Post by Cat-Girl Ayame on Apr 17, 2006 16:42:26 GMT -5
Well, in response to tay's suggestion to expand the NC universe by showing what some other people have been doing over the past ten years, I have been writing a little story about a Merc ship called the Samurai Edge. The first part is the battle between the Queen's army en route to Earth. However, I'm kinda liking where this is going, so I might expand on it when I post the next part. So without further ado...
*****************
SHARPENED EDGE: (part 1)
(By: Ayame)
It was the calm before the storm. Mara Lin, a tall woman in her early 30’s brushed her shoulder-length black bangs back from her face. She leaned over the pilots' chair to peer out the cockpit windows, but still saw nothing but the blackness of space ahead. Her tan fingers began to drum nervously on the cushion.
"Where are they?" grunted the bald man in the pilot seat, "They should've shown up by now."
Mara pulled away quickly, and reached into the pocket of her long sleeveless jacket. Her hand slowly fingered the item inside with careful and practiced movements, though she was scarcely aware of this nervous tick.
"You should be happy, Miles" Mara said, her voice even "every moment they're not here is a moment we stay alive."
"Always the optimist..." the pilot, Miles, replied with a sigh. At the age of 42, Miles was the oldest crewmember onboard. He sported a thick mustache which almost always had a cigarette poking out from it, and a bit of a gut, offset by his muscular arms. He had been flying dangerous missions with Mara for years. Hell, any mission was dangerous when space travel was outlawed, but he was never one to mistake bravado and risky odds for an obvious suicide mission -and they both knew which this was.
"Anyway, maybe intel was wrong...maybe she's not comin' here. Hell, maybe this whole things'
just been a bad dream."
"I wish it was." Mara said "Sometimes I DO think that Gala was a dream...well, more like a nightmare."
With a clink and a flash, Miles lit up another cigarette -his fourth since they'd reached the rendezvous point a half hour earlier.
"Gala WAS a nightmare."
Suddenly, the cockpit doors slid open and in stumbled another woman, who couldn't have been more than 19, but already looked as ragged and careworn as a woman more than three times her age. Her curly brown hair was pulled back into a set of ponytails which hung limply down her shoulders, their dull sheen an odd compliment to the red oil-stained jumpsuit she was trying to zip up.
"Cap, we just got a ting on the long range sensors. The Queen has entered the Solar System."
Mara whipped her attention back from the girl to the cockpit windows, as if she expected to see a hundred space cruisers on top of them.
"News from Terd?"
"Nothing yet. The Redfish II's still out there at the head of the fleet, but he hasn't said a word."
"Jade, hail him. We need some answers."
"Right Cap." The young girl dashed back out of the cockpit as quickly as she'd come, the doors hissing closed behind her.
Jade dashed back through the main corridor and into the communications room. Because the ship had been specially outfitted with a short-wave radio that the Queen couldn't tap into, they'd had to move most of the communications out of the cockpit and into an unused cabin. Jade jumped into the old leather chair in front of the rather shoddy looking piece of equipment and booted the old thing up.
"Come in, come in Redfish II. This is the Samurai Edge calling the Redfish II, over?"
Hearing nothing but static, Jade frantically began switching through the channels. Ever since she'd found herself on board the Samurai Edge, she'd been paranoid that Captain Mara was trying to find an excuse to get her off the ship. Consequently, she tried never to fail in a task and when she did her own mental punishment was something much more severe than any the Captain had ever given her.
"Redfish II, this is the Samurai Edge, PLEASE respond."
*************
"I don't like it." Miles said, taking one last long drag from his cigarette. "They shoulda been here by now. We should be able to SEE them!" he extinguished the butt of the cigarette on the control panel, and roughly pulled out another from the pack. It'd barely touched his lips before it was lit.
"Those'll kill you." Mara said vaguely as she worked on the computer screen at the Nav console. "Especially when you breath in more of them than regular air."
"Don't matter at this point." Miles said, smoke pouring out of his mouth. "Jesus, where ARE THEY?"
"Gimmie one second...got 'em. They're approaching Saturn and....slowing down?"
Miles and Mara both turned to the windows again and looked out into space. In the distance, they could barely make out Saturn, it was no more than an orange speck, but it had distinctions that you come to appreciate when you travel through space.
"What the hell are they doin?"
Suddenly, Jade popped back into the room. She hadn't even taken off the headset from the radio before leaping up to report back to Mara.
"Cap, got word from Terd, The Queen is stopping near-"
"Saturn, we know. Thanks for the warnin, kid." Miles snorted.
"What's..." Jade started to speak, but was quickly cut off by a flash coming from the space ahead, followed by a tremendous shockwave. Jade toppled backwards and down the metal stairs which led to the cockpit door. Mara and Miles both managed to keep themselves in their seats, but only barely.
"Hey Mara," came a deep voice over the radio, "what you and Miles doin up there? I didn't think he was your type."
Mara pulled herself back into a sitting position and practically fell onto the comms button.
"Shut up Dwayne. How're you back there?"
"Took a spill, but I'm cool. Next time, warn me before takin the ship through a black hole, would ya?"
Mara clicked off the radio. Dwayne was the only other member of the Samurai Edge crew and the best damn gunner she'd ever known. He'd saved their asses many times on their flight to Earth, the last stronghold against the Queen, and had fought to keep him on her ship. He was also one of the nicest guys she'd ever known, with a great sense of humor and looks to boot. She'd never been in love with him, but their paths had crossed more than once.
"What happened?" Jade pulled herself back into the doorway of the cockpit, "We get hit, Cap?"
"No..." Mara said, her eyes fixated on the window. Ahead of them, the light from the explosion was still visible, as was the blurry brown haze of a trillion or more bits of rock. "God, she destroyed it..."
The room fell into silence, the three people simply staring ahead as the debris cloud got larger and larger.
"Will any of them reach us?" Jade whispered.
"Not in time." Miles replied. "Looks like they've come at last."
In front of them, several thousand spacecraft suddenly dropped out of Sub Either space. Mara could feel her stomach tighten. Though she’d been in battle before, the distinct appearance of the ships in the Queens Navy gave almost anyone the chills. Seeing them this close was the last thing most people ever saw.
More ships began to slow down to engaging speed. At first, it was a the tiny fighter craft, then the bigger assault and infantry ships, shuttles, and finally the command ships. It was truly an amazing sight. For a moment, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. More and more of the grey ships dropping into normal space, boosting to full impulse power to engage their enemies. Their blasters warming up as they approached.
"Fighters, this is Redfish II. Engage the enemy. Do not let the Queen's army pass."
From off to their starboard side, the assembled crew of the Samurai Edge watched the Redfish II blast forward towards the oncoming enemy ships. A split second later, dozens more followed it, ships of all shapes and sizes. Each one had fled from the Queen as she had come across the universe, destroying planets, enslaving races -or annihilating them altogether. Some of the ships were filled with trained military personnel, but most had crews like the Samurai Edge. Folks that no longer had a home or even a safe place to run to.
Mara watched the Redfish II as it blasted it's way through the first dozen enemy ships. She watched silently as a few on their side were reduced to debris, she tried to think about what she'd be doing tomorrow, when the battle was over, but she found herself lost in the here and now.
"We goin in, Mara?" Miles asked. It wasn't a question really. He was just waiting for the order.
Mara pulled the object she'd been playing with in her pocket out at last. It was a tattered fingerless glove, brown leather covered in metal plates and a tie for the wrist. She slipped it on and pulled it tight.
"Take us in."
*****************
SHARPENED EDGE: (part 1)
(By: Ayame)
It was the calm before the storm. Mara Lin, a tall woman in her early 30’s brushed her shoulder-length black bangs back from her face. She leaned over the pilots' chair to peer out the cockpit windows, but still saw nothing but the blackness of space ahead. Her tan fingers began to drum nervously on the cushion.
"Where are they?" grunted the bald man in the pilot seat, "They should've shown up by now."
Mara pulled away quickly, and reached into the pocket of her long sleeveless jacket. Her hand slowly fingered the item inside with careful and practiced movements, though she was scarcely aware of this nervous tick.
"You should be happy, Miles" Mara said, her voice even "every moment they're not here is a moment we stay alive."
"Always the optimist..." the pilot, Miles, replied with a sigh. At the age of 42, Miles was the oldest crewmember onboard. He sported a thick mustache which almost always had a cigarette poking out from it, and a bit of a gut, offset by his muscular arms. He had been flying dangerous missions with Mara for years. Hell, any mission was dangerous when space travel was outlawed, but he was never one to mistake bravado and risky odds for an obvious suicide mission -and they both knew which this was.
"Anyway, maybe intel was wrong...maybe she's not comin' here. Hell, maybe this whole things'
just been a bad dream."
"I wish it was." Mara said "Sometimes I DO think that Gala was a dream...well, more like a nightmare."
With a clink and a flash, Miles lit up another cigarette -his fourth since they'd reached the rendezvous point a half hour earlier.
"Gala WAS a nightmare."
Suddenly, the cockpit doors slid open and in stumbled another woman, who couldn't have been more than 19, but already looked as ragged and careworn as a woman more than three times her age. Her curly brown hair was pulled back into a set of ponytails which hung limply down her shoulders, their dull sheen an odd compliment to the red oil-stained jumpsuit she was trying to zip up.
"Cap, we just got a ting on the long range sensors. The Queen has entered the Solar System."
Mara whipped her attention back from the girl to the cockpit windows, as if she expected to see a hundred space cruisers on top of them.
"News from Terd?"
"Nothing yet. The Redfish II's still out there at the head of the fleet, but he hasn't said a word."
"Jade, hail him. We need some answers."
"Right Cap." The young girl dashed back out of the cockpit as quickly as she'd come, the doors hissing closed behind her.
Jade dashed back through the main corridor and into the communications room. Because the ship had been specially outfitted with a short-wave radio that the Queen couldn't tap into, they'd had to move most of the communications out of the cockpit and into an unused cabin. Jade jumped into the old leather chair in front of the rather shoddy looking piece of equipment and booted the old thing up.
"Come in, come in Redfish II. This is the Samurai Edge calling the Redfish II, over?"
Hearing nothing but static, Jade frantically began switching through the channels. Ever since she'd found herself on board the Samurai Edge, she'd been paranoid that Captain Mara was trying to find an excuse to get her off the ship. Consequently, she tried never to fail in a task and when she did her own mental punishment was something much more severe than any the Captain had ever given her.
"Redfish II, this is the Samurai Edge, PLEASE respond."
*************
"I don't like it." Miles said, taking one last long drag from his cigarette. "They shoulda been here by now. We should be able to SEE them!" he extinguished the butt of the cigarette on the control panel, and roughly pulled out another from the pack. It'd barely touched his lips before it was lit.
"Those'll kill you." Mara said vaguely as she worked on the computer screen at the Nav console. "Especially when you breath in more of them than regular air."
"Don't matter at this point." Miles said, smoke pouring out of his mouth. "Jesus, where ARE THEY?"
"Gimmie one second...got 'em. They're approaching Saturn and....slowing down?"
Miles and Mara both turned to the windows again and looked out into space. In the distance, they could barely make out Saturn, it was no more than an orange speck, but it had distinctions that you come to appreciate when you travel through space.
"What the hell are they doin?"
Suddenly, Jade popped back into the room. She hadn't even taken off the headset from the radio before leaping up to report back to Mara.
"Cap, got word from Terd, The Queen is stopping near-"
"Saturn, we know. Thanks for the warnin, kid." Miles snorted.
"What's..." Jade started to speak, but was quickly cut off by a flash coming from the space ahead, followed by a tremendous shockwave. Jade toppled backwards and down the metal stairs which led to the cockpit door. Mara and Miles both managed to keep themselves in their seats, but only barely.
"Hey Mara," came a deep voice over the radio, "what you and Miles doin up there? I didn't think he was your type."
Mara pulled herself back into a sitting position and practically fell onto the comms button.
"Shut up Dwayne. How're you back there?"
"Took a spill, but I'm cool. Next time, warn me before takin the ship through a black hole, would ya?"
Mara clicked off the radio. Dwayne was the only other member of the Samurai Edge crew and the best damn gunner she'd ever known. He'd saved their asses many times on their flight to Earth, the last stronghold against the Queen, and had fought to keep him on her ship. He was also one of the nicest guys she'd ever known, with a great sense of humor and looks to boot. She'd never been in love with him, but their paths had crossed more than once.
"What happened?" Jade pulled herself back into the doorway of the cockpit, "We get hit, Cap?"
"No..." Mara said, her eyes fixated on the window. Ahead of them, the light from the explosion was still visible, as was the blurry brown haze of a trillion or more bits of rock. "God, she destroyed it..."
The room fell into silence, the three people simply staring ahead as the debris cloud got larger and larger.
"Will any of them reach us?" Jade whispered.
"Not in time." Miles replied. "Looks like they've come at last."
In front of them, several thousand spacecraft suddenly dropped out of Sub Either space. Mara could feel her stomach tighten. Though she’d been in battle before, the distinct appearance of the ships in the Queens Navy gave almost anyone the chills. Seeing them this close was the last thing most people ever saw.
More ships began to slow down to engaging speed. At first, it was a the tiny fighter craft, then the bigger assault and infantry ships, shuttles, and finally the command ships. It was truly an amazing sight. For a moment, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. More and more of the grey ships dropping into normal space, boosting to full impulse power to engage their enemies. Their blasters warming up as they approached.
"Fighters, this is Redfish II. Engage the enemy. Do not let the Queen's army pass."
From off to their starboard side, the assembled crew of the Samurai Edge watched the Redfish II blast forward towards the oncoming enemy ships. A split second later, dozens more followed it, ships of all shapes and sizes. Each one had fled from the Queen as she had come across the universe, destroying planets, enslaving races -or annihilating them altogether. Some of the ships were filled with trained military personnel, but most had crews like the Samurai Edge. Folks that no longer had a home or even a safe place to run to.
Mara watched the Redfish II as it blasted it's way through the first dozen enemy ships. She watched silently as a few on their side were reduced to debris, she tried to think about what she'd be doing tomorrow, when the battle was over, but she found herself lost in the here and now.
"We goin in, Mara?" Miles asked. It wasn't a question really. He was just waiting for the order.
Mara pulled the object she'd been playing with in her pocket out at last. It was a tattered fingerless glove, brown leather covered in metal plates and a tie for the wrist. She slipped it on and pulled it tight.
"Take us in."