Daedalus to Scorcher: "I don't know how you know of me but all I can say is that you have good spies. Before I choose sides in this war, please allow me to explore, I still must discover the powers of my now body and I need time to think. If you could provide me with a data pad containing all of the news I have missed over the past three months it would be much appreciated. If you have nothing to add I wish to be on my way."

------------------
----------------------
Give them shell! give them solid shot! Damn them, give them anything!

USS Bristol uses 3m credits to install the Corocian tech on battlegroups
12,7 and 3. Each battlegroup includes: 2 Voinian Cruisers, 5 Frigates and
20 heavy fighters.

USS Bristol launches Battlegroup 4 to raid an UE Convoy.
He also sends Battlegroup 2 to raid the Yandros system.

------------------

Thunder's com started blinking the second he closed the door to his apartment!!

Job offer:

Transport 50 tons of various weapons to Outpost Zachit, docking bay 4. . 2 Zachit Fighter escort and 100,000 credit pay..

To accept, meet Zacha Officer next to your ship, easy-to-notice fellow, 7 ft height.

------------------
Hi! I'm Alien the Hinwar and I'm a stuiped jerk!
I'm big, mad, strong, and Hinwar! I yell 'LONG LIVE THE UE!', but I smash vikimadegie lovers every chance I get!
Cause I'm Alien the Hinwar and I'm a stuiped jerk!
I'm always making the mods mad doing something or another, but I'll never learn! I'll never turn! Look at my karma!

Reading his comm message, Thunder quickly ran across the hall to his friends' apartment, gathered them up and returned to the spaceport where the S.S. Prism was docked. A tall man with the insignia of the Zacha was standing beside it. As Thunder and his two friends walked up, he spoke, "So, I see you've recieved our job offer?"

"Yes." Thunder said. "And we accept."

The Zacha officer handed Thunder a data pad and had him sign it. Thunder signed the pad, and handed it back.

"Okay," the Zacha said, "Everything seems to be in order here. As soon as we've loaded the cargo aboard your ship, you'll be ready to go."

"Great! Thanks!" Thunder said, and he and his crew happily boarded the arada and waited for the cargo to be loaded so they could depart for Outpost Zachit.

------------------
Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, and he'll believe you.
Tell him a bench has wet paint on it, and he'll have to touch to be sure.

Samurai dials up Thunder's compad number.

"Hello, Thunder speaking."
"Hi, I'm Samurai, a UE Admiral. I've heard you're doing some cargo missions for our allies, the Zachit, and I was wondering if you could do some dangerous cargo missions for me after you've finished up with the Zachit."
"How dangerous, exactly?"
"Well, the missions are in Renegade infested territory, and there's a slight chance you might run afoul of the Corocian Navy."
"Hm. What's the pay?"
"100,000 credits up front, 500,000 credits on completion."
"How much cargo is there to carry?"
"About 50 tons."

Thunder considers the offer...

------------------
Macintosh for productivity, Linux for development, Palm for mobility, and Windows for Solitaire.

(This message has been edited by Samurai (edited 02-12-2001).)

39.70 million credits, growing by 1 million daily
The million crdits were appreciated, thank you, Carnotaur.
The Defensive station has one docking ring build, three more will be built tomorrowand the station finished on wednesday.
The defense fleet at Hrekka overpowered the Zacha, although not without suffering losses. Some of the defensive fleet will be replaced with ships from the rock.
I'm spending 2 million to outfit the Rock with a very large turbolaser, like the Death Star beam from Star Wars.
It should be done wednesday.
Five Zacha warships fell pray to a renegade trap today.

------------------
THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE!
(Lies are in your head.)

Then, Carnotaur goes and meets with Entropy. "Entropy, we have a problem. You've lost Hrekka, and I need to protect the Ji Nebula better. So, I'll make a deal with you. Here it is; you help me set up bases in DSN-1412 and DSN-4647. In other words, you'll be sending me a bit of supplies, manpower, materials, etc. In return, I will retake Hrekka for you. Deal?"

-----------------

Meanwhile, the Corocians begin construction on another Corocian Supercruiser. All Corocian shipyards are also increasing ship production in order to build up the Corocian Navy. Corocian Scientists also begin work on better mine technology, as well as analyzing the UE Limpet Mines (a few of which were captured).

-----------------

Scorcher then gives Daedalus a data pad on what has happened lately, and just about everything he would need to know about the galaxy and what had happened, except for classified information. Then, Scorcher deactivates the Energy Draining Field that disabled Daedalus's fighter, then he lets Daedalus go. Then, Scorcher goes back to F-25.

------------------
To Escape Velocity: Nova and Beyond!
--------------
Millennium. Its coming, prepare for it.
Coming to the (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiaSW.com/games/ev/chronicles.html")EV Chronicles(/url).

Quote

Originally posted by Samurai:
**Samurai dials up Thunder's compad number.

"Hello, Thunder speaking."
"Hi, I'm Samurai, a UE Admiral. I've heard you're doing some cargo missions for our allies, the Zachit, and I was wondering if you could do some dangerous cargo missions for me after you've finished up with the Zachit."
"How dangerous, exactly?"
"Well, the missions are in Renegade infested territory, and there's a slight chance you might run afoul of the Corocian Navy."
"Hm. What's the pay?"
"100,000 credits up front, 500,000 credits on completion."
"How much cargo is there to carry?"
"About 50 tons."

Thunder considers the offer...
**

At first Thunder wasn't sure what to say. He had heard rumors of the Corocians, and knew they possessed advanced technology, and he had no desire to get on their bad side. On the other hand, though, this was the kind of cargo mission where a merchant could make a name for himself. Besides, the pay was good.

"I'll do it. As soon as I drop off my cargo at Outpost Zachit, I'll head for Earth." Thunder replied.
"Excellent. Samauri out."

Thunder was in hyperspace at that particular time, preparing to enter the Xrima system. He was quite pleased with the S.S. Prism. The arada handled well, and was quite fast as well. All in all, his first cargo run was going very well. Dropping out of hyperspace into Xrima, Thunder entered the coordinates for the Zachit system into the hyperspace computer, and just a few minutes later his ship was accelerating off toward Zachit, where he could offload his cargo for the Zacha and head for Earth. Maybe he and his crew could get in a quick game of poker during the hyperspace jump...

------------------
Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, and he'll believe you.
Tell him a bench has wet paint on it, and he'll have to touch to be sure.

North Tip Station was captured by the Zacha Shock Troops, and the renegades soon found themselves under fire by their own station!! The troops quickly assainated any remaining forces aboard the station, and began to capture the ships inside the bays.. It didn't seem the station was going to last much longer under the fire it was receiving...

-----------------------------------------

Thunder arrived in the Zachit system right as a battle insued against renegades.. Thunder's escorts immediately rushed off, leaving him in a wake of thruster particles... As Thunder lowered into the docking bay, he wondered about the odd cargo in his bay..

Numerous weapons, explosives, and random objects of destruction make up about 30 tons worth of this delivery... but there was that one beam cannon that made up the other twenty...

Whichever, a Zachit Arada caught his attention and he wondered where to get a paintjob like that!!

A Zacha officer met him, who seemed to be more interested in the large cannon being unloaded from his ship..

"At last it is here, and soon The Rock will be next to fall.. Oh I'm sorry, lost in thought you know! Here is your pay!" He says as he hands Thunder a cred stick with 200,450 credits on it.. "A little extra to keep quiet.." The Zacha Officer adds...

------------------
Hi! I'm Alien the Hinwar and I'm a stuiped jerk!
I'm big, mad, strong, and Hinwar! I yell 'LONG LIVE THE UE!', but I smash vikimadegie lovers every chance I get!
Cause I'm Alien the Hinwar and I'm a stuiped jerk!
I'm always making the mods mad doing something or another, but I'll never learn! I'll never turn! Look at my karma!

Daedalus went off, slightly angered at the rough treatment of the Corocians. He soon found himself cloaked near Renegade space where he observed a small shuttle craft en route to an independent world. In front of the shuttle a Renegade turncoat hypered in and immediately began firing on the shuttle craft which was soon disabled. Daedalus found himself sending a garbled transmission to the turncoat and he soon was seeing through the ships security cameras. He watched as the renegades boarded the shuttle and had a small fire fight with the shuttle pilot. The pilot was wounded in the leg and dragged into the Turncoat while his shuttle was looted. The pilot was beaten severly and thrown into a corner where he soon breathed his last breaths. Remember when he was an aspiring young shuttle pilot, Daedalus became enraged. Uncloaking immediately he charged the surprised turcoat. Unleashing heavy missle after heavy missle and dodging the turret fire daedalus quickly dropped the turncoats shields. He position is fighter and lined it up with the bridge. Firing heavy cannon fire at the front window Daedalus was finally satisfied when he saw a burst of flame shoot out of the bridge along with the charred bodies of the crew.

Daedalus made up his mind. It wasn't the UE that had destroyed him. It was the evil greedy selfish personalities of the Universe. It was the Voinians that had destroyed him and the Renegades and any other enemies of the UE. He knew that the UE wanted him to help them, not just them, but the countless innocents under its wing. Engaging his hyperdrive, Daedalus took the shortest route to Earth to arrange a meeting with Samurai.

------------------
----------------------
Give them shell! give them solid shot! Damn them, give them anything!

Hey, man.
I don't tell the Rengade captains to kill and maim helpless traders.
I didn't even control them a few moths ago, and I oppose the horrendous treatment they dish out.
But what can I do- these men are the scum of the galaxy. I cant give them orders and expect them to follow.

------------------
THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE!
(Lies are in your head.)

So that's what I get for not having Scorcher kill you when I had the chance (just kidding, but still, Scorcher could have done that).

And anyway, Daedalus, the reason I had Scorcher treat you like that because we knew you were dangerous and so we had to take extra precautions. And remember, most of the Corocians are Igadzra, such as Carnotaur, and Igadzra are paranoid.

And Entropy has a point. Go easy on the Renegades, Daedalus. For one, Entropy said that they wouldn't do that. Two, the Renegades have only recently started to become a more civilized government. It takes a while to completely change, you know.

---------------

Carnotaur, getting a message from his spies that The Rock was the next to fall, sent twenty Corocian Cruisers* to The Rock to help protect it against enemy attacks.

Then, Carnotaur built up a small fleet, including the C.R.S. Demon, to attack the Hrekka system. After devising a plan that would result in the least amount of casualties for the Corocians, Carnotaur then sent his fleet out to recapture Hrekka for the Renegades...

---------------

In the Hrekka system, North Tip Station was relatively unguarded. The Renegades had made a major attack on the Hizdiar system in an effort to capture it, and the Zachit had sent a good portion of their ships to stop them. However, Carnotaur had set this up with Entropy. The Zachit would be unable to stop the Renegades, and Hizdriar would fall to Entropy. Reason; Corocian technology superior to anything the Zachit had.

Because of the Renegade attack on Hizdriar, Hrekka was now vulnerable. In a violent flash of white, a medium sized Corocian fleet entered the system, with the C.R.S Demon leading them.

The battle that followed was quick and decisive. The Zachit were outgunned and outnumbered, and the C.R.S. Demon proved its strength by destroying most of the Zachit ships in the system by itself. Then, it and the other Corocian vessels poured thousands of Corocians onto North Tip Station. Although the Zachit fought back hard, they were simply swarmed, and soon Hrekka was once again a Renegade base.

Carnotaur then called for additional reinforcements to help reinforce the Hrekka system.

• • Corocian Cruisers, first of all, are not Corocian Supercruisers. They are really just Igazras colored blue and green and equipped with Corocian technology, shields, armor, weapons, etc. They are also much faster than normal Igazras.

------------------
To Escape Velocity: Nova and Beyond!
--------------
Millennium. Its coming, prepare for it.
Coming to the (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiaSW.com/games/ev/chronicles.html")EV Chronicles(/url).

(This message has been edited by Captain Carnotaur (edited 02-12-2001).)

I just want to say that I like the pace of this story. It is a big relief from Red Horizon. Good job folks.

------------------
----------------------
Give them shell! give them solid shot! Damn them, give them anything!

Having completed his cargo run for the Zachit, Thunder and the crew of the S.S. Prism were now en route to Earth in the Sol system. Thunder reflected on the battle he'd witnessed in the Zachit system; the Zacha were fearless fighters and fought bravely to defend the Miranu from Renegade attacks. It was really quite an honor to help them by doing cargo runs. But now Thunder turned his attention to the mission ahead. Samurai had summoned him to Earth, promising a dangerous but well paying cargo run through renegade territory. Thunder had made it to the quarterfinals of the intra-system dogfight competition (junior class) at Mira, so he was confident he could fend off inferior renegade ships, and his arada was quick enough to escape larger battleships. Still, he was considering using some of his profits from the Zachit cargo run to upgrade his ship before delivering the UE cargo...

Thunder was still deep in thought when the Prism came out of hyperspace into the Sol system. Awakened from his silent thought by the jolt as the ship came out of hyperspace, Thunder laid in a course for the Lima docking port and guided his ship in once he had clearance to land. After touching down and securing the Prism, Thunder set off to find Samurai's office in the UE government headquarters.

------------------
Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, and he'll believe you.
Tell him a bench has wet paint on it, and he'll have to touch to be sure.

Thunder reached the Samurai's official government building. "Ah, Thunder, come in." Says the clerk when Thunder reveals why he is here. Samurai is in his office, second door on your left. Thunder walks into Samurai's office. Samurai looks up from his paperwork.
"Ah! Greetings, Thunder. I suppose you're here about that cargo mission."
"Yes."
"Great, I need a inconspicuous vessel like the S.S. Prism for this mission. Your mission is to smuggle this cargo to one of our hidden ouposts in the North Tip. It is on the planet of Hirith, in the Hrekka system. There's a lot of fighting between the Zacha and the Renegades going on up there, so be careful. Another thing, your cargo must not be scanned by any Renegades or Corocians that you happen to meet. If it is, a few things will happen. One, your ship will be attacked, and two, our plans to get rid of the C.R.S. Demon will be ruined. Since secrecy is so important here, we've fixed a cloaking device onto the S.S. Prism. Use it if you have to. We've also upgraded your vessel's speed, in case you need to make a quick getaway."
"Great."
Thunder heads toward the S.S. Prism to find his buddies and tell them about the mission they are undertaking.

------------------
Macintosh for productivity, Linux for development, Palm for mobility, and Windows for Solitaire.

What about my meeting with you Samurai?

------------------
----------------------
Give them shell! give them solid shot! Damn them, give them anything!

Oops, sorry Daedalus.

About an hour or so after Thunder has left, Daedalus arrives. The guards point their weapons at him, due to his violent breakout at the laboratory.
"No no, it's okay, I just want to arrange a meeting with Samurai."
After several minutes of reassurances and passport viewings, the guards let Daedalus by. He enters Samurai's office.
"Daedalus!" exclaims Samurai. "You're dead! We found your body!"
"Well, thanks to your scientists, here I am, Daedalus the cyborg."
"Amazing! I heard of your breakout at the lab, but I thought that they'd mistakenly turned you into a crazed, living computer. Have you retained your senses?"
"Yes. I was wondering if you could give me some information about what I have become."
"Yes, of course. Your new body can access security terminals and disable them, your physical abilities have been enhanced, and you have an amplified blaze sidearm built into your right arm. Pardon the pun. Your mind can perform complex calculations instantly, and you will live forever unless you are killed."

Daedalus, finish this meeting on your own. I'm fully willing to cooperate with whatever you have to say. I'm leaving on vacation soon and I'll be out of the story for a while. If i can find a computer I'll post from time to time. See ya for now.

------------------
Macintosh for productivity, Linux for development, Palm for mobility, and Windows for Solitaire.

38.70, growing by 1 million daily.

Who controls Hrekka?!??!?
Nobody will tell me, it seems to me Carnotaur just said I own it when he said a few days ago that the Zacha had taken it over!
The defensive station will be done tomorrow, as will the turbolaser. The turbolaser works, but it has no focusing array right now so if I were to fire it accidentaly everything in the system would be vaporized, not a pleasant thought.

------------------
THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE!
(Lies are in your head.)

Well, technically I do, but it's really yours. You just have to send in ships to take it. I sent an armada led by the Corocian Supercruiser C.R.S. Demon, which took back Hrekka.

Also, Samurai, obviously I have excellent spies. I knew about Daedalus, I knew about the Zachit planning on attacking The Rock, and I knew that you were going to attack me. The secret base on Hirith would be easily discovered. And if not yet, soon.

--------------

In the Hrekka system, the Zachit had so far made 92 retaliatory attacks against the Corocians holding North Tip Station. However, every single attack had either been totally destroyed or repelled in the first 20 or 30 seconds of combat.

Now that the Ji Nebula was guarded by the ever growing Corocian Navy and two more bases that the Renegades were helping Carnotaur set up, Carnotaur felt that he was relatively safe. However, this would not stop him from continuing to build up his forces. The UE and Zachit were still strong, and the second Corocian Supercruiser wasn't even halfway finished, so Carnotaur had to be careful.

To be extra safe about the C.R.S. Demon, Carnotaur had Scorcher and his top scientists think up every possible way that the Demon could be destroyed. Once they found the weakness, they would immediately begin work on divising a way to stop it. Then, the plans would be sent to the Demon, where they would be incorporated into its design or taught to its crew.

------------------
To Escape Velocity: Nova and Beyond!
--------------
Millennium. Its coming, prepare for it.
Coming to the (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiaSW.com/games/ev/chronicles.html")EV Chronicles(/url).

Well umm Carno, I kind of said that you had excellent spies because I didn't want to argue and it didn't really matter to the story or not. I think that if someone says something is secret that it should remain a secret.
-----------------
Continuation:
After the meeting Daedalus say that he was given free reign to do as he wished. With is new knowlege about his body he tried hacking into the UE treasury just as a test. It took him a night and a day but he managed to transfer 1 million credits to his account. He was sure that the UE would only count it as practice IF they even were able to trace him.
Daedalus thought about what to do. It seemed to him that the UE was fighting three fronts with the main threat coming from a technological super power originating from the Ji Nebula. Despite Daedalus's searching through vast galactic databases he discovered no motive. Interesting, he thought. I didn't know of any other races as bloodthirsty as the Voinians.
----------
Hours later, a silver UE fighter flashed into hyperspace arriving under cloak at Hrekka. A few days later, Carnotaur discovered a note written on a white piece of paper. On it was a message, "What is your motive?"

------------------
----------------------
Give them shell! give them solid shot! Damn them, give them anything!