New Millennium : Liberty

Done as a sort of sequel to the original NM Trilogy, which is now apparently a series. It explains some of the background. Please note that the original NM series is plenty different from the RP series.




"This is Hyperjet Five. Receiver, do you read me?"

"This is Receiver, we read you."

"I'm approaching the anomaly. I'm ready to eject."

"Good, we-

"Chhzt"

Aro stared at the blinking control panel, surprised that The Receiver would cut off like that. Usually during the "Inspect and Return" missions he was in constant contact, even though he had only been on a handful of them. He had done everything from broken pieces of the ancient Katana they had destroyed so long ago, to various parts from floating space junk.
The Katana had been a massive warship used by the Guv during the exodus from Earth. Even though they had greatly underestimated it's power, they had still managed to destroy the menace. The Katana and the Excalibur had both been two of the Guv's main battleships, and had pursued them like hounds until the Freethinkers had found the safe haven called Havaria. That had stalled the GUV long enough to build up their own fleet, which had helped greatly in the Wars of Rain.
Aro almost instinctively flipped at a diode, ready for the thing floating in front of his vehicle to begin firing at him. He stopped himself before he did though, and instead reached for another one. The cockpit of his Hyperjet was shaped like a cone to fit it's appearance, which looked like a massive hammer with two engines sticking out of the sides. He could see the slick white armor plated across it as he slipped his helmet's visor over his face. The visor was vaguely annoying sometimes due to it's bluish tinge created when he wore it, but it prevented him from getting shot, and it automatically scanned targets and heat signatures.
The suit he was wearing had been designed by the late Doctor Northern, one of the great Freethinker scientists who had given it to him before the battle where the Guv activated the Portals, in which he and the survivors of the Battle of the Wasteland had been sucked into and transported to Havaria and back. He still remembered the fear he felt while walking on that alien planet, and without the help of DIM they would've all been trapped there forever.
The cabin began to depressurize, and he felt his body begging to float freely, even though the cabin wasn't very large. He quickly reached for the hatch lever, and shoved with as much effort as possible. The metal pushed up over his head, sending the window and controls out of his reach. He couldn't hear the groan of the metal through his thick black helmet, but he had landed enough times to know it was there. Aro slowly pushed off from his seat, feeling free in the vacuum surrounding him.
He spun towards the floating piece of garbage that was several meters away, and kicked off the side of his beloved ship to send him flying forward. Aro soon realized that what he had found was indeed a hunk of the Katana's hull, along with an AFC attached to the side of grey metal object. The twin barrels gleamed in the light of the Hyperjet's floodlights. He remember those the most, since he had been the one evading the projectiles it hurled at him. He still felt the screams of his comrades as each one was brought down in a flurry of light and sound. He hated it, but it was a marvel of engineering. Besides, the Freethinkers used them too.
Beside the disembodied cannon laid a chunk of the hull, several wall panels still flickering with electricity. Aro floated slowly over to one of the panels, and tapped a gloved finger on it. Nothing. He tried another, and got the same result. After a few more tries he wanted to give up, but protocol was protocol.

"Bzzzt"

He had done it, and smiled with relief. The problem had been he was pressing buttons not connected to the turret, therefore having no power source. "Lighthouse, this is Hyperjet Five, I've got a positive on this one. And where did Receiver go?" He said gleefully into the mic, happy to of gotten a high powered Guv device to scavenge for more data. They had been finding vast amounts of Guv technology from the ruins of the Katana, it had helped with the Re-Conquest of Earth greatly, and they might of been far less prepared for what the Guv had in store.
"This is Lighthouse, we'll be right over. Receiver was interrupted by several communications issues, they'll be back on the waves in a second." Came the gruff reply, the crew working in the Lighthouse weren't especially fond of Aro, most of them having once been citizens of First City. Aro had been on a mission to destroy it when his adventure first began, and he had succeeded in the long run, even though it was the Guv who destroyed it. Having created the Portals in the middle of it. Aro had been on the Harrison's hovercraft when he had seen it wipe the city out, sucking up the tall buildings like an Old-Earth vacuum cleaner. He hadn't known anyone had survived the disaster until afterwards. They apparently were happy he had helped free them from Guv ruling, but weren't too impressed with the fact he also killed most everyone in the city.
"Aro, what are you doing?" screamed one of the crewmembers through the headset, and Aro jerked himself back to attention. His hand was pressed on one of the various buttons cluttered across the panel he had found working. The entire machine seemed to be booting up, the lights dotted across the wall glowing brightly.
"I-" He started, cut off from a sudden explosion. The shock sent him flying off of the rubble, in the opposite direction of the Hyperjet. The intercom began filling up with reports of radiation and massive amounts of released energy, all scolding him for an idiotic thing he shouldn't of done.
"Sir! We have multiple energy sources approaching at light speed." Came one of the voices, alarming Aro even more. But what he suddenly saw before him made him feel even worse.
As his helpless body tilted backwards, he suddenly witnessed several stars become blackened in the night sky, then reappear, only to be warped at an almost unrecognizable level. Reports of Pirate Embassy ships coming in range reached his small suit, and he could only stare as one of the infamous Pirate Embassy destroyers came into view.
The Pirate Embassy had been one of the Freethinker's worst fiends since the Exodus, and had plagued them ever since they bothered rescuing one of their prisoners. Even though Jillian had proved herself to them shortly thereafter, and had helped in many ways to defeat the Guv and it's allies. It was made up of several alien species united by their hatred for the Stri'Suuns, an orange colored species who had peacefully ruled over the various planets in it's system, and Jillian happened to be of that species as well.
After the Freethinkers had colonized Havaria, the Embassy took it's time to build up a large enough fleet to attack successfully. And successful their attack was, they had quickly pushed the military into submission, having had the element of surprise on their hands. Aro hadn't been present during the Wars of Rain, he had been training for battle on an Old-Earth ship called the USNS Solaris, which had trained him in space and ground combat even more than needed, making him one of their most valuable fighters. From what he was told though, they were able to push the Embassy off the planet with the help of the rebelling civilians, who had been previously captured. A few of the civilians had become traitors in attempt to save themselves, the Embassy had spared them, but they were forced to enlist in their military and fight the Freethinkers in return. Most of the traitors died shortly before the Wars of Rain ended, but a few ended up becoming massive forces in the Embassy. All of the traitors were currently dead, though. Aro and the remaining bit of the Freethinkers had fought them off and killed them all. It cost them though, and they were forced to nuke the remnants of First City.
The Pirate Embassy was known for it's deadly destroyer class ships, which were shaped like a massive "T", except smoothed out and covered in weaponry. They had taken out many of the Freethinker ships before they found the weak points. Aro had believed they had taken out most of the destroyers, but it appeared that he was wrong. He soon realized their mistake. They hadn't thought that the Embassy would rebuild the dreaded class, and it appeared they had upgraded it as well. The "Y" shaped Lighthouse stealth and communications cruiser wouldn't be able to hold up against it for even a few seconds, and the tiny cargo Receiver would be killed in one blast from the Ship to Ship combat blasters. He wanted to help, he wanted to be inside his Hyperjet and blasting the hull of that Destroyer. But he was helpless floating out here, the only thing he could do was watch.

"This is Lighthouse, status repo-"

"WE'RE TRYING TO RAISE OUR SHIELDS CAP-"

"THEY'VE GOT US IN A MAGNETIC FIELD!"

"THEY'RE CHARGING WEAPONS S-"

Aro stared as a massive explosion rocked the ship in his sight, looking on in horror as unseen lasers tore apart the Lighthouse. For a moment he could still hear the screams on the intercom, as he person was suddenly fried or sucked out into space where they would suffer a terrible painful fate. Space warfare was a terrible thing, and the many crewmembers would be remembered in history. Both by their families, and by every civilian both on Earth and Havaria. Even though he knew only the "heroes" of the wars would be remembered. Like him, Jayk, Jillian, Matt, Anders, and Greggory, all of them would be etched into the memorial.
The dust surrounded him, and he felt himself being pushed backwards nearer to the Hyperjet. Before long he felt his body pressing up against the ice cold body of the ship, glad to be near safety. The only problem was, that intercom was still running.
"THIS IS RECEIVER. THEY'VE GOT US IN A MAGNETIC FIELD. THEY'RE ATTEMPTING TO DOCK WITH US AND-"

Then it went blank, and he sat there. Latched onto his ship with no hope of rescue.

_________________________________________________________________________