TOW24

Chapter 24 - The Other War
07/28/3060 Location – CFMDS Mastodon, Circe IV L-4 Point
Star Commanders Freelander, Tanaga, Kline, and Goulet assembled again in the Mastodon's Wardroom. Their dropship was serving as one of the anchor dropships to the massive cage-work NCS Roland Tusker. Nina and Joseph looked very tense compared to Faye and Claude who had spent much of the past two months training the Newts in microgravity martial arts and enjoying the fine accommodations they had aboard.
JK: “You both look good.”
CG: “Thank you Joe. You two should go over the Wusong sometime for a change of scenery and some rest.”
NT: “We will take you up on that soon Claude. Now that the Mastodon has completed its work.”
FF: “How did your mission go?”
NT: “The Huisman (Black Lion) and Franklin (Cameron) are stabilized for now. Good thing we came when we did, and that Joe set up those beacons. If we had waited longer or been less through it is likely they would have precipitated a Kessler Runaway that would have seriously damaged and likely destroyed the other ships in the Ghost Fleet.”
JK: “Glad to hear my solo Satellite missions were worth it in the end. That's rarely the case.
We also pushed the Painkiller into a gravity assisted slingshot orbit that will fling it toward us in the next 45 days. It is much easier to slow it down then get it moving in the first place.”
NT: “We do appreciate all the help you provided to us Joe. However,” She looked toward Faye and Claude, “Star Commander Kline will be leaving us within the next ten days.”
CG: “Why?”
The holo-map appeared over the table marking the planets and orbital habitats in the system. Joseph triggered something on his comm-pad and a line circled Inward toward Circe's third planet. “Nina and I think that I can help more on the inside now that the Newts are here in force. The CSR Tenacity is due to arrive in twenty days and is heading to Lum from the Inner Sphere so will pass through Shadow.
Ten days from now is the nearest launch window to the Raven habitat orbiting Perses (Circe Three). Superior Regnar said they were already planning a shuttle run to pick up supplies for their 'mining operation.' I can tag along and book passage aboard their Unity which is due to launch toward the Nadir Station in twelve days.”''
Claude looked over at Nina, Joseph Kline was the only one among their main band that was not either wanted for piracy or for being a Bandit ('Political Enemy'). He had real orders to search the Tanite worlds for opportunities the Mandrills could profit from now that the Burrocks were gone. Thus far he could legitimately say he found some among the Newts and Harvesters.
His piloting skills were not as valuable to them now, but his diplomatic skills were immensely so. They would return with the Warships and clear their names but right now the Fire Mandrills would just as likely blast them as talk. It was bittersweet though Joseph was a good Warrior with a vision that was so lacking among the Mandrills.
Faye spoke before either of the Mandrills did, “Do you intend to take the data from the Caretaker Station with you?”
“Aff Faye. I will present it to the Loremaster on Shadow along with our analysis and videos from our POVs. It will get to the Blood Spirits through ilChi Keller and probably the Snow Ravens too through their own back channels. That is the best we can do."
"Hopefully that will take enough time that we can get the Warships out of this system before the Ravens come and look. We have been lucky they have been busy moving the last of the Ghost Bears to the Inner Sphere and do not have Warships in system. Especially with the Roland Tusker and Wusong here.”
Claude shook his hand, “Good Luck Joseph. You will be missed.”
“I am not leaving yet Claude.” He used data-gloves to close the holomap and the Wardroom lights returned to their normal settings. “Not until I try out those simulators, I heard some of the Newts talking about on the Wusong. I think I can beat their high score.”
Faye looked at the pair, “I do not know about that, Kline. They might be poor martial artists, but these Newts can fly.”
“Well give me and Nina some time to shower and change. Meet you in the shuttle bay.”
''
The pair floated away toward the officers’ quarters while Faye and Claude pushed off toward the shuttle bay. They had spent enough time aboard the Wusong that the Mastodon's now sparsely occupied accommodations looked rather shabby by comparison with only brief bursts of color from air scrubbing plants rather than the rainbow murals, vibrant greenery, and lack of smell aboard the Habitat dropship. They were however far better than the barren, cramped, dank gray maze most Clanners experience aboard one of the poorly maintained Condor troopships used to transfer large numbers of lower caste from one planetary Enclave to another particularly along the Exodus Road where collars were at a premium and comfort not even a priority over air, water, and food in that order.
They floated toward their fighting ring which was scuffed in several places reminiscing about the time spent training the few Harvesters brave enough to try learning the Warrior's Art. Those few now were helping them teach the Newts how to defend themselves which was a Chalcas thing, but he was already a Bandit and she was sent on a suicide mission by a dead Clan. “Seems so long ago now, Claude.”
“I know but it has only been two months since we were last aboard and five since we met. Time gets rather fuzzy with twelve-hour days. This had been an eventful year and I doubt it will slow down anytime soon.”
Claude's comm-pad buzzed, “I guess they are ready for us, Faye. Our showers were never that fast.”
Faye smiled, “Still aren't”.
In the shuttle bay they met the few remaining Harvesters that had been assigned to help Nina and Joseph with the tug mission and would now be transferred to the Roland Tusker/Wusong composite Station. Their Dropship had been running a skeleton crew with most of the Harvesters being transferred to the cageworks. They grew up, lived, and died on space stations and this was one of the more impressive ones they had seen.
As the S-7 set out on its trip it was dwarfed by the massive NCS Roland Tusker whose main body was crafted from the shell of a Mammoth dropship. The dropships whose Fusion Reactor was replaced with a less expensive and lower powered Nuclear Fission one. Four mounts formerly used for the thruster nacelles were transformed into re-configurable gantry arms that gave it the appearance of a squid floating in the void of space.
These arms contained all the machinery to support the repair yard large enough to engulf a Monsoon Battleship. Each arm had taken four days to unfold as the station had to be transported with them pressed back in order to fit within a jumpship's KF field and protect them while the vessel was tugged along by its fleet of small craft. It was a treasure long in the making for the Newts. Presently both the Lola III Muraca and Essex Rondeau were docked nose to nose with only 100 meters between them under the 'skirts.'
Its cousin and originator the NCS George Knox was a half size prototype still in high demand among the Free Guilds as it was capable of repairing a Monolith or Leviathan, the largest jump-ships in existence, but more likely to be repairing Tramps and Merchants, the most common kind among the Guilds. Newgrange could create another one and could even make an O'Neil cylinder like those of ancient Terra but lacked the population pressure to need one.
Kline brought the S-7 shuttle into a final approach vector to the Wusong's shuttle bay passing under the field of fire of the station's triple laser mounts designed to protect the station from debris or hostile action. Lasers automatically tracked incoming contacts friend or foe and were always monitored by the gunnery team within the Tusker's command room. The Wusong hung off the opposite end of the cylinder from the repair facility aligning its nose docking collar to the station's allowing workers and cargo to pass freely between the two vessels.
As the shuttle bay cycled, they floated out into the composite station. Newt crews were sending out shuttles toward the 'outside' of the Warships not presently covered under the envelope to continue their salvage operation. Kline and company passed very active Newts and it felt like they were in a small city as this jump mobile station was even larger than the Rhea Reformer Station.
The spacers had settled in over the past two months and continued their hard work. They could feel vibrations from cargo cages sliding 'down' the tension wire running through the central shaft toward the 'bottom' of the station. Workers that lived in the dropship or were visiting it came up in the same cages unless there was something worth returning to the Behemoth's vast cargo bays and workshops.
Joe went toward the Arcade while Nina went to the Sauna. Claude and Faye hung onto the outside of one of the cages with a group of Newts all heading 'down' to the station for another training session. They got off at the appropriate frame to reach the access port for one of the contrarotating Gravdecks that circled the mid-section of the Roland Tusker at approximating 0.35g; the lowest gravity a non-Spacer phenotype could acclimate to without massive supplementation.
Inside was their twenty-man seed platoon of FireNewts (as they had started calling themselves) working out on the machines their uniforms were cut and colored Black and Green like those of the 23rd Air Assault that Claude was formerly a part of and claimed he would be again. Sergeant Carson, a tough as nails but lithe of body Harvester who had been under Claude’s tutelage since Rhea hopped over to them, “Sir, Maam. I just put the team through their physical training portion. We’re ready for tactical training.”
Claude looked over to Faye, “Down for some Search and Destroy Faye?”
The Jaguar looked over the platoon thinking about who she would pick for today's exercise, “Always.”
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Category:The Other War Chapters
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