TGoaW-50

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==Chapter 50 - The Glow of a Worm inside a Child's Eye==
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Blackjack System, Lyran Commonwealth - August, 3050
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Lt. Junior Grade Mai Huynh...
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...grew up in the islands north of New Saigon, a fisherman's kid, she'd done her five years in the AFFC as a medic with an infantry battalion. Upon mustering out, she'd taken a few tests, and turned a junior NCO rank that she'd finished her draft-status with, into a Cadet-Warrant, and from that, into a junior militia commission on a jump-capable ship with the Kowloonese Militia formation called the Coast Guard.
Half her staff were warrants flocked right out of able shippers or prison recruits, most of her personnel were junior enlisted, except for the Chief of the Boat and the Staff Sgt in her marine platoon-both had been in the Militia or the Guard for years while she'd been patching casualties on the Combine front.
TDS is a bitch, it's why she got the fast-track through Spider Moon's navigator training...and it paid off to hear the Chorus today-she popped through an estimated point flanking an asteroid orbiting a moon.
just the position needed to point the telescopes right up the exhaust trail of the incoming Jade Falcon forces..and their escorting Warship.
"Confirmed, one Black Lion class, one unidentified dropship rigged as a CV, one modified Union class, and an Overlord...looks to be two days out from the planet and they're already on the deceleration phase. ARTO, send the report and still imagery to our flag by Blackbox."
"Ayeh, Mum."
The invading force was decelerating at one-gee, clearly heavy with ground troops, and the way they were flying showed whoever was in charge had some concept of maintaining combat air patrols with their fighters.
"We can nail them outside the limit." she mused, "If we engage them by this time tomorrow. Gunnery, rig torpedoes for passive homing, and load the Mark Fourteen antishipping warheads fifty percent with ARAD anti-air setups, and recheck our point defenses for calibration and readiness."
"And the deck gun mum?" Lance Deen asked.
"Yeah, probably should make sure nothing's going to cook in the naval laser." she allowed. "Keep our EMCON posture on passive, we don't need to announce where we are."
"Ayeh, mum."
"All crew and personnel suit up! We'll dump atmosphere before we engage. I don't need anyone suddenly discovering they don't know where they stowed their hat. All Suit fitters to recheck suit rigging on personnel, we're going to war."
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