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A war has began between the Galmarian Empire and the Dalmarian Collection |
Throughout the galaxy, there are many civilizations. Some barely have explored their own world, while others have long since abandoned their own home. Though all civilizations vary in many ways, they all have periods of peace and war. All civilizations try to live at peace, but there are always those who want to take control and end all that was made. The date is UDT 0099.310. An alliance of civilizations is about ready to celebrate the anniversary of their peace, but not all civilizations agree with their peace and wish to stop it and bring the galaxy into a new period of death and destruction known as, WAR. “This is James Lausian of the Star Trader requesting permission to dock at Orbital Base One,” he said over the radio as he flew his ship into the base’s perimeter, “I am carrying supplies for the centennial celebrations from Loria Prime.” “We have your ship in our records,” a docking control officer said over the radio, “You are scheduled to dock at universal dock R-12.” “Please set your navigation computer to 1192.345.12.” “Once you are within 100 specs of the dock switch controls to auto pilot and let us take over from there.” “Roger that,” Said James, “setting computer now.” He input the data into the control interface and then slowly flew his ship towards the dock. He flew around the edge of the large circular station and passed many ships, most of which were Attack Cruisers and mid-sized battle ships and soon flew around to the universal dock which was on a section that extended out of the main core of the station. The heads up display showed a computer-generated line that lead towards the designated dock. Once the ship was within 100 specs of the dock, James turned the ship’s control over to auto pilot. The ship came to a complete stop and rotated 180 degrees. The ship slowly backed into a opening that was a little larger than the ships rear cargo door. Once the ship had come to a complete stop, the opening closed around the cargo door and created a air-tight seal. “You are now connected to the dock,” a voice said over the radio, “Do you want your ship re-fueled?” “No thanks,” James said while messing with some controls,” I'll be able to make it back to my home.” “I want you to run a diagnostic on the main engines, they don't seem to be running correctly,” James instructed his helper android NAVID K-12 as he left the cockpit and headed for the rear of his ship where the cargo hold was. “Captain Lausian I presume,” an offices said to James as he stepped out of his ship. “Just call me James,” he replied. “Here are the shipping papers.” he handed a small data disk to the man. “I plan to leave in an hour, I just need time to meet up with my partner.“ “We'll have your ship unloaded by then.” The man motioned for a couple of men who had just arrived from a nearby cargo elevator with a large cart. James headed towards the main part of the station. He briefly had to stop to go through the security checkpoint. “Your ID please,” the security person asked. James handed him a small device that looked similar to a PDA. “Everything’s current.” “Native of Dalmaria, current resident of colony N-153.” “Please step through the scanner.” James walked through a machine that flashed a light around his body. Once the light went off he continued on. The man handed him his ID and James headed towards the lounge. James friend and business partner, Aramanus, was waiting for him in the main lounge. James sat down by him and ordered a drink from the waitress. “hey buddy, you're finally here,” Aramanus said. “I was expecting you twenty minutes ago.” “I got a late start.” The waitress handed James a drink. “Where did they park you, I didn't see your ship anywhere in the docking area.” “It’s in the repair yard at Shipyard 18.” “I was attacked by a group of Galmarian fighters near Dravid.” “I tried to fight back, but my weapons system wouldn't respond.” “Apparently when I installed that type B-12 energy focuser I failed to properly set up the control system.” “How did you get away?” “Thankfully I was near the Dravid home world.” “There was a Dalmarian Crystal class battleship in the area that noticed my trouble and scared the fighters away.“ “Lucky for you.” “I told you that you should have tested that thing out before your next delivery.” “I know,” Aramanus said, “but I had a deadline to keep.” “The thing I'm more concerned about is why the Galmarians attacked me.” “Dravid is over 100 light years from the Galmarian Empire.” “They were flying a new fighter too, I didn't realize they were Galmarians until the attacked and introduced themselves. “I'm not going to worry about it for now, this is something I'll leave for the government.” James finished his drink. “If they keep messing with our business, though, I will take action myself.” “Don't worry, as soon as my ship is flyable, I'll return to headquarters and make sure everything is working.” “It's not like I wont have enough time, our contract with the Dalmarian Collection is complete and no one else has requested our services.” “You didn't get any requests either?” James asked, “hopefully someone will contact us soon.” “That reminds me, I need to go to administration and collect our pay.” “You better....” A man in a security uniform approached them. “Aramanus,” the security officer said, “We need to see you right now.” “Looks like I have to go,” Aramanus said while getting up, “looks like you'll have to pay the tab this time.” “I'll meet up with you at headquarters.” Aramanus followed the security officer down the corridor and into a lift. James motioned to a waitress, “I'm ready to take off.” The waitress handed him a calculator-sized device that had their bill on it. James looked at it and said to himself, “twenty-seven krons! Aramanus picked a great time to split.” James paid the bartender and headed down a corridor towards the command center and walked to the entrance. James walked through another security screening area. “May I please see your identification?” The security officer said. “Sure,” James said while handing him his ID “I am supposed to meet with Lieutenant Sherral.” The officer handed him back his ID “Everything looks good.” “Take that lift to level thirty-seven and head to room 37-254, the external contracting division of the Treasury.” “Do not go anywhere else, or you will be arrested!” “Yes sir,” James replied. He got in the lift and took it to the 37th level. He easily found the office he needed. “How can I help you?” The lady at the counter said “I am here to speak with Lieutenant Sherral,” James said, “I am a contract cargo hauler for the Dalmarian Collection.” “James Lausian I presume?” “Yes.” “The Lieutenant is out, but she gave me authorization to pay you.” She punched up something on her computer terminal “Let me see,” the clerk said to her self, “six deliveries, one containing class 2 explosives, plus service and fuel credits.” “Your total is 1,245,000 krons, minus a 100,000 kron fine..” “What fine!” James interrupted. “Let me see,” the clerk said while looking at her screen, “looks like a W/382, which is a illegal weapon installed on a civilian ship.” “Dammit, Aramanus, your going to pay.” James handed the clerk a device that looked like a credit card, except with a thumb shaped spaced. “Please put your finances card in this reader and keep your thumb on the reader,” the clerk instructed him. After a short moment a light flashed green on the card reader and James pulled the card out. “Thank you,” James said, “I'll be going now.” He walked back to the lift and headed back to where his ship was waiting. An officer met him back at his ship. “Everything's ready to go.” “Thank you,” James replied while entering his ship. Just as he entered the living quarters of his ship, he looked over at his computer work station and noticed that he had a message. The message read: “Hey buddy, I'm going to be running a little late, seems they don't like civilian ships having large energy focusors. I wont be able to make it back to headquarters until later, I need to do some paper work and some other things before they let me go. Later, Aramanus.” “Idiot,” James said to himself, “that 100,000 is coming out of your share.” “NAVID,” James called to his helper droid, “get the ship ready to get out of port.” There was a loud clanking noise as the cargo door closed in the cargo bay behind him. James headed through the door in the front of the room and went to the bridge and sat down. “This is the Star Trader requesting permission to leave dock” He said into the radio. “I will be entering Dalmaria's atmosphere and will land at Sancloth farming community landing pad.” “This is docking control, flight plan recorded, docking systems all released.” “Please leave base perimeter before beginning descent into Dalmaria.” “Roger that,” James responded. The ship backed away from the docking port and turned around. James flew the ship past the end of the universal dock area and proceeded beyond the last sensor satellite. Once he was past the base's perimeter, he put the ship into a atmospheric re-entry angle. The ship flew into the planet's upper atmosphere and soon was to flight altitude. The ship flew over a mountainous area that was covered with many tropical trees since Dalmaria is a very tropical planet. He flew to the North where the farming plains were. Soon he approached the farming community of Sancloth where his parents lived. Unlike the fast-paced lifestyle of the orbital base, the farming community was peaceful and quiet, inhabited mainly by the people who worked for the corporate farm that the community was a part of and their families. “Prepare for landing,” James said to NAVID, “I'm about ready to engage the retropulsion system.” The ship slowed down as it neared the landing pad. “Switching over to retropulsion now.” The main engines shut down as the retropulsion, which uses a planets magnetic field to make a ship hover, took over and allowed the ship to hover in one spot as it slowly approached the pad. When the ship was about 15 specs above the pad, NAVID lowered the landing struts and the ship made a safe landing. Soon after touchdown, James shut down the engines and put the ship into low power mode. “Home sweet home, ” James said as he stepped out a door in the side of the ship. “Time to go see what the folks have been up to.” He walked past the edge of one of the fields, a few worker recognized him and waved. He walked past some of the grain warehouses and storage bins. He stopped and waited for a train to pass by on its way to get loaded up. Soon he entered the residential areas of the farming community. James turned onto the street his parents lived on. Though many of the homes in the town were only rented by the people who worked on the farm, this section consisted of homes actually owned by the people who lived there, these where generally middle-aged to retired people who had been working on the farm long enough to have purchased the home they were leasing or build a completely new one. James suddenly saw two children running up to him. “James!,” They both called, “You're back.” James got looked down at them and put his hand on there head. “You two have grown a lot since I saw you last,” he exclaimed. “Have you been helping out your mom?” They looked and each other and replied while giggling, “Yes we have.” “Why don't I believe you,” he replied back jokingly.“ ”Maybe it's the grass stains on your pants.“ The kids laughed. There mother soon called for them. “Aw, we have to go.” “You better get going or your mother will kill me.” James said as he pushed them off. He soon walked up to his parents house. His mother, who was doing some yard work, saw him right away and started walking to meet him. “Welcome home, son,” she said, “you haven't been here in early two lunar cycles.” “Sorry ma,” James replied, “I've been busy making deliveries for the centennial celebration.” “Where's you friend Aramanus, I thought you said he would come here with you.” “I even had a large dinner planned.” “He got detained for a bit,” James replied. “What did he do this time?” His mother asked. “He always was a trouble maker.” “They repair crew didn't like a modification he did to his ship.” “Repair crew,” she asked startled, “I thought you guys did your own maintenance.” “Not when your butt is saved by a Dalmarian battleship.” “He was attacked by some Galmarian fighters.” “That isn't good, lets talk more about it inside, its hot out here.” They walked inside the house. Back at the space station, Aramanus was heading towards his ship which was in a large bay. Workers were moving away a few remaining maintenance devices and ladders from his ship. Aramanus looked up at the top of the ship to the open spot where the energy focuser use to be. A little ways from the ship sat the energy focuser. “I need to be more careful,” he said to himself, “I suppose I better wait a while before I get another one.” He laughed to himself. “Still though, what the heck where those Galmarian fighters doing there?” “The Galmarian border is nearly 100 light-years from Dravid.” “With all the fighting going on in the Galmarian Republic, it's surprising that there would be fighters sent this far out.” “Everything's ready to go,” the bay foreman yelled at Aramanus, “She's not in perfect shape, but she'll get ya back home.” “You weren't planning on going to Dalmaria, where you?” “Why is that?” Aramanus asked. “There is extensive damage on the bottom of your ship, I don't think it would withstand atmospheric re-entry.” “We didn't do anything about it since we assumed that you were going to go back to your headquarters colony N-153.” “I was supposed to be meeting someone on the surface, but that will have to wait,” Aramanus sighed. “Thanks for getting her back working, I'll try to avoid Galmarian jerks.” “Keep your modifications legal too,” the foreman yelled back, “Your clear for takeoff.” Aramanus entered his ship through a side hatch and headed to the front of the ship. As soon as he entered the cockpit, he realized that they had completely shut down every system. “Great, now I'm going to have to spend another ten minutes here just bringing everything online,” Aramanus complained. He pressed a few buttons on the center console and soon the various screens came on. “Main computer on, let's get the reactor going,” he said to himself. Aramanus ran to the cargo hold and opened a door at one end of the room revealing many different devices including the fusion core. On the base of the core, he flipped two switches until the light above them came on and soon after that, the computer screen above that began showing information that the system was ready to start up the reactor. Aramanus flipped up a box and pushed in the button that was below it. Soon a loud noise was herd as the reactor began to start up. “Come on, Start up,” Aramanus said, “Igniters at one hundred percent, temperature reaching ignition...” Soon the rumbling turned into a steady hum. “Yes! She's started.” “Activate all systems,” he instructed the computer, “prepare engines for startup.” Soon all of the main lights in the ship and the exterior lights came on. Aramanus returned to the cockpit. “This is Aramanus to control, I am ready to depart to colony N-153.” While saying that, he started the engines and activated the retropulsion system causing the ship to begin floating. “This is control, you are clear to leave once the bay door is one hundred percent open and guide beacons are activated,” docking control activated. Soon the door to the landing bay opened and a series of guide beacons lit up and flashed in sequence towards the door from Aramanus' ship. “This is Aramanus, I'm leaving the bay.” The ship slowly flew out of the bay and flew out of the base's perimeter. “Good, now I can get my ship back home and get her fixed back up,” he said to himself. He began looking at his radar. “Where is the colony, There it is.” “I better send a message to James and let him know that I won't be joining him for supper.” Aramanus set the ship to fly towards the colony. Back at Orbital Base One, the officer who had dealt with Aramanus was talking with the station commander, Burgdon Marshon. “Do you think we let Aramanus off too easily for having that illegal weapon?” The officer asked. “I'm not worried about him,” Burgdon replied, “He's just a hotshot pilot that wants the biggest gun he can find.” “I'm more worried about what brought him to the maintenance bay.” The Galmarians have been in a civil war for the last seven cycles and haven't been bothering anyone else.“ “Perhaps their civil war is over, or it's just some pirates who have gotten a hold of some Galmarian fighters.” “I don't think they were pirates, anyway, didn't you say they were flying a new type of fighter?” “Yes, I can bring up the images from our ship.” The officer proceeded to bring up some images of the new fighter. They had a small body with wings that were loosely connected to the main body and came together at the back of the ship. “As you can see here, It's a completely new design and they have unparalleled maneuverability.” The officer explained to Burgdon. “Our Hyper Fighters can't even come close to that type of flight.” “Unfortunately it's apparent that the civil war in Galmaria is over and due to their aggressiveness, it's fair to say that the Republican government fell to the rebels,” Burgdon replied. “This could be a sign of things to come.” “This information has already been sent to Central Command, This will be the main topic of the next general meeting.” “You may return to your post officer,” Burgdon ordered . He looked out the window which was looking towards Dalmaria. “It's been ten cycles since the end of the war with Zemereth,” he said to himself, “Why at the eve of our centennial do you wish to throw us back into turmoil?” |