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Post by Commander Garrett Garland on Aug 10, 2005 17:22:37 GMT -5
As soon as we finished the briefing I was greeted by a flock of Legionnaires, Mamba—now Dr. Jessica Saturina even gave me a hug—catching me completely by surprise. I was glad to see that the Legionnaires hadn’t forgotten me but then again it wasn’t everyday that you got to see a real life Lazarus. I even met with one of the new ‘mechwarrirors, but I didn’t have a chance to meet Brian O’Connell; he was probably concerned about his baby, a Hunchback. A quickly downed some chowder—perhaps not the best choice before taking a tumultuous dropship ride—and then proceeded to the ‘mech bay where my Shadow Hawk was berthed. Unlike the other ‘mechs, my Shadow Hawk was not onboard the Liberty because my arrival was unknown to everyone save Captain Maxwell, and he only got a few hours warning. I suited up, donning my cooling vest and pistol—some would say it was silly for a mechwarrior to even carry a sidearm, but it was tradition. Some mechwarriors, especially those from the samurai culture of the draconis combine, even carried swords with them into battle. I was not that much of a traditionalist, but then again I wasn’t from a culture based on bushido.
Savior’s humanoid form moved from the ‘mechbay to the dropship and up the loading ramp. Technicians stopped to admire the sight next to them as I took extremely careful and slow footsteps up the ramp; I didn’t want to send vibrations up the whole ship. Berthing my ‘mech, I climbed down the chain-link ladder, steel clanking against ferro-ceramic armor as I descended. The Captain said that he hadn’t cleared out my quarters yet—was it out of honor for the dead—or just that they had never found the body’s head? The captain had told me that they had never managed to match my DNA with the body’s—radiation had all but destroyed the bodies DNA preventing any kind of analysis. They had managed to match blood types however, further supporting that I was indeed dead. Ursula had done well—she must have hacked the personal files for a blood-type match.
Only a few minutes after reaching the bridge, my comm chimed; it was Captain Maxwell.
“Maxwell to Garland”
He had to be in one of the elevators, his transmission was slightly garbled. I switched from my personal comm to that of the ship’s, still piped privately to the elevator of course.
“Garland here.”
“Commander - I've been called to the infirmary - apparently, it can't wait - so as soon as all assets are aboard, please take us up. I'll join you on the bridge as soon as this matter is resolved.”
“Aye, Captain.”
I switched the comm from private to public—my next transmission would echo down the corridors of the ship. All of the crew and cargo were reported as present onboard the ship. With our manifest complete, I toggled the comm.
“This is Commander Garland to all hands. Please prepare for liftoff.”
All around the ship, people were sitting down and buckling in, only the most fit could stand during a liftoff. I had no such illusions of grandeur, I seated myself in the captain’s chair, giving Yeoman Hobson the thumbs up sign—both indicating that it was time to go, and the direction we should go was up! I always joked that one day the Yeoman would forget which way to go and send the ship down to the planet’s core before he realized that we were going the wrong way. I think that the Yeoman had taken my alleged death pretty hard; he and Machia had been the one’s to receive Lourde’s fatal message. My thoughts shifted towards the upcoming operation as the Liberty lit up the sky.
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Post by Gen Miyamoto on Aug 10, 2005 17:55:14 GMT -5
I retired to my bunk while the dropship buzzed with preperations for lift-off. As I walked in I noticed that Holms Net had cleared out his foot locker. It was pretty clear the kid had checked out and called it quits. Too bad, he was a good pilot and had always played it smart on the field. I hoped wherever he was, he'd be seeing some good luck.
The docking clamps groaned as they released and I threw myself down on to my bunk. "Here we go" I thought out loud.
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Post by Lance Commander William Rhodes on Aug 10, 2005 18:23:12 GMT -5
William stood at the foot of his fifty-ton Hellhound in the Liberty's mech bay, reviewing a maintenance data log with Gus Laraby, the Diefenbaker's crew chief. Laraby was a skilled technician who hailed from Outreach in the Chaos March, and he was extremely protective of his giant charges. He had lost his family in the World of Blake nuclear firestorm that had consumed the Wolf's Dragoons' homeworld, and had since thrown himself into his work to the exclusion of all else. But he was a damn good tech...if a bit prickly.
I want you to bring Diefenbaker back in the same shape as last time, Rhodes. Don't be a hero out there on Ares.
I'll do my best, chief, but it's bound to get rough sometime. These things aren't built for a parade ya know.
Laraby grunted uncommitingly and went back to checking the weapons loadout. A moment later, a warning buzzer sounded and Commander Garland's voice came across the PA announcing imminent liftoff.
William and Gus made their way to a pair of restraining couches in the nearby technician's lounge as the Liberty fired up her massive plasma drives and rocketed into Sheratan's orbit on a plume of brilliant blue fire.
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Post by Captain Benjamin Maxwell on Aug 10, 2005 21:55:56 GMT -5
"As you can see he is in pretty bad shape."
Bad shape...the kid looks like death warmed up.
I instinctively reached for an overhead support as the Liberty began its ascent. Schuster groaned slightly, and pulled against the restraining straps the doctor had put in place to keep him from wandering off. I shook my head sadly.
"Very well. Please do what you can. And keep me apprised."
Saturina nodded to me, and I turned to leave the bay.
"Aye, Captain."
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Post by Dr. Jessica Saturina on Aug 11, 2005 2:06:55 GMT -5
I watched the Captain leave the infirmary. I could tell he was deeply effected by Schusters condition. I was concerned about him as well. I turned my full attention back to Nick. I had to get him at least stabilized before I had to go with the MIT.
"Wyatt, get some more narc-an, we have to get this guy stable."
"Right away Doctor."
I administered the Narc-an to nullify the effects of the drugs on his system, he had too much in him. Once the drugs were out of his system, we could work on his addiction. It was going to be hard for him. I was determined to see him through this. Get him at least on his feet as quickly as possible. Part of it was just going to be waiting. So I stayed with him.
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Post by Captain Benjamin Maxwell on Aug 11, 2005 8:12:19 GMT -5
96 Hours Later...
"DropShip Liberty requesting docking clearence at pylon Alpha-7."
"We have authenticated your transponder codes, Liberty. You are clear to dock at your discretion."
"Copy. Beginning docking sequence."
The Legionnaire DropShip fired its thrusters gently, making several small course corrections in order to put it in alignment with the 274,000-ton Star Lord-class JumpShip's docking port. With one final nudge of its fusion drives, the Liberty eased into its cradle, executing a full reverse burn of it maneuvering jets to bring its velocity to near-zero. The docking gantry swung inward, taking hold of the attach points, rocking the DropShip slightly as ultra-strong mechanical latches clamped down.
"DropShip Liberty, this is harbor control - we show you secured to the mothership. Don't get too comfy - we jump in fifteen minutes. You're lucky you made it on time."
There came a chuckle across the void of the cosmos.
"Don't forget the stunt we pulled the last time we missed out flight, harbor control. We've always got a backup plan."
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Post by Dr. Jessica Saturina on Aug 11, 2005 13:53:28 GMT -5
By the time we were docking at the Jump Ship, I had cleaned the drugs out of Nicks system. I had used a technique that had been developed to get him through the withdrawal stage of the process without him feeling any of the normal withdrawal symptoms. He was ready to be released medically but I was still concerned about what had brought him to this point.
I noticed he was awake, looking good for what he had been through and was eating some solid food. I walked over to his bed.
"I see your finally eating some food. Thats good to see."
He nodded at me with his mouth full.
"Well Nick, we've gotten you through the worst of the physical part of this ordeal. Physically you are ready to be released. However, I'm not sure what brought you to this point. I would like for you to come see me on a daily bases while I'm still on the ship. I want you to feel free to talk to me about what is going on with you. I want to help you work through this. You're not alone Nick, I'm here, and the rest of my medical staff is at your disposal. The next part of this is going to be all you working through things. Your body will no longer crave the drugs but if you don't work through whats bothering you, you could relapse. I can't be with you all the time, so its mainly up to you. I want to see you work through this Nick, and I'm here for you."
He continued eating, nodding his head as I spoke to him. When I was finished speaking, he put down his fork, finished the food he was working on in his mouth.
"I want to work through this Doctor. Things got very bad. I know now the booze and the drugs only made things worse. I do wished I had talked to someone about things. So, yes I will work on this. I am determined to get better."
I smiled at Nick, touching his shoulder, squeezing it gently.
"Thats good to hear Nick. We will get you through this. Meantime, you are physically fit to leave the infirmary. So, here is a copy of your release papers. I suggest you report to the Captain as soon as possible. Remember, come back and see me anytime you need to."
Nick took the copy of his release papers. He read them over, noticing I still had not released him for combat, he looked up at me and smiled slightly. He finished his food, got dressed, and left the infirmary, saying thanks to me for helping him. I sighed watching him go. I only hoped things would go well. I then hit my comm for a private line to the Captain.
"Doctor Saturina to the Captain, Nick has just left the infirmary, he should be on his way to report to you. He has his release orders with him. Please contact me if you have any questions."
"Acknowledged Doctor."
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Post by Captain Benjamin Maxwell on Aug 12, 2005 9:58:25 GMT -5
I took hold of the arms of the command chair as the Liberty made the transition to hyperspace. There came a blinding flash of light, a moment time/space distortion, and then, a final flash, though this time, to black, as a changed star pattern unfolded across the main screen. Almost instantaneously, the emergency band came to life with alert traffic as the Ares Recharging Station came into view. I signaled Machia to put the transmission on the main speakers.
"Ares Recharging Station, this is Captain Benjamin Maxwell aboard the DropShip Liberty - what is your situation?"
"DropShip Liberty, this is Ares Recharging Station. We were told that Commander Garland was our liason with your organization. Has there been a change of plans?"
A curtain of silence hung between our vessel and the station. I raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Garland, who shrugged. I gestured for him to take the lead.
I guess the Capellans grow attached to their contacts...
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Post by Lance Commander William Rhodes on Aug 12, 2005 14:26:26 GMT -5
William could never accurately describe the sensation of a hyperspace jump. It was like seeing the very fabric of time fold before his eyes and collapse in on itself. Almost like reality being turned inside out. Rhodes was thankful he didn't suffer from Transit Disorientation Syndrome like many people did, but the experience of a jump was stilll unnerving to him.
In that instant of disorientation, William allowed his mind to flicker back to Kathil, as it so often did. He remembered the flames, the smoke, the crushed battlemechs...brother fighting against brother...civil war with no holds barred.
And he thought of Jennifer Himmel, the woman he had loved who happened to be a Lyran mechwarrior in the 8th Federated-Commonwealth RCT. A unit nicknamed the Katzbalgers after a medieval German sword. The civil war had changed them, turning them from lovers to enemies on different sides of a raging inferno that had engulfed the Federated Commonwealth.
The hyperspace jump was instantaneous but in the other world reality of William's inner consciousness it seemed to last days as he relived the final battle in the burning village of Hampton Creek. He remembered her standing over his supine form on the battlefield...how beautiful she looked. He remembered her 9mm automatic leveled at his head...
Rhodes, we're here. Jump's over.
Laraby's voice brought William back to reality. Unstrapping from his transit chair, William headed over to a nearby console to punch into the dropship's communications net to listen in on the radio chatter. He placed his memories of Jennifer and Kathil back in the locked drawer inside his mind.
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Post by Commander Garrett Garland on Aug 12, 2005 15:49:53 GMT -5
Chime.
Chime.
I was almost done buckling in—I was going to make it!
I felt the entire universe get sucked down into a vortex, myself only a small pinpoint of light amongst trillions. As I neared the vortex an invisible wall stopped me, my light was hovering above the rest, prevented from continuing its descent. Suddenly, I was ripped downwards, the jump complemented. I looked around; I had fallen to the floor. Knees aching, I stood, looking at Machia.
“Machia! Where the hell was the third chime?” I stammered, perhaps a little too belligerently. I didn’t like being embarrassed in front of the entire bridge crew.
“I’m sorry sir—but there were three chimes.”
Great, I had just made an even bigger fool of myself. I had been daydreaming or something of the sort and hadn’t paid attention to the first chime indicating that we were about to jump. I looked at Machia, my anger fading.
“I’m sorry Machia.”
Yeoman Hobson was glaring at me—it was disrespectful to treat the dropship crew in such a way. In truth, it probably took more talent to fly dropships than to even pilot a ‘mech—these guys deserved a lot more credit. My apology was interrupted by a communication from the Ares Recharging Station. Damn, I knew the commander of another Capellan recharge station, an Admiral Fu Xiang. I hoped I wouldn’t have to speak with him ever again—he probably put out a death warrant on me after the Legionnaires crippled one of his dropships, piggybacked on one of his jumpships, and then destroyed one of his fighter wings. Unfortunately my luck had run out, the Slocum Militia had spoken to the Ares Recharging Station about our incidents—they had requested my presence personally, if Xiang couldn't berate me then he could do it via proxy with whoever commanded this station. Why couldn’t I be the FWL’s liaison, or even the Kuritians—just not the Cappies. I had replayed the fourth succession war as a child, fighting against the forces of Maximilian Liao, even though the Lyrans never really fought against the Capellan Confederation. I stood next to the captain, Machia adjusting the viewer’s bounding box in order to accommodate both of us.
“Ni Hao Ma, Wo-duh ming-d'zih Commander Garland.”
A new voice came over the comm; most definitely not the voice of a comm officer.
“Your Chinese is very good Commander. Admirial Xiang speaks very highly of you.”
Speaks highly of me? I doubted it, but the formalities had to continue. We had saved the Capellan’s asses over on Hamal, I guess it made up for our transgressions against Xiang. Besides, he was impeding on a contract assigned by his own government, why should the rest of the Confederation be angry with us?
“Commander, I’m going to have to dispense with the formalities. I, Admirial Nguyen, am requesting that you immediately disembark and head towards the surface—there’s been another raid. One of their aerospace fighter wings took out most of our recharging stations defenses and crippled our fusion generators—you’re going to need to recharge using your solar sail. Additionally, we will need you to leave your aerospace assets here in order to defend the station from another attack; if we lose the station the pirates will rule the skies. As we speak, their forces are now moving towards the planet and will arrive in approximately one day. If you were to burn at 3 Gs, you’d arrive at the same time as them…”
I interjected, the Admiral was being ridiculous. “I assume then that after we landed we would have two or three months to rest from the trip before we engaged the pirates. As you know, a three g-force burn would be nearly unbearable for a full day, and expecting someone to engage in combat, let a lone climb the ladder up to their ‘mech, is ridiculous. We will burn at one g so we are fresh and ready to meet the enemy.”
Let the bargaining begin—I just never thought that I’d be haggling to lower a dropship’s thrust output.
“Commander, an old Confucius saying states ‘The early bird catches the worm’. You must travel at least at two g-forces.”
I responded in kind, “Confucius was a wise man, but perhaps you are forgetting the second half of that saying. ‘The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. 1.5-Gs, final offer.”
The Admiral sighed, conceding to my offer. “Very well Commander, please begin your burn as quickly as possible. The Earthwerks facility is most important to the Capellan Confederation and the militia will not be able to hold for much longer.
“Bargained well, and done Admiral.”
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Post by Lance Commander Marcus Taylor on Aug 12, 2005 16:23:51 GMT -5
I awoke from a short nap to hear that we had just completed our jump. I was never one to get sick from a jump, but I was still fortunate that I was asleep during the process.
I sat at my Spartan desk and read a letter from my mother back home on Tharkad.
Dear Marcus,
I'm glad to hear that you have been released to duty again. Although I worry immensly about your safety, I understand that you do what you feel is important. I received the C-Bills you sent me and I really appreciate it. Well, I will keep this brief and I look forward to hearing from you again soon.
Love, Your dearest Mum.
I sighed a little and walked over to the Mess Hall.
Probably the last moderately decent meal for a few days.
I reminded myself to pack a few energy bars along.
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Post by Gen Miyamoto on Aug 12, 2005 18:34:48 GMT -5
My duties as the sole-member of Charlie lance were pretty limited and mainly involved occasional micro-tactical operation briefings with Maxwell. It was coming in on arrival time and everybody was starting to get anxious. Word had spread about Nick's drug habit. I decided to go on down to the infirmary and give some company.
The room made me uneasy, it was hauntingly simmilar to all the other hospitals I had been in. It smelt of anti-septics and cool metal and had the subtle pulse of electronics noting your every twitch and breath.
Schuster lay in his bed like a discarded rag doll, soaking in a stew of sweat and sheets. He looked to me like a turtle on a hot road in summer, baking and helpless, as its life slowly drains in to the asphalt. The Legionnaires had never faced this dark truth before, I wondered how it would affect them.
"Hey Nick, How are you holding up?" I asked as upbeat as I could. The young mech ace just blinked blankly at me and then squirmed and groaned slightly.
"That good, eh? It's the price you pay to get Jessica waiting on you hand and foot." The jokes braught a gentle smile to his face, I make a poor comedian but for now he couldn't tell.
"Well hell man! If you wanted to relax you should have told me. We could have surely found a Gillian's or a Bar with more women." Our smiles and chuckles were hardly in earnest, anything is better than thinking about what really happened.
"Look, Nick. You are gonna get a lot of lectures when you come back from this; Jessica, Maxwell, Garland. I'll spare you, I know you well enough to know you've already made up your mind weather your ever doing this again. And I know your going to hear a lot about how we're here to support you, and how your throwing away your life. I just want to tell you one thing." I paused as he turned his worn and tired face to me.
"What we do here and now is important. What YOU do is important. We're the gaurdians of freedom here in the Inner Sphere. A lot of merc units are just worried about the payday, about the wad of C-bills. Just remember what your doing this all for. Why the hell you put your life on the line." Schuster gave me a glazed look, he wasn't up to hearing anybody preach.
"You had better get your rest." I said, as I exited the room.
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Post by Lance Commander William Rhodes on Aug 12, 2005 18:51:46 GMT -5
William was starting to get a slight ache in the back of his head from the 1.5 G acceleration the Liberty was pushing to reach Ares in time to help the Cappies against the mysterious pirates. From a porthole (which could be sealed by armored shutters in case of attack), William watched as the Union-class maneuvered herself away from the jumpship docking cradle. Behind them the jumpship slowly unfurled her massive recharging sail like the opening petals of a rose blossom.
Massaging a pressure point in the back of his neck seemed to help his headache a bit and he popped a few light pain killers on his way to suit up. It sounded like they would be dropping in hot to aid the beleaguered Earthwerks personnel. Hopefully they would get to the bottom of this pirate mystery and claim some valuable salvage to boot.
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Nicholas Schuster
Regular
DECEASED
"Blakists are like a virus. And WE are the cure."
Posts: 139
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Post by Nicholas Schuster on Aug 13, 2005 8:47:39 GMT -5
My bedside terminal chirped as new data was fed to it by a tactical officer buried somewhere aboard the Liberty. I was barely coherent, but I felt better...much better than I had. I don't know if it was the medicine that the doctor had given me, or the simple sudden lack of the drugs I had grown to depend upon, but whatever the case, though I was tired, I was feeling okay.
I leaned over and keyed the terminal. The DropShip was doing a 1.5 G burn toward Ares...apparently the planet had come under seige from the pirates once again, and we were now responding as quickly as reasonably possible. Unfortunately, it would still take us nearly 48 hours to get to the planet, even at our current rate.
That doesn't give me much time...
I slowly, painfully sat up, and reached for my glasses. Pressing them onto my face, I looked around. The infirmary seemed to have been unattended at the moment. I carefully slipped the IVs out of my arms, and took off the monitoring equipment, careful to turn off its base station as I did so. I slowly sat up, and swung my legs over the side of the bed. My head spun, and I didn't think I could make it at first. After a few moments, though, clarity returned, and I pulled myself up to my feet. I wobbled over to a nearby chair, where a fresh set of clothes sat waiting, and proceeded to dress myself. It was a long process...my equilibrium was still shaky, and it took several tries before I was able to get the coveralls on right. Eventually, though, I did, and I slowly made my way out into the corridor, headed for the crew bay.
I will NOT miss this mission!
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Post by Captain Benjamin Maxwell on Aug 13, 2005 9:09:22 GMT -5
Garland's prowess as a negotiator never ceased to amaze me. Twice, now, he had, more or less, won the day with his superior tact and logic, and it had spared us from what most likely would have been a rather...painful...experience.
However, regardless of the level of solace I found in the Commander's abilities, the seige on the Earthwerks facility gave me cause for great concern. With the local militia more or less obliterated, and the pirates conducting relentless raids with ever-increasing strength, the factory was a sitting duck. As the latest sitrep from the planet streamed in, I pulled up a holograpic display of the tactical overview. Immediately, it became quite clear that the massive factory was already heavily embattled, with minitature representations of an Awesome, a Zeus, several Hollanders, a Lao Hu, and a large contingent of infantry and vehicles subjecting the facility's weak defenders to a withering assault which I knew would be brief and brutal. There was no chance we were going to be able to fight off the defenders in time to keep the facility from falling into their hands, and I watched helplessly as one stalwart defender after another fell to the invading forces. We were going to have to re-capture the building from inside, as well as out.
I switched off the terminal, and turned to face Garland.
"Commander - do you feel well enough to join Alpha lance on a commando assault?"
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