Announcement

**aktarian** · July 2, 2001, 13:42

I fthis is new story thread count me in. I call Spartans.

**Alynzia** · July 3, 2001, 13:26

If this is a new story thread and nobody involved minds my bad writing, I would like Morgan because I think he subscribes to Social Darwinism and that rocks.

(Putting in my introduction on an edit as to not screw up the sequence of events - it's been a while since I read Journey, so please correct me if stuff is wrong, in a private message or wherever. Dammit, I can't remember if the whole ship was informed of Garland's heroic act before he did it.)

Morgan Pod

Against a seemingly infinite background of distant stars, the body of the Unity starship careened violently towards the virgin planet below. The now sealed escape pods hung as ripe fruits from the main structure of the Unity, uneasily awaiting the impending schism that would enable them to safely fall to the surface of the new world.

Morgan felt the central framework of the starship rive under the immense forces generated by the massive Unity's dangerously high acceleration. Morgan was no scientist, but even he could tell they were approaching the planet too fast. Majestic eyes surveyed the skeleton crew operating in the command chamber of Unity escape pod four, made up from his new congeneric followers out of anyone with engineering knowledge. Their inexperienced hands flew over the monitoring consoles in an attempt to find out what the delay was with the decoupling sequence. Diffident eyes scanned complex readouts, Morgan glaring at the low ranking officers with mild irritation.

Six qualified navigation engineers were supposed to be in the command chamber of each pod, there were none present here. Where were they? Morgan scanned the room for Peyronie and Alzheimer, two of the few high ranking navigation engineers not lured away by the scientific idealism offered by the cheif science officer, Zakharov. Among the seething mass of sweaty bodies darting about the command chamber, Morgan could not see them, their absence from the place they were needed most a debilitation to Morgan's play on the slimmest chances of survival.

Morgan moved over to the prow monitoring console, confidently placing a powerful dark hand on the shoulder of a nervous young ensign. Morgan quickly glanced down at the name tag sown on to his slightly soiled worksuit. "Ensign Fong, what is the delay with the decoupling sequence?" The ensign was about to answer when the starship lurched once more, flinging open the sealed hatch of the command chamber that led to the rest of the pod.

'This starship is coming apart on its own,' thought Morgan as he waved at some junior technicians to re-lock the hatch.

Suddenly, a bloody hand reached through the hatch, catching the technicians by surprise. "Morgan," came the thick French accent of Marcel Peyronie, his slightly grazed body entering the command chamber, "What is the delay?" Alzheimer and Turner-Jones followed him into the chamber, punctilious Turner-Jones checking the magnetic cohesion of the locking mechanism around the hatch. As Peyronie and Alzheimer took up the main positions at the navigation array, Dr. Nambala rushed up to Turner-Jones, bending down to get eye-contact with the midget, "Is the mining equipment and cryo bays secure?" she asked. Turner-Jones nodded. "All seals now secure sir" squeaked Turner-Jones to Morgan, giving the hatch a firm tug.

Morgan was about to look down at his most diminutive of followers when Alzheimer, seated at the main console spoke up, thick brow furrowed and heavy with concern. "The decoupling sequence has been initiated sir, but the release mechanism is jammed." Morgan swiftly moved over to Alzheimer's readout. 'Is this a faulty product?' thought Morgan until he saw the origin of the damage, the meteor... "Manual release?" asked Morgan, grave concern apparent in his deep, strong voice. From the adjacent console, Peyronie assiduously scrolled along the internal sensor readout, "It appears someone is trying that sir," came the voice of the Frenchman.

'I'll give them six minutes before we try to blast ourselves free,' thought Morgan as he looked out the central viewport to see the planetscape becoming more detailed with each second, the new world with it's greens and blues calling as a siren to him, a fresh canvas awaiting industrial development, prosperity ready for those wise enough to exploit this planet's resources.

The starship lurched as a dying dragon's last breath, planetscape blurring into starscape. The pod rocked, juddering from a force applied elsewhere. Peyronie quickly fired the landing thrusters to slow their descent to the alien world. Hands grasping an empty console, Morgan took a desperate look out of the central viewport, the planet settling to a stationary below, neighbour pods hurtling towards the surface.

"The guidance system is fried!" shouted Alzheimer, "I will have to make the course corrections myself." Morgan looked over at Alzheimer, "Then do it woman." Morgan looked once more out of the viewport, his grip on the console firm and body angled so as to avoid being shaken by the unsteady motion of the pod. As the planet hurtled ever closer, supply pods from Unity advanced quickly through the uppper atmosphere, burning trails of orange fire taunting the escape pods to follow in their wake. To set down and create a new chapter of human history.

**aktarian** · July 3, 2001, 15:43

This is my beginnig. If either one here is offended by what I wrote in comments to Unity and if you don't wan't me to participate in this thread tell me so and I'll go away. If you are not than I hope you will like this.

Santiago's stomach wanted to wrap itself around her spine as Planet's 12+gs pulled pod toward itself. Yet her face was calm. Not one muscle moved on her hispanic face. She led her people and they got what they wanted. If their action tore apart the ship, well, that wasn't her problem. She was reasonable yet Garland refused. And where did his stubborness got him? Nowhere. She had her pod, she had her people and Garland's command eroded step by step as new and new leaders claimed their share.

»5 minutes to touchdown, Colonel. More or less.« Voice of Jerek, one of her most trusted aides. She owed him his life. He got her out of cell in which she was locked. Now they were even for the time she busted him out of prison in New Los Angeles.

»4 minutes. Everybody buckle up. We're going to land like sack of potatoes.« She checked her seatbelt. In order. Good. Nothing to do but wait. Nobody knew precisely how much damage pods took during metor strike. She hoped retroboosters woun't fail.

»Engaging boosters in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, engage.« Santiago felt like something kicked her from behind. Something weighting couple of tonnes and moving with supersonic speed. She took that as a sign that retroboosters were in working order, or at least something aproaching that. When pod slowed down to about 500 kilometers per hour radar on it's nose activated. It was downward looking, designed to scan ground ahead and assist in landing. No use in travelling hundreds of thousands of kilometers and crashing the pod on some rocky ground.

Jerek was looking at radar screen and heard colonel's voice in his mind.

»Search for large flat areas, near water with hills or mountains nearby.« Earlier attempts to map surface were only partially sucessfull. They found some large areas that were absolutly flat. It was assumed those were oceans and this asumption was fed into pod's computers. He assumed similar returs would indiacte smaller areas covered with water, like lakes or rivers. Then he saw perfect landing spot. Large flat ground, near large area of water (he had no way of knowing how big it was or if it is connected to other waters). What appeared to be river was running into that water. Some 30 kilometers east (at least he called it east as nobody has decided which way was north and which way south) were some mountains. Perfect. He turned the booster's power down to 50% and began adjusting course. Pod was travelling with speed about 300 kilometers per hour. He made final adjustements and activated laser altimeter. When it detested that pod was 100 meters from ground in activated another set of retroboosters which slowed pod down even further and allowed for soft landing. Yet despite all this metal groined when it hit the ground and Jerek wondered if it will collapse. It didn't. They landed. New life on new planet awaited them. He unstrapped and started searching exit hatch.

**Grimblade** · July 4, 2001, 10:08

Cool, someone posted!

As for the Unity's freedom, (forgot your name... tired

), Only Lal knows that Garland is using a concussion grenade to set the unity free.

(University Landing Pod)
The pod sped towards Earth at an astounding rate, but the engineers, including Zakharov, knew exactly what to do to keep from crashing. Zakharov checked over a young ensign's work at the minimal controls of the pod before he ran over to help one of the other engineers keep the science equipment safely packed.

"DAVIES, MAKE SURE WE'RE IN A HOSPITABLE LANDING PLACE!" Zakharov bellowed as he hurried over to check on the food supplies.

"Yes, sir!" Davies yelled back, scanning the surface of Chiron for a good landing place. He found one to the west (or what he determined was west) of Chiron, near water that was definately ocean, on nearly an entire continent to themselves, and their landing spot had plenty of nutrients, energy, and minerals.

"Found it!" Davies screamed. "But be ready for a bumpy entry!" He added on as an afterthought.

**aktarian** · July 4, 2001, 14:54

I think we should make comments thread. and since Grimblade started this thread....

MY 2100, day 10 (10 days after landing)

Colonel Santiago wasn't much pleased with what she found on landing pod. Or on planet, for that matter. Her four aides were suppoed to report today their findings. She hoped they will find something better, but didn't get her hopes high. Future looked tough for her people. She knew she could handle it. She hoped other would too.
She settled in what was once part of cargo bay 9. Not much. 4 meters long, 3 meters wide, 5 meters high. She shared this place with 2 other people. Snoring of one took her patience to the limit. She hasn't snaped yet, but she wasn't far from there. Add this to the fact that days were only 18 hours long and gravity was stronger than Earth. Nobody wasn't in very good mood past 10 days.
They knocked down walls between two similar parts of cargo bay 7 and made it a command room. They dragged 6 empty crates in it to use them as table and chairs. Not much here either, but it will have to do. When she walked in Jerek was already there. He was talking with short brunette. It took her couple of seconds to recognise her as Judy Ralls. That only proved to her that she was tired, but that she already knew. She sat on one of the crates.

»Where are Shen and Robert?«
»On their way. They'll be here in couple of minutes.«
»I hope they have good news.«
»Don't worry colonel. We got here. We're more or less unhurt. We have what we wanted. Besides, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.« Santiago couldn't disagree with that. Even if she wanted to, there wasn't tima as Shen Cillnick and Robert Ness walked in and sat down.
Santiago started the meeting. »First of all it's good to see you all here. We made it. And we will survive. And we will prosper. And we will be strong.« she sounded more confident than she was but she remebered one of most important lessons of command. Never let your subordinates see you scared, in doubt or pesimistic. Extremly bad for morale.
»Who wants to start? Shen?«
»O.K. I volunteered for cargo inspection. This is what I found: parts to assemble 50 rovers, 3.000 shredder pistols and rifles, 3 cargo bays of seeds and plants-which were sorted by Robert, 1 cargo bay of frozen animal embries, 2 cargo bays of various clothing and machinry for air compression and water purifying. Details are here.« He put several leaves of paper on table. Santiago picked them up and began browsing through them. »Could be better but could be far far worse. Robert, how are supplies?«
»Well, colonel, could be better. We have about 1.000 frozen embries. Mostly turkey, but also some chickens and sheep. As you know wery few pigs or cows were put aboard as Muslims and Hindus protested. We have enough seeds to begin planting them. I would sugest we don't plant all in case there are some complications. I would suggest a third. That should feed those who are awake now, even if crops don't fare well.«
»O.K. We'll have to discuss these arangemets in more detail later. Judy, what are conditions on the Planet?«
»Research on Earth put it's gravity between 11 and 13 g. We made more detailed research and it's a bit lower than 13g. That will take same adjusting. human body can survive it. Palnet's axis is tilted only about 2 degrees. Which means no seasons so we shouldn't have troubles with farming. Or being stopped in front of enemy capital by catastrophical winter. Day has 18 hours. This is why we all feel so tired lately. Also year has 532 days. Most of that was determined on Earth, we just confirmed it. Also air pressure is almost twice higher. But what I find most concerning is the fact that atmosphere has only 8,5% of oxygen, less than half as atmosphere on Earth. We have troubles with breathing. One can breathe this air for 20 minutes, half an hour tops. Than one begins to feel dizzy, lightheaded, than they faint and finally die. Luckilly there are enough respirators for all. But we have to do something about that.«
»Any sugestions?« asked Santiago.
»Well, back on Earth there was some experimenting with implanting filters into noses, but that was designed to keep polution out. We'll have to see how much data was assembled and if can use any of it.«
»Robert?«
»I made list of people that were in this pod. There are 1,156 people, 597 females and 559 males. This is good. We have 409 people with engineering expertise, 227 with medical expertise-various fields, which is also good and 492 botanists. We also have 28 people for which I don't have sligtest idea why they were aboard. Guess they were owed some big favours or paid heavily. Some use will have to be found for them otherwise they will be just balast and we can't aford that. As for Coalition things are like this: 680 were boarded, 106 were waken. I counted 71 of those waken here. Other 35 are missing. Some were killed up there and I assume some ended up in wrong pods. When we establish contact with other pods we'll have exact numbers. Right now 227 people are awake. I sugest we wake only those we really have to. No point in wasting resources. Oh, and everybody speaks English.«
»Jerek?«
»Much of data I gathered from computer is garbage. We have data how to assemble those rovers but that is about the only thing that we can use right now. Map is also sketchy. Some 70% of surface isn't cartoghraphed at all and rest is unclear. We'll have to explore on our own. Also no contact with other pods. It could be malfunction of our equipment, theirs, both or maybe they are just too far away to hear us. We saw all 8 pods launch. But we have no way of knowing how many people are in each. If we have 1.000 and something people others have something similar. For now we are on our own. Thank heavens personal data was also stored at each cell so we were able to retrieve that informations.«
»Thank you all four for your research. Here are some things we must consider. Everybody else will consider us mutineers. We all saw that crew was factioning. We are one. There is probably one led by Garland. As far as I know Yang gathered some followers and they might be in one pod. Zakharov was acting on his own up there so he might be in one. Also Deirdre wasn't perticulary fond of Garland and his politics so she could take one pod. That's five pods. Other three could be led by others or some of those I mentioned before seized more pods. Or nobody guided them down so they most likely crashed. We don't know but we must assume worse. That is that we will be faced by some 7.000 hostile people. Jerek put us down in good location. We have our backs to that water so we don't need to fear attack from that side. Also river will help. Mountains are good observation posts and can be used as block to attacker. So this is what we'll do. Assemble those rovers ASAP. They were not designed to carry guns but we can modify them. We have enough weapons for time being. Put those that aren't man portable on rovers. Wake everybody from Coalition. They will crew those rovers. Three men per rover. Use other as infantry. Begin scouting. We must find whet's behind those mountains and how far we can see. Form platoons of 4 rovers each. Go as far as they can go, but stay in contact with pod. We don't know what is out there. Robert, what's the morale of people?«
»Not bad, but not too high. 476 of them didn't plan to join us. Some of them find our survivalism apealing. They will fit nicely into our society. Some are ambivalent. They are still in shock because of what happened up there. When they recover from shock we'll see what will become of them. And some don't want to have anything with us. We must be carefull with these. If they are allowed to run free they will cause troubles. I don't sugest killing them but when we make contact with others we should send them there. Let others care for them.«
»Thank you.« said Santiago »This is it people. We are here and we are here to stay. We must be strong. We must begin training for war. And one last thing. How shall we call this place? It's apropriate to take something from history of Sparta.«
She could see that everybody was considering this.
»What about Termopylae Pass?« sugested Robert. It didn't find support from others. Finally Judy sugested:
»Well, if we are Spartans and will run things from here why not call it simply Sparta Command?« It was simple, it was to the point and it was in spirit of what Sparta should be about. Santiago asked if anybody objected. Nobody did. And so pod became Sparta Command, a place from which Sparta would be run.

**Clear Skies** · July 11, 2001, 08:49

As the auxiliary lifepod coasted slowly down through Planet's atmosphere, the woman who had chosen to lead her people into their new life upon Planet stood at the window, looking out upon the pristine new world where she and her followers would make their home.
Behind her eyes, her algorithm processed at the speed of light, making a billion calculations every second...

"Prime Function."
"Yes?" She half-turned, her tightly-curled hair overtaking her head and falling across her eyes. She raised a hand to brush it away, revealing the calm face of her chief aide, Yana Eta-4.
"We will make Planetfall inside four minutes. We have attempted to track the landing sites of the other pods, but to no avail. Your instructions?"
Aki Zeta-5 knew they had been lucky. Most of the pods had lost manoeuvring when Captain Garland had detonated the concussion grenades, but hers had retained some thrusters. In consequence, she intended to land near the location of the crashed Unity, far from any of the other factions.
"We will land near the crash site of the Unity, and our first base shall be named Alpha Prime. We are the Cybernetic Consciousness."

**Kassiopeia** · July 11, 2001, 15:29

Since you don't seem to of gone too far, perhaps I could join you writing for the Believers.

**Sealurk** · July 13, 2001, 06:46

MY 2101, Date Unknown

Captain's Log, 'N.S.S. Crestrider'

Admiral Scott Davidson, one of Svensgaard's most trusted officers, surveyed the huge fungal stalks of the fungal sea, a landmarked name the 'New Sargasso'. A Sea Former would have a hard time doing anything in there, and his ship stayed well clear of the tangled mass, and the horrors lurking within. The rumours of Isles of the Deep prowling that very mass had become lore already, and Admiral Davidson didn't want to lose a man to the horrific psi-based attacks. Just beyond the horizon lay Parrot's Landing, a new Pirate base that had been established along the coast. Crestrider was on a mission to survey the surrounding waters, and locate any resources that could be exploited. He motioned for his comm device, and punched in a direct link to Matteo DiMarco, the navigator.

'7 degrees starboard, throttle to 4/5 speed. I want to be out of sight of this deathtrap as quickly as possible' he ordered, referring to the fungal mass. Even from this distance he could 'feel' the resonant energy emanating form the fungus.
'Aye, Cap'n,' DiMarco replied. He seemed to feel the same. Davidson had been sailing for two months straight, and was within close range of his destination. he would be at Parrot's Landing within the day, and felt he deserved some rest, retiring to his bunk for some well needed sleep.

*******
'WHAT?! HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?' Svensgaard obviously wasn't happy with the news. And it was obvious why. Parrot's Landing lay in ruins, no trace of any populace, just tattered fragments of a newly completed outpost, a smouldering wreck of steel and glass. 'Mindworms could not dispose of the bodies,' Admiral Davdison thought, 'so either a very efficient Scout Patrol is responsible, or the population disappeared afterdestroying the city. Or they could have been persuaded to leave, then killed and placed into mass graves afterwards.' the signs were not good. And the Admiral didn't like to think about what his next mission would be.

**Kassiopeia** · July 13, 2001, 18:22

New Jerusalem, (Earth) summer of M.Y. 2100

She stared at her orange-red hear cutted out as convienently as possible. Then Sister Miriam turned away from the fashioned mirror, that had served as a colony pod window, and amused herself with the fact that some 150 years ago redheads were considered sinful, evil and the most probable ones to be thrown into the fiery pit of hell -
"Sister Miriam", Sister Lauren said carefully from the door.
Miriam turned at this strange employee and asked: "Who are you?"
"Sister Lauren", the young, brown-haired woman said. She looked quite nervous, and stepped slowly towards her sister of religion when Miriam prompted her to do so.
"Lauren? You are the one the Monastery of St. Michael sent here?"
"Y-Yes, Sister. I am you'r aide from now on."
Miriam smiled warmly and looked her new aide straight in the green eyes. "Why are you afraid of me?"
"You are Sister Miriam... Sister Miriam."
"And?"
"Well... You are the leader of this people..."
Miriam waved her hand rapidly. "Oh no Sister. Lord is the leader of this people, this family. I am merely His spokeswoman."
"Understood", the young Sister said and then asked, with a bit of encouragement in her tone, "How may I serve you, Sister?"

The construction of the Cathedral of Blessed Descention was firmly underway. The holy part, the church itself, had been finished only one month after Planetfall. Now, after 35 days of survival on the Promised Land, Sister Miriam was on her way to babtise those people on their landing pod that hadn't been christened under the love of Messiah, but who were willing to accept the Lord's mercy.
In the corridor leading from the priest's quarters to the Cathedral, Miriam met the oldest member of their society, Father Andreas.
The sixty-year old man had been on the age-limit given to the crew of Unity, but with his good physicality and the endorsment of John Paul the third himself, he was the assisting psych chaplain of Unity, concering Catholic religion. The Believer's consisted of several schools of the Christian religion, majority being the prostetants of Europe and the US. Then there were the Catholics, primely from Latin America, and some of the youngest school, the Meredithian, named after Sister Meredith who lead the first sect of the Christian States of America in the brief Second Civil War. Sister Miriam was a Meredithian, and her election for the Chief Psych Chaplain of Unity was objected, at minimum.
"Father", Miriam said after the old man had gripped her hand in greeting, "I am considered about the appearance the people get from our... hierachy."
"Ah, the leader question again, Miriam?" the elegantly grey man guessed.
"Precisely so. The people seem to consider me as the leader of this... faction. Why is that?"
"Well", Father Andreas began, "you were, amongst us, the highest ranking officer onboard. That and the fact that in Planetfall and the following month, I have seen you assuming this role the people have given to you."
"I'm uncertain about this, Father. Do you think I should accept the people's opinion?"
"There are going to be those who won't agree with you, who would like to have a democratic election. But it is obvious that any opposing you would lose."
The police officer standing guard at the door greeted them with a wave of his hand. "Your Holynesses, if we may proceed?" He opened the door, and the ambient sound of a cathedral packed with almost five hundred people overwhelmed all three of them.
As they stepped in, and as Miriam got her first look at the mass of citizens waiting their baptisation, the mass started cheering almost in trance.
"They seem to be very strong in belief indeed", Miriam awed at the audience and looked at her mentor. "Father, are you sure you can do this? You aren't as young as you used to be, and there are literally dosens of -"
"My old bones can hold me for this time. There is not so much time left, until He calls me to Him."
Miriam smiled, yet the appearance was forced, for the last thing she wanted to witness was the dead of this man, this great and wonderful servant of God who was like a father to him.
After the first ceremonial duties, the first to-be-Believers stepped forward and faced the bowls filled with holy water. The're was not to be a Catholic, full-body baptisement, due to the scarcity of fresh water in the colony.
As Father Andreas reached out to the Holy Bible to give the proper bless for the citizen, a sudden shout near Miriam streaked through the altar: "Bloody Oranian bastard!"
Miriam looked for the source of the voice, and suddenly found herself staring at an elderly man wielding what later on was found out to be a self-engineered shredder pistol. He stood third in the line of the people who were to be baptised.
Miriam tried to find a link in her memory regarding the word "Oranian", when a loud blast thundered the room. Every single soul in the Cathedral - even the assailant himself - looked astounded as Father Andreas fell to the floor, bleeding from his chest.
As the police officers rushed to apprehend the mysterious assassin, Miriam and a group of doctors from the crowd hurried for Andreas.
As the medics carried Andreas on a strethcer for their fully equipped field hospital, Miriam glared at the red stains in the gray mat of the Cathedral floor and cried. But their efforts were in vain, and in the following night Father Andreas' soul left his mortal body as he had profetised few hours ago.
When she received the news, Sister Miriam was consulting the not so peaceful members of their society, a subgroup who called themselves the "New Crusaders", a Catholic-Meredithian group only. And as morning broke and the sun shone over the rooftops of the city, the re-instituted police force was busy carrying Prostetant corpes to be buried into the unholy grounds beyond the walls of New Jerusalem.

**Sealurk** · July 13, 2001, 21:09

N.S.S. Crows Nest

Captain Ulrik Svensgaard glared at the shimmering sea. The waves mirrored the light radiating from Hercules. Aboard the N.S.S Crows Nest the flagship of the Pirate fleet, he turned over the events of the past year in his mind. Ever since his landing pod dropped from the Unity and landed in the ocean near Fossil Field Ridge, he had heard nothing from any other factions, as they had all been established on land. All the more resources for himself, he thought. Safe Haven had established itself as a worthy headquarters to carry out his agenda. And that was total domination of Planet's oceans. Although officially he wished to 'pillage and burn', that would be wasteful of all the resources that could be gained. No, to domainate the ocean was to dominate planet.
It was all too fitting that the navigator of the ill-fated Unity would lead a motley band of men, women and children to life on a new planet. His people were made up of those who were unimpressed with the traditional establishment, and most had some experience with life at sea. After all, a pirate's true home was at sea. Over a full year had passed since his followers banded together to form the Nautilus Pirates, the most fearsome seagoers ever to exist.
"Captain Svensgaard, I think there's something you should take a look at." That was Hodgkinson, Chief Observer aboard the
Crows Nest. Although he didn't really trust the Englishman, he knew he was a damned fine seaman, and if there was something that needed looking at, he was right.
Svensgaard met up with Hodgkinson on the bridge, where the main telescope was located.More a pair of extremely high powered binocs, old habits among sailors die hard.
Picking up the telescope, he could see a ship on the horizon, moving away to port at what seemed to be 36 knots. However, that was no ordinary ship he was looking at. Svensgaard knew what a foil would look like at distance, especially seeing he was commanding one at this very moment. That ships seemed...not human. It's design was different to what human engineers would call 'seaworthy'. No, there was something strange about that craft indeed, and it was slowly dawning on him that it might have something to do with Parrot Landing...

N.S.S Crestrider

"As you wish, Captain." Admiral Davidson closed his Commlink with Svensgaard. After observing the shattered glass dome of Parrot Landing, he was now informed a seemingly alien craft could be responsible for the damage done. Orders had come through from the top-Svensgaard of course, as Captain Svensgaard was the only officer higher in command-to intercept a craft moving at speed towards them. His fleet of Gunships-three in total, and one third of the Pirates' total fleet power-would either capture or destory that ship. Preliminary reports showed it was a transport-class foil, moving at roughly 35 knots in a course that would put them travelling at 90 degrees, a contact from the side would take place in roughly three days if the wind held up and the waves stayed calm.

Safe Haven

A new sea colony pod skimmed out of the now-filled dry dock. 10,000 Nautilus citizens were aboard, starting a new city. They would travel 28 nautical miles starboard and aft at a course of 47 degrees from the central compass at Safe haven, located in the very centre of the base, and floated in a pond of about 5 square metres. This colony was destined to set up near a large kelp bed located with a unity pod, and was close to abundant nurtrient and energy resources. And to prevent what happened at parrot Landing, this colony pod wasn't going without an escort.

**Sealurk** · July 15, 2001, 02:09

Safe Haven

Dr Lukas was overjoyed. The transport, N.S.S Davy Jones , had been exploring Fossil Field Ridge and opened a Unity pod, which gave them data on Applied Physics, thereby allowing the construction of Laser weapons. Svensgaard would be pleased. He was already downloading the files into the central database when Ensign Jones, the highest ranking talent, entered the lab.
"Have you told Svensgaard yet?"
"No, I was hoping you could do that. It just might get you an extra promotion" said Lukas. Jones knew that Svensgaard's erratic personality coupled with the good news he would tell him may get him a reward, as well as the crew of the Davy Jones . The Pirates desperately wanted some better military technology, and this was a good start.

N.S.S Crows Nest

Svensgaard was feeling mixed emotions inside. he was pleased with the discovery of Applied Physics, which allowed for improved military designs and ultimately more control over the sea. However, he was concerned with the fate of Parrot Landing. He himself was observing the charred pressure dome, the shattered framework of the city and the the ruins of the outer wall. Not even the barrier which protected one third of all Pirate bases could stop the invaders. It was designed to stop rogue waves from washing over, and it still left the majority of the base and dwelling unportected, but it was better than nothing.
Captain Svensgaard wa relying on another ship, the Crestrider to gather some information. Once he knew who, or what had done this, he would crush them. Being a Pirate had it's advantages, especially when pillaging.

Crestrider

Two nautical miles away from the waypoint, Admiral Davidson was anxious about what they would see. A storm was brewing, and visibility suffered in the conditions; in clear weather he would have been able to see his target by now. For some reson radar wasn't working like it should, and sonar was totally useless. Every ten seconds the radar screen would change into some random pattern, with undiscernable figures showing up on the screen. This was bad. Scott didn't usually get anxious like this: he was reknowned for his calm nature, but this totally unknown factor troubled him. He usually embraced the unknown, but these malfunctions, coupled with the tragedy witnessed at Parrot Landing changed this. At least he only had to wait a few hours before this whole ordeal would be over.

Provision Point

The Pirates' new colony was protected by the N.S.S Jolly Roger until a scout patrol could be assembled to protect the base. An aquafarming pod had set up some kelp in close proximity to the base, and the colony was located in the centre of the Geothermal Shallows, a location rich with energy. Under a clear blue sky, the citizens felt secure in their new home. They were determined to make this colony successful after the tragedy of Parrot Landing. Soon a direct line to Safe Haven would be opened, which would allow more settlers to come. At this moment, everyone in the base was pleased with the wealth of the sea, and was even happier with their decision to live in the sea.

**aktarian** · July 15, 2001, 14:38

Jack Harper banged his head on the roof of rover and swore loudly. The fact that nobody heard him had nothing to do with loudness of his voice but with loudness of rover's engine.

»When we stop I'm going to kick Juliet's butt.« he thought.

It apeared that Juliet had a knack for finding every hole on the Planet and driving into it with all speed. He raised himself so he could look outside. He saw another rover some 50 meters to the right. He didn't look back but knew that 2 other rovers were some 200 meters behind watching their progress. He looked forward and saw some rocks.

»Driver. Stop at those rocks.«

»Yes sir.«

About minute later they stopped. Now he turned back and saw other two rovers moving forward. He keyed his radio and ordered them to stop at his position. After several minutes they did. 2 soldairs stood guard at rovers while other 10 consulted what to do next. It's been 30 days since they left Sparta Command and headed east to check out those mountains. 20 rovers, divided into 5 teams, each with 4 rovers. In the distance they could see 2 other teams, one north and other south-west. 2 other teams were behind them. They were almost at the base of the mountains. Jack estimated it will take them another day or two to raech them.

»Anybody saw anything interesting?« he asked. Everybody shook their heads.

»Other platoons also report nothing interesting. So this is what we shall do. Tomorrow we gather all rovers together and we advance slowly. Second and fifth platoons will have to increase their speed to catch up. We will move up the mountains tobether, covering each other backs. We still have couple of hours of daylight left. Everybody look out for suitable place to spend the night. Let's go.«

He climbed back to his rover. They weren't much different than tanks he commanded on Earth. Some 10 meters long, 4 meters wide, a bit lower than 3 meters. Unfortunatly they weren't armoured. They bolted some steel plates on them but he knew thay wouldn't provide much protection against enemy fire. They could stop several shredder bullets but not many. He straped into his seat. He kept his mask on because he kept looking outside.

»Driver, move out and try not to kill us while you are doing it.«

»Yes sir. I'll try not to.«

After 3 hours of traveling they came across a dry river bed and they decide to spend the night there.

»Sparta Command this is Alpha company, do you read? Over.« Nothing.

»Sparta Command this is Alpha company, do you read? Over.«

»Alpha company this is Sparta Command. We read you. Report. Over«

»Nothing new to report. We travelled 40 kilometers today. We should be at the mountains tomorow evening. Over«

»Good. I'll tell colonel. Report when you reach mountains. Over.«

»O.K. Over and out.«

They reported every evening after stopping for the night. Jack called other platoons and told them to gather their rovers. After that he checked if his rover was in order. When he saw it was he climbed into it and went to sleep.

Next day in the afternoon all 5 platoons gathered. Just as night was falling terrain started to raise. They have reached the mountains.

**Kassiopeia** · July 15, 2001, 17:52

One week after the murder of Father Andreas.

THE CHRISTIAN INFORMATION NEWSLETTER JUNE 12TH 2101

After several days of debate, the Believing Council has finally accepted Sister Miriam as the political and military leader of the Believers.
"I will take the Christian religion to the new age of man", Sister announced in her inauguration speech at the Cathedral of Blessed Descent, "And face with honor and Christian values the dangers that wait us beyond these walls: the horrible natives, and the heretic rival factions."
After electing our dear Sister, the Council also passed a declaration forming the new Believing Constitution Law, to oppose the U.N. Charter that had previously controlled our people. Miriam and the Council both found this Charter as an arcaic memory of the probably destroyed Earth.

***

Doctor Hollstrom calmed his patient.
"It will only take a few minutes. Then you will be free of your burden." He smiled.
The woman laying on the operating table tapped her stomache, or more exactly the stop above her womb, and said quietly like a mouse: "Yes, I'm sure of it, doctor Hollstrom."
"Just call me Stephen", the doctor prompted. "May I ask... what was, well, his name?"
The woman started crying. Hollstrom tapped her shoulder and said: "Oh, don't cry, Elaine. Don't cry. Oh my God... we're you..."
The woman steadied herself and then nodded. "Three weeks ago. And the test week is in two weeks."
The test week, when all women of the Believing community, now ranging one point seven thousand people, nine hundred of them under the age of two, were tested for pregnancy. The test's also revealed the traces of this operation for about ten to twelve days, so they were in quite a hurry.
"Okay, shall we get started then?" the doctor said forcing himself a smile. He grabbed the radiator-resonator that was used to make the mother's womb reject the fetus and then dissolve it so that it would leave the system -
The operating theatre's door was forced in. Three men armed with shock rifles jumped in and targeted the doctor. They armed the weapons for stun mode.
Behind the three soldiers of the Heretic Actions Survey and Control Police appeared a captain of the squad. The squads were at least ten men -or women- in size, so the rest would be guarding all the exits and watching over their possible mean of transportation -
The Control Police captain readied his sidearm.
"There's no need for a bloodshed here", Hollstrom said trying to avoid panic. Rumors told of doctors that had been shocked to death when trying to -
"Hopefully not. Some suspects have been known to attempt an attack on an officer of the Control Police. Are you Stephen Jonah Hollstrom, age 42, former meditechician, presently a private M.D. of general pracitse?"
"You read the signpost on the clinic door, I presume?" Hollstrom winced.
One of the soldiers seemed like ready to assault the doctor with the back of his rifle, but the captain held him without a word.
"Now, presumably doctor Hollstrom, we can scan your arm for an I.D., or you can just admit your identity for the record and hence avoid further problems."
Hollstrom sighed and said: "I am doctor Stephen J. Hollstrom, ID number -"
"That is enough", the captain interrupted him. "I am here to apprehend you and your patient for assisting and being involved in criminal intensions in the crime defined in the section 4.5 D of the Believing Constitutional Law. How do you plead?"
"I plead that the whole partition of the Consitution, 4.5, is an outrageous violation of -"
The captain made a swift gesture, and the first soldier hit him in the jaw with the back of his rifle. Another soldier joined him in the beating, while the third soldier took the patient's clothes and tossed them to her.
The captain smiled. "Get dressed."
"I am Elaine -"
"Your name is not relevant. You know the punishment of attempted murder."
"Captain, sir, I was -"
"No excuses. Attempted murder of section 4.5 parametres is punishable by execution, after giving birth of course."

The soldiers dragged away the beaten and bleeding doctor. Captain picked up the resonator and threw it in the floor. Then he grabbed the patient, half-dressed, and walked her to the squad car.
After that, no other transmissions were received from the bug planted in all resonators that had been salvaged from the Unity. Unfortunately some doctors fashioned their own devices, but the Control Police had their ways.

**aktarian** · July 16, 2001, 00:56

»Driver stop. Anybody knows what the hell is that?« »That« was large metal tube, partly burried in the ground.

»It could be one of Unity pods« sugested Juliet.

»Probably. I'll check it out. Mike, keep watch. I don't know what hides in there and I don't like surprises«

»Yes sir. I'll watch your back.«

Jack climbed out of his rover and slowly aproached tube. It was some 3 meters long and half a meter in diameter. It was partly burried and some of ground around it was burned.

»Probably retrobsters« he thought. After brief inspection he found door. He pulled out his shredder pistol and shot severel times into it. He kicke them away and looked inside. He found some computer disks protected by some sort of plasctic wraping.

»Well, well, well. What have we here?« On each disk was written code saying what was on them but he couldn't decipher them. He contacted Sparta Command.

»Captain, read those codes to me.«

»ADR 295048176. Any ideas what this is?«

»Don't know. We'll have to check with central computer. Send those disks to SC ASAP, captain. Understood?«

»Yes. I'll send two rovers right away.«

Jerek was still trying to decipher some data from computer when he sensed somebody standing behind him.

»Sir?«

»Yes, lieutenant. What is it?«

»Sir, Alpha company recovered some disks from one of Unity pods. Can you find out what is on them?«

»Depends. What's the code?«

After checking those codes against list of disks launched from Unity he whistled softly.

»My, my. Isn't this just great?«
He keyed his qiucklink to Santiagos' frequency.

»Colonel, it apears we recovered disk containing data on Applied Physics. We can build lasers. This will greatly improve our fighting capability.«

»Excelent. I'll tell other. We'll see how soon Shen can start producing laser guns for our rovers.«

Path in front of Sparta was beginning to apear smoother.

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