---------------LEGEND OF THE ZACHA-------------
--------------------Prologue-------------------
For many years the Zachit had fought hard against the renegades. But they do not see what has been happening meanwhile. The Zachit face foes that show themselves, and think only of combat, and the Miranu are dreamers, who cannot see combat in any form.
They lack one quality between them, one quality that may cause their downfall.
Stealth.
Hidden away on Sumo lies a renegade station, behind the sun and beyond the reach of most sensors, hidden both from sensors and sight by the solar flares of the sun, which sweep over this incredible station, causing no damage.
Three renegade fleets mass, and the Zachit face the greatest threat yet.
And further than that, comes the great question.
What is beyond Hrekka? In a place none but renegades can reach, lies a single open hyperjump, a folding in space. How long this hyperjump has been open no-one knows, but certainly something is beyond, something, or someone............
-------Chapter 1 - Checkmate----------
Xalle moved his ship downwards, through the blue-white clouds of planet Mira, down towards the shining ocean surface, glimmering in the sun's light. He smiled as once more he viewed the beautiful calm oceans, the golden sun sinking below the sea in the distance, and the golden and red aura the sun shone out, painting both the sky and the sea.
A small island lay in the centre of the ocean where Xalle had descended from. The island held gently rolling slopes, large alien trees that thrived with the sun, and huge blue domed shape objects that were Miranu homes. One large circle of blue domes rested in the centre of the island, and in the very middle was an enormous clearing of paved stone, breathtaking in it's antiquity. In that clearing rested courier ships and freighters - not many, but enough to support that particular island.
There were other islands, and indeed over smaller paved clearings in the island to house ships, but this one was special. The blue domes were larger, and one of them swept high and above the others, catching the sunlight and sending it in all directions through thousands of square metres of blue glass, but glass that held the strength of steel, or indeed diamond. A single opening lay on that dome, half way up, and an intricate transparent blue walkway swept up, seemingly without enough support to hold it up.
Perhaps it was the beautiful serenity of this place, or the total lack of violent feelings, but Xalle, a trained Zachit mercenary, and his upgraded gunship seemed particularly out of place. He brought the gunship down slowly in the central ring, and at a certain point the autopilot took over and his ship glided to the surface. At first Xalle didn't get out. He viewed the huge clearing from where he sat.
The clearing truly was large, and Xalle now noticed Aradas, Laziras and even a few Zachit fighters there. It made him feel slightly better, os he composed himself, and stood up.
His gunship was painted green both instead and out. The semi-circular bridge housed no other people, as the gunship required minimal crew once you have an ultimate rated captain and an autopilot. The other seven crewmembers either slept or worked in different places. The bridge itself held a wide array of equipment, all very neat and tidy, unlike most ships designed specifically for warfare. Miranu designers simply cannot be messy.
Xalle considered taking his phase rifle with him, but another look outside convinced him not to. Instead, he buckled his small enforcer pistol to his side, and put four energy spheres on his belt. Then he grabbed his long silver and blue Zachit cloak, put it on, and walked out of the bridge.
He walked down the corridors, also green, and the exit was very close, and on both sides. Before he could exit the gunship, though, a tall woman wearing green and grey came out from engineering, and called out to him.
"Commander Xalle." she said, walking up to Xalle as he turned to greet her. "I have completed a status check of the Phoenix." she stated, taking off a large scan viewer of her right eye and holding it in her left hand.
"Thank you, Merle." Xalle replied, as if to a friend. Merle often became very angry when people addressed her otherwise, although she often kept to formality. "How is the Phoenix after that conflict?"
Merle grimaced slightly. "The hull is badly dented, and a breach is possible at engineering and chambers nine through thirteen. Shield coils have burnt out again, so we'll have to get that fixed before we even consider going up against a renegade ship." Merle paused, and then continued. "One of the three main thrusters needs some repairs, which I'll get to right away."
Xalle nodded. "That was quite a dangerous encounter. How much will the repairs all cost?" he asked, a little worried about his current financial state.
"Forty thousand for the disposables we lost, fifty thousand for a new coil, twenty thousands to fix up the hull, and ten thousand to repair the thrusters." Merle replied, quickly adding it up in her add. "One hundred and twenty thousand total, but luckily I believe there was a bounty of fifty thousand on one of those ships. I'll go collect it for you right away."
Xalle once again considered suggesting Merle for a promotion, but the only problem was that he knew that if she got a promotion she would end up as captain of her own ship, and Xalle wouldn't be able to function very well without her. With a near silent sigh, Xalle decided he'd get it over with and put her in for accomodation before he changed his mind.
"Good work. Thank you for finding out about the bounty." Xalle praised her.
Merle smiled faintly. "Of course. It wasn't any problem." she replied, and then she realised she had been stalling him. "I'm sorry, did I get in your way?" she asked, and then after exchanging goodbyes she walked off.
As Xalle exited the Phoenix and looked around the large clearing, he once again noticed how strange it was. Most races had large hangars on different levels for ships, but the Miranu did it a different way. This clearing was just for people who wanted to visit the High Council, as these were the government buildings, and other clearing were specific to different things, such as shipyards, outfitters, and so on. However, the bulk of the ships - the civilian craft, were all in underwater hangars, and elevators led down there.
Xalle walked across the clearing without a care whether he was walking over any landing sites. There were darker tiles to show where people could walk, but since there were no ships in the sky, Xalle calmly walked directly across and up the intricate walkway to the main complex.
As Xalle walked up, he noticed a Zachit Arada coming down from above, pushing the clouds aside and coming down at brake-neck speeds, and then settling, or rather skidding, to a stop on the clearing, obviously without autopilot. Two tall Zachit leapt out, and ran at a dead sprint to the main complex. Realising that the walkway wasn't large enough for them to pass him, Xalle continued on, entering the building only just before they were half way up the walkway, despite the fact that they had landed at the far side of the clearing.
The inside of the main complex was quite busy. Tall Miranu with blue skin were everywhere, walking around and talking to each other. The first room was grand, and there was a counter behind which stood a Cephenar alien from Kitrak was directing some people around.
Xalle instantly noticed three more Zachit, obviously the pilots of the Zachit fighters, leaning around against one corner and talking quietly. Xalle approached them.
"Hello." Xalle said. "Where have you just come back from?" he asked politely.
"Garren." one of them, with a weathered face and graying hair, replied. He was a Miranu, and seemed quite angry for some reason. Xalle thought about it, and vaguely remembered a rumour that a fleet of Crescent warships were moving in to assualt Kitrak, which would mean they must go through Garren.
"Hard fight?" Xalle asked.
Another shorter one, a Zidagar, laughed. "Fight! Pah! There weren't any ships there!"
A Sepher, an extremely tall grey alien from Zanat, choose to explain. "It was a decoy, although we don't know where they attacked." he explained, and right after that the two Zachit burst into the complex.
They didn't bother to slow. "Dewe was taken!" they shouted, running off down the corridoors to the Council chambers. The Miranu and other peaceful aliens started shouting and running off. The three Zachit that had been lounging at the corner of the room straightened.
The greying Miranu spoke. "Some of our squadron went through Dewe, but we were sent home to report." he told Xalle, swearing quite loud. "No choice in the matter. Zacha, to Dewe!" he declared, running off out of the complex, followed by the other Zachit members.
It was total chaos. People were running around everywhere, and only the occasional Zachit member seemed to have kept any wits about them. Dewe was only a stepping stone to Hizdriar, and this situation had been played out hundreds of times. Once Hizdriar was in renegade hands they'd attack Outpost Zachit, and that would be deadly.
Xalle realised that he had to report to the Council, and started walking that way. The general feeling of panic soon had him running, though.
The beautiful surroundings seemed masked now, as Xalle glanced the ocean outside through the semi-transparent dome. Masked by fear, for this situation had been played out a hundred times by Zachit officers. The renegades would storm through, and ships from the Rock would assualt Nadej. It had all been played out, and every single time the result had been Outpost Zachit being destroyed.
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The corridoors became grander and grander as Xalle went on, until eventually he reached the place where he was looking for - the meeting chambers of the High Council. Xalle noticed the Zachit guards, and approached them.
"Any chance I can get through?" Xalle asked, remembering the important news he also had to bring.
One of the Zachit recognised him, but still remained completely by the book. "If you have important military news, Zachit Admiral Jeryl Lyr is available down the corridoor."
Xalle sighed. "It might be better to present this directly to the High Council. Come on, they all know me." he complained.
The first Zachit didn't budge, however. "See Admiral Lyr, and then if he wishes you to see the High Council, then we'll let you in." he states simply, and after shrugging, Xalle continues down the corridoor to Lyr's quarters.
Xalle presses a button on the comm. link. "Zacha Xalle, Combat Rating Ultimate, awaiting permission to enter." Xalle said half heartedly. After a pause, a voice answered.
"Yes, come in." came the reply, and the door opened automatically, receiving the voice command.
Lyr's chambers were decorated in red and purple, and Lyr himself stood at the far side of his chambers, staring down at the sea beyond.
"What is it you need to report?" Lyr asked, turning. "To an admiral who isn't your commander, may I add."
Xalle quite obviously didn't stand straight for Lyr. "I don't have a commander. I'm a Zachit independant."
"Oh?" Lyr said, surprised. "I assume you took a mission?"
Xalle nodded. "Patrol route C. From Outpost Zazhit, through Xrima and Sumo to Nadej, and then to Mirava." Xalle answered.
"You have something important to report?" Lyr asked, while putting on his Zachit cloak, obviously about to go somewhere.
"Yes. The route covers all but one entrance to Xrima. Pozdag. And yet no renegades get through Pozdag alive. However, renegade ships continue to plague the Xrima system, although reports show no renegade ships are getting through the nearby systems." Xalle paused, and handed a small datalog to Lyr, which Lyr began reading.
"Interesting." Lyr murmured. "Strange no-one saw this before. What could be the cause?" Lyr began muttering to himself, wondering.
"My personal opinion is a base in the Sumo system. A renegade base." Xalle replied. "And considering current events, that might be a problem."
Lyr had obviously heard of the current events. "Hmm...... Yes. It would create quite a problem. Look, I'm about to go report to the High Council and tell them what they want to hear about the situation before those two Zacha start blubbering on about us being doomed. Would you come with me?" Lyr asked.
"Of course." Xalle replied. "But.... Is it a good idea to withhold the truth from the Miranu? They build ships capable of combat, and their militia might be helpful in the upcoming battles."
Lyr shook his head. "They'd just panic in battle and panic outside. They'd be less than useless." Lyr walked over to the door. "Come on, let's go."
-------------------------------------
Merle shook her head. "No, a type C transmitter coil won't do. Type B, with a uridium tip." she demanded of the outfitter.
The outfitter didn't agree. "I can't sell you what I don't have."
Merle laughed. "The type C transmitter coil is the only coil that can be used on the Miranu Gunship, which happen to be built on this planet. If you don't have any, I'll report you to the Trading Authorities for not having necessary goods to sustain Zacha patrols." Merle threatened him.
The outfitter seemed very concerned, and he sighed. "Okay, okay! You can have to one from my ship. But I want 10% more!"
After the exchange, Merle left the outfitters, but wondered why an outfitter would have a Miranu Gunship. She sat down in the middle of the street, put on her scan viewer over her left eye, and examined the coil. It was, of course, a type C.
She walked back into the outfitters, and held the coil up. "This is a type C. I said type B." she stated bluntly.
"It is?" the outfitter feigned shock. "I'm sorry then, I don't have any type B transmitter coils." the outfitter stated, his voice tinted vaguely with the tone of a lie.
Merle said down in the outfitters, ignoring the outfitters arguments that she should leave. As she often did, she absorbed herself in her thoughts.
"Why would an outfitter not want to sell type B transmitter coils?" she asked herself in her mind. Something clicked. She stood up. "What about type A, or type D?"
"We have type A. Not type D." the outfitter declared.
Merle grinned, and pulled out a long device from her belt, seeming to be nothing but a wire frame with a battery and several other small compartments. "This is gun. Trust me." Merle warned the outfitter.
The outfitter looked at it, scared. "Why are you doing this?" he asked.
"Because the type C and type D transmitter coils only work on combat ships, and I happen to know that a large portion of Zachit ships need new ones about this time. Plus, you're one of the few outfitters." Merle declared.
The outfitter didn't get it. "What?"
Merle pulled something, and a beam of energy shot out from the gun, smashing into the safe behind the outfitter. Transmitter coils came spilling out, and glimmering uridium tips shone. "You're working for the renegades." she said, firing off a blast into the outfitters chest, just after changing something slightly on the gun to set it to stun.
The outfitter collapsed, knocked unconscious, and Merle stepped over him and grabbed a transmitter coil. "Thank you very much." she smiled, and as she walked back she opened up a comm. device and sent a message to the local militia.
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Aravore was a very simple person. He was a mercenary, and would do almost anything for money. In his time he had killed seven government leaders and countless officials, as well as breaching top security bases such as the Rock, Borb Station, Outpost Zachit and even the planet Igadza.
His current mission was quite plainly, to cause devastation among the High Council. There were no specifics as such, but Aravore had decided upon his first target already.
He was currently on New Mira, outside a large in which Kaleo Versair, one of the High Council members, took residence. His wife and parents also lived there.
Aravore stood up from behind his vantage point of a nearby bush. His long black coat hid the Scheizner phase swords from view. Aravore walked right up to the guards.
"Excuse me, who are you?" the first guard said, holding a neutron rifle in his hands. The other guards seemed distant.
"A lethal murderer who seeks to kill Versair's wife." Aravore declared coolly, throwing his black coat out of the way, drawing his twin Scheizners from either side of his belt, switching them on to radiate a deadly light, and then calmly slicing the heads off the two guards with the energy filled weapons.
"Who else?" he asked to no-one in particular, and kicked open the door to the manor house.
--------------End of Chapter 1---------------
BY SILVERDRAGON
(This message has been edited by SilverDragon (edited 04-27-2001).)
(Edited for formatting, spelling, and such)
(This message has been edited by moderator (edited 08-05-2001).)
