“As you were.” Hawke said, as he took his own seat at the head of the table. He took a moment to look at his officers, taking note once again of their expressions. Nathan was grinning at Hawke openly. Gordy had leaned forward in his seat, resting his chin in his hands in a way that obscured his mouth, which Hawke also suspected obscured a smile as wide as Nathan’s. Raijan Kemai looked a bit uncomfortable, as well as perhaps a bit embarrassed, as he studied the tabletop. Being a Rejaian man, he grew up in an honor based society, heavily influenced by the Asian cultures of old earth. As such, it is their belief that the actions of a superior officer reflected upon him. That was why many junior officers went out of their way to ensure the success of their superior officers. Likewise, betrayal was unheard of, because loyalty was a matter of honor as well. Hawke suspected that he would have much to do to remove whatever perceived stain on his honor he may have caused.
“I’m glad you finally found your quarters last night, Hawke. The singing was awful.” Nathan said. Gordy, unable to contain himself, laughed uproariously. Even Raijan could not suppress a tight smile from flickering across his normally stern demeanor. For him, it was the equivalent of laughing out loud. Hawke scowled at Nathan, as if to say “Do you mind?” Nathan just smiled, allowing himself a small chuckle before asking, “So what did you learn?” Hawke cleared his throat.
“Yes. Well.” Hawke said, preparing his thoughts before telling them what he had learned about the Guan Yu, and the R.E.S. Choyo, and about his encounter with the Rejaians afterwards.
“It seems that the Guan Yu belongs to the Rejai Empire.” Raijan said quietly.
Nodding in agreement, Nathan added, “And the Choyo. If I were to guess, I’d say that the Choyo is bringing supplies.” On a sudden thought, Gordy leaned forward and tapped a few keys into the console in front of him, then smiled with satisfaction and pushed a button to project something up on the holographic display.
“Look.” Gordy said, pointing to the file he pulled up. “The R.E.S. Choyo is classed as a Naval Transport for the Rejai Empire.” Turning to Hawke he asked, “You said the Choyo is docked?” Hawke nodded. Gordy shook his head, and brought up another file to display to everyone in the room.
“Well then, there you go.” Gordy said, a triumphant look on his face. Hawke look mildly confused. “The Choyo was reported as destroyed a few months back. Someone is going through a lot of trouble to hide what they are doing.”
“Yes, of course.” Raijan agreed. “If the Choyo is running supplies for the Guan Yu, then the ship’s logs will hold all the answers we need to find out what the Guan Yu’s mission is. If the Choyo officially no longer exists, then boarding her is technically not an act of war. ” Hawke’s eyes slid over to meet Nathan’s. Both knew they were thinking the same thing. While technically Raijan was right, they knew that the Rejai empire could still consider it an act of war under the provisions of the PMC Accord, which state that it was an act of war for a PMC under contract to one empire to board a ship belonging to, or under contract to, another empire with hostile intent. This could still get ugly, technicalities or not. Nathan shrugged slightly, indicating he had no better idea, to which Hawke nodded briefly, but could not keep a grimace off his face.
“Alright then, gentlemen. Let’s figure out how we’re going to steal data from the Choyo’s server room.” Raijan looked pleased, he enjoyed such challenges. Their planning session went through lunch, interrupted only when the chef and his assistant stepped in to serve lunch, which was simple sandwiches and water. It was nearly evening before everyone was satisfied that the plan was solid. Satisfied, Hawke dismissed Gordy and Raijan, asking Raijan to order the team that was chosen to board the Choyo to report to the briefing room immediately. Alone in the room with Nathan, he turned to him asking a question that had been on the forefront of his mind since the briefing began.
“I was singing?!” Hawke asked incredulously. Nathan roared with laughter.
Chapter 5
Tasha stood in the narrow corridor outside of the ship’s Landing Force Briefing Room, also known as the LFBR, and swallowed nervously. She still had nightmares, and now her lack of sleep was beginning to be reflected by the dark circles that were beginning to form under her eyes. All of the recent changes in her life didn’t help matters. She found herself in a new unit, on a new ship, and with new comrades hunting down the same ship that had killed the Pripyat and forced her to play dead in the cold expanse of space. Though her fellow Talons, at least most of them, had tried to go out of their way to make her feel a part of the team, there were a few raised eyebrows when she was hired at the rank of Lieutenant Commander, in charge of ship’s communications and sensors. Of course, a couple of the communications officers were a little disgruntled, thinking they might very well have earned a promotion, only to be put under Tasha’s command. Now, she had been called to the Landing Force Briefing Room, and she didn’t know why. Satisfied that her nerves had settled a little, she took a deep breath, and squared her shoulders. Pressing the button on the door control to open it, she stepped through the door and looked around.
The briefing room was set up with tiered, theater style seating facing the front of the room where a podium stood. Behind the podium, a large display was built into the wall. Unlike most computer displays, the display on the wall was not holographic, but was rather made of more durable construction, a common design practice that can be found on most, if not all, purely combat ships. In addition to the display built into the wall in the front of the room, each seat facing the podium also had a small display in which they could view briefing materials to read it in more detail, if needed. The briefing room was large enough to accommodate a squad of Marines, which was all the ship could comfortably house, along with any supplies and equipment that may be needed.
Tasha saw four Talon Marines wearing their olive drab garrison utilities, with the letters T.M.C. stenciled above their left shirt pocket, already seated. Two Marines sat in the front row, and two more sat in the second row. One of the Marines in the front row, a sandy haired, blue eyed man, wore the chevrons of a Corporal. The Marine next to the Corporal was turned around in his seat, trying to land a friendly punch on his buddy sitting directly behind him.
“Hey, cut it out, I just asked a question!” The Marine being hit complained as he fended off the blow. Next to the man in the back row was one of the biggest Marines Tasha had ever seen. He looked uncomfortable sitting there as his legs barely fitting under the counter his display was mounted on in front of him. The name “Grobnak” was stenciled on a patch on his shirt.
“It was a dumb question, Delgato.” Grobnak growled, not making a move to help or hinder the exchange. “Of course we’re here for a mission.” Grobnak’s expression was neither angry nor happy, and Tasha half suspected that Grobnak said everything in a growl. Scowling at Grobnak and then at the Marine in front of him, Delgato muttered something in Spanish under his breath.
Taking a closer look, Tasha caught sight of his unit patch on the shoulder of one of the Marines. The patch was a silhouette of a Marine in full powered armor jumping into the flames depicted at the bottom of the circular patch. Along the red bordered edge of the patch she could barely make out the word “Helljumpers.” The presence of the Marines puzzled her. If she were in trouble, surely they wouldn’t be sitting at ease here in the briefing room, and didn’t that big Marine just say something about a mission?
As Tasha continued to imagine why she might be there, the door across from the briefing room entrance opened to emit Commander Schultz. The door was dubbed the “commander’s door” because it adjoined the officers’ briefing room. Tasha smiled briefly as she caught sight of Colonel Bakore through the open door, leaning back in his seat at the head of the table in the officers’ briefing room with fingers interlocked behind his head, eyes closed as he was taking a deep draw on what she assumed to be a fine grade cigar in his mouth. Then, as the commander’s door closed, her attention turned towards Commander Schultz, who wal
ked to the podium. Realizing the Marines were all standing at attention, she stiffened her posture to attention as well. Pay attention, Tasha! She thought. Commander Schultz waved his hand dismissively.
“As you were.” Nathan rumbled as he flicked on the display built into the top of the podium and worked at bringing up some files. He read the documents on his screen for a few moments before leveling his gaze at the room’s occupants. Deftly manipulating his touch screen, on the podium, he brought the display behind him to life. On the display, everyone could see a dossier labeled “R.E.S. Choyo.” The dossier showed the profile of a Rejaian Navy Supply Ship. Statistics could be seen below the profile. It was capable of carrying out multiple mission roles. It could be a simple cargo hauler, or it could convert some of its cargo bays into a barracks, becoming a troop ship capable of carrying an entire battalion, and the supplies typically needed by a battalion, such as food, ammo, and medical supplies. If necessary, it could fulfill a bit of both roles simultaneously by simply converting as many cargo bays to barracks as needed, and leaving other cargo bays to fulfill its original purpose. Tasha recognized the ship type, as did one of the Talon Marines as he rumbled something about “sardines in a can.” Commander Schultz nodded in acknowledgement to the Marine’s observation.
“As you know, Colonel Bakore just returned yesterday after poking his nose around in the station and asking some questions.” Commander Schultz began. A couple of the Marines stifled snickers, and even Tasha had to smile. Everyone knew when the Colonel had returned. His horrible howls that passed as singing reverberated throughout the command deck. His voice could even be heard in select rooms on the decks above and below the command deck, thanks to ducts that served as channels down which the Colonel’s horridly botched rendition of the Gadari Marine Core Anthem echoed. It was the first time anyone ever remembered seeing their Company Commander drunk, much less heard him sing. Most hoped to never to hear such howling again.
“What he learned was that the ship we are after is the Guan Yu. We suspect that it docks here and exchanges goods with this ship, the Choyo, which is currently docked.” Commander Schultz indicated the display behind him. Tasha raised an eyebrow as the indications of what Commander Schultz had said began to register. R.E.S. stood for “Rejai Empire Ship,” a naming standard for ships bearing military personnel that had been in place since the days of ancient earth, before its destruction. A naval ship bearing military personnel was always preceded with a two or three letter acronym that typically indicated its affiliation. Thus G.R.S. stood for “Gadari Republic Ship”, and M.F.S. was “Multani Federation Ship.”
“What we don’t know,” Commander Schultz continued, “is what the Rejai Empire is doing out here, and why they are supplying a ship that is actively destroying targets of opportunity in this area.” A look of disgust crossed Commander Schultz’s face as he flicked up another document on the display, which provided a detailed schematic for several of Choyo’s decks. “What we do know is that the Choyo has the information we are looking for, so we are going to go in and get it.” Tasha blinked in surprise. According to the PMC Accord, any PMC boarding a naval ship in a hostile action while under contract to another empire was considered an act of war. Unless specifically ordered to, under terms of their contract, most PMC’s would actively avoid such overt hostile actions, but Commander Schultz had just proposed to do just that, as if it were standard operating procedure. Tasha also noted that the Marines were stone-faced, and didn’t seem surprised at all, but then again they were Marines, trained in the tradition of one of the finest military forces in history. She had the distinct feeling that if the Commander had said they would be trying to extinguish the fires of hell with a bucket of water, they would wear those same expressions, and expect that they would succeed, simply because they were Marines. Not for the first time, Tasha wondered if she was a bit out of her league.
“In order to go in and get this data, there are two possible points of entry. One point of entry would have been to dress up as station maintenance workers and go in the front door, but we felt it would have been too risky should we be caught at the entrance. The second is here.” Commander Schultz said, as he used a laser pointer to point at a section of the Choyo’s starboard hull.
“There is an emergency hatch that can be found on the starboard side of the ship, towards the bottom, which also happens to be facing away from the gantry that extends to the ship. As with most emergency hatches, this one can be accessed externally as well as internally, with a little convincing.” A feral grin spread across Commander Schultz’s face as he acknowledged the Marines. “That’s where you come in.” The Corporal sitting in the front row nodded.
“Corporal Wittaker, you and your fire team will accompany us to the starboard, ventral emergency hatch and secure an entry point, after which all members of the team will make their way here.” Commander Schultz indicated a room on one of the other schematics that provided the layout of a deck two decks above the point of entry. On the schematic, a room blinked a bright orange. Tasha could see that a corridor ran by the blinking room on the schematic, and then both ends turned towards the front of the ship.
“This is the room where the secondary server room is located, and where a backup of all the ship’s data is kept. We believe that this will have less security than the room housing the ship’s primary computer core, and therefore might be easier to gain access to. As you can see, both ends of the corridor turn towards the front of the ship, and will have to be secured, as they are our only means of exit. ” Commander Schultz looked towards Tasha. She had a feeling she knew what was coming next.
“Once we get there, that is where you come in.” Commander Schultz said, eyeing Tasha. The Marines, as one, turned to glance her way. “With your background in cryptology and cryptanalysis, you are the best equipped to bypass whatever security they have, and retrieve their ship’s manifest, captain’s log, communications logs, sensor logs, and any other useful information you can safely extract before egress.” Tasha’s eyes focused on her personal display and pretended to read a random document she had pulled up. She didn’t want anyone to see the fear that must be in her eyes. She had never been on a ground mission before, much less in a situation where she might have to fight her way out. It was then that she really began to pay attention to the file she had randomly opened. Her face grew hot and turned red as she closed and deleted the file, quickly looking around to see if anyone had noticed. Thankfully, no one had. In her rush to open a file and look preoccupied, she had inadvertently opened an advertisement in her inbox, and no, she did not need penile enlargement.
“Okay, points of egress.” Commander Schultz continued, intruding upon Tasha’s embarrassment. “You have two primary options: From whence you came, or these other emergency hatches. As a last resort, make a hole.” Corporal Wittaker nodded in understanding. If all else failed, they would use explosives to make another exit anywhere they could gain access to a room located near the ship’s outer hull. Most modern ships, and all naval ships, were double-hulled, but Talon Marines always carried two of what they called “boom sticks,” which was a piece of equipment that could attach to a surface, and then penetrated the surface with a hollow cylinder packed with explosives. Once the cylinder penetrated the surface, the explosive, which was a shaped charge, would go off creating a four foot opening. Two of them penetrated both hulls in a matter of thirty to forty-five seconds. Of course, in a pinch the Boom Sticks could also be modified with a time delay, and the cylinder penetration disabled, making for a useful, time-delayed wall mine.
“Any questions?” the Commander asked, though his face indicated he expected none. After a few silent moments, he nodded. “Then you are dismissed. We will be leaving in an hour.” The Marines stood as one and made their way out of the door. As Tasha stood to follow them out, her progress was arrested by the Commander’s voice asking her to stay, so she sat back down. With the briefing room empty, Commander Schultz came from behind the podium to lean
against one of the seats.
“If you’re not ready, I can get SRA3 Hodges.” Commander Schultz offered. “I know you still aren’t sleeping well.” Tasha considered the Commander’s statement for a moment, and nearly agreed. God knows she would love to stay behind, but she shook her head.
“Nyet. I go.” was all Tasha said. Commander Schultz studied Tasha’s face again, and then nodded, as if pleased with what he saw. Squeezing her shoulder, the Commander stood up.
“Then you are dismissed, Lieutenant Commander. You need to go to the supply room for body armor, a communications pack, and a Magauss.” Commander Schultz ordered sternly. Standing to her feet, Tasha smartly saluted the Commander, and left after his acknowledging salute.
***
Tasha checked the action of her Magauss, though it wasn’t with the same practiced ease that the Marines had when they checked their own weapons. After all, she had never been in combat, and only fired the Magauss when it came time for her to requalify. The Magauss .45 Caliber pistol, commonly called a ‘Mags’ pistol, is the sidearm of choice for the Talon Marines. While it only allows for ten shots per ammo pack, the fact that it can be adjusted to incapacitate rather than to kill allows for a great deal of versatility not usually found in Talon Marine weaponry. Mankind had long since left behind the old gunpowder days, and had graduated to other, more efficient means of killing and incapacitating others. Typically, weapons take the form of rail guns, lasers, and so on, but in reality the number of different weapons available were as varied as there were ideas on how to build them. The Mags was basically a vastly miniaturized version of a rail gun, and its power packs consisted of ten oval-shaped projectiles, as well as the energy cells needed to power those ten projectiles. While the energy cell is typically never completely spent once the ten shots are expended, the ammo pack is still ejected and a fresh one inserted. Making the energy and ammo a part of the same pack made using the pistol easier. No one wants to worry about whether or not they have enough juice in their energy cells to power the projectiles in the middle of a firefight.
All My Sins Remembered Page 6
