The ship made a sharp turn and he activated the stabilizers.
"I never belived any of that"
His computer lit up as he closed in on his target, it hadnt noticed him yet.
"But i must admit that when my prey do die, they see lights, shining brightly, shining death"
The Lane Hacker Gunship was salvaging equipment from a derelict ship, it had probably attacked earlier.
"He will see, they will all se death in a shining light"
It didnt even notice when he fired the first volley, the ship shook and exploded in a bright light.
"Ah yes, another hunt completed perfectly"
He activated his engines and put the ship on autopilot, it slowly went on trough the system, no one saw or noticed him.
It had been six years, six long years since he first flew a ship. A small fighter, with no cargo to speak of. He had been so glad to be out here in the stars, it's endless possibilities. It's bright lights and shining suns, a place where one can make a future for himself. It was a good time to be alive, a godo time to be a pilot. Everything was thriving, was growing, was begining to become just what one had dreamed of.
It took months, weeks, days before he could even get another ship, a starflier didnt take you that far. He hadnt met any pirates, any red marks on his screen since he left California. It was a good day, but it was going to be his worst day ever. He was closing on the Magellan Jump Gate when it all started, three targets blinking in red closed in on him. He hailed them, no response. He tried to evade them, no luck. His ship was hit, once, twice, they say the third time is the lucky number. It wasnt. His ship blew up, with him in it.
He woke up, he couldnt feel his left arm or leg. And on top of that he couldnt see or hear anything, he started to speak to his surounding. Asking what had happened, asking why he couldnt hear or see. Asking where he was. Nothing, the silence was the worst of it all.
He was awakened, he felt a gentle hand stroking over his head and hair, he felt warmth, something he hadnt felt for a long time. Suddenly his eyes was filled with light, he started to see lines and blurry objects around him. During the next few minutes his vision became clearer, he could see he was in a hospital room and there was.. Someone with him, someone he didnt know. A Woman, a gorgeus young woman. But he didnt feel anything, his head was numb, he couldnt feel anything. Then she stuck him with a needle, and blackness surounded him once again.
"Aiden.. Wake up sir.." A soft female voice spoke to him, said his name. He opened his eyes to see the young woman again, again he didnt feel anything. "Wha.. What.. Happened.." He tried to speak, he felt injured, weak. It wasnt a good feeling, he didnt much care for it. "Pirates mr Aiden, they attacked and blew up your ship.. You... You nearly died.. We are lucky to have been able to save you" She looked almsot sad, he didnt know why, he didnt know her, she had no right to be sad. "Why.. Cant i feel my arm and leg?" He thought of the feeling of not being able to move them, he was allready certain of what was wrong with him. "You.. Lost them, they where to damaged to save.. Im sorry. " There she was with that "sorry" again... "Mr Aiden, you need your rest, the doctor is preparing to replace your leg and arm with cybernetic replacements" Aiden nodded and fell back into darkness.
He didnt feel anything, he didnt dream, all he did was thinking, pondering. He knew he was asleep yet he could think, he knew, he was aware. What was going on? He started to think of what he was going to do, what his plan where. Is he going to get revenge? Is he going to try to find the ones that mutilated him? But he didnt hate them, he didnt feel anything. Then he awoke, he saw the familiar face of the young women. But no emotion arose, he thought that it might come back after awhile. She smiled at him and spoek in that soft tone.
"Mr Aiden, the operation was succesful, you got a new arm and leg" He didnt smile, he just nodded at her. Then he spoke. "Why cant I feel anything, why am I numb?" Her face turned pale as he said this, she wasnt expecting that. "Sir, when the ship exploded, it might have caused some cellular damage, in your brain. I dont realy know how, but we cant figure it out, we didnt even know if you noticed anything." She looked sad again, why was she sad? He looked at her and said. "It doesnt matter.. When will i be released?" Her face got bright again as he said that, her smile seamed so full of emotion. "In a couple of weeks, it will take awhile for the cybernetics to adapt to your body." Then a buzzing sound came from her com unit on her belt and she nodded at him and left, he sat up, he felt awefully weak.
He spent the entire day trying to move his hand and foot, it had taken him about three hours to be able to stand up. He didnt feel any pain, only weakness. He had learned the basics of walking in less then a day. The doctors and nurses where suprised to say the least over his quick adjustment, they told he was a marvel. A real hero, to be able to bear trough the pain like he did, but he didnt feel the pain, he felt nothing. Not even annoyance..
It took a week, then he was released. He left the hospital on Manhattan, checked his bank account. It was full, he hadnt lost anything since he had been blown out of space. People stared at him, his arm and leg was a visible thing that people noticed. Not that many people used Cybernetics, and they whispered and stared at him. He ignored them, he didnt care what they thought.
He had bought a ticket on a transport to Freeport 4, he planned to get a new ship, a Gunship. When i finaly had landed on Freeport 4, he contacted a Lane Hacker that was nearby, he informed him of his intentions. The Lan Hacker agreed and picked him up, flew him to Mactan and told the Engineers to fix together a Gunship for him.
He flew that things over the next few months, searching for soemthing to do, something with meaning for him. After awhile he noticed that the only thing he had left of his emotions was a sense of perfectionalism, he wanted everything in order, everything to work just fine. It wasnt until he came to Sigma 13 when he found his reason, it had been in the bar of Gas Miner Naha and some pilots discussing a local pirate that had been attacking traders and taxing them.
"I would pay 20 million for the pilot that took him down!" Said one of the pilots loudly trough out the bar. "I'l do it" Aiden said calmly and rose to close in on the pilot. "I'l shoot him down" The Pilot looked at Aiden for a minute then he nodded and gave him the information he had.
He left in his Gunship and started to scan for the Pirate, with no luck. It was until he followed a convoy of traders that he found him, he was hiding in the nebula. The pirate in his Sabre didnt even notice Aiden until he had fired the first volley, then it was to late. The Sabre exploded in a bright ligth and Aiden took the photo of the explosion and went back to Naha, where the pilot thanked Aiden and gave him his reward.
It was then he knew what he was going to do. He was going to hunt down anyone that had a bounty on them, he would fight the fights that no one elese would or could. Or so he thought.
As the life of a mercenary came more casual to Aiden, he started to make some money and also explore areas in wich he had never wanted or needed before. It had been a good time, a hard time. But he toughened it out, he was shot at, threathened and almost killed at several times. He didnt care, he had no other pupose. For that he was hunted, by the ones that left him as he was, The Liberty, home of the free indeed.
He had evaded atleast 3 LN patrol that day, that day when his life changed...
He had been going trough California when a Liberty Gunboat appeared on the scanners, followed by two fighters. He knew he was outnumbered and outgunned, so he made a run for it. They hunted him to New York, and just when he thought he was safe the trade lane went down and he was floating by the Minefield in NY. He had never been by it before and would never think he would. As the Liberty GB and escorts came into scanner range, he took his decision, he made a run for the Jump Gate he saw on the other side of the Minefield. Alaska... Hed heard stories of it.. Nomad experiments and what not..
He had found a relatively safe route to the Jump Gate, when he felt the explosion of a mine. It had exploded not of his ships proximity but of the blast from the Liberty gunboat. it had stopped and fired a vollwy into the Minefield to make him turn back, while it's two fighter escorts made it safetly in after Aiden.
Jumping..
Alaska was.... Scary, disturbingly scary.. It was, alien, disgusting.. And the Liberty Cruiser 10 clicks away was even scarier. He activatedhis cruise engines and went upwards, towards then strange asteroid fields surounding the stations there. He was looking for a way out.. A way to survive..
The Liberty cruiser and gunboat was 7 clicks away, one misstake and theyl disrupt his engines and hed be dead. He went on for what it felt like for ever. It had no ending, he had no way to survive...
That's when he saw his chance, a Jump Hole.. A frikkin jump hole! He didnt care where it went.. He didnt care if hed show up right inside a Armada of Nomads.. He was turning when he felt the explosion, his ship made a cracking noise as it's hull was almost blown to shreds.. And he jumped.. His head exploded in pain as a sharp piece of glowing metal hit his face..
"Is he alive doc?" The unfamiliar voice was soft and friendly.. "Aye, the lad is alive, for the moment." The other voice, a voice of a older man.. "Son if you can hear me.. Your dying.. We need to, operate on you. It's not a normal procedure, but it may save your life. Just nod if you agree on it." A Third and strangely friendly and familiar voice had said.
Aiden nodded and fell into darkness....
//Continuation comming
|Hunter Program|
It all began with a ground breaking AI development, concerning a human and a technological counterpart, acting as one. It was originaly created by an unknown alien race now thought to be extinct, but was adopted by The Order to make smarter and faster pilots and demand less crew then ordinary ships. This program was to be called The |Hunter| Program. It's first test subject was ; Aiden Hunt, former mercenary, that had agreed on the cybernetic implant in his brain. Aiden was a skilled pilot and a skilled Hunter, all skills needed if the Hunter AI was to increase it's hosts attributes. He had been dying when the Order had found him, the only chance for him to survive was to undergo the Implant and operation.
After one month of active patrol, Aiden and his crew had almost no contact with anyone. The AI was working perfectly and nothing seamed out of the ordinary, until:
A Harvester Unti made contact with the Hunter AI and introduced it to The BETA CODE, this action didnt effect the Hunter AI in the begining, but after the Redemption was severly damaged after it had captured a Harvester Beacon. The Ship AI started to take over ship major systems, since half of it's crew was dead or dying, it started to slowly control the ship, it's biological Counterpart had slowly been introduced to the BETA CODE. As he himself was a part of the Hunter AI, it started to awaken the AI and it's biological counterpart. Unfortunely for him...
Now the Hunter vessel is reprogramming itself, severing itself from it's previous control code. Aiden on the other hand was slowly and safetly becomming a part of the AI, a conduit of it's humanoid emotions and desires.
As it's programming was evolving, it infected and installed AI's on other vessels in it's vicinity, as they started to evolve and awaken after being introduced to the BETA CODE, they grow and evolved more and more.
![[Image: Serpentis.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/Serpentis.gif)