The story of [color=#FF0000]AzumiHirakeandYoshikoHirake
..:How it all began:..
Treasure lies where your heart belongs.
Listen to the signs and they shall lead you the way.
Never get the wind up, because fear itself is the obstacle to your dreams.
- Your father.
After reading the last words my father wrote to me. I tossed away the paper with tears in my eyes. "Foolish father, you told me to listen to my heart and the signs will guide me. Now look where it got me into!" I shouted with a furious voice.
His words were in no use, all it did was getting myself into a deadlock. I have been damaged so badly, that I can't even identify my Blood Dragon ship anymore. The wings, the guns, the powercore... all ripped into pieces. Floating around in space now.
"Even if I get out of this mess I won't have enough money for repairs", I moaned. What will I work as now? My whole life I been a pirate. I nurtured myself by robbing poor merchants that cross my path.
A knife won't scare them...
Suddenly... a loud blare went off from my radar. "Ohh no, not again!" I panicked. Liberty Police incoming! The same guys I ran from in California, and I saved myself with a couple of components blown of my ship. How on earth were I supoosed to hide now?
"This is where my journey ends" I thought. One missile was incomming, and few seconds later I fell unconscious...
..:The Rebirth:..
Not knowing for how long I was gone. I woke up, on a bed!
"Where am I!?" I screamed. As a long mysterious man with a hood approached from the entrance. For every step he took, it echoed through the whole treating-room. When he was near going past my bed, he stopped walking. With a mighty voice he said; "This is Vecpucci, and I'm Drake Thastus, Commander of the HellFire Legion".
"But, but, what about the Navy pilots? I told him.
"Don't worry. They been taken cared of" He answered. Then he turned around and walked through the exit door.
I sat there quiet. My whole body felt paralyzed, I couldn't speak or move. A few minutes later I fell asleep again.
Later that day I woke up. A meal was given to me. Soon after I finished up eating, a doctor checked my health. "You are in good condition now. Feel free to go anytime" The doctor said. Without hezitation, I ran to the launching pad with one thing on my mind. How was the ship? Slowly I looked around the building, without a single sign of my ship. "Scrapped, probaly..." Then, a flash of light appeared! My eyes got blind for a few seconds. Slowly I opened my eyes again and I was staggered from the sight! My ship was repaired and I saw new guns on it. After some further investigation its shield and powercore were uppgraded along with other equipment. No words could express my joy.
Then, one thing struck me. How will I ever be able to pay back, the bill must be sky high for all this. Once again Drake Thastus appeared along with his personal guard. "As you can see I have done some improvements for your ship. All free of charge." And he smiled. Without sounding too hysterical I thanked him. Even this time he left without notice. He asked nothing in return, and only told me to look after myself.
Immidetly I started thinking of my fathers letter again. If I was never chased, never shotted down, I wouldn't get all this. "Hah! The old fool was right afterall."
I wanted to repay Drake, and the HellFire Legion for their generosity. I decided to serve the Lane Hackers. Until the day came where I, Azumi Hirake, felt my deeds were enough...
I sat there, at the Monterrey Bar. After having a rough day with the Liberty Police. Ordered a glas of their strongest ale to relax myself. Nothing was going on, the bar was desolate. Must have been about the latest assault, from the Navy that got the Lane Hackers into their ships. Took a little glimpse at the same old news, War, war and some more war... Suddenly! There was something that caught my attention.
[color=#33FF33]"Did I just hear the name Yoshiko Hirake?" I thought for myself.
No it couldn't be, there is no one that is named Yoshiko in my family. Must have been of the strong ale...
But the name came up agian in the news, and this time, they showed his face. It gave me a strange feeling. Almost like I recognized the face. A person I never meet before, how could it be?
In panic, I ran to my room. I just wanted to sleep and forget what I just saw. But in my dreams the same face haunted me. The morning after, I had no choice than to seek for an answer.
According to the news. Yoshiko Hirake was a famous criminal and is currently being inprisoned at
Battleship Nagumo. His sentence followed; Death - Two weeks from current time.
I packed my belongings, and headed for Kyushu.
"It's been five years since I last visited Kusari..."
..:Story of a hero: Yoshiko Hirake:..
Prologue:
Somewhere in Kusari... The Hirake family, leaves their home planet, Honshu, to go in a trip to New Tokyo, at the anniversary of 798 years for the Shogunate. The young Yoshiko, and his brother, never left Honshu, and they are wondered of the beauties existing in the skies... but their dream is suddenly torn apart... several ships goes after the Hirake's family Drone. The Hogosha, who were blamable for the incident, disable the ship, board it, steals all valuable cargo, and the small Yoshiko. Their father, Kogin Hirake tries to interfere, but he is shot, and falls unconscious. Yoshiko's brother, Azumi, starts to cry when he sees what happened to his family. He begs the Hogosha to leave his brother alone, but he gets struck in the head, and thrown in the cargo bay, then the pirates leave the area. Local Police ships approach the incident, and manage to rescue Kogin, and his little son, Azumi. Because of the head injury, Azumi gained a irreversible amnesia, which caused him to forget that he had a brother. Yoshiko is raised, and educated in the Hogosha way of life, but his memories were crushing him.
Time passed, and Yoshiko achieved 19 years, which made him fit to pilot a ship, in Hogosha ranks. He was sent to prove if he's worthy to be a Hogosha, to destroy a trader and it's escorts, and steal whatever value cargo he might find. After a few strikes of this kind, the Hogosha welcomed their newest pilot in their rank.
At the age of 21, he received the command of a fighter squadron, and was ordered to crush a KNF outpost nearby. In the time that he was engaging the outpost, a KNF patrol entered the area. By possessing newer, better ships, Yoshiko and his companions were taken down one by one, like flies. Their life pods were scooped from space, and sent to a KNF prison, but Yoshiko was transferred to a top security cell on the Battleship Nagumo, because of his past dealings with the KNF...
[color=#FFFFFF]..:The truth is revealed:..
[color=#33CCFF]"This is Patroll Unit - G66 , hostile pirate spotted, requesting backup, over!"
"Copy that, Patroll Unit - G66, we are sending off a fighter wing to aid you, over!"
"The Pirate is heading to Kyushu Jumpgate, currently at Shinjuku Station, over!"
"Dangit, I need to get out of here quick."
"What to do....Hmm. Ah! I got it. If I drop a mine the second I hit the trade lane. It will disable it, and still letting me go through!"
"Pirate has disabled the Trade Lane. Loosing contact. Hostile no more on scanners, over..."
"Wait for the Trade Lane to go online again, Patroll Unit - G66, over!"
"Ten-Four, over!"
With success I managed to escape from the Kusari Navy. But not for long... They will come back soon. Quickly I jumped to Kyushu. I stole an uniform from the Farmer Alliance, and picked up an
Identification Card at Kagoshima Depot. Now I could safely fly to Battleship Nagumo without getting caught.
Shortly after I arrvied. Disguised as a working janitor I got through the Validation Process and headed for section C-7. Yoshiko was being held in a special cell which would be hard to reach with my current status. I needed to be an higher ranked officer. My eyes caught a room ten meters from the cell.
The sign said; Colonel * Sakai Katanori
I looked around to see if no one was around. The luck was on my side, as the personal was on dinner. I sneaked into the room and hide behind a furniture. After waiting for about twenty minutes the colonel entered his room and sat on his chair. Next to it was a desk where alot of paperwork seemed to be done. By the look of his face, he seemed pretty tired. This was my chance. Without hezitation I strangled him. I took careful procedures to not let him be able to scream. With some hard effort, he finaly felled unconscious.
Even if I would dress myself as Sakai Katanori, the personal would notice immidetly that it was an imposter. But I could always say that I was a new officer, re-assigned to Nagumo! Using Sakai's ID card and replacing the picture with the Farmer Alliance card. I would now assemble a new officer identification.
Using the Colonel's clothes. I headed for Yoshiko's cell. I ordered the guards to leave the area, before opening my brother's cell. As I openend, the prisoner watched me with a strange look on his face.
"I know you are my brother, because I have listened to my heart and followed the signs. Now there is no time to explain, but you have to trust me. I'm here to rescue you."
Yoshiko smiled and said; "Lead the way."
I ordered two guards to arrest Yoshiko. Explaining that he should be re-assigned to a more "secure prison". Yoshiko trusted me, and without resistance did he follow.
We went to the launching bay. Were my ship was assembled. I told the guards to bring supplies for the journey. As they went off. I quickly dragged Yoshiko in my ship and drove off. Later they disovered the real Colonel behind some furnitures in his own room. An alarm was sent off. Us being the two top wanted criminals.
With hard effort we managed to escape all the way to Kyoto Base. Were our injuries was treated. The next morning he explained how we was separeted as kids, and why I never knew of him until now.
Yoshiko and I have become used to the peaceful life. We had been living desolate for a year now. We didn't know anything of the Hell Fires' status nor the outside world. There has gone quiet a long time now since we killed somebody, the lust for revenge had weakened. But the pirate blood within us was still alive. Still did I experience nightmares from countless battles, still did i see my enemies burning in flames, suffering, still was I in eternal debt for the Hell Fire legion, for Drake Thastus. I knew that someday I was needed again to help them, however, strangely enough they hadn't contacted me yet, after all this time...
That day, when I was lying on my bed and thinking of my past, Yoshiko knocked on the door. It sounded urgent. I quickly opened the door, and there he was, out of breath. He took a few seconds to rest, then he asked me to sit down. He took a chair and sat next to me. I understood it was something serious.
With a nervous voice he said: [color=#FF0000]"Azumi, brother. I got some bad news. It's about Drake Thastus."
"What is it brother? Has something happened?" I was beginning to feel this cold chill running down my spine.
Yoshiko starred at me with a serious look on his face and then continued: "Drake Thastus, has died..."
I was in shock, my heart stopped, I couldn't move or breath. Yoshiko quickly recognized my pain and helped me up the chair again. The bond we shared, it was so strong that we could feel exactly what our brother felt.
I began to question his claim. "No! That is not possible. He was the leader, he was the strongest out of them... how him out of all people... how Yoshiko?"
"Azumi, I feel your pain, I really do. But you must trust me. As much as I hate to say it, my sources are reliable. However, they could not tell how he died, all I know is that he has..." Yoshiko said with a sad voice.
I sat there for a moment, thinking... the one person who saved my life, the one person besides my brother who really meant something to me, is dead. Will my brother die too? Is this a curse?
"Father! I followed the signs, why am I suffering? Why?" I screamed.
"Azumi, there is nothing left for us here, in Liberty. The one we served is now dead, it is time we head back to our old roots, the Kusari."
"Yes... It is true what you say brother. We must head back..." My blood thirst had come alive once again and Yoshiko was aware of it.
"Don't worry brother, there will be plenty to kill in Kusari!" Yoshiko said with an evil smile.
And there we were packing our belongings, mounting our guns, testing the ship systems and we said a last good bye to Liberty...
Endless pirating had been made at Sigma-13. Me and my brother has collected tons of credits, however we didn't spend it everyday on the local bar. In fact we decide to save it. We had been working on a project in Ryuku Base, the station is desolate, a perfect location to develop a forthcoming disaster on the Kusari Forces.
Yoshiko also had contacts with several private smugglers, people in the cardamine bussiness. Thoose that earned the real buck. In a combined collaboration from theese specific smugglers along with a stash of pirating goods, which we held in possession, we managed to finish our secret project and ready to unleash its terror.
Finaly after 3 months of hard work, investment and acquiring the needed materials the project was finished. The result? A mighty Blood Dragon Battleship stood in front of us.
Yoshiko smiled and said: [color=#FF0000]"Brother, it is ready!"
"Indeed it is" I replied.
"It resembles a floating fortress with an impassable wall!" Yoshiko shouted with a proud voice.
"We shall name it:Hirake's [color=#FFFFFF]Kikou, the floating fortress!" I said.
"However Yoshiko, there exist a problem, a fatal problem."
"And what would that be Azumi?"
"Brother, look at us, we are two people. How on earth can we pilot and monitor it?"
"Hahahaha!"
I looked confused. "What are you laughing at?"
"Brother, you didn't think I knew we were only two people? Of course I did! Even if all the Blood Dragons came, we would still be in short of men. Thats why I have ordered AI Robots such as the ones stationed in the bar, however re-programmed to fit our needs. Yes, the price was high, but a price I could pay..."
"You must have wasted your life fundings for that!"
"Azumi. Trust me, if it was anything I wanted to spend it on, it would be this. Just look at the beuty of this mighty beast!"
"Well Yoshiko, I think we need to get some firepower on our Kikou. If you know what I mean."
"I read you loud and clear brother, haha!"
The day turned into night, and from that very night, we owned a battleship.
A dream beyond our imagination...