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The Final Chapter - Wolfs Ghost - 02-20-2011
Jacobson Apartment Complex, Apartment #405
Planet Manhattan, New York System.
Planet Manhattan, New York System.
"Eight Sixteen, After Settlement, I'm an Officer in the Armed Forces." He sighed lightly, lifting a box and moving it towards the door, then setting it down ontop of another box. "Eight Seventeen, I'm a Commander in the Armed Forces. Weeks later, I become one of the most wanted people, second only to the Kithe family." He laughed lightly and walked back into the living room, collapsing onto the couch, he sighed lightly. He reached out with his left hand and grabbed an empty beer bottle.
"My story? One that's not worth repeating, though I guess I owe it. Simply starts out as me being an Ensign in the Armed Forces, with dreams of one day leading the fleets into victory against the Kusarians, driving them back, as far as New Tokyo and ending the bloody war. Heh, my little unfortunate incident dubbed me a hero. I was called onto assignment for an escort mission. These things always turn out going down the wrong end of the road. Anyways, a it was a diplomatic mission from Bretonia to Liberty, the Prime Minister was to meet the President for, something. The first half of the escort went according to plan, and the rest of the escort wing was to return to Bretonian space, as ordered by one of our Admirals. I was the lucky one to stay back."
He paused, leaning back in the couch, his eyes stared off into Manhattan City. "You see, the Prime Minister allowed me to stay, and I was granted this Apartment for lease, as well as training on West point for the duration of the stay. Of course, I felt like I was getting pampered, but I didn't let that get to my head. Coming from Cambridge and a farmers family, I knew the value of a credit. Getting back on topic, I knew the duration was short, so I took time to work on the little things with my Paladin. The next day I got word from a runner that the Prime Minister's ship was taking off. So I quickly got down to the space port and met the Yacht in space. I was eager to get back home, and out to the front where my friends were serving."
Pausing again briefly, he swallowed and continued, "Heavily escorted out of Liberty space until we hit the Cortez system. The Libertorian escorts had been called back into Liberty space to deal with a pirate threat in New York. Up until this point I was feeling confident in myself, and managed to even hold a small conversation with the Prime Minister of Bretonia. Something I was going to brag about the next chance I got. Passing through both Cortez and Manchester without a problem. We were almost home when we were dropped from the Manchester Gate to Kensington trade lane. Two Corsair bombers were laying in wait, and I was the only escort ship in the air to respond."
He smiled briefly, "That day I probably fought my hardest. The life of the Prime Minister was resting in my hands. Any other pilot would've done the same thing, but I had a duty to preform, a service to the kingdom, if you will. The last transmission I remember was the Prime Minister saying that he made it, then I pulled the ejection lever. It wasn't the first time. Hell it wouldn't of been the last time either."
"A couple of million credits went down the drain. Thankfully the hospital bill was on the Armed Forces," He smiled again, but it vanished shortly after. "The doctors told me I broke my right leg, someone else thought I wasn't going to make it. I guess I was pretty badly beaten up. They told me that I was out for thirteen days. Probably the best damn sleep I've gotten."
"By this time, it was all over the news. Austin Rodney Goodman. A hero. I would've never thought that I would make it to such a status. Two nights after I wake up, I attend an award ceremony, get promoted to Lieutenant, and receive the Carina's Cross." He said, reaching into his pocket, holding it up, glancing down at it, and rubbing his thumb across the medal itself. "Commodore James Hobart, the one who ordered me to come back to Bretonia with the rest of the escort seemed furious. The old man wanted to punish me for disobeying orders, but the media spotlight was too heavy, and it seemed that I was the perfect person for recruitment."
The Final Chapter - Wolfs Ghost - 02-26-2011
He smirked, "Of course, things weren't always easy. My entire world around me slowly started to change, for better or for worse, I wasn't quite sure. I was still in it for the adventure of a life time. About around this time I was placed to serve on the Suffolk, the Battleship in high orbit of New London. Rich snobs tended to run the joint, I didn't mind coming from a farming family." He leaned back in the couch after dropping the medal on the coffee table. "By this time I had my own wingman, Sipher Rockwell, one of the best men I've flown." He shook his head, still smirking, "I'd have to say, that man was different. Nothing could sway him, and nothing pissed him off, always a joking attitude even in the middle of combat. I could personally tell you that I hated his guts, but he sorta stayed. Oh, off the record, I am skipping over some less important details."
He laughed lightly, closing his eyes. "I guess I can skip over the lesser details of my year being a Lieutenant. Nothing came of that other than being stalked by a Gaian. I'd have to admit, she was cute, just not my type. You know? The terrorist ones always seem to have the," He trailed off, laughing again, "You get the idea."
"Anyways, I made my way through the ranks, made some enemies with certain groups, made friends with others. Probably pissed off half of my commanding officers, until I was officially promoted to Lieutenant Commander, a highlight of my career. I guess this is when things started to go down hill for me. The whole hero crap began to settle down, people knew me for the reports, so you can say I was still a pretty popular figure in Bretonia. I've probably seen the inside of a Kusari jail more than the next lad. I was surprised they didn't kill me."
Sighing lightly, he opened his eyes and stood up. Walking to the kitchen. "Then I was promoted to Commander, when the highlight of my life really started dropping. I was the commanding officer of one of the most fearless destroyers in the entire primary fleet, The Invictus, the name itself sent even the bravest Corsair dreadnought captain chills down their spin. Twenty victories, zero losses when I was her commanding officer, and during this time I probably was in love with two different women." He said reaching for a glass out of the cabinet and setting it down, and pouring himself a glass of cheap Bretonian wine.
"Ashley Taylor," He sighed lightly into the glass before taking a sip, "First of three women I considered myself close to. She, herself, was placed in my fighter wing as an ensign, and we kinda got a little too close. I should've been kicked out of the Armed Forces for being that close, but of course we kept our personal lives and our job out of the way. During this time, Sipher Rockwell was dating an Ariana Winston, a Gaian. Not your typical terrorist, she was just a girl who got caught up with the wrong people. At least, that's what I believed at the time. Though, I doubted you wanted to know about my love life. Now, for the actual story."
He finished off the glass and poured himself another one, "You can say it started simply with me heading to Liberty one fine vacation and wanting to continue to hone my fighting skills. At this time I had my own Hussar light fighter, figuring that it'd be able to pass off as a civilian vessel and not a military one. Of course I still had the annoyance from a couple of people but you can hardly blame them. After all, it's Liberty."
He took a sip before continuing,
"I was roaming the Pennsylvania system when I encountered a lass in a Bactrian freighter, one of those bottom line cargo ships that pirates manage to build from junk. Well, her name was Natalie, and she was the death of my career. I was working a little side job to earn extra money, seeing as payment was tight in the Armed Forces due to the war. Figured my Hussar could easily take this freighter down. So of course she was pirating, and I just had to help myself to the opportunity that presented itself, I took it. If she didn't run to New York crying about being shot, I would've had her." He slammed the glass down on the table after finishing it, clearly getting annoyed, "She started to frame me, calling me a chauvinistic pig, and relating me to a Kusarian. Needless to say, she got what she deserved, even if I shot a so-called innocent in front of a Liberty Navy cruiser. I left as requested by the Captain and returned to Bretonia that very night, long ass flight if you could imagine."
"Upon returning to Bretonia, and sleeping for a couple of days, then taking my wing out on a patrol. We caught a smuggler in the Manchester system. Of course the lad destroyed the cargo before we could get evidence, so we sat there and interrogated the poor lad. He called it harassment, I personally didn't care. That was when the lovely Constable Lucy Silsbury showed up in attempt to undermine my authority. She had every right, I'll admit I was wrong in this situation, though I was pissed. The captain managed to get away without paying a fine."
He poured himself another glass, "It seemed a couple days earlier, Miss Silsbury was talking with a certain Rogue named Natalie, hours after the incident with the Captain of the transport, I was being ordered to appear in court." He smirked, downing this glass.
"You can assume I never appeared in court."
The Final Chapter - Wolfs Ghost - 03-25-2011
"If you assumed, that I didn't, well you're not a complete fool." He chuckled, "You see, I was in Cambridge at the time. The local police decided to attempt to bring me in, to their dismay I already had fled the ranch I grew up on. I managed to get off Cambridge without incident, apparently word hadn't reached the local authorities until I made it to the Leeds system, due to smugglers using a known jumphole location, I was able to get to Leeds within an hour."
Setting the now empty glass down on the table, he leaned back and continued, "I was stationed at the Derby in Leeds for most of my service, and thats where my Templar was at the time. I had no idea where I was going to go, or what I was going to do, I just ran. Landing on the Derby was easy seeing as the access codes weren't changed on my ship, though I didn't risk wasting time on figuring out what the hell was happening. I quickly got to my Templar, strapped in and took off."
"Most people will say that stealing military grade hardware, software, and a ship is a criminal act. The thought crossed my mind as I engaged heading back towards Cambridge. It was about this time that the Armed Forces launched two ensigns and a Commander to intercept me and chase me down. Now, the Armed Forces Academy teaches you to run, and run hard when you're on patrol by yourself and you're engaged by multiple enemies, I was out numbered and there was no way in hell that I was going to fire on the people I served with, they apparently had a different set of goals on their mind."
Standing up, he grabbed the glass from the table and carefully walked out to the kitchen, setting the glass in the sink, and he leaned forwards smiling lightly. "I made my way directly to Freeport One, the No-fire zone the Zoners had in place would serve a great place to settle down. It was probably one of the worse mistakes I made in my entire life, leading former wingmen into a hellhole of Hessians, Phantoms, Corsairs, and a few Mercenaries who didn't exactly like the Armed Forces. I weaved my way into the mass of ships and laid low. If a firefight did happen between myself and the Armed Forces, it seemed that they would be out matched, and the Commander saw the exact thing I saw. The intercepting squad lingered for a few minutes before returning to Bretonian space, that was when I decided to ditch the Freeport and make a full run to Rheinland, at least there I would be safe, I figured."
"My time in Rheinland space was short and strange. My arrival was a couple of days after I fled, and I found out that a message already reached the Bretonian embassy in Rheinland that I was on the run, and authorities were asked to bring me in. I figured I would stay on the out skirts, but getting to the Embassy was probably one of my top priorities, at least there I know I could trust the Ambassador, Lafiel Tarrant, on my way through New Berlin I was stopped by a Military Officer, and I told him my story, I was ready to run if he attempted to make an arrest, but he didn't. Instead he gave me access to military grade hardware that my Templar was lacking, I wanted a little bit more fire power in case I would have to defend myself against Mandalorians. After that, he just let me go."
The Final Chapter - Wolfs Ghost - 03-27-2011
"Assume for one moment, that you were in the same situation I was in. On the run, hiding from the law."
"Now, keep that thought in your head, would you betray your own people to make sure you lived? Most people would if they felt they were wronged, by the actions of others. What I did wasn't right, but I didn't turn myself into a terrorist. I just stayed on the run and tried to provide help to my former friends."
He sighed lightly, "Some of them kept in touch and tried their hardest to get my name cleared, others followed the orders to take me down. My enemies seemed to have a different affect. While I was staying in Rheinland and laying low, I managed to come across a transmission sent directly from Collin Breen, a man who lived in infamy around the bars of the Essex. He was the leader of the Molly Republic, a small group of terrorists who still, to this day, believe that Dublin belongs to them. I accepted the offer he proposed, and I met him on Freeport four to finish nailing out the final bit of the plan, learning that amongst enemies you could make a friend. From there I set out to the Molly base in Dublin."
"It wasn't much, but it was a start for my crusade, not a crusade you would find in books, but a crusade to clear my own name, by whatever necessary. Being close to home, and now with a place I could restock and resupply at if I needed too, I began trying to contact those that I knew would still know my loyalty to the Crown. Heh, I probably made it a lot more difficult than it should have been. Personally launching from this station and heading on normal patrol routes where the Constables and Armed Forces patrols could actually catch me. I recall being out on patrol and picking up a transmission of distress being sent from a couple of Armed Forces ships, I tested my luck by showing up, and aiding them. Once the job was done, I disappeared before they could attempt to arrest me."
Shrugging to himself, he strolled over to a nearby box and lifted it up, then carried it over towards the door, "That was the beginning on the path of redemption, one that I wouldn't want to take again. Hunted by those that I use to consider friends, envied by people I never met, and trusted by those who would seek to destroy the Bretonian Crown. Of course, it would get worse as time went on, as everything did."
The Final Chapter - Wolfs Ghost - 05-11-2011
He sighed heavily, shaking his head as he started towards the couch, and sat down.
"I might as well just skip half of the story, and start with how I became, or rather, how I came to be standing here."
"You see, eventually my name was cleared, and I was informed by a friend, a loyal friend, someone I could probably owe my life to. After what felt like a year, I returned home and requested to rejoin the Armed Forces. I was a fool for thinking everything would've been the same, as if I had never left. I would've been better off in the brig for the rest of my life."
"You think you know people, your friends, until they look at you another way, or talk to you as if you were a stranger, and that really never settled well, I felt I couldn't trust them, I was right to believe so. I don't even know where I'm going to go from here. I rather live out the rest of my life here in Bretonia, but, I want to be far away from the war as possible, though everywhere I turn theres conflict, and from what I've heard, I'm still wanted dead by someone. I kinda miss the old days."
He looked around the room, boxes were stacked around the place, he stood up, walking towards the door and grabbing a jacket that hung on a coat hanger, throwing that on, he opened the door and stepped out, shutting the door behind him after locking it.
Quietly he walked down the hall, approaching the elevator. Which he would take to the lobby, and from there a taxi to the space port.
A rumor, sparked by an employee, stated that he had simply disappeared to the stars, never to return again. A rather critical end to a story that was just beginning. Others have heard rumors that a man of similar attire, appearance, stature, and a very similar ship, wandering from Freeport to Freeport across Sirius, even to the remote regions such as Omicron Delta, or the Yukon system.
Though the universe was vast, and one man's face could be mistaken for another.