Complicated
Casualties made……the extract a bit more difficult, even with Beta team tying up the militia response.
Bushavov and Samantha Roberts were not in exactly pristine condition but with leaving Hong and Massa behind already was putting him critically short on manpower for how many hostages they needed to secure or he’d leave Bushavov behind too.
So it was down to him, Nune, Bushavov, Collins, and Grieg from the original team of seven.
The farm-truck at least had off-road capability and a full tank of petrol.
It also had three pedals on the floor, making the start-off of the escape…complicated. "A ******
manual??" Nune glared at Hostage number one. "NOBODY builds Manuals!"
Samantha was silent thanks to a gag in her mouth, but her eyes conveyed nothing but rage.
It took a couple of tries to get the vehicle in motion, and the jerking impact of missed shifts didn't do great things for the wounded.
Samantha’s wounds were fortunately relatively light thanks to Maori, but she still winced in pain when Nune was less than careful in her driving.
Once Nune got the rhythm down for clutch-and-shift, things smoothed out.
“Focus on being cooperative, Miss Roberts. We have sufficient reason to keep you alive as long as you behave. Don’t, and well, all we really need for our purposes are your children,” the leader of the Commandos said flatly.
The children were stunned, bound while also being gagged.
Jeremiah, the oldest at twelve, glared sullenly over his gag and struggled when he could against his restraints.
Joshua, at ten years old, was silently focused on everything around him, the wheels in his head spinning to try and think of a way to get free.
Of the two, Skorzeny had more of a feeling that the younger one was going to be a real problem to contain. The boy was
entirely too calm and focused.
Elizabeth was also gagged with a mix of anger and fear in her eyes.
“Boss, the militia isn’t stopping at the farmhouse,” the voice of Massa came over his radio.
“Shit, one of them has a tracker. Nune, drive faster!” the leader barked as he started examining Elizabeth.
“Yes sir!
*
Signal located. Tracking. Escape vehicle has ceased evasive maneuvers. Extrapolating likely vector… Comparing topographical data… There you are.Maori pulled as close as she dared to the atmospheric interface and lined up
very carefully her Heavy Naval PPCs.
“Have to make this count and before they get too close.” Maori triggered the weapons.
*
A pillar of light suddenly reached down from the sky. Even from this far away the hairs on everyone’s necks and arms stood on end as an explosion erupted right where their grounded ship was. Ripping through the trees, the explosion rocked the truck on its shocks despite the distance.
A snap in the Commando’s headsets made all of them wince.
“Attention dipshits who just made a very big mistake. You will free your hostages now, and surrender to the militia unit currently following you. As you can see, I just busted your ride off world. Hurt them or kill them, and I will make it my mission to track every last one of you down and make you suffer in ways you cannot possibly fathom. You have thirty seconds,” Maori’s voice came through the earpieces loud enough Samantha and Elizabeth could hear it.
The hummingbird thump of helicopters in the distance seemed to accentuate this point. The choppers were audibly getting
closer.
“Shit. We don’t have time to search for a tracker. Nune, how’s the road?”
“Clear for the moment sir, but where the hell do we go now with our ride busted?”
“The last place they’d expect. The militia base. We’ll steal one from there.”
“****** me.” Nune changed course for the militia base.
**
Maori didn't need the tracker anymore, she could
see them on the ground using thermal and telescopic imagery. "Vector south-southwest," she told the locals. "They're heading overland toward the airbase. It makes perfect sense: their options to escape are
limited."
“We will be quite ready for them now that their diversionary attack is being decidedly dealt with.”
And it was.
The diversionary raid with their stealth gear had managed to do quite a number on the active patrols and the garrison forces mustered as reinforcements. But that just meant the rest that were being readied now would be extra
motivated.
"Star Captain, I have an idea. Make sure everything that can make orbit looks like hell. Have your techs make the surviving operational shuttles and fighters look like they were chewed up. And clear me a pad on the north end of the flight line. I'm going to let them think they can steal a shuttle."
The Star Captain on the other end started laughing. "Aff! Agreed!!"
Maori began activating her internal drones on 'security mode'. Feeding them data to make sure Samantha, Elizabeth, and Samantha’s children were considered critical assets for retrieval.
With that set, she sent one of her shuttles down.
The airbase was a hive of activity as well: techs were either moving craft inside hangars or for those that would take too long to move, doing as Maori suggested.
****
”Skorzeny……I don’t like this,” Nune complained.
“They’re not going to use the heavy stuff on us with our hostages, so just gun it. They’ll let us right through, you’ll see.”
Nune floored the accelerator as the
Elementals at the perimeter didn’t even fire their auto-rifles.
“Too easy, they should have shot something at us,” Nune continued to complain.
“Relax. They know how the real world works, and how shooting for the engine or tires could send a stray shot killing a hostage. Which they can’t have. So they’re playing it smart and letting us through. The tough part will be when we find the shuttle. That’ll be when we need to be on our guard,” the leader now identified as Skorzeny countered.
“There,” Bushavov groaned as he pointed at a shuttle that had a few scorch marks on it but otherwise looked like it could still fly.
Nune pulled up to it. Each of the Commandos grabbed a hostage except for Skorzeny.
They carefully stepped out of the truck using their hostages as shields as best as possible, just in case the garrison had snipers deployed, while Skorzeny worked the door controls with an override kit.
“Bingo. Everyone aboard! Cheer up kids, you’re going to get to go into space. Big adventure time!”
Skorzeny sat at the controls while the others secured the hostages, then themselves.
Lifting off, he knew he’d need to wait a few days before calling their ride out of system to meet them part way. A shuttle like this wasn’t suited for such a long trip.
And what worried him was where that orbital bombardment shot came from.
But as they broke atmosphere and sensors cleared he saw the answer and went pale.
He tried altering course. But the shuttle was no longer responding.
“Welcome to Maori spacelines. I regret to inform you there’ll be no inflight meal service for this voyage. The emergency exits are clearly marked. If you wish to use them now, well tough shit. I’ve locked everything down. Now do enjoy your flight.”
“Skorzeny what the hell?” Nune asked.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Skorzeny cursed mindlessly.
“Oh, and at this point you know there’s no point killing the hostages right? It’d remove any possibility of leverage you have and free me to deliver on my promise. All with you wrapped up in a nice pretty pink bow for me.”
The shuttle landed in Maori’s shuttle bay.
On every screen in the shuttle suddenly came the image of her assembled drones in the hanger doing a traditional Maori Haka.
The lights turned green, as the deck pressurized, and the external hatch opened on its own.
“Boss? What’s the play here?” Bushavov asked.
“Shit. Guns out the door. We’ve lost,” Skorzeny admitted.
There really was only one other alternative, and despite his position and what he’d been trained for, he found he couldn’t quite bring himself to give that order.
“******,” Nune cursed as she tossed her gun out first, then exited hands up.
One by one, the four other Commandos on the shuttle did the same.
Maori’s drones secured them, then one entered the shuttle.
“Apologies Samantha. With so many people to protect, I really should have had more than one drone down there, even if light delay would have made it troublesome to run more than one at a time and the fact we were visiting your in-laws meant charging capabilities were limited.” Maori ungagged and freed Samantha first.
"You did fine, Maori," Samantha allowed, turning to help unbind her sons first, then her intended guest.
"Well… looks like I can't run far enough." Jane Drillson's manner was… changed. "Maori, the commander of that team, get his big three. And can you loan me a conference room with two guards, please?"
“Of course, Lady Drillson.” Maori smiled.
"It's clear I have to retire that name, at least for the time being. You may call me 'Lady
Cameron’."
“As you wish.” Maori frog marched the indicated prisoners to a nearby suitable location.
"What are you going to do?" Samantha asked.
"Wings didn't work, so it's time to use some song," Elizabeth stated. "I really wanted to leave it to Helena." She shook her head.
“For what it’s worth, your sister would have gladly accepted that, but it seems our enemy has other ideas.”
"They always do," Elizabeth sighed. "They always have their own plans…"
“Well, I do regret I don’t have proper facilities aboard for long term human crew, but if you wish to return to the surface right away, I’d be glad to accommodate Samantha.”
"Just make sure there's a mop and a bucket," Elizabeth stood, rubbing her wrists. "I'm going to have a little discussion with our captor's leader… And keep some medical resources nearby."
“Third hatch coreward, port side. Everything you should need is now there.”
"Good, bring the Captain of that bunch. I must critique his actions… and explain his error."
“This should be good. Whatever you need right now Samantha, I’ll be glad to do my best to accommodate. You and your sons have been through a lot.”
"Mom! Can we see the Bridge?"
"I think that sets it, Maori. Can my sons have a tour, and do you have anything to drink?"
“Yes. Standing orders are to keep relief supplies on hand even for ships without human crew. So I have plenty of water, stabilized milk, and a variety of fruit juices in my stores. Nothing more adult, I’m afraid. While Auntie Elizabeth has her conversation and your mom is getting patched up, you two follow me.” Two Maoris grabbed hold of the Roberts children as they floated in the microgravity.
***
"You recognized……me, Captain," Elizabeth began. "Let's get this out of the way, Michael Skorzeny, Captain, Star League Defense Force, military occupation specialty Special Operations. Did they run you through the school on Churchstone?"
"Yes," he answered.
"Then you knew who I was, you even identified me. I seem to recall my granddaughter claiming I was ill when she launched her coup. I presumed everyone would decide I was dead. Who briefed you in?"
He sullenly mumbled.
"What was that?"
"My great uncle, Lord Major General Guffney," he said aloud. "He claimed you were insane, being held for your own safety at a secure location."
"Well, half right," Elizabeth said. "I was… though 'for my own safety' is really a matter of some dispute. What’s my position, Captain?"
He stared again, silent.
"I asked you a question. What am I?"
"You're…" he couldn't make himself say it.
"I'm your ******
Sovereign, Captain!" she slapped him, open handed, leaving a hand-shaped bruise and rocking his head back. "
Say it! I
wanted to retire. I don't
get to retire. So since you and whichever descendant of mine sent you refuse to
let me retire, you will
****** acknowledge who I am!!"
“First Lord, Director General, I’m not sure which one you want…”
"I don't want
either one. But it's clear the people who sent you leave me no other option," she hissed. "I am Elizabeth, Daughter of Simon
Cameron, and your rightful lord." She slugged him in the gut. "Kneel."
He did his best to kneel in the microgravity.
“I know better than to expect mercy for my failings, but I ask it for the others.”
"Your orders,
Captain are to provide this vessel with the coordinates of your jumpship pickup. You will then
fall in line, and do as I damned well tell you to. Beginning with getting that ill-disciplined mob of yours squared away and prepared to obey. Do I make myself perfectly, utterly, clear?"
“As you command, my Lady.”
"Good. I'm not going to kill you, because I know a secret. And you don't want to learn the details. But it begins with 'you’d be amazed what you can live through'." She stared into his eyes. "Is
that clear, Captain Skorzeny?"
“Yes, my Lady.” He felt all will to resist her leave his body.
"Maori, show this 'Captain' to his men, monitor them for the time being. And establish a connection to President Avellar's office, if you will."
“Aye, Lady Cameron. If you want privacy, comms room 4 is set up for you now.”
"Thank you, you're a standard M-5, correct?"
“Slightly refit. Lost some guns and missiles, gained armor and point defense, mostly.”
“But your deck plans remain the same?" she asked.
“Yes.”
"Then I know the way."
“Apologies if I even hinted otherwise, Lady Cameron.”
"YOU did nothing wrong, Maori. But it's clear I have to take a hand in correcting MY mistakes." She sighed. "This means I have to be… this, now." She shook her head as she headed for communications station 4. "Maori, prep remotes for boarding. I want to recover as much of my property as possible."
“
We are the Robot Pirates,” Maori began to sing as her remote jaunted off.
She laughed, "So we are."
“Wait? ‘We’ my Lady? I thought you were… human,” Captain Skorzeny asked meekly.
"I am. However, my army are robots at present. At least the competent ones are."
“A simple bloody telescope, that’s all we needed to know how badly we blundered,” Skorzeny muttered.
"As I said, the competent ones. Clearly, training standards have slipped since my last tour in office. This, too, will be
corrected."
“As you will it, my Lady.”
"Michael, let me clarify the sheer
magnitude of your mistake. Your men shot a member of the Royal Family Line."
"What?"
"The Roberts family. They're my descendants, just like your Basileus. But without the perfidy of being part of a coup," she said conversationally.
“Oh… ****** me…”
"Maybe later, if you're good," she quipped. "For now, you will consider that I am holding that charge in abeyance. Hinging on your further cooperation. Am I understood?"
“Yes, my Lady. Perhaps I should write those coordinates down for you.”
"That would be lovely."
****
The message……from SLS
Maori interrupted her preparations for the meeting with the Joint Command.
“Well damn. Good job Maori, keeping it from being much worse. Okay, I need to be supportive of my big sister right now.”
"She's asserting she IS your sister," Victoria clarified. "She has apparently retired the 'Jane Drillson' alias."
“And I’m super happy about that. But it sounds like we’re about to have to settle some politics to make it as painless as possible. Okay, first up: if she wants to be First Lord, I’m happy to let her have it, even Director General. But I know her, she’s going to want me to be her Commanding Admiral. General would be inappropriate with how naval our military is.”
A knock on the office door interrupted whatever Victoria was going to say.
“Enter,” Helena shouted.
President Avellar came in, followed by Acton Howe and Al Crowe. "I take it you know."
“Yeah. She’s the older sister and it’s her right, so I’m happy to support her however she wants me to right now.”
"She insists you're the political leader of your faction, Helena," Acton stated. "Elizabeth's message was quite…
explicit. She's declaring her intent to take over the 'SLDF Relief Zone' and enact 'long overdue reforms'. She has formally asked our assistance in doing so."
“Okay. Considering how much she had to flex her rightful position of sovereign to achieve what she just achieved, I didn’t expect that.”
"She also sent this…" Avellar pulled a Padd, and handed it over. "She's basically sticking you with the job, and claiming only her rights as
a Cameron, rather than
the Cameron."
“Sneaky big sis knew I’d try to step aside for her. Well, then. Vicky, I want an updated record on my heir since the enemy seems willing to try head hunting now. Only person I can think of to saddle with it without causing
too many problems is Daryl. Amanda’s going to probably give me nine kinds of hell for that, followed by Daryl, but it’s the best option I can see right now. Because we all know what it’d do to the Clan elements of this coalition if I didn’t nominate a Cameron, even if a bit removed. Or worse, if I named one of you my heir.” Helena chuckled.
“Do not even joke about such a thing, Lady Cameron,” Alberto Crowe scowled.
“Relax. Like I said, we all know he’s the only choice that won’t completely blow this up.” Helena took on a more serious expression.
“It does raise the question of why not make use of our Iron Womb technology to arrange a direct heir,” Acton Howe offered.
“Tempting, but no. If I’m going to have another kid, I’m doing it the old fashioned way. And since that’s not going to happen in my current state, I’d say that’s a non-starter.” Helena shook her head.
Howe listened, then he said, "We can always offer the accompanying technology, Lady Helena. The methods to restore basic fertility to someone are not unknown. The Clans considered it before settling on the faster production method available via the Iron Womb."
"Uh, what? Wow," Helena marveled.
"The same tech they're using to keep me from aging out," Avellar clarified. "With women, and I actually looked into this when it looked like things might go somewhere with your sis, they have to use some ex vitro techniques and reload the ovaries. But fertility and stable hormones are possible for people who’re having kids the natural way after a particularly… long… life."
“Damn. Well okay, being pregnant and trying to run a war at the same time sound like a bad combination. So we’ll figure out what you guys need in return for that later. To be honest, this whole Elizabeth wanting to reclaim her lordship over the region, and doing it right this time, actually solves a lot of post war problems for us. None of us can really occupy that many worlds that long term without a lot of aid from the Wolves, Bears, and Falcons. And they all have other agendas that make that impossible.”
"It'll help to have someone the subjects of the Sons will obey," Avellar noted. "The captured commando team recognized her, and their leader offered to commit suicide for the offense of attacking her."
“From the prisoners we’ve taken, it sounds like they expect death for failure, and he failed big time. Still, if Maori hadn’t been there it could have been so much worse. They might have actually gotten away with it.”
"Yeah, she only threatened 'worse than death' for further disobedience. She must have been quite the monster when she was younger."
“Something of a family trait. Yeah, I know you all probably don’t believe that I have that dark of a dark side, but I do, and I battle it constantly.”
“Be that as it may, this does present the possibility of getting some of their units to turn, and potentially in numbers.” Acton Howe nodded.
"It's the last piece," Helena realized. "The thing we've been wrestling with:how to garrison and control billions of people after we beat them in combat. She's given us the last piece." Her eyes widened. "We can
win this. Put the news on the HPG nets. When Source Alabaster gets wind of this, they’ll have no choice but to pass it on to them. And even in the tightest intel community, something like this will start getting out and among the average soldier."
To Be Continued
