+- Discovery Gaming Community (https://discoverygc.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Role-Playing (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=9)
+--- Forum: Stories and Biographies (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=56)
+--- Thread: Building the New World (/showthread.php?tid=15490)
Building the New World - sovereign - 01-18-2009
"Liberty Patrol Gamma 7, you are cleared for launch. See you in a few hours."
"Roger. Gamma 7 out."
Greg set his autopilot, and pulled out a book to read. He'd set his path to take him well enough above expected Unioner attack runs, and they didn't normally set out dragnets to catch lone fighters. Scanners and whatnot would tell him if something showed up, wouldn't they?
"This is Battleship Missouri control, asking for routine affirmation of status of all patrols."
At this Greg almost jumped (as far as was possible in his Guardian, anyway) and dropped his book.
"Roger Missouri, Gamma 7 still without incident."
Greg mumbled a few things as he tried to figure out where he had left off, but eventually got back to reading.
"This is Planetform Transport A-119. Rheinland vessel detected in the vicinity of Planet Atka."
Greg's eyes widened and he completely forgot about his book.
"Liberty Patrol Gamma 7 to all friendly ships. Please report location of Rheinland vessel."
"Sending coordinates."
Greg reset his course and tried to recondition himself to ready status. His head swam with possibilities, none of them positive. Rheinland Military ships normally patrolled the southern half of the system just like he was patrolling the northern part, but he couldn't ever recall them going to Atka. Then again, Liberty patrols didn't go to Atka either, but he had recently recieved orders to keep tabs on anything happening near the planet while on patrol in the system. Sweating a little, he flew past the side of the planet and hoped for the best.
"This is Liberty Patrol Gamma 7 to Rheinland vessel. Identify yourself."
"I repeat, this is Liberty Patrol Gamma 7 to Rheinland vessel. Identify yourself."
Well, it had been worth a try. His scanners told him the ship was a state-of-the-art Rheinland Military Heavy Fighter, but for whatever reason they couldn't get him anything better than that. Greg suddenly remembered that he hadn't reported back to the Missouri with his finding, and set his communications to do so.
"This is Gamma 7 to Battleship Missouri. Rheinland fighter spotted near Atka."
"Understood."
"The fighter isn't responding to my hails. Requesting instructions."
"Um... did you get that?"
"Hello? Missouri?"
"Uh-oh."
Incoming missile.
"Oh hell no-"
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't let you report. Nothing personal."
"You won't get away with this..."
"Oh, don't worry about that. I don't plan to."
"What do you-"
"Sorry, but you aren't important enough to explain things too. Aufedersein."
Incoming missile.
"NO!"
*static*
Building the New World - Unseelie - 01-18-2009
Atka is far from home. Far from anything. The no-man's-land between Hamburg and Texas. Its plagued by Unioners and Xenos, and wont be likely to get support from either Rhienland nor Liberty. It will be very much a Wilderness. Then again, home is a warzone.
Rory Trillian was a systems analyst for Plantform. So was his mother. He was class 1, which meant he was fungible, and as such, made more. 176 credits, hourly, for active duty, 80 hourly for downtime. Fungible meant he'd be tossed out wherever, and, for the next few months, anywhere was Hudson. Mapping Asteroid field movement and particle diffusion in that system, looking for the right orbits to drop a station, the best clusters to pull ice from, whatever.
All he really did for a few weeks, was drift across a desolate system, explain to the stray Xeno that he was sure Planetform would employ local talent, while pretending he wasn't Bretonian..All he did, of course, till the Rhienlander started showing up.
Just a blip, on scanners, flying tangent to his sphere, something hostile and military and armed, running cold...Only reason he saw it was the expanded scanner suite on the Spatial...
No one responded, anymore. It was as if the system were haunted.
There are things out there...