sozme
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2013
- Messages
- 200
Experimenting with a new beginning here. I thought by using historical quotes from the world, it allowed me to define what the SCAR actually are (relieving me of the burden to interject such exposition into the early stages of the first chapter) and make them seem more interesting. I also think it serves as a promise to the reader that the book is about morally questionable super soldier mercenaries who get into some crazy adventures, and a promise that the world of the story is very deep and expansive.
BTW I am definitely still working on the quotes themselves.
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“The Syndicate of Cytogenetically-Augmented Rangers (SCAR) are a group of murderers, cutthroats, rapists, and savages who inveigled their way out of death row […] They took these evil-doers and re-manufactured them into superhuman mercenaries. That human governments hire them to prosecute warfare, protect their Aionium mines, combat “piracy”, or to do anything other than rape and pillage vulnerable populations is a sham of the highest order. The only bigger vermin than the SCAR mutants are the politicos who enrich and legitimize them.”
Chapter 1 - Cannon
Kellen 32, 434 I.E. (Present Day)
Chief Ranger Driscoll Cannon of SCAR-Helix strode out of the dropship onto a beach of purple sand. The air on Juno was hot and heavy on his skin, the scent of iodine-filled ocean bitter in his nostrils. Overhead, flickers of lightning illuminated chopper-sized avians circling a blood orange sky.
“How many dead?” Cannon said, turning to the other two Rangers.
Klein, a green-skinned Icarian man, gave his superior an annoyed look. “Twenty-nine dead, three alive,” he said. “Same as two minutes ago.”
Cannon glanced up the beach at the ruined starship. The freight-carrier lay half-buried in muck on the embankment, its corroded hull gleaming in the lights of a dozen Juno Defense Authority air-vans.
“Forty-four got on that ship at Nanabougha,” Cannon said. “That’s twelve missing, unless they were thrown out an airlock before planetfall.”
“Which they probably were,” Klein said.
Cannon frowned at the green man. “Any survivors could’ve already strolled off the ship with antimatter.”
“They ain't got no bombs, Boss,” an exasperated Klein replied. “JDA has been all over it since it crashed. Their scanners combed it completely — no residues, no powders, nothing. No bombs.”
“Nothing, huh?”
“They had their bomb squad all over it,” Klein said. “They think the antimatter bells are being shipped separately.”
“They let Waykeepers crash-land in plain sight of an Aionium mine,” Cannon said. “I don’t trust their judgment.”
“That mine keeps their citizens from starving,” Klein said. “They’re ain’t gunna let nothing happen to it.”
“They don’t know their ass from a ****ing hole in the ground,” Cannon snapped. He didn’t become the most profitable Contingent Chief by relying on the local authorities. He turned to the third man of their trio. “How’s my security?”
The black-skinned Ranger looked up from the holographic display on his wrist. “Our three guys plus a thousand Espatiers in and around the mine,” Rix said. “No Icarians with anti-matter vests.”
Not yet, Cannon thought, glancing over his shoulder across the inlet. Long Dock Mine stood in a hallowed-out cliff face some half-dozen kilometers away. Atop the rock, the outline of an enormous excavator machine was visible, its shovel-arm hanging over the entrance like a priest’s blessing hand.
“Good,” he said. “All it takes is one asshole with an anti-matter bell to ignite that—”
“—that mine and everything else for a thousand miles,” Rix said, nodding. “Yeah, Chief. We got it.”
“Really, we do,” Klein added from his opposite shoulder.
BTW I am definitely still working on the quotes themselves.
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“The Syndicate of Cytogenetically-Augmented Rangers (SCAR) are a group of murderers, cutthroats, rapists, and savages who inveigled their way out of death row […] They took these evil-doers and re-manufactured them into superhuman mercenaries. That human governments hire them to prosecute warfare, protect their Aionium mines, combat “piracy”, or to do anything other than rape and pillage vulnerable populations is a sham of the highest order. The only bigger vermin than the SCAR mutants are the politicos who enrich and legitimize them.”
Grand Magistrate Gerrosh Hightower
Editorial - Annals of the Capital City Law Society (Volume 432, Issue 13)
Armistead 12, 378 I.E.
Editorial - Annals of the Capital City Law Society (Volume 432, Issue 13)
Armistead 12, 378 I.E.
“The Aionium Wars again proved that the SCAR Contingents are nothing less than humanity’s most honorable and courageous warriors. With this treaty, the Union of Terran Colonies renews our partnership with the Syndicate, both for the safety and the prosperity of our worlds for centuries to come.”
Chancellor Augustus Octavius Von Roen, K.W.M.
Remarks - Arcturus-Reach National War Memorial
Evacuation (Remembrance) Day - Kellen 1, 394 I.E.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Remarks - Arcturus-Reach National War Memorial
Evacuation (Remembrance) Day - Kellen 1, 394 I.E.
Chapter 1 - Cannon
Kellen 32, 434 I.E. (Present Day)
Chief Ranger Driscoll Cannon of SCAR-Helix strode out of the dropship onto a beach of purple sand. The air on Juno was hot and heavy on his skin, the scent of iodine-filled ocean bitter in his nostrils. Overhead, flickers of lightning illuminated chopper-sized avians circling a blood orange sky.
“How many dead?” Cannon said, turning to the other two Rangers.
Klein, a green-skinned Icarian man, gave his superior an annoyed look. “Twenty-nine dead, three alive,” he said. “Same as two minutes ago.”
Cannon glanced up the beach at the ruined starship. The freight-carrier lay half-buried in muck on the embankment, its corroded hull gleaming in the lights of a dozen Juno Defense Authority air-vans.
“Forty-four got on that ship at Nanabougha,” Cannon said. “That’s twelve missing, unless they were thrown out an airlock before planetfall.”
“Which they probably were,” Klein said.
Cannon frowned at the green man. “Any survivors could’ve already strolled off the ship with antimatter.”
“They ain't got no bombs, Boss,” an exasperated Klein replied. “JDA has been all over it since it crashed. Their scanners combed it completely — no residues, no powders, nothing. No bombs.”
“Nothing, huh?”
“They had their bomb squad all over it,” Klein said. “They think the antimatter bells are being shipped separately.”
“They let Waykeepers crash-land in plain sight of an Aionium mine,” Cannon said. “I don’t trust their judgment.”
“That mine keeps their citizens from starving,” Klein said. “They’re ain’t gunna let nothing happen to it.”
“They don’t know their ass from a ****ing hole in the ground,” Cannon snapped. He didn’t become the most profitable Contingent Chief by relying on the local authorities. He turned to the third man of their trio. “How’s my security?”
The black-skinned Ranger looked up from the holographic display on his wrist. “Our three guys plus a thousand Espatiers in and around the mine,” Rix said. “No Icarians with anti-matter vests.”
Not yet, Cannon thought, glancing over his shoulder across the inlet. Long Dock Mine stood in a hallowed-out cliff face some half-dozen kilometers away. Atop the rock, the outline of an enormous excavator machine was visible, its shovel-arm hanging over the entrance like a priest’s blessing hand.
“Good,” he said. “All it takes is one asshole with an anti-matter bell to ignite that—”
“—that mine and everything else for a thousand miles,” Rix said, nodding. “Yeah, Chief. We got it.”
“Really, we do,” Klein added from his opposite shoulder.
