Xeno Alliance communications (iRP) (FO)

[Dusty Lens]

//Forum muckup ate the code for this one, can't be bothered to fix it. Bah!

His eyes fluttered open in a drugged state of panic; shallow breaths labored under a sensation which transcended the notion of a smothering pressure, his chest felt like a broken thing. Beneath some numbing agent every drawn gasp for air was accompanied by a sick twisting sensation as though his body was working against itself. He struggled to find his breath from air heavily laden with the smell and taste of chemicals and plastic.

The sensations brought him to the surface of consciousness, he was aware of a bright light, the walls were whi... A hospital. Something must have happened. He opened his mouth to attempt a sound only to find his lips taped to... Something emanating from his mouth, he must have intubated, which would explain the harshness of his breath and the taste of plastics. The notion of a tube being jammed down his throat should have added to his panic, but there was little feeling beyond detachment and a numb fatigue.

Mr. Chambers, please A voice spoke as though from a great distance as a hand was laid upon his forehead, both sensations feeling as though they took place in another room, to another body. Youve suffered extensive trauma, we were forced to crack your chest to perform several surgeries, so it is imperative that you remain still.

The voice had a curious lilt to it, a sing-song quality that felt eerily out of place. His mind was still grasping at the environment so he attributed the offness of it to the drugs. The doct... No, nurse passed by his side, cutting for a moment passed his blurred vision. She had a curious mask over her face, doubtless for contaminants... It looked like the grin of a feral animal was stamped over it.

The Doctor will be with you shortly and, oh, here he is! with a giggle the woman took a step back. David head slowly swiveled to gaze upon a man, swathed in the coated artifacts of his trade, head held within a pilots helmet. David felt a sudden burst of fear, of alien wrongness.

The man swooped over him, blocking the light as his eyes were cast into view. Faded orbs of swirling color set amongst the pale ruins of an ancient mask of flesh danced merrily in their sockets as they bore into his mind.

Corpse


With a squeal of delight the nurse slithered her hands between his fractured chest and tore him open, Davids feeble struggles only serving to further enunciate the spray of blood as the woman tore out his heart, The machine pumped another burst of air into his lungs, and so he screamed.

David awoke with a cry amongst the steady drone of Ourays medical bay. He cast about in panic and confusion for a moment before reaching over the side of his bed to retch The movement bore with it a terrible pain which only served to increase the tide of nausea flowing over him.

A hand touched his back, causing him to jump so violently that he nearly launched himself off of the bed upon which he was perched. The touch became an authoritative grasp upon his shoulder, both holding him in place and sending him into a panic. A soothing voice immediately followed, a welcome departure from the crawling singsong that haunted his, apparently, dream.

Mr. Chambers, youll need to lay back, you will need several more hours before the bonding agents have reversed the trauma. He raised a hand, breathing deeply over the bowl while waiting for the pain and sickness to subside. The tightness in his chest was excruciating, but moments after thinking it had been split asunder before his eyes to serve as a gory plaything of a madwomen he was willing to accept the stabbing with gratitude.

Finally, exhausted he lay back. He was administered a pill that he was too weak to wave off and quickly drifted back towards a sleep that he prayed would be dreamless.


The following day he emerged from the small freighter serving as Ourays medical bay into the dimly lit corridors of her asteroid passages, The gravity in this sector was extremely light allowing him to forgo the use of the cane he carried at his side. He traversed several corridors before, leaning heavily upon the stick for support, made his way to a lift that would take him to the heart of the station.

A catastrophic trade lane failure, onset by the destruction of his vessel mid transit. For almost two days straight he had been pushing the birds under his command to their limits. Running high on stims and rending a bloody path through Libertys lanes. He recalled the quick shutter as West Point became more than a computer generated point on his helmets hud. Then the almost instant appearance of a yawning rend along the side of his cockpit.

Then darkness.

He was told that he was beyond lucky to be alive. His pod had clipped West Point hurtling at speeds far beyond those capable by conventional cruise engines, crushing the mechanisms designed to protect him, spilling its cargo under the duress of the impact to go spinning through the void.

His ship a ruin, his pod a broken wreck, he would have been left for dead if not for a fortuitous rescue by, well, damned if he knew. He should have been a deadman, a body consisting almost entirely of shattered bones wrapped in tissue ravaged by exposure seemed a small price to pay to escape odds that didnt even fit on the chart.

He took a seat in the back of the bar, space floating lazily beyond a window surrounded by the hasty etches of centuries of pilots. Given that this base was employed during the silver rush of Libertys youth many of the names amidst the scrawlings of departing Xeno pilots were hundreds of years gone. Maybe it was the ideal place for dreams about hauntings.

He shuddered slightly as he pulled a small pad from a cargo pocket, smiling with a thankful nod as the waitress (a gal and a right pretty one at that, a massive departure from the norm) left a mug of steaming tea before him. His latest adventure didnt make him any prettier, but maybe there was a chance for his folks to have some grandkids after all.

And wouldnt they just be thrilled to hear that.

Taking a deep breath, luxuriating in the stiffness over wrenching pain, he began to enter his combat report, taking a long pull from a very not doctor subscribed flask fetched from his flightsuit. Stuffing the flask away with a grimace he retrieved a pad from an accompanying pocket, plugging it into the datasafe packet woven into the material.

Xeno black boxes he smirked. So long as you bring back the pilot in one piece you can figure out what happened to him.

** Accessing Ouray-Net **
** Biometric Confirmation **
** David Chambers **

* Select Action
* Submit Debrief

To my chagrin some of the specific details of the last days have been knocked clear of my mind by my recent brushin with bad times. I will, however, attempt put context to what captures were salvaged from my personal data storage.

I opted to take advantage of the lull in security between the borders of Kusari and Liberty, interdicting traffic in the regions surrounding Ames, though maintaining vigil that my business not trespass into their sphere. I found myself involved in a series of altercations within Kusari space proper, resulting in the destruction of a Kishiro super transport and an exceptionally poorly armored Kusari Explorer.

My come uppance came in the form of a Bounty Hunter gunship, which was successful in knocking the face off of my Waran with a well placed trio of razors. Thankfully the safety of Nome and the dark matter cloud was nearby to receive my pod before I could end up on the wrong end of a Hunter's prison cell. Or gun, like as not.

Frankly, so it continued.

Notes of interest and worth from these past two days were a number of encounters, which frankly scared the ever living hell out of me, with a pair of Phantoms by the handles of Gloom and Dark Blossom. Their objectives were compatible with our own... But their methods, personalities and general unknown nature make me exceptionally wary of associating with them beyond ensuring that we do not make enemies of them. While their resources appear to be vastly more substantial than our own, I would strongly cautious against the most passing thoughts directed at forging any manner of association until such a time comes that our understanding of these agents becomes clearer.

I fear the day that I should find such ease in the act of killing.

On a more amusing note the [Cartel], a band of shiftless pirates seem to have come to the mind that they would be well served by declaring hostilities on us. This is a measure that will not serve them well, I'm of the opinion that our pilots would receive a good deal of experience from chasing these hoods out of Liberty, experience that may serve them well against real threats.

Debrief out. Uploading guncam footage and tally.

= Transports Destroyed =

Hitomi Nakano - Ryuujin - Kusari Passengers, a million and a half in untraceable credits.
Hitomi Nakano - Ryuujin - A million and a half in untraceable credits.
ATT-001,003,006,007 - Four Mammoth Class Transports - 4200 Super Alloy
Solar.Eclipse - Advanced Train - 4940 Cardamine
Ceza - Gull Transport - 1000 Boron
Leppy - Gull Transport - 1000 Boron
Aquillas - Gull Transport - 1000 Boron
SiriusLiner-III - IMG Transport - 4100 Cracked Software
Obi-One - Borderworld Transport - An idiot Outcast crew. Forgot to bring them in from the cold however.
Critial - Junker Salvager - 3300 Cardamine
Blubba_Squat - Slave Liner - 3985 Cracked Software
Mining.Express - Albatross Transport - 1000 Ship Hull Panels
Mining.Express - Albatross Transport - 1000 Ship Hull Panels
Amnion - Bumblebee - Ah... Boron? Maybe. Sure. That sounds good. Lots of it too.
Ceza - Gull Transport - 1000 Boron
Leppy - Gull Transport - 1000 Boron
Guther.Asitoz - Firefly Transport - 3500 Luxury Steaks - Now on sale in the Ouray Bar
ATT-003.Captain - Large Train - Boron?


= Transports Willingly Surrendered Cargo =


Shagohad-[T] - Shire - Cardamine 4200
Revy - GMG Whale - Cracked Software 4700
Mining.Express - Albatross Transport - 1000 Ship Hull Panels
DSE.Jinpo


= Transports Who Saved Their Skins =

Synth.Foods-Convoy|104
Elli.Harris
Key_Of_The_Twilight


= Hostile Combat Vessels Destroyed =

KNS.Hakaisha - Kusari Explorer - Shikoku System
Karl.Skorzeney - Orca Gunboat - Hamburg System
LNS-Centaur - Liberty Gunboat - New York System
LNS-Aurora - Liberty Carrier - Critically Damaged - New York System
LNS-Brookstone - Liberty Cruiser - New York System
|Ageira|Mamblas| - Liberty Gunboat - New York System
Warfare - Trident Gunboat - New York System
"Discoverer" - Trident Gunboat - New York System
Jason.Cain - Greyhound - Nuke Mine City. Population? His face.
Ptv.Starkiller - ??? Gunboat ??? - New York System
[Cartel].Don.Buccaleto - Trident Gunboat - California System with a fun bit of banter. Looks like they want a war.


= Vessels Lost =

Waran - BHG|Cocktail.Hour
Civilian Bomber - Critically Damaged but intact - BHG|Esther.Carson

** Upload Complete **