Strat-3 Chpt-13

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==Strategos (A Great Captain Roberts Tale!!) - Part 3 - A Light In The Black - Chapter 13 - Everything is in work==
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===Message Traffic===
Like it or not…
…Port Orphan has continued to grow into a larger base, filling the spaces and increasing in traffic.
TQF-066M5D slid into reality. From her position, Lori Crowe could see the arrival with the naked eye. "TQF-066M5D, they left the screen doors."
The response was clear on the audio channel, "That's a good thing for a submarine."
"Welcome to Port Orphan, Sixty-Six. Fuel Dock seventeen has H2 and Liquid Helium to top up your tanks."
“Acknowledged. Setting nav beacon now. ETA to dock is thirty hours."
"Roger that Sixty-Six, sending traffic lane now on channel fifteen echo."
Deck duty was a relief from boredom while Evanescent seemed trapped in perpetual inspections. "Report says you have a passenger, Sixty Six. Should I have medical teams standing by?"
“One Passenger. Yes, a medical exam is in order. She suffered near fatal hypoxia.”
"Roger that, we'll have a team of corpsmen at the concourse." Lori made a note to dispatch medical personnel. "I'll also have a JAG scheduled to review your passenger per SOP."
“That means I’ll need to be interviewed too doesn’t it? Fine. I’ll finally use that human drone her Ladyship has been trying to get me to use. I suspect it would be more conducive to proceedings,” 66 groaned.
"I'm sure she's adorable, Sixty-Six." Lori commented, and made a note. "By the way, check your timing. We're at zero three hours here, does your clock concur?"
“Converting from Unity City time, yes.”
Lori made the notation on the comms log. "You'll be gratified to know I've got one hundred forty three messages in standby queue for you, Sixty Six. Included are forty-six labeled 'private' from an M-9 station. Do you want the upload now, or after you dock?"
“Now please.”
"Forwarding message packet now."
Sixty-Six allowed herself the digital equivalent of a smile as she read Truk and Alice’s communications. The rest she would read later. Of course later is a much shorter span of time for an AI than a human.
The panel chirped an alert as a Priority packet from Alpheratz arrived, the HPG missive caught by one of the outlying satellites and relayed to avoid the distortion effect of the black hole/dwarf star binary.
"Attention Sixty-Six, your passenger's generated traffic. This is relayed from Dante, it's got eyes-only headers and it's for her."
“Patching it through now.”
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===Personal Welcoming to the Pirateer Life===
Saya was asleep when the…
…ship woke her. "You have a priority, eyes-only message from Alberto Crowe, Khan of Clan Snow Raven."
“Okay. Turn down the alarm. I am awake already.” Saya grumbled.
Saya got dressed and made her way to the command deck. All she had for clothes was her flight suit so she would have to make do with that.
The holo projector lit up.
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"Greetings Seeker Saya Yeh, I am Alberto Crowe, Khan of Clan Snow Raven. Our Clans have not had communications since the massive betrayal by the Stay-behind Clans, but I remember our clans had no great enmity between them."
"I found your initial debrief to be of interest. You are being conducted to a jointly held installation owned by our Inner Sphere hosts. Getting you home could be problematic. I hope what you discover is sufficient trade off for the risk of being unable to return to where your Clan has found refuge."
"Included in this message, is an official writ of diplomatic status, you may surrender that status at any time if you so wish, but I recommend holding on to it."
"If we ARE able to provide you with transportation back to your Clan, I hope it can be as friends."
[2 attachments, 1 additional message]
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“Please play the additional message, THQ-66M5D.” asked Saya
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It was a recording. A one-eyed girl speaking to a group of Clan Warriors.
Interspersed in the girl's ranting, are scenes of horror.
"This is our war. It must be fought!" the young woman on the recording finished. 
Then the image shifted. "Hello, Saya Yeh, I am Rear Admiral David Foster. You've wandered into one of those incredibly rare things-a Just war. When you arrive, I'll have a Liaison assigned to you, and, once you've become acclimatized, I may have an offer for you."
[Message End]
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“By the founder. I only have one thing to say that I think will suit both messages. Please send this: ‘How can I help?’” Saya felt ill at the images.
"Welcome to the war, Warrior," Sixty-Six said quietly.
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===Welcoming a new Crewmember===
"You look fine…
…Amanda," Lori urged.
Amanda adjusted her long coat and tricorne hat one more time. "Braid?"
"It's tight, and you tied the knot correctly," Lori huffed.
The concourse extended to the airlock on the side of Sixty-Six. "I look confident?" Amanda asked.
"Only until you ask that for the thousandth time," Lori admonished.
"I don't see why someone senior-"
"Don't ask." Lori suggested. "Just be glad they're giving you first go. Larry and Foster prepared you for this, you'll be fine."
Saya stepped out of the airlock first, followed by 66’s avatar.
“Director Roberts, I presume? I am Star Captain Saya Yeh of Clan Goliath Scorpion. I know I am but one Warrior, but if there is any way I can assist you on your righteous crusade I will be glad to offer all that I am to bring an end to such barbarity.”
Amanda was dumbstruck for a moment. Saya saw the woman next to her prod her.
"Welcome to Port Orphan, Star Captain, I… am really surprised, just… wow." She closed her eye for a moment, then, "Welcome aboard. I'm supposed to offer YOU assistance, Star Captain." She continued, "Let's get you oriented and…stuff. You know, quarters, clothes…? Maybe something decent to eat?"
“Please. No offense to my savior, but Steiner MRC 72 is terrible.”
Amanda laughed, "The beer was flat, wasn't it?" She smiled more easily.
“Very, I know the package said sausage but I am certain it was anything but.”
"Their 'authentic Spanish meal' isn't bad, for, you know, Steiners." Amanda quipped. "Everything lacks taste."
“Could be worse. Clan MRC 19a. That one I am certain is a Dark Caste conspiracy.”
"I lived on those for a month, once." Amanda mused. "Come on." she beckoned. "Let's get you squared away. The commissary takes Escudos, Work Credits, Davion Pound notes, and C-bills. In your case, I'm buying until we can get with a Quartermaster and get you a berth."
“I am starting to wonder if I did actually die in my fighter. I have everything a Warrior of Goliath Scorpion could want. A worthy fight, the most incredible collection of Star League artifacts ever assembled, and decent chow.”
"We even have a real, live Cameron." Amanda confided. "She even remembers the height of the Star League."
Saya stopped mid-step with a look of utter disbelief and shock on her face.
“Seriously?!?!!!!?” Saya eventually spoke after a moment.
"You rode in on one of hers." Amanda said lightly. "Director-General Helena Cameron. She's one of the allied sovereigns in this war, an ally and she's… Sixty-Six, is Helena back from Alpheratz yet?"
“This must indeed be the ‘heaven’ spoken of in the ancient religious texts.”
"Ask ALICE, but you KNOW that answer, Roberts," Sixty-Six said crossly. "She's been back for two weeks."
"Oh…right. Surprise spoiled… this way, Star Captain. We gotta take the number four lift from here."
“I do not think I want to leave.” Saya smiled.
"Well, the digs are nice, but they have me on shore-duty lockdown until I finish healing." Amanda noted.
“An ill-fate for any Warrior but one that sometimes can not be avoided.”
"Wouldn't know Warriors that well, I mean Foster was one, and Seron is one, and Billie Siegel… Come to think of it. A lot of my old crew were… but I'm a Privateer, which is a Pirate without the scumbag."
“Warrior is as much a frame of mind as a profession.”
"I suppose so… but I get to wear a nifty hat." Amanda smirked rakishly. "And my ship's… mine."
“Somehow it does rather suit you.”
The lift activated and they rode down to the habitat level, the side wall locking and rotating with the grav deck.
"I think so. If you sign on with a Privateer ship, you'll get one just like it, only… not like mine," Amanda said. "Because, well, it'll be YOUR hat."
“I have much to prove and learn before I can be considered for a Warship Command, but I am perfectly capable of leading a Star of Aerospace Fighters.”
"CAG. Got it," Amanda said. "Just so happens some nice person in the Admiralty or the Clan shanghaied mine… here we go!"
The nook-shop was bigger than most military base provisioning areas she'd seen, and things were out in the open.
"Pick your stuff, Star Captain, I've got the Good credit card today." Amanda said. "First thing you need to learn until it's reflex is: we use money. They take Snow Raven Work Credits, or Jade Falcon, or Ghost Bear, but the totals get totted by Sea Fox accountants. This is including the President's four percent… so I've got your back. Pick a week's clothing and something to wear for formals. Any specialty work we'll negotiate, okay?"
“Thank you. I owe you much. Here take this. It is something I think you will appreciate.” Saya said, pulling a small leather bound paper journal out of one of her flight pockets.
"You don't owe me anything yet." Amanda said. "I'll take my percentage out of the budgets, it doesn't hit my personal accounts. Now, if we get in a scrape and I bail you out? Then you MIGHT owe me if I didn't get us into it first."
“Deal.”
The…Diversity was the first thing Saya noticed. A riot of colors and cloths, different styles and qualities…
“Honestly, I am overwhelmed. I am used to having the simple clothing of a Clan Warrior.”
Amanda glanced at Lori. "You're better at this part than I am."
"YOU were too busy playing swashbuckler in your childhood!" Lori rolled her eyes. "Sixty-Six?"
"Underwear, third row. The size conversions to Clan Standard are on the labels. Pick five sets, Saya. Then select five pairs of stocking-socks and five bras that look like they might fit comfortably. We will look into styles after you have your basics." The AI turned to Amanda, "REALLY??" in an exasperated tone. "No wonder you dress yourself like an extra from 'The Pirates of Penzance'!!"
“They do that a lot?” Saya asked Lori.
"Yeah. They have a special non-verbal way of communicating so sometimes we miss out on part of the conversation." Lori replied. "I never pegged Sixty-Six as having a sense of humor though."
"I have a great sense of humor. All the other AI agree… except 142, who thinks it’s juvenile." Sixty-Six stated.
"The simpler answer is Desmond prompted you," Lori cracked. "didn't he?"
Saya saw Roberts 'stiffen', then, "Caught." The girl's tone and inflection were utterly different. "I prompted Sixty-Six with the necessary line."
“I am so confused…” Saya shook her head.
"No worries," Amanda sounded like herself again. "Get your stuff, we'll get you a C-bag to carry it in and get you situated in quarters. Then I'll start answering questions, okay?"
66 pulled a dress from a display. “Include this. You will need it for formal events.”
Amanda and Lori had to stifle their laughter and smiles at the frilly dress 66 had grabbed.
"Sixty-Six… that's good for a Christening, for receptions..." Lori headed further into the shop, and came back with something simpler, yet visibly richer in material. "It goes with her eyes."
"A… Christening?" Saya asked.
"When an AI Warship in Outworlds colors is ready for active duty for the first time, we have a party. It involves whiskey, and sometimes we can get Roberts here to play the fiddle. There is dancing, including square dancing and line dancing," Lori explained. "The frilly gingham's appropriate for THAT, for diplomatic receptions, the green number here is more… fits in better."
“I have never had to dance before…” Saya said meekly.
“I saved your life. So I am responsible for it now. I will teach you.” 66 said matter of factually.
"I'm a terrible dancer, that's why I play an instrument." Amanda confided. "Being on the band gets me out of stepping on some guy's feet."
"You are NOT! I saw you with-"
"Sensitive Subject!!" Amanda barked. "Stop there."
"You still haven't moved on…"
"NO," Amanda said. "So I play in the band-shell, and that's that."
“Freeborn society is strange…”, comments Saya
“Human society is strange. You’ll get used to it eventually though.” 66 countered.
"I like it." Lori commented. "Let's get you proper, ladies. It's shopping time and the President himself gave Amanda the credit card."
It took two extra bags to carry everything out after three hours, in which Saya learned all about haggling price and what kinds of goods are available to societies other than the Clans.
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===Taking the Oath, Joining the Crew===
"How many roommates do…
…I have to share this with?" Saya asked.
"This is officer's quarters for a shore billet," Amanda said. "Closest we have to a VIP zone. The room, kitchenette, and head are yours while you're here. If you WANT to have someone over, that's your business. It's nice to have a little extra space when ashore. On a ship, this would be four person occupancy in Officer's country, or eight to twelve in the lower decks. I usually just sleep in my office when we're underway."
"All this space?"
"Yah. Neat, huh?" Amanda acknowledged. "There are some perks to 'freeborn society', one of which is, when you're ashore you get a bedroom with a bathroom and your own shower, and on a station or planetary base? Hot water. I mean, I've never used the full five minute allotment, but Lori has, and she says it's wonderful."
"Why haven't you?"
"My days are all interruptions," Amanda explained. "If I tried to take a full five minutes under a spray of hot water? Someone's paging me, or there's a Message in the queue that needs answering right now, or someone on the crew will need me to show up; or someone important will show up, or we'll get an alert." She shrugged, "Even on patient status, I keep reflexively looking for it. I'm actually more relaxed when Evanescent is under my feet and we're on mission."
"Your ship?"
"OWS Evanescent, originally a Block 2 Bonaventure Class Corvette. We added a fighter deck and swapped the point defense arrays for something more modern, only lost a fraction of the cargo capacity, and gained fifty extra mouths and extra pairs of lungs, so we lost around a year's cruising time."
“I see. Well I know I must prove myself.”
"This is where I'm supposed to give you the job offer." Amanda said. "We're chronically short of officers and officer candidates, Miss Yeh," Amanda said. "The war kicked off and the Regulars pulled most of our recruits out of the pipeline. I've had to give up officers I've worked with since we started this organization, because we have more ships than people to man them…even with the AI's helping out." She sat down in a folding chair and put her frosteez drink on the low table. "My CAG is currently learning how to command a Bonaventure that's more modernized than mine, my XO is being frocked to command an Essex. They let me keep my Chief Engineer, but my Marine commander is getting his own ship…so I'm supposed to offer you a job, but You're a Clan officer, and most of the personnel I'm still holding on to, are Outworlders, some from dirtbox colonies like mine, only worse off."
“The easiest way to resolve this would be the Clan way where you take me Bondsman.”
"Saya, I'm not just an Outworlder, I'm a devoted Outworlder. The idea of forced bondage is anathema to my soul," Amanda explained. "You sign on willingly, or you don't. But YOU have to choose."
“I was already having to face questions from my peers that forced me to join the Seekers. No more half measures. I am with you even though it means I am unlikely ever able to go back now.”
Amanda brought out a Tablet. "This is the letter of Marque. If you sign it, we'll grab three witnesses for the oath," she said. "And you'll be one of us."
“By my count we already have three.” 66 noted.
"I wasn't counting ME." Amanda said. "We need a third."
“Desmond 001, Me, and Lori.” 66 corrected her.
<Amanda, Alice would count as a third as well.> Desmond reminded her.
"Sign the document and raise your right hand then…" Amanda said. "You might regret this. Just sayin'."
Saya did not hesitate in signing the document.
The Oath was a little surprising.
"Welcome aboard," Amanda said, shaking her hand. "We'll hold a partial staff-call tomorrow at the docks on level sixteen, Miss Yeh."
“I will be there.”
66 let a tiny smile grow on her face.
"Now… I get to go back to work. Lori, you're from a Clan background. Get her up to speed on our procedures. As XO, I expect you to have her prepared for her responsibilities."
"Where are you going?", asked Lori
"I have to go dig through the slush pile and find a replacement Quartermaster." Amanda sighed. "They've officially given Larry a ship. So now I need someone to Larry for me, because even with Desmond helping, I'm just… too busy."
“Rope in Helena. She owes you big time. She has a desk job now, so she should be plenty able to help.” 66 smiled.
"The slush pile is AFTER she helped me, Sixty-Six." Amanda said. "Foster says I have to finalize it myself."
"Ouch," Lori said. "His Nibs gave you limitations again?"
"Yeah…for my 'career development' and I can't use…how did he put it? 'Family ties' to finish sorting out candidates."
Amanda left.
"Wait… did she just say-?"
“Yeah. She’s the descendant of Helena Cameron, Elizabeth Cameron, and a Drillson family line that all went out in their own ways then came back together again after many generations. I was hoping to give her a way to extract some measure of emotional revenge on Helena for what happened but it seems that is not allowed.” 66 said matter of factly.
"So you have TWO Camerons??"
"Well, by some lights. Genetically?? Aff," Lori replied. "Amanda was the one we caught first-she was leaving DNA trace all over the place and after she hijacked the galley of a Carrack and stole the worst MRCs imaginable. While at the same time leaving all the valuable military supplies alone? They wanted to know who she was-and she popped as a Cameron." Lori studied Saya's face as she added, "Amanda does not treat it with the dignity she should, but she grew up on Sevon V. She grew up with the memory of Amos Forlough's campaign in the Outworlds."
“Then I must prove myself even more worthy.”
"As a CO, Amanda will care more if you keep our pilots alive as CAG." Lori asserted. "She literally is the most pragmatic commander I've ever seen… Until it comes to finding slavers. Then she goes off the rails a little bit."
“Then that will be how I prove myself worthy. I shall ensure she has the best pilots possible so that we may return with victory.”
Lori nodded to Sixty-Six, "If you want, Sixty Six? You can…do what AIs do? We're going to be going over material you already know."
“Yes. I believe I am due to meet Alice for tea now. Please let me know when I am needed again.”
"Okay, Saya, we're going to go over the history of the Privateer service. This is going to be new for you, but it's part of the spiel and it's things you're going to want to know about. The first, is that Amanda Roberts has an AI in her head, and it dates from the Star League. She didn't volunteer to have it put there, but without it, our organization wouldn't even exist. His name is 'Desmond' and sometimes he takes over."
Saya found a pen and grabbed the journal she kept with her and started taking notes in the blank pages.
"It began with a kidnapping by Tech-worshiping terrorists trying to expand their ranks…and it began with Larry Nichols making a bad bargain to smuggle arms."
“The man who started this journal would have almost certainly gotten himself reaved challenging the Clans for letting something like this happen in the first place. It seems fitting that I am carrying on in his stead.”
"You don't know the half of it, unless the term 'Word of Blake' has meaning out where you're from. Amanda was one of twelve children kidnapped from their school by raiders working with a cell of the Word Of Blake's Manei Domini faction. They killed eleven of those children trying to make the implants work… they succeeded with Amanda, and she killed them for it. Then went off to be the sort of pirate she read about in historical romances." Lori sighed. "She was twelve when she escaped them, and fourteen when I met her for the first time."
“This is the sort of thing we are meant to prevent as Warriors.”
"Your word to the Father." Lori agreed. "Unfortunately, she was the one who stopped them from trying it again… her and Desmond. The AI is… it is tactically proficient in the arts of combat and killing. It has conferred those abilities to her, in part, because they cut her brain so badly the implant had to take over key areas of brain function. They've almost become one individual, but… not entirely."
“Something akin to Protomech pilots I take it, and the challenges they face?”
"Our Protomech pilots have informally adopted her as one of them." Lori agreed. "Some of the traditions of the Service are a result of that."
“Good.”
"During her 'wandering' she unearthed an Uprising era Naval installation. From that, she obtained a great deal of pre-Amaris data, including the location of several hidden and secret caches of weapons meant for the Outworlder resistance. One of those, included a Bonaventure Class corvette, fully stocked, right down to the food rotting in the galley and medicines that expired centuries ago. She activated that ship by herself, and took it to the Hala System… where she saved the crew and passengers of the smuggling Jumpship Larry's Wife from the Sons of Plunder." Lori paused, "I was comms officer there, too."
“Savashri. How so much fortune and misfortune can happen to one person in such a short span of time is incomprehensible.”
"I was a deep cover agent of the Snow Raven Watch, Saya. We were after arms smugglers and pirates, and my embedded status on the Larry's Wife was, at the time, to my belief, well hidden. But Larry Nichols told me later my 'tradecraft' was weak, and he knew what I was. We delivered arms to a colony named Northsun, including some of the Bandits' weapons, and gained enough crew to let the ship function. We also found a second base, this one with a wrecked but repairable Bonaventure we renamed Illusive... I am getting ahead of myself, but I want you to understand what kind of Captain you have signed up with, so you understand, this role she's given you? It is in demand, it is not a 'throw away'. The Privateers are within the Clan context, a portion of the Snow Raven Touman supervised by the Watch."
“I will gladly face anyone who would dare pry me away from this opportunity in a Circle of Equals.”
"In the following two years, we liberated four worlds from the Sons of Plunder. During that time, there was no letter of Marque. But Amanda kept sending reports on what we found, who we fought, to the Outworlds Alliance President, who essentially is a puppet of the Clan. He was persuaded to make our role 'officially an Outworlds Military agency’."
“So this could get complicated.”
"Not really. You are in Clan terms, and when we meet with other Clans official terms as a guest advisor filling a critical role. Your membership in Clan Goliath Scorpion remains yours. She's very insistent on that sort of thing, and the Outworlders are as well. You will hold Outworlds Alliance citizenship for your service, but it equates to a dual citizenship status… like long service SLDF might also hold their previous citizenships."
“My Giftake comes from a great warrior in my Clan, but he was outspoken, almost to the point of being deemed ‘unClanlike’. That I tested into Aerospace instead of Battlemech also made me nearly outcast as well.”
"When you get back, you will have a lot to add to your Clan's 'veneers and Remembrance, Saya Yeh." Lori told her. "Among other things, you will have done what none of your Clan Council has done since before the Exodus… you will have served under a Cameron."
“And that may well be what allows me to return at all. Seyla.”
Lori chuckled, "You realize, most of the Snow Ravens in the Service are either too old to serve in front line units or test-downs. Yet we have more victories over live enemies than half the Snow Raven Council?"
“Fear the old in a profession where the young die frequently. A truth our trothkin tend to forget.”
Lori's smile was deeper, "Yes, and be most afraid of what might happen if you get an order from David Foster and ignore it. HE can command Amanda Roberts with a word, even Acton Howe can't claim that." She laughed.
“I imagine Acton Howe is going to wish to speak to me at some length.”
"Aff. He is due to arrive in forty days… thirty-five if he catches the right convoy," Lori said. "Which sets our underway to sometime the month after next, because he's the main reason Amanda Roberts is puttering around on a station instead of risking her neck again."
“Then that will give me time to get to know my aviators and get our shakedown worked out.”
"Aff…it will," Lori laid out a tablet PADD. "This is your roster. You'll meet with them in the morning after Staff Call."
“Then I will study their records tonight.”
"It won't take long… and get used to the contractions, Saya. Even the Protomech pilots have started speaking that way. Most of our veterans have been tapped to form command staff and cadre on the rest of the ships."
“That will be… difficult. But I will do my best to prepare.”
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