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first story... "worst day ever"

Feb 16, 2007 saints shadow link
this is my first story, but i like it. i hope you enjoy!

Saint sat in his Centurion MkIII breathing hard. As the sweet fell from his face Saint slowly replayed the events that had just unfolded. As if in a dream, Saint was back in Deneb J-12. He had just launched his ship from the station after refueling and stoking up on some extra supplies. Saint was on his way back to Itani after bringing some cargo for his old friend Abdul. Some crates full of stuff that he was sure had to be illegal. Abdul was crazy and it wasn’t unlike him to deal with black markets.

After launching, Saint made a course correction to put his ship into safe “jump” distance. He was in a hurry. His woman was waiting for him back home on Armand’s Reward. She always hated it when Saint went on his “trips’ across the universe. Even so, they both knew that Saint would go mad without his trips. After retiring from the military after twenty years of service Saint just couldn’t stand being stuck on station. After flying sense he enlisted at age fifteen there was no place cozier to Saint than his ship. He needed his flight time.

No one loved their ship like Saint. The “Shadow” was truly magnificent even after its service. So Saint had no problem giving it a little extra boost to get back home. As he hit the thrust to max, Saint could hear a strange clacking noise coming from the rear of his ship. Oh $#!* Saint thought to himself, I’ve got to have that looked at. Ignoring the sound that had dimmed to a quite tap, he plotted his course for O-3. Time to go home he thought. The distance indicator hit 3000 and the “jump” light flashed green.

As Saint was about to hit the jump command on his control board a jump portal opened right in front of him. The cabin of Saints ship was suddenly filed with the sound of a sting of curses as he attempted to role his ship out of the path of this incoming vassal. It was no use; the ship in front of him was way too big for Saint to maneuver out of its way before it crashed in to him. Saints head slammed into the command board as his ship tumbled out of control. Before he blacked out Saint was able to glimpse the spinning space in front of him start to blur as his the ship initiated the jump that he had plotted. Only, his ship was defiantly not going to end up where he had plotted.

Saint awoke to massive turbulence. He had only been out for a few seconds. Unfortunately he was out long enough to have no clue where he was. That however, had little meaning seeing to the fact that where ever he was, it was in the middle of an Ion storm. His computers long distance navigation controls where fried. Could have been just about anything that had done that; the impact, the disrupted jump, landing into the ion storm, heck it might even have to do with that strange noise that had now vanished. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter because Saints radar still worked and it showed about fifty inbound Guardian drones. That was quite a bit more than he was ready to handle in beat up ship in unknown territory. He had no other options; he had to make a blind jump.

He jammed the thrust to full reverse spun his ship around to bear on the new heading and slammed the jump command. For better or worse he was not staying there. The jump portal struggled to open as it drew all the power it could from the ship. The ion storm was disrupting the portal. Saint cursed madly at his precarious situation and run of bad luck. He quickly diverted as much power as possible to his thrusters and shot into the portal before it collapsed around him.

The portal opened into Geira Rutilus O-3. Saint could feel the tears in his eyes as the station came into view. “Finally,” Saint exclaimed, “Civilization!” his tears soon started to fall in earnest as he checked his radar. This place was full of Secro! Where was he?! He hailed the station and quickly realized the truth of the situation. He was right in front of Geira Watch barracks. He watched in horror as the station guards zeroed in on his position. Saint needed to find a way out quick. The guards where still over a 1000m out when Saint noticed the worm whole about 400m away. His engines where at half capacity, his ship was an utter mess; even so, Saint was sure he could make it. He rerouted as much power from his life systems and shields as he thought he could and punched the engine as hard as she could go. The guards were closing in fast as his indicator flashed that he was only 50m away. Saint removed the strain from his engine to allow it to recharge in the three seconds it would take to reach the wormhole. He would have just enough thrust left to enter.

Saints indicator turned green right as the guards reached the 400m mark and opened fire. He hit the activation control with such force that the plastic cover cracked under the blow. Suddenly space warped around him and the plasma bolts the where only meters behind exploded from the heat wave of the ship entering the wormhole. Saint sighed deeply after he entered in to the worm hole. He just hoe that his ship was working well enough to get him to the other side.

A bright light flashed as Saint and his ship where hurled back into normal space. Fortunately, this time Saint was well aware of where he was, but he wasn’t all together pleased with his new situation either. He found himself back in Deneb. Deneb B-12 to be exact. Probably the hottest sector in system, and it was hot!

Five Secro Vultures screamed by over his head in pursuit of a lone Warthog. The poor pilot was dodging and rolling but you could see that his ship was starting to fall apart from all of the strain and random hits. He redirected to a jump course to bug out when suddenly three insane pilots in EC’s busted onscreen and rained down a hailstorm of fire into the Vultures. They broke pursuit and engaged the EC pilots shooting down one before Saint could reach engagement range. His Ship may have been in shambles but he wouldn’t let his comrades down. He could still take on one of the enemy ships and survive.

Just as he lined up on one of the Vultures when a Secro TPG Teradon Roared in front of him with a host of about seven Vultures and three EC’s. Pursuing them were two Inani Trident light frigates followed by about ten centurions and five more EC’s. The remaining Secro Vultures broke off and rallied with there chased comrades and several new ships that had just entered the scene. These new ships where three proms, another TPG Teradon, and about seven EC’s. This was starting to look a little too rough for Saint in his current situation.

He quickly rallied with the other Itani in sector. They where his only chance of surviving. With his long range navigation controls still out he had no idea where another jump would take him. Suddenly Saints com rang out a static distorted greeting, “unidentified Centurion, this is Lieutenant Commander Armstrong, quickly state your name and intentions”

“Lieutenant Commander, this is Captain Saint, retired. I intend to help to the best of my ability. Are you in command here?” Saint replied
“Yes sir, the other officers are either dead or too wounded to command. We are supposed to have reinforcements in rout but we have to hold this position. We would greatly appreciate your help.”

“Look out boys! Here they come!” screamed a young ensign call sign “Silver Arch”.

The enemy Secro ships had regained their balance and were ready for a full counter strike. The swooped in guns blazing and the sky became a fiery mess of plasma, lasers, missiles, and gauss cannon rounds. Saint swooped, dodged, rolled, and mainly evaded the enemy trying to draw our some of the rookie pilots into forgetting there six. He even managed to down two EC’s wit his own weapons.

Suddenly a Secro got a firing solution on him and he couldn’t shake his pursuer. He had no choice but to vector straight at an enemy TPG Teradon and hope that the fear of getting hit by friendly fire would deter both of the ships from firing. Suddenly both ships turned tail and started fleeing towards the wormhole. After a quick glance Saint realized why. The reinforcements had finally arrived! A massive fleet of ships headed by a Heavy Assault Cruiser call sign “Alhazred”.

“Wow buddy! You see them Secro run!” blurted out Ensign Silver Arch, “Hey Captain Saint? Thanks for saving my tail out there!”

“No Prob. Silver” Saint replied wearily as he hung his head breathing hard as he played all of the events over in his mind. Suddenly a thought stuck Saint, “Alhazred, this is Captain Saint on board Centurion 877531, who may I ask is the commander of your vessel?”

His com buzzed in reply “Common Saint, you should know who was going to replace your command after you retired. Surpass you even!” the voice sounded somewhat slurred.

“Abdul, are you drunk again?! You crazy bastage!” Saint yelled in reply, but not with out warmth in his voice towards his old comrade.

“That’s Rear Admiral Bastage to you!!!” Abdul burst out laughing, “Of course I’m drunk, first rule of combat; never go in sober! It’s a good rule too! Got me this far. Admiral of a Heavy Assault Cruiser and all! Best part is that I won’t have to be sober for a least a week with the shipment that you brought me!”

“Oh God! Well does that Cruiser have a port for me to repair my ship so that I can get home?” Saint asked wearily.

“But of course old friend! We will have you home in no time. Besides, I owe you.” Abdul replied.

“Hey Admiral? Do you mind if I dock with you too? I owe this man a drink!” Ensign Silver Arch interrupted.

“Sure, but only if you buy one for me too!!!” exclaimed Abdul absolutely rolling at his own humor. “See you gents in the officer’s lounge at 0800, and that’s an order!”
Feb 17, 2007 toshiro link
Hm...

Run a spellchecker and eradicate some of the punctuation and grammar mistakes. Please don't mis-spell 'Serco'.

Otherwise, not too shabby. Keep going!
Feb 17, 2007 jexkerome link
I like the story so far, but by now I'm quite tired of the number of Captains, Aces, Masters at Everything, Ninjas, Commanders, Heroes, Extremely Rich People, Nobles, and, of course, Those for Whom Nothing Ever goes Wrong. Didn't anyone grow past GI Joe?

Gimme LeberMac for a cool RP; that chara's flaws and problems make him real and believable.

Still, this is a much better start than, say, n!nj@, LordofBlades, or Borb.
Feb 17, 2007 Aramarth link
I had conflicting reactions..
A story that starts with the main character getting the crap kicked out of him is good.
A story where EC ships dominate Deneb instead of Vultures and Centurions is perplexing.
A story where warriors of either side turn tail and run is no less than engineered by enemy public relations; a targeted lie intended to bias all those who do not know the truth for themselves.

Mistreat your pilot, but in the end he should triumph. Do some background research, like visiting Deneb. Respect your enemy, such that they appear capable of defeating you. When these three are done, you'll be a more enjoyable read than the bulk of VO writers.
Feb 17, 2007 saints shadow link
thanks everyone... sorry about the grammar. that has always been a problem (i did run spell check, but that thing is useless)

jex: yah, leber became my hero last night when i first started reading these. as for the captains and such... i just wanted to add real ranks to make the story feel a little more solid.

Aramarth: by far your advice was the most in depth. thank you!
Yah, poor saint always seems to fly into the worst messes.

as for the EC's well i felt like i needed more ships to make the fight a little more... turbulent... (a side note, i used to fly a EC in deneb B-12... for a while. lol!) EC's are great fodder and good for drawing fire if the enemy thinks it will be an easy kill...

in the end i think there was a total of 10 Serco EC's that where balanced by 12 Vultures (along with two TPG's and 3 proms)
on the other hand Itani had 10 centurions and 8 EC's (along with two frigates and a wimp of a wharthog)

nonetheless, the idea was to not be monotonous with my ships and add some excitement... not to be entirely real. sorry. but if you have any ideas about what type of ratios of ships i should use i would be grateful.

as for the last comment i'm assuming that your a Serco? sorry for your luck... lol! no but honestly. in this case it was another instance of stepping outside VO for content. In a game no one is afraid to die... heck they don't even need to work about there ship cost all that much either! however in real life a commanding officer will be concerned about strategies and commanding his units in the best way... each life must be weighed and spent carefully. nonetheless, you are correct in that i should make the story a little more appealing to players. so i will faze out the reality a little more on the next one.

thank you for all of of your help! i hope that you will read my next piece (as soon as i figure out a respectable idea for one!!!)
Feb 17, 2007 saints shadow link
oh!!! befor i forget credit to vIsitor!!!

he gave me this web site for research into ships!

http://www.vo-wiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Ships
Feb 17, 2007 LeberMac link
Erm, yeah... Perhaps you should evaluate who you pick as "heroes", since 'ol Leebs don't got much to brag about... Captain "Nice" HardDrive (or vIsitor)'s a much better hero.

But, good story, just... EC-88's are not combat vessels. I'd change that to "Proms", or was we Itani like to call them... " 'Tard Boxes".

And emphasize the part about the Serco running away. That was the best part of the story by far, and the most believable.
Feb 18, 2007 vIsitor link
I'm not so sure that i'd be a good rolemodel. Besides being UIT, rather than Itani, I'm not that great of a combat pilot.

On top of that, my ship, the Vastal has been impounded by Orion Authorities for over a year now over unpaid docking fines outstanding. I can't really pay off any such fines until they release my ship because all my accounts are wired into my ship's computer, a catch 22 if there ever was one.

As for providing you with the directory, think nothing of it. If anyone deserves credit its the people who maintain the archive.

Just one word of advice: don't rely on the upper echelons of command. It's good to get chummy with your superiors and all, but if you ever intend to get anything done you've got to act of your own volition. That, and have as many allies as possible at the low end of the totem pole.
Feb 18, 2007 davejohn link
Och , the ancient miner likes a yarn , ye ken....

good to see another bit of RP....

ecka
Feb 18, 2007 Aramarth link
ooc follows..

"I'd change that to "Proms", or was we Itani like to call them... " 'Tard Boxes".

And emphasize the part about the Serco running away. That was the best part of the story by far, and the most believable."


What did I tell you about propaganda? You don't even have to try to do it, because they'll add some for you. Both sides.

As far as Serco running, the backstory clearly states that they are nothing more than a warrior race. I'd expect more running in the game than in actuality. So if they do in fact run, they are either 1) a disgrace to the term warrior or 2) a far cry from the Marines I serve with today.

Oh, and another thing. This prom-haters' club.
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/7/15968#201359
Feb 18, 2007 toshiro link
A true warrior knows when to retreat, or rather, when not to fight at all. Cut us some slack, we're all still just learning. Hmm?
Feb 18, 2007 saints shadow link
@ leberMac:
Thanks for the insights. unfortunately i don't know many other players as of yet. So a lot of it was just made up in the hopes it sounded good. even so, i have met a few people thus far and hope to include a little more of the community into my next story.

the story behind the EC's can be found in a previous reply to Aramart, but you are right. i will reevaluate my ship decisions. I now have access to a lot more ships. So I will do a little more field work ;-) .

finnaly, I'm afraid that I have to write to my Serco readers as well. So I'll give them proms, but I can't call them there rea... i mean the other name ;-) . I also can't let them run all the time. I mean we have to kill a few every now and again, right?

@ vIsitor:
sorry, but you have been drafted by the Itani government to participate in our propaganda. Congratulations on this wonders acheivement. Your name may be use in many upcoming stories in support of our great cause! lol!

@ davejohn:
ecka? I'm not exactly sure what you said, but thanks for reading! if you need yarn i'm sure i could find you some.

hmmm... Ecka? How would you like to donate your name to the Itani's Glorious cause?!

@ Aramarth:

are you implying that i should decorate the Serco as if they were Japan in about the 1600's? I'm all for samurai and Bushido, but lets be real. i can't make my enemy (who we have been at war with for how long?) seem more savage than sensible. running when you don't have a ghost of a chance at even doing damage is the action of a warrior (except when you are defending the only thing you have left {i.e. spartans}). pulling out of an aggressive action when the tide has turned is not always dishonorable. it is in fact a wise decision made by only the most seasoned warriors.

@ everyone:
yet again, thank you all for reading my story, and for all of the feed back! I am looking forward to continuing this story line and maybe even another one. i hope you will all enjoy it as much as this one, if not more! Please feel free to continue to add comments, corrections, and ideas!
Feb 18, 2007 Aramarth link
Its a Marine thing, I don't expect you to understand ;)
Feb 18, 2007 LeberMac link
Honor, shadow, H O N O R.
The Code.

Hard to gain, easy to lose, and incidentally the easiest way to get under a serco's skin - insulting his honor. hehe.
Feb 18, 2007 saints shadow link
Oh, Aramarth? Marine thing? lol! Not the same thing i know, but I was in Marine JROTC in high school. A few of my squad members (yes my squad. i made it to 1st Sgt. before graduation, but major hated me and wouldn't let me be an officer despite all of my work.) actually shipped out. I know quite a bit about it. ;-)

Anyway, Simper Fi! my friend and thank you for sticking your leather neck out for us civi's! lol!

I was always more of a strategical minded person and have little taste for risking even the most hard core of my men. i'd rather take the enemy by surprise and rip him to shreds. i might remind you of the quick pretend to run, rally behind that wall, and fire technique!

however, i will make a story that involves Serco fighting to the last man just for you! ok?

@ LeberMac:

i agree. it's also a fun pass time for border patrols... then again, thous Serco are usually dead by the time they get to hear it! ;-)