Homeworld: The Infection Continues

[Mephisto]

This is the second installment of (hopefully) many (hopefully) great fanfics by me. I hope you enjoy it. As always, criticism, comments, and error corrections are welcome. When I get more time, I will try and clean this up a bit and make it more pleasing to read. The tab key can't be used here (or pretty much anywhere else on the 'net), so I had to double space between each paragraph.

 

 

Homeworld: The Infection Continues

 

-Intro-

 

It has been ten years since the Beast entity has been destroyed. All races have learned to coexist peacefully. A task force has been created to patrol all known inhabited planets, protecting them from new, and possibly hostile, races. This is the story of one of the task force members.

 

-1-

 

In a little-known sector of the charted universe, a Deacon-class Destroyer comes under fire from an unknown entity. “Shields at 53%! Hull breaches on decks 5, 8, and 11. Casualties at a minimum.”

 

“Captain! That ship is not in any of our databases! It isn’t even in the style of any existing ships. I can tell you one thing: That material on the outside looks very similar to the Beast.”

 

Captain Halsey, “It can’t be! We destroyed them ten years ago! Screens on. Get me a visual of those ships!”

 

The senior science officer runs through the door to the bridge, sweating profusely. “Our scans of the ship are complete…” The man collapses into a chair beside the captain. “This is bad… That ship out there gives off all of the energy readings solely found in ships affected by the Beast.”

 

“How is it possible? If these are the Beast, I will not let them get away! Open fire! All weapons to full!” A volley of missiles leaves the ship, followed closely by an ion cannon blast and two balls of energy from the ship’s dual energy cannons.

 

“A direct hit! That should be the end of that!” All members of the crew aboard the bridge hold their breath, waiting for the viewscreen to clear. Finally, the screen corrects itself. “No… How? They’re still there!”

 

The enemy ship releases a red beam of charged energy that quickly eats through the Destroyer’s hull and begins infecting the crew.

 

“Captain! Infection is at near 100% on decks one through twenty-three!”

 

Halsey, “Prepare to vent drive plasma. On my command!”

 

“Sir, that’s over half our ship!”

 

“I am aware of that! What other course of action do you suggest? We have to vent plasma if we wish to stay alive. Now!” There is the sound of fingers typing on keyboards. A sizzling sound filters into the bridge. “Done. Send out a probe, ASAP! Straight to the home world. The Beast is back!”

 

The probe exits the hangar and speeds off in the direction of Hiigara. Not a moment too soon. The Beast ship has just finished charging for a second blast.

 

Halsey, “Thrusters at maximum! Head straight for that ship! When we are within ten meters, self-destruct! We won’t survive this fight, but we can take that ship with us and prevent them from acquiring this one.”

 

“Yes, sir!” There is a sharp pull on the occupants of the ship as it quickly accelerates to full speed. The Beast releases its second beam. It connects with the ship just as it reaches the ten meter mark. Even as the infection agent goes to work on the remaining crew, they fight desperately to complete their mission.

 

Captain Halsey, whose voice has distorted due to the effects of the Beast virus, “Press the… button… now…”

 

Captain Halsey and the remaining crew know no more. The blast successfully destroys both ships.

 

-2-

 

One hundred thousand light years away, the Hiigaran ship, Kuun-Lan, is flying through space, on a course to stop at the Hiigaran home world.

 

Jack is sitting at the computer terminal in his room aboard the Kuun-Lan, the Hiigaran mining vessel which successfully, albeit unknowingly, brought back the evil entity known as the Beast. He is attempting to journey to his home world, Hiigara, to enroll in the Academy. The Academy, where all prospective pilots go to train in ship-to-ship combat, is required for all who wish to join the Task Force.

 

The speaker in the corner of Jack’s cabin blares to life. “Attention, all Kiith, we are approaching Hiigara. Please pack your bags and be ready to depart the ship within the hour.”

 

“Finally! I thought we would never arrive!” Jack glances at the untouched bed in his cabin, where his baggage is sitting unopened. He drags his baggage to the door, which slides open as he approaches. Sitting outside is a baggage trolley. “They don’t forget anything here!” He tosses his bags onto the trolley and shoves it into the waiting elevator. “Jack Harper, Hangar eight for departure.”

 

“Processing. Have a nice day.” The elevator doors slide shut and it zooms off to the correct floor. The doors open half a minute later and Jack shoves his trolley out of the elevator.

 

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Jack Harper! Been a while, buddy!”

 

Jack turns to face a muscular man in blue, oil-stained coveralls. Jack’s mouth spreads in a smile. “Chris, I didn’t know you were on this flight!” The two approach each other and share a firm handshake. “What hangar are you leaving from?”

 

“Hangar eight. Aren’t you in that one, too? Maybe we can catch a shuttle ride together.”

 

“Yeah, that would be nice. See you on the flight!” Jack turns back to his trolley and pushes it the rest of the way to the only unoccupied shuttle. The shuttle’s loading arm automatically grabs his bags and swings them into the cargo compartment. He then swings himself into the pilot’s chair. He has his own civilian pilot’s license, so he can legally drive this unarmed shuttle by himself.

 

The shuttle’s speakers switch on. “Jack? This is Chris. Go on ahead without me. Something’s come up. I’ll meet you on the surface. I think we’re sharing classes together.”

 

“Will do. See you there.” The speakers switch back off. Jack starts up the shuttle and taxis to the open hangar door without a second thought. “Shuttle one-zero, hangar eight, ready for takeoff. Acknowledge, Command.”

 

“Command acknowledged. You are free for takeoff.”

 

Jack shoves up on the throttle and the shuttle zooms out of the hangar like a bullet.

 

“Command here. Aren’t you the showoff today?”

 

“Just having a little fun. I’ll make sure I land this thing in one piece.”

 

“Just don’t break anything, OK? Command out.”

 

Most of Jack’s journey to the surface of Hiigara went smoothly. Suddenly, the shuttle’s speakers crackle to life again. “This is Command. Get to the closest carrier. We are detecting several ships of unknown origin converging on your location.”

 

“Will do.” Jack checks his view screens for the nearest ship with enough hangar space to take him. “Kharlan-Hra? I helped build that ship. Looks like they’ve got enough hangar space for me. Shuttle one-zero to Kharlan-Hra. Requesting clearance to dock.”

 

Kharlan, “Permission granted. Come on in nice and slow. We will try and hold some of them off of you.”

 

“See you guys in a minute. One-zero out.”

 

Jack throws his shuttle in overdrive. Its engines whine in protest to such abuse. He knows that he can’t maintain this kind of speed for long. He jets on a zigzag course toward the carrier. Three gold globes of energy pass Jack’s shuttle close enough to blister its paint. A bright flash fills Jack‘s rear view screens. Jack could hear the faint pings as bits of warped and melted metal pelt the backside of his shuttle. “Cutting it a little close there, aren’t you?”

 

“That was what looked like a ramming frigate. You wouldn’t have stood a chance against that thing. I told you we would take care of you.”

 

“Thanks. Keep those doors open for me.”

 

Two hive frigates follow close behind Jack’s shuttle. They release twenty drones at once. “Kharlan, how strong are my shields and hull? Can they withstand the impact of twenty or so drones?”

 

“They should, sir. Are you sure you want to risk it?”

 

“What other choice have I got? Here goes nothing!” Jack whips his shuttle around and sends it on a collision course with the largest concentration of drones. The drones open fire, but Jack evades their attacks. “Let’s see if you like this!” Jack’s shuttle rams into a crowd of drones. He is thrown around in the cockpit. There are eleven miniature explosions as the drones collide with Jack’s shields.

 

The shuttle’s AI kicks on. “Shields at 47%.”

 

Several more golden globes appear from the Kharlan. By luck, three of them connect with drones. “Fourteen down and six to go! Good shooting, Kharlan!”

 

“Just doing my job! We have several Acolytes ready. We are sending them out now!” Eight blips appear on Jack’s radar screens. The hive frigates, seeing the Acolytes, know that they are no match. They begin to retreat, the six remaining drones following closely. The Acolytes match speed with the hive frigates and tail them out of range, where they slowly whittle down the frigates’ shields.

 

“Jack, this is the Kharlan! Watch your screens! There are three ramming frigates in broad formation directly behind you! They are closing fast!” The carrier fires four more globes of energy, each one smaller than the one before it. Three of them hit their targets, taking out one frigate and critically wounding another. “Jack, our energy coils have burned out. You can receive no more assistance from us. By the time you reach our carrier, it should be replaced. Hurry!”

 

Jack glances at his rear-view screens and sees that the frigate is much too close for comfort. It is nearly close enough to use its afterburners. Jack’s shuttle begins to shudder violently from the stress on its engines. “Come on, baby, just a bit farther!” Jack’s engines begin to smoke and his shuttle decelerates. “If I could just get over out of that frigate’s path… Kharlan, I am going to try something.”

 

“Don’t do anything stupid out there, Jack. Our coils are almost replaced.”

 

“By the time you can fire again, that frigate will have already rammed me and will be on its way home! Stand by.” Jack takes a hard left, in the hopes of throwing the frigate off of his tail. The frigate’s pilot has quicker reflexes than he thought. The pilot slightly overcorrects and jets on a collision course with the front of Jack’s shuttle. A bright flare shoots out the back of the frigate. “They’ve just activated their afterburners,” Jack says to himself. The frigate’s cutting laser comes online. “Kharlan! I’m done for. See you in Paradise, my Kiithid brothers!”

 

“You’re not done for yet! Hang in there. We won’t let them take you like this!”

 

Jack attempts to increase his altitude to evade the approaching frigate. It’s too little, too late. The frigate connects with the front end of Jack’s shuttle, putting several large cracks in his view ports. The oxygen in Jack’s cabin begins to thin. It gets hard to breathe. Just before Jack blacks out, three orbs of energy shoot from the direction of the carrier and destroy the frigate before it gets the chance to deal the killing blow.

 

-3-

Three years later…

 

Jack glances around at the huge crowd of people at his class’s graduation ceremony. He thinks back to his journey to get here. “I almost died to do this!” he thinks.

 

The announcer startles Jack out of his reminiscence. “Jack Harper.” Jack jumps up and walks up to the podium where diplomas are handed out. “Everybody, Jack here is one of the youngest members to graduate from this wonderful academy. He has also broken and set numerous longstanding records achieved by some of the most experienced pilots out there. He has the highest marks in the past ten years!” Jack returns to his seat, slightly pink in the face, embarrassed. “I’m not done with you yet! Get back up here.” Jack, slightly flustered, stands up and walks back to the podium, where the announcer hands him a small computer chip.

 

“What’s this thing?” Jack asks, examining the chip.

 

“Just a little gift from the administration.” He presses a small button on the remote he is holding. A rumbling sound fills the auditorium. The floor and walls begin to vibrate. The paper streamers hanging from the ceiling shake and wave about, as if caught in the wind. The roof opens and in flies a ramming frigate. “A present from us to one of our most valuable students. Take good care of it. That chip is required to start up the engines. We had a bit of trouble locating a decent ship for you, but we had an inspiration from your little… escapade… three years back. Go ahead, take her for a spin. I’m sure the assembled audience won’t mind.”

 

Growing redder by the second, Jack walks up to the frigate and opens the hatch. “Thank you. I don’t know how I can accept this.” He steps in, plugs his chip into the ignition, and flies off to the ecstatic applause of the crowd.

Edited January 29, 2006 by Mephisto

[Mephisto]

You've probably never heard of some of these words before. I'll write up a little 'dictionary' for you.

 

Kiith - (Plural Kiithid) A group, or 'family', of people of the Kushan 'race'

 

The Beast - Small sentient virus. Sort of like the Borg. "Resistance is futile!" They keep talking about the Beast 'self', too. There may be multiple Beast ships, but they are all part of one collective consciousness (I think that's the right term). Large Beast ships (Capital and above) have something called an 'infection beam' or something similar. It sends a beam of high energy in the direction of enemy ships, which the virus 'rides' on. When the virus reaches the ship, it attacks the living organisms in it, using their matter to form an additional layer of 'armor' on the outer hulls of ships. It can then repair itself.

The one exception of the 'Captial and above' requirement for infection capability is something called the Beast Cruise Missile. It is an unmanned (if you could call the Beast a man) missile with a payload of the Beast virus. When it rams another ship, the payload explodes, hopefully blowing a hole in the ship's hull so the virus can slip through and get to work on the occupants.

 

The names in the true Homeworld universe are a bit too much for me to make up. It usually uses names like Paaura, Tambuur'sa, Asaam Kiith'sid, and stuff like that. From the in-game movies in the game I have, they are very articulate in their speaking. I have rarely, if ever, heard anyone use a contraction. When I write with no contractions, I think it looks odd. I'm ditching that rule, too.

 

If anyone posts any other words that need to be defined, I will do my best to type out an answer. I will set up a new page on my web site with ship descriptions (and possibly pictures) and term definitions.

Edited January 30, 2006 by Mephisto