This is something ive been working on for a while and have only just remebered about, im wondering what other people think to it so far..
well here it is.
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This is something ive been working on for a while and have only just remebered about, im wondering what other people think to it so far..
well here it is.
An unexpected message.
A tall, well muscled Atrox, with white, short cut hair wearing a suit of keeper Armour,
Wearing a two handed sword strapped across his back.
Steps out of the elevator onto the hall way.
His armour is covered in grime and dirt, giving it a greyish tinge.
With a deep sigh he removes his helm and walks towards an apartment door at the far end of the hall.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a little key-card which he swipes across the keypad.
Before replacing it in his pocket.
With a mechanical hiss the door opens to let out a cool waft of air.
He steps inside and wipes his feet on the reed mat in front of the door.
The door closes behind him with a hiss, as it autolocks.
The room in which he stands is a lounge with two sofas facing each other over a glass coffee table with chairs at either end.
A large Computer screen decorates the pale white wall to the right; on the left hand one hangs a photo of the Clan victory at Omni 2, Old Athens.
The far wall is made up of ceiling to floor windows which look out over the Giant tree on the hill depicted in the photo.
He disappears into a small room to the left, which is in a shadowy light.
Removing the armour he uncovers a cauterised laser burn, on the right hand side of his chest.
Placing his equipment on the stands along one wall he reaches into a closet for a red robe, which he pulls over his head.
He walks out into the lounge again, picking up the remote lying on the coffee table and turns on the Clan news channel.
He carries on walking across the room through another door into a small kitchen.
After five minutes he reappears with a tray on which sits a well cooked Bronto steak and some organic mush.
The light from the Sun shines in through the windows as it descends below the horizon.
The Clan news shows footage from the Omni Tek news stations. He watches the screen whilst he eats taking in the information,
Checking the stock markets to see how well his investments are doing.
It loops round again to the main headlines.
Today there were a number of Raids carried out by various clans on Notum mining bases controlled by Omni Tek in the southern territories, whilst Omni forces attacked Unionist positions in 4 Holes.
Though notably the Sentinels clan have continued to keep open a corridor of supply open from Omni AF troops between Clan territories and those of the Unionists in 4 Holes.
"Well nothing new there" he mumbles to himself.
A female automated voice calls out "Incoming video link from Miss Kaylee".
"Put her through".
The image of a short blonde haired solitus female comes into view on the TV screen.
Kaylee: "Hiya Templar how are you today?"
Templar: smiling he says "Doing well, how’s your business coming along, because I think I will need to drop by your workshop tomorrow."
Kaylee: "it’s doing well, and yes you may I’ve always got time for one of my patrons."
Templar: "I take it; this is not a social call?”
Kaylee: "You could say that...”
Templar: "You haven’t spent ALL that money I gave you to invest into that workshop for you in Borealis?"
Kaylee: "no although I could do with some more mass relocating nano bots, I accidentally fried that last set...” She smiles, and looks with puppy eyes at the Screen.
Templar: "bloody hell you go thru mass relocating nano bots fast! This is going to be the fifth set I buy you!"
Templar: "just promise me you will take better care of this next set, they’re damn expensive, now what was it you were wanting to say?”
Kaylee: "oh erm... having a bit of trouble with an Omni backed Engineer who's taking away all my clients. I think he's not playing by the Neutral laws though, if you catch my meaning."
Templar: "You think he’s an Omni spy who’s using his neutral status to check on what the clans are doing?"
Kaylee: "Erm that’s about right I think." She shrugs her small shoulders.
Templar: "ok, I will see what I can do, I will ask for a surveillance team to be put on him, and we will wait and see."
Templar: "But in the mean time you can fix my armour, there’s a laser hole through the right side of the breastplate, the left gauntlet is jammed into position, and there’s a dent in my helmet."
Templar: “How long do you think it will take you to turn that around?"
Kaylee: "hmm? … oh I should be able to get it ready by.. erm the day after tomorrow? If that’s ok with you?"
Templar "yes that should be alright, unless I need to help a raid. Oh and don’t worry, if you feel like you need anything just get in touch with me, just take better care with the nano bots this time, please."
Kaylee: "yes I will, and thanks for everything, oow customer, ive got to go, byee"
Templar: "bye".
With that the Screen changed back to its main menu.
The automated voice states "End of video link, time is 8pm."
Templar sits back with a sigh, closes his eyes and ponders on this problem which has come his way. There would be no use in trying to start anything now, what clanner would take the thoughts of a neutral seriously?
After a couple of minutes he rouses himself, stands up and takes his try and empty plate through into the kitchen and puts it into the dish washer.
As he walks out of the kitchen he takes a book from a set of shelves next to the door.
He sits himself down again and leans back, opening his book entitled "The Oracle of Tir".
"Music player on, Nitsumo’s 48th symphony please"
A small machine whirs in the glass coffee table, green lights blink and the tranquil music plays through speakers, set into the walls al around the room.
The Suns last rays of light leave the room, and the auto sensing lights come on at a low level.
Meetings of an unusual kind.
Templar woke the next day in his bed to the chiming sound of his alarm clock; it was 5am the sun would not be up for another 10 minutes.
He puts on the white robe that was hanging by his bedside and walks across to the Bathroom on the far side of the lounge. He turns on the water heating system and goes back out.
He sits at the coffee table and presses a couple of buttons on the side, a screen opens up on the surface showing his Grid Mail.
There were 8 messages. Two he deleted without hesitation as they were junk mail. Another three were clan recruitment letters, asking him to join various new clans, after reading them through he deletes those as well, the next is a Omni Tek one, he reads with some amusement, “Templar you are now have a new Arrest warrant issued on you, after you were Identified at a Clan raid on Omni Tek mining operations at …” blah, blah, blah, blah “… If you turn yourself over to Omni Reform they will make sure you are treated properly” blah, blah, blah ... “Your punishment is 2 years to be added onto your existing 1346 years of non paid labour in a secure Omni Tek mining Facility in the out-zones.”
“Blimey this is ridicules, don’t they ever check this system, 1346 years, no one lives that long!”
The last two he was expecting,
The first was an acknowledgement of his actions in the raid the day before from the clan whom he helped; it also gave him their thanks.
The last was from an undisclosed source; now then this looks more interesting he thought.
As an afterthought it wasn’t and got deleted, in it was the ravings of a seriously annoyed Omni Tek departmental leader.
Templar stood up and walked back into the Bathroom and took a quick shower.
Once he was dry he knelt on a rug in front of the windows and meditated as the first light of the new dawn crept over Rubi Ka.
Later he got up and put on a nice Miir suit he had bought recently and had tailored to his exact sizeF. Into a backpack he placed his Armour. As he left he took the keys for his Vivid Red Yalmaha which was parked on the Roof of the Apartment block as usual. Once in the Black leather seat of his yalmaha he took off and flew towards the Whom pah towers to go to Borealis.
Old Athens passed by all around him, people buying, selling, talking and generally living their lives to the full as free people.
He swung round in a nice dive into the queue for the Whom pahs and put on some calming piano music from Old Earth, which he had grown attached to over the years.
The Portal came up and he slide through it smoothly and did a U –turn on the Jobe platform to take him to Borealis.
Upon entering Borealis he felt the same old anger.
Omni Tek forces patrolled most of the streets, a Juggernaut sat immobile waiting to be called upon and the Omni Tek recruiters were shouting out the same old slogans, to try and entice the neutrals to join the corporation.
Templar flew high above the imminent brawl between the Neutral protestors and the Omni recruiters. Heading south he passed shops warehouses and apartment blocks. He swept down onto a reasonably busy street and pulled into a mid level parking slot in a building, above a neon sign which read “Kaylee’s Engineering Workshop”.
Getting out of the Yalmaha as it powered down, he straightened his suit and moved off towards the elevator which would carry him down to the back rooms of the Workshop.
He stepped into the blue tinted steel meshed elevator as the doors closed; pushing a button it started to move down at a sedate pace.
It chimed and the doors opened.
As usual the backrooms were stacked with an odd assortment of machine parts and tools, which he had no idea of their purpose apart from possibly to do some obscure thing.
The shelves were crammed full of old equipment as well, which was being patched up before being sold on. To the left a door opened onto the Implant assembly room, to the right, Kaylee’s personal apartment. The door had a new sign on it.
Templar stopped to read it through.
“Kaylee’s quarters nothing here for you, unless you want to wake up in reclaim.”
Thinking it a good thing that he never goes in there he carries on ahead into the main workshop.
There were a couple of work benches running along the walls and horizontal to the road which was visible through the open doors, of the room.
“Hey” Kaylee’s voice calls out from seemingly no where.
Templar looks round, turning around trying to see where she is.
“Can you pass me that organic light bar on the work table?”
Picking it up Templar looks up to se the short Engineer hanging upside down with her legs over a bar, to hold her up. She’s wearing a tight black Froob T-shirt slightly stained with oil, and black combat trousers and her black combat boots as well as some reinforced black leather gloves. Around her waist hangs a belt full of lots of different screwdrivers, wrenches and clippers as well as two hand crafted pistols.
She says “Thanks” as he puts it into her outstretched hand.
“So you brought the armour?” she asks as she fits the new light beam into the lighting hook-up, hanging from the ceiling.
“Yes and that one mill you need for some new nano bots.” He replies emptying the backpack onto the workbench next to him.
“Oh thanks a lot for that Templar, I really need them, to help me keep this place going.” With some swift acrobatic style she swings off the bar and lands sitting on the work bench next to Templar and starts to inspect the Keeper Armour he had deposited onto the work surface.
“So are you going to tell me how this happened?” she asks holding up the cuirass and though the laser hole with one eye at him.
“A raid on an Omni Tek Mining facility an Agent who was hidden from me hit me with a well placed shot. That’s all.” Templar replied.
“So who’s this guy who is stealing your customers?” Templar asks.
“Oh him, he’s called Naral, he’s got a garage with a layout like this five down on the other side of the street. Why what are you going to do? Don’t you already have a surveillance team on him?” Kaylee asks putting down the Cuirass and picking up the left hand gauntlet, and beginning to inspect its joints.
“I’m going to take a look at him, and have a nosey look round his shop, and I can’t call out a Surveillance team on a neutral just because another neutral business rival says he’s and Omni spy. So I go over have a snoop round and decide whether to or not go through the proper channels, or whether to do it on my own initiative.” Templar replies walking over to the till and running his credit card through it and placing the one million credits directly into Kaylee’s account.
“Ok then, but I want to come with you.” Kaylee replies whilst she’s spraying the Gauntlets grooves with oil, and not looking up.
“Does he know you?” Templar asks immediately, as he walks back towards her.
“Yeah, what d’ you think, I told him to get lost as soon as he came in here and asked me if I would work for him!” Kaylee snaps out as she looks up into his blue eyes, hers alight with the flames of anger.
“Your not coming, you’ll blow any chance of me catching him if he is a spy, with a temper like that.” Templar replied calmly not raising his voice but adding that extra something that stopped her anger overflowing.
“I am going to and you can’t stop me” she replies looking away and getting up.
“okay, but if your coming use this”. From his Pocket Templar pulls out a small personal cloaking device.
“What do you need this for? Your not exactly an agent, are you? You can never be sure nowadays” she smiles at her half joke, taking it from his outstretched hand and putting it on.
“I use it when I’m in Old Athens so I don’t get idiots asking me for Behe’s or ess’s, just because I’m an atrox.”
“Ok fair enough, erm how do I…aha” Kaylee fades from view with a mischievous grin on her dirt stained face.
“Right lets go, just remember not to talk or to touch anything, and to keep out of everyone’s way, otherwise they will realise that someone’s cloaked.” Templar says looking around the seemingly deserted workshop.
“oomph! What the ..” Templar cries as he stumbles forwards.
“Only me keeping out of the way, I thought that if I sat on you shoulders I would be less likely to get into trouble.” Said Kaylee’s voice sounding close to his ear.
Templar starts to move towards the Front exit.
“One sec” Kaylee whispers. Templar stops and waits patiently.
“Bot command is Guard mode activated” Kaylee announces to the room somewhere in the backrooms a door opens and a beeping is heard.
“Ok, let’s go close the shutters as well, please.” Kaylee whispers into Templar’s ear.
He moves to the side of the front exit and pushes a big red button as he passes out into the street.
Once out in the street Templar walks with purpose across the street letting others move out of his way. Once across he begins to look in shop windows and displays, as he moves down to the street, towards the mechanic’s shop.
A low flying yalmaha passes overhead.
“Crap” Kaylee says as Templar feels her shift herself down, as the Yalmaha passes directly overhead.
Templar moves on down the street and stops outside A Engineers workshop, which has a sign which reads “Naral’s Engineering Excellence Workshop” in flashing neon lights of all the colours of the rainbow.
“Stay quiet, remember” Templar whispers.
He walks into the well lit and clean shop floor, where various items are up for sale.
Looking around Templar spots the shop keeper coming out of the back room with a breastplate of a Junkmetal armour suit. He was a short, thin, opifex with dark coloured hair and facial tattoos. Wearing a blue jean greatcoat, which had become fashionable with the less wealthy neutrals.
“Hello and what can I do for you sir?” he asks placing the chest piece on a cabinet.
“Wait forgive, me I haven’t introduced myself, I’m Narak the owner of this place of business, which is open to all people of any faction, and you are sir? And what are you after?” He asks looking intently at Templar and rubbing his hands. His eyes do a quick up down look of Templar as if gauging how much to he would be willing to pay.
“My name is Templar and I’m in need of an Engineer who can knock up some Carbonum armour for me over the next couple of days, measured to fit a short, slim, woman.” Templar replied.
“Do you have the plates... no? I didn’t suppose you would, doesn’t matter, I have my own stock! Just give me a few minutes to find them, and take your name so there’s no mix up.” With that he disappears back into the back room.
“Quick off my back and get into that back room and tell me what you see” Templar whispers to Kaylee. Immediately Templar felt her climb down off his back.
She crept away to a corner beside the door into the back rooms, just in time as Naral comes out carrying some plates of carbonum and some other tools.
He sets them down on a work table and brings over a manikin which can be altered in size.
Kaylee slips into the back room as soon as Naral aces the stuff on the work table.
The layout is not that unlike her workshop. Kaylee hugging the walls stealthily creeps towards the back storage rooms.
She pokes her head round the corner of a door and looks inside.
Sitting on a stool at a workbench is a man wearing a black robe with his hood down, and the sleeves rolled up. On the desk before him lies a nano crystal, which is half built, he fiddles with it and scans it with various devices. It is obvious that he is an engineer busy at work and the real technological mind behind the workshop.
“I really need some proof of Omni Tek involvement for Templar to believe her.” Kaylee thinks.
She looks round the room a bit more and decides to check the living quarters.
She withdraws from the room as quietly as possible and opened the hatch into the living quarters.
She could only just see a red light at the end of the short yet dark corridor.
Kaylee is about to move in but realises there is no point as the proof she needs is on a shelf next to her.
Amongst some other junk is an Omni Tek medallion with the inscription “protection from without” inscribed on it and an ID card of omni issue with a picture of Naral and a department listed as Omni Tek Special Intelligence.
Kaylee opens up a thigh pocket on her black combat trousers and pulls out a small camera, and snaps a few shots of both items.
Kaylee suddenly hears Templar’s voice raised saying “Good Bye I will see you, the day after tomorrow then.”
Kaylee quickly pushes the camera back into her pocket and slips through the hatch into the main work room just as Naral comes back through it, and continues down the corridor into the back storage room.
She creeps out of the shop into the street and heads of back to her own workshop, through the crowds.
Templar is leaning against a wall next to the closed shutters, with his arms folded.
As she comes up to the metal shutters she punches in the key code to unlock the shutters and ducks in.
Templar pushes himself off the wall and ducks under and says “hello?”
“Its me, I’m back” says Kaylee appearing out of thin air sitting in a computer chair at a screen, where she is attaching her camera to some wires.
The screen flashes into life and to show an options menu.
Templar walks over and pulls up a stool behind her and perches on it.
“So what did you get?” Templar asks.
“Here first...” she holds out the cloaking device to Templar, who takes it from her hand and puts it into his pocket.
“This is what I got pic’s off” Says Kaylee as the screen flashes up the photos one after the other.
“And there was a man in a black Robe in the back store rooms; he was making a nano crystal. I think it’s him who’s doing all the work that was to be done there, not Naral.” Says Kaylee as she touches some keys on a keyboard and pulls a disc from a slot in the wall next to her.
“Here, this has the photos on it that I took, which I think you may want.” She holds it out to Templar, who takes it as well.
“Safer to keep it on me you reckon then?” Templar asks.
“Yes, I don’t think this should be taken lightly, the guy in the back room looked pretty tough.” Kaylee replies.
“Ok I better take this to Tir and see what the Clans can do about this. If he is really an Omni spy who’s using the Neutral membership to spy in Clan territories, then we will need to involve possibly the ICC to sort this out, to the Clans and Neutrals favour.”
Templar says to Kaylee who has turned round and is now looking at him.
“But you must not say anything about your source being me otherwise I will have been spying for the Clans. And if it gets out that it was me then Omni Tek will not allow me to enter their territories ever again.” Kaylee says looking somewhat distraught.
Templar puts a hand on her shoulder and looks her in the eyes and asks “Is there anyone who could be trusted enough for you to be able to stay at theirs for a bit?”
Kaylee sits back and thinks for a couple of seconds.
“There is a girl called Peliqua who may be able to help she’s neutral trader who often stops by here. I will message her now, and see.” Kaylee eventually replies.
“Ok well, I will go to Tir now and see what I can do.” Templar says, standing up and moving towards the back rooms and the elevator.
“Thanks Templar, a lot.” Kaylee replies still sitting in her chair.
Tir
Once in his Yalmaha, Templar takes off and flies out of the mid level parking slot, joins the air traffic which had increased dramatically as it was now about 11 in the morning.
He flies towards the Grid and takes the Tir exit point.
Appearing in Tir he flies towards the south gate, passing over the flat roofs and towers of Tir, the capital of the Clans.
As he nears the gate he flies lower and sets down the yalmaha on a vacant landing pad.
He climbs out and takes the elevator down into the building.
A metallic sounding voice asks,
“please state your name, rank, and identity code.”
Templar replies in an even voice “Name Horatio Templar Decerus, Rank Captain, Identity code zero, one, one, zero, seven, zero, eight, nine, nine, eight, four, zero.”
“Verifying” the metallic voice responds.
“Take your time, there’s no rush” Templar responds. Having said the unasked for code word the automated guns that had been target locked on him as soon as he entered the lift deactivated.
It was a precaution that had saved the Clans embarrassment many times over.
The elevator whines to a halt and the doors slide open.
He steps out and walks along a catwalk suspended over a vast generators.
Reaching the blast hatch at the far end he presses a finger to a scanner which backlight turns from blue to green.
The hatch opens with a pneumatic hiss. Templar ducks inside and the hatches seals behind him.
In the lobby lounge a squad of fully armed and armoured soldiers, ready for action at a moments notice.
To the side of the bland room is a glass desk with a bureaucrat in a suit sitting behind, staring at a computer monitor.
“Templar I presume”.
“Yes of course it’s me Hendrix, you know from the clearance and vid feeds from the elevator and the fact that Ive come down here at least four times a week for the last, oh I don’t know twelve years.” Templar grins as Hendrix looks up.
“fifteen actually.” Hendrix replied with a grin on his face.
“okay, I guess this isn’t a social visit, so what can I do for you?”
“I need access to a standard operations room, and could you send for Lieutenant Blackwulf and erm… operative Snipershadow please to meet me at it, can you do that for me?”
“Sure” replies Hendrix who starts to type rapidly onto a keyboard.
A dark blue form prints out from a slit in the desk top.
Templar picks it up and begins to read it.
“That okay for you Templar?” Hendrix ask’s whilst typing on the keyboard.
“Its fine, as it is I was hoping for one of the Old Athen ones to be free.” Replies Templar.
A musical chime emits form the speaker above the blast door.
The door opens with a hiss and all of the occupants of the room turn to look at the newcomer.
Into the light steps a short spiky white haired male opifex with a SMG strapped across his chest with glowing red eyes and facial tattoos.
“call that a salute?” the opifex says.
The soldiers begin to get to their feet.
“whoa, I was just messing with you relax I’m not stuck up my own backside that much!” the newcomer says waving his hand for them to sit back down.
“You still around Silverguard?” Templar asks with a broad grin on his face.
“Do I know you?” replies Silverguard.
“stop messing, and get over here, your just in time to join a team I’m putting together for an Op.”
“Oh nips not one of your Ops, last time I went on one of your Ops you managed to get me chucked out of a drop ship into the middle of a mantis hive! Oh and for the record, the one before that you managed to get me shot in the arse!” Silverguard fired back.
Templar unfazed beckons him over with a finger.
“Those were only training exercises at the war academy, just think of what I could do if I really tried.”
“I dread to think. So how have you been? Whats the Op? am I going to be in any life threatening situations?” Silverguard says elbowing Templar in the thigh, and wishing he hadn’t.
“I’m doing good, Ops classified until we get to the Operations room I’ve just booked out. And yes I’m going to stick you in lots of life threatening situations for my own personal amusement. Now go to this House in Old Athen and warm it up, expect visitors as well.”
“Eeeps you still got it in for me haven’t you?” Silverguard places a report on the desk which Hendrix takes and files, attempting not to burst out laughing at the remarks being passed. The soldiers in the room have also found their weapons in need of a very good clean, and were busily at work, not looking up.
Silverguard begins to cast a complex nano.
“That it Templar?” Hendrix asks as Silverguard disappears.
“Should be, if I need anything else I will let you know. Thanks. See you later.”
With that Templar walks back out of the room to the elevator and up to the landing pad.
Suprise
Having just punched in the door code Templar slips into the building off the afternoon streets of Old Athens. He had already been back to his apartment block to park his Yalmaha and to grab some food and equipment.
The lights flickered on. Standing in front of him was a Slayerdroid. Its white surface seemed to be spotless and a little red light in it’s “head” blinked form blue to red.
Its claws arched up and it strode forwards.
In one fluid movement Templar had drawn his two handed sword leapt forwards and brought it crashing down in a diagonal cut straight through the slayerdroid’s white armour. As the ruined machine fell in two parts to the ground Templar re-sheaved his sword.
Walking to the next door he turned the handle and walked in. there was no one and nothing in it. He walked across to the door on the far side which automatically opens.
Crowded around a well lit table are three short figures.
All three look up from the food they were hurriedly shovelling into their mouths.
“What took you?” Silverguard sitting at the head of the table asks as he puts the chopsticks down on his plate.
“I stopped for some equipment and a bite to eat, you guys go ahead and finish whatever that is you’re eating.” Templar replies.
“Want some?” asks the short black haired female with facial tattoos to the left of Templar as he takes a seat at his end of the table.
“No thanks Blackwulf” Templar replies as he drops the kitbag by the seat.
“Sure?” asks the shadowy figure to the right of the table.
“No I’m fine as I said I ate before coming, and I also don’t want to try whatever your eating, but thanks anyway Snipershadow.” Templar replies looking at the shadow to his right.
“Can I have yours then Blackwulf if Templar doesn’t want it?” Silverguard asks with a smirk.
“Over my dead and still warm body, toy boy.” Blackwulf replies with an angry look.
“Enough, both of you.” Templar says as both Silverguard and Blackwulf give each other dead eyes. Snipershadow lets out a quiet laugh.
“By the way how did you get past the Slayerdroid?” Templar asks with a quizzical look on his face.
A stunned silence replies him in which he imagines he can hear crickets outside.
“Oh that thing I sneaked past that on my way in.” replied Snipershadow.
“Er… We came through the back door” Blackwulf replied looking rather scared at the door behind Templar.
“Fair enough” Templar replies.
Five minutes later and with the remains of a reet sweet and sour source noodle meal in the waste disposal wall hatch. And the four of them sitting in silence around the table Templar begins his briefing and outlines his plan.