UNSC Ballista

Unknown Location

August 11, 2558

Aegis knew the type. The man on the other side of the screen was poorly dressed and took very little pride in his personal appearance. The absence of fidgeting only confirmed that it was not a disguise and somewhat disgusted him. With Dan Tyler indicating that the only company that owned the Anije was Metsker Steelworks, Aegis knew that they were his prime suspect. Being the largest exporter of Flint's steel and metal, they had grown exponentially well. However the representative that was his first contact when he had called for the shipbreaking services instantly shattered any positive image that anyone would have for the company.

File cabinets seemed to be bursting with papers. The desk was covered in papers and a half dozen datapads that had been smeared with fingerprints and faded cases. They looked old enough to be put in a computer history museum.

Trip Aegis now knew more about Karl Bruce and Metsker Steelworks than he had ever wanted. The net worth of Bruce, who was chairman of the company nearly three quarters of a billion. Bruce, his bovine faced wife and six children, four boys and two girls all lived in a seven hundred acre compound with the mansion large enough to accommodate them plus a small army of house workers. However only Bruce's sons were in charge of the illegal pirate corvette operation for Nex Fel and his band.

The idea was simple, he had contacted a scout representative from Metsker en route from Mars to Flint, portraying himself as a captain of a ship that he wanted scrapped and sold. His primary objective was to find out their illegal operations and see how much they were willing to scrap a ship Ballista's size.

"So Captain um…Davis." Trip had used the Davis name from Drew's engineer. "The records of your ship indicate that she was constructed in twenty five thirty, however the records indicate that there is no owner of the ship. It is apparent that you have no ownership of what you are trying to sell me."

During their initial meeting over the screens, with the respresentative at his Misrata office and Trip using his prop office in Ballista, he had attempted to pronounce the different name to the stealth frigate that Trip had listed, he had grown tired of the commander trying to correct him and thus began saying "your ship"

He maintained a lazy appearance, with a slightly bulging shirt that was missing a few buttons, courtesy of Drew, his hair was a greasy blond wig and he darkened his chin to make it look like it had been weeks since he'd last shaved.

If Bruce wanted Metsker's image to be one of a struggling worker, he certainly did a good job of it. Aegis could easily play the part of a bad luck type of captain.

"Please look under all of that." Aegis gestured on screen to the representative. He gave the commander a penetrating stare before leafing out the primary papers to look at the things below.

"That's right." Trip smiled slightly when the Metsker scout shot his head up in complete surprise. "She's carrying old steel beams that might be of use in your mills, all from New Legaspi. Now how about I propose a deal? You forget that she's been owned by someone else and I'll deny anything once they say that there is a multimillion credit fortune stocked in her holds."

"So how did you come to us at Metsker?" He asked, wiping a clear liquid off his chin that had pooled.

"People say many things, I can't recall who told me about it, but news spreads quick and can be uglier when it turns to conflict." He gazed back at the representative, his eyes giving the equal force that he had given earler. He had basically threatened to have authorities look inside the entire works if he continued to ask questions.

"I'm flattered that you have heard such notes about our company Captain Davis. I can see you having three hundred credits per ton for the hulk."

"That will not do." Aegis shot back, trying to end the negotiations and his lying. "I thought four hundred and fifty."

"Captain," The representative sighed, reacting as if Aegis had just insulted his wife. "Three hundred and seventy five is the maximum that I can go to break even."

"Personally I think you will be more than break even at that price. I know how valuable steel and titanium are from Flint and keep regular track of materials. So why not three hundred and seventy a ton and I can bring the vessel to the yard within the week."

The representative sighed, scratching his head and sitting back at his desk, the motion causing a handful of long staying sticky notes to fall off. "The hangars are full right now, but bring your vessel within the week and we will have room. Our facility shuts down for the day at precisely eight, so do not think about trying to get in afterwards."

"I'll be in Misrata in a couple of days, from there, we can take a look." Before the Metsker representative could reply, Aegis cut the connection.

In his cabin, Aegis shed his Captain Davis clothes and had just thrown on some shorts and a t-shirt when the door popped open. Settling in his leather chair, he watched the Ballista's steward, Francois pull the silver cover off of a steaming dish of hyderabadi haleem and a pitcher of ice tea.

"Welcome back Captain." Since the dossier on Metsker was sent to his pad, Aegis had been delayed on getting back to the Ballista and had literally thirty seconds to get changed upon his arrival back on the ship. Ever since Meredith Adrian was whisked away at Gilgamesh, it had been nearly four days since he had been back. Francois was the only Blades member that had no combat background. Even the Blades' chef was a member of the UNSC Army before going to his true passion with cooking. He was also the only person to ever call Aegis "Captain"

"What's the latest?" Francois was always up to date on what little gossip spread around the ship. His interests were centered on both Dan Tyler and Luke Riley.

"The text chat has gone rather south. Tyler's just met this one all the way from Portugal."

Trip scoffed, those two were always had the worst luck when it came to women. Dan wasn't that bad looking, but his vast computer knowledge was enough to make almost any girl except the female Blades want to tear her strands of hair out. Luke Riley's punk style made him even less lucky.

"I'll give you a few credits to go download a Portuguese language learning app for his pad."

"Never Captain, it's too amusing." The sous chef and steward bowed as he exited, his shoes making a crisp hollow sound as he exited.

Aegis waited for a few minutes after he finished his meal before he headed towards the bridge. The minimal crew nodded as he settled into the command chair.

"Leah, any word from Vasili yet?"

"Nothing." She turned a knob on her station with her back still to him. "His marker still says that he's in Sabtro, but that was almost ninety minutes ago."

Each member of the Blades had a small chip inside their bodies that transmitted a signal every ten minutes with a limited range that was near instant, despite the Ballista and her operatives being light years away. It was mainly to keep track of all members at all times, drawing power from the electrical nervous system of their bodies.

"I just spoke with Metsker, they're planning to have us in by the week. Once we head to Misrata, I want Drew to get the pelicans and phantom on a sweep of the surrounding rural districts. Also get the tiger and a couple of warthogs ready to be carried down. The pirates will never expect their front company to deal with a team that came from a ship that's supposed to be scrap."

"Do you think slaves are here?" Leah asked, now turned around in her seat with a cup of flavored water in her hand.

"I guess they'll be telling us in a few hours." He replied, already turning his back and heading to the bay to get into his MJOLNIR armor.

"So you're going alone?"

"That's right." His voice was like rigid steel, "We need to find the Anije's cargo and my best bet is to infiltrate it. If I get into scrapes, I'll call for backup."

Leah knew better than to question him, after all neither had any idea of what they were about to walk into.

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