On their right, a gas giant with an asteroid ring that could hide a fleet floated lazily. The first system they hit had a few planets but a lot of space rubble obscuring the monitor’s readings. The Captain seemed determined to pass through it no matter how exposed the battleship would be.
An ambush could come every which way and by the time the navigation crew noticed it would already be too late. The bridge crew’s anxiety was evident with every move they made. Something Gilmorian Rhen didn’t share.
It was over a few days since Concordia GG stopped pinging around the void in search of the allied Dreadnoughts. With so much noise broadcasting from their comms, if the SFC battleships didn’t find them someone else definitely would, and the Milky Way was a warzone of a galaxy. No one knew if they were trampling in a warlord’s territory right now, but in the face of the unknown, it was safest to consider that this was the case every time.
So Concordia GG traveled in silence with minimal thruster output, and that only if needed, to correct its trajectory. It was covertly scanning the unknown system for threats, and until the control bridge made sure that they were alone, there was nothing to do but wait.
The tiny red dwarf in the system’s heart burned bright but had little mass to attract the battleship into an orbit. Not with the speed they were going. So before the Dreadnought made it through the system and out the other way it was time for Captain Gilmorian to decide.
—-
“Two companies should be enough,” Amon overheard the Commanders of B100 and D200 discussing.
The daily training had just finished and the rotating company groups had once again brought them together. Commander Jin was wearing his usual sober expression standing on the hold’s sidelines overseeing the A300 company. Despite the time spent on the battleship, it seemed no comradery had been built between the Commanders of B100, D200, and A300.
“Who else is there? F900? That Helana Drul can’t shut up to save her life.”
“Oh, a C3XB graduate, I can see how that would work,” the Commander of B100 replied. “So two companies? We agree?”
“We do, F and…A.”
The two Commanders paused to look at Commander Jin, who, at this point, must have purposely ignored their words. They didn’t care about being overheard, and Jin's expression was souring by the second.
If he took a cue from Jin Karf’s darkening mood Amon guessed they were in for a nasty mission. He decided to ask him later about it. There's nothing wrong with being in the loop.
Yet, oblivious to his worries, by his side, Ella teased Gardenia, which unfortunately drowned out some of the words he was trying to overhear without being too obvious. The shorter girl was loud like that.
But it wasn’t only the two of them. The A300 company was strangely energetic today. Word had spread out that they had reached the Milky Way, even without an official announcement from the high-ranking officers on the battleship.
Gossip between the Marines had them preparing for battle from one mouth to rediscovering lost civilizations from another. Even if the gossip Amon had listened to was highly unlikely, he couldn’t deny that the wait was almost over.
It was a feeling in the dry recycled ventilated air that had everyone’s spirits lifted. Tommy shoulder-checked Amon as he passed by with a mop and bucket on hand.
“Come on big guy. It's time to clean up the mess,” Tommy said offering the plastic bucket filled with foam.
Just as well Amon thought and took the bucket crepping closer to the two Commanders. Every few feet Amon dumped a little puddle of foam onto the hold’s floor which Tommy following behind mopped diligently.
They were making steady progress closer to the discussion Amon was interested in until a pale-colored Marine with a dustrag stood in his way. A familiar hawkish nose signifying his poorbred roots sniffed in greeting.
“Achoo!” Jackey sneezed. “Damned allergies, even here I can’t escape them.” He complained.
“It's not the allergies, but your dirty hands,” Tommy called out helpfully. “Only if you stopped picking it–”
“Hey, who asked your opinion–” Jackey snapped back.
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“Well then stop sneezing the whole damn time, and I’ll shut up about it,”
Amon rolled his eyes. “Guys. pleas…”
“What?”
“What?”
They both turned to Amon, and when they realized they spoke in union they glowered at each other.
“Nothing,” Amon added quickly. Some battles were never meant to be won. Despite the small distraction, Amon sidestepped Jackey only to find the two Commanders had had enough chatting and were making their way out of the hold.
“Damnn,” He whispered turning to his next target, Commander Jin. “Jackey help me out a minute,” he said pushing the half-full bucket to him before making his way to the other side of the hold.
“You better not make a mess with the foam,” Tommy groaned half-heartedly.
“You’ll clean after it, no? Isn’t that what you are supposed to do?” The other Marine replied.
Amon soon left the sound of the two bickering Marines behind him as he approached the still form of Jin Karf. The Commander wore the simple black-grey A300 training shirt and shorts but with the Commander’s insignia certifying his rank.
When the Commander saw Amon approaching he pushed back his blond peppered grey hair in a well-used movement.
“Sir,” Amon greeted him.
“Sergeant Amon,” Jin Karf replied without a hint of familiarity.
“I’d like to request a meeting,” Amon said aware of the ears that might be listening to their conversation. Even if only the A300 company remained in the hold, you never knew who might leak information to the wrong ears.
The Commander nodded. “Meet me after you have finished with your chores, Sergeant.”
—-
As it turned out the mission took place that very afternoon and was nasty after all. The A300 accompanied by the F900 boarded a troop transporter headed for a large asteroid with a comfortable elliptical orbit around the system. For protection four light-weight space fighters called MiniFlies escorted the bulky troop carrier while the Dreadnought remained nearby on high alert.
And that was because the bridge crew had noticed a structure on the asteroid that might or might not be abandoned.
Once the approaching troop carrier matched the asteroid’s movement, it opened its hatches and the spacediving Marines streamed out. Two companies of Marines dressed in biosuits flew towards the asteroid in a wide formation.
The MiniFlies with their four wings armed with missiles spread out to provide support from the sides.
“It looks abandoned,” Tommy said through the short-range comms when the structure came into view on the slowly rotating asteroid. Since this was not a battle, the comms were active as communication was a key advantage for spacedive coordination.
The two Commanders, Jin Karf and Helena Drul, gave their orders from the safety of the troop carrier but individual action was needed in this case.
“It clearly isn’t,” Jackey responded from the side. “Look at the dome, there’s light coming from the sides.”
“That’s reflecting sunlight, you droneass,”
“Oh, is that a rover over there?” Ella pointed at something hiding in the shadows of a few jawed rocks sticking out of the ground.
“It is,” Amon said, confirming her suspicions after zooming in with his optics.
**Two minutes to touch down**
Commander Jin's steady voice came through the comms.
“How do you want to handle it?” Tommy asked and Amon considered for a moment.
“Get ready for evasive maneuvers and don’t take your damned blasters out until you touch ground,” he said pointedly looking at Gardenia flying beside him who had hers already on hand. “They don’t have the range, so let the MiniFlies cover our asses. If there is any resistance we will know soon enough when we come in range.”
Amon scanned the structure and a loose mapping formed on his HUD. A 3D model of the structure that would serve to coordinate their group. He mirrored his view to the others. They were close enough to be in the range of his HiRON5 transmitter.
As they drew closer, Amon noticed how large the asteroid was. It was a sign that a rover was needed to circle around its circumference. From Amon’s calculations, it was close to a mile for a round trip.
On its surface over purposely flat ground, the structure was built uniformly, most probably with hardened cement poured to create a large dome with three symmetrically smaller domes on each side. It looked like these were the entrances to the structure as the larger dome was smoothed out without any opening or structural markings apart from the wear and tear of life in space.
As the Marines touched ground they spread out in a wide net circling the structure. A few rocks protruded here and there providing some cover but the majority of the Marines stood defenseless in the open.
Yet the entrances remained closed, silent from any activity. The inhabitants must have either spotted them landing and were preparing for a trap, or it was truly an abandoned building in a system devoid of civilization.
Amon with Ella, Gardenia, Tommy, Jackey, and a score of others from A300 with their blasters out and ready to fire, were carefully moving towards one of the smaller domes and the barred entrance that stood out from the rest of the structure. The discolored blast doors would prove a challenge to open.
**Marines, use lethal force to subdue any resistance. This is no time for diplomacy.**
Commander Jin reminded them from above. Amon saw several Marines clutch their blasters as if they already had an enemy in sight. He held a hand out to stall their group from venturing too far ahead. Friendly fire was not out of the question with so many Marines pointed in the same direction.
Unfortunately, there was no place to stay covered. The ground near the entrance was flattened so they hugged the walls of the smaller dome for protection while preparing to engage the drills on the doors.
Before Amon could take a step forward, the ground vibrated with a ramble.
“DOORS OPENING,” a Marine shouted in the comms, and immediately everyone fell back a step.
“Make a file, quick,” Amon called out, and their well-trained group facing the door formed a two-layer file. Gardenia, Ella, and a few others went prone on the ground with their blasters facing forward while everyone else stood above them.
From their point of view, the door’s opening could not be seen as the dome’s walls curved it out of sight.
“Check the other way, and up! We don’t know if there is another exit we haven't noticed,” Amon called out a warning, taking the lead of their group.
“On it,” Jackey affirmed and turned to guard the other way.
A heartbeat passed and then another, but nothing emerged from the door. Then something did.
Two blasters fired and the drone that rolled out exploded to scrap.
“Hold your fire!” Amon ordered. “That’s no military drone.”
“An explorer?”
“Maybe, stay alert.”
Soon thereafter another drone made it outside the door. It rolled on bogies on top of a squared body with two robotics arms and a sensor box for a head. It was practically a labor drone, built to facilitate work in a warehouse.
“Amon, should we take it out?” Tommy asked uncertainly.
“No–wait, it has a transmitter. It’s trying to send me something.”
Amon saw the file flashing on his HUD, and let his firewall scan it before opening it up. His brainchip took a while to decode the data, but when it did a message appeared before his eyes.
<
“Huh, it's inviting us in. I think there are people inside,” Amon told the group which didn’t lessen their tension.
“Are they friendly?” Ella asked from the ground.
“I am not sure. Wait it's sending another message…Oh, wow,” He paused surprised before immediately connecting to the troop carrier. “Commander Jin, We have a problem.”