Hi Rebels,

The following series will be a staggered upload to the forums to increase suspense, each edit will be 1 chapter and will delve into the story-lines of characters introduced throughout the series. These stories are to expand my writing skills and follow through with updated lore on the VEGA universe to which in-game events only tell us so much.

I’ve written lore stores for VEGA Conflict a few years back and now I’m back to it, constructive criticism welcome as well as any additions I can do and updates to my knowledge of the characters are much needed and welcome.

Let the era of The VEGA Wars begin.

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CHAPTER 1 – BISHOP THE ****

“To think it was worth my time” proclaimed Bishop, leaning back in his leather armchair which was bolted securely to the station’s cold metal floor. “Your whole committee is a waste of time, to think I had to crawl under a rock before you people even allowed me to make my intentions clear to the Iron Star Company baffles me”. Senator Barnsley raised an eyebrow and slowly moved his head from the porthole he was staring through to face Bishop. “Does it look like we care what your opinions are, Keres the 7th has been captured, the ISC are falling back with tail between their engines and for what? All they retrieved for their troubles were schematics for our ancient Corinthian class cruiser.” Bishop was fuming at this point, all 3 senators were staring through him like he was merely a **** in all this – to which he knew they knew he was. “I don’t care that you don’t care! I’ve been beating around the solar system for the past year following your ‘advice’!  To think I hadn’t spoken out until now“. The senators shook their heads in unison, as if mentally linked in the defamation of the once ‘almighty’ Admiral Bishop. Bishop’s tone calmed to almost a whisper, “At least they’re in retreat, but I want her bones on my bulkhead next time we meet”. The senators stood motionless without disagreement, Barnsley spoke, “We’re in agreement then. VSec forces shall move to the planetary processing complexes where they will lay siege to Iron Star and the Rebellion; and if you find yourself disagreeing with our ruling again, we will find someone else with more stomach than ego”.

With that, the 3 senators took their leave, abruptly leaving Bishop sitting with mouth agape.

…

Vorzer and Bishop sat quietly awaiting the transport to arrive whilst ISC and VSec hull wreckage silently drifted past the command centre viewport on VEGA Federation Station Echo 3. Reverberations shuddered through the metal flooring which was succinctly followed by the soft clunk of the airlock mechanism – he had arrived.

Larus stood in front of the two men, clasping the dog tags of Keres VII, and with a smile softly stated the rigid words, “It’s done”. No one spoke for what seemed like an eternity; there was nothing to say. Bishop moved his arm and snatched the tags from Larus’ hand, “Now do you finally feel the joy of backstabbing the backstabbers?” he questioned. “Not when I have to pretend to love the demon” Larus answered, describing in a word the hybrid cybernetic leader of the Iron Star Company. “Well you’ve served your purpose now, your contract is now terminated as agreed, you’re a free man” announced Vorzer, his tone masking a sinister subversion of his intentions. With that, Larus turned on his heel and proceeded back toward his transport, not looking back over his shoulder; for he knew what came next.

CHAPTER 2 – A NEW DESPAIR

The Zeal battleship made an abrupt turn at full thruster power and fired another volley of Sico missiles at the transport. “Shields are almost depleted sir!” shouted the pilot to Larus whom was staring at the floor whilst being shaken around. “Their range is absurd! Why can’t we get our hands on missile propulsion systems like that!” proclaimed the pilot again, which finally provoked a response from Larus. “Because all the junk we trade comes from VSec throw-away’s, how else do you suppose we’re able to keep ISC and the rebels in our back pocket?”

The transport lurched sideways, narrowly missing a superheated gladius projectile. The bulkheads creaked in displeasure as the engines increased in pitch by 2 octaves, “Oh for frak sake” the pilot contended, struggling to keep the G-force lower than the inertial damper threshold in fear of becoming soupy paste on the seat of his chair; “that’s the least of our problems” he mused.

…

Keres could no longer tell whether her eyes were open or closed, the only source of input being the cold walls around her, confining her being as well as her thoughts. “Just my fraking luck” she spoke, knowing that nothing she could say or do would change the situation or that anyone would hear beyond the walls that held her steadfast. A cold brush of air travelled across her neck and she flinched; the door to her tomb shuddered and cracks of light pierced the darkness as the front casing split apart. Her lenses began to adjust to the lighting change and saw a clean white room beyond her cryogenic tomb. Moving her arms first, she attempted to remove herself from the rectangular casing, but just as the lid lifted completely she felt the cold menacing touch of the muzzle on her forehead. “Don’t fraking move!” A guard loomed to the right of the chamber whilst some scientists in pristine lab coats sat over a bank of computers. “You’re a piece of work aren’t you” proclaimed the guard, still holding the pistol to Keres’ head. “Don’t damage the patient” one of the scientists chimed, seeming to be the leader of the lot, “The amount of credits devoted to this project far exceeds the price of your life, just do what you’re paid to do.” Grudgingly, the guard stood down and returned to his post at the far corner of the lab whilst the lead scientist moved toward Keres. “Unfortunately for you this will cause a lot of pain” stated the scientist, unconcerned as he inserted inch-long probes into Keres’ skin and began tuning devices perched atop her chamber where she lay paralysed. All she could do was scream.

CHAPTER 3 – THE LARUS PROJECT

A reddish glow streaked out of the battleship and latched onto the transport, the zeal’s golden hull plating shimmering in the light of the nearby Binary star. Larus jumped out of his seat, “Show off!” he proclaimed before turning to clamber down the hatch toward the escape pod. The pod launched with a gush of compressed nitrogen that couldn’t be heard from where Larus was laying inside the pod, the eerie silence of space enveloped the miniscule one-man pod as the view of the transport and its pilot drifted to a mere speck out the viewport. Smiling, Larus chuckled softly as he pondered the demise of his now departed pilot. He turned back to face the small console screen and locked in co-ordinates for sector 200, it was time to come home.

…

Bishop slammed his fist on the tabletop which trembled in fear as if about to collapse under Bishop’s rage – “What do you mean he wasn’t on the ship! He boarded it 5 minutes ago.” Commander Zeemok of Battalion regiment 45 was listless, “We detected an escape pod enter the wormhole at 340 by 578 after we boarded the transport. I’m sorry sir, sensors would be more effective if we weren’t in this nebula”. Bishop’s eyes almost popped out of his skull as he clamped his jaws in seething rage, “You pathetic piece of…” Bishop drew his pistol just as the intercom screeched with a Priority One signal. “Incoming message from Larus sir. He’s asked to speak to your personally. We can’t trace the carrier wave the transmission is coming from.” Bishop snarled, “Put him through.” The distortion of static was strong as Larus’ scarred face appeared on the viewscreen, “Nice to see you tying up loose ends once again; how did that go for you.” Bishop wasn’t about to be mocked again so soon; “If we wanted you dead, you would’ve been before you stepped onto my station!” Larus smiled, “You enjoy stroking your own ego, don’t you. The only reason you’re getting this courtesy call is to inform you that I am taking command of the Iron Star Company. All your VEGA assets will go to good use on our vessels. I hope you bite is as strong as your bark.” The transmission ended just as quickly as it had begun, Bishop was left standing motionless staring at the now blank viewscreen. Slowly recovering his composure, Bishop turned back to face Commander Zeemok and with a low voice announced, “It’s time to begin.”