“I wish to congratulate you on a job well done Admiral Aderawa. It seems we were right to task the Lancer fleet with regaining control of our besieged territories.”
“I thank you for your kind words, Grand-Admiral.”
I found myself in the meeting room once again. After our resounding victory against the Corsair Fleet and the return of the Assault Squad, Admiral Aderawa had ordered the rest of the Lancer Fleet to commence search operations on the wreckages and, if possible, take prisoners or any valuable intelligence. He assigned me to manage and oversee the intelligence our soldiers obtained and ensure that the report would be ready by the time we had to meet with the Grand-Admiral.
“I understood that you have succeeded in capturing a number of prisoners, most of which were Vissari or Gamoran. Although if I recall correctly, you’ve also captured a number of humans.”
He rested his head in his palm and crossed his legs.
Admiral Aderawa nodded, motioning to Webster by wafting his hand.
Webster tapped the screen of his datapad a few times, causing several files to appear on the right side of the projection.
“What you are seeing here are the criminal records of our prisoners.” Webster began. “As you can see, they’re career criminals. Our Gamorans here are wanted in over half the galaxy for piracy, murder, assault, and many other charges. Akkanar might be especially interested in exchanging them.”
“Mhm. I will consult our Diplomatic Corps and see how it’s best we proceed.” Newman nodded before swiping their files off the projection. “And what about our compatriots?”
“For the most part, they seem to be members of the Marauder Gang that used to plague the Sirius System. I believe that you must be more familiar with them, Grand-Admiral.”
“Ho ho. I haven’t heard that name since I was a mere ship captain in the Minotaur Fleet. You’ve caught quite the pirate veterans, haven’t you boys? This certainly brings me back.” Newman rubbed his temple with his right hand. “Even so, hearing about former Marauders within the Freehold is something new. I will notify the D.I.D.”
‘I’m pretty sure the D.I.D already knew.’ I thought to myself. Hell, I’d be willing to bet on it too. From what I’ve seen thus far, the D.I.D seemed to have a good grasp on what’s going on, but for one reason or another chose not to tell us.
I looked down at my datapad and tapped the screen a few times. It should be my turn to report any second now. Tightening my grip on the device, I look up to see Admiral Aderawa nod in my direction, and Grand-Admiral Newman turn his gaze towards me.
“I see new faces in your team, Admiral Aderawa.” Newman lifted his head from its support and lowered his shoulders. As he interlocked his hands, he shuffled in his seat, his interest seemingly piqued by my appearance. “Do say, I don’t recall you ever taking an Officer. It was always you and Webster.”
Admiral Aderawa chuckled under his breath before shrugging his shoulders.
“Well, I thought it would be a nice change of scenery.”
“No...” Newman shook his head as a small grin formed on his face. “That wouldn’t be like you. I trust this must be one of the Diamonds of the Rarillac Academy, Officer Lyonel Stanfield. I heard about you.”
I formed a courteous smile as I cringed internally. I don’t know why Rear-Admiral Okina came up with this moniker, but I don’t like it one bit.
“Thank you for your praise, Grand Admiral.”
For whatever that reason may be.
“If I may, we have managed to gather some intelligence from the Corsair wreckages. I’ll have it up on the screen in a second.”
I tapped the screen of my datapad one final time before the documents appeared on the projection. Wafting my hand, I enlarged one of them.
“Based on what we’ve gathered from the wreckages, the fleet we have just engaged was part of the Corsair vanguard that attacked the colonies in this cluster. We’ve managed to decode a series of communication logs between them and an unknown party.”
Newman nodded quietly and I started the recording.
With Newman’s window being minimized, a low-quality recording took up most of the projection. Looking at it, it seemed that the pirates had little care for storing and documenting the communication between their vessels.
On the left side, an old human man with a white beard and a robotic leg. It would seem that he was the Captain of the vessel, although we could not retrieve his body. With the hole in their hull, it wouldn’t be impossible for his body to have drifted into space. His appearance was largely uninteresting. What was instead interesting was the appearance of a massive Gamoran on their communications screen.
Its skin color was a dark shade of gray, which was pretty rare. According to our department of xenobiology, this color was the result of a mutation, although the exact cause was unknown. What is known however is that this specific subset of Gamorans possess far greater strength, agility and intelligence than the rest of their species.
Unfortunately, in spite of this difference in ability, they are shunned and persecuted on Gamoran planets for being ‘freaks of nature’. Quite amusing to hear that coming from a species like the Gamorans.
“Our attacks are progressing well. We’ve taken control of the majority of the cluster and are now headed to Alinaendlor.”
It was a rough recording, but we could understand most of what the human said. It’d seem that this was one of the fleets that were rebuked by Alinaendlor initially. At least now our suspicions are confirmed.
He continued while resting his hands onto his belt.
“Roarke has been torched and the surviving colonists have been loaded on our transports for the Fat Whale.”
After this ‘report’, the man bowed his head to the Gamoran projected on the screen. His bow was followed by a brief silence, broken by a growl let out by the Gamoran. As the Gamoran slowly opened its mouth, revealing its razor sharp fangs, the recording became distorted, and we could no longer understand what was going on.
“Stanfield, can our systems unscramble the rest of the recording?”
Aderawa inquired promptly. Unfortuantely, I had to shake my head.
“No, I’ve already tried. It’s corrupted.”
I sighed, minimized the file and looked at Grand-Admiral Newman on the screen.
“So they’ve taken the colonists to the Fat Whale after torching the planets... I can understand them capturing our colonists to sell them into slavery, that’s very like what we know of them, but I cannot understand torching our planets.”
Newman closed his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows as he pondered the events.
“I can’t wrap my brain around this. And that Gamoran. A ‘graausan ni’ at that. It’s troubling, to say the least.”
I furrowed my eyebrows, slightly puzzled. I must admit, gamuran wasn’t exactly my strong suit. Well, nor were many of the other languages we studied at the academy, but that is why I’ve been training for command, not translation.
Webster tilted his head to the side, before grabbing my attention.
“A ‘graausan ni’ means ‘a grey one’, Officer Stanfield. It’s more of a colloquial term, so that’s why you’ve probably never heard of it.”
Webster forced a cold smile, and I nodded. He knew.
“Well, nonetheless.” Grand-Admiral Newman intervened, slapping his palms together. “I want you to continue pushing into Corsair territory and neutralize any enemy fleets, at your discretion. If you obtain any more intelligence, let me know.”
I tightened my stance and saluted Grand-Admiral Newman in unison with Commodore Webster. Admiral Aderawa on the other hand seemed to not be done with the conversation.
“What are we to do with our prisoners?”
“Hmm. You won’t be able to send back any prisoners as you move forward into their territory, will you?” Newman scratched the back of his head. “How many prisoners can you carry?”
“One, two hundred might be fine. Any more than that however will be too many.”
“Mhm.” Newman shrugged his shoulders slightly, looking at us coldly. “According to Confederation law, piracy is punished with a life sentence on a penal colony. However, as we both know, they’ve leveled Confederation settlements.”
‘Death.’ Given the fact they were already destined for a life sentence on one of the Confederation’s penal colonies, if you are to factor in the damage they’ve inflicted on Confederation territories and properties, they were as good as dead the moment they were shipped into Confederation territory.
What Grand-Admiral Newman is essentially telling the Admiral is that he’s free to space anyone in excess of our prisoner capacity.
“With all due respect...”
My eyes shot up and in the direction of Commodore Webster.
“As Officers within the Navy, we are not judges. We don’t have the right to carry out the sentencing of those people, irrespective of the situation. We cannot comply to such an order and we request that the Confederation sends prisoner transports through the path we create.”
“Is that so? Hmm.” Grand-Admiral Newman arched an eyebrow, staring ahead at the Commodore with his eyes half-closed. Admiral Aderawa remained silent, shooting a glance in the direction of his Commodore. “It would seem that you’re as tenacious as ever, Commodore.”
Admiral Aderawa laughed, supporting the Grand-Admiral’s statement and his good friend, Commodore Webster.
“He is quite the formidable man. I’m glad to have him by my side... now, and in the future.”
I tugged onto my collar slightly. It felt like there’s a bit of tension in the room as Admiral Aderawa and Grand-Admiral Newman locked gazed, both of them smiling silently at each other. Eventually, Grand-Admiral Newman broke the silence.
“Very well. You’ll have your transports. I trust you’ll liaise them and handle any prisoners accordingly then. I will want further updates as things progress. Grand-Admiral Newman out.”
Transmission terminated. I sigh a breath of relief, but it wouldn’t look like it’s over yet.
“That was pretty ballsy Webster. I’m glad to see you reminding me of that attitude of yours. You got me out of a pretty tough spot there.”
Aderawa sighed, placing his palm over his face.
“It’s the duty of the adjutant to assist his senior officer.” Webster replied bluntly. “Although, if you want to show me your appreciation, you could ask the quartermaster to give me a nice bottle of Vorossi wine.”
Webster grinned and Aderawa chuckled under his breath. I forced a smile, hoping that they would finally allow me some rest.
--------
Archangel’s Medical Bay,
Six hours after the boarding party’s return
I was drifting in and out of consciousness. I remember being aboard the Corsair Command Vessel, clearing rooms as part of the Charlie Team vanguard. It was my first real combat mission outside of training.
I was following behind Tennou, one of the boys that graduated from Knoxville with me a few months back. We had just passed the quarters and entered into the long hallway that led towards the Command Deck.
I feel cold and my head hurts.
I tried to move my arm but I simply could not muster the strength. I can feel my pulse elevating as I struggle to look around frantically. Everything is still so hazy, but I can make out that there are several medical beds around me, and Doctor Nishijima, the Chief Medical Officer on the Archangel.
I guess we’ve made it out of that vessel alive, but I cannot remember anything. I see that there’s an oxygen mask over my face and they have me attached to the IV line.
Across the room, Doctor Nishijima notices I’m awake and calls out to me.
Does she call out to me? I can see her lips move, but I cannot hear anything. What’s going on? Why can’t I hear anything? I can read her lips. ‘Private Davis’, ‘Private Davis’ she keeps calling out.
I try to move my arms again, but they won’t move. Have they tied me to the bed? I continue struggling to move as the Doctor rushes to my side, her lips moving rapidly. Red lights begin to flicker, and several other assistants run into the room to help Doctor Nishijima restrain me.
I’m slowly running out of breath. The more I struggle, the more tired I feel. I’m losing my consciousness again...
--------
“Can you present your report, Captain Rutt?”
It was the Archangel’s meeting room. Inside, there were only I, Commodore Webster and Captain Rutt, the leader of the Archangel’s Assault Squad. Only a few hours prior, the man and his team successfully boarded a Gamoran Igzuz class Cruiser and blew it up from the inside, saving us much time and resources in the engagement with the Corsair fleet.
However, while this is a success, our Infantry component has lost fifteen out of the one hundred fifty soldiers we had at our disposal, with another eight being incapacitated to varying degrees. Frankly, it wasn’t that much of a loss statistically... but this wasn’t a statistics issue.
Rutt looked at me. As always, the man maintained a cheeky grin, but his eyes betrayed that confident display of his. I’ve known him for several years now, and I know that he’s not the same as he’s been before. Knowing you’re one of the few veterans of your squad can take its toll on anyone, no matter their experience. Seeing comrades die one after another... there is not much solace a career can find, knowing that with every mission, one of his friends will probably die.
And death was a guarantee in a Confederation Assault Squad.
“After my team located located the entrance to the command deck, a fierce Corsair resistance engaged us in the corridor leading to it. Unfortunately, a hallway isn’t exactly the prettiest place to be engaged by the enemy.” Rutt sighed. “We reacted quickly, but we still took a few losses. Frankly, we... I, didn’t expect them to be as armed as they were.”
“Captain Rutt... Your team went in blind. I don’t believe it’s fair for you to blame yourself for this. Given what we’ve seen lately from the Corsairs, nothing we really knew about them seems to fit anymore.”
I should know better that this sort of consolation wouldn’t work on him, but I hate to see him blame himself at the end of every Assault.
“No. If I had prepared them better, then we most likely would’ve had less casualties. I apologize for my inadequacies.”
“Captain Rutt... This is not a disciplinary hearing or anything of the sort. Please raise your head. I’m only interested in how the Corsairs were organized.”
I sighed, picking up a pen and a notebook from the table and started scribbling down.
“Eh...” Rutt rubbed the back of his head as he tried to remember the situation. “It was clear they had military training. Some of them are deserters, or soldiers that got court martialed, so they probably had the whole lot trained.”
“Okay... Carry on.”
“It looked like a bit of an ambush. That corridor is the longest corridor on the ship, the one tying the Cruiser’s elevator systems to the Command deck. Frankly, if I were to ambush someone, I would’ve done it there too.”
“And leave the core of the ship exposed?” I arched an eyebrow, looking at him.
“I said that they had military training, not that they were smart, sir. Frankly, they were all idiots prepared to die.” Rutt scoffed. “I guess they wanted to go out fighting and forgot about their core. I don’t know, I’m Assault Squad, not Tactics.”
“Mhm... That you are.” I muttered under my breath.
“What?”
“Nothing. Is there anything else of note, Captain Rutt?” I asked as I closed my notebook and placed it down on the table, with the pen on top of it.
“Hmm... There was something weird going on in the engineering department. I don’t really know how to explain it...”
Rutt closed his eyes and crossed his arms. He groaned, looking down towards the ground as if he was racking his brains.
“When we swept through the room, it was empty. But I constantly felt as if there was someone nearby watching me. I can’t explain it, but my body was tense, it could feel something I could not see.”
“Cameras?”
“No, not damn cameras. It was as if... Ugh. I just can’t explain it. It felt weird. It felt as if my every move was being watched, and if I made the wrong move, I’d have gotten killed. It was that sort of feeling.”
“Curious.” I replied. “Was there anything else?”
“When we entered the engineering-room we expected to find schematics, perhaps some sort of devices... Only thing of note I remember was a depleted battery in the middle of the station. It had a weird shape. I tried to scan it, but I didn’t get a conclusive result. It had materials that weren’t registered by the Confederation. I had never seen or heard of pirates having exotic technology like that. “
“Attacks on our colonies... Massive abductions and now exotic technology. It just get worse and worse, huh.”
