Carnifex dodged left, then right, the Outcast fighter bearing down on him with a speed that could not have been safe in a planet’s atmosphere. His shields flashed brightly under the weight of the fighter’s concentrated weapons and then dropped just as the ship shot past in a blur. Carnifex acted quickly, using some shield batteries to bring his shields back up and hitting his engine kill as he put it into a spin. He felt the ship stop pushing against him and become a dead weight as it slowly spun around and slowed down, the ever thinning air outside barely a whisper as the ship came to a halt for a frighteningly long second and then started falling nose first like a stone. Below him Carnifex could see the Outcast still fighting his momentum to bring himself around.
Just then he saw another fighter that had been obscured by the gleam of the system’s two suns off the planet’s ocean shoot in from the side and blast away at the Outcast’s shields. The Outcast seemed unphased by this and completed its turn toward Carnifex just as Carni came within range and opened up on the hostile. He dropped the Outcast’s shields, launched a mine and then dodged to the side just as the first volley connected with his shield. The mine fell toward the ship and exploded with a resounding crackling noise as pieces of metal and equipment were sheared off by the amplified force of the mine. The other fighter that had helped Carni had pulled into a vertical loop after its pass and was now upside down and just below the attacker. The Outcast used shield batteries but could not manoeuvre well while fighting the planet’s gravity and took heavy damage, it started to burn and pour out thick black smoke as it turned back toward the planet. Falling now toward Carni from above it looked like a demon from hell on a suicide mission. It closed to range and fired and then either the weapons themselves or a short circuit somewhere on the damaged ship, Carni had no way of knowing which, ignited the pure hydrogen fuel used by the fighter. It exploded in a weak flash followed by a roaring shockwave that knocked the nearby ships about and debris trailing red flame down toward the planet.
Carni checked his systems, the artificial gravity keeping everyone in his cargo hold from being bug paste on the hull was still working. His sensors picked up two more fighters rising from the planet and he was a little surprised when one was the little interceptor that had saved him earlier and the other was a bounty hunter he knew personaly.
“Ignition,” he said over short range coms as a smile snuck onto his face, “fancy seeing you around here.”
“I picked up your signal while I was seeing what was going on, came by in case you needed help,” he replied, “this guy here was taking on two multirole fighters on his own so once I saw you had help I ducked in and distracted them to give him a better chance. He’s tough too, took out their thrusters with precise fire and sent them tumbling to the deck,” he commented in an impressed tone.
All the fighters were now converging in the same area near the edge of space.
“There’s no time for medals now, all of us need to get out of here, the Outcasts won’t let the chaos in orbit continue for long and once they put a stop to it there’ll be no getting off this planet.” Addressing Thoren he said, “Thank you for your help pilot, you’ve got good timing that’s for sure. I suggest you come with us, we’re more likely to make it out of here in a group if we hurry.”
"We should head for the Tau systems as fast as possible," said the mystery pilot in the interceptor, "I'm in the Bretonian SAS and once we're close to Bretonia I can get us some escort."
Thursday, July 1, 2010
# 13 by Thoren Karth
Thoren stayed low to the water hoping the spray and smoke would hide him from most sensors as he searched for more launch sites. After destroying two more missile sites with sunlayers and laser fire he ran into trouble. Or to be more precise trouble found him. Two outcasts switchblades appeared on his scanners behind him as he came out of a cloud. Knowing they would catch him he dived for the nearest ruined city.
The outcasts followed and started firing as soon as they got into weapon range. Sliding right and then up and then left and right again he tried to avoid the fire and shake his antagonists, but to no avail. The switchblades were far to fast to shake though. With his shields down to a third he decided to do something crazy. Normally in space a pair of average outcasts in switchblades would be no problem for him, but now in the atmosphere his ship was far more sluggish than normal and while the outcasts were also more sluggish they had the advantage. Pushing the throttle as far as it would go and activating enough shield batteries to bring his shields to full he turned towards the largest building he could see. The switchblades followed close and kept shooting. This was a stupid move but it was the only thing that would get these outcasts off his tail. The outcasts were so close to him they couldn't see past the glow of Thoren's engines and never even noticed that this DSE pilot was about to hit the building. Thoren knew how good his shields were and he knew how fragile the switchblades chasing him were, if he made a mistake he'd be dead, but if he had gambled right the outcasts would be dead and he'd be clear.
With a terrible crash Thoren's Mamba Multi-Role fighter hit the ruined building and smashed it's way all the way through. The outcasts on the other hand didn't make it. Their shields failed and the ships exploded inside the building collapsing the structure.
As soon as he was clear Thoren headed out to sea where there was less likely to be enemies. As he cleared the smoke clouds his scanners locked on to an incoming fighter climbing from the water with a pair of outcasts on it's tail. Just then another fighter shot up and attracted outcasts attention to itself. To Thoren's surprise the first ship was flying a Bounty Hunters IFF. Wondering what a bounty hunter was doing here and not fighting in space Thoren turned and followed the ship as it sped away. Switching to coms he said: "DSE Thoren Karth to Bounty Hunter fighter. Do you need assistance?"
Just as he said it another outcast ship dropped from the sky and attacked the bounty hunter ship. Not waiting for an answer Thoren shoved the throttle to full once again and shot upwards and engaged the outcast.
The outcasts followed and started firing as soon as they got into weapon range. Sliding right and then up and then left and right again he tried to avoid the fire and shake his antagonists, but to no avail. The switchblades were far to fast to shake though. With his shields down to a third he decided to do something crazy. Normally in space a pair of average outcasts in switchblades would be no problem for him, but now in the atmosphere his ship was far more sluggish than normal and while the outcasts were also more sluggish they had the advantage. Pushing the throttle as far as it would go and activating enough shield batteries to bring his shields to full he turned towards the largest building he could see. The switchblades followed close and kept shooting. This was a stupid move but it was the only thing that would get these outcasts off his tail. The outcasts were so close to him they couldn't see past the glow of Thoren's engines and never even noticed that this DSE pilot was about to hit the building. Thoren knew how good his shields were and he knew how fragile the switchblades chasing him were, if he made a mistake he'd be dead, but if he had gambled right the outcasts would be dead and he'd be clear.
With a terrible crash Thoren's Mamba Multi-Role fighter hit the ruined building and smashed it's way all the way through. The outcasts on the other hand didn't make it. Their shields failed and the ships exploded inside the building collapsing the structure.
As soon as he was clear Thoren headed out to sea where there was less likely to be enemies. As he cleared the smoke clouds his scanners locked on to an incoming fighter climbing from the water with a pair of outcasts on it's tail. Just then another fighter shot up and attracted outcasts attention to itself. To Thoren's surprise the first ship was flying a Bounty Hunters IFF. Wondering what a bounty hunter was doing here and not fighting in space Thoren turned and followed the ship as it sped away. Switching to coms he said: "DSE Thoren Karth to Bounty Hunter fighter. Do you need assistance?"
Just as he said it another outcast ship dropped from the sky and attacked the bounty hunter ship. Not waiting for an answer Thoren shoved the throttle to full once again and shot upwards and engaged the outcast.
#12 by Ignition
Eyes still spinning from the brain crushing, eye watering acceleration that his Rhienland Cruise Interceptor dispensed with such ease Karl "Ignition" Wulff was approaching the Planet at maximum cruise, Just moments after violently decelerating from the nearby tradelane. The melee outside the planet was impressive as it was disorganized.
It reminded him of the Hessian raids within the scanner crippling dust fields of Dresden; complete purposefulness but completely chaotic.
As a seasoned pilot he knew that commuting to a furball like the one outside of Kyushu would end in certain death at the hands of a random missile or mine.
Nevertheless he dumped his ship out of cruise again, brain nearly flying out of his nose and took a pair of pot shots at critically damaged Outcast ship before reengaging his cruise engines and once again launching the tiny ship into massive acceleration within the blink of an eye.
Ignition was fearful that the constant abuse of the tachyon dischargers were going to quickly burn them out. Although he had good relationships with the Bretonian Navy he was almost certain that their particle collectors would be incompatible with the tachyon based technology crammed within the sleek knife-like frame of the Rhienland vessel.
Obtaining a replacement from Daumann would not be easy, or cheap considering Karl's status in Rhienland, his money, while ample from working for the BHG was no good in Rhienland anymore.
A messy and convoluted system of middlemen would be required. He thought the part would be stolen as soon as it crossed into Liberty due to the petty nature of the criminal element there.
Karl would often muse at how superior the design and engineering of his ship was compared to the other alternatives, he felt he owed his life to this and only this on more than enough occasions that he cared to remember.
Despite this, repairs were becoming increasinly difficult to carry out. Ignition feared he would eventually have to abandon this ship for something more...commercial.
He thought the Bretonian one was too big, The Liberty version had a nice shape but he felt the intake manifolds were too obvious so far up ahead of the ship.
The Kusarian version was festooned with those "damn useless fins that only served to close the distance between him and the magnetic anomaly detector a Mine".
None of that mattered though, he felt lucky that he and his ship had been in the position to simply not return to base all those years ago. The abandoned cigar collection was still a mass of grief at the bottom of his guts though.
An obnoxious tone eventually snapped him out of his daze.
Carnifex's signal was just on the other side of the planet. Ignition knew that despite the svelte design of his Interceptor entering the thick Kyushu atmosphere at cruise speed would be suicide, furthermore his cruise systems would not work within an atmosphere.
What the cruise interceptor had in agility and pursuit abilities it lacked in sub-cruise speed. Often putting him at a disadvantage against the more veteran Bounties, the rookies however fell for his traps every single time, and this brought Ignition a brief sense of elation.
However this vanished, as he went deeper and deeper into the Kyushu atmosphere the possibility of quickly bailing out of an ambush became an increasingly unlikely prospect.
The interceptor wasnt designed to brawl and was at a serious disadvantage against the what Ignition considered to be a ridiculous amount of combat interceptors being fielded recently.
This moment contemplation had allowed Ignition to cross the vast Kyushu oceans in what seemed like an instant. He made visual contact with Carnifex's ship and was quickly able to deconstruct what he was doing.
Unfortunately, The advanced electronics suite present within Ignition's interceptor precluded him from joining Carnifex in his efforts.
While he could read the serial number off a targets weapon from across the system, there was barely enough room for him to sit in the ship.
The interceptor had truly become a vehicle of trade-offs and this was one that Ignition quickly began to regret.
It reminded him of the Hessian raids within the scanner crippling dust fields of Dresden; complete purposefulness but completely chaotic.
As a seasoned pilot he knew that commuting to a furball like the one outside of Kyushu would end in certain death at the hands of a random missile or mine.
Nevertheless he dumped his ship out of cruise again, brain nearly flying out of his nose and took a pair of pot shots at critically damaged Outcast ship before reengaging his cruise engines and once again launching the tiny ship into massive acceleration within the blink of an eye.
Ignition was fearful that the constant abuse of the tachyon dischargers were going to quickly burn them out. Although he had good relationships with the Bretonian Navy he was almost certain that their particle collectors would be incompatible with the tachyon based technology crammed within the sleek knife-like frame of the Rhienland vessel.
Obtaining a replacement from Daumann would not be easy, or cheap considering Karl's status in Rhienland, his money, while ample from working for the BHG was no good in Rhienland anymore.
A messy and convoluted system of middlemen would be required. He thought the part would be stolen as soon as it crossed into Liberty due to the petty nature of the criminal element there.
Karl would often muse at how superior the design and engineering of his ship was compared to the other alternatives, he felt he owed his life to this and only this on more than enough occasions that he cared to remember.
Despite this, repairs were becoming increasinly difficult to carry out. Ignition feared he would eventually have to abandon this ship for something more...commercial.
He thought the Bretonian one was too big, The Liberty version had a nice shape but he felt the intake manifolds were too obvious so far up ahead of the ship.
The Kusarian version was festooned with those "damn useless fins that only served to close the distance between him and the magnetic anomaly detector a Mine".
None of that mattered though, he felt lucky that he and his ship had been in the position to simply not return to base all those years ago. The abandoned cigar collection was still a mass of grief at the bottom of his guts though.
An obnoxious tone eventually snapped him out of his daze.
Carnifex's signal was just on the other side of the planet. Ignition knew that despite the svelte design of his Interceptor entering the thick Kyushu atmosphere at cruise speed would be suicide, furthermore his cruise systems would not work within an atmosphere.
What the cruise interceptor had in agility and pursuit abilities it lacked in sub-cruise speed. Often putting him at a disadvantage against the more veteran Bounties, the rookies however fell for his traps every single time, and this brought Ignition a brief sense of elation.
However this vanished, as he went deeper and deeper into the Kyushu atmosphere the possibility of quickly bailing out of an ambush became an increasingly unlikely prospect.
The interceptor wasnt designed to brawl and was at a serious disadvantage against the what Ignition considered to be a ridiculous amount of combat interceptors being fielded recently.
This moment contemplation had allowed Ignition to cross the vast Kyushu oceans in what seemed like an instant. He made visual contact with Carnifex's ship and was quickly able to deconstruct what he was doing.
Unfortunately, The advanced electronics suite present within Ignition's interceptor precluded him from joining Carnifex in his efforts.
While he could read the serial number off a targets weapon from across the system, there was barely enough room for him to sit in the ship.
The interceptor had truly become a vehicle of trade-offs and this was one that Ignition quickly began to regret.
#11 by Scourge
Scourge peered out into the smoking ruin of Honshu's capital city. The air had been filled with smoke and ash, and the buildings and structures below were crumbling, not a single rooftop could be seen. The light flickers of weapons could be seen flailing across streets, and artillery shells arcing in the sky and falling down upon their prey, the Kusarian rebel forces, who were desperately, but slowly failing to stop the cardiforming of Honshu. Scourge's fighter had been hovering over the City Hall, waiting to make an attack dive over a bastion rebels, who had made a push over Honshu's city square.
For a moment, Scourge had admired their tenacity; the rebels who would not even flinch in the face of death to save the last vestiges of their home. Of course, Scourge felt no pity or remorse for his past, and imminent actions.
Scourge and two other Outcasts swooped down into a diving formation. Their claymore bombers screaming at the top of their lungs, targeted the City Hall in which the rebels strong point was. The three bombers locked on to the Hall, and what came next was 6 sunslayer torpedoes, bringing the joy of death.
Within a matter of seconds, the near thousand year-old City hall that stood as the pinnacle of Honshu came crashing down. With it, the image of Kusari had been lost in Honshu. All that stood in its place, was the inevitable future of the Outcasts.
For a moment, Scourge had admired their tenacity; the rebels who would not even flinch in the face of death to save the last vestiges of their home. Of course, Scourge felt no pity or remorse for his past, and imminent actions.
Scourge and two other Outcasts swooped down into a diving formation. Their claymore bombers screaming at the top of their lungs, targeted the City Hall in which the rebels strong point was. The three bombers locked on to the Hall, and what came next was 6 sunslayer torpedoes, bringing the joy of death.
Within a matter of seconds, the near thousand year-old City hall that stood as the pinnacle of Honshu came crashing down. With it, the image of Kusari had been lost in Honshu. All that stood in its place, was the inevitable future of the Outcasts.
#10 by Carnifex
Carnifex once again dropped out of the Jump Hole between Shikoku and Kyushu on the prowl for blood. He’d been hunting for almost 24 hours now. His cardimine had kept him going but he still felt sleep would be a good idea soon. He hadn’t had trouble finding criminals to kill during the hunt but hadn’t found any worth the trouble of capturing. Checking his scanners he didn’t see any ships nearby but the com lines were lit up like the system had become a battleground. Confused, Carnifex tried to make sense of the chatter but most of the channels were being used by more than one person at a time and no few were in hysterics. Most of the noise seemed to be coming from the direction of Planet Kyushu.
Carnifex looked at the planet out through his cockpit window not expecting to see much from this distance but something was wrong. He slowly realised that the planet was a different shade of blue. At first he didn’t believe it but when he looked for continents he had trouble seeing them, small as they were on Kyushu. An icy feeling of dread crept over him. Planets don’t just change colour. His engine already charging up for cruise he listened to the channels hoping to glean some idea of what was going on from the panicked and stressed voices.
---
Planet Kyushu looked like a dying beast being swarmed by carnivorous insects. From what information Carnifex could gather together out of the com channels the Outcasts were poisoning the planet, seeding its atmosphere with something that killed everyone but made them stronger. Apparently word of what was happening was getting around fast and pilots from all over Kusari were converging on the planet in an attempt to save friends and relatives. The Outcasts in orbit were apparently doing their best to stem the flow of raging citizens but in the end were like a sieve to so much sand. Carnifex engaged some nearby Outcasts who were already far outnumbered by the incensed locals. The scrum was intense. The locals were fighting with the fearlessness of desperation and hate. There were even a few who, when their ships were severely damaged, would ram them in spite into Outcast fighters that had their shields down. After working his way through the battle closer to the planet he slipped away into the atmosphere.
Off on the horizon he could just make out visually a black and blue haze that his sensors told him was the burning remains of a city swarming with Outcast fighters picking the bones of the island clean. Steering away from the bruise on the horizon Carni started flying low over the ocean wondering if anyone had made it into boats and escaped the tiny percent of landmass on Kyushu. After a while he came across a heavy equipment transport boat, probably no longer in use at the start of the crisis but now a refuge for those fleeing death. Carnifex set down on the wide, flat deck and opened his cockpit. He was struck by the smell of the air, clean and fresh from the ocean, oily and dirty from the old barge, but giving away nothing of the acrid corpses of land dotting the planet. He was greeted by a tall and proud but tired looking man.
“We need your ship,” said the man sternly with a touch of Bretonian accent about him, “how many people can your hold carry?”
“Ten, twenty if they squ...”
“Good!” interrupted the man as he turned to another nearby refugee, “Alex, get a group out here and load them up.”
“Wait,” said Carnifex, “what happened?”
“The Outcasts started blowing up missiles above the cities, said something about operation Thor’s Hammer and a great day for the Outcasts. I thought there was an attack so I got into my fighter as soon as the first explosions started. Then people started dying in the streets and the buildings... I flew over a school...” he trailed off, his eyes wondering down to the deck as he remembered. Frightened looking people clutching random valuables were already being led toward Carnifex’s fighter.
Putting his hand on the man’s shoulder to draw his attention Carni said, “You say you were in your fighter, do you still have it, we made need the escort to get out of orbit.”
“Yes, but if I go with yo...”
BOOM! A pair of Outcast fighters screamed across just meters above the deck and began to wheel around for a strafing run.
“IF YOU STAY YOU DIE!” yelled Carni over the din and then sped back into his cockpit without waiting for an answer.
Closing his cargo hold doors and pumping his engine Carni made it off the deck moments before weapons fire tore the hulking old ship in two. Spinning around he could see a small Kusari interceptor lifting off the already tilting ship. The Outcasts were using border world multirole fighters with torpedos mounted, much slower in atmosphere but one torpedo anywhere near Carnifex’s fast attack fighter and he’d be a goner. In an atmosphere the explosion would translate through the air much better then it could in a vacuum.
He decided not to wait around for that to happen and made a break for space, the two fighters pursuing him. Weapons fire shot past as he climbed away from the ravaged planet hoping that fighting the planet’s gravity well would prove too much for any torpedoes. Then he saw it peel off to the left out his window as. Carnifex checked his sensors to see that the small interceptor had used its speed to put itself between the Outcasts and Carni and lured them away.
Slowly the blue of the sky faded away and the brilliant flashes of light coming from the battle around Kyushu became visible. Carnifex avoided the fight but a single Outcast fighter spotted him and prevented him from escaping. This time he had no choice but to engage.
Carnifex looked at the planet out through his cockpit window not expecting to see much from this distance but something was wrong. He slowly realised that the planet was a different shade of blue. At first he didn’t believe it but when he looked for continents he had trouble seeing them, small as they were on Kyushu. An icy feeling of dread crept over him. Planets don’t just change colour. His engine already charging up for cruise he listened to the channels hoping to glean some idea of what was going on from the panicked and stressed voices.
---
Planet Kyushu looked like a dying beast being swarmed by carnivorous insects. From what information Carnifex could gather together out of the com channels the Outcasts were poisoning the planet, seeding its atmosphere with something that killed everyone but made them stronger. Apparently word of what was happening was getting around fast and pilots from all over Kusari were converging on the planet in an attempt to save friends and relatives. The Outcasts in orbit were apparently doing their best to stem the flow of raging citizens but in the end were like a sieve to so much sand. Carnifex engaged some nearby Outcasts who were already far outnumbered by the incensed locals. The scrum was intense. The locals were fighting with the fearlessness of desperation and hate. There were even a few who, when their ships were severely damaged, would ram them in spite into Outcast fighters that had their shields down. After working his way through the battle closer to the planet he slipped away into the atmosphere.
Off on the horizon he could just make out visually a black and blue haze that his sensors told him was the burning remains of a city swarming with Outcast fighters picking the bones of the island clean. Steering away from the bruise on the horizon Carni started flying low over the ocean wondering if anyone had made it into boats and escaped the tiny percent of landmass on Kyushu. After a while he came across a heavy equipment transport boat, probably no longer in use at the start of the crisis but now a refuge for those fleeing death. Carnifex set down on the wide, flat deck and opened his cockpit. He was struck by the smell of the air, clean and fresh from the ocean, oily and dirty from the old barge, but giving away nothing of the acrid corpses of land dotting the planet. He was greeted by a tall and proud but tired looking man.
“We need your ship,” said the man sternly with a touch of Bretonian accent about him, “how many people can your hold carry?”
“Ten, twenty if they squ...”
“Good!” interrupted the man as he turned to another nearby refugee, “Alex, get a group out here and load them up.”
“Wait,” said Carnifex, “what happened?”
“The Outcasts started blowing up missiles above the cities, said something about operation Thor’s Hammer and a great day for the Outcasts. I thought there was an attack so I got into my fighter as soon as the first explosions started. Then people started dying in the streets and the buildings... I flew over a school...” he trailed off, his eyes wondering down to the deck as he remembered. Frightened looking people clutching random valuables were already being led toward Carnifex’s fighter.
Putting his hand on the man’s shoulder to draw his attention Carni said, “You say you were in your fighter, do you still have it, we made need the escort to get out of orbit.”
“Yes, but if I go with yo...”
BOOM! A pair of Outcast fighters screamed across just meters above the deck and began to wheel around for a strafing run.
“IF YOU STAY YOU DIE!” yelled Carni over the din and then sped back into his cockpit without waiting for an answer.
Closing his cargo hold doors and pumping his engine Carni made it off the deck moments before weapons fire tore the hulking old ship in two. Spinning around he could see a small Kusari interceptor lifting off the already tilting ship. The Outcasts were using border world multirole fighters with torpedos mounted, much slower in atmosphere but one torpedo anywhere near Carnifex’s fast attack fighter and he’d be a goner. In an atmosphere the explosion would translate through the air much better then it could in a vacuum.
He decided not to wait around for that to happen and made a break for space, the two fighters pursuing him. Weapons fire shot past as he climbed away from the ravaged planet hoping that fighting the planet’s gravity well would prove too much for any torpedoes. Then he saw it peel off to the left out his window as. Carnifex checked his sensors to see that the small interceptor had used its speed to put itself between the Outcasts and Carni and lured them away.
Slowly the blue of the sky faded away and the brilliant flashes of light coming from the battle around Kyushu became visible. Carnifex avoided the fight but a single Outcast fighter spotted him and prevented him from escaping. This time he had no choice but to engage.
# 9 by Scourge
Scourge took in the midnight sky of Planet Malta. He was enjoying the smell of fresh wild Cardamine, soaking it up in the breeze, feeling it on his face. The musky scent of other exotic fragrances had touched his nose as well. The news of the cardiforming of Honshu and Kyushu delighted him as he sat down in his chair, and lit up a Rheinland Swisher.
The news the Outcast high council was something that was revolutionary for the Outcasts. Even for the people in the militia like Scourge, it meant that Cardamine would flow three times as fast and as much as it did before. The floodgates would be opened. The rest of the universe would feel the scent-the taste- the euphoria- the beauty of Cardamine, and the joy that each and every outcast felt.
Talisman turned the corner atop the Spire in which Scourge sat. The lights were dim, only a few candles flickered in the corridor, while the brilliant green of Malta's sun shining on Vesuvius lit up the night sky. The marblestone of the Spire climbed the crafted peak-side, which was met by other spires across the horizon. Talisman, sure of what he was going to say, seemingly forgot as the Heaven of Malta captivated him just as it swallowed up Scourge.
"The Outcasts have played a fine hand today. The flow of Cardamine will never cease." Scourge said, seemingly knowing that Talisman was there.
"We have had a grand victory. Those who attempt to stop our glorious flow will bleed out like pigs."
"There is talk of a small crusade against us, based in Tau 23."
---
The light from the sun lost its blinding effect as Talisman and Scourge had exited the Tau 23 jumphole from Tau 29. They had been on a quiet hunt, searching for the crusaders who had made it their profession to stop cardamine smuggling.
"Java Station seems to be their choice of location," , Scourge said. He had inhaled another dose of Cardamine, his lungs filling with the sweet sensation. Space was cold, but Scourge could not feel it under the alteration his mind had felt.
"Such a small base, for such a large campaign against us. Come, Scourge, I want to taste their death." Talisman's bloodlust could be felt in Scourge. He knew his urge to maim and kill.
"Easy Talisman. There will be plenty of time for that," Scourge smiled at his brother's feelings, but knew that their two ships would not be able to crucify such a base. Then another dose had been inhaled, and he had felt enlightenment all over again. We shall attack this base, and send it a message that the Outcasts are prepared to force their will on all who oppose them."
"Its only a matter of time before everyone feels the Malta dust."
"We turned Malta into heaven. Now we will turn the rest into hell."
The news the Outcast high council was something that was revolutionary for the Outcasts. Even for the people in the militia like Scourge, it meant that Cardamine would flow three times as fast and as much as it did before. The floodgates would be opened. The rest of the universe would feel the scent-the taste- the euphoria- the beauty of Cardamine, and the joy that each and every outcast felt.
Talisman turned the corner atop the Spire in which Scourge sat. The lights were dim, only a few candles flickered in the corridor, while the brilliant green of Malta's sun shining on Vesuvius lit up the night sky. The marblestone of the Spire climbed the crafted peak-side, which was met by other spires across the horizon. Talisman, sure of what he was going to say, seemingly forgot as the Heaven of Malta captivated him just as it swallowed up Scourge.
"The Outcasts have played a fine hand today. The flow of Cardamine will never cease." Scourge said, seemingly knowing that Talisman was there.
"We have had a grand victory. Those who attempt to stop our glorious flow will bleed out like pigs."
"There is talk of a small crusade against us, based in Tau 23."
---
The light from the sun lost its blinding effect as Talisman and Scourge had exited the Tau 23 jumphole from Tau 29. They had been on a quiet hunt, searching for the crusaders who had made it their profession to stop cardamine smuggling.
"Java Station seems to be their choice of location," , Scourge said. He had inhaled another dose of Cardamine, his lungs filling with the sweet sensation. Space was cold, but Scourge could not feel it under the alteration his mind had felt.
"Such a small base, for such a large campaign against us. Come, Scourge, I want to taste their death." Talisman's bloodlust could be felt in Scourge. He knew his urge to maim and kill.
"Easy Talisman. There will be plenty of time for that," Scourge smiled at his brother's feelings, but knew that their two ships would not be able to crucify such a base. Then another dose had been inhaled, and he had felt enlightenment all over again. We shall attack this base, and send it a message that the Outcasts are prepared to force their will on all who oppose them."
"Its only a matter of time before everyone feels the Malta dust."
"We turned Malta into heaven. Now we will turn the rest into hell."
#8 by Skyler
"Sir, I've got someone from Atka research station on the secure channel who's asking for you." called Griff from the com station.
"I'll be right there." came the reply from Skyler as he headed back up the boarding ramp.
Griff handed the mic over to Skyler as he came up.
"Skyler here."
"Skyler I assume you've heard the news?" said the voice on the other end of the line.
"Assuming you're talking about the Outcast attacks on Planet Kyushu and Planet Honshu and that they're starting to cardaform them, yes. By the way, who is this?"
"This is your old pal James Conway."
"James! I haven't heard from you in ages. To bad it has to be at a time like this."
"Aye it's been a long time since you were out in these parts. But the reason I called was we've got a large quantity of medical supplies and some other stuff you might find interesting has been stockpiled here. Universal doesn't happen to have any assets around here do you?"
"Let me check." Skyler switches the mic off and puts on a headset and moves over to another station to check for any Universal transports in the Sigmas. "I'm assuming you're talking about taking that Stuff to Honshu?"
"Thants right. Of course you'll have to find someone to take out the Outcasts there before it will do much good."
"There's always a catch in life isn't there...ah well can't be helped. That would have to be done regardless."
"You got a transports around?" asked James again.
"Just finished looking. The closest ones we've got are in Frankfurt. But as we'll have to wait until the Outcasts are pushed back far enough to get in it shouldn't be to much of a problem getting to you in time."
"Okay we'll have the supplies ready when your ships get here. Oh one thing, we don't have support for trains at this base, so don't send any."
"Don't worry, I know all about docking restrictions for large ships....I"ll be sure to send only Armored Transports and Longhaul Freighters."
"Roger that. Atka out!"
The com clicked and Skyler pulled off the headset.
"Griff, any news from New London?"
"Uh....let me check. Yep here we go. Some guy there says they have a large group of aid workers that are getting ready to go. They just need transports."
"That's where we come in. Get all of our non essential transports in the area to assemble at New London. We'll provide the transports for this mission."
"Yes sir!"
"Now we need someone with the firepower to clear a path through the Outcasts to both Planet Kyushu and Planet Honshu."
"I'll be right there." came the reply from Skyler as he headed back up the boarding ramp.
Griff handed the mic over to Skyler as he came up.
"Skyler here."
"Skyler I assume you've heard the news?" said the voice on the other end of the line.
"Assuming you're talking about the Outcast attacks on Planet Kyushu and Planet Honshu and that they're starting to cardaform them, yes. By the way, who is this?"
"This is your old pal James Conway."
"James! I haven't heard from you in ages. To bad it has to be at a time like this."
"Aye it's been a long time since you were out in these parts. But the reason I called was we've got a large quantity of medical supplies and some other stuff you might find interesting has been stockpiled here. Universal doesn't happen to have any assets around here do you?"
"Let me check." Skyler switches the mic off and puts on a headset and moves over to another station to check for any Universal transports in the Sigmas. "I'm assuming you're talking about taking that Stuff to Honshu?"
"Thants right. Of course you'll have to find someone to take out the Outcasts there before it will do much good."
"There's always a catch in life isn't there...ah well can't be helped. That would have to be done regardless."
"You got a transports around?" asked James again.
"Just finished looking. The closest ones we've got are in Frankfurt. But as we'll have to wait until the Outcasts are pushed back far enough to get in it shouldn't be to much of a problem getting to you in time."
"Okay we'll have the supplies ready when your ships get here. Oh one thing, we don't have support for trains at this base, so don't send any."
"Don't worry, I know all about docking restrictions for large ships....I"ll be sure to send only Armored Transports and Longhaul Freighters."
"Roger that. Atka out!"
The com clicked and Skyler pulled off the headset.
"Griff, any news from New London?"
"Uh....let me check. Yep here we go. Some guy there says they have a large group of aid workers that are getting ready to go. They just need transports."
"That's where we come in. Get all of our non essential transports in the area to assemble at New London. We'll provide the transports for this mission."
"Yes sir!"
"Now we need someone with the firepower to clear a path through the Outcasts to both Planet Kyushu and Planet Honshu."
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