Chapter 2
“Five minutes to emergence, five minutes to emergence” Julie announced the team resealed their gear and grabbed the hand holds on either side of the docking hatch. A shudder ran through the cutter as it popped back into real space “ well that’s not nice they are shooting at us.” Julie paused “ I think? Shields holding at 64% percent 63 no wait 64 again. Their laser weapons are ineffective and are removed. their shields were negligible.”
I looked down at Sally in the corner of my H.U.D “ what brought us down to 64%?” sally looked up from her desk over the top of her glasses “that would be the front half of the cutter that’s still missing with all of its shield emitters” I blinked twice “ yep that would do it. Feeling kinda stupid now” Sally grinned and winked Back at me “don’t worry I won’t tell anyone.” I rolled my eyes “thanks”.
The cutter locked onto the pirate's hatch. “Attempting to access the pirates' systems never mind done.” Sally stated looking shocked “that was less secure then your browser history” I just sighed long since used to her antics. “ lights out, a drone is going in and how about some music so they know who’s knocking.”
Sally’s avatar disappeared, replaced by a mini map with the pirate's vessel layout taken from the ship's systems. The drone zipped through the lock into the pirate vessel and then towards the cargo hold where the beacon's signal was coming from. As the team followed behind it the night vision built into their helmets illuminating the way ahead for us. As the drone turned left at the intersection three red dots appeared on the mini map and red outlines appeared on the team's HUDs showing three pirates.
On the other side of the wall Davis triggered her communicator “ the one on the right, something is off” the group was five steps from the corner. “he doesn’t want to be here, he’s not a pirate” rounding the corner two of the pirates were faced down the corridor shooting wildly at the sound of the drone one dressed much different was shaking and barely holding his weapon Orson and Madex rounded the corner first dropping the left and center pirate who were still facing the wrong way while I rounded the corner and pushed the rifle of the last guy off to the side so it faced the wall then punched the maybe pirate in the face staggering him back Davis came up next to me with an injector and jabbed it into the dazed man who quickly slumped to the ground.
“Three down two died one tranqed proceed” I announced as everyone kicked the weapons away from the bodies the tranquilizer Davis had used was standard kit and the man, no I corrected myself the kid, he couldn’t be more than 15, the boy was going to be out for a good eight hours that was long enough for a single legionary to take this ship three times let alone five.
The team followed the drone engaging pirates as they went until they entered the cargo hold, two more pirates going down. Sally’s voice came through the comm’s “target marked in green third cell on the right, female approximately 20 standard years.” as the team moved forward a closet door kicked open and a large pirate stepped out carrying a large weapon laughing maniacally and firing in the direction of the group.
I reflexively checked my HUD looking at Madex’s stats. His personal shield was down at 98% when Olson shot the pirate down two seconds later. “First Sergeant looks like a few millennia on ice has maybe made someone rusty.” Madex visibly slumped as Olsen replied “yes sir, as soon as we have time I’ll make sure to hold some refresher drills”. Someone snickered on the comm’s due to the voice being male it had to be Fitz, Olsen continued “for everyone” Davis joined the other two in a grown as everyone arrived in front of the cell which was clearly locked.
I drew my trusty gladius able to cut through shields and body armor alike. It was the final fall back weapon of a legion officer and a great lock pick. Two quick strikes and a well placed boot and the cell door was open. I entered the cell followed by Davis. Davis ran over to the senator and began running an assessment. One of the figures in the back started to stand up and I started to reach for my pistol but caught the tell tale blue glow of an elven mage and stopped.
A musical female voice spoke in elvish “Ere yet we loose the legions, ere yet we draw the blade.” I paused for a moment. It had been a while but I had heard that poem before. it was famous on old earth at one point it was what? A hymn before battle? No, that was the sci-fi book where I first saw it. Oh, I remembered it was in a hymn before action by Kipling. I responded back also in Elvish, which I am much more fluent in then Orkish, with my favorite part of that poem quite amused at an elf from 4000 years in the future quoting a poem from earth 2000 years before the imperium.
“For those who kneel beside us at altars not thine own, who lack the lights that guide us, lord, let their faith atone.” then switching back to imperial standard “ never thought I would hear a High Elvara mage quoting Earth poetry to me” giving a quick formal bow to one of the extended probably very, very extended members since she was this far from the Elvara home system, member of the royal family. “ and I never thought I would meet a living one of you. You’ve been gone so long” I paused trying to figure out how to reply to that. suddenly the senator shouted “ who are you people?” I turned back to my primary charge “ my apologies Madam Senator my name is lieutenant Jack Doolin of the 9th. The legion has arrived.”
Then I paused for a beat “ now pardon us while we clean the rest of the rats out of this lovely antique.” Someone spoke up behind me “antique? This ship is at most a year old. Honestly I don’t even know how the hell pirates got ahold of a brand new ship. I doubt one of these have been far enough out of the Republic to be stolen. This stinks.” I turned back to one of the only two women I noticed had not been curled up and crying besides the senator and elf. “ know something about ships Ms…?”
The women stood a little straighter “ Donely, Kara Donely and this is my sister Sarah, you could say that, our dad runs one of the largest shipyards in the Republic not that those idiots” she said pointing at one of the pirate corpse’s “ bothered to check the passenger list just because our dad taught us to be normal and we weren’t traveling first class doesn’t mean they couldn’t have gotten a ransom.”
Sarah nodded along just as pissed off. “ now to figure out where our brother is” the sisters both had fiery red hair. I suddenly recalled something and wanted to rub the back of my head. “ your brother wouldn’t happen to be about fifteen about this tall and the same red hair?” the sisters both started nodding “yes have you seen him?” they asked eagerly.
“yeah he’s currently taking a nap” both the girls looked confused “taking a nap at a time like this I am so going to kick his ass when I see him!” I bravely chose not to comment on that. I had joined the legion at 14 when my parents were on a merchant ship destroyed by aliens. The galaxy was full of races not in the Imperium some were more aggressive and lawless then others, I was living with family friends at the time to stay in an actual physical school. The Imperium had a system for those without prospects to land on their feet which I will always be thankful for, it allowed for people including minors to pledge to serve in either military or government positions like licensing for two years for every one year of aid.
Going through the application process I found out my father had been a legionary for ten years before retiring and buying that merchant ship, because of that they allowed me to transfer to a Legion Military School. four years there and I graduated as an ensign and was sent to the 9th. Two years of field deployments and I was promoted to a lieutenant and moved to my current position.
I've been at it for five years and never looked back. The problem is that while I have plenty of expertise in blowing stuff up and making problems go away, Sally says my social skills with women sucks. So I decided to go back to what I was good at, “ Fitz cover Doc while she checks on the other civies, Madex you and Guns are with me lets go clean up.”
A half hour of fighting and room clearing later and the pirate freighter was ours. I gave the all clear and met with the captain of the passenger ship and the senator. “Captain, I am Lieutenant Doolin with the 9th. What was the status of your vessel when you were captured?” the Captain sighed “still flying though damaged. They were faster than us to begin with then they hit one of our engines and demanded we heave to or they would execute the crew when they got on board. That's when I surrendered. As far as I know they left the ship to be recovered later.”
Sally materialized so only I could see her behind him and showed a sped up version of the events from the pirate vessels sensor records showing that the passenger ship was in fact left relatively intact. “ Captain, how far to the nearest port would you deem safe at your best possible speed? My team hasn’t been to this sector in a while” I said with a small grin.
The captain thought for a moment “ I would say about two weeks to Aberon Station It’s an independent system but has strong ties to the monarchy and our liner has a major office there” I nodded “then we claim this vessel for the legion as seizure in combat and with the Senators permission we will use this vessel to return to the passenger liner and we will escort you to the port.”
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The captain looked excited “ that is excellent I know the Liner would be willing to pay for the assistance recovering our vessel” I hadn't even considered that but without the Imperium tax structure following my Imperator’s final order to defend the people would require funding. “We would appreciate that we find ourselves short on funds'' Sally pulled up the legions available assets all of the publicly accessible ones had been drained by successor states and the 9th was a mobile legion which operated off massive warships and not a fixed planetary base so no physical assets or bases could be reclaimed.
However, with the small training budgets and discretionary funds in obscure corners of the digital finance accounts on the Imperium network the Elves maintained. There was enough to let each of his people get set up comfortably but nowhere near enough to rebuild a legion. “ Tell me, is the Imperium credit still used here?” The Captain looked surprised “ yes it's the de facto trade currency as most local currencies get adjusted by their governments but the Imperial credit remains steady because no one can access the system to adjust it except the Elves and they trade in it exclusively. If you want to be paid that way it can be done but will take the company a few days to move some stuff around “
“That's fine, we can wait a few days,” I replied. We discussed a few more things then the captain left. “Madam Senator, will you continue to need protection once we arrive at Aberon or will you be alright?” she shook her head. “ No sir I just want to go home and all the systems from Aberon on are well patrolled” I was silently relieved we had no senate at the moment and didn’t know what I would have done with her if she decided to stick around. I pulled another ID distress beacon out of a pouch in my armor.
They were easy to make with the right rare elements, fortunately Julie's small fabricator could repurpose the used one. “Here in case you need us again” she quickly reattached it to her necklace and slipped it into her shirt and gave me a grateful smile before leaving. Sally appeared leaning on the table. “ She's cute!” I laughed “ not my type” and winced knowing I had stepped in it. “ oh really and what is your type?” I spoke out loud “ oh look at the time! Got to go do officer stuff!” I strolled out of the room. “You know you can’t actually walk away from me.” Sally said in my head. “Yep but I can find something to do to pretend I can’t hear you” Sally harrumphed “this is why you're single” we continued to banter as I toured the ship getting reports and everyone organized.
* * *
Twelve hours later we were docked with the passenger liner. After seeing the earful the kid got from his sisters for turning pirate to try protecting them and how they were going to tell their father about his stupid plan I figured that was going to be enough punishment for the kid. not like I had a brig anyway, first sergeant had the legionnaires dismantle the cages and chuck them out the cargo bay doors so the Jubilant could be brought inside.
Once the Civilians were moved back to they’re passenger ship clearly even a normal cutter would draw attention nowadays and I wasn’t sure I wanted that yet. The Captain had been kind enough not to ask too many questions but I doubted system authorities would be so polite. The transition went without a hitch, the people happily returning to the passenger liner and its comforts.
Sally and Julie had easily bypassed the security on the liner and between them had sorted through the video records and we were able to return ninety five percent of stolen items we still had some jewelry leftover. Photos were taken and given to the captain in case anyone reported they were still missing items; everything not claimed by the time we docked was going to be claimed as loot taken from the pirates.
Two hours later we detached and brought Jubilant into the cargo hold. A cable was run to her so she could tie into the freighters systems and monitor the vessel during our off hours since we were short handed by a lot. The freighter had the overly optimistic name Queen of the Stars she was reported lost in a rogue asteroid storm. It was the spaceship equivalent of my dog ate my homework or I lost all my guns in a boating accident while hunting sharks. A quick check through some files and a slightly illegal hacking expedition by Sally revealed the person who probably laundered the ship for the pirates from the shipyard and the official who was supposed to be in charge of preventing such straw purchases now having a mansion in his mistresses name.
An anonymous tip to the Republic's multi system law enforcement with this information and I felt the team's good deed for the day was done. We were on the first jump two days later of our three system route when I called the team together “ so has everyone gotten a chance to look at the Emperor's final transmission?” We were having this meeting onboard the Jubilant so Julie could participate in projection along with Sally. Everyone signaled their agreement.
“I have very clearly not been relieved and my orders were clear to protect the people from threats, I do not consider the current successor states threats by default these are not the people who rebelled from the Imperium just the ones who cleaned up the mess much later but I will hold the legion independent incase they become destructive to those ends. I plan to focus on building a legion that can intervene where necessary. I aim to build a force able to uphold the common rights laid out in the founding. personal freedom, that means any slavers or pirates are targets, self determination anyone who keeps their people from voting with their feet is a tyrant and will be opposed. the galaxy is a big place some people will want to live under a petty dictator and that's alright so long as they are aloud to leave when they return to their sanity, and protection from outside threats I’m sure that there are just as many threats to the average citizen today from nonaligned space as there was in the past. Also to enforce the rules of internal war no terrorism, no nukes in atmosphere, and no intentionally waging war on civilians. I know it will take a long time to reach these goals and no I don’t know how we will do it but I would be happy if any of you would join me. Alternatively there are enough credits currently in the account to pay anyone an early separation, thoughts?”
I looked first at the first sergeant. His enlistment was technically up after our last operation. I know he had planned to reenlist at the time but.. “Sir, what I saw in that message made it clear to me that the Imperium and the Imparator needed me now more than ever. I know you are the Legate now and will need a new NCO corp. I offer my reenlistment for the Imperium, for the people, for the legion!” he said, standing slamming his fist to his chest over his heart. I stood and returned the salute. “ Thank you first. I am not sure I could do this without you.”
Next was Juliee who simply responded “ for the Legion” then Sally “I go where you go sir. For the Legion” it continued that way Doc, Fitz, Madex all replying “for the Legion”,”for the legion” I finished “glad we have that settled now what do we do next. We have a half destroyed cutter that can go toe to toe with almost anything one on one and a pirate freighter as a main base that's going to break in half the first time an enemy fire control sensor locks onto it let alone when they actually fire.”
Sally and Juliee shared a look. “We might have an idea.” Sally motioned for Julie to continue. “ we were checking the records for shortly before the fall every fighting ship of imperial design was at Earth for the final battle and all the non combat ships were either fought over and destroyed in the succession wars or found later and are now hanger queens in museums and private collects throughout settled space with no one available to authorize them for civilian use except maybe the Elves they have remained locked out.”
I smiled “ good maybe at some point we could buy a few back”Juliee paused “ hadn’t thought of that but yes that should be possible but we found something better” this got everyone's attention a hologram appeared of a large vessel the center looked like an industrial miner one of the ones with built in storage and refining capabilities mirrored on either side were two large open bays. “ This is a Caragin class fleet utility ship, a full service mobile minor shipyard. It is capable of mining and refining resources using the drones in the small ship hangar on the right.” Juliee blew up the image showing the right side wasn't open like the left side; it was subdivided into smaller zones, two bays that could probably fit a frigate or smaller each and ten other bays nine that could probably fit cutters and one a corvette .
“Six of those bays hold drone mining shuttles and the corvette size one holds a ore hauler tug hybrid remote pilotable by AI on the Caragin. Parts can then be produced on site to perform maintenance on up to light cruisers officially in the left bay.” I furrowed my brow “why officially?”
Juliee smiled “ because there are records of a medium cruiser being shoved in the left bay it was ugly and the nose and engine were hanging out but so long as the repairs were not in those sections the automated systems could work on them.” I nodded to show my understanding and the holograms changed to show what looked like a solar system.
This time Sally took over “ this is rogue system CX-98451 it has four rocky moons and a dense asteroid field orbiting a super Jovian planet with no star. It was discovered about 100 years after we went on ice and is dense in rare and common elements needed in ship building . records show a Caragin class vessel named Restitution was abandoned there right before the final battle in orbit near one of the moons. The crew was working on a medium cruiser damaged fighting one of the rebel factions and had its remaining crew transferred to other vessels, when the call went out to defend earth they finished the cruiser and transferred everyone over to it including the Restitution’s AI and left the Restitution in orbit I assume to be recovered if they won the battle.”
I thought for a moment “ alright here's what we do we finish the current mission then put the Queen in long term storage. We will take the Jubilant and fly back out the way we came in acting normal. The CX system will have no tram lines to it because it has no sun so we will just drop off the tramline we leave through and head that way. What's the estimated flight time?” Juliee answered Immediately “ nine days sir” I winced, that was going to be a long trip in a small ship. “O.K. on station buy some cots and other supplies no guarantee the Restitution will be functional after all this time so assume we need nine days there two weeks onsite to assess the situation and nine days back when we can’t get it working I’m setting up a ships fund for the Queen on the net in the next system and will give you all access to the funds to get what we need Sally pay a good information broker for the current political layout so we can begin to get settled in. and someone make sure to pick up a camping sonic shower”
There was an audible grumble “ I know they aren’t as good as a real shower but we don’t have time to fit Jubilant for one before this trip. If we come back empty handed then we will start converting her for long term occupation.” everyone reluctantly accepted my decision and we began discussing individual assignments.”