In Orbit
Guldra
Riana and Kamea exchanged worried glances, "Put it up," Riana commanded, as Farah slid to the side to make room for her. A scan-lined image of Lord Madeira appeared above the holotable. He looked disheveled and sweaty, and he panted as he spoke. "Kamea," he breathed, "by the time you receive this message, I'll have been captured." He looked around him nervously and there was a crash in the distance, "I've got hostiles closing in all around me as I'm recording this and my escort is already dead. I don't know how much time I have left." Another loud crash preceded a frightened jolt in his demeanor and he looked back with desperation. "Listen," he said pushing his glasses up, "the evidence is hidden in a dead drop. It was the best I could do, given the circumstances," they could now hear yelling in the background; commands for him to surrender, "Go to my grandfather's monument," he spoke quickly and in a quiet tone, "You remember; the place where we laid him to rest in the mountains. The Directorate paved it over and built a structure right over top of it. Look there, and you'll find what you need." The sudden sound of splintering hardwood caused Kamea to jump and the sounds of angry shouting filled the recording. "I'm out of time," his eyes pleaded as he spoke, "I pray that I see you again, but if I dont... I need you to win this war. Do whatever you have to do, just finish it! Not for me, but for our people!" From the sounds the door was no longer an obstacle, "Goodbye, my lady," Alexander smiled and the image suddenly blurred, clearing again at Lord Madeira's shoe. Behind it they could see many feet approaching quickly. Suddenly Lord Madeira's shoe lifted and then the image shifted to static. The recording ended.
"The bastards took him," Riana spoke first, her voice a growl. She turned towards Darius, "Start putting together a rescue team..."
"Leave space for me," Kamea spoke with determination, "I'm coming with you." She swept around the holotable and looked around the room, "First, we recover Alexander. Then we focus on picking up the evidence and getting the hell off of Guldra."
"I've got Lord Madeira's subdermal transponder signal on my screen," Sumire revealed, tapping at her datapad, "they're moving him... probably in an APC."
"If we launch in Mechs now," Corsair added, " we may be able to catch up to it.
"Then we'd better get moving," Riana turned to Yang, "load up my Highlander, the Grasshopper, and the Banshee," she pointed across the room, "Corsair you're in the GHR; I need you as fast attack and possible evac. If we catch up to it, Lord Madeira rides with you..."
"Belay that," Kamea stepped forwards and stood at parade rest, "Alexander will be with me, in the Atlas. Your man can focus on recovering the intel."
"Understood," Corsair nodded, "if the site is up a mountainside then the 'Hopper has the mobility to get to it."
"And enough lasers to ruin just about any OpFor's day!" Sly chuckled.
"Commander," Darius began, "maybe it's better if someone drops in your place, you know, because of your condition?" Riana shot him a look that could slag armor.
"What condition?" Kamea asked.
"I'm fine, XO," Hysteria hissed, "fully recovered, and I have no time for any overprotective bullshit, do you understand?"
"Roger that," Darius sighed.
"Vamp," Hysteria turned, "your job is the complete safety of High Lady Arano. You'll cover her while she extracts Lord Madeira. I want you to stay on her, don't get drawn away." She placed her hands on her hips, "I'll handle cleanup; anything that doesn't get fragged by your initial shots will have ninety tons of Highlander to deal with!"
"You got it, Kommander," Vamp saluted.
"Time is of the essence, people," Kamea now moved to the center of the room, "We must retrieve the evidence and we will bring Lord Madeira home. We have his transponder coordinates, and we know he's on the move. We make planetfall, rescue Alexander, and recover the evidence he risked his life to bring us," she lifted her right arm and clenched her fist tightly, snarling the next words, "and we will bring ruin to anyone who stand in our way!"
"Move!" Riana barked, sending people scattering, "Su keep tabs on that signal. I want to know if he stops," she walked over to the wall and activated the ship's Com, "Attention! This is Commander Klaue. All hands not prepping for this drop report to the Mech bay to assist the Techs in loading the Leopard."
"Riana," Kamea said softly, reaching out and placing a hand on her shoulder, "do you have a moment?"
"Revenge is yours, my lady," she turned and assumed parade rest, "as am I."
"Are you really alright?" her hand hesitated, as if she prevented herself from moving it to Riana's cheek, "If you're not one hundred percent then I am well-capable of leading..."
"I'm good to go, my lady," Riana nodded resolutely, "and I wouldn't miss this. Lord Madeira is on my crew and we don't leave our people behind."
"I understand," Kamea smiled at her, warmly, "but if you have time when we return, could we..."
"Anything for you, my lady," Riana broke parade rest and dared to place a hand on Kamea's arm, "now let's go get our man."
:
Let me just take a moment to explain how I write these up. I play a mission at home, then some time later while I'm at work I will cue up a video on youtube as a reminder of how the mission went and write the narrative of the Journal. But this time something very odd happened. Maybe it's because I am so far behind in finishing the Campaign (I got this at launch and I just completed the mission Liberate: Tyrlon last week)that there has been some update to the game, but I started off on the left side of the Refueling Depot and, by the time I arrived, Lord Madeira's signal was stationary inside the Depot. All of the videos reference a different mission than the one I played in which the team comes in from the right and attacks a convoy. That DID NOT HAPPEN in my game. Instead we started very close to the Depot and faced off against a Lance of Mechs before learning that Lord Madeira was in Victoria's clutches. She was also not on site. The intel was on the hill, and Corsair in the GHR recovered it pretty easily, then we fought our way to the extract point. I have no idea why my mission was so different from virtually every one I've seen a video of. (Now I wish I'd captured it myself!) Overall the mission wasn't that much of a challenge; OpFor all but ignored Kamea in favor of targeting Vamp, who drives my mostly hand-to-hand Banshee.
Honestly, the mission the others played looked like more fun than the one I did!
:
"What is this, cousin," Victoria's cruel tone filled the open channel, "you're running? Leaving little Lord Madeira behind? Why, I thought you would do anything for each other!" She cackled villainously, "He's willing to die for you!"
"I will take him back from you, Victoria!" Kamea's voice shook as the doors to the Leopard fired open and the Lance charged aboard, "personally!"
"I look forward to it, Kamea" Victoria purred, "In the interim, know that your dearest friend will languish as I languished in Lord Karosa's dungeons. I will make him suffer in your stead!"
"I know what I'm abandoning him to," she swallowed hard as the doors raised and the Leopard lifted into the air, "so does he. Alexander is more courageous than either of us, Victoria, and if you hurt him I will kill you myself, I swear on my father's name!"
The trip back was utterly silent and uncomfortable. Even Glitch, who often met them cheerily upon their return, was quiet and morose. Immediately, they headed back to the Ops Center. Farah worked diligently at the archive as Kamea stood, red-eyed, near the holotable. "Dr. Murad," Kamea said after a period of tense silence, "have you gotten that archive cracked open?" the exasperation and stress of Alexander's loss filled her voice, "I want to know what's inside and I want to know now!"
"Give her a few," Riana counseled, "she's working as fast as she can." Kamea glared daggers at her but held her tongue, only tapping her finger impatiently.
"There," Farah finally announced, "I just finished cracking the encryption. There's... there's a lot here; ledgers, spreadsheets, cost analyses... and a single Holo file."
"I recognize the coding on that file!" Kamea exclaimed, "My father authorized his archivists in House Madeira to install a Holo-recording system in Arano palace before his death, in order to preserve an ongoing record of important diplomatic events," she looked up at Riana with excitement, "the system must still be active... and Alexander's family had access to it!"
"Throw it up on screen, Farah." Riana ordered. Farah acknowledged and, suddenly, an image of Santiago Espinosa appeared on the holotable.
"... I understand your hesitancy, daughter," he began in his typical cruel voice, "it's a difficult thing, what I'm asking you to do, but this galaxy is a hard and uncaring place. If our Directorate is to thrive, we must be even harder!"
The image shifted and Victoria came into view. "I have no qualms about killing for the greater glory of the Directorate, father, but this..." she looked down in an uncharacteristic moment of doubt, "Please help me understand. Show me the wisdom in carrying out this attack, because I cannot see it myself!"
The group listened with rising tension as Director Espinosa laid out a plan to attack a port city and set up a cold war conflict between the Protectorate and the Federated Suns. The entire attack plan, his reasoning, and Victoria's reluctant part. "We've got them," Lady Arano said under her breath, "by all the gods, we've got them!"
"It doesn't even matter what's in the rest of this archive," Darius stared wide-eyed at the recording, "this will turn the Taurians against the Directorate! Protector Calderon will want Espinosa's head on a plate!"
A slow, wicked smile spread across Riana's face as she raised her head. "Then let's go serve it to them!"
:
"Lady Arano!" Riana rushed towards the airlock just as Kamea was going through to get back to her Leopard, "Wait a moment, please!"
Kamea signaled her pilot to go ahead and prepare as she turned to meet her, "What is it, Hysteria?"
"My lady," Riana said, out of breath from running. One hand slipped around her abdomen as she fought a rising wave of nausea, "you said before the mission that you wanted to speak about something."
"I'm sorry, Riana," she reached out with a hand and gently let it brush against her cheek before it came to rest on her shoulder, "but it will have to wait. I have much to do to get this to intel to the Taurians and we have to marshal our forces to liberate Tyrlon. I'll need you there, Hysteria. House Parata will be key to our final push to Coromodir."
Riana visibly deflated. "I understand my lady. Revenge is yours."
"Yes," she said almost absentmindedly, letting her hand once again caress Riana's cheek, which promptly blushed, "you and your company have done so much for the Restoration. Believe me when I say that I couldn't have done this without you." She offered a soft smile and leaned in to kiss her on the other cheek. "Thank you."
"I am yours, my lady," Riana breathed, her knees weak as all of her tactile senses focused on the lingering warmth left on her cheek by Lady Arano's lips. Kamea just smiled again before disappearing through the airlock. As soon as the door closed Riana leaned back against the wall, her heart pounding. Her mind filled with thoughts, racing through a hundred possibilities following the war...
And then she vomited on the floor.
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