| D A R K I N T E N T P R O L O G U E |
| UNSF Headquarters, San Francisco 02 : 37 Zulu Hours/ Standard Earth Time (SET) 2176 Kevin "Junkers" Riley, in his neat crisp new captain's uniform marched up to the front door of the office of Admiral Stewart Leehorn, the number two man in the United Nations Security Force's (UNSF) Task Force Command (TASK FORCOM). Admiral Leehorn found his way into UNSF history by helping his partner and Task Force Command head, Kyle Blackwood defeat the monstronus planetary entity known as Kingaremen back in 2167. As of late Leehorn has fallen out of favor with the UNSF Battle Fleet Admirals and UNGG warhawk Senators who, wished to mount an assault on the homeworld of the Empire of Alpha Centauri, utilizing weapons of mass destruction as the means to destroy the moral of the Empire's military arm in space, the Imperial Armada. Two years ago, the Empire launched a surprise attack on the United Nation Global Government of Earth (UNGG), in which the 1st Fleet of the Imperial Armada devistated numerous major UNSF Installiations around the intergallactic territory of the UNGG. Among them was Triton Station, which was the second largest shipyard, spacedock, and fighter base. It was an attack very reminiscent of the Japanese attack on the United States naval installation, Pearl Harbor. The UNGG swiftly responded by mobilizing the UNSF to repulse the Imperial attack. By 2175, the Imperial Armada was firmly rooted in the UNGG's outter territories. Both the UNSF and the Imperial Armada had inflicted awsome losses, the Imperials losing more ships than the UNSF did. Both sides saw the gruesome and steady loss of life and equipment; they had to back off from fighting or the annihilation of either sides culture was doomed to extinction. The unofficial ceasefire didn't last long as vengeful UNSF Battle Fleet Admirals saw their oppourtunity to strike deep back at the Imperial Empire. The war again heated up again not but a month ago, back in January as TASK FORCOM saw it fit to send to the Imperial Armada a message by taking out the Armada's vast sensor array net near the Xel' Nagan Star System. To the dismay of many in TASK FORCOM, Admiral Leehorn objected to the course of action stating that it was going to be interpetted as an invitation to retaliate against the UNSF. A hotheaded battle Fleet admiral by the name of Thomas Ross said "I am going to let Leehorn's objection slip this time. Future objections and I will confirm my belief that he is a sedetioner." With Leehorn's recent objection and abstention in the vote for reintergrating weapons of mass destruction, Ross, while before the UNGG Senate, accussed Leehorn of Sedetion and called all others who shared Leehorn's views as traitors to the UNSF and the UNGG. Ross had fallen out of favor from the senior ranks of the UNSF overall; they began to see Ross beginning to create a rift between the hard line Battle Fleet Admirals and the rest of the UNSF. Junkers didn't care one way or the other. Just as long as he had his starship command secure, he would be happy. Being an oppourtunist, Junkers saw Admiral Leehorn in need of supporters. Junkers surmised if he proposed to recruit supporters for Leehorn's ideaology, then Leehorn would secure Junker's next assignment to a starship command for sure. He arranged for a meeting with Leehorn in the deep night to more privately discuss how to recruit supporters. Junkers could not help but grin as he approached the admirals office's front door. But his facial expression went to that of puzzlement as he saw the door cracked open with no light on. Suddenly he saw a brief and brilliant flash of light come from behind the slightly cracked open front door to the Admiral's office. The sound of a body hitting the floor was heard in conjunction with two whispering voices not shortly there after.. "You idiot... You weren't supposed to kill him." the first voice from behind the cracked door said. "...You were supposed threaten him into changing his mind." Junkers, sweating now with heightened pulse rate, backed away from the door slowly and then turned and went to the secretary's desk. He quickly grabbed the cyber coms portable vid phone off the desk. He hid beneath the desk and called in the report of what he believed was Leehorn being murdered. Junkers sat back after calling in the murder. He pulled out a small liquior flask from his pant's pocket, unscrewed the cap and took a few swigs. He closed his eyes and then soon passed out. Junkers awoke leaning against the desk wall, underneath the desk in the leg area. He opened his eyes to see the face of friend Commodore Beckerd A. "Blackbird" Benson and his colleague, Captain Matthew R. "Kain" Cain kneeling down and looking at Junkers.. Blackbird and Kain were recent awardees of the command of the UNSF's newest starship called the U.S.S. Stealthlon. Both men had served with each other since their days at the Academy. Blackbird was Kevin's commanding officer aboard the U.S.S. Johnny Rook, back when Blackbird was a starship captain. Kain was briefly a commander aboard the U.S.S. Seattle, a California class carrier, but was then snagged by up by the then Captain Blackbird to serve under his command aboard the Johnny Rook. The Johnny Rook met a dreadful end to its service life; it was phased out of service overnight, mothballed, then turned into spare parts for other new classes of ships. "Kevin. Kevin snap out of it." Blackbird said, snapping his fingers in front Junkers several times. Junkers merely stared at Blackbird believing he was either dead or still in asleep in a dream. "...Kain." Blackbird nodded to Captain Cain to use a much direct method to bring Junkers out of his vacant state. Kain took his breath spray, looked at it, turned the spray toward Junkers and shot a minty fresh eye burning spray at Junkers. Junkers instantly responded. "Daahhh!!!" Junkers screamed briefly and then started to rub his eyes. "...oh good. I'm still alive." He looked up with a scornful glare at Kain. Junkers turned his stare to Blackbird and gave the same scornful stare. Blackbird pressed onward with getting answers. "Kevin, we got a TASK FORCOM deputy director lying dead in his office, his brains scattered all across his back office wall. The officer at the calls desk said you called it in, Kevin." Blackbird said, now kneeling on one knee. "I gotta say I never knew the human head held soo much blood..." Kain commented, reffering to the blood pattern that all across the back wall of Leehorn's office. "Kain!" Blackbird said giving one his heedful stares to his Executive Officer. "Sorry about that, Commodore." Kain said still without ever showing any change of emotion on his face, if at all when he did show emotion. Blackbird paused for a moment blinking, then shook his head and continued with Junkers. "Junkers, what the hell happened here?" "I'll tell you what. I'm a coward sonnuvabitch, thats what." Junkers said with slurred speech alerting Blackbird to the presence of a liquior bottle on Junkers person. There was a vomit stain across the chest region of Junkers captain's dress coat. Blackbird held out his hand. Junkers grabbed it with his own. Blackbird slapped Junkers hand away. "Give me the liquior now, Kevin." Blackbird said with a disappointed look on his face, still holding his hand out. Junkers took out his liquior flask. his hand was shaking badly as he handed the flask to Blackbird. "My career is finished, isn't it?" The semi-coherent Junkers said. Blackbird nodded to him, "Yes, pretty much. Once JAG gets ahold of you." "I only heard the voices of two men. One of 'em said that they wasn't supposed to kill Leehorn. After I heard 'em, I ran here and called it in, then I's took a few swigs..." "A few?" both Blackbird and Kain said looking at each other and then back at Junkers. Junkers was annoyed and gathered his breath. Junkers face turned red as he fired back at Blackbird and Kain out of annoyance, "ALRIGHT, I drank the damn bottle, and then I dont remember anything after that." Junkers settled back down. Blackbird was piecing together Junkers recent accomplishments to warrant his getting promoted to a Captain's rank. Then he remembered. Blackbird looked to Junkers with a look of his accepting that Junkers was deadbeat individual; "I know why you came here Kevin, your reputation for being a selfish ass preceeds you." Junkers playing his pokerface looked to Blackbird calmly; he then collected himself and cooly and calmly asked, "Permission to speak freely, sir?" "Go right ahead, Captain Riley." Blackbird anticipating the response to be a bad one. "Your reputation as an asshole preceeds you." Junkers said smiling and then chuckled to himself and then fell back asleep. Blackbird looked to Cain and muttered, "Grouchy drunk." He then looked down seeing Junker's captain ranks. He grabbed them and placed them on Junkers vomit stained chest. "...you gonna need these mister, they're perhaps the only thing in life you give a damn about." Kain looking at Blackbird commented, "Blow for blow, Beckerd. He isn't going to give anymore answers. And besides, it's time we turn the investigation over to the guys in charge here. We have got to get to the new ship." He took a few quick glances around while both him and Blackbird stood up again. Blackbird nodded his and then looked at Kain,"What's the name of that ship again?" "The Stealthlon, Beckerd." Kain said, obviously seeing the disappointment set in on Blackbird. Blackbird frowned, "The Stealth...what?" |
| * * * |
| The ride to the spacedock was like any other for Blackbird. This would be his fifty-zillionth ride, as he would put it, to spacedock. Blackbird glanced down at Earth through viewport on the VTOL. He remembered seeing Earth for the first time as being one of the most memorable moments for him. Kain, on the otherhand, was meandering through the pages of a magazine that was left in the seat pocket in the passenger area of the VTOL. He lifted an eye brow as the magazine had an odor to it. He surmised that the odor was left behind by a previous passenger. Kain looked up from his reading and looked over to see a wide-eyed Blackbird gazing out the viewport. "Like the ship, Beckerd?" "Thats my ship?" Blackbird said with an almost breathless voice. The Stealthlon was without about one of the sleekest of ships in the fleet. It took on in appearance of a somewhat modified form of the ancient reconnisance spy-plane, the SR-71. A very dark grey hull covered the ship except around the two UFT (Universal Field Theory) particle collecting nascles, being of a lighter grey tone, the particle collector itself glowing red at the tip of either nascle. The nascles where positioned much like the ram-jets on the SR-71 were, between the fuselage and the wing or in this case, the nascles were located between the long drooping double-delta shaped wings and the fuselage of the ship. Blackbird then gave a slight half-smile and frown as the he knew the beautiful ship's exsistence was intended for purposes as dark as its appearence. Blackbird saw Leehorn's views as just, but nieve. But he also knew the hard-line battle fleet admirals at TASK FORCOM would have just as easily have the UNSF commit to campaign of the war of all against all, Total War. They would have the innocents of the civilian population annihilated right along with their combatant counterparts. They were nieve too, Beckerd thought. But they were the ones with the power. And then it hit him as it would not be beyond the battle fleet admirals to order the Stealthlon to be used as an instrument of Total Warfare. The Steathlon would be the perfect vessel to wage just such a type of war. The thought of his new to be used in that way made his stomach turn. Blackbird would have none of it, not unless the Imperials would themselves commit to a heinous campaign of 'Total War' and be the ones to initiate it. His attention was shifted back to gazing at the Stealthlon as the VTOL passed over it. The ship was indeed quite large, a whole repair & refit station, the size of the spacedock was built just for the massive self-named Stealthlon Class ship, they were visible some forty miles away in the distance orbiting Earth in syncronis orbit with Spacedock. Kain was anticipating Blackbird's face to prevailant with that all too familiar 'impressed' look. "Yeah, I knew it would do that to you. Its quite a departure from the ol'Johnny Rook, Beckerd. There is an awful lotta stuff that is still untested in there." "Oh yeah?" Blackbird said with his gaze firmly rooted at the Stealthlon through the viewport. Beckerd came to to what Kain last said, "...what kind of untested stuff?" "Lets see... where to begin... " Kain said almost by recalling the way he felt when he saw the Stealthlon and her capabilities. "Its the fastest and biggest ship in the fleet. She is absolutely undetectable, has the best manuverability of any ship in the fleet or ship for its size for that matter. Your also the proud commanding officer of two thousand-four hundred personell." "Whatta people eater... I bet ya Ross is bitching and griping about why he didn't get this command." "He did... Perfusely for four days after the annoucement came out that you had won the command." "Won?" Blackbird said now looking as the VTOL banked toward the Stealthlon for its final approach. "Well yeah, getting a ship like this Beckerd I would call a big deal." "Big is an ideal word for the Stealthlon" "Catherine would rather you call it a ship with sex-appeal." "Yes indeed..." Blackbird grinned and continued."...'look at the size of my engine'. It's an old saying from the twentieth century." "It paints an odd picture. Beautiful bikini-clad women leaning against some early twentieth century Ford Model-T." "Only you would come up with that Kain. I swear..." Blackbird laughed to himself as the VTOL landed inside the Stealthlon's shuttle bay. |