Slackers of the Inner Sphere
Chapter 11: Who goes there?

Pirate Point
Uninhabited system
Federated Commonwealth
3rd September 3064

Silently and if great care, the Merchant class Vital Spark edged close to the derelict Tracker class Surveillance ship, her rarely used manoeuvring jets swinging her round until the two ships sat side-by-side. A few more jets move the Spark closer until it was possible for a crewmember in an OMS suit to connect the two ships by a magnetic line, making it easier to move equipment and personnel between the two.

More lines were added, allowing the Tracker to draw power from the Spark's fusion reactor. Slowly at first, the dormant transport came back to life, her running lights flicking on for the first time in hundreds of years.

"It's a Phoenix Hawk." Swindelli looked up at the crate Taplin seemed so proud of, and shrugged, "A really, really old Phoenix Hawk."

"I know that, sir." The junior officer sighed, "But look at the model-type: PXH-HK2."

"PXH-HK2? Isn't that's a..."

"...Phoenix Hawk LAM: an honest-to-god Land/Air Mech! And probably in the same condition she was when she left the Allied AeroSpace Incorporated factory. We're talking advanced Star League era sensors, targeting and weapons systems. This baby alone is probably worth enough to re-fit all our Mech's and then some."

"Screw that: I'm keeping her!" Swindelli rubbed his hands together with glee, "I've always wanted a LAM. I even got myself simulator-rated to pilot one when I was a cadet: shouldn't take me too long to get back up to speck."

"Sir, LAM's are notoriously under-gunned and under-armoured. They're slower than most Aerospace fighters in the same weight-range in the air, and out-gunned by some half their size."

"Yeah, but they're still cool!"

"Power is holding steady at one third." One of the engineers from the Bulldog reported as she checked the feeds coming in from the nearby JumpShip, "We are ready to reinitialise the reactor at any time."

"Ok, let's ear our pay." Baker nodded, flicking a series of switches, "I just hope to God I'm as smart as I think I am..."

The lights dimmed momentarily, and then came back on as a low hum started to fill the room through the deck plates. The sound grew steadily as the banks of dials and monitors spaced around the room registered an increase in power supply, but they all suddenly dropped: the humming dieing away.

"We trip another circuit breaker?" Baker asked as the emergency lights came back on.

"That's a negative." Another tech reported, "Something cut the power forward of bulkhead 3."

"Crap!" Baker hissed, "Send a repair crew forward to have a look and see if it can be fixed."

"I've found the log." Humansquish sat at the navigation station, typing away at the main computer, "Ship's name is the SLS Wildfire, launched from the Delhi Ships, 17th October, 2465. Last entry is 22nd May, 2591: says here that her crew had to abandon ship when a seal blew on one of the Helium-3 tanks supplying the coolant system. They were picked up by another ship in the convoy they were using as cover."

"Something must have happened to stop them returning." Dimitri looked over his subordinates shoulder, "The Star League would not have abandoned a ship like this without good reason..." There was the sound of movement from outside the main hatch, and both men span round, drawing their side-arms instinctively. "Halt! Come forth to be recognised!" Dimitri ordered.

Dimities order was met with silence. The two men looked at each other, Humansquish pointing at his eyes, then the door, signalling that he would investigate while Dimitri covered him. The other MechWarrior nodded his agreement, levelling his laser carbine at the half open hatch, holding it tightly with both hands.

Humansquish gabbed one of the handrails and began to pull himself towards the hatch, his needler-pistol held tightly in his free hand. Edging closer towards the opening, he pressed his back up against the bulkhead. Gun at the ready, he slowly peeked out.

"Aaagh!" He yelled, his face turning white as he brought his gun round and fired it repeatable through the open hatch before hitting the emergency button that slammed it shut with enough force to snap a steel bar.

"What happened?" Dimitri asked; his gun still aimed at the now closed hatch, "Who was it?"

"I don't know WHAT the hell that was," Humansquish gasped, his heart racing, "But it sure as hell wasn't human!"

"By the unfinished book!" Dimitri grabbed his radio from his belt, "Major Swindelli, we have a situation..."

"Approaching the power distribution node now." One of the Tech's reported, the tiny camera in her helmet sending back a grainy image to the engine room, "No sign of systems failure or overload."

"Can you tell what happened yet?" Baker asked absently, pouring over the ships schematics.

"It looks almost like it's been...what the hell was that?" The image on the screen shifted suddenly, "Did you see that?"

"See what?" The second tech in the repair crew asked, shining a flashlight down the dark access tube, "It's just a shadow."

"Talk to me people." Baker looked up, the blueprints suddenly forgotten, "What's going on?"

"Sir, I swear that there's something further down the tunnel." The first tech insisted, "Something moving."

"I'm telling you there's nothing there." The second tech sounded equally adamant, "It's just a trick of the...SWEET MOTHER OF GOD!"

"HOLY CRAP: KILL IT, KILL IT!"

The voices became too confused and garbled; then the radio and video links suddenly died.

"Repair team one, report!" Baker grabbed the radio, "Repair team one, come in!"

"What is going on?" Steele propelled himself across the room, grabbing hold of a hand rail above the main engineering console, "What happened?"

"I don't know sir; I sent a repair crew to investigate a power outage in the forward section." Baker pulled out the schematics, "Just here, ahead of bulkhead 3. One of them reported seeing something, and then all hell broke loose!"

"Can you show me the record of what they saw?" Steele asked.

"Yeah..." Baker rewound the tape and started to play it in slow motion, the sound muted.

The low light level and poor quality of the cameras distorted almost everything, but finally one clear image filled the screen. It looked basically human, but the eyes were much larger, the nose and mouth almost non-existent. The arms were longer, double jointed, the legs looking almost the same. It was dressed in what might have been a crew jumpsuit, once upon a time, but it had been ripped and torn in many places, revealing grey, leathery skin below.

"By Kerensky's bones..." Steele looked pail and uncertain for the first time since Baker had met him, "It can not be."

"Sir?" The Sergeant asked, truly worried, "What is it sir?"

"An abomination: a perversion of all that the Clan's stand for." Steele took a step back, "Genecaste..."

To Be Continued…