Reign of Terror

[Solid Snake]

Will there be any pilots who happen to be wicked?

Or any Snakes that happen to be Solid?

[Stravo]

Will there be any pilots who happen to be wicked?

Or any Snakes that happen to be Solid?

Or a Stravo that happens to be....Aw damn it!

[phongn]

Interesting premise. (and if anyone wants to use me, please don't make me a slicer!)

[Ted]

Interesting premise. (and if anyone wants to use me, please don't make me a slicer!)

Why is it that you are the standard for anyone wanting to have a slicer?

Because of Shep putting you as one in IP?

[phongn]

Interesting premise. (and if anyone wants to use me, please don't make me a slicer!)

Why is it that you are the standard for anyone wanting to have a slicer?

Because of Shep putting you as one in IP?

Exactly.

[FaxModem1]

Cool beginning, this is either a scout ship story, a zombie story(wouldb interesting in an ST vs. SW fanfic), or an archeological story(Indiana Jones and the Wookie of Doom)

I know I'm only a Youngling, but may I please be in the story, and you can put me on the side that will proably lose,the Federation.

Fax Modem.

[Oberleutnant]

Okay, it's official now - I'm a stupid masochist. If downloading Enterprise episodes from the net and watching them doesn't make me one, then this does: I had totally missed this thread until now.

What can say about RoT?

Impressive . . . most impressive! This fanfic certainly has an interesting premise, which is totally different from most ST/SW crossovers I've read. Please, keep building the tension and let things go on smoothly at first. This way the climax feels a lot better.

Although I hate to degrade myself to this level, I'd like to ask if there's any change for my name to be immortalized in a fan fic? I mean my real name Toni Pienonen (despite my first name I'm a male)... Any role would do just fine.

[Dalton]

Hey DW, do you mind if I archive your new fic?

[Darth Wong]

Chapter two is here!

Chapter 2

As various bridge consoles began to come to life, Ando and Nitram both slowly backed away from the rear of the bridge, toward the observation windows.

"Well, maybe this is a good thing." Ando ventured nervously.

"Like hell it is. I'm reading a massive energy spike. Ship's starting to warm up, life-support is coming on, the whole works. Look at those bridge consoles all lighting up."

"Well ... isn't that what we wanted?"

"Ando, we didn't notice this thing till we were almost on top of it because it was cold and dark. As far as the sensors were concerned, it was just a metallic lump in space. Well, not any more."

"Oh, great. So any Cardie or Jemmie ship comes anywhere near here is going to pick it up?"

Nitram looked back at him as the bridge lights flickered on. "Yeah. But don't get panicky. It's not as if we're broadcasting a subspace beacon or anything. They still have to come pretty close to pick it up."

Ando checked his tricorder. "Well, at least it'll be comfortable. Air's warming up and cycling. I'd say we can take our helmets off in a few minutes."

"Good." Nitram grunted, hopping down into one of the bays. The screens were lit up and active now, with various indicators and lights and displays showing all manner of information. "What the hell kind of language is this?" he muttered, pulling out his universal translator.

"Got something?" Ando leaned over the edge of the bay and looked down.

Nitram struggled with the universal translator for a few moments before answering. "Nothing. The UT's useless, Ando. I've seen some weird shit in my time, but this language must be totally alien. I'm not even getting fragments."

"So now what?"

"Well, why don't we go exploring? I was kind of hoping that the UT would be able to help us once we got things powered up, but it doesn't look that way. Maybe we can find some other clues deeper inside the ship."

"OK, let's go."

The two men walked down the corridor toward the bowels of the ship. They passed numerous doors along the way, some of which opened and some of which did not. With the lights on, the ship did not look nearly as foreboding as it did before, the hallways and doors not quite so menacing. But the vast emptiness of the ship was still eerily foreboding. The tension slowly rose, until Ando became visibly uncomfortable.

"You all right?" Nitram inquired solicitously.

"Yeah, fine." Ando lied. "Helmet's getting uncomfortable, that's all." He undid the seals and pulled off his helmet, tentatively sniffing the ship's air.

Nitram looked at him, noted that he was not passing out or turning green, and then grinned broadly. "Thanks for testing the air" he said, pulling off his own helmet. They continued walking in silence, looking in room after room. Some contained supplies, some led to what appeared to be equipment areas, all were devoid of life, or even bodies.

"Real ghost ship, eh?" Nitram asked.

"No kidding." Ando replied. "Doesn't it creep you out a little?"

"Not really. I almost got killed about a half-dozen times in the Orion Syndicate. I think it's left me emotionally dead or something. The only thing that gets a rise out of me nowadays is holo-porn."

Ando laughed, the tension briefly broken. "Hey, why'd you join the Maquis anyway?"

"Kids. You can't run around smuggling shit for the Syndicate when you have a wife and kids. Too dangerous. Not a good lifestyle."

"Being a Maquis isn't much better." Ando observed.

"Yeah, well, it didn't seem that way when I joined up. Nowadays, with the Feds calling us terrorists and the Cardies getting more aggressive every day, it's starting to look like a dumb idea. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that."

"So why don't you leave?" Ando asked, still curious.

"Why don't you?" countered Nitram.

"Kids."

"Same problem, eh?"

"Yeah ... my older boy is very sensitive and introverted." Ando explained. "He's just starting to get comfortable with the other kids at school, learning how to open up and talk to people. I'm afraid that if we leave and uproot him, he'll go back into his shell."

"Ah." Nitram said knowingly.

"Besides," Ando continued. "The Feds think we're all terrorists anyway, so we'd probably end up in some kind of rehabilitation colony. They might even take him away from us, put him in some kind of government facility. Fuck him up for life."

"Yeah, our options are a little limited." Nitram commisserated. "How old is your boy?"

"Six. Turning seven in two weeks." Ando answered.

"My daughter is eight."

Ando nodded, and the two men walked on in silence. They both knew the next question, but neither wanted to ask it. Finally, Nitram couldn't take it any longer.

"So ... what if they get killed in a Cardie attack? Isn't that worse than a penal colony?"

"Yeah, but how likely is that? Who's gonna commit genocide over a few worthless planets in the demilitarized zone? Even the Cardies aren't that stupid. The Feds may have disowned us, but I'm sure they would step in if the Cardies started making noise about taking this to the next level."

"The Feds?" Nitram snorted derisively. "I trust them about as far as I can throw them. I wouldn't count on those bastards to cover your ass if I were you. That's why this ship is so important. I think it was fate that led us to her, you know."

"Fate?" It was Ando's turn to snort derisively. "Don't make me laugh. It was-" he stopped short as they walked past an open door which led into a cargo bay full of androids.

Nitram let out a long, slow whistle. "Would you look at that!"

Both men ran into the room, pulses quickening. "They look like they're all powered down." Ando called out from the far end of the room. "Hey, do you think this might have been a race of sentient robots? Maybe this is the crew, in suspended animation."

There were rows upon rows of identical droids: tall, hulking bipedal units with thickly armoured bodies. At the end of the room were a handful of smaller, silver-shelled, much more fragile units.

"Who knows?" Nitram mused, almost to himself. He used his hand phaser to cut open a control panel next to one of the droids' storage bays. "Maybe we can power one of 'em up, and we can communicate with it."

"Hey, be careful." Ando warned. "That thing looks mean." The gleaming droid stood easily head and shoulders above either of them. One of its arms ended in a pair of large cylindrical protrusions which looked suspiciously like weapons.

If Nitram heard the warning, he gave no sign of recognition. He was engrossed in his task now, and he discovered some wiring inside the panel which looked important. He crossed two of the wires, and there was a brilliant blue flash which temporarily clouded his vision.

"Hey, you did something!" Ando exclaimed. "Its eyes are lighting up!"

The Balmorran war droid, which had sat motionless for so long, abruptly stepped out of its storage alcove and stood to face the two men. While they chattered to each other in their incomprehensible language, it identified them as human, but without any recognizable rank insignia. It attempted to contact the ship's security network with an identification of the intruders, and waited patiently for instructions while one of the two humans moved closer, jabbering loudly and holding up what appeared to be a communicator.

"This ... is a universal translator" Nitram explained to the aloof android. "It can communicate using audio or visual impulses." He stepped back toward Ando, hoping for a response.

"Strong, silent type, eh?" Ando whispered.

"No shit." Nitram whispered back. The two men stared at the droid, and the droid stared back.

The android, meanwhile, timed out waiting for a response. The security stations appeared to be unmanned, so it went into standard intruder-defense mode. "UNIDENTIFIED INTRUDERS. SURRENDER AND LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS IMMEDIATELY." it barked in perfect Coruscant-accented Basic.

Instead of surrendering, the intruders seemed to become wildly excited at this warning, moving closer, chattering in their strange language, and holding up their odd communicator device. The droid moved to level 2. "YOU HAVE 15 SECONDS TO DROP YOUR WEAPONS." it intoned.

Still, they chattered to each other, holding up their communicator.

The droid raised its right arm and powered up its armblaster, pointing it directly at the two intruders. A targeting laser shone on the taller one's forehead. "YOU NOW HAVE 10 SECONDS." This time, the two intruders reacted in the expected manner, the looks on their faces changing instantly from excitement to naked fear.

"Uh, Nitram?" Ando said quietly, staring at the droid's raised arm with its stout double-barreled end.

"Yeah?"

The two men looked at each other.

"Run!"

[Dalton]

A little more comedy-inclined than your last fic. It feels a little uncomfortable with denizens filling the roles, but I'm sure it'll be better once the scope opens up a little.

[Soontir C'boath]

A little more comedy-inclined than your last fic. It feels a little uncomfortable with denizens filling the roles, but I'm sure it'll be better once the scope opens up a little.

Yub Yub.

Cyaround,
JAson.

[Coyote]

HooRaah! This is a great Hanukah gift, keep it coming for the Christmas crowd!

And I would like to assure everyone that I had no idea that Darth Wong was also going to be writing a story about an abandoned alien ship found by some freebooter...

[Kuja]

Gotta love those Balmorran war droids...

[Ted]

Even though I knew about the droids happening, it was still cool the way you wrote it DW. Excellent writing, especially with the emotional and mental reasons as to why they joined the Maquis and the detail allowed the time to be placed excellently.

[Edi]

Indeed... Excellent two chapters. More, pretty please?

[Rightous Fist Of Heaven]

Are these the SD 9 or SD 10 model Balmorran war droids or the later droids nearer the time of NJO?

Like the story so far..keep it up.

[Oberleutnant]

"Humour is strong in this one!" Too many fanfics and official stories, with the exception of Aaron Allston's novels, take themselves too seriously.

[Sea Skimmer]

I'd think a real war driod would just stun them out of hand. Security driod's are more the type to give warnings. Still great though.

[Dalton]

Ack, hijackers at 3:00...Stravo you might want to split the diving stuff into OT.

[Rob Wilson]

Note: this is not a sequel to "Conquest". It is a completely separate story, with no relation at all. It's just an idea that's been rattling around in my head for a while. I'm not sure how much time I'll have to work on it, or how long it would take to sprout. I'm just curious how much interest there would be in this project.

Just read this through to Ch2, very nice. The Premise is very close to DoomRisers "the Prize" but only superficially (he has a corvette and no Imp survivors/droids). Well paced considering the exposition to handle, plus I liked the use of Denizens to start the mold for a character letting you get them written straight off. It'll be interesting to see where you go with this, whether you'll be obvious, or hopefully the small Character seeds will bear some major Plot points further on (especially after Ch2).

Still reads a bit forced after the controlled smooth style of Conquest (but then I've only ever seen the finished article there, plus it took a while to get finished ).

All told an excellent start.

[Shogoki]

Still reads a bit forced after the controlled smooth style of Conquest (but then I've only ever seen the finished article there, plus it took a while to get finished ).

I think Mr. Wong is just a bit rusty, it'll get better as it goes on, as both Conquest and Chuck's fanfics did (at least in my opinion).

[Rob Wilson]

Still reads a bit forced after the controlled smooth style of Conquest (but then I've only ever seen the finished article there, plus it took a while to get finished ).

I think Mr. Wong is just a bit rusty, it'll get better as it goes on, as both Conquest and Chuck's fanfics did (at least in my opinion).

I don't doubt it, Conquest apparently had months between chapters and this one appears to have a gap of days. I think when he gets into the flow of writing, the whole thing will smooth out again (plus he's dealt with his first couple of character expositions and so should have less problems with the later ones).

[Shogoki]

Yes, Conquest had months between chaperts several times, it was a real torture.

[Setzer]

I want in too! I'm more of a songwriter than a military strategist, so if Earth gets invaded, someone like me could be in charge of brain-washi... um, re-educating the Feddie civilians.

[Kuja]

I'm still waiting for a certain assassin to show up...........