Marauder: The Story of Tuz'In Do'Vokun

[Star_Dragon]

WARNING: THIS STORY IS GRAPHIC AND IS INTENDED FOR A MATURE AUDIENCE. IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY SWEARING/CURSING, BLOOD, GUTS, AND/OR GOREY SCENES, DO NOT READ THIS!

Now that THAT is out of the way...

This may be the start of a long series, depending on where this story goes. I just started it today, and already, I've finished the prologue. This story is something of a back-story on one of my new RP chars, Tuz'In Do'Vokun. You know where to look to get his info. This story is intended to explain part of his past prior to his intro to the RP scene. Now...

Marauder:

The Story of Tuz’In Do’Vokun

Prologue

BOOOO-DEEEET! BOOOO-DEEET! BOOOO-DEEET! Blaring alarms and a shaking starship woke the warrior from his fitful sleep. The hull creaked and groaned as something hit it, knocked it out of the shipping lane. The hull lurched to starboard and threw the warrior out of bed.

“Son of a bitch,†the warrior cursed. “This better be good.†He wobbled to the command and control area of his ship as it shook and shuddered, settling in to the pilot’s seat.

“Did the shaking wake you at a bad time, Tuz’In?†the AI of his ship asked.

“No worse than last time, Faasnu,†the warrior responded.

He worked frantically with the controls, and found the problem; a rogue comet swatted his ship out of the shipping lane, and...

Wait a sec, the warrior thought.

“Faasnu, weren’t we in translight speed?†Tuz’In asked.

“We were,†the AI affirmed. “Something pulled us out, but what that something was, I don’t know – I detected a translight sig after we dropped out of the tunnel. For all we know, the bastard that screwed us over left the system after he dropped us out of translight speed.â€

The ship shuddered as something exploded on the hull. The forward viewscreen showed the ship plummeting toward a planet.

“Faasnu,†Tuz’In asked, “What do we know of this world?â€

“That’s Mu-Gamma IV,†Faasnu responded. “It was deemed a class-three hazard zone two years ago.â€

“Can’t imagine why,†Tuz’In commented as he tried to stabilize his descent. The ship shook violently as it entered the atmosphere, and something else exploded. The ship rocked, and steered onto a dangerous course.

“Report!†Tuz’In screamed over the ship’s groans. “What the hell was that?â€

“Shit!†the AI cursed. “Helm controls are off-line! I can try and engage emergency thrusters, but that’s it!â€

“Do it before--†Tuz’In stopped as he saw what his ship was dropping nose-first into. “--Before we get smashed into a thin paste!â€

The AI worked frantically with the controls, trying desperately to stabilize the descent. Just when Tuz’In thought it to be the end, something exploded down below, raising the nose of the ship up, and the thrusters unexpectedly kicked in, propelling the ship over the mountain range and catapulting it toward a nearby city.

“I’m losing control!†Faasnu exclaimed. “Brace for impact!â€

“No shit, Sherlock!†Tuz’In screamed.

Perhaps it was a twist of fate, and perhaps it was sheer luck, but the ship was headed down toward an abandoned airstrip. The ship hit the grass next to the landing strip, bounced, and hit again, gouging out a path before coming onto solid concrete. The screech of metal against rock filled the ship, and assaulted Tuz’In’s ears. Just as the crash-landing started, however, it stopped as it collided with an empty hangar and came to a stop. Tuz’In, however, was thrown from his seat, hit his head on the console, and blacked out.

* * *

Tuz’In woke from unconsciousness suddenly as Faasnu was calling his name. “Tuz’In? Tuz’In, can you hear me?â€

“Yes, I can hear you,†Tuz’In groaned. “No need to yell.â€

“At last!†the AI stated. “Are you alright? Can you move?â€

“I think so,†Tuz’In replied. He kicked a few things away and crawled out from the console he’d somehow ended up beneath. Faasnu breathed a sigh of relief as Tuz’In stood up.

“Good god, man,†she commented, “You were lucky to have survived that!â€

“What’s our status?†Tuz’In asked.

“This ship isn’t going anywhere again,†Faasnu replied. “While you were out cold on the deck, I did some scouting around the computer systems on this world. All necessary materials needed to repair this ship are gone thanks to scavengers and looters.â€

“Meaning we’re effectively trapped here,†Tuz’In grumbled. “Just fucking great.â€

“Not necessarily,†the AI corrected him. “Though I didn’t travel far, I did find mention of an untouched starship on this world. If the reports are to be believed, this ship has yet to be looted or stolen.â€

“How long ago was the report?†Tuz’In asked.

“I couldn’t get an accurate count,†Faasnu answered. “But I can tell you that after our rather rapid landing, I reviewed the sensor logs, and combined with the reports I found, the ship is currently still docked in a facility south of the mountain range we flew over. Therein lies the problem.â€

“What’s the obstacle?†Tuz’In queried.

“Those mountains are too steep to climb,†Faasnu stated. “And the closest airstrip with any serviceable vehicles is ten miles north of here in an area reported to be ‘infested.’â€

“Infested with what?†Tuz’In asked.

“Hell if I know,†Faasnu responded. “The region containing the ship is also marked the same. Point being, that airstrip is our only chance of reaching the ship and getting off this barren wasteland.â€

“In other words,†Tuz’In remarked, “We’re gonna find out first hand why this place is a hazard zone.â€

“In a nutshell, yes,†Faasnu replied.

Tuz’In sighed. “Well, let’s go; we’ve got a lot of ground to cover, and I want to get moving as soon as possible.†He moved to an upper deck, donned his Nanotech Gauntlets, nabbed his twin blades, grabbed his twin Model 30 Disruptor Pistols and his RX Kalashnikov AKS74U Model 3 Assault Rifle and three dual clips stiffed into a satchel pack, and headed back to the command deck.

“Ready to go?†he asked.

In response, Faasnu transmitted herself into the computer of Tuz’In’s left gauntlet and said in his radio earpiece, “Let’s go.â€

Tuz’In headed down below the command deck, operated the boarding ramp controls, but nothing happened.

“Oh. Yeah. Forgot to tell you that the boarding ramp is inoperable,†Faasnu said.

“Well, fuck,†Tuz’In cursed. He headed back up, searched the ship, and found a hole in the hull where he could get out. The hole put him on the dorsal structure of his ship, and the sun shone brightly through it. He climbed out, looking around at the lifeless city before him.

“Tell me something, Faasnu,†Tuz’In said, “When you scouted around, did you find any sporting goods stores around?â€

“I didn’t look for one, no,†Faasnu replied. “Why?â€

“Because if we’re here as long as I think we’ll be here,†Tuz’In stated, “We’re gonna need some extra ammunition.†He headed down the starboard wing, which was resting on the ground, then jumped down from a safe height. “Moreover, we’re going to need to find food and water,†he added. “Otherwise, we won’t last long enough to make it to the airstrip.â€

“That’s a hell of a long grocery list,†Faasnu commented. “We’re gonna need a vehicle or something to store all that in.â€

“Tell me about it,†Tuz’In said as he folded the stock of his assault rifle down and slung it over his shoulder. “Let’s get started.†He wandered off toward the city before him, armed to the teeth, fully prepared, but not expecting, trouble...