The King is dead...Long live the Queen

[Bossk]

Hi guys, thought I would have a go at a story that has been flying around my head for a while now. With the arrival of EM, I think it is fitting now to do this.

Please let me know what you think. It is my 1st go, and I was not very good and writing when I was a small lizard, so any advise/comments would be greatly received.

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Discovery.

Beep…beep…beep
The proximity alarm woke him from his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around the dark confines of his quarters. For a few seconds he was confused. Sluggish. Unsure of his surroundings. Then, as if an old style Fulcrum Torpedo had gone of in his head, he remembered. His eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright in is rack.

“Report� he shouted into the darkness

“My lord� the disembodied voice of the ships computer replied “Long range sensors have detected an object that matches the criteria provided, as programmed, I have woken you from your sleep�

“Are you sure this time?�

“Yes my Lord. The dimensions of the object have a 97.995% correlation with the plans provided and of images held in the Imperial Historical Database.�

“Time to intercept?�

“At full speed, approximately 21.86 minutes my Lord�

“BASIC, you had better be right about this. I have no desire to spend the next week of my life beating the inhabitants of some forgotten backwater Federation station who think they still have cause to fight in to submission. That is for the fleet to do�

“My Lord, scans indicate that the object is inert, except for very low energy levels around the core. I am certain that we have found it�

“Very well. If you are sure. Slow our speed to 75 units. I want to get a good look at it from a distance. Oh, and BASIC, please turn on the lights!�

10 minutes later, he sat in the cockpit of his personal Raven class fighter and watched the image on the display. BASIC was right. They had found it. After 6 months of searching, he was now nearing the end of his quest.

“BASIC, shut down all power except minimal life support. I don’t want anybody to see us coming. It may have been 40 years since I was here last, but I know the guy. You can be sure that getting on board will not be as easy as it looks�

“Very well my lord.�

BASIC shut down all systems except the minimal oxygen required. The ship was quiet, still. Just they way he liked it. With out the lights of the consoles reflecting off it, he could not even see the plex glass canopy. He felt like he could see the whole of Evochron spread out in front of him. Reach out and touch anything he wanted. Reach out and touch his Empire.

With all power shut down and only travelling on inertia, it would now be about 2 hours before they were in range of the docks. His mind wondered back to the last time he was here. 40 years is a long time for a human. But he was not human, and 40 years for him was hardly any time at all. Slowly, inevitably, he drifted to sleep. The memories of the past filling his mind. A memory of a time before his Empire was created. Memories of friends, of enemies. Of Legends.

[Edited on 1-25-2011 by Bossk]

[49rTbird]

Sounds good. Looking forward to part 2.

[Maarschalk]

Nice Bossk, a very good start for a first timer....LOL....Looking forward to read more....

[Marvin]

Who would'a thunk?

[warsign]

Thank you. Looking forward to Part 2...

[Bossk]

Revelation

The names spun around inside his head like dust in the wind. They were the ones that blazed a trail across the stars of Evochron. They were there at the very beginning of the long, long Vonari Wars. They had fought back the Klingon Incursion, and the short lived BORG invasion. Where were they now? Some had joined him in building his empire after the victory over the Vonari and at last, finally brought all of Evochron under the one banner. But others had still craved the call of the Mercenary. What was left of their clans were still out there, trying again and again to wrench control of their own little pockets of space away from him. For now, the Empire had little desire to destroy them, because he had little desire to destroy them. They were the closest beings to him that he could call friends. He had fought alongside each and every one of them to destroy the Vonari, and in doing so, a bond of respect had been created between them all, even those that had since died.

But for all their history together, they were still just names. He had not met a single one of the Legends in person. He had heard their voices many times. In joy, in sorrow, in pain. But his biggest regret was that he had never seen their faces. He intended to change that before his time had run out.

Beep…beep…beep
The proximity alarm woke him from his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around the dark confines of his cockpit. No, not the proximity alarm. Something different. Slow realisation crept up on him.

“The com systems? Who in the name of Vice is out here? And how did they find me�

“I do not know my Lord.� replied BASIC.

“I wasn’t talking to you. Carry out a passive scan of the area�

“My Lord. I believe that they do not know of our precise location, but are aware of our presence in the area due to local variations in the magn..�

“Shut up! Or help me I will reprogram you to be a coffee machine! Locate the source of the hail�

“It is coming from an Oasis class fighter, approximately 4025.7 km from our location. Beacon transmission and marking suggest it is an Imperial ship from your personal protection squadron�

His heart sunk. He had managed to evade detection from them during the entire trip. He did not want to change that. Not now that he was so close to the end.

“Open the frequency. I need to hear who it is. Keep our mic closed. I don’t want to give away our position�

“…….sk. This is Flight Leader Jade. By order of the Imperial Council, I have been tasked with tracking you down returning with you to Sapphire immediately. I repeat, Hail Emperor…“

“Close the channel BASIC. I have heard enough.�

“Yes, my Lord. It may please you to know that I have been monitoring our location constantly. It appears she is alone.�

“Of course she is alone. She is not here on the instructions of the Imperial Council. She is here out of curiosity. She is here for answers�

He put his head back in his chair, closed his eyes and tried to figure out the best way to get out of this mess. For long minutes he sat there. During his years as a bounty hunter, he had once been told the secret of survival by a very wise man: “Improvise, Adjust, Adapt and Overcome�. He formulated a new plan. One that, with any luck, would see him finish his quest and allow Jade to have the answers she seeks. Win/Win for all.

“BASIC. Where is she now?�

“Her relative position is unchanged. However, she has stopped hailing us.�

“Very well. Give me manual control but don’t bring systems back on line just yet. It is time that we gave her some answers. Hail her�

“Yes my Lord�

He spoke into the open mic with an air of affection.
“Do you know where you are? What this place is?"

After a few seconds hesitation, she responded, with anger.

“Show your self! Give me the decency to see the man who murdered my father. I swear, Emperor or not, I will kill you for what you did�

A small smile crossed his lips. She was just like her father was at her age. Full of anger and wanting to take on the whole universe.

“I did not murder your father. And I intend to proof it. Look out there. What do you see?�

“Your final resting place! Murderer!� She began to edge her ship closer to where she thought his signal was coming from.

“No. Look, really look at that outside. What do you see?�

Her ship was now only a couple of hundred meters away from his. He waited a few more seconds then brought his system back on line. Jade managed only a brief scream before he launched his missile at her. It crossed the short distance between their two ships in less that a second and impacted against her shield. Even the greatest of the Legends would not have been able to avoid being hit. Her ship was plunged into darkness as the EMP device shut down her weapons, engines and navigation systems. It hung there in space like so many other lifeless hulks he had seen. He hailed the ship again.

“Perhaps now you will be a little more interested in listening to me. I ask again. Look out side your ship and tell me if you recognise what is out there�

Jade sat in the darkness of her ship and sobbed. She had been so close. Now he was hailing her. He wanted to mock her before he brought down the final blow. She listened to his voice over the silence. It was slow, deliberate, almost caring. No matter how she fought, the anger eased. She found her self looking at what hung in space only a short distance from them. A faint sense of recognition passed through her mind. She had seen this before. But where? Pictures started to form in her mind. Fragments of her childhood. Images of a happier time, before her father…. That was it. She remembered. Her father had taken her here. She must have only been a couple of years old at the time, but the memory was starting to build. She returned his hail.

“I see the memory of a my father in that station�

“As well you should Jade. This was the last place you saw your father in person. This is hallowed ground for all the Clan pilots of Evochron, including me. It has taken me years to find its location, and months to travel here. But at last, I am here. This place will end my torment and save you from your anger and hatred. Jade. This is Space Station Babylon 5!�

[Edited on 9-20-2010 by Bossk]

[Maarschalk]

Wow Bossky boy, excelent. I liked the part of "who in the name of Vice is out there"...LOL...and the last sentence Babylon 5.......

[Bossk]

Im glad you guys are liking it. It is strange how the original story I had in my head is so different than what went down on the screen. I did not even know what was going to happen until I wrote it!

Part 3 is on its way in the next day or so.

Bossk

[Bossk]

Here is part 3. Enjoy

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Babylon 5 had been built at the beginning of the last Vonari War. It was owned and run by a group of independents calling them self’s ‘The EmEm’. It was their dream to provide a safe haven for any and all pilots to rest and relax when returning from combat in the northern war zones. Many clans were made, and destroyed, either on board, or in orbit of the station. At its peak, the station had a permanent population of over 2 thousand; with more than double that in visiting pilots. But, as the war continued on for far longer that anticipated, less and less pilots were returning after a tour of duty. Most never made it through the jump gates back into main systems.

What had once been the jewel of the spirit of Evochron; it now hung lifeless and dark in space. Abandoned. Its massive grey hull reflected little of the surrounding light. If not for the emergency beacon lights, the station would have been swallowed by the darkness. Lost in oblivion, like so many of its inhabitants.

Both ships waited just outside of the now dark docking ring. Neither moved. He waited patiently, knowing that all was not as it appeared.

“Are we just going to sit here?� Jade called over the comm. “If this place holds the proof that you did not kill my father, why are you waiting?�

“Patience� was his short reply

“We have been here for 45 minutes now. This place is dead. There is no one here�

“I can assure you that this station is not dead. However, if we move in now, we both will be. This station holds more that just your answers. Over the years it was in use, thousands of pilots and traders placed the life savings into the care of The EmEm. They prided them self’s on the fact that not once did anybody ever survive an attempted theft. Their security systems were far ahead of there time, their interrogation methods; brutal. That station still holds more riches than you can imagine.�

“How do you know all of this?� Jade asked, not sure if she wanted the answer.

“Because, I designed the systems and their ‘methods�

“So you have always been a murderer then?�

“You may sneer at me and my methods, but those same methods managed to rid us of the Vonari, build the largest empire since Sol, and has kept peace in Evochron for the last 40 years. I am not proud, but I am still alive. Now wait!�

He returned to watching the slowly rotating station for his way in. After a few more minutes, it appeared. A small hatch, almost invisible in the darkness moved into view.

He edged his ship closer to the station, until he was only 2 meters away from the hull. He got up out of his chair and looked around his ship a last time. He had nothing to collect. He had long since given up on personal affects. Being an Emperor had, over the years, stripped him of most of his desire to remember. Only to forget. However, moving towards the rear of the ship he passed his quarters and picked up the only item he considered of any sentimental value and placed it in his flight suite pocket.
“Almost time� he whispered.

He entered the air lock and stepped into his suite.

“BASIC, once I have left the ship, you are to seal the airlock and move to a position 2000 meters from the station. There you will shut down all systems and you will maintain that relative position until the following conditions are met.� He entered a series of commands into the nearest console. “If any boarding attempt is made by anybody at anytime other than detailed, you are to implement your self destruct system immediately. Is that understood?�

“Yes my Lord� replied BASIC. “May I ask where you are going?�

He was not sure, but it sounded like there was a hint of sadness in BASIC’s voice.

“I am going to right a wrong BASIC. Thank you for you company.�

“Thank you my Lord�

He sealed his helmet and opened a channel to Jade

“Wait at your location. I will signal you when it is safe to approach. Do not attempt to board my ship now, or you will die�

“What are you doing?�

“Have you ever read about the Trojan Horse and the Fall of Troy in ancient Earth history?�

“No, never�

“Then I suggest you do so upon your return. There is a copy in my personal quarters at the capitol on Sapphire. The good thing about designing a security system is that you can make your own back door.�

With a rush of air, the door opened and he drifted into darkness. It had been a long time since he had gone EVA, and he felt uneasy for a few seconds. Covering the couple of meters from the ship only took a few seconds and soon he had a handhold on the station. He turned to look at his ship for the last time. As commanded, BASIC had sealed the air lock and was now moving off. Turning again, he faced the station once more. He ran his gloved fingers around the outside of the hatch until he found a small depression. Pulling with one hand, while holding the station with the other, he prised open the panel to reveal a small access keypad. He entered a series of numbers into the pad, and again, waited.

For what felt like forever he clung onto the side of the massive station like a tiny parasite on the hide of an ancient earth elephant. Then, at last, the hatch started to cycle open. As it did so, debris from the interior of the airlock was forced out in to the cold vacuum. Carefully, he swung his body around to face the hatch and started to enter the station. Once inside, the door cycled closed and, for one last time, he was surrounded by darkness.

After 40 years, he was finally home.

[Edited on 9-20-2010 by Bossk]

[Maarschalk]

LOL...Bossk this is getting cool and interesting....waiting for Part 4.....

[Dengar]

Mummy Lizard has read these and she is SOOO proud of her little newt!!!!

[Maarschalk]

LOL...Dengar......a little jeallous?.....:P:P:P:P

[Dengar]

Not in the slightest.

My skills lie elsewhere within Evochron! Just got to find them that's all - before you all say it!!!!

[Spartan268]

Bossk this is incredible! you could get published with an imagination like that..... Cant wait for part 4.:):):)

[Zero 1]

Very nice work Bossk, just read the three parts back to back - looking forward to the next.

[Bossk]

Thanks for your kind comments guys. Part 4 is on the way, but the story line started to wonder off away from where I wanted to end up, so I have had to do a few re-writes.

The good thing is that the "wondering" has born fruit, and already started to get me thinking about another story. What would you guys like to see? I have managed to create a whole new Evochron, under the rule of our hero, so what about a story about his rise to power, or about pilots living in the empire, or major battles? Please let me know coz my brain is spinning with possibilities!

Again, thanks for your comments, and I hope you enjoy the next part.

Bossk

[DaveK]

Hi mighty lizard and leader of the clan (or is there still a little bit of argument?)

I am an avid reader, sci fi fan and space sim fan. I love Evochron because its freedom lets me create my own adventures. Fan Fiction, like yours, helps put flesh on the culture(s) of the evoverse (if it catches on you heard it here first!! )

I am thoroughly enjoying the story so far - please keep writing!

In terms of "wanderings" - many of the best writers will freely admit that their characters are seem to create themselvesand the story develops according to what the characters do rather than the other way round!

Thanks for the time, effort and creativity your have shared

[Maarschalk]

LOL.....there got to be Bad Aliens do not give up easily no matter how bad they are at things. So I do not think the arguing about leadership is over yet....:P:P:P:P

[Bossk]

Part 4.

This was a bit of a tough one for me, as I mentioned before. And being a harsh critic, I am not sure about it. But I hope you guys enjoy it. Any and all comments are welcome.

Bossk
==========================================

Arrival

The air lock was silent. Still. Dark. He was slowly aware of the pressure increasing around his body. As more and more air was pumped back into the small, enclosed space, the sound of machinery was able to move through it into the audio receivers of his helmet. It sounded like a heart beat. Slow, steady and rhythmic. After a few minutes, it stopped. He looked at the control panel. All the indicators showed green. Any other person would have removed the helmet, but any other person would have dies within seconds if they had. He knew that the gas surrounding his body was not the life sustaining kind, but a far more deadly mix. Again, looking at the control panel, he entered a series of commands that he had managed to drag out of his memory. The indicators changed from green, to orange, then to red. A low hiss could now be heard and again he waited for the airlock to fill, this time with the correct mix of gases. After a few seconds, the inner door opened.

With slow, deliberate steps, he moved into the corridor outside. Turning, he closed the airlock door. Not until it was fully closed did he start to relax, slightly. Raising his hands to the side of his head, he twisted his helmet then raised it above his head, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The air bitterly cold it cut into him like a knife. His eyes flew open and, coughing violently, he managed to support himself against the bulkhead.
“Stupid, stupid!� he cursed to himself between gasps. “What a bloody stupid thing to do. You must be getting old to pull a stunt like that!� It took him a few minutes to recover and for his body to get used to the cold. If he was to finish his quest, he was going to have to warm this place up.

Jade sat in her ship and watched the station do nothing. It had been almost 30 minutes since she saw him move in to the small hatch, and she found herself getting concerned. Not for the man inside, but for the fact that she may have missed her only opportunity to avenger her fathers death. How she wanted to make him pay for her life of loneliness.

She was only a few years old when her father died. Her mother was never the same again, and soon after, she to died. At the age of 4, Jade was an orphan. She was looked after by a local charity for a while, but the Inter-Clan Wars, meant that there were too many children without parents that the system could not cope. Soon she fell through cracks and found her self living on the streets of the Sapphire Prime. Alone. Scared. She survived like an animal, scavenging food and sleep where ever she could find it. Each night, sat in what ever hole she had found to call home, she would take out of her pocket, a small, tattered picture of a smiling little girl and a proud, loving father. Each night, after she had stared at the picture and before sleep, she would look to the sky, and swear vengeance upon who ever had taken him from her. Her anger kept her motivated, alive.

Years passed, and she was finally rescued from her living nightmare. Plucked from a filthy, dark room of back street infirmary and delivered to the doors of the Imperial Sapphire Hospital. She did not know, or ever see her saviour. She was not even aware that she had been moved until she awoke, not to the sights and smells of death, but the bright lights and sounds of the most advanced medical centre ever built in the Empire. And, for the first time in years, she did not look at her small, tattered picture before sleeping. For a time, she was happy, safe, and still alive.

It was during her training at the Imperial Academy that she heard about how her father died, and his killer. Memories of her past that she had fought so hard to forget rushed back. A stampede of emotions overwhelmed her, and for a time, almost consumed her. Anger and hatred controlled her every waking moment. Slowly, the survivor in her fought back. If she was to have her revenge, then the Academy would provider her best chance. Like a predator, she would take her time, get close, wait for her chance, and then…….

…but she had missed her chance. She had taken too long. He had escaped to the heart of a dead station, and she had no way to reach him. She sat and watched the cold, black station through her cockpit window.

The silence was pierced by the alarm of an incoming missile. Acting on instinct, she punched the counter measures launch button, opened the throttles and swung her ship around to meet the attackers. She wished she had not. For the first time in her life, cutting though space like a large dagger, she saw the unmistakeable shape of a Vonari Capital ship. She flipped her ship a full 180, then did what she had not done in years. She ran.

[Ravenfeeder]

Jade??? You mean Oasis? Nae bad for an old matelot. Enjoyed the read, thanks.

[Marvin]

Originally posted by Ravenfeeder

Jade??? You mean Oasis?

Gotta re-read the whole thing ... now that you've shed new light on it.

[SeeJay]

And then what?????:o

You can't leave it hanging like that Bossk. It's killing me. The story is excellent. Can't wait for No 5.

Keep up the excellent author work. (Book release?????);)

[Maarschalk]

Waoah!. That is a cliff hanger miles high......LOL.....don't make us wait an eternity for the next Part Bossk.....:P:P:P:P

[Bossk]

*****************************************
Part 5. as always, enjoy.
****************************************


The huge control centre was dark and silent. The banks of monitors that were once a window into the life of the station sat lifeless and cold. He looked around the fast cavernous room and his eyes found what he was looking for. He moved across to the main engineering station and sat down in the seat. Almost immediately, the monitor in front of him came to life, responding to the pressure pad located with in the operator’s chair. The light of the screen illuminated a small section of the room. It danced off the wall and caressed the suspended cables in the ceiling grid work. The other monitors remained black and inert.

Scanning the interface, he found the command input to initialise the main station power grid and entered the correct activation code. Deep with in the depths of the station, the 3 huge fusion reactors that had sat almost idle for so long providing a minute fraction of their potential output woke up. The inlet valves opened and pumped fuel into their waiting reaction chambers. The heart of the station started to beat. Pumping life giving power through the cables and conduits that snaked around every meter of the structure. Power was provided the systems that needed it first. Life support, computer cores, weapons and defence. The station slowly started to come to life.

In the control room, the lights came on, the circulation units started and more and more monitors came to life. The main status screen, suspended from the ceiling by 2 massive beams flickered a few times then came on. Data started to flow across its surface. He checked the status of each of the main system. Life support was on line, as were the computer cores, weapons and defence just coming on line.

Travelling at full speed, she turned her ship to look back towards the Vonari. The carrier had stopped relative to the station was starting to turn broadside to bring the full weight of it’s firepower down upon Babylon 5. The fighters however had decided that she was a far easier target and were on a pursuit course. They would not be able to catch her at this speed, but she had to slow down at some point. And when she did, they would be on her. One thing she had learnt about the Vonari from the history books was that they were patient. There was no way that they would give up. She decided that to die in a fight against the Vonari was not a bad way to go, and that if she was going to die, then it would be on her terms. Checking her nav computer, she plotted a jump point as near to the station as possible. Hopefully, she would be able to use it as cover and maybe take few of them with her before they destroyed her, the station, and him along with it. She closed her eyes and punched the jump command. A maelstrom of colour wrapped around her ship as she accelerated to jump velocity, then she was gone.

Micro jumps were always a tricky thing to master. During her time in the Imperial Academy, she and her fellow pilots were drilled again and again on the proper technique. It was much easier ever since the navigation systems had been updated following the creation of the Empire, but the instructors, some of them Legends, insisted on showing the new pilots how it was done “during the war�. This gave the pilots an idea of what to expect if it went wrong. What to do if you calculated the jump point to close to a large object, like a space station, or Vonari capital ship.

A flash of light heralded the arrival of Jade’s ship back into normal space. In her haste to evade the fighters, she had indeed miscalculated her exit point. Upon clearing the event horizon, Jade realised how badly she had miscalculated. Directly in front of her loomed the massive hull of Babylon 5. And it was very close. Slamming on her reverse thrust, she pulled up the nose of her ship and tried to skip off the gravity shield of the station. Expecting to have her ship bounce off and around the station, a sense of dread filled her stomach as she realised, too late, that the gravity barrier was not operational. The ventral surface of her ship slammed against the top of the station. Her shields, designed to protect against energy weapons and small missiles, crumpled and failed against such mass. The sudden reduction of velocity ripped her out of her pilots chair and slammed her against the plex glass canopy, causing large cracks to shoot out from the point of impact across its entire surface. Her ship was forced violently upwards, and away from the station.

The ship was spinning uncontrollably, but had lost most of its velocity. Jade struggled to maintained conciseness as she lay pinned against the damaged canopy. She knew that her ship was dead. All the systems were off line. Only automatic red warning lights illuminated the interior. Looking towards the rear of her ship, through the smoke and gloom she could see a crack in the hull at least 2 meters wide. With no atmosphere inside, she knew that she had approximately 60 minutes of air in her suit to live on. She expected to be dead in less that 2. The Vonari fighters were bound to have seen her strike the side of the station and know the status of her ship. She activated her suit comm systems and sent an open broadcast to the station, and anybody else listening.

“Mayday, mayday mayday. This is Flight Leader Jade. My ship has been disabled during hostile action by a Vonari battleship. To anybody who receives this message: Avenge me. I die with honour.�

Closing the channel, she reached into an exterior pocket of her flight suite and pulled out a small, tattered picture of a smiling little girl and a proud, loving father.

“I’m sorry. I failed. But I will see you soon.�

[Maarschalk]

LOL....C'mon.....Bossk, you made the cliff of the cliff hanger a mile higher....Nice can not wait for the next part.....hurry please.....my fingers are starting to give way...:P:P:P:P