Chapter 1
"Sand. Sun. Everything you need in a nice beach vacation. Problem was, no one ever mentions that there isn't anything else but endless amounts of sand and relentless sun on Karreson.
It is the type of stuff that gets everywhere and acts like sandpaper. Wearing down machines and people alike with ruthless efficiently. The mechanics complain that it does more damage then the absentee mercenary or pirate these days.
Other then the sand you fight the boredom when you garrisoned here."
-Rei Olsen
...
The wind created small spinning dust clouds of sand as the Locust past between the dunes. Each of the paddled like feet opening and closing with each step to spread the weight of the twenty ton mech as it moved over the shifting terrain.
"Alpha-Two-One this is Patrol Four come in..."
"This is Alpha-Two-One, Patrol... What's your status?"
The voice over the comms system sounded horse and more then a little tired and the thought that she was somehow disturbing the comm's officers morning brought a smile to her face.
"Same as yesterday... sand, insects and me. I told you that you shouldn't have drunk so much... besides it's no fun taking your money when your three sheets to the wind."
"...anything else you want to report Rei or did you want to continue harassing me?"
"Choices, choices, choices. I'll think about it and get back to you when I get to the next waypoint."
With a small tug on the joystick she veered towards the next marker shown on the heads-up display. Running the mech at speed over the sand worked both the gyro and the pilot but nothing that either of them couldn't handle.
She was accustomed to the mech and it's quirks, the sounds it made when pushed to it's limits, the sway of the pilots seat atop the long legs, even how the targeting computer twitched from the heat of the noon day sun. The mech became a second skin to her and though it might have been at the bottom of the list when compared to other mechs and their capabilities, out amongst the dunes of Karreson it felt like a predator stalking an unseen prey.
The next two waypoints came and went with no more then a few quips back and forth over the comms. It was on the last leg of the patrol that the joking disappeared and was replaced with a more urgent tone.
"Patrol four we have intermittent contact in grid twelve with what might be encrypted burst traffic. Locals have nothing in the area. Break patrol and investigate."
"Understood, patrol four in route."
Like the flick of a switch the jovial nature disappeared and was replaced with the conditioned training of a soldier focused on the task at hand. A quick scan of the status screens showed that reactor heat levels were nominal, weapons were online and ready, and the general vicinity of the contact was already tagged on the satellite map.
Adrenaline came on like a slow stream. When out on patrol there was always the uncertainty of what you might find and that causes the mind to race. Would you need to cut and run when you made contact or would you find some civilian with a broken comm set just goofing off in the desert.
There was always a level of unknown and those that treated it as routine were usually the ones that end up dead.
Using the adrenaline to heighten her senses and reaction times she spotted the glint of light off an angled piece of windscreen slipping between the sand dunes before the mechs sensors even picked up the vehicle.
Anything that could hide itself like that was definitely military grade and in this case it was being used by someone who didn't want be seen.
The dunes in the area were shallow providing some cover for the low slung vehicle but there were no paths that would allow for the mech to approach unseen. This also meant that the likelihood of an ambush was almost nonexistent.
The thought seemed to cross the minds of each pilot at the same time with the scout vehicle powering up and accelerating in a bee line directly away from the now hard charging mech. The prey was on the run.
"Alpha-Two-One. I have contact with an unidentified scout vehicle bearing one nine five at sixty five kilometers an hour. Target is evading and leaving our A.O. Permission to engage?"
She throttled the mech to it's top speed and was already vectoring in on an intercept course when the comms burst to life with static and broken sentences.
"Repeat... per...sion... ... ...gage... tar... ... ...stile..."
The smoke trail from the small missile launcher on the back of the scout vehicle erases all doubt and answered the question for her as it's payload streaked over her view from the ferro glass cockpit.
The Martell laser of the Locust shrieked to life slagging layers of armor near the missile launchers actuator, freezing it in place and leaving its aim off to the vehicles right side. Pulling hard on the joystick caused her mech to dart behind and to the opposite side of the scout car and placing the mech safely out of the firing arc.
With the comms system now a constant hiss she was on her own and chasing down a very desperate driver. Being able to match or even surpass the targets speed and maneuverability placed her in control of the situation as she ran a few paces behind.
With the threat reduced she switched the weapon selector over to the linked machine gun arrays and depressed the trigger on the joystick. Twin rows of armor piercing bullets barked out from each side of her mech walking quickly across the ground and up the backside of the vehicle. The dull thump of rounds sinking into the sand changed over to hard strikes on metal.
The first strafing run found something soft under the lightly armored skin and the vehicle quickly lost speed and veered off course, tires dug into the sand while it's weight and momentum tried to continue cause the vehicle to dig into the sand, flipping the vehicle.
Sand and dust erupted from the ground enveloping the vehicle as it crashed. Even though she powered down the throttle of the mech as soon as she saw it happening she needed to loop the mech around in a small arch as the mech passed by the over turned vehicle by a few strides.
The angled sides and darkened viewport of the Locust gave it an almost malevolent appearance as it stood looking down at it's recent capture. It's thin legs pumping slowly as it crossed the last remaining feet of sand.
Checking over the status screens she noted that the heat levels in the mech were well within safe limits and all systems were in the green. Comm channels were now empty of noise as the source of the jamming was sitting on it's side and now smoking from an internal fire.
"Alpha-Two-One, target has been immobilized. Send retrieval unit. No movement at target. Dismounting to investigate."
"Proceed with caution. Retrieval unit mobilizing. Good work Rei."
This time the voice was that of the garrison commander who probably took over once the patrol escalated. She could only imagine what the control room looked like as this was probably the most action the outpost has seen in the last year.
Removing the neurohelmet and coolant tubes from the vest came with practiced ease as she began the process of placing the mech's computer in a holding routine. Once completed she opened a small locker next to the seat and pulled out a pair of darkened sunglasses and her holdout pistol.
Breaking the seal of the cockpit revealed how much light the tinted viewport of the cockpit actually kept out as the burning sun assaulted her senses. She winced at the brightness and put on the glasses while she toggled the release for the wired stirrup that would lower her to the ground.
With foot in place she slipped out of the cockpit and let the powered wench slowly lower her to the sand below.
Even in just a pair of shorts and the cooling vest the heat of the day caused small rivulets of sweat to form.
She approached with weapon drawn and at the ready. Slowly circling the remains of the scout vehicle she noticed that all insignia had been removed leaving no outward signs of who might be spying on the outpost.
The first question on her mind was why... what was there to gain for doing so, the second, and more pressing matter, was where was the driver. The hatch was open and the seat unoccupied.
The soft whine of the power cell discharging and burning sensation across her shoulder located the driver who must have circled around opposite her. He was trained enough to keep his wits after the crash but dazed enough that the shot was only a glancing blow that spun her around dropping her backwards into the sand to face him.
A gash on his forehead and the way he leaned against the vehicle told the rest of his story. With the sunbeam laser pistol pointed at her time seemed to hang for a moment.
Chapter 2
"When I woke up this morning I thought it would be like any of the other days that have gone by on this forsaken rock. Wake up, get dressed, get something to eat before going out on patrol... stare at any number of featureless sand dunes then come back to base and do it all again the next day.
For all of it's monotony I am beginning to wonder what I would trade to get that back or if I even wanted that life back again.
Let's face it, I was dying as slow a death as any healthy person was waiting for something to happen.
Sometimes life decides to step in and kick you in the *** when you least expect it, to get you moving, to take stock of your life.
Looking down the barrel of a gun has a lot of motivational aspects..."
-Rei Olsen
...
"How long till they get here?"
His voice was strained and he accented the demand with a small shake of the gun.
Her own pistol was still in her hand but buried slightly in the sand during her fall. With both arms bracing her from behind, and even in his condition she wouldn't be able to move fast enough to get off a shot.
Leaving the gun in the sand she sat forward turning her head to inspect the wound while rotating her shoulder with her good arm. The pain was intense but she still had some mobility with the lower portion as she clenched her fingers.
"Let's say you shoot me, then what? You vehicle is trashed and you won't make it passed the security lock even if you could pilot a mech. Plan to make you escape on foot?"
His armed dropped a fraction of an inch as he considered his options.
"I've been shot and I am tired... I am not in the mood for you."
His arm dropped a little more, leaving the gun pointing more towards the sand then at her head. His body language showed that he was slipping into some deep thoughts, and from the way he was reacting he didn't like the options that came to him. His reaction indicated that he wasn't in this for the long haul and the option of going on a suicide run wasn't an appealing though, which probably meant he was a mercenary of sorts or at least not someone willing to die for his cause.
Standing up slowly she tried to brush off the sand sticking to her thighs.
They both stood there for a moment in silence, neither side making the first move. The sound of engines off in the distance caused him to look away.
As his gaze came back the last thing he saw was a vicious right hook speeding toward his face.
...
"Fuc.k!!!"
Holding her hand by her wrist she stood with her arms dropped in front of her grumbling obscenities to no one in particular. The scout was out cold on the ground, the laser pistol lost from his grip.
Still angered by the pain in both her shoulder and now her hand she delivered a quick kick to the midsection of the unconscious body.
The dust clouds forming on the edge of her vision put the retrieval team arriving in just a few minutes.
Looking down at the unconscious form she began to study the outfit. Like the scout vehicle, he wore no insignia on his suit that would identify him as belonging to any of the military armies that she was familiar with, nor that of any of the larger mercenary units that might be operating in the area.
Visually examining the scout vehicle also turned up no useful clues of it's origin. The vehicle itself looked maintained and in decent shape, minus it's newly acquired damage of course, but this particular make was common enough that you could find them nearly anywhere in the galaxy.
"Now why would someone come out here in the middle of nowhere to spy on our little garrison..."
The question hung on her lips as she pursed them together trying to will an answer into forming.
1
Broken
Started by j eaton, Oct 31 2011 04:04 PM
4 replies to this topic
#2
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- 49 posts
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- Locationdeep in the dark reaches of unknown space
Posted 03 December 2011 - 04:15 PM
well wrote when is chapter 3&4 coming?
#3
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- 60 posts
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Posted 12 December 2011 - 04:02 PM
godzofwar, on 03 December 2011 - 04:15 PM, said:
well wrote when is chapter 3&4 coming?
Thanks, got a little distracted and busy, wasn't even sure if people liked it enough to continue. 3rd chapter is coming up in the next few days. Hope is to make it a good long story with a little more depth then the short story motify.
#4
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- 60 posts
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Posted 21 December 2011 - 03:59 PM
Chapter 3
"I remember the first big choice in my life... to either live off the streets doing whatever I could, either legally or not... or join the military and fight for freedom, independence, and all that other rhetoric the KungsArmé distributed.
I chose the latter.
I figured at least I would have fighting chance this way. Control things on my own terms versus finding myself huddled in an alley dead or possibly bleeding out after being stabbed by some John over a 'disagreement'.
If only someone would have told me what I know now, control is just an illusion."
-Rei Olsen
***
The garrison mechbay was filled with activity when Rei and the retrieval team returned. Techs moved with a determined pace to ready the remaining mechs still berthed in their bays. Lar's Jenner and Niklas's Panther were all ready stationed along the perimeter of the base, a sign that the base commander wasn't taking any chances.
With slow and deliberate motions the Locust backed into its designated bay. Techs were already in motion moving a gantry into place near the cockpit hatch and connecting data leads to the computer core as Rei moved through the shutdown procedures.
Her shoulder throbbed with pain as she placed the neurohelmet back on its resting hooks above the ejection seat. Piloting the mech back to base was easy, getting in and out of was the hard part. What usually takes but a moment or two turned into a slow and painful procedure.
As Rei slipped out of the hatch and onto the gantry she was greeted by a familiar voice.
"Looks like your brought my mech back in one piece... that's good. Commander wants to debrief you and get the video feeds right away. He said to meet him ASAP."
She smiled at the gruff looking tech at the bottom of the stairs and in a mocking voice dived right into their usual verbal sparring match, this time playing both parts. "Are you okay? That looks like a nasty wound there. Just a scratch chief, hurts like hell though. You could have been killed..."
The chief just continued to look at his data pad, diagnostic information scrolling by as he let out a gruff sound of acknowledgement... "You didn't bleed all over the seat did you?"
At the chief's side was a paramedic ready to clean and dress Rei's shoulder. She came down the stairs making sure not to support any of her weight with the wounded arm. Once at the bottom the paramedic went right to work flushing the wound and then applying a antiseptic and localized pain ointment, "Sorry Lieutenant, this will have to due. Orders."
She nodded to let him know that she understood and after a few moments the numbing agent began to take effect allowing for some movement before discomfort returned. With a thick pad tapped into place she moved off to briefing room.
Compared to what was the usual patterns, the hallways were crowded with people. Each person weaving through the others as they rushed to their destinations. Those she knew nodded in passing but none stopped from their course as they normally would. An uneasiness began to creep into her senses as she replayed the recent events in her mind.
When the door opened into briefing room she was assaulted by the noise. Every corner of the room was filled with activity. On one side there was the infantry unit heads talking around one of the holo maps, each position icons in the air as they discussed what looked like possible deployment and reaction plans. The other side held all the mech pilots dressed as she was in coolant vests and pilot gear listening to the base commander.
At the far corner was the base commander, Jon Anders. Although he looked like any other average guy in terms of height or build in the KungsArmé, he carried himself with enough confidence and experience that it was easy to pick him out from a sea of like uniforms. Outside of briefings, and pilot gossip, Rei couldn't say that she actually knew too much about him and never had reason to know more other then his rank and what that meant to her.
The commander stopped just then and noticed Rei enter the room, "Lieutenant Olson, glad you can make it." She moved through the room to stand just behind the gathered pilots.
Returning his attention to the rest of the group he nodded "Be prepared, we are a long way from reinforcements and other units. We don't have a good read on what to expect and with luck they will have underestimated our strength. Get to your mechs and assigned positions. Dismissed."
With that the pilots headed headed out of the briefing room leaving Rei to give her report. Most of the details logged by the Locust's battle computer were already available to him and were currently playing on his data pad. Even though it was filled with sensor information, coordinates, timelines and actual footage the commander still had a questioning look on his face.
"What did it feel like?"
"Sir?", the tone of her voice prompting for more detail.
"The data doesn't give me anything useful, the chief hasn't found anything that he can give me about the scout car, the driver is still unconscious by the way, and Intelligence back at command can only tell me that they don't know anything. I'm in the dark here and I need you to think... play back what happened... tell me what your gut was telling you."
Even though the words made sense, it still felt that she wasn't connecting the thoughts together. "I was on patrol, just like any day... the comms said that they wanted me to deviate and investigate a weak contact they were getting. That's when I spotted the scout car and pursued..."
The base commander shook his head slowly, "No... dive deeper... How would you say his concealment was... sloppy, good?"
She closed her eyes and thought back to the moment and she mentally studied what she remembered of the first contact. The scout was hull down between the dunes with only the smallest portion visible. If the sun didn't reflect the way it had off the cockpit of the scout car she may not have even seen it.
"Good... I almost missed him..."
"...continue..."
"He waited to the last minute, I was probably reading like a lit up christmas tree to his sensors. He had to know I was coming, knew I was more then a match for him... But he waited."
He nodded waiting for her to continue.
"When he did run, he jammed the comm frequencies, took evasive action and fired while on the run... " She smiled as the pieces came together as she looked up from her thoughts. "He has either had formal training or has been doing this long enough that he has picked up a trick or two."
"Seems to match what I was thinking. What you missed in the briefing is that there isn't much that we do know. If it was a normal pirate raid we would have seen their ships already, they aren't usual subtle... add what appears to be a somewhat competent scout, hardware that's been stripped of identification... well... my gut is saying something bigger is about to happen. I've learned to listen to it."
He nodded to himself after the assessment and turned his attention to the data pad, "Go to the infirmary, get the doctor to look at that. I need you out there but your no good if you can't pull your weight... when you have grabbed something to eat I need you back on patrol. This time I need you go out further then usual, bring some supplies with you, you might be out for a bit."
***
In her mind it was a risky move to take what limited forces where available and divide them between deep roaming patrols and a lighter force standing on alert back at the base, but the tactic also might provide some rewards... if a little luck fell into place.
Standing your ground places all the cards in the attackers hands. Assuming they know the size of the force defending, the attackers would know what they need to overpower the defenders. The general rule in warfare being that if your plan calls for a fair fight then in most cases your doing it wrong, so they had to expect they would be out gunned before things even got started.
Reinforcements were out of the question. Given enough time... sure, given solid evidence... sure, but with a lone scout car and a planetary value that only warrants at best two light lances at most and with other demands else where, that wasn't going to happen.
That leaves going on the offensive. Find out what's out there and make your next move from there. A well placed monkey wrench in the enemies plan can disrupt their advantage given you either more time as they regroup, or give you at least more information to make a better plan. She mentally examined the pros and cons of each tactic often during her new patrol route as a way keep her mind sharp as minutes turned to hours.
The scene outside the viewport of her mech had changed only slightly during her long patrol. What used to be vast endless areas of rolling sand were now new areas of sand punctuated occasionally by rock shelves that rose up to form low trenches and valleys just taller then the Locust itself. She was over a day away and had covered a lot of distance in that time with nothing more to report then what she had done a few hours before.
Noting the time out of the corner of her eye she maneuvered the Locust into one of the nearby valleys and throttled back her speed until the mech came to a standing rest near one of the rock walls. The sun had shifted just enough so that the upper rim now cast a soft shadow over the mech and provided enough cover from the direct heat that she could open the hatch and get some fresh air with out feeling like she was in an oven. Though warmer outside it was a good trade off to fill the cabin with something that wasn't circulated through an air scrubber.
Responding to a flip of a switch, a panel located on the top of the mech opened letting a small transmitter rise up from the innards of the mech. Opening like an inverted umbrella, the shape of the satellite dish formed and scanned the horizon until it connected with its target.
Inside the cockpit a small screen flashed with a short sentence displayed to indicate a connection was made and that a signal was being sent. In a few seconds the message was replaced with an image of a familiar face wearing a smirk once he recognized Rei. "This is Alpha Two One actual, what's your status?"
"Sector thirteen all clear... resuming patrol in ten minutes, eta to sector fourteen in..."
Rei paused and looked down at the navigation screen taking note of the changing terrain as her path took her deeper into the twisting and overlapping ravines and man made channels from decades old strip mining. She let out a deep sigh.
"...a bit."
The satellite image didn't have enough clarity to make out a definitive route that could be taken and the maps of the area that were loaded into her computer before hand seemed outdated as winds and shifting sand changed the area over time.
With a deep in take of breath she leaned back into the chair trying to gather her thoughts.
"How are the other pilots making out...?" The routine of slipping into unofficial chatter helped her relax a bit.
"Same as you, nothing. Commander is still intent, even intense. He hasn't left the command suite all day and is taking meals at his post. He seems spooked... I mean... even more then I would have expected.
She rolled her head to the side and let her gaze wander around the view outside of the viewport. "He's responsible for a lot of lives... goes with the territory. Going from watching over local squabbles and bar fights to this? Not sure people expected something like this... Speaking of our new 'friend' what's the word?"
"Docs got him up and coherent, the sergeant is having a.. conversation with him..."
She winced at the hidden meaning. The sergeant being referred to was the garrison infantry commander. A tough, no nonsense sort of guy who. As long as you stayed on his good side he was all smiles, miss a roll call as two unlucky soldiers did and not only did they receive extra KP duty but a new bruise or two would wind up developing. Maybe not regulation, but effective.
"...Oh! And the chief just delivered a report. Nothing concrete but the scout car has had some maintenance done recently. The interesting part is that while it looks like the scout car was made by Gienah Combat Vehicles in the Lyran Commonwealth a good number of the components are remanufactured parts with Kanji stampings. This thing has spent some time in the Combine."
"You know Jose, your going to find yourself in the brig if you keeping reading the commanders reports."
"Sure, right next to your bunk for that stash of alcohol you bring to the card games, Rei."
Her smirk came quickly at the banter, she was glad to have some interaction with a person. Being isolated was something that really unnerved her and the conversation brought back some normalcy. Her gaze drifted to a sharp object sitting in one of the far corners.
After seeing nothing but worn, rounded rock and sand it drew her attention causing her to sit up and take control of the targeting computer. With cross hairs over the object and a few key strokes rectangle formed on the view port. The computer magnifying the object till she made out the corner of an old and half buried shipping container. Even though it was worn and aged further magnification brought out an old logo to the screen.
Her mood brightened considerably, "Jose, do me a favor. Use the base computers and dig up any information you can find on a Holden Mining Corporation... They should have filed some sort of mining proposals with the local government, it's going to be old."
Jose nodded and looked off camera with a slightly puzzled look on his face, "Can do, maintain contact with the satellite and I'll ping you when have something."
With that the comms screen went into standby mode. Keeping the link open also meant that she wouldn't be moving any time soon, and although that provided a perfect reason to stop and eat the thought of eating another MRE was less then appealing.
A few minutes later a chime alerted her to an incoming request. The screen indicated it was from the garrison comm station. Without looking at the screen she accepted the connection and spooned another mouthful of 'Chicken and Rice' into her mouth.
"Ugh! What's in this stuff? It certainly isn't anything like the label says..."
"Good to see you too, Rei. You know... it's only because I like you and let you win at poker that I don't say anything about talking with your mouth full."
She looked at the screen and batted her eyelashes playfully but did not respond.
"Looks like the Holden Mining Corporation was an old Drac operation that mined the area back before the fourth succession war. Nothing stands out from what I could find. Some old data sheets showing quotas for precious metals etc... A complaint from some groups about environmental impacts and waste materials... what looks like a couple bribery scandals from local officials... then a very formal all your stuff belongs to the Republic now.... good looking letterhead on that. So, can you be more specific on what your looking for?"
"Show me the environmental study..."
"...looking to find out how to save the rock lizard from the evils of the world?"
Scanning the document quickly she stopped on an appendix reference with a complete map of the area and the paths mining equipment would use to haul cargo in and out of the area. She smiled at her success and highlighted the section for Jose to see.
"Can you overlay this map onto the satellite imagine using these landmarks... here... and here?"
He nodded and began to manipulate the document as requested. In a few seconds another request came through the computer, this time a file attachment.
Bringing up the file showed multiple areas of high traffic through the valleys as well as what looked to be a hub of some sorts where multiple paths connected.
"Thanks, looks like I got my path through and some areas to recon. Oh, and Jose...? You still owe me 100 bucks."
Before he could even protest she shut down the connection letting the satellite radio collapse and withdraw into the mech. In a few moments she powered the mech up to operating levels and set off down the ravine.
***
Navigating the area was somewhat difficult as the valleys often ended abruptly leaving no exit but to turn back. Crossing along the tops were equally difficult as often the valleys and ravines would cut across the path leaving gaps to big for even a mech to cross, but with the help of the map she finally started her approach what she called the hub.
The mech sensors were little help to her during the trek through the valleys. Thermals were washed out because of the heat of the planets noon day sun, the magnetron showed many false positive due to veins of metal still buried in some of the rocks. It was slow going and the feeling of being 'blind' grated on her nerves.
Arriving at the spot was somewhat anticlimactic. Rounding a blind corner showed her nothing but more rock and a dusty and forgotten pile of debris. The only thing of note was an overhang of about fifty feet where a surface mining machine cut into the wall but for some reason stopped all that time ago.
Five hours had passed since the last communication check and in her mind this place was just as good as any other. Moving into the hub she guided the mech to a spot along the wall like she had did before and powered up the the satellite radio.
The screen inside the cockpit flashed an error saying there was no connection. She tapped the button to sync with the satellite again and got the same response. Diagnostics look cleaned and everything appeared to be working but still no signal.
Did she somehow damage the array? Her thoughts flipped through scenarios until she crossed them all off the list of possibilities. With nothing left to do she popped the rear hatch to go out and perform a visual inspection.
At that moment she knew what had happened and quietly cursed herself as she looked up and over her head. When she positioned the mech near the cliff, her path brought her under the overhang which kept the array from making a line of sight contact with the satellite.
Making a mental note to keep that little snafu to herself she repositioned the mech and again tried to connect and reach the base.
The screen flashed that the radio had made a connection and was now waiting for a response. After the first thirty seconds she started again, checking the steps as she went to make sure there wasn't anything she missed.
Thoughts of a playful ribbing from Jose if he somehow found out turned to concern as seconds turned into minutes. Dark and disturbing ideas began to filter in, her gut telling her something was wrong. Keeping the connection to the network she requested a new satellite image, this time exchanging her current location with coordinates of the base.
The returned image erased any doubt to why there was no response. From the satellites view point she could see smoke and flames rising from various buildings in the compound. As she panned the image she found the remains of Niklas's Panther, leg shattered and missing a good portion of its torso as it leaned against the hanger. Darkened shapes along the wall and scattered across the court yard highlighted the cost of human life.
She searched the image for signs of life, some sort of clue to what had happened. Her heart sank as a mech emerged from beneath the dense dark smoke billowing from the hangar. With long barrel like arms at each side and a missile rack over one of the shoulders, even from this top down view, the shape of the enemy Warhammer sent a chill down her spine.
"I remember the first big choice in my life... to either live off the streets doing whatever I could, either legally or not... or join the military and fight for freedom, independence, and all that other rhetoric the KungsArmé distributed.
I chose the latter.
I figured at least I would have fighting chance this way. Control things on my own terms versus finding myself huddled in an alley dead or possibly bleeding out after being stabbed by some John over a 'disagreement'.
If only someone would have told me what I know now, control is just an illusion."
-Rei Olsen
***
The garrison mechbay was filled with activity when Rei and the retrieval team returned. Techs moved with a determined pace to ready the remaining mechs still berthed in their bays. Lar's Jenner and Niklas's Panther were all ready stationed along the perimeter of the base, a sign that the base commander wasn't taking any chances.
With slow and deliberate motions the Locust backed into its designated bay. Techs were already in motion moving a gantry into place near the cockpit hatch and connecting data leads to the computer core as Rei moved through the shutdown procedures.
Her shoulder throbbed with pain as she placed the neurohelmet back on its resting hooks above the ejection seat. Piloting the mech back to base was easy, getting in and out of was the hard part. What usually takes but a moment or two turned into a slow and painful procedure.
As Rei slipped out of the hatch and onto the gantry she was greeted by a familiar voice.
"Looks like your brought my mech back in one piece... that's good. Commander wants to debrief you and get the video feeds right away. He said to meet him ASAP."
She smiled at the gruff looking tech at the bottom of the stairs and in a mocking voice dived right into their usual verbal sparring match, this time playing both parts. "Are you okay? That looks like a nasty wound there. Just a scratch chief, hurts like hell though. You could have been killed..."
The chief just continued to look at his data pad, diagnostic information scrolling by as he let out a gruff sound of acknowledgement... "You didn't bleed all over the seat did you?"
At the chief's side was a paramedic ready to clean and dress Rei's shoulder. She came down the stairs making sure not to support any of her weight with the wounded arm. Once at the bottom the paramedic went right to work flushing the wound and then applying a antiseptic and localized pain ointment, "Sorry Lieutenant, this will have to due. Orders."
She nodded to let him know that she understood and after a few moments the numbing agent began to take effect allowing for some movement before discomfort returned. With a thick pad tapped into place she moved off to briefing room.
Compared to what was the usual patterns, the hallways were crowded with people. Each person weaving through the others as they rushed to their destinations. Those she knew nodded in passing but none stopped from their course as they normally would. An uneasiness began to creep into her senses as she replayed the recent events in her mind.
When the door opened into briefing room she was assaulted by the noise. Every corner of the room was filled with activity. On one side there was the infantry unit heads talking around one of the holo maps, each position icons in the air as they discussed what looked like possible deployment and reaction plans. The other side held all the mech pilots dressed as she was in coolant vests and pilot gear listening to the base commander.
At the far corner was the base commander, Jon Anders. Although he looked like any other average guy in terms of height or build in the KungsArmé, he carried himself with enough confidence and experience that it was easy to pick him out from a sea of like uniforms. Outside of briefings, and pilot gossip, Rei couldn't say that she actually knew too much about him and never had reason to know more other then his rank and what that meant to her.
The commander stopped just then and noticed Rei enter the room, "Lieutenant Olson, glad you can make it." She moved through the room to stand just behind the gathered pilots.
Returning his attention to the rest of the group he nodded "Be prepared, we are a long way from reinforcements and other units. We don't have a good read on what to expect and with luck they will have underestimated our strength. Get to your mechs and assigned positions. Dismissed."
With that the pilots headed headed out of the briefing room leaving Rei to give her report. Most of the details logged by the Locust's battle computer were already available to him and were currently playing on his data pad. Even though it was filled with sensor information, coordinates, timelines and actual footage the commander still had a questioning look on his face.
"What did it feel like?"
"Sir?", the tone of her voice prompting for more detail.
"The data doesn't give me anything useful, the chief hasn't found anything that he can give me about the scout car, the driver is still unconscious by the way, and Intelligence back at command can only tell me that they don't know anything. I'm in the dark here and I need you to think... play back what happened... tell me what your gut was telling you."
Even though the words made sense, it still felt that she wasn't connecting the thoughts together. "I was on patrol, just like any day... the comms said that they wanted me to deviate and investigate a weak contact they were getting. That's when I spotted the scout car and pursued..."
The base commander shook his head slowly, "No... dive deeper... How would you say his concealment was... sloppy, good?"
She closed her eyes and thought back to the moment and she mentally studied what she remembered of the first contact. The scout was hull down between the dunes with only the smallest portion visible. If the sun didn't reflect the way it had off the cockpit of the scout car she may not have even seen it.
"Good... I almost missed him..."
"...continue..."
"He waited to the last minute, I was probably reading like a lit up christmas tree to his sensors. He had to know I was coming, knew I was more then a match for him... But he waited."
He nodded waiting for her to continue.
"When he did run, he jammed the comm frequencies, took evasive action and fired while on the run... " She smiled as the pieces came together as she looked up from her thoughts. "He has either had formal training or has been doing this long enough that he has picked up a trick or two."
"Seems to match what I was thinking. What you missed in the briefing is that there isn't much that we do know. If it was a normal pirate raid we would have seen their ships already, they aren't usual subtle... add what appears to be a somewhat competent scout, hardware that's been stripped of identification... well... my gut is saying something bigger is about to happen. I've learned to listen to it."
He nodded to himself after the assessment and turned his attention to the data pad, "Go to the infirmary, get the doctor to look at that. I need you out there but your no good if you can't pull your weight... when you have grabbed something to eat I need you back on patrol. This time I need you go out further then usual, bring some supplies with you, you might be out for a bit."
***
In her mind it was a risky move to take what limited forces where available and divide them between deep roaming patrols and a lighter force standing on alert back at the base, but the tactic also might provide some rewards... if a little luck fell into place.
Standing your ground places all the cards in the attackers hands. Assuming they know the size of the force defending, the attackers would know what they need to overpower the defenders. The general rule in warfare being that if your plan calls for a fair fight then in most cases your doing it wrong, so they had to expect they would be out gunned before things even got started.
Reinforcements were out of the question. Given enough time... sure, given solid evidence... sure, but with a lone scout car and a planetary value that only warrants at best two light lances at most and with other demands else where, that wasn't going to happen.
That leaves going on the offensive. Find out what's out there and make your next move from there. A well placed monkey wrench in the enemies plan can disrupt their advantage given you either more time as they regroup, or give you at least more information to make a better plan. She mentally examined the pros and cons of each tactic often during her new patrol route as a way keep her mind sharp as minutes turned to hours.
The scene outside the viewport of her mech had changed only slightly during her long patrol. What used to be vast endless areas of rolling sand were now new areas of sand punctuated occasionally by rock shelves that rose up to form low trenches and valleys just taller then the Locust itself. She was over a day away and had covered a lot of distance in that time with nothing more to report then what she had done a few hours before.
Noting the time out of the corner of her eye she maneuvered the Locust into one of the nearby valleys and throttled back her speed until the mech came to a standing rest near one of the rock walls. The sun had shifted just enough so that the upper rim now cast a soft shadow over the mech and provided enough cover from the direct heat that she could open the hatch and get some fresh air with out feeling like she was in an oven. Though warmer outside it was a good trade off to fill the cabin with something that wasn't circulated through an air scrubber.
Responding to a flip of a switch, a panel located on the top of the mech opened letting a small transmitter rise up from the innards of the mech. Opening like an inverted umbrella, the shape of the satellite dish formed and scanned the horizon until it connected with its target.
Inside the cockpit a small screen flashed with a short sentence displayed to indicate a connection was made and that a signal was being sent. In a few seconds the message was replaced with an image of a familiar face wearing a smirk once he recognized Rei. "This is Alpha Two One actual, what's your status?"
"Sector thirteen all clear... resuming patrol in ten minutes, eta to sector fourteen in..."
Rei paused and looked down at the navigation screen taking note of the changing terrain as her path took her deeper into the twisting and overlapping ravines and man made channels from decades old strip mining. She let out a deep sigh.
"...a bit."
The satellite image didn't have enough clarity to make out a definitive route that could be taken and the maps of the area that were loaded into her computer before hand seemed outdated as winds and shifting sand changed the area over time.
With a deep in take of breath she leaned back into the chair trying to gather her thoughts.
"How are the other pilots making out...?" The routine of slipping into unofficial chatter helped her relax a bit.
"Same as you, nothing. Commander is still intent, even intense. He hasn't left the command suite all day and is taking meals at his post. He seems spooked... I mean... even more then I would have expected.
She rolled her head to the side and let her gaze wander around the view outside of the viewport. "He's responsible for a lot of lives... goes with the territory. Going from watching over local squabbles and bar fights to this? Not sure people expected something like this... Speaking of our new 'friend' what's the word?"
"Docs got him up and coherent, the sergeant is having a.. conversation with him..."
She winced at the hidden meaning. The sergeant being referred to was the garrison infantry commander. A tough, no nonsense sort of guy who. As long as you stayed on his good side he was all smiles, miss a roll call as two unlucky soldiers did and not only did they receive extra KP duty but a new bruise or two would wind up developing. Maybe not regulation, but effective.
"...Oh! And the chief just delivered a report. Nothing concrete but the scout car has had some maintenance done recently. The interesting part is that while it looks like the scout car was made by Gienah Combat Vehicles in the Lyran Commonwealth a good number of the components are remanufactured parts with Kanji stampings. This thing has spent some time in the Combine."
"You know Jose, your going to find yourself in the brig if you keeping reading the commanders reports."
"Sure, right next to your bunk for that stash of alcohol you bring to the card games, Rei."
Her smirk came quickly at the banter, she was glad to have some interaction with a person. Being isolated was something that really unnerved her and the conversation brought back some normalcy. Her gaze drifted to a sharp object sitting in one of the far corners.
After seeing nothing but worn, rounded rock and sand it drew her attention causing her to sit up and take control of the targeting computer. With cross hairs over the object and a few key strokes rectangle formed on the view port. The computer magnifying the object till she made out the corner of an old and half buried shipping container. Even though it was worn and aged further magnification brought out an old logo to the screen.
Her mood brightened considerably, "Jose, do me a favor. Use the base computers and dig up any information you can find on a Holden Mining Corporation... They should have filed some sort of mining proposals with the local government, it's going to be old."
Jose nodded and looked off camera with a slightly puzzled look on his face, "Can do, maintain contact with the satellite and I'll ping you when have something."
With that the comms screen went into standby mode. Keeping the link open also meant that she wouldn't be moving any time soon, and although that provided a perfect reason to stop and eat the thought of eating another MRE was less then appealing.
A few minutes later a chime alerted her to an incoming request. The screen indicated it was from the garrison comm station. Without looking at the screen she accepted the connection and spooned another mouthful of 'Chicken and Rice' into her mouth.
"Ugh! What's in this stuff? It certainly isn't anything like the label says..."
"Good to see you too, Rei. You know... it's only because I like you and let you win at poker that I don't say anything about talking with your mouth full."
She looked at the screen and batted her eyelashes playfully but did not respond.
"Looks like the Holden Mining Corporation was an old Drac operation that mined the area back before the fourth succession war. Nothing stands out from what I could find. Some old data sheets showing quotas for precious metals etc... A complaint from some groups about environmental impacts and waste materials... what looks like a couple bribery scandals from local officials... then a very formal all your stuff belongs to the Republic now.... good looking letterhead on that. So, can you be more specific on what your looking for?"
"Show me the environmental study..."
"...looking to find out how to save the rock lizard from the evils of the world?"
Scanning the document quickly she stopped on an appendix reference with a complete map of the area and the paths mining equipment would use to haul cargo in and out of the area. She smiled at her success and highlighted the section for Jose to see.
"Can you overlay this map onto the satellite imagine using these landmarks... here... and here?"
He nodded and began to manipulate the document as requested. In a few seconds another request came through the computer, this time a file attachment.
Bringing up the file showed multiple areas of high traffic through the valleys as well as what looked to be a hub of some sorts where multiple paths connected.
"Thanks, looks like I got my path through and some areas to recon. Oh, and Jose...? You still owe me 100 bucks."
Before he could even protest she shut down the connection letting the satellite radio collapse and withdraw into the mech. In a few moments she powered the mech up to operating levels and set off down the ravine.
***
Navigating the area was somewhat difficult as the valleys often ended abruptly leaving no exit but to turn back. Crossing along the tops were equally difficult as often the valleys and ravines would cut across the path leaving gaps to big for even a mech to cross, but with the help of the map she finally started her approach what she called the hub.
The mech sensors were little help to her during the trek through the valleys. Thermals were washed out because of the heat of the planets noon day sun, the magnetron showed many false positive due to veins of metal still buried in some of the rocks. It was slow going and the feeling of being 'blind' grated on her nerves.
Arriving at the spot was somewhat anticlimactic. Rounding a blind corner showed her nothing but more rock and a dusty and forgotten pile of debris. The only thing of note was an overhang of about fifty feet where a surface mining machine cut into the wall but for some reason stopped all that time ago.
Five hours had passed since the last communication check and in her mind this place was just as good as any other. Moving into the hub she guided the mech to a spot along the wall like she had did before and powered up the the satellite radio.
The screen inside the cockpit flashed an error saying there was no connection. She tapped the button to sync with the satellite again and got the same response. Diagnostics look cleaned and everything appeared to be working but still no signal.
Did she somehow damage the array? Her thoughts flipped through scenarios until she crossed them all off the list of possibilities. With nothing left to do she popped the rear hatch to go out and perform a visual inspection.
At that moment she knew what had happened and quietly cursed herself as she looked up and over her head. When she positioned the mech near the cliff, her path brought her under the overhang which kept the array from making a line of sight contact with the satellite.
Making a mental note to keep that little snafu to herself she repositioned the mech and again tried to connect and reach the base.
The screen flashed that the radio had made a connection and was now waiting for a response. After the first thirty seconds she started again, checking the steps as she went to make sure there wasn't anything she missed.
Thoughts of a playful ribbing from Jose if he somehow found out turned to concern as seconds turned into minutes. Dark and disturbing ideas began to filter in, her gut telling her something was wrong. Keeping the connection to the network she requested a new satellite image, this time exchanging her current location with coordinates of the base.
The returned image erased any doubt to why there was no response. From the satellites view point she could see smoke and flames rising from various buildings in the compound. As she panned the image she found the remains of Niklas's Panther, leg shattered and missing a good portion of its torso as it leaned against the hanger. Darkened shapes along the wall and scattered across the court yard highlighted the cost of human life.
She searched the image for signs of life, some sort of clue to what had happened. Her heart sank as a mech emerged from beneath the dense dark smoke billowing from the hangar. With long barrel like arms at each side and a missile rack over one of the shoulders, even from this top down view, the shape of the enemy Warhammer sent a chill down her spine.
#5
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- 66 posts
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Posted 23 December 2011 - 05:48 PM
j.eaton, on 31 October 2011 - 04:04 PM, said:
The voice over the comms system sounded horse and more then a little tired and the thought that she was somehow disturbing the comm's officers
It's hoarse, not horse.
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