Chapter 1
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
War on the Horizon Chapter 1
Tybalt Zenith point, June 8, 3007
“All hands, we are ready for the jump,” went out to the small fleet of four Jumpships and eighteen assorted dropships attached to the collars.
“Here we go again,” I muttered to Sheppard as we floated in space, ready to begin the transition to the next star system.
“I don’t know why you hate the transition so much,” the other officer said with a chuckle. “I certainly don’t feel anything.”
“I might have some form of TDS,” I shrugged. “Because I get really trippy visions sometimes during the couple of seconds it takes to jump.”
“That is sort of strange,” Sheppard agreed. “But we’ve fought together long enough that I can ignore the craziness that happens just by being around you.”
“I’m just hoping that the Overlords we pieced together are able to make the trip,” Paige chimed in as she floated into the compartment. “We’ve got enough salvage from Tybalt to make ends meet, but I’m concerned about vetting and finding our new recruits.”
“We’ll make it work,” I said as the ship seemed to lurch, the transition from the Zenith point not as smooth as it normally was. “Anyone else feel that?”
“Yeah,” Paige frowned as a voice came over the comms channels.
“Colonel Hull, you might want to get up here to the bridge of the King Henry V,” Captain Victoria Jewel’s voice came through clearly.
30 BBY, Beloria system, Seswenna Sector, Outer Rim Territories
“Any idea where we are?” I asked as we looked at the small amount of traffic around the system that we were looking ‘down’ at.
“Not a clue,” Jewel shook her head. “None of the stars make any sense to our navigators either.”
“Any communications signals we can pick up on?” I asked.
“There are a few. But they’re not in any language that we recognize,” came the response from the Communications officer.
“See if we can translate things into a format that their computers can understand and send a message out,” I ordered.
“Sir, it looks like there’s some sort of fight going on down there,” The sensors officer reported. “I started scanning and taking pictures as soon as we jumped and they’re just now coming back with what it looks like is happening down on the habitable world.”
“Let me take a look,” I said as I accepted the noteputer and began to navigate through the data. “Looks like some sort of forest fire, we’re too far away to get a clear enough picture of it,” I sighed. “Detach the Stings and the Leopards,” I ordered. “I’m taking some volunteers and we’re going to see what’s going on down there and if we can get an idea of where we’re at.”
“Copy that sir,” the officers began to move and give the orders. “You should probably get ready to transfer over though, it’ll take a bit to shift things around.”
Four days later…
“Looks like they might be pirates, sir,” James Malcolm, the captain of the Leopard that I was aboard reported. “We’re seeing some activity that lines up with typical pirate behavior, including the taking of slaves.”
“Intel satellites deployed?” I asked.
“The Sting released them earlier,” Captain Malcolm reported. “The Telemetry from them is what we’re using to base our assumptions on.”
“Alright then,” I sighed. “We go in and rescue the locals from the pirates. Maybe they’ll have an idea of what the surrounding area looks like. I’d like to get back to the known space if at all possible.”
“Aye sir,” Captain Malcom responded before turning to his bridge crew. “Get ready for a hot drop!”
–
–
The twin Leopard Dropships descended through the atmosphere, closely followed by the two Sting assault dropships with their platoons of Mithril-clad infantry.
“Alright, we need to keep an eye on our lines of fire,” Peterson informed the infantry. “We don’t know who’s friendly or not down there, and from what little we could see from orbit there appears to be pirates attacking civilians. And not a lot of resistance from the civvies. Our job is to eliminate pirates and secure this world from any more pirate attacks.”
“Are we doing this one Pro Bono, sir?” A noncom asked.
“Think if it as a sample of our services,” Peterson grinned. “Once they understand how valuable we are we’re going to probably get paid steadily until we’re able to find our way home.”
“Whatever you say, boss,” the noncom shrugged. “I’m here for the long haul.”
“Just remember to keep track of what you’re shooting at and what is behind it,” Peterson reminded them. “We’re not sure what the buildings will be made of and we don’t want to unintentionally kill anyone who is not a pirate.”
“Wilco,” the teams responded as the dropships eased down and opened the ramps to allow dismount.
“You know your jobs,” Peterson said over the comms channel. “I won’t get in your way.”
–
–
Moving my Warhammer, I walked my mech over to where the pirates were, the sensors picking up multiple ships landed in a small cleared square of the forest.
“We’ve got what looks like temporary shelters and ships parked over through the forest,” I called out, on the TACOM channel. “Archers should keep clear and be ready for indirect fire. “Crabs and Toros be ready for quick-fire if necessary. Peterson, I want you and your infantry to be ready to move in and clear everything out once we have the shock and awe part done.”
“Copy that,” Peterson replied. “We’ll go ghost through the trees and be ready when everything pops off.”
“Magscan can’t identify the material the ships are made up of,” I said as I cycled through the various settings on the Warhammer’s computer. “I’m also not registering any tanks or other AFVs or IFVs. Whatever air cover they had looked to be on the ground with them.”
“I’ll split off teams to go ahead and seize the ships and fighters,” Peterson replied. “Any idea what kind of numbers we’re looking at?”
“Nothing is moving enough for me to get that kind of info at the moment,” I replied. “I’ll inform you once I’ve got a more clear picture of what’s going on.”
“Copy that, Colonel,” Peterson responded. “We’re setting things up now. I’ll contact you once we’re in position.”
“See you on the flip side, Captain,” I replied as I nudged the Warhammer up to cruising speed and began moving as fast as I safely could through the trees. “Hull, out.”
Tybalt Zenith point, June 8, 3007
“All hands, we are ready for the jump,” went out to the small fleet of four Jumpships and eighteen assorted dropships attached to the collars.
“Here we go again,” I muttered to Sheppard as we floated in space, ready to begin the transition to the next star system.
“I don’t know why you hate the transition so much,” the other officer said with a chuckle. “I certainly don’t feel anything.”
“I might have some form of TDS,” I shrugged. “Because I get really trippy visions sometimes during the couple of seconds it takes to jump.”
“That is sort of strange,” Sheppard agreed. “But we’ve fought together long enough that I can ignore the craziness that happens just by being around you.”
“I’m just hoping that the Overlords we pieced together are able to make the trip,” Paige chimed in as she floated into the compartment. “We’ve got enough salvage from Tybalt to make ends meet, but I’m concerned about vetting and finding our new recruits.”
“We’ll make it work,” I said as the ship seemed to lurch, the transition from the Zenith point not as smooth as it normally was. “Anyone else feel that?”
“Yeah,” Paige frowned as a voice came over the comms channels.
“Colonel Hull, you might want to get up here to the bridge of the King Henry V,” Captain Victoria Jewel’s voice came through clearly.
30 BBY, Beloria system, Seswenna Sector, Outer Rim Territories
“Any idea where we are?” I asked as we looked at the small amount of traffic around the system that we were looking ‘down’ at.
“Not a clue,” Jewel shook her head. “None of the stars make any sense to our navigators either.”
“Any communications signals we can pick up on?” I asked.
“There are a few. But they’re not in any language that we recognize,” came the response from the Communications officer.
“See if we can translate things into a format that their computers can understand and send a message out,” I ordered.
“Sir, it looks like there’s some sort of fight going on down there,” The sensors officer reported. “I started scanning and taking pictures as soon as we jumped and they’re just now coming back with what it looks like is happening down on the habitable world.”
“Let me take a look,” I said as I accepted the noteputer and began to navigate through the data. “Looks like some sort of forest fire, we’re too far away to get a clear enough picture of it,” I sighed. “Detach the Stings and the Leopards,” I ordered. “I’m taking some volunteers and we’re going to see what’s going on down there and if we can get an idea of where we’re at.”
“Copy that sir,” the officers began to move and give the orders. “You should probably get ready to transfer over though, it’ll take a bit to shift things around.”
Four days later…
“Looks like they might be pirates, sir,” James Malcolm, the captain of the Leopard that I was aboard reported. “We’re seeing some activity that lines up with typical pirate behavior, including the taking of slaves.”
“Intel satellites deployed?” I asked.
“The Sting released them earlier,” Captain Malcolm reported. “The Telemetry from them is what we’re using to base our assumptions on.”
“Alright then,” I sighed. “We go in and rescue the locals from the pirates. Maybe they’ll have an idea of what the surrounding area looks like. I’d like to get back to the known space if at all possible.”
“Aye sir,” Captain Malcom responded before turning to his bridge crew. “Get ready for a hot drop!”
–
–
The twin Leopard Dropships descended through the atmosphere, closely followed by the two Sting assault dropships with their platoons of Mithril-clad infantry.
“Alright, we need to keep an eye on our lines of fire,” Peterson informed the infantry. “We don’t know who’s friendly or not down there, and from what little we could see from orbit there appears to be pirates attacking civilians. And not a lot of resistance from the civvies. Our job is to eliminate pirates and secure this world from any more pirate attacks.”
“Are we doing this one Pro Bono, sir?” A noncom asked.
“Think if it as a sample of our services,” Peterson grinned. “Once they understand how valuable we are we’re going to probably get paid steadily until we’re able to find our way home.”
“Whatever you say, boss,” the noncom shrugged. “I’m here for the long haul.”
“Just remember to keep track of what you’re shooting at and what is behind it,” Peterson reminded them. “We’re not sure what the buildings will be made of and we don’t want to unintentionally kill anyone who is not a pirate.”
“Wilco,” the teams responded as the dropships eased down and opened the ramps to allow dismount.
“You know your jobs,” Peterson said over the comms channel. “I won’t get in your way.”
–
–
Moving my Warhammer, I walked my mech over to where the pirates were, the sensors picking up multiple ships landed in a small cleared square of the forest.
“We’ve got what looks like temporary shelters and ships parked over through the forest,” I called out, on the TACOM channel. “Archers should keep clear and be ready for indirect fire. “Crabs and Toros be ready for quick-fire if necessary. Peterson, I want you and your infantry to be ready to move in and clear everything out once we have the shock and awe part done.”
“Copy that,” Peterson replied. “We’ll go ghost through the trees and be ready when everything pops off.”
“Magscan can’t identify the material the ships are made up of,” I said as I cycled through the various settings on the Warhammer’s computer. “I’m also not registering any tanks or other AFVs or IFVs. Whatever air cover they had looked to be on the ground with them.”
“I’ll split off teams to go ahead and seize the ships and fighters,” Peterson replied. “Any idea what kind of numbers we’re looking at?”
“Nothing is moving enough for me to get that kind of info at the moment,” I replied. “I’ll inform you once I’ve got a more clear picture of what’s going on.”
“Copy that, Colonel,” Peterson responded. “We’re setting things up now. I’ll contact you once we’re in position.”
“See you on the flip side, Captain,” I replied as I nudged the Warhammer up to cruising speed and began moving as fast as I safely could through the trees. “Hull, out.”
