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Ahh... where do I start... hmm... AHH!!... wait that's not it... well... lets start from the beginning shall we?
ever since i saw Osiris in Freelancer, i thought to myself... thats the ship i want to fly.
i tried different servers...and i cant remember know how i stumbled on disco
started out on a flea, like we all do, moved on to camara, then the humpback, then transport, adv transport, firefly, gladiator, titan.....
so ive flown a variety of ships excluding bombers.
but all this time ive been saving up for my own Osiris.
and now that im getting close to buying it, ive decided to put my roleplay skills to good use (my skills arent too great, but better than nothing right?)
below is a story of my Osiris.
im still short a few million credits, but im planning on covering that as i write this bio/story
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KOPCAP -> Burro
Crew:
Captain - Larry Laffer
Officers:
Strategist/Navigator - Don Pedro Sangre
Weapons - Vasily Zaytsev
Engineer - Felix Beto
Health/Recreation - Richard MacDonald
Passengers:
Stealth Technology Research - Doctor B. Baggins
Gunners: 12
Mechanics: 5
Electricians: 4
Other Staff: 25
"Sir."
"Sir?"
"SIR!!!"
"HUH!? Wha...where?...oh..." - Larry lifted his head off the map table.
"Sir, I think it would be wise if you rested in your quarters."
"Yes. Thank you Richard. Can you clean up here please?"
"Right away sir, go and get your rest."
"Thank you, again." - Larry paused remembering something.
"Sir, do you want to be forced to have a nap?"
"Going, going...." - and Larry disappeared in the corridor.
"How did he get to be a captain in the first place?" - thought Richard, as he cleaned the table of maps.
When few hours later, Larry walked into the bridge, he saw that their ship was approaching a dusty brown colored planet, Crete, home planet of the Corsairs. Larry also noticed that most of his officers are also here.
"Home" - Ran a thought though his mind.
"Sir, we'll land in about half an hour." - said Pedro.
Quote:Crete
Planet Crete is the same size as planet Earth. The most important difference is that Crete barrely has any water. Mountains and valleys cover the entire planet which is a good training ground for starting out pilots. Corsairs rely on foreign sources for food and water, the main of which is piracy.
No one is entirely sure who first nicknamed them the "Corsairs," recalling the ancient pirate clans of the Mediterranean, but the name came into popular use among the Houses sometime around 500 AS. The Corsairs began attacking unprotected outposts and ships, plundering whatever supplies and equipment they could lay their hands on, before escaping through one of their secret Jump Holes. The systematic expansion of the Houses into the Omega Border Worlds further fueled the Corsair movement, dramatically increasing the quantity and variety of accessible goods.
"Sir!.. I think you should look at this"
"Is...is that a Legate?"
"Sure is... but it looks very badly damaged."
"The scan shows that there are no life forms on board"
"Sir, it looks like an Outcast fleet" - Vasily spoke up, pointing on different parts of the ship. - "There's the mark from their fighter weapons, over there: the cruiser, and it looks like the bridge has been bombarded by at least a destroyer, maybe a cruiser."
"We'll need to find out what happened here." - Don Sangre spoke up.
The com-link lit up - "This is planet Crete, state your ID and destination."
"This is M42 "Imperator" Class Corsair Gunboat. ID 'KOPCAP'. Our destination is planet Crete, we are returning from a three month long patrol in the Omega systems. Requesting permission to land."
Two minutes pass - "You are to proceed to the landing pad C-23302."
"Thank you." - after switching off the com-link, Larry turned to his officers - "Well, you hear 'em, get a move on! I'm getting thirsty."
Everyone rushed out from the bridge and headed for their stations, the excitement spread like a plague through the whole ship.
The landing went smoothly, and after touchdown the crew abandoned ship as if it was prison (which it was for three months).
As Larry walked a few meters back and forth, to get used to the planetary gravity he heard footsteps behind him.
"Captain Laffer!" - a familiar voice called out.
"Ixe? Ixeuticus Martius?"
"One and only" - said the the tall blond man - "long time, no see. How was the voyage? I heard it got rough out there."
"It did, first the Hessians, then the Outcasts and to top it all of, we shot down a few Rheinlanders. But enough about me, tell me about yourself, as soon as I've landed I heard rumors that you got accepted into The Brotherhood."
"That isn't a rumor." - Ixe gave a smile.
"Congratulations on that, I hope you've done some damage on your father's behalf."
"Oh... They payed dearly... There's a decent bar nearby, how about an ale?"
"I'm on duty.... ahh, hell with it, lets go."
Few days later...
In the map room aboard the KOPCAP, Larry gathered his officers for a meeting.
"From my good old friend I found out that Crete is frequently under enemy attack. The attackers are mostly Outcasts, and they attack with alot of firepower, I'm sure you all saw the remains of the Legate."
Vasily stood up - "Can't we just launch a counter attack?"
"It's possible, but there are risks. When the Corsairs attack any enemy base or outpost, there is very little if any defense left around Crete. If the enemy is smart, he can catch us of guard and give Crete a real beating."
"What are you suggesting, sir?" - Don Sangre did not even stand up.
"I'm suggesting that we increase the Crete's defenses."
"You mean with KOPCAP?"
"Well... I had something better in mind." - Larry played with the controls of the map table, and now it displayed different statistics.
"12 TURRETS!!" - Vasily couldn't control his excitement.
"What is this, sir?" - Pedro as always remained calm, but the glow in his eyes showed that he was as exited as everyone else.
"This gentlemen is CV-1 Osiris Class Battleship..." - everyone fell silent.
"The Order battleship?" - Richard finally broke the silence.
"Yes, the original was stolen from Liberty, then the Order shared the design with the Corsairs and they started being build on our shipyard."
Pedro had more questions - "What does all this mean sir?"
"I think that we should defend our home with more firepower."
"So you are going to get the Osiris?"
"I intend to..."
"What will happen to us?" - Richard was not amused.
"That's why I gathered you all here, to discuss this. KOPCAP is getting old and rusty." - Larry took a seat, - "I would like all of you to be my officers on the battleship."
"And what happens if we do not want this?" - Richard spoke the question that was on everybody's mind.
"You are free to do whatever you want." - Larry stood up and left before anyone could strike with another question.
Late, the next day...
"Cap."
Larry looked up from the Osiris plans, and saw Felix, - "Yes?"
"After you left we started discussing your... proposal. And, well we all like it."
"That is good news, ... say, I haven't heard you talking at the meeting, why is that?"
"Sir, you left before I could ask..."
"Fair enough," - Larry interrupted him, - "here are the plans, if you have any questions after I'll answer them" - and Larry leaned back on his chair. While Felix studied the layout of the ship.
"Why did you choose the Osiris?" - Felix looked up from the plans - "And not a more powerful Legate?"
"Exactly for that... power."
"I don't understand sir."
"Take a seat," - Larry pointed to one - "The Legate is a powerful ship indeed, but it is also massive, and not very maneuverable, which makes it vulnerable to enemy fire."
"But it has great firepower to keep enemies a bay."
"It does indeed, but its size makes it a good target for bombers." - Larry pointed at the plans - "the Osiris is a relatively small target when viewed from either front or back, it is also much narrower than the Legate. Osiris can move through the asteroid fields with much easier than the wide Legate."
"I understand now." - Felix nodded.
"Now, lets get back to reason of your visit..." - Larry moved the plans off the table.
"All of us are willing to follow you as we did before." - Felix paused - "One of my father's friends wants to join us."
Larry frowned - "And why should I allow him to do so?"
"Because he has been studying the nomad cloaking technology for some time, and..."
"Did he achieve any positive results?"
"Unfortunately, no."
"I'll have to talk to him in person..."
"Thank you!!" - a shining smile appeared on Felix's face, he got a card from his pocket and put it on the table - "Here is the address of his lab."
"... He's on Crete?" - Larry's eyebrows rose.
"Yes, and if you don't mind, I still have to fix up some things on KOPCAP. I'm sure you don't want to just throw it out..."
"Don't let me hold you back, make sure she looks good, I want her to have a good owner."
When Felix left, Larry spent another few hours studying the plans of his future ship, before going to get some rest.
Larry knocked on the door to the lab, a crazy looking man opened the door.
"Are you Doctor Baggins? I'm Larry Laffer..."
"You must be the captain Felix was talking about."
"He was here?"
"Left not ten minutes ago."
"Argh."
"Not to worry. Come in, come in. I believe you are here for the cloaking device?"
"I am indeed, how is the research going?"
"I'm sorry to disappoint you sir, but the research is...well...stalled."
"How come?"
"Sir, here is our research."
Baggins gave Larry the data-pad he had with him. Larry quickly flicked through the data, while acting like he understood everything, until a picture of a Rheinland fighter came up.
"The Order allowed access to one of the captured Rheinland prototype ships. After examining it, we discovered a strange ring located in the middle of the craft, after talking to Order mechanics we found out that the ring foreign. With the mechanic's help we were able to take out the ring and examine it. It was strange indeed..."
"So, what did you find out?" - interrupted Larry.
"...let me see...nothing that could be of any use at the moment."
"So you did find something?"
"Well, to make sure the ring was the source of the cloak we needed to test it out, so we powered it up... and nothing happened."
"..."
"I didn't give up so easily, after everyone left for lunch, I was still trying to understand how the ring worked. And then it occurred to me! I had an apple with me, so I put it in the ring and powered it up, after about 3 minutes the ring started to heat up and I saw a slight disturbance around the apple. At first I thought that my eyes are playing with me, so I went and got myself a cup of coffee, when i came back the apple was not there anymore."
"Where was it?"
"It was gone."
"So you finally got the cloaking to work..."
"Sir, by gone I mean completely disappeared, I cut the power to the ring, but the apple did not reappear, so I tried to grasp the apple, but all I got was thin air."
"The apple physically disappeared?"
"Precisely! Personally I think this ring is a teleportation device."
"Is that good news, Doc?"
"I don't know yet, we need time to find this apple."
"You still have time so don't worry on that account."
"Thank you sir, if you don't mind I'd like to get back to my research."
"You may continue, Doctor. Also I'll make sure there is a lab for you on the ship, that's if you still want to come."
"I do, send me a letter, or tell Felix, I'll need about a day to get all my stuff aboard."
"Have a nice day doc."
Larry walked out of the lab and ran into Felix who was eating ... an apple. They both were heading towards the shuttle.
"Ho Cap!"
"Hey Felix, I see you're in a good mood."
"Why wouldn't I be? I mean, when was the last time you had such a juicy apple?"
"Last time I was aboard Luxury Liner Hawaii, I believe. Man, was that thing expensive."
"Worth every credit, eh?"
"It was, by the way, where did you buy this one?"
"I didn't, after visiting Mr Baggins, I realized that I've forgot my helmet, so I went back to the lab and saw this apple on some weird circle thingy. I thought that somebody have forgotten it. Why such a delicacy go to waste? So I took it."
"I see..." - Larry couldn't hold his smile, - "I already ordered the Osiris, now all I have to do is think of a name."
"Anything in particular cap?"
"Nothing, but I'm planning to drop by the library tomorrow."
"Sounds like an idea." - Felix threw what was left over from the apple, in the bin. - "This is where we have to split, I'm going East."
"North for me, take care my friend." - Larry got in the shuttle, which immediately headed for the landing pad."
Library
In the library, Larry walked past an old man sitting on the bench, he was wearing dark glasses and holding a cane.
"Hello there young captain."
Larry stopped and looked at the man - "Were you talking to me?"
"Who else is there to talk to?" - the man smiled - "You look like you're not in a hurry, come, take a seat."
Larry sat down on the bench next to the man - "Pardon me, but aren't you blind?"
The man laughed - "You have sharp eyes. I, on the other hand, lost mine. If you have time, I can tell you how..."
"Please, continue."
Man smiled again as he tried to remember his past.
"Not too long ago, I was serving the Order. During the Nomad war, just before we headed for Hyper-gate, the Nomads came out of nowhere, and started bombarding our base on Toledo. I was one of the last people left on the base during the evacuation. I managed to get to my ship, but i never managed to leave the planetary atmosphere, the shock-wave from the exploding base caused my ship to loose control, and i ended up crash-landing. During which the cockpit glass broke and got me right in the eyes. In the hurry, I forgot to put on my helmet..."
"That is a sad story sir." - Larry stared at the floor.
"Now, now. There is no way to un-do what has been done. What I want to know is, what brought you here?"
"Today I asked for one Osiris to be built, but I still don't know what to name it."
"Ahh... and you thought the books could help?"
"Well... I was hoping for that."
"Maybe I can be of some use, what is it you want to symbolize with your ship?"
After a few minutes of thinking Larry gave a response - "A workhorse, but something with more stamina and less speed."
"A donkey?"
"Pardon me?"
Larry was puzzled, and he was even more puzzled as he watched the man stand up and walk over to the bookshelf. He brought back an old book, that was barely keeping together.
"What are you waiting for?" - the man sounded frustrated - "open the book."
Larry realized that he has been staring at the book for some time now, he opened the book about half way, and realized that it was a dictionary. He looked at the description for 'donkey'.
"Hmm... the name is good, but if I name my ship 'donkey' no one will respect it."
"If my mind servers me right... 'Burro' is Spanish for donkey."
"Burro, burro, burro..." - then Larry jumped up - "Thank you very much sir, i think ill name it Burro."
"Safe travels..." - that was all that the man managed to say before Larry left the library, so he sat back down on his bench and let his thoughts carry him far away...
Few months later...
As the shuttle approached Rhodes Shipyard deep in the Unquera Cloud, and everyone looked out the windows to see their future home.
"She is beautiful..." - Felix cried out.
"Cap! Is...is that a Heavy Mortar?" - Vasily knew his weapons.
Larry just smiled, why would he reply to something that was already known.
After landing on Rhodes, the crew was escorted to their new ship which was still getting some things built onto it, but it was nearly finished.
At first everybody was amazed at how big the ship was on the inside, there was enough room not only for the crew, but for other passengers as well (if there were any).
It was three days before lift-off, and everybody had settled in the new ship, they knew where everything was and were able to fix any problems that might occur during their travels. Only Dr. Baggins was nowhere to be seen. Two days passed by without anyone noticing, everybody was helping out on getting 'Burro' battle ready.
On the last day before lift-off, Felix ran into Larry's quarters - "Cap! Baggins is here!"
"Finally. Tell him to get his stuff aboard, we are leaving tomorrow."
"Yes sir!" - Felix disappeared suddenly, just like he appeared.
"Well, looks like everything is ready." - Larry thought, - "Now we just wait for tomorrow."