Young Writers Society

This storybook is cool. You know, I want to do the same kinda thing with my friend Achitaka with super heros where I'm a demi-god of thunder who talks like the Tick and he's a mysterious ninja. So far he still hasn't gotten back to me on it yet.

I've always wondered, what does SPEW mean? Does it have something to do with ads on the site or is it an abbreviation for when someone throws up?

(Please excuse the state of my post, I just got up this morning and the lights aren't all on yet. You know, in my head.)

The answer to your question is in the resource section.

Grif read over the PM.

The battle with the Spam fleet had turned into an utter rout. They had withdrawn to their own sectors in disarray.

The ships that had fought them were in terrible shape though. The SPEW Peregrine and the SPEW Shiva were the only ones that escaped damage. The YWS Buchanan had been mauled. Even from the Gryphon Grif could see the tangled metal hull of the Buchanan. It was a miracle that Firestarter had managed to bring that thing all the way back to YWS.

For the most part the repairs were completed and Grif looked forward to his next patrol.

Grif-

1. Move ship to attached coordinates.

2. Patrol area for 30 days.

3. Be advised that YWS Highwind and SPEW Peregrine are in neighboring sectors and can be called upon. You may be called upon to assist either

-Nate

A new PM entered.

Grif-

I just read your PM. Interesting stuff. Mind if I come along?

-Adelaide

Grif was surprised. Adelaide was the AI that ran the SPEW Shipyards. He hadn't seen her for a long time, since the end of the SPEW-CCF war. Grif thought about typing a reply, then thought better of it.

"I take it you're all ready integrated with the ship?" Grif said quietly. An AI console flickered on.

"I didn't think you'd figure it out so quickly," Adelaide said with a smirk. Grif laughed.

"You don't send invitations. Why do you want to go on one of these patrols?"

"I've been going over some of your latest battle recordings and I found some interesting transmissions. Ugh..." she said, making a face.

"What?"

"Tact, Watcher? I thought you'd be more creative with the dumb AI names than that."

"Don't change the subject."

"Fine. What about the transmissions has brought you here?"

"The Spammians were searching for something. It could be that this something could be nearby and if it is, you'll need someone smart to analyze it, instead of these peabrains you carry around."

Grif shrugged. What could he do? Make her leave?

"Let's disembark," Grif said.

"I've all ready begun," she said smugly. In the distance, the humming of the engines intensified.

Repairs seemd to take forever. The Omega containment field nearly collapsed a number of times, forcing the Station to evacuate while Adam restabilzed it.

"We're ready to head out!" Adam informed his Crew after a month of repairs, "The Highwind is fully functional and we've recieved a nice little refit."

"What's our new mission then, captain?" asked Nutty.

"Nothing to exciting, just patroling the Void with the Gryphon and Peregrine."

"How dull," remarked Alice.

"Orders are orders. Take your stations and let's sail into the sea of space!" There was a hustle from the conference room. Everyone took their stations, activating the systems one by one.

Light flashed, confirmation beeps and bells told Adam the ship was ready. Her glistening hull eased out of the docking bay, catching the rays from the far off sun.

Blue flames rippled from the rear of the ship, propeeling it forward. Further they went from the Station, leaving behind a long rest.

"We're clear for Forum Jump Speed," said Matt.

"Max speed to the coordinates set in Nate's PM," Adam informed his helmsman. With a few clicks the Highwind shot across space in a dazzle of blue streaks.

The quiet humming of the engines had lulled Grif to sleep. He opened his eyes and glanced at the ship panels. Everything was green across the board.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Almost nine hours," Adelaide answered.

"Anything happen?"

"The SPEW Peregrine sent us a message telling us that she's on station. I acknowledged it. When we reached our station, I sent out a similar communication."

"That's it?"

"No, I also have fighters flying picket patrols to expand our detection radius and our reaction time."

"What else?"

"That's all." Adelaide said.

"You want to tell me what I'm walking into? Or do you want to wait until the last moment?" Grif asked.

"It would be more fun the other way," she said slyly.

"Show me," Grif said.

"Fine, we'll do it your way," she said. The display changed.

"When you first entered the area, the Spammians were talking to each other about searching for a ship.

At first I thought that they were talking about your ship, but I realized it couldn't be; if they knew your ship was coming in advance then they would have known about the others and they wouldn't have been so surprised by you."

"They seem organized enough."

"Yes, but only because they were in a search pattern. Trust me, they were looking for something."

"What?"

"Another ship. I've been looking for lost ships in the area, but there isn't that much to go off of in this sector."

"You think they'll enter this sector?"

"I think there is a good chance of it. No one really knows what's in the void, so why not search it?"

"So you're here in case we find a ship?"

"Pretty much." A beep sounded. "Looks like there is a ship on our long range sensors," Adelaide said.

The Highwind fell into normal space, immediatly detecting the Peregrine and Gryphon. A small light flashed on Adam's control panel, Adelaide appeared on his screen.

"Well, long time no see," Adam mused.

"Indeed, I am connecting your sensors to the rest of the ships. That way we will all be able to see what is coming."

"Good thinking, Well run sensor sweeps on all spectrums for ya."

"Much appreciated." the screen went black, Adam clicked his panel a few times, displaying the combined senor readings.

"So," said Matt, "What's our plan of action?"

"Honestly, Matt," muttered Alice, "don't you pay attention at all? We're running sensor sweeps. The question is what are we looking for?"

"Pirates," Adam said, "The Void is riddled with unlawfulness. Nate wants to try and establish some order around here since it is the most direct route to certain places. Shouldn't be too hard, We;ve taken on pirates before."

"Yeah," Alice activated a few commands, first was the radiation scan, then the energy scan, thermal scans, and bio scans. "If it's out there, we'll detect it."

Adam sat in his chair, wondering what the Spammians were doing. Wondering if they were sitting just outside of sensor range. There are so many people in this galaxy, what could they possible want here?

"We lost it," Adelaide said.

"Where was the last whisper?" Grif asked.

"Near the High Flyer" Adelaide said.

"Send Crysi the last known coordinates of the whisper."

"Done," Adelaide said. The room was silent. Adelaide disappeared and Grif looked over the navigational displays. The Highwind and the Peregrine were both to the left of the Gryphon; seperated by a complete jump.

Grif turned away from the displays and wondered what Adelaide found to do during the time where her massive coordinating abilities weren't needed. Suddenly, a quiet melody played over the speakers. It was clumsy and the speakers went quiet after a few moments.

"It needs more work," Adelaide said.

"I didn't know you did music," Grif said.

"It's really difficult, so creative and technical all at the same time. A real challenge," Adelaide said. "We got another whisper, this one is closer."

"Relay the data to the others," Grif said.

"It's firming up, it's confirmed, someone is slowing down."

"How big?"

"A light frigate or a corvette, here it comes... it's a frigate. It's identifying itself as the TW Mighty Duck."

"Ducksworthy? What's he doing in YWS Space?" Grif asked.

"I don't know, but he's got company, there are a lot more whispers, they're around the same coordinates. He's sending out an open hail."

"Go ahead," Grif said.

"Any YWS ships, this is Ducksworthy, I request immediate-" the message was cut off abruptly.

"He's lost a comm relay, a Pillar class cruiser just decelerated right on top of him. The Peregrine and the Highwind are moving to help him," Adelaide said.

"We're going too. Get us moving," Grif said.

The Gryphon jumped out towards Ducksworthy.

This is getting really action packed and I love your styles of writing. Keep up the good work!

The Highwind dropped out of Forum Jump between the Mighty Duck and the Pillar class vessels. The shields pulsed and flared as they defended the already damaged ship.

Adam held to his chair tightly, attempting to compensate for shield loss. “Fire a full volley, try and disable their weapons!”

“Right!” Alice was quick, her nimble fingers slicing the commands and giving the enemy ships something to think about. Another cruiser dropped out of Forum Jump, opening fire on the Mighty Duck.

“Bring us around, charge the beam cannons and aim for the second ship.”

Bella swirled her fingers on the panel, moving the Highwind into position.

“Oh my Goddess,” Alice muttered, the second Pillar ship had already charged its main weapon; the pulsing orb of light was about to b released.

“Divert all power to forward shields, brace for impact.” Adam diverted as much power to the shields as possible, praying it would be enough. The scans were flashing red, the Highwind would never survive this. “I just want you all to know…”

A flash of green pierced the empty space, scoring a direct hit on the TW, its aim was disrupted just as the main cannon was fired. The blazing red energy grazed the Highwind, barely reducing its protective shell.

“Thought you could use some help,” Jenna’s face beamed from the bridge of the Peregrine.

“Thanks,” Adam replied, “check on Ducksworthy, we’ll finish off the TW ship.” the screen cut out as the Peregrine zipped around the Highwind. “Fire the cannons!”

“Roger,” Alice pressed one button, bright blue power gushed from the main cannons. It traveled the straight path right to the ships hull, destroying their weapons array. The first ship was still after Ducksworthy, the Peregrine had used most of its energy on the blast to save the Highwind. Things were looking grim as Adam commanded his ship forward.

A sudden volley ripped through space, the Gryphon had arrived at last; unloading tons of power into the side of TW vessel.

The Pillar had just finished firing a volley when the Gryphon's volley arrived.

The Pillar had excellent shielding, being a cruiser. It had withstood the conventional attacks well. SPEW weaponry was far from conventional though. The lasers were able to deliver continuous beams of energy, instead of the short bursts of energy. It was also able deliver more power than normal lasers.

The result was nothing short of spectacular, the entire shields of the Pillar were drained as the beams splattered against the ship. Then, with a flicker, the shields died, leaving the Pillar vulnerable to the missiles the Gryphon had just launched. The lasers also did damage, now that the Pillar's shields were down. The Gryphon usually focused on the engines, but Adelaide had decided to go for the forward missile magazine.

The result was amazing. The entire forward section exploded open, sending the aft section spiraling away.

"Sit-rep," Grif said.

"Target destroyed, the second Pillar's weapons have been disabled. The Peregrine and the Highwind are still doing damage assessments. The Mighty Duck has been heavily damaged."

"Any word from Ducksworthy?"

"Nothing, his comm system is still out."

"What about the Pillars?"

"They have TW paintings, but the transponders are old. They may have been part of their fleet, but there captains went mercenary. No idea who they are. The Highwind just disabled the engines of the Pillar. Nate is sending some CCF Assassins to board the ship. We just got orders," Adelaide explained hastily.

Adam recived a message from Sabradan, it was encoded in the encrption program Adam had created those many moons ago. After a few quick commands the file opened at once.

Adam,

I've sent Ares and Dreamy on the CCF Gungnar, they have a unit of Assassins ready to strike. I want you to go with them.

The Boss

Adam sighed, the Gungnar would arrive shortly. He had to get the crew ready for his hopefully short absence. He grabbed the elevator to the third level and went to the weapon locker.

"What are you doing?" Alice asked, seeing Adam put a number of clips into an armoured jacket was little unerving.

"I have to go with the CCF to the TW ship. We shouldn't be long."

"You're leaving us here?"

"I have to, You'll be in charge while I'm gone." He slipped strapped a few knives in well hidden places along his person.

"Aren't you going to tell them bye?"

"I'll be back." He swung the P90 around his neck and shoulder.

"That's little archaic dont you think? I mean who uses Bullets?" She gave a weak smirk, trying to be strong and together.

"It's prepared, most people have personal energy shields. but bullets are physical, they pass through." He moved for the door, only to meet resistence.

"I want you to tell everyone good bye first, you cant just leave."

"I told you I'll be right back." With a reluctnat sigh Alice moved. Adam went to the hanger and revealed his fighter, the CCF Ragnarok. After a last minute Check of his equipment and ship Adam was ready to join the elite of the CCF.

Awesome. Looking forward to your next posts.