The Zoners have discovered something... unnerving in Omicron Theta. A group of a hostile aliens, the Nomads. They've seen the Rhienlanders go in... come out... almost changed overnight. They need something... or someone... to help defend Zoner interests in the Edge Worlds.
Born in 790 A.S., on Planet Manhattan, he is rumored to be a descandant of a great United States Millitary General. Marvin was a quiet, shy, and moderately anti-social child, with perfect genetic codes to match what the Zoners were looking for. The Zoners cloned him and swapped the 'real' Marvin out with the clone, leaving the parents with a 'faulty' clone that would act and live like their former child but would die in the year ahead of a planned deficiency. A very new station back then, not ackknowleged in public, private or even mid-level secret files, Corinth Reasearch Station, and its sister station, Sparta, were Marv's home for nearly his whole life. He was trained with several other kids his age. He was cybernetically modified, to have faster reflexes and stronger muscles. Many children in his 'class' did not survive due to the massive strains put on their systems during the surgery and the grueling recovery afterward, when side effects begin to manifest themselves of which some of Marvin exhibits such as: labored breathing, low long-term stamina, and others.
Some small portion of his brain is mecanical, the exact percentage is still classified in locked away files.
It contains his nueral implants, and some of the more secretive data. Rumors also around the station that he would be used for special Faster-Than-Light drives, Which if accelerated to their max speed could actually rip though the space time continum, and therefore could time travel. The other several cyborgs in his class have since completely disassociated themselves with the Zoners or have otherwise disappeared much to the disdain of the Zoners... The circumstances of their individual disappearances are of course classified as well... One of the last remaining subjects of the Zoner's cyborg program was the victim of a tragic accident with the prototype time drive, closed Project DRAGOMAR. Marvin, however, was never given a purpose within the program. He showed talent in piloting, and with the help of two ship-board AI he can effectively crew a battleship with 500+ crew assisting, via fiber opitc cables directly connected to the ship and his brain.
He talks with a deep, slightly gruff voice, and yet he is surprisingly soft spoken for his 7 ft stature, at least around people other than his bridge staff/close circle of confidants. Marvin is slightly secretive, He is known to have contacts in the Outcasts, Corsairs, Lane Hackers, Blood Dragons, Mollies, The Order, the BHG, and even rumored to have one in Gallia. Marvin also does common weapon dealings, and has a low-to-moderate addiction to Synthetic Marijuana. He is also rumored to use Liquid Cardimine, although it is very hard to obtain and the side effects from such light use are hardly noticeable if at all. He was an excellent Commando Squad leader, when he was at the ripe age of 16. He excelled quickly. He was a fighter pilot by 17, a gunboat captain by 18, a Commodore of the Zoner Omicron Defense Fleet. When he learnt of his exile from his parents, he was angered at the Zoners, and went on a many month desperate search for his parents in Liberty, to no avail. He was even promoted to Admiral, and had a custom-built battlestar as his flagship.
It was the a jewel of the Zoner fleet. His fleet acted as a task force, on the bloody and muntinous frontier. Battlestar Dawn Under Heaven was a medium-type multi-purpose battleship. It was under his direct command, untill he was ready to move up the new, very prestigious Zoner Juggernaut class. The old Battlestar was destroyed when it was purposely crashed into Planet Tirane, Omicron-74. Many dataservers were on board at the time, presumably left there to have their contained secrets to be destroyed along with the ship. He also possesses something of sentimental value, that was passed down from many years. A plaque, similar to the one left on the moon so long ago. It reads : "Here men from Planet Earth first set foot upon the moon, July, 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind" The sister ship of the Dawn was the Tears Of Autumn which was destroyed during an attack on Freeport 11 by a large nomad Battlefleet. Captain Durango, one of Marvin's early mentors during officer training, was killed along with the rest of the crew. This took a toll on him and he left the relative security of the Far-East Omicrons to make his own Zoner Federation. He headed 'north' and went to Omicron Minor, where he met a Order Gaurd Commander, named Aki.Kimura. Marvin used to operate out of Toledo, untill the Order started to demand his Nomad/Wilde research subjects as well as some of his other... 'interesting' commodities. His current main base is Freeport Eleven, of which he has recently become Administrator (see below entries) and Freeport Nine, as a secondary station, to defend others from the Nomad tyranny.
In 817, A.S. Marvin was awarded the Diamond Service Medal,
during the yearly award ceremony on Freeport XV. Marvin always wears his old Super Soldier armor for special occasions. Its very snug fitting, just as it was years ago. The Battlestar Dawn Under Heaven is wanted for dissection, the Zoner Gaurd council has placed the Zoner Juggernaut Glorious Advance under Marvin's control. It will undergo all nesessary Cyborg-Compatible modifications before being transfered command to him. Additionally, a new AI will be joining Marvin's side operate the ship... and himself... with greater care and efficiency. The AI is of Mark IV generation, Female sex, Named Heartless for her agressive nature... While Wilson has been pushed back to managing Freeport 11's vast databases of trade routes and defense networks, as a rapidly aging Mk III generation Smart AI.
The ensign walked down the dimly lit hallway, its walls covered in various cords and pipes. The crew's division was much less luxurious than the Bridge... The ensign reached his quarters with a sigh. His cabin was the size of a bathroom in one of the luxury suites in the VIP's lower decks. It had a cot, a small side table, and a window. That was all. Ensign Jacobs looked out the window and saw Marvin's shuttle twist and turn through the vaccum toward Corinth Research Station. Marvin was an odd fellow. The ensign had only seen him once, during the award ceremony on Livadia. Marvin was intimidating and almost god-like in his power armor from his commando days. He is very young for an officer... Even he [the ensign] was older than Marvin. There were rumors spreading of alleged drug-abuse by the Grand Admiral, but they were dismissed as Council propaganda. Nobody pays attention to drugs in the Frontier Worlds...
Marvin stepped of the shuttle Stranger In A Strange Land. The door slid open with a "swish". Corinth's director, Winston Percival Dorsey, was waiting for him along with a whole team of biomedical engineering students, and many new doctors. The regular crew is on leave, the teams rotate every five months. The look on the eager students faces was of awe and amazement. It was obvious they had never seen a Cyborg of this magnitude before. They stepped out of the way as Marvin strode down the corridor, walking next to the new Team leader, Dr. Fujikawa Toshimo. They neared a security checkpoint and yet another door... The guards looked up at Marvin with wondering eyes. Dr. Toshimo pulled a key out of his pocket, an oddly shaped one at that. The last barrier opened. One of the guards looked to be a Cyborg also, of a newer generation, although shorter than Marvin by .5 feet, they seemed as tough as nails.
Dr. Toshimo's voice boomed over the loudspeaker.
"Are you ready, Marvin?"
"Ready as I'll ever be", Marvin replied.
"Good, Lets begin the 'uprade' procedure." Toshimo said calmly.
"Marvin's hemisphere of brain, which is computerized has become outdated. This new unit shall improve it." Toshimo continued to his students in the observation room overlooking the OR.
One of Dr. Toshimo's most trusted pupils, a man of Rhienlandic descent, named Mel Stude entered the room as Marvin layed down on the custom-length operating table. Stude slipped on black latex gloves --- or so it looked. He began removing screws from Marvin's head, first on the back of the head and moving forward. The skull plate lifted and made a sickening squish sound as the Rhienlander set it on the steril paper nearby. Marvin was required to be more or less awake during the entire operation, otherwise they'd not know if the new device was working properly right away or not. They didnt want to damage 'their speicimen.'
Stude then began to unlink the pins and screws securing the artifical unit to the natural brain and the skull wall itself. The actual brain that was left composed of memory storage, and other specific processes. Marvin heard Toshimo talking again, even through the thick glass that seperated them.
"Marvin's heartrate, body temperature, and other general processes are controlled by this new artificial unit. It will make him faster, stronger and more resilliant. Not to mention improved senses." Toshimo's voice dimmed as Marvin could not hear anymore...
He felt hot as Stude lifted out the old unit, it bloody and nearly falling apart. Marvin saw his lips moving saying something to the effect of "Beautiful Specimen" But he wasnt sure. The room was starting to blur. His surroundings began to spin around him as he blacked out.
The students watched perplexed as Stude put the new, slightly larger unit into Marvin's empty skull cavity. He seemed rushed as he reattached and resautered the many bio-optical wires back into place. Marvin began to stir and feel far better. Odd, actually. Faster. Like he was blinking too fast for himself to keep up... Like he could take on the world. He then felt dull shooting pain up his spine as the doctor placed the skull plate back on and reattached the seams. His pulled the bloody gloves off and said "Its done" as calmly as ever.
Then Marvin passed out.
Dr. Fujikawa paced in the small observation room.
"Hmm... Hmm... Could this be a side effect?" Dr. Fujikawa said, worried.
"He'll sure do better in recovery than in that cold place." Stude said reasurringly.
The biomedical students along with Fujikawa struggled to lift the giant onto the bed to roll him into the Intensive care wing of the hospital.
Marvin awoke... there was glaring sun in his face. He knew where he was... Just then, he choaked on the tube going up his nose and down his throat. He pulled it out, unknowingly tripping all the medical equipment. A nurse ran in, smiled at him and shut the beeping machines up... He looked out the window and saw his juggernaut floating. The crew are probably wondering where he is... Dr. Fujikawa had left him a note
Dear friend,
I am happy to say you will get better. However, this may be a side effect of the transplant and will most propably disappear in a few days. It appears we made a big stain over nothing...
Drill Seargent Jeffery Peters hung over the new recruits. There were 250 of them, The complete order for Marvin's Ship-Board Battalion. They were a light mix of mercenaries, zoners and others who've simply heard the infamous Mr. Orphelia was recruiting for a guard battalion to be placed aboard the renouned Pendulum.In other words, They'd just wanted to see a freak show. But this was different, Jeff thought. These looked like the real deal... The recruits stood at attention, and Peter's began the run down. At least im getting paid for this, he thought smugly to himself.
GO! GO! GO! Jeffrey yelled over the Communication unit. The obstacle course at what many of Marvin's loyal-long time crewman called "Camp Zero" was quite the tough one. Marvin himself made sure it was up to standard, even rivaling house training courses. Camp Zero was a rather small, 1,150 acre "base" that is owned by Marvin, it stores ship parts and various matenince facilities for smaller vessels. It also harbors enough space in its medium-sized broken down barracks to feed and care for 2,000 men. The facillity had never been extensively used before it was sold to Marvin. He felt it would be a nice place to store his belongings outside of the Pendulum. It was located on a windswept desert plateau in one of the many schorched burning deserts that dotted Gran Canaria's surface. There were underground levels of the facillity that were like a maze in the depths of the plateau. They were off limits to nearly everyone, except for Marvin himself and some of his most trusted crewmen...
"Not bad!" Jeff yelled over the comms. A large hulking man leaped over the short brick wall and down an embankment and landed face-first into the mud, which was entangled in short-lasting poision razor wire. Marvin really didnt play around, Jeff thought. Drill Seargent Peters was a ex-soldier who'd gone AWOL from the Liberty Armed Forces. The pay was low, and officers were angry pit bulls in the L.A.F. Thing's out here were much more better. More money, less laws. That's exactly the way Jeff liked it.
There was little time and so much to do. Heartless, Camp Zero's management-AI was about to wake the soldiers. She was originally assigned to accompany Marvin and the other smart-AI, Wilson, aboard the Pendulum. But no. She had been stuck down here in this dust hole. Everything was running smoothly. The old reactors, the janitor... She was actually bored. A smart-ai such as Heartless was accustomed to multi-task much more. Her internal Gran-Canaria-Attuned clock winked 6:30 A.M...
Drill Seargent Peters awoke, startled. He'd fell asleep in his quarters. The holo pad glowed and showed the form of Heartless, a greek godess she chose as her avatar. Her voice was not quite there... yet.
"Its time to wake the... 'soldiers'" she said sarcastically doubting them as much as the Seargent himself.
"Ah, good. We've got a special guest for them to meet, also..." Heartless chimed in her usual voice. Her hapiness never lasts, however, and this was something Peter's did not know.
The wood paneled office lit up in a quick glow. It was actually the "Base Commander" Quarters, but Peters was the officer in charge. His dormitories back home were no where near as good as this.
He remembered the "No Expenses Spared" doosey from Marvin. Naturally, for Marvin, This meant there was a whole damn box of home-grown Pendulanian Marijuana...
Peter's got up and strode down the brightly lit hallway, it was not far to the dormitories, as Marvin had spent more on the course than even the drugs...
Jeff screamed: "SIX FOURTY FIVE, MAGGOTS!" he sounded the bullhorn. The Guard's ran in as if they were doing a raid, rousing the sleepy recruits from their quarters. It had been a rough night.
The recruits lined up in front of the Seargent.
"You've got a special treat today, men!" Peter's yelled. "You'll be trainin' with Marvin himself!"
A few recruits coughed and more went a bit wide-eyed. "He ain't no sissy like y'all! A rough rider if ah do say so myself!"
After their usual morning routine-- Namely, Pushups, pullups, and a trot around the field, they headed to the Mess hall to get their lunch.
Later, The Drill Seargent called them back to the line. "Welp! Our guest has arrived!"
Just as Peters' spat out the words, a sonic boom was heard as the shuttle Stranger In A Strange Land ripped though the upper atmosphere. An outline of the Pendulum could be seen in the high horizon.
The soldiers eyes lit up. The shuttle twisted and turned through the cloud decks of Gran Canaria to the raggedy landing pad...
Marvin J. Orpehlia coughed and readied himself for the men that'd be guarding his ship for quite a while.
He'd told the recruiting officer to get whoever was loyal and had a lot of time on their hands.
"Ah, It'll be good to aqquaint to Heartless again" Wilson's cheery voice chimed in as his avatar, a roman god, appeared on the console of the Stranger.
"Yes, well. It'll be good to get an ol' trainin' session again. I've gotten a bit lazy in that soft captain's chair..." Marvin added.
"Hah!" Wilson chuckled, The kind of emotionless, courtesy laugh.
The shuttle hit the ground with a loud, CLANK. Wilson was more used to controlling the largest of ships, not a tiny ten man shuttle. The APC-like door opened downward as Marvin stepped out, as if he was about to give a diplomatic speech.
Marvin strode across the yard to the waiting recruits, who were already perplexed by his stature.
"Good Afternoon, SOLDIERS!" Marvin yelled, rejuvinated by his visit already.
GOOD AFTERNOON SIR! They returned, drownding out the chirpers nearby.
"Any of you believe you can knock me down?" Marvin said, his usual arrogant self.
"I think I can SIR!" A burly, large bouncerish man said sternly.
He stepped up near Marvin, nearly 1 1/2 "head's" shorter. He started with a left hook as Marvin ducked. The right hook ended worse, however, as Marvin cought the mans' fist as his mucles chlenched and shown. With a sickening crack-snap the man's arm crunched into two peices. He screamed in pain.
"MEDIC!" Marvin yelled. "Lets get this show on the road then, ladies!" He screamed enthusaistically.
They began the fast jog, moving up in speed as time went on. Some kept up with Marvin, yet some trudged behind.
An hour later, They came to a stop on the top of a rather large, steep hill with a twisting, dusty road heading to what appeared to be an obstacle course of some kind.
"This is one of my personal favorites" Marvin said. He typed in a code on the holo-pad on the side of the rusty garage. The doors clanked open, revealing five, smaller jeep-type vehicles, and a larger, apparently custom one.
"These, ladies, are HJ-55's. The toughest, meanest millitary technology out today. Just don't ask me how I got it" He added then laughed. He leaped into the seat of the larger HJ.
"Who's got the guts to ride with me?" He asked, sarcastically but challengingly.
Oddly enough, a woman, very possibly the only one in the entire group, leaped into the Gunner position and a larger man moved to the passenger seat.
"Well then, saddle up men!" He yelled. The HJ's quickly filled to capacity, lining up on the road as if to race.
Marvin screamed over the roar of the engines "3... 2... 1... GO!"
The vehicles launched off of the top of the hill, hitting the dust at 50mph. They quickly accelerated as they skidded around the treatcherous corners of the run. The ramp ahead triggered dummy targets.
"Ready up, MAGGOTS!" Peter's yelled over the vehicular communication systems".
Marvin's HJ launched over the hill and triggered the first and second lines of dummies. The woman in the gunnery position with the customized Laser penetrator weapon nailed the bullseye on each of the targets, before the HJ hit the dirt and Marvin struggled for control.
"Damn, Girl!" The man in the passenger seat yelled.
They completed the track, Team A had a cumulative score of 95%, while B had 83.2%.
"First one to complete the final trek in this course, Gets to sleep in for tomorrows run!" Marvin said, challengingly.
"And, This." Marvin said, showing a Squad Leader pin.
Imedeiately, Both teams trudged through the mud to the apparent forest of wooden posts, varying in hight. Many simply tried to climb the smooth wood, Julia Vasquez, The woman who rode with Marvin in the HJ, however, thought differently. She and another recruit used the two man lift to ring the bell at the very top post, while the others struggled far behind.
The recruits trudged off to get a good nights rest, The Pendulum was a tough place, afterall...
Marvin walked down the hallway swifty to the balcony overlooking the largest biodome on The Pendulum. The live-fire exersize was going well. The bullets in the soldier's weapons are mere plastic, with an EMP tip. Each soldier wears special armor. When the bullet hits a certain part of the armor, it makes the subject paralyzed in that particular area. These are top notch equipments...
Marvin was pleased with the new recruits. They were almost equal to House's Warship garissons. He continued to the window on the wall of the balcony. There shown an Aqulion. It was the A Psalm Every Day. Nearing construction, it would be one of the newest ships in Marvin's fleet. It would act as a new training ground for the recruits, with special dormitoies built in. Unlike the Pendulum, It would be a defense ship with very little, if any civillians aboard. One of the two battalions from the Pendulum would be moved to it. Particularly, those who are proficient in snubcraft flight. They would be put up for Advanced Training to act as both the A Psalm Every Day's defense in space and on the deck.
Livadia Shipyard had very little business lately. They were somewhat reluctant to follow Marvin's orders. They were convinced by an exceedingly large paycheck and a VIP suite on The Pendulum.
The build had nearly all of Livadia's crew working on it. Marvin wanted it "sped up"
"Ahem." Marvin said over the PA in the biodome. "The simulation is over. Battaltion 2, Please meet me on the deck." Marvin said.
"Ive got a bit of a surprise for ya..." He laughed.
Drill Seargent Jeffery Peters was not comfortable with space travel. He always wanted to be in control. As the recruits marched to attention in front of him, in a line. He double taked as Marvin amost magically appeared next to him.
"At ease, Soldiers" Marvin said.
"I've got a treat for you. You're going to be transferred. To my new ship." Marvin said with a happy flair.
"You'll be trained in flight of snubcraft." Marvin said.
Some of the soldiers were wide-eyed. Some were looking as if they were rethinking being employed by Marvin...
Marvin sighed as he looked around the bridge of the Pendulum.
It was a modest bridge for such a large ship. The builders of the ship had put all cheap fixtures on the inside. Hard, uncomfortable bridge chairs. They seemed to pay attention more to the clubs downstairs... For all their loud thumping music, it did indeed bring a moderate income. Thats one thing they did right Marvin thought. The Nav and Ops stations were hardly ever used, The ship board AI, Wilson, did most of the work in those departments. Marvin eyed over to his weapons officer, Andrew Markov. He was a short man of Russian or possibly Slavic descent. He was a tough one. He helped numerous battles with the Nomads near Freeport 11. Everything that was thrown at the Pendulum he'd spared off with and ultimately destroyed. Marvin held a great amount of respect for this man. Over in Engineering was Juliana Barrow, a Liberty Navy defector once looking for work. She was quite easy on the eyes, not to mention doing her job well. Communications was manned by Alicia Simons, a hardy woman of which origins Marvin is not sure. She helped formulate Marvin's oh-so immaculate speeches. Marvin sat at the head of all this, in his uncomfortable captains chair. It was fitted for Marvin's 7ft highth but was not the most comfortable peice of furniture ever... The shipbuilders put very little into crew comforts. A single console was near the commander's chair in which Marvin rested, this is where Wilsons avatar appeared now and again to update on the given situation. It was silent, so much so that one could hear the faint dragging of Alicia on her cigarette. They deserve more than this he thought as he relaxed in his chair.
Charles Finn, one of Marvin's "Indentured Servants" as he affectionately called them rushed up to the bridge.
Fifteen of the loyal Malteese servants had been picked up by one of Marvin's many unnamed associates. He merely said they "were the best they had" and quickly took his payment of two million credits. They were quite loyal and fulfilled his every whim. At least, for now, untill the self-riteious ZAS caught up to him. Marvin chuckled at the thought.
"Sah, Miss Joy Pearson is here" Charles announced.
"Ah, good." Marvin replied. "Bring her in."
"Yes sah" Charles said, and walked out of the bridge. Marvin heard a wish of a door and a small, thin attractive woman appeared.
"We had an appointment?" She asked.
"Yes, yes of course" Marvin replied. She looked him over, not extremely surprised. The pair moved to a large holo-table, one that would ussualy project battle plans, trajectories and other navagational data. The woman seemed to coalease a small datachip out of thin air and attached it to the small outlet in the table. The semi-translucent surface shimmered and a model of the proposed redesigned bridge appeared.
"We fully mulled over your budget and took your proposal to the letter. This is our redesigned model. What do you think?" Miss Pearson said.
"Its quite magnificent" Marvin oggled the transparent model. It had nearly all he asked for. The command center of the ship was two stories. The main bridge including the ship captain's chair and all the stations were situated on a deck that overlooked the huge bow of the ship, the window that the captain viewed contained all the holo-screens, describing the status of nearly all the ships processes that werent defined to each of the individual stations. The window was directly in line with the massive support spine that ran down the bulbous bow and split into individual tributary-like sections. The captain's chair itself was made out of marble, padded with lush fabric from Rhienland's high-class sweatshops. The station's chairs were similar but less showy. The AI's pedestal was made out of solid granite, quite luxurious but yet still functional which Marvin quite liked.
"I'll TAKE IT!" Marvin almost-screamed. Pearson nearly jumped. Marvin just as quickly retreived a credit chip from his vest pocket and handed it to the slightly jumpy woman. She glady accepted, retracted the data chip from the large table and quietly exitied the bridge. The ship was to be renamed something in order to usher in the new beginning. Something more fitting of my personallity. Marvin thought...
Marvin James Orphelia relaxed as he put his feet up on the replica ancient oaken desk. It's been quiet all week at the Camp. The recruits, now full-blown soldiers, needed a bit of touching up. Ill let peters reel them in... he thought as He opened a few drawers in the desk and soon found what he was looking for. A box with Maltese markings engraved on it. He clicked it open, and picked up a full syringe of Grade A Maltese Liquid Cardimine. He flicked the needle approvingly and it responded with a satisfying clink. Marvin lifted his sleeve and looked at the forearm already scared from previous injections. He smiled and uttered "Oh yeah......." as he emptied the entire needle into the vein.
Just then, Drill Seargent Jeffery Peters burst in.
"Hello, sir!"
He said, almost sounding cheerful. Unheard of in Camp Zero...
Peters looked disapprovingly at the slightly bleeding tiny circle of a wound and the emptied syringe.
"What do you want!?"
Marvin said, almost as if Peters was interupting a diplomatic meeting. The ones that usually go so well...
"Well..." Peters said, "The reports from the ... -recruits- are in. They're quite impressive, actually."
he said as he dropped a large stack of papers on the desk, nearly missing the syringe, and landing with a resounding thump.
Marvin looked eagerly at the stack of papers and started quickly skimming them as Peter's continued.
"They're performance in the field actually exceeds our records of stolen LAF trainee markings."
Peters continued.
"They're stronger, faster and better than they were a year ago." Peters finished.
"You should be proud of yourself" Marvin said, beginning to feel the intense euphoric sense of the Cardimine.
"After all," He said to Peters. "You are their CO..."
"Thank you sir, It's what you payed me for..." Peters said, almost ironically.
"I'd better reward them, hah!" Marvin said oblivious to his Seargents stares.
Marvin got up so fast that Peters could hardly move out of the lumbering giant's way in time. He slammed the door behind him.
"Line UP!" Peters screamed as he and Marvin stood arms-to-their-sides in front of the drill line. Almost instantly fifty or so soldiers streamed from the barracks and stood at attention in front of them, some noticing Marvin's wound, a quizzical look on their face.
"Well, I've got a SURPRISE for you today!" Marvin said hapilly, not his usual reserved self...
"Come, come!" He yelled and nearly tripped over his own boot as he headed for the Restricted Section 44 of Camp Zero. Off limits to even Peters.
Marvin tapped in various passwords and bypassed numerous numeric-key locks and algorithms. Peters noticed one of them was in the shape of a Pentagram.
The huge thick steel doors whined and revealed a descending tunnel, dark as the black night.
Marvin tapped a switch and the lights clunged into life, one after the other descending down the long hall. The mass of soldiers followed close behind.
At the bottom of the huge concrete tunnel, another steel door stood. They soon parted and revealed a massive, underground warehouse filled to the celings with steel shelves and boxes and boxes of items.
The group thudded through the brightly lit storeroom and soon entered a smaller door, man-sized. Marvin grabbed the necklace from around his neck and an odd shaped key-device at the end. It slid into the slot with a statisflying click.
The door swished open and revealed a room filled with odd artifacts. Gray consoles, old pictures, giant boxes floor-to-celing high labled 'DO NOT JOSTLE' and '80 MEGATONS'. Peters felt a lump grow into his throat. This is enough nuclear weapons to destroy half a damn planet. What is Marvin up to?
Marvin finally stopped at a U shaped shelf filled with different colored boxes.
"This is my personal collection." Marvin said.
"Do, Help yourself." The professional soldiers looked quizzically at Marvin then opened the boxes. Tons and Tons of various drugs. There was trauma-center level painkillers, OxyGrotin, Cardimine, and Synthetic Marijuana grown on the Marvin's old battlestar, The Dawn Under Heaven.
Holy hell Peters thought. His manic abuse isnt nearly as bad as I thought!
The soldiers happily trudged out of the storeroom and back out to the surface, as they came with armloads and clusters of Marvin's drugs. Marvin looked at the empty shelves... The effect of the Liquid Cardimine, worn off. He dropped to his knees and began to sob...
Drill Seargent Jeffery Peters could leave... but he was now stuck in Marvin's exoribant payroll. He watched as the whole Camp Zero Plateau collapsed in on itself... as Marvin's shuttle, The Stranger In A Strange Land headed toward the distant Infinite Rage Peters wondered what those nukes were actually for... Not destroying the base in a drug-related rage. The name of the ship really did fit his personallity... Peters sighed as the cramped crew transport landed on the deck of the Infinite Rage. It was a beautiful ship on the inside and the outside. He'd landed in one of the VIP Flight decks. Marble columns rose to the ceiling far overhead. Grand gold-tinged steps ran up from the shuttle bay, encrusted with sparkling crystals. They were circular, with two of the massive columns on either side, leading to a foyer-type area just outside the bay. The Soldier's boats also landed in the bay, and they wandered around looking at the looming grandure of the place. They'd never seen a ship like this. Let alone a Luxury liner...
The soldiers were lead to their dorms to the left near the back of the ship, close to the non-luxurious crew quarters. A sign read "Bridge" to the right perpendicular to the stairs. The luxurious interior continued, down the hall. Granite floors complimented stone-paneled walls, down the hall he could see a security booth. Peters approached the T junction and the guards saw his uniform insignia and pointed him to the "Bridge" hall. The offshooting hallways were "Research", and "Suites". Those guards were quite heavily armed, Peters noted. Where the hell could Marvin get Daunman 5 Autoblasters? he thought. He continued down the hall, Marble floors shined. A few of Marvin's "Indentured Servants" as he oh-so-affectionately called them were seen scrubbing them. Finally, the Bridge. The man-sized door swished open and there were more guards. They parted as Peters walked between them. The Bridge was as luxurious as the finest Manhattan loft. On a Granite-and-polished-stone table, sat an upgraded TACMAP, with a holographic model of Omega-49 floating not far above. Crewmen stood near it observing planet stats. Consoles that lined the walls were filled with pictures of the stars, planets and nebulae of Omega-49. Gauges, graphs, and charts. The Commander's station was quite a sight. It was a raised platform with a rather narrow walkway jutting out over the rest of the 2-story bridge, with a bulbous top wherein the chair stood. Crystal glass railing lined the edges, tinged a light blue. Gem encrusted steps led up to it. Drill Seargent Peter's shoes clacked on the steps.
Marvin's bald head was slightly visible above the chair top. Peters stood to the side of Marvin in his throne-like chair. Marvin was slouched down, his eyes low. That cardimine junkie! Peters thought. Boxes and boxes of Synthetic Marijuana stood stacked near the Commander's chair, Empty needles lay on the large armrests.
"Ahem" Peters cleared his throat, Marvin payed no attention.
"Marvin?" Peters said, now louder.
Marvin slowly turned his head, and looked at him. "Im sorreh!", "What did... you want?"
That euphoria seems quite powerful. Peters thought. I'd got to try me some...
"Its been a month," Peters said. "My payment... is due."
"Ahhhhh, Right, right, right." Marvin said, and reached a pulsing vien-stricken hand into his pocket, and retrieved a credit chip, and handed it to Peters.
Peters relaxed in his bunk. It was larger than the soldiers, but still terribly cramed. He flipped the credit chip in his hands for a while, then fell asleep.
Peters sat inside a landing shuttle. Gran Canaria Central Spaceport was a busy place. Commodity traders barking orders to the crew, hungry Corsairs looking at the boxes and boxes of exported Food Rations. Peters walked through a mass crowd and inserted the chip into an ATM. Peters jaw dropped when he read the text...
CURRENT BALANCE
$1,080,000,000
This must be a mistake! Peters thought, having trouble holding back the growing giddyness.
He'd then withdrew his payment... and then thought about all Marvin put him through. Dragging his ass to a dusty plateau to train a bunch of gung-ho Mercenaries for a possibly phsycotic sociopathic arrogant Cyborg with a lust for luxury and drugs. It all seemed to much. He also withdrew 10,000,000 credits for his troubles. Peter's then retired to the Infinite Rage, looking for Marvin to return the chip.
This time, however, the chair was empty. Marvin's drug paraphanalia lay still on the armrests. A holographic pedestal at one of the ends of the armrests glowed with a greek-god looking character on it.
An AI? Peters thought. So Marvin does have a lover after all! he thought smugly to himself.
"Do you know where Captain Marvin is?" he asked at the AI's back as it quickly turned around.
Heartless simply pointed and said "In his office".
Peters followed her finger to another Marbled corridor, with various doors labled "First Lieutenant" and such.
Finally, a door at the end of the hall labled "Captain". He opened it and revealed a rather small Mahoghany paneled office, similarly decorated to the Camp Commandants office at Camp Zero, but more ... Extravagant. Marvin sat at the same desk he did in Camp Zero, this time filled with various boxes, datapads and half-empty plastic cups. One wall was lined with bookshelves, Peters spotted everything from Mien Kampf to the Bible to historical works and biographies. Without looking up, Marvin said "Yes?"
"Your credit chip, sir." Peters sat it on the desk.
"Ah, yes" Marvin said, and pocketed the chip. Peters walked out of the office, a sense of satisfaction on his face. The papers on Marvin's desk also seemed to be... Invasion plans.
It's been a long day. He had nearly single handedly brought the Bounty Hunters Guild Core to peace with the Zoners of Freeport 11, not to mention seamlessly 'seized control' (for lack of a better phrase) of Freeport 11, similar to how many other leaders of various Freeports around Sirius sector have stood up for what they believe in, took control of diplomacy away from the unified vision of the now defunct ZA. Although 'peace' in Omicron Delta hardly lasts for long, at least it will be for now...
He looked at the mess of papers lying sprawled across the desktop. He shuffled them all into a stack and set them aside. The pedestal toward the front of the desk glowed a cool blue and Heartless appeared in her usual Grecian garb.
'Thinking of something? Or just the usual nothing?' She said sarcastically.
'Well if you must know, I'm thinking of how to celebrate my'¦ 'self-promotion'' Marvin fired back.
'Oh, that! It was inevitable, you know it, I know it. Nobody is crazy enough to defend something that so many people want'¦ dead' She continued. 'So, Why not hold another one of your'¦ oh so riveting masquerades?' Heartless said
'We could hold it in the Palace Club'¦ I'm sure you remember it.' Marvin said.
'Ah, yes.' She remembered. 'I do not think I've ever had so many lines of the 'laugh' protocol repeated into my processing unit'.
Marvin's shoes clacked on the marble floor as he walked down the hall from the bridge to the Entertainment Level IV. He could hear the beats already, reverberating through the ship's hull almost like a gauss cannon had impacted it. Parties started without me! He thought. Marvin headed up the stairs to the VIP deck of the 3 floor club. The walls were covered in pearlescent purple material and the strobe lights created quite the effect along with the thumping music. The tables up on the VIP floor were filled with various lieutenants, happily drinking their booze to bridge commanders filling the air with the smell of synthetic marijuana. Paradise. Marvin thought. He sat at the empty seat at the 'head' of the table with his closest circle, consisting of: Drill Sargent Jeffery Peters, Weapons Officer Andrew Markov, Juliana Barrow, Alicia Simmons, and Senior Lieutenant Ty Locklear. Lieutenant Locklear was one of the men from the project that 'created' Marvin, (although that's hardly the correct word.) He was but a mere guard from Marvin's training sessions. The scientists didn't know what the effects of the experimentation would do to Marvin's sanity. They had protection at all times. Most of the guards only looked at him with disgust but Locklear was different. He befriended Marvin from the beginning. Eventually when Marvin passed Training and gained his own ship and 'freedom', he offered him a job aboard his then-newly commissioned Battlestar the Dawn Under Heaven, not to mention a considerable pay raise.
The VIP tables slowly emptied as they went to dance. Marvin eventually was left with just Locklear. They both stared out over the railing at the moving floor of people, saying nothing, until Marvin eventually broke the silence.
'A shame I can't dance.' He said.
Locklear just laughed.
They continued to drink and watch the dancing. They never slowed down. In fact, they appeared to speed up. The hair on the back of Marvin's neck stood up. The dancing crowd slowed. Almost into a blur. He grabbed onto the railing. He felt the hull shudder. Microseconds later - Boom. The club was thrown into chaos. A massive fireball welled up from the center of the club. Marvin felt the heat on his face. He heard the screams in his mind, A hundred people at once. He stood up as the chair flew back and tipped over behind him. Locklear was already up pulling the emergency switch. Sprinklers from the ceiling let loose a flow of water. The fireball quickly died as Marvin leaped over the railing landing on the 2nd tier catwalk, absorbing the impact with his cybernetically enhanced knees. People with scorched faces lie everywhere. Marvin looked at the ground tier ' Nearly completely blackened. A ring of people lie around the epicenter of the fireball's blast. The people inside the area-of-effect were nearly completely charred into nothing. Marvin heard moaning ' he turned to see Alicia Simmons, his diplomatic assistant, badly burned. She was responsive but weak. Suddenly, he felt a cool presence enter his mind.
Heartless chimed almost in his mind and in his ears at the same time.
'There was an attack!' She raised her voice exponentially, 'Terroristic'¦' she said.
'No kidding'¦' Marvin said as he carefully set Alicia down near a group of survivors.
'We have to find out wh''She was cut off.
Marvin saw a dark silhouette out of the corner of his eye, edging toward a back exit. He ran as fast as his legs would take him, bounding over curled up bodies, residual fires and rocketing through the door as the man ran through the back hallways that supplied the guests with all things food, drink and drug. Various cables run along the wall, leaking pipes with such a low height Marvin nearly lost his head. The man sped up considerably, turning through the maze of hallways like a snake. Cooks barely got out of the way of Marvin as he sprinted down the hallway, nearly losing it as he skid on the slippery water drenched floors.
The man eventually came to a dead-end and Marvin cornered him.
'Why! Why are you doing this?' Marvin said angrily.
'Spreading Anarchy!' The man laughed arrogantly.
Marvin lost it. He ran and left hooked the man so hard in the face he could hear the bones crushing; his head twisted so far his neck snapped. Blood splattered against the wall. Marvin stood firm, breathing heavily, the adrenaline slowly leaving his body.
'Jesus!' Heartless said.
'There went our witness' she said.
'Hush!' Marvin screamed. 'He can't hurt anyone'¦ anymore.'
Marvin stood looking up at the club's scorched ceiling and sighed, as various medical personnel lifted the bodies of both dead and alive onto stretchers and rushed them off to the Medical deck. Marvin headed over to the Security Central, the hub of all the security aboard the Glorious Advance. Various Guards and assistants walked quickly across his path with papers, coffee and the occasional sunbuck's doughnut. He found Chief of Security Marcus Ambrose in his office.
'I suppose you're here to see the tapes, Captain?' he said as Marvin ducked slightly to avoid slamming his head into the door jam.
'Indeed I am. I want to know if the right person was'¦ 'apprehended'' Marvin said.
Marcus leaned over his metallic desk and tapped a few commands on the holo-panel. A hologram recording materialized in front of them.
'This is the club before the attack, only slightly, mind you.' The Chief said.
The recording showed the moving dance floor of people, and towards the bar in the back, was the man Marvin had killed. He was dressed normally like the other patrons, but he had very dark sunglasses on hiding his eyes. He was holding a briefcase. As Marcus fast-forwarded the recording, the suspect moved toward the center column on the 1st tier supporting the catwalk on the 2nd tier. He sat the briefcase down then moved out of range of the security cameras.
'That's our guy alright.' Ambrose said.
'Quite right.' Marvin said as the recording clicked off. 'Thank you very much Chief Ambrose.' Marvin said as he walked out of the office and toward the medical section where the body of the perpetrator was being held.
Both doctors and investigators were sweeping the body for any shred of evidence they could find'¦ However they could not find anything except for a hunch the attack was from a notorious terrorist group that recently cropped up in the Omicrons...
Marvin sat in his chair on the bridge of the Glorious Advance. He stared out of the forward primary windows at the planetoid known as Epsilon III. Barren landscape, a bit of movie sets left over from some loopy Outcast Don operation. No life, not a soul.
Detecting a slight wobble in the planetoid's orbit, Heartless chimed in and broke the silence.
It must be the MNS-Fortune.of.the.Night. Right on schedule'¦ Marvin commented.
Ready, Heartless? Marvin said
Aren't AI prohibited on these slaver ships? She said.
Technically yes, however they're technology is very aged. As aged as their ship. He laughs and continues.
This particular slaver owes me on a bad slave, you know. The one that tried to overload the reactor? Marvin said, thinking back on it.
Ah yes. Heartless continued, The one who's brain you splattered all over the reactor shielding. She said, almost matter-of-factly.
Well we're going to pay him a visit he will never forget. Marvin said with a chuckle.
Marvin felt that old, familiar feeling of cold as Heartless entered the fabric of his mind. She wasn't actually going into his mind, just in the layer of sponge-like data foam between the skull and his brain. Comfy. She said as she settled and the cool presence in Marvin's mind dulled.
The Shuttle Stranger In a Strange Land rocketed through space and sling-shot just above the planetoids atmosphere.
The Fortune of the Night is coming into view. Heartless said as the large, aged 'Slave Liner' came into the line of sight of the shuttles ~200 degree window view. Its turrets lie stationary. Numerous other shuttles, freighters, fighters and even a Conference-Class Gunboat. Marvin queried the ships identification via the neuro-net. It came up as the ZGB-Clemency.
Marvin had V.I.P. access to the ship's bay, a special perk of being such a loyal customer. The old doors opened, silenced by the dead of space. The shuttle barely fit in the clearance zone, but it sat down comfortably near stacks of boxes, various cages, all with markings of various destinations and origins. It was quiet and empty. He took an elevator up to the V.I.P. booths. There was a small security checkpoint. Here goes'¦ Marvin thought, surprised to actually be nervous. The guard at the booth chomped on a doughnut, Sunbucks bag lay nearby. Marvin was patted down, x-rayed and questioned yet again about the titanium-palladium reinforcing surrounding his bones. Marvin repeated the same explanation he's always given, every single time he's came on the ship. The service sure hasn't gotten any better. He thought smugly. It was a brightly lit hallway, paintings dot the walls sparingly. He took a left into his empty, spacious V.I.P. booth with a panoramic view of the show floor. He could see the vague outlines of the other booths surrounding the rim of the wall near the ceilings, but all of the windows were tinted on all of the booths to promote privacy. No doubt he's had more than his fair share of Government and top military brass.
'Our first item', the announcer started'¦
'A shy, underworked female who used to serve on one of the Bretonian Royal Liners. She knows her way around people's pocketbooks.' '¦ '¦
The show ended with the 20th 'item' and Marvin ended up buying 10 of them, 3 males and 7 females.
'Well that was an awful selection' Marvin commented as he exited the V.I.P. booth.
'Is it time?' Heartless almost whispered into both Marvin's ears and his mind.
Marvin was the first to leave, it was a security and anonymity effort on the slaver's part so that no patron'¦ 'customer' could see each other, perhaps identifying them. As soon as he exited the hallway, another booth's door slid open.
'It is the time' Marvin said
Heartless retrieved the overload codes acquired from the black market for the Slave Liner's engine type ' it was a tough bet. These ships are so old they could have had their engines replaced long ago.
Marvin reached the shuttle bay, quiet as when he came in. The shuttle was waiting there. He sat in the pilot's cockpit and connected with the ship, wirelessly. He felt Heartless leave him and intrude into the Slaver's ship, flowing through the connection lines between the Shuttle and the dock. She input the codes into the engines computer mainframe. After a few seconds the complex algorithms responded. Armed. She returned to the shuttle, and to Marvin and whispered
'Done'.
Marvin released the shuttle from the dock and increased power to the engines. Heartless sensed what he was about to ask. She 'detonated' the virus. Space around the Liner's engines appeared to tear. A massive shockwave radiated outward. Fires spurted up on them, spreading more toward the bridge area. The ship's hull cracked and bowed, explosions appearing laterally, most berthed ships being caught in the fire, associating explosions followed. The Conference was luckier, however and broke free from the berth'¦ Racing toward Marvin's shuttle. They were nearly crossing the horizon of the planetoid, to the point they couldn't see the liner any more. A final explosion reverberated through space, and a smaller, more subtle one following.
Marvin smiled as space quieted down. 'I hope that'll teach that scumbag while he's burning in hell'¦'
He returned to the bridge of his Juggernaut, as they scanned for escape pods'¦ survivors. Witnesses. He was confident they were all dead, as he set course for the Theta Jumphole.
The fabric of space seemed to shake and twist as the Kingdom class-Juggernaut Glorious Advance rocketed by.
Freeport 11 was in near view as Marvin James Orphelia sat in his grand command bridge.
Heartless, prepare my shuttle. Marvin said as the AI in her Greek godess outfit bliped in and out to hear his order.
The flight deck was cluttered with boxes, secretaries and movers running around with boxes and boxes of the previous administrations' files and documents, not to mention an occasional chair and desk.
Marvin stepped off the shuttle Stranger In A Strange Land and looked around with smugness.
All of this is now mine... He thought arrogantly.
It was sad to see Elizabeth Tate leave, she was one of the best--- One of the only bosses Marvin ever had. She'd been at the Freeport for longer than Marvin had... but the war with the BHG became too much and...
The Administrators office was rather unfitted to Marvin in more ways than one.
He nearly lost his head coming through the door jam.
That'll need fixing He said to himself.
The walls were metallic paneling, cold, dark. The desk was modest, with an unpadded chair waiting in front of it.
Marvin sat down, uncomfortably.
I could get used to this! He thought to himself.
He rubbed the desk affectionately. The current label said Elizabeth Tate... but that would soon change. Marvin sat smilling, looking out of the window at his Juggernaut floating serenely in the foreground.
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