Aboard the “The Colorado Blues”
Attached to the Free Trader “Bosanova” Merchant Class Jumpship
Woodbine Nadir Jump Point
22 March 3081
It had been a long fourteen weeks since the Blues had left Galatea and not for the first time, Arione wondered if he had made the right call. Granted, the events that led to their leaving the planet were simply not possible to predict… but he still wondered if he had missed something.
This deal he had gotten to land them in the Blackthorne complex had been a sweet one. In hindsight, he should have asked a few more questions and realized it had been TOO good a deal… but the money had been good, and they needed the revenue.
No, what had gotten them in a position to take the Blackthorne contract was a few too many jobs that had been incredibly brutal to their equipment. Fighting Blakists and their minions was difficult on a good day and as a result, several of their expensive armors needed full overall. Work not capable of being done in the field.
Arkanian Group’s fortunes since the Tikonov Job of 3075 had been a mixed bag of decent but hard-on-equipment work or a few bad clients who had skimped on paying in full for job completion. In those cases, he was trusting the MRBC to get them their money. He might as well learn to fly but it was their job, after all…
But facts were facts; more than once they had taken jobs that looked good on paper and seemed solid only to turn out not so much. And it started back with Tikonov and that shyster who was playing both sides against the middle. That should have been a warning to not take it, but it had been so promising with the prospect of getting completely back on their own two feet.
A too-good-to-be true job it had been… and an irony that he had fallen for such a thing again with the Blackthorne contract. One could say the Blackthorne contract was fortuitous offer and too good to be true. Rhiannon had pointed that out and not for the first time, his love had been right… for as it was discovered, it was part of a much larger plot against the Phoenix Lancers. At the time, they didn’t know about the events on Centarus… but what they did know is the prisoner’s connection to the Lancer’s pet commandos… and when they discovered the Blackthorne connection to the Word of Blake, it changed everything.
The last thing they needed was to be connected to the Word of Blake. For many units, it was a death sentence in the current times if you could not prove you weren’t in deep. They weren’t, of course… but if they had not acted as they had, no number of excuses would have been enough.
The AG freed the woman; granted, it was breaking a contract but sometimes, doing the right thing hurt… and that woman was being tortured. Job or not, Arione could not let it happen- he had standards and what those bastards were doing… just no. Which is why the AG did something about it.
In the chaos of the rescue, Adara got hurt badly… and their prospects for additional work took a hit because of events. Yes, they broke a contract, which would play hell with reputation. Yes, they had a reason for doing so and a viable cover story as to why they did so (a rather nice story too, as it was at least half-true) and they got a nice check out of it.
But it would still make life hell for them had they stayed on Galatea. Not insurmountable… but recovering from it would be hell financially (even with the nice reward they just got) and reputationally. It was a problem as a small group… and Infantry-Based merc units tended not to command top dollar. Sure, they had power armor but not enough for everyone… and finding the right jobs to change that was difficult normally. With the complications from past jobs, the difficulty rose… and that could lead to potential insolvency.
And no mercenary group wanted that.
In promising Adara they’d come out here… it was a chance to both settle a conflict and find a means of keeping the AG afloat. Rhiannon said he was not being rational, rather acting on emotions instead of practical. Maybe he was… but the assertion to settle the grudge with MacKenzie and end the enmity, made sense.
Made sense financially as the trip would cost them nothing and that, as pointed out, they always seemed to have plenty of work. Right now, while the AG was not as high speed as the Spirits, they were also more conventional than them and could take contracts the spook-centric commandos could not. And it made sense on the personal… because sometimes, grudges made you blind and miss important things. And he was done with being blind.
As Arione drifted up into the cockpit of the dropship, Rhiannon motioned for him to get to a seat. “Strap in, hon…” She said as she clicked on a handful of controls- most notable among them, the kill switches for the ship’s guns. “As soon as Bosanova arrives in Centarus System, I plan on being ready to have visitors… and no mistakes that will get us shot.”
As he took a seat, he had a question. “What gives?”
Rhiannon looked at her co-pilot, Caitlin Jackson, as she answered him. “Oh…. The Word of Blake assaulted this place back end of the year and nuked it,” she said. “Apparently a bunch of Merc Units here under the guise of layover and training were actually the Advanced Party for the Word. Caused a giant mess here… As a result, there is an awful lot of shipping in the system now. Along with a lot of warships…”
“Last thing we need is that power glitch in the wing guns to show ready to shoot,” Jackson finished for her pilot. “I was up here when the Bosanova let us know what they were told… and with Fed Suns, Ghost Bear and Snow Raven warships present along with the Wolverine fleet, avoiding being vaporized is high on the To Do list.”
Arione whistled. “Shit…” he said. “The WoB tried to occupy the place? Balls…” he said. “Why didn’t we know about this sooner?”
“They tried…” Rhiannon replied as she turned to look at her lover. “Rione, according to Captain Smitty, he was told the locals were able to stop them. Helped a Lyran Merc Regiment that was chasing some renegade outfit happened to show up; they were hired on the spot.”
She shook her head. “Honey, some really weird ass shit went down here… I still think this was a crazy idea, but well, we ain’t got much else going on and lemme tell ya, we are all gonna get a chance to see some stuff that is only in history books or movies… as for why I didn’t tell you sooner… would it have changed anything really?”
He shook his head. “Nah… but would have been nice to know.”
Caitlin interrupted them as she tapped on a blinking commswitch. “Blues…” she called out.
[Blues, Bosanova. Prepare for jump in sixty….]
“Jump in sixty…”
**
23 March 3081
The jump went without a hitch and as soon as they appeared in system, the newcomers were greeted with sights.
The first inkling of how twitchy things still were was the greeting from the Sensor Station. After a quick discussion with them on the nature of their arrival, the Blues was directed to remain attached to the Bosanova and the jump ship directed to head into system to a parking orbit near the planet.
As the Jumpship did so, the crew took in the plethora of odd shipping, civilian and military, that was in system. Just as the Bosanova had said, the number of factions in the system and in orbit was something no one had ever had reason to expect to see… and was as impressive as expected. And perhaps a bit scary.
After a few minutes of gawking, Rhiannon got notification of separation and activated reaction thrusters to move from their jump ship. As she increased distance, a comm channel lit up, indicating an incoming connection request. Tapping on it, she answered. “Independent Dropship Colorado Blues”
[Colorado Blues, this is the KKLS Elysium, Acting System Control … Welcome to Centarus Local Space and please state cargo along with intended destination.]
Rhiannon looked at Arione. “Well… what do we tell ‘em?” she asked. “This here is your idea…” She smiled at him.
Arione grimaced then put on a headset. “The truth, I guess…” he said then activated the comms to reply. “Elysium, Colorado Blues… we are an Infantry Carrier for Arkanian Group, an independent Commando that is here looking for both work and rehab. Original destination was supposed to be Landing…”
Looking at Rhiannon, he commented off the microphone. “I’m pretty sure we are not on a Shoot On Sight list…”
She answered him. “At least you hope so…”
He was about to respond when Elysium answered. [Colorado Blues, Elysium. Good copy. New arrivals are being directed to Crossroads Military Port currently and upon landing, all vessels subject to inspection,] the controller said. [Be advised some of the areas around Crossroads are Restricted Airspace; coordinates for flight path are being sent and an escort will be along shortly… Escorts will contact you on channel Four Niner Five Kilo Five; Please adhere to flight paths and have a safe trip in.]
Arione answered. “Colorado Blues copies Four Niner Five Kilo Five, Thank you Elysium; Blues out.” He clicked off the channel. “That was painless….”
Riannon shook her head. “Yah… I do wonder what our escort is going to be though…”
Twenty-Five minutes later, she got her answer as a pair of Ghost Bear Ostrogoth Omni-fighters showed up on her wing. As the channel lit up, Rhiannon clicked the line open. “Colorado Blues….”
[This is Gamma Flight of the Sixteenth Fighter Binary, First Bear Guards; we are assisting with Centarus Flight Operations and are to be your escorts…] the accented voice came through the speakers. [Please turn to the proper heading and follow us in.]
“Gamma, Colorado Blues… lead on.” She replied and maneuvered the dropship to follow…
**
Crossroads Military Port (formerly Crossroads Landing Field)
Crossroads, Aston
The flight was semi-circuitous but easy and the formation entered the pattern without issue, with the two Ghost Bear fighters breaking off about a minute from landing. As the aerodyne dropship came in and landed, a small Savana Master hovercraft streaked out with a *Follow Me* beacon and led the Blues to an empty Hangar. At the hangar, a pair of infantry squads supported by a point of Elementals were waiting along with ground crews.
As Rhiannon powered down, she looked outside at the reception committee. “Think they are a little twitchy maybe… or did you piss him off that bad?” She joked, eyeballing the Elementals.
Arione answered her as he unbuckled. “I’m pretty sure if he was that mad, he’d be here waiting,” he answered. “Remember, that old man is that kinda direct.” He got up and headed for the infantry compartments. “Time to go make sure everyone is aware of the reception committee… and to make sure our guest is good to go.”
“Good idea…” she said. “I don’t see anyone that looks like her out there and I’m pretty sure her message got here. That was three weeks ago.”
Down in the infantry compartments, Arione passed the word about behavior and to make sure all weapon cases were secure. All of them were experienced with dealing with customs agents in various places and there would be no shenanigans.
They had all been told about some of what had transpired here while on the way in and that it had been mercs who had helped the World. Nobody wanted to be on that end of ire and even the jokers among them were serious- one of them had managed to tap into the planetary web and pulled the local news… Even three months later, stories about the nuclear attacks and the recovery efforts were still running.
Arione went to the officer compartment that had been given to Amelia to stay in for the trip and he found her all packed, ready to go. “Good… you are ready to go,” he said.
The dark-haired young woman looked over at him from where she zipped up her bag. “Been ready since we entered the system, Mister Arkanian,” she said. “Was my mom or my uncle outside?”
“Didn’t see her but I should think one of them will be here.” he answered. “All I saw out there was security people and techs.”
Amelia nodded. “No worries. Mom is either early or late… no matter how much Aunt Leslie tries.” She said. “She’ll be here if she’s on world. Uncle Argyle tends to be a just in time person.” Lifting her bag, she turned. “Ready…”
Arione led the way to the access ramp, which was currently open. The other members of the AG were filing out and being directed to the hangar for forms completion and Rhiannon was talking with an infantry officer of some sort about something.
Leading the way down the ramp, he heard Amelia squeal and watched her hurry her stride down the ramp. Looking where she was going, he saw a dark-haired woman with a shock of pink in her hair standing next to a taller man in camouflage. The woman left the man’s side and met Amelia halfway between the hangar and the dropship.
Arione paused his stride and watched them reunite. He noted the man that had been standing next to what had to have been her mom head over towards him. When he got close, he called out. “Don’t get to see that much…”
The man answered him. “Nope…” He said as he got closer. “You Arione Arkanian?”
“I am.”
The man held out a hand. “Argyle McCoy…” he said. Continuing as Arione shook his hand, he spoke. “I’ve heard a thing or three about you… and before you say anything, I’d have to say what I heard was fairly balanced.”
“Well, that’s good to know,” Arione replied as he noted the Blood Spirits crest patch. “Considering my history with who your boss is or was, last I knew, I’ll take it.”
Argyle chuckled. “Yeah well… I heard about that too.” He pulled a cigarette out and lit it. Looking over at Amelia and her mom, he continued. “And I’m fairly certain what brought you here wasn’t exactly her. Or at least all her…”
Arione chuckled. “No… part of it was keeping a promise. And not the one I made to him…”
A laugh. “Good to hear that…” he said. “Duncan said you were a smart fella and it would have to be something better than a death threat to bring you all the way out here; he doesn’t think y’all that sort of dumb.”
Arione smirked. “Thinks that highly of me, does he?”
Argyle smiled. “Believe it or not, yes. Said you were idealistic, bold, passionate, occasionally foolish and all, but not dumb. Never dumb…” he said. “He only thinks badly of those who don’t learn from mistakes or won’t act to fix a thing they know is wrong. You do and did.”
Arione blinked. “I see…”
Argyle handed him a set of coordinates and what looked like a flight pass. “Once you are settled in here and all, he told me to tell you to come visit.”
Arione looked at the pass and the coordinates. “This is up north…”
“Yep,” he answered. “Said you are also a charming resourceful bastard… and while Independents are not really able to go anywhere outside of here, the pass gives you legal cover to do so… so no getting into trouble while you are here.”
A laugh. “He knows me well…” Arione said as Rhiannon came over. “When is he expecting me or did he say?” Looking over at Rhiannon, he spoke as he held up the pass. “Seems once we’re settled, I have an invite to talk.”
Rhiannon answered him. “Well, that’s good. And we are passing the inspection- these guys are efficient with finding things; they found Vasili’s still but let it be.” She shook her head. “They knew where to look in engineering and found it fast…”
“He didn’t. Said you’d be around when you were ready and able…” Argyle said then looked at Rhiannon. “You aren’t the first Fury class to come here, and the Lancers have a few. Nice to see some things are a constant in the universe.”
She smiled. “Speaking of getting settled, the Inspection officer said the buses are late, but we are getting lodging over in something called The Tuscan Transient Barracks.” She looked at Argyle. “What’s that?”
“Used to be series of villas and barracks for units training here. Accommodations are not exactly the Tharkad Hilton, but it isn’t a mud hut on the periphery.” McCoy said. Seeing Amelia and her mother start to head for the vehicle, he finished up. “Captain Jenkins will get you all up to speed… I’ve got to go- my charge and her daughter are ready to leave.”
“Thank you, Argyle,” Arione said and shook his hand once more before he left. After he departed, Arione looked at Rhiannon. “Not the reception I was expecting…”
“No… but he could be setting you up for a beat down,” she said as she plucked the pass from his hand to look at. “No listed restrictions on here… What else he give you?”
“Set of coordinates.” He said. “Somewhere up north… And he didn’t say I couldn’t bring anyone.”
“Hmph.” She replied as she handed it back to him. “We’ll see… meanwhile, let’s get our shit. I want a damn shower in something bigger than a closet… and real food. I’m certain those buses will be here soon.”
Musings of a Gamer 