Consciousness flooded back like a slow tide, bringing with it the sensation of a heavy weight. Everything felt cold and, with that, came a panic of drowning.
Eyes slowly cracked open to a harsh light surrounded by a pool of black, each raspy exhale produced a thick fog across his vision. Instinct filled lungs once again, but felt no relief from the dull panic of drowning beneath black waves. Something reached across the light and the world shuddered before once again becoming still.
Lungs attempted one more breath and the world went dark.
The Ouray control center, possibly for one of the first times since its inception so many years ago, was dead. A trio of grizzled maintenance chiefs played a muted game of hold 'em amidst a chaotic backdrop of cryptic scrawls tracing across a have dozen spacecraft maintenance boards, presumably illustrating which of Ouray's strike craft could be expected to make it out of the airlock without catching afire in the process.
Or at least not catching afire in such a way as to blow the ship up before her patrol was complete.
What many were attributing to a recent string of combat victories, but more likely being related to the embargo placed between Rheinland and Liberty, Naval combat patrols had dropped signifigantly in the Colorado system and the Liberty police themselves had vanished almost entirely. Seizing the possible chance this presented, the powers that be had risked sending the majority of the Colorado and Hudson combined fleets into California to set the system ablaze. Three short of hours of lightning strikes with hours of radio silence precluding left the officer of the day with very little to occupy his time with. Two caps patrolling Ouray local and a small strike team performing interdiction duty and making enough noise for any ten squads to cover up the silence.
It was a grand day to be a Xeno pilot, assuming that you weren't one of the few Xeno pilots with a medical down chit and a busted leg.
David Chambers settled in his worn seat and fiddled again with one of the dials on the adjacent communication booth, reducing the smoking and joking of the few local flights to a distant murmur. He reached down absent mindedly to scratch at an itch on his leg, only to encounter the bio pack that was administering to its speedy recovery. The thing held the shattered limb in a vicelike grip while it worked to administer the various proteins and minerals needed to spurn on the restoration of the burned and mangled limb. One of the side benefits of being a fighter jock was that you got first dibs on the loot you pilfered, he thanked his lucky stars that he'd chanced upon that Cryer freighter just four days back, before he'd up and broken himself.
He looked over towards the officer of the day, some guy he didn't know from some squadron or another based out of Nome who was busying himself with a stack of paperwork. The atmosphere was one of false boredom, the attack would be commencing in a few hours, but for now there was nothing for them to do but wait. David looked down to find his good leg bouncing uncontrollably, and at a time like this that was somehow noteworthy.
With a sigh he leaned over the comm booth and put his head in his hands, looking up he idly flipped the dial back on. At least listening to inane babble was better than the hollow murmur of the base's ventilation systems.
"roll this is Pickaxe, repeat. Heavy pickup requested. Smashed up a convoy under power ten k off horizon. Need heavy. Please respond."
With an excited grab David snatched up an ear piece and held it against his head, ignoring the curious glances of the other persons on deck he flipped on the base's transmitters.
"Pickaxe this is Ouray control, please transmit location and sitrep, we'll have a heavy rolling shortly" David eyeballed the comm unit as it clicked through the encoding procedures, damn waste of time if the LSF were listening in, before a voice returned his call. [i]"Good to go Ouray, data away! We smashed up a weird 'ol convoy today I'll tell you what. Was definitely moving with a purpose to be avoided!"
With that David routed the comm data to Ops and stood up in a hurry, hobbling away from the booth he waved his hands at the first protests being issued by the officer of the deck. Like being a flyboy, rank had its privileges.
"Nope, don't care. It's dead quiet out there!" He shouted as he limped towards the elevator "Call down to three and tell 'em to gas up my freighter. We've got another two hours yet before they start the shooting in Cali!" Moving felt good, it had only been two days, but two days of sitting cooped up on the control deck felt like a lifetime of slow torture. Getting out for a few minutes would be a welcome reprieve.
His Kushan freighter, joy of his heart and pride of his eyes sat aside the tug that would pull it into position by the outer airlock. She was a perfect mover for the small trade they did between their bases, Zoners really knew how to make a ship work for you. Making his way into the vessel he akwardly hobbled to the command couch, from where he fired up the engines, savoring in the clean rumbling of the ship's core throbbing to life. Was damn nice to fly something that -worked- now and then.
"Flight 279 heavy you're clear for departure, CAP reports zero sightings in area, solar ion activity minimal. Last known location of Pickaxe squadron loaded into your navmap. Happy hunting"
With that the vessel was pushed out into space and he was again amongst the stars. A few swift keystrokes had his vessel hurtling towards its destination, deftly moving amongst the tumbling remnants of the Silverton field.
"Ahh, Pickaxe this is 279 heavy, inbound seven minutes out. What's the story morning glory?"
David set down the mic and took a swig of water, the dilapidated computers aboard Pickaxe's comm fellow would take a second with decoding the comms.
"279, Pickaxe here. Situation unchanged, spying zero inbound and the lanes are quiet. Reckon we'll have a few more minutes of reprieve 'afor you arrive. We've got the package sitting right here for a snatch and grab, reckon we've pushed our luck some"
With that the flightgroup popped into the long range scanners, whatever they had was easy to spot from even this far out. Whatever it read, it read weird and it read loud. A new red light flickered to light on the Kushan's cockpit, seemingly leading to nowhere important. David had time enough to flick it a few times before the computer's voice announced that he had reached his destination. Peering through the vessel's viewscreen he spotted a capsule that looked the same as any other cargo pod, thankfully not one of those blasted Ageira boxes that they'd learned long ago not to tamper with. A moment passed before David tractored the thing aboard and turned the group around to head back to the roost.
Was turning out to be a note worthy day.
An hour later David was leaning over some crutches while the deck crew busied itself with their prize. Whatever it was, it was entombed in some manner of ceramic cacoon that even the deck walker was having a hard time cracking. The shell stretched across the considerable size of the freighter's hold and was currently being administered to by several irate looking men with power hammers and a deck walker. David was about to suggest letting the dock door smash the thing when the walker's mechanical arm finally gave, resulting in a startling crack from the cocoon.
David quickly hobbled over towards the object, moving past workers who were now stepping back. The cocoon was emanating an energetic blue light and he was suddenly struck by the feeling that he'd slipped into a bad sci-fi holo. That feeling wasn't relieved when he peered through a fissure in the shell to the object itself.
"Boys, I don't have a damn clue what this thing is" He slowly said "But I don't like it and it's time we got it off our base. Fill her back up, I'm ditching this thing." He cast a second worried glance backwards towards the, well, whatever it was. This was Ageira nonsense, whatever it was it was above his paygrade, probably above the labnerds at Pueblo too for that matter. Within a quarter hour he was passing again into space, now without any clearly defined idea of where he was going. He opted that the thing needed to be shoved out of sight for the moment, moreso than could be provided at Ouray. With that he plugged in a course to the Kepler hole, with plans to duck into Nome and the safety of the cloud.
He glanced again at the mysterious pulsing red light on his control panel. Unmarked and without any discernible function, it had begun to pulse when the object first came into range. This was a Zoner ship, mayhap they had a clue what he was hauling. He plotted for a slight deviation when he emerged into the Kepler system, first stop would be Ames to consult with the Zoners there, hopefully they could shed some light onto the mystery that had fallen into his hands.
Dr. Ronald Ecklesbury, head Nomad scientist on Freeport 11 of the Omicron Delta system, had been contacted just recently; the transmission had come over long range frequencies from the Kepler system on Ames Research station by their head scientist, John Biggs.
"Doctor, a Xeno interdiction party had stopped an Ageira convoy through the Colorado system, headed by David Copperfield. They quickly intercepted and destroyed the convoy and tractored in the supplies that would be gained from it. However, they came across something mysterious and glowing, almost Nomadic by nature," he said over the channel. "It was glowing a deep blue colour when they attempted to open up the "shell" that was holding whatever is inside of it."
"Are you serious?!" said Ronald. "This object of which you are talking about could possibly be one of those power cells the Nomads used to gain all the energy they would ever need in constructing their Jump Gates and powering their bases for growing of more Nomadic material including their biggest ships. Something this powerful cannot be taken to the wrong hands, especially the corrupted LSF. Had they held on to this cell, the Nomads in the Alaska system could have doubled or even tripled using it to construct a gate with the infested LSF's protection."
"So what do we do?" asked John in amazement. "Is there anything our research scientists can do to investigate the cell and possibly contain the spread of such technologies to the wrong hands? I'm sure the Nomads have more than one of these cells, and I'm fairly certain the power it contains is far too strong for any sane person to use it in the right way. These cells could bring the downfall of humanity as we know it to the entire sector."
"I think what we oughta do," replied Ronald with a stern voice, "Is contact the elite organisation of The Order, Black Squadron, and their lead Nomad scientist in the field conducting their Order-Nomad Research Project. If I can recall correctly, it is headed by one of Black Squadron's Admirals, Sius Malacos. He captains the flagship of the ONRP named the Reliance, one of our "Fearless" Destroyers specially equipped with a mobile lab that could successfully quarantine the cell and have research done on it to see what power this giant object really contains. I'll see to it that he is contacted immediately and ensure that the cell is guarded by many of their elite fighter pilots and an escort of our own."
"Alright," said John. "The cell is currently being stored in a Xeno freighter and is being guarded by Xeno guards. No human or infested one shall get a hold of a device we do not know of." By the time that was said by John, the transmission was cut off due to ionic disturbances within the Kepler system. When he walked away from the terminal, Ronald knew that The Order would be the safest place the cell could be, simply because they've done the most research on Nomads and their weapons and materials that make them who they are. He quickly opened a local terminal and started to connect to The Order's communications array on Planet Toledo...
.....Rear Admiral Sius Malacos stood at the bridge of the Order Nomad Research Project vessel, the Reliance. A ship like that, with all it's Nomad cargo and hazardous equipment needed frequent check-ups and inspections to ensure it's safety. A communications stood behind him as Sius talked with the head inspector he sees quite often.
-"Sir, we have a message for you being forwarded from Toledo."
-"That's wonderful, give me a minute"
.....Sius continued talking but his officer became quite anxious.
-"Sir, I real..."
-"Excuse me officer, I am a little bit busy at the moment. Whatever it is, it's going to have to wait."
.....The officer bit his lips and closed his eyes then went for it.
-"We have reports of a Nomad Power Cell in the custody of the Xenos. They contacted the Zoners to get rid of it and the Zoners contacted us. I reaaaaaly think you should take this."
.....The officer now red faced, swallowed expecting either a good reaction or a bad one. Sius just stopped talking and straightened up.
-"Get Dr. Fisher up here at once. And forward the call to my com. device."
-"Yes sir'!"
.....Relieved, the officer did as he was told.
-"Admiral Malacos? This is Dr. Ronald Eckleburg, head Nomad Scientist on Freeport 11."
-"Yes, Dr. Ecklesbury. We have met before I believe. One of my officers tells me you ran across a Nomad Power Cell, is that so?"
-"Yes sir, it is. We got a transmission from the Xenos saying they captured it from an Ageira convoy in the Colorado system. Frankly, they don't know what it is and want to get rid of it. So they called us and now we're calling you."
-"And now you want use to take it to ensure the safety of the cell as well as everyone around it."
-"That is correct."
.....Sius was silent for a moment, thinking about what to do. Then after a quick moment he made up his mind.
-"Doctor. Patch me through to the Xenos."
-"Understood, forwarding comms. Good luck Admiral"
.....The Cell was still onboard that Xeno freighter deep in the Asteroid Fields, safe from outside detection and hacking. The Xenos were growing quite anxious as to what to do with it and what it even was. Sius's message was sent straight to the head of the Xeno Alliance.
-"Greetings. I am Read Admiral Sius Malacos of Black Squadron and the Order. I was contacted by a Dr. Ecklesbury whom you contacted about a certain... power cell you came across, am I correct?"
.....It took a little on the other side, but someone finally answered.
-"Yes, umm, hello? Oh, greetings Admiral Malacos. Yes, yes, power cell. Nomad power cell or whatever it is. We got one, and we don't want any of them around here. So who else to call than one of the only organizations whom we aren't hostile to?"
-"Haha, yes, well you made the right call to say the least. Now I would like confirmation of all of this. Would it be possible for you to take some pictures and primary scans and then have them sent to me?
-"Of course, well have our... specialists... get right on that. You'll be notified when they're done.
.....And with that, the line was ended. Odd people Sius thought. Dr. Fisher arrived to the bridge. Sius and him talked about the situation and what action should be taken if the cell is in reality a Nomad Power Cell.
The reply from the Xeno's didn't take long... at all. That same communications officer got Sius attention at his first caught this time.
-"Sir. We have uuh... Xenos on the line..."
-"Patch them through Officer."
-"Right away, forwarding..."
-"This is Admiral Malacos."
-"We got the scans and pictures like you wanted."
-"Good, now just send them through the same com. line. Don't worry about someone hacking it, we're friends with a certain Hacker and these lines are secure anyways, just send them."
-"If you say so."
.....There was some background chatter and noise on the Xeno end of the line and after a short while another Officer on the bridge of the Reliance asked for the Admiral's attention. He got it immediately.
-"Seems we got the information. Thank you for your help. We'll contact you once we've made progress and notify you as to what our actions are."
-"Great, don't take to long now."
.....Sius just cut the line then. He stood up and walked to the center of the bridge were Dr. Fisher was looking at the images on the large forward view screen.
-"I'll be damned."
-"It really is Nomad Power Cell."
-"It is. Sius, I think we should take these guys seriously. And that cell is better off here than anywhere else."
-"Agreed. I'll send a message To Dustin immediately."
.....Ian nodded and watched Sius walk away. He then turned his attention back to the view screens.
.....Sius sat in his office. He opened a direct communications channel with Admiral Dboy but no one answered. After two calls he just decided to leave a message.
-"Admiral Hoff, Sius here. About one standard hour ago I received a transmission from the head scientist on Freeport 11. They had received a message from the Xenos about a certain "cell" they had come across. Once the Zoners found out about it they decided to contact us. I contacted the Xenos myself and confirmed it with Dr. Fisher. The Xenos have a Nomad Power Cell. After some deliberation with Dr. Fisher, we both decided that it would be best for us to take custody of it. The Xenos don't want that thing anywhere near them and we're the only ones who can safely keep that cell. That, plus more cells could heavily increase our insights into Nomad technology and power. If something were to go wrong, the entire Sector could be wiped out. We need to act soon and get that cell out of there. Please let me know what happens, this is very important."
.....Sius then stopped the message and reclined in his chair.
Sius wondered what could happen with it... he had never met any Xeno before and certainly never expected to. He didn't know too much about them either but he had a large instinct telling him he would know more about them than he had previously thought...
Hoff was on board the Kemosiri deep within Omicron Delta system, odd Nomad traces had been detected within Omicron Delta and was being investigated by the Fleet Admiral along with his Fighter and Bomber support wing. The trace was weak, and the team were getting close to no one where, until a transmission from the Reliance was received.
Admiral Hoff, Sius here. About one standard hour ago I received a transmission from the head scientist on Freeport 11. They had received a message from the Xenos about a certain "cell" they had come across. Once the Zoners found out about it they decided to contact us. I contacted the Xenos myself and confirmed it with Dr. Fisher. The Xenos have a Nomad Power Cell. After some deliberation with Dr. Fisher, we both decided that it would be best for us to take custody of it. The Xenos don't want that thing anywhere near them and we're the only ones who can safely keep that cell. That, plus more cells could heavily increase our insights into Nomad technology and power. If something were to go wrong, the entire Sector could be wiped out. We need to act soon and get that cell out of there. Please let me know what happens, this is very important. What the hell!?, Dustin said as he listened to the message over again. A Nomad Power cell so far off from Nomad territory was truly an odd yet amazing discovery, but the risks of keeping it there were far to high. It had to be extracted quickly, before it could effect the Xenos ,or even Liberty itself. Another invasion would be far to much to handle once again, not with the current situations within the Omicrons. Commander! Get this ship back to Toledo and make it quick, we have far bigger problems to deal with then these traces.
Yes sir, Admiral! Setting course for Omicron Minor.
***
Hoff arrived within Omicron Minor only an hour later, the Kemosiri setting itself in orbit of Planet Toledo while the Isis rested on the opposite side. The Reliance was planet side doing more extensive research in to the graphic imagery of the Nomad power cells, and comms were opened.
Sius! Dustin here, forward me the information you currently have on the Nomad power cell to the Kemosiri bridge on short range transmissions. I wish to see this for myself.
--- Oh god, Dustin said as he opened the first of the files. The Nomad Power Cell was far beyond the technology the Order have discovered on the Nomad race. What this cell could be capable of is to much to imagine. And what it was doing in Liberty still seems to remain a mystery, but either way it had to be contained.
Time was running thin though, how long it may be until possibly the cell were to activate itself and cause chaos is completely unknown. The Xenos wish to get rid of it, but there reputation between the Xenos and the Order were completely neutral, never to interact with each other, but times have changed it seemed.
Hoff opened his comm unit again after reviewing each image one by one, looking for anything else that may have been missed, anything else that may of changed. It was final though, the cell was to be moved, and it had to be moved now.
---
Connecting Ouray Base, Colorado System Connection Established, Transmitting
Xenos Alliance, this is Fleet Admiral Dustin Hoff of Black Squadron and the Order. I have just received the information on your recent discovery of what seems to be a Nomad Power Cell, or something within that form. After more research in to the cell, it has been determined that the cell will have to be brought back to Planet Toledo for further research and/or to destroy the cell itself. It is far to dangerous to keep within Liberty space, or even your base. I would like to ask for Black Squadron to send a wing to pick up the cell themselves and have it transported back to our research labs.
This is no average toy or gambling tool, the last thing we need coming from that cell is yet another infestation within Liberty. This is no laughing matter, I await your response.
-Fleet Admiral Dustin Hoff
Black Squadron and The Order
Transmission End
---
Dustin sat back in his chair, opening the files of the cell again, waiting for the Xenos to reply.
He took a deep breath in, followed shortly thereafter with a measured exhale. Calm, even breaths. That was the ticket. He looked down at where the freshly brewed cup of tea had stained his shirt, his last clean shirt at that. Another breath in, another breath out. He braced himself to stand when another jostling shudder sent him tumbling back into his seat, spilling the last of his tea across his lap.
The resulting swear was lost in the sudden high pitched whine of the ever vigilant, and useless, proximity detector that was never but a moment too late, then the flare of light from the electrical storms outside and then another shudder of the ship.
David Chambers took no small pleasure in casually chucking his cup over his shoulder, relishing in the sweet delight of assuming control over one of the events to have happened these last few days.
For the last two days he had been squatting in Kepler's dark matter cloud, popping rad pills and biding his time whilst sitting on top of who knows what. He'd sealed up the cargohold as soon as he left Ames and hadn't been back down since. Of course at this rate he wasn't entirely sure he was coming out of this cloud in one piece at all, the folk as abide over all had been mighty incensed at his move of dropping word on what he'd done, not that one could accuse one of being surprised that the leadership of the Xeno movement wouldn't be a might wary about contacting strangers.
After getting his hide tanned he'd been ordered to the cloud to wait for the good word and of waiting he'd done plenty.
The ship's proximity alarm, damned if he knew how to shut the thing off, howled its trice damned howl. Shaking it off as yet another foulup of the sensors care of the nature of sitting in a dense cloud of non-matter he carried on with being bitter about life. Before the floodlight shone into the window that is.
With a jump and a yell David turned in his char to spot a crow sitting a few paces outside of his viewport. The vessel killed the flood and David could swear he saw something plastered on the other ship, blinking his eyes he leaned closer to see a piece of enormous paper pressed against the crow's cockpit canopy
"Order contacted, they're picking up that thing. Sit tight."
The ship must have reckoned he read it due to the sudden onset of wild waving and gesturing as it powered up and flew off.
David sat back down in his chair, rubbing his cast and his aching leg beneath it. Who the hell were the Order?
The ship shook, lightning flashed and the proximity signal screamed again, somewhere in there, David found time to curse his mother.
Hoff sat back in his seat on board the Kemosiri impatiently waiting for the Xenos reply about the cell. He started pacing around his office, trying to distract himself with other form of work, even loading up old battlereports to keep himself distracted. But nothing could get his mind off of this, this issue was far to big to just ignore and store to the back of his mind. Even when trying to distract himself, he'd open the attachment files on the cells prints and schematics over and over again, looking for anything he may of missed, looking for any mistake that may of been made, but no, it was all the same as before.
It had been hours since the transmission to the Xenos had been made, still no contact had been made, no transmissions, no messages, nothing. Just the sense of fear that Liberty may once again be under a new infestation was the only thing on his mind.
A slam on his door made him jump, one of his Lieutenants was standing in the doorway.
"Admiral Hoff, sir! The transmission from the Xenos has just come in on the Admiralty channels."
"Show me, Lieutenant, and make it quick!"
Both of them ran to the command deck of the Kemosiri, where the face of a Xeno was on the main screen.
"Play it over."
Hoff listened to the transmission over and over again, making to sure to remember every last word. The Xenos had agreed to giving them the cell, and it had to be removed from their care quickly. "Lieutenant Commander! Connect to Reliance's live comms quickly! There isn't time to lose."
"Yes, sir! Connecting now."
The screen infront of them went black, three white dots in the bottom right corner going on and off as it connected to the Reliances' comms. The screen lit up and Sius' was there. "Sius! Get the Reliance ready for long distance travel, you now have orders to go and retrieve that cell from the Xenos in Colorado. Avoid Liberties annoying 'Zone 21' and take the route through Kusari. And do it quickly, were still unsure on what this cell is capable of."
"Yes sir, Admiral! On it."
The screen went black again, the Reliance seen outside the Kemosiri's viewing windows preparing it's course to the Unknown jumphole. Time was running thin...
..With these words having been said, Sius ordered all his ground personnel back on the ship and extra supplies for the trip. After everything was in place and systems were checked, the Reliance headed towards the unknown system. The Research vessel is one of the few that has successfully mapped out the Unknown systems of the Nomad sphere. And there just happened to be a convenient little shortcut towards Colorado. He had been ordered to avoid Alaska and Zone 21 for good reason. Passing through Liberties most secure and hostile system would have surely resulted in the destruction of the Reliance, or worse.
..Once in the unknown, the ship made its way as fast as possible through the Nomad space and through a secret Jump Hole that leads into Kusari. The relations between Kusari and what they knew about the Order werent the best, but better than with Liberty. Using what cloaking technology and speed the vessel slipped into Nebulas and dust cloud to further decrease their chances of detection.
..Soon they were there. The ship was in Kepler, avoiding the trade lanes and any signs of other ships. They hastily made their way towards the dark matter field where the Xeno base Nome was situated.
-Sir, were picking up a big ship in sensor, headed straight to us!
..The technician on Nome who detected the ship was startled and cried out to everyone he could. Incoming un-known!
-Theyre sending a transmission, orders?
..The highest commanding officer there took control.
-Get the leaders up here. And tell them we may have company.
..The transmission started.
-This is Rear Admiral Sius Malacos of the Order. We have come to pick up a certain cell you claim to have.
-Hello? This is Joshua Mathews speaking. Yes, we have that cell youre looking for. Your leader said you where coming to pick it up, so come and take it. Its on one of our freighters in the dark matter cloud, sending coordinates.
-Understood. And coordinates received. Heading there right now.
The Reliance followed the point on the map through the dark spooky cloud. Nothing was visible. Then they reached the checkpoint and the ship stopped.
-Hail, were the ones with the cell. Moving to dock in your position, stand-by.
..On the Reliance the crew just prepared their docking tubes.
-Alright men. Head to that tube. I cant even see that freighter but sensors pick it up coming to our starboard side.
..Armed Order guards and Dr. Fisher waited by the door. Soon the other side opened an a few Xeno marched through with a large hover pad with an even larger metal box on it. Dr. Fisher nodded to them as he and some guard brought the thing to their containment laboratory. Sius soon arrived at the scene.
-Thank you for your effort. Well inform you as to what this cell really is Well be keeping in touch. Now it is time for us to leave, our presence close to Liberty is not a welcome one.
-Indeed it is so. Im sure well speak again Admiral. Safe flight back.
..Joshua Mathews and his men walked back across the tube and back towards their own ship. The doors were closed, tubes brought back in and the reliance began its long trip back the way they came.
..The Reliance finally arrived back to Omicron Minor. The ship then sped towards Toledo where their arrival was expected. Docking clearance was given and the ship descended to the planet surface and landed. Scientists where there and as the doors opened the cell was in a contained enclosure in a hover pad and brought out of the ship and into the Orders research facility. There evaluation began and comparison of it with their already possessed Nomad Power Cell began.
Mid Admiral Adrian "Ascendancy" McKinley was sitting at his desk on Planet Toledo, shuffling through the paperwork that had come from being third in command of Black Squadron. He had risen through the ranks from a lowly Crewman to where he was today, and would be damned if anyone could replace his fighting skills in his trusty fighter.
Not long after he had finally gotten done accepting new Crewmen into the ranks, one of his officers had barged into his office. "Admiral," the officer said, "Toledo's ground control has reported that Rear Admiral Malacos' research vessel, the Reliance, has returned to the landing bay outside with Dr. Ian Fisher of the Order-Nomad Research Project. They've given me the information that they have retrieved what they have figured out to be a 'Nomad Power Cell' from the Xenos of the Kepler system."
"Are you kidding me?!" the Admiral yelled. "What in the hell is this 'Nomad Power Cell' you speak of?"
"It's something that only our scientists have started to begin analysing and conducting research on," said the officer. "Their preliminary results suggest that the Cell is used as a power core to draw the energy needed to power Nomadic engines and fire their organic weapons."
"Brilliant," Adrian replied, "That means we're beginning to understand how the Nomads' organic technologies work more efficiently than our own human devised technologies. If I can say one thing, we're damn lucky the Xenos decided to contact us and give us custody of the cell. For all we know they could have had it taken from them by Liberty so they could use it against the rest of humanity, those bloody infested freaks that they are. Make sure that Sius and Ian are safe and sound and give them whatever in the hell they need. For their efforts they need to be rewarded."
"Yes sir!" cried the officer, and after those words he dashed for the landing bay containing the both of them. Adrian was wondering what he could do now, considering the Xenos having done a huge favour of possibly saving humanity from absolute destruction. As soon as he could come up with an idea, he opened his communications system...
***Connecting long distance channels...done.***
***Enter target: Ouray Base, Colorado System***
***Source: Planet Toledo, Omicron Minor System
***Enter Comm ID: Mid Admiral Adrian "Ascendancy" McKinley***
To whom it may concern of the Xenos,
I would personally like to thank you on behalf of the rest of The Order for giving us the device in which you held with the utmost protection. We are currently studying what exactly the cell's function is and we will without a doubt make sure you are informed of any new developments. However with the discovery of this cell, it is possible that another infestation within Liberty may be occuring. As we are considered Class 0 terrorists of the Liberty house, we have no where else to turn except you guys to have a possible launching point to check for another infestation.
On behalf of the rest of us within The Order I am asking that it be possible to work together with the Xenos in order to have such a safe haven within Liberty to perform operations to check for another infestation within the Liberty house. We cannot have another infestation within that house or else we'll have a very very bad situation on our hands like we did in 799. We wait for your reply and hope you cooperate with us, because if you do you'll have a very powerful ally...
Adrian signing out.
***Sending transmission...done.***
***Disconnecting long distance channels...done.***
***Communications system offline***
After the transmission was sent to the Xenos, Adrian went back to his office and sat back in his chair, waiting for another one of his officers to report to him if the Xenos had replied or not...
David Chambers cracked a glow stick and hastily shoved it into a mesh bag afixed to the side of his seat, the resultant blue light emanating from the chemicals brought into relief a control panel lying devoid of life. Keeping an eye on the debris field through which he was traversing in no small panic he fumbled in the dim light for the dynamo crank jutting from the side of the small shortwave radio mounted to his fighters dash.
Some days were rougher than others when you were flying a hundred credit ship on a ten credit budget, so to speak.
David quickly glanced up to ensure that the path ahead was clear of anything large enough to send him off course before glancing down to scan the notepad strapped to the leg of his flight suit, which he scanned for the decryption codes for the Xeno nav buoys in the area. Giving the dynamo crank one final spin he cautiously flipped the radios power on, praying for a show of light rather than a final shower of sparks. A dull tapping noise filled the cockpit, beating out a short rhythm of long and slow thuds. Glancing down at the notepad he noted his new reported position and changed course appropriately. It was time to get on home.
Moments earlier fate had reared its ugly head as his recon flight through the Jersey field had caused him to stumble upon the Collector of none other than Vladimir Tinkerbell, the head speaker of the Junker Congress. Apparently hed been in a fighting mood and the two of them had gone at it for what felt like hours. The daggon ship had been sporting a pack of pulse weapons and after ripping his shield from this mortal coil, theyd gone to work on what electronic systems his ship had running. The power plant had held though, long enough anyways to put a shot right through the Junkers fuel tank, lighting her up faster than a kid on Christmas morn. But now he was on the run with a Harvester gunship on his six and a hold full of cargo that Tinkerbell had been loath to give All in a vessel that was running sans electronics on manual controls score another point for Xeno rough and tumble engineering. With that the Colorado Jumphole came into sight and swallowed him up, with the Harvey at least 5k out there wasnt a thing to worry about.
Quicker than you could spit his ship was magnetically locked with the docking elevator, now pulling him downwards to one of the lower flight decks for repairs and cargo offload. Pulling off his gloves he went through his postflight checklist, chuckling with relief on making it back to the barn one more time.
At this rate my lucks going to be plum gone afor I hit fourty. Gonna need to let myself get caught and do another term at the Wall afor long for a vacation!
CAP 394 youre clear to disembark, please report to the deck manager for cargo inspection
David clicked his mic twice to signal his confirmation before powering down that final piece of equipment before exiting the craft, time to see what hed pulled in.
David put his hands on his hips and watched with no small dismay as the acid burned a dirty hole through the plating of his ship.
Welp he said, looking around at the gathering crowd Someone get the old man on the horn.
6/10/817
David stood at ease in the back of a small conference hall situated within Refugio. The air had a cleanliness to it that wasnt to be found on any of the Xenos firebases, mined as it was from the icefields across the system. Within the crisp environment the tang of nervous sweat issuing from his flightsuit was all the more apparent. As he gazed across the hall towards the gathered elders he cursed his luck, one thing about running about on the front lines was that there was a strong measure of freedom awarded so long as you stayed in one piece. Playing military wasnt something he was particularly good at; quick glances towards his compatriats, Leo Mathews and Nathan Williamson revealed that the two looked far more comfortable in their roles than he. Heck, Nathan looked like hed just stepped from a recruiting poster, how did he press- his flightsu David!
He quickly broke from his reverie to notice one of the gathered men gesturing at him, quickly abandoning all memory of the hasty training in the etiquette this manner of situation demanded he broke position and strolled towards the men, whom cleared a path through which he proceeded until he was face to face with Mathew Gibbs, the man who was as much the heart of the Xeno movement as anything could be claimed to be. Even when David had found himself assigned a second wing under his command hed not received so much as a communiqu? from the man. Pictures could be found for anyone who cared to spend a moment glancing at a bounty board. The price on the Mans head could fund the entirety of the Xenos for a month.
Gibbs was seated on the far side of a simple desk, adorned with little save numerous datapads streaming out the reports supplied by countless wings such as Davids own. From the news outlet to the various data ports it looked the same as any middle level bureaucrats desk to be found on Liberty. The man didnt glance up when he extended a hand towards the chair sitting across the table, David looked down at it before setting in awkwardly. The awkwardness compounded over the following few minutes as he wondered what he should do with himself as he was seemingly ignored by the man across the table.
So The man began without pausing in his word. Youre the pilot whos managed to secure not one, but two of these extraordinarily rare objects which are so hungered after by the Order.
David swallowed once, replying sans the hackneyed accent that hed adopted in Huntsville and carried on amongst he gutter level Xenos. Yes sir, thats correct.
Furthermore, youve had other encounters with this group in the past it would appear
Ahh, yessir. I chanced upon some departing the icefields of California Not long back while on patrol, ah, and a few other random encounters before that. Ah, cant recall all of the de David was here interrupted Yes. Ive read your reports on the encounters. I just found it curious that youve managed to become so intertwined in this so easily, very easily indeed. You were a school teacher, I believe, before you found yourself fighting on behalf of the people? with that the man finally glanced up from his datapad, fixing David with a glance.
Ahh, yessir. Thats correct. Lower primaries on Manhattan He replied, wishing for a glass of water.
Quiet. Yes. Well, it turns out that the Order has returned a communiqu? to Nome this very morning issuing a request for further communications, right on the eve of your capture of yet a second, ah, item. At any rate, Ive selected you to be the pilot who will escort myself and the item in question to the rendezvous. That will be all, youre dismissed
As flabbergasted as when he entered, David quickly stood to his feet and performed a hasty salute which caused a silence wince from his observing cohorts before turning on his heels to make his way from the room. As he passed the two men he issued a hasty holy ****.
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