Post by Skyrider on Jun 25, 2007 23:56:51 GMT
Hi all.
I haven't got a title for this yet but i plan to make a fourth novel out of it. Please comment and say what you think below and how good as a prologue you think it is.
Prologue
“Geo Six this is Hydro Six, perimeter is secure, no sign of hostile activity permission to return to base.”
“Copy that Hydro Six. Permission is granted.”
“Roger Geo Six beginning docking sequence with Luna Home.”
“See you there babe,” Hali Breen replied to her fellow squad member Dext Lanso.
“You most certainly will.” Dext said and heard Hali giggle over the comm system.
He also heard the retching noises of Edin Samla. Callsign: Sol Six, the representative of the Light Republic amongst Elemental Squadron Six.
“Shut up Edin.” Hali said, still laughing.
“Do you two have to do this every single time?” Edin asked.
“Just for that Sol Six you can do another run.”
“Oh what? C’mon Hali, I didn’t mean it.”
“Go.” Hali commanded, “That’s an order. We’ll meet you in the main hall for Sword Practice.”
“Fine.” Edin said reluctantly. He pushed down on the thrusters and his Airship shot forward through the clear blue sky. As he circled the region he looked out around him. In the distance he could see his team mates beginning to dock with the great battleship Luna Home. He looked at the digital time clock, he had plenty of time to complete the run before the ship made its next jump. He didn’t see why he needed to make another run, the area had already been scanned multiple times and it was Squad Eight’s turn now anyway. He rolled his eyes and jammed the thrusters down harder, eager to get the run done.
Glancing out of the window he saw the familiar northern mountain ranges of his home Republic situated several thousand feet below, their white peaks looking almost insignificant from such a height. Eventually the clouds rolled over them and the mountains passed out of sight. He studied the scanners, they were of course lifeless.
Edin sighed and looked out of the window again. Nothing had happened for months. Sure, they had gone on small raids for parts and had done some tactical planning for land work but in the most part, it had just been training. He was bored. He needed some action, something to get his heart racing.
He was about to get just that...too much of it in fact.
A blip on the scanner woke him from his stupor. He looked down and cocked his head, puzzled. It wasn’t the military. It wasn’t one of the other rogue fighter groups and it certainly wasn’t one of the other squadrons.
“Geo Six this is Sol Six, are you reading anything in perimeter zone eight?”
“Negative Sol Six I’m not seeing anything.”
“I have a blip, it looks like two, no three fighters. Permission to engage?”
“ID?”
“None.”
“None? What do you mean none?”
“I mean none. Their identification isn’t registering on any part of the archives.”
There was an unsure pause. “Investigate them Sol Six. If they are hostile then engage them.”
“Copy that Geo Six.”
Edin steered his craft towards the three unknowns, who seemed also to heading straight for him.
The ships stopped. Edin stopped. The world stopped. Edin stared out at the ships, they were a mixture of two Elements: the leader’s airship was of the Fire Domain but the two flanking it were of the Water Nation. He frowned. It was odd to see the fighters of two countries mixing. Most rogue factions kept to their own countries and the only other group that mixed fighters was the government. The thing that struck Edin though was the design of the leader’s ship. Most of the Domain’s airships had three triangular points that jutted out from the main half circle cockpit with a cannon on the end of each point. This one however, had the two outer points as normal, but the central point forked down the middle so that it split into two smaller points. It almost looked custom built…
Edin was about to open the comm system before seeing the gleam of the leader’s guns flash red with energy.
He jammed down hard on the thrusters and flew straight up, narrowly avoiding the bolts of Fire energy that blasted across the crisp sky. The flankers soon followed him and opened fire upon the lone ship. But Edin was good; you had to be, to be a fighter for a cause such as his.
The two Water ships were slow, their shots easily avoided. Edin activated the weapons systems of his own ship and shot to the left, circling around and straightening out. He aimed his Light cannons up and pushed down hard on the triggers.
The Elemental Core of the ship that provided it with its firepower charged up. The energy flew into the cannons mounted on the ship. Golden white beams shot out of their tips, aiming upwards, towards the still climbing ships, which had not yet managed to turn.
The beams hit with devastating force. They ripped through both ships, first one then the other. The pilots were instantly vaporised. He levelled out and turned, ready to make another pass.
“You want to play? Alright we’ll play…” The pilot of the Fire ship said to himself, hands on the firing triggers. “All units.” He said in a cold voice into his own comm system. “Move in on the target, leave nothing remaining. Advance.”
The ships advanced. All of them.
Edin stared in disbelief at his scanners. It wasn’t possible. It was…it was an armada. How could there be so many? “By the Gods…” Edin whispered, his voice croaking. “Calling Squadron Six! I require immediate assistance! NOW!” He screamed, immediately diving, heading back to the Battleship Luna, knowing it was the only thing that could protect him now.
He initiated evasive action, knowing he couldn’t take all of them alone. There must have been at least fifty fighters, all of different countries. He shuddered at the thought, knowing somehow that the end was approaching for at least one of them…
“Guys! Where are you! I’m a sitting duck out here!”
“We’re on our way Edin!” came the reassuring voice of Malis Gasran, aka Pyro Six.
“Hang in there man! We’re launching now!” confirmed Fio Naskin, Luna Six.
Edin soared upwards, hoping to confuse his opponents, he had managed to lose many of them, but he was focusing all his energies on dodging the shots of those remaining, unable to concentrate on anything else.
There was a sudden explosion and he saw the familiar ships of Dext Lanso and Hali Breen.
“Everyone split up! Confuse them! Divide and Conquer!” Ordered Hali as she and Dext separated.
Edin smiled and jammed down on his thrusters yet again, pumping the engines hard. He saw one of the enemy squadrons. The left most fighter stuttered and turned a fraction later than the rest. A fatal mistake. Edin fired, hitting one of the fans that lifted the ship up. There was no smoke, only a black flash as the Dark fighter began to corkscrew downwards towards the ground, thousands of metres below.
Edin turned and unleashed a hail of energy into the remaining members of the group. It didn’t hit anything but it had the desired effect. The fighters scattered, allowing him to focus on another target.
There was a loud searing noise and he swore. Another group of fighters had performed a hit and run, swooping over the top and blasting him from above. Now they were coming around, going to strike again.
Edin did several things in that moment. He glanced at the scanners. Enemies everywhere. No way to escape. He looked at the sky around him, it was swarming with enemies. No way to escape. No way to escape anywhere. The squad was getting ready to make another past. He made his decision. He jarred down on the thrusters hard. Shooting forward at a rate much faster than any other ship in the armada. He charged them, riding their slipstreams to gain even greater speed.
He looked down at his hands, his fingers on the firing triggers. He pressed down hard, blasting the enemy ships at point blank range, he threw the cannons about wildly, sending a hail of energy blasts out at all the ships in the group. They stood no chance. They all blew apart, their pilots limp bodies falling to the earth beneath.
Edin allowed himself a small smile which dropped instantly as he was thrown back wildly, his ship sent flying by the shockwave of the explosions.
He felt another blast as an Earth fighter sent a pulse across his roof, scraping against him like sandpaper, sending him flying. He was spiralling out of control, his head was everywhere, disorientated by the flashing lights, the explosions and the constant firing of cannons. This was it. He could see it coming. The Earth fighter would turn, swoop and then fire upon his flailing engines, sending him to fall to the… BOOM!
The fighter shattered and through the dust shot the sixth member of their squadron: Gite Foshan, Aero Six.
“Cutting it a bit fine Gite!” Edin said greatfully into the comm.
“Don’t you know it!” Gite laughed and the two of them flew, aiming for the next group.
“Where are these Tassers coming from?” Dext demanded.
“Never mind that, just blast them out of the sky!” Gite replied. She shot forward, aiming for the leader of another group, she fired, her grey bolts shooting rapidly towards him.
The ships flipped. The last thing that Gite Foshan did was gape in amazement at such a fast manoeuvre, before her ship was ripped apart by the combined force of five ships.
“NO!” Screamed Edin. “Gite! Gite!”
“Aero Six is down! Luna Home we need help now!” Cried Hali. “We need…” There was a hiss and the comm died.
“Hali! No I’m…” there was another awful crackle.
“Fio! Malis!” Edin croaked, shooting down the squadron that had killed Gite in a blind rage, without thinking for his own safety.
“Retreat!” Ordered Fio. “All units retreat!”
They didn’t need telling twice. The three remaining fighters turned and put maximum force into their thrusters.
“Advance…finish them.” The Fire ship ordered.
“How are they doing it?” Fio asked, her voice trembling. “How are they doing it?”
“We need to get back to base, those fighters may be good but their not good enough to take out a battleship!” Edin said, dodging a blast that came to his left.
“I’ve got one on me! I’ve got one on me!” Cried Malis “Fio I…” The system died and Edin saw Pyro Six fall, his ship smoking.
“Two to go…” came a menacing voice into Edin and Fio’s heads.
“Who are you? WHO ARE YOU, YOU TASSER?!” Fio screamed, choking on her tears.
“The one who’s ordering you and your society’s demise…” the voice replied coolly.
“You’ll never stop us!” Edin replied, “You may take out one squadron with your cowardice but we will send more and more and we will take you down you dishonourable…”
“I beg to differ Edin Samla…” the voice whispered to him.
Edin stared and was tempted to turn his ship around. He stopped, staring straight ahead. “Who…are…you?” He asked, his voice trembling.
He heard a scream in his ear and he knew that he was the last one left. The last one to die.
“That doesn’t really matter now does it?” the voice asked and the system turned off.
Edin stared at his scanners. The fighters had caught up to him. This was it. Edin stopped. He wasn’t going to die like this. He turned his ship around. He clenched his hands and charged. He charged and fired all the shots he could, in every direction he could see. It was a fool’s charge. But it was a chivalrous one.
Edin felt two blasts and he was knocked back, his head slamming against the cockpits seat. He managed to utter four words before he closed his eyes for the last time: “Good luck…little brother…”
He blacked out. The world was no more.
I haven't got a title for this yet but i plan to make a fourth novel out of it. Please comment and say what you think below and how good as a prologue you think it is.
Prologue
“Geo Six this is Hydro Six, perimeter is secure, no sign of hostile activity permission to return to base.”
“Copy that Hydro Six. Permission is granted.”
“Roger Geo Six beginning docking sequence with Luna Home.”
“See you there babe,” Hali Breen replied to her fellow squad member Dext Lanso.
“You most certainly will.” Dext said and heard Hali giggle over the comm system.
He also heard the retching noises of Edin Samla. Callsign: Sol Six, the representative of the Light Republic amongst Elemental Squadron Six.
“Shut up Edin.” Hali said, still laughing.
“Do you two have to do this every single time?” Edin asked.
“Just for that Sol Six you can do another run.”
“Oh what? C’mon Hali, I didn’t mean it.”
“Go.” Hali commanded, “That’s an order. We’ll meet you in the main hall for Sword Practice.”
“Fine.” Edin said reluctantly. He pushed down on the thrusters and his Airship shot forward through the clear blue sky. As he circled the region he looked out around him. In the distance he could see his team mates beginning to dock with the great battleship Luna Home. He looked at the digital time clock, he had plenty of time to complete the run before the ship made its next jump. He didn’t see why he needed to make another run, the area had already been scanned multiple times and it was Squad Eight’s turn now anyway. He rolled his eyes and jammed the thrusters down harder, eager to get the run done.
Glancing out of the window he saw the familiar northern mountain ranges of his home Republic situated several thousand feet below, their white peaks looking almost insignificant from such a height. Eventually the clouds rolled over them and the mountains passed out of sight. He studied the scanners, they were of course lifeless.
Edin sighed and looked out of the window again. Nothing had happened for months. Sure, they had gone on small raids for parts and had done some tactical planning for land work but in the most part, it had just been training. He was bored. He needed some action, something to get his heart racing.
He was about to get just that...too much of it in fact.
A blip on the scanner woke him from his stupor. He looked down and cocked his head, puzzled. It wasn’t the military. It wasn’t one of the other rogue fighter groups and it certainly wasn’t one of the other squadrons.
“Geo Six this is Sol Six, are you reading anything in perimeter zone eight?”
“Negative Sol Six I’m not seeing anything.”
“I have a blip, it looks like two, no three fighters. Permission to engage?”
“ID?”
“None.”
“None? What do you mean none?”
“I mean none. Their identification isn’t registering on any part of the archives.”
There was an unsure pause. “Investigate them Sol Six. If they are hostile then engage them.”
“Copy that Geo Six.”
Edin steered his craft towards the three unknowns, who seemed also to heading straight for him.
The ships stopped. Edin stopped. The world stopped. Edin stared out at the ships, they were a mixture of two Elements: the leader’s airship was of the Fire Domain but the two flanking it were of the Water Nation. He frowned. It was odd to see the fighters of two countries mixing. Most rogue factions kept to their own countries and the only other group that mixed fighters was the government. The thing that struck Edin though was the design of the leader’s ship. Most of the Domain’s airships had three triangular points that jutted out from the main half circle cockpit with a cannon on the end of each point. This one however, had the two outer points as normal, but the central point forked down the middle so that it split into two smaller points. It almost looked custom built…
Edin was about to open the comm system before seeing the gleam of the leader’s guns flash red with energy.
He jammed down hard on the thrusters and flew straight up, narrowly avoiding the bolts of Fire energy that blasted across the crisp sky. The flankers soon followed him and opened fire upon the lone ship. But Edin was good; you had to be, to be a fighter for a cause such as his.
The two Water ships were slow, their shots easily avoided. Edin activated the weapons systems of his own ship and shot to the left, circling around and straightening out. He aimed his Light cannons up and pushed down hard on the triggers.
The Elemental Core of the ship that provided it with its firepower charged up. The energy flew into the cannons mounted on the ship. Golden white beams shot out of their tips, aiming upwards, towards the still climbing ships, which had not yet managed to turn.
The beams hit with devastating force. They ripped through both ships, first one then the other. The pilots were instantly vaporised. He levelled out and turned, ready to make another pass.
“You want to play? Alright we’ll play…” The pilot of the Fire ship said to himself, hands on the firing triggers. “All units.” He said in a cold voice into his own comm system. “Move in on the target, leave nothing remaining. Advance.”
The ships advanced. All of them.
Edin stared in disbelief at his scanners. It wasn’t possible. It was…it was an armada. How could there be so many? “By the Gods…” Edin whispered, his voice croaking. “Calling Squadron Six! I require immediate assistance! NOW!” He screamed, immediately diving, heading back to the Battleship Luna, knowing it was the only thing that could protect him now.
He initiated evasive action, knowing he couldn’t take all of them alone. There must have been at least fifty fighters, all of different countries. He shuddered at the thought, knowing somehow that the end was approaching for at least one of them…
“Guys! Where are you! I’m a sitting duck out here!”
“We’re on our way Edin!” came the reassuring voice of Malis Gasran, aka Pyro Six.
“Hang in there man! We’re launching now!” confirmed Fio Naskin, Luna Six.
Edin soared upwards, hoping to confuse his opponents, he had managed to lose many of them, but he was focusing all his energies on dodging the shots of those remaining, unable to concentrate on anything else.
There was a sudden explosion and he saw the familiar ships of Dext Lanso and Hali Breen.
“Everyone split up! Confuse them! Divide and Conquer!” Ordered Hali as she and Dext separated.
Edin smiled and jammed down on his thrusters yet again, pumping the engines hard. He saw one of the enemy squadrons. The left most fighter stuttered and turned a fraction later than the rest. A fatal mistake. Edin fired, hitting one of the fans that lifted the ship up. There was no smoke, only a black flash as the Dark fighter began to corkscrew downwards towards the ground, thousands of metres below.
Edin turned and unleashed a hail of energy into the remaining members of the group. It didn’t hit anything but it had the desired effect. The fighters scattered, allowing him to focus on another target.
There was a loud searing noise and he swore. Another group of fighters had performed a hit and run, swooping over the top and blasting him from above. Now they were coming around, going to strike again.
Edin did several things in that moment. He glanced at the scanners. Enemies everywhere. No way to escape. He looked at the sky around him, it was swarming with enemies. No way to escape. No way to escape anywhere. The squad was getting ready to make another past. He made his decision. He jarred down on the thrusters hard. Shooting forward at a rate much faster than any other ship in the armada. He charged them, riding their slipstreams to gain even greater speed.
He looked down at his hands, his fingers on the firing triggers. He pressed down hard, blasting the enemy ships at point blank range, he threw the cannons about wildly, sending a hail of energy blasts out at all the ships in the group. They stood no chance. They all blew apart, their pilots limp bodies falling to the earth beneath.
Edin allowed himself a small smile which dropped instantly as he was thrown back wildly, his ship sent flying by the shockwave of the explosions.
He felt another blast as an Earth fighter sent a pulse across his roof, scraping against him like sandpaper, sending him flying. He was spiralling out of control, his head was everywhere, disorientated by the flashing lights, the explosions and the constant firing of cannons. This was it. He could see it coming. The Earth fighter would turn, swoop and then fire upon his flailing engines, sending him to fall to the… BOOM!
The fighter shattered and through the dust shot the sixth member of their squadron: Gite Foshan, Aero Six.
“Cutting it a bit fine Gite!” Edin said greatfully into the comm.
“Don’t you know it!” Gite laughed and the two of them flew, aiming for the next group.
“Where are these Tassers coming from?” Dext demanded.
“Never mind that, just blast them out of the sky!” Gite replied. She shot forward, aiming for the leader of another group, she fired, her grey bolts shooting rapidly towards him.
The ships flipped. The last thing that Gite Foshan did was gape in amazement at such a fast manoeuvre, before her ship was ripped apart by the combined force of five ships.
“NO!” Screamed Edin. “Gite! Gite!”
“Aero Six is down! Luna Home we need help now!” Cried Hali. “We need…” There was a hiss and the comm died.
“Hali! No I’m…” there was another awful crackle.
“Fio! Malis!” Edin croaked, shooting down the squadron that had killed Gite in a blind rage, without thinking for his own safety.
“Retreat!” Ordered Fio. “All units retreat!”
They didn’t need telling twice. The three remaining fighters turned and put maximum force into their thrusters.
“Advance…finish them.” The Fire ship ordered.
“How are they doing it?” Fio asked, her voice trembling. “How are they doing it?”
“We need to get back to base, those fighters may be good but their not good enough to take out a battleship!” Edin said, dodging a blast that came to his left.
“I’ve got one on me! I’ve got one on me!” Cried Malis “Fio I…” The system died and Edin saw Pyro Six fall, his ship smoking.
“Two to go…” came a menacing voice into Edin and Fio’s heads.
“Who are you? WHO ARE YOU, YOU TASSER?!” Fio screamed, choking on her tears.
“The one who’s ordering you and your society’s demise…” the voice replied coolly.
“You’ll never stop us!” Edin replied, “You may take out one squadron with your cowardice but we will send more and more and we will take you down you dishonourable…”
“I beg to differ Edin Samla…” the voice whispered to him.
Edin stared and was tempted to turn his ship around. He stopped, staring straight ahead. “Who…are…you?” He asked, his voice trembling.
He heard a scream in his ear and he knew that he was the last one left. The last one to die.
“That doesn’t really matter now does it?” the voice asked and the system turned off.
Edin stared at his scanners. The fighters had caught up to him. This was it. Edin stopped. He wasn’t going to die like this. He turned his ship around. He clenched his hands and charged. He charged and fired all the shots he could, in every direction he could see. It was a fool’s charge. But it was a chivalrous one.
Edin felt two blasts and he was knocked back, his head slamming against the cockpits seat. He managed to utter four words before he closed his eyes for the last time: “Good luck…little brother…”
He blacked out. The world was no more.
