#8 By Carnifex

Hazy black clouds loomed nearby on all sides of a tranquil jump hole as lights danced along the zone where its intense gravitational distortions intersected normal space. They glowed brightly for a moment and then out of the jump hole popped six fighters, radio chatter bursting to life on all the com-lines.

“CLEAR!” yelled the pilot of a Justice multi-role, the ship that was taking point.
“Status!” called out Admiral Cravic from his Liberator.
“Everyone made it through and is accounted for Sir,” said the wing’s second in command, “Hall lost his port wing when the Hackers jumped us near Leiden.”
Turning around and checking out the rear of his cockpit Cravic could indeed see the remains of Hall’s port wing and was even able to make out the power transmission lines, that used to feed energy to his weapons, dangling out of the charred stump. All the other fighters looked quite damaged; patches could be seen on their hulls where nano-bots had repaired weapon impacts, Cravic’s own Annihilator gun on the top of one of his wings had been knocked loose when he had collided with a Kusari Navel Forces fighter and the nano-bots hadn’t been able to reconnect the lifeless weapon.
“All call signs, move out. We’ve been here too long as is.” Six cruise engines charged and kicked forward in unison.

Not far from the Galileo jump hole was the Battleship Sequoia waiting for the raiding party to return. As they closed in the Sequoia hailed them, “Incoming fighter squadron, please transmit ID confirmation codes.”
“Squad Beta 6 transmitting...”
“Welcome home Admiral, there have been some developments since you left, we’ll give you the info once your onboard.”

“What’s this mysterious news Ryan?” said Cravic as he walked briskly down a corridor, slight limp barely noticeable.
“The Cut Throats have taken over Scania base Sir, by all reports it was fairly bloodless but beyond that we know very little other than that they are digging in and not likely to give it up soon. Also the reports of CTP raiders and smugglers crossing the system have doubled since the takeover, we think they are expanding their influence.”
Cravic stopped and turned to his subordinate with a thoughtful expression. “They picked a fine place to settle down. What could be better than the middle of a warzone?!” Cravic turned and continued walking.
“Also,” continued Ryan, “The higher-ups wanted to speak with you while you were on the raid.” Cravic cringed, “They weren’t happy to hear that you were still leading raids yourself.”
“I’ll deal with them later.”

#7, by Carnifex

Admiral Cravic's office on the Sequoia was quiet which was disturbed only by the noises of those passing by outside. He leant back into his chair with his leg, no longer in the treatment splint, resting on top of his desk. In his hand he held his computer pad and tapped at the screen, his face growing stern.
Although the attack on the Chugoku Gate Construction Site had been expected Liberty had had no knowledge of when it would come and were unable to send support ships in advance. Luckily Bretonia had formed a good inteligence network within Kusari and had had time to slip some re-enforcements through the border worlds. So although the remote DSE base was safe for now it was only a fanciful option for a foot-hold inside Kusari space. There was no way supply lines could be formed through the heart of Kusari, going through Alaska would be too costly and Nuremburg made the trip a very long one, all for a small and poorly defended base all be it behind enemy lines.
"If it comes to it," he thought to himself, "We will have to scuttle the base and the gate and remove as much usefull technology as possible."
Just then a red light flashed on above the door and an acompanying klaxon pierced the quiet. Another Navel Forces attack had been launched against the Sequoia. The Admiral Lifted his leg off the desk slowly and set it down on the ground with care. There wasn't much pain but it was still stiff and stuborn. Raising himself out of his chair he made his way to the bridge. "It's about time we took the fight to the enemy, one way or the other," he grumbled to himself.

#6, by Schwarz

"Understood sir. I'll also talk to the president and request troops at this base to provide further support. With luck we could establish a forward outpost at this base without much difficulty. I think all we would need is to transport a few marines over here, though the transfer from ship to base could take some time with the docking facilities as damaged as they are."

"I'll be around if you need anything else. Just make sure to heal up before you hop back in another ship. Maybe next time you won't get careless when things are going as well as they were."

#5, by Carnifex

Admiral Cravic started at a noise from behind him. He was bearly standing as it was so he turned excrutiatingly slowly to look at whoever wanted his attention, the pain quite obvious on his face. As he completed the turn he leant heavily against the bed to take the weight off his left leg, which was swathed in bandages and wrapped up in a brace to keep it still while the treatments took effect.
"You really shouldn't be standing so soon sir," pleaded one of the doctors.
"Shut up and give me that thing," barked the admiral as he snatched a crutch from the hands of the doctor and leant it against the bed next to him. Looking to his visitor he said, "Ryan! Good, I'm glad you're here, I have a job for you," he winced as he squirmed trying to find a comfortable possition.
"What are your orders sir?" replied Ryan.
"Contact the Battleship Sequoia and instruct them to enact their orders for begining patrols here in Kepler. Make it clear that they are not to come within 15K of Ames however any fighter traffic will be accepted by the Zoners and repair facillities here are available. Also, contact the Ageria and DSE reps and tell them that deliveries of machinery and food supplies can begin and that they will be given escort which will be coordinated from the Sequoia. Understood?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. And lastly I'll need a new fighter, I'm sure the Sequoia can handle that." Cravic took a deep breath, "You did really well in that fight before, well done, but it's not going to be the last one. Liberty is going to need your skills again soon, if we are to make a push into Kusari then we will need to have soldiers stationed here for reserves and rotation rosters and I doubt Kusari will just let us have them."

#4, by Schwarz

Ryan's Avenger made its way to one of the two remaining docking ports aboard Ames.

"I hear our admiral made it out of that fireball and he's doing okay here. Mind if I come in and see him?"

"Sure Liberty Green-6. Proceed to the docking bay. We'll show you the way to your admiral."

"Thanks Ames. I'm coming aboard."

After landing in the bay, Ryan followed a couple Zoners through the corridor to the interior of the base.

#3, by Carnifex

Cravic woke up, as one always does after nearly being blown up, with a headach and in what seemed to him to be the most brightly lit room ever. He could faintly hear voices but couldn't make out what they were saying and he could feel his leg swathed in bandages. Eventualy a man came over to where he was lying, apparently a doctor.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"That's a stupid question," said Cravic with irritation, "Where am I? What happend to my pilots?"
"You're on Ames, we picked you up when the battle finnished and all the Kusari and Rheinland fighter had been destroyed. Think of it as our thanks for saving our station."
Cravic breathed a sigh of relief. Already thinking of the next step in securing Ames he asked, "I need to speak with whoever runs things around here."
"Are you sure you're up to it? That's quite a wound you have there, it'll never be what it once was"
Cravic put alot of effort into the cold hard stare he now gave the doctor, "Kusari is coming back, and they may come back stronger and in greater numbers. We have to draw the line here, for you and for liberty. Now who can I talk to about a Navy contingient here?!"

#2, by Carnifex

Weaponfire tore about from ship to ship in the cold vacume outside Ames Research Station. Liberty Navy ships, along with mercenaries they had hired, fought alongside Zoner pilots in an effort to repell an attempt by Kusari Naval Forces to take the station by force. There had been two waves of attackers, comprised of Kusari heavy fighters with the notable inclusion of a number of Rheinland fighters in support. Liberty had been ready and when the first reports of millitary deployment had come in a wing of specialist heavy fighters had been sent to defend Ames, specialy fitted with heavy ordinance. The second wave of Kusari fighters was now nearly neutralised, all that remained was the Rheinland contingent and one Kusari Multi-Role.

Admiral Cravic of the Liberty Navy was experiencing an adrenalin rush, familiar to him as the type one always gets from combat. Torps were flying left, right and centre and Cravic knew that even just a stray one could do significant damage to his Justice fighter. He dodged around the station, a few marks vissible on the outer hull, debris made the actual damage hard to guess at but some were deffinately venting atmosphere. Cravic pulled into a long corkscrewing backflip as the Kusari fighter he was targeting shot passed him. He pulled out with his target to his left, he glanced and saw it shoot accross in front of him as a torpedo crashed into the side of his ship creating a blinding light and a sound of bending and melting metal that in the quiet of space was spine chilling.

The torpedo had made contact just next to where Cravic was sitting. The explosion began to crumple the frame of his fighter inward and his auto-eject system locked off his life support umbilicals and fired his cockpit-pod away from the rest of the fighter. For a brief moment he could hear the sound of venting gas and Cravic looked down to see the gel-foam that had been sealed into the wall of the fighter spew from the wound, expanding and hardening as it went, forming a patch before all the air vented. This however was not what concirned the Admiral most.

His left leg was immediately next to the breach and had been filled with shrapnel by the explosion and now most of it around the knee was barely recognisible. Blood poored out from seemingly everywhere and much of the flesh had been shredded. Even as he began to realise the extent of the injury he went into shock and passed out, the fire of the battle still visible all around him.

#1, Background, by Carnifex

There are a number of governments that exist within a small section of space, occupying several solar systems each. Recently some of these 'Houses' went to war. House Kusari viewed House Liberty as a threat and was first to declare war. House Bretonia, Liberty's ally, entered the war to support Liberty. We join the story as the first battle of this war draws to a close.