Neptune's Massif (24 page)

“Good, maybe by the time we get back there, ops will have figured a way to get our asses out of this sling.”

Lissa noticed that the computer had been programmed to search for comm channels and had just locked on to her team’s channel. She also found the feed from the strange sensors. While she pondered the new sensors, she compiled a report for command then called it in.

––––––––

C
ombat Theater 'Astra'

Rebel Command Post

Location Unknown

New Talos System, Carnius Sector

––––––––

“O
kay, they’ve started moving in. Have we locked onto the comms yet?” Tomiakin asked.

“No Sir. So far, they haven’t transmitted close enough to one of our listening posts. We are still working on it,” one of the techs replied.

“Good, let me know the minute you get something. That’s how they track their own fighters, so we have to find that channel. Any other energy signatures after the
Summer's Eve
reported in?”

The man at the comm station turned and shook his head, “Nothing, Sir. It seems they have to be very close for these sensors to work. Perhaps once we lock on to their comms we can maintain a fixed lock on them even if they shift channels.”

“Well, keep working on it. I have to report something to our new ‘President’.” Tomiakin smirked. A round of chuckles ran through the assembled officers. “Alert the other moon base and orbital stations to watch for a Raptor approaching. There can’t be more than four of them, so let’s try to find them before they can cause us mischief." Tomiakin paused and looked at the layout in the holotank. How could a Raptor have already landed on the moon if they didn't detect the hyperspace event of its arrival? It had to have been carried in or it had to have been in the system for a while, and they simply hadn't detected it. He had an uneasy feeling in his stomach. "Get me Commander Roan on the
Summer's Eve
."

"Sir, I'm not getting a response to hails. However, I can still access all the data feeds from her sensors. They might have had a comm failure, it's not unusual since the AI malfunctions began," the tech reported.

"It would be very odd timing for such a failure, Ensign. See if you can get one of our fighters or other craft out there to verify that. If we lose that base, we're in trouble," Tomiakin ordered.

"Sir, I have reestablished comms with the
Summer's Eve
. They did have a comm failure. The lieutenant there also reports that Commander Roan is currently away from the bridge dealing with a discipline issue. He asked if you would like for him to call you once he returns to the Bridge," the ensign at the comm terminal asked.

Tomiakin sighed. "No, that won't be necessary. Thank you, Ensign. Good Work."

The tech nodded to his superior and turned back to his station and the task of locating the enemy communications channels.

Very quietly, Tomiakin studied the large hologram in front of him and mumbles; "What are you up to Ian Williams?"

––––––––

C
ombat Theater 'Astra'

Star Dancer
Command Center

New Talos System, Carnius Sector

––––––––

“T
he report from the
Damocles
is troubling, Sir, but not much there is out of line with what we already knew. The interesting part is that the base computer system was actively searching for comm channels and was plugged into a network of energy sensors. We believe they are trying to detect our cloaked ships either by the comm signals or the energy output of the ships. We’ve already ensured they won’t be able to lock on to our comms, but we have no idea how these energy sensors work. If they can lock onto any of our comm channels we believe that they will be able to track us. At that point, it’ll be a stand up boxing match,” Chloe reported. "The same energy sensors were connected to the
Summer's Eve
sensor network. I've passed on a request for Samuel on the
Cherokee
to analyze them and let us know what we're facing."

“If it comes to that, we’ll still be able to take the system, but it will mean casualties.” Ian thought for a moment. "Any word from
Hephaestus
?”

“We issued a hold order on their attack, but told them to proceed with the computer assault. They report that the base has been placed on alert. The computer system recorded a full change in personnel recently. The files on those brought in list them as recently pardoned prisoners as well. Jess reported the same sensors and comms monitoring."

Ian thought for a moment, kicking scenarios around in his mind. “Get me a comm to the
Damocles
.” Ian ordered. “And tell
Hephaestus
to proceed with the attack, but not to worry about civilians. If it’ll speed things up, tell them to gas the facility.”

“Joker Three,” Cindy’s voice said a few seconds later.

“Joker Three, this is Queen’s Bishop," Ian called. "Can you isolate the people in the cells from the rest of the population?”

“Part of the prison emergency system is independent air for the cell blocks in the event of an asteroid strike. We can isolate the prison block, but not the cells. Plus there are three civilians in the base vehicle maintenance bay,” Cindy reported.

“I hate to say it, but we can't do much about those three at this point. We're falling behind and we need that base neutralized. Isolate the cell blocks and vent the facility. Once it's clear, release the prisoners, give them any medical treatment they might need, and have Shannon check them out. Give the base back to them, but ask them not to fire on anyone unless fired on first. There has been too much misinformation spread around for any of those folks to trust us, but we can at least give them back their freedom.”

“Understood Bishop, what’s our timeline?” Cindy asked her voice tight.

“Trump card will be played in five moves; Queen’s Bishop to Queen’s Rook Four. Proceed.”

“Joker Three has the deal. We will advise on the next shuffle. Joker Three out," Cindy replied, but was clearly unhappy with her orders.

The operations officer, who had been monitoring the communication so he could take notes and update the overall battle plan, almost jumped when he heard Ian call “King’s Rook Four”. However, he made the notation that
Damocles
would report after the prisoners were freed (the next shuffle), Then he upgraded the Battle Status to ‘Red’.

Several things happened simultaneously at that point. Commodore Belirus, who would be in charge of actual ship to ship fighting and was present on the
Star Dancer
as a hologram standing by Ian, was issuing his orders to ready all guns, load all missile tubes, and set master safety to stand-by. Commander Loreen, temporary flight operations chief on the
Tiamat
, could be heard trying to launch almost a thousand fighters in the shortest possible time, without any of them colliding with each other.

Ian watched the clock as the seeming chaos flowed around him. After five minutes, he looked at Chloe. “They know we’re here. Let’s knock on the door. Play the trump card and engage the sandbags.”

She nodded back to him mutely and issued the orders.

‘Trump card’ was the code word for the initiation of the primary attack. The Raptor teams on the orbital fortresses would begin their assaults. All fighters, including the Condors and Centurions, would begin clearing the system of hostile ships. The cruisers would engage anything too large for the fighters to handle. Also, all the Marine assault teams would be beginning their drop preparations. As soon as they cleared the skies over New Talos, the Marines would be going in hot.

Commodore Belirus saw Ian’s pale complexion and whispered something to one of his AI. She nodded and made contact with Star. Star nodded to her daughter's image and went to the replicator. When she returned, she stood beside her commander. "Sir, Commodore Belirus recommends this for you."

Ian looked up at the older gentlemen in question.

Belirus smiled sadly. “It never gets any easier to give those orders. The only thing you can do is hope that by issuing those orders, you have actually minimized casualties.” He indicated the pills. “Take them, it’ll help settle your stomach.”

Ian mutely slipped the two, small, pink tablets into his mouth and took a sip of water. He nodded his thanks and tried to smile at the older man, but his face just couldn’t make the effort.

Commodore Belirus understood anyway and nodded in acceptance. He turned back to the battle plot and resumed his portion of the fight. Ian resumed his interrupted pacing until the pills settled his stomach.

––––––––

C
ombat Theater 'Astra'

Raptor
Damocles

House Boden Lunar Facilities

New Talos System, Carnius Sector

––––––––

“H
ow many are left in there, Lissa?” Cindy asked quietly. Since Lissa had a block against killing, Cindy had entered the commands herself from her command computer.

“Just the prisoners and the three guards, Major,” Lissa replied quietly.

“Okay. Get the base drones busy on the dead. Make sure they record the identities of the fallen for identification later. What’s the status on our welcoming party?”

“I have four individuals wearing standard combat armor walking toward us nine kilometers to the south. I told the crawler it had a primary coolant leak. The people are carrying a large quantity of explosives as well as pulse rifles and plasma grenades.”

“Tenacious aren’t they? Let’s get ready to lift and head for the prison. Sasha can take them out as we fly over them. Right now, we have some prisoners to rescue," Cindy ordered. “Can you pump that cell block full of sleep gas?”

“Yes, the riot control systems are still in place,” Lissa replied.

“Okay, let’s pump the block full of sleep gas, put the guards in one of the cells, and open the rest. Once the guards are in a cell, we can wake everyone up. I want to get this over with as soon as I can,” Cindy replied.

As they flew toward the prison, Sasha informed Cindy that the four people were dead. “Lissa, please have one of the drones come and take care of the bodies here, too. We may have to kill them, but I refuse to just leave them out here.”

“Will do. The cell block is asleep, no casualties,” Lissa replied.

“I wish we could have done that to the whole facility. But it would have taken a month to get everyone back where they belong. Please restore atmosphere to everywhere but the cell block,” Cindy ordered.

Lissa nodded, even though Cindy couldn’t see her. “I am also instructing the drones to gather the weapons in a central location to be returned to the armory.”

“Good thinking, thank you. We’ve arrived people. Let’s go.”

The scene inside the prison was a nightmare. Bodies, most of them exploded by the sudden loss of pressure, seemed to be everywhere. Cindy tightened her jaw and marched through the corridors, trying to ignore all the death she had caused. However, her mind was recording everything, looking at every detail. Her training keeping her looking in every nook for a hidden assailant even though Lissa had told her the area was secure. As a result, she would see these faces in her nightmares for months.

When they had at last reached the office acting as an airlock for the cell block in question, Lissa had informed them that atmosphere had been restored, but recommended they keep their suits sealed for now; the drones hadn’t cleaned the area yet.

Cindy’s team entered the cell block and closed the door behind them. Since the sleep gas was still in the air, they continued with sealed suits. They found the three guards, disarmed them and dragged them to an empty cell. Once the door closed, Lissa pumped the sleep gas out of the room. It was then that Cindy noticed no one had actually spoken since they left the
Damocles
.

While they waited for people to begin waking, Cindy keyed the intercom. “Everyone okay?”

“Yeah, just trying to deal with everything. Cindy, anyone of us would have done the exact same thing you did; these bastards deserved what happened to them,” Jerry replied.

“I’m more worried about you, Cindy.  Are you okay?” Shannon asked.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be ‘okay' with this. But I’ll be able to deal with it. What choice do I have?” Cindy answered.

Sasha walked up to her, “Major, you simply did what was needing to be done, da?  As Jerry has said, you did the right thing." The woman put her gauntleted hand on Cindy's shoulder. "We are a team, we are with you Mishka. We are here if you every need us.”

Cindy smiled at the woman as they heard a groan coming from one of the open cells. Since Lissa had reported the gas had cleared, the team had removed their helmets and Shannon had been walking among the former prisoners, moving from cell to cell, using her mental ability to make sure of them while they slept.

“Jerry, check that out will you?” Cindy asked. “Lissa,” she said over the comm, “How many people are in here?”

“One thousand nine hundred and forty two, counting the three former guards. With ten tiers of cells, and room for two hundred and fifty per tier, that block could hold twenty-five hundred. I have no way to know how full the prison was, since the data was wiped from the local computers, and I am unable to contact the primary system on New Talos."

“That’s fine, I think I have an idea of where most of the ex-prisoners are. What was the compliment for the base before this started?”

“It was a relatively small facility, three shifts of roughly one hundred, plus the training command and the cadets; nine hundred and twelve total.” Lissa answered; the curiosity plain in her voice.

“Was the other moon base the same size?” Cindy asked.

“No, it is much larger, since it was the primary fighter training academy. I have no direct information, but I would guess it to have been at least two thousand personnel.”

“So where are the rest of the people?” Cindy asked. “We have nineteen hundred and thirty nine here, we are missing another thousand."