Power Games
(Ne Selvas Starport, Sirnoth/Elchev, 079/1106)
While Reagan finished checking out the port defences, Jacques and Tamara set to work on creating a warning. Recording a looped message warning of the dangers on the surface, they first adapted one of the starport's radio systems to broadcast it, and then set up one of the orbital satellites from the comm net to do the same thing. The captain of the Long Shot proved to be adept at the suborning of orbital satellites; a skill that would normally have the marines wondering if the Long Shot had been involved in any smuggling. Today, however, such considerations were forgotten. Soon the automatic messages were beaming out into the sky.
Before calling the Brazos down to the starport, the marines decided to test their defences. Unpacking the balloons they'd used with such success as decoys for the alien "missiles", they tethered one to a thin line and paid it out to 300' altitude. They hadn't long to wait. Within seconds, fifteen or twenty missile aliens had flung themselves at the fragile floater, and been obliterated by the starport's defences. For the next hour, wave after wave of aliens attacked it without success; after that, the flow dwindled to an occasional single attack every ten minutes or so.
The platoon began preparing to move out.
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As they made their preperations, the starport sensors and the ones on the Brazos suddenly burst into life. A starship had jumped into the system, to the mainworld's jump point, and was heading straight for the planet at 4g of acceleration. The library computers clicked away with the sensor readings, and spat out a match; the craft was a Danzig class missile corvette, 5,000 d-tons, and bearing Imperial Navy markings. The marines looked at each other. Was this rescue? Or was it whoever was behind what was going on here? Keenly, they monitored the comms wavebands. Uriah opened a broadcast channel and transmitted a non-comittal hail, requesting identity.
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IN Tokarev arrives
Ship mesh by Andre Pollowski
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Cassandra and Tamara, working together, isolated two seperate signals emanating from the vessel; one was deeply encrypted, though generally broadcast; the other was plain voice and clearly intended for them.
"Commander of Marine vessel; this is Commander Hawker of the Imperial Navy Corvette Tokarev. This is an IN interdicted star system; please identify yourselves and provide your sitrep and current mission."
There was a moment's silence as each of the marines ran a quick mental reality check. No, they were quite sure, Sirnoth was not an Interdicted system, and never had been. What was going on?
Uriah grabbed the microphone, and demanded to know what was going on, refusing to accept the suggestion that the Brazos was where it shouldn't be; Hawker responded curtly, informing the Marine that his information was out of date. He demanded to speak to a senior officer; Uriah told him that his superior had been killed (true enough in itself!) All this was simply gaining time to think.
Meanwhile, Tamara and Jacques were working flat-out on the other signal. To begin with, they were getting absolutely nowhere, and then Jacques remembered the encrypt computer he'd discovered in the depths of Elbane Base. Hastily splicing that into the system, they watched in awe as the random jumble of signal broadcast by the Tokarev magically resolved itself into readable information.
The signal was a broadcast trigger designed to initiate an upload of sitrep and data from a dirtside installation; a base. There were four designated targets, listed as Mimdus, Kercil, Salorsar... and Elbane. Even as they watched, the signal's repetitions suddenly ceased.
Suspicions crystallized. Whatever was going on here, this vessel was part of it. It was almost no surprise when the next reaction from the Tokarev was the launch of six massive salvoes of missiles; in seconds, Cassandra had plotted their trajectories. Three were aimed at hitherto unremarkable locations, scattered across the planet; one was aimed at the starport; and the last straight at the Brazos.
Jacques, trying a psychological approach, broadcast something defiant at the warship encrypted in their own top-secret code. Whatever it was, the effect was not what he'd wanted; a second salvo aimed at the starport was promptly launched.
Above, an argument between Captain MacLean - whose first instinct was to answer Hawker with the information he wanted - and Lt Stalker, who didn't trust Hawker an inch - came to an abrupt end, and the vessel started its' descent to the starport.
Brazos reaches the ground (click for larger image!)
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The alien missiles seemed to recognize this prey was more than just a balloon on a string; hundreds of them came arcing over the trees and converged on the ship's flight path. Below, the laser and particle accelerator turrets burped eye-aching bolts of energy into the skies, scattering the remains of destroyed aliens almost from horizon to horizon. Despite this, at least one got through; a blast shook the Brazos and smoke began to trail out behind her. Reagan made an adjustment, and the net tightened. A few minutes later, the ugly starship was touching down just outside the terminal building.
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Hard on her heels, the massive barrages of missiles reached their targets. The starport defences leaped into life - provided with the missiles' sensor signature as hostile by Reagan - and swatted down the missiles aimed at both the starport and the Brazos. Slight shakes of the floor, and brief intense flashes from the horizon, showed that the other salvoes had struck their mark; and that they'd been equipped with nuclear payloads.
The starport defences now transferred their attention to the Tokarev, and despite its' own defences, she was clearly not able to withstand such firepower. Lighting her manoeuvre drives, she slid around the planet until she was over Ne Selvas' horizon, where she took up a geosynchronos orbit.
Another transmission came in from the now-orbiting Tokarev. "Personnel of Marine Vessel Brazos. I'm willing to offer you a chance to surrender yourselves. You are involved in affairs far too complicated for simple soldiers; your lives will be spared if you come quietly, although you have caused some important people a great deal of trouble. Don't hope I'll go away and leave you here; being stranded on this planet is a death sentence as you already well know, and I'm not letting you lift your ship."
"If you do not surrender, I'll have no alternative but to kill you all. You have ten minutes to answer."
Stalker leaped out and ran in, sprinting up the stairs to where his platoon were. Looking around the battered faces, he grinned proudly and flipped a hasty salute; more a gesture of respect to them than the other way around. "Good work so far, lads," he said, then reached a hand for the microphone Uriah was holding. "Pass me that, please?" he asked.
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Uriah hesitated for a heartbeat. Stalker was still "the new Lieutenant". Was he about to surrender and sell them all out? He handed the unit over, and Stalker cleared his throat and clicked the button.
"See here, snotty," he snarled. The marines looked at each other with pleased surprise; perhaps Stalker was going to be all right after all... "I don't know who's paying you Navy arse-kissers off, but we're Imperial Marines. We have done nothing wrong, we are operating within our orders, and we're not 'surrendering' to you or to anyone. There's a court-martial waiting for ship jockeys who shoot atomics at fellow Imperial servicemen, my friend. So bugger off!"
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Lt Stalker lays down the law
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He clicked the channel off again, and handed the microphone back to the startled Uriah.
There was no answer from above. However, sensors revealed the launch of four 50-ton landing craft from the Tokarev, heading for the starport.
The marines took stock, and hatched a plan. They loaded the 20-ton launch Jacques had found in the repair hangars to the gunwales with all the explosives they could find. Jacques added two mannequins from the shopping mall, dressed in the security office's half-armour, and set three detonation systems; radio control, tripwire to the outside hatch, and a computer signal when the engines were shut down. Remote control pilot relays were set up, and Tamara cleared a console in the Security Tower to fly the bomb from.
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Stalker opened communications and started blustering about the Navy Security Troops they could now see debarking from the landers. Midway, he broke off and bellowed; "Stop! What are you doing, you mutinous dog?". Jacques and Uriah fired a few loud weapons into the air, and Stalker, grinning hugely, banged the mike on the desk a few times and groaned realistically. After a pause, Tamara took the mike and called the warship, almost whimpering, begging to surrender, just pleading to be rescued.
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This seemed to work, as Hawker demanded the PD be shut off. Thinking quickly, Uriah told him only Stalker had had the codes, and told him they'd come up to the Tokarev in the unarmed launch. To prevent Hawker shooting it down on the first trip, he told him it would take two trips to transport everyone.
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A few minutes later, the Trojan Launch was in the air and heading towards the Tokarev. As it did so, the IN-Sec troops were moving in on the starport. Before they got anywhere near, Leapers and Snakes came flooding out of the forests and fell on them; a messy running fight ensued.
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Just at that point things changed again. Sensors suddenly indicated the presence of another starship in the system; but not at Jump Point - in orbit. It seemed to shimmer into existence out of nowhere. The newcomer was massive - 100,000 d-tons - and of a peculiar design that no-one had ever seen before, either from a Major Race or any of the others that built starships.
Suddenly, a voice began to speak inside each Marine's head. Deep and powerful, it addressed them thus: "En Taro Adun, humans. I am Executor Aldaris, commanding the Protoss warship Esrator. I am addressing you because I perceive that you, unlike these others, are warriors of honour." Looking at the IN-Sec troops, none reacted; evidently this was for Brazos crewers alone.
"The creatures you are fighting on this world are the Zerg, a living pestillence on the face of the Galaxy, and a species it is my race's sworn aim to see rooted out and destroyed. It seems some elements in your human leadership have taken it upon themselves to harbour and - worse - encourage the Zerg in settling here, with some misguided idea of creating weapons from what they may learn of them."
"I and my comrades are here to disabuse them of this thought, and to exterminate the Zerg where we may find them. It seems to me that we have common cause with you at this point. Hold fast! We shall assist you." Several dozen small craft launched from the Esrator and headed for the starport. Only quick intervention from Tamara prevented Reagan from designating them to the Point Defence as valid targets - he of course hadn't heard a word of this.
Down at the starport, the IN-Sec troops had reached the perimiter fence. They were a shadow of their former selves; of the 150 that had landed, only 40 or so had reached the starport. Now they were being shot at by the Brazos' marines as well, and it was clear they'd had enough. When Jacques radioed them and suggested they surrender, they were only too pleased to be allowed into the starport and pressed into its' defence. All in all, 25 of them were left by the time they had reached the control tower. All their officers were dead; a tough-looking sergeant had taken control, and laid his men out to help the Marines fight the oncoming aliens.
And just as well! The .. Zerg ... were now mounting a full-scale attack on the starport. For quite a long time the humans held the Zerg off at the perimeter fence, but eventually they swarmed across the starport grounds to surround the control tower. Besieged in the tower, the marines and IN-Sec were fighting the creatures off when Stalker noticed the lights were flickering.
He send Verral, Dead Ted and Jacques to investigate. Descending to the cellars, and scouting ahead with a sensor ball, they found to their surprise half-a-dozen IN-Sec troops in the power room, busily trying to knock out the repairs Uriah and LZ had made, and preparing to place charges. Jacques roasted the lot with his flamethrower, then went over to investigate the access crawlway they'd got in through.
"Down!" yelled Verral. The three flattened, and two of the dropped charges blew, showering them with bits of shrapnel. Jacques sealed the hatch, setting an antipersonel charge to guard it in case of a repeat. Taking the dogtags he returned upstairs, leaving Verral and Ted to guard the power plant.
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The fighting at the control tower had become frantic. Uriah was driven back from the window he was defending by a Dragon Zerg, and was caught by the edge of its' acid blast, though apart from a smell of burning plastic he didn't seem affected by the spatter that burned through his armour. Reagan took a Snake spine in the chest, and was knocked flat on his back; only speedy intervention from Maid Marian saved him from bleeding to death on the spot. A Leaper jumped up onto his windowsill, but he blasted it back out while he was being patched up.
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Defending the control tower (click for larger image!)
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Down below, Jacques confronted the IN-Sec Sergeant, commanding the defence of the Atrium floor, dangled the dog-tags in front of him, and demanded an explanation. The sergeant professed to know nothing; Jacques didn't really believe him, but left it and pressed on up the stairs.
The Last Leaper (click for larger image!)
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On the far side of the room, Zerg had broken through, killing several IN-Sec troops, and pushing others backwards. On the left side, Tamara turned and dropped the intruders with neat, deadly blasts from the laser pistol she wore on her hip; Jacques, arriving in the room at that point, charged across and slew the Leaper which had got in at the right with his lightsabre.
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The assault slackened, and looking out, the Marines could see that the Protoss ground forces had arrived and were cutting through the Zerg like cheese. Their troops took two forms; angular bipeds, with some sort of biomechanical enhancement on their legs, wielding twin energy blades springing from their wrists; and a massive four-legged mechanical walker, equipped with a fusion weapon of some sort. Both forms seemed to have some sort of energy field surrounding them, limning their shapes in a pale blue shimmer. With these new allies to aid them, the marines inflicted such losses on the Zerg that the monsters suddenly gave it up, and, burrowing, were gone as if they'd never been there.
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Protoss Zealot
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Protoss Dragoon
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