A Lost Age

LoSTimberWolf · Post by **LoSTimberWolf** » Sun Jan 27, 2002 4:17 pm

I thought since I got this idea wail reading some of Bugs story, it would be kind to post the first part of it here. Hope you like the intro. I hope the way the story is built it will keep you wanting to know more. ---A Lost Age: &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp A shattering explosion sounds through the building, waking all up from their peaceful sleep. The bright light from the opening door breaks the darkness. Several dark figures swarm into the room, grabbing people in the bunks and taking them out of the room. Children begin to cry as they are taken out of their beds by their parents as pieces of the ceiling fall from another explosion. A young child looks up as he is taken out of his bed is rushed out of the apartment complex. When the young boy finally gets out of the building, a terror stood in the distance. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp In the dead of night, a bright ball was launched from a huge machine down the road at one of the military trucks loading up with families. The solders near by try to get people away from the truck as fast as they can, but the shot was too fast, devouring the truck and all who were near it as if they were piles of sand behind a jet engine. Blue lights scratch the sky from that same machine striking missile carriers trying to get into position to attack it. A man grabs the child as the shock wave crashes around them, toppling some of the trucks, and destroying a city block. The child wipes his eyes clear in time to see another one of those machines break out of the building right in front of him. Near by solders fire the assault weapons at it, but they were no better then slingshots to a tank. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp In a thunder of explosions, all the people that had been standing fell in a sluggish manner. A furry of enemy solders came pouring through the hole that the huge machine had made in the building behind it. Fear swept over the child as the solders pulled him from the arms of the fallen hero that covered him. A gun quickly turned towards his face, but a loud god-like voice came from the machine, “Leave the boy alive. Take him back to my quarters, and get him cleaned up.” At that moment, the gun pulled away and solder carried him to a large vehicle of some sorts, then a strange man inside stuck him with a needle. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Screaming aloud in agony, hearing his own words echoing through his bare room. This nightmare, which happened so many life times ago, still haunts his dreams as if it had happened yesterday. The silence in the room is deafening, and yet comforting. A slow rumble of engines is the only movement that can be felt. “Computer, lights,” says the man. As the lights turn on slowly, a display screen turns on showing ship status and current location. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp The ship the disturbed man is on is an old military space carrier that was discontinued hundreds of years ago. This ship was used to carry war machines between planets, and to dump unwanted criminals were they would do no harm, in the vacuum. That nightmare has ruled his life ever since the war ended and the Cybrid forces began their campaign to wipe out the human race. Hundreds of years have past, yet it still plaques every thought in his mind. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp “This is Space Scrap Yard 100875 to the unidentified flying piece of scrap. How may we help you or are you selling your ancient ship?” The voice sounded like as if it had just heard a joke, but in this case he was looking right at it. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp “This is the flying piece of scrap, I am here to look at what you have in your scrape yard. I sent you a message a few days ago about me coming.” Says the man as he dashes up to the bridge. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp “Oh, that was you. I did not believe it when you said you had one of those old drop ships used in the first Earth Siege. Wow, you must really be into history to actually live in it. So you are looking for HERCs and related parts?” Replies the scrap yard keeper. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp For decades Royal Knight Dark Claw, the lonely man’s military name, has been gathering ancient weapons of war that were used or a part of the destruction of his hometown. -LoS-TimberWolfvehicle specilist<img src="http://65.108.58.179/image_upload/Mech3.jpg" align=left><hr>Click <a href="http://www.ngal.8m.net\">here</a> for wierd creatures."Don't Drink And Drive, Get High And Fly Home" said by Neckhole<hr>

Ambush Bug · Post by **Ambush Bug** » Mon Jan 28, 2002 12:31 am

"It's the HERC! Chicks dig the HERC!" -Harabec Weathers I like this, Timberwolf. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"> Especially since it involves a HERC. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)">  *Bug has fond memories of his Dreadlock* <img src=http://home.earthlink.net/~ambushbugdtm/BugSig.jpg align=LEFT> Member: DTM, XMEN, SeXy The Drunken ArtilleryBug! "Roj, target is *hic* DAWWWG-meat!"

LoSTimberWolf · Post by **LoSTimberWolf** » Tue Jan 29, 2002 5:29 pm

I played Earth Siege 1 and 2 long before Star Siege was even on the drawing boards. I have always favored HERCs over personal armor. I guess I should try playing Star Siege again. I will write more of the story as I get time. -LoS-TimberWolfvehicle specilist<img src="http://65.108.58.179/image_upload/Mech3.jpg" align=left><hr>Click <a href="http://www.ngal.8m.net\">here</a> for wierd creatures."Don't Drink And Drive, Get High And Fly Home" said by Neckhole<hr>

LoSTimberWolf · Post by **LoSTimberWolf** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 7:10 pm

For decades Royal Knight Dark Claw, the lonely man’s military name, has been gathering ancient weapons of war that were used or a part of the destruction of his hometown. On board his ship, there are Roadrunners, Outlaws, Raptor, Tomahawks, Patriots, Rhinos, Samsons, and a Colossus. All of these HERCs are in perfect working condition, and fully armed. By combining the weapons from the Tribes, and the structural advancements of the Empire and the Cybrid forces, Dark Claw has been able to rebuild each of these old machines into far greater weapons then what they once were. At the same time… &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp In a near by solar system, where old Tribal equipment in this solar cluster is being gathered to be destroyed or disassembled, several Tribes have gotten together to help coordinate these efforts. Scouts, LPCs, and HPCs were being striped of their power cores then stacked into a warehouse to wait for their turn to be destroyed. Using modified HAVOCs have helped speed up the movement of the disabled vehicles. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp “Wow, would you ever believe that these things would ever be replaced by vehicles so drastically different?” asks TimberWolf as he looks over several scouts, seeing if the missile launchers could be modified for the latest missiles. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp “There were times I wish these things were never invented, but then again there were times I was glad to have them around.” Replies Iceman as he kicks a broken scout wing away from his feet. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp “These things saved your butt from time to time. You better praise that there were people brave enough to pilot these death traps” says Perc as he hops down from the top of a stack of HPC’s. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp “It is funny you say that, Perc. Wasn’t it you that tried to have our fleets scraped saying ‘several chain guns can take them out to easy, so they aren’t worth the time’” replies TimberWolf as Perc throws a wing at him. Later that day… &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Dark Claw was setting his ship down at the local spaceport, were he will work on his latest additions to his collection. Looking around, all that can be seen are the latest and greatest space carriers moving supplies or warriors. Since the bioderms had begun openly attack the tribes, no spaceport has ever had another moment of silence from the engines. Since his ship is docked in an older area of the spaceport, there was plenty of empty area to work on the HERC’s off his ship. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp As the Razor, the air vehicle used during the second attack of the Cybrids, a group of 3 Tribes men walked through the area watching him very closely. It was easy to see that one of them had a deep interest in the Razor, but could he be able to pilot it? After the crane had placed the HERC on the stands, Dark Claw decided to find out what they know about it. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp “Hi there! I see you have an interest in my Razor here. Would you like to take a look?” asked Dark Claw kindly. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp “No way, that thing probably is not even safe as is,” says Perc as he looks at the Razor. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp “Wow, that’s a classic! How did you get a hold of one of these? I have been looking for one of these for a wail now,” says TimberWolf enthusiastically. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp “So you are interested in it. What do you know about the Razor, and would it be possible to upgrade the systems on it?” Dark Claw inquired wail TimberWolf was looking around in the cockpit and Iceman was looking at the old plasma cannons mounted on the end of the wings. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp “If you were to upgrade this thing with the latest tech, then this will be far more powerful then our medium class starships. It would have more maneuverability and be smaller to hit. This would once again be the best thing in the air,” says TimberWolf with great wonder. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp The thought of having something so powerful to use brought a broad smile to his face. The destruction of his child hood will soon be rewarded to the descendents of the very people who had done it. As he picked up an old fashion wrench, “So when do you want to start working on it?” On board the Drop ship… &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Iceman and Perc were sitting around in the sleeping quarters checking their latest mail. The original plan was that the three of them would leave 3 hours ago, but TimberWolf got caught up on working on the Razor. Before heading back to the ship, they had watched him dismantle the entire power, weapon, and navigation systems on his own. Perc had done some looking around as the others were wide jawed at the speed TimberWolf was going, it was almost like he had designed the thing himself. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Something large caught Percs attention in side Dark Claw’s ship. As he quietly went aboard, a cold chill went down his spine. The object did not reflect much light, but just enough to see that it was not something common. The sounds of metal hitting metal filled the hanger as TimberWolf worked outside. Only a few meters more until the object would be close enough to see the outline. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Slowly Perc walked out and not watching his step fell over a case of missiles. Not thinking about it, Perc just went on and stood at Iceman’s side. -LoS-TimberWolfvehicle specilist<img src="http://65.108.58.179/image_upload/Mech3.jpg" align=left><hr>Click <a href="http://www.ngal.8m.net\">here</a> for wierd creatures."Don't Drink And Drive, Get High And Fly Home" said by Neckhole<hr>

TimberWolf · Post by **TimberWolf** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 12:14 am

On board the Drop ship…
Iceman and Perc were sitting around in the sleeping quarters checking their latest mail. The original plan was that the three of them would leave 3 hours ago, but TimberWolf got caught up on working on the Razor. Before heading back to the ship, they had watched him dismantle the entire power, weapon, and navigation systems on his own. Perc had done some looking around as the others were wide jawed at the speed TimberWolf was going, it was almost like he had designed the thing himself.

Something large caught Percs attention in side Dark Claw’s ship. As he quietly went aboard, a cold chill went down his spine. The object did not reflect much light, but just enough to see that it was not something common. The sounds of metal hitting metal filled the hanger as TimberWolf worked outside. Only a few meters more until the object would be close enough to see the outline.

Slowly Perc walked out and not watching his step fell over a case of missiles. Not thinking about it, Perc just went on and stood at Iceman’s side. The image his mind formed from the vague lines drove fear through out his body. Unable to believe what he thought he saw, Perc said nothing and quickly wiped the cold sweat off his brow.

“What are you solders doing in this part of the spaceport?” The question comes out of Dark Claw’s mouth cold and dark as if it was said by a dead man.

“Just cleaning out the hangers of old crafts to make room for the new generation being used to fight the Bioderms.” Answers Iceman as he tries to convince himself that the darkness was only an illusion.

“Wouldn’t it just be easier to throw them into a junk yard?” What appeared to be a smile formed on Dark Claw’s face as he asked the question, or was that too an illusion.

“It would but it would also require us to maintain guards there to prevent the derms from taking them and that would spread us too thin.” The realization of what the man was doing dawned on Iceman. This seemingly innocent collector was looking for parts and Iceman just provided him with all the information he needed to track where they are working and what parts they have. Why didn’t the old fool just come out and ask? Nothing of the work is being kept secret, in fact it is being boasted to help drive fear into the Bioderms that the Tribes are so confident in their new equipment that they did a sudden change over instead of the usual slow switching.

With question about this stranger flowing through his mind, he watches the man walk back to the Razor where TimberWolf had been working diligently the entire time. What is the connection between the guys desire to hide his interest in their work dismantling old equipment and these old HERC’s on board a carrier that was just as old? If just upgrading the Raptor would make it just as powerful as a starship then what would the comparison be of the other HERC’s or even the very carrier their on?

“TW, we have to get back to work. Those piles won’t get any smaller with no one working on them.” With this Iceman taps Perc to get his attention and then kicks TimberWolf out from under the Razor.

“Thanks for letting me have a chance to work on a piece of history. If your still a round I would like to continue working on it my next day off” says TimberWolf as he wipes the hydraulic fluid from his hands.

“Sure. I plan on being here for a week or so. Need access to some planetary equipment to do some of the work needed to bring these old things into the present” says Dark Claw, who had still not introduced himself to them, as he continues the work started by TimberWolf.

Spinning Hat · Post by **Spinning Hat** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 1:06 am

This is some good work here TW... Keep writing! HERCs kick major ass, and I think this could really go places.

TimberWolf · Post by **TimberWolf** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 10:36 am

Thanks. I hope I can bring the shape in my mind now to the text on the screen. I am currently trying to juggle two stories and getting ready to move back to the dormatories. I left the story for 2 years, I don't plan on leaving it again any time soon. Since my Brother and his Wife left I should have time again to continue the writing.

Spinning Hat · Post by **Spinning Hat** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 1:49 pm

hehehe.. I didn't see the dates on the original posts... LOL almost 3 years now TW...

TimberWolf · Post by **TimberWolf** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 10:59 pm

Two Days Later…
“How much more do we have left?” says Perc as he wipes his forehead with an already soaked towel.

“There are another thirty or so freighters on their way here with more.” Answers Gambit as he eyes the now empty hanger.

“Couldn’t we just throw them into an unwanted sun or rig them to overload when boarded then leave them for the Bioderms?” asks Iceman as he dries out his helmet and cleans the visor.

“With our collective luck they would figure out what they are and disarm them” states TimberWolf looking over the news report Gambit brought with him.

The latest battle news shows that a weapons’ cash on its way to a disposal site was captured and the equipment on board has already been spotted in use by the Bioderms on nearby planets. The major Tribes have all been on the retreat for months now as the new equipment is built and diffused towards the ever shrinking front lines. Several splinter Tribes have broken away from the others in hopes of saving their own skins from this insurrection of slaves but none of those groups have been heard from again after leaving the Tribe sectors.

“When will we start seeing good news in these dang blood filled updates!” yells TimberWolf as he sees his home system listed under the recently lost fronts.

“When will you build a battleship that can’t be taken out in one of their ambushes then we will have at least one good thing to celebrate, but until then all we have is the luck of the draw” says Gambit as he takes the news report and hands it to Iceman to look over.

“Maybe I should reinvent the Excalibur and use its mystical powers to vanquish the enemy” says TimberWolf cynically at Gambits remark.

“Maybe you should. Think about it, if a weapon in history was that effective then with that primitive technology, just think about how much better we can make it now with modern techniques and materials. A good example is that old man with those old Earth Siege Hercs who was rebuilding them with new technology” says Iceman trying to bring the conversation back to the civilization.

“Who are you talking about?” questions Gambit.

“That guy a few hangers down the way in that old Herc space carrier. He has almost every single unit used back in the first and second Earth Sieges. TimberWolf was helping him work on a Razor a couple of days ago” answers Iceman.

“If that is the man I have been hearing rumors about then you should stay very far away” says Gambit as worry began to distort his face.

“What do you mean? He didn’t seem at all threatening or hostile to use. From what I can tell he was very grateful to the assistance in working on those big machines” says Iceman as he rethought about the events to see if there was something he missed.

“There was something onboard his ship that shouldn’t exist. Do you remember the chaos that existed because of the rebellions in Sol system after the Cybrids were destroyed and the Emperor wouldn’t release his war time powers? Groups of solders began to attack cities loyal to the Emperor in hopes of forcing him to step down. Eventually they were virtually wiped out except a few handfuls. Those groups took old Cybrid units and retrofitted cockpits onto them and continued the fight. In the end the Emperor cut out the heart of the rebellion and sent the survivors out into the untamed Tribal sectors to die. Some of them knowing that they would soon be caught sent their equipment out into the Galaxy in hopes of retrieving them and building their own forces up again to come back and kill the Emperor” says Perc as he walked towards the heavy lifter he had been operating.

“I never thought you were that old” says TimberWolf.

“Sorry pup, but I just so happen remember my history. Those decades saw more civilians killed a day by a solder than those old World Wars. In fact I saw one of those very units onboard the carrier when I took a peak inside with out asking. The thing was the most frightening thing I have ever seen and I was afraid that it still had a Cybrid brain inside waiting to strike.” Perc turns around showing eyes of a man expecting to die, no longer seeing life in the future.

“He said he was a collector of those things” says Iceman.

“This was no Herc found in a scrap heap. The way the thing looked and where it was in the ship makes me believes that it was one of those units sent out into space to be found again by its owner. I don’t think this guy found it by accident. He may be a descendent of one of those exiled” says Perc as he reaches for his cantina to get a drink.

“Perc, if that is true then that would mean most of the rumors running around are also true. An attack on an old base, built by people exiled by the Empire, was conducted by a machine that was described as ‘Nightmare on Legs.’ The machine seemed to have a single mind about what to do. It destroyed the defenses with a surgeon’s precision. It uncovered faults of weapons and Hercs that no one knew existed. The vault was full of equipment from the Earth Sieges and was seen being loaded into an old Herc carrier. Would you be willing to write down a description of what you saw?” says Gambit.

“I will do my best to describe it as I can but I wasn’t thinking very clearly after seeing it” answers Perc.

That night Gambit comes to the hanger and tells them that the eye witness accounts and Percs description were nearly identical. The local defenses claimed to have used everything in their arsenal and never put a dent in the unit. The fires started by the plasma weapons are reported to still be burning even after the years had passed since the attack.

Spinning Hat · Post by **Spinning Hat** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 6:39 pm

This is relly good TW. Looks like this could really go somewhere. Keep it up!

TimberWolf · Post by **TimberWolf** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 9:04 pm

The decks rattled, roaring engines echoing through the bulkheads, but not a sign of movement. Cradled in the right arm of a Sampson HERC, Dark Claw sits with his legs wrapped around the support struts of the particle cannon beneath him. The proximity brings him comfort and assurance in his own strength. It was at the end of a weapon like this that his childhood was destroyed. Images of that night still dominate his dreams after all these years. No one should ever have to see such an event in their own life.

It was ambitious to stay at a spaceport longer than a day but the help those Tribesmen gave brought him back on schedule. But it may have allowed his enemies to get closer to him. The last one to catch him brought a modern battleship with him and caused a HERC vault to be destroyed before its contents could be extracted. For that the very Sampson he sits on was deployed through the side hatch into the void of space.

This maneuver startled the enemy for a moment which then ignored it as it followed the HERC Carrier. As the battleship passed, the Sampson fired into the aft reactor pod, penetrating the shields like a bullet through paper. The battleship’s aft turrets turned towards the floating HERC and began to fire but failed to make contact. Moments later another round from the Sampson strikes the aft reactor pod, breaching the hull, and piercing the stars beyond it. A chain of explosion began to erupt from the sides of the ship, engulfing its hanger bays and launch ports preventing any from escaping. In minutes the mighty battleship was reduced to floating scrap.

Since then Tribes following Dark Claw must have learned some new tricks and most certainly will be traveling in groups. At least next time the Razor can be deployed, making a fast moving mobile target with fire power unmatched by any modern armies. The only catch is that there is no means to deploy the Razor in flight; it has to be hauled off by a freight hauler once the Carrier has landed. Also he has to be in the Razor to pilot it leaving the Carrier to run on auto-pilot which can only fly in straight line on pre-programmed paths. That is one system that’s been on the list to update.

TimberWolf · Post by **TimberWolf** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 5:03 pm

“What do you mean ‘aiding and abetting a criminal’?” yells TimberWolf as security guards attempt to restrain him.

“For your services in retrofitting the Razor, which belongs to a man associated with over a dozen attacks on civilian colonies, you will be detained and questioned’ replies the Lead Guard.

“He has already been cooperating with you and given all the technical details of the work he had done and suggested to the man. What else could he possibly give you?” Fearing for his friends’ life, Gambit was trying to anything he could do for a top secret project under his control maybe exposed if they push TimberWolf too much.

“They may have been working together all along. That Razor came from a near by scrap yard, where TimberWolf had been asking questions about disposing of the old equipment” says the Lead Guard with a dark look etched across his face.

“He was there under my orders to find places for the dismantled equipment we were soon going to have stacked above and beyond the rafters. His time there was completely recorder per the orders of the council to ensure that no under handed deeds would be possible. Don’t object to those records because I have gone the extra step and have everything video recorded behind their backs” says Gambit, cutting off the Lead Guards attempt to interrupt.

“You did what?!” yells Iceman and Perc.

“Don’t tell me it was recording while I was in the bathroom too” questions Perc.

“It was on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Sorry Perc, I know your secrets and soon will the security personnel that watch them” replies Gambit.

“Why wasn’t this documented under the security protocols in place” asks the Lead Guard.

“They were my personal choice when I took on the assignment for a different reason. See, we are doing more than just destroying old equipment. We are also apart of several projects that are currently under wraps. One of which is under direct control of the council who wanted everything documented for replication else where if anything was to befall any of the men working on it” says Gambit coldly and hard-eyed.

“Sorry Sir. If you would turn over all relevant recordings to the security office I believe I can allow TimberWolf to continue under your surveillance for the time being” says the Lead Guard as he leads his subordinates out of the hanger.

“So those cameras have been recording since we got here?” says TimberWolf.

“I won’t tell the council what you have been doing to the engines behind their back and without documenting it if you keep quiet about my lying to protect you” barters Gambit.

“There is no reason to tell them the truth. They wouldn’t understand it any ways” replies TimberWolf.

“What have you been doing to my engines behind my back, TimberWolf?” asks Iceman.

“Nothing, nothing at all” says TimberWolf with shifty eyes and a hasty retreat back to work.

Gambit turns the pages of the latest new report to pass across his cluttered desk. A mysterious destruction of a cruiser a couple of light years away caught his attention. At first glance to investigators it looked like a reactor over load, which isn’t unheard of in that old class of ships. But this ship had under gone a recent refit that replaced the entire reactor assembly with one that no longer had that flaw. Upon further rummaging through the debris field showed evidence that the reactor like explosion in fact happened on the external hull, implying an attack.

It had been nearly 3 weeks since the man known as Dark Claw was here. But his name alone brings about confusion for when Gambit did a search it was locked out under orders from the council. There has to be something special about him and be a connection with the council for them to do this. They don’t even stick their necks out for their friends or family. The security guards have been ordered to drop the investigation into TimberWolfs connection with Dark Claw under similarly strange orders from the council.

Crashing sounds echo through the office. Gambit gets up and walks out the door and down the hall to look into the refilled hanger. The sight of workers hiding behind stacks of HPC’s as a second stack continues to tilt over was the perfect image for the way the war was going. In moments the stack had begun to fall and strikes other stacks, causing a chain reaction forcing the workers to further retreat to the edges of the room. Rookies; Iceman, Perc, and TimberWolf are in an adjoined hanger working on scouts. Truth is that TimberWolf is down with the project working on the weapon systems. The scouts were just a cover.

Another carrier loaded with old equipment begins its approach with another hanger near by. It seemed it was attacked on the way here by the blast marks along the hull. Then something caught Gambits eye, causing an immediate movement of his free hand to the communicator to call the carrier off. Just as the captain came on the line and told him to stop seeing danger where there is none, large sections of plating went flying out of an expanding black cloud. The walls closest to the detonating carrier begin to fall, collapsing onto the stacks of scouts on this side, another wall connecting to the hanger with the HPC’s could be seen falling as well. An entire hanger was leveled and now plasma fires could be seen raging near full tanks left exposed.

A fire HAVOC appeared over head, attempting to protect the fuel tanks. Medical HAVOC’s began to descend on top of the rubble, looking for survivors to pull out. Solders with jet packs jump up and out of their hangers to move to a safe distance. Some could be seen with bodies in their arms, others attempting small jumps to carry injured comrades out. Gambit looks down to see the stares of Iceman and Perc looking back up at him. With a small gesture of his head, the all headed off into a near by tunnel and vanished in the chaos.

“They did what with the carrier?” asked TimberWolf when the others had brought him up to speed with what just happened.

“The cruiser that was hit had been refitted recently with the newest technology. It was hit only a couple of days ago but wasn’t found until this morning. They never found any of its weapons on board the remains. When they finished analyzing the blast damage they found out it was from one of the mines it was carrying. They went through the debris again to try and find the core elements of them but none was found. It is now believed they were stolen. That is what I saw attached to the fuel tanks of the carrier as it was landing. Either it was remotely detonated, meaning we have a spy on this base, or it was triggered by proximity with the land. But it means there is a security leak some where for them to get the cruiser in the first place without it destroying itself when boarded.” Gambits face grew ridges as the implications he was saying began to dawn on him.

“So basically we don’t know who we can trust. There are another 18 of those mines out there, which the attacker apparently can attach to a ship during combat without being seen, and we don’t have a clue to the attack since they leave no evidence. No ship that has seen them has lived long enough to give a full report, their data banks are destroyed in the battle, and when questioned in flight they can only say ‘black shapes moving about.’” Iceman begins shaking his head over this mystery and the proximity of it to their covert project.

“How much longer till the bird can fly under its own power?” asks Perc who had been silent up till now.

“Another week if you want to get to another port in your life time. I am still curious as to what TimberWolf has been doing back there. But if he would give me a hand then we can probably get out in the next couple of days.” Iceman looks around at the empty walls that hide the importance to what is hidden behind the only ordinary door in the room.

“Ok, so we will concentrate on the engines and get it air born as soon as possible. I will get back to work on the flight controls and Perc will continue to build the computer core and the data banks.” Gambit begin to look at ease again as they went through the last door and went to work.

The scrap floating past the viewing port was nothing to everyone. But some where out there is a lump of coal that will soon be turned back into the diamond edge it once was. The operator of this garbage lot didn’t even have a clue to what he had. It was only by sheer luck that the tail fin of an ancient HERC carrier could be seen in the jumble of debris. Now, cautiously moving through the field in a lifter attempting to find the rest of that ship, Dark Claw continues to peruse the data banks to identify the ship by the number seen on that fin.

Dark Claw continued to silently curse the administrator of the junk yard for not keeping things nice and orderly, for only pushing everything into literally one big hunk of junk in the middle. If this place was still under military control then this search would have been over with before it even started. The war with the Bioderms has forced every tribe to consolidate its forces and release less than vital facilities over to the public. This has made the search harder but easier to get the equipment with no questions asked.

Another loud bang echo’s through the hull as another piece of debris bounces off the lifting arms of the ship. Nothing but a tin can in space looking for long forgotten tin cans of days gone by. The flight path appeared to be blocked ahead by stray garbage that wasn’t properly placed. Dark Claw extended the grapplers and began trying to dislodge the obstruction, but to no avail. Checking the cameras around the ship to ensure no one was watching, he carefully deployed the Samson from hidden bay on top and remotely fired its particle cannons to clear the path. After two surgical rounds of fire, the bulk easily moved out of the way and the Samson returned to its hiding place.

The radio chirped but no voice came over it. Bursts of light appeared in the aft camera towards the command station for the junk yard. Bringing that camera up to the main screen and zooming in brought the reason for the light show into sight. His carrier was left next to a junk cluster and should blend in well enough for the Bioderms to not bother it. But there is always the chance that such ships are exactly what they are looking for. Increasing the forward velocity of the lifter, the target of the expedition came into view.

It appeared to be in decent shape considering its age and disposition. The cockpit was missing, apparently from an attack. The engines were in similar condition but the main hold appeared to be untouched as the side hatches entered sight. Blast damage and laser hits could be seen all over the hull, but no where did any of those appear to penetrate the ship. Manipulating one of the grapplers, Dark Claw reached out to the emergency hatch release panel hoping that the system was still operational and would except the external power flow. The hatch began to move, pulling out a little and then started to lower only to get stuck in place. The servos seized in place and the electrical circuits melted under the sudden power flow. Shock waves could be felt through the grappler as missiles impact the cluster of junk it was lodged in.

Not wanting to leave until the ship could be emptied of anything valuable it hold, Dark Claw maneuvers the ship to use the heavy lifting arms to rip the door off. The arms compress the door as they clamped into place. With subtle touches to the engine controls, Dark Claw begins to power his way away, slowly separating the door along its hinges. In a sudden acceleration the door let’s go of its position on the carrier and becomes nothing more than the rest of the garbage around it.

Moments later Dark Claw was inside inspecting the hold with as much scrutiny as a Doctor doing brain surgery. Nothing of any value was seen at first, but soon the prize of the ship was found, buried under the remains of destroyed HERCs and garbage. Gently using the grappler, the cargo containers were uncovered and brought up along the lifter where they were secured for the travel back. The carrier shakes as another round of impacts strikes its cluster. The lights of battle could be seen only a couple of kilometers away when the lifter cleared the hull.

A team of Scouts broke away from the main battle and began their attack runs on the lifter. The missiles strike the shields with little to no damage. Dark Claw sets the ship on automatic pilot to return to the carrier and then makes his way to the Samson to take direct control of it. The Scouts continue their attack attempting to get the lifters attention and to give their comrades time to catch up and introduce their newer and stronger fire power. As the Scouts were facing away, before they made their turn for another attack, the upper doors open again to expel the Samson into the junk all around. The Scouts don’t see the doors closing as they complete their turns and begin firing again.

Steaks of blue pass through two of the Scouts, obliterating them into tiny shards of metal. The others, baffled as to what had happened, break apart and begin to look about seeing nothing. Another pair of Scouts vaporized by a pair of blue streaks, the rest begins to head away when red lines disintegrate the pilots, leaving the Scouts to ram into the sides of the junk clusters. The Samson move out of the junk and begins to move its way along the edges, using thruster packs mounted to it, until it reached the edge of the battle.

A large battleship could be seen in front of a carrier analog, providing cover. Shrikes and Scouts were conducting attack runs on the station and every working ship around it. HPC’s and LPC’s were going between the carrier and the station shuttling troops in and cargo out. Taking careful aim to make an unforgettable impression, Dark Claw targets the enemy carriers’ bridge. Two blue beams of light erupt from the arms of the Samson and rip a path through the target bridge, leaving only gas trails from the atmosphere rushing out. The attacking Shrikes and Scouts begin to circle their carrier in puzzlement as another pair of blue lines pass through the reactor section, destroying the control and safety systems maintaining it. In moments, before any ships aboard could get out, the ship began to erupt like a volcano, casting bolts of lightning from its power grid into anything close enough to receive its deadly power surge. In a series of bursts along the spine of the ship, it was destroyed along with most of the fighters and transports around it. The battleship began to back off in puzzlement. What was left of the fighter cover began to dock or attach them to the hull of the battleship. The transports began heading off to a cargo transport that just entered viewing range.

Thinking his message was well understood, Dark Claw began to return to his ship to open his newly claimed prizes and continue on his mission. The Bioderm fleet continued to retreat, keeping away from the junk yard and clusters like they contained a deadly plague or viper ready to strike. The smoldering remains of the station stood in the middle of the junk, looking exactly like that which it had been keeping watch over. It will need to be replaced and the place resurveyed before it can be reopened.

“What you just said makes no sense! Are you sure the file wasn’t doctored?” Gambit couldn’t believe the information Perc just handed him concerning their wondering HERC lover who goes by the name Dark Claw. His official rank was Royal Night back in the second Earth Siege. His birth date was unknown but the paper work listed him being in his early twenties by the end of the war.

“I went through as many of those obsolete data banks as there were available on the network. Not one of them had all the information but putting the pieces together presents us with that very puzzle I handed you. That guy is hundreds of years old. He is one of the best warriors of his day and could conduct his own field maintenance of his HERC. The only thing I can’t find is where he went after the war and anything beyond that. We should probably send TimberWolf out to salvage some data cores from some old ships to try and get a clue as to what he has been doing all these years.” Perc shifted his weight back and forth pondering the idea of living so many years.

“The engines are ready for a test firing later today. I have the navigational systems and flight controls ready. How is the data networking and programming?” questions Gambit.

“They should be done by the end of the day, today. What condition are the weapons and shields? I don’t want to have rushed only to be shot out of the stars by a stray round.” Perc didn’t like the idea of rushing parts of he ship just to get it out of there and neglecting the others.

“TimberWolf has been doing double duty, working on the engines with Iceman and then working on the weapons and shields when he should be off relaxing. He has promised some interesting numbers with respect to our ability to fight even with less than half power. If it was anyone else I would be laughing, but for him I will hold judgment until I see it.” Gambit ruffles through the paper work pertaining to the ship and slide those sheets that TimberWolf wrote up to Perc for him to inspect.

“You got to be kidding me! The only way that’s possible is...”

“The engines will be directly connected to the weapons and shields. That is what the modifications TimberWolf has been doing behind Iceman’s back. I didn’t completely understand the point to them then but now I see why. He intends the ship to be able to blast through shields like wet paper.” The finishing of Percs’ sentence was only to stop him from bringing up the most obvious complaint coming up right after it. Gambit didn’t want to talk about the chances of this destroying the engines or causing an over load.

“He’s got to be mad” exclaims Perc.

“No arguing that part, but aren’t we all.” Gambit looks back down at his desk as another round of news reports begins to scroll along the screen. “Aren’t we all.”

The fear in the air was thick enough to impede the movement of the solders running from their bunks to their stations. Weapons fire dot the midnight sky above the space port. Missiles raced down from the heavens and blasts hells furry onto the Tribes below. Gambit looks at the monitor showing a security camera in the old section of that space port, looking off towards the birthed ships being destroyed before they can get clear. Defense fighters were caught completely off guard and then wiped out in the first wave of fire.

First clues of the attack were the first waves of enemy fire and fighters slicing through the atmosphere. It’s already assumed that the defense coordinators were infiltrated by a Bioderm spy and that their here for some of the new technology. What they don’t know is that it’s more probable that they are here to destroy a covert program building a prototype spaceship to fight back. Even if the defense force was able to get air born, the enemy fleet was too well protected for anything here to have any hope of breaking it. A bright flash erupts from the screen and evaporates into darkness as the camera is destroyed by a missile blast.

Gambit’s right shoulder drops under the pressure of a falling chunk of concrete from the ceiling. Slowly turning his head, looking at the small paint scratch on his medium armor and then looking at the large mass that had committed this act, then he raises his helmet and dawns it. He was lucky that the debris missed his head this time; better not risk it any more. The sound of heavy foot steps echo through the halls and into his office. Perc enters with his mortar gun attached to his right thy. A spinfussor and chain gun can be seen hiding on his back side, with their hilts out far enough to be pulled out for combat.

“They have begun landing troops near by. Command is issuing with-draw orders for all surrounding areas. We have already loaded up all the equipment related to the program so if the ship is destroyed, all of it is destroyed.” Perc’s voice sounded deeper and harsher then normal because of his helmet speaker which had been acting up. Gambit couldn’t help but point out to Perc the first time it happened how it reminded him of the old Earth movie character named Darth Vader. It still does.

“Good work. I guess the first engine test will also be the maiden flight of this bird. Is TimberWolf done with the weapons and shields?” Gambit felt bad for not knowing it himself but he had been in meetings with high command and other idiots with higher ranks to be able to keep up with the progress.

“He claims the shields are not working but the weapons are fully functional with the partially completed power core. I tried to get him to tell me what was wrong with the shields but he gave me a bunch of engineering lingo.” Perc was good at software and networking diagrams but never cared for the big words engineers used.

“It’s probably a failure in the couplers or transformers. Those things have to be set just right or else the system either gets too little power to function or is fried from too much power.” Engineering was one the things Gambit had a side interest in to further his own knowledge of how things work.

“It comes down to that the shields won’t be operational for a day or so. I don’t think the Bioderms will give us that kind of time. If they were able to by-pass the early warning system with a spy then there is no way of knowing how much of this project is known by them.” As Perc was stating this hard to swallow point, another chunk of the ceiling raps on the side of Gambit’s helmet.

“I guess we better get really good at avoiding incoming fire and making each of our shots count to scare them off” says Gambit as his helmets eyes started to glow a light crimson red from the new alerts coming of the screen before him.

They both began to make their way towards the ship with their last bags of personal belongings. It won’t be long before the Bioderms reach this section of the space port and destroy the exit tunnel in the bombardment. Then the ship will be found by their ground troops with only these few men protecting it, fiercely.

As the hanger grew before them, the ship laid out as if it was dead under the small piles of debris that has fallen upon it. No movement was seen and the walk path that had connected the hanger entrance to the ship was destroyed. That only causes a minor inconvenience since they had jetpacks, but it casts an obvious visual about the strength of the enemy fire power.

A Lost Age

A Lost Age

Re: A Lost Age

Re: A Lost Age

Re: A Lost Age