A Dark Echo
By: GeneticPredator
Part 1
Staring up to the ceiling, I realized that I had snoozed to long.
I should have been out of bed 10 minutes ago. Lucky for me that I was not in the military anymore. I turned my head and looked at that horrible little machine that was desperately trying to wake me up.
Beep beep beep....
I pressed the alarm off, and started stretching my legs. Another day in paradise, I thought to myself.
"God, I hate getting up in the morning!" I mumbled to myself.
No time to feel sorry for myself, I had a job to do!
As I got out of bed, I noticed that the floor was warm and not as cold as my mind would have me believe it was. I took a fast look in the mirror and thought to myself, was I getting old and lazy?
Hell no!
I was a former fighter pilot for the UEE, and now a proud member of a escort/rapid response team!
I was a member of Echo Squad!
Making my way into the shower, I noticed how nice my room was: this being a military-equipped ship, it had almost everything. A nice bed, a coffee machine, shower and a TV that I could view from my bed. As I showered, I found myself humming to a number one hit song I heard back on Terra 2 years ago. It was probably old by now.
I only had time for a quick shower since I had liked my new bed a little to much. As I got dressed I started thinking of yesterday, when arriving here, and the weeks before: the long trip that I and the others from Echo Squad had done.
We were transferred from a peaceful place, where a great number of luxurious yachts where posted. Where high ranking officers and other important or rich people got together, having meetings and parties.
It was a good job, but a little to calm for my taste!
Sure there where smaller incidents, where some pirates had a little to much confidence and tried to attack the fleet. But they never got close to harming anyone. Mostly there were a few people who had a little to much to drink in the bar, and were escorted to their rooms by security, but nothing worth starting the engines on my Redeemer.
Time to get to work!
Damn I needed coffee...
Our new mission was to escort four Orion mining rigs from the Bremen system to a newly discovered mining site. Our fleet was protected by four Idris frigates and the carrier "Hawkeye" that now was my new home.
I felt that we were slightly understaffed on the security, but this was what we had. Large parts of our security force had been called back to protect a big important meeting closer to Terra. We on the other hand were a long way from home. Rumors were that many of the highest members of other organisations had received word of a big threat.
I'm not a guy that believes in rumors. I'm more an 'I-believe-it-when-I-see-it' kind of a guy.
Entering the briefing room I saw that my officer Marcus, was informing two other pilots of the day's assignments. When he was done he turned to me and smiled.
"Good morning, slept well I see. Don't get to used to it though; we are in dangerous space and we have a job to do," he reminded me.
I chose not to say anything. This was the second time in my life that I could remember that I overslept. I was only 5 minutes late but it was a bit embarrassing doing it on my first day here.
"We have done this trip one time before, and we had no trouble that time. The journey takes around a week, but one has to remember to stay alert out there!"
The last time they made this journey they only had two Orions and a lot more security.
"Your assignment today is to provide escort to the two rear Orions, temporary callsigns "Ore" 3 and 4. Your callsign is Echo 5 right?"
"Yes, sir that's correct," I said.
"It should be a quiet job. I've heard that your Redeemer is currently equipped with a search and rescue bay, so I'm putting a medic on your crew. His name is Thomas and he's a good guy. By the way, get yourself some coffee will ya! You look like shit! I'll contact you if something shows up."
He was right, I felt like shit... So I did as I was told and got myself a big cup of coffee, and started walking towards the hangar.
As I entered the hangar one Hornet was taking off. Damn I just love the sound of those engines!
Being a former fighter pilot for the UEE, I had a lot of time in the Hornet. Not all memories where good, fighting the Vanduul and losing a lot of friends. But that's the way a fighter pilots life is. This job was better.
As I approached my ship I saw the newest member of my crew, the medic, walking around the side of the ship.
He turned towards me and said. "Hi I'm Thomas, guess I'm the new guy on your crew. I've spoken to the other guys and they said your ship is refueled and rearmed, and ready to go."
"Finally, some good news," I replied. He looked at me strangely.
"Hope you don't mind me asking... Why did you name your ship 'Predator'? She doesn't look that kickass..."
I looked at him with cold eyes and replied.
"Doesn't look that kickass... haven't you looked at the whole ship?" You haven't seen much combat have you? This is a gunship, she can hold her ground if she has to. She isn't brand new but she gets the job done. She has more confirmed kills than you have fingers and toes."
Thomas looked at the ship and then back at me.
"Sorry - I don't know much about ships, I'm a medic and this is my first time on a carrier."
As he started looking slightly on the floor, a bit ashamed that he had insulted the Captain of the ship. I replied. "Don't worry, a person can't know everything. You do the medical stuff and we'll handle the ship. Now should we get going?
"Yeah, okay."
As we entered the ship my two crewmen were already ready to go. I had two crewmen hired on my ship. The first one was Mitch, an old friend from my days in the UEE military. The second was Mira, a girl that had joined my crew a while back. They where both my gunners, but they had a lot of experience with other things. Mira was an excellent engineer and handy when it came to repairing things. Mitch was more of a computer guy, and really good at keeping the ship's systems online.
Mitch looked at me with a sarcastic smile and said.
"Heavy sleeper, hey?"
I smiled back and said, "Yeah, thank god for coffee!"
To be continued...
By: GeneticPredator
Part 1
Staring up to the ceiling, I realized that I had snoozed to long.
I should have been out of bed 10 minutes ago. Lucky for me that I was not in the military anymore. I turned my head and looked at that horrible little machine that was desperately trying to wake me up.
Beep beep beep....
I pressed the alarm off, and started stretching my legs. Another day in paradise, I thought to myself.
"God, I hate getting up in the morning!" I mumbled to myself.
No time to feel sorry for myself, I had a job to do!
As I got out of bed, I noticed that the floor was warm and not as cold as my mind would have me believe it was. I took a fast look in the mirror and thought to myself, was I getting old and lazy?
Hell no!
I was a former fighter pilot for the UEE, and now a proud member of a escort/rapid response team!
I was a member of Echo Squad!
Making my way into the shower, I noticed how nice my room was: this being a military-equipped ship, it had almost everything. A nice bed, a coffee machine, shower and a TV that I could view from my bed. As I showered, I found myself humming to a number one hit song I heard back on Terra 2 years ago. It was probably old by now.
I only had time for a quick shower since I had liked my new bed a little to much. As I got dressed I started thinking of yesterday, when arriving here, and the weeks before: the long trip that I and the others from Echo Squad had done.
We were transferred from a peaceful place, where a great number of luxurious yachts where posted. Where high ranking officers and other important or rich people got together, having meetings and parties.
It was a good job, but a little to calm for my taste!
Sure there where smaller incidents, where some pirates had a little to much confidence and tried to attack the fleet. But they never got close to harming anyone. Mostly there were a few people who had a little to much to drink in the bar, and were escorted to their rooms by security, but nothing worth starting the engines on my Redeemer.
Time to get to work!
Damn I needed coffee...
Our new mission was to escort four Orion mining rigs from the Bremen system to a newly discovered mining site. Our fleet was protected by four Idris frigates and the carrier "Hawkeye" that now was my new home.
I felt that we were slightly understaffed on the security, but this was what we had. Large parts of our security force had been called back to protect a big important meeting closer to Terra. We on the other hand were a long way from home. Rumors were that many of the highest members of other organisations had received word of a big threat.
I'm not a guy that believes in rumors. I'm more an 'I-believe-it-when-I-see-it' kind of a guy.
Entering the briefing room I saw that my officer Marcus, was informing two other pilots of the day's assignments. When he was done he turned to me and smiled.
"Good morning, slept well I see. Don't get to used to it though; we are in dangerous space and we have a job to do," he reminded me.
I chose not to say anything. This was the second time in my life that I could remember that I overslept. I was only 5 minutes late but it was a bit embarrassing doing it on my first day here.
"We have done this trip one time before, and we had no trouble that time. The journey takes around a week, but one has to remember to stay alert out there!"
The last time they made this journey they only had two Orions and a lot more security.
"Your assignment today is to provide escort to the two rear Orions, temporary callsigns "Ore" 3 and 4. Your callsign is Echo 5 right?"
"Yes, sir that's correct," I said.
"It should be a quiet job. I've heard that your Redeemer is currently equipped with a search and rescue bay, so I'm putting a medic on your crew. His name is Thomas and he's a good guy. By the way, get yourself some coffee will ya! You look like shit! I'll contact you if something shows up."
He was right, I felt like shit... So I did as I was told and got myself a big cup of coffee, and started walking towards the hangar.
As I entered the hangar one Hornet was taking off. Damn I just love the sound of those engines!
Being a former fighter pilot for the UEE, I had a lot of time in the Hornet. Not all memories where good, fighting the Vanduul and losing a lot of friends. But that's the way a fighter pilots life is. This job was better.
As I approached my ship I saw the newest member of my crew, the medic, walking around the side of the ship.
He turned towards me and said. "Hi I'm Thomas, guess I'm the new guy on your crew. I've spoken to the other guys and they said your ship is refueled and rearmed, and ready to go."
"Finally, some good news," I replied. He looked at me strangely.
"Hope you don't mind me asking... Why did you name your ship 'Predator'? She doesn't look that kickass..."
I looked at him with cold eyes and replied.
"Doesn't look that kickass... haven't you looked at the whole ship?" You haven't seen much combat have you? This is a gunship, she can hold her ground if she has to. She isn't brand new but she gets the job done. She has more confirmed kills than you have fingers and toes."
Thomas looked at the ship and then back at me.
"Sorry - I don't know much about ships, I'm a medic and this is my first time on a carrier."
As he started looking slightly on the floor, a bit ashamed that he had insulted the Captain of the ship. I replied. "Don't worry, a person can't know everything. You do the medical stuff and we'll handle the ship. Now should we get going?
"Yeah, okay."
As we entered the ship my two crewmen were already ready to go. I had two crewmen hired on my ship. The first one was Mitch, an old friend from my days in the UEE military. The second was Mira, a girl that had joined my crew a while back. They where both my gunners, but they had a lot of experience with other things. Mira was an excellent engineer and handy when it came to repairing things. Mitch was more of a computer guy, and really good at keeping the ship's systems online.
Mitch looked at me with a sarcastic smile and said.
"Heavy sleeper, hey?"
I smiled back and said, "Yeah, thank god for coffee!"
To be continued...
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