The Quiet Before the Storm...

[Ace Armageddon]

As the sun came into view of the ISD Chimera the viewports automatically tinted to compensate for the extra light pouring onto the bridge. Three figures were standing up front away from everyone else while admiring the view in front of them. Seeing a Star Destroyer in person in nothing short of breathless. One would just hope that they aren't on the wrong side of it. Seeing the facility that builds Star Destroyers is hard to put into words. The massive facility was a quiet storm of constant activity in the vacum of space. For a few years now the VSD Striker has been under serious repair. It has seen that days of the Imperial traitor Whitten and was something of a legend for those who were lucky enough to have served on it.
Captain Syrtaras scolded himself for his momentary lapse of concentration. "Pardon me Commadore?"
"Haha" laughed Commadore Vortagh, "I was just saying I can't wait to take her for a spin myself."
"You gentlemen will get your chance soon enough," started Admiral Fel, "the Striker should be completly fnished and up to date with the latest technology in just a few more months. It will once again be the 'aggressor' of the fleet."
Just then an Ensign from the pits yelled up to the officers "Unknown ship just exited hyperspace on the otherside of the facility sir!"
Admiral Fel after years of service still didn't miss a beat. "Fel to Yaga Minor Facility, get your shields up now and get your crew inside. Activate all turrets and use the targeting data from the Chimera, hold your fire unless otherwise order." Without turning around Fel shut down the com the said "Captain La Forge the bridge is yours."
Simply waiting for the word La Forge immediatly fell into his element. "All shields up. Position the Chimera between the unknown and the shipyards. Scramble Iota and tell them to get close but not too close. Ensign, what are we looking at?"
"Sir whatever it is it's beat up thats for sure. No active shields nor weapons, it's had some serious modifications for speed however. It's only running on one engine fom the looks of it. No communicaions attempts. It's pretty rough, but from the profile it almost looks like an old..."
"Carrack Cruiser" said Syr in kind of a daze, "thats an old Carrack Cruiser."
"If it is sir it has seen some heavy damage. I'm getting more data now, it has been seriously modified, if it weren't for the modifications it wouldn't even being flying now." said the Ensign.
"Captain Syrtaras is right," said Vortagh, "thats the Artemis."
"The Artemis sir?" asked the Ensign.
Fel, Striker, and Vortagh just stared at each other for a minute. "Ensign get me LT Alex on the com now." Said Fel.
"Admiral, LT Alex here, we're nearing the cruiser, it's an old Carrack for sure, definatly seen some better says though."
Fel turned to the pit "Weapons status?"
"Still down sir."
"LT Alex," started Fel as he crossed the bridge "send a flight in for a closer look. Have an emergency team and shuttle prepped and ready 5 minutes ago. Tell them Captain Syrtaras and Commadore Vortagh oare on their way and not to leave without them." Fel turned to the other two officers "Run."
As Syr and Vort sprinted to the hanger bay the ensign looked curiously at the Admiral. "Sir?"
Admiral Fel didn't answer at first, he didn't know whether to laugh or grimace, "Looks like Ace and Pavz are back."
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Vort and Syr were both silent on the shuttle ride over to the Artemis. Neither knew what to say. They knew where the Artemis had gone, and didn't expect it to return. That was why that had argued so adamantly against the secret mission. But Pavz and Ace insisted it would better the fleet, and they were certainly qualified for the mission. Several years ago a Chiss recon ship entered Imperial space. The pilot sent a recorded message and then jumped back out of the system. The message was simple enough, "We'll train two Strikerites, send them with a skeleton crew to these coordinates." At first this was most puzzling, no one knew what the cyptic message meant. After some digging the fleet learned that Steel and the Striker had defended a disabled Chiss Recon vessel years and years ago. The Chiss commander was impressed with the Striker crew and squadrons and said the ship acted like it had been to "college." When the crew inquired the commander said it was a secret chiss training facility for tactics and he had already said too much. When the message came through Pavz and Ace were both the first to volunteer. After weeks of fighting amongst the fleet command it was finally decided that Ace and Pavz would take the Artemis and go to the coordinates alone. They were never heard from again, nor the Artemis, nor the skeleton crew that was with it.
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Much to the displeasure of the ISB officer that was supposed to be leading the shuttle team Vort and Syr were leading the pack almost running down the empty halls of the Artemis. Things didn't look good. Power was out everywhere. Consoles were broken, a sticky liquid was everywhere, and the hallways reeked of a unique smelling smoke that made the eyes red and the head dizzy. For some reason everyone from the shuttle team was suddenly laughing and in a good mood. They found Ace and Pavz sealed in one of the crews bunkrooms.
"They're not concious" said the medical officer. "They both have high levels of amphetamines and looks like THC in their system."
"That can't be right," said the ISB officer "THC hasn't been in the known galaxy for hundreds and hundreds of years. "
"Whats wrong with their skin?" Asked Syr
"Looks like a mild bruising sir, " said the med officer "covering 50% of Captain Ace's body and 90% of Captain Pavz's body, we need to get them back to the Chimera."
"Do it, now." Said Vort. The he looked over at Syr "What the hell happened to them?"
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Back in the medical bay they found out more.
"Ummm...apparently the bruising is from hickey's sir....we found trace amounts of female saliva on both Ace and Pavz."
Just then Ace woke up.
"Damn.....someone please get me some water and painkillers...." Ace kind of mumbled. When he opened his eyes and saw Fel, Syr, and Vort he jumped to his feet but feel right back down. "Sirs!"
"Easy Ace," said Syr, " Just tell us what happened?"
"How's Pavz?" Asked Ace.
Everyone looked to the medical officer. "I had to induce a comatose state to help him heal faster. He'll be fine in a couple months or so. It's going to take a long time to get those toxins out of his body." He nodded his head towards Ace, " You too sir."
"Nah, just get me something to eat. I'm starving"
"So," asked Syr one more time "You still haven't told us what happened?"
Ace shook his head as it to clear it, then looked up and smiled at Syr "We graduated."

RES Ace / Navel Reserves CP // Reserves
[SS][BS][MoM]x5[LSM-5S][MoC-1S][MoT][MoX]

is now...

EF Ace / Iota 2-2 / ISD Chimera / Imperial Navy
[SS][BS][MoM]x5[LSM-5S][MoC-1S][MoT][MoX]

[CM Jamie]

Awesome dude! Welcome back to the Empire. Just in case you didn't know Fel's some even more important guy now, Syr commands some VSD or whatnot and Vortagh well is .... Vortagh

[LC La Forge]

So that's where everyone's favorite recon Carrack went off to. Nifty.

Nice to have you back, Ace. I'll want a full report ASAP of just what this "graduation" consisted of.

[Fel]

So that's where everyone's favorite recon Carrack went off to. Nifty.

It's here! http://navy.empirereborn.net/ob.php

[steel]

Welcome back Ace

[Wedge]

Here we go again.

Captain Syrtaras scolded himself for his momentary lapse of concentration. "Pardon me Commadore?"
"Haha" laughed Commadore Vortagh, "I was just saying I can't wait to take her for a spin myself."
"You gentlemen will get your chance soon enough," started Admiral Fel, "the Striker should be completly fnished and up to date with the latest technology in just a few more months. It will once again be the 'aggressor' of the fleet."

As the three continued their conversation, they did not notice the officer standing behind them, staring wistfully at the Striker. Even the fact that she was no longer his could not hope to compete with the sheer joy he felt at seeing the old girl again. They had seen some really good times together, and some really bad ones, one of which was the reason she had spent the last few years in a cold, lonely slumber.

The officer had promised to be the one to bring her back, but time and responsibility had a strange way of breaking even the strongest vows. The sadness welled up, threatening the smile on his lips, forcing him to turn away. Like it or not, she was the past and there was nothing he could do to change that. Stealing one last, longing glance, he said his final good-bye and slowly walked away.

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Sorry, couldn't resist. Welcome back Ace.

[Mike Mar]

Welcome back Ace!

[LC La Forge]

Wedge: Say?

[Wedge]

At what part in that little tidbit was the character refered to as "she"? I was talking about the damn ship!