LUU Chpt 6

==Let Us Unite - Chapter VI -==
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===Restless Aggression===
"Spicer, you intact enough to jump?" Captain Daksha asked the McKenna class Battleship that was holding the zenith point as they approached, the space surrounding the other Star League vessel full of debris and immobile ships from both the Rim Worlds Republic and the Star League Navy.
 
<<"Tripitz, we're bleeding a bit of atmosphere and will need an armor touch-up, but we should be able to follow. There better be a damned good reason for us to leave Terra though.">>
 
Daksha looked around at his bridge crew and then locked eyes with Ian MacIntosh, who gave a small shake of his head.
 
<<"I'm not at liberty to discuss it over open channels, but it's worth both my life and the lives of all of my crew.">>
 
"Right," the Spicer replied. "The Reagan isn't going to be able to jump with us. So once we're out of here, we're on our own."
 
<<"We'll feed jump coordinates once we arrive,">> Daksha looked at the terminal in front of him, noting the time that it would take to reach the zenith point. <<"See what you can pick up from S&R, and if any of the other ships are able to affect enough repairs to join us.">>
 
"Understood Tripitz, we'll lock this down until you arrive."
 
"Captain, are you certain that they can be trusted?" Ian asked, his shoulders set and squared as if facing off a potential enemy.
 
"They're Star League Navy," Daksha's face darkened. "If we can't trust them, who can we trust?"
 
"Amaris was able to position his people everywhere," Ian glared. "If they show a hint of disloyalty, you're going to put them down."
 
"Understood," the captain gulped. "We'll be actively scanning the entire time."
 
"And I hate to do this," Ian sighed heavily. "But we're going to have to send the Reagan to fend off the ships that are chasing us."
 
"She'll have to stall them long enough for us to jump out," Daksha agreed as he turned to the comms officer. "Send the Reagan orders to turn hard and burn to stall or stop the pursuing enemies. We're not going to be staying to slug it out."
 
The officer transmitted the instructions, receiving a confirmation and a sad string of binary code that was translated and forwarded across the various terminals.
 
"There can be no progress, no achievement, without sacrifice."
thumb|M5 Casper Drone-Destroyer, SDS Reagan
The SDS Reagan turned, her lack of crew meaning that she could pull off a maneuver that would have killed lesser ships, and the M-5 drone burning through fuel supplies that it knew it would never need again.
 
The Rim Worlds Navy had been pursuing them with a trio of Lola Class Destroyers and one older model Aegis in the hopes of destroying the warship before it left the system, their thrusters burning at the edge of where it shifted from safe thrust to maximum.
 
Those hopes were soon dashed as the Reagan entered weapons range and opened fire. The superior targeting computers ensuring that the heavy NPPCs carved away at one of the Block I Lola's armor, the deep gashes leaving it open for Naval autocannon to punch through, hitting some ammunition storage and sending the warship spinning out of formation as her crew desperately began putting out fires and work on other problems.
 
The second Lola and Aegis, however, began to return fire. Their naval lasers and autocannon impacting and carving away chunks of armor.
But it wasn't enough. The Reagan replied with volleys of fire, and cracked open the second destroyer with a nuclear explosion, the Alamo fired from the AR-10 capital missile system tearing it into two while the Aegis's missiles began to finally impact and cause damage to the drone. The great gulf of space now shrinking as the Reagan came to a split second decision as its power systems began to flicker from a lucky Naval laser hit.
 
With a horrendous groan and strain, the Reagan fired its maneuvering thrusters and then shifted to the maximum thrust it could handle and move at all under, the RWR ship unable to react in time as the prow of the Reagan slammed into the middle of the enemy Warship, cracking it in two and ensuring the Reagan was unresponsive.
 
For a moment it seemed as if all had stopped in the system, but then a pair of surviving dropships tried to leave the wreckage of the battle, only to be vaporized by twin Heavy NPPCs and it became clear. The Reagan might not be mobile anymore, but God help you if you crossed close enough to be in extreme range of her weapons systems.
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===Hiding among people with mix loyalty===
The Black Watch members slowly followed traffic as it crawled along the western pacific highways, the Ancient Terran United States Interstate system still used as the basis. Unfortunately, even with many improvements over the centuries, the roads still slowed to a crawl after a disaster of any sort. And a coup of the kind that Amaris had just initiated was the worst kind of disaster.
 
"Well," Capell sighed as he reclined his seat a bit. "I'm glad we told the other groups we'd be there in a few days, because at this rate, it sure looks like that's the truth."
 
"Better that we move slow and act like the regular civvies," McFadden replied through the old CB radio system they'd had installed on the cars. "We'll be less conspicuous that way. Besides, this allows us to rest and recover a bit as we get closer. The last thing we want is to not be ready once we get to MINSY. There certainly won't be a lot of rest then."
 
"Right," Bryn forced himself to take a deep breath and relax. "It looks like it clears up a bit ahead."
 
"Just make sure that your crew is rotating driving and sleeping back there," the other Major yawned into her radio. "We'll do the same here."
 
"Yes, ma'am," Capell stretched for a minute before allowing the sedan to creep forward to keep up with traffic. His mind still struggling to break out of combat mode even a day after being out of his 'Mech.
 
"You alright?" Charles glanced over and saw the Major's hand grabbing a sidearm and checking the chamber with a quick press check before repeating it with another weapon, placing them both within easy reach.
 
"Yeah," Capell checked one last weapon. "Just hate the post combat nerves. And I feel like we're surrounded by potential enemies at the moment."
 
"Those are Hegemony citizens though," Charles responded. "We should be able to trust them."
 
"Some of them, yes," Capell agreed. "Some of them are patriots, retired veterans, etc. And they'll die before giving up and surrendering to Amaris. But an overwhelming majority of the people here on Terra? They don't and won't care as long as their lifestyles aren't changed all that much. So long as the Fat Bastard lets them keep watching their shows and letting them have easy access to their luxuries and food they won't lift a finger. Not at this stage at least."
 
"What do you mean?"
 
"Tyrants always seem reasonable at first. They don't restrict all freedoms right away. That's actually one of the reasons we're able to blend in with this group right now. But in a month, maybe two, Amaris will slowly start to narrow down what you can and cannot do, what you can say. And more importantly, what you can't say. Then the fear'll set in, and the people won't be willing to do anything that might end up with them dead. That doesn't include those who'll form insurgency groups obviously, but those will still be a minority and drop in the percentage bucket compared to the majority that won't do anything.""But aren't people different today?" Charles protested. "More people should be willing to defend the Hegemony."
 
"Time changes, people, people remain the same," Jewels muttered softly. "History rhymes and follows a cadence. Rise and fall, plateau, and then rise again."
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===Duty before Revenge===
"So why San Francisco?" O'Bannon asked Hazen as they finally picked up speed once the heavy traffic outside of Camp Pendleton had died off.
 
"Couple of reasons," Elizabeth noted the speed limit signs and then blew right past them at an easy 15 km/h over what was posted. "First, lots of Black Watch family members are located there. Part of what you didn't see was a coded message sent via text, but we're going to recover those families that we can and get them out before Amaris can track them down. The second reason is that the other members have a getaway plan, and I'm not briefed on all of the things that have been secreted away over the years. Jack would actually know more about some of that thing than I do."
 
"None of you have the clearance," the old bartender shook his head as he loaded an ancient shotgun before tucking it away into a duffle bag. "I've got an inkling of what they have in mind, but I'm not able to confirm anything anyway."
 
"So, we're all in the dark," O'Bannon sighed. "That's just great," the burly 'Mechwarrior turned away from the two Black Watch members. "Wake me up when we get there. I need to rest before I go insane from hanging out with the two of you."
 
"Well, he's definitely not Gunslinger material," Jack snarked.
 
"Tell me about it." Elizabeth chuckled. "I think he'll end up with about half of the group that decides to stay behind and play insurgency."
 
"As if you're not one of those people," Jack scoffed. "You and I both know better than that."
 
"I want revenge," a tear dripped down her face and she dry-swallowed. Pausing as her voice broke before resuming again. "But I've a duty and a responsibility to see to it that the Camerons survive. That will be my revenge."
 
"I'll make sure that those who decide to stay have access to some good kit," Jack replied as the day slowly began to fade into twilight. "I won't be able to guarantee their survival. But they'll have damned good chances of pissing Amaris off, and might even be able to pull of some miracles."
 
"And sometimes, that's all we can ask for."
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Chapter 6