It was progressing well the hold was filling with unrefined silver, the mining laser turets were pouring out a constat stacato rythem as they sighted and fired upon the astorodids the scanners showed to contain solid deposits of silver. This was a machine to admire the R.M.S PickAxe, the one and only UKMG mining vessel.
Alexander Walter McFarlane the Co of the UKMG felt at peace for the first time in years. His wife had died of a stroke twelve years ago. Not long after his small company that produced mining lasers had been run into the ground by BMM. He had then left leeds along with his son of 8 Stuart Alexander McFarlane his only heir and returned to his old home and place of birth of his son. Aberdeen Border Station, once their he began to greive for his lost wife and as he did his emotions ran riot first hatred of BMM but that soon gave way to determanation to sucseed and beat BMM at thier own game.
In under two years he had expened over three and a half thousand credits on his neural net acount reserching learing and ploting. He had contacted four other disenfranchied mine owners and producers of mining equipment who had all been bought out or out done by BMM or other major corparate entaties they too all shared a pashion to sucseed and show their competitors they were far from finished.
And so began the United Kingdom Mining Guild named so not because of bretonia but because of an anchient coalition of 4 countires who became one this was their strength and thier shared experties was amazing. They had evrything they needed but the credits.
The solution came from an unexpected source while the members of the UKMG made their way to Aberdeen Border Station a rouge commet from the Dublin system hurteled past Aberdeen and Alexander Gave chase gunning his Cavaleire for all it was worth to catch up with the commet. Once in scanner range he realised his good fortune this commet was gold litarly gold it contained aproxomatly 678 tones of pure gold he hailed his partners and broke the news.
And so it began the UKMG was brought about by a rouge commet and an amazing amount of luck. The gold they blasted from the commet paid for the UKMG's first officel ship a brand new Train chrisened the R.M.S Commet.
As time passed the UKMG grew in strength and in credits by Stuart's 20th Brithday the UKMG was firmly in place and had minning ships spread across siris and had over forthy milloin credits to its name. Alexander was now in Colorado scouring the Sliverton feild for its name sake, his son was onboard aswell down in the hold vishually inspecting each new load the tractor beam brought in he was not alone in his task he had his freinds along with him, they were Ross, Michel, Jhon and Jack each was the son of one of the UKMG founders and each was a firm freind of the others they were the future.
Alexander was at peace indeed his son was now a man and his deed was done he had done it he had shown BMM that they were not top dog and they could not run him into the ground with such ease nor would they destroy the last remaing line of Scotland was nothing now a myth a legend but it was still scotland the name McFarlane was as old as the written word the last remaining clan of Scotlan and of earth thats was.
A dense object will reflect a radio wave it was this fact that provided the only warning of inpending doom on the R.M.S PickAxe sirens came to life and sheilds raised and defensive weapons armed all in the blink of an eye this was not the drill evreyone hoped it was this was the Xenos. The rasict scum of liberty those narrow minded few that made it their life to kill and heap suffering upon all but their own and they had come for the PickAxe.
Fourty five light fighters came soaring thought the silverton feild on a direct intersept corse with the PickAxe and they were ready for anything the PickAxe could throw at them and they were ready to kill. EMP that was the key the PickAxe has sheilds that can withstand a direct hit from a 69.5 kiloton astoroid but agenst and EMP they would fail, and fail they did not one shot had beem unleashed from the PickAxe and none would the ship was dead, reactor done power gone life support now only the oxygen tanks held in reserve.
This destroyed the peace Alexander had been chasing for twelve years and brought him to the edge of the abyss of despair his only reason to live was to defend his son.
He armed his carbine the anchient weapon of the McFarlane clan and it was named Hammer Of The Highlands. This was no normal side arm it was one of a kind 70cm long, 45 shot magazine, is necular and ways close to half a ton, and is over 1500 years old. This was a feared weapon, created by a master weapon smith for lord McFarlane its uses enriched plutonium rounds to create a light sourse like that of a sun that is channeled though a 30cm ruby lens to create the most powerfull las weapon ever to be held by man. It's mass comes from an uknown lead alloy that seems to absorb all traces of the fired round. but this makes it unbalevably heavy but it has an alien anti grav system making its mass zero it regards to gravity.
This was going to be up close and nasty work, cries of panic and fear spread though the ship as the first of many jolts hit the ship signaling Xeno boarding craft then as one they blew their respective bulkheads and began what was to be a brutal and vicious close rang fire fight with UKMG personel.
Within fifteen minits all but the bridge crew of the PickAxe were dead or dying and as Alexander prusumed that his son and the sons of his freinds were also dead this was what saved them that they were dead pushed Alexander so far into the abyss he can out the other side gun ablaze and his gun was ablaze as the first Xeno to cut his way onto the bridge found and also lost his entire torso to the power of the Hammer,
and the bridge was awash with blood as the last Xeno fell to the last of UKMG but Alexander had taken sevral hit from small arms fire and was bleeding out as he sat is the captains chair waiting for deaths embrace to rob him of his sorrow of a lost family and family of others, as his heart slowed power returned and internal scanners kicked in as the system reset but their was somthing wrong, their was movment in the hold and coming towards the bridge the last of the crew prepared to dispatch what cloud only be more Xenos.
But as it was Alexander Walter McFarlane did not die in sorrow and pain but in reilf and joy as his son and the sons of the co founders finaly reached the bridge. Stuart seeing his father near death proclamed in a crakeding voice "I will avenge this day i will put the Xenos to the fire and void"......"n no.....no you wont" his father utered with his few remaing breaths, Stuart nelt confused, "if ....you ..r r remember o one thing from today remember this".... "Hard Feelings Make For Hard Times" and with those last words Alexander Walter McFarlane passed on and corossed the void of space to return to the Highlands of ancient Scotland and was with his kin once more.
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