Sean-Michael Argo - Ghost Faction

Jada barely registered the occasional tremor in the ship’s hull, and without being privy to the instruments on the command deck, the merc was barely aware of the carnage unfolding in space around her. All that the mercs had been told so far was that a small Grotto battle fleet was riding escort alongside Sword Base so that the merc ship could enter a low orbit over the target planet.

It had been many months since House Indron committed resources to the field, preferring to have the Dire Swords maintain fear and order in the sector. It chilled Jada to think of the countless lives being lost in that very moment as Sword Base streaked through the void, slamming through the thin security picket that Helion had put in place.

Like most of the other military efforts in this sector, both Grotto and Helion only a maintained cursory military presence, just enough to deter scavengers and pirates, though for the choice plays, it seemed both corporations were prepared to re-escalate hostilities quite readily.

“Take note, there is a significant lack of activity on the surface of the excavation site. Something this size should be swarming with labor crew and security details,” stated Marcus as he went back through the photos in addition to displaying a number of force strength charts. “Given the observable equipment and functional structures on the site, it’s estimated that there should be upwards of three hundred or more labor crew members and a full company of battle troopers, plus additional armor elements.

We see none of that in our recon data; there is no visible activity on the surface, though we have seen evidence of a battle, a recent one. You’ll see several bombed-out buildings and we have confirmation of at least one smashed grav-tank. Our working theory is that something similar has happened to the Helion staff as was experienced by Grotto penal legions during several previous engagements against the Gedra.”

With that, Marcus yielded the lectern to Womack, who stood up from his seat in the front row to address the audience.

“The mission is a basic smash and grab, the only difference is that we are doing the smashing while these gentlemen do the grabbing,” growled Womack, and then he extended his hand to point out the three men who had been seated with him, all new faces to the mercs in the audience. “Our employer has engaged the services of the Tasca cartel, and these are three of the high-speed operatives.”

At the mention of Tasca, there was a palpable shift in the room. The general opinion of the Tasca slave cartel and its operatives was poor amongst the mercs, who saw the professional slavers as something less than hired soldiers. Nobody said anything directly or openly, but the multitude of voices whispering to each other was obvious.

Jada’s pulse quickened. She’d not thought of her combat against Tasca operatives in a long time, and the feeling ignited her aggression. She was not the only one, as it seemed a few others in the crowd, notably Ranec, were visibly upset by this news.

One of the Tasca operatives turned in his seat to face the crowd. For an instant, he and Jada stared hard at each other before Womack’s voice cut through the room.

“Spare me your outrage, people,” spat Womack as he held his hand up, gesturing for silence. “The contract negotiated with House Indron allows for this sort of task force joint operation, so button it up and act like professionals.”

The noise in the room died down and everyone gave Womack their full attention as Marcus brought up an approximate schematic of the excavation site.

“We’re dropping a full company, by standard raiding, squat right into the excavation site. Your job will be to press a hasty attack towards the master ring, eliminate anything that gets in your way, whether it’s Helion, Gedra, or scavengers we don’t know about. The idea is to stir up the hornet’s nest and blast whatever comes out,” said Womack. The audience’s general mood seemed to improve somewhat at that. This sort of wild assault was exactly how the Dire Swords preferred to wage war. “While we keep the action going, the Tasca element will be in their own ship circling above. Once we draw out the Objective, they will capture and extract.”

Poe frowned, raised his hand, and asked, “Grotto and Helion both have been trying for a long time to get their hands on an operational alpha cyborg, and not once has anyone succeeded. They either kill enough people that they have to be put down or they self-destruct. What is going to make this op turn out any different?”

“That is a fair observation, Poe,” nodded Marcus as he spoke from beside the lectern, “However, we are positive that this is not a cyborg of the kind we faced on the tomb-worlds, but is, in fact, something new. It is highly possible that whomever, or whatever, this thing is, it could be part of a progenitor race, the makers of the Gedra. Perhaps it is simply another sort of cyborg; at this point, we don’t know.”

One of the Tasca operatives stood and faced the audience. “I would point out that, to date, the Tasca have not been included in any operations upon tomb-worlds controlled by Grotto or Helion.” He was an older man, whose weathered face had no doubt seen much of this strange and violent universe, “We are the foremost hunters in necrospace when it comes to the capture of humans, or in this, case humanoids. I believe we have a reasonable expectation of success, considering the data made available by our mutual employer.”

“This is just as much about disrupting Helion as it has ever been,” added Womack as the Tasca operative returned to his seat. “They put a vast amount of resources into this play, and whatever they found down there dealt them a serious blow. We’re here to twist the knife.”

“We will make orbit within the hour; drop coordinates and ship assignments will be uploaded to your HUD in the next few minutes.” Marcus brought the lights in the briefing room to full illumination, signaling that the briefing was concluded, “Good hunting.”

Jada thought she had done well in the briefing when faced with the Tasca operatives. Like the rest of the mercs, she had taken twenty minutes of rack time, getting just enough sleep to sharpen her senses, before going to the med bay to get her serum booster. She was calm and ready to focus on the mission, though as she walked into the launch bay where the dropships were being fueled and prepped by the deck crew, she was sorely tested once more.

Jada was the first of the Dire Swords to enter the bay. The Tasca operatives assigned to the mission, Ellis, Jean, and Najib, according to the specs that were uploaded to her HUD, were all busy putting the finishing touches on their own dropsuits. Each of them was encased in the high-end armor for which the slavers were known, and it was upon seeing that familiar sight that Jada’s adrenaline surged.

Being in the briefing with them was one thing, but actually seeing their armor and those cursed automatic pistols with the extended clips, just like the one that killed Spencer Green when she’d been with the Reapers, was more than she could bear. Jada had not felt this strongly since the battle on Gedra Prime, when she and the other salvage marines had their first re-match with Helion battle troopers since the conflict on Tetra Prime that had claimed Boss Maggie Taggart and a number of other marines.

The image of Spencer’s mangled corpse leaking crystallized blood droplets as it hung in space was vivid in her mind as Jada stomped across the launch bay. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do when she reached the men, but it wasn’t going to be pretty. She felt as if gravity was giving way, and all she could think about was the sick nausea in her guts as she recalled taking aim at the comatose Tasca victims and pulling the trigger.