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+--- Thread: The 'Scarecrow' Saga - Overviews of the Original Stories (/showthread.php?tid=200062)
The 'Scarecrow' Saga - Overviews of the Original Stories - |Scarecrow| - 10-30-2023
001. “SCARECROW”, Officer’s Logs –
Written as a post-by-post by [Scarecrow], on Freelancer Evolved (EvolvedOnes).
An introduction to Marcus Jonathan Scarman: Liberty Navy Flight Lieutenant 2nd Class, initially serving aboard the LNS Missouri in the New York system. This story took the form of a first-person officer’s log and was originally posted on the Freelancer Evolved / EvolvedOnes forums. This chain of logs begins with Marcus’ promotion to Flight Lieutenant 2nd and progresses through several key moments in his early Navy career.
Marcus quickly becomes a respected starfighter pilot, earning ace status early with flight group Missouri Green. He reveals a natural talent for zero-g combat, and eventually earns his callsign, Scarecrow. In a protracted campaign against an ambitious pirate warlord with the Liberty Rogues, Scarman creates a feared reputation. As the campaign reaches a crucial point of shifting power, Scarman’s Defender class fighter, serial number sixteen-forty, becomes a key asset to the Navy forces. If serial sixteen-forty is seen to be flying in a Navy wing, the warlord’s Rogues take to abandoning their missions and dispersing. Marcus comes to be known as ‘the scarecrow’, with his comrades, as the enemy develops a habit of scattering at the sight of him.
The logs progress onto another campaign for the Navy, this time as Scarecrow and his wing are reassigned to the LNS Half Moon, operating out of the California system. Marcus is promoted to Flight Lieutenant 1st and is reshuffled into a new wing: Half Moon Red. Now flying as the wing second, as Red Two, Marcus is in a position of mid-tier command for the first time in his career. However, he slips up. He falls in love with one of his squad-mates, a young woman by the name of Samantha Reynolds. Fraternising amongst Navy personnel is strictly prohibited, and Marcus and Samantha find themselves facing stern reprimands.
Simultaneously, a mysterious new threat emerges. Scarecrow, Reynolds, and the crew of the Half Moon investigate a mysterious string of events and eventually discover that a formidable party within the Navy are forming a campaign against other elements of the armed forces. Marcus is soon embroiled in a battle with Navy assets who are under the influence of an incursion of alien Nomads. The fight takes them to the Alaska system, where they ultimately engage a wing of Nomad fighters. In a shocking twist, wings from the Half Moon turn on Red squadron, and all ships, including Scarecrow’s sixteen-forty, are destroyed. This is humanity’s second encounter with the hostile alien race and is the beginning of a long campaign of terror that is about to be executed across Liberty space. Scarecrow's ejection capsule is recovered by a Nomad controlled SAR team who aim to turn him to their side, but he is eventually able to steal another Defender: serial number two-one. To his horror, he realises that the ship he has stolen is the one that had gunned him down mere hours earlier.
RE: The 'Scarecrow' Saga - Overviews of the Original Stories - |Scarecrow| - 11-23-2023
002. “824 A.S.”, Pilot’s Logs –
Based on server RP events, and written as a post-by-post by [Scarecrow] on Freelancer Evolved (EvolvedOnes).
The story of the year Sirius year 824 A.S. This chain of posts followed Marcus “Scarecrow” Scarman after his wing was destroyed by seeded Nomad forces and he was exiled from the Liberty Navy. Marcus is helped by a shady character known only as ‘Cerun’, who guides him discreetly out of the New York system and into the hands of a band of unlikely allies. Scarecrow was forced to fly with the Liberty Rogues, the pirate group he had fought against for most of his active career. He managed to keep his identity as ‘Scarecrow’ a secret from the Rogues and felt a tremendous amount of guilt as many went out of their way to help him escape his pursuers. To their eyes, he was a defector and another victim of their perceived system of corruption within Liberty. Flying alongside them gave Marcus another perspective, one that would benefit him in the years to come. In a stolen Defender class heavy fighter, Marcus left Liberty space and travelled the galaxy on a mission to prove his innocence and absolve his name. Along the way, he encountered a few quirky characters, strange environments, and worked his way through several tense situations.
With the help of Cerun and the Rogues, Scarecrow crossed into Rheinland space where he met a man known as Pax Westfalia (the pseudonym of Rheinland politician Thorsten Stozenfels), and other members of the Rheinland special operations Rheinwehr. These secretive members of one of the Rheinland Military’s most deadly group of operatives were allies of Cerun, and agreed to help Marcus after the elusive man vouched for him. After flying with Cerun and the Rheinwehr on a successful mission to uncover a suspected Nomad threat to Rheinland security, Marcus found himself face to face with the same enemies who had driven him from his home. However, despite their best efforts, their game of cat and mouse with the mysterious alien threat yielded no results, and Cerun was left in need of further proof of a renewed threat of invasion. He ordered Scarecrow to run and hide whilst he gathered more intelligence. He promised Scarecrow that the time for redemption would come, before promptly disappearing off into the depths of space. Marcus did as he was bidden and fled once again, this time to Kusari space, where sought refuge with the anti-government Blood Dragons. Here he met firebrand Kusari aggravator Tomoko Yamaguchi for the first time.
A Nomad assassin was sent to kill Marcus during his time in hiding in the Chugoku system, but he was able to elude, entrap, and defeat the alien killer. However, he was once again forced to run. During a sudden surprise attack by Nomad controlled Rheinland ships, Tomoko Yamaguchi’s ship was destroyed. Scarecrow rescued her escape pod and continued to run, this time across the upper Tau systems and through to Omicron Alpha. Pursued all the while by the Nomad controlled Rheinlanders, Scarecrow ran into unchartered space, where his ship took extremely heavy damage. He barely clung to consciousness, believing all to be lost. He held onto the controls of his ship for hours and hours, jumping blindly from unknown system to unknown system, before he eventually passed out as his life support systems failed.
Then, in a stunning twist of fate, Scarecrow awoke to find that he has lost a week of his life and that somehow, he and his ruined ship had been transported halfway across the known galaxy…
RE: The 'Scarecrow' Saga - Overviews of the Original Stories - |Scarecrow| - 11-29-2023
003. “SURVIVAL”, Feature length story –
Written in full by [Scarecrow] and presented post-by-post on Freelancer Evolved (EvolvedOnes).
After being chased half-way across the entire Sirius sector, Scarecrow crash-landed his crippled ‘serial two-one’ on a world unknown to him; a world of hostile creatures and harsh jungle environments. In the immediate aftermath of the crash, he found that he was suffering from short term memory loss and could not recall the events that had led to him coming down over the harsh alien world. All he knew was that he had been running from something, and that he had a precious cargo aboard; the frozen escape pod of Blood Dragon pilot Tomoko Yamaguchi.
For the better part of two days, Scarecrow worked hard to try and repair the ship’s life support systems and communications array, using only what he had available to him. As he worked, he became light-headed and dizzy, leading him to the conclusion that the atmosphere of the verdant world must have been rich with oxygen and other potentially noxious gasses. Pacing himself, he continued his work at an adapted rate to suit the climate, fearful of what might befall him.
Meanwhile, native Hispaniard and Corsair Rosa Ibanez watched as a streak of fire lit up the night’s sky at her camp. She was almost certain of the likelihood that the shooting-star had been the final decay of a stricken starship, or some other kind of artificial object. Given its position in the Omicron Gamma system, the planet Crete rarely gathered any stellar debris in its orbit. With their masks and oxygen tanks equipped, Ibanez and her band of Corsairs set out on foot toward the crash site, hopeful of some useful, if not valuable scrap.
For hours, Scarecrow worked tirelessly to try and repair the communications array. Whilst he worked, he started to hear low snarls and guttural howls from the jungle around him. Unsure of whether he was hallucinating, he decided to take the precaution anyway and enact measures to protect himself and Tomoko Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi’s cryo-pod had failed during the crash, and she was slowly thawing out. Unfortunately, her rate of recovery was not quick enough to give Scarecrow any additional support in putting up his defenses. Soon, a pack of native flesh-eating monsters encroached on the crash site. With nothing but an ever-depleting pulse rifle and some handmade wooden fortifications, Scarecrow made what he thought would be a desperate final stand.
Rosa Ibanez and her band of Corsairs appeared just in time to save Marcus and Tomoko from the circling pack of beasts. However, for Scarecrow, it was out of the frying pan and into the fire. The Corsairs took Marcus and Tomoko prisoner and marched them back to their camp. One of the Corsair pilots, an arrogant and assertive man named Con di Grassi, made loud noises about a profitable deal for the two captives on the local slave market. Ibanez, anti-slavery as she was, actively stood against this and a conflict for leadership of the group ensued between her and di Grassi. This boiled down to a challenge to fight to the death. The Corsairs cleared a circle, and Marcus and Tomoko watched on as Ibanez and di Grassi fought with blades until the victor stood over the slain corpse of their opponent. For a while, it seemed an uneven match against Ibanez, but she ultimately outwitted di Grassi and gained the upper hand. She had no choice other than to kill him, as tradition demanded. Di Grassi died with honour, and Ibanez retained her command.
After the fight, Rosa Ibanez agreed to help Marcus and Tomoko on their journey out of Omicron Gamma. Leaving a new deputy in charge at their camp, she left in her Titan class very-heavy-fighter and transported the two survivors to Freeport 5 in the neighbouring Omega-41 system. With respect among them, they parted on good terms. Rosa returned to Omicron Gamma, leaving Marcus and Tomoko at the start of their long journey home.
RE: The 'Scarecrow' Saga - Overviews of the Original Stories - |Scarecrow| - 12-04-2023
004. “ALONE IN BRETONIA”, Short story –
Written in full by [Scarecrow] and presented in one post on Freelancer Evolved (EvolvedOnes).
Marcus Scarman and Tomoko Yamaguchi travel from the Omega systems on a freelance trade ship en route to Bretonia. Their feelings for each other become open affection as they fly amongst the stars. After their journey on board the transport Ben Sulayem is over, they lay low; renting an apartment on the planet Leeds and settling down whilst they earn the money to buy a new ship. Marcus takes a job as a ship’s mate aboard a freighter, and Tomoko signs up to the local constabulary, quickly becoming a deputy to the Superintendent.
Marcus and Tomoko start to see suspicious activities in the higher echelons of Bretonian security. From their new positions, they discreetly embark on a hunt for evidence of Nomad control within Bretonia; Tomoko with her newfound policing connections, and Marcus with his mobility aboard the freighter Custodian. They are determined, but far from thorough given their limited resources. Following her leads, Tomoko attempts to break into a police archive facility. However, she is discovered by police detectives Martin Fogg and Ed Young and is incarcerated pending further investigation. Marcus works hard to dissuade the detectives, and eventually convinces them that his and Tomoko’s motives are to root out evil. It transpires that Fogg and Young have been on the case of several unusual high-profile disappearances, which are then often followed immediately by the mysterious reappearances of the individuals in question. Together, they uncover the very early beginnings of an attempted Nomad incursion and are able to destroy the alien threat.
RE: The 'Scarecrow' Saga - Overviews of the Original Stories - |Scarecrow| - 12-17-2023
005. “THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION, STAGE 1”, Feature length story -
Based on server RP events, and written as a post-by-post by |Scarecrow|, Cerun, Pax Westfalia, Robert Merlow, and Michael Wintermute, on Freelancer Evolved (EvolvedOnes).
After earning enough money to buy their own ship and leave the planet Leeds, Marcus Scarman and Tomoko Yamaguchi are found and contacted by the Freedom Fighter known as Cerun. They are told to make for Rheinland without delay. Scarecrow obeys and meets Cerun on New Berlin, where he is then taken to rendezvous with several other members of the scattered Freedom Fighters. Scarecrow is reunited with Pax Westfalia and meets Fleet Captain Robert Merlow and Rear Admiral Michael Wintermute for the first time. He learns that until the Nomad invasion, the Freedom Fighters were a discreet special operations force within the Liberty Navy. They are the enigmatic First Fleet, mysteriously absent from any organizational listings. Marcus had previously presumed that fact to be due to a reserved status for the honour of being the ‘First’. Instead, he is honoured to learn the truth, and to be brought amongst the ranks of the Freedom Fighters.
Marcus, Tomoko, and their new vessel, a second-hand Bretonian Clydesdale-class freighter called the Town Moor, are taken aboard the 'renegade' battleship LNS Pearl Harbour. As the Town Moor is not optimised for battle, Scarecrow and Tomoko are assigned to new vessels within one of the Pearl Harbour’s starfighter wings. Scarecrow takes delight in familiarising himself with a newly designed starfighter marque: a MkII Defender, with flight group Pearl Harbour Red under the command of Rear Admiral Wintermute. Along with Pax Westfalia and the Rheinwehr, The Freedom Fighters share with Scarecrow their plans to cut back into Liberty space and reunite with discreet factions of allied Liberty Navy, for a push into Nomad controlled territory.
The execution of ‘stage one’ follows the assault on Willard Research Station in the California system, and the removal of several important military figures. It is discovered that the Nomads are once again trying to destabilise humanity by subtly taking over key players in every nation throughout Sirius. The Freedom Fighters and the Rheinwehr seem to be the only powers who have a chance of stopping them…
RE: The 'Scarecrow' Saga - Overviews of the Original Stories - |Scarecrow| - 01-23-2024
006. “THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION, STAGE 2”, Feature length story -
Based on server RP events, and written as a post-by-post by |Scarecrow|, Cerun, Pax Westfalia, Robert Merlow, and Michael Wintermute, on Freelancer Evolved (EvolvedOnes).
After securing Willard Research Station and eliminating part of the Nomad threat, the Freedom Fighters rally their forces. The beleaguered outpost is used as a staging ground, and loyal ships from the scattered Navy fleets join to take part in the fight. Elements of the Rheinwehr, under the joint commands of Operative Pax Westfalia and Hauptmann Fabien Helfried, are also merged with the united Liberty fleets, and together they form ‘Operation Pushback’. With Pushback given the green light, the intimidating allied flotilla makes way for the New York system. Their objectives are to cut to the heart of the problem and remove the leading Nomad parasites. They have one chance, but their intel is shaky, and they don’t yet know their exact targets.
Under the command of Captain Michael Cromwell, the LNS Pearl Harbour leads the fleet into the New York system. They are instantly met by opposition, and soon the allied fleets find themselves staring down the gun barrels of their former comrades. Skirmishes ripple outward from the jumpgate zone, and a high alert is thrown across the Nomad controlled Navy. Liberty space hasn’t seen open combat on this scale for a long time. Unsure of what to do with themselves, the regular citizens of Liberty scurry into hiding places as space and surge back toward the relative safety of the planets. Open warfare breaks out into grouped clashes, and losses are heavy on both sides. Tomoko Yamaguchi fights for the Freedom Fighters in her defender mkII, promising to help distract the enemy so the real plan can go ahead. After a long dogfight with a Nomad-controlled wing of mkI Defenders, her ship is crippled. She is forced to abandon, but she is eventually recovered after the skirmishes die down.
With the distraction well under way, Fleet Admiral Cerun leads a small task force discreetly toward the planet Manhattan. Within his wing are Admiral Michael Wintermute, Fleet Captain Robert Merlow, Rheinwehr Operative Pax Westfalia, and Marcus “Scarecrow” Scarman. The five men avoid contact and successfully make planetfall. When on the surface, they rendezvous with a team of LSF operatives, who give them a greater swathe of intel on Nomad controlled figureheads. To their horror, they unmask the face of the alien threat; President Jakobi has fallen to the parasites and must be destroyed if Liberty is to be saved.
RE: The 'Scarecrow' Saga - Overviews of the Original Stories - |Scarecrow| - 08-27-2024
007. “THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION, STAGE 3”, Feature length story -
Based on server RP events, and written as a post-by-post by |Scarecrow|, Cerun, Pax Westfalia, Robert Merlow, and Michael Wintermute, on Freelancer Evolved (EvolvedOnes).
Marcus Scarman and the leaders of the Freedom Fighters wage a rapid campaign of covert operations and intelligence gathering against the Nomad hosts in Manhattan Capital. It transpires that many figureheads, social leaders, high-power businessmen, and politicians have been replaced by Nomad hosts. Nothing can be done about their tragic deaths, but they can be avenged.
The Freedom Fighters, along with the Rheinwehr and elements of LSF intelligence build a picture of key Nomad operations and targets. Then, in several swift hammer-blow strikes, they begin cutting off the heads of the hydra.
In the ensuing chaos of the assassinations and the Nomad fight-back, Scarecrow, Cerun, and Robert Merlow break into the Presidential suite. The fighting is short and intense, but they are able to put an end the Nomad’s tyranny over Liberty. President Jacoby, killed long ago by the Nomad who possesses her, is taken down, ending the reign of the Nomads throughout the sector.
The ensuing chaos is rampant; with a huge void opening in the power sectors of Liberty’s higher echelons, the house is vulnerable. Those who remain must install a swift and democratic resolution. Cerun and the other Freedom Fighters fade back into the shadows, keeping their part in the saving of Liberty secret from public record. Scarecrow, astonished and humbled by their selfless acts, pledges to serve Liberty and the Freedom Fighters until his last breath.