The name is Leonard Darrent, for the past two years before my life turned
upside down I had been working as a bounty hunter. That is, until a group
of researchers from Katina discovered an interstellar route to a solar
system known only as GTX-580289. When they arrived in GTX-580289, they
encountered a technologically advanced race calling themselves the
Sii'K'Rha, being a somewhat docile people, allowed the researchers to
explore one of their M-Class planets, and then return to Lylat immediately
afterwards.
About a month later, the last of the old Venomian army, hardly a threat at the time, Learned of the Sii'K'Rha and exploited their strong belief justice in order to form an alliance. They claimed that the Lylatian government started an uprising and overthrew them and them confined them to Venom, which of course is completely the opposite of the truth. Unfortunately, the Sii'K'Rha believed it. With the aid of the Sii'K'Rha's advanced technology, the Venomians could easily overpower Lylat.
I was commissioned as something of a freelance double agent by Corneria to find out as much as possible about their weapons and technology. I was to pose as a security officer on one of their little known planetary installations. They probably chose me because they couldn't afford Fox McCloud's high hiring price with the preparation for a war effort of such a large scale, either that or they were simply too stubborn to risk one of their own agents on such a high risk operation. I agreed to it mainly because I needed a change of pace from the monotonous task of traversing Lylat in search of paying jobs. I soon began to wonder if it was really such a good idea. But nonetheless it started a long chain of events that turned my world completely inside out and upside-down.
Chapter 2 ________________________________________________________________________
I sighed as I approached the designated landing point far outside the installation near a small outpost. "I hope this is really worth 123,000 Creds." I thought to myself. I approached the landing point using the latest of cloaking technology supplied by the government, I was also constantly hoping that their sensors weren't more advanced. Once I had landed, I reached behind the front pilot seat and grabbed a Monarch C28 Assault Rifle/Pulse Grenade Launcher and my two Trianch Twelve charge laser pistols. A quick thermal scan revealed fourteen personnel in the outpost, and apparently all in one room of which I was grateful. Once I'd made my way around to the entrance, I found one of the fourteen guarding the door. Quickly, I jumped behind a rock and switched the Assault Rifle to single shot instead of automatic, Then peering through the infrared scope, I put the crosshairs directly on my target's head. Right before I pulled the trigger, I felt that twinge of remorse I always get before taking a life, but I had adapted to it, and without so much as a sound, the target was dead. I also took the guard's blue and red uniform and keycard. I switched the assault rifle back to automatic, and entered in. Each of the startled staff jumped up and reached for their side arms, but it was already too late, in a matter of three seconds they, like the guard, were dead. Thinking that if there were fourteen guards in a single small outpost, the last thing I wanted to do was draw attention to myself until I was on the way out with the data. The large bulky assault rifle that the Cornerian Port Authorities issued me upon departure do just that. I walked over to one of the fallen Venomians; the poor kid couldn't have been more than sixteen in Cornerian years, not much younger than me. The feline furry was carrying some kind of assault rifle himself. The weapon was sleek and smooth, and only half the size as my own, but remembering that this was alien technology I was dealing with, I suspected it was at least two times as powerful. I grabbed the gun and headed through the door that read "Shuttle Hangar" in bold print. Luckily for me there was in fact a shuttle in there, I half expected the room to be empty. I clambered into the small craft and after deciphering the controls I looked around for some button or switch to open the hangar door, there was none. So, I decided to open it in the only other way I knew how, make my own opening. The somewhat mouse shaped craft was quite agile and fast, its speed was nearly that of my own LZ-15. I checked out what access codes I would need to bypass the base security as I steered toward my destination.
Chapter 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once there, I found the nearest unguarded, unoccupied landing pad. After slipping through the automatic door, used my disguise to blend into a group of security officers patrolling the hall. The hall itself was like nothing I'd ever seen before; it was illuminated by some several odd, glowing spheres that gave it a luminescent look. I continued down the hall with the security detail until I found a sign reading "Secure Database Terminal" in large, bold print. The sign was glowing in the same way as the hall lights. I then entered the room, locked the door, and went over to the secure terminal, which was already on. While getting to the locked information on the terminal's monitor drew out two data cubes. The first shiny crystalline cube contained a virus to breach the terminal's security; the second was to hold the downloaded data. Just as I inserted the virus cube, there was a knock at the door and a voice, "Hey, what the? Who's in there? Open the door now!" Then there was a second voice "I think we might have an intruder." The first replied "Then report it you dolt! Where's your communicator, mine's busted?" "Umm, I think I left it in my quarters." "Rrr! Then just report back yourself, Grason!" "Fine, I'm going, ease off Kelt." That was a sure sign that I was running out of time. I had already uploaded the virus and bypassed the encryption codes. I immediately inserted the other cube. The door slid open, revealing "Kelt". I whirled around to find him pointing his assault rifle at me. I froze. "You Cornerian scum, did you actually think you could infiltrate this base? You will pay dearly for your lack of sense!" It was a good thing there were no lights in the terminal room besides the terminal monitor itself, because it was the one factor that would mean certain death if it were otherwise. The darkness concealed my hand, reaching slowly for one of my blasters. I grabbed it, lifted it up just as slowly, up to waist level, and pulled the trigger. Kelt let out a shocked scream as he went down. I jerked the data cube out of the terminal and ran out into the hall. Grason had already gotten backup. I pulled the alien like assault rifle from behind my back and sprayed the group of armed soldiers with what I guessed was some kind of laser shot. I quickly found out that wasn't an entirely accurate assumption. One of the troops that wasn't hit shot me in the left arm. It was an odd feeling, first I felt the searing pain as it burned through my fur and flesh, then my entire arm and shoulder went completely numb. Fear and panic gripped my mind as I raced down the hall towards the shuttle I burst through the door at the end of the oval hall, and blocked it using a large, heavy container sitting nearby. The troops were firing away at the container, they knew that they couldn't afford to let me escape. It would mean that their enemy would learn how to defend themselves and even counterattack if they were given enough time. The turrets that I saw as I approached the base came to life as I leapt into the shuttle. My eyes went to each of the controls, trying to remember each one's specific function. Finally I was off, and not easily at that. Not only were the turrets on the square towers pounding at the small ship's shielding, fighters were also launching from some unknown part of the base. One of the fighters streaked overhead, it resembled a scorpion where on its "tail", a heavier beam weapon than its two main cannons was mounted. It wasn't long before I caught sight of my Arwing X on the ground near the outpost. I desperately gunned the shuttle's accelerator and set it down once I was close enough to my ship. Apparently, the shuttle did have at least one advantage over the strange fighters; it had better air brakes. It stopped immediately in the air, while all the faster, heavier pursuers shot past. As I leapt out and scrambled to my Arwing X, a single, lagging fighter fired it's tail weapon and blew the shuttle into a million fragments of metal and circuitry. Luckily, I was already in my ship when all the debris from the explosion flew in my direction. Much to my surprise, the enemy weapons did even more damage to the Arwing X than the shuttle. However, it still only took seconds for me to jet away from the planet's rugged, light red terra firma and out of the atmosphere. I groaned in despair when I found out the fighters weren't the only one's alerted to my presence. There were also a large number of heavy starships waiting for me. First, you should know this, it is not easy to maneuver around a group of heavily armed cruisers while franticly setting in a hyperspace route, but I did it nonetheless. Taking a deep breath, I slumped back in the cockpit as the familiar blue glow covered my craft as it entered subspace.
About a month later, the last of the old Venomian army, hardly a threat at the time, Learned of the Sii'K'Rha and exploited their strong belief justice in order to form an alliance. They claimed that the Lylatian government started an uprising and overthrew them and them confined them to Venom, which of course is completely the opposite of the truth. Unfortunately, the Sii'K'Rha believed it. With the aid of the Sii'K'Rha's advanced technology, the Venomians could easily overpower Lylat.
I was commissioned as something of a freelance double agent by Corneria to find out as much as possible about their weapons and technology. I was to pose as a security officer on one of their little known planetary installations. They probably chose me because they couldn't afford Fox McCloud's high hiring price with the preparation for a war effort of such a large scale, either that or they were simply too stubborn to risk one of their own agents on such a high risk operation. I agreed to it mainly because I needed a change of pace from the monotonous task of traversing Lylat in search of paying jobs. I soon began to wonder if it was really such a good idea. But nonetheless it started a long chain of events that turned my world completely inside out and upside-down.
Chapter 2 ________________________________________________________________________
I sighed as I approached the designated landing point far outside the installation near a small outpost. "I hope this is really worth 123,000 Creds." I thought to myself. I approached the landing point using the latest of cloaking technology supplied by the government, I was also constantly hoping that their sensors weren't more advanced. Once I had landed, I reached behind the front pilot seat and grabbed a Monarch C28 Assault Rifle/Pulse Grenade Launcher and my two Trianch Twelve charge laser pistols. A quick thermal scan revealed fourteen personnel in the outpost, and apparently all in one room of which I was grateful. Once I'd made my way around to the entrance, I found one of the fourteen guarding the door. Quickly, I jumped behind a rock and switched the Assault Rifle to single shot instead of automatic, Then peering through the infrared scope, I put the crosshairs directly on my target's head. Right before I pulled the trigger, I felt that twinge of remorse I always get before taking a life, but I had adapted to it, and without so much as a sound, the target was dead. I also took the guard's blue and red uniform and keycard. I switched the assault rifle back to automatic, and entered in. Each of the startled staff jumped up and reached for their side arms, but it was already too late, in a matter of three seconds they, like the guard, were dead. Thinking that if there were fourteen guards in a single small outpost, the last thing I wanted to do was draw attention to myself until I was on the way out with the data. The large bulky assault rifle that the Cornerian Port Authorities issued me upon departure do just that. I walked over to one of the fallen Venomians; the poor kid couldn't have been more than sixteen in Cornerian years, not much younger than me. The feline furry was carrying some kind of assault rifle himself. The weapon was sleek and smooth, and only half the size as my own, but remembering that this was alien technology I was dealing with, I suspected it was at least two times as powerful. I grabbed the gun and headed through the door that read "Shuttle Hangar" in bold print. Luckily for me there was in fact a shuttle in there, I half expected the room to be empty. I clambered into the small craft and after deciphering the controls I looked around for some button or switch to open the hangar door, there was none. So, I decided to open it in the only other way I knew how, make my own opening. The somewhat mouse shaped craft was quite agile and fast, its speed was nearly that of my own LZ-15. I checked out what access codes I would need to bypass the base security as I steered toward my destination.
Chapter 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once there, I found the nearest unguarded, unoccupied landing pad. After slipping through the automatic door, used my disguise to blend into a group of security officers patrolling the hall. The hall itself was like nothing I'd ever seen before; it was illuminated by some several odd, glowing spheres that gave it a luminescent look. I continued down the hall with the security detail until I found a sign reading "Secure Database Terminal" in large, bold print. The sign was glowing in the same way as the hall lights. I then entered the room, locked the door, and went over to the secure terminal, which was already on. While getting to the locked information on the terminal's monitor drew out two data cubes. The first shiny crystalline cube contained a virus to breach the terminal's security; the second was to hold the downloaded data. Just as I inserted the virus cube, there was a knock at the door and a voice, "Hey, what the? Who's in there? Open the door now!" Then there was a second voice "I think we might have an intruder." The first replied "Then report it you dolt! Where's your communicator, mine's busted?" "Umm, I think I left it in my quarters." "Rrr! Then just report back yourself, Grason!" "Fine, I'm going, ease off Kelt." That was a sure sign that I was running out of time. I had already uploaded the virus and bypassed the encryption codes. I immediately inserted the other cube. The door slid open, revealing "Kelt". I whirled around to find him pointing his assault rifle at me. I froze. "You Cornerian scum, did you actually think you could infiltrate this base? You will pay dearly for your lack of sense!" It was a good thing there were no lights in the terminal room besides the terminal monitor itself, because it was the one factor that would mean certain death if it were otherwise. The darkness concealed my hand, reaching slowly for one of my blasters. I grabbed it, lifted it up just as slowly, up to waist level, and pulled the trigger. Kelt let out a shocked scream as he went down. I jerked the data cube out of the terminal and ran out into the hall. Grason had already gotten backup. I pulled the alien like assault rifle from behind my back and sprayed the group of armed soldiers with what I guessed was some kind of laser shot. I quickly found out that wasn't an entirely accurate assumption. One of the troops that wasn't hit shot me in the left arm. It was an odd feeling, first I felt the searing pain as it burned through my fur and flesh, then my entire arm and shoulder went completely numb. Fear and panic gripped my mind as I raced down the hall towards the shuttle I burst through the door at the end of the oval hall, and blocked it using a large, heavy container sitting nearby. The troops were firing away at the container, they knew that they couldn't afford to let me escape. It would mean that their enemy would learn how to defend themselves and even counterattack if they were given enough time. The turrets that I saw as I approached the base came to life as I leapt into the shuttle. My eyes went to each of the controls, trying to remember each one's specific function. Finally I was off, and not easily at that. Not only were the turrets on the square towers pounding at the small ship's shielding, fighters were also launching from some unknown part of the base. One of the fighters streaked overhead, it resembled a scorpion where on its "tail", a heavier beam weapon than its two main cannons was mounted. It wasn't long before I caught sight of my Arwing X on the ground near the outpost. I desperately gunned the shuttle's accelerator and set it down once I was close enough to my ship. Apparently, the shuttle did have at least one advantage over the strange fighters; it had better air brakes. It stopped immediately in the air, while all the faster, heavier pursuers shot past. As I leapt out and scrambled to my Arwing X, a single, lagging fighter fired it's tail weapon and blew the shuttle into a million fragments of metal and circuitry. Luckily, I was already in my ship when all the debris from the explosion flew in my direction. Much to my surprise, the enemy weapons did even more damage to the Arwing X than the shuttle. However, it still only took seconds for me to jet away from the planet's rugged, light red terra firma and out of the atmosphere. I groaned in despair when I found out the fighters weren't the only one's alerted to my presence. There were also a large number of heavy starships waiting for me. First, you should know this, it is not easy to maneuver around a group of heavily armed cruisers while franticly setting in a hyperspace route, but I did it nonetheless. Taking a deep breath, I slumped back in the cockpit as the familiar blue glow covered my craft as it entered subspace.