08-15-2010, 12:11 AM
Jack Murdoch versus the McDowell Company Fleet
'So there I was, sitting in Hamburg, everything but life support and the most important systems shut down. How did I get there?
Well, it all started last November, my wife and I were in our quarters trying to see how we were going to pay off all the debts we had acquired since my rank change from Second Fleet Commander to First Fleet Ensign. The pay of an Ensign compared to a Commander's was awful. My family and I had been forced to move out of our apartment next to the shuttle pad on Manhattan, and were forced to live in a small cramped living quarters on Baltimore shipyard, I kept telling my wife that it would be fine, but I just couldn't manage on that amount of pay.
Jack at this point is visibly disturbed; his normally cold and hard face flushed red, watery eyes and noticeable tears falling down his cheeks. He struggles to maintain his composure and continue the recount of his story.
We were used to such a luxurious lifestyle that even I had forgotten that I had come from the poorest of families, married my childhood sweetheart and joined the Second Fleet Navy. From there I had gone up until I commanded the National Guard. It was a great job. My Co-Commander Scarlett... well she went down and I never forgave myself for that. That was to be the beginning of the end for my life as it was. After Scarlett's death I couldn't fly, I kept on seeing her face; I couldn't even go into the hangar bay. The doctors on Manhattan diagnosed me with Post Traumatic Stress; to be honest I didn't care what the doctors said - I felt as though I was un-repairable. Scarlett had been me and my wife's friend since school; my wife took an instant dislike to Scarlett after we had gotten married. For obvious reasons really, she had everything my wife did not. She at one point thought that Scarlett and I were having an affair, but what my wife couldn't understand is that I loved her and I always would, I had loved her since school.
I couldn't face going to Scarlett's funeral, it was too painful, I blamed myself for what had happened as usual and whilst it's not the best thing to do with a situation like that, I did blame myself, if only I had switched targets sooner, maybe I could of saved her. It was a great loss but more was to come for my life.
A few months after my 'promotion' to First Fleet Ensign and the fiasco of moving from Manhattan to Baltimore my wife and I decided to get second jobs, I got one working on the cargo ships as they came in, giving them general repairs. It was a good job, paid well but certainly nothing compared to what I was used to.
My wife, Ashira, however got a job in the bar as a waitress on Baltimore. While it's not the best idea as she hated the men that infested the shipyard, she continued on, earning quite a lot more than me on tips alone. Ashira was of average height had copper coloured eyes with blonde hair. Her appearance made her stand out in any crowd, and the first time our eyes met in school is what continued my attraction to her. But that's enough of that, it's the past and it's irrelevant.
Life was going better than it was for a couple of months; that was until I got called away on duty urgently. I left her a note saying where I had gone next to the intercom so that she would find it easily when she awoke. When she did wake up that morning to find me gone she went to the hangar bay instead of the intercom. The hangar was deserted except for a four man team repairing the fuel tank that had been leaking on one of the Navy re-supply Gulls. The people performing the repairs were obviously not the brightest in the universe... They started using a welding torch to fix a panel over the crack, which even I know is not the correct tool to use in a situation where combustible short range fuel is used. As you can guess, the whole hangar went up in flames, my wife included. When the rescue teams did get to her, she was barely alive. She said to one of the rescuers to give me a message, that message was that she would love me forever even when she passes to the other side. She did pass to the other side, as soon as she did I knew. I may not have been there but I could feel my heart ripping in two, for me my life may has been over as well. I failed to complete the mission I had been set in marriage, that was to protect my wife. It was and still is the only mission I have failed.
Jack pauses for a moment to clear his throat, trying, in vain, to hide his distress. Nevertheless, he pushes on.
I requested that the Navy do a full investigation, my request was denied. I was so angry I could have shot every single one of the officers there, however, that is not how I do things, I play them sneaky. I started taking pictures and scans of every station and everything that I thought would be of value to the Rheinland military, I had nothing to lose by deserting my house, as far as I was concerned my house had deserted me and I had no one to turn to. Ashira had been my world and without her my world was gone. It had turned to nothingness; I only just managed to get on with my life over the next few months as I collected my information. I was dragging my feet as it were but with every passing minute my hatred for Liberty grew, I chose a day when there wouldn't be many patrols in and around Bering.
On the day I packed the images into a data disc aboard my Guardian, this beast had seen me through thick and thin, other than Ashira, this was the only thing that I loved. My Guardian was called 'Ariel' after my mother.
The trip to the gate was pretty easy; one cruiser patrol stopped me and asked where I was going and I simply told them that I was delivering a message from Admiral Galen Anderson to one of the forward patrols. This was obviously a lie but they believed it. I jumped through into Bering and carried on down the Trade Lane to Freeport 2, at this point it was going rather well, but as I sat there docking with the Trade lane to the Hamburg jump gate, a wing of Navy fighters appeared from nowhere. My shield was stripped but I managed to activate some shield batteries. Under attack, I stopped the docking sequence and engaged my cruise engines and counter measures. Cruise disruptors continually tracked my engines however my counter measures did the trick. It was a bumpy ride to the gate as one of my engines had obviously been damaged during the attack whilst my shields were down. Thank goodness it hadn't been completely destroyed else I wouldn't of made it to the gate.
To my surprise there weren't any other Navy patrols near the gate. This was unusual but I carried on nonetheless. Perhaps the Navy patrols thought that the Rheinland Military would shoot me on sight if they found me. Once in Hamburg, I proceeded to sector B-5 as it's a nice secluded spot where no one would find me unless they knew where to look.
As soon as I had reached the coordinates I powered down every non-essential system to save power and fuel until an opportune moment arose where I could reveal myself. I sat there in the relative cold, thinking what the Military would do to me. 'It would be definitely better than Liberty' I kept saying over and over. I sat there for two days until the scanners picked up a large ship coming to my destination.
I believe you know the rest Miss McDowell.'
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