Darkorbit: To the sound of trumpets (Fan Fiction)

It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.

-Voltaire (1694-1778)

Part 1

They were marching off towards the ships that would take them into orbit. As they paraded through the streets for the last time in ten years, the trumpets blared in the background as screaming citizens threw flowers (artificial, of course) at them.

Pah, the fools!

The bosses of the EIC profit off of their lives and their deaths. They care little for those who serve them. MMO and VRU aren't any better.

There is no need for you to know my name. All you need to know is that I exist and this what I lived through. Sorry to ruin the ending but I survived it, you know, as if that wasn't obvious enough already by me saying all of this.

It was around that time that I thought a career in the EIC's military fleets - something I'd managed to avoid being conscripted to thanks to a few forged documents - was hardly worth it. Only the best got paid well, and it took years and luck to get to their level.

Of course, the EIC stated the alien booty would be endless and so would be EIC's glory, but each year it was the same. Another wave of recruits sentenced to years of hard work. Those that made it back were rewarded well. Those that didn't, well, let's just not go there.

Anyways, I'm getting carried away here. I had several contacts, and I knew they could help me out in becoming what I thought would be the best career path - a full time criminal.

It was the evening after the parade. I met her in a 130th floor apartment just inside the south sector of New Altara. It was nice inside, and all of the rooms were very well furnished.

As soon as I entered, she offered me a drink and told me to sit down.

"Water please," I said, "and I'm guessing you know why I'm here."

"You need a job."

"Yup."

"Well I suggest you hurry, because the transports are just about to leave!"

"Haha, very funny. But seriously, I want to make some credits."

"Well, I'm sure I can organise something for you. You are a long-time friend, after all."

"Thanks."

"Come back here tomorrow and I'll have something ready for you."

"Anything I need to bring?"

"Nothing. I'll sort it out."


--

Part 2

As per our previous conversation's terms, I went back to meet her the next day. She must've straightened her hair since our last meeting, because it now went beyond her shoulders. It did look very nice...

But enough of that. Anyways, as soon as I entered, she took me to a room with an amazing view of the city and a huge holoscreen. I glanced at several books dating back as far as the 2100's which were on a shelf behind as she gestured for me to sit in a leather chair.

She made a gesture in thin air and then the whole room turned white. She then made a few more gestures and then we appeared to be staring at a huge map.

"I'm sure you're familiar with your galactic maps, but anyways. Here's Earth, where we obviously are now," she said as she pointed to the birthplace of mankind, "and as you may or may not know, the people I run with have bases on Mars, Venus and in the many colonies dotted around the galaxy. My contact on New Gaia has informed me of a massive AndromedaCORP mining fleet which has docked in the space station orbiting the planet after a mining run."

"Seems like a good target. What sort of numbers are we looking at?" I replied.

"There seem to be around 15 mining ships carrying what we can only estimate to be millions, perhaps even tens of millions, of credits worth of ore. In terms of guarding ships, their defence fleet is largely outdated but still has a powerful force of four Goliath K2 battlecruisers."

"We'd need some firepower to taken on all four of them at once. So, what's the plan?"

"The plan is for a distress call using signals from the Andromeda galaxy colonies to be sent to the defence fleet of the miners. If they take the bait, they will leave to go back home while my contact assures them that he will protect the mining fleet and escort them to Caspic III. As soon as they leave, we will ambush them, attack the ships and leave with the ore."

"What about the crews of the ships?"

"Obviously we don't want to wipe them out as we do need the ships, so we are going to use only shield penetrating ammunition and EMP pulses to wipe out their electronics as we board them."

"How many people will we need for this?"

"Well, my contact already has two dozen at the station, along with six Vengeance starfighters. I've got a few dozen more people with me and my supplier's got enough ships for everyone."

"How will we board the ships?"

"As soon as we hit them with the EMP's, we will send in a team of specially made boarding ships with teams on board to take over the ships and secure the crews, who we will leave on the planet."

"What happens if it goes wrong?"

"It wasn't organised and we don't know each other."

"When do we leave?"

"My contacts will have everything ready in a few weeks. Until then, we'll remain on Earth. I've got a couple of things left to do. I'll call you when I need you here."

"Bye."

"Bye."

--

Part 3

While I waited, I thought it best to perhaps do some research into the equipment we'd be using. Her and her contacts had managed to get several Nostromo and Vengeance starfighters with high powered weaponry and drone support. I was (even then) quite a good pilot, so I was going to fly one of the several Vengeance ships prepared for the attack. I also decided to do some research into New Gaia and the surrounding space. While I wouldn't normally divulge into such information, it turns out that New Gaia is a completely independent human colony and is part of a larger league of independent colonies. Despite this, at least with New Gaia, recruiters from all three companies are still present in attempt to recruit as many of the planet's fifteen million population as they can.

Every night, I checked the galactic news channel to see what was going on. Apparently, a squadron from the MMO had just conducted a bombing raid on Venus, causing tens of thousands of casualties. In retaliation, the VRU had sent a third of its fleet to assault MMO bases across the Milky Way (and even a Martian colony in the Andromeda Galaxy) and despite suffering heavy losses, the forces of VRU had still managed to gain a massive victory. Another major news story was the settling of Saturn's moon Titan by 100,000 colonists from around the galaxy.

As the days passed, I began to get a bit restless until at last, after precisely two weeks, she called me.

I went back to her apartment for a third time, but this time, I wasn't the only one there. There were several other people there and she had already activated her holoscreen and (I presumed) was going over the plan.

"Hi there." she said.

"Hey. Sorry I'm late."

"No problem. Just sit down and we'll start over."

There were a few quiet groans as she said this.

"You all know the basics, but once more, we'll go other the plan fully. Using codes provided by one of my contacts, we will trick the AndromedaCORP mining fleet's defence vessels that their home planets are under attack by a huge fleet of enemy vessels and that they must leave now. My contact on New Gaia will assure the AndromedaCORP pilots that his vessels will escort the mining fleet to their destination. After making the AndromedaCORP mining vessels undock from the station, we will jump in using specially ordered Advanced Jump Chips, hit the vessels with EMP's and shield absorbing batteries, board them, take them over and jump out, quick and easy. In terms of the crews, we were planning to deposit them on the planet, but I don't think we can. Once the job's finished, we'll put them on a transport back to Andromeda. In terms of your roles, you lot will be taken by another contact of mine to a docking station and sent into orbit, where you will dock at a space station and board your ships. There you'll meet some of the others also on the job. After that, I think your role's pretty clear; Protect our boys, take out any hostiles and please try not to shoot the mining vessels. Everyone clear?"

Assorted grunts and yeses came from the group.

"Great. We leave now."

We left the apartment. She was the last to leave, having activated some sort of advanced wiping software to wipe the cameras and the holoscreen, in case things went wrong. After a quick walk, we met her contact, who ordered us into an AtmosTech shuttle and we took a ten minute ride to the surface dock in preparation to enter orbit.

I was a little tense. When most people started out in this business, they started of robbing surface-based targets, or at least small mining corporations. But here I was, taking part in a large organised crime, trying to steal tens of millions of credits worth of mineral ore from AndromedaCORP, a company that many call a challenger to the other three main mining corporations in terms of mining supremacy.

As soon as we got to the station, we scanned the passes she had given us and boarded another shuttle to enter orbit (or more precisely, the Earth Interplanetary Commerce Station).

We got to our seats and buckled ourselves in.

The next twelve hours were going to be quite intense.

--

Part 4

As soon as we entered the station, we were taken to a docking bay on the far side from the landing terminal. As we walked down to where the flotilla of ships prepared for the job were docked, we saw several EIC Citadels fly past. Those beasts were Kepler Foundries' latest monsters, and while their weapon count left much to be desired, their ability to absorb insane amounts of hits made them perfect for heavy operations. It would've been nice to have had some with us, but Citadels have a very high price.

At last, we reached the bay. Our ships were neatly parked and were visibly armed with quite a lot of turrets. As we looked around at the ships, some of the others on the job arrived.

"You like the rides?" A scrawny, middle-aged looking man said.

"Yeah, they look great." I replied.

"Well, I suggest you get to know them. We're leaving in ten minutes."

While all of us had trained on simulators for hours and we all had experience of flying before, these ships were something different. As we marveled at the ships, someone thought it best to remind us that we actually needed to get on board them, and thus we did. We left the docking bay with - you know what, how about we just keep it simple and call my friend/contact 'Katie' - Katie's other contacts and prepared for the jump.

All of our ships had their drives synced. The countdown from 15 to 0 began. I must say it was quite tense.

The actual jump was just a blur. White and black and planets and stars becoming liquid before our eyes.

In but a few seconds, it was all over. We were in the New Gaia sector.

It was time. The contact in the station above the planet had done his job well and the AndromedaCORP mining fleet's defence ships had left.

All but one.

--

Part 5

The lone ship that had remained was a Citadel, a beast of a ship built to take punishments. Without a quick strike, it would be alerted to our presence and we would either be forced to retreat or carry on with the job and risk lowered cuts or even death.

We started to think of the best way to wipe it out, when suddenly, my TIS (Target Identification System) beeped with the presence of two dozen MMO ships.

"What the hell are they doing here?" I asked, bewildered.

"We can still do the mission," Katie replied through the speaker, "fighters, stick together! Boarding ships, move in!"

And so we charged at the mass of MMO ships ahead of us, all guns blazing. The initial shock of our attack caused the MMO ranks to falter, but they regrouped and started hunting us (and the AndromedaCORP Citadel) down, when once more all of a sudden, a huge mass of VRU ships arrived in the sector.

"Are you fricking kidding me?!" someone screamed through the speaker as we regrouped and moved to face the new threat. The MMO now largely stopped chasing us and now started to attack the VRU ships. As we flew around on a strafing run on several of the lead VRU ships, we saw the calamity of it all. White bursts of laser fire lit up everything around us as ships collided or were wiped out.

And then, there were four. Well, four factions in the fight, as the AndromedaCORP mining defence fleet jumped into the sector. Their Goliath pack lead the charge while their slower BigBoys moved to defend the mining ships.

Our boarding ships had some successes, taking over four of the miners which jumped out of the sector, ensuring the survivors of the job that we would at least get a small payday. However, the remaining boarding ships had now come under fire and were forced to retreat.

The VRU's had managed to gain an advantage over the MMO and AdCORP vessels and were now annihilating them as we moved in to attack the VRU. Six of our pilots had already been shot down and we all knew that more were to follow, but fighting was our only way to escape.

As we strafed the VRU ships, we scored several massive hits. I managed to destroy two Spearheads by causing one's engine to explode, wiping out both in the explosion.

We'd now been fighting each other for over fifteen minutes, but still the fighting showed no reprieve. The VRU forces, having forced the MMO back (for now), now focused on the AdCORP ships, wiping out several mining ships and their defenders.

In a flash, another dozen MMO ships arrived to bolster their forces, firing off hundreds of missiles at the assorted enemy ships in the range of their launchers. The VRU retaliated by firing off their own missile bombardment. Several MMO missiles also hit the mining ships and our own pilots, causing even more destruction.

But the fighting was nowhere near over. Thirty EIC pilots had jumped in to take the opportunity to defeat their enemies in combat and bring glory to the EIC. The fighting was now a brutal slugfest, with every man and woman fighting for themselves. I managed to get behind an AdCORP pilot and take out his thrusters, crippling his ship.

The EIC now had the upper hand and had forced the MMO to retreat. They had also taken out the last remnants of the AdCORP fleet and were now forcing the VRU out of the sector, leaving only our force.

We massed together, the last dozen of us still alive, ready to break out of the EIC lines, when a voice spoke to us.

"This is Colonel Michael Gaulter. You have fought valiantly for a cause that is worth nothing more than garbage. You now have a choice; Join the EIC or die as criminals and traitors. You have 60 seconds."

Escape was impossible due to the EIC having surrounded us. Our jump drives had been either destroyed or disabled by an EIC jammer. Katie had been killed in the fighting when her Vengeance blew up. As they had during the fight, the surviving pilots looked to me to give them an answer.

The speaker blared again with Gaulter's rough voice.

"You have ten seconds to give your answer, or we will assume you want to be destroyed. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."

--

Part 6

Through the window that protected me from the endless expanse of space, I saw the whites of Gaulter's eyes as he moved in front of my Vengeance. He knew he had won and I could just about see the huge grin on his face.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ze-"

There was only one option. I think the option picked is made quiet clear by me being here right now.

"We surrender!" I screamed through the comms before the superior EIC forces wiped us out.

It took a few seconds until I got a response.

"Good choice, pirate. A transport ship is jumping in now. You will be beamed on board and taken prisoner."

As he finished his sentence, a massive beast of a ship jumped in and in seconds, a tractor beam was pulling us towards it like a black hole claiming its stellar victims. As soon as we docked, we were pulled out of our ships and held at gunpoint by EIC marines.

"Hands up now scum!" Their commander screamed at us repeatedly.

We all complied, or at least I thought. I'd put my hands up when I saw Jules pull out a pistol.

"EIC idiots!" He screamed as he fired off two rounds into the marine commander's chest. He turned to fire at another marine before being gunned down by five different marines. Two of them picked up their commander and checked his vitals, while another called for medics. The rest took us to the other side of the hangar and lined us up.

"If any one of you tries something like him, you are ALL going to regret it, understand?" One said.

We understood very well. As they took the two bodies away, a door opened and several EIC pilots flew in. I recognised Gaulter's face immediately.

They walked over to us and Gaulter stared me down.

"I'm guessing you're the leader of this band of scum?" He asked me.

"These men are not scum!" I replied, only to be punched in the chest.

"You will listen to what I say and reply 'Sir, yes Sir' to every order you receive. Now, are you the leader of these pirates?"

I looked at them, and they all nodded at me.

"Yes, I'm the leader." I replied.

"Excellent. Now that wasn't so hard, eh? Now, where were we? Oh, yeah, welcome to EIC pirates. You will be put into a squadron of pirates, bandits and smugglers all serving the EIC as a form of punishment for your crimes. You will receive little pay and you will work hard, long hours. You will be sent deep into enemy territory, into the deadliest of warzones and you will come up against enemy forces and alien horrors from all corners of the galaxy. If you survive all of that, you will be pardoned for your crimes and become free men and women once more and you might even perhaps gain glory and riches. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Sir, yes Sir." I said in an exasperated tone.

"Excellent. You start in thirty minutes. Marines, take these bandits to their quarters!"

Great. We had avoided death once but now we were trapped in one of the most dangerous jobs in the galaxy.

There was no escape. We were in it for the long run.


--

So yeah, how was that? I wanted to do a Darkorbit story that hasn't really been done before (at least I hope not, if it has, please tell me) as most of them on the old forum were primarily about pilots flying in the companies.

Tell me what you think about it and if you want more

 

This post here is for new things that aren't in DO proper to be explained.

AndromedaCORP: Formed by several colonies in the Andromeda Galaxy, the Corporation has steadily risen to power thanks to mining operations in Andromeda. They deal closely with the Milky Way planets and AdCORP vessels are frequently seen in EIC/MMO/VRU sectors. They are neutral to all three companies but the corporation is at war with Saturn's moon Titan and it's colonists in an attempt to take over the colony. However, the recent annihilation of an AdCORP fleet in neutral space by aggressors unknown to the greater galaxy has made many people fear the entry of AdCORP into the Company Wars. AdCORP fields the smallest fleet of the four major mining corporations but makes up for it with a very efficient attack co-ordination system.

New Gaia: New Gaia is one of the many human colonies in the Milky Way (and also Andromeda) that is independent from the four main companies. It boasts a population of fifteen million humans and is part of the League of Independent Colonies (LIC) which is essentially a union of several colonies to protect them from the Big Four's aggression. Despite this, recruiters from all three companies are present and there is a small EIC force stationed above the planet (these ships having been hired as effective mercenaries to help protect New Gaia). The planet is lush and warm with a large desert near the equator.


A 1:1 scale representation of New Gaia and Earth (left)

AtmosTech Shuttle: The ATS is an atmospheric but very quick form of transport used on pretty much every human planet. They can vary quite dramatically in size and are used as military but also civilian vehicles for easy transport around planets. An ATS can go around the Earth in three and a half to five hours, depending on the model.

Earth Inteplanetary Commerce Station: The EICS is a fairly independent station (it still has an EIC garrison and MMO and VRU ships aren't allowed to land in it) and is the commercial hub of Earth and the Moon. Huge amounts of ships and cargo fly through it each day, and it serves almost as a customs station and a dock at the same time. It is guarded by several EIC ships and dozens of automated laser turrets mounted around the station.


The station as it orbits Earth.

 

ooo nice - leeggy

 

Hey legendary

Thanks for the nice comment

 

Part 3 is up

 

Part 4 is also up now. Sorry that it's kind of short but I'm planning for part 5 to be quite a bit longer.

It would be nice if people could say what they think about the story in the comments as it helps me a lot when writing.

Thanks for reading

 

This is really cool

It's nice to see that BSGO's isn't the only fan fiction writing forum.

 

Nice, keep up the good job

 

Thanks for the nice words guys

Always nice to see fans.

 

Part 5 is up

As I said, it would be longer and it is.

 

nice work.. really nice..

Im kind of a Visual Guy.. any Pics of the Campaigns you wish to insert..

I keep losing my place..

 

If I could, I would but I don't think I'm allowed to use any darkorbit renders.

If someone could confirm this, that would be nice, but anyways I will try to do a bit more world building in the next few chapters.

 

now DO-nut Quote me..

cause Im a Forum-Apprentice at the time of writing this..

but any Clean rendering that can be Captured in "Paint" and pasted here.. will Work..
or Ask Chix or others that make Graphix

 

Don't make them surrender or die!

 

Now, now, there's only two options...

 

Captured in paint....

Could you perhaps link some profiles on a reply or lead me into the direction of which part of the forums they inhabit?

 

how its done.. pick the Image you wish to copy.. hit your PRINT SCREEN, key. then go to Start/All Programs/Accessories scroll down the list and click on PAINT.. when it opens you should See.. the Image you took with PRINT SC key.. Crop it, change it and make it a File name.. so when you wish to Insert it here you will Remember what the Image File's name is.. and I suppose a BROWSE Button will appear so you can search for it.. you should find it in your Documents or Paint Folder.. double click and its loaded..

If Im wrong.. I guess you will be hunting me .. and send me back to Base..

 

Lol I wouldn't do that

I'll see if I can conjure something up.

 

nope!

 

then I guess there is Copy n paste a Downloaded Image.. using the Old School.. MySpace application.. after all.. this is a Space Game.. lol