Black Hearts, closed doorsand War Crimes
Drake Thastus search for answers
The battleships Ragnarok and Balistner had been decommissioned and replaced by a new more powerful shipThe Ravager it was built in a joint effort between the Outcasts and Lane Hackersweapons so powerful they could obliterate Liberty Dreadnoughts in seconds. Another ship had been commissioned from their spare partsSkoll it was a small interceptor frigate for raiding deep into enemy space avoiding detection. Drake Thastus looked up them with pleasurehe knew these would finally win him his victory and get the answers he wanted from liberty. Why? And Who?
Hed wanted to know like every other man alive would if theyd been in his situation, Scott, how long until Ravager is up and running? Drake asked impatiently.
Give it a few days Drake, shell be running soon. Scott replied, he hadnt changed much in the years past. Scott was a brown haired and brown eyed manabout Drakes height and 22 years old. A contrast almost to Drake, he was patient but careless
Good, get those new Outcast weapons loaded on soon. Drake said he walked off
(*)
Damnit allthe Hellfire Legion has been pounding our fleets for years nowwe cannot even patrol Manhattan safely. Perhaps its time we, gave in to his demands. They arent unreasonable. The new Charismatic leader of the liberty navy said
It seems we may not have a choicebut this would mean we would have to clean out the Admiralty and have the security agencies in existence. An aid said
WellI need to put some people in office anyways. Contact the Rheinland Governmentwe need neutral ground.
OOC: The following are invited to add onto this story until further notice and others may be allowed....
Elgatodiablo, (More will follow, gato PM those invited to participate in the RP to me) (If anyone thinks they have a good reason to post in the thread PM me and I will see if i agree)
John Kyles heart was racing, blood flowing through his veins at mach two. What the hell is so special about this dreadnought that Drake wants it so bad? John asked himself. Drake had been adamant about the capturing of this vessel, and John was in a key position for taking it with a little help from some Hellfire Marines. John was moving through the ducts it was arduous, or at least arduous after nine hours of climbing through the ducts to get above the fusion reactor. Drake was moving a small raiding fleet into Alaska to get it with some help from the OrderOrillion had been killed by a nomad fighter wing weeks before and the new commander of the Order was ruthless and a former Xeno who hated Liberty above all. Several Osiris class ships were assisting themand in exchange they would get some of the technology of the newly constructed Dreadnought.
Drake was watching quietly aboard the cloaked cruiser Antares his Executive Commander, Mark Kaine was watching from aboard the HF Osiris class dreadnought Atlas also cloaked. Prison station Mitchell was also going to be a target, many Lane Hacker and Outcast spies were being held and their information would eventually prove to be vital to Drake. Take us in Marcus, contact our agent aboard the Dreadnought tell himdeaths hand. Drake commanded.
Marcus did as told; he and Drake had been through a lot. Marcus was now a Fleet Admiral but Drake trusted no one else to pilot for this mission. For Drake to insist on something like that was the greatest show of respect he could give you, Aye sir. Marcus said
John heard the signal and dove into the engine room, a personal cloaking device activated, he deactivated the new shielding and turned off all the power main and auxiliary. Sirens went of all over the ship but it was too late, four Hellfire Legion landing craft uncloaked and Drake opened a channel with the ship. We have you outmanned, outsmarted and outgunned surrender now or we will take the ship by force and kill you allsurrender we drop you on Manhattan. Drake demanded.
The inexperience commander of the dreadnought quickly handed over the ship and was sent to New York. Everything looks good on the inside Drake come aboard. John Kyle said over his comm, he studied the power room aboard the dreadnought, quickly learning that it was not a normal ship. What he first thought was a fusion core turned out to be an Anti-matter generator, with some nomad technology attached to it. Drake, libertys been nomad hunting.
(*)
What do you want? The commander of the Liberty Navy asked the man before him. Hed been called to a meeting with several other Admirals in the Liberty navy fleet.
Youre here because I asked you to comewhat you want to do with the Hellfire Legionis unacceptable. I cannot allow you to give in to their outrageous demands. Said a man, his name Fleet Admiral Augustus Silvan.
What do you mean? Put a few traitorous bastards in prison in exchange for keeping our fleet is unacceptable?
Silvan quickly realized that he had no choice; he held out a blaster and killed the Liberty Navy commander. I didnt want to do that Silvan had completed his goal, he and the others responsible for the assassination of the super soldiers would now be safeor so they thought. How is operation Rapier coming?
One of Silvans advisors stood up and began to speak, Fleet Admiral, operation Rapier is coming along fine. Its almost ready, soon Drake Thastus will be no more.
(*)
Order Pilots clashed with Nomads in omicron minor, exchanging lasers with them at a constant rate. The experienced Order pilots tore through the parasitical nomads; Drake and John were staying on Toledo with the Order engineers breaking down the Liberty Dreadnought, Belreen. Another highly advanced prototype that Liberty was planning on putting into the brewing war, on Bretonias side it would seem. Liberty was playing for team Liberty, selling technology to the house willing to pay the most while keeping the best for themselves. But Drake wasnt gonna let them keep the upper hand.
Well this is an amazing piece of technology, put it with cloaking and shields and Liberty is gonna be one tough son of bi**h to fight. Said an Order engineer
Yeah, whatever get it working. The Ravager needs all the advantages it can get. Drake replied.
After several hours the engineers found various other improvements over normal dreadnoughts. It had superior weapons, shields and stealth field generator. Also something new, two heavy guns like none Drake had ever seen. What are those right there? The big ass guns on the front of that thing.
They seem to be some kind of energy cannons, thought they were Corsair Battle Razors at firstbut now, I am not sure what the hell they are. But Im sure theyll look pretty on the Ravager. The Engineer said.
(*)
Deep out in Omicron Major trouble was brewing, a Nomad fleet was amassing. Liberty had finally provoked a full-scale response for their attacks to get a hold of nomad technology. The colonies were now in greater danger than ever before
Scott Davis was flying routinely through Magellan and into Vespucci then straight on to Humboldt. He was flying a much different fighter than his Lane Hacker brethren, a Scimitar the new and improved Outcasts Lighter fighter. He was sporting Outcast and amazing Corsair weapons, Drake had somehow like always managed to get his people the best of the best weapons to use against their enemies. However this journey was not routine as it may seem, the patrol was merely a cover for something else going onDrakes stealth fighter was launching from America base on course to the Newcastle system. Rumors of a nomad base abounded from it.
He was careful to quickly penetrate Bretonia space, they werent as wary as Liberty was of stealthy intrusions into their space. But that didnt mean it would be easy, ever since his stealth assassination of the Admiralty whom he thought were responsible for his plight, defenses in all four houses were increased dramatically. With the Bretonia Kusari war in full swing their would be no defenders in Newcastle because of its remote nature
Scotts Hacker flight exited Humboldt and flew into Vespucci and out through Magellan straight into Leeds, he took his hacker wing and opened fire on a Bretonia Battleship patrol. Drake heard alert sirens from everywhere around him watching Cavaliers and Crusaders rushing to beat back the Lane Hacker strike. Scottheh, Drake thought. He entered the tradelane to the jumpgate and jumped into Newcastle, he and the other Hellfire Legion commanders wanted to now exactly how long Liberty had been attacking the nomads. And since Liberty wouldnt tell himthe nomad computers might.
Back on America Base and the heavy shipyards surrounding it the Ravager was near operational status, its new nomad enhancements so graciously provided by Liberty and the Order were working great. The Ravager was about to be commissioned, and surprisingly they had enough supplies to get the Ragnarok up and running again. Along with the new Dreadnought Belreen HF would have a powerful new fleet to assault Liberty until their demands were met. Drake felt strongly aboutten of his friends for the last eight hundred years were murdered brutally by Liberty because they were afraid.
Drake had made it to the nomad base, it looked very much like the nomad base in Omicron Major but it was not as defended the nomads were not as strong as before at least they did not venture out of the Omicrons. He docked aboard the base, bringing his Raven Claw down carefully. Drake entered the base walking down the strange translucent halls ever alert for anything resembling the parasitic nomads. Thastus made his way to the main computer room, he extracted a Superior Nomad Brain from it and put it in a special containment cell provided to him from a close ally. He got aboard his Raven Claw and put the brain in the hold to see what was going on
Drake Thastus had left the nomad base, the information he wantedhe now had. His men poured through it all seeking everything they could about the thing. That was a year ago, the trials for the war criminals in the war were soon to be underway.
But something troubled Drake, something did not seem right. The nomad information seemed benign almost, as if they were planning nothing. He knew with Libertys provocation in their systems and the Orders increasing struggle against the Bounty Hunters and Liberty that they could no longer manage the nomad threat. Drake had been conferring with all his allies and main staff about recent events.
His head of intelligence reported no events going on, they could not move into Omicron Major to get a better look at what was going. This kept them from knowing exactly what the nomads were doing. Mark, whats your take on all this? I cannot understand it myselfLiberty attacks nomads in large enough numbers to get serious hardware and the Nomads lie down and take it? Drake said.
Mark thought for a moment, Wellmy only reasoning is the nomads are building up an attack fleet. But according to our information there is almost no nomad activity at all.
Exactly, I dont understand. There would be at least some comm chatter coming from the nomads. Drake mused.
I agree, if we could only get a ship into Major. But nothing we have in our fleet could survive that situation. Mark stated neither of them liked the situation at all. The nomads were up to something. Unbeknownst to themit was the dangerous thing they would ever encounter.
This is Order Patrol Phi 1 to Isis, we are entering Omicron Major now. The two Nepthys fighters jumped into Omicron Major, what they saw before themhorrified them. Four nomad fleets lay in ruin, and a large black ship loomed over, the sun reflected off it. The large warship was too large for people to make out any of the features. It was destroying the Dyson Sphere that had so long stood in the Nomad stronghold, the two pilots were stunned the ship began to break apart fire bursting from the side. A large nomad looking ship with tendril like weapons was ripping apart the ship. It had the shape of a nomad ship but it was black and looked organic or more so than the nomads. The Order pilots screens lit up with a picture and a transmission began playing in a language they could not understand.
The Pilots didnt know what else to do so they sent a full transmission of everything to Toledo; the first pilot brought his Nepthys around the bow the ship and opened fire on it. The other pilot followed suit lighting up the hull of the vessel, the unknown vessel shot out its tendrils and struck down both fighters in a flash.
Four days later:
We need to know what that ship isand what the hell is going on. I have never seen something capable of taking on an entire nomad fleet and then something wiping it out. Said an Order commander, he motioned for an officer to hand him something. It was a datapad showing instructions from the Leader of the Order. I need you to send a cloaked ship into Omicron Major and see what is going on. Dont risk an Osiris, call for the HF cruiser that can cloak they may be willing to help considering.The transmission ended and the commander called Drake Thastus.
You need the Antares? Fine, but can you spare an Osiris to defend Vespucci? Drake asked.
No problem Commander Thastus, we will send a ship immediately and we will be awaiting the Antares. The commander replied, his name was Zachary Maxwell.
(*)
Commence Rapier! A Liberty Carrier plunged into Vespucci with four dreadnoughts behind it. And many cruisers close behind, the Lane Hacker defense force blasted into action.
Bring out the Ravager! Send BelReen about and throw Skoll into their flank! Send those Outcast reservists into their formation. Drake barked. The massive Ravager made a thunderous noise when it undocked from Phoenix shipyards, its new weapons and systems ready for battle. The Belreen close behind touting many nomad technologies and nuclear weapons. Ravager was equipped with weapons that possessed a 15k range, it began pounding away at the Carrier which had deployed over fifty Avengers. The Lane Hacker fighters plunged into the fight, the Outcast Sabres close behind unloading a merciless hail of tachyon and particle cannon fire.
The Avengers fought back viscously shooting down the under armed Hacker Daggers and Stilettos. The Outcasts had sent several destroyers into Vespucci as well, and provided two Dreadnoughts. The Order Osiris uncloaked into the Liberty formation deploying Nepthys fighters and throwing a hail of fire into the Carrier that was unloading its railguns and Mortars on the HF fleet. The battle was looking grim for Liberty.
The Mercenary Prison ship MFS San Quentin moved slowly through Omicron Delta, the three suns glinting off it's shining hull. Deep inside that hull, a prisoner groaned in agony from the latest information extraction techniques used on him. That prisoner was none other than Carlos Emiliano. A rogue Junker. Or was he?
A huge, dark shadow came between the sun and the Prison Ship, blocking all light. Alarms began going off all over the San Quentin as the shadow opened fire...
The Hellfire Legion cruiser HFC Silverblade orbited Planet Gammu, scanning the Unknown system throughly. It's acting captain was sitting in his office with his head is his hands, complaining to himself about the real captain, Grand Admiral Denelo Mori. Admiral Mori had sent them on a useless scanning mission to look for anything odd, even though he knew as well as everyone else that there was nothing out here besides Nomads and Corsairs! And THEN he'd left them here, telling them to make regular reports, and that he had to go back to deal with "Defensive Command." Hah, more like he was tired of being shot at by nomads.
The Acting Captain had ordered no contact be made with the rest of the Legion, just to be rude. He had no idea that his rudeness might cost him, and his crew, their lives. He also had no idea that a large nomad-looking black ship was approaching the Silverblade from behind...
Meanwhile, somewhere in the deserts of Planet Pittsburg, a man stood by a Griffin looking at his watch. It would be a long day...
The Liberty Fleet was nearly destroyed, the HF fleet had fared somewhat better none of its few capital ships had been severely damaged but their fighter screen was about gone. Drake had personally flown into the fight piloting his fighter and came back increasing his already gruesome headcount to over three thousand fighters downed, over the long period of time he'd been fighting wars. Small skirmishes were still occurring in the border areas of Vespucci and few spots in Magellan were still in turmoil.
But for now it seemed HF had claimed victorywell thats how it seemed. Four Liberty Heavy Assault groups entered Magellan from all flanks and one jumped right into Vespucci. Comprised of two Frigates, a Carrier, a Dreadnought, four gunboats, two cruisers and far beyond two hundred fighters, it was on
(*)
The Order prepared its fleet; nine Osiris class warships readied themselves. A massive Nomad fleet was moving through Omicron Minor the Order feared the worst.
(*)
News of the slugfest erupting in Vespucci quickly reached Drake Thastus ally Luciaden he knew what Liberty was planning and ordered several Warships to be sent down. The news was on most networks in Siriusa fleet of that size could not be concealed at all. Pirate forces began to pour to take a pot shot at Liberty space when their backs were turned.
Kusari made more daring strikes into Bretonian space during this period. Bolstering the Blood Dragons to launch attacks against Kusari shipyards, it seemed Liberty was causing more problems than they were attempting to fix.
(*)
Luciaden was not the only one to respond to call, Drakes longtime ally Helghast sent forth many a fighter to assist. Four Liberty Dreadnoughts, Four Liberty Carriers and innumerable Liberty Capital Ships were slugging away at the allied armada. Gunboats and fighters dropped like flies and frigates crumbled but the HF stood strong.
Ravager using its superior technology demolished a Liberty dreadnought, purple streams of energy digging into the hull of the Liberty flagship left it almost crippled and for the most part worthless. Libertys largest assault had failed to even cost the Hellfire Legion a battleship