IIkami's Neural Net Story

[[Sent]-IIkami-[bass]]

Hi all,

On the [bass] forums, I had a long running neural net story going. The [bass] forums don't get much in the way of visitors recently, so I've decided to copy the stories over here "chapter" by "chapter". For [bass] wing members, the old stories will be pretty much the same. I might give them titles to match my tendency to title the later stories and modify/fix the grammar a bit. I also won't be able to resist the temptation to "fix" bits, but changes should be minor. So you probably won't get much from re-reading them. Of course anybody new is welcome to comment in the Roleplay feedback thread. Some of the stories make a little more sense after you've read the "Tales of the Black Knight" over at the [bass] forums.

IIkami

[[Sent]-IIkami-[bass]]

"Regret"

Seeking to forget makes exile all the longer; the secret of redemption lies in remembrance.
- Richard von Weizsaecker

March 02, 806AS
Freeport 2
Bering System

The two Zoner pilots watched the stranger on the other side of the bar with mild interest. He had the slightly dazed and distracted look of somebody who had just given up on sleep and his choice of drink, Leed's Old Ale, confirmed that he wouldn't be trying to get back to sleep tonight. The wretched stuff was unpalatable to almost everybody except the locals of the polluted streets of Planet Leeds or Stokes Station. Indeed the drink was more remarkable to them than the man himself. They didn't even realize you could buy that foul stuff here! As for the man, they took it for granted that he was a Bowex pilot out of Planet Leeds or Glasgow. His accent when ordering the ale had been typical Planet Leeds, and he had the pale complexion and thin frame of what Zoners called a "true spacer". A man who spent more time at the controls of a spacecraft or on a station than on the surface of a planet under the glare of a star. Of course he probably had spent a fair bit of time on Planet Leeds or New London, but you didn't tend to get much sun on those places either. His thin frame indicated that like most "true spacers" he never had much need for combat outside of his ship and tended to ply the trade lanes in the relatively safe parts of Sirius.

They were mostly right. He did come from Leeds and although he had been trained to easily change his accent to anything from Texas "Twang" to New London Upper Class, he didn't feel the need to hide his true origins here. As his thin frame indicated, he did not often need his fists to survive. He was trained in basic hand-to-hand combat skills, but most of his training for situations outside of his ship had been devoted to ways to blend in and go unnoticed. He still employed those skills to avoid confrontation often. It was at the controls of his ship that he did most of his fighting, and he had seen his share. But he was no Bowex pilot.

He was Henry Pembroke, a Veteran of the Gloucester Wing, the elite Bretonian Special-Ops fighter core based out of Battleship York. Unlike the average Bowex pilot, he had spent a great deal of time in the seeder, more dangerous parts of Sirius. Indeed, in his ten years in the Bretonian Armed Forces, five of those years with the Gloucester Wing, he had been almost everywhere. The Gloucester Wing was the one Her Majesty called on to operate far from the Bretonian home worlds. To go on those missions vital to Bretonia, but potentially damaging to the Crown should things go wrong. Missions where stealth and precision were the key to success, not aggression and power. Missions for which the Crown used men and women trained to feel no shame in hiding in the shadows, blending into the crowd, and rarely facing their prey eye-to-eye.

But those days seemed a lifetime away from where he was today, even though his last mission for the Gloucester Wing was only just a year ago tomorrow. Indeed, that last mission was the reason he couldn't sleep tonight. The reason the nightmares that seemed to subside recently were back with a vengeance tonight. The vengeance of the ghosts of Tau-23. The angry ghosts that reminded him of his shame. A shame that had almost consumed him. A shame that he hoped to partly atone for by joining [bass].

Over the last month since joining [bass] he had tried to get to know the other pilots and learn the advanced heavy fighter combat techniques that only a clan like [bass] could teach him. But now he needed to be alone. Tonight was as good a time as any to cast his mind back to those events.

[[Sent]-IIkami-[bass]]

"Regret"

Flashback
March 03, 805AS
20k beyond the Kyushu Jump Gate
Tau-29.

The four Eagle VHFs shot outward in formation on their way to the Tau-23 jump hole. Officially they were IMG reinforcements heading back to Java Station after a break on Planet Kyushu. Actually, they were Beta Company of the Gloucester Wing. In the lead was Commander John "Elk" Smythe, the cold career pilot whose loyalty to the Crown nobody dared to question. Behind him, Amy "Chilli" Westington, George "Re-Bound" Lewis, and Henry "Roller" Pembroke. To George, the Bretonian Armed Forces had been one great adventure, he was young, and the chance to shoot through the border worlds after Outcasts and smugglers was a dream come true. To Amy and Henry, the Bretonian Armed Forces gave life meaning and purpose. The Armed Forces taught that Honor was all that mattered and they had lived their lives by this principle. This had been what had drawn them to the Armed Forces. This had also drawn them to each other. The strict code of honor they lived by would not allow them to express the feelings they had for each other, but they both enjoyed the simple pleasure of flying together. The principle of honor had keep them focused, despite the unpleasant things they had sometimes been asked to do in the interests of the Crown since joining the Special Forces.

They had been told that this mission was crucial to the interests of Bretonia, but then again, every mission seemed to have this importance according to Elk. Over the last month, the Corsairs had made a push into the Outcast stronghold of Tau-23. The battles had been fever-pitched, with the kind of fury that only battles between Corsairs and Outcasts had. The climax had occurred just a week ago and had been the unthinkable. A Corsair attempt to take Cali Base. Reports from Bretonian Intelligence had been sketchy, but apparently Corsair fighters managed to board Cali and casualties were high. The Corsairs were repelled, but the Outcasts were now out to secure Tau-23 for themselves once and for all. A new base had been built right on the Tau-37 jump hole and it directly threatened the Tau-31 Gate Construction Site. Control of the Tau-37 jump hole had been part of the reason for the Tau-31 Gate construction in the first place. The new base had to be destroyed. Since it had only been constructed within the last few days, it would only have a skeleton staff who could easily use escape pods. The perfect time to attack. Maximum effect, minimal loss of life. The kind of mission Henry preferred.

They came though the Tau-29 jump hole into Tau-23 and followed a wide arcing path to the target. They needed to stay as far away from Cali Base as practical. Re-Bound had a signal jammer mounted in a gun slot on his Eagle and this would block comms in the vicinity of the attack group. Even with this precaution, they needed to be wary that an Outcast fighter didn't make a run for Cali to raise the word. If the Outcast's knew the real reason they were in Tau-23, every Sabre in the system would be racing to engage them.

The four Outcast Sabres guarding the jump hole were taken down quickly. Within 5 clicks of the target they veered off to engage a group of 8 Sabres. A few rookies being escorted by two aces. They needed to look as if they were some IMG hot-shots out to cause trouble, before they revealed their true intent. Dragging the fight out they moved closer to the real target. The Outcast aces both got taken out early; they may have had the experience to discern the true intent of the attack group. Now only the Outcast rookies were still around.

Within 3 clicks, Chilli made her move. She allowed a missile hit to reduce her hull plating to 50% and began to vent plasma out of her engines. The plasma was just a ruse, her Eagle had been re-designed to allow this to occur. She called out nervously on the open channel "Oh my god, coolant leak!... Cover me! I'm bugging out!" and raced out toward the Tau-37 jump hole and the new Outcast base. Amy was a fantastic actress. Three Outcasts peeled out of the battle to chase her for an easy kill. Henry and the others took out the remaining 3 outcasts not after Chilli and followed her show to the base. By the time that the base realized what was actually going on, it was too late. Chilli opened fire on the base's half-built comms array and took it out of commission. The last message the Outcasts managed to get out was:

"This is Madrid Base! Do not open fire! We have..."

Re-Bound's jammer made sure this message wasn't overheard by Cali Base. With the comms array down, they had no chance to try different frequencies to defeat Re-Bound's jammer and contact Cali.

Elk, Re-Bound and Chilli attacked the base with torpedoes and guns and within a minute it was ablaze. Henry hung back to make sure nobody interrupted the attack, and ensure that the base didn't launch fighters toward Cali. But basically, it was a done deal now.

Then the two Dromedaries launched out of the base and Henry's life changed forever...

[[Sent]-IIkami-[bass]]

"Regret"

Flashback
March 03, 805AS
Madrid Base
Tau-23.

"Roller! Chilli! Take out those Drom's! We can't have them escaping!", Elk yelled over the secure channel. His voice was thick with adrenalin.

Henry responded, "They're just Drom's. It's too late now, there's nothing Cali can do."

Elk was enraged at the thought of having his orders questioned, "They're trying to get away with the cardi! TAKE THEM OUT NOW!"

Madrid was disintegrating as Chill peeled of and took out the first Drom, "Somethings weird here," she said over the secure channel, "never seen them try this before".

Henry raced up on the last Drom as it began the entry sequence with the Tau-37 jump hole. He hit the scan button, and lined up his guns on the target. Amy was right, something was all wrong.

"TAKE THEM OUT!", Elk screamed, "THEY'RE JUMPING!"

Henry reacted instinctively and opened fire on the defenseless ship. Not a nice thing to do, but the universe is now less 200 tons of cardi, he thought. The Drom pilot had ejected and Henry would leave him to be picked up by the other Outcasts. As he watched the debris bounce off his forward shields he looked down at the scan readout. It was then that he realized how wrong he was. No cardi. The readout simply said:

"Freighter Contents:
53 life signs.
Extensive medical equipment.
Analysis:
There is a 97.3% probability that this vessel is a medical transport."

Henry froze at the controls. He stared at the readout for what seemed to him to be an eternity, willing the message to change, willing the computer to discover some error in the analysis. He wasn't aware that his hands had begun to shake. He was snapped back into the world of the living by Elk's terse message "Beta Company. Report in." Still shaking, Henry opened the secure channel,

"A med transport.... We took out med transports....", Henry reported weakly. He felt as if he was in a dream.

"Oh God... Oh God.", Amy responded, "It can't be..."

Elk had calmed down considerably, "Setting course for the Tau-31 Gate. Outcasts are Outcasts. Don't dwell on it."

"DON'T DWELL ON IT!?", Henry yelled, "THEY WERE IN THE JUMP CYCLE!"

The return to Leeds was just a blur. Henry flew as if in a dream. Even another wing of Outcasts between Java Base and the Tau-31 gate didn't seem real. The team took them out as if on remote control. Elk was the only one who sounded calm over the secure channel during the return flight. Re-Bound refused to speak, even when Elk spoke to him directly and Henry just gave one word answers, when queried. Chilli disabled the vid-display so that nobody could see her face, but her voice was shaky and broken whenever she spoke.

[[Sent]-IIkami-[bass]]

"Regret"

March 03, 806AS
Freeport 2
Bering System

Henry took another sip of Leed's Old. Life changed forever on that day. In the jargon of Freelancers, he had "dock-raped" a medical ship. In his mind, nothing could atone for that. Many men he encountered on Freeports around Sirius had done far worse things, but few of them had valued Honor so much as Henry. It was his sense of Honor that trapped him as much as the deed.

Bretonian Intelligence claimed that they knew nothing of the medical facilities on Madrid Base until after the attack. Information gradually filtered in from various spies close to the Outcasts. After the Corsair attack on Cali, the wounded needed to be stabilized before the dangerous trip back to Malta. Facilities on Cali were too heavily damaged, it was easier to quickly construct Madrid base from prefabricated modules to have the appropriate medical facilities. After the wounded were stable they could be transported to Malta. In all 157 wounded pilots and dock workers were killed in the attack. Amy and Henry left the Bretonian Armed Forces soon afterward. Elk considered it a betrayal and hated them for it. George stopped flying and became a radio operator on the Battleship Essex in Dublin. Elk considered him a coward.

Henry didn't know where Amy was anymore. Last he heard she was flying a Humpback freighter on the Cambridge to New Berlin trade route. He himself ceased to be "Roller" on that last mission. He drifted into Kusari space and almost allowed guilt to overwhelm him. He worked for a few months doing odd jobs at a Kusari Buddhist temple on Honshu. The monks allowed him to stay while he hoped to find some peace of mind. His kindness and good-nature, as well as the fact that he literally came from the skies, impressed the monks, all of whom had never been into space. They dubbed him "IIkami" meaning "Good Spirit" and the name stuck. In the end, the piece of mind he sought couldn't be found there and he headed back into space and Bretonia. He performed missions for the Bretonian Armed Forces and any other group he considered "honorable".

Such groups were few and far between.

Anyway, the only missions he took were on HIS terms now.

On a trip to Hudson, he meet [bass]-Steven and was told about the ideals of [bass]. The honor with which the [bass] pilots flew everyday matched his own ideals perfectly. He applied to join and was accepted. Perhaps by flying with [bass] he could help atone for what he had done in some small way. If Fleggy and The Black Knight knew about what he had done in his previous life, they weren't saying.

The glass of Leed's Old was empty now. He had asked for a supply to be especially ordered in, and his status as [bass] meant that the bartender was only too happy to oblige. Except for a rare Bowex trader, nobody but him drank the stuff.

The ghosts were placated for a little while now and he could continue on his way for the next few weeks. Maybe one day they would leave him alone, but it wouldn't be anytime soon.

"Hey dude! You an insomniac or something!", Rambler said as he fell suddenly into a chair across the table from IIkami.
"Nah, just couldn't sleep tonight. Been waiting for one of you guys to finally wake up to have somebody to duel with!", Henry said with a laugh.
"Woah, I need a Rum first...."
"How about some Leed's Old..."
"Not on your life dude!"