by R. E. Graham
Mikhail looked around the room and saw that no one was nearby.
“Somethin’ the matter Cap?” Jax asked as he turned his body away from the station, so he could properly see the other man.
“There wasn’t a good time to discuss this back at home, but I want you to help me.”
“Anythin’ sir.” The overrider was a bit surprised by the request. Jax had worked with Mikhail long enough to know he didn’t make it a practice to ask others for help discretely.
“I want us to get as much information we can on the inquisitor that visited the Razors. We need to know if he is actually after us or if he was on Destiny for some other reason.”
“You mean because of Lenny Jr?”
Mikhail nodded. "Yeah, I just have a bad feelin' about this that I can't shake. Cavan isn't exactly neighbors with us, but it is certainly close enough that we should be concerned."
"Aye, sir. I'll get on that and get back to you with whatever I can find on the dark stream."
“Thanks, Jax,” Mikhail said before he left to find the rest of the crew.
After the Captain finished checking with everyone else, he returned to his quarters to get some rest. He spent the next couple of hours analyzing the information he had downloaded about the town Hyssop to make sure things were the same as he remembered. With a workable plan in place, he decided to go to sleep early so that he would be fully rested for the challenges of the next rotation.
At some point in the middle of the night, he began thrashing around in his bed. He rolled to one side, then frantically to the other.
He woke up to find himself covered in sweat despite being shirtless. His sheets were drenched, and he was breathing very heavily. His room was dark but had a reddish glow to it from a dimmed neon light he had installed over the door. No one but his wife knew that he was actually terrified of the complete dark. For as long as he could remember he suffered from awful dreams.
“It was just a nightmare…” he mumbled as he tried to calm himself.
“Not quite,” came a voice from somewhere in the darkened room.
Mikhail hopped slightly, alerted by the presence of someone else in his quarters. Not recognizing who it was, he reached over for the pistol he kept by his bed, but it was gone.
“Who’s there?” he asked as he sat back up.
“Because of what you have done all of those you love will suffer.”
“Dammit, who are you?”
"The Pirate Hunter is coming for you, Mikhail. It is only a matter of time before he finds you!"
“How…how do you know about all this?” the Captain asked as he gripped the soaked sheets tightly in his hands.
“You are running out of time Mikhail,” the voice said before a shrouded figure emerged from the shadows from the corner of the room.
At first, his brain tried to process what he was actually seeing. The being's neck was bent at an unnatural level as its head laid on its right shoulder. Mikhail's face contorted into straight terror as his spirit realized what it was.
It’s a daemon!
He tried to get up, but his body was entirely frozen in place. The being crept closer and closer and the Captain was able to see the creature’s sharpened teeth and mutilated lips. Its eyes were shrouded by the cloak it wore, but its clawed hands were very clearly visible as its arms were pressed against its sides.
“They are all going to die because of you if you don’t do something…”
Despite his best efforts, Mikhail couldn’t even scream as the daemon reached out its hand and touched the man’s face.
Suddenly Mikhail awoke in his room and found himself covered head to toe in sweat. The room was lit by the dim red light, but he quickly reached over and felt for the button switch for the room’s lights.
As the light came on, he squinted his tired eyes and searched around for the creature. He attempted to wipe the sweat from his face with his trembling hands.
Again, he looked around him to see if somehow the daemon was actually there in the room. He laid his head on his pillow again and shook with fear. These sorts of nightmares had plagued his slumber on and off for cycles. No one but his wife knew of them. She did her best to comfort him when he had another episode, but he refused to speak with any sort of counselor or holy man.
Feeling thirsty, he had to intensely focus so that his hand could grasp the cup he left by his bed. He sat up and took a large gulp of water then brushed his forehead with the back of his left arm. After setting the cup down, he laid back down again and just stared at the ceiling. The gunmetal colored plated roof was the same shade of metal as most of the Only Hope’s interior. A few of the other crew had properly colored their quarters, Mikhail didn’t get around to it though.
The hours passed as he remained wide awake until his alarm finally went off. He rolled out of bed by now smelling pretty bad from laying in the moist sheets for so long. The metal floor felt cold to his feet as he walked over to the drawers containing his clothes that were built into the wall of his unit. He pulled a change of clothes and headed off for the only shower aboard the ship.
As he navigated through the middle level of the freighter, he went through the kitchen.
“Good morning, Captain,” Riko called out from the large dinner table.
“Oh, hey Riko,” Mikhail said with weary eyes.
The mech pilot was the type of person who woke very early and was ready for the morning. It was a trait that no one else aboard the Only Hope carried. However, it allowed him time to get up and do whatever personal tasks he wanted for the rotation. The Captain admired his dedication but wasn’t ready to commit to the routine himself. If he could have had it any other way, he would have had much more sleep than the night before.
Mikhail continued to shuffle through the kitchen as Riko got back to eating his breakfast and reading his personal datapad.
Finally reaching his destination, the door to the large bathroom opened and Mikhail checked to see if anyone else was inside. Seeing as how the Only Hope was originally a transport freighter, it was intended to have a smaller crew than she did currently. The biggest downside that Mikhail had encountered with the old ship was that there was only one shower. Thankfully there were other restrooms here and there scattered about, but only one place to get washed up.
Oh good, it’s empty.
He groggily entered and walked over to a door within the restroom. A bright green light shown on the door panel indicating that the shower was vacant. He waved his hand over the waterproof panel, and the door slid open. Inside was a small bench and a shelf for clothing to be placed. After setting his clothes down, he undressed then entered the shower stall.
He activated the shower and turned up the heat. There he stood, the water streaming down his back, all the while his mind continued flashing back to the nightmare he had the night before.
Finally, he cleaned himself off and finished showering. As he shut off the water, he reached out of the door and retrieved a towel from the rack. He dried himself off then exited the shower and got dressed. Streaks were left behind as he swiped his hand across a mirror that was positioned opposite of the bench.
I look awful…
His eyes were red and tired, and he felt exhausted. As if he had run a marathon last night instead of sleeping.
The idea was to get extra sleep, not none.
A tap came from the other side of the door. Mikhail waved his hand over the panel, and the door slid open to reveal Nina holding clean clothes.
“Oh, sorry Cap, didn’t know you were in there.”
“It’s not a problem. I just finished,” he said as he collected his dirty clothes and exited the shower room.
“I try to get in here before Joker does, otherwise I would never be ready for my shift.”
The Captain chuckled as he left the bathroom altogether and headed back to his room.
As he made his way down the hall, he turned a corner and nearly bumped right into Rhonda. “Oh, I’m sorry Rhonda.”
>
"No, I apologize, Captain," she said before she noticed Mikhail's tired face. "You look like you had a rough night."
Trying not to look too concerned he smiled. “I’m good. Just not ready to get up is all.”
“Ah, one of those mornings eh?” she asked with a smirk.
“Yeah…”
Trying to get beyond the conversation, Mikhail stood aside allowing his rifleman to pass. She nodded gratefully and continued on her way.
The Captain sighed then made his way up to his room without encountering anymore of the crew. He finished sliding his on socks then put on his boots. After pushing his belt through the loops of his pants, he attached his hip holster and put on his jacket.
He checked his appearance in his room's mirror and noticed how well his beard was growing in. Long ago as a young teenager he could scarcely grow much of anything, but now as a full-grown man, it came in dark and thick. Leesa hadn't been much of a fan of his facial hair for a while, but he insisted on keeping it to some degree. As a compromise, he kept it clean and short.
She wasn't aware of the reason, but Mikhail wanted to look as intimidating as possible to assist him on raids. While it had been many, many cycles since humankind had ridden the waters of Prime, the original homeworld of humanity, pirates still had a certain look that he felt should be maintained.
Chapter 22
Cycle: 434 Month: 2 Rotation: 21
Corre Republic Space
Prefecture: Colonial
Planet: Marie
Location: Aboard the Only Hope
With the ship still on auto-pilot, Mikhail had called a meeting in the hangar. Everyone had now gathered together, and they looked eager for what was coming.
“Alright, soon we will be entering Marie’s atmosphere. Joker, I want you to tell the capitol’s space traffic control that we are headin’ to Lindsberg for a delivery.”
The pilot sat up straighter. “What if they ask what the shipment is?”
All the eyes of the room went back to the Captain.
“Tell ‘em we are droppin’ off food from Gallirae.”
Joker nodded, satisfied with the answer.
Mikhail turned his attention to the rest of the crew. “We are headin’ to a town called Hyssop. I traveled here as a kid with my father, it is a quiet town but should be a decent take.”
“What is our target?” Hern asked as he tapped a large unlit cigar on his gray pant leg.
“We are hittin’ a warehouse that should be loaded with all kinds of supplies. However, we are only looking for the ones that are filled with medical items. They should have plenty of expensive goods we can sell.”
He made sure to look across the room and make eye contact with everyone present.
“This is going to be a simple snag-and-grab go. We aren’t here to harm these good people, but we are here to get what we need and get outta there.” He pointed to his WarMech pilot. “Riko, you are going to be central to this mission.”
“Yessir,” Riko said as he looked over to Jaymes who gave him a thumbs up.
“Hyssop is not exactly a small town, but they shouldn’t have any WarMechs in the area so ours is gonna be mighty fearsome to behold for the folks there. Use the Goblin as a distraction. With you stompin’ about it should draw away any lawmen that get a little too friendly.”
Mikhail looked over to Rhonda and Jaymes. “You two, Hern, Jax and I are going to make the run. We are going to use the truck to drive right on up from a distance then Riko will cause a scene. We will go into the warehouse and get what we need and get out.”
Each of the other ground crew nodded.
“Nina, I want you to use that device Jax put together recently. What was that called?” he asked to his overrider.
"Oh, I call it the "Listener,"" Jax said with a smile for his invention being recognized.
“Right, use that to listen in on any transmission that isn’t taken out by the jammer in the area just in case there are some military forces nearby that are bein’ routed over to us. The town is large enough that the jammer may not be able to scramble everything in Hyssop,” Mikhail said before he stood up straight and placed his arms behind his back. “I know after our last run that we were expectin’ some time home. But that’s not the case because of the choices others have made. However, I want everyone to return alive from this run and then we are goin’ home, hopefully for a while.”
Nearly everyone looked like they enjoyed the idea of being home for an extended period. Hern was one of the only men the Captain had ever met that enjoyed the life of a criminal. Before he joined up with them, he was a guard for one of the towns they had hit early on. He was the type of man who enjoyed fighting, and the life of a pirate saw its fair share of action.
“Alright, let’s do this smart, people.”
The team left the meeting ready for the task to come. They branched out and finished getting prepared for their role in the mission.
Before Riko wandered off, Mikhail spoke up. “Riko, real quick.”
The pilot stepped up to the Captain. "Yes, sir?"
“Joker is goin’ to make a pass over Hyssop so that you can hot drop in. I want you to immediately disable the town’s comm tower.”
“Disable?”
“Just um, maybe knock it over. Shoot it if you have to, but don’t just unload at it cause it’s there.”
"Understood sir. I'll take care of it." While he wouldn't say it out loud, Riko felt assured that the Captain also wasn't looking to cause too much damage merely because they had the power to do so.
Riko nodded then walked off to get ready.
We’re all gonna make it back from this. We have too…
Chapter 23
Cycle: 434 Month: 2 Rotation: 21
Corre Republic Space
Prefecture: Siimon
Planet: Noire
Location: In orbit
The 12th’s fleet completed its hop into Noire’s planetary system at the military hop point. Aboard the Silverbolt, Aries issued orders to make contact with the planet’s military command.
Displayed on the massive screen at the front of the bridge was one of the camera’s mounted to the ship’s hull. Noire was a border world on the edge of the Corre Republic’s domain and the Outer Rim Colonial Alliance (ORCA). Every single border world was occupied by heavy Republic military forces and depending on which nation the world bordered it would have a constant array of planetary defensive weapons in orbit around it in addition to a blockade of Republic ships.
Noire was shielded by four Planetary Linked Orbital Weapon platforms, otherwise known as PLOWs, that could act independently or synchronized for devastating attacks. They typically were armed with a variety of missile launchers and other defenses to repel fighter craft. However, they usually came with several large laser turrets designed for extreme range combat. These strong weapons platforms also doubled as the planet's satellites that assisted the sending of information across the world below.
It had become the standard military practice that when a force began to invade a world that they would first destroy the resident's satellites and place their own in orbit. This greatly could hinder defending ground forces and would cause stream blackouts for many of the inhabitants of small towns.
The invention of PLOWs and their assignment to the border worlds brought a quick end to many of the other nations attempts at taking control of Republican worlds through open war. While they are not unbeatable, they do require a focused attack to bring one down as any invader will also have to tangle with fighter craft and other larger military vessels part of the fleet orbiting before being able to land on the planet itself.
Many thought that the end of the on-and-off wars that plagued the Republic's history since humanity defeated the Synthetics was due to humans becoming more advanced and modern. This was just not the case. Nowadays, conquest comes through insurrection and uprisings of the people. This also is why border worlds always have garrisons of Keepers of Peace forces to mai
ntain order in the streets. While the military itself cannot be used against the citizenry, the KoPs did not have such restriction and had even been given many military assets to use in their missions.
Cyrus was always quietly impressed by a PLOW simply by the sheer size of the platforms. He didn't have many missions that had brought him to border worlds, mainly he had been assigned to the core and inner planets.
“They are a sight to behold, aren’t they?” Aries asked with a twinge of pride in his.
The Inquisitor nodded as he admired them. “Yes, they are.”
“These are what keep the wild hordes of our enemies from clambering on top of us,” the Tribune said as he stepped out from behind his captain’s chair and strolled up to the viewing monitor.
“My grandfather used to tell me stories as a boy about how the PLOWs are what brought peace to our people.”
Cyrus glanced over at the officer then back to the screen. “Did you believe him?”
“I did…for a time.” Aries let out a sigh as he crossed his arms. “That was until I joined up in the armed forces and saw the savagery that awaits us outside of our borders. We don’t have peace, we have a stalemate. If these stations fell, then war would be back mightily. There is no question in my mind that nations such as the Faust Union, Polau, or even the Corpa Confederation are itching for a fight. Thing is, they can’t get in. Not when these are backed up by war carriers.”
While in thought the Inquisitor tapped his lip with his finger. “I was told that you have had missions to strike at targets within the Union of Stars. I can’t see them as being as savage as the people from the Faust Union.”
“They may not be as cruel, but they are not to be trifled with. Unlike the ORCA worlds which are scattered and relatively leaderless, the UoS is very intelligent and extremely crafty. I would not look forward to an all-out war with them.”
“Indeed,” Cyrus said as his ear was piqued by hearing the communications officer speak with the Noire’s orbital network. She had to issue them a clearance code or else the small fleet would have been attacked as a precaution. Thankfully, they accepted the official transmitted code and the ships were given clearance to land on the planet.
