You cannot defeat the Drakhai!

It was all so very long ago...but happened only yesterday. They were alive yesterday, my home was whole, but now...only chaos ensues. In another universe, these events did not happen, in another, the attack would have been swift and brutally complete. I suppose my universe is somewhere in-between.

We had been on patrol, as usual. It was a standard diamond patrol, you know, the usual...point A to B, B to C, C to D, D back to A and our home, the Tiger's Claw. What a magnificent vessel. The fact that it still exists now is a testament to its durability...and our great luck amidst greater misfortune.

My wingman Viper was feeling pretty cocky, but isn't that the norm for us space jockeys? He had toasted two furballs at our "C" point, but I was only able to account for one. Let him have his glory, I decided. I was looking forward to getting back to the Claw to crash and burn...on my bunk, of course, not the hangar!

It wasn't that we weren't vigilant; it wasn't that we were too tired, though the fatigue was there. But we were both surprised when our autopilot switched off...and the Claw was nowhere to be found. We saw a great deal of debris. Then, a flash of light from the left side surprised us. We turned towards it and prepared to fight whatever enemy awaited us.

It was the Claw! The Claw fired near us! But something wasn't right. That blast came near us, but it didn't stand a chance of hitting us. If the Claw truly had betrayed its pilots, we would both be dust. Their targeting scanners were certainly adequate to perform fatal laser surgery on both of our craft. A closer examination of the Claw revealed that it suffered a massive amount of damage! It was amazing that the hulk was able to fire, let alone move!

So what were they shooting at? I checked with Viper and he confirmed that he showed nothing on his screen but the Claw as well. But the Claw was hurtling at its best speed towards the jump point, shooting behind it seemingly at random. But, NOTHING WAS THERE!

Suddenly, the com board crackled to life. It was the Claw. The controller said simply: "Hurry, get on board! We're under attack!" I responded "From what? What enemy?" I needn't have bothered: I was talking to a blank vidscreen. Hitting the afterburners, my wingman and I dodged the Claw's blasts and engaged the automatic landing system. About the time we were actually able to make our final approach, a lone Kilrathi face filled the comm system.

By now, all the furballs looked about the same to me. But this furball, I don't think I could ever forget his face. All he said was contained in one sentence, but it chilled me to the core. "You can run, terran apes, but YOU CANNOT DEFEAT THE DRAKHAI!"

As soon as we landed, Viper demanded of me "What the FUCK are the Drakhai?!" As the Claw jumped out of danger, I wasn't quite sure, but I had the feeling that we would soon find out.


Oh...and I apologize if anyone takes offense at my using the F-word, but wouldn't you curse if you just had your carrier nearly annihilated when you weren't even there to witness the battle?! If it is a problem, I will gladly edit it out....but I'd like to keep the word, if I may.
 
pretty good short read, though you never give an indication why the Claw was firing blindly and where the Drakhai transmission originated from if they weren't on your screens/radars.

And on a side note, I would be cocky after toasting 2 furballs, but I probably wouldn't drop an F-bomb . . . though I've never come home to see my house beat to hell and on fire :D.

C-ya
 
Viper61 said:
pretty good short read, though you never give an indication why the Claw was firing blindly and where the Drakhai transmission originated from if they weren't on your screens/radars.

Have you ever played Wing Commander 2? This prelude and the rest of the story which I am working on is in an alternate universe, where the Tiger's Claw was NOT destroyed in the stealth attack, just severely damaged...but not enough for it to not be able to escape. They are firing blindly at the cloaked Kilrathi fighters (I believe they were called "Strakha"s but I wouldn't mind if someone would correct me if I'm wrong) because they can't see them...and it is from them the transmissions come.
 
You probaly want to mention upfront that it's part of an alternate universe, that way, you'll spare yourself the headache from having to explain to everyone wondering "why is (subject A) this instead of (subject B)?!?!?!".
 
psych said:
You probaly want to mention upfront that it's part of an alternate universe, that way, you'll spare yourself the headache from having to explain to everyone wondering "why is (subject A) this instead of (subject B)?!?!?!".

I thought that this was enough to cover that...

MetroidFan2002 said:
It was all so very long ago...but happened only yesterday. They were alive yesterday, my home was whole, but now...only chaos ensues. In another universe, these events did not happen, in another, the attack would have been swift and brutally complete. I suppose my universe is somewhere in-between.
 
Problem here is that the WC community, for the most part, are hard-liners when it comes to attention to detail and WC continuity concerning fan projects (including fiction). I really can't explain it in much detail (as it'll be a long long long effort of my time), but writing alternate universes and other changes (made in the name of tolerances and expansion) tends to rub people the wrong way. They want something that "fills in the gaps", rather then "goes against the grain".
 
It is a good read but yeah you should make it clear for those guys who are certain to whine if you dont spell it out for them. Hope to see more fic from you soon
 
This is the second part of the story.

Jamuka turned off his comm system after taunting his unsuspecting prey. Unfortunately, the rookie blew it. Curse his incompetence! If he hadn't been so trigger happy, their six missiles would have been more than enough to deliver the fatal blow to the Tiger's Claw, but no. He had to ignite his afterburners and ignore his orders, firing way too early to even attempt a synchronized launch. By the time Jamuka and Arrak had launched their weapons, the Claw had already brought what was left of its shields to bear and turned to protect its wounded flank. It was wounded physically, and Jamuka's taunt had seen to wounding its pride.

However, a taunt was not enough. Thanks to the rookie's over-enthusiasm, the Claw was still intact. It might not have been so if the prototypes still had their guns attached. However, the cloak took too much power. It was decided that the six missiles would be enough, and the ship barely had enough power to fire them while both under cloak and running its engines. If the guns that had previously been on the vessels hadn't been stripped, the Claw would have never escaped the debris field it left behind.

The rookie's family might have been important enough to get him into the ranks of the Drakhai, and even to advance him to accompany them on their mission, but that would not be enough to save him from the dishonor he brought upon himself. It would be a long time before he would ever see the controls of a real starfighter again. The Drakhai were not so forgiving as to let their members commit Zu'kara...they had other methods to express their disappointment of those who served in their ranks.

--------------------------------------

Right after answering Viper's rhetorical question with a shrug, I received a page on the intercom: "Maverick and Viper, report to the squadron commander's office for debriefing."

Navigating the wreckage of the hangar deck, and watching Viper jump out of the way of some sparks, we had to duck underneath a metal plate just to reach the corridor. Finally, we made it to the elevator, but of course it wasn't working. So, we had to backtrack and find the emergency stairs. Some of the steps had been jarred out of position just enough so that they fell to the steps below. Others just had one side yanked out of their sockets. Once we got to the squadron commander's office, I found Angel waiting there.

"Are you waiting for the commander too?" I inquired of her. Angel smiled apologetically and said, "No, Maverick, I'm afraid that would take too long. He's dead. He was sleeping in his bunk when the missiles hit. He hurtled against the wall and his skull got bashed in from the impact...it was a gruesome sight, but at least he didn't see the Tiger's Claw shredded like this."

As we absorbed the news, Angel continued. "Because I was the pilot with the most flight time, I got the promotion to temporary squadron commander from the Captain. That gives me the job to brief you two on the situation."

"At 0530, about 10 minutes before you two were supposed to finish your assigned patrol, the Tiger's Claw was attacked. Two missiles hit the center of the ship. When this occurred, we took evasive action and activated the shields. Four more missiles followed shortly after the other two. Thankfully, most of the damage by those missiles was deflected by our shields, but the impacts still managed to get through, and the results are this mess you see here."

"Why didn't you scramble the pilots?", Viper inquired. "Because, number one, the hangar deck was damaged, as you saw, and number two, we didn't see anything on our sensors. The missiles came from nowhere."

"You're saying the Kilrathi have developed invisible missiles!" Viper demanded. "No, worse than that" Angel responded. "Because the Kilrathi would have launched all six missiles at the exact same time, to achieve the maximum element of damage and surprise, we are left with one conclusion. The Kilrathi have developed an invisible fighter."

"What makes you think that the missiles simply weren't a mis-managed launch?" I asked her. "Because" she said, "we fired our guns as soon as we took damage along the missile's vector. We hit something...we saw a flicker, and debris popped off. An invisible capital ship would have been hit many more times by our guns, as they cannot move very fast, but a fighter would be able to avoid most of the gunfire, which these Kilrathi did. And there's also the fact that they TAUNTED US! A capital ship's commander doesn't usually do that."

"This begs the question...if it was fighters, did they shoot at you other than launch missiles?" I asked. "No, they did not. I thought that was strange...they had the advantage on us, even with them being a little bit wounded. But we registered no energy impacts at all, just the impacts of the six missiles. After they hit, we didn't take any more damage."" Jeanette said. "We shot and retreated and waited just long enough for you guys to arrive, then we jumped out to the Hyades system...we had to retreat from the Sumn-Kp'ta system in the face of this threat, and to buy us the time to lick our wounds."

"So, what's the plan now?" I asked. "Well, obviously we have to transmit our new data to command and await their orders. We'll fly patrols to see if there are any hidden Kilrathi in this sector, but it ought to be more secure than we found Sumn-Kp'ta to be. Once command gets our message, we'll see what happens then" she responded. With that, the debriefing ended shortly afterward. However, little did I know that the fight was just beginning...
 
MetroidFan2002 said:
This is the second part of the story.

Jamuka turned off his comm system after taunting his unsuspecting prey. Unfortunately, the rookie blew it. Curse his incompetence! If he hadn't been so trigger happy, their six missiles would have been more than enough to deliver the fatal blow to the Tiger's Claw, but no. He had to ignite his afterburners and ignore his orders, firing way too early to even attempt a synchronized launch. By the time Jamuka and Arrak had launched their weapons, the Claw had already brought what was left of its shields to bear and turned to protect its wounded flank. It was wounded physically, and Jamuka's taunt had seen to wounding its pride.

However, a taunt was not enough. Thanks to the rookie's over-enthusiasm, the Claw was still intact. It might not have been so if the prototypes still had their guns attached. However, the cloak took too much power. It was decided that the six missiles would be enough, and the ship barely had enough power to fire them while both under cloak and running its engines. If the guns that had previously been on the vessels hadn't been stripped, the Claw would have never escaped the debris field it left behind.

The rookie's family might have been important enough to get him into the ranks of the Drakhai, and even to advance him to accompany them on their mission, but that would not be enough to save him from the dishonor he brought upon himself. It would be a long time before he would ever see the controls of a real starfighter again. The Drakhai were not so forgiving as to let their members commit Zu'kara...they had other methods to express their disappointment of those who served in their ranks.

--------------------------------------

Right after answering Viper's rhetorical question with a shrug, I received a page on the intercom: "Maverick and Viper, report to the squadron commander's office for debriefing."

Navigating the wreckage of the hangar deck, and watching Viper jump out of the way of some sparks, we had to duck underneath a metal plate just to reach the corridor. Finally, we made it to the elevator, but of course it wasn't working. So, we had to backtrack and find the emergency stairs. Some of the steps had been jarred out of position just enough so that they fell to the steps below. Others just had one side yanked out of their sockets. Once we got to the squadron commander's office, I found Angel waiting there.

"Are you waiting for the commander too?" I inquired of her. Angel smiled apologetically and said, "No, Maverick, I'm afraid that would take too long. He's dead. He was sleeping in his bunk when the missiles hit. He hurtled against the wall and his skull got bashed in from the impact...it was a gruesome sight, but at least he didn't see the Tiger's Claw shredded like this."

As we absorbed the news, Angel continued. "Because I was the pilot with the most flight time, I got the promotion to temporary squadron commander from the Captain. That gives me the job to brief you two on the situation."

"At 0530, about 10 minutes before you two were supposed to finish your assigned patrol, the Tiger's Claw was attacked. Two missiles hit the center of the ship. When this occurred, we took evasive action and activated the shields. Four more missiles followed shortly after the other two. Thankfully, most of the damage by those missiles was deflected by our shields, but the impacts still managed to get through, and the results are this mess you see here."

"Why didn't you scramble the pilots?", Viper inquired. "Because, number one, the hangar deck was damaged, as you saw, and number two, we didn't see anything on our sensors. The missiles came from nowhere."

"You're saying the Kilrathi have developed invisible missiles!" Viper demanded. "No, worse than that" Angel responded. "Because the Kilrathi would have launched all six missiles at the exact same time, to achieve the maximum element of damage and surprise, we are left with one conclusion. The Kilrathi have developed an invisible fighter."

"What makes you think that the missiles simply weren't a mis-managed launch?" I asked her. "Because" she said, "we fired our guns as soon as we took damage along the missile's vector. We hit something...we saw a flicker, and debris popped off. An invisible capital ship would have been hit many more times by our guns, as they cannot move very fast, but a fighter would be able to avoid most of the gunfire, which these Kilrathi did. And there's also the fact that they TAUNTED US! A capital ship's commander doesn't usually do that."

"This begs the question...if it was fighters, did they shoot at you other than launch missiles?" I asked. "No, they did not. I thought that was strange...they had the advantage on us, even with them being a little bit wounded. But we registered no energy impacts at all, just the impacts of the six missiles. After they hit, we didn't take any more damage."" Jeanette said. "We shot and retreated and waited just long enough for you guys to arrive, then we jumped out to the Hyades system...we had to retreat from the Sumn-Kp'ta system in the face of this threat, and to buy us the time to lick our wounds."

"So, what's the plan now?" I asked. "Well, obviously we have to transmit our new data to command and await their orders. We'll fly patrols to see if there are any hidden Kilrathi in this sector, but it ought to be more secure than we found Sumn-Kp'ta to be. Once command gets our message, we'll see what happens then" she responded. With that, the debriefing ended shortly afterward. However, little did I know that the fight was just beginning...


Sorry, I just had a sudden inclination to make a post with a HUGE quote.

So far, it sounds really cool, MetroidFan. I'm just glad you didn't attempt a Metroid/WC crossover. I would have had to find you personally and skin you alive, then hang you outside of a Wal-Mart as an example to all.
 
Saturnyne said:
I'm just glad you didn't attempt a Metroid/WC crossover. I would have had to find you personally and skin you alive, then hang you outside of a Wal-Mart as an example to all.

Hahaha...I think I'd gouge my eyes out with a rusted spoon, shoot off my hands and hang myself first to save you the trouble :)
 
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