From CHM173S@vma.smsu.edu (Chris Meadows) Newsgroups: alt.pub.havens-rest Subject: [Gythion] [Cain] [Constellation] Triple Crossover Date: Sun, 02 May 93 18:03:14 CDT [ADMIN: Part of this post is a re-edited version of a previous post from Will Szabo (AXDMK@ASUACAD.BITNET). The rest was written jointly by Dani Treutler (dargon@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca) and myself (CHM173S@SMSVMA.BITNET). If you enjoy it, don't hesitate to drop us some email.] Blips frowned as he looked at his console. Something strange had just flickered across it, then disappeared almost immediately. Maybe it was just a strange effect of the rifts. No, there it was again. He began to punch buttons, trying to see if it was just a glitch. It only took a moment before he registered a small ship. But it wasn't the source of the flitting motion. He scratched his ear as the flicker came again, a ways behind the small craft. This flicker stayed a little longer, then suddenly materialized into a second ship! Damn! Fighters with cloaking devices! And they were closing for the 'Star. As he reached to call Lt. Darr and begin the auto tracking however, ANOTHER blip appeared. "Huh? What's going on..." "Gythion, we are approaching a planet. ETA 15 minutes," a soft, feminine voice spoke over the internal intercom. "Jocelyn, is that you? Wow, I just had the strangest dream. We were in a firefight with destroyers and a large ammount of fighters. I really thought it was real." Gyth had met Jocelyn when he had bumped into a panel while boarding the XRS-319. At least that is the name the thief had given it when he sold it to Gyth for fifty thousand Prellics. Gyth didn't trust the man, but when you are being hunted by Imperials, you don't stop to haggle. Gyth's thoughts were suddenly enterrupted by Jocelyn's voice. "Gythion, I am reading a large explosion coming from a point just outside Riftspace." "What? Check it out. What do you think is going on?" SCANNING . . . "It looks like a destroyer-class vessal has just been destroyed." "Destroyer-class. You better look for fighters. Maybe that dream of mine wasn't a dream." SCANNING . . . "Yes, I read a number of fighters. However, I do not believe they are from the destroyer. There is also a fighter and some smaller crafts leaving the area of the explosion." "Check, are the smaller crafts escape pods? Also, check for life in them. Maybe they need help." SCANNING . . . "The escape pods do not require assistance. However, there are two of the smaller crafts that are not pods. There is also a cybernetic organism with them. The fighter leaving the explosion area has three lives in it. It is also of the same make of three of the other fighters." "Good job Joss. But can you tell me what color hair they have also?" He grinned. "If you really wish to know Gythion, there is an unconcious life in the highlighted fighter. He has black hair." A soft giggle was heard over the intercom. "Very funny Joss. Very funny." BEEEDOOOK...BEEEDOOOK...BEEEDOOOK... "Joss, what the hell is that?" SCANNING . . . "It appears that there are three cloaked fightercraft approaching from behind us." "Shit! Could they be Imperials?" SCANNING . . . "It is possible. It is also possible that they are after the occupants of those starships ahead of us." "I can't afford to take that chance. If they are after those guys up there, it looks like they're going to find a little unexpected trouble. Oh, Joss, this may sound stupid but...do we have any weapon systems? Or shields, for that matter?" "Yes Gythion, I am fully battle-capable. Do you wish to engage auto-pilot? Or do you wish to engage these Stealths on manual?" From Jocelyn's tone of voice, he was sure she would be smiling if she had a visual representation. "No really, please engage auto-pilot. I will talk with you about what else you have been hiding later." "Hiding? All you had to do was ask." WEAPON-SYSTEMS ONLINE . . . SHIELDS ONLINE . . . AUTO-PILOT ONLINE . . . "Gythion, I would suggest you depress the gold button to your left." Gyth looked to his left and then pressed a blinking gold button. RESTRAINTS ONLINE . . . Suddenly, Gyth was strapped to his chair, restraints covering his ankles, thighs, waist, and shoulders. Remarkably, even with all the restraints in place, he could still reach every control and button around him. "We are entering combat now, Gythion." Blips gasped. There was ANOTHER ship, which had previously been cloaked or something...it was engaging the stealth fighters! Even as he watched, they began to exchange fire. Blips thumbed the comm switch. "Blips to Darcie. Hey, I think you'd better get up here..." There was a shot of brilliant light from four locations of the XRS-319. The light disappeared, and there was an outline of a ship that could be seen. It was obvious that the shields took the blunt of the damage; however as soon as the outline faded, two stars of light streaked towards the area of the Stealth. kaaaaaABOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!! The Stealth exploded. It looked like the shields could not take the power of four direct hits from the XRS-319's lasers. With that, the other two Stealths broke formation and become visible. "I think we just got their attention, Joss." He grinned again. "Yes, that did seem to cause them to start." "Oops. I forgot to ask before. Do you think those other fighters are going to be able to help us?" "Doubtful. They have already landed on their carrier vessel." "What?! Can we take these guys? I mean really, what are our chances?" "From initial scan, our chance of termination is 23.08%. However, with the destruction of one of their craft, our chance has lowered to 18.73%. Is that acceptable, or do you wish to disengage?" "I think we can take 'em. Go for it!" As the words left Gyth's mouth, there was an explosion that shook the ship. "What was that? Were we hit?" "It appears that the other Stealths did not appreciate our termination of their wing man. They have both taken up positions behind us and have scored a direct hit on our rear shields." "What is the damage? How badly did they hit us?" "Our rear shields are at 82%, but there was no internal damage. Do you wish to engage backup shields?" "Yes, please engage backup shields. I am definately going to have to have a talk with you about on-board armament and defenses after this is over." BACKUP SHIELDS ONLINE . . . "Shields are now at 132%" With that the ship suddenly banked right and rolled left in an attempt to shake the other two ships off its tail. Another missile was fired from the Stealth ships and hit the XRS-319 once again. However, this time there were two bright beams of light that returned fire. The Stealth's shields held, but it was obvious from the change in formation that they were expecting torpedos to follow. Indeed, there was one torpedo; however, it ignored the uninjured ship and tagged the one previously hit. Unluckily for that ship, he must have thought that the change in formation would have caused a hit on the uninjured Stealth. As the injured Stealth tried to bank to avoid the torpedo, it hit. kaaaaaaABOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!! Another brilliant flash marked the spot where the Stealth once occupied. "Joss, I think that you should try to hail that Stealth and see if he wishes to proceed with this." "I was waiting for you to say that." She sounded like she was smiling again. "Calling Stealth fighter. Surrender will be accepted. Do you wish to surrender? If so, lower your shields and take your weapons offline. Otherwise you will join your comrades." SCANNING . . . TRACTOR-BEAM ONLINE . . . "Gythion, maybe we should communicate ahead to those other ships and tell them we're bringing them a little present." "That sounds like a good idea. plan. Will you please communicate our wishes to those other starships? And thanks Joss. Now about that talk..." COMMUNICATION LINK CONNECTED . . . "Come in unidentified starship. This is..." COMMUNICATION INTERRUPTED . . . "Gythion, do you have a name you wish to transmit?" "Yes Joss. You may call us the WEIRD. I think that will do." "You surprise me sometimes Gythion. I was just about to suggest the same name." COMMUNICATION REESTABLISHED . . . There was a giggle that partially transmissed with the continuing conversation. "This is the WEIRD. Do you read us? Clear." Blips started as a voice started coming over the 'com: "This is the WEIRD. Do you read us? Clear." What kind of name was that for a ship? He shrugged and flicked a switch on his comm console. "This is the SOULSTAR. I'm reading you clear, uh, WEIRD. What is your status? I am picking up another ship, fighter size, right behind you--one with cloak capability. Uh, clear." "Roger, SOULSTAR. He's in a tractor lock, we're bringing him in as a little present for you. We will--" Then the transmission faded in a painful burst of static. Blips punched some keys on the control board, trying to get it back. "Static on a hyperspace transmission?" he muttered. "What the--" As Joss had been communicating to the SOULSTAR, suddenly a flare of light from behind interrupted. "What the hell--?" Gythion began. The ship shook, and Gythion would have been thrown from his seat but for the restraints. The ship gave one last jolt again, there was a bright flare of light, and then the console lights temporarily darkened. "Joss, what happened?" There was no answer for a moment. "Answer me, Joss!" The lights lit back up. "Sorry, Gythion." "What happened?" "He engaged warpdrive." "What--warpdrive? In a tractor beam? He could have torn both of us apart!" "Apparently that was not a major factor in his considerations," Jocelyn said drily. "Fortunately, I was able to disengage the tractor 1.24 seconds after his warpdrive activated, preventing all but some minor structural and electrical damage that the self-maint routines were able to take care of." Gyth sighed. "Okay, good." Then another thought struck him. "What is a fighter that size doing with warp drive? For that matter, what is it doing with a cloaking device? What is it doing with BOTH of them?" "That question is beyond my ability to answer with present data," Joss replied. "I am attempting to re-establish contact with the SOULSTAR." "What happened to that transmission...?" Blips thumbed some switches and checked the scanners. And noticed that the blip that had been behind the WEIRD was no longer there. There was also an energy pulse characteristic of hyperspace drive entry showing up. And that the WEIRD was registering some decreased power levels and minor structural damage. The transmission faded in again out of static. "--calling the SOULSTAR. This is the WEIRD calling the SOULSTAR. Please respond, clear." "SOULSTAR here, reading you. What happened? Clear." "It seems like our prisoner had other ideas. He engaged warpdrive, and I had to drop tractor before it tore our ship apart. Clear." He nodded. "That would explain the static. Um, could you hold please, WEIRD? Clear." "Roger, SOULSTAR." The woman on the other end laughed again, and suddenly Blips realised that it wasn't a woman after all, but the ship's computer. What was a fighter doing with cloaking AND warpdrive capabilities? Blips shook his head. Darcie wasn't going to be real thrilled to find this out. Blips reached over and depressed another button, then added quietly on another channel, "Lianna, Blips here. I have just received a transmission from a small ship, registering class-four armament and stealth capabilities. It's kind of a long story. They have showed no hostile intent, but I'd like you to move to intercept in case. Mark 324.56.8 bearing 9212.4 from your present location." Blips sighed and leaned back, quite obviously relieved that the attack hadn't reached the ship. He knew he should be worried about it, but...he yawned, and suddenly realised how tired he was. They'd had very little rest in the last few days, taking short three hour breaks in shifts. That was one problem with a ship this small. Unlike the Blade, this ship had so small a crew that when all stations needed to be manned, everyone on board was needed. He turned to an ancient-looking keyboard that was wired into one of his consoles. He punched in a few commands, then all of the needed access codes. "Ah, my little darling. Feels good to be using you again after all that excitement," he sighed. As he typed, a viewscreen on his left came to life, and an old man with a long white beard appeared on it, yawning and stretching. Blips smiled--he was acting more lifelike all the time, especially after the new VR hardware that they'd commandeered had been installed. Blips kept typing as the computer spoke. "Good eve to thee, my son. What is it that you summon me for? I was having quite a relaxing nap." The face on the screen frowned. "Look here, old man," Blips answered, "while you were snoring away, we were getting our tails shot to pieces. Listen, I need you to monitor things for a bit. I need to get some rest, and we have guests aboard, earthers from the..." "CONSTELLATION. Yes, they are touring engineering with Lt. O'Kahgan and Lt. Cantz. Hmm... there is a cyborg with them, and a sentient canine species that I am not familiar with. Did you wish for me to moniter the conversation?" "No need, Dargon." Cain had given him that name, saying he once knew a wise man who went by that name. "I'm going to join them soon. Just keep an eye on things outside. And try to get in touch with the captain." "I will hail him as soon as the LRC is repaired enough to do so. And you do not need to tell me that there was a battle. I have only been sleeping since we jumped, and even when I do, I know what happens. I have reviewed the tapes and I must say Lt. O'Kahgan flew rather well. He had three kills, while Foegarth came back with 14. Dandra Hann had only 8 kills. You do realize that if he hadn't landed for the jump and to switch ships, Foegarth would have broken the captains record. He has had 34 kills so far today." Blips whistled. He knew that the Alzar had flown well, and quite a lot over the last few days, but he didn't think that his kill count was that high for just the last two battles. It was true, the record would have been broken if he hadn't landed for twenty minutes to change his damaged Vulg and ride out the jump. He turned and got the attention of Corporal Young, the ships pilot. "Hey Young! Could you keep an eye on things? I'm ending my shift now, since it was supposed to be over twelve hours ago. I'll be back to relieve you in six hours, and Dargon is online monitoring my stations. We have a ship that should be landing soon, so give him clearance and all that. If Darcie wants me, I'll be in my quarters." Blips waved, then took off his headset wearily, hanging it over the chair. He knew what he needed now to ease his weary mind and soul--a good, loud dose of rock'n'roll. He smiled as he took the lift down two levels to his quarters, his fingers already itching to try out the old fender that he'd bought from the trader at that station. Things had heated up quickly so he hadn't had a chance to play it yet. [To Be Continued Very Shortly...] -- Chris Meadows || Andrea & Sheryl CHM173S@SMSVMA.BITNET || [AU] thread, alt.pub.dragons-inn CHM173S@VMA.SMSU.EDU || -------------------------------- CMEADOWS@NYX.CS.DU.EDU || A supporter of rec.arts.creative