A Pulse of Determination

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"So how the hell are we supposed to build this thing?" James asked.

Just like that, the console is now showing up with a multitude of coloured objects on a modified NAV map, This navigational map shows the system the two naval officers are sitting in. Stations appeared to be shown in yellow, Trade lanes are cyan, and so on.

"Now, What is this all about?" John asked, mostly as a rhetorical question.

"It's New York."

"Thanks for the insight, President Jacobi. Quit fooling around."

On the console, Dotted red lines slowly appear in place, taking a turn off Manhattan to West Point Academy, then a 90 degree turn to Norfolk Shipyard.

"I've already plotted a course out of this planet, Just need to get to the atmosphere at safer distances from traffic, and then we can set autopilot on."

"What are you waiting for? Initiate flight sequence."

{Manhattan Flight Control to the Cerberus, You're clear for departure.}

While the Cerberus was in mid-flight to exiting the orbit, a bright flash pierces the sky in a purple hue.

"This can't be good"

"Have a little faith lad. We got the Cerberus, remember?"

"A Liberty Dreadnought can't hold against everything. Unless you count against that experimental device you got planted near the shield core."

"What is it?"

"Beats me. You don't suppose it could be the cultists again, right?"

"No. Not this kind of stuff. While the cultists do present immense energy, it wouldn't be displayed in a fashion like this."

"The Nomads."

"Not enough data to tell. But judging from this pink hue, perhaps. We cannot waste time. Whoever, or whatever damned thing is in there, cannot be allowed to reach the planet!"

Automatic sequences begin as the ship is now going through the trade lane rings at an incredible speed on the way to the West Point Academy. Upon arriving, scanners light up red with caution, and a small box shows a rogue Scylla flying above the West Point Academy.

?: "HIC aye, if it isn't that libby lad 'nd ze cranky 'ole cahoot! what brings yer in 'ere?"

"Nothing of your concern, rogue. Go back home and we won't have to cause a problem."

{ Now approaching: West Point Academy }

"Aye, ah'm meetin mah friends elsewhere lad. yer 'av nuh concerns!"

The console now shifts once more, showing a three-dimensional informational NavMap of the system.

"Then leave. We have got things to do."

*Smirks* "AYE AYE, CAPTAIN! HIC"

A half-laugh can be heard over the communications channel as the Scylla leaves and moves towards the center of the system.

"We could get into a lot of trouble with this "Thing" infecting our systems. Considering it's not done anything to kill us... Yet. If these criminals get curious, they might stage an attack. The faster we get this autopulse, the better."

Now entering the tradelane from West Point Academy, to Norfolk Shipyard, James takes note of a Barghest bomber flashing on screen, and a Ranseur classed vessel

"I thought all the Ranseurs left?"

"Well, after the siege in the borders of Bretonia-Liberty space, looks like there's still a few roaming around. This one, however. is quite bold"

"Should we deal wi~"

"No. We cannot waste any more time. Time's running out with that rift!"

{ Now approaching: Norfolk Shipyard }

"We are here, and it looks like the data... Can we just call it a name already for crying out loud!"

"How about a proposal of Pulse data, at least until we get a better understanding of what it is"

"Boy, as much as how stupid as that sounds. Looks like it's all it'll have to be. Now initiate the docking sequence, We have to find what we're looking for"

{ Docking sequence initiated, Landing bay A1 open }

Once the docking sequence completed, the shipyard crew got to work inspecting the ship for damage, not that they would find any.

"So now that we're here, what's next?"

Once more the console changes, creating a massive holographic board in front of them. Scans of the shipyard appear and there appears to be more dotted lines going all the way to the 5th floor, in the commodity dealer's area.

"Let's go."

A few minutes later, in the commodity dealers' shop...

"MOX, H-Fuel, Engine components, Deuterium? Credit cards, Toxic waste, Water... Nothing that seems like it could help us." John says scratching his head.

"Whatever is supposed to be here, does not seem to be here."

John calls one of the salesmen over.

Salesman: "Greetings, Captain! what can i do for you on our wonderful shipyard?

"I'm in need of something. I don't suppose you received anything suspicious lately?

Suspicious? As far as I know, Nothing's turned up. Just been the usual supplies of MOX and H-Fuel.

James starts wandering off while John and the Salesman talk.

"Well, in that case. I could use about 20 units of H-fuel for the trip."

Coming right up! That'll be $50,400 credits.

John, after some less than kind words under his breath finally agreed with a short "Fine."

A loud "explosion" could be heard from the docking bays, out of reach of James' ears, but well enough that John is now very annoyed.

Loud footsteps can be heard as John and several of the shipyard crew run towards the source of the explosion

What the hell happened here!?

Maintenance Worker: "Your ship is infected with a virus, Sir. The damned thing zapped me!"

"I've got that situation under control, you touch anything else and you will not be seeing me out of your dreams again!"

Considering the crew didn't want to get zapped again, they hurried off to go do something else.

In the meantime, James has managed to get past a security clearance as perks of being a naval officer, and finds himself entering a dark room...

"Batteries... Food... Ice? Why would they need ice?

"Cardamine... nothing..."

A small glowing object lights up the edges of James's eyes. He wanders over to the object, tripping over a small case

CRASH!

"Ouch... They have to clean up around here, or someone else will get hurt"

Knocking the box out of the way, he goes to the glowing object. He sees a tray, and it looks like some kind of blue gemstone that sits in it.

"This is a rather big stone! there's even multiple of them! I'm guessing this is what we're looking for, I have to now figure out a way to carry these over without getting caught. Liberty does not like thieves."

[Meanwhile, back at the ship.]

"Sir, by protocol we must perform maintenance on the ship. This includes fixing viruses."

"I can assure you, this one is harmless. But that's all that you're going to know. Now are you sure you haven't picked up anything suspicious?"

Questioning his suspicions "Why would it even matter? We're a simply shipyard and not a liar!"

We're in need of an object of sorts which has lead us here, but we can't seem to find it.

"Ah, I might have just the thing!"

...

Now carrying a trolley of blue crystals, James starts getting a little too curious with the crystal, he looks over at the crystal and now has an immense desire to touch it.

"It's quite pretty in the cyan-blue hue that it is. I wonder if it's valuable?"

He touches the crystal, gets thrown across the room and crashes onto the floor, nearly falling off the platform.

"Ah... Crap, Help!"

John hears James' call for help and comes running to aid him, also noticing the trolley of now glowing crystals. He rushes over and reaches out his hand.

"You idiot, Grab my hand!"

James reaches out an arm, clasps his around John's and gets pulled back up to the board, with James now winded, and on his knees.

The equipment dealer is laughing.

"I see that you've found them? A real kicker, eh?"

"What are these, and why haven't the Navy told about this?"

"We have no idea where they came from, We thought some random trader decided to play a prank or something. Moving them with physical labor proves impossible."

"James, how did you pick it up?"

"They were already sitting in the tray there, i just took it off the shelf and put it on a trolley since the thing was very heavy"

{ Commodity has been found }

"Looks like we found what we're looking for. We'll be taking them."

"Sure, we don't want them anymore. Go right ahead."

John slaps James' back who slowly gets up, laughing. "Come on, you fool. Let's go."

The ship lifts off as it now enters back into the New York system. It's too quiet. Not an engine, laser, or warning in sight. Except for the virus automatically calculating it's way back to New York. Thinking nothing of it, John orders James to proceed through to Fort Bush, not liking the situation one bit.

"We're heading to Fort Bush this time, I don't think it's a safe idea to be hanging around at West Point."

"Roger that sir, heading to Fort Bush."

{ Now leaving Norfolk Shipyard }

A distant explosion a few kilometers between the sun and Manhattan could be seen, the virus immediately reacts.

{ Re-routing Starboard shields to port shields }

The ship is knocked out of the tradelane by a massive wave of energy, slamming the shields and almost entirely disrupting them.

"What in Gods name was that!?"

"Alien signatures, looks like you were right."

Unknown Pilot: "Hello!? We're in desperate need of support, some kind of Alien vessels have appeared through a tear in space and it's bombarding ships! All hands on deck!"

"This is Johnathon of the Dreadnought Cerberus, We've heard your call and are heading your way."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"We are liberty. We spread liberty, and those damned bastards can taste my liberty when i kick their keisters!!"

"Alright then, Plotting the docking sequence to the Lane of Manhattan and Fort bush"

Looking back on scanners, a quick survey shows that all of the lanes between Fort Bush & Norfolk Shipyard have been completely disrupted. It'll take hours before it comes back up.

"We're in for a long ride, Might as well relax a little."

"In a time like this, How can we?"

{Re-routing shields to previous form}

Time passes by as they reach one of the trade-lanes to Manhattan, The two units now observe that the gash has tripled in size, and large alien vessel have arrived into the space, already in combat with a few vessels

Oh. My. God.

As the Cerberus drew closer, James and John could see well over a dozen large 'capital' vessels, dozens of smaller, gunboat sized ships, and hundreds of fighter sized ships.

?: "HIC aye laddie, bout time yer arrived! get yer ass over 'ere 'nd help ahs clear zes buggers off, I 'ant drink mah bir in peace with the lads."

"Weapons all primed, sir."

{ Warning, Straying off course, Recommended action: Construction of Weaponry }

"Look here, if we don't stop these blue-balled-bastards, we won't have a weapon TO construct!"

...

That's what I thought.

Within 5 kilometers, the Nomads now take note of the new ship that has arrived. But altogether they stopped firing. suddenly, everything starts to slightly malfunction. All consoles, computers, tech, and other displays are all replaced by one thing along with a loud piercing shriek:

"FEAR" "DANGER"

Images projected to both John and James as an image in their cargo-hold focuses on the blue gemstones.

"This... Isn't good."

The Nomadic ships all turn towards the Cerberus, and technology all becomes functional again.

{ Artillery strikes incoming }

"Evasive maneuvers!"

Already on it!

Although he was already on it, James was not quite fast enough to get clear of the first artillery shot. It struck dead center and drained a large portion of the shield power banks. John punches in some numbers and the automatic defenses return fire like never before. Nomad gunboats and fighters are dropping right and left. Through the explosions of the smaller ships, more artillery shots from the large ships pelt the Cerberus.

{ SHIELDS FAILING }

The computer screams, Displays of the shield is now nearly dropped completely, Forgetting to grab some shield Robotics there's no recovery of shields manually.

"Lad, I say it's high time we test this experimental device out!"

Engaging sensor inhibiting shield!

{ SHIELDS FAILED }

Ammunition from the armory is being consumed as the cloaking device is being charged.

"You better show me how damn well you can fly or else we're toasted!"

The Nomads continue to rain blow after blow upon the hull of the Cerberus.

{Calculating artillery strikes, Initiating evasive maneuvers.}

The ship pitches down hard, then banks left. Avoiding 4 more strikes that could've done some serious damage.

?: " This is the Order, I've brought a few friends to help fight this scourge off, Do you require assistance?" Two Order vessels approaches the oncoming battle along with the Ranseur that was flying around before.

"This is Captain Johnathon of the Liberty Dreadnought Cerberus. As much as I'd hate to see you here, Now would be a fantastic time!"

{ Sensor Inhibiting Field now at 80% } { Hull is now at 40% Durability }

A rain of missiles approach from the Order, sending the nomads into a fritz. Many of their ships now destroyed by the sudden onslaught, but that did not stop them.

Aye, *HIC* laddies, yer need tah close zat portal or sumthin!

{ Incoming missile }

A large blue sphere flies towards the ship, Defenses attempt to shoot it but it's no use, it misses.

{ Sensor Inhibiting Field now Activated }

"Get us out of here dammit!"

"Engaging cruise engines."

The Cerberus quickly begins to disappear into the space itself, cloaking from the field of enemies. a loud screech can be heard as the Nomads failed to kill the Cerberus.

{ Scanning ship }

.
.
.

{ Hull remaining, 7%}
{ Primary 2&4 are now offline }
{ secondaries 1-3 are now destroyed, Secondary #4 is offline}
{Torpedoes online}

"You forgot to fire the strongest weapon we had!?" John nearly shouted.

"The power core was being overloaded, we couldn't fire that much power but everything else worked!"

That doesn't matter anymore. Get us to Manhattan, we need to get this ship out of here!

Order: Cerberus, proceed to the docking rings. We'll buy you time to get out of here. GO!

John/James: Way ahead of you, Good luck.

{Initiating docking sequence}

[Access denied, We're unable to service shi-]
[ Fires across multiple sections detected, Initiating emergency landing procedures ]

The Cerberus is now tethered by the powers of the docking rings as most of the ships systems are heavily damaged while it's being towed by repair crew and cargo transporters to the landing pad.

{Sensor inhibitor failing, Ammunition reserves empty.}

Cerberus begins to uncloak itself as it lands, making a hard landing and scraping across the ground, barely keeping itself upright.

Sounds of blowtorches burning through the metal as the landing crew works to break open the doors that refuse to close.

"About time you lot got here, Get the ship fixed up as fast as possible, and then we'll be on our way."

Manhattan Emergency Responders: "Roger that captain!"

The door bursts open. John and James walk out, a small holographic projection shows up close to them.

{COMMODITY ACQUIRED, 2x COMMODITIES REMAINING}

An image shows of an empty gun, one that John and James have recalled seeing as "weapons of experimental failures."

Another image shows of some kind of stabilization catalyst that is recently being made by a group of DSE to help contain loose cargo, which can also be found on Manhattan.

"We both know where these objects are. We must find them quickly."

"Roger that, I will be back shortly. I have a few people to contact for favors."



John and James go ahead and split up to find said commodities. Before long, John managed to convince the Libertonian High Command to give up these dead weapons for their own use, not that it took much convincing since it needed removal anyhow. Meanwhile, James went to get these catalyst for a huge portion of his payment to which the DSE was gladly handing over.

"We have all the items?" John asked.

"I think so," James replied.

{ ALL COMMODITIES RECEIVED. INITIATING BLUEPRINT "MK-81 Autopulse Turret" FOR CONSTRUCTION }

John and James board the ship, with now a instruction on how to construct these items. The data that was gathered just a few days ago, suddenly exploded after creating these blueprints to the autopulse turret, The virus however, still remains on their ship.

Let's get to making this thing, Shouldn't take too long.

Let's hope not. The fate of New York rests on this item.

Several hours go by, and they finally managed to make two of these weapons with the help of the crew after repairs were made, given that they were given 6x their pay grade and working on overdrive.

Two newly built autopulse guns were installed onto the ship, ready to be tested.

"This is Johnathon of the Cerberus, Requesting permission to depart."

{ Access granted, Good luck out there! }

As they fly off, New sounds could be heard of a low hum. The ship, now feeling different than before, takes off with a new-found power in their weapons array.

John looks over at James.

John, with a smirk: "Looks like our hard work might finally pay off, eh? Let's see what these guns can do!"

Grinning back, James replies with:[i] "Weapons all ready sir, Shall we send these squids back home?"

[i]Laughing at that stupid joke, John replies with only a few words:
"Yes, let's get rid of them... FIRE!

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