"Transferring command now" the ensign called. The Nemesis was at full tactical speed and within moments would come upon the gathering point of the Alien armada. Nabiki nodded her acknowledgement and allowed herself a moment of relaxation. She sat back in her seat and just for that moment let the universe go by without her. Staring out at the starfield on the viewer she allowed herself to look at the lights with the eyes of a little girl. Instead of alien logistical sources she saw harmless lights. For that moment the alien menace was the myth and all the old fables that told of the birth of stars became the reality. She allowed herself a wry smile.
Ever since breakout Ensign Pervis had been scared. That fear had been gradually rising ever since that fateful moment and the lack of a real fight had not made things any easier. When the ship had been placed onto red alert a cold void had settled in his stomach. As the final controls were shifted to the battle bridge he could hardly contain his shivers. In desperation he looked around the room for a way out. Instead he saw his captain, sat there in her chair with a smile on her face. He, like everyone else aboard, had heard the scuttlebutt, and even if he didn't believe it all he did know that his captain, with all her family aboard, had a lot more to lose than he did. Yet there she was smiling. Suddenly all his fears seemed somehow silly. He was a professional, well practiced in the drills that had been designed for just the battle that was coming, there was risk true but that was part of the job. As Pervis turned back to his console his face wasn't smiling, but it was set with a new determination. He was scared but more than that he was determined to do his duty.
It had been nearly twenty-four hours since the Nemesis had dropped from full lift. During that time the vessel had been burning heavy mass, but doing it on a parabolic course. Although this course required more mass and even more time than a direct route it was hoped the benefits would far outweigh the losses. From everything the 'eggheads' had managed to decode and decipher from previous captures the alien early warning system would not be able to identify the threat coming as it was by this roundabout course. The final approach was being masked by the emissions of the system's own gas giant.
Unfortunately the same oblique approach had rendered the X-com vessel just as blind. They would be once again operating on projected scenarios and probability.
O
O
Down on the flight deck everything was once more in place. For the Dark Angels chosen to fly this mission this next hour would be the most important single time of their lives. Codenamed 'Hammerfall' the battle to come had been simulated more than any other point in history. If breakout had been the most dangerous time for Nemesis this next hour was its reason for existence.
No speeches had been made, there was no need. Over the long weeks of lift they had run scenario after scenario through the simulators. If the pilots did not know what they faced by now then they never would. Still there was an almost electric feeling running through the deck. Hope, fear, anxiety, courage and many more emotions all warred for there place in the hearts of the pilots about to drop into danger.
Roy sat in his Valkyrie silently wishing that the dirty pair were flying with him. This mission would either see the birthing or breaking of the Legend of Nemesis. If his people and the other pilots could pull Hammerfall off then Earth would be safe, the Alien menace staved off once more. If they failed then no doubt Earth would suffer all the more. Hammerfall was humanity's best hope for the species, and that hope rested on the Dark Angels and specifically on the pilots now standing ready. He knew that the squadron complement was far closer to optimal than most of the scenarios they had practised but he also knew that the whole squadron were drawn to excel by the antics of the two absent rogues.
He switched his targeting and sensor computers off and then on again, ran though the diagnostics yet another time. One time not so long ago he had caught Ranko practising her katas in the gym. He had interrupted with a cough only to suddenly find himself within fractions of an inch of the red-head's incoming fist. That hadn't been what chilled him to the bone though, it had been the look in her eyes. He had been stunned to see the emotionless mask that had fallen across the beautiful young woman's face. He had broached the subject over lunch in the canteen but had not expected the answers.
"Cuz I ain't got no emotions when I'm zoned" Ranko had replied. "That's the Zen- shin, or No Mind."
"So you cut yourself off from the world?" Roy had asked, getting it completely wrong.
"Nah" Ranko replied, "Other way around. I cut myself out of the world's way."
"Huh?"
"The Zen warrior is in perfect harmony with existence, because they are no longer separate from it."Ranko tried to explain, "Think of it like an ice-cube in water. You're the cube see, and when you melt properly you're part of the whole, but when.."
"That
makes no sense at all" Roy retorted.
"Hey those who can do,
only those who can't teach" Ranko replied.
"Excuse me?" Roy demanded, "I teach! Are you saying that I'm one of the 'can'ts'?"
"You said it" Ranko replied, "Not me."
"That's it!" Roy had retorted, "Sims now! Dogfight, mano-a-cocky bitch"
"You are on!" Retorted the Red-head with a big happy smile.
Roy had had his ass handed to him. He still didn't know how but the dog-fight had been a regular thing till breakout. As far as he understood it there had been a significant pool on the outcomes. The military was the same everywhere they went, gambling was as much part of the structure as Rank.
Roy realised he was allowing his focus to drift and called it back, setting his face into the determined mask it had been.
"Lisa?" he called over the coms.
"Ok" she replied, obviously a little more stressed than she let on if she was reverting to the colloquial.
"Can I get a status-rep on my squadron, bird by bird?"
"Sure," Misato replied, "I'll get right on it"
"Thanks"
"No worries." Misato replied, obviously calmer again. "And Roy…..stay well out there!" she added with a rare emotional edge.
"I'll try," Roy replied, letting his own mask slip just enough.
o
o
"But I'm a Valkyrie pilot" Yuri demanded.
"Not today you ain't" Misato corrected. They were on the battle bridge. "You broke your Valkyrie at the same time you did your arm. There is no way I am putting you in a bird!"
"But I'm a pilot!"
"Not today," Misato insisted "Today you are a bridge bunny. Now go!"
"Hai Misato-sama" Yuri replied, grudgingly, taking a seat at one of the back-up consoles.
"Time to target?" Misato asked.
"T minus ten and counting" was the reply.
"Ready all launch tubes" Misato ordered. "Power the crowbar!"
"Aye Aye" chorused the crew concerned.
"I want every last joule of energy ready for zero hour!" Misato ordered. "Lisa, warn your birds!"
"Aye Aye!"
o
o
"Operatives" Gos started. He was standing in the specially designed Psi-ops command, around him were arrayed the entire Namesis psi-ops specialist team. Behind them stood the banks of buffers and amplifiers that would hone the agents' minds to the fine edge needed for the job at hand. "This is our finest hour!" Around the head psycher more than one set of eyes rolled. "Earth expects every operative to do her duty!"
The various agents began strapping themselves into the apparatus that surrounded them. Upright berths closed around each operative, cutting them off from all physical stimuli and immersing them into the psychic collective.
Gos was worried. Each agent had a designated function within the hybrid consciousness, defensive, offensive or tactical. Each one was well rehearsed in the actions expected of them and well practised in their implementation. But only Gos and two others had ever been inside an alien mind and only he had faced real alien assault. Added to that he harboured real concerns about the alien psychic threat. Simply put nobody had been able to give an accurate idea of its likely scale. The aliens that were captured aboard the Endeavour had been aware of psi-weapons but not their capabilities.
So Gos had trained his team hard. Each and every one of them was capable beyond the wildest dreams of the original psi-labs. Each agent strapping themselves in was an expert in psychic warfare, a finely crafted weapon tempered by continual testing and assault. They had new skills and techniques that had been developed as scientifically as any gauss rifle and just as deadly.
Nevertheless Gos was worried. One word kept running through his head "Queens."
o
o
Everett was in his element. He had literally written the book on installation defence. Even if the book had later been revised by others he was still the self-appointed authority on the subject.
His troops were bunched in hardpoints ready to repel any incursion. Each team was equipped with the prescribed variety of weapons and munition capabilities. His web was strung and he was set to pounce
"And what's more" me said to himself, sitting in his command room just off the battle bridge, "All the credit for this victory will be mine!" In his hand he held a single sheet of paper. An order drafted according to all the highest rules of UN servicemen, relieving Nabiki of command. The moment she displayed the first of wavering he would have her, and her ship. "General Everett" he tried on the title for size and once again found he loved it.
o
o
"Shut your mush and move" Laura hissed. She was slowly and sneakily moving her people out of the death-traps that Everett had insisted on. She had tried doing things by the book but the scunner just wouldn't hear a word she had to say. So she was doing things the Alpha way, right!
"Ditch the taser stick and check out a real weapon!" she ordered. She would never be able to figure out what had possessed the idiot officer to order her people so lightly armed but she sure as hell wasn't letting them lose the big one because her people didn't have the tools for the job.
"Master Sergeant Major?" a young lieutenant asked tentatively, trying not to be obvious about having his hands at the ready position if she started swinging.
"Aye?" she asked, her voice thickly accented, not a good sign.
"Er..hadn't we better um check the er redeployment erm options with the er.."
"Colonel?" Laura filled in. "I din'nae think that's a gud idea!" she all but growled.
"But…"
"NO!" she ordered her 'superior' "The man's a bleeding menace." She swore. "Look Sir" she continued, emphasising the honorific enough to make it less respectful, "Either you're with us or…." The young officer made his decision with little hesitation.
"I'll run interference" he offered. She favoured him with a smile and a slap on the back. At that moment that small gesture was worth more than any medal. From that moment on the young Lieutenant's career took a different, better path, he became a real soldier too.
Not getting decked was nice too.
o
o
Richard was fuming. He had just discovered exactly what Weir and Everett had been talking about. It was bad enough that the two of them had conspired to get him his marine command but now the pair were after Nabiki's seat. It was intolerable. His confrontation with Elisabeth had gone very badly indeed and Richard was still smarting from her harsh words.
After their 'discussion' about ethics just before breakout the relationship between the two former friends had become very strained indeed. For once the argument had not been about the ethics of alien relations. Instead Richard had once again been insisting that Elisabeth watch the mission logs. She had once again repeated her argument that she had more important things to do than watch the television all day and that the written versions were more than adequate. Both of them knew that the real reason the woman was being o troublesome was the way that Security had insisted on vetting her again before censoring the logs she could see. The censorship had come as a stark reminder that she was not in a position of trust here. Weir had uncharacteristically become all but irrational and had lashed out by refusing to co-operate. After overhearing the way that Everett and her talked Richard had a fair idea where that attitude had come from.
Coming from a woman who had always seemed to harbour a passionate dislike of all things military the revelation of a clandestine affair with Everett that had been going on for some time had come as quite a shock.
Richard had walked in on the two of them by mistake. He had stormed out of a meeting in a fury only to reconsider and return. When he did the two secret lovers had tried very hard to hide what they were up to but Richard was no fool and had been extracting secrets from reluctant people for all his professional life. Nevertheless he had made very sure that as far as the couple were concerned he knew nothing.
Naturally he had gone to make discrete inquiries as to whether the security service knew. Captain Kaji had dismissed his enquiries out of hand, assuring him that they already knew everything that he might tell them.
Suddenly Richard found himself standing at the entrance to the Main Bridge. Here it was, the crunch point. Who was he?
"Hah" Richard laughed, he ahd made that decision a long time ago. He took a step forward and moved onto the bridge, his Rubicon was crossed, when it came down to it Richard was a man of principle. The old Richard might have let things take their course but that man died on Mars sat in front of a viewscreen.
o
o
Ranma floated, he wasn't very happy about it but he really didn't have a choice. He had seen the scans and even his ability to shrug off injury was no match for how messed up he had been when they brought him in.
Without the goo tank he would certainly have lost most of his right leg and all but all of his left. He had simply been out there in the dark for far too long, and his body had died, just without his mind accepting it.
So he floated there in the tank, slowly stretching and working his muscles back into order. As usual for him in these tanks he was bored out of his tiny little mind and had already exhausted his patience for meditation. At the moment he was letting his mind drift, reminiscing.
Last night the doctors had unexpectedly started to file out, leaving him apparently alone in the chamber. It was only when he looked up and found out exactly who had ordered the agents out that he had relaxed.
A nurse had come running in a few moments later, worried by the spike in his heart rate. Fortunately for everyone concerned by that point her Captain was already out of sight, the only trace being a pile of discarded clothes at the top of the access stairs. The nurse in question had checked the patient monitor, and when she finally worked out what she was seeing had left in quite a hurry.
Ranma's doctors were telling him that peak efficiency was a long way off, and refusing to tell him any more than that. He suspected, rightly, that they had been warned that to do otherwise might well cause an instant check-out of their patient.
He knew that zero hour must be fast approaching and was becoming more anxious about missing it.
"Hey doc?" Ranma called over the tank-phone. "Any chance of a tac-feed?"
"A what?" the doctor asked, peeling his eyes away from a certain replay.
"Tac-feed" Ranma restated, "you know, Tactical read out, com channels and stuff…"
"I'll see what I can so Colonel" the man replied, somewhat testily.
"Wonder what got him so pissed" Ranma mused, going back to his exercises.