Introduction:
In the year 2567, World War IV finally came to its terrifying end. The land had been scorched to ash, the air was filled with toxins, and countless lives had been lost. In order to preserve humanity, all the nations that were still standing gathered together and worked on the technology needed to travel and survive in space. After years of research, they built transport ships and developed devices that would allow mankind to travel through the stars and populate new planets. The ships left earth, leaving behind some men and women who chose to stay and try to fix the planet, while the rest colonized new places. In their travels, they encountered alien races, some hostile and some friendly, and after many years humanity had reestablished itself on several planets, as well as coexisting with several alien races on their planets. Humanity was saved.
Unfortunately, this would not last and in 2852, the Galactic War began. The universe quickly divided into two sides. The Alliance held that some alien and human colonies had been working together to take over and rule the universe in a massive coup. The Coalition claimed that the Alliance were the ones doing this. Defenses have been placed, fleets have been dispersed, armies have been raised, and the battle line is drawn and negotiations are long over.
Chapter 1: Caught
Space is a very open area when you think about it. After all, the numerous planets, stars, asteroids, and moons that spin around take up the merest fraction of a galaxy. In one particular area though, where empty does not even begin to describe the surroundings, there were two ships. The first was a large, triangular vessel with large gun placements clearly visible all over the exterior. Beside it, and being drawn towards it via tractor beam, was a small frigate which boasted only a few light weapons. On board the bridge of this frigate, a young man stood looking at a console where a stern looking man with an eye-patch glared at him through the communication screen. The young man smiled widely, pushed up his glasses by the bridge and said cordially, “Well, if we have no other options beyond being blown up or boarded, we would be happy to entertain you and your crew. Feel free to make yourself at home!” The other man only nodded seriously as he reached forward and turned off the comm. unit. As the screen faded to black, the young man turned around to the other crew members who were staring at him wide-eyed and said, still smiling,
“Guys, I think we’re screwed.”
This statements was met by a flurry of motion as everyone erupted into interjections.
“What were you thinking!?!”
“We are in SO MUCH TROUBLE!”
“Wait, maybe we could board their ship?”
“Jess that won’t work, they have at least a platoon on that thing!”
Why did you tell them we were all sick?”
“Well I didn’t think they would offer to send their medic along!”
“Do you realize how much Contraband we have on board right now?!?”
“Well why isn’t it in the secret room?”
“Because that room is already full!”
“What are we supposed to do now?”
This statement was followed by a small pause, interrupted by a slight hissing sound. Everyone turned to look in the direction of the noise and saw that a bearded crew member had opened one of the numerous crates on the bridge, pulled out a bottle of alcohol, and opened it. When he realized that everyone was looking at him he said, “What? We have to get rid of this stuff somehow!” There was another pause before a young blonde lady with grease-stains on her shirt threw her arms into the air and cried out, “BRILLIANT! Dan! Rob! Start drinking!” This statement was met with an even louder explosion of noise.
“We can’t drink 500 gallons of beer before they get on board!”
“Well I don’t hear any better suggestions!”
Maybe we could beam it all above their ship? Where they won’t pick it up on scanners?”
“OOO! Even better! Let’s beam it aboard their ship!”
“You do realize they will know exactly where it came from, right?”
“Well, what if we beamed it quietly?”
“*Sigh* I’m going to try and stall them.”
With that, the Navigator leapt out of his chair, grabbed a comm-set off his desk and attached it to his glasses, and headed out the door leaving the rest of the crew to argue about what to do. As he made his way quickly down the hall toward the airlock, he forced a smile back onto his face and stood, beaming as the door was forced open from the other side. Once it was open, he was able to see 4 heavy military soldiers, each with blasters leveled right at him, while behind them stood a stuffy looking officer in a neatly pressed uniform, a blaster pistol sheathed at his right side. The Navigator began to introduce himself, “Greetings! My name is Rick, welcome aboard the Herc…” He didn’t get to finish as the soldiers rushed past him towards the bridge, with the officer barely glancing at him as he passed. “Wait! Don’t you want the full tour?” He yelled at their quickly disappearing forms, following this up by turning on his communicator as he ran after them, saying, “guys, they’re coming. Look casual!” Immediately, a voice came over his set saying, “What happened Rick! I thought you were going to delay them!” Rick replied, “I would have, but they weren’t interested in a full tour or in my rant about politics!” As he said this, he heard a distinct click which at first he assumed was his headset, but then a gravelly voice spoke up from behind him, saying, “That’s enough talking little man. Let’s join your friends at the bridge.” Turning, Rick realized there were two marines right behind him, guns drawn and pointed at him. He kept on grinning as he nodded and headed towards the bridge, but in his mind all he was thinking was, “We’re-dead-We’re-dead-We’re-dead”
When Rick entered the bridge, he saw the rest of the crew standing sheepishly off to the right, so he went over to join them, partially because he wanted to and partially because he had been vigorously shoved that way. The captain of the other ship casually walked over to one of the crates and pulled out a bottle. He read the label, turning it in his hands before opening it and smelling the contents. After a few tense minutes, he threw the bottle onto the ground, smashing it into a thousand pieces. With that, Jess yelled out, “Hey! We just cleaned this ship!” The man turned and glared at her coldly before asking, “You do realize that with this much contraband on your ship, I have the authority to shoot you all on sight.” With that, the entire crew exploded.
“What? Contraband? We just…. Found it on a derelict ship!”
“Yeah! We had no idea! You had better take it from us then. So sorry!”
“Hey, why don’t we all head to the mess hall and have some non-contraband stuff, you know, to celebrate?”
“Oh! Good idea! And we could…”
The commander of the military ship yelled out at the top of his lungs, “SILENCE!” Instantly shushing most of the crew, with just a few high-pitched yelps being uttered. With that, the captain turned while saying, “Put them in the brig and their ship in the hanger. We’ll take them back for a fair trial. Afterwards, we will have them shot.”