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INTRUDER ALERT.

Central Command Center
Sian, Sian Commonality
Spring 3043.

“You’re still having reservations? I cannot see what you missed”, said the younger officer.

“It’s not whether I missed anything my dear Casin, but whether I have enough”. And indeed the older and more senior officer concerns were just starting at that point. For today, more than most, James Teng was having a difficult time dealing with events that have unfolded over the last few days along the border with the Federated Suns. He had to deal with the burden of making the right decisions as Senior Colonel and Strategic Director of the Capellan Confederation. And that also meant dealing with Madame Chancellor when the occasion called for it. And recent events had brought Madame Chancellors “advice” on how to solve the problem. “I could move more units forward to deal with the attack, but that would leave even more borders unsecured. Moving the 2nd Battalion of the 5th CRC over from Larsha to support the 1st Battalion on Yuris would be the simplest thing to do for that stellar system; but that still leaves the problem of reinforcing Jacson and Mitchel.”

Colonel Robert Casin looked over the wall display carefully, weighing in the pros and cons. “The Periphery has been quiet these last few months, what about here?” Pointing to a spot midpoint between the Magistry of Canopus and the Taurean Concordat. “You could move Kamakura’s Hussars out from Hurik and Ward to support House LuSann on Jacson.”

“A valid idea, but what about what about House LuSann 1st battalion on Mitchel?” Asked Senior Colonel Teng. “Do I leave them be?” With that the younger man let out a sigh and slowly ran his hand through his hair to the back of his neck. “That is tough. Alright Sir, what do you want done”

With that Senior Colonel Teng handed Casin a noteputer display showing the units to be assigned to the operation. “Orders for these units need to be issued. Interstellar transport has already been put in motion and the Naval Directorate has been instructed as to the minimum number of docking collars needed for lift. Dropships are covered”. Looking over the dispositions quickly, Colonel Casin had a puzzled look. “Sir, what about House LuSann 1st battalion on Jacson? I see nothing to aid them.”

“It’s quite fine, Casin. I have notified the House Master and he has assured me that the situation is well in hand.” The younger officer expression showed that he missed something. “Sir, I seem to be at a loss here”. The older man moved over to his lounge chair, sitting down all the while watching his Aide. “You see Casin, it also helps to have two Home Guard Regiments and three Militia Regiments on planet to properly support House LuSann 1st battalion. The House Master has assured me that they will not be destroyed in battle, but that the Davion attackers will be kept well occupied enough to prevent them from destroying any objectives in retribution.”

“Retribution”; thought Senior Colonel Teng, “That’s what this is all about, Retribution”. Several months’ earlier Madame Chancellor had issued a directorate for a raid into the Federated Suns Capellan march. The target was the Shaunavon system. The Chancellor was convinced that a major Davion attack was forming there destroy the Confederation by severing its “lower” section away from it, much in the same way the Sarna and Tikonov Commonalitys had been severed in the War of ’28. Ordinarily the Strategic Director would have ordered a raid of sufficent size to take out the supply depots and logistics areas and thus paralyze the planned enemy operation.
But this time around Madame Chancellor had given her “advice” as to what to be done. How well he remembered this “advice” being delivered directly in the person of Tsen Shang, Director of the Maskirovka and Chancellors Consort. “What a memorable day that was…” he thought. The target on planet was the Zeeland Hydroelectric Complex, which provided electric power for a third of the planet. The raid as planned out was to destroy the turbine machinery and generators with raiding forces and then withdraw. He had been informed that a unit of additional personnel that were experts in this type of facility would be accompaning the raid. It was the will of the Chancellor: “And the Chancellors Will be done” he thought.
Everything had went as planned, the raiding forces made quick work of the equipment and machinery and were in the process of withdrawing when a message came in informing the commander on the field to ensure no units moved down river from the site. He acknowledged the message but when he questioned further as to why he was told “It is by order of the Chancellors deputies”. Less than ten minutes later a horrific series of muffled rumbles was heard and felt. Followed soon thereafter by continues rumbles and roar. The “additional personnel” sent by the Chancellor were demolition specialists that had successfully destroyed the Zeeland 5-Kilometer Dam. The subsequent release of the 60-Kilometer long lake behind the dam poured into the lower flood plain and killed more than 23,000 people within two hours. The devastation was tremendous. The Chancellor was jubilant. The Federated Suns and the Haseks were now out for Capellan Blood.
Retribution from the Federated Suns was just a matter of time in coming. When it came it was in the form of the Davion Assault Guards-RCT landing on Jacson and 2nd Illician Lancers hitting Yuris, along with the 3rd Illician Lancers attacking Mitchel. Nothing good came from destroying the Zeeland 5K Dam; it just increased the wrath of the Federated Suns. And now Madame Chancellor believes that this attack is the beginning of the Davion offensive she predicted all along!

With all this the Strategic Director felt he could use some good news. “Is there any other developments that I should be aware of before I turn this shift over to you my dear Casin?”

“Well there is one other incursion into the Confederation. It is in the Capellan Commonality, in the Preston system”. Colonel Casin quickly punched it up on the wall display to give a current status of the situation. “This has been ongoing now nearly ten days, Sir.”

“Ten Days! Is this the same raid that fired upon the Jumpship “Michael Rummel” and then boarded and captured her?” Colonel Casin nodded his head in acknowledgement.

“Release orders for the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers have been given to deal with the problem. Attached is a reinforced Company of Death Commandos suited out for Zero-G operations. They Sir will be used for boarding actions against the intruders own Jumpship as well as to retake the “Michael Rummel” from them”. Colonel Casin indicated on the display the naval units that made up the force. “Accompaning the force will be the Quetzalcoatle Class Jumpship “Pucara” to block the standard jump point. This as you instructed in case they should try to make a run for it.” With that the Colonel produced a copy of the specific orders signed off by the Senior Colonel.

“Has the Senior Colonel for the Capellan Commonality been appraised of the current situation?” Handing the paperwork back to his aide. “And what have they done to prepare so far?”

“Sir, As per standard operating procedures; All systems within three jumps have now gone on alert and have vessels patrolling the standard jump points, All known LaGrange points are also being watched”. To that he smiled and added, “We have closed the doors behind them, Sir. They are not leaving so easily.”

“Has it been determined what House they are from? Whether Davion or Marik?” Looking over the current data Senior Colonel Teng said, “I don’t see that here”.

“At the moment Sir, we do not know. The Dropships show no insignia or House symbol. They are bare without even numbers. The Invader Class Jumpship they arrived on also shows no insignias”.

“Unidentified ships, with no markings or insignias, that open fire upon and hit a Jumpship, in Capellan space! I take it Casin that the intruders did not even respond to an open hail or give any identification?” The younger man nodded his head and said, “That is correct Sir.”

“Very well then. If they choose to play this way, I can too. Intruders that bear no markings shall be treated as Pirates or Rouge Mercenary’s. This intruder owns action speaks for them. They shall be given one chance to surrender and submit to the Chancellors Justice. If not, they are to be destroyed. Be sure to pass all pertinent information to the Commanders in the Field and aboard ships. Colonel Casin, move whatever additional naval assets available in the area to block any line of escape from Preston on out of the Confederation.” Rising from his Lounge chair he ended this discussion with, “Is this understood Colonel Casin?”
To that Casin replied, “Yes Senior Colonel”.
“Good, continue to monitor the situation over the coming days. Now my dear Casin you have the floor because I am going home. Good evening”. And with that the Senior Colonel felt suddenly less like the Strategic Director and again more like just James Teng as he picked up his hat and coat and strode briskly through the door.

A good baseboard to work from here. Nice to see a story about the Capellan Confederation working from a base of some intelligence. Cool.

_________________
[size=85]To indeed be a god. [/size]

Augustus;

Thanks for the comment, more of the story about to follow.

Vaidom

The Jumpship “Port Santos”
Nadir Standard Jump Point.
Sian, Sian Commonality
Spring 3043.

“That’s a good spot,” thought the Officer as he made his way to the chair oblivious of his companions. He was attending what was to be the last briefing before the jump into the combat area. What made this briefing different from the earlier ones held was that on this occasion all Officers involved in the operation would be able to be present and meet each other face-to-face.

The briefing area was rather casual and geared towards comfort and relaxation. It was really a lounge within one of the vessels gravity decks that was partially reconfigured for the gathering of Officers. “Comfortable, but not to the point of making one soft” thought Major Alan Methdes. The Death Commando had quietly seated himself off to the side of the room to see the proceedings. Of the three companions who accompanied him only another Death Commando, his Executive Officer for this mission, Captain Erwin Hee was nearby and seated just to his left. The other two members of the group were Ships Captain Roland Wang of the dropship “Pine Summit” and Commander Ashton Grant commanding a platoon of Marines from the Nadir point Recharge Station Security Force. Those two were mingling among the other officers present and hitting the small spread at a back table.

Movement to his left along with the sound of discomfort brought Major Methdes attention back alongside him. “A problem Captain?” The younger officer looked up from the leg of his chair. “Ah Sir, I think this thing is cracked,” he said while moving about in the seat to test how wobbly and loose his chair really is. “It feels like something is biting me Sir”, said the Captain. “Just don’t break it, understood? We are guests onboard this Ship”, the more senior Death Commando officer was trying to be polite and informal. The chair however was of a cheap plastic type and quite beyond anything more than adding an available cushion for repairs. “Yes, Sir” acknowledged the officer as he began to sit back down on the chair.

Unlike that of his Executive Officer, the seat Major Methdes had was one of the padded and cushioned lounge chairs used in the room. “Yes, Comfortable but not to the point of making one soft” he thought again. The Major always believed in finding “good ground” when arriving on a scene. Looking back over to his companion he could see that the Captain was sitting on his seat in perfect form: Feet flat, hands closed and placed on his knees, back ramrod straight, eyes front facing the podium. He looked like he was attending a speech in the presence of the Chancellor herself. “Captain; what are you doing? You look as though you have something stuck up your backside.” The annoyance in his voice was made politely clear.

“I was just trying to present a proper image of a Confederation officer, Sir. We are not among regular Confederation troops”, said Captain Hee nervously.

“Well stop it. And at Ease. Relax. These troops may not be Confederation regulars but House Liao has employed them for over two hundred years. So they are not strangers”. And with that the Captain began to loosen up. “You are among officers and friends Captain Hee. Be confident without arrogance attached.” Before the other officer could say something he added, “And please stop apologizing so much”.

Captain Hee just smiled and gave out a relieved sigh, “Understood” and nodded his head to add additional acknowledgement. Looking about the room the Captain Hee commented, “Sir, when I was with Stapleton’s Grenadiers we used to move around a lot in our district supporting the defense”, said the Captain. “But I never traveled on a jumpship this big. It’s a fine example of the Confederation Fleet, but I wish that it was painted and had signs the same way as other jumpships I have been on do.” The Captains annoyance was showing, “It would make it easier to find my way around in this place.”

“This vessel is not a Confederation Ship Captain, but belongs to the Rangers”, said the Major, referring to the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers who are part of the operation. “When the Rangers entered into Confederation service they already had this vessel as one of their assets”. Moving has hand slightly as if to better explain, “The Rangers as you know are descended from a Star League Regular Army unit. The Naval assets they have are the ships that were directly assigned to them back in the Star League by the Regular Army.”

“How can they maintain a vessel of this size, Major? The costs of running it has to be prohibitive.” Captain Hee was finding it difficult to believe a Mercenary command could have such a ship.

Major Methdes just smiled. “Do not be concerned about having mechanical difficulties regarding this ship Captain or any other, the Rangers manage quite well. They are very meticulous about servicing their ships.” Pointing to the floor as if to indicate where the topic of discussion is, “This jumpship, the Port Santos is a piece of history. A Star Lord Class ship, it was launched in 2594 and was built in the yards of Terran Hegemony. It is part of the “Group 75” ships named after large ports on Terra. The ports could have been for Sea, Air or Space.” He could see that this fact had gotten the younger mans attention. “I believe that the real Port Santos is located on the East Coast of the Southern Continent of the Americas”. Pointing to the bulkhead Methdes added, “The paint scheme without and within is the original colors and regulation for the Star League Regular Navy. Even the ships name and the names of all the Ranger dropships are still proceeded by “SLS” before it.” “It’s their tradition,” added the Major.

“Was that in the profile report given to you on the Tau Ceti Rangers before we departed Major?” Inquired the Captain. “Not at all Captain Hee”, the Major replied. “If you go out and make a left down the hall about six doors down you will find the ships Officers Mess. In it to one side is a wall display showing the history and honors of this vessel; I found it earlier while moving about the ship.” The Captain nodded his acknowledgment, “You are very observant of things Major”. The older man shook his head slightly to dismiss the praise. “I was raised in Warrior House Ma-Tsu Kai where learning and education are as highly prized as combat skills. Early on we are all taught to observe what is going on around us and learn from it. Those who serve the Chancellor from that Warrior House consider ourselves Warrior-Scholars”. Looking over to the doorway he added, “It is almost second nature with me to investigate a new location”.

“Officers, ATTENTION!” Came the announcement from the doorway that the Rangers senior officer had entered the room. All present either rose from their seats or if standing turned facing the podium and stood at attention. Major Methdes also rose but went instead to the “at ease” position instead. Captain Hee was shocked to see the Major stand and quietly said, “We are Death Commandos!” To which in a low but firm voice the Major replied, “Show respect and stand up! Death Commandos are not bound by any code that denies showing courtesy. Our actions reflect upon Chancellor.” With that the Captain Hee rose and took position next to Major Methdes.

Colonel Jacoby Jax strode up to the podium and laid his notes in order. A man of average height he stood 1.78 meters tall and good condition at 86 Kilograms weight. In his late 40’s, his hair and mustache was already mostly white streaked with gray. His posture stood straight and erect, an image that with the addition of his bifocal glasses he wore made him look more like a College professor than a military man. His habit of also looking over the top of these glasses just seems to reinforce the image. A 25-year career officer, he had worked his way up the ranks within the Rangers. He had commanded the Rangers 2nd Battalion during the war of ’28, survived the later operation on Kathil, and eventually came to be the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers commanding officer less than a year ago when the last hereditary commander of the Branderberg family died leaving no heir.

“As you were, everyone. It’s good to see everyone’s smiling faces at this time of the evening”, said the Colonel, all the while looking over the top of his glasses. Taking a quick glance at the digital readout on the wall showing time he began the briefing. “I will try to keep this gathering short so that all of you can return to your assigned dropships and make final preparations”. Those words brought cheerful agreement from the group assembled. “For those of you who do not know, we are slightly more than 4 hours from our Event Horizon. I have been informed that barring any unforeseen problems the “Santos” and her associated dropships should make the jump into Preston as scheduled”. The Colonel continued on by saying, “I understand that some of you have wondered as why we have not jumped as soon as we docked with the “Santos” since she had a full charge stored. Well, it is because we have had to wait for the “Pucara” out in the Krin system to charge her jump drives. The “Pucara” is also assigned to this operation and is scheduled to jump to Preston at the same time we are”. Now taking a quick glance at his watch, “If the time difference is not too great that ship should arrive within 10 minutes before or after our arrival at the target systems jump point”.

Looking back over his notes the Colonel began, “I will cover primarily three main things for now. First, lets recap what Intel has given us up to this time.” Adjusting his glasses for a moment Colonel Jax continued, “Once I go over this you will know as much as I do”

“Approximately Eleven days ago an unidentified Invader Class jumpship with two spheroid dropships arrived at the Standard Nadir jump point of the Preston system. Sitting at the jump point was the Scout Class jumpship “Michael Rummel” that was recharging its jump drive. Only thirty-four hours earlier she had brought the Buccaneer Class dropship “Carver Line 7” into the system delivering a military consignment for the defense forces on planet. The “Rummel” hailed the newcomer and requested identification. Immediately after arriving at the jump point the unknown vessel detached both dropships which launched four heavy fighters that advanced toward the “Rummel”. At this point the “Rummel” began to issue a broadcast of “Warning, Warning, Unidentified Ships in Harbor” on all frequencies as well as LasComm via a known communications satellite to alert Preston of an Intruder”.

“The fighters fired shots across the bow and stern of the “Michael Rummel” and ordered her to cease and desist from all activity”. Turning his notes once again, Colonel Jax continued his briefing. “At this point the “Rummel” stood down as commanded and awaited the dropships, which have since been identified as Union Class vessels. During their approach the crew of the “Michael Rummel” could not observe any identifying markings or House insignia, that all running lights were off, and that none of the hostile vessels were issuing any form of IFF signal. Realizing this the ships crew believed the Intruders to be Pirates and began once again to broadcast as much information they could before being boarded.”

Looking over the room the Colonel could see that his audience was keeping up so far. “At this point the Intruders again repeated their demands to cease and desist which were ignored by the crew of the “Michael Rummel”. Colonel Jax than adjusted his glasses slightly then scanned the page before him and then opened with the statement brought silence to the assembled officers. “After the Intruders demands were ignored by the crew of the “Michael Rummel” the heavy fighters began a series of attack runs upon the ship which resulted in several hits upon the aft section of the jumpship”. It was plain to see that the mood in the room had grown heavy at confirmation of the news. “The attack was made just before the jumpship was boarded on the outer hull. It appears that Zero-G trained and equipped troops were used for this action. These troops gained access to within the “Michael Rummel” and contact was lost soon after as is the fate of the ship’s crew is unknown”.

The Death Commando Major Methdes shifted slightly in his seat while listing. “Accurate to what has been reported so far” he thought. “And to a degree even makes some sense”. But he found it hard to believe that a House Lord would permit any sort of physical attack upon ANY jumpship by their forces. “What happened next on planet side is even stranger”, as he mentally recalled from the reports.

After a short moment of pause to turn his notes Colonel Jax continued without missing a beat. “Five days later the two dropships arrived within Preston’s orbit and again launched their heavy fighters. The Preston Air Traffic Control system had them on their screens from as far as two days out from orbit The dropship “Carver Line 7” had been on planet just longs enough to offload its cargo and to upload some freight. Upon the Pirates arrival in orbit the “Carver” stopped all cargo operations and lifted-off immediately. Two of the hostile heavy fighters were seen to attempt an intercept during lift-off, and an open band hail from the fighters to the “Carver” ordered her to break atmosphere into space and surrender herself. The ATC however vectored the dropship to another hemisphere while in atmosphere and she managed to evade the fighters to safety. She is currently on the ground and hiding”.

“Soon afterwards both Unions grounded at Preston’s Spaceport and thirteen Battlemechs and a Jump Infantry Company were offloaded. The ‘Mech forces was made up of two Lances of light machines and one reinforced Lance of five heavy machines. A Battlemaster has been observed in the heavy Lance. They took up a defensive posture on the open tarmac, and the ‘Mechs never moved more than 300 meters from the dropships.” Reading his notes and looking just a bit confused Colonel Jax continued to talk. “The Jump Infantry made a quick sweep of the evacuated Spaceport Main terminal and Control tower. Both passenger and military wings of the building were swept. However; reports show that this Jump Infantry never entered into the warehouse and light industrial district adjacent to the Spaceport”. Colonel Jax then stopped looking at his notes and said, “At no time was their any attempt to hack into or disable the ATC system, plunder the military stores in the Main terminal, nor loot the warehouses nearby. One result of this mistake is that ATC has kept tabs on their movements ever since, nothing of their movements in the air or space is hidden from the defenders”. Turning another page the Colonel had a slight grin on his face and added, “If they had at that time decided to take the entire facility we could not have stopped them Gentlemen. On site the defenders only had a Company of Militia Infantry in the warehouse district. But oh, this nonsense just gets better”.

“At dusk of Preston’s day to night cycle at the Spaceport the landed Pirate force uploaded back into the Unions and lifted-off into orbit. The Aerospace fighters were detected to have docked back on ship by the ATC. They stayed there only until the night part of the day cycle was done and then sent down one Union to land back again at the Spaceport twenty minutes after sunrise there. The other Union moved off a distance from Preston into high orbit. It is believed to act as a base of operations for their four heavy fighters. The report from the ATC says that this has increased the response however for the hostile Aerospace fighters to twenty minutes transit time from dropship to over the Spaceport.” Looking out over his glasses at his audience Colonel Jax was trying to see if any of what he had said was lost on them. “The sole Union on the ground then off-loaded the heavy ‘Mech Lance, a platoon of Partisan AA heavy tanks, a platoon of Schrek PPC carriers, and the Jump Infantry Company. These maintained defensive positions again on the open tarmac within 150 meters surrounding the dropship. The Partisans and a Rifleman were deployed in a stationary AA defensive formation.” Looking up from his notes to his officers Colonel Jax added, “Again, the Pirates made no attempt to move out or expand their perimeter”.

“It is either cautious or sloppy,” thought Major Methdes. “And I do not know which at this time”. Glancing over at Captain Hee the Major could see that he too was perplexed and probably wondering “What’s the point?” of the Intruders actions. To the Major it was plain to see that Captain Hee had obviously not read his copy of the report yet on the operation. If he had he would be taking what he is hearing now as old news.

Up at the podium Colonel Jax could be heard to continue the briefing. “After the Pirates had withdrawn the first time around the local defenders moved a Mechanized Infantry Battalion with heavy weapons from the 22nd Capella Home Guard Regiment into the warehouse district. The Militia took control of the Spaceport terminal and deployed FO’s to plan fire. By this time Militia battalions had also deployed west and south of the Spaceport and the Home Guard had mustered together two Companies of Armor. Air assets assigned to the Garrison are eighteen Guardians with Aerospace assets in the form of two Mk.VII-L Gunboats”. Addressing the room he said, “What is unfortunate is that only a squadron of six Guardians and the two Gunboats were in range of the LZ initially. But as you can see Gentlemen, per standard Confederation doctrine the local forces are moving to contain the attackers”.

Adjusting his glasses again, “It was at this time that the first attempt to strike back by the local forces was made”. Turning a page he continued, “Reports say it was planned as a concerted action between air and ground forces, but was in the end not properly coordinated. Losses were heavy with the initial squadron of six Guardians all being shot down before completing their bomb runs as well as one of the Mk.VII-L’s to ground fire. The ground attack by Armored forces resulted in the loss of two platoons of Vedettes and a platoon of Hetzers.” Laying the page to the side he then said, “Multiple hits were seen to have been made upon the Rifleman, but otherwise no enemy losses reported”.

“Major,” said Captain Hee quietly, “It makes no sense. Every day they sit there the local defenses just get stronger. They must know that”, the Captain said referring to the Intruders. “It’s as though they are toying with us or saying that we are nothing to them”.

“I see your meaning Captain,” said the older officer. “But before we jump to conclusions as to what’s in the enemies head we have catch them first”. With that he turned back to the front were Colonel Jax was speaking.

“The most current reports indicate that the enemy has not moved from the Spaceport nor have they moved the other Union from its high orbit position. They have made attempts to salvage the vehicles and retrieve components from the downed air assets; but every time they try they are shelled by light artillery and come under attack by heavy infantry mortars.” Moving the stack of turned pages over to one side of the podium Colonel Jax stated, “They have attempted to silence the indirect fire with the heavy fighters but have been unable to spot the batteries. The last report tells of multiple hits within the enemy LZ, and that includes the dropship, by the Militia artillery”. Taking off his glasses and wiping them clean he asked, “Any questions?” No response came from the officers gathered. “Good. Now you know what I know Gentlemen”.

Slipping his glasses back into place on his head, Colonel Jax looked back over to the wall mounted digital readout and checked it against his watch. With a slight smile and nod to it he turned back to face his audience and said, “Hmmm, fastest ten minutes so far for speaking.” He now laid down a single sheet of paper for his notes. “The second thing to be covered will be combat assignments, dropship postings, and rules of engagement. Nothing on this has been changed from the discussion and planning prior to lift-off and the long burn from Sian. The battleplan stands. There has been some added additions to it, but nothing that makes an immediate difference to us”.

With that the Colonel began. “Company A, Company B, and the Regimental Command Lance will be onboard the “Frederick der Grosse”. The entire Hard Air Wing will be onboard the “Bayan Khan”. Company C will be posted to the “Cadiz”. Upon reaching orbit around Preston, Company A will execute a high altitude combat drop into the vacinity of the Spaceport. The “Frederick der Grosse” will then proceed to ground just outside the Spaceport and Company B will move out from the LZ. Company C will ground with the “Cadiz” Five Kilometers out and be the mobile reserve in case the Pirates make a run for it and breakout from the containment area. The “Cadiz” will use the ships Long Tom Howitzer to give fire support to the operation. The “Bayan Khan” will stay in close geostationary orbit and provide top cover over the operational area”. He turned the note page over and placed it on the earlier stack of notes next to him. He then added, “As per standard Confederation doctrine; upon our arrival on planet the Rangers will take over operational command of the situation on Preston and will receive the full cooperation of the Garrison forces place under our control”.

Looking out from the podium he stood open-handed and asked, “Any questions?” The reply was several no’s or some action indicating such. The officers present answering more to acknowledge what they already knew from earlier planning. “Now regarding rules of engagement. To our knowledge we are dealing here with Pirates, and to that end, they shall be treated as such”, He said looking more grim. “If however it should come to pass that the are not pirates but something else, then a more liberal set of conventions can be applied.” To this announcement many in the audience looked at each other and then nodded assent.

“Because of the open possibility that this could be some sort of operation by either House Davion or Marik, and due to the actions taken by these Pirates so far, the Office of the Strategic Director has decided to loosen our leash somewhat”. Holding up a printout of a directive he continued by saying, “An hour before this briefing I received an authorization from the Strategic Director, Senior Colonel James Teng. It allows this unit pursue the Intruders up to thirty light years outside of Confederation space if it should come to be determined that the said Intruders are in reality a House unit or a Mercenary unit in their employ.” This news brought a positive reaction and a small applause from the assembled officers. Comments were made from the crowd of finally taking a fight to the FedRats or plucking eagle feathers.

“You all like this news, huh? Well I don’t want to disappoint you all but the fact of the matter is this is just an option. And one that will only be exercised with judgement and prudence. If it should turn out that they are really Pirates, then we will not cross out of Confederation space but will return to Sian once the operation is over”. He stood with his hands on his waist before the audience, “But if they are some sort of operation for a House Lord I will weigh the facts before committing to a retaliatory strike in hostile space.” Looking to his officers he ended with, “Do I make myself clear?” To which the Rangers replied, “Yes Sir!”

Major Methdes checked the time on the rooms wall readout. “We have covered a lot of ground in the twenty minutes since this briefing started” he thought. He knew that soon they would be headed for their posts to await the Jump.

“Majur” said a voice. Just to his right was old Ships Captain Wang of the dropship “Pine Summit”.
“Yes Captain” replied Major Methdes.

The Ships Captain spoke in an accented standard “I jest whanted to tell yu that all of the ekripment yu speseafied has been moved to the jumpships cargo bay numbha thuree. Ahll eez ready”. The officer was originally from one of the rural parts of the Confederation.

“Did you hear that Captain Hee? As soon as we return move your detachment to its assembly area and suit up. I expect this briefing to end in the next ten minutes so I do not want any delays”

“Yes Major” said the Captain Hee. “I can go now if you want” demonstrating an eagerness to leave the briefing.

“No that’s not necessary, we can all leave together.” He said with a grin. “That way we can all get our information at the same time so we can all be on the same page”. Still holding a grin he turned back to the podium leaving Captain Hee with no immediate way out of the briefing.

Speaking at the moment is one of the Ranger Company commanders regarding a question of transit time. “…with a five day burn in the Pirates jumpships would observe our arrival. I recall that there is an active La Grange point further in system near Preston. Why can’t we use that?”

“Your point is valid and has been taken into consideration” said the Colonel.” I will let Flag Captain Acoba take this question you have fielded”, moving his hand to indicate the officer.

A man much older than Colonel Jax, Flag Captain Acoba did not rise to his feet but simply turned in his seat to face the younger officer. “It’s simple really. The planet you are thinking of is fifth from the systems star has two moons orbiting it. The orbits of these two moons are stable. However, one of the moons has a satellite of its own in rapid orbit around it. This satellite is volcanically active causing plumes of ejecta to be shot out into space causing its course to wobble and alter its rapid orbit. While the satellites plumes jet on a regular basis and can be plotted the effect on its orbit cannot be predicted without direct stellar observation.” Moving his hands to illustrate his point the officer continued on. “What this does is cause the La Grange point, the Pirate point as it is otherwise known, to shift every few hours. If under direct observation in system a jump can be plotted within the system itself. But if you are jumping from another solar system than the fifth planet La Grange point is useless. There are other points that show in system from time to time but none of those will have a window for another five weeks.”

Another hand rose from the crowd. This time it was from a Lance commander, the young lieutenant sounded so sure of himself. “Might it be that the plan is a bit more heavy handed than need be? I mean looking at what is current it seems that we should take up a supporting role because the Garrison forces on planet seem to have everything under control. Using all three Companies seems to be overkill, Sir.”

“You think so Lieutenant?” Colonel Jax replied, leaning on the podium and looking right at the young officer.

“Why yes Sir!” Came his enthusiastic reply. “These are after all Sir, just Pirates. One Company plus the Garrison should be able to do the job. That way we can save or resources for more serious combat.” Those last words brought words of support and nods from several of the other officers in the room for that idea.

“All right everyone lets get a handle on it” said the Colonel while motioning with his hands to quiet things down. “I know where this is going. There has been some talk since we were put on alert about why the 4th Tau Ceti is “Pirate Hunting” when we should be dealing with “real” opponents”. Now standing erect behind the podium Colonel Jax made it clear. “I too would like us to be facing the Davions concerning the current situation at the border. But, we are not, we are here,” he said calmly and to the point. “And we have a job to do” he added. “So lets stay focused everyone and get this business over quickly.”

Standing now next to the podium and casually leaning on it Colonel Jax turned back to the Lance commander and his question. “Lieutenant, do you see anything wrong with several members of your command concentrating fire on a single target in order to bring it down quickly?” asked the Colonel.

“Why no Sir. It just makes sense to do that in order to just be more effective on the battlefield” answered the younger man.

“Good” answered the Rangers Commanding Officer. “I see that we think alike. For myself I see nothing wrong with throwing overwhelming firepower at an enemy if it will bring a quick conclusion to the fight.” Moving back to behind the podium while still looking at the younger officer he added, “I don’t see it as Overkill, I see it as being Efficient”.

“Well its good to see that this is an enthusiastic group,” Methdes thought to himself. “They are well motivated as to what they see their mission as”. The Death Commando Major straightened his tunic back in order. He felt how unfortunate that his time with the 4th Tau Ceti was going to be so short, but that was due to the operational plan and he saw nothing in the future to change it.

“Colonel”, called a Captain of one of the Rangers Company’s. “Just playing devil’s advocate here, but what should happen if the Pirates manage to breakout, evade us, and lift off planet?” The Captain was older than most of the officers present. “They have already demonstrated an ability to execute EVA operations. If they manage to get back to the jump point what is to stop them from attempting to take the “Port Santos” as another one of their prizes?” He waited for his answer while he propped himself up on one elbow in his chair, with his chin in his hand.

The Colonel did not even skip a beat but jumped right into answering. “With that question you are getting ahead of me in this briefing Captain but, it is a good opener for the Third and final item on the agenda. I had said earlier that their had been additions to the operational battleplan. My announcement of the Conditional Authorization to pursue is one of those additions.” The assembled officers waited for news of what the other additions Colonel Jax had spoke of.

“To answer part of your question is that the presence of the“Pucara” is intended to protect the jumpships from any attempt to board or attack them as was the “Michael Rummel”. The twelve fighters onboard the “Pucara” should make any attempt a dicey proposition at best”, said the Colonel. His manner indicated however that he was not through speaking just yet, and he added; “There is however more to this.”

“It was decided early on by the Strategic Director, Senior Colonel James Teng, to mount a mission to liberate the captured jumpship “Michael Rummel” and to seize the Pirates own jumpship from them” The Colonel was now sliding his notes into a folder on the podium while speaking. “Since the Rangers are a ground unit and not trained or equipped for EVA operations it was decided to send additional detachments to complete the mission. We have since taken on a the Fury Class dropship “Summit Mist” and two small craft for use in that mission.” With folder in hand, Colonel Jax now moved to the front of the podium area.

“The boarding operation will be conducted by a team formed from a detached Marine Platoon from the Sian Nadir Recharge Station and a Company of Death Commandos”, Colonel Jax said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. But it was the last two words that caught the attention of everyone in the room.

Major Methdes had just gotten used to his fine chair when he felt the sudden collective stares from the many other officers in the room. “I dislike having to deal with this,” he privately thought. He also became conscious of the contrast of his own black and green trimmed uniform and the olive drab & light gray uniforms of the surrounding Ranger officers. He knew that all they heard of Colonel Jax’s last statement were the words: Death Commando. It was a reaction that he had encountered many times from other members of Confederation Line Regiments. It was not something he could not deal with, but he still disliked the reaction. After all, was he not a Confederation officer too; He often wondered. He moved to sit more upright and cast a quick glance over to Captain Hee. It was plain to see from his Executive Officers expression that the younger man was enjoying the sudden awe tempered with dread that this recognition was bringing. “I am going to have to have a talk to him later” he was thinking, and made a mental note of it.

The Colonel was at this time introducing the officers involved with the mission to board the jumpships starting with Major Methdes and working his way down that chain of command. Each of the officers in turn motioning in one way or another acknowledgement to the introduction made. The Death Commando Major knew that at some point very soon he would be called upon to speak of his groups part in the operation.

“Basically, upon arrival at the systems standard jump point the Rangers dropships will detach and with the all clear given begin the burn into Preston. The dropship and small craft assigned to the boarding action will at the same time detach and launch and will move to begin their mission.” Looking over his glasses, he said, “Exactly how they will execute the boarding action is outside of my experience. But being that they are expected to be with us only a short time the method was not fully discussed.” Turning to address the Death Commando officer, Colonel Jax said, “Major Methdes is their anything you want to add to what I have said so far?” With this last statement Colonel Jax presented an invitation to the Major that would be rude to turn down.

Standing up and straightening his tunic, the Major began to speak. “Thank you Colonel Jax for introducing my officers and myself to your command.” Facing the Rangers Commanding Officer he continued. “First off Sir, I should like to say that the plans for boarding the jumpships do not require the use of any Battlemech assets from the Rangers.” The Major knew by saying that he removed one concern that had been in the back of the minds of some Ranger officers present. “Once free from the “Port Santos” the vessels carrying the boarding parties will immediately move out at full power to close the distance as quickly as possible to the jumpships. The Force will be divided into two Teams Sir. One Team will be dispatched in two small craft, a NL-42 and a SL-7A. They will be under the command of Captain Hee, and will consist of one Death Commando Lance and two Marine Squads. Their objective is to be the “Michael Rummel”. The other Team Sir, under my command will be aboard the dropship “Summit Mist”, and will consist of two Death Commando Lances and two Marine Squads. That Teams objective will be the Pirates jumpship”.

To some the act of addressing the Colonel and not the room at large may seem rude. But Major Methdes training in social protocols from his Warrior House years still had value. Even though the Tau Ceti Ranger Colonel had no authority over the Death Commando officer, He still had to be treated with respect. And as a Master rules his Warrior House, the Colonel is lord of his Regiment, from them everyone learns their place and its relation to everyone else in the unit.

“Upon arrival at the target the jumpships will be grappled and boarded. The intent is that upon boarding one part of the Team will make for the ships Engineering section while the other will take ships bridge command & control area. With the Pirates own Invader Class vessel we will most likely have to blow a hatch or force a bay door. With the “Michael Rummel” being a Confederation vessel we are more fortunate in that we have acquired the vessels security codes. With these it is a simple matter of entering the appropriate code for opening an outer hatch. If that should fail Sir, we are prepared to force our way in.”

“So do you expect the jumpships to surrender immediately upon being boarded, Major?” asked the Ranger Colonel.

“I have been instructed by my superiors to give the Pirates an opportunity to surrender and face the Chancellors Justice”. Placing his hands behind his back in an “At Ease” position the Major elaborated further. “If however resistance is encountered, then the Pirates are to be dealt with in the usual fashion. I myself have given orders to my men that only those who offer resistance are to be treated so.” Major Methdes paused for a moment, and then said, “Colonel Jax,” to which the Colonel acknowledged from where he stood. “I should like to point out that the Conditional Authorization for you to proceed across the Confederation border does not include myself nor anyone part of my Command. Relative to my assignment here for this operation, the Conditional Authorization is only an option for me to consider”. He then added, “Is their anything else Colonel Jax?”

“No Major, that is quite enough. Thank you.” Said the older man.

With that the Major returned to his seat.

Looking at his timepiece and comparing it to the wall mounted digital readout, Colonel Jax let out a satisfying hum that was just perceptible to hear. “Thirty-six minutes since we started. Not bad time” he said to the assembled officers. “Now I know that next I’ll be repeating myself by going over what is old ground for most you, but this is for the benefit of those here who are not familiar with our units drill.” Some of the Company commanders nodded in acknowledgement to those words.

“Now because we will arriving into a potentially hostile system we will be following our standard procedure and will go to Red Alert on the first klaxon prior to jump. That means as you must know that the “Port Santos” and all associated dropships will be at Battle Stations.” Looking over at Major Methdes and his party he said, “We will as always synchronize our times when you have all returned to your assigned dropships. As usual we will be using Zulu time which will remain in effect for the duration of this operation. Times will be centralized from the bridge of the “Port Santos” and will be displayed and recorded within your assigned dropships bridge chronometers.”

Looking back toward the Death Commando officer, “Major Methdes and Captain Wang, will you have any difficulties with these last two items?”

“I will not have any trouble being on your timetable Colonel.” With that the Major looked over at his assigned dropships Commanding Officer.

Taking his cue from that Captain Roland Wang of the “Summit Mist” stood up and faced the Colonel. He motioned with his right hand and said “No warry about the “Summit Mist”, shze will be ready when the time comes.” To that he ended with a “Hmm” and a nod, along with a look of satisfaction and sat back down.

“Alright everyone” said the Colonel while checking the time from his watch. “That covers everything up to now,” he said. Looking up from his timepiece he continued to address the room. “It is up to time for this briefing to end and for this command to get to their positions for the jump ahead. We are now less than three and one-half hours from our Event Horizon.” With that the assembled in the room began to reach for the assorted items they had brought with them for the briefing.

Colonel Jax moved forward of the podium as if making ready to exit the room himself. Looking about the room one he put in his finishing remarks. “As usual during a jump of this type I will be found on the bridge of the “Frederick de Grosse” while Flag Captain Acoba will transfer his command from the “Port Santos” to the “Bayan Khan”. As always Gentlemen stay sharp and alert, and I will see you all on the ground on Preston.” Raising his hand to a salute brought everyone in the room to their feet with the assembled officers, including the two Death Commandos, raising their hands in kind. “Gentlemen, you are all dismissed.” And with that finish, Colonel Jax proceeded out the door.

The Major turned to his party around him. “You all know what to do. It is time for us to get to our places.” Hearing that Captain Wang gave a quick salute to the Major and then headed out the door to get to his ship. The Death Commando Major Methdes then looked at his two remaining officers, Captain Hee and Marine Commander Grant, and said, “It’s time to suit up”. And with Major Methdes leading, they left the room.

I like it..keep it up!

Thanks Deathrider6 for the comment! Here is the next installation. Enjoy!

Vaidom

Dropship “Summit Mist”
Nadir Jump Point
Sian; Sian Commonality
Spring 3043

The initial klaxon had sounded and the Event Horizon was now in less than 10 minutes. The ship had gone to Red Alert in anticipation of the jump ahead, and status lights in ship corridors throughout the Task Force had switched to Red to advertise that fact. The men in the dropship vehicle bay only took a momentary pause to notice the count down had begun, before continuing on with what they were doing. They were all going through their last minute checks of weapons and gear. First for themselves, and then examining the gear of their companions. It was a buddy system used by anyone when entering a Hostile environment. Called a Jump Check in military service; a phrase inherited from the Jump Infantry. The myth among soldiers says that they in turn inherited it from an older branch of the Infantry, supposedly crack troops back in the days of the Terran Alliance. After completing there check they would drift over to a chosen spot in the bay, clip themselves with a lanyard to the floor or bulkhead and float in Zero-G to await what comes next. They were both physically and mentally bracing themselves. Not for combat, but for the actual jump.

Major Methdes looked around at the men of his immediate command. His suit headgear was off and he was talking on the communicator to the dropship Command Pilot, Captain Wang on the bridge regarding last minute details. In fact that is what he spent a good part of his time doing since entering the ships ready room to suit-up. Over the last two plus hours he had been talking back and forth with a whole collection of personalities. They included, starting with his superiors on Sian; Flag Captain Acoba, Colonel Jax, Captain Hee in the small craft bay of the “Port Santos”, not to mention currently Captain Wang. This was a distraction that caused him to be the last to suit-up of the group. He had not even done checks for his own equipment and weapons. All he had tolerated at the time was a quick check by a member of his Death Commando Lance. He knew he had to attended to this matter, and soon. But he kept thinking it could wait until he handled this one last detail, clarified this one last thing. But time was running out and the Event Horizon would soon be upon them.

“Major” said a voice that caught his attention. It came not from his commlink but directly before him. Standing before the Major was another Death Commando, Lieutenant Young. “Sir, I understand your busy but I must insist that you check you weapons & gear”, said the junior officer. “I will monitor the commlink while you finish your checks. When you are done then I will check you over myself. As the number two in this Lance it is my responsibility to ensure everyone is prepared”. The Lieutenant had energized his footgear because he was not floating but standing firmly on the deck looking directly at the Major. He then tapped the side of his helmet where his right ear would be and then moved it to his left forearm where the communications controls would be. His fingertips hovered over the pad as he continued to look directly at the major awaiting his order to take over the communications.
Looking directly back at the Lieutenant the Major felt intruded upon by this seeming confrontation. He was seriously considering putting the younger officer in his place when he became aware of the feel of his suit on his body. It was too loose and drafty in places. He could also see that his Marine Combat Environment Suit was not even powered-up. It became rapidly all too apparent to Major Methdes that in his concern for the mission he had neglected one of the basic tasks of a soldier; and that is to check his weapons and gear. His number two was correct in his action because it is what Methdes would have done when he was a number two. Lieutenant Young was just doing what was expected of him.

He motioned to the Lieutenant to standby while he finished his discussion with the dropships Command Pilot. “Command Pilot, I will be going off line temporarily to attended to things around me. Lieutenant Young will be on the communications net in my place. Do you confirm?”

The voice-actuated reply from the bridge was clear. “Understood Major. If any probrems happen I will not hesitate tu call. Command Pilot out.” Captain Wang would soon have his hands full maneuvering the ship after jump. The Major made a similar call to Captain Hee to inform him of the temporary absence from the communications net. Once done he quickly passed the responsibility over to Lieutenant Young who quickly took his place in the network.

Methdes took quick look at himself and sighed. “There is no excuse” he thought, “And to think I’m in charge.” Reaching over, he opened a wall panel and pulled out the umbilical line. This would give him life support and power without draining his suit’s supply until he had to exit the ship. But he had to fully suit-up first to make use of line. He then reached down and moved his suit’s SELMA unit to eye level, opened up its compartments, and began to make his check while it floated in zero-g.

The Marines participating in the operation had all suited up in Combat Space Suits. The Light Gull Grey coloring with the Confederation and Marine unit crests was typical of them. Within the Confederation such suits are only found with Marines or shipboard Engineers for making repairs in the midst of battle. The Death Commandos in contrast are all fitted out with a Marine Combat Environment Suit for the operation. It’s Black-Green color with a fine Liao green trim was devoid of any unit symbols. All it had on it was the Confederation crest and a temporary rank insignia attached to the upper right arm. The rank insignia was more for the benefit of those none Death Commandos present.

SELMA is short for SElf contained Life-support and Maneuver unit, Armored. It is one of the main things that set a Marine Combat Environment Suit apart from a Combat Space Suit. A Combat Space Suit is a direct development from the standard Space Suit with the same layout for life-support, controls, etc. It is stripped down somewhat for the addition of armor, and the life-support unit is rearranged to make maneuvering better for an individual. But in spite of all that the suit is still heavy and encumbering once gravity is encountered and it cannot maneuver or move quickly enough in close quarters combat in zero-g. The life-support functions, maneuver jets, power, and communications are located in the “pack” unit worn on the back in the manner of a Space Suit. This “pack” unit is only moderately protected from attack, as most of the Combat Space Suits armor is concentrated in the body suit covering the occupant. Since the Combat Space Suit was designed for engaging opponents in its forward facings the “packs” potential vulnerability was not considered an issue.

The Marine Combat Environment Suit’s uses a different approach. The SELMA is made up of multiple flat casings located on the Upper back, Lower back, both Sides of the hip, and Upper arms. This entire assembly is mounted on a single load-bearing harness that is worn over the body suit part of the outfit. Contact points on the outerlayer of the suit connected the SELMA unit’s hookups & feeds to the body suit. In addition the SELMA’s harness was load-bearing type with various rings and provision to attach ammunition clips, cartridge type boxes, grenades, and other utility items to the front. “Check, check, good, check” he softly said to himself as the Major’s hand touched each point to be inspected. He appeared as though he was performing a Comstar ritual as he went through the SELMA’s different compartments. “Everything is fine so far,” he thought. He double-checked the metal-alloy internal panels between the various compartments in the main Upper back and Lower Back sections to make sure they are structurally sound. By this time the Major knew that his Life support, pressure for his Thrusters, Power packs were at 100% capacity, and that the suits Computer control module was running smoothly.

After moving the SELMA up against the vehicle bay’s bulkhead to keep it flat Major Methdes proceeded to close various sections. He started with the outer sections for the legs and arms. The covers are rigid shells held in place by two or more swing-locks that folded into place and locked the covers down. The two sections for the Upper and Lower back are enclosed by single one-piece shells that cover the casings. The rigid shells that enclosed the casings were made of a thin layer of Ballistic Plate that was also used for the helmet in a heavier thickness. Even the baseplates of the sections is made of this material. Once in place and locked-down these shells along with the metal-alloy internal panels compartmentize the casings for additional safety. This feature is meant to protect the soldier wearing the suit in the event that weapons fire should penetrate the casing protective shell and hit an internal air tank or the pressure jet system. The resulting tank explosion might kill or seriously injure a combatant; instead the compartment system contains and allows the force of the explosion to vent out through the breach. In the hostile conditions the Marine Combat Environment Suit was designed for this feature can be a lifesaver.

Once he completed closing up the SELMA he left it floating where it is. He would go back to it shortly, but for now turned his attention to sealing up body suit of this outfit. He had fitted the suit’s underlayer when he had initially donned it but he still had to close the seals for it and then align and snap down the armored outerlayer. First he worked the underlayer, starting at the feet and hands and working his way in. When he was done he did a pressure check to insure this layers pressurized integrity. Next, he began to work on the armored outerlayer, again starting at the extremities. At this point it was mainly a matter of aligning the armored outerlayer into position and to be comfortable. Once done the area was snapped down and locked into place. The front or “breastplate” section was usually the most difficult because the upper part of it had to be aligned correctly so that the collar or “gorget” would fit properly for the helmeted headgear. All these actions concerning his body suit were causing the Major to roll and tumble in the zero-g environment. An unavoidable inconvenience until the suit could be powered up.

He recovered his composure and reached for a line from the SELMA and jacked it into his body suit. He then coupled the ship’s umbilical into the SELMA and powered his suit up. He then manually twisted closed the valves for the thruster jet nozzles. Raising his feet off the deck by bending his legs he began to test the thruster jets controls by reading the thrust pressure gauge. He then checked the thrusters located in the Marine Combat Environment Suits legs and arms. Combat Soldiers as a rule prefer to have there hands free so they can do their job. A trooper cannot use his weapon in zero-g combat if he has to use the same hands to control the suit thrusters to maneuver. Because of this in Combat Space Suits and Marine Combat Environment Suits, the thruster control is done by means of the legs. Once thrusters are armed for use a trooper need only bend his legs at the knee and control his direction by movements of his feet at the ankle. Straighten the legs, and the thruster shuts off. Space Suits and Combat Space Suits both use the standard stationary “5 nozzle cluster” for their thruster jets. The Marine Combat Environment Suit however makes use of nozzles that swivel during firing and has an additional set of thrusters built into the legs and arms of the body suit part of the outfit for added maneuverability. These added features give the Marine Combat Environment Suit the ability to brake faster in zero-g than any other suit. Both Space Suits and Combat Space Suits can only give full power from its thruster nuzzles in the forward and rear facings because of the placement of the “5 nozzle cluster” on the suits “pack”, but only half power in any other direction. Because of the use of “swivel nozzles” and the jets in the arms and legs a Marine Combat Environment Suit can apply full power in virtually any direction it needs.

Once this series of checks were complete he then twisted open the valves for the thruster jets and then slipped the SELMA on his body suit. With the body suit sealed he could already feel it beginning to get hot inside because of his body heat. Although the vehicle bay was cold, he would not be able to feel cooler it until he had Marine Combat Environment Suit completely sealed from head to toe. First he pulled the suits underlayer at his neck to the proper length to make sure the multi-grooved rim attached was level and even. He then set his gorget in place to protect his neck and the underlayer’s multi-grooved rim settled within this. His headgear was the last piece of the suit. Within the helmet was another underlayer with its own multi-grooved rim that extended a good head length below the helmet. It was lined up with the body suits rim and locked in place for a complete seal. The helmet was then settled and locked in place with snaps, the extra length of underlayer evenly folding within the helmet giving additional cushioning. Once in place a trooper could move his head to a full range of motion from side-to-side. If he wanted to tilt his head up or down the helmet would stay in place, but his head could move in the full range within the helmet up or down. With a full faceplate a trooper’s field of vision was excellent.

“Ah, that feels better,” said Major Methdes as the Marine Combat Environment Suit began to pressurize. The circulating air was cooling him off and bringing things back to a normal temperature level within the suit. More importantly, with the suit powered up it would now self-regulate the suits enclosed environment via his life-support system. He stood there patting his torso and legs in apparent self-satisfaction, but he was also settling into place the armored outerlayer. As the suit’s underlayer pressurized and expanded it was pushing against the body suit’s armored outerlayer and causing the internal pieces of the armored sections in the outerlayer to spread. These pieces called “shims” or “splints” would spread to the limit the pressurized underlayer would push them and then interlock in place. This final act created a completely self-sealed armored suit to ward off attack. Even weapons that can creep around and flow into armored joints such as MP-PPC’s and Flamers would find no easy target here.

The status monitor headset display indicated everything was up to specs. The Major quickly followed this up with a check of the vision devices that came up positive too. His final check was to see if can turn or twist easily at the waist while standing as if he did not have the SELMA on. This final check demonstrated freedom of movement to his satisfaction. At this point he could hear Lieutenant Young speaking on the communications channel from time to time as he covered for the Major. “I’ll not interfere”, he thought to himself, “After all he’s not doing a bad job and he is giving me the time I need to complete what must be done”. By using both his hands he unlocked his helmet visor and which then recessed back and slid up. Only the central panel on the visor could do this. He had at this point activated his electromagnets and was standing upright on the floor. Looking to his side he reached for the next category of items to be checked out.

The principal weapon that the Death Commandos would be carrying for this EVA mission was the State Arms Factory Model 80 Gyrojet Rifle, which was actually a copy of the Star League era’s own Heston SI-445. A quick check of the weapons systems showed it to be ready for use. “A full house” he said softly to himself as he looked over his starting ten round clip. Slipping into place on the weapon he set it secure with an audible “click”.

The Major’s only had two real concerns at this point, and the choice of weapons was a reflection of one concern. The last EVA operation executed by the Death Commandos was during the Andurien invasion years before; and then by only a Lance. Since the severe losses of the War of ’28 on Kathil, the Regiment of Death Commandos has been but a shadow of their former selves. The Regiment had been building back up to their former strength, but not at the cost of their high standards of recruitment and training. This resulted in what is still a small unit. Still training standards are high with a Death Commando unit undergoing zero-g and EVA practices every fourth or fifth week in real space not a simulator. When accidents happen in such an environment often it can be fatal. The short-term result of all this for Major Methdes is that while his command was highly trained and motivated, not a single Commando present had any combat experience in an EVA or zero-g assignment, himself included. Still, he had the next best thing; Captain Hee. The younger officer had been formerly with Stapleton’s Grenadiers and had spent a good amount of time in transit. He had practically lived in zero-g and logged in enough hours to qualify for resident status on a jumpship. His experience in a low gravity environment was obvious the first time he began EVA training back at Grand Base. Because of this the Major let Captain Hee make the selection of the weapon loadout for the mission. “Besides, it will show him that I trust his judgement and his opinion,” thought the Major.

The choice of the Model 80 Gyrojet Rifle for the mission was good. With no recoil, good armor penetration, and decent stopping power, it was certainly up to the task. Ammunition loadout for the Gyrojet Rifle was eight spare clips plus one in the weapon per Commando. A secondary weapon was permitted if desired by the Commando. A close combat weapon was required for he mission, but of the Commando’s choice. Each man also carried one smoke grenade, two mini fragmentation grenades, and two mini “concussion” or “flash-bang” grenades. The Captain did not select any support weapons for the mission. The only change made by Major Methdes after looking over this was that each Lance must have one Bowman. The Bowman would carry a crossbow with twenty-four quarrels of which at least third would have ordnance-carrying heads the size of a micro grenade. In addition to this he would carry an SMG as a secondary weapon, everything else would be unchanged. This would give each Lance three Gyrojet Rifles and one crossbow. In addition to the loadout selected, Major Methdes also had drawn for each Commando a standard weapon loadout for operations on the ground. While Captain Hee made no comment about the Bowman change he did comment as to why the command needed to have the extra weapons on hand? The mission objective did not require it the Captain felt. The Major replied that it costs the unit nothing to have it on hand and said, “It is best to be prepared for all things”.

As for himself, Major Methdes selections in addition to his Gyrojet Rifle were both different and standard issue. For those Commandos who decided on a secondary weapon most chose a Needler pistol, a weapon with which they were very familiar. The Major however carried his own personal sidearm, a Ykkros-12. A design from the Free Worlds League that would normally be banned in the Confederation, this example was manufactured under licence in the Draconis Combine. It used a 12mm round with average armor penetration but with tremendous stopping power, and featured a factory-installed built in Laser pointer. Its only drawbacks being it’s seven round clip due to round size, difficulty of securing ammunition in the Confederation, and a large action that overhung the back of the weapons grip. For close combat the Major carried a Dao strapped to his back alongside the SELMA in addition to a dagger and vibroblade.

Rounding out this kit was an addition that the Major ordered added on as a safety measure for all the Death Commandos on this mission; A Pony Bottle. This was a small bottle with a five-minute supply of Air for use in an emergency. If the suit’s Life Support should fail a Commando need only jack it into the headgear assembly of the Marine Combat Environment Suit and open the bottles regulator-valve. This could keep him going until he can get to safety or help. It was carried near at hand on ones person in a small metal container surrounded with ablative material. Seeing that the gauge registered “full” he felt satisfied as he clipped the Pony Bottle in place on his suit.

By this time the 5-minute klaxon had come and gone, but the 1-minute klaxon had yet to sound its warning of the impending Event Horizon. He could see the members of the two Death Commando Lances by the vehicle bays closed ramp, some standing, and some sitting along the bulkhead or next to the ships heavy-duty floor winch. They still had to make a conscious effort when moving around in the low gravity environment. Looking over at the Marines it was a different story, they freely took advantage of the zero-g by floating comfortably in different relaxed reposes awaiting the order to go. Some had various nick-nacks in position floating around them for use. For them living and working on a Recharge Station brought them to such familiarity with zero-g that doing anything in low gravity was second nature to them. He could see the Commanding Officer of the Marine contingent, Commander Ashton Grant moving towards him. Without using his thrusters he made a slow graceful rotating bound halfway to the Major that reached to the ceiling. He then seemingly and gently pushed off it with his legs for another bound towards the Major in which he again rotated his body to orient his feet for landing.

“Major Methdes” came the voice of Lieutenant Young over the comm. “I am ready to pass control of the commnet back to you if you are ready”. The Major was watching the approach of the Marine Commander when he heard the younger officer’s voice. He looked over by the vehicle bay door and could see the Lieutenant facing him. “Thank You Lieutenant, but that will not be necessary,” he said. “You are doing a fine job. I will notify you when I am ready, in the mean time I will continue to monitor. Methdes out”. Methdes slung his Gyrojet back out of the way as he turned to see the arrival of Commander Grant before him. The Marine came down with a bend of his legs and to a stop in with just two steps of his feet in front of Major Methdes, without again once using his thrusters.

Commander Grant brought his hand up to a salute a superior officer and addressed him properly, “Major” he said. He had his visor open as well and was speaking without the use of a communicator.

The Major returned the salute and acknowledged him by saying “Commander Grant”. He then casually asked, “Any last minute developments or problems Commander?”

“None Sir, my Marines are ready,” he said with confidence. “Sir, is there anything new that I should know that will change the mission plan? I should like to be aware” Commander Grant tended to be a careful man, but not too cautious. It was difficult at times to be cautious when you are initiating combat in as hostile an environment as the vacuum of space. But he did try to take into account any and all variables that existed in a situation.

“Nothing has changed Commander,” said the Major. “The Marines for the other boarding party are also prepared?” As with the rest of the Marine Force present Commander Grant was suited up in a Combat Space Suit and armed with an over-under Blazer Rifle as his principal weapon. He and the other Marines carried as a secondary weapon a Needler Pistol, and for close combat a Stun stick and a Fighting knife. A set of Grenades rounded out the Loadout. As with the Death Commandos, no squad support weapons used. However, an unusual item was the addition of a Riot Shield with each Marine Squad. In the field it was not much of an advantage, but in the close confines of shipboard combat it allowed Marines to advance under hard cover from hostile fire.

Going to another topic Methdes asked, “Have you selected your teams that will away grapples when we get close? We have already completed modifications to the winch here in the vehicle bay and have included a line puller”. He slowly walked over to the machinery assembly bolted to the deck of the vehicle bay. Because of its steep incline a special winch that could pull vehicles in would normally assist the loading ramp. It winch would normally be built into a recessed position in the deck near the vehicle bay door. But the single drum and gearing had been replaced with a row of three spools that each had an independent clutch arrangement that permitted any one single spool in the row to move separately. The motor for the original winch was retained but the new arrangement had to be mounted on the deck and stood a meter tall. The ramp door also mounted the smaller line puller. “This setup should have all the power we need,” he said standing next to it.

“I had an officer and some of his men check to see if its installation by the ships crew was to our requirements the day we arrived onboard, Sir.” said the Marine Commander as he crouched down to get a better look at the winch assembly. “For each Launcher I have assigned my best Marine operators and each of them will have two Marines as bracemen. I see now there is Ten meters of pneumatic hose. That should be enough”. Standing back up next to the Major, Commander Grant began to speak in a more careful tone of voice. “Sir, as I suggested before as equipped my Marines can still do a deep space EVA cross-over while this dropship stands off at a distance. We can be across in slightly over four minutes and would be on their outer hull before they know it. We need no extra preparation Sir, you just give the word.”

The Major looked back at the Marine Commander, listening to his offer. After a moment, the Death Commando officer replied, “No Commander Grant, we will be going ahead with mission as planned. I understand your suggestion and realize that your men are very capable of carrying out such an operation. But I still feel the risk is too great. As I had said before, If we knew more about the situation waiting for us at the Preston jump point your plan would have serious consideration.” He rested both his hands in between the straps of his SELMA harness and his body. “Unfortunately, as soon as we jump into Preston the Pirates will be alerted and will begin to make themselves ready for attack. If the “Pucara” arrived before us then it gives them even more advantage. That would give them time to have the Invader Class jumpships weapon bays ready for us or maybe even something worse.” At this point Major Methdes could see another Death Commando making their way towards him. “However if we use this dropship to make the approach the “Summit Mist” can keep us safe until we are within distance. What ever gunnery they try to attempt might damage this dropship, but it would not be able to stop the boarding action.”

“Major Methdes”, came Lieutenant Young’s voice over the commnet.

“Methdes here, what is it Lieutenant?” said the older officer.

“Sir, have sent over Lieutenant Roy over to check your outfit now that you have completed suiting up”, said the Lieutenant. “I would done so myself but I am watching the commnet”.

“That’s fine,” he said noticing the other Death Commando getting closer. “I will be expecting him. Methdes out.” At this point the klaxon began to sound for the 1-minute warning to the Event Horizon.

“I see that you have company coming,” said Commander Grant as he looked in the direction of the approaching Lieutenant Roy. “Sir, It seems that I best be letting you go for the moment. I am however curious about something if you would permit me to ask.”

The Major was caught off guard by the statement but did not let it show. “What is it?” He said, all the while maintaining his composure.

“During the briefing earlier you said that the forces at your disposal are a Death Commando Company from Sian and a Marine Platoon from the Nadir Points Recharge Station”.

“Yes Commander, that is correct,” said the Death Commando Officer.

“But the Marine contingent present exceeds a platoon in strength. I have under my command more than double that. Was I mistaken, Sir?”

The Major let out a chuckle. It was not often that Methdes had someone notice him slide something through at a briefing. “Your sharp Commander, even Colonel Jax did not notice it until he contacted me after the briefing.” By now the other Death Commando, Lieutenant Roy had arrived where they stood. Turning to the junior officer quickly the Major said, “Begin.” At which point the Lieutenant began buddy check the Majors Marine Combat Environment Suit.

He turned back to Commander Grant and continued. “As you know the contingent assigned to this mission from the Recharge Station was not by platoons, but by squads. As I recall, eight Marine squads and one Marine command squad to be exact. This is because on the Recharge Station the Marines are considered a Force and are measured by squads. Is this not so Commander?”

“Sir, that is correct. Marines stationed in that manner are considered “shipboard” and are called a “Fleet Marine Force” both by practicality and tradition. Standard assigned Regimental field formations seldom apply above company level because Marines in Confederation service rarely work in assigned battalions or larger formations. Regimental assignment is for administrative purposes only. As I recall Sir, this applies in one way or another to the other Houses in the Inner Sphere, too.”

With a grin on his face the Major said, “Then what you heard was correct Commander.”

“Sir?” Commander Grant was still trying to picture this.

“It is correct to say that your contingent is a Platoon, Commander Grant. Augmented.” With the same grin on his face and with the other Death Commando hovering over him he continued. “This entire operational group like myself is ground oriented in its organization. It is easier to have you on the force deployment as a Marine Augmented Platoon than as Nine Squads from Force X. It is only for the duration of this operation that this arrangement is used for my “Administrative Purposes”. By now the 30-second klaxon was sounding its warning. “I hope that this clarifies things for you Commander”.

By now even Commander Grant was smiling as he could see some of the humor in this. “Now I understand, Sir. Thank You” he said still smiling from what the Major had told him. “I will be over by my men for the jump.” With that he stepped back facing Major Methdes, raised his hand to salute and said “Commander Grant of the Marine Augmented Platoon requests permission to be dismissed, Sir!”

Major Methdes returned his salute, said, “Permission granted,” and watched him quickly return to his command. “Are you almost done Lieutenant?” He inquired regarding the suit check. The Lieutenant gave him an assured thumbs up that all was in order. The Major could now hear the 10-second klaxon and see the maneuver lights in alternating flashing mode that announced an imminent Event Horizon that would open the jump point in space and move them to Preston.

“I will never get used to this part” he muttered to himself as he planted his feet firmly on the vehicle bay deck, crossed his arms tightly across his chest, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and held it. In a moment the klaxon went silent and he immediately felt his senses being distorted as he crossed time and space.

Nadir Jump Point,
Preston, Capellan Commonality,
Spring 3043.

The Jump Field was dissipating from space surrounding the vessel. The old man knew this by the feel of his body. The tingling sensation was different, like small little icy needles dancing on and in his body. He just sat there in his acceleration chair relaxed, and with his eyes closed, drinking in the experience of the travel in Hyperspace. He was practicing what he considered his secret to Hyperspace Travel: Don’t Fight It. Go with the Flow. He would just let the experience overtake him and go in harmony with it. It is after all, just the nature of the Heavens. Others would try to resist and be after a jump disoriented, prone to dizziness, while others would be just plain ill. For himself Roland Wang liked hearing images and being able to see sound while in Hyperspace. His sole companion through the years of travelling this way was the sound of his own heartbeat, a drum that as of the last few years skipped its rhythm on occasion if he did not focus on it in a jump. Still, He was firm in the belief that when he jumped he was passing through another realm of existence. And for that moment, it put him a little closer to God.

He could feel the reverberation through the ship from below. He knew it was the jumpship docking collar undergoing its release sequence. His own ship was responding in kind, by retracting its K-F boom and releasing its grip on the “Port Santos”. With the rank of Captain, and as the Command Pilot of his ship he had arranged with Flag Captain Acoba prior to departure to have both their ships computers programmed to begin the release as soon a the jump field was dispersed enough. This way while both vessels crews were still recovering from the effects of Hyperspace travel he could have the “Summit Mist” well on her way to its destination. He felt a slight sinking into his chair that indicated the computer had fired off the maneuvering thrusters. That meant that he had begun the slow departure away from the jumpship. He could now sense the presence of others in the cockpit with him. From the seat to his right he heard a low groan of complaint, the sound of which caused him to look over with open eyes.

“It feels like I’m spinning to my right,” said the vessels First Officer who in his acceleration chair was leaning over to his left. Rubbing his eyes and temples he added, “Every time it’s like this. I should give up combat assignments”.

“That’s what yu said last time,” commented Captain Wang.

Looking over to the Command Pilot the First Officer, Lieutenant Murdock replied, “But this time I mean it.”

“That’s what yu said last time too,” said the Command Pilot. The older man made it plain that the Lieutenant was not getting any sympathy from him. A practiced eye quickly looking over his forward and overhead consoles showed that his readouts were all up and running. Although some of the ship video and digital displays had been replaced overtime in the bridge with analogue dials, no degradation of cockpit crew efficiency had resulted. Spinning round his seat he surveyed the bridge areas condition after the jump. “Your condition Mr.Trats?” Addressing the individual in the Flight Engineers position on the bridge.

The individual who responded was sitting before a large console of displays that gave readouts of all systems onboard that could directly affect the ships operation. His stations console covered the wall and went partially overhead of him as well. “I am doing fine, Sir. All systems reading no problems at this time and are go, Sir.” Ensign Trats was still new to the flight deck of the dropship and tended to formality when feeling awkward. Like most crewmen in the position of Flight Engineer, he was a ship’s Engineer by training and was normally accustomed to work in the Engineering section.

With his bridge area in order, Captain Wang keyed his mic. “This is the bridge. All Stations report,” is the call he sent out throughout the dropship. The replies came quickly from the personnel assigned to their various posts acknowledging the call and stating they are at the ready.

“Captain, at our present vector we are about to pass the Five kilometer distance from the jumpship,” said the First Officer. “We are clear in all directions around us.”

“Good” said replied the old man as he rotated and locked his acceleration chair before he slid it forward into the flight position. This brought his foot controls and flight console all into reach for effective use. “Lieutenant Murdock”, he addressed the ship’s First Officer. “Contact the “Port Santos” and tell them that we will proseed to our ob-jective once they give us a heading.”

Roland Wang began to check his immediate controls and took a quick look in the cubbyhole in the bulkhead next to his seat for a personal item. He could hear his First Officer begin to try to raise the “Port Santos” on the line. “SkyTower this is Sampan. Request a fix and heading for both targets. Also, what is status of Roadshow? Over”. Reaching into the cubbyhole he pulled out the item. It was made of a beautiful rose colored wood frame, with other darker woods in its construction. The corners were reinforced with brass hardware finely made, and added was lacquered inlay to the frame. He looked it over carefully for any damage and then put it back into its place. He had for nearly Forty years and was a Gift from his eldest brother when Wang entered advanced studies at just 18 years old. It was always nearby to remind him of family.

The telemetry response from the jumpship referring to the mission targets was quick, as was the response regarding the other half of the boarding party. “Sampan this is SkyTower. You should now have all current readings from our sensor array. The Roadshow has departed as planned and is travelling.” The Roadshow was of course a reference to the two small craft carrying the group that was to board the “Michael Rummel”. The jumpship was being used as an area control vessel due to the antenna arrays of the ships sensors being of much greater size on such a large vessel in comparison to a dropship. This was common practice for many Houses due to the increased the reach of a jumpships sensors.

Taking control of the ships helm the Command Pilot fired various thrusters and began to put the dropship into a series of maneuvers that would put it on the proper heading to its target’s position fix. He started by rotating the ship to port while changing its pitch down 10 degrees. After lining up with the target he again fired thrusters in sequence to change the vector from the initial one away from the “Port Santos”, to one of approach moving less than half a G towards the Pirate jumpship. This caused a gentle push of artificial gravity that would be perceptible to all on board the “Summit Mist”. Once in this approach vector Captain Wang opened the ship’s intercom to speak, “To all personnel onboard; this is the Command Pilot. This ship is about to engage maneuver drive to full power within 30 seconds, take proper precautions for 3G’s. Direction down is Aft.” After giving the advisory he checked the ships chronometer against the display showing count down to the maneuver drive engaging. He had set the controls to a steady but quick acceleration. “Are you ready Mr. Murdock?” He asked the First Officer. The Lieutenant gave quick reply as he was reviewing his forward console. It came just in time before the ship began its rapid acceleration to its target.

Looking at his displays the First Officer began to fill in Captain Wang on the ships involved in the mission. “I’ve got a readout on our target and the silhouette is definitely an Invader Class vessel and it looks as though its sail is still deployed with hydroponics domes extended. It fits the description of what we are looking for Sir, no running lights up, no IFF transponder heard, but at this distance I cannot make out any markings. She’s aways out at around 540 Kilometers from where we arrived.” Without even looking up from the monitor he continued, “The “Bayan Khan” has also detached and has taken up station off the “Port Santos”. The vessel has already launched her ready-fives,” this referring to one of the Hard Air Wings onboard squadrons that had been ready to go within five-minutes of a launch order.

“That’s good” replied the older officer. “No hitch so far” is what he thought. He knew that things were going according to plan and that the “Bayan Khan” would not begin to burn in for Preston until relieved. “What about the “Michael Rummel?” as the Command Pilot, as he too punched up the display on his monitor.

The First Officer reviewed his readings, “The Scout Class vessel is off our port side and appears to be at normal status. Lights are visible and transponder is loud and clear. However, its sail is still deployed which would be unnecessary, as it should be fully charged by now. This also shows Sir, that the jumpship has not conducted any Gravity Maneuvering at all. Where she is now is the same spot when she first arrived in system,” said the Lieutenant. “Neither ship shows any dropships attached on the silhouette.”

Looking at his own display Captain Wang could see that the Assault Craft and the Bus were near to their target. “Soon they will be boarding,” he thought. The jumpship that party had to take is exactly where they expected it to be, which placed it at about a third the distance from the “Port Santos”. He could see that as for the“Summit Mist” own objective their current vector would put them on target in approximately five minutes plus. Keeping the controls steady he keyed his mic. “Mr.Trats,” he said addressing the Flight Engineer on the bridge.

The young Ensign responded with an alarmed “Yes, Sir!” All the while trying to sound calm and professional.

“I want you to monitor the ship-to-ship transmissions within the Task Force,” said the Captain. “Keep me informed of any chenges or anything should come up. The First Officer and myself will monitor the commnet used by the boarding parties. Understand?” The confirmed reply this time around sounded less nervous than before. This would keep the Ensign in the loop of what is happening with the mission instead of only looking at dials all day. “Besides”, he thought, “I could use the help.”

Looking at his vector again Wang realized that he will have to begin preparing the vehicle bay for the boarding operation. “Mr. Trats,” he said, begin to depressurize the vehicle bay and make ready the power to the bay door.” The Flight Engineer acknowledged as he began to put the order in motion. Staying on the ships intercom system he opened a channel to the vehicle bay. “Center this is the Command Pilot. Respond.”

“Center here, Captain” replied Major Methdes using his call sign.

“I just called to give you a warning that our arrival is soon. You better start your preparations for what you plan to do.” He ended the statement with an assured head nodding “Hmm.” Wang then signaled the Flight Engineer and said to Major Methdes, “Are you ready to hail them? If you are, then activate the bulkhead vid console and you can begin.”

Hearing that he worked the settings on the vid console, keyed it, and waited for the green light to broadcast his message. “Attention, Unidentified vessel. You are illegally in Capellan Confederation space, your actions deemed hostile, and are considered a Pirate. You are ordered to immediately stand-down, lay down your arms to authorized Confederation forces, and to surrender yourselves to the Chancellors Justice. Prepare to be boarded.” With the same formal manner he finished, “If no positive response to these conditions is received in one minute from end of transmission, we shall act accordingly to this situation as we see fit. End of message.”

Once ended Captain Wang came back on the intercom. “Yu sound like a Comstar news personality,” he said jokingly. “I have began to prepare the vehicle bay for EVA so you had better seal your suits.”

The Major had noticed the warning lights flashing indicating that depressurization had begun. “I see the warning lights Captain. Thanks.” On a similar subject he asked, “Any problems with Roadshow?”

“Nothing wrong. They should begin boarding soon because their objective was much closer to the arrival point than we were.” Changing his tone he said, “perhaps you should contact you numba-two to see how it goes.” It came out sounding less like a statement and more like a suggestion.

The Major caught the hint about Captain Hee. Captain Wang is a dropship Pilot assigned directly to the Regiment of Death Commandos. And while Captain Wang was not a Death Commando himself, he is a seasoned veteran and his opinions are respected and carry weight within the Regiment. “Understood, Captain. Thank you for the heads-up. I will be on the commnet if you need me. Center, out.” With that he managed a quick withdrawal from that conversation. It did however give him some concern for Captain Hee’s enthusiasm. He first activated his comm before he began to seal his helmet. “Lieutenant Young, quickly fill me in on what you have heard so far on the commnet regarding Roadshow and then get Taifun on the line, I want to speak to him.” The word Taifun means “Great Wind” in the Chinese language dialect of Cantonese and is where the word Typhoon comes from. It is in this case also the code name for Captain Hee.

With practiced eye Captain Wang could see that he had nearly passed the halfway point to his target. He knew that as calculated he must begin to decelerate or overshoot his objective “This is where things get rough on this flight he thought”. He alerted his bridge crew of his impending burn and then keyed his mic to alert the rest of the ship, “To all personnel onboard. This is the Command Pilot. This ship is about to engage maneuver drive to full power deceleration within 30 seconds, take proper precautions for 3G’s. Direction down is Forward.” He checked the ship’s chronometer against his timetable and found that he was on schedule. He then opened the Thrust Reversers to deploy them.

Aerodyne dropships share a feature with aerospace fighters and conventional aircraft in that they employ Thrust Reversers. All dropships use thrusters that are linked via plasma conduits to the main drive to maneuver and decelerate. However, such thrusters are only capable of two-thirds power at best. An aerodyne dropship however can use Thrust Reversers that are built into the drives exhaust manifold to redirect its 100% Full Power forward and at an angle outward. They can only be used in space to maneuver and when conducting a runway type of landing in atmosphere to brake after touchdown. It is the aerodyne shape that allows Thrust Reversers to be employed. A Spheroid dropship shape makes it unsafe to properly use them because the drive plasma would burn and damage the outer hull.

As with the initial acceleration Captain Wang awaited the preprogrammed course burn to decelerate. As before the engines fired at a steady but quick rate to Full Power to decelerate. The settings had been preset that way to avoid undue vibration to the ship as well as reduce the difficulty on its passengers that the G-Forces would bring. He could feel the effect of the burn himself as the artificial gravity moved forward as if from behind and began to push him forward against the chairs restraining straps. He kept a firm hand on the controls and by now could see the point of light through his forward windshield that was the Pirate ship. “I can finally get a good resolution on visual from the CEI,” the First Officer was heard to say. CEI stands for Computer Enhanced Imaging. “Show me,” said Wang to the officer, who then brought up the monochrome black and white image on the Captains monitor. The image seen matched the earlier sensor silhouette.

While First Officer Murdock in his seat faced the ships nose like himself, Flight Engineer Ensign Trats must be having a tough time of it he thought. The Flight Engineers seat faces its station in the direction of the dropship side. This in turn would cause anyone seated there to be pushed sideways into his chair in from either a forward or aft burn. The chair was designed with heavy padded side extensions to hold the occupant in place. “I don’t hear him complaining so he must be good,” thought Wang. It was at that time he was aware of an alarm going on off behind him giving warning to activity detected by the ship’s sensors. Before he could question it, Ensign Trats came on the line.

“Sir, I am reading elevated Infra-Red emissions close by and the beginnings of an EM Pulse behind our present position.” Announced the Flight Engineer. “We have incoming, Sir.”

“How close?” Came from the Command Pilot. The last thing he needed now was unwanted company. Especially now that he was so close to his target. The Flight Engineers reply was that the forming arrival point was within 600 Kilometers.

“Its not very big, Sir.” The Ensign was receiving better data from the “Port Santos”. “My sensors and the telemetry from SkyTower read it to be a small target. Its arrival is to be measured in seconds, Sir”. After a moment the Ensign came back on the line. “Sir, Report Oscar-Two is rotating to face the arrival and launching additional craft.”

The Captain had enough to worry about with his mission at hand. This last report indicated that the “Bayan Khan” code-named Oscar-Two intended to engage the new arrival if necessary. “Lieutenant,” he said addressing First Officer Murdock. “Keep an eye on the situation in case things get nasty,” to which the First Officer replied that he was already on it.

The First Officer could see on his monitor the small bright patch that indicated the source of the IR emission and the EM readings. Indicators on the screen spiked as the silhouette of a jumpship appeared within the patch, the EM Pulse it created having passed “Summit Mist” a second before. The vessel is small and looked very much like a Scout Class jumpship. No dropships were to be seen, but the main hull was of a more boxy form where it should normally be narrow. Icons started to be displayed on the side of the screen indicating that it’s IFF transponder was recognized.

Both the First Officer and Captain Wang were listening in on the ship to ship communications when a new voice was heard on the net. The voice opened with a “Hello” in Capellan vernacular, “Ni hoa. This is Red Flower. Request to know the name I will be addressing the Jump Point Command Vessel present.”

The reply was immediate in coming. “Acknowledged Red Flower. This is SkyTower the Jump Point Command Vessel. We have been expecting you, are you at this time ready to take up station?” The icons on the monitor screen indicated new ship to be the Quetzalcoatl Class jumpship “Pucara”.

“Affirmative, SkyTower,” came the response. “We will be moving up to join your formation and at this time will be launching ready-fives”. Soon after the “Pucara” fired its main drive to burn and push the vessel towards the “Port Santos”.

“One less worry to have, eh Murdock?” Said Wang. “That ship is good company for the Ranger’s jumpship. I feel better knowing it’s here.” The First Officer gave him a look of agreement and informed Captain Wang that Roadshow had boarded the “Michael Rummel” and was now in combat onboard. By now their own target was coming up fast in spite of the use of Full Power to decelerate. The Command Pilot could now clearly see through his bridge windscreen the Pirate vessel. It was only illuminated by the systems Star to a bright whitish glow, its sail a black patch in space. The ship was still dark as reported with no running lights up at this time. It was visually a good view but at the same time his eyes told him somehow the image was wrong. “Lieutenant, it looks like something’s happening at the Pirate ship.”

The First Officer observed the Pirate jumpship alternately at his monitor display and then through the bridge windscreen. “Well that’s stupid,” said the Lieutenant shaking his head. “They are trying to fold the jump sail. What a foolish bunch of Lame Ducks,” he chuckled. “It’s too late now.”

By now the Pirate vessel with its jump sail took up the length of the windscreen and was getting larger as the distance closed. It was now obvious that no insignia was showing on the vessel, not even numbers. The Hydroponics domes could be seen to be retracting inward. Then ship was seen to fire-off its maneuvering thrusters as it began to change its heading away from Preston’s star to point in the direction of the systems orbital plane. “Looks as though they got smarter,” commented Captain Wang.

“I would say more desperate, Sir.” The First Officer replied. “They have cut away their Jump Sail and are leaving it behind.” By now they were almost on top of the vessel but the Command Pilot had to conduct additional maneuvers to take into account these new developments. “They cannot be serious!” said the First Officer as they both saw the Pirate vessel proceed to fire up its station keeping drive to a full burn as though to make a run for it.

“They are just trying to make things hard. It will do them no good,” said Wang, who then using his thrusters maneuvered the “Summit Mist” to counter this latest ploy. The Pirate vessel fired its thrusters again causing it to roll, all the while keeping its main drives engaged. “Lieutenant, tell Center what is going on now with these changes the Pirates are doing. My hands are full right now.” While Wang worked to put the ship into final position he could hear his First Officer fill in the Major as well as hear the action on the “Michael Rummel”. Still, he wondered. Why did the enemy Invader Class ship spend such effort to change its heading?

* * * * * * * * * * *

The flashing indicator light showed the pressure dropping in the vehicle bay. The ship’s pumps had a way to go of removing the atmosphere to safe levels to prevent rapid decompression. Methdes was on the commlink with Captain Hee. Lieutenant Young is the commlink monitor and did brief the Death Commando Major of the Captains attitude up to this time. As he heard the Captains status report he could see that the Marines had completed making ready to board. With the deceleration in effect the “down” had moved to the forward part of the vehicle bay. This however was a good thing because all the final work needed to be done there anyway. The Launchers had been hooked up and their crews were awaiting their moment. He knew they had reached the halfway mark and the final effect of the ship’s maneuvers would be zero-g.

“We have finally reached the target Major and are closing to project grapples,” said Captain Hee in a confident tone. “We should have gotten here faster but you know these spacer types, always afraid of going too fast as if someone’s going to give them a penalty.” The Captains contempt was obvious. “But everything’s fine now Sir. I have been right on top of the cockpit crews telling them to speed up the approach and telling them to correct any mistakes I saw. Let’s hope they can hit with the grapples, even these Marines who are along with me could do a better job, Sir.”

The Major was receiving this with more than just a hint of annoyance. He was staring at a blank spot on the vehicle bays bulkhead and the four fingers of his left hand were tapping in a slow deliberate motion on his upper right arm. The fact that his eyes began to narrow did not help his humor. Anyone who knew Major Methdes could see the signals meant this was not a good thing. “I should have had that talk with him before we jumped,” he thought to himself. But he also knew that just before combat was not the time to rip into his subordinate.

“Thank you for the status report Captain Hee. I have been kept updated on your actions and commend the enthusiasm and motivation you have shown so far.” This pleased the Captain who thanked the Major. Methdes now to intended to get his point across next. “However Captain,” the Major began, “I do expect the Death Commandos and Marines of your command to work together as a team to an ultimate end. Be aware that while Death Commandos normally work on there own, this time around you are expected to work in concert with other Confederation troops, not lead the charge.” He finished by saying, “In closing Captain Hee, do not try to have your Lance do the entire mission alone. Is that understood?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end. “Captain, I am waiting,” said the Major.

“Understood, Sir.” Came the restrained reply. A voice from a ship’s speaker could be heard in the background as the Captain spoke. The Captains voice sounded buoyed up again suddenly. “Major, the targets been hooked with the ships grapples. We are going over!”

“Acknowledged. Good luck Captain. Methdes out.” He signaled Lieutenant Young to resume monitoring as he moved to take his place next to Commander Grant. Once he got there he began to notice moments of zero-go shifting from Port to Starboard quickly. He could hear on commnet the bridge wanting to contact him. Considering it he thought, “If they are Pirates the Captain should not have too tough a time of it with the forces he’s got.” He keyed the line open to reply to the bridge, “Center here.”

this is very good-more please.

_________________
I refuse to have a battle of wits with someone who is unarmed.

Did not even see more was posted! Argh! Hmm..pirates. What do they find on the pirate ship?

_________________
[size=85]To indeed be a god. [/size]

My apologies for being tardy with this latest installment. With work and codefying the BT3K Skirmish rules I have been busy. Sorry.

Vaidom

The Jumpship “Michael Rummel”
Nadir Jump Point,
Preston, Capellan Commonality,
Spring 3043.

“Pirates my ass!” said Captain Hee to himself as he ducked for cover behind a structural girder. He watched as another needle-thin energy beam meant for him snapped past. “That’s the third g*d damned Laser Rifle I’ve counted since I got in this place!” He thought. Already one Marine was down and two more hit. The Marine down was wounded with a mangled hand and unconscious. The others were wounded but still in the fight. But it could have been worse upon entry he also thought. “Blue Acrobat this is Taifun. What is your status?” Called the Captain over the commnet.

A voice on replied on the commnet. “Taifun from Blue Acrobat. We have made entry, but have a fight on our hands. Looks like a squad of troops. Well equipped with Laser weapons. We are pushing them back. Anything else? Over.” From the officers tone of voice it was obvious that he had other things on his mind.

“Blue Acrobat. Hurry up and finish them off! We could use your support here in Engineering. Do you copy?” An acknowledgement to the question brought a quick and curt, “Taifun out.” This still did not solve the immediate problem of the defenders in Engineering. But it was making Captain Hee feel that he was tied down. In moments after the Captains Lance passed the opened door of the Airlock, they were spotted by the defenders and took fire. The first Marine Squad had come out of the next adjacent Airlock also took fire and wounded. But that Squad was still advancing although their tactics moved too slowly for the Captains taste. The second Marine Squad had yet to make its entry from their assigned large airlock to come to their support. The Death Commando Captain did not like the way things were initially shaping up.

The boarding action had gone well up until the opening of those doors. Upon arrival at the target the two small craft separated, the SL-7A or “bus” had gone to the forward end of the ship while his own NL-42 had headed to the aft end of the vessel. Both small craft were assigned from the Sian Nadir Recharge Station Security Force and the “bus” had been modified for assault use long ago by the Station’s Security Force there. Once in position about 100 meters off the target grapples were launched to “hook” the target. The grapple launchers are mounted on the small craft and are handled by the same fire-control system as the vessel’s weapons. Once the grapples made a connection the boarding party “went over” or left the small craft via the airlock. The Marines “walked in space” directly from the small craft to the target, while the Death Commandos snapped a lanyard to the grapple cable and followed it over to the jumpship. At the same time the small craft were using a winch to reel themselves closer to the ship. All this time “Michael Rummel” had not once begun to execute evasive maneuvers or rolling to prevent boarding. The boarding party “Landed” on the outer hull of the jumpship without a problem. “This is easy,” the Captain had remembered telling himself upon landing.

The Party he is with, code named Red Acrobat, is tasked with taking the Engineering section of the “Michael Rummel”. Upon landing on the hull the Marine squads and the Death Commando Lance headed for their preassigned airlocks on the hull near Engineering. There are four on the hull here, two standard airlocks able to hold a handful of men and two large 10m x 8m x 8m airlocks that are used for moving parts for the drives during maintenance and repairs.

All those involved with the mission knew that the most dangerous part of the boarding action would be the entry at the airlocks. It was planned to use here only three airlocks for boarding but a small two man section of Marines approached the fourth airlock. Since it was unknown how many defenders there were it was decided that a ruse or diversion was needed to draw opposition away from the entry airlocks. Most times an attacking boarding party would force and enter through a single airlock, so it was hoped the defenders would assume this too. However; this time the Capellans planned to use multiple and separate points of entry. The Team attacking the forward part of the vessel was also using the same basic plan.

The two-man detachment moved quickly to reach its destination. Once there, they set a satchel charge on the hull and installed a remote control to the airlock door. Upon their returning back to their squad, the Marines detonated the satchel charge followed immediately by remotely depressurizing the airlock for opening. The satchel damage to the hull was insignificant but the explosion was heard and felt within the jumpship Engineering. The area and its airlock would be quickly pinpointed followed quickly by indications that the airlock had been forced and the attackers were coming in. Seeing this the defenders would rush to the area.

After giving time for the defenders to commit themselves the “Go!” signal was given and all the actual airlocks to be used were accessed simultaneously, depressurized, and entered. All the original access codes were still in place and gaining entry was a breeze. In Engineering, the Death Commando Lance moved the quickest gaining entry through a small airlock and was first within the area. Looking through the airlock door window, Captain Hee quickly realized upon seeing no resistance in sight that the diversion had worked. “Now is the time to be bold,” he thought feeling confident of success. Turning to his Lance he said, “Time to take back the ship men, lets clear’em out!” and gave the order “Commandos forward!” As the airlock door slid open the Captain pushed off from the wall, boosted the jets on his Marine Combat Environment Suit and glided out in a fast vector, the rest of his Lance around him.

He had expected to make it to the K-F core housing area in the forward center of the Engineering area, a distance of less than fifty meters. Hee had only made less than fifteen when the Lance came under heavy small arms fire to his right. With his legs bent under him he motioned his feet to rotate his body in his vector using the suits thrust jets to face his attackers and began to return fire with his gyrojet rifle. He could see that he was scoring torso hits on his target. But his Lance was taking hits, himself included he realized. If it were not for the suit’s armor he soon would have been just a lifeless corpse floating along. “Commandos take cover!” Is the order he gave them. They all appeared in that moment still alive, unhurt, and returning fires. “Lance-Two, call out,” he said on the line. The replies confirmed his observations. “Dammit!” He said. “Where are those Marines to support us!” He was then becoming aware of other chatter on the line. It was from one of the Marine squads, “Red-2”.

That Marine Squad had emerged from the other small airlock on the opposite hull side in Engineering. To the Captain listening on the commnet he could tell that they had casualties. He could hear the Squad Leader barking orders to maneuver the men still combat effective. It was obvious to the Death Commando that the Marine in charge intended to advance. “Red-2 this is Taifun. Acknowledge.” No response was immediately heard from the Marine. This irritated Captain Hee because a subordinate Death Commando would have responded immediately regardless of circumstances. As it was he had to repeat his call once more before he got a response.

“Red-2 this is Taifun. What is your status,” Captain Hee said bluntly and to the point. With the ships Jump Core housing between himself and Red-2 there was no way to visually see what their situation was. Ever since he became a Death Commando officer he had always maintained a firm control of troops under his command, regardless of whether in exercises or ground combat. Of course, these had always been other Death Commandos, not other Confederation troops. Not being able to see the Marines predicament or having them respond immediately to his call left him with the feeling that the situation was running away from him.

“Damn! What I would give for two more Lances of Commandos”, he whispered under his breath. At the least they thought like him and understood how he wanted to wage battle, not like these Marines he believed. He knew in his gut that the Marines must have been spotted while exiting the airlock to deploy for the their attack. “Sloppy entrance. They should have been more aware,” he thought condescendingly. “They should have skipped deploying and just attacked.” Looking at the distance his Lance gained in engineering just reinforced his belief in Death Commando superiority.

When the reply did come the Captain could tell that the Squad Leader could sense his attitude. The Marine replied with a plain and direct manner of his own. “I have one man down, and two hit. One Fire Team made it out of the airlock and is maneuvering to lay down fire. We count nine attackers so far. That is my current sitrep, Sir.” This news was just further complicated by the fact the other Marine Squad, Red-1, was still in their assigned airlock. That airlock being a large 10m x 8m x 8m unit took a longer time to pressurize due to its larger volume in cubic meters compared to the smaller standard airlocks. The halfway mark to pressurize had been passed but it still needed more time to finish. This was something the Captain had not planned for in the attack.

“Understood, Red-2”, he said addressing the Marine Squad Leader. “Contact me when you are done and ready to join the fight. Taifun out.” Frustrated, Captain Hee was beginning to believe that the Marines were just hindering his efforts. “Too slow, this is just too slow”, he said to himself as he looked over to his Lance. The Death Commandos were exchanging fire with the Pirates directly to the front of them. The Lance was in good shape and not bad off. He broke cover from behind a structural girder, and quickly let out a couple of Gyrojet rounds on a Pirate before ducking back behind the structure. The first round missed but the other hit the left arm and reduced it to a shattered mess. The Gyrojet rounds detonation on the body in zero-g causing blood and tissue to spread out in a red mist.

“So we are on our own,” he thought, counting his fourth laser discharge passing him. As he slid back down under cover a plan began to form in the Captains mind. Next to him was Lieutenant Aston who is assigned to the Lance as the Bowman. He was currently using the submachinegun and firing off short controlled bursts to reduce the chance of ricochets in the ship. His crossbow he carried slung behind his back. Seeing him brought the idea together. The nearest opposition is around 15 to 20 meters away from him, but they have various machinery positions along the inner hull to take cover behind quite effectively. The structural girder the Death Commandos were behind gave them equally good cover. However, all four of the exit hatches out of Engineering were in the forward part of the area and controlled by the Pirates. That meant a stalemate to the Captain Hee’s mind. And that was not acceptable.

His decision was to mount an attack with his Lance. It would be simple and direct, following the Death Commandos basic combat tenant of, “Advance directly towards the heaviest fighting and destroy your enemy.” He determined that all he had to do was get down over to along the inner hull machinery positions and into close combat with the Pirates and he would sweep them out. After all, whoever these Intruders were they could not be better than a Death Commando! Looking at his Marine Combat Environment Suit made him aware that he and some of this Lancemates have taken multiple hits affecting the armor integrity. He himself had hits to the chest, abdomen, and arm, with the chest having taken the worst of it. Two other Commandos were no better off. He also weighed the fact that he would be outnumbered with at least 6 and possibly up to even 10 weapons firing at his Lance of four Commandos as they attacked. But he was firm in his belief that the Offensive Spirit of the Death Commandos could ultimately overcome any obstacle. He knew that his Marine Combat Environment Suits give him an advantage in speed of movement in zero-g and in protection. This was also buoyed by the fact that he had not taken any casualties so far in the firefight.

Looking next to him and activating his Comm, he began to issue orders to put his plan into action. “Bowman, prep a bomb,” referring to the small fletched grenade launched from a crossbow. “Char, Dimitriyev, make ready for close combat. We will go over and to the right,” said the Captain. “The Bowman will send over a bomb ahead to clear part of the area ahead.” The two Death Commandos listened in silence and confirmed the direction to go using hand signals. Captain Hee continued, “Follow me, stay off your feet and move at a quick vector close to the floor for cover.” Turning back to the Bowman he said, “Once you launch your bomb follow us in the same manner.” Seeing the Lieutenant Aston sling his submachinegun he finished with, “We begin on my signal,” along with a firm, “understood?” To that he heard his Lance mates reply in distinctive clicks on the comm.

Satisfied, Captain Hee made quick mental notes of what Pirate will be his target in close combat. Seeing the Lieutenant readying the bomb the Captain broke cover to take the place of the Bowman’s submachinegun on the line. His shot found its mark but did not put the Pirate down because of the torso body armor he wore. A split second later a bright flash left Hee seeing spots before his eyes and his vision momentarily bedazzled. He pulled himself instinctively back to the safety of cover behind the girder. A Laser Rifle hit to his polarized faceplate was the cause of the flash. “Oh g*d dammit!” He said closing his eyes tight and shaking his head to rid himself of the feeling. Adding additional curses helped to ease how he felt at the moment. “This is going to end right now!” He said to himself.

The Lieutenant meanwhile had slung back his submachinegun and popped-open one of two box quivers mounted on his thighs. Keeping his head up to events around him he reached in and used his trained sense of touch to feel the patterned marks on the bolt shafts. This told him what in that box quiver were bombs and of what type, or merely powerheads. His selection was more cigars or torpedo shaped than like an arrow and carried a small charge roughly equal to a small anti-personnel “button” grenade. A cord attached to its front trailed out as it was removed. Holding the bomb, he quickly gave the cord a few quick wraps around a convenient pouch clip on his belt. He followed up with a firm pull that slipped the pin free and armed the bombs contact head. In moments it was mounted in the crossbow with the arrow guide snapped over the top to keep it from drifting off the weapon in zero-g. The younger officer then signaled to Captain Hee his readiness.

The Captain and the other two Death Commandos had quickly checked their side arms for the move. The Captain Hee himself carried an auto pistol and preferred a combat knife in a melee. The others used needlers, or in the case of the Death Commando Aston his submachinegun. They sported various blade weapons for hand-to-hand combat. By now the spots before his eyes had for the most part disappeared enabling Hee to not have to rely on touch to ready his equipment. Death Commandos Char and Dimitryev took their last shots before the advance. As they ducked back down they switched positions for readiness putting the Captain between them with the Bowman on the right of the group.

Captain Hee had just began the process of signaling the go order to Lieutenant Aston when a hand on his shoulder caused him to stop. Lieutenant Char drew the Captains attention to one of the Pirates nearest to their position. His upper torso was sprawled across a large power panel in a drunken motion that only being upright and passed out in zero-g could do. The stream of red beads moving away from the form proved that in reality the Pirate was either dead or unconscious. Within seconds additional energy beams were seen coming from beyond the left of their position in rapid succession, originating somewhere out of sight behind the jump core housing. Filtered through his suits polarized faceplate, Hee could see that each energy beam was in reality made up of two close parallel beams of light. The distinctive signature of a Blazer energy weapon. They struck their targets among the Pirates closest to the Death Commandos own position.

“That was fast,” said the Captain as he shifted to get a better view the engineering area opposite of his position. He knew from the engagement so far that the point of origin of the Blazer fire could only have come from the Marine squad. But he could not fathom how the Marines could have cleared out the Pirates nearest to them so soon, even with three more men in the Marine squad than the Captain had in his own Lance. His mind raced through all the possibilities and it still did not add up. Upon observing the area and zooming in his vision devices he realized what the Marine squad Leader was doing.

The design of the jumpship is in the form of a long cylindrical hull. In engineering its internal dimension is approximately 65 meters in diameter. In addition, the Pirates were located to the forward part of engineering which put them at an angle to the Capellan boarding party. This increased the distance from the Death Commandos to the Pirates out to 80 meters approximately. But what made this combat area even more bizarre is the curve of the hull. Being a cylinder in form makes the hull curve inwards like a wheel. For combat this meant that an opponent closest to you had the best available cover, while those furthest from you were the least protected. This is especially true of anyone directly opposite of you on the inner hull side.

The Captain could tell from the laser fire that the Marines engaging the Pirates closest to their position were not trying to kill them, but just keep them busy. The Pirates closest to the Marines were as well protected by cover from the Marines weapons as the ones before his own position had been. However, the curve of the ships hull enabled the Death Commandos from their position to practically look down upon the Pirates as though from above at a diagonal angle. This left the Pirates opposing the Marine squad almost completely exposed to Death Commando weapons fire. Captain Hee realized that he had to act fast before he lost the moment or else suffer the result of his own short-sightedness.

“Bowman, cancel the order. But have the bomb at the ready,” said the Captain on his Lance frequency. “Change of plan Commandos. Aston take your submachinegun and lay down a field of suppressing fire to our front, but be ready to fly that bomb when I need it.”

The Lieutenant signaled a question and asked “what about the danger of ricochets, Sir? That will be a lot of rounds.”

“Just unload it on them Lieutenant. It’ll fly downrange and bounce around among enemy first before it makes its way back to our position. As for the ship, they can always come back and putty up the holes later.” He looked to the other two Death Commandos and signaled to shift their focus to the left and across to the Pirates engaging the Marines. “Stay behind cover and don’t give those Pirates to our front a shot.” Raising his weapon he called “Commandos, crossfire,” and opened fire with his gyrojet rifle.

Hee used his suits vision device to zoom in on his target to see the result of his hit. With this view he actually for a change able to get a good look at his opponents. “Cr*p!” He said to himself realizing his round had hit the Pirates body armor. Looking again, “Hmmm,” was the sound he made as he sized up his target. “Good body armor area coverage on the torso, a laser rifle and power packs, no zero-g thrusters only magshoes, no grenades seen, and no head protection, just that sports ball cap.” He knew what the next course of action was.

“Char, Dimitriyev, go high on your targets and take a steady aim. I want these savages dropped where they stand!” Captain Hee could hear their non-verbal reply over Aston’s automatic weapons fire. Lining up his shot carefully, his aim sent a gyrojet round into his targets head. The other two Death Commandos did likewise, the impact of the explosive rounds sending red clouds of mist spraying onto the engineering deck.

As he switched out his empty clip from his gyrojet rifle he spotted two objects headed downrange towards the Pirates in the forward engineering area. The fast moving objects were cylindrically shaped canisters and each had a long bright orange streamer attached behind it. These streamers went out all the way back to behind the jump core to the Marine squad position. After a moment both canisters were brought to a halt by their orange streamers. They just hung there in the open, each bright orange streamer seemingly straight and rigid in zero-g, like some boundary set in space 40 meters long. The canisters then let out a loud “Vooosh!” and engulfed the surrounding area in a dark gray chemical smoke that had a sparkled look to it. “Smart,” thought the Captain. “They just blocked off a good part of the Pirates potential covering fire,” he thought to himself. He was certain that the canisters must have been launched from some sort of projector that the Marines carried.

After reloading the Hee lined up another target and squeezed off a round. The shot again was placed in the head with the expected results gory results. This time it sent the Pirate slamming into a partition. By this time the Captain could see five bodies down among the Pirates that had been facing the Marines. All were taken out by headshots. Two others were seen falling back. Nothing was however without cost for as soon as the Death Commandos opened up on the Pirates they responded in turn. The result was Lieutenant Char had his Marine Combat Environment Suit breached in the chest causing him to get hit. Captain Hee and Lieutenant Dimitriyev had their suits degraded as well.

“Taifun, this is Red-2,” he heard the Marine squad Leader on the comnet. Captain Hee gave a quick reply to the call. “Taifun, your immediate front is cleared and I can see three Pirates heading for hatch number 3. I can make out two Pirates from my front also falling back and possibly making for the same hatch.” This was not news the Captain wanted to hear and looking around from his position he could see the Pirates retreating towards that exit. “I see them Red-2. Taifun out.” He switched to his Lance frequency and signaled Lieutenant Aston. “Bowman! Target group. Near second right-hand hatch.” The Death Commando could see his Captain pointing the way with his hand as he slung the submachinegun back and reached for the loaded crossbow.

The Lieutenant rose just high enough from his position to see the gathering enemy grouped near the exit hatch. Seeing them moving towards the hatch he let fly his bomb to a point somewhere in-between that the Pirates would pass over. In normal gravity a bomb launched from a crossbow does not really fly but sails in a high but short-ranged trajectory towards it target. It typically has all the flight characteristics of a lawn dart. But in zero-g things are different, because with only microgravity in effect the bomb instead traveled in a straight flat trajectory with a vector speed equal to its initial launch speed from the crossbow. While slower than a bullet, the bomb could still cover the distance quickly. In zero-g its vector would continue until it made contact with something, in this case that something was the internal structural bulkhead next to hatch number 3. With its slow speed two of the Pirates saw it coming and pulled themselves to cover. The third Pirate had not even been aware of the bomb’s silent approach, his attention having been focused elsewhere. It struck the structural bulkhead less than half a meter from the Pirates head. Its contact fuse detonating the anti-personal charge sending shrapnel in all directions. The Pirate was seen to flop around like a ragdoll, his feet sliding in place but still held firm to the deck while beads of red, large and small, streamed from his body away on their own vectors.

The Captain took quick stock of the situation and opened his comnet. “Taifun to engineering boarding party. I want these barbarians dropped. None must escape alive. This Is A Priority. Taifun-out.” As far as Captain Hee was concerned he had no need to follow normal rules of engagement when it concerned Pirates. Or any others he considered a Barbarian for that matter.

He felt things were finally going the way they should be when Hee saw something that rankled his pride. A Marine Fire Team had made a considerable advance and was sweeping their side of engineering. One enterprising Marine was even in a firefight within 10 meters of a Pirate. “What the Hell!” Said the Captain. “This is not right!” Seeing his Lance in position around him he felt embarrassed beyond all reason. He believed firmly that Death Commandos always lead, always take the point of an attack. But now they were being left behind by other Confederation troops. Without thinking he ordered “Commandos forward,” practically yelling it to his Lance. “I will not be made to look like a fool while in charge of my first mission”, the Captain thought to himself as he moved out of his position.

With himself in front Captain Hee led his Death Commandos upward into the open space within engineering. By doing this they would be well above the clutter from the various machinery, conduits and electrical panels of engineering. The Captain could see by contrast that the Marines did not move in zero-g above the clutter but instead worked there way forward by staying close to it. “Too slow”, thought Hee especially with resistance collapsing. The Death Commandos by contrast moved in a prone position that gave onlookers the impression as they were gliding or swimming through the void. Just then a Pirate emerged from the smoke screen the Marines had placed and began firing at the Commandos with his laser rifle. He managed to stitch Lieutenant Dimitriyev good along his side breaching his suite and damaging some swivel nozzles on his SELMA unit. The Lieutenant could feel the pain where he took the hit from the weapon.

The Commandos made a quick response but the Pirate was too quick for them. He pulled himself down to floor level and into cover, only to then pop-up at another spot to let out another discharge from his laser rifle.“Captain, Dimitriyev here. My SELMA is damaged somewhat. I cannot maneuver as well without fully using my right arm. I took a hit as well, but nothing serious” Captain Hee took the news in as he looked at the situation. Being out in the clear in zero-g was great for movement, but it exposed the Commandos silhouette making it easier for them to be hit. “Everyone down on the deck,” said the Captain. “I want this Pirate down Commandos, he will just be more trouble if he gets to another part of the ship.”

The cat-and-mouse game went on for what seemed like an eternity but was in reality seconds. “Captain, for someone who only has magshoes for zero-g equipment this Pirate moves quick,” Char was heard to say. “Yeah, he’s just full of tricks,” commented Lieutenant Aston as he loosened his fighting knife. “There!” Called Dimitriyev’s voice on the line as Lieutenant Char took a hit in the legs followed up by a laser discharge to Aston’s midsection. They could see the Pirate clearly now moving alongside a row of pipes. He was in the aisleway moving in zero-g in a vector towards hatch number 2. He had launched himself from an electrical panel towards his destination and was using his legs and feet touching the pipes to keep him under some control. He was upright, returning fire on them, and a clear target. “Drop him!” Came the Captains voice on the line as the entire Death Commando lance opened up with their weapons. The multiple hits inflicted sent the Pirate tumbling out of control that ended with the whole bloody mess making an impact next to hatch number 2. But before the other Death Commandos could catch the moment they heard Captain Hee’s voice calling for covering fire on hatch number 3.

The Captain was engaging pair of Pirates at hatch number 3 but had so far not made a hit. “Dammit!” He said to himself. “It was all just buy time.” Just moments before the single Pirate the Death Commandos had been engaging had given them a run for their money. That individual’s experience had shown in the bravery and willingness to face the four of them at once. But that last move made towards the hatch seemed reckless, but now the Captain knew it was intended. That Pirate had been covering for the retreat of others to the hatch. Captain Hee had seen the two, one was obviously hit bad, while the other was returning fire and shepherding his wounded comrade into the hatch to safety. A third Pirate stood on the wall just inside the hatch returning fire on the Captain.

Captain Hee along with the other Death Commandos concentrated fire on the two Pirates making for the hatch. They stayed low, with one Pirate doing the moving and holding onto his buddy and both gliding along the floor. That made for a difficult shot. In return the third Pirate in the hatchway was attempting to also hold off the Commandos with his laser rifle. That act of defiance ended in what seemed like a split second as five Blazer discharges lanced through the Pirate. The fire support had come from Red-1, which had emerged from the large airlock and was moving rapidly along the aisles towards the forward part of engineering. “Taifun, this is Red-1. I can see your position and am moving forward to engage enemy. Your instructions?”

The Pirate holding the door had been killed, but he had succeeded in covering the retreat of three of his comrades who had made through hatch and closed it behind them. It was now locked. “Move up and continue the attack. Get those hatches open, use sappers if you have to. I do not want to give those Pirates a moment’s rest. Understood, SubCommander?” The Squad Leader for Red-1 acknowledged and immediately went to work as instructed. “Red-2, this is Taifun. Acknowledge” After a moment the Marine Squad Leader responded to the Captain. “Red-2. First, hold engineering and mop-up any opposition. Second, get those ships personnel from the “Santos” over here from where they are lounging outside on the hull. I want them on these consoles here in engineering to take control of the ship. Taifun out”. With that over he switched frequency and opened the line again. “Blue Acrobat, this is Taifun. What is your sitrep”. The response from the detachments Squad Leader was hurried but not stressed. “This is Blue Acrobat. We have been engaging the Pirates in the corridors since first contact. They are falling back towards you Sir. We are currently engaging them in near the location of the ships craft bays. I have two Marines down and two wounded. For Pirates they are quite good, Sir. That is my sitrep, Sir. Blue Acrobat, out”.

The Captain thought for a moment on the firefight he had just fought. He knew that for a moment back there he almost lost control of the situation due to actions that Major Methdes had advised against doing. He thought about it for another moment and decided that his concern was unfounded. After all, he had eventually regained control of the situation and had won the fight in engineering. So long as he stayed on top of things and completed taking back the Jumpship, those events would get lost in the shuffle and no one would be the wiser. His report would state his case as he saw it. He keyed a channel on his comm to open contact, “Taifun to Roadshow”, calling the small craft that carried them for the boarding action. “Advise SkyTower that we have taken engineering onboard the “Michael Rummel” and are proceeding to clear out Pirates from the rest of the ship. Taifun, out”.

By the time the hatches were open Captain Hee had done some temporary patchwork to his Marine Combat Environment Suit. He then signaled for two of his Death Commandos to follow, leaving Lieutenant Dimitryev behind for medical care. The Commando had protested, but his chest wound was more serious than first thought as well as having a damaged suit. “My first independent mission”, the Captain thought to himself. “It feels so good to be on the winning side,” he thought as a smile came to him hidden behind his faceplate. He then led the remainder of his Lance through the hatch towards the fighting ahead.

great-keep up the good work! can't wait to see what happens on the other jumpship,since it can't jump more than once-now that they cut away the jumpsail.

_________________
I refuse to have a battle of wits with someone who is unarmed.

The Jumpship “Michael Rummel”
Nadir Jump Point,
Preston, Capellan Commonality,
Spring 3043.

The docking bay was quiet now. Gone was the mayhem of battle that had swirled into the area just minutes before, but now felt like hours past. This was the time to look around at what comrades made it through, to see to the wounded, and identify the dead.

“What else have you got for me?” asked Captain Hee over the local comm-link. He was talking the Marine Squad Leader of the detachment code-named Blue Acrobat

“The only things that stand out Sir were found on the chart table. They’re an open noteputer and calculator that were both left on, an empty holster for a sidearm with about a dozen extra rounds, along with a can of barley tea.” The SubCommander was giving his sitrep and findings after sweeping the ship’s bridge and forward areas after the fight.

The Captain took a quick look around the craft bay before speaking again. “Has that crewman from the “Santos” reached the bridge yet? It seems he should be there by now!” Captain Hee wanted a more thorough check of the systems on the bridge. The boarding action and taking of engineering gave them access to the ship’s computer via the engineer’s consoles there. But this had only succeeded in giving them partial control of the ship. This was due to an access lockdown on the remaining areas of the ship’s computer that had been initiated from the bridge. Getting control of it was a priority and he needed that to be a success reported back to his superior.

“The Lieutenant is already here and going through the bridge systems, Sir. Do you wish to speak to him?” Asked the Marine.

“No, that’s fine. Find out from him about the items you found and contact me after. If there is anything else that needs my attention let me know. What about the ship’s crew, SubCommander.”

“We found them locked in two of the staterooms. They lost one crewman in the attack and have another wounded from out of a twelve-man crew. The Medico is looking him over now and I will probably have him taken up to sickbay. The ship’s Captains heading for the bridge along with a crewman and the ship’s XO is heading over to see you.” The Marine Squad Leader ended with, “Anything else, Sir?”

The Death Commando Captain thought for a moment before saying, “Make sure you sweep your area of the ship well. Talk to the ship’s Captain and find out from him what happened from the beginning up till now. Taifun out.” Hee could see small red droplets floating by that came from a wounded Marine. Another Marine was working on his wounds next to the short-range Shuttle that dominated the small craft bay. The Captain did a slight push-off and drifted over coming to rest on the Shuttles side hull.

The Captain had his visor open and could see that the wounded Marines helmet was off and his suit opened to render aid. The Marine was an older man who had taken hits to the chest and thigh. With his own feet set on the floor the squad Medico worked to staunch the bleeding while the conscious Marine looked on in interest. “I’ve served fifteen years aboard ship, station and port. Went through the War of ’28 on Khaifeng I did. And until now was never shot!” This he said with visible discomfort in his voice. “Never, never once. And now what, I come up against Pirates! Third rate, Pirates! And this happens,” nodding his head towards his leg.

“Gilbert, shut-up or I’ll not wait until the painkillers kick-in to shut your yap”, said the Marine Medico.
“What! You expect me to be happy you’re here Carreg! I’m still ticked-off about the game last night and how the hands were dealt,” Said the Marine. “Hey! And don’t forget I’m from the same squad you are and that your just the acting Medico here, not a REAL Corpsman, Got it!” said the wounded man. At that moment another stream of red beads showing blood loss floated away from the leg wound. He pointing his finger, “See!” the wounded Marine, said, “you missed a spot”.

Moving his hand quickly the Medico stopped the bleeding. “Well I guess I will just have make these bandages tighter Gilbert so you can make it to Sick Bay,” the Medico said in a threatening tone.

“Medic, what’s his condition,” said Captain Hee as he looked over the scene. In his dark suit looking every bit a Death Commando his words sounded more like a command.

Making a half-turn to look behind him the squad Medico was taken momentarily off-guard to see the Death Commando so close. He did a quick salute and gave his reply. “Sir, He’s stable for the moment. But it is difficult trying to stop his bleeding here in zero-g. No gravity Sir, to give me some help.” The Marine took a fast look at his charge before continuing. “Sir, In a moment he’ll be sent over to the ship’s Sick Bay for better medical attention. The Corpsmen should be there already, with the casualties from engineering.”

The Captain could see that the wounded Marine was bundled up for transport. “So, this is the worst case here Marine?” Asked the Captain.

“Sir, No I have another casualty here in the bay in even worse condition that I must attended to. I’ll have the other Marines take this case to SickBay before he gets worse. The Corpsman should be there by then, Sir.”

“Should be?” Captain Hee noted that last sentence with a touch of alarm. Out of concern he keyed his comm unit open, “Blue Acrobat this is Taifun, what is the status of SickBay”. After a moment a reply was heard from the Marine Squad Leader informing him that SickBay was secured and that the Corpsman would be there shortly. The Captain nodded and acknowledged the reply, then looking back at the Medico he said, “Carry on.” He then headed towards an area where Lieutenant Aston and the Senior Marine Squad Leader on board were talking. As he started to move away the prior conversation among the Marines resumed.

“You said I’d be fine, Carreg!” Said the wounded man anxiously. He wore a look of shock on his face as he talked fast. “What you just told that Commando is that I’d not make the next watch! You said before that I’d easily make the next jump!” The Marine was trying to lean forward while speaking in his accusing tone of voice.
“Gilbert, I said you’d be fine once your up in Sick Bay for the trip home. The Corpsman will be there to run things, so now will you just shut-up already!” The acting Medico stood back and signaled to the others present to move the man out. “Besides Gilbert,” said the Marine with a grin on his face, “I can’t just let you die.”
For a moment the wounded Marine was stunned to silence. “Why, why, thank you Carreg.” Said the man seemingly touched by the camaraderie of his squad member. “I guess we truly are fellow comrades.”
With a grin on his face the other Marine said, “It’s not just that Gilbert”. With a smile still showing he waived a send-off as the man departed and said, “You still owe me money from last nights game.”
“Yoouuu, Bastard!” The wounded Marine was heard to say as he was taken out the hatchway.

The Confederation officer and the Marine NCO stood among the bodies of Pirates. Their final positions lay sprawled up on the bulkhead walls or spread on the deck or ceiling, casualties of the final fight in the craft bay. During the fighting some had been on the move, others been moved in death because of combat. As a result their bodies along with its spilled contents had tumbled uncontrollably in zero-g until they found a final resting-place in this part of the craft bay. Lieutenant Aston stood with his feet contacting the deck, his weapons slung. He was looking over a Laser Rifle taken off one of the dead Pirates. The Marine Subcommander was on the ceiling kneeling next to the body of another dead Pirate, checking it for anything of use after unplugging the Laser Rifle from the power pack.

“Lieutenant Aston”, said the Captain addressing the junior officer, “Why are you working to secure your part of the battle area when there is a Marine detail assigned to do it?” To Captain Hee, that messy business was the duty of other Confederation troops when present on the field. He intended for his Death Commandos to begin sifting through what was brought to them from the clean up, not to be part of some work detail.

“I sent the detail to work on the area by the bay doors and to be ready to assist the Medic. A wounded man is there and help might be needed when it is time to move him. That way Sir, myself and the Squad Leader could give this area a look over in the meantime.” The Death Commando Officer was still holding that Laser Rifle and the Captain could see another placed floating in space motionless next to him. “That way Sir, I could cover more ground quickly”.

“Lieutenant.” Called out the Marine Subcommander from his location on the ceiling, “It’s the same as the others,” he spoke without using his comm, holding up a handful of wallets, cards, and papers. “Nothing giving solid I.D. as to who these guys are”.

The young Death Commando officer acknowledged the information and was about to speak further when the Captain broke in and cut him off.

“Subcommander DaehRaj! If you are going to speak to one of my officers, you will do it in standing in front of him and not from some perch like a noisy flyer! And you will always address them as “Sir.” Now get down here and make your report.” Looking at the Marine NCO the Captain thought “Just who does this Marine think he is! They have to remember they are speaking to a superior officer not some other Spacer who works floating on a station.”

“Captain,” Lieutenant Aston said, “I was the one who started doing this instead of using the comm. It seemed to me easier since our faceplates were open than to use the comm and clutter up the airways.” The younger officer ended with saying, “It’s not his fault, Sir.”

Captain Hee quickly looked over to his subordinate and said, “I don’t care who started it. That’s no way for a Confederation soldier to speak to a Death Commando superior officer”. He finished by saying “We are Death Commandos Lieutenant, remember that.” He then just as quickly turned his attention back to the Marine.

The Marine Squad Leader had pushed-off the ceiling towards where the two Death Commandos were standing, doing a turn in mid-vector to land on his feet before them. “Sir,” said the Marine at attention holding his hand in a salute. “ I apologize for my conduct. No disrespect was intended, Sir.”

“That’s smart of you to apologize Subcommander DaehRaj, you just be aware of whom you’re talking to next time. Got it?” Said the Captain standing there with his hands on his hips. “You may stand at-ease Marine.” The Marine quickly acknowledged with a “Yes, Sir!” Feeling his sense of self-importance kicking in even more, Captain Hee began his inquiry by turning from the NCO and speaking to his subordinate. “So Lieutenant Aston, what have you found so far?”

The Lieutenants answer came carefully as he picked his way through the words to use. On one hand not wanting before Captain Hee to appear to take sides but also on the other hand not wanting to just abandon the Marine NCO whom he fought alongside just minutes before. “Sir, Myself along with assistance from the Subcommander have done a quick check of the dead Pirates at this area of the bay. The Subcommander was just about to inform me of what he had just found.” He motioned to the Marine to voice his findings.

Taking the cue from the Lieutenant the NCO started. “Sir, as I was saying earlier the Pirates on the ceiling deck have nothing to offer in the way of trying to I.D. them.” He held out to the Captain a clear zip-type disposable plastic bag stuffed with various wallets, cards, papers, patches, and various types of identification. “They don’t even have a “Work Badge” attached on their persons, the areas blank Sir,” said the Subcommander as he pointed to his own right shoulder. “Every last one of them I’ve seen so far Sir is wearing a type of standard uniform in the form of a fatigue jumpsuit and with cloth rank insignia. This field uniform is not of a cut I recognize. The jumpsuit has multiple contact points and large cargo pockets, especially on the legs Sir.” The Marine paused for a moment still holding out the bag for the Captain to take.

The Captain looked at the bag of items before him and made a quiet signal to Lieutenant Aston to take the parcel from the Subcommander. Once in the Lieutenant’s hands Captain Hee indicated that it be passed on to him. Hee looked at the contents of the bag and flipped it over to see both sides. He then tucked it under his arm and turned to the Lieutenant. “What else is there Lieutenant?”

Lieutenant Aston started his findings on the subject of the Laser Rifle he held in his hands. “Captain, this weapon is a Feld-Arms Model 4. As you can see it is a used weapon and has been kept in excellent shape” The Lieutenant showed the underside where the manufacturers stamp is. “It’s made by the FedRats and a copy is made in the League by Doveche. It’s a common brand with an average performance. The power packs are a mix of Lyran and League designs. Nothing unusual here Sir, these items are widely sold throughout the Inner Sphere and are fairly easy for any military outfit to get.” The Death Commando then placed the weapon in a location floating in zero-g next to the other Laser Rifle. He then turned back to his audience and pointed out items on the dead Pirates as he spoke. “What is unusual Sir, is that nearly every last Pirate here was armed with this weapon. It would be more normal among Pirates for a few individuals to be armed with a weapon of this class. And even then they would most likely all have different models showing different origins in various levels of repair. Even the majority of Mercenary commands would not equip their people this way because of the cost outlay of L-Bills”.

The Captain reflected on the words of his subordinate and the logic behind it. The fight in engineering had been made more difficult because of these weapons. Laser Rifles do not ordinarily have heavy hitting power but they make up for it with accuracy and a long reach and the addition of being recoilless. In engineering what had been at a medium range for his Gyrojet Rifle was still in short-range performance for the Pirates weapons.

“The body armor is of a Flak-Ablative type in vest form. No protective headgear was used. All were equipped with military communicators. Also, they all wore this, Sir.” The Lieutenant reached around behind him and pulled from his belt what looked like a head visor. “Ball cap’s Sir. The Pirates all wore these ball cap’s instead of head protection.”

Captain Hee could see that the material in front of the hat had a circular shape of brighter colored fabric. The result of being covered by a patch of some design that had been removed. The interior of the circular area had a faint shape of what appeared to be a flame or fire design impressed over time from the patch. “Where is the patch from this hat Lieutenant? I’d like to see it.” Hee was now looking back at the bag of Pirate items.

“There was nothing attached, Sir.” The Lieutenant Aston moved to roll over a corpse so that its back was floating up against the wall. “As you can see here,” said the junior officer pointing to areas of the dead Pirates uniform, “All unit and House insignia have been removed prior to our arrival on this ship, or maybe even prior to the Pirates taking this ship, Sir.” Aston looked over to the Marine NCO who stood there listening and nodding his head. The Lieutenant used his glance as a signal for him to reenter the discussion. “Subcommander….”

“That’s true Sir,” said Subcommander DaehRaj jumping in. “Patches had been stripped off by their owners. You can still see the holes from where the sewn threads were. They still had nametags on them but the rank insignia is a variant form of that used by the FedRats, but it’s not an actual FedRat style.” The Marine pulled on the sleeve of the corpse to better show a black fuzzy patch. “They have this spot to wear the “Work Badge” of their employer. That means they are or were most likely ‘Mercs.” The Marine removed an Auto-Pistol from a holster on the dead Pirate and placed it with the Laser Rifles. “They all seem to uniformly have personal side arms too Sir, either Auto-Pistols or Needlers, but only one to a man. Pirates normally carry on their person several sidearms of different types or makes when going into combat. They also had no squad heavy weapons or grenades. These guys were running light Sir.”

“Sir,” said Lieutenant Aston coming back into the discussion. “Here in this craft bay alone I have a count of eight Pirates equipped in this way plus an additional body that looks like a crewman from one of their vessels. It seems to me that their uniform is cut like that of a Jump Infantryman not a spacer.” As the Lieutenant spoke he took out his noteputer and pen to make ready for the mundane aspect of his duty. “These men were a well-trained and disciplined force. Even when we had them in a bad position they still kept fighting well.”

“Correction, Lieutenant”, said the Captain, his voice in an assertive tone. “These are Pirates, not men. Barbarians have no right being considered civilized and these here are little better than parasites.” Hee had his own personal memories of Pirates during his days with Stapleton’s Grenadiers near the Periphery border. From those days as a Mechwarrior, his opinion of Pirates in general held them as less than human.

It was at that moment the local comm-link came to life. “Blue-Acrobat to Taifun,” were words heard calling for Captain Hee. “Taifun here, go ahead Blue-Acrobat,” was the Captains reply.

“Sir, I have the results of the bridge sweep done by that Lieutenant from the “Port Santos” to report.” Hearing this Captain Hee responded for him to continue. “He says that the ship’s computer was locked down from the bridge to prevent access to the ship’s systems just like they thought in engineering.”

“So, it was locked down by the Pirates. Is that Officer from the “Santos” working to break the computer access code?” Demanded the Death Commando.

“Sir, No he is not.” He could sense the Death Commandos annoyance, but before the officer could comment, the SubCommander continued his report. “That’s because Sir, the lockdown was not done by the Pirates but by the ships crew. The Ships Officer from the “Santos” says the computers date and time of the lockdown corresponds with what we know of when this ship was seized.”

“Not a bad idea,” thought Captain Hee. “They effectively froze the ship in place since they knew they could not effectively defend it.” Later he would find out what happened when the ship’s crew was debriefed.

“The crew apparently only left Life Support, Basic power, and the Ship’s Automatic Positioning controls still active on the mainframe,” said the Marine SubCommander. “Also Sir, we now know what the noteputer and calculator were for. The Officer from the “Santos” says that whoever was on the bridge was trying to manually calculate a jump. It looks like they were trying to do it in a hurry too.”

“Alright, Blue-Acrobat. Anything else before I sign-off?” Said the Captain.

“The only other thing Sir, is that the Officer says that it looks the Pirates didn’t try to hack into the ships computer while they were onboard.” There was a momentary pause, and then the Marine added, “The Ship’s Captain has made it here to the bridge Sir, and is speaking to that Officer from the “Santos”. Sir, do you wish to speak to the Ship’s Captain?” The Marine SubCommander waited for Captain Hee’s reply.

“There is no need. That will be all Blue-Acrobat. Taifun out.” The Captain had thought on it for a minute and saw no point for the moment in speaking with a ship’s Officer. What’s on his mind is the blank “Work Badge” and the recent events. The term “Work Badge” is a soldiers jargon for the symbol or emblem of an employer worn on the uniforms as well as the battlemechs, vehicles, craft, and equipment of a mercenary unit. It could be on a uniform, either a patch or an armband. If a machine it could be a decal or placard, although most usually paint it on. The location is meant to be temporary for as long as the mercenary unit is in the service of the employer. This way “Work Badges” can be changed as quickly as contracts are. The presence of a “Work Badge” within the Inner Sphere confers accepted conventions and protocols governing the rules of war. For a unit and its personnel it would be as if it were a regular line unit of a Successor House with respect to treatment of surrender, prisoners, wounded, equipment, dispossession, etc. Not having one when conducting military operations carries great risk. Having an area on their uniforms for a “Work Badge” means that these Pirates either are or were mercenary’s. But the fact that it was blank and that they were on a combat mission means they were either a rogue unit or really were Pirates. It is well known that some combat units short of equipment or supplies would raid to fill themselves out. But some mercenary units conduct rogue actions such as unsanctioned raids without a legal contract to an employer for the same reason or to turn a profit. Among mercenaries this practice is called “Shopping”, and it is frowned upon by all within the Inner Sphere as the same as Piracy or going rogue. Whether a Pirate or rogue unit it made no difference to Hee, they would both pay the price when caught.

The recent events that also occupied his mind involved the running fight from engineering to the small craft bay. He unlocked his suits helmet, lifted it off and disconnected the helmets underlayer from that of the suit. He removed the helmet and then felt the side of his own head. The Captain could feel where the scalp had been singed from excessive heat through the helmet. He looked his helmet over and found four-centimeter “stitch” from the laser hit that nearly cost him his life during the fight in the corridors.

They had pursued the Pirates that escaped from engineering into the jumpship’s corridors moving along towards the forward part of the vessel. The three Death Commandos, able to move quicker than the Marines broke into the lead and began to pull ahead. The Squad Leader for Red-1 requested the Captain to slow down otherwise his Marines could not support them in time if ambushed. The Captain remembered giving him a quick “acknowledged” before signing out. It was known that Blue-Acrobat, the two Marine squads that boarded the forward part of the “Michael Rummell” were driving the Pirates who defended that area out and towards the rear in the direction of engineering. Because the Pirates had no zero-g gear on them to cover distance they had to pull themselves about using the ships corridor hand lines. With their slower speed and having wounded with them, Captain Hee had expected to catch them in the main or central corridor that runs the length of the jumpship. But in combat things can turn out not as expected.

At the head of the central corridor is a primary blast door that is as strong as the external hull of the ship. Made of metal alloy and ceramic construction the system is actually made up of two doors made up of two sections each, one moving vertically and the other moving horizontally. Finding it closed the Death Commandos opened it halfway and used their vision gear to scope out the area further down the corridor. The corridor was over 140 meters long with few hatchway doors along its length. Their quarry could be seen trying to exit the corridor into the small craft bay halfway down. The Captain immediately called “Commandos Forward!” They moved to advance, only to be caught in an ambush from two other Pirates guarding that approach. The Pirates must have been watching them because the attackers did not take time to select targets but just popped up and hit them at 70 meters! Lieutenant Char took a hit in the midsection while the Captain felt the searing heat from laser discharge that hit the side of his helmet and knocked him unconscious. It was in that moment that Captain Hee got a reality check. He realized that he had once again tried to do the job alone rather than work with the troops under his command.

The two slid down behind cover, leaving Lieutenant Aston as the only unwounded Death Commando to recount what happened next. It was at that moment that the Marines of Red-1 led by SubCommander DaehRaj arrived on the scene. The Squad Leader held up his fist to signal the squad to halt and then signaled his Medic to see to the Death Commandos. The SubCommander then signaled for his squad to open their faceplates and then indicated a wall access panel to be removed and passed to him. Lieutenant Aston saw that once the NCO had that medium sized access panel in his hands he reached up and opened the blast doors fully. He then floated it carefully across for the Lieutenant to catch, being careful to make sure only a part of it showed across the corridor opening. Upon seeing it get across without being shot at the Squad Leader turned to his Marines and said “O.K. people. They have vision equipment”. That meant the Pirates even at this distance could see the panel clearly and so did not waste a shot on it. “I see we are not dealing with amateurs here,” and with that the SubCommander then reached up and closed the blast doors fully.

The Squad Leader wanted to know the Lieutenants condition; his response was that he was fine. Aston turned to the Medic concerning Captain Hee and was told he was unconscious but not badly hurt. The Lieutenant knew that laser weapons against Space Combat Suits put the Marines at a seeming disadvantage, especially considering the distance down the corridor to be covered. He voiced his concern to the NCO about this vulnerability. The Squad Leader for his part did not seem overly concerned that it was a problem and was preparing a device that another Marine had handed to him. By now every one of the Marines was on the various surfaces surrounding the blast door as if following a well-rehearsed exercise. The SubCommander placed the device he had on the side of the main corridor opening and then fully opened the large blast doors.

From his position next to the SubCommander, Lieutenant Aston could see that the Squad Leader had his noteputer open and was working the keys. The Lieutenant realized then that the device the SubCommander had earlier was a small surveillance camera with a zoom lens. It showed the view down the corridor and allowed the other Marines of the squad to see the view on their noteputer monitors. “Listen up Marines! They have mirrors”; the SubCommander said as he drew squares using his finger around where the items were on the screen. The NCO made sure using his monitor screen that the Lieutenant could see the placement of the mirrors in the corridor. “These boys are smart, Sir. They use mirrors to look down the corridor and can make use of their vision equipment with them, but for us try and shoot out that small a target is next to impossible at this range.” The Lieutenant could see that it was a tough nut to crack and asked how the Squad Leader planned to do it without taking heavy casualties. “Sir, now we have them where we want them. Time to play by our rules.”

The SubCommander began to give orders for an exercise that the Marines seemed very familiar with. “Merge, I see the first door is at 20 meters so hold your ribbon at 25 meters”. “The lead in will be with Team 2, so Tam once your reach the first door drop in and take position”. Looking around he then said, “Every Team with shield, and give one to the Commandos”, and then watched as the Riot Shields were distributed. Why these Marines hauled around such archaic cumbersome items soon became apparent. The Squad Leader turned the Lieutenant to ask if he might instead use the Captain’s Gyrojet Rifle instead of his own Submachinegun for the moment so as to lesson the chance of ricochets. Aston agreed to this request and handed the shield to Lieutenant Char to use.

Sounding in more diplomatic terms the SubCommander simply stated to the Lieutenant, “Sir, with your permission, we will push the firing line forward to better prepare for the assault.” After acknowledgment from the Lieutenant the Squad Leader signaled everyone to close their helmets. With everyone in position the Squad Leader said, “Merge, when you’re ready.” Aston had watched as the Marine had loaded a canister into a cradle that was then slipped onto a launcher. The device was shaped like a baton and looked like a small bicycle tire pump, which the Marine pumped twice and then signaled to the Squad Leader his readiness. He then raised it into the doorway and using his monitor to aim sent it down range towards the target area, trailing a bright orange streamer behind that would stop it at the preset distance. In moments was heard a loud “Voooosshh!” And it could be seen on the monitor that smoke was filling the right half of the corridor.

“Fire!” With that order the Marines on the left half of the corridor along with the Death Commandos began giving suppressing fire at the areas where the mirrors are located. “Go!” Hearing that order a Fire Team of three Marines lifted off and formed a column moving forward in a fast zero-g vector behind a Riot Shield under cover of the smoke screen. Marines use Riot Shields as portable hard cover during combats in the corridors and close confines onboard a ship or space station. Upon reaching their objective they popped the door open and dropped inside. Covered by the shield with only their heads showing it was in zero-g the same as a defensive trench planetside. Once the air circulation system dispersed the smoke giving Team 2’s position a clear view, then the exercise was repeated again on the left by Team 1 which moved up to the next door at 50 meters. By now a Pirate was down and Confederation crossfire was coming from opposite sides of the corridor. In the face of this the Pirates then retreated into the small craft bay.

The Captain by this time had recovered consciousness and rejoined them at the hatchways to the small craft bay. Both hatchways had been locked and dogged shut. It was easy to unlock them with the access codes provided but being dogged meant they had to be either blown or cut. With their retreat into the small craft bay it was obvious what the Pirates were attempting a means of escape, yet by the time the hatchway doors were breached the craft bay had not been depressurized for launch. In the final push for the assault on the craft bay a total of three squads of Marines and three Death Commandos had converged. When it was over five more Marines were casualties, the Pirates were eliminated, and the ship was once again in Confederation control.

“Captain.” The Death Commando Officer heard the voice and acknowledged it. Even with the events of the pursuit in mind, Hee still took satisfaction in his first successful independent mission. “In another hour a full inventory and search of the bay should be complete,” said Lieutenant Aston. “I will then bring everything but the weapons up to you, Sir.”

“Good Lieutenant, make sure nothing is overlooked. I even want copies of the helmet vidcam from ours and the Marines suits.” The Captain began to notice on the Lieutenant and the SubCommander a light pinkish sheen or shine. Hee began to notice wetness on his brow as well, as though he was sweating but he knew that could not be the case. He wiped his brow with his covered hand and saw that was covered with a red wetness. “What’s this cr*p!” He said looking at his hand.

“Sir that’s from the blood cloud”, said the Marine NCO. “It’s part of the general debris field that occurs during combat in zero-g. When you have any fire fight, men bleed and get torn-up. In zero-g the blood and tissue can just float about in drops and particles of different sizes. A lot of men fighting in one area, a lot of particles are made and form a cloud or mist.” The Squad Leader pointed to the bulkhead wall where the red drops where beginning to form splotches. “Sir, as you can see here it will stick to anything it touches and if you not careful you can breath-in some of it too. It’s a potential Biohazard but for the most part if you’re closed up it’ll be only a nuisance after a fight. Once the crew takes full control of the ship they’ll set the air circulation in here to high to pull it into the air filters. After that it’s just a matter of the crew vacuuming it up off the external surfaces”.

This was one aspect of zero-g combat that Captain Hee had not been prepared for and did not like. He had been in combat numerous times but this was his first time doing it in zero-g. “When the ship’s crew get here make sure they get on this at once! Damned it all! Is the entire bay filled with this stuff?” Getting covered by the red mist was disturbing to the Captain.

Lieutenant Aston answered, “No Sir, only the areas with a lot of casualties. You see Sir, this stuff has a movement vector all its own, but it is affected by air circulation.” The Officer was trying to sound reassuring.

“Let’s move away from here then.” From the direction Captain Hee was facing he could see activity at the opposite bulkhead wall. “What are those Marines doing over there, Lieutenant?” Asked the Death Commando.

“They are doing repairs to the bay door control panel located there.” Said the Lieutenant. “It seems that with the ship’s computer locked out by the crew the Pirates were unable to open any of the bay or cargo doors. When we broke in some of the Pirates were working on trying to bypass and jury rig the control panel.” He and the Squad Leader both closed their helmet faceplates to avoid getting wet from the floating mist while moving. Coming back on external speakers he continued, “I thought it be safe idea to make sure the connections were good before any commands come in from the ship’s computer. No sense having a jam or worse a major decompression accident happen.”

By now the Captain had pulled out a gauze pad from his aid kit to wipe away the wet. “Damned it all!” He thought to himself. Captain Hee knew that putting his helmet back on would only get the wet mess on the inside, but now in moving he was picking up even more of it in this area. For his helmet he used the folds of the inner lining to close it off. But for himself all he could do was depend on the gauze pads to wipe his face clear and cover his mouth and nose to breath until he cleared that part of the craft bay. It made him miserable.

“Captain, Sir.” Was heard the voice of SubCommander DaehRaj. “You might try pushing or scraping it off like this”, said the Marine as he demonstrated a motion of moving his fingers and hand over some fluid from the blood cloud that was on his arm. He removed it with his fingers as though he was wiping a window with a squeegee. “It’s best to push or squeeze it off yourself and then flick-it away,” demonstrating by sending it floating off into the bay. “The gauze pad alone to clean is not enough. It’s really only good for picking up the small amounts of what remains until you can shower up, Sir.”

Working to scrape the surface of his head and wring and squeeze his hair the Captain began to remove most of what was stuck to him. But what remained was beginning to dry to a sticky mess in his hair that the gauze pad could not help. “At least,” thought the Captain, “most of this stuff came from the Pirates and not from me or my men.” Deciding to get back to business he looked around and asked, “Where is Lieutenant Char?” He had begun to notice that his subordinate was no where in sight.
“I have him inspecting the Shuttle, Captain.” Answered the junior officer. “As you know the doors were open and it was prepped for launch when we took the place. You can reach him on the local comm-link, Sir.”

By now they had cleared the immediate area of the blood cloud. “Let him finish his inspection and have him report his findings to me after.” More dead Pirates were to be seen nearby. “After you have checked over the dead Pirates for anything useful to us what do you intend to with the bodies, SubCommander?” Captain Hee tone made it sound like he definitely expected a quick answer.

“Well, Sir.” Started the Marine NCO. “We’ll give them a Blackwater Service and of course hold on to the weapons and equipment.”

“Very good SubCommander.” Said the Captain who then added a matter-of-fact tone in addressing the Squad Leader. “However; skip the Service, that’s a funeral no ones going to come for. So just go straight to a Blackwater Burial; that makes things simple so you can just get them all out the airlock sooner.”

The SubCommander was taken aback by this blunt statement. “Sir?” The Marine asked questioningly, “Isn’t that inhumane? Sir.”

“Piracy is inhumane SubCommander,” stated the Death Commando. “If you want to say a few words over the bodies, then go right ahead. But no ceremony.” He made the last two words sound final on the subject.

From what Captain Hee could see the repairs on the wall mounted control panel was near completion. For the Marines it was simple work of primarily reconnecting wiring and lines in the panel back together. He could see gouges in the bulkhead wall from rounds and weapon discharges during the fighting. A Pirate had been killed near the spot of the control panel; and the Captain could see his corpse had been moved aside by the Marines so they could do the patchwork repairs here.

From this new spot the Captain was on the other side of short-range Shuttle that is docked in the bay. Stopping for a moment to wipe-off his brow and face, he could see the same Marine medic he had spoken to earlier beneath the trailing edge of the shuttle’s wing tending to another casualty. Seeing that the last gauze pad to keep him dry was soaked, Hee realized that he could get another pad or two from the Medic once his casualty was forwarded to sickbay. With that in mind he left the group and headed over to the Marine medic.

Upon reaching the scene he brought his zero-g movement to a stop with his suit’s thruster nozzles and set his feet to the deck. This time the Marine medico had seen him coming and gave him a salute upon his arrival. The Captain’s messy looks caught the Marine at the moment for words so that all he could get out was, “Sir?”

For his part Captain Hee did want to discuss the matter of his looks and just the thought of it darkened his mood. So before that happened, Hee spoke first before the Marine he could get another word out. “Medic, what is his condition?” The Captain again made sure he used an unmistakable commanding tone of voice.

Hearing that, the Marine decided it was better to stick to business. “Sir, he’s been hit pretty bad. A deep wound to the side of his chest and a hit to his leg that shattered his thigh. He’s lost a lot of blood Sir, from the leg wound.” He motioned for another to finish binding the leg before he spoke again. “This one is stable but weak and may not make it to Sickbay, and to be honest Sir, he may not make it even out the bay hatchway. He’s been out the whole time and with his condition perhaps it’s just as well.”

Looking back at the Captain and seeing the side of his head more closely the Marine medic asked, “Sir, have you been wounded?”

“No,” Hee snapped. “My condition is fine.” The Captain could see that the wounded man was a Spacer by his clothes. His wounds were probably the unfortunate result of being caught in the crossfire of combat. As he lay there unconscious he made a wheezing sound as he inhaled an obvious sign of the laborious effort being made to breathe on his own. Looking down at the casualty Hee said, “So his chances are not good?”

“Sir, maybe forty-percent when I found him, but that is getting less and less as the time goes by. It’s worse now,” was the Marine medic’s reply. “Sir, is their anything else? I have to get him moving,” said the medic referring to his charge.

The Captain was squeezing the gauze pad in his hand in an attempt to get one more cleaning out of it. By now the Death Commando Lieutenant Aston and Marine SubCommander DaehRaj had joined him. “Before you go I want to get a couple more gauze pads from you”, said the Captain.

“Yes Sir,” responded the Marine medic. From his open Med-Kit he began to draw out the items for the Captain. “Sir, if you want something better to clean-up with I spotted a couple rolls of wipes in that bulkhead locker over there”, he said while pointing behind him towards the location.

The Death Commando Captain looked over and could see the bulkhead locker mentioned. Those rolls were just what the Captain was anxious for. “Unless there is something else; carry-on soldier”, said the Captain who sketched a quick salute as he turned and began to activate his suits thrust-nozzles.

The Marine gave a salute back saying as the Death Commando moved past to depart, “Sir, nothing else. We’ve already packed our gear and we’ll be taking the prisoner to sickbay.”

No one was ready for the Captain to suddenly come to an abrupt halt and spin around to face the Marine medic. Even using his suit’s thrust-jets to cancel his movement and bringing his feet down to contact the deck; the Death Commando still skidded slightly to a stop. “Prisoner?” Said Captain Hee. “I thought this man was a member of this ship’s crew!”

The Medic and everyone present was surprised by the rapid about face executed by the Death Commando Captain. His being put on the defensive was apparent in his voice as he answered Captain Hee. “Ah, Sir, no Sir. This ship’s crew is all accounted for. This wounded man is one of the enemy.”

Captain Hee then turned his focus on the Marine Squad Leader, “SubCommander DaehRaj! Were you aware of this?” He demanded.

The Squad Leaders reply was quick and straightforward. “Sir, No I did not. But I will learn the facts…”

Standing there with his hands in his belt, the Captain cut him off before the Squad Leader could finish. “Learn the facts?!! SubCommander, Don’t you know what’s going on in your own unit? Learn the facts you say! It seems to me that your not aware of what is going on around you SubCommander DaehRaj! In the presence of the Death Commando officer the Squad Leader was stunned to silence by the attacks.

“Sir, with your permission,” someone was heard to say. The focus of attention changed to the Marine medic who had requested to speak. Seeing this moment, Lieutenant Aston took advantage of it to try a divert his superiors anger. “Yes, Marine what is it,” said the Lieutenant doing his best to sound like the voice of reason.

“Sir, initially we had thought all the Pirates were dead from combat.” Started the Marine medic. “It was only when we were inspecting them for anything useful that we discovered this one was alive. I was told by a member of my squad only moments before I spoke to Captain Hee earlier. We were going to tell SubCommander DaehRaj, but we could see that he was in discussion with both of you Death Commando officers so we decided not to disturb him.”

“I see what happened now,” said Aston. He turned to his superior and began with saying, “Captain,” and then speaking cautiously the Lieutenant continued with, “Now that we know what happened we can have the prisoner held in sickbay owing to his condition, unless you have anything else Sir?” His timing on the matter was correct because he could see that Captain Hee was listening.

“Wait,” said Captain Hee with his hand held open. “What did you find on him?” Was his question.

Another Marine produced a collection of items in the same clear zip-lock bag of the type he had seen earlier. “Sir, this is everything.” The Captain signaled to his Death Commando subordinate to take the bag from the Marine. It contained only what belonged to the Prisoner, which along with wallet, money, pocket tool, and various sundry items, included a partly spent revolver and two cans of barley tea. To the Lieutenant the items looked as though they belonged to a technician some sort, the man was obviously a crewman from the Pirates own vessel.

“Did you get a recording with your helmet vid-cam too?” Said Captain Hee directly to the medic, who confirmed that it had been done. “Good. At least the processing had been done correctly,” the Captain said in a sarcastic tone. The Death Commando could see the Prisoner’s condition weakening. He then looked to the Squad Leader, “SubCommander DaehRaj, there is no need to hurry this man to sickbay. Have your Marines put him with the rest in the airlock.”

“Sir?” Came the shocked response from the Medic to this new order. “He’s a wounded man, a prisoner. He’s still alive!”

“That’s right Medic,” said the Captain. “But you said yourself he’s so shot-up he probably won’t make it to sickbay. He’s been unconscious since you found him and it looks to me that he will never come out of it before he dies. Since we have everything from him that could be useful to us, it doesn’t make sense to waste time and Confederation resources any further on this Pirate.”

Everyone stood there in silent disbelief, but the Marine medic would not stop speaking. “But Sir! He’s a wounded and helpless, putting him in the airlock would be murder! Why don’t you just shoot the poor bastard and get it over with! Huh?” The Medic looked to his Squad Leader and pleaded for support, “SubCommander Sir! Please say something; you can’t just let this happen.” But the SubCommander hesitated to move. The Marine medic turned back to the Death Commando, but his words now took a hostile tone. “Damned it Sir! You can’t do this, you just can’t! I protest this action, I protest what you’re doing!”

The challenge on display to his authority would not be tolerated, and Captain Hee’s response was swift in coming. “Why don’t I just shoot you and get that over with first.” The Captain had drawn his sidearm and had it leveled at the Marine.

“What!” Said the Marine in surprise upon seeing the Captains weapon. “What are you doing!” His face showing an awareness of the serious danger that was suddenly before him.

“If I shot the Pirate it would be a waste of Confederation resources. There’s no way the Judicial Court could bill his family for the bullet used.” His gaze never moved from the Marine. “However; I can have Judicial Court bill your family for the round I shoot you with.” It was clear to all the Captain’s intention was serious.

. But before he could act another command was heard called out. “Stand Down Marine!” The order heard was from SubCommander DaehRaj who then stepped forward while pushing the hapless Marine back away from the confrontation with his hand. The Marine NCO had to move fast because he knew the Death Commando be well within his authority to summarily execute the man. Unless that Marine medico was a Nobleman there was nothing to legally stop the Captain, and the Squad Leader had doubts the man’s family was a member of the House of Scions. “Sir, I apologize for this outburst. This Marine did not intend to make a challenge to your authority Sir. Please release him to me and I will take full responsibility for this man.” The Squad Leader humbled himself while saying this by executing a slight bow to Captain Hee.

The Captain yelled at the Squad Leader in response saying, “Shut-up SubCommander! You should be glad I don’t take this Marine to be a result of your leadership and have you suffer the same fate!” That silenced the SubCommander, which allowed the Captain to then turn his attention back to the Medic. Tension was rising and by now Lieutenant Char had joined with Lieutenant Aston to flank the Marine medic on both sides. It was Lieutenant Aston who broke the tension when he addressed his Superior officer. “Captain Hee, what are your orders?”

Captain Hee could see the fear in the Medic’s eyes as well as the fear and concern of his Squad Leader. “Good,” thought the Captain. “This will keep them all from getting ideas or even thinking of getting out of line.” The Death Commando officer holstered his weapon before speaking, the only other sound being a muffled noise from his helmet. As he spoke his eyes were on the Marine medic, “SubCommander DaehRaj! I am the Superior officer in command here. As a Death Commando my authority comes directly from the Chancellor and it is to the Chancellor only that I answer to. This puts me above your normal chain of command, SubCommander.” He then turned his gaze toward the Squad Leader before him. “Put this man on report and I want him well disciplined for this. Got it, SubCommander?” The NCO replied with an anxious “Yes Sir” to the Captain. “And SubCommander, if this happens again with one of your men I’ll just shoot the insubordinate prick.” Motioning towards the Marine medic he finished by saying, “Now get his sorry ass out of my sight.” With that the Marines withdrew to another part of the small craft bay.

The Captain turned to his Death Commando subordinates. “Lieutenant Aston I am leaving you in charge here. You and Lieutenant Char make sure that my orders are carried out. And Lieutenant Aston, you make sure that Pirate gets out that airlock. You got it Lieutenant?” They understood clearly what the Captain wanted and both were affirmative in their response to him. He then left them and headed over to the bulkhead locker so he could secure a roll of wipes. He had retrieved a roll and was wiping his head down when he again noticed a muffled sound coming from the helmet that he carried for his suit. Once in the ship’s main corridor he noticed that the area was now fully lit and he could see the surfaces were painted and marked in a manner he was accustomed to. “Finally!” He said to himself. “A ship I can find my way around in, not like that Ranger’s ship the “Port Santos ”.

Out in the quiet of the corridor he could tell by the sound coming from his helmet that someone was trying to reach him on the comm. He stood in the corridor with his feet to the deck as he opened the folds to access the comm, but with his hair a drying mess he decided against putting the helmet back on his head. Instead he opted to disconnect and lift an earpiece and the mic from its helmet mounting so he could answer the call. As he moved to acknowledge the caller on the comm, his mood was still evident in his voice. “Taifun here. What is it.”

The voice that responded was familiar but sounded concerned. “This is Blue-Acrobat. Sir! I have been trying to contact you on your comm for the last few minutes.” The voice on the local comm-link sounded relieved to have found the Captain. “The bridge crew says there’s a problem, Sir. And the Ship’s Captain says for me to tell you to get up to the bridge”.”

Those words alarmed Captain Hee. “Where’s the problem’s location?” The Death Commando wanted to know fast so he could act on it.

In the background of Blue-Acrobats local comm-link transmission the Death Commando could hear anxious voices calling off numbers from some instrument readout. “Sir, Ship’s Captain says that our ship, that is Sir our dropship, the “Summit Mist”. He says its in trouble.”

Captain Hee’s mind raced at the thought of something nearby being able to threaten the dropship. He knew nothing had been detected in the immediate vicinity when they jumped in. “What could it be?” He thought. “I’m on my way over. Taifun-out.” Maneuvering the thrust-nozzles on his suit he made the best speed he could for the bridge.

That DC commander is a meanie

_________________
[size=85]To indeed be a god. [/size]

Stupid too, a live prisoner could be interrogated.

more,more,more.......

_________________
I refuse to have a battle of wits with someone who is unarmed.

The Dropship “Summit Mist”.
Nadir Jump Point,
Preston, Capellan Commonality,
Spring 3043.

The vehicle bay door slowly opened to the outside, the warning lights red beacons giving silent alert of the doors movement. The vehicle bays cavernous interior had been dimmed for the operation, the warning lights bathing those present with a pulsing red glow. Life support systems such as heat had been shut off earlier when the bay began to depressurization to safe levels. Still, the pumps had not removed all of the atmosphere from the bay and the deep cold from space caused ice crystals to initially form along the seal were the vehicle bay door meets the ships hull. But now with the doors opening the icy deposit vaporized, instantly disappearing upon exposure to the vacuum of space.

As the bay door continued to drop, its servomotors worked slowly to lower the door to its normal open position to form a vehicle ramp. While the vacuum environment prevented the men from hearing the sound of the servomotors, they could just a well feel the machinery’s vibrations on their feet as it came up from the deck and through the soles of their suits. The bay’s opening framed the area of space being seen, its many stars adding to a wondrous view.

“For the number of times I have been out in deep space, and yet I never tire of this view”, he thought to himself with a touch of awe. He was an officer, and the suit he wore was of a shade of green so dark as to almost be black and while trimmed with touches of brighter green was otherwise almost devoid of insignia. The helmet he wore left him faceless and added with the sight of the Gyrojet Rifle at his side made him a vision of menace. This was in stark contrast to his companion standing next to him. The gull-gray suit he wore was that of a Marine and carried the triangular crest of House Liao. On his suit collar he wore a yellow bar that marked him as an officer with the rank of Commander. They both continued to stand and watch the bay door move and expose the shape of a jumpship before them. It’s large form filling more than half of the view through the fully open doorway. Two teams of men also in gull-gray suits positioned themselves at the bay opening, each group clustered around a tripod device and obviously standing at the ready. It was then Marine officer turned to his dark suited companion.

“Sir, we have sufficient pressure ready”, said Commander Grant on the comlink. “Do I have a go?”

“Commander”, said Major Methdes in reply. “You do not have to wait for me, I trust your expertise in this type of operation. Begin when you see fit.”

“Yes Sir!” Acknowledged Commander Grant who then gave his men the command to begin. “Launchers 1 and 2, you are both cleared to fire”.

The Marine gunners manning the launchers had already set their sights on the jumpship when the vehicle bay door had first exposed the target to them. They just awaited the order to pull the trigger and when the order was given they were quick to act. There was no flash; no sound as their payloads sped away from the launchers into the vacuum of space. To the Marine gunners it was no different than manning any other heavy weapon mount except that this launcher was powered by pneumatic pressure, not from an explosive cartridge.

In an ideal boarding operation use is made of purpose built small craft to carry the boarding party over to the target. Mounted on these small craft are sets of grapple launchers that are tied into the vessels targeting system for firing. But most dropships, as in the case of the“Summit Mist” are normally not equipped with such devices and must resort to other methods to launch grapples which in this case are teams of Marines equipped with launchers. Each launcher is mounted on a tripod and hooked to the deck of the cargo bay for stability. The grapple is propelled from the launcher using pneumatic pressure supplied by the dropship from hoses attached to the bulkhead. Each launcher team consists of a gunner and two assistants to work the device. In space the recoil effects in zero-g however light can still can still be sufficient to send the gunner tumbling away when he fires the mount. Because of this the two assistants on his team also act as “bracemen” during firing. They would place their arms on the gunner and lean into him with their suits magshoes at full power, in effect forming an additional living tripod to brace the action of the mount during the launching operation.

The grapple itself used for boarding in zero-g does not resemble anything like the grappling hooks that the layman would recognize or come to expect. In space different types of grapples are used for boarding different types targets. The earliest grapple type used looked more like a harpoon than a “hook”. In those days most spacefaring ships and small craft were unarmored or only lightly armored at best, so securing a line to the outer hull by puncturing it was not a problem. Another type developed by the Terran Alliance navy in the distant past is called a Naval grapple, but is more commonly called an “arcade” because of its resemblance to the claw used to grab stuffed toy animals in a coin operated arcade machine. Essentially it is a shaft surrounded by three large curved “arms” or “tines” each tipped with a point that would close upon impact, and was originally intended to be used to hook the raised parts of the superstructure of combat jumships. These days however it is seldom seen except when boarding space stations, habitations, orbital platforms, or certain classes of jumpships. Old-style grappling hooks are used in space in the mining and salvage operations too. Such use is made by first projecting the grappling hook out a distance in space until the line is taut and then maneuvering the operating vessel with thrusters to then drag the hook across the target until it is captured. As a method it is simple to use but can only be effective upon targets that are stationary or very slow.

For this operation however the launchers are equipped with a type of grapple called the “Talon” which is more common. Developed during the late Terran Hegemony to early Star League period, this grapple consists of two parts. First in the center is a powerful Electro-magnet plate covered with small triangular studs and is connected to a pressure sensor. The second are four to five forged dense alloy tines or talons that are folded back and surrounding the central plate. Each of these talons is attached to a myomer bundle giving it the strength to bite deep into even standard armor when activated. Power for this type of grapple comes from either a power pack attached to the grapple or from the along the grapple line trailing behind it.
Upon contact with its target the pressure sensor would activate the Electro-magnet and along with the stud’s work to bring the grapple to a halt and hold it steady on the hull. Once it is still, the grapple’s talons are activated and the myomer bundles tightly contract to close the talons in a grip that anchors the device to the outer hull of its target. Once the talons close lights behind the grapples “head” switch on for ease of spotting its location on the target ships hull. As a design the “Talon” was intended to be a general-purpose grapple for use on spheroid dropships, various types of small craft, and aerospace fighters. Most of those types of vessels and craft make the Naval grapple difficult to use due to the lack of raised superstructure or large external projections on the outer hull. History says that its effectiveness against combat jumpships varied depending upon the type of armor covering the target vessel.

The Pirate jumpship continued its defensive roll, to the observer the view seeming to show its rotation rolling up from the bottom over to the top. By now the Pirate vessel had also fired additional thrusters that slowed its forward movement towards the systems orbital plane.
In the dropship’s vehicle bay the two officers watched with interest as both grapples ended their travel and contacted the Pirate jumpship’s hull. The first one glanced off the hull, careening at more than 30 degrees from its original vector and still continuing its flight in space. The trailing cable still followed the exact path of the grapples travel making an angled turn at the point where it ricocheted off the surface showing just a slight spiral turn along its new direction.
The jumpship’s defensive roll also caused the second grapple to fail its attempt. It impacted on the surface at an angle and partway on a raised feature. It landed near the bottom of the roll’s rotation contributing to its inability to hold fast in place on the surface. The movement inertia caused the trailing grapple line to continue to play out from its spool and along with the jumpship’s rotation in rapidly making the distance shorter resulted in a tangled mess as the line piled-up around where the grapple sat on the outer hull. The marine gunners at seeing the results of their first attempt to away grapples issued commands to brake the trailing lines down to a stop and for the Team members to get the next sequence of actions in motion. This was all in following their standard boarding doctrine.

“Hmm”, said Methdes to himself. “So near and yet still so far away” was the thought running through his mind. The failed grappling attempt did give him concern over maintaining the speed of the operation. “Commander, how long will it take you to roll up your lines and try again?” The Death Commando officer asked as he considered the effect this setback would have on the operational timetable.

“Sir, It will take too long to recover the spent grapples and lines. Our normal practice is to reload with the next set and make another try”, replied the marine. Seeing that his Teams were already quickly reloading, Commander Grant decided not to have them slow down to wait for his order. Activating his comlink he give the command, “Grapple Teams; Fire at will. I repeat, Fire at will”.

To the Major the time spent reloading seemed liked an eternity. He could see that while the launcher Teams were reloading other marines went out on their dropship’s hull. They went and worked the grapple lines from the first attempt out of the way to clear for the next try at hooking the Pirate ship. By now the enemy vessel ceased all forward motion by use of its thrusters and was practically stationary except for its defensive rotation.

The marine viewed the target vessel through the crosshairs of this targeting scope. He, like the companion gunner in the other Team had already picked out where he was going to place the talon for his next attempt. He had looked over the hull of the jumpship carefully through his scope during reload and recognized what seemed to him the optimum spot. No mistakes this time. The pressure indicator bar turned green to show him that pneumatic pressure was at required levels for launch. But the gunner held his release until he knew from the rotation of the jumpship where the target area would be when the grapple struck the ship. When he did let fly the grapple, the marine gunner could see its trajectory go directly in line as planned.

The device hit its mark dead-on just as the gunner expected the grapples talon’s closing with an iron grip. The other grapple struck the hull further towards the engineering section of the jumpship and it too held fast to the hull. The marines knew that they had to work fast and began to immediately brake the trailing lines to a stop as soon as the grapple talons closed. Commander Grant could hear through his comlink that his NCO’s responsible for the grappling phase of the operation moving their Teams to quick action. “Commander, we have launcher two’s cable in the Line puller and are taking up slack”, informed one of the Marine NCO’s. “Good A-For”, said Grant referring to the Assistant Force Leader, “Keep it moving. Out”.

The crew worked the Line puller smoothly; a device used for quickly pulling-in cable or line that has little or no load on it. Its purpose here is to quickly take up the loose slack from the cable line connected to the grapple and to make the trailing lines straight. In contrast the deck winch while more powerful was slower to move and could not reel in the amount of line coming back into the vehicle bay fast enough. This was already provided for however as marines moved the excess cable out of the way in large loops to be held at connection points on the sides of the bay until it the deck winch caught-up and it could be wound into its assigned drum.

Methdes could hear Commander Grants voice on his comlink as he watched the marines work. “Major, launcher two’s cable is straight-lined and now it’s just a wait for the deck winch to catch up. We have now got launcher one’s cable hooked in the Line puller and are hauling it in.” The Marine Commander was less than four meters away with his back to him next to the deck winch, but the hostile environment of space made it seem to the Death Commando more like a vast gulf. In space while in your suit things tended to be dead silent with only a voice in your headphones to remind you that you are not alone or forgotten. It can be unnerving even when surrounded by fellow companions. As he watched the marines Methdes considered the thought, “I wonder sometimes how they do it.” He meant of course being able to function as people out in the vacuum of space day in and day out.

Methdes watched the activity in the bay, to him the Marines seemed to normally handle the task at hand even though they now had to deal with the shifting g-forces felt within the bay. But to Commander Grant however arrangements in the vehicle bay were anything but “normal” for a boarding action against any vessel the size of a dropship or bigger. The complex and labor intensive method that he was forced to use for this excursion he knew is normally reserved for salvaging small craft, boarding habitations or snagging a wayward barge. The truth of the matter is that he knew there was just too many things that could go wrong.
He would have preferred to have a hull-mounted grapple system for the operation, which meant needing a sufficient number of assault boarding craft. But when the Major presented him the mission requirements he realized that that was out of the question. With a hull-mounted grapple system on a small craft you could eject the entire grapple line spool if your first attempt to hook your target failed. You then went to your next grapple and tried again. But with the system in use for this operation needed a host of personnel to get the job done, personnel that had to get close to the equipment, and personnel that could get tangled up in the lines and injured. He worried about the safety of his men.
Still, considering the circumstance things are going smoothly and the mission objective will be achieved. “Commander”, came a voice over Grant’s headphones. “Launcher one’s cable recovery is nearly complete and straight. The cable from launcher two’s been taken up by the winch is straight-lined and getting tight”. Grant could see the Marine and Death Commando boarding parties making the last minute checks nearby. He remembered during the initial one-on-one discussions with Major Methdes that the Death Commando had quietly expressed concern over his Commando groups experience at making an EVA boarding assault across deep space. This lack of experience might slow down the Marine contingent and cause unwanted tactical problems. It was for that reason that the Major had insisted on having the target hooked so all assigned boarding forces could go over without cause for concern.

“Affirmed, A-For. I can see the work. Make sure your winch operator is following the instructions on his screen. Grant out.” The Marine Commander watched as grapple lines got into there desired positions with the talons showing as bright lights on the jumpships hull in the distance. “It’s all coming together”, he said to himself. He knew that when he cooked up this plan to make grappling from the “Summit Mist” feasible the Marines under his command thought he was crazy when they are capable of an EVA assault instead. Still, the Commander knew he had to come up with something that was workable for all parties involved, “And this is working”, he murmured quietly to himself so as to not trigger is voice activated comlink. A momentary shift of g-forces in the vehicle bay got his attention with the slight vibration of the thrusters firing being felt from the deck. Grant realized that whatever problems he had doing his job here might be nothing compared to what must be going on in the cockpit to keep the dropship in the correct position for the operation.

The thrusters could again be felt firing to keep the dropship at station, their operator working to keep the vessel at the proper attitude and position to the larger Pirate ship. The dropship’s pilot was responding to a large Heads-Up-Display image of an artificial horizon that overlaid the actual view of the enemy jumpship through the cockpits forward windscreen, the lights from the grapples themselves could be clearly seen on the hull. “Murdock, how soon?” The Pilot questioned his First Officer in a tone of voice that expected a quick answer. As the Command Pilot, Captain Roland Wang worked the flight controls to keep the “Summit Mist” in place. His eyes focused upon the artificial horizon image to guide him in keeping a steady hand to line-up his vessel with the Pirate jumpship. “Murdock”, the Pilot said again, “are they almost ready?”

The ship’s First Officer was seated next to him and was viewing the readout on his screen while in communication with someone else on the line. He reviewed the screen on the dropship’s distance to the Pirate, the jumpship’s speed of rotation, the “Summit Mist’s” own speed of motion, the tension levels on the grapple cables, and his own ship’s angle and attitude position relative to the enemy vessel. The program he was running helped him calculate all this and more for what they intended to do and currently displayed the readout data color coded in red. Lieutenant Murdock switched channels on his comm to speak to his Captain and friend. “Trapeze reports in the vehicle bay that line two is set in the deck winch drum and that line one is already set straight but that the winch is yet to fully catch-up. He says however that most of line one’s cable is in the drum.” Trapeze is the call sign used for Marine Commander Grant.

A nod of the head and a “Hmm” was the answer from Wang. He fired the thrusters again to adjust the dropship’s position properly. It took both of his hands to do the work, with his right hand on the joystick and the left working an additional control pad. “Murdock”, said the older man, “Is line two strong enough to begin?”

“Line two’s tension levels look good Captain. I’d say that line one will also be ready any moment. I’d say let’s start.” With that said the First Officer began to make adjustments and relay the view on his screen to the deck winch operators console in the vehicle bay.

The Lieutenants answer was good enough for Wang to make the decision. “Awll right then, lets do it”, he told his First Officer.

Murdock switched his comm channel over and spoke. “First Officer to Trapeze. We are going to begin with line two. I’ll be in open-line communication with the winch operator as we execute the approach. He’ll be following the same readouts that I see on his own console’s screen. Be aware that direction down will soon be aft.” As soon as he finished speaking Trapeze acknowledged his message and informed him that line one was completely in its drum and tight. Checking his screen he could see the tension levels for that cable rising dramatically but still within safe limits.

Maneuvering a dropship around a hostile vessel is dangerous enough as it is but to grapple an enemy jumpship from said dropship multiplies the danger even more. With the grapples fast to the Pirates hull the jumpships defensive rotation acts to pull in the grappling vessel uncontrollably. And although the rotation is slow the very size and mass of the jumpship make its hull act as the drum on a super-winch that can still reel in the cable at a high speed with potentially catastrophic results. To counter this effect the grappling vessel must maintain a position over the same area on the hull where the grapples are attached. But to do so also does require constant use of the ship’s thrusters to continuously maneuver and adjust.

“Attention everyone,” came Lieutenant Murdocks voice over the comm. “Distance required has been calculated. We are beginning our approach. Bridge-out.” The First Officer began communicating to the winch operator the speed in meters per second to winch the dropship closer to the target vessel, the orders heard over the open channel of the comm. And while Major Methdes and Captain Wang could hear the proceedings they had keyed their mic’s shut. It was more important for them to know what is going on than to interfere with the delegated task.

At 1,900 tons the Fury Class dropship “Summit Mist” was about as imposing next to the Pirate’s Invader Class jumpship’s 152,000 tons as a gnat on a log. The jumpship having eighty times the size difference plus change over the smaller dropship. As they closed the distance slowly the Pilot began to notice a change in the dropships handling. The closer the “Summit Mist” got he had to use his thrusters less for adjusting position and more for maintaining the dropship’s attitude and angle. The pull of g’s could also begin to be felt pushing him back against his seat. “It should be getting easier for you Captain, we have only a little way’s more to go”, the First Officer was heard to say over the comm.

In space things have a way of behaving differently. The effect of gravity is at a minimum and objects in space are more susceptible to the laws of motion, with the object size or mass being the only real influence. Once grappled the “Summit Mist” did not significantly affect the rotational speed of the jumpship. If the dropship had initially deployed its engines to the fullest it would have had a slight impact on the Pirates rotating hull but would not have brought it to a standstill. All of this due primarily to the much greater mass of the jumpship versus that of the dropship. However, that very size could be worked to the Capellan vessel’s advantage.

The G-force’s pushing against the Captain and First Officers seats was getting stronger, not enough to make a full G but enough to be definite. “Trapeze to Bridge”, came the call over the comm. “Line One is in the winch and coming under tension”, said Grant. “Lines three-north and four-south ready for deployment with boarding parties. Trapeze-Out”. As Line One fell into place the dropship made a slow but definite shift to the right as it moved to an equal distance from where both grapples were in contact with the hull. “Acknowledged Trapeze. I can tell it’s helping to draw us in. Bridge-out,” came the reply from the First Officer. Satisfied with the answer from the bridge the Marine Commander keyed his comm to order the troops ready for the imminent action. “Listen up! This is Commander Grant, all boarding parties disconnect your ox lines. Go autonomous and be ready to move. That is all.” Upon hearing that both Marines and Death Commandos began disconnecting the bulkhead mounted auxiliary umbilical from their suits and made ready for the next phase of the operation. The term “ox line” is a common jargon among ship crewmen and marines for any common auxiliary umbilical lines used shipboard.

At this point the view of the Pirate jumpship from the bridge windscreen showed it being almost stationary in space before the “Summit Mist”, while in the surrounding void the stars were seen to be moving steadily past. Those points of light entered view from the top of the windscreen and disappearing from view at the bottom at a constant rate. This was all due to the fact that the dropship was now holding a near exact station to its position over the jumpship hull. The G-force’s being felt onboard the “Summit Mist” was artificial gravity being created by the centrifugal force from the Pirate jumpships own rotation. The grappling cables held the dropship firm as the rotation swung it around much larger dropship, much like a weight at the end of a line as it is spun.
The First Officer eyed his view screen in anticipation, the display color code now having changed mostly to amber and some to blue. “We have just a little closer more Captain”, he said into his comm. While the Death Commandos had trained in zero-g boarding actions the exercises had always been done by the book with proper equipment and vehicles. Crossing over considerable distances of space in an EVA maneuver to a hostile vessel would be a new experience for the Commandos. The Marines on the other hand are trained and have experience in all forms of zero-g and EVA situations. It had been considered having the dropship hover nearby to the jumpship and have a single grapple line sent over for the Commandos to crossover on, but it was pointed out in planning that this would be hazardous if the Pirates used a defensive maneuver such as rotation. And as it turned out this proved to be the case.
In the end it was decided to use a method called “Line-hauling” or “Winching”, also commonly called “Witching”. In this method a pattern of multiple lines are attached to the target vessel using grapples or boarding parties to allow the boarding vessel to safely close the distance with the much larger ship. If the target vessel is using a defensive rotation then the pilot of the boarding vessel has to keep his ship at station directly over the area where the cables are attached by use of his maneuvering thrusters. The rotational speed of the target vessels defensive maneuver is also taken advantage of and calculated into the approach. Depending upon the speed of the target vessel’s rotation a point of distance in space will be reached by the dropship where the centrifugal force alone will hold it in place. Artificial gravity will be felt and “down” will be towards the aft of the boarding vessel. The cables of the grappling lines will be taut and go practically rigid, as the smaller vessel becomes part of the greater mass of the jumpship. The distance and rotational speed must however be calculated correctly, too far out and the dropship will trail or drag behind and in danger of having the cable lines being wrapped on the jumpship hull. Too close, and the boarding vessel could collide or strike a part of the target vessels superstructure or communications arrays. Once the correct point is reached, to someone onboard either ship it would seem as though they were both motionless with only the stars moving around them. It was not an ideal plan but it was one that Captain Wang and Lieutenant Murdock knew could be pulled off given the situation at hand.

The First Officer watched his view screen as the amber colored display changed over to green accompanied by the sound of three audible “beeps” in his earphones. The guidance program was informing him that the “Summit Mist” had arrived at its correct pre-planned position. Once the winch had brought the dropship to its pre-selected distance the guidance program in the ships computer would automatically bring it to a stop. At that point the machine operator would lock down the drums currently being used on the winch. Lieutenant Murdock keyed the comm “Captain, we are in position. Everything is in the green,” said the First Officer.

The ships Captain took the information in and then opened two new displays on his view screen. They were both camera views of the two nearest maneuver thrusters on the Pirate jumpship. This way he could adequately judge how much thrust the intruders would use if they tried to put the jumpship into a more violent defensive maneuver. He then opened his hand and released the control stick to see if the dropship held steady or if any response was needed. He let out a satisfied “hmmm” and then looked to his right at his First Officer. “Good” was his reply to the Lieutenant, “are both lines secure?” His First Officer’s response was positive and reaffirming his earlier report to the Captain.
“Awll right then, contact the Majur and tell him to begin his part of the operation”. With that Captain Wang turned his attention back to the Pirate Jumpship and any new developments.
Lieutenant Murdock keyed the comm to the channel used by the occupants of the Vehicle Bay and began to speak in a calm but commanding tone. “Attention! This is the bridge. Begin boarding operation! I Repeat, Begin boarding operation!” He repeated the message once more over the comm at the end of which Major Methdes voice could be heard.

“Center here,” said the Major. “Acknowledged; Center out”. At that moment subordinates from Commander Grant down to Squad and Lance leaders were looking at Methdes for their next cue. It was not long in coming. He turned to look over at the Marine Commander next to him, made a short gesture with his hand pointing two fingers at the open Vehicle Bay door and said to him in a steady voice, “Go!”

With that order the Marine Commander moved into action. Moving towards the Vehicle Bay door he activated his mic and opened the comm, “This is Trapeze, we’re clear to Away All Borders. So Acrobat One, move out”. With that order the first wave of two Marine Squads and a Death Commando Lance immediately moved out the door. This first wave, call signed “Acrobat One” exited the dropship Bay in their assigned order of three groups.

The four-man Death Commando Lance in the first wave had the job of deploying cable line Four-South to its planned contact point on the jumpship’s hull. Because of their lack of deep EVA experience they are all making the crossing each individually hooked on a clip-ring lanyard to grapple Line One. The clip is to slide along the grapple line as the Commandos follow the line down to the ship. Because of the jumpship rotation as soon as they had cleared the Vehicle Bay door the grapple line seemed to fall away from them and draw the lanyard taut, pulling them down. Surprised, the Commandos used the thrusters on their Marine Combat Environment Suits to regained directional control before heading toward the objective, the clip-ring on their lanyards holding firm and unbroken.
The Marines however went straight out into open space only crouching slightly before pushing off the ramp made by the lowered Vehicle Bay door. Methdes could see that as soon as their feet left contact with the deck at push off they seemed to rapidly go upwards and out of sight from the door. This illusion was again due to the rotation of the vessels. In reality once a Marine would jet out on a vector separate from the dropship the vessel would simply rotate away from him downwards. To someone looking back towards the “Summit Mist” the illumination from the systems star made them as little white points of light that formed small curved lines in space that slowly closed on the jumpship. The Marines however are executing an EVA maneuver in open space or “Black water”, as they like to say and moving directly in a straight line towards the objective. The curve of the lines was due to each Marine exiting from the dropship at a different point in its rotation and then vectoring forward. Each timed his crossing so once a Marine spanned the gulf between the ships they would arrive at his intended location on the Pirate jumpship’s hull when it rotated back into view from “above” or “North”.
Commander Grant stopped when he reached the edge of the void and turned to look back at the Major. “Trapeze to Center. I’ll see you on the hull after you make the crossing. Trapeze over.” Grant raised his arm to give Methdes a sign and then pushed off towards the Pirate jumpship. He was the last of the Acrobat-One first wave to leave.

“Center to Trapeze. Acknowledged. After the crossing, on the hull. Center out”. The Major felt out of place still standing in the dropship’s Bay. A Death Commando officer leads an assault from the front line, not being held back to advance later with successive waves of troops. “Center to Acrobat-Two”, Methdes said into his mic alerting the next wave. “Everyone make ready to move. Center out”. Still, he could not find fault with the logic behind the decision, and it was after all his to make. Commander Grant had been the one to raise the subject with him, as he was the second in command of the boarding operation to assault the Pirate jumpship. First, the Marine officer had delicately pointed out that someone who was well experienced in this type of operation should command the initial wave. That meant Commander Grant since his own number two, SubCommander Daeraj was assigned to the mission to take the “Michael Rummell”. And second, that it was not a wise thing for the CO of the boarding operation to be in the lead but should instead be in the following wave to oversee that all went well. After all he pointed out any host of things could go wrong in addition to possibly jumping into an ambush. “Yes, he did have a good point”, he thought to himself. As it turned out it would instead be Lieutenant Young from his Lance that would be the senior Death Commando officer to land first on the hull. The Major looked over the winch operator, “Crewman, is line Four-North ready?” Addressing him first as “Sir”, the Spacer operating the machine gave him quick response that all was ready.

On his headset display the readout to mark the passage of time was flashing. When that happened he knew the time had come for the second wave to begin its move if the operation was to stay on schedule. He keyed his mic to open the comm, “Acrobat-Two this is Center. This is a Go! Begin your assault. I repeat! This is a Go! Begin your assault. Center-out”. With that the remaining two Marine squads and a single three-man Death Commando lance began their journey across the gulf separating the ships. Both forces would make the crossing the same as the troops of Acrobat-One, with the Death Commandos responsible for the deployment of cable line Four-North. When the last man left all that remained of the assault force in the dropship’s Bay was the Major and two Marine escorts assigned to him.

By this time the Methdes had moved to the Bay door in preparation to making the crossing. As he stood at the edge of the void looking out at the Pirate vessel that was his destination it appeared to him that the jumpship was not really that particularly far. This was a surprise to him because he had expected the vessel to just be some distant point of light. Crossing his arms, “Marine”, he said speaking to one of his escorts, “That is not very far at all. May be around 60 meters?”

“Sir,” said the Marine. “The view can be deceiving because of the jumpship’s large size,” he said. He then added, “Major, we are ready to move out when you are, Sir.”

Again the readout in the Major’s headset display again flashed to show the required time had elapsed and that it was time to go. He turned to both of his escorts and silently exchanged hand signals to show that his Marine Combat Environment Suit’s systems are in proper working order and that he was good to go. It was part of a “buddy” system to ensure safety in a hostile environment. When done Methdes said simply “Lets go,” into his mic and pushed off the edge of the Vehicle Bay door ramp with his two Marine escorts following close behind.
The vessel seemed to fall away rapidly below him while before him, while at the same time he began to sense a rising anxiety as he realized that experience had never put him this far out from a ship before. The long and spindly Invader Class jumpship bathed in the glow from Preston’s star and it loomed large in the Major’s view as he moved on a vector towards it. He suddenly felt very, very alone and seemingly adrift in open space.
“Alright Commando!” He told himself resisting the feeling of panic. “Focus. Focus on what has to be done”. He began by listening in on the communications traffic from his boarding parties. His monitoring of the comm told him that the crossing was going as planned for Acrobat-One and Acrobat-Two, the first and second waves of the assault. He looked at his headset display for the time and it showed only a short time since they left. “But it feels like I have out here forever”. The jumpship before him still looked distant, and it appeared that he had not gotten closer in the time he traveled. Concerned, he looked to either side of him and found his Marine escorts positioned exactly where they should be. “What’s come over me?” Is what he asked himself, realizing that not even the danger of combat gave him this feeling of anxiety. It seemed familiar somehow, but he could not put his finger on it.

“Sir, we are soon coming up to our deceleration way point”, said one of his Marine escorts. Methdes, glad to have another thing to take his mind off his personal anxiety responded back that he was aware of the approaching waypoint and would be ready. “Is this your first time in the Blackwater deep, Sir?” Inquired the Marine, referring to their transit across open space.

“Yes this is”, said Methdes wondering which Marine was he speaking to. “And who is it that I am speaking to Marine?” He asked.

“Sir, I am Marine Corporal V’Balli positioned on your right.” He confirmed that with a hand signal and then pointed to the other Marine. “And this is ship’s Marine Gripp positioned on your left.”

The Major acknowledged back to both with a hand signal of his own. “So Marine Corporal V’Balli”, asked the Major, “does my inexperience in the Blackwater deep show?”

“Sir, not at all,” the Marine replied. I was thinking that you had executed deep EVA before from your actions so far. Methdes was glad to hear that and took the answer as a compliment. “Sir,” said the other Marine named Gripp, “what he means is you have not started making a fuss from losing vertigo and trying to find which way is up or down in space or talking up and filling the comm with idle chatter. We see that happen when someone gets out deep for their first time in the Blackwater Sir.”

“Blackwater”. When Methdes heard that word he knew in an instant why this feeling seemed familiar. It had been his second year training at the Death Commando school at Grand Base and he was completing his training in underwater operations. During an advanced exercise he and his teammates were released from a dive capsule that was deliberately upended to cause a loss of initial bearing. They then had to swim and navigate in their Marine Combat Environment suits for ten-kilometers while staying at a constant depth of 75 meters in the water column. This exercise was conducted on a moonless night in open water that was on average two thousand meters deep and away from any obvious lights from landfall. The sensation was eerie like swimming in a black abyss with no end. Two of his teammates died that night. One was found on the bottom at eight hundred meters. The other was never found. Such is Death Commando training, the losses are expected to produce the Confederations finest. Leaving that memory behind the Major focused back on the present, “I am glad to hear that”, the Major told the Marine. “I was afraid that I would be slowing you two down during this crossing.”

“Sir, we are doing an easy speed in meters per sec as planned.” Said the Marine Corporal; “We are moving on schedule.”

The Major nodded. “Good to hear it. Corporal, I can see why an open Blackwater operation can be difficult.”

“Sir,” said Corporal V’Balli, “doing EVA in deep Blackwater can be less difficult so long as you follow a few simple rules. The first and probably most important is to always know where you are.” He then continued, “I’ll show you a trick from our Marine toolbox.” Pointing toward the jumpship he said, “Use the RB in your headset to take a range mark on our destination, Sir. Don’t worry about the distance for the Range-Finder Binoculars, if it use’s IR or laser the effective range in space is greatly expanded.”

Following the Marine Corporals advice Methdes activated his RFB and took the range of the jumpship. “Range, mark,” said the Major over the comm to his escort. Reading the distance he was surprised to see that he was closer to the target than he thought.

“Sir, don’t move your eyes” the Corporal said, “keep your view on the target and at the same time watch your chronometer. When it hits fifteen seconds since your first mark take the range a second time.”

Methdes again took the range and then said “Range, mark,” into his comm. The Marine Corporal then asked for the difference between the two readings. “The difference I have is 15.4 meters Corporal” said the Death Commando.

“Sir, by doing that it clearly shows for someone that they are not floating helplessly in space but are in fact really moving.” The Marine Corporal looked over to Methdes, “and now Sir, you know exactly where you are in relation to where you departed from and where you are going.”

Knowing this Methdes clearly felt better and his anxiety just as suddenly disappeared as it had come. “Your method is simple yet profound in its effect,” commented the Major. “I have never heard of using this method during training,” said the Major as he maintained a proper formality as he spoke.

“Sir,” replied the Marine Corporal, “Because we work outside a lot it’s just something we learned to do. You can get the same effect by measuring the visible size of the target by putting marks on you visor with a grease pencil and then watch it slowly grow outside those marks.” He finished by saying “Major, it’s just some of the survival techniques we use when you’re assigned up here that they don’t teach you in training.”

The Majors headset display again began to flash a warning that they had almost arrived at their deceleration waypoint. He activated his comm and spoke to his escorts, “I have deceleration at less than fifteen seconds away, do you copy”. Both Marines replied back confirmation. “Corporal V’Balli take the countdown”, Methdes said.

“Sir, Yes Sir,” said the Marine Corporal. “Attention! All on my mark, six-five-four-three-two-one-mark! As a group all three suits fired-off their maneuver thrusters slowing them down for the expected landing ahead.

Just outstanding.

_________________
[size=85]To indeed be a god. [/size]

The Pirate Jumpship.
Nadir Jump Point,
Preston, Capellan Commonality,
Spring 3043.


“Do you spot it Commander?” Said the voice over the comm. The older Marine listening had caught sight of the subject with his helmet mounted RB system. “Confirmed. I have a visual,” he said back into the comm, “Nothing to worry about, their ours. Trapeze-out.” It was an approaching trio of lights that he viewed. “That must be the Major’s group”, Commander Grant thought to himself.
Since arriving earlier with the first wave Commander Grant had kept busy securing their position on the vessels outer hull. In the initial boarding phase of the operation the Death Commando Lances would place the grapple lines in position while it was the job of the Marines to cover them and provide “muscle”. This included the use of two-man Marine sapper teams to set charges at the base of the jumpships PPC turrets in the event the weapons become a threat.
So far the operation was uneventful with no resistance encountered. But that was not unusual when you consider that most times Pirates may have numbers for a fight but lack EVA combat training and gear. Most Mercenary outfits would rather avoid a firefight on the outer hull because of the high chance of fatalities in such a hostile environment. House troops on the other hand regularly put up some kind of resistance during the approach of a boarding party, with combat teams stationed on the outer hull for just that purpose.
But when the Pirates did not make use of the PPC turrets to defend their ship he began to be wary of an ambush of some sort. The Marine scout assigned to the sapper detail reported in that his sensor suite did not detect the signature of a fully charged PPC capacitor at either weapon turret. The thought kept running through his mind, “Two perfectly good weapons turrets and they both never opened fire,” he was thinking. “Strange”, he wondered “could this ship be undermanned?”

The Marine keyed his mic to use his comm as he stood looking at the structure. His squad was part of Acrobat-One, the first assault wave, and had been tasked upon landing with securing the nearest docking-collar area while sappers placed explosive charges at the jumpship’s turret. He had been assigned to the docking-collar detail and had completed his sweep finding all clear. It was at the end of walking his circuit that he spotted activity, a release of vapor or gases the result of decompression. Upon arrival at he spot he called in.
“Fox-Sierra One, this is McFarland over” he said over the comm. It was the familiar voice of his For-S or Marine Force Sergeant that responded, “This is Fox-Sierra One, McFarland report”. The Marine took a moment to carefully form his reply. He was only recently transferred to the unit and he did not want to mess up his first time out in the field. “The docking-collar area is clear Sir. The entry hatches are locked down and the collar’s docking latches are in the locked position. But Sir, I found an opening in the hull.” That got his squad Leaders attention with the Force Sergeant telling him to sit tight and that he would be right over.
With his Blazer Rifle at the ready, the Marine continued to peer into the opening and cast in a beam of light to get a further view. The opening was round, about thirty centimeters wide and covered with an iris valve, which by now was in the open position. The shaft itself was deep, at least fifty meters in towards the center of the jumpship. The sight of another moving beam of light near the opening told him that he was no longer alone. Upon drawing himself up erect he turned to find his Force Sergeant standing next to him. “So this is what you found?” His squad Leader said looking at the opening.
“Ah, Yes Force Sergeant,” said the Marine. “It opened as I was doing my sweep nearby.” The Force Sergeant continued to examine the opening and then shone his light over along the docking collar’s side inspecting the docking latches. “It looks too small for personnel to use Sir,” said the Marine. He then further volunteered, “maybe we could put a satchel charge down this shaft with a long timer?”

“Jettison that thought Marine”, said the Force Sergeant in a firm tone of voice. “Our job is to take this vessel intact not blow it up! The cost of repairs alone could set back the Confederation budget” The Force Sergeant detected the sound of light static interference as someone tried to raise him on his comm but decide to finish speaking instead with saying, “You know what a satchel could do to this port here”.

“Fox-Sierra One, this is Trapeze. Come in.” It was the voice of Commander Grant on the comm. The squad Leader acknowledged his superior officer’s call. “I heard that you found something”, said the Commander, “anything to report?” The expression on the Force Sergeant’s face beneath his visor showed that he did not want to have deal with this now, especially when there was not much to report. “Sir, I am checking on it now and will have a report for you in a moment.” was his answer. Looking back at the opening he switched his comm key and said to McFarland “lets go, there’s nothing much here”, as he made to move off.

“Force Sergeant”. As McFarland’s spoke up over the comm. “I am new to jumpships, my last five postings were either on stations or dirtside,” said the younger Marine. “What was that we were looking at back there?” He asked.
“Stations or dirtside, huh? Now I see,” said the Force Sergeant. “What you saw was the open port for a dropship’s K-F Boom, Marine. The fact that it was open and the collar latches locked tells me that these guy’s are sloppy”. As they both turned to move off the Force Sergeant said, “I have to call this in”. And with that he signaled the Marine to head back to his Fire Team. He switched his comm and keyed it to speak to the Commander Grant but instead found background static on the line making contact difficult. “Hmm, swarm interference.” The NCO worked the comm again until he made contact with the Commander.

“I copy that Fox-Sierra Three,” said the Marine Officer into his comm. With the sounds of static in the background he ended the transmission with “Trapeze, out” and then glanced out at space towards the dropship. Commander Grant mentally went over the sitrep he had just received and added it to the big picture. The second assault wave known as Acrobat-Two had already landed and so far no resistance. The Death Commandos in the first wave have moved to their planned entry point after setting grapple line Three-South in place, while the other Death Commando Lance in the second wave are now on the outer hull and should complete setting grapple line Four-North at any time. A sweep of all the docking collar locations found them unusual with the collar latches in the locked position and open K-F boom ports. The only incident so far is the recent static interference heard rising over the comm lines to the annoyance of all.
He checked his chronometer and then looked out towards space again to see the distance and estimate Major Methdes arrival on site. “Trapeze, this is Fox-Sierra Two” was the call from an urgent voice that Grant heard in his earpiece. “Fox-Sierra Two, this is Trapeze” was his quick response. “I hear you, go ahead”.

“Commander, my scout’s picked up an energy signature on his sensor pack,” reported the Force Sergeant. “He thinks it might be the PPC capacitors charging up”

This was something that the Marine Commander knew he did not need at this time. Experience told him the turrets would not be a threat to his boarding parties because being on the outer hull they were simply too close. But the turrets could fire upon his stationary dropship or worse any personnel in transit. “Are you close enough to have a visual on the nearest turret? Can you see any activity?” He now felt that a trap was being sprung and that a firefight was imminent. “Negative, Commander” was the answer from NCO.

The static was now more perceptible so he had to speak louder to be heard. “Keep a sapper detail on that turret,” said Grant raising his voice. “If it so much as makes a move in any direction I want you to blow it, and that’s an order Fox-Sierra Two. Do you copy that?” As he received the confirmation of his order the Commander moved along the hull to another position. The static was beginning to affect normal transmission and it occurred to him that it might be an attempt to jam communications as part of the Pirates plan. “If they are,” he thought to himself, “they are not doing a very good job of it considering the electronic array this dropship has on board.”
Now he felt that unique vibration under his feet that was the telltale sign of a ship’s engines coming to life. Looking around he could see the bright flares shooting from several of the jumpship’s maneuver thruster’s in a steady burn. They were putting the brakes on the vessel’s rotation reducing it to less than a meter per second. Seeing that the Commander realized that the defenders are going to put up a fight on the outer hull. He knew from experience that irregular units did not prefer combat on a fast spinning surface where a casualty might go flying off on a vector into space. After all, that could make losing too permanent.
Commander Grant keyed his comm to be heard over the open link between all units assigned to assault the Pirate jumpship including the dropship “Summit Mist” as well as the Jump Point Command Vessel “Port Santos”, codenamed “SkyTower”. The sound of static was not enough to prevent him from being heard as he spoke. “Trapeze to all boarding parties, attention! As you all know we are starting to see enemy activity. So be alert and be ready for anything. Fox-Sierra Leaders acknowledge.” The last part of his transmission was for his Marine squad Leaders to confirm receipt of his message. He wanted to make sure he still had communication with all his people through the static interference.

“Center to Trapeze,” was the call from Major Methdes. The static was giving a scratchy quality to his voice as he spoke. Commander Grant replied with “Trapeze here, go ahead Sir”.

“Lance-One has breached to entryway at docking collar three and are ready to go once you have Marine support in place.” Since his departure from the dropship the Major had been monitoring the comm traffic of the assault waves as well as in direct communication with his two Death Commando Lances. The plan called for the Death Commandos to create two separate breaches at hatch entryways and then move in with the Marines toward their various objectives within, but that could now be on hold with the possibility of enemy resistance now appearing on the outer hull. “My touch-down is near Line Two’s grapple in less than a minute, forty seconds. I will move to meet you at DC3. Trapeze, do you confirm?” The Major received Commander Grants “Affirmative”.
As he took the safety off his Gyrojet rifle he mentally reviewed mission so far and that it was still on schedule and going according to plan. He brought the model M-80 to the ready position after checking again his weapons magazine. His two Marine escorts had always kept their Blazer Rifles at the ready from the moment they all left the “Summit Mist”. He considered the upcoming possibility of a firefight on the outer hull and determined that the PPC turrets would not be a factor. To him this lead to the conclusion that breaking into the Pirate vessel was now inevitable and just a matter of time, leaving the operational timetable in no real danger.

The small light on the panel blinked in a steady rhythm. Its small amber glow had initially just lit up next to a sensor’s analogue dial, but now demanding notice it began to pulse on and off.
The light caught the Flight Engineers attention when he raised his head to quick scan the panel. He had been monitoring the comm transmissions within the task force and was beginning to receive a verbal inquiry from the Command Vessel “Port Santos”. It was regarding sensor readings the jumpship’s sensor array’s had detected and if he received the data telemetry feed regarding it. His focus now on his engineering console the Flight Engineer did not respond to the message knowing he had to act on the panel warning light first.
The Ensign hit the rocker switch next to it to test the reading, but the analogue dial’s level never changed. Concerned, he entered his console to display the readout details for that sensor up on his digital screen. It was at that moment the warning light changed from amber to red and an audible alarm with a distinct low-level sound tone began to be heard on the flight deck.

The Command Pilot hands were on the flight controls completing adjustments to compensate for the Pirate jumpships braking maneuver. The First Officer meanwhile was working to find the source of the static interference he could hear over the comm. He thought it might be a particle swarm at the jump point caused by the systems star, not at all an unusual occurrence. But both the Command Pilot and the First Officer could hear the alarm from behind them on the flight deck and it made them both take notice. “Mr. Trats!” Captain Roland Wang called out to the Flight Engineer, “what’s that noise?”

The younger Officer was caught unawares by the question. Startled, he had nearly jumped out of his seat upon hearing the Captain’s voice. “Captain, It’s the alarm for the EM sensors. The signature detects a rising EM level accompanied by an IR emission.”

“Hmm, an emergence wave,” Said the Captain into his mic. “So we have another incoming? How big was the preceding IR flare?” The sound of Command Pilots voice was expecting a quick answer.

“It’s not an EM pulse, Captain,” said the younger Officer. “And the IR emission appeared after the EM signature did. The level’s for both are rising rapidly Captain.” The Ensign was now viewing the readout on his screen from both his own dropship’s sensors and data telemetry from the Command Vessel. “What ever it is Captain, the high IR level show’s that something is smashing atoms out there.”

The ship’s First Officer however was not convinced this was not the sign of an impending arrival. Clearing his own view screen of data with only the image of the Pirate jumpship remaining he prepped the visual sensors to receive coordinates redirecting their focus. This way whatever image they would detect would automatically replace the current image on the screen. He then turned in his seat to look back at the Flight Engineers position. “Ensign,” said Lieutenant Murdock addressing the young Officer, “message the contact’s bearing and distance to my screen.”

The Ensign tapped his keyboard to enter the command as ordered and then called out, “done!”

From the turned position in his seat that Murdock took a fast glance back at his screen were it seemed nothing had changed. “Ensign!” He snapped to the Flight Engineer, “I didn’t receive the coordinates from you.” Murdock’s voice was sounding urgent.

“I sent it Sir,” said the Ensign. “I’ll repeat the data trans,” he said over the comm as the Flight Engineer began to work his keyboard.

Murdock needed quick answers and he had no time to lose on another transmission mistake. “Cancel that”, he ordered the First Officer. As he turned back into his seat he thought the younger Officer was not ready to be on the flight deck as the Flight Engineer. Now facing back to his flight console he reached for his own keypad to enter the data he needed himself manually. “Flight Engineer, read me coordinates for contact’s bearing and distance”. This time he would get things done right.

“Contact is bearing zero-degrees horizontal, eight-degrees below horizon, zero to axis, range two-two-zero meters”, was heard over the comm from the Flight Engineer.

Murdock rapidly entered the coordinates on his console’s keypad, the image on his screen flickered for a moment and then instantly returned to view. It took seconds to enter the data, but only a scant heartbeat to realize the peril they were all in. Ensign Trats had made no mistake when he sent the data the first time around, Lieutenant Murdock realized that it was himself who failed to notice what was on his view screen. Working his console he modified the view to show him the target’s IR and EM signature as color-coded shaded areas surrounding his screens image. He could plainly see as a clear light blue that the contact itself was an expanding Electromagnetic field that was rapidly intensifying in nature. Dancing across the borders of its outermost boundaries were small flashes of infrared bursts showing up in bright red-yellow on the screen. Looking out through his cockpit windscreen he could even see the most intense of them as small faint flickers of light. The emissions were emerging from a contact point nearby, with that contact source he realized being the Pirate jumpship.

Without using his comm the First Officer looked to his left and could just get out saying “Captain”, but then fell silent. Captain Wang had his hands on the ship’s controls but he was looking intensely out at the jumpship, his face in a stern mask. Murdock could just hear him say quietly, “How could I have been blind.” Wang did not need to use his console, experience told him where that point in space was relative to his ship. He knew he had to act fast and decisively.
“Mr. Trats!” the Command Pilot called out over the comm. “Yes Captain” came the nervous reply from the Flight Engineer. “Good Work” said the Captain sounding positive. The young Ensign felt his anxiety suddenly lift from him. “Now”, said the Captain, “contact the Chief Engineer and tell him to have engineering ready to act on my orders, understand?” The Ensign acknowledged the order and began to make contact with engineering. The Command Pilot then turned to his First Officer. “Murdock, we have to be quick,” he said. “Take the ship off battlestations, I want the crew to go to full D.C. and be ready at their positions. Plan for multiple hull breaches.” Speaking while he selected a comm channel Captain Wang continued; “I then want you to raise the command jumpship give them our current situation, see what their take is on this and request possible assistance from the task force.”

The First Officer knew that in the face of this threat normally a Captains first priority is to his ship, but other complications present made things all the more difficult. Murdock understood that as First Officer it was his duty to raise the issue and point out the obvious. “Captain, what about the boarding parties on the hull?” The concern in his voice coming through as he spoke.

“I realize the prahblem and my responsibility,” said the older man. “I am concerned too,” he said, “and will do what I can.” He took a sideward glance at Murdock and said, “Hurry now, we no have much time.”

With that the First Officer opened his comm to be heard throughout the dropship and then keyed his mic. “Attention! All crewmembers, this is First Officer Murdock on the bridge. Red Alert, Damage Control Priority. All crewmembers to there assigned damage control positions immediately in Full Gear. Possible hull breach at any time, all crewmembers into pressure suits. Bridge-out.” Murdock was changing his channel setting to open a comm link with the command center on the “Port Santos” when the voice of Crew Chief McGlen, the Gun Boss was heard on the line.

“Lieutenant,” he said, “what’s going on? What about ship’s weapons?” As the senior NCO onboard the Crew Chief was also the Gun Boss, in effect the chief gunnery officer on board a small dropship such as the “Summit Mist”. That he would ask these questions in hardly surprising.

Murdock keyed his mic to reply. “McGlen! What’s going on is something our weapons can’t help with. No time to explain, you have your orders so get moving!” Switching channels, he then continued as ordered and opened his comm to the command vessel.

Roland Wang knew that Murdock would follow through with his orders and would use his initiative when necessary. But now the Captain had to deal with the problem before him and any hard decisions that came with it. Earlier he had set his comm channel to the command band used by the Death Commando Major and the Marine Commander in the boarding party. So he turned up the power to transmit and then kept repeatedly pushing the call button knowing the alarm would cut in and be heard on any channel those two were on. Once he got their attention he keyed open his mic and spoke urgently addressing the Death Commando.
“Majur, there is danger! The Pirate ship is going to jump! You must abort your mission and return back to the “Summit Mist” immediately. This is serious!” Wang tried to put it as directly and quickly as possible. He added, “Majur, do you understand!”

Methdes was hearing this in his headphones and was thinking that this has to be wrong. He had nearly completed his crossing from the dropship and was just tens of meter’s distance from touchdown on the jumpship’s hull. The only incident so far was the increasing difficulty due to the static to be heard on the comm. And now the old Captain is telling him to turn around and head back? “This just cannot be true,” he thought.

For his part Commander Grant took things in an entirely different light. For him it was 2 +2 = 4. Once he heard the words “ship” and “jump” uttered in the same sentence he realized where the static interference was coming from and that all personnel had to get away fast. He keyed his mic to be ready to speak as soon as Captain Wang finished but it was the voice of Major Methdes with his questions that was heard first.

Methdes realized that the Captain had dispensed with call signs in addressing him meant something serious, he however still stayed within procedure. “Sampan this is Center. How much time before they begin jump sequence?” The Major still believed the situation could be turned around.
“Major” said Wang speaking quickly. “The jump sequence has already begun and energy is being released from the jump core. You have only minutes at best or just seconds.”
“This is not turning out good,” Methdes thought, “but soon I will be on the hull and can size things up better.” Speaking again into his mic he said, “Center to Sampan and Trapeze, any options to change this situation and continue the assault?”

After hearing the Major, Roland Wang blinked his eyes twice as he realized that Methdes still believed he could ultimately succeed. A Death Commando is trained not to consider any problem impossible to overcome, but that kind of thinking will just get his entire command killed against something this unstoppable. Captain Wang had known Methdes for a long time and were both good friends, so as he keyed his mic he decided to do something that most members of the Confederation military would not dare do with any Death Commando: Be Blunt. Speaking in a firm and urgent tone he began, “Major, get off that ship now and you will get away with minimal loss. Stay on the hull and you all will die in the oblivion of hyperspace during jump! YOU MUST GET OFF THAT SHIP NOW, SIR. PLEASE!”

Methdes heard Captain Wang’s message imploring him to withdraw from the ship but that would be unthinkable. But, the older man had been direct in speaking his mind on the comm for all to hear an uncharacteristic thing for Wang to do unless the situation was dire. “But there has to be a way!” he thought, I cannot just withdraw and let these Intruders get away!” The whole idea went against the thinking of a Death Commando. “Center from Trapeze”, he now heard Commander Grants voice on the line. Methdes thought it over for a moment whether he wanted to hear more same comments from him too, but then decided to answer; “Yes Commander” he replied.

“Sir, there is no way we could fight our way into the Pirate vessel and secure a key location to disable to jump drive in time. Out best bet is to evac now and catch up with them later.” Grant understood the feeling of having the enemy slip through your fingers. But he considered this a tactical withdrawal rather than giving up, he hoped that he could get the Major to see it that way too. “I don’t like it either, but I’m thinking of this as temporary. This mission’s not over yet! So, what do you say, Sir?” Said the Commander.

“So a temporary setback, hmm.” That the Death Commando officer could accept. “In battle a warrior must always be ready to accept any sudden change”, he remembered. Well, so be it. The Major now believed he could see his way through this situation. This was just a needed move in the ongoing fight, not the final move but one that had to be done. “And now I know these Intruders better”, he thought to himself. He understood the advantage of knowing what your opponent is willing and capable doing. He tuned his comm to open frequency and keyed his mic. “Attention to all boarding parties, this is Center. Abort the boarding operation immediately and return to dropship. The Pirate is going to jump. Lance Commanders and Squad Leaders be ready for further instructions. Center, out.”
Methdes knew his order would spark controversy to some in the assault force and confirmation of that was not long in coming. “Center from Lark-one”, was the sound of Lieutenant Young’s shocked voice on the com that the Major responded to. “Sir, is this correct? Are we to withdraw before we complete our mission? Major! We have not even seen the face of the enemy, there is no resistance here!”
Keying his mic for all his Death Commandos to hear open the Major made his response quick and clear. “Lark-One from Center. You have your orders. You will be briefed afterwards back at the dropship. Center-out”. This was not the time to question his orders on grounds of the Death Commando’s reputation, Methdes had by now fully grasped seriousness of the situation the jumpship posed. “At this moment it is not important they know why, just that they obey”, he remembered.

Once the Major had given the order to withdraw, Commander Grant wasted no time and at once began giving orders over the comm. “This is Trapeze. All right Marines listen-up! First, cut away all grapple lines to the hull so our dropship can maneuver. Second, begin an emergency evac-out immediately, carry this out as if abandoning ship and that includes giving assistance to other personnel. Make it back to the “Summit Mist” or the nearest friendly vessel. And Last Marines, once you lift and vector I want everyone’s generators kicked up and running full tilt.” Looking up and around for the dropship the Marine Commander noticed that it had maneuvered closer to the jumpship, he then also caught sight of the Death Commando Major’s imminent arrival with concern. He had brought up the point of “assistance to other personnel” regarding abandoning ship because he realized that the Death Commandos would need help to make it off the ship through the Blackwater deep. “Fox-Sierra Leaders, are you Affirmative on this?” He could hear each of his Squad Leaders each confirming with a replying back of “Affirmative.”

Grant set his comm to the frequency used by Major Methdes and his escorts and then keyed his mic to speak. “Center from Trapeze”, he called to the Major. The static was however becoming more of a problem for communications and that just made the Marine Commander more aware that he had to act fast on his next order. He pushed the transmitting power up on his unit to max and tried again, this time with success getting a reply from the Death Commando.
“Sir, we could use some help for the troops in finding our way to the nearest friendly ship. When you get back to the ship could you order up her running lights on to full? And request the same from the Task Force, it would make it easier finding a friendly vessel during the evac.” Commander Grant hoped Methdes could hear him through the hiss of the static. “Center, if you understood my message give signal me with your light,” said Grant. He saw the flash from the Majors helmet light acknowledging him.

“Trapeze from Center,” came a call filled with static. “I am not far from your position Commander. I can hold my own position to wait for you and we can return back together where you can tell them yourself”.

While Commander Grant knew that it was a sincere show of camaraderie from the Major, the Marine Officer believed it was time they could both ill afford to waste. In return he flashed his helmet-mounted light twice to acknowledge hearing the Death Commando.
Around him Commander Grant already could see members of the Boarding Parties were lifting off the jumpship’s hull and vectoring out at best speed. Again he keyed his mic and used the call signs and spoke to the Major. “Sir, the both of us don’t need to be out here now and as mission CO you should head back first with your escorts while I’ll close up shop.

The Major’s answer was quick and clear through the static, “Do not be ridiculous! I will not leave any of my subordinate officers behind like that! I will not argue this point Commander, understood?”

In his mind the Marine officer agreed that this was not the time or the place for argument. But with the danger at hand he also knew that it would be irresponsible not to protect his CO and thus by extension the future of the mission if he did not take immediate steps. He keyed his mic to respond and spoke. “Sir?” Responded the Commander, “Could you repeat? You’re breaking up in the static. I can’t make out what you’re saying, could you repeat?” He looked out towards the Majors party thinking to him self, “sorry Sir, but it’s for your own good.”
Knowing full well that Methdes would hear him he then called the attention of the Major’s two Marine escorts. “Corporal V’Balli this is Trapeze,” said the Commander. “Yes, Sir,” came a quick reply from the Marine. The Commander kept the transmitting power at max to ensure that the personnel of his own command would hear him. “I am having problems communicating with Center. Remember Marine, the Death Commando officer is a designated V.I.P for your detail. With the threat level situation now it would be best that you stay close to your charge and follow procedure for this emergency-evac. Do you copy, Marine?” The Corporal’s reply was again quick and short. “Yes, Sir! I copy. Corporal V’Balli out.” Upon hearing that Commander Grant was heard to say over the comm, “Sorry, Sir”.

By now Methdes could clearly see the activity on the hull and was making mental notes when he heard the Commanders voice speaking to his escorts over the comm. The next thing he knew each arm was grabbed tightly by one of his Marine escorts there was a flash from the Marine’s thruster nozzles that pitched them all forward into half-somersault position leaving them facing towards the ships of the Task Force. Methdes was shocked, “What are you doing!” He demanded over the comm, “Release me! I am your superior officer!” He tried to get himself loose as he would in hand-to-hand combat but found that in zero-g and without a surface to stand on the Marines are at the advantage, all his effort did was cause him to flail around. “I am sorry Sir, but I have my orders regarding your safety”, said the Marine Corporal, “Now acceleration on my mark!” He said to the other Marine and began to count down. The Major could hear the voice of the other Marine escort named Gripp say to him in a jovial way, “hold on to your guts Sir! The initial G’s can be hard to take.” The full thruster nozzle arrangement on the packs of both Marines Combat Space Suits fired at maximum sending them off in a high vector back towards the “Summit Mist”.