Young Writers Society

As Grif led her through the ship, she noticed her palms were sweatier than usual. She hated meeting new people. Not to mention, the ship looked nothing like what a normal place is. She expected rooms, with walls, perhaps a homely feel. In fact, in some places, there weren't even walls! Pipes turned left, right, twisted back around, then shot into the floor (and where ever that, subsequently, lead to) only to see another one shoot up next to it. The pipes freaked her out, and the fact that some areas were hotter than other was a bit odd. She was far from obsessive, but just enough to be bothered by things not being the same, everywhere.

As they came to what Suzanne supposed was her quarters, she saw the kitchen near by. "Oh!" She turned to Grif, excited. "You cook?"

He made a blank face then laughed a little bit. "I tried to avoid the kitchen, if I can."

"I... see."

He opened the door way to her room, but before stepping inside she quickly muttered, "So I suppose I can touch somethings then, yes? Otherwise living here will be quite a challenge."

Grif left Suzanne at her quarters and proceeded to the command center. The Gryphon II was still idle. All he had to do was wait for Adelaide.

He didn't have to wait for long.

"GRIF! SOMEONE ELSE IS ON THE SHIP!" Grif moved. In a second he was down the hall. Without halting he pulled out his weapon and burst into her quarters, ready to kill the intruder.

There was no intruder in sight.

"What happened?"

"I was just putting my stuff down-"

"Where?"

"On the night stand," Suzanne wailed. Grif walked over to the night stand.

"I can't stand this, it is just too much. I feel claustrophobic... I need some air."

"Take a shower, you'll feel better," Grif said. He watched Suzanne gather some clothes. Then, he quickly showed her how to operate the shower. After she closed the door, he returned to the night stand. He touched it and Adelaide appeared before him.

"Hey, she called me. I just followed protocols," Adelaide said.

"You don't follow them, you ignore them. That's how you're built. Furthermore; don't enter her quarters without her permission. I don't need a jumpy passenger."

"I don't follow protocols, I ignore them," Adelaide said sarcastically.

"I'm serious. Don't make her go crazy and do something stupid. We're at war now."

"You're no fun. Fine. Is there anything else I can do?"

"Get us underway. You have instructions for me?"

"Yes."

"We'll talk about it once Suzanne gets out of the shower," Grif said, walking to his quarters.

It took three hours, but eventually she emerged from her room.

"How are you feeling?" Grif asked.

"Much better," she said.

"Good. I investigated the ship and I found out the cause of your disturbance. I'd like you to meet Adelaide." Right on cue, Adelaide flickered on.

"I'm sorry I gave you such a fright. Your night stand has an interactive surface, so when you touched it, I thought you were calling me."

"That's okay," Suzanne said.

"I have your orders from Nate by the way. Suzanne, you're the highest rated Medical Technician. Your task is to analyze the Conquerer's physical characteristics. Grif, your orders are to rendezvous with the Banhammer, Highwind, and the Wandering Hangman. After this, you will proceed with these ships to the YWS Outpost to investigate the damage done. After this, you must report the findings to Nate. Expect heavy enemy activity in the vicinity of the outpost."

"Is that all?" Grif asked.

"You want more? Hang on, we're being hailed by the Banhammer."

"Put it through."

"Hey--LOSER--wake up man, jeez. You sleep more than anyone I know," Phoenix buzzed in my ear.

"That's because you really only 'know' Quiz and Mag--and they don't sleep. They're holograms. Like you," I mumbled from the Helm. I'd fallen asleep with my cheek in my hand, propped up on my elbow on the arm of the chair.

"Yeah, whatever--we're here."

"Wha--already?" I asked.

"Yes, indeed. It appears that, ah...Charlie's adjustments made quite a difference in speed," Ego chimed in.

"It definitely helped that they weren't far away," Quiz said.

I stood up from the Helm and walked over to the Comm center to open a channel to Grif. I smiled when I saw his location on the charts.

"Wow, I'd say Charlie's adjustments made QUITE the difference," I mused. "Nice work on the parking job, Triad."

"Thought you'd like that touch," Phoenix said with a laugh.

"Captain Hunter of the Banhammer here, please respond Grif," I said, sitting back down at the Helm to get myself on his screen.

The screen flickered to life and Grif was there, his face neutral.

"Grif here, Dono, what's your status? We've been instructed to meet up with you and then rendezvous with the Highwind,"

"Good to go," I replied. "Fueled, armed, and ready."

"How soon can we meet up?" Grif asked.

I grinned. "How about now?"

My fingers flew across the small keypad on the arm of my chair, and I winked at Grif.

Name: Rickage I prefer Rick

Rank: 1 basic fighing tech

Organization: CCF

Ship/Plane/Fighter: None

Important Info: Strong, fast, and good with guns and swords

Bio: Rick was asked by Adam to join the CCF. Rick is a rank 1 basic fighting tech. He is around 5'5" and kind of chunky. Rick has blown Adam's ship up in the past. Rick carries a gun and a sword. He's well known for sneaking in on people to get evidence.

Adam reviewed the Data over and over again, trying to draw some new conclusion from it. They would meet with the Banhammer and Gryphon II in a few hours. Orbiting the planet Ellisa. Everyone seemed on edge, even the Assassins were more jumpy than usual.

A chime echoed from Adam's door, it was Ares. "Come in," Adam said.

"How is the Gungnar?" Ares asked.

"Just as wonderful as the day I designed her." He plopped down on the bed, examining the scattered documents. "You cant read those, they're classified information."

"I really dont care," Ares said, "Dan wanted me to check you out while we on board. Make sure your alligiance was placed properly."

"Is that a threat?" Adam got to his feet, facing the superiorly trained Ares.

"Just a bit of Advice. Don't strain yourself." With a fluidic motion Ares left. Adam paced his room, angry and a little scared. He didn't want to betray the CCF, but at the same time there were more important things to deal with.

"Colin, send all the data to my Lab. I might get a better analysis from there."

"Of course," the disembodied voice was not accompined by the usual hologram. Colin never did enjoy his holographic form. Adam placed a hand on the wall. It slid back revealing a hidden elevator. He rode it for a few econds before arriving at his lab.

Hidden on the Highwind, very few people knew it was there. Adam used some of his more advanced scans as he attempted to gain more information from the already limited supply. "be sure and tell me when we get to Ellisa," Adam said to Colin, "I have to message Dono and Griff once we reach orbit. I think our "Pirate" will be joining us as well."

Name: Reakeda (aka:Reak)

Rank: 1 star fighter
Organization: YWS
Ship/Plane: none

Bio: Standing exactly five feet tall, and weighing approximately 115lbs, Reak is small and fast. Her thick brown hair is cropped close to her head, causing many to mistake her as a male. She's proficiant with daggers and guns. She prefers quick, stealth attacks as a opposed to prolonged combat, but does decently in either.

Suzanne stared at Adelaide while Grif spoke with who ever it was that has wanted to speak to him. She wasn't paying much attention.

"So I just have to look at their physical characteristics? I suppose I can only hope we find some of them dead... it will be a lot easier to dissect something--or should I say someone?--when it's dead..."


"Are you talking to me?" Adelaide looked a bit annoyed, or maybe surprised.


"Er, no. Sorry. Thinking out loud, I guess."

Grif turned around, also with an odd look on his face. "We're going to be meeting up with Dono on the Banhammer soon.

"Is there anything dead on that ship that I can dissect?" Suzanne asked, curiousity chiming in her voice.

Adelaide broke into Suzanne's thoughts. "Nothing on the Banhammer is dead. Which means there is nothing to dissect. And even if you are one of the best medics we could have gotten, why do you have to be so fixated on cutting things up?

"I specialize in autopsies and comparisons of biological formations. It's a habit."

Grif briefly glanced at her, obviously being a bit more weirded out by Suzanne than he was before.

A beep broke Grif's stare.

"The Banhammer just de-cloaked a kilometer off our starboard side. The Banhammer filled the view screen.

"How did they get so close without us knowing?"

"I don't know. I'll analyze that later," Adelaide said. Suzanne stared at the screen, fascinated.

"What a show off. Match our bearings."

"We're being hailed by the Wandering Hangman, they're coming up on us."

"This is the Gryphon," Grif said.

"Avast! We be ready to sail the skies with ye!" Saint Razorblade responded.

"O-kay..." Grif said. "Activating forum jump engines..."

And with that, the three ships jumped for Ellisa.

Adam looked out his window onto the faintly blue planet of Ellisa. The massive green forests could be seen even from space, making it eye candy to anyone looking for a place to relax. The largest Flora city, Blosimia was glowing bright near the dark horizon of the Planet.

The Floras are so peaceful, Adam thought, If only we could find that kind of peace.

"Adam," Colin appeared next to him," The Gryphon, Banhammer and Wandering Hangman are approaching."

"Right, I'll be on the bridge in a moment." With a last glance at the beautiful planet he headed for the bridge.

Most of his crew were already waiting. Matt and Rick were still trying to form a strategy While Alice watched the sensors. A blaze of light filled the view screen as three ships dropped out of Forum Jump.

"Looks like a conference call," Alice said. She clicked a few buttons and three images appeared on the screen. Dono, Griff and Saint Razorblade were staring at Adam.

"Are we ready to head out?" Adam asked the other captains.

"Aye you scally wag," replied Razorblade.

"Right," Griff said, clearly thrown by Saint Razorblades odd dialect.

"Let's just go," Dono said. The screens cut out. Bella quickly typed in the coordinates to the Outpost, lining the Highwind up with the other three ships. Adam watched as the Gryphon streaked away. Then the Banhammer followed by the Wandering Hangman.

Light exploded across the screen, zipping bye while still allowing Adam to see the other ships. This should be an interesting day, He took his chair and kept watch, wondering what would await them at the Outpost.

***I'm sorry, I missed A LOT! If someone, particularly someone who knows my character semi-well, could just throw me in at some point in time, so that I Could post, I would be forever greatful. Thank you!*** *Bella***

After checking all the fighters, Kitty headed towards the Navigation room.

"Hey, Alice, hi Bella, how much further do we need to go?" Kitty called out, moving some maps so she could sit down on the edge of a rather low table.

"Not too far, where's Someguy?" Bella asked.

"I left him with Matt and Rick," Kitty replied.

"You did what?" Alice demanded.

"Relax, Nutty said she'd keep an eye on them."

"And that's supposed to make us feel better?" Bella raised an eyebrow and before Heather could respond, her mobile began to vibrate. She read the text through twice, her face splitting into a wide smile.

"I'm now officially a captain!" Kitty exclaimed.

"Your ship's ready? That's great, congratulations Heather," Alice sprang up and hugged her briefly.

"Yeah, Tabitha is going to drive her over and I'll jump ships," Kitty explained.

"Who's Tabitha?" Bella asked.

"One of my new A.I.'s," Kitty replied.

"You're trusting an A.I. with your ship?" Alice demanded, rolling her eyes.

________________________
How's that Bella?

***Thanks Kitty...although I'm not quite sure what to post still***

Bella grabbed her communication device, calling Adam.

"What's up, Bells?"

"We're about ten minutes away."

"Okay."


***There, now I feel like I did something...***

We jumped out of hyperspace about ten seconds after the Gryphon, just in time to see her shields take a hit on her starboard side. Her shields held well, of course. the Gryphon was not something to be taken lightly.

The second we popped into regular space, I cut the engines and flipped on the cloaking: to the enemy, it would look like a ghost plasma trail from the Gryphon's engines, nothing more.

"Scanning," Quiz said to me. I grinned. It was awesome having AIs that could darn near ready my mind.

"Looks like...two Cruisers, unknown class, a Command Carrier of unknown class--scrambling fighters--and a Destroyer," Phoenix said, completely in his element. Once the fighting started, he was all business.

We ran on silent, heading around the Port side of the enemy fleet. Two more signatures popped up on sensors, and Mag announced, "Highwind and Hangman inbound."

I considered hailing them with a strategy, but that was Grif's thing--let him bark the orders, I thought.

The outpost was still largely intact, and the enemy craft had encircled it. We'd appeared right in front of them, with the carrier on the far side of the outpost and the cruisers and destroyer on this side of it.

"Saint, engage the destroyer. Me and Adam will engage the cruisers. Hunter..."

"Roger that," I replied.

The Gryphon dropped into the system.

"I'm registering four ships, a Command Carrier with two cruisers and a destroyer escort. Targets are 600 kilometers away and are orbiting the remains of the outpost."

"Jam their transmissions, all frequencies. Suzanne, you know your station," Grif said. On the trip, he had showed her how to use the Gryphon's weaponry. Now it was time for some live fire practice.

"Jammer pods activated. The other ships are coming through. One of the cruisers has opened fire, some form of plasma beam. Took some power from the shields, but no damage," Adelaide reported.

"Saint, engage the destroyer. Me and Adam will engage the cruisers. Hunter..."

"Roger that," he replied.

"The Hypervelocity thingy is charging up."

"Right, we'll close to 200 km before we use that."

"The Banhammer has gone into stealth mode. He'll let us know when he's in position. The Carrier's fighters are on afterburner and will be here in about a minute. The Highwind is deploying fighters as well, but they're outnumbered," Adelaide said.

"We can take care of some of the fighters if they stay close to us. In the mean time, let's close up on the targets," Grif said. More particle beams splashed off the forward shields as the Gryphon accelerated.

Red lights flashed across the bridge as the crew scrambled, "Rick, full volly of disruptors, Matt charge the main cannons. Alice, run a full spectrum of scans on the ship. Colin, try and hack the enemies computers, but only if you can avoid detection."

The Highwind's shields pulsed as enemy fire was absorbed. Small blue-white energy blasts zoomed forward out of the Highwind's cannons. The Gryphon sailed along side the Highwind, blasting away.

"Main cannons at 85% charge. 2 turrets have overheated," Matt reported.

"Alice," what are their shields at?" Adam asked.

"It's hard to tell. From these scans we've barely made a dent."

"Rick, start targeting fighters, we dont want to lose any of ours." The tiny secks were zooming around space, attempting to destroy each other while the larger ships unloaded their weapons into each other.

Adam diverted power to the shields, they couldn't take much more of this.