CL//Onix.Damian&decrypt

[Proteuz]

Stardate 209.46

Thick smoke lay stagnant in the air of what could be best described as a makeshift triage room. The room itself was quite small and cramped, dimly lit. Onix struggled to sit up on the dilapidated cot tucked against the wall. His head was pounding with intense pain as he raised his gaze to the doorway. A rugged looking dark-skinned man stood there. He wore a luxurious purple jacket with canary yellow frills over a white formal shirt tucked into a pair of purple dress pants. "We were not sure you were going to make it." The man said as he approached Onix.

The man continued, "My name is Trey al'Shain and I must say, you are clearly a talented man." pausing to retrieve a metallic canister from inside his jacket. He pulled out two spice tobics,  made from finely crushed spice crystals rolled in a synthetic leaf. Trey lit his tobic and handed Onix the second and a matchbox. "High-grade spice. It will help you recover from your wounds." Onix's entire body ached  but the worst was his eye. It was puzzling how something no longer there could cause such searing pain, and yet it did.

"I have an offer for you Onix Damian. I would like to sponsor the foundation of your star trader charter." Onix's head immediately flooded in questions. Operating a charter is an opportunity of a life time, more accurately many lifetimes. Surely this Trey al'Shain has conditions, nothing is free. "You must be asking yourself, why? Why would I bestow this gift to a stranger? Wise question to ask... and yet, does it matter? Operating a charter can mean riches beyond belief in capable measured hands. I think that you know this already."

Onix sat silently, measuring the man that stood before him. Another wave of searing pain where his eye used to be. "Why me? There were dozens of combatants in the pit fighting tournament and no other that won their match and yet looked like the loser by the end." Trey puffed his tobic exhaling a sweet heavy plume of smoke before he responded.

"Mr. Damian, no other combatant beat who you beat. The man who took your eye, was a 303 washout. To even be considered for the 303 is a testament to ones physical prowess. The man you killed was expected to win this tournament and he was snuffed out by a name no one knows. Not only that but that was after he stuck his thumb into your skull. You have proven yourself to be more than proficient with your blade, durable and efficient. To put it simply, I have work for a man of your skills. You will be compensated with credits along the way and you will help me mold this quadrant in my vision. Now should I call you Mr. Damian or Captain Damian?"

Onix puffed his tobic as he listened, though he had to hide a cough when Trey said the man was a 303 washout. Had he been a full fledged 303 operative surely things would have ended differently, and yet things are as they are now.  Onix rose to his feet fighting his equilibrium and the pain in his body. "You may call me Captain."

[fallen]

<3 love this story!

I hope your captain was the champion of the pit fights

[Proteuz]

Thanks for the love! This is intended to be the beginning of a small STF project. In an ideal world I'll add more entries to Captain Damian's exploits along with a character build guide if he is successful.

[Proteuz]

Stardate 210.03

Onix sat in a modest sized room. As far as captain's quarters went, he had everything he needed. A display screen showed the Longbolt's current position, plotted course and estimated time of arrival. Below that screen, another display held information on his open contracts he had agreed to take on. To the right of the dual display unit he kept a crew manifest, half of whom he still did not know their names.

Trey Al'shain had arranged the purchase of this Longbolt cruiser and the recruitment of it's crew. Now it was Onix' responsibility... all of it. He thought that losing an eye gave him a headache but all of this was just too much.

Onix eyed a unlabeled glass bottle that was missing a quarter of it's caramel colored liquid. A personal gift from Trey Al'Shain as if the ship was not enough. "Distilled Spice for the weary mind! You will wish you had more, Captain!" He had said before he sent him on this assignment. Errand seemed more like it. Onix was puzzled by his contracts from Mr. Al'Shain. He had sponsored the charter foundation 7 weeks prior based off of his ability to kill dangerous men and yet all of his assignments had been rather menial. Deliver the datacube to an old diplomat. Escort this merchant to a meeting.  The void was indeed dangerous without worrying about combat, and yet all this errand running was leaving Onix feeling unfulfilled. Unfulfilled and thirsty.

As he reached for the bottle of Spice Rum the communication node rang to life as it always did. "Captain! Contact on the scanners! Preliminary scans tell us it's an independant craft. It's small and fast-" Onix did not care to hear any more analysis. He wanted to do something other than play errand boy for Mr
Al'Shain. He wanted to start thinking about a charter beyond whatever smoke and mirror game Al'Shain was setting up. "Navigator set course for intercept. Let's see why they're skulking around."

The Longbolt groaned as it set upon it's new course. Onix began his way towards the bridge, descending down a narrow steel staircase. The airlock to the bridge opened and all heads turned his way. "There are credits on that ship for all of us, whatever they are carrying it must be valuable as fast as they are travelling." Onix announced to the bridge. "Aye, unfortunately Captain they are far out of our range now. This ship... its strengths lay in reconnaissance not interception."

Onix was clearly disappointed with this news. "How did they get through our interdiction range so quickly?" A junior navigator turned from his station to respond meekly "Captain, if you want to raid the stars we will need to retrofit the ship. I've prepared a list of components in need of upgrade if you have a moment?"

It gets worse and worse Onix thought to himself. Contracts, paychecks, profit loss and work orders. He had thought himself a swordsman but as a captain he seemed more a penman. Still, the navigator was right. The Longbolt was reliable enough for long trips, ran quiet enough to avoid detection at long ranges but it was toothless. "Let's see the list then."

As if surprised the navigator stammered "Creating sharp changes in power distribution threaten to crash the system software. Thrusters take entirely too long to synchronize with each other. The Longbolt is armed with two torpedo launchers and a plasma cannon that are several generations behind the cutting edge. If we mean to take on combat roles we need new weapons, a better power modulator and the thrusters need maintenance."

Onix listened as he thought of that bottle of spice rum in his quarters. The navigator was right. The void was dangerous and they were small fish in a sea of sharks.

Suddenly the sensors in the bridge began flashing and a siren could be heard across the Longbolt

"Independants! Must be an escort! They are right on top of us. Proximity alarm says we have been compromised!" Onix approached the display for a closer look when an explosion shook the ship. A breaching charge meant that him and his crew were in immediate danger. Hostiles were on his ship.

"Arm yourselves! We live to see a new day, they do not!" Onix bellowed to his crew. As he looked around his bridge he realized he was surrounded by people new to the chaos of combat. Onix strode towards the sound of the explosion when another charge detonated blowing a hole in the bridge airlock. Smoke spilled through the new opening,  and from the smoke came the hostile forces.

The first man through the smoke wielded a sword and charged Onix. Onix drew his blade from the scabbard on his hip as he stepped in towards the hostile swordsman. With a quick spin move and an outstretched arm Onix had made crippling cuts knocking the swordsman  off his feet and simultaneously severing ligaments in his leg. He began to scream in pain but Onix was already on his way to his next target.

A soldier wielding a snubber had charged into the bridge and was firing at a pilot who was taking cover behind a pillar. The soldier did not see his swordsman fall and his face was full of shock when Onix delivered a horizontal slash that freed the man's head from his body.

Onix' crew had began to recover from the immediate shock as pilots, navigators and electronic technicians began trading fire with the boarding  forces. Onix surveyed the bridge. His crew were not killers that was clear, but they didn't want to die and as captain it was his responsibility to keep them alive.

There were 6 hostiles in the bridge providing suppressing fire as they leap frogged forward in a cover-to-cover manner. This was bad. Onix crouched behind a low wall and advanced towards the hostile forces. As he positioned himself for an ambush a Longbolt mechanic opened fire from the breach with a sub-machinegun.

Finally good news, that must mean the Longbolt crew had overcome any other boarding party. What appeared to be the hostile officer barked out his order "Secure the flank and kill that captain! You two secure the breach, the rest on me!" As the soldiers began to regroup  Onix quickly came up with his plan. His crew was panicked and most seemed as if they never saw combat, he needed to end this himself.

Onix locked eyes with the pilot he had saved moments before who was now armed with a pistol. Onix motioned for him to hold his position behind the pillar. The 4 hostile soldiers pressed forward as expected and Onix sprung to action catching the boarding party by surprise. Onix ran his blade through the belly of the first soldier, freeing the blade by cutting through below the rib cage. The second soldier turned and raised a pistol towards Onix but he was too slow. A vertical chop sliced through the soldier's forearm causing him to drop the pistol. Onix caught the firearm in his left hand and put a hole through the second soldier's temple with his own sidearm.

The nearby Longbolt pilot peeked out from behind cover and fired his pistol hitting the 3rd soldier center mass knocking him to the ground. The hunters became the hunted as the tides turned in the battle for the Longbolt bridge.

"Throw your weapons and we will grant you mercy!" Onix yelled out. Seconds past. Tense seconds, before one by one the remaining soldiers dropped their guns. "On your knees." Onix ordered the captives. "The mercy I offer you is a painless death!" Onix swung his sword three times, severing three heads and ending this wave of violence on his bridge .

"We'll send these independants a receipt for their actions today" Onix announced. "Load them on their boarding pod" Moving quickly the crew of the Longbolt collect the corpses of the enemy. Soon the boarding pod is loaded with a pile of dead bodies and limbs.. In total the enemy had sent twelve combatants to over power the ship. Onix had ended four men himself before executing three others. His crew had suffered many injuries, but only two fatalities. These numbers told him that despite their shock and awe tactics this crew was inefficient, inexperienced. Before returning the pod to the independant ship he dipped his blade into the blood of his enemy. Onix left a message for those that opposed him today. The airlock to the boarding pod read "REAP WHAT YOU SOW"

As the boarding pod re-attached to the independant's ship the opposing ship turned to the stars.  Onix' message had been heard loud and clear.

[fallen]

Great to see such action the bridge. STF is full of moments like this and enjoy reading them come alive.

[LordofSyn]

youtu.be/1xfTusNE9yqQ

Episode 1 of his Assassin Playthrough on Hard difficulty.