Rebirth of the Hunter

[Seth Karlo]

//Quick edit: As I posted this here, it means people are welcome to respond. Thanks!

They thought that the destruction of his ship would stop him.

They thought that the sting of defeat would make his concentration falter.

They thought he would not return.

They were wrong.

Salazar sat carefully into the chair of the Immortal Hunter MK2. Serena sat in a chair on his left, and the chair to his right was empty. Teya sat in the ensigns chair in front and slightly below him, and the rest of the bridge crew stood or sat at their various stations.

The Immortal Hunter was a good ship. She had destroyed many, she had kept them safe through good and bad, protected them from space, protected them from enemy fire, protected them through it all. But she was so weak.

She had been old. She had been ill-equipped. She had been badly armored.

The Immortal Hunter MK2 was none of them. The power that throbbed through her veins vibrated through every person on board. The large Razor on the front of the hull was charged. The flak cannons attached to the top of the ship were loaded. The engines were outfitted with an incredible technology which allowed them to jump out of the system and eject cargo behind them, allowing them to appear to explode while they got away safely.

That should make the Bretonians confused.

Salazar laughed quietly. He would now target not only the Armed Forces, not only the Police, but the civilians. Bowex. Gateway. Cryer. They would all regret naming themselves Bretonian. The Kusarians had refused to work with him, so they would die aswell. The Molly's were becoming too arrogant, they needed to die. The Libertonians were annoying him, but for now they could be destroyed by the Rheinlanders for now, he had no desire to fly to Liberty. Perhaps after he crushed the Bretonians.

He also remembered the Vengeance. Soon... soon she would appear. And when she did, she would be the guardian of the Phoenix shipyards. Protecting them from any fools who discovered them.

Perhaps one day he would bring the Vengeance and the Immortal Hunter together to Bretonia... reap havoc on any fools in his way... destruction left and right, death all over.

Salazar smiled again.

The Immortal Hunter entered leeds quietly, and Salazar opened the comms.

"Hear me Bretonians. Laugh no more. Celebrate no more. I have returned, and the Immortal Hunter is once again here to haunt your dreams. Talk to me not of your boredom of my words, for I am not interested. You have heard me now, you have been warned. You cannot do anything to stop this from occuring, so why am I telling you? I am telling you so you can run. You can leave Bretonia now, and I may be merciful, I may not kill you."

Salazar cut the comms, and smiled as a Bretonian battleship appeared on scanners. Named the HMS Stonehenge it seemed.

"Hello Stonehenge..." Salazar muttered, and Serena next to him stood, grinning as she did so.

"This is the HMS Stonehenge, you will stand down immediatly and prepare to be boarded."

Salazar laughed, pure and loud, and anyone listening to the comms shuddered at the sound. He stood, pointing at the screen and shrieked.

"FIRE!"

The Immortal Hunter's cannons powered up, firing at the same time as the Stonehenge. The ensign of the Bretonian ship was good, using the smaller mass to strafe from side to side, didging a good deal of fire. Salazar laughed again and bellowed at Teya.

"Move us in close!"

Teya did as she was told, moving the Immortal Hunter closer. At this range, the Stonehenge started to falter. Her shields failed as the 'Hunter's pulse cannons struck them, and Salazar cackled as his Heavy Mortar gunner scored a direct hit on the enemy vessel.

The Stonehenge started to power her engines to get away, and the standard surrender transmission started playing.

"This is Captain Terry Hansen of the HMS Stonehenge, we hereby surrender, please cease fire and allow us to leave. I repeat, we surrender."

Salazar laughed again and raised his hand, stopping the fire from his ship. He opened the comms and leant close to them.

A gateway shuttle in orbit of Leeds was listening. A gateway employee sat at the helm, listening through the comms to this battle going on, and then his blood ran cold as he heard a low voice whispering.

"There is no escape... there is no surrender... there is no mercy."

The Immortal Hunter fired one shot. Just one. The Heavy Mortar blast shot across space quickly, and impacted with the Stonehenge in a bright explosion. The ship snapped in two, secondary explosions breaking the ship into even more pieces.

At the BAF headquarters, officers ran around frantically. Salazar was back, Salazar was fighting the Stonehenge, Salazar had destroyed the Stonehenge. News came flitting through in bits and pieces, and then everyone froze as a command came over the speakers. It was 4 words, just 4, but those 4 words made people scream in anger, made people cry in sorrow, made people yell in pure frustration.

"Target the escape pods" came Salazars voice. And in space, the cannons of the Immortal Hunter powered up, and one by one started firing at the small pods.

Captain Terry Hansen stood on the deck of his ship, and with his last energy, set the self destruct sequence. A large chunk of metal stuck out of his side, and his vision was blurry.

He powered up the thrusters, and powered half of his once incredible ship between the Immortal Hunter and his men trying to escape.

"DIE YOU SON OF A BITCH!" He screamed as the HMS Stonehenge exploded in a huge flame. On the deck of the Immortal Hunter, Salazar covered his eyes at the sight, and when his vision cleared, his shields had failed, the Immortal Hunter had some scratches, but other than that was fine.

And on Planet Leeds, in the BAF headquarters, the Admirals waited with baited breath, knowing that an explosion of that size would wipe out an Outcast Dreadnought, without fail.

And then they heard his laugh.

"This is not the Immortal Hunter fools! This is the Immortal Hunter Mark 2! Kill all survivors...except one pod. Let a small amount of people live... they can tell the tales."

His laughter was the last thing many people heard before their escape pods exploded around them.

It was a day of tears, and sorrow, and anger for the Bretonians. It was a day of laughter for Salazar.

And then the taunt came over the comms system:

"Come on then Bretonians... let's see how you answer..."

---

Signature by Sleipnir.

[pbrione]

Admiral Nelson stood on the Flag Officer's bridge of the mobile Admiralty Command Ship, the HMS-Pendragon, in low Leeds atmospheric orbit. As Staff Admiral on duty, he had been called to command the forces arrayed in the Leeds system when the call had been put out that Salazar had been sighted in the system once again. He had rushed to the bridge to have the reports confirmed to him.

"Salazar again. He's back..." murmured Nelson to himself as he viewed the scans from the York patrol wings.

"Looks like the Dreadnought, Immortal Hunter sir!" shouted the young and excitable Commander who had delivered the reports.

"Impossible," replied Nelson sharply, "The Hunter was destroyed. I commanded the attack squadron personally. I remember the explosion, there was nothing left but a shattered hulk."

"Scans report a Dreadnought-class vessel nonetheless sir!" shouted the Commander. "Perhaps you overestimated the dama-"

"I was not mistaken, Commander! Still....this man should not be underestimated, my experience tells me that. Dispatch the 3rd Battlefleet under the HMS Stonehenge from the York Fleet. Admiral Cunningham will approve the order."

"Aye aye Admiral, forwarding orders to the York Fleet."

Nelson waited, watching the map displays of ship positions as they automatically updated every 5 seconds. Salazar had somehow bypassed the Nagasaki and was making to breach the front lines between Stokes and the HMS York. He needed to be stopped before he could reach Planet Leeds, or god knows what destruction he would wreak. The transmissions let out a sudden burst...

"Hear me Bretonians. Laugh no more. Celebrate no more. I have returned, and the Immortal Hunter is once again here to haunt your dreams. Talk to me not of your boredom of my words, for I am not interested. You have heard me now, you have been warned. You cannot do anything to stop this from occuring, so why am I telling you? I am telling you so you can run. You can leave Bretonia now, and I may be merciful, I may not kill you."

"Damn him to eternal hell..." muttered Nelson, before reflecting that, on balance, that was probably what the man was in fact already damned to. "Fine..." Nelson thuoght, "...let us just be rid of him then. Once and for all...."

*BLEEP* an icon flashed yellow on the display and made Nelson glance up. The HMS Stonehenge had put out a combat signal - it was under fire.

A Dunkirk against a Dreadnought. Tough, but Nelson knew Captain Hansen was a skilled commander, and the crew were all veterans of the Tau War. Even so....

"How far are the reserve squadrons of the battlefleet under Commodore Morris?" He quizzed the nearest comms officer.

"The first two Destroyer Squadrons should be on the scene within approximately 12 minutes sir. We have a further 3 in reserve after that should they be needed."

12 minutes....

Nelson watched the incoming reports from the Stonehenge as the battle dragged on and the reserve squadrons edged closer at a painstakingly slow pace.

"Shields failed!"
"8 minutes sir!"
"The Stonehenge is taking heavy fire"
"6 minutes to reinforcements"
"They've lost main Starboard reactors"
"Cruise engines disrupted - their retreat has failed...they're done for sir..."

"How long till Morris arrives?" cried Nelson, rusing towards the main metres-high aft windows at the front of the bridge and staring out towards the distant sky where flashes of light could still be seen.

"The first destroyer squadrons are still 4 minutes away sir..." replied a Lieutenant nervously, as all eyes were drawn hypnotically to face the great windows of the bridge, through which flashes of light could still be seen in the distance, outlined against the great smog-filled sky.

The Comms line clicked open once again:

"This is Captain Terry Hansen of the HMS Stonehenge, we hereby surrender, please cease fire and allow us to leave. I repeat, we surrender."

"There is no escape... there is no surrender... there is no mercy."

Nelson's eyes widened as he saw the mortar flash, blindingly bright, etched against the dull skies. He glanced up at the display board, and saw one yellow icon turn black. He rushed to the main communications array, and opened emergency channels.

"Captain Hansen, this is Admiral Nelson, do you read me?"

"*Static* ...sir, we read you. The Stonehenge is crippled sir. I am sorry. I have failed you...."

"Nonsense, pull yourself together man. Are the escape pods away?"

"Aye sir, evacuation is under wa- wait! No! He's coming around for a second pass! We....aargh..*Static*..."

As the transmission stuttered out Nelson flipped desperately with the communications array, turning up the power to maximum on the receivers, until finally they picked up one, distant and deathly quiet transmission...

"Target the escape pods"

"NO!" several officers shouted out in shock as they heard the words. Nelson turned to the nearest officer "How long till-"
"2 Minutes sir!" cried a desperate comms officer.

2 minutes....they justed needed to buy some time....Nelson looked up again, scarecely beleiving what he could see. The display showed the crippled Stonehenge drifting towards the position of the Hunter, its self-destruct sequence flashing alarms. Captain Hansen was going to sacrifice himself to save his men. Nelson stood solemnly to attention at the front of the aft windows and saluted to the bravery of this most noble of officers. The other bridge officers gathered round, and in silence watched the ensuing burst of explosions light up the sky. Surely the Hunter was done for...

Yet as the light faded, a chilling transmission burst into the room...

"This is not the Immortal Hunter fools! This is the Immortal Hunter Mark 2! Kill all survivors...except one pod. Let a small amount of people live... they can tell the tales."

Nelson turned, weeping, from the windows at the sight of the flashes of small explosions, and the heart-rending sounds of men screaming over the comms. Admirals Fairfax and Fraser entered the bridge, having arrived from the Leeds and Derby HQs to coordinate the forces for a counterattack. But by the time the 3 Destroyer Squadrons under Commodore Morris finally arrived on the scene a minute later, it was to find the Immortal Hunter MkII in full cruise heading back past the Kusari battlelines, a trail of destroyed escape pods in its wake.

"Casualties estimated at 306 men sirs..." stuttered a timid Lieutenant clutching the latest report.

Nelson stood for a moment, then, in one sweeping move, he drew from his uniform the ceremonial gold-handled cavalry sabre which had been his promotion gift from the Queen, and thrust it blade first into the centre of the wooden map-table so that it stood, quiverring. The other Admirals looked up in shock, a stunned silence breaking out across the room, as Nelson turned and said

"He will be stopped! Understand? He will be hunted down and his body burned with antimatter that even he could not survive. And this will be done, not out of vengence, or anger as he would want us to, but for the sake of the brave men that died here today, and those others that have died in the past and will die in the future if he is not stopped! We shall stand, shoulder to shoulder, and fight with bravery, duty and above all compassion, for compassion is the one thing that he cannot understand. Our compassion for our fellow man is what he seeks to use to make us feel suffering. But it shall be his undoing. And I shall see it done..."

At the crisis meeting of the Admiralty Board that night aboard the Harlow in Salisbury, a unanimous agreement was made. Any and every opportunity to destroy this man would be seized whenever and wherever it presented itself. And the knights, the agents of the Royal Family that had hunted him for generations, would at last be given the recognition and resources that they deserved and needed. Anything to succeed. Anything, to stop Salazar.

---

Sir Stanley Nelson




<span style="color:#000066">Charles Canning </span><span style="color:#000066"> Foreign Secretary</span>

[Seth Karlo]

The Knights of the Realm.

That is what they called themselves, and that is what they acted like. Lazarus, Wraith, Silas, Duke, Hound and Ranger.

Those 6 men got a call from the Admirals, and within an hour met together in a darkened room.

Silas decided he would start talking. He described Salazar's ship, the Immortal Hunter. Described what would destroy it, how it was different from the old Dreadnought.

Ranger was a specialist in Salazar's cell regeneration. He had been working on a poison to undo the regeneration, turning Salazar into mortal man again. Work had been slow.

Duke was a specialist in drone technology. He had been working on a way to disable the drones in space, rendering them useless. The one time he had tested the technology, the drone had auto-destructed at the lack of signal.

Hound had been infiltrating the Kusari government, and had convinced them to hate Salazar. He would never again be able to land on a Kusari base.

Noone knew what Wraith had been doing. He didn't talk.

Lazarus described the Phoenix shipyards, and told them that disabling them would end Salazar's reign pretty easily. A large problem was the trip to the phoenix shipyards, and another was that the phoenix shipyards were protected by a large angry dreadnought most off the time, backed up by weapons platforms.

The Knights would never stop. For a long time they had been used by the Queen to eliminate other problematic people, and Salazar had been left alone for a long time. That would change. The admirals were now angry, in fact, they had never seen a man so angry before they saw Nelson that night.

They would find Salazar. And they would kill him.

//Anyone wanting to play a Knight should PM me, I think it would be really cool to have some people playing the knights if they want to. Of course Lemaitre and Dieter would have to agree... I probably need to talk to them. Anyone is welcome to post here, pretend you were at the battle etc.

EDIT: People apprently really want to play Knights... best PM soon, as spots are already being filled:P

Seth

---

Signature by Sleipnir.

[guitarguy]

Blake Owen's surprisingly quiet patrol was almost getting boring. The Kusari had backed off today, meaning they would be twice as fierce tomorrow, but that would all be forgotten with a drink or two at The Derby. He opened up the comm.

"This is bomber patrol Charlie-7 to Derby, requesting docking rights."

The dock officer started to grant clearance, when his face turned pale and eyes shifted rapidly to read incoming orders.

"Negative Charlie-7, a Dunkirk class battleship is under attack, we need everything we got there now, setting nav points."

Along the 50K journey, Blake and his two wingmen read the rapidly-updating intel on the situation.

"Looks like one Outcasts Dreadnaught, completely unescorted. As soon as we get there, I want Lt. Jackson to target the mortars with his nova torpedoes. Lt. Philips and myself will stay back and use the S.N.A.C.s to wear down the armor, no questions? Excellent, this is Charlie-7 to the HMS Stonehenge, we are 20K out, weapons are ready."

The comm was dead silent.

Lt. Jackson interjected "Sir, no sign of any warships. Wait, what!?!"

The bomber wings broke up to avoid the intense radiation from the detonated MOX reactor. They reformed and headed back to Leeds, with the few surviving escape pods in tow. Blake had planned to land on the Derby wanting a drink, now he needed a drink.

---

| BAF Faction Information | BAF War Bonds | BAF Training Program | BAF Combat Training Manual |

[Wolfs Ghost]

Austin looked up from what he was working on, staring at the screen, at first blinking hard to clear his vision. He pushed himself out from under the fighter and stood up walking over the the screen, still staring at it.

The same image was being replayed throughout Bretonia, The Immortal Hunter was back. Austin dropped the cloth he was using to clean his hands from the grease. He brought his fist up and landed it squarely into the screen, damaging it slightly.

"Bloody hell! No bloody way is that chap back! I watched the bloody explosion! I even took a bloody still-shot of it!" He shouted, other pilots started to crowd around mumbling.

"...This is bloody nonsense.." One of the lads said, standing with his arms crossed.
"Three Hundred and Six men died on that battleship..." Another said.

Austin stood there shaking with rage rather then sadness. "It's about bloody time someone gets something done with that lad. How long do we have to live dealing with not only the Kusari Dragon breathing down our necks, Those undereducated Corsair bulls in Cambridge blowing things up, and this bloody mad-man."

He slammed his fist into his palm. "This needs to bloody end! I will personally see to it that this lad is dead! Even if it costs me my life. I would gladly become a martyr for the Queen and Her Majesty's people." It seemed he was giving a heroic speech, for the crowd grew bigger, Civilian engineers as well as Armed Forces and Police Engineers where crowding around, Austin in the middle.

"Those, three hundred and six men that died today to that bloody mad-man will get avenged, this I promise them."

---

[Andrew_Bonesovich]

Lieutentant Commander Jacob Carter was silently watching the reports on the screen in the pub on New london. That bloody madman was still alive, even while Jacob hit that dreadnought himself with nearly half of the Nova torpedoes he had at that time.

Yet he was still alive, somehow. Killing more and more Bretonians, maybe even more angry than before, if it could be possible, and even having another bloody dreadnought.

People in the pub around Jacob started silently talking about what the have seen right now.

"That madman is back... He is going to kill us all..."

"He must be immortal or something... that isnt possible..."

"Have you seen what he did? Im going to move out from Bretonia with my family, this place isnt safe anymore..."

People were losing faith in the Armed forces.

Jacob left a few credits on the table and headed out of the tavern. His was disgusted with what he saw and heard. They -can- defeat one bloody madman, they can also win the war, he thought.

Everytime he repeated this for himself, it filled him with rage and hatred against Salazar, and all his followers. He sworn to himself, that he will prove that Salazar is just a crazy terrorist, and mortal terrorist. And that he can die like everyone else.

Then he walked away to the hangars, to get his Challenger revised for action.

---

A criminal always returns to the crime scene.