Ultimate redemption - chapter 1 - full

[totallydude]

Hi guys! Here's the full 1st chapter of the story. Hope you like it! C&C is welcome!

‘Is that the space station?’ a dark mysterious voice asks out loud.
‘Yes it is. The Cladion 7’ another dark mysterious voice replies.
‘Guess it’s time to start the party then.’ A third mysterious man replies.
Suddenly engines start, and three fighter ships appear from their hiding in the asteroid field, and they’re heading straight for the station.
A comm link is being opened to the ships by the space station.
‘Unknown ships, please identify yourselves’.
The men start laughing as they ignore the communications. They continue approaching the station. Once again, the station hails them. ‘This is Cladion 7. Please identify yourselves’ the voice commands them. And again, the communication is being ignored without a single word uttered by the mysterious men. Just seconds after ignoring the communication, the men notice they’re within range, and fire torpedoes at the station, and they watch as the torpedoes hit their target, causing a huge explosion, which destroys the station. But one ship manages to escape from fiery blaze which was once the renowned station, and heads off. A man is in there, quickly steering the ship away from any danger.
‘I’m lucky that they haven’t found me’ he whispers under his teeth. ‘Too bad this ship isn’t a fighter; otherwise I’d take them down’. He pushes a button on a small holopad, and takes a look at the image being projected. ‘Damn… my son… my wife… they were aboard the station. They…’ he clenches his fists in anger as he continues ‘they didn’t have to die!’ he shouts. ‘And I could do nothing to save them! I could do nothing to stop these men!’ Suddenly, the ship’s alarm starts going off, indicating enemies nearby. He quickly takes a look at the radar, zooms in the radar, and notices that the distance of the enemy ships is quickly decreasing. ‘Damn it! Just what I need, more enemies in this god forsaken sector.’ He takes another look at the radar, and notices the ships continue to fly in his direction. He zooms in further, and notices they’re known pirate ships. ‘Damn. Pirates. Just my god damn luck. Let’s just hope they’ll leave me alone.’
Shortly after he says that, he notices an incoming hail from one of the pirate ships. He answers the hail, trying to sound as calm as possible.
‘This is Suta from the Eragon speaking’
‘This is Onai’ the pirate replies. ‘We’re not interested in your ship or anything. We just have a few questions’
‘Alright, shoot’ Suta replies, with an unnoticeable sigh of relief.
‘We were in contact with a friend of ours, who was aboard the Cladion 7. However, we suddenly lost communication. Can you tell us what happened?’
‘Yes. The station got… destroyed. I don’t know what happened…’ Suta stops mid-sentence.
‘I see.’ Onai replies. And you are…’
‘The only survivor.’ Suta replies. ‘Well… for as far as I know. I just took a ship, and flew off with the explosion.’
‘You’re one lucky man then. Did you get a chance to see who was responsible?’
Why do you want to know?’ Suta asks, with rising curiosity.
‘Just because we’re pirates, doesn’t mean we’re not humans.’ Onai replies, slightly agitated.
‘Okay, okay. I’m sorry. But no, I didn’t see them.’
‘Right. Too bad.’ Onai acknowledges, with rising anger. ‘No one destroys just like that without getting any repercussion.’
‘I see.’ Suta replies with a smirk. ‘The station was government owned, so the government will get involved in it quite soon.’
‘I know, I know. But they won’t be safe in any pirate sector either.’ Onai smirks back’
‘That’s good to know.’ Suta replies, after firing off the thrusters again. ‘Just one thing. If you get your hands on them, please save the leader for me.’
‘Why?’
‘I have my personal reasons. ‘
‘Alright then. We’ll do that.’
‘Thanks’ Suta replies, right before closing the comm link. ‘Alright, let’s get to the nearest planet.’ He thinks to himself. He presses a button, and the universe map shows up on his HUD. ‘Hmm… only 20 clicks away. Shouldn’t be that much of a problem.’ He mutters, as he steers in the direction of the planet. ‘Only a couple of minutes, and I’ll be in governments territory.’ He sets the ship to automatically navigate to a location nearby the planet, sits back, while looking at the image of his wife and son, and he begins to mutter.

‘Oh Layla, you were the joy in my life. Before I met you, I had nothing, No chances and no money. I was a beggar on the streets. Up until this very day, I can’t see what you saw in me. But you helped me. Gave me some startup credits, and with it, I became a man with a job. A man with a future. I promised myself to work as hard as I possibly can to make up the debt to you that has been created. You refused, and kept saying that my love for you was enough to repay any debt I had with you. So I kept working. Slowly earning more and more money. We had a good life. Our son was a bit troublesome from time to time… ‘ He pauses to smile for a bit, as tears are rolling down his cheeks ‘… but that’s a part of growing up. He was about to go to college. He wanted to become a naval officer, and fight for justice in outer space. But now… that’s all gone. You are gone as well. I don’t know what to do. But I swear on my life I’ll get my revenge, and kill the ones who were responsible for your death. Even if it’s the last thing I’ll do. I swear… ‘ He pauses again as he faintly smiles in his tears, and then continues again. ‘I remember the times we spent at the bar, just drinking and laughing. I remember the times you’d throw a fit at me for not shaving again. The nights we spent, just lying in the grass, talking about our future.’ In growing anger, he slams his fist on the dashboard, and then continues’ but that’s all gone now. Some guys just destroyed all of it! I’ll hunt them down, and I won’t stop until I’ve killed each and every one of them!’

Right after saying this, the ship stops at the designated position, and he looks around in shock, to discover that every single space station in the area he’s in has been completely destroyed. He only sees a couple of ships flying around. He answers another incoming hail. ‘Suta of the Eragon here’
‘Suta, this is the captain of battleship Resonance. This area has been declared a battle zone. Please proceed to the nearest safe area.’ A man replies, clearly wearing the uniform fit for a captain.
‘Understood. However, I don’t see any place where I can possibly dock.’ Suta replies.
‘You can dock aboard our ship.’
‘Thank you.’ Suta replies. He quickly sets the autopilot for the docking procedure, and docks aboard the battleship. As he leaves the ship, he notices the captain approaching him with two bodyguards.
‘Welcome aboard Suta. May I ask you where you’re from?’
‘Sure’ Suta sighed. ‘I came from Cladion 7. I managed to escape when the station got destroyed.’
‘That station as well?’ the captain replies, visibly shocked by the news.
Suta slowly nods his head.
‘Damn’ the captain mutters. ‘This isn’t good.’ He looks at Suta ‘please follow me.’
Again, Suta nods, and the groups walks to an elevator down the hallway of the docking area. In silence, they get into an elevator, and quickly move up towards the bridge. As they walk to the bridge, they pass a dimly lit hallway, in which the walls and ceiling are grey, and the floor is white. There are red markings on the floor with numbers on it which doesn’t make any sense to him. They halt at a door, which opens after 2 seconds, so they can enter the bridge. As Suta enters, he notices a big holopad in the center of the area, which displays a map of the sector the ship is in. As he looks around for a moment, he notices several people working in front of different displays. As he turns to look at the captain, he notices that a big man, roughly in his 40’s, is standing in front of the captain. After a quick talk between the both of them, the commander walks over to Suta, and greets him.
‘I’m commander Bale. I’ve heard you’re the only survivor of the Cladion 7 destruction?’
‘That’s right’ Suta replies.
The commander nods, then turns to the captain. ‘Hagmann.’
‘Yes sir?’
‘Call for a standby alert. We’re at war.’
‘Isn’t that a bit early to decide sir?’ Hagmann replies.
The captain looks at him for a brief moment. ‘Does this look like the work of pirates to you, Hagmann?’
‘No sir, but we don’t know anything. Shouldn’t we leave declarations of war to the President?’
The commander smirks for a moment, then replies: ‘We don’t have the luxury to do that. Right now, we need to defend this sector at all cost.’
‘Roger sir.’
Immediately, the captain walks off, and just moments later, an alarm goes off. Bale turns to Suta, and looks at him for a brief moment.
‘I don’t know how or what. I hope you can give us some information tomorrow. Right now, you need some sleep.’
Suta nods, suddenly feeling exhausted, as commander Bale turns to one of the petty officers, and orders him to guide Suta to an available sleeping quarter.
Suta nods, follows the petty officer, and quickly arrives at the quarter. The officer salutes and heads back to his duty. Suta walks into the small room, with only a desk, and a bed inside it. He lays himself down, and quickly falls into a restless sleep.
A few hours later, Suta wakes up by the sound of an alarm. As he opens his quarter’s door, he notices marines running back and forth, all getting to their stations. He dresses himself, and still half asleep, walks over to the bridge. As he enters the bridge, he notices the captain and commander looking at the holopad.
‘What’s going on?’ he asks them, still drowsy. Hagmann only turns his head, and replies:
‘Nothing you need to worry about. A small group of unknown vessels have attacked our fighters, but they’re on the run now.’ He chuckles for a bit, then continues ‘they’re outmatched, and outclassed.’
‘Really?’ Suta responds curiously, as he walks over to the holopad. ‘What kind of ships are these?’
‘They don’t appear in our database. But it doesn’t matter. We’ve got them on the run.’ Hagmann replies, fully confident.
Suta takes a closer look at the image the holopad projects. ‘These ships are moving really fast. Could you send someone out and scan one of these ships for at least some basic information?’
Hagmann begins to laugh. ‘Way ahead of you. We should receive information about that ship in a couple of minutes.’ Hagmann looks at Suta curiously for a moment. ‘you seem familiar. Have we met?’ he asks him.
‘No, we didn’t.’ Suta replies, starting to feel at unease by that question, as the captain continues to look at him inquisitively.
‘Hmm, I’m sure I know you from somewhere.’ Hagmann pauses to think for a brief moment. ‘Ah, I got it! You’re Suta Kawagashi aren’t you?’
‘Erm, yes I am. Why do you ask?’ Suta replies with growing unease, cautiously looking at the captain.
Suddenly, the captain starts to laugh. ‘That explains your curiosity for the inbound ships! You were part of the naval forces 20 years ago!’
Suta sighs in relief. ‘Yes, that’s right.’
‘And if I remember correctly…’ Hagmann continues ‘…you were the one who single handedly saved the sector Severed Plains from destruction!’
Suta chuckles for a bit, then replies: ‘It was nothing sir.’
‘Nothing?’ Hagmann replies with curiosity. ‘You single handedly destroyed all the enemy forces. We were greatly outnumbered, and you not only turned the tide in that battle, but made these machines break and run for it!’
‘Well… if you put it that way…’
Hagmann starts laughing again. ‘We could definitely use a man like you. Your skills are worth a hundred pilots.’
‘I haven’t been in a battle for 20 years now, sir. I’m sure that there are young pilots out there who are more skilled than I am.’
‘If there are, they’re not aboard this ship. I can tell you that’ Hagmann replies, with slight sadness in his voice. ‘These men are willing, but their skills are just lacking. For that reason, we have 24/7 recruiting agencies in every sector. Too many pilots die. And replacing them is getting tougher and tougher.
Suta looks at Hagmann with growing curiosity. ‘How come?’
Hagmann sits down, and looks at the holopad. ‘We’ve sent out all our men to defend this sector. Only 30 percent of them made it back. And this was just against a small enemy force. I’m certain..’ he looks up at Suta again ‘you would’ve dealt with them. All of the enemy forces. It really is a shame you left the navy. You cut our losses down by 90 percent.’
‘I see’ Suta replies, not knowing what to say.
‘Listen. I know why you left the Navy in the first place. And I have to admit, I’m not proud that it happened either. I’ll leave it up to you if you want to help us out or not.’
‘Thanks. I’ll… I’ll think about it.’
‘Thank you Suta. You’ll be doing us a great favor by coming to our aid.’
‘I’m not making any promises.’ As Suta turns to leave the bridge, a message comes in. Hagmann answers the hail with a push of a button. Immediately, a stressed out voice begins to shout through the comms channel.
‘Sir, we have a major problem!’ the voice shouts, right before the comms channel is severed, and a ship disappears of the nav map. Suta turns around and looks at the holopad, as soon a major fleet of enemy ships appear.
‘Hmm… looks like you’re going to need some help Hagmann.’ Suta tells him calmly.
‘You think?’ Hagmann replies sarcastically, with clear shock in his voice.
Suta start laughing, but soon stops as soon as he notices the size of the enemy fleet. He turns to Hagmann. ‘Alright, I’m in. Give me at least a decent heavy fighter with 20 torpedoes.’
‘I’ve already got a fighter ready for you. But what do you plan on doing with the torpedoes?’ Hagmann asks curiously.
As Suta walks off to the hangar bay, he replies with a grin on his face: ‘raising hell of course’

Suta arrives at the hangar bay a couple of minutes later, where he spots a mechanic installing torpedoes onto a Havana heavy fighter. Suta quickly walks over to the ship, and turns to the mechanic.
‘Is this the ship?’
The mechanic looks at Suta for a second, then replies: ‘yes it is sir. Top notch ship, if I say so myself.’
Suta nods , and prepares himself to board the ship. ‘Good. Is the ship ready?’
‘Almost sir. Just need to install 2 more torpedoes for it to be all set.’
‘Hurry up then. We’ve got men dying out there.’
‘Yes sir.’ The mechanic replies, and finishes loading up the last two torpedoes.
Suta takes a look at his dashboard, and in flight controls.
‘This is looking good.’ He mutters to himself. ‘Let’s just see how much you’ve got baby.’
The mechanic steps back, and gives Suta the ready signal. Suta immediately pulls on the throttle, and lifts off into outer space. With a flick of a switch, the nav map is displayed on his HUD, and he quickly spots the enemy fleet. ‘There you are. Time for me to enter the fray.’ He mutters to himself again.
Suta opens up an incoming hail call with Hagmann. ‘Suta here’
‘Thanks for helping us’ the captain replies, slightly relieved.
‘No need to thank me until the job’s done captain’
‘I know, but if your skills are half of what they’re used to be, the enemy won’t know what hit them’
Suta can’t help but grin, as he remembers past battles. ‘I’ll do my best captain’
‘Good. I don’t expect any less of you. Hagmann, out’
As the comm line closes, Suta presses a button, and an overview of installed weapons appear on his HUD.
‘Hmm… only 4 plasma cannons installed. And to make matters worse, they’re only on the front turrets. Not the best setup. The rear of the ship is unguarded.’ As he lowers the HUD, he continues: ‘it’s quite nostalgic really. Just me, this ship, outer space, and completely outnumbered.’ Suta grins for that remark. ‘But unfortunately, this time, it’s different. It’s no longer the machines we’re facing, but an unknown threat. I wonder what kind of ships I’ll be facing.’ As Suta looks in the distance, green and blue flares are visible. ‘Hmm... To be certain about their capabilities, I’ll have to move in closer.’ As he does, Suta quickly notices a ship being destroyed. ‘Hmm… seemed like one of our ships.’ Suddenly, Suta notices two green energy bolts being fired at him. He quickly makes an evasive maneuver, and the bolts fly past him. He sighs in relief and then targets the nearest enemy ship. ‘Alright, let’s see what you’re made of.’ He locks on to the target and pulls the trigger. He notices the shields of the ship going down, but not as quickly as he thought they will. ‘Hmm… quite powerful shielding I see.’ The enemy ship turns around, and begins shooting at him again. With a barrel roll, he manages to just barely avoid the green energy bursts to hit him. ‘Alright then, let’s see how you like this.’ He pulls the trigger again, and continuously fires at the enemy ship. The ship tries desperately to pull away from the barrage of plasma bolts being fired at it, but it fails, and eventually, explodes. ‘Just as I thought. You’re not that much of a threat once the shields are down, are you?’ Suta grins. As he turns, another enemy ship is attacking another Havana. He locks on to the target, and quickly destroys it. As Suta turns around, he notices a very big ship entering the battlefield, and quickly, more fighter ships appear out of that ship. ‘Damn… a carrier class vessel.’ He keeps watching the ships coming out, and quickly notices that it’s in the dozens. ‘How many ships can that carrier carry with him?’ Suta wonders. Soon enough, no more ships appear out of the carrier, and Suta notices that it’s at least a hundred enemy fighters. ‘Great, just great. Just what we need. More of them. Well, I guess it’s all or nothing then.’ Suta quickly fires off the thrusters, and heads for the enemy line, all the while shooting and destroying one enemy ship after another. As he just gets passed the enemy line, he suddenly hears an alarm going off. ‘Danger, incoming object, danger’ the boarding computer warns him.
‘I got it’ Suta replies, and immediately sets the rear lower thrusters of the ship to full burst, and the front top thrusters to full burst. He then activates those thrusters, and makes an immediate turn, while the scanners lock on to the unknown object. Suta pulls the trigger and quickly disposes of that object. ‘That was easy enough.’ The quickly turns around again, and heads for the carrier vessel. With a flick of a switch, he mounts the torpedoes, and begins to lock on to the vessel. ‘Let’s see what you’re made of, buddy.’ He fires one torpedo, and watches for a brief moment, as he gets interrupted by incoming fire. Suta quickly pulls of another evasive maneuver, but can’t avoid one green energy bolt hitting the ship. As he looks at the shielding, he notices that the shields have gone down by 13 percent. ‘That’s too much for my liking’ Suta mutters in shock. He spots the enemy ship, targets it, and quickly destroys it. As he turns around, he notices that the carrier is hit with his torpedo, and the shields are completely gone. ‘Good.’ Suta mutters. ‘Just the way I like it.’ He fires off another torpedo, and watches as the vessel gets hit.. Suta can’t help but grin as he watches the explosion that follows. As he takes a look on the nav map, he notices two more carrier vessels appear. ‘Damn, that’s not good. I have to destroy them before they can launch more ships.’ He hails Hagmann.
‘Hagmann here.’
‘Suta here. I’ll be quick. There was a carrier class vessel, which I’ve taken down. Now, two more have entered the battle zone. I’ll proceed in taking them down before they launch their ships. How many ships do we have left?’
‘Only a hundred.
‘Damn…’ Suta whispers in his teeth. ‘Tell them to fall back and regroup. They’ll all be dead meat if I don’t succeed.’
Hagmann looks at him for a second, and replies: ‘you better don’t fail then.’
‘I don’t plan on doing that captain.’ Suta replies with determination in his voice. As the comm line is being terminated, Suta quickly turns to carrier vessel number 2, and engages the afterburner. With full speed, he quickly reaches the vessel. He notices that this vessel is armed, and begins to fire at him. ‘I don’t think so!’ Suta shouts, as he evades the incoming fire. He engages the after burner again, to get below the ship. There, he notices that he’s not being fired upon. ‘Hmm… looks like I’m in one of your dead zones eh?’ Suta smirks. ‘Isn’t that just convenient?’ Suta locks on to the ship, and in rapid succession, fires two torpedoes at it. He quickly turns around, and flies off, while in the background, the enemy vessel explodes. ‘Now for number three.’ As Suta turns around, he notices that the third vessel has launch all their fighters, and the fighters are going straight for him. ‘Guess they didn’t like it.’ Suta grins. He flicks a switch and hails Hagmann again.
‘Hagmann here’
‘Suta again. Get all the men ready. I’ve got a hundred ships hot on my tail’
‘Roger. I’ll have the men on standby. They’ll open fire as soon as the enemy is within range.’
‘Good. Suta out’
Suta quickly activates the after burner, to make sure he stays out of their range. ‘Let’s see what you guys are truly made of. ‘Warning, unknown object incoming, warning’ the board computer starts again. ‘I know, I know.’ Suta replies. He quickly turns around, locks on to the unknown object, and shoots them down. As soon as the board computer is silent again, he turns around, and hits the after burner again. ‘Almost there. Just 5 more clicks away from safety.’ Suddenly, his ship is being hit by these green energy bolts.’ Suta takes a look at the shielding, and notices that he only has twenty five percent left. ‘Come on, please don’t fail me now. I’m almost there. ‘More shots are being fired, but he quickly manages to evade them. ‘2 more clicks. Come on baby, we’re almost home.’ Suta quickly hails Hagmann again. ‘Need a little help over here!’ Suta shouts.
‘On it.’ Hagmann replies. Quickly after Hagmann has replied, a couple of Vendetta light fighters appear, and shoot the enemy ships down. ‘With a sigh of relief, Suta sits down, as his ship soars past the defense line. As he slows down his ship, he slowly turns it around, and positions himself in the center. Suta opens up a comm. Channel with all the ships that are on standby. ‘Alright men, listen up. The hull of these ships are weak, but their shields are not. Once locked on to a ship, keep firing until at least their shields are down. If by any chance you have a pilot bailing their ship, we capture the pilot and take the ship. If the pilot is out of the ship, do not kill it! Understand?’
‘Sir yes sir!’ the crew replies.
‘Now we wait until the enemy is within range. Suta out.’
Suta closes the comm line, and holds on hand on the throttle, and another hand on the trigger. ‘Come on. Any second now.’ He mutters to himself as the entire line waits. After about half a minute, he notices the enemy coming within range. Suta quickly opens up another comm line. ‘Now men! Attack!’ he shouts. Immediately, a hundred Havanas pull on the throttle, and engage the enemy. Soon, one after the other enemy ship is being destroyed. Suta engages one enemy ship, and notices that the pilot quickly decides to bail out. ‘Good.’ He mutters. He quickly activates a tractor beam, and pulls the pilot in closer. After opening the cargo hold, the pilot has entered the ship. Suta quickly leaves his seat, walks over to the cargo hold, and ties the pilot to a steel beam. For a second, he looks at the pilots, and scans for vital signals. ‘It’s alive, but unconscious. Good. It’ll have a rude awakening, that’s for sure.’ Suta walks back to his seat, and notices that the enemy started to retreat. Soon, his fellow marines start cheering at the victory. Suta sits down, and gets a nostalgic feeling at this view. ‘It’s great to see all this again.’ He mutters, as he switches to the comm line. ‘Alright men. Let’s go home! I’ll take the empty ship with me!’
‘Aye, sir!’ the men reply, and they engage their thrusters to head back to the Resonance. Suta engages the tractor beam, which quickly attached to the hull of the enemy ship, and then flies off, following the marines. ´We´ll soon find out what you´re made of´ Suta mutters to himself. As Suta looks on the nav map, he notices that the carrier vessel has disappeared. He turns, and focuses on the way ahead. ´Alright, only 3 more clicks until we´re home.´ He then hails the Hagmann one more time. ´Hagmann here.´ a visibly relieved captain replies.
´Suta here. I´ve captured one of the enemy pilots, and I´ve gotten hold of one of their ships as well.
´Really?’ Hagmann replies with surprise.
‘Yes. I’m bringing them in right now.’
‘Good, good. Maybe we’ll get some information out of it.’
‘I hope so. Suta out.’
Suta quickly shows the nav map on his HUD, and selects the Resonance. He quickly engages the auto pilot for docking procedure and sits back to enjoy the view.
‘I’ve always liked the view of the Resonance. It’s elegant looking., and yet, packs enough force to take out enemy battleships with ease.’
Suta takes a look at the Resonance. The ship has a sleek looking front, which reminds him of an old fashioned bullet he saw in a history book once. The middle section however, although round in shape, is big enough to carry several major turrets, and functions as the main repair hangar. The rear of the ship is the smallest part of the ship, and is rectangular shaped. Although again heavily armed, this part functions solely as a landing strip. A few minutes later, Suta has landed. He waits for the hangar bay doors to be closed before leaving the ship. Just after Suta has left the ship, he notices the captain standing next to the ship, accompanied by the same two bodyguards.
‘So, where’s the captive?’ Hagmann asks.
‘In the cargo hold.’ Suta replies.
‘Thanks. We’ll take care of the captive.’
‘Then who’s’ Suta replies, while pointing at the enemy ship ‘going to have a look at the ship?’
‘I guess that you can do that.’ Hagmann quickly replies.
‘You do me a great honor.’ Suta laughs, as he walks over to the enemy ship.
‘I know’ Hagmann replies. ‘But you deserved it. You saved us once again.’
‘Thanks captain.’ Suta replies, just before diving into the ship. After a brief moment, he comes out of the ship again, and walks over to Hagmann.
‘We’ll need advanced engineers to find out what the technology behind the ship is.’
‘I see. We’ll get that sorted.’
Hagmann signals the bodyguards who rush over, and drag the unconscious body out of the cargo hold.
‘Are you sure he’s alive?’ Hagmann asks Suta.
‘I checked myself. He was still breathing when I put him in there.’ Suta replies stoically.
‘Right.’ Hagmann replies coolly. ‘Anyway…’ Hagmann continues… ‘The ship you’ve captured will be investigated. If it’s still in one piece, it’ll be yours.’
‘Sounds good. The ship does require shielding though.’
‘That won’t be a problem. We’ll provide the shielding after the investigation has been completed.’
‘Of course. Well…’ Suta replies, as he starts walking off ‘I’ll be in my quarters, getting some well earned sleep.’
‘Not going for a quick gamble?’ Hagmann replies with a slight sarcastic undertone.
‘Too old for it. See you in a couple of hours Hagmann!’ Suta replies as he heads off.
The captain looks at Suta walking off for a bit, and then turns around to the bodyguards holding the captive. ‘Bring him to interrogation room 1, immediately!’ he commands them.
‘Right sir’ the men reply, and they take the captive away. Right after Hagmann has said that, he walks off to the bridge, and sinks in thought. ‘I wonder how Bale will respond. I know he’s not on such a friendly foot with Suta as I am, but he at least has to admit that Suta saved our lives today. Not that it’s going to be of any good. Suta may have reacted rashly, but I know his heart is in the right place. I don’t know what exactly happened. I know that he received an irreverent dismissal after his actions, but it turned out that his decision was the correct one. Suta may be a bit of a knuckle head when it comes to politics, but he’s a damned good pilot, and even a better fighter. He could care less about the rules, as long as results are being made. And Suta always kept his word.’ Hagmann sighs for a moment as he walks towards the elevator. After pressing a button, the elevator doors open, and he gets in. He quickly presses the button for the bridge, and continues in thought. ‘And then there’s Bale. A man who sticks to the rules, and follows them to the letter. He knows politics like none other, but he’s not made to be in the front lines, fighting along the men. He’s all about strategy, and cunning. It doesn’t matter what you say to him, if it doesn’t comply with the rules, he won’t budge. He’ll even court martial you if he saw fit. If those two are to work together, I’ll foresee a lot of problems.’ A sound lets Hagmann know that he’s arrived at the bridge. He steps out of the elevator after the door slide open, and walks towards the holopad, where, to his surprise, commander Bale is already waiting for him.
‘Hagmann!’ Bale shouts angrily.
‘Yes sir?’ Hagmann replies.
‘Did you, or did you not, send out Suta Kawagashi?’ the commander shouts, with more anger in his voice.
‘Yes, I did sir. And because of that, we managed to save at least one hundred pilots.
‘I don’t care!’ Bale shouts from the top of his lungs. ‘You know damn well that we can’t have him interfere with our business! We could have handled the situation without his assistance!’
‘Sir, if you’ve taken a look outside, we were vastly outnumbered. We were facing our enemies 5 to 1.’
Bale sighs for a moment. ‘I know Hagmann. And it’s not that I’m not grateful for Suta coming to our aid, but he’s a civilian. What if he got himself killed?’
Hagmann looks at Bale for a brief moment, and then replies ‘there would be no consequences for us, since he has no next of kin.’
As Bale walks towards a window, which provides a great view into outer space, he replies ‘no next of kin?’
‘Yes sir. I’ve read his records. He was born a single child to an impoverished family. What he reported was that he had a wife and son. They both are, after research from my side, confirmed dead. The last station they boarded was the Cladion 7.’
‘I see…’ Bale replies, and turns around to Hagmann. ‘In that case, I think the rules will allow an exception. But don’t let this happen again. I want him off of my ship as quickly as possible.’
‘Roger sir. Please give him a few hours to rest. He’s been through quite the battle.’
‘Yes, yes.’ The commander nods ‘we’ll let him rest, but as soon as he’s fully rested, he’ll be off the ship, got it?’
‘Aye sir.’ Hagmann replies, as he watches Bale leave the bridge. After Bale has left, he turns around and walks over to the interrogation room. After a few minutes, Bale arrives and notices the enemy’s face is clearly visible. There are some similarities with the human face. Hagmann can clearly distinguish two eyes, a nose, and the facial structure. But that’s where the similarities end. The mouth is a lot lower, and the creature seems to be lacking a chin. The eyes are twenty percent bigger than a human’s, and the forehead is different shaped. He walks over, and notices that the creature has already had quite a beating. Hagmann looks at the men interrogating him, and shouts ‘enough! Put him in a chair.’ As Hagmann walks over to the creature, the creature is being put in a chair. Hagmann grabs a chair, and pulls it right in front of the creature, and sits down.
‘Now… who are you?’ Hagmann asks.
‘Split tells you nothing!’ the creature shouts, looking at Hagmann with disgust in his eyes.
Hagmann looks at the two men. ‘For how long have you been working on him?’
‘Thirty minutes, sir.’
‘I see…’ Hagmann replies. ‘Get the serum ready?’
The two men look at Hagmann in shock. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes. Now get on with it.’ Hagmann replies impatiently.
‘Aye sir.’ One of the men replies, while they run off. After a minute, they return with a syringe containing a transparent liquid. One of the men give it to Hagmann, and he proceeds to hold it right in front of the creature. ‘See this?’ Hagmann asks it, while the creature looks unimpressed. Hagmann looks at it for a brief moment, and continues, ignoring the creature’s reaction. ‘This is a very strong truth serum. One shot of one of these babies’, and you’ll end up spilling all your guts to us.’ The creature looks at the syringe for a moment, and fear begins to strike him. Noticing that, Hagmann begins to laugh, and then continues: ‘we’ll get you talking in less than an hour.’ He looks up at the men. ‘Hold him in place!’ he barks at them.
‘Aye sir’ the men respond. They quickly walk forward and hold him in place with a firm grip.
Hagmann prepares the syringe, grabs the creature by the jaw, and pushes the jaw slightly away. Quickly after doing so, he inserts the needle tip, and injects the serum into the creature’s bloodstream. A few seconds after doing that, the creature turns limp, and Hagmann sits down, looking at it. ‘And now we’ll wait for half an hour’ he mutters.

Suta is lying in is bed, unable to get some much desired sleep. After turning about what seems to be for ages, he finally gets up, quickly gets dressed, and walks out of his quarter. As he turns left, he notices the lights which are familiar with a battleship bar. He walks in, and sits himself down on a stool, right in front of the bar. He looks at the barkeep, who is busy replenishing the inventory. After a minute, the barkeep turns around, and notices Suta sitting there.
‘Can I help you with anything?’ The barkeep asks Suta with a friendly voice.
‘Yeah. Give me a pint of your finest ale please.’ Suta replies.
‘Coming right up.’
A few seconds later, the barkeep pours him a glass of gold-brown ale, and puts it in front of Suta. Suta looks at the glass for a second, takes the glass into his hand, and carefully takes a sip. Pleasantly surprised by the taste of it, he quickly takes another sip, and puts the glass back down, while the barkeep is watching him.
‘I’ve heard it was quite a mess out there.’ He carefully tells Suta, trying to start a conversation. Suta looks at him for a second, then replies: ‘yes it was. Too many deaths on our side. Things like this are just plain inhumane.’ The barkeep gives Suta an agreeing nod, while Suta continues:
‘In wars like these, there are no victors. Only losers. People will keep grudges with them for the rest of their lives. And especially since we’ve got no idea on who the enemy is, or what they’re after. Twenty years ago I lost everything, and now…’ Suta looks at the barkeep for a moment, and then continues. ‘… I’ve lost everything again.’
Suddenly the bar door opens, and captain Hagmann walks in. Suta looks up in surprise, as Hagmann immediately starts talking.
‘Suta, glad you’re here. Listen, we’ve got no time. It looks like commander Bale is in one of his drunk rages again.’
‘Wait, what?’ Suta replies, clearly confused.
‘You don’t have any time. You have to go. Remember the ship you brought us?’
‘Uhm… yeah…’
‘Get in that ship, and get out of here.’
As Suta gets up and the two men run towards the hangar bay, Suta replies. ‘I don’t understand… what’s going on?’
‘Bale wants to get you arrested…’ Bale replies, as he quickly opens the hangar bay door, and then turns towards a mechanic. ‘Is the ship ready?’
‘As you ordered sir. But…’ the mechanic replies.
‘Good…’ Bale interrupts him, and then turns to Suta. ‘…get in the ship, and get out of here.’
‘I… I don’t understand. What’s going on?’
Bale sighs for a moment. ‘Listen… He wants to arrest you again for what you’ve done 20 years ago.’
‘What?’ Suta replies in shock. ‘But I was already punished for it!’
‘You were, but now we know that you’ve made the right call at the time. But he still has a grudge towards you for that. He didn’t realize who you are, until you went into battle.’
I see…’
‘Now get in, we don’t have any time to lose.’
As Suta runs towards the brown ship that has the shape of a harpoon, he hears a voice in the distance, which quickly becomes louder.
‘Suta Kawagashi! You’re under arrest you asshole!’
Without second thought, Suta gets in the ship, and starts it, while Bale runs towards the doors and closes them. Suta turns the ship for a lift off, as the launching bay is ready for lift off, and moments later, he’s in outer space, full throttle.
A few seconds later, Bale reaches the hangar bay door, which is closed. Drunkenly, he shouts towards Hagmann.
‘What have you done?’
‘Sir..’ Hagmann replies as calmly as possible. ‘I can’t let you do this. This man was acquitted of all charges laid upon him 20 years ago.’
‘I want his head!’ Bale shouts, while looking at Hagmann and standing unstable.
‘Sir, I…’
Bale turns around, presses an intercom switch, and immediately orders: ‘Everyone… There’s one enemy ship out there. Destroy it!’
‘Sir.. What are you doing?’ Hagmann replies, getting more and more nervous. Suddenly he feels he’s being struck against the head, and slowly falls unconscious, as Hagmann replies:
‘you… shuddup.’
As Suta steers away from the battle ship, he notices that other ships are coming out, and are quickly flying towards him.
‘By the looks of it, they’re chasing me.’ He mutters, slightly panicked. ‘Great. I can’t kill them, but I won’t make it out of here in time.
‘Warning, incoming unknown object. Warning, incoming unknown object.’ The computer warns him.
‘Yeah, I know!’ Suta shouts at the computer. He quickly turns around, and shoots down the two missiles. He immediately notices incoming plasma bolts, and manages to almost evade all of them, except for two. ‘Damn it!’ he shouts again, as he tries to evade more incoming fire, and again, gets hit by one plasma bolt. A quick look at the shielding shows him that he has 78 percent left.
‘Come on, don’t tell me I have to kill them?!’ he shouts again, as he presses some random buttons, which don’t do anything. As he tries desperately to keep evading incoming fire, he suddenly hears Hagmann’s voice.
‘Suta… get… out of there.’ He tells Suta with a painful groan.
‘I’m trying!’ Suta replies, severely agitated, while now ramming keys on the dashboard. All of a sudden, the board computer begins to speak.
‘Jumpdrive charging at 10 percent…. 20….’
‘Shut up! Shut up!’ Suta yells back while he’s keeps trying to evade the incoming fire. Again, he looks at the shielding, which has now dropped to 5 percent.’
‘Come on, come on!’
The board computer continues ’80… 90 percent… jumping.’
Immediately, he sees a blue-white haze surrounding him. A couple of seconds later, everything turns back to normal. Suta takes a look, but quickly realizes he doesn’t know where he is, as the board computer replies: ‘Entering sector: Seizewell.’

[Zaitsev]

Nice story, and it did make me curious as to what was going on there.

Now for some C&C:

There are a lot of dark, mysterious voices here. The reader knows they are supposed to be dark and mysterious after the first time, and reading "dark mysterious" this and that for the n'th time tend to get tedious.

Also - holy wall of text, Batman!

It's a lot easier to read if you separate dialogue with a blank line.

Example:

‘Is that the space station?’ a dark mysterious voice asks out loud.
‘Yes it is. The Cladion 7’ another dark mysterious voice replies.
‘Guess it’s time to start the party then.’ A third mysterious man replies.

vs

‘Is that the space station?’ a dark mysterious voice asks out loud.

‘Yes it is. The Cladion 7’ another dark mysterious voice replies.

‘Guess it’s time to start the party then.’ A third mysterious man replies.



Also, as a rule of thumb you start with a new line every time a (new) character speaks.

Example:

‘Unknown ships, please identify yourselves’.
The men start laughing as they ignore the communications. They continue approaching the station. Once again, the station hails them. ‘This is Cladion 7. Please identify yourselves’ the voice commands them.

vs

‘Unknown ships, please identify yourselves’.

The men start laughing as they ignore the communications. They continue approaching the station. Once again, the station hails them.

‘This is Cladion 7. Please identify yourselves’ the voice commands them.

You can keep it all on the same line if it's the same character speaking and you want to throw in something short, like a brief description or something. With that said, I tend to start a new line if it's more than a handful of words, as I feel that it gets cumbersome to read otherwise.

There were a few instances where my inner grammar nazi went "huh?", but for the most part it just needs a bit of polish to make it look better and improve readability a bit.