1: The Lone Way of the Samurai

_____________________________________________________________________ What a disaster. The Pfhor had a better defense grid than I had counted on, and blasted the shuttles to bits. Yours is still in good condition - it only got clipped. The other one, that had your support crew, suffered worse damage, and I can't contact them. However, there is a minor change of plans. We've decided that, rather than attempting to repair the Istanbul's FTL engines, we're just going to take another Pfhor cruiser and use that one. From what the wide-beam scans have picked up, the one they have here is huge, so it can probably withstand a bit more abuse than the Istanbul. We'll see. The flagship that they have is being held a couple thousand feet in the air by a magnetic anchoring device, that keeps the ship from leaving F'raxis' gravity well. So, we'll need to deactivate that before we even think of boarding the ship. Currently I'm waking up as many men from stasis as I can, but remember those life-support failures I was telling you about? Apparently it was hooked up to the stasis mechs as well. We've suffered heavy casualties, and we haven't even started yet! *sigh* _____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________ Also, before we can safely leave the planet's surface, we'll need you and whatever survivors made it to shut down the defense grid. It seems to be based in a mountain a couple miles away, so that can come after you're done deactivating the anchor. I'm trying to gather as much ammunition as I can, but apparently Admiral Terrance had a higher security level set up on most of the storage lockers than I can open, so you'll have to make do with what I can find. Try to restrain yourself from, er, requisitioning the crew's guns, though, until they don't need them anymore. Carver out. _____________________________________________________________________ END TRANSMISSION

Your objective is to accompany thGem4Khx2g#@ sdjkjsjhkhgl------------------------------------------- fgd@#los#!ginf gfggco3nn% # @! ~ nnec ct^# # ion32 #26 gzzho#3osh **REMOTE CONNECTION OVERRIDE** **BASE SERVICE INTERRUPT**

***SEARCHING FOR FOREIGN TRANSMISSION*** ***SEARCHING... NO TRANSMISSION FOUND*** ***SEEKING DEFAULT SERVICE.TXT FILE..*** ***SEARCHING... SERVICE.TXT FOUND... *** SERVICE.TXT - init: _____________________________________________________________________ In case of emergency crash landing due to turbulence, engine malfunction, autopilot malfunction, control panel malfunction, attack, or mysterious shredding of hull, immediately steer craft into rock formations to help slow descent. Please be aware that as of date ####, all customer service will be revoked due to obsolecence of craft. Thank you for flying UESC-Brand Safe-T Shut-L! _____________________________________________________________________ ***FOREIGN TRANSMISSION DETECTED*** ***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM LT. J CARVER*** I guess I deserve that for flying UESC-Brand Safe-T Shut-L, eh?

emergency class **transmission from epsilon **command / alert **dispatch stamp: all units comply **emergency timestamp: 2761.21.43.22.9.16 urgency level: emergency Rogue conditioned unit, presumably the same as reported in several previous encounters, as well as an accompanyment of several armed humans, have entered the hills surrounding Planetary Craft Hook C6, which is currently slaved to holding the flagship class R'kr'kan known as J'kima. All units of class KrLt. or lower are ordered to intercept the force under pain of maximum disciplinary punishment allowed under the proper protocol.

imperative class **transmission from delphi **command / maint **dispatch stamp: all avail. units **service timestamp: 2761.16.04.59.9.06 urgency level: availability All available service units of rank Performance or lower are requested upon first available opportunity to report to the maintenance wing of command and control, whereupon orders will be given to assist in the extermination of natural life rooted in the caverns around Planetary Craft Hook C6, which is currently slaved to holding the flagship class R'kr'kan known as J'kima. All noncomplying units will be subject to immediate physical or psychological trauma as allowed under the proper authoritative protocol.

imperative class **transmission from ceres **command / maint **dispatch stamp: all avail. units **structure timestamp: 2761.17.24.04.9.02 urgency level: necessity All service units of class Terrain or lower are ordered to report to the construction wing of command and control, whereupon orders will be given to repair service structures located in the hills surrounding Planetary Craft Hook C6, which is currently slaved to holding the flagship class R'kr'kan known as J'kima. All noncomplying units will be subject to the maximum penalty in rations and pay as allowed by the proper authoritative protocoll.

notification class**bulletin post hector ** posted by division**permission stamp: 4 fighter yt'ander**bulletin timestamp: 2761.14.23.26.9.01 urgency level: standard Will somebody drain the water from the service cavern between service structures V and VII? I hate wading through that mess.

notification class**bulletin post hector ** posted by division**permission stamp: 4 fighter yt'ander**bulletin timestamp: 2761.14.23.26.9.01 urgency level: standard Will somebody drain the water from the service cavern between service structures V and VII? I hate wading through that mess. response to bulletin from yt'ander posted by division 4 la'karl timestamp: 2761.14.24.02.9.01 Shut up, yt'ander, or we'll feed you to the natives.

_____________________________________________________________________ There's the anchor, right outside. I figure the controls, buttons, whatever they are are underground, so you will need to find the structure with a service passage to it. I believe that big one across the field is the one, but the door is blocked. Find another way in. There were more survivors than I thought. I'm mustering some men to help you in your next mission, before we hijack their flagship. They call it the J'kima, but I can't hope to pronounce that either. What the hell is up with the Pfhor and their ship names? _____________________________________________________________________ END TRANSMISSION

_____________________________________________________________________ Good work in shutting off that anchor. I figured the interface was basic enough for you to manipulate? I'm sending you to the defense grid that I mentioned earlier. I also hope you found the supplies I sent you well enough? I hope so, because Terrance is being a bit of a stubborn old fool and won't let me into the storage lockers. Not like it matters - most of them are empty, anyways. _____________________________________________________________________ END TRANSMISSION

Private communication established... _________________________________________ This is Carver. Admiral Terrance doesn't know what I've found with the wide-beam: apparently there is a system of facilities all around this planet that the Pfhor are not communicating with, and vice-versa. This suggests that they are not Pfhor at all - but they don't respond to any of my messages, either. After you and the rest of the crew have taken the J'kima, I'm going to send you on another mission - a solo mission. Terrance doesn't want anybody on the planet's surface - he's been against this operation the whole time, he thinks we should keep moving, but apparently the tech crew convinced him of our dire situation. If he caught wind of what you're going to do, he'd probably have us both court-martialed. I don't want to be court-martialed, do you? I didn't think so. I'll give you more details later - right now you've got a job to do, so get a move on. ____________________________________________ Private communication terminated. PREPARE FOR TRANSPORT