HisRigHan Chpt 4

==His Right Hand - Chapter 4 -==
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Unspecified Lost Colony World3118
Wraith Tau Atechok saw the fight from the distance. His position in the upper most tier of a ruined sky scrapper had been the best choice he had made so far today. From here he had been able to find the DropShip and the pirates commander. His C3i connection to Deback indicated his situation and a mental note that he was returning to base. Atechok scanned the horizon looking for the other missing mechs. It was then he spotted them and the direction they were going. The camp. He chimed into the channels to warn everyone.
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Anne had gone back into her tent when Zombie Tau Riddick came in. He was holding a Mauser 1200 in his arms and threw it on her cot.
"Do you know how to use this?"
Anne simply shook her head and Riddick sighed. He picked it up and started going thru the motions of training new recuits as he had always done.
"What what? Why? What is going on?"
"We have the last of the pirate 'mechs heading here. The Celestials were out hunting them down in the ruins, but it appears their leader sacrificed his life to grant them the chance to strike at us. EVERYONE here is a combatant. The pirates have no escape from this planet and thus we assume they will kill everyone here. You will be assigned to a Tau Zombie who will then direct you in the defense here."
Anne stared at the rifle and picked it up. It felt natural in her hands.
"I lied. I have used something like this before."
"So you have? What successor lord or merc company did you serve?"
Anne thought long and hard. They would find out eventually so she let it out.
"Neither. I served in Comstar."
"Heretic." Came reflexively from Riddick.
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Deback stepped over age worn cars on his way to the camp. He brought up the command net now that he had authorization.
"Where is the battle armor support at? I thought we had a bunch? Who made that call?"
"Gramm did. They are all at the other city ruins cleansing that area along with the rest of the Celestials. He thought we would have found the majority of the pirates there."
"He paid for it in his life. I am requesting all forces to the main camp. I need Aerospace Fighter support because I only have me, the Bolla, and a Tau Zombie platoon to stop what is coming our way. I am at half capacity and damaged. How soon can I get orbital fire support?"
<<"Blake's Descent here. We need to complete an orbit before we can reposition. ETA 45 minutes. The shades should be there sooner.">>
Deback jumped over a ruined strip mall and kept on pushing the archangel. He wasn't going to push it like Corden had done. He remembered all the little things that caused his archangel to fail and that cost his beloved superior his life. He would arrive in time to help in the defense, but pushing to much to fail would benefit no one if his machine failed going there..
"Situation report at camp alpha?"
<("Zombie Tau Riddick here. All former prisoners are armed and ready to fight. We also have a situation that will require careful thought and choices. We have a former Comstar Adept amongst us. From my investigation, she was serving on an HPG when she taken by the pirates. Her demeanor is heretical and potentially dangerous. There might be others here but for we are in observation mode. I have assigned her to me.")>
"Do not be too judgemental, Riddick. Remember others of our old order have lead many astray. There is still a chance of redemption. If not solace in forgiveness. Look to the defeat of these pirates. Set the example that we the Word present and maybe those of the folly of Comstar will see reason. Praise Blake."
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Wraith Atechok spotted the mechs again. This time they were in LRM range from the Bolla. There were four of them and he managed to identify a Firestarter, Riflemen, Locust, and a Hunchback. Singling out the 50 tonner he called in the coordinates to the Bolla stealth tank and the LRMs began to rain down. The mechs went to ground and Atechok redirected the fire to the Locust. A few volleys and the mech was hurt and limping. It was then they figured out what direction the fire was coming from.
"Atechok to Phantom Richard. Reposition to point beta. They have taken the bait and are moving away from the camp temporarily. I still have eyes on them."
Atechok waited for the mechs to move to the ambush point. Improvised explosives around some ruins might damage or delay the mechs some more. Giving more time for aerospace assets and Deback to make it to the camp. By the time the mechs made it to where the Bolla had been he activated the remote sensor. Detonations activated and brought down the buildings in the square. Dust took to the air and Atechok waited patiently. Below him the Bolla tank arrived waiting for him. He managed to see movement in one area of rubble and called in more indirect fire. The Bolla tank fired its LRMs and they landed on whatever was stuck. Then an ammo explosion happened. That was Atechok's que.
He jumped from the ledge he was on and fell towards the the tank. He activated the small chute and zipped his way down to the ground. He landed with a precision landing. His squad came out of the shadows deactivating their mimetic cloaks. They grabbed up the chute and all of them loaded up on the Bolla tank.
"Welcome back, Atechok. I must say that was a spectacular landing. We are out of LRM ammo now. No more cat and mouse."
"We will do what we can, Richard. Back to the camp and with haste."
Word got back that Deback had made it back too. His 'mech was a tattered mess and questionable that it would survive this last battle.
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Deback parked his archangel and techs started swarming it. The head tech was pissed that the Heavy PPC had turned into fused slag. They had two options. Repair all the armor on the mech or replace the arm. Deback gave it few seconds thoughts before telling them to repair what they could and refill the ammo bin. Waiting for him was Zombie Tau Riddick who saluted.
"How goes the arming of the camp?"
"Everyone is armed with a rifle and there are interspersed SRM launchers. Frankly all hands are on deck and the frails appear ready to fight to the death."
"Considering what they have been thru, I don't blame them. They have something to fight for if not. Revenge."
"Whatever motivates them I care not right now. Just getting thru this will be enough.
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Anne watched as the odd Manei Domini talked to Riddick. Something about this man was different about him. He seemed to carry himself in a different kind of way compared to the rest. It almost reminded her of Precentor Martial Victor Davion-Steiner. He commanded presence compared to the others. Then Riddick pointed at her and the man looked at her too. He started approaching her and she swallowed emptiedly.
"I am Phathom Adept Beta Deback, The Right Hand of Corden. I understand you are Anne. Adept Anne in a former life. I have never met someone who has served in Comstar."
"And I have never met the Word of Blake in the flesh. That makes two of us equal in that regards." she told the cyborg.
"All I ask is that you work with us for sheer survival for now. I am in command here and no harm will come to you while I am. After this excursion you WILL be coming with us. I must warn you. Most of us see you as a heretic. I am not of that persuasion as your upbringing is. Well. Not by your choice in a way."
Anne kept silent. She had willing joined the order after the Jihad to restore the HPG network. Comstar was semi gutted at the time but still kept alive by its task of communications through out the inner sphere. Many looked at Comstar with disdain and hatred because it reminded them of the Word.
"I joined Comstar willingly. Some one had to help fix what you broke."
"You will be learning alot about what REALLy happened in that war. You have been told many things. However you will come to see another perspective I hope. After that you will be able to join us or remain as a nuetral party. Unfortunantly, we can't have you return to the inner sphere or else. Well you understand."
"Picture perfect."
"I was presented with the choice of joining the Word Adept Anne. My circumstances were almost unbelievable. You will hear more about me and where I came from. That is if we live long enough to tell and listen to each other."
"I really have no intention of listening Blakist."
"And yet we haven't come to that juncture. In fact...."
Explosions erupted inside the camp and autocannon shells fell amoungst everyone. People ducked for cover while Deback reflexively went towards his archangel at his fastest pace. Anne took up her mauser 1200 and pointed in the direction she thought she saw the shells. Then a limping Locust came thru firing its medium laser at the stationary archangel. Its MGs gunned down the techs. Anne saw that the Locust had holes all over its armor and she took aim and started firing.
Others started to fire at the Locust. Then the mech took its attention towards its harassers and started doing circles around them picking off pockets of resistance. Then the Tau Zombie platoon opened fire. Twenty squad support lasers unleashed on the mech punching thru what ever armor remained. Pieces and parts rained down and the machine slid to the ground. The other members of the squad started to shoot at vital areas of the mech. Internals got scragged and the machine moved no more.
Anne then heard the Archangel stomp past her to intercept the Rifleman. Shells and lasers beat at the hundred ton 'mech as Deback began to close and duel in a dance of death. Then the Firestarter came into view. Anne screamed and ducked into a crater. Flamers started to ignite and people turned into flaming candles. The heat of the fire came towards Anne and she thought would have died if not for Riddick.
He had jumped in behind her and laid on top of her. Flames engulfed his back keeping her shielded. After the burst had gone past them, he stood up and started firing his Mauser 1200. Anne starred at the man machine as he was a living torch. His robe and combat gear were melted to his metallic flesh and yet he pushed on as if were a crisp cool day. She had heard of the Tau Zombies as a force that was never taken alive and rightly feared.
Then the Bolla tank exposed itself and fired a volley of SRMs. Twelve of eighteen connected and then the Firestarter ignited into a torch of its own as the infernos did their work. The pilot panicked as the machine slowed itself down and tried to get away from the heat. It simply shutdown as it tried to cool itself down.
Anne saw the Tau Zombies then charge the mech. They started climbing it and stuck their weapons in leg joints and hips and started firing. One of the squad that looked maimed managed to climb higher onto the mech towards the cockpit. When he made it there he hugged the glass and simply exploded using his suicide charges. Anne felt sick at the fanatics demise and what these Blakist were doing, but she owed them her life.
Something then snapped in the mechs legs and the mass started to fall. Most of the Tau Zombies jumped from the mech but other rode it down. With a crash it landed on its back. Anne saw the Tau Zombies start to jump off the mech and clear the area. Riddick was running towards her as he was making motions for everyone to get down and away. Anne was too affixed to what was going on. In slow motion she saw two shade aerospace fighters making a strafing run on the hapless 'mech. By the time they hit it and ripped it apart, Riddick was jumping on her and forcing her down.
"You don't listen very well do you or has the heretical musings of Comstar none sense clogged your brain."
She never retorted back as he had gotten up and charged off. Then another explosion happened and the weapons fire subsided. Anne saw a victorious archangel returning from its duel. In its one hand was a Rifleman's head. The glass was painted red and a gaping hole existed where a retractable blade had been plunged. Everyone cheered as they had survived the day.
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The battle had cost the survivors half of whom had been released from the cells. Many Adept techs had died. Five Tau Zombies had died and one errant piece of metal had injured one of the tau wraiths. The stealth tank was still pristine despite all that had happened. The other city had been cleared and all twelve pirate mechs accounted for. Both the Malak and Preta were recovered from the ruins. Any trace of the Word being on this desolate planet was removed. The destroyed 'mechs were also recovered for anymore intel and for material cost alone. A DropShip landed and took everyone back to the nadir point. A few day later, the decrepit JumpShip along with the Word's disappeared from the system with no hint the Word even still existed.
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Weeks later, the decrepit JumpShip was delivered to the scientific group working with Ramus the guide. Deback's JumpShip made it to the governing planet of the colonies. Information was exchanged and news brought to various people. The operation was not as successful as one would have liked. The pirates had been taken out, but at a cost. Lessons had been learned and what to do with those lessons? Debate and discussion was needed. Zaphkiel was happy and saddened altogether.
"Congratulations to your command in leading the cleansing in one city, Deback. The circumstances though and situation proves many things. You were right that we have seen no action and that we have to sharpen Blake's sword. The cost though. The cost... Seven fellow Manei Domini dead. All over a hand full of frail pirates. I wish I had listened a little bit more clearly."
Zaphkiel turned to Deback.
"Going forward, Right Hand of Corden, I will elevate you another rank that you have earned, Phantom Adept Omega Deback. You will be given command of those who served under you. Also, Frela will be made part of your contingent as there are factors that I deem sufficient as such. As this team gains more and more experience, they will be rotated out to other units who in turn will learn from them. Blake's light will be visited to those in need. The periphery is ripe with opportunity. Pirates and Clan filth. But keep this in mind. We CAN NOT let anyone know we still exist. Contingencies were in place as you know with the pirate cleansing. Those same contingencies will be made manifest if not more."
"Thank you, heres domini. I will see that those under my command are trained by fire."
"Zombie Tau Riddick also wishes to speak with you. You have a new follower of the Corden faction Deback. You are starting to gain the weight of persona. Be sure you can keep the weight and carry it as no amount of blessed technology can help you there. Then there is the matter of the heretic Adept Anne. You have presented a situation that will be most interesting. I do wonder if she will convert or stay one of the neutrals? I would like you to speak with her more. That is all."
"I will take my leave then."
"One last thing Deback. You are going to be a father. Phantom Adept Omega Frela has confirmed you are the only male she has been with in the last year. It is not unprecedented and this has occurred before. It will sound weird that a brother and sister in arms will be bringing life into this world. The best thing is that this child is with us. Another of Blake's chosen and blessed. Oh and by your face, I think congratulations is what I should be telling you. HA HA HA!..."
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Deback stepped out of Zaphkiels office and was slightly shaky. He was still eighteen and was going to be a father? He would rather face a swarm of night haunts than think of that future. Outside by the door Zombie Tau Riddick awaited Deback. The mans complete metal face and arms were hard to read but agitation could be sensed.
"Come, Riddick. Things have gotten very odd for me. I could use someone to talk to not to mention you have questions too."
"I do. What transpired on that ruined planet has given me puzzlement and also renewed faith in Blake. I found myself acting out in ways that my training didn't exactly match. There were those underserving of my actions yet it felt right."
"Corden taught me that Blake spoke that the Word would Shepard mankind when all else had been destroyed. We were in fact in the ruins of humanity and doing exactly as we were commanded to do. It is not unusual at all that you feel this way. I was saved Riddick, by a man all in metal. He could have killed me and left me for dead. Instead he saw light in the darkness I was in. He became the Iron Father that day guiding me towards mankind's shining light. I saw, felt, and acted with him bringing humanity from the dregs of history on Turbline. There were those who were not grateful. But the actions we did there showed what can be accomplished. Your actions on that blasted landscape might have impacted those freed slaves that they might see Blake's light. That is the feeling you may have experienced. The other I think is doing good in this galaxy. Even though the heretic Adept Anne is counted in the ungratefuls that..."
"Maybe not. She did thank me for saving her life and freeing her. Grudgingly, but she did state so."
"Already the light of Blake is spreading and making her think. She is of Comstar, so there is some foundation that could be built on. Though there is the engrained teachings of that corrupt organization. I will be speaking with her some time in the next few days."
"Thank you, Deback, what was it that you needed to speak to me about."
"I learned that I am to become a father in the coming months. Phantom Adept Omega Frela has been a bed mate with me and... what?"
A look of some sort appeared on Riddick's face. The gruffness that couldn't show thru the myomer sinew gave out a slight grin. Something Deback had never seen on a Tau Zombie.
"You will do fine and you seemed to have had a good teacher on how to be a father. Your mentor treated you like a son in a way. You have the lessons. Just apply them."
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Anne sat down in the mess hall. Word had gotten around that she was from Comstar and the scowls that she got perturbed her. There seemed to be no rsepite despite them considering her one of the neutrals that lived in the colonies. She knew she was stranded here with no hope of getting word out to the Inner Sphere that the Word was still alive!!! In her mind she screamed at being stuck here. To abate the anxiety she played around with her bacon and eggs. Until a young man sat down across from her. She looked up at him and... it was a mManei Domini. He was young for such a being in these nut jobs order.
"How have they been treating you?"
"Well enough comparatively to those scum bag pirates. I am recovering my strength from the malnourishment. But being here and such has mentally been straining."
"I have heard they whisper heretic behind your back."
"That is so and also to my face. Every day it is the same tune. Almost to the point it is a badge like the nazis put on the Jews a millennia ago."
"Sorry, I do not know of that war. It has been out of scope of my education." Anne scoffed in response.
"Not surprised. Trying to keep the first origin of war crimes from the populace here."
"I am not of this populace, Anne. I grew up else where."
"Other than the colonies? That means Obeedah or Taussen."
"No, I am from Turbline."
Anne put her fork down. She was starring at the young man known as the Right Hand of Corden. The man who had lead the Word that day she was freed. She remembered her brief interaction with him. Then she remembered the Rifleman's head being held high in the archangel that he piloted. He had tempered the others about calling her a heretic. Saying she didn't know better. Saying she had been taught by the heretics and didn't have the full story. She did have the full story and in her mind, that is all she had to know.
"I know who you are. I have read on the open net where you came from and the implications of it."
"Yes. It is a long story and I assume you have read everything. Trust me. If you were not there to have experienced and seen it. You would think it all a sham or some B rate holovid. I brought what I could and cool heads have prevailed. Since then I have kind of made a mark."
"You certainly have. The robes here see you in a different kind of light. Some I have heard are equating you to that mad man you call The Master."
Deback did not frown nor misstep in his eating. He went about as if the quip was never thrown.
"I came from a dismal existance. One sort of like yours. I was saved by a man who if given the chance, would have participated in the Jihad. Instead he devoted himself to mankind in a stranded star system. I knew that if he had reconnected to his fellow Domini that he would have continued with them. The experience changed me. I will admit that the actions of the manei domini are horrendous to you. In a different time and place they would have been seen as saviors. Instead we sacrificed our lives to ensure mankind could walk a different path other than tyrant or freak."
"Oh, so your so called vaulted martyred saint burned billions in nuclear fire to unite mankind? I have read the open nets propaganda and so called teachings."
Deback put down his fork and put his elbows on the table. Then he steeples his hands and looked thru them at Anne.
"I will admit. The actions that were done are not forgivable to many. I have pondered long on this myself. Before I became Manei Domini. I had forgiven Corden for what I saw him do. The reaction I got was something I would not have expected. It was liberating for him in a way. As we say. You do not need to thank us for what we did to unite mankind. The Republic of the Sphere is the result of the Jihad and it stands at the best option to keep billions and billions more from dying. You can not deny that."
Anne just starred at Deback.
"Enough. Both me and you were born after of that war. We can not be judged by the formers actions just like I am trying to tell the rest here that you can not be judged by those above you. Comstar no longer has the soul of convictious that Blake espoused. The Word is what Comstar would have should have been. There are those here that do truly believe that we can unite with that organization. By talking I truly believe that it could be accomplished. But that is an improbable task as if we were to reach out."
Deback made a motion around the room with his true hand and arm.
"I am sure everything you see here and the colonies would see nuclear fire. So please just think and talk about things."
With that Deback tossed back his apple juice, got up, and left.
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Zaphkiel watched the screen as Deback left Adept Anne. The rhetoric of Deback was a small shift in perspective from what The Word taught. There was some truth to what Deback said. Zaphkiel would have to keep an eye on both of them. He appeared to be a uniting force for the True Believers and the Cordens. The possible schisms that Deback might bring could elevate the word or destroy it from within. He would need to carefully guide him on the true path. For now he needed to aim him and the Corden faction.
Zaphkiel had opened up the interstellar operations files for dead systems to be explored and spied on. The following months had turned up nothing. Then reports came in from the few spy ships they had out there report of a few more pirate bases of different natures. Some would not get The Words attention due to the relative "modesty" of these places. They didn't skirt the betrayal of mankind and were just profiteers nipping at the successor states. Two though came up as possible scum to be cleansed. Then there was another planet that was found to have a primitive society cut off from interstallar travel. Much like Turbline. THAT one would be an interesting mission. One that he might accompany Deback with if he were to send him there.
He pondered what would happen next for the newly elevated Deback. Then there was Adept Anne. Zaphkiel stroked his true fingers against his chin. Putting Deback and Anne into the same scene would boost The Words image to the heretic. Maybe not convert her, but at least turn her thoughts. Yes. That would do it. Zaphkiel pulled up another pirate slaver and sent in the requisitions and orders. The cult of Corden would be pleased that the Word was becoming proactive.
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Deback finally met his bed mate Phantom Adept Omega Frela. It had been ackward for both of them considering their station and calling. They had bonded more in the weeks they had made up for lost time. Deback came to find out that he was going to have a son and they had to transplant the fetus to an [iron womb]]. Frela's augmentics and cyberware could have caused some complications. Not to mention she was a mechwarrior and training would endanger the small life. Finally, they had decided on the childs name. Corden.
Deback broke the news of her transfer to his command despite her out ranking him and what they were going to do. Pirate hunting. They spent time talking about The Word, the future of their child, and what they hoped to accomplish together. Frela wanted to see Turbline and help cleanse it. Deback knew that it would be a long time before this would ever occur and had to steer her towards that understanding. She tended to be very fanatical when it came to certain ideas.
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Ramus floated in the decrepit pirate JumpShip looking over the blue prints he had cobbled together. Using magnets to hold the pieces of paper on the bulk heads he went over the finishing details. His idea that if certain amounts of extra germanium were placed in strategic positions of the JumpShip. That it would be able to suppress the sub hyperspace bubble that would form when jumping into Turbline. But they had to first jump the ship without it failing first.
After completing the check list, the crew and Ramus left the JumpShip via DropShip, and set the jump sequence on automatic. With several test animals aboard, the jump ship winked out from the nader point to the zenith one. When they boarded it, data indications showed that some of the animals had died. Also the jump core showed damage. They might get two more jumps out the wreck. In theory it was like a crazy jane of another JumpShip being close to another JumpShip. One that was utter suicide if any of them were to jump. It would destroy both ships. The trick was riding that line by getting the right amounts of germanium in the right places to suppress the sub hyperspace bubble.
A year later, another JumpShip arrived for him to play around with. Deback had been very active in the surrounding area taking out pirate strongholds and disappearing their fleets into The Words hands. This one though had lithium fusion batteries and it hit Ramus. Could this power system solve the issue he was having. Power. Could it be power that was just needed. Not a super jump in essense but a bleed off of power to suppress the sub hyperspace fluxations. It took him and his team another six months to math it out. Another six to modify the JumpShip.
Then came the day of the test. Animals were loaded, systems set, and they shoved off. The jump initiated perfectly but it then never arrived back at the expected nadir point. Ten minutes later, the test JumpShip ripped into reality with a massive EMP. Boarding the vessel they found all the animals intact and the computer systems indicated a perfect jump. The next phase then began. Human testing.
Pirates taken prisoner were shackled in place of the renamed JumpShip. Philadelphia. It also jumped and appeared 10 minutes later. Inside they found the pirates in a normal state from an extended jump. More jumps were done and each result hammered out the system. Then conquered DropShip were added. More results and tuning were accomplished.
In the end, Ramus and his team standardized the Turbline KF-Drive as they called it. It was a simple package that could easily be fitted to a lithium fusion based JumpShip and incorporated the increased efficiency to jump even further than standard by 65% to 80%. The draw on the lithium fusion battery was minimal to the point it only took a few days to recharge the battery. The next step was to parse it to warships. The concept was easy to implement, but the upper leadership was reluctant to release such a valuable technology to him. In the end, Deback and Zaphkiel worked together politically to push thru an ancient mothballed one that would require extensive renovation.
Another year passed before the warship was jumped successfully. Human testing results were the same. Successful. Then came the test with Manei Domini volunteers. Results continued to pour in of success after success. Ramus became an instrument to Blake's will in the annuals of history despite him being a frail neutral.
News came across Zaphkiel's desk finally that the technology at hand was ready for mass proliferation amongst the Word. That is when he recalled Deback and all Word forces back to the colonies. They were extending themselves to much in his opinion. Until they acted on Turbline, they would sit back and then reassess. Taussen Battlemech and Battle Armor production had been increased to accommodate the future Turbline mission. Zaphkiel then prioritized which of the shadow fleet would be recalled, refitted, then sent back out into hiding.
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Chapter 4