First SF Story
Soban Force
In The Beginning.
Chapter 1
Malone and Deaths sat in the cockpit of the light corvette, chatting back and forth to each other. Malone was watching his sensor readings looking for any signs of new resources that could be harvested. Neither where very happy with their lot in life at the moment. After the retaking of the Hiigara; war veterans like themselves had been relegated to meaningless work. Many had remained in the military but you had to be in a relative high position of a Kiith (Clan) to get any kind of good assignment. Kiith loyalties had returned and those that had been left clan-less where left to fend for themselves.
Both Malone and Deaths had been hi ranking members of an obscure Kiith back on Kharak back before the entire planet at been rendered lifeless by an attacking Taiidan fleet. They had been lucky enough to be on the mothership during the trial jump and missed the near annihilation of their race. Both men had lost their entire families and Kiith in one fell swoop. They where all that was left. Now the two of them had banded together and had been given a light corvette to do survey work of the solar system. Their job now was to search for resource pockets and potential sights for mining stations.
Death had gotten used to the idea of not being in command of a destroyer anymore. He had risen quickly through the ranks in the campaign to return home and his excellent military exploits had given him rapid advancements when those who gave victories at that time where promoted regardless of their kiith status.
When the war had finally ended it was very obvious that the political climate changed everything. Those in positions of power wanted more of it and placed key people in positions of authority. Malone and Deaths had to pull all the clout they could just to get themselves a light corvette left over from the fleet, and that was only with the promise that they would use it working for the government scouting out the solar system for the militaries needs.
?You sure are quiet today Malone? Deaths commented. ?Yea this part of the system always makes me a little uneasy, you know I don?t like coming this way Deaths? Malone replied. This was the area of the solar system where the climactic battle had taken place and the fate of Hiigara had been decided. In the distance they could see the decimated remains of the Taiidan Empires mothership. The ship was a complete wreck. Adrift in space for a year now no one had done anything about it yet. All the resources the new government could muster had went into other projects. Everyone knew that sooner or later something would have to be done, but it could wait. The ship was monstrous, actually it was just a little bit bigger in volume then the Kushan?s mothership they had made the long journey home with.
The entire surface of the ship was pot marked and battle scared. The ship had been destroyed in the historic fight but she had not gone down without a fight. An entire fleet guarded her at the time. That fleet had parished also. The huge ship was nearly ripped in half, holes the size of frigates dotted the hull scape. The ship looked as if the life had been ripped right out of her, which it had. It looked like a ghost ship. Neither Deaths nor Malone liked this area of the system because it reminded them that once they where mighty warriors and commanded respect. Now they where nothing but Clanless men.
?I tell you these survey missions are so boring. Maybe we should have signed up with Zulu for his convoy protection?? Deaths moaned. One of their friends during the war had been Zulu he was an Ace fighter pilot. No one had racked up more enemy fighters kills then him. He was a nobody in his Kiith. It was the largest Kiith left, however Zulu didn?t like to take orders from people and the idea of doing patrols around the system would of driven him mad.
He had opted to go to work for a very wealthy Taiidan businessman named Doom who was running supplies back and forth from Hiigara and a small planet that he owned. Because of the fact this businessman was trading with the Kushan the old Taiidan Imperial Navy liked to raid his convoys. Of course not everything the wealthy businessman traded in entirely legit. Lots of smuggling went on as well.
The last time the three of them had gotten together back on Hiigara, Zulu had lots of stories to tell them about raids and getting to fly his old beat up fighter around destroying the Imperial Taiidan dogs that raided them. Of course they all know why he really did it. It was the money and quite frankly the thrill of being in combat again. Zulu was a thrill junkie, however he had the skills to stay alive. Most people didn?t survive long on convoy duty.
?I don?t know, he was always the better pilot, why do you think they had us on the big ships? Besides I always liked a little metal between me and the Imperial fleet. These little ships make me nervous? responded Malone. He didn?t like to admit it but if they where to encounter anything they really wouldn?t have much of a chance unless it was a lone fighter. Anything bigger then that and they would be in trouble.
?Stop your whining, at least he is making some money and isn?t stuck out here? Deaths responded with a grin. Malone nodded his head and grinned back. They had been fast friends ever since the days they where kids back on Kharak. Both of them where happy that they at least had someone left from the old days.
Malone knew there was no one else he trusted more. Back in the war Malone had gotten Death out of more tight spots then he could care to remember. Yes Death had an incredible war record however it was Malone who always watched his back. Malone had been in charge of an Ion Frigate squadron back during the war. His squadron of 3 frigates had always moved with Deaths when they went into battle and Malone couldn?t count how many times Deaths had charged ahead for the kill leaving Malone to pick off the Taiidan ships thinking they where going to get themselves an easy Destroyer Kill.
They had worked great together, but Malone was a much more reserved commander. He always liked to wait for the enemy to come to him. He loved to lay traps, but again that was all over with now.
Malone and Deaths had resigned themselves to the fact that they where just going to have to get used to life as surveyors. Nothing they could do about it. Deaths daydreamed about better days as Malone watched the controls, occasionally glancing back over the floating wreck that was once the Emperors ship. Just as Deaths was starting to doze off alarm warnings went off all over the control panel.
Deaths sat upright and stared at the sensors; Malone was already staring to comprehend what was happening. 140 KM ahead of the little corvette a small fleet of Taiidan ships had just jumped into the system. With their position in the solar system it was probable that only Deaths and Malone knew that a raiding fleet was inbound. This kind of thing happened on a regular basis. Taiidan ships would jump in, disrupt the shipping routes and also trying to install fear with all the different races that where now trading with the Kushan.
?Give me a second and I will have a count on what we are dealing with.? Malone told Deaths in a strained voice. Death immediately punched the transmit codes into the console so that they could raise the Hiigaran defense network and warn them.
?I read 3 super capital signatures and 5 capital signatures inbound? Malone wanted to identify what class of ships they where but they where just to far out, and him and Deaths weren?t about to take the light corvette in to do a little recon. That would be a suicide mission. As Malone continued to stare at the sensor display dozens of little dots appeared on the sensors moving at high speeds.
?Those must be fighters,? Deaths said before Malone had a chance to say it. ?We have got to find a place to hid, we will never outrun them in this thing? Malone said. ?We have to transmit first no matter what, this fleet could cause some real damage? Deaths said has he slammed his hand down on the transmit button.
?Hiigaran Defense Network, this is survey 9382 in grid Epsilon. We are monitoring the approach of a Taiidan fleet in Grid Epsilon; fighters are inbound so they must have a carrier with them. We are going to look for a place to hid, get some help out here pronto.? Deaths hoped the message had gotten through, not waiting to find out he punched the engines to full throttle.
?I have an idea? Malone was punching in coordinates into the computer system while he said that. ?Move the ship to here? Malone finished up.
?What? That will take us right to the Emperor?s old flagship? Death sounded shocked. ?Yea, think about it, there is tons of junk floating around over there? reminded Malone. ?We can even hid in one of those holes in the ship, they are more then big enough to hid us.?
?We had better move it, I show 5 of those dots on the sensor moving to intercept us, and they are coming in very fast. Must be fighters, man the turret? Death shouted to Malone who was already out of his seat moving down the crawl ladder to the turret on the bottom side of the ship.
Malone slid down the ladder and jumped into the weapons seat. Flicking switches all around him the gattling gun came to life. Taking the controls at the end of each of the arms of the weapons chair Malone worked the gun through a series of movements to get back into the feel of it. It has been a weeks since he had done his weapons practice. He knew he was supposed to do it more often but hell its just something that he didn?t get around too much anymore.
Death watched as the dots moved closer. ?Man are they fast,? Deaths said to himself. ?Here they come? Deaths yelled back to Malone.
Malone could see the same thing as Deaths from his targeting display. He turned the gun around and watched as the 5 interceptors came into view. They where moving in formation straight at the light corvette. Malone knew he would get the first shot, the corvette had a firing range almost half again as far as theirs. The Taiidan interceptors split up as they came in to make strafing runs against the corvette. Malone squeezed the trigger and sent thousands of mass driver rounds into space trying to hit one of the fighters.
The fighters where just to fast and nimble. They flew by the little corvette like it was standing still. Malone turned the gun to follow the fighters and continued firing. The fighters started coming in from different angles at the same time. Malone tried to hit them as they came in but he was out of practice. If he had hit any it was probably just superficial.
?Damn it, hit one of those sons-a-bitches? Screamed Death into the intercom system, as he watched some warning lights go off showing that they had been hit. He was very relieved to see that no vital systems had been hit.
?If you don?t like my shooting you come down here and do it? Malone yelled back. His blood was starting to boil, they where in a tight spot, a light corvette could take down a couple of fighters in most cases but not 5 of them all attacking from different angles. Just as he was starting to get really frustrated he spotted a fighter coming in from the side and turned his guns and started firing. Thousands of Mass Drivers filled the space between the ships and as the fighter got in close it disappeared in a fireball of an explosion.
?Yea, got that sucker? screamed Malone in triumph. Finally he had gotten one, 4 more to go.
Death looked out his front window and saw the floating wreck taking up almost all his view, damn that is a big ship he thought to himself. ?I am going to be pulling up and skimming the hull in a sec Malone, just so you know, we are going to have to find a way to shake these guys are make them think we are dead.? Death said into the intercom.
?I am open to suggestions? replied Malone. He was too busy trying to shoot at these fighters to worry about anything else. The grips on his controls where starting to get slick from all the sweat poring down his arms. He preferred to do his fighting from the bridge of a capital ship.
?Deaths, when we come in role the ship over otherwise I will have no firing range to hit those ships?
?Are you nuts? Its very hard to fly that way? Death yelled back through the intercom just as a series of mass drivers from the fighters strafing them hit the little corvette. Alarms went off all over the cockpit. This time they had scored a bad hit on them. The displays showed they where loosing plasma pressure in the engines fast. ?Malone they got us good that time? Death said into the intercom.
?I know, I can see the plasma leaking out of the back of the ship, it?s blinding me to the rear? Malone replied into the intercom. Malone noticed the outline of a ship coming through the plasma cloud at a fast pace. Knowing what it was he turned the gattling gun around to face the front and started firing before he saw the ship. As the fighter came screaming through the plasma cloud it ran straight into the stream of mass drivers Malone was laying down.
As the fighter exploded the flash temporarily blinded Malone. Death wasn?t having a good time either. More warning lights where going off every few seconds. They where in trouble. They had to do something quick.
?I have an idea, get up here and help me out,? Deaths said to Malone through the intercom. ?Are you crazy, if I leave this gun we are dead? Malone replied. ?We are dead anyway if you don?t help me out, trust me? Deaths finished saying.
Malone put the guns on automated; the computer took over the controls. Malone hated the computer controlling the gun; a computer couldn?t anticipate a pilots moves in a fighter where a human could. Malone hurried up the crawl way and moved over to Deaths. ?OK what do you have in mind?? Malone said.
?I want you to go back and release the fuel out of the back of the ship. As they come in and fire we will blow the fuel and create the illusion that we are destroyed, as they are temporarily blinded I will move us in one of those holes in the ship and power us down. We should be able to blend in.? Death explained.
?OK, lets do it? Malone ran to the back of the ship avoiding some of the loose power cords that had exploded and where flopping around the deck. He reached the rear control panel and entered in the over ride commands to release the fuel at the rear of the ship. The fuel dissipated out of the back of the ship, the vapors where practically invisible in the black of space.
?Get ready here they come? Death yelled into the intercom.
Malone braced for the coming explosion as he looked out the back window and saw the 3 remaining enemy fighters coming in for the kill. Mass drivers from the enemy ships started impacting the little corvette and the sparks from them ignited the fuel at the back of the ship. The explosion was very bright and blinded everyone except Deaths who was expecting it and had closed his eyes in anticipation of it. The shock wave sent the ship lurching forward, Deaths compensated with the side and top thrusters and angled the ship down into one of the huge holes that made up the landscape of the float space wreck that was the Empires old Flagship.
As Malone?s vision returned a minute later he noticed that they where at a dead stop, power was out all over the ship making the ship nearly pitch black. He looked out the window and noticed they where attached to the inside of the hull of the floating wreck. To anyone looking from the outside they couldn?t see anything except twisted metal. They where invisible.
The enemy fighters knowing they had killed their prey moved off to return to their fleet that was moving to intercept the shipping lanes. The little corvette was crippled. Badly damaged Deaths and Malone watched the enemy ships leave. They looked around not knowing what they where going to do, they didn?t have anymore fuel and they where badly damaged. What where they going to do?
The alert klaxons where going off all over the ship. Drew ran down the corridor toward the hanger. Of all times for them to run a drill Drew thought to himself, he was cleaning out the new pilots at cards. As Drew came out of the corridor and onto the flight deck he saw dozens of technicians at work on the fighters. It looked like they where strapping on extra fuel tanks to the ships. Drew moved to his ship and ran up the stair ramp to the cockpit. Sliding into his seat he did a systems check and ran the start up process. Putting on his headset he heard lots of chatter.
?Looks like this is for real gentleman? he heard his squad leader call out. Great that meant the he wasn?t going to be returning to his card game anytime soon. When it was the real thing it usually meant a furball of a fight. Drew loved the thrill of flying and combat, however his squad had just got a bunch of new green kids just out of flight school.
They had only been on a few patrols so far. One new kid had rubbed Drew the wrong way right of the bat, his name was Higy. The kid had incredible talent in the cockpit, however he had a mouth on him that never stopped. He was always trying to play jokes on the squad. Drew knew the kid was looking for glory. Those kinds of pilots usually got themselves killed pretty quickly in dogfights.
?Launch?
The order brought him out of his daydream. It was time to think business, Drew was a great pilot, as a matter of fact when he was in the cockpit he was all business. He never made stupid moves and always followed his orders, even though as of late most of the orders that came from command where pretty stupid.
Like this time, most of the experienced pilots had been transferred from his squad and moved to another carrier commanded by a person with a high status in his kiith. He remembered back to the day during the war when politics didn?t matter. Now days everything had turned into politics.
Drew hit the catapult switch and was lurched back in his seat has his Interceptor was shot forward at launch speeds. This was the best part Drew thought to himself, as his little fighter was launched into space. Taking over the controls he moved his fighter into formation as the other ships came out of the carrier.
?OK guys here is the situation? the wing commander said over the channel. ?The fleet just received a distress signal from a survey mission out in grid epsilon. It looks like a Taiidan fleet has jumped into the system for another raiding run. Reports from the survey mission say that they have a carrier with them, however they didn?t identify what else they had. The Captain wants us to investigate what we are up against then when we have reported back they will jump the fleet over to engage it? the squad leader finished his briefing.
?We are going to hit afterburners the whole way because time is critical, each of you have been fitted with extra fuel tanks. Also Drew I am putting Higy and Epic on your wing. Make sure they don?t get into trouble?
?Yes sir? Drew responded. Just great, he had to play baby sitter today. ?OK you two, form up on my wing and light em up? Drew told the two new guys. As they formed up all three moved into afterburners and the entire squadron of fighters raced ahead toward grid epsilon.
The 40-minute flight was pretty uneventful. The 21 fighters flew in formations of 3 ships each. As they came to grid epsilon they noticed their sensors started filling up with red dots on them. Looks like they came with a few fighters as well.
?Drew while we engage the Taiidan fighters your squad will fly Recon and see what kind of capital ships we are up against. The rest of the wing, Tally Hoo? shouted the wind commander.
Drew watched as the rest of the wing pealed off and moved into better positions to engage the Taiidan fighters. As the distance became greater between Drew?s squad he could see space light up from the ensuing firefight. Off in the distance he could see the floating hulk that had once been the Emperor?s flag ship. Drew remembered that fight well. He had been one of the first pilots that had come within visual range of that ship. He remembered when he first saw it and the terror it had sparked in everyone.
That had been a hell of a fight. For a while in the fight he was not sure if they where going to win or not. So many ships had been lost on both sides. He remembered watching as the last of the Kushan?s capital ships had surrounded the Emperors flagship and pounded it for almost an hour before the ship had finally been destroyed.
Pulling himself back to the present he watched his displays and noted that any minute now they would be in visual range of the Taiidan capital ships. His display showed some pretty big signatures. They had some big ships. He watched as the ships started to take shape in the distance in front of him. At first he saw a carrier that everyone knew they must have had with them. 7 more ships took shape; they had 2 destroyers and 5 frigates, 3 of them assaults.
Drew?s squad moved in for a fly by and space was filled with fire as the Taiidan ships put up some defensive fire. ?OK we have to get out of here and let the fleet know, follow me gentleman? Drew ordered. As Drew turned his ship he noticed that Higys and Epics fighters didn?t turn. He heard a shout of triumph over the channel and saw his two raw recruits try and strafe one of the ion frigates they where close to.
?You two knock it off and get back here. You are going to get yourself killed? Drew screamed over the channel. ?But sir, what good are we if we don?t get to shoot at them?? Higys reply came back over the channel. ?Because we have to let the fleet know first, then we can fight them, and besides we need numbers behind us, there is just 3 of us, now get your a**?s in line and get the hell out of there? Drew shouted back.
?Yes sir? Higy responded, as they turned around they made one more fly by on their way back. Before anyone could do anything; a shot from one of the destroyers hit the back end of Epics fighter putting it out of control. Higy looked back in horror to see the ship flip end over end and finally crash into one of the assault frigates. The resulting explosion and kinetic energy from the impact of the fighter created a large hole in the side of the ship. Higy could see bodies flying out of the ship into space flailing about. People trying to breathe in air that wasn?t there.
Higy was completely horrified; he had never seen anything like this before. His best friend from flight school had just died in front of his eyes. It had all happened so fast that Higy was still in shock. He couldn?t stop looking at the hole in the side of the frigate as gases and fires from escaping atmosphere spewed into space.
?Hey Kid, Wake Up? Drew yelled over the channel, snapping Higy out of his trance. Higy hit his afterburners and accelerated away from the Taiidan fleet. Forming up on Drew?s wing they moved back toward the others of their squadron.
Drew was very upset at the moment. No matter how many times you told a kid to listen up and being a fighter pilot meant you had to listen to the veterans, they always made mistakes or didn?t listen until someone ended up dead. All Drew could hope for was that Higy was going to learn from this, after he chewed the crap out of him when they got back to the carrier.
?This is fighter 205 in grid Epsilon, I have an update on the enemy fleet. They have a carrier and 2 destroyers. 2 Ion frigates and 3 assault frigates. Please send help ASAP.? Drew said into the intercom.
?Now that we know, get over here and help us? came the voice of the wing commander. Drew and Higy moved their fighters back over to the ensuing dog fighting that was going on over with the rest of the flight win.
As Drew and Higy entered the dogfight Drew could tell that his squadron was holding its own. Yea they where outnumbered by about 2 to 1 however Kushan pilot training was extremely intense. Drew was able to score a kill almost immediately. Watching Higy there was no doubt the kid was a great pilot, he had also scored a kill about the same time, but he did have a lot to learn.
Drew looked down at his sensors to show a lot of ship hypering into the area he and Higy had just left. Looks like the Hiigaran Defense forces weren?t taking any chances. They where going to hit them with overwhelming firepower. Sensors showed a heavy cruiser along with 5 destroyers and carrier and over a dozen frigates. Looks like they have brought a few gravity wells with them too, so that the enemy ships couldn?t escape into hyperspace.
Over the course of the next hour Drew?s squadron was able to dispatch the rest of the enemy fighters. However they had lost about half of their own squadron. The enemy fleet was finally dispatched with no Hiigaran ships lost; however a few of them had some serious damage done to them. Those ships would have to visit the repair facilities in orbit on the opposite side of Hiigara.
Drew wondered to himself what had ever happened to that survey mission, he didn?t see any other ships on his sensors, unfortunately it was probably destroyed. To bad they had saves a lot of lives today by getting the warning out in time. Besides when he got back on board he had a certain pilot that needed an a** chewing.
From the cockpit of the little corvette Deaths and Malone watched the flashes of light in space. When they started seeing them go off they knew that the Hiigaran Defense Force must have gotten the message and sent forces to intercept. They even saw the large jump signatures that came in. It must have been the Kushan fleet jumping in to engage the Taiidan ships. They knew their must be a huge battle going on however it was to far away to see anything. As the explosions subsided and their computers showed nothing but blue dots (Friendly ship readings) they tried to raise them on all the open channels.
For minutes they kept trying to send messages only to realize their communications equipment had been completely destroyed by the attacking Taiidan fighters that had attacked them. To make matters worse they had no fuel left because they had blown that up so that it would appear the ship had been destroyed. Also the ship had lots of damage to it.
?Just great, freaken lovely? Deaths muttered to himself, however loud enough for Malone to hear. ?Don?t think I am to happy about it either? Malone retorted back. ?I don?t suppose you have any bright idea?s on how to get out of this mess do you?? Even while he was asking the question Deaths knew the answer already.
?No, I wish I had? Malone responded.
?Well we may be here for a while, I suppose we should shut down all non-essential systems? Malone commented. ?Yea, just keep emergency lighting on and life support systems active. I don?t want to freeze to death or run out of oxygen out here. Also I will do an inventory of our food supplies. Why don?t you get on one of the EVA suites and go outside and get a check of how badly we are shot up out there? Deaths responded.
Over the course of the next couple of hours the two powered down the ship to minimal systems and Malone went out to inspect the hull. The EVA suites worked great in zero gravity. Little booster packs made it possible for Malone to move around the ship effortlessly. The outside of the ship was pretty badly scared. Amazingly enough non-of the enemy mass driver hits had broken through the inner shielding and caused any breaches in the hull. However there was still lots of damage.
If they only had some fuel they would have been able to fly the ship back out. Granted the ship would need a few weeks getting repairs patched up, but that?s no big deal. Because they had alerted the HDF (Hiigaran Defense Force) of the Taiidan threat the reward money would have been more then enough to fix the little ship.
Malone entered back through the air lock at the bottom of the ship. Deaths met him outside the second door inside from the airlock. ?So how does it look out there? Deaths asked. ?Well we aren?t to badly damaged, we don?t have any hull punctures obviously. Our outside communications transmitter is completely gone, I think the explosion got it. Also we have a very large hole in our Plazma injector. We are going to have to fix that. You?? Malone responded.
?Well after doing an inventory we have 4 days of food left, we can probably double that if we ration it out. We have plenty of power, but I am most concerned about our fuel situation. What do you think we should do?? Deaths scratched his head as he tried to think about alternatives.
?I think our only option is this floating hunk of junk,? Malone said referring to the mothership they where hiding in. ?That is a good idea, I am sure when she blew she still had lots of stuff aboard that wasn?t damaged. However this is a huge ship. Where do you suppose we start?? Deaths said as he walked over to the computer displays bringing back online a little bit of power to operate the holographic projectors.
On the raised console on the middle of the ship a 3D image of the floating hulk hung in the air in front of them. The 3D image showed all the damaged areas. A lot of the ship was missing because of the pounding she had taken. The ship was practically broken in half. However most of the large pieces where still around because of the shier size of the vessel the mass created a little tiny bit of gravity that held the ship together for the most part.
?I suppose the best part would be the hanger bay, next to the construction center at the bottom of the ship? Malone said as he looked at the tactical display. ?I suppose we could use the side thrusters to move us into one of the hangers. Granted we can?t start up the main engines but we would be able to use the thrusters as long as we controlled how much we used them? Deaths commented. ?We would have to do a lot of coasting and besides just using the thrusters and coasting it would probably take us a few hours to move the ship over to that section and around any debris that might block the hanger bay.?
?OK lets do it? Malone nodded in agreement as he spoke the words.
Deaths and Malone over the course of the next several hours where able to maneuver the little ship out of her hiding spot and around to the bottom of the ship. As they moved the ship up into the hanger area many obstacles had to be avoided. So many floating pieces of debris made getting the ship into the bay challenging. The bay was substantially bigger then the one on the Kushan mothership as they remembered it. However most of the launch bay was in ruins. Ships where all over the hanger bay, many of them had been smashed by falling metal beams from the top of the hanger bay. All of this must have happened during the attack.
However the creepiest thing though was all the bodies that floated around the hanger bay. The vacuum of space had preserved the bodies. Many of the faces had looks of horror on them. It was almost as if Deaths and Malone knew what many of their final thoughts had been of. Many of them where sure to have families that they knew they where never going to see again, or why had they even bothered to join the Emperors navy to begin with.
They moved the corvette to the top of the hanger bay because there was no place on the floor for them to settle the craft; the entire floor was littered with dead or debris. Gravity not being an issue the ceiling worked just as well as the floor. ?Well let?s get this over with? Malone mumbled to Deaths. They both walked back over to the airlock and dawned their EVA suites. Once outside they descended down to the bottom of the flight deck.
Zulu sat in the CO-pilots seat aboard the freighter. Usually he would be in a cockpit of fighter but not today. This area of space was off the main trade routes. His boss made regular deliveries to this area and always with the same group of people. Only 3 people even knew the coordinates for this place. Zulu, the Pilot and Zulu?s boss Doom the wealthy Taiidan businessman.
This was one of those unofficial trading missions. Lots of people seemed to call it smuggling, however Zulu preferred to call it free enterprise. A lot of the items that where being delivered where technically considered stolen however not all of them where. I am sure the Imperial Taiidan forces would not be to happy right now if they new that the main power generator that was supposedly being delivered to their new Starbase construction sight was actually being delivered to a Kushan smuggler by the name of Coitster. There where lots of other things too but Zulu knew that Coitster didn?t want anything being official right now.
The freighter moved through the asteroid field silently. Man the resources in this system where completely untapped. Zulu thought to himself as he monitored the sensors. This system was a young star system. Only recently in the last few hundred thousand years had it formed. Most of the planets where just big floating rocks in space. Because of it being so new space was filled with all kinds of gas?s and asteroids. Zulu looked out the front window and saw their intended target. A midsize asteroid hanging in space. The asteroid was only about 100 miles from top to bottom. Normally that would be considered very large however in a new system like this there where tens of thousands of asteroids much larger then this one.
The freight swung around the asteroid to the far side. Zulu looked out the windows and saw the small settlement across the surface. It was very small; only a couple of small buildings poked out of the desolate landscape. A makeshift landing area had been set up, a few lights showed Zulu where the freighter was supposed to land. As the freighter landed without any incident, this ship was designed for atmospheric landings however any ship could have landed here, there was almost no gravity. Zulu thought to himself, even a space only ship could land here.
Looking back toward the settlement Zulu spotted a larger crater in the ground with a makeshift hanger door built right into the side of the rock. It was large enough so that several land crawlers could maneuver themselves inside of it. ?Shutting engines off and powering down? Zulu said to the pilot. Getting up from the CO-pilots seat Zulu made his way back to the rear of the ship. Seeing his employer was already there they both dawned their EVA suites and de-pressurized the back storage area. A large ramp opened up, and Zulu and his boss got inside of a land crawler. The tracked vehicle was very large and lumbered down the ramp.
Driving the crawler was something Zulu didn?t get to do very often. Driving the ship to the hanger door just took a couple of minutes. As the crawler moved in front of the door, it began to open, splitting in half and each side moving along the side of the rock face reveling a very large hanger bay, much larger then Zulu would of guessed. They had obviously expanded this a lot since the last time he had been here.
?Busy bee?s? Zulu muttered out load to no one in particular.
As the crawler passed inside to the hanger bay Zulu noticed immediately he became heavy again. ?I guess they finally got the gravity plating installed? Zulu commented. The crawler moved to a position along side a wall that had the most airlocks on it. Zulu and his Doom both exited the crawler and moved over to one of the air locks. Once inside the door they re-pressurized the room and moved through the next door that brought them inside the base. Three people where standing there waiting for them. Zulu removed his helmet. He recognized Coitster right away. He was medium height and a little over weight with black hair that looked like it wanted to curl really badly was covered by a hat. Coitster was also smoking a cigar that made the whole hallway fill up with smoke.
Coitster was not what caught his attention though. Standing next to him was a tall blond haired lady. She had a great figure and was very striking. Zulu had a hard time not staring. This was the type of women that he would normally be trying to hit on when he was planet side taking some time off at the local cantinas. She had a very nice smile and penetrating eyes. It almost looked like she could read exactly what you where thinking.
Zulu trying to be polite smiled back and looked over to the other side of Coitster and saw a man standing there. He was tall and had lots of dust on him. This man had the look of a no non-sense feel to him.
Coitster walked over to Zulu and his boss and shook both their hands. ?Great too see you guys, I was wondering if you where going to be able to make it this time?? Coitster said with great relief.
?I am sorry where are my manors, let me introduce my associates this is Paranoid? Coitster said as he motioned to the man standing next to him. ?He is my head of base construction, he worked with me back on Kharak when we where in charge of resource development.? ?This young lady here is my lovely wife Misty. We where part of the same group of people put into hibernation aboard the mothership, and when we where thawed and woke up we got to know each other? Coitster said with a smile. ?She is in charge of all of our integrating technologies between all the salvage stuff we have managed to patch this base together with. Without her we wouldn?t be even a 1/3 as far along as we are now.?
Cute and smart Zulu thought to himself, but damn it, she?s married. Oh well he thought to himself. ?Please this way gentlemen? Coitster said as the group walked off down the corridor. They walked up several flights of stairs and came to an observation room with a conference table set up with seats for them all to take. One entire wall was made of some kind of transparent material that let them look out into the hanger bay. People where all about the hanger bay in EVA suits doing work. Several very small starships where being worked on.
The group sat down and Coitster went over to some cabinets and a counter and returned with some cups and a steaming pitcher of coffee. ?I hope you guys like it black, we haven?t received any other supplies in a while, so I was really glad to see your ship on scanners when you hypered into the system.? Coitster said.
?No problem, I have been meaning to get by, I came across some of the items on your wish list. Besides if I was to be caught with them it would be an automatic death sentence to have them with me, I didn?t want to take any chances.? Doom added casually.
?Oh do tell? Coitster looked on eagerly. ?Well I have solved your power problem, the Imperial Taiidan fleet was assembling a new Starbase and I just happened to intercept the shipment with their power generator in it. I don?t think it would be a good idea for me to use this ship in that sector of space for a long time. I am sure they would shoot first and ask questions later. Just that generator is taking up 80% of the cargo area on my ship.? Doom replied.
?Also I was bartering with a mining consortium out in the Balazari System and I happened to pick up 2 of their tunneling rigs.? ?You are going to love these, they are based on the ion weapons system. They put out an ion beam that desinagrates the rock and does away with convention mining techniques. You won?t be able to use them until you get the Generator set up because they will have to feed off its power, the output is just to massive for these miners to put out on their own. However you will be able to mine at almost 7 times faster then you are mining right now? Doom said with a smile.
?That?s great, how did you ever get them to part with this equipment?? Coitster asked.
?Lets just say I had some rather damaging material that would of gotten the heads of the consortium killed by the local crime lords in that area if they would of found out about it. After I showed them what I had they where all over themselves to help me out in whatever I wanted.? Doom replied with a grin.
?Remind me not to ever get on your bad side Doom? Coitster responded with a chuckle. The two of them had become good friends since working together. Both of them had no problem dealing with what some might call the unsavory kind. As long as it made a profit they where both OK with it.
Coitster had however been forced into the life of a smuggler because of the fact that like a lot of people that had been brought out of stasis he had discovered that his clan had been mostly wiped out in the burn of Kharak. Being that the old ways had reasserted themselves and the powerful Kiiths had taken control. He had started out by forming a salvaging corporation and was able to get all the jobs that no one else wanted. Many in Kushan society frowned upon the idea of cleaning up someone else junk. No one thought there was much money in it. They where right under most circumstance, however Coitster had seen an opportunity. While getting paid and supplied with ships by the ruling counsel. He kept all of the really good stuff for himself and put them on the black market. It had become a very profitable arrangement.
?Where are you off to next Doom? Coitster asked with interest. ?We are going to Hiigara, I have some people to pick up. It seams that since you guys have retaken your homeworld that all the Taiidan that are left there aren?t being treated very properly. So I am getting top dollar to move people off planet? Doom replied.
?Well do me a favor if you meet any people that you think would like to do something else I am always looking for more people here. Our community is growing; we are up to 258 people now. With these new diggers you brought me, we can expand the base a lot more. I don?t want to much stuff on the surface, I like everything being underground? Coitster said.
Zulu could defiantly see the advantages of that. If they wherever attacked the asteroid provided a natural defensive position. It would take a lot of firepower to crack this rock open. No matter what Zulu thought of Coitster and his strange way of doing business he couldn?t help like this guy. He had a natural charm about him and was very light spirited. If his clan hadn?t of been wipped out he would of made a very skilled diplomat. When he got back to Hiigara he would definitely have to talk to Deaths and Malone about this guy. They hated doing survey duty and he thought they would probably like this guy.
?Well gentleman we should probably get you unloaded and on your way. BTW Zulu could you do me a favor?? David asked. Zulu was a little surprised at this. ?Ah sure, I guess? Zulu responded not sure what to make of this, Coitster had never asked him to do anything before.
?Could you give this to your clan leader please?? Coitster handed over a data chip to Zulu. ?It?s my monthly bribe so that I can get all the salvage operations that I want.? Zulu was floored; he had no idea that the top members of his clan had resorted to taking bribes. He didn?t blame Coitster for doing it, hell he would also if he had too but for the leaders of his clan who already had all they needed it was a disgrace. Zulu took the data chip and made sure that he would deliver it, if they did take it, he was sure he was going to have to think hard about staying with the clan.