Characters
Name: Karl Agathon
Age: 25
Sex:M
Occupation: Deputy Chief of the Liberty Police
Name: Mike Agathon
Age: 32
Sex:M
Occupation: Zoner in charge of Administrative duties of Freeport 10
Name: Isabella ???
Age: 29
Sex:F
Occupation: Mysterious outcast who fell in love with Mike.
Background
Karl and Mike were both very young when their parents were killed in a Outcast terrorist attack. At only 15 years of age Mike took responsibility and raised his younger brother at their home on Planet Denver. Karl always blamed the Outcasts, which was part of the reason he decided to join the LPI. Mike on the other hand had other plans and had decided to join the Zonersamd tried hard to get Karl to reconsider his application to the LPI when he turned 18, but could not sway his younger brother’s decision. They split up, Karl went to the academy, and Mike hopped on the first transport to the nearest freeport.
Mike had a relatively quiet life with the zoners, slowly working his way up the ranks and moving from freeport to freeport, helping with administering station business. He had even joined the Zoner high council. Oddly enough, Mike eventually ended up on freeport 10, close to Outcast space…
Karl’s life was quite different. Working for the LPI was not and easy job, he however did manage to gain the Chief of Police, Matt Myer’s trust and gained the rank of Deputy Chief, where he would often be seen out in space leading his pilots, instead of keeping a comfortable desk job.
Deputy Chief Karl Agathon sat at his desk reviewing various work orders and reports. He hated paper work… unfortunately he couldn’t make some other poor slob do the work today… He tried to finish the paperwork but his mind was somewhere else… Mike had not sent a letter again this week.. and had missed the past two. This was not like Mike, who regularly kept sending letters. Karl had tried investigating but found nothing, the Zoner council could not locate him, and apparently he had stepped down from his position there.
Where was he? Was something wrong? All good questions, questions that weren’t going to be answered here at this desk… He got up and headed for the Chiefs office. Without knocking he walked in.
“Matt, I need some time off”
“What for? You know how busy we are right now… I can’t let you go..”
“Its… a family issue… “
The chief was not happy. Now was not a good time for one of the Deputy Chief’s to go parading around the galaxy…. Especially since the LPI had recently captured an Outcast Destroyer. However eventually after a heated discussion, Karl managed to get the time off. More like a temporary resignation..
He left his badge on the chief’s desk, leaving the chief with the unfortunate job of finding a replacement. On his way out he said few words to anyone, though he had left a pre-recorded message for the LPI, that would play later on after he made his exit. He boarded the first transport that was heading out to the Taus, hoping to meet up with some zoners along the way, who could give him a lift the rest of the way.
It took nearly a week, but he eventually reached Freeport 10. Looking at the view, he could see the appeal in this place. It was one of the most spectacular systems he had ever seen. He picked up his bags and headed off the ship. It was an old freighter, used for running medical supplies to the freeport, but served its purpose. He thanked the captain and stepped on board the station. He was of course wearing civilian clothes now, as anything that affiliated him with Liberty could get him killed in a place like this. He worked his way deeper into the station, ignoring the numerous vendors, looking for where his brother may have worked when a strange man brushed by him ever so gently. By instinct he swung around and grabbed the man by the arm, revealing his watch in the strangers hand.
“Looks like you found something of mine?” he said as he took back the priceless family heirloom before swiftly breaking the strangers arm in two places. “ You won’t be doing that for awhile…” before moving away from the crowd that quickly gathered near the screaming man.
He approached the administrative offices and spoke with the secretary there. He explained how he was looking for his brother and she told him of how they were investigating his disappearance already. Mike had disappeared 3 weeks ago it would seem. She agreed to let him enter the office without any trouble, even leading him there before leaving him alone.
The office was neat… not a thing misplaced. This definitely was Mike’s office… he began snooping around looking for any clues…
“You won’t find anything in here” a voice came from the doorway
He looked up to see a tall brunette standing in the doorway with a pistol pointed in his direction….
The woman stood confidently, her dark cold eyes staring straight through Karl. One thing he did notice was her uniform. It was the same the officers wore on the captured Outcast Destroyer the LPI had recently captured….
Iâll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because itâs flag that I love
And a flag that I trust
"Easy there, I dont know who you are or what you want but...." he let out softly as his hand moved slowly towards his concealed sidearm.
"I want to know who you are and what you are doing here" the Mysterious woman shouted, anger and anguish was noticeable in her voice.
He stopped where he was, and raised his hands, then with a sudden movement lunged at the strange woman, knocking her weapon from her hands before she had the chance to react. They wrestled on the ground for a bit before he gained the upper hand and managed to pull out his side arm and lift it to her head.
"Alright now... lets start with your name" he begun as he stood up, keeping his weapon trained on her.
She sat up and shook some stray hairs from her face "The name is Isabella"
"Well then, Isabella.. tell me what you are doing in my brother's office"
"Your brother?! wait.. I should have noticed it, you both do look similar"
"You knew Mike?"
"Yes we met here half a year ago, he's just recently disappeared, I've been trying to find him"
"Why would you care about a Zoner?" her demanded
"Mike and I grew very close, too close... when my family found out about us, they must have sent someone for him"
"You and Mike were...." he lowered his weapon slightly, realizing this was the woman Mike had written about.
"Yes, in love and I believe that is why my family took him, I was hoping to find clues here as to where... but I think we can work together to save him, if you trust me.."
"Trust you? an Outcast?"
"Listen, Mike told me of your hatred of Outcasts, its understandable, but don't let that get in the way of saving your Brother, I'm the only hope you have of rescuing him, if he is still..."
"He's alive... I know it" Karl lowered his weapon further and placed it back in its holster "Alright Isabella... looks like we are partners now..."
Karl and Isabella searched the office for any clues, both keeping a careful eye on each others movements, ready to react at the first sign of betrayal.
Finally Karl found something on Mikes computer after he managed to hack the password and open Mike's emails. Among numerous letters regarding Zoner policy, was one from Malta. Isabella recognized the source immediately.
"Its from one of our Cardamine plantations on the Northern continent, I know it well... they must have taken him there" She mentioned after reading the letter.
"Alright then, we need to get to Malta and go bring him home" Karl stood up
"Ok, I have a ship at docking bay 3, I can get us in without a problem"
"And once we get there... you realize we may have to kill to free him right?"
"I love him, and noone will get between us, those who took him will pay" Isabella said with conviction.
They headed to docking bay 3, stopping at a weapons dealer along the way, where Karl managed to purchase a small arsenal of weaponry. It was a good thing Sirius credit is good anywhere...
Her ship was a small freighter, with little to no weaponry. It was old, but she claimed it was trust worthy... Karl never thought he'd miss his Liberator this much. They flew back to Malta slowly. Isabella had sent a message ahead, claiming they were delivering supplies and they were cleared for landing upon arrival... there was no turning back now. Karl would soon step foot on the soil of his most hated enemies.
Iâll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because itâs flag that I love
And a flag that I trust
Karl stepped off the transport and squinted his eyes... it was a bright and bleak place.... "Where are we?" he asked as he pulled a pair of Aviators out of his leather jacket and put them on.
"About 10 clicks from the plantation, I figured we'd get further if we were able to sneak in" Isabella commented
"Alright then lets go" He grabbed an assault rifle and began to walk...
"Where do you think your going hotshot?"
"To the plantation...."
"Other way...." She pointed in the opposite direction, as she began walking that way.
They walked for several hours over the rocky terrain... this definitely wasn't a very hospitable place.... by the time they reached sight of the plantation, dusk was threatening. Taking cover, Karl pulled out a small set of binoculars from his jacket and began scanning the area.
"Lots of people working there, plenty of guards..." he handed the binoculars to Isabella.
"Don't worry bout the workers.. the slaves won't help their masters"
"Yeah.. but they may be able to help us"
Night finally came and an eerie silence came over the area. The two slipped into the compound silently and made their way to the main bunker. Outside the entrance two guards stood, one on each side of the door. Karl picked up a rock and tossed it around the corner. Curious one guard came out to see where it had come from, only to find Isabella hiding around the corner with a knife. With a cold professionalism, she sliced his throat and gently dropped him to the ground. He made no sounds. Karl moved swiftly and grabbed the second guard. With a few well timed punches the surprised guard fell to the ground, unconscious.
They moved into the compound, and found a computer terminal.
"Alright, give me one second to crack this" Isabella began to work on the computer.
Karl peeked around the corner... two guards were coming, with their weapons drawn...
"Damn... we have company... keep working I'll hold them off"
He spun around the corner and began firing his rifle, cutting down one of the two guards as he dove across the hall into the room across from the computer room. He got up and turned to deal with the last guard. He raised his rifle and fired as he ran into the room he'd entered... the guard fell without firing a shot.. he quickly made his way back to Isabella
"Where is he"
"One floor down, in a prison cell"
"Ok lets go"
"Wait, there is something here you might want to see" she pointed to the computer.
On the screen were intricate plans, signed by the Don in charge of this area. The plans were a series of terrorist attacks on Liberty planets. One of which, was Denver... and happened 17 years ago
"They never did find the bastard responsible...."
Isabella moved towards the door "If this is the guy who killed your parents, like Mike told me... "
"Then he doesn't leave here alive... lets get Mike out" Karl gripped his rifle firmly and ran out of the room towards the cells, as an alarm sounded.
They made their way to the cells with little problems. Isabella was as talented with a gun as she was beautiful. Ironic for her and Karl's pacifist brother to be involved.... as they approached the rooms, voices could be heard inside. By pure instinct Karl motioned to Isabella to stop with hand signals.
"Who would come to get you!" a voice was heard inside. "Not feeling cooperative? alright then..."
Karl swung open the door to see an outcast guard preparing to strike his brother with the end of his rifle.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you" he stepped in
"What? who are you?" the guard swung, trying to train his rifle on Karl, but was shot down quickly. One bullet to the head was all it took.
"Karl, Isabella?" Mike stood up, his eyes adjusting to the light flooding in through the now open door
"Yup, lets get out of here" Karl reached out to his brother and helped him to his feet, they briefly hugged before Mike grabbed Isabella and passionately kissed her..
"Ok.. Isabella.. get Mike to the ship, I have unfinished business"
"What business?" Mike asked...
"The bastard who killed our parents is here, I'm going to make sure he doesn't do it to anyone else again"
"No, let him live with the guilt, there is no need for further violence..."
"Mike for once... I won't be taking your suggestions... now please go.. I'll meet you at the ship"
Karl ran out of the room and headed for the compound's command center. Resistance would be stiff here. As he moved up the stairs, shots rang out from above. He looked up to see a guard at the top of the stairs firing down at him. He felt a searing pain in his left shoulder but ignored it, bringing his rifle up and unloaded the clip into the guard. Out of ammo... he reached for his trusty side arm and tossed the rifle aside. He climbed the stairs cautiously, well aware of his injury. Upon reaching the top, he shot down another guard, narrowly dodging another bullet. The guards body slumped over the railing and fell to the bottom floor of the compound with a sickening thud. Finally he reached the door to the main command center...
He picked up the weapon the guard had dropped and held it in one hand, his LPI issue side arm in the other. With both weapons ready he kicked down the door and rushed in, firing shots at anything that had a weapon. Which incidentally was everyone in the room. He walked up to a COMM unit and fired a few shots, disabling their communications. Alerted to the noise two guards rushed in, followed by their commander.
By instinct Karl opened fire on the guards, taking them down with ease.. He raised his pistol and aimed at the commander.
"Mr. Agathon, I'm surprised you made it this far, I obviously need to look into hiring new men... "
Karl looked at the man curiously...
"Oh yes I know who you are... the name is unimportant, and I assume you are here to kill me?"
"For what you.."
"For the attack which killed your parents... among a thousand others... I needed to send a message to rival slavers"
The outcast hand dropped to his side arm and pulled his pistol up. Defensively Karl opened fire. but nothing happened. His pistol let out a click.. he had run out of ammo.
The outcast smiled and raised his weapon, taking aim.
Iâll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because itâs flag that I love
And a flag that I trust
Karl looked around frantically for options, the fallen guard's weapons were too far, but if he moved fast enough... wait too late
The outcast stepped forward and squeezed the trigger. His pistol let out a single bark, and pain flooded Karl's body as a round hit him square in his chest. He fell to the ground, gasping for air, as everything around him went dark. The last thing he saw was the Outcast standing over him, pointing the pistol at him, then darkness.
Hours, no Days? Weeks? pass. He had woken up in a dark prison cell. It was hard to tell how much time was passing. Far as he could tell his flak vest mostly protected him, but now he was their prisoner. They had come and tortured him many times, of course he told them nothing. He would die here before giving them any information, but at least he had gotten his brother out, and would take a bunch of these Outcast bastards to hell with him. He closed his eyes, it was only a matter of time before he succumbed to his wounds, time to let go.
"Nice place you got here kid"
He opened his eyes slowly, though his vision slightly blured he could make out the figure of a man, wearing the Uniform of an LPI Seargent and a flight helmet.
"You know I think I like the subtle shades of grey you got going here"
"Who are you?" Karl asked?
"Oh don't you know? the name is Vince, Vince Price." He extended a hand, but Karl jumped back. The hand was all bones, with traces of flesh hanging off.
"Oh I'm sorry, what else were you expecting?" He opened his visor, revealing the toothy grin of a skull with a worm hanging out one of the eye sockets
" Oh gods, I've gone nuts...." Karl spoke softly
"Maybe, maybe not, we are all crazy in some ways" The apparition spoke as he waved his hand in the air "Fact is you've given up"
"There is nothing left to do, its over"
"You really think so?" the apparition reached out and grabbed Karl by the neck, forcing him to sit up "Any good officer's duty is to fight until he cannot fight no more, are you telling me you have nothing left?, that you've let the scourge of this galaxy defeat you? maybe you are weak"
"They didn't defeat me"
"No if you give up now they have, stand up, fight them" The apparition stepped back as Karl forced himself to stand, as an explosion shook the building, followed by several others.
"Whats going on"
"Fight them Karl and we won't meet again for a long time, but I'll be here waiting" Vince disappeared into the darkness as weapons fire grew more intense.
Karl heard some fire nearby, then a clank and the door to his cell scraped open. His eyes slowly adjusted to the light that flooded in and he seen his brother Mike, and Isabella.
"You came back..."
"Of course, we made it back to the ship, where we intercepted a transmission from the Don, bragging bout his capture of one of the LPI's finest " Mike said as he helped Karl out of the cell "Lets say we get out of here?"
"Thank you both, but how? this place should have been locked up tighter then ever after we freed you"
Isabella spoke up "I took your advice and freed the slaves, seems they were pretty disgruntled, something about poor wages and working hours" she cracked a smile
The three moved out, leaving the bunker where they were joined by a dozen slaves, now well armed. They had swept through the compound killing many outcast guards, but the battle still raged on. Suddenly the compound lit up as Isabella's ship exploded, showering the area with shrapnel.
"Damn, they found our ride Now what?" Mike looked around
"Over there" Karl pointed at a ship parked in the corner of the plantation.
Isabella remarked " That must be the Don's private ship, its a gunboat"
"Its ours now" They rushed across the open fields and headed towards the ship, signaling the slaves to fall back and join them.
They reached the ship, but just as they started entering, Isabella let out a scream as a round hit her in the shoulder
"Everyone in!" Karl shouted as a couple of slaves helped carry Isabella in, Mike stayed at her side, as Karl moved forward to the cockpit.
"Hey, thanks bud do you know how to fly this thing?"
"The controls are similar to a destroyer we captured recently... I think I got it"
The ship lifted off as soon as everyone climbed on board. The ship rocked violently at first, but settled as Karl figured out the controls. They headed for the docking ring. Thankfully they were cleared to leave orbit as the comm station at the plantation had been destroyed early in the battle, but they needed to move fast. Once clear, he charged its cruise engines immediately and headed for Tau37. Isabella's wounds stabilized, so they had no need to stop at the Freeport, instead opting to fly directly to Liberty, staying on the smugglers route that he'd found in the ship's computer.
He'd have alot to explain when he got home...
Iâll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because itâs flag that I love
And a flag that I trust
The ship sat in a dark docking bay, on a station well hidden in the Illinois system. This was the same place, the captured Outcast destroyer had been sent to be analyzed and experimented on. Many still had hope that the ship would see the light of day, and be used by the LPI for raids...
Though Karl figured it would either be taken apart piece by piece... or would collect dust here forever.
This gunboat however.. he had special plans for. A certain.. militant group of outcasts was operating in Liberty causing alot of grief for LPI patrols. Apparently even the rogues were frustrated and could do nothing.
The upper levels of the LPI felt that this threat needed to be ended quickly, however would not commit to any extrordinary actions...
The Chief and the Deputies were all in agreement something had to be done, but what could be done? There were tonnes of rules in place, keeping them from doing anything... If we are to take down the Cartel, we'd need to take drastic actions.
Karl banded together a few LPI officers he knew could be trusted and explained the situation.
"Alright boys and girls, here is what we want to do..."
He went through and extravagant plan to make use of this gunboat. First things first, he would want to use it to infiltrate enemy territory, gather some intel. Eventually they would be able to openly attack the Cartel ships, when they are week and alone. Of course other options might be of interest. For one... if they could open a dialogue with the Cartel, they could eventually infiltrate the organization and destroy this cancer from the inside out... yes... this is what we are going to do.
He headed for the hangar bay, just as his hand picked crew entered. They were all wearing Outcast uniforms from the ex crew of the captured destroyer. Some wore "fake" breathing masks, others not.
They all climbed on board the gunboat, and with Karl's access code managed to leave without setting off any alarms. They slowly slipped out of the system, using a "training exercise" as the excuse, and headed towards the badlands.
Iâll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because itâs flag that I love
And a flag that I trust