Templar Header [https://i.imgur.com/xVOD5AQ.png]
----------------------------------------
Chapter 8 - Of Heros and Men - Part 1
----------------------------------------
“Oh, here, you can stand in front, Kris.” A fellow mechanic, Mr Harry, says to me as I enter the meeting room. It's more crowded than usual. I'd guess only three or four people are absent from the dimly lit square room. An all-hands meeting has been called a few hours after we realised our destination was the moon.
“Everyone here? Good, then we’ll begin,” Captain Katherine announces from the centre of the room. There’s a little semicircle of space in front of her; standing behind the Captain are Master Templar and Lt. Vitka. The large table in the room’s core already projects an image for all to see.
“As I'm sure you all noticed, today we accomplished the current object of our mission, reaching the acquired coordinates and gaining valuable intelligence on our enemy. In fact, I think a small round of applause for our new Casnel-Killer would be appropriate,” the Captain grins. A short round of clapping erupts around the room, leaving Birgit scratching his head and blushing profusely. After a few moments of this applause, our leader's expression hardens. The clapping stops.
“In the hours since, we have entered the moon's airspace. Thanks to intel garnered by Lieutenant Vitka, we learned that the fleet of scrap vessels hands its gathered supplies over to a larger freighter, which then delivers them to the moon each time it passes every twenty days or so. We intercepted this freighter with little incident and, using its frequency, have been able to get within spitting distance of the enemy base. At this point, we cut communications and deviated course. Currently, the Caravel is sitting inside the Dianna Crater.”
The Captain slickly points to the holographic map behind her. On it is a crude depiction of events: A field of polygons in the top left marks the debris field, little dots mark the salvage ships and filling the bottom right corner is a large circle representing the moon.
A dotted red line shows us leaving the debris field, entering the moon’s airspace, then breaking off at the last minute.
“Thanks to how close we could get without incident, we have identified the Casnel production facility to be this settlement.”
A second screen shows a massive dome made of thousands of little hexagons. The Bhailein moon doesn't have livable conditions, but many do live here, in sealed domes or underground cities. This one is too small to be a civilian settlement, but several large doors around its base imply it's a port of some kind.
“This is none other than the former headquarters of TSU-s, the belligerent faction that was recently wiped out. We had presumed the base abandoned after their crushing defeat at our hands earlier this year – However, it seems it was instead converted. This is good news for us. TSU-s had been a thorn in our side for some time, and intelligence mapped out their base on multiple occasions. The last infiltration was a few months ago; however, we hardly doubt the fundamental infrastructure of the port, ship docks, waste disposal passages, and fire escapes – Will’ve changed, and we will use this to our advantage.”
The first map is replaced by a new geographical one, showing the contours and pits of the moon’s surface. To the south is the Dianna Crater, where we've set down. To the north is the dome. Running parallel to both is a long section of carved-out land known as the Soleil Sea. Of course, there is no water, it was simply named that long ago by people who probably never dreamt of reaching the moon, no less fighting a war on its surface.
Before the Captain continues her briefing, her face softens a little, and she casts a gaze over the whole crew; “Long-range communication between the debris field and the moon on a project this secretive is most likely done at regular intervals of twelve hours, as such that is the window of time we are allotting this mission, the window of time before the enemy will start searching for its missing supply ship. One hour has passed already. I expect everyone to be at their stations one hour before the mission begins as well. Until then, I am granting the crew free leave to do as you wish. You may relax, workout or sleep. I have authorised the doctor to issue sleeping medication to any who seek it.
The only exceptions to this rule will be a small number of the bridge crew and a group of mechanics led by Warrant Officer Shane, who will be getting the Type-C into as good a condition as possible.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
That said, even these groups will be given at least six hours of sleep. Everyone has been forwarded their own schedule.”
“What about enhancers, ma'am?” Someone I haven't adequately met yet calls from the other side of the crowd.
The Captain laughs, breaking the tension in the air a little, “No can do; you know the master disapproves of them. Anyway, if our pilots don't need them, what excuse would any of us have.”
There are a few chuckles, and the man who asked gets the odd teasing nudge before the Captain gets back on track.
“Ten hours from now, we will travel along the cover of the Soleil Sea to approach the enemy encampment. Once there, we will have three objectives: Gather as much intelligence as possible, dole out any damage we can, and escape. Likewise, we will have three approaches: Master Templar in the Crusade will attack the dome directly, acting as our decoy. The Type-C will fly in low carrying an infiltration team led by Lt. Vitka, and the Caravel will go where needed as the battle progresses. Lieutenant, if you would.”
The Captain beckons to her brother, who takes a step forward; “Thank you, ma'am. Although the TSU-special faction was dismantled, we can presume this base retains the capacity to house a large number of defenders, and while smaller than a settlement, this is still a sizable area. As such, we have examined the layouts of the old headquarters and determined a number of locations most likely to have been converted to a production facility. The infiltration team will go to each place in decreasing order of priority until we find what we need. Similarly, once we have all the data attainable, we will seek out weak points to rig with explosives.”
A blueprint layout is also being projected now, with sectors being highlighted in different colours to indicate potential importance.
“The infiltration team shall be composed of nine people led by myself. Six in the offensive section, all with history within infantry or special ops units, and three will accompany us to gather intel. These three will be Petty Officer Johnny for her computer knowhow, Chief Mechanic Gros with the hopes of his technical prowess getting the chance to see inside the production facility, which could well prove invaluable all by itself, and crewmen Kris as their assistant.”
“M-me!?” I suddenly blurt out before I can stop myself. Vitka stares at me, perhaps a little miffed that I interrupted him, but mostly showing patience, “Yes, Kris. I appreciate this will be both your and Johnny’s first time in such high stakes personnel combat, however with Chief Gros coming and need for an additional assistant; you are the least vital of the engineering and mechanical teams and therefore balance out the composition. Is that acceptable to you?”
I blink, surprised that I even get a say in the matter. The Lieutenant’s usual calm composure is reassuring, and his reasoning makes a lot of sense, all considered. Still, this is a big deal, ordinarily, a rookie mechanic like me would never be asked on such a mission. There'll be danger for everyone, that much is sure, but especially the infiltration team. As good as nine – well six really – people against a base of potentially hundreds of armed defenders.
This is it.
This is what you imagine when you think of the sorts of missions a hero like Templar goes on. Terrible odds, the chance of our whole organisation being in danger should we fail, and everyone having to do their bit.
I feel seriously nervous; my stomach is doing cartwheels. Then I see Birgit within the crowd across the room from me. We briefly lock eyes, and he gives me a silly thumbs-up.
Birgit must have been terrified beyond belief when that grey knight charged right at him, terrified as he bided his time and held his fire to the very last moment.
Birgit is after running quite a bit ahead of me, it seems.
I nod to Vitka, “Yes sir, I'll do my best!”
Vitka smiles a little at that before nodding to the Captain, his section done, I suppose.
“There you have it, everyone. Greater details and duties have been sent to you all, and I expect you to spend this brief break period wisely,” she pauses, turning her head to make eye contact with Templar. As always, he stands with arms crossed, a towering but silent presence.
It crosses my mind that it must be a lot of pressure for the Captain and Vitka to be the voices for someone like Templar.
The giant man nods fondly at our Captain, his expression that of a father proud of his beloved kids. Katherine grins back. She sits on the edge of the centre table, her resolution firm, casting her gaze back over the assembly; “Stuffy stuff and details aside, this is the Caravel, and you are her crew!
This will be a tough one. A strategist would probably tell us the odds are vastly against us, outnumbered and outgunned, but hell, it's hardly the first time. The Caravel has been in spots like this before, and I believe she will be again. Once more, our enemy seeks to wipe us out with another preposterous doomsday weapon, and so once more, we will rise up to stop it. In memory of all those who have fallen to get us this far, we fly to tomorrow!!”
Cheering abounds throughout the meeting room as our last all-hands of the mission draws to a close.
****