War, War has changed.

[Lieutenant]

Story One: Gravity

Silently, a Jinkusu and Conference vessel made their way through this desolate region of space. The jump hole they'd came through swirled and pulsed angrily, they were trespassers. On board the Jinkusu, the reason they were here waited patiently in an airlock, suited with a vac-suit, a pulse rifle resting against his chest by it's strap. He'd just pulled down his skullie balaclava, a blacked out visor over his eyes to be placed quickly after. The monitor in the airlock flickered to life, his attention caught by it as he hooked a grenade onto his suit's vest.

"We're closing in on the Nomad gate, its got a gravitational field that will pull you into the center. The exoskeleton will give you the strength to get into their airlock. The vessel is inside the gate itself, and once you're out of the airlock, you're on your own, the Pendulum and Viaticum will hold off the Wild vessels. They shouldn't see you going in." The face on the monitor said his piece, then it flickered off.

"Should be interesting." He turned on the head's up display on his visor. Hurrying over to the exoskeleton on the other side of the airlock, he quickly strapped himself into it. The suit begun powering up as the heavier, robotic hands on it clenched and it's bulky feet took a few steps. He could see the transport ship inside the gate, the ships outside zipping around wildly as explosions flared. The Pendulum's lighter gunners fired a few rounds to deactivate the shield around the ship.

He punched the airlock switch, and immediately the door flung open, shutting behind him. He was pulled out immediately at a low speed, drifting slowly towards the Wild's transport vessel. He curled up into a ball as he neared it's hull, slamming into the side roughly as the metal skeleton of a suit around him took the impact. He could feel that old rush, his breaths were quickening, his heart thumping in his chest. Setting up the suit at the airlock of the transport, he wrenched open the airlock, squeezing himself inside before it slammed shut behind him. The next door he gripped into with the suit, pulling with all it's might, the door slid open, air rushing into the lock as he locked the exo-skeleton in position, holding the door open. He dropped out, hitting the floor of the ship as he raised his rifle.

The goal was simple, in and out, in and out, and he kept thinking that. Even when a Wild in his old Rheinland military suit came out of a sliding door. Two shots rang out, the rifle's barrel expelling two white streaks that pierced the infested man's chest. He stepped over the body as he climbed up to the next deck of the ship, rushing up it's stairs as he felt gravity shift within the ship.

"Nnngh!" He grunted, stumbling to the side. He noticed the same from a second infested man who stumbled towards him with a laser pistol in hand. Hitting a knee, he held down his trigger as white bolts of energy slammed into the infested man, sending him tumbling. A second came from the hall and fired off a round from his pistol, scorching the wall next to the man. The infested's chest exploded into fizzles of white energy as he crumpled into a pile on the floor.

Rushing through the control room, he did a circle sweep, checking all the sides. The object had to be here, he thought to himself. It was then a serpentine, blue figure leapt at him, his rifle used as a bar between him and it. A Nomad incubus, the thing that infests humans. He tossed the creature off as it hissed, his rifle tumbling along with it. He flipped out his combat knife, the engravings on it flickering of a single, open eye. He leapt at the incubus, gripping it's serpentine 'neck' if it were, and stabbing into it's body repeatedly. Inky blue covering his knife before he tossed it's limp body away.

Pulling out a pulse pistol on his leg, he crept along into the captain's quarters. There it sat, hovering inside a clear tube as it fed energy throughought the ship, and into the portal gate around them. He hesitated, it was too easy, no one was here. It was then a Wild captain showed himself, aiming a plasma rifle over a desk in the room. Several shots ringing out as the man ducked to the side of the door. He patted himself over, checking to be sure he wasn't hit as rounds splashed over the doorway and walls.

His knife slid away, the hand gripping a grenade on his vest. He tossed it high into the room. A bright flash came from within the room and a deafening bang. He swiveled around the door and entered the room. The captain waved his rifle aimlessly, trying to see as he would pop a few rounds off blindly. Keeping low, the man fired a single shot, scoring a clean hit to the infested man's head. He fell to the floor and made no more sounds. It was quiet now, aside from the hum of the white orb, floating inside the clear tube.

Approaching the container, he fired a shot into the glass, shattering it. Immediately the ship lost gravity, his feet drifting from the floor. He spun for just a moment as he reached for the orb. Finally grabbing it, he planted his feet into the shattered container and shoved away towards the door. The ship rocked violently. He scrambled to get a grip on anything that would lend him help, pulling himself along the floor to the lower decks, back to his exo-skeleton in the airlock. He had to hurry, no doubt they knew he was stealing the orb. Stuffing the object into his vest's bag, he cinched it shut, drifting along the floor towards his exo-skeletal suit. He pulled his weightless body up into it, shoving his legs into the bandstraps, and strapping himself in before he gripped the hand motors.

He released the airlock door, the metal plate slamming shut as he spun around. As he did he could see a missile headed for the airlock door. He lifted the arms of the suit to shield himself. The explosion rocked the entire ship, the air was sucked out, and for a moment he thanked the fact he was wearing a vac-suit. Leaping out of the vessel, he drifted towards the Pendulum, which was being pelted by vessels, the Viaticum gunboat toiling away at destroying the enemy bombers. He extended the big, robotic hand as he neared the Pendulum's hull, he'd land away from the airlock. Taking careful aim, he armed the harpoon rig on the suit, firing the shot into the airlock door. The cord attached pulled snug as the round silently hit the door. He reeled himself in, finally detatching the gripper harpoon, tossing it away as the door slid open.

Tumbling inside, the door shut behind him as the room hissed noisily. Atmosphere filling the vacuum of the room. He peeled out of the exo-skeleton, landing onto the floor as he placed a hand to his headset, saying proudly.

"We have the artifact, lets pull out." He looked back out the porthole of the airlock as they drifted away. The inert gate would remain inert for now, for a long while hopefully. The Pendulum and Viaticum engaged cruise, and the scene left behind was to be picked through by the Wild, no doubt, they no longer needed to remain. He pulled the now dimmed orb from his pouch on his vest, and looked at it discerningly. He set it into a container on the wall of the airlock, slamming it shut as the lable on the box read 'Biohazard'.

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My honest reaction upon reading the forums, whenever I rarely do. Joe Kucan, he's the man.