Freelancer Fanfic: Ragnarok (Updated 10/24)

Prelude Nomad Homesystem Nomad Battlemaster Ulri Xiamee watched in amazement as the human called ‘Trent’ activated the hypergate, the same one that the great Fathers had disappeared into so long ago. It was not possible! The Fathers had hidden the great artifact where it could never be found! Ulri’s mind retreated from his senses and began to ponder furiously. How could a small pack of humans penetrate the solar system’s protective sphere, slip by the internal defense grid, and bring down the shield around the city and activate the gate? The odds were overwhelming! Before he could ponder this further, a sudden lurch forced Ulri off-balance and snapped him out of his state of deep thought. The hypergate had begun to pull him in. Being the commander of a mighty battleship, he pushed the engine to full power and managed to bring the massive ship to a standstill. But the gravitational pull from the gate was steadily increasing, and the great ship quickly succumbed to the backwards pull. Ulri screamed aloud in dismay as he, along with hundreds of other nomads, fell into the hypergate and sped through a tunnel, awash with color, moving at an incredibly fast speed. But Ulri’s scream caught in his throat when he reentered normal space. A new ship dominated the frontier in front of him. It was tremendous, easily five times longer than any nomad battleship. It was clad in dark red chrome and, adding to its fierce look, possessed a fluctuating red aura around it. Neither the mysterious ship nor the nomad fleet moved, creating a strenuous silence. Each had taken the other by surprise. The red ship broke the silence first. Turrets along its lateral line warmed, glowed, and with a horrible rattling belch, discharged their built-up energy, fiery red orbs trailing oily black smoke, directly at the nomad fleet. Ulri Xiamee gaped in horror as one of the bursts impacted upon a nearby cruiser. Blue light illuminated the scene as the cruiser exploded. Fighters, plated with the same red chrome as the larger ship, appeared out of nowhere and began picking off the nomad fighters like flies, their weapons and engines shrieking like a thousand tortured souls. The giant enemy ship’s turrets warmed and discharged again, this time directly at Ulri. Ulri panicked and jammed his ship’s throttle as far as it would go, straining his ship to the breaking point in order to dodge the incoming cannon fire. But alas, his ship was too slow to move in time, and two of the destructive orbs caught the large craft on its side, breaking it in two. The once great battleship dissolved into nothing as an angry red fire quickly consumed it, and Battlemaster Ulri Xiamee screamed as he died.

believe it or not, im not a Final Fantasy fan Edited by - Steel_Fang on 4/5/2005 2:47:43 PM

A new chapter is now online! Chapter 1 Planet Manhattan, New York System. 2 years later The Liberty sleeper ship swung into view as Trent prepped his Sabre for landing after another successful mission. Liberty Rogue Perry Johnson was tied up in the cargo hold, and payday was only minutes away. Trent lowered his ship until it hovered a few feet off the ground, activated the gravpad, and the Sabre came to rest a foot off of the surface of the landing pad. Trent then punched in a few commands on the control panel, and the cockpit opened with a hiss, followed by a motorized hum as a telescoping ladder extended from the side of the ship to the ground. Trent climbed down. Two men were waiting for Trent on the landing pad, both wearing Liberty Navy suits. One of them pushed a small cargo transporter, specifically designed for handling escape pods. They approached Trent, and flashed their IDs. “Mr. Trent, we’re with the Navy. Is Mr. Johnson ready for transport?” “Yeah. Follow me.” Trent led the Navy personnel to the side of the Sabre and flipped open a small hatch, revealing a numeric keyboard. He typed a number sequence, and then pressed ENTER. The Sabre’s underside cargo hatch opened, and Perry Johnson’s escape pod was lowered onto the transporter via a tractor beam, where it was automatically scanned. One of the Navy officers turned to Trent and removed a data pad from his pocket, and Trent did the same. “Well, Mr. Trent, it looks like Mr. Johnson is alive and well. I’m transferring your payment now.” The officer executed a command on his data pad, and the screen on Trent’s pad flashed green twice. The transfer had been successful. “There you go. See you around, Mr. Trent.” “Thanks,” Trent replied. Trent closed up the Sabre, pocketed his data pad and walked off. But before he could get some R&R, he had to make a pit stop. A little something for Juni… As Trent entered the shop he recognized the man behind the counter, Julio Mendez, the man who owned the store. “Oy, Trent! Good to see you again!” “Hey, Julio,” Trent replied as he approached the counter. “You got the *ahem* package?” Julio beamed. “Yessir, it came this morning. Hang on, let me go get it.” Julio turned and headed through the door that led to the back of his shop. Julio’s small shop, unlike most other shops, was a place where you could buy or sell practically anything. Several people accused him of being an Outcast or Corsair, due to his family’s apparent Hispanic heritage, but Julio’ family had arrived in Sirius aboard the Liberty sleeper ship. And contrary to belief, he did not deal in contraband. Julio returned from the back of the shop, carrying a small velvet box and set it down on the counter. “I hope you know what you are doing, man. These are very hard to come by, especially including your specifications, and it can get you into a very messy situation.” Julio smiled. “Thanks, Julio,” Trent replied, “but I think I know what I’m doing.” Trent opened the box. Inside the box was the embroidered message “Marry Me.” But behind those two powerful words sat an Inamorata engagement ring. This extremely rare ring was made to celebrate the coming of the year 800 A.S., and featured a rather large diamond bordering the inside curve of a gold crescent moon. Only 800 had been made. The year that the ring was made had some significance, being the year that Trent first met Juni, as well as their assistance in saving the colonies from the Nomads. Trent turned the open box in his hands, noting the pure gold that made up the ring. It was too beautiful to be removed from its resting place. Trent stared at the diamond and smiled. Its tone was a deep blue, exactly the color that he had requested. Juni had always had a thing for blue… The sound of Julio loudly clearing his throat brought Trent’s attention back away from the ring. Trent closed the box. “You do remember our agreement, don’t you, Mr. Trent?” “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thirty thou.” To Trent, Juni was worth much more than money. He pulled out his data pad and the screen flashed red once as Trent paid Julio the money, then he pocketed the ring and left. It was late and he should be getting home. Trent quietly entered his house, crept to the bedroom, and peeked through the door. He noted with relief that Juni was already in bed, asleep (they had been living together for the past few months). Trent removed the ring’s box from his pocket, held his breath, and tiptoed on in. Juni had the unusual habit of keeping a small glass of water on her bed stand to hydrate herself when she woke up. Careful not to wake her, Trent removed the glass of water and put the ring in its place. The next morning when Juni would wake up and reach for the water, she would find the ring instead. It would be the most wonderful wake-up call of her life. Trent got dressed for bed and crawled under she sheets beside Juni, and lightly kissed her forehead. She smiled in her sleep. Trent rolled over and dozed off.

I have noted the apparent lack of replies, so ive decided to release the next chapter early. please tell me what you think. Chapter 2 Unknown planet, unknown space outside Sirius Jori-Def-Olen-Nalemo was different than most other members of his species. He was rather small and only thinly built. He never spoke or acted with much enthusiasm, and consequently tended to be quite boring in the company of others. He was, however, quite intelligent, which had given him one of the most honorable duties off the battlefield: gathering Intel. Still, the job was considered pretty pathetic compared with the glory of a front line duty that most of his people eagerly clamored for. Now Nalemo stood in front of two large metal doors, the only objects that separated him from Selestren-Kulam, leader of their powerful race. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be honored or frightened. Kulam, being the leader of his species, was without question the most glorified figure known, and under normal circumstances most of his people would be extremely humbled to meet such a being. But Kulam had been known to be extremely hostile to anyone that angered him, and with his own two claws would inflict severe, oftentimes fatal injuries to those who got on his bad side. Nalemo had his hopes up, however, as the news he carried would most certainly please his master. But this didn’t keep him from being nervous. Extremely nervous. The doors shuddered and slowly opened with a low groan, revealing a sheet of darkness that engulfed the adjoining room. A deep voice reverberated in Nalemo’s ears. “Enter” Nalemo nervously ran a claw through the long silver hair that crept down his neck. He took a deep breath and slowly walked into the darkness that the doors had concealed just moments ago. As soon as Nalemo cleared the entryway, the heavy doors slammed shut behind him with a loud metallic boom, causing the alien to freeze with fear mid-stride. Nalemo struggled to banish the unpleasant emotion from his thoughts, quickly regained control over his body, and brought himself to a proper stance. Though it was impossible to see anything, the alien glanced about, waiting for something to happen. A dull light popped on, its rays directed at another creature standing roughly six feet in front of Nalemo, and the being turned to face him. It was Selestren-Kulam. Nalemo was unprepared for what he saw. Kulam was easily a head taller than what was considered average. Deep grooves ran down his limbs and across his torso, outlining hundreds muscle fibers as the massive things seemingly strained to burst through his brown-grey skin. His long hair was a filthy black and covered the skin on his spine and the back of his forearms, hanging down like moss on a reed. Kulam flexed his immense jaw muscles as he directed his attention toward Nalemo. “Jori-Def-Olen-Nalemo. What news do you bring me?” Nalemo’s nervousness subsided a bit as he was finally able to concentrate on his report, and not the creature that stood before him. “Master, the data feed from the probe we sent through the Dom Kavash hypergate has finally been received.” “Finally,” Kulam thought. “After all this time”. Kulam leaned towards Nalemo slightly as his he became more interested in what the smaller creature had to report. “Were you able to triangulate the signal?” Nalemo nodded. “Yes, Master.” He then proceeded to conjure a small holographic device and clicked it on. The space between the two aliens filled with small clusters of stars, represented by pinpricks of light in the air. Nalemo pointed a claw at one particular blob of light. “The signal originated from here, Master. Sector 7-R-Kappa, sub-sector G-14-Rho. Data shows a star system, Master.” “How well is the system guarded?” Kulam asked. “General scans show numerous enemies, Master, but they are of a different species from the Dom Kavash, and they do not appear to be very advanced. We will be able to take control of the system without much trouble.” Kulam abruptly reached out and clicked off the hologram. He had heard what he had wanted to hear. A thin smile spread over his elongated jaw. “Excellent. I will rally our soldiers. We have the coordinates to the Dom Kavash empire, and the glory of the kill awaits. Soon the old empire will be transformed into our new military stronghold, and the gods will be appeased.” Kulam’s smile turned into a serious look on his face and waved the other alien to the doors. “You are dismissed.” Trying not to look eager to take his leave, Nalemo turned around and left.

Chapter 3 is ready to go Chapter 3 Planet Manhattan, New York System Juni was still half asleep when she reached for her morning glass of water. Instead her hand fell upon a small, soft box. It felt like velvet. “What the hell is this?” she thought groggily. She sat up, forced the sleepiness out of her eyes, and held the box in front of her. It was very pretty. Then Juni’s heart leapt as she realized what the box was. She quickly found the seam and opened it. Juni could not believe her eyes. An Inamorata! She had heard of these beautiful rings, but had never thought she would ever see one, let alone own one. Her eyes took in the spectacle in her hands, turning it slightly to gaze upon it from different angles. Juni then took attention to the words inscribed in front of the ring: ‘Marry Me.’ She tore her gaze away from the inscription and turned to look at Trent, quietly sleeping beside her. The love struck fool! Of course she would marry him! She loved Trent with all her heart. Juni quickly leaned over and began to madly kiss him. Trent awoke being smothered by Juni’s kisses. At first he was surprised, but was quick to return the favor. He embraced her in his arms, holding her close. They continued kissing for another 40-or-so seconds, when Juni finally pulled back and sat up, propping herself up with her slender arm. “So,” Trent asked, “What was all that about?” Juni was somewhat puzzled by the question. Shouldn’t he know? She decided to answer anyways. “I found the ring,” she replied A recollection of the events of the previous night rushed into Trent’s mind. “Damn,” he thought. “I was hoping that I would be awake before she saw it.” Trent improvised on the situation. “Oh, you did?” Juni nodded and lay back down in the bed on her side, her face close to Trent’s. The ring was still in her hand. “Mmmm-hmmm” She gazed into his eyes, a smile spreading on her face. But suddenly her eyes narrowed and her voice turned serious. “Is this your way of proposing to me? Or is this one of Tobias’ half-baked stunts?” Trent hesitated. A truthful answer would fit into both categories. The proposal was real, but it was Tobias who had given him the idea of how to do it. Trent chose his words carefully. “Why would I joke about something this serious?” He asked, running his fingers through her dark hair. “I love you, Juni. You fill the hole in my heart.” Trent reached down and gently took hold of her hand that held the ring. He slowly brought the box up in front of their faces and opened it towards Juni. “So I ask you: will you marry me?” Juni was more than satisfied with his answer. She pulled her body up against Trent’s and gave him a very passionate lip-locked kiss. They both then warmly embraced the other in their arms. Juni began to speak softly into Trent’s ear. “Oh, you know I will, Edison,” she whispered. “I will, I will, I will….” more next monday!

lol. didnt see THAT reply coming

Next chapter is up, and finally a battle! Chapter 4 Nomad Homesystem The battleship Osiris sat motionless in the asteroid field that surrounded the hypergate. The single star in the system bathed the ship in a soft green glow, while asteroids slowly spun and tumbled through space. Occasionally one would pass in between the star and ship, casting a dark shadow across the metal hull. Orillion silently paced the deck of the Osiris’ bridge, eying the displays and monitors which his people manned. He preferred to see what was happening first hand, and it helped to reassure him that none of the men or women under his command were possessed. Orillion continued to pace down the deck until he reached the station manned by Ensign Jennifer Wellington, a young Bretonian woman who ran the Osiris’ radar. “Wellington, give me an update on enemy activity.” Wellington’s hands danced lightly about the keyboard. “Sir, no hostiles to report, cloaked or otherwise.” She brushed a few strands of blond hair out of her eyes and turned to face her superior. “We may actually have an uneventful day.” Orillion let out a thankful sigh. After months of almost continuous bombardment by the nomads, resistance was finally beginning to thin. The radar system provided by Liberty, one that could detect cloaked ships, had proven itself a life saver time and again. More than once had the nomads tried to approach and cripple the Osiris. The variety of the attacks ranged from simple fighter wings, small invasion forces, and on one memorable occasion, a cloaked nomad battleship had tried to sneak up behind the Osiris and destroy its engines and cloaking device. That had been a close one. “Good. Keep me notified on any changes,” Orillion exclaimed. “Aye, Sir.” Wellington returned her attention to the displays in front of her. Orillion took a step back and stood at a point that overlooked all the personnel on the bridge. Almost all of those within The Order had been affected by the nomad incursion a year ago. From Corsairs who had encountered the nomads while scrounging for artifacts, to people like Wellington whose entire families had been possessed. Orillion recalled how he had first found out about the alien parasites. He recalled how his C.O., William Orson, his eyes having turned luminous blue, had attacked him, setting into motion the events that helped establish the Order…. Wellington’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Sir, I’m picking up some strange readings.” “Dammit,” Orillion thought. He walked back over to Wellington’s station. “Nomads?” “No, Sir. Indicators show…” Wellington’s hands were a blur over the keypad, and a hint of confusion appeared in her voice. “…antimatter explosions.” A new window popped up on the station screen and blared for attention. “Sir! Unknown contact appearing beside the nomad city!” Orillion rushed to a window on the bridge that overlooked the alien structure. There, a ghastly ship, plated in dark red chrome, had appeared. Orillion felt his heart skip a beat. The ship must have been fourteen K long! Several massive fins jutting upwards and downwards from the sides of the thing made it nearly as tall. As Orillion watched, the ship began to slowly move forward as the engines ignited and thick black smoke belched from the rear of the ship. “What the hell is that?” Orillion whispered. Lieutenant Anthony Carson, who supervised the patrols and fighter wings in the system as well as the status of the battleship, spoke up. “Orillion, sir, the wing commanders want to know if they should attack. Your orders?” Orillion assessed the situation. “Tell them to hold their fire, but stay alert. Shoot only if whatever that thing is shoots first” Carson nodded. “Yes, sir.” He then keyed the comm. channel and relayed the information. No sooner than the command had gone out when one of the turrets on the red ship warmed and discharged directly at the Osiris. The concentrated energy screamed though space, and closed the 12 K gap between the two ships in a matter of seconds. As luck would have it, a large asteroid tumbled into the path of the orb of destruction and blocked it. The ball of energy detonated on the surface of the asteroid, and the resulting explosion blazed a harsh red as it burned an eight meter deep crater in the surface of the asteroid’s surface, before turning black and dissipating. The force of the impact sent the asteroid careening towards the Osiris, where it struck a glancing blow upon the port side. The ship lurched in response and Orillion nearly lost his balance as the deck shifted underneath his feet. “Carson! Damage report!” Orillion shouted after he had regained his footing. “Sir, hull breaches on levels six and eight! The ship’s framework is damaged!” “Order all wings to open fire!” “Yes, sir!” Carson forwarded the message. Seven dozen Order Anubises changed course to intercept the alien battleship. The red beast aimed its turrets at the incoming attack force and only managed to vaporize two. The turrets were too inaccurate for such small craft. Orillion focused intently on the battle, and noted with some relief that the red ship could not effectively neutralize the fighters. But if there was anything that he had learned during the nomad war, it was that appearance could be deceiving. ***** “Fly in loose formation and swerve along your course, boys. Don’t give ‘em something to hit!” Flight Commander Justin Williams yelled into the comm. as he quickly strafed his Anubis to dodge the energy discharge that the alien battleship had lobbed at him. As he pressed his ship onward, he made the mistake of allowing a wingtip of his Anubis to dip into the inky trail that the orb of energy had left behind. The ship’s system alarm went off as it detected electronics failure and lost the firing abilities of one of the guns. Williams swore aloud as he quickly veered away from the contrail. The discharges trailed dark matter? No time to think about that. Several new ships had suddenly appeared on his radar. Each one was about two-thirds the size of an Eagle, and were plated with the same red chrome as the battleship. Their slanted wings made the fighters resemble a flying X when viewed from in front or behind, with each wing sporting a gun at its tip. The new fighters turned and made to intercept the Order fighters. Williams broke out of formation and engaged the nearest enemy fighter. He managed to firmly plant himself behind it, the alien fighter being slightly slower and more sluggish in turning. William pounded the ship with his neutron cannons, and nimbly dodged a volley of red death as the fighter swiveled its guns and took aim at him. Suddenly the fighter glowed red for an instant, then disappeared with a dull thump, leaving in its place a small cloud of dark matter. “What the hell?” Williams asked aloud to no one in particular. A split second after the fighter disappeared, it reappeared with another thump, positioned behind Williams’ Anubis. The craft quickly fired all four of its guns at Williams. In a single second, the bursts of energy pounded away Williams’ shield, then his hull. The final volley made the Anubis explode into a ball of flame. ***** “Sir! The ship has some kind of fighter protection! They’re taking the Anubises down like flies!” Carson shouted. “How many fighters?” Wellington responded, managing to keep a calm voice. “The number of fighters is difficult to count, sir. They keep disappearing from radar. But I estimate that there are between twelve and fifteen enemy fighters, sir.” Orillion shook his head in frustration. Dammit! The Order fighters outnumbered the enemy six to one and yet it was the intruders who were dominating the battlefield! “Sir, we only have five fighters left!” Carson shouted. “Now four……three…….two…..all of our fighters have been destroyed. Sir, they’re changing course, heading straight towards us!” Orillion felt a pang of fear. “Cloak up. Cloak up now!” he shouted. Broken blue rings of energy appeared around the Osiris and traveled up and down its lateral lines. Slowly, steadily, the Osiris disappeared from view. “Give me eighty percent on the engines,” Orillion said softly. The Osiris’ engines responded, and the invisible ship began to move forward, away from its position in the asteroid field, moving carefully not to disturb any of the rocks that floated nearby. Orillion watched on the monitors as red fighters suddenly appeared at the edge of the asteroid field, and then proceeded to enter the field, moving towards the location of where the Osiris had been. Orillion released the breath that he had been holding. It came as a great relief that the alien ships did not have the technology to detect cloaked vessels. But why did they choose to manually enter the asteroid field, instead of just ‘magically’ appearing near the Osisis’ location? It did not make sense to him. The Osiris activated its cruise engines after it entered open space, and within a few minutes it quietly passed through the opening of the Dyson sphere and locked the entrance. “Give me a count of enemy casualties,” Orillion said. Wellington’s hands played slowly across the keyboard as she accessed the report. “One, sir,” she said slowly. Orillion hung his head. The Order had been suffered a phenomenal defeat. He didn’t want to admit it, but he knew that he would need some help on this one.

Heres the next chapter. as usual, open to suggestions and criticism Chapter 5 Planet Manhattan, New York System 12 days later Music softly drifted down from overhead in the Manhattan bar. The music was a descendant of a very old style of song called ‘jazz’, and a saxophone gave a soft cry through the overhanging speakers as Edison Trent and his fiancé, Jun’ko Zane, finished telling King their marriage plans. King leaned back and put his hands behind his head, smiling. “It’s like I said, the love between you two is like something from fantasy land. So when do you two plan to tie the knot?” “In six months.” Juni replied. She sighed. “We’re so busy taking care of everything, it’s hard for us to just relax like this,” She turned her head to face her future husband, “But all this work will be worth it.” Juni proceeded to clasp her hand around Trent’s arm. Trent, however, proceeded to grab his fiancée’s butt. Juni squirmed. “Edison, stop it!” She said lightly, giving him a playful one-armed shove. “Please, not here.” King leaned forward. “What’re you two doing?” he asked, a grin spreading across his face. “Nothing.” Juni said quickly. King wasn’t fooled, though; Trent was grinning from ear to ear. Juni’s data pad sounded, notifying her that she was receiving a call. Juni removed the pad and looked at the caller I.D. “It’s Orillion. Hold on, I’ll be right back.” Juni Gave Trent a quick peck on the lips, then got up and left the room. Once again King leaned back and placed his hands behind his head. “Man, I wish I had someone that special.” “C’mon, King,” Trent responded. “What about Sinclair?” “It hasn’t been working out,” King said glumly. “Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” A minute later Juni returned to the bar, and Trent noticed that she was walking swiftly. “Oh-oh,” Trent whispered to King. “Something big must have happened.” Juni approached Trent. “Edison, we need to go. Something bad has happened.” Trent decided to push Juni’s patience a little. “How bad?” Juni narrowed her eyes at Trent. “Very bad. We need to leave now.” “Alright. See you around, King.” Trent got up and left the bar with Juni. ***** It took a few minutes for Trent to leave the planet surface and exit the docking ring. Juni had gone ahead of him, and was waiting for Trent when he got there. “Switching to a secure channel,” Juni said over the comm. link. A rapid sequence of audible pings quickly followed. “The Osiris is waiting for us in the debris field behind Manhattan. Let’s go.” Blue-white fire exploded out of the backs of the Defender and Sabre as the two ships activated their cruise engines and flew around the planet toward a similar waypoint. “So…” Trent exclaimed,” why did Orillion call?” “Something has happened in the Nomad homesystem,” Juni responded. “What, did the nomads drive them out?” Juni closed her eyes and slowly exhaled. “They were driven out. But not by nomads.” A small feeling of fear clenched itself inside Trent’s chest. “Did he say who? Or what?” Juni shook her head over the comm. screen. “No. Orillion said that he would brief us further on the Osiris.” Trent and Juni reached the debris field and entered without slowing. 2 k later, and they had reached the waypoint. Trent looked around. He couldn’t see the Osiris. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw the blue light given off by the battleship’s cloaking device as the battleship seemingly materialized out of nothing. Orillion came over the comm. Colonel Zane, Colonel Trent, its good to see you again. You’re clear to dock.” Juni keyed the comm. “Affirmative. Trent, go ahead and dock.” After both fighters disappeared into the ship’s underside, broken energy rings once again traveled up and down the ship as it slowly disappeared from view. Edited by - Steel_Fang on 8/22/2005 4:27:34 AM