Dark Haven 2 - Chapter 7 (rewrite)

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crunn
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Dark Haven 2 - Chapter 7 (rewrite)

Post by crunn » Wed, 14. Jul 04, 14:59

Chapter 01 (Survivors)
Chapter 02 (Excursions)
Chapter 03 (No Place Like Home)
Chapter 04 (Rising)
Chapter 05 (Politics)
Chapter 06 (Seepage)

------------------------------------------

DARK HAVEN 2

Chapter 7 (Getting Back)


Pegasus

'I am in a cargo-bay.
I know this.
Paranid, small.
Maybe Pegasus.'

'Yes, I will take this ship.
I must get back.'

Monroe climbs out of the cargo net and walks towards the door leading into the forward section of the ship.
As he nears the closed door he unclips a large wrench from his belt.
The sound of footsteps on the other side stops Monroe.

As the door slides open Olrasin is startled by the sight of Monroe's motionless figure and cold dead stare.

Monroe swings the wrench.

The small and nimble Paranid ducks aside just in time.

"What are you doing?!!" Olrasin yelps.

Monroe calmly steps forward.

"I'm rescuing you." Olrasin says.

Monroe replies this time, in monotone. "I need this ship.
I must get back."
He swings again, and misses.

Olrasin jumps back and lands awkwardly on the floor in the middle of the small room.

"I'll take you back.
I'll drop you at Argon Prime on the way."

Monroe steps forward again.

Olrasin, knowing he is no match for the large Argon, looks up towards the weapons locker.

"Argon Prime?
No, I must get back."
He takes another step raising the wrench.
"Back to X8. Vah."

"What?
Are you crazy?
You'll get yourself killed.
We both know more about these Aliens than anyone else.
We need to get home."

Monroe tilts his head slightly, his blank expression takes on a momentary puzzled look.
"Home?
Yes home."

"What is wrong with you Monroe?"

At that Olrasin jumps to his feet and dives at the weapons locker.
Monroe takes a final step and catches the Paranid cleanly on the back of the head with the wrench.
Olrasin crumples to the floor.

The Captain drops the metal object which clatters to the floor. He then steps into the cockpit and brings up the ship information.

"This will do.
Vah."

...

Monroe easily picks up the unconscious Paranid and puts him in the airlock.
He opens the outer door and ejects Olrasin into space.

'Now back to X8.'

The Captain sits in the pilots seat. He takes a moment to look over the controls.

'Cloak.
Good.'

The Pegasus turns to the gate and accelerates, leaving Olrasin and the Discoverer behind.

The ship computer announces "Entering system Dark Haven."

'Dark Haven?
So they named it.'

...


Unknown Sector (some time later)

Olrasin


"Ughhh...
What...
Happened...
Where am I...
My head..."

'I'm in space.
In an EVA suit.'

"Monroe!!"

"Where!"

'He's left me floating in space.
Bastard!'

"Monroe, are you there? Can you hear me?"

'Wait...
Maybe not then, would he answer?'

'I'll turn around.
Ah, the Discoverer.
That's something at least.
Maybe I can get it working. I'm no engineer but Monroe has done all the hard work. I'm sure I can reattach a couple of fuel lines and screw the panels back on.'

'...If I had some tools...'

"Woo, he's been kind enough to leave me his tool belt, how nice." Olrasin says sarcastically.

'Damn, my head hurts.'

'Well, the sooner I get started...'

...


Olrasin (some time later)


'There, that should be it.
I'll climb in and try it.'

The Paranid manoeuvres around to the hatch and enters the ship.

He sits in the pilots' seat and starts bringing the systems online.

'Ok, everything seems fine.
Engines are operational.
Although due to the damage the top speed is down to 402, with the way it's been patched together I wouldn't want to push it.
I couldn't repair it again myself.
I'll keep it below 350.'

'What else?...
One destroyed Jump Drive, and the standard compliment of equipment for an Argon Fleet fighter.'
"How depressing."

'I'd better get moving, see where I am, what sector this is...'

...


Argon Fleet Command

Research And Development


Illandas walks in to the smaller of the two laboratories. No one notices, too caught up in their work.
Shelves and workbenches are strewn with all manor of curious looking devices, none of which look complete. The faint smell of electricity and singed hair is ever present.
The Admiral picks out the head researcher and walks over to him.

"How are things Ulasze?"

"Oh you know, terrible, just terrible.
You?" Replies the head researcher without looking up from his workstation.

"Likewise, terrible. Lost the fleet, bad things trying to eat us...
I've had better days."

"So Illandas, I hear you are the Admiral now." Now he looks up.

"I'm afraid so."

"Well there goes what little hope we had."

They both laugh.
Ulasze puts his hand on Illandas' shoulder.
A moment of solemn reflection.

"I'm glad you made it back old friend."

Illandas breaks the silence with. "I hear the Delta HEPT has been recalled. You mess up again?"

"Yes it was all my fault, as usual." The researcher jokes.

"What was wrong with it?
It seemed to be working beyond expectations in the battles."

"We've been over the data and discovered that although the power was well above expectation, actually it was around three times that of the Gamma. But the strain it was putting on the weapon capacitor was far to great. It would eventually cause permanent damage."

"But you can fix it?"

"No we don't think so. We would have to reduce the power of the Delta so much that it would be no better than the Gamma.
It looks like we have taken the HEPT as far as it can go."

"Pity."

"There is some good news though. We have been working on a future weapon."

"I like the sound of it already." The Admirals eyes light up.

"This weapon is still some jazuras away. But we believe that aspects of the Delta can be combined with part of the research for this future weapon. Create a sort of half way weapon."

"Nice!"

"Indeed.
Calculations are good. Designs are now being drawn up. We hope to have a prototype in a few wozuras."

"Do we have a name for it?"

"Yes, it's not a Plasma Thrower anymore.
It fires a cluster of photons rather than a burst of plasma. I wanted to call it the Photon Cluster Cannon, but they out voted me. So it will be called a Photon Pulse Cannon, the first being the Alpha PPC.
We're not sure of the power yet, it might not be quite that of the HEPT, but the range should be at least double."

"Good. Let me know as soon as it's ready.
Also I hear there is a new type of fighter being tested.
The Nova?"

"Ah yes. I think it's an ugly looking thing. Like a squashed Bayamon.
But geometrically is a good design and the test pilot loves it.
Who am I to argue." Ulasze shrugs.

"I'd like to take a look at it."

Ulasze steps around the desk. "It's out at the moment but I have a picture."

A slowly rotating 3D image appears above the desk.

"It doesn't look that bad." Illandas says taking a close look.

"You think?"

"Specs?"

"It's an M3 class heavy fighter. It will replace the Elite."

"Nooo!! Not the Elite.
I used to fly an Elite." Illandas exclaims.

"Exactly!" Ulasze chuckles.
"That's how old it is. We need a new ship."

Illandas also chuckles. "Maybe you're right.
Specs?"

"Speed 163m/s
Acceleration 12m/s²
Steering, because of the design we managed to get it up to 99.99%"

"That's better than some M4 fighters." Illandas says with a smile.

"Cargobay 236 L-class
Shields 3x25MW
Missiles up to and including Hornets
Weapons, two forward weapon mounts, both Beta HEPT.
And here is the really nice bit, it has a rear turret."

"Nice!"

"Single Gamma PAC.
Originally designed for missile defence but a GPAC can take out M5's without much trouble."

"Sounds good. How are the tests going?"

"Fine. A few glitches to work out. Nothing unexpected. We're getting there."
Ulasze turns the image off.

Illandas leans in towards Ulasze and speaks quietly as though not to be overheard.
"I've been thinking...
Capital ships...
The Titan and Colossus are very good, but...
Do we have any plans for something, a little...
Bigger?"

"You mean like an M0 class ship?"

"Exactly!" Illandas says far louder than he intended.

"Well... No.
Although I have a little design project I have been occasionally tinkering with."

"Oh?"

"A Mobile Battle Fortress."

"Oooooo!"

"Just a bit of fun really, a few sketches, nothing useable yet."

"Don't worry about it 'yet'. We couldn't possibly afford anything that sounds that impressive.
What about just a bigger Titan. Multiply all the measurements by two?"

"It's not that simple, but I'll look into it."

"Ok, I'd like you to start work on developing a bigger ship.
I don't want these other projects to suffer, so only you personally.
Maybe one tazura we will have ourselves a Mobile Battle Fortress."

"You've got it."

"Anyway. I have an appointment I can't be late for.
Keep me up-to-date on everything...
Oh I almost forgot why I came down here, I have some data on a new Xenon weapon and those aliens I need you to take a look at. I sent it down to your console.
See you later."
Last edited by crunn on Thu, 9. Sep 04, 19:59, edited 4 times in total.

OutSane
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Post by OutSane » Wed, 14. Jul 04, 15:29

great job

wonder whut Monroe is up to?
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KiwiNZ
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Post by KiwiNZ » Wed, 14. Jul 04, 23:30

Very good one! Monroe seems to have been taken over by the aliens and Olrasin has lost all of his data. :D Will be interesting how that develops and where Olrasin ended up.

Funny dialogue between Brennan and Ilandas :lol:

Looking forward to the next installment! :thumb_up:

ExE22
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Post by ExE22 » Thu, 15. Jul 04, 11:29

Will be interesting when olrasin har to explain the loss of his ship to his superior, who, in the previous chapters didnt seem like the nicest guy around

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FourFingers
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Post by FourFingers » Fri, 16. Jul 04, 19:53

Great stuff! :D

Olrasin was doing so well... I guess he's not likely to be doing any more good deeds for a while.

I wonder what kinds of ships Kyle has got stashed away...

:thumb_up:
Master of the mysterious Fourfingers.
lieutenant Dragon Rider. RED BROOD

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crunn
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Post by crunn » Sat, 17. Jul 04, 19:49

Thanks guys!


"explain the loss of his ship to his superior"
'Off with his head!', no doubt. :roll:


"Monroe seems to have been taken over by the aliens"
Looks like 'The Becoming' has 'Become', maybe...?


"I wonder what kinds of ships Kyle has got stashed away"
Now that'd be telling :wink:

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crunn
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Post by crunn » Sun, 15. Aug 04, 12:55

Sorry folks :oops:
I messed up, put some stuff in the wrong order, had to rewrite some other stuff, why it's been a bit longer.

The section with Brennan is unchanged (though it's now in Ch8) so you can skip over that bit.
The rest is new or changed a little.

KiwiNZ
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Post by KiwiNZ » Mon, 16. Aug 04, 20:02

Good rewrite! Still curious to find out what Monroe is going to do. I do wonder how much control the aliens have over him. Olrasin will have a good job finding his way home.

:thumb_up:

toxic_shadow
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Post by toxic_shadow » Tue, 24. Aug 04, 23:04

Great work :D

Cant wait for the next chapter

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