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Pirates: UNSC Nemesis by Steele
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Pirates: UNSC Nemesis; Chapter One
Date: 14 September 2003, 7:03 PM
Chapter One
Dramatis Personae:
Captain Jack "Ice" Xhaxin—Commander of the Blazer and the Blazers, a notorious pirate group
Captain Rick Vander—Commander of the Space Vixen, a corvette in service with the Blazers
Captain Eric Williams—Commander of Lover's Bane, a corvette in service with the Blazers
Colonel Samuel Martinez—Commander of the Blazers' boarders, former UNSC ODST
Colonel Allan "Klick" McCoy—Commander of the Blazers' fighter squadrons, former Marine
Lieutenant Lara Hunt—UNSC spy serving as a bridge crew member in the Blazers
Patrick Shannon—A vicious hired assassin serving the Blazers
0700 Hours, September 6, 2494 (Military Calendar)/
Epsilon Eridanus System, Pirate Cruiser, Blazer
Standing there, on the bridge of his Mythical-class cruiser, the pirate captain Jack "Ice" Xhaxin clasped his hands behind him. He stared out the bridge of his cruiser, wondering if his small pirate fleet was going to survive the next few minutes.
His cruiser, named Blazer, was old. Even with her recent refits on engines, weapons, and armor, she was still showing signs of age. In spots of the ship paint flecked off and the walls showed signs of rust. Being a pirate, he never really had time to clean his ship. But she had some advantages.
Most vessels of her class were slow and ineffectual, a joke. But Blazer wasn't. She had been stolen from UNSC ship-docks three months ago, right after some heavy refitting. She had a new fusion reactor and engines, which when combined with his own modifications turned her into an extremely fast cruiser.
She also sported a 500mm cannon and Avenger missile pods, courtesy of the UNSC. Recent armor additions and repairs combined with her own honeycombed inner structure made her a force to be reckoned with.
Arrayed around Blazer was the rest of his fleet. Behind him on either side were two Mako-class corvettes. The corvette on his left was the Space Vixen, commanded by his close friend, Rick Vander. The Lover's Bane was on his right, commanded by a man he knew, but didn't trust, Eric Williams.
Behind the two Mako corvettes were his blast boats. They were large rectangular ships designed to get in close to an enemy ship and either blast it or land troops for boarding. Unfortunately, he didn't know how many of the two thousand pirates at her command were about to survive the next inevitable engagement.
Over eighty million kilometers away was a very lethal looking group of ships. At the forefront were two UNSC Destroyers, each packing one of the newest weapon systems in the UNSC—a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon. Jack had seen those weapons in action and knew they weren't to be messed with.
In an engagement three months ago, he'd tried to capture a very large, but harmless cargo vessel. He had almost been within firing range when a UNSC frigate that had been hiding in the cargo vessel's shadow came into view and fired at his lead corvette—a ship he no longer had in his fleet.
"Cap'n, the destroyer is a hundred thousand kilometers distant. I estimate she'll be able to fire in ten seconds."
Jack nodded. Rick had had a bad feeling about this job from the get-go. He usually trusted Rick and his instincts, but this time he hadn't. The payoff would've been too sweet. He had been laying in ambush for the rendezvous of a skeleton-crewed, just off the docks, UNSC Destroyer. It would have been so easy to get in close and board the Destroyer, but apparently it had been a set-up, a trap.
The operation had been planned and kept tight from the very beginning, over three weeks ago, yet somehow the UNSC had managed to trap him. Where were they getting their information? The more Jack thought about it, the more he realized the inevitable conclusion—there was a traitor or spy within his organization. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the matter at hand.
"Prepare the starboard emergency thrusters and instruct all our fighters to launch. We're going to have to fight our way through this one."
"Yes, sir," his Ops officer replied.
"Helm bring us around to one-eight-three-point-four-zero. Remove all weapon locks and get the cannon ready."
"Aye."
Looking out the viewport, Jack saw the two Destroyers break formation, allowing the following frigate to move up. "Instruct the blast boats to move forward. We do have one advantage—only the frigate has any fighters to launch on us and our fighters significantly outnumber theirs. Send two thirds of our fighters to handle the frigate and annoy the Destroyers. Let the other third stay back and play point defense from any launched missiles.
"Aye."
Three-dozen stolen and refitted C684 Scimitars poured out of the Blazer's launch bay. While the Scimitars didn't pack the punch nor advanced sensors of the new UNSC Broadswords, they were more maneuverable and more deadly in a close-in dogfight. And his pilots needed all the advantages they could get.
His pilot's weren't as well-trained or as equipped as the UNSCs, so they had to rely on up-close dogfights, superior numbers, and pure ferocity. Colonel Allan "Klick" McCoy was a former UNSC pilot and very good, but he didn't have the equipment or the facilities to train the Blazer pilots, so they had to learn through combat, and that meant a lot of deaths. All of which he had to replace—out of his pocket.
He was a pirate, not a warrior. He preferred to take his enemies unawares, not face to face, guns blazing. But even when he did go face to face, he had turned out to be a brilliant tactician.
"Captain, the lead Destroyer is at maximum firing range. Sensors show a full-charge on both Destroyers. Orders?"
"Ahead full. Get me firing solutions for the 500mm cannon and Avenger missiles."
"Sir, Destroyers have launched a salvo of Avenger III missiles. Impact in twenty seconds."
Jack nodded. "They'll wait to coordinate their MAC rounds when the missiles hit. Instruct Gold Squadron to destroy as many missiles as they can, then activate computer point-defense."
"Aye, relaying orders, now."
Gold Squadron contained the best pilots of the Blazers. They were the elite and had been through many a mission. Most were aces—and all had went up against superior UNSC forces before.
Outside the viewport, a dozen Scimitar fighters accelerated forward and engaged the missiles with their cannons. Jack saw two dozen bright missile explosions.
"Impact in five...four...three...two—
Jack hit the starboard emergency thrusters and the Blazer was literally blasted unto a new course. The remaining two hundred missiles swerved to follow his ship, pulling maximum-Gs to hit their target.
He was thrown to the floor from multiple impacts, and he heard the screeching of metal somewhere inside his ship. Looking up, he noticed that one of the Destroyers had already missed with its MAC, but he instinctively knew the other was a split second away from firing.
Reaching up and grunting with effort, he slammed down the port emergency thrusters, blasting the Blazer back unto her original course, a nanosecond before silver lightning streaked through the area of space his cruiser had just occupied.
"Damage?"
"Our starboard side is shredded sir. There's no armor left, but no systems damage. Both MAC rounds missed, so we're good to go, but a hit to our starboard'll hull us."
Jack nodded. He knew he had a minute or two before the Destroyers could fire their MACs again, and he was going to put that time to good use. "Order 'Vixen and 'Bane to come out of our shadow and accelerate ahead. If they can get in close to the Destroyers, they'll have trouble fighting back.
"Aye," his Ops officer responded, already relaying the orders.
Suddenly the two sleek Mako-class corvettes shot in front of the Blazer and darted across the gap, with a speed no large ship could manage.
"Sir, the lead Destroyer is within maximum engagement range."
"Good, launch Avenger missile pods 1 through 10 and try to take out their MAC with our 500mm. Let me know when they've built back up to a full charge."
"Aye, missiles launching now."
Slight thumps reverberated through the hull. Dozens of missile contrails arced up and away from the Blazer and began the two thousand kilometer trip to the lead Destroyer. Following up was the 500mm cannon that fired HE 500mm rounds at the rate of 120rpm and could be devastating at close range.
The Blazer seemed to slow at the sheer volume of the rounds and a long line of tracers arced lazily over to the lead Destroyer, tearing deep gouges in her armor.
"Missiles, impacting now."
Multiple explosions chained the length of the lead Destroyer's hull, as she was caught unawares by the missiles. The UNSC ship seemed to stagger in space before, starting a slow spin to starboard, as explosive decompression racked the Destroyer.
"Damage?"
"Sir, sensors show the Destroyer's engines to be inoperable and she launching lifeboats."
Jack nodded. They'd been lucky. He wasn't sure why the Destroyer's captain hadn't tried to dodge the missiles or cannon fire, or why he hadn't activated the Point Defense System. But it suited him just fine—less enemies to deal with.
Looking back at the Tac-display, he saw that the Lover's Bane had come within firing range of the trailing Destroyer. Its quartet of 200mm cannons opened up, spraying the Destroyer with fire. The Destroyer's armor exploded from multiple impacts, but the Destroyer didn't seem in the least bit affected. She turned and faced Lover's Bane, her engines a bright glow.
"Sir, I'm detecting energy build-up in the Destroyer—she's about to fire."
"Crap! Tell Williams to move his ship, NOW!"
His COMs officer was already relaying the orders, but it was too late. The Destroyer fired, and silver lightning lanced across the void of space and hit Lover's Bane directly amid ships. The tungsten round parted the corvette's light armor like a hot knife through butter and hulled the ship from nose to tail, ruining support structures, engines, and the ship's integrity. The corvette seemed to break in half, spilling supplies, men, and equipment out into space.
Jack started to order shuttles to immediately check for survivors, but he had a battle to win. The Destroyer's maneuver had left her rear unguarded and the Space Vixen moved in—with a vengeance.
Her cannons vomited fire at the Destroyer's engines. Hundred of HE rounds slammed into the UNSC ship's rear, tearing through the weak armor their and turning the engines into a dismal mess. The Destroyer stopped her forward momentum and tried to turn to face this new threat, but her engines were dead.
Unfortunately, the frigate was moving around behind the Space Vixen, but Jack didn't need to worry. The Space Vixen fired her thrusters and maneuvered around the dead-in space Destroyer, placing its bulk between her and the oncoming frigate.
Jack smiled and muttered to himself, "Nice move, Rick."
"Sir we can engage the frigate, do so?"
"Yes, but just to disable her."
Immediately, 500mm rounds darted across the gap and tried to hit the frigate, but she fired her port emergency thrusters, causing the rounds to fall short. Before his cruiser could move to track the frigate she accelerated and jumped to Slipspace.
Jack sighed. He had won, but at what cost? He couldn't keep this up—he didn't have the time, money, or energy to fight the UNSC. There was a spy within his group and he was going to find whoever it was—and make them pay.
"COMs, get me a secure channel to Patrick Shannon."
Pirates: UNSC Nemesis; Chapter Two
Date: 24 November 2003, 2:51 AM
Pirates: UNSC Nemesis; Chapter Two
Dramatis Personae:
Captain Jack "Ice" Xhaxin—Commander of the Blazer and the Blazers, a notorious pirate group
Captain Rick Vander—Commander of the Space Vixen, a corvette in service with the Blazers
Captain Eric Williams—Commander of Lover's Bane, a corvette in service with the Blazers
Colonel Samuel Martinez—Commander of the Blazers' boarders, former UNSC ODST
Colonel Allan "Klick" McCoy—Commander of the Blazers' fighter squadrons, former Marine
Lieutenant Lara Hunt—UNSC spy serving as a bridge crew member in the Blazers
Patrick Shannon—A vicious, hired assassin serving the Blazers
1300 Hours, September 7, 2494 (Military Calendar)/
Unknown Location, Blazer HQ
Lieutenant Lara Hunt walked quickly down the corridor, staying close to the bulkhead, and keeping an eye on her six. Captain Xhaxin now knew there was a spy within the Blazers—she could tell it by the look in his eyes.
Turning a corner, she shifted her hand down to the M3E pistol at her waist, comforted by its cold, hard feel. She peeked back around the corner and saw what she had expected: two pirates had followed her, their HMG-38 rifles at the ready.
She quickly ducked back around the corner and continued to her quarters, boot heels ringing on the deck. She was pretty sure that her identity was a secret, that the pirates were just checking out all the bridge crew, but one had to be careful. Picking up speed she stopped at her door and punched in the password. The door opened with a hum. She stepped inside and collapsed on the bed.
She had been inserted into the Blazers four months ago and had stopped every major raid since then, but hadn't managed to find the location of the Blazers HQ. And it fustrated her. Here she was, inside the very place she wanted to destroy, yet she had no clue where it was. Captain Xhaxin was a very careful man.
Sighing, she rolled over and looked at the video screen above her bed. It was currently playing an old movie, one she enjoyed, but wasn't in the mood to watch right now. She had to figure out a way to find out where she was and then give that information to the UNSC. Even if it cost her own life.
The Blazers were cruel and merciless, led by a cruel and merciless man, and they needed to be stopped. But how?
Then an idea it her. It was daring and risky, but it just might work. With a new determination she set to work.
Captain Jack "Ice" Xhaxin stared at the man before him. He was pitiful. He was stripped to the waist, with welts, bruises and blood covering his torso. His chest heaved with exertion as he tried to breath through a pierced lung. Both his arms were snapped out of joint and he hung by them, tearing the skin, muscles and nerves. His face looked like a swollen, misshapen lump of purple and blue. Most of his teeth were missing.
"Now, I'm not going to ask again. How are you giving the UNSC their information?"
The man tried to answer, but he couldn't and just hung there helplessly. Jack shook his head and nodded to the pirate standing beside the man. The pirate grinned, and slammed an iron pipe into the man's chest.
Jack heard snapping bones and saw the man's chest give away like an overripe piece of fruit. A shockingly white rib poked through. Jack sighed, resigned. "Get rid of him."
The pirate nodded and carried the man into another room, before launching him into vacuum. Jack looked at the man behind him. "What do you think, Rick?"
Rick Vander, Captain of the Space Vixen shrugged. "I don't believe he was the spy."
Jack nodded. "Me either. But he shouldn't have sent that last message. We have no clue where it went."
"Yeah, but he was a useful blast boat commander," said Rick.
"He shouldn't have disobeyed orders."
Rick nodded, but kept silent.
The intercom above Jack's head suddenly blared. "Captain, we have an incoming shuttle at the rendezvous point."
Jack's usual stern face splint into a grin. "That'll be Patrick Shannon."
He was a big man, almost two meters tall and 110 kilograms. His smile was frighteningly white, yet it never touched his eyes, and seemed to be full of mirth. He moved with the gait of a large predatory cat. He was an assassin by the name of Patrick Shannon.
He stepped off the rendezvous shuttle and into the Blazers HQ. He'd been driven in by a shuttle and had no clue as to where he was; as always Xhaxin was being careful. The pirate Captain had given him his orders specifically, telling him to follow them to the letter, promising a hundred million credits in a secret account upon completion.
Theoretically, his mission was simple: Pretend to join the Blazers through standard recruitment and hunt down the spy within the organization. Upon finding the spy execute him—with extreme prejudice.
Implementing his plan, however, might be a little tricky. For whoever the spy was they were probably a highly trained UNSC operative and probably knew who he was. Thus he would need an identity.
Shannon looked around at his greeting party. The four pirates were wearing the armor of the elite Blazers, called the Immortals. They moved up to surround him and the first one reached out and thumped him in the chest with a baton.
Shannon grinned to himself. Big mistake. His left arm shot out faster than a striking cobra and snagged the pirate's arm, breaking it. He then turned and snapped a kick out, hitting the leftmost pirate in the chin, clicking his teeth together. The pirate fell back stunned, as the other two advanced.
The first one came around to his left and backhanded a blow that would have caught Patrick in the head had he not ducked under it with super-human reflexes. Once inside the pirate's guard, Shannon reached out, grabbing the man by the throat and hurling him at the last pirate. The two collapsed into a jumble.
The one on bottom tried to get up, but Shannon put him back down with a vicious kick to the head. The door behind the pirates opened up and four more pirates poured in, this time armed with HMG-38s.
As if by magic, a pair of chrome M4D pistols appeared in his hands, their large muzzles pointed at the pirates. Shannon stood, waiting out the standoff.
A short, stocky black man entered behind the pirates and looked around at the Immortals groaning on the floor. His scarred face split into a grin that looked something like a shark's. "About time someone put those cocky Immortals in their place. Are you Bernard O'Neal?"
Patrick Shannon nodded. "Call me Ned."
The black man said, "Well, we've been expecting you. It's not too often we get recruits with your obvious talents."
Shannon smiled. "I'm sorry about these guys, but they seemed rather threatening."
The black man beckoned Patrick to follow him as he turned around. "Come, I'll show you to your quarters."
Patrick grinned broadly and followed the guy. Maybe this job won't be that bad after all.
Jack grinned as he watched the video of Patrick Shannon's entrance. "He's good. He'll get the job done. Until then, we're going to remain here."
Rick surveyed him carefully. "Are you sure, Jack? I mean, he's obviously skilled, but so is this 'spy.' Are you sure we even have one anyway?"
Jack glanced back at him. "I'm positive. There's no way the UNSC could've known about our last raid. No way. You didn't even know until the last minute. Only myself and the bridge crew had a clue as to what was about to happen."
"Those UNSC ships could've been a complete coincidence."
Jack shook his head. "No. They jumped in with their weapons at full charge. Plus they had locks on us way too quickly. Even the UNSC's targeting computers aren't that good."
Rick sighed. "You're right. I better get back to the Space Vixen." He turned and walked away, headed back to the hangar-bay.
Jack turned back to the display screen and watched Patrick Shannon's entrance one more time. When he found the spy, there was going to be total hell to pay. He didn't care who it was.
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