E,Let it come out of orbit: letting it come out of orbit either does nothing to it(much like it does nothing noteworthy to us), or it does need atmospheric pressure/gasses and it goes "splat" into tiny little parts/goes blue and asphyxiates.
After that we do destroy whatever is left of the chaser. Shooting the junk-covered debris is a waste of resources, time and pretty much everything else you can think of, as within minutes we'd stumble upon MORE infested junk floating around.
Summary: Let the chasing one catch up with us outside of orbit, then shoot it. Leave the planet(And this system preferably as well) upon destroying the chaser.
Why to another system? : If we check the adjacent systems, we can either warn them about the zerg/thrine(And get supplies without three feet of zerg-goo over it) or we find those planets overrun as well, letting us know that the manure has really hit the airconditioning blades, and we need some serious help/firepower to start dishing out hurt.
ESummary: Let the chasing one catch up with us outside of orbit, then shoot it. Leave the planet(And this system preferably as well) upon destroying the chaser.
Why to another system? : If we check the adjacent systems, we can either warn them about the zerg/thrine(And get supplies without three feet of zerg-goo over it) or we find those planets overrun as well, letting us know that the manure has really hit the airconditioning blades, and we need some serious help/firepower to start dishing out hurt.
E,Let it come out of orbit: letting it come out of orbit either does nothing to it(much like it does nothing noteworthy to us), or it does need atmospheric pressure/gasses and it goes "splat" into tiny little parts/goes blue and asphyxiates.
After that we do destroy whatever is left of the chaser. Shooting the junk-covered debris is a waste of resources, time and pretty much everything else you can think of, as within minutes we'd stumble upon MORE infested junk floating around.
Summary: Let the chasing one catch up with us outside of orbit, then shoot it. Leave the planet(And this system preferably as well) upon destroying the chaser.
Why to another system? : If we check the adjacent systems, we can either warn them about the zerg/thrine(And get supplies without three feet of zerg-goo over it) or we find those planets overrun as well, letting us know that the manure has really hit the airconditioning blades, and we need some serious help/firepower to start dishing out hurt.
"We cannot allow this monster to attack anyone else, now we must turn and fight." Kar'rak growled, spinning the Sparrow around. "Asura, you must intercept this creature with your drone."
"Uh, yes sir, right away sir!" Private Lawrence responded, pressing the buttons and pulling the joysticks on his control panel. The Sparrow's drone zipped back out of its hangar and hovered in front of the Sparrow, awaiting the Thrine Hunter to exit the atmosphere.
Jack looked up at the pilot of his ship, Uh, mate, really, this isn't necessary. That Engineer fellow, he's got a good brain on his shoulders, we should, uh how do I put this... Leave.
"Alright, Scudo will assist." Scarlet groaned, the Scudo arched in its path and pulled back beside the Sparrow. "Just, at least keep your ship behind ours." She said, a slight growl to her own voice.
The two Frigates hung in planet's orbit, watching the Thrine Hunter ascend into the atmosphere. Its wings flapped vigorously, and with a sudden burst of speed it rocketed out into the planet's atmosphere towards the two vessels. It soundlessly opened its mouth in a silent hiss, its tube like body twisted and writhed until its tail flicked forwards, launching something at the Scudo! Scarlet only had a moment to react, out the transparent view from her cockpit she saw the projectile rocket towards them. It looked like a coil of spiked bones coated in some sort of green acid.
In that soundless moment, the Scudo was barely able to move as it slammed into the front of the ship. The thing lodged in the hull, sparks flew out of the pilot's console as its lights dimmed and died, the Scudo's engines faded and died, as the sound of air hissing out of the ship filled the vessel.
Alerts flashed all over the ship, HULL BREACH Yumi and Jeana both let out a cry of shock, but Mark's voice came over the com.
"I'll go to the cockpit, you two stay on your stations!" He shouted, quickly rushing out of the engine room towards the cockpit. The alarm pierced his ears as the sound of his boots hammering against the corridor's floor seemed to echo.
From the bridge of the Sparrow, Kar'rak watched as the terrifying looking projectile slammed into the Scudo, bypassing its shields, followed by a burst of oxygen as the thing was propelled back into space. It didn't stop the weapons from firing though, the Scudo's laser firing off, striking the strange creature firmly, causing a burst of gore.
Private Lawrence watched with a shiver of fear as he saw the creature damage the Scudo, but he didn't let it break his focus. He maneuvered his drone in close, firing his laser at the enemy and striking it again! The thing looked bloodied, but it didn't stop it from continuing its assault.
With the Scudo floating immobile over the planet, the creature flew after the drone, quickly twisting and flying, "How is a winged creature so mobile in space, it seems impossible!" Lawrence complained, "Gyah!" He shouted, the drone's monitor flashing static as the creature fired a projectile, slamming into the drone, sending it spinning off course. "The drone looks damaged, but its not out." He grumbled into the coms as the static faded and he resumed control of the drone.
On the Scudo, Mark Iplier had burst through the shield room, pushing past Yumi who looked at him with scared eyes. He didn't stop sprinting, moving though the medical bay and the door controls finally reaching the cockpit at the front of the ship... He took a deep breath and opened the door, atmosphere beginning to spill into the room. Scarlet was in the room still holding onto her seat as she used one hand to attempt to reach a spare panel. Her eyes were half closed, gasping for air.
Mark boldly stepped into the room, determination on his face. He pulled the extra panel off the wall and slammed it into place on the ceiling, pulling a tool from his belt and beginning to molding it to fit the breach. Scarlet stood on shaky legs, pulling out her own tool and assisting him, taking in short, desperate breaths as the room continued to empty of air out the breach, even as it was slowly sealed.
Jeana managed to charge the weapons again, firing off the Scudo's laser at the still available target, hitting it hard, causing it to writhe, and again, Lawrence used the drone to fire, slamming into the creature, blood coming out of its mouth.
Quickly, the creature turned to flee, back towards the planet. A sigh of relief washed over the Sparrow, but the Scudo was still in trouble. Slowly the two sealed the breach, Mark quickly getting to work repairing the cockpit's controls, Scarlet collapsing in her chair, blood draining down over her eyebrow. She started breathing deep, her eyes loosely focused on the engineer as he diligently worked, hands deep within the electronic inner workings of the system. Slowly she began to regain her senses, opening a com with the Sparrow as Mark worked. "Kar'rak... Kar'rak are you there?"
"Yes, we are here, and undamaged-"
"Except for the drone!" Private Lawrence immediately interrupted, "Aww piss!" The normally mild mannered Asura shouted into the microphone, "There's more another one of those things coming from the surface!"
"What?! Are you serious?" Scarlet shrieked, her hand raising to hold her head.
"That's not all, that's not all! The Dignitas is back!"
Scarlet let out a groan of frustration, turning on an external view. She saw the Dignitas moving towards them, its running lights extinguished. Scarlet eyed it, trying to see it more closely, "SIN Dignitas, this is SIN Scudo, please respond." Scarlet groaned impatiently.
"Done! Hah!" Mark slid out of the terminal, thrusting his hands in the air, a look of victory on his face, "I did it!" He laughed, getting to his feet and slamming the cover closed and the Scudo came to life again.
"Oh thank the Goddess, Mark, you're a blessing." Scarlet sighed, her hands wrapping around the controls again, bringing the Scudo around to face the Dignitas.
"I-I apologize for my earlier outburst, but I-uh, I have to inform you that the Dignitas seems to be suffering from multiple hull breaches, and she doesn't have a system's range communication device, they could be too damaged to respond properly." Lawrence piped up from his home in the drone room of the Sparrow.
"Whatever the reason for their silence we need to do something quickly." Scarlet groaned, shaking her head clear once more.
Mark gave her a pat on the back, "I'll get back to the engines." He said quietly, jogging off to the back of the ship.
CHOICES A- Get closer to the Dignitas and attempt to contact them.
B- Continue the assault!
- B1- Chase down the injured Thrine Hunter before it can group with the second one.
- B2- Move in and attack the Dignitas
C- Move away from the planet, and the Hunters and the Dignitas.
D- Flee
- D1- Batten down the hatches and try to jump before we are engaged
- D2- Use a drone to stall the Hunters (May lose a drone.)
- D3- Use a drone to stall the Dignitas (May lose a drone.)
I'm sticking to my previous vote in which we visit another system, we've seen enough of this one to know there's nothing to gain.
E
>We don't engage anything, no zerg, no Dignitas, no random space junk.
>We(if possible and doable within 30 seconds) leave a message to the Dignitas to get their butts to safety
>We rush to another system
>We don't get killed in the process.
>Basically my previous vote, for the same background reason, but with a bit extra reasoning.
Why?
>Our little misadventure here has already cost us enough, while I have no qualms scooting right past the Dignitas and leaving them as zerg-bait, I do have strong objections to "fighting zerg because of fighting", when we could just go to a more colonized area, stack up on the big hurt and fly back for a bit of payback.
Minor note: How could the zerg-flying thing, whom I presume "vomited" out the projectile, not die from pressure difference? when you open anything for that matter(which is why opening a window while in space is a bad idea, so don't do that.) you expose yourself to pressure versus non-pressure, which(in our case at the least) would yield you a bad case of dead.
The main reason being: I assumed luring them out into open space would yield a "pop" and a dead chaser, but this was...anticlimactic. I really hoped that upon leaving the planet's atmosphere we'd be treated with a chaser going an appropriate color/bursting into bits for being too greedy for its own good.
Everyone voted for Leaving in some fashion save for Blaaaaaarg, so in the ever wise words and the shrewd tactical thinking of the Colonial Marines, "WE. ARE. LEAVING!"
Also, I figured I should pull up one of the Nasa sites I used in my research, just to stem the curiosity for now. =)
You must be registered to see the links
"Kar'rak, do a 1-80, and get the Sparrow to the edge of the gravity well, we're getting out of here." Scarlet Ordered
"I comply because I agree." Kar'rak said in a matter of fact tone, spinning the Sparrow around, away from the planet, "It is better to live and fight another day." The Sparrow's engines lit and it began moving to the edge of the gravity well.
Scarlet pulled the Scudo around, reaching out to her communication console, adjusting it the controls briefly, "S.I.N. Dignitas, this is S.I.N. Scudo, if you're reading this, please make your way to safety, the creatures from the planet are dangerous, please move away from the planet. Scudo out." Scarlet said lowly, taking a deep breath as she closed the message, "Dammit, how could I let us get hit so hard."
She pushed the engines of the Scudo, moving it to the edge of the gravity well. The Sparrow was just ahead of them. The sensors showed the two Hunters, now grouped together flying past the Dignitas without pause. They streaked towards the Frigates, moving significantly faster than them.
Mark worked his eyes over the engines, trying to find what else he could do to push them more, "Come on, come ON!" Mark shouted, "I don't wanna get eaten!" He growled.
"The drone is back in the hangar bay, we are ready for jump." Lawrence said, shutting down his station, gasping happily, "Maybe we can get out of here in one piece."
"Plotting jump coordinance, transmitting to Scudo." Kar'rak said, watching the FTL drive charge at a painfully slow rate.
"They're right on top of us!" Scarlet shouted, the two Hunter's skimming past the Scudo, a bolt from the first narrowly missing the engines of the shield frigate as she pushed it out of the way. "Jeana, hit the injured one!"
"Locked on!" Jeana's voice came back through the com as the ship shook, about to break free of the gravity well. "Firing!"
The laser bolt zipped forwards, and just as it was about to fling something at the Sparrow, it seemed to fold in half, as if broken. Its wings spasmed and it drifted off to the side just as a warp window opened in front of the Sparrow and it slipped into subspace.
"Our turn." Scarlet said confidently, a smirk of determined victory on her face as the shimmering blue window opened in front of her. In a flash the ship was enveloped in subspace, tracking towards the plotted coordinance.
CHOICES
A- The Star of the system, this will give us the opportunity to plot a course out of Hell.
B- Hell 1 (Research Station)
C- Hell 2 (Starting Research Location)
D- Hell 3 Mining Station
E- Hell 5 Military Station (Recovery location for "Artifact Infinity")
Author Development
As a starting writer, I'm always looking for new ways to improve, to both enhance my story telling, and the enjoyment of my readers. If you'd be so kind, leave a comment, question, concern... Or crude remark along with your vote! Thanks for the feedback!
A: Let's get the hell out of Hell(Couldn't resist), see my previous two posts for reasoning.
As for writing:
Pardon me for missing English literary jargon, but as far as I can see there are a few minor cases where you miss 'connecting' words like "the" or "and".
Aside from that a typo here and there, but that happens to all of us on occasion.
Story-wise it's solid, slow, but not drawn-out and updates contain at the least some plot development. I've yet to see a real filler-episode. That's a good thing: (I dislike filler-episodes due to them being just filler, but it'll take a lot of mismanagement before you'll see me complaining).
The only thing I do miss a bit is character development. While we've got little time as of yet to sit down and have a chat with our new crewmates, I feel like half the crew is just "generic crewmate 1, 2 and 3", of which I won't shed a tear if something happens to them.
B Might as well try and see if we can find some nifty secret weaponry here at the research station before leaving system. Besides, if there is something there to attack us, then we just turn right around and head on out. It's more than worth the risk in any case, because we might be able to repair the ships also.
I thought we might need some character development =) I've been doing my best through dialogue, but, here ya go Fella's! Thanks for the support!
Scarlet gasped, watching the light of subspace texture her cockpit window as she collapsed in her chair. She reached up, wiping her brow with her wrist. "Huh?" She breathed, looking down at her wrist with unfocused eyes. Over her flight suit was a thick red gloss, "I think I'm bleeding." She said to herself, getting up and moving to the door, using the wall to brace herself. The door to the commons behind the cockpit opened up just as Scarlet entered.
"Scarlet!" Jeana rushed into the room, wrapping her arms around the pilot, "Let me help you to the medical bay." She said, her eyes looking over Scarlet's face. "A-are you okay?"
Jeana, I'm fi-
"Come on, come on!" Jeana hurried, supporting Scarlet along the way through the rooms into the Medical bay. "Here, here, lay down. These cots are designed for better healing than just standing in here." She said pulling down a the cot.
"No really Jeana, I'm f-ayeeh!" She gasped as Jeana pushed her back down onto the cot.
"Lay still." She said, quietly, hushing her.
Scarlet looked up, raising an eyebrow, but as the liquid like nanites slid out of the console at the head of the unit she relaxed and resigned. With a sigh, she smiled and closed her eyes, a warmth filling her body.
Jeana's body untensed, she smiled and leaned against the wall, unable to stop her eyes from watching as the silvery, fluid flowing microbots moved over Scarlet's slim form. They washed over her curves, symmetrically streaming, slipping up over her forehead across her collar bone and down between her breasts, roaming over the red flight suit which left nothing to the imagination. Jeana blushed, and bit her lip.
She watched for only a few moments in silence before her lips parted again, "F-feeling alright?" She whispered, part of her hoped Scarlet wouldn't hear.
"Mmh yes, thank you." Scarlet moaned, not opening her eyes, "Thank you so much for suggesting the cot. Its much better than those stupid directed air nanites." She said with a little grin slipping across her face.
Jeana smiled nervously, reaching her hand out slowly towards Scarlet's cheek. Turning her hand backwards, she imagined what the Scarlet's soft cheek would feel like under her fingers. She thought to herself how easy it would be, she wouldn't even notice, would she?
Her hand moved closer... It was so close-
The door slid open, Yumi and Mark walking in, "And it completely blew through the shields, there was nothing I could do!" Yumi complained, rubbing her elbow.
Jeana's hand quickly snapped to her side, looking over wide eyed at the two, "Holy shit!" She clutched her chest, "You two scared the shit out of me!" She said, shaking head and laughing at herself.
Yumi looked over to Scarlet, walking to the other side of her cot, "Is it bad? Is she gonna be okay?" Yumi asked, bringing her hands to her mouth.
"No, she's fine, the medical cot is reading all green, just some surface wounds." Jeana said, popping her hip as she leaned against the wall, relaxing a little more with the crew on the ship.
Mark walked to the foot of the cot, looking between the two girls at either side, and Scarlet on the cot. "She did a darn good job, got us out of here in one piece." He said with a grin, grabbing her foot and shaking it while the nanites began receding back into the headboard. Standing up straight, he looked at Jeana and Yumi again. "I..." He paused, "I really owe you guys a lot of thanks. I've nearly died twice in the past day, and I'm pretty sure those guys back there wanted to make it a third so aah..." He stalled, rubbing the back of his neck, looking at the ground, "Thanks, I don't think I would have survived that without you girls." He turned, looking towards the front of the ship, waving ahead, "And those other guys on the other ship over there."
Jeana blushed and looked at the ground, and Yumi turned to face him, bowing low. When she stood she had a smile on her face, "Hey, we couldn't have done it without you either." She said with a smile, "We make a good team Mark."
Scarlet sat up in her bed, a look of almost drunken happiness on her face, "Why don't we have more of these? Say, at boot camp." She said, laughing at her own joke.
The others laughed as well, "Holy crap Scarlet, you look hilarious." Mark covered his mouth with his arm as he bent over, his body quivering with laughter.
"But really Mark, you saved my life, I don't think I would have been able to seal that breach on my own." She said, pushing her hair back, and resuming her normal composure.
"Nah, you're tough. You'd be fine." He said with a grin, turning away. "Obviously you guys have some sort of skill, I mean, you made it here in good shape. Where... Where did you come from anyway?" He asked, folding his arms and cocking a curious head to the side.
"Hell Two, research station." Scarlet said, climbing to her feet, sliding off the cot and folding it back up. "Kar'rak and I were small craft pilots on the S.I.N. capitol ship 'Overlord,'" She said, stretching her arms behind her back. "Kar'rak is the strong headed jerk flying the Sparrow." She said, shaking her head with a spiteful sneer. And-
"No, I mean, where do you come from? What brought you out here in the first place? I mean, there's a hundred safer things you pretty girls could have been doing back on Skorm."
"You mean the Emperor, the City, the Planet, the Star system, or the entire Empire?" Yumi leaned forwards and giggled.
"Oh come on, that one's been around since we were kids." Jeana groaned, still allowing herself a chuckle. "I mean, what kind of person names every important part of their empire after their own name?" Emperor
"TheEmperor." The other three spoke in unison, filling the room with mild laughter.
Heh, in all seriousness I came out here for the pay. Yumi admitted, "My family lives back on Heaven Two, and my parents are getting older." Yumi nodded, stepping closer to Scarlet, her hands clasped in front of her. She looked at the ground as she continued. "The tithes are increasing, and the taxes are crippling on top of that. My father used to be the owner of one of the genetics labs that were bought up by Helix and Fission Corp."
Scarlet gave Yumi a brief smile and turned away, looking at the ground. Mark nodded, smiling at Yumi, "That's really brave of you." Mark said, a sincere smile on his face, "What about you Scarlet?"
The red head looked to the left and folded her arms, "I, uh, I should get to the controls, we should be arriving soon." She said, abruptly turning and walking out of the medical bay.
She walked quickly through the commons behind the cockpit and slipped inside, letting herself slump into her seat. She took a deep breath, and reached into the collar of her flight suit, pulling out a slim brass locket, signs of wear were obvious. She bit her lip and opened it, signs of tarnish obvious in the creases. She gazed down at the images of two people, a man and a woman in one frame, and a small girl in the other. She took a deep breath before closing it and tucking it back into her flight suit. She watched the location tracker slowly close to zero, a slight red glow beginning to radiate from the sun into subspace.
In the Medbay Mark sighed, watching her leave, the Yumi and Jeana watching her leave. Geez, was it something I said? Mark asked no one in particular, already knowing the answer. "I guess I'll... I guess I'll get back to the engines." Mark said, sighing and marching back in the ship.
The Yumi followed him out, Jeana waiting in the Med bay. As the others left, she sighed, leaning on the wall and closing her eyes... What is weighing on your heart so much Scarlet? And how can I help? She whispered to herself.
The Sparrow arrived first, bursting out of subspace in an explosion of residual energy from the jump. Kar'rak paced back towards the cockpit along the spinal bridge. Lawrence heard him coming and stepped out of his drone room. "Uh, sir, I was wondering-"
"Lawrence, silence, I am discussing something with the ships Artificial Intelligence." The Tutarin hunter snapped, dismissing the Asura instantly. "Jack, please explain again what you meant by 'Other ways' to deal with the human woman."
An image of Jack appeared, following him through the air, the image performing an unsteady swagger as he moved, "I'm just suggesting, if I may, that you use a little more... Tact, when working Dear Scarlet." He said, his hands emphasizing his words, "Now, often, I would suggest alcohol, and the precise, but liberal use of... Persuasion." He said, his artificial face eyeing the alien keenly.
"Persuasion comes in many forms computer," Kar'rak glared at Jack, Which do you suggest?
"Uh, pick your favorite, but if I may suggest hastening to the brige? I think somethings going on outside." He said, loosely motioning towards the windows on the Sparrow.
Kar'rak quickly sprinted to the cockpit, looking out the view port as he found his seat. What appeared before them did not surprise Kar'rak, but did annoy him. He sneered, watching the sillouetted image of an Imperial scout ship pursuing four civilian freighters as they attempted to escape the massive red star's primary gravity well. A comforting flash of light appeared to his left as the Scudo jumped in beside the Sparrow, renewed hardened shields glimmering in the light of the star.
CHOICES
A- Attack the Imperial Scout
B- Attack the Civilian Transports
C- Try to get everyone to stop and calm the fuck down so we can talk.
D- Try to get the Imperial Scout to stop and talk.
E- Ignore them and carry on.
F- Other.
Subvote
What is Kar'rak's preferred method of "Persuasion" for women?
1- To dominate them in physical competition to prove dominance
2- RAPE!
3- To dominate them physically, then take them sexually
4- "Romantic" Seduction
5- "Bad Boy" Seduction
6- Other
