Name: Desert (A case of trauma-induced amnesia has caused me to forget certain facts about my early life)
Age: Can't... remember...
Background information: Given above
Place of Birth: Leeds, from the tags on the clothing I was wearing when I woke up
Reasons for joining: To assist Bretonia in case of a Kusari invasion
Piloting Skills: We have a decent knowledge of navigation
Combat Skills: We avoid any fights that we might not win; no reason to die by picking a losing battle.
"Hmm - so that's Sipher Rockwell accepted - now what do we have here? A Bretonian/Gaian/Corsair Privateer? Very unusual" Making a decision, the Recruiting Officer ordered the application to get deeply scrutinised and forwarded for the attention of the Admiralty.
' Wrote:The recruiter looked up at the thin, tall bespectacled man standing in front of him. Nothing about him looked dangerous. In fact, he seemed to be the most peaceful man you'd see.
Then, he noticed more. The man was still. Very still. Not something that came out of laziness, or sloth. The stillness of a patient man.. a hunter.. a sniper, with an absolutely balanced mind, or an absolute sense of purpose.
"Well, mister..Professor, do I read this right? You wish to apply for a place in the BAF?"
"Yes, I do."
"Why?"
"Because there are no more Land Herons in Cambridge."
"What?"
The man sighed. "Do you remember the Molly raid on the Shire peninsula, in Cambridge 4 years ago? Of course not. It barely made headlines. They dropped some mutagens.. the fools didn't know what they were dealing with. The Herons have been wiped out.
They were one of the most beautiful creations of the universe. More to the point, they harboured the Marburg flies, which cross pollinated the Iberian wheat that they grow on Cambridge. Cambridge will face a famine in 2 years. 3 million will die, I estimate."
"And you will personally take them on? What makes you think that you can?" grinned the recruiter."Have you ever flown a fighter?"
"No. Oh, I've read your manuals. It is not rocket science. Coming to think of it, well, it might be. I've also read ' Battle of Britain, the History', 'Basic Aerial manouevering tactics', 'Autobiography of Otto Han- Fighter ace.. you know, if you combine a 3 wingman tactic as was first used in the 3 rd Battle of the Yoda cloud"
"Ok Ok" The recruiter said hastily."I'll see what I can do. Come back tomorrow."
"Oi! Prof! - Get back here!" said the Recruiting Officer
"Just a minor detail missing from your application, old chap - your NAME!"
A man in his early twenties walked in, he had crisp white clothes with a red overall on, his blue trousers just reaching his ankles. He had medium length brown hair, with hazel eyes to go with them.
The Captain looked at him, he had a short, black coloured goatee, with a fluffy tash with it. None of them suited him. He also had that agressive look around him.
'Wow.. he must of been in quite a few fights' thought the youth.
'Got a job for a part-time transport escort?' he asked.
'We might do.. What's your name boy?' he questioned, slouching down in his chair.
'Aidan Coxon sir.' the youth replied.
'And how old are you Aidan?' asked the Captain, now standing up.
'I'm 24 sir, turning 25 in June.' Aidan answered, wondering if this was mandatory.
'Okay Aidan, i'd like you to fill in this form for me.' the Captain said.
The Captain handed Aidan the form, and Aidan took it, and 5 minutes later, handed it back to him.
'So.. You want to be a gunboat pilot eh?' the Captain said, now interested in Aidan/
'Yes sir, i want to get back at the damn Corsairs and Mollies. They killed my friend, and i'm not leaving that un-punished.' Aidan said, starting to get angry at the thought of them.
'Ahh, those scumbags, yeah alot of us here want to get back at them my lad' the Captain said, stroking his beard.
/OOC.. If it's okay, can i be a Gunboat/Gunship pilot? Thanks.
The recruiter yawned loudly as he finished the paperwork on the latest wide-eyed recruit, itching niavley for combat. All day he had been sifting through the red tape on what seemed like an endless stream of ambitious teenagers, barely out of school and barely adults. Some of them looked more like Children than he'd of liked. Some threw themselves onto the meatshield willingly, out of a young loyalty for their country. Others were more defiant, some even had their parents with them to make sure they actually signed up. It was a poor sight.
The recruiter looked around cautiously and realised there was no recruits to sign and took the opportunity to grab a cup of tea, but as he stood someone staggered in through the door. He sighed and immediatley sat, holding his pen ready to accept the new details. The man limped towards the table, before standing before it and bracing himself as he stood up straight.
"Name?" The recruiter said impatiently.
"Daniel, John Elgey."
"So thats, Sirname Elgey, forenames Daniel, John?"
"Correct." Daniel responded, with a strained voice.
He was clearly in pain, he had a severe limp and a nasty cut above his eye that had bled down his cheek.
"What happened to you?" The recruiter asked with concern.
"Got into a little fight."
"I see that, you cant go around brawling and starting barfights in this outfit. You need to adopt a whole new attitude." The recruiter lectured.
"You think this is my attitude? You think Im going around starting bar fights? Let me tell you how this injury came about. My mother, my wife and my sister were gold miners in Dublin. They used to mine close to graves station and me and my brother used to watch over them in our trackers. One morning, there was a delay undocking our ships and the girls were left outside defenseless. To my horror, when I communicated to them that we couldnt get out for another half an hour, they had ventured east into the field to get better ore. A group of Corsairs picked them up and destroyed them. I heard their distress calls on the comms...they screamed in terror, they knew they wherent going to get any quater..."
"Im sorry, lad but..."
"Thats not it." Daniel interupted angrily "When we finally got out, the police had arrived and nothing could be done. The Corsairs had taken the loot and disappeared. My brother, Sean, couldnt take it. He cruised straight out there to chase them down, hoping for revenge. I couldnt stop him. I was searching for him for weeks on end, scouring the fields for any trace of his being there. Finally, I found the black box from his tracker in the Molly asteroid field. He was destroyed by Molly tech based weaponry. They must've thought he was mining their gold and attacked him, I dont know. I came back to New London to settle the memorials and my affairs, but it wasnt that simple. We had taken out several loans for the mining venture and we had barely paid back into them. I've been fighting off debt collectors ever since and some of them arnt friendly and bring the numbers and the tools to deal with you. Hence...this."
There was a moment of silence, Daniel let the recruiter gaver his thoughts and gauge his motives.
"Well, lad as you know there is a substantial incentive for joining the BAF, they should handle most of your debts and there is bounties to collect on pirates and Kusari-scum you would be hunting down. You will most definatley get your crack at the Molly's and Corsair's, to. Im happy to put forward the paperwork for you now, if you're still interested."
"The offer of revenge and a clean slate is impossible to pass up."
' Wrote:/OOC.. If it's okay, can i be a Gunboat/Gunship pilot? Thanks.
//Nobody is allowed to join BAF and immediately fly Cap ships of any kind. You have to join as an Ensign, fly Templars/Hussars and Challengers - get promoted (on merit for your actions) and then get permission to fly the heavy stuff. There are no exceptions - except for exceptional people:P
//The Admiralty lets me know who those people are!
//So - apply here all those who are prepared to put in the effort to become a useful BAF pilot first. Perhaps you could then work up to becoming a cap ship pilot. Our Ensigns work hard and train hard - often with little reward for their efforts, so we are not going to bring in unknown pilots over them to senior ranks, just to let them play with big guns.
//All this information is contained in our faction pages (see links in my sig) Read the stuff and think about it before you apply here.
//Edit - Note to self:- Check your own typo's before posting!
' Wrote://Blunt - please free up some space so you can get PM please :cool:
***INCOMING ENCRYPTED TRANSMISSION***
Source: Honshu
Greetings again, fellow Bretonians. This is the Desert Snow.
We thought only one-quarter of our computer system's memory was occupied, but as per your request we have recently conducted an overhaul of our comms storage system, and there is plenty of room for new incoming messages.
In case you have inadvertently done the same, I have attached a copy of our first message here. We were told that due to the extraordinary nature of our situation, it would take some time for the Admiralty to decide how to respond. Since it has been several days since our last message, we were wondering if any progress towards a decision has been made.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to fighting side-by-side with my fellow Bretonians against our common foe.
Greetings again, fellow Bretonians. This is the Desert Snow.
We thought only one-quarter of our computer system's memory was occupied, but as per your request we have recently conducted an overhaul of our comms storage system, and there is plenty of room for new incoming messages.
In case you have inadvertently done the same, I have attached a copy of our first message here. We were told that due to the extraordinary nature of our situation, it would take some time for the Admiralty to decide how to respond. Since it has been several days since our last message, we were wondering if any progress towards a decision has been made.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to fighting side-by-side with my fellow Bretonians against our common foe.
-Desert and Crew
***ENCRYPTED TRANSMISSION TERMINATED***
//Desert Snow - that message was not directed at you, but to somebody who will be looking into your application. An answer will come in due course. Please note our replies to other applications for Gunboat use (Look up!)
The recruitment officer looked blankly at the notice from the Admiralty:
"Shut Down!?!"
The reason given : More pilots than ships, and the training system was overtaxed now.
The recruitment officer shrugged, and wondered what fares to Curacao were going for. Hmm..
Or maybe Gran Canaria, even?
//Due to faction size (huge), and the recent influx of new recruits, we are locking down recruitment for some time, to get a handle on the new recruits, provide training, and give our rival factions a chance to catch up...
//If you have already posted here, don't worry, we will still process you.