WCGW Chpt 61

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==Chapter 61 - What Could Go Wrong==
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20 November 3041
Joshua (Former Outworld System)
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It had taken almost 36 hours to ferry everyone back to the Depot site. To free up personnel from guarding the pirate prisoners, Captain Gweneth Rolando ordered the prisoners blindfolded and taken into the Depot itself. They were then placed inside a 600 sq foot room with a single entrance but containing a bathroom. The door was locked via the Depot's computer system and 2 guards were posted on the door. Sergeant Raines and her team of scouts had volunteered to remain behind and keep the pirate base under observation.
Captain Rolando held a briefing inside their Intruder Class Dropship, the Intrusive. "This General Jaws could be back any day. He has 8 Battlemechs, type unknown and 2-3 platoons of grunts. No clue of he has Aerospace Fighters. We will dig in hard around the depot site. I doubt they will want to close on our position and face the guns of the Intrusive. If they do, then we have Intrusive to provide us with fire support. We now know that those Turhans can bring down Battlemechs, so until Leftenant Colonel Mitchell returns, or General Jaws makes his appearance, we are going to do some mass training on those Turhans. Engineers included when not building fighting positions. If we have to, we will disable the Dropships and retreat to the Depot itself and seal the door."
"I want all supplies moved inside the Depot itself. No sense waiting until the last second. Commodore Noble, I doubt your 2 fighters can prevent a landing, but you can cause them some trouble. If this General Jaws arrives before Leftenant Colonel Mitchell, it will be your task to hurt his forces as best you can. We managed to recover enough food from the pirate base to feed the freed prisoners and our prisoners for roughly 30 days then we will have to dip into our own supplies to feed them. That will really put us in a pinch and possibly have to go on short rations. We literally doubled the number of mouths to feed." She paused "Yes, Sergeant Crenshaw?"
"Ma'am, we could always dig up those SLDF poison packs and feed them to the pirates. It is better than they deserve in my opinion. Not sure I relish going on short rations to keep them fed. Or we could just line them up and shoot them all and be done with them." Sergeant Crenshaw said
"Currently they are our prisoners and will be treated in accordance with the Ares Convention. We do not even know if they are wanted in the Federated Commonwealth yet. We all know what has to be done, so let's get to it." Captain Rolando said breaking up the meeting.
Chief Vincent Zuniga walked over "Captain, a Dropship also means a Jumpship. No way we get from the surface to the Jump Point before they can recharge and jump clear. I might have a way to grab that Jumpship before they can jump though."
"How will we do that, Chief?" Captain Rolando asked
"I would bet my next two bonuses that those pirates come in at the Nadir Jump Point just like we did. The station is just too looted. It is a known point for them. Now if you let me take a team up to the station, I can get that Tug free with a little work. The station itself still has about 300 tons of hydrogen fuel aboard her. It's the stations emergency fuel supply for its reactors. Not even connected to the stations standard fuel supply. I can run a line to the Tug and restore fuel to it, get its reactor back up, even inject some atmosphere from the Mule Cargo Dropship that takes us up there. We can live on that tug for a couple weeks if we have to. The pirates jump in, once their Dropship is halfway, we can take the tug over and some of your folks can board the Jumpship and take it. I might be an engineer, but I have spent well on twenty years on Jumpships, I know how to jump the damned things. I could jump it to the Zenith Jump Point if the pirates try to come back after us. Either way, we score their Jumpship, I doubt the pirates know how to do a proper boarding and I highly doubt they will fire on their only means of transport." Chief Zuniga explained
"A plausible idea, but I am going to have to think this one over a bit Chief. It is a risky plan, and the pirates could return before your ready." Captain Rolando said
"All very true, but it is an idea to think about." Chief Zuniga replied
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