| Author |
[Lith Ragond Story] Bad news for Ch 3 |
Lith Ragond
Cadet
Galactic Navy
Joined: November 25, 2001
Posts: 1854
|  Posted: 2003-07-01 11:56
With all my DS fiction (not that many of you have seen it), I write about me/my DS character.
gonna take the idea of Reds and keep it all in one thread. check back here for new additions/chapters.
[revision]did a little revising with the dates, because when i wrote this i went off the DS history at the time, and with the new history, dates were WAY off, so fixed that, if you see any inconsistancies within my stories timeline, please tell me, i dont usually catch it all[/revision]
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Installment #1: Origin [REVISED]
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-----March 7, 2269;
-----Near Eri JG, Lalande, 1200 Hours:
Emily Ragond was serving onboard the NSS Vantage; it was one of the newer EAD classes, so they were assigned to patrol the Lalande system near Yahoo. Since First Contact with the K’luth, there had been heavy patrols in every sector. The populous were terrified, afraid of one day looking up at the sky and seeing K’luth drop pods descending on them without warning.
To think, some members of the government had tried to cover this up. For months the entire UGTO had been completely unaware, while families were wondering why the Sirius Expedition Force had not come home at the scheduled time. Then in a flash it was out, and the UGTO had mobilized all its forces.
Though Emily had been in many a battle with the ICC, the K’luth scared her, and here she was, on the front lines. Well nearly the front lines, the UGTO had been battling for Epsilon Eri for the past three weeks, though they could only hang on to a few planets at a time.
Emily looked around at her quarters, I love being a Commander, she thought to herself. She was up for promotion next month too. She would be given her own ship to command. A battle cruiser! Though it wasn’t a much respected ship, she could have it outfitted anyway she pleased. And with the new Sabot Missile Tech stolen from the ICC, it would sting any ship.
There was a beep from the door, telling her someone was requesting entrance. So she got up and answered the door.
"Oh hey there Lt. Therin, what can I do for you?" the Lt. seemed to have something on his mind.
"Well, for starters you can drop this rank bull and call me by my first name."
Emily rolled her eyes, "Listen Morad, I have told you time and time again, I am not interested, besides, we have been friends since childhood. It would be like dating my brother."
Morad looked slightly annoyed, "Yeah, yeah. I hear you, but why don’t we jus-" he was cut off by alarms suddenly blaring to life.
The Captains voice came over the intercom, "All hands report to battle stations ASAP!"
Without saying a word they both ran to the bridge. They came on deck just as the Captain had one of communication officers bring up the tactical display. It showed a fleet of K’luth poring out of the Eri Jump Gate. Luckily the Vantage had had been fitted with scanners at its last stop.
The comm officer turned to the Captain; "Sir..."
For a heartbeat, all was silent.
"Send a distress signal to any ships that can make it hear within three hours. Also start the evacuation of all planets in system. How many ships so far?"
Comm officer Jared looked at his screen, gulped, then replied, "Five station class, 18 dreads, 35 cruisers, 63 destroyers, 71 frigates, and… 104 transports."
The captain looked stunned, "My God, they are planning to push for Ross. Relay all information to Fleet Command. Now what ships can we muster?"
Again Jared looked at his screen, "There is a small fleet of the Galactic Navy at New Pakistan, commander of the fleet is Vice Admiral Weathers of the NSS Demorian, BD class."
"Galactic Navy? Damn, the newest addition to the UGTO, straight out of the academy. Hail them, and make sure they know that New Pak is where the K’luth are most likely to strike; they always go for most concentration of ships first. Nav, plot a course!"
1648 Hours, New Pak Orbit:
All had been quiet after the Vantage had jumped to NP. The K’luth had vanished from all screens, and the UGTO had assembled what force they could. Emily had been sweating for the past hour and a half.
The K’luth were nowhere to be seen, and having an enemy out their more terrible than any before could certainly play with a persons mind.
"SIR! Communications with all our scouts just went down!" yelled a comm officer.
"Open a channel to the fleet... This is the Captain of the NSS Vantage, we expect the K’luth to make their move at any moment, be prepared to-"
The Captain was thrown to the ground as the ship was slammed to the starboard side.
"What the HELL just happened!" the captain yelled.
An engineer was looking at a damage report, "We're not sure, most likely Psi Missiles, damn hard to detect."
Just then there was a bright flash from the main view screen, and suddenly there were K’luth ships decloaking and firing on any ships in range.
"Sir, K’luth are opening fire with ELF Beams, and boarding what ships they can."
"Well return fire damnit! Blow up as many ships as possible, don’t waste time on anything that might be left alive! You people know what to do!"
And so, the Vantage drives kicked on, and they began weaving in and out of those UGTO ships still recovering from surprise.
"Three cruisers homing in on us sir! Brace for impact!"
Just then, all the consoles and lights dimmed.
"How far out are those cruisers?"
"Farthest one out is 240 GU."
"Perfect!" Just then, the Captain reached over and flipped open the side arm of his chair and hit a little red button. There was a moment of complete darkness as all system on the ship shutdown and allowed the Flux Wave to pass through. A moment later everything was back to life.
"Status on enemy cruisers!"
"Their drifting sir."
"Take em out!"
It was easy work slicing through the weak K’luth hull.
Just as the third cruisers hull began to rupture, a K’luth dread decloaked 50 gu right behind the Vantage and opened fire with 7 ELF Beams.
This time, the lights went out, and stayed out. "Get me secondary power!" the captain screamed. Emergency lights flickered on, just as there were clunking sounds on the hull.
Emily looked up with fear.
Morad turned to her from his station, "Don't worry, we aren't gonna let the K’luth take us that easy."
The Captain flipped a switch and opened a channel to the entire ship, "Everyone, get to your escape pods! We are abandoning this vessel."
As people scrambled to their feet the main bridge bulkhead was blown open, and Emily had her first sight of the K’luth.
She couldn’t compare them to anything, yet they were eerily human like and covered with what looked like a sort of exoskeleton, but only in places, and where the exoskeleton wasn’t, was a tough looking skin. They also had four arms, and their lower jaw was quite mandible like. They all appeared the same color, just in different tones and intensity.
As the last K’luth came in they all took up stations around the bridge, as though they had done this before. While Emily was looking around the most startling thing of all happened. A single K’luth came in, while it resembled the rest, it was slightly slimmer, and its color was… well, it looked natural, as if the other K’luth were… blushing.
It held up its hands, which were holding some sort of device, and began to speak in English.
"You humans... such pathetic creatures. It seems the MIR did us a favor by opening our eyes to so much untamed space." the voice was quite scratchy, and didn’t move in time with the K’luth mouth, so you could tell it was a translator. "As it is now, our order from high command requests that each K’luth ship bring home a certain amount of humans, of equal mix between male and female." It then began to look around the room. As did Emily, and she noticed that of the 20 crew on the bridge, including herself, 5 were female. "How splendid, a perfect amount of females. Now could I have you 4 males step over by her?" He pointed at all four comm officers, then at Emily. "The rest of you females as well." There was a moment’s hesitation, and they all moved.
Emily glanced at Morad, what a coincidence that they would be sharing the same fate.
The K’luth in charge then gave a nod, in the blink of an eye, every K’luth pounced on a human that were not part of the 10, and began to tear them to shreds.
-----December 1, 2269, Epsilon Eri;
-----Re, K’luth POW Camp, 345 Hours:
Emily was sweating after the past 12 hours of exertion. For the past 12 hours she had been reliving the memory of her capture, and the terrifying event that had followed. Shk’arje, the K’luth who had taken her ship, had also requested that she be his personal slave. And that very night he had taken her into his quarters. Merely the thought of it drove her near insanity, but somehow, she held on.
The end product of that night? A nine month pregnancy that had been monitored by K’luth scientists closely. She was apparently part of a project designed to raise Human spies for the K’luth. They said a human could never be totally trusted. They were not content with their network of the scum of the universe on their payroll. So they decided a half-ling would be their best spy. Though through her entire pregnancy, she had been attended by odd looking K’luth, she had founded out they were called “shapers” and that they could manipulate genetic material merely through thoughts. That was what scared her more than anything.
And as the human nurses, terrifyingly pulled the baby out of her womb, they gasped.
"Let me see it!" she screamed, the nurses looked at each other, and brought the baby into her view. Emily was startled, the baby had the basic look of a human, yet it had certain K’luth characteristics. At some points the skin looked hard, at other tough, but overall, it was normal human skin. The arms and legs seemed a little too big, and the head was slightly larger, even for a babies. What Emily found, was that she still loved this child as her own.
-----February 10, 2271, Epsilon Eri;
-----Olaf, Kluth POW Camp, 1215 Hours:
After the baby had been born, the K’luth scientists had deemed her and her child unworthy of the spy program. The baby had too much of a K’luth resemblance, and apparently they had been unable to affect the growth rate, for they had wanted an adult within five years. And so they had transferred them to a second rate prison.
She was walking across the open field, with a red hood over her head, protecting her eyes from the blowing sand. Under her cloak she was carrying her child; she had named it Lith, after an ancient family member. And only a few paces behind her were Morad, with his wife and baby, Lews.
Morad had come up with a great plan to escape, and smuggle the babies out, but only he would be able to make the trip. Though he did not want to leave the two women alone, they had begged them for their children’s sake. The plan for him to escape would commence once they got to the tool shed, at that point the women would head back to the camp.
Wandering along, she thought about the past two years, and what would happen to this child she had come to love. Hopefully, he would lead a normal life, away from the death and carnage of the K’luth.
They arrived at the tool shed.
"It's time." Morad mumbled.
Emily, set down her child, "Lith, you take care of yourself for me will you?"
The child looked up at his mother, "Dont worry mom, I will, and someday, I will, come back for you, with my very own ship."
Morad looked perplexed, "That child’s mind frightens me sometimes, far too smart for his own good."
The tool shed was up against a rock outcropping, and hidden inside, was a tunnel leading out beneath the prison walls, over 100 yards away. It had taken Morad and several other men over a year to have their plan fruit into action.
Morad grabbed each child’s hand in one of his own and led them into the shed. And with that, Emily turned and began the long walk back to camp.
-----August 22, 2284 Sol;
-----Luna, UGTO Naval Academy, 0800 Hours:
Lith was not very excited about going to the Academy; the only way his uncle had convinced him to go was because Lews was also entering the Academy. Lith didn’t feel right about going at 13; the normal age to be enrolled at the Academy was age 12, which Lews was. He had never really liked his schooling, his teachers always had to fight with Lith to get his work done, and that was why he was a year behind everyone. It wasn’t that he was stupid, his uncle new that he wasn’t. It was just that Lith didn’t much care for learning, that’s all there was to it.
So as he walked down the hall to his first class, with Lews at his side, the new, and especially the older students, gave him looks. They we’re the looks that said, I wonder what’s wrong with him. Lith didn’t look very abnormal; he just sized up to the 15 and 16 year old boys, but resembled a child of 11. That was another problem, while everyone said that boys hit puberty at different ages, he wasn’t feeling a thing. And with the way births were monitored and affected these days, most kids started at 12 or 13, but Lith was nearly 14.
“Hey guys check out the weirdo.”
Lith looked to see who was speaking; it was a kid of about 15. The boy was only a little larger than Lith and was surrounded by his ‘posy’.
“Leave it Lews,” Lith mumbled to his friend.
Lews looked frustrated, “Honestly, when will kids grow up?”
He must have spoken this a little too loud, probably intentionally, and the bully heard him. He and his posy detached from the wall they had been hanging around and quickly surrounded Lews and Lith.
The bully pushed Lews, “What did you say twerp?”
Lith had been through this routine many times with Lews. Lews liked getting in fights, even when most of the fighting was done by Lith.
So naturally Lews smiled and replied, “I was wondering when a kid like yourself was going to grow up.”
The bully seemed to get angry, for his face flushed, “Listen here little boy,” the bully grabbed Lews by his collar and kind of pulled him up, “you better watch what you say around here.”
Lews was trying not to laugh, “Oh, I have heard that one before. Next I suppose you’re going to tell me you’re the big guy around here and some such garble.” Somehow Lews always knew what to say to anger someone, no matter the circumstances, he could bring a kid that was normally quiet and reserved to a very angry state. He had a knack for making people violent. This was why most of his tests indicated an elite position in the Infantry.
And with those last words Lews had the bully ready to hit him in record time. The bully drew back his fist and was winding up for the punch.
I guess it’s my turn, Lith thought to himself.
This time Lith was going to let Lews sweat a little. Just as the bully launched his punch, Lews’ eyes flickered to Lith and then back to the incoming fist. And just when the incoming blow was inches from his face Lith moved. It was a lightning quick reflex, he dropped his books and grabbed the boys’ fist with his right hand and with his left he grabbed the wrist of the other arm and pinned the bully against the wall twisting the boys left arm up against his back.
He then heard his books hit the ground, and winced. Too fast, he thought to himself, his uncle warned him never to be too fast.
“Thank god for his father,” Lews mumbled. Lith shot him an angry glance, this time Lews winced, “Sorry.”
Lith then looked at the boy, and when their eyes met the bully flinched. Lith new what made him flinch, it was his eyes. Whenever Lith moved like he just had, or when he was in a state of ‘heightened thought’ as the doctors called it, his iris’ thinned horizontally, making his eyes look… like an aliens… like a K’luth’s. That was the only outward appearance the doctors had no way to remove. They had used every gene therapy in the book just to get his skin to look normal, and then they had to do multiple surgeries to find the gland that would make his skin change color with his emotions. Though they hadn’t completely removed it, they said his color would only change when he was under extreme mental pressure.
Lith released the bully, turned around and walked off. Lews picked his books up for him and chased after his friend.
The bully was speechless for a moment, “Did you see that? That kid is a real freak.”
-----January, 2288 Sol;
-----Luna, UGTO Naval Academy, 1512 Hours:
This was the time. When Lews and Lith would find out where they would be going, which careers they would be chosen for. That was the way of it. To optimize performance, students took a test in the middle of their fourth year at the Academy, and the results of this test determined which branch of the military, and which position you were most suited for.
It lasted about 2 months, beginning with a physical session, which included all sorts of tasks required to be completed in a certain amount of time. This was put on by the Infantry. And while Lith would have broken every single record, he didn’t want to be in the infantry. So he slacked off, purposefully mucked up a few times, so there would be no thought of him as a candidate at all, merely as competent and promising. Though this was what Lews wanted, and he passed with flying colors, and setting a few records for himself. With that he was the number one choice for the infantry.
Next was a segment put on by the Galactic Intelligence Agency. Lith needed to score in the 85th percentile or above to catch the eye of the Agency, though he didn’t want entrance into it either. He made it easily into this range, and so did Lews, he actually scored a 95, which put the Agency and Infantry into direct competition for Lews.
Finally the Navy had its turn. This is what Lith had been waiting for. The chance to get into the most sophisticated sim program in the galaxy. The Navy had a full month to enact a large Naval war game. Every student had already taken Naval tests, suggesting what part of the crew they would best fit in. Lews was a security officer, and Lith had tested high enough to command an entire ship. The ships were scaled down models of their real life counterparts, located on the dark side of Luna. And Lith found himself captain of an Assault Cruiser, AC1. He was actually leader of his “fleet”. Lith had been ecstatic at the news, but had calmed down and began analyzing what he may be required to do.
The war game began as a regular day might on a ship; the students moved their belongings into quarters and had slept on the ship the night prior to the start of the Month of War, as it was commonly called by the students.
Everyone woke the next morning happy and excited. The feeling was that there would be a few days to familiarize themselves with the ship and its equipment. This was true; they had exactly two days before the actual exercise began.
It was in the middle of the night when an urgent ‘message’ came through, the on duty comm officer requested the ‘captain’, Lith, to the bridge.
Groggily Lith made his way to the bridge, as he came on deck he asked, “Waz goin on?” in a slurred and sleepy way.
The comm officer seemed excited, “Sir, there is an urgent request from Ihzack in Luyten. The UGTO are attacking.”
While the comm officer thought of it as fun and games Lith couldn’t afford that pleasure. He snapped awake and sent a message throughout the ship and fleet, “Attention, this is Fleet Leader Lith Ragond, a message has been received from Ihzack, they are under attack by the UGTO, we head out NOW!”
He shut off the channel and asked the comm officer to send a message to ‘High Command’, the Naval representatives, informing them of the message and their immediate response.
“Nav, set a course for Luyten, and set speed slow enough for the rest of the fleet to catch up before we get their.”
The nav officer looked up a bit surprised, “Lith don’t you think we should-“
“Just DO it!” Lith yelled; if he was going to command a crew, even if it wasn’t a real one, he was going to get discipline.
As AC1 made way to Luyten, the rest of the fleet caught up, one by one. By the time they had formed a fleet around the Luyten JG, Zoca reported it was also under attack.
The class had been split up into two groups, those that would be UGTO, and those that would be ICC. Everyone always wanted UGTO; they of course, had the better ships. And with the obvious disadvantage on Liths side, when he won, and victory was his, it would be that much more complete. He had been put in charge of the team that had lost ever since the Academy had been in existence. But things would change this year, since he had received the news he knew exactly what he was going to do.
He gave the command and ships began pouring through the JG, he went in first, right in front of the Interdictor. As screens came back online he was caught off guard. There were UGTO exiting jumps left and right, he counted six TCs before they stopped. And that was the signal that the dictor had come through the JG. He opened fire on the nearest enemy cruiser, and sent orders to the ships that began exiting the JG, in short order the six cruisers had been overwhelmed by the ICC force, which consisted of ten cruisers, 17 destroyers, and 25 frigates, with around 12 light supply ships.
The UGTO ships that had formed at the edge of the interdiction field had began to fleet around their own dictor. The force was smaller than the ICC, yet still deadly. The rest of their forces were still attacking Zoca and Ihzack. From sensor information sent from the planets, the UGTO still had just as many cruisers as the ICC, and almost twice the amount of destroyers and frigates.
He opened the fleet channel, “Ok, we will proceed to eliminate the UGTO force that is on the brink of our dictor field.”
He got questioning glances from those on the bridge, but he knew what he was doing. The UGTO fleet was too far away to maintain visual contact, so they were obviously relying on sensor information. He hailed the dictor captain and tolled him his plan. The fleet began accelerating towards the enemy fleet, but AC1 and the dictor turned aside and headed towards the JG, and in the process of the turn, AC1 and the dictor came within dangerous distance of each other, the distance in fact, which sensors could not detect one ship from the other. They then circled the JG, on which the opposite side the UGTO scanners could not detect a thing due to the high energy, and, to the UGTO, it appeared as though the dictor had entered the JG. Because SOMETHING had entered the JG, they had seen the familiar pulse of energy from it that meant something went in, and since their sensors clearly indicated that the ship that appeared back in sight was the AC1 with no doubt, the UGTO found that they had a dictorless enemy.
Lith new the commander of the UGTO fleet, he thought he was SO smart, and he knew exactly what he would do. As AC1 caught up to the rest of the fleet they all forged ahead with engines blazing. As the UGTO were only 500 gu away and the ICC fleet was well and dictored, the UGTO fleet reacted.
The UGTO Interdictor jumped behind the ICC by 300 gus, or at least tried to. Just as he engaged the j-drive, the ICC dictor which was hard docked against Liths underside activated his field, and successfully stopped the enemy dictor in mid jump, an easy 100 gu away. There were a few UGTO that had also jumped with the dictor to give protection from the ICC that would have turned around, successfully splintering the weaker ICC fleet into two groups. But instead they were themselves 200 gu behind the dictor.
From then on it was a slaughter; the dictor was destroyed with ease, and the few ships that followed it also. By the time those ships had been destroyed the playing field was very uneven, for the UGTO. Those that saw their doom, or at least the captains that didn’t want points taken from their grade for a destroyed ship, which was ALL of their points, tried to run, a few escaped, but otherwise all were taken out.
The fleet of UGTO around the planets saw what had happened, but being stuck in the planetary interdictor fields, they could do nothing, and so, when they realized they were dead, they of course, fled.
The way the campaign was supposed to go was that the UGTO were invading ICC space, but since the victory at Luyten, the rest of the month went downhill for the UGTO. It took two weeks to conquer Van and Wolf. But the UGTO put up a good fight at Ross, which took a week. Then the unheard of happened. Never before, in any simulation, had the ICC successfully reached Sol, AND hold the systems behind them.
Lith was proud of himself at the beginning of the last week. He had reached Sol, with minimal losses. With every new victory, his fleet had been strengthened, repaired, and refitted with new ships and tech. But through his pride he was worried. His team mates on the other ships had slowly degresed in their ability to function. They had grown sloppy and detached. That’s what had taken him so long with Ross. His fleet was having trouble. But whenever he talked to the other ships, they said everything was fine. It wasn’t a very large decrease in ability, but with the surge of resistance in the other team showed that people really did fight for their home ground more ferociously, and it affected his team too.
The last week actually turned into hell. The simulations allowed for dreadnaught class ships to be used in home systems. And so they caused major problems for Liths force. While he had continually received reinforcements from Ross and beyond, he could only hang onto the Jupiter moons, any push towards Mars was thwarted by the UGTO, it wasn’t Liths lack of tactics or tricky ideas; it was merely the dreads and the piloting ability of the cruisers. They were amazingly good. In the end, the war game ended with Liths final push, an actual strike at Earth, with every single resource bent on taking the planet, he succeeded. He got through all the defense bases, and landed enough troops on Earth to take out the generators which allowed his bombers to wipe out cities and armies with ease. And in the last day all resistance on Earth fell, even with the battle raging in the stars. When the planet was officially declared ICC, the simulator reached its ending point.
After that, the crews of the ships were asked to have a good nights rest, and meanwhile the computer would calculate the end result of the combat, and how the war would have continued.
When they awoke, everyone was dazed. Even in a simulation, which was the most accurate sim program out there, how could Earth have fallen? Everyone was speechless; they all just stared at Lith. Wide eyed in wonderment.
He was the last person to exit the sim vessel; he stayed behind and just stared at the bridge. When Lews popped in, Lith was surprised.
“What are you doing here?” Lith asked.
Lews stared at his eyes, “Holy s**t Lith, and you didn’t even realize did you?”
Lith was getting frustrated, “Realize WHAT?”
His friend just shook his head, “They said your eyes have been like that ever since you entered Sol.”
“My eyes, like what?” He turned his head and caught his reflection in a control panel. His eyes had reverted to their K’luth state. For ten minutes he just sat there, and stared at his own eyes.
Lews grew uncomfortable, “Lith, the only reason I came in here was because you were taking so long, and they sent me up to get you.”
Lith turned towards Lews slowly, “They? They who?”
“Lith, they are definitely not the people you want to keep waiting.” Lews looked very nervous. And suddenly, Lith understood, and became very nervous himself.
They walked the corridors in silence, not saying a word. As they came to the exit, they stopped.
“Listen Lith,” Lews began, “whatever they say, or try to do, I will be right there fighting with you.”
This was the most serious Lews had ever been with Lith, and he knew, that whatever happened, Lews would be there to help him.
“I know, but… for your own sake, don’t.”
Lews merely nodded.
With that they both walked through the door into the artificial lights of a bio-dome. Sprawled out in front of them was the entire student body of the Academy.
“The crowd steadily grew since you entered Sol. Every second they were expecting you to walk out, of your ship in defeat.” Lews whispered, “And one more thing, the simulations, well, it showed that the ICC won, totally.”
Lith froze in place. Totally?
At that point a procession of uniformed men made their way towards Lith. Not only were they in uniform, but armed as well. They formed a rigid line on either side of him. As the line settled into place, three men in Navy uniforms, highly decorated in medals walked up to Lith. They stopped in front of him and paused. The man on the right glanced at his eyes, and held that glance for a moment, and a brow wrinkled on his forehead. Just as the man regained his composure, Liths head began to hurt, and he thought he heard some beast near by him, snarling.
Lith then realized he was expected to salute these men, and he did so, sharp, and sleek.
“Follow me young man,” the middle officer said.
They turned on their heels and began walking away; he had no choice but to follow. As he walked through the crowd and down the line, he could tell people were looking at his eyes, and whenever he glanced at those people they flinched. His eyes still had not reverted to their normal state. After that, he kept his head down.
What seemed to be an hour later, Lith was standing in the Grand Hall of the Academy. This was where all the medals of high honor were given out. This is also where all the most famous students had been expelled from the Sol system from crimes ranging from hacking, to murder. While the last were mostly psychopaths, it wasn’t a very common occurrence.
The only time the Grand Hall was open to the student body, was when crimes were revealed, and students expelled. And since the entire student body, was present, Lith definitely did not have a good feeling about this.
In front of him were seated the three officers he had followed. The middle one leaned forward a little, “Let me introduce myself and my colleague, this” he motioned to his left, “is Admiral Weathers, commander of the Galactic Navy.” There was an indrawn breath from the crowd, the GTN were the most elite group of the UGTO Fleet. The man continued, “On my right is Admiral Lars, Head of the Sol Defense Network. His main duty is designing and implementing the defenses for Sol.” Lith looked at Admiral Lars, and when their eyes met, Lith again heard the noise of some sort of animal. And somehow, he recognized it, as though he knew what it was saying, and as if he hadn’t heard the language for years.
“And I am Fleet Admiral Korishnakov, head of the Galactic Intelligence Agency.” There was a moment of surprise when he said this; everyone knew who Korishnakov was, though few had seen him. He was a living legend; word had it he had even escaped from K’luth prisoner camp 15 years ago.
Korishnakov, waited for a moment, then began, “I know you are wondering why you have been brought here. To tell you the truth we were all so taken aback when you won your first victory in the sims. It is a tradition that I have to watch the Month of War every year. Well, I can’t actually watch it all, but I make sure I am current on the situation. And let me tell you, once you had expunged the UGTO force from Luyten, I was sure to be watching you. Tell me, what possessed you to pull the maneuver with the interdictor?”
Lith was quite nervous, he had never spoken in front of such a large crowd, and he could tell his eyes were still morphed. “Well sir, I knew the commander of the UGTO would believe it if I made the dictor appear to go through the JG.”
“How did you know?” asked Admiral Lars.
“Well, um, I had made it a point throughout the past four years to let people know that I would always lure the enemy into a trap by hiding my dictor.” Lith was beginning to really wonder what this was all about. Had he done something illegal?
Weathers leaned forward, “But why did you think that the UGTO commander would assume the dictor went through the gate?”
“I, um, well; he would have done that if he had been in my position.” Lith was beginning to sweat.
“And why would you say this?” Korishnakov asked.
Lith took a deep breath, “Because in previous sims he had, and also, he believed the losses were acceptable whenever he ran that sim. Whenever he asked me, I agreed.”
“Did you really think the losses were, acceptable?” Lars had a harsh tone to his voice, and every time he spoke, Lith seemed to hear the animal in his head. But Lith was beginning to understand the animal voice.
“No, I thought they were critical ships that could have easily been saved. I merely agreed with him to keep my own tactic secret. If I would have shared my true thoughts with him,” Lith explained, “he would have spread the word and my edge over everyone else would have been gone.”
From then on out Lith was questioned about every single move he had made between then and his entrance to Sol.
Korishnakov paced back and forth, “Let me tell you, Lith Ragond. We were more surprised you made it through Ross, than before. We had replaced the crews on your enemy’s ships, with graduated students, who had time in the field. We thought that you would easily be defeated by them, but you merely plowed right over their fleets. Your entrance to Sol was taken as an insult to every crew member you had fought against, they screamed bloody murder, and demanded the sim be shutdown to see how you were cheating. They didn’t realize that the crews of your ships had been replaced with second and third year students, and it was by mere force of will and your talent at command that you succeeded. And when you took the Jupiter moons, we were all quite worried, because since you entered Sol, you had been fighting true Captains. These men had their own crews aboard the sim ships, and no matter what they did, they could merely hold you back. They couldn’t even retake a planet, and on the second to last day we put Rear Admirals in charge of the dreadnaughts. That’s when you pushed for Earth. Do you realize that for two whole days, you were fighting against veteran commanders, and winning? Then, at the very end, Earth was taken, and the sim computed, in less than five hours, that it declared the ICC would have overrun the Sol system and the rest of the UGTO in the next month.” Korishnakov fell silent.
Lith was frozen, as was everyone else. You could have heard a pin drop. And that’s when it hit him. Not about the sim, but about Lars. He looked at Lars, and the animal voice was back. And he understood it. He flashed back to his earliest moments he could remember, of his mother and the K’luth guards. He always told his mom he could understand what they were talking about, but she just told him to be quiet and not think about it, so he didn’t. What he had heard in his head so long ago, was what he was hearing now, from Lars. It was K’luth.
So, you’re the little boy that escaped so many years ago, the scratchy and guttural voice said.
Lith had no practice at this, so he merely thought words, and used his will to… SEND them to Lars. How did you know?
We have been on the lookout for you for years. And now, we found you. Too bad you never learned control over your eyes, because they will find out about you now.
Lith was scared, more than anytime in his life, and under the mental pressure of trying to send a message to Lars, and receiving the messages, his skin began to pigment.
Never, the UGTO won’t do a thing to me, because I have a secret. One that gives me the edge.
There was laughter in Liths head, not his own. What secret is that young one?
Lith remained calm, or at least tried to, but he wasn’t succeeding. As Lith tried to form this last word, his skin turned a bright yellow with red splashes. And with the realization that he was now almost definitely found out as a half ling, he let Lars have it. YOU!
Everyone in the Hall was already uncomfortable from the silence that had persisted for the last two minutes. And when Lith began to change colors, there was a quiet murmur that began to roll through the room. But with Liths last word, he had angered Admiral Lars, for he jumped out of his seat at the yell in his mind.
Korishnakov turned to Lars, “Is there something wrong Admiral?”
Lars was surprised to find himself standing, “Well, look at him! He is changing colors, and combined with his eyes, it can mean only one thing.”
Korishnakov remained calm, “Of course, he is a Human-K’luth half ling.”
There was a major uproar, and several yards from Lith, Lews groaned.
After several minutes went by, and the room fell quiet again, Korishnakov spoke, “I have known, along with one other man that this young boy was a product of a K’luth experiment performed 17 years ago. It was when the K’luth invaded Lalande, and took thousands captive, and slaughtered millions. I was one of those men captured, and this boy’s mother was also a captive. Unfortunately for her, she was impregnated by a K’luth overlord, in the earliest attempt to create a human hybrid for K’luth insertion into our society. The K’luth would never thought of this, for it is not their nature, unless the ICC had not exchanged information for certain AM technology. So, it was his mothers fate to have a reject hybrid child, which she loved and cared for. When he was two years old, his mother gave charge over him to an old friend of mine, who had planned an escape. Luckily for me, he had invited me along. Ever since we made it back to UGTO space, I have kept a close eye on Lith.”
Lars looked stunned and angry. “How? How could you let this thing live among us, he is a danger to the UGTO. He proved it himself in the simulators.”
Lith couldn’t hear it anymore, “No, you Admiral Lars, are a danger.”
Lars looked taken aback, They’ll never believe you. You’re merely a student; I am a high ranking officer.
An officer with a dark secret, Lith sent back, a secret which I can lead them to uncover.
“My boy,” Korishnakov said, “what do you mean?”
Lith had to think quickly of a way to expose Lars for what he was. But their didn’t seem like anything he could do.
“Admiral Lars is a hybrid like me.” Lith merely stated. He had to be able to come up with something.
Korishnakov looked at Lars, then at Lith, “I can assure you, he is as human as you or… I.” Korishnakov furrowed his eyebrows. “What makes you say this young man?”
Lith noticed that Korishnakov wasn’t looking at Lars anymore, but was staring intently at Lith. “Because, he has many of the same characteristics I do.”
When Lith ended his sentence he jumped for Lars. But with abnormally fast reflexes Lars dodged aside and caught Lith in the side with a fist. Recovering from the blow he spun his legs around and took out one of Lars’ knees, making him crush to the ground. Lith then pounced on Lars and pulled open his eyelids. And there it was; what was all too familiar to Lith, the K’luth eyes.
“There is your evidence, sir. And I expect if you do a thorough neural scan, his brain will be much more complex than the average humans.”
Security guards had finally reacted and pulled Lith off, and brought Lars to his feet. They were holding both Lars and Lith firmly, not knowing who to arrest.
To Liths relief Korishnakov ordered them to take Lars away, and release the boy.
“How did you know? How could you tell he was a hybrid?” Korishnakov wondered.
“Well, as we all know, K’luth speak through a form of telepathy. After I exited the sim ship, Lars had been trying to contact me. I didn’t understand until I remembered…” Lith paused, reluctant to go on.
“Remembered being a captive in the K’luth camps.” Korishnakov ended for him.
“Yes,” Lith appeared ashamed.
Korishnakov smiled, “Well my boy, I am sure both the Infantry and GIA will want your services after this performance.” Lith looked at the Fleet Admiral questioningly. “But, back to the real reason we brought you here. On behalf of the Navy, and the rest of the UGTO, I would like to congratulate you on your excellent performance, and offer you immediate placement into the Navy.”
Lith was surprised, “Thank you sir. And I would love to join the Navy.”
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"Nah, I just believe in the UGTO cause to a fanatical degree, the ICC have rebeled against the destiny of humanity, and should be punished  " - Me
[ This Message was edited by: Lith Ragond on 2003-07-17 11:16 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Lith Ragond on 2003-07-17 22:48 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Lith Ragond on 2003-07-26 16:58 ]
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Pope
Fleet Admiral
Joined: June 11, 2002
Posts: 2449
From: World of tomorrow
| Posted: 2003-07-01 13:06
Nice read.
Now if only Battles in DS were even remotely as complex as the sim you described, that would be great... 
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Lith Ragond
Cadet
Galactic Navy
Joined: November 25, 2001
Posts: 1854
| Posted: 2003-07-01 17:44
the only reason they arent/cant be, is because communication is too difficult, and not everyone will follow orders 
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'A1Tyrael
Cadet
Joined: January 20, 2003
Posts: 322
From: AquaWorld
| Posted: 2003-07-01 19:28
w00t!
kudos to you lith Ragond!
[ This Message was edited by: Nuke Dog on 2003-07-01 19:35 ]
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Hello Joe! ;)
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Fattierob
Vice Admiral
Joined: April 25, 2003
Posts: 4059
| Posted: 2003-07-01 19:46
That was a very a good story
detailed, and written out how it should be
can't wait for more of it
good job
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Mr tinkles anti wibblinator
Cadet
Joined: October 13, 2002
Posts: 435
| Posted: 2003-07-01 20:04
OMG BROVVVOOOO
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Just say no to intel!!!!
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Lith Ragond
Cadet
Galactic Navy
Joined: November 25, 2001
Posts: 1854
| Posted: 2003-07-01 21:14
OH, thanks for the good feedback guys, i'm definently planning to expand, this is what i'd call "chapter 1" of the Lith Ragond story, so i'll be sure to keep it coming, again, thank you guys so much for the great feedback!
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Mr tinkles anti wibblinator
Cadet
Joined: October 13, 2002
Posts: 435
| Posted: 2003-07-01 22:39
WE demand ONE TOMMOROW
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Just say no to intel!!!!
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Lith Ragond
Cadet
Galactic Navy
Joined: November 25, 2001
Posts: 1854
| Posted: 2003-07-02 00:10
lol, ok, writing me next one
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Lith Ragond
Cadet
Galactic Navy
Joined: November 25, 2001
Posts: 1854
| Posted: 2003-07-02 10:21
ok, just to let everyone know, this is gonna be somewhat like Redss "Project Epsilon", as i write more, i'm just gonna tack it on here, i hope many of you will read it.
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= Mortraven =
2nd Rear Admiral
Joined: June 25, 2003
Posts: 1
From: US
| Posted: 2003-07-02 13:01
That was very enjoyable to read Lith, if that was a book i'd be glued to it. (Take that as a big compliment coming from a sci-fi book freak like me =P)
Keep up the good work!
I can't wait to read the next chapter!
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= Captain Mortraven Of The TNC Event Horizon =
= The Nexus Corporation's Fleet Leader =
'Not everyone is what they seem to be...'
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Sardaukar
Admiral
Raven Warriors
Joined: October 08, 2002
Posts: 1656
| Posted: 2003-07-02 14:04
Excellent writing
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Deathscythe
Admiral
Joined: November 30, 2002
Posts: 420
From: The netherlands
| Posted: 2003-07-04 07:56
i Love it we need more
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http://deathmut.myminicity.com/
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Da Dude
1st Rear Admiral
Joined: January 31, 2003
Posts: 94
| Posted: 2003-07-04 08:39
you stole the "shaper" part from a star wars book. PLAGERIZM!! Jk
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the metaverse has you......
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Lith Ragond
Cadet
Galactic Navy
Joined: November 25, 2001
Posts: 1854
| Posted: 2003-07-04 09:53
shaper? maybe you should check out.... here, also a quote concerning the K'luth:
Quote:
| Some members of the Artisan Caste claim to be able to "feel" the DNA structure of other life forms with their powers. They also claim to be able to manipulate it using these powers. This has been neither confirmed, nor discounted. However, if their ascertains are correct, this process takes many hours of intense effort on the shaper's part. |
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Sorry, didn't take anything from Star Wars, get the facts straight.
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"Nah, I just believe in the UGTO cause to a fanatical degree, the ICC have rebeled against the destiny of humanity, and should be punished " - Me
[ This Message was edited by: Lith Ragond on 2003-07-04 09:53 ]
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