Ns_haven
Hicks
Join Date: 2002-04-11 Member: 418Members
Join Date: 2002-04-11 Member: 418Members
<div class="IPBDescription">The backstory to my map</div>-=Back Story=-
Sam Yang tapped lightly at his keyboard as he fought sleep. He hated Fire Watch, “With a state of the art ship that had the best Shipboard AI currently in production, why do I have to stay up in the middle of the night watching the danm thing?” He thought.
Like most of the patrols conducted by the picket ship Raider, this was a complete waist of time. The 8-man ship Raider was far too small to stop a determined pirate attack and it seemed the ship’s only purpose was to make the 193 strong crew of the United America Space Station Haven think they were safe. He knew that the illusion of safety was more comfortable than the real thing. After another few minutes, Sam had just closed his eyes when the comms crackled to life.
“This is UA Ore Convoy Delta-92,..questing assistance” came a man’s voice. Immediately awake, Sam punched the General Quarters alarm as he opened a two-way comms channel, “ This is the UA Patrol Ship Raider. “Delta-92 state the nature of you emergency.” Sam said as he heard the sound of the Raider’s crew as they rushed to battle stations. Just then the Raider’s Captain came to the Bridge. Before Sam could acknowledge the Captain, Delta-92 hailed the Raider, “This is Delta-92, we are the only one with a functioning Long Range Comms Array. D..lta-91 lost engines and the.. reactors going….., Delta-90 has hull breaches on all decks. Del…..”.
To the Captain’s left came the voice of the Raider’s pilot, “ Course plotted for Delta-92, sir.” The Captain turned to the pilot, “Make speed at 100% reactor output”, the Captain ordered. “Aye sir, full speed ahead. ETA 20 minutes”, the pilot said as he complied with the order. Then the Captain turned to Yang, “Comms get on line with Heaven and tell them to get ready for casualties.
First Officer Ryan Harrison moved around the corner, shotgun slung on his shoulder. He had the only gun on Delta-93, The fourth and last ship in the convoy. Their ship had lost its reactor and the repair team had not reported back that plus their lack of all ship-to-ship comms made the situation worse. It was most likely nothing but still it had been 20 minutes since they had left and he was sent to see what the hell was wrong. Ryan paused at the reactor room noticing that the door had been halfway-wielded shut, “hull breach?’ Ryan thought. As he inspected the weald he felt water dripping on his head. He backed out from under the lukewarm drip and put his hand on his now wet head. “O god! Please don’t be coolant fluid”, Ryan thought, a reactor leak was the absolute worst thing that could happen today. He pointed his flashlight at his hand, “Blood?” he said in disbelief.
Ryan had the strange feeling that he not alone. But before he could act, the grating below him was pulled away and Ryan fell into hell itself.
“Raider to Delta convoy, we have you on visual” Sam reported. Delta Convoy looked like it had taken one hell of a beating, hull breaches leaked atmosphere, and pits of the ships’ hull floated around the slowly moving ships. “This is Delta-92, thank God you’re here. We are conduction damage control but…(Static)”. “This is Delta-91, Our reactor is overheating we nee….”, To Raider’s port the Type AIV Medium Freighter, Delta-91, had its reactor melt down. In the silence of space the wedge shaped ship’s massive tri-engines blew. Fire raced to the bridge, causing the outer-hull to blow away from the Super-structure.
Sam spent the next few minutes hoping to see life pods, but none appeared. After several minutes of comm traffic, the Raider’s crew learned the Delta convoy had been caught in a massive meteoroid storm and had been drifting for 5 hours. The Raider’s Captain ordered Delta-92, which only sustained minor damage, to dock with the two remaining delta ships, and proceed to Haven on 92’s engines alone. The Raider would also dock with 92 and they would use the Raider’s AI to do all the piloting back to Haven.
Sam hopped down the ladder into 92 and moved to the bridge. He saw many wounded miners and most of ship was scared, indicating the fire and concussion waves had ravaged the bulkheads. Sam moved into 92’s small bridge, he didn’t have any orders so he just watched.
The dock was almost complete as Delta-93 swung into position, her captain was worried about her engines and sighed a breath of relief as Raider’s AI took over for the last 100 meters of the docking. Half of 93’s crew was missing, including First Officer Ryan Harrison. There was a bump as the docking completed and 93’s survivors began stumbling into the already packed medical station’s set up but the 92’s crew.
Sam Yang sent the dimensions of the roped together Delta Convoy and Haven sent back their text reply. "We got main docking bay 1 being converted for your Station Fall, Hope to see you soon – Marlene. And don’t forget we leave for Earth in two days." The Message was sent by Haven’s comms tech Marlene, who was Sam’s wife of two years. Sam typed his reply, "ETA 7 hours and I didn’t forget, Raider over and out."
93’s Captain was finishing powering down her ship when the bridge door opened. On 93, only the Captain and the First Officer were aloud on the bridge with out permission. “What the hell took you so long, Ryan?” the captain said without turning her head. After an awkward silence she turned to the door and saw nothing. “Ryan?” she said to the shadows but she never saw nor felt the claws that ended her life.
The United America Space Station Haven was about 2 hours away from the lightly used phase gate that serviced the 3 colonies in the system. The station was built for a population of 300, so her current crew rather enjoyed all the extra space. Constructed for the purpose of refueling and repairing large ships the Station was built around 3 massive hangers. In resent years one of the hangers had been converted into a lab for ship R&D. Other than the hangers, the station included a cafeteria that is converted into a recreation room at night, living quarters, and cargo holds. Towards the cargo holds was the dock that the Raider normally used.
Marlene Yang was worried as the makeshift ship pulled into docking bay 1. Her last call to the Raider was still unanswered. Magnetic locks secured the ships while the shipboard AI ran through its post flight check. Marlene looked around the docking bay; the Delta Convoys took up much of the room. She looked at some children who were playing Hide and Seek around the docking clamps.
Delta-92’s massive cargo doors began opening. And, for a moment, nothing happened. Everyone in Hanger 1 watched the open door. The spell was shattered a second later when the feral screams and the monsters that owned them raced into Haven.
RAIDER AI: TIME = +6 HOURS AFTER DOCKING. CONTACTING CREW.
In the Raider’s bridge a message began playing that a message was waiting from the captain. An hour later something landed on the comms keyboard.
PLAYING MESSAGE…….FROM:TSA SYTEM PATROL SHIP HYPERION TO: UA PATROL SHIP RAIDER
COME IN RAIDER. DO YOU COPY? IS ANYBODY THERE?
RAIDER AI [RUN CREW SEARCH] [CREW NOT ON BOARD]
ACTIVATE PA SYSTEM ON HAVEN…….COMPLETE
ACTIVATE PA SYSTEM ON DELTA CONVOY…..COMPLETE
REPLAY MESSAGE…………………….
RAIDER AI: TIME = +9 HOURS AFTER DOCKING
REPLAY MESSAGE…………………….
REPLAY MESSAGE…………………….
REPLAY MESSAGE…………………….
{NO CREW CONTACTED} [LOAD DISTRESS SIGNAL] [RUN ESTIMATION AND SITREP PROGRAM]
{TSA OVERIDE ALERT NON-HUMAN PRESSENCE DECTETED}
[RUN SUB-PROTICAL =TSA F11]
{FROM RAIDER AI TO: TSA HYPERION AND/OR ANY TSA SHIPS IN SYSTEM. INFESTATION DETECTED IN…..
…..
DELTA – 92
DELTA – 93
DELTA – 90
UA PATROL SHIP RAIDER
HAVEN
{SUBTEXT} AT +1 HOUR 3 LIFE PODS WERE LAUNCHED AT VECTORS 1892,9932,3321
WARNING ORGANIC PRESSECE NEAR AI CPU. ERMERGENCY SHUTDOWN.
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Sam Yang tapped lightly at his keyboard as he fought sleep. He hated Fire Watch, “With a state of the art ship that had the best Shipboard AI currently in production, why do I have to stay up in the middle of the night watching the danm thing?” He thought.
Like most of the patrols conducted by the picket ship Raider, this was a complete waist of time. The 8-man ship Raider was far too small to stop a determined pirate attack and it seemed the ship’s only purpose was to make the 193 strong crew of the United America Space Station Haven think they were safe. He knew that the illusion of safety was more comfortable than the real thing. After another few minutes, Sam had just closed his eyes when the comms crackled to life.
“This is UA Ore Convoy Delta-92,..questing assistance” came a man’s voice. Immediately awake, Sam punched the General Quarters alarm as he opened a two-way comms channel, “ This is the UA Patrol Ship Raider. “Delta-92 state the nature of you emergency.” Sam said as he heard the sound of the Raider’s crew as they rushed to battle stations. Just then the Raider’s Captain came to the Bridge. Before Sam could acknowledge the Captain, Delta-92 hailed the Raider, “This is Delta-92, we are the only one with a functioning Long Range Comms Array. D..lta-91 lost engines and the.. reactors going….., Delta-90 has hull breaches on all decks. Del…..”.
To the Captain’s left came the voice of the Raider’s pilot, “ Course plotted for Delta-92, sir.” The Captain turned to the pilot, “Make speed at 100% reactor output”, the Captain ordered. “Aye sir, full speed ahead. ETA 20 minutes”, the pilot said as he complied with the order. Then the Captain turned to Yang, “Comms get on line with Heaven and tell them to get ready for casualties.
First Officer Ryan Harrison moved around the corner, shotgun slung on his shoulder. He had the only gun on Delta-93, The fourth and last ship in the convoy. Their ship had lost its reactor and the repair team had not reported back that plus their lack of all ship-to-ship comms made the situation worse. It was most likely nothing but still it had been 20 minutes since they had left and he was sent to see what the hell was wrong. Ryan paused at the reactor room noticing that the door had been halfway-wielded shut, “hull breach?’ Ryan thought. As he inspected the weald he felt water dripping on his head. He backed out from under the lukewarm drip and put his hand on his now wet head. “O god! Please don’t be coolant fluid”, Ryan thought, a reactor leak was the absolute worst thing that could happen today. He pointed his flashlight at his hand, “Blood?” he said in disbelief.
Ryan had the strange feeling that he not alone. But before he could act, the grating below him was pulled away and Ryan fell into hell itself.
“Raider to Delta convoy, we have you on visual” Sam reported. Delta Convoy looked like it had taken one hell of a beating, hull breaches leaked atmosphere, and pits of the ships’ hull floated around the slowly moving ships. “This is Delta-92, thank God you’re here. We are conduction damage control but…(Static)”. “This is Delta-91, Our reactor is overheating we nee….”, To Raider’s port the Type AIV Medium Freighter, Delta-91, had its reactor melt down. In the silence of space the wedge shaped ship’s massive tri-engines blew. Fire raced to the bridge, causing the outer-hull to blow away from the Super-structure.
Sam spent the next few minutes hoping to see life pods, but none appeared. After several minutes of comm traffic, the Raider’s crew learned the Delta convoy had been caught in a massive meteoroid storm and had been drifting for 5 hours. The Raider’s Captain ordered Delta-92, which only sustained minor damage, to dock with the two remaining delta ships, and proceed to Haven on 92’s engines alone. The Raider would also dock with 92 and they would use the Raider’s AI to do all the piloting back to Haven.
Sam hopped down the ladder into 92 and moved to the bridge. He saw many wounded miners and most of ship was scared, indicating the fire and concussion waves had ravaged the bulkheads. Sam moved into 92’s small bridge, he didn’t have any orders so he just watched.
The dock was almost complete as Delta-93 swung into position, her captain was worried about her engines and sighed a breath of relief as Raider’s AI took over for the last 100 meters of the docking. Half of 93’s crew was missing, including First Officer Ryan Harrison. There was a bump as the docking completed and 93’s survivors began stumbling into the already packed medical station’s set up but the 92’s crew.
Sam Yang sent the dimensions of the roped together Delta Convoy and Haven sent back their text reply. "We got main docking bay 1 being converted for your Station Fall, Hope to see you soon – Marlene. And don’t forget we leave for Earth in two days." The Message was sent by Haven’s comms tech Marlene, who was Sam’s wife of two years. Sam typed his reply, "ETA 7 hours and I didn’t forget, Raider over and out."
93’s Captain was finishing powering down her ship when the bridge door opened. On 93, only the Captain and the First Officer were aloud on the bridge with out permission. “What the hell took you so long, Ryan?” the captain said without turning her head. After an awkward silence she turned to the door and saw nothing. “Ryan?” she said to the shadows but she never saw nor felt the claws that ended her life.
The United America Space Station Haven was about 2 hours away from the lightly used phase gate that serviced the 3 colonies in the system. The station was built for a population of 300, so her current crew rather enjoyed all the extra space. Constructed for the purpose of refueling and repairing large ships the Station was built around 3 massive hangers. In resent years one of the hangers had been converted into a lab for ship R&D. Other than the hangers, the station included a cafeteria that is converted into a recreation room at night, living quarters, and cargo holds. Towards the cargo holds was the dock that the Raider normally used.
Marlene Yang was worried as the makeshift ship pulled into docking bay 1. Her last call to the Raider was still unanswered. Magnetic locks secured the ships while the shipboard AI ran through its post flight check. Marlene looked around the docking bay; the Delta Convoys took up much of the room. She looked at some children who were playing Hide and Seek around the docking clamps.
Delta-92’s massive cargo doors began opening. And, for a moment, nothing happened. Everyone in Hanger 1 watched the open door. The spell was shattered a second later when the feral screams and the monsters that owned them raced into Haven.
RAIDER AI: TIME = +6 HOURS AFTER DOCKING. CONTACTING CREW.
In the Raider’s bridge a message began playing that a message was waiting from the captain. An hour later something landed on the comms keyboard.
PLAYING MESSAGE…….FROM:TSA SYTEM PATROL SHIP HYPERION TO: UA PATROL SHIP RAIDER
COME IN RAIDER. DO YOU COPY? IS ANYBODY THERE?
RAIDER AI [RUN CREW SEARCH] [CREW NOT ON BOARD]
ACTIVATE PA SYSTEM ON HAVEN…….COMPLETE
ACTIVATE PA SYSTEM ON DELTA CONVOY…..COMPLETE
REPLAY MESSAGE…………………….
RAIDER AI: TIME = +9 HOURS AFTER DOCKING
REPLAY MESSAGE…………………….
REPLAY MESSAGE…………………….
REPLAY MESSAGE…………………….
{NO CREW CONTACTED} [LOAD DISTRESS SIGNAL] [RUN ESTIMATION AND SITREP PROGRAM]
{TSA OVERIDE ALERT NON-HUMAN PRESSENCE DECTETED}
[RUN SUB-PROTICAL =TSA F11]
{FROM RAIDER AI TO: TSA HYPERION AND/OR ANY TSA SHIPS IN SYSTEM. INFESTATION DETECTED IN…..
…..
DELTA – 92
DELTA – 93
DELTA – 90
UA PATROL SHIP RAIDER
HAVEN
{SUBTEXT} AT +1 HOUR 3 LIFE PODS WERE LAUNCHED AT VECTORS 1892,9932,3321
WARNING ORGANIC PRESSECE NEAR AI CPU. ERMERGENCY SHUTDOWN.
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2 DAYS LATER
TSA PATROL SHIP: RIMRUNNER
0530 HOURS
Dresser’s head pounded. The run-down feeling that came with a hangover was a fact of life that Colt Dresser was all to well accustomed too. Dresser squinted at his surroundings as his mind slowly remembered where he was. He could see other bunks, each containing a fellow member of the TSA Marines of Bravo Company, most of which were recovering from shore leave. Only two squads from Bravo had even been in the system when the Raider AI started its distress call.
Colt’s squad was known as “Raven” squad, named after the Edger Alan Poe poem for their devil’s luck. And the Raven’s, until 12 hours ago, had been on some well deserved shore leave. Colt and the others were already smashed when a TSA MP had pulled them back to active duty, they didn’t even get to finish their drinks. The second squad was the “Head Hunters” and by all means a very experienced squad. The Head Hunters had survived alone for a year during a massive infestation of the agri-colony N8-213. They had, as the rumors went, only survived because they had smeared the blood of the aliens on themselves, in order to hid their scent from the aliens that had hunted them. Colt was relived when he was finally able to get back to sleep.
0600 HOURS
The overhead lights snapped sharply on right at 6, bringing a few moans of dismay, Colt’s among them. Dresser surveyed the seen; both squads were at roughly 50% strength. But, Colt figured, that they were going to have a very easy time clearing out the infestation on Haven. The other members of the Ravens slowly began to make their way to the mess hall. Colt followed Sgt Dylan Biery, Raven’s joker, to a table. Biery stood at a formidable 6’6” and was medium built, a combatant since his early teams, he bared scars from his days in the UA Mobile Armored Infantry and his latest employment with the TSA.
A total of six marines made up Raven squad, all sergeants, all veterans. The Raven’s sat at their own table while the 7-man strong Head Hunter’s sat on the other side of the mess hall. Other than Colt the Ravens were, Biery who was joking with the Heavy Grenadier, Sgt Shawn Harrison, a short man of Irish decent. The remaining three members of the Raven’s were playing cards. Currently Natasha Gowa, a striking blond that looked like she was completely out of place, was in the lead, while Eric Stephens, a wiry man of 18 years, and Trey Towers, Ravens longest surviving member at 28, tried to recoup their losses.
Their Commander was Lt Ryan Murry, though not considered to be a member of the Ravens; he was their commander so they followed his orders. Murry and the other officers on the RimRunner ate at their own table. Colt turned to his food, sighed, and wondered how anybody could call this crap chicken
0812 HOURS
The powerful external lights of the RimRunner pierced through the darkness that surrounded Haven. From the TSA Marine Briefing Room, the Ravens observed the outer hull of haven. Most of the airlocks in the station’s three massive hangers were clearly unusable. Blast Scaring marred the white hull of Haven. Surprisingly, the massive painting on haven, a portrait of an Angel holding back Demons, was almost completely intact.
RimRunner’s spotlights soon fixed on the service airlock. It was clear.
0831 HOURS
“Ok, so we will deploy from the dropship upon contact with the station. Raven squad will secure the DZ around the station command and control, past the cargo bay here”, Lt Murry droned on. Behind Murry was a massive display, highlighted was the station lay out. Resembling a “Y” the station had hangers at each tip, at the joint was the labs and common areas, and at the stem was the service airlock, cargo bays, command and control and countless homes build into the massive holds.
The plan was by the book but not the work of a tactical genius. The squads would leapfrog to the station joint and secure that, then check for survivors, finally they would quickly locate the alien source and kill it. The United America rep said that this was just a normal station so everything should be easy.
0912 HOURS T MINUS 2 MINUTES TO DROP
“This is going to be so freakin’ easy”, said Biery as he tried to both calm his on fears and intimidate the Head Hunters.
Yeah easy, Colt Dresser said to himself. Something was defiantly not sitting well with Dresser. A normal Station? Did UA put art on all its stations? This was beginning to feel like a … a what?
“GEAR CHECK” called Harrison at t minus one minute. Colt looked to his right where Natasha sat. He looked over the woman’s equipment and said “Gowa is set”. The lights in the dropship began to dim and the engines rumbled to life.
“Biery is go”
“Harrison ready”
“Stephens clear”
“Dresser is go”
“Towers set”
Even though he had no gear, Murry chimed in, “Murry is ok”
“30 Seconds”, shouted the Head Hunter’s Lt, Shingi Yang. Then the rest of the Head Hunter’s conducted gear check.”
0914 HOURS MISSION START
The aging dropship shot away from the RimRunner. Looking like a bat out of hell, the sleek ship accelerated towards Haven.
Colts head slammed against a restraint bar. ”Fuc.” Colt said as he stifled a curse. The Ship Lurched as it matched the stations speed. Turning in a slow circle at nine times normal gravity was not something Dresser could ever thing of as fun, but the flyboys did and that was a heck of an accomplishment.
With a hiss, the restraint bars lifted, Murry attempted to stand but a thruster burst forced him back in his seat.
Raven squad would be split into two Chalks, Red and Black. Red, consisting of Gowa, Dresser, and Towers, would ride point. Dressers heart fell at that assignment, the point chalk always ate it is things blew up. Black, consisting of Stephens, Harrison, and Biery, would be support.
With a loud click the dropship connected with Haven’s service airlock. Dresser, known on the TachCom as RED 1 stood up, “RED TAKE POINT”
The outer airlock door opened and Red Chalk moved inside, it was dark and RED 2, Natasha Gowa, took her time finding the control panel. The overhead lights gave the TSA their first view of Haven. The Inner Airlock door was bulged outward, Suits reading ‘Viral Contamination Suits’ hung from as wall. The center of attention however, was a blood-soaked arm that hung from the ceiling; the arm disappeared into a vent. The kill was fresh and the blood was still dripping from the lifeless fingers. Red moved to the inner airlock and began forcing the door open. Only blackness waited on the other side, Red followed by black and then the Head Hunters stepped into the Abyss.
0932 HOURS MISSION START PLUS 18 MINUTES…..