Spectres Act 7 - Hunting
13 Jun 2020NeLs0n RaD
If you want to know what's going on... look over here and then there... 11.06.3306 / Aboard: Krait MkII 'Antares' SSF-R7 / Ops Region: Ba'al / Ops System: Aztlan / Contract: OPSEC Classified / Status: OPSEC Classified
"Alright Rad, take us there, now", Maggie said.
“That'd be Deputy Squadron Commander Nelson Rad, M'Lady... Sirius Special Forces, at your service!” I said with a smile and a slight bow as I motioned toward the ship's air-lock.
Maggie shot me a startled glance, “Sirius...?”
Just then a run-about came sliding around the front of the Courier, the rear door swinging open wildly as the vehicle made its sudden stop. 'Lys popped halfway out from the pilot's door and called out, “We need to go... now!”
“Yeah, well, I reckon that's gonna have ta wait”, I replied to Maggie's half asked question as we hustled into the run-about, pulling the door shut behind. We all had to grab hand-holds and seat belts as 'Lys gunned us away from the Courier's landing pad.
“Nice ride, 'Lys!” I called out toward the front, “Where'd ya get it?
“You like it?” she laughed back, “Some dumb-ass left it running over by the security office.”
I lowered my head with a shake and a groan, “Thought I said, 'keep us under the radar', 'Lys...”
“Nobody saw me!”, she came back, then started chattering to herself, loud enough for everyone to hear, “'Lys, could you get us a run-about? 'Lys could you help me rig a nuke to blow up the dock? Never a 'nice work, 'Lys' or 'good job Pilot Boyle'...”
“Are you still on about that?!” I shot back to her.
'Lys turned herself in her seat and snatched the shades from her face, “As long as I've got these", pointing toward the fading remains of two blackened eyes, "I'm on about that!”
Maggie and the young woman with her both gave me a vicious look.
“No, no it's not like that... she smacked into a safety...oh never mind!” I said in exasperation, then called back to the front, “Thaaannks, 'Lys!”
“Sure thing, Cap... anytime!” she laughed again.
“Ooo, now I like this lass!” the guy with the Scot accent commented with a grin.
I decided to stop talking.
We shot across the dock toward the Antares holding tight as gravity dropped to 0g and 'Lys' antics with the run-about were playing hell with its inertial dampeners. I felt the craft roll and the floor drop out as she went for Antares' landing pad. Then a welcome slowing and the return of low g's as the run-about came lightly to rest on the deck. 'Lys popped the rear door for us,
“This would be our stop”, I said as I clambered out and headed for the Antares. I shot a look back over my shoulder, making sure everyone had cleared the run-about. 'Lys leaned back into the run-about's cockpit, then stepped away as the doors closed and the vehicle lifted off. It hovered there for a moment, then made a bee-line for the station's 'mail slot', heading for a one way trip into deep space.
As we gathered at Antares' boarding lift, I surveyed the group I had just picked up, of the three besides Maggie, I made two of them, the young woman and the Scot, out to be Imperial 'Royal' Marines... that might be handy... the third, if I remembered my Imperial cultural studies right, would probably be Imperial Navy, assigned to the 'Lady' as an aide.
I looked to the two Marines, “Names?'
The woman started to speak, when the Scot interrupted, “Noon ya fookin' business!”
I saw 'Lys let out a small chuckle and roll her eyes, and Maggie was about to jump in, when I raised up my hand a bit... I knew what was happening here and I needed to get it straight right now,
“Not that I should have to tell you this”, I began in my most polite Texas demeanor, “but on my ship, everything's my 'fookin' business”, now the smile went away as I stepped into his 'personal space' looking him in the eye, “So I'll thank you kindly to answer the f*ckin' question Maa-rine!”
Everyone stopped dead, eyes fixed on us, as the Scot blinked and instinctively snapped to, “Royal Marine Alistair MacGov'rn, Sirh!”
“Got a call-sign, Marine?” I asked directly.
“Jock, Sirh, e'ryone calls me Jock, Sirh”, he replied, a 'wtf just happened?' look coming over his face.
“Alright Jock, you can call me Cap, welcome aboard”, I said with a smile now.
“Ooo, I like this one too”, Jock said laughing, as he relaxed as well “Sure you bin a Marine, amma right?”
I gave him a wink and a nod, “Ooorah!”
“Rah!” Jock returned the age old Marine greeting.
Then I looked to the young woman who stepped forward, “Ensign Sandrajantkangana Kloty Winters... Sandi.”
I nodded and smiled, “Welcome aboard Sandi.”
I looked over to the 'aide' standing next to Maggie, “Leftenant Commander Richard Deckard... Rick.”
“Good enough”, I said, then indicating 'Lys with a nod her direction, “This is my pilot, 'Lys Boyle... you should probably call her whatever she tells ya...”
“Pilot Boyle will do for now”, 'Lys said as she made her way for the boarding lift, whispering up to Jock as she sidled past, “Dumb-ass.”
I looked over to Jock at that, and saw his face about split open with the biggest sh*t eatin' grin I think I'd ever seen on a body.
“Right, Marines, with me. 'Lys, get the 'Lady'...” I started to say.
“Maggie, please”, I heard from over my shoulder.
“...Maggie and Rick on board, put Maggie in the left seat, show Rick the passenger berth, and make ready to dust off.”
“On it, Cap!” The trio stepped onto the boarding lift.
“Marines, there and there”, I pointed to either side just forward of mid-ship, “stay frosty.”
Both nodded and moved quickly to where I had sent them, taking a one-knee position just under the ship. I stepped forward and looked aft and up from where the Antares was docked, switching on my tele-glasses. They picked up a movement and zoomed to it, there was a run-about heading for our location.
“Need that dust off 'Lys”, I spoke aloud, my glasses transmitting to the ship. As if the ship had heard me the docking clamps sprang free and the ship drifted about a meter off the landing pad. I heard a power hum and snap and could see just the faintest haze as the shields came on-line. The boarding lift came down the forward landing gear.
“Marines, we are leaving!” I called out to Sandi and Jock. They raised up and backed quickly toward the ship, keeping a guard the whole way... very handy... I decided. We climbed onto the boarding lift and quickly ascended into the Antares.
“We're on board, 'Lys, get us outta here”, I called out to the bridge.
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12.06.3306 / Aboard: Krait MkII 'Antares' SSF-R7 / Ops Region: Harma / Ops System: Cao Yankir / Contract: OPSEC Classified / Status: OPSEC Classified
I had decided to take us a bit out of the way, as a direct route to Harma, Archon Delaine's capitol, ran right through his space. Out here my connections to LYR or the Federal Navy wouldn't mean squat, in fact they were probably a detriment. We made for an out of the way independent agricultural system, Cao Yankir, to take on fuel. My plan was to drop in, hit the orbital for a quick refuel, talk to one of my SSF intel contacts, then be on our way. But like all battle plans, they only stay intact until first contact...
As we dropped into the system, Maggie spoke up, “Your pilot mentioned something about nuking a dock?”
“Well, uh...”, I felt a bit of a flush coming up my neck, “its kinda a long story...”
“Contact! Bearing one-nine-two by plus five, on intercept, three-five-zero Lima-Sierra, closing. Contact is Fed Corvette”, 'Lys called out. Good job, Pilot Boyle!
“Federal Corvette? One of yours, Nelson?” Maggie asked hopefully.
“'Fraid not, we're far and away out of SSF space, and this is an independent system”, I replied, “I've got the controls, prep for SLF”, I called over to 'Lys.
“Copy, you have control, prepping for SLF”, 'Lys confirmed, donning her flight helmet and switching on the tele-presence controls.
The comms crackled to life, “Antares, this is a military operation, submit to interdiction and prepare for scan.”
I keyed the comm, “Antares copies, zeroing throttle”, switching over to 'Lys, “You up, 'Lys?”
“Slice and dice time, Cap, let's party!” Came her reply as she put on her game face.
“Wait, you're not going to engage him... really?!” Maggie asked in alarm, “He's Federal Navy, in a Corvette!”
“No he's not Maggie, he's a mission target. We're gonna engage 'im, we're gonna kill 'im, and then we're gonna smoke a phat cigar to celebrate!” I zeroed the throttle.
I keyed the ship intercom, “Action stations, secure for combat!”
The interdiction alarm flashed on the holo-HUD and then the advisory “zero throttle, submitting to interdiction”, and the boom of Antares displacing free hydrogen in normal space as she came out of supercruise.
I knew I'd have the advantage, as the interdicting ship was usually whipped around for a few seconds and targeting scanners blinded. Deploying the hard-points I kept the throttle on the low end of the blue arc and looped back to face where I thought he would appear, then set 75% and began to bear straight at him, opening up with everything we had, getting a missile lock and letting go a salvo of Pack-hounds as we closed. He was giving as good as he got, that was for sure, Antares shields were taking a pounding. I keyed a shield cell bank to reinforce them.
“Belly-dance, 'Lys! On my mark!” I cued her, hitting the down thrusters to slide under the FC's belly, “Launch, launch, launch!”
“Out the hatch!” came 'Lys' confirmation.
Then, my vision tunneled and time slowed as I heard the missile lock tone again and saw that the FC's own SLF was just deploying, the bay wide open... There is a God and He loves me!... I pressed the fire button and squeezed the trigger in one motion watching as two missiles slammed into the SLF and two corkscrewed into the bay's interior causing an inferno that blew the launching ramp right off the ship, tracers streamed from the multi-cannons, the engineered rounds ripping into the ships interior. Antares' over-charged pulse lasers were playing hell with the ship's systems as scrambled spectrum charges fried circuits. I passed beyond the stern of the FC and began to loop back around.
“Oh man, Cap... you really f*cked this guy up”, 'Lys commented over the comms.
Just then Verity's voice informed, “Under attack”
“He's not dead yet! You stay under 'im, I'm coming at 'im from astern”, I directed.
“Copy that”, 'Lys acknowledged as she went to work with her beam lasers.
Apparently his main thrusters were off-line and he was trying to work with maneuvering thrusters only, trying to roll away from 'Lys and pitch away from me. Then his weapons failed, a moment later he was done.
I picked up two escape pods amongst the debris on my scanners and moved in close. I switched over to the emergency broadcast channel and spoke quietly into my mic,
“Commander, are you reading me?”
“Search and rescue?” his voice sounded hopeful. Then another voice, a young woman from the sound of it, “Search and rescue, we're here, we're here!”
“No, not search and rescue”, I said low and quiet.
“Not search and rescue?!” the woman cried out in alarm, “What are you talking about? You're not going to kill us?! I just signed on with this guy, was supposed to be quick money...” she started sobbing, “Please, please...”
I saw 'Lys move the Taipan toward the pods, then heard her, soft and soothing over the comms, “Shhh... shhh... little sister, it'll be alright, everything's gonna be fine...”
“Oh, oh... thank-you, thank-you...” the woman sobbed.
I saw the flash of the Taipan's beam lasers, the burst lasted so long that the lasers over-heated and stopped firing, the pod was incinerated into nothingness The pilot never knew what hit her.
I heard an audible sigh over the comms, as the commander spoke now, “What is you want?”
“You know”, I replied.
“Even if I knew who sent me, you know damn well I wouldn't say”, he came back.
“Well, I had to ask”, I said as I pulled the trigger and riddled the escape pod with multi-cannon fire until it came apart, drifting off into the void.
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Maggie hadn't said a word the whole time. 'Lys brought the SLF into the bay, took off her flight helmet and switched off the tele-presence unit. Then she bounded out of her seat and sprang over to mine,
“Whoohoo! We wasted that cat, Cap!” she exclaimed laughing. She reached into her flight jacket and pulled out a cigar, as I did the same. I handed mine to her with a nod, “Pilot Boyle.”
She then handed hers to me with a little bow, “Commander Rad.”
We lit each other's cigars and blew smoke rings at each other, chatting it up on how we'd taken our latest win. Then 'Lys stopped and gave a motion with her chin toward Maggie. She was sitting in silence just staring at us.
“What?” I asked.
“What was that?!” she replied, motioning out toward the floating debris.
I looked back to 'Lys, whose eyes had narrowed, a wicked smile coming to her lips,
“That, M'Lady, is what happens”, taking a big draw from her cigar, “when you f*ck around”, she blew the smoke toward Maggie, “with us!”
Maggie got out of her crew seat and walked off the bridge without another word.
Well that could have gone better...
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We put in at Good Gateway and I got on the horn to Commodore Robert Lees over at SSF HQ to help me run down some intel on the commander of the ODYSSEUS.
“Commodore Lees here”, as he came on-line.
“Admiral Rad here, Commodore, need a hand with something I'm workin' on this end.” I said coming straight to the point. Just then 'Lys came onto the bridge, seeing the Commodore on the holo-view she called out a greeting,
“Hiii Robbie, how's things?” Robbie - wtf?!
“Oh, ah, hiya 'Lys, things are great, good to see you”, he replied a bit nervously.
“Am I interrupting something here”, I broke in. 'Lys giggled and ducked back out of view.
“Apologies Admiral”, Lees said recovering himself, “how may I be of assistance, then?”
“I need you to track down the commander of an Alliance Challenger that has the call-sign ODYSSEUS. Ought to be somewhere around the Harma system. Need everything you can get on 'em.”
“Right, we're on it, will be back to you shortly, Admiral.”
“Thanks... Robbie”, I chuckled as I signed off.
About 20 minutes later the comm rang, Commodore Lees was returning with my requested intel.
“Admiral Rad here.”
“Commodore Robert Lees here Admiral”, I chuckled as he emphasized his name, “We've got your intel. Am piping it through now.”
“Outstanding Commodore, thanks for the quick response”, I complimented.
“Of course, Admiral”, he replied with a smile, then grew serious, “And Admiral, do be... vigilant... this woman is a professional, and Elite rated in all areas.”
I nodded my acknowledgment, “Thanks Commodore, I'll keep that in mind.”
“Good hunting, Admiral!”
“Fly Dangerously, Commodore!” I signed off.
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I found Maggie and the group seated around the mess table in Antares' galley taking a bit of tea and some rations. They all greeted me with sullen looks and silence, Maggie barely glanced at me. I sighed as I took a seat, and put my data-pad on the table before me,
“Alright, let's get some things straight. I'm on a mission, one of the requirements of my mission is to send a message to the likes of that commander we 'aced' and to those that sent him. It's my intent to see they receive it... five-by-five”, I glanced toward the Sandi and Jock, who nodded a bit in understanding. All of them were looking toward me now, Maggie listening quietly.
“So what is your employer's intent for us?” Rick asked directly.
“My employer?” I shook my head, “I keep forgetting where y'all are from. It's not like that, Sirius Special Forces isn't some merc gun-for-hire outfit... we're a Federation Faction, with ties to other entities as well, and if SSF is involved in this”, I motioned toward Maggie and the rest of them, “its because we were asked to get involved... no doubt by person or persons far up the food chain in this part of the galaxy.
“Pilot Boyle and myself, we don't usually do Spec Ops or Wetwork missions, don't care for 'em, we're not mercenaries. But I took this one, when the call came, on behalf of an old wing mate of mine, CPO Al Samson...” Maggie looked up startled...”when I found out he had flown with you, Maggie, I figured I'd best come see to it that whatever interests he had were covered”, I looked at Rick, “So my intent, Commander Deckard, is to see this thing through, to the very end.”
Maggie spoke up now, “Commander Rad... Nelson... my apologies, I misjudged you...”
“It happens”, I shrugged, “sometimes I'm a bit short on explanations.”
'Lys came in just then,"You got that straight, Cap", as she made her way to the coffee pot.
I tapped the data-pad and a woman's figure appeared in holo-view, “Now, here's our bunny... I'm open to suggestions on how we're gonna take her...”
Real name: Jordanna Frost
Place of birth: LHS 3447
Year of birth: 3274
Age: 31
Height: 162.8 cm / 5' 4"
Weight: 54.4 kg / 120 lb
Gender: Female
Build type: Athletic
Skin color: Mixed
Hair color: Dark
Eye color: Hazel
Accent: Chonese
This is Part 7 of an ongoing series by Maggie Oz, J-Dog162, and now, myself... We're having a blast bringing it to you, and hope you enjoy it as much reading it as we have writing it.