The Stooges of Three

[Lord Kharn]

“A scourge! A menace! A cowardly terrorist!� exclaimed the director of Sapphire’s initiate program. John Pommer had been in charge of introducing new pilots to Federation space for over ten years. But for the last three, a single pilot had been preying on unsuspecting newcomers. He was yelling at his assistant, a coy young girl more for looks than anything else. She simply bobbed her blond head to his every word, soaking up his anger like a sponge. Of course she didn’t understand anything he ever spoke of, but it was nice to have a job and she simply looked pretty, smiled and got paid. “This Romulan creep has been a hole in my pocket for far too long. You know how much profit we have lost because of him? How many aspiring new citizens are thinking twice about joining the space trade?� Rikku shook her head to signify no, her blonde pony-tail whipping side to side. John grimaced, “Enough to make me hire a team of mercenaries, that’s how much!� That seemed to remind her of something. She took a few seconds giving him a puzzled look, which soon infected him. “What? Did you forget something? A message perhaps?� Suddenly she beamed and said in a sweet sing-song voice “OH YES! The mean looking men are here to speak to you! The ones you hired.� John had to keep his jaw from dropping at her stupidity. It stopped when she turned to open the door and slightly bent forward to reach the knob. In her tight fitting skirt it was evident why he had hired her.
The door was pulled open and John waved the three men in, while pointing at the exit for Rikku to leave. She seemed to have the intelligence and enthusiasm of a Labrador, and left with a smile closing the door behind her. The three men each took a seat in the red cushioned chairs in front of John’s desk. John mulled over the information he had on the pilots before sitting down behind his desk and speaking to them as a group. “All right I called you guys here because I need your expertise in eliminating a threat to trade-space. I’m sure you have heard of Romulan, he needs to be dealt with for good.� Two of the men shifted uncomfortably at the news. “The three of you each have a particular skill which I believe is very important and may prove the deciding factor in who actually brings him down, as well as who gets paid. In addition to the standing bounty of fifty six million credits, you will receive a percentage of stocks from several major corporations and free docking at their stations. I’m sure you will understand that by free it covers fuel and ship-wash.� The same two that cringed at Romulans name, straightened up as greed overcame their common sense. “So a quick introduction to each other. From left to right we have Mr. Brovak, Mr. Kent, and Mr. Jed. Brovak is a demolitions expert served nine years in the trade-protection force. Kent is a navigations and ship systems expert who was also in the Federation Infantry. That’s rough stuff. And Jed has been in special forces and is currently a independent journalist and detective. You are not expected to work together unless you want to share the rewards. However you will forfeit everything except the standing bounty if you do. That’s all, my assistant will hand you each a data stick with everything we know about Romulan.� The three men traded glances and left.
John turned to look out his view port deep into space. He could see a nearby jump-gate as well as the planet Sapphire. “I will have your head.� A shimmer caught his eye as a ship suddenly uncloaked near the jump-gate, right behind a pilot in training. “SON OF A� His words were cut off as alarms in the station announced a volley of active missiles nearby and the destruction of a company ship.

[Maarschalk]

LOL....Very Nice start, I like it. This is going to be interesting......very cool......

[warsign]

Don't forget to add, If he is in panic, destroys at least "one planet" and plus "caveroid" with himself

[ryuu]

good reading, a little hard to follow due to lack of paragraph breaks, but well written none the less

[Lord Kharn]

Yeah I copy and pasted it lol. I'll try a bit harder on the next section I promise. And thanks for the reviews!

[Sinbad]

Nice reading Lord Kharn. Another budding talent emerging from Evochron's forums!

[Lord Kharn]

Brovak and Jed rushed to the hanger with Kent in tow. Kent had come in his own fighter, a Ferret class Federation ship. Jed had picked up Brovak en-route, with Brovak claiming his ship was in the shop for another twenty four hours at the Sapphire repair station. Kent had docked in the open zero-G so he could leave faster, while Jed had set his craft down inside a parking pod. Nice little thing would pull the ship from the zero-G down into the safety of a station. Since Jed was flying a recently overhauled Saber, he didn't want to risk the scratches and dents of sloppy pilots.

Brovak paced impatiently next to Jed as his ship was pulled up from storage. He spoke with a thick Russian accent, straight from Earth. "I do not know why you store ship like this. We could lose contract right now!" Brovak was an overweight man in his mid-forties obviously trying to make a big score in order to settle down. With his dirty-red overalls and big hands he resembled an out of work mechanic, more than a demolitions expert. Jed spoke flatly with a calm voice, his arms crossed in his black pilot jumpsuit. "Romulan could be gone before we get out there anyways. Besides you remember what I was shipping before I took this contract don't you?" Brovak stopped pacing and raised his head realizing suddenly that Jed was right. Jed had been taking two fulcrum torpedoes to Cerulean for the war effort. If a stray round hit one of the massive things, the entire station would be annihilated. Brovak shook his head and cursed pointing a finger at Jed. "Your crazy son of a bitch! At least your smart enough to dock inside station."

Kent was by no means a good pilot, but he was an aggressive one. He was often mistaken for an intelligent person rather than a impulsive brute, and that he took advantage of. He had poster-boy looks in his Federation issue, gray pilot suit. Thin blonde hair cut flat on top like a cheap Duke Nukem rip-off. He had the advantage of time over the other two mercs and intended to use it as he powered up his Ferret quickly bypassing his safety checklist. He strapped in and punched the throttle to full, narrowly avoiding two ships trying to escape Romulan's onslaught. He came out of the docking area with guns ablaze, even though he was out of range.

Romulan had already destroyed two new pilots and their merc escort before Kent rushed out to meet him. His thought process was void of passion unlike most of his kind, which was why he was sent on these missions alone. The Ferret racing towards him was blasting away out of range and would be down to half or no energy before he even got close enough. Not a Federation pilot but a merc obviously. Romulan was not worried about immediate reinforcements since there were no Federation ships near. Nor was he worried about losing to an over-eager rookie. The Ferret was a nimble fighter but no match for his recently stolen Wraith painted black to match the darkness.

Jed and Brovak rushed aboard the ship as soon as it finished docking with the passenger holding area. The short tunnel to the ship smelled of rubber and fuel, the connecting aluminum struts covered with fabric to give the impression of safety. Jed keyed his passcode on the airlock of his ship, right behind the cockpit. It sighed as it opened and the pressure equalized. The four painstaking minuets it took for them to board was accented with a grave need to rush. Brovak almost tripped over Jed trying to sit down in the navigator chair right behind the pilot's. Jed did an emergency system check and barked coordinates at Brovak so he didn't have to turn around to log them in. Brovak grunted his assent as Jed disengaged the stations tractor beam and hit the jump-drive button, rocketing out of the station. The gravity dampners on the ship weren't the best and both Brovak and Jed had to fight to hold onto the controls for a few seconds. The lights dimmed and the blackness of space washed over them eerily as they came out of space a mere four seconds later. Jed gave Brovak a new set of coordinates, to which he protested instantly. "WHAT! We go back? You must have wish of death!" Jed shook his head "My ship, you follow my orders. And its death wish. Now plot it in." Brovak did as he was told as Jed brought the ship around to the galactic epicenter and leveled it out, waiting for the energy to pool back up.

Kent panicked as he soared towards Romulan, his energy had depleted just as he had come in range. His enemy launched a score of Excalibur missiles at him close range, and he mashed the counter measure button while pulling up as hard as he could on the stick. He soared away as two missiles got close enough to detonate. The explosion rocked the ship and peppered his thrusters with shrapnel causing an efficiency drop of over ten percent. He frantically hit the afterburners and turned off IDS barely out running the rest of the missiles. He cut afterburners and turned his ship around to face Romulan as he rushed away, his speedometer displaying < -4. "Where did he go?" He blurted out as Romulan winked off his radar and out of sight.

Romulan had waited until the Ferret was too close to avoid missiles. With IDS off he simply drifted downward as his missiles launched at his target. The rookie had managed to do an emergency burn and only got splash damage from the first two, showing amazing reflex but no skill. Romulan noted that this would be too much of a threat if the pilot lived long enough to receive formal training by the Federation. Turning on his stealth field once again he made a quick direction change for the hangar of the station. He watched on radar as the Ferret turned around to look for him just as his stealth engaged. Romulan smiled already knowing he would be victorious.

Kent rushed over his controls leveling out his shield to weapons energy and activating the missiles on his ship. He reversed direction with a long burn, realizing a few seconds too late that his IDS was still off, causing him to burn excessive amounts of fuel. He grumbled and wiped some sweat from his brow his hand shaking as he did so. Deep down inside he knew he had no chance against Romulan. But so much money, all he had to do was get lucky. Luck had gotten him through every fire fight he had been in, so surely it would work in space. He let out a deep breath and concentrated on visually scanning for any disturbance where Romulan had been. He was cruising in at half throttle, cautiously watching the debris of destroyed ships as well as a nearby asteroid that he assumed Romulan was hiding behind. Could an asteroid block radar? He wasn't sure so he headed towards it, strafing to the left cautiously as a civilian Leviathan winked onto radar with a beep, causing him to jump. He sighed for a moment then yelped as his ship started blaring a missile alert. He hit his downward thrusters and spun around to face the station where they had come from. He watched Romulan race out of the hangar and attack the Levi as soon as the missiles ate through its shields. It was a mass of torn metal and flaring fires a few moments later. And Romulan immediately turned his attention back on Kent.

Jed was worried that he might actually have to engage in a fight. Hopefully Romulan was wise enough not to fire on a ship with a fulcrum hanging off each wing. He hesitantly hit the jump button and grunted as the launch pushed him back into his seat. Brovak was scanning the radar as soon as they came out and there were only two ships. Jed had to hit full reverse thrusters to keep from running into the new wreckage of a Leviathan. It was lifeless and leaking air into space, all mangled and glowing red from several missile and cannon impacts. Jed saw Kent engaging in a dog-fight with Romulan, his rounds passing harmlessly over the Ace as Romulan maneuvered gracefully away. Romulan's rounds weren't missing however and Jed realized the only reason he wasn't launching missiles was because he had just used them on the Levi that he was now floating under. The scene was horrible but Jed couldn't do anything about it really. Kent frantically thrusted away out of range, and towards Jed and Brovak. Brovak used his colorful language to add light to the situation. "The kid is moron! He will be getting us all killed!" Jed grimaced and painted his crosshair on the cockpit of Romulan. He was out of range and his ship systems were off other than his passive radar. Drifting with the dead Levi he was practically invisible unless you were scanning visually.

Romulan was tearing Kent up even as he scurried away. His lower level cannon was taking its time doing hull damage but his accurate shots had already disabled the rookies shields and destroyed his navigation array. He smiled as his Excaliburs chimed their song of having reloaded. He thumbed the switch and watched something unexpected happen. The missiles launched out but the Ferret made a blind jump towards the nearby planet out of range. His missiles shot past where he had just been racing high over the wreckage of the destroyed Leviathan. That's when he noticed the ship and the hairs on his head stood on end. He froze his ship and licked his lips as he stared at the two fulcrums hanging off the wings of his new adversary.

Jed let out a deep breath as the missiles soared overhead and lost themselves in space. Brovak cringed closing his eyes not realizing Kent had just jumped away. A few moments of quiet caused him to look up and then lean over Jed to see what was happening. "Did new pilot die?" His jaw dropped as he stared at Romulan slowly drifting right up to their ship. Jed grumbled and turned on his cabin lights, causing a glare on the thick view port for a few moments. Likewise Romulan did the same drifting up to within a mere two meters between ships. Jed felt like their shields might buzz from impact at any moment, but it never came.

Romulan wanted to see this pilot, he intrigued him immensely to have been so determined to stay with two fulcrums in order to get him to leave. He mulled over the idea of blasting a hole right in the cockpit of the ship, but with shields his rounds energy would be dispersed all over the ship, including the fulcrums. He turned on his cabin light as well, eying Jed and Brovak through the window. A com-link request was sent to him with a beep. He blinked at the button to accept, pausing cautiously before hitting it.

Brovak spoke before Jed could "Yeah that's right! We have fulcrum! Two of them even! You know that they are made in Russia? Yes that's right." Jed elbowed Brovak in the sternum causing him to jump back and fall over the navigators seat in pain. "Idiot! You don't taunt someone with a cloaking device!" He turned his attention back to Romulan who looked back at him without a word. The person looked very strange indeed. Obviously not a normal human, perhaps one of the other races the Federation kept a secret. Jed spoke flatly "There is no way either of us would win this engagement at all. So I ask that you simply leave Sapphire, I'm sure you have met your objective by now anyways." He waited but there was not reply. Brovak had recovered and wiped his mouth before giving the communications another try. "Why you hit me Jed? This asshole wants a fulcrum! I say we die in glorious fireball with him! HA HA HA!" Jed shook his head in disgust and the comm-link severed with Romulan's cabin light. The ship turned slowly 90 degrees and then jumped away. Brovak roared with thick laughter. "HA HA! What a coward! You have balls of iron my friend!" Jed rolled his eyes and reached past Brovak plotting coordinates for the nearby repair station. "It's balls of steel Brovak." A message shot up on his main screen just as he turned his ship to jump. It was from Romulan. See you again human called Jed. And that was it. A pre-recorded message winked up on screen just after. It was from John. Jed braced himself for the foul language he knew was coming.

[Maarschalk]

Part 2 is Great, loved reading it....

[Lord Kharn]

Thanks! I have to say I tried a bit harder on that one }:3

[Sinbad]

Great stuff! I had beads of sweat trickling down my brow towards the end of that chapter! But that may just be the 38 ºC temperature here in Madrid!!

[Lord Kharn]

The prerecorded message held wonders of the English language that Jed and Brovak had never heard before. Jed could have sworn that a few of the curses were in Italian or Yiddish. Brovak commented that a few of the words were in Russian as well. Once the message was complete however the idea behind it was easily known. John was angry because they had let Romulan go. And now they had a suspense to catch or kill Romulan, before a bounty was put on their heads.

"I realize suddenly that I have eaten off more then I can chew. I'm running around chasing a psycho with Fulcrums and getting bounties put on my head. Not a good start I suppose." Brovak lamented. Jed was quick to point out the bright side. "Well at least we are still alive and have the chance to go pick up your ship. And there isn't a bounty on our heads yet... We just have to get to Romulan in two weeks and we should be fine. Should we go find Kent now?" Brovak snorted in amusement suddenly recalling Kent jumping blindly towards a planet with no shields. "Yes, of course. We wouldn't be the stooges of three without him." Jed nodded in agreement then corrected him, "Oh and its 'bit off more than I could chew' and 'The Three Stooges'." Brovak nodded making a mental note of the corrections. He wasn't the best at English but he didn't mind being schooled, it was part of learning for him. They set a search pattern by plotting several jumps around the direction Kent had jumped. He only had a low level jump drive so he couldn't have gotten far.

They found the ship drifting dangerously close to the atmosphere of planet Sapphire. Kent had suited up and was waiting for help, his distress beacon shattered by Romulan in the earlier fight. Obviously the man had no idea that it wasn't working. The three managed to hook tow lines between the ships and Jed started the painfully slow acceleration process towards a repair station. It was about four hours away if they used Inertial drive. Jed managed to get them moving at >4k and they chugged along through space with the Ferret leaking atmosphere in tow. In the Saber Kent was arguing with Brovak over the dogfight and making all sorts of excuses about why he lost the fight. Brovak was heckling him quite a bit and Kent hadn't yet realized he was messing with him. Jed poured over the information he had been given on Romulan. Some of it was classified information bought from the Alliance and some from the Federation. A few names stuck out like Admiral Hill and Major General Packett. Jed had known Packett when we was a Captain. Packett had been on Jed's first SF team and directed most of the missions. Captain Packett got promoted a few months later and took a desk job. Jed wasn't sure if Packett would respond to his general message about Romulan at all. Especially since the only address he had was a public one and it was sure to be screened by an assistant, not the General himself.

By the time Jed had docked the Saber at the repair facility Brovak and Kent had already fell asleep. He woke them up on his way out and they hurried to follow him groggily. The repair station Jed had picked was the same one that Brovak had his ship docked at. The Saber was docked inside the repair bay with the Ferret resting on the concrete floor. Mechanics gathered around it as others made quite a ruckus nearby, sawing through metal on a customized Pulsar. Kent went over to see about repairs to his ship and how much they would cost him, while Brovak headed the opposite direction to the storage bays to inquire about his ship. Jed had disconnected the tow cables himself and asked a nearby mechanic if there was a place to get a drink. The mechanic shrugged for a moment wiping sweat from his forehead with a grease smeared arm, but then pointed in the direction of a door labeled 'BOSS' since it was too loud to hear. Jed thanked him with a nod and headed towards the door walking around tool boxes and work bench's.

Jed closed the metal door behind him with a soft thud and looked around the small two-room office. The desk in the front was empty but strewn with papers and a computer screen covered in greasy fingerprints. Likewise most of the objects in the room had black fingerprints on them from mechanics rushing around work. Jed noticed the well used fountain in the corner of the room and stooped to get a sip from it. Before he took the first gulp however a gruff voice suggested something better. "How bout something with a little more kick than water?" It said. Jed couldn't place the voice but it was quite familiar. He had never been to this station since it was never on his trade routes. He turned as he straightened up and swallowed his sip of water. Jed stared at a ghost from his past. "Well don't just stand there like you don't know me! Come shake my hand or something!" Said a red bearded man with a bald head and smudged mechanic coveralls. "Holy crap, Numan is that you? I haven't seen you since the teams!" Jed rushed to give the man a firm handshake, getting a little grease on his own hand. "Yeah well I have been around doing what I do best, well at least what I do best in the civilian sector. You know, fixing things, making them better. Bought this station with my savings and I've been steadily making profit for the past two years. Before we continue lets step into my office, I've got some killer liquor smuggled from Earth." Jed nodded with a bit grin on his face and followed the man into his office. They sat in two chairs and Numan poured them both a generous amount of liquor in two coffee mugs. They caught each other up on events and were both quite warm within the hour. Jed let a few things about Romulan slip and that seemed to sober Numan up enough to make an uncomfortable silence. Jed shifted in his chair as something in the back of his mind turned a gear. "You know something about Romulan I should know Numan? Did you encounter him with Packett or something?" Numan let his tongue loose and after a few minuets of talking let out a sigh as if he had been holding the information back for too long. Jed stared blankly as too many coincidences became connections very suddenly. "WHAT! PACKETT TRAINED ROMULAN! What the hell Numan?! Why haven't you done something about it? He's out there killing innocent people and your just going to let that happen?" Numan shook his head and raised his hands in a defensive gesture "Listen I'm not on the teams anymore. Neither are you. You know damn well that politics were behind all of it. Packett insisted that we tell the rest of mankind about Romulan but since threats inside Sapphire were almost non-existent the economy was soaring out of control. No one was willing to leave Sapphire on trade runs because of the sense of safety. Who cares about massive profit when you can stay alive and make a good living just doing casual runs?" Numan said. Jed growled and set down his drink roughly. "So your telling me, that Romulan is here because the Federation and Alliance need him to stimulate trade out to the other systems? That's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever tried to swallow. And besides it doesn't make sense. Its too convenient and the Federation would be buzzing news about it on their public network." Jed's mind was a bit too hazy to connect the dots but he was sure Romulan was no longer working for the government. Numan apologized for telling Jed but Jed just waved it off and changed the subject to women and the night continued on.

Jed returned to the Saber in a stumble with a big glass of water fizzing from a detox tablet. He blinked his eyes as he hit the keypad to open the airlock, everything around him lost in a haze. Settling down in the pilot's seat he downed the glass of detox with a few gulps. The stuff tasted like cherries and pleasantly settled his stomach. Jed was about to fall to sleep but there was a beep and another message appeared on screen. Hunter or hunted? Prey or predator? Sheep do not roam where their shepherd's do not allow. They are kept far from the wolf's lair. But are you a wolf in sheep's clothing? Or are you a watchful dog, humble servant to the shepherd that beats you? -Romulan- Jed sat up so fast his head spun and he almost fell forward. Romulan was trying to tell him something. Jed thought he might have an idea but delayed that when another message popped up on screen from General Packett. The General has asked to meet you in Cerulean. We will send you coordinates when you get there. - 1LT Natasha- Jed felt a streak of good luck, since he was headed to Cerulean to trade his Fulcrums before anyways. Well he was about to make some decent money and get a big break on Romulan. The only question he asked himself was if he should bring along his bumbling friends. As if on cue he heard Brovak yelling outside to someone "Shut up skinny brat boy! I will break you in half for that!" Jed groaned and stood to investigate the commotion. All he needed was to be held responsible for Brovak since he brought him to the station.

[Maarschalk]

Wow...Amazing story telling and writing......very cool....

[Lord Kharn]

Enjoying my writing is the best compliment you could give me. It also makes me want to write more lol. Thanks.

[warsign]

I like it, so cool