ToGL9

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==Tales from the Golden Lion AUKatya’s Quest - Chapter 9==
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12/04/3051 - Antares, Contested World
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The outskirts of Alba were a disordered mess of white tents covered in grimy gray snow, black smoke rising from chimneys cobbled together from scrap metal, and few more permanent structures although many were in some stage of construction. A concrete quay jutted out into slow moving canal waters. Tied up beside it there was a flat-topped barge stacked high with trees that were being pulled down and slowly processed by work crews laboring in wintry weather.
They looked up as a Hellfire, 2 Threshers, and another pair of Battle Cobras walked upstream beside the railway easement. Katya watched her Mech’s step as broad stumps stood just barely above the snowfall, the first victims of Alba’s displaced and desperate, and a hazard to even the mighty Battlemech. Their silence was telling, a momentary glance up then returning to their task.
Nashan Corporate Security barred their path and the tramways route across the bridge to the industrial zone. Their Arachnid (30 ton, 5/8 MP) heavy wheeled tanks topped with Scorpion turrets looked imposing and could outfight the Sheriff’s men but stood no chance against even a Battle Cobra Medium OmniMech. The vehicles and personnel manning the barricade with their submachine guns made no action that could be seen as aggressive, but it was clear that the Arachnids were operating based on the warmth and diesel exhaust coming off them.
In the lead the Hellfire spoke through its PA, “I am Star Captain Katya Kerensky of the Thirty-Seventh Strikers. You are hereby ordered to disperse.”
Katya looked down at their leader who held up a frequency and his radio. She tuned her own to it. “Star Captain, with all due respect. We were ordered by the Star Colonel to ensure that Nashan’s Alba Industrial Zone was secured and put into standdown.”
“Then why is it still operating?”
“If we shut it down completely it would take months to restart. Alba’s district heating and half the region’s water treatment runs through the facility. We can only drop it to a hot stop.”
“I wish to speak with Superintendent Callows.”
“Did you have to bring Battlemechs and Power Armor?”
“Do you have a problem with my methods?”
“No Ma’am, its just that there are hazardous materials and low pipes on-site. It might be dangerous.”
“We will be careful. Now let us through.”
“If you insist. I will radio ahead and guide you in. Watch your heads.”
Nashan Diversified’s Industrial Zone was a foggy, white-washed maze of industrial processes, mixing basins, pipelines, above ground tank farms, and sheet metal warehouses. The Nashan CorpSec truck guided them through pathways clear of overhead obstructions. There was a warren of less accessible ones, numerous tunnels, and to much materiel piled into every corner. An entire army could get lost in this complex and it seemed possible that is exactly what happened. 
Her sensors could barely differentiate anything within it due to the mass of metal and thermal flux. Some areas were completely devoid of snow others buried in it. Katya switched to the closed network that her Mechanized ‘Echo Force Recon’ suits were tied into. “Lighthouse Actual, can you pick anything up with your Active Probe?”
“Neg, Star Captain, there is too much clutter.”
Of course, there was too much clutter, there was no better camouflage for someone quiet than a busy background. “Keep looking.”
“Aff.”
The truck settled in a broad parking lot beside a large colorful building with many windowns bearing a logo of Nashan Diversified Industries. One of the largest interstellar companies in the Lyran Commonwealth, with its own private army. “This is the place Star Captain; the Superintendent will be out soon. I will be on station, at your disposal.”
“Very well,” She switched back to the local Battlenet, “All Echos detach, short sweep, establish a perimeter around us. Battle Cobras remain online, Threshers switch to low power mode, I am going to speak with the local Merchant Factor.”
“Aff, Star Captain Kerensky.”
Three Points of Echo Armored Infantry gracefully landed on precise puffs from their jump jets. Sensor masts and sophisticated multispectral cameras established a complete view of the local environment. Even still there were reports of the facility interfering with the complex identification algorithms picking up false positives to the point where the Elementals inside disabled them. 
Blocky Threshers took a knee watching either direction with their own sensors with similar results. Battle Cobras equipped with AP Gauss Rifles and Improved SRMs stood on lookout, their backs against the building, Antares’ sun peered over their left side barely rising above the tank farms through the fog.
Her Hellfire crouched at her command its slender fighter like fuselage rested softly on the pavement. She donned her burgundy beret over a neural band and communicator that would still give her limited control over her Hellfire from the outside. A ‘slick’ Mauser 960 Carbine (without the heavy stock, grenade launcher, and vibro-bayonet) fell over her back before carefully descending the built in ladder to avoid knocking her drop leg holster on the Mech’s armored skin.
Two middle aged men waited for her to walk toward them; one was Alba CorpSec Chief Hauke Withers who wore an armored vest and M&G Service Automatic atop a light gray uniform. The other was Superintendent Callows, a lean faced bureaucrat in a gray suit and heavy tweed coat.
He extended his hand, she did nothing in reply until her withdrew it. “Star Captain Kerensky, I am Superintendent Arnold Callows. What can Nashan’s Alba site do for you today?” 
“I am here to conduct an audit of the facility’s security situation.”
“I would like to personally assure you that Mister Withers is quite the professional. He has thirty years of service to the company.”
Withers spoke up, “I have a good relationship with the new Sheriff as well Star Captain. He has generously given us permission to keep things operational here during the ‘transition.’”
Katya paced about turning and looking around her, “Perhaps yet we continue to suffer attacks from COMSTAR’s Two-Twenty-Second Division. I am looking to root them out.”
“We have been entirely transparent with Star Colonel Radick.”
“Yes, yet he has tasked me with finding them and given me a wide latitude to do so. Thus, I am looking everywhere he has not. Which are most places.”
Both men paused before Callows spoke, “How may we help you then?”
“I want a tour of this facility.” She turned to Hauke, “You said you were at my disposal. I want a tour. Show me everything.”
Arnold and Hauke turned to one another and communicated with a look, “Very well, it may take a few hours.”
“I have nothing but time.”
The armored passenger door on the truck opened with a groin, “Hop in then.”
A private message appeared on her gauntlet computer from one of her star-mates, ‘This is a bad idea, Katya. You will end up like Kyros.’
‘It will be fine.’
They rode off toward the reservoir dam that held back Lake Alba from which the town was named. The city had been the work settlement and company town during the dam’s construction but had reached critical mass and eventually became an industrial center due to its portage terminal enabling ore and timber resources easy access to Antares City via the waterway. Eventually a railroad diverted the upstream flow of ore but not its mining waste and that part of the city had been abandoned in favor of expansion into the foothills and the development of the waterworks.
Four large tanks marked with acute hazard warnings ‘Respiratory Hazard’ and ‘Chlorine Gas under pressure’ sat around a massive containment pit. Katya looked at the windsock dancing in the wind, it currently pointed toward the City. “These tanks contain enough gas to harm the city if they were all damaged and the wind was right. Particularly since there are so many refugees setting up within our exclusion zone.
This pit should contain the hazard, but we’ve expanded the tanks beyond their designed volume and there are other smaller tanks that draw from these or are filled with hypochlorite, caustic, or sulfur compounds for the pulp plant that don’t have as much containment. We don’t normally operate with them quite so full, but you caught us after a top off.
Part of my team’s job is to keep people from messing with them, for everyone’s safety. It only takes a few moments or bad handling to potentially cause a catastrophe.”
“You have giant tanks of toxic gases just standing right here, near a population center.
Why not bury them?”
“You haven’t been to many industrial sites I bet. Beneath us is solid rock, we can’t bury them. We wouldn’t be able to expand or service them if we did.”
“I want a complete map of this facility, noting its various hazards and support infrastructure.”
“The Superintendent can get you one.”
Icy fog dissipated through the day revealing even more of the industrial complex to Katya. It was a place of bright light and deep shadow, easy to get lost if you were unfamiliar with its layout. Hauke stated there were only a few hundred personnel on site to keep the machines within safety parameters and the perimeter reasonably secure.
They pulled up to the control building where her unit had maintained its vigil just as the sun crested over the hills and shone brightly upon the windows. Katya hopped out, standing at the door, and looked up at the windows. “There is so much glare on these windows. Does it not cause disruption.”
“It is a passive heating method, Nashan Diversified has long been a proponent of energy efficiency. Lenticular slates keep the glare to a minimum. Superintendent Callows is waiting for you in his office on the third floor. I unfortunately must return to the security checkpoint; we are rotating shifts. He can guide you out when you are finished.”
“Do what you must Hauke.”
Hauke drove off back toward the bridge, Katya waited for one of the Echo Battle Suits to come near here, “Lighthouse Actual, was there any peculiar movement while I was gone?”
“Some sensor ghosts, more false positives, our equipment is still struggling to resolve the environment. We could not calibrate it properly.”
“You have some of the best equipment the Touman can provide. Could they be selectively spoofing us?”
“We would not be able to discern that in this environment Star Captain.”
“Presume they are then. Keep trying for a steady baseline. We will be departing soon.” 
“Aff.”
Despite these supposed lenticular plates Superintendent Callows office was blinding as Antares’ sun settled right above the ridge and into Katya’s eye. “Can you close the shades?”
Arnold fumbling with the shades left them partially open but hopelessly tangled. “I’m sorry, Star Captain, my secretary normally handles this. I don’t spend much time in my office nowadays. Your map is on the desk.” He walked over to a coat rack, “I just need to get my coat and we can head out.”
On the other side of the parking lot, two light gray ghosts buried deep within a catwalk crouched under a thermal cloak surrounded by industrial equipment. A shrouded barrel with a long suppressor rested on a cloth draped over a metal railing. “Six Fifteen Meters, check,” the dial on the scope clicked two more, “add two, adjusting for deflection and windage.”
“Confirmed shooter.” A thin strand of fiber lifted from them to a microwave emitter disguised as a vent and pointed toward the Triad, “Demi-Precentor, we have Katya in our sights. Are we clear to engage?”
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Within the City Coordinator’s Office Helena Greco looked out toward the Pulp Plant. Sheriff Jason stood on the opposite side of the desk leafing through the latest reports about the city’s condition while she took a call. She nodded and adjusted her own office blinds, “That sounds great dear. I’ll see you soon.”
“Take her. Everyone else is ready.”
“Roger.”
A 8.6mm round lanced out of the barrel corkscrewing with the rifling grooves as cut through icy air and punched through the triple glazed windows and beyond.
“She’s down.”
“I cannot confirm the hit.”
“You gave it your best shot.” The thermal blanket was pulled up to reveal a pair of humanoid PA(L) suits carrying heavy laser rifles. “Time to move.”
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