RPG 1- "The Milk Run"

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#41

Chaos spread throughout ‘Betwixt’ as light mortar rounds descended on the city, people ran for cover as shells exploded and blew huge chunks out of the streets and ravaged the poorly constructed buildings. The air was filled with a rain of dirt, debris, smoke and the screams of wounded, shrapnel from antipersonnel rounds shredded anyone who attempted to rescue any of the wounded. Or anyone who tried to put out any of the fires that were beginning to spread. Most huddled inside their fragile homes and tried to wait out the bombardment, while the mercs hunkered down in their emplacements and awaited the inevitable charge. No one even attempted to issue orders, none could have been heard over the loud explosions and the screaming anyways, and communications were now being jammed. The Senior Chief peeked out from his protective flak tarp and peered into the fields beyond the trees with his field glasses, there they were, squads of infantry moving through the tall grass. It would not be long now…

Jiggy exited his wounded fighter and patted her affectionately once his feet were on solid ground, “Thanks baby for getting me back safely.” The mechanics walked up gawked at the damage, one of them climbed underneath to see where the fluids were dripping from while another took notes as he made a slow circle around the battered craft. He was about to ask them about repairs when the sound of supersonic munitions ripped through the air, his head snapped around in time to see vapor trails coming from the mining facility and heading toward the upper atmosphere. The then flares erupted as engines could be seen coming to life as they attempted to gain even more altitude to reach their designated targets. Jiggy grimaced at the familiar site and did not envy whoever was on the receiving end of those missiles, he hoped those doppelgangers did their jobs well and kept those boys safe. One of the mechanics watched the missiles climbing, “They must be shooting at the incoming dropship, we caught part of a transmission from them before it got jammed.” Another voice came from beneath the fighter, “Yeah you should have heard the commotion when we heard they were coming to reinforce the space port, it was like Mardi gras in here…” Jiggy looked at them wearily, “Well it will be just in time if you ask me.” The mechanics looked at him expectantly as he explained, “As I was coming in to land I spotted troops coming in from the mining facility, they must have been called in to finish the job the others failed to do.”

After exchanging worried looks the mechanics got to work on Jiggy’s fighter with renewed vigor. The tired and sore pilot headed for the cafeteria for a meal and a break, and maybe a quick nap if he was lucky.

“Sir we a have warp conduit opening up,” the bridge officer rambled off the coordinates and then put the image up on a view screen for the Captain to see. Captain Euclides set down his data pad and looked at the image and the streaming data beside it; it was a small and well controlled opening, too small for a large capitol ship. And the signature was subdued enough that had it not been so darned close they might not have noticed it, a corvette emerged from the opening and once clear the opening closed with a brief flare of color. The small ship swung in their direction and as it slowly advanced appendages and various pods and sensor arrays unfolded and extended from its sleek and compact hull, no weapons were coming online nor were any shields being raised. The comm. Officer called out, “We are being hailed sir,” Sean looked over at him and gestured to the main screen, “Put it on the big box kid.” Despite his best efforts Sean blanched when a completely alien and insectoid face came on the main screen, it’s compound eyes studied the men on the bridge with cold and meticulous scrutiny, it finally spoke, “You called for our assistance Captain, and we are here. Please advise us of the situation and how we may be best put to use.”

Captain Euclides rubbed his chin in thought and then rose and walked toward the 10 foot screen, “We are facing an unknown enemy, we are a unit that is generally contracted to human colonies which are engaging in civil wars, we have never been this far out before. If you and your team leaders would be so kind as to come aboard and go over our intel, perhaps your unique knowledge of the outlying races and their capabilities could help us to understand what we may be facing.” The expressionless face spoke in a cold emotionless voice, “That would be logical, I will bring over some of our crew which have been far beyond your ‘federated worlds’, please be ready to receive us in 15 minutes.” And the screen went blank with a snap, Sean scowled at the blue screen, “Yes sir, no problem, we’ll have a band and everything,” he said in a sarcastic voice. The crew nervously chuckled around him. The comm. Officer offered, “I am sure it is just an ‘alien’ thing, I don’t think he meant to be rude.” The Captain looked at him and shrugged, “I suppose so, he…" There was an awkward apuse, "It was a he right?” They all laughed again, Sean paced and ran fingers through his hair, “This is all new to me, and things are going to get really interesting aren’t they?” The bridge crew nodded and smiled.

#42

Dana was happily leaning against the bar pretending to wipe its worn surface as Barney told her another joke while idly picking at his cooling breakfast. Basking in the familiar and comfortable surroundings she felt at home, safe and welcome. She chuckled at Barney’s joke and a menacing scraping sound came from behind her, it caught Barney’s attention and he turned toward it. He gazed at the front door which bent and contorted as something heavy threw itself against it, “What is that?” Shamus angrily shouted, “Dana, Dana…. Dana!” The inside of the pub swirled and changed along with Shamus’s voice, it started to sound more like her Mother’s, “Dana, Dana, wake up…… Dana.” The dream faded and reality violated her peaceful thoughts as her Mother shook her, a banging sound startled her and she now realized where the sounds in her dream had come from. Claws scratched at the door and snorting sounds came from beneath it as it breathed in their scent. Dana and her Mother held each other as it threw itself against the door again, the barrels she had braced against it shook from the impact. She had hoped the potpourri her Mother was so fond of would spoil its sense of smell, but it would appear not, or perhaps it had heard them rather than smelt them… who knew? All that was certain was that it was here, now; and it wanted them.

Captain Euclides watched the approach of the longboat on the monitor as he and his aide awaited the arriving alien mercenaries, he heard footsteps behind and turned to see Evie approaching with a PADD and a stack of clipboards, she stopped and gazed at the monitor. Her faced betrayed puzzlement, “A flechette class longboat? A little elegant for mercs don’tcha think?” Sean chuckled, “Funny, I was thinking the same thing… Don’t flight crews and Logistics officers hate those things?” Evie nodded, “Hell yeah, those wings may be great for atmospheric flight but they take up a lot of space on a flight deck, and they are only good for hauling passengers, not cargo. So most ships only carry one or two for picking up visiting VIP’s, they really aren’t good for anything else.” He watched it gracefully enter the hanger bay, it was a beautiful hull design but he looked closely at the placement and shape of the hatches and access ports, it was sleek and elegant but clearly impractical for military purposes. He wondered why they even had one, no doubt there was probably an interesting story as to why these eccentric aliens had it but there were far more important matters at hand at the moment.

He glanced back at Evie, “I suppose this is not a social visit?” She grinned, “No I just stopped by to give you an update, with the dropships away we are focusing on getting the ‘Pappa’ battle ready. It looks like we can have her up to 40% in two hours, but we were not loaded out for a war. We were supposed to be escorting a civilian ship through pirate country; we only were given enough stores for a few light skirmishes because most pirates would never even dream of engaging a light cruiser. So if we get in a drawn out slugfest we will run dry in mere moments, plus since we are grossly understaffed what few weapons we have available will be on ‘auto’ and unmanned. And damage control will be almost nonexistent. We are basically a huge ‘paper tiger’; I hope you still have a few tricks up your sleeve ‘Cap’ we are going to need them.” Sean closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, “So do I Evie, so do I. Try and focus your people on the ECM and anti missile systems, these characters seem fond of missiles. Since we will be not be able to deliver a really strong first blow to take them out of the game, we will need a strong defense if we hope to keep trading blows. I know I am asking a lot of you, but you have a habit of doing the impossible, and right now I need the impossible more than ever.” They stood in silence for a moment and watched the hatch of the arrowhead shaped craft open, they could see movement through the portals and waited with baited breath to see what kind of species would emerge from the out of place ship. The first to emerge was a giant insect, it shoved its way through the opening and then unfolded itself to its fully erect 10 foot height.

Evie winced, “Eeeeww, a bug, I hate bugs. I’ll leave you to your…… guests.” She was about to leave when a dark skinned woman stepped out and looked about the vast bay in wonder, the top of her scalp flared out into a reptilian cowl which reminded Sean of a triceratops. Evie shook her head and slapped Sean on the shoulder, “Have fun, this should be…… interesting.” She smiled and walked away and when she rounded the corner she called back over her shoulder, “I hope you have had all your shots!” The Captain glared at her disappearing back, “Funny, reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal funny!”

#43

Senior Deputy Roderick staggered unsteadily to his feet, he had to lean against the wall to stay erect and his head felt like an aircar had hit it. He weaved and stumbled his way to the refrigerator to get some ice for his aching head, he spit out with a raspy dry mouth, “That f*&king old man, he is going to pay for this…” He leaned against the cool surface of the fridge breathing heavily as his mind thought back to finding the old man going through Bo’s paperwork, he had panicked and threatened him, the old man had clocked him hard before he could draw his weapon. He groaned as he grabbed a bag of frozen peas and pressed it to the back of his head, as the pain eased under the cool caress of the peas he wondered “How can someone that old move so fast?” He slid to the floor with his back against the fridge, the door holding the bag of frozen veggies against the swollen head, he closed his eyes and wondered if the damned old Indian had found anything incriminating. He hoped not, he did not want to go to Federal Prison for what he and Bo had been up to.

A chill ran up his spine, he thought at first that it had been caused by the thought of imprisonment, but when all of his senses became heightened and his nerves begun tingling he realized it was something far more primal and instinctive. He opened his eyes and gazed about the room slowly, when they feel upon the right side of the Sheriff’s desk they widened in horror. Something huge and alien has watching him, his mind raced “how did something that big get in here without making a sound?” Now that it had been seen it padded forward silently exposing more of its muscular frame, it was covered by burns and wounds and what little remained of a uniform. When Roderick started to reach for his weapon it growled a low and rumbling warning which froze the lawman with fear. It stopped and gazed at him seemingly drinking in the Deputy’s fear, lingering and anticipating the kill to come while tormenting and playing with its prey.

Roderick had never been a brave man, but if he was going to die he might as well die fighting. He quickly reached for his weapon only to find an empty holster (thanks to Chrissy), the sudden movement spurred the predator to attack. It dug a claw into the Deputy’s thigh and started to drag him away from the refrigerator, pain shot through Roderick’s body as he gritted his teeth and swallowed a scream, and he reached up and grabbed the handle on the fridge and held on for dear life. The fridge shifted position with a groan and his body actually rose above the floor as a macabre tug of war developed, the feline alien seemed to grin and dug a second claw deep into his calf. It felt like five huge fish hooks had imbedded themselves into the muscles of his calf, the pain was so intense tears began to roll down his face but he refused to scream or let go of the fridge. He did not know why he held on, it really made no sense at all, he was going to die no matter what. Perhaps it was an act of defiance, or just wholesale desperation, who could say?

When it yanked hard on his leg he finally screamed, it was from deep inside and it nearly shook the walls, it was so loud it drowned out the sound of the fridge dragging across the floor. It yanked again and this time the fridge fell, Rod thought the damned thing was going to crush him until it slammed against the Sheriffs desk at a funny angle. The surprise of the falling fridge caused the creature to release his leg; he quickly pulled free and slithered under the overhanging fridge to temporary freedom. Powerful clawed arms reached for him but he scooted out of reach and grabbed the edge of the desk and tried to stand, adrenaline and fear fueled him as he hobbled on one leg. The Hellish beast leapt atop the leaning fridge and glared at him as he threw a stapler at him, it shrugged it off and growled in amusement as its eyes narrowed and its ears folded back. The snow globe however seemed to actually hurt, it shook the water and glitter from its face and leapt at him. He staggered back and grabbed the coat rack; he angled at the descending feline monstrosity. It sounded like a rib or two cracked when it landed hard against it, it fell over onto the floor favoring one side. He shuffled and hopped backward looking for a weapon of some kind, any kind, he spied the coffee maker and hopped toward it as the angry predator rose onto its feet. He heard the pitch of its growl change as it pounced, he grabbed the half full glass coffee pot and spun around smashing the urn against its face just before the carnivore collided with him. It landed atop him and drove him to the floor with its weight and momentum; they skidded across the polished surface and collided with the break room’s furniture the massive cat riding him like a boogie board. It shook its huge head sending the scalding liquid away in a spray before sinking its teeth into Roderick’s neck. As it twisted its head to tear the flesh away the Deputy grabbed handfuls of it fur and pulled himself up to try and fight against the beasts attempts, and to cling to life for just a few precious seconds more, until something deep inside him snapped and he decided instead to fight back one last time. His hands rose to the creatures face and found its eyes, the civilized part of him was revolted by the idea but the primal part of him relished the thought of revenge as he drove his thumbs into its eyes. He fought the reflex to gag as he felt the eyes give way under his fear driven pressure, the teeth in his neck released as the alien cried out in pain thrashing its head from side to side trying to fight free of his desperate grasp. He felt his thumbs strike bone; they could go no further, a part of him felt satisfaction in the knowledge that even though he would die, he had gravely wounded the foul creature. His victory was short lived, the angry feline drove its teeth deep into his neck once more and shook him violently, he was too weak and his hands covered with gore to hold on for long and lost his grasp. The sound of his cartilage tearing sounded like celery twisting and snapping, he could feel warmth running down his chest as he lay on the floor.

The fear was gone now, there was a calm and acceptance which swept over him as he gazed up at the blinded cat alien, and he almost felt sorry for it as he watched it sniff the air as its sightless head moved from side to side. The room grew dark and cold around him, and he felt sleepy, there would be no more pain, he would never wake up from this sleep. At least not here…. Where would he wake up? God only knew. He closed his eyes and welcomed death, he never felt the next strike.

#44

Sean nervously waited for the decon chamber to finish cycling, he hoped the visitors would not be insulted by the safety measure. A green light came on accompanied by a friendly chime and the door hissed open, the unusual group migrated up the hallway and past the concealed weapons scanners and toward the Captain who waited for them in the guest lounge. The insectoid stepped past the vestibule and unfolded to his full height in the high ceilinged room and seemed about to speak when an Asian female cuffed him hard and stepped past him, “Permission to come aboard Captain,” and she bowed. Sean was taken back by the unexpected gesture and paused for a second before meekly responding, “Permission granted, and thank you for the sign of respect miss…” She raised from the bow, “Elmek sir, just Elmek.” The insect seemed agitated and his mandibles clacked together rapidly, Elmek gave it a cold stare which quickly quieted it down and continued talking in a calm voice to the Captain, “Some of the crew felt I should come along as a sort of liaison, to try and help avoid any unintentional cultural insults or misunderstandings.” Sean nodded, “I understand, and appreciate your presence here,” he gestured, “now if you all will follow me to the briefing room we can get started.”

Even though the ship was virtually empty he had arranged for them to use a briefing room close to the shuttle bay anyways, to avoid any encounters with wandering crewmen who might stare or make the alien visitors feel uncomfortable. The trip was mercifully uneventful and they gathered around the table and its holo projector, Sean gestured and the man staffing the control panel dimmed the lights and brought up an image of the ship the ‘Ralph Thorson’ had encountered and attacked. A low growl began to build and grow within the darkened room and the eyes of the group turned toward the two Phen’rell in the party, the female feline humanoid ran a hand through the fur of the male and tried to calm him down. She whispered something to him and he turned away from the image and disappeared into the darkness with only his labored and angry breathing betraying his presence as he paced back and forth behind the party watching the image hovering above the table. The female turned her golden catlike eyes toward Sean, her voice was filled with emotion and though she had a thick accent he could still understand her, “It is a Kerh’hon vessel, a ‘Dominion’ class ship I believe, though it seems highly modified from any I have seen before…” The woman who seemed reptilian went over to comfort the feline who had just spoken, and though the feline warrior was clearly a proud woman she did not shrug off her friend’s efforts. Elmek spoke up when she saw Sean’s concern, “Their world had been… ravaged, I think is the kindest word I can think of,” Elmek looked over at her friend with concern as she continued, “by these animals." She stabbed a finger at the hologram of the ship in question, "They are a warrior race who are feline also, but unlike the Phen’rell they openly embrace their primal nature and revel in bloodshed and battle, they are barely civilized and are merciless to the population of any planet they conquer.”

The feline spoke again, her voice no longer tinged with anger, “Their bloodlust is their greatest weakness, the reason their empire never grew to great heights is because they fought each other as much as they did their enemies. The constant warring between clans kept them from becoming the major power we all feared they might become.” She leaned closer to the looping footage of the spaceship’s attack and destruction, “When your ‘Federated Worlds’ drove the Skall back and forced them to regroup and lick their wounds, the Kerh’hon feared they might come for them next and consolidated their forces. Left left my world and when after a couple of generations went by and nothing more was heard from them we all believed that the Skall had indeed wiped them out, but …it would appear that they do still exist.” Sean rubbed his chin, “Do you think they have been driven from their home worlds and are looking to set up shop here? Or that they have grown and are looking to expand?” A masculine voice with the same accent spoke from the shadows, “This ship has the markings and crest of the ‘Red Talon Clan’ which was the strongest and most battle proficient of the clans,” he snorted in disgust, “and yet look at this attack, it is sloppy and undisciplined. Something is very wrong here… Either their bloodlines have become so diluted that they can no longer properly reason or show self control, or all of their good officers have died fighting the Skall.” The female Phen’rell smiled a fierce sharp toothed grin, “Or perhaps both my beloved.”

#45

The briefing room table was cluttered with PADDs, pieces of paper, cans of drinks and leaning bodies as the two Phen’rell briefed Sean on what they knew about Kerh’hon warships, the air was filled with rotating images of alien spacecraft and scrolling data. The tall slender insect seemed either dead of asleep, but without normal eyes how could you tell? The dark skinned woman with reptilian traits moved like an exotic dancer as she walked around the table taking in the views of the ships, she seemed curious but oddly detached, her slow movements made her seem as if from a dream. The woman that made Sean nervous was the Asian; she was beautiful and elegant, but frightening. Her eyes were cold and saw everything; she seemed as approachable as toxin treated razor-wire and twice as dangerous. Her words were carefully chosen and her expressions cooly calculated to make him feel at ease, but the eyes; they were the giveaway… They watched and analyzed every movement and gesture, she did not see people as mere people, she saw them as potential threats and targets. She was a cold blooded killer.

He tried vainly to ignore his mind’s instinctual alarms that cried out for him not to turn his back to her, and to focus on the task at hand. He rubbed his eyes and tried again to input some of the weak points of the escort vessels into his ships targeting computer, when he heard a chirping sound. A hovering metallic sphere slid forward into the light around the table, the dark skinned woman glanced at the blinking tell tale light on its side, “A message from the Zephyr it is marked urgent, shall I relay it?” Sean stood up, “What the Hell is that thing? I don’t remember it coming aboard.” The exotic looking woman standing beside it looked nervous, “I…… I’m sorry; it’s just an interface sphere, I didn’t think it would be a problem. Some of our crew were too scared or too BIG to come onboard, and this allows them to view and interact.” Sean began to relax, and wondered why he had gotten so upset over something so trivial. The sexy woman was right; it was just a harmless little… An ice cold voice penetrated his foggy view of reality, “Drah’vhen, stop it… now.” The Alloran female balked, and looked embarrassed, “Oh dear, I’m sorry Captain,” she looked over at Elmek, “it was just… you know, I didn’t mean to.” Sean’s head began to clear; he looked over at the Asian with a puzzled expression, “What happened?” Elmek’s expression betrayed nothing, “Pheromones, her species secrete them as a natural defense if they become afraid or nervous.”

Sean nodded, “Alright, whatever. Take the message.” He returned to work as Drah’vhen spoke to the holographic head of a human male, a few moments later she addressed the Captain, “Sir the Onryu is en route and has passed the jamming range of the task force, and they have transmitted all of their data to our ship from their scouting mission. We can relay it to you if you wish.” Sean nodded to the lieutenant in the room and he cleared all of images from the projection system, Sean then looked to Drah’vhen, “Go ahead,” the sphere floated over to the projection systems interface and plugged in. Images of the task forces ships sprang into view along with overlapping menus of data, his heart sank when he saw the size of force and their ships. The insectoid wiggled its antennae and began to click its mandibles; it must have been worried too.

Sean sighed, “Well, no one ever said this was going to be easy…”