Energy began to crackle through the hull. A slight hum began to pervade the entire structure and suddenly, a violent surge of energy rapidly expanded from the center of this golden structure. It flashed to life, skewed horizontally and then split wide open, expanding in two directions as far as the eye could see. The light released illuminated the surrounding space as the Stargate sprang to life slowing the traveler down as the arrived at their destination.
Another person had jumped into system, perhaps to become the subject of violence.
Darkness surrounded the hull save for the gleam that should have been reflecting light from the system’s single star. Being cloaked in a stealth bomber was one of Ga’len’s great joys. Sitting there, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Soon the new traveler would become visible as the effects of travel would fade. The energy surge from jumping between stargates would dissipate and his next victim would become visible.
The seconds passed slowly. Ga’len willed his ship to begin to move, his bombing run had begun.
“Wait for it, wait for it”, Ga’len kept thinking to himself, “Soon they will become visible, then release the bomb and warp out.”
In a slight waver, the last of the energy surrounding the incoming traveler dissipated away and the ship became visible for a moment before it accelerated into warp.
“Damn, it’s a shuttle”, Ga’len’s thoughts began to wander, “Three shuttles in a row, this is simply not working today.” He willed his ship to a halt, turned around and moved back to his start position for a bombing run on the stargate.
Ga’len could hear the words his corpie spoke weeks ago, “Patience, wait for the moment, something worth killing will come soon. All those shuttle pilots will come back in a vessel worth laying waste to. Keep waiting, you will get your chance for battle soon enough.”
So, Ga’len continued to wait. Hours passed and still nothing came through the gate. As boredom began to creep into Ga’len and his lonely ship, the comms came alive.
“ATTENTION ALL HANDS, RALLY IN F4. ALL HAND RALLY IN FAST ROAMING SHIPS IN F4 IMMEDIATELY. LORD MAKK IS FORMING A FLEET, ALL HANDS RALLY IN F4 IMMEDIATELY!”
“Something happened“, Ga’len thought, “There were no planned operations for few more hours. Something must have happened.”
Ga’len willed his ship to warp to the stargate at the other end of the system and he began the trip back to the rally point. He activated his comms system to alert the hanger crew to ready his Taranis. A Lord Makk roaming operation, he would need interceptors to get those targets tackled quickly.
Quickly Ga’len made his way to the station, docked, had his pod moved into the Taranis, undocked and warped to the stargate as Lord Makk and his gang were jumping through.
“ALL HANDS FORM UP ON THE NEXT GATE, DESTINATION HAS BEEN BROADCAST!”, the comms were screaming with orders from Lord Makk, “DISHONORED DUEL, HE MUST DIE! WE WILL KILL EVERYTHING IN OUR PATH!”
Ga’len moved his ship as fast as he could, catching up with the gang on the next gate. As they continued to move quickly towards their destination, Ga’len skimmed over the battle reports from earlier in the evening.
“Dishonored duel?“, Ga’len muttered to himself in his mind, “Cometeer again, eh? Will these Sylph cowards never learn? You act without honor and we shall lay our wrath upon you. Funny how ‘their’ god accepts such scum.”
“Lord Makk, I am reading about the events from earlier this evening. You engaged in a duel with a slaver pet, correct?” Ga’len asked his FC as they traveled faster now.
“Yes,” Lord Makk replied.
“And they dishonored the accord by bringing more combatants onto the field when things went badly for this scum, Cometeer, correct.”
Again Lord Makk replied, “Yes.”
“And this surprises you sir?”, Ga’len jokingly inquired.
There was a slight delay in his response, but Lord Makk was calm and focused, “No, it does not surprise me, but one can hope that a slaver pet will repent their ways and see the truth and light of fighting with dignity and honor. Such lack of integrity of character continues to motivate me to lay waste to their ships and their space. USHRA’KHAN!”
The comms filled with shouts from everyone in the gang chanting, responding to Lord Makk and his battle cry, “USHRA’KHAN! USHRA’KHAN! USHRA’KHAN! WE COME FOR OUR PEOPLE!”
Lord Makk was beaten in what should have been a fair fight. A contest between capsuleers was not to be taken lightly. When you agree to engage in a duel, the terms must be honored. Lord Makk wanted revenge and we all would lay waste upon these cowards.
A few moments later, we arrived at a stargate and a slaver pet in a Drake was waiting for us. Without a moment’s notice, we engaged him. Ga’len’s Taranis, The Bleeding Rose, screamed towards the doomed battlecruiser. Guns firing, tackle gear engaged and drones released, the entire gang worked quickly and soon the ship was a fireball in space.
So fragile, so delicate, this poor soul’s pod was sitting there in the wreckage. A moment later, Ga’len could be heard on the comms, “POINT ON POD!” Before the static of the transmission cleared everyone’s ears, the hull of the pod cracked open, the Jovian goo evaporated away in a frozen cloud as a corpse flash froze in the hard vacuum.
“Recall drones and warp to the next gate, we are not done yet,” Lord Makk ordered the fleet, “We will continue through their space. We will find Cometeer and lay justice upon the coward.”
And thus over the next few hours this was the way of things. We roamed all over Sylph space, laying waste to all who crossed our path. Cometter never came out of his station. He stayed there, hiding in fear, hiding with the filth of his dishonor.
Ship after ship and pod after pod fell to our onslaught and in time a response was gathered. The infamous “Provi-blob” attempted to show it’s dishonorable face.
Lord Makk spoke calmly, “Okay everyone, we are going to jump and hold postion until everyone is in system, then burn off towards the sun as fast as you can. We will engage anyone who comes near us until they flee, then move in and kill them all.”
The fleet jumped into the next system, we held position, like the shuttle Ga’len encountered earlier that night, waiting for the energy of gate travel to dissipate.
Lord Makk’s order came, “Move now, towards the star. Engage that inteceptor but keep moving.”
Ga’len deployed his drones and target locked the crusader as it quickly closed the distance. As he cleared the interdictor bubble, the crusader sped past him. Another interceptor was closing in as the first attacker’s hull exploded.
One after another slaver attempted to engage us and were destroyed. Then they began to flee through the stargate. Lord Makk gave chase and most of the gang followed. Ga’len and a few others had to repair some damage before getting underway.
As Ga’len jumped into the system the gang had caught the curse in, the slaver died a proper death.
“Well, it seems that they still can not match us”, Lord Makk commented, “We have come for our people, laid waste to our enemies and not lost a single ship along the way. Okay everyone, it’s time to head home. Set course and let’s go. Do remember, we will kill anything we come across.”
Slowly we made our way back to the rally point, but this time, everyone fled before us. Each time we jumped into a system, the slavers and their pets fled. Each time they fled, the chanting of our honorable warriors could be heard, echoing through each system, “USHRA’KHAN! USHRA’KHAN!”
We came for vengeance, we found cowardice and we laid waste upon them. It was no longer Slyph space, it was our space now. They acted with dishonor and it was their blood that was spilled this night.
