"An untimely departure"

[Admiral-Dyroi]

The Hour was late...the fith, no sixth day ah hell who am I kidding? No one could remember their own names after that scramble patrol...

We've been up on short rotation for five or six days now 8 hours on two hours off, the crew is fatigued to say the least when finally we recieve orders to return to Argon Prime, the Admiral orders 20 of our best fighters to stay on patrol while we jump back and resupply.

My shift is up, i've got to go...taking my place as Nav OPS Officer I relieve the currently posted and take my seat, the Admiral orders me to keep my hand over the jump drive toggle and to keep it spooled incase the CAG(Commander air group) reports any contact.

We jump into argon prime...all systems green, Jump drive spooled and ready.
As we begin a turn 40 degree's by 60 degree's a sudden jolt rocks the Carrier and I am knocked into the jump drive toggle, a blank stare between myself and the admiral, seemingly hour though only a second and we vanish from argon space...
No pre set coordinates, our scans are picking up no signs of civilization, our star charts?...
nothing not one single identifiable pattern, we are lost and without knowing where we are we cannot jump back to where we want to be.

I only hope Argon has activated an auxilary Carrier to retrieve our fighters from their patrol.

"No one can help us, we must do this our selves" the admiral tells us,further ordering skeleton crew and offering all others 12 hours in the rack before we begin our operations to return home.

With only a 20 fighter compliment remaining and 10 on defensive patrols around our ship whilst we sleep, everyone feels alone,secluded, cut off from each other...I can only hope these feelings will pass once they are well rested,I however have a long shift ahead of me...


----DAY TWO----
6 months...Six months of rations may sound like alot but in space time begins to fuse, hours become days and days become weeks.

Still no progress on locating our position, and not a single contact from our scans, we have become more bold sending out five man fighter wings to scout the surrounding area.
All the data points too an undiscovered sector, fortunetly there is a solar system near-by and when the scouts return we will know a little more about our surroundings...
Until then its pages and pages of calculations and data to examine, 2 hours left on my shift though I dont think I will leave just because a clock tells me to do so.

-----DAY FIVE-----
The Days are begining to blur together, it's my fourhts...or fifth turn on the charts I cannont remember. It's starting to feel alot like our patrol again, long hours of work and seemingly never enough sleep.

Still no tangible news from the fighters preforming recon...oh well maybe tomorrow will be better.

----Day SIX----

|\To be Continued/|

Apologies for typo's I only have time to write late at night, the mind is not as sharp then

[Admiral-Dyroi]

Day 1825....The logs seemed pointless after the first week but after the admirals passing there was wide spread moral issues, eventually leading to the theft and dissertion of 5 of our 30 fighters, of our 25 remaining only 10 are serviceable.
We do not have the spare parts or the material to fashion replacements.

We are lost, We are one, Together we will find the way...The unifying slogan of our puplicly elected Admiral, Admiral Tyverk a young admiral of only 43. though as veteran as the old timers back home...home, can we even call it that anymore? Argon seems so long ago, I wonder how it remebers us, does it at all? have their been wars? natural disasters? the imagination carries me away from this metallic prison.

We managed to find several small moons that supported "food" if you can call it that. we were sick for months but our bodies finally adjusted and the better news is it grew fast and could be cultivated within our ships, it produces water as it grows from our engine exhaust. the crew have labled it Miracle Soup.

I know this is alot for who ever finds this to read but you must understand I have alot to catch you up on, it has been 5 years since my last entry.

Our Admiral has authorized a breeding lottery, to maintain our population now that we are self sustaining. every 9 months all our names are placed in a lottery and 5 males and 5 females are selected.
It is very inpersonal but all volunteer.

Our day to days lives are still very much military driven. Two hours before our shift our squad meets in the gym to maintain our physical readiness, after an air shower and meal we report for an 8 hour shift. with a 10 minute break for lunch. one day a week we take leave from duty and enjoy recreations( card games, movies ect.)
Other than that our missions are high risk and there is a sense of desperation, last week a pilot was treated for radiation burns when he attempted to fly through an unknown cloud in our flight path. He survived but has lost his hair from the burns.

Day 1826


Life!! we have found the reminents of life!! 0724ST(Ship time) Admiral Tyverk announces...

All hands, just minutes ago our scouts have discovered a frieghter severely damaged with no power floating within the gravitation of an astroid. Stand by for further information.

As it turns out the frieghter was Terran, Ancient terran actually, so old infact it had an AI computer installed in it, we estimated it had been floating through space for thousands of years.

It was so old no one initially knew how to use it but once we did we were saved.

Main menu-Records-Flight log-Favorites-Search locations
An old SPS(Space positioning system) pinged by satailites.

Flight Logs- Data corruption the only thing we could confirm was it was attacked.
Records- passanger manifest, cargo weight...nothing worthwhile.

Favorites- Useless without the satalites to ping but wait...last entry "Moon base E32" under it a grid digit, ESS 1450 2810 3200 4534 (Earth Solar System)...Could this be? an actual location for the earths solar system? but what if its a solid object now? If we jump we could risk the lives of our crew and of who ever we jump onto.


A Week later

After examining the star chart and adjusting for interstellar shift for the time elapsed we have a positive location for our jump drive and a heading, our only problem now is morale and the sobering truth...We are 27 years away from the furthest point that we can jump from, now our efforts go to attempting to improve our jump drive distance.

Until that happens we are going through the motions for 27 years...it hits our older members hard knowing they may not live to see the triumphant return.

Admiral Tyverk holds a ceremony renaming our Carrier to Nostos(Greek-Homcoming)

There is a light at the end of this tunnel and we will reach it...eventually.

More to Follow.

[Gosnell]

Interesting read.Is this going to develope into a DID or pure fiction?

[Gosnell]

Wait a second I just realised there was actually 5 years between the posts,are we to expect the next in 27 years .

[Admiral-Dyroi]

My plan is to make it

Spoiler

Show

into a DiD when Rebirth is released then there will be lore mixed in with it for an actual story and maybe if i have the time a machinima.

Obviously i have revealed alot of the plot but the spoiler is there if you want to just see what happens.

Yes there literally was 5 years between and the game aside from the mandatory major patch updates that forced me to reform the game actually has 5 years ish of play time. It has transitioned between 3 computers and survived two Deployments to afghanistan.

It will be written in real time however SAEDA will be used in the plot at times.

It will be formated with some actual writing skills as the story takes shape, just consider this a brief back history on a future story.

[EmperorJon]

Hahah... I noticed that too. 5 years since my last log... 5 years since the last update.

[Admiral-Dyroi]

Wait a second I just realised there was actually 5 years between the posts,are we to expect the next in 27 years .

With the products EGOSOFT puts out i would not be surprised if im still here 27 years later still updating the story lol.

[Admiral-Dyroi]

SETA ENABLED!

Admiral Tyverk fell ill and passed at only 48, space is so hard on the body.

New Admiral takes command of the Argonian Carrier Nostos.

Admiral Marcus Hadrian Commanding the carrier sets the final navigation course for our FTL drive.

The ships massive supports begin to creep and groan as the drive spins to full capacity, the navigation officer calls the count over the intercom...90, 95, jumping in 3, 2 , our stomach's turn and everyone feels like throwing up. It had been years since we experienced a jump.

Systems online, Shields and thrusters at 100%.

Scanning...
Scanning...
Scan, You are being hailed.
A moment of disbelief hits the entire crew, even the Admiral is stunned in silence.
You are being hailed, Incoming message.

Unidentified Vessel, you are violating Terran space, identify yourself or prepare to be fired apon.

This was not exactly what the Admiral had hoped for with the first contact but he opened the communications channel and replied.

Admiral Marcus Hadrian of the Argon Carrier Nostos, who do I have the privilege of speaking with?

The communications stop, ship warning systems begin to light up and alarms sound!
Incoming missile
Incoming missile
Alert we are being attacked.
Military training and professionalism returns in the moment and everyone reports to their station, the Admiral yells to the Nav officer; Are our maps populated yet?!? The nav officer is so busy already plotting the course he only nods, the admiral gives the order; Get us out of here now!

Jumping in 3..2.. Jumping.
Ship systems online, entering system Argon Prime.

We are being hailed.
Incoming message; Argon Vessel, this is Captain Kani of the Cerberus, identify yourself immediately.

Captain Kani, this is Admiral Marcus Hadrian of the Carrier, Nostos.
We have been lost at space for years, we jumped into Terran space and were attacked, whats going on?

Stand by Nostos, confirming records.
Report to the Shipyard immediately for debriefing.

We dock in the yard next to a destroyer that looks like it's being held together with string and luck, that's when it hits us, all is not well in our nation. No hero's welcome, not even a pat on the back.

TBC

[Admiral-Dyroi]

Actual In game reveal- I've taken this back story and decided to run it as a semi DiD as I am playing AP a lot with the release of AP3.0

Current state of my actual Game.

Credits: 627,480,794
Assets/Stations: 2.8billion
22 TL/TP
4 Corvettes(centaur H)
1 Frigate /w 10 Eclipse.(Cerberus)
1 Carrier(Colossus) /w 59 fighters(10 eclipse, 20 Nova Raiders, 20 Nova VG, 10 Nova Sentinels)
2 Battle ships (Titans) Equipped (1) Guass cannons,PC's (2)PC's, Ion Cannons)
1 Personal TP the Phantom for mission travels and marine relocation.

This game is VANILLA with over 65days playing time. The only thing I have installed is the bonus pack, unscripted game.

I am considering the partial DiD because last night I just got my carrier and an entire compliment of fighters, well aside from the one that decided to ram the carrier on it's maiden flight. I guess flight school has gotten easier to pass.

The idea is since I started this story back with X3R that I have concluded it with the attack in terran space to start the AP storyline that I am playing now.

Intro: After we docked at the Shipyard the admiral was escorted off this ship by armed guards and we were given 24 hour furlough(leave).

Scene from POV Admiral Marcus Hadrian.

As I walk down the well lit hall with my newly made friends(the armed guards) we are met by a well dressed female who introduces herself as Commander Shepard, she escorts me into a room that looks a lot like a CiC.
An old balding man in a Federation uniform stands up from behind his desk which is Fleet Commander Ryker, Vice Admiral Ryker is in charge of the entire Terran Offensive she explained overlooking the entire room as CMD Shepard introduces him.
Fleet Commander Ryker says nothing and sits back down in his chair, calmly watching the action below.

Admiral Hadrian "Pardon me Commander Shepard, but why am I here?"

Commander Shepard: "You wanted to know why you were attacked by the Terrans and what was going on right?"

Admiral Hadrian: "Yes but this doesn't explain why"

Commander Shepard: "A few years ago the Terran super station was blown up by radicals claiming to bring balance to the universe, even though we did not condone the attack the Terrans are out for revenge and began oppressing the closer sectors. Naturally the Argon Federation will not stand for this, so we are at war."

Admiral Hadrian: "So all of this is over a terrorist that we have no affliation with aside from them being Argon?"

Commander Shepard: "Pretty much, yes. Now is where you come in, we are repairing your ship and giving you a full compliment of our best Nova and Eclipse fighters. That Battle Ship out there that is torn to shreds is also under repairs and will be assigned to you. I'll put it bluntly Admiral, we are losing and we need survivors like you and your crew to defend the helpless and guard our supply lines in and out of combat."

Admiral Hadrian: " it sounds like I don't have a choice"

Commander Shepard: "you sure don't, your ships will be ready in 3 days, get some rest Admiral the fun has just begun."

Admiral Hadrian returns to the carrier to inform his crew.

Nostoss Intercom: This is your Admiral speaking, We have just been ordered to the front line defense. There will be several new crew members and pilots so make them feel at home, I am ordering you all mandatory 3 days leave...Anyone who does not return will not be looked at poorly by me or any of your crew mates, I know I am asking a lot of you, but there are helpless civilians out there being slaughtered in the name of revenge for something they had no part in. I in good conscious can not abandon my post in their hour of need. Admiral Marcus Hadrian out.

[Admiral-Dyroi]

SETA Enabled:

Admiral Hadrian is resting in his cabin aboard his Carrier when a call comes in, the comm station on his desk lights up.

The Admiral open the call:"Admiral Hadrian"

"Getting plenty of rest I hope" a familiar voice says.

Hadrian: I am, as much as can be expected, how are you Commander Shepard?

Shepard: "Well thank you, I'm sorry to tell you but with the new fleet your ship is being renamed to the Argon II. I hope you realize what a great honor that is given the history of Argon One, we expect great things from you."

Hadrian: I understand, Do you have my orders yet?

Shepard: I do, I will patch them through now, you have 12 hours, good luck.

The Orders appear in the Admiral secure data link(email).

Admiralty Orders: Argon II
Admiral Marcus Hadrian, you are hereby ordered to the sector: Treasure Chest.
You will have under your command; 2 Titans, 1 Colossus, 4 Heavy Centaurs, a Cerberus Class Frigate and 70 Nova variant fighters.

You will be required to mop up the sector and secure vital trade lanes for the "Common Wealth" races.
Once you have secured the sector your force will be reduced to 1 Colossus, 2 Centaurs, 1 Cerberus and 70 Nova Variants, The Titans will join the main battle under the command of newly promoted Admiral Kani.

Orders issued 25052013:1739
Orders to be carried out NLT: 26052013: 1739

The eye's of the Federation are apon you Admiral, make us proud.

[Admiral-Dyroi]

Date: 29052013: 0240L


Admiralty Logs: We had some issues with the titan's thrusters so we are delayed past missions execution date, I am sure I will catch hell for that. I wont leave port with a broken arm however, and the titan is just that, the strong arm of the fleet. without it we are fodder against the larger ships.

End Log

0242L

The crew of the Argon II are going about the daily grind when the intercom chimes on; Crew, this is your Admiral speaking, We are ready to depart for Treasure Chest, please secure all bulkheads and return to your posts.
The escort corvette's will jump first and give us the green light so you have about 10 minutes.


The CiC bursts into action, calls being made, uplinks established and engine systems spooling up.

The Weapons Officer loads firing commands into the computer just incase we jump into a cluster frak.

The Admiral makes his way to the fighters briefing room.

As the Admiral enters the command is given to stand and present arms.

Admiral Hadrian: "At ease, I want you all to understand what is about to happen, we have a lot of fresh pilots here and I need all of you veterans to take them under your wing out there.
This is going to be ugly, the second we jump in I want the Vanguards to debark and set up a defensive shield.
Raiders, your job will be to scout the system if we don't jump into a mess, if we do you job is to join the fight.
Sentinels, you're on repo duty. If they go down you need to launch and take their place, at the end of it you are charged with the defensive position while the Vanguards come in to rearm and repair. Are there any questions?"

Sentinel CAG: "Yes sir, If we don't run into immediate action what is our position?"

Admiral Hadrian: " I doubt that we wont but in that case your position will be to relieve the Vanguards after 5 hours of shield duty. Any other questions or issues?"

The room collectively shakes their head left to right.

Admiral Hadrian: Right, lets be safe out there, War is a simple game on the battlefield men, just shoot them before they shoot you, leave the thinking to guys like me who are no longer able to do the shooting. Good hunting.

As the Admiral leaves the room it erupts in discussion, he makes his way back to the CiC just in time for the Corvettes relay report.

Relay Report: 0258L Sir, A few fighter patrols harassing traders near the gates but no serious threats, the light is green.
End Report.


Admiral Hadrian: All Hands prepare for Jump.

A Brilliant Flash outside the Argon II, "Titan Away" yells the Navigation Officer.
Jumping in 3....2...In an instant they appear at Treasure Chest. Systems Green, sensors picking up 5 M3-4 Class fighters.

Admiral Hadrian: Right, lets make this quick and set up our supply line defenses. Raiders, you're UP, take out those fighters before they realize what kind of a crap storm is in the system now.
Vanguards Execute Shield positions around the Argon II.

Raiders 1-20 Green light, out the shoot. Inbound fighters.


Corvettes, Line up chase on the Raiders and support them with missile defense.


The fighters had no chance, after a brief skirmish all enemy fighters were removed without a single Raider loss.

The titan starts to patrol the system as the Argon II sets up a static position in the center of the Sector as the Raiders continue to sweep the sector the Corvettes set up their position over looking the Gate.


Admiral Hadrian To Argon Command: SITREP; A minor skirmish, 5 enemy Terran fighters down, zero friendly KIA.

CMD Shepard: Understood Admiral, send Kani to Asteroid Belt, your system is deemed safe, we will start sending supply Freighters now, keep them safe Admiral. Out.

The Admiral Gives the Orders to the Titan and is now left with

1 Colossus, 2 Heavy Centaurs 20 Nova Raiders, Sentinels and Vanguards.

Will continue Updates as Event occur.

TBC.

Edit* For those still reading, wondering why im missing a Cerberus and 2 Centaurs, they are still in AP as a QRF, they were not a part of the original ops, just assigned to the fleet as a whole.

[Admiral-Dyroi]

The First Op-The Fighter pilot perspective.

This is a short action story to capture the above engagement with Terran fighters.


The Raiders, all ships carry Two personnel in my Nova Variants.
Each ship is named for the Position and Wing number.
I.E Nova Raider 1 in wing 4 Would be Raider 1-4 Call sign.

This story covers Raiders 4-4's experience as he is a rookie Gunner flying with a Veteran Pilot.

Raider 4-4 is 1LT Malik and veteran pilot CPT Veron

Set-up We just got out of a briefing from the Admiral and are making our way to the flight deck.

1LT Malik: " Cpt Veron, sir, Do you really think we will jump into a mess like the admiral said?"

Cpt Veron: " If the Admiral said we will then trust me, there is a good chance we will. It's a war and they expect us to fight."

1LT Malik is visibly worried and Cpt Veron being the veteran he is notices.

Cpt Veron: Look kid, it's a really simple job I line the targets up and you push the little red button, just like in flight school. They may have better ships but I'm a better pilot and our Raiders will do the job just fine."

1LT Malik: "Right, except in flight school the targets were not firing back at you."

Cpt Veron: "If we do our jobs right neither will they, look do you know what the scariest part of flying is? It's the wait in the launch tube."

1LT Malik: "Why is that?"

Cpt Veron: "you'll see kid, you'll see."

The Admiral announces jump sequence on the intercom. The Vanguards are already loaded in the launch tube, we make our way down to our ships just in time for the final count down.
Jumping in 3...2...Then we are there, the loud roar of the Vanguards heavy Engines erupt through out the flight deck as we scramble to our Raiders.

Cpt Veron comes running past me and with a single gravity defying leap is in the cockpit of our Raider; Raider 4-4. I rush in and close the canopy while strapping myself in, my palms are sweating already as I run through my weapons systems and shield generator checks.

Cpt Veron runs his own checks and calls in, Raider 4-4 Systems Green, Ready for launch prep.

The TFT(Tactical Fighter Taxi) locks onto our front skid and begins to drag us to the launch tube.
Cpt Veron gives the command; Helmets on, HUDs online LT, get me some marks!

I check my straps again before I put my helmet on, " HUD online" I tell him
Systems are green, a virtual targeting reticle appears in my field of vision, just like at flight school I tell myself.

We arrive at the tube, the launcher locks onto us and there is a sudden jolt. The noise of the Carrier fades as the Airlock bleeds atmo and suddenly the only thing you can hear is your own breathing.
Cpt Veron was right, this is scary, not knowing what to expect just sitting in a silent void waiting for a green light to illuminate...My palms and brow sweating my mind starts to imagine the intense fight going on outside.

A voice breaks the Silence, its the Tactical Officer.
Raider 4-4, Orders as follows Break; 5 Fighters on Scan, eliminate with haste, do not let them jump or send distress, how copy over?

Cpt Veron chimes in: Argon Actual, Raider 4-4 Good copy, seek and destroy over.

Argon Actual: Roger Raider 4-4, you have the ball, Actual Out.

The Launch light flickers to green and Cpt Veron punches it before the door is even open I cringe as we approach but the doors open just in time and we form up with Raider 3-4 and 5-4 in a tight V.

My scanners pick up the fighters almost immediately, 5 of them harassing a defenseless freighter near a jump gate.

Cpt Veron: " Alright kid, I did the hard part, now it's your turn. Lets get some marks"

A mark is an acid etched slash we place on the side of our Raider for every kill we make. Cpt Veron has 21 marks on his Raider, his friend and previous gunner was killed from a mass driver round that pierced the **** pit, he doesn't talk much about it.


1LT Malik: " Right, you just get me in range and ill personally mark your baby."

As we approach the fighters they are so busy with the freighter they don't even notice us running them down.

Firing solution: Missile away, hit! shields down, move in for the run!

Cpt Veron turn his Raider to the burnt out fighter, I open the HEPTS up on the fighter and he quickly blows up.
Now they know we are here, the automatic turret on one of the fighters begins firing and hits Raider 3-4's right thruster.
I watch as it nearly swings into our ship but Cpt Veron pulled up just in time to avoid the collision.

Firing Solution; Missile Away! shot down, damn. Firing HEPTs, the shields shred and I manage to hit the rear turret. Missile away, Slash one.

two down, Raider 5-4 takes out one...2 left.

Cpt Veron swoops in on the two making a run for the gate.

Firing Solution: Missile away, Hit Slash one. Firing Solution Hit, Shields down. Raider 5-4 swoops in and fires his HEPTS, Slash one.

All fighters removed.

Cpt Veron: Argon Actual, All fighters have been eliminated, awaiting new orders over.

Argon Actual: Roger, Wait one...Raider 4-4 Continue originally briefed mission. Recon, how copy over?

Cpt Veron: Recon, good copy. Actual, 1LT Malik owes me 3 marks.

Argon Actual: Copy that Raider 4-4, we will have the acid waiting, nice shooting rookie. Argon Actual Out.


My first fight, and Cpt Veron was right, being in that launch tube after the atmo was vented was terrifying, the fear of the unknown.
I hope that was the last engagement of the day though, i'd like to survive my first tour of duty.

End

[Admiral-Dyroi]

31052013: 0733L


Admiralty Personal Log: All is calm since our initial engagement. The Argon and Teladi and sent a mobile mining team to pull resources from the sector.

I have been tasked with their safety.

The crew is meshing well, very few incidences and no casualties yet. It's a little too quiet here.
No word on Kani and the Titan fleet, I hope they are having it as good as we are.

The pilots are working well together and I make sure they log plenty of patrol hours and I have designated a low yield Asteroid as a gun range for our rookies.
I've sent in paper work on 1LT Malik for a battle field promotion to 2nd LT, hopefully they accept it, he certainly earned his wings if nothing else.

CPT Veron is up for promotion in another week, hopefully I can pull him out of the cockpit and into a class room as my fleet instructor pilot.

-End Log-