Shadow of a Freelancer Ch 8.) The Meeting
#8 of Shadow of a Freelancer
Hey here's chapter 8 of Shadow of a Freelancer. Been a little while since I posted something, oh well. This chapter shows you what the Freelancer base/station is like. You get more of a view of how the Freelancers handle things when the Freelancer code is broken (depending on what was broken). You get to learn who the leaders of the Freelancers are and you get to meet the rest of the members of the Cardinal Sin fleet. And I'm already half way done with the next chapter too so not long to wait for it either.
Feel free to leave a comment and vote.
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The hyperspace field that encircled the ship disappeared as the Gula; with the Ira tucked inside its hanger, dropped out of hyperspace. Shadow, Stone and Delta who all sat in the bridge of the Gula watched as an enormous structure appeared in front of them.
Inner Haven, largest space station ever constructed. Total length from tip to tip was well over 4.8 Kilometers long (about 3 miles long) and in the widest section it was over .8 kilometers wide (about half a mile) and it had thousands of decks. There were several large spheres that attached to one another and encircled the main column of the station. At the top of the column there was a large disk shaped section (the widest section on the station); on top of which held seven short towers, and right under is where the several large spheres encircled the station. There are also many hanger bays with numerous ships either entering or exiting the station.
One impressive feature of Inner Haven was the fact that it had several large dry docks in it where ships of all kinds could be repaired or built anew; or someone could pay the Inner Haven dry dock crews to build them a ship. Who ever requested for a ship to be built would have to have the designs already drawn up so that they could get to work. Sometimes when in need the dry dock crews will allow the Gula to dock there, and when she brings in new supplies she's required to dock there. Being that the Gula is the largest ship that ever comes to Inner Haven; and the fact the majority of the ship was created from freighter ships, the Gula's main job is transporting supplies to Inner Haven from all over the galaxy. But Stone only has to worry about that every three Earth months.
Another impressive feature of the station it the very large energy guns all around it, along with STS (Station To Ship) missile launchers, smaller phase guns, several shield generators, multiple communication arrays and so much more, it also had a secret weapon tucked inside it that only certain people could decide to use, it was a highly concentrated weapon that could kill all life on a planet. The closer the Gula got the larger it grew to the point that it took up the entire view and soon they were contacted by the Inner Haven control tower.
"Welcome back Stone, how long...ah...Shadow and Delta?" The human Freelancer on the other end of the transmission said in surprise as another Freelancer; a badger, looked at the screen that the human was looking at "Maybe someone can tell us why all the members of the Cardinal Sin fleet decided to return all of a sudden?"
"It deals with our...shared goal." Delta said to him.
"Ah...yes of course." The Freelancer said, not knowing any of the details but knowing enough to know that it was a serious matter.
"Oh and would you contact Freelancer Obsidian, and tell him to gather the Freelancer Zel'tar. I need to speak with them." Delta told him to his surprise.
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The Freelancer Zel'tar are the oldest living Freelancers (normal people who had not undergone genetic modifications). In a way they are the chroniclers of all information regarding Freelancers of today and of the past. They are also the leaders of all Freelancers since the time of the Freelancer civil war. There are a total of seven Zel'tar; each leads any Freelancer that is currently in his or her section of the galaxy they were assigned to watch over. They are also the ones who can decide to use Inner Havens ultimate weapon.
After the war between the Freelancers and the Freelancer Outcasts, the Freelancers knew they had to have someone in a leadership position to make sure that something like this never happened again.
The Zel'tar are also the judges of the Freelancers. If a Freelancer does something that the Freelancer code forbids, which ever section of space they are in determines which Zel'tar will be their judge. Only once has there been a Freelancer; two at the same time, twins actually, who committed such a terrible crime that all Freelancers were required to watch; most trials aren't mandatory but they are all public. The thing that was special about this trail was that all the Zel'tar were there judges.
There names were Zeig McBride codenamed Alpha, and Louie McBride codenamed Omega. There crime was so terrible that it almost rivaled the Zu'Nara Incident in scale. Death would have been too easy on them, so they were sentenced to life in the Mors Mortis prison; a complex underground prison built into a planet that was reduced to a rock by a solar flare. That trial took place one hundred and thirty four years ago, and since then there has only been seventeen trials. Each of which there was only one Zel'tar present.
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"T-the Zel'tar?! Right away Delta!" The Freelancer said nervously "Um...you can dock on port 47."
"Thank you." Delta said as Stone piloted the Gula towards port 47.
Because of its size, the Gula had to dock on the exterior ports that lined the station hull, rather then dock safely inside the structure, and since there wasn't an emergency or any cargo that needed to be delivered, the Gula didn't need to dock in the dry docks. Close to the bottom of the station they were building a hanger bay that would be used only by the Gula so that she could be safely tucked inside the station whenever she docked and would also keep the dry docks clear for work.
When they got close enough, Boris took control of the ship to do the fine docking procedures. Once docked, Shadow, Stone and Delta disembarked. Once inside the center of the station one could look up, or down, and would never see the top or bottom depending on where they were in the station, they would only see an endless shaft with a large transporter in the center. Each deck that attached to this part of the station ended and one could look down or up to another deck.
The top of this section however was only half way up the column. Shadow still got impressed at the immense size of the station...this being only his third time in Inner Haven. This was Stones two hundredth something time, and Delta wouldn't even be able to count how many times he'd been here...during and after its construction. Then out of nowhere a person jumped from a deck a few decks above them but did not fall to the ground.
"Ello' how are you three doing?" said a female wolf as she hung upside down by a rope that was attached to a type of harness that kept her from hitting the floor.
"Well hello there Lure." Delta said to her.
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Freelancer Lure, a female wolf with brown fur with a creamy white colored fur that ran from under her chin, down between her breasts; which were completely visible with the way she was hanging there in her loose fitting tiny shirt, over her stomach between her legs and thighs and ended half way down the underside of her tail. She has blond hair and hazel colored eyes. She has a muscular yet athletic build, and is five foot nine inches tall. She's twenty seven years old and the captain of the Cupidita, one of the ships in the Cardinal Sin Fleet.
Lure is not body shy at all; quite the opposite really, she will grope someone, male or female, if she feels like it. She detests bras, so when she's in a plain T-shirt her nipples always poke through. She'll always show them off when ever she can and just loves being watched by others. It is because of this she choose the codename Lure; she sexually lures people in general and her targets in particular if she's not in a rush.
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"You might want to cover yourself Lure." Stone said to her.
"But why? I like it when my tits are showing!" she said then put her hands to her breasts and started playing with them "Besides I think Shadow and Delta like the view unlike you it seems." Lure said before she was pulled back up to the deck she was suspended by thanks to another Freelancer.
"Stone you need to lighten up a bit...there's nothing to worry about here." Delta said to him as he patted him on the shoulder "I have to go see Obsidian and the Zel'tar...go find the others and I'll be back soon." He added and headed towards the transporter.
"Well since she's up there the others might be too." Shadow said to Stone as they headed up to where Lure had jumped from.
After they used the transporter to go up a few decks they immediately spotted Lure and Dead Eye with three other Freelancers; one a male lion, another a female lynx and the last the only human Freelancer who flew one of the ships in the Cardinal Sin fleet sitting at a table close to the edge of the deck.
When they approached, two of the other Freelancers; the lynx and lion, stood up and walked up to both Shadow and Stone. Each of the four Freelancers faces seemed to be expressionless as they stared each other down. But after a few moments their faces split into grins and they shook each others paws before they all sat down.
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Freelancer Ace; the female lynx, has beige-white fur that turns into snow white fur under her short muzzle which continues down her chest and stomach between her legs and ends on her thighs. She has the short black tipped tail that her kind has as well as black tipped ears. She has short black hair, green eyes and stands at 4 foot 3 inches tall (average for her species). Her body build is toned and athletic, and she is thirty seven years old.
Her code name Ace is from her abilities as an ace pilot, she was the best fighter pilot in the A.T.W.F before Rrahkarr had joined, and isn't too bad at normal ships either. She has a laid back kind of personality and observes everything around her; gained from her experiences as a pilot being that they are what kept her alive while she was out on solo missions. She is the pilot of the Fastosus.
Freelancer Blade; the male lion, has golden brown fur and brown hair for his large mane. He stands at six feet six inches tall, has a muscular build and has brown eyes. He is just a few months shy of being forty years old and despite his age he moves and acts like he's in his twenties. He has a scar on his right shoulder that starts half way down his chest that goes over his shoulder and ends on his back just below the shoulder.
His code name Blade was chosen because of the incident where he got the scar on his shoulder. His family was born and lived on one of the frontier colonial worlds in the A.T.W.F. Out that far, especially when so few freighter ships make it out that far; usually due to pirate raids, most of the colonists had little to work with and soon on Blade's world it shriveled down to families against families for survival.
He had a dispute within his family where he was blamed by another for the murder of the family's leader. As custom in the family there was to be a duel with blade weapons, it was his own brother who had accused him of the murder or their father and it was he who faced Blade. In the end Blade's brother won; but died soon after Blade was exiled, due to his injuries. The scar is Blades mark of exile. He is the pilot of Socordia.
Freelancer Falsch...the only human, who pilots one of the ships in the Cardinal Sin Fleet; has tan colored skin, dark brown nearly black colored hair and yet has pale blue colored eyes. He stands at five feet eleven inches tall and has a lean build. He also has a beard that follows around his jaw line but is kept short, closer to the skin.
Not much is know about Falsch or even why he chose Falsch as his code name. He is the pilot of the Avaritia.
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"Been awhile hasn't it?" Blade said but was more directed at his old friend Stone.
"That is has my friend." Stone said as they shook paws again.
"It's only been the same amount of time that we have all been together like this." Ace said as she laughed a little.
"You know that time seems to drag out for these two old timers." Dead Eye joked.
"So Shadow how have you been this past year?" Lure asked.
"Been better..." Shadow said as thoughts of what he almost did to his sister past through his head.
Lure noticed the more...sorrowful tone in Shadows voice that the others didn't. "Something distasteful happen?"
"You could say that." Shadow said as he turned to look Lure in the eyes "I was this close" he indicated with his fingers "To killing the bastard who wants me and my family dead, and yet he slipped away."
"The Electus leader Patrick Territh?" Blade asked; everyone knowing he was who Shadow hated the most.
"Yeah...I went after him and found something very troublesome. I believe what I found and who attacked Moonbase is why Delta wanted all of us to meet up here." Dead Eye informed.
"And also who attacked you as well Shadow, and the same reason why Delta wanted to speak with Freelancer Obsidian and the Zel'tar." Stone said which grabbed everyone's attention except Shadows.
For the first time that day since they all came together Falsch asked "Why is Delta meeting with the Zel'tar?"
"Oh how nice of you to finally join the conversation Falsch!" Dead Eye said.
"Shut up you Idiot!" Falsch yelled at Dead Eye; who shut his mouth "again why is Delta speaking with the Zel'tar?"
"Well it just so happens the group that freed Mr. Territh, and attacked me; of who I just learned of on Moonbase, were non other then the..." Shadow paused a moment and looked around to see if anyone was listening then continued "Freelancer Outcasts" just loud enough for Falsch and the others to hear.
That caught all of them off guard, if it was physically possible four jaws would have just hit the floor. The only one who seemed to be less surprised besides Shadow and Stone was Falsch who just nodded.
"So what Delta wants to talk to us about is what Dead Eye found and the Outcasts working with the Electus?" Blade asked to which both Shadow and Stone nodded their heads.
"So what did you find that made you call of your pursuit of Mr. Territh, Dead Eye?" Ace asked.
"A ship." Dead Eye said without saying much at all.
"A ship, that's all? The Invidia could have surly gotten past a ship." Lure said.
"No...I couldn't." Dead Eye said sadly.
"If what he says is true then it puts the Federations C.S.F Dawn to shame, my ship the Gula wouldn't even be able to stand up to it alone." Stone said and again the only one who wasn't surprised besides Shadow, Stone and Dead Eye was Falsch.
"Falsch!" Shadow said to get his attention.
"What?"
"Why is it that you don't seem at all surprised by any of this?" Shadow asked seeing that Falsch didn't seem to act to any of the information.
"I guess I'm more like Delta then the rest of you. I remain calm and take all information without surprise; only rarely do I get surprised like the rest of you." He said looking at Lure, Ace, Blade and Dead Eye.
"Maybe on your information gathering but you easily get pissed off, unlike Delta." Dead Eye said, which in turn made Falsch mad and he started yelling at Dead Eye who was laughing.
"I swear you two always push each others buttons. Shut up!" Lure said as she growled.
They continued talking about missions and other events that had been happening of late. The attack on moonbase had already reached everyone at Inner Haven. Multiple jobs were coming from the A.T.W.F Council for Freelancers to gather information on why the I.F.H.W. decided to attack, as well as jobs to attack certain targets in I.F.H.W. space.
Ace, Blade and Dead Eye had already chosen a few jobs already, Dead Eye had found a job that required a sharpshooter with excellent skills; also as a side note it said that Freelancer Dead Eye would be preferred but anyone who could get the job done would be fine. Dead Eye had quickly accepted the job.
Blade found a job where someone wanted a business rival killed in a way that would make other rivals back down, it sounded like a trivial matter. However the pay was great so he went along with it.
The job that Ace found was a freighter captain wanting a few escorts to escort him through a particularly dangerous space lane. What was odd about this job was that the ship was setting out from Earth and taking the longest and most dangerous way to get to its destination. She was skeptical of the details but this captain was known for taking the long space lanes due to making additional stops along the way to pick up more cargo and sell other types of goods at each stop.
"Well it seems you three will be busy." Stone said.
"Yeah but I'm still not completely sure about that job." Ace said as she looked over the details of the job on a holographic clipboard.
"Another one of those...feelings huh?" Shadow said as he looked at a large holograph screen that was showing details on the war.
"Yeah." Ace said with a week smile.
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The first time she had one of those feelings was during a mission while she was still a pilot in the A.T.W.F's fifth fleet. She waved it off as nerves but the moment the mission started it only went down hill from there. She was still a rookie back then and was the newest member in the team.
Once things started to head down hill she acted cautious through out the mission and when another one of those feeling came to her she disobeyed orders and survived where all the others were shot down and killed. The mission was only a recon mission and she was able to return with a few pictures of the enemy base that was located in an asteroid belt.
She saved all of them several times from the feelings she got. So they all trust her when she says something's going to happen.
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"Are you going to take the job?" Lure asked as she scooted closer to Ace.
"I don't know yet." She replied.
"How about you ask Shadow to go with you then?" Lure said, and when Ace gave her a confused look she added "I've seen how he flies, I swear he's just as good as you."
Shadow turned his attention away from the screen he was viewing and looked at Lure with a scowl. Lure returned the look he gave her with a grin.
"What, you hardly do any jobs. I figured it'd be easy money for you." She said and laughed when he rolled his eyes and sighed.
"I'm not putting my ship in harms way. That's why I do ground based missions, besides I just got done with a job...which also led me to the information on Mr. Territh." Shadow said.
"Well if that's how you feel how about you cover me then?" Dead Eye half joked half asked.
Shadow just shivered "Being with you is like wanting to die by boredom." He said which made a few of the others laugh.
"I'm not that bad am I?" Dead Eye asked, acting like what shadow said hurt him.
"Of course not...you're just annoying." Said someone from behind them.
They all turned to see who said that and there stood Delta; who was no longer wearing his power armor but a plain T-shirt and slacks. The looks they were giving him made him ask.
"What?"
"Are you actually wearing something other then your armor for a change?" Shadow asked.
"Yes, but I do have this on." He said as he pulled the neck of his shirt down to revel body armor, then he patted a little device that was attached to the waist of his slacks.
He was wearing a portable force field. It was the newest model too, not only would it absorb energy and phase fire, but it would reflect solid round ammo and any explosives that "hit" it would go through it but would be disabled.
"And who was it telling me I needed to lighten up a bit?" Stone said and chuckled.
"Paranoid as ever eh Delta." Falsch said.
"As always." Delta replied before he pulled up a chair and took a seat between Falsch and Dead Eye to keep them from bugging each other..
"You can't trust us?" Lure said.
Delta looked over to her and said "I don't truly trust anyone. I trust you enough and let's leave it at that shall we."
"So what was it you wanted to tell us that required all of us to return to Inner Haven?" Blade asked.
"Well let me start with the two Electus members I killed and the assault on moonbase..."
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Delta then started by relaying the events that happened at moonbase, what they learned on moonbase and that Shadow had been attacked on Earth. He left out why Shadow was there and what happened between him and his sister. Shadow was thankful for that.
Delta then told them about how Shadow sent Dead Eye to follow the ship that Mr. Territh was on which lead to what Dead Eye had to say next as well as show. He handed them all a small device which had a picture of what his ships cameras saw and he explained what they were looking at.
Lure now saw what Dead Eye meant that he wouldn't have gotten past the ship if he tried anything and that he was lucky to escape. After that explanation and after what Dead Eye said he saw on the side of the ship, everyone was now disturbed to say the least. The Electus ship was not only a giant ship that was about 2 kilometers long but seemed to be where the Freelancer Outcasts now called home and also could be the Electus base, but that might not be so.
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"With that guarding the Electus, we would need more then the eight of us combined to get past it." Blade said.
"True." Delta said calmly.
"They could easily assault Inner Haven with that, even with its defenses, if that thing snuck up and fired that weapon..." Ace said but couldn't finish the sentence.
"It's possible, but I showed the Zel'tar and Obsidian the same picture you're looking at right now. Soon enough Obsidian will make an announcement to all Freelancers of which I'm going to tell you right now." Delta said and waited to everyone was completely focused on him.
"He's going to tell everyone that the Outcasts are still around, as well as tell them that they have a ship half the size of Inner Haven and have the power to destroy it as well. Here's what you don't know, from now on I want each of you to team up with another. For starters Shadow I want you to go with Dead Eye on his next job." Delta told them, and to the last part Shadow sighed and nodded his head.
"So we team up with other Freelancers or watch each others backs?" Stone asked.
"You can watch out for other Freelancers, but...your top priorities are anyone who is sitting at this table." Delta told them.
"I guess I'll go with Ace on her next job then." Lure said.
"I'll go with Blade." Stone said.
"Then Falsch, you're staying with me." Delta said.
"Sure, I just got done with a nasty job. A little break would be nice, I assume you're staying here to either help mount defenses or wait until the ship that you asked to be built is completed." Falsch said.
"Dead on the money." Delta told him then added to the rest of them. "I suggest you re-supply here, get what you need and head out...and if any of you are attacked while on your job's and the attack has nothing to do with the job and seems completely out of place, abort the mission and get to safety."
Everyone nodded and got up. They each shook paws/hands and went off in mostly separate directions. After Shadow ordered what he needed and had it taken to the Gula to be loaded on the Ira he spent the next few hours loading the Ira with what was put on the Gula. When he was done it was 2 A.M. station time (4 A.M. ship time on the Ira, which was still set to Earth's time) so he decided to get some sleep.
The next day Dead Eye and Shadow would be going out on a job together, and until they had a new trail to follow, they'd all be going on each others jobs. But right now Shadow just tried to get some sleep.