"Final tale"... my, that sounds ominous. :o
That would be because it
is. ;^)
They did kind of back themselves into a corner... :-\
You have NO idea! LMAO!!!!
Here’s the next installment. Enjoy!
JP-19361187, Lyran Alliance
December 9th, 3068 Erin looked around the room in stunned silence.
Simply beautiful. she thought. Shaking her head to clear it she pulled out her personal com device. "Put me through ta' th' Colonel."
Kevin punched a button on the console. "Silver Actual, go head."
"Sair," she began, "we found wha' looks ta' be a hydroponics bay. It be 'uge an' it still workin'."
Col. Silver visibly blanched. "Impossible."
Erin shook her head. "Impossible or no... it's real, sair."
Kevin looked at the diagram of the facility again. "There's no hydroponics bay shown in the schematics. Do you think it's new?"
Lt. Col. McKenna examined the display panel near the entrance. "No' unless WOB made it ta' look like it ware Star League vintage, Colonel. More likely tha' th' Wobbies refurbished it back ta' runnin' order, sair. I also thin' we found th' source o' power for this place. There be a fusion reactor here."
"Negative, Colonel McKenna." Kevin replied. "The specs say there's a huge geothermal plant at the base of the facility. That generator is probably just a backup unit just for the hydroponics system."
Erin looked at the display panel. "Aye, sair. I'm thinkin' tha' they added this on after initial design o' th' facility an' the existin' power system could nay handle th' extra load."
"I copy that, Colonel. Hold your positions. The rest of 1st Infantry and the Marines should have the upper levels cleared and reach your position in the next ten minutes. Silver Actual out."
Erin sighed and turned to Sergeant Delprete. "Alright me boy-o's, let's sit tight 'till th' cavalry arrives."
Fifteen minutes later, just as the infantry and Marines were finishing searching and clearing down to sublevel 28, the power went out throughout the facility.
Joe wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, quickly returning it to support the barrel of his Blazer Rifle as he took another half step through the corridor. Steam vented from an emergency relief valve three meters in front of him, causing him to tense and aim as though it could kill him. Relaxing slightly once he realized it wasn't a threat, he gestured over his shoulder to the fire team shadowing him. Cautiously the five made there way forward, waiting for the inevitable ambush to be sprung.
"
Orchid ta'
Fallguy. Sublevel 57 be clear. We'll be comin' doon th' stairwell now. Over?"
Joe responded by keying his mic twice, not daring to risk a verbal response. They hadn't figured on the main stairwell ending three levels from the bottom of the facility, having been forced to locate the central stairwell in a manual search of the level. As the rest of the unit searched sublevel 57, Joe, Morander Collins, and one squad of infantry headed down the stairwell to secure the landing on sublevel 58, only to find it riddled with a maze of catwalks, steam pipes, and blistering heat.
A moment later he stopped and listened hard.
Foosteps? Crouching low he held a fist up over his right shoulder, causing the four-man fire team behind him to take defensive positions.
If we didn't need the power back so badly, I would have never gone along with this. he mused.
This is suicide
.One corridor over Captain Collins led another fire team, a double-barrel shotgun in his hands and a vibroblade on his hip. As he saw the steam vent out across the catwalk he noticed the oddness of its movement, curling up and around an unseen obstruction. Fear nearly took him to his grave before his training kicked in and he snapped off both barrels at the figure he couldn't directly see. At only 2 meters distant both sets of high speed pellets slammed into the facemask of the
Purifier suit. Though most of the projectiles merely bounced off the hardened armor, one struck the eyeport at just the right angle, sending shrapnel directly through the brain of the suit's pilot. As the body twitched in convulsions of death the machinegun mounted on its arm sent a burst of projectiles back at its killer, sending Morander and his fire team diving for cover.
As the shots rang out, Joe bounded from his crouch and raced around the corner just as the
Purifier suit toppled sideways over the railing to the concrete floor 10 meters below. As it crashed into the floor Joe spotted Captain Collins picking himself up off the catwalk, his dive for safety nearly sending him over the edge to his own death. Reaching down Joe helped the junior officer back to his feet and glanced at the ancient weapon still clutched in his off-hand. "You killed it with
that?" he exclaimed.
Morander smirked. "Hey, if it ain't broke... this'll break it!" he quipped.
As Erin flew down the stairs she saw Joe helping Captain Collins back up. "Sitrep!" she whispered.
Joe nodded over the railing and whispered back, "Scratch one... four to go." Crouching back down and raising his Blazer once more he continued the search of the catwalks as he was joined by the rest of the Silver Eagles available infantry and Marines and as many other warriors as the unit could spare.
Erin dashed back up the stairwell to sublevel 56, the sound of weapons fire still ringing in her ears. While the tech teams had just managed to get the geothermal plant back online and up to 60% power, the sound of small arms fire rang out from the level above where they had left two infantrymen to guard the stairwell. As she launched herself out of the stairs she saw a figure crouched over one of her fallen soldiers, the hapless infantryman staring back at Erin with lifeless eyes from over his own shoulder. Rage filled her as she spotted the other infantryman, his body slumped over the support weapon that was supposed to safeguard his life.
Diving toward the second slain infantryman, McKenna rolled the body off the weapon and brought it to bear against the intruder in one swift and smooth motion, his attention only just then coming around to her. As she lined up the shot the figure stood, impassive and bold and practically daring her to shoot him with a haughty posture of indifference. Mashing down the firing trigger, 36 megajoules shot from the focusing lens in a fraction of a second, briefly connecting her to her target. Flesh exploded as the weapon poured energy into the Blakist warrior. Unspent it flashed flesh, bone, cybernetic implants, and everything it touched into a plasma, vents of gas exploding out through her victim's back.
As the zealot felt life leaving his body he smiled back at Col. McKenna and with nothing but a thought triggered the explosive in his chest cavity. Ferrocrete and body parts flashed out away from his suicide explosive and became shrapnel, cutting through walls and ruining anything in their path. Erin rolled with the explosion, her body carried on a shockwave of death and destruction.
Erin waved away the probing hands of the medic trying to staunch the bleeding from the cut over her eye. "I'm
fine!" She barked at the infantryman.
Joe stood over her and shook his head. "Just let her help. It's her
job."
Looking back up at her husband she sighed and relented. After a minute cleaning and bandaging the wound Corporal Forni got to her feet and closed her field kit. "There. You should see Doctor Cassidy as soon as you get topside, ma'am. You may have a concussion."
Joe chuckled. "That would imply there are
brains there to get damaged, Corporal." He looked down at his wife who was just opening her mouth to formulate a retort. "She'll go."
Erin sighed. "Aye.
She'll go."
Randall came up the stairwell just in time to hear the exchange. "Well you can scratch four of these freaks off the WOB payroll. Collins decapitated another one with a chunk of metal through the neck. Crazy Larry already cut out the explosive charge from his chest and disposed of it... so we can have medical do a proper examination."
Erin hung her head.
Tha' means two more o' these bloody nightmares air still roamin' loose. "Aye, Randall. Good job. 'Ave th' Marines get th' body top-side ASAP."
Randall gave her a quick salute. "Yes, ma'am."
Kevin looked down at the level-by-level layout of the facility that he had printed.
Sven says they finally got the cargo door to sublevel 7 open and they're now on sublevel 26 fixing the electrical systems. That should get Chi Lin access to nearly every level's security cameras. After having gotten some sleep, the command staff had met for another late evening / early morning meeting to decide what their next steps should be. Looking up from the map across the table at his second in command he blew out a breath of frustration. "Even if we can secure the facility we're going to need to come up with a means of keeping everyone going. That hydroponics area you found will help a lot."
Randall leaned against the table. "Yeah. Word about that has already started circulating and moral is up as a result." He looked over at McKenna. "The men know we're trapped, and the prospect of starving to death makes men desperate."
Erin leaned back in her chair. "Aye. An' we'll nay be gettin' any aid anytime soon. Eventually WOB will come here in force an' end oor li'l stalemate." She looked over at Col. Silver. "Ye' nay should 'ave slammed th' door on Precentor Marlin like that, Kevin."
Looking back at his XO he scoffed. "We've been through this Erin. Surrender is
not an option with WOB. Clanners? Ok... One of the major powers? Sure... But WOB? We'd be signing our own death warrants."
He trailed off while a plan formulated in his mind. "OK, I want all available personnel to clear down to at least sublevel 40 before anything else."
Joe crushed out a cigarette and looked at the map. "What do you have in mind, Kevin?"
Pointing at the map he explained. "What would happen to that Geothermal plant if almost 49 megaliters of water came rushing in?"
Joe smirked. "Nothing good, I imagine."
Kevin sat up. "Not good at all. I want a means to completely destroy this place so I don't have to bluff my way through it again the next time I have to talk to Marlin. That gives us leverage we can use to maybe save our bacon."
JP-19361187, Lyran Alliance
December 10th, 3068 Erin snapped back at Col. Silver. "Just another two dead an' eight wounded, eh, sair?"
Kevin whipped around on his heals. "That's enough Erin! You're relieved!"
As she stormed out of the Mobile HQ, Joe turned to his boss. "You know she doesn't mean it, Kevin. She's just frustrated."
Hanging his head and leaning hard on the table he nodded. "Yeah, I know Joe. But I have to enforce discipline or the unit will crack and we'll be slaughtered for certain."
Looking at the after action report following the fighting on sublevel 46 he looked up at Joe. "These areas here on 46 through 55. Those lead to mineshafts, right?"
Joe nodded. "Yes sir. There appears to be an extensive network of mineshafts that the SLDF dug out with drilling equipment to feed the factories with raw ore. These facilities down the middle of 46 through 55 appear to be ore processing and refining."
"Any way to easily cut them off from the rest of the facility?" Kevin queried.
Shaking his head Joe replied, "Negative. Not without risking a complete cave-in of the surrounding sublevels. That would cut us off from the power station and spell an end to your 'self destruct' plan as well."
Kevin's eyes flew over the maps. "Any way of getting some kind of chart on these mine networks from the computer? Or maybe sounding one out with our detection gear?"
Joe once more shook his head. "The mine charts were kept on paper due to their continual changing, which would have rotted to dust centuries ago... and we don't have good enough Ground-penetrating radar or sonar to map a network this extensive and complex."
Kevin slammed his fist on the table. "Fine! I want a lance of 'Mechs down in those tunnel entrances as fast as we can lower them down there."
Joe nodded. "Yes sir." He tossed a leisurely salute as he left to see to the operation.
Just as Joe left his aid Corporal Winters came in. "Sir? Chief Technician Iverson reports that the computer network break at sublevel 26 has been repaired."
Kevin nodded as he walked out to head for the facility's command center. "At least we have
some good news."
"Ye' gave 'em wha' they wanted, sair?"
Kevin looked up at Erin. "Yes Colonel, I did... to safeguard the lives of four members of the Silver Eagles we had thought to be dead."
Erin threw her hands up in the air. "Aye! Thought dead because o'
him!"
Joe sat back and listened to the exchange. Within an hour of placing 'Mechs at the entrances to the mines they had received a radio message from Master Petty Officer Peressini, formerly 1st Watch Bridge Engineering officer of the
Zutsuu and the man who had hidden the approach of the
Vincent class warship from his crewmates. The message was clear, remove the 'Mechs from the entrance of the mines or the four surviving members of the 1st Bridge Watch would all die. After several attempts at negotiating Col. Silver agreed to a 3-day supply of food and water for all five. Cmdr. Ryan " Mystic" Detirch, former XO of the doomed Dropship, was allowed to talk briefly with Col. Silver, verifying that they four were in fact alive and in relatively good health before Peressini cut him off and threatened to kill them all unless his demands were met.
Sitting forward and looking at his wife, Joe retorted, "We all know that, Erin... and giving a few days of food and water won't hurt anyone and buys us time to figure out what we're going to do."
Erin paced the room like a caged tiger. "I'll tell ye' wha' we're goin' ta' do, love! I'll march right in there an'..."
Kevin stepped in front of Erin mid-stride. "And what, Colonel? Get yourself killed? Get
them killed? And how exactly will you
find them in that rat's nest of a maze of tunnels? Hmm? Pure luck? We have
no clue where they are, what booby-traps Peressini has set up, or anything, Colonel! I will
not let you jeopardize the safety of those men under
my command!" Stepping in close and looking down at his Executive Officer he finished, "Is that
clear, Colonel?"
Erin fumed at the direct challenge, but backed down quickly, letting her gaze drop to the floor, her fury spent. "Aye, sair. Clear."
Kevin sighed. "I know Erin... I'm frustrated too, but we have to keep our heads to have
any hope of getting out of this one alive." Looking over at Joe he queried, "What is your estimation of Peressini, Joe? Would he keep them alive for so long as he thinks he can get his way?"
Joe lit a cigarette and blew it out slowly, thinking. "Yes, if for no other reason than a live hostage can always be made dead later, but a dead one can't be used for much of anything." He paused before finishing. "But that wouldn't stop him from killing one or two just to make a point or punish you for failing to bow to his demands."
Kevin nodded. "Agreed. So what are our options?" Turning to Lt. Chi Lin he asked, "Any chance of a search being effective
and covert enough to not be noticed?"
She shrugged at the suggestion. "It would be blind luck for a unit small enough to not be noticed to find them, sir. I don't think it's worth the risk."
Kevin turned to his long-time friend. "Joe?"
Joe simply shook his head. "Agreed. Searching effectively would require too many people to do so with any kind of stealth."
Captain Owens sat forward. "As Regimental S-1 I do have to note that we have to consider the simple fact that we don't have enough people to do it, and the ones we have are running pretty close to the ragged edge as it is."
Captain Collins added to the sentiment. "Agreed. We need to rest the men and buy time."
Kevin looked over at Captain Vahzenov. "How are we looking on supplies, Vaz?"
The unit's S4 shrugged. "Ve hafe enough for about eight months, azzuming zat ve continue to hafe access to ze Dropships for vater recyclink."
Kevin turned to the exhausted Chief Technician. "Sven? Any word on the facility's support systems? Can we start trusting the water and other support systems to sustain us?"
Sven Iverson looked bleary-eyed at his long-time employer. "No clue yet, sir. My men are running themselves into the ground just keeping up with the immediate needs." He closed his eyes briefly. "We need rest, sir."
Doctor Benson chimed in. "As Chief Medical Officer I put in a formal request for 8 hours of downtime for the unit sir. They need rest or the stress will break them."
Kevin shook his head slowly. "Understood, but the request must be denied for now, Major. We can't afford the downtime or the lives that will be lost while we rest and the enemy doesn't." Switching gears he tried to derail any retort. "Have you learned anything useful from the body we retrieved from the lower levels?"
Dr. Benson nodded. "Yes sir. We were able to verify a lot of our guesswork about these soldiers and their..." He paused for effect. "...enhancements. I can add to the last list I gave you enhancements such as respiratory filtering, vibroclaws, and..." He swallowed hard due to his own personal discomfort with the last item, "...Direct Neural Interface."
Kevin looked up at the Major. "DNI?
Really?" Repressing a shudder at the thought he continued. "Major Thorpe? Any thoughts on the best uses of the Engineering teams?" Looking around he asked, "Where's Randall?"
As the assembled officers looked around, Joe pulled out his personal coms. "Put me through to Major Thorpe, please?"
Seconds passed before the reply came. "I'm sorry sir, but Major Thorpe isn't responding. Do you want me to take a message for him when I reach him?"
Joe shook his head. "No thank you, Private Washer." Returning his comms to his belt he looked at Kevin. "WC maybe?"
Col. Silver shook his head. "I don't think so Joe. I have a bad feeling about this."
Randall paused, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the mining tunnel ahead of him.
Kevin'll have my butt in a sling for this, but I owe Mystic
and I pay my debts. Creeping forward through the darkness, he shined his light as he examined the copy of the rudimentary drawings the unit had made of what they knew of the tunnels and passageways making up the subterranean mining project for the facility. Making his way forward he listened intently for any signs of activity. Hearing none he continued down the passage as stealthily as he was able.
After what seemed like hours searching in vain, Randall came upon a large cavern marked on the map as "Area 12". There were five other large caverns marked that were easily detected by the primitive mapping that the Silver Eagles had managed before they had determined that the network was too extensive to map easily or quickly. As he scanned his light across the room he stopped on what appeared to be a 'Mech but much smaller and with no weapons.
A MiningMech Randall mused. Stopping to listen he could almost make out the faint sounds of talking... but he had no idea where it was coming from as the sounds echoed off of every wall and down every tunnel.
Could be anywhere
. Randall mused in frustration.
Taking a blind stab he started to head down one tunnel that he thought might be the source of the sounds, only to have them fade to nothingness as he entered. Shining his barrel-mounted light down the tunnel he raised his Mauser 960 and slowly started forward.
"Colonel Silver? I have Precentor Marlin."
Kevin nodded. "I'll take it here, Private. Put him through." Setting his comms onto speaker he placed it on the table. "This is Colonel Silver."
Precentor Marlin sounded smug and self-satisfied that his long-time nemesis was now at his knees. "Baron Silver. Your time is up. What say you? Will you surrender to the will of Blake or will we leave you here to die?"
Kevin bristled at the oiliness of the threat. "Marlin, I have twenty pounds of C8 strapped to the sides of the main water tank on sublevel 40. If you leave us here, we'll blow it and send millions of litters of water down on top of the geothermal plant, destroying this entire facility."
Precentor Marlin's smug smile dissolved into a frown.
He wouldn't! Thinking quickly he replied, "That would mean your own death Baron, as well as that of the rest of your unit."
If he destroys that facility, The Master will have a new 'volunteer' for the Manei Domini
! he mused, trying his best to mask his fear from his voice.
Kevin smiled as he heard the voice of his enemy shake in fear.
He needs
this place! I knew
it! Smiling as he replied, "If you leave us, we're dead anyway... even though we have the hydroponics bay and months of supplies... eventually time will run out and you'll get help from elsewhere, sending in more then we can stop to kill us all and take the facility by force of arms. Maybe even more of your 'Manei Domini' soldiers?" He risked telling Precentor Marlin that he and the Silver Eagles knew about their augmented soldiers, betting that it would further throw him off and push Marlin into making a mistake.
Precentor Marlin's look of concern grew into a look of wide-eyed panic.
He knows! Stupid Peressini must have been captured and cracked under questioning! He must not be allowed to escape! Gathering his composure, he retorted. "Then we are still at an impasse it would seem."
Kevin nodded.
He might as well just have admitted that he needs
this place intact. Looking at Joe he saw the look of admiration in his old friend's face. Smirking he collected his composure and replied with utmost precision. "I know you have Dropships in the system. Am I correct in assuming that this is your personal guard unit?"
Marlin nodded in grudging admiration at how well he'd been played, but refused to reply to the querry.
Kevin took a chance. "I propose that you land your Dropships and face us in honorable combat to decide who shall take this facility. If you win we will all either be dead or captured and the facility is yours. If we win, we take what we want and leave you here until we can contact a WOB representative and tell them where you are. You have my word as Baron of Agata."
Precentor Marlin mulled over the suggestion.
It would end this thorn in my side and erase the stain from my record if I could destroy this Blake-forsaken mercenary. Gathering his thoughts he decided to call Col. Silver's bluff. "I consider your presence here a crime against humanity, Colonel Silver. As such any negotiations from a point of honor would be a farce. Precentor Marlin out." As he queued the comms officer to cut the transmission he let out a breath.
Blake protect me! Turning to the Bridge officer he ordered, "Bring us to an intercept heading for their Jumpship. We're leaving to get reinforcements."
"It was a good try, sir." Joe patted Kevin on the shoulder. Looking over at the communiqué they received from the
Comstock Joe sighed.
They're marooning us here. "Orders, sir?"
Kevin closed his eyes.
No use fretting about mistakes now. Straightening up he looked over to Lt. Amdecker, acting S3 while Randall was absent. "Begin moving the temporary quarters down to sublevel 11... the housing levels. Tell Sven I want those units up and functional ASAP. All other repair work is on hold until we have housing for every soldier in this unit."
Bowing crisply, the Kuritan replied, "Hai, Colonel Silver."
As he left the HQ, Sergeant Spanner walked in. "Colonel? I think we know what happened to Major Thorpe. Second Marine found some tracks leading into the mining complex." He paused to let that sink in. "The boot treads match that of Major Thorpe's Comstar combat suit."
Kevin looked up at his Command Sergeant Major. "You sure it's not a Wobbie? They used to be Comstar too."
Sergeant Spanned nodded. "Aye aye, sir. We're certain."
Col. Silver almost punched a wall. "Dammit Randall!" Turning to face the senior NCO he replied. "Alright. The standing order to shoot on sight stands. If anyone sees anyone moving in those tunnels... shoot to kill.
No exceptions, Sergeant Major."
Nodding in understanding he simply replied, "Aye aye, sir."
Kevin stormed out of the HQ and headed for the MASH units. Finding Dr. Benson he asked, "Have a minute, Major?"
Joel Benson looked up from his reports on the wounded. "Yes sir?"
Kevin looked out at the tents of wounded. "We found a proper medical facility on sublevel 25, Major. Can the wounded be moved? I'd much rather then down there where it's safer then up here with Blake-knows what able to just walk in the front doors."
Looking down at his reports he mused, "A proper hospital would help a lot, sir. We have all the wounded stable enough to be moved. Just give the word and I'll get the medics to start moving the most serious patients down first."
Kevin nodded as he left. "The word is given, Major."
An hour later Kevin stood in the middle of one of the senior SLDF officer's quarters on sublevel 16 as Captain Collins was hooking the holotable from the HQ van up to the room's power and computer system.
"Got it!" He shouted. "I have the table hooked into the facility's main computer network. We should now be able to have the detailed plans of this place displayed here, with security camera overlays to show activity and isolate threats quickly, sir."
Kevin nodded. "Good work, Captain." As he powered up the table, he noticed that it immediately started running a system check. After several seconds he was shocked to hear, "Good afternoon! Long live the Star League! How may I assist you, sir?"
Morander looked at his CO. "Beats me, Colonel. I'm as shocked as you are."
Kevin stood in dumbfounded astonishment. "Uhhh... can you show me a layout of this facility?"
Less than a second later the facility sprang up from the holotable. "Displayed." the mechanically feminine voice replied.
"Can you show me the mines?" Kevin probed.
Zooming down to show only sublevels 46 through 55, the computer started projecting last known caverns, tunnels, and access paths. "Probability of accuracy less than forty percent, Colonel."
Once more Kevin was dumbstruck.
How did it know I'm a Colonel? Realizing it must have overheard Captain Collins' comment he pressed on. "Please highlight using a color gradient based on probability of accuracy... red for less than 5% probability of accuracy through blue for 100 percent certainty of accuracy."
As he watched the map shifted colors as he instructed. "Displayed, Colonel."
Tempted to get lost in the possibilities of this new interface with the facility computer, he focused on the most important item. "Computer, can you identify any signs of habitation within the mines? Can you detect any people
alive in there?"
Seconds went by with no reply. After an interminable silence the computer replied, "Data level classified. Please state your name, rank, and clearance code."
"Never mind, computer. Off please." Kevin sighed. As the holotable switched itself off, Kevin turned to Morander. "I guess
that would have been too easy, huh?"
Captain Collins shrugged. "Hey, it was a good try though sir."
"Captain," Kevin began. "I'd like you to review the data logs in the computer. Look into any signs that WOB accessed the system and left anything useful... log entries would be most helpful if there are any."
Morander nodded. "I'll get on it, sir."
Ten minutes later, he came back into Kevin's office. "Sir? I think I may have found something even better then data logs."
Col. Silver looked up at his C4 Operations officer. "What could be more important than what I ordered you to do, Captain?"
Morander leaned back against a wall. "Ever heard of a 'FAX machine' sir?"
More to come! #P
