[Episode One] Gateway of Hopes

This archive contains the original story as it appeared on gaia, This is our main story, and what BHotR as a whole started from and builds off of. The setting has gone through many changes, and so the story has many inconsistencies. You can, in this forum, see the evolution of the story and its players as we went from a simple roleplay began in 2006.
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Kai
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[Episode One] Gateway of Hopes

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The Planet Terra IV was so named because it was the fourth planet found to have Earth-like characteristics. As such, it had been turned into a Beautiful paradise, and had been the center of Terran trade and commerce, and, for a while, had been able to hold its own against what had once been considered a friend. For fourteen years, this Gem had been slowly turned into a defiant rock. From a glorious Metropolis, to a hardened military complex, it had become a symbol of hope for the Terran Peoples. After the loss of their Homeworld, the loss of the other two Terras, Terra IV had stood.

When, Fourteen years ago, the Drathonians had attacked, had turned on their greatest allies, had destroyed so many planets, demolished so many colonies, had murdered so many of their former friends, a single shuttle had been able to slip through in time to warn the Fourth Planet in the Terran Empire, and they fought back. They survived. For the few Terrans left, the few planets still clean of the Drathonians, it was a beacon. And it was under siege.

For Five of the last Fourteen years, Terra IV had been completely surrounded. It's gate, taken over. The few ships capable of making it there could not be spared, as they would be destroyed before they could help. Planetary defenses, so ensconced in armor as to be almost impenetrable, Orbital platforms covered in more guns than was strictly necessary turned the Planet into a veritable porcupine. A few ships, much beleaguered, had held the line firm for those five years. But, a single planet could only support this level of defense for so long, and time was running out.

They were getting Desperate, those left on Terra IV. They wouldn't tell the other planets and colonies, but time and again they had pleaded with the new Government- The United Terran Republic- To come and rescue them. But there wasn't enough resources. The Terrans lacked the power, they lacked the people, the tools. Until now.

A Flash appeared, far enough away that the limited Sensors could not likely see it as much more than a flash. Flashes were common enough in that area- Asteroids and other small celestial bodies often crashed into one another, some of them containing elements that could explode, so it was ignored. This flash, however, was a Starship. Most starships only carried one type of FTL travel, that being Warp. Warp travel was nice and safe, but, despite being faster than light, it was slow, only useful for traveling to destinations within a star system or two. Otherwise, the Fold gates were the method of travel. Instantaneous transport from one gate to the other, the Fold gates had revolutionized Commerce when invented, and been a staple of the economy for several hundred years. But Terra IV's Fold Gate was firm in the scaled hands of the Drathonians, though it had been locked so not even they could use it.

However, there was a third type of faster than light travel, One that was fast enough to make Interstellar travel possible for a ship on its own, but it was dangerous. One needed a Powerful ship for this third method, known as Hyperspace. And the Terrans had such a ship. That ship was the aforementioned flash of light. It was a new type of ship-class, a 'Cruiser' in that it was able to cruise the infinite abyss on its own. Few ships carried the title of 'Cruiser', and this ship was the largest of the type- It was a Battleship, or, as the naming scheme had been changed to for expedience- A Battlecruiser.

This particular ship had a name. The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Aptly named the Terra Class Battlecruiser, it in and of itself was the song now sang by Terrans around the Galaxy, a song of hope, of strength, of unity, of Power. And yet despite all its power and glory, the Hymn was all but helpless by itself against an entire siege force. But, it had something that could help, that would change the tide. Strategy.


* * * * * *

The first thing that this Battle Hymn of the republic did, was power down. Everything on the ship went into emergency status. The generator was toned down to the minimum output necessary to run the basic vital functions of the ship. A Hangar door was opened, and three ships set off, these ships also had special advantages- the best available Stealth technology. An Iroquois-class scout carrier, the class to which they all belonged, was essential for this operation, for its ability to hide itself in plain sight.

About half an hour after the Hymn had entered the system, the scout carriers had arrived at their destination- The System's Fold gate. The plan was simple- offload a small company of marines, and sneak aboard the Fold gate, taking control of it, and activating it, so that the Terran fleet, waiting at one of the other two gates Accessible from here, could jump in, and break the siege, freeing Terra IV, and dealing a heavy blow to the Drathonians.

The Scout carrier paused, just a scant hundred meters from the side of the gate, and opened its own hangar doors, revealing the Marine company, decked out in full Savior Combat armor, each carrying a Standard Gauss Utility Rifle.

One of the helmeted figures- somewhat taller than the rest, stood in front of the squads gathered there- next to him, other figures stood in front of other squads, each one giving one final rundown to his or her marines.

"Alright. On the signal, we'll all launch the harpoon lines on our rifles, and attach to the Fold gate, then reel in until we've made contact, at which point, we need to find a way in, find the control center, and turn on the gate. Any resistance we meet is to be eliminated immediately, got it?" The Speaker was a young man, in his early twenties- a Sergeant by the name of Kai Nakamura. "You have exactly thirty seconds to ask me a question before we jump." he added, quickly.
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: [Episode One] Gateway of Hopes

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Standing not far to Sergeant Nakamura's left was broad-shouldered man of matching rank holding a cigarette that had been extinguished with the loss of air. He flicked it into the void and watched it spin for awhile before speaking up, consuming a third of the time allotted for Q&A. When Sergeant Garrett Hendlow spoke, his grin was evident in his tone. "They're not ready for what we're about to do, can I get an amen?" He glanced over his shoulder at his team. Among them were what few individuals he called his friends and squad mates: Asher Westwood, Destiny Briggs, Daniel Rutthinger (shortened to "Ruth"), Tsung Kwon, and Enzo Guttemeier. They answered unanimously- and were aided by several others from differing squadrons- with a hearty, "Ooh-rah!"

It was hard for his grin to grow much wider.
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Re: [Episode One] Gateway of Hopes

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"Tch, ain't nobody read f'me, boss." said Asher, a snarky grin forming behind the full-faced visor of his helmet. The soldier was as ramped up as the men leading the mission. He pulled out his knife, just out of it's shoulder-sheath, drumming his fingers over the hilt before shanking it back into it's place. "You make tha' call, n'I'll fuck'm up."

He looked over to the rest of the squads, before looking back to his right to his old friend, and utterly irritating rival, Destiny. The both of them had gone through a lot separately on Surandan, but together they counted as the few thousands left out of billions of their infested home planet. Their past before the Hymn was fifteen years of hell at the whim of the Drathonians. Fifteen years ago, the lizards deployed a virus to infect and mutate the Terran populace of their planet. Those who were immune to the airborne pathogens were just as easily converted from a bite of mutated Terrans that weren't. Family and friends were sickeningly changed into rampaging beasts, mauling loved ones and strangers alike in hellish showcase. What most would consider normal nightmares was day in and day out for the two of them, and unimaginable horrors would plague their very souls for years to come. So, being known as a Surandanian on that ship meant one of two things; either you were a bad-ass survivalist, or bat-shit insane. Destiny was the former. Asher? Well...

"Y'ready f'this Dusty? Iss' time f'some payback." said Asher, slapping his fellow Surandanian on her heavily geared bottom, "Hendlow seems pretty fuckin' pumped!"
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Re: [Episode One] Gateway of Hopes

Post by Gwathdraug »

Adrian Gorefowl, like many a previous sniper throughout time, regretted once again having to partake in a close-quarter-combat situation. Shaking the standard rifle in his arms a few times, the marine grimaced, after using the Regressor his arms felt strangely unburdened and out of balance when holding a lighter weapon. Turning his mind back to the current mission, Adrian wiped the unpleasant expression from his face and listened to the orders Sergeant Nakamura was repeating.
Sadly, that just brought the marine's mind back to where it had started off at. Giving himself a rueful smile the sniper decided he just needed to get his fixation on his favoured weapon out of his system. It was like an itch that needed scratching or a shot you just had to take, no matter that orders said to keep things quiet for that specific op.
Happily enough, by the time Adrian had decided on speaking up no one else was talking, and the group only had a few more moments before everything started so there was no way anything he said could be used to spark a real conversation and send his mind back into its glum loop of "snipers need sniper rifles".
"Oi, Sarge!" Adrian's voice carried just a hint of amusement to it. "Next time you can convince those higher ups of ours that the regressor is perfectly reasonable for use in boarding ops and I can assure you we won't be needing to do any "finding" when we want to get in somewhere!"
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Re: [Episode One] Gateway of Hopes

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"Aww, c'mon Adrian! Aren't you compensating much with that big gun of yours?" a woman quickly asked in a cheery manner. A single lithe figure, clad in a lightly armored body suit, stood behind the marines, eagerly bouncing up and down on the balls of her booted feet. In the dimly lit hangar, a pair of bright blue eyes briefly shone before vanishing into the dark, the form fitting 'helmet' polarizing its visor. "Besides, its typically a bad idea poking holes in a space station you know. Oh!" she exclaimed excitedly, waving a finger at him. "The round might go through to penetrate, like, circuitry or even a friendly." She paused for a moment as something dawned on her. "Or you might end up penetrating me with that monster! And that's counter productive; you need me to open up the gate after all." she went on, crossing her arms and nodding.

"Yeah, keep me safe, kay? Its actually a good thing you don't have it."
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Re: [Episode One] Gateway of Hopes

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

"Alright!" Sergeant Hendlow bellowed. "Time to stuff it. Critical information only. We're boarding an enemy craft, so it shouldn't bear repeating, but radio silence is the word until you hear gunfire. Lock & load, break's over." Heeding his own command, he checked his weapon and his mesh for batteries; he was set.
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Kai
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Re: [Episode One] Gateway of Hopes

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"Ladies, ladies, Enough chatter, we've got some killing to do" Kai responded to his squad over the comms, waving them off with a gloved hand. "Let's get moving, on the count of three, everyone attach to the station and reel in. We're following Hendlow's squad for insertion, he's the man with the boom after all!" the Sergeant instructed, turning around and stepping dangerously close to the precipice, hooking a clip on his belt to the stock of his weapon in preparation for the jump. "Alright! Ready girls? ONE! TWO! THREE!" and with that, Kai released the harpoon cable on his rifle, the tip propelled by a powerful electromagnetic force. It easily flew the 50 or so meters to the station, digging itself in and anchoring in place, after a tug to make sure it was secure, Kai then tapped another one of the buttons on the side of his gun, and it began reeling, pulling him by the arms and belt toward the station at a much faster pace than seemed exactly sane.

******

Destiny growled over the comms, but couldn't do anything else- the other squads were starting to jump- Asher would get his later. The man had been nothing but a terror since they had left Surandan. Apparently, no longer preoccupied with survival, the only things left on Asher's mind were havoc, mayhem, and causing the redhead headaches. "C'mon pointy chin, It's time to get going, no need to be playing around, 'specially not with my ass if you think i'm going to be covering you any."
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Re: [Episode One] Gateway of Hopes

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

Garrett fired on Sergeant Nakamura's mark, but one tug pulled the line free. He reeled it in for a second shot, but that didn't stick either. Fed up with it, he reeled in the harpoon again and leaped for the station without a second thought. He was grinning madly and knew full well a bad landing could send him to his demise. Sergeant Hendlow frankly didn't give a damn, though; since Armageddon, he had always lived dangerously, and saw no reason to stop now. Besides, a wild but successful feat of daring always boosted confidence and morale.

He spun, going feet first, and magnetized the boots. His landing was harsh, forcing him into a crouch against the station's exterior to absorb all the excess momentum. When he stood, however, the smirk remained, and he had a shaped charge ready in one hand.

"Just say where, Nakamura."
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Re: [Episode One] Gateway of Hopes

Post by CadetNewb »

"Aww! You're such a show off Garrett!" Cibo pouted aloud. The slim intelligence agent aimed her harpoon at a weak point in the hull, a small crevice resulting from thermal expansion, and fired. A moment later, she was flying across space, pulled along by her rifle; light boots locked onto the hull as electromagnets secured them with just the right firmness. "Taking position!" she called out, hunkering down so that she was going to be protected by the blast, yet ready to charge into the breach at a moment's notice. Even though she was in a protective position, anyone looking could just see the excitement that she emanated, the jitters of glee having her look about expectantly from anything to anything like a squirrel on caffeine. Or worse.

'Heh. That's a veteran for you. Turning an honest f*ckup into an impressive show. The others better damn well be able to do the same with disasters and turn them around. Otherwise, they don't deserve the title of being the best.' she harshly thought, her internal monolog sharply contrasting the lively attitude she had.
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Re: [Episode One] Gateway of Hopes

Post by Kokuten »

"Tch! You know y'dig it, babe." laughed Asher to Destiny as he went up to the fore to aim his harpoon mod at the station ahead. He squared up what seemed to be a nice shot onto the station before he saw Garret reel his harpoon in. The Surandanian simply shrug his shoulders at that, about to show the Vet how someone shoots something sharp at something flat. Then... That's when he saw the most awesome alternative to doing it right in existence. The Sergeant just jumped, not slid, but jumped from their position!

"Oh hell yeah!" went Asher as he watched Garret land it. The Marine put his fists up, and began to bounce back and forth on his toes, spinning around once, before hopping off the edge as well, flying without a guide to the surface of the station. "Woooooooooo!" was his cry as he descended unto the surface. Though, unlike Garret, Asher was no veteran of this Zero-G action. The Surandanian had spent his life leaping, jumping, and running from mutants, and only one aspect of that was going to help him survive this, as he began to turn horizontal against his own intentions to land vertically. "Whoa!" went Asher, just before the...

CLRUNK!

The Marine had landed flat, face-first on to the station's surface. Everything on his front hurt at first, to which he was assured was bruised, but then again, it was hard to tell that he even felt it. Asher wasn't moving at all when he landed.

"Hell..."

The Surandanian pushed himself back up into the vacuum a foot or toe, and activated the magnetism on his boots to land on feet, somewhat staggered as he held his rifle up in the air. "... YEAH! Fuck! I'm ready t' do tha' god damn shit outta' this mission!" He tucked his rifle's stock into his shoulder, and scanned the area.
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