CHAPTER ONE: FIRST CONTACT
There are some pretty boring things one can do to fill their life with. Editing the 'community service' section of a second rate newspaper on the Lyran planet of Kowloon was one of them. But in this business, it was 'who you know' more than 'what you can do'. At least, for Janet Freedman, that was exactly how it went.
Luck just had it today that a friend of hers overheard something rather intriguing, and had the opportunity to follow up on it. Several medical units and transport ships with a variety of military grade equipment were suddenly scheduled for launch, forty-eight hours from now on an emergency mission. It was a volunteer program, but the pay was damn good, and the majority of people able to stepped forward. The target of this venture was unknown however. And it was the press's job to figure such things out, if not out of anything but page filler.
And so it went down quickly, with Janet's friend mentioning it in the employee lounge, and another person calling contacts to get the full scoop. And when all was illuminated, the journalists hit the keyboards. When word of a major pandemic in the mining planet of Kenton gets out, jeopardizing the entire Certanium extracting site of Psyonic Syndications Incorporated, it travels quickly. At least on this small planet. It was not by any means a major hub in the Lyran media network, but it was a relay for periphery communications to the major economical centers in the Melissia theatre of the Lyran Alliance. With that comes such situations.
The problem was: Janet seemed rather distraught at the thought of a pandemic. After calling her roommate, she seemed to stare off in the distance quite a bit. And after another sixteen hours, disappeared entirely.
'CLASS B EXPLOSIVES' marked the crates being unloaded into the warehouse by a dozen tired men. Despite the number of hours they've been up making this transfer work properly, they all displayed a phenomenal level of enthusiasm and drive, even if they didn't know quite yet what the things were meant for.
Veto Caletti inspected the contents of the crates while the men rested. He would ensure the product was exactly what he wanted. The son of a man who lost everything to the ruling nobles here on Kowloon ran this miniature guerilla operation with as much passion as any successful militant. Though he had no prior military experience, he was extremely well educated and knowledgeable. But, like all great commanders, he had good troops. And his favorite one approached him shortly after he finished with the crates.
Mika, a native of Asian descent, met up with him four years ago, and proved to be as sharp as any militant he's ever known. Some hidden infatuation for her sparked within Veto, but she always kept herself distanced, professional. In reality, that is exactly what he needed to keep on track. Having her close never hurt however. As attractive as she was, it only helped that she was willing to go undercover and help out the cause. Those wiles proved very tempting to more than one unlucky target of Veto's campaign, as some figured out she had a bite to match the most venomous cobra this side of the main continent.
"Veto, we need to talk."
Walking away from the crowd to speak between only each other, he could sense something was wrong with her. It was in her eyes. It was… fear.
"I know how much this operation means to you," she began. But he didn't let her finish.
"Yes. So you know why I need you here."
"Please don't do that to me. Let me speak." After waiting a moment, she allowed his feelings for her to override his brain and allow her the space needed to complete her thoughts. Looking down, almost in embarrassment, she began, "It's my mother. Her car was hit by a train a week ago."
"Do you need to visit her? We still have time before the operation—"
"Veto… I need to be with her. She may not survive the next surgery, and…" She paused for a moment, collecting her composure. "I've held off leaving this long to make sure you got your stuff right. But she's gotten worse. I don't think I could live with myself if I don't see her."
"Mika, you are the most important person here."
Looking up, "No I am not. You have Gerard, and Kimmel. They have so much more to offer you than I do." Then she put her hand on his cheek. "Look, I know you want me by your side. You never say it, but I can see it in your eyes. But she supported me after my father died in the Clan Invasion. You know that the nobles don't like her. You can only imagine what she went through to make sure I turned out all right. I owe it to her. And I can't place this over her, as much as I want to."
Contemplating his options, with the biggest operation this year coming to fruition in the next week, he ran the scenarios through his head. Or, at least he tried. But family was something deeply ingrained into his mind. After all, it is the reason he started this in the first place. He couldn't in good conscience take that away from someone who's helped him so much in the past. "Then go. Make sure she makes it through all right. Don't get into any trouble. I want to see you come back."
She nodded and turned to leave. After five paces, she stopped in hesitation to turn around and say something, then appeared to think better of it and continued, leaving him behind with his mission, and life as he knew it.
Ashley booked it hard, nearly changing while driving to get to her destination in time. She was called in on a code 12, which meant she was to abandon her operation and report to HQ, as quickly as possible. Needless to say, it was the only one she's ever seen since landing on this planet five years ago.
Rushing up the stairs to the condemned building in the slum district of Kowloon's capital, she hit the door to the entryway into the internal compound of the safe house. Transmitting an encoded signal from her communicator, the comm panel on the wall next to the door, camouflaged as a nasty old voice box lit up. "This is private property. If I don't know you, then go away."
"Code alpha sierra hotel reporting as ordered."
The door unlocked all of its safety catches and opened to reveal a refurbished Special Forces operations center. She entered and moved toward the briefing room.
"Ashley, you have arrived. I was just updating everyone. Have a seat." Star Captain Gennis Newclay headed the operation. The 26th Special Operations Unit, Jade Falcon Watch was stationed on Kowloon to monitor Lyran communication relays and press releases. The side projects were the internal study of organized crime and guerilla warfare. Ashley was in deep cover as Mika Kimonochi, a double identity created by some new troop in Kael Pershaw's fabrication department. But now, the chances of her returning to that four-year operation looked slim, as the screen behind Gennis showed jump paths to a periphery planet outside the Lyran Alliance.
Cyrus handed her a datapad containing additional information to the stuff Gennis was relaying to them, including pictures, historical press documents, and every bit of information about PSI at their disposal.
Gennis continued, "They do not know what it is exactly, but it is presumed to be viral. 100 lethality. Supposedly it took out a village, a major city, and the commanding militia complex on Kenton within six hours. If this is accurate, it would be the deadliest virus encountered, ever. Tara used her position within the Associated Press to follow up on leads pertaining to the emergency deployment of medical and equipment aide to Kenton. The teams launch in eight hours."
Ashley looked over to see if Tara was present, and found out that the entire unit was there. They haven't all been in the same room since the op started several years ago, each person having some duty to fulfill, or some cover to fill.
"I sent an encrypted message to our contact on Barcelona, who relayed it to Kael Pershaw. Luckily, he is in the OZ and was able to assess the situation and generate a plan of action. We are to assemble a forward tasking team and land on Kenton. Only nine of us are going. Team assignment is in your datapad."
After a few moments passed while everyone looked for their name, Ashley spoke up, "So what do we know about this planet?"
"Well," Gennis started, "The Lyrans started terraforming it over two hundred years ago, setting up several massive G-40 atmospheric transformer units with regular supply ships assigned to keep them running. Since the project started, standard continental pollination occurred, and the planet was in limbo for a while. They did not know if they wanted to use it as a military outpost, jumpship recharge point, or other. But our invasion in 3050 carved a corridor too close for them to keep sending ships over. Of course, the Falcons never went near it, so it went unattended for quite some time.
"About twelve years ago a team was sent there to check on the progress of said Terraforming in the hopes that the Lyrans could set up shop in case they wanted to counter-invade us in the OZ. They found that the metal around several G-40 units warped around the units themselves, completely conforming to their shape and depth. The atmosphere was finally suitable for human life, but it was Psyonic Syndications Incorporated that found a use for the metallic samples taken. They named it certaniam and developed new implant technology around it. It is indigenous to the main continent on Kenton, so they set up a mining colony there and supplied it with complete living arrangements and a corporate militia. It has since self sustained."
Cyrus, the errand-boy of the unit spoke up next, "So what do we have to do with this?"
"I have a shopping list from Kael. I think he is afraid they are going to weaponize it, at least according to the equipment he requested. We are to land and set up shop for the 32nd."
A silence overwhelmed them. The 32nd was only used in the most dire of missions. The prototype catch all force they all aspired to be promoted into. But none of them really knew much about it, since even with in the Watch it is all classified. Regardless, if Kael is sending in the big guns, then they knew they were in for a ride.
One troop spoke up, "You mean, we are going to be with the Nighthawks?"
Noticing Ashley staring into the distance, Gennis felt the momentum of his briefing dragging, "Ashley…"
Just moving her eyes to meet his, suggesting lingering thoughts, "Yes?"
Continuing, "Apparently Kael has them escorting some 'specialists' in. They will land after us and update us on our objectives."
Another member spoke up, "Okay, so how are we going to get over there? I cannot just pull a jumpship out of the garage and dust it off you know."
Annoyed with the comment, Gennis replied, "We go with the medical teams. They are taking several smaller craft over. It is a simple case of assumed identity. Extraction on the other hand… will be an issue. We expect the Lyrans to field a response team to secure the zone and make sure no one gets out with the virus. This thing in the wrong hands could kill a LOT of priority planets in any Successor State. But I have faith that the Nighthawks will come prepared with a plan for that."
After a moment of silence, Gennis finished, "Everything else is in your datapads. Read it over and I want the forward team to meet up in twenty, ready to go."
Then they dispersed. Gennis approached Ashley, "How was it?"
"Well, it was a real tear jerker, that much I can tell you. Veto really had it in for me."
"You know you were to study them, not get involved on such levels—"
"Spare me the speech. Trust me, I know. Either way, I got an out and I took it. It looks like I will not be going back either, even if we do get back to continue this op."
"Well," Gennis assured her, "The mission carries on here for the most part. You were the only deep cover operative assigned to go with me to Kenton. The rest will stay here and continue their assigned areas. We will be very short handed this time around."
"And for the better. It would be rough to land more than nine on those little transports."
Gennis smiled, "I see you have already familiarized yourself with the infiltration plans. I guess I should have expected as much."
She turned to leave, "Expect all you want, I have a feeling what we see down there on Kenton will be very new to us all."
Gennis thought about that and knew that this was a fragile plan. Kael had to put it together in such a short amount of time that it lacked the solid contingency plans usually accompanying any official tasking. And how the Nighthawks were to get there was completely beyond him. But he had his orders, and the surprises ahead just came with the job.
Dr. Lex Barret rubbed the bridge of his nose in an effort to collect his thoughts. A black man of 32 years, his face remained so smooth that it was near impossible for him to look too fatigued. But the events of the last day have been turbulent at best. Turing his head away from the local news channel (which so happened to be the planetary station set up by PSI), he contemplated his options. Stationed at the auxiliary medical outpost in Danner, the second largest city on Kenton, he headed up the medical research labs. Being a mining planet set up by a corporation, his resources were fairly concentrated in front of him, though with that situation came many freedoms.
He recently took up the investigation of some infection wiping out their food supply. Kenton did not have an indigenous mammalian population, instead deferring to reptiles. Luck would have it that a particular species of reptile, dubbed "the calebs" after the man who first discovered them, was ideal for herding and domestication. They were, in effect, like large lizard-cows, whose meat was packed with nutritious compounds. The fact that Kenton could grow its own food helped displace the budget assigned to it by PSI into other areas. Namely, the centers to improve the standard of living for Kenton's inhabitants. The place has really grown into something much larger than PSI first envisioned, with several cities, schools, and a colonial government in charge of transportation, waste management, etc… The only things really reporting directly to PSI on a regular basis were the head directors of the governmental agency and the corporate militia that was funded and supplied by PSI to police the area and defend it if ever invaded. In the last seven years, it stared to accept local recruits, demanding a training facility, but softening the burden to supply militia troops from other sources.
With the caleb population quickly dwindling, an alternative food source was needed. But Lex's only concern was finding out what suddenly infected all of them. There were several barriers to his investigations however, one of them directly stemming from the freedom enjoyed by being a simple periphery planet. When whole fields of calebs were killed off, the farmers needed to dispose of them so the rotting carcasses did not litter the landscape they may later need to cultivate. The mass burning of the dead animals left little to no usable tissue for him to analyze.
Whatever did this to the calebs was attacking them in the wild as well, making his request for a search team to retrieve several animals for study fairly difficult to accommodate.
And all that was before the capital city's population was erased from existence. With Danner on lockdown and fears of the militia exerting martial law, almost all avenues of productivity were gone from his reach. The news kept reporting on a massive outbreak clearing out Kenton City and the accompanying militia command post. Since it happened so quickly, and since the infrastructure went to pot during that short time, details and specifics were extremely hard to come by. With little to no information, the release of frantic video footage and pictures of the streets littered with corpses only incited mass unrest in the city of Danner. Luckily, the mountain range between the cities, as low as it was, diverted the jet streams south and around the Danner region, alleviating the possibility of immediate contamination, though any feeling of safety was yet to be felt by anyone watching the reports. No one reported leaving the Kenton City region alive.
Lex called his wife to update her since he was awaiting word from the new militia commander as to his new duties. A picture of her flashed through is handheld vid-phone when she answered. "Hello?"
"Hey. Any word from the school?"
"Yeah. Christine doesn't have to go for another two days. The school board is meeting with the local governor to figure out how it's going to react to everything."
He expected as much. His main concern was his family staying in the loop while he remained at work. He assured them before that there was no real threat yet, despite what the news portrayed. Their composure made him proud. "Go ahead and head home. I have the suits from storage ready so when I get back I can show you how to work them. This thing… I really don't know how everything's going to work out."
"Just come home when you can. We'll manage. And Lex?"
"Yeah."
"Be careful going through Danner. Some areas… there've been a lot of hijackings and looters. Things are looking real bad." The concern on her face was deep, and he knew she had many things to worry about. If not some virus killing them off in their sleep, then the locals pillaging the neighborhood. Suddenly this gig on Kenton didn't look so peachy…
"You know I will. Stay safe." And he hung up. Shaking his head, he told himself that transports should already be en-route to lift people off of this rock. He just hoped that kind of relief would come before it gets real nasty on the ground. The new reports on the news were of the unrest in Danner, and the lack of militia involvement to quiet it down. For some reason, a pit formed in the bottom of his throat.
"…sending multiple relief ships with supplies and manpower in aide. I have pinpointed several targets to choose from. After taking the ship, it is up to you to land according to their determined flight paths and make your way to the 26th's forward base of operations. What you see now is everything Gennis' troops received before their departure. I am remaining on Sudeten to keep Khan Pryde informed of your progress and deal with political matters here. Thao, you now have complete authority over the mission."
Kael Pershaw's image stayed on the briefing screen as several smaller screens appeared over his, one containing a zooming map of the periphery region in question and another containing jump paths and coordinates for the expected relief vessels inbound from Lyran border worlds. Star Captain Thao Prentice started pacing like he normally does when addressing his unit, "We have a ten man team for this, two are non-combatants. Meet Evan, a microbiologist from Sudeten, and Trevor Hanover, a nanotechnologist from Blair Atholl. Evan is from the Homeworlds, and Trevor was born and raised in the OZ. He is Jade Falcon, so I expect all of you to treat him as such." He waited while the unit simply responded in its own way. Some nodded agreement, others contorted their faces in understanding. "Attached to them are Vanessa and Rictor, two elementals from Shaine's unit. He recommended them personally, but they are specifically assigned as bodyguards for the scientists. Where they go, their escort follows."
Vanessa and Rictor looked over at the rest of the unit arrayed, both sitting as comfortably as they can in their chairs, their musculature making most standardized naval furniture unaccommodating.
Thao did the rest the easy way, "The rest of you, sound off so they can get to know you."
Gregors started it off while the others followed suit, "Star Captain Gregors, commander, 32nd aerospace support unit."
"Star Commander Brevan."
"Star Captain equivalent Julian Buhallin, espionage and infiltration specialist."
"Mechwarrior Tyler, happy to be here."
"Mechwarrior Weston, along for the ride."
Thao continued, "Each of your datapads has the unit roster for the 26th agents already en-route to Kenton. They are to land and establish a forward base of operations, securing a working environment and supplying it with needed equipment so Evan and Trevor can do their job. We are on this boat to get there, develop a cure, and get out. Any unneeded confrontations or complications are to be avoided at all costs. The only hiccups I expect are the insertion and extraction."
Rictor raised his tree trunk of an arm, "What exactly is our extraction plan?"
Thao turned to Gregors, "You are up."
Gregors responded as confidently as he could, "We do not know exactly what resources will be at our disposal down there. Kael Pershaw near guaranteed the Lyran Alliance sending military support; we are awaiting word on that. If that is the case, then we use their supply lines to mask our movements. If not, then it is a matter of finding our own ride and burning past their radar."
The look on Rictor's face did not show him comfortable with that response.
"In truth, we have to figure out what we are dealing with before we finalize an extraction plan. This one will be down to the wire, but Kael wants that cure, and we are the only ones capable of getting it for him."
With that Rictor nodded agreement and Thao finished, "If you have anything for me, I will be available in fifteen. You know where you need to be, so get to it."
The room started to empty when Thao noticed Julian in his seat staring at his datapad. Walking over, he saw a picture of Ashley on there as he apparently pulled her profile up through the 26th records. With everyone moving around him to leave, he sat like a statue in a flowing river.
Noticing Thao's presence he turned the datapad off and looked up at him. "What?"
"You know her?"
"Who?"
"Star Commander Ashley. You had her pic—"
Julian stood up and turned to leave, "Yeah. We met once." As he walked through the door Thao heard him comment, "Nice briefing by the way."
Confused, Thao turned to the screen with Kael Pershaw's face still staring into the room. The call had not ended yet, in case something needed to be addressed by the Falcon Watch leader himself.
"What was that about?" Thao asked his commander. The room was empty now, leaving Thao and Kael through the comlink.
After a pause, Kael just answered, "Keep an eye on him this time out."
When Thao asked what he was talking about, the connection was severed and the call ended. What just happened, he wondered, standing alone in a world strangely new to him?
Gennis tried not to stare at his teammates strewn across the galley randomly. In this kind of cover, they were not supposed to know each other. Two large transport ships launched from Kowloon to assist the assembled Lyran military task force, which was a mix of troops from several border worlds with two warships. Two companies on Kowloon were addressed by the Lyran ambassador overriding the ruling nobles to assemble assistance teams and supplies. Both were going to be paid generously for their efforts. All personnel assigned were already verified by the Steiner embassy and full security and background checks were in place. The main problem Gennis had was that most of the medical personnel already knew each other, having worked together in Kowloon's population centers. So he had to pinpoint nine individuals from other agencies, including Civil Engineers, weapons experts, meteorologists, and other. Then he had his team breach the star port and 'replace' said individuals before launch. Two nearly missed their target altogether, and Gennis and Ashley had to subtly corral the individuals into vulnerable positions. It was up to the 26th operatives left on planet to take care of those unfortunate people. He assigned command to the next highest ranking person in his unit and left with his troops. It was nail biting to say the least, and he hoped it was the largest speed bump in this mission.
Ashley was receiving the usual attention from the opposite sex, but shrugging them off tactfully to follow him out of the room to the observation hallway. Cyrus was not even present as he was in his quarters familiarizing himself with the communications equipment his identity was supposed to have expertise in. The others just ate and kept to themselves.
The trip took a little over a week, with jumpship recharge times slowing them down. Gennis forgot how convenient the lithium fusion batteries were that some Clan ships had that make double-jumping possible. But it was the food that was the worst. For such high paid personnel to be arranging this trip, the food was of deplorable quality. But no one got sick yet, so something must've gone right.
He made his way to the grav deck, which was set up more like a lounge with its limited gravity. Looking out the window he sensed Ashley approaching from behind. Through the reflection of her face he studied the ships in the distance.
"There they are," he told her. The Lyran military craft were linking up with the other ships, creating a convoy over to Kenton. The planet itself was in the far distance as they departed from their jumpship two days ago to make way across the system to their destination.
"How many you count?" she asked.
Keeping his face forward, studying the view, he replied, "It is too far to judge. Looks like a warship and some smaller craft. They really pulled out the stops for this." Then he turned to look at her while she took a seat and sighed.
"What do you think of this whole thing?"
Gennis just frowned, "I do not like it. Every aspect of it turns my stomach." After a pause she realized that he couldn't think of anything more to say. But really, he didn't need to.
Colonel Jeffrey Thames entered what was soon to be his command headquarters. Things were still in the works as the convoy in orbit around Kenton arranged itself in landing patterns to get the most out of the two planetary star ports, with landings and takeoffs happening at regular intervals. He was the first to land after the initial security detail assigned to acquire command facilities. He arranged it so the civilian craft in orbit would land in between his dropships. It was not easy, so he appointed someone to oversee the landing and deployment of troops while he addressed the local situation. His aide, Sergeant Major Brent Harrison, followed him providing updates.
"Six buildings here and five at site two have been secured. CE is making a perimeter for us while forward teams are taking the news stations and law enforcement compounds. The information PSI gave us was accurate enough."
Thames stopped in the corner of his new office and turned around to direct the crew that was going to set it up for him. "This is it. I want my desk over there. Take care of the rest." The men snapped to it, with two surveying the room for electrical and communications outputs and another calling for the furniture and equipment.
"The runners are at the 40's and installing their payloads now," Harrison continued.
"All of them?"
"Three are still heading toward their assigned terraformers, but the rest are already underway."
"Good." Thames stared at the wall for a moment in contemplation. So far everything was happening smoothly. He needed his runners to get that stuff offloaded soon, in case everything goes to hell without advance notice.
Just then the door guard announced Thames' first visitor. "Sir! Local commander Lindemann is here to see you."
"Let her in."
Kirsa entered and was momentarily surprised at Thames' presence. His combat dress was neatly ironed and his boots nicely polished. Every accessory was aligned properly and his hair was cut in the famous 'flat-top' style. The man of 42 far outshined Kirsa in her dull, obviously used combat uniform. Of course, she looked like she had been on her feet for the last 48 straight hours, so nothing was said of it.
Looking at his datapad, Thames addressed Kirsa a moment after she regained her composure. She was, in effect, a local who rose through the ranks of a corporate militia, so any authority over her on his part was assumed. If he really wanted to run the show without written rules to provide his oversight in her chain of command, he needed to prove here and now that he was her higher. "Lieutenant Lindemann. I would rather skip the formalities and ask where half your forces are currently. My report states that a good portion of your troops failed to report when ordered."
Kirsa, knowing better than to enlighten him to every aspect of her now drama-ridden existence, responded with the tone she used when reminding someone that she earned her rank. "Several of my men… decided to disband when they heard the LAAF were assuming control of the planet."
"Disband? From what one of your troops told us, they mutinied."
That was, in truth, accurate. Christopher Shroeder, her second in command, and a conspiracy theorist, concluded that PSI's stock in certanium dropped so much that it was more lucrative to test a new biological agent on the population here and have the LAAF see first hand how effective it was in case it wanted to purchase said agent. Kirsa, failing to understand how he could believe such a thing was unable to convince him that the Lyran military was the only thing equipped to deal with something of this magnitude, and that they were here to extract the population. She did manage to avoid a physical altercation, but he managed to convince about a third of her men that the LAAF was the enemy after showing them how many troops were landing and took his share of equipment and people into hiding to fight for the people of Kenton. This, she did not want Thames to know right now, since it would only alleviate her of any command she had left.
"Your sources are inaccurate. Those men had families they chose to tend to, and others simply left in shock over the severity of the situation." She kept her reply professional and plausible.
"That does not speak well of their character. How do I know the troops left under your command will cooperate?"
"My men will do what I tell them to. You are here for the good of the people of PSI, and therefore the good of the people of Kenton. We all have the same goal."
He figured if she didn't know he was here for the good of the Lyran Alliance as a whole already, then she wouldn't adopt that train of thought any time soon. She reminded him of himself when he was twenty years younger however, though he has seen too much war to remain such a humanitarian. Having that, he knew that her outlook would only help him make use of her and her men. This, however, was something he did not plan on wasting much time on. "Very well. You have the option of splitting them up for assignment to each of my mobile units, or keeping them together for an additional force at my disposal, as long as you provide local personnel to help my men out on the ground. They are not familiar with this planet, or its people."
"My men will stay together. People are already here for assignment in assisting your men. I chose the most familiar with the land and populations here."
"Very well. You will be hearing from me in a little bit. Sergeant Major Harrison here will give you your unit's new patrol route."
"Thank you." And she left with Harrison as Lex Barret entered.
Lex stood there for a moment, Thames not even noticing him in the corner of his eye, assuming he was one of his movers. After a few awkward moments, Lex cleared his throat.
"Is there something I can help you with?" Thames asked in a voice hinting of irritation.
"I am Lex Barret, the now head of medical operations on Kenton."
Instantly changing his mood, "Ah, Mr. Barret. I have been meaning to talk to you. Walk with me." Thames led him through the hallway full of men moving desks and cables to another hallway. It seems he was trying to familiarize himself with the facility and fit time for Lex in simultaneously.
"From what I received from the team in Kenton City before it was wiped out, it looks like full bio-suits can protect people from the pathogen. Simple gas masks and filters won't work," Lex began.
"I am aware of that. We came equipped."
"Good. I want to be on the research team for this. I have been on this planet for over ten years and know the ecosystem better than anyone else."
Thames stopped and turned to him, then paused with his mouth barely open, suggesting he was rewording his response. Then he looked him in the eye, "I have a spot for you, as head researcher for this thing. My men are commandeering your lab and setting up an alternate one as we speak. You give me everything you have," he said while lightly tapping Lex's chest with his fist suggesting he was talking about effort, "and I will give your team top priority."
Lex was confused now. "Top priority? What else could take priority?"
"We have a very volatile security situation here as the people in Danner run amok in chaos. We have containment concerns for an entire military contingent with no housing or food supply set up past ten days, not to mention every ounce of food, water, and sand drifted into this compound will be inspected for that thing out there."
Suddenly changing his face to an inquisitive one, "By the way, does it have a name yet?"
"We dubbed it 'Kerschell' for the evil cat of the former head of the medical department in Kenton City. But the locals are calling it the White Death, in contrast to the bubonic plague of ancient Terra."
Turning in thought, Thames continued down the next hallway. "The White Death. It has a ring to it." Lex followed him as he worked his way into a group of technicians working on assembling security doors in the front of the compound. Harrison was waiting for him with another datapad, and he merged with them, beginning a new conversation with Thames before Lex had the opportunity to discuss his next concern.
"Sir, all detention locations have been located and marked for processing. With the records we got from PSI corporate, we have a max of eighteen subjects."
Lex perked up, "What are you talking about?"
Thames stopped and looked at Lex, "I need you to stop and ignore all this around you for a moment. The seriousness of this situation is forcing us to push the limits on some… protocols. You realize how bad it would be for this virus to find its way onto other populated planets, right?"
"You mean Lyran planets…"
"Don't let the specifics get to you. We need to both contain and cure this thing as quickly as possible. You need two things for that, right?"
"Yeah, a carrier and a test environment."
"Well, we are sending a forward team into the dead region soon to collect samples for study. Soon enough you will have some of this White Death waiting for you."
Wondering where he was going with this, Lex pushed him along, "Okay…"
"We tapped into the penal system here and pulled every hardened criminal awaiting a twenty year plus sentence, deportation flight, or date with the needle. You now have eighteen healthy males to work with."
This was happening pretty fast for him. Live human subjects? In all his years of practice, he's only heard of such a thing on pirate worlds. "What…" He was trying to find the right words for this before Thames lost his attention and moved on, "You expect me to experiment on humans?"
"I am only going to say this one time, because time is something I do not have much of. This virus, if the reports are accurate, is the deadliest discovery of the 31st century. We cannot afford to move samples of it to another planet to study and develop a cure. The risk factor is too high. We do it here, and resources are running extremely thin. I have my orders, and right here, right now, I am going to ensure the Lyran Alliance is safe from this by the time we leave this rock. Now you are either on board or off, but either way this is how things are going to work out."
Lex was having a hard time replying. He needed to be a part of the research team, there was no doubt about it. But what Thames was asking of him… the clock was ticking and he had to make his decision. "Colonel Thames…"
"Yes?"
"I'm still your man. But I have one request."
"Name it." For the moment, he was intent on hearing Lex out.
"My family, I want them moved to the quarantine zone when it's complete."
"Done. Give Harrison here their information and they will be retrieved and brought in. In the mean time, go with that man in the red vest over there and have him show you the manifest for the medical equipment we brought. He'll get you squared away."
Lex was relieved that Thames was accommodating him. With his family's safety off of his mind, he was now ready to tackle this thing full force.
"The Victor VTR-9K."
"80 tons, standard cockpit hatch. HildCo Interplanetary Inc. moved the computer access ports to the right of the command couch, and the heat sink power controls are all off on their own above your head to the left." Brevan drolled out information long stored in his brain through hours of late night studies back on Ironhold so long ago. Thao was keeping his team busy during the trip by running them through the specifics on the Lyran 'mechs they expected to encounter on the ground.
Kael finally authorized the new converters for this mission. The Jade Falcon scientist caste was tasked with coming up with a portable unit designed to detect neurohelmet settings and convert incoming signals to ones best read by the current configuration. It allowed members of the 32nd to use any neurohelmet without having to manually configure them to their individual brain waves, giving them the ability to jump into any 'mech and pilot it like it was their own. The technology was long in coming since the components needed for each pack were so large. Finally the prototype was authorized for a short production run so they could use them in emergency situations like this. They were not exactly field tested yet, but these were inherent risks assumed by all members of Kael's espionage department.
"Good. Armament?"
Weston took this one, "Gauss Rifle in the right arm, 16 rounds standard. Two medium pulse lasers in the left, short range missile rack in the torso."
"All right… lets take a break. I am bored as hell here." Thao, not one to hide the fact that he was just killing time, had about all he could of stats and mental regurgitation. He stood up and left the small room to make way toward his quarters. Halfway down the small corridor, he heard Julian training in the mini rec-room they had. Instead of game equipment however, Julian had the techs install exercise machines and multi-target workout bags, something he used extensively to simulate combat with multiple opponents. Since the ship was on a scheduled acceleration, the artificial gravity allowed him to blow off some steam, which he was doing vigorously given the opportunity. Thao entered the doorway and found his friend in the middle of four bags, working through some combat drills.
"You holding out okay?"
Julian, continuing to work out simply replied, "Aff. Why? What is up?"
"You only work out like this when something is on your mind."
"Something is always on my mind." Julian finished his sentence with a crushing blow to the center bag, accentuating his speech. Then he stopped and turned to face Thao for an actual conversation.
Then, out of the blue, "Who is Ashley?"
Julian for once physically showed his surprise at the question, then replied accordingly, "Someone in the 26th spec ops unit."
"You know what I mean."
Julian started working on some light strikes again, this time keeping them quiet so they could continue to talk, though it was obvious he didn't like the topic. "What? Did you not read the file? Everything you need to know is in there."
Thao entered the room now, closing the distance, "No, everything I need to know is not in the file. You know her, quiaff?"
Julian stopped again, shrugging, showing defeat. "She is the faceman of the team, or facewoman. I helped train her back on Ironhold."
Thao just waited for more information, staring at Julian like he was an open book, which he knew was ludicrous, as Julian was the most guarded person he knew. Getting this out of him was definitely a moment he wanted to exploit.
"We spent a lot of time together. That is it. I just did not think I would run into her like this."
Looking skeptical, "That sounds awfully suspicious…"
Almost defensive, "I spend a lot of time with you, and that does not mean anything. You spend a good amount of time with Bree—"
"If this is going to be a problem, I need to know now." Thao was not playing games, his command tone was powerfully projected, and Julian really did not want to deal with it.
"What is your problem?" He approached Thao near the doorway to get any misunderstanding out of the way.
Surprised that he was on the defensive now, Thao spoke before really thinking about his response, "It is just… I need you firing on all cylinders out there. There are sides to you that I have not seen—"
"Have I ever let you down before? Thao, this is business as usual for us." Then he turned around and waited for Thao to leave, "Now if you do not mind, I would like to finish up here before we lose gravity again."
Thao turned to leave, but had one more thing to say, "Julian… if you ever need to talk, I am here for you."
"Yeah," was his only response, and then he started a new set of drills.
Thao felt defeated, like he would never get to know the man behind that shell. But other things had priority right now, which became apparent when Mechwarrior Tyler approached him, "Sir, we will have visual of the target in a few moments."
Thao followed him to the bridge where one of the main view screens was zoomed in to capture the sight of their target vessel. "We have the drillers ready to go?"
One of the bridge techs replied, "Already armed and loaded."
Still staring at the screen, "Good. Get the gear."
Tyler went off while Thao studied the ship that would get them to their destination. This could get real messy, he thought. But there was no other way to go about it.
The crowd at Central Square in Danner was reaching over two hundred people. It had been slowly growing throughout the day as speakers came and went, vocalizing their concern for the new Lyran military occupation. Local police were ineffective at breaking it up, and so far, it has been peaceful. So far…
"So if they are here to help us, then why are they keeping us in our homes? Why are we not being lifted off of this planet? How do we know they aren't here to contain PSI's mess so that they don't have to pay benefits to our families back in the Inner Sphere?" An improvised debate was being held currently. Events were completely unplanned, and therefore rather random. The other guy, a Lyran supporter was verbally outgunned as the crowd started shouting support for the one questioning their disposition here.
"I say we march over there and show them we mean to leave!"
Then the other guy found the stones to refute, trying to instill some common sense into the crowd before it did anything irrational. "What are you talking about? The Lyran military hasn't done anything here yet! If you march up there now, you will only make a bad situation worse."
A kilometer away, three members of Gennis' unit were unscrambling the starter codes for several large trucks. Getting into them was fine, an hotwiring the starter after the security measures were disengaged were elementary tasks, but some of these have keycard driver identification scanners that control the power source to the starter, and without a closed circuit, that thing would remain a paperweight. Luckily, the crowd was drawing all the attention away from them. Two Lyran 'mechs walked past the parking lot, forcing them to duck down behind the dashboards, but they passed and moved on toward the crowd, providing them the privacy needed to finish.
"One, this is five, I have ignition."
"One, this is four, I have ignition."
"One, this is six, I have ignition. All is a go."
The three men waited for Gennis to give them the okay to drive the trucks from the lot to a location to await entry to a Lyran medical storehouse. Two members of his team remained in their assumed positions to gain access to the civilian store site for all the larger medical equipment items. When given the word, they were to let the trucks in under the guise of routine traffic, and take what they needed, disappearing into the night. That included 'relieving' those who would figure everything out in the warehouses to give them a good time window. He was just glad they were able to access tranquilizer from within the medical storage units for use in such a situation. No casualties was always the best option in Gennis' mind, if at all possible.
"Wait a minute…" was the only response they got. Then after two minutes, another three Lyran 'mechs rolled past them and the sounds of small arms fire and autocannons rang through the streets. It appeared that the crowd started something with the Lyrans.
"We are moving the schedule up. Move out now to objective point 2."
"Copy that one. Four taking the lead."
And the three trucks drove off to get the goodies they were sent here for.
In space there is no sound. The missiles going off only reverberated through the ship itself as they ignited their rockets and shot at their target. The ship itself was now accelerating, quickly. It was in effect, following the missiles toward the ship, and the sudden increase in speed increased the gravity within. All the gear for Thao's team was loaded up and the last of them were fitting it on.
The drillers, aptly named for the proverbial effect they have on a ship's ability to out run an aggressor being similar to anal penetration, were really only two types of warheads. Two of each were fired off to ensure each type hit, doubling the chances of much needed success.
The first type was a communications jammer, similar to an ECM unit, but much more potent, concentrating solely on jamming radio frequencies and flooding the area with a communications 'white noise' so that anything going out will only get overpowered and lost in the mix.
The second type was an electric current disruptor. Launching an EMP at the ship would screw it over entirely. A current disruptor would flux the speed of all the electrical current in the ship up and down, forcing many systems to shut down to protection mode against surges or ground outs. It can be deactivated later, making it ideal for disabling a ship's thrust and navigation ability without disabling it altogether.
The propulsion rockets on the missiles did not have air exhaust though, like the ones in an atmosphere. They raced ahead at an incredible speed, disappearing in front of the view of an enlarging Lyran civilian transport craft. This was the target picked out to be intercepted from the Zenith jump point to Kenton. The Falcon ship was attached to a jumpship ballsy enough to jump straight into the lagrange point between the next planet and its moon and jump back out after discarding the Nighthawks transport. The trip home for that ship was not of Thao's concern, he knew they had enough supplies to last out until Kael's plan reeled them back in.
The plan itself was so simple most people would never think it having a chance of succeeding, but then again, that was the point. Sometimes the best options are the ones right in front of you because your enemies are looking too far behind.
Either way, the target vessel sent out a distress call when sensing the incoming missiles, but the message was drowned out by comm static after the first few syllables of the message. The jammers were already doing their thing.
The warheads themselves had an immensely strong magnetic tip, which attached them to the target without damaging it. All four lights in the holo-readout in front of Thao turned from red to green when converging with the mark of the target ship, telling him that all four attached and were active. He knew it was an accurate report as the speed of the target craft decreased as the thrusters lost power. His team was now gaining considerably on the thing, needing to do this quickly before any more aid ships moved within range to sense what was going on. A massive blackout bubble was a good indicator of bad news.
The team itself was largely quiet, all strapped into their atmospheric suits with their oxygen tanks and gear over their shoulders. These suits were a lightweight polymer, easy to take off when needed, and had magnetic grapplers installed in the hands and feet. The oxygen capacity was their real drawback, as they were more designed to be small and stealthy compared to conventional space suits. Even the scientists had their share of equipment on over the suits. This was all they could take with them to Kenton. It was not a lot.
The target ship kept growing and growing in the main view of the bridge as the captain of the ship gave Thao regular distance updates. Any moment now, he thoughts, the thrusters of the ship creating a dull hum in the airlock. Still, no one spoke, only increasing the tension of the upcoming mission.
After what seemed like eternity, Thao hit the large red button on the wall and told them all to file out. Almost instantly the world turned silent as they poured out of the airlock in the direction of the target ship. The one they were in planned a spin to reveal its backside to the target ship, creating enough gravitational pull to literally 'launch' the team at the target when its now opened airlock exposed itself. The maneuver was one of the riskiest things in this procedure, as a miscalculation could throw the team off and around the target, so they all waited in suspense as they drifted.
Most of them have not done anything like before, or have done it so long ago that vague memories resurfaced of floating in a void, completely free of control, sound, and direction. Space has never seemed so vast to them until they were literally floating in it, the sun of this system in the distance failing at illuminating the world around them. All they could do was ride the momentum given, some spinning like acrobats, others muscles locked in suspense. Be it fear, awe, or pure enjoyment, not a word was spoken between them. The most serene calm before the storm, and every moment stretched an eternity. Then like that, it was over.
The moment they landed changed the entire experience. Their radios didn't work with the jammers in effect, so it was all hand signals and instinct. They moved seamlessly and silently down the starboard side of the hull toward the primary airlock, two members kneeling down and scanning it with infrared and current sensors. A few hand signals from the first one and they went to work.
The crew of the 'Lady Blue' has never been so scared. Four missiles showed up in their sensor grid and literally 'attached' themselves to the hull. Their communications equipment went dead and their sensors cracked off right after telling them that a military craft was gaining on them quick. Then the thrusters lost power and near all the lights turned off. Only the oxygen scrubbers and life support systems were still operating, being designed to need so little energy in situations of running off of auxiliary batteries if the main power systems failed. They were built to last long enough to wait for rescue craft, though the only one approaching in their blind spot was not here to rescue them.
They armed up with needlers and vests and formed up around the main airlock. Ten guys at the main one, six at the auxiliary one on the port side. They heard a clang, each jumping in response to the activity outside. They had the inside door locked so that when the outside one was breached the ship wouldn't decompress. The little window peering into the airlock itself was the center of all their attention. Some had their weapons raised at it, watching, waiting, while others wedged themselves behind some barriers a few meters back. None really thought this would ever happen to them, and it was almost unreal. Since there was no gravity, those that did not secure themselves to the pull-ropes strung down the corridors free floated. One bumped into the guy next to him inadvertently.
The sounds continued, some clangs here, some knocks there. Then some pounding. One strong slam made several of the men jump again. Then another strong slam made the rest uneasy.
"God damn! This shit is killing me!"
"Get the others over here! They're going to breach on the starboard side!"
"Just relax. We have enough guns in here to blast those fuckers to the other end of the galaxy."
Two of them were breathing hard in anticipation, their exhales audibly heard by the other men. One was brave enough to take his hand off his weapon to wipe the sweat from his face. It was so dark in there, they couldn't tell who was the man next to them. Four from the other team finally arrived and took positions near the rear guys.
Then, suddenly, the pounding stopped.
After a moment, "What happened?"
"Did they give up?"
"I don't know. Keep your guard up."
Then they heard shouts from down the central corridor, from the men at the auxiliary airlock. "Over here! They're in the port side opening!" Then light exploded down the central corridor dark for nearly twenty minutes now, nearly blinding everyone in sight.
"Go, go, go!" Thao rushed Weston, Tyler, and the two scientists down the left to secure the bridge while he, Brevan, Vanessa, and Rictor surged forward to intercept the bulk of the crew. Julian, like always, worked best alone and pulled his way aft, toward the engine rooms. Gregors was outside knocking on the starboard side hatch to keep them distracted and was making his way to the port side airlock to join the group. Thao thought hard about separating the scientists from their security escorts, but he needed the elementals here for the heavy combat.
The lack of gravity made tearing the suits off more difficult than expected, but two people in each group laid down cover fire so the others could rip their polymer off, who then covered the first two. Needler rounds instantly hit the walls around Thao's head, sending sparks in several areas. He didn't flinch, but just shot his recoilless rifle at the men on the other side of the ship. The 32nd's weapons were loaded with tranquilizer rounds. One hit from one of those injected sedative powerful enough to drop a caribou mid run. Of course, too many hits would inject too much of the drug, overdosing the victim. But this was combat.
He hurled another flash bang into the corridor and ordered his men to avert their heads. It went off he and Vanessa pushed forward while Brevan and Rictor made their way left to flank the men down the way. They exchanged fire, with Vanessa getting hit in the arm, but they managed to shoot four men down in record time, them being disoriented by the flash enough to render them easy targets. The others kept firing, but their aim was off. Being civilian merchants did not help in zero gravity close quarters combat.
"Reload!" Thao let Vanessa know he stopped firing to reload his weapon, and she took up a position to keep the heat off of him. The men across had started some firing patterns, and she saw what looked like their leader order a few men around to their right, which she knew would lead them straight into Brevan and Rictor.
Gregors hit the airlock and was ripping his suit off to go and join Weston and Tyler in the bridge and needed cover fire. So Vanessa opened a barrage to get the crew to duck down while he finished up and Thao got into position. She counted seven men left to neutralize when Thao aimed his weapon down range and covered her for an advance to a better firing position. Instantly the 'puff' of the needlers drowned the hallway out with white noise as she tried to gracefully swing herself into a doorway. She had enough zero gravity training that she kept in this fight this long. Though she would still prefer an elemental suit right now. To add to her confidence, she nailed another crewman mid swing with a tranq-round. Things were looking up.
Brevan and Rictor literally floated into the men sent around to attack Thao and Vanessa from the rear. Rictor, reacting on reflex nailed the lead man in the face with the butt of his rifle while Brevan shot the second and third ones at point blank range. The impact of the rounds actually sent the men backwards into the previous hallway, both of them hitting their heads on the bulkhead with enough force to knock them out if they weren't already near comatose from the depressant in their veins. Rictor finished grappling the man down and sent him floating away, catching up to Brevan and nearly getting his head shot off when he floated too far into the next hallway. Apparently they had the crew surrounded, but were under gunned at the moment.
The bridge was as task unto itself. Tyler entered first and immediately avoided small arms fire by floating into a bulk of computers and behind a server rack. It seems that there weren't enough needlers to go around, and the men here, in the most dangerous of place to have them, carried pistols. Another three rounds were fired at Tyler, one punching through his left thigh. Droplets of blood floated into the air around him as he tried not to grasp his leg in pain.
Weston took his que and entered through the bottom of the doorway outside the average target profile range and managed to shoot down the man with the pistol. Another armed man was hidden behind a computer consol however, covering everything beyond the server stack Tyler was held up in. Gregors caught up and had to instantly read the situation and figure out how to get that bridge. Problem was, no matter how many plans he made, none of them were capable of breaching that hatchway without taking more fire. He threw his combat knife into the room to test the last man's reflexes, and to his surprise, the guy was a damn good marksman. The knife was shot and the wall behind it sparked with the remaining two shots he took. Gregors cursed in his head, then ordered Weston in. "Stay to the bottom, Tyler will have you covered!" Then he gave Tyler a look that told him that we was still in this fight and was needed to provide cover for his teammate.
Weston entered and pulled himself along the floor into the bridge while Tyler screamed a battle cry and fired at the last man multiple times. Gregors entered and floated past Tyler, gun ready and aimed at the cover the now outnumbered crewman chose to hide behind. "Surrender now! We have you outnumbered and out gunned!"
Gregors found a spot to stop himself in, and after a few moments, the gun the crewman was using floated up and over the computers. Then he rose into view with his hands up. Gregors shot him in the chest, knocking him out cold while Weston secured the pilot.
Julian made his way down the dark corridors heading toward the rear of the ship, making fists and testing the flexibility of his power gloves in between thrusts. He did not carry a firearm, but instead relied on metal plated gloves connected to batteries strapped to his forearms, allowing him to sent incapacitating jolts of energy through them when striking some poor soul unfortunate enough to get close to him.
He made no noise as he moved, his whole job to secure the rear half of the ship. The lights and noises behind him faded as he gained distance between him and the main fighting. His senses perked, like a cat searching for prey in the forest. And then he heard it: a man in the engine room. No, make it two… three men. He heard them whispering to each other. He just continued pulling himself toward the noise, making none himself until he was satisfied he was right around the corner from them.
Riding the momentum of the insertion as a whole, he braced his feet and inhaled one last time, confirming that these were the only men he heard. Then he launched himself around the corner and found three wide-eyed faces full of fear and surprise at his sudden appearance in the dark corridor. The first had the gun, and his shots went wide as Julian maneuvered horizontally and struck him once in the rib cage and once in the inner thigh, both times causing a 'pop' as the gloves surged electricity through the gunman, sending him convulsing down the hallway, useless to the fight and on the verge of unconsciousness.
The other two ran from him, one brandishing a knife and the other completely unarmed. The one with the knife wore technician clothing, and he decided to play hero and wait inside a doorway to ambush Julian as he gave chase. But Julian was the wiser, and he ducked the knife thrust, close enough to his face that he nearly felt the steel against his skin. Grabbing the man, he maneuvered through the air almost in slow motion and brought the man's back down onto his knee, forcing the man to arch in pain before twisting him and punching him the lower back, shocking him into submission and throwing him aside like so much trash.
One more, he thought as he stopped to listen for the last man. But he heard nothing. The only place he could have gone was in the next room, the one whining with machinery. It was dark and the noises were inconsistent, but he was not afraid. Eyes wide like it would help him see any better, he cautiously moved through the last doorway as the he heard the man suddenly messing with something to his right. If the man was stupid enough to gain this much attention, then he must have had good reason to, and Julian did not like the thought of that.
He moved quickly through the first part of the engineering room and smelled something, some kind of gas. It was… coolant? What did that man… and it hit him. The thought slammed into his brain right as a wrench slammed into his wrist, crushing part of the battery in his right arm and forcing it off of him before the acid burned his flesh any. Now on the defensive, he reeled backward and avoided the next swing, hearing the wrench hit a piece of bulkhead behind him and sending a 'clang' echoing through the room.
Expertly timing his move, he noticed the motion of the wrench start to drag, like he was slightly drugged. It must've been the coolant in the air, because his lungs burned right now. But he nonetheless relied on his training and grabbed the wrist of the man, maneuvering it across his body into a position to throw his adversary over his shoulder and into the same bulkhead victimized by the wrench only moments ago, then twisting it again, snapping it, and twisting it again, maneuvering the body into a position to wrap his arm around the man's neck and choke him out.
Ironically, after the man stopped struggling, a piece of the wall that was damaged by the fight shot out of its housing by a punctured air hose, forcing Julian to duck quickly and bang his head on a protruding piece of pipe. His vision blurred, and his lungs stopped burning.
Silence overwhelmed him, like he was still floating in space. None of his senses worked, save for his eyes that were slowly beginning to focus. The world around him shimmered into form, and he found himself surrounded by blood. His own blood. A pool of it, himself in the middle. This was not the spacecraft. This was another world. Was he here before? Was this real or some dream world that his mind retreated into?
All self-analysis stopped when he noticed a body. It was unrecognizable, like a body mauled beyond recognition. It was lifeless and slumped over, sitting against a wall protruding from the floor, a gaping, bloody hole in its throat pouring black ooze down its chest. The environment around him manifested itself, but he couldn't work out the details. He just stared at the body, his own failing to move under his command. The eyes were still open, looking at the floor in the distance. And he realized he knew those eyes. They were his. That was him there, perforated and lifeless, beside himself in a pool of his own blood. Or was it his own blood?
And, as if something told him to, he turned his head and saw another body on the other side of him. It was… unrecognizable as well. And this one didn't have eyes. It was lying on its back, its skin pure white and untouched, like a painting preserved through time. He studied the eye sockets, perplexed at why they were empty. And he suddenly saw the pureness in its face, finally recognized its place in the world. It was not supposed to be here, it was not supposed to lie in a pool of blood next to the raggedy corpse of… himself. He felt pained to see it there, the beautiful image of the pale body suddenly disgusting him more than the ravaged figured on display to his left. He reached out to touch it and—
"Julian! Hey! Snap out of it!"
Thao's face shimmered into focus out of nowhere, taking over his entire field of vision. He was back on the ship again, the lights on and his other teammates around him.
"Got it. I cannot believe someone tried to gas this place." Rictor stopped the coolant leak and updated Thao to the condition of the engine. They had taken the ship without any casualties. Only Tyler and himself sustained any injury, and he was quickly regaining control over his body.
"You alright? We need to get you to sickbay—"
Julian raised his hand in defiance, "No. I mean yes. I… took a nasty bump to the head. Just give me a minute to catch my breath."
Thao looked concerned, but didn't say anything. He just assigned one of the scientists to help him up and check him out while he went to the bridge to help Gregors pilot this rig to Kenton. When the world stopped spinning, Julian tried everything in his power to forget the images in his head, the now vagrant flashes of misery that he soon couldn't piece together again.