--Liberty Security Feed:
Source, Planet Manhattan, New York--
Ark cheerily waved the last tourist farewell. It had been a long day of tour, this route getting them dangerously close to being boarded by Libertonian forces for having Rheinland civilians on board. This was always a headache. Ark continually pressured Corporate to change the damn route to go around the blockade, but the fact remained that Rheinland and Liberty were some of the highest paying areas. Tourists would pay thousands, THOUSANDS of credits just to see another place in space!
Ark felt queasy just mentioning Corporate. The shadowy, conspiring leaders of OSC. None of them would say so, but they were heavily involved with the trafficking of Cardamine. Clients would pay top dollar for the Orange Dream Treatment. Cryer had filed a lawsuit against them in the past for it, but they couldn't find anything concrete. Some say that OSC simply bribed every available lead to stay quiet.
Ark checked his schedule. He had to get down to the Battleship Nagasaki in Kusari to pick up some civilians who were touring the Kusari war vessel. Which Ark thought extremely disturbing, considering the Nagasaki was dangerously close to Leeds.
Drawing out a small radio, Ark sent out a broadcast, "Alright, everybody, take a quick stop planetside for some Sunbucks, because we're leaving for Kusari in half an hour!" A communal groan from all of his crew members came flooding back.
Chief of his cargo staff, Carla, said first, "Already? That last shift already pulled us out overtime!" Rachel, head of gunnery, ran in over her. "I'm hungry and I haven't slept in almost 24 hours. Are we seriously moving out again?" San, the Corsair-born chief of engineering, summed up their complaints, "Ark, we're damn close to a mutiny."
Ark sighed, kneading his eyebrows. "It's not my decision. Corporate wants us to grab these guys, so we are. When we get back, everything is on me. Booze, Babes, Boys, whatever. Just put in another four hours for me." Grumbling came over his comms, most of them a grudging yes. "I'm getting the most expensive whore they have." San said sulkily.
Twenty-four minutes elapsed, and the crew was detatching the mooring clamps with depressed dedication. LPI forces had given warnings of Xeno Terrorists, but the Luxury Liner would not be slowed by some Starblazers. As the ship positioned itself at a trade lane, a Kingfisher-class fighter and an Eagle pulled up on either side of the liner.
"Corporate sent us. We're to escort you as you pass through Kusari. There's a battle between KNF and Chrysanthemums in Shikoku right now." Said the Eagle. They sent over their identification, and a Corporate secretary gave them the OK.
The ship was about halfway through Galileo when the lane died. "Damn it.." Ark muttered. He opened a communication line to the leader of the Lane Hacker vessels.
"This is Captain William Ark. Lane Hacker vessels, you are impeding progress of an Orbital Spa and Cruise luxury liner. We carry only civilians." The leader replied, "Can the bull****, even scraps are good for shipbuilding. Get'im!"
The escorts immediately got to work. The Lane Hackers were scrambling their sensors, so they had no idea what was going on. "Status update!" Ark barked.
Rachel, of gunnery, said, "Sir! Switching to manual optic control! They've jammed our automatic turrets!" The Eagle escort said, "We're faced with two Stilettos and a Scimitar. I've got the Scimmy and- Agh! Damn, my right wing's hit! Jacob, how you hold up up?"
Jacob, the Kingfisher, pulled a corkscrew dive and rebound, catching the Scimitar from below. The Scimmy tried to evade, but the Kingfisher's hardened nose sheared through several layers of hull, fatally damaging the engines. He turned to assist the Eagle.
Rachel was giggling like a madwoman, firing turret after turret at the madly evading Stiletto. One shot clipped his wing, and the ship began to depressurize. Oxygen reserves burst into flame, and Hydrogen fuel tanks exploded. On-board explosives added to the careening fireball as it smashed into the lane.
With the combined fire of Jacob and Harold, the remaining Stiletto popped, and the wreckage sailed though space, in an endless journey.
The ship engaged cruise engines. Scottie, in the engine room, said via the comms, "Cruise engines are running nominally. San, can we siphon some power off the shields for them to get a booster? I want to get out of here before more Hackers arrive."
San complied, and rewired 50% of the shield's power to engines. The ship lurched as the ship's velocity increased. Rachel was celebrating in the gunnery chamber. "Ha-HAH! Did you see that bastard blow? Oh my god, that was beautiful! HA-HAA! KA-BOOM, BABY!" Ark rolled his eyes. Rachel always gets riled up after a battle. He was glad that nobody died.
Harold, the Eagle pilot, was assigning some nanobots to seal the hole in his right wing. It had come dangerously close to detonating the missile bank. "The nanos will fix me up, don't you worry." Harold adjusted his helmet, it getting too heavy on his shoulders. His light orange eyes flashed through the visor. Jacob had brown eyes, also visible through his visor.
Ark's graying hair framed his slightly wrinkled face. Strong, determined gray eyes told people who spoke with him that he was always in control. He once served in the Bretonian Military, and had accumulated a good track record.
Admiral Sexton, the permanent honored guest of the Heaven's Ark, half-stumbled into the command bridge. "God damn! Were we just attacked?" The Liberty Admiral was half in uniform and half in sleeping garments. Ark helped stabilize him as he pulled his command jumpsuit on.
"Yes, some Lane Hacker pirates tried to take us down. Luckily, our escort and Rachel took them out. We're cruising to the Shikoku gate now, since the wreck of one of the Lane Hackers seemed to have destroyed the Lane's stability."
Sexton swore. "Bold bastards. I've got to pressure Admiral Hale to organize more searches in here. It'll be vital to maintaining relationships with Kusari. We can't have another war."
Sean, in the Communications and Sensory department, broadcasted an emergency, "Sir! We've got a Liberty Rogue strike force coming in on our port flank! I'm reading a Barghest and two Wolfhounds! They're launching Disruptors!"
The ship again gave a huge lurch as the ship decelerated. San said, "I'm putting power back in shields! Everybody, get ready!" Sean began sending out emergency calls, "Mayday! This is the Heaven's Ark, we are under attack by pirates! Any police or military force, please respond!"
Jacob and Harold split and began wheeling toward the rogues. In their charge, lasers, missiles and flak flew in both directions, all ships madly careening out of the way of dangerous projectiles. And when things looked bad, "Oh my god! It's a Order strike wing?" Indeed, a wing of Bastets were detected 75 kilometers away.
Ark closed his eyes tight. "Passcode Four-Four-Seven-Omega-Ark."
The ship's reactor began churning, and some of the silver paint flecked off to reveal a blue-blackish mesh. A ring of purple light ran down the ship, and it disappeared.
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