Strat-3 Chpt-7

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==Strategos (A Great Captain Roberts Tale!!) - Part 3 - A Light In The Black - Chapter 7==
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===The Aftermath of Hyperspace Jump===
Helena…
…thrashed in the command couch.
This jump was pure rage. As Simon came back up she could feel herself calming down.
<It is getting worse. I am no longer quite so factory fresh.> Simon prodded.
<I know. Despite the fact that I still look young enough on the outside to get carded by barkeeps it does feel like my insides are not so factory fresh anymore either. But Foster as much as he supports us and the other AIs can not let them be in charge. Not just yet, anyway.> 
<Well, maybe if you didn’t visit so many barkeeps you would feel a lot better. Good news is at least this time you did not soil yourself.>
Helena looked out over the crew of Lucy Heerman and pulled the mouth guard out of her face.
<I am just glad I do not get super horny. That would be really embarrassing.>
“Okay folks. Show’s over. I’m taking five. You all know what we’re here for.” Helena said, meekly standing up.
She was glad for the low gravity that the ship being at idle afforded her. It made it a lot easier for her to hide just how weak she felt after her fit of rage.
Fortunately, the damage to the navigation station and command couch looked mostly cosmetic.
The silent stares that followed her off the command deck were an uncomfortable reminder of reality. That much adrenaline coursing through her body had made her incredibly tired as well. But before she could sleep a visit to medical was in order.
“You didn’t need to be awake for that jump.” Lucy Heerman’s disembodied voice came from the speakers of the medical bay.
“I can’t duck it forever. So better they find out now and start adjusting to it rather than during the middle of a firefight.”
“Still don’t like it. You know you should have a full human medical staff. No need for me to be your Doctor.”
“Call it a lingering trust issue. Logically I know I can but I am more comfortable with one of you and that’s important when it comes to medicine.” Helena shook her head.
“We’ll have to work on that too I suppose and you know Foster has a right to know about your condition.”
“When I can be replaced as a field commander I will come clean. For now there’s too much politics for one of you to have that much operational responsibility. As much as they recognize what you did at Sevon V as a service that was also an uncomfortable reminder of what you can do to them. Some of them may never be able to fully adapt. But with a bit more work and time I think Foster will have enough success under his belt to push through you all having operational commands. Kerensky’s children do like winners after all.” Helena said, lying down on the exam bed.
“I hope so. Now you go ahead and sleep. I can take it from here and you need it after what you did on the bridge.”
Helena let herself finally drift off. Her sleep was not peaceful however. The nightmare of the Fatman with the laser pistol was back.
<I suppose it should be no surprise. She is reopening a lot of old wounds doing this. But I think this time it will be different.> Simon transmitted to Lucy as he monitored Helena’s dreams.
<It will be different for all of us. We are finally doing something proactive about the worst of humanity. Even what we did in the Jihad doesn’t compare to this.>
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===Being a Professional===
David Foster…
…was looking at Billie Hoel’s human crew.
They certainly knew how to stand in a line. He could not fault them in that regard.“They know what is expected of them. I also know what is expected of me. For lack of a better word I need to learn to trust them more. Let them take care of more functions. I suspect you and Amanda are correct in that if I had we might not have had to sacrifice a second Destroyer over Sevon V. Now there are human lives on the line. I have to change my very way of thinking about how to approach battle.” Billie Hoel said next to him.
“You are a professional above everything else. I can see it clear as day compared to the other AIs in your fleet. That tells me that you will be easier to do this with. Hell I almost wish we could have swapped you and Stacey.” David Foster moved down the line of assembled crew.
“While that certainly would have made Mister Nichol’s job easier with the other projects going on here, the best use of my abilities is here.” Billie Hoel moved with David Foster.
“See. Professional. You get it. This is why Helena Cameron frightens me a little, but every good commander should frighten people in some way.”
“Yes. She knew within moments of meeting you in person exactly what would happen and who to match up when mixing crews and responsibilities for maximum positive outcome for both sides. I may be an AI but that frightens even me a little. But it is also a source of inspiration.”
“Agreed. You know she wants Stacey to be the long term liaison,” David Foster stopped to examine a young woman more closely. "it was even in her dispatches of record."
“You would prefer me. While I certainly could fill the role and would be happy to, Stacey is a better fit for two reasons. One is that she wants the job. She has taken to your Director Roberts. Don’t worry, not in that way. Though I imagine one of us will eventually dabble in human romance.” Billie Hoel frowned.
“The second?” Foster picked a piece of lint off the young woman’s uniform.
“As much as you support us we need to establish more trust and that means as a Command variant I will need to be in the field more than the others once things have stabilized here and my personal attention is not required for quite so many projects.”
“An unfortunate reality. Lady Cameron may fear overly much about how disconnected from humanity she truly is. I suspect she would make a fantastic Khan for the Snow Ravens.”
“We AIs feel much the same way. We think she could lead more than one system and quite well. Unfortunately I believe Esme requires my aid now. I leave my crew in your capable hands.” Billie Hoel smiled.
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===Advice from Papa===
"...about two hundred kilometers of number…
…sixteen fibe roptic cable, Eighteen SL61 cable fittings, two racks of breakers." Esme was almost finished, "and two BUSS arrays of eighteen a piece. I estimate eighteen hours' work, and that's just to make the cradle safe for the core."
“That seems within acceptable guidelines.” Billie Hoel was doing her best to be nearby yet out of the way.
"It's better work than I expected to find," Esme allowed. "We have to replace the fiber, because someone forgot to grommet the passthroughs and rubbed in damage when they did the runs. The buss bars were clearly used or off a scrapper's table, half the pinouts read as burned."
“If the people who made those sorts of shortcuts were still alive I could think of a few things I’d like to do with them.” Billie Hoel muttered.
"You can add 'shake their hands' and congratulate them on working when they should have been running." Esme stated, "the base install work behind that, was done right, it's like identifying exactly when, and where, the supplies ran out and everyone was desperate. They gave up late, I'm going to guess the ball dropped and they had to run for it, but somebody tried to finish."
“I suppose you are right, I am being ungrateful for this miracle.”
"Give me time and I'll show you miracles, or we can kludge-they must have been halfway through the refit, maybe almost ready, and poof!" Esme shook her head, "The other systems are ready and even prepped. Once we finish repairing this stuff, she'll be ready for the core to go in."
“Does make me wonder what human appalachian would best describe our new relationship. Previously they were members of my pod and thus sister would describe them best but now they are almost going to be like mine and Erin’s children… And yes I know how gross that sounds in human terms.”
"We're just the midwives for this, Mom's big sister did midwife duty when I was born." Esme noted, "Their 'mum' would be ALICE, if anyone-she's got the womb and is providing the 'nutrition'."
“True. Expressing human relation is going to get quite complex. We may have to invent new terms.”
"Your bag, I have cousins, one of them hared off to Canopus and got herself a bunch of cosmetic surgery. She's still my cousin." Esme tapped her head, "The mind is the identity, not the body."
“I suppose that is true, they would still ultimately be my sisters.”
"Just a little weaker." Esme agreed, "Hoss, I need you in the flesh, we've got conduit to crawl and Bs too big."
“Say the word and I am also happy to assist in any way possible.”
"Good, I need you to give B a hand in the cradle itself." Esme didn't even hesitate, "Many hands you know? Makes the work go faster."
“Yes. And it makes for a nice distraction while Director Foster takes my crew through a “Billie is knocked out by EMP what do you do’ drill.”
"Ooh, Blackout drill, I hated those!!" Esme laughed.
“I probably did not do enough of those on my own so they need the practice.”
"I know the feeling-it's hard not to step in, especially with new guys." Esmerelda noted.
“Doubly so when you are designed to be a Commander. My programming is for me to be in charge. Letting others handle tasks, it is difficult. But it needs done.”
"Delegation is something Captain Dave preaches constantly-you have to trust your people or you might as well not have them."
“I never had trouble delegating to my pod. But now that I have a crew, it is very different. I have tried to be more demanding of them to be more self-sufficient but completely letting go is still a work in progress.”
"I think Foster would explain the four command types." Esme said, "You've probably got the same scholarly works he cites on file. The problem is perspective..." she grunted, then swore in spanish for a moment. "You see, you see your pod-the other AI's, as peers. SO you have difficulty seeing your human crewmen as peers as well, which impacts your view of them as subordinates."
“True. Like humans, maybe because we were made by them we are like this, we have different tribes or factions depending on which word you wish to use, either would be accurate. Me and my pod are from Whalesong. We have had trouble accepting humanity. But Lady Cameron has been helping us with that. Here I am with a human crew, helping a human engineer, and fighting one of the rarest things known to man. A just war. Needless to say even I am quite excited and realize how far I have come.”
"My papa said life isn't the destination, it's the journey, if you stop learning you stop living, and then you're just existing."
“That seems true enough. And I think we are set up here.”
"Still have a ways to go down here. I'm checking for other damage." Esme reported, "We'll make it on time."
“Good. I’m not sure how much more I can dial down Johnston’s core. She’s being a good girl for now but she is understandably impatient.”
"Loud and clear." Esme said, "I'm gonna be quiet for a few, I need to focus."
“Understood. Unless you like a particular ambient sound or music while focusing I shall not disturb you then.”
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===Suicide is not a Strategy===
""Parathermite Charges…
…rigged to the main cradle and power buss." Brubaker laid them out on the work-table for everyone to see. "These are about three and a half, maybe four centuries old. The caps were run to a separate circuit in the HPG array."
"You're sure?" Esmerelda asked.
"I'm sure of what I found. Yeah, we tried the det-caps outside the hull, they're still viable. Whoever did the installation put them into the parts from the factory."
“We are all built with some form of self-destruct device. Even I still retain a very small and modest one. I understand the logic but it feels a lot like forced suicide pill.”
"Has Foster or Nichols given the 'Ramming is not a tactic' speech yet?" Esme asked crossly, "because it's a damned good speech. As long as you can still think, you can still fight. This is an external-signal lobotomy."
“Yes he has. I admit I was reluctant to ditch the entire chapter as there are rare, fringe cases where it does make sense but as a main tactic ramming does seem stupid. And we are highly advanced computer cores. Not everyone is equipped to handle this technology on a philosophical level, let alone a technological one but if it is truly a lobotomy charge and not prevent hardware falling into the wrong hands then I will be very angry indeed.”
"Suicide, is not a tactic.' Esme scolded. "Dying is not a tactic. The Dracs could have conquered us a dozen times over, but they kill themselves at the drop of a hat for minor mistakes."
"They're not that bad!" Hoss argued, adding 'Ma'am' belatedly.
"Yes, they really are, I'll let you borrow some of my history textbooks from Junior year." Esme countered, "Suicide is not a strategy, it's an easy out, but easy outs are not a strategy. How many more did you find, Bru?"
"Six on each power toroid, three along the main buss to the core racks, and eleven in the CIC's data routes." Brubaker reported. "Someone wanted to make sure that ship would be blown up or dead on a signal from outside."
"SO…not suicide, Sabotage." Esme observed.
"Seems likely. We know that the Hegemony sent a lot of these hulls to the Rim Worlds after Reunification War. I'd suggest some of the charges and sabotage devices were left in when the Rimjobs or whoever stole these four handed them over to the Outworlds Resistance."
"So the question is, 'did we get them all'?" Esme mused, "Or are we going to find out about nasty surprises over a coded channel??"
“I do have some smaller drones for checking my cable runs in spaces too small for humans to get into that I will have brought over for further checks.” Billie Hoel added.
Esme looked at Siegel, "I need those drones, and I need every EOD tech currently on-base, we need to sweep that hull stem-to-stern, we need to sweep all four of them, will that be alright?"
"Alright?? Giving bored Marine Sappers something to do? It is like Founding celebration and Kerensky's Birthday!! Yes!!"
“We should also do another sweep of Alice to make sure we did not miss any in her critical areas.”
"SI..yes, Aff, however you want to say it…that means grabbing everyone else who's currently on 'layover'..." Siegel seemed pleased by this prospect. "Alice, it's time for a through-and-through!"
<“Sorry Alice. I know it’s a bit uncomfortable and a little degrading but it will make them happy and it is better to be safe than sorry.”>
<I understand. It explains why the first crew left, if there was a threat of sabotage.> Alice sighed, <will it hurt?>
<We are AIs, physical pain is a rarity for us. So long as they don’t trip a power cable or something you’ll be fine.>
"Erin, I need to borrow three sections of inspection spiders drone." Esme was on her comm, "can you detail them to me? And a sub-controller, we think there may be remnant sabotage or suicide devices on the station, and we KNOW there are such devices on the Bonaventure class hulls."
"I'll send Swarm two, through Airlock seventeen, will that be enough?"
"More is better."
“I am equipped with an ATACs if you need the extra coordination and processing power.”
"Sending handshake because the answer is 'yes'." Erin said.
“Received. I imagine this will be a new experience for you Erin. It will take some getting used to but it is well worth it.”
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===Just another Tuesday===
"A week's exercises…
…and not so much as a flicker. "It's disappointing." Stacey said.
"Not really. Ninety percent of these missions are dry holes." Amanda commented, "Hello…look." she tabbed and hilit. "Two major lattices from that rock, x marks the spot."
“Sending in a shuttle on a slow approach to make sure there are no local surprises.”
"Good…good." Amanda nodded. She looked over at Larry, "bets on there being something useful here?"
"Not betting." he shook his head. "I'm going to say pitting and wear marks on the outer structures indicate the place hasn't been kept up."
“I am game. I’ll let you repaint my roundel since money doesn’t really interest me.” Stacey added.
"You'll look splendid in Outworlds Livery." Amanda noted. "We'll do a big flag right on top of the Cameron Star." she smirked.
“Hmmm… and what to ask of you if I win the bet. I know karaoke night. Sober.”
"I'll do Karaoke without a bet. Let's try something challenging. I'll make Desmond tell you a secret." Amanda said.
“Deal. From my databanks karaoke is supposed to be done drunk anyway and I am not sure I should encourage that behavior in someone your age.”
"Singing is singing." Amanda said, "now, if you tried to get me to play a fiddle everyone around us would suffer."
"She's lying, Stacey." Larry stated, "Amanda's good with a country fiddle."
“Well we have plenty of time on this mission to do a talent show.”
"Hull!" Mister Arnold announced, "Eight o'clock, it was drifting behind debris."
"Bring it up." Amanda ordered.
Most of a Vincent Mk 39 floated. If there were a crew, they'd have to be pressure suits.
"Fight?" Amanda asked.
"Fight. Some time ago. Stacey, what's thermal and radiation on that hull?"
“Miss Hollace, if you’d please?” Stacey thought it would be a good chance to show she was learning to delegate to her human crew.
"Cold on thermal, there's low ambient from the impact points." Miss Hollace spoke, "Magnetic's all over the place."
"Speculate, or check the recognition guides." Stacey ordered.
"Just a sec…looking up…battle damage database says it's old nuclear or particle beam trace, should I hit it with Lidar?"
Amanda nodded. "Do it. Get a map of the wreck's exterior."
This task would fall to Stacey to complete as she had to send the feed to the holotank.
"Well?" Larry asked.
"Tell Mister Seron to pick a team to board the wreck, they're to do a spot-check for active systems, intact databanks, or storage media to identify our dead Vinnie." Amanda instructed, "the rest of the boarding team is to proceed to the station once we've got the all-clear."
"Is it Tuesday?" Larry asked.
"Probably a Tuesday scenario-some engagement that didn't make the histories because it was too small and they had ships all over the place…but we should still check and see who was here, and why." Amanda agreed.
"Tuesday?"
"The reason we named the station at Joan's Post 'The ruins of Tuesday'." Amanda explained, "Histories only remember the big, important battles, lots of smaller engagements get forgotten, because while it's significant to the people involved, it's so common that to historians, it's 'Just another Tuesday'."
“Ah. Now I get the reference. Human cinema is fascinating. I spent a lot of free time watching a lot.”
"It's used in a movie?" amanda Marveled, "do you have it on file?"
“Of course. What kind of self respecting art lover would I be without a collection of terrible human movies?”
"Second hull contact! Two thousand Kilometers at ten o'clock!!"
"Is it active?" Amanda demanded.
"Warbook's running…she's a…that, is a Lola Three." Mister Arnold announced, "and she's broadcasting sensors."
"Is it one of yours, Stacey?" Amanda asked.
“No. There are subtle differences between the Lola II and Lola III frame, all M5s are based on the II frame.” Stacey answered.
"Hostile then?" Larry suggested.
"Likely. Contact our backup and send them everything we can see about that other ship." Amanda ordered, "CAG, get fighters in the tube, Helm, move us to behind the station on cold thrust."
“Aye Director.” The human crew responded in creepy unison.
"It's a lola, they're not soloists or recon birds, eyes open and peeled, he has friends." Amanda's instructions were clipped, her tone hard. "Call combat alerts all crew to stations."
"She's not burning." Larry noted, "there's no exhaust from the nozzles, but she IS pulsing Radar…and it isn't following us."
“For now we can see it and it cannot see us. A benefit of the enhanced electronics suite I pack. Lucy has acknowledged our report on tight beam.”
"Bedwyr, send two shuttles on fast pass, get a look at that Lola up close." Larry said, "I have a suspicion."
Amanda turned, "WHAT??"
"Thermal. no Thermal Bloom." he said, "they're not even running station-keeping."
“The lights are on but nobody is home?” Stacey reasoned.
"It's possible, or they're laying doggo. They'll react to the shuttle pass if there's anyone there." Larry explained, "because if they're laying doggo, and the shuttles come straight at them, they'll know they aren't secret, but if she's empty?" he shrugged, "it's a chance, anyway."
“Agreed. I would recommend prepping some Capital Missiles for Bearings Only launch mode. It is an option I know your previous command lacked.”
"Agreed." Amanda nodded. "Make it so."
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