章 4: Early Morning Walk

34 hours since we had left the spacedock.

Being aboard a Navy vessel again was great on it's own, and so far, we've not yet encountered any problems with the old ship. Everything was going great, but there was an uneasiness... The only thing I have been doing for the last five hours was checking the news over and over again. With it's worsening diplomatic ties and the increasing civil unrest, People's Republic of Mars was rolling downhill into a complete mess. It would be a matter of time until it affected the Navy.

A lot of recruits would be happy to see some action, but in reality, our Navy was not well-equipped to deal with modern space combat; let alone stand against a more powerful faction like the Atlantic-Pacific Federation. No matter what, the war must have been avoided.

Suddenly, while I was lost in my own thoughts, I heard Ensign Aziz's voice.

"Admiral, we've received a mission update. Shall I read it out, sir?" he said.

"Hold on, let me have a look." said Tachibana. I couldn't understand if he did this because of Aziz's funny accent or if he really wanted to read it himself first. The Rear Admiral walked over to the comms station and looked at the screen for a while.

"Lieutenant Commander, have a look." he called me. I walked over to the comms station as well. "Read it." he said. I leaned over.

'---===DECYRPTED OUTPUT===---

MJD 217300

People's Republic of Mars - Naval Forces

LODOS Mission Critical Update

LC/M Lodos is to discontinue it's orbital patrol duty and make it's way to Phobos asteroid base with the orders to arrest the following people:

* Adrian Müller (Base Commander)

* Farid Gülden (MIM Spokesperson)

* Li-Yung Xun (MIM Secretary)

LC/M Lodos CO is expected to report to the headquarters before 18.30 HQ local.

---===END OF DECRYPTED PACKAGE===---'

"This is going to create one hell of a backlash from the public." I said.

Mars Independence Movement (MIM) was the main opposition party in the Martian assembly, with 37% of the total votes in the last elections. They were the ruling party during the Martian War of Independence before they were succeeded by the Social Welfare Party of Mars. The MIM was known for their far-right ideals and ultranationalist activism; and nowadays, they were often accused of terrorism by the current government.

"We have to do what we have to do." Tachibana said, and sighed. "Commander; discontinue our orbital patrol and plot a course to Phobos asteroid base at best speed." he then said to Mei.

"Copy that Admiral, plotting a brachistochrone transfer trajectory to Phobos." Mei acknowledged. The ship slowly rotated, and the MPD thrusters engaged. The ship was accelerating, and we were now on our way to the asteroid base. Tachibana turned to me.

"Lieutenant Commander, prepare a boarding party and get ready for transfer to Phobos station." he said.

"Aye, sir." I said and got out of the bridge, making my way towards the rapid transport elevator. The rapid transport elevators were used to carry crew members and cargo between the decks of the warship. Since the bridge was located almost at the center of the ship, it was close to every other deck inside Lodos.

I finally arrived near the marine quarters, but it was unusually silent. I found someone after looking around for a couple of minutes.

"Sergeant!"

"This is Corporal Boris of the marine forces, sir!" he saluted me. I had apparently mis-read his insigna. Cursing to myself under my breath, I continued like nothing happened.

"Where is the sergeant?" I asked.

"Sergeant Lucas and his team is on drill, sir." he replied.

"What drill?" I asked in shock.

"Sergeant thought, since we had just left the spacedock a few days ago, and the area was clear; it would be a good time to use for excersize, sir!" he said. The corporal was always shouting in a formal tone. This was getting funny when he was trying to form long sentences.

"Do you know where they are?" I asked him.

"They are practising near the medical bay, sir!" he said.

"Understood. I shall go find them." I said and started walking way.

"Sir, yes, sir!" the corporal shouted behind me. I got back int othe elevator and made my way to the medical bay. As I approached there, I saw the sergeant and his marines crawling on the deck and aiming their weapons on an imaginary target.

"Sergeant!" I shouted.

"Oh shit, it is the XO." I heard a faint voice in the crowd, but I couldn't see who it was.

"Sergeant Lucas of the marine force, reporting sir!" Sergeant ran all the way from the other side of the deck and we saluted each other.

"What are you doing, sergeant?" I asked.

"Hull breach and intruder drill, sir!" he said. Without knowing how to explain the absurdness of the situation, I got directly to the point.

"Get your team prepared for a boarding mission, sergeant; we will transfer to Phobos base before 19.00 HQ local." I said.

"Yes, sir!" he said, and turned to his soldiers. "You heard the XO, get going!"

All the soldiers stood up and marched towards the rapid transport elevators. As I was leaving the deck, I heard someone behind me.

"Thank goodness man, those bastards were making quite a lot of noise here."

I turned around to see who it was. He saw me looking at him, and smiled.

"Oh, hello sir; chief doctor Usman here. I heard you the new XO, am I wrong?" he said.

"Lieutenant Commander Kagan, XO of warship Lodos." I said. "Nice too meet you doc, how did you find the ship?"

"Ship good, equiment clean; but the place... too gloomy!" he said. "Saw better lighting back at Cydonia Hospital!"

"Well, this is a warship, so don't expect too much comfort, doctor." I said. "Although, I will have a look if we can install a better lighting system here, when I'm free."

"Thank you for effort, sir. Now, you excuse me, I have to take care of-"

"I had other jobs to do as well." I said. We nodded and I left the deck. The doctor seemed like a nice guy, but his language was a bit... sloppy. At least his accent was way more understandable than our comms officer.

As I entered the elevator, the MPD thrusters were shutdown, and the ship started a 180 degree rotation in preparation for decelerating. We were halfway to the Phobos base already. Just then, my Navy-issued telecom device started beeping. I answered it, it was Rear Admiral Tachibana.

"Is the boarding party ready, Lieutenant Commander?" he asked.

"Not yet, sir; but the team will be at the docking port before the arrival." I reported.

"Understood." he said. "Godspeed, commander. Rear Admiral Tachibana, out."