Praetorian Guard

"Beta One, come in", a vague voice is heard in the cockpit of the Valkyrie, "Beta One, I repeat, come in!". The sound of the radio chatter is slowly dying, as the ship's power core is slowly loosing power. "Beta One, please, respond". Little did they know, that Beta One is being taken away. "I think we lost them. How did this happen? Call in Alpha squad, send them to the following coordinates: Eta-Seven-Foxtrot-Alpha-Three-Io.."; the radio was slowly shutting down, until the last bit of the power the power core was making went out. Complete silence now overtook the atmosphere, as the ships are now abandoned. Beta Wing is now declared KIA.

"I will not be stopped, no matter what burden I carry on my back, no matter who opposes me, I will always stand my ground, and defend the things I believe in" - Freelancer Emily "Trinity" D'Agostino, Beta Two

"A great fight expects us all, an even greater sacrifice, it may cost us our life, but me, the last of my kin, the last voice of a dead civilization, I will make sure that our voice is heard through the galaxy and beyond!" - Captain Hanzo "Scorpion" Hasashi, Beta One

Back at the HQ in Omega-3, Alpha Wing is scrambling for launch in order to find out what happened to the two ships they lost contact with. Fleet Admiral Forlon, the current CL of the Silver Arrows, on top of his Iguana, commands the crew

"Make ready for launch, we're leaving in 5! Stop slacking, get to work people, we got work to do!"

The voice is heard echoing through the whole station, and everyone is picking up pace. A young pilot approaches the Admiral, greets him and hands him his PDA. The Admirals face changed from optimistic to worried in a second. He climbs down from his ship and starts walking to the Command post. Looking further at his PDA, he starts picking up the pace, until finally he starts running towards his post.

"Stop the launch! I repeat, everyone, stop the launch."

Everyone turns around to see whats happening, not knowing whats going to be presented to them.

"Call of the launch. I'll signal New York and tell them to scramble the Guard. They got work to do."

The Guard, also known as the Praetorians, or the Praetorian Guard, is a newly assembled task force of the Silver Arrows. In cooperation with the LSF, Order and the Kusari Kaigun, a task force was produced in order to combat the most fierce problems that appear in both Sirius and Altair.

Equipped with newly issued LSF MK3s, built by The Order and the Kaigun, they are unbeatable in the hands of a capable pilot. Equipped with the standard loadout of Coalition Gattlings or W'ar-Sy Propulsors, they pack a hard punch to any ship, capital or snub.

Currently leading the Praetorian Guard, Joshua "Vas" Vasquez, appointed by the LSF, is a capable fighter, leader and tutor. Under his command, 12 people from all over.

The word has reached New York, the Guard assembled and ready to go. Vas on the top, leading his crew to find the missing pilots, both crucial to the development of a base in Inner Core. What he didn't know is that he's going to deal with an enemy he thought he would never have to face.

The Admiral turned around and mumbled to the operator: "Turn on Screen 12, 13, 14, 17, 21, and 23. I'll transfer the feed from my PDA. This is him..."

"Load attachment number one"

The blackness of the screens is soon gone. A picture appears, of, what seems to be, Captain Hasashi.

"Keep the screen up, I got more attachments to load. This is just one of the missing pilots. We got a whole wing to find, along with Miss Emily, who, turns out, is no regular freelancer at all. Do you think she's involved in this many people going MIA? Maybe she went rogue." he speaks to one of the commanding officers on the base.

"It's just that..." he stutters, ".. I hate loosing men in these situations. I'm used to it but.. not this time."

"Load the rest of the attachments and examine them. I'll be back shortly. I have something to do"

He turns around, and starts walking to the door. The station command turns around to see the black figure of the Admiral disappear in the shadows.

"You heard the man! Start loading those attachments, we got some work to do."

All of the attachments were related to the missing pilots of the Beta wing, apart from one, which stood out like a sore thumb. It was the pilot profile of Praetor Vas.

Joshua Vasqez. Trained on Fort Bush, moved to Omega-3 for further specialization. Can knock down a man with his little finger. Usually referred to as the Flying Devil by his enemies, and Savior by his friends and colleagues, he has a reputation through Sirius.

Notorious for his "disposal" methods, he's known for making men and women disappear without ever being found.

What made him famous was the attack on the MNS Firenze, a Maltese-ran Osiris battleship, powered with Nomad/Outcast technology. He found the ship hidden in Upper Unknown sitting cloaked in the middle of the nebulae, boarded it and took down 127 crew members before setting the battleships course toward an unstable jumphole which tore down the ships hull in mere seconds, which killed the rest of its crew.

Decorated with the highest awards from all the houses, Vas was more then a man. He was a super soldier. Most of his crewmen thought that he was genetically engineered to be perfect so they called him Geno. Those who spoke of Geno cannot be found any more.

He joined the Silver Arrows after Captain Hasashi found his stolen ship in one illegal auction warehouse. That day a friendship and rivalry was born.

Not much is known about this warlady. Her records show several attacks on officers of the law, breaching in official file databases and several mischief records. After that her records are blank. Dental records, card records, police records. Everything gone.

If her name is cross referenced with known aliases in the LSF database, we can find her real name. Emily D'Agostino. Every detail, every information matches with her old, fake records.

Many of the informations are classified in her file, apart from common information that are available for everyone.

"Direct input - on"

"Accepted", words come out of the AI speakers

"Enter code: Oscar - Lima - Foxtrot - Hotel - India - Lima - India - Kilo - Mike"

"Code accepted", comes out of the speakers

Information comes pouring to the main computer, terabytes of information, ranging from videos, images, reports. You name it, it's here.

Being a secret agent for the LSF, mainly the Spec Ops division, her record size is normal.

"Load last entry"

"Command accepted, loading entry Papa - Oscar - Juliet - Seven".

It's been over two weeks since we made contact with anyone. Three ships is all that's left. We went in with force, we were met by something stronger then us. We barely escaped. They knew we're coming,.. but how? That doesn't matter now. We're trapped in Inner Core and are maintaining radio silence. If we move, we're spotted, if we try to contact someone outside, we're spotted. And if we get spotted... Oh, then it's really done.

Three ships. Low on everything. Ratios. Water. Ammo. I have no idea how we got into this mess in the first place. The Captain and his crew are desperately trying to scout ahead, drop some nodes to collect data on the system, see what awaits us if we actually try to move out from here.

Three ships. All that's left. Two wings started this expedition. 12 ships, all equipped for the trip. Three ships left. Three. We were decimated once we jumped to Jormdar. We tried to save them but without avail. We escaped, with them breathing behind our necks. It was he that saved us. He that helped us live. It was him.

Captain Hasashi. His posture shows that he's a trained military man. His voice puts fear in your bones, yet is so calm that he can put you to sleep if he wishes to. I heard stories of him killing 14 people with his PDA in a bar on New Tokyo. But that's not all. Strangling a man with his left arm while contacting authorities with his right. He was able to move stuff ten times heavier then he is with ease. He wasn't human. That's what he said. He wasn't. The database provides little to no information on his origins. But he won't tell me.

Three ships. We're doomed. I sent a distress call to the SOD once we were attacked. I'm not sure if the signal reached them at all. The Captain said it was futile. But he also said he had plans to get us out. He mentioned that his ship is equipped with advanced tech. He could disappear without anyone noticing him. He could move without anyone noticing him. But he said he was keeping that for when we need it the most.

There's 4 of us left. Me, the Captain, Beta-4 and Delta-3. Delta wing was hit the hardest. They were not expecting this. They made the ultimate sacrifice. They helped us escape while they were shredded by the Savage. I was trained to mentally block out stuff like this but, nobody tells you that you can't. That I can't. If it was normal circumstances, somewhere in house space, I would've. It's easy. Someone is going to come, that's for sure. But this. This isn't house space. People don't venture here without special permissions. Only the best venture here. Not many have visited the Kavash. And I guess I won't either.

My name is Emily D'Agostino, Agent of the Special Ops Division, LSF. This is my last journal entry. We are breaking radio silence.

"Lock down the system, we're expecting them. ETA 25 minutes." said the Admiral.
"System lockdown engaged", is heard from the station AI.
"Ground all ships, I'm sending out Alpha wing to meet them near Cambridge", the Admiral added.

They were the Praetorians. Coming directly on call of the Admiral. They were the last hope for the ships stranded in Jormdar. The research facility in Omega-3 has entered lockdown with Silver Arrows patrolling around the hypergate. All communications in the systems are down for the time being.

Alpha wing is steadily approaching the Cambridge jumpgate to meet the wing, but what they find amazes them. The number of ships they were expecting was too high. They expected 3-4 wings at least, and what they saw... 3 ships only. Each with specific marks of their own. They were greeted by the Alpha wing and soon after they entered formation and engaged cruise towards the GMG Facility.

"We got them Admiral. ETA 3 minutes."
"Roger that, maintain cruising speed, we're turning down the Ion Cannons."

Once they reached the facility, they all docked, desperately trying to get to the Admiral for debriefing. Once inside, the whole base was waiting. Nothing was heard, not even a single breath. They slowly but steadily left their ships and stood in front of the crowd that was waiting for them to arrive.

"Admiral", Vas said,"Pleasure to meet you.", he puts his hand forward to shake hands.
"Ah, Praetor Vas. The pleasure is all mine.", he says as they shake hands.
"I wish we met on different conditions. Losing your men is hard, I know. But worry not, we're here to reach them, and save what is left of them."
"That stands as it is. Come with me. We were just briefing the Alpha wing on what's about to happen."

They all follow the Admiral, and the crowd quickly disperses. The mechanics are standing baffled in front of the three ships that docked on the station. The ships were unique, for all of them. They seem to have similar looks but whats underneath is what counts.

For each style of fighting, a ship was made. Praetor Vas had the strongest of the three. Heavy Armor plating, 2 heavy torpedoes, 6 Coalition Gattlings, one countermeasure dropper and two Cataclysm launchers. On top of that, a small optical projector which, seemed, to do nothing. The ship was sprayed with black and red decals, but without any meaning.

Praetor Takanawa, aka. Red Devil had the most agile ship. Two cruise disruptors, 4 W'ar-sy Propulsors, one countermeasure dropper and one Nemesis missile launcher. By far the lightest ship, it was made for hit-n-run tactics. It could outturn any ship made with ease and crack open any hull with a single shot. His hull was marked with the Red Dragon that coils around the ship which he represents.

And for the last, Praetor Devyn, aka Freya, had the Rheinland prototype fighter. 6 Weapons of unknown origin, not tested. Countermeasure of unknown origin, not tested. 4 Missile launchers of unknown origin, not tested. Everything on this ship was unknown, and doesn't match any known ship type. For all they knew it was prototype tech. The ship was marked with green and white decals.

As they move towards the debriefing room, they were stopped as the Admiral has gotten some news. They all stood and waited for something to happen. Then..

"The worst possible moment", he mumbles. "I have to spare more men now."
"Any.... issues, admiral?" Devyn says.
"Apparently a pirate squad is trying to overtake a mining facility in Omega-41 and we have to do something about it."
"It's not a problem sir, we can deal with this with ease." she says confidently.
"If you say so.", he turns around and yells: "Get me Alpha leader on the comms ASAP!"

He turns around, and starts walking a different path, and the Praetorian squad is left standing in the middle of the room.

"Ah, right. Continue walking along the path, then 2nd door to the right. All the info you need is there, my men will take care of it.", the Admiral says as he moves past them.

They continue walking to the room.
As they enter they see Captain Hasashi, Praetor Vas and Agent D'Agostino on the screens.

"Ha, they were conducting research. Look, there's you Vas!", Devyn starts laughing.
"Cut it out Devyn, it's not funny. I don't see you up there. That makes me a special kind of snowflake, don't it?"

She just frowns and continues looking at the screen.

"So we're saving them, eh? Wait a minute, I know her. She's the girl that the age-..." she tries to speak of something but
"Hey, that's confidential." Vas stops her before she says anything more.
"Oh, right. Sorry boss."
"Try not to blab out more classified info Devyn." Vas looks at her as she frowns.
"Why is she always like this?" Takanawa adds.
"I don't know. Rheinlanders talk too much I guess." says Vas as he turns her look away from Devyn.

As they get briefed on the situation, Alpha wing is leaving Omega-3, and the lockdown is lifted.

The Admiral returns after some time to speak with the Praetors. He enters the room just to see them sitting in the chairs and yelling at each other.

"Have I not told you that you couldn't drink that much sake? Haven't I?" Takanawa argues with Devyn as Vas is looking at his PDA.
"Hey, I wanted to try. And you can't stop me, alright?" Devyn is waving her hands like crazy, trying to explain herself.
"Of course. Not that you haven't left your guts in front of my locker last night but that's not a big deal is it? I had to clean that up!" Takanawa responds abruptly.
"Sucks to be you Takanawa." She laughs.
"Hey, don't make me com.... Oh, Admiral."

They all turn to see the Admiral grinning at them.

"I see you are having some fun."
"We were just.."
"Hold your breath ma'am. No need to explain yourself. Now, have you gotten all the info you needed? I presume you have so. I've given you the access codes to the equipment room; Special access for Praetor Vas to the side room; access to the deck; access to most of the rooms on the base. In return from you I want to return all of them safely here. If you do, there's a hefty sum of..." he pauses a bit "..Two point five billion sirius credits. That is, if they're all here. I've sent word to the Inner Core station in Weth. They'll provide some information to you once you enter Inner Core."

He comes closer to Vas and whispers

"Reds are in the side room, don't take too much."

He backs up, salutes them all and leaves the room.

"Have you heard what he said? TWO POINT FIVE BILLION CREDITS! I could buy half of New Tokyo with that!" Takanawa yells enthusiastically.
"Yes, yes, we heard him. It's not all yours though. There's three of us here, don't you see?" Devyn grabs him on the shoulder and pulls him closer to her
"Hey, what the..." he turns around and sees her in front of his face
"That means we share it, and you don't run away with the money. Again." she smirks.
"That was one time! Could you let it go?" he pulls back trying to loosen her grab
"It was MY money Takanawa. Could you let go 15 million credits? Eh!?" she pulls him closer to her again
"I promise I'll pay you back once we're done here. Alright? God you can't make a deal with women these days."
"What did you say?" she turns around abruptly
"Uh,.. uh.." Takanawa tries to say something but..
She pulls him closer and takes him down to the floor.
"Men." she blabs out as she stands herself up.

The time has come. Captain Hasashi has been scouting out of the nebulae for 2 whole days, and has returned with good news. Finally. Calculating enemy patrol patterns he noticed a small time frame in which the 3 ships can move, and if quick, pass unnoticed. Upon his return to the spot where the ships were previously floating, he noticed that Delta-4 was gone.

He comes closer to the single floating ship and notices that the power has been turned off.

"What the hell happened here? Where's Delta-4?" he speaks as he stands up from his pilot seat
"We should investigate. I'll go to the cargo hold, you stay here and guard the ship." Emily adds as she pushes him back to his pilot seat.
"Here," he takes his gun out of the holster "You'll need it more then I will."
She takes the gun and puts it in her back holster "Thanks."
"Alright, my scanners show that oxygen is low on the ship, so get in, and get out. That's it."
"Gotcha. Want me to take the holorecordings from the ship? We might find out what happened with Delta-4" she says as she's adjusting her suit.
"Of course. I've told them not to move." he says in anger.
"Alright. Wish me luck."

She moves towards the cargo bay with ease. He carefully opens up the cargo bay and she gets out just to get attached to Beta-3's cargo hold. Blasting a hole in the cargo bay door with one of the blasters, she gets in and disappears from his sight.

Carefully threading through the ship, she finds out that Beta-3 is missing from his ship and that everything else is left intact. She comes closer to the panel to pick up the holorecording but is interrupted by a sudden bang in the crew hold. She pulls out the two blasters from her back holster and approaches the door. She put her ear on the door to hear if there's anyone inside. Hearing heavy breathing from the other side of the door, she taps on the wall twice with her blaster to see if the person on the other side responds. After a couple of moments the door carefully opens and a hand holding the LSF logo appears. She puts her pistols down and pulls him out.

"You scared me, you know that?" she sighs in relief.
"Well, you scared me as well. I got here since I had a breathing mask here, and the oxygen was running low. I had to. But then I heard someone blast their way in the ship and I sneaked in here. I thought it was someone else."
"Get your suit on, we're going to the Captain."
"Yes, ma'am." Beta-3 responds.

After boarding the Valkyrie, she seated the pilot in the co-pilots seat and started asking questions.

"We noticed from a long range that Delta-4's ship was gone. You know where he went?"
"Yes. We got a distress call from another ship in the vicinity. It was probably help that they sent for us. So we made a deal. I'd stay on the spot to wait for you, and he moves towards the distress signal to see if he can be of any help."
"And, that's it?" she asks.
"Yes ma'am. I haven't heard from him since. I told him to stop himself from using the radio, as the enemies might detect us."
"Weird." she says "I told him explicitly not to move anywhere. Nevermind, let's hope he returns soon."

As she turns around, the pilot pulls out a dart gun and fires it at Emily. She got hit in the left side of her back and hit the ground hard, and knocked unconscious. He pulls her closer towards the door so the Captain doesn't notice.

"And now for you Commander."

He refills the gun and starts moving towards the Captains quarters, but what he didn't notice is that the Captain already spotted him and he steps out just as he was about to touch the door.

"Pilot. Any issues?" the Captain scares the pilot.
"Uh.. N-no, sir. I-i was just about to come to speak t-to you." he stutters as he tries to speak.
"Well, I'm here now. What do you need?"
"I-i think t-that D-delta isn't returning."
"And why is that pilot?"
As he moves his hand closer to the pistol, the Captain clenches his fist and hits him in the face with lightning speed.

"Energy low." the ship's AI speaks.
"What the.." as he was about to finish his sentence, the lights in the ship went off.
"Great. Just great." he adds as the emergency lights quickly come online to light the small cabin in his ship.