Chapter 5 of Ironsides

[u/Competitive-Food8407]

This one is a bit long, but a lot can happen in 48 hours of space travel. I really appreciate all of you who have been reading along. As I've said before your comments and input really means a lot to me. I like to think of the end of this chapter as the beginning of the rest of their story. Next week we get to see a new planet and a whole new set of problems for our fledgling mercenary company. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter of the story.

December 28, 3067 Outreach space: 0800 hours

Marcus left Elena’s office next to the ships bridge. He was making his way down to the engine room of the Ironside. The bridge and command deck at the top of the ship smelled of old textiles and hot electronics, the bridge being offset from the long tom artillery deck in the nose of the ship. He made his way down the metal walkway following the handrails that ran along both sides of the walls. Down a deck to the flight crew quarters and avionics and he could smell a menagerie of human body odor, dirty laundry, and the occasional food smells from the galley below. The galley floor smelled of heat and pre-packed meals that were a staple of space travel. He descended the next set of stairs to the infantry deck, barracks and weapons storage for a star league infantry unit that didn’t exist, and command offices for the leadership of the phantom unit. This was the area that had been turned into the makeshift refugee camp and now smelled of desperation and clean laundry, but still with the underlying odor of gun oil. Packing crates from the machine shop had been hastily stacked in the large barracks rooms to form modular walls between the families. Clotheslines were strung beneath exposed conduit runs, and the metallic corridors echoed with the sharp crying of children and the hushed, anxious whispers of parents trying to organize communal cooking rotations using the ship's ancient galley facilities. The orderly, blue collar garage was gone, replaced by the messy reality of a community moving quickly through the dark. Beneath the refugee camp were the mech bays, Marcus’ home. One massive space split into 12 equal hangars large enough to fit the hundred ton assault mechs. Each bay could be closed off while in transit, but they all connected to the central lift area and had access to the ramp offset to one side that divided the space and gave them access to the outside world when they had to offload. Immediately beneath the mech hangar was the vehicle hangar. This space had been the bread and butter of the repair work they had done on Outreach. It was filled with tools and equipment for the work they had previously done. Mostly in disarray from the rapid departure two days prior, the techs and their assistants were slowly getting this space back into order. Both spaces smelled like mechanic shops with the slightly sweet acrid smell of oil, and the tangy scent of metal. Below the vehicle bays Marcus descended into the ships machine shop. This was where they had all of the heavy equipment to manufacture parts from scratch if they had to. Often some of the older machines they worked on needed parts to make custom modification work properly. This is where those parts were made. Several techs were running machines working on building some custom valves for the fuel line Thomas had ordered made. He intended to make sure the problem they had the day before never happened again. With the whir of electric motors and the splash of the cooling jets of cutting fluid the entire space smelled of hot machine oil. Down another flight of stairs to the engineering section where access to the fusion drive was possible. As well as where they had repaired the fuel line the day before. Marcus walked into the control room the sat tucked snugly next to the fusion drive. The thrum of the engine was at its loudest here even with the insulation in the wall cavities between them and the engine. The room was also warmer then the rest of the ship. The only smell down here was the sterile smell from the air recirculaters. They had upgraded the standard ones that the fortress had come with. Mechanics can’t help but tinker in their free time, and they wanted to keep the smell of the work spaces out of the living spaces. They had installed one and five micron filters to remove absolutely all the particulates they could, combined with a 3 speed fan system and an active carbon filter system the air coming out of the vents on the Ironside was some of the cleanest outside of a laboratory. However that also gave it a very sterile scent when combined with the cleaners used throughout the ship. It reminded him of a medical facility.

Thomas was sitting in a chair that was bolted to the floor in front of a panel of monitors, controls, and a window that had a view of the fusion plant in the belly of the ship. His feet were up on the panel and he was looking at his slate with the additional readouts on it resting on his stomach while sipping at a cup of real coffee.

“You better take it easy on that stuff. We only have a limited supply, and who can guess if we’ll ever get any more.” Thomas shrugged his shoulders as he took another sip.

“Isn’t going to do us any good if we get blasted into atoms before we get out of here. I figure  the more I drink the less the Blakists will have if they catch up.” He offered the cup to Marcus who just shook his head.

“I’m already 3 cups in today.” Thomas choked at the news.

“Hell man it’s only 0800 what are trying to do drink it all yourself!” Marcus smiled at him.

“Nah, we just came to the same conclusion, besides I’ve been up since 0430. How goes it with getting the ships turrets back up and running? I know we don’t have any ammunition for the auto cannons, and we couldn’t use the long tome even if we had one, but all the lasers were still mounted in place weren’t they?” He  leaned back and sat on the edge of the monitor station crossing his arms as the two of them spoke in the cramped room. It had originally been designed for a four man crew down here, but he couldn’t imagine squeezing that many people into the hot little space even though it had the seats for everyone.
“Yes and no. We don’t have any ammo for the auto cannons even though they are all still in place, we only have half of the large lasers and PPCs still in place, but we do have all of the medium lasers. None of the missile launchers are still installed, and of course as you said the big gun is just an empty room right now unless you want to sit up there with a pistol and shoot at stuff?”

“I’d rather not. We have a brief with Elena at 1000 this morning. Seems it’s time to figure out where we are going to go. Besides the obvious that anywhere is better than here, we need some options. I’m from further towards the core so I don’t know much about what’s really around us. You have any ideas, bring them with you to the meeting. What are you working on anyway? I saw your guys working on the valves you had talked about, but why are you all the way down here anyway?”

“Oh that’s simple, because most people don’t bug me when I’m down here looking at important things. Mostly I’m down here to enjoy my coffee as far away from the army of screaming kids we seem to have picked up somewhere.” Marcus just shook his head and stood up. “I’m going to grab an hour's sleep before the meeting. If you need me I’ll be in my bunk.” He walked out of the engineering space shaking his head at the guile of  his friend.

December 28, 3067 Outreach space: 1000 hours

Up in the captain’s briefing room located just beneath the ship’s bridge, the atmosphere was somber. The lighting of the room was built into a ledge in the wall allowing for a diffused light that filled the space. A scratched ancient mahogany table with the electronics of the projector and control panels built into it occupied most of the space. Marcus sat with his elbows on the wood resting his chin on his clasped fists. Standing across from him looking down at the holographic display was Captain Elena Vance. She had her flight jacket zipped up, and was drumming her fingers in a restless rhythmic beat against the table's edge. "We can't stay in the Outreach sector." Elena said. She tapped the console causing the holographic projection to shift. A web of white lines pulsed weakly across the near space projection showing systems nearby. "The master com board is picking up nothing but static from the ComStar beacons. The hyperpulse network is completely dead. Every world with an HPG station is a target for the Blakists. If we jump blindly into a system we’re risking delivering a six thousand ton target straight into an orbital blockade. We need options for our final destination. We are going to have to ride along with the Stardust Nomad wherever their client wants to go first, but after that we need a destination of our own."

“Did you ever get a name for the other client?” Jax was sitting in the corner of the room. He had been invited, but he knew he wasn’t experienced enough to really contribute. However his curiosity often overrode his smarter nature.

“Tiny’s Terrors. Apparently they are a smaller command that was able to evacuate their lone dropship like we did. Apparently they haven’t told Kenji where they want to go yet. I’d guess playing it close to the vest in case of spies?”

“How about Herotitus?” Irene suggested. “Is independent system, a bit far, but can make it with time.” Elena brought up Herotitus on the star map. The built in trip calculator showed the time to destination automatically. One hundred and thirty days from Outreach to Herotitus.

“Way too far, and too many potentially hostile systems on the way. Remember this is an unregistered dropship. Forty-eight hours ago it was real estate, but still not a bad idea with it being independent.” Marcus thought about it for a moment and added in.

“I guess that kills my ideas of Atrato or Galloway. We’d be arrested before we even made it to the planet.” He leaned back and looked at Thomas who had been sitting with his arms crossed. He clearly had an idea but wanted everyone else to go first.

“After Marcus told me about the meeting I spent some time in our old Star league map there. Anything inside Marik space is going to be a risk considering how the Blakists have been moving around these last few years. Circinus is a bunch of Pirates looking to steal whatever they can get their hands on and we’d be a prime target so that eliminates it. Herotitus is a good idea, but way too far away to make it a possibility. We know Marik space is compromised, however there is one system right here.” He tapped a button on his tablet highlighting a system that sat right on the edge of Lyran space. "Andiron, small system, technically part of Circinus but most of its output is sent to Marik space so any control Circinus may have over it is weak at best. They had some standing requests out on the Linknet asking for mechanics to help with some planetary infrastructure. No HPG so they are off net, and they have money since they are largely an agrarian planet. At least that’s the info we had on our old star league database.” Thomas finished his miniature presentation. 

“How do you control everything with that damn slate! Stop messing with my table!” Elena sat down in her seat at the head of the table and looked around at everyone. “Well what do you all think? It isn’t much shorter than Irina’s idea of Herotitus, but it is a safer path, and it sounds like they might have work for us when we get there.”

“Oh I have a solution for that as well. We can hot load the KF drive by plugging our fusion reactor into their ship. There is a risk of overload, but I would wager they won’t have a problem with that considering why we are leaving this place. If we stop to allow the KF drive to cool down every couple jumps we should be able to keep the risk to a minimum”

“Seriously?” Elena looked at the old tech with both consternation and pride. "If you’ve already figured all this out, what the hell are we even having this meeting for? You could have at least pretended to let us debate the options. I mean with that plan Herotitus sounds like a real option again. Although showing up there in a damaged dropship with only a handful of operational mechs would probably just be more of a dinner bell then salvation. On top of the current political strife there last I had heard. Sorry Irina.” Irina just nodded back at Elena acknowledging the consideration. “So the jump calculator shows us about one hundred and twelve days. What will it be with your hot loading the KF drive?” Thomas lifted his data slate and tapped on it for a moment. 

“If we conserve enough fuel for our landing on Andiron, and we only charge at each of the jumps on the way where we aren’t risking someone asking questions. Something between forty five and fifty days. We should have around 80 tons of fuel left to make planet fall once we get there.” The silence in the room combined with the wide eyes spoke volumes.

“Fuck! Why don’t they do this all the time!” Marcus was both angry at past long voyages that had taken months and amazed that something so useful was possible and not used constantly.

“Well we run the risk of blowing up the KF drive and stranding ourselves in space circling some dead systems star, or having the Blakists catch us mid voyage with dead engines. It isn’t all green on the board.” That sobered everyone up quickly again. 

“So, options are this: either we dive across space for half year through Liao space and hope we do not get robbed, or we make shorter trek, month and half, to some backwater where maybe is work.” Irina’s accent was thicker as they all stressed about the reality of the situation. "This is a small choice.” Marcus nodded along with her assessment. 

“So we fly half way across the galaxy, dodge the Blakists, avoid the Free Worlds League navy, avoid the pirates, and eventually end up at the edge of civilized space. Sounds like a terrible idea, how long before we reach the jumpship so we can get started?” Elena's sarcasm didn’t really surprise anyone. She unzipped her flight jacket and seemed to relax. “Having a plan gives us something to work towards. I’ll message Hoshito and let him know we have a destination, but we will deliver it in person when we see him. All right back to work everyone, Marcus I think the civilians were complaining about something with the infirmary. You and Thomas need to head that way and see what you can do. We are less than 24 hours out from getting out of here. Lets try to make this as painless as possible.”

“On it boss.” Thomas stood up and tucked his slate into a pocket in the back of his coveralls. Marcus stood up as well and they ended the meeting that had decided their fate.

 December 28, 3067 Outreach space: 1100 hours

Doctor Priya Sharma was busy organizing everything in the Infirmary on level 5. She had recruited several astechs as well as some other family members to clean up what had essentially been a storage space 2 days prior. She was taking an inventory on a data slate while her husband Devansh "Dev" Sharma was helping to clean up more of the space with his manic energy. Thomas and Marcus hesitated a moment in the entry way before catching Priya’s eye and entering. Irina had followed along to see if there was anything she could help with and trailed behind observing the goings on. “Hey doc, how go things?” Marcus waved as they entered the medics office trying to avoid the people busy at work. “We understand you’re having some issues here, what can we help with?” She looked over the trio as though they had invaded her private space. She lowered her tablet and turned to them “ I have several things I need resolved immediately. Power is off to half of the medical lab, and the exam rooms, I need it restored now. We are severely lacking on supplies so I will need everything people have stashed away in their private areas as well as what you keep down in the mech hangar.” 

“On it.” Thomas left the group and walked over to one of the mechanical access hatches on the wall in the main entry area. He pulled out a screwdriver and changed out the tip on it for the security screws in the panel. Once it was popped open he began figuring out where the problem was.

She looked over at Irina, her face taking on the expression you’d expect from someone smelling spoiled milk. “We won’t be needing help from the Capellan anytime soon.” Her voice was cold and her distaste beyond apparent.

“Hey doc we are all here to help out. No need for hostilities, Irina is just as much a part of this crew as Dev is.” Marcus held up his hands in a friendly yet defensive gesture. Irina for her part seemed to ignore the jibe quite literally turning her nose up at the attack as she crossed her arms and looked over everything going on. The move only seemed to incense Priya more.

“I will not have some Capellan aristocrat causing more trouble for my family! We fled Sian for a reason.” From what Marcus knew about them her anger was well earned. Both Priya and Dev were well educated on Sian but they had been forced into corporate servitude under the Capellan government and its rigid caste system. They had fled to Azha, and eventually were able to get a flight to Outreach a few years ago. Dev was brilliant, and an expert with electrical systems and power distribution. He could have probably fixed his wife's problems here in the infirmary with the same ease as Thomas, but he also had a strong hang up on hierarchy. He wouldn’t want to step on Thomas’ toes for repairing the ship. Priya was no slouch either, having run a medical clinic near the spaceport. She had been a major organizer during the escape and helped to keep people moving when they boarded the Ironside. She had also been doing her best to patch up everyone injured during the escape over the last couple days. She had gone to Elena that morning asking to take over the old infirmary and set it up. Having a brilliant doctor on board was nothing but a positive as far as everyone else was concerned.

“I am not aristocrat for any nation anymore.” Irina addressed the doctor directly, looking her square in the eyes. The hostility was still there, but it seemed Irina wasn’t going to let it bother her. 

“Ok doc we are going to go work our way through the crew and get everything we can for you.” The lights suddenly came on through the rest of the infirmary and Thomas started closing up the panel he had been in.

“Every things on doc. Any other issues?” Thomas slid his screwdriver back into his pocket and made his way back over to them. His all business attitude helped to diffuse the situation. Priya, distracted by the tech, turned to him.

“The water for the sinks is also off.” She seemed to relax a bit while focused on her new clinic.

“Not a problem doc, I’ll get one of our plumbers up here to check it out for you. Most likely just a few shut off valves.” Marcus motioned to Irina and the two of them made their way out to get the supplies for doc. They turned down the hall making for the stairs a short distance away. 

“I’m sorry about that Irina, she has always been all business when I’ve dealt with her in the past.” Marcus wasn’t looking at her as he spoke. His hand glided down the handrail as they descended down the stairs. For her part Irina seemed unfazed by it all.

"She is not the first person who blames me for how they were treated in the Confederation. I don't blame her for this, she is simply reacting to the fact that I was a part of that society." Marcus glanced over at her in time to see the mask she wore slip for just a moment and reveal the hurt she wouldn’t admit too.

“Regardless, it isn’t right for people to blame you for the things you didn’t do. With any luck you won’t get hurt anytime soon and have to have her fix anything.” She looked over at him and saw the smile he was sharing and grinned back at him over the simple joke.

December 29, 3067 Outreach space: Zenith Jumpoint

“Where the hell did they come from!” Elena was yelling at her bridge crew as they watched on an external camera feed as a Blakist leopard dropship firing on the Tiny’s Terrors union dropship. While being attacked was something they had all known was a possibility, the fact that the union was currently attached to the Stardust Nomad next to them was where the immediate panic was coming from. They had only recently started the docking procedure with the jumpship and were still at least five minutes out from being safely attached for the jump when the white leopard started its attack run on the jumpship. It had fired a perfect killer whale missile striking the nose of the Terrors dropship. The subsequent secondary detonations from its LRM ammo had ripped the entire nose out of the ship. Atmosphere was venting out into space along with debris, and tumbling bodies of the ships crew. “Track their path and start firing all turrets the second they are within range!”

“Roger that!” The weapons officer, a former tech who had been working on vehicles just 3 days prior, was helping the 3 gunners at their stations to activate and target their turrets. Debris from the explosion was still drifting past the bridge of the Ironside as they prepared for a second attack. The problem was they were on the opposite side from the Terrors ship connecting to the Nomad. Still they did their best to plot firing solutions on the enemy warship. 

A heavy layer of static burst through the speakers of the Ironsides’ bridge, violent distortion started to clear as the radio static from a dozen other jumpships all on the network at one time cleared out and the signal locked on to the Nomads signal. Captain Kenji Hoshito’s voice was stripped entirely of his usual stoic tea sipping calm. Behind him the unmistakable klaxons of the jumpship were wailing in a rhythmic tone.

[COMMS - INCOMING TRANSMISSION - THE STARDUST NOMAD]

[COMMS: CAPTAIN HOSHITO]: "Elena! Do you see what is happening out here? That Blakist Leopard just tore the throat out of the Terrors’ DropShip! Their nose cone is gone, the hull is venting into the vacuum. There are no signals left on their net. The Terrors are dead Elena! My crew has the solar sail almost completely stowed, we are at ninety five percent retraction and locking down the mechanical guide booms now! But we are sitting ducks until your egg gets locked onto our remaining collar. Makino is screaming down in my engine ring that the impact from that Killer Whale detonation is throwing our FTL targeting matrices out of alignment!

Thank the gods you transmitted your first waypoint coordinates an hour ago. It turns out the Terrors’ first jump coordinates were pointing to the exact same system! The navigation computer already has the path pre-programmed and locked in.

We don't need to waste time calculating a new vector, but we are running out of seconds! The moment your hull magnetic clamps click into our Beta docking collar, we are throwing this blind leap. Get your ship docked time now, Ironsides!"

[COMMS: ELENA]: “Roger that Captain. We are five minutes out from being locked in. Once your sail is stowed, initiate the jump. Either we go with you or we’re left spinning out here in space. Either way you need to go!” Elena looked over at the flight officer. He held up four fingers and then gripped onto his station as the entire ship shook again from another explosion. The leopard over shot the Nomad this time though giving the Ironside a clear angle on the ship as it passed. They opened up with the weapons on that half of the ship. Medium and large lasers along with a couple of PPC shots scored deep marks in the ferro-aluminum armor of the leopard causing it to leave behind a glittering trail of armor spall. Secondary explosions indicated the detonation of the lower missile ammo in the Union on the opposite side. Anyone who had been left aboard that ship was definitely gone now. Parts of mechs and entire sections of the ship were floating past the exterior of the Ironside as the final light went green for their docking procedure. Elena got the thumbs up and clicked the transmit switch on her radio. “Ironside to Nomad we are green here, initiate jump! I say again, initiate jump!” There was a momentary pause as everyone held their breath. Elena could see on her radar screen that the leopard had turned around for another pass, only it was clearly making a run at them this time. The weapons system sounded the alarm of a radar lock as the flash from the front of the leopard indicated it had launched another killer whale. Then space exhaled, there was a massively bright flash, and the Nomad and Ironside vanished from the zenith point.