Alice couldn't help but chuckle. It was true, the issyrians were particularly hard workers, and more importantly they were commonly curious about the ship. The only person more dedicated to her duties was Ashley. She was relatively new to piloting but she had a great feel for the ship, controls and her thirst for knowledge, her need to improve was insatiable. The young woman knew how to relax, sure, but on most nights she was deep in a simulation, piloting large ships and fighters alike into the most challenging scenarios. “So Ashley's going on her first recruiting mission.”
Jake smiled a little and nodded. “I was wondering when you'd bring that up.”
“She's key to the helm during day shift, I was a little surprised.”
“Her navigator is going with her. I'll be using another team at the helm for the next couple days. I figured it was time to give them a chance. If the worst happens I could always take the controls.”
“Do you think she can manage a small crew for a few days?”
“I left her in charge of the Samson enough while Stephanie, Frost and I were off ship. The Cold Reaver is easier to take care of.”
“You know, I wish I was around for the Samson days. I keep hearing stories.”
“It wasn't as interesting as it might sound. The Samson is far from done though. I have plans for her, the Cold Reaver and a few other ships in her class if we can get our hands on them.”
“Oh really?” Alice asked with an upraised eyebrow.
“The Triton is perfect for serving as a command center for several smaller crews on ships just like the Samson. There's no reason why we can't go after several small objectives at a time or use a group of smaller ships to help capture convoys, hit military targets that are hardened against large warships like the Triton or we could run deep recon, cherry pick targets before going in with everything.”
“I like the way you think. Makes me really wish the Clever Dream was still around. She'd be perfect.”
“I'll make sure you get an agile ship when you run missions. I don't know if we can find something like the Clever Dream, but I'll do my best to replace her.”
“Maybe I should take a look at Regent Galactic's military vessel listing. I'm sure they make something I'd like to get my hands on,” she said with a crooked grin. “I've met enough ship thieves and pirates to know a few things.”
“Then that's the first mission you'll plan after reviewing what I've put together.”
The War Room
The view from the high side of Mount Elbrus was expansive. The many long avenues carved into the side of the mountainside stone extended downward like hundreds of stairs, to look at it in the darkness of night you couldn't tell there was a thing amiss. Beyond the darkness of the mountainside fierce urban combat continued in the sprawling city beyond the shield. Ayan stood wrapped in her long poncho as she watched tracers arc over the shorter structures, heard the pops and roars of explosions punctuating the screaming light.
They had pushed the enemy out of the mountain. A great victory for all the flesh and blood defenders. Squadrons of Regent Galactic soldiers and West Keepers waited for them in the city streets, however. Their prowess at urban combat and superior numbers halted the mountain rebels, so they fell back to the main tunnel entrances and held, fortifying their hard won territory. The tunnels were safe for the night. How long it would remain that way no one could say for certain.
Volunteers snuck into the city beyond the foot of the mountain regardless of the dangers to distract the West Keepers and their mechanized allies. Using strike and fade tactics they inflicted as much harm to the enemy as they could manage before retreating, running and getting set to do it all over again. Some of the teams went out and hadn't returned. One had managed to send a message along an intact wired network. The message was simple; Enemy military hardware and personnel has begun to land on nearby islands. Going deeper into hiding and will contact when we have more intelligence. Things were getting worse but morale in the mountain was high. It felt like an island of safety in a sea of war.
A pressing, urgent need to destroy any weapon capable of doing major damage to the energy shield motivated some of the soldiers in the vast city below and the further one made their way from the edge of the shield the higher the mortality rate was. Jason, Oz, Minh and herself would be going further out than any team had since the whole conflict began.
She flinched as a group of red and blue streaks lit up the sky and struck the shield at her right side. It was her first real exposure to an all out ground war. Ayan had gone on a planetside mission involving repairs on a power plant after a major conflict, she'd run with various people in countless simulations, and she'd had extensive cadet, navy and officer ground training not to mention the rank of Major. Looking at her old file anyone would conclude that she was fully qualified to not only participate in a ground war, but to direct a platoon.
The real thing was different. She hadn't seen it in daylight yet, but she wasn't looking forward to it. She pulled the poncho tighter around herself. There was no need for additional warmth, the vacsuit took care of that from her toes all the way up to the black choker around her neck but she wanted to feel wrapped, covered up, protected.
The transparent door behind her slid open and a big hand came to rest gently on her shoulder. “Quite a view,” Oz said quietly.
“Has it stopped since you got here?”
“The fighting? It's gotten worse. Feels like I've been fighting in tunnels for months even though I can still count the days since I volunteered on my hands. This could go on for years or end tomorrow.”
“I saw a Thurge cruiser in a vertical bay down there. Is it broken down?”
“No, it works fine. It would carry everyone inside this mountain out of the solar system. Should take more than enough punishment to make it too.”
“Then why aren't they running?” Ayan asked in a whisper.
“They're protecting something. Jason and I can't find out what, but from what the Sergeant tells us there's too much to transport and giving the artificials a chance at access would cause so much trouble they won't even talk about it.”
“I don't suppose they're willing to destroy their precious cargo.”
“They say it can't be destroyed. Not well enough to be sure.”
Ayan shook her head. “You can destroy anything with a big enough fusion bomb.”
“Spoken like a true combat engineer.”
“So Minh's plan is the best plan.”
“Looks like.”
The pair looked out over the night shrouded city. One of the upper sections of a tall, sixty storey building was burning out of control, it looked like a massive torch. There were secondary explosions and flashes of light on the floors below and both of them hoped that they were the result of some accelerant left behind, not evidence of a desperate firefight.
“We thought we lost you,” Oz said, breaking a long silence.
Ayan didn't know what to say, how to respond for a quiet span that weighed on them both. She smiled finally and said; “I'm eighteen days old.”
He couldn't help but give her the most surprised, quizzical look, then burst out laughing. “I hadn't thought of it that way. Makes as much sense as anything else though. Minh told me everything, I think he likes being the lesser of two unusuals.”
Ayan laughed and turned to look at him. “That's what you're calling us?”
Oz shrugged. “May as well, you're both miracles when you look at it. The odds of him surviving out there for as long as he did were about as low as the odds of the Doc actually managing to bring you back,” his big hands took hold of her shoulders and he smiled warmly at her. “And we couldn't be happier that you both made it through, however you did.”
Ayan smiled back at him. “Regardless of the conditions, I'd be hard pressed to find better company.”
“I'm sorry Jonas couldn't be here, despite the conditions.”
She nodded; “So am I, but in my mind it's been over two years since he disappeared. I know, it's actually
