Post by RequinBeta4 on Apr 10, 2006 3:51:34 GMT
**Hey all, i wrote this like 2 years ago i've way better writing skills since then...
**You may also notice some familiar names... Pay it no mind...
[glow=red,2,300]Freelancer Fanfic 1: On Requin of the Corsairs...[/glow]
~ 50 years after the Nomad Attack. The Order had been watching the gate closely, and no there was outbreak so far. Everything seemed normal, until influential people in the Crete have a galaxy-changing idea…
Chapter 1: The Offer
Requin woke up in somewhat of a sleepy state. His last couple weeks had been spent on Crete, taking a break from missions. He was a freelancer, and possibly the best that ever was. His short stature made him look like a fool on the ground, but in space, he could beat the best of them. Requin was tired of these easy missions, and was waiting for something to come up.
His radio came on.
“Requin,” said a familiar voice over the intercom, “You are expected at the Crete Council Room immediately.”
“Misphit! How are you doing? I thought you died in that last raid!”
“Yea well, we freelancers are hard to kill.”
“You can say that again”
“Yea well, we –“
“Ok ok, we know you’re funny. Now stop talking and let me get dressed.” Misphit was an old friend of his, showing him the ropes as he started flying. However, Requin soon passed his teacher skill-wise, and they split up. They kept meeting each other in strange places, but both have gotten over the shock.
Requin put on his plain brown outfit, known universally as the trademark Freelancer uniform. He had been awarded several medals, but never wore them, favoring the humble approach.
To be admitted to the council chamber was a highly honorable experience, and the room itself was spectacular, but he had been asked to come there many times for missions the effect was wearing off. No one bothered him as he walked down the hall and opened the door.
“Requin! Come in! We were just about to start. Sit down. In case you haven’t noticed, there are no guards at the door. This is a secret meeting between the Council. We need your advice and, if you choose, we have a mission for you.
“Go on”
“The situation is this; ever since the Hispania brought us here, it has been hard to find natural resources. Once we found contact with the other factions, we looted and traded for what we need. We can still loot, but it is a risky system and we could all be destroyed any day. We cannot trade, for Gamma has been wiped clean of artifacts, and the only other thing of value we have is our trademark ships, and we cannot sell those. What we need to do is conquer another system or two. We have decided, for various reasons, that Alpha and the Outcasts are our best targets. We hate each other, and everyone hates them, more so than us, for they bring narcotics and we bring artifacts that are from an alien race. The artifacts are barely illegal!
It has all been arranged. We will send a messenger to all of the factions except the Outcasts asking for firepower and manpower. The outcasts have great ships and weapons, almost on par with ours, and we will need all the chance we can get. We will blow up the planet they call Malta, for it creates the Cardamine everyone despises. We will then settle the other planets in the system, and create a new Corsair-owned system.”
Requin thought about it for a moment. “Sounds good, but will the police help us? And what will happen after we take over Alpha?”
“All in good time, Requin. We give you information on a need-to-know basis. If you need to know it, we will tell you.
Here is the bottom line. We want you to be in charge of the force. All of it. We know that none of our pilots are as skilled at fighting or tactics or as good a leader as you, and we admit that.” Requin just looked at him. “Ah, yes, the money. We want your services, so we are going to just say out flat what we can maximally pay you. We have done the calculations, and the total is… 1.5 billion credits.”
Requin whistled in spite of himself. “You are offering me more money than the famous Trent got in all of his missions for you and others? Including the Nomad Attack? With those funds, I could practically buy my own private system. Even if this job turns out to be more than it seems, I am being blunt with you. For that much money, I’ll do whatever is in my ability.”
He smiled. “Good. I used to have regrets on hiring you, but I believe the money is worth it. Half of it is being wired to your neural net account. You will get the other half when it is done.” Taking that as a signal to leave, he walked out the door.
Chapter 2: A Little Practice
Requin was seldom fazed by anything, but this new job really set him off balance. He got into his ship and was about to lift off when:
“Requin! Aren’t you going to tell me what went on in the Council Room?” It was Misphit.
“Sorry,” lied Requin, “I can’t tell you. The mission is top-secret. You might find out later from other sources, though.” That part was certainly true, but Requin just didn’t want his friend bothering him about it just now. He had a lot of thinking to do.
As soon as he was in space he hit the cruise engines and steered his ship in the right direction. He saw many Titans, but, as usual, no ships even remotely like his.
Requin had what he considered to be best ship made by humankind. It was a Very Heavy Fighter, and was identical to the Titans the Corsairs used except for two things. His hull was of a poorer quality, so his ship was easier to kill, but his ship’s maneuverability was exceptional. It could out-maneuver some light fighters! It was the perfect ship for a skilled pilot, and Requin was certainly that. Its class name was the Eagle, though he renamed it Death’s Embrace. Its name was not meant to be morbid, rather a tribute to all who had died underneath its powerful gaze.
As to his weapons, no one knew what Requin had. The first thing he bought when he came to Crete was a Scan-Jammer, which made it impossible for anyone to scan his ship. Some say that he had some of the rare Code Name weapons on board. Others say he only had missiles. What most think is that he had legendary nomad weapons, acquired only if you have enough skill to beat a nomad. What everyone does agree upon, however, is that between his ship and his guns, he is unstoppable.
He entered the green cloud that encompassed one third of the system. He was headed to a secret jumphole, one few know of and very few have gone through. The reason for this is that almost all who go through die. Those who know of the system call it Unknown, for various reasons. It was the only system known to man to still house the dreaded nomads. There were two planets in the system, which were furnished by the Order to both stop the nomads from going to the civilized worlds and to provide a safe haven and repairing station for the brave souls who dared to come into the system.
As soon as his scans went dead, he knew he was close. Requin kept going until he saw the jump hole, then immediately went through. There was so much radiation in that area that to stay for too long was certain death.
When he got through, the first things Requin saw were four nomad fighters. “Piece of cake,” he said to himself, and quickly destroyed the group.
Requin hit his cruise engines and started heading deeper into the system. He was stopped two times by passing nomads, but they were more of an annoyance to him than a challenge. Deeper still he went, until he saw something that made him think he had gone a bit too far for comfort.
Suddenly, a literal army of nomads was in his face. There were two battleships, six gunboats, and twenty-one fighters. He immediately cut his engines, swerved, and went for the battleships, since they were the most lethal. They were slow, however, and soon they were just explosions of energy.
He then turned on the gunboats. These were harder to kill, but he was patient. He swerved and dodged and shot at exactly the right time.
He still had the fighters to kill. Separately, nomad fighters are the weakest of the nomads, but in groups, they are stronger than battleships or gunboats. He checked and found he had brought no mines, bats, or bots, as he had believed he would not go this far into the system.
Then he had an idea. He would pretend to flee! The nomads’ high-powered engines were faster than his, and by the time they realized it was a bluff he would have taken down half of them from behind! Requin quickly put the plan into action, and afterwards kept dodging and shooting until they were all dead.
“What a rush,” said Requin to himself, “But there’s nothing wrong with a little practice.” And with that, he hit the cruise and headed for Crete.
Chapter 3: The journey begins
As soon as he got within range of Crete, he gasped. It seemed the Council Leader had been right. Ships from all over Sirus, from enormous Battleships to tiny Light Fighters, were congregated around Crete. It seemed that all of the factions of Sirus had contributed men, ships or weapons. All the factions that were at war with each other were flying side by side. They were there for one purpose, and that was to kill Outcasts. It was definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Suddenly, his intercom came alive. “I see you are back. The ships outside are all at your command. There are three other fleets like it stationed in systems key to the war. These will also obey you without question. You, of course, get your orders from me.”
Requin was astounded. That must be the biggest fighting force since the war for Earth! And he was in charge! “Well then, why don’t we get started? What are my standing orders?”
“I’m glad you asked. Take this section of the fleet into Theta, and then wait for more orders. You may fly to Sigma 17 and the systems surrounding Alpha to look at and talk to the rest of the fleet if you wish. I will contact you in approximately 3 galactic days.”
The intercom went dead for a second or two. Then a different voice:
“Requin, sir. My name is Trenton. I am a general for Liberty and I was named after the famous Trent. I have been placed in charge of the fleet you see now. I was told I needed to report to you for orders. I generally do not like freelancers, but I’ve heard great things about you. I could not scan your ship earlier, and so now I am curious. Will you demonstrate to me your fighting skills? I am being blunt with you. I will not serve a freelancer unless he has proven himself worthy.”
Requin smirked to himself. Typical. “I agree. Name what you want me to do.”
“How about a one-on-one duel with me? Just for shield and half of hull, of course.”
“Fine by me. Now?”
“Yes. Do you have me targeted? Good.”
“I really don’t want to fight you, but if you-“
“GO!”
Requin stopped flying and waited for his opponent to come to him. At the very instant before he came into firing range he thrust upwards, shooting his ship down and throwing off Trenton’s aim. He then immediately killed his opponent’s shield.
Good. Now that he had proven he had more tactics than Trenton, he had to prove he could fight better also.
Requin dodged and swerved, changing his ship moves into an art form while ensuring that he was never hit. As soon as he was sure his opponent knew that he was being toyed with, he quickly and efficiently killed half of Trenton’s hull health.
“Stop.” he said over the intercom.
“You…you… you are the best duelist I have ever seen. I would be honored to serve behind you.”
“Enough pleasantries. We have work to do. Tell the fleet to get into formation and follow me.”
“Can do.”
He uploaded the current position of the asteroids in the path to Theta into the battleships’ databank so that they did not run into the asteroids at cruise speed. Then, when he had judged all was ready, he hit the cruise engines and sped towards Theta.
Chapter 4: The Calm Before the Storm
Requin slowed to a halt, and then ordered Trenton to get all of the fleet behind asteroids so that no Outcasts spotted them.
“I’m going to do a little flying on my own. You stay here with the fleet and only fire if an Outcast attacks or sees you.”
“Yes, sir.”
Requin, now he was alone and didn’t have battleships to slow him down, quickly went to Omicron Beta to check up on the fleet there. He got hailed as soon as he located the fleet.
“Unknown ship, you are trespassing in restricted space. Power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded.”
Requin replied, “This is Freelancer Beta4. Take me to whoever is in charge of the fleet.”
“Sir! Requin sir! Forgive me. I did not realize it was you and-“
“Forget it.”
A familiar voice came through his intercom. “Hey, Requin! Did you hear I’m in charge of this fleet? It’s great! I guess I should call you Sir now…”
Requin smiled to himself. “You should know better, Misphit. You don’t have to call me Sir, old friend. Just follow my orders.”
“I know. I was just joking with ya. Well, everything is in order here. We’re just waiting for the go-ahead. I know you have things to do, so I’ll let you do your job.”
Requin thanked him and went to the last of the systems surrounding Alpha. There were two fleets there.
“Sir, I was told to report to you if you showed up. Three of our battleships are showing mechanical failures. If we do not get them fixed, it is possible the fleet could not go into action. We have all of the mechanics in both fleets working on it, but I’m afraid it will take some time, a galactic week or two at the most, if we do not have additional repair crews sent immediately.”
“You shall have them. Give me a minute.”
Requin contacted both of the two remaining fleet leaders and, after some discussion, got them to send all but the bare minimum repair experts.
“The repair crews are on their way. Send them back when the work is finished.”
Suddenly, the Crete Council Leader came on his radio. “Requin, I have just received word that, believe it or not, your brother is with the Outcasts. He has taken up a position of power and-“
“What! Ahem’s alive! But what do you mean he is with the Outcasts? I thought he left a long time ago!”
“As I said, he has taken up a position of power and has persuaded the Outcast Council to take a drastic step. They are going to try to, eventually, control the whole galaxy. I know it sounds crazy, but they are planning to start with the Corsairs. They have no allies, but I believe we should proceed immediately, before anything untoward happens.”
“I can’t believe Ahem would side with the Outcasts! I knew he was ambitious, but I never believed he would create a huge war to gain power!”
“But he has, and that is yet another reason why we need to wipe out the Outcasts. Proceed when ready, and preferably soon. I expect to hear from you when the job is done.”
“Yes, sir.”
Requin did not let his amazement disturb him. He had a work to do. He quickly created an intercom channel between him and all four fleet leaders.
“Move out.”
Chapter 5: The Attack
Everything went as planned. A fleet stayed behind as a backup and to make sure no Outcasts escaped. The other three fleets went straight for Malta, killing all in their path, as did Requin. Soon they were within range of Malta.
“Sir, should I give the go-ahead?”
“Wait. I need confirmation no Outcasts are left in the system.”
“Sir, this is the backup fleet. There are no remaining Outcasts here, over.”
“All fleets within range concentrate fire on Malta.”
Soon Malta was a ball of fire, gas, and energy.
“All fleets make a final sweep of the area and-“
“You idiot!” A ship came out of the wreckage. It was an Eagle, like Requin’s own.
“Brother! How are you? I hope you didn’t get hurt. But-”
“Don’t call me brother! I had a plan. I would conquer the world, with the aid of the faction I deemed strongest. I was even planning to let you join in. But no! You had to go off and be the hero. Don’t you see what we could have gained? What we could have done? Now it is all ruined. Ruined thanks to you. I’ll kill you for this, Requin. You will pay for what you have done.”
Ahem sped towards his brother. Requin didn’t want to hurt his brother, but if that was the way it had to be, so be it.
All who saw it claimed it to be beautiful. A dance between ships, between brothers, between light and darkness, good and evil. A dance with death. They dodged and swerved and shot with amazing skill for a long time.
Eventually Requin realized he was losing. It came as a shock. For so long he had been easily victorious in any battle, and he had thought no one could best him. It seemed he was wrong.
No! He could not let himself think like that. If he were to die, it would be fighting honorably. It would be fighting for a cause he believed in and was willing to sacrifice his life for! He began fighting with renewed intensity that shocked even him. He was no longer fighting for himself. He was fighting for others, for the good of mankind, for human freedom and survival in the colonies. He would not be beat. He could not be beat. They were depending on him. And he did not let them down.
It was over. He had killed his own brother. Everyone else was too stunned to speak. Requin fought to compose himself, but it was impossible. He just sat there. He just sat there and cried.
Epilogue:
Two years later the Corsairs signed the Treaty of Freeport 9. It stated that the Corsairs would form a law-abiding house, much like Liberty or Bretonia, called Hispania. Soon the galaxy economy skyrocketed. Peaceful trade strengthened all, and a long-awaited Golden Age of peace and prosperity was formed. Most are ignorant of what really happened. But some of us remember the story of a man named Requin. Remember a man who was willing to risk all he had for what he believed was good. Remember the sacrifices he made, the wars he fought, and his noble deeds that saved the world but went unnoticed by the masses. We remember him, and try to set an example. For more should as he was, a man who, for once in his life, looked beyond his own needs and championed those of others. For man is not perfect, and will continue to make evil choices. In times like those, we need a hero. And a hero is what we got.
**You may also notice some familiar names... Pay it no mind...
[glow=red,2,300]Freelancer Fanfic 1: On Requin of the Corsairs...[/glow]
~ 50 years after the Nomad Attack. The Order had been watching the gate closely, and no there was outbreak so far. Everything seemed normal, until influential people in the Crete have a galaxy-changing idea…
Chapter 1: The Offer
Requin woke up in somewhat of a sleepy state. His last couple weeks had been spent on Crete, taking a break from missions. He was a freelancer, and possibly the best that ever was. His short stature made him look like a fool on the ground, but in space, he could beat the best of them. Requin was tired of these easy missions, and was waiting for something to come up.
His radio came on.
“Requin,” said a familiar voice over the intercom, “You are expected at the Crete Council Room immediately.”
“Misphit! How are you doing? I thought you died in that last raid!”
“Yea well, we freelancers are hard to kill.”
“You can say that again”
“Yea well, we –“
“Ok ok, we know you’re funny. Now stop talking and let me get dressed.” Misphit was an old friend of his, showing him the ropes as he started flying. However, Requin soon passed his teacher skill-wise, and they split up. They kept meeting each other in strange places, but both have gotten over the shock.
Requin put on his plain brown outfit, known universally as the trademark Freelancer uniform. He had been awarded several medals, but never wore them, favoring the humble approach.
To be admitted to the council chamber was a highly honorable experience, and the room itself was spectacular, but he had been asked to come there many times for missions the effect was wearing off. No one bothered him as he walked down the hall and opened the door.
“Requin! Come in! We were just about to start. Sit down. In case you haven’t noticed, there are no guards at the door. This is a secret meeting between the Council. We need your advice and, if you choose, we have a mission for you.
“Go on”
“The situation is this; ever since the Hispania brought us here, it has been hard to find natural resources. Once we found contact with the other factions, we looted and traded for what we need. We can still loot, but it is a risky system and we could all be destroyed any day. We cannot trade, for Gamma has been wiped clean of artifacts, and the only other thing of value we have is our trademark ships, and we cannot sell those. What we need to do is conquer another system or two. We have decided, for various reasons, that Alpha and the Outcasts are our best targets. We hate each other, and everyone hates them, more so than us, for they bring narcotics and we bring artifacts that are from an alien race. The artifacts are barely illegal!
It has all been arranged. We will send a messenger to all of the factions except the Outcasts asking for firepower and manpower. The outcasts have great ships and weapons, almost on par with ours, and we will need all the chance we can get. We will blow up the planet they call Malta, for it creates the Cardamine everyone despises. We will then settle the other planets in the system, and create a new Corsair-owned system.”
Requin thought about it for a moment. “Sounds good, but will the police help us? And what will happen after we take over Alpha?”
“All in good time, Requin. We give you information on a need-to-know basis. If you need to know it, we will tell you.
Here is the bottom line. We want you to be in charge of the force. All of it. We know that none of our pilots are as skilled at fighting or tactics or as good a leader as you, and we admit that.” Requin just looked at him. “Ah, yes, the money. We want your services, so we are going to just say out flat what we can maximally pay you. We have done the calculations, and the total is… 1.5 billion credits.”
Requin whistled in spite of himself. “You are offering me more money than the famous Trent got in all of his missions for you and others? Including the Nomad Attack? With those funds, I could practically buy my own private system. Even if this job turns out to be more than it seems, I am being blunt with you. For that much money, I’ll do whatever is in my ability.”
He smiled. “Good. I used to have regrets on hiring you, but I believe the money is worth it. Half of it is being wired to your neural net account. You will get the other half when it is done.” Taking that as a signal to leave, he walked out the door.
Chapter 2: A Little Practice
Requin was seldom fazed by anything, but this new job really set him off balance. He got into his ship and was about to lift off when:
“Requin! Aren’t you going to tell me what went on in the Council Room?” It was Misphit.
“Sorry,” lied Requin, “I can’t tell you. The mission is top-secret. You might find out later from other sources, though.” That part was certainly true, but Requin just didn’t want his friend bothering him about it just now. He had a lot of thinking to do.
As soon as he was in space he hit the cruise engines and steered his ship in the right direction. He saw many Titans, but, as usual, no ships even remotely like his.
Requin had what he considered to be best ship made by humankind. It was a Very Heavy Fighter, and was identical to the Titans the Corsairs used except for two things. His hull was of a poorer quality, so his ship was easier to kill, but his ship’s maneuverability was exceptional. It could out-maneuver some light fighters! It was the perfect ship for a skilled pilot, and Requin was certainly that. Its class name was the Eagle, though he renamed it Death’s Embrace. Its name was not meant to be morbid, rather a tribute to all who had died underneath its powerful gaze.
As to his weapons, no one knew what Requin had. The first thing he bought when he came to Crete was a Scan-Jammer, which made it impossible for anyone to scan his ship. Some say that he had some of the rare Code Name weapons on board. Others say he only had missiles. What most think is that he had legendary nomad weapons, acquired only if you have enough skill to beat a nomad. What everyone does agree upon, however, is that between his ship and his guns, he is unstoppable.
He entered the green cloud that encompassed one third of the system. He was headed to a secret jumphole, one few know of and very few have gone through. The reason for this is that almost all who go through die. Those who know of the system call it Unknown, for various reasons. It was the only system known to man to still house the dreaded nomads. There were two planets in the system, which were furnished by the Order to both stop the nomads from going to the civilized worlds and to provide a safe haven and repairing station for the brave souls who dared to come into the system.
As soon as his scans went dead, he knew he was close. Requin kept going until he saw the jump hole, then immediately went through. There was so much radiation in that area that to stay for too long was certain death.
When he got through, the first things Requin saw were four nomad fighters. “Piece of cake,” he said to himself, and quickly destroyed the group.
Requin hit his cruise engines and started heading deeper into the system. He was stopped two times by passing nomads, but they were more of an annoyance to him than a challenge. Deeper still he went, until he saw something that made him think he had gone a bit too far for comfort.
Suddenly, a literal army of nomads was in his face. There were two battleships, six gunboats, and twenty-one fighters. He immediately cut his engines, swerved, and went for the battleships, since they were the most lethal. They were slow, however, and soon they were just explosions of energy.
He then turned on the gunboats. These were harder to kill, but he was patient. He swerved and dodged and shot at exactly the right time.
He still had the fighters to kill. Separately, nomad fighters are the weakest of the nomads, but in groups, they are stronger than battleships or gunboats. He checked and found he had brought no mines, bats, or bots, as he had believed he would not go this far into the system.
Then he had an idea. He would pretend to flee! The nomads’ high-powered engines were faster than his, and by the time they realized it was a bluff he would have taken down half of them from behind! Requin quickly put the plan into action, and afterwards kept dodging and shooting until they were all dead.
“What a rush,” said Requin to himself, “But there’s nothing wrong with a little practice.” And with that, he hit the cruise and headed for Crete.
Chapter 3: The journey begins
As soon as he got within range of Crete, he gasped. It seemed the Council Leader had been right. Ships from all over Sirus, from enormous Battleships to tiny Light Fighters, were congregated around Crete. It seemed that all of the factions of Sirus had contributed men, ships or weapons. All the factions that were at war with each other were flying side by side. They were there for one purpose, and that was to kill Outcasts. It was definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Suddenly, his intercom came alive. “I see you are back. The ships outside are all at your command. There are three other fleets like it stationed in systems key to the war. These will also obey you without question. You, of course, get your orders from me.”
Requin was astounded. That must be the biggest fighting force since the war for Earth! And he was in charge! “Well then, why don’t we get started? What are my standing orders?”
“I’m glad you asked. Take this section of the fleet into Theta, and then wait for more orders. You may fly to Sigma 17 and the systems surrounding Alpha to look at and talk to the rest of the fleet if you wish. I will contact you in approximately 3 galactic days.”
The intercom went dead for a second or two. Then a different voice:
“Requin, sir. My name is Trenton. I am a general for Liberty and I was named after the famous Trent. I have been placed in charge of the fleet you see now. I was told I needed to report to you for orders. I generally do not like freelancers, but I’ve heard great things about you. I could not scan your ship earlier, and so now I am curious. Will you demonstrate to me your fighting skills? I am being blunt with you. I will not serve a freelancer unless he has proven himself worthy.”
Requin smirked to himself. Typical. “I agree. Name what you want me to do.”
“How about a one-on-one duel with me? Just for shield and half of hull, of course.”
“Fine by me. Now?”
“Yes. Do you have me targeted? Good.”
“I really don’t want to fight you, but if you-“
“GO!”
Requin stopped flying and waited for his opponent to come to him. At the very instant before he came into firing range he thrust upwards, shooting his ship down and throwing off Trenton’s aim. He then immediately killed his opponent’s shield.
Good. Now that he had proven he had more tactics than Trenton, he had to prove he could fight better also.
Requin dodged and swerved, changing his ship moves into an art form while ensuring that he was never hit. As soon as he was sure his opponent knew that he was being toyed with, he quickly and efficiently killed half of Trenton’s hull health.
“Stop.” he said over the intercom.
“You…you… you are the best duelist I have ever seen. I would be honored to serve behind you.”
“Enough pleasantries. We have work to do. Tell the fleet to get into formation and follow me.”
“Can do.”
He uploaded the current position of the asteroids in the path to Theta into the battleships’ databank so that they did not run into the asteroids at cruise speed. Then, when he had judged all was ready, he hit the cruise engines and sped towards Theta.
Chapter 4: The Calm Before the Storm
Requin slowed to a halt, and then ordered Trenton to get all of the fleet behind asteroids so that no Outcasts spotted them.
“I’m going to do a little flying on my own. You stay here with the fleet and only fire if an Outcast attacks or sees you.”
“Yes, sir.”
Requin, now he was alone and didn’t have battleships to slow him down, quickly went to Omicron Beta to check up on the fleet there. He got hailed as soon as he located the fleet.
“Unknown ship, you are trespassing in restricted space. Power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded.”
Requin replied, “This is Freelancer Beta4. Take me to whoever is in charge of the fleet.”
“Sir! Requin sir! Forgive me. I did not realize it was you and-“
“Forget it.”
A familiar voice came through his intercom. “Hey, Requin! Did you hear I’m in charge of this fleet? It’s great! I guess I should call you Sir now…”
Requin smiled to himself. “You should know better, Misphit. You don’t have to call me Sir, old friend. Just follow my orders.”
“I know. I was just joking with ya. Well, everything is in order here. We’re just waiting for the go-ahead. I know you have things to do, so I’ll let you do your job.”
Requin thanked him and went to the last of the systems surrounding Alpha. There were two fleets there.
“Sir, I was told to report to you if you showed up. Three of our battleships are showing mechanical failures. If we do not get them fixed, it is possible the fleet could not go into action. We have all of the mechanics in both fleets working on it, but I’m afraid it will take some time, a galactic week or two at the most, if we do not have additional repair crews sent immediately.”
“You shall have them. Give me a minute.”
Requin contacted both of the two remaining fleet leaders and, after some discussion, got them to send all but the bare minimum repair experts.
“The repair crews are on their way. Send them back when the work is finished.”
Suddenly, the Crete Council Leader came on his radio. “Requin, I have just received word that, believe it or not, your brother is with the Outcasts. He has taken up a position of power and-“
“What! Ahem’s alive! But what do you mean he is with the Outcasts? I thought he left a long time ago!”
“As I said, he has taken up a position of power and has persuaded the Outcast Council to take a drastic step. They are going to try to, eventually, control the whole galaxy. I know it sounds crazy, but they are planning to start with the Corsairs. They have no allies, but I believe we should proceed immediately, before anything untoward happens.”
“I can’t believe Ahem would side with the Outcasts! I knew he was ambitious, but I never believed he would create a huge war to gain power!”
“But he has, and that is yet another reason why we need to wipe out the Outcasts. Proceed when ready, and preferably soon. I expect to hear from you when the job is done.”
“Yes, sir.”
Requin did not let his amazement disturb him. He had a work to do. He quickly created an intercom channel between him and all four fleet leaders.
“Move out.”
Chapter 5: The Attack
Everything went as planned. A fleet stayed behind as a backup and to make sure no Outcasts escaped. The other three fleets went straight for Malta, killing all in their path, as did Requin. Soon they were within range of Malta.
“Sir, should I give the go-ahead?”
“Wait. I need confirmation no Outcasts are left in the system.”
“Sir, this is the backup fleet. There are no remaining Outcasts here, over.”
“All fleets within range concentrate fire on Malta.”
Soon Malta was a ball of fire, gas, and energy.
“All fleets make a final sweep of the area and-“
“You idiot!” A ship came out of the wreckage. It was an Eagle, like Requin’s own.
“Brother! How are you? I hope you didn’t get hurt. But-”
“Don’t call me brother! I had a plan. I would conquer the world, with the aid of the faction I deemed strongest. I was even planning to let you join in. But no! You had to go off and be the hero. Don’t you see what we could have gained? What we could have done? Now it is all ruined. Ruined thanks to you. I’ll kill you for this, Requin. You will pay for what you have done.”
Ahem sped towards his brother. Requin didn’t want to hurt his brother, but if that was the way it had to be, so be it.
All who saw it claimed it to be beautiful. A dance between ships, between brothers, between light and darkness, good and evil. A dance with death. They dodged and swerved and shot with amazing skill for a long time.
Eventually Requin realized he was losing. It came as a shock. For so long he had been easily victorious in any battle, and he had thought no one could best him. It seemed he was wrong.
No! He could not let himself think like that. If he were to die, it would be fighting honorably. It would be fighting for a cause he believed in and was willing to sacrifice his life for! He began fighting with renewed intensity that shocked even him. He was no longer fighting for himself. He was fighting for others, for the good of mankind, for human freedom and survival in the colonies. He would not be beat. He could not be beat. They were depending on him. And he did not let them down.
It was over. He had killed his own brother. Everyone else was too stunned to speak. Requin fought to compose himself, but it was impossible. He just sat there. He just sat there and cried.
Epilogue:
Two years later the Corsairs signed the Treaty of Freeport 9. It stated that the Corsairs would form a law-abiding house, much like Liberty or Bretonia, called Hispania. Soon the galaxy economy skyrocketed. Peaceful trade strengthened all, and a long-awaited Golden Age of peace and prosperity was formed. Most are ignorant of what really happened. But some of us remember the story of a man named Requin. Remember a man who was willing to risk all he had for what he believed was good. Remember the sacrifices he made, the wars he fought, and his noble deeds that saved the world but went unnoticed by the masses. We remember him, and try to set an example. For more should as he was, a man who, for once in his life, looked beyond his own needs and championed those of others. For man is not perfect, and will continue to make evil choices. In times like those, we need a hero. And a hero is what we got.
