Republican base at Biem Hoa, east guard post.
The corporal on duty couldn't believe it. A silhouette was heading straight towards him, through the minefields, without rushing or hiding in any way. He approached the screen door, armed his blaster and turned on the projector.
The walker was of average height, wrapped in a dust cover that was just above him boots. He noticed they weren't military models. Free French Corps, Special Forces, Lost scout? He saw no weapons, which made him even more intrigued.
Finally, the apparition arrived in front of the fence and came to a standstill three meters from the gate. The corporal did not still couldn't make out his face, concealed in the depth of the hood. He pronounced in a loud voice:
"Stop there! Who lives? Show your face and give the password!"
"You moron" replied the hood without bending down, "Do you think I could have crossed the fields of mines and surveillance robots if I wasn't one of yours?"
This reply pissed the soldier off tremendously. He had more than enough with members of the forces who spent their time treating regulars like servants. And after all an instruction is an instruction. He replied, bringing his hand to the door's alert button:
"No password, no passage!"
The dust cover shrugged. It was the last thing the corporal saw before he died.
"Why does we always have to waste our time with livestock? " Grumbled the hood for himself.
He opened the gate, then turned around in the frame and stood still for a few seconds.
In the minefield where he came from, a form emerged from the mud. She was also covered in a dust cover, but it had to consume three times more fabrics. The shape that had just unfolded was really giant, and had to contort itself to pass framing.
"You will act only on my orders" reminded the first appearance.
A vague grunt answered him. The one who spoke resumed:
"I don't feel it. I feel a force, but it is not her. They are trying to hide things from me"
Another growl.
"The prisoner's enclosure is in the middle of the base. But first the generators. We go in, but discreetly"
He didn't wait for the third growl, and sank among the bungalows, followed like his shadow by the giant.
Destroyer Imperial II, ESV262 "Destiny Blade", Main Lift.
Isse, Crebs and a motley platoon of Death Trooper and regular soldiers of the Internal Security Regiment stood in the engine room at the top of the chimney of the ship's main elevator. They were in a light spacewalk suit except the Death Troopers, whose the advanced armour could be used as a self-contained suit. They just put on a white suit of camouflage, covering them like a shroud.
One "black" broke the silence by addressing the other soldiers:
"Don't leave us in a second. If we're detected, it's gone"
"If we lose you, we're dead. Don't worry about it" replied one sergeant.
Isse took the stand-alone terminal given to her by the communications station and connected:
"This is Isse. We are ready"
"Wait again" replied a metallic voice. "Contact has not yet been made"
He put the terminal down and muttered:
"What the hell are the Reps doing? They're will get caught without reacting?"
Crebs replied: "It's never easy to go from hunter to hunted game"
"They looked for it!"
Everyone was equipped. The soldiers sat down and dozed off waiting for the signal. Crebs did the same.
"Loosen up" he said to Isse. "They might surrender before we have had to intervene"
The commander burst out laughing with a shrug.
Biem Hoa Republican base, central hospital.
Dull Dvar's dull suns lit up his room. An hour after he woke up, two soldiers were and tied him to the bed, and then one sat down beside her while the other remained in the room. faction in front of the open door.
Jay thought to herself: "They must be feeling remorse for leaving me alone"
Time passed. The soldier next to her looked bored to death. She ended up trying to break the ice:
"Is it common to put two soldiers on guard for a wounded prisoner?"
"No"
"Then why are you here?"
"Those are the orders"
Time passed, and to his astonishment the soldier resumed:
"You're going to be transferred to the frigate"
"Why?"
"Seeing the mess you've made, they must be in a hurry to send you back to the stars"
"That's right! I should have been raped in silence and said thank you!"
The soldier couldn't help smiling.
"Bloodhound screwed up, that's for sure. But he was degraded and sent to the bomb squad for it. It's a big price to pay!"
Jay replied: "If your commander lets these things pass, he will no longer be credible or obeyed"
A break and then Jay resumed:
"How long has it been since you arrived?"
"About three months..."
At that moment an officer appeared in the doorway. The soldier got up quickly and saluted.
"At ease, soldier. You may go out"
After he left, the newcomer turned to Jay and stood beside his bed.
"I'm the intelligence officer of the "Biem Hoa" base. I'd like to ask you a few questions before your transfer to the Angel of Mercy"
"I'm not supposed to tell you"
"Did you use hypervelocity boosters to reach us? "
"You know I did, or you wouldn't be here"
The officer didn't take off the insolence.
"What regiments were dropped off by your transporters? "
"I belong to the hunt, not the transport"
"Were Black Guard troops taken aboard your mothership?"
"Same answer, Officer. I don't frequent the Skitters"
"Did you have access to the records of Kuat's harbourmaster? "
She repressed her astonishment. What did that have to do with the conversation?
"I don't know what you're talking about"
"You didn't get any information about your navigation?"
"Dvar is perfectly located in relation to Kuat. There's no difficulty in reaching you"
"Do you know about the Mercy Nebula?"
"No. No one goes there, it's too dangerous"
"When did you leave your mothership?"
Jay exclaimed: "You know that, damn it! "
This answer gave her a grimace of pain as his broken ribs remembered.
The officer fell silent, letting Jay catch his breath. He finally said:
"We've had your central thruster sabotaged. Your destroyer had no chance of reaching Dvar, or any planet for that matter..."
"Seeing your questions, it might have been better for you"
"Maybe" nodded the officer, finally acknowledging the officer. He continued:
"You'll spend the day under observation, then be transported to the frigate tonight"
He was about to leave the room when he turned and said:
"We've lost all contact with the fleet. We're not worried, just a little intrigued"
He disappeared in the corridor and Jay found her Cerberus again.
Republican flagship RSV115 "Emancipator", terminal branch.
Jed had returned to the central post where four soldiers had been placed under his command. They immediately set off for their assigned post. Two soldiers carried a heavy blaster on a tripod, the third carried batteries and the fourth closed the march with a bag of offensive grenades. They had been reminded to use them only at the last extremity, as these weapons could damage the ship.
They passed the last intersection and Jed saw the pilots crouching down on either side of the corridor in the distance.
"Not a good location", he thought. He turned around and addressed the soldier carrying the magazines:
"What's in the rooms along that corridor? "
"Spare parts. The hangar is right under our feet and it's shorter for the mechanics"
"When we're in place, you'll get crates to form a barricade"
"Yes sir" answered the soldier.
They had arrived. Sven turned his head and recognized Jed.
"Lieutenant, did they lift your confinement?"
"Not really, but the "sister of the machine" told me we'll talk about it again"
"She's quite capable of doing that!" replied the pilot laughing.
He became serious again:
"They were in the bow holds. We took a look, there was an exchange of fire and one of my guys died"
"Did you get a chance to see how many of them there were?"
"No, it was too brief, but it certainly wasn't a lone trooper"
"Nothing to report since?"
"There's still a lot of noise, but we haven't seen anyone"
The lieutenant advanced to the end of the alley, which formed a T with the two auxiliary lanes. He glanced to both sides and saw no one except the body of the killed pilot who had been lying against the bulkhead. He then looked at the floor, and then his eyes looked up at the ceiling.
He was worried. Sven saw him and asked him:
"What are you looking for, Lieutenant?"
"If the imperials avoid contact, it is certainly to put them in a position of strength"
He turned around and addressed the soldiers:
"What's above us?"
"The artillery service platform. It's almost deserted and it's used to feed the turrets"
"So we can get to it?"
"Not from this level. It's isolated from the rest of the ship. Too much risk of explosion"
That answer pisses him off. He approached the terminal and dialled his access codes.
"If there's a risk of explosion, there's a thermal sensor, are not?"
Sven smiled.
"Well seen, lieutenant"
Jed was navigating the pages and menus. Finally he got to what he was looking for. The sign "Thermal sensors" appeared on the touch screen and the lieutenant put his index finger on it, Sven looking over his shoulder. The pilot exclaimed:
"What the hell...!"
Jed blamed the blow. The image of the entire floor was speckled with bright dots, some moving, some fixed. He saw with horror that the fixed dots were concentrated around the elevators.
He wasted no time counting them, but there must have been over a hundred.
He says a little to himself: "They were detected, but the alarm didn't go off"
"Not hot enough" replied one pilot.
"That's why they didn't insist with us", Sven added. "The radiation from their weapons could have betrayed them"
He regretted having closed the door. Maybe, if the engagement had been longer...
Jed strummed on the intercom. The lines were busy, so he decided to take a code blue. It worked, because
he heard Youlia's voice right away.
"What's going on, Lieutenant? Did you make contact?"
"No, sir. But I wish I had"
He explained the situation to her.
"They're concentrating around the elevators now. That's where they need to be countered"
"I'm sending men. Go to the bottom of the Capricorn Elevator. That's the closest you'll get to your position"
"Can't we cut the power to block them?"
"It will be useless, they will descend by the cages in abseiling"
Jed hung up and turned to the men around him:
"What's the fastest way to the Capricorn Elevator?"
"It leads to the workshops above the hangar. It's in the middle of our hallway"
"Let's go, and at a run!"
The two soldiers folded the blaster's feet back and loaded it onto their shoulders. The improvised troopers shook off without a word.