(Sigma Mercenaries, Story 0001, Chapter 17: For The Right Reasons)

(2 April, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 0440 Hours Local Time)
(Hess' Quarters, Base Boarhound Admin Building, Terra 232)
(Day 16 of Campaign)

"Have I mentioned how much I dislike mornings?" Toni asked bluntly from the far side of the room.

"Once or twice," Sigma One said just as bluntly. "Only slightly less than I do." Hess took a few moments to scrub at his face with the palms of his hands, as something of an attempt to help stimulate himself toward consciousness. "Still, no morning workout today, we've got business today and we will need to gear up beforehand."

"Dibs on shower." Toni said a moment thereafter as she veritably threw herself out of bed in one motion.

"Have at it, I have some work to do before I hit the shower." Sigma One was not so energetic on departing his bed, but did make it to his desk before Toni started her shower. "Virtue, any major news or reports before I get into preparations for today's mission?"

"One major report from the field, Ambassador Stampede is preparing to move on to the next town west on his planned trek. He expects departure around 0900 hours," the Artificial Intelligence entity answered.

"Good, the sooner we can ensure friendly neighbors, the better." Hess checked that off his handwritten list of things to check up on for the day.

"The other major news item is that the expected arrival for the replacement parts at the nearby fusion power plant is today. Assuming no problems with off-the-shelf parts, the test firing of the power plant will be tomorrow."

"Also good news, means we can start improving living conditions around the area. Any word on the water plant?"

"Parts are still on order, and I have several anomalous readings from our own water plant inside the base. Technicians will inspect it today, we may have to effect repairs to it this week if my suspicions are correct."

Hess grunted acknowledgement. "Make it a priority, water is a critical asset for survival purposes."

"Noted, sir. One minor news item, the scheduled completion of the rune cutting will be today during your mission," Virtue continued as she also began slowly bringing the lights up in the room.

"Do we have a foundry tapped for filling the rune cuts?" Hess asked.

"We do, though they cannot make transport at this time. I have offered the use of the Gate Drives, if you are willing to green-light it," the AI entity admitted.

"Granted, and consider it a blanket authorization to bring in contractors or other needed personnel if we are not using the Drives for anything major elsewhere," Hess cut the AI loose on such matters.

"I will keep an electronic ear out for any such opportunities," Virtue acknowledged. "This concludes my reports, sir."

"All right, now for a quick review of the terrain at the mission site today. Virtue, can you calculate the maximum firing distance I will need to take shots at to silence my designated towers?" Hess asked.

"Checking now," Virtue answered. "Calculations confirmed. Longest range shot for your designated targets is 1830 meters."

"I was afraid of that," Hess said. "50-caliber can reach that far, but there are weapons with better accuracy at range and I am not shooting at armored targets so I don't need the AP ammunition."

"What caliber do you have in mind, sir?" Virtue asked.

"416 Barrett was starting to make a name for itself on my homeworld before I departed. Is it a known caliber in the here and now?"

"Yes, on the number one screen," Virtue lit up the screen with a comparison of the two rounds and ballistic tables for the two common match rounds in use in long-range-rifle competitions amongst the Star Empires. "The .416 Barrett round is still used in competition today, owing to its exceptional performance out past 4000 meters. Additionally, military loads that retain most of the round's accuracy while allowing for explosive, incendiary, or armor penetration results are available. The .416 Barrett APEX-T round, military designation M453, has equivalent coefficient, velocity, and trajectory to mid-age competition rounds, and allows for armor penetration up to 7 centimeters of RHA steel armor."

"With competition accuracy, I could get behind that. What is the availability of rifles and ammo?"

"Barrett Arms is still in business, if that is what you are asking. They do sales through ScrapNet just the same as many other manufacturers."

"Ah, I keep forgetting that purchase and transfer rules for firearms in the Multimage Empire are much different from the United States," Hess allowed.

"And even less restrictive here in Sigma," Virtue pointed out. "Shall I acquire a rifle and necessary munitions?"

"Please do so. I will need to sight it in and work up my ballistic tables before the mission."

-x-

Lieutenant Christiansen halted her team a couple yards short of the door to the training room. "Who would be down here at this time of day?"

Scarlett grunted. "I have no idea," she said after a moment.

"Listen," Pete said to the other team members. After they were quiet for a moment, they could clearly hear the sound of a big bore rifle, when most common small arms were not audible through the doors, necessitating a warning strobe over the door for incoming personnel to verify they had their hearing protection on. "That is some serious hardware, make sure you have your ears on," he did a press check against his own hearing protection just to be safe.

"10-4 to that, I don't need to lose any more of mine," Carl said after he slipped his headphones forward and switched on the audio filters.

"Well, time to find out who our mystery guest is," she said a moment before she thumbed the control to open the door. After the door had slid partially open, she was very thankful that her point man had reminded them to put their hearing protection on, as the concussive force coming out the door from the shot just taken by the rifleman inside was very significant. Before the doors fully opened, he had taken another shot, which still rattled their bones and chests just the same.

"The boss?" The best marksman on the team, Ikuno, was the first to recognize who was behind the rifle.

"Time to find out if we would be intruding," Carl said, then put action to word as he walked up to the table that Sigma One was using as a bench rest. At a distance of three meters, the blast coming out of the rifle was absolutely massive, made more so by the fact that it was being fired indoors in a largely concrete and metal shooting range. Thankfully, the round happened to be the last one in his magazine, after which he dropped the magazine out of the rifle and stood up to proper height. "Good morning, sir," Carl said before he said a can of ammunition on the end of the table opposite the marksman.

"Morning, trooper," Sigma One said as he pulled a round for the rifle out of an ammunition box sitting next to it. "Bit of practice before game time today, or just trying to settle nerves?"

"I'd be lying if I didn't say both," Carl said as he began loading his first magazine. Shortly thereafter, the rest of the team approached cautiously to some of the tables on either side of Sigma One. "New rifle?"

"Very familiar frame, different caliber. 416 Barrett, still hits the target like a freight train, ballistically it's more accurate out to almost half better range than a regular fifty caliber. Since a few of the shots I have to take are marginal for hitting concealed persons with a fifty caliber at the range, I figured an upgrade was in order."

"If I am reading your target right, you are definitely massacring the targets at the maximum range of this range," Ikuno said.

"I'll be practicing at better ranges here in a moment," the boss answered. "200 meters is the maximum static target range for this range, but if you count holoprojections on the back wall, your range is infinite. So here in the next hour, I'll be walking my shots out to about 2000 meters." He chuckled after a moment, then set the magazine down on the table below his rifle. "Hope you troops don't mind having your chest rattled, this thing makes almost as much noise as an actual fifty caliber."

"Would not be of much use if a little loud noise rendered us combat ineffective," Camille said with a grim chuckle.

"Well then, open range rules, just give me a shout if you need to move forward of the benches. Virtue, please initialize the extended range targets, 100 meter intervals, and change bench nine over to a wooden log palisade." Bench nine was the bench immediately to the right of where Ikuno had set up her ammunition can, which allowed the Rail Guard team to better close up together without an extra party in the middle of their shooting line.

Carl was the first of the Rail Guard with his weapon in action, mainly because he had not unloaded his magazines after the end of the train. It also helped that he was using the default weapon of the Rail Guard, the modern and very easily controlled UMP 40, and he started his practice run by firing single shots at one of the holographic targets 25 meters down range. For a combat situation, his accuracy would've been better than acceptable, but nowhere near that of the more experienced shooters on the team.

Harold was next in action for roughly the same reason, but his implement of choice was more appropriate for longer ranges: he started with targets at 100 meters, and after a few rounds started walking his rounds farther down range. In his case, it was helped by the fact that the rifle he was carrying used a 30-caliber round capable of reaching out to a thousand meters or more with good accuracy. It was quickly joined by the suppressed sniper rifle carried by the team marksman, but she started her target servicing from the far end of the range and worked her way closer, and just as surprising each shot Ikuno took was a headshot.

Conversely, the last person back in action was Sigma One, as the rest of the team had gone through at least a magazine apiece before he took his first shot of this next series. After his third shot, though, firing ceased on the range and the Rail Guard team watched as their ultimate commanding officer eliminated the simulated targets out to 800 meters, 900 meters, and a thousand meters on the first shot. It would also not be the last time that his shooting series interrupted the other practice on the range, namely for the shock of how far he was dropping the enemies.

-x-x-x-

(2 April, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 0815 Hours Local Time)
(Purchasing Division offices, Second floor, Base Boarhound Admin Building, Terra 232)
(Day 16 of Campaign)

The necessities of selling materials — and mostly answering questions about the material to be sold — had necessitated Megan Reishen splitting the purchasing group into two groups, one dedicated to purchasing and one dedicated to material sales. The personnel she tapped for the sales group were some of the more green Admin volunteers, but headed up by a lady that had done sales before, albeit as a showroom floor salesperson but sales nonetheless.

Serena T'Wellit had been very surprised that she was still moving up in the group, but quickly suppressed that thought. Two of her subordinates were Psionic, and she had to at least front as the commensurate professional on these matters. She had a lot of nerves for her rapidly-improving position, and now wanted to make sure that she had things going in the right directions so that she at least held this position for a while. If nothing else, doing enough of a good job to not get fired would give her time to find a route higher up the evolving corporate ladder or find a lateral transfer position more suited to her.

In terms of material to sell, she had two major sources of input: proceeds from the Purchasing Group that was designated for resale, or material from contracts designated for sale. Her search started just after she went on-duty at 0800, and by 0815 she had 500 listings filed on six different types of Amulets, five types of which were primarily geared for feminine use and the last being Gender Change amulets — not as rare as the feminie or masculine amulets, but still very rare and often subject to bidding wars.

By listing each amulet individually and not as lot purchase units, she was creating the preconditions for a bidding war that would garner headline attention.

-x-

(Same time as above)
(Manor of Lacie Jestgrip, Planet Huntress, Multimage Dimension M-6382)

Material Sales and Resales. Futures Trading. Metals Speculation. Stock Markets. Banking. Resource Exploitation. Lacie Jestgrip, 28, seventh generation in command of the Jestgrip Foundation, had earned her way into the top position in the family business by being just a hair more aggressive than her two elder brothers. She liked to joke with her girl friends that the margin had been 'pubic-hair thin', always a joke good for a laugh despite the appearance of her circle being a stodgy one, but at the end of the day she called the shots and her brothers were the 'cleanup crew' for when matters started shaking out in an incorrect direction.

And, even if fabulously wealthy and powerful, she was also the bearer of a medical problem that ate at her soul almost on a nightly basis. Due to some incorrect genetic engineering in the past of her family lines, a goodly portion of the female members of the Jestgrip family were naturally infertile — physically everything needed for pregnancy was there and ready to go, but a hormonal issue created by the genetic engineering prevented the preparation of an egg. Generations prior had worked their way around this problem with artificial egg harvesting and preparation, but the one time Lacie had tried, she had spent six months in the hospital and came close to cardiac arrest five times during that episode. Her doctors had recommended she not try again, and given how close she had come to being slain by the first try, she had heeded the advice.

For several years, she had alternated between rage at the genetic engineering of generations past and despair about her condition, until she had received a glimmer of hope from a new staff member: there was a small subset of magicks that could allow her to become pregnant. That staffer, a former Multimage Assault Mage, had explained to her that the Funeral Rune spell, though rarely used in civil company, could occasionally convert people into a rare subset of Runic Amulets that would do by Amulet Magic what the chemical cocktail had almost killed her trying to accomplish.

So, Lacie always started her day by looking over ScrapNet for any of these Amulets. Truth to tell, she only partially knew what she was looking for, but she thought she found a winner, so she grabbed her radio. "Violet, Lacie, you on this channel?" she asked on the facilities maintenance channel.

"I am on, what is happening?" Violet asked in response.

"Can you report to my office? I have something I need you to check out," Lacie asked.

"Will do, be there in 90," the former Assault Mage answered, meaning 90 seconds.

"Thank you," Lacie sat her radio down and drilled into the entry she was looking at. "Is this what I've been looking for?" she asked the monitor after a few moments.

"Am here, boss, what gives?" Violet asked after she entered the office and closed the door.

"Screen right," Lacie pointed to it after she moved the ScrapNet bid package entry over to the screen in question. "Is this what we discussed those months ago?"

"Oh holy shit, no, that is not the same thing. That is eminently more powerful than what we discussed," Violet said as she walked up to the monitor. "That is the base Rune in question, but that is a Deka iteration of it — ten charges, not just one."

"Ten charges?" Lacie asked. "Wow, but this is the right kind of Amulet, right?"

"Yes, it is, if you use this kind of amulet, and have some fun for a couple nights afterward, it should work," Violet said. "Though, if you use this Amulet and it does work, Decouplets, wow. I've never heard of successful Decouplets even with our medical advancements." She low-whistled at the thought of it.

"That would be one for the record books, then, but that's not what I am trying to accomplish here," Lacie said.

"Wait a minute, though," she closed her eyes and ran through some old mental notes on the matter. "If you have multiple users involved in the use of an Amulet, it splits the power of the Amulet evenly or as evenly as possible. So, if two people use the amulet, they would both be readied for quintuplets. Five people would get five sets of twins, or ten people would get a single each."

"But it could work?" Lacie asked as confirmation.

"Oh yes," Violet said. "We would need to figure out a way to split it, but this is the ticket you have been looking for."

"Finally," Lacie sighed. "I doubt I would use them all, but I think I will put a bid in for ten."

"What are they asking, and do they have any other offerings?" Violet asked. Lacie slugged the other offerings from Sigma Procurement and Sales to the right-hand monitor on that wall. "Oh shit, better and better."

"I am listening," Lacie said.

Violet was silent for a minute, nodding at the screen, grunting, and pointing, then suddenly whirled around to face her boss. "We need to call these guys," Violet said in a rush.

"I can arrange that."

-x-

(0830 hours)
(Purchasing Division offices, Second floor, Base Boarhound Admin Building, Terra 232)

"Holy shitbags," Bronson said with gusto as the bids kept flooding in for Serena's amulet offerings. The Sales group shared the bounties on sale profits between them, so when one did stellar, they all got a cut, and all their profits contributed to the pool.

"No joke, these are supposed to be a thousand C-bills each amulet, and here we are with the lowest bid price being 55,000," Melissa said in near-complete shock.

"Wow, look at that, the last thirty Amulet listings," Hans pointed comically at the right-hand edge of the screen. "500,000 an Amulet?"

"Better still," Serena half-croaked. A block of ten had bid up to 750,000 C-bills a bare moment after Hans had pointed out what was going on.

"And there goes another chunk of ten," Bronson highlighted another block of ten that had bid up to 900,000.

"Two just broke the one-million mark," Manami had been quiet thus far, but now weighed in.

"This is insanity!" Serena said. "Carl and Cedric are going to shit a brick when they hear how much their cut is going to be."

"We're just selling the damnable things, and our cut is going to be off the mother-loving wall!" Saunders said. "Look! Just had a brace of them jump up to 2 million C-bills apiece!"

"And same bidder as on the Enhancement Amulets panel, but that's 30 at 500,000 over there," Manami pointed out the obvious correlation between bid packs.

Virtue chimed a bell sound through the speakers in the Material Sales area. "The same bidder that just posted 2 million C-bills each for ten of the Pregnancy initiation runes is requesting a laser-gate call."

"Gods help us," Serena said. "Okay, everyone, game faces. Try not to look too stiff or happy. Professional, comprende?"

"Yes ma'am!" The personnel scattered back to their terminals and donned their headsets quickly enough.

"Virtue, connect the call please," Serena said before she leaned back against her desk.

"Connecting in five seconds." The screen wiped to black, then lit up with a view of a rather opulent office area and a lady that Serena realized was only a year or two older than herself.

"Hello," the lady in question said. "I am speaking to the Sigma Material Sales group?" she asked.

"Affirm, that's us ma'am," Serena answered. "How can I help you?"

"Before I finalize my bids, I wanted to confirm that the Amulets in package ending numbers 122708 are the amulets intended to induce pregnancy, correct?" she asked.

"Confirmed, they are," Serena said. "They are ten-power Amulets, though, definitely not recommended for single-person use."

"Thank you for confirming," the lady said with a nod. A moment later, the bids placed increased to 2.5 million C-bills on the ten Amulets in question. "If I may ask, how has Sigma acquired a hundred of these fabulously-powerful Amulets?"

Serena considered her tack for a moment, but decided that the best and only workable path here was the truth — lying would have no value here, the truth of the matter always got out.

-x-

Lacie watched the trooper on the far side of the Laser-Gate link consider her explanation for a moment, which she expected. There was probably a story involved, so any rational person would need to collect thoughts.

"These Amulets were picked up as part of a Contract we have with Master Executor Eric Atrebas. We are under orders to clear the Interdimensional Jumper Trains and capture or eliminate the Slavers that use those Trains for transport and larder. Those Slavers outright killed in actions on the Trains are subject to the Funeral Pyre Rune, and one of those Slavers was toasted down into the Amulets we are selling today."

"Good Gods," Violet said. "The Funeral Pyre Rune is used only on Dezgra, to prevent their being any sort of monument to their intransigence. Is this permissible?"

"Per Judgment of the Executors, Slavers are considered Dezgra, their command and control assets are considered Dezgra, their support is considered Dezgra, and those who purchase slaves are classified Dezgra as well," an older Elven gentleman answered for the group lead. "We can do with them whatever we deem necessary, and The Boss determined that we would field-expedient eliminate the bodies to lighten the logistics of the matter."

"Oh wow," Lacie recoiled in shock at the thought of such action, but the explanation made one thing clear to her: "So these press releases from the Star League Investigation Services that claim your contracts and evidence are all fabrications?"

"They are trying to muddy the waters and prevent us from gaining traction," the same Elven trooper answered. "They know that if word gets out, the protections they have relied on for the Trains evaporate, and with it the business model of the Slavers. If they can deny everything and the Press makes it stick, they can eventually bury us in noise."

"The Trains are real, very real," the chief material sales officer said. "I did the sales floor for appliances and tile in a store on my homeworld before a Train landed in the center of our town. I was kidnapped and pulled into a Train and would have been sold off as a sex slave, except for Sigma trapping the Train and clearing it. These Slavers, we want them dead, and if we can profit off killing them, more is the better."

"I need to see this," Lacie said automatically, completely without thinking about it. "If this is as bad as you imply, something needs to be done. Can you arrange a tour?" She extrapolated after a moment of considering where her mouth had just inadvertently taken her.

"That I don't know," the chief Material Sales officer answered. "Virtue, can you pass that question to The Boss?"

"Sigma One is presently preparing for operations to rescue prior-sold Slaves, I will enqueue the question for when he has time available. It may be several hours before an answer is avail — standby, Sigma One is freed up, inquiring now." Lacie considered that the voice of their AI entity was surprisingly natural, which was very often not the case with Star League AI entities. "What is your schedule like for tomorrow, ma'am?" the AI asked.

"I'm open tomorrow," Lacie said in a rush. Truth be told, she was not free, but her doctor's appointment for a general checkup could be easily postponed a week or two.

"Standby, changing circumstances," Virtue said. "Are you available to take a quick tour and discussion in the next hour?"

Lacie looked to her groundskeeper employee and fast friend. "Feel like taking a bit of a trip today, Violet?" she asked.

Violet didn't skip a beat: "Yes, milady, I am ready to see this one through."

Lacie looked back to the screen. "How do we do this?"

"I will Gate Drive you to the lobby of the Administration Building, where you will be met by the Material Sales personnel and some of the Militia for the tour. The exact course of the tour is to be determined," Virtue answered. "I am deploying a Gate Beacon to your office now," and on top of the coffee table across from Lacie's desk, a beacon landed next to the pot of chrysanthemum flowers she kept on it. "Please move the beacon to open floor area and close up on it."

"How close?" Violet asked after she placed it on the ground.

"Within touching distance is optimal," Virtue answered. On the screen, the six Material Sales troops had locked their terminals and departed, ostensibly to head down to the lobby to meet the guest. Lacie and Violet stood opposite each other, with the beacon between them, and stood ready. "Good positioning. Are you ready?"

"Ready," Violet answered. Lacie nodded a moment later.

-x-x-x-

(2 April, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 0900 Hours Local Time)
(West end of Mayville, Boarhound District, Terra 232)
(Day 16 of Campaign)

The Mayor of Mayville shook hands with Sigma's Protectorate Ambassador. "Thank you for everything, Vash," Zeke Noreaux said heartily.

"Thank you for stepping up and helping, Mayor," Vash said in turn. Since their arrival in the town, it had filled out with incoming refugees that were looking to resettle to the near-countryside as the first step towards a new life, and already plans were in the works for four more houses on the eastern side of the town.

"And to you two, Meryl, Millie, thank you for helping organize our joining the Protectorate," Zeke shook each of their hands just the same.

"A pleasure, Mayor, and thank you for the hospitality," Millie said cheerfully.

"I'm with the Mayor on this one, thank you all for making this a peaceable and beneficial transition," Sheriff Art Bartolis shook hands with Vash. "I hope you guys have as much luck going forward as it started here."

"I'm just glad we can do this peaceably," Vash said sincerely. "A territory war doesn't help anyone."

"Agreed, fighting over land plots won't make this any easier," Sheriff Annie Vellesse said. Art's territory was that of Mayville and the surrounding farmsteads, Annie's territory was Keptick and the surrounding farmsteads — Vash's next stop. "Thankfully, Mayor Jessup is a reasonable guy and is looking to cut in on the arrangement, if the detail work is good, that is," she said.

"That's what we're here for, to iron out the details," Meryl said.

"Safe travels to all of you," Zeke said as the group began loading into their vehicle for the drive down to Keptick. The sheriff had come to town by way of the trading vehicle from Keptick to ask the Ambassador over to her town, and would ride back to her home with the Ambassador.

Once the vehicle started up, Millie powered up the radio in it. "Boarhound, Ambassador One, heading to Keptick now. Any news from base?"

"Operations are scheduled for 1100 hours, will advise when operation has begun and when it is completed. No other news from the base at this time," Virtue reported immediately.

"Understood, thank you," Millie said before she hooked the microphone on the side of the radio set.

"What kind of operations, if I may ask?" Annie asked.

"We tracked down the whereabouts of some of the Slaves from the second Train, where they had been sold off to, and Sigma is going in to rescue them," Meryl answered the question.

"How many?" Annie asked, wondering what kind of tally they were expecting to rescue.

"At least twelve, though they think there are some thirty or forty slaves on the plantation they will hit," Meryl continued.

"Thirty or forty? Wow, this is a bigger problem than I thought possible," Annie said.

"It is big money," Meryl noted. "And where there is big money, it will eventually be misused."

"Too true," Annie noted after they passed the outskirts of Mayville. "There are a couple downed trees here after the first bend in the road, can this thing go offroad?"

"Easily," Vash said from the driver's seat.

The four persons in the vehicle were silent while Vash maneuvered around the downed trees. "Wonder if we can get the Engineers to come out and clear these trees?" Meryl asked. After a few moments of considering it, she sent an email to the head of the engineering group about it.

"That would be very welcomed," Annie said. "We have a couple north of Keptick on the N35 Highway that need to be removed as well, if possible," the Sheriff continued.

"I'll ask," Meryl wrote down a note for it.

"So, Vash, one thing that has been itching my brain, why the red trenchcoat?"

"It's a promise to a lady I once knew," Vash said after a moment. "A promise that I'd do what I could to help people," he paraphrased and semi-misdirected it in one sentence.

"And now that involves helping Sigma rebuild a world, since this is where we are," Millie said.

"And that's very awesome. Very crazy, but very awesome. You do realize the Star League is not going to take this sitting down?" Sheriff Annie pointed out.

"Probably won't leave us alone," Vash admitted. He had plenty of experience with governing entities trying to interfere with his life, so this was nothing new to him. "We'll just have to worry about them when they come along. Until then, I want to spread my personal message as far and wide as possible."

"And that is?" Annie asked, but received an answer that she thoroughly did not expect:

"That the universe is made of love and peace," Vash said calmly, but was smiling nonetheless.

Annie opened her mouth to say something, thought about it for a moment, then closed her mouth. She was silent for a full thirty seconds before she moved again: "Was not expecting that level of optimism on this world."

"I kinda like it, Mister Vash is always on the cheerful side," Millie said.

"I got used to it a while ago," Meryl shrugged famously. "In some ways, this planet is way better than our home, other ways it has a lot more problems."

"Yeah, the power vacuum created by the very rapid rout of the Star League Defense Force and governing entities has introduced a lot of suck to the world. Oh, careful on this next bend, Ambassador, if you oversteer you can end up in Farmer LeClerk's irrigation ditches."

"Thanks," Vash slowed down as he approached the curve, and was able to keep the HMMVW on the road.

"What do you need from Sigma most of all to help your outlook?" Meryl asked.

"Stability and sanity," Annie said. "The Star League was — is — very famous for doing nonsensical and flat insane things that they think are good governance. What we really want is the government to stop telling us how to live our lives and get out of our way so we can do what is right for us and those around us. If we can get there, it would be perfect," the Sheriff said with gusto.

"You might like what we have to say, then," Meryl nodded at the point.

-x-x-x-

(2 April, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 1015 Hours Local Time)
(Railhead Undercroft, Base Boarhound Admin Building, Terra 232)
(Day 16 of Campaign)

Lacie and Violet were the first two to emerge from the 915 car on the longer of the two Trains, 133628. "That rattled me," Lacie admitted after she stopped to catch her breath. She wasn't drained out of any manner of physical exertion, but the horror of what had transpired in the Trains.

"I did three tours, one as a vehicle driver and two as an Assault Mage, and I did not catch a whiff of this shit from any channel official or otherwise," Violet waved her finger at the Train car they had just departed.

"Different world when you see the on-the-rails reality," Lieutenant Christenson said. "This is the first of our two Contracts, put an end to these Trains. The other one is to ferret out and put an end to the Slavers themselves."

"And Material Sales gets to help finance it," Serena pointed out. "Here in the next few days we start selling off the material from the 523 Train, and when the scrap starts coming in from this one, we sell it off as well. Used material, of course, but there is big bucks in some of this."

Lacie shook her head ruefully. "When the stink about Sigma first hit the airwaves, I thought this was all bullshit."

"Now?" Megan asked. Lacie opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by Megan's radio beeping in:

"Rail Guard Team 1 assembled at the rally point, where are you L-T?" Cedric asked.

Megan pressed her PTT switch on the front of her body armor. "Back at the 915 car still, we'll head that way here in the next few minutes." At a length of 25 meters per car, they were about 4 kilometers away from the Railhead. To cover the distances, Megan had their Sprinter Scout Car for the mission with her to do VIP transport. "Has Sigma One arrived at the RP yet?"

"Negative, he's still OAA," Eyes were drawn to flashing lights in the distance, the warning lights for the ScrapNet pad activated, followed by the weird disconnect between hearing the warning klaxon over the radio and then hearing it echo throughout the cavernous Railhead. "L-T, you may want to come on down. The new command vehicle just arrived."

"Copy all," Megan let off her radio switch. "Ready to go?"

"I have seen enough," Lacie Jestgrip said, clearly haunted by what she had seen of the aftermath of the battles on the Trains.

-x-

(10 minutes later)
(ScrapNet pad, Railhead Undercroft)

"Sigma One on deck!" One of the Rail Guard troops from Team 2 shouted, and with it the operations personnel for today's mission all came to attention and saluted.

"At ease," Hess said as he came to position roughly in the center of the four groups involved in today's operations. Once settled, he unstepped the massive Barrett M107 rifle from his shoulder and rested the buttstock of it on the ground next to himself. "The Rail Guards were commissioned for the overarching purpose of making the use of the Trains an unprofitable and dangerous venture, but interdimensional slavery isn't limited to these hellwagons on rails. We can strip all the Trains out from under them and still not achieve our goal. Now, we have clear authorization to make every segment of the slavery loop unprofitable and hazardous to its practitioners, be it from the Slavers angle, the buyers angle, the Trains, their ships, does not matter where. Per Judgment of the Executors, we have carte blanche to put an end to this menace. Today we use it."

"Hell yes sir!" the pointman for RG Team 1 said with gusto.

"We have covered the battle plan more than once for this action. Orchestration for the operation now resides in the vehicle bay behind me, the Ursus command truck. We will stage to an area north of the objective and my team will approach on foot to firing position. Meyrin will have coordination and release authorization from the command vehicle. Do you have a vehicle crew?"

"Not really, sir," Meyrin admitted. "There aren't any among the ZAFT refugees, not with experience driving heavy vehicles. And I wouldn't know where to begin looking among the other groups."

"I volunteer, sir," An unrecognized lady standing with the Material Sales personnel said.

"And you are?" Hess asked.

"Violet Carelver, sir. Four years in vehicle crew, eight years as a Multimage Assault Mage," she answered immediately.

"I volunteer as well, though may not be of much use, sir," the slightly taller lady behind and to the right of Violet said. Hess recognized her from a screen capture Virtue had shown him of the morning's major amulet buyer, Lacie Jestgrip.

"I'm in as well, sir," the head of the Material Sales group said. Within seconds, the other five members of her team had volunteered as well.

"Huh, well, there you go Meyrin. You now have a crew and the rest of the staff for the command center," Sigma One said. "And with the Secret Service troops riding along, you also have a minor security detachment, should be enough to deal with any local threats short of a cavalry raid."

"We'll make it work, sir," Meyrin answered.

"Athrun, Lunamaria, are you geared up and ready for the op?" Hess asked the two pilots next.

"Go mission, sir!" Luna said quickly. Athrun nodded grimly.

"Sergeant Foley, your team?" he asked the three Rangers.

"Good to go, sir," Foley answered immediately.

"Launcelot?" Hess nodded to the Knight in equestion.

"We are prepared, sir," the lead for Team 2 answered.

"That reminds me, Scarlet, Camille, Irina, I can't officially order you three off the field, yet, but I want you three to operate smart today. Do your fighting from your vehicles, do not put yourselves in jeopardy unless absolutely necessary. Remember, this operation is against a plantation, not an organized military force. A little bit of leeway is available here, make use of it."

"Sir!" Scarlet acknowledged the orders.

"Megan, your team good to go?" Hess concluded the group checks.

"Hell yes sir!" Megan answered immediately. A couple of her subordinates cheered in acknowledgement.

"Very well. Any final questions, comments, similar?" Sigma One asked. After ten seconds, nobody stirred. "All right. Remember, make sure you come home alive, people. Let's avoid the necessity of notifying next of kin, follow?"

"Definitely, sir!" The Blue Dragon in Team 1 said loudly. Others around the group nodded to the point.

"That's that. Let's move out!"

"Sir!" roughly half the troops present shouted before they broke apart to man their vehicles.

-x-

Lacie followed close to Violet, figuring the former Multimage trooper knew what she was doing in volunteering. Truth to tell, Lacie had volunteered mostly in support of her friend and employee, but now that she was approaching the commander of these troops and had some time to think about it, the butterflies were setting in.

"Before anything else is said, are you sure you wish to volunteer?" Sigma One asked the two of them directly. "We are about to commit what can be classified as an act of war on foreign soil that is not a signatory of the Mercenary Accords. I cannot guarantee your safety if anything happens."

"After what I just saw, sir, I'll take that chance," Lacie said staunchly.

"Nothing new to me, sir," Violet said. "Mages are usually accorded extra hostility on the battlefield."

"All of our asses are on the line 24-7, sir, might as well do something creative about it," Bronson said. "Besides, same thing applies to you, chief."

"Too true," Sigma One said with a smile. "Welcome to the party, Miss Jestgrip," Hess presented his hand for a shake, which she readily took. Having shook hands with all manner of persons around the business world, she quickly gauged his handshake as mostly that of a skilled tradesman, though rather strong at that. "How was your tour?"

"A lot to take in, sir, and a hell of a lesson," Lacie answered. "You really got your start on the 523 Train?"

"Landed on my vegetable garden as I was preparing to go to work. I would have waited it out, except for a group of Slave escapees being gunned down between my house and my neighbor's house. With circumstances like that, I had to act; one thing leads to another, here we are. Less than 30 minutes until we take the fight to some slave owners to rescue the captive."

"This is probably an international incident in the making, but I'll help. Now, as well as after, since you need to start resettling some of the Slaves that don't want to go home or can't find their homes."

"Let's walk," Hess picked up the massive rifle by the carry handle and started for the command vehicle. "What are you proposing?"

"I'll have to work out the details, but anyone that wants to migrate to the Multimage Empire I can sponsor. At the size of my corporations, I can probably assist with about a hundred a week."

Holy shit, Hess thought but did not say aloud. A sponsorship throughput of a hundred persons a week was huge, which more than else told Hess that he was dealing with a power player. "What would be the requirements for sponsorship and immigration?"

Violet handled this answer for her boss: "Sponsored persons work for the business that sponsors them, or works for a contractor to that business, for a term of time set by the business. During that time, the sponsored persons work towards naturalization into full Multimage citizens. After they are released by the sponsor, a person can do what they want."

"I am thinking six months or when they finish their naturalization process, whichever is longer," Lacie said. "This gives the refugees a way out, a way into modern society."

The group had arrived at the side of the command vehicle. "Violet, what is the largest vehicle you have piloted?"

"35 tons, sir, Striker light fire support."

"Think you can handle 40 tons of command truck?" Hess asked in complete seriousness.

"Aff, sir."

"After you," Sigma One waved at the crew door in the side of the command truck. "We need to sort out the details of a sponsorship program, but I like the concept," he said to the guest-turned-volunteer as the rump crew for the mission filed in to the vehicle.

"Something about this just sets me off. I want to help, but —" She stopped mid sentence.

"You are not military?" Sigma One asked as a way to complete the hanging thought.

"Thank you, no, I am not."

Hess smiled. "Don't feel bad. I was a technician three weeks ago. Today, I just do what I can. After you," and again he waved for her to enter the command truck first.

Inside the truck, which was basically an infantry fighting vehicle with a command center in it, the personnel had divided up into their logical sections. The vehicle crew (driver, gunner, tank commander) had gone forward to their stations. The command center held the bulk of the personnel (9 total) in the center, and in the back was the infantry bay and access hatch for the troops. Most of the Secret Service had filtered to the back, but Moira and Neinke took seats in the command center to fill unused chairs, while Toni and Hess grabbed the roof-mounted brace handles so they could stay standing in the command center. Not hugely surprising to Hess, Lacie took a seat in the command center, while SSO Crystal took the gunner's position.

"Ready to go?" Meyrin asked the assembled crew from the side door into the vehicle. Everyone nodded affirmative and Moira gave a thumbs-up, so Meyrin tripped the automatic close actuator on the door to close and lock it. She sat down at the command station and slipped her headset on. "Violet, command pit, let's take her up to the Gate Flats northeast of Admin for staging."

"Copy," Violet answered over the intercom. "We need a callsign for the vehicle," she said after it lurched into motion.

"Merlin," Meyrin said immediately. "I always loved the old fairy-tales of wizards and such, now we live it!"

"Merlin it is," Violet changed the vehicle's identifier on the IFF system. "Virtue, Merlin, show us enroute to Gate Flats, please provide waypoint information," Violet requested on the base radio band.

"Copy all, IFF information registered for the vehicle and Nav points uploaded on your HUD. Godspeed to the rescue operation."

"Oh, hey sir, is that one of the new ART scopes? The ones by Xigon with the integrated camera feed?" Sidonia asked the Boss.

"It is," Hess said warily.

"Does it have the remote view option?" Rather than answer, Hess simply pulled the radio commo dongle from the scope and handed it to her.

"What's this about?" Moira asked.

"This will allow us to see and hear what Sigma One is doing in real time, through his scope's sight picture."

-x-x-x-

(2 April, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 1245 Hours Star League Standard Time)
(Personal Quarters of Mandy Glivenne)
(Day 16 of Campaign)

Senator Zoey Hajin cleared her throat after the prompting. "I have already forwarded my timetable to Lord Badamon for when I will return home, and I shall be briefing Emperor Talpa on the Senate's position in the hours after the action is concluded in Boarhound. I do not believe there will be any significant objection to the fait accompli at that time. After that, five days vacation and some consultation before I return to the Senate." What Senator Hajin did not say was that she had also explicitly informed her lover-at-home Warlord Raijin that she would be home, which meant some good and very wild sex while on vacation. She made no mention of this in present company because Senator Glivenne was a ladies-uber-alles misandric in most particulars and would scold the other Senators for sleeping with men — or for being men, in the case of the 38% of the Senate that was male.

"Good, very good," Senator Glivenne said. She had relayed the musings of Dark Warlord Cale from days past to Senator Hajin, who was rather disgusted that any such talk was happening from inside her home Empire. So, she would take pleasure in informing the Emperor's Court that the Star League had put an end to the adventuring and the dishonor of the Train Scrapping before it could properly take hold.

"I will be doing some shopping while on Dark Terra, do you have need of anything?" Zoey asked the elder and senior Senator.

"Yes, actually, I wish to try my hand making some homemade spring rolls, but the wrappers around here are abysmal. What say you to bringing some from your homeland?" Mandy asked.

"Can do," Zoey said.

Before anything else was said, the door chime rang. "Enter," Mandy cleared, given she expected she knew who the entrant would be.

"Afternoon," Senator Maria Nuone said as she entered. "Zoey," she acknowledged the other Senator in the room.

"Maria, Ohayo," Zoey nodded to the technically Junior Senator.

"Came to deliver some news," Maria took an offered chair at Mandy's table. "My brother reports they are two days out from the Jumpship that will transport them to the Terra 232 system, but once they dock they will have another 30 hours wait while the Jumpship finishes charging. After that, jump in, roughly two hours from pirate point to orbit, then hammer the Protectorate flat."

"Good news indeed," Mandy said. "If everything works out, I am considering appointing you to the Living Monuments Committee to oversee proper protection for the Trains and other similar works," Mandy said to help make sure that the Nuone family did not get cold feet from the prospects of bearding the Multimage Empire.

"Thank you, Senior Senator," Maria said with a smile. She knew it was flattery writ large, and something of a bribe in all but name, but at the end of the day it was another tick on her resume and it was family prestige on the line. The expected outcome would be worth the risk, especially since as a Senator she would be insulated if anything untoward happened.

"Also, I have drafted a bill to revoke the right of the Multimages to retaliate in any fashion against the Duchy of Nuone, to be voted on and signed while the attack is in progress. I will file it as soon as ComStar reports that combat is imminent on 232," Mandy promised, but would never realize that in so doing, she was condemning herself assuredly as a war criminal in the eyes of the Executors. She also did not know that the Mages already knew of the impending attack and planned to ignore any orders to stand down.

"It is only proper that we protect those who would correct the stains on the honor of the Star League and the Dynasty. I will co-sponsor the bill when it is introduced," Zoey said staunchly. Her trip home was planned for after the session of the Senate on the day in question, so she would have time to vote. "Ah, that reminds me, Maria, I shall be returning home after the session. Do you have anything you would like me to pick up before I return?"

"Pocky," Maria said simply. "Any flavor you can get your hands on, Pocky. Shipping unit quantities, if possible. I will compensate you for any you can acquire."

"Can do," Zoey said with a smile. She knew what store to hit up for pocky, and could probably raid their storehouse for the aforementioned shipping units.

"Anything else to report?" Mandy asked the two junior Senators. Both were silent for 20 seconds. "Well, then, what say you to lunch?"

-x-x-x-

"We are here," Meyrin reported semi-redundantly, given the groaning of the suspension systems and the slight impact from changing terrain meant the vehicle had changed locations abruptly.

"Perimeter appears clear," one of the Material Sales operators said.

"Merlin, Ghost-3-8, welcome to the party. Permission to come aboard?" A radio contact requested.

"Permission granted," Meyrin answered. "Infantry bay, open the back hatch please," she ordered next, which Sidonia did a moment later.

After the back hatch touched the ground, it rattled to the sound of metal footsteps on the walk plate. A second later, the Ghost in question dropped cloak and came visible to the troops within. "Welcome," Toni said, given she had already telepathically checked the Ghost out and knew roughly where she was physically.

"I had a hope going into this, but this is far more than expected. All of you are involved in the breaking of the slave cycle?" The Ghost Star Captain asked.

"We are now," Lacie admitted, then waved to the others. "Some more than others."

"Awesome. When the Executors spoke of this as a scourge, they were not joking. Now we can correct some of it," the Ghost said. "Hess?" She guessed correctly with a nod to the boss.

"Guilty," Sigma One answered. "Any updates?"

"Good news, actually. The tower immediately south of your designated platform is unoccupied today. From the coughing he was doing yesterday, I suspect bronchitis or a SARS virus. Center tower is normally unoccupied during the day, it is used only for the night watch officer."

"If he is smart, the sick leave will keep him out of the fire lanes here shortly," Hess acknowledged. "Better news still on the center tower. And the tower to the west?"

"Typical greenhorn prison guard. Spends 95 percent of his time looking inward and west. If you are swift, doing the northeast corner tower guard in a way that does not alert his buddies will be easy."

"And that is where I come in," Toni said. Where Sigma One was carrying the M107 rifle, Toni had his smaller Mk14 EBR with a suppressor for dropping the guard in the tower Hess intended to use as a sniper platform.

"I marked an optimal firing point with a violet glow stick and two alternates with red sticks. The alternates are far enough from the target that you can run up to them with decent cover. The optimal position will require a modicum of stealth to stage without being seen. Interface cable?" The Ghost pointed to a console next to Meyrin.

"Here," Meyrin fed out a length of cable and plugged it into the left forearm information console on the Ghost's armor. When plugged in, the Ghost uploaded the area map to the Command Center.

"Do you have any sensor drones?" The Ghost asked.

"No, we thought the Ghosts in the area could mesh up as a sensor point array?" Meyrin had discussed it with the Star Colonel yesterday during her training.

"Doable if there is nobody in the area. Standby one." What the Ghost did next was not audible to the Command truck, as it was done completely on their own radio channel. Fifteen seconds later: "We are clear, no contact in the area, uploading the mesh code to your console now." A couple seconds later, the screen refreshed with the five Ghosts involved in this segment of the operation, and with them access to their sensor pictures — a complete sensor mapping of the target facility and personnel.

"So, Toni, think you are ready to take a shot?" Hess asked.

"About to find out. Let's go." Toni tripped the side door actuator to exit the command vehicle and was outside in one stride.

-x-

Captain Talia Gladys had woke up this morning somewhat resigned to her fate, but very sore from her exertions over the prior days. She had thus far not been in the employ of the McAllister family for long, only a few days, but so far the manual work in question was every bit as laborious and painful as Talia had imagined. And, she figured it would get less painful in coming weeks as she became used to it, but she still cursed the turn of fate that had first taken her ship out from under her, and then put her on a farm in an alternate dimension from her homeworld and with little hope of rescue. Worse still was the fate of her crew, divided up and spread all over Existence, she imagined their fates to be as bad or worse than hers, and that was more wrenching to her than anything else.

Her assignment for the day was to hoe up an acre of ground toward the northeast corner of the plantation area. So, hoe in hand and water skin over her shoulder, she had dutifully set out not long after a very meager breakfast and laid into the task with gusto. After all, doing the job properly tended to keep the staff off one's back, which was not a bad thing in this situation. More than one of the personnel around the facility — not to mention the eldest son of the family — had been looking in her direction in a less-than-platonic fashion over the prior days.

About 20 percent into her task for the day, Talia very suddenly had an uneasy feeling in the back of her ear-bones, a feeling that she could not immediately place but knew it was a feeling associated with her prior military career. Whatever it was, she felt like it was coming from the north, but on looking in that direction she saw or audibly heard nothing. Just the presence of something that felt wildly wrong, and nothing to show for it.

She bent back down to the hoe for a moment, took a couple more digs at the ground, and this time she clearly recognized the sound that caused her arm and neck hairs to stand on end: a suppressed rifle shot, only barely audible where she was standing; followed by the sodden thump of an object that struck the wooden floor of the nearby observation tower. This time when she looked up, the guard that was supposed to be in the tower (Nils) was not visible, but the inside face of the southeast corner post was covered in blood and small flecks of what she could only guess was skull material.

"Oh, Good word!" Talia gasped after she saw two shooters stand up from prone positions just inside the edge of the nearby forest. One was a lady dressed in black, the second was a massive guy dressed in green, both with full modern combat gear and the guy set off at a trot pace with a submachine gun leading the way. Talia simply stared at the approaching soldier while he ran up to the tower and climbed the ladder up to the palisade tower platform. The most striking thing she caught sight of was the massive rifle slung over his back, easily a big-bore anti-material rifle of some kind, used for taking very long distance shots. That made him special forces of some type in her estimation.

"Who was that climbing the tower? Do you know?" the voice of the eldest son of the family caused Talia to wince, but she mastered her reaction.

"I don't know, not part of the forces I used to command," Talia answered.

"I'll alert — " the son had stopped next to Talia and reached for his revolver, but Talia quickly grabbed his arm and held it.

"No, wait! Whoever he was, he is a very serious player. If you try to alert the others or fire on him, you will be the first person he shoots dead," Talia said. "If you want to live, when the shooting starts, get down on the ground and stay down."

"Oh," the barely-19-years-old kid half-squeaked.

"It's about to start," Talia said after she recognized the muzzle brake of the massive rifle poke out between the tops of two palisade logs, aiming south into the distance. "Listen," she said as she heard the leading edge of a radio transmission — the beep of a call begun.

-x-

"Merlin, Sharpshooter, in position and sights are hot." Hess declared by radio.

"Copy all. Ranger, Merlin, all assets staged. Execute immediate," Meyrin ordered in the moments thereafter.

"Merlin, Ranger, executing now, arrival time 30 seconds."

Hess took a few extra moments to calm his breathing and get as comfortable as possible behind the scope. In the lower part of his peripheral vision, he could see the principal hostage for this mission — Captain Talia Gladys — tossed aside her hoe and dropped to the ground, and with it a local guy followed suit. "Huh, have to keep an eye on her," Hess said, given he really did not want a spoiled operation by a local willing to shoot hostages.

"Merlin, Ranger, 15 seconds out," Sergeant Foley declared.

"Merlin, Firewatch, we have eyes on towers, going vertical," Athrun said a moment before he jumped his Ground Combat Gundam into the sky and vectored to land on the tower immediately east of the main driveway.

The sound of jump jets and landing on one of the towers Death-From-Above style was utterly unmistakable to Hess, even in the farthest corner from it, and all the tower guards were now staring, so he braced in his rifle and took one last good breath to help calm his nerves. Once his sights were on, he began squeezing the trigger slowly while he focused on keeping the sights in place. His years of practice worked: Hess only partially knew when the rifle fired, so focused on his sight picture was he, at least until the target took the strike in the back just at the base of his neck and between the top edges of his shoulder blades. Such trauma was instantly fatal, he dropped to the ground in a heap and cleared the way for sight picture to the next (third) tower south. Still oblivious, this guy was also an easy shot for Sigma One.

The last tower on the eastern perimeter was dropped by Athrun's Mobile Suit with a couple well-placed rounds from the 120mm machine gun. Hess swung his rifle to the right, now facing west along the northern border of the property, and sighted up the next tower down the line. The guard must have been a little wiser than was initially thought of him, he sighted up Sigma One and fired a round from a lever-action rifle that struck the wooden log palisade siding of the tower. He never finished closing the breech of his rifle after the first shot before the .416 Barret APEX (Armor Piercing EXplosive) round struck true and liberated his head and neck from the rest of his torso. "Sharpshooter reporting three down, eastern wall is clear, working now on northern wall."

"Copy all, be advised Ranger team has entered the plantation, minimal resistance."

Sigma One double-tapped his radio control to acknowledge and zeroed in on the northwest corner tower. The rifleman in question was firing on Lunamaria's Gundam, a laughable exercise in futility for period weapons against a Gundam, and never saw the round coming from the tower on the far side of the northern border. The round struck him in the left shoulder blade (his back was mostly turned toward Sigma One) and ripped his left arm clear off as well as caused a significant amount of trauma to his chest. What was left was down below the level of the palisade on that tower a moment thereafter, and Hess began swinging his rifle southbound for the next tower on the western face of the property. "Northern wall clear, working my way down the west wall. What is the status?" Sigma one asked by radio.

"Southern towers are trashed, Rangers and Rail Guard have entered plantation and are engaging resisting forces. Major attempt at defense in place in the farmhouse, do you have a shot?"

"No tangos visible from this angle," Sigma One answered after a quick glance at the visible sections of the house. "Standby," He sighted up the next shot — over a kilometer distance — and tapped the range calculation on his scope. Once it was locked on the palisade wall for the tower, it gave an aimpoint some 6.8 meters above the target — Hess' hold-over point was well over the peak of the roof ballistically, though the advanced ART (Automatic Range Targeting) scope gave him the exact point in space to score a hit on the top edge of the palisade. A minor adjustment for the target's movement and position in the tower, then the focus as he squeezed off the round. On this shot, the wind was more of a factor than he had guessed, and the round passed to his right by well over a meter. So, after a moment, he recalculated the wind and put his sight at the right altitude with the Kentucky Windage (1) factored into his aimpoint. This shot he never remembered the recoil, but he did remember recentering on the target a bare moment before the round stuck him in the lower back and tore up his lower spine, both kidneys, liver, intestines, and doubled him over the palisade.

"I have the last, good shot on that one," Lunamaria put one round from the 155mm support cannon into the side of the last manned guard tower, which disintegrated the tower and the guard in a significant blast of Comp B explosives and old logs. Hess tracked the shooter's right arm and part of his rifle as it flew lazily toward the northwest and was lost in the canopy of some nearby trees.

"Sharpshooter, Ghost-3-3, danger close, shooter at the northeast corner of the farmhouse has your position!" Hess barely had his rifle on target before the tango took a shot — the round missed his head by roughly the width of his head — and he snapped a shot off using the cold zero and an aimpoint on the man's forehead. Bullet drop combined with angular ballistics caused the round to drop to throat level in the flight time, which since the round was an APEX round it very bloodily decapitated him. "Tango down, good shot."

"Merlin, Sharpshooter, all towers neutralized, what is our status?"

-x-

"Merlin, Ranger, we're still under fire from the house," Foley half-shouted into the radio. There was not much in the way of options he could call on, using tracers in the 50-caliber was pushing it given the all-wooden construction of the farmhouse. "Count minimum four tangos in the house still."

"Virtue, Sharpshooter, can you give me a firing solution through the house to take some of the pressure off the Ranger team?" Foley heard over the radio.

"Negative, no valid firing solution with your munitions on hand," Virtue answered after a few moments.

"I have this," Lunamaria said by radio. He could feel the steps from the Gundam as he continued to fire into the house, though the last step rattled him into throwing several wild shots. When he looked back behind himself, the Gundam's foot was barely two meters off his arse. The loudspeaker on the machine popped: "Attention persons in this farmhouse! You have to the count of ten to cease fire and surrender before I put a shell into the center of it and level the structure." To make the threat a valid one, Luna aimed the massive 155mm support cannon through the front door (and coincidentally at one of the enemy shooters). "One! Two! Three! Fo — " she stopped her chant when a white flag came out the second-story window.

"We surrender!" someone shouted. "Don't shoot! We have women and children in here!"

"Should have thought about them before firing on a heavy combatant team," Luna said bluntly. "All persons are to exit the house with your hands on top of your heads! If you come out armed, you will be shot!"

"Dunn, stay loose, stay awake," Foley said.

"Hooah," Dunn said from the gunner's cupola on the HMMVW.

"Merlin, Rail Guard 2 Lead, we have the slave's barracks secured. And nary a person within has refused extraction," Sir Launcelot reported.

"Merlin copies all. We need a head count on slaves, all Rail Guard teams check in."

"Rail Guard 1 reporting, we're bringing the field hands in, count seven from the west side of the house. All but one claim residence in the Star Empires or another dimension and all requesting asylum."

"Rail Guard 2, field hands and crew barracks, total count is 27," the team second for Rail Guard 2 said.

"Sharpshooter, I have one hotel within shouting distance of my position, and one tango who appears was talked down from joining the firefight."

"Rangers, we're working on taking a count as the mixed hotels and tangos come out of the house," Ramirez said. "Everyone out, line up along this path and keep your hands on top of your heads!" the Ranger Private shouted.

Foley helped square up the line of persons coming out of the house, and found himself somewhat surprised that there were no comments made that himself (an African-American) and Ramirez (a Guatemalan-American) had taken charge of them.

The HMMVW from Team 1 came up to and parked to the right of Luna's Gundam, and the four-troop crew jumped out — Megan, Quintin, Carl, and Ikuno. Foley was silently thankful that Scarlet was on the M2, having a pregnant lady running around on foot was not a risk he wanted to see taken.

"You want to clear the structure, Sergeant, or shall my team?" Megan asked after she stepped up to where Foley and Ramirez were standing guard over the group.

"Ramirez and I will see to it, Lieutenant, prisoner line is yours."

"Copy all, we have this." Megan tapped her radio switch. "Merlin, Rail Guard 1, Foley and one are doing sweep and clear of tango house."

-x-

"Shooting has stopped," the eldest son of the McAllister family said with some hope to voice.

"No more resistance," Talia said. "Now we wait to see what happens to us."

After a minute or two, Talia could not properly tell how long, she thought she heard an all-clear on the radio carried by the sniper, which was confirmed by the trooper coming up off his scope and standing up properly. As he started down the watchtower ladder, she stood up to proper standing and gave the eldest son a hand up as well. About halfway down the ladder, one of the wooden rungs broke under the trooper's weight and he dropped to the next step, which also broke under him, but he was able to catch himself before he fell off or down any farther. Neither ZAFT Captain nor plantation family member missed the rather profane curse he let out for the incident, but he continued down and did not seem too much worse for the wear by the landing at the bottom rung.

"What in the bloody hell is he?" the eldest son asked rhetorically. On the ground he appeared to be a giant of a man compared to the local fare, but Talia knew a goodly portion of his bulk was his gearset and the other portion was his mass.

"A sharpshooter," Talia said. After observing him as he approached, rifle on his back and with a sub-gun at the ready, she could only conclude that he was some form of specialist of a mildly-military form, given he would not have made physical standards for even the most lax brigades of the Earth Alliance. "And I suggest you be respectful, he just put seven of your comrades in an early grave."

"Good Lord," he muttered as the Specialist closed up on the two. From behind him, a lady in black armor similar to his OD green armor jogged up to and took position forward of the Specialist. She was carrying a much smaller marksman's rifle with a suppressor, which meant the initial shot fired that Talia had heard had been her.

"Captain Talia Gladys?" the Specialist asked of her as he approached.

"I am," Talia said with no hesitation. "Who are you?"

"Erich Hess, Sigma Mercenaries. Need to verify your ident, Captain, what is your birthday?" the Specialist asked.

"8 April, Cosmic Era 44, on PLANT Septarius 4," she answered immediately.

"What was the name of your ship and where was its home base?" he asked a bare moment after.

"Minerva, designation LHM-BB01, home port Armory One PLANT in L4. I have my dogtags for verification."

"Certainly," he said. Talia pulled her tags slowly and tossed them to the Specialist, who read them over quickly.

"You are a mercenary? Who put you under contract against us?" the eldest son asked angrily.

"What's your name, son?" the specialist sharpshooter asked.

"Edward McAllister."

-x-

Hess nodded. "Well, Edward, the flat truth of the matter is, I do not need a contract to emancipate slaves. Where I hail from, this is neither a job nor a contract, it is a public fucking service. Doubly so in the case of the Captain here, where extracting her means she can reunite with her crew that we have already largely rescued. So, I'm going to suggest you find a new line of work, kid, this one just dried up."

"I'm going to assemble a posse and take them back, then I'm going to come for you," Edward said in clear rage.

"No you won't," the specialist said.

"Why won't I?" Edward asked in defiance.

"Why? Simple. You're of at least a mild amount of intelligence, and you just watched your entire plantation sundered by a mercenary team, so this is a very good opportunity to change the course of your life for the better." Talia could see Edward gulp against the realization that the Specialist had the right of it. "Tonight and tomorrow, you're going to be busy burying your comrades, which will serve as a very stiff reminder of that lesson. The day after tomorrow, you are going to walk away and find yourself a new trade. A trade, I daresay, that does not involve slaveholding to any degree. You're going to learn that new trade and you are going to better your life for it. And in so doing, you and I shall never cross paths again. Because, if we do cross paths again in my duties of eliminating the Slavers and freeing their captured persons, next time I shall not be so forgiving. I will put a bullet between your eyes if I catch you in this wretched business again, no questions asked, no explanations accepted. I shall then order your lifeless sorry ass subjected to the Funeral Rune, and I will have the proceeds sold to finance another round of slave emancipations elsewhere in Existence. Binary solution set, kid, and I strongly suggest you pick the career path of those two that does not involve me ventilating your skull, understood?"

"Good Lord," Edward gaped.

"Ride's here," the lady in black armor and BDU said. Back at the forest edge, Talia saw a rather large armored wheeled vehicle bulldoze down a small tree and then plow through the low wall as it drove for where they were standing.

"That's yours?" Talia asked. It had a respectable turret assembly on top, five smaller gun ports in the turret, and what appeared to be a three-tube missile launcher built into the front of the vehicle next to the driver's cupola. The bulldozer blade on the front had not made much sense to Talia initially, but seeing it rip through the low wall in one go without breaking pace, it made perfect sense after the fact.

"Command truck. I hope you don't mind, I borrowed your Mobile Suit operator for this operation."

"Meyrin? You rescued her?" Talia asked.

"Athrun killed their captors and evaded, my train clearing team extracted them and got them to safety."

"Damn good, thank you," Talia said as the command truck stopped just past them. The back hatch opened and four more ladies in the black armor and arms exited the vehicle, two took knees at the end of the ramp, the other two closed up on the group.

"All Hotels accounted for, big guy," Sidonia said as she closed up. "Who's the stiff?"

"Edward McAllister," Hess said. "Be gentle with him, Sidonia. I just gave him a good dressing down and cause to find a new trade. Captain, if you will?" The big guy gestured to the hatch.

"Definitely — would it be possible for us to swing by the crew house? I have some personal effects there from my time in ZAFT," Talia requested as they walked toward the vehicle.

"Hope I don't see you later, kid," Sidonia said as she stepped away from Edward and tapped Moira to stand up and get back into the command truck. Moira tapped Sapphire to get back in, and the vehicle was buttoned up.

"Violet, swing by the crew barracks, Talia will need to collect personal effects before we depart," Hess shouted past the command section to the driver.

"Can do sir!" the driver shouted from the cupola.

"Ranger Team, once the hotels are secured, you may release the tangos to return to their house," Meyrin said. "Firewatch, Merlin, be advised, we have her."

"YES!" Luna half-shouted over the radio. Gauging by Talia's reaction, she recognized the voice.

-x-

"YES!" Talia clearly recognized the voice of Lunamaria over the radio, oddly better radio quality than even ZAFT used.

The command chair swiveled around and Talia caught sight of one of the persons she never expected to see again on this side of the mortal coil. Meyrin stood up in one swift motion to embrace her, and she was shocked enough by the gesture that she offered no resistance, much less decorum expected of an officer. "Captain! I thought we'd be permanently broken up until we were rescued by Sigma!"

For a moment Talia didn't know what to do, as several things were in conflict in her mind about it, never mind the sheer unexpectedness of the rescue today, but after a moment she gave into the one thing she knew she wanted to do and returned the embrace with her wayward Operator. "I still can't believe it, but it looks like we made it back together," Talia said.

"Coming up on the crew house!" the driver shouted back into the cabin. "Side door!"

"Here, I'll cover you Captain," Sidonia popped open the side hatch and stepped out to sweep the crew barracks. She was a few seconds before she shouted "Clear!" A moment thereafter, Talia was on the ground for the last time in this dimension.

"I don't need much," Talia said, she just grabbed the crate out from under her bed where she had stowed her ZAFT uniform from those days past. Her locket with her picture of her son was in as well, and some other effects that she had been allowed to pick up before she was shuffled off the ship and onto the Train. "Got it."

"Let's go, Captain," Sidonia said. Talia took one last look at the hovel that had been her 'home' for a little more than a week, then winced when a light flash pulsed through the room. "Have to take pictures of this for when the Star league wants to challenge us to put up evidence against their bullshit claim slavery isn't happening."

Talia nodded at the wisdom of it, and silently vowed she would do her damndest to accumulate evidence against the Slavers — starting with volunteering to Captain any warships for Sigma that might be assigned to hunting the Privateer-class ships down.

"Ready, trooper," Talia asked as she turned away from her cot. "Thank you. I'll need to talk to the head of your unit about enlisting."

"I'll talk to the boss about it," Sidonia said. "After you, Captain," Sidonia waved to the hatch and ramp to get up into the vehicle. After Talia was in, Sidonia entered and closed the door behind them.

"Buttoned up, let's roll Violet," Hess said after Talia took a seat in the infantry bay with the troops in black.

"Everybody is loaded up, all Hotels accounted for," one of the more soft-spoken operators said.

"Ghost Team, Merlin, thank you for the assistance on this op. Sigma is all mission objectives completed. Watch your asses out here, and we'll be back to emancipate some more in a week or two," Meyrin said from her command seat.

"Copy all, Merlin, pleasure doing some dirty deeds with you today. We shall set up a Ghost Staging Base in the region to conduct further ops, details will be forwarded to Star Colonel Storme. Have a good afternoon, Ghost Team 3 is out," an unrecognized voice answered.

"Let's bring 'em home, Meyrin. Issue nav points for the extraction," Hess said from a jumpseat next to the gunner's station.

"Will do, sir!" Meyrin tapped several commands out on her console. "Firewatch, Rangers, Rail Guards, nav points issued for extraction, we are out of here! March order Firewatch, Merlin, Rangers, Rail Guards 1 and 2, how copy?"

"Hooah!" "Firewatch copies," "Rail Guard acknowledges," "A pleasure!" Talia heard in rapid succession from the radio.

"Ninety seconds and we'll be back at base," Sidonia said to Talia as the vehicle lurched into motion.

"How did you find us?" Talia asked in a rush. She had over a dozen questions she wanted to ask, but that was the first one to find voice.

"We captured the 133628 Train and cleared it, and with that Train we captured their logs of acquisitions and sales," the lady with the suppressed DMR said. "From that, we quickly found where you were sold off and to whom you were sold, and with that planning the takedown and extraction became a lot easier."

"Here after we do a quick debrief, I'll introduce you to the Rail Guard team that cleared the 133628 Train and rescued most of your personnel," Sidonia said.

"We're at the extraction point," the driver half-shouted into the cabin area.

"Once everyone bunches up, signal for Gate Transfer," Meyrin told the rather-quiet operator to her right.

"Yes, milady," the operator answered. Ten seconds later: "Virtue, Merlin, ready for transfer home."

"Acknowledged, calculating Gate Lapse now. Ten seconds to transfer," the voice of Virtue answered by radio. Talia held her breath unconsciously for those ten seconds, then released it in a gasp-squeak that she covered her mouth for when the main exterior monitor changed scenery drastically. One moment, the camera was looking at some light forest surrounding a clearing area with a dreary overcast sky, the next moment they were looking at a large military headquarters building, a very large tree of some kind, and a bright blue sky with some minor puffy clouds.

"Home away from home," Meyrin said with a sigh. She was quickly drowned out by a cheer from the other personnel in the command truck.

-x-

(10 minutes later)

"That is what is left of the 133628 Train," Sidonia said with a wave of her finger toward it. Mosley's team was already working on dismantling it from the far end forward, though the far end of the Train was quite a distance down the undercroft.

Talia took a moment to walk down the length of the first engine car and stopped a couple meters from the coupler. "I remember this, this car, this guardrail," she said. "I never knew this possible until when we first encountered the Privateer-class ship. And then my firsthand lesson in modern slavery practices."

Talia ran her thumb across a scratch in the metal of the side rails, a scratch she knew from her prior encounter with the Train, she had gouged her hand on the same scratch when they loaded her crew onto the Train.

"I watched my crew slain on our first mission because we had no way of knowing the distress call we answered was a disguised Warship. I watched two heads of state shot dead ten meters from where I drifted, one of whom I knew personally. Just spent a week in a crop field working the land manually because some groups value slavery over technology." On this last point, Talia snorted. "The foreman said that they knew about farm machinery, but slaves don't need a mechanic like a tractor does so they do with what they can easily acquire."

"That is deplorable. Horrid. Why do people believe they have a right to enslave others?" Sidonia asked, though the question was not really directed.

"Before I return home, I will have an answer for that," Talia said with sheer determination in voice. "I believe somebody said that my crew has volunteered for service in the mercenary unit?" The captain asked.

"All of them, yes," Sidonia answered. "I don't know how many will remain on now that we have found you and the other missing engineering personnel."

"Who do I need to speak to about starting up a proper warship program for the mercenary unit? As long as the Slavers have their own warships, we will not be safe, no world will properly be safe."

The Secret Service Operations physical trainer grunted at the point. "Major projects like that? That would all go through the boss."

"How do I schedule an appointment?" Talia continued, knowing that somebody as important as the head of the mercenary unit would have a definite schedule to keep.

"Chances are pretty good he'll be willing to talk to you immediately, if not you schedule it with the SSO unit commander, Toni," she said. "Knowing him, he will be up in the induction center talking with some of the personnel involved with today's operations. We had to scratch up a makeshift crew to man the command vehicle, so he will probably be handling the debrief himself, see what can be improved and what we did properly."

"And I do need to go through the induction center, myself, I take it that is a first step to joining the mercenary unit?" The former ZAFT captain asked.

"That is usually where it starts," the security officer and physical trainer acknowledged. "Ready to go, or do you need a minute or two more?"

"I've seen enough, I confirmed enough, I am ready to go." Talia pushed away from the rails around the perimeter of the engine car and looked to the security officer. "Please lead the way."

Given they had not traveled too far down the line of the train, the march to the entryway up to the upper levels of the administration building was reasonably short. Talia did not miss the significance of the fusion engine room, nor did she miss the possibility of room for expansion in that room, as less than a third of the real estate in the room was taken up by fusion reactors and there was plenty of space to add more. At the stairs leading up to the second floor basement of the administration building, the two Armored Infantryman guarding the staircase came to attention in the traditional Magi fashion but did not salute; in contrast, both Sidonia and Talia saluted as they moved past. Another flight of stairs and they were up into the Halls below the Administration Building.

"So, what duty assignment do you hold with the mercenary unit?" Talia asked Sidonia as they passed the turnoff for the shooting range.

"Officially, my duty position is with the Protectorate, not the mercenary unit. We black uniform troops are the Secret Service Operations Group, we do a mix of security and staffing for the Administration level, and truth be told we need more personnel. I really need to hit the barracks, see if there's anybody else willing to take on this challenge. Personally, besides being a security troop, I also do physical training and conditioning for the Secret Service and for the administration personnel." The two ladies turned down a hallway marked with a blue line on the floor and followed it all the way into the induction center, where a goodly portion of the emancipated slaves were milling about nearby the registration tables, waiting for their chance to go through induction. Just as important, the largest amount of personnel involved in the rescue operation were also in the induction center, also speaking to the rescued hostages or enjoying a brief break while doing their after mission paperwork.

"I see one thing we need to do right off the bat, I can introduce you to the team that rescued the ZAFT personnel from the train right now, if you're willing to take a delay on the other for a few moments."

"Please, I would love to," Talia said immediately. She glanced briefly at the Specialist sharpshooter, who was speaking with several of the command center operators in a corner somewhat away from the other groups, but quickly turned back to where Sidonia was taking her.

"Megan, got a minute?" Sidonia asked as she walked up to a group of troops still in heavy arms and armor, but in urban camouflage as opposed to the straight black of the Secret Service Operations or the curious and rather rare OD green worn by the Specialist.

"Sure, what's up Sidonia?" The eldest lady in the formation asked. As far as Talia could gauge, the lady in question appeared to be only a couple years older than she was.

"I want to introduce you to the captain of the ZAFT troops that we rescued over the past couple days, Talia Gladys. Captain, this is Megan Christiansen, team commander for Rail Guard Team One, who cleared out the 133628 train. The rest of this motley crew is her two elements, Quintin, Scarlett, Carl, Ikuno, Harold, Pete, Cedric, and Camille."

"1300 cars, 26 kilometers total train, and damn glad to be in a position to rescue your troops," Megan offered the captain her hand to shake, of which Talia gladly did so. "Have you had a chance to verify that we rescued all of the troops that were pulled off your warship?"

"Not yet, I will have to talk to them all later today, but I think I am going to volunteer to do warship support or captaining for the Protectorate. I hope my crew will join in, I am going to need as many veteran troops as possible to help train new crews." She patted Megan on the back of her hand while still holding it from the shake, and nodded twice. "I owe you all a significant debt for rescuing my personnel, I don't know how I can repay it, right now I have nothing of standing or value," she said.

"Worry about it later," Pete said offhand. "We were just doing what we volunteered to do."

"We did what is proper, you really don't owe us a debt. But, if you're willing to join us in hunting down the Slavers, I think we'll be raising beers to each other quite a few times in the future," Megan said with a smile. "Just get your crew put back together, that's enough for today."

"Thank you," Talia said with a curt bow. After she came up from the bow, she saw in her peripheral vision as several groups of the existing Sigma personnel had left the room, including multiple of the Secret Service, the specialist, and the largest part of the crew members from the command center.

"Ha, boss just rolled out, must have a meeting or something is going on," Sidonia said, then tapped her radio control. "Toni, Sidonia, is something going on?"

"We just received word that the first of two Phalanx-class warships assigned to provide naval support to the Protectorate will arrive in a few minutes, and we have an intelligence briefing from the Magi commandos pertaining to the slavers that we handed over to them earlier in the week."

"Any way we can sneak Captain Gladys in for a meeting with the boss?" Sidonia asked immediately thereafter.

"To be determined, not sure if that can happen today or will be early tomorrow. Either way, the boss does want to talk to her. He says see her through induction and basic orientation, hopefully he can be freed up by then."

"Can do," Sidonia said. After she let off her radio switch, the Secret Service operator looked to the Captain apologetically. "Never such a thing as a straightforward plan around here."

"I kind of expect this, heads of state are busy people," Talia acknowledged the point.

-x-x-x-

(2 April, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 1515 Hours UTC)
(Commando Tribunal Facility, Underground Base Blacksword, Kolyma Mountain Range, Magadan Province, Russian Prefecture, Multimate Star Empire homeworld Terra-02)
(Day 16 of Campaign)

"The sheer depravity of these surats is wearing on me," Commando Intelligence Psionics Specialist Kayura Blake said with clear exasperation. "Every time I ask where they have the authority to completely violate any standard of decency and enslave people, I get some variation of 'fuck you' for my troubles."

"Not surprising," Commando Division Commander Stanythe Agrippa commented. "Still, the ones we have processed will haunt nor harass no further populations. What intelligence have we gained so far?"

"Much as we suspected, they answer to a Guild that is commissioned by the Star League Grand Council, but there is no official charter for such a Guild so it will be a black operation. The captured Slavers are part of a Training Cadre, this is not a veteran formation of their ranks. And, they internally estimate their ranks at or around 350,000 persons."

"Only other thing I got was confirmation of the Privateer-Class ships, and the name of the ship they last rendezvous with being Soul Arc," Psionic Specialist Keith McKenna said.

"Good, a name is a solid starting point. If we stumble across a Soul Arc, we will investigate it," Stanythe said. "Do you think you will have the remainder processed in the next ten days?" By which he meant Psionically searched for usable intel, then executed and disposed of as was the fate of any other war criminal to pass through the Commando Tribunal Facility.

"Aff, Division Commander," Kayura Blake said immediately. "I may request some leave afterwards to straighten myself out before the next round, though."

"Same, sir," Keith nodded twice.

"Do I need to bring in others, do rotating teams?" Stan asked after considering it a moment.

"I would defer on that until after this batch is done, sir," Keith said. The Psionic Specialists in the Commandos were a finite resource, and wasting them on even such a vile target as the Slavers was still an action to be taken only in extremis.

"We may be able to defer that decision for a time, but Sigma is not deferring their prosecution of the Trains," Stanythe pointed out. "They intend to trap and clear at least one more Train here in two weeks," Stan said. "I may be able to ask them to hold off, but I cannot make such a pace a standing policy. If Sigma averages fifteen Trains a year, it becomes child's play for the Star League to outstrip their clearing efforts with replacement Trains."

Keith sighed. "How much slack do we have in the Psionics, sir?" he asked. Technically Keith's rank was that of a Star Captain, but in practice Commando Psionic Specialists were treated roughly the same as Strategic Psionics elsewhere in the armed forces, and their counsel was valued even higher.

"I have some on low-level ops that I can recall, roughly a dozen total I could reasonably free up for this operation if I had to push a hot button," the Division Commander acknowledged.

"We will do what we can, sir, but this may require rotating teams to properly process these tangos over the long term," Keith said.

"I may need to steal some of the Psionics from our sister services in the Special Operations Division," Stan grumped. He still had the option to use the Commando Preemption Clause to press-gang personnel from other services, but that was not an option he favored using. It created undue hostility with the other Divisions, something he knew would complicate affairs going forward. On the other hand, asking politely was also a possible route to take, so… "I will ask around for volunteers. If you come across any critic-level intel, you know how to contact me."

"Aff, sir. We shall break these pukes down." Kayura and Keith both came to attention and departed Stanythe's office on the implicit dismissal.

Once his door closed, Stanythe tripped a locking mechanism to ensure nobody walked in on his next conversation. "Ai, place a Laser-Gate call to the Protectorate of Sigma, specifically to Sigma One, please."

"Call initiated, standby," the Artificial Intelligence entity for the Commando Base Blacksword answered immediately. The Laser-Gate transmitter that fed Blacksword had its terminus in the high-security server room under the Multimage Empire Administration Building in Yuhua Province of Old China, meaning that for someone to try to compromise the Laser-Gate channel and thus trace the location of Blacksword, they would have to pass some of the most demanding security in the Empire — including the Empress herself. Hacking the transmitter would reveal no intelligence, given that the transmitters were linked by magical gates, not technologic, and thus the transmitters only knew they had a laser link to a partner and no knowledge of where the partner was in Existence. "Call connected."

"Attention caller, this is AI Virtue, Protectorate of Sigma. Please identify yourself and your destination."

"Virtue, Division Commander Stanythe Agrippa, Multimage Commandos. I am uploading a verification token now," and Stan attached his codex to the communication panel on his desk, then issued a command to generate a one-time token for authentication and send it to the callee.

Five seconds elapsed. "Token received and verified, thank you sir. How may I direct your call?"

"Is Sigma One available for briefing on our findings from the Slavers he has turned over to the Commandos?" Stan asked.

"Command Administrator Hess is presently speaking to Star Admiral Yulie Siegel of the warship Lucerne's Anvil, should I inquire about breaking into the call?"

"Please request a party line, what I have to say will necessarily involve the Star Admiral as well," Stan said.

"Affirmative, stand by," Virtue acknowledged the point. Twenty seconds later: "Division Commander, I have the Sigma One and the Star Admiral on-line, connecting in three seconds." True to word, three seconds later, the DC was treated to a split-screen of Sigma One in a conference room and the bridge of a Phalanx-class ship.

"Good afternoon, Division Commander Agrippa," the Star Admiral said first. "Star Admiral Yulie Siegel of the ship and flotilla Lucerne's Anvil."

"Command Administrator Erich Hess, Protectorate of Sigma," the guy in the OD Green armor and BDUs said.

"Heard plenty about you already, Sigma One. Good to put a face to those deeds so far," Stan said.

"So, what's on your mind, Division Commander?" Hess asked.

"Couple good points of intel from the captured and interrogated Slavers," Stan said, which caused a frown from the Command Administrator.

"Have you processed them all this quickly?" Hess asked, a bit surprised going by his tone.

"Neg, only about 50 so far," Stan said. "What we have confirmed, though, is not pretty."

"No part of this arrangement is photogenic, but some parts are worse than others," Hess acknowledged that much offhand. "I'm listening, sir."

"First, we have from several Slavers that the Guild is commissioned by the Star League, but only under their Black Ops provisions, so unless you can capture documentation or very-high-ranking personnel, we have no official acknowledgement of it," Stan started the discussion with a rather loud stick as a way to test the waters.

"Not surprising, they would want some amount of insulation between themselves and the operators doing the dirty deeds for dirt cheap deals," Sigma One confirmed that he was already aware of it, which didn't surprise Stan. Still, the Division Commander figured a test was in order:

"What's your take on how to go about dealing with the insulation?" Stan asked.

"Oh, that's a simple one. Principles of electrical engineering. Every insulator has a critical voltage whereby it won't protect against an electrical arc. Question becomes, exactly how much voltage before someone on the protected side gets cooked?" Sigma One asked.

Stan nodded approval at the metaphor, given it was the proper answer for the scenario. Sigma didn't have a way to bust this one open, so they would have to keep grinding on the low-level agents, the Trains, the Privateer ships, until they produced enough material to bypass the protections afforded the Star League. How long that would take was anyone's guess, hence the metaphor's overarching question about what voltage they needed to do the job.

"No idea, so I guess we just keep feeding Slavers in and getting voltage out until someone sparks up," Stan said. "Next major point, the internal estimate of Slaver personnel is going to be in the neighborhood of 350,000 commissioned persons."

"That's more than I was internally estimating, and that's not going to be pretty to deal with in the long run," Sigma One said bluntly. "Still, so long as they don't organize a counteroffensive and just hammer the Protectorate flat, this becomes a calculation of attrition, and that's a game we are supremely sited to win in the long run."

"How so?" Stan asked, figuring this was also a good test point for the Command Administrator.

"Three sets of numbers involved here. One, the teams assigned to clear and strip down the Trains are some of our largest volunteer pools for people coming off the Trains. As little as two more trains like what we just cleared a couple nights ago and I will have enough volunteers for the Rail Guards to fill out a Regiment. Two, I haven't yet come across any Sigma trooper that thinks Slavers deserve to carry on their trade, and most of the troops want their asses on pikes. Keeping the captured Slavers alive may become more of a hassle than clearing them out to begin with, at some point in the future." That point was good for a grim chuckle from Stanythe. "Third, the Slavers themselves are caught in a position where they can't expand enough to simply powercrush us, otherwise they would draw the ire of the Big Six and thus deep-six their entire gig. The only other option they have is to expand to the point they are a continual nuisance, but eventually they run out of personnel faster than we expand. Oops."

"Interesting. May take you a couple decades, but I'm looking forward to seeing the end result." Hess shook his head negative on that point. "You think longer?"

"Easily 50, 60 years to clear out the Trains, assuming I fairly quickly ramp up on capturing the Trains. The biggest problem is going to be finding space for the refugees, just these two Trains resulted in a net population around 10,000 persons total. If you assume a Train has 10000 persons on average, and you extrapolate that across the entire span of Trains, that is around a billion and a half residents of a suddenly-nonexistent form of real estate. That is a lot of people to absorb even here on Terra 232, and that does not count the new production Trains the Star League will assuredly create."

This guy has thought this through, which meshes with my report from Lightbringer, Stan thought but did not say. "Makes sense. If you need extra manpower to clear Trains, Star Colonel Storme can scratch some up quickly enough. The Commandos are equally disgusted by the Slavers, you won't have to ask too loudly for volunteers."

"Thank you, sir!" Hess said.

"Okay, third point of intel, and this also goes to the Star Admiral, we have a name on the Privateer-class ship that hooked your Train, as well as soft confirmation the class of ships exists. The ship's name is Soul Arc, which is a fairly innocuous name for a dezgra ship of the line like this one. If it pops in, feel free to capture or destroy as needed."

"We want them intact if possible, gives us more Rail Beacons to bring in the Trains," Sigma One acknowledged.

That recommendation took the Division Commander aback briefly. "Now that is unexpected, and makes very good sense. Still, these ships are officially unicorns: they exist in intelligence reports, they don't exist with eyes-on proof or a captured vessel, so we need to hunt them down."

"I think I may have the start of a vector on that one, sir," Sigma One said.

"Listening," Stanythe said.

"Part of the emancipated persons from the second train includes a segment of a warship crew that does not match a known history from the various travels of the Star Empires or Star League. We just extracted the last couple personnel of the crew that survived the encounter with the Privateer, and most of them have volunteered to help with naval cadre. If that holds to the officers of the crew as well, I may be able to start forming up warship teams — assuming I can find ways to afford them, that is. Star warships are not a trivial expense."

"Too true, exceptionally so for mercenary commands," DC Agrippa acknowledged the point. "And, one last point of intel from what we have already picked up: the crew you were facing on the 133628 Train was a training cadre, mix of veterans and greenhorns."

Sigma One sighed. "After the fact, makes sense. Their actions, tactics, equipment sets always struck me as uneven at best, we should have had a much harder time than we did. If they were doing OJT, they learned the cruelty side of the business faster than the tactical side of it."

"Next time may not be so easy," Stan summed the issue up.

"Next time, training will tip the balance. Question is, whose training wins?" Sigma One sighed again. "The enemy always gets a vote."

Stanythe snorted. "Are you sure you are an American? You sound like you have internalized more than a few of our lessons."

"I used to be a system administrator and technician. Murphy is an old friend of mine," Signa One said deadpan. Stan chuckled grimly at the comparison, given he knew the Technician's trade was just as much subject to Murphy as was the soldier's duties.

The conversation would go on for a few minutes more, and would give Stanythe some better appreciation for the plight and foundation of the Protectorate of Sigma. And a solid respect for those persons caught in its territories or duties.

-x-x-x-

(2 April, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 1630 Hours Boarhound Time)
(Hangar FB-2, Base Boarhound northern runway adjacent facilities)
(Day 16 of Campaign)

"Just about… there!" Kyle bolted up to kneeling vertical and held the vacuum hose above his head. "We're done!"

"Holy Cremoly!" Victor Rhomson grunted after the vacuum shut off and stopped making noise. "That took longer than we thought!"

"And I never thought nordic rune was this hard to carve into ferrocrete, but here we are," Jerry, the elder son between the two Rhomson kids, collapsed backwards onto the ferrocrete deck. "We are done, though, which is good news."

"We'll need to report into the Administration Building, see where the Boss wants us to begin on the wall sigils and any other projects he might have a plan for." Victor was first to his feet, so he lent his elder son a hand in getting up as well. "Still have that band number for the civilian contractors?"

"Yeah, here," Kyle reached into a side pouch of his lunchbox and came out with a slip of paper. "Top number, dad."

"Grab the vacuum and your chisels, we're done here." Victor waved his sons towards the crew truck that Sigma had provided the use of for their gear and transport needs. The eldest Rhomson jumped into the driver's seat and keyed the vehicle on, then switched the radio on and dialed in the frequency that he had received from his son. "Central, Rhomson team, anyone on the channel?"

"Rhomson, Virtue, reading loud and clear. What is your status?"

"Building 2, rune 2, cutting and cleanout is completed. Is Sigma One available to discuss next projects?"

"Affirmative, he is preparing to meet the metal casting crew to finish up your project area and can meet your team at this time. Front atrium of the Admin Building, can you be here in ten minutes?"

Jerry opened the crew door behind Victor and climbed into the back seat. "We're ready to go, dad."

Victor keyed his microphone. "On our way now."

-x-

"I am so looking forward to this, but tomorrow we have that challenge from the other Secret Service agents, so…" Toni said as they came down from the second floor in the hallways behind the entry atrium.

"Still haven't peeked at the challenges?" Hess asked, by which he meant checked the minds of the other SSO troops to see what nefarious traps they had provided for Toni and Hess to test themselves on.

"No, definitely not! I like a surprise," Toni answered with a grin.

One turn and a couple paces later, they were in the atrium a few moments before the Rhomson team entered from the parking lot. "Victor Rhomson?" Hess prompted the guy in the lead.

"Yes sir! You must be Sigma One," the older gent of the group said. As they approached, Victor put a hand out for a shake, which Hess took readily.

"My apologies for not being able to receive you guys before you started on the job. Things are more than a little hectic around here."

"So I noticed, sir. And that rescue op this morning was absolutely nuts, especially the vehicle work," Victor nodded.

"Good team and good planning made that one workable," Sigma One said. "Emancipated 37 total slaves. This is the kind of shit that is not needed in modern society."

"Still disgusts me hearing about it, but what can you do? The Star League is supposed to be a government for the many member states, but nowadays they play themselves off as petty kings over all governments," Victor said. "I won't take a contract with them any more, they stiffed me twice in the past."

"Now that blows," Hess said, then saw Toni move in his right peripheral vision. "Victor, this is Toni Arduno, Secret Service Operations commander and probably the first volunteer for using the Rune once it is completed and enchanted."

"Pleasure, sir," Toni said with a shake of hands.

"These are my sons, Jerry and Kyle," Victor waved a finger between the two. "And they are trying to conspire to get us to drop anchor here."

Sigma One shrugged. "I can't guarantee much of a night life, yet, but I can guarantee quite a bit of work in coming months," Hess said. "Lot of buildings need to come down, and a lot of buildings need to go in their place."

"True," Victor nodded. "Which brings me to a question. Next task on my list is removing the Star League sigils on the walls. Where do you want me to start?"

"Southwest gate, work your way north along the west wall and wrap around. The western gates are going to be the high-traffic areas for now, at some point I may have you cut in the unit logo on the adjacent sigils to the gates so they can be cast and filled in the same fashion that you did the transformation runes," Sigma One said. "The plain wall faces, though, no need for that level of ego. The only people who would take notice of such artistry would be people intending to knock down the walls anyways."

"True, very true. Any objection to my crew taking a day off before we start?"

"Fine by me, I am reasonably sure the walls are not going to pick up and walk away in the interim," Sigma one said deadpan, which caused a wave of chuckles in Victor's sons. "Chow hall's open, I heard they are serving turkey tonight if you guys are interested."

"Thanks, sir, though if I can make a small request?" Victor asked.

"Listening," Sigma One said.

"Would like to see the first use of the Runes when it happens, all three of us would," Victor said in a rush.

"I think we can arrange that," Hess said with a nod. "Care for an audience, Toni?"

"Not at all, perfectly fine with it." She looked past the doors that Victor and his kids had come through. "Think the relief crew just arrived."

"Always the interesting times," Hess said after he caught sight of the lead person on the crew.

-x-

"Man, I am loving this place already," Daniella said after they were out of earshot of the Militia guys that had escorted them from the landing pad to the admin building.

"Not sure who we're meeting, but their boss-boss is one hard motherfucker," Lise said while watching the latest ComStar dispatch from Sigma. "Dropped seven guard towers in eight shots — ohshitthat'shim!" she said in a rush after the crew passed through the doors into the entry hall.

"That is? Massive," Yvonne said. He wasn't wearing the body armor and heavy combat gear she had seen prior clips of him wearing, but just the belt and H-Harness with drop-leg platforms was rather intimidating.

"Yo, come in!" the lady in black next to the big guy said, and waved them over.

"Got this," the unit lead said. "You the big boss?" Christina asked as she approached the group.

"Guilty as charged. You?"

"Christina, Metallurgica Magica," she offered her hand for a shake, which he readily took.

"Hess, Protectorate of Sigma," the guy answered. "Toni Arduno, Secret Service Operations lead," he gestured to the lady in the black armor. "Victor Rhomson and sons, they did the carving and clearing for the Runes you are about to pour," Sigma One waved a finger at the three.

"Damn glad to meet someone with the stones to carve runes specifically for avians," Christina offered Victor a hand to shake, which he did.

"Interesting project, and looking forward to seeing it in action," Victor answered. "Anything else for my crew, sir?" he asked Hess.

"Not for today, but definitely looking forward to seeing those eyesore sigils disappear one by one."

"We'll make that happen, my pleasure," Victor came to attention and saluted, which Hess did the same, and with that done the three disappeared into the labyrinth of the administration building.

"You're not messing with us, this is what it is about? You've been a Protectorate for less than three weeks and you're already thinking in this direction?" Christina asked. Sigma One simply nodded twice. "Why?"

"In the past three weeks, I have gone from being a specialist systems engineer and analyst, to an impromptu rescuer of slaves, to an organizer of a world in chaos, to an interdimensional mercenary, and now an interdimensional emancipator of Slaves. Couple days of late, I have wondered exactly how screwed up my karma had to be from prior lives to put me on this track. Other times, I wonder if I am doing enough, and the consideration of these Runes was borne of that concern at the same time as a discussion of potential vectors to a race war here in the Protectorate."

"So what's the plan?" Daniella asked abruptly.

"Make this as comfortable as possible to my troops and the persons coming off the Trains, those brought back in from the slaveholds around Existence. They are willing to spend blood and tears in service to trying to save lives and free the captured, the least I can do is see to people's needs and comforts in the interim — and that includes some of the more unusual requirements just as much as the mundane things."

Christina, being one of the more exceptional Platinum Dragons that had a modicum of psionic skills, took a moment to feel out Sigma One at the emotional level. She did not use her higher-level telepathy skills, since she recognized that Toni was a Phoenix and would easily sense any such try, but an emotional level check would tell her more than enough without tipping her hand — a person lying or trying to deceive felt different emotionally than someone who was being dead serious.

Christina was expecting the telltales of a lie, given she had heard similar more than once in her 131 years in Existence, but was rather surprised to not find any deception on the matter. It was enough of a shock to find an actual honest head of state that she flinched, but did not completely lose composure.

The metals specialist used her flinch to segue into something else that was on her mind: "Object if I make use of the Rune after it is prepared? And who do you have doing the enchanting?"

"Couple of troops in one of my train-clearing teams are doing the enchanting, one of which is a Blue Dragon," Sigma One said. "Once it is tested functional, it is open for use. Need to stretch your wings?"

"Been a while — how did — lemme guess, my hair?" Christina pointed to her shoulder-length ponytail of platinum hair. Hess simply nodded.

"I've seen a few platinum blondes and a few attempted dye jobs in that direction, but yours is quite a bit on the metallic side," Sigma One pointed out.

"He's right, chief," Brandii pointed out.

"Nice," Christina nodded twice with a smile. "After we're done pouring the Runes, I want to discuss options with you for other services. We bring a few things to the table."

"Let's see how the existing contract work runs, though I'll put a word out in the Engineering group for any special requests." Hess made to say something, but was cut off by his radio. After a moment of frustration, he tapped his radio toggle on his H-harness. "Go for Sigma One," he said.

"Sigma One, Virtue, be advised personnel for 1700 debrief are assembled."

"Copy, will be enroute shortly," Hess answered.

"We'll get started immediately," Christina said to forestall any kind of apology. "Do you object to us working overnight?"

"Your crew, your schedule, but the sooner the better on this one," Sigma One said.

-x-x-x-

(2 April, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 1515 Hours ComStar Standard Time)
(ComStar Main Administration Building, Brasilia, Brazil, Terra 02 (Multimage Star Empire homeworld))
Primus Hallestrom grimaced at the footage that she just watched.

"I know, Primus, that is some serious shit," Lunete Ueda nodded her understanding on the laser-gate telecom call between the two. "I am damn glad I was not eating anything when I saw that, I suspect I would have barfed for it. Only three of the seven he shot kept their heads, and this is the kind of thing that the peaceniks love to cite about weapons and munitions that are unduly cruel."

"I'm not even slightly phased by the Peaceniks, fuck them all and that horse that rode 'em raw-dog last night," Elaine dismissed that line of complaint readily. "My concern is that this is two major strikes in the ongoing cold war against slavery: number one, this is eyes on proof that the Slavery exists and is being fuelled by the Slaver's Guild. Two, this is Sigma operating off the reservation to rescue slaves, before we make this public we need to make sure the Executors know and can get ahead of it."

Lunete gasped, then grimaced. "Ma'am, are we supposed to, well, y'know?" She petered her sentence off.

"I know we have a reputation for impartiality that we need to protect, but on this subject, the Interdimensional Slave Trade, fuck 'em all with a serrated sex toy. ComStar is not going to sit idly by and just report on this matter, period, end of segment. If we can assist in bringing this scum down, we assist. That means you, me, MercNet, the ComGuard, ROM (2), whatever it takes. If we have to create backdated contracts to cover emancipation raids, we do so. If we have to strip all the metadata out of the video and holos we release of an incident, we do it. If we have to bury a report to protect further operations, that's the price of doing the right thing. It's not often we get an opportunity to support an honest-to-the-Gods honorable dude, and against the Star League Slaver's Guild, doubly so. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Not at all, Primus, not a damn bit," Lunete said with an approving nod. "How do we want to manage video going out from the Protectorate?" By which she was asking how she was supposed to submit material so it was sanitized before release to protect Sigma's ongoing operations.

"I am going to set up a specialty Production group solely for Sigma material. As the Protectorate grows and so does our presence, this group will expand as well. All material goes through them, they will have orders to vet all material and make sure we aren't compromising their operations going forward," Primus Hallestrom framed out the concept needed. "For now, submit your copy straight to me until I have the working group established."

"As ordered, ma'am," Demi-Precentor Ueda said.

"Keep on keepin' on, Lunete. Send in whatever you can that is noteworthy, we'll sort it out, sanitize it, and get the word out."

"Thank you, ma'am. Have a good afternoon!" Lunete switched off her side of the laser-gate link, which killed the call.

Elaine stared at the blank monitor for a few moments, then sighed and picked up her phone. One button press and her secretary picked up just outside her door. "Yes ma'am?"

"Mindy, I need ROM, ComGuard, MercNet, News, and HPG today for an unscheduled priority meet. Find me a time, please," she said.

"Will do, give me a couple minutes to arrange it," her executive secretary answered.

-x-

Lunete sighed at the turn of fate, something of a release of tension given the very abrupt call from the Primus. She had thought the release of combat footage something of a risque move, given how bloody it was to begin with, but the call from Primus Hallestrom had put an end to that line of thinking quickly enough. It wasn't that the footage was listed TV-MA (and rightfully so), the big malfunction was something Lunete had considered but not completely thought out: revealing too much about Sigma's ops was detrimental.

Now that ComStar was unofficially taking sides in the upcoming party, it would behoove her to make sure she submitted only secured and sensible content. Truth to tell, Lunete was very happy that her organization was taking sides, all too often she heard on the streets people complaining about ComStar not taking as much involvement as it should, as it was often rumored to have capabilities to do so but were unused, and after a while such comments stung to her. Going through journalism school, Lunete really did not consider that she would be in a position to make a difference, at least not on a very large scale, but after listening to what the Primus had to say, she now realized that she held the success of these operations in her hands to a significant degree.

A couple light taps on the door frame behind her caused the field reporter to look behind her. "How long have you been there?" Lunete asked the Precentor in command of the HPG.

"Honestly? About 30 seconds after the start of your conversation," Sylvianne said. "I really didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help hearing. I am sorry," the commanding officer of the HPG said sincerely.

"Better question is, do you object? I know we are pissing on our reputation for neutrality, but in this case I just can't stop myself for it." After she said it, Lunete was very much relieved that she had released her inner fears to somebody else in the team.

"Not at all," Sylvianne simply shrugged to accompany. "It is not something I often discuss, but when I was seven years old, I was almost abducted right off the face of my home world by a group of Slavers coming from one of these damned trains. I was able to get away from the Slaver that captured me because she had to let me go so she could get into a gunfight with a couple shop owners from the area that my mother and I were shopping around. I don't know what happened to the shop owners, I don't know what happened to the Slaver, I never really forced myself to look up that incident to see how it all happened, I just remember running for what seemed like eternity, that I hid behind a dumpster and waited until the gunfire stopped. And after it stopped, I waited some more, I couldn't force myself to move, and I just sat there. Thinking back on it, it had to be hours before I was rescued by a couple Armored Marines that were combing the area for any other escaped Slavers. After that, all I remember was jumping into my mother's arms and crying for quite a while. In the years after that, I forced myself to take every defensive class offered to Multimage citizens going through the regular schooling, and I even took advanced defensive classes when I was going through college, just make sure that if I was ever nearby a Train, I would know what to do. I never wanted to be afraid of the Slavers ever again, so I made sure of it."

"What brought you to ComStar? If you took that many defensive classes, you should have been easily set to enter the armed forces," Lunete asked after a moment.

"When I got older, I did three tours in the Intelligence Services of the Empire, and very quickly learned that only parts of the Empire are even vaguely aware of the proper threat the Trains present to civilization. I tried raising the alarms, but after a while I was reprimanded for it because of the Living Monument program and the protections it afforded to the trains and everybody on them. After I realized there was no way to correct the problem, and no stomach for even trying at an institutional level, I decided I would take a way out and joined ComStar in hopes that I could find a way through this group to do it."

"Sometimes, shining a flashlight on the cockroaches is the best remedy for it," Lunete said with a smile.

"True, but in this case, same problem, different organization." Sylvianne snorted, a derisive sound, but after a moment smiled nonetheless. "I thought, at least at the institutional level, there would not be much desire to take on this problem from inside this organization, but I stayed on, put my degree to good use, and figured if I could work my way into the ROM service I could see if there was in it appetite to begin disassembling the trains in a clandestine fashion, given that ComStar has done that and worse over the years. And then, this assignment came up, and I suspect the Primus read my mind at some point because I was the first person asked to take on the assignment here, and she explicitly said that we would be assisting in this contract."

"Yeah, the protections of the Living Monument program did not apply to Sigma, which means we get to disassemble the trains with something close to political cover for it," Lunete said with quite a bit of cheer. "When I took this job, I told the Primus that I would make sausage out of their genitals on live television with a smile about it, and to me disassembling the trains and showing the universe the results of it is every bit the fulfillment of that promise. And because the Executors are involved, there is not a damn thing the Star League can do about it."

Sylvianne shook her head negative. "Problem with the Star League is that it is a largely ego-driven being in the here and now. The longer this goes on, the more enraged they are going to become, and I don't see them taking this sitting down and rotating on it for too long. Hell, given some of the personalities involved, it is very possible they may have an attack force of some kind in route right now. So, for the foreseeable future, we're gonna do everything we can to support and shield the Protectorate, not just because it is what the Primus wants us to do, it is the right thing. We owe it to ourselves, and we owe it to the rest of Existence, and we're gonna report every facet of it that we can release, the good, the bad, the ugly, the bloodied, and the beautiful as it comes along. Whatever you need to do the job, you just ask me, I will make sure you get it," Precentor Sylvianne said with finality.

"Thank you, Precentor. For now, I think I'm good. Just have to get the story out and make sure my copy is clean enough to protect operations."

-x-

(90 minutes after the request for a meet went out)

Jeppe Kerry, the Senior Precentor for News, snorted loudly over the vid-com conference link. "Not often we get together for a meet, boss-lady. Something big happening?"

"Yes, we have a major happening that we need to get ahead of," Elaine said immediately. "I'll give the brief once, when we're all here. Still outstanding ComGuard." A bare moment after she made mention of the one missing person, the last screen lit up with the visage of the missing person. "Welcome to the party line, Mina," the Primus said after the video properly lashed up.

"What gives, my lady? I am out on maneuvers and receive a very sudden call to link up for a high-priority conference call," Precentor-ComStar Mina Chistu asked in some shock. Generally, when she was out on training maneuvers, the other command-level personnel left her alone.

"Now that we are all here, I will give you the complete run-down for those of us who are about to become involved but may not know the full story." Elaine sighed, then inhaled audibly to begin. "Now, for starters, everyone here is familiar to some degree with the ruckus around the Protectorate of Sigma?" Everyone involved nodded agreement. "Second, we are all aware that Sigma's first contracted duties are to eliminate the Jumper Trains and eliminate the Slaver's Guild, correct?"

"And that over the objections of the Star League saying the Guild in question does not exist?" Precentor-News Kerry asked.

"It exists, in all its very small wonders and very numerous horrors," Precentor-ROM Nil Kayeward said definitively. The oldest person amongst the senior-level Precentors at 230 years old, the full-blood Elven Precentor had seen eleven Primus positions opened up and filled, but never once applied for the position herself. "The Slaver's Guild is at or around 375,000 personnel on the black side of the Star League budget and command and control network. They exist, they are a very real threat, and Master Executor Atrebas is very much in the right to order their termination. Question is, what are we going to do about it?"

"We have our neutrality to consider, but hiding behind that is a completely dick move when we have all manner of assets to play in helping rescue slaves throughout Existence," Precentor-HPG Arun Chaudhri said. "If you're asking for opinions, Primus, I say we do what we can to help Sigma disassemble this threat."

"As do I," Precentor Chistu agreed with the HPG chief. "And I highly doubt there will be any guff from inside the ComGuard should the need arise to operate on this problem as well."

"My side of the service will take a big fucking hit from this," Precentor-News Kerry pointed out. "If it ever comes to light that we are helping Sigma, even pro bono, you know the accusations of double-dealing will suck a lot of the air of impartiality out of ComStar. And it won't take them long to start throwing those accusations in this environment, especially given how much the Star League hates us and the Protectorate already."

"Can you really sleep with yourself at night knowing you did not do something to help in elimination of slave trafficking?" Arun asked his slightly-older colleague from the News department.

Jeppe scrunched his face up for a moment, then snorted again. "I have two daughters at home, ages six and nine. I teleconference them nightly to make sure all is well in their lives, and do three days at home every week minimum. You can bet your last damn C-bill I would go out of my way to rescue them from whoever grabbed them, or straight-up murder the punks that harmed them or sold them into sex slavery. So, to answer the question on the table, no, I am not going to lose sleep on this matter, I am going to vote to aid the Protectorate from Hell in tearing down this bullshit, and I'll make sure we air every scrap of newsreel footage permitted along the way to try to kill the Star League off with Death by Embarrassment. Any objections?" Jeppe Kerry asked his peers.

"Actually, yes, on procedure," Primus Hallestrom said in the momentary silence thereafter. "We need to avoid airing everything we get from the Protectorate, we do not want to blow ongoing operations. We do not want to tip Sigma's hand for them. We do want to make things miserable for the Star League, just as they have actively fucked us over more than once I want to return the favor with a few trumps to go for good measure. We do want to feed them intelligence on Slaver operations as much as possible. We do want to extend our services to Sigma for as much as possible that we can reasonably do so. And we do want to start planning on taking an active role in the new Underground Railroad that Sigma has not yet planned on forming, but to which they will most certainly begin preparing in the next few weeks or months."

"Not familiar with that term, Primus, Underground Railroad?" Precentor Chaudhri asked.

"Natural History of Terra, United States, which means it is part of the history that Command Administrator Hess has lived. The Underground Railroad was a network of abolitionists that specialized in freeing slaves and moving them to non-slaveholding states so they were out of harm's way. Sigma will undoubtedly have to do the same or similar to a degree, as their operations expand they will need to emancipate and return home or emancipate and resettle."

"You have thought this through to a significant degree, Primus," Precentor-ROM Kayeward pointed out the obvious point of the call. "Speak to us of your intentions, and we shall hash out the methods."

Elaine nodded at the artful way she had been cut short by the most senior Precentor. "Not fooling you, am I? I've had a few days to think this through, and the more this goes on, the more I am convinced this is a worthy hill to die on as an institution, though after we start documenting the horror of this I doubt it will be us doing the dying."

"Any hill worth dying on is also a damn good spot to site your artillery batteries," Precentor-ComGuard Chistu said with a savage smile.

"Fair enough," Elaine nodded at her screen, though specifically was nodding to the other human lady in the department command positions. "Okay, my intentions are threefold. One, we will assemble a team of personnel dedicated to material coming out of Sigma, whose purpose is to sanitize collected footage and articles to prevent compromising their ongoing operations. Two, our intelligence services will begin collecting any information we can on the Slavers, their trade, their hostages, and their clientele, to be acted on by Sigma or other interested parties as time and situation allows. Three, we will begin preparations for providing support to the Sigma Underground Railroad with the intention of providing intelligence to them for locating missing person's homes or for providing a conduit to absorb and resettle persons removed from the Trains and Slavery emancipations. Any questions?"

"Makes perfect sense, though if I may suggest another method of assistance?" Precentor-ROM Nil Kayeward asked.

"Hit me," Elaine said deadpan. A few chuckles were had on the line, given her not-undeserved reputation in bedtime pursuits.

"We will begin preparing special teams of personnel from the ComGuard and ROM primarily but also including select personnel from specialist roles, with the express assignment to interdict the Trains or other means of Slaver transport and capture control of those transports for disposition by Sigma or other parties designated in the Emancipation Movement. And trust me on this if nothing else today, once word starts getting around about these shenanigans, it will become one hellish movement."

"Do we want to consider financial assistance to Sigma for today, and others in the future?" Precentor-News Kerry asked.

"For now, no," Elaine said. "At a future time, we can start playing with the numbers a bit, but for today we need to keep everything at least visibly on the level. If we tip our hand too quickly, the Star League may shut us out and make intelligence gathering that much harder."

"Agreed, the Star League Intelligence and Clandestine Services are largely incompetent, but not blind," Precentor-ROM Kayeward pointed out. "Eventually they will figure out what we are doing to aid and abet the modern-day abolitionists, but we need to take every action possible to prolong this discovery. Hence the scrubbing of footage and articles coming out of the Protectorate. I know three troops offhand to assign to the detail, ma'am," the Elven Precentor said.

"I've got a guy that is pretty good for ops planning that I think would be perfect for ops screening in this case," Precentor-ComGuard chimed in.

They would not be the last to recommend personnel for each of the proposed teams. Elaine sat back and watched as her subordinates hashed out the methods to make her madness come to life, and she watched with a smile.

Events coming up in the next several days would underscore the horrific need of those teams in the ongoing operations.

-x-x-x-

(2 April, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 1705 Hours Boarhound Time)
(Induction Center, Basement Level 1, Administration Building, Base Boarhound)

"Captain!" someone shouted once eyes were on the incoming personnel.

"You made it!" Lieutenant Yorinoma half-shouted as the assembled ZAFT troops surged towards their wayward command officer.

"I did," Captain Gladys said with some sadness to voice. "This is all that remains?"

"About forty of us total," Lieutenant Yorinoma said. "Midshipman Peterson was executed after the explosive ambush, and Mechanic Kelly Clarks was shot for getting mouthy with a Slaver the day they sieged the Slaver Fortress."

"And Warrant Officer Liam," one of the engine room technicians said.

"Aye, Liam," Yorinoma said. "We think he may have been a blue-on-blue during the Siege of Slaver Fort, we can't tell if the hit came from outside or from one of the Slavers inside. Tore him up heavily."

"I know," Talia said. She had reviewed the footage, and in following with Virtue's conclusion, it was blue-on-blue but from the use of a minigun by one of the Mage Commandos in very crowded quarters. If she would ever return home, she would have to pass that on to his next of kin, that he was slain in the attempt to rescue the hostages. Still, objectively she knew things could have been far worse, most of the hostages walked away alive from that fracas, when all it would have taken was one tango willing to scorch earth to have put a dozen (or more) of her crew in the ground as a way to spoil the operation.

"And the Chairman," Yorinoma said.

"We can't let them get away with this shit," one of the younger MS mechanics said.

"I know," Talia said. "I convened this meeting because we are in a gray zone, and we all have a decision to make," she continued, then stepped up onto a raised platform for a marshaler to direct traffic during normal use of the induction center. "Crew of the warship Minerva, listen up!" With a second, her crewmembers came quiet. "As of a week ago, we are effectively MIA according to ZAFT policy. They won't spend too much time looking for us, especially after they find the hulk of the Minerva and see what the recorder systems captured of our battle and the aftermath. Yesterday, we were captives, hostages, slaves. Today, we are ghosts, neither dead nor alive. We are caught between worlds with a weighty decision to make about our future."

"If it involves chasing them fucks down and sinking every one of those Privateer ships, count me in," a Warrant Officer from logistics said heartily. He was seconded by more than a few of the crew in his vicinity.

"That is one of the options," Talia said. "The other option is to bide our time until a path home can be found. A distant third would be to simply take residence here and start new lives. I cannot order you to take any of those options — ZAFT regulations do not allow for serving the allegiance of another state, even if our service would be in furtherance of ZAFT safety, security, and necessary vengeance. This decision is yours, individually."

"Captain, we're already signed up to join Sigma, every one of us," Lieutenant Yorinoma said. "Just as with the Hawkes and Zala, we're in to do 'em all."

"If you're willing to sign up, Captain, we're in to follow you into command of a new ship," Meyrin Hawke said as she entered the induction center ahead of Athrun and Luna. Bringing up the rear was one of the Secret Service troops that Talia didn't immediately recognize.

Talia looked over the crew for a few moments from her vantage point. "All of you have signed up? Not one dissenter?"

"A couple of us were on the fence when we were rescued, until we heard the full picture of the Slaver's Guild and what was supposed to happen to us," an Electrician lady with violet hair said. "After that, we swore vengeance to them at any cost."

Talia nodded three times. "Then it is settled. We are all in to go Privateer hunting," Captain Gladys said. "Where do we stand?"

"I handed over my maintenance buddy to Sigma One as my entry fee," one of the Mobile Suit mechanics said. "He said he's willing to try to build us a ship if we're willing to crew it, though it may be a while."

"I will talk to him here in thirty minutes about setting up a naval program."

-x-

"Time for your meet with the boss to discuss your proposal," Sidonia said to the guest in the Secret Service barracks.

"I shall see her over to the Boss's quarters," Neinke said as she approached Sidonia. "Have a request for the command level."

"All yours, Neinke," Sidonia said. "Lacie?" And Sidonia gestured to the quasi-SSO operator.

"Please lead the way," Lacie deferred to the rather reserved Operator. Neinke was out the door moments later, with Lacie a step behind. The distance to the door of the Command Administrator was only a few paces across the corridor, and the duty sentry thumbed them in without a word.

Neinke entered the quarters of Sigma One and immediately came to attention. "Presenting Miss Lacie Jestgrip for 1715 meet, sir," Neinke said formally.

"Come in, both of you," Hess waved both of them forward toward his desk, where he was seated going over two tablets and some miscellaneous paperwork. Lacie could hear the sound of the shower going as she passed the bathroom door, and was quick to notice —

"What is…" she trailed her sentence off after she saw the display case in the southeast corner of the room. A couple moments of examination of it confused her, until a thought came to mind. "Is this the gear you were using when you took on the first Train, sir?"

"Yes," Hess answered.

"Wow," she gaped, looking over the gear and the weapons. She didn't really know how long she had been looking at it, but her gaze kept drawing back to one artifact pinned on the front of one of his pouches, the Sheriff's Deputy badge. "Deputized to go into an impossible hostile situation. Did you even think twice about it?"

"No," Hess had approached while she was looking over the gear, and his answer partially spooked her from how close he was. "I thought about it once and that was it. Just enough to draw up a quarter-ass plan and convince the Sheriff that it was not a straight-up suicide run. After I settled in for the night here in Boarhound, I realized what a colossal gamble it was, and how insanely lucky we were in that circumstance. But here we are, doing a job that the largest part of Existence does not even know needs to be done."

"True," Lacue turned away from the display case. "Toni's bed?" she waved a finger at the separate bed.

"She insisted, but sleeping on a couch is bad for one's back long-term, so I had a bed put in for her," Hess said.

"And you have a metals crew pouring runes for said avians to do transformations," Lacie took the thought in a direction that she realized that Sigma One was not expecting. On a whim, she decided a test was in order: "It's all chance, really," she said cryptically.

"Some, yes, not all of it," Sigma One said in counter.

"How so?" Lacue continued the test.

Sigma One waved them toward his desk in the center rear of the room, and started limping his way himself. Both Lacie and Neinke could tell the way he was walking meant he had injured his left leg in some fashion during the day's operation. "The initiation is by chance, but beyond that, once you start acting on the circumstances, chance becomes less of a factor than your own actions or intentions," Sigma One said as he took to his desk. "Your chance of the day was finding the auctions for the Amulets being sold off by the Material Sales group, which lead to you choosing to come here to survey the landscape, and thereafter to tour the Train, and thence to volunteer to join the command crew. By the by, how did your bidding war turn out?"

"I missed two of the Master Amulets and four of the Enhancement Amulets, but that is plenty," Lacie said. "I definitely don't expect to use all eight of the Amulets, but since they don't lose power, I can hand them down to my children — assuming this works as I think it will."

"Excellent, at least that much went mostly to plan today," Sigma One said. "And, again I thank you for the assistance today during operations and for the help of Violet to pilot the command truck."

"I'd do it again if needed," Lacie said definitively. "As frightening as it was, being in hostile territory, I'd do it again." After the fact, Lacie realized that Sigma One had defused her question adroitly with an answer that she was not expecting. "This is horrible, the slave trade is real? We have to do something about it, not just you guys."

"We are under commission to do this," Hess said staunchly. "If you are involved, I cannot guarantee that the Slavers will not target you or your corporations in retribution."

"We don't have to do anything major or direct," Lacie countered. "We can provide indirect support to free up your personnel to do the heavy lifting. We can support your induction efforts, provide food, medical, shelter to the Train evacuees, we can help resettle persons who don't want to go home or stay in the Protectorate, we have options."

"Huh," Sigma One snorted. "A modern-day underground Railroad."

"Pardon?" Lacie asked.

"History of my homeland. A bit more than 120 years before I was born, we had to forcibly emancipate the Slaves held in certain territories of my country. What happened before the American Civil War was an institution called the Underground Railroad — a decentralized network of persons and businesses who moved the Slaves out of occupied territory in hops, providing food, shelter, clothes, supplies, and travel to get the freed Slaves to safe territory."

"Decentralized network," Lacie said in echo of Hess' explanation. "I've got it!"

"I am listening," Hess said calmly. Internally he was not all that calm, as this conversation was headed in directions that he could not predict — and that was a rather exciting turn of events for him, all else being equal.

"I was planning on absorbing an amount of Slaves myself in my corporations, but what you explained makes just as much sense — we blend the plans. I will take a group on, absorb those who want to join the Jestgrip Foundation, move the rest onward to other groups and persons who want to assist. I'll start networking with some of my friends and business contacts, I know a few right now who would participate and some that I think may join just on the principle. How much can you absorb for touring the Trains and explaining what you are doing?"

"Quite a bit, I'm willing to expend resources to get the word out, even if it is word of mouth and bypasses normal channels," Sigma One said. "If you run into someone who can help but wants confirmation, I'll arrange a tour," Hess nodded at the evolving concept.

Lacie resolved that it would not necessarily be Sigma One doing the tours, she would see if she could arrange tour groups and do that much herself — Sigma's assets were better directed to working on the main problem, she would organize the support structure as best as she could. Part of her soul felt as if she owed that much to Sigma just for the Amulets, but another part of her soul chided her mind for such a vapid motivation, so she settled on doing the right thing for the right reasons.

"All right, then, Jestgrip Foundation becomes the first stop on the New Underground Railroad," Lacie said. She stood up and presented her hand for a shake, which Command Administrator Hess took readily.

"Once you have the clandestine infrastructure set up on your side, have them contact Virtue to begin arrangements," Hess said. "Virtue, once everything is in motion inside the Jestgrip Foundation and in federated organizations, we'll need to begin moving people out from the resettlement list. Also, schedule a briefing for me with Nereus for tomorrow evening, we can't make protections for this public but the Executors will need to know what is happening."

"I have it scheduled for 1930 tomorrow," Virtue said.

"And a day that starts with chance yields yet another decision that heads in the right direction," Hess said.

"And one more choice is in play," Lacie said as she sat down again. "Neinke?"

"I was wondering about that, given I sent Sidonia over to the barracks to escort you," Hess nodded to Lacie. "So, Neinke, what is on your mind?"

-x-

Neinke was caught slightly unawares courtesy of the rapid shift in the conversation, but not completely flat-footed in that she had been preparing for this request for some hours now. As a result, the businesswoman and the Command Administrator were staring at her for a few seconds while Neinke sorted herself out and began.

"When we first spoke about a choice of a future here in the Protectorate, sir, you suggested I should take a few days to understand and choose my path based on what I want to do in the future. Today, I have found what I wish to learn, if you are willing to allow it," the displaced Knight said.

"Listening," Signa One prompted.

"I believe I wish to learn the arts of the Operator, and that of the operational planning and force command," Neinke said in something of a rush, which caused a bit of confusion in Hess given her accent.

Still, she realized after a moment that he had understood enough to properly understand her. "In short, you seek to learn the arts of force command? The other two skills are part of the overall force command skillset, as are other facets."

"If this is permissible, sir," Neinke said.

"Why would it not be?" Hess asked in some confusion.

Neinke blanched at the oversight she had just allowed to cloud her request. "By the edicts of the Kingdom of Havon, it is not permitted for ladies, even of noble station, to take command of military forces. We may command only small groups, such as with the Knights Eloquence or the Jarver Society, but there are no ladies in command of the standing army or reserve forces." She sighed. "This, despite the rather obvious fact that the present Knight-Captain of the Knights Eloquence is a more capable commander of troops than the largest part of the nobility."

"Not surprising, to be perfectly honest," Sigma One said. "Societies that would allow or encourage women to take command roles are the rarity in the annals of history, not the expectation. Still, no such limitation exists in Magi society, and I would encourage any person with the skills to take whatever position they can hold in Sigma society — including command positions, if that is what you would desire and can achieve."

"It is not denied?" Neinke asked to make sure she was not mishearing or misunderstanding what Sigma One had said.

"It is encouraged, to be honest. I need persons who can lead, and I need persons who can lead and more importantly want to lead. There is a terrible weight to the duty of command, Neinke, you are responsible for yourself and your actions but just as much so for those below you and their actions. And the higher you go on the chain of command, the more your actions will affect — for better or worse. You will want to keep that in mind going forward, but I have no doubt that you can do the task and do it well. Your operations this morning on the Operator's station has proved that with alacrity."

"This is a relief," Neinke said with a sigh and a nod.

"This is a beginning, to be proper about it," Sigma One said. "Now that you have determined where you want to go, your next step is to determine how to get there. First, you will need to determine what road you shall take to a command position, as there are many possible directions to that status, and not all are equal paths. What modern discipline of warfare has caught your attention so far?"

That answer was easy enough for Neinke: "The arts of the modern infantry are the closest to my duties of the Knight, especially those of the Armored Infantry. Is such a program available?"

"There is, but the qualifications for it are fairly steep," Sigma One said, having read up on the necessary quals from Clint. "If you go that route, be prepared for serious training, and be warned that I intend the Armored Infantry to be the heavy-hitters on a wide swath of contract and combat duties."

Neinke quickly realized that it would be hazardous, but just exactly what she intended — needed — for her personal goals. If she was ever to prove to her homeland that a lady could master the art of war to the same skill or better than some of the men in the Kingdom, she figured she would have to walk back in the door at the head of an army and with a gold-plated record of achievements to prove the fact before a single word was said.

And working on one of the harder combat details would be the best bet possible to achieve that goal.

"I will endeavor to prepare myself for this challenge, if you will allow me a week's time to study my course and the requirements?" Neinke requested.

"One week it is," Sigma One said. "Virtue, morning of the 10th, Neinke reports to Basic Training with a selected course of Armored Infantry and intention to Officer Candidate Program," he said to the speaker above his desk.

"I will have the registration readied within the hour," Virtue said immediately.

"I suspect I can guess what your drive for this challenge is, and being a successful commander of forces is a necessity of it," Hess said. "I do not begrudge you the goal, that you intend to prove the reality does not conform to the whims of those who would deny you a proper commission in the forces of your homeland. Still, remember one thing going forward: Sigma defends its own. You have set yourself a challenge, but you are not condemned to face it alone."

"Thank you, sir, but for the final segment of the task I have set myself, it is necessarily my quest to see to the end. The shape of it may change beforehand, but that last little bit is something I must see to myself," she answered the offer in what she hoped was a gracious fashion.

"Then we shall see where this leads, what becomes of it," Hess said. "Anything else remaining, Neinke, Lacie?"

"No sir, thank you for the very interesting day," Lacie said.

-x-

After Talia arrived at the top of the stairs, she saw the door to the Command Administrator's apartment and office open and two of the female operators from the command truck exited, one she had not heard speak at all, the other was rather soft-spoken to Talia's way of gauging these things, a strange juxtaposition but not impossible from what she had discovered about Sigma in the past hours.

Still, a plan was a plan and she had to speak to Sigma One about it. So, she waited a few moments as the two Operators (?) entered the door across the hallway from the quarters of the Command Administrator, then stepped up to the sentry and came to attention. "Captain Talia Gladys to speak to Sigma One if he is available."

"He may be, standby," the SSO trooper said, then toggled her radio. "Boss, Moira, have Captain Gladys here to speak to you if available?" she requested.

"See her in, please," Sigma One requested. The Secret Service operator thumbed into the door and waved her in, then escorted her to the desk towards the back of the room where Command Administrator Hess was sitting.

On the approach, Talia found herself a bit surprised that the specialist whose rifle work dropped the largest amount of the guard tower sentries was also the man who called the shots for the Protectorate. Without the armor and rifle he was quite a bit smaller than earlier in the day, but still much larger on standing up than she expected of military personnel. Even still, either as a soldier or a head of state, respect was due and she came to attention properly with a salute after she arrived at the chairs. "Captain Talia Gladys, warship Minerva," she announced herself.

Sigma One also came to attention and saluted, though slightly differently from the fashion ZAFT used. "Command Administrator Erich Hess, Protectorate of Sigma." Both dropped the salute at the same time. "Please be seated, Captain."

"Thank you," Talia took the right-hand seat, but was aware of the presence of the SSO behind her and to the right. Which made perfect sense in context, Sigma was hunting a group that officially did not exist and would want to use any necessary amount of force to stay on the 'officially did not exist' list as opposed to the 'wanted dead or alive' list or worse still the 'did exist but now is dead' list.

"So, what is on your mind, Captain?" Hess asked.

"I have spoken with my former crew, and we are all in on joining Sigma for vengeance. Is that allowed?" Talia asked calmly.

"Yes, with one provision: no loose cannons on deck. You can hate the Slavers to whatever degree you feel appropriate, but the mission comes first. If you are good with that, we're good with it as well," Hess said. "Thinking about naval options?"

"I have been," Talia answered with what she hoped was a level voice. In addition to his rifle work, it was starting to look like Sigma One did his homework in full and on time, which was a reassuring sign. "Does the Protectorate have naval intentions?"

"Intentions? Yes. Actual naval facilities, ships, or any measure of the wherewithal to build a navy? Not in the slightest." Sigma One sighed. "The Privateer class ships are probably what is on your mind, same as mine, Captain. That is a lot of ship being crewed by some unsavory pirates with the capability of glassing real estate in addition to what it can do — has done — to other shipping. I don't doubt for a moment that the Slavers may gain access to other ships as a way to bolster their fleet, especially if it becomes evident they are being hunted. So yes, we will eventually have need of naval forces of our own, but I really don't see that happening for some time, sadly."

"What about beginning with a head-start on it?" Talia asked. "A navy is not built from whole cloth in one pass, it has to begin with building in small steps — that is how ZAFT built its navy into enough of a force to stymie the Earth Alliance. We started small, a couple ships bolstered by what defected ships we could use from the Earth Alliance, and what merchantmen we could refit with crude weapon systems. As much as Sigma may have a huge head-start with the Multimage Empire backing us, it still has to start small and build up from there."

"I will admit to having only a cursory knowledge of military affairs overall, and even less understanding of naval policy or procedure than that. You have the floor, Captain, I am listening," Hess said.

"I saw the supermassive ship the Magi have sent as naval cadre and support. Sigma's navy can't start there, that is far too massive to be affordable for any length of time. On the other hand, every notable power has much smaller ships — some ships smaller than common Dropships, even — and there is where there is room to work with, room to grow, and room to work contracts. How much do you know about ship classes?"

"I know some of the modern names, but only a little about how they are used," Hess admitted.

"In increasing size, you have patrol boats, corvettes, destroyers, frigates, cruisers, battlecruisers, battleships, and adding the Big Six's major classes, Dreadnoughts, Superdreadnoughts, and Ultradreadnoughts. As size increases, speed is reduced somewhat while armor and guns increase on a geometric curve. Carriers traditionally are larger than Battleships, but practically can fit in there anywhere in terms of size. There are utility ship classes in there, special designs and such, but those are the big classes. For Sigma, the critical consideration is that we start small — PT boats, Corvettes, Destroyers. What you need is naval engineering to start small, and naval expertise to train the small crews needed for the ships. I am willing to do both, sir."

"And the class of ship you were Captain on? The Minerva?" Hess asked.

"Not jump capable, and what I have learned of jump-capable vessels in the past couple hours, not convertible. On the other hand, they cover the second leg of what Sigma needs ships for: the contract circuit." Talia saw his reaction to that note, and figured she had just touched a major point in his mind. "I take it there is a lot of contract work available for ships?"

"Massive amounts, especially concerning major global wars such as World War 1 and World War 2, but also contract work for space warships just the same. I suppose this is where you say you have ideas about how to go about solving the contracts and the overarching threat of the Slaver's small navy, on the provision that you get a crack at the Privateer ships?" Hess asked.

"I will not be false about this, Command Administrator. I want vengeance, and I want to put an end to the Slaver's Guild in its entirety. If you give me a shot at them, I pledge myself and my surviving crew to Sigma to build up a navy."

"All right," Hess said. "As much as we won't be in a position to do much about it for a while, even starting small, it has to start on the drawing board and the classroom. Henceforth, I am assigning you to Training and Doctrine under my number two guy, Administrator Clint Jamieson, so you can hammer out the structure of a navy for the Protectorate. You report to his office tomorrow at 0900 hours. I'll warn him you are coming, Captain."

"Thank you, sir. I'll need to begin preparing materials tonight for that initial meeting."

"I won't occupy you any longer, then. Welcome to Sigma, Captain Gladys," Hess said as he stood up and saluted again. Talia returned the gesture, turned smartly, and was out the door shortly thereafter.


Author's Chapter Afterword:

Seventeen chapters into the pilot for the Sigma stories, and things look more and more grim by the day.

Not that Sigma is not completing it's task, per se. On that note, the efforts of the Rail Guard are absolutely herculean in result compared to prior progress on the matter. In all real terms, Sigma is well ahead of the curve of expectations on these matters. The largest standing issue with compromising the slave trade now becomes one of logistics and personnel: freeing slaves is all well and good, providing shelter and resources for the emancipated persons becomes the bigger challenge of the day at this time. And, as was pointed out by Sigma One, the expected average of recovered persons from the trains is going to be well in excess of a billion, and that entirely before any other rescues similar to the mission run today. All told, two billion recovered is not an impossible number in total slaves recovered.

Enter the dice.

As much as this looks like a fluid story after written out, several events of this chapter are the results of the backend mechanics of the game interjecting themselves into the plot in a big hurry. The big initiation of the mechanic is the capture, turnover, and interrogation of the Slavers. Each Slaver is assigned a rank at the point that they were generated as foes in the Train. Each rank has a specific point value assigned to it, and some sub-commanders or commanders have multipliers on them. Every Slaver captured contributes to an overall points pool that is levied for Sigma, and those point values are used to generate events for the story as a way to interject new directions of plot and action. In this case, the results generated a visit from a VIP event, which lead to the tale of Lacie Jestgrip and her search for reproduction amulets. There are a lot of other types of events to come, so as more Slavers are captured and processed, you'll see even more changes and enhancements in the story to come.

Of course, the way narrative works in my writing, no good plot point exists in isolation. Hence, Lacie going from tourist wanting to learn about the generation of the Amulets, to volunteer for operations, to assistant with the burgeoning emancipation effort is simply the play of the dice and the narrative. Her dice checks were 76 for the Train tour, 80 for the rescue operation, and 91 for the planning session. Now, how well she will assemble a team to assist Sigma from other corporations or foundations is yet to be seen. I will have to throw some dice on that when I do the next chapter, as the initiation of the group assembly begins next chapter.

Speaking of next chapter, the next round is going to be a bit of a strange one. The Secret Service Operations Group has a special challenge for Sigma One and the SSO Lead (Toni) which will take most of the morning and be covered in depth in the 0002 story (Training The Trainers), though a couple good segments of it will be shown here for good measure. The advancing pace of the conspiracy against the Protectorate, though, will be shown in several segments in the coming chapter. And, lastly, you'll get a good look at Metalurgica Magica, the new metals crew that will quickly learn what they have signed on to is more than even they guessed speaking to Sigma One earlier. Lot of fresh meat in the coming chapter, trust me.

That's it for me for this chapter. NEXT UP: A calm day for Sigma as the crews continue training up, though elsewhere in Existence things are heating up in multiple conspiracies aimed in several directions.


Review Replies: Five reviews across the last chapter for multiple points in the story. THANK YOU FOR THE FEEDBACK!

HolyDragoon: Glad to be back, writing has been helping a lot with stress relief.

Hellhound D O W: Legend of Dragoon is one that I think I still have the old PS1 discs for, I'll need to see if I still have that segment of my collection.

Biggie 1447: I have not surrendered! I have not yet even begun to fight!

Pridefallen: Have not given up yet, in fact I just dropped the first chapter of MMC set 2. These games without frontiers keep marching on!

Dark Phoenix Jake: You raise more than a few good questions, so I'll take them by the numbers:

1. The Returners are still out there, though they will be more properly seen in coming chapters of the story as word about Sigma really starts getting around.

2. You are exactly correct, firing on Magi troops is considered an 'undeclared state of war' in Magi parlance. That is a complete forfeiture of Zellbrigen, which means damn near anything goes in prosecuting such a war short of weapons of mass destruction. More to the point, invading territory ceded to a Protectorate of the Magi, even if not actively controlled by the Protectorate, is itself considered a declaration of war against that Protectorate and by extension the Magi. So, the way they are planning this, simply landing on planet is enough to draw the wrath of the Mages.

3. There are two answers to your question. In terms of individual size, the Star League is roughly 2,100,000 planets spread across a plethora of dimensions. It is big enough to count as a mid-size Star Empire of its own right, but little more than that. In relative terms compared to the Big Six Star Empires, there is no contest; even the smallest of the Big Six is two orders of magnitude bigger than the Star League, and the Mages are four orders of magnitude bigger, approaching five orders of magnitude larger under Empress Rini's rule.

The other answer to your number three question is more a question of what the Star League is, a loose confederation of ten thousand Star Empires including the Big Six. If a systemic attack was ever levied by an outside party against one of the SL member states, the entire Star League would come to the aid of those attacked nations, and that would include the full faith and fury of the Big Six Star Empires. That said, while some alliances are truly greater than the sum of their individual nations (NATO, Warsaw Pact), there are also some alliances that are truly degraded from the sum of their individual nations, the UN being a real-world example thereof and the Star League being this multiverse's fictional counterpart.

4. The Senators are recruited from the higher classes of the nations by designated Recruitment Senators — Mandy Glivenne is one such designated recruiter. From there, they are inducted as Freshmen Senators and after a period of three years, receive full benefits and protections. The Senate has voted to remove the Executor's Veto over the recruitment of the Senate, though the Executors still have their traditional duty as veto over every part of the Star League hierarchy — including the Senate, as Mandy is likely to learn in coming chapters.

Thanks for the good questions!


The Gripe Sheet:

No errors in the last chapter. Much thanks to Necroblade, Sieben Nightwing, and Takeshi Yamato for keeping my writing straight, if not necessarily prompt.


Footnotes:

(1): Kentucky Windage refers to a raw guess of the wind for a given shot and simply compensating by holding your sights over the area where you think wind drift will pull the round into the target. The expected and common correction method is to dial windage into the scope and then use your crosshairs normally for a pinpoint shot, though this is not as fast as a practiced Kentucky Windage aim correction.

(2): ROM is the special intelligence and operations service of ComStar, analogous to the Multimage Commandos in this story or the SOCOM troops of real-world fame.

Included Works:

—Real Life Armaments — too many to name, that is most of the arsenal shown.
—Real Life Combat Gear — the vests and gear carried by the Militia troops are easily constructible from stuff you can buy on Amazon or Cheaper Than Dirt. No, Seriously, Look it up. Do a search for "UTG Modular 10-Piece Complete Kit", and you have a good look at a starter kit for any serious gearhound.
—Real Life Concepts
—Real Life Time Period: 1930s New York City (Shown in Chapter 2, referenced in chapter 3)
—Real Life Equipment: The Caterpillar equipment showcased in the chapters is based on real life designs or equipment from said manufacturer.

—Real Life Mythology: The Phoenix race of beings are derived from the mythological Phoenix (Egyptian) and Thunder Bird (Native American). That said, I have made some serious modifications to the whole principle that will be revealed in coming chapters.
—Real Life Mythology: The first of many Valkyrie have joined the blossoming Protectorate. That said, do not confuse the Valkyrie with the term Valkyria — separate work, separate purpose. (Shown in chapter 7)
—Real Life Mythology: The Dryad featured in this chapter (and in a helluva lot more chapters to come) is a derivation of the ancient Greek mythos around Trees and Tree Spirits. Specifically, the Dryads used in this story are akin mostly to the Hamadryad of older mythos.

—Personal Works: The Star Empires are mentioned briefly here. Additionally, the Magi Empire is named specifically.
—Personal Works: The nations of the Jokers Wild are mentioned in Chapter 6. There is a very good reason for that.
—Personal Works: The Star League is a derivation of the Star League from Battletech, but founded by Queen Sora Serenity (Executor-Queen Sora Takenouchi).
—Personal Works: The Executors are specialized Mages who have transcended a minimum of twice (Gods and Goddesses are a minimum Transcendance of once) and are specially commissioned to defend life and honor amongst the Star League territories or member states.
—Personal Works: The 10mm Kurz cartridge is a shortened / lower velocity / lower weight version of the 10mm BG round, developed by the Magi for 'crowd pleasing' against large masses of Negaverse troops, most of which were unarmored during the Star Empire Wars. It quickly became a favored heavy machine gun round for multiple purposes after the fact. (Shown in Chapter 1)
—Personal Works: Gerald Lightbringer is most famous for his participation in my Jokers Wild series, but his history is far stranger than either story properly shows. (Last seen in chapter 5)
—Personal Works: The last section of Chapter 6 makes it clear that the Jokers Wild, Sigma, and Multimage Chronicles are interconnected at multiple levels. This WILL come back to haunt everyone involved, in multiple ways.

—Anime General: the oddball hair colors, especially endemic to nonhumans.
—Anime General and D&D: the nonspecific concept of Elves, Nymphs, and Sylphs.
—Anime Trigun: Vash The Stampede, Millie Thompson, and Meryl Strife took the wrong train, ended up hanging out, and now are tagging along with the Militiamen.
—Anime Gundam SEED Destiny: Mentioned briefly chapters 13 and 14, though more to be seen in Sigma 0003-06 is the presence of Athrun Zala and Meyrin Hawke, as well as a goodly portion of the crew of the Minerva. You can rest assured this is an issue that will echo going forward into the rest of the story. As of Chapter 17, roughly 40% of the ship's crew is in the Protectorate and has joined for the purpose of vengeance, including a rescued Captain Talia Gladys.

—Cartoon Publishing Group: Disney Works in general are mentioned here, but have not made an official showing yet.

—Cartoon: Chip 'n' Dale's Rescue Rangers is mentioned in this chapter as well, and due to the show mechanics may not actually make a showing except as a show within a story, but you can rest assured that it will influence things going forward.

—Game: Battletech: You are starting to see some serious discussion of Battletech units and force concepts in this chapter. They will become more prevalent as the story marches on. (Happens off and on.)
—Game: Dungeons and Dragons (First Edition): A lot of the spellcraft will be drawn from D&D as well as other sources to be named.
—Game: Dungeons and Dragons (First Edition): The concept of the Dragons of many colors is drawn from the D&D First Edition
Monster Manual. Some mods were made (the Platinum dragon is not unique, and the Eternal Dragon is a wholly new class).
—Game: Final Fantasy IX: The player cast of the game (Zidane, Dagger, Steiner, Freya, Vivi, Eiko, Red, and Quina) were residing in one of the dining cars, but are now members of Sigma's Basic Training Group.
—Game: Infantry Online (Sony Online Entertainment): The CAW from the early section, and named in the stinger, is a different-manufacturer version of the Kuchler A6 CAW. (Shown in Chapter 1)
—Game: Call Of Duty MW2: The Remington ACR in use in this story is based on the Magpul Masada / Bushmaster ACR / Remington ACR in use in said game. Hey, even if it was pooh-pooed in real life, someone in an alternate dimension would do it right, ne?
—Game: Command And Conquer Renegade: The Infantry Ion Cannon (Portable Ion Cannon) is a personnel weapon from Renegade, and is considered a mainstay amongst the Star Empires. (Seen in Chapter 8, to be seen frequently in the future))
—Game: Dark Cloud and Dark Chronicle (Dark Cloud 1 and 2 in English): The concept of Chronicle Relics is derived from the Chronicle Sword and Chronicle II from the games. The specifics of these weapons, their purpose and powers, will be quite different from the games but the form factor is roughly the same (though individualized by each relic). (Shown in chapter 15 and will be fleshed out significantly in Chapter 20 and 21)