uncharted ground. I have contacted battleship Misouri to prepare a fighter and a bomber squad to destroy it in case we find it. Are you in?”

 

“I am in. But I hope it would be worth it”

 

“Trust me it will be”.

 

“Then I am in”.

 

“Get ready. It won’t be long till they return. Oh and by the way, I have seen this pile of junk you are flying. Go to the Ship dealer at Hangar 4. He must have something for you”.

 

 

 

Trend looked out of the window and saw, or what he could make out with all that smoke, his Starflier. It really seemed that it would break apart.

 

 

 

“He is right, I got to change it or else I may become space dust”.

 

He checked his neural net account and saw the money he had: 4.345 credits. He looked again his craft and said to it:

 

“Well, I hope you like me because we will be together for quite some time”, and smiled.

 

He leaned back and closed his eyes. Never had he seen so much action in his life. A freelancer is a hired gun; something like a mercenary. Yet he was hired by miners and traders, not by the police. He always avoided combat, but know he is in the dance floor and he has to dance.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2010 by Herc34es

[green_leaf]

So.....very original huh.

[Herc34es]

my friend...i know haaha i would really like for another kind of a comment...did you like it ?