Letters from the Front: An Oral History of the X Universe

[thiosk]

The following documents were recently received by the Gunne University Commonwealth History Department in a large collection of disordered documents, transmissions, and materiel pertaining to the so-called Terran Conflict. They will be transcribed in full as they are decoded, placed in their correct chronological order, and translated as necessary from Argonian dialects. As per the requirements of the Strand Scientific v. Argon Federation Supreme Court decision of 2971, certain segments must be redacted to protect Strand Scientific from civil litigation with respect to alleged criminal activity and piracy preceding 2965.

Transcription begins:

Letter 1

---Transmission Start---

My Dearest Martha,

It has been a long time since I had an opportunity of writing to you, and I gladly avail myself of the present opportunity. I am not certain that I will have a chance of sending this but I will write a few lines any how and try and get it off to let you know that I am among the living.

As you know I was stationed on a small TS class transport for TerraCorp; well, we were running guns between Omicron Lyrae and TerraCorp HQ when we came under attack by pirates! Their weapon fire ripped through the shields and hull of the ship, killing many of the crew outright and crippling our engines. The vessel was boarded, I was shackled, and taken back to a pirate “base” as a slave! As I lay in the hold of this pitiful craft, awaiting my fate, I thought often of my dear Martha, indeed, memories were all that sustained me through these dark times.

I was quite sick three or four tazuras but recovered. I know not for how long I was in that smelly hold—wozuras, but certainly less than a mazura—subsisting upon befouled protein gruel that even a Terran would turn down in disgust. Suddenly the cell light came ablaze, blinding me, and a shadowy figure appeared in the door. Four pirates dragged me from my cell towards the airlock, disoriented and unable to see or hear after being trapped in that cell for so long, then threw me inside like a sack of Agnu potatoes! I was sure that this was the end of my life, as the door behind me sealed shut, but when the airlock burst open, I found myself inside a ship! A man, he looked Argonian but it is hard to be certain, exchanged a few nods with a Boron, then vanished. My shackles were removed, and I was taken to quarters. This shadowy figure, my mysterious benefactor, most surely saved my life.

I must close for fear I do not get to send my letter off. Write often, I will write every chance, try not to be uneasy when you do not get letters, for as we are jumping so frequently as we have been it is impossible to write, or to send them off if I did write. Give my love to the old Lady and all the friends. How my heart yearns for thou that are so near and dear to me. Goodbye my sweet, for the present.

I will write again soon, of this I assure you.

Julian

---End Transmission---

[zackinger]

Nice to see something different , keep it up

[delray]

Very Gladiator-like. Will be fun if you can keep it up and maybe add some screenies.

[thiosk]

Letter 2

---Begin Transmission---

My Dearest Martha,

Today I write to you from the far off sector of Black Hole Sun. It turns out that the ship upon which I reside is a vessel owned by a fledgling company called “Strand Scientific.” I haven’t heard of it, but this is not a transport class ship I am aboard, this is an M6 class corvette, apparently a modified Centaur. There is a highly diverse crew, Paranid, Argon, Teladi, and our commander, this Boron, told me that I was purchased from the pirate station as a soldier with hacking skills was sorely needed—apparently the pirates had downloaded my dossier from the TerraCorp ship and kept me alive, and for sale, as a skilled slave.

My benefactor’s craft docked with a truly immense station, rivaling that of TerraCorp HQ itself. The Commander, as he likes to be called, took myself and three other recruits aboard the station. Not even five mizuras after we had our feet on the concourse, the centaur sealed the doors and disembarked. The Commander exchanged words with a quite rugged looking military commander and provided a briefcase—full of either credits or even Nvidium, I presume—and we four recruits were taken to different regions of the station.

I am currently being trained in the discipline of mechanics, and my “teacher” pushes me with a vigor that borders cruelty. My most recent training exercise involved cutting through a derelict’s hull while my he fired upon the ship from a nova, hot plasma licking only meters from where I toiled. I’ve learned many a thing about how to force myself upon a spacecraft, which makes me wonder about the true nature of my “employment” for Strand, and what service my benefactor seeks to extract in return for saving my life. I get lonesome sometimes and I know not what to do, if I ever get out of this Service alive I am going to settle down somewhere terrestrial, and I truly hope that you will wait for me.

Should you write, direct to the Argon military outpost in Black Hole Sun. Given the rate of my training, I should be here for another wozura.

Yours with love,

Julian

---End Transmission---

[thiosk]

---Begin Julian’s Log Entry---

Julian’s Diary: Entry number 14:

My benefactor returned to the station not long after my final training exercise was completed. We were rushed aboard the centaur and were taken directly to the briefing room. We strapped in for a long distance jump, and no sooner than I fastened my belt did I feel the jarring impulse of the jumpdrive engaging. I can usually tell how far I’m jumping from the weight of the knot left in my gut—I knew this was the longest jump I’ve ever taken, I felt like my insides were being torn to shreds, and an acid taste in the back of my mouth. The briefing began only seconds after the jump ended. On the screen came the image, Argon Mammoth class TL called the Redacted by Order of the Supreme Court! I know this ship, I’ve been on this ship, I took a two mazura cruise in my 17th jazura and it was there I met Martha. She won’t wait for a pirate. She hates pirates, after what they did. And here I am, kidnapped by pirates, rescued from pirates, about to become a pirate. The Commander instructed us that we were to seize this vessel, here, where are we, home of light? The Wall? Of all bold acts of piracy, I couldn’t imagine a more stunning one. Another recruit, a Split, looks excited, but I'm scared. I don't even know these other recruits… never saw them once at the training base, and then never saw them for those wozuras aboard the station. I’ve never even shot at anyone outside a training simulator! When it comes to fighting all I have is my meager TerraCorp combat training. What am I thinking? This is a CIVILIAN ship! My benefactor is clearly mad, i've seen the Argon fleet, we'll be sucking void in no time.
The Commander says the ships clean, doing some prooving runs before picking up passengers, so there should only a skeleton crew. The Split looks visibly disappointed. I do not much care for the Split, a barbaric race; though soon I will lose my entitlement to judge.

My job is to cut through the thick TL class bulkheads and gain entry to a causeway between the bridge and afterdeck. We are in two teams, the commander will take two marines and fight their way to the engine hold, while we blow the doors to the bridge and gain access to the computer core. I’m paired with a Paranid engineer, seems as though he’s seen combat before… so many scars… Easy; hack the comp, engage the transporter lock. Hold position. Establish communication with the Centaur. The commander and his team are responsible for getting us out of there before Argon One itself jumps over and vaporizes us. Once we establish transporter lock, the Centaur will beams a jumpdrive from a nearby Elite (disguised as Argon Police and carrying a counterfeit police license) directly into the engine room. The Commander will connect the jumpdrive to the TL power conduit, and provided the ship doesn’t go critical immediately, we’ll jam in some E-cells and juice it out of there.

I survive this, I’m writing it up as a screenplay for some big dumb Terran audience. I would pray to God, but I don’t think even He can save me from either the wrath of the Commander, or the wrath of the Argon Fleet.

Go time is one point five stazuras. I better bunk.

---End Julian’s Log Entry---

[The Zig]

Nice start, and a unique style.
The main character has a slightly olde-worlde way of phrasing things, but that's quite endearing. I like the set-up and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.


ps. great avatar image! A fellow SC2 fan?!

[thiosk]

Newspaper Excerpt from Argon Times #1

Description:

*** *** Commonwealth History Department Document
***
*** Front pages of Argon Times Newspaper Print Edition
*** Most data is garbled but the first two pages were
*** Successfully extracted from source material.
*** Data consist of single Terran Standard document
*** *.PDF File Extension.
*** Please contact via Private Message if
*** Document becomes unavailable for any reason.
***
***
***
/
//End Description

This link targets page to download PDF.
http://www.speedyshare.com/967374559.html


Now with image file version

[ external image ][ external image ]