When Zayd returned to the Spear of Destiny, he wanted nothing more than to devour a meal fit for two and to climb into his hammock for a night of real sleep. He’d learned the hard way that it was possible to sleep on the bare volcanic rock of the Rotten Egg in a suit of combat armor but there was nothing pleasant about the process. His lack of awareness of his own body’s senses combined with the eerie quiet inside the suit left him feeling like he’d become a ghost or a figment of his own imagination the first time he tried sleeping in the suit. He’d woken halfway through the first night from a nightmare that his body dissolved and the suit absorbed it, turning him into a previously-human robot-warrior. The second night, thankfully, Tael had pushed him so far into exhaustion that he welcomed the quiet oblivion of a sleep cycle. It wasn’t great sleep but at least he was too tired for nightmares.
Tonight, however, he had one other job to do. Wing Leader Tael had passed him a data crystal containing everything they’d been able to extract from the databases of the guard stations and mining camps in the time they’d been on the planet. There were several notes about the mechs that were stored on Bad Penny Station but most of it came in the form of service manuals and inventory reports. There was nothing about how those mechs were intended to be used in combat. While much could be inferred from technical specs, Tael wanted Zayd to prepare a briefing for the assault team that covered the various mechs and how humans were trained to use them.
Zayd had protested at first, he wasn’t a mech pilot, but Tael had given him a sharp and slightly disapproving look when he said he didn’t feel qualified to speak.
“You’re the only one aboard the Spear of Destiny that knows how humans train their mech pilots. You’re also Lady Nimue’s Champion,” the Fae Leader explained. “While your personal combat skills are lacking compared to the rest of the guard, the training you received in your youth shows. Right now, that makes you the only ‘expert’ we have, and demonstrating that expertise will help solidify the respect the rest of the crew has for you as a Champion. I could assemble a briefing based on what I can gather after interrogating the humans we’ve captured but I’m giving you this opportunity because it means more to you than it would for me to just give another briefing. Your companions are counting on you,” he said, placing a heavy hand on Zayd’s shoulder. “Don’t let them down.”
With high expectations weighing on him, Zayd dove into the data, flipping through maintenance reports, inventory logs, service manuals, and every other bit of data that would help him prepare a briefing for the first real combat mission of his life. As he cut into a thick slab of meat that tasted like spicy pork, Zayd wondered if Tael had also given him this task to keep his mind busy between now and the morning’s launch. It was hard to stew and fret while he had a task to do. Slowly, page by page, Zayd prepared his analysis until exhaustion overcame him and the helpful bots in his suite pulled him into his hammock for a night of real, blissfully restful sleep.
Elsewhere on the ship, Lady Nimue Gael sat once again in the company of her closest advisors. Above the table, several holographic screens displayed everything from readiness reports to combat footage from Zayd’s training mission. After assembling all of the information into a carefully constructed mental model, the Fae noble closed her eyes and tried to simulate the coming day’s events.
The crew had done amazing work to restore functionality to both of the Spear of Destiny’s assault shuttles. Unfortunately, they’d lost one of their two research shuttles in the Beithioch assault and the second one had been so badly damaged when it made it back to the ship that they’d only been able to use it to scavenge parts to repair the two assault shuttles. With only two shuttles for the assault, and no functional mechs available, Nimue had to suppress every instinct that said the plan was doomed in order to consider the factors that gave them a hope of success.
“Priestess Eirian,” she said, opening her eyes and gazing at one of the few people on the ship that she could consider a friend as well as a subordinate. “How successful has your work been with the captives? Was Acolyte Eion correct that we can make use of them?”
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“I can’t call it a complete success, My Lady,” Eirian said with a shake of her head as she waved at one of the holographic displays above the table. “The drugs we were able to synthesize are crude and only effective because we couldn’t detect any anti-interrogation bioprogramming in any of the subjects. We managed to induce a state of deep suggestibility which has made them very obedient, but not what I’d call ‘loyal.’ They will obey any order that they understand, no matter who gives it to them. I’ve tasked the technicians with installing a sound-blocking headset on each of the captives to prevent them from hearing any orders other than the ones we give them and those headsets have been secured directly to their skulls. Even if the humans on the station attempt to remove them, it won’t be possible without tearing several screws out of bone and likely killing the person in the process.”
“What about comprehension?” Flight Leader Agravain asked as he inspected the glassy-eyed expressions on the captured humans. “If they’re commanded to move something they know they shouldn’t, will they warn us of the consequences of their action or will they just execute their orders?”
“The latter, unfortunately,” Eirian admitted. “Given the choice, I would never employ such crudely conditioned workers for any task. There are a lot of risks that go with this level of forceful mind control. Eion was right though. Every captured human we use like this is one less of our own that we have to commit to this dangerous operation. These humans have been trained for crude manual labor using the tools that exist on this orbital station. If they are successful, we can save a number of lives by expending theirs. If they aren’t, we’ll have to fall back to other methods.”
“The refined kerium we need is incredibly volatile outside of powered containment fields,” Nimue said, turning her attention to Captain Aglaral. “Assault shuttles aren’t known for being a gentle ride. How confident are you that your pilots can transport this volatile material safely back to the Spear of Destiny.”
“They’re not known for being gentle but that doesn’t mean that a good pilot can’t handle delicate cargo. The key to having an easy return flight is going to be in the other objectives of the assault,” he said, enlarging a holographic projection of the massive orbital station. “There’s no way we can destroy or cripple all of these weapon emplacements with just two assault shuttles. We can make a hole in their coverage for the approach but once you get far enough away, you enter the firing arcs of an increasing number of weapon systems. We need one of the assault teams to cripple command and control, sensor tracking, power, munitions feeds, or a substantial enough combination of those things to cripple at least half the weapons on the platform if we’re going to make a clean escape. Additionally, any armed small craft aboard the station needs to be disabled to ensure we don’t have to confront armed pursuit. Do those things and I can virtually guarantee my pilots will get the kerium home safely.”
“That’s a long target list for a small team Captain,” Agravain said. “We’re dedicating Wing Leader Tael and Fist Leader Lwellan to the prong of the assault that’s raiding materials. He’ll be overseeing two dozen of Priestess Eirian’s human laborers and his operational area will stretch across a significant area of the station between materials storage and the loading slip where our shuttles dock. That leaves Fist Leader Sioban’s team as our only mobile unit to hit a large number of distributed targets in a very small amount of time. You’re asking for a lot.”
“The Captain is right though,” Lady Nimue said calmly. “If Fist Leader Sioban’s team can’t accomplish their objectives, it becomes far too likely that a single lucky strike from the human’s weapons can trigger a reaction that we can’t afford. Without the kerium, there’s no way home for any of us. Success is the only option. Anything less than that is intolerable. Agravain, see to it that Fist Leader Sioban understands her mission and that if she needs to, she spends the lives of her team well. It would be better if they return alive but if they cannot, I expect them to do their duty.”
“Does that include your new Champion, My Lady?” the inured Fae Flight Leader asked. “Do you want me to issue orders to Lady Haelith to ensure that your Champion returns safely even if no one else does?”
“No,” Lady Nimue said resolutely. “If he is to be my Champion, he must pass this small hurdle. If he cannot, it’s better that we discover his inability before we’ve invested too much in his success. You can, however, give orders to her to recover his body if possible. For now, the relic he holds is more valuable than the man himself,” she said with a slight emphasis on ‘for now,’ ensuring that everyone around the table knew that Zayd could become significantly more valuable, but only if he was able to return victoriously.