Merlin Industries II - The Dreams of Euphamés (DiD collaborative storytelling effort)

[Targ Collective]

Enjoy him while you have him Duzzit. When outfitting the Wrath of Merlin is complete I will assume command and Trigger shall transfer over with me.

Oh, new update upcoming later tonight.

[Targ Collective]

Chapter 20 - An Even Bigger Gun, Test Run, Show of Strength in Asteroid Belt, Terran Space It Is Then!

Gaining an M2 was our next priority Crew as I am sure you are all aware. I am proud to present to the Fleet the M2 "Wrath of Merlin"!

An initial combat run into Xenon Sector 101 lost us one 2GJ shield, 45% hull and a good deal of my pride. Repairs, a replacement shield courtesy of Big Bang and some more on-the-ball tactics later and the entire sector was cleared of evil Xenon. Several Qs, a K, a J, many fighters and a Shipyard were in-sector. We now own a Fleet L. These stills were taken from the engagements.

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Duzzit will be pleased to know he is now in command of a Colossus again. Take good care of the Merlin Industries M1 "Nest of Hornets". Only 32 Nova Vanguards at present; the remaining 28 will take rather a long time to produce, as will the 60 Eclipses you are destined to berth.

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These stills show the Merlin Industries Command Ship "Wrath of Merlin", the Merlin Industries M7M "Raining Fire" and the Merlin Industries M1 "Nest of Hornets" in a show of strength at Asteroid Belt. We will shortly be contacting the ATF General at the advice of XO Fire and sundry other crewmembers.

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Now we have a carrier and a destroyer in Fleet, our deployment options are opened considerably. Use of the now sold on Queen Bee to deploy fighters in station defence missions proved most effective - all fighters that made it through her Flak destroyed, no losses, the Queen Bee took on responsibility for striking against the heavier targets. Addition of fighter bases to the sectors we operate in is a possibility for the future; for now the Nest of Hornets will prove a fine mobile fighter deployment platform.

A new face, one Trigger, signed up. Only B+ rating so not yet ready for the helm of a ship - XO Fire, you seem to be a sharp cookie. Trigger will be in charge of the kitchen aboard our flagship, the Wrath of Merlin. In his spare time you will be charged, XO, with bringing him up to A ranking minimum, see if you can squeeze A++ ranking out of this potential Fleet asset. Get him studying Carrier control protocols as a priority. I have already taken the precaution of ejecting all the Spacefuel used for cooking from the ship, as I understand Trigger and alcohol do not mix terribly well.

That's all, I believe, for this update. Duzzit, you know the Colossus command protocols quite well; remember, this ship is a Merlin Industries Fleet asset and you will need to request clearance from myself to use her on deep strikes. I understand your concern for your lost crew; I plan a joint strike between all MI heavy ops vessels to eradicate those responsible. However finding these people is up to you and the other Fleet Captains. I have my hands full with logistical matters and acquiring funds.

Assets:

1 Boreas "Merlin Industries Command Ship - Wrath of Merlin"

1 Colossus "Merlin Industries M1 - Nest of Hornets" captained by Duzzit

32 Nova Vanguards - "Merlin Industries M3 - Gold Wing"; all fully upgraded and outfitted

1 Aquilo "Merlin Industries M7M - Raining Fire" captained by Rednoahl

1 Zephyrus "Merlin Industries Military Transport - Aegis", captained by Forrester

1 Pirate Harrier Hauler, ferrying coffee, loaned to Forrester

1 Mistral Freighter "Merlin Industries Rad. Courier - Healthy Glow", captained by Nightmare

1 Mobile Mining Base-Ship, "Merlin Industries Logistic Support - Daedalus", captained by Seleucius

1 Mistral Superfreighter - "Merlin Industries Missile Transporter - Big Bang" captained by Drela Mauriki

1 Express Hauler - "Merlin Industries Luxury Taxi - First Class" captained by Swein Luf

1 stock Mercury with some engine tunings - "Merlin Industries Trade Ship"

1 Discoverer - "Merlin Industries Jumpdrive Courier"

1 Discoverer - "Merlin Industries Shipyard Monitor - CB South East"

1 Discoverer - "Merlin Industries Shipyard Monitor - Argon Prime"

1 Elite - "Merlin Industries Hammer Torpedo Shuttle"

1 Elite - "Merlin Industries Flail Shuttle"

1 Pirate Buzzard

1 Pirate Falcon Vanguard

1 L

1 Kestrel Explorer with Mineral Scanner - "Merlin Industries Survey Ship"

1 Complex - Bounty of Merlin, sometimes repurposed to this - President's End

10,571,611cr

[Trigger1112]

Trigger walked back to his quarters from his first day in the kitchens of 'Wrath of Merlin'. The look on his face made it plain that he did NOT want to talk.

Trigger had not yet met the XO personally and Fire was a common surname around Sol. He rounded a corner and did a double-take.

"OLTERIN FIRE?! Is that you? It's me, Trigger. I was in the year below at the academy."

OOC:You should feel honoured Olterin, there isn't much that'll get more than a grunt from him.

[Duzzit]

I dock inside the carrier, the familliar walls hit me like an unplesant memory. Well not exactly, the memory is positive, but it hurts me seeing this ship

"Home huh" I whisper.

I walk into the corridor, 2 doors down and i find a...storage cupboard? I grumble. Ofcourse its a storage cupboard, I haven't installed the Crew Gaming Arena Yet... I've got to stop thinking about those things till i can reinstall those things again...

I go into the command lift, taking me up to the bridge. The yellow room looks the same, except some of the little things my old crew insisted on bringing in here. Hah, Lt.Nouromi and his plants. A tear forms on the edge of my eye, I wipe it off quickly . My command chair is here, I don't sit down for now though. I walk over to the various panels around the room, calibrating the settings on some of the consoles to provide a greater variety of options, as well as boosting sensor ranges by 5% from the standard model of the ship.

I smile, the ship will soon be in great shape.
I plan to visit the flight squadron and my quarters later...

[LordForrester]

Dear James,

Been a little sad around here of late. I sent most of my old crew off to the new fleet carrier. They need well trained men. A few of the old crew asked to stay with me. This was a welcome blessing as it will help training the new people.

Don't worry about me James. No i did not get the command of the new carrier. I understand that the admiral is putting his best people in command. I might have seniority in this fleet but they have more experience. My time will come but for now I will be watching and learning.

The Aegis is still an important ship for the fleet. I have personally trained a great deal of the enlisted crew in the fleet as they all started here on the Aegis. It is a great responsibility.

Well you take care of yourself and keep working hard at school. I have some paper work to look to so talk to you latter.

Your Bro,
Slamer

[Duzzit]

My quarters, huh just like the pictures I still have.

I sit down at the bed, as the Comm button beeps.

"Come in"

Flight leader Regen and his xo Yolusi-er something I'll try to remember later come in.

We talk, about tactics, fighter controls, optimising argon design ships, and a few other topics. They have to leave early as they need to integrate the crews together still.

I sit down at my Personal Terminal and Write some messages.

//Begin Message//
//Standard Merlin Industries Encryption//
//To Forrester//
//Topic-Hand to Hand Tournanment//

Hey Forrester, In response to you wishing to learn more ways of killing in close quarters, Me and Olterin are planning to do a Small Hand to hand(and Melee weapon) tournanment. 10 Credits to get in, and winner gets it all. I wonder who will win me with the experience in the Elena Conflicts etc, or Olterin with his specialised training etc. Will be fun hehe. Im sorry that I continue to take your best people, As soon as I can find out where some of my crew were taken to by those damn pirates, I will hopefully be able to return some of your people. Also, if you increase the Inertial Dampners on the Aegis, you can gain 3-5M speed boost... Not much i know, but it can be helpful.

-I get a little icon displaying I was being messaged-

Anyway got to go, Good luck in your travels my friend.
-Duzzit

//Message ends//

Opening the message I've recieved.

//-What is the colour of the rainbow?-//

Ooh? Rowan Himself has come to seek me out? Good, he may have something for me. Now how did this damn puzzle go...

//-There isin't one, the planet doesn't have rain on it-//

I reply.

//-Green or Red apples make the best Apple pie-?//

//-Without a doubt, Green-//

//-What is the flight speed velocity of an unladen swallow-//

//-Err... Do you Mean an african or European swallow?-//

Oliver Old buddy how are you? Can't talk long Im afraid, you know how paranoid I am, but listen, It took a lot of work, but I figure I owe you several, so listen. Within Yaki Controlled Space is a very large shipyard, easily rivaling the size of the shipyards at A'Prime. Your Crew has been taken there to be transferred aboard some terran vessels. Don't know what that is about, but if you want to get them, you should get them soon or never.

Thank's I'll get you a beer next time we meet. I reply, half astonished at the data.

Good, I ex-Got to go, that security chief of yours is damn fast, I want to meet him one day, scrubbing conversation on my end, bye.

-Connection terminated-

//Create message//
//High Command, Merlin Industries//
//To Admiral Euphames, CC: Olterin//
//Raid//

I've Just recieved word that my crew is being held on the Main Yaki Shipyards. They are however soon to be transferred to Terran, possibly ATF ships. I hope we can plan some form of a mission before then.

//End Message//


//Start Message//
//Merlin Indistries, Officer Encryption//
//To officers(Swein Luf, Olterin, Admiral Euphames, Nightmare, Trigger)//
//Tournanment//

So, All ready for the Close quarters Torunanment? By that I mean prepare for a quick loss.

//End message//

[The Nightmare]

///Start Message\\\
To:Captain Duzzit
From:Nightmare
Topic:Tournanment

I'll get ready but in the end you will be the one with a quick loss...there are things about me you don't know

///End Message\\\

///Personal Log\\\
Encrypting with Olterin's new security system....completed

Today was a quiet day on my ship.Most of the day i hadn't anything to do so i drank my coffee in a far away place that noone can bother me...exept the Admiral and the new order i'm afraid.Other than that its been pretty boring times...no spies...no action only sleep...and coffee wich is most important ofcourse!Thats for now...Nightmare signing off...

///End Log\\\

[Duzzit]

//Message Start//
//General Officer Encryption//
//To The Nightmare//
//Ha//

Your Confidence is astounding good sir, but I have over 12 years expernience in Close quarters combat, as well as argon special forces training. I very much doubt you can match me, but are certeanly welcome to try. (Don't say I didn't warn you when I wipe the floor with you).

//Message Ends//


OOC:can mods delete the poster above us? that link goes to a very strange website, and i dont feel like clicking it to make my Anti Virus go QQ.

[Olterin]

-record message-
-To: Senior Officers
-encryption protocol: (OlterinFire).(ECC_MI_V.1.0_F.A)
-set access: Senior Officers
-subject: Close-Quarters Tournament

Gentlemen, the tournament will take place in two day's time, aboard the Nest of Hornets. You may use any training you have, but apply non-lethal force only. I know, it's obvious, but still.

-encoding completed, databurst sent-


Olterin is just about to walk out of his quarters when the computer terminal lights up again...


-incoming transmission-
-transmission source unknown-
-attempting to decipher transmission content...-
-deciphering failed-
-deciphering failed-
-deciphering failed-
-stopping deciphering attempts-
-uploading transmission to a secure computer...-
-upload complete-


Olterin sits down behind his local computer to analyze the message...

-access to downloaded file: granted-
-please enter a password-
-password: ********* -
-access granted-
-author of transmission: Dara Ross-
-accessing file contents...-
-access granted-

...

"Chaos Code??? Dara?!? How the -"

A holographic image of a young woman is projected. Though the image is unclear, one can tell that she has grey eyes and snow-white hair

"Hi honey. I got your message. I'm safely out of Sol now and am tracking your current location-static-when you notice an Argon M5 attempting to open communication with your flagship, you-static-hope to see you soon."

the holographic image fades away

"I'll have to work more of this out... I know there's more to the message, but that stupid decryption program garbled a lot of it up - thank you Chaos Code..."

Olterin leaves his quarters, heading for another training session with some of the crew

[LordForrester]

To: Duzzit, Olterin

When I was growing up I and my brothers learned the art of the quarterstaff. It is a medieval English weapon that gained popularity on the planet I am from. Y'all might have noticed my staff on one of your visits to my ship. I always enjoyed the sport. I was the academe quarterstaff champ in my last two years. The sport is safe now with the personal shield. They will not stop a laser blast but they do dampen the blow of the staff.

Y'all might enjoy learning it yourselves. If you like I will see if my brother James can fly in for the tournament and we will give a demonstration.

Duzzit don't you dare send those boys back over here. They worked very hard to earn a place on your ship.

I hope you are enjoying your new command. I would still like that tour when you get a chance.

Olterin I hope everything is going well that that you are getting closer to unraveling whats going on with all these spy's and informants.

I pray that you both find what you are looking for.


Slamer

P.S. I have sent him my 10cr for the tournament.

[Duzzit]

Replying
To Forrester

//Start//

I'll gladly have you come aboard, will be nice to have a quiet evning. QuarterStaff hmm? I prefer wielding two shorter ones if I have been forced into melee (Though I do remember a Hilarious situation, during the Elena Conflict where I had to fight off a Pirate with a large plastic bottle).

Im sure it will be a great learning experience for all.

-Oliver Neski 'Duzzit'

//end//

[LordForrester]

Yes it is more for the sport of it. It makes for a nice show when two people fight that have a clue what they are doing. Great way to keep in good shape. Getting some sports going in the fleet would help moral.

That is not to say that you cannot get a modern QuarterStaff. Back home we have a company that makes them custom order. These are not your every day wooden staff.

My custom staff can vary in length to suet the space available(3 - 6 feet.) Both ends have extendable bayonets. The left side has a scatter barrel blaster that is fantastic for short range. The right side has a camera that can link to the HUD in most helmets. This is nice for looking around corners. They serve very well as ship defense weapons.

These staffs are only made back on my home planet. You might have seen one or two around if you ran into anyone from the academy there. I have had several made and have sent one with this message. I know how you like to play with unique weapons.

Hope you like it.

[Trigger1112]

Then man walked on and into a room.

"Maybe it wasn't him." Trigger thought to himself and entered his quarters.

Therre was a message waiting for him. Something about a fighting Tournament. After some consideration Trigger decided that these Commonwealth types would benefit from seeing some ATF techniques in action.

Trigger looked through his personal database, making sure everything transferred properly. He stopped. On the screen there was a picture of Trigger and some friends from the academy celebrating. A tear flowed down Trigger's face.

In the background he noticed a slightly older person glancing at the group.

"That WAS him!" He exclaimed.

Thoughts rushed through Trigger's mind.
"What is Olterin doing here?"
"Why didn't he acknowledge me?"
"Does he know why I got kicked out?"
and "Has he remembered to recursively encrypt his security algorithms...?"

[Abscon]

-record message//Text only-
-To: Commander Oliver Neski
-encryption protocol: user input// V3.82-b Pirate relay system 24-a // Password ..*****.*****.******.*****.****
-subject: I believe i have something of yours

Its taken some time to track you down, i am relaying this through little known pirate channels...ship to ship, sector to sector. I do not know how long it will take to reach you but there's always hope

First let me explain myself and how it seems I'm now at your doorstep heralding tidings of woe.

I was running a covert Ops on a Yaki Akuma designation IM2KT-81, my employers had solid intel that it was supplying classified heavy weapons of Terran design to the main yaki shipyard in the sector senators badlands, for reverse engineering purposes..I had followed them for weeks waiting for an opportunity to skim by unawares and take a few scans of the vessel without being irrevocably introduced to vacuum. As i was deliberating the failure of my mission,my chance came just as the vessel in question was about to dock at the shipyard itself and deliver its supposed cargo.

A large group of pirate ships jumped through the north gate...A very large group to be exact, the main vessel of the formation was a ship designation YM1JR-06 a split raptor class vessel, with an entourage of smaller M7M class ships and 3 wings of smaller M3 and M5 class vessels. after taking up an attack formation they proceeded to the shipyard designation YTMC2-02.

The Akuma and its escorts a sizable fighter squadron comprised of mostly M3,M4 and M5 class vessels was en route to intercept, from my position 12K's from the ecliptic i watched as the pirates decimated the local Yaki force using a horrendous amount of nuclear ordinance and then proceeded towards the station, at this point i managed to piggyback a live feed from a small communications relay satellite in place around the main pirate vessel and received this still shot.

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/110-3.jpg

i know this may seem unimportant but it adds up.

After the destruction of the shipyard the pirates took up positions, took whatever was salvageable and eventually jumped out of system.after a period of exactly 2.8 hours in your earth time i moved in to see if i could acquire any evidence for my employer. There was nothing at all salvageable from the wreck. I did however pick up a faint distress signal. Following it to its source i proceeded to transport an unconscious argon to my medical bay...2 hours in an ill designed space suit meant to last only half an hour in those conditions sadly left him mostly incoherent as i treated him.

I'm sorry to say he didn't survive long after that...his exposure was too severe and the brain damage..irreversible.
he did say a few things before he died....

What he did say i have on recording.

i hope i have intrigued your interest and now i ask if you would assist me... upon leaving the sector senators badlands through the north gate and eventually into savage spur i was ambushed by a small yaki patrol consisting of 4 M3 class vessels and 2 M5 class vessels, i managed to fight them off but it has left my ship unable to function and i am currently on emergency power, in 3 hours i will have to resort to a spacesuit as the power core goes offline and the air goes stale.

I have maneuvered my ship using emergency thrusters and what precious little oxygen i have left, into a dense part of the asteroid field as near to the east gate as possible but the patrols still out there scanning for me.

My employers deny ever having associated with me and as such have left me to rot in this hulk of a ship.

I offer you this, come and aid me, trickster knows if you can..... and i will be able to reveal the current location of a bridge crew who escaped the destruction of the yaki shipyard.
and deliver the body of a man who says he's your Nav officer.

My coordinates are as follows 44750 . 9125 . -28062.
And no i didn't say what my name was.

[Duzzit]

//Begin Message//
//MERLIN INDUSTRIES HIGH COMMAND CHANNEL//
//TO Admiral Euphames, Olterin//
//Copy of message//
//What do you folks think?//

Hmm... Well that is certeanley interesting... what do you folks think? pirate trap? ATF ambush? or did this man somehow find me and is telling the truth?

//End Message//

[The Nightmare]

--removed--

[LordForrester]

To: Duzzit

If it is a trap all they are doing is gathering themselves in one spot for us to destroy them. If the admiral wants to go in he does not have anything to worry about.

Slamer

[Abscon]

-removed-

[The Nightmare]

--removed--

[Master of the Blade]

That's 'cause Targ Collective actually found a discoverer on sale from Leo Kayean (Steve), so we made something out of it. But yeah, I don't see why you shouldn't involve him again. *shrugs*