7th of December 824 AS- Planet New York, New York System
"From now on, you will be the commander of an "Archer"-Class Cruiser Vessel." Congratulations on your post.
But how did it come to that, you may ask yourself..?
Fetch yourself a drink of choice and pull up a chair; get comfortable. Allow me to rewind a bit and paint a picture for you:
8th of October 820 AS- Planet California Minor, California System
This is where I spent most of my childhood. On a dull, frigid Planet in the California System. The childhood on California-Minor was extremely boring, and I did not really enjoy it too much. Usually, the only thing that spiced up my days back then were the occasional visits by Liberty Navy Pilots as well as Police Officers. My relation to the Navy back then was- actually there was no relation. I grew up in a normal family, with parents who had normal jobs that did not include space-travels.
However, that did not stop me from being fascinated by the Libertonian Military-Craft that I saw on the news, in books and also heard various rumors about. Every child has heard of the majestic " Overlord"-Class.. (at least that is what I was assuming back then, Silly me ) or perhaps even the amazing "Atlantis"-Class Carriers. I was told that, if I look careful enough into the sky at a certain time of the day with the right angle, I might see an "Overlord"-Class that was orbiting Planet California Minor. Sadly, that never happened. Was I blind? Possibly. But it was more likely that a massive battleship in orbit appeared as a mere spec to the naked eye, planet-side.
I managed to deal with the cold and the monotony long enough to make it to 20. My parents had put me to work by then, and I was running an errand for them on a rare, less-frigid afternoon, when I saw someone trying to steal something off of a woman ( I sadly can't really recall what it was ). I don't know why, but I ran at them and tried to stop them. Thinking about that, it was pure stupidity that drove me back then.Perhaps it was my admiration towards the Policemen and Navy Officers of our Nation. Who knows what might've happened to me ?! I said something by the words: "Hey there, what do you think you are doing ?! Do you think I am allowing something like that to happen while I watch?" - I was shaking while saying that. It was because of the adrenaline that went through my body in that minute. "Heh'? What'cha figg’ur ye' doin’ here?" The thief replied. Now that I am telling you my story, I think it was a Rogue. They sometimes talk in a similarly accented manner, too. "I think that I am definitely going to stop you robbing the poor woman!" "Ye' man? Ye' thin' so? Be'ause I don'!". The Rogue actually held the woman hostage now, and was pointing a gun at her. Great, I thought to myself. What kind of idiot blows his cover by blabbing? I should have rushed him without wasting my breath, and now I've got a hostage situation on my hands!
Lucky for me, a member of the Police witnessed the scenery and was able to free to woman. I think that he shot the Rogue from a distance, and the shock and pain made him let go of the woman. I felt an unimaginable agony explode in my chest and back, and in the next moment, found myself blacking out in shock.
9th of October 820 AS- Planet Colorado, Colorado System "Hey, are you finally awake?" I heard a very quiet voice saying. Barely able to understand it, I stood up, but felt a weird pain next to my stomach. I remember the pain, it is something that you don't forget. "Slow down there buddy, you have a wound after all". I looked down on my body, and the voice was right. I had a bandage bound around my body, and it was of a dark red color. I realized that I was shot at.. How ? I don't remember honestly. The scene on California Minor was too fast for me to realize that I was actually wounded in the process. "What happened?".. I was asking the voice, that was now really loud and understandable. "You got shot, and not only once. You have 2 wounds near your stomach, and you are lucky that you survived. We brought you to a hospital in Colorado to take care of them as soon as possible."
I was glancing back down at my body, and it started hurting again. And he was right, there were 2 places on the bandage that looked like more blood was on them than on the rest of the bandage. " How did I get shot ?" I was barely able to talk, aching in pain. "Do not talk too much and be careful with your movements!" I heard the very quiet voice from before. It was a woman.. a doctor or nurse according to the clothes. " You should listen to her, buddy." The other voice said, and I was finally able to realize that it was the Police Officer from California Minor that I saw, at least I think it was the same. The Uniform makes them all look the same.
After that, I fell unconscious again and my mind is black from there to until me waking up a week later.
16th of October 820 AS- Planet Colorado, Colorado System "I can walk on my own now," I told the woman that had been looking over me while I was unconscious in Colorado. "Maybe you can, but first I need to see it," she said nicely, almost too nice for my taste. "Hey, let the crow without wings fly on his own! "- a familiar voice said. It was the Police officer that most likely brought me to Colorado. "Crow?" I asked confused. This is when Crow became my nickname, one of the more important parts in this story.
He laughed. "Yes, Crow! Your scars on your back look like someone ripped off a pair of wings from your back!" Quickly, I found myself rummaging for a hand mirror in the hospital room's bathroom and holding it up to the main mirror to check myself. And he was right. I was staring at the freshly healed scars behind me after he said that, and I could not believe it. It really looked like a pair of wings had been ripped off of my back. "But now that you are finally recovering Crow, I need to ask you what and why you did something back then on California Minor" – he said, now really serious. "I.. I..."- I began stuttering. "I guess.. I tried to help the woman. I don't know what went over me that day.." I said, now stuttering even more. "It was brave of you, but as brave as it was..it wasn't exactly clever. You should have called the police"- The Officer said, now in a calm but sober voice. "But people like you are seen as raw diamonds under the ranks of us policemen. If you don't have a job, I think I can get you a place on the police academy!"
I was happy, but very confused after he said that. "Of course I would like to be a policeman! You guys are legends for us normal people" I said, happy as a young boy that just got his first kiss.
The policeman offering me the spot on the police Academy is when my story really started to begin, but I figured a little history behind how we met would do well for context, later.
4th of April 821 AS- One Police Plaza, Colorado System "Hey, wake up!" I heard my roommate saying. His name is Tristan Reynolds, and he was of the very active sort. Although he was very active - almost too active for my taste at times - he was a real nice person. I was glad to have him as a roommate back then, since he was one of the few people that did not call me by "Crow". The name spread around on the Police Academy Sector of the Station in the few months that passed since I woke up in the hospital.
Our room was rather small, like all of the rooms there. But although it was small, it was a very lovely room and it was pretty much a new home for me. Tristan however thought otherwise and was complaining a lot about it. "It's too small" was the sentence that he said more often than any other.
Anyways, after he told me to wake up I realized that I was late once again. Getting up at the speed of light, or so it felt, I washed my face and put my Uniform on.
Tristan shook his head in a sigh. “You really need to get used to waking up at 6.30am buddy! It's the 3rd time that you are late already!" "I know, I know.. but it's so hard if you are used to sleeping as long as you want.." I coughed. "Jeez, are you sick again ?"- Tristan was laughing now, because of my derpy hair. " I don..*cough* think so ! " I was ready to go now.
We went down a long hallway now, almost running since I was so late. I guess I did not get prepared at the speed of light after all. The hallway was bright and it was loud. It was almost like a school floor, except that it just wasn't one. We were on our way to the classroom now.
On today's plan was close combat training. Something that I was good at, unlike Tristan, who seemed to prefer the use of a stunner over his fists.
He was still struggling to get the basics of it down, almost 3 months after classes started.
Once again, I was punished for being late and I had to run 3 miles nonstop. Actually, I think I got used to it back then. "Tristan, Crow, you two are going to train against each other "- Our Supervisor said.
I looked over to Tristan and started to grin, while he was looking somewhat happy. I think Tristan was glad to be paired up with me, since some of the other trainees were a little too enthusiastic with going to town on a less experienced body. Even still, I think Tristan knew that it was going to be an hour’s worth of mostly defensive work on his end.
20th of April 821 AS, One Police Plaza, Colorado System
Despite what you might think, I was a good student. I had very good grades, and in close-combat I felt like I was unbeatable. The teachers saw that I had potential, so when we got started taking classes on flying Spacecraft, I was not assigned on a Snubcraft like everyone else, instead I was placed on a Gunboat. Of course not as a captain, but I was allowed to look at everything and even control one of the turrets. It was an extraordinary experience, and something that one will not forget if they ever had the chance to be inside of such a thing. It felt sort of crammed in the worst of times, but at least I wasn’t confined to my seat like a fighter or bomber pilot might be. “What is this for?”- Was probably the question that I asked at least a hundred times that day. The thing that immediately caught my eye however was the control panel. It was looking like a small light-show and the funny sounds were also kind of cool.
That day we flew from Denver to the Gate to New York, an experience that I never had before. As I said I grew up on California Minor, and I never went to space in my childhood. “Space is a beautiful but very dangerous place”- was the first sentence that we were taught at the Academy, and thinking back one can’t deny it.
20th of April 821 AS, One Police Plaza, Colorado System
During our respective off-duty time, I met up with Tristan in the mess hall. “Well? So, how was it?” Tristan asked me with excitement, because he already heard that I was not flying a Snub craft. “It was nice, I guess..” I said, still overwhelmed by the experiences of the flight lessons. “What did you fly ?” I asked Tristan, now talking clearly again. “Hoh man, what did I fly? Why, only the finest, lightest craft in the LPI arsenal. I tell ‘ya, the Liberator is a b-e-a-uty of a beast, and the seat.. Mhh, leather and everything! I can see myself lounging for hours in that little number.”
I had to giggle, because Tristan was once again so excited that he could barely talk without mistakes. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the leather seat was probably faux. “Now, now, now… What’ve they got you doing on a Defiant?” Tristan asked. “I’d imagine they’d run you ragged on one’a those!” “I was not really doing too much on it! I was taking notes, looking around and I was allowed to control one of the turrets.” I was grinning now, because back then steering a gunboat turret was a huge moment for me.
Giving off a chortle and lightly thumping my shoulder with a cheek full of burger, Tristan continued. “Heh, look’it you, man! Gunner and everything. Y’know, at this rate, you’ll promote to Archer-Gunner in no time,” Tristan teased. “Nahh, even better - I bet ‘yer gonna make big rank some day and captain a SWAT-Cruiser!”
I had to laugh hard. From steering a gunboat turret to being the captain of a cruiser? No way! At least, that’s what I was thinking back then.