]NTF[- Gresham

[Corsair]

Freeport 2 Computer Service-
>> Download record: Alan Gresham
>> Access tertiary information service?
>Yes



\ Onboard the Battleship Rio Grande, California. Interrogation room /

“Lieutenant Commander Alan Gresham. You have been tried with treason to your superiors and your nation. Your defense?”

“I have none. I don’t attack civilians, Rheinland born or not.”

“You disobeyed a direct order from your commander-superior. The punishment would be three weeks of having your wings stripped. However you attack-“

“-Yes, sir. I am quite aware that I attacked that damned fool. We’re not the goddamn Nomads, we don’t kill innocents.”

“Morals are not your place to argue. We have decided to permanently ground you and place you in military prison for seventeen years.”

Alan is silent. Before he can reply, a loud bang rattles the ship, and the interrogation room lurches. Alan falls over; however, since he is handcuffed to the chair, he hits the floor with a dull thud and an ‘Oof’.

“What the hell is that?” The Court Marshal yelled. Over the intercom, the listener replied, “We’re under attack by several Lane Hacker vessels. They were flying with Liberty Navy IFFs, sir!” The Court Marshal pounded the table with his fist. “Hellfire Legion! Goddamn it!” He turned his glare to a struggling Alan. “Stay there.” With that, he left the room.

Alan couldn’t get out of his bonds, they were too strong. He was able to get the chair in front of him, so he could simply hold it as he walked. Luckily, it was one of those new lightweight chairs that use magnetism to stay in place. Alan guessed a reactor had been hit by a torpedo, so the magnets no longer work in here. He could hear gunfights outside, gunfire, grenade blasts, and other sounds of chaos. Eventually, two men in gray-blue uniforms entered the room. “Alan Gresham?” The one on his right said. Alan nodded. “Come with us.” The other said. Alan figured he should.

They cut off his chair with some plasma cutters. They then separated his bonds. They escorted him to a hole that had been cut into the ship. Looking through it, he saw a docking port. “Hurry, the offensive outside must be ending by now.” He clambered through the tunnel, and opened the port. Inside the ship, he recognized it as a Liberty Navy Troop Transport.

As they detached from the Battleship, he saw indeed that it had been disabled. A Liberty Dreadnought orbiting California Minor was engaged by several Hellfire ships, and others, unknown ships, flying under a conglomeration of models. Civilian Ships, Lane Hackers, Order Ships, LSF Ships... All flying a common identification transponder- the NTF.

“NTF Forces,” The pilot said, “Disengage and continue on with the transports. We have the new recruit.”

The troop transport docked with the Lane to Magellan, zooming through space. At the jump gate to Magellan, he saw several transports of different nationalities, all flying the same ID. One was towing an Eagle fighter. The transport, on seeing the Hellfire vessel, disconnected the tow cable and jumped. The Hellfire transport connected a docking port to the Eagle. “Get in.” The co-pilot said. Alan was too confused to refuse. He slid down the docking port, and entered the Eagle.

Making sure all of the systems worked, he began activating systems. Engine, Weapons, Comms, Sensors, OK. He slid on his flight helmet and was once again in his element.

“Follow us through, Mr. Gresham.” Came the comm. transmission. In the distance, he picked up faint screams on his comms. A faint, “-lleship destroyed! Continuing to Kansas!” And sure enough, before he jumped, he saw several fighters, bombers, and gunships with either Hellfire Legion or “NTF” IDs. He remembered the NTF were some rogue government branch or something. Whatever, it was an LSF problem, not Navy.


He jumped, and in Magellan, the transports were regrouping with the fighters and bombers. He estimated about 500 to a thousand people were gathered here. Now waves of Naval attacks began to roll in. “All units! Engage all hostiles! That includes you, Mr. Gresham!”

Alan didn’t need much more incentive. He was tired of a system that punished martyrs, killed innocents and ruined lives. He went full throttle at the Naval attack wave, consisting of three Guardians and an Upholder. He tackled a Guardian.

It was a mad chase, one of them on each other’s tail at a time. Weaving around asteroids, as well as using them as cover, was one of Alan’s strengths, spending so much time hunting pirates in Scrap and Asteroid fields. Blood pounded behind Alan’s eyes as he pulled a corkscrew dive, kill-turning to charge the Naval unit. A volley of missiles pounded down his shields, and he turned sharply, ‘slapping’ the Guardian with the Eagle’s tail fin. This sent the Guardian spinning, and then it was easy to turn around and flay it with his Furies. How the NTF or Hellfire acquired these Zoner guns was a mystery to him.

One transport succumbed to the Upholder’s torpedoes, it’s crew crying out in terror. This brought a swarm of fighters onto it, and Alan sped on to engage the last Guardian. It never saw him rushing in from behind. Furies and missiles chewed off it’s back half, and the front depressurized and imploded.

All the NTF/Hellfire forces were now gathered in Magellan. “Let’s go!” One yelled out. Comm ID was “Tycho” Alan wondered if he should go with them, then considered the fact that a traitor wasn’t really welcome anywhere. Neither Kusari nor Bretonia would take him, either. He engaged cruise engines and caught up with the NTF forces.

They approached a jump hole that Alan had never seen before. Navigation charts pointed it to a system called ‘Kansas’, a completely uninhabited binary system. His new fleet began filing through the jump hole, and it was soon his turn.

They emerged in an asteroid field, and the group all headed to one location. Alan finally took it on himself to begin scanning these transports. What he found surprised him. There wasn’t nearly as much crew as he expected. What he found instead was ship building and repair parts. Hull panels, electronics, fuel, everything you need to build and maintain a station. He saw in the distance, a decrepit wreck of a station.

“Neo Terran Front, welcome to your new home. Welcome to -omitted-.” Said Tycho over fleet communications. The ships began circling the station. The transports with repair parts began transferring the materials to the freighters, who transferred it to the repair ships, who immediately began working.

“Mr. Gresham, please visit me on the troop transport” Tycho told him over private communications. Alan complied, and attached to the Hellfire transport again.

>> The final recording is of a Hellfire technician boarding the Eagle and deactivating the on-board camera. Further information on subject “Alan Gresham” unavailable. Please view the Neo-Terran Front file for more information. <<



// Any'a NTF can feel free to post here and evaluate/correct.

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