And thus a monumental disaster befell those seeking the Peligian legacy.
HMS Excalibur - Karin City - Karin
Lauren walked down the ramp of the dropship EX-02, adjusting her BDU shirt and nodding to the deck officer who saluted the returning Executive Officer, plane crews moving forward to tow the drop ship off of the Excalibur's primary flight deck.
She shivered in the cold. With the Excalibur sitting in atmosphere, both the Invincible and Ark-Royal's flight decks, at perpendicular angles to the main ship, were unserviceable, meaning that operations had to be handled from the main flight deck. But being inside an atmosphere had the other advantage that they could walk across the open flight deck without the need for space suits.
Behind her the technical crew disembarked the drop ship carrying their equipment ready to go to work installing lab equipment for the Farstrider Expedition. The Excalibur was short handed; many of the crew were on a well earned shore leave, others, such as Colonel Mayfair's marines, were either on deployment ensuring the security of Karin city or on training and recruitment cycles. She gestured for Maintenance team to report in to the deck officer as she made for the starboard elevator that would take her down to the hangar deck.
The ship was unusually quiet. Many of the remaining crew were turning in for the night, enjoying the brief respite from the war, and she too found herself craving her bed. As she contemplated just heading straight for her cabin, she found that she had no desire for yet another chemically- induced night's sleep. The bridge would have good, strong coffee, and she could relieve Commander Durnham for a shift, allow him to supervise some crucial maintenance in that hovering way of his, nervous whenever someone unfamiliar laid hands on the Excalibur's delicate systems.
The bridge was its usual vibrant place, half the stations unmanned; there was little need during station keeping. Commander Durnham and Shale were standing watch. The old Taïrian gave her a smile as he patted his large paw on her shoulder, the clawed fingers squeezing her warmly.
"I'm going to take watch," she said, returning Shale's affectionate smile, "You should get some rest."
Shale inclined his head, looking over at Commander Durnham as he withdrew, returning towards the elevators.
"Fascinating being," Kit said absently as he watched the large Captain disappear, "Very astute. We were discussing the finer points of Aristotle."
Lauren blinked at the commander. "Discussing?"
"Well," Durnham shrugged, removing his glasses absently and peering through them up at the light, "I was discussing and he was listening. Have you ever spent any time reading body language, Commander Tevraun? There is an entire race in the Orgaran cluster that relies purely on body language as their principal means of communication. Captain Shale has a wide and varied body language vocabulary, I've been..."
Lauren glanced across the tactical boards. "How many marines are currently onboard ship?" she asked, interrupting him.
"We have a full company of Karin Marines deployed around sensitive areas of the ship. Captain Hanson is in command while Colonel Mayfair is on Karin organizing the civic defence."
"And Fida'i?" Lauren looked up, scanning across the ships security records.
"Is there a problem I should be aware of?" Commander Durnham asked, following with his eyes as she checked the security monitors around the primary magazine that housed the Type-Nine warheads.
"I have an uneasy feeling," she confided, "Things are too quiet."
"There are currently fifteen Fida'i onboard ship, but that number appears transient as they tend to come and go as they please with each dropship run. Also, we have a great number of them out currently on raids. Under the Warlord's orders, we have been maintaining sabotage pressure on the Amsus." Commander Durnham replaced his glasses on the end of his nose and folded his arms across his tan uniform shirt. "Should I alert the Marines to increase security?"
"Yes," Darien replied, marching from the rear elevators, adjusting the sleeves of his shirt, "I think we should learn to trust our instincts a little more around here. Wouldn't you agree, Commander?" he looked directly at Lauren.
"Undoubtedly," she replied, folding her arms, returning to the security monitors.
"Should I recall the marines from Karin and alert Colonel Mayfair, my Lord?" Commander Durnham turned his attention to Darien. He hadn't seen Darien out of uniform since he'd put the Warlord's insignia on.
"No," Darien shook his head, "I think we have more than enough personnel onboard ship as long as we are cautious. I suggest, Commander," he looked over at Lauren, "That we alert Captain Hanson and have him re-deploy his marines to protect the primary magazines."
"Very well," Lauren said automatically, picking up the TAC-link headset and descending to the second tier of the bridge, leaning across one of the stations and beginning to issue orders.
Watching Lauren issue the redeployment orders, Commander Durnham turned to Darien. "I've taken the liberty of drafting a full maintenance schedule and a requisition list for critical parts and repairs," he ventured, "With Lieutenant Elias off of the ship..."
"Send it on to the Lieutenant," Darien replied absently, stroking his chin as he watched the marines move positions, arming themselves, "Where is Lieutenant Galadriel?" he asked, looking up.
"With Sub-lieutenant Ryerson," Durnham responded, "They signed out the Dragonfly. I didn't see the harm in allowing them to take that vessel, it cleared vital space off of our hangar deck while the Invincible and Ark-Royal flight decks are out of operation."
"Very well," Darien replied thoughtfully, "Order her to return to the city, a matter of some urgency, Commander."
"My Lord?" Durnham blinked; surprised that Darien would interrupt one of his key officers in the middle of her vacation.
"Also, call up all relevant data on the Peligian expedition and display it in my stateroom. I wish to review it all."
"Understood, sir," Kit nodded, complying with the order, sending out the recall orders through the Imperial TAC-net as Darien returned to his stateroom.
* * *
Vogel checked the corridor as the troop of Marines had marched past, looking back at the elements of her Dar'shar strike team. Her weapons specialist, Jared, was disassembling the tool kit and slapping the parts to his assault rifle together while Celina covered them with her pistols.
"We're going to have one shot at this," Vogel murmured, checking her watch, "Tess and the mercenaries should be in position in two minutes, when we hear the signal we move and move quickly. Jared, I want you brining up the rear and keeping us covered. Celina..."
The small dark haired woman eyed him levelly, "I have point," she said calmly.
"Then lead away," she gestured, as the small trio began a desperate race along the twisting corridors of the aging Imperial warship.
Celina moved silently, activating her augmented camouflage system as she slipped to a knee, her pistol coughing twice, as two Imperial Marines, standing sentry duty amidships, dropped, the heavy tranquilliser knocking them unconscious. Jared scooped up one of their pulse rifles.
"Polian," he said, indicating the crystal weapon mounted with a rail and bracket to the underside of the forward grip. He tossed his own weapon aside, favouring the Imperial weapon. It would actually give them a little more punch should they run into more Marines.
"Be careful," Celina hissed, "There are Fida'i on this ship." Her Orion nose twitched as she tasted the air. "I can smell them."
Jared smiled,. "Fida'i aren't the problem. I heard they have killer robots patrolling the halls."
Vogel shrugged, gesturing for them to advance, sweeping across the mech hangar. Beneath them, Marines were servicing Mechs on Drop sleds, ITE's from the configuration, painting them camouflage colours ready for deployment somewhere tropical from the appearances. Vogel didn't really care, she wasn't being paid to spy on the Imperials.
She consulted the small holographic map of the Excalibur she had been supplied with on the dropship; they were closing on the access shaft. There would be a pair of Marine guards posted on duty by the elevator and a further pair up in the control centre.
"Come on, Tess," she breathed, pressing back behind a bulkhead as Celina tumbled silently to the far end of the corridor, her tranquilliser pistol up and ready, sighting in on the pair of Marines that stood stony silent by the open access elevator.
* * *
The intruder alert had Lauren on her feet, "All sections, report," she barked, as the sound of gunfire filled the Excalibur's TAC-net.
Commander Durnham appeared across the CIC chart table as a diagram of the Excalibur lit up, resolving in to show, in red, the location of the raiders. "Excalibur is experiencing an internal sensor malfunction," Kit reported, walking around the table, "She identifies five heavily armed individuals engaging our sentries around the primary armoury. Captain Hansen is responding by dispatching additional marine units to assist in securing our magazines."
"We knew they were coming," Lauren responded, her hand resting on the Polian Kill'a'ma'jig on her belt, as Darien emerged from his stateroom.
Kit turned expectantly, awaiting Darien's customary order to report, and frowned when Darien turned and asked Lauren.
Durnham blinked. Something was wrong,
"I was right," Lauren indicated to the diagrammed ship schematic, showing the heavy fire fight down by the magazine, "They're making a play for the Type-Nines. Either Evan's faction, or opportunists who were intercepting Imperial transmissions."
"The latter is unlikely," Commander Durnham replied, "The key issue is identifying how they came aboard and ensuring that we stop them from getting off of the ship." Durnham reviewed the Excalibur's flight logs. "We've had a number of inbound technical crews, if they were amongst them, with our security as tight as it is, it should be easy to..."
"Lauren," Darien turned to her, "Would you handle the finer details? Commander, I want you to head down to the magazine and oversee its defence."
"Personally, sir?" Kit blinked.
"Yes Commander, personally," Darien replied, "have the Marine Captain issue you with a sidearm and..."
"My Lord?" Kit blinked again.
"Go!" Darien bellowed at the holographic commander.
Kit bowed his head. "As... you command..." he said, looking at Lauren before he vanished.
"Thank god for that," Darien said, looking at Lauren. "Now my dear, shut down the Excalibur's primary internal security systems. Once that task is completed, you will get off of this ship and report directly to me."
"Yes," Lauren replied, drawing her Polian weapon and marching out onto the near deserted bridge, levelling the weapon and opening fire into a bank of consoles.
* * *
Commander Durnham appeared in Shale's cabin.
Shale was already standing, the alarms ringing through the deck as he pulled his modified Taïrian style pistol from its holster and marched towards the doors.
"With respects, Captain," Durnham reported, "I believe the bridge crew has been compromised, and that you need to assume Command over the Excalibur..."
Shale grunted opening the door onto sheer chaos.
The alert sirens blared as Marines swarmed forward towards the Primary magazine, Shale grabbing his cap as he moved back through the ship, heading for the bridge, throwing himself into the elevator and punching the ascent button.
He wrenched the doors open as he burst out, looking at the smouldering consoles, the dead crewmembers and the flickering image of the Excalibur on the CIC table. Shale's nose tested the air searching for unfamiliar smells but the only scent he could find was Lauren's. He reached out and picked up Ra's weapon from the surface of the table, as another intruder alert siren began to sound the new data scrolling across the repeater displays indicating that the Propylon chamber was breached.
* * *
Darien shuffled papers, tossing more aside as he tried to sit, getting up again and pacing to and fro before sitting down again.
There was nothing he could do, not with the polls closing. All his ideas involved heavy firepower trained on one rat bastard... not the most productive of solutions to the problem.
He looked up at James, still sitting on the rafters over his head, contemplating asking the assassin to deal with the 'Chancellor-elect'. Not that it was official, the Senate still had to meet, that bought them a day or two, right? Maybe the Restorians could be convinced to... Maybe if Prince Edward could...
He walked over and entered his bedroom, throwing off his shirt and quickly beginning to change into his uniform, reaching out to pick up his TAC-link and lifting it. "Excalibur PPC?"
He paused, frowning as he tapped the device, "PPC?"
It crackled back at him.
"Excalibur Control?" he asked, walking out into the living room, slipping his tunic on and looking up at the brightly-lit starship floating over the city. He blinked as a bright flash erupted from one of the Excalibur's drop tubes, a mech launch; the sled blasted down from the ship, the anti-grav harnesses sliding the vehicle down towards the city streets.
Darien tossed the useless TAC-link aside as he sprinted towards the kitchen counter, his hand closing on where he had left Ra's weapon. Stopping when he realized it wasn't there, he looked up at James.
The Fida'i dropped to the floor, looking concerned.
"We're in trouble..." Darien began as the plate glass windows blew inwards, and the Orion mercenaries attacked.
* * *
Evans stood and gestured to the door. "Open it," he commanded, looking Walker von Karin dead in the eyes.
Walker stood on the far side of the bars, his pair of Wolves behind him. They had their machineguns up and ready. The former Chancellor could simply lift his hand and end Evan's political career before it even began.
"There is still Warlord Taine," Walker bit off evenly.
"Hardly a matter for concern," Evans replied, "Warlord or not," he checked his watch, "in a few short hours I will be Chancellor of the Empire."
"The Senate must still convene..." Walker replied evenly.
"Again, I've made arrangements," Evans responded, "And under the circumstances, Walker, I suggest you get used to calling me Chancellor." He gestured to the doors. "Open it!"
Walker seethed, motioning to the doors. "Open it," he commanded, stepping aside.
Evans picked up his tunic and slipped it on as the Wolf opened the cell door to let him out, the aquiline features twisting into a triumphant smile, as he reached out and patted Walker's shoulder. "Good puppy."
As Evans walked from the cell, Walker sank deeper into the heavy greatcoat he wore, closing his eyes and letting his chin rest on his chest. "Damn."
* * *
James back flipped across the kitchen counter, his hand slapping down on the edge of the chopping block causing it to spiral through the air, as he grabbed the hilt of the butcher's knife, using it to throw the block at the first mercenary who swung through the window, the block smashing him squarely in the chest and knocking him over as the Fida'i dropped down beside Darien behind the counter, the thumps of silenced automatic weapons tearing through the kitchen, shattering wood and tile.
Darien reached into the counter and pulled out a frying pan. Noting that the Fida'i was laughing at him, he bit off a scathing retort, blinking in shock as James catapulted himself back across the counter, a crunch and the echo of gunfire bursting out again.
There was a sickening crack, followed by more, and the gunfire stopped.
James bounced back over the counter, holding on to one of the Orion assault rifles, the Denver security force logos all over them. Darien grabbed the weapon and stood, sweeping to and fro as James bounded over the room to recover his knives, spinning them through his fingers.
"We must go," he insisted to Darien.
Darien nodded, gathering up a couple of spare clips and sprinting out of the door after the Fida'i. The roar echoed overhead as the Imperial dropship swung about and touched down with a whine, Colonel Mayfair sitting at the pintle-mounted maser cannon, smiling as the Highlord and his bodyguard clambered up and aboard.
"Morning, My Lord!" Mayfair yelled above the din of the hovering dropship as it rotated way from the mountain and began its ascent towards the Excalibur, "As soon as we lost contact with the Excalibur, I felt I should come get you."
Darien flashed the Colonel a thumbs-up as the drop ship swept past office towers, strapping himself into one of the bucket seats. "Any other attacks?" he asked, gesturing out of the doors.
Mayfair shook his head. "Negative, seems they just hit you and the Excalibur. We don't know how bad, but it looks like an Orion strike team."
"So much for an Alliance," Darien called back, picking one of the onboard TAC-links out of the emergency locker and clipping it on, dialling it in to TAC-net. He listened to the various updates and reports seeping to and fro. The ground team had investigated the downed drop sled, only to find the ITE empty. A diversion, the young Captain on scene believed.
The dropship angled up and over the lip of the Excalibur's flight deck, emergency crews waving them into a landing on one of the dropship pads, Darien unclipping his webbing and dropping to the rubberised deck as he lifted the assault rifle, Mayfair jogging along with him as they flagged down one of the deck officers.
"Who's in command?" Darien asked, resting a hand on his headset as he allowed himself to be led to one of the plane elevators.
"Captain Shale just assumed Command. Commander Durnham is directing from Ark-Royal and Captain Hansen is holding the primary arsenal and conducting a sweep."
Mayfair nodded as the elevator descended to the hangar deck, the two senior officers running forward through the ship, winding up corridors till they finally reached the bridge. Darien handed off his rifle as he stared at the smoking consoles, coated in fire-retardant foam. Captain Shale was standing uneasily before the CIC table.
"What the hell happened?" Darien asked, taking two steps forward.
Shale held up Ra's weapon. "Lauren," he murmured.
"What?" Mayfair chocked, shaking his head, "What do you mean?"
Darien took the weapon, and looked again at the ruined consoles, walking back through access corridor to the stateroom, the holographic displays still spiralling and rotating with the Peligian data. He went cold; the holographic map and the co-ordinates to the Polian Sanctuary had been accessed.
He collapsed into his chair.
"The Propylons..." Mayfair marched back into the Stateroom, seething, "They were after the Propylons..."
"No," Darien said calmly, "They want Peligia, and they now have a head start on us."
He slammed Ra's weapon down on his desk, closing his eyes.
"We're locking down Karin, they can't ... get...far..." Mayfair stopped when he realized the futility of his words. With Propylons it really didn't matter how tight a planet was locked down.