”So, our mission is to intercept a series of trains.” Raynor concluded after captain Matt Horner told Raynor and her how the Dominion were transporting something via railways on Tarsonis. The Raiders didn’t know what the thing was, but since Mengsk wanted it so did the Raiders.
“Hardly.” Jean said. “No commander will be stupid enough to continue the transportation when the first train is hit. Even if we defeat the Dominion forces on the planet they will just pull back to the planetary fortress and request backup from the Dominion fleet. Even the Hyperion’s Yamato Cannon can’t break that fortress before twenty battlecruisers warp in and cut us off.” She made the calculation already.
“So we should pull back and abandon the mission? Whatever is on the train must be important.” Raynor questioned. He would pull back if Jean said so. The girl had proven much smarter in battle than he was. The losses the Raiders suffered when Jean was in command was much less than when he was the commander.
“Not quite.” Jean said. “According to the mission plan that I got by hacking the cargo will be brought onto a battlecruiser known as The Beetle. The Beetle will be escorted by four more battlecruisers to Korhal. If I can get into the cruiser I will be able to override and control the ship and jump into to a safe rendezvous point.”
“Nope.” Raynor cut her off. “I am not going to send you into an enemy battlecruiser with no backup. It’s too risky. You’re a commander, Jean, not some damn ghost!” He seemed furiously, but Jean met his gaze with no hesitation.
“Just like you said, we need to take down that cargo and find out whatever is inside that the Dominion so desperately want. This is our best chance Jim.” Jean referring to Raynor by his first name was a carefully calculated act to increase the chance of success. It worked.
Raynor backed off. He didn’t want to put a girl into harm’s way, but neither did he want Mengsk to get what he wanted. What was in that box could be valuable. “Do you have a plan that get in and get out?” He asked. “You don’t have any cloaking device, and even if you do there will be detection..”
“I won’t need cloaking.” Jean replied. She pointed at the computer screen beside. The screen displayed the file of a female lieutenant with Jean’s face. The name read Kassandra Hart, examiner sent by the emperor himself to oversee the transportation of the product. “The crew members on that ship will welcome me with open arms. I can use the chance to hack into the computer system of the cruiser with no hurry at all.”
Raynor went through the plan in his head and found out there was no weak spot. Of course there weren’t any. Jean calculated everything in her cpu beforehand. “Fine, but get your ass out of the cruiser at the first sign of trouble. I will not risk your life for my victory.” He would feel guilty for the rest of his life is Jean died in the mission.
Stolen novel; please report.
Jean nodded.
----------------------------------------
The Beetle was a Gorgon class battlecruiser. It had stronger armor and better weapon than the standard Minotaur class battlecruiser the Dominion fleet employed. As a result Gorgon battlecruisers were much more rare in the terran arsenal. The Beetle was deployed by Mengsk himself to make sure the cargo reached Korhal safely. The Beetle had 16 J23 missile launchers, 25 laser batteries, and 125 point defense systems and was operated by 6500 crew members . To a certain point it could overpower the Hyperion. That was why the Raiders couldn’t engage it and Mengsk trusted the ship enough to carry the cargo. The beast couldn’t be broken from the outside.
Captain Gregor of The Beetle was standing at the bridge and watching the crew members operate the ship in pride. He was a capable general in his thirties, and he got the command of the ship through sheer experience. Gregor considered himself a loyal soldier of Mengsk, and was willing to do whatever it took to complete his mission. In fact, he received orders to destroy the cargo if it was to be taken by enemy forces, not that he or Mengsk thought it might be possible. Even the zerg swarm couldn’t take down a convoy of 1 Gorgon and 2 Minotaur battlecruisers before they warp away.
The ship had just picked up the cargo and was about to enter warp space when a special ops transport exited warp space near The Beetle. Laser batteries were immediately aimed at the ship, and the crew member looked at their captain for instructions. Gregor stopped them. Scans show the ship had Dominion markings. “Send a transmission to that ship.” He ordered.
A few seconds later a transmission appeared on the computer screen. Gregor saw a woman in blonde hair and straight Dominion officier uniform. She seemed serious and cold.“State your identity.” He ordered.
“I am inspector Kassandra Hart here on the behalf of the emperor to oversee the transportation of the cargo.” The woman said calmly.
Gregor was unmoved. “I hadn’t heard of any inspector.”
“The emperor has his own concerns.” Kassandra, Jean, replied. “I am sending you my identification now.” Gregor noticed a file was sent to his ship. He opened up the file and checked it. The data was valid. The woman seemed like a perfect Dominion soldier loyal to her emperor. He checked a few hiddens stamps, and all were present. Gregor nodded to a crew, who moved away the laser batteries. The hanger door opened, and the transport was brought inside.
On the transport, Jean showed neither pride nor relief as the captain was fooled by her computer work. She forged the document she sent, but she trusted the captain wouldn’t notice it because she studied the details dozens of Dominion files beforehand to know what a standard officer file looked like.
Behind her captain Eobard let out a sign of relief and glanced a Jean as if wondering how the girl could be so calm when a full grown man like him was frightened to death. He noticed the weapon system on the battlecruisers were aimed and ready, and if something went wrong they couldn’t even get into warp space before being blasted away. Eobard was here because it wouldn’t make sense for an inspector to be all along, and Jean might need someone to cover her. Ten other Wolfpack marines in Sons of Korhal armor were behind him.
“Proceed as planned.” Jean said coldly as her transport flew inside the metal beast like a Trojan Horse. Most fortresses were broken from the inside.