Chapter 10:
New Kyoto, 13 January 3005, Nine Lives, Catbox, Nadir Jump Point.
Major Kira "Firebird" Nox
The message had come through almost immediately on the tail of the emergence notice. Operation Doorslam was officially a go, and we were now about to initiate. The wait had been the hardest part; knowing that we would be so far away for the beginning stages of the invasion had all my pilots fuming. At the same time, though, they all understood what we were doing.
We had been based on the Nine Lives, which itself had been based on the Catbox, waiting at the Nadir point of the system. We were alongside the Alley Cats, which was carrying the newly renamed Titan the Ginger Whiskers. We also had the full complement of Marines and their Tigress assault shuttles onboard, all to ensure that we could complete our job. Taking the Jumpships out of the picture, before heading down dirtside to pound the hell out of the invasion force. If everything went right, we should arrive first and be able to take out some of the dropships before they land.
As the time ticked down, my thoughts were interrupted by the jump alarm blaring, signalling that we were one minute from go time. I slowed my breathing and slowly counted down, my timing matching the alarms as they kept everyone aware of how long was left until the Jumpdrive told physics to take a hike momentarily.
The final count resounded, and I tasted Magenta and saw the sounds of engines flaring before I heard what seemed to be garlic. Then the world resolved and the sensations passed, the thump of the dropship detaching signalled all pilots to finish their startups, and we were suddenly burning for the black of space surrounding our prey.
New Kyoto, 14 January 3005, Black Cat PMC Main Base.
The Colonel, Samantha "Titania" Wylde
I was situated in the bases CIC along with Katrina, Arthur and Mogan. They had elected to follow me here instead of being shipped off to the Daimiyos' own HQ. I had just settled into taking command when the comms officer indicated we were getting an open hail from the incoming invasion fleet.
"Hello, New Kyoto, this is Pirate King, 'Black' Jack McGirk and my lovely Queen Darleen Dunson. We heard you had a lovely bunch of toys that I figured would be of better use in our hands. So why don't you just hand it over to us, and we can all be on our way? Oh, we also want that bitch and her catty friends from that small green mercenary company that has them all," came the deep voice over the comm. The response from my command crew was a bristling weight, mixed with numerous sharp intakes of breath and some nervous glances my way.
For my part, I simply leaned back into my chair and sighed while massaging my brows. Katrina was close enough to catch me muttering under my breath, "Not these stupid fuckers, seriously, gonna have to go have a conversation with the chuckle fuck Toaster fuckers." after a brief session of considering whether I wished to move straight to war crimes against Terra and the main HPG stations of Commstar.
Standing from my Chair, I pulled up the comms controls at my command station and keyed in an all-units comm override for my troops, "All units this net, all units this net, we are now under protocols, Foxtrot, Tango, Winchester." As my voice rang out across the comms and around the CIC, there was a collective hiss of sharply intaken breath. "Authorisations Codes, Sierra, November, Alpha, Foxtrot, Uniform, Six, Nine, Four, Two, Zero. All units are to go full weapons free; the standard is crimson. Repeat, all units are to go full weapons free, the standard is crimson."
Around us, there was a heavy silence, as if everyone had finally realised that this was not a joke. Then the silence was broken as a stream of affirmatives came through the comms from my commanders in the field. All across my command console, units flicked over to FTW protocols. Symbols lighting up with acknowledgement, along with signalling readiness status and time to ready state.
The trio of VIPs standing around my section had all taken on expressions of confusion and crowded a little closer, trying to figure out what had just happened and hoping that the screen would give them some indication of what that was. Morgan eventually gets fed up and decides to ask, "So what exactly is going on, and why did you immediately initiate some kind of protocol at the comms from the pirate?"
I look over to the three of them, taking my eyes away from my console and the rapidly changing readiness status of each of my units. Looking them each in the eyes, I start my explanation, leaving out some things that they do not need to know, " Pirate King, "Black" Jack McGirk, and his little lover, Darleen Dunson, are part of a group of pirates that suddenly came into a planetary fortune worth of metal and lift out on the Lyran/Combine border." I begin, watching as they fall a little deeper into confusion as I continue.
"They, along with several others, suddenly came into a large number of mechs, tanks, and ASF, before proceeding to run numerous raids from 3001 to mid-3003, before vanishing from Lyran periphery space and moving to Combine space, causing an uptick in tensions between your houses. They vanished in 3004, and I was hoping that would be because whoever had given them the gear had come to reclaim it, as Jack and Darleen had started to consolidate everything under them." I continued watching as their faces got a look of consternation and slight anger.
"How do you figure that they did not find a cache or something similar to whatever your father did with your inheritance?" Katrina asks, What would seem like a good question if you did not already have future knowledge.
"Several things, but we can discuss those when I get confirmation after we get salvage or captured gear. They disappeared for the last year, and then suddenly turn up here just over a week after you arrive? Yeah, no, that is definitely not on brand for them, and this is a hit, as to the protocol, that is for the particular idiots that hired them and the potential contingencies they might have had in place to ensure pirate compliance." I continue as the last unit on my screen flicks to ready.
"All units, we are now on time to begin operations. Ground pounders, I want everyone ready to move on confirmation of the arrival of those droppers. Artillery, I want all zones of fire dialled in, and I want you to ensure that the Golf Mike twos are loaded. Tankers, you are all belly down and defensive. I want the zone of control to be so air-tight that you cannot get a fly through without us knowing. Marines and ASF, you are now clear to proceed with operations. Droppers and Jumpers, you are mission cleared." I command through the comms system. Acknowledgement coming through quickly, as the tactical display started showing movement from our units.
New Kyoto, 13 January 3005, Nine Lives, Catbox, Nadir Jump Point.
Major James "007" Bond
We were just about to head to our Tigress shuttle when the open channel broadcast by the 'Pirate King' came over the airwaves. My entire command bristled with indignation and sheer rage at the dismissal of the Colonel and the rest of our forces. I was busy shouting down a number of the more eager commanders and their men when the all-channel override activated and the Colonel's voice came through, "All units this net, all units this net, we are now under protocols, Foxtrot, Tango, Winchester."
I noticed the immediate cessation of any attempts at comms chatter as the Colonel's words registered, Foxtrot Tango Whincester protocols. It took a brief second for my mind to process the phonetics before my brain matched them to the protocol logs that the Colonel had drilled everyone in, before grinding to an immediate halt. FTW, Fucking Toaster Worshipers. These were not normal pirates; they were a ComStar-backed hit squad, and we now had to shift over to clearing potentially sabotaged and scuttle-charge-rigged vessels. Then the Colonel's voice continued, and suddenly the issue became both less daunting and also more.
"Authorisations Codes, Sierra, November, Alpha, Foxtrot, Uniform, Six, Nine, Four, Two, Zero. All units are to go full weapons free; the standard is crimson. Repeat, all units are to go full weapons free, the standard is crimson." The tone of voice that fed that Authorisation to the entire command was laced with so much venom and ice that if you had never met the Colonel, you would assume her to be an emotional individual. For those of us who had met her, it was enough to straighten spines, cause chills of fear, and pass on the understanding that we were probably about to meet hell for the first time since we each got put through Hell Week during training.
It was also everything my command had ever wanted to hear; we had no quarter to give, and no reason to watch for anything but the most catastrophic of collateral damage, as well as allowing us to employ weapons that would otherwise be impossible to justify as anything except war crimes, I think she once called it the Geneva Checklist. It would mean more of my boys and girls made it home, and it should mean we can take the ships without worries of damage. I had contacted some friends from home and gotten some very effective gaseous agents that would bypass even SLN filters.
It would mean that we have to decontaminate the vessels for ages and also run the counter agents through them for a month or more before they were usable, but the Colonel had asked for the most effective and fast-acting agents to put people down, not the easiest to clean up.
So I sent a command to all participating raid members that they were to equip themselves from the armoury with secondary mags of HEAP as well as NBC secondary gear. Can never be too careful with Pirates backed by Comstar, they might just have Chemical or Biological weapons on board. We would be tight on loading up, and even more so on being on station, but it should give the flyboys and girls time to clear the skies a little.
New Kyoto, 14 January 3005, Black Cat PMC Main Base.
Archon Designate, Katrina Steiner
I watched as before me, the tactical display updated with the appearance of the two Tramp-class Jumpships almost on top of the pirate fleet. They had timed it to be one hour after the pirates launched, letting them jump in with no chance of the pirate dropships being able to turn for an intercept.
Immediately, the carriers on board had launched fighters, followed not long later by assault shuttles of Taurian make. The fighters had been on the pirate Jumpships for less than ten minutes and put a single display of fire past their bridges, indicating that anything other than powering down would result in their destruction. This was rapidly shown to be true as the Leviathan and another Invader had powered weapons, only for the weapon blisters to immediately be raked with laser fire.
That had caused a number of us in the CIC to cringe while The Colonel had merely scowled slightly. It was probably for her people to waste time and munitions rather than damage the ships, though. She then immediately ordered the approaching assault shuttles to take the two offending vessels as a priority, as well as to ensure all of their crews were captured alive for interrogation; all others were to be killed unless they were slaves, in which case they were to be incapacitated and bound for later rescue.
While this had been going on, the dropships had been running hard burns for the planet, getting closer by the second. And causing no doubt a little bit more anxiety with the ever-diminishing distance to the other planetary defenders. The Colonel and her staff, however, seemed to be wholly unaffected by the approaching pirate hoard with all of its metal. I turned to ask her something just as the console she was at switched to a red priority communication channel, and a clipped and serious voice came through, "Scanners have detected the presence of NBC weapons aboard all jumpships, repeat NBC presence aboard Jumpships confirmed."
The voice had caused the room to once more grow still, before the entire command exploded in curses, all except for The Colonel who seemed to sigh as if a heavy weight had fallen upon her shoulders, before she straightened up and hit another button on the console causing it to shift to a purple colour and switch to an open all channels, even public, broadcast.
"To everyone hearing my voice, this is Colonel Samantha Wylde of the Black Cats PMC, at 13:42 local time, as my marines approached the jumpships, NBC weapons were detected. I repeat, NBC weapons have been located aboard the Jumpships belonging to the pirates, and I must assume the same is true of the approaching dropships, as such I am authorising the complete destruction of these vessels with extreme prejudice." She said, causing gasps to ring out throughout the CIC as well as across the planet. One did not destroy Jumpships, ever; they were too expensive, and important to the continued well-being of human space and economy for that to be allowed.
"Should the pirates aboard these vessels surrender without a fight, then I shall ensure they are allowed a full trial in accordance with the Ares Conventions; however, should even a single pirate vessel activate the onboard NBC weapons, these terms are forfeit, you have five minutes to comply." She continued, leaving a way out for the pirates as well as a chance to recover the ships.
I watched as she hit another key, and the image of a man's face came up on the comms, "James, I am authorising Vanta Black protocols, you are to ensure that that entire region of space is dead to all signals for the next twelve hours. I do not want a single wave coming or going for it. Get me the handlers, and get your EOD and NBC techs disarming and collecting everything. I want it bagged, tagged and documented with as many video angles as you can get me from this moment forward. Authorisation is Romeo Sierra Golf Lemma Sierra Bravo. Bring them all home, James, my Marines are not allowed to die to scumbags like this." She says, as the man's face at first goes pale, before growing hard and cold, while the last part causes his eyes to widen and start showing a hint of affection.
"Understood, Colonel, Vanta Black protocols are going into effect as of the end of this call, and don't worry, my folks are the best, even the Taurian Rockhoppers would have troubles matching them. I will get them home just fine." He replies before the line goes dead, and the tactical display updates to show a massive black sphere starting to project outwards from the two dozen shuttles that were moving on the pirate Jumpships, before enveloping them as well and leaving a massive blank spot on the Tactical holomap.
"All units, move to phase two. I want those droppers dead in the air or tumbling into the depths of the black." The Colonel ordered, and I watched as all the ASFs that had been swarming the Jumpships were already on the way back before apparently kicking on the afterburners and moving with as many Gs as the pilots could stand and safely burn to get back to the Jumpships and dropships that had gotten them in place.
The safe landing and rearming of the ASF had apparently only taken ten minutes total before the Jumpships winked out of existence and appeared at a second pirate point that was so transitory I would never have thought it existed if I had not watched the calculations for it being done right in front of me.
The Jumpships and their Dropships were now closer to the planet than the approaching pirates, while being on its opposite side. They had found a window for the L2 point to be close enough to the planet that the jump would put them four hours ahead of the pirates' arrivals if they launched now.
I stared at the updated tactical map as I watched the rapidly populating potential intercepts. Apparently, my cousin had far more available to her than she let on, as I did not know of anything that could do this sort of tactical simulation, even from the remaining SLDF tech back on Tharkad.
I approached her as she was shifting through the intercept plots as looking for something that she had yet to share. I did notice that she was running through intercepts that gave longer windows of engagement, though, as well as ones that allowed for surprise and fuel consumption. She had narrowed it down to three different planetary slingshots that would all put her forces on an intercept course two hours from making reentry attempts, while giving her ASF and Dropships a chance to maintain engagement for three minutes on the approach, while also potentially catching up to the Dropships as they made the reentry attempt.
The course plots would put most of the pilots under extreme strain for a moment as they tried to get their reverse in momentum, but it was apparently a viable plot, and she eventually nods before highlighting it with a finger tap and flicking it in the direction that the comms panel generally occupied.
I watched as the plot slowly compressed until it became a file icon and then a message envelope and then vanished, I can only assume out to the dropships, which now that I was thinking about it more, were apparently docked to LF-battery Jumpships, which was all sorts of wild to consider, how had she hidden the capabilities, why had she done so? I was getting more and more questions about my cousin by the second, and I was still getting no answers. I guess I will just have to talk to her later and pry as many as I can out of her. The middle of a battle against three-to-one forces was not the time to be doing it.